de d debacles we don't pay enough attention. no republican states wanted to turnover their voter rolls either. this is one of those instances where, out in the country, democrats and republicans roundly rejected what was clearly a blatant suppression effort. >> look at that graphic. that would indicate we have poll closings. here we are 10:00 eastern time. a name you might recall from the modern history of american politics, that name is going to the u.s. senate in utah. let's put it on this -- we don't have the board, okay. we'll do this verbally. mitt romney is going to the u.s. senate. there's the music. there's the building. there's the pan up, the stars, and mitt romney will be heading to the u.s. senate as a freshman republican. imagine that? in montana, the tester race so many people curious about, they'll have to be curious for a bit longer.

too early to call. ditto nevada. the dean heller race. jacky's race. thank you, skaters, for giving us the ice tonight. there are the undecided gray senate seats and a meter of its own in yellow. >> the way to look at this -- yes, the undecided seats, that's the floor the two parties have in terms of how many seats they've already guaranteed. you see how close the republicans are guaranteeing to continue a majority in the senate. it's going to be a tooth and nail fight for every one of those that is yet to be decided. steve's got some more calls in house races. >> let me take you through these. the second district of virginia, this will be a democratic pickup. scott taylor, republican incumbent around virginia beach here. he is going to lose this one. this is not actually a clinton district. trump did win this district by 4 points two years ago. scott taylor, there was some

local controversy around him with some allegations about his campaign. taylor is going to lose this race tonight. we project that is a democratic pickup. also this is one of those we said we expect. we just needed to actually get the votes in. one of these newly drawn pennsylvania districts. this one chrissy houlahan is going to win. this used to be ryan costello, a republican member of congress. this was his district. he took one look at the remap, he said thanks, but no thanks. chris chris christy houlahan will be elected. new york, staten island, dan donovan, republican incumbent, has been unseated by max rose. this is fascinating because it is not a clinton -- new york city, not a clinton district. there are parts of new york state and staten island in particular, that like donald trump very much. this was one of them in 2016.

two years later, dan donovan is losing here. we also have a call, i am told, in pennsylvania -- yes, pennsylvania 7. this one not a shock, but here it is. susan wild defeating marty nothstein. charlie dent held this. through redistricting became favorable. clinton by a point. it was more republican before that. this is also a democratic pickup. and so here is what the score card looks like. count them up. one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, 11, 12. one seat they lost, remember that pennsylvania one, so a net gain of 11 for democrats. that leaves 12 to go to get them the majority. that is why with these calls coming in quickly, especially a surprise one like that trump district on staten island, that's why our decision desk is confident the democrats will emerge with a majority. in the house has increased to 95%. it started two hours ago at 65%.

when you're a democrat like dan donovan and you run up the scores in a clinton district, that's what happens. >> another veteran, max rose, platoon leader in afghanistan, he made a very direct television commercial about heroin in the streets of staten island and the horrendous commute that most new yorkers are forced into every day because from the port authority to all three governments surrounding, people have just stopped caring generally. and it has propelled him to victory. >> donovan -- >> the last republican in new york citys -- city, was he the last one? >> darn near visible from space. >> he's not somebody who had a national bull's-eye on him. this race, because of him being in new york, he's seen as always potentially vulnerable. he was not one people expected tonight. >> we have not talked about all the retirements. the two years of president trump, republicans announced

they would not run for election. >> charlie dent. >> charlie dent was one of them. a lot of these are going to be republicans who said basta. >> charlie dent is a guest on your show. >> i'm looking at -- i love that stat now. it's always been bay ridge. bay ridge and brooklyn. irish, italian mainly. what they said about the commute, that's an interesting issue. >> it is. what new yorkers and new jerseyians and folks from connecticut are expected to endure. bridge, tunnel projects that are going to stretch into the 2020s and beyond, just repeated as a matter of this is what we have to live through. no one thinks any more in terms of a big project. what was it, the 405 in l.a. that they needed to shutdown for a weekend, they prepared for it, they did it, it was an engineering et feat. we don't think big like that any more. >> the tappan zee, the new one. >> the connect, look at 287. you could lose a hub cap --

>> i feel like i'm listening to waves right now. >> we stopped caring. we've stopped building the big projects. >> and the totals are, you know -- >> you don't want to pay 20 bucks for the honor of going across the gw bridge? >> enough about me and my commute. >> let us go to a place where we just praised the infrastructure, let it be noted, our great friend lawrence o'donnell is in southern california tonight where lawrence has been watching all of this in anticipation of california poll closings which could be absolutely epic. before we get to that point, though, lawrence, how have you been watching tonight unfold and what has struck you? >> i just want to remember that old phrase, as staten island goes, so goes the nation. last week, i identified the staten island race as the one i was watching on the east coast because it had a good chance of going democratic with max rose running a flawless campaign on staten island. and staten island is the only,

the only republican congressional district in new york city. it is a world apart from new york city. it is strangely of new york city, but so different from the rest of it. and so when you see that kind of change there -- because dan donovan was a very, very solid republican candidate. there was nothing wrong with his candidacy. he ran a solid republican campaign. and so that win for the democrats there tells me that where i am in california tonight is very likely to go something on the order of 7 democratic seats -- seven pickups which the democrats are targeting. that's what they've been targeting all year, picking up seven here in california. if they do that, you can reasonably anticipate them to pick up between staten island and california in the meantime, the democrats would be solidly in control of the house of representatives and really, with staten island going, i don't see why these districts in orange

county that are in play won't also go to the democrats. everyone -- orange county is more famously republican in national terms, but staten island is every bit as republican as these orange county districts. i think it is very, very likely that when we finally do get these results here, which will be well after 11:00 p.m. eastern tonight, polls close in california at 8:00 p.m. tonight. we will be seeing, i think, the returns here confirming the kinds of flips we've seen starting on the east coast. >> lawrence, looking at some of the -- the top of the ticket races that are so unexpectedly close, maybe we should have expected them to be this close. but in florida and texas, we have got incredible close -- incredibly close races. we do have a new call right now, brian. >> captain cramer, the projected winner -- thank you so much. north dakota senate -- no, that's okay. >> can i throw this at you? >> here's the problem for the

dems. there were a lot of democrats secretly, quietly holding out hope that especially as native americans found a work around to an effort to suppress their votes, that maybe heidi heitkamp might find a route to the finish. it was not to be tonight. >> no. heidi heitkamp, the numbers were against her. running for reelection in a state where donald trump won by 36 points. she won that seat six years ago by less than 3,000 votes. based in significant part by very, very strong -- very, very strong support from native american voters. they passed a law that makes it essentially very difficult for native americans to cast votes. >> starting with what's your street address? >> north dakota ans who are native americans who live on rural reservations don't have street addresses. they decided it would be a rule you had to have a street address

on your i.d. to vote. it was a suppression to keep them from voting. it's a civil rights story that would linger on a long time after these results have resonated. but whether or not those votes would have been enough to keep heidi heitkamp in the senate, she has lost her seat tonight. >> that is a net gain for the republicans, a net loss for the democrats. that is not a seat that's a wash. >> i want to go back to lawrence. we're talking about some races very close in senate, in florida, ted cruz and beto o'rourke in texas, what's your take on that, lawrence? >> i would have been surprised if he wasn't really close and really taking this down to the wire because anyone who saw him campaign in texas knew that we were seeing nothing like anything we've seen in a democratic campaign in texas. you remember the last, the last elected democratic senator in texas was lloyd benson, and

lloyd benson was -- it was as if the president of your local bank was running for senate with all of the charm. lloyd benson was a solidly capable senator in terms of legislation and the technical specifics of legislation. he was the chairman of the senate finance committee. he was a very powerful senator, but he was not a degrgrega rio campaigner. not like beto o'rourke is. what we have seen is an extraordinary campaign of an individual with extraordinary political talent and an ability to carve out his own policy positions without taking dictation from washington or taking talking points from anyone. and there's probably not many democrats in the country who would agree with beto o'rourke's position on every single issue right down the line. but he's carved a space that is so appealing that wherever

democrats find some slight disagreement with him, it feels very minor compared to the way they agree with him. >> lawrence o'donnell waiting out the poll closing times in california -- >> rachel, can i get in one word about heidi heitkamp? >> please. >> i worked in the senate seven years. i never once in my time in the senate saw a united states senator cast a vote, that that senator knew could decisively -- >> guys, i have to interrupt. we have a big call. this is out of texas. nbc news is projecting ted cruz will return to the senate from texas, and republicans will be guaranteed control of the senate as a result. >> let's go to chris hayes who is in el paso at beto o'rourke headquarters. chris hayes, we've been going back to you all night long as we've been watching this almost

unbelievably close race unfold. nbc now projecting that ted cruz will be reelected. i've got to ask you about how it feels in the room and whether or not people in the room have absorbed that call. >> i don't think they have absorbed it at all to be totally honest. loud music playing. it's filled. someone earlier tonight, a texas democrat is elected, described the map in texas like being in prison. it's a tall wall and beto has done a lot to get up over that wall. it looks like he's going to fall short. i also talked to a texas source who said already it's the best night, to put this in perspective, for texas democrats in a generation. they're looking at probably ten state rep pickups, a bunch of congressional competitive seats. the race that beto ran here had a lot of down ballot effects. and after an extremely

devastated -- on the democratic party, i think there is a generally optimistic feeling with beto coming up short in the senate race. >> chris in el paso at the beto o'rourke. for it to be called at this point after watching it on such a knife edge feels like a blunt ending to this. but let's go to somebody who knows this stuff inside and out. evan smith is the ceo of the texas tribune and joins us just as we are absorbing this news. mr. smith, thanks so much for being with us. we know this is an incredibly critical night in texas. let's get your top line reaction to how beto o'rourke did in this race against ted cruz. nbc projecting ted cruz will be elected. >> i'm a little stunned. i've been absorbing it myself. i'm stubbed the race would be this close. i thought cruz would win this race all along, but mid single digits, high single digits.

understand republicans win by 15 or 20 points. the fact beto o'rourke got it this close was the news today. getting it to a point where two or three, whatever it ends up being is really an kboerd feexty feet that has not been hospitable going back to ann richards. he will lose, but democrats will have a fantastic night. they'll pick up a double digit number of seats in the texas house. they'll win some congressional seats. there are statewide races that have no business being close that are tight as a tick right now. it's a good night for democrats even if beto o'rourke loses. >> evan, do you think the gains o'rourke made in terms of voter registration and turnout and organizing are things that will be beto specific or do you think the democratic party is able and nimble enough to lock those in and keep those people both democratic and voting in future elections? >> too early to tell. how much of this is about beto versus how much of this is about

the political environment becoming more favorable to democrats. a lot of talk every four years how texas is going to turn blue. mostly that's been hype. there's been no evidence of that up until this cycle. he is a singular candidate. he is so much more articulate and empathetic. talented as a campaigner, connects with people, energetic. i think it's very hard to come behind him and replicate what he's done. not to say it's impossible, but if you held me at gunpoint and say who is the candidate that will be the next beto, i'd have a hard time telling you a name of somebody who would do what he did. >> evan, this is gene robin only. >> hi, gene. >> what have you seen in the latino vote that would be a real rebirth of the democratic party? >> as you know, the latino vote in texas has historically underperformed the african-american vote, and especially the anglo vote as a percentage of those eligible to turnout. anecdotally what we're hearing

tonight is the latinos turned out in greater numbers than they have of late. there was a lot of concern coming out of the primary that beto o'rourke might not be energizing latino voters in a way that wendy davis did not exactly energize latino voters four years ago. we'll have to take a look at the numbers and see. the reality is the latino vote has been so small in texas the last couple of cycles. if you're a democrat and you overperform, the numbers are not enough to overcome the embedded republican advantage. we'll have to see what they say. >> he have ansz, you mentioned democrats may pick up some seats even though beto appears to fall short. we are able to project right now that long-time texas republican congressman pete sessions, who i believe is an 11-term incumbent has just lost his seat to colin all red, the democrat who was challenging him there. nbc news now projecting that result. i'll have to ask if that's a surprise to you, evan. >> it's not a surprise. dallas county has been described

to me by republicans as an absolute disaster for republicans. sessions is the largest nesting doll. inside the sessions doll are texas senate and texas house seats, and everybody is going down in dallas county if they're a republican tonight. dallas county has gotten progressively more blue over the last several election cycles. sessions was the most endangered republican. it is not a surprise that he's lost. >> evan, i was talking to a king maker in the democratic party today who was talking about the future of beto should he win the election today. and he couldn't run for president right away. now egs available to run. is it outside the realm of possibility beto o'rourke coming off this near miss will run for president? >> he didn't want to talk about it until after this race. he was planning ongoing to the united states senate. he committed to serving for six years so he didn't entertain the conversation. you and i know, chris, there will be drum beats about this guy for the next two years because he energized people not

just in texas, but around the country in a way that was really quite remarkable. could he do it? does he have the experience to do it? does he have the national profile to do it? we really don't know. i think what he'd like to do probably, if he does lose this race, is go back to el paso for a while and chill out and we'll entertain the conversation at that point. is it possible? sure, it's possible. who knows. >> thanks, evan. >> evan smith with texas tribune, we "press:here" -- appreciate you being here. beto o'rourke seems to have fallen short in his effort to unseat ted cruz, a republican incumbent u.s. senate winning election. in any other year, would not even be something that would make tv. the sort of thing you wouldn't think would need to be discussed. beto o'rourke kept it close enough that we brought it until after the 10:00 p.m. eastern hour, before this was called for ted cruz. again, also, there has been a house call in texas while we

were having that discussion with the editor from the texas tribune, long-time republican, pete sessions has lost to colin allred, former nfl player. steve kornacki. >> the 11th district in michigan, haley stevens, a democrat, calling her the winner. a pickup. not one of the clinton districts. this is a district donald trump did fairly well in in 2016. one of the reasons he was able to win michigan, but tonight haley stevens, the democrat in this open seat, is picking that up. also, we can show you in that texas district, you're talking about the 30-second pete sessions going down. this is another one of those clinton districts. a clinton suburban district. a long-serving republican being defeated there. you start to add these together, 11, 12, 13, 14 balanced against that one loss they had, that is a net gain of 13. their magic number sits at 10.

ten more to go, sitting at house control. 95% in our meter. just if you check in on the category w50e678 be category we've been tracking, clinton districts held by republicans, there has not been a single republican call. republicans have not been called a winner in one ever these districts. nine democratic pickups in there. >> steve, let's reiterate. right now with texas winning -- >> excuse me, that's okay. for the democrats, this is ball game. nbc news is predicting the democrats will control the house of representatives. it's been a night of victories and it's been a night of some painful losses for the demes, but this, of course, hands a vital branch of government to the opposite party. >> to be clear, with texas senate going to ted cruz, nbc is projecting that the republican party will hold the senate. nbc is now projecting that the

democratic party will hold the house. so, this means divided control on capitol hill. there's a lot of other races to cover over the course of this evening, including a lot of fascinating governors races. in terms of overall control of the two houses of congress. it looks like we know how the big part of this story is going to end. >> nicolle wallace, for the federal bench, you need the senate. but for the investigations and the scrutiny that this administration will not welcome, you need the house. >> this is everything. i mine, democrats have been out of the ball game. they've been incapable doing what the republicans were willing to do because they didn't control the senate or the house. this changes everything. adam schiff is now the chair of the house intel committee. we now have a branch of government who can try to answer the question that robert mueller is investigating. what role russia had in the 2016 election. we have a president who isn't interested in the answer to that question. you now have democrats able to

subpoena and investigate a government that by the white house's own admission has had some very corrupt cabinet secretaries. the dude intact cal pants, even the trump white house fired him. this changes washington. this changes life for the white house staffers. and this changes donald trump's life immediately. >> elijah cummings is the chairman, likely incoming chairman of the house oversight committee. we were off camera here sunday night. elijah cummings is -- i think is almost without equal in terms of the quality of his staff work, the vision with which he approaches his responsibilities, and the ability, just the sheer competence with which he approaches his role on the oversight committee. he and the other democrats on that committee have asked over the past two years, they have requested 64 subpoenas related to oversight matters with the trump administration. the republicans had none of it. they wouldn't approve any of them. all of those will be approved by

elijah cummings. that means ryan zinke's life is about to get a lot harder. >> can you imagine? go back -- pruitt. if you had a democratic controlled house, we would have gotten to the bottom of the 800 whatever, $80,000 phone booth, bullet proof desk. there are people who have not just squandered the taxpayer dollars, but outright corruption -- >> stolen the taxpayers' dollars. >> that ends tonight. >> we know from our conversation with adam schiff the other night that these incoming chairmen, they figured out how to approach this. they seem to have a step-by-step game plan. they know whos going to do what, who is going to look where. i think they'll hit the ground running. >> i think the treasure hunt for donald trump's tax returns is on its way. and i think that we heard the other night when we were

together sunday night, somebody at ways and means chair, somebody is going to go for it and get it. subpoena is ultimately the powerful tool. >> there was a discussion as to whether kellyanne conway violated the hatch act at a campaign appearance. it kind of rose and died within an hour on social media because it was just too much. it was futile to even have the conversation because it was thought, there's no governing body that will give us satisfaction. >> i worked in a white house, a republican white house with a democratic-controlled house and i turned over my e-mails six times. they investigated the enron scandal. they investigated the energy task force. they -- i mean, they have no idea what's about to happen. they will all have lawyers. they will all turnover their e-mails. and the winner is the taxpayer. the winner is the citizen. we will now have the ability for at least one chamber of congress to get the answer to questions that the trump white house has been unwilling to answer, that every other white house has had to answer for. and, you know, the russia

investigation is very much in danger. i talked to folks sort of familiar with the biorhythms of the justice department. they don't know whether to pack or charge. packing up their offices or getting ready to charge more criminals in the russia investigation. you look at how -- i was reminded today by a former national security official. no one ever passed legislation to protect robert mueller so with that investigation very much in question, it's really important for the country, for democrats and -- everyone should be thankful that democrats now control the house. >> didn't it strike you as odd the other night? sarah huckabee sanders who has not held many briefings shows up at a rally, a public employee paid for the by the taxpayer, showing up there huckstering for the president. >> i traveled with the national security advisor because if something happened and george w. bush was campaign rg, he had to be able to talk to his national security advisor.

but he went from the plane to the car to a back stage. he was never seen. i have never seen white house staffers in public at a political event. >> we were speechless. she ought to take leave. they write speeches for the campaign. >> i was an intern and told you had to excise yourself from a conversation if anyone brought up electoral politics. for god sake, don't use the phone to conduct an intern. >> it's crazy. >> the george bush administration, you and i i think like each other very much, we are actual friends off camera and we disagree strongly of the overall administration of the george bush at morgan stanley. i will concede you this. everything i thought was wrong and terrible at the george bush administration, and i can read you chapter and verse -- >> you wrote the book on it. >> i really can. we have just had a midterm election that ends tonight where the president has his campaign chairman, his deputy campaign chairman, national security advisor, personal lawyer all awaiting sentencing on felony

charges. the president is the subject of an active investigation of a counter intelligence and criminal nature that has produced 100 felony indictments already. gerald nadler is the head of the judiciary committee. everybody thinks that's where impeachment comes from. that's where action comes from to protect the mueller investigation to make sure it comes to an end. devin nunes will dissolve back into security. he will hold -- maybe he'll pick up farming since he's been faking all this time. adam schiff as chair of the intelligence committee is not just going in there as a democrat. adam schiff is going in there as -- you know this, one of the most talented intellects we've seen in modern politics. adam schiff. the way he approaches an issue, wouldn't you be terrified to have him as a professor? the grade curve in his class would be like f to a d minus. you'd never catch up with him. >> adam schiff will have the ability to do what none of the republicans on the intel committee have done, to actually protect the justice department and the fbi. when the justice department and

the fbi went to paul ryan and devin nunes and said, please don't release these classified materials. please don't release the nunes memo. please don't release the fisa applications which have sources and methods in them. paul ryan and devin nunes, the republican speaker and the republican chairman of the intel committee said, pound sand, fbi head. pound sand, d.o.j.. the justice department, republican appointees at the justice department and fbi their lives get better tomorrow. >> just to check in with one of the sub-plots tonight, and an open request through our control room, i would love an accounting of women elected thus far tonight and veterans elected thus far tonight, even though the night is young. wisconsin -- >> we have governors? >> governors, sure. wisconsin governor is -- i think we have it as too close to call. we also have, we were talking about scott walker, one of the great survivors. however tonight goes, one of the great survivors in american

republican current day politics. evers up 50-48. hugh, perhaps you've been listening to the conversation -- oh, charlie -- it's charlie sykes. the error is mine. i apologize. charlie, you're no hugh hewitt. you've been listening to the conversation there. >> now i'm confused. >> i'll mess with charlie when i see him. you're in your home state of wisconsin surrounded by home state republicans. >> right. >> give me the headline for tonight. >> well, the headline for tonight is that, you know, despite the lack of a blue wave around the country, in the upper midwest, democrats are running the table. the night started with the call for tammy baldwin who is winning reelection by more than 10 points. and right now scott walker is behind. look, i was here thin this room

eight years ago in wisconsin when it flipped dramatically. this crowd is looking for good news. one of the reasons they're playing the music so loud is they didn't want to play the tammy baldwin acceptance speech. but there's a lot of nervousness. obviously walker doesn't want to see the numbers where they are right now. this would be a big pickup for democrats. and it, again, would be consistent with what you're seeing happen in a lot of these rust belt states. >> if it is a pickup for democrats, charlie, what will the, what will the walker obituary read? what will that first paragraph read? >> well, that he survived recalls. he survived protests. but he couldn't survive donald trump in 2018 because the economy is strong here. taxes are here. but the head winds of trump here in wisconsin were just too much. and it is interesting, you know. lee who lost for senate ran very

much as a trumpian candidate. she linked herself to trump. walker tried to run on his own record, but at least in wisconsin, that was too much. it was uphill. >> charlie, this is rachel in new york. i just wanted to ask you to reflect for a little bit on sort of the end of this republican triumph in wisconsin. we'll see what happens with governor walker tonight. with paul ryan leaving as speaker of the house, retiring, he looks like he will now be succeeded by nancy pelosi as it looks like the democrats are poised to retake control of the house. with reince priebus having left the rnc and become white house chief of staff and now ended that, whatever status he ended that in, and now scott walker potentially losing his seat tonight in wisconsin. those three huge wisconsin republicans. wonder if you could talk about that as the sort of -- should we see that as the end of an era? >> yeah, very much so. i mean, we used to joke about cheese head domination here. and again in 2020, no state

flipped as decisively from blue to red as wisconsin. i mean, they flipped the governorship, u.s. seat, both houses of legislature. if governor walker does not win tonight, that really does come to an end. and again, you're exactly right. that triumvaret, they knew each other, worked well with one another. it's possible by the end of the night they'll all be gone. >> charlie sykes, editor in wisconsin. hugh hewitt, by any stretch of the imagination, there is no hugh or hewitt. thank you, charlie. >> have the meal of his choice in new york city for calling him hugh hewitt. >> thanks, charlie. >> ladies and gentlemen, it's been a while since we've done an accounting of the other important races for tonight, and that is governors races. let's run the board. starting in michigan. with a democratic pickup tonight, whitmer is going to the state house.

in new mexico dems have picked up the seat. in arizona, this is the incumbent doug ducey returning. in new york, we hardly talked about this. mario cuomo, token 20% opposition tonight, going back to albany. >> andrew, not mario. >> andrew, thank you. you know, names are becoming tough at this hour. in nebraska, governor ricketts going back. in alabama, ivey, the incumbent, going back. in oklahoma, stitt, this is a gop hold. in south carolina, mcmaster. you have seen the president campaigning for the incumbent republican governor mcmaster. wyoming, a gop hold. mark gordon the governor elect. in vermont, the incumbent

governor scott headed back. and let's go into too close to call. south dakota, christy nome staying within a couple points. billy sutton in florida, too close to call. we've talked about this a lot tonight in georgia, too early to call. much to rachel's frustration. >> three quarters of the vote in georgia. it's killing me. >> do you want to introduce our guests? >> yes. >> we have guests. >> introduce our guests. >> steve kornacki, first of all. before you can meet our guests. i'm being corrected by the control room. we can't talk about our guests. steve kornacki, what do you have? >> we can give you an update on the georgia situation. too early to call, the guidance we're getting from the decision desk on this, remember, georgia, it is a runoff state. no one will win the governorship tonight unless they finish with a clear majority, 50% plus one. you can see the margin kemp has right now with a lot of votes still outstanding around

atlanta. that's the delay. our decision desk thinks he's likely to get over that number, but they don't know for sure yet. so we are waiting to see a little bit more out of there. but i can show you, even with kemp leading statewide, again, this is a story we've been seeing everywhere. these republican areas really coming through for him. around atlanta, the theory of the abrams campaign, this is the county i think i said was going to tell the story. until 2016, this county had never voted democratic in a presidential race. quinnipiac county, it is rapidly growing, rapidly diversifying. now stacey abrams leading this thing by 13 points. we said it might have a ripple effect in the house if she performed here, if she exceeded hillary clinton's margin. check this out. the 7th district of georgia right now, republican incumbent rob woodall is trailing his democratic challenger. the reason he's trailing is 80% of this district is gwinnett county. if the turnout is up, if the democrats are doing better there, that could translate into

a pickup for them in georgia. you could say if it holds, would be powered by abrams, even if she loses statewide. quickly, i also want to show you, we said there might be some democratic pickups tonight. completely out of left field so to speak. we're not on our watch list. maybe not even on our long watch list. there may be one on the verge of coming in. let me take you deep into red america. this is oklahoma's 5th congressional district. look at this. nearly all of the vote has been counted and republican incumbent steve russell right now is running 2600 votes behind kendra horn, his democratic challenger. where the heck is the 5th district of oklahoma, you ask? well, oklahoma city accounts for 95% of the district. you can see almost all the vote is in there. ken tra horn getti kendra horn, getting 52%. there is still some outstanding vote. i think steve russell may be able to get a margin of 5, 600 votes out of seminole county with a little bit left here.

and you see overall he is trailing in this thing by a couple thousand votes. so kendra horn, a democrat, may be on the verge of unseating steve russell in the 5th district of oklahoma. this is, by the way, this was a 13-point trump district. this is the only district in oklahoma democrats could ever dream of taking. they may do that tonight. >> all right, steve kornacki, thank you. >> can we ask you, steve, about one actual race? arizona 2. arizona second congressional district, do we have by any chance a call on that race or any projection what's going on there? >> yeah, let's take a look here. let's go out to arizona, as a matter of fact, and let's call it up. yes, anne kirkpatrick, the democrat, this was their sort of dream recruit. martha mcsally vacating the seat to run for the senate. we have now called her a victor here. it continues the theme we've been talking about. clinton district, democrats picking up another clinton district. that goes into the column as well. just to check in on that column we've been keeping tabs on

still -- one more. carlos curbelo, florida 46, republican. he is conceding defeat. hillary won by 16 points in 2016. republicans hoped he could pull it out. another republican losing in a clinton district. >> wow. so many of these coming in and at 11:00, roughly 20 minutes from now, we have california closing. so we're going to have a lot of news. another quick break for us. our live election returns continue after this. today, 97% of employers agree

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get covered today. 10:43 eastern time. the polls near closing in california. this is the lead story, that is control of the house of representatives projected by nbc news to be in the hands of the democrats when this is all over. that is our projection of the margin at the end of the night. and then there is the senate, a decidedly different story tonight. and for democrats, some squeakers, some heart breakers.

republican control will remain in the u.s. senate. here is our projected, so far map of the seats of the republican control, though as we've been saying it's the gray seats that are in question tonight that we will have answers on before the end of the evening. >> so, the total number of senate seats held by the republicans still to be determined, but the nbc news projection is it will be status quo in the senate. that the republican leader, mitch mcconnell, will be the senate president. but in the house, all change. the new speaker of the house according to nbc news projections will be nancy pelosi. nancy pelosi is the most powerful woman in the history of american politics. she is the only woman to have ever served as speaker of the house. she will now return to that role. not only will nancy pelosi be speaker, but this means that there will be democratic chairs of every committee in the house with everything that entails in terms of oversight and accountability for this new

presidential administration. we have news on that front. ari melber has been doing reporting on what to expect now that the democrats seem assured of control of the house. ari. >> that's right. i spoke with the ways and means committee, breaking news, they do intend to request president trump's tax returns. that's important because, as you know and as we have reported, this is something that does not require the senate, it does not require even a full house vote. under federal law, the chair of the ways and means committee has the power to request anyone's tax returns. they believe that includes, flatly, the president of the united states. so this is coming to us now. we are seeing the ramifications of democrats on these committees who have this kind of power. this is richard neil, this is the ranking member of the ways and means committee, who would become chair if our projection holds that they are basically democrats taking over the house. getting your hands on those trump tax returns, as everyone knows, would be a big deal for the committee. it doesn't mean they would

automatically become public, but it does mean the democrats are coming out swinging tonight. they're not waiting. they're putting this marker down right now and i'm reporting this for the first time on msnbc. they intend to request the returns, and the senior source tells me this is something that pelosi is in on. >> now, ari, when you say they will be requesting the president's tax returns, they're not requesting them from the president. they'll be requesting them from the irs. does the irs have to say yes? >> that's the question. this is federal law, as you say. 266103. it is important it's not donald trump personally making this decision, but it is as you say the trump administration through the irs. the options are to say yes and hand them over, or to fight it. and i am told again, by the sources on the ways and means committee, if it's a fight they want, it's a fight they'll pursue. not too get too out into the weeds, rachel. if the irs under the trump administration says no, the house's move would be to take it toe court. you have a federal law that seems to say flatly they can request it.

>> this is declaration from a senior source about the plans of the ways and means committee, the new chairman from massachusetts. ari, thank you. that's dramatic news. >> it is indeed. and we have two guests here with us that can talk about that. donna edwards is a former democratic member of the house of representatives from the great state of maryland. and stephanie ruhle, all our viewers should know already because she anchors at least two shifts a day, sometimes maybe more on this network. welcome to you both. congresswoman, a question about style. should some democrat have just done that, say nothing of the ink isn't dry. we don't have these races done and dusted yet. this is a projection of house control by the democrats. is that the right look by the democratic party to, before this night is over, start making noise about the president's tax returns? >> well, you know, i think that it's really important for democrats to begin to set the

table and to set the table for governing. and some of that is going to mean investigations and inquiry -- >> i think they're in for dinner already. >> the other part is how do we govern, how do we vote on things people voted on, the health care, economy, roads and bridges where they don't damage their cars. and i think democrats are going to have to have a twofold strategy, and if it looks like they're just investigating everything, i think that's a really bad look for the party. and so i would urge them to think about the important investigations, and then to move on from that, to legislating. and even though it means that it may not go through the senate and it may not get to the white house, it begins to set the table for 2020, and says affirmatively, these are the kinds of things that we're for. >> are you certain pelosi gets reelected by her caucus? >> absolutely. if i were in congress i would vote for her.

one thing you don't want in an environment like this, with a report coming from the mueller investigation, is you don't want somebody who is not seasoned, somebody who hasn't been in the fight. and i think nancy pelosi has done that. i don't think she should be there for ever. neither do i think all of the rest of the leadership should be there for ever. but this is a really important moment to have her, and i'd cast a vote for her. >> but, brian, look at a lot of these democrats who are winning. they are new faces. they are young democrats. you look at the future forum. this is sort of like the problem-solvers caucus within the democratic party, within the house. 28 members in their 40s or younger. they endorsed 45 candidates. already seven have won. these are millennial minded, and even though, yes, nancy pelosi without a doubt is the woman on top, when you look at the faces of these candidates who are winning, you are seeing the response coming from young people who are voting saying, i'm tired of the status quo and i want something different. but it is stunning. look at the people who are

winning. we knew it was a record number of women running. whether you're talking michigan, kansas, or a number of other states, it's extraordinary to see this. >> stephanie, can i just ask you from a financial perspective, because you are often the person that gives me advice on these things. to the extent that the president's tax returns are not just a prize, but are relevant to a given the president's tax returns are not only a prize but are relevant to a substantive investigation, the democrats shouldn't be out there saying, we're going to go get everything we can. they should be targeted and deliberate in everything they're after. if the chairs and means decides to get the tax returns, decides to fight that fight, what potentially substantive matters are they relevant to? we used to have a norm that candidates disclose their taxes. he didn't. that's one thing. but what would they find in his taxes that would be relevant? >> if we're looking at what the president is doing as well as what robert mueller is doing, the president loves to say, i never invested in russia.

no one ever thought you did. the question was, are you financed by the russians? the president never had any u.s. bank finance him, so you have to ask the question, who is putting that money up? if we saw his taxes, we would know something about that. but to your point, democrats have to be strategic. as they're calling for right now, they're putting on a show because they certainly want to see t but you know from the "new york times" reporting, they reported ex tense siftensively and a half. we could find out he is just extraordinarily cheap and abusing loopholes which is far beneath what our moral leaders should do, but donald trump will turn around and say, that's what makes me clever. >> does anyone here not think his tax returns have been on robert mueller's desk for nine months? >> i certainly believe robert mueller has the tax returns. then the question for democrats is what is it they could explore with those tax returns that goes above and beyond, maybe even related to emollients, for

example, which might be a relevant inquiry. but i think democrats need to be very, very strategic with what it is they decide to investigate in this time. i tell you, the president, you can say what you want about him, but he will exploit that to the hilt, and i don't think democrats can offered that. it's a short window between now and 2020. >> just briefly some business from tonight, we have divided up these twin mississippi senate races into something arbitrary. mississippi one, mississippi two. this is the latter. as predicted here, as we've been discussing, neither candidate reached 50% in a three-way race. there will be a runoff. as rachel put it, kind of fixing it on the american calendar five days after thanksgiving. >> that's right. when we were talking about this earlier, there was the prospect had beto o'rourke beaten ted cruz in texas, this senate race

might have been determinetive in terms of who will run the senate. they have a hard row to hoe in mississippi now that the other republican candidate who drained 20% or whatever it was of the vote won't be in that race and it will just be head to head with cindy hyde-smith. but this election, for what it's worth, won't be technically over until much deeper in this month. in terms of the oversight stuff that's about to happen in congress, congresswoman edwards, i wanted to ask you, maxine waters financial services, richard neal, ways and means, jerry adler in judiciary, all the other chairs we're about to see, do you feel like the democrats have a good team on the bench ready to get in the there? do you feel like those chairs are just the project of seniority, or should they go through what their predecessors

went through? >> if you take, for example, elijah cummings or adam schiff, either two of them, if nancy pelosi wasn't in the picture, they could be speaker of the house. they're smart, they're strategic, and so are these other chairs. i think these chairs are are goi going to have to come together and they get to decide who investigates what. you can imagine the reform committee is very expansive, so they could do legwork on a range of these issues and leave the other committees to do their committee work. >> have i just been snowed by senator collins in thinking he's good at what he does? >> he's smart and he's good looking. it's not just because he's from maryland. >> we're going to go to california which closes in six

minutes. sorry, i thought that was at the top of the hour. jacob soboroff is standing by to talk to us in california, and santa ana, to be specific. look at that line behind you, jacob. >> reporter: yeah, brian, i know we've called the house. i don't know if these people know that we've called the house. i don't know if they care that we have called the house. this line is still three hours long. like you said, we're six minutes away from the polls closing in santa ana. we showed up in santa ana at the headquarters where i spent a lot of time talking to rachel from last night, because four congressional districts are located here in orange county and the four congressional districts are on the list that democrats are targeting to flip. this is the place to look after 11:00 eastern time, in four minutes from now. we've got the 39th congressional district of california, the 45th, the 48th and the 49th. all of those are teetering on the edge. i talked to every one of those

districts. they can vote here. it's called a vote center. this registrar is responsible for the 1.6 million people that all vote in orange county. i can tell you from spending a lot of time on the ground out here, going through the districts, but to more of the voters, they were ready for change. we heard about all kinds of things, but particularly donald trump. and places like newport beach, california, huntington beach where dana rohrbacher has been a long-time congressman. they told me about the separation of the children down on the border where i spent a lot of time earlier this year. they were unhappy with the way things were going in washington, but they're also unhappy with the way things are going at home, and i think that is part of the reason that, with six minutes to go until polls close, you got a three-hour-long line to still get inside this orange county registrar's office, guys.

>> a very dramatic depiction of the situation in santa ana, california tonight. >> we thought there was a possibility that california was going to be the place we were going to be watching not just for hours tonight, but potentially for days or weeks if that's what it came down to in terms of control of the house. as jake said, he doesn't know if the people in the line know the house has already been called, but it's a big deal to see how big the house majority will be. as you're waiting for that tonight in terms of house races, what difference does it make in terms of the governing mandate and party in the house. >> you need 218 to get anything done. 218 is the magic number. every time a bill comes up, you need 218. you might have moderate democrats, conservative democrats, a few of them, and they can hold out. >> this is gillum conceding in california. >> i'm extremely proud that this evening the voters of the state of florida decided to pass

amendment 4. i'm proud about that. that is just one step closer to getting us where it is that we need to be as a state. y'all, i want to encourage you not to give up. i want to encourage you to stick to the fight. i want you to know that every step of this way, even though i won't have the blessing of serving as the next governor of the state of florida, i still plan to be front lines right alongside every single one of you when it comes to standing up for what it is we believe in. as i said all along the campaign trail, policy is nothing without a demand. it never has and it never will. we still have to be willing to show up every single day and demand our seat at the table. we got to be willing, inside of elections and outside of elections, to say that our

voices still matter, that we still have relevance. i still believe and i still trust the voters. we may not have all shown up in the way that we thought and hoped that we would, but i still believe that there are still more of us who believe in what is common and what is doesn't and what is right, and i believe in the long run, good always wins out over evil. i still believe that. many of you all along the trail heard me talk rather repeatedly about my grandmother. someone pointed out that she was the real winner of the governor's race. my grandmother who poured so much into us because my mother and father, as i would often share, would have to get up so early in the morning and go off to work. they would load us up in the car and take us over to my grandmama's house where we would sleep just a little bit longer. my grandmother would often have a ritual.

it was a two-step ritual. the first phase of that is that she would grab her bottle of olive oil, sometimes cooking oil, whatever the shiniest oil she could get her hands on. and she would put it across my forehead. it was a way of a blessing that no harm would come our way. she would say, boy, go to school. mind your teachers. get your lesson, and when they bring that education home, she would say bring it home for your little brother and little sister who don't know what it is yet. bring it home. bring it home for that little boy down the street that you play with. god knows where he'll end up. bring it home. bring it home for your mama and daddy who get out there every single day, going to work on somebody else's job in order to keep a roof over your head and clothes on your back and food on the table. bring it home. as i share with you on the campaign trl,