that's why we came together, to make sure that we took tens of billions of dollars that were going to banks in unwarranted subsidies, and we sent that money where it should be going, to you. we are financing millions of young people's college education more effectively now. better student loans, higher pel grants, a $10,000 tax credit for every young person going to college. those are the choices that we're making and that's the choice in this election. that's why when it comes to tax cuts, we gave 95% of working families a tax cut. we gave the tax cuts to families that needed them, not folks who didn't need them, because we know you're the ones that need relief. that's the choice in this election. [ applause ]

we give the other side the keys back, and i promise you, they will have those special interests sitting shotgun. the chair of one of the other party's committee has already promised one of the first orders of business is to repeal wall street reform. now, think about this. we just had the worst financial crisis since the 1930s. and one of their first orders of business would be to eliminate protections for consumers, eliminate protections for taxpayers. go back to a system that resulted in us having to save the entire economy and take these drastic measures. why would we do that? why would we do that? why would we go back to the point where credit card companies could jack up your interest rates without notice and institute hidden fees?

why would we go back to the health care policies that they believe in, where insurance companies can drop your insurance when you get sick? why would we put those folks back in the driver's seat? let me tell you about health care reform. because of health care reform, everybody here who is under 26 can stay on their parent's health care, even if they don't have health insurance. because of that reform, insurance companies can't drop somebody because they've got a preexisting condition. because of health care reform, millions of small businesses are getting tax credits so they can afford to provide health insurance to their employees. that is their agenda to appeal that? let me tell you something, we

believe in making sure people don't get ripped off when they sign up for a mortgage. we believe in making sure that credit card companies treat you fairly. we believe taxpayers shouldn't ever be forced to pay for wall street's mistakes. we believe that insurance companies should cover you when you've been mpaying your premiums. that's what we believe. that's the choice in this election. that's what you got to elect mark dayton governor, because he believes it, too. [ applause ] whether you care about protecting social security or you care about protecting our environment, whether you care about having an energy policy that can free ourselves from dependence on foreign oil or you believe in a foreign policy that

fosters cooperation among other nations. there is a choice in this election. we know what we're fighting for. but right now the same special interests that we've battled on your behalf, they're fighting back hard. mark mentioned that they are spending millions of dollars. they want to roll back the clock and they are pouring millions of dollars through a network of phony front groups. flooding the airwaves with misleading attack ads, smearing fine public servants like mark. and thanks to a gigantic loophole, they can spend money from special interest groups and we don't know if it's from oil companies, insurance companies, could be coming overseas, we don't know. they won't tell you. they don't want you to know.

they don't want you to know. they won't stand behind what they do. this suspect just a threat to democrats, this is a threat to our democracy. minnesota has always had a tradition of clean, fair elections. a tradition of good government. [ applause ] and the only way to uphold that tradition, the only way to match their millions of dollars is with millions of voices. millions of voices who are ready to finish what we started in 2008. and that's where all of you come in. that's why all of you've got to vote. if you are not registered to vote yet, you can walk in right now, you can register any time between now and election day. there is no excuse. because if everybody who fought for change in 2008 votes in

2010, then mark will win his election. [ applause ] a lot of you got involved in 2008 because you believe we were in a defining moment. it was a time when the decisions we make now would have an impact across the decades. would impact our children, our grand children for decades to come. that's the reason you knocked on doors and made phone calls and some of you cast your vote for the very first time because you believed that in america, citizens who want to make their country better can make a difference. and you know what? i told you then, two years ago i told you that change is not easy. power does not give up without a

fight. and i understand that some of you, since election night and inauguration day, it was a lot of fun. beyonce was singing and bono and everybody had their hope posters and everything looked like it might be easy. and i warned folks then, this won't be easy. power concedes nothing without a fight. and so for the last two years, we have been grinding it out. we passed health care reform, but it was a hard fight. we passioned wall street reform, but it was a hard fight. [ applause ] and now maybe some people are feeling discouraged thinking boy, this is harder than i expected and maybe all that work that i did in 2008, maybe it didn't make as much of a

difference as i hoped. but i want everybody here to understand, don't let anybody tell you that what you did that the fight isn't worth it. because of you, because of you, there's somebody in minnesota right now that instead of going bankrupt is able to get treatment for their cancer. because of you, there's a young person who is going to be able to go to college. because of you, some small businesses stayed open in the depths of a recession. because of you, there are 100,000 brave young men and women who we've brought home from iraq. [ applause ] because of you, because of you, so don't let them tell you that change is impossible. it's just hard, and that's okay. we've got to earn it. we're just in the first quarter.

we've got a lot more quarters to play. you know, this country, this country was founded on a tough, difficult idea. 13 colonies deciding to break off from the most powerful empire on earth. and then drafting a document, a declaration of independence that embodied ideas that had never been tried before. we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal. endowed by our creator with certain rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. that's not an easy idea. and it had to be fought for inch by inch, year by year. slowly, slaves were freed.

slowly, women got the right to vote. slowly, workers got the right to organize. imagine, imagine if our grand parents and our great grandparents had said, oh, this is too hard. folks are saying mean things about us. i'm not sure if we can ever get to the promised land. we wouldn't be here today. but they understood that we are tested when we stand up in the face of difficulty. when we stand up in the face of uncertainty. when we're unafraid to push forward. because we know we're doing it not just for ourselves, but for future generations. [ applause ] that's how we came through war and depression. that's why we have civil rights and women's rights and worker's rights. that's why we've been able to clean up our air and clean up

our water. that's why we've been able to end combat operations in one war. the journey we began together was never about putting me in the white house. it was about building a movement for change that endures. it's about understanding that in america, anything is possible if we're willing to work for it and fight for it and most of all, believe in it. so i need you to keep fighting. i need you to keep working and i need you to keep believing. and if you knock on some doors, again, if you make some phone calls again. if you talk to your neighbors again, you go to vote again, then i promise you, we won't just win this election, we won't just have mark as governor, but you and i together, we are going to restore the american dream for future generations. god bless you.

[ applause ] and god bless the united states of america. >> welcome back to cnn's "ballot bowl." you are watching our coverage of the final sprint to the 2010 midterm elections. here we bring you live and unfiltered, unedited speeches by some of the candidates and some of their top name supporters. just this past hour, you saw sarah palin speaking here live in orlando, florida, where i am. but we have much more coming up. and ed henry, my colleague in las vegas, takes us to more of it. >> well, that's right, jessica. i'm here because the president of the united states woke up here and had a big rally for harry reid. he's in a very difficult battle against republican sharron angle. this could be the race that decides who controls the u.s. senate.

also, you just heard from the president, pretty fiery speech there at the university of minnesota. we're going to be crisscrossing the country through this last hour of "ballot bowl" for today. jessica is down there in florida. they've got a very hot senate race. and cnn exclusively is going to have a debate tomorrow morning, sunday morning exclusive only here on cnn. we'll bring you details about that. we're also going to be going to nevada, as i mentioned. a big senate battle. i had a one on one exclusive with harry reid early this morning. he was trying to canvas with some of his volunteers, van cass for votes and he had some tough talk for sharron angle and her claim in the debate that it was time for him to "man up." we'll also be going to pennsylvania. some democrats thought may believe it was gone, the republican pat toomey was going to win easily. but joe sestak has stormed back.

we'll also go to washington state where joe biden was stumping there for patty murray. she's in a tough battle. jessica, i'm not too good at math, but when i heard the president say there's a lot more change to come, we're just in the fourth quarter -- the first quarter, if after two years we're in the first quarter, that would add up to eight years. so it would seem like the president is thinking about the president is thinking about eight years. >> even i get that sports analogy and it does sound like he's doing a little foreshadowing and trying to build momentum. we can talk about more of that. we do need to get a quick break in. when we come back on the other side of this, we'll talk to candy crowley, cnn's own host, who will be moderating that senate debate here in florida tomorrow. that's on the other side of this break. so stay with us.

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welcome back to "ballot bowl." i'm ed henry. this is really your one-stop shop for the final sprint to the midterm elections. you just heard live from president obama at the university of minnesota. it's been interesting, because president obama has been drawing very large crowds here out west, especially at college campuses. but a quick insight from what happened wednesday night in portland, oregon. the president had a large crowd and that's an early voting state. people can vote by mail, et cetera. the president asked for a show of hands how many people have gotten that early ballot and not mailed it in? about 80% of the crowd said they had the ballots but hadn't sent them in. i raise that, because jessica, there's a lot of enthusiasm among democrats right now that these large rallies where you're

hearing shouts of "yes, we can" and the president trying to relive some of the magic of 2008. that it's going to close the enthusiasm gap with republicans. but if these people who go to the rallies but don't send in that ballot by mail, it's not going to amount to a lot for democrats. >> that's right, ed. and one of the whole purposes of those rallies you're talking about is to get them to close the deal, go out and vote. i'm in a state that has a majority of registered voters or democrats, and so far in the early voting tallies, more republicans have voted early than democrat, which is a measure by the analyst of enthusia enthusiasm, and does not bode well for democrats. that's why they described a depressed turnout, if there is to be one, we've yet to see. i'm here in orlando because there was just a big rally with

sarah palin, michael steele, and marco rubio, who is running for u.s. senate in florida. he took off and left before sarah palin finished her speech. but he was headed over to tampa, florida, where he will be joining a cnn debate that is going to be moderated by candy crowley. races because there are three people in the race. a democrat, a republican and an independent. three fiery men, it's been a pretty nasty race. have you considered how you're going to handle all those three men at once? >> well, sometimes i learn that sometimes you have to just speak louder than the person you're trying to interrupt. we'll see. it's a pretty small table for having five people around it.

i have a colleague who is going to come in and join me. so as you know it's easier to interrupt when you're right there. but there's also we decided on this format where somebody has a minute to answer the question, the others have 30 seconds to get back to them. we're hoping they stick to it, but i think to your point of, we expect it to be an active debate. why? because time is running short. they've got ten days after tomorrow to try to convince people to vote for them. if you're ahead, as marco rubio the republican is, what you want to do is not make any mistakes. but if you are charlie crist or kendrick meek, the democrat, you want to try to rile marco rubio and draw blood, try to make him trip up. they haven't been able to do

that so far, but i think if you're looking at the three of them, that really is -- they both go after rubio at this point. >> candy, i've been tracking president obama out west here, and i was surprised to see we got a peek at his schedule for next weekend, the pivotal last weekend before the midterms. florida was not on it. ohio is on the list. there's four states, pennsylvania another big one, connecticut and illinois because of that senate race. but florida was not on the raise. is there disappointment in kendrick meek's camp? becau and does it send the signal that the white house doesn't believe he's within striking distance? >> you have to follow the money and you watch where the democratic committees are putting the money and it's not here. but the meek campaign will say to you, listen, we've had a lot

of support. listen, there is no one who has supported the white house more really on capitol hill than kendrick meek. 98% of the time he voted with nancy pelosi, which generally it was a vote for president obama. so you can understand that he is having a tough time down here because not only is it a three-way race and he's got an independent governor who used to be a republican, charlie crist, who is going after the democratic vote, the independent vote, and the republican vote. and then you have kendrick meek who is trying to keep all those democrats with him. so far what we've seen, particularly here in florida, there was an interesting poll that showed that 52% of likely voters want the person that goes to the senate to oppose the president. that's just a tough road for a democrat who 98% of the time voted with the president. but they don't publicly

acknowledge that this is any indication that he can't win. >> that's one of the reasons we're going to watch your debate tomorrow morning, 9:00 a.m. on state of the union. we have seen these men go at it before. we'll all look forward to it. have fun with that. >> thanks, jessica. >> and to all our viewers, coming up on the other side of this break, we're going to replay some of the sound that -- some of the comments sarah palin earlier and talk to you about it. talk about it with one of our own reporters that's been on the road with the tea party express. that's coming up. .. "be careful out there. "as you know, we have more standard safety features "than you. "10 airbags... daytime running lamps... "onstar automatic crash response. "in case ya didn't see it, that's probably why "msn autos called the cruze "the class of its class right now. that seems pretty clear, doesn't it?" the all-new chevrolet cruze. starting under $17,000.

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onstar. live on. welcome back to cnn's "ballot bowl." we are counting down to the 2010 midterm elections. i'm jessica yellin in orlando,

florida, joined by ed henry who is in las vegas. we just brought you a speech by sarah palin, speaking in this auditorium in orlando, florida, to some die hard republicans who came out for a fund riser to hear her rally the troops and get out the vote and deliver her message. part of her message was a very hard knock on president obama. you might recall earlier this week, president obama, in a speech of his own, told voters who were sitting with him that one of the reasons this has been a tough election for democrats is that people are upset, and because people are upset, they're not thinking clearly. well, sarah palin used that phrase, she said -- she used that phrase to -- against the president and ran with it in a rift here that got the crowd going. we wanted to replay that for you. this was sarah palin speaking just a short time ago. >> friends, the president is now telling us that we're not thinking straight because of all the fear and frustration that

americans have. he claims facts, science and arguments aren't winning the day because we're not thinking straight, quote unquote. well, mr. president, you've got it right on one point there. we are afraid, knowing that your economic policies are driving us off a cliff. and knowing that your fundamental transformation of america is turning into a nightmare. this is not the america that the rest of the people want. this is not the america the patriots fought and died for and are still dying for today. this is not the america that floridians fight for to protect, to persevere through every day. >> so ed, it sounds like sarah palin making the argument that president obama's language suggests that he's out of touch with what real americans are feeling. obviously that's not what the white house would say he meant there. but as you and i discussed

before, this was -- when he said that, we all knew people were going to listen and those are worlds people would be talking about. >> oh, absolutely. you saw sarah palin jump all over it. and somebody who has been tracking sarah palin and the tea party movement, as closely as anyone is shannon travis. we find him today in los angeles. i wonder if you could weigh in. you had a nice exclusive with sarah palin, you caught up with her right here in nevada, in fact, as the tea party express started rolling again. assess for us the impact of the tea party. in states like here in nevada, we see candidates like sharron angle kind of almost running from the media. some question about whether or not she can beat harry reid. in delaware, christine o'donnell having problems of her own. what's the state of the tea party movement right now and some of their key candidates as sarah palin tries to drum up

support for them? >> they would say they're fired up and they have ten thuz am, the encouragement and the momentum on their side. obviously, if you feel you're in a political war, which the tea party activists feel they are, they want to fire up the troops. the one person who does that is sarah palin. which is why you heard of some of the scorched earth criticism of the president. in terms of those candidates, i've been talking to a lot of the tea party activists and some of the well known names within the movement. some of the controversies, what have you, some of the things that joe miller in alaska has been involved in, does that make you maybe think twice about endorsing them, supporting them, and they are emphatic that the

tea party movement is firmly behind the candidates that they've endorsed so far this cycle. they believe it's possibly a little bit of a media bias, some of the controversies we focused on. they're behind their candidates and feel like once again that sarah palin is the one to get out their message and fire up the troops. so they're encouraged, ed. >> the minority leader in the senate, mitch mcconnell, said that republicans and including tea party republicans, should be cautious and aware that when they get to washington, there's only so much they can do. they're not going to be able to enact the tea party agenda because the government doesn't work that way. i wonder how that kind of message would resonate among the tea party activists that you spend most of your days covering right now. >> it's an excellent question. there may be a harsh reality for a lot of these tea party

candidates, who wind up winning and going on to congress and the senate and the house, that they may have to fall in line with the ways that they rail against right now. the washington ways that they rail against. because some of them will be, let's face it, they'll be freshman members of congress. they may not have that much power and there may be a strict enforcement of going along with towing the party line. so you hear right now a lot of tea party backed candidates with slogans and railing against the washington establishment. but they may have to fall in line with that. i spoke with a utah senator, bob bennett. he actually lost his re-election bid to a tea party candidate. and he said to me essentially, hey, slogans are not governing. once you get here, you can have all the slogans you want on the campaign trail, but once you get here, you've got to govern. and he feels the tea party movement has yet to articulate a

governing philosophy. so it's a great question, whether these tea party candidates, who, if they win, how they'll be able to actually govern once they're there. >> cnn's shannon travis bringing us insights about the tea party movement. next weekend, we'll have a documentary that shannon will bring us on cnn "boiling point, inside the tea party movement" next weekend at 8:00 p.m. eastern time. something else we'll watch very closely is the senate battle right here where i am in las vegas. the battle for nevada and sharron angle taking on -- >> okay, cool, thank you. >> early this morning, i caught up with senator reid. he was meeting with volunteers as they were getting ready for phone banking, and he had some sharp words for sharron angle and her criticism of him in

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hello, i'm fredricka whitfield. more "ballot bowl" in a moment. wikileaks has published volumes of secret documents on the iraq war. they raise the death toll of iraqi civilians by about 15,000. british and american military officials condemn the release of the classified material. in juarez, mexico, gunman killed at least 11 people, seven others wounded. the victims between the ages of 15 and 25. no word of a motive. juarez is at the eni center of mexico's battle of drug gangs and has become one of the world's deadliest cities. in haiti, one tragedy on top of another. a cholera outbreak has killed more than 200 people. at least 2, 300 are sick. officials fear the infection

could spread to the camps where thousands of earthquake victims still live in squalid conditions. the outbreak comes after recent heavy rains. in our new series "the human factor," dr. sanjay gupta has brought us inspiring stories. today, he profiles a double amputee woman who has become a successful model, actress and athlete. >> reporter: aimee mullins wants to redefine disabled. >> when looking up disabled, it's shocking. it starts off, maim, lame, mutilated. at first, it was almost humorous. i was thinking you can't be serious. >> reporter: at 1-year-old, she became a double amputee. she was born without fibula bones in her legs. having never met another amputee until she was 1, life with

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to accomplish x, y and z. i was able to articulate why i was always frustrated with that this year, and it's because of having prosthetic legs that i've been able to accomplish x, y and z. >> reporter: to her, her prosthetics are a source of strength, not disability. that's a message she wishes everyone can hear. >> hopefully one of these days i can be aimee mullins. >> reporter: dr. sanjay gupta reporting. harry reid is fighting for his political life. that interview is next as "ballot bowl" continues. fiber one chewy bar. how'd you do that? do what? you made it taste like chocolate. it has 35% of your daily value of fiber. tasty fiber, that's a good one! ok, umm...read her mind.

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[ no audio ] >> well, we're back at "ballot bowl." i'm ed henry in bav. what's interesting is president obama was here last night. he woke up in vegas before going on to that fiery speech at the university of minnesota. he was here trying to help senate majority harry reid in the fight of his political life. i went over to the state democratic party headquarters here in las vegas to catch up with senator reid. he was trying to rally a very small group of his volunteers who were doing phone banks and

trying to canvas neighborhoods here this weekend in the final ten days. even though he's in the fight of his political life, he was expressing confidence. i haven't seen you get emotional like that when you were just talking about your wife, the accident, you said it's been a long eight months. i assume you were referring to the political attacks, as well. >> well, it's been a long eight months. i've had to run the senate, got the campaign going and be concerned about my wife. >> sharron angle is trying to portray you as a millionaire out of touch. that ad has to sting. >> well, anyone that's fact checked it knows that it's garbage. john ralston, the local pundit gave it an f. but she's desperate. and she's trying to do, i guess, i don't know what kind of politics it would be. a local columnist said she was

trying to be a socialist, class warfare. >> so what about the debate moment that everyone has been talking about, "man up, harry reid," what was that about? >> that's what her and her kind are using, it's part of the talking points of the right wing republicans. but that's one thing i never had to prove, whether it's in the street, the ring or the senate. my manhood has never been in question. >> the person fighting with you last night was president obama. what does that do for you in the final days to get a boost from your president? >> we've had some good boosts. my friends have been here. people i worked with in the senate. ken salazar, wonderful story of someone making it in check. secretary chu has been here, a nobel prize winning scientist. senator biden, my friend, the vice president was here.

the president was here yesterday doing good things. and of course, the day before the election, michelle obama will be here. so these are people i've developed relationships with and one reason i've been able to do so much for the state of nevada. >> it's a good thing for you, but doesn't it suggest your friends are worried about you? for the first lady to be here that late in the game suggests you're in deep trouble. >> i don't think they think i'm in deep trouble. they know where the numbers are just like i do. i think you're only looking at one side of it. she's bringing in all of these outside people like sheriff arpio, newt gingrich who i'm smirking is going to run for president. she's bringing in all the outsiders. this is what campaigns are about. people coming in from the outside draw crowds and that helps your base. so i'm happy they're willing to come here for me. >> well, the senate majority

leader there had started talking emotionally to some of his volunteers how rough the last eight months have been. he was referring to the personal aspects. his wife was in a tremendous car accident, broke her neck, her back. she's recovering now, but he was talking about the political attacks. this is a tight race. this is going to help decide this nevada senate race. who controls the u.s. senate come january. but what's fascinating about this election is we have dead heats from and when we come back on ballot bowl we're going to have our seen your political editor mark preston go coast to coast and tell you what's in stake for the elections right here on "ballot po bowl" in just a minute. ew offics to work one-on-one with homeowners. ew offics since 2009, we've helped over 200,000 americans keep their homes.

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welcome to cnn's ballot bowl. i'm jessica yellin in orlando, florida. i'm joined, again, by ed henry in las vegas, nevada, and mark preston, our political editor who has staked out ground in

tampa, florida, where cnn will host two big debates tomorrow with the florida senators hosted by candy crowley and monday john king hosting a governor's debate. a lot of big stuff happening, narc. i was wondering if you could help us lay out in the big picture one of the reasons why everything matters. why races even not in your own state matter is because next year we start redistricting. we have a graphic we're going to put up quickly, just some examples. this is an example of what's going to happen in some states. we will see an increase in the number of seats people have in the house of representatives or a decrease in the number of seats states have in the house of representatives. it's up to state governments to decide if democrats or republicans will be the ones gaining or losing those seats. it's pretty simplistic way to put it, but in the end it's kind of true, state governments could shift the balance of power in congress. that's why you should care about some of these elections outside your own state. mark, you covered congress for

many, many years. i'm wondering if it's -- if you have seen actual shifts in power because of redistricting. >> sure, jessica. it's called the ten-year plan. you have that story up on cnn.com right thousanow. redistricting is the story that the voters don't really know about. you don't hear about it that much, but in fact, it really is determi determinenat determinenative of congress every ten years. if they're able to take back more governorships, more control of more houses and state senates they're going to be the juans drawing the congressional lines. when they draw those lines they're going it draw the lines into the favor. what's on the line heading into november 2nd? republicans need to pick up 39 seats in congress, jessica, to take back control of the the house. they need ten seats in the senate. a net gain of ten seats to take back control of that chamber. if you're going to talk to

political handicappers they will tell you it looks like republic conditi ans have a chance. we're seeing in nevada today president obama on behalf of harry reid and president obama in closing days is going to be spending a lot of time making sure he's able to keep that majority in the senate. jessica? >> i'm going to toss it over to ed in las vegas. >> you mentioned the president. talk -- talk about his impact, mark, because there's a feeling within the democratic party that the president laying it all on the line here has close the the enthusiasm gap. to you believe he has? >> yeah. i think it has closed the enthusiasm gap. bottom line, ed, if the the president loses control of the house of representatives and loses control of the senate, the next two years are going to look entirely different for the president than we've seen these two previous years, ed? >> a lot at stake for the american people in this midterm

election. a lot at stake for the president of the united states. the next two years of his presidency. could largely be defined by the makeup of the next house, the next senate, so much on the line, i want to thank mark preston, i want to thank my colleague jessica yellin in orlando for taking us through these three hours. coast to coast. you're going to see more of "ballot bowl" before this midterm election and see the entire best political team on television take you through election night but also beyond. we'll be measuring the fallout. thanks for joining us on "ballot bowl." "situation room" weekend edition is next. features "than you. "10 airbags... daytime running lamps... "onstar automatic crash response. "in case ya didn't see it, that's probably why "msn autos called the cruze "the class of its class right now. that seems pretty clear, doesn't it?" the all-new chevrolet cruze. starting under $17,000. get used to more.

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