Page 720 - Midterm News Today

>> well, i think we have to break down a little bit whats happening here. what happened for weeks and weeks, republicans saw this huge enthusiasm gap in their midterm polling and you would talk to republican pollsters and they would say theres a 12-point gap in how excited democrats are to vote and how excited rinse are to vote. that was not a good thing. they were concerned about it. the kavanaugh confirmation fight started happening and they saw that gap close up and we got to sort of an equal...

Nikki haleys decision to make this announcement today. some of those officials learned of this impending announcement based on the questions that reporters like us were asking after "axios" crossed that story in just the last hour, and there was some consternation that this development would come so close to the midterm, a period in which the white house has been trying to avoid any and all distractions. i think the way it was handled certainly works to the presidents benefit. at least in the sh...

I can tell you there were a lot of folks who werent the only ones, stef, who were surprised here within the trump administration and, frankly, on capitol hill. they didnt see this coming. they certainly didnt see it coming exactly four weeks until the midterm. there was some surprise and some disappointment as well. in terms of what happens next, nikki haley is a rising star within the republican party. her political ambitions have been talked about broadly. will she seek some higher office even...

Up for this midterm. one thing different about taylor swift that has captured interests, is she comes from graphics that do not vote for democrats. she started out as a country star, grew up in tennessee. so for her to say she has an issue with this administration, i think will capture the attention of some of her fans who dont pay attention to some of those issues as much. >> what do you decide? youre so grown up -- im kidding. i look like you know a lot more than you say even here. is this som...

That inflection point? where were you at that moment? >> joining our discussion now is cecile richards, former president of planned parenthood. and this is really one of those moments that can turn an election. but its that political challenge of changing the emotion of disappointment into the energy of victory, which we saw happen after the clarence thomas hearings. >> yes, and i think were seeing that, too. i feel like this weekend women mourned and now they are ready to get busy about this el...

If you ever watched this particular news show you may know polls rarely make it as our top story, but we rarely see polls like this. take a look. this is the data rattling the white house tonight. a new poll showing democrats surging to a 13-point lead over republicans in the generic house ballot. this from cnn. its the largest democratic margin in any midterm polling since 2006, which is when the dems won the house and voted in the first woman speaker in u.s. history. gender no accident here. t...

>> well, its hard to tell right away, of course, chris. and of course dozens of things are going to happen between now. >> yeah, great point. >> and the election. although i got to tell you, early voting here starts in 12 days. were going have a lot more information then. its interesting, though. you frame this as the vote that could cost dean heller his senate race. he thinks its going to save him. and let me tell you what i mean by that. he has been all in for kavanaugh. he met with kavanaugh....

Calculation here, chris in a midterm with turnout down from what it would be in a presidential election, its going to be a base election. the base loves donald trump. >> right. >> he is all in. now its hard to believe that he actually believes any of this based on his entire career, and based on the fact that a couple of years ago he was saying im 99% against trump. but he has decided this is his path to victory to be all in on kavanaugh, all in with trump. >> you know, it always fascinates me w...

Seen were just the ones speaking in the white house, both trump and kavanaugh. they are the elite white men. why not change the subject from that and talk about how its only other people who are bringing violence and fear to us. >> this observation, jason. its a striking interview any n which the gop governs is only interested in 47% of the country in which point the structural advantages could a lou to it have supermajorities in congress, and theyre also bank thong enthusiasm gap they relied on...

Theyre waiting your table, theyre your casino pit bosses, whatever, theyre all over the place. then you have the rural mormon lds culture out there. how do you measure one against the other? big city vegas crowd, a lot of union workers are women on the left sort of in terms of practicality. then you have the quiet more mormon crowd, whats the power? >> its interesting. >> go ahead, how do you get both? >> youve talked to all these folks, youve been in the casinos. that vote is crucial. the culin...