d.c. gridlock, complete lack of productivity and nationwide disdain for the folks in d.c. in a minute we'll have msnbc political director and "meet the press" director chuck todd fresh off the trail talking to voters in the truck. now friend of the show, sometimes cyclist, josh barrow from his office crunching at the "new york times." welcome, josh. it looks like republicans will make significant gains tomorrow. but chuck todd and others are saying, it's not a wave election. do you understand why that is, josh? >> well, i mean, i think that's overstating the case for democrats a little bit. i think what that means, though, is this is a senate map that's very favorable for republicans. republicans if they take back the senate or even if they don't take it back, the gains they will make will be in states like south dakota, montana, north carolina, louisiana, places that should be places where republicans run strongly. and then there's sort of reach

states where republicans can pick up the seats to get a majority or even more comfortable majority are places like iowa, colorado, places traditionally politically competitive. none of these are really reaches for republicans in the way states they have won senate races for in the last few years. massachusetts, wisconsin, somewhat more democrat-leaning states they've won in the past. basically, republicans have a home field advantage here. and if they win, it will be in part a reflection of that home field advantage. >> chuck, same question to you. we think republicans will make significant gains tomorrow. but it's not a wave election, you say. why is that? >> it doesn't look like a wave election right now. doesn't mean it doesn't end up that way. if new hampshire and north carolina are both going to republicans and scott walker -- rick, scott, all the close governor's races tip to the republicans, then you have to say, that's a wave. that's going to happen. the problem is when you look at our final nbc news/wall street

journal poll, that isn't there. the voter sentiment isn't there. wave elections usually have higher turnout. we'll have lower turnout. they usually have independents engaged. we don't have that. wave elections usually have one party with a full-fledged advantage over the other one on enthusiasm, on some of it. that's not there either. you know, i think republicans are trying to will a wave. if they don't win, they have a lot of soul searching to do but democrats are more engaged than i think we all thought if this were a wave election. every close race could tip to republicans. you can't take that away from them. >> they still have, it sounds like, soul searching to do. josh, they could very well win tomorrow but it doesn't mean

republicans are winning. upshot, a site you might have heard of, they give the gop a 70% chance tomorrow. interesting, you compare that to our latest -- i think it's important to put this into perspective because we'll be talking about 2016 by wednesday morning, the implication the midterms will have. that being said, i think the republicans still have an uphill battle. >> everybody's numbers are bad right now. the republican party's numbers are bad, the president's numbers are bad. and it was, you know, the president said it himself earlier in the campaign, much to the chagrin of many democrats running in red states. he said my policies are on the ballot. the president is at a low for popularity and republicans are

in a good position to run against him. the question is, what will -- what are republicans going to stand for in addition to standing against something that is unpopular. that's something very much unresolved within the party. and there's been a sense politically in congress that being for something is dangerous because then you can be attacked, especially the big budgetary ideas republicans have, reforming entitlement programs. they know they'll face tax over those sort of things. it's safer to stand on the ground of opposing the president. there has to be positive agenda and they haven't reached on that agenda. >> you've been out in the field, chuck. some nonincumbent republicans have said their agenda is productivity, something they know their party is criticized. let's take a listen to your interview with tom tillis in north carolina. >> we have to produce results. we have to go into congress next year and produce results. send bills to the president's desk that are going to create

bills. stop the log jam. >> when you look at this polling we have in your new poll that you oversee, the enthusiasm here in late october compared to last midterms, down for republicans but up among african-american voters, even from, you know, even from the last time. amazingly. and i wonder in the north carolina example, we talked about the ethics of some of these voter i.d. and voter suppression issues. >> i think uniquely north carolina is one of the rare places where you have a democratic campaign there, kay hagan, a classic case in politics. you don't want a referendum. you want a choice. she created a choice, tillis. obviously, republicans have been trying to make all democratic incumbents the face of washington, democrats they don't like. but she had -- voters have a choice. it was a way -- she at least had a message to talk to particularly african-american voters.

moral mondays were a big deal down there in raleigh. you compare that to mark pryor or mary landrieu who haven't had the same state issue they vaeptd been able to rally african-americans around. north carolina it's been a unique thing. if kay hagan wins, it's a reminder, campaigns remember, your job as a candidate, have you to create the environment. i think

where people can't bring thoemsz say with a straight face, this might be the most important election of your lifetime. >> right. >> the election is not unimportant. there will be particularly effects on judicial nominations. really this congress is not going to do a whole lot regardless of who has the majority in the senate. i think at the state level you really are seeing a lot of very spirited races with very heavy policy content. because of what you described. you had a wave election in 2010. you have some states like kansas, for example, where you had a conservative breed of republicans really take full control in the state for the first time ever. they did a huge tax cut, bigger than they thought it was going to be, that has, you know, had enormous effects on the state budget and what the government does. this election is really a referendum on that. a democratic candidate, paul davis, running with the support of a substantial number of moderate republican who is have been basically boxed out of the republican party in kansas. and the question is about what kind of government do we want to have? do we want to have a drastically smaller one or not? and then you see a lot of embattled incumbents in both political parties in governor's races all over the country.

i think reflecting the general discontent with the economy. it's better than it was but people still feel like performance is underwhelming and likely to punish both republicans and democrats for that. >> i want you to wax poet when we talk about ballot initiatives. a lot of things on the ballot including marijuana legalization. in d.c. of all places. what do you think is the sort of symbolic import of marijuana becoming legal in the nation's capital? >> well, i guess there's going to be -- you're going to wonder, are they still going to do drug testing of the west wing staffers? there is a mandatory drug testing for those guys. that was a big deal in the '90s. i'm curious, if it doesn't -- it's going to pass in d.c. oregon's might be close. you know, it's one of those things that if it doesn't pass there, then you might see a slowdown in the movement in various places. i also think it's going to pass in alaska. alaskans are very libertarian

minded. those two places it will pass. oregon, of all the marijuana tests, i feel like oregon is the one, let's see if they go and do it, too. if they do, then i think you'll see three or four more in '16. we might get up to near ten states by the end of '16. >> do you think the changed landscape for campaign finance has had a big impact? talk about north carolina spending more money than any senate race ever has? kentucky also, very expensive. other states. what do you think of the impact of that? >> first of all, it's remarkable. we'll have a more expensive midterm than we did in 2010. there's not a single major race in california. you had meg whitman in 2010. there were a couple of major -- texas governor's race, there's been some money spent but not the same in florida. new york was more of a competitive race at the time. cuomo had to spend real money. we have more money spent than ever before in this midterm and none in california, no major races in new york. only half of a major race in

texas. it's even more rashgable. do you realize the saturation levels of what washgs if you were to saturate california in the same way iowa has been saturated, it would cost you $1 billion. just in california to do that. >> wow. >> these are all national -- >> what's interesting is, when i would talk to these republican candidates, and i'd say, you know, about the money, we talk about issues but then afterwards i would say, they all complained about the outside money, too. i'm wondering if some of these guys -- if the candidates themselves, you see a bipartisan coalition of maybe guys that won but feel as if their reputation is in the tatters because every winner comes into office with an unfavorable rating higher than the favorable rating. >> isn't that where campaign finance moves? if it's not ideological, they say it's lifestyle and control, they say they're losing control of their message -- >> first amendment is the first amendment. i think the move is going to be get the money into the parties. you know, get the money into the parties, raise the limits on the campaigns themselves.

nascar it up in some form or another, where anybody that gives you more than 100 grand you have to say their name on television. do whatever it is. >> dark money. >> you know -- >> nascar is up. >> truth in advertising. it's the only way because of the supreme court did what it did, i think you might see bipartisan -- people are tired of the reputation being in tatters. >> nascar it up. mr. "meet the press" and mr. "new york times," thank you, guys. up next, the group trying to make it easier to vote. wouldn't that be nice. countdown to the midterms is on. "the cycle" rolls on. old el paso frozen entrees... in freezers near you

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heading into stock market's midterms a majority of americans are now actually following the action closely. democrats expressing high levels of interest has surged in the past two weeks putting it roughly in line right now with the republicans. a little bright spot there for the dems. now they have to get all those people to the polls. the pew charitable trust is on a mission to make it easier for every american to be able to cast a ballot from updating voter rolls to rebooting outdated technology. they enlisted pretty big names like facebook, amazon and tumblr to help out. joining success david becker, director of electric trorate initiative at pew.

you're working on something called eric. if you're worried about election integrity, which a lot of folks profess to be worried about election integrity, this would be an effective way to did. tell us what it does and how receptive politicians have been to implementing this technology. >> it's one of the greatest untold stories of the election season. while people are concerned about the divisive issues. there are bipartisan group who have banded together to try to solve problems of election, voting rolls, which are highly inaccurate because people are moving a lot in the united states. one in eight records is out of date and one in four eligible americans isn't on the rolls. a bipartisan group of states, have banded together to try to build a data center. we've helped them do that the at pew where they can find people who have moved so those people can be identified as having their correct address so election officials can reach out

to them with the correct information and also identify citizens who live in those states who aren't yet registered to vote and ease their path to registration so they can get registered easily using things like online voter registration in those states. >> anybody trying to make it easier to vote, i love. i love you already. but you've got an app that's supposed to make it easier to know where you vote and what the issues are. that is really valuable. has the problem -- the problem really been lack of access to information? hasn't it really been apathy and logistics and folks not feeling like sort of voting is important enough to make those logistics come together for them? isn't that the real problem? >> sure. there are a variety of things that impact any election. i think as you correctly point out, you know, in a presidential election about 60% of eligible voters turn out. but tomorrow only about 2 out of 5 eligible voters is going to turn out to vote. there are a variety of things that can impact that. one thing we know from our research is people are looking

for information, basic information, on the election process. where do i vote? what's on my ballot. they want it in the way they're used to looking for this information, on the smartphones, internet devices. so, if they go someplace to get to the polls.com a partnership we've been engaged in with google and facebook and wordpress and a lot of other internet companies to get information, where do i vote, get direction to your polling place, find out basic information about what's on your ballot. will be there, easy to find. even as you're driving to the polling place tomorrow on election day. >> you mentioned online voter reg. we've seen some spikes on that. we've got one shot there from colorado. and we've got a jump here from 2 to 20 states. you see the colorado example. it helps people get registered. now 2 to 20 states doing it. tell us about that. >> online registration is a rare win-win in governments. it's much more efficient and convenient for the voter themselves, but it also leads to more accurate lists because people are directly inputting their information electronically into the system.

election workers don't need to decipher legible handwriting and process all that paper. as you noted from that chart, there's so much activity coming in right before the election. it's very, very difficult for human beings to process all of that information. online voter registration not only leads to more accurate rolls, more convenience for the voters but a lot of cost savings as well. >> would it help in a place like georgia where we've been covering the missing registrations? >> georgia has online voter registration. they launched it this summer. one of the things i don't think has been done in georgia as effectively as some states like washington and nevada, for example, is where third-party groups trying to register voters partner with election officials to make sure as many people use the online system to reduce the amount of paper registration activity. >> interesting. toure hit on this. i think a lot of people out there that say, even if i'm informed and i care about the issues, my vote doesn't even make a difference anyway. in large part because of big money in politics but also because of gerrymandering when

you have districts that are a solid red or solid blue. jon stewart explains gerrymandering better than anyone. >> considered the most gerrymandered district. >> this is marrying the puerto rican part with the northern part of chicago with the southern part of chicago. the problem is you have a whole african-american community in the middle. have you to go out and around it. >> david, you really can't make some of these lines up. if anyone is wondering why the jop primary has become so extreme on the national level it's because of things like gerrymandering. you have a few states that have an independent commission that decide the lines. what needs to be done, though, on a national level so that it actually feels more like a democracy? >> this is something that can really seem to disincentivize voters from participating but one thing we need to remember -- well, the pen is mightier than the sword. the vote is mightier than the

redistricting wave. the republican gerrymanders in the 2000s didn't prevent the democratic wave in 2006. if people use the information at their fingertips, get out to the poll, they find they can effect change. if three of five sit out the election in any federal election year it's difficult to overcome those national impediments like the gerrymandered redistricting lines. >> thank you so much. up next, something that could have an impact on the turnout -- the weather, of course. it has been downright chilly. luckily our friend always heats things up with his forecast. plus, the windy city was no match for this man, nik walle a wallenda, joins us on "the cycle" to talk about his walk into the history books. it was crazy. there's confidence... then there's trusting your vehicle maintenance to ford service confidence.

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incorporate election music into the storm cycle. >> weather will not be a negative factor. weather will be quiet across much of the country tomorrow. even right now, we're dealing with quiet weather across much of the country, including the northeast. let's get to the maps and show you guys. we're enjoying a nice break. it was a wild weekend. we had snow in the southeast and a frigid temperature in portions of new england with snow as well. that storm is gone. now we're left with high pressure building in for the northeast. we have one problem here, though. you can see we have a cold front draped across the center of the country. rain extending from the southwest right up to the canadian border. dry in florida. let's take a look at your election day forecast. again, you see lots of sunshine on the map. those icons mean good weather news there for places like new york city, boston. temperatures well above average. near 70 in d.c. beautiful weather extends down to florida.

miami, 80 degrees. this is the trouble spot right here, places like chicago, maybe into dallas, arkansas, texas could see maybe even some strong to severe thunderstorms for the afternoon. so, this is our trouble spot across the middle of the country. then it clears out nicely. denver, beautiful voting weather there, 58 degrees and sunshine. even the southwest looks great, california, arizona. seattle stays rainy tomorrow, 59 degrees and showers in the northwest. that's another area where weather may put a damper on voting there. new york city extended forecast, mild tomorrow. stays mild through wednesday. then the rain finally gets to the northeast. thursday could be a bit of a washout. and then gets colder again as we head into the weekend. chilly temperatures over the weekend are coming back just in time for next weekend. >> most importantly, tomorrow is beautiful. thank you so much for that update. cycling right now, stop me if you've heard that line before, it's high stakes today at the supreme court. this morning it was not obamacare or marriage equality but one word with major foreign policy implications.

justices heard oral arguments on whether the birth place on passports to americans born in jerusalem should be allowed to include israel since israel's founding in 1948 u.s. has maintained the position that no country has sovereignty over jerusalem until that's negotiated in a mid east peace deal. that's just another complication to those efforts. pete williams joins us from washington to help break this down. pete, what's the latest on this. >> the lawsuit was brought by the parents of a boy that was born in jerusalem. the parents are both americans. he's a u.s. citizen. all his passport -- he wanted to have the word "israel" on his passport. congress passed a law in 2002 in cases where the parents want the passport to say israel, it must. the federal government has never done it and the question is, is that law passed by congress constitutional? yes, say the lawyers for the family. they say congress has the power over naturalization, over controlling who comes into the country. so, therefore, they have the passport control.

the obama administration says, no, that's the president's decision. he, after all, decides which foreign ambassadors are received. the fact is, the constitution isn't clear about who has the ultimate control over what a passport says. so, the second question, once you get past the constitutionality is, is this really a foreign policy fight? the lawyers say, no it's just what's said on the passport. just says where you were born. the obama administration says, oh, yes, this whole question of jerusalem and israel, who it belongs to is a vexing and third-rail issue. justice kennedy seemed to be looking for some third way out by saying that couldn't you say israel on the passport but then put a sclamer that says, even though we put israel on the passport, doesn't mean either congress or the u.s. has decided who really controls israel. it seemed to divide the liberals and conservatives on the court. there wasn't a clearance to this today. >> interesting stuff. pete williams, thank you so much. for more on the foreign policy

implications of today's hearing, let's bring in marc ginsberg, former white house middle east ambassador in morocco. ambassador, great to have you. >> great to be with you. >> help us understand the stakes of this case. i think it's worth pointing out that it's not just the obama administration that has defended the current policy of putting jerusalem on the passport, but also the bush administration. so, this isn't a partisan issue. presidents from both parties think this is important in terms of the israeli/palestinian relationship. help us understand the broader power of dynamics here. >> indeed, this comes down as pete williams said, this is one of those classic constitutional issues that probably are argued or presented on bar exams. but the bottom line is that jerusalem has been since the founding of the state of israel a city that has not been recognized as the capital by the united states. and yet congress has passed several laws, not just the law governing passports, and israel,

but also requiring that the embassy, which is now based in tel aviv, be moved to jerusalem. but there was a presidential waiver which, in effect, permitted the president to not implement the law for a variety of circumstances. so, the embassy remains in tel aviv. and, indeed, this is another one of those laws passed by congress that the president, whether it's bush or obama, have argued infringe on the president's right to conduct foreign policy. >> yeah, i mean, from the reporting it sounds like the oral arguments this morning were fascinating and delved into issues of whether the passport is a communication on behalf of the u.s. government, who speaks for the u.s. government, congress or the president? a lot of interesting questions. and yet this whole thing is so pathetic in that i think it reflects the fact that we have a congress under both parties that has these overwhelming votes to show solidarity with israel, which can be fine. it's an important ally. but then delves into some of these issues in a way that is purely politics.

and we all understand there's a lot of politics in congress but it does not help something as thorny as these middle east peace negotiations to have a congress that wants to do anything it can to say, well, this helps israel, so it's ip sipso facto, too. i'm reminded of one more thing, when rand paul said he was against all foreign aid at one point in time, or at least proposed cutting it. all the american media covered it is he'll cut aid to israel. that idea was ridiculous because it was so expansive. not only because it hit an ally. can you help us understand why these debates against frozen along who's the biggest best friend of israel ever in congress while presidents actually try to do the work of diplomacy? >> indeed, and you hit the nail on the head. the fact is put into context of where we are right now, just today there's huge confrontations in jerusalem between muslims and israelis

over the mount. the israelis shut the temple mount, the site of the noble sanctuary and the western wall because of confrontations. the israelis have been building new construction in east jerusalem. the backdrop of this court case is what essentially has been a major problem. not just for the united states but also for jordan and other countries in the region. >> you can't talk about any of this without really mentioning the relationship between prime minister netanyahu and president obama, or the relationship lack thereof. there was a comment last week, ambassador, i'm sure you heard from an unnamed obama aide calling the prime minister a name i will not repeat on this program, which seems to be the latest in the saga of their relationship. which gets to the question of, how can we really get to any sort of peace in the middle east if you don't have our key alliance, the u.s. and israel, actually working together? >> it's a same because, krystal,

the fact of the matter is right now you have a war of words between the obama administration and the israeli prime minister and allies within his government. and what has happened here is that the fundamental relationship between united states and israel has got to be preserved. and yet at the same time, you have a national security staff in the obama administration that has run out of ideas so they decided to hurl a lot of epithets at the israeli prime minister, which has caused many president to run to the prozac in the medicine cabinet. it's not assist if, by the way, all of the president's men are at fault here. the prime minister of israel has also made life miserable for this administration. and yet let me submit, the relationship between the united states and israel is a mutually beneficial relationship that should more than outlive these contratomps. >> that seems to have been lost. ambassador marc ginsberg, thank

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the midterms won't just determine who controls congress tomorrow. they'll also show which party's positioned to take the white house. republicans struggling with higher turnover elections and many say jeb bush could be the key to helping the party. meanwhile, democrats turning to hillary once again and that shows how even as our culture has changed a lot, dynasties are still a powerful force in our politics, even in a nation that claims to put merit above birth. well, there's a new book "when lions roar: churchills and kendis looking at enduring power of dynasties" and the author is here to give us historical perspective on the eve of the midterms. i want to start with jfk. we saw that in '62, after bay of pigs, his approval went up because there's a rally around the flag effect, but they lost some seats in the house, gained some in the snalt. >> right. >> talk to us how that president, who was beloved, dealt with his midterms and ultimately rewiring the base of that party. >> well, jfk was still a pretty

cautious politician in '62. in '63 he later recommends -- he proposed the civil rights act and he also proet poses a little known act called the immigration act. that changes america in very dramatic ways. but back in '62, off of this challenge with the soviets, he was still very cautious. >> deep within your book you talk about your -- huge and great and fascinating, you talk about how jfk was influenced by winston churchill up. say the way churchill viewed the world, the broad vision a statesman writer steeped in history could bring to the diplomatic table or discussion in the public square had never left jack kennedy. he learned words could be every bit as effective as explosives in winning war, especially a cold one. can you expound on how winston churchill influenced jack kennedy? >> well, it was so much fun to write this book because winston and jack kennedy, they were fundamental writers and they knew the power of words.

when you're running a government, words are the cheapest thing. cheaper than tanks or bombs. so, the power of rhetoric, also both winston and jack kennedy were believers in two very important virtues, i think, for a politician. one is courage. they both were people who had come of age at war. they also had a sense of wit about them so that when you're really stuck in a pickle, if you will, as a politician, you can use humor and wit. both are very, very mariable in that sense. >> absolutely. you talk about the churchills and kennedys. we should give them credit for bringing alcohol back to the united states. you talk in the book about a meeting back in 1933 when prohibition was ending here in the united states and how joe kennedy at that point, head of the fcc, went over to the uk, had a meeting with winston churchill and the president's son. that's all he needed. got the deal done. it's fascinating to me because most people think of the kennedys and churchill as kind of at loggerheads because they

disagreed about world war ii and most of the histories are written after world war ii. but they actually were very friendly in the '30s. there's this liquor deal in which basically joe kennedy goes over. it's the end of prohibition. he wants to be the first one out of the chute, make a killing, if you will. and he goes over with the president's son, his oldest son, jimmy roosevelt. they go over and they see churchill. joe comes back with the liquor contracts from which he makes millions of dollars. jimmy roosevelt, the president's son, unbeknownst to anyone, gets the insurance contract. he makes a bundle. the thing i found through my investigation with this book is that winston winds up with stock in two american companies controlled by joe kennedy. one is national distillers, for whom he's selling liquor through this company. the other is brooklyn-manhattan transit, which is the new york subway line. it was then privately owned. >> wow. >> and bernard barouqe, joe

kennedy's business pal but winston's best friend in america, they controlled the subway line. and they were anticipating it would be bought out by the municipality. they would make a killing. so, how did winston wind up with this money? you know, people didn't know about this basically because all of the history was written after world war ii and everybody said, oh, they disliked each other. they did because of what happened. the big arc of my book is that they were friends. then the tragedy of the war in which joe jr. has died and they differ very dramatically there. but i was really surprised at the -- in the early '60s with jfk, jackie kennedy and winston's son randolph, they became very friendly. there's some very interesting things that i found there. so, friends, tragically antagonists and friends again. >> one of the interesting revelations in the book as well is that churchill, following world war ii, wanted us to launch a preemptive strike on the soviet union.

talk about that. that's amazing. >> i was really surprised. that was in his fbi file. and it's one of those things you say, what can you possibly find that's new? but it's right there, sitting in his fbi file. there was a file by the fbi on winston churchill. in '47, he was the one who got the cold war going. he felt that before the soviets got the bomb, we should seriously think about dropping the bomb. because in the expansionism -- this is a memo that was issued in 1947 in his file. he told it to a republican senator from new hampshire. and i was really surprised by that, needless to say. >> incredible reporting. thank you so much. >> thank you for so much. >> appreciate it. >> thank you. up next, off the wire and onto "the cycle." >> you guys watching think i'm crazy, but this is what i was made for. you probably know xerox as the company that's all about printing. but did you know we also support

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the man was blindfolded for the second of those walks, which tells me wallenda is both amazing and completely out of his mind. he's taken his family business to new heights, literally and figuratively, even though some in his family are less than impressed. my favorite anecdote from last night's telecast on discovery is nik saying his grandmother watched him practice and said, eh, can you do it backwards or something? geesh, talk about a tough crowd. my grandmother would have said, boy, get your butt down before i whoop it. we're glad to have nik wallenda with us. congratulations. >> thank you very much. i'm thrilled to be here. >> so, when i look at what you did, i think it is -- the success is a tribute to good engineering, good family, great preparation and faith. and you kept talking about jesus and your faitd while you were on the wire and afterwards and before as well. can you talk about how your faith helped you get across that wire? >> you know, my faith plays a

key role in every aspect of my life. it's really that piece that god provides for me that passes all understanding to get in those stressful situations and stay calm is key to my safety and making it across that wire. don't believe in any way that god holds me on that wire and keeps me from falling but i believe he's given me a unique talent. it's up to me whether i train properly but he gives me the right tools to make it across that wire safely. >> i'm so afraid of heights. i can barely watch the video up. are incredible. social media was loving you. over the past 24 hours you had 59,000 tweets, people were making vines. one made of you walking across. how cool is this? really incredible stuff. nik, you made the point that if you let fear enter your body, that's when accident will happen. how do you make it so you don't have fear when you're walking across that line? because i think that's a quality all of us would want to have. >> you know, it's really about training and preparing properly. it's just like people are scared of speaking in public. if you train and prepare, if you

stand in front of that mirror enough saying it enough, you'll become comfortable. that's the same with wire walking, what i do. i train properly. in my training grounds in sarasota, florida, i toe take o wire rigged pretty of the same, although the angle was supposed to be 15 degrees, it ended up being 19 degrees last night. >> that's a significant difference, isn't it? >> i'm sorry, that's the not at all the same. when you do public speaking, the worst you can do is embarrass yourself. if you make a mistake, you'll die. >> when i train, for instance i walk that cable with my wife on my shoulders in training. up to about almost 80 feet in the air just in training. so i knew that i was able to make it without my wife on my shoulders if i could with. so really it's about overtraining, it builds confidence and also keeps me safe. >> maybe doing a hand stand next time. >> i want to recreate my grandfather's greatest walk

where he did two head stands on the wire. and i want to walk with him. i believe with mod he were technology, that was all filmed with him, and i can walk it simultaneously with him. >> congratulations. it was very hard to watch. you kind of look away because you're so afraid. and then you were just watching it like we needed the blind fold more than you did. and looking at the way you do it you were talking, let's play a little bit of you you you talking to folks. >> really natalie, how are you doing? >> nik, we're doing great. you look amazing out there. >> i can hardly hear you, but thank you for saying i look amazing. so do you. will, you haven't said anything yet. i don't know if i can hear you, but -- >> i'm trying to leave you alone, man. >> you can certainly walk and chew gum at the same time. what is that about or what does that achieve for you? >> you know, it's just what i've done my entire life.

it's something that is very second nature to me. i think that's why i was able to complete that blind fold walk safely and successfully last night, taking away that most important element of vision. it's become second nature to me. >> i cannot handling what ycannu felt like beforehand, during or after. when you stepped off the wire, what is the feeling that goes through your body? >> definitely relief. but really spending time with my family, i'm very much a family man and enjoy spending time with them. so we went out to dinner, celebrated, and then i went back out to the street and loaded up the truck, made sure everything was packed up and ready to go back to florida. made sure the streets were opened up before opening of business this morning. >> i got two things for you. you talk about family and i mentioned before your grandmother being like man urks not walking it backwards on your head, i'm not impressed. and, also, somebody forgot temporarily the bull horn and

you said somebody's on the naughty list. what happened with that person? >> you you know, that was sbon from production that actually misplaced that. it wasn't my immediate crew. i guess we should have taken control of it. but, yeah, while training, i'm training on a wire about 40 foot high because we had to simulate that cable that i was going to be walking blind fold on. and i walked blind fold for my grandmother. she came to watch and she said now why don't you do something while you're out there. but i'm blindfolded. she said do something, you're not impressing me. so i did, i went out there out of respect for her and i meknel down and walked backwards for her. >> this is where it's true kids do not try this at home. i'm sure there are so many people wanting to re-enact this. what do you say to those people? >> i encourage people if you have dreams, whatever they are, if you work hard enough, you can accomplish anything in life. i'm the perfect example of that. i do things that people say are

impossible. and i encourage people, look, if you want to do things like nik wallenda, dedicate the amount of time and energy that ich dei've dedicated to do what i do and make sure you're doing it safely as possible. >> does the the rest of life seem boring? >> i definitely enjoy life and i enjoy my family. but i definitely also -- my great grand father said life is on the wire and everything else is just waiting. so i'm waiting for that next wire walk. >> your family was a big part of last night's show. do you expect one of your kids to take the mantle from you aon day you'll be the bull wiman wi bull horn? >> i want them to be happy whether it's being a doctor or working at a fast food restaurant. i want them to be happy and work as hard as they possibly can and be the best as what they do. i support them fully in any of hair endeavors. i have a 16-year-old,

13-year-old, 11-year-old. two boys and my daughter is the youngest. they have all walked the wire very well. it's what we did as a family. we have chicken fights on the wire. just kind of how we hang out. but at this point, none of them have any desire to carry it on and i'm completely happy with that. i feel like the pressures of what i do and what i've been able to accomplish, i now have ten world records, that would be a lot of pressure on high kids. so i'm really hoping they go another direction to be honest. >> the wallendas will continue forever. congratulations, nik. thank you very much. that does it for "the cycle". we'll be right back here tomorrow with full election day coverage. and of course keep it on msnbc all day long and night as the returns come in. prime time coverage starts of course at 6:00 p.m. eastern. anchored by the one and only rachel maddow and chris matthews. and msnbc.com will have digital

decision 2014 coverage. live stream starts at 10:00 p.m. eastern. and if he hasn't passed out, and you know he won't, craig melvin from 2:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. right here on msnbc. >> we'll need some coffee. >> a big day ahead. but still much more ahead today. "now" with alex wagner takes over. can you start tomorrow? yes sir. alright. let's share the news tomorrow. today we failrly busy. tomorrow we're booked solid. we close on the house tomorrow. i want one of these opened up. because tomorow we go live... it's a day full of promise. and often, that day arrives by train. big day today? even bigger one tomorrow. when csx trains move forward, so does the rest of the economy.

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midterm madness goes up against the clock. it is monday, november 3. and this is thousand oig. "now". >> do you want to run washington or you want to run your mouth? >> less than 24 hours until polls open. >> what can democrats to to prevent a republican takeover. >> they're fighting hard to try to hold their jobs. >> i think if could be a big republican night. >> there is a chance that it won't be a great republican night. >> we're seeing an increase in democratic intensity. >> you can't win on turnout if you're losing on message. >> it is political malpractice. >> so many good things that the president has done that we tend to shy away from. >> democrats have the not been able to put out this message about what has been done under president obama. >> just too much red out there for testimonies democrats to o. >> american people are look for for somebody who gets things done.