captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> ifill: on the eve of the midterm elections polls give republicans an edge over democrats but many races are still too close to call. we travel to kentucky where the senate candidates make their final pitches, at the end of their costly, consequential and closely watched campaign. >> these people have run the country in the ground and they need to be stopped! somebody that is just interested in self-promotion and self-preservation! country into... >> ifill: good evening, i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy

woodruff. also ahead this monday, the risks and rewards of private space exploration after two recent accidents raise new questions. >> ifill: plus, rare 1960s recordings from bob dylan and the band holed up in a barn, are released for the first time. >> dylan described it. he said, it's the way music should be made with the windows open, a dog lying on the floor and your friends the basement just doing what you want to do. >> woodruff: and, a west virginia teenager campaigning out of her dorm room hopes to become the youngest person ever to serve in a state legislature. >> one of the biggest problems is people my age get their high school and college education here and then they leave because they can't get a good paying job and so i want to be a part of making sure that my generation stays in west virginia. >> ifill: those are some of the stories we're covering on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪

moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> and the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

>> woodruff: american hopes of having moderate rebels in syria prevail against the islamic state group have suffered new setbacks. the rebels lost a series of towns over the weekend to yet another group, linked to al- qaeda. and today, fighters from that same militant group massed near a crossing at the turkish border. the crossing controls a key supply route. >> ifill: the islamic state group kept up a campaign of atrocities against a sunni tribe in iraq today. an iraqi official said 36 men, women and children were lined up and publicly killed in a village in anbar province. the militants have slain more than 200 people from that tribe since friday. >> woodruff: there's been another large cyber-attack, this one targeting the u.s. government's top security clearance contractor. the associated press reports the

breach at u.s.i.s. went on for months before the company noticed. it compromised the private records of at least 25,000 workers at the department of homeland security. >> ifill: korean auto makers hyundai and kia will pay a record $100 millionpenalty to settle claims they inflated gas mileage figures in the u.s. a justice department investigation found the companies violated the clean air act. attorney general eric holder. >> because they used inaccurately low numbers to demonstrate compliance with emissions standards, conducting tests in the way that did not reflect good engineering judgment. hyundai and kia calculated higher fuel economy and lower greenhouse gas emissions than the vehicles actually have. >> ifill: the two companies denied any legal wrongdoing. they said federal rules for gas mileage testing are complex and hard to interpret. >> woodruff: falling gasoline prices boosted u.s. auto sales last month.

chrysler reported a 22% bump for its largest october gains since 2001. japanese automakers nissan and honda reported their best u.s. sales ever for the month. only ford had a sales decline, down two percent. >> ifill: regon woman who sparked new debate over decisions about dying, passed away in portland, oregon, over the weekend. 29-year-old brittany maynard ended her life on saturday as she had said she wanted to by taking lethal drugs. she had terminal brain cancer. maynard had moved to oregon to take advantage of the state's death with dignity law. >> woodruff: magliozzi, co-host of npr's long-running "car talk" show,"died today of complications from alzheimer's disease. the weekend call-in show went national in 1987, combining car repair advice with the quick- witted banter of magliozzi and his younger brother, ray.

>> if i had my own law of marriage and it is more important to be happy than to be right. now you may know that you're right. i mean, i'm always right. when my wife and i have an argument, i'm always right, but being the clever fellow that i am, i never try to prove to her that i'm right. and she thinks that i'm a dummy, that i'm always wrong, but she loves me. (laughter) >> well, i tell ya! everybody else thinks you're a dummy, too! letting you in on a little secret! >> as long as i know i'm always right, i don't have to tell her that! >> woodruff: the brothers retired two years ago but the show returns in reruns. tom was 77 years old. >> ifill: it's been more than 13 years since the 9/11 attacks, and today, the newly built one

world trade center opened for business. it's built at the ground zero site where the twin towers were destroyed. this time lapse shows the new building under construction over eight years, at a cost of nearly $4 billion. at 104 stories, it is the tallest building in the united states. publishing giant conde nast was the first tenant to begin moving in today. >> woodruff: wall street failed to gain any traction after lackluster reports on manufacturing in china and europe. the dow jones industrial average lost 24 points to close at 17,366; the nasdaq rose eight points to close near 4,639; the s&p 500 lost a fraction, to finish at 2,017. and oil prices closed below $79 dollars a barrel in new york, the lowest in two years. >> ifill: still to come on the newshour. the high stakes of kentucky's costly senate race. what races to watch on election day. separatist rebels in ukraine name a new leader for their breakaway republic. the future of private space

exploration. rare recordings of bob dylan from the 1960's. and, a college freshman runs for office in west virginia. >> woodruff: on the eve of election day 2014. candidates from one end of the country to the other, scrambled to reach every voter who could put them over the top. races for the u.s. congress and for one third of the governors, along with thousands of state- level contests are on the ballot. but nowhere is more at stake than in the 36 campaigns for the u.s. senate, where republicans have a chance to take the majority away from democrats. one of the most closely watched involves a sitting senator who could get a big promotion if that happens, and if he's re- elected. it's the bluegrass state and it's where i spent this weekend.

what i found is, in a year awash in negative campaigns, it doesn't get much more negative than kentucky. >> after six years we've seen the slowest recovery since the great depression. these people have run the country into the ground and they need to be stopped. ( applause ) >> we're tired of somebody who is just interested in self promotion and self preservation, and stopped being a public servant when he was only worried about his own job instead of the jobs here in kentucky. >> woodruff: it's a scorched earth race, pitting the second most powerful republican in washington, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell, against a hard-charging 35-year-old democratic challenger, kentucky secretary of state alison lundergan grimes. about the only thing both camps agree on is that there's a lot at stake. but clearly more so for

mcconnell. with a real chance that republicans may the majority in the senate, he stands on the cusp of an even bigger job. a prize many republicans can already taste. >> that's why we need to elect mitch mcconnell as the next majority leader of the united states senate. ( applause ) but there's a wrinkle, despite the five terms under his belt, or for many, because of them mcconnell is not viewed favorably by most kentucky voters. >> he's extremely unpopular. >> woodruff: university of kentucky political science professor, stephen voss, says mcconnell's critics are made up of two very different groups. >> we have democrats, liberal democrats, they're not happy with him for being the g.o.p. leader. but then he has voters on the right who want him obstructing the president, and when he finally stitches together a compromise, they're angry that he didn't stick to principles and didn't hold the line. >> woodruff: voss says the most conservative voters zero in on his role shaping a last-minute

bipartisan budget deal last year. mcconnell himself acknowledges his unpopularity. >> you get targeted, if you are the leader of one of the parties, harry reid had the same thing in 2010, you become a target of the other side. >> woodruff: whatever the reason, kentucky's only democratic congressman, john yarmuth, concedes there's someone on voters' minds here this year, who's even more unpopular than mcconnell. >> mitch mcconnell's disapproval ratings are extremely high. he's been upside down for several years. people are not happy with him, they're not excited by him. i hate to say it, because i support the president, but if it weren't for president obama, i think he'd have no chance at all of being re-elected. across kentucky, there are a lot of people who are irrationally critical of the president. >> woodruff: irrational or not, the president has been mcconnell's main target, more so

than even grimes. >> who are these people? in the white house there's a bunch of college professors and community organizers telling us how to do things. they think they are smarter than all the rest of us. and starting tuesday, we'll be pushing back against that thing! ( applause ) >> woodruff: mcconnell says a vote for grimes is a vote to enable the president. grimes has the tricky job of fending off criticism and keeping her distance from mr. obama. >> it's just another falsehood that mitch mcconnell has put out. it shows he has no record to run on. they know my record, they know my work. an independent problem solver that will put the people of this state first. not the millionaires and billionaires that mitch mcconnell has bought and paid for by. >> woodruff: grimes, the daughter of a well-known figure

in kentucky politics, has been taken seriously because she raised more money than any democrat ever has in the state. and because she's been able to remain competitive in the polls. she's also been helped by long- time family friends, who unlike the president, are highly popular in kentucky. both bill and hillary clinton returned to kentucky in the closing days of the campaign. >> woodruff: prompting mcconnell to take a swipe at them as well. >> i was amused that hillary clinton said businesses don't create jobs! good grief! ( laughter ) there's not a dime's worth of difference between obama democrats and clinton democrats. >> woodruff: grimes, who's refused even to say whether she voted for the president, in our interview avoided mention of

obama, and praised the clintons. >> they were here because kentucky is clinton country, despite what mitch mcconnell might believe. under president clinton we had the largest economic expansion that this nation has ever seen. it was the jobs president coming to endorse me. the jobs candidate. >> woodruff: it may be a preview of coming national democratic divisions as 2016 draws closer, if a split develops between clinton democrats and president obama. but for now democrats are on the same page, invoking issues like a higher minimum wage. >> raise the minumum wage! ( applause ) >> woodruff: whether it's enough to push grimes over the finish line in kentucky is another matter. some voters are attracted to the idea that mcconnell could be moving to a powerful new position. michael brennan heads a company that makes coal mining machinery.

>> we have a unique opportunity in the state of kentucky to have the leader of the senate, and that doesn't happen very often. he can do very good things for this state. >> woodruff: but others, like estelle bayer, say they're tired of having a senator who is known for blocking change, rather than encouraging it. >> if you don't get anything done in 30 years, we don't need you. we need somebody new and fresh and intelligent. somebody who is willing to work with other people. not just obstruct. >> woodruff: mcconnell and outside groups supporting his campaign have raised and spent a record amount of money almost $55 million swamping by better than two to one the impressive haul raised by grimes. in the closing days, his tv spots are visibly outrunning hers.

political scientist stephen voss says the ads helped bring many kentucky republicans who don't think mcconnell is conservative enough, back under his tent. >> these are people who are mobilized voters, who turn out. so forced to choose, once they show up at the polls, mitch mcconnell is ideologically closer to them far closer than grimes could be. >> woodruff: but those who want mcconnell to take on president obama, may be surprised to know what he says his priority will be if republicans do win control of the senate. >> if the senate changes hands, you become the majority leader. is it mainly then about overturning the policies of the obama admin? >> it's a combination of things. first we need to look at potential areas of agreement. the president, for example, has called for trade agreements. i wish he would send them up. the president has talked about how outrageous it is that we

have the highest tax rate in the industrialized world, i agree. >> woodruff: that talk of compromise may appeal to wavering voters in the middle, who aren't yet sold on grimes. even democratic congressman yarmuth says she has been hurt by waiting too long to introduce herself to those voters who were open to an alternative to mcconnell. >> she was hit with the situation of trying to establish a campaign, raise money and do all those things before she could do it. >> woodruff: consequently, the onslaught of mcconnell's negative tv ads have taken a toll, with only hours to go before polls open on election day. >> ifill: for more on the tightening political races and what to be watching on election night. we are joined by amy walter of the cook political report and stu rothenberg of the rothenberg political report who will be part of our election night team. kentucky's interesting to watch. where is the momentum in this race tonight, amy? what are you watching? >> the momentum seems to be

shifting to republicans especially in the last week and we're even seeing movement in state like georgia where it's been a very tight race. some new polls out suggesting republican david perdue may be opening a digger lead, getting closer to 50%, the the magic number you need to avoid runoff in that state. i still think it's close. you still see in the polling and talking to folks on the ground, the feeling is this momentum is moving now to republicans. >> ifill: what are you seeing? agree. i think judy's piece is excellent because it focused on a race where early on it was a candidate who wanted to nationalize and another who wanted to localize and the whole argument about alison lundergan grimes is no legislative record, candidate for change, good contrast with an older washington figure, somebody associated with congress and d.c. and, for a while, was running ahead of them. but as voters focused on the general election, they focused

on the larger picture, not just the candidates, but what it meant for kentucky and coal and barack obama and that's when the race turned. >> ifill: take that it theory and let it play out someplace else like candidate where an older candidate the running against an older incumbent and pat roberts isn't doing nearly as well as mitch mcconnell so far. >> true, but it's about internal struggle within the republican party in that state as opposed to a choice between a democrat and a republican. in fact, the candidate running against pat roberts is an independent, so it's not quite as clear. but he has been shown to make that race. >> gwen, you picked the exception at the that proves the rule. in that race the republican pat robert made the race about himself. mcconnell didn't do that. mcconnell kept the focus on the president and grimes and the -- beating grimes and the

president. perdue made the race about himself and is trying to turn it around and in the final days is saying it's all about barack obama i same with north carolina. >> n income with is another place where democrats tried to localize it. did a great job early on. as the race focused on the president, the numbers shifted i >> ifill: kay hagan, north carolina, seems to be solidifying a small lead. >> no, each one of the states is different. the difference with north carolina is president obama won it once, mitt romney won it once, it's a swing state now. >> ifill: we can talk about the senate. new hampshire, colorado, kind of slippery here at the last minute. >> they are. these are place where is the president did well in the past but the big difference is this is not a 2012 electorate. not only are the same kind of people showing up but the kinds of people supportive of the

president in 2012 are soured on him. so no enthusiasm in the democratic states even where obama carried. >> ifill: and gene shaheen in new hampshire? >> the race tightened. apparently the voters in new hampshire are not certain about scott. i would put my nickel on shaheen but closer than expected. >> ifill: a lot of the populations in southern new hampshire are people who have moved there. new england, the governors' races there have turned out to be surprising. >> they have. republicans do well in new england. believe it or not, for governors' races. many times it's because voters there want to put a check on a democratic-controlled legislature and republicans can help to do that. in this case, too, in a place like rhode island, it's not

simply putting a check on a democratic legislature but it's a democratic base that is split because the democratic candidate basically ran against labor and in a state where you need labor to come out and vote growr, that could be the deciding factor. >> governors' races are a lot about local issues, local coalitions, personality and it is remarkable when you look at rhode island, connecticut and massachusetts, states the republicans are almost never competitive in, in federal races, they're very competitive. in maryland, larry hogan, jr. the republican is competitive and in kansas a very republican state may go democratic for governor and alaska may go democratic for governor. governors' races are harder for me to predict because, on senate races we look at, first of all party. you can't quite look as much on party in governors' races. >> it's hard to depict house

races that tell us more about that district. any place you're watching? >> new hampshire is a state in the past that went where the mood was. in 2006, two congressional seats to democrat. 2010, two seats went to republicans. seeing how those states react in this elect may tell us what to expect. >> i'm looking at races that have been close the past few cycles, maybe seats that switched back and forth. maybe maloney, a democrat north of new york city, going back and forth. see what happens there. a district on northeastern long island, a democratic zeldin, always a 51-49 race. i wonder if the environment is strong enough for the republicans this time. >> ifill: amy used the word "wave." is there going to be a wave election tomorrow night? >> my definition of a wave is seats that go that shouldn't have gone.

that it was more than simply a good candidate running a good campaign and at the last minute the race broke for them. it is unexpected candidates winning. i don't see that coming. if there is a wave, it would be somebody like al franken in minnesota, or democratic mark warner in virginia loses. >> i'll stick with atmospherics and talk about a breeze. a good breeze behind republicans. >> ifill: we'll talk about it tomorrow night. see you then. >> thanks. >> woodruff: now to another election, this one held by pro- russian rebels in eastern ukraine. winners were declared this morning putting washington and moscow at odds once again, and prompting new questions about ukraine's ability to remain intact. with the voting results in, rebel election officials

asserted that the eastern region, known as donbass, is indeed independent of ukraine. >> ( translated ): kiev must come to terms with the fact that donbass is no longer a part of ukraine. it is self-evident. one can, perhaps, disagree with this but one cannot argue with this. whether kiev recognizes the expression of our will, that is their problem. >> woodruff: sunday's election followed months of a violent pro-russian separatist movement in eastern ukraine. the breakaway regions consist of the donetsk people's republic, which accounts for about one million people and the smaller luhansk, with about half a million. together, they make up three percent of ukraine's overall population. as a result of sunday's balloting, alexander zakhar- chenko will head the donetsk people's republic, while igor plot-nisky will lead luhansk. despite no formal recognition by russia's president vladimir

putin, russian officials said the new leaders have a mandate to negotiate with the ukrainian government. but officials in kiev denounced the vote, saying it was in direct violation of a september 5 agreement that the russians signed. the u.s. agreed-- state department spokeswoman, jen psaki: >> the united states deplores and does not recognize yesterday's so-called separatist elections in eastern ukraine, nor do we recognize any of the leaders chosen in this illegal vote. >> woodruff: still, the turn of events echoes an earlier territorial loss when russia annexed the crimean peninsula through a referendum in march. and all the while, fighting in the area has raged on, despite the september 5th cease-fire agreement. on saturday, a large convoy of military vehicles was sighted near donetsk. kiev said they came from russia. in addition, russian fighter jets and larger aircraft have lately been crossing into

european air space without warning. nato's top commander, general philip breedlove spoke today at the pentagon. >> what you saw this past week was-- was a larger, more complex formation of aircraft carrying out a little deeper, and i would... i would say a little bit more provocative flight path. and so it is a concern. >> woodruff: back in kiev, ukrainian president petro poroshenko has called a meeting of his top security chiefs tomorrow. to discuss what the election means for ukraine, the u.s. and russia, joining us are, andrew weiss, he was director of russian, ukrainian and eurasian affairs at the white house national security council. he's now with the carnegie endowment for international peace. and stephen cohen is professor emeritus of russian studies at new york university and of politics at princeton university. we well come you both back to the program.

andrew weiss, to you first, are the leaders of this group, this rebel breakoff group, they say they are now independent of ukraine, are they? >> i think they are stating what we all know which is the central government of ukraine has lost sovereignty and control over this part of its territory. where it ends up and what happens next is still completely unclear. russia doesn't seem like it's about to annex the territory. kiev doesn't seem like it's about to launch a new set of hostilities to try to seize it back. >> woodruff: stephen cohen, what does independence mean, then? >> well, i think we have to put this in context and understand where we are. i think this is a fateful moment, a tipping point, even. we're in a cold war with russia. the ukrainian civil war is a proxy war as well with the united states supporting the kiev and russians supporting

where the elections were. there's a lofto talk in kiev and washington that kiev should go against donbass. i think there will be a more dangerous war that might draw on russia and the united states. so the question is, now, will these elections abet negotiations between what you call these breakaway regions and kiev or not. and we don't know the answer, but i think the answer is not in ukraine itself. the answer probably is in washington. >> woodruff: do you agree the actors on the ground are not who's going to decide this? >> i don't. i think this is, at this point, a dynamic which is being led largely by the russians. ukrainians have tried very hard in the face of the military defeat they saw at the end of august, early september, to find a way to get through this

situation, to find its way to have a political settlement where they decentralize it did authority of the central government in kiev and provide greater autonomy to the government of the regional sections of ukraine where the russians have been trying to foster an idea these parts of ukraine want to separate. that's not the case. what we've seen really is an ukrainian effort in good faith to have a serious negotiation with the russians and the russians every step of the way since september 5 have basically reneged. so these pseudoelections in eastern ukraine is one more indication moscow isn't serious about a cease fire and that's why the west is reacting so angrily. >> woodruff: stephen cohen, sounds like you're saying that washington, though, has more to say about what's happening here, that it's not that the separatists haven't cooperated in moscow. >> andrew won't mind if i disagree because we've done so

before and he won't be surprised. putin, if we want to personalize this, desperately wants negotiation. he does not want more war in the donbass, and many reasons this is. so the problem is there are war parties or war factions in kiev, in washington and in n.a.t.o. that don't seem to really want these specified negotiations to take place. the elections create, as you pointed out or suggested, a problem. if kiev does not recognize the people elected yesterday in donbass, with whom do they intend to negotiate? with whom do they intend to discuss the future of ukraine? both washington and moscow have made clear that they do not want to be seen as themselves deciding the future of ukraine. so, at the moment, kiev doesn't recognize any negotiating partners in the donbass and that is a recipe for war.

>> woodruff: but i hear you saying you think kiev has done everything it could to try to get negotiations. >> i think that's the case. basically the ukrainian military had its back broken the end of august, early september, so professor cohen is banding there's going to be a renewed ukrainian assault on the donbass, i think it's not really there. what we have seen is a cease fire process that from the beginning was very shoddy. we basically set this process up to fail. the western governments did not provide the kind of support that we've seen in the bal balkans or post-conflict areas. we're going into winter, the breakdown, the economic collapse, lack of basic services, electricity, heating in this part of ukraine makes it a no-man's land and that to me is a big problem, we'll have a humanitarian crisis that plays out through winter and be very probablproblematic for both rusd the west. >> woodruff: stephen cohen you

said a moment ago that the russian leadership or a big part of it wants negotiations. how do you explain the military incursion on the ukrainian territory, what we've heard from general breedlove from nato, what he called provocative overflights over western europe by the russians? >> i don't know how to put this gently and i don't want to sound disloyal to the people who represent our countries, but we have had quite a few reports, not only from gen. breedlove but the swedish and british about so-called russian incursions that have turned out not to be true. in the last few days, we're told the russians are doing all sorts of provocative military things. unmentioned is the fact is that n.a.t.o. is building military forces close around closer to russia. do we expect the russians not to react? can we trust the reports we constantly get out of brussels

and kiev? i think these are the utterances of people who want to escalate the crisis. what we need now is the kind of leadership that sees war as so dangerous in the sense it might bring in russia and the united states that all the energy and all the public statements are directed toward negotiations. i simply don't agree with an drew that kiev has made a good faith effort toward negotiations or is it maintaining a cease fire. >> woodruff: we hear you. you have been vigorously shake your head no while he's been talking. >> if you look back from recent weeks and months, president obama said in early september he was committed and western n.a.t.o. was committed to the defense of its member states including the baltics. they're testing the west, showing they're in great power and take they are power

seriously and see if there will be push backso the idea the west is goading the russians is misplaced. >> woodruff: we thank you. >> ifill: these past few days have been sobering ones for the small but growing industry of commercial space flight. a pair of accidents, one of which was deadly, are prompting questions about cost, safety, oversight and even the wisdom of this shift in space travel. newshour science correspondent, miles o'brien, has the story. >> reporter: federal investigators are still combing through wreckage, as well as multiple data and video streams in the wake of a deadly test flight high over california's mojave desert. virgin galactic's "spaceship two" broke apart in flight on friday scattering debris over five miles. investigators now believe the ship's feathering system, which rotates the tail boom to create drag and slow descent, deployed

early, and without a command from the pilots. the national transportation safety board's chair christopher hart spoke last night. >> the spaceship was released normally, and after it was released, shortly after it was released the rocket engine ignited. about nine seconds after the engine ignited, the telemetry data told us, showed us that the feather parameters changed from lock to unlock. >> reporter: a two man crew was on board the spacecraft for the test flight. the co-pilot, michael alsbury, was killed. pilot, peter siebold, who parachuted to the ground, is hospitalized with serious injuries but he's expected to recover. it was the fourth powered flight for "spaceship two." the first using a fuel derived from nylon. but the engine and the fuel and oxidizer tanks show no signs of an explosion. while there is no doubt that

feathering during ascent would cause the vehicle to breakup, the n.t.s.b. will spend months trying to determine precisely what caused it to happen and what other factors might have contributed. >> we'll be looking at training issues. we'll be looking at was there pressure to continue testing. we'll be looking at safety culture. we'll be looking at the design, the procedure. we've got many, many issues to look into much more extensively before we can determine the cause. >> reporter: virgin galactic says it has more than 700 customers on a waiting list, willing to part with as much as $250,000 for the short sub- orbital trip to the edge of space. today, the company's owner, the flamboyant billionaire richard branson, denied reports that his company cut corners on safety because of pressure to start paying flights, which he first promised would begin in 2008. >> i find it slightly irresponsible for people for have no idea what they are saying to be saying things before the n.t.s.b. makes their comments.

>> reporter: in a separate interview, branson told british broadcaster "sky news" he's still optimistic about the future of space tourism and he still says he will be on the first flight. >> we can move forward. but we will not start taking people until we finish a whole massive series of test flights and until myself and my family have gone up and until we feel that we can take, safely say to people we are ready to go. >> reporter: friday's crash came just three days after another big blow to the commercial space industry. an unmanned cargo rocket bound for the international space station exploded shortly after lift-off from wallops island, virginia. it was owned by orbital sciences corporation. >> ifill: and miles joins me now. >> ifill: what is the latest on this feathering device you talked about? >> the idea is you should never deploy going up and always deploy it going down.

so finding a safety system that answers both of those needs has been tricky. they have been tinkering with some ideas on how to go through some various failure scenarios and looking at ways to potentially unlock it sooner. that might have been part of the test in this case. in any case, when the rocket is firing, you don't want that thing to fold over on itself which is the ideal reentry configuration. >> ifill: you have been all over twitter today saying don't jump too fast to the conclusion the pilot was in error. >> yeah, i think there is a tendency in these cases to impugn deceased pilots. in this case, we don't know that the pilot did anything wrong. he might have been responding to some sort of anomaly in the engine which made him think we might need to go into feather mode or part of a test to unlock it and see what happens. this is all what test flying is about, expanding the envelope. >> ifill: what ntsb investigations are all about,

ultimately. between this and the accident on a launch bad in virginia last week with another private space company, how much of a blow does this bring to the private space industry? >> it's a one-two blow the entire industry is reeling over. there's a lot of people who care greatly about the idea of making a real business of going to space and these two incidents december pit in every way but in the realm of rocket science and commercial space travel hast have taken the wind out of people's sails. it will press on but it's a setback. >> ifill: it raises questions about whether a government-sponsored space program is safer. >> well, we had one and we lost 114 shuttle astronauts and three on the space pad. it's difficult to say how much has to do with it being commercial and how much government. when you're trying to make a buck, it's difficult to square

that with safety. >> ifill: the tourism, is it a thrill ride or science? >> it's a thrill ride. this is for people who can spend a quarter million dollars for five minutes. >> ifill: that's how much it cost? >> yes. >> ifill: $50,000 a minute, for bragging rights that you went to spay. could it lead to technology to mack it possible to fly from tokyo to new york in a couple of hours? yes. worth doing on a technological standpoint, but we're at the ford motor days not the triple boeing days. >> ifill: we have apple, google and virgin all involved, but might investment slow now? >> i think it will have a chilling effect. but the people behind this are true visionaries. they've drank the space kool-aid if you will and true enthusiasm

for pursuing this, so i think it will press on. but maybe it's a good idea to stop, they can an unvarnished look, have the ntsb weigh in and have an idea of what's going on beyond the hangar doors. >> ifill: miles o'brien, thank you as always. >> you're well come. >> woodruff: bob dylan's been one of the most influential voices in music for more than five decades now and an artist frequently considered an enigma all his own. one of the big mysteries surrounding his work, and biography, is a series of recordings he made that were never fully made public. the so-called "basement tapes." now they're about to be released in their entirety. jeffrey brown looks at what they tell us about dylan and the era. -- you're welcome. >> brown: by 1967, bob dylan had dropped from public view, retreating to woodstock new york

to recover from a motorcycle accident and sheer exhaustion of years in touring and gained in his music. he recorded twice for popularizing the folk songs of the '60s and taking electric hoping to launch the folk rock era. in the basement of big pink joined by a group of musicians later to be known as the band, dylan recorded songs that have intrigued fans and critics ever since. (singing) >> until now, only limited often boot legged portions of the sessions have been able but tomorrow sony's legacy recorders will release basement tapes tapes complete along with a companion book. we turn to the contributing

editor. what are the basement tapes? >> the basement tapes are a series of recordings that bob dylan made in 1967 and into the beginning of 1968 when he retreated to woodstock, new york. there was a sense in which, you know, dylan had so much cultural heat around him and he went 90 miles north of new york city and disappeared. but who disappeared along with him were members of his backing group and in the basement they would just record. they would record old folk songs, new songs dylan was working on and really anything that came to mind. that sense of relaxation and fun and just the sheer enjoyment of making music with your friends in a casual way is something that really comes through on the basement tapes. >> brown: and why have they come to be considered so important? >> the basement tapes are important because they reveal a

side of dylan that is impossible to find anywhere else which is dylan just relaxing and making music. you know, ever since -- you know, certainly after he made the free will and bob dylan in 1963, he was a figure, a voice of a generation, somebody whose every move was analyzed. well, this is a situation where because he was essentially in hiding, there was -- he was just doing what he wanted to do. so that element of getting a peek behind the screen, getting a look at this iconic figure just having fun with music is something that is simultaneously, seems, very down to earth and extremely mysterious. the nature of the music, the nature of the types of songs he was writing, their meaning is very hard to pin down, but it was also very different from

what was going on at the time. i mean, the beatles were doing sergeant pepper at this time, whereas bob dylan is in somebody's basement in upstate new york recording old folk songs and new songs that sound like old folk songs. it couldn't be more out of tune with the times and consequently has only gained meaning as time as gone on. >> brown: there's a lot of music on these tapes. what do we hear? what type of music? >> the music on the basement tapes, in a certain way, it's unlike anything else throughout dylan's career. some of it is traditional folk songs he and members of the band would try out. they would play some of them, start them, stop them, do variations on them. but then dylan started writing allot and started writing with members of the band and that's when you start getting songs like "tears of rage."

♪ tears of rage ♪ . >> the mighty quinn. ♪ you'll not see nothing like the mighty quinn ♪ >> this wheel's on fire ♪ casual dylan fans might not know all these songs. but for people following his career, there's an antic element going on in the basement tapes, a sense of fun. dylan is restoring himself in part by turning back to folk music and by music that is informed by the trays of folk music, and that's really comes across in these recordings. it's a sense of mood and fun and just sheer delight e both of your own talent and the joyce

that music can bring. and, you know, to this day, bob dylan remains this inigmatic figure of rock and roll. every aspect of the history is looked at. >> absolutely and very much hidden in plain sight. dylan tours every year, does between 120 and 125 dates, he's out there all the time. but still, what's motivating him, driving him, what he's thinking about, what he's going to do, even now as he's well into his 70s, there's a sense in which none of those questions can be definitively answered. back to the basement tapes, that was really one of the most mysterious. the songs are very mysterious, there's a genial surrealism about them. they have a fun, mysterious aspect that's very difficult to pin down, but that's one of

their joys. it's the kind of thing that dylan fans revel in is interpreting all these songs. >> brown: anthony decurtis on bob dylan's basement tapes. thanks so much. >> thank you. >> ifill: on this election eve we end our broadcast with an unusual profile. political editor lisa desjardins introduces us to a first-time candidate and frontrunner. who is only 18-years-old. >> reporter: in the afternoon, in the blair family dining table is a tiny battleground. >> another round that will go out right before the election to the district about 4,000 of them this time. >> reporter: 4,000 handwritten campaign letters, handwritten by a person whose age group communicates mostly with keyboards. this is why 18-year-old saira

blair may become the youngest person ever to serve in the west virginia state legislature and one of the youngest ever in u.s. history. >> if i throw it away -- they might throw it away 15 seconds later but at least they've seen i put the work in and i really care about their vote and making sure they get out to vote. would you guys want to do the elementary school like you did for the primary? >> i don't care. okay. >> reporter: saira and the homegrown team won state delicate by 144 votes by actually touting her age. >> west virginia has had the same population since about 1980. we're the only state that has a decreasing population. one of the problems is people my age get their high school and college education here and leave because they can't find a good-paying job. so i want to be a part of making sure that my generation stays in west virginia and we help to cultivate economic growth that

right now isn't there. >> she knew what she was getting into when she stepped into the arena. i'm not concerned about that. >> reporter: craig blair is father and campaign manager and the area's state senator. he grew up in this state and this spring he watched her. >> i couldn't actually be there because doing commentary on the election that night, but i was the won who proclaimed she had won her race on the radio. i said, can i make the call on this? they said, you sure can. i called the election for saira blair. >> i was running because i wanted to represent my generation and i wanted to represent the people of morgan county. >> reporter: the two counties are a mix, on the eastern edge of west virginia. maryland is down the road in one direction and the appalachian mountains in the other.

both in the eastern part of this district are incomes well above state average. those near the mountains and well below. in all saira would represent about 18,000 people. >> garrett! yes, ma'am... >> reporter: she ran on a roughly $17,000 budget. $3,600 came from sara's college fund from working on the apple orchard. >> i think it was well worth it and i received a lot of scholarships for college and i was able to manage to pay for both. i think it doesn't just makes you grow up faster but puts your life in perspective. i would rather be doing this than be with my friends. >> reporter: you may wonder how she plans to be a lawmaker and full-time student. if she wins, she'll only attend college in fall semesters,

reserving spring for lawmaking when the legislature is in session. >> iamber, trying to get involved. >> reporter: just over a year ago, this kind of command was not there for sa sara. >> up through my junior year, i would panic and it was nerve racking every time i went in front of a crowd. it definite helped me grow as a person. i've gotten better at it. it's not as difficult. >> reporter: she'll get plenty more practice if she wins and she is the frontrunner in her delegate race, an 18-year-old frontrunner. you can be skeptical but she insists, after college, she didn't want to be a politician. >> i'm all worried about november 4 at the moment. it's too soon to say, but i'm

going to school for a major in economics and i would like to be a financial advisor. that's where i see myself in ten years. not on the steps of washington, d.c. by any means. >> reporter: lisa desjardins, pbs "newshour". >> ifill: again, the major developments of the day. candidates nationwide scrambled for votes on this mid-term election eve. republicans talked of taking the senate, while democrats worked to keep down their losses. and u.s. tensions with russia surged again on sunday's election in rebel-held eastern ukraine. moscow backed the vote, but stopped short of formally recognizing the region as independent. >> woodruff: on the newshour online right now for nearly two years, our "ask larry" column has been answering your social security making sense questions, but as one of our readers pointed out, most of those questions have been directed at married retirees. what about those who have never

been married? our benfits guru breaks down the four things they need to know. that's on our making sense page. all that and more is on our web site, pbs.org/newshour. >> ifill: and that's the newshour for tonight. on tuesday, election day is finally here. join us for analysis and the latest results on-air and online. plus, we'll bring you a special report at 11:00 p.m. eastern. good thing we got that extra hour's sleep over the weekend. i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. we'll see you on-line and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us here at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic

performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

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