{"id":527,"date":"2014-10-26T14:43:40","date_gmt":"2014-10-26T18:43:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/press.nbcnews.com\/?p=527"},"modified":"2014-10-26T14:43:40","modified_gmt":"2014-10-26T18:43:40","slug":"meet-the-press-102614-fauci-calls-quarantines-draconian-schumer-new-polls-in-6-key-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\/nbcnews\/2014\/10\/26\/meet-the-press-102614-fauci-calls-quarantines-draconian-schumer-new-polls-in-6-key-states\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cMeet the Press\u201d 10\/26\/14 — Fauci Calls Quarantines \u201cDraconian\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NBC\/Marist polls show tight races, Republican momentum Doctors Without Borders rep says \u201cwe are totally confused\u201d by quarantine orders Plus: Leiter on countering the ISIS \u201cJihadi cool\u201d recruitment<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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OCTOBER 26, 2014 — Today\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press with Chuck Todd\u201d<\/strong> featured interviews about the Ebola crisis with Sophie Delaunay<\/strong>, the U.S. executive director of Doctors Without Borders, and Dr. Anthony Fauci<\/strong> from the National Institutes of Health; a discussion on terrorism with former NCTC director Michael Leiter<\/strong> and Arsalan Iftikhar<\/strong>, senior editor at Islamic Monthly<\/em>; a debate about the future of the Senate with Senators Chuck Schumer<\/strong> (D-NY) and Rob Portman<\/strong>(R-OH); and a political panel with New York Times<\/em> Washington bureau chief Carolyn Ryan<\/strong>,Washington Post<\/em> chief correspondent Dan Balz<\/strong>, Washington Post<\/em> political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson<\/strong>, and NBC News Congressional correspondent Luke Russert<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The program also included an excerpt from Chris Jansing\u2019s exclusive TV interview with Ambassador Samantha Power<\/strong> ahead of her trip to West Africa, a recap of Chuck\u2019s first week on the \u201cMeet the Voters\u201d RV trip, and new NBC News\/Marist polling<\/strong> from six battleground states.<\/p>\n

Full analysis of the polls can be found online here: http:\/\/nbcnews.to\/ZSgFts<\/a><\/p>\n

Below are highlights, video, and a rush transcript of today\u2019s program. All content will be available online at MeetThePressNBC.com.<\/a><\/p>\n

# # #<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amb. Power to Chris Jansing: we need to treat returning health workers \u201clike conquering heroes\u201d and not stigmatize them<\/strong><\/p>\n

SAMANTHA POWER: All of us need to make clear what these health workers mean to us and how much we value their service, how much we value their contributions.\u00a0 We need to encourage more, we need many more than are going right now.\u00a0 And we need to find a way when they come home that they are treated like conquering heroes and not stigmatized for the tremendous work that they have done.<\/p>\n

Doctors Without Borders rep: \u201cWe are totally confused by these orders\u201d for mandatory quarantines<\/strong>
\nVIDEO: http:\/\/nbcnews.to\/1tslhmX<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD: Let me start with these new now mandatory orders that are taking place in New York, in New Jersey, Illinois, and Florida.\u00a0 Are you already finding that you have doctors and other healthcare workers backing out of volunteer trips to the affected areas?<\/p>\n

SOPHIE DELAUNAY: Frankly speaking, we are totally confused by these orders because we have put in place over the past few months protocols that are based on non-medical science and accepted.\u00a0 And these protocols have been strictly followed by our staff.<\/p>\n

Fauci says mandatory quarantines are \u201cdraconian,\u201d adds: \u201cWe don\u2019t necessarily need to do that.\u201d<\/strong>
\nVIDEO: http:\/\/nbcnews.to\/1xrOY5j<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD: Have they gone too far?\u00a0 Governor Cuomo and Christie, overreacting?<\/p>\n

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: I don’t want to be directly criticizing the decision that was made.\u00a0 But we have to be careful that there are unintended consequences.\u00a0 The best way to stop this epidemic is to help the people in West Africa.\u00a0 We do that by sending people over there.\u00a0 Not only from the USA, but from other places.\u00a0 We need to treat them, returning people, with respect, and make sure that — they’re really heroes.\u00a0 So the idea that we’re being a little bit draconian, there are other ways to protect.\u00a0 There’s monitoring, there’s direct monitoring, there’s active monitoring.\u00a0 We don’t necessarily need to do that.<\/p>\n

Fauci says federal government is considering certain types of monitoring that are short of quarantine<\/strong><\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD: According to Governor Cuomo, the federal government is considering something more stringent.\u00a0 What are you guys considering?<\/p>\n

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: Well, certain types of monitoring.\u00a0 You have to stratify risk, Chuck.\u00a0 You know, there’s people who are at high risk, there are people at some risk, and there are people at low but not zero risk.\u00a0 And there are people that are at more risk.\u00a0 I’m talking about the healthcare workers. \u2026 And you fashion what you do with them according to the risk.\u00a0 And one of the ways you can mitigate against this issues is by monitoring.\u00a0 Different types of monitoring.\u00a0 You don’t necessarily have to–<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD: But how do you make sure it’s mandatory?\u00a0 That right now it’s voluntary, and thank goodness Dr. Spencer was doing it.<\/p>\n

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: Right.\u00a0 Well, there are ways to ratchet that up.\u00a0 I mean, there’s passive monitoring.\u00a0 You take your temperature, and if anything goes wrong, you report it.\u00a0 There’s active, where you report it to someone, and then there’s direct active, where someone comes in and actually takes your temperature.\u00a0 That’s all short of quarantine.<\/p>\n

Leiter on countering ISIS social media recruitment: \u201cwe don’t have enough people in government who are doing counterterrorism who understand 15 to 29 year olds\u201d<\/strong>
\nVIDEO: http:\/\/nbcnews.to\/1wzGf15<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

MICHAEL LEITER: ISIS is in social media, and it is going after “Jihadi Cool.”\u00a0 What we have to do now is counter that message using social media just as effectively.\u00a0 And that’s not something U.S. government over the past ten years has been particularly good at.\u00a0 \u2026 We don’t have enough Muslim F.B.I. agents, we don’t have enough F.B.I. agents who understand Islam.\u00a0 And we don’t have enough people in government who are doing counterterrorism, who understand 15 to 29 year olds.\u00a0 They’re disengaged, and this is also the group which is likely to be most violent.\u00a0 It can’t just be Nancy Reagan with, “Say no to drugs.”\u00a0 You have to do engagement with that demographic.<\/p>\n

Schumer predicts Democrats will hold the Senate but Portman says \u201cvoter intensity\u201d is with the GOP<\/strong>
\nVIDEO: http:\/\/nbcnews.to\/1tWiK5a<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER: I think we will hold the Senate.\u00a0 You know, I know all the pundits are saying Republicans will take the Senate.\u00a0 Democrats are going to prove the pundits wrong on election day when we keep the Senate, three reasons. \u2026 Economic issues, better ground game, better candidates will put us over the top November.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD: Senator Portman, why is he wrong?<\/p>\n

SEN. ROB PORTMAN: Well, but you believe he’s right.\u00a0 You know, it’s not the pundits who are saying the Republicans are going to get the majority, it’s the voters.\u00a0 And your polls show it.\u00a0 It’s tight, but the voter intensity is on our side. \u2026 We get the enthusiasm on our side.\u00a0 And look, people are looking for a change, Chuck.\u00a0 They don’t want the status quo.\u00a0 And a change is changing the side.<\/p>\n

Schumer and Portman both predict Reid and McConnell will remain leaders<\/strong><\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD: I’ve met nearly a dozen Democrats, Senator Schumer, a dozen Democrats who are saying, “You know what?\u00a0 I don’t know, I’d like somebody else different than Harry Reid.”\u00a0 Is Harry Reid bigger than the majority?\u00a0 Greg Orman, of Kansas, says he will not be with the Democrats if Harry Reid is the Senate majority leader.\u00a0 What say you?<\/p>\n

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER: I say then Harry Reid will run for majority leader and he will win with an overwhelming, probably very close to a majority vote.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD: Senator McConnell, I’m hearing the same thing from other Republicans.\u00a0 “Look, he’s not out of the woods, he can’t put his race away.”\u00a0 But Greg Orman says he will not sit with the Republicans if Mitch McConnell’s in charge.\u00a0 Is one man bigger than the potential majority Republicans?<\/p>\n

SEN. ROB PORTMAN:\u00a0 No, but I think Mitch is going to win in Kentucky. \u2026 I think Mitch is going to win, I think he’ll be the leader.<\/p>\n

# # # <\/strong><\/p>\n

Additional video clips from today\u2019s program:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meet the Voters: Chuck Todd recaps his week on the campaign trail
\nhttp:\/\/nbcnews.to\/1FOxlD3<\/a><\/p>\n

Sen. Rob Portman: changing majority will get things done
\nhttp:\/\/nbcnews.to\/ZSki2m<\/a><\/p>\n

Are U.S. Elections Bought and Paid for? Luke Russert reports on the price of participating in American politics.
\nhttp:\/\/nbcnews.to\/1tbb4dq<\/a><\/p>\n

Panel: President Obama’s Impact on 2014
\nhttp:\/\/nbcnews.to\/1tbb5xV<\/a><\/p>\n

What if Kids Used Political Talking Points? A MTP cartoon looks at the absurdity of political non-answers.
\nhttp:\/\/nbcnews.to\/1yCkYoK<\/a><\/p>\n

# # # \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Below is a RUSH transcript of the 10AM feed of this morning\u2019s broadcast — mandatory attribution to NBC News\u2019 \u201cMeet the Press.\u201d A final transcript of the program will be available at www.MeetThePressNBC.com.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMEET THE PRESS WITH CHUCK TODD\u201d<\/strong>
\nOctober 26, 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nThis Sunday, the election season sidetracked again, this time by two issues.\u00a0 One, the Ebola virus reaches New York City.\u00a0 Do we really need to quarantine health workers returning from West Africa?<\/p>\n

ANDREW CUOMO:
\nThis is not the time to take chances<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nAnd is it time for a travel ban completely from all of the affected countries?\u00a0 And two, the homegrown terror threat.\u00a0 Another lone wolf attack, this time in Canada’s parliament.\u00a0 And that brutal hatchet assault on police officers in New York.\u00a0 Is the threat of Islamist extremists increasing?\u00a0 Or are these mentally disturbed copycats?\u00a0 And of course, meeting the voters.<\/p>\n

MALE VOICE:
\nI want to fire some incumbents.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nMy report from our battleground state road trip, part one of it.\u00a0 And exclusive polling numbers showing the race to control the Senate is on knife’s edge. Plus is our democracy being bought and sold by a bunch of oligarchs?<\/p>\n

LAWRENCE LESSIG:
\nWe’ve outsourced the funding of campaigns to this tiny, tiny fraction of the 1%.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nMore than ever billionaires trying to buy elections.\u00a0 And finally, what if children talked back to their parents as if they were politicians?<\/p>\n

FEMALE VOICE:
\nDid you eat the cookies?<\/p>\n

MALE VOICE:
\nI am deeply upset by this question.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nI’m Chuck Todd and joining me to provide insight and analysis are NBC’s Luke Russert, Nia-Malika Henderson of The Washington Post, Carolyn Ryan of The New York Times, and Dan Balz, the chief correspondent for The Washington Post.\u00a0 Welcome to Sunday.\u00a0 It’s Meet the Press.<\/p>\n

ANNOUNCER:
\nFrom NBC News in Washington, this is Meet the Press with Chuck Todd.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nWell, good morning, just nine days to go until election day.\u00a0 And this morning, we have brand new polls from six states, that hopefully will tell us something about which way the wind is blowing and which party is going to control the Senate.\u00a0 And what the next two years might look like.\u00a0 As for me, I’ve been on the road meeting the voters, on my road trips, spending the week in the Midwest in my trusty “Where Is Chuck” bus, covering battles in three states out there.
\nWe stopped in on the unpredictable Senate race in Kansas, the neck and neck Senate fight in Iowa, and then of course that ideological battle for governor in Wisconsin that I feel like’s been going on continuously for four years.\u00a0 But before we get to the polls and all of the big races, two big stories this week caused major concern for many.
\nAnd of course, it commanded our attention.\u00a0 The specter of homegrown Islamic terror sparked by that shooting incident in the Canadian Parliament building in Ottawa.\u00a0 And then of course there’s the New York City doctor who contracted Ebola after returning from West Africa, where he was treating Ebola patients.\u00a0 So let’s start with Ebola.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD (V\/O):
\nThis week, the virus came to the country’s biggest city, when Craig Spencer, a New York doctor who had been treating Ebola patients while working for Doctors Without Borders in Guinea tested positive for the disease nine days after leaving West Africa.\u00a0 The situation in West Africa remains dire though, with the World Health Organization announcing the number of Ebola cases is now past 10,000.\u00a0 But there was encouraging news, with Dallas nurse Nina Pham becoming the latest American to recover from the disease, receiving a hug from the president.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nMany politicians are calling for a travel ban from the affected countries, and New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and now Florida have ordered quarantines for any health workers returning from West Africa who have had direct contact with Ebola patients.
\nThose quarantine orders have been heavily criticized by Kaci Hickox, a nurse, who was held in isolation for seven hours at Newark Airport on Friday after returning from Sierra Leone before testing negative for the virus.\u00a0 She called the experience frightening and suggested other health workers could be deterred from traveling to West Africa to tackle Ebola.\u00a0 Well, I’m joined now from New York by Sophie Delaunay, the U.S. executive director of Doctors Without Borders.\u00a0 Ms. Delaunay, thank you for coming on Meet the Press.<\/p>\n

SOPHIE DELAUNAY:
\nGood morning, Chuck.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nLet me start with these new now mandatory orders that are taking place in New York, in New Jersey, Illinois, and Florida.\u00a0 Are you already finding that you have doctors and other healthcare workers backing out of volunteer trips to the affected areas?<\/p>\n

SOPHIE DELAUNAY:
\nWell, you know, frankly speaking, we are totally confused by these orders because we have put in place over the past few months protocols that are based on non-medical science and accepted.\u00a0 And these protocols have been strictly followed by our staff.\u00a0 They constrict our staff monitoring, they restrict staff monitoring.\u00a0 We ask our volunteers coming back from West Africa to monitor their temperature twice a day during 21 days.
\nTo continue their malaria prophylaxis in order to avoid that there would be a confusion between malaria symptoms and Ebola, which can be similar.\u00a0 And more importantly, we recommend that they report the symptoms as soon as they realize that they exist. And this is, actually, the protocol that our colleague Craig has strictly followed this week.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nYou believe that Dr. Spencer did not put any New Yorkers in harm’s way?<\/p>\n

SOPHIE DELAUNAY:
\nWell, what we know from medical science is that a person who does not present symptoms is very unlikely to transmit the disease.\u00a0 And even though the disease can only be transmitted through the change of body fluids.\u00a0 So it’s actually impossible that a person living, for example, in the same building than an infected person who does not present symptoms could be at risk of being infected with Ebola.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nIs there any new protocol you can add simply to reassure the American public?<\/p>\n

SOPHIE DELAUNAY:
\nOh, we’re definitely working on trying to strengthen the monitoring, of course, of our field workers.\u00a0 But we are also very confused about what are going to be the recommendations by the States.\u00a0 We’re still strictly following the guidelines of public health institutions in the U.S. and working at strengthening ours.\u00a0 But what we are more concerned about the health condition of our colleague.\u00a0 We are very sensitive to.\u00a0 And understanding of the anxiety that Ebola triggers.
\nBut more importantly, we are very much concerned about this situation in West Africa where the outbreak is still out of control.\u00a0 And quarantine measures or coercive measures against aid worker could give a superfluous sense of security, while the most important is to tackle the epidemic at its source there.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nSophia Delaunay of the U.S. executive director for Doctors without Borders.\u00a0 Thank you for your time and perspective this morning.\u00a0 I appreciate it.<\/p>\n

SOPHIE DELAUNAY:
\nThank you, Chuck.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nNow, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations is traveling to the infected countries in West Africa.\u00a0 She landed in Guinea this morning.\u00a0 Chris Jansing
\nSAMANTHA POWER:
\nAll of us need to make clear what these health workers mean to us and how much we value their service, how much we value their contributions.\u00a0 We need to encourage more, we need many more than are going right now.\u00a0 And we need to find a way when they come home that they are treated like conquering heroes and not stigmatized for the tremendous work that they have done.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nIn the studio with me now is Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at NIH, who successfully, by the way, treated Nina Pham.\u00a0 Dr. Fauci, welcome back to Meet the Press.<\/p>\n

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI:
\nGood to be with you.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nThe issue of quarantines.\u00a0 We now have New York, New Jersey, Illinois, three airports there, Newark, JFK, O’Hare, that do receive passengers from the impacted countries.\u00a0 They are doing mandatory quarantines.\u00a0 Good idea?<\/p>\n

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI:
\nWell, the first thing we need to do is make sure the primary goal is to protect the American people.\u00a0 But there are ways to do that that may not necessarily have to go that far at all.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nHave they gone too far?\u00a0 Governor Cuomo and Christie, overreacting?<\/p>\n

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI:
\nI don’t want to be directly criticizing what the decision that was made.\u00a0 But we have to be careful that there are unintended consequences.\u00a0 The best way to stop this epidemic is to help the people in West Africa.\u00a0 We do that by sending people over there.\u00a0 Not only from the USA, but from other places.
\nWe need to treat them, returning people, with respect, and make sure that they’re really heroes.\u00a0 So the idea that we’re being a little bit draconian, there are other ways to protect.\u00a0 There’s monitoring, there’s direct monitoring, there’s active monitoring.\u00a0 We don’t necessarily need to do that.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nSo the governors of Virginia and Georgia, where Dulles Airport is, and of course Atlanta Hartsfield, which also received people directly from the infected areas.\u00a0 They’re probably going to be waking up this morning feeling the pressure to do the same thing that the governors of New York, New Jersey, and Illinois.\u00a0 What’s your advice to them?<\/p>\n

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI:
\nGo with the science.\u00a0 That’s what we’re trying to do here in our government.\u00a0 Go with the science.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nAnd if the science says–<\/p>\n

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI:
\nThe science tells us that people who are not sick, if you do not come into contact with the body’s fluid, if someone comes back from wherever, Liberia, and they’re well, they are no danger to anyone.\u00a0 That is for sure.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nBut Dr. Spencer was well for a week.<\/p>\n

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI:
\nRight, right.\u00a0 He was well for a week.\u00a0 But we’re not saying just leave them off.\u00a0 You monitor them.\u00a0 You can monitor them in multiple different ways.\u00a0 You don’t have to put them in a confined place.\u00a0 You monitor them, you take their temperature, you take their symptoms.\u00a0 And remember, Dr. Spencer was not sick at the time that he was going around.\u00a0 And we keep saying it over and over again, Chuck.\u00a0 You have to come into direct contact with body fluids.\u00a0 So the risk to the general public is vanishingly small.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nApparently though, according to Governor Cuomo, the federal government is considering something more stringent.\u00a0 What are you guys considering?<\/p>\n

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI:
\nWell, certain types of monitoring.\u00a0 You have to stratify risk, Chuck.\u00a0 You know, there’s people who are at high risk, there are people at some risk, and there are people at low but not zero risk.\u00a0 And there are people that are at more risk.\u00a0 I’m talking about the healthcare workers.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nThese are all healthcare workers?<\/p>\n

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI:
\nThey’re all healthcare workers.\u00a0 And you fashion what you do with them according to the risk.\u00a0 And one of the ways you can mitigate against this issues is by monitoring.\u00a0 Different types of monitoring.\u00a0 You don’t necessarily have to–<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nBut how do you make sure it’s mandatory?\u00a0 That right now it’s voluntary, and thank goodness Dr. Spencer was doing it.<\/p>\n

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI:
\nRight.\u00a0 Well, there are ways to ratchet that up.\u00a0 I mean, there’s passive monitoring.\u00a0 You take your temperature, and if anything goes wrong, you report it.\u00a0 There’s active, where you report it to someone, and then there’s direct active, where someone comes in and actually takes your temperature.\u00a0 That’s all short of quarantine.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nOkay.\u00a0 Dr. Anthony Fauci, thanks for coming back on Meet the Press.<\/p>\n

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI:
\nGood to be with you, Chuck.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nCertainly.\u00a0 As we told you, busy week.\u00a0 I want to turn now to the issue of homegrown terror. Officials often say that a lone-wolf attacker, often self-radicalized with no official ties to a terror group, is more likely to happen and more difficult to stop than a coordinated, 9\/11-style attack.\u00a0 And we’ve seen some recent examples.
\nMonday, near Montreal, a man deliberately hits two members of the military with his car.\u00a0 Authorities describe it as a “violent expression of an extremist ideology.”\u00a0 Wednesday, a gunman, a recent convert to Islam, on a Canadian government’s watch list, no less, kills a guard in Ottawa’s Parliament Hill, and is killed in a firefight with police shortly after.
\nThursday, in New York, a self-radicalized Muslim attacks group of four N.Y.P.D. officers with a hatchet, and injured two police officers they call into attack, and the police call it a terrorist attack.\u00a0 And then of course last week, three teenage girls from Colorado get on a plane to Europe, hoping to join ISIS, they are arrested in Germany and returned home.
\nJoining me now are Michael Leiter, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, and Arsalan Iftikhar, senior editor at Islamic Monthly.\u00a0 I want to tackle this in two different ways, the security threat itself, but then also the Islamic community.\u00a0 Michael, let me start with you.\u00a0 Are all these terrorist attacks, Islamic terrorism, in the way you would classify them?\u00a0 Or are these mentally-deranged people glomming into an ideology to make their attack seem more relevant?<\/p>\n

MICHAEL LEITER:
\nAnd I’m not sure there’s a difference between those two categories in many cases.\u00a0 These are terrorist attacks in my view.\u00a0 They are politically motivated, sub-state actors, people who are doing this in the name of Al Qaeda or potentially ISIS.\u00a0 But in many cases, with many terrorists we’ve seen in the past, these individuals are ones who have had a crisis in their life, who are mentally ill, and they attach themselves to some ideology.\u00a0 In this case, that ideology is being driven to them, and this is, to me, terrorist attacks.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nSo how do you deal with it?\u00a0 How do you stop it?\u00a0 Is this more surveillance?\u00a0 I mean, look, conspiracies, you guys are good at breaking up.<\/p>\n

MICHAEL LEITER:
\nThank God.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nBecause once one person talks to somebody, you’ve got them.<\/p>\n

MICHAEL LEITER:
\nIt’s what we’ve built up over the past ten years.\u00a0 It’s great that you just talked with Anthony Fauci, because it’s the same sort of thing.\u00a0 It is looking at risk in different areas.\u00a0 And that high end, you can protect against them, we’re good at it.\u00a0 These small-scale, self-motivated, lone wolves, it’s much, much harder.
\nAnd we don’t have the resources to cover all of them.\u00a0 And what we have to do is mitigate it the best we can, but also not overreact.\u00a0 Because this isn’t, in the scheme of risks that we see as a society, this isn’t really a life and death matter for the entire nation.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nArsalan, what is the role of the American Muslim community in this?\u00a0 Because there are clearly some people that are self-radicalizing, coming in.\u00a0 Maybe they’re newcomers into the Islamic communities.\u00a0 Maybe it’s in a Dearborn, wherever it’s happening.\u00a0 What’s the role of the leadership in these Islamic communities to identify perhaps people that are joining, converting, but not for the right reasons?<\/p>\n

ARSALAN IFTIKHAR:
\nWell, Chuck, I think it’s important to keep in mind when you’re talking about groups like ISIS, that we’re not talking about the X Men or the Transformers here.\u00a0 We’re not dealing with Wolverines or Optimus Primes.\u00a0 Essentially, we’re dealing with loner idiots who are sitting in their tighty-whities, in their mother’s basements, playing Call of Duty on their XBox Four, who are disenfranchised, disengaged from the rest of the community.
\nI mean, if you look at Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, the shooter in Ottawa, he was actually thrown out of a mosque in British Columbia, similar to the Boston Marathon bombing suspects who were once thrown out of a Boston mosque.\u00a0 So in terms of community policing, the Muslim community in the United States and Canada has done a remarkable job.
\nAnd I agree with Michael that, you know, a lot of what we are going to see are these self-radicalized loners that a lot of counterterrorism experts refer to as the “New Jihadi Cool,” right?\u00a0 Not part of a centralized terrorist organization, going on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter.\u00a0 I would bet all the money in my pocket that ISIS had never heard of Michael Zehaf-Bibeau.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nWell, I understand that.\u00a0 So is this a media issue?\u00a0 Does it become the more attention attacks like this get, does it end up actually serving perversely to convince more of these mentally-deranged folks to say, “Hey, I’m going to use this perverted ideology as a way to get more attention for my attack”?<\/p>\n

ARSALAN IFTIKHAR:
\nYeah, you know, whenever American Muslims or Arabs are impugned after an attack like this, it helps to serve the agenda of these organizations to say, “See, America is at war with Muslims.”\u00a0 But the fact of the matter is that there are over seven million American Muslims that live here peacefully.
\nFive out of the last 12 Nobel Peace Prize winners, including this year’s, Malala Yousafzai, are Muslims.\u00a0 And so, you know, sadly, when you look at the narrative media-wise in terms of listening to all of this negative, extremist, violent narratives that we’re dealing with.\u00a0 And that’s what we have to push back against.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nMichael, the social media issue, you guys have monitored it.\u00a0 It’s been a helpful tool on surveillance.\u00a0 Now it’s a recruitment tool in some form or another.\u00a0 What is the best way to deal with it?<\/p>\n

MICHAEL LEITER:
\nWell, I think this is the biggest change between ISIS and previous Al-Nusra or Al Qaeda.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nAl Qaeda wasn’t a social media thing as much.<\/p>\n

MICHAEL LEITER:
\nThey weren’t.\u00a0 They are going.\u00a0 This, ISIS is in social media, and it is going after “Jihadi Cool.”\u00a0 What we have to do now is counter that message using social media just as effectively.\u00a0 And that’s not something U.S. government over the past ten years has been particularly good at.\u00a0 So we have to monitor, we have to engage, and the partnerships between state and local officials and Muslim communities really have to change from what we’ve done over the past ten years.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nWhat’s the change?\u00a0 What’s something that changes?\u00a0 Just an example?<\/p>\n

MICHAEL LEITER:
\nIt’s all of us building trust, right?\u00a0 You know, there’s been a lot of surveillance, whether it’s F.B.I., whether it’s other agencies in the American Muslim communities, in intercontinental–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nThere’s a little distrust, right?<\/p>\n

MICHAEL LEITER:
\nThere is a lot of distrust.\u00a0 And so again, to build that trust, letting people know that community policing is a sacrosanct, part of American law enforcement, and that the Muslim community is part of the solution, not the problem.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nDo we have enough Muslim F.B.I. agents?<\/p>\n

MICHAEL LEITER:
\nWe don’t have enough Muslim F.B.I. agents, we don’t have enough F.B.I. agents who understand Islam.\u00a0 And we don’t have enough people in government who are doing counterterrorism, who understand 15 to 29 year olds.\u00a0 They’re disengaged, and this is also the group which is likely to be most violent.\u00a0 It can’t just be Nancy Reagan with, “Say no to drugs.”\u00a0 You have to do engagement with that demographic.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nWell, Michael Leiter, Arsalan Iftikhar, thank you both.\u00a0 You’ve given us a lot to think about.\u00a0 Appreciate it.\u00a0 The panel is here.\u00a0 Luke Russert, Nia-Malika Henderson, Carolyn Ryan, and Dan Balz.\u00a0 Of course guys, it’s the politics of all of this.\u00a0 These two issues.\u00a0 Nine days from the midterms.\u00a0 Dan Balz, you were on the road, I’ve been on the road.\u00a0 How much did you find Ebola and the terror threat coming up in conversations with voters?<\/p>\n

DAN BALZ:
\nOnly a little bit.\u00a0 I think these are sort of back-of-the-mind issues.\u00a0 These are not playing significantly in these races.\u00a0 And yet, it adds to the unease that’s out there.\u00a0 It adds to the question of, “Are things working, why aren’t they working better, am I safe, is my family safe”?\u00a0 So I think that’s where it fits into the concern of the larger narrative of this campaign.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nAnd when it comes to these Ebola quarantines, Carolyn Ryan, you can’t help but wonder when you saw Pat Quinn and Rick Scott quickly, governors of Illinois and Florida, both are very tight reelection races, they see what Christie and Cuomo did, and they think, “Boy, we better not let our opponents somehow out-Ebola us.”<\/p>\n

CAROLYN RYAN:
\nExactly.\u00a0 I mean, one thing that was especially jarring and really was unsettling in New York, you had Governor Cuomo come out with Mayor de Blasio, and seemed to be quite confident about how things were going in New York.\u00a0 And the very next day, abruptly, hastily, with Governor Christie saying, “It’s not enough.”
\nAnd I think that it just generates more confusion and public anxiety over this.\u00a0 And I think as you say, we’re going to see more and more states.\u00a0 And it creates a patchwork of different protocols, and I think it’s quite confusing to the public, and certainly the healthcare workers.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nYou know, Nia, politics obviously is impacting the way these guys are acting.\u00a0 I mean, you can’t help but wonder if they would be moving like this, so sort of, erratically, if the election weren’t nine days away.<\/p>\n

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON:
\nRight.\u00a0 And I think that’s right.\u00a0 And I think particularly with a certain segment of voters, and I’m thinking women, this seems to be playing quite a bit.\u00a0 There was a focus group down in Charlotte, North Carolina, one down in New Orleans, of Wal-Mart moms, and they are very worried about Ebola, much more so than they’re worried about ISIS.
\nThe idea that Ebola is here, ISIS is over there.\u00a0 So certainly, I think these folks who are thinking about politics now and also thinking about politics in 2016, are moving swiftly to allay certain fears.\u00a0 And also, look, Obama was criticized for not acting quickly enough.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nSo the governors want to look like, “Hey, look at us.”<\/p>\n

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON:
\nYeah, exactly.\u00a0 Exactly.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nYou know, Luke, talking to both parties, \u2018cause I found the same thing that Dan did, Ebola and ISIS are there, but it isn’t the front-of-mind issue on these races.\u00a0 They are engaged on sort of what the issues are.<\/p>\n

LUKE RUSSERT:
\nRight.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nBut you talk to Democrats, and they’ll say, “You know what these two stories do?\u00a0 It delays the chance for the Democrats to make the localized closing argument that they want to make, while Republicans, who are trying to make a national argument, they can just fit it in.”<\/p>\n

LUKE RUSSERT:
\nRight, and I’m going to argue that it also ties the Democrats to President Obama more directly.\u00a0 And one thing we’ve seen throughout these midterms, and even when it really has been the strategy of Congressional Republicans, is to create this sort of culture of incompetence around the Obama administration.
\nAnd you’ve seen that reflected in our pollings.\u00a0 Some polls showed the Obama confidence around what Bush was during Katrina.\u00a0 So that issue there.\u00a0 So you’re sort of seeing that play out in these midterms.\u00a0 It delays the local argument.\u00a0 And it puts these Democrats directly in the same boat as President Obama.\u00a0 And it’s a tough thing for them to be at.\u00a0 You saw the CDC response a lot better in New York after Dallas.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nAnd in six months, when we’re telling about 100,000 Ebola cases in West Africa, competency of the world is going to end up being a question on this.\u00a0 And this is all going to look like a silly debate that’s been happening nine days before the election.\u00a0 We will be back in a minute meeting the voters who hope to give incumbents a black eye.\u00a0 I’ll report back from part one of our midterm bus trip we’ve got our new polls from the key battleground states.\u00a0 We’ll be right back.<\/p>\n

***Commercial Break***
\nCHUCK TODD:
\nOur polls have made it clear, the American voter is not satisfied with, well, anything or anybody in power, especially in Washington.\u00a0 The wild card in this election is how these frustrated voters will express themselves once they walk into the voting booth.\u00a0 This week, I’ve been on the road to meet these voters.\u00a0 And whether it’s Kansas, Iowa, or Wisconsin, it’s becoming clear that the close races are going to be decided by how voters come down on the question of this, punishing one party, without rewarding the other.<\/p>\n

(BEGIN TAPE)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD (V\/O):
\nOn the first day of our Meet the Voters tour, we roll through the heartland.\u00a0 Kansas City, home of World Series baseball, and a Senate race across the state line in Kansas, that could shake the nation.\u00a0 Forty-six year old independent Greg Orman has made himself into a credible alternative to incumbent Republican Pat Roberts.<\/p>\n

GREG ORMAN:
\nAnd we once again declare our independence, independence from both political parties.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD (V\/O):
\nBut he hasn’t closed the deal yet with voters.\u00a0 It’s a sentiment we heard over and over again at VFW Post 7397 in Lenexa, Kansas.<\/p>\n

MALE VOTER #1:
\nIn some cases, I’d like to get rid of all the incumbents, but I think that would be even more to harm what we’ve got going on.<\/p>\n

MALE VOTER #2:
\nI’m more of the mentality of if they’ve been there a couple years, they’re a career politician, I–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

MALE VOICE:
\nWell, you’re that, the, you know, I\u2019m done with everybody–<\/p>\n

MALE VOTER #2:
\nBut you know what?<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

MALE VOTER #2:
\nIf they don’t have the guts to put the term limits in themselves, I’ll do it myself at the voting booth.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nJust heard your speech in there. I did not hear specifics in there, I didn\u2019t hear anything about immigration, didn\u2019t hear anything about healthcare.<\/p>\n

GREG ORMAN:
\nI think we’ve spent a lot of time in this tax campaign defining what we think is wrong with America and with we think we need to do to solve those problems.\u00a0 In order to get to that spot though, we’ve got to fix the dysfunction in Washington first.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD (V\/O):
\n200 miles north in Des Moines, Iowa, another bellwether race.\u00a0 The party that wins this race will likely control the U.S. Senate next year.\u00a0 Republican Joni Ernst is trying to become the first woman in Iowa to ever be elected to Congress.<\/p>\n

IOWA STATE FEMALE STUDENT #1:
\nI feel more of a duty as a female.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD (V\/O):
\nA fact not lost on some of the students at Iowa State we sat down with.<\/p>\n

IOWA STATE FEMALE STUDENT #2:
\nA lot of times, it’s hard for older men to understand what is important to women.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nIf you can find the word Republican on here, I’ll pay you five bucks.\u00a0 I don’t see it.\u00a0 That tells you something.\u00a0 It’s a reminder of what kind of state this is.<\/p>\n

ANNOUNCER:
\nJoni Ernst, mother, soldier, conservative.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD (V\/O):
\nErnst wants to benefit from the fact her first name isn’t “Congressman.”\u00a0 But what could be holding her back in what is clearly an anti-Washington year is some of her very conservative positions, including support for something called personhood, which in some cases, would grant all unborn human beings with equal protections.<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nThe personhood thing was a mistake?<\/p>\n

JONI ERNST:
\nNo, it is not a mistake.\u00a0 It is stating that I do believe in life.\u00a0 I will never say that’s a mistake.\u00a0 Because again, I am someone who is always going to promote life.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD (V\/O):
\nHer opponent, Democrat Bruce Braley is trying to convince voters she’s too conservative for most Iowans.\u00a0 Millennials could be the difference in this race.\u00a0 And the millions of dollars spent on the ad war here may not reach them.<\/p>\n

IOWA STATE FEMALE STUDENT #1:
\nA lot of us aren’t watching TV.\u00a0 A lot of us are going to be on our phones and checking online.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD (V\/O):
\nBack on the road heading north. Wisconsin. Four years of a hard-core political battle.\u00a0 Republican Governor Scott Walker is fighting for his job for the third time in four years.\u00a0 Democrat Mary Burke is hoping voters are worn out from being the most polarized state in the nation.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nUnfair caricature?<\/p>\n

MARY BURKE:
\nRight now, I think it’s fair.\u00a0 Unfortunately.\u00a0 But it’s not who we are here in Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD (V\/O):
\nDemocrat Mary Burke is trying to capitalize on that sentiment.\u00a0 Former President Clinton campaigned with Burke the day we talked to her.\u00a0 And she’s one of a few Democrats who wants the current president by her side as well.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nWhy are you comfortable having President Obama here?<\/p>\n

MARY BURKE:
\nIt’s going to be a tight race.\u00a0 Turnout’s going to be important.\u00a0 And yeah, and I welcome the president here.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD (V\/O):
\nReach Out Wisconsin, a group bitterly divided over Walker, meet every month to move past the Washington-style dysfunction.\u00a0 Conservatives, listening to liberals.<\/p>\n

MALE VOTER #3:
\nYou understand the person and why they believe that as opposed to just, again, sort of demonizing them for their political belief.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD (V\/O):
\nAnd liberals listening to conservatives.<\/p>\n

MALE VOTER #4:
\nMake friends with the person you are most afraid to make friends with.<\/p>\n

(END TAPE)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nWell, there you have it there.\u00a0 A fascinating way for that man to end.\u00a0 Let me bring in Senators Chuck Schumer, Democrat from New York.<\/p>\n

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER:
\nHi.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nRob Portman, Republican from Ohio.\u00a0 You guys are obviously knee-deep in the election.\u00a0 You’re part of the NRSC.\u00a0 You, of course, number two in the leadership.\u00a0 Let me run through our polls very quickly in these battleground states.\u00a0 Let’s start with South Dakota, very quickly.\u00a0 Excuse me, we’re going to start with Iowa.\u00a0 Bruce Braley at 46%, the Republican there, at 49%, three point lead there for Joni Ernst.
\nColorado, another close race, Cory Gardner, Republican, 46%, the Democrat, Mark Udall, 45%.\u00a0 Look at this one in Kansas, the independent still holding the lead.\u00a0 A month ago, we showed a ten-point lead.\u00a0 Now it’s down to one.\u00a0 Greg Orman there, Pat Roberts sitting at 44%.\u00a0 Some surprises in the South.
\nCloser races in places going in different directions.\u00a0 North Carolina, Kay Hagan in a dead heat with Republican challenger Thom Tillis at 43%.\u00a0 Many Democrats believe Hagan still holds the lead.\u00a0 And things are closing in Arkansas with our poll, given Republican challenger Tom Cotton just a two-point edge over Democrat incumbent Mark Pryor, 45%, 43%.\u00a0 Some people thought maybe this race would be put away by now.
\nThen there’s South Dakota.\u00a0 We thought we’d check in on this one since there was some chatter that maybe the crazy three-way race was making an unusual result.\u00a0 That’s not the case.\u00a0 Republican Mike Rounds is still way out in front, double-digit lead over the Democrat there Rick Weiland and former Republican Senator Larry Pressler, who’s running as an independent, gets 16%.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nSenator Schumer, you guys are the ones on the defensive here.\u00a0 We’re nine days out.\u00a0 How do you hold the Senate?<\/p>\n

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER:
\nWell, I think we will hold the Senate.\u00a0 You know, I know all the pundits are saying Republicans will take the Senate.\u00a0 Democrats are going to prove the pundits wrong on election day when we keep the Senate, three reasons.\u00a0 First and foremost, economic issues predominate.\u00a0 Ebola’s in the news, ISIS is in the news, but the average voter, every poll shows far and away, cares most about economic issues.
\nThey tend to beat the Democrats on economic issues like minimum wage.\u00a0 Like equal pay for women.\u00a0 Like not sending jobs overseas predominate.\u00a0 Second, we have a much better ground game.\u00a0 You can add two to three points at a minimum.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nFor all of them?<\/p>\n

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER:
\nFor each of those race.\u00a0 Just about every one of those races.\u00a0 So if it’s 44, 43, we’re probably ahead.\u00a0 And third, as the race get down to the final moments, the voters focus on the two candidates.\u00a0 Not on the national referendum.\u00a0 When the two candidates are compared almost inevitably, we do better.\u00a0 So economic issues, better ground game, better candidates will put us over the top November.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nSenator Portman, why is he wrong?<\/p>\n

SEN. ROB PORTMAN:
\nWell, but you believe he’s right.\u00a0 You know, it’s not the pundits who are saying the Republicans are going to get the majority, it’s the voters.\u00a0 And your polls show it.\u00a0 Also–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nIt’s tight though.<\/p>\n

SEN. ROB PORTMAN:
\nWell, it’s tight, but the voter intensity is on our side.\u00a0 You were in Iowa.\u00a0 And you saw that with early voting in Iowa, Republicans are winning.\u00a0 That’s never happened before.\u00a0 All the polls show that, you know, this is going to be a good year for Republicans.\u00a0 It’s a good environment for us.
\nWe’ve talked earlier about the incompetence that some people feel about the Obama administration.\u00a0 And that’s catching up to them.\u00a0 And people are asked, you know, “What do you think about the president,” in your poll today.\u00a0 And you know what they said?\u00a0 He gets less than 40% approval in all those states.
\nAnd when the president goes on national TV and says, “You know what, this is about me.\u00a0 These are my policies, all my policies are on the ballot.”\u00a0 And when he further says, “And by the way, all these candidates who are trying to distance themselves from me, they all vote with me.\u00a0 And they all want to vote with me.”\u00a0 So it is a national election.\u00a0 And Republicans are great candidates.\u00a0 We get the enthusiasm on our side.\u00a0 And look, people are looking for a change, Chuck.\u00a0 They don’t want the status quo.\u00a0 And a change is changing the side.
\nCHUCK TODD:
\nI let you both go long on that first question, but I want you to keep it tighter here when we go to these things.\u00a0 What is the difference?\u00a0 Why do 51 Democrats matter more than 51 Republicans?\u00a0 What really will matter in the next two years?\u00a0 And the same question is going to be for you.\u00a0 What’s the real difference between 51 Republicans and 51 Democrats?<\/p>\n

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER:
\nIt does matter.\u00a0 Two words, Supreme Court.\u00a0 You need the majority–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER:
\nNot all.\u00a0 But you asked.\u00a0 One reason, Supreme Court.\u00a0 The money that’s cascading into our system.\u00a0 If the Supreme Court continues to be the way it is, and there’s a vacancy and they buttress that, will the subject to these few people just dominating the elections for decades to come.\u00a0 The Supreme Court on voting rights makes a huge difference.\u00a0 The Supreme Court on women’s issues makes a huge difference.\u00a0 Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nSenator Portman, what’s the real difference for the last two years of the Obama administration with 51 Republicans?<\/p>\n

SEN. ROB PORTMAN:
\nGetting stuff done.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nReally?<\/p>\n

SEN. ROB PORTMAN:
\nWhat your polling shows–<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nI mean, I just, you know, there’s a lot of skepticism–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

SEN. ROB PORTMAN:
\nThe only way things can get done is with changing majority.\u00a0 If you continue to do what we’re doing, we’re going to have the dysfunction in Washington that we’ve got right now.\u00a0 Nothing getting done.\u00a0 We aren’t doing budgets.\u00a0 We aren’t helping people getting jobs.\u00a0 I was just at a jobs fair in Ohio, and ran into a lot of people who are working part-time, two or three jobs, been out of work for months.\u00a0 What they’re saying is, “We need a change.”<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nJohn Kasich claims the economy’s doing really well in Ohio.<\/p>\n

SEN. ROB PORTMAN:
\nWell, it’s doing better in Ohio than the nation right now.\u00a0 But it’s facing the headwinds from Washington.\u00a0 So Washington needs to get its act together and start passing stuff.\u00a0 If you get a Republican majority, Chuck, it will get the president to the table.\u00a0 And we’ll begin to solve some of these big problems.<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

SEN. ROB PORTMAN:
\nThat’s what people want to see.<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

SEN. ROB PORTMAN:
\n–by the way.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\n–a Republican majority.<\/p>\n

SEN. ROB PORTMAN:
\nNumber one issue in your polling is the gridlock in Washington.\u00a0 If they want to change things–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

SEN. ROB PORTMAN:
\n–for the Republican.<\/p>\n

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER:
\nAnd aided in large part by Republicans in the Senate and the House that create gridlock, then blame the president–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nSo let me stop you there.<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER:
\n–and block everything we do.\u00a0 And you do.<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nSpeaking of who’s in charge, I want to play you something here about how candidates feel about Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid.\u00a0 Take a listen.<\/p>\n

(BEGIN TAPE)<\/p>\n

DEBATE MODERATOR:
\nIf he were elected and if he is reelected, will you support Mitch McConnell in Kentucky as the leader of the Republicans in the U.S. Senate?<\/p>\n

DAVID PERDUE:
\nThat was a yes or no.\u00a0 And my answer is no Jim.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nTo you, Senator Warner.\u00a0 Harry Reid’s the best person to lead the Senate Democrats, yes or no?
\nSEN. MARK WARNER:
\nListen, I think he could perhaps do better in both parties moving forward.<\/p>\n

(END TAPE)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nI’ve got nearly a dozen Democrats, Senator Schumer, a dozen Democrats who are saying, “You know what?\u00a0 I don’t know, I’d like somebody else different than Harry Reid.”\u00a0 Is Harry Reid bigger than the majority?\u00a0 Greg Orman, of Kansas, says he will not be with the Democrats if Harry Reid is the Senate majority leader.\u00a0 What say you?<\/p>\n

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER:
\nI say then Harry Reid will run for majority leader and he will win with an overwhelming, probably very close to a majority vote.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nSenator McConnell, I’m hearing the same thing from other Republicans.\u00a0 “Look, he’s not out of the woods, he can’t put his race away.”\u00a0 But Greg Orman says he will not sit with the Republicans if Mitch McConnell’s in charge.\u00a0 Is one man bigger than the potential majority Republicans?<\/p>\n

SEN. ROB PORTMAN:
\nNo, but I think Mitch is going to win in Kentucky.\u00a0 By the way, you’re the one that he said that she had disqualified herself, her opponent, by saying that she wouldn’t tell people whether she voted for President Obama or not.\u00a0 And so I think he’s been–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nWell, I meant that voters might think that at the time.\u00a0 But to go back, you know–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

SEN. ROB PORTMAN:
\nI think Mitch is going to win, I think he’ll be the leader.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nBut should he be the leader?<\/p>\n

SEN. ROB PORTMAN:
\nYeah, I think he should.\u00a0 But here’s the–<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nThe two of them have shut down the Senate.\u00a0 You don’t believe that?<\/p>\n

SEN. ROB PORTMAN:
\nNo, here’s the important point.\u00a0 By changing the majority, having the House and Senate working together, and working with the president, we can begin to solve problems.\u00a0 And the biggest problem right now is jobs and the economy.\u00a0 And we need to give it a shot in the arm and we can.\u00a0 Let’s do tax reform.\u00a0 Let’s actually do something on energy.\u00a0 Let’s agree to the Keystone XL Pipeline, the big–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER:
\nLet me say–<\/p>\n

SEN. ROB PORTMAN:
\n–project in American–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

SEN. ROB PORTMAN:
\n–should happen right away.<\/p>\n

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER:
\nOn the issue that–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER:
\n–most to American people on jobs, raising minimum wage, equal pay, stop sending jobs overseas, helping kids pay for college, the Republicans have said no on each of those.\u00a0 That’s why we’re going to win the election.\u00a0 And that’s why if they win, we’ll be totally in gridlock.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nI’m going to have to–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

SEN. ROB PORTMAN:
\n–office, we want the jobs to be–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nI can tell you this, the voters here think it’s all going to be gridlock no matter what.\u00a0 That’s your real challenge there.\u00a0 Senator Schumer, Senator Portman–<\/p>\n

SEN. ROB PORTMAN:
\nTime for a change though.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\n–thank you both.\u00a0 Coming up, is our democracy for sale?\u00a0 And are those billionaires who spend all this big money on the campaign good for that money?\u00a0 Right after this.<\/p>\n

***Commercial Break***<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\n$2.99 gas.\u00a0 It’s unbelievable, some of the gas prices we saw on the road.\u00a0 You’ve seen some of our road trip this week.\u00a0 Well, I’m going to be back on the road.\u00a0 The second leg of our trip is going to be down South.\u00a0 Our RV is going to roll into North Carolina on Monday, then it’s Georgia, Arkansas, I’m going to finish things up in Louisiana, because we know Louisiana is likely to go into election overtime though.
\nAlong the way, I’ve been doing interviews with candidates and voters, as long as posting analysis of each race, takeaways from my interviews, and even what we found out about politics, and yes, food, from some interesting Facebook data.\u00a0 All of start online.
\nMeet the Voters website, it’s at MeetTheVoters.NBCNews.com.\u00a0 We’ll have a lot more great stuff to come this week.\u00a0 So follow us.\u00a0 And oh, by the way, if you see us, say hi, honk your horn, maybe tweet, well, not while you drive though, use the hashtag, #WhereIsChuck.\u00a0 Stay with us, we’ll be back here in a moment.<\/p>\n

***Commercial Break***<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nWell, we’re America, and it’d be fair to say we do most things bigger in this country.\u00a0 And that’s certainly true when it comes to elections and campaign spending.\u00a0 My man Luke Russert is here to talk about this.\u00a0 You’ve been crunching some numbers.<\/p>\n

LUKE RUSSERT:
\nIndeed.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nThis stat\u2019s unbelievable.<\/p>\n

LUKE RUSSERT:
\nIt’s wild, Chuck.\u00a0 Remarkably, you could pay for 80 British general election campaigns with what’s being spent on this year’s midterms alone.\u00a0 And there’s real concern about the role money is playing in our politics with some even going as far to argue our democracy is being bought and sold.<\/p>\n

(BEGIN TAPE)<\/p>\n

LUKE RUSSERT (V\/O):
\nSixteen years ago, the 1998 midterms cost $1.6 billion.\u00a0 This year’s price tag?\u00a0 As high as $4 billion.\u00a0 Outside groups spent $15 million on that ’98 campaign.\u00a0 In 2012, outside group spending was 67 times higher.\u00a0 Over a billion dollars.\u00a0 And this year, it’ll be just as high.\u00a0 And that doesn’t count so-called dark money, whose sources of donors never have to be disclosed, or won’t be disclosed until well after the election.
\nIn the Senate battleground states, outside groups are spending more on ads than campaigns and political parties combined.\u00a0 Funding the financial arms race, a group of modern-day oligarchs.<\/p>\n

ALISON LUNDERGAN GRIMES:
\nOn Father’s Day, I was with my family and Mitch McConnell was with his too, the Koch brothers.<\/p>\n

MALE VOICE:
\nThe Koch brothers.
\nSEN. CHARLES SCHUMER:
\nThe Koch brothers.<\/p>\n

REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN:
\nThe Koch brothers.<\/p>\n

SEN. HARRY REID:
\nSenate Republicans, Madam President, are addicted to Koch.<\/p>\n

LUKE RUSSERT (V\/O):
\nOn the right, Charles and David Koch, the brothers who run Koch Industries, America’s second largest private company.\u00a0 Net worth, $41.9 billion, each.\u00a0 Americans for Prosperity, just one of several Koch-backed groups, has pledged to spend at least $125 million this year.\u00a0 And they have offices in more than 30 states.\u00a0 On the left, newcomer Tom Steyer.\u00a0 Net worth, $1.6 billion.\u00a0 He’s already donated at least $58 million in support of candidates with strong records on climate change.<\/p>\n

STATE SEN. JONI ERNST:
\nAnd that California billionaire extreme environmentalist.<\/p>\n

NARRATOR:
\nThe California billionaire.<\/p>\n

NARRATOR:
\nThe California billionaire.<\/p>\n

LUKE RUSSERT (V\/O):
\nLast month, Steyer PAC began hauling a wooden ark on wheels across Florida, where he’s focusing his efforts on retiring Governor Rick Scott.\u00a0 But the Koch brothers, through a number of outside groups, with mundane if not agreeable-sounding names, like Americans for Prosperity, Freedom Partners, Concerned Veterans for America, and Generation Opportunity, are outspending Steyer by nearly five to one on ads in the Senate battleground states.
\nIn the center, former New York City governor Michael Bloomberg.\u00a0 Net worth, $34 billion.\u00a0 He pledged to spend $50 million to support gun control legislation.\u00a0 And became a convenient punching bag for red state Democrats.<\/p>\n

SEN. MARK PRYOR (D-AR):
\nMayor Bloomberg of New York City ran ads in Arkansas criticizing me for standing up for your Second Amendment rights.<\/p>\n

LUKE RUSSERT (V\/O):
\nNow Bloomberg says he’ll spend $25 million more backing centrists.\u00a0 And other big spenders, Sheldon Adelson and Joe Ricketts on the right, George Soros on the left, even Mark Zuckerberg,\u00a0 and we could see an election that costs about $44 a vote.\u00a0 The financial arms race has become so crazy that one campaign reform advocate decided to fight fire with fire.\u00a0 He formed the anti-super PAC super PAC.<\/p>\n

LAWRENCE LESSIG:
\nWe launched a mayday PAC, mayday as a distress signal, to rally people to the idea of changing the way elections were funded.\u00a0 And in this cycle, we’ve had more than 50,000 people contribute.<\/p>\n

(END TAPE)<\/p>\n

LUKE RUSSERT:
\nThe question is, Chuck, do voters even care?\u00a0 In 2012, billions spent against President Obama and Democrats.\u00a0 Didn’t really move the needle that much.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nWell, it’s mutual-assured destruction, is seems, Dan Balz.\u00a0 Let me show you just a chart in this morning’s Des Moines Register.\u00a0 They listed all the different outside groups that have spent on behalf of Bruce Braley.\u00a0 I’ve got to scroll it.\u00a0 It’s that much here.\u00a0 And then here’s all the Joni Ernst groups.\u00a0 I’ve got to scroll it.\u00a0 I mean, there’s a dozen groups it seems on each side.\u00a0 But did you find voters that hate the ads, but do they care about this outside money?\u00a0 Do they vote on it?<\/p>\n

DAN BALZ:
\nNo, they don’t vote on that.\u00a0 They hate the ads.\u00a0 They hate the amount of money that’s being spent.\u00a0 But it’s not a voting issue.\u00a0 And the interesting thing, Chuck, is I’m sure you’ve had the same experience.\u00a0 You’ve talked to the people who are helping to produce these ads.\u00a0 And they’re as sick of them as many of the people who are watching them.\u00a0 And you say, “Well, why are you doing it?”\u00a0 For the exact reason you said.\u00a0 We can’t afford not to because the other side’s doing it.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nIt’s totally so, it feels like the cold war.\u00a0 I mean, it is a cold, political war, and we’re going down a road where we’re just, it’s going to destroy the two-party system–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CAROLYN RYAN:
\nAnd remember, one of the most interesting statistics that came out of this, and Nick Confessore had a story showing that most of the money, most of the advertising spending,\u00a0 is from groups that don’t really disclose their donors.\u00a0 So the original free-speech argument was, “Let’s list the caps.\u00a0 Let’s have contemporaneous disclosure.\u00a0 You’ll know where the money is coming from.”\u00a0 That’s not the case at all.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nLook, I think Nia, very quickly, but I think it’s going to drive good candidates from running.<\/p>\n

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON:
\nYeah.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nHow do you run in this environment?<\/p>\n

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON:
\nYeah, because the threshold for getting in there is so high now.\u00a0 I mean, you know Democrats are going to complain about it, but Democrats are pretty good at raising this money and coordinating a lot of these troops on the ground in these different states.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nIt’s unbelievable.\u00a0 Luke, nice work, scary work.<\/p>\n

LUKE RUSSERT:
\nRight?<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nAnyway.\u00a0 In a moment, sometimes kids say the darndest things.\u00a0 But what if children talked back to us like politicians?<\/p>\n

(BEGIN TAPE)<\/p>\n

MOM:
\nDid you eat the dozen chocolate cookies that I had left on the counter to cool?<\/p>\n

BILLY:
\nI am deeply upset by this question.<\/p>\n

(END TAPE)<\/p>\n

(BEGIN TAPE)<\/p>\n

ANNOUNCER:
\nTime now for CNBC\u2019s Executive Edge Week Ahead, brought to you by Comcast Business. Built for business.<\/p>\n

ANDREW ROSS SORKIN:
\nI’m Andrew Ross Sorkin with your week ahead.\u00a0 Wall Street will be reacting to the results of this weekend’s European Central Bank stress test.\u00a0 Those tests are designed to gauge the overall health of Europe’s financial system.\u00a0 And they come at a time of intense uncertainty over global growth.
\nAnd then coming up on Wednesday, we’re going to find out whether or not the Federal Reserve will end its bond-buying program when the Central Bank’s wraps its two-day meeting. That\u2019s your CNBC Executive Edge. Get all the latest business news on CNBC and CNBC.com.<\/p>\n

(END TAPE)<\/p>\n

***Commercial Break***<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nYou’ve seen the horse race results in the key Senate states, which remain close.\u00a0 But let’s go inside the numbers, because they paint a more complex picture of this campaign and perhaps this will help explain why things haven’t broken decisively in either party’s direction.\u00a0 First, let’s start with why Senate democrats are in the position that they’re in in the first place.
\nPresident Obama is very unpopular.\u00a0 In each of the six states we polled the President’s job rating is below his national average.\u00a0 Never topping 40% in any of the states we polled.\u00a0 But if this were the lone factor affecting this year’s midterm, we’d see a Republican advantage in all of these battleground states.
\nAlmost guaranteeing the GOP winning back the Senate.\u00a0 But it’s not.\u00a0 Here’s why.\u00a0 We asked voters what the most important issue was to them in deciding how they would vote next week.\u00a0 And what did we find?\u00a0 Two things that aren’t going to help any incumbents, Republican or Democrats.\u00a0 And the first is more than just an issue.\u00a0 It’s an atmosphere.
\nVoters are most concerned with breaking the partisan gridlock in Washington to get things done.\u00a0 This is one of the top two issues for likely voters in four of the six states we polled, including two big ones, Iowa and Kansas where it was the top issue.\u00a0 But even in North Carolina and Arkansas, breaking the gridlock was a close third.
\nAnd folks, take a look at this.\u00a0 In all of these polls, if your name begins with “Senator of
\n“Congressman,” you aren’t popular.\u00a0 Out of the seven sitting senators and congressman running for the Senate this year in the states we polled, only two, two have a favorable rating, barely above water.\u00a0 Barely.\u00a0 Tom Cotton in Arkansas and Cory Gardner in Colorado.
\nBelieve it or not, breaking the dysfunction in Washington is topping as an issue.\u00a0 It’s trumping the economy in some states.\u00a0 It trumped healthcare in just about every state.\u00a0 And this is sure to be the wild card with just ten day to go until this year’s midterm election.\u00a0 They want to punish the Democrats without rewarding the Republicans.\u00a0 And they’re sitting there, wondering what to do.\u00a0 We’ll be back after this.<\/p>\n

***Commercial Break***<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nI’ve got the panel back here.\u00a0 Guys, you just saw all those poll numbers.\u00a0 I want to show you, we know what the Republican party’s closing argument is.\u00a0 And if you didn’t know, wait till you see these next two ads.\u00a0 One’s airing in Arkansas, one in North Carolina, and there’s one person who seems to be the star.\u00a0 Take a look.<\/p>\n

(BEGIN TAPE)<\/p>\n

PRESIDENT OBAMA:
\nBut make no mistake, these policies are on the ballot.\u00a0 Every single one of them.<\/p>\n

TOM COTTON:
\nPresident Obama’s finally right about something.\u00a0 His policies are on the ballot.<\/p>\n

(END TAPE)<\/p>\n

(BEGIN TAPE)<\/p>\n

KAY HAGAN:
\nVoting 92% of the time with the president.\u00a0 Whether you support him or not doesn’t work here in North Carolina.\u00a0 It is time for someone to reach across the party lines and finally get something done in this country.<\/p>\n

(END TAPE)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nBoy, that second ad there, Kay Hagan, that was her voice narrating an NRSC ad, which I’m going to get into in a minute, by the way, a Republican party ad, on that same issue that they’ve been hitting her on.<\/p>\n

CAROLYN RYAN:
\nThat is a powerful ad.\u00a0 And the whole question of the relationship between Democrats in the Senate and the president right now is fascinating.\u00a0 Especially because he seems to be kind of inserting himself and creating more problems for them.\u00a0 I find this–<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nYou had a great story in The Times this morning, the back-fighting has already begun.\u00a0 The finger pointing, the blame game, Democrats, blind quotes, blaming the White House for all their problems.<\/p>\n

CAROLYN RYAN:
\nI find the psychology of this most fascinating, right?\u00a0 Because you have President Obama, who is this ascendant politician, wanting to be a transcendent politician, now it seems like he’s unable to confront and absorb the fact that he’s unpopular in these states, some of them purple states.\u00a0 And he keeps kind of pushing himself out there.\u00a0 And, you know, our presidents have egos, and they tend to be oversized, but surprisingly fragile.\u00a0 And that’s part of what we’re seeing here.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nYou know, the problem Republicans are having closing the sale, Dan, and you found this, I know, on the road, is that they’re not trusted as change agents. Yes, but they have solved the argument that, hey, President Obama and Democrats, they’re gumming things up.\u00a0 But they’re not buying the Republicans.\u00a0 And the Republicans themselves know it, you know, that ad was paid for not by the National Republican Senatorial Committee.\u00a0 They officially changed their name legally to NRSC because, as a source told me, their name had three words in it that are very unpopular, national, Republican, and senatorial.\u00a0 And they realized they couldn’t have that. How do Republicans close that gap?<\/p>\n

DAN BALZ:
\nWell, I think they close it with the kind of ad that you just put on the air, which is to try to bring it back to President Obama.\u00a0 You know, we’ve talked about this all year long, that the national atmosphere in a midterm election, the President’s on the line.\u00a0 And he has been a drag on Democrats all through this campaign, and there have been things that have gotten in the way of that for Republicans that has made it more difficult.\u00a0 And one of them is their own bad brand and questions about them.\u00a0 But in the end, they’re going to want to try to nationalize this around Obama.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nLuke, closing argument for the benefits.\u00a0 First of all, did they mess up by distancing themselves almost too much from Obama, where they’ve made this even too effective?<\/p>\n

LUKE RUSSERT:
\nWell, I think in these individual state races, it’s probably better to try and be as most independent as you can.\u00a0 But looking into the poll, what I found fascinating are those two-name issues, job creation, and breaking the gridlock.\u00a0 Republicans overwhelmingly do better on job creation, Democrats overwhelmingly do better on breaking the gridlock.\u00a0 So in theory–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\n–voters are troubled.<\/p>\n

LUKE RUSSERT:
\nRight, right.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nBut Washington–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

LUKE RUSSERT:
\nDisruption voters, they–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

LUKE RUSSERT:
\nIn terms of playing up the independents, if you want to be the “breaking the gridlock” candidate, that’s what you do.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nAll right.\u00a0 I want to sort of have a little lighter moment here, although it’s a little bit depressing.\u00a0 I want you to see this.\u00a0 Yesterday, the Des Moines Register, and yes, it’s turning into my favorite paper today, as you know, asked, “What if kids starting using political talking points, the talking points politicians use, to talk back to their parents?”
\nWell, that got us thinking.\u00a0 So we took the liberty of borrowing the Register’s idea, added some pictures and sound, so here now, is our version of what kids would sound like if they talked like politicians.\u00a0 Script courtesy of The Des Moines Register.<\/p>\n

(BEGIN TAPE)<\/p>\n

MOM:
\nBilly?<\/p>\n

BILLY:
\nGood morning, Mother, and let me say how great it is to once again be back in the kitchen.\u00a0 Am I to understand that you have a question?<\/p>\n

MOM:
\nI certainly do. Did you eat the cookies?<\/p>\n

BILLY:
\nI’m sorry. Could you repeat the question?<\/p>\n

MOM:
\nDid you eat the dozen chocolate chip cookies that I had left on the counter to cool?<\/p>\n

BILLY:
\nI’m deeply upset by this question. I would like to think that we had built the kind of relationship where such questions would not be necessary.<\/p>\n

MOM:
\nWell, it is. When I left the kitchen, there were a dozen cookies cooling on the counter. Now they are gone. Did you eat them?<\/p>\n

BILLY:
\nThat’s not the question. You know who’s behind this, don’t you?\u00a0 The Koch brothers.<\/p>\n

MOM:
\nThe brothers who run the Koch Industries?<\/p>\n

BILLY:
\nNo.\u00a0 Jimmy and Jumbo Rodgers, the twin brothers who live on Koch Street.<\/p>\n

MOM:
\nAnswer the question, Billy. Did you eat the cookies?<\/p>\n

BILLY:
\nI have answered that question.<\/p>\n

MOM:
\nYou didn’t say anything.<\/p>\n

BILLY:
\nThat is my answer.<\/p>\n

MOM:
\nYour answer is no answer?<\/p>\n

BILLY:
\nI have no control over how you choose to interpret my answers.\u00a0 And its high time we put the past behind us and looked forward to the future.\u00a0 What’s for supper, anyway?<\/p>\n

(END TAPE)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nYou know, Nia, I mean, look, we did it in an absurd way because what, do these elected officials know that’s how they sound when they do these crazy evasions?\u00a0 And you make us all ask the same question four or five times.\u00a0 It’s like that skit out of Austin Powers, ask me three times, and finally Will Ferrell’s character will answer the question.<\/p>\n

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON:
\nThis idea that your answer is no answer at all, right?\u00a0 And you know, whoever wins come November or January, whenever this thing is going to be decided, they are going to be facing a very frustrated public.\u00a0 A public that doesn’t really believe that they can make a difference and break the gridlock.\u00a0 How they’re able to convince the public otherwise will be a big test going forward.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nDan, and this sets the environment for 2016. That’s what’s actually here, is just distrust of politicians.\u00a0 I mean, it’s sort of we made fun of it and mocked it there, but that’s going to be the environment.<\/p>\n

DAN BALZ:
\nIt is.\u00a0 I mean, one of the big questions is which of these candidates who want to run for president in 2016 has a way to get past where we are today.\u00a0 They’ll all talk about it, but is anybody really going to be able to do it?<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nUnbelievable.\u00a0 I don’t know.\u00a0 That’s all for today.\u00a0 I’ll be getting back on my “Meet the Voters” bus, follow my trip on our website.\u00a0 Today, nightly news, next week we’ll be in New York in our election studio with just three days to go until the midterms then.\u00a0 But for now, if it’s Sunday, it’s Meet the Press.<\/p>\n

* * *END OF TRANSCRIPT* * *<\/strong><\/p>\n

# # #<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Media contacts<\/h4>\n

For more information contact:
\nErika MasonhallNBC Newso: (212) 664-3230c: (917) 628-8943e: erika.masonhall@nbcuni.com<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NBC\/Marist polls show tight races, Republican momentum Doctors Without Borders rep says \u201cwe are totally confused\u201d by quarantine orders Plus: Leiter on countering the ISIS \u201cJihadi cool\u201d recruitment OCTOBER 26, 2014 — Today\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press with Chuck Todd\u201d featured interviews about the Ebola crisis with Sophie Delaunay, the U.S. executive director of Doctors Without […]<\/p>\n

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