captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight:ti it is el day. voters across the country head to the polls with control of congress and many state houses stake. we will have live analysis all night om our seasoned team of observers, as we track races for the senate, the house and governorships. it is the first test of the trump presidency at the ballot, and the results will determine the balance of power, and shape policy to come. all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

>> kevin. >> kevin! >> kevin? >> advice for life. life well-planned. learn more at raymondjames.com.b >>f railway. >> consumer cellular. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewersyou. thank you. >> woodruff: voting is still underway tonight in most of ethese united states, in much-awaited midterm elections. but, soon enough, results will begin to come in, as the nation

has its say about these candidates and about the past two years-- and los ahead. in rain and shine, voters across the country lined up to cast ballots-- sometimes in very long lines. for many, it was a referendum on president trump's two years in office. some were poised to deliver an endorsement: >> the economy, you know, it's awesome th all these people have jobs now. this wouldn't have happened without trump, i don't think. >> woodruff: others, to register their disapproval: >> well, without insulting the current president, i don't like what's happening.oo >>uff: mr. trump is not on the ballot, but he campaigned riously, right up to las night, in cape girardeau, missouri. >> we have and we have to elect a republican congress. >> woodruff: but mancrats t.edicted a blue wave toni

>> the enthusiasm people that people have-- again, nott agonizing ganizing-- is going to produce the victory. >> woodruff: control of congress is very much in play along wit o a large numbgovernors' seats. all 435 seats in the u.s. house of representatives were on the ballot today. democrats need a net gain of 23 to win back the majority. in the senate, 35 seats are at stake. the chamber now has 51 republicans, 47 democrats, and two independents who caucus with the democrats. and, 36 states are choosing governors. the current overall roster now is 33 republicans, onl16 democrats, and one independent. candidates on both sides talked up their party's prospects. in florida, democrat andrew gillum, seeking to become the state's first black governor, said his victory would be a statement to washington.

>> us winning tonight, i think, will send a message to mr. trump, and mr. desantis as well, that the politics oftr and division and separation, that they've come to an end. >> woodruff: in pennsylvania,er republican gtorial teddidate scott wagner t his chances. >> i've turned over every rock in every part of the state. i'm feeling good, i'm optimistic, i believe we're going to win it-- i know we're going toin it. >> woouff: all of this depends on voter turnout, of course, and it could hit rords. more tn 39 million votes had already been cast before today-- an increase of ten million from the 2014 midterms. adrian fontes holds the office of recorder for arizona's maricopa county, encompassing phoenix. >> this elecon is looking more like a presidential election, with the amount of ballots coming in.

>>aroodruff: these midterms e also shaping up to be the most expensive ever. kantar media tracks that spending, and estimates the total of television and radio advertising has run well over $3 billion. as ever, much of that went for attack ads. the wesleyan media project follows political advertising. it reports a 61% incree in attack ads over 2014, and many candidates are unhappy about that. democrat phil ekedesen is g a senate seat in tennessee. >> some of the things that were eyid in the ads about me, were just not, not tethered to reality, have just turned some people off. uff: and kris kobach is the republican running for governor in kansas. >> people are just sick of the negative ads. i've heard that a lot too, asnd

i've gone arhe state. they just turn them f, hit the mute button on the remote. >> woodruff: back at the blot box, there have been reports today of extreme waits and malfunctioning machines. u.s. officls also warned that foreign actors-- including russia, china and iran-- have tried influence the elections, but they said there is no indication that any voting infrastructure has beend. compromi >> woodruff: throughout the night, we want dig in to some of the individual races we're tracking, to see where they are headed and what they mean for the bigger picture. amna nawaz and lisa desjardi walk us through the details, in a segment we're calling "here's the deal." amna? >> judy, there are literally hundreds of races we're trying to track tonight, and, of course new york one knowthem better than our own lisa desjardins. for the rest of us to try to keep um, we have some tools to track what's going on. u lisa, wa through some of these. this is the senate balance of power. what does it show and what can change? >> there are versions of this exact graphic online on our bsite in which you ca interact and make them how you want. look at whatever data you like this. is where we're starting toight,

amna. these are the 65 u.s. senate seats that are not up for election tonight. you see why democrats are because republicans basically most of their republican candidates are not on the slate honight. look at all ofse bubbles on the blue democratic side. these are democrats wno are the ballot tonight. as the night goes, you will see these bubbles fill in. when you see a white color, that's going to mean that a republican or a democrat is leading, the darcolors mean t.at it's a secure senate sea >> so these colors start to fill in as the night goes on, but tot put fac these dots, we can go a layer deeper, too. you have put together i incredible list. why should we care about these people? >> we tlk so much about which party is in control.ot r trend to watch is a potential anti-incumbent wave. these are the members of the house of representatives on the ballot that are vulnerable.th means they're in a toss-up

or a race that is narrowly leaning to one side. we're going to follow their races tonight as we go you will see a checkmark for those who have been said to fot eche race and an x for those who are forecast to lose. el'll get a sense of whether incumbents will do one other note about this wall of face, these are all a republicanna, in the house, and there is one democrat on here from arizona.f the rest these are republicans. that's the opposite trend as we do in the senate. >> woodruff: and these are chronologically a -- arranged g sed on poll closme. just at the top throw, three of those are just in the state of ghtginia, so if we look ri now, just in virginia, we'll have some of these to look at over the course of the night what are you looking at when u ok at virginia? >> virginia is a key race. it will be an early indicator. and i nt to draw folks' attention to this race right here.

this is the second congressional district. norfolk is there. that's the u.s. navy headquarters. it's a traditional headquarters bastion, however, representatives there this year, scott taylorhe's having a ru against a fellow vy veterans. democrats think if this goeswa theiearly in the night, they think they'll be able to take the house of representatives themselves. >> woodruff: and virgs a state you'll look to as an early indicator many. >> that'hright. all ofe races will tell us something, but especially that race down there will be a key indicator that the entire state is a good one to watch. >> a t more states to watch. our own lisa desjardins staying es top of all of these rac somehow. these will be updated not just during our ecialverage, but online at pbsr..org/newsh re >> woodruff:dent trump has been flying around the country, mainly for crucial senate andin governor raceshe final

weeks of the campaign. tonight, he is at the white hou, and so is our own yamiche alcindor. hello, yamiche. so what has the president been doing and saying today as he waits for the results to start to come in? >> well, the president hasn't been seen on camera, but he has essentially thrun a watch party behind me at the white house. the president on twitter has u being people to vote for specific republican candidates in states like flori, illinois, and michigan. and he's been tweeting out polling locations some when president is done campaigning for the midterms on the trail, he's campaigning on soal media, rolling out some last-minute endorsements for ntpublican candidates. then the presiill be later tonight gearing with family and friends, some of the people who might be there might be ivanka trump, his daughter who works at the white house, as well as jared jared kushner, hi son-in-law, who works at the white house. the president doesn'want to see these midterms as a referendum on his presidency, buhe will likely beeering if republicans do well and likely not be talking about it

if repub.cans don't do we so the president, like all of us, is watching this very closel w >> woodruff:nt to ask you about what happened last night, yamiche. the president was atat rally in missouri. and we saw a number of fox news annel hosts appearing with him on stage. what do we know about the lationship between the white house, the trump administration, and this news organization, fox news channel? >> well, fox news has really essentially functioned as a communication arm of this white house. they are meone... they aree network that the president likes to go on. he likes to speak on the phone sometimes for 20 minutes. last night we saw that really embodied in the fact you had several fox news host who came on stage. sean hannity essentially said he wasn't going to be on stage with the president, but the president when he called him up, he came up, gave a couple remarks, and he even pointed to other journalists and call them fake news. the fox news network soon after today released a statementey saying that ton't condone

talent campaigning with candidates or the president, and they also said that has been addressed already, but you see that the white house fox news are really intesmeshed. the ent calls up sean hannity. sean hannity can call the white house easi well. as the president throws that watch party, you will have the deputy communications -- the deputy chief of staff for communications at the wh ae house noormer fox news executive. and there are several former fox news workers who are now working >> woodruff: all right. yamiche alcindor, we'll be coming back the you throughout the nit. thank you. >> thanks, judy. >> woodruff: so we turn now to proprominent -- prominent voices from both polital parties. first up, ronna mcdaniel, she's the chair of the republican nationaokcommittee. i with her a short time ago and started by asking what the central message of the publican party is as voters go to the polls. >> the question we're asking voters is are you better off than you are two years ago?

more jobs haveome to this country. unemployment rates are at record low, especially for the hispanic and african american communities. wages are growing for the first time in a decade, over 3%. people's lives are better. so it's a real choice. do you want to continue this path of economic prosperity or do you want to go down the path of resist and obstruct the democrats are offering. we have to build thacontrast into voters minds and have them make a choice, so we thinkg they're go pick the results and the record of the accompliments of the trump administration that is benefiting the american people. >> woodruff: we are hearing candidates talk about some of, this but we're also, ronna mcdaniel, hearing president trump out on the trail talk a lot about immigration, about fending off what he describes a hoards of dangerous migrants heading into this country. this is a country of, what, 325 million people. s this truly the critical issue the president mat out to

be? or is this more of a fear tactic as some people describe it >> well, he has talked about a multitude of issues. the president has ronis accomplishments, talking about the trade deals with other and the jobs and all the economic numbers. but he has talked recently about imagration because of the of this caravan coming toward this country. again, results first. we are party that is solving problems. we have anth issue wieople coming to our border, asylum claims are up 1,00% in the lat eight years. we don't want 12,000 kids coming unacgmpanied like we have ht now coming without their rents. something is wrong with our immigration system. we need to fix it. the presidenis saying i will tackle tough issues. it's in the a huge surprise that migration,ng about im because he talked about immigration and the economy in 2016, and he's ending 20 18 talking about those same two

issues. >> woodruff: but talking about it in a way that invokes fear. and again we're a very big country. this is a country of hundreds of millions of people. we're talking about a few thousand people, many of whoenm woulup applying for legal asylum. so i think isn't there disconnect between how the president portrays this and thet reality ground? >> well, in hi press conference that he gave from the white house last week, i don't think he's talked about fear as much as he recognized, there's a lot of people who want to come to this country because they see prosperity. they see it as a beacon of hope. we understand that. we are a coury that's welcoming in immigrants. we bring in a million new immigran a year. and he's saying let's do it legally and les fix our stem. but we don't want bad actors to get in because we don't have the border security we need and th. checks we ne there have been bad actors led into our country. that's not something a american wants, but he recognizes that people want to come to this country.e

be werve not just for our country to build -- to have immigratioreform, but we need to have that for the people who are trying to get here. let's do it in a legal waley. s work with democrats to get that done. the president again is saying,ro let's solve blems that have not been solved for decades. >> woodruff: is this election a referendum on president trump? >> you know, 's a referendum on the results, absolutely, because nancy pelosi has said she wants the raise taxes. dshe wants the resist obstruct. i think that's concerning, an we're bringing that cotrast to the voters. but we also know, judy, and you know, this historically th party that holds the white house loses 30 seats in the house and two to three seats in the senate. so the fact that we're competitive right now tonight is a good sign. we want to keep those majorities and we want to kee good things happening for the american people. but it'soing to be a tough night in some ways because we know history is against us. that's why the r.n.c. has been on the ground for two years. we've raised record money. b we havilt the biggest voter turnout machine in history

rats hadwe knew dem that energy and we had to match it with our infrastructure and our energy is rising, as well. >> woodruff: so if you are tor lose seatslose control of the house of representatives, whose fault will that be?i >>n't know if you can say it's anybody's fault. it's a lot of crcumstances, and part of it is a historical trend, part of it is 44 retirements in the house, and i think the voters need to take a look at at nancy pelosie dos if she becomes speaker, because she's talking about resist and obstruct. times you don't know wha that means until she gets gavel. i think we can win the house, but voters sometimes come out and vote for the opposition and not for the results that are happening. we're trying to change that course and defy history and make sure people understand what's at stake with this election. >> woodruff: ronna mcaniel, want to ask you about something else many other republican candidates are talking about, an wd thatith regard to healthcare. they're talking about preserving and protecting those with

preexisting conditions. s w, this comes on the he almost all of them voting time aftero time after time do away with the affordable care act called obamacare, which did protect preexisting conditions. so there is a contradiction there that i think hasn't been explained. >> there is not a cntradiction. because every republican has said we want to repeal obamacare and replace it wth a healthcare plan that restores the doctor-patient relationship. we've been very clear about that in saying we want to keep preexisting condition coverage in that replacement. so it's disingenuous for emocrats the say we want to repeal obamacad get rid of preexisting condition coverage when every republican, including the president, has said we don't want the take away preexisting condition coverage, we want to replace it with something better that's more patient centered and mo cost efficient for the american people. that's a fact. you know, i have a preexisting condition. have asthma.

i have family members with preexisting conditions. we don't want to take away that coverage that. fear mogering has been part of the democrat toolbook tis election cycle. it's something that's not fair to the american voter and it's also not truthful. >> woodruff: i ask because during those long debates, it didn't come up. you didn't hear republicans talkg about prtecting those with preexisting conditions. ronna mcdaniel, thank you very much. >> we've always said repeal and replace. we've always said repeal and replace, and preexisting ions was part of that. >> woodruff: ronna mcdaniel, chair of the republican party, thank you so much for making time for us. >> thank you for having us. >> woodruff: and now, for acr de's take, we turn to the minority leader of the house of representatives, congresswoman nancy pelosi of california.f: >> woodrhank you very much for being here. we just heard the woman who was the chair of the republican party saying you're all about resistance and that the democrats have been fear mongering by claiming that the

republicans want to do away with protecting preexisting conditions. >> well, let me first say that it'sn honor to be he with you again for the second time. two years ago we were here. togeth it's important to be able to set the record straight clearly, either they don't know the fac or they're misrepresenting the facts. it would be esier for the public to understand that the republican attorneys generho thro the country have brought suit against the affordable care act sayi that the preexisting condition should not be a benefit. the president of the united states instead of defending the law, which protects preexisting condions has joined them i saying we agree with them. so what they may say in the campaign is not true, and i don't want to get into the give-and-take with partyst acti i'm here to talk about the future of our country. this isn't about democrats or republicans. this is about the united states of america. it's aviout honoring thsion of the founders for life, liberty, pursuit of happiness

with a path that says e pluribus unum, that we have to try to work togfrether --m many one. it's the truth about the healthcare that's the biggest issue in te campaig that's why the republicans are misrepresenting it. but it's about really maintaining the preexisting condition benefit, about preserving medicare and id, which they have sai are on the chopping block, and it's about lowering the cost of prescription drugs, which is something that hopefully we can do in a bipartisan way. our agenda is lowering healthcare costs byreducing th cost of prescription drugs, increasing pay cutsy having government more accountable by having integrity in government overturning some of their corruption in th republican congress and new administration. >> woodruff: but you think that message has gotten across to the voters, both in house and senate races? we know the democrats are feeling pretty good about the house races. >> yes, we do, and that's why

because our message is one that addresses thencerns, the financial instability of america's families and that's why we're going ton tonight. we're going to win tonight in the house of representatives. >> woodruff: how can you be sure in. >> because of the quality of our candidat, because ofthe vitality at the grassroots level, because of the power of our message, of, again, lower healthcare costs, bigge paychecks, more honest government. it is a lesn across the country. we're in the a national campaign. we're one district at a time. and one district at a time we will win the congress tonight. >> woodruff: and so what does thde mean? what dcrats want to do? assuming you were to win the es, what representat can democrats do if president trump in the white house perhaps the pundits are saying, republicans may keep control of th dsenate, what caemocrats do? >> well, what we can do is honor the constitution by honoring --

strengthening the institution we serve in, article 1, the legislative branch, a check and balance on the president, on the executive branch, and on the judiciary. it's also about when we go in there and open up the congress in a transparent and just showing the public what is happening in legislation that affects their lives. we think they will be partners in better policy. so more openness, more accountability, more bipartisan. try to find common ground, epl ibus unum, try the find bipartisanship where we can, stand our ground where we can't but strive for the boldest common denominator. so it's abo transparency. it's about bipartisanship. ty.s about uni that's something quite different than the republicans are about. >> woodruff: very quickly, several more questions. can you work with president trump? can there be codmon groun between the democrats and the president? >> i think that our common ground will come from the

public, the public understanding ofhat rally on the table, on the issue of building infrastructure of america, the president has said that that is something wants to do. it's always been non-partisan, always been non-partisan. hopefully we can work togethe to advance that agenda. again, the form takes will be listening to the public to what they see what is at stake how we do that. i think we could find common ground in decreasing the cost of prescription drugs if the president is serious about his saying that he wants too that. he has pulled his punches on that so far. >>oodruff: you hear ronna mcdaniel and other republicans saying we expect the democrats, because some democrats are saying, is they want to conduct investigations of the president. they even want to impeach the president. s >> that sereir purpose to say that. we certainly will honor our responsibility of oversight of the executive branch. >> woodruff: will there be a move to impeach the president. >> it depends on what happens in

the mueller investigation, but that is not unifying, and i get criticized in my own party for not being in support of it, but i'm not. if that happen, it wuld have to be bipartisan anc the evi would have to be so conclusive. on the err hand, what people want us to do is address the concerns tht they have in teir lives. there is serious finabancial inity in many families in our country. they want to see us worng get that done for them. they want results. they want peace, and aat's wht we'll bring them. when president bush was president and i was speaker, we worked on many issues, even though i vigorously opposed the war in iraq. we did the biggest energy bill in history. we did many pieces of legislatn that were very constructive for our country. as opposed to what the republicans did when president obama was president and they were in the majority. but we're not gog to act the way they did. again, for those wo want

impeachment, that's not what our caucus is about. >> woodruff: finally, do you expect to be the speaker if democrats win back control? some democrats are running for congress who are saying they're not going to vote for you. >> well, i have never had an unanimous vote. maybhafirst time. e always had an opponent, so i feel pretty comfortable about it. i don't think i'm indispensable, but i think i'm the best person for the job, and i say that because i want women not to be afraid to talk about why they think they would be best. they demonize me, but i feel pretty comfortable about it. >> woodruff: pell -- nancy pelosi, currently the house minority leader. we'll see what happens. >> in a few hours. t >> woodrufnk you. s

>> woodruff: votst ballots today in the first national election since 2016. the were reports of long lines, voting problems with older machinesand concerns that the process could be vulnerable to hacking or tampering. william brangham is up in our newsroom with the latest on how the vote went today.t' >> brangham: tright, judy. in addition to the mishaps you mentioned, there is, of course, the ever-present concern that our voting system coul vulnerable to hacking or tampering. juliette kayyem is a former u.s. department of homeland security official, and she's the author of the book "security mom: an unclassified guide to protecting our heland." juliette, thank you very much for being here. we've heard the usual sets of mishaps about this election so far, older voting machines, bad weather, lots of long lines, poll stations not opening when they are supposed to. on the other front, i know that there are a federal agencies that are looking out for whether there'sore

malicious activity going on, hacking of any sort. i know you've been lisning in on some briefings they've been happening. what have you heard so far? >> so i pu this whole issue about voting into four fferent columns right now. so the first is hacking, the thing we feared the most, the assians getting in and cnging votes. we're see nothing evidence of that. there's more activity, people are looking in and, you know, sort of on web sites and stuff, but nothing that is viewed as nefarious. that's the good news. the second pool is fae news and misinformation. your polling booth is closed. immigrations and customs enforcement is at this polling place, so don't go there if you are worried about yogrur imion status. facebook, twitter, and others have over the last week tried to bring down some of those sites. it brings like whack a mole. they see sakmething andit off and it's always responsive, and that's something that we know the russiansvere very,y much engaged with todaya and this i systematic challenge for those social media platforms.

the , ird piece that we saand we saw the president play this game, is allegations of voter aud to be used to basically disenfranchise people. so when the president tweeted out about, you know, there's going to be police at polng areas making sure that you lawfully are voting, it's sort of a threateni thing that is meant to mute voter entm.husi and then the fourth is you mentioned, te technological issues. they're common. we've seen them before. sometimes social media amplifies stuff. busome of the stuff we reading about now in georgia and elsewhere, it's a modern nationl should beto vote with a little bit more confidence than what we're seeing right now. so that sort of the lay of the land in a nutshell. >> woodruff: les unpack one of those things you just mentioned. with president trump and attorney general sessions, they basically indicated they would have federal authorities and local police and officials looking out all day long on election day for illegal voting, which know there is

vanishingly small evidence that that actually happened. oi'm just curious whatr sense of why they might have been trying the ratchet up fear about that and if it might have had any impact on how people voted today. >>i think it's harto measure whether what the impact is, but it definitely was a form of voter intimidation if not sort of an attempt to suppress voter turnout, because certain communies that may lawfully be able to vote may be nervous about a friend or family member or you might be nervous even if you're allowed to vote that you might be challenged or questioned while in line.we so i vithat tweet as about as close to sort of, you know, welcoming of a kind of voteres suon that you could imagine from the president of the united states. there's simply noroof o what the president was alleging, and certainly threatening the use of immiation or law enforcement resources was just a fear tactic

that we'll see if it worked today given the numbers we're i seeiterms of voter turnout. >> brangham: in one of her briefings today, the secretary of the department of homelandis security, en nielsen, made mention that thus far they hadn'ten seen any pa lisacs ons by foreign countries, but she raised one possible concern that after the election is over, say late tonight, tomorrow, later, that news might read, misinformation type of news, that something had gone wrong with te voting process itself. what might be going on in that regard? >> so part of what the russians or any nefarious actor want us to fel is to not have confidence that our votes count. they can do that by hacking and trying the change our vote o the create atmospherics during the voting process or after tha makelieve that something nefarious had happened some the department to its credit, and they've been really on the ball today, the department to its

credit has been trying to bring these sites and this misinformation down. so it's a sort of attempt to stop the rumor mills mange you and i think mething bad had happened. could you imagine a rumor that all the numbers are off? that would limb people's faith in the final vote. so it's good they're bei very fcused on not just tonight but also some of the stories that will come out tomorrow. woodruff: juliette kayyem, thanks for watching all of this for us. we'll check back in if need be. thanks very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: throughe kight, we are going to be a step back every oncea n a while fonger view of today's developments, with historian miael beschloss. he joins me now.

so michael, you do look at american history. you've looked at elections, recent and in the distant past. have y ever seen a midterm or read about a midterm like this one? >> no, not like this, judy. the difference is we know that these midter change a presidency. 1946, truman lost bothouses of congress for the first time in 16 years, hado toderate his liberal policies. lyndon johnson in 1966 lost 47ho e seats. he had to trim back the great society. or bill clton in 1994, first time in 40 years the democrats ust control of both hoses of congress. eso months later clinton giv his state of the union and says the era of big government is over. so if the democts win the house for instance tonight, donald trump is going to have to ange his plans idealogically. doesn't have two houses to passes these things anymore. at the same time, this is a president who has not had maecny . we have a supreme court with a five-justice majority that is

probablyavorable to trump on many things. there's going to be a report by robert mueller in the near future, and if the democrats are in control of congress, it's going to be much more difficult for hip-to deex that report. >> woodruff: so presidents don't have any choice but to listen to the voters in these mireerms? >> thelly do, if they want to get reelected. bill clinton said, i'd like to go on and do more audacious things like healthcare, as i tried in 1994. but the public obviously thinks that i went too fast. when he ran in 1996, he was a far more moderate person, at least the way the public saw him and the way he tried to project himself than he was at the tie that the midterms happened in '94. >> woodruff: michael, the other thing, onething w've certainly been watching in the last days, even weeks, is how much president trump is invested himself in this election out on the tra, more even than most presidents at a midterm. doing rallies, doing

appearances, can that shape an electorate? can that shape a president's future? >> sure it can because, you know, if he loses at least one house of congresss tonight, iing to be almost impossible for him to credibly say tomorr morning this had nothing to do with me. we had bad candidates or this was some comment by the voters on the way that members of congress wee behaving. it was his choice to make this a mammoth referendum on donald trump, and he's going to have to take the burden of that. >> woodruff: michael beschloss, remembering history and connecting the dots for us. thank you. we'll be talking to you throughout this night. t look forwarit. and you can learn more about wchael beschloss, including when his fascinatih the presidency began, in the latest episode of "that moment when...", newshour's weekly sho, on facebook wa video-on- demand section of the social

media site. >> woodruff: so let's take a closer look at the political state of play tonight. in the 35 senate seats being contested, democrats are on defense, trying toold onto their 24 seats. pay attention to 11 close races, some in states president tru won big in 2016. there are also a few g.o.p.-held seats that have become toss-ups over the course of the campaign, including open seats in arizona and tennessee. in the 36 governors races today, it is the republican party on defense. of the 16 closest races, 13 are held by republicanin including raditional conservative strongholds like kansas and oklahoma. but perhaps the biggest prize of .his night: control of the house of representativ of course, all 435 seats are up for election. democrats need a netof

23 seats to win back the speaker's gavel. we will be keeping track of them all, but we will pay particular attention to some swing districts-there are 21 seats that president obama won in 2012 that flipped to president trump in 2016. and, 13 districts went the other way, voting for mitt rney in 2012 and then for hillary clinton in 2016. so let's get thoughts on what to watch tonight from some familiar faces here at the table, who will be with me all night: syndicated columnist mark shields. "new york mes" columnist david brooks. amy walter, national editor for the "cook politil report." karine jean-pierre, a senior adviser to moveon.org and a veteran of the obama administration. and, chrisuskirk, the editor of the conservative website, american greatness. we welcome all of you. it's going to be a long night. we're going to hang together throughout no matter what, no

matter what the res.ults tell david brooks, i'm going to start with you. what are you looking for? >> well, it will be a pleasure to get actual results that will put a crimp in my random speculation. no, it will be a couple things strike me about today. first, all of the democratic friends i have are flinching,be use they're afraid, they went in feeling confident and now they're thinking it's going to happen again, it's gog to happen again. so i've never seen such pre-vote nervousness at least on the democratic side. the thirthing i'd say is if there has been any movement in the polls, maybe amy would know this, the last couple days have been kind of good for the democrats. and thattatters a l, because waves tend to be bigger than they look. and when there is a wave election it's always bigger than we think it could be. that could be. 'll see ifn a few hours. more than about legislation, this is about cultu, about what kind of country we are, and the results will tell us a lot about whose story about america the predominant story. >> woodruff: mark, are you

nervous as david said? >> no, not at all. i'm confident. i associate myself with david's remarks, but i do think the unwritten story or the uncovered story, not that we've covered it, but generally uncovered russia the governor's races. i think they're the most important. the republican ascent to dominance at the congressional level began in 2010 really. hat was... sinceen democrats have been competitive in votes, but not in results, because republicans drew the lines after the 2010 census thanks to winning governorships across the country, but parcularly in the great lakes. >> midwestern states. that's where donald trump won the presidency. he carried michigan. he carried wisconsin. he carried pnsylvania by a grand total of 80,000 votes among the three of them, but all three of those states tonight are poised to elect in my

judgment democratic governors. and i think that when you are talking about states like kansas possibly voting for a democrat tonight, ohio i think, a state that trump won by nie points. so i think in that sense, when the dust settles, going forward from 2018, loongt the 2020 census, democrats are going to be on n far more competitive position, not simply for the 2020 elections, but for drawing the coitional districts in a more equitable and just basis after that census. >> woodruff: amy walter, what about you? >> i'm really struck by some of the things that these folks eought up, especially feeling the last time we were all here in 2016.a in some it feels like it was soout 116 years ago, but it a feels very familiar, and yet the country hasn't moved on much in their inions about the president since 2016. normally over the course of a

president's fit term, it arts with a honeymoon and goes up and down, an you see where he endsp coming into a midterm election. this president's case, he started basically at 45%, his approval rating, and he's ending essentially at 44%, 45%. along the way he's dipped a little. opinions of him have not changed. they have just hardene if you didn't like him in 2016, you really don't like him now. if you liked him in 2016, yo still like him now. what i will be curious to see is which parts of the country as david pointed out, making sort of a culture decision than it is on policy, and it'so mre personality based and which parts of the country are going to weigh in, wei in differently in house races than they do in senate races. it loks a lot different in a midterm than it does in a presidential when electoral votes are the key as opposed to individualistricts and different situations and individual states. >> woodruff: to karine jean-pierre, if we're endi up about where we started, it's not

as if a lot hasn't happened. y >> oh,es, what has not inppened in the last two years, when you are taabout nervous democrats, it reminds me of the "saturd night live" skit. i know a lot of friends who are feeling like that, who are just staying home and drinking by themselves. aughter] anyway, i am in line with mark on theps governors i think that's something we haven't heard a lot about. there are a lot of his firsts in this election, but wisconsin, illinois, iwa, kansas as you mentioned, we can make a lot ofi hstoric kind of getting back some of those states and really focusing on redistricting and what thainwill look lik 2020 and also elorida and georgia. if that happens,e going to potentially elect first african american wan in georgia governor in this country that we haven't done yet, also the fir african american governor in florida, which would be huge, and there are other firsts.

we could potentially elect more than 100 women in congress. and the first native american. 100 more women in congress. the first native erican, the first muslim woman. so there's a lot that's i think it started with the women's march. >> woodruff: chris bukirk, what's your perspective? what are you keeping an eye on? >> i'll tell you, if you think about the horse race tonight, there are a few districts and races we' ll allep our eye on, virginia 10 or ohio 12, these are bellwethers we need to think tactically how is it going to turn out e big picture for me will be republican turnout. that's something i think is really interesting since we're talking about the women's march. since the women's march almost two years ago now we've known democrat turnout was going to bo en. i think one thing that may be surprise is that republican turnout will be really, really big tonight, too. what does that tell us? it tells us that republican

candidates and the republican base aren't running away from trump or the policies that's been pursuing. they're actively running with so that sets up an ongoing political conflict that's going to play out in the xt two years, and probably beyond that. remember, two months from nownu, y, the presidential race starts. we're just barely going to ge through this -- >> it starts tomorrow. >> i was hoping for a break. woodruff: 12 hou from now. >> i think that's a really good point about turnout. aat's what's so differeout this midterm from previous midterms. usually there is a wave because one side turns out and the other side doesn't. the side that turns out is the party out of power. they're the most fruanstrated. theyto get back in power, and the party in power, they're complacent or dsappointed and they stay home. that's not what this election, certainly in what we've se thus far, is suggesting. >> woodruff: i want to ask each one of yo, are weearing from the candidates, david, the things that the voters want to

hear about? are we hearing about the things that matter? >> mark and i disagree on this one. but i think it's -- as i mentioned last week, on both sides' minds, there is some n sense ional unraveling. so it's not about specific issues, 's about a big sense of unraveling. what donald trump has done is told a very coherent national story. here's who the good people are. here's the aliens out to get us that. is a big story. the democrats have gone to the healthcare issue. and i personally think that's a mistake. it my not matter electorally because enough people don't like donald trump, but i think it's w question oat kind of nation are we? who is in our nation? what values does r nation represent? and donald trump has give an coherent argument about that. i think thiras dem have not responded with a coherent, big argument in that way. >> woodruff: what about that, mark? >> david was wrong a week ago. that's one of the great things about his consistency i have come to admire and treasure. that's not a midtermlection. that's a presidential election.

the president is the voice of the party. i really think that what is fascinating about this election is thatub repcans were dealt four kings. this economy is absolutely gangbusters. and when you get fewer people on food stamps, when you have more people working in manufacturing. en you have a bod economy and donald trump is a one-trick pony. he can only come back to vision. he can only come back. he can't accept good news. s message bically is, things are bad and they're going to geo e. and that's -- so it comes back to immigration. i think in a bizarre way he's played into the democrats' hands, i really do. instead of ying, what we've accomplished is not only morning ein america, it's wekend in america. it's a great boom and thecr des oppose me at every term. we're going to have bigger booms and it's going to bette

tomorrow. instead he turns away from that and goes to fear, division, and i think to defeat. >> woodruff: chris buskirk, has the president missed the mark by talking as much as he has about immigration? >> i don't think so. here's why: i understand mark'sh point, but ink what donald trump is looking at is this is an issue that motivates the republican base. if you go back to august 2015, what was the issue that started to separate donald trump from the rest of the pack during the primaries? immigration. when he started to talk abouta that a lot, t propelled him forward. the more he talks about that, the more engaged the republican base comes. and part of it is what he really believes. so a conviction politician on this issue. part of it is he knowwhat work. if this is important to yourpo baseiticians talking about what's important to voters, this is important to republican voters >> woodruff: karine, how do you see it? >> it's really unfortunate because there is an immigration problem, absolutely, and we mead

the of course it. sleerl central america, countries there are having rea economic issues and violence there and people there are trng to flee to save their lives. and but what donald trump isin is racism. it's race-baiting. it's really awful. it's ugly. it shouldn't be who we are as a country. and insteaof coming up with policies and trying to figure out how can we help, how can we fix, he's really just throwing red meat at his base. it's really disturbing. and as someone whis an immigrant myself, i came here with my parents decadesago, this is not what the american dream is. you know, this is fe mongering, and it shouldn't be. and so that's kind of unfortunate. >> woodruff: chris do, you want to respond quickly before i go to amy? >> i appreciate your point, karine. i can speak for mys i don't want to put words in anybody else's mouth, but the perception of the immigtion problem we have from the right, for myself, is that this is one

of those things you haveo get control of the border first and then start to think about, well, how do we of course these arguments. don't let the problem of illegal immigration get worse because the is such disust on this issue between democrats and republicans. and everybody -- it's like a drug deal at midnight. nobody wants to go first. it's like a matter of the president saying, let's build the wall, let's enforce the, lad then we can talk about how we deal with central issue. it's a big if there were no demand for people to come here, you wouldn't have the issue at the border. how do you fix these countries in our hemisphere. >> i think we're aeeing, but i think it's the lies, saying the caravan with no facts argang members when we know a majority of the folks who are in that caravan are women and young people. i think it'saying you're going to end the 14th amendment, which is something that's really taking away people's birthrighth who were bore. that's the problem, and the lies and the fear mongering. it's n s that we're notaying, hey, we don't need to fix the

problem, there is a problem, but why connect it to lies. >> woodruff: we'll talk about this a lot more through the night, but amy, it's emblematic with what we're looking at. >> the emotional piece of this election has been clear from the beginning. literally when the election was over in 2016, the emotion was rawen and that rawness has continued to rule out until this moment. the interesting thing about tissues beg brought up, for democrats, it's healthcare.ke i think they lat that issue and they said, you know, in 2016,illary clinton made the contrast between democrat and republican, between herself and trump on vision of america. i'm going to be an inclusive vision of america. he's going to be other. she loses. democrats say she lost because shedidn't talk about th economy. this wasn't the issue that was going to motivate voters. healthcare, pocketbook issue. what it is setting up for, and this is going to come anyway,t

's setting up more dramatically, is democrats have fto define what medicar all erans, and for every democrat it means something dit. whoever is a democratic nominee is going to have to really clearly outline that and for right now i think that is fine, bunwe don't have an aswer, but it's going to be more challenging going forward. >> woodruff: we'll come back to all of this as the night goes on. >> woodruff: in the day's other non-election news, the man accused of sending pipe bombs to prominent democrats and critics of president trump ad in federal court in new york today. cesar sayoc had been transferred from florida, where police arrested him late last month. he was ordered held without bail today. sayoc faces 48 years in prison if he is convicted on five federal charges.

some 4,500 central american migrants have now arrived in meco city, in a caravan th president trump made an issue in the midterm elections. they are camping, and resting, ey say, at a sports stadium. organizers say the group will stay in mexico city for a few days before deciding where to go thxt. from mexico cityclosest u.s. border crossing is at mcallen, texas, more than 600 miles away. in northern iraq, united nations investigators report they have found more than 200 mass graves left by islamic state extremists. the graves are believed to contain 6,000 to 12,000 bodies. they date from 2014 to 2017, when the militts, sometimes known as isil, ruled some of iraq's largest cities. >> these graves contain the remains of those mercilessly f kill not conforming to isil's twisted ideology and ru, including ethnic and religious minorities. truth, justice and reparations

are critical to ensuring a full reckoning for the atrocities committed by isil. >> woodruff: iraq declared victory over the islamic state late last year. bu the group still control pockets of territory inside neighboring syria, and continues to claim attacks in iraq. taliban attackers in afghanistan overran a military base near the western border today, killing at least 20 ahan troops. it happened in farah province, the latest in a series of near-daily attacks on security forces. in kabul today, nato secretary- general jens stoltenberg met with president ashraf ghani, and called for peace. >> the taliban must understand that continuing the fight is pointless and counterproductive. to be part of afghanistan's future, they must sit do at e negotiating table. >> woodruff: the taliban controy nealf of afghanistan, and have rejected offers towi negotiat the government. china came under new criticism

today over its mass detentio of muslims. up to one million ethnic uighurs and other muslims areved to be held in western china's xinjiangcoegion. westertries used a u.n. human rights meeting today to press for closing the detention caijs. g dismissed the criticism as politically driven. there is also word that china granted 18 trademarks to companies linked to the trump family since september. most of those went to ananka trump's and covered everything from shoes to jewelry, and even voting machines. china's granting of trademarks-c to trunected businesses have repeatedly raised concerns about presidential conflicts of interest. on wall street, the market moved higher as industrial and tech stocks rallied. rae dow jones industrial a gained 173 points to close at 25,635.e sdaq rose 47, and the s&p 500 added 17. and, nasa has racked up another

first. the parker solar probe flew within 15 million miles of the st night, that is the closest any spacecraft has ever come. as seen in this animation, it made the fly-by at more 200,000 miles an hour.e obe will make 23 even closer approaches over the nextr seven and that is the newshour for now. we will here all night with a live election night special. i'm judy woodruff. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, and we'll seyou soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> bnsf railway. >> consumer cellular. >> financial services firm raymond james. >> the ford foundation.

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hello, everyone.om we here's what's coming up. ♪ god bless the usa >> evangelicals flood the zone for trump weighing their priorities against his foibles. plus, these mid terms could have an unprecedented surge of women in power.em gloria stein fhas been waging th fight for decades. and why is this country so deeply divide? the veteran journalist turns his critical eye