Here at kasie dc. If youve watched the show over the last year, we live and breathe the Midterm Elections. At this time tuesday, the first polls will be close. At this hour, the president is to speak in tennessee. Weve never known more about our politics and in some ways never known less about whats about to happen. People everywhere will try to see within the outcome just how tribal our politics are. And wonder whether Candidates Campaign as themselves without the shadow of the president hanging over them. It comes with converging forces. A controversial president who has transformed his party and who is watching his popularity rise after confirming his Second Supreme Court justice. A booming economy. But with massive growing debt and storm clouds on the horizon. Already nearly 35 Million People have voted. In some major counties in texas, theyre showing up at pace nearly even with the 2016 president ial election. In some places like georgia and north dakota, there are shadows of doubt surrounding the most american of activities. Voting. We also have brandnew polling from nbc news and the wall street journal showing 59 of americans want serious change to the direction the president has been leading the country. And 40 a plurality say their vote is intended to show opposition. And yet in the wake of the 2016 elections, no one can be sure just who is going to cast a ballot and who is going to stay home. If you need further proof that we are on the brink of electio s, reporters are standing on tractors. Vaughn hillyard, call your mom with that. With me, White House Reporter jonathan lemere, nbc news contributor dave wasserman. And in washington, correspondent for pbs news hour contributor yamiche alsindor. Thank you for being here to kick off whats going to be an historic week. Dave wasserman, you live and breathe specifically races in the house of representatives which is going to be our big story on tuesday night. Whether or not democrats will take control. And if so, how wide that is margin going to be . And my first question for you is, make us a little smarter. What are you looking for right now that perhaps weve missed in all of this . I think fundamentally a couple things have happened in the last month or so. Weve seen the Enthusiasm Gap narrow for democrats as republicans have come home. Surprise, it turns out that these cultural touchstones like the Migrant Caravan and the kavanaugh fight are better suited for motivating the trump base than tax cuts, which fell flat in a lot of the special elections earlier this year. But at the same time, republicans are really freaking out about independent voters. They think that theyre going for democrats by as big a margin as perhaps they would for them in 2006 or how they went for republicans in 2010 the last two times the house flipped control. And were seeing a lot of these races in middle class suburbs. In addition to the upscale suburbs finally start to break towards democrats. Places like the detroit suburbs. Des moines, iowa. The outer suburbs of chicago where districts are suddenly in more jeopardy. Jonathan lemire, youll be with President Trump in the final stretch of the campaign. How would you say that the white house is feeling right now about how the president has handled the last couple of weeks and the outcome they may be headed for. Ill be with part of the press pool tomorrow travel with the prot air force one as he completes the campaign blitz. Ohio, indiana and missouri tomorrow. He, today said what the white house has been privately saying for a while. They feel pretty good about the senate. They feel the republicans will be able to keep that. They might even pick up a seat or two is their hope and expectation. Theyre distancing themselves. The president has started to distance themselves from the result they expect to get in the house. He told us two weeks ago, we asked if hed bear any responsibility if the republicans were to lose the house. Would he take that moment like president obama did and said it was a shellacking. He made it clear he would not. That was not going to be his move whatsoever. And then today he sort of suggested. And the Campaign Travel schedule has borne this out. Hes been barnstorming a handful of governors races but theres a growing resignation in the west ring fd for the president himself suggesting that well do okay in the house but really the senate has been my game. Thats where i think well do well. Expect him if the republicans hang on to that chamber, he will be happy to take all the credit. The strategy that hes running in the Senate States has the complete opposite impact in des moines and chicago and all these places. Yamish what role do, you know, the turnout among women and minorities in particular play here . What are we seeing in some of those numbers that could suggest that, you know, this may be a blue wave for democrats or are we potentially seeing the opposite . Well, right now its really all about turnout. Ive been doing stories in West Virginia in Orange County in california and in florida. All the democrats that i talk to say theyre pushing hard for young people to come out, for people of color to come out. In florida for those newly arrived Puerto Ricans who came after Hurricane Maria to come out and vote for democrats. They are hoping that if we see a large number of people turning out and we see large numbers in places like georgia, that will mean democrats are doing well. I have spoken to pollsters who havent seen the evidence of the blue wave because a lot of people voting early are also republicans. Theres this idea that, yes, theres a lot of people who say they prefer democrats, like the poll you just put up. They prefer democrats to be in control of the house but this idea that the people most reliably to turn out are still older voters, still white voters in a lot place ofs. In a place like florida, the people voting early are usually older retired people and thats making that person nervous. Our new nbc news wall street journal poll shows democrats with a sevenpoint lead on the generic congressional ballot. Thats a slight improvement from nine weeks ago when they had a ninepoint advantaging. Top republicans have been telling us all year that the generic needs to be at democrats plus four to democrats plus six for republicans to have any chance of holding on to the house. Meanwhile, a new poll from the Washington Post and abc news shows that 78 of voters say health care is an important issue for them when it comes to their vote. According to that poll, the economy reducing divisions between people and groups, immigration, taxes and Border Security will also loom large in voters minds come tuesday. As i mentioned before, i spent my week in different states across the country asking voters and candidates what matters to them. Take a look. Whats your top issue in the Midterm Elections . Health care coverage. Corruption. Health care is another big one. Health care is huge. Thats huge. The top issue is health care. Whats the issue top of mind for you . Well, the immigration for one thing. I think right now thats the hotbutton is immigration. Immigration. Government accountability. Is it immigration or health care . I think overwhelmingly, its health care. So you saw there a little bit of a split between i want to we didnt tell our viewers who or which party any of those voters came from, but i have to say that even among republicans, and you saw republican candidate there david young of iowa. When i asked him the top issue, he did not say immigration, which, if you listen to the president , you might expect a republican candidate to say. Instead he pivoted away and said government accountability. That said perhaps the corruption message is breaking through a little bit for democrats. But i have to say, health care seemed to Cross Party Lines as an issue of concern. Yeah, absolutely. You found this in your travels. But we spend, with all due respect to this network, we spend a lot of time talking about trumps latest tweets. Thats not what Democratic Candidates have gained traction on this cycle. Theyve gained traction on talking about preexisting conditions and the republican efforts to repeal the aca. Theres an added element of tariffs, too. On trade, david young, that republican congressman, has been at odds with President Trump on tariffs. In a district that produces a lot of corn, soybeans and pork. And yet, all democrats have to do is say that hes voted with President Trump x percent of the time, over 90 of the time and those Democratic Candidates are tending to break through. Right now it looks like hes going to lose. Jonathan lemire, jump in. But yet thats not what were hearing from the white house. The president has made it clear that immigration is his closing argument. He feels like that is what carried him over the finish line in 2016. He thinks that can happen now for the republicans in 2018. And its day after day of just throwing stuff up against the wall. The latest sort of dramatic escalation of this hardline immigration policy, whether its suggesting he might send 15,000 troops to the border, whether its describing the caravan as full of terrorists, you know, to perhaps even revoking birthright citizenship. Day after day. That includes not just proposals but rhetoric. He promoted this ad this week with the guy convicted of killing two Police Officers in california. An ad that were not going to show. It can only be described as racist. He promoted it on his twitter page. And the campaign it was put out on the web and then the campaign, Donald TrumpsReelection Campaign put out a version of itself as well for television broadcast. Thats where hes doubled down on that concept. He believes thats going to push them over and maybe it will play in the senate. Its these red states, trump states where theyre up for election. Less so in the suburban house districts. Have you seen it galvanize the suburban house districts . Theres mixed evidence. Were seeing some comebacks and consolidation. Some have been targets all year. Downstate illinois, the iron range, lexington, kentucky, perhaps, but in northern maine, a district that trump broke through in in 2016 and carried that lone Electoral College vote. Hes still in trouble against a veteran named jerod golden. Races are breaking in strange ways and i think that produces a wide range of possible outcomes, but i think the most likely outcome is democrats gaining the house. Weve been trying to put our fing or what is driving interest for candidates and voters. I was in tennessee and spoke with Democratic Senate candidate bredesen. He said this is what his voters care about most. What issue is most important to tennessee voters . Immigration or health care . I think overwhelmingly, its health care. You know, by the nature of my campaign, ive talked to a lot of people who voted for donald trump. He won the state by 26 points. And the number of times that Health Care Comes up in discussions compared to immigration, it has to be 50 to 1. And then theres republican scott walker who is asking wisconsin voters to give him a third term as governor. Listen to what he had to say when i asked him about immigration policy. The president is closing out the Midterm Campaign broadly with an ad that features a mexican who he says killed americans. He ties it to democrats and the Migrant Caravan. Do you think that tone at the close of this race is going to help your campaign . The focus for us here in wisconsin is on our message to the voters which is weve come a long way together. Weve turned this state around. Weve got more people working than ever before. Put more money, more dollars into schools than before. Weve tackled the problems with health care. We did it while still protecting people with preexisting conditions. That was a remarkable exercise in not answering the question and pivot away to an issue that any issue other than immigration. I think the other thing thats really interesting there is its also an exercise in taking credit for preexisting conditions which was at one point a democratic rallying cry. They had to make sure people with preexisting conditions, including people with diabetes or people who are just women dont have to pay more for health insurance. If i have to go back to my own reporting i think about an emt worker i spoke to. Hes a republican living in West Virginia and is voting for the democratic candidate. And he told me as someone who literally works in an ambulance every day, he cant afford health care and knows only eight hours in a hospital would wreck his family for months. There are a lot of people that i talk to who said health care is such a personal thing for them and something they now think that democrats can just do better because of the Affordable Care act. Its now popular and people want these things covered. As a result you see even republicans like scott walker saying even though we dont like we dont want to talk about obamacare or Affordable Care act, we want to talk about this preexisting conditions. Well definitely protect that for you. I am just stunned at how the rhetoric on preexisting conditions has changed since i first started covering republicans on repeal and replace obamacare. Now its immediately, i have a family with preexisting conditions. Its been a remarkable switch for republicans. Were just Getting Started tonight. Later well be joined by dnc chairman tom perez, congressman carbella, Steve Kornacki and jake sherman and so many more. Plus well look at two pickup opportunities for democrats. More on my interview with phil bredesen. I asked him 20 straight questions about taylor swift, obviously. And jackie rosen tries to unseat dean heller in nevada. Were back after this. 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She campaigned in prescott today and its going to be these steps she campaigns tomorrow night in her last event before polls open on tuesday. Vaughn hillyard there in prescott, arizona, covering a senate race getting its fair share of national attention. But it is nothing compared to what weve seen in texas. Beto orourke and ted cruz have been crisscrossing the state ahead of election day. Like in so many races across the country, the issue of immigration has been a constant source of tension. Garrett haake has been all over the great state of texas covering ted cruz and beto orourke and joins me now live. Garrett, i watched you on meet the press this morning answering chuck todds question and i want to share with our viewers a little bit of the flavor that you offered from the ground in texas. Everyone is just wondering, is this beto thing a fad, an obsession that matters more in los angeles and new york, or does he really have a shot at winning in texas . Well, i guess well know if its a fad by wednesday morning but it certainly feels like a real thing on the ground. Ive been calling this the beto paradox. Its keeping me awake at night. I cannot square what i see in the polls which say consistent lead for ted cruz across all the polling in this race with what i see on the ground in terms of enthusiasm and energy for beto orourke. I dont want to overstate this but it really does feel like covering a president ial campaign. Hell have crowds in the high hundreds, low thousands at some of these events. A crowd in austin today of several thousand. And they really do treat him like a rock star. He has to be dragged back and forth sometimes from the car by an aide to make sure he can move through the crowd. That enthusiasm