how did the republicans lose this governorship? nbc news again, projects tonight that the winner of the gubernatorial race is mcauliffe gubernatorial race in virginia is terry mcauliffe. "first look" is up next. good wednesday morning. right now on first look, the voters have spoken with the winners in the books and the country set on a new path. and the man at the center of the dolphin's bullying scandal speaks out. a drunken stupor, a crack pipe and the man who says he feels a thousand pounds lighter after apologizing. plus senator rand paul on what will make people leave him the hell alone. a and a look at the earth once the icecaps melt. we start with election day highlights in two high profile races. first to virginia where democrat terry mcauliffe won a tight

race. no one thought it would be this close. mcauliffe ended up beating republican ken cuccinelli by three points. he was put over the top by voters in virginia and was helped by female voters winning more than half their vote. this will be mcauliffe's first time holding public office. he's a form chairman of the dnc and a long-time adviser to the clintons. >> this election was never a choice between democrats and republicans. it was a choice about whether virginia would continue the mainstream bipartisan tradition that has served us so well. >> mcauliffe's victory means it is the first time virginia has elected a governor from the same party of the sitting president in decades. in new jersey, governor chris christie coasted to victory over democrat barbara buono. on the campaign trail he touted

a spirit of bipartisanship. last night, he talked to supporters in a lot what sounded like a kickoff to a 2016 presidential run. >> the biggest thing i have learned over the last four years about leadership is that leadership is much less about talking than it is about listening. i know if we can do this in trenton, new jersey, maybe the folks in washington, d.c. should tune in their tvs right now, see how it's done. next to new york city where voters elected the first democratic mayor in a generation. bill de blasio beat republican joe lhota by the largest margin since the 1980s. he called his campaign a s progressive one. promising to tax the rich to fund universal pre-k and rein in the stop and frisk practice. there is something for new yorkers to get used to he's a devout red sox fan. speaking of boston, state representative marty walsh will become the 48th mayor. the democrat won a narrow victory to replace tom menino. in detroit mike duggan will be

tapped with leading that bankrupt city. the former hospital ceo was elected on hopes of bringing revitalization. he will detroit's first white mayor in four decades. elsewhere around the country colorado voters approved a measure to tax marijuana. pot will have a 25% tax slapped on it next year. and the astrodome could soon be headed for demolition. voters there rejected a multimillion dollar plan to renovate the structure. before the vote city leaders said they recommend the wrecking ball if it failed. now to the sensational admission of crack use from toronto's mayor. >> yes, i have smoked crack cocaine. do i? am i an a addict? no. have i tried it? probably one of my drunken stupors probably about a year ago. >> despite the bombshell from ford, mayor of the fourth largest city in north america, the 44-year-old refused to

resign. >> i feel like a thousand pounds have been lifted off my shoulders. folks, i have nothing left to hide. i apologize and i'm so sorry. i was elected to do a job and that's exactly what i'm going to continue doing. >> ford has been hammered by drug allegations since may and denying them ever since until now. it stems back to a video reportedly showing him smoking crack cocaine. toronto police say they have a copy but authorities say the video doesn't have enough evidence to charge the mayor with a crime. canada's cbc news reports that ford's approval ratings have gone up to 44% despite calls for him to step down. >> right now he does not have a shred of credibility and we have

become the laughing stock of north america if not the world. >> indeed the late night shows are not at a loss for words. >> i heard that your mayor ford's approval ratings went up after it came out that he smoked crack. you know what that makes you as a city, toronto? enablers, eh. buried in the election day news, there was a major vote in illinois. the state legislature gave final approval to a bill legalizing same-sex marriage. the state senate passed the bill in february but it was held up in the assembly. 14 states and the district of columbia currently allow for same-sex marriage. the ohio legislature could pass legislation legalizing the unions this week. suspended miami dolphin offensive lineman richie incognito, the man at the center of the bullying case, breaks his

silence. >> richie, how are you? >> doing well. >> what do you have to say about the storm you're in? >> i'm just trying to weather the storm right now and this will pass. >> reporter: the dolphins dropped him sunday amid accusations he bullied teammate jonathan martin, including reports that he left threatening and racist voicemails. the allegations put the dolphins locker room culture into question. south florida's sun sentinel reported that coaches asked incognito to cufftoughen martin after he missed spring training. speaking of sports, let's get to the latest headlines from richard lui. good morning. >> good morning. only four have done this before, with 35 points last night, lebron james has now scored at least ten points in 500 consecutive games. the heat beating toronto 104-95.

green bay's aaron rodgers is out with a broken collarbone suffered in monday night's game. rodgers saying there's no set timetable for his recovery. gary kubiak is out of the hospital after a mini stroke. nfl.com saying he suffered from a temporary blockage of a vein in his brain. he's expected to fully recover. washington, d.c. city council voted last night calling for the washington redskins to change their name. they are saying the name redskins is widely recognized as racist and derogatory. and some say northwestern's uniforms look like they're splattered with blood. what do you think? >> i could see that. >> underarmor saying it's a distressed pattern representing a weathered flag flown proudly. reese the beast won a sparkling bracelet, $8.4 million. ryan reese is the winner of the world series of poker in las

vegas. at 23, he was the youngest of all the finalists. >> his parents thought he was wasting all his time on cards. >> heck, no. he won $8.4 million. >> remember the iconic photo of three officers over a runner after the boston marathon, for their cover, sports illustrated reunited those officers with david ortiz. it was a rush late-night shoot where even the police commissioner showed up. line lochte is out of action. he smashed his knee during an incident in florida. his publicist says as a result of a freak injury caused by an unexpected fan encounter, ryan has suffered a torn mcl and an acl sprain and will be taking a break from training and competition. >> very suspicious. >> head scratch there. tiger woods setting another record. he's the first golfer to hit a ball from europe into asia.

>> show off. >> yeah. he did it from a bridge in turkey that connects the two continents. >> still pretty good. >> he can hit a ball a ways there. part of a turkish open hoopla. the tournament starts tomorrow. >> not many people can say they can hit a golf ball across continents. >> he said he enjoyed it. >> i'm sure he did. >> meteorologist bill karins is here now with the weather. suspicious of ryan lochte, huh? >> sounds iffy. fan encounter. i'm wondering if alcohol is involved. i'm just saying. >> we have to dig down to the bottom of it. good morning, everyone. thankfully we'll warm it up on the east coast. you don't need that heavy jacket today even in new england. it did snow last night as advertised. in minneapolis, it's just about over with. we got a couple inches there. minneapolis itself maybe a slushy inch or two. it is a rainy wednesday morning, though. that rain that's now over chicago and indianapolis and st. louis will slide east today. so, ohio, michigan, kentucky,

tennessee, all the way down to louisiana, you will get the rain. for the east coast, as it get here's tomorrow, it's going to weaken significantly. not a lot of anything from d.c. down to atlanta. maybe a bit up there from new york city northwards. still cold up in new england in the 30s. most of the cities are in the 40s. 53 in d.c. that's why you don't need that heavy coat. heading up 20to 65 in d.c. 62 in new york. if there's airports, o'hare, cleveland, detroit maybe, our friends down in houston with a couple storms. >> thank you very much. well, the first lady and the president crash a tour. plus marvel comics prepares for a potential firestorm over their newest creation. that story coming up. mine was earned orbiting the moon in 1971.

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now to some other stories making news this morning. the high school teacher wounded in the l.a.x. terminal shooting last week is currently recovering in the hospital. brian lugmer described what it

was like after being shot in the leg. >> i tried to stand on it first. and it wouldn't support my weight. the bones were totally shattered so it kind of gave. i ended up crawling down the length of the hallway along that wall. >> after more than a week on the run, the last two inmates who have escaped from an oklahoma jail were recaptured. and national geographic created an interactive world showing what the world would look like if the ice caps completely melted. bad news for us, most of the eastern see board is gone, and florida has all but vanishes. scrambled politics is just ahead. we'll tell you about obama care going hollywood and stick around for letterman's top ten, pelosi style. getting trapped. getting trapped. why's that? uh, mark? go get help! i have my reasons.

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angie's list definitely saves me time and money. for over 18 years we've helped people take care of the things that matter most. join today. it's time for your "first look" at scrambled politics. the washington times is cutting ties with senator rand paul. it sending his weekly column amid plagiarism allegations. he is now putting safeguards in place to make sure that doesn't happen again. he said if it will make people leave me the hell alone, we'll try to put out footnotes. oklahoma senator tom coburn is undergoing treatment for prostate cancer. he revealed his diagnosis tuesday. the 65-year-old was treated for the disease back in 2011. obama care is going hollywood. the california endowment is spending $500,000 to ensure the

law. they want writers and producers to have information on the act. bill nelson wants lawmakers to ban corporations from getting tax deductions on penalties. it comes as jpmorgan chase is trying to get a tax deduction on a $13 billion penalty. a former southern california lawmaker has pleaded guilty to taking more than $2 million in pribs. marcello coe was trying to steer laws in his favor while he was on the moreno city council. public tours at the white house have resumed on a limited basis. on tuesday, president and mrs. obama surprised a group making their way through the executive mansion. tours had been put off because of the sequester. and house minority leader nancy pelosi delivered david letterman's top ten last night. the topic, ten things you didn't know about the house of representatives. >> 19 representatives have gone

on to become president. 10 have gone on to manage a sizzler's. members may vote yea, nay or whatever. thanks to corporate sponsorship, majority whip now known as miracle whip. >> oh. and the number one thing you never knew about the house of representatives -- >> the tea party is not nearly as much fun as it sounds. >> yeah. >> and that's your morning dish of scrambled politics. and joining me now for more on the big elections yesterday is political columnist and analyst ellis hannigan. >> welcome to the first day of the chris christie campaign. >> let's talk about chris christie. i want to talk about the demographic breakdown of his win. he won among men and women. he got 21% of the african-american vote.

he won a majority of the hispanic vote and every education level and income group. also 32% of the democratic vote and 66% of independents and 61% of moderates. how does a republican in a blue state make this happen? >> and in the state of new jersey. >> exactly. >> that's what really makes it so amazing. listen, he had a message that was different from the message that many other republicans had delivered. it was an open message, an inclusive message, a message that said listen, i believe in things, but i'm willing to work with other people to make good stuff happen. it sold. >> but it's not like he shape shifted. he didn't moderate on the issues. he is still anti-abortion. >> conservative. >> anti-same-sex marriage. fiscal conservative but able to appeal to people in the middle what can the gop learn from this? >> personality matters, that's one thing. if you spend your whole time saying no, you're not welcome here, that's not the way to broaden a party. if you have a personality that's

big, i don't mean that just in a physical sense, but a big, loud, commanding, charismatic personality, sometimes that will get people to vote for who may not agree with you on everything. >> when it comes to his opponent, barbara buono, the big guns in the democratic party basically offered no support to her. >> in hindsight it was a mistake. you're right. this gives a big green light to chris christie who may be the most affective republican candidate in 2016. looking back on it, a bunch of democrats will kick themselves. they will remember an example from a few years ago, george w. bush, big victory, re-election, governor of texas, using to go on to a presidential success. >> let's take a quick look at virginia. the challenge politically is always how to appeal to your base without alienating the middle. that's something that cuccinelli couldn't do. he was appealing to his base but didn't appeal to the middle what can the gop learn from this

race? >> clearly last night the chris christie worked a whole lot better than the ken cuccinelli example. in the last days, look at the people he brought in to campaign for him. it was super conservative senators, rand paul. >> he was doubling down on that base. >> his theory is get the faithful out to the polls. the faithful did turn out, but there weren't enough of them, even in a southern state like virginia. >> what does that tell us about the strength of the tea party right now? >> it was not a great night for the tea party. you have to say dems did not romp in virginia. they didn't kill cuccinelli. maybe they can say we still have our base here. but if you give a choice as a republican which path do you follow, that chris christie more open and inclusive approach or that narrower tea party just play to the base approach? last night's lesson, go with the moderates. >> i want to turn to the issue of gay rights. last night was a big night for gay rights.

the state legislature in indiana approved same-sex marriage bill there. in illinois, rather. so what does this say, we have this big bill in the senate now, ending workplace discrimination against gays. where do you think that will go? speaker boehner has indicated he won't bring it to a vote. >> but it's inevitable. history is on the side of this. most americans at this point think let those people have their lives. they may live differently from someone else what do you want to do? you want to keep their rights away from them? not let them love people the way that straight folks do? i think we reached the tipping point of this and it's a matter of time. probably not too much time before those numbers are not 14 states, 15 states, but 25 or 30. don't you feel that. >> you feel that momentum shifting. thanks for your time. >> great to be with you. coming up, bill karins and richard lui will be here for first buzz, all the stories that caught our attention. a controversial new superhero

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it's time for first buzz, all the stories we're talking about this morning. >> i promise, this is not a debbie downer story. it's not. joy johnson died two days ago, age 86. not a debbie downer. her family couldn't be happier for her. that's her there two days ago on the "today" show talking to al roker after she completed her 25th new york city marathon. she fell at mile mark 20, refused to stop racing, finished the race, and then as she's always done over the last two

decades, woke up to see her friend al and talk to him on the show. she died a couple hours after the interview with al roker. it's like a human spirit. she didn't even run -- she didn't run her first marathon until she was 59. she ran three a year until 86. that's how i want to go out. >> strength of human spirit. >> richard, you have a super car? >> a thorium car. >> i have to tune out when i hear cars. >> look at that look at how beautiful that thing is. >> gorgeous. >> it is run by thorium, a dense fuel. it exists in nature, thorium does. it's more plentiful than uranium. >> my eyes are glazing. >> see this? with this much fuel a car can run 150 years. >> okay. that's a problem. >> sorry that was not a quarter. we will leave with marvel

comic's newest comic book character. the first muslim superhero. her power is shape shifting, . d i'm mara schiavocampo. i know if we can do this in trenton, new jersey, maybe the folks in washington, d.c. should tune in their tvs right now. i did not seek a second term to do small things. i sought a second term to finish the job. now watch me do it. new jersey governor chris christie thinking big as he makes history and seems to be well set up to shake things up with a possible 2016 presidential bid. the mayor of toronto, after months of dancing around the topic he admits, yeah, probably smoked crack. that doesn't mean he's stepping

down as things get weirder north of the border. gold medalist ryan lochte injured by a rabid teenage fan. he won't be swimming for a while. we'll explain. this is "way too early." good morning, everybody. wednesday, november 6th. a lot of election stuff to get to. let's start in virginia and the race for governor, which was a lot closer than expected. democrat terry mcauliffe claiming victory as many polls had predicted. nearly all the precincts reporting that mcauliffe beat republican ken cuccinelli by just three points. some recent polling showed mcauliffe with a much wider lead. cuccinelli's camp says the republican groups missed an opportunity and should have stepped up their support in the last month. mcauliffe said