o'rourke. rep. o'rourke: this is what you can expect over the course of this debate. senator cruz is not going to be honest with you. he is going to make up positions on votes that i have never held or have ever taken. he is dishonest. that is why the president called him "lying ted," and it is why the nickname stuck. because it is true. look, the climate is changing. man-made climate change is a fact. 300 years after the enlightenment, we should be able to listen to the scientists and follow their advice and guidance. they tell us that we still have time, but the window is closing to get this right. if we're going to make our commitment to the generations that follow and not just think about the next election or our political career or pursuit of the white house, then we can make the right decisions now. we can support texas being a proud energy leader in oil and in gas, but also in renewable energy. today, texas leads the country. we are number one in the nation in the generation of renewable wind

o'rourke. mr. o'rourke: interesting to hear you talk about a partisan circus after your last six years in the senate. [laughter] if you have this special relationship with president trump, then where is the result of that? you were all talk and no action. the tariffs the president has levied and the trade wars he has entered this country into is hurting those states more than it is hurting texas. our farmers, ranchers, manufacturers and exporters here in san antonio, at the plant where amy and i purchased our tundra and met the folks who make it, yes, we have problems with other countries like china manipulating their currency, and i want to make sure we stand up to china, but what have we gone to war including a trade war, without any allies, exactly what the president with senator cruise's would help us do. we have alienated the eu, canada and mexico. we have alienated all other potential partners and going on our own against china, and it is not working. i know you haven't had a chance to visit

a cnn poll shows o'rourke 7 points behind. >> beto o'rourke wants to be a senator. >> reporter: for weeks, as o'rourke has literally run and barn stormed through every corner of the state, we've asked him how he would respond to the cruz campaign's criticisms, which seem to be working. >> are you worried that those critiques and those things are going to stick? >> yeah. >> are you fighting back? >> i think people are sick of the pettiness and the partisanship and the smallness. >> reporter: can you take the gloves off and fight a little bit tougher and dirtier if you have to? >> we're fighting for a positive future for this country. we're not fighting against anyone. it's not against another party. >> reporter: but with early voting starting next week, o'rourke is shedding the nice guy approach. >> senator cruz is not going to be honest with you. he's going to make up positions and votes that i've never held or have ever taken. he's dishonest. it's why the president called him lying ted and it's why the nickname stuck. >> reporter: democratic strategist harold cook worked for ann richards

dana moderates the texas town hall with beto o'rourke live at 7:00 p.m. eastern here on cnn immediately after "the situation room." >>> coming up, from washington to the indigenous nucommunity, senator elizabeth warren's dna has caused a surge of criticism but our next guest says what you've heard so far is wrong. >>> plus, robert mueller's quiet period hasn't been very quiet. cnn is learning of nine meetings with paul manafort over the last month alone. et older. but prevagen helps your brain with an ingredient originally discovered... in jellyfish. in clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve short-term memory. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. your insurance rates skyrocket you could fix it with a pen. how about using that pen to sign up for new insurance instead? for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise their rates because of their first accident. switch and you could save $782 on home and auto insurance. call for a free quote today. liberty mutual insurance. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ >>> afte

how many of you plan on voting for beto o'rourke? >> me. >> reporter: and for most of these women this is the first time they will be voting for a democrat. for so long the foregone conclusion was the republicans would get the evangelical vote. >> i think what we've seen happening is the -- is the systematic oppression of people of color, of people who are seeking asylum, of refugees, of -- of women, and it feels like a lot that have is coming from the republican party. >> reporter: at this point what beto done to earn your vote? >> given me a broader option. he has said i'm going to work on both side. he said i'm not running like for the democratic party. i'm running for the people. >> reporter: cruz's supporters see their votes as value-based, foo. >> thank you and god bless you. >> big fan of ted cruz, everything he stands for, and i think the less government intervention, the better. >> we're sticking with our conservative values and supporting ted cruz all the way. >> reporter: with early voting beginning today, the stakes are o

o'rourke. o'rourke: interesting to hear you talking about a partisan circus. have a special relationship with president trump, then where is the result of that? and no action.lk the tariffs the president has levied and the trade wars he has entered into are hurting our state more than it is hurting texas. our farmers, ranchers, manufacturers and exporters here in san antonio, where in me i purchased our tundra and met the folks who make it, yes, we have problems with other countries like china manipulating our currency, and i want to mature we stand up to china, but whenever we have gone to war including a trade war, without any allies, exactly what the president with senator cruz's havewould help us do, we alienated the eu, canada and mexico. alienated all other potential partners and going on our own against china, and it is not working. i know you haven't had a chance to visit every county, but i have listened to our farmers they are hurting,. the anxiety of not knowing whether trade wars will end, and when they will end, those other countries will find oth

the question is why is cruz leading over o'rourke by such a wide margin? one reason why is o'rourke is not getting his voters out and one way we can tell that is by looking at all registered voters and cruz has a five-point lead among there, which means the people showing up are less likely to support o'rourke than cruz. there was a "new york times" poll that showed a similar thing going on last month, and among registered voters it's a four-point split and then among likely voters, it's up to eight. why the split? latino voters who are a key voting bloc in texas who are supporting o'rourke make up 20%, but among those that actually will turn out, they only make up 18%. that's a huge drop and hurting o'rourke in the polls. >> he doesn't seem to convert whatever this enthusiasm and money for people that say they will show up and go to the polls. >> i think beto o'rourke has more enthusiastic supporters in new york city based on everything i have seen, based on the money coming in versus what the polls are showing. >> what are you predicting? >> what we are

my dad is pat francis o'rourke, son of john francis o'rourke. rfo. my oldest born is ulysses, ufo, u lis sies frab sis o'rourke. i was nick named beto. if you're named robert, albert, your nickname is beto. i was beto from day one. >> i want to ask you something about your opponent in this race and the president. president trump has called, let me get this straight because i've written this down, he's called ted cruz a maniac, unstable and a liar, okay? senator cruz has called president trump a sniveling coward and a braggadocios buffoon. where are you? >> that's colorful language. >> you don't have an opinion? >> no. from the beginning we decided we wouldn't run against anybody or anything. we wanted to run for the future. >> trump is running against you and he calls you a total lightweight and you will never be allowed to turn texas into venezuela. i know that was on your plan. >> there goes that plan, yeah. >> what do you make of a president of the united states who stoops low enough to go after a senate candidate, he's called other people low i.q

"the houston chronicle" editorial endorsement of beto o'rourke did not just make the case for o'rourke, it condemned senator ted cruz who they endorsed six years ago. ted cruz, a candidate the chronicle endorsed in 2012 is the junior senator from texas in name only, exhibiting little interest in addressing the needs of his fellow texans during his six years in office. for cruz public office is a private quest. the needs of his constituents are secondary. the editorial quoted former republican house speaker john boehner when he described ted cruz as, quote, lucifer in the flesh. the chronicle's editorial board said, quote, we enthusiastically endorse beto o'rourke for u.s. senate. the west texas congressman's command of the issues that matter to this state, his unaffected eloquence, and his eagerness to reach out to all texans make him one of the most impressive candidates this editorial board has encountered in many years. imagine how refreshing it would be to have a u.s. senator who not only knows the issues but respects the opposition, who takes firm positions but reaches out to thos

. >> do we agree with beto o'rourke that we should impeach president trump? >> reporter: cruz and mr. trump weren't always so close. >> donald, you're a snifflinge . >> reporter: president trump insisted today the two had buried the hatchet. >> he's not lyin' ted any more. he'sut >> reporter: but all those insults took a toll. the houston chronicle endorsed o'rourke friday despite backing cruz in 2012. the paper cited o'rourke's command much issues that matter to the state and faulted cruz's, quote, repellent personality. o'rourke's personality and his refusal to move to the right have made him a progressive icon. >> even school teachers, we will support you. we'll make sure that you're paid a living wage. >> reporter: progressives, however, rarely prevail in texas. in fact, the last time a democrat won in 1994, jeff. 24 years ago. >> all right. more on texas poll texas with you in just mo. the battle ground tracker s were heldtoda crnd win 226 seats, eight more than they need to retake the house. however, the margin of error is 14 seats which means rep in ha

who was the son of john francis o'rourke, father to ulysses francis o'rourke who will go as ufo for much of his life. and from day one, in el paso, and you know this in mcallen, if you are born robert or albert or gilbert or humberto, your folks, your friends, your community calls you beto. that's my nickname that i've gone by for my entire life. born and raised in fourth generation in el paso in a community that is more than 80% mexican-american. as i said earlier, conjoined with ciudad juarez, 3 million people forming one of the largest binational communities in the world, so this is part of who i am and where i'm from and the pride that i feel in representing that community in congress and telling our story from the perspective of a community that was all too often forgotten, no one ever showed up and asked us about border security or immigration or the bilateral relationship with mexico. though we are living it every single day as you are here in mcallen. so, it's very much a part of who i am. ulysses and molly and henry go to mesita elementary, but the difference today is that

please welcome congressman beto o'rourke! ( cheers and applause ) ( band playing ) >> that's great, awesome. that's awesome. >> stephen: welcome to "the late show." >> thank you. >> stephen: welcome to "the late show." >> thank you. so happy to be here. >> stephen: nice to have you here. ( cheers and applause ) people are pretty excited. >> yeah. yeah-- it's crazy. >> stephen: were you aware that people outside of texas were following your campaign? because, i assume-- are people here-- who is here from texas? ( cheers ) >> that was pretty impressive. >> stephen: do they come with you everywhere you go? >> they do. my wife is here, two of her brothers are here, and some members of our team, so. hey, amy. ( laughter ) ( cheers and applause ) >> stephen: now, beto, beto is-- yes, hello, amy. ( cheers and applause ) hello. now, i understand that beto is-- beto is not your real name. what is your real name? >> i was born robert francis o'rourke, but like many people born robert or albert or huberto in el paso, my nickname is beto

so what beto o'rourke needs is a game changing moment. potentially he could get that here tonight in this town hall. but one of the problems for beto o'rourke, of course, is that he is fighting a long history of republican support here in texas. this state has not elected a democrat statewide since the 1990s. meanwhile, the president's support in our latest cnn polling remains relatively high here in texas compared to what we've seen in some other states at 49% approval that is also helping boost ted cruz, and the president will be here on monday campaigning for ted cruz, rallying his supporters. so the republican showing expected to be strong. o'rourke needs to get democrats out to vote. he needs to get latinos out to vote. he has his work cut out for him. he has also been going after ted cruz recently, going on the attack. a change in tone for his campaign, and we'll be watching tonight to see if he continues with that aggressive strategy, wolf. >> immigration, i assume that's going to be a big part of the discussion tonight, specifical

the fact that o'rourke and cruz are so close, this close, we've seen some fading of o'rourke. to have a sitting senator be that close torque have vice president pence come here, the president come here, certainly, i don't want to say shocking but says something about the republican and democratic, whether we have a blue or nonblue wave. >> dana: do you think beto o'rourke, if he falls short in the senate race, will run for president in 2020? even though he's saying not so fast. >> that's a long time away. between now and november is still a long time away. o'rourke is demonstrating the democrats can start to build an infrastructure here. go back to your question is can i turn somehow purple? i think what's interesting as you watch democrats whether they win or lose, they can field candidates at all levels and build a strong infrastructure going forward. >> dana: all right, victoria, thank you for joining us. do you plan to vote in this election? if you head to our twitter page, you can let us know if you're going to vote and how. and what key issues some voters are considering

democrat beto o'rourke fighting to unseat ted cruz. the two facing off in a heated debate overnight. o'rourke using a nickname for cruz first used by president trump. here's mary bruce. >> reporter: it's a feisty flashpoint in one of the most closely watched senate races of the year. >> we welcome the two candidates running for the united states in texas. >> reporter: democrat congressman beto o'rourke taking on republican senator ted cruz, with the words of president trump. >> in the case of lyin' ted cruz, lyin ted. oh, he lies. you know ted. he brings the bible, holds it high, puts it down, lies. >> ted cruz is for ted cruz. he's dishonest. it's why the president called him "lyin' ted," and it's why the nickname stuck, because it's true. >> reporter: cruz is leading in the polls, but o'rourke is hauling in the cash. a staggering $38 million in just three months. he's cultivated a nice guy image in these behind the scenes iphone campaign videos. o'rourke skateboarding and air drumming through the drive through. but now, as he sharpen

to see o'rourke win. dana? >> dana: fair point. all right, casey, thank you for that. joining me, colin reed, senior vice president of steiner public affairs and jamu green former candidate for dnc chair and fox news contributor. since you're there in texas, let's start with you. how do you think your candidate did, democrat beto o'rourke? >> i think texans are looking for someone who is going to fight for them. whether you are a democrat or republican, it's really important for beto to come out swinging. he did. i think he made the strongest case for why him. he certainly was successful in that line that he pulled from president trump about lying ted cruz. my biggest take away from last night's debate was how uncomfortable i felt as a democrat watching senator cruz struggle to answer a question about what he has done that is not political. likability is a factor. he already has issues with likability, senator cruz does. and to watch him not be able to talk about how he's a normal human being, ouch. >> da

o'rourke: these are common-sense texas american values. i think -- you know, i know from listening to the people in the t countit we are beyond partisanship and labels. we want action, we want to get things done.ne james: they surrounding this campaign is rooted in the hope of people who are disenchanted with the state of this rich and powerfuln, and it is the latest evidence th americans are prepared consider some very different solutions to the country's problems. >> ♪ only in america jas: that will be the day, say the many texans who prefer tradition. in buddy holly's hometown, ted cruz has been forced onto attack to defend his senate seat. sen. cruz: this is a fundamentally a debate betweene azy left-wing and the great people of the state of texas. james: they like the style of o the man in trich skin boots. why do you like ted cruz? >> he has conservative values. >> i just really like his morals. i think he is a really christian maand that is an important thing to me. james: but he is not turning the other cheek, calling this a figh

beto o'rourke does not. this is not a winnable race for democrats this year. >> the polling does not reflect the new electorate that's registering in florida. i don't know if i'd champion this enthusiasm that you have. in 2010 and 2014, republicans outvoted democrats by almost a million in texas. beto has done a great job inspiring people. he came out hard out front on the nfl issue. this is a race where there are two starkly different people. ted cruz is the personification of the tea party politics and beto is a progressive. i don't know that polling is something we can trust because he has to depend on younger latino voters in texas. he's doing a great job of turning out those people and they don't get counted in polling. >> one thing that's been discussed as well is the effect that beto o'rourke's success in fund-raising and other things will have on down ballot races in texas. >> that's right. look, my prediction is beto o'rourke has a higher chance of running for president in 2020 because he'll come un

has liberal, and o'rourke says he is not firing back. the laser-focused message seems to have halted o'rourke's march forward in the polls. he is behind in the polls. he has barnstormed in every corner of state, we asked him how he would respond to the cruz criticisms, which seem to be working? >> are you worried those will stick? >> yeah. >> reporter: are you fighting back? >> i think people are stick of the pediness and partisanship and smallness. >> reporter: can you take the gloves off and fight tougher and dirtier if you have to? >> we are not fighting against anybody, it's not against another party. >> with early voting starting next week, o'rourke is shedding the nice guy approach. >> he is going to make up positions and votes i have never held or taken, and he's dishonest, and that's why the president called him lyin' ted and why the nickname stuck, because it's true. >> one of the last democrats to hold an officer in texas, he said he has to sharpen up. >> you can be high minded while drawing a contrast between yourself and oppo

-- candidate o'rourke's supporters have said to come after me. that's fine. >> this programming note, our dana bash moderates the texas senate town hall with o'rourke live tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. eastern on cnn. senator cruz is invited. declined to participate. >>> no winner in last night's mega millions drawing bringing friday's jackpot to a mind-boggling $868 million. if you were to take the lump sum, you'd walk with just shy of a half billion dollars. the winning or nonwinning numbers -- 3-45-49-61-69, and the mega ball was 9. tonight, though, another big drawing. powerball. an estimated $345 million jackpot. a total of $1.2 billion. >> that is a lot of money. >> on the line. >>> i'll take these numbers -- number of jobs available outpacing the number of people looking for work. what this means for a hot labor market. i'm ken jacobus, i'm the owner of good start packaging. we distribute environmentally-friendly packaging for restaurants. and we've grown substantially. so i switched to the spark cash card from capital one. i earn unlimited 2% cas

o'rourke has not led a single poll out of texas, not one. the last three show him somewhere between 5 and 10 points down behind cruz. here's the thing, though. there does seem to be enthusiasm for the congressman among younger voters. that was on display last night when chris matthews asked him about how president trump's rhetoric in the wake of tragedy has diverged from past presidents. >> do you think if trump acted like that, the country can be different, can he act like that, is he capable of it personally? >> i don't think he's capable of it. but that doesn't have to limit who we are as a people. we're more than the president of the united states. i know that from traveling the united states and finding republicans who may have voted for trump and don't approve of this kind of behavior. >> nbc's garrett haake is in waco, texas, one of our road warriors blitzing the country where beto o'rourke is set to start a rally in 20 minutes. what are you hearing from folks in the area? >> reporter: hallie, the problem that beto o'rourke has, the o

all over social medianess with my next guest running against ted cruz please lcome beto o'rourke. >> he is gaining national attention and appealing to diverse gowps in a state with a growing population of non-white voters. this i the race that could tu a red state blue. jay ire is a political science professor at texas southern university. he believes national party politics are trickling down and causing a rift in the state. >> the voters nem selves, the cruz loyalists and the beto o'rourke loyalists, you know, there is a lot of animosity going on back and forth. and a level we probably don't normally see, certainly the senate race. >> there are a lot of textans, national issues plus immigration-- immigration affect them, but not al first textans support daca whch provided protections for people brought to the u.s. illegally as ehildren. nicole drover an hour to senator cruz's rally in rural texas wither husband andy. she discovered she was undocumented at 16 years old. >> i worked hard to be a u.s. citizen. i worked hard for the right to vote. and i don't think that peowhple just c

beto o'rourke is getting a lot of news. people are reading about him in the news, they like authenticity, they like the fac that he meanat he says and is running a positive campaign. ti is getting national att and national money is going into the election. isthe problem is that mon't the only thing that was statewide campaigns. rajini: we have the president out on the campaign trail in force again this weekend. i think he is going toand kentucky. how fective are these campai rallies that he is holding? josh: they are effective in rallying the rublican base. that is not -- that doesot help republicans of a lot in the house. there are a lot of suburban districts that the president has stayed far away from. but the map of the senate features a whole lot of states that trump is still very popar in, and trump is going to those senate battlegrounds and districts that are more conservative. hhe thinks he can ral face. the fight over judge kavanaugh is a polarizing moment that favors the republicans.n republicans cang on to some se

o'rourke wants higher taxes. he voted against the tax cut, he voted repeatedly in favor of higher property taxes. and in all el paso, he voted for something called a rain tax. i don't even know what that is, but here in texas we celebrate when it rains, we don't celebrate tax you for it. on regulations, i am proud to have worked hand-in-hand with president trump to repeal job killing regulations that were hammering the state of texas. baidoa o'rourke supports higher regulations hammering oil and gas, hammering the state of texas. in fact, baidoa o'rourke voted in favor of a $10 per barrel tax on every barrel of oil produced in the state of texas. now that is a terrific vote, if you want to raise money in san francisco. but that is a terrible vote if you care about jobs in the great state of texas. because there are millions of jobs in the state of texas that depend on a vibrant oil and gas industry, and energy industry booming in the state of texas. and the combination of the tax cuts, and cutting job killing reg

obviously, if it were, o'rourke would win. but to rely -- they're relying on a new texas that has, you know, a lot of minority voters who are going to turn out. they haven't yet in off-year elections. you know, minority voters just don't seem to get to the polls in off years. so it doesn't look good for o'rourke. >> and there's another piece, right, which is we talked about -- earlier segments, that the core of the republican vulnerability is the movement away from them in white-collar suburbs elsewhere in the country. the southern suburbs are just harder. their different. in texas, o'rourke has stalled out, doing better than previous democrats among college-educated white voters but stalled out around 40%, and in this poll only at 36% among them. whereas in many of these northern suburbs, you're seeing democrats up into the mid 50s, which is why there are so many republicans at risk in the white collar house seats. but in texas, in these southern suburbs, i'll plug my cnn.com piece, he talks about this. it is tougher, and you

and eugene, who does beto o'rourke remind you of. there were other reporters around and everybody immediately started talking about who he reminds them of. and for some people it can be bobby kennedy, for others barack obama. he's a very dynamic speaker. >> he is a dynamic speaker. i would go more for kennedy. it's a bit different for obama for me, slightly different approach. what those politicians have in common is that "x" factor, that things that allows them to reach audiences in a different way, not to just convince them but to inspire them, and to make them want to be better. and to make them think that things can be better. and that's a gift. politicians either have that or they don't. and, you know, you can get elected without it, but it's a big help if you have that. >> yeah, and jennifer, when politicians have that, their campaign doesn't sound very partisan. it's not easy to pull out the partisan bits in a beto o'rourke speech. and tonight we are seeing the president of the united states, donald trump, rushing down to texa

o'rourke 60%. super important part of the electorate. and you were saying that latino turnout can sometimes be a deciding factor. >> it's the challenge. texas is going to be california one day. the demographic tides are such that -- but the question is when? we've now seen successive cycles where everybody has predicted in going back now four or five cycles, this is finally the one texas is going to turn blue. it's a really conservative state. the only counterbalance to that would be unprecedented voter suppression by the hispanic population. and every democratic candidate will tell you that's the issue they confront. how do you get those voters registered and get them to the polls on election day. no democrat has cracked the code on that yet. one question will be whether beto o'rourke is the one to do that. they're spending an unprecedented amount of resources. there's also no precedent for getting the turnout you'd need to win at a statewide level. maybe o'rourke will pull it off but history is not on his side. >> garrett haake tweets

beto o'rourke calling ted cruz one of donald trump's nicknames, lyin' ted. is that because, as senator cruz alleges, he's so down in the polls and his pollsters have told him that he needs to get more negative? he's out with a few negative attack ads, as well. >> yeah, well, what we've seen is in the public polling, at least, in recent weeks, cruz has built on his lead. he was kind of in the low to mid-single digits, now in high single digits. his campaign last night claiming that they're up to an 11-point lead in internal polls. and so you have those numbers. and then you have the fact that o'rourke has been receiving pressure from some of his reporters to push back harder against these long-running attack ads that cruz has had on tv for over a month now. o'rourke has been on tv, at the same time, but he's had very positive spots, kind of about traveling across texas and inspirational quotes from his speeches. and just this morning, we saw the o'rourke campaign went on tv with its first negative ads against cruz, and so clearly, there is a strategy afoot he

i think beto o'rourke, also, though, he's going up against an incumbent. stacey abrams is within .6%, but she is not going up against an incumbent. bait toe o'rourke has done a great job with fundraising but that doesn't help with all the blue cities in a red state. had democrats been investing in texas over time, they just essentially ceded it to the bushes and sort of ceded it to the republicans. they've been building a grassroots strategy across the state what they should have been doing for 50 states then bait toe could use that $38 million to supplement it with real organizations that could help him win. >> is this a good look for beto o'rourke? we have seen people em grace his positivism and optism. you get to this broader point how do you react to that. there have been midterms in the past where this has happened and people goaded into going negative. was it a mistake for him to do that, to take that lower road, to hit ted cruz when he had been sort of looking beyond him, looking to the future? >> i think the way he did it was a mistake. you asked i

ted cruz and democratic challenger beto o'rourke facing off. immigration was a big issue as the candidates traded barbs. wash. >> hwatch. >> he is dishonest that's why the president called him lyin' ted. >> polsters must have told him to attack. if he wants to insult me that's fine. >> no wall is going to solve will he psychiatric that the security concerns. >> congressman o'rourke has not only said he does not only oppose the wall. i will note he brought up el paso. >> maria: president trump strong endorsement of cruz calling o'rourke a flake not in cruz's lead. democrats have been pushing hard for an upset a new cnn ssri poll showing cruz a wide lead 52 percent to 45% over o'rourke. this despite the fact that o'rourke has raised a whopping $38 million in four months. so far he has reportedly shot shared that money with other democratic candidates. guy, beto o'rourke is a national celebrity in the democratic party and has raised a lot of money. but it still looks like ted cruz is holding on to a lead. some democrats have been criticizing beto

what happens to beto o'rourke? >> i think beto o'rourke is a rising star in the democratic party no matter what happens on election day. i do think he has a very good chance of winning this election based on the turnout that we're seeing but also based on the fact that beto has been appealing to two groups extraordinarily well. one of those groups are base voters who typically are not coming out in midterms and are already showing up in droves. the other are suburban women, women who are turned off by the trump agenda and who remember the family separations at the border, which i think is a message point that he is trying to turn them on right now through the fear mongering that you were talking about a moment ago, craig. but beto is an extraordinary candidate. he, i think, really is poised to define what the future of the democratic party looks like. he has done a fabulous job of demonstrating what it looks like to be true to progressive values while bringing both parties together. while not putting partisanship a

beto o'rourke one of these young guys they're investing in. we're seeing television ads and digital ads in texas. a lot at stake in mcallen, texas. >> how many times are we going to hear lying ted tonight? >> certainly more than once. probably not more than 100. >> thank you so much for sticking your neck out. great to see you, mark. it will be awesome. appreciate it. it all happens tonight. cnn's dana bash moderates the texas senate town hall. that's live at 7:00 eastern on cnn. thanks so much for joining me. inside politics with john king starts right now. >>> welcome to "inside politics." i'm john king. thank you for sharing your day with us. new twist in the saudi crisis. images that undermine the royal family's denial and a big oval office meeting between the president and his secretary of state. >>> plus, rod rosenstein praises the special counsel investigation -- the one his boss calls a witch-hunt and a con job. and a big campaign swing for the president, immigration is on his mind as he heads west but in most close races, health care

. -- beto o'rourke. we will continue to listen in. >> to all of my friends in the lone star state, a special place. thank you very much for being here. this is some record crowd. >> [cheers and applause]. >> they just told me we broke the record. we could really break it if we could get all of the people outside in here. he would break it by three times. but it's true what they say, everything in texas is just bigger! >> [cheers and applause]. >> it's bigger. >> [cheers and applause]. >> in just 15 days the people of texas are going to re-elect a man who has become a really good friend of mine. you know we had our little difficulties. but, actually, if you remember, the beginning it was a love fest. the fake news back here kept saying -- >> [crowd noise]. >> they kept saying, well, when is it going to break up? i said don't worry, tell break up. we had a rally in washington, d.c. together. nobody can believe it. they said what is going on? what are you doing? we have the rally together. then we said, you

they really wanted beto o'rourke to start punching back. this was really the first time that beto o'rourke has really, in the eyes of their campaign, tried to draw a clear contrast between themselves and ted cruz. that's why you saw him much more aggressive last night. it was interesting after the debate ted cruz's campaign manager came in and described the performance this way. when an unconventional candidate goes conventional, that's typically a sign when the cantaloupe gets cracked wide open. they were having some fun with that. both sides seemed very happy. here's more of how it unfolded here last night in san antonio. >> congressman o'rourke sides with liberal extremists on the national level instead of the people of texas. >> you've got somebody, as i mentioned earlier, who is all talk and no action. so he's not showing up in texas. if he's not showing up in d.c. to vote, who is he showing up for? >> you want to talk about a shut down, with congressman o'rourke leading the way, two years of a partisan circus, shutting down the federa

and we've seen it in beto o'rourke's campaigning. a sharper tone in these final weeks as he tries to close that gap. >> reporter: that's right. and cruz believes that's because o'rourke is rattled and down in the polls. o'rourke knows this is an uphill battle. voter turnout notoriously low in texas. that's why he's visited all 254 counties. >> and a lot of money pouring into this race. >> reporter: $38 million. >> paula, thank you. >>> there's still much more ahead on "world news tonight" this monday. the mega millions now $1.6 billion. and the number that has come up the most. that's ahead tonight. >>> also, breaking news in the case of that 13-year-old girl missing. what authorities did reveal moments ago. and now word tonight of two vehicles they're looking for. >>> also news tonight about the manhunt for a suspected cop killer. police receiving a tip, then the suspect waiting for them, holding a lawnmower blade. >>> and then tonight, the heartbreaking moment. the mother of a country music star arriving home after hurricane michae

but o'rourke voted against your tax cuts. and he once against texas oil workers with the job killing regulations that were really, really hurting those jobs and those companies. o'rourke supports a socialist takeover of health care. you are going to triple your taxes, and it won't be enough. and it will be lousy health care. you'll end up waiting for five weeks to see a doctor. and i heard ted say just before i went on, but to me, this is a beauty. i don't know if anybody that has heard this reading. he got an f from the nra. one of the few. you know what nf means. that means that he wants to take away your guns. okay, i've never even heard of an f. i've never heard of it. louis, did you ever hear of nf? do we love louis? do we love him? look at him. louis. [cheers and applause] i don't know what lou is ridding us, but i would assume it's about an a+, right? a+. i love people that have guts. he has got. they defend you. and they defend your second amendment. if ted doesn't win it, your second amendment is going to be in troub

the ted cruz-beto o'rourke senate battle here has received huge amounts of outside money and attention. most polls right now currently have cruz ahead by five to seven rigts. here's nancy cordes with more on onat. ( cheers ) >> reporter: running behind and running hard, democrat beto o'rourke hit eight early voting sites today, as the president winged in to campaign against him. ntes the president being here rtlp you, or hurt you? >> we'll see. i don't know that it matters one opy or another. te people of texas want to decide this on their own terms, on our own terms. >> reporter: he's up against a well-known republican incumbent. >> senator ted cruz. ( applause ) >> reporter: in a state president trump won by nine points. >> do we agree with beto o'rourke that we should impeach president trump? sn no! >> reporter: cruz and mr. trump weren't always so close. >> donald, you're a sniveling coward. >> reporter: ...trading barbs in 2016's presidential primaries. >> this man is a pathological liar. >> lyin' ted, lyin' ted cruz! he's a lyin'-- he can lie with the best of 'em! this is lyin' t

but beto o'rourke is still trailing in the polls. we're live in santonio ahead of their debate tonight. stay with me. you're watching cnn. i think we can do better. change is hard. try to keep an open mind. come on, dad. this is for me, son? principal. we can help you plan for that. your insurance rates skyrocket you could fix it with a pen. how about using that pen to sign up for new insurance instead? for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise their rates because of their first accident. switch and you could save $782 on home and auto insurance. call for a free quote today. liberty mutual insurance. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ >>> 21 days until the midterm elections and perhaps no race is acting as a bigger political barometer than in texas, the race between beto o'rourke and ted cruz. beto o'rourke has raised an unprecedented amount of money. these two face off in a debate tonight. ed lavandera is there. a number of democrats are criticizing o'rourke for not sharing his millions with other se

and beto o'rourke in a tough position. a lot of republicans in texas said, wait a minute, is this guy really for us. could we support him for re-election. he's slowly made his way back to president trump and has recovered his political capital in texas with the gop. >> are there any voters, any, you know, we look at independents, we look at women. we look at this group that swung for trump. i interviewed a bunch of two-time obama voters who voted for donald trump in states where the economy was a big deal. any softening in trump's base among the voters that may be open to somebody like beto. >> there certainly are. i was just down in texas and saw beto o'rourke. you wonder if the administration's handling of that, the congressional response, was appropriate. the challenge for democrats is how much does kavanaugh stay at the forefront of voters' minds a month ahead of the election, three weeks ahead of the election with the other issues popping up like khashoggi and the economy and other things. >> the other thing about ted

congressman o'rourke is becoming a household name. he is also becoming a prolific record breaking fund-raiser. in the last quarter alone he raised more than $38 million, and for some perspective that is more money than former florida governor jeb bush raised in his entirety of his presidential campaign. i'd like to welcome back my panel. tim, let me go to you first here. there is some disparity between the money he's raking in, way more than ted cruz has. and yet you look at the most recent polling, ted cruz 51 ers, beto a rauo'rourke, 43 merse. why isn't it translating and what's it going to take to translate? >> it cleary only isn't about money. money signifies activation around people's passions about what's going on in the country right now. but the machinery of getting people elected and bringing people out for votes isn't always about money. i think one of the things democrats are going to have to get used to, it would appear is that the senate and trump are in lock step now. mcconnell and trump used to be at different places in