occasion, no matter how sacred or solemn, about anything. that is tonight's last word. "the 11th hour" with brian williams starts now. "the 11th hour" with brian williams starts now. tonight, the president of these united states has attacked baltimore. it's being received as bigoted, race-based, if not surprising as the president attacks another member of congress in a storied american city of former baltimore mayor will be here with us. plus, our director of national intelligence is out and the president's man to replace dan coats is a guy who seemed to be auditioning for the job at the mueller hearing. the audition seems to have been successful. and the movement in the democratic 2020 race as another debate week is upon us as the "the 11th hour" gets under way on a monday night.

good evening once again from our nbc news headquarters here in new york. day 921 of the trump administration. the president has now attacked the city of baltimore and he begins another week embroiled in a new controversy involving race. after his relentless attacks over this weekend on maryland democratic congressman elijah cummings, a 23-year veteran of the house, son of former sharecroppers, cummings represents a majority black district that includes baltimore and a large scrounge area. he's chairman of the powerful oversight committee that is conducting several investigations into the administration. he has subpoenaed, among others, ivanka trump and jared kushner. he has backed chairman of other committees, look, looking into possible impeachment. early saturday, trump lashed out at cummings' criticism of conditions for migrant children at the intern border saying, quote, his baltimore district is far worse and more dangerous, misspelling his name. he went on to say his district is a disgusting rat and

rodent-infested mess. maybe he could help clean up this very dangerous and filthy place, no human being would want to live there. next day in an apparent reaction to the outrage that followed his words, the president then posted this. if racist elijah cummings would focus more of his energy on helping the good people of his district and baltimore itself, perhaps progress could be made in fixing the mess he's helped to create. tonight we got this, elijah cummings never went to the southern border and then he screams at the good people wo despite congress' failure to fix the loopholes on asylum make it work. on fox news sunday, acting white house chief of staff mick mulvaney was confronted with trump's apparent pattern of attacks on lawmakers of color. >> there is a clear pattern here, mick. the fact is that before his inauguration, the president tweeted about john lewis, a black congressman. two weeks ago he goes after the four members of the squad, all

women of color, and says they should they should go back to the crime-infested countries from which they come. then he talks about elijah cummings and he says his district is rat and rodent infested. infested. sounds like vermin. sounds subhuman. and these are all six members of congress who are people of color. >> i think you're spending way too much time reading between the lines. >> i'm not reading between the lines. i'm reading the lines. >> is anyone -- >> this morning donald trump expanded his attacks to include the reverend al sharpton as the civil rights activist was on his way to baltimore. quote, i've known al for 25 years, always got along well. al is a con man, a troublemaker, always looking for a score. hates whites and cops. earlier tonight, sharpton responded. >> he has always been one that would play any card that he felt was to his advantage.

donald trump must think he is a race to disagree with him makes you against a whole race of people. no, we're against his policies. >> "washington post" reports on the elevation of trump's onslaught against congressman cummings. robert costa reports trump was, quote, looking for a reason to attack. they write that reason came early saturday morning after a baltimore-area republican, quote, appeared on "fox and friends" talking about video footage she had seen depicting cummings' district as overrun by trash and blight. they also report trump's broad side against cummings was a topic of discussion during two white house meetings monday morning, one with senior staff, one with a broader group of the communications team. internally there was some agitation and discomfort with the attacks. in the wake of all of this, it's the silence of republicans many find so notable. one who did speak out made a point of not criticizing the president.

>> do you agree with the president that elijah cummings is racist? >> here's what i think. i don't think either congressman cummings or president trump are racist. i think that they disagree, but you can disagree with someone's ideas but not disagree with their color. >> here for our lead-off discussion on a monday night, donna edwards, former democratic member of congress from the state of maryland, a "washington post" columnist juana summers. robert costa, national political reporter for "the washington post," moderator of washington week pbs, and stephanie rawlings blake. former democratic mayor of baltimore. good evening and welcome to you all. mayor, i'd like to begin with you. let's not over-gauzy this up.

it is true, as you know better than most people on the planet today, the crisis they have dealt with from crime to drugs to public education to vacant buildings. however, it is bracing to look up at the television and see the headline that the president attacks baltimore. how has it been on your end on this day? >> the way i was raised, it's not what people call you to, it's what you answer to. so when the president made those remarks about baltimore, i know that not to be true. do we have blight? yes, we do. do we have areas where there's rat infestation? yes, we do. is it the entire city? the entire 7th congressional district? it's not. i knew he wasn't speaking my truth. that being said, it's disappointing as a person who dedicated their adult life to

public service for someone who in the highest post in the world, who could do any number of things to be supportive to baltimore and other cities that are suffering, decides to just point out problems instead of raising -- lifting a hand to say how can we work together to solve some of these problems. pointing them out is useless. >> congresswoman, next to you, as i heard someone dispense tough love in the democratic party tonight, just expressing shock, revulsion, and moral outrage isn't going to win elections. you can watch fox news as i did in prime time tonight and see the next cities up. you can hear the attack on san francisco which has gone on for sometime. the speaker's congressional district. you can almost guess where the movement is going to go next. what do the democrats have for this?

>> well, i think it's really clear that what trump does is, you know, on friday we were all talking about subpoenas and possible impeachment. trump wanted to stop the news cycle. so he goes to the same racist trope that he's done over and over again. it's despicable. and i think what democrats have to do is call it out when they see it, but also call out the reason why. and the reason is because trump is using this as part of his playbook for re-election. it's divisive. i don't think that it will work at all, and it takes the focus off of things that are really important as well like how is it that we deal with the challenges of some of our largest cities? how do we make sure that we stay on the game and continue to investigate this president?

and so i think democrats have to do two things at once, but they can't let trump's racism pass without commentary because it becomes normalized, and that's not acceptable. >> mayor, talk to us a bit briefly about elijah cummings. >> elijah cummings is what i consider one of the finest public servants we have serving in maryland in my lifetime. he is passionate about your city, he's passionate about using his voice, his skills, and his talents to make his community better. the thought that the president in a moment of weakness of his character decides to impugn the character of elijah cummings speaks more about the president's weakness than congressman cummings. i count him as a friend and mentor. my father was close to him as well and he deserves better.

it pains me as a person who is a public servant to watch what is happening in the white house. as a public servant, you're supposed to ask yourself is this making us better, is this making my community better, my city better, my state better, my country better. if it's not, you shouldn't be doing it, period. >> juana, you were sitting in the studio in new york no more than five feet from my left and we got into a conversation. at commercial you said you lived in baltimore. i reacted the way most people in your life react. i said great town. i still insist most people would react that way. please do us the favor of telling us, shadow the piece you've written for the associated press in words, tell us about the 7th congressional district, congress cummings' district. >> absolutely. my colleagues and i spent our day traveling the entirety of this district. one of the things that often

gets lost given the way that president trump has talked about this district, this is not a district that just includes baltimore. i live in a neighboring congressional district but it also includes parts of baltimore county, howard county, which is regularly seen as one of the most affluent counties in the country. we talked to folks from areas like winchester, an area where freddy gray died in 2015. in police custody. in areas near columbia, maryland, which folks may have heard of during the historic flooding. and the biggest thing we heard is that people are very supportive congressman cummings. one woman says though her city is a more affluent area, it's not the same issues we face in baltimore city, she feels that congressman cummings serves her equally. people feel the rhetoric is racist and incendiary and they

want to hear what trump could do to fix the issues that we know to be true that exist here in baltimore rather than just cast aspersions on them and speaking to them like they're less than can american. experience robert costa, how does the president arrive at a strategy such as this? let's call it what it is. and second, where are the republicans? >> it's not so much a strategy, but a reaction. talking to the president's closest advisers like former mayor rudy giuliani, he said the president is fighting back constantly. he's not thinking through this as a political strategy, even though at the white house today at staff meetings they were talking about how it could rev up the base for 2020. but they also know the republicans in this white house could pay a political cost. you look at a state like georgia in the south, growing in its

diversity, changing demographics, a republican stronghold for years, but we've seen democratic gains in recent cycles. for the republicans, talking to john kasich tonight, he called it a culture of silence. i was at the capitol this afternoon as they came back for votes at the senate. senator romney, senator fisher of nebraska, senator lee of utah, so many republican senators, no comment, please call my office, don't really want to talk about it. didn't want to engage on this issue about congressman cummings. >> mayor, what's your advice? i'm sitting thinking of cleveland, state of ohio, all great towns just like baltimore, maryland. what's your advice to those who may be next up on the hit list? >> i would tell them to speak their truth. they know the truth about the

greatness of their city. i'm hopeful that in a few short years we'll have someone in the white house that wants to uplift cities across the country and not berate cities. this is someone who, as i said, let's just -- even if you say that everything that he said about baltimore is true, everyone is working hard to do their best to make baltimore as best as it can be. he's the dealer of the cards. if we have a bum hand, he's the dealer of the cards. he could help us do better. i would tell them not to be dismayed. people don't believe too much from what comes out of this president's mouth. so i would not be dismayed. know their truth and continue to speak it. >> congresswoman, the question i just asked to robert, i would like to put to you. where are the republicans? >> i mean, this, again, this is trump's republican party. i think it's really unfortunate

because i know a lot of the senators and members of the house. why they feel hamstrung by not being able to speak out against this president is is really beyond me. they're going to last beyond this presidency and they're the ones who have have to rebuild their party and answer to the american people. and i think 2020 is going to be that year where they have to answer the call about whether they're going to stand with the racist remarks and the racist president or they're going to stand with the american people and it seems very clear that in their silence they are complicit in trump's racism. >> juana, i'm so happy you mentioned ellicott city, a beautiful town that needs everyone's tourism dollars and needs everyone's support after the flooding that we covered here. number two, here we are presented with another story where the story line is white house aides agitated, worried, but the president goes on.

>> absolutely. robert costa knows this better than i do because he spends a lot of time covering the white house, but this is the a president we've seen time and time again reacts on impulse. there are aides around him giving him better information, who are suggesting, you know, these are things he should not say or do strategically. i'm not convinced this is all that strategic. he is reacting to the news around him, to these fox news segments. the question is how they turn this around. they're meeting for debates in detroit, another city that could possibly be on the president's hit list, as you put it. how are they able to bring out a consistent message to their voters to rally them and unify them in this environment where you have a president that is trafficking and hurling racial animosity and racialized statements at cities like baltimore. >> robert costa, is it unfair to use a word like enablers? is anyone willing and able to

stop donald trump on a front like this? >> you only have one person running against him right now in the republican primary, former massachusetts governor build weld. he's not gaining traction at this time. inside the senate you have a republican party that believes president trump is critical to their re-election chances. tom tillis of north carolina up for re-election next year. he waved off the questions. would rather talk about the judiciary, the tax cut. i could go on and on. anything but race, anything but the a.1. story. it's about the a-10 story for this republican party when you encounter them as a reporter. >> our great thanks to the former mayor, former member of congress, and two very active journalists. our front four starting us off on a monday night, donna edwards, juana summers, peter costa, stephanie rawlings-blake, thank you. dan coats is out as director of national intelligence.

we'll take a look at the man trump wants in and how a texas congressman's grilling of mueller last week just might have done the trick. later, the democrats gathering in detroit for the next round of debates as a new poll has some bad news for one of the breakout stars of the last debate. "the 11th hour" just getting started on this momentous monday night. you thinking what i'm thinking shaw?

create some pain.

brace yourself. i got him. no i got him. no i got him. i got him. people came to me, dan coats came to me and some others. they said they think it's russia.

i have president putin, he just said it's not russia. i will say this. i don't see any reason why it would be. i have great confidence in my intelligence people, but i will tell you that president putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today. >> just over a year after that moment in helsinki, indelible as it was, president trump announced the director of national intelligence dan coats is indeed stepping down. the president said he intends to unemployment texas republican congressman john ratcliffe as his replacement. you may recall the congressman was one of the first republicans to go after robert mueller last week. >> i agree with the chairman. this morning when he said donald trump is not above the law. he's not. but he damn sure shouldn't be below the law, which is where volume i i of this report puts him. >> "the new york times" reports if mr. rat cliff is confirmed by

the senate, he will offer a starkly different perspective in the situation room, one more in line with mr. trump's thinking. mr. rat cliff a third term republican from texas and a former prosecutor has embraced mr. trump's theories about the russia investigation and was among the sharpest questioners of robert mueller. he met with mr. rath rat cliff july 19 to discuss the job, but the hearings five days later offered the congressman a chance to audition for the president who enjoyed watching him grill mr. mueller. indeed, with us for more tonight, jeremy bash, former chief of staff at the cia and pentagon. former chief counsel for the house intel committee, chief white house correspondent for "the new york times." gentleman. good evening. peter, can you start us off on the decision-making on trump to choose this guy and the reaction thus far in both parties. >> yeah. he was already sort of on the

takeoff even before the hearings. but the hearings definitely cemented the idea that this is somebody he wanted in this position. he's very different than dan coats. dan coats, while obviously a republican, former senator, spent a lot of time on the hill a partisan over a career, least understood the purpose of the job was not to be political but to be as sober minded and neutral, advocate of the intelligence agencies as one can be in that position. he spent a lot of time in that position. yawn rat -- john ratcliffe is respected by by a lot of the republican peers, particularly on the conservative side, but has very little resume that would naturally suit this job, probably less than anybody since the job was first created in the years after 9/11. some of the senate republicans made clear they're lukewarm about this. senator burr, richard burr of north carolina, the republican chairman of the intelligence committee, said he only spoke with congressman ratcliffe last

night for the first time. doesn't know him. and his comments today indicated that he was not at all necessarily sold on him at this point. >> peter, is there anything in his resume that would stand out to a casual reward that would suit him for this job title? >> well, he joined the house intelligence committee just this year, so that would be his most significant exposure to the intelligence world. he had been a u.s. attorney and prosecuted terrorism cases. he was in east texas. on his website, he boasts about arresting 300 illegal aliens, that's the term he used, in a single day. that's his calling card when he ran for office. but, you know, again, the performance last week was part of the selling point to the president. here was somebody who was skeptical of the view that russia had on behalf of president trump. he made the argument that, in fact, perhaps russia was really interfering on behalf of hillary

clinton by feeding information to christopher steele for the infamous dossier. he grilled robert mueller about his decision not to exonerate the president on obstruction of justice. he said that he didn't have the authority to either exonerate or not exonerate. wasn't within his mandate to do that and was pretty tough on the special counsel in that hearing, something that cheered on the president as he watched on television. >> jeremy bash, i've used this term before and i don't mean it as a pejorative, but dan coats was what we used to call a chamber of commerce republican in the state of indiana. could you make a case that he grew in this job and slowly realized his status as human guardrail, and what do you make of the next nominee and the potential effect on the intelligence community? >> brian, there are three things that really concern me about this personnel move. number one is, dan coats responsibly, nobly, honorably led the intelligence community.

even though he was a republican elected official in a prior life, he left politics at the door of the office of the director of national intelligence, and he spoke truth to power. he told -- he told the country and the united states senate and the house in particular during his public testimony exactly what russia was up to with respect to interfering with the election, the fact that north korea would not denuclearize, all things that contradicted public statements that the president made. the second that i think concerns me is there is an able deputy, sue gordon, and she can fill the role. somehow the career professional is being passed over. and the third thing is that the individual who was selected really has no experience in intelligence. this is a hard-enough job on the worst day of a crisis when the country would be attacked or come under threat. imagine how much hard it is if you don't have any experience at all.

>> yes, both jeremy and peter have agreed to stay with us over this break. coming up, mitch mcconnell had a very negative reaction to being called "moscow mitch," and now the majority leader is playing defense on why he hasn't strengthened our defenses against the russians. termites, feasting on homes 24/7.

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i want to talk about moscow mitch.

moscow mitch says it's a hoax. how can moscow mitch so willingly turn a blind eye? he won't even let the senate take a vote on it. that is un-american. he's moscow mitch. >> that nickname apparently left a mark. mitch mcconnell today defended his name and reputation, took big swings at his cites, and more importantly, defended his decision to block re-election security legislation. he complained the most recent bill was too passionate and his position on russia interference is being distorted. >> every single member of the senate agrees that russian meddling was real and is real. we all agree that the federal government, state governments, and the private sector all have obligations to take this threat seriously, and bolster our defenses. >> here's what happened. hours after mueller warned that russia undoubtedly will interfere in our 2020 election and is doing so right now as we

speak, the democrats tried to get the senate to vote on bipartisan election security bills. republicans blocked the measures. this afternoon shortly after mcconnell's angry remarks, senate minority leader responded. >> it's leader mcconnell, they don't say majority leader, who can determine what's put on the floor, and he has put nothing on the floor on elections when last year we attempted in the appropriations bill to add more money to help the states harden their systems against cyber attack, leader mcconnell opposed it and said it's not needed. >> still with us are jeremy bash and peter baker. jeremy, let's talk motive. what does mitch mcconnell possibly have to gain by holding up or destroying this kind of legislation? >> well, i don't think he's a russian asset, but i do think he's doing the bidding of the president. it's strange, brian, because, of course, a paper ballot doesn't

favor a democrat or republican. a rule that says that you have to call the fbi if a foreign adversary nation tried to pedal dirt on your opponent, clearly that doesn't favor democrats or republicans. mitch mcconnell thinks donald trump will be angry, will shed a tear, will wag his finger or tweet at mcconnell if mitch mcconnell does anything to suggest that the threat against our election is real as it pertains to 2020. >> what a new and strange feeling for patriotic americans of a certain age. we know we are exposed and vulnerable. we've been told as much by the people we respect, and yet we witness our own country seemingly powerless to do anything about it. >> well, not just powerless, but polarized. we don't even agree what needs to be done or the idea that we

were attacked and how important it was. it's really fascinating for us to grew up in the cold war to look at this moment and realize that it's the republican leader who's being accused of being soft on russia and is firing back at his opponents for mccarthyism. that's quite a turnabout. mitch mcconnell said it's just a political game on the part of the democrats, that they are all about embarrassing the president, that by putting the legislation on the floor the day after mueller, it was more about making a point, a statement about putting the president on the hook rather than a serious effort at legislation. and he decided he would take one for the team in effect by blocking in. there's a cost to that. the cost is you're going to be accused of blocking something that sounds reasonable to a lot of americans. his point is doing things we ought to be doing. the administration is doing

things, dan coats, the aforementioned director of national intelligence is put in place, a top executive to focus on hardening defenses. to jeremy's point about president trump's reaction is part of it. i think president trump looks at this kind of legislation, this kind of effort by the democrats as a way of delegitimizing him. saying his presidency not legitimate because he wasn't elected fairly and squarely. so rather than focusing on what the russians did or didn't do, it's looked at in that context. >> joe score borough might have landed on something that hurts. mcconnell may prefer majority leader to moscow mitch, for sure. gentlemen, thank you, as always, for coming on. coming up for us on the eve of this next round of democratic debates, all 20 men and women, what the newest poll numbers reveal about the front-runner and his closest competitors. dishwasher. so what does the dishwasher do?

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the 2020 candidates preparing to take the stage for a second round of debates less than 24 hours from now. we can't stop it. night one features a head-to-head between the two tops in the liberal wing, bernie sanders and elizabeth warren. night two we'll see another pairing of joe biden and kamala harris among others. a new poll out shows biden once again expanding his lead to 34%. caveat, it's a national poll. after suffering a setback from that first round. elizabeth warren is now in second place. that's a change. that spot was held by kamala harris in the last national cue poll she's dropped. to thirds place with 12%. bernie sanders fourth at 11%. our political unit sums up the stakes this way. we quote, the good news for biden, his poll numbers have snapped back to where they were before the first debates. the bad news, it's unlikely he can afford another rough outing,

which would only increase the chatter that he might not be up for the rigors of a general election fight against donald trump. with us tonight a.b. stoddard, associate editor at real clear politics, and john ralston, editor at "the nevada independent". welcome to you both. a.b., i trotted this out this week, and i think it's germane. people are thinking it. we watched a guy in his mid-70s have a rough performance on live television after much buildup last week. to quote "the new york times," as mr. bind prepares for his next debate wednesday night which will include a rematch with ms. harris, he and his advisers are grappling to make sure he doesn't appear so shaky, cognizant in a repeat performance could do lasting image to his campaign and erode damage to his campaign and erode his advantage in the polls.

i insist this kind of thing is not textbook ageism but is part of the business we've chosen. >> after the performance that the vice president turned in, they have reason to be nervous. he will not get a third chance. if he comes in and wipes that memory away and is engaged, makes the case for himself as the most electable, is that lovable, endearing joe biden, but is really connected to his explanation of policies, defenses of his positions, that lead will open up. if he does not, and he stumbles and he's the same biden or even partially that he was in the first, all these questions are legitimate and the whole race becomes, i believe, rescrambled. and those are legitimate questions about whether or not he can really stay in for the long haul. >> john ralston a word about polling here. and i think this is important. truth in advertising. the poll we've been quoting tonight has a plus or minus of 5.

that's big. and a sample of self-selecting democrats and leaning democrats, and the bottom line is this. about 580 people can decide what folks on this and other broadcasts talk about and strategies at debates because they get to decide that week's, sometimes that day's ranking of candidates. i want to put on the screen the latest numbers from nevada, a unique state that is also a primary state. biden, sanders, warren, harris, buttigieg. how's nevada looking where joe biden's chances are concerned, john? >> well, it's hard to tell, brian. i'm glad you're doing all these caveats about polling, whether it's a national poll or those numbers you just talked about, which are extractions from a daily polling that the morning consult is doing. biden is strong in nevada, just as he's strong everywhere else. and bernie sanders is strong

here. you may recall that he ran very strongly here the last time out too. but let's talk about what happened to biden. while i defer to a.b. and her wisdom, even if he takes a hit again tomorrow, look what he's been through in the last few weeks, brian. i mean, he didn't just have that terrible moment with senator harris in that debate. there's been talk about his nostalgia for serving with races in the senate, the media has unearthed all kinds of things about his record on crime, to progressive voters, and he's still in the national polls and has a huge lead. we don't know what's going to happen. even though there's conflicting evidence in polls on this, democrats want one thing more than anything else, whether they're progressives or moderates. they want to win. so the issue of electability and the so-called conventional wisdom that biden may have the

best chance against trump, i'm not sure if we don't get into our tunnel vision here on what all of this means on july 29th of 2019. >> two things here. a, i join you in deferring to a.b.'s wisdom. b, both john and a.b. have agreed in their wisdom to stay with us over a commercial break. coming up, the democrats and the republicans ask in unison, is this really going to be a thing? is this going to be the trump strategy approaching the 2020 election? we'll talk about that when we come back. - hey, mike.

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very real issues. >> sean hannity from tonight's broadcast. still with us. someone is going to embed a camera in aoc's congressional district in new york and it's not going to be pretty. the president went there on baltimore. i saw a headline on television, president attacks baltimore. on the list of things you never think you'll see. i guess so much for the urban and minority outreach program. will this really be a strategy for 2020? >> i think that plan had to be with asap rocky's freedom. that's still in the pipeline. when the kardashians reach out, he springs into action. but this has been a buildup for a while, before he attacks congressman cummings, on a theme

of how the urban centers run by democrats are out of control, it's a war zone, this will come to your town. and it is socialism, and will lead to venezuela, and on and on. with his attacks on cummings. it crossed over. but he insinuated he needed to be investigated for some kind of graft, it was so beyond anything he's done before. i think you'll hear them talk about nancy pelosi's district to change the subject and say we talk about white liberals' districts, too. but i think generally speaking, having people that he can call racist, he's called members of the squad and congressman cummings racist. picking fights about immigrations and things when he can get to that topic, he seems so be more and more comfortable with that.

as an overt tactic. he shoots from the hip. he's not a strategizer, but i think people around him are trying to make lemonade with lemons, and certainly he saw many, many thousands of people chanting at him, send her back, and he thinks this is great. >> how will this go over in the diverse state of nevada? >> a.b. used the word overt to describe what trump is doing. he's being more overt and perhaps more venomous with this strategy. which has been used by republican candidates, to drive up the white vote so high that he can win re-election. that's a very problematic strategy in a state such as

nevada, where he lost in 2016 by a relatively small margin. the hispanic vote here is very large. the african-american and asian populations are pretty significant in the election as well. although not as large as the hispanic population. it's not going to win in states like nevada, that kind of strategy, i think. i want to point to the date on the calendar and say we don't know who the democratic nominee is going to be. all kinds of things can go on between now and the 200 or some-odd days of the nevada caucus and the election. things could be happening while you and i are talking now, that's how fast the cycle goes, right? >> you got it. and that's how fast we have to run to our commercial break. thank you both so much. and coming up, the story of a

veteran democrat who says he's found an incentive. something extra to offer to get the dems out to the polls in 2020.

last thing before we go tonight, as supplied by a filmmaker, michael moore. and democratic activist. one of the best michiganers. he spent time in this building with seth myers last week. moore is sharply anti-trump, one of the few who did predict a trump victory.

he told "late night" viewers about a method of viewer voter turn out. that turned michigan from red to blue. turnout, one that moore is now recommending the democrats use across the country to get voters to go out to the polls, by putting things other than the presidential race on the ballot. >> you want to talk about a strategy. you called this, last time. talk about what happened in michigan in 2018. >> last november, michigan sadly went red for trump in 2016. but this past november, we brought it back to blue. and we kicked out all the republicans in the state capitol. we got the governor, and let me lieutenant governor and kicked out two republican congressman in detroit. and replaced them with women.

tell you how we did it. we got to do this in especially the swing states this year. ballot proposals brought out the people to vote last november who may not have voted. let's get two ballot proposals, this is karl rove and bush's idea, in 2004, they got states 14 states to to put an amendment to ban gay marriage. it went out in 14 states and got enough people to get bush elected. if we put ballot measures on the ballot, we got marijuana legalization, doubled the youth vote. and the african-american vote, which thousands sat it out in '16, unhappy with the choices. came back to vote last november, because we had a ballot proposal to make gerrymandering and voter suppression illegal.

it passed. marijuana passed. we had an a huge african american turn out. they came out, and we got democrats elected off of it. instead of putting all of our hopes in one politician, we need to get the ballot proposals in the swing states. that will bring out people to vote. >> michael moore, who will join us wednesday night after night two of the democratic debates in detroit. starting tomorrow night, he will be coming on the air the moment the democratic debate is over. at some point after 10:30 p.m. eastern time, i'll be joined by lawrence o'donnell, joy reid, i could go on and on. we will also have live interviews with many of the candidates. as for tonight, that's our monday night broadcast. thank you so much for being here with us. good night from our nbc news headquarters here in new york.

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