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tv   Anderson Cooper 360  CNN  September 15, 2010 2:00am-3:00am EDT

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pretty exciting night of primary politics. enormous implications, tea party upset in delaware. christine o'donnell knocking off former governor mike castle. primary results from seven states and the district of columbia are coming in now. more key races from the tea party, more o-line republicans threatened. d.c. mayor is a solidly
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democratic city. gop race in new york. john king has the latest. >> anderson, this last big primary night is giving us a lot of drama and messages from the tea party. the block buster in delaware, christine o'donnell written off as a fringe long shot weeks ago, she is your republican nominee for senate for the seat held by the vice president joe biden for 36 years. she is the republican nominee because she defeated the establishment republican candidate. mike castle, he won statewide 12 times. in a republican primary he lost 47% to christine o'donnell's 53%. can she win in november? democrats say no way. a lot of republicans doubt it. the general election starts tomorrow. the new hampshire primary, kelly ayotte, ovide lamontagne.
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she was the favorite. he is winning in the moment. another message to the establishment, 42% for lamontagne. this is not over yet. big cities to come in. a lot of conservatives say her support for sonia sotomayor could be a reason her conservative challenger is out pacing her. charlie rangel, 20-team house democrat. he had five challengers. this crowded field could be a factor in the results. let's look at the early numbers. charlie rangel facing ethics charges, his lead challenger adam clayton powell iv 24%. the crowded field could be a factor. we'll keep an eye on that. the 15th district. this could be another stunner. the new york primary for governor.
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rick laszio was considered the favorite, tea party candidate karl palladino. you might get a gasp. 67% for the tea party's carl palladino, 33% for rick lazio. this is holding up. karl paladino saying this is an establishment republican. we need a break in the party. the d.c. mayoral race. no results in this one. getting late after 11:00, the democratic republican adrian feinty running against vincent gray. gray says the african-american mayor lost touch with the african-american community. school reform a huge issue. can't tell you anything at this moment. i'm being told we are ready to
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make a call in the new york republican governor's race. we are ready to make this call. cnn projecting another major upset. carl paladino. cnn projects he will be the republican nominee for mayor defeating the man who was thought to be the favorite rick lazio. karl paladino will face andrew cuomo, the son of the former governor. he will be favored in that race, but, wow, another upset. another message to the republican establishment. we have been talking about how this is a bad year for the democrats come november. what it has been through this primary season is a dramatic soul searching for the republican party. >> john king, we will continue to check in with you. let's bring in the panel david gergen, paul begala, eric
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ericson and john ridley and kate zurnukey, she is the author of "boiling mad." i got it right this time. >> you did. >> eric, this is a stunning night in new york with paladino. >> it is. democrats tried to pick off some of the democratic incumbents, arlen specter's switch if you can count that. they weren't successful outside of pennsylvania the republicans the grassroots, i don't think the republicans get it. i remember a cnn poll that showed republican voters disliked the republicans in washington more than independents liked the republicans in washington. and they're in total denial about that. this isn't going to do anything for them. i'm getting lots of e-mails
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saying republican leadership in the senate are openly blaming jim demint for all of their problems. they should be blaming themselves. >> jim demint. why jim demint? >> he endorsed o'donnell, he endorsed lamontagne. all of demint's candidates win. which is why o'donnell the nrsc is not going to help her. >> let's go to o'donnell headquarters where jessica yellin has the winning candidate with her. >> hi, anderson. i'm here with christine o'donnell who has been greeting supporters all night long. first of all, what message do you think your victory says sends to establishment republicans cannibalizing the party. >> we, the people, want our voice heard again. it is not always about power. it is about principles. i think the voters are craving candidates who will stand for
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something. >> we have already been told this evening that the national republicans, the party organization that often funds campaigns like yours is not going to fund yours and many national republicans have said simply you cannot win in november. do you need their money? can you win without it? >> good. they don't have a winning track record. but, you know, of course there is a greater good here and i would love their support but they're the same so-called experts who said i couldn't win the primary. if we just had that throw in the towel mentality every time there was a fight that needed to be fought our country wouldn't be what it is. it wouldn't be what is worth defending. so, you know, there's a lot of visionaries and leaders you have seen in this room who believe we can win and if they are too lazy to put in the effort that we need to win then so be it. we're going to win without them. i would love their support but we're going to win without them. >> i heard you say in your
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remarks you bet you. and you thanked sarah palin. >> she was a vote in the politics of personal destruction. she challenged the establishment before it was cool to challenge the establishment. she pioneered a trail for so many women out there. we have to thank her and all the women serving in politics regardless of the party because it is a man's world. but there are a lot of women who are holding their own and blazing the trail for people like me. >> reporter: you told me yesterday you would like secretary of state hillary clinton's endorsement. would you still like her endorsement? >> absolutely. i haven't heard from her. secretary clinton is one of those women who when she first stepped out there she took a beating. i don't agree with all of her policies but i agree how she held her own in a difficult political arena especially in her position now. you go, girl, hillary. >> reporter: thank you for your time. >> thank you.
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>> we understand the castle campaign has not called to concede. but they say here they understand and they are pleased with their victory and he was gracious in remarks publicly. they have a long road ahead of them here. >> jessica, does she expect that mike castle will endorse her. >> reporter: may i ask you one more question? >> sure. >> reporter: do you expect that mike castle will endorse you? >> i hope so. it would be nice if we could bury the hatchet. if not, we can win with the support of the people. what we've seen this whole election cycle is everyday americans rising up to take back their country. that is the energy and momentum i'm counting on to win the general election. thank you. >> anderson, a lot of enthusiasm in the room. they are going to need to do their work to raise money to take on the democrats who are feeling pumped tonight.
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they do think they can win this one now. >> jessica, appreciate that. thank you for getting that interview. an exciting night for her supporters. paul, are democrats maybe, you know, sort of measuring the drapes on this too quickly? i heard bill maher say he used to be on her show "politically incorrect" and he was rooting for her because she is a nice person. >> i don't know her personally. there is always that risk. there is a great legend in the democratic party where officials in the carter white house wanted to run against reagan and by golly they did. anybody in politics ought to step back and respect anyone who can win like that. the tea party activists in the republican party have pulled off eight, maybe nine really impressive statewide victories against powerful entrenched candidates that is an impressive
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thing. that is in republicans only primaries. that is a gated community. in general election two tea party candidates were running and fully funded and they lost both of them. 23rd district in new york state where no democrat had won in 152 years bill owens beat the tea party candidate because the republican candidate switched the democrat. in the pennsylvania 12th district which had been democratic, jack murtha passed away. a credible tea party candidate. barack obama's favorable rating was 35% and the democrat wont there, too. it remains to see how powerful the tea party will be in a general election. >> david gergen, some democrats are saying we want these tea party candidates to win because they are on the fringe and we will be able to win against them in a general election. are they just kind of overly optimistic on that one? >> i agree with paul. it remains to be seen.
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i do think there is going to be now a -- there are going to be some of these races where the tea party folks are as candidates are doing much better than anybody would have expected. people wrote off ms. angle. that is a very close race. i don't think they should be written off. a big night for jim demint. i do think there are very large questions now that are going to hang over us after the elections about how we govern the country, how decisions are reached in washington. whether you can reach bipartisan agreement on budget deficits. >> david is right. i left scott brown out. that is the most important victory since barack obama won. >> up until today the
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conversation was how badly are the democrats going to lose in the fall. now all of a sudden it is about the republicans and the problems they are having. not just the tea party but the tax issue and the bush tax cuts. boehner and mitch mcconnell and the young guns saying different things. in about 24 hours the conversation has changed. i don't think this is going to stop the democrats from losing but allows them to focus in places more easily because the republicans have to deal with themselves rather than just the democrats. >> the panel is with us throughout the hour. let us know at "ac 360." let us know what you think. up next, dover, delaware, to harlem. we check in on charlie rangel's race to hang in for a fourth decade in congress.
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(voice 3) isolate... prevent damage... (voice 2) got 'em. (voice 3) great exercise guys. let's run it again.
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a lot of upsets tonight, will new york's 15th congressional district be one of them? that is the question right now. democratic congressman charlie rangel in the fight of his career facing an ethics investigation, no longer chairman of the powerful ways and means committee. tonight it's win or go home against adam clayton powell iv.
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the son of the man congressman rangel defeated to win his seat in the house in 1970. congressman rangel, holding a substantial lead, about 2-1, only 19% of precincts counted. joe johns is at the headquarters right now. joe? >> reporter: hey, anderson. 20 terms, looking for his 21st term. a slightly surreal night, here in harlem, frankly. it is a lively crowd, but not a very large crowd at all. surprisingly, few people here waiting for what is expected by many to be a win for charlie rangel. not that surprising, of course, given the ethics allegations against him in washington, d.c., allegations of not filling out his financial disclosure forms properly, handling improperly donations for a center he was trying to build for public service in the city of new york. so, we're still going to have to wait quite a while because there's an issue of course with
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voting machines here in new york to get the final numbers. a lot of the institutional democratic party turning out for charlie rangel, including governor david paterson, the former mayor, david jenkins, some members of congress all expecting a victory for charlie rangel despite those issues. >> joe, we'll check in with you. # looks like he's obviously way ahead right now, 2-1. back with our panel, david gergen, paul begala, erick erickson, john ridley and kate zernike. a victory for rangel is not necessarily the best thing for the democratic party. it allows republicans to say democrats talked about draining the swamp in washington and ending a culture of corruption, charlie rangel is facing allegations and at this point they are just allegations, but 13 ethics violation charges. >> i think that's right. it looks like he's going to win. but there's no question that the republicans would like to have him around. they'd like to keep him out
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there. look, after tonight there's a very real chance the conversation is going to turn to, is there some sort of civil war going on in the right, within republicans, conservatives, that sort of thing. are we seeing something like the 1960s where the rise of barry goldwater seized power back from the establishment but went on to get a real drubbing in the '64 national election and from that built a conservative movement that became quite powerful, but it took a while. republicans will not like that conversation much, they'll want part of the conversation to be about, hey, there are a lot of problems with these establishment democrats, and a mood when the country is anti-establishment, anti-status quo, keep charlie rangel aground. that will be something the republicans will like. >> i think the anti- -- as much as the energy is on the right this time, as much as the enthusiasm gap favors the right, i think the anti-incumbent sentiment is also on the right.
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someone mentioned arkansas earlier, the anti-incumbency doesn't seem to be as strong on the right, but november 3rd, not the 2nd, which is election day. if these tea party candidates lose, i think the republicans will say, conservative candidates can't win, we need to go back to the middle. >> david talked about the 1960s with barry goldwater. nixon framed himself as being the reasonable conservative. he was the guy that came after goldwater. the question is now is there going to be that conservative, that republican who comes along and says i'm the reasonable guy. i know erick said whether there are really moderate republicans or not, but people left or right, run on the fringe, comes the general election, have you to move toward the middle. >> the republicans have not moved toward the middle since. the party of reagan was more conservative than nixon. the party of bush more conservative than gingrich and now who knows, christine o'donnell and palin, way more conservative than the party of bush. these guys are going so far right.
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>> it's the party of erickson. >> i think it's honorable but it's gone very, very far right. the republican party today would be unrecognizable to dwight eisenhower from a half century ago. >> that's true to a degree but the country moves around as well. what we're forgetting about and what every pundit tends to forget about are events and things can change. and it's hard to say this is what's going to happen on november 2nd, events change. there's a lot of time between now and november. i know political consultants look at calendar. i used to be one and say, there's not. but things change and what happens this year is not going to be the same as what happens in two years. a year and a half ago the big story was the annihilation of the republican party. "time" magazine's headline called them an endangered species and they're about to take back the house. things change. >> things do change but it's the same republican party that will take back the house if they do. that's the question. they may come back.
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remember, the republicans used to be more like the democrats. these things shift. it's still basically a two-party system. >> david? >> yeah, i just wanted to say, i want to come back to this point about just after the election. if you're a republican incumbent coming to washington after the election, one of the clear messages out of this, these primaries is that if you work across the aisle and work with democrats, you do so at risk to your political life. because we've now seen several, you know, like bob bennett out in the west, or lisa murkowski, or now mike castle, they've been working with democrats to try to come up with bipartisan solutions, so it seems to be the one clear message to republicans is, and to erick's point, if you are an establishment republican and work with the democrats you do so at great risk, given the discuss with the status quo we see among the tea party folks. >> i think there is something to that.
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i'll tell you, i was talking to a republican senator last week other than jim demint who said one of his frustrations with washington is that on this idea of big issues there has to be compromise and coming together and he is one of the conservative senators but there is a lot of frustration out there that it's not just on the republican side. my friend jane hampshire has the frustration with democrats that there are issues where there are clear ideological lines where both sides the at grassroots level feel are worth fighting for, and they see guys to go to washington that don't fight, but compromise. it frustrates them. sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, inevitably it grows government and some conservatives are upset about that. >> you've worked in numerous white houses, both republican and democrat. isn't compromise key to accomplishing something? >> well, anderson, there are some issues on which things have rammed things through with no
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bipartisan, with no republican votes, essentially, but coming back to one of the central issues for the next two years is how we're going to get ahold of this fiscal deficit. how we're going to get spending under control, how we're going to try to balance our books. there is no way we're going to get from here to some sort of solution to that without the two parties joining forces. there's simply not enough votes to do the hard things, whether it is going back into medicare, reforming shurkt or doing it with home deductions on cutting defense. all of those things require working across the aisles. if republicans come into the next year and democrats come in saying if you work with the other side, you're getting punished in the next primary, you're out of here if do you that, that's going to make it very, very difficult. >> we've got to take a quick break. more of our panel coming up, also take a look at some of the tactics and ads candidates are using to try and win, especially in these last few weeks, including one candidate for mayor in rhode island who's trying to sing his way to victory. also tonight we'll take you live
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this year saw some memorable ads, forgettable ads, maybe ads you'd like to forget but can't, founding fathers telling voters to lock and load, creepy red eyed man sheep hybrids and more. along with the novelty ads there were the attack ad, late shots, australian cheap shots at the opposition.
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tom foreman has the latest install the of "political theater." >> reporter: many front running candidates have been so convinced of victory that they've used the primaries to get a hard running start at the general election. look at wisconsin, where we swing up there to find two men who want to be governor and they are slugging it out. look at this ad by republican scott walker. >> i want to get government out of the way so employers can create more good-paying jobs right here in wisconsin. i'm scott walker and i took on the political machine in milwaukee and i'm ready to go the distance as your next governor. >> reporter: now, those boxing gloves might strike some voters as a tad insensitive, considering that a year ago democratic contender tom barrett, the mayor was savagely beaten while rescuing a woman from an attack. look at his ad. >> there's people with a kind of character who don't think about circumstances, about what might happen to them, they just respond. and i don't think he ever thought about it. i know, and our kids know that their dad will always stand up
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for them. and he will always stand up for wisconsin. >> no doubt some of his opponents probably say that ad is a bit opportunistic. >> you would think that. political observers say a general race could be tight. but speaking of opportunistic, nothing can top this for mayor of providence. his name is chris young, you may remember him as the guy who proposed to a woman during a debate. but check out his appearance on a local tv show in that providence, rhode island, mayoral race. >> i want to say that i write songs for fun, and i can play a song for you really quick, and. this is a song i've written. i wanted to have my guitar but they wouldn't let me have it. ♪ i'll sing it for you.
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>> mm-hmm. ♪ to the rich man who stands in his house high upon the hill ♪ ♪ the chains that bind you, the flames that surround you ♪ ♪ for the price you have received ♪ >> this went on for two minutes. this guy singing along with his cell phone and at the end he wanted to bring a guitar player in to do it again and the host voted no. we should note the voters also went with the non-proposing, non-singing with the cell phone ticket angel tavarez. >> they punished him for his creativity. >> some people don't appreciate art. >> more on the primaries. we will have the latest on the upsets. we will get back to our panel as well. we are following important stories including iran's decision to release one of the three american hikers.
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we are ready to call another race, let's go to john king. john? >> democrat charlie rangel has
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overcomethics allegations at at least for now and won his primary in the 15th congressional district in new york city. cnn projecting charlie rangel will within the democratic primary. he's seeking a 21st term in congress, so for all intents and purposes, this should mean charlie rangel will win re-election to the house tonight. 60% of the vote in, charlie rangel getting 53%. his closest challenger, five in all, his closest challenger, adam clayton powell iv at 25%. so charlie rangel surviving for now in harlem. he will be the democratic nominee, the overwhelming favored now to win re-election. we should note he still faces trial by the house ethics committee on a number of ethics allegations, but if he had to worry about that in the primary, not anymore. we project he will be the democratic nominee. >> we'll check in on the race in the gop race in new hampshire. overseas now, a young american woman stepped off a plain in oman today and, quote, i've been waiting for this moment for a really long time," her name is sarah shourd, one of
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three american hikers detained by iran for over a year now. they say they were hiking in the mountains of iraq in the summer of 2009 when they allegedly strayed into iranian territory. iran accused them of spying. they denied the charges. nic robertson is in oman tonight. nic, she flew today to -- from iran to oman. iranian media say she was released on bail because of her medical condition. what kind of shape was she when she arrived? >> reporter: she seemed pretty tired, quite emotional when you listened to her speak. huge hugs and kisses with her mother and uncle on the tarmac after she got off the 2 1/2 hour flight from tai han. her mother pulled her scarf over her hair, but walking arm in arm, mother clearly relieved, she had a lot to say
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when she met the press here in oman saying she wanted to thank the sultan of oman and thank many other people, including the president of iran. >> i want to really offer my thanks to everyone in the world, all of the governments, all of the people that have been involved and especially particularly want to address president ahmadinejad and all of the iranian officials that -- religious leaders, and thank them for this humanitarian gesture. i'm grateful and very humbled by this moment. >> she -- there was bail posted of $500,000 in order to get her released. do we know how that happened without violating u.s. sanctions against iran? who paid the bail? >> reporter: well, it sounds as if you listen to iranians it sounds as if the oman has paid the bail, $500,000, the state department say they didn't pay it. not really clear the family
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could have raised that money, and that appears why oman played such a significant role, they seemed to be the middle man in all of this, the money being transferred from a bank here, it appears oman is saying, at least senior u.s. government officials saying the omanis did play a significant behind the scenes role. they seem to be the middleman. exactly were the money came from, that's not clear. >> those pictures of her being reunited with her mom, it's just so incredibly sad and sort of touching to see them reunited after this long time, to think her fiance is still in jail in iran with her other friend. is she expected to go back to face trial at some point? >> reporter: normally when people have paid bail before, journalists that have been in iranian jail paid bail before, the money's paid, they never go back. and that appears to be the situation here. this is almost, if you like, sort of get out of jail money.
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her fiance, though, her other male friend, still in jail. iranians say they'll face charges and she's making it very clear that right now all she's going to put all her effort and energy into getting them freed as well. >> their names are shane bauer and josh fattal. nic, appreciate the reporting from oman tonight, one happy family reunited. two other american families still waiting for their loved ones to be returned. we'll have more of our primary election coverage ahead. john king with the numbers and our political panel to talk about the upsets stay with us. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 what if every atm was free?
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let's bring you up to the minute on the political upsets we've seen. jeong king has the latest. john? >> a dramatic night, anderson. the primary season with more stunning upsets. evidence that the tea party is senning a message to their party. the biggest drama of the night which is delaware. we now know christine o'donnell will be republican senate nominee for the state of delaware. the seat held for 36 years by
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vice president joe biden, she is the nominee because she defeated in resounding fashion, the establishment republican candidate. let's break down the numbers. mike castle, 47% for mike castle, despite 12 victories statewide in prior elections. he loses tonight. christine o'donnell, 53%. she is the republican candidate with tea party backing. the question will be will the establishment republican party rally around her? but a dramatic, stunning upset powered by the tea party tonight. new hampshire, kelly ayotte, former state attorney general, she was the favorite coming in. ovide lamontagne, a conservative activist, once the candidate for govern, unsuccessful in that race, let's break down the numbers now. and now we see mr. lamontagne has held the lead throughout the night. 41% to 38% for kelly ayotte. several other conservatives in that race. 30% of the vote counted. they're counting slowly tonight in new hampshire, lamontagne holding his leads so far, although the numbers have closed just a bit.
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we need to keep watching this one in the state of new hampshire. new york governor, carl paladino, the tea party candidate will be the republican nominee for governor. how did he get there? this is a familiar storyline. he beat the establishment republican candidate rick lazio. let's break down the numbers here. carl paladino winning over rick lazio. 36% for lazio. 34%. you can tell those numbers are mixed up. mr. paladino is the winner in the state. you have the raw vote cat. the percentages are a mistake in the graphic. mr. paladino is winning that race. he will be going up against the attorney general andrew cuomo. another big race in new york. charlie rangel, cnn now projects, will be the winner in the democratic primary in the 15th congressional district. he has represented that district for 20 terms, that's 40 years in the house of representatives. he is now the runaway favorite despite ethics allegations against him to win in the democratic primary. it makes him the overwhelming favorite come november. and one more we're waiting for tonight, the d.c. mayor's race, first the candidates, adrian
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fenty, the democratic incumbent running against democratic vincent gray, chairman of the city council. a few other democrats in the primary tonight as well. let's break down the early numbers as we see this one coming in. mr. gray at the moment, nearly 60% of the vote, 59% to 29%. we caution you, 13% of the vote in here. the late polls did show vincent gray running against the incumbent adrian fenty, disaffection, dissatisfaction in the african-american community. education reform a big issue in this race. only 13%, though, we need to keep counting in the district of columbia. >> john king, appreciate the update. we only have two minutes so, very quick thoughts from each of you. david gergen? >> big anti-establishment night. talk about d.c., a race of national significance. the mayor is going down there and looks like he's going down big tonight. appointed michelle rhee, trying to overhaul the d.c. schools. she's been fighting against a lot of different forces there. the mayor goes down tonight, it
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imperils some of the most important school reforms in the country. that is big news in the education reform community. >> paul? >> picking up on that, if you're interested in that issue, watch david guggenheim's "waiting for superman." the guy who made an inconvenient truth, powerful case for school reform. but for me the story of the night is good news for conservatives, bad news for republicans. so on the net-net, this is a presidenty good night for the democrats. >> paul begala smiling after this night. erick? >> in november, the national republican senatorial committee will try to take credit for senate gains, but if they get them, it will be in spite of them. yet again the national republican senatorial committee and the republican leadership in the senate has been smacked down by the tea party. these people are totally detached from what's going on within their own grassroots, and it may come back to haunt them in november if they're not careful. >> strange night when both paul begala and erick erickson both
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smiling. >> that's the d.c. mayor election is the one we'll talk about least but it may have the most far-reaching consequences. interestingly, if fenty lost the black vote he was trying to save the schools and it is going to be something to watch in the future. >> i think paul is right the democrats got a big victory tonight, but three weeks ago, even tea party activists were counting out christine o'donnell. i don't think anyone can count out the tea party. >> appreciate our panelists staying up the extra hour with us. our coverage continues, a lot more ahead. we've been talking about education. imagine if your child's future was decided by a lottery. paul was just talking about this movie. luck of the draw. determining if your child gets into a good school or one that doesn't have the resources. it happens all the time. is it right? perry's principles ahead. today just seemed like a great day to save. oh, it's not just today. with our free loyalty program, you earn great stuff like accident forgiveness and bigger discounts just by staying with us. oh! ooh! so, what you're saying is, it gets even better with age. oh!
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education contributor steve perry spent time with families
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who were featured in a powerful documentary about new york's failing schools. a film that focuses on a lottery that thousands of families in harlem have every year. the prize can literally be life saving. it's "perry's principles" report shows why. >> reporter: for eric and shawn to get their son into a high-performing charter school, they have to win a lottery. literally. >> that was nice. now let's do our words. >> reporter: that are profiled in the movie "the lottery." explores the emotional process parents go through to get their children into a strong school. most live in areas with underperforming schools and the final step is a massive lottery drawing. >> welcome. >> reporter: a few hundred children are randomly selected out of thousands to win seats in the most sought-after schools. what did you see with people sitting next to you? what was going on with them? >> seeing some tears, we were praying, you know, and you just are seeing an agents feeling,
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people were sitting on the edge, waiting and hoping. >> you're looking at, it symbolizes hope. it symbolizes great opportunities. >> barack obama has those black shoes, shiny shoes. >> does he? >> reporter: lori brown goodwin is raising her son gregory alone. her husband is in prison. unhappy with her zone school, she entered a dozen lotteries. >> what it meant to me to get a decent school, i just want to give my son a fair education. i kept saying if i put him in a local school up the block, even though i know it's okay, i'm like, am i throwing him into a failing situation. >> reporter: filmmaker madeleine sackler wanted to highlight the inequity of school choice. >> we had it described like a horror movie. the parents wake up and know they're walking into a nightmare. their chances at that particular lottery were one in seven. there are over 3,000 applicants for 475 spots and yet they go
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because they're just dying for something better. >> reporter: that something better is a charter school. a public school funded by tax dollars but run independently. and with more freedom than traditional schools. they're governed by performance contracts that require proven academic success. they often have longer school days, a year round schedule and in harlem, no shortage of critics who don't like seeing their neighborhood school replaced by one they have to compete to get into. even if the charter school posts impressive results. >> the school in the film, about 95% of the kids are grade level. in harlem over all which is where the school is located it's 56%. for the school in the film, it's one of the highest-performing schools in new york and the most protested. >> reporter: finally, off the waiting list, gregory attends a charter school. his mom says it's working. >> you can see the difference in him. i see it in him too, now. >> reporter: as for the roachfords, they're still waiting for their name to be called. >> i feel every school should be excellent and we shouldn't have to be in a position to make that
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kind of decision. >> so what do you think we can do to eliminate the need for these huge lotteries? >> reporter: one of the things we can do is allow successful models to be replicated in some of america's most impoverished neighborhoods so children don't have to win a lottery to be a student in a successful school. every child should have access to quality education regardless of where they live. >> sounds good. steve, appreciate it. >> thank you. >> let's check in with john king. >> a couple of big updates where we don't know the winners just yet. the state of new hampshire, the republican primary for senate, kelly ayotte, was the favorite coming in. ovide lamontagne. let's check the latest numbers 34% of the vote in lamontagne is still winning, kelly ayotte is closing in. slow count in new hampshire tonight. another big race in the district of columbia, the incumbent mayor adrian fenty. he wants four more y