we score some tickets to attend talk but there's a new drama airing the barack obama show starring barack obama and produced by the gop. here's just a sample. >> mark udall visit with

president obama 99% of the time. -- voted with president obama. >> teaming up to give us obamacare. she voted with obama. >> obama's senator, not yours. >> but wait, there's more. senator jeanne shaheen was asked point-blank would she tell pollsters if she approved of the job obama was doing. >> yes or no? >> in some ways i approve and some i don't. >> we will see this breakthrough in the ads and in the remaining debates. they are pressing on their association with the president.

they are in such a crouch on this. i saw jeanne shaheen giving a speech and she was fantastic. timid and even in new hampshire even in these hard or red states. 0 they must find some guts on these questions. >> they will not do a single senate race, not even in iowa.

talk about him going to michigan to do the governor's race and the senate race there but that's the only thing on the schedule there. let's talk about senate races. iowa between bruce braley or jimmy ernst. there is a striking new ad up on the air which we will come back to later. the conventional wisdom is that the race is hers to lose. 0 democrats have had the stronger ground game for a while. they concede registration early vote. in this case, they have narrowed the gap. is going to start to have to perform stronger in the eastern part of the state where he is

not doing as well now. if the ground game turns playing a pretty cautious game. out there as the warrior, i still give the edge but they have a history of a strong ground game. 0 democrats have been organized there and they have that ground game. i've made the point that you made many times, going to win by a mile. how is it that she would lose that race when they win by 15 or 12 points. >> the poll suggests likely voters are now more inclined towards a gop congressman there were a few months ago and more

voters than before expecting that outcome. take a look at these numbers. who do you want to control congress? they asked the same question in this new poll, 47-39. these are likely voters nationwide. you have to assume in some of the battleground states the number is even wider. who do you think will control the senate after the midterms? last month, they thought democrats would control and now in a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy the numbers have switched around here. they now think they will control after the midterms. does this give us enough evidence that there will be a republican tsunami? or is this just an outlier of some sort. >> i have resisted the notion that there is a republican wave.

the first number is outside the motion of error. this is all back to the democrats. you can still imagine the past holding onto the sentiment. odds are dwindling. >> this is no striking. it could be an outlier. when they start to think something is happening it's much more likely because they are pretty savvy. that's national. if you look at some of these key races, it's a very negative in that. >> happy first day on the job for the ebola csar. my question to you, is he actually a czar? pseudo? quasi? >> he is not a czar. he is an inside operator.

i know you have some supporting -- supported reporting that suggests just that. >> he is not the czar but the coordinator. we talk about how he is a skilled bureaucratic organizer and an inside job. you guys got it all wrong. he was never meant to be the ebola czar. barack obama did not want to appoint a czar. they managed the op horribly. there is the impression that's exactly what he is and only now are they trying to dispel that and tamp it down. >> is there to take pressure off of the homeland security advisor . they were drawn in and away. there is so much else on the plate now. they wanted to be there is a traffic cop and a coordinator. >> now when they think they will

see daily briefings are up on the hell, it will not happen. it was never in the cards. >> every journalist we know is taking time to remember the great ben bradley, a tireless steward of the washington post. earlier today we spoke with one of his disciples, the great political reporter about how he assembled his team. >> his attitude was to hire the best people you could find and let them do their work. he was not a micromanager by any stretch of the imagination. yoon courage people to do what he thought they could do. >> what made him such a popular and great editor? >> he understood the unique talent. he had an incredible nose for

his story and was just so competitive. the third thing was he understood fun. journalism for him was a fun business. politics was a fun business and he imbued with a sense of courage. >> i met him enough times to know he was like the greats. big personalities who understand how to have fun but journalism is serious and you have to hold them accountable. he also did it hiring people like the great white house reporter who understood the platform of the post came with the responsibility to hold them accountable. he was a great man and he will be missed. >> coming up potential republican presidential candidate makes us an offer we cannot refuse. ted cruz is next. ♪

>> our guest has been called the republican barack obama. i assume that means if elected he will cut wasteful spending while monitoring my iphone activity. he's famous for filibustering but his promise to keep his answers short. senator ted cruz, thank you for joining us from houston. >> good to be with you. >> we talk about the political news of the day in the next few weeks. midterm control of the senate. appraise the battleground for us here. how likely do you think it is your party takes majority control? which do you think and trolls the outcome? >> i think it's more likely than not that republicans will retake the senate and retire. we've been going to battleground states. i've been up to iowa i'm heading to georgia, traveling

all across the country trying to turn out conservatives. there are 10, 12, 14 seats that are seriously competitive. >> what's your hunch about which ones will be the closest or the ones that will be decided on election night. >> there are seven up in red states that mitt romney carried. six of them, barack obama got 42% or less. the natural place to start are the 42% states -- west virginia, montana, south dakota, arkansas, louisiana, alaska. of those, it appears west virginia and montana are largely off the table. the democrats are not seriously contesting those. south dakota is a little quirky with an independent but i think it will be a safe republican seat. and i think all three of the

remaining arkansas, louisiana, and alaska look like very strong pickup opportunities. there are a bunch of additional seats at think are terrific the cup opportunities. -- pick up opportunities. iowa. joni is one of the strongest senate candidates and her opponent the democrat is not a strong candidate. i think colorado is a great pickup opportunity. scott brown is running one heck of a campaign in new hampshire. there are a lot of seats in play right now and if they break right, republicans could pick up 11 or 12 seats. if they break wrong, we could end up with just enough to lead democrats in the majority. i don't think it will happen but it's close enough to break

either way. >> you have strong views on judicial philosophy and in recent days, a number of rulings from the court, on the wisconsin voter id law, texas abortion clinic, and gay marriage recently where it seems as though chief justice roberts has not been vocally siding with conservative justices. you hear people on the right wondering if the chief justice

is a true conservative. do you worry that he's going soft? >> i think it's premature to come to those conclusions. obviously the chief justices vote in the obamacare decision was a shock to just about every court watcher. it was astonishing and very disappointing. i think it has severely tarnished the legacy that he did not vote to strike down that law, that he was willing to rewrite the statute to try to save it i think was a mistake. i think chief justice roberts tenure, setting aside obamacare, has been characterized by a consistency and a dedication upholding the law and i am certainly hopeful the chief justice will continue doing so. >> a lot of people think he's on the liberal side of the gay marriage decision. >> i think that may be reading the wrong tea leaves. if you look at the prior decisions of the court, it has been justice kennedy that has been the swing vote on issues

concerning gay marriage. it is far more likely that the more conservative justices were less than confident where justice kennedy's vote was going to be and that was why they didn't take the case. i think the outcome nonetheless amounted to unelected judges setting aside the marriage laws in 30 states across the union. from the beginning of our country, the marriage has been a question for the states decided at the state level and one of the geniuses of our framers. the states are laboratories of democracy and i think marriage laws should reflect the values and mores of the citizens. you would expect the citizens of california make different policy decisions in the citizens of texas or florida or new york. we shouldn't have unelected federal judges or the federal government trying to impose their policy views on state legislatures. >> you have a pretty significant op-ed piece talking about if republicans take majority what you would like to do. there is a lot we will not have time to get to but we will ask about one thing that caught my eye. the need for congressional oversight on a range of issues. in terms of benghazi, there should be careful and sober senate hearings. what are the unanswered questions of the tragic matter?

>> there have been a number of hearings on the house side and the administration continues to stonewall and in deed, earlier this year, i introduced a resolution for a joint committee to investigate benghazi. >> just list the questions you think require hearings on that matter. >> let me lay out what happened. the chairman came down and objected and he said on the senate floor, he has no idea if there was anything that the secretary of state or the secretary of defense could have done to save those for americans. he has no idea what could've been done or why we didn't but we needed hearings to figure it out. that was out of democrat bob mendez. we need to answer those questions. i know secretary clinton said what difference does it make? to the four men whose lost their lives and families, all over the world, it makes a very real

difference. if we could've saved them. a >> you were a pretty staunch opponent of comprehensive reform and there are 12 million undocumented citizens. not citizens here. what is your take on that issue? >> i am a strong advocate of commonsense immigration reform and the way we address immigration reform is to focus on areas of bipartisan agreement. there is overwhelming bipartisan agreement outside of washington that we finally have to get serious about securing the borders and stopping the problem of illegal immigration especially with growing threats from isis and ebola. not to mention 90,000 unaccompanied children. we should come together to say enough is enough. >> what happens to the 12 million?

>> let me answer the question. what i think we should do is focus on areas of bipartisan agreement. the first area is securing the border and stopping the problem of illegal immigration. the second area of bipartisan agreement is improving and streamlining legal immigration so that we remain a nation that doesn't just welcome, but celebrates legal immigration. i am the son of an immigrant i came legally from cuba 57 years ago and there is no stronger advocate of legal immigration than i am. if you actually want to pass a bill, you focus on areas of bipartisan agreement.

they focused on the question you're asking, the most partisan and divisive elements. i believe their objective is not to pass a bill but to have what happened happen exactly as it did. to force a bad bill that they knew would never pass the house of representatives because they want to use it as a cudgel in 2014 and 2016. they didn't pass immigration reform because they didn't want to. if you want to pass a bill, the way to do it is focus on areas of agreement, not engage in partisan warfare. >> next time we will have you talk about the 12 million but now i will have you go straight to some more personal and relaxed stuff. a big fan of the godfather films. you can do your best godfather character imitation or tell us of the most compelling character is. up to you. or both. >> much to my team's relief i will resist doing impressions. but if you get a beer in me, i might not. all three godfather -- the most compelling character is always

michael corleone and because he is engaged in a moral battle wherein each decision, he's trying to do the right thing. in the first, he's trying to be the honorable one and not go into the mob and yet his father's life is threatened. and what makes it such a compelling morale at a tail as he tries to do the right thing and ends up being a mass murderer in every movie. it is summed up well in the third film when an older michael corleone a says, every time i get out, they keep pulling me back in. [laughter] >> that may be harry reid's motto by the end of next week. thanks for joining us.

next, here a pig, there a pig every where a pungent joni ernst ad. we'll be right back. ♪

>> last spring, she said she loved castrating pigs. she has another ad on the same scene and mark is going to marry poppins himself into the picture. >> it's a mess. it dirty, noisy, and it stinks. >> welcome back, it's nice to see you back in the environment that made you famous when you talked about castrating hogs. the visual is clear. you want to remind voters why they nominated you in the first place without saying i'm the one who castrates pigs. >> too many typical politicians. hogging, wasting, and full of bad ideas. it is time to start spending money we don't have -- stop spending money. they are full of pork?

>> they are full of pork? i'm not really sure what your point is. >> i'm joni ernst. >> thanks for elaborating on how you balance the budget. >> cleaning up the mess is going to take a lot of iowa commonsense. >> i know it's a 30 second ad but this is one of your closing arguments? it's you and a bunch of hogs and you have a plan to balance the budget if no details? i think you need to shoot another added. >> i think it's time for you to clean off your shoes. we will be right back. ♪

>> we are only on television half an hour a day but we are live 24/7 on bloomberg politics.com. the digital guru has taken up the incredibly difficult task of making mitch mcconnell seem cool

on the internet. >> a great lease -- piece about republican midterms.

>> hello, i'm pimm fox and this is what i'm taking stock of on wednesday, october 20 two, 2014. the race for an ebola vaccine is on an johnson & johnson is spurring researchers and lab testing. a company's chief scientific officer says making a profit on the vaccine is secondary. >> if it becomes a global use vaccine, maybe one day we will see how it goes but first now is being as fast as possible to help the world get in control of the disease. >> sears stock has soared this week as lambert works to raise more money. if former executive says the