White house in 2016. In the past few days, the president has hit the campaign trail with a list of claims for which he has offered zero evidence. He said criminals and unknown middle easterners were among the migrant caravan. He said democrats want to turn american into venezuela. He said californians have been, quote, rioting over sanctuary cities. The Washington Post framed it this way. Quote, President Trump has settled on a strategy of fear, laced with falsehoods and racially tinged rhetoric to help lift his party to victory in the coming midterms. For trump, thats meant abandoning any attempt to sell voters on his administrations achievements and instead engaging in one of the most inflammatory campaigns in modern political history. And hes not alone. In their final push, republican candidates are following suit. According to the New York Times, quote, as the Congressional Elections have approached, a number of republican candidates and political committees have delivered messages plainly aimed at stoking cultural anxiety among white voters, and even appealing to overt racism. Its a strategy the party hopes there help them defy current political wins and their plan to divide and conquer is playing out in ads across the country. Theyve often painted their opponents as others with the ultimate goal of ginning up their political base. Big city rapper Antonio Delgado supports the radical government takeover of health care. [ speaking Foreign Language ] hes working to infiltrate congress. Hes used three different names to hide his familys ties to terrorism. So the big question that were asking today is, will the politics of fear be a winner for the Republican Party . Joining me now, Nbc News National Correspondent peter alexander, Bloomberg PoliticsNational Political reporter, sahill kapoor, and tiffany cross. Peter, i will start with you. The president was pressed by some of our colleagues yesterday on a few of these false comments hes made over the past few days. Here was his response. Going to the middle of the caravan, take your cameras, and search, okay. Search. No, no, take your camera, go into the middle, and search. Youre going to find ms13. Youre going to find middle eastern. Youre going to find everything. You said that you wanted tax cuts by november 1st. Congress isnt even in session. How is that possible . Were putting in a resolution sometime in the next week or week and a half, two weeks. You said californians were rioting over the sanctuary city issue. Where . Take a look. They want to get out of sanctuary cities. Many places in california want to get out. But you said theyre rioting. It is rioting in some cases. Peter, is there any concern among those around the president that this is a strategy that he shouldnt pursue in the final weeks or at this point are they just doubling down . Well, i think when you speak to people close to the president in the conversations ive had and my colleagues have had with those allies of the president , they believe that this is something that worked for the president in 2016, and they feel strongly, frankly, trusting his instincts that it will work for him again here in 2018. We should note with all those examples that you showed there, i reached out to the white house again today with each of them, asking for any evidence that would back up this idea, the idea there was rioting in california against sanctuary cities, that he was going to, in any form, put forth as he described it a tax cut for the middle class before november. Remember, congress is not in session. And this idea that there were unknown middle easterners in the middle of the caravan. We have not heard back from the white house on any of those specific topics. Related to the idea of middle easterners, theres a Conference Call that the white house is holding now where theyre being pressed on this. But mike pence, the Vice President , was pressed on this very topic earlier today, where he said its unconceivable that there arent people of middle eastern descent among the caravan. From a 2017 report by the president s own state department viewing the year 2016, that report said that there was no evidence that any terrorist or terrorist Group Members had traveled through mexico to enter the United States. So to this point, its clear the president is trying to stoke fears. He knows division can be a winning strategy. Obviously there are fears of complacency by some republican allies of the president , by his base. The hope is by stoking up this issue of immigration, he can help sort of bring them back to the polls in advance of the midterms. And peter, can i ask you also about his using the word nationalist, saying, you know, out loud, i am a nationalist . How does the president kind of conceive of that term . Because it doesnt, in many ways, have racial undertones. Yeah, it definitely does, undertones that are not just racial but xenophobic. This is something the president has shied away from in the past. Obviously nationalism was a phrase steve bannon embraced over the course of the campaign. A lot of the president s opponents tried to pin this idea on him, that he was someone that was putting sort of America First but not in a good way, in ways he was trying to put cultural identities of americans ahead of the identity of other foreigners, this sort of xenophobic idea. The president obviously sort of changing his tact in these waning days, embracing this idea. Again, the idea some of these people in red parts of the country have embraced, this idea of us versus them. The president is clearly siding with the us in the eyes of the people that surround him at these rallies. Nancy, peter mentioned the Vice President doubling down on the claims about the caravan. I want to look at that and well talk about it. Well, its inconceivable that there are not people of middle eastern descent in a crowd of more than 7,000 people advancing toward our border. Inconceivable . Let me tell you statistics on this. In the last fiscal year, we apprehended more than ten terrorists or suspected terrorists per day at our southern border from countries that are referred to in the lexicon as other than mexico. That means from the middle east region. So nancy, obviously hes President Trumps number two so nie hes in a difficult spot. However, pence is usually someone who tries to follow some of the more traditional rules of factbased politicking, if you will. Were still trying to figure out where this claim of ten terrorists per day came from. Yeah, i dont have any evidence of where that comes from. The white house is just sort of doubling down on the message without necessarily providing the facts and figures behind it. But i think that the white house really feels like its under a crunch right now. They really feel like the midterms are crucial. Theres internal polling that theyre looking at, thats showing the Border Protection and immigration are key issues for them. The president is doubling down on that. Part of being on the president s team, as i think weve seen pence show, is just loyalty and sticking to that message. Thats what pence is doing. Hes doing his job. And tiffany, in many ways, this caravan and the images that are coming from the southern border plays it right into republican hands just two weeks before this midterm. Right. And the president is doing this for a clear reason. This is what helped him get elected in 2016. You say nationalist has racial undertones. I would argue it has racial overtones. When you hear that term, theres no confusion about what that means. Its also very consistent with rhetoric we heard overseas in europe during the brexit and some of the xenophobia weve seen from across the pond. I think we can say there are not ten people crossing the border every day who are middle eastern. Theyve not been able to produce that. Theyre never held accountable to it. Theyre comfortable with stating these mistruths when being pressed on it. I would also add that some of the though were hearing this rhetoric out of the white house, some of the candidates have tried to distance themselves from some of this rhetoric. You saw that in the desantis debate out of florida with gillum. He has a lot of latino voters he has to appeal to in florida. Hes tried to kind of walk the line. You see this in the Duncan Hunter race. That was that ad that suggested this candidate whos actually a former Obama Administration staffer like hes some sort of secret muslim brotherhood. Never mind Duncan Hunter is the subject of several ethics probes right now where he and his wife are spending tons of money at sams club and on vacations. The challenge for the democrats is to combat this. You do see Trump Supporters who will take this as the gospel. Theres a study out from ucla last week that showed for all these mystical voters that voted for obama and then trump, the defining issue was race. So to disagree with james carvill, it was not the economy, stupid, it was racial issues. That was the clear divide we saw. I think trump is betting that will happen again in midterms. I think were seeing in realtime the evolution of the Republican Party from a conservative party to more of a nativist party. This is less and less a movement driven by convictions about fiscal policy and the size of government and more driven by cultural fears, cultural anxieties about the country becoming young wither and more socially liberal. Its becoming less white, more immigrants here. President trump played on that very effectively in 2016. Its unclear if he can mobilize the same group of voters to show up and pull the lever for down ballot candidates. Hes brought the entire party along with him. Thats one thing thats different from 2016. Instead of having others who are campaigning alongside donald trump kind of pushing him away from them, they are embracing him. Exactly. And these tactics. Absolutely. A number of Republican Leaders who wanted to run on their fiscal accomplishments, namely the tax law of december 2017, have now tilted, and theyre now also playing on some of the same rhetoric and some of the same issues and fears that President Trump is talking about. Immigration, crime, ms13. This caravan has become an allpurpose flash point for everything President Trump is asking voters to be afraid of. Hes not letting facts get in the way of whats a good closing message in his view about this. There are many things hes saying that are just not substantiated about this. The question, of course, what are democrats going to do . You wrote on bloomberg. Com, quote, trumps rhetoric against ilLegal Immigration and attempts to cut Legal Immigration have stoked his Republican Base and in the final weeks before the election hes returned to the issue. Nancy, ill ask you to weigh in on the reporting here. We have heard democrats talk about having a latino problem. Despite the environment that this president has created, its not necessarily driving hispanics to the polls for democrats. Why . Absolutely. I just feel like the democrats have had a hard time this cycle and just in past cycles coming up with a coherent optimistic message. Theyve had a hard time playing against trump and the politics of him. Trump is playing this game where hes really betting the whole midterm strategy on fears and basically falsehoods, things like a major tax cut is coming, which is not true. The democrats have just had a hard time getting down and dirty like they need to, to counter that. I think they have talked always about going high, but they havent figured out a good foil. I want to weigh in and say thats absolutely true. I think it was a study that said over 90 of latino voters have not been contacted by a major campaign. I think the democrats have a problem because they have focused so much on reaching white rural voters. But there are a lot of black rural voters, latino rural voters, native americans in north dakota who have not been contacted by the democratic party, which is going to be a challenge. There are many races across the country where some of these marginalized communities will make a difference. You see it in georgia. Doug jones learned this lesson very well. This is a very difficult group of people to turn out. Democrats are anxious about this. There are certainly groups maki making efforts. It could be decisive in races like arizona senate, nevada senate. Hispanic voters are key there. It could also be decisive in house races in Southern California and south texas, potentially in florida. Its extremely pivotal to the outcome of the election, whether hispanics show up. A message to all of those who c can, vote. Its just two weeks away. Have your say this in process. Thanks to all of you. Really appreciate it. Still ahead, should middleincome americans expect a tax cut before the midterms . Answer, no. Then what is the president talking about . Plus, when we got to election day, minnesota could be the state that decides which Party Controls the house. Its a delicate dance for both party there is when it comes to donald trump. Right after this break, turkeys president demands justice in the murder of Washington Post columnist jamal khashoggi. And its not just for the killer but for the person who ordered it. 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Again, it underscores the determination of our administration to find out what happened here. Nbc news has obtained a video of a man turkish authorities identify as a man entering the saudi consulate where khashoggi was killed and exiting as a body double, wearing the dead journalists clothes. Joining me now, Richard Engel, and nbc News National political recorder josh letterman. Richard, can you give us the latest from the ground there in istanbul . Try to explain for some of our viewers why it is that turkey is motivated to take such a strong stand against saudi arabia here. Reporter all right. Let me start with the second part because theyre completely related. Turkey has long seen itself as a regional rival to saudi arabia. Saudi arabia, home of mecca medina. Saudi arabia likes to present itself as not just a country, but the leader of the islamic world. Thats also the way that turkey, which has a long ottoman past, likes to present itself, as a leading, shining light of the islamic world and of political islam. These two countries have long been rivals. The rivalry between the crown prince, mohammed bin salman, and president erdogan is even sharper than this Historic Division between the countries. Erdogan sees himself as an advocate between moderate political islam and salman as this different kind of project, pushing a more secular agenda, pushing military strongmen, backing up the government in egypt. So they also have some real ideological and personal differences as opposed to the wider historical context. And i think it is because of this division that is personal, that is historic, that is religious, that is regional that were seeing so much attention being paid to this case of jamal khashoggi, who is killed three weeks ago. The saudis initially said that they didnt know what happened to him, that he left the embassy, he was perfectly fine. We know now that because they had sent this body double out to try and convince make that story sound more convincing. Then the saudis came out and said, yes, in fact, he was killed inside the consulate by our officials, but they were acting inappropriately. They went rogue. They got into a fight and khashoggi ended up dead. What we saw today was president erdogan of turkey going after that argument, saying that argument doesnt hold water. This was premeditated, that it was organized at least four days ahead of time and that the agents who flew in specially for this mission had already been scouting locations to ditch the body before khashoggi showed up on that fateful day. Absolutely gruesome details. Josh, you obtained this video of the body double walking out of the embassy for nbc news. What kind of position does this put the Trump Administration in now . Because quite frankly, they had been more accepting of what the saudis had seemed to offer as an explanation. Certainly. The growing amount of evidence that has been amassing, leaked by turkish shorauthorities, andn some of what the saudis have acknowledged, has really put trump in a bind and put a lot of pressure on him. Remember, it was President Trump that was the first person to float this theory of rogue killers. He made that comment after he had a conversation by phone wit lot of credence to what the saudis have said is their explanation for this. So as new details come out that suggest this was a planned, meticulous operation, and as the president of turkey, a nato ally, is saying this story is not credible and we expect more, its put trump in the position of looking like he accepted a situation that was not actually correct, like he is weak in allowing the saudis to be off the hook for something really atrocious. Thats really not the image that the president wants to project as hes heading into a Midterm Election. Sure. Certainly ever, if we know the personality of this president. Lets talk a little bit about mohammed bin salman, the crown prince. He had really been the lynch pin of american strategy under the Trump Administration towards iran, kind of middle east peace, partly because of his close relationship with jared kushner. What good options are there now, especially if it becomes clear or at least clearer in the minds of the International Community that salman ordered this killing . Does he have to step down . What are the u. S. s options . Well, the u. S. Has that decision to make about whether it wants to continue to have a really close relationship with saudi arabia and essentially paper over this by taking some punitive steps, some sanctions or other punishments that dont overhaul the broader relationship, whether they want to stick with mbs or try to encourage a change in leadership in saudi arabia, which is frankly not necessarily a decision that the United States gets to make. Sure. Right, of course. Nbcs Richard Engel and josh le lederman, thank you for your reporting. Up next, when a Campaign Promise becomes campaign confusion. What is the truth behind President Trumps tax cut talk . You always get the lowest price on our rooms, guaranteed . M lets get someone to say it with a really low voice. Carl . Lowest price guaranteed. What about the worlds lowest limbo stick . How low can you go . Nice one, carl. Hey ive got an idea. Just say, badda book. Badda boom. Badda book. Badda boom. Nice. Always the lowest price, guaranteed. 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Its going to be put in next week. [ cheers and applause ] 10 tax cut. This is for middleincome people, all middleincome people a big tax cut, 10 . Well be putting it in next week. Unfortunately for the president , congress is out of session until midnovember. So any legislative action, quote unquote, next week, simply not going to happen. Joining me from new york, the Senior Adviser of swing left, and here in d. C. , former Indiana Republican congressman david mcintosh, president of the club for growth and cofounder of the federalist society. David, i will start with you. Typically the club for growth is involved in a lot of these taxrelated decisions here in washington, d. C. Did you have any idea that this was brewing . From what i can tell, this does not exist as a congressional proposal . What i think the president s doing is really two things. One, hes capitalizing on something the house started in making permanent the middle class tax cuts. Then if you listen to it, i think hes really signaling were going to start running on a 10 tax cut for the middle class. I want to tell you about it now, send me a Republican Congress, well get it done with them. So its an issue thats going to come up after the election, into the next congress. So you dont see him as misleading voters in that statement . I dont think he was. By the way, if he wanted to do something right away, we have put forward and his advisers are looking at an executive order that would cut Capital Gains taxes. Now, thats a little different. Thats not a middleclass tax cut. It actually benefits the middle class in a huge way because of all the retirement accounts that are just went down in the last couple days in the market. Cutting Capital Gains taxes e enormously benefits wealthy americans. It benefits everybody. But they take a disproportionate share of those gains. Well, they make a disproportional share of that money. The key thing, what the president s doing is reflecting some of the information our polls showed for months that, the tax cut issue is the best issue for republicans to win back the suburbs. Those are the areas theyre falling way behind to the democrats on, in about 40 or 50 seats. Our poll shows the number one issue they can use is that they would extend the middle class tax cuts and that their democrat opponent is against them. Sure. The one contrasting point i would say, and please weigh in on this, emily, the republicans are not running on the tax cuts for corporations. As david mentioned, the tax cut bill did not actually extend or make permanent the cuts for individuals that were included in the early years of that. So the Washington Post writes, quote, many republicans have decided the issue is beyond salvaging. The Republican National committee concluded in an internal memo last month that the party had, quote, lost the messaging battle, pointing to a private survey showing respondents by a two to one margin think it benefits wealthy. So it seems the president is responding to this reality, the republican failure to sell this tax cut as a middleclass tax cut. Which is fascinating because republicans have been campaigning on almost exclusively this issue for years. The one place we are actually in agreement on is that the suburbs are looking very bad for republicans and looking very good for democrats. The number one issue we see over and over in all these districts is health care. Its fascinating saying that tax cuts would be the best issue for republicans to run on. They cant run on it. The thing thats been missing in all of this in the republican spin is that they are the governing party. They are fully in control of the government. They have made health care worse. They have made taxes worse, particularly for people in highincome states like in new jersey, new york. If youre in summit, new jersey, if youre in brook haven, new york, if youre in orange county, california, youre thinking to yourself, this is what my Republican Congress did . So the president is just bringing this point up over and over. And hes leaving the republican members with nothing to talk about because they enacted exactly what their plan was, what they had been campaigning on. They did it. So people are saying, oh, this is the congress that i got . I dont want this congress. David is shaking his head. Jump in. What this tax cut does is benefit most voters in new york and california as well. Theyre in the middle class and got a real tax cut. What were seeing here is the president ignored what the Republican Party did. For years, many of us have said our own party is the stupid party. We make the wrong decision at the wrong time. The president is saying, im going to ignore that memo and communicate to people were serious about extending the next round of tax cuts. I think thatll help republicans in this election. Heres my question though. Mitch mcconnell could extend this. The house passed their extension of the individual tax cuts. It cost 600 billion, added to the deficit over the course of the next ten years, more after that. Senate republicans are sitting on it. If its such a great idea, why are they sitting on it . I think theyre waiting to get a bigger majority, honestly. I think theyve had a difficult time doing anything in the senate because its split. It was 50 50. Now its 5149. I think that is the reason mitch is not doing anything now. Hes already signaled that we need to do something more because of the deficit. And i think the tax cuts im a big supply side. I think theyll actually benefit that and raise more revenue than they cost. And we should point out that the suggestion Mitch Mcconnell seems to have to deal with the deficit, according to what he said on the campaign trail this weekend, is cutting, perhaps, entitlements. Right. And people certainly understand that, especially when you get into this doortodoor conversation so many volunteers are having. They really do understand that tax cuts, the ones that are passed and as they continue, are a back door way to get into cutting medicare and medicaid, social security. People really dont want to see it anymore. If they do get look, the biggest thing trump has is his platform. What im hearing youre saying is the best thing he can do is actually ignore republicans and come up with his own messaging. That gets cut through when you have those doortodoor conversations. Thats why were seeing this volunteer army that hasnt been activated since the Obama Campaign in 2008. This is even bigger now, of people saying we have to have these conversations and break through the noise. When voters hear this is going to be a back door cut to entitlements, they really do not want to keep those republicans in office. I will say for republicans who have been trying to sell this tax cut, josh holmes, a former mcconnell top guy, was quoted as saying that if the president doesnt say it, then nobody actually hears it. I think that helps explain what the president is trying to do here anyway. Emily, david, thanks to both of you. Thank you. Minnesota nice or not . What i found during my recent trip to the battleground state where many midterm candidates are toeing a fine line when it comes to President Trump. Y your. Y your. bicycle bell sound bicycle bell sound bicycle bell sound explore more with a guaranteed 4pm checkout at over 1,000 fine hotels and resorts. Its another way weve got your back. The Platinum Card from american express. Dont live life without it. 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I traveled to the land of 10,000 lakes where half of the congressional districts are up for grabs. The dynamics of trumps presidency are on full display. Reporter this Midterm Election isnt exactly minnesota nice. Another shady businessman whod make things worse. Reporter half of this midwestern states races in the critical battle for control of the house are up for grabs. In the minneapolis suburbs, Republican Congressman eric paul s paulsen is struggling to hang on. You didnt vote for President Trump. Correct. Reporter the fiveterm congressman won by double digits in 2016. Whether its president obama or President Trump, ive gotten things signed into law. Reporter now his opponent, dean phillips, is betting voters want Something Different this year. Ill say that theres the winds of change are blowing. Reporter phillips, a wealthy vodka salesman, drives around the district in this vintage milk truck. Made in 1960, the last time a democrat held this congressional seat. Why do you think that you have so much of a shot of winning this back after so many years . Im on a mission to build a bigger tent, celebrate the best of republican principles and democratic principles. Reporter the firsttime candidate inspired to run for office after President Trump won. What do you think of President Trump . Im disappointed in how he acts. I was frankly appalled by the outcome of that last election. Reporter if phillips wins, it will be because of swing voters like karen jensen, who plans to vote against paulsen, the republican. His aligning so much with the Trump Administration and that agenda. So that has kind of turned me off. Reporter while President Trump is hemorrhaging support in the suburban third district, its a different story in the rural eighth, just a few miles to the north. Stretching from the suburbs edge to the iron range. This is really a bluecollar, common sense, conservative district, hard working people. Reporter this open seat where a democrat is retiring is a rare chance for republicans to flip a district from blue to red. In our district, we feel very comfortable with what the president has been doing with his economic policies and what have you. Reporter republican pete is an excop and hockey player who nabbed President Trumps first midterm rally. Pete is a great guy. You got to get him a victory. Great guy. Reporter a rare bright spot for republicans in the midterms because this district is still trump country. He tends to be a little brash sometimes, but he gets things done, and when he says hes going to do something, he takes care of it. Joining me now to talk more about this is Minnesota Public Radio correspondent, former colleague of my at the associated press. Brian, great to have you. How exactly and why are all the dynamics at play in minnesota . Why are you the bell weather place that every strategist is pointing me to on Election Night . Youve really got two states. Youve got the inner twin cities area, which tends to be more swing country. Then you have the rural parts of the state, which have been trending more republican. There have been democratic congressmen representing several of those areas. So there are two retiring congressmen in those seats. Republicans feel strongly about those seats in greater minnesota. Inside the beltway, you have these races where theres been more suburban trend, where theyve been moving more democratic. The democrats feel very good about the chance of knocking off two republican incumbents. When you say inside the beltway, i assume you mean inside the minneapolisst. Paul beltway. Yeah, pretty much around the 494, 694 beltway, which is not the same at your beltway but still defines the outer bounds of the suburbs and the city area. Sure. And speaking of that area, President Trump actually tweeted today about eric paulsen, who was the first candidate we heard from in that piece. He said, erik paulsen has done a fantastic job in cutting taxes and job killing regulations. Is this helpful for erik paulsen in the environment there on the ground in minnesota . That just before midnight tweet caught a lot of people by surprise. There was a lot of excitement in the dean phillips camp about that. Theyve been trying to make the case that erik paulsen is closely aligned with President Trump. They were excited to see that President Trump endorsed paulsen. He gave a softer response, saying he wishes the president would support him on certain things but didnt necessarily say he was glad to have the endorsement. For his base voters, the base Republican Voters that he needs to come out, this could matter. It could also turn off a lot of these suburban independents like the ones you spoke with. I want to talk about some of the other races we have going on in minnesota. You also have two senate races, which is kind of an unusual situation because of the al franken resignation. At this point, are you expecting democrats to carry those seats easily, or whats the dynamic . Well, democrats have been up in both of those races. Amy klobuchar seems to be cruising toward at reelection. In the other race for that seat that al franken used to hold, tina smith, the appointed senator, is up slightly. The republicans think theres an outside chance that will close, but Amy Klobuchar is seen as someone who may be able to tug up other people on the ticket. Of course, we have a governors race and an attorney generals race thats really competitive this year in a way that it hasnt been in 50 years. Yeah, you know, im glad you raised that because thats keith ellison, the democrat, running for that attorney general slot. Obviously he has been dealing with allegations of domestic abuse. The latest poll we have out of there actually shows him down 36 to doug wardlows 43 , which is a switch from what we had been seeing before. Why do you think the polls have moved so much . Yeah, that was a 12point swing in our poll in just a months time. You know, this race is largely about keith ellison, whether people like keith ellison, whether they believe the allegations hes facing. People dont know his opponent that well. Doug wardlow still has a name recognition of about 40 , which is not a lot for a statewide candidate. People are making the decision about keith ellison. Thats where some democrats are nervous. His unfavorable ratings are pretty high. And he, of course, kind of gave up his seat in congress potentially to take this job. It does not seem to be working out so well. All right. Brian, thank you so much for being here today. Really appreciate it. Youre welcome. After another quick break, were off to another battleground state thats bucking the trend and the belief that people just dont vote in the midterms. The new Capital One Savor card. Earn 4 cash back on dining and 4 on entertainment. Now when you go out, you cash in. Whats in your wallet . Howdoing great dad r does this thing got . Looking good babe are you filming. At booking. Com, we cant guarantee youll be any good at that water jet thingy. But we can guarantee the best price on a hotel, like this one. Or any home, boat, treehouse, yurt, whatever. Get the best price on homes, hotels and so much more. Booking. Com, booking. Yeah ignition sequence starts. 10. 9. Guidance is internal. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. Midterm elections coming up soon obviously. A couple close races here in nevada, senate and governor. Hillary clinton won this state in 2016. What kind of impact can you make, do you think, in these races . Well, i had a little thing going on called a strike. This was my state all the way, but we had a big strike. Frankly, i think it was very close and now weve really connected, even more so, with nevada. Its just a special place. But dean heller is very, very important to the state. Were working very closely with him on so many different things. Hes very, very important to win. Early voting for the Midterm Elections is under way across the country, and republicans are outpacing democrats in a number of key states. But not in nevada, where voter turnout is breaking records. Republican incumbent senator dean heller holds a slight lead in the silver state. Democratic congresswoman jackie rosen is polling democratic congresswoman jackie rosen is pulling within the margin of error. Joining me from las vegas, nbcs steve patterson. Steve, what are the voter turnout patterns looking like so far . Is enthusiasm up and what is the sense of strategy on the ground as to whether the early voting number means as a whole they will be up or are they cannibalizing the election say vote . Enthusiasm is through the roof. Speaking to volunteers, they have not seen Something Like this in their lifetime. You look a time like 2014, last Midterm Election, only 27,000 people voted to this point. At this point now 70,000 people voted in the state of nevada. You want to look at a bellwether like clark county, 82,000 people, nearly two times or it is three times what it was in 2014. To answer your question, voter enthusiasm is through the roof. Theyre seeing patterns that will trend on into the election. Again, its still early, in early voting. Only about three days in. So well have to see as this race goes on. Just talking to voters in line, theyre charged up, theyre ready to vote for their candidate. And we have seen lines that are just out the door in places like this mall here in clark county. Send it back to you. Whats the roll latino voters are playing in early voting in nevada . Theres been handwashing about whether democrats will be excited to get out and vote for democrats and what role do the unions play there . The unions are trying to get out the vote. This is a big block of voters, about 20 of the population in nevada is latino. So talking to group like vote latino and people organizing rallies and strategies to get latino voters out, they say its working and effective and theyre starting to see more enthusiasm. I was in line for the president obama speech, working lines, talking to young latino voters. They say theyre enthusiastic but democrats are sweating this. This is a huge block of voters that normally register as democrats and in 2014, only about 27 of those registered actually went out to vote. This is something that we have seen a lot of strategists sweat over in the recent days and months. Well have to see if its paying off, all of the work thats being done on the ground. Lets talk briefly about the senate case in particular. President trumps job Approval Rating stands in nevada at 48 , 49 disapprove. Right now this is one of the rare kind of split senate delegations. Katherine cortez mastio, a democrat won in 2016. Dean heller, a republican often called the mostendangered republican. What is your state of mind on that place . I think republicans, particularly ones running in that senate race, dean heller as you mentioned as we have been talking about since this race has sort of really heated up, is the only gop senator across the country that is running in a state that went for Hillary Clinton in 2016. So i think its the reason why you see President Trump here fly in twice in two months with the same sort of playbook. He goes up on stage, he brings dean heller up on stage and as soon as heller sits down, he said you know what, if youre not going to vote for him, vote for me. I think thats the strategy thats has been employed by the gop. But if youre a republican, you can say the same thing about democrats. The former president has been here, former Vice President and first lady. I think its the ultimate tossup state, very purple state and its going to be within the margin of error. Thats what strategists we have been speaking to are saying about this race. Back to you. Nbc steve patterson, nevada. Thanks very much. Were going to have one more thing up after the break. There lots of people who are confused about which medicare plan is right for them. Hey, thats me. I barely know where to start. Well, start here with me, karen. Im a licensed humana sales agent. Well, its nice to meet you, karen. Im john smith. Hi, john. At humana, we know youre unique. So you have different needs from other john smiths. Yah, ive always thought so. And together, we can find a plan thats right for you. Great i go to the doctor a couple of times a year. And i have some prescriptions. But im never fully sure of whats covered and whats not. With humanas allinone Medicare Advantage plans, you get coverage for hospital stays, doctor visits, and part d Prescription Drug benefits. All for an affordable, and sometimes, no monthly plan premium. Do you have any more information . Sure. Ill get a decision guide in the mail to you today. Theyre free. Finally. Someone who understands the real me. Your health and happiness is important to us. Call or go online now to get your free decision guide. Call a licensed humana sales agent today. Meet the ninja foodi, the Pressure Cooker that crisps, with the best of pressure cooking and air frying all in one. With our tendercrisp technology, you can quickly cook food, juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside. Go from fresh to deliciously done in half the time. Which means it may become the only thing you use in your kitchen. tapping for cooking, at least. upbeat music the ninja foodi, with tendercrisp, the cooking while parenting technology. One more thing before we go. The New York Times is out with a piece focusing on the rampant and mostly untold story of pregnancy discrimination in america, specifically inside some of our countrys largest corporations. Corporations that have the means to accommodate these women but largely refuse. And the physical toll includes, in many cases, miscarriages. And while easing the physical load for employees is a difficult issue, the trends that appear and reappear are about how women are perceived and what theyre paid. A 2014 analysis from the university of massachusetts found each child a woman has chops 4 off of her hourly wages. Mens earnings, meanwhile, increase by 6 when they become fathers. As the piece points out, quote, plenty of women decide to step back from their careers after becoming mothers. Some want to devote themselves to parenthood. Others lack affordable childcare. But for those who want to keep working at the same level, getting pregnant and having a child often deals them an involuntary setback. Regulators say many women rarely file complaints because they cannot afford an attorney. They dont recognize discrimination unless its blatant or fear retaliation. The tide, though, is turning. Women are frankly over it and were fighting back. According to the equal opportunity employment commission, the number of discrimination cases filed annually has been steadily rising for two decades and is hovering near an alltime high. But lawsuits arent going to be the final fix and changing policy isnt going to be the whole fix either. A study conducted by a stanford socialologist presented hundreds of real world hiring managers with two resumes from equally qualified women. Half of them signaled the candidate had a child. The managers, get this, were twice as likely to call the apparently childless woman back for an interview. The study calls it the motherhood penalty. Most working women in america call it reality. In short, to change how expectant mothers are treated in the workplace, you have to change ho theyre looked at in the workplace and as a whole. To read the personal stories of women who have been fighting against this discrimination, check out my twitter at casey. That wraps it up for me. Im casey hunt in for my friend, katy tur. Ali velshi picks things up right now. Im going to retweet that because the unconscious plays a conscious role to the fact we dont realize the degree we discriminate against expectant mothers versus mothers with Young Children versus applicants who dont have Young Children or those obligations. In my world, let me tell you, i would give a job to a mother any day because they seem to be able to get it done more than the rest of we can. They have to. Thank you. Im ali velshi. Trump settles on fears and falsehoods as a midterm strategy. Thats the head loin from the Washington Post with 14 days to go until the Midterm Election. The president appears to be relying on the rhetoric that won him the presidency in 2016 to help prop up american candidates across the country. Heres what he said last hour