captioning sponsored by cbs >> couric: tonight, the battle for congress. after four years in the minority, the republicans take back the house. those flashing red seats used to belong to democrats. cbs news estimates they will win more than the 218 seats they need to take control. it is a much tougher battle for the g.o.p. in the senate, however. they need to pick up 10 seats, now, hold by democrats. so far, they have picked up three. the gavel of power is about to pass from nancy pelosi to john boehner in the house. senate majority leader harry reid is fighting for his political life in nevada where polls have just closed. the tea party is about to

celebrate. it's election night on cbs. >> change doesn't come from the top, it comes from the bottom. >> if you're tired of the takeovers and bailouts, that's what elections are for. >> we are not going back. >> restore america to her honor. >> we need all of you fired up. ♪ >> couric: and good evening, everyone. we are witnessing a major shift in political power in the nation's capital. cbs news is projecting that, when all the votes are counted in this mid-term election, the republicans will have won control of the house of representatives. after making history as the first woman speaker four years ago, nancy pelosi of california will be turning over the gavel to john boehner of ohio.

and we will be looking at all the implication of this over the next hour beginning with our congressional corspontent nancy cordes. we're projecting a net gain for the republicans in the house of 45 seats. how were they able to pull this off? >> reporter: they're pulling it off by winning seats in every part of the country particularly in the south where they've picked off 12 seats formerly held boy democrats including three seats already in virginia. tom perriello is one of those democrats -- a wave of freshmen and sophomore democrats being beaten tonight. he was a full-throated supporter of president's agenda. the president campaigned for him. so this is a big blow for the white house. in the midwest the republicans have already picked off two democratic seats including this one in the ninth district. baron hill. he was elected in 2006. he was a blue-dog democrat, katie, fiscally conservative but that wasn't enough to save him.

he's defeated by todd young who was endorsed by sarah palin and who is a tea party member. >> couric: this tea party wave may in fact wash away many of the gains that the democrats made in 2006 and 2008. >> reporter: that's right, katie. take a look at this. this is particularly significant. you see this one up in the east. that doesn't seem like much but it's in new hampshire -- right now the republicans don't have a single seat in all of new england. frank guinta, another tea party republican defeats incumbent carol shea-porter. >> couric: joined by bob schieffer and jeff greenfield, two of the sharpest political minds in the country. this is a huge development, bob, everyone was wondering how many seats they would gain, not just whether they would take control of the house but it is a big referendum on barack obama. a huge repudiation of him and the democratic agenda, isn't it?

>> reporter: republicans said this was not about them, it was a referendum on barack obama and indeed that is what it has turned out to be. this is more than just a message to barack obama, this is kind of a halloween rerun here because people are just saying this is someone who came to office, promised change and the change didn't happen. the administration raised these expectations above the moon in a society that already is pretty careful about wanting instant change. they didn't get it, and barack obama is paying the price tonight. >> couric: what a difference two years makes, jeff, two years ago the g.o.p. was dead in the water, people were going to say it was going to take a generation to revive the grand old party, and here we are tonight. >> reporter: right, and i think what we're seeing here is a national mood. this is a year when all politics isn't local and the dissatisfaction with the economy and with the overreach of government has hit a hammer into

obama's coalition. women are breaking no better than even for democrats. independents are breaking heavily for republicans. and that's what's going on. >> couric: all right. let's take a look at some of these senate races. to the battle for the senate. it is still under way and polls are still open in the west. the republicans need to pick up 10 democratic seats to reach a 51-seat majority. so far, cbs news estimates they have picked up three. in arkansas, republican john bozeman ousted democrat blanche lincoln. indiana, dan coats who served in the senate in the 1990's is going back taking the seat of evan bayh. john hoeven, taking the seat of byron dorgan who is retiring. the tight battle between senate majority leader harry reid and sharron angle. we predict marco rubio the

winner of a three-way race with independent charlie crist and democrat kendrick meek. richard blumenthal over republican linda mcmahon. christopher coons defeats christine o'donnell who made the ad saying she wasn't a witch. in in ohio, rob portman defeats lee fisher. bob, there is a possibility the republican could control the senate. >> reporter: if there is good news for the democrats tonight it is probably they will hold onto the senate. mitch mcconnell, who is the senate republican leader says they are probably going to hold all the republican seats that they have up tonight, but he says if they're going to take the senate they're going to have

to take 10 of those 12 senate seats right there that are now held by democrats. now, they've already taken three of them, but the important thing is the republicans -- the democrats have taken two, which means if the democrats are going to lose control of the senate, republicans have to get all the rest of those seats that are in black there tonight. that's a pretty tall order. >> couric: let's talk about some of those seats, nancy cordes that we're keeping an eye on as the night progresses. there are some very tight races. >> reporter: that's right, katie, although the polls have already closed in two of the states, pennsylvania and illinois, they're still nail-biters, democrats very nervous, it looks like things are neck and neck in those states. moving across the country, colorado, one of the most expensive races in the country. no projection yet there either. democrats are feeling cautiously optimistic about california and washington state, but here is the race that they are most nervous about, katie -- it's in nevada. the mother of all races,

tonight. senate majority leader harry reid who is in a very tight battle with sharron angle. she is a tea party candidate. she made a series of gaffes on the campaign trail but she's still leading in the polls. >> couric: we'll be talking about that race as the others you mentioned, nancy cordes, thank you very much. the economy has been the number one issue in this election. this is what is fomenting so much anger and that is anthony mason's beat. you're monitoring exit polls for us but no one knows better what a bleak climate we have had economically in this country for many months now. >> reporter: it's true, katie, nine out of 10 voters told us today they're worried about the economy, the unemployment rate has been above 9% for a year and a half now and 42% of the voters in our exit poll told us they're worse off today than they were two years ago. that's even higher among independents. if you go to independents, fully half of independents in our survey told us that they're in fact worse off.

50%. this is significant because independents made the difference for president obama two years ago, and when they did, more than half described themselves as moderate. 28% said they were conservative. look what happens this year. the conservatives jump up to 38%. the moderates fall below half. in 2008, president obama won 52% of the independent vote. that's flipped, this year. the republicans win by 55 to 40%. katie. >> couric: anthony mason, anthony, thank you so much. and still ahead, where did the democrats go wrong, and who will be the new power players in washington? this is election night on cbs. [ woman ] i had this deep, radiating pain everywhere... and i wondered what it was. i found out that connected to our muscles are nerves that send messages through the body. my doctor diagnosed it as fibromyalgia, thought to be the result of overactive nerves

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>> couric: the republicans are throwing a grand old party, tonight, because they have regained control of the house of representatives. they will be in charge of the new house in the 1 twelfth congress. let's take a look at the touch screen in front of me. they need 218 seats to control the house of representatives. by the time the night is over, they're going to need a net gain of 39 seats. they're well on their way to that. in fact, cbs news is projecting a net gain of 45 seats for the republicans in the house of representatives, but as we said earlier, it's going to be a much tougher climb for the senate. they need to pick up -- keep what they have, maintain their

hold on their republican seats and then pick up 10 additional seats to get to the magic number of 51. so far, they have, in fact, picked up seats in arkansas, indiana and north dakota, but the democrats might have been sort of rained on their parade a bit because they kept seats in connecticut and west virginia, in democratic hands -- for example, we'll look at the state of west virginia. joe manchin, the very, very popular governor there. we have projected him a winner in the state of west virginia. and in the state of connecticut as well, richard blumenthal, the attorney general has defeated linda mcmahon and her connections with worldwide wrestling and her harsh commercials against richard blumenthal apparently turned off women voters two to one, so as we said, the republicans are really going to have to play the tables the rest of the night if in fact they are to regain control of the senate.

whatever the case is, in the house of representatives, nancy cordes, there are going to be a lot of fresh new faces with a lot of power. >> reporter: that's right, katie, this video from 2007 when john boehner handed the speaker's gavel over to nancy pelosi, he's been working hard to get it back ever since -- he's going to be the man most likely leading the house. he's 61 years old. he's been in office for 20 years. he's been a fierce opponent of the president's agenda these past two years. do not expect that to change. his number two will likely be eric cantor of virginia. house majority leader. >> couric: considered one of the young guns despite the fact he's 47 years old but he's kind of a new breed of republican, isn't he? >> reporter: exactly, katie, he will will be joined by several others of that breed who will be taking over key house committees and this is where a lot of the power lies because it's in those committees where they have the power to shape legislation. who is going to be running those

committees? darryl issa of california will be leading the oversight committee with the power to investigate the white house. dave camp of michigan who will become the chair of ways and means will have control over tax policy and paul ryan of wisconsin, one of those self-proclaimed young guns you mentioned along with eric cantor will likely become chair of the budget committee. another very important committee. >> couric: nancy cordes, thanks so much. let's go to our republican and democrat strategists to talk about the new faces in the nation's capital. first, dan bartlett, what kind of speaker is john boehner likely to be? are we going to see gridlock on capitol hill or is he a bit of a compromiser? >> john boehner, the finely tanned man from ohio taking over as speaker of the house is well liked not only in his own caucus but behind the scenes he has great relationships with key democrats. that will be the key as they try to forge a coalition of the new entrants many backed by the tea

party, there could be upwards of 60 republican freshmen -- that's a big bloc of voters who have come in with a mandate to say no to the white house. he's got a complicated system on his hands but he's got public sentiment, which is stop the spending, make sure we enact pro-economic policies and john boehner, a lot of people think even though he's been there for a long time that he may be the right person to do it because of those relationships he has behind the scenes. >> couric: jamaal simmons, how will the white house deal with this new breed of republican on capitol hill? you have many tea party candidates, as dan said, who believe they have a mandate to do things like repeal health care reform and make government much smaller. how is he going to respond to that? >> katie, i think the president is going to look for some ways to offer kind of his hand, out to the new republicans in congress, maybe focus on things like the budget, look for competitiveness in science

technology and education where people can join together and work together but at some point there will come a moment where the two parties are on opposite sides and the president will look for -- should look for a moment to sort of define himself, define his principles and even stand up against the republican majority in the house to make sure his people know that he's still on the side of democrats. now, at the same time, in the democratic house side if nancy pelosi chooses not to stay as the democratic leader, you may have a little bit of a fight going on between steny hoyer who is now the majority leader and chris van hollen who ran the democratic national campaign committee and debbie wasserman schultz who may not be going for leader but has proven herself. >> couric: dan bartlett and jamal simmons, thank you very much. how is the tea party responding to two of their victories, rand paul in kentucky and marco rubio in the state of florida just in the senate? we're going to check into a tea party, party right after this. [ female announcer ] expensive specialty products?

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the world can be a far less threatening place. take the scary out of life with travelers insurance... and see the world in a different light. >> couric: we now have some projections to make. utah's next senator is mike lee. one of the first tea party candidates to take on the republican establishment and win. he defeats conservative incumbent bob bennet, defeating him in the primary, that is, foreshadowing the tea party movement.

in pennsylvania, it's neck and neck between retired navy admiral joe sestak and former congressman, against passionate antitax man pat toomey in the ultimate swing state we're watching carefully, joe sestak ahead by two percentage points now but it is too early to project and too tight to project a winner in that race. in the state of illinois, alexi giannoulias running against mark kirk, republican -- this is really important because it is barack obama's former senate seat, so this has a lot of sentimental meaning and significance for the white house, and they are watching this race very, very carefully. also in the state of wisconsin, another race that is very tight. too early to project, senator russ feingold, a maverick senator running against ron johnson, a plastics manufacturer

from oshkosh who has put a lot of his own money into the race. in nevada again -- actually, in colorado, rather -- michael bennet who was appointed to fill in secretary salazar's seat is running against ken buck who is the county district attorney. we'll be watching this race carefully. barack obama took colorado in 2008 and once again a microcosm of what's happening in this country, majority leader harry reid is running against tea party favorite sharron angle in a very close race and we cannot project a winner in nevada yet there as well. anthony mason is following the results of our exit polls. anthony, what's rowed the boat in this mid term election? >> reporter: we want to look at the tea party, katie. 40% of the voters in our exit poll described themselves as tea party supporters and nine out of 10 of them believed that president obama's policies have the country on the wrong track. they feel strongly that the government is doing too much.

85% said that. they feel the stimulus plan is not working. 60% said it hurt the economy. they also feel strongly that congress should repeal health care. 84% told us that. it's very interesting the make-up of the tea party. 90% are white. three quarters are over the age of 45. they voted virtually as a bloc today of tea party supporters, 87% went with the republican party today, katie. >> couric: thank you very much, anthony mason. 37 state houses are up right now and the governor's races are considered very important. hallie barbour is the governor of mississippi and former head of the r.n.c. and some believe he's also a future presidential candidate. governor barbour, how do you feel the republicans are doing in the state house races? >> we're doing very well, the important thing, katie, we're doing very well all over the country, four of the six new england governors' races are competitive with republicans winning in three, we're winning in the industrial midwest, we're

winning in the southeast, we're winning in the southwest, in the great plains -- of course, the polls haven't closed out west, but really, we have had strong candidates and a great response. there are some close races but right now it looks great. >> couric: what do you think is behind this republican wave, if you will, taking over the house of representatives, making considerable gains in the gubernatorial races? >> katie, mid term elections often are referenda on the president's policies and tonight the american people are repudiating barack obama's policies, it's just as simple as that, whether it's outrageous spending, skyrocketing deficits, piling all trillions of debt on our children and grandchildren, government-run health care system, big tax increase around the corner in january, the american people think that's bad stuff and they look at the results and they see bad results. >> couric: governor barbour, thank you. some cbs stations will be

leaving us for local returns. for everyone else, cbs coverage of the midterm elections will continue. minutes until polls close here in the bay area. and polling places are still busy. don knapp is at one in san francisco's mission district tonight. don. "..."

state for the next four years. jerry brown or meg whitman? simon perez is with the brown campaign in oakland. simon. jerry brown is expected to show up here to the fox theater here in downtown oakland any minute now to begin watching the returns. this is familiar territory for brown, he used to

we're a half hour from the polls closing, and about an hour and a half from our full election ,,,,,,,,,,

>> couric: and headline of the night. we have a power shift in washington, d.c. cbs news is projecting that, when all the votes are counted in this midterm election, the republicans will have won control of the house of representatives. the g.o.p. needed a net gain of 39 seats. we estimate they will gain at least 50 by the time the night is over. john boehner will likely replace nancy pelosi as speaker of the house. but the battle for the senate continues. the republicans need a net gain of 10 seats. so far, they've taken three seats from the democrats. in indiana, dan coats will succeed the retiring evan bayh. in arkansas, john boozman unseats democrat blanche

lincoln. in north dakota, john hoeven won the seat that byron dorgan holds. it's election night. >> we can fix the united states congress. that's what elections are for. ♪ >> couric: welcome back, everyone. you cannot talk about this election cycle without mentioning a movement that began in the summer of last year and soon caught fire. we're talking about the tea party movement. our cbs news exit poll today found 41% of voters are tea party supporters -- in fact, there are three tea party victors in the senate alone. we have rand paul who has won in

the state of kentucky. marco rubio who has won the senate seat in the state of florida. and utah's next senator as we mentioned is mike lee, one of the first tea party candidates to take on an establishment republican. byron pitts is at a tea party in the nation's capital. byron, they must be feeling pretty good there tonight. >> reporter: katie, you're right, the mood here is festive. this is one of a number of tea party events tonight. when it was announced earlier tonight that the republicans had regained control of the house this room erupted. people were chanting "u.s.a., u.s.a.," they were hugging, people were applauding. make no mistake, this has been a big night for the tea party. the republican party would not have had a successful season without the tea party support. according to a cbs exit poll 40% of the people who voted tonight said they are tea party supporters and 21 said said they are strong supporters of the tea party. john mechler joins us, president

of the tea party patriots. you have been on the road for two weeks. what's this moment mean like to you? >> this is incredible. this is the starting point. we're just getting started. it feels great, everyone is celebrating but the real work starts tomorrow. >> reporter: i heard someone say from the podium that the republican party are on probation. >> that's a nice way to put it. they have a long track record of doing the wrong thing. we intend to hold their feet to the fire starting tomorrow. >> reporter: katie, that's the mood here at this tea party event. they're pleased but they still see that work has to be done and they want to hold the republican party accountable now that they're back in charge. >> couric: byron pitts. byron, thanks so much. bob schieffer and jeff greenfield, the tea party reenergized the g.o.p. at a time when everyone thought the party was lost and yet beating establishment candidates, christine o'donnell beat mike castle in delaware, they lost an all but guaranteed seat in that state. >> reporter: that may be what cost them the senate -- the

remarkable thing was this run of tea party folks going up against even conservative republicans like bob bennett in utah that didn't make the primary, in alaska they unseated lisa murkowsk with joe miller. that seat perhaps is in jeopardy. ken buck in colorado unseated a former lieutenant governor who was considered a favorite to beat the democrat, michael bennet. at the same time the tea party folks may be costing the republicans the senate they have sent a clear warning to the republicans we are not in your pocket, this is not labor and the democratic party, we don't like you guys spending any more than we do the democrats and that's a source of real conflict next year in washington. >> couric: nancy cordes, how have the tea party candidates fared in the house of representatives? there were seven running in the senate, a heck of a lot more in the house, well over 100. >> reporter: that's right, katie, a number of republicans who jumped on this tea party bandwagon, where the energy was, endorsed by tea party groups. so far tonight 10 republicans

who affiliate themselves with the tea party have won just in the competitive races we're watching. there were far more republicans who are in safe seats who are winning as well. there is going to be a big tea party caucus in the house. >> couric: nancy cordes, thank so much. we're going to go to three of our are correspondents out in the field covering key races, dean reynolds in illinois at kirk headquarters. dean, what's the latest from there? >> katie, it couldn't be closer. this race is neck and neck. all night long, alexi giannoulias, the democrat, has been ahead but mark kirk, the republican has been gaining steadily all evening to the point now where they're separated only by the thinnest of margins, so it's a mood of anxiety, both here at kirk headquarters and downtown in chicago at giannoulias headquarters in this huge battle for the very prestigious seat once occupied by barack obama. katie. >> couric: all right, dean reynolds.

dean, thanks very much for that update. meanwhile, ben tracy is covering that very tight reid-angle race that is unfolding in nevada. he's at harry reid's headquarters in las vegas. ben, what's the latest from there? >> reporter: well, katie, you have talked about the tea party and you have mentioned that there is no race they would want to win more tonight than this race right here in nevada. this is ground zero for their battle. if they could unseat the most powerful democrat in the u.s. senate, that would be huge for their movement, huge for republicans and a big loss for democrats. the polls closed here just a little over a half hour ago so there aren't any results out yet but we are expecting this to be somewhat of a long night because this has been a very close race heading right into election day, and if you're wondering where all the people are, the food and the booze is on the other side of the room. >> couric: i was wondering. i was feeling a little sorry for you, ben, tonight, so i'm glad there are some people gathered around the food and the booze. thanks so much, ben. meanwhile, bill whitaker is covering the barbara boxer-carly

fiorina senate race in california. he's at boxer headquarters in los angeles tonight and bill, i know that it was neck and neck for a while there but barbara boxer really pulled ahead in recent weeks. >> reporter: well, the democrats here think that they will be able to swim against the national tide and hold onto an office here and perhaps even make some strides in other races. in that hotly contested senate race between incumbent barbara boxer and republican challenger carly fiorina, the democratings say that they have been watching -- the democrats say they have been watching key polling places and they have been encouraged that the democratic turnout in those polling places has been much higher than they expected so they're expecting that turnout to make the difference for barbara boxer tonight. in the governor's race between jerry brown and republican newcomer meg whitman, this has been the most expensive governors' race in american history with meg whitman pumping more than $140 million of her own money into the race.

tonight, the democrats believe that their massive get-out--vote effort is going to make the difference for brown in that race tonight as well. >> couric: bill whitaker. bill, thank you so much. when we come back we're going to check on key governors' races in addition to the one that's going on in california right now, because they could play a big role in future elections. it is election night, here at cbs. [ commentator ] lindsey vonn! she stays tough! earlier, she had an all-over achy cold... what's her advantage? it's speedy alka-seltzer! [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus rushes relief for all-over achy colds. the official cold medicine of the u.s. ski team. alka-seltzer plus. and i'm going to introduce you in two weeks. he's a dentist so whiten your teeth. no coffee, no espresso. mm-hmm. ♪ [ female announcer ] crest 3d white toothpaste.

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>> couric: and if you're just joining us this election night 2010, cbs news is projecting the republicans will, in fact, take control of the house of representatives, but the battle for the senate continues. now, in addition to the congressional elections, there are 37 governors' races going on right now. let us tell you the results of

some of those races. in pennsylvania, it's a republican pickup as attorney general comcorbett wins the election to replace term-limited ed rendell, his price for beating democrat onorato could be a looming budget crisis. in michigan, rick snyder, former head of a computer company beats virg bernero. in texas, rick perry wins his bid for a third term in office. and in the state of florida, this has been a closely watched race. florida chief financial officer alex sink -- it's unclear. we cannot project a winner in this race. she is running against businessman rick scott. in ohio, it's too close to project as well. former congressman john kasich is is running against democratic incumbent ted strickland, a

popular governor who saw his popularity decrease with a very tough economy. cbs news political analyst john dickerson in washington is following all these races and john, ohio is particularly important for the white house. >> that's absolutely right. winning a state like new york is great for democrats, but ohio is one of the nine presidential battleground states. strategists from both parties are already looking ahead to the next election because a candidate, if there is a governor of a party in their state it gives them a leg up in terms of organization. of the nine battleground states in play, barack obama won all in 2008 and pennsylvania as you mentioned looks like it will have a republican governor so that means the president has to hope that ohio and florida come through to help him with his next presidential race. >> couric: then let's talk about the fact that many of these winning governors will be redrawing congressional districts, john. >> every 10 years after the census they redraw the districts

for the house. the governor plays a big role. the party in charge tries to draw the districts in a way that gets their members elected. rick perry the governor of texas. last time they did this the republicans were in charge of the process, they took six congressional seats away from the adriatics and once this redrawing happens it -- -- away from the democrats and once this redrawing happens it sticks for 10 years. >> couric: cbs news projects that when all the votes are counted the republicans will retake control of the house. they needed a net gain of 39 seats. we now estimate they'll pick up at least 50 after all is said and done. as for the senate, as we have been saying all night long, that is a much tougher call. the republicans need a net gain of 10 seats. so far, they picked up three, winning races in arkansas, indiana and north dakota. there you go. john boozman defeats blanche lincoln, denying her a third

term. dan coats returns to the senate after serving in the 1990's, beating congressman brad ellsworth and in north dakota as we mentioned, john hoeven the governor beats tracy potter by quite a lot. the democrats have denied two seats to the republicans in the senate. they held on to the seat in connecticut, chris dodd's seat, and in west virginia, robert byrd's seat -- the seat he held for 50 years remains in the blue column tonight. by one estimate, nearly $4 billion has been spent on this year's midterm elections, blowing all previous records right out of the water. where did all that dough go? cheryl atkisson in washington has been following all the money. what can you tell us, sheryl? >> that estimate is by the time everything is counted up and said and done but let's look at what has been counted so far, $3.26 billion. that's the money raised.

look at the split. republicans 1.65 billion vs. 1.55 for democrats. it is not the big blowout some people thought, katie. >> couric: the headline of the night, the republicans take control of the house. when we return, we're going to talk to one of the new key players -- the man expected to be majority leader, eric cantor of virginia. come on, kids, come inside. the droid 2. a lightning-fast keyboard, a turbo-texting, web-jetting super you. the droid x. a 4.3-inch screen. summon movies and games at your command. now buy a droid 2 by motorola for $149.99 and get any phone free.

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>> couric: the republicans take back the house. the democrats still hanging onto the senate. but the battle is not over. the night is is still fairly young. let's go back, now, to anthony mason who is following our exit polling. and anthony, health care reform was an issue we asked voters about today. >> reporter: yeah, katie, it was. it may have been the signature achievement of the obama administration in its first two years but voters don't seem to be buying it. it ranked a distant second among most important issues today, far behind the economy. when we asked voters what we wanted to see happen with health care reform, nearly half told us they would actually like to see it repealed, when you break that down according to party lines it's not surprising to see that an overwhelming majority of republicans, 81% said it repealed but a majority of independents, 53% do too so the president may have sold congress on health care reform but he does not seem to have sold

voters today. katie. >> couric: thank you very much, anthony mason. congressman eric cantor of virginia is the house republican whip. he is expected to be the majority leader in the new house with john boehner as speaker. congressman cantor, thanks for joining us. >> katie, good to be with you. >> couric: let me ask you about health care reform. i know in the republicans' pledge to america, repealing health care is a major step on the agenda, but how exactly do you propose to do that? >> well you know, katie, tonight's election is about listening to the people and that was the message that's being sent across this land is they don't like this health care bill and they want to see us focus on jobs, and there's just been no results that match the expectations of the people. so i believe that when we take majority of in january, i hope that we're able to put a repeal bill on the floor right away, because that's what the american people want. they understand that this bill is going to bankrupt this country and take away the health care that they -- most people in this country know and like.

the problem is, katie, we haven't focused on the problem, which is the cost. it's too expensive. health care is just -- the costs are out of control and we've got to go back and begin to give the american people what they want, which is lower cost and higher quality. not this abomination that was passed. >> couric: i've just got to interject and tell you, that may be true that many americans do not like health care reform but according to our exit polls, congressman, you know, 48% of the people we talked to wanted to repeal it but 47% wanted to leave it as is or in fact expand it, so this is hardly a mandate if you listen to our exit polls. >> i just saw the polling that you just showed. it said that 80% of republicans are for repeal and independents are for repeal. the majority of americans saying start over, we don't like the status quo and we've got to get costs down and give people a choice and start accentuating

the doctor-patient relationship and get government out of the business of deciding the proper care. that's what republicans are going to be about, katie. that's what the american people are saying tonight. you know what? this administration's had 20 months, and all the promises that have been made about the most important issue which is the economy have been broken, and they are fed up, and they have a reason to be fed up. republicans -- >> couric: you have said you were going to cut $100 billion in discretionary spending. that doesn't include military or entitlement spending. so what specifically will republicans cut? >> we have put on the table an attempt to put discretionary spending back to 2008 levels, and that means an across-the-board reduction in spending. if you think about it, katie, in 2008 the sun rose and set, and we're saying, let's get back to prestimulus levels. let's get back to some fiscal discipline. that's a first step that we can start and bring down the kind of spending that has occurred in

washington. but you know, listen. the american people -- they know that they can go about creating jobs. the small-business people are waiting for a signal from washington that they're going to stop making it more difficult to put capital to work. that's what tonight is about too, katie, it's about the fact that people are looking at washington and saying, "don't you hear me? we want opportunity. we like success. stop maligning those who are successful." >> couric: congressman eric cantor, again, thanks so much for talking with us tonight. we appreciate it. >> thanks, katie. >> couric: bob schieffer and jeff greenfield, you know, there are big ambitions for house republicans but what in reality can they do in terms of spending cuts, health care reform, repeal, et cetera? >> reporter: the first thing to say about what the congressman just said that if the house can find some way to pass something to repeal health care, the president will veto it if it passes the senate and it will take more votes to repeal health care than it took to pass it, so that's going to be a very tall

order, but i don't think that's going to be what's going to come first. i think they're going to put spending bills on the floor once a week for the first 12 weeks of this administration. that's what john boehner told me they're going to do. and if they hear what people are saying to them tonight, people want to work on the economy. that's what is the overriding thing that bothers people. >> couric: but they want tax cuts, and they want to reduce the deficit. jeff, is that really possible? >> reporter: i think, to be blunt, a lot of americans believe in the hot fudge sundae diet. they hate entitlements, they don't want social security or medicare cut, they want spending cuts but they don't want theirs reformed. that's something every congress has to deal with and the tea party may ratchet that difficulty up. it's going to be a tough next year in washington, katie. >> couric: do you think we're going to see a lot of gridlock, bob? >> the first thing that's going to happen is how are these republicans that are there now, the leaders, going to deal with these new republicans?

because they're a different breed of cat here. >> couric: they've got an inner battle before they deal with the white house. >> yeah. >> couric: some cbs stations thousands of mail in ballots are being rejected in santa clara county. kiet do is in san jose to show us what the problem is and what an army of employees is doing about it. kiet? the registrar's office is calling it a smudge. look closely, it's a faint

minutes. don knapp is at a polling station in san francisco's castro distirct tonight. don.

sots: shelly howard voter sarah

the giants are back home after winning the world series. nats fans cheering while most of us were sleeping, hundreds of hard-core giants fans greeted the world series champs when they got back to san francisco early this morning. tonight, preparations are underway for a victory parade tomorrow. the parade starts near montgomery and washington streets. they'll travel down montgomery to market, then west to civic center plaza. it's going to be so crowded along the parade route, you might prefer to watch it all from the comfort of your own home... or at work. tune in right here to cbs five starting at 11:00. we'll have several cameras along the parade route and bring you live coverage of the victory rally in

civic center plaza. coverage of the victory rally in civic center plaza. ,, when i found out i had cancer, i was so scared. i couldn't get a grasp. i felt very out of control. i'm very grateful for them being there and making me feel safe and important. i'm so happy to be alive. i got my hair back. announcer: at sutter health, our story is you. for more stories, visit sutterhealth.org. it really is great. it's good. it really is. it totally is. we go everywhere together. i don't go anywhere without her. car pooling to work... mmm hmm. ...shopping. it's great!