>> dickerson: well kelp back to "face the nation." big political question for 2018 whether republicans will build on their single party control or whether democrats will flip control of the senate, house or both. we'll look where things stand as we move into 2018, we turn to dan balz who is the chief correspondent at the "washington post." his colleague karen tumulty is national political correspondent our own anthony salvanto is cbs news director of elections. first, we'll get to the house and senate and break those down. i want to start with the very broad question for all three of you, dan, start with you. what is the landscape look like here at the end of 2017 for next year's election? >> everything we see at this point, john, is a very, very difficult landscape for republicans, almost every measure or every event that has happened so far this year

politically has been bad for the republicans and good for the democrats. you can look at it in terms of the president's approval rating which is historically low for first term president. you can look at it in the nature of the current preference for how the house should break, democrats have a significant advantage on that at this point. and we know that from the recent elections through the enthusiasm is much greater or appears to be greater among democrats than republicans to turn out that is often the key indicator in mid-term elections. >> dickerson: karen? >> it's true. mid-term elections especially in president's first term are almost never good news for president. only twice since 1934 has president's party picked up seats in the first mid-term of his first term in office. but it really does seem like the republicans are in fact heading into some really tough weather here. and it's true, generic ballot,

rather see democrat or republican in office, democrats are ahead in that by double digits. but i agree. i think this in enthusiasm gap is really the biggest thing republicans ought to be worried about right now. >> dickerson: get to the roots of that enthusiasm where it comes from. anthony, where do you put the needle down on the record here? >> really, the math is still a little bit advantage of the republicans, at least on the senate side. the reason forethat is that the democrats are defending more seats and any time that happens, you have a harder hill to climb. look, on the house side, it's true, that we see a national polling that more people are now saying that they would like to see the democrats in control. but remember that those polls are talking to people in very heavy democratic districts as well as heavy republican ones. that generic ballot can oversight the case. what you want to focus on is how many specific house seats could be competitive. and on that side there may be

just enough for the democrats to put the house in play, real question going forward is, can they expand that. can they make more seats than ordinarily come into view. >> dickerson: on that generic ballot isn't it the case, this question would you vote for republican or democrat even though it's imprecise number, when it's that big, people are favoring the democrats that much isn't that sort of a blunt indicator when the number is that big, it's still does tell you something. >> absolutely. it gives you general sense of the direction. there's no question that that direction is pointed towards democrats. it's maybe half as many. if you see national ballot, national generic ballot they might win maybe half that much in the actual election. but there again, going to be where they can start to try to persuade people and as you look around the country, a lot of these suburban districts, lot of wealthier districts that have gone republican and economic

issues, particularly places that they're targeting and if they can put those in play then we start to see really competitive house election. >> the first place to look will be there are 23 house districts and democrats have to pick up 24. there are 23 house districts where there is a republican incumbent sitting in a district that was won by hillary clinton. and these districts are all over the country, they're in california, texas, florida and they -- big range, lot of suburban but lot are rural and lot of them have large numbers of hispanics. >> there's one other element in terms of the tempering of where we are. we have an odd situation which is a president with very low approval ratings at a time when have historically over the last 17 years, lowest unemployment rate, a stock market that the president says constantly is breaking records weekly. and steady economic growth.

for the republicans if they can in one way or another force people to think about the state of the economy rather than their view of the president, they could hope to do better than a lot of this polling suggests at this point. history says that there are two other times in the last half century where you have this anomaly of low presidential approval and low unemployment. in both those cases, presidential approval turnedded out to be more significant and party lost a lot of seats. >> in the last three mid terms most people have said that the mid term vote is about the president. there's no question he's a factor and approval rating looked like -- >> dickerson: that's where enthusiasm you're talking about comes from. explain that for people, it's linked to the president. >> what pollsters ask, how excited are you about this election. they look for other measures of how engaged people are with the fact that they're even is an

election this year. just this week, the "wall street journal," the pollster found a ten-point enthusiasm gap between democrats and republicans. >> that's really important, too. because remember, in mid terms, turn out is lower. and folks who tend to vote are a little disproportionately republican, at least recently. what the democrats have taken out of these last couple of elections, virginia and alabama, is that they can motivate their base. people who don't ordinarily come out except for presidential years have been willing to come out f. they can do that, then that changes the dynamic. because there are folks sitting in these districts who normally out mid terms, turn out goes, they reshape that and whole electorate changes. >> dickerson: let me ask you about the senate. karen sketched out the situation in the house. after doug jones is seated at democrat next year after this that exciting race this year, there will be a two seat

majority for republicans, democrats need to pick up two seats to gain control of the senate. ten democrats are up for reelection. in recent history states have tended to vote for senator the way they have for presidents that's one factor there. there's only one republican running in state where hillary clinton won that's in nevada. then some other interesting states, tennessee and then minnesota are on. where you see the senate shaking out? >> i'd make two points. first of ail if we were having this conversation a year ago we would be talking about the likelihood of potentially significant losses for the democrats in the senate because as you say, they're defending so many seats and defending them in states that trump won. however, of those ten five are truly red, five are what i would call more swing states. but what's happened over the course of the year is because of the turbulence that the republicans have run into

there's now at least possibility of democrats being able to take control of the senate. i think it's still very difficult. but they have three opportunities. arizona, nevada and possibly tennessee because they have candidate there the former democratic governor who may be the only democrat who can win statewide. but i'm not predicting at this point that he will. and many of their incumbents are in reasonably good shape or better shape than you might have thought six or eight or ten months ago. i think it's still heavy lift for democrats to take over but at least hawaiian opportunity this they wouldn't have dreamed up at the beginning of the trump presidency. >> dickerson: karen, when dan talks about senate seats being in more of swingy areas than -- you have classic seats that are up where democrats are trying to defend territory in west virginia where trump won by 45 points. others are in michigan, wisconsin, which were closer. so is that the distinction, another one we should watch for

the rust belt states that flipped and went for trump in the presidential, how do you think that will play out in the senate elections? >> turns out i spent some time in michigan. actually looking at the governor's race there. what i found is that democrats sort of activist base, people who are engaged now, are so traumatized by seeing what they thought were going to be easy wins for hillary clinton last time around that also contributes to the enthusiasm factor. they were caught napping in 2016. there is a determination i think not to have that happen again. >> dickerson: anthony, another thing should talk about with respect to the senate there are primaries to come. we saw in alabama some extraordinary interparty republican fighting, comments, people even saying they were no longer republicans after the national committee supported roy moore, how do you think the primary process plays out in

terms of, well, just how do you think it plays out? >> the thing to watch this spring. we can be sitting here a year from now the landscape will be very different. behind all of this is which direction does each party go? republicans are stillñ that conversation. we talked a lot about populist wing of the party, part that is voting against anything seen as the establishment. versus the more traditional conservative wing. and if you start to see primary challenges to sitting incumbent republican senators, in otherwise safe states, then you start to get a dynamic like you saw, like many people saw in alabama where the republicans could potentially nominate someone who can't appeal to a drawedder electorate. and then you get a potentially safe red seat that becomes in play. same thing on democratic side. they're still going to have a conversation about which direction their party goes and so both parties are having to

see that. >> dickerson: is that delayed by democrats thinking, look, if we just run against the president we take advantage of this enthusiasm from our base, let'sr postpone the question about what exactly the democratic party means because we got chance to playoff of this. or is there going to be a real conversation? >> i think there will be partial conversation but iñi think at ts point for most democrats the view is, the harder they can go after the president and tie their republican opponent to the president, the better off they're going to do. they will defer that conversation about who they are as a party for the 2020 democratic nomination battle. they may pay some price for that. i'm not understating how significant that challenge will be for them. but i think for the mid term, focusing on the president, one of the problems that republican candidates potentially face is how much do they identify with president trump in order to

energize their base and the cost of that in general election if they become so identified that people think, well, just another trump -- >> dickerson: right. ran into virginia. >> also finding that lot of these republicans who are running for the senate are not willing, trips, to commit to voting for mitch mcdonnell to continue as their leader as well. on the on hand they don't want to be too, too close to be establishment on the other they don't want to offend the base. it's really -- it's really a delicate act for a lot of them. >> dickerson: anthony, how much do you think danger for democrats to not have something to run on to just focus on the president, because obviously they focus on the president that encourages the republican base. >> one of the things so interesting in 2016 that you mentioned democrats didn't win as many seats as some thought they might, is that voters said donald trump was a different kind of republican, he was a brand unto himself.

and they had a hard time tying the republican senate candidate to donald trump. the question to watch is, whether or not they can do that now because so many people have seen the president sort of different brand altogether. >> dickerson: the "washington post," wrote piece how the president is dying to get out there and campaign, we know all presidents loveçó to getñi out n campaign so much more fun than what they have to do in washington. how does that work out, a situation where people think, go campaign somewhere else, mr. president or he just spends his time in the states and districts, how do you think that plays out, his active participation. >> we know that he loves to get out. we know that those big rallies energize him that he loves to do that, that he creates enthusiasm as well as gets energy back. he's going to want to be out there a fair amount. difficult for lot of these candidates to embrace him too closely in some of these competitive races, so i think

individually all of those candidates will have to decide how close do i want the president to be. ed gillespie talking about virginia wanted to keep him at arm's length, it didn't matter in the end he still got beat pretty badly. >> dickerson: how do you think policy landscape will show up. are we going to have a bunch of fights that will be about value issues, cultural issues, things that get voters excited or is there any way which the policy might actually be part of the conversation? >> well, the big policy issue right now especially coming on the heels of the tax bill, is whether they are going to be brave enough to begin real conversation on entitlements. that is san absolutely treacherous issue to bring uppish election issue, mitch mcconnell has already said it ain't happening here unless there's some democratic buy in, which there won't be. >> dickerson: all right. quickly. >> remember, republicans rely on older voters very heavily. that does put things is into

different context. >> dickerson: thanks to all of you. we'll be right back. david. what's going on? oh hey! ♪ that's it? yeah. ♪ everybody two seconds! ♪ "dear sebastian, after careful consideration of your application, it is with great pleasure that we offer our congratulations on your acceptance..." through the tuition assistance program, every day mcdonald's helps more people go to college. it's part of our commitment to being america's best first job. ♪

>> dickerson: it's time now to take a look at perfect timing. we spoke earlier with best selling author daniel pink, his new book is out in hearing loss january called "when: the scientific secrets of perfect timing." you say this is not a how-to book but when-to book, tell people what that means. >> we think that timing is an art. make hour decisions about when to do things based on gut

instincts, in tuition, but timing is actually a science that crosses multiple digs palestinians, there's a huge body of research showing us how to make better evidence-based decisions about when to do things. it turns out they have material affect on our well being, productivity, creativity, our health, many domains of life. >> dickerson: what i love is also the way in which it's not just, are you a morning person or evening person although you have great explanation and description and a little test how you can figure out who you are in that group. but also when you choose to do certain kinds of thinking, like creative thinking versus, explain that. >> absolutely. what whole range of scientists have found that the day has hidden pattern, basically a peak, trough, and rebound. most of us proceed through the day in that order. peak, trough, rebound. it turns out we're better off doing analytic during the peak which is in the morning. trough not good for anything, actually danger zone in many ways, doing our administrative stuff during the trough.

during recovery turns out we're better at more creative tasks, tasks that require a little bit more looseness rather than that heads down, locked in approach. >> dickerson: that's when flashes of insight come. >> often. when we're at our peak we're very vigilant. we're able to keep up distraction, that's a feature when you're doing the analytic work. when you're doing creative work you actually want a little bit more looseness, you want let a few distractions in so to mix up the soup a little bit. so during the recovery period, which gibb mo of us is the late afternoon, early evening we do better on what are called insight tasks. >> dickerson: history fouled us up, we needed to create time and watches and hours we know when the bus arrives. but did we figure out system that is basically always fighting with our own natural h.i.t.isms? >> it's really interesting question. because one of the things that i discovered researching time itself is that a lot of things we think of as natural are completely human inventions designed to corral time. so an hour has no natural

substance to it. a minute doesn't have any natural substance, certainly a year does because planet goes around, the planet spins on its axis, we're trying to corral time. it's v hard to do and time is very illusive subject. one of the thing that's happened is that, i think as consequences when we think about our own performance we focus on what we're going to do. we focus on often how we're going to do it. focus on who we're going to do it with. we put when questions over there at the kid's table saying it's not that important. the science telling us it's demonstrably important. >> dickerson: to put at the front. one of the things i love about the book, lot of practical things you can use. >> absolutely. dickerson: give people a little sense of that, both in your day-to-day, but also you talk for example about mid life and guidance that -- give us sense of how-to. >> there are all kinds of things. number one is that, think about

science of breaks. not so many years ago people stayed up all night were heroes in the workplace because they were tougher than the rest of us. then the science of sleep began emerging, no, those people are fools. i think the science of breaks is what science of sleep was a decade ago about breaks in the surface is really instructive how we can work better. so, we need to take more breaks, period. one of the best things that i've done myself is that every day i have a break list. i write down two breaks i'm going to take during the day. we also know from the science that breaks are better taken with other people rather than solo even for introverts like me. better taken fully detached, don't bring your phone. we're better off moving during our breaks than being stationary. or near nature. stow what the science is telling us that if we take these regular breaks ten, 15 minutes we're going to feel better we're going to perform higher. make a break list, that's one of my favorite tips. >> dickerson: go outside while

-- >> even evidence that just looking out window seeing a tree is better than being in a windowless room. >> dickerson: let me also ask you about teams. how timing works when you're working with lots of other people as well. >> there's really interesting research on how teams synchronize like choirs, rowing teams, delivery services and one of the things that is so interesting about our nature is that it seems that coordinating with other people, being in sync and in time with other people is something fundamentally human about that. and we have a propensity for it. one of the things that's so interesting about that if you look at, let's say exercise as an example, exercise is absolutely good for you, right? it makes you -- boosts your mo mood, prophylactic against depression, controls your weight, all good. well, there's kind of new exercise out there it's chorale singing has benefits that are just extraordinary. physiological level and

psychological level. useful for cancer patients, improves your immune response, it boosts your mood there's something about synchronizing with other people that makes us feel good. it also helps when kids do synchronous activities they actually afterwards are a little bit more, what social psychologists call pro social. will play with kids who aren't like them, more likely to cooperate, more likely to help. >> dickerson: we all should join roving bands of walking singers? >> i think there's some good evidence, like in schools, that choir, chorale groups have ancillary activity but something actually that boosts the moods of kids, improves their social and emotional learning and conceivably make them better citizens of school. >> dickerson: daniel, thank for being with us. the book is "when: the scientific secrets of perfect timing" we'll be back in a moment.

>> dickerson: that's it for us today. thanks for watching. we here at "face the nation" want to wish everyone watching a merry christmas, visions of sugar plums and very happy holiday season.

i'm john dickerson. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org we35 mules,ur doors with 70 mega-watts, and an ice plant. but we brought power to the people- redefining what that meant from one era to the next. over 90 years later, we continue to build as america's 3rd largest investor in infrastructure. we don't just help power the american dream... we're part of it.

this is the cbs "overnight news." hi, welcome to the "overnight news." i'm demarco morgan. parts of the country will be waking up to a white christmas today. those who haven't reached their holiday destination are facing snow and icy conditions on the roads and along lines at the airport. a record number of americans are expected to travel this holiday season. an estimated 107 million away between christmas weekend and new year's day. and weather service expects snow from the rockies to the ohio valley. tony dokoupil begins our coverage. >> america's roads and run ways, runneth over this weekend and not in a good way as millions of