Two days from now, history will be made, one way or another—either through the election of the first female president, or the election of the last president altogether.
For the past week, Donald Trump has been on his "best behavior"—an extraordinarily low bar, for sure; unfortunately, the same can not be said for the FBI.
Ever since James Comey opted to insert himself into the election (and perhaps violate the Hatch Act in the process), the FBI has been leaking like a sieve to Trump's allies.
No doubt, there's a certain irony in the agency responsible for investigating leaks being at the heart of a leak scandal itself; but, really, it's no more ironic than than the fact that America's top law enforcement agency seems to have the same goal as Russia's intelligence services—electing Trump.
#Teamwork
In any case, throughout it all, Hillary Clinton has steadfastly maintained her cool—and her Electoral College lead (Nate Silver's tweets notwithstanding).
Morning lineup:
Meet the Press: Clinton Campaign Chair John Podesta; Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich; Roundtable: Tom Brokaw (NBC News), Republican Strategist Nicolle Wallace, Chris Matthews (MSNBC), Jose Diaz-Balart (Telemundo) & Savannah Guthrie (NBC News).
Face The Nation: Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee Tim Kaine; RNC Chair Reince Priebus; Former Homeland Security Adviser Fran Townsend; David Ignatius (Washington Post); Roundtable: Jamelle Bouie (Slate), Amy Walter (Cook Political Report), Mark Leibovich (New York Times Magazine) & John Heilemann (Bloomberg Politics).
This Week: Clinton Campaign Chair John Podesta; RNC Chair Reince Priebus; Nate Silver (FiveThirtyEight); Roundtable: Republican Strategist Alex Castellanos, Democratic Strategist Stephanie Cutter, "Independent" Strategist Matthew Dowd, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) & Republican Pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson.
Fox News Sunday: Republican Vice Presidential Nominee Mike Pence; Bill O'Reilly (Fox News); Roundtable: Republican Strategist Karl Rove, Bob Woodward (Washington Post), Former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino & Juan Williams (Fox News).
State of the Union: Trump Campaign Manager Kellyanne Conway; Sen. Al Franken (D-MN); Libertarian Vice Presidential Nominee Bill Weld; Roundtable: Progressive Activist Van Jones, Republican Strategist Sean Spicer, Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D), David Chalian (CNN) (R) & Dana Bash (CNN).
Evening lineup:
60 Minutes will feature: a report on potential developmental problems for babies born without microcephaly to Zika-infected moms (preview).
Late night shows:
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Monday: Actor John Goodman; Actor Andrew Rannells; Rock Band The 1975; Drummer Keith Carlock.
Tuesday: Pre-empted.
Wednesday: TV Host Wendy Williams; Pop Band Lukas Graham; Drummer Keith Carlock.
Thursday: Lester Holt (NVBC News); Actress Alia Shawkat; Author Jade Chang; Drummer Keith Carlock.
Friday: Rerun.
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Monday: Jonathan Capehart (Washington Post); Tuesday: Live Election Night Coverage; Wednesday: John Stanton (BuzzFeed); Thursday: Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James.
Elsewhere...
Morning Joe Scarborough tried to dispel once and for all with this fiction that he's rooting for Trump.
While going over some of the newest state-by-state polling data just days before the presidential election, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough took a quick detour to clearly state that he is not — under any circumstances — "rooting" for Republican nominee Donald Trump.
"Now in case you have a short attention span," Scarborough said during a segment in the 6 o'clock hour Friday, "Joe's not saying this is going to happen, Joe's saying it might happen. It might happen. Could happen. Along with Nate Silver I think there is a 35% chance that it will happen." He was referencing the statistical likelihood that Trump could win next Tuesday's election, a prospect forecasted by Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight.
"I don't want you to think three minutes from now that anybody here is rooting for Donald Trump," he clarified with a hardened look into the camera lens. "God, you people. You need to do your job and be journalists. You're really disgusting."
Meanwhile...
Brian Williams called out Mark Halperin for his fawning coverage of Trump.
MSNBC anchor Brian Williams called out Bloomberg Politics host (and quasi-MSNBC host) Mark Halperin Thursday night for his coverage of the 2016 campaign, saying that Halperin goes out of his way to present the news in a way favorable to Donald Trump.
"Mark Halperin, to you, I say this with charity in my heart as an every evening and weekly viewer," he prefaced. "When Donald Trump complains that he is not getting favorable coverage in the MSM, he has not been listening to you this cycle."
Williams continued: "I think you’ve gone out of your way to find the path, argue for the path, forge the path for him in an argumentative way with your co-host to the nomination."
"Tonight I thought you were interestingly optimistic," he said. "Where are you getting the path of positivity you laid out on your broadcast tonight?"
Vote or die.
– Trix