chance of rainfall next week, too. brian williams without his cell phone joins us next on "nightly news." on our broadcast tonight, power shifts the republican way. from east to west across the country. rising stars stepped into congress as the president reacts to a crushing defeat. tonight, what it means for the next two years and the next race for the white house. new video tonight of that shocking abduction, the woman dragged off the street as a camera recorded it all. what police are revealing today about the search. sounding the alarm. doctors say millions of women are skipping a simple cancer test proven to save lives. and a secretive admission tonight from one of the biggest names in all of professional sports. "nightly news" begins now. from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with brian williams.

good evening. divided government it is after republican candidates swept to victory last night across the country taking historic margins in congress defeating a lot of big-name democrats, setting up an even more interesting national election in 2016. republicans needed to flip six seats to take control of the senate, so far they have seven. that number could grow further as some races are undecided. their margin of leadership in the house is history making. it was red over blue in a big way last night. nothing tells the story more vividly than this. the nation as viewed by congressional districts showing patches of blue, slivers of blue on a canvas of red. an angry electorate voting locally, not nationally. and in lesser numbers, but sending a clear message nonetheless. we begin our coverage and analysis tonight with our national correspondent peter alexander in washington. peter, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening to you.

capitol hill will be a very different place when the new congress is seated just several months from now. for republicans it's a youth invasion of sorts. the average age of the senate republican freshmen class is 49 years old. fresh off their blockbuster night, the new faces of the republican guard. joni ernst, the self-described harley riding, gun toting, pig castrating, war veteran. >> i grew up castrating hogs on a farm. >> securing the senate majority for the gop for the first time in eight years. >> and we are going to make them squeal! >> reporter: the republican wave more like a political typhoon crashing down on democrats and president obama. >> it was a historic night at every single level. this was all about a direct rejection of the obama agenda. >> reporter: the renovation in congress ranks a clear reflection of voter frustration and disgust. much of it directed at the washington establishment. leading the way the likes of 37-year-old iraq and afghanistan war veteran arkansas's tom cotton.

georgia's multimillionaire businessman david perdue and colorado's cory gardner picking up a seat obama secured twice. >> tomorrow we go to work to fix a washington that is out of step, out of touch and out of time. >> reporter: today in kentucky mitch mcconnell added a new title, senate majority leader, signaling a willingness to step away from past confrontation. >> we're not going to be shutting down the government or defaulting on the national debt. >> reporter: one bright spot jean shaheen fending off scott brown. for the gop it's not just the senate. when lawmakers return to the capitol hill in the new year, house republicans will have their largest majority since herbert hoover was president in the 1920s. now entering the history books, utah's mia love, the first black republican woman in congress. lise, the youngest woman ever sent to washington. and south carolina republican tim scott, the first black senator elected in the south since reconstruction. the president's most famed defeat came from his home state

of illinois where governor pat quinn was swept out of office. this morning new jersey's chris christie basked in his party's glow. >> that's why republican governors were elected last night, re-elected and newly elected because governors get things done. >> reporter: and perhaps the biggest surprise in deep blue maryland where even visits from both the president and first lady couldn't keep the state's governor's mansion in democratic hands. and the fallout may not be finished for democrats in louisiana incumbent mary landrieu faces an uphill climb to hold onto her seat. the recount is scheduled for next month. brian, in alaska dan sullivan looks poised to pick up another republican seat for the democrats up there. >> peter alexander starting us off from washington tonight. peter, thanks. down the road a bit from where peter is at the white house on this day after, the president continued a modern day tradition of taking questions from the press about what happened last night. a subdued president obama said about all the election night

maps on tv he doesn't see red states or blue states, he sees the united states. politically, however, he can't like what he saw last night. and he spent over an hour today talking about it. our senior white house correspondent chris jansing was there for it. >> reporter: after an election widely viewed as a repudiation of president obama, he emerged facing a new political reality. >> obviously republicans had a good night. >> reporter: fresh off phone calls to dozens of members of congress, including speaker boehner and presumed senate leader mcconnell, he suggested the bitter campaign season could give way to compromise and maybe making those deals over a drink. >> i would enjoy having some kentucky bourbon with mitch mcconnell. >> reporter: that's a sharp change in tone from just last year at the white house correspondents dinner. >> why don't you get a drink with mitch mcconnell, they ask. really? why don't you get a drink with mitch mcconnell? >> reporter: but no change in tone on a couple of contentious issues.

on obamacare he declared he will fight for the core requirement that everyone be covered. and he says he'll bypass congress with an executive order on immigration, even though some republicans in the wake of last night's elections view that as a virtual declaration of war. >> if they want to get a bill done, whether it's during the lame duck or next year, i am eager to see what they have to offer. but what i'm not going to do is just wait. >> reporter: will the action poison the well for compromise on issues where there could be common ground? a plan to fix crumbling roads and bridges, corporate tax reform, and after protests helped propel four more states helped to raise their minimum wage last night, a national raise, though a long shot, could be back on the table. clearly voters sent a message, get things done. >> if the real needs of this country have not been dealt with two years from now there will be hell to pay. and we will see another wave election. >> reporter: but this year if

the election results left him chastened, the president doesn't show it. >> maybe i'm getting older. it doesn't make my mopey. it energizes me. >> reporter: and in that 72 minutes of the news conference, brian, he didn't accept responsibility either. but he has plans. up next, a meeting friday with house and senate leaders where the president says he will ask republicans to lay out their priorities. he's also asking them for money to fight isis and ebola. brian. >> chris jansing from the north lawn of the white house. chris, thanks. we have some graphic results to show you from last night. here's how we mean it. new york daily news turning hope to nope. "time" offers the face of change, both using the obama campaign iconography. chuck todd watched it all last night fueled by at least two hours of sleep. he's back to talk about what happened. i did hear from democrats today. they think the president needs new people around him. >> i heard from democrats today said they thought the president

made a mistake not accepting more responsibility today at that press conference. what's amazing here is this was a horrendous night for the democratic party. the president isn't talking about changing his style or white house staff. the same people that led congress today, harry reid and nancy pelosi, both have announced they're going to do it again. so there is some concern among democrats that there's no accepting of responsibility. and this, by the way, we're going to quickly pivot to 2016 very quickly. and the democrats, i think you're going to see some outside of washington, beg the clintons to sort of re-take over the party. if you're hillary clinton and you stare at what happened and you realize what the republicans did to president obama today at that press conference by the chairman of the republican party, he repudiated obama and also said this is the beginning of a repudiation of hillary clinton. she is in for a rough two-year treatment.

>> sure will be an interesting sunday morning on "meet the press." it was a pleasure flying through all of it with you last night. >> fun to be your wingman, my friend. >> chuck todd, thanks for being here. there were 146 ballot measures across 41 different states last night. and while the congressional map was turning deep red, a lot of major issue questions were instead going blue and in some cases green. marijuana was on the ballot last night, lots of it, as voters in oregon and alaska chose to legalize the use of recreational weed, joining colorado and washington state where it's already legal. washington, d.c. voted overwhelmingly to legalize marijuana as well, but don't start lighting up on the capitol steps just yet, congress has the ultimate authority over d.c. laws. voters in washington state approved enhanced background checks on gun sales less than two weeks after that deadly high school shooting there. raising the minimum wage was on the ballot in five states,

illinois, arkansas, nebraska, south dakota and alaska, and it won in all five. to wash it all down, berkeley, california, became the first city in the nation to approve a tax on sodas and sugary drinks. our politics team has put together all of these ballot initiatives from all across the country. we've put it together on our website tonight. that's nbcnews.com. overseas this evening, concern over two separate violent incidents on the roadways of israel, similar incidents, both of them captured on video. we have a late report on this tonight from nbc's kelly cobiella. >> reporter: three israeli soldiers on duty tonight near a west bank settlement when a van plows into all three then speeds off. the van police say had palestinian plates. just hours earlier another van, another scene of carnage. this one at a train platform in jerusalem. a man drives into the crowd then

attacks people with a tire iron. one israeli was killed, a dozen injured. israeli police shot and killed the attacker calling him a terrorist. hamas took credit for the attack. this just two weeks after a palestinian plowed his car into a crowd at a different train stop killing two including a 3-month-old american baby. [ gunfire ] once again israelis and palestinians are fighting over land holy to both. this was the scene this morning at the site known to muslims as al mosque. palestinians threw rocks, israeli forces responded with teargas and stun grenades. the fear that this could escalate into yet another war. kelly cobiella, nbc news, london. back in this country, late word of a major break in the case of that woman abducted off the streets of philadelphia. our nbc television station wcau is reporting now carlesha

freeland-gaither has been found alive, a suspect is in custody. by now so many americans have seen this chilling video of a man attacking her on the street sunday and shoving her forcibly into a car. alex rodriguez is back in the news, and so now is major league baseball. after years of public denials, we're now learning he came clean to the feds earlier this year about taking performance enhancing drugs. now he'll be the talk of the clubhouse once again, and still not in a good way. we get our report tonight from nbc's ron mott. >> reporter: alex rodriguez has always denied using performance enhancing drugs since joining the yankees in 2004. but behind closed doors with immunity, nbc news learned he told federal officials a very different story. at a meeting last january with dea agents and prosecutors investigating a now defunct

south florida clinic, sources say rodriguez admitted buying banned drugs, about $12,000 a month, injecting human growth hormone into his stomach. and claimed to use his cousin to help keep his secret paying him $900,000 for his silence. >> this is essentially rock bottom for alex rodriguez. this is somebody who was a three-time league mvp, a world series champion, and now he's on the same level as lance armstrong. >> reporter: 18 days before his alleged confession, an arbitrator ruled rodriguez would have to sit out the entire 2014 season for his role in the scandal. baseball's highest paid star responded then with another denial saying, i did not use performance enhancing substances. and in order to prove it i will take this fight to federal court. but he dropped that fight just weeks later. a-rod's suspension was lifted when the world series ended last week. he's officially back on the yankees roster. no comment from the team or rodriguez but fans had plenty to say. >> i'm disappointed by the news. >> i'm sure he figured everyone else is doing it he can get away with it.

>> a little surprised he could deny it that long. >> reporter: rodriguez still has three years on his contract. he's owed $61 million, but there are new questions tonight about whether a-rod owes the public the truth. ron mott, nbc news, denver. still ahead for us tonight, early detection of cancer. tonight, the nation's top doctors are warning millions of women are skipping a test that could save their lives. and later, shining a light on something special that's been going on quietly for years. making a difference for some really great kids and paying it forward.

a startling number out tonight from the cdc reporting that 8 million women in this country have skipped the screening test for cervical cancer in just the past five years.

that is despite the fact that experts have long said it's one of the most powerful tools in all of modern medicine to prevent cancer. and it's proven to save lives. dr. natalie azar, nbc news medical contributor. doctor, why aren't women getting this test? >> i wish there was one we could correct. two of the emerging associations that came from this data both have to do with health care and access to health care. and that is that one in four women who were not getting screened, did not have health insurance. and more importantly one in four women also did not have a regular health care provider. and we say this because, you know, they're at the front lines, your primary care physician, they are the ones referring preventive care as part of your health maintenance. and some women don't want to go and do this test. it could be anxiety provoking, it is a screening test for cancer. these numbers are startling because greater than 50% of cervical cancers are diagnosed in women who haven't been

screened. and cervical cancer is one of the most preventable and treatable cancers that we have. >> it's a strong case. what are the guidelines? >> the guidelines as they stand right now from the ages of 21 to 65 women who are at average risk for cervical cancer, that is perhaps they're not smokers, they don't have a family history, they get a pap smear every three years. greater than 30, so from age 30 to 65 in addition to a regular pap smear every three years we are recommending also an hpv test. we know that greater than 90% of cervical cancers are related to hpv. so that hpv status is incredibly important. in combination with the pap smear can roughly we can diagnose an incident of 93%. >> good advice. doctor, thank you for being here with us. we'll take a break. we're back in a moment with the change in the air tonight and on the ground after a $200 million disaster.

the company that built the rocket that blew up on the pad a week ago at wallops island, virginia, says they will no

longer use the refurbished secondhand russian engines they were using. they date all the way back to the failed soviet mission to the moon decades ago. the company orbital sciences says it has a contingency plan and will honor its contract with nasa to get supplies to the space station by 2016. as surveys often do, a new survey is out confirming what we already know, three-quarters of us drivers admit to texting or otherwise using our device while driving. two-thirds admit to checking it while stopped. you may have already noticed there's now a built-in delay between the time the light goes green and when drivers look up and realize it's time to move. it is a deadly addiction, make no mistake. and a quarter of drivers firmly believe they can do both at the same time. the first newly restored victim of that awful sinkhole in the corvette museum is all fixed up and now on public display. it's an '09 zr1, a rocketship

they called the blue devil. it was the least damaged of all the cars and required six weeks of work to replace the damaged parts. a giant has been sacrificed in pennsylvania so that it may entertain millions here in new york. a couple in bloomsburg, pa donated the 85-foot norway spruce. after a three hour drive they'll set it up in our backyard here at 30 rock and light it up on december 3rd. when we come back, making a difference for 50 years and counting. "nbc nightly news" with brian williams brought to you by pacific life. for insurance, annuities and investments, choose pacific life. the power to help you succeed.

finally tonight, sometimes the only thing a kid needs to aim higher in life is someone who's already there, a grown-up who cares. in chicago there's a whole building full of grown-ups who fit that bill. they're part of a group that's been making a difference now for five decades. their story tonight from nbc's harry smith. >> reporter: teenagers wait for a bus in what's left of chicago's notorious cabrini

green neighborhood. where they're headed is a kind of escape. it's the fourth presbyterian church on michigan avenue. here there's a meal, art instructions and tutoring, all free. as often as not, the relationship grows into something more. >> always making sure i'm always on top of my game. >> i think i learned what it's like when it's not as easy for somebody. >> reporter: matt met tylus ten years ago, tylus' dad in prison. matt filled a void. he still does. >> now he's given me tips on like buying a house. we even did a little talking about wedding ring shopping. >> reporter: carrie stevenson has tutored two brothers. >> i love jermaine, i love robert and their entire family. we've become so close. >> reporter: chicago's main streets are unyielding. their cousin who was tutored

here too, was gunned down last year. >> every single student who walks in these doors knows someone, has cared about someone who's been killed by gun violence. and at the same time their sweet, strong spirits still come and still are hopeful. >> reporter: stacy jackson is executive director of chicago lights. alex cornwell runs the tutoring program, which was started by the church 50 years ago. >> they said those kids need help. and so they started walking over there, walking the kids back here for tutoring. >> reporter: and the legacy lives on. tylus is tutoring now too, and studying to become a teacher. >> do you remember now? >> yeah. >> reporter: as the kids get on the bus, they know they have a way out one night a week, and maybe for life. harry smith, nbc news, chicago. >> and that is our broadcast on a wednesday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we of course hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night.

nbc bay area news starts now. >> from my perspective, after a year and a half of campaign, a little bit of patience is in order. >> right now at 6:00, not over yet. so why is one candidate already claiming victory? the votes are still being counted in san jose. good evening and thanks for being with us. i'm raj mathai. >> and i'm jessica aguirre. the san jose mayor's race remains in limbo at this hour. but sam liccardo is holding a slight lead over dave cortese. even liccardo stunned some political observers today by declaring victory.

his opponent, though, is balking. in his only on-camera interview, david cortese gave his on camera response. nbc area's scott budman shows us the backup. but the new challenges the new mayor will be facing, although we don't know who that is just yet, robert. >> reporter: that's right, jessica. it was a strange series of events today, and it will be a tough road ahead for whoever becomes the mayor. sam liccardo was treated like the winner at the rotary club in san jose, and he act like one, declaring victory this morning. but dave cortese isn't conceding risks you okay with the way he handled it? >> i didn't have any bad reaction. i had a conversation with him earlier where i told him look, you need to do what you think you need to do. i need to do what i need to do. i need to protect and represent those people who have been supporting me who want to see the rest of theot