Transcripts For MSNBCW The Cycle 20141103 : vimarsana.com

States where republicans can pick up the seats to get a majority or even more comfortable majority are places like iowa, colorado, places traditionally politically competitive. None of these are really reaches for republicans in the way states they have won senate races for in the last few years. Massachusetts, wisconsin, somewhat more democratleaning states theyve won in the past. Basically, republicans have a Home Field Advantage here. And if they win, it will be in part a reflection of that Home Field Advantage. Chuck, same question to you. We think republicans will make significant gains tomorrow. But its not a wave election, you say. Why is that . It doesnt look like a wave election right now. Doesnt mean it doesnt end up that way. If New Hampshire and North Carolina are both going to republicans and scott walker rick, scott, all the close governors races tip to the republicans, then you have to say, thats a wave. Thats going to happen. The problem is when you look at our final nbc news wall street journal poll, that isnt there. The Voter Sentiment isnt there. Wave elections usually have higher turnout. Well have lower turnout. They usually have independents engaged. We dont have that. Wave elections usually have one party with a fullfledged advantage over the other one on enthusiasm, on some of it. Thats not there either. You know, i think republicans are trying to will a wave. If they dont win, they have a lot of soul searching to do but democrats are more engaged than i think we all thought if this were a wave election. Every close race could tip to republicans. You cant take that away from them. They still have, it sounds like, soul searching to do. Josh, they could very well win tomorrow but it doesnt mean republicans are winning. Upshot, a site you might have heard of, they give the gop a 70 chance tomorrow. Interesting, you compare that to our latest i think its important to put this into perspective because well be talking about 2016 by wednesday morning, the implication the midterms will have. That being said, i think the republicans still have an uphill battle. Everybodys numbers are bad right now. The Republican Partys numbers are bad, the president s numbers are bad. And it was, you know, the president said it himself earlier in the campaign, much to the chagrin of Many Democrats running in red states. He said my policies are on the ballot. The president is at a low for popularity and republicans are in a good position to run against him. The question is, what will what are republicans going to stand for in addition to standing against something that is unpopular. Thats something very much unresolved within the party. And theres been a sense politically in congress that being for something is dangerous because then you can be attacked, especially the big budgetary ideas republicans have, reforming entitlement programs. They know theyll face tax over those sort of things. Its safer to stand on the ground of opposing the president. There has to be positive agenda and they havent reached on that agenda. Youve been out in the field, chuck. Some nonincumbent republicans have said their agenda is productivity, something they know their party is criticized. Lets take a listen to your interview with tom tillis in North Carolina. We have to produce results. We have to go into Congress Next year and produce results. Send bills to the president s desk that are going to create bills. Stop the log jam. When you look at this polling we have in your new poll that you oversee, the enthusiasm here in late october compared to last midterms, down for republicans but up among africanamerican voters, even from, you know, even from the last time. Amazingly. And i wonder in the North Carolina example, we talked about the ethics of some of these voter i. D. And Voter Suppression issues. I think uniquely North Carolina is one of the rare places where you have a Democratic Campaign there, kay hagan, a classic case in politics. You dont want a referendum. You want a choice. She created a choice, tillis. Obviously, republicans have been trying to make all democratic incumbents the face of washington, democrats they dont like. But she had voters have a choice. It was a way she at least had a message to talk to particularly africanamerican voters. Moral mondays were a big deal down there in raleigh. You compare that to mark pryor or Mary Landrieu who havent had the same state issue they vaeptd been able to rally africanamericans around. North carolina its been a unique thing. If kay hagan wins, its a reminder, campaigns remember, your job as a candidate, have you to create the environment. I think where people cant bring thoemsz say with a straight face, this might be the most important election of your lifetime. Right. The election is not unimportant. There will be particularly effects on judicial nominations. Really this congress is not going to do a whole lot regardless of who has the majority in the senate. I think at the state level you really are seeing a lot of very spirited races with very heavy policy content. Because of what you described. You had a wave election in 2010. You have some states like kansas, for example, where you had a conservative breed of republicans really take full control in the state for the first time ever. They did a huge tax cut, bigger than they thought it was going to be, that has, you know, had enormous effects on the state budget and what the government does. This election is really a referendum on that. A democratic candidate, paul davis, running with the support of a substantial number of moderate republican who is have been basically boxed out of the Republican Party in kansas. And the question is about what kind of government do we want to have . Do we want to have a drastically smaller one or not . And then you see a lot of embattled incumbents in both Political Parties in governors races all over the country. I think reflecting the general discontent with the economy. Its better than it was but people still feel like performance is underwhelming and likely to punish both republicans and democrats for that. I want you to wax poet when we talk about ballot initiatives. A lot of things on the ballot including marijuana legalization. In d. C. Of all places. What do you think is the sort of symbolic import of marijuana becoming legal in the Nations Capital . Well, i guess theres going to be youre going to wonder, are they still going to do drug testing of the west wing staffers . There is a mandatory drug testing for those guys. That was a big deal in the 90s. Im curious, if it doesnt its going to pass in d. C. Oregons might be close. You know, its one of those things that if it doesnt pass there, then you might see a slowdown in the movement in various places. I also think its going to pass in alaska. Alaskans are very libertarian minded. Those two places it will pass. Oregon, of all the marijuana tests, i feel like oregon is the one, lets see if they go and do it, too. If they do, then i think youll see three or four more in 16. We might get up to near ten states by the end of 16. Do you think the changed landscape for Campaign Finance has had a big impact . Talk about North Carolina spending more money than any senate race ever has . Kentucky also, very expensive. Other states. What do you think of the impact of that . First of all, its remarkable. Well have a more expensive midterm than we did in 2010. Theres not a single major race in california. You had meg whitman in 2010. There were a couple of major texas governors race, theres been some money spent but not the same in florida. New york was more of a competitive race at the time. Cuomo had to spend real money. We have more money spent than ever before in this midterm and none in california, no major races in new york. Only half of a major race in texas. Its even more rashgable. Do you realize the saturation levels of what washgs if you were to saturate california in the same way iowa has been saturated, it would cost you 1 billion. Just in california to do that. Wow. These are all national whats interesting is, when i would talk to these republican candidates, and id say, you know, about the money, we talk about issues but then afterwards i would say, they all complained about the outside money, too. Im wondering if some of these guys if the candidates themselves, you see a Bipartisan Coalition of maybe guys that won but feel as if their reputation is in the tatters because every winner comes into office with an unfavorable rating higher than the favorable rating. Isnt that where Campaign Finance moves . If its not ideological, they say its lifestyle and control, they say theyre losing control of their message First Amendment is the First Amendment. I think the move is going to be get the money into the parties. You know, get the money into the parties, raise the limits on the campaigns themselves. Nascar it up in some form or another, where anybody that gives you more than 100 grand you have to say their name on television. Do whatever it is. Dark money. You know nascar is up. Truth in advertising. Its the only way because of the Supreme Court did what it did, i think you might see bipartisan people are tired of the reputation being in tatters. Nascar it up. Mr. Meet the press and mr. New york times, thank you, guys. Up next, the group trying to make it easier to vote. Wouldnt that be nice. Countdown to the midterms is on. The cycle rolls on. Old el paso frozen entrees. In freezers near you for medicare. The annual Enrollment Period is now open. Now is the time to find the coverage thats right for you. At the right price. The way to do that is to explore your options. You can spend hours doing that yourself. Or you can call healthmarkets. And let us do the legwork for you with no cost or obligation. Well search a variety of plans from nationally recognized companies to find the coverage thats the best fit for you. At a price that fits your budget. And well do it at no charge to you. You can talk to us over the phone. 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No, ill use citi mobile. It takes two seconds, better safe than sorry, right . Yeah, who knows if well even get service on the island . What no service . Seriously . You guys might actually have to talk. To each other . We do it all the time. I like it. Should we . No. Bank from almost anywhere with the citi mobile app. To learn more, visit citi. Com easierbanking heading into stock markets midterms a majority of americans are now actually following the action closely. Democrats expressing high levels of interest has surged in the past two weeks putting it roughly in line right now with the republicans. A little bright spot there for the dems. Now they have to get all those people to the polls. The Pew Charitable trust is on a mission to make it easier for every american to be able to cast a ballot from updating voter rolls to rebooting outdated technology. They enlisted pretty big names like facebook, amazon and tumblr to help out. Joining success david becker, director of electric trorate initiative at pew. Youre working on something called eric. If youre worried about election integrity, which a lot of folks profess to be worried about election integrity, this would be an effective way to did. Tell us what it does and how receptive politicians have been to implementing this technology. Its one of the greatest Untold Stories of the election season. While people are concerned about the divisive issues. There are Bipartisan Group who have banded together to try to solve problems of election, voting rolls, which are highly inaccurate because people are moving a lot in the United States. One in eight records is out of date and one in four eligible americans isnt on the rolls. A Bipartisan Group of states, have banded together to try to build a data center. Weve helped them do that the at pew where they can find people who have moved so those people can be identified as having their correct address so Election Officials can reach out to them with the correct information and also identify citizens who live in those states who arent yet registered to vote and ease their path to registration so they can get registered easily using things like online Voter Registration in those states. Anybody trying to make it easier to vote, i love. I love you already. But youve got an app thats supposed to make it easier to know where you vote and what the issues are. That is really valuable. Has the problem the problem really been lack of access to information . Hasnt it really been apathy and logistics and folks not feeling like sort of voting is important enough to make those logistics come together for them . Isnt that the real problem . Sure. There are a variety of things that impact any election. I think as you correctly point out, you know, in a president ial election about 60 of eligible voters turn out. But tomorrow only about 2 out of 5 eligible voters is going to turn out to vote. There are a variety of things that can impact that. One thing we know from our research is people are looking for information, basic information, on the election process. Where do i vote . Whats on my ballot. They want it in the way theyre used to looking for this information, on the smartphones, internet devices. So, if they go someplace to get to the polls. Com a partnership weve been engaged in with google and facebook and wordpress and a lot of other Internet Companies to get information, where do i vote, get direction to your polling place, find out basic information about whats on your ballot. Will be there, easy to find. Even as youre driving to the polling place tomorrow on election day. You mentioned online voter reg. Weve seen some spikes on that. Weve got one shot there from colorado. And weve got a jump here from 2 to 20 states. You see the colorado example. It helps people get registered. Now 2 to 20 states doing it. Tell us about that. Online registration is a rare winwin in governments. Its much more efficient and convenient for the voter themselves, but it also leads to more accurate lists because people are directly inputting their information electronically into the system. Election workers dont need to decipher legible handwriting and process all that paper. As you noted from that chart, theres so much activity coming in right before the election. Its very, very difficult for human beings to process all of that information. Online Voter Registration not only leads to more accurate rolls, more convenience for the voters but a lot of cost savings as well. Would it help in a place like georgia where weve been covering the missing registrations . Georgia has online Voter Registration. They launched it this summer. One of the things i dont think has been done in georgia as effectively as some states Like Washington and nevada, for example, is where thirdparty groups trying to register voters partner with Election Officials to make sure as many people use the Online System to reduce the amount of paper registration activity. Interesting. Toure hit on this. I think a lot of people out there that say, even if im informed and i care about the issues, my vote doesnt even make a difference anyway. In large part because of big money in politics but also because of gerrymandering when you have districts that are a solid red or solid blue. Jon stewart explains gerrymandering better than anyone. Considered the most gerrymandered district. This is marrying the puerto rican part with the northern part of chicago with the southern part of chicago. The problem is you have a whole Africanamerican Community in the middle. Have you to go out and around it. David, you really cant make some of these lines up. If anyone is wondering why the jop primary has become so extreme on the National Level its because of things like gerrymandering. You have a few states that have an independent commission that decide the lines. What needs to be done, though, on a National Level so that it actually feels more like a democracy . This is something that can really seem to disincentivize voters from participating but one thing we need to remember well, the pen is mightier than the sword. The vote is mightier than the redistricting wave. The republican gerrymanders in the 2000s didnt prevent the democratic wave in 2006. If people use the information at their fingertips, get out to the poll, they find they can effect change. If three of five sit out the election in any federal Election Year its difficult to overcome those national impediments like the gerrymandered redistricting lines. Thank you so much. Up next, something that could have an impact on the turnout the weather, of course. It has been downright chilly. Luckily our friend always heats things up with his forecast. Plus, the windy city was no match for this man, nik walle a wallenda, joins us on the cycle to talk about his walk into the history books. It was crazy. Theres confidence. Then theres trusting your vehicle maintenance to ford service confidence. Our expertise, technology, and high quality parts means your peace of mind. Its no wonder last year we sold over three million tires. And during the big tire event, get up to 140 in mailin rebates on four select tires. Having a perfectly nice day, when out of nowhere a pickup truck slams into your brand new car. One second it wasnt there and the next second. Boom youve had your first accident. Now you have to make your first claim. So you talk to your Insurance Company and. Boom youre blindsided for a second time. They wont give you enough money to replace your brand new car. Dont those people know youre already shaken up . 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Weather will not be a negative factor. Weather will be quiet across much of the country tomorrow. Even right now, were dealing with quiet weather across much of the country, including the northeast. Lets get to the maps and show you guys. Were enjoying a nice break. It was a wild weekend. We had snow in the southeast and a frigid temperature in portions of new england with snow as well. That storm is gone. Now were left with High Pressure building in for the northeast. We have one problem here, though. You can see we have a cold front draped across the center of the country. Rain extending from the southwest right up to the canadian border. Dry in florida. Lets take a look at your election day forecast. Again, you see lots of sunshine on the map. Those icons mean good weather news there for places like new york city, boston. Temperatures well above average. Near 70 in d. C. Beautiful weather extends down to florida. Miami, 80 degrees. This is the trouble spot right here, places like chicago, maybe into dallas, arkansas, texas could see maybe even some strong to severe thunderstorms for the afternoon. So, this is our trouble spot across the middle of the country. Then it clears out nicely. Denver, beautiful voting weather there, 58 degrees and sunshine. Even the southwest looks great, california, arizona. Seattle stays rainy tomorrow, 59 degrees and showers in the northwest. Thats another area where weather may put a damper on voting there. New york city extended forecast, mild tomorrow. Stays mild through wednesday. Then the rain finally gets to the northeast. Thursday could be a bit of a washout. And then gets colder again as we head into the weekend. Chilly temperatures over the weekend are coming back just in time for next weekend. Most importantly, tomorrow is beautiful. Thank you so much for that update. Cycling right now, stop me if youve heard that line before, its high stakes today at the Supreme Court. This morning it was not obamacare or Marriage Equality but one word with major Foreign Policy implications. Justices heard oral arguments on whether the birth place on passports to americans born in jerusalem should be allowed to include israel since israels founding in 1948 u. S. Has maintained the position that no country has sovereignty over jerusalem until thats negotiated in a mid east peace deal. Thats just another complication to those efforts. Pete Williams Joins us from washington to help break this down. Pete, whats the latest on this. The lawsuit was brought by the parents of a boy that was born in jerusalem. The parents are both americans. Hes a u. S. Citizen. All his passport he wanted to have the word israel on his passport. Congress passed a law in 2002 in cases where the parents want the passport to say israel, it must. The federal government has never done it and the question is, is that law passed by Congress Constitutional . Yes, say the lawyers for the family. They say congress has the power over naturalization, over controlling who comes into the country. So, therefore, they have the passport control. The Obama Administration says, no, thats the president s decision. He, after all, decides which foreign ambassadors are received. The fact is, the constitution isnt clear about who has the ultimate control over what a passport says. So, the second question, once you get past the constitutionality is, is this really a Foreign Policy fight . The lawyers say, no its just whats said on the passport. Just says where you were born. The Obama Administration says, oh, yes, this whole question of jerusalem and israel, who it belongs to is a vexing and thirdrail issue. Justice kennedy seemed to be looking for some third way out by saying that couldnt you say israel on the passport but then put a sclamer that says, even though we put israel on the passport, doesnt mean either congress or the u. S. Has decided who really controls israel. It seemed to divide the liberals and conservatives on the court. There wasnt a clearance to this today. Interesting stuff. Pete williams, thank you so much. For more on the Foreign Policy implications of todays hearing, lets bring in marc ginsberg, former white house middle east ambassador in morocco. Ambassador, great to have you. Great to be with you. Help us understand the stakes of this case. I think its worth pointing out that its not just the Obama Administration that has defended the current policy of putting jerusalem on the passport, but also the bush administration. So, this isnt a partisan issue. President s from both parties think this is important in terms of the Israeli Palestinian relationship. Help us understand the broader power of dynamics here. Indeed, this comes down as Pete Williams said, this is one of those classic constitutional issues that probably are argued or presented on bar exams. But the bottom line is that jerusalem has been since the founding of the state of israel a city that has not been recognized as the capital by the United States. And yet congress has passed several laws, not just the law governing passports, and israel, but also requiring that the embassy, which is now based in tel aviv, be moved to jerusalem. But there was a president ial waiver which, in effect, permitted the president to not implement the law for a variety of circumstances. So, the Embassy Remains in tel aviv. And, indeed, this is another one of those laws passed by congress that the president , whether its bush or obama, have argued infringe on the president s right to conduct Foreign Policy. Yeah, i mean, from the reporting it sounds like the oral arguments this morning were fascinating and delved into issues of whether the passport is a communication on behalf of the u. S. Government, who speaks for the u. S. Government, congress or the president . A lot of interesting questions. And yet this whole thing is so pathetic in that i think it reflects the fact that we have a congress under both parties that has these overwhelming votes to show solidarity with israel, which can be fine. Its an important ally. But then delves into some of these issues in a way that is purely politics. And we all understand theres a lot of politics in congress but it does not help something as thorny as these middle east peace negotiations to have a congress that wants to do anything it can to say, well, this helps israel, so its ip sipso facto, too. Im reminded of one more thing, when rand paul said he was against all foreign aid at one point in time, or at least proposed cutting it. All the American Media covered it is hell cut aid to israel. That idea was ridiculous because it was so expansive. Not only because it hit an ally. Can you help us understand why these debates against frozen along whos the biggest best friend of israel ever in congress while president s actually try to do the work of diplomacy . Indeed, and you hit the nail on the head. The fact is put into context of where we are right now, just today theres huge confrontations in jerusalem between muslims and israelis over the mount. The israelis shut the temple mount, the site of the noble sanctuary and the western wall because of confrontations. The israelis have been building new construction in east jerusalem. The backdrop of this court case is what essentially has been a major problem. Not just for the United States but also for jordan and other countries in the region. You cant talk about any of this without really mentioning the relationship between Prime Minister netanyahu and president obama, or the relationship lack thereof. There was a comment last week, ambassador, im sure you heard from an unnamed obama aide calling the Prime Minister a name i will not repeat on this program, which seems to be the latest in the saga of their relationship. Which gets to the question of, how can we really get to any sort of peace in the middle east if you dont have our key alliance, the u. S. And israel, actually working together . Its a same because, krystal, the fact of the matter is right now you have a war of words between the Obama Administration and the israeli Prime Minister and allies within his government. And what has happened here is that the fundamental relationship between United States and israel has got to be preserved. And yet at the same time, you have a National Security staff in the Obama Administration that has run out of ideas so they decided to hurl a lot of epithets at the israeli Prime Minister, which has caused many president to run to the prozac in the medicine cabinet. Its not assist if, by the way, all of the president s men are at fault here. The Prime Minister of israel has also made life miserable for this administration. And yet let me submit, the relationship between the United States and israel is a mutually beneficial relationship that should more than outlive these contratomps. That seems to have been lost. Ambassador marc ginsberg, thank you for joining us. How a secret meeting over booze, toure, changed the course of american politics. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on Car Insurance. Everybody knows that. Well, did you know certain cartoon characters should never have an energy drink . Action blahbechtblah blublublubblah geico®. Introducing the birds of america collection. Fifty stunning, handpainted plates, commemorating the state birds of our proud nation. Blahbechtblah blublublubblah geico®. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on Car Insurance. The midterms wont just determine who controls congress tomorrow. Theyll also show which partys positioned to take the white house. Republicans struggling with Higher Turnover elections and many say jeb bush could be the key to helping the party. Meanwhile, democrats turning to hillary once again and that shows how even as our culture has changed a lot, dynasties are still a powerful force in our politics, even in a nation that claims to put merit above birth. Well, theres a new book when lions roar churchills and kendis looking at enduring power of dynasties and the author is here to give us Historical Perspective on the eve of the midterms. I want to start with jfk. We saw that in 62, after bay of pigs, his approval went up because theres a rally around the flag effect, but they lost some seats in the house, gained some in the snalt. Right. Talk to us how that president , who was beloved, dealt with his midterms and ultimately rewiring the base of that party. Well, jfk was still a pretty cautious politician in 62. In 63 he later recommends he proposed the Civil Rights Act and he also proet poses a little known act called the immigration act. That changes america in very dramatic ways. But back in 62, off of this challenge with the soviets, he was still very cautious. Deep within your book you talk about your huge and great and fascinating, you talk about how jfk was influenced by Winston Churchill up. Say the way churchill viewed the world, the broad vision a statesman writer steeped in history could bring to the diplomatic table or discussion in the Public Square had never left jack kennedy. He learned words could be every bit as effective as explosives in winning war, especially a cold one. Can you expound on how Winston Churchill influenced jack kennedy . Well, it was so much fun to write this book because winston and jack kennedy, they were fundamental writers and they knew the power of words. When youre running a government, words are the cheapest thing. Cheaper than tanks or bombs. So, the power of rhetoric, also both winston and jack kennedy were believers in two very important virtues, i think, for a politician. One is courage. They both were people who had come of age at war. They also had a sense of wit about them so that when youre really stuck in a pickle, if you will, as a politician, you can use humor and wit. Both are very, very mariable in that sense. Absolutely. You talk about the churchills and kennedys. We should give them credit for bringing alcohol back to the United States. You talk in the book about a meeting back in 1933 when prohibition was ending here in the United States and how joe kennedy at that point, head of the fcc, went over to the uk, had a meeting with Winston Churchill and the president s son. Thats all he needed. Got the deal done. Its fascinating to me because most people think of the kennedys and churchill as kind of at loggerheads because they disagreed about world war ii and most of the histories are written after world war ii. But they actually were very friendly in the 30s. Theres this liquor deal in which basically joe kennedy goes over. Its the end of prohibition. He wants to be the first one out of the chute, make a killing, if you will. And he goes over with the president s son, his oldest son, jimmy roosevelt. They go over and they see churchill. Joe comes back with the liquor contracts from which he makes millions of dollars. Jimmy roosevelt, the president s son, unbeknownst to anyone, gets the insurance contract. He makes a bundle. The thing i found through my investigation with this book is that winston winds up with stock in two American Companies controlled by joe kennedy. One is national distillers, for whom hes selling liquor through this company. The other is brooklynmanhattan transit, which is the new york subway line. It was then privately owned. Wow. And bernard barouqe, joe kennedys business pal but winstons best friend in america, they controlled the subway line. And they were anticipating it would be bought out by the municipality. They would make a killing. So, how did winston wind up with this money . You know, people didnt know about this basically because all of the history was written after world war ii and everybody said, oh, they disliked each other. They did because of what happened. The big arc of my book is that they were friends. Then the tragedy of the war in which joe jr. Has died and they differ very dramatically there. But i was really surprised at the in the early 60s with jfk, Jackie Kennedy and winstons son randolph, they became very friendly. Theres some very interesting things that i found there. So, friends, tragically antagonists and friends again. One of the interesting revelations in the book as well is that churchill, following world war ii, wanted us to launch a preemptive strike on the soviet union. Talk about that. Thats amazing. I was really surprised. That was in his fbi file. And its one of those things you say, what can you possibly find thats new . But its right there, sitting in his fbi file. There was a file by the fbi on Winston Churchill. In 47, he was the one who got the cold war going. He felt that before the soviets got the bomb, we should seriously think about dropping the bomb. Because in the expansionism this is a memo that was issued in 1947 in his file. He told it to a republican senator from New Hampshire. And i was really surprised by that, needless to say. Incredible reporting. Thank you so much. Thank you for so much. Appreciate it. Thank you. Up next, off the wire and onto the cycle. You guys watching think im crazy, but this is what i was made for. 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Before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. Xarelto® is proven to reduce the risk of dvt and pe, with no regular blood monitoring and no known dietary restrictions. Treatment with xarelto® was the right move for me. Ask your doctor about xarelto® today. My motheits delicious. Toffee in the world. So now weve turned her toffee into a business. My goal was to take an idea and make it happen. Im janet long and i formed my Toffee Company through legalzoom. I never really thought i would make money doing what i love. We created legalzoom to help people start their business and launch their dreams. Go to legalzoom. Com today and make your business dream a reality. At legalzoom. Com we put the law on your side. Nice and quiet, everybody. He needs to hear me tell him ive got to hear my dad. Hes the one telling me my steps. Two steps. Three feet. One more step . Grab him. Just watching that again. Last night, nearly 7 Million People watched Daredevil Nik Wallenda calmly walk across a pair of tight ropes strung high above chicago and chatting with his dad as he did it. The man was blindfolded for the second of those walks, which tells me wallenda is both amazing and completely out of his mind. Hes taken his Family Business to new heights, literally and figuratively, even though some in his family are less than impressed. My favorite anecdote from last nights telecast on discovery is nik saying his grandmother watched him practice and said, eh, can you do it backwards or something . Geesh, talk about a tough crowd. My grandmother would have said, boy, get your butt down before i whoop it. Were glad to have nik wallenda with us. Congratulations. Thank you very much. Im thrilled to be here. So, when i look at what you did, i think it is the success is a tribute to good engineering, good family, great preparation and faith. And you kept talking about jesus and your faitd while you were on the wire and afterwards and before as well. Can you talk about how your faith helped you get across that wire . You know, my faith plays a key role in every aspect of my life. Its really that piece that god provides for me that passes all understanding to get in those stressful situations and stay calm is key to my safety and making it across that wire. Dont believe in any way that god holds me on that wire and keeps me from falling but i believe hes given me a unique talent. Its up to me whether i train properly but he gives me the right tools to make it across that wire safely. Im so afraid of heights. I can barely watch the video up. Are incredible. Social media was loving you. Over the past 24 hours you had 59,000 tweets, people were making vines. One made of you walking across. How cool is this . Really incredible stuff. Nik, you made the point that if you let fear enter your body, thats when accident will happen. How do you make it so you dont have fear when youre walking across that line . Because i think thats a quality all of us would want to have. You know, its really about training and preparing properly. Its just like people are scared of speaking in public. If you train and prepare, if you stand in front of that mirror enough saying it enough, youll become comfortable. Thats the same with wire walking, what i do. I train properly. In my training grounds in sarasota, florida, i toe take o wire rigged pretty of the same, although the angle was supposed to be 15 degrees, it ended up being 19 degrees last night. Thats a significant difference, isnt it . Im sorry, thats the not at all the same. When you do public speaking, the worst you can do is embarrass yourself. If you make a mistake, youll die. When i train, for instance i walk that cable with my wife on my shoulders in training. Up to about almost 80 feet in the air just in training. So i knew that i was able to make it without my wife on my shoulders if i could with. So really its about overtraining, it builds confidence and also keeps me safe. Maybe doing a hand stand next time. I want to recreate my grandfathers greatest walk where he did two head stands on the wire. And i want to walk with him. I believe with mod he were technology, that was all filmed with him, and i can walk it simultaneously with him. Congratulations. It was very hard to watch. You kind of look away because youre so afraid. And then you were just watching it like we needed the blind fold more than you did. And looking at the way you do it you were talking, lets play a little bit of you you you talking to folks. Really natalie, how are you doing . Nik, were doing great. You look amazing out there. I can hardly hear you, but thank you for saying i look amazing. So do you. Will, you havent said anything yet. I dont know if i can hear you, but im trying to leave you alone, man. You can certainly walk and chew gum at the same time. What is that about or what does that achieve for you . You know, its just what ive done my entire life. Its something that is very Second Nature to me. I think thats why i was able to complete that blind fold walk safely and successfully last night, taking away that most important element of vision. Its become Second Nature to me. I cannot handling what ycannu felt like beforehand, during or after. When you stepped off the wire, what is the feeling that goes through your body . Definitely relief. But really spending time with my family, im very much a family man and enjoy spending time with them. So we went out to dinner, celebrated, and then i went back out to the street and loaded up the truck, made sure everything was packed up and ready to go back to florida. Made sure the streets were opened up before opening of business this morning. I got two things for you. You talk about family and i mentioned before your grandmother being like man urks not walking it backwards on your head, im not impressed. And, also, somebody forgot temporarily the bull horn and you said somebodys on the naughty list. What happened with that person . You you know, that was sbon from production that actually misplaced that. It wasnt my immediate crew. I guess we should have taken control of it. But, yeah, while training, im training on a wire about 40 foot high because we had to simulate that cable that i was going to be walking blind fold on. And i walked blind fold for my grandmother. She came to watch and she said now why dont you do something while youre out there. But im blindfolded. She said do something, youre not impressing me. So i did, i went out there out of respect for her and i meknel down and walked backwards for her. This is where its true kids do not try this at home. Im sure there are so many people wanting to reenact this. What do you say to those people . I encourage people if you have dreams, whatever they are, if you work hard enough, you can accomplish anything in life. Im the perfect example of that. I do things that people say are impossible. And i encourage people, look, if you want to do things like nik wallenda, dedicate the amount of time and energy that ich deive dedicated to do what i do and make sure youre doing it safely as possible. Does the the rest of life seem boring . I definitely enjoy life and i enjoy my family. But i definitely also my great grand father said life is on the wire and Everything Else is just waiting. So im waiting for that next wire walk. Your family was a big part of last nights show. Do you expect one of your kids to take the mantle from you aon day youll be the bull wiman wi bull horn . I want them to be happy whether its being a doctor or working at a fast food restaurant. I want them to be happy and work as hard as they possibly can and be the best as what they do. I support them fully in any of hair endeavors. I have a 16yearold, 13yearold, 11yearold. Two boys and my daughter is the youngest. They have all walked the wire very well. Its what we did as a family. We have chicken fights on the wire. Just kind of how we hang out. But at this point, none of them have any desire to carry it on and im completely happy with that. I feel like the pressures of what i do and what ive been able to accomplish, i now have ten world records, that would be a lot of pressure on high kids. So im really hoping they go another direction to be honest. The wallendas will continue forever. Congratulations, nik. Thank you very much. That does it for the cycle. Well be right back here tomorrow with full election day coverage. And of course keep it on msnbc all day long and night as the returns come in. Prime time coverage starts of course at 6 00 p. M. Eastern. Anchored by the one and only Rachel Maddow and chris matthews. And msnbc. Com will have Digital Decision 2014 coverage. Live stream starts at 10 00 p. M. Eastern. And if he hasnt passed out, and you know he wont, craig melvin from 2 00 a. M. To 5 00 a. M. Right here on msnbc. Well need some coffee. A big day ahead. But still much more ahead today. Now with alex wagner takes over. Can you start tomorrow . Yes sir. Alright. Lets share the news tomorrow. Today we failrly busy. Tomorrow were booked solid. We close on the house tomorrow. I want one of these opened up. Because tomorow we go live. Its a day full of promise. And often, that day arrives by train. Big day today . Even bigger one tomorrow. When csx trains move forward, so does the rest of the economy. Csx. How tomorrow moves. Toasty or frosty . Exactly the way you want it. Until boom, its bedtime your mattress is a battleground of thwarted desire. Enter the sleep number bed. Right now, you can save 400 on the c4 mattress set. 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Be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. Midterm madness goes up against the clock. It is monday, november 3. And this is thousand oig. Now. Do you want to run washington or you want to run your mouth . Less than 24 hours until polls open. What can democrats to to prevent a republican takeover. Theyre fighting hard to try to hold their jobs. I think if could be a big republican night. There is a chance that it wont be a great republican night. Were seeing an increase in democratic intensity. You cant win on turnout if youre losing on message. It is political malpractice. So many good things that the president has done that we tend to shy away from. Democrats have the not been able to put out this message about what has been done under president obama. Just too much red out there for testimonies democrats to o. American people are look for for somebody who gets things done