i want this world -- i want your children and all children to be able to thrive in a world, in a country that is smarter, better and stronger than it is today. please, get out there and vote. that wraps up this hour. i'm stephanie ruhle. i will see you at 1:00 p.m. with my partner ali velshi. now hallie jackson. back at home base in washington on this election day 2018 when it is your turn. after the speeches, ads, pitches, it is up to you to decide who will control congress in one of the most anticipated and expensive election in generations. coast to coast voters are voting on this tuesday and enthusiasm is off the charts. the early voting numbers have been massive. more than 35 million ballots have been counted across the country as of 24 hours ago, but will that hype translate into turnout today? remember, 435 seats on the ballot in the house. democrats need a net gain of 23

seats to flip it. in the senate, 35 seats are in play. democrats need a net gain of two to take back control of that chamber. the not so subtle subtext in all of it, president trump, and here's our headline, he's not on the ballot but he is on the line. in the closing days of the campaign, presidents trump and obama have been racing across the country. 11 rallies in 8 states in 6 days for 45. for 44, 12 rallies, 12 states, 16 days. one president fighting for his agen agen agenda, the other for his legacy. >> go out and vote for republican congress, for republican senate. >> the good news is that all across the country what i'm seeing is this great awakening. >> we've got to stop crying chuck schumer and nancy pelosi from erasing everything that we've gained. >> you're going out there, you're going to make sure the

people vote to start making things better. [ applause ] when you do that, then the spirit of america is going to shine. >> if you want more caravans, if you want more crime, vote democrat. we have our nbc road warriors spread across the country talking to voters, talking to candidates. happy election day, gang, and we are going to kick it off in florida where any minute we expect to see the two candidates fighting to become governor show up and vote. that's tallahassee mayor andrew gillum, former republican congressman ron desantis, too. but that is not the only marquee race in that state. for the senate, republican governor rick scott is challenging democratic incumbent bill nelson. that race, in addition to the governor's race, is looking super close too. we've got nbc's kerry sanders kicking off our road warrior coverage in tallahassee right outside andrew gillum's polling location. desantis and gillum are both set to vote within the next 20, 25

minutes. we're going to be bringing that to folks live. that's where you are. >> reporter: i am. we're in talltallahassee, await andrew gillum at 39 years old. what stands out most is if he were to win the election for the governorship here in florida, he would be the first black governor in this state. first elected at 23 years old to the city commissioner here. he has been on a roll in his political career, but now it's up against it because it is going to be such a close race. the nbc maris poll shows a difference of about four points between gillum and his contender here or his challenger here which is ron desantis. now, ron desantis sort of came from out of nowhere as a republican here, and it was that endorsement from donald trump that took him over the line in the primaries. behind me i think you can see right now arriving is andrew gillum. i'll step out of the way here.

he's going to be arriving with his family, coming in and voting. they've made a special accomodation here to allow the media, and you can see there is a lot of media here. you see a lot of cameras behind. there are about another 25 cameras to get this moment because of where it may lead his candidacy and his political career. of course, ron desantis has had that support from donald trump, and it really comes down to whether those voters, republicans in the state who have long felt that they were being ignored and perhaps even dropped out of politics until donald trump came along, whether they will be motivated not only to say that they support desantis but that they will make their way to the polls. 5.1 million people voted early in this state. that means you're not seeing tremendously long lines in many portions of the state. when we take a look at the breakdown of voters in the state, you have 35.3% who are

registered as republicans. 37.2% are democrats. then you get into the nonparty affiliation. that's 26.6%. so the question really comes down to whether the republicans or the democrats were able to reach out and get those nonparty affiliated people motivated to vote for whoever it is that they feel. here you can see, here comes the mayor making his way in with his family. >> i know you'll try to get a question to him, kerry, as we watch him. >> reporter: he's told us that he's going to talk on the way out. i'll see how he feels. >> how do you feel this morning? >> great. >> how do you like your chances today? >> reporter: that was brief. i think he's going to talk when he comes out. he wants to focus his attention on the actual process of going in to vote. it's a little chaotic. so he's walked in a separate door and he's making his way in. the lines here have been pretty

smooth in the leon county area which is tallahassee, and that's because of not only early voting but here the ballot is only two pages. it's one side, flip it over, it's the other side. in south florida, specifically in broward county, it's five pages, so the lines are moving a lot slower. but the process is that you go in, you show your identification. in this case it would probably be a driver's license. it's a computerized system. they'll take your driver's license, run it through. there's a magnetic strip on the back. they'll identify who he is even though just about everybody in this town because he's the mayor knows him. then he will make his way over with a ballot that they print out and that ballot has just little circles that you take and you fill them in, kind of like an s.a.t. test. you fill it in and then when you're finished with it you bring it back. they slip it into a computer and of course the tabulations will be completed later this evening when the polls close 7:00 here in leon county. hali, of course you know there

are two time zones in florida so folks will be voting in the second time zone until 8:00 east coast time. >> we're taking a live look insaad ti inside the polling place. i have lost sight of where andrew gillum here but i am back in d.c. as we take a look at this. again, andrew gillum voting now. we expect him to walk out after casting his vote presumably for himself safe to say and speak to the members of the press gathered there. i think you can see from kerry's live shot -- and kerry, stick with me -- there is huge interest in not just andrew gillum but ron desantis in a gubernatorial race that's capturing national attention. >> part of that is because president trump has made continued visits to this state. he showed a personal interest in this race and also the issue of race itself had been a big factor in the gubernatorial race in florida and i think that's driving people out. one thing i think we should note is if ron desantis pulls out a win it's probably the best

example of this transferable trump voter. ron desantis loves president trump and he hates andrew gillum. >> the other interesting thing will be -- >> you see andrew gillum walking up to get ready to vote. >> how does he impact this senate race? right now if you look at that race, democrats were not excited about the chances there. that's again rick scott and bill nelson. bill nelson was not firing up anybody. there was a lot of concern in washington about what he was doing, how he was running that race. but andrew gillum has really ignited the liberal democrats. a lot of operatives have gone down there. a lot of excitement. a lot of people think if gillum wins or doesn't win the senate race, his coat tails could put him above rick scott. >> there is conversation -- ron desantis has some fans incited t -- inside the west wing and the people around him as well. i think we have some numbers

here. democrats are hoping to chip away republicans' 17-point advantage when it comes to governors across the country. >> this was a race where you really thought desantis was probably going to be able to pull it out. republicans, trump did very well there as you said. trump spent a lot of time in florida. he campaigned there. but it is one of those races where he hasn't been able to -- he seems to have struggled at the end. >> one thing in early voting, i talked to folks who are close to the dga here in d.c. who work with the governors' races and they said that in 2014 republicans had 133,000 vote lead over democrats in early voting. this year it's something like 66,000 vote lead for republicans which is a better margin for democrats. >> we're looking live here at andrew gillum, the mayor of tallahassee and his family, as he is entering his polling place to cast his ballot for himself as governor. kerry sanders is there live. kerry, tell us what you're seeing other than a ton of national media, local media, looking with high interest at this moment that's unfolding before us.

>> reporter: well, there are some excited supporters who have gathered a short distance across the street waiting to see their candidate come out and speak. some of them may be a little bit exhausted because last night there was a late-night concert to support the candidate. among those who were there was a deejay as well as diddy. to deejay khalid and diddy with about 9600 seats in the colis m coliseum. there are a lot of changes in terms of trying to appeal to young voters. we've seen young voters at 18 years old taking chalk on sidewalks and writing, go out and vote. there is a shift in our country with that young vote being motivated in different ways, buffett the democratic party sa -- but the democratic party says they've broken a record, that is knocked on more doors around the

state than they have ever done and quite frankly in an organized effort during the midterms which very often does not have that much attention. clearly things are different. as you noted, hallie, this is considered a referendum on the donald trump presidency, florida, because of the split between the republicans and democrats, the registrations so close and because of his repeated visits to this state, donald trump is sometimes seen to have a tremendous amount of influence. but this is where we'll actually see it when it happens at the polls. i think there's a lot of anxious people wondering, especially party leaders in both republicans and democrats, wonder what is the net effect of the donald trump presidency on state-wide elections. >> i'll ask you to stand by because that's a question they're asking in texas. we want to pop over to texas. you know you have beto o'rourke hoping for an upset against

republican senator ted cruz in texas. you are looking at o'rourke voting in just the last hour in el paso. garrett, you've been following po both of these candidates around for weeks. what are you hearing from your sources? >> reporter: look, we are expecting a big turnout. both campaigns have been surprised by the early voting numbers which have been off the charts in texas. we expect to see a big turnout in the major cities in texas today, including in el paso, where beto o'rourke has been visiting polling places around the city this morning trying to make sure he turns out his supporters. we've had a steady stream of folks at this location including a woman who's 76 years old and i noticed you had two accessories, your oxygen tank and you're wearing your beto t-shirt. >> you want to see? >> i do, i do. you were here when beto came to cast his vote and you told me this was very emotional for you. why?

>> well, because i wasn't expecting it and because we think he's pretty important, and we're honored that he's here. >> why is he so important? >> because he represents everything that donald trump isn't. >> represents everything that donald trump isn't. tell me what it means to you to see beto who's sort of a favorite son around here. we're in his neighborhood. he's out here representing el paso, hoping to represent the whole state. what has it meant for you to see what he's been saying and doing on the national stage? >> well, i give him a lot of credit for standing up and saying what he thinks and for being willing to represent so many people who are like-minded. it means a lot. we're just so proud. >> so proud. what will it feel like if you see him win this race tonight? >> everything. just everything. we want him to win.

we'll be watching the tv tonight with him. he'll be someplace in the city. it will be just so much. it will mean that my gosh, we all still have a chance to have a decent country and decent values with decent relationships with other people. >> thank you so much, pamela. i really appreciate it. thank you. >> reporter: hait just goes to show you the incredible emotions this campaign has brought out in the state of texas. >> emotional indeed. garrett haake, enjoy your day and your night. we'll check back with you. we showed you andrew gillum voting. ron desantis also coming out with his family, his wife with him at donald trump rallies and elsewhere. you can see them and their two

children as desantis walks in to vote. we're going to bring it all live to you, including from a different state. that's missouri, another huge senate race happening there. there, not so much about the early voting. missouri doesn't have early voting so it really comes down to today. the state has one of the tightest senate races in the country. democrat claire mccaskill, republican josh holly. missouri is one of 21 states with laws that require employers to give workers paid time to vote on election day. morgan radford is live in missouri where it has been busy at the polls. you've been rocking and rolling all morning. well, she's talking, we know she's talking. we just can't hear her. we'll come back to morgan as soon as we can. morgan at that polling site,

andrew fwgillum voting, ron desantis voting as well. both of them expected to make remarks in this hotly contested, highly watched race. we want to go to steve kornacki, also highly watched. in claire mccaskill cannot win there, tell us what the democrats have to do. >> a net gain of two is what the democrats need on paper. then you look at the battlefield. north dakota, new jersey could be a surprise in either state. menendez seems to go into today ahead. heitkamp seems to go in behind. where is the battleground in this thing? you mentioned missouri. let's say claire mccaskill were to fall short in missouri. if you add that to the republican column and north dakota stays there, then all republicans need after that to hang onto control of the senate is just one of any of these 8

states. that would get them to 50. that means if ted cruz hangs on in texas, looks like it's going to be close. he's been ahead in the final polls. if you threw in a tennessee, if marcia blackburn wins there, republicans could be over 50. they could be talking about building a majority. for democrats, missouri, given claire mccaskill is running for her third term, this is a must win for democrats. then you need to jar one of these loose. you got to get missouri over to your side if you're a democrat and pick off north dakota, texas or tennessee. you've got to find a way to win at least one of those. if they were to get texas, you were just down there a minute ago, that knocks republicans under 50. then all you got to do for democrats is run the table, win these other six battle grounds, nevada, arizona, montana, west virginia, into aflorida, indian them all, and by the skin of your teeth you get the majority.

>> you're coming back later in the show. thank you for that. you mentioned florida. let's head back to florida. we showed you the democratic candidate for governor, andrew gillum, voting. he's ready to speak with reporters and supporters. let's listen. >> i'm extremely excited to have just i guess i can reveal cast a vote for myself. [ applause ] >> me too. i did too. >> i tried to look over and see what she was doing -- >> i voted for you. >> okay, my wife also voted for me. we're extremely excited. this has been a long journey. 21 months moving across the state of florida talking to everybody that we can meet, even as late as yesterday in the panhandle of the state, talking to folks that are part of the state that a lot of folks don't think might go my way, but that's okay because what i want folks over there to know including in the deepest red areas is that i want to be their governor too. in order for that to be true, you got to go there, you got to hear from people, talk to folks

and let them know that you plan to work on their behalf too. we're excited about the day, hopeful that it won't be raining in the rest of the parts of the state and that we'll do what we have to do to bring out a good victory. thank y'all very much. >> a republican voter said she wants to keep a good economy going and that's why she couldn't vote for you, which is straight from the mouth of the president. how do you counter that? >> first off, i get some people bought into the messages of the president and mr. desantis but what we're going to do is grow an economy where people can work one job instead of two and three jobs. we're going to lean into the kind of economy where folks can earn enough where they cannot only pay their bills but save up enough to take a vacation every once in a while. that's the kind of economy that we envision for ourselves. right now in florida 44% of people say they cannot make ends

meet at the end of the month. 36 counties today out of 67 are economically worse off than they were in 2007. so when we talk about a recovery, we want a recovery for everybody, not just for some but for all. >> mayor, we spoke about -- when we were here, we spoke about the historical implications of what may happen today. if you do win tonight, what does that say about where we are as a state? >> us winning tonight i think will send a message to mr. trump and mr. desantis as well that the politics of hatred and of division, of separation, that they come to an end. at least in this election that's what we're going to show, that people are going out and voting for something and not against. by voting for somebody, we're returning the politics of decency and what's right and what's common between all of us. we'll worry about history later but today we're working to win.

i'll take one over there. >> this has been a nasty race. are you worried that the allegations of racism against your opponent, allegations against you, have overshadowed the issues that matter to the people in florida? >> all the way along we tried to talk about the issues that matter to people. i am extremely proud that we ran a campaign focused on expanding access to health care, paying teachers what they're worth, leaning into the green economy. we've really at every turn inspite of all the distractions have tried to keep voters in this state focused on what matters. i believe that's what's going to allow us to walk away with a win today and i'm looking forward to turning around and going back to those voters whose votes i didn't get and letting them know that i plan to be a governor for them too. thank y'all very much. >> you have been watching tallahassee mayor andrew gillum, the democrat running for governor in the state of florida, address reporters and supporters after casting his

ballot, confirming he did vote for himself. his opponent, ron desantis, the republican in this race, is also at a polling location. we showed that to you live a couple of moments ago. if he does come out and speak to members of the press, we'll bring that live too. you know somebody who's watching all this, somebody who has cleared his schedule to keep an eye on everything happening today, that is donald trump. he hit 10 stops, 8 states, 5 days, 3 rallies yesterday alone working to defend his party's congressional majorities. but my sources are telling us he's bracing for bad news when it comes to control of the house. kristen welker is at the white house. you and i there until 2:00 a.m. tonight. i know it's going to be a long one. what are you hearing from folks so far? >> reporter: it's going to be a marathon. you and i have just started our coffee drinking for the day. look, president trump has essentially cleared his schedule to monitor returns. he's going to be working the phones, reaching out to friends,

to allies as he watches the returns come in. later tonight he's going to host some of his friends and allies here at the white house so they can all be together for that. we know the vice president is going to be heading over to walter reed. he's going to be thanking service members for helping to keep our elections fair and free. so that's the backdrop. but as you point out, halle, the stakes, the fact that when you talk to officials here and those close to the white house, the reality is they are bracing for the possibility of losing the house. they feel confident about holding onto the senate. president trump has echoed that, saying he feels good about the house, he feels very good about the senate. the blame game may start almost immediately if, in fact, he does lose the house. of course, he won't take credit. he's going to talk about the fact that he put so much energy into holding onto the senate and that's what happened. now, some republicans have expressed some concerns about president trump's tone, has it been too tough, too divisive

when it comes to immigration for example. he was asked about his tone overnight. take a listen. >> i wouldn't say tone. i would like to have a much softer tone. i feel to a certain extent i have no choice but maybe i do and maybe i could have been softer from that standpoint. but i want to get things done. >> reporter: as you and i have also been reporting on, there's been a big focus on women voters. we know they are going to be critical right now. polls show them breaking for democrats by a margin of more than two to one. president trump apparently aware of that so he made those last three stops yesterday -- you were there for some of it -- with some of his top female advisers. his daughter ivanka trump as well as press secretary sarah huckabee sanders and top counsellor kellyanne conway. they all made remarks. so it was a pretty strong way to close out what has been a frantic final push for this president. now he's watching and waiting like the rest of us. watch your twitter feed. >> that's for sure. we'll see you in a little bit at

the white house. joining knee corey lewandowski and former campaign manager for president trump's 2016 campaign. anna and alexa are joining the conversation as well. corey, we know the president is inviting friends and family over for dinner to watch returns. are you going to be there? >> i spoke with the president a few minutes ago and he's very excited about today. this is his policy on the ballot. he knows that but he knows that historical precedence has said that the party in power is going to lose on average 20 house seats. if that's the case, the republicans lose the majority tell. i'll tell you this, this president and the vice president have done everything humanly possible to make sure that their agenda is put forth before the american people. >> sounds a lot like the expectations game. the president is happy but he knows history is against him. it sounds like the president said to you this morning he is potentially bracing for a loss in the house. >> you have to have the realistic assessment that you can lose the house based on where the numbers are. the 43 retirements by the republican members has not been helpful. we've seen i think 10 or 12

districts that hillary clinton won that republicans had also won and those are districts that very likely could go. i think the big thing when you're looking at the election results tonight is watching the east coast, looking at new jersey and pennsylvania specifically. the first race that we're going to watch i think is actually the andy barr race in kentucky 6. those polls close early. if by some chance the democrats do very well early and beat congressman barr which i don't think they will and they have a big win in pennsylvania and new jersey it's going to be a very long night for republicans. >> president trump will be watching like the rest of us. we talked about the president's tone. he referenced that in that interview. he went after for example the accusers of brett kavanaugh last night and said things that people find inflammatory, racially divisive. there's concern, based on our reporting, we can pull up the headline that republicans worry his divisive rhetoric is going to cost them seats. is his rhetoric to blame at least in part?

>> no. barack obama lost six seats. no one blamed his rhetoric. bill clinton lost 54 seats in his first team. if the president trump administration loses let's say 40 seats, put them in historical perspective. republicans are going to win two seats in minnesota so while it's a 23-seat majority right now, i really think it's 25. so there are going to be some opportunities where republicans pick up seats. >> we are watching ron desantis to speak to the media. corey, yes or no to dinner? >> i'll let you know. >> thank you for joining us. we want to mention that the first polls are going to be closing in just under 8 hours but right now they are open coast to coast including out west. our friends in california, in the midwest and in wilmington, delaware, former vice president joe biden will be there any minute to cast his ballot. we're live in delaware, arizona, wisconsin, michigan. all of it coming up. building a better bank

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we have a rock star team across the country. overnight cindy mccain honored her late husband and threw her full support behind the gop governor up for re-election. one candidates she did not mention, martha mcsally. nbc's vonn hilliard is following that race from prescott, arizona. what are you hearing and seeing? >> reporter: good morning, hallie. let's start off with the fact that about 75 to 80% of the arizona electorate has already voted, mailed in their early ballots. the republicans have the advantage of about 7.5%, but it should be noted, compare that to 2014, 2010 and 2006, all three of those elections republicans had a 12-point advantage. when you're talking to people on the ground, it's republicans and independents who we are paying attention to across the state and the extent to which they are

willing to vote for the i want to introduce you to one of those individuals. i asked him, he's a native, i said how did he vote. here's what he told us. >> what do you think of the two candidates? >> i thought quite a bit of both of them before their campaign and before their -- you know, it's such a slam, so much mud slinging. i came to dislike both of them to tell you the truth. >> but you ended up voting for? >> mcsally. >> what led you to voting for mcsally? >> maybe she was not quite as bad or her campaign or her ads. i don't know, they were both pretty bad. >> reporter: hallie, we talked to a plethora of voters, republicans and independents, who said they voted for scinema.

donald trump won the state by just three percentage points. lastly, hallie, i want to set everybody up. tonight if you see this race within 1%, 1.5% margin on either side, expect this to go on for several days because the early ballots that voters turn in today, maricopa county elections officials, they tell us that those results will not be announced until starting at 5:00 p.m. on thursday. we may have a long few days ahead of us in that scenario. hallie. >> that's for sure. you especially. thank you much. i want to head to michigan where democratic female candidates are front and center in four key state-wide races. whi whi whittmer, benson. we're talking with voters in troy, michigan. >> reporter: some say that trump won the rust belt with macho and these women are hoping to win with change.

democrats in michigan really putting their money where their mouth is. you have female democratic candidates up and down the ballot, everyone looking at gretchen whittmer but also the senate race with debbie stabanaw. what is going to be a nail biter here, hallie, are the smaller congress at races. you have the 11th congressional district where i am now and also michigan 8 right next door to us. both are tossups. when you look at the 11th congressional district, this is a district that donald trump won by 4 percentage points in 2016. everyone looking at those voters that backed the president two years ago to see if they're going to swing in the democrats' favor this time around. i've been speaking to them throughout the morning and many of them tell me their top issue is immigration, also health care. also, hallie, the local issues like infrastructure here in michigan and the water crises,

the flint water crises and the way it was handled, top of mind for voters from both sides of the aisle. let's listen. >> tell me about also the water crises here. is that an issue you care about? >> no. i think it's been manipulated for political purposes. i think there's bottled water everywhere and they suck it right out of lake michigan and stuff like that. basically people are pretty hypocritical over stuff like that. >> i definitely think it is. it's more of a local issue. i don't think that it's going to be solved any time soon. >> reporter: if the dems win big in michigan, hallie, the next big question is is that a sign of things to come in 2020, hallie. >> one of our road warriors on the trial, thank you. let's head to wisconsin now where republican governor scott walker is fighting to hang onto a third term. he is locked in a dead heat with

democratic candidate tony evers and tammy baldwin is defending her seat against somebody who is a donald trump ally, leah bookmere. shaq, fill us in on what you're hearing from folks as you're walking and talking to that line. >> reporter: happy election day to you. you see this sign, no discussions in the polling place. i want to have our photographer show you quickly, we are in madison -- >> shaq, i got to be rude and interrupt you. i'm so sorry. we're going to listen to former vice president joe biden. >> my name is joe biden. >> hi. >> the perils of live television. right as biden made his remarks we brought it to you. he introduced himself, hi, i'm joe biden, to the poll,

windowers therwindo workers there. we expect the former vp to make remarks to our camera when he comes back. shaq, my apologies again. it's one of these kinds of days. i see you found some folks to chat with here. i might have to interrupt you but let's rock and roll for now. >> reporter: no worries. interrupt me if you need to. we're in madison, wisconsin. this is a state, wisconsin, where they've seen record absentee early voting for midterms, over 547,000 people have already cast a ballot in this state. i want to bring in dana and aubra. you guys just voted. what brought you out here today? >> we're always midterm election voters but this one felt a lot more important. >> why? >> a lot is at stake here with the house being republican up to date. we haven't seen a lot of balance in our government and we're really interested in helping. >> dana, you were telling me

that you're looking at some of the national issues but i want to toss it back to hallie quickly. i hear desantis is talking. >> you're correct. ron desantis is speaking with the media. >> fair and square, you got to go with it. >> any regrets during the campaign? >> i worked hard. i think we really worked hard. i think we did as much as can be done and i'm happy with letting the chips fall where they may. >> it's been a little decisive. how do you plan to pull florida together? >> i'm going to be a leader who leads with purpose and conviction. a lot of the stuff that's been thrown at me has been false and i'm going to turn the page on that and i'm willing to work with everybody. let's just be clear, the decisiveness was directed at me, not from me. >> okay, thank you. >> that is ron desantis. you can see some of his supporters standing behind him there speaking with members of

the media just after he cast his ballot in that hotly contested florida gubernatorial race. let me bring back in alexei and anna here. we heard desantis talk about the divisive nature of that race and it has been. he said it's been directed at me, not by me. i've been to a trump rally or two where desantis has taken the stage and the rhetoric is hot. >> absolutely. i thought it was interesting when corey lewandowski said earlier on the panel, i don't know if the rhetoric was too hot. often that is coming directly from the mouth of president donald trump and he's setting the tone in a lot of these races. >> let's not forget ron desantis' comment right after the primary about not letting voters monkey this up which is clearly a racist comment about andrew gillum. >> let me bring in our msnbc contributor. i want to bring you in because you understand the landscape from the conservative perspective on a national scale. what are you looking at most closely here? is it florida where we just saw desantis speak? is it georgia for example where

stacey abrams is in that fight against brian kemp? what's on your radar? >> obviously the sexiest states are florida, georgia texas but it's going to be interesting what happens in the upper midwest and in the rust belt. by the way, mitt romney is going to be going to washington finally. >> that's true. >> very early on what i'm going to be watching is some of those early congressional election seats in kentucky and in virginia which will give you an indication of whether or not this is going to be a wave or a ripple. >> that is something that we addressed earlier on the broadcast, charlie, the idea that some of those races are going to be indicative of whether it's going to be a real long night for republicans or not. >> yeah. exactly. obviously here in wisconsin we have kind of a split verdict going on right now. tammy baldwin looks to be in a very strong position. talked to republicans this morning, a lot of them think that scott walker might be able to hold on but they admit this is a tough race and nobody knows

at this point. >> charlie, when you look at what's happening in wisconsin and i got to shoutout shaq bruster who is a very capable co-anchor, he was talking to voters. a tough re-election fight is not new for scott walker but this could be really significant. >> this is going to be a really tough race for him in part because you don't know whether those unlikely voters are going to turn out. donald trump won wisconsin by 23,000 votes but largely because milwaukee did not turn out. the african-american vote did not turn out. if that electorate changes a little bit, scott walker could be in a lot of trouble. but he is battle tested and the voters are battle tested and there are not a lot of undecided voters in wisconsin. >> charlie sykes, thank you so much. we want to head back to wilmington, delaware where former vice president joe biden is walking up to the cameras. >> we asked if that's the last time you would vote for yourself on the ballot.

what's your answer? >> i said i don't know and i still don't know. i have to make my decision what i'm going to do after the first of the year. it will be a family decision. >> you're holding to that? you think you'll announce early january? >> not announce. make a decision internally. i wouldn't announce if i were going to run that early. it would be too early to start it. i wouldn't make a formal announcement then? >> when would you? >> yoci don't know. it would depend on the circumstances and a whole lot of things. >> you were out at 12 rallies over the past week, 8 states, kind of presidential level campaigning. what did it feel to be out there? do you have an appetite for another run and that rigorous schedule? >> i have an appetite for that but the reason i was out there is that i was requested to be out there. as you guys have pointed out, i've been asked to join an awful lot of races.

this is the single most important election of my lifetime. i really think it's more than just about a specific issue. i think it's about the character of the country. you've heard me say that all along. you've been hearing me say that for six months. but i really believe it. we have to change the tone. i walked in and congressman mike castle was out there. mike castle, republican, governor, congressman, bill roth, senator for well over 30 years, worked 30 years together. not a harsh word one single time among the three of us. politicking has gotten too na y nasty. it's too base. this appeal to nativism and nationalism and phony nationalism and racism is has got to stop. i think this election is going to put some brakes on it. >> what's your prediction? you were predicting 40 seats and win back the senate. are you holding to that?

>> i'll be dumbfounded if we lose the house, and i'll be surprised if we don't win by a comfortable margin based on the 65 races. i think we'll pick up up to six governorships in critical states in the upper midwest and out west. i also think that -- i still think there's a shot of us winning the senate. i'm hoping tennessee is able to pull it out and i think there's a few key states to look at. i think we're still in play for the senate. as i told you before, i think there's a 51% chance. i'd say it's 50/50 but we need a little bit of a break. it depends on turnout. i think that you're going to see a number of republicans when this election is over who have been retained or weren't running but are running in 2020. i think you're going to see them

distancing themselves like a number of them did from trump in terms of his harsh rhetoric and divisive politics. >> you've heard a lot of people talking today about the rain and keeping people out here in delaware and southeastern pennsylvania. how important is it? >> this is important. enjoy the rain. come out and vote. look, rain is no excuse to not exercise the most significant right every american has. this is the only place everybody's equal. everybody's equal. a person on welfare and the person who's a multimillionaire, everybody is equal in that booth, so show up. please vote. the character of our country depends on it. that's what's on the ballot today. >> in your campaign events you did something a lot of democrats

do and that's be critical of democrats. you said i don't think we've done enough to show just who we are, not just talk about who trumps. do you think democrats have begun to find that message? >> i do. my guess is most of the serious press people have too. they're talking about things that affect working class and middle class people. you can't live a middle class life when you don't have access to a good job. you can't live a middle class life if you're not able to bargain your own worth. you can't live a middle class life if you don't have access to affordable health insurance. going to bed staring at the ceiling knowing if i get cancer i lose everything, my whole family is in trouble, it's peace of mind. you can't live a middle class life without having access to continuing education and a good education. the democrats have been talking about all of those things. here's the part that bothers me the most. we have to win the house at a minimum because these guys have been out, the opposition, the far right, as well as president

trump and they're going to eviscerate social security and medicare. they've already put in a proposal to cut half a trillion dollars in the house and medicare to bring down a $1.9 trillion deficit. it's just not right. it's simply not right. >> if democrats win back the house, are tensions going to turn to the leaders race? do you think nancy pelosi should be the house speaker or is it time for a new leader? >> i like nancy a lot. my guess is she'll end up being the leader but that's for them to decide. when i was in the senate i never listened to anybody's advice on who should be the senate leader. i'm not going to suggest who the house should have. i think nancy has done a hell of a job. i think she's a serious person. they're doing to nancy what they tried to do to tip o'neal a couple of years ago.

they tried to focus on tip and tip won. it all came back. it's just too early. >> the message you've articulated that democrats should put forward to voters, you've also talked about leaders that should step up, is there anybody that could capture that message if you don't end up running yourself? >> oh, sure. i think there's a lot of really good candidates from mitch lander to the senator in california, the senator in new jersey. we have some really quality candidates. the hard part is i know from experience is breaking through. nobody's known by more than 5, 6, 7% of the voters before you're a candidate or haven't held public office for a long time. i think we have a lot of good candidates. >> how does joe biden spend

election night? >> sitting with my family with the big screen and watching the outcome and on the phone talking to -- i've already talked to about 25 of the candidates to wish them luck. we have some incredible women candidates out there. i mean, we have some really, ca. so i'm excited. i'm excited to see. it's always an exciting night. >> maybe that's our sign. >> i think so. >> what's the message you hope president trump takes from election night, especially if it is a democratic victory in the house or even in the senate? >> i've never seen him learn a lesson. i'm not being facetious. i don't think he learns lessons. i think he has one speed. what's good for donald trump and what is donald trump's instinct telling him is good for donald trump. >> do you have any concerns he might challenge the legitimacy of this vote if it doesn't go his way? >> he's still looking for that

million crowd that was there for his inoug ratiauguration for go. he's an interesting guy. look, this is all about choosing hope over fear. this is about choosing our friends over our enemies overseas. this is about choosing truth over falsehood. it really is. this is pretty basic stuff, so thank you so much. thank you guys. >> thank you mr. vice president. >> good to see you. >> you get the impression the former vice president could have gone on another hour or so as joe biden casts his ballot in wilmington, delaware looking directly into the camera with a single message, looking ahead to 2020 saying he will make his announcement on whether or not to run for president after the first of the year. whatever happens tonight, history will be made. there are a ton of opportunities for firsts in this country, for african-americans, native americans, gay americans, women, all ready to make their mark on u.s. history including right in georgia where we just saw

congressman john lewis vote a couple of minutes ago in atlanta. there he is. the race for governor, polls open this morning. georgia's one of more than a dozen states requesting voters present a photo i.d. when they go to the polls. we will be back with much more on this hour. hey there people eligible for medicare. gimme two minutes. and i'll tell you some important things to know about medicare. first, it doesn't pay for everything. say this pizza... is your part b medical expenses. this much - about 80 percent... medicare will pay for. what's left... this slice here... well... you have to pay for that. and that's where an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company comes in. this type of plan helps pay some of what medicare doesn't. and these are the only plans to carry the aarp endorsement. that's because they meet their high standards of quality and service.

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what would it mean for the state of georgia to have its first black governor? >> it would mean everything to the state of georgia and to the south, to this region, and to our nation. give people a greater sense of hope that we're laying down the burden of race. >> that was georgia congressman and civil rights icon john lewis there in atlanta just a couple of minutes ago voting for stacey abrams, the democrat running for governor, and along with stacy abrams and andrew gillum, there are tons of other firsts we might see after all the votes are in tonight. there's jihanna hasyes on your

left. both democrats are poised to become the first black women to represent not only their states but all of new england in congress. janet mills might become that st state's first governor. her older brother ran twice and lost in the primary. vice president pence swooped in to give her a last minute boost yesterday. and ilan omar of minnesota are running in safe blue districts today, both democrats now poised to become the first muslim american women in congress. msnbc correspondent germajermaie is at booker t. washington high school. you're at the epicenter of what is a huge, potentially barrier breaking race there in georgia. what are you hearing? >> reporter: that's right. as you know the city of atlanta has played such a historic role in voting rights and civil rights here at booker t. washington high school the line came out the door and wrapped around outside. folks have been excited to vote.

as you see, there are still people here voting getting their stickers, and it's not lost on many folks just the historic nature of this race. when you think about stacey abra abrams, who was a spellman graduate and we're just a stone's throw from clark atlanta, moorehouse and spellman. this community with a long line of folks who fought so hard. i have first time voters. let me ask you a question, how did it feel to actually cast your vote in this race? >> liberating. >> liberating. >> yes. >> empowered. >> how does it feel? >> i would say the same thing. it also felt pretty amazing. it's the first time. >> now you have stacey abrams on the ballot. how does that feel? >> it feels amazing. she's a fellow spellman graduate. >> reporter: atlanta continues to make history. we'll see tonight if stacy abram becomes the first african-american female governor in this country, but folks here in atlanta are excited. turnout has been through the roof, slowing down with the rain but folks are excited and geared

up. >> trymaine lee live for us in atlanta. thank you so much. we want to wrap on today's big picture. today it is this man, major brent taylor. overnight his remains arrived back on u.s. soil from afghanistan after he was killed saturday in an inside attack. he was the mayor of north ogden, utah, a father of seven. his wife jenny taylor noted it was only fitting he came home on election day given his unwavering support of democracy. here she is this morning. >> brent himself put it best just days ago when he implored of us all, i hope everyone back home exercises their precious right to vote and whether the republicans or the democrats win, i hope that we all remember that we have far more as americans that you unites us than that divides us. >> final plea from the major to practice your civic duty today. the photographer lieutenant

governor spencer j. cox. craig melvin picks up our coverage today. big day and a big message, get out, vote no matter who you vote for, do it, right? >> don't complain if you don't vote. hallie jackson, thank you, and thanks for sticking around. craig melvin at msnbc headquarters, and the 2018 midterms are finally upon us. it is judgment day. candidates in the most watched races of the season doing the one thing that they can do to win this morning, vote. just a few moments ago florida's two gubernatorial candidates casting their ballots. democrat andrew gillum, in the middle republican rick desantis. before that democrat and texas senate hopeful beto o'rourke. far left there, expected any moment two senate candidates, josh hawley of missouri and democrat phil bredesen of tennessee. white house sources are telling nbc news that president has cleared his schedule for the day to monitor results. he is also expected to bn