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All In With Chris Hayes, Transcript 11/1/2016

Guests: Hari Sevugan, Elijah Cummings, Michael Moore, Sabrina Siddiqui, Judith Browne Dianis

Show: ALL IN with CHRIS HAYES Date: November 1, 2016 Guest: Hari Sevugan, Elijah Cummings, Michael Moore, Sabrina Siddiqui, Judith Browne Dianis

CHRIS MATTHEWS, MSNBC HOST: And that`s HARDBALL for now. Thanks for being with us. "ALL IN WITH CHRIS HAYES" starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS HAYES, MSNBC HOST: Tonight on ALL IN --

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He has shown us who he is. Let us on Tuesday show him who we are.

HAYES: One week to go.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We must win on November 8th. We must win.

HAYES: Polls tighten as early voting continues.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), HOUSE SPEAKER: I already voted here in Jamesville for our nominee.

HAYES: Tonight what we know about where this race stands with seven days to go.

Plus, the fallout from the Trump tax bombshell with Michael Moore. Then --

TRUMP: So important that you watch.

HAYES: Why a federal judge just ruled the RNC must explain their ballot security plans.

TRUMP: When I say watch, you know what I`m talking about, right?

HAYES: And a United States senator`s plot to stop Hillary caught on tape.

SEN. RICHARD BURR (R), NORTH CAROLINA: If Hillary Clinton becomes president, I`m going to do everything I can do to make sure that four years from now we`ve still got an opening on the Supreme Court.

HAYES: When ALL IN starts right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HAYES: Good evening from New York. I`m Chris Hayes. Exactly one week until Election Day, it`s an all-out blitz on the campaign trail. Today alone President Obama, Vice President Biden, Bill Clinton, Bernie Sanders and the Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine all barnstorming battleground states across the country while the Republican ticket Donald Trump and Mike Pence held events in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Trump wrapping up his last event of the day just moments ago.

Seven days out it`s clear the race has tightened significantly. ABC News- "Washington Post" tracking poll now has Trump ahead of Clinton by a percentage point than the margin of error, but it`s the first time Trump has led this poll since May.

Clinton`s margin in the RealClearPolitics polling average now stands at 2.2 percent down from a peak of 7.1 percent a couple of weeks ago right after the emergence of the 2005 tape on which Trump bragged about kissing and groping women without their consent, and after a dozen women came forward with stories of Trump doing exactly those things.

It`s not clear if the tightening in the polls stems from FBI Director James Comey`s widely condemned disclosure of new e-mails belonging to a top Clinton aide or it simply reflects Republican-leaning voters coming home to the party once Trump`s boasts of sexual misconduct and a series of on-the- record allegations of the same faded from the headlines.

With early voting under way in many states, we`ve been getting preliminary clues about who is actually getting to the polls this year. So far it`s a mixed bag for the Obama coalition. In Florida at least Latino turnout appears to be way up over 2012 race. But among African-Americans, particularly in Florida and North Carolina, the numbers are nowhere near where they were four years ago.

And the battle for control of the Senate, political forecasters still give Democrats a real edge. They`ve got a 59 percent chance of winning the majority of Senate seats according to Upshot, 68 percent according to Fivethirtyeight. But those odds have declined since Comey`s announcement last Friday. And now Democrats fear their quest for the majority may be in danger. Republicans sensing an opening just launched a pretty misleading new ad targeting Democratic Senate candidates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s time to start asking why are Democrat Senate candidates still standing with Hillary Clinton? They already know about the smashed private e-mail servers, sketchy meetings, shady political donations, special immunity deals, now Hillary Clinton is under FBI investigation again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAYES: Well, to be clear, Clinton is not really currently under FBI investigation. In fact, here`s the thing. We still don`t know if the newly discovered e-mails have anything at all to do with her or her private server.

Comey`s decision to inform Congress about the e-mails before having determine their significance or looked at them has drawn criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike. Even Senator Chuck Grassley, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote Comey a letter expressing concerns and demanding he release more information on the e- mails by this upcoming Friday.

We`ll see if that`s even possible.

NBC News justice correspondent Pete Williams now reports that despite earlier optimism the review would move quickly the process isn`t moving very fast. Amid a spate of leaks to the press about the Clinton matter raising further questions about the integrity and impartiality of the FBI, new reporting confirms what CNBC first reported yesterday, that Comey kept the FBI from publicly blaming Russia for recent hacks of Democrats allegedly because he did not want the bureau to appear partisan so close to the election.

Meanwhile, the Clinton campaign is trying to stay on offense. Campaign manager Robbie Mook calling on the FBI to give Donald Trump the same treatment it gave to Hillary Clinton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBBY MOOK, HILLARY CLINTON CAMPAIGN MANAGER: All that we`re asking, so that reporting can be fair, is that the information get released. Release whatever information they have, and then if you`re in the business of releasing information about investigations on presidential candidates, release everything you have on Donald Trump.

Release the information on his connections to the Russians. Maybe there are investigations now into his taxes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAYES: According to the "New York Times" Trump`s taxes, or more specifically his method to avoid paying them. may not have been entirely legal. In essence, the "Times" in a remarkable report reports of the maneuver Trump used conferred enormous tax benefits on him for losing vast amounts of other people`s money by exploiting a loophole.

Today Clinton sought to remind voters of Donald Trump`s treatment of women. Campaigning in Florida with Alicia Machado, of course the former Miss Universe who Trump publicly shamed over her weight two decades ago and who he continued to berate after Clinton mentioned her at the first debate. Even instructing his Twitter followers to check out her nonexistent sex tape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALICIA MACHADO, FORMER MISS UNIVERSE: He made fun of me, and I didn`t know how to respond. He told me that I looked ugly. He said to me, Miss Piggy, Miss Housekeeping, Miss Eating Machine. Soon it became a joke. Alicia Machado was the fat Miss Universe. It was really painful for me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAYES: President Obama hit the campaign trail today in Ohio where he took a hammer to Trump`s populist sales pitch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If you are out there every day working hard, punching a clock, the notion that this guy is your champion when his entire life he did not have time for anybody who wasn`t rich or a celebrity, who wouldn`t let you into one of his hotels unless you were cleaning the room, wouldn`t let you on one of his golf courses unless you were mowing the fairway, come on. This guy is going to be your champion?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAYES: I`m joined now by Congressman Elijah Cummings, Democrat from Maryland, the Ranking Member on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

And Congressman, it`s been a remarkable few days since the Comey announcement. We still basically don`t know anything about what it was. There`s a sort of, I think, a fairly strong consensus has emerged that it was -- it was probably the wrong judgment by Director Comey.

Are you worried about the integrity of the FBI right now as we have this sort of cascade of leaks emanating from the bureau unnamed sources pointing this way and that and we`re conducting an election under these circumstances?

REP. ELIJAH CUMMINGS (D), MARYLAND: I am worried about the integrity of the FBI. Mr. Comey, when he came -- Director Comey when he became before our committee, he made it clear back in July that he did not want to and would not subject Hillary Clinton to a double standard, and that`s exactly what is happening here. And as a lawyer, I can tell you the integrity of the FBI is very important.

The American people basically want fairness, but here it appears clear that there is a double standard. On the one hand, Chris, we have been informed through this very vague letter about the investigative steps being taken by the FBI with regard to Hillary Clinton and this evident, but on the other hand when it comes to Donald Trump and his advisers and the Russian government and their efforts to undermine our election system and our situation here in the United States, we don`t get a mumbling word. And a number of us in Congress have asked for months about information with regard to Mr. Trump, his advisers and the Russian government, any kind of coordination or cooperation going on between them. And we have got not a mumbling word, not one syllable.

HAYES: I want to play for you something that Donald Trump said tonight in Wisconsin. He`s having a rally in Wisconsin. He appeared there with Senate candidate Ron Johnson, your colleague in the Senate, not in the House, and Scott Walker, the Republican governor. He threatened a constitutional crisis if Hillary Clinton were elected. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If she were to be elected, it would create an unprecedented constitutional crisis and the work of government would grind to an unbelievably unglorious halt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAYES: You know, this strikes me as essentially a promise from the Republican Party that I think is sort of aimed at, you know, suppressing enthusiasm among Democratic voters, people believing that basically it`s going to be a disaster and a nightmare because we will make it so if you elect Hillary Clinton.

CUMMINGS: And that is not our way of government in the United States of America. We`re better than that. And when you put out those kinds of statements, I think they`re counterproductive, they`re not patriotic and they go against every single thing our democracy stands for.

And keep in mind, those kinds of words I think played right into the hands of Mr. Putin. No doubt about it. And so I think that the whole idea of telling people, like some of the senators have said, that they would not go along with appointing a Supreme Court justice for four years, those kinds of statements and then the whole announcements by Trump talking about he doesn`t believe in the elections and that they`re going to be rigged unless he wins, all of those things is like a hijacking of our democracy. And I for one will not stand for it. And I don`t think the American people will stand for it.

HAYES: All right, Congressman Elijah Cummings. Thank you, sir. Appreciate your time.

CUMMINGS: Thank you.

HAYES: Joining me now, Hari Sevugan, senior spokesman for the Obama campaign 2008. Now a Democratic consultant. Also as a middle reliever for the Cubs, but got left off the playoff roster.

All right, Hari, so you know Democrats, you know liberals, they get panicky.

HARI SEVUGAN, SENIOR SPOKESMAN, OBAMA CAMPAIGN 2008: Yes.

HAYES: So let`s start with the map. So you got this situation now where you got -- this is sort of a quadrennial tradition in which the Republicans said they`re going to campaign in blue states. Mitt Romney had a Minnesota visit. There was a huge rally in Pennsylvania. It didn`t work out for him. You got something similar this time around. And the question is, is this a head fake or is there real softness in a state like Michigan that Hillary Clinton herself is going to on Friday?

SEVUGAN: Well, listen, you know, the president visited Wisconsin in 2012, Bill Clinton was in Pennsylvania the day before the election in 2012. It`s smart for Democrats to really solidify their base and get to 270. I don`t see that as really any worry about Michigan. What I do think is needed is really rallying some enthusiasm, especially among African-American voters. I think that`s part of what this Detroit trip is about.

But you`re right, Chris. I mean, like, Democrats are bed-wetters and not unlike, you know, Cub fans and I can speak as both a Democrat and a Cub fan, we tend to worry. But the thing here is we have to go back and look at the fundamentals of this race.

The fundamentals of this race really are exactly the same. The map is exactly the same. We start out with 242 electoral votes if we win every state that we`ve won for the last six elections. That gives us a lot and past 270. The demographic map in each of these swing states is very much in our favor and moving more and more so.

And finally our organizing advantage is tremendous over Donald Trump. So we know based on the work and investment that we put in the data and our field and our organizing efforts, we know who the voters we need to reach are, we know the ones that have voted early, we know the ones that we need to turn out on Election Day. So, you know, the structure that Democrats have in place should give us great confidence just like the cubs starting staff did.

HAYES: Who -- OK, right. But to extend the metaphor, right, then bad stuff can happen. So if that`s the sort of structural advantage, right, I mean.

SEVUGAN: Right.

HAYES: For instance, one of the things we`ve seen is we have seen lower levels of African-American turnout in early voting in the states of Florida and North Carolina. Now North Carolina, much of that can probably be ascribed to the fact that early voting was cut back in predominantly black areas shockingly by the Republican government. But there is also a question about an enthusiasm gap and obviously this is the first time the Democratic Party is trying to preserve the Obama coalition without the first black president.

SEVUGAN: Right. No, that`s absolutely true. I do think there`s some cause for concern around African-American turnout in enthusiasm, we`re seeing that in a little bit of the numbers. But at the same time we`re seeing -- especially in these early vote numbers Democrats have pumped up their registration numbers and are turning out Hispanic voters, Asian voters at unprecedented rates. And so if you look at a state like Florida where as of Saturday or the equivalent Saturday four years ago, we`ve got 660,000 Democratic votes.

We have 1.4 million Democratic votes already in the bank, right? Same thing in Nevada where turnout is up, in Colorado where Democratic turnout outpaces Republican turnout in the early vote by 30,000 votes already. So yes, we do need to look at African-American voters and ensure that we`re able to drive out our base for the next seven days, but we`ve also identified other groups that are moving forward and actually producing votes.

HAYES: All right. Hari Sevugan who will be very happy when he checks his phone after this interview. Thank you very much. Appreciate that.

Coming up, why the constant flow of outrageous behavior from the Republican nominee doesn`t seem to have any lasting impact on his polling. Michael Moore joins me to talk about that after this two-minute break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HAYES: Amid all the talk of tightening polls, a reminder this race has been remarkably consistent in a certain way even if not particularly steady, even if the news has been otherwise. Every time the Republican nominee has done or said something seemingly beyond the pale from attacking a federal judge over his family`s Mexican heritage to starting a feud with the family of a fallen soldier, to mocking a former Miss Universe`s weight, even getting caught on tape bragging about sexual assault then having 12 women come forward and accuse him of sexual assault.

Every time Donald Trump has said or done something that would have ended any other candidate`s White House bid, the polls soften for the a period of time, but then they return to the status quo.

Our next guest has a theory as to why that`s happening. Joining me now documentary film maker Michael Moore. His latest "Michael Moore in Trumpland" is playing in select theaters and also available on iTunes.

And you`ve got this line about him being a Molotov cocktail. Right? And it`s -- and I think it jives with things I`ve heard from Trump voters and even folks who are not super hardcore Trump voters, which is people acknowledge his flaws. I mean, there`s a certain hardcore that have, like, a personality cult, but a lot of them are just like yes, he says dumb stuff.

MICHAEL MOORE, FILMMAKER: Right.

(LAUGHTER)

HAYES: Right. Like they would tell you that.

MOORE: Right.

HAYES: You said he`s like a Molotov cocktail. And then Donald Trump tweeted at you, "I agree, Michael. To all Americans, I see you and I hear, I am your voice. Vote to drain the swamp."

MOORE: Yes. Well, you know, there`s one thing about him. He has no filters. And the fact that he would acknowledge what I`m trying to point out to people, that he is intending to blow up the system.

HAYES: Right. You`re right.

MOORE: He tweets me, he`s a self-acknowledged anarchist who plans to go in there and just blow things up. So I think this is something that we need to be very concerned about.

The other part of this, though, too, is all those things you listed about every time something bad happens to him, he dips for a second, but then he just gets stronger. I can`t remember the name of that science fiction film from the `50s, but the creature --

HAYES: Right.

MOORE: Any time any negative energy.

HAYES: Right.

MOORE: Comes at him, it just makes the creature stronger.

HAYES: Although it doesn`t -- he`s not that he gets stronger. It`s that he returns to this kind of base of support. Right?

MOORE: Yes.

HAYES: Like it`s not like he gets -- he`d got --

MOORE: Well, that`s true. Yes. And what happened with Comey, you know, he hasn`t really picked up any new votes from that, she hasn`t really lost any. I think the real danger of what the FBI director did is that her -- and I hear this now, I`ve been out, you know, in the states in the last few days.

HAYES: Right.

MOORE: Her support, a small percentage of it has weakened in the sense that they`re still going to vote for her but --

HAYES: This enthusiasm.

MOORE: It`s a totally --

HAYES: It`s like it`s this bummer idea. Right?

MOORE: Correct.

HAYES: It`s the bummer.

MOORE: The bummer, it`s like, OK, yes, I`m still voting for her.

HAYES: Right. And it`s also -- it strikes me as awesome for folks that lived through the `90s. Right? It`s a sort of reminder of the sort of like Star Chamber Spanish inquisition.

MOORE: Yes.

HAYES: Kind of treatment of Bill Clinton.

MOORE: Right.

HAYES: And this idea in the back of your head even if you`re a partisan Democrat or a liberal or you`re supporting her, like, oh, my god, this is going to be the next four -- that`s part of it, too.

MOORE: Well, even people who support her or vote for her are going to go, I can`t believe she did --

HAYES: Right.

MOORE: And I go, like what? What did she do? What did she have to do with Anthony Weiner?

HAYES: That`s right.

MOORE: You know? It`s like -- she has nothing to do with him. Why are we talking about this? Why does he have anything to do with this? But it`s - - I just think that, you know, I watched on "MORNING JOE" this morning, they played this "The Way We Were" theme song.

HAYES: Right.

MOORE: Underneath all these Democrats who three months ago were praising Comey and --

HAYES: Right. Right.

MOORE: You`re the greatest thing since sliced bread. If I could take you home and marry you, I would, Comey, I love you. And then it`s like, oh, oh.

HAYES: But that -- I mean, that is part of the fundamental dynamic here and something you talk about in Trumpland, it`s something I think that you -- but I think you have a really interesting perspective on because I think you -- I think you find the polarization, the partisan polarization in the country unnerving and upsetting even if you have very strong political views, right? So I don`t think you think of yourself as some centrist, but I think you think that the degree to which we`re in this sort of partisan corners is upsetting.

MOORE: Well, it`s -- no, I think it`s OK. I think we -- I have strong feelings about the things I believe in.

HAYES: Right. Right.

MOORE: And those who don`t believe in what I believe in and feel strongly, but we`ve lost our way in the sense that we can just have the great debate and then get on with it. The Republican candidate has said that if he loses the debate, if he loses the vote, he`s essentially called for inciting riots, which I think is still against the law.

HAYES: Right.

MOORE: You know? This was a law that was set up mainly against unions and black people and, you know, lefties. But I think the -- I think the FBI director should be paying him a visit asking him what are you actually intending on November 9th should you lose? What are you telling the people?

HAYES: Right. Although we -- right. But we also don`t want -- look.

MOORE: No, we don`t want -- I don`t want him arrested or anything.

(CROSSTALK)

HAYES: A candidate to be hemmed in by the FBI director.

MOORE: No. No. But if he`s planning for -- he`s planning for riots, we need to plan for them ourselves.

HAYES: Look, I don`t think he`s planning on riots. I think -- what I think has happened is this sort of consistent undermining of the notion of the integrity of the process. Right? I mean, that has been the sort of common theme. If I`m losing, then it`s rigged, right?

MOORE: Yes. Yes. Well, listen, I think -- listen, here`s -- my big concern right now is that -- and especially with this ABC poll out today where he`s ahead by a point, I know -- just walking in here, liberals on the streets of New York, Mike, Mike, what are we going to do? I said, man, come on, buck up a little bit here. You know, yes, it`s -- yes, treat it - - I`ve been saying this for months, right? Trump can win.

HAYES: Right.

MOORE: I`ve been one of the few on the left that`s been saying this.

HAYES: Right. Right.

MOORE: OK. Now everybody gets it.

HAYES: Right.

MOORE: Nobody is sitting back watching us right now going, oh the heck with all this.

HAYES: That`s right. Complacency.

MOORE: Right? None of that anymore.

HAYES: Right.

MOORE: So we`re done with that.

HAYES: Right.

MOORE: Now let`s get excited about the fact that we live in a very liberal country. You go down any of the issues, the majority of our fellow Americans agree with us.

HAYES: Right.

MOORE: Climate change, paying women the same, et cetera, et cetera.

HAYES: And possibly poised on the six and seven -- six out of seven national elections, presidential elections with a Democratic plurality majority.

MOORE: Yes. Right.

HAYES: I want to --

MOORE: And two of those elections, by the way, our fellow Americans voted for a guy whose middle name was Hussein.

HAYES: Was Hussein. Who is a good segue because he said something today that echoed something you`ve been saying about how men feel about the first woman president. I want to play that for you if you`ll around.

MOORE: Sure. Sure. Yes. Yes. Thanks. Yes. Great.

HAYES: Great. Right. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hillary Clinton is consistently treated differently than just about any other candidate I see out there. I want every man out there who is voting to kind of look inside yourself, and ask yourself, if you`re having problems with this stuff, how much of it is, you know, that we`re just not used to it?

So that, you know, like, when a guy`s ambitious and out in the public arena and working hard, well, that`s OK. But when a woman suddenly does something, why is she doing that?

(CHEERS)

OBAMA: I`m just being honest. I want you to think about it because she is so much better qualified than the other guy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAYES: President Obama in Columbus, Ohio, earlier asking men to think about whether they are being sexist when it comes to scrutinizing Hillary Clinton.

Still with Michael Moore.

I thought it was an amazing moment for the president, sort of saying to men out there, ask yourself if you`re having some reaction to Hillary Clinton, what that`s about.

MOORE: Yes, what is that about? Well, I`ll tell you what it`s about. It`s the muscle memory of 10,000 years that`s in our DNA when we`ve run the show forever. And now in the most powerful country on earth, next Tuesday possibly, hopefully, a woman is going to lead the most powerful country on the earth. In other words, the 10,000-year reign is over.

HAYES: Right.

MOORE: And come on, I mean, give some of these guys a bit of -- a little bit of empathy here. It`s a bit of an adjustment to have it be one way for 10,000 years.

HAYES: Right.

MOORE: 250 years in this country.

HAYES: Although that`s isn`t -- that`s -- I mean, look --

MOORE: And now --

HAYES: I know this is sort of a slightly comedic conceit on your part.

MOORE: Yes.

HAYES: But, I mean, that is an oversimplification, obviously, right?

MOORE: No, I don`t think so. First of all, when you say oversimplification in men, you`re being slightly redundant. Let`s just be honest with men of our own gender here. It`s -- guys have got about a week to wrap their heads around the fact that Hillary Clinton is going to be president of the United States and this is going to be good for us.

Guys, seriously, guys, if you`re watching, this is really good. Let women run the show. It`s going to be a lot less stress on us. They live three years longer than us.

HAYES: But this is -- I`m sorry.

MOORE: You`re going to get the (INAUDIBLE) extra years now. Come on.

HAYES: I feel like this is the sort of Mars-Venus shtick, right? About, like, where it`s like, to me it`s more about the fact that we`re all independent-thinking citizens.

MOORE: Yes. Yes.

HAYES: And we should be making judgments about who we think are the best - -

MOORE: Yes. We should, but we`re still guys. See, I mean, there`s no -- there`s no getting around that.

HAYES: I know, but this feels like --

MOORE: Even though we all -- all of us guys have a little bit of estrogen in all of us.

HAYES: Yes.

MOORE: Right?

(CROSSTALK)

HAYES: But this feels like -- look, I guess my point is, there`s a certain amount of male privilege, right?

MOORE: Yes.

HAYES: This acclimation --

MOORE: Certain amount? Like yes.

HAYES: Yes. A huge amount, right?

MOORE: Huge. Yes.

HAYES: And there is this -- like, you can feel the palpable crisis of --

MOORE: Yes.

HAYES: Masculine authority happening in this election. You could feel it.

MOORE: Yes. And you know what, they`re going to have to get over it just like I`m old enough to remember signs that said "whites only" and "colored only." And those people had to get over it.

HAYES: Right.

MOORE: When segregation ended, when -- I mean, I grew up at a time when the N-word was used as often as you would say the word Kleenex. So that`s the era I grew up in as a child. That`s -- those people had to change.

HAYES: Right.

MOORE: The future came in. Everything moved forward. You can`t -- these men are not going to be able to stay this way. They`ll get on board the train.

HAYES: Yes.

MOORE: And they`ll realize that actually having women, having a say in what`s going on, makes the planet -- makes your life actually better.

HAYES: The movie is "Michael Moore in Trumpland." Available now in iTunes and in select theaters.

MOORE: And may I just add. As we close.

HAYES: Yes.

MOORE: Cubs fan, Chris Hayes, has a 200-inch -- I`m going to film this. 200-inch screen over there.

HAYES: Why are you blowing up my spot, Michael Moore?

MOORE: He has like the -- he has like -- look at this. Look at this.

HAYES: Almost certainly illegal to show.

MOORE: Look at this. He has a marching --

HAYES: We have no express written consent.

MOORE: The world --

(CROSSTALK)

HAYES: All right.

MOORE: The man loves the Cubs.

HAYES: Thank you, thank you, thank you.

MOORE: God bless him.

HAYES: Thank you for snitching. Michael Moore. Coming up --

MOORE: Vote for Hillary.

HAYES: Why a judge just ruled the RNC must explain their ballot security plan. More on that after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Go down to certain areas and watch and study and make sure other people don`t come in and vote five times.

So important that you watch other communities because we don`t want this election stolen from us.

Take a look at Philadelphia what`s been going on. Take a look at Chicago, take a look at St. Louis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAYES: It is perfectly legal for presidential campaigns and political parties to send observers to the polls on election day to help, say, track which supporters have already voted, make sure election law is being followed and offer general assistance to voters. What is generally not legal is to send people to polls in order to intimidate certain voters in order to suppress turnout among a particular group, according to a legal ruling, is precisely what the Republican Party in New Jersey in1981 when it deployed off-duty law enforcement officers to polling places in minority districts wearing arm bands reading national ballot security task force and in some cases visible firearms. Democrats sued and as part of a so-called consent decree still in place to this day, the RNC in 1982 agreed to refrain from a number of tactics that could be used to intimidate voters.

But Donald Trump and his allies have been flirting with precisely with those sorts of tactics. Trump telling his mostly white supporters to monitor polling places in cities with largely black populations. And you can sign up on his website to be a Trump election observer and, quote, help me stop Crooked Hillary from rigging this election.

Trump ally Roger Stone planning to deploy volunteer poll watchers to a largely nonwhite polling places where they plan to videotape voters and conduct fake exit polls. Stone`s group even allowed poll watchers to print out official looking ID badges, though after questions from the Huffington Post, Stone took down that function.

Here`s Stone telling conspiracy theorist Alex Jones why he plans to conduct the fake exit polls.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROGER STONE, TRUMP SUPPORTER: The Clintons fear this program because they would like to, you know, get away with the perfect crime. Rigging the machines would be the perfect crime. And therefore, this really threatens them because it is the only tangible proof we may have of the hijack.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAYES: There is, of course, no basis for that accusation whatsoever. Democrats have now filed federal lawsuits against Trump, Stone and state Republican parties over intimidating voters in four states. They`re seeking, among other things, to block volunteer GOP poll watchers from harassing or photographing people and prevent aggressive question of voters waiting to cast their ballot.

And in a separate case, a federal judge is ordering the Republican National Committee to detail any agreements it has with Trump`s campaign to engage in, quote, ballot security efforts. After both Mike Pence and Kellyanne Conway indicated the Trump campaign was working with the RNC to monitor polling places in potential violation of that same consent decree.

Here`s Pence spelling it out in August.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MIKE PENCE (R-IN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee are working very, very closely with state governments and secretaries of states all over the country to ensure ballot integrity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAYES: Joining me now, Judith Browne Dianis, she`s executive director of the civil rights organization the Advancement Project, which is currently on the ground in Florida, Ohio, and Georgia working to prevent voter intimidation. And Judy, let`s start with this. So, you`ve got -- people can go to polling places to watch, right, campaigns, lawyers, different people can go there. It`s a public place. What were the kinds of activities that were being engaged in that led to that consent decree that tipped something over from being an observer to essentially engaging in voter intimidation?

JUDITH BROWNE DIANIS, ADVANCEMENT PROJECT: In 1982 or in 1981, the election, actually what they were doing was that they put law enforcement at these polling places, and they targeted black and Latino polling places in New Jersey. And so just by force of those officers being there with badges and, you know, calling this program ballot security program when in fact, you know, their ballot security is what we would call intimidation. And they targeted voters of color.

HAYES: right.

DIANIS: And then fast forward 2004 one of the things, the Advancement Project, my organization, we actually intervened in that case because the RNC and the state parties, including the state party in Ohio, had started conspiring again to do another ballot security program. And what happens is because that court order is still in place the GOP has to go to New Jersey and get approval of that court before they engage in any kind of ballot security program. They hadn`t done it in 2004 and I`m sure they haven`t done it this time.

HAYES: So, they had to go before a federal judge and say, hey, look, this is our plan, does this violate the consent decree? We don`t think it does, but you have to basically tell us if it does.

DIANIS: That`s right. But doesn`t want to make sure that they are not targeting voters of color again.

HAYES: So, I want to play you an example -- this is a little tape that came from Florida, an early voting site, these are Trump supporters outside sort of engaging in hectoring, I guess you would call it. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENIFIED MALE: How many Syrian refugees, Muslim refugees are you taking into your home? I want to ask of you hypocrites. You want somebody else to pay for it. You`re hypocrites.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAYES: Now, I want to be clear there, because they`re standing by the signs, right, we know that they`re the legally prescribed distance from the polling place such that basically that`s first amendment protected. We`re talking about people who are actually inside that kind of cordon, and inside polling places, right?

DIANIS: Right, right.

So most states do have laws about how close to the polling place you can get, like a hundred foot rule in many states, 100 feet from the front door. And so, if they have to stand outside of that. And of course, the first amendment does protect them.

But if their actions do get to the level of intimidating people or threatening people, that is where they have violated the law. The other thing is that we have to be careful about people who are inside the polling place, right? So poll watchers, and in many states there are rules by which they have to sign up to be poll watchers.

And then they can`t be inside intimidating voters either.

HAYES: Right, you can`t have people sort of just walking up to voters and saying, hey, are you registered? Let me see your ID? I mean, that would - - you can`t do that, right? Just to be clear.

DIANIS: That`s right. No, we cannot have havoc and chaos in the polling place. And so those are the kinds of things that we`ll be looking out for on election day as part of the election protection coalition because while we`re protecting voters, they are so-called protecting the ballot. And we want to make sure that people don`t get threatened and intimidated in the process.

HAYES: All right, Judith Browne Dianis, thanks for being with me tonight. Appreciate it.

DIANIS: Thank you.

HAYES: Still ahead, Republicans now suggesting they`ll hold the open Supreme Court seat hostage for four years if Clinton wins. More on that ahead.

But first, tonight`s Thing One, Thing Two starts right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HAYES: Thing One tonight, it`s undeniable that a single social media platform is having an influence on this presidential election. Just consider one of Hillary Clinton`s most memorable lines at the DNC, a line the president even reiterated today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I think Hillary made a pretty good point. A man you you can bait with a tweet is not somebody you want to trust with nuclear weapons.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAYES: Twitter.com has driven stories this election. For instance, that time Trump retweeted someone with a handle @whitegenocide leading to questions about just who makes up the Trump electorate.

Or when Donald Trump lashed out and disparaged Alicia Machado after the first debate, keeing the story in the headlines. Check out sex tape.

And for a candidate who has never served public office, Twitter has served as a public record after Trump denied calling climate change a hoax in the first debate, fact checkers pointed to several times in which Trump in fact called global warming a hoax.

But given the prominent role Twitter has played in this election it`s easy to forget how relatively young the platform is. President Obama is the first president to even have a Twitter account in the Oval Office, his very first tweet Coming in May of 2015. "six years in they`re finally giving me my own account."

All this presents a new challenge as the White House prepares. What will become of @potus? That`s Thing Two in just 60 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HAYES: So, as President Obama prepares to leave the White House, the pressing remains what will become of the president`s tweets and his handle. The White House is on it releasing this comprehensive summary on just what they plan to do with President Obama`s social media presence after he leaves office. The ruling is the @potus handle will remain with the White House and be available to the incoming president. President Obama`s tweets will move over to his own new handle @Potus44, live there as an archive after he leaves office.

Bonus perk, the new president gets to keep the 11.1 million followers already amassed on that account.

But all the existing tweets will be removed on inauguration day giving the incoming POTUS a fresh Twitter feed to fill as he or she pleases.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HAYES: If someone asks you, who are you voting for? You respond with the name of the person you`re voting for -- Mitt Romney, Obama, Trump, whatever, or maybe you say none of your business.

But not if you`re House Speaker Paul Ryan. Just to be clear, when Donald Trump attacked Judge Gonzalo Curiel because of his Meican heritage Ryan said claiming a person can`t do their job because of their race is sort of the textbook definition of a racist comment. And after Donald Trump`s sexual assault bragging Access Hollywood tape was released Ryan told his caucus he would no longer defend Trump or campaign with him. Even prior to that, Ryan`s endorsement of Trump was slow in coming, ut now Ryan is basically saying this person, who he cannot bring himself to name, should be the most powerful person in the world.

(BEGIN VIDE OCLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN, (R) WISCONSIN: I stand where I stood all fall and all summer. In fact, I already voted here in Jamesville for our nominee last week in early voting. We need the support our entire Republican ticket.

UNIDENITIFIED MALE: So, you voted for Donald Trump and you`re encouraging Republicans and Democrats and independents, anybody who will listen, to vote for Donald Trump to stop what you`re talking about, the Clinton corruption?

RYAN: I am supporting our entire Republican ticket. I have been all along.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAYES: He cannot bring himself to say the name of the man that he thinks should control the nuclear arsenal.

Republicans have also for nearlya year now been promoting a made-up rule that they needed to wait until after the election to consider a Supreme Court nominee. Now that they`re worried that Clinton will win, they are formulating a brand new completely untenable position. That`s after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAYES: Some are already saying they won`t appoint a ninth Supreme Court justice boasting of their refusal to compromise as if that`s an accomplishment. How does that help you?

(END VIDO CLIP)

HAYES: Not to look too hard for the Republicans President Obama was describing tonight boasting about government obstruction. Take North Carolina Senator Richard Burr up for re-election right now, Republican incumbent in North Carolina, who said this at a campaign event on Saturday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In a lame duck session that you guys would appoint a Supreme Court justice?

SEN. RICHARD BURR, (R) NORTH CAROLINA: Well, my answer to you would be it isn`t going to happen. Period. And if Hillary Clinton becomes president, I`m going to do everything I can do to make sure that four years from now we still got an opening on the Supreme Court.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAYES: Burr is not alone in this. Senator Ted Cruz said, quote, there is certainly long historical precedent for a Supreme Court with fewer justices, that`s a debate that we`re going to have. And prior to that John McCain said that Republicans would be united against any Hillary Clinton nominee before suggesting that hearings would be had.

Now, it`s woth taking a step back to realize just how remarkable this is. Justice Antonin Scalia died with 340 days left in the sitting president`s term. And the Republican party announced it would take the entirely unprecedented step of not granting this sitting president`s nominee Judge Merrick Garland a hearing because Republicans had invented a new rule saying that in the final year of the president`s term they could refuse to give a hearing to the president`s nominee because the American people had to weigh in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENITIFIED MALE: The American people should be afforded the opportunity to weigh in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We think that the American people need a chance to weigh in on this issue.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R) KENTUCKY: Let`s let the American people decide.

UNIDENITIFIED MALE: It ought to be put off, put off until after the election.

SEN. TED CRUZ, (R) TEXAS: This should be a decision for the people, George. Let the election decide it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAYES: OK. Very clear, let the election decide.

Now as we approach the election, the possibility they will lose this election looms, some Republicans are now changing their story and saying that even after they declared the election a referendum on the Supreme Court vacancy, they may ignore the result if it doesn`t go their way and proceed to take a sledgehammer to American constitutional traditions.

Joining me now Sabrina Siddiqui political reporter at The Guardian, MSNBC contributor Charlie Sykes, radio talk show host.

Sabrina, let me start with you. I`ve been having this debate for months now. I have been saying the Republicans will block a Hillary Clinton nominee if in fact she wins. And people said, you`re crazy. They`re going to have to come around. You`ve been doing some reporting on this. What are you hearing?

SABRINA SIDDIQUI, THE GUARDIAN: Well, I think there is a split that`s emerging and in part because you have a faction of Republicans who are creating this new litmus test that if you`re a true conservative you`re going to block any nominee that a potential Clinton presidency puts up.

You know, I spoke with Marco Rubio about this topic. He wasn`t willing to go as far as Ted Cruz and Richard Burr. He said he`s not going to predispose, is the word he used, any nominee appointed by Clinton to that kind of test, implying that they might get at least a hearing. And then you have Jeff Blake who has actually said we should just confirm Merrick Garland in the lame duck because Clinton will probably appoint a more liberal justice.

But the point here is the big question for Republicans is where do they want to go after this election and how do they want to resolve what we call Trumpism if in fact Hillary Clinton wins and this is how they created Trumpism by putting up promises that they were never going to be able to keep.

And, you know, if you are going to say we are not going to fill a Supreme Court vacancy for a period four years that`s not a tenable position and that`s precisely what will cause that kind of grassroots uprising that prompted people to select Donald Trump.

HAYES: What do you think of that theory, Charlie?

CHARLIE SYKES, CONSERVATIVE RADIO SHOW HOST: Well, listen, I think this obstructionism is almost inevitable. This is going to be the new dividing line in the Republican civil war. This will be a litmus test for anybody in 2020.

You know, I try to imagine how American politics would be different if Republicans would say, OK, we`re not going to overturn Row versus Wade, and Democrats would say we`re not going to overturn Heller.

But right now, look, there`s a reason why Republicans -- so many Republicans are rallying around one of the most repellent human beings ever to run for president of the United States. And the argument that I hear over and over and over again is we, well, but the Supreme Court. We have to save the Supreme Court.

So, this has now become the red line for conservatives and for Republicans. And if Hillary Clinton limps into that office, I think you can expect this ugly campaign to be followed by years of obstructionism. The weaker she is, the more emboldened they will be to hold the line on this issue.

HAYES: You know, I hear the same thing. There`s two things I would say. One is it`s remarkable that they`ve sort of bootstrapped this, right. So, basically they`ve said we cannot -- we absolutely cannot confirm Merrick Garland who, of course, has been praised by Hatch, is widely respected as a centrist jurist, et cetera. We have to keep the seat open. Then that becomes the reason to vote for what you just described, in your words, one of the most repellent human beings ever to run for office, because of the Court.

And now you have the escape hatch essentially being drilled into the back, which is...

SYKES: Yeah.

HAYES: Sabrina, think about what Burr is saying. And I want people to be clear about this, they are suggesting essentially a die-off on the Supreme Court. I want the be very clear. To say that we will keep that seat open is to say we hope the actuarial charts catch up with some of the Democratic appointees and they die so things can even up. That is what is implicit in that promise.

SIDDIQUI: Right. And Chris, the last that time you had a vacancy that was as prolonged as they`re suggesting was actually for over two years, about two years and three months. And that was in 1844. You have Ted Cruz saying there`s a historical precedent for having less than nine justices. For 150 years the composition of the Supreme Court has been to have nine members on the bench.

It is important, however, to note that Senate Republican leadership is not voicing support for this plan. In fact, Chuck Grassley who chairs the senate judiciary committee he tried to take it down a notch and say, look, I have said that the next president will be the one to appoint a nominee and I`m sticking to that commitment that I made, otherwise I would be going back on my word. And that`s notable.

HAYES: To Charlie`s point -- yeah.

SYKES: The pressure will be overwhelming. You know, Donald Trump and Steve Bannon, they`re creating this grievance movement. This will be their hot button. Ted Cruz needs to make himself relevant again. He needs an issue to set himself up. This will be his issue. The pressure will be overwhelming, particularly because conservatives and Republicans have convinced themselves -- I mean, think how many things they have given up. Think how many things they have embraced, think how many things they have enabled and rationalized by telling themselves it`s the court, it`s the court, it`s the court. That`s not going to go away after the election.

HAYES: That`s a great point. So, ex post facto psychologically, it`s like, you`ve done all these things to get yourself to support this person. You can`t just give it up.

SYKES: Right.

HAYES: And I think, Sabrina, to Charlie`s point, I mean, I agree there`s a split right now among the leadership and of course this may never come to pass because Donald Trump could be elected president and the Senate will -- if it`s a Republican-controlled Senate, probably confirm his nominee.

But this split I think is indicative of this sort of deeper thing which is just that the pressure of Trumpism if Trump doesn`t win is going to move into that body very quickly.

SIDDIQUI: Absolutely. And that`s why you see this jockeying, as Charlie mentioned, where Ted Cruz wants to find an issue where he can elevate himself again, curry favor among those grass roots conservatives whose support he may have lost with, you know, wavering on the endorsement of Donald Trump.

But ultimately, this is going further than ideology. This is essentially denying a democratically elected president, if it is Hillary Clinton, of fulfilling the obligations as president and they did that to Obama, too, obviously who was re-elected in 2012. And as you mentioned, there were more than 300 days when Antonin Scalia passed away for him to fill that vacancy.

HAYES: Right, Sabrina Siddiqui and Charlie Sykes, thank you both.

That is All In for this evening, the Rachel Maddow show starts right now.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. END