the first polls have closed moments ago. >> i just got the eye from steve kornacki. >> some things will start happening fast here. >> we have our first flip of the night. >> there are 25 total clinton held republican seats. >> sherrod brown is projected to hold on to his seat in ohio. >> we carry a state that donald trump won by almost double digits. >> marsha blackburn.

>> carlos fighting for his political life. >> we're seeing people come out to vote against donald trump. >> over 100 women have been elected to the house. >> she raised millions of dollars. >> he has been defeated tonight. abigail spanberger. >> nbc news is projecting ted cruz will return to the senate. and republicans will be guaranteed control of the senate. >> i'll be out there fighting with you. i am not going away. >> how about the 19th district? john faso, republican incumbent losing to antonio -- >> for the democrats, this is ball game. nbc news is predicting the democrats will control the house of representatives. >> so this means divided control on capitol hill. there will be klademocratic cha.

>> this changes donald trump's life immediately. it is 2:00 a.m. here on the east coast. 11:00 p.m. for our viewers out west. we are wide awake plenty still to decide on this historic night with a great new group put togeth together. thank you for staying with us as we take you through the next four hours live right through morning joe. we have a shift in the balance of power. nbc news is projecting democrats will win control of the house of representatives and that comes with all kinds of new checks on president trump. let's take a look. democrats need a net of 23

seats. some of those votes still coming. in our decision desk says democrats could secure as many as 37, in the end giving them 230 seats. over here in the house, it remains in republican control. republicans have actually gained some seats tonight including some of the highest profile ones. let's look at the results. ted cruz in that closely watched race, defeating beto o'rourke. mike braun winning the seat over the democratic incumbent. a pick-up there for republicans. kevin cramer. marsha blackburn winning over the democratic former governor of that state. joe manchin in a state that president trump would have been by more than 40 points, holding on to his seat in the united states senate there.

josh hawley has upended and defeated claire mccaskill. the democrat there in the state of missouri has lost her race. right now some of the races too close to call. in the state ofary air, another of the closely watched races. a small lead there over kristen sinemma. only 23% in. still too close to call but trailing scott. and john tester, the democratic incumbent. behind for now with 71% of the vote in to rosendale. let's go to some of the governor battles. republican ron desantis has won in the state of florida,

defeating andrew gillum. he conceded a short time ago. in the state of georgia, brian kemp, the republican attorney general in that state, still too close to call. we're calling it, leading stacey abrams. there are still some votes out around the city of atlanta that could make up the difference. let's bring in steve cokornacki. how are you holding up? >> i saw you walk in. holy cow, it's 2:00 a.m. >> you've been here almost 24 hours. what are you looking at? >> on an election night like this, the suspense has never been more intense than this. tony evers, his lead actually climbed. now by 5,800 votes over scott walker. the big piece of suspense has everything to do with milwaukee

county. a core democratic area. we had that report and we confirmed this much. that officials said they had 45,000 uncounted absentee ballots they would tabulate and get out to us asap. the expectation is that they would favor evers. we haven't confirmed it so we're trying to track that down. if anything like that is true, that would be a gain for evers something like 15,000 votes and already leading. that would put him in a terrific position. that's the biggest outstanding story. and there's georgia. we heard stacey abrams not could not seating. if kemp's total does somehow fall under 50%, it does go to a run-off. our decision desk is not calling it yet but we suspect that kemp will finish over 50%. >> it doesn't look like they can make up the difference?

>> that's right. the two out there right now, this is a majority black county. stacey abrams doing very well. there are precincts, not many, unlikely even they could bring a statewide total. there are some provisional absentee. even with that, from our decision desk, they're not projecting it? we have a couple of barn burners out west. let's start in montana. i'm getting my own update. it has changed since the last time i looked at i. john tester. 3,300 votes behind matt rosendale. the good news for tester. this is bozeman. still only a little half the vote counted. i'm looking around great falls

here. a lot to come in. that will help him. blai blaine. roosevelt county, a big indian reservation out there. you have some sort of core big democratic areas. i think glacier might even, we have votes coming in. there are some rural republican areas, too. but wow, he's fighting for his life right now. the other senate story in arizona. the vote continues to come in. martha mcsally opening up a big lead. maricopa county, two thirds of the state population wise. sinemma leading here. it seems to be the story.

i was just told that milwaukee county has reported. wow! look at that. it was a couple thousand votes. milwaukee county put that uncounted absentee, they just reported it out. tony evers, you can see, he expands there. he now leads by 37,000 votes. and i can tell you, there are some outstanding precincts. >> are there enough votes out there for scott walker? >> no. i'm looking for recount provisions. 1.4% statewide. this is a major development. this was not on anybody's radar. i said that has to be wrong. can you repeat it to he? that looks like it is likely to make the difference. >> scott walk here survived time and time again. >> hang tight. we'll let you power through a

couple more diet cokes. for now, back to arizona. von, what is it looking like on the ground? >> we've got about 15,000 votes separating martha mcsally from kyrst kyrsten sinema. we expect the results for about 700,000 of those votes to come out. we won't know the results of about 300,000 until starting closer to thursday night. so these margins, if they continue to tighten. and it's interesting. it can only make you smile for the story is, we were very optimistic. and the exact quote is very confident. it is kind of parsing. which side had the advantage in the turnout today versus the early ballots that have yet to

be counted friday through monday. and both camps are very confident they'll be the ones. the reality is it will be all likely that it will be several today's until we get final results. >> and we know you'll be standing by. thank you. despite the hour of the night we have an a must crew with us for next four hours. elise is part of the podcast and a veteran of the george w. bush white house and the state department. also, contributing editor. the co-creator of the latina podcast and a winner in the united states senate. we have along for the ride, eddie is a professional at froins you've and a professor. we find author and nbc news

political news. and joining us, for pbs news hour. is it morning or night? what do we call this? >> is it a disco night? >> i like that. so let me start with you. we've dug into some of the news. the democrats just took control of the house since the shellacking. what does it mean for the congress? more.will what does it mean for the house? >> they can say, well, look what they did with the senate. they didn't win a lot of key governors races.

so his daily existence is going to be a lot more fraught now that democrats will turn up the scrutiny on him and his cabinet and all the dealings of his administration. >> we can quibble about what a wave is but no question, there is a check on the president of the united states in the way there hasn't been. you have nancy pelosi with the speaker's gavel, jerry nadler saying we'll hold this commission. this is an entirely different have. >> and it was health care. pre-existing conditions. the tight rope they'll have to walk is on one hand, holding the president accountable and on the

other, showing good faith effort. >> so we've had a chance. what did we just watch? >> i have no idea. we have mixed government. and donald trump will be. there will be all the stuff. they have to figure out how to walk the tight rope. they have been called obstructiobjec obstructionis obstructionists. they have to figure out how to do this with the base. they could be perceived by the focus as excited. we've seen some really important

victories, i'm really, really sad about the state of the country. >> why do you say that? >> given what trump was saying, all the ugliness and vitriol, the racist stuff that was. when you see 76% of white women voted for kemp. vinyl% voted for cruz. 51% voted for desantis. when we see mcsally and all these folks, what are we seeing? what are we seeing in the country? a deep divide. >> yamich, you covered this election. i think what the president may say is the states he went into,

they've done pretty well. he spent a lot of time in montana. where the president went and put in his time and held on. >> that's the message. i spent my whole night at the white house watching election results come in as the president was watching his watch party. and they said lesson the president takes away from this mid-term election. when he puts his body in a state, puts his body in a race, that he can help republicans hold to seats or win seats. so they feel very good about the senate. the other thing is that of course, the white house is already starting to warn democrats against going and investigating the president too much. kellyanne conway held a 28-minute gaggle for reporters.

which is longer than some press briefings. she said the democrats would be wasting their time if they were to go after the president's tax returns. i directly asked her if the president regrets having that ad that was deemed too raceist to air on cnn, nbc and other networks. she said she hadn't talked to the president about that. the white house is feeling pretty good about it. >> i remember the quotes. he said i have no regrekts. it all worked at very well. >> montana, going to keep you posted. you see tester does draw a little closer. that's a 1660 vote gap he's facing. the reason he drew closer, weapon roosevelt county.

it is all in there picking up 65,000 votes. the bad news is there is still some terrific. they're both just starting to could. again, just under 2,000 votes. what can you get out of those counties where a lot of the vote? and what can you get out of blaine? i said earlier when the first results came in. would you rather be tester than rosendale. i think it might be the other way around now. >> the president has spent a ton of time in the state of montana. >> let's look at this.

there is the florida senate race. still too. scott, with a razor thin lead. to ron desantos who hugged titlel titlely. what can you tell us? >> we may not be ready to call that senate race but rick scott did. it was a big night in florida and the bill nelson campaign is saying this is not the turnout they expected or hoped for. i think what is so striking to me, in covering florida in 2016 that 2018, is that there seemed in this election cycle to be two ways to go at this. you could be a trump acolyte.

the racial zpengss the dog whistles he was doing throughout the election or you could run like rick scott and try to distance yourself from the president. say you're your own man and ran for the centrist. and clearly, both republicans were here tonight despite the fact that polling showed both democratic campaigns ahead consistently. >> we'll keep it in the state of florida. the anchor of "nbc nightly news" saturday. great to see you, my friend. what's the reaction of south florida today? >> very surprising. a lot of people felt that gillum would win. and the rick scott race is very interesting.

he's never lost an election in florida. this was probably one that a lot of people thought he may lose. he worked very hard. and i would be interested in seeing how the i-4 corridor, those who moved to florida since hurricane maria, how they voted and what percentage voted. i guess it always comes down to florida being a razor thin marge written. 29 million latinos eligible to vote. the house of representatives changing hands. the house of representatives come next year, they'll be dealing with daca. even if it doesn't get through the senate.

there has to be something coming through the house of representatives that will deal with very pressing issues. >> we're talking about florida here. the latino vote. take a step back for me and talk about what you've seen tonight and what it says about the country. >> i think it was a big night for american liberty. a big night. it's important to think about what tonight was a referendum on. and i think it was a referendum on racism and on demagoguery and on xenophobia, on sex i, on lies, the abuse of power, on corruption. and i think the two stories coming out of that. the story number one is by with

a asomewhat decisive but narrow margin. the country rejected those things. reject president trump and chose a different direction. i have to say resonating with what he talked about earlier. you don't want it to be a squeaker. you don't want a squeaker on strong man, on the kind of sexism, institutional sexism we saw litigated in the kavanaugh hearing. a lot of very heart warming stories. i think we have to look at the character of our country's soul. that 40 to 45% of us are untroubled by things that would have made our founders, that are making our founders turn in their grave.

>> so we're talking about soul. but tonight was a bill will the politics of america. they hoped they might not be able to do it in the senate and it didn't. >> if we want to talk about the politics, the fact the democrats have taken over the house, it's significant. a check on the republican party generally. i think we have to keep track of the broader considerations. the country stands at a nice edge. these moments. what donald trump did. the closing argument. the keechbld argument he made.

>> if i can say something. younger voters maintained their share as they have in previous mid-terms. that's really impressive when you consider. they broke for dems 2-1. there was a wild split. 67% voted for congressional democratic candidates. there was a 36-point spread. three times when it was in 2014. when you look to the young people, they were very set. >> we had the first and second muslim women elected to congress. younger and much more diverse. that chamber will look different. >> and look where these races were.

in virginia, it is a shocker that dave brat was beaten by abigail spanberger, former cia operative. and then you look at other districts in iowa and minnesota and you have a lot of the rust belt starting to crumble. you aren't seeing the same effect in the statewide races. so we have a political realignment within this country where suburban voters, country club republicans, are voting in a different way and they might be going dem. is the republican party going to be a party just for the deep red states? or is it going to be more -- be more encompassing. siri actually knows what she's talking about.

i probably wasn't making much sense. is this going to continue to be more polarization? more political segregation? that's what we saw continuation of 2016 play out. >> it feels like some of those divides we saw were deepened and made even more clear. steve kornacki is at the board. >> in the nevada race, they had the go long polls. it may be close to finishing. jacky rosen has put herself into a very good position. taking on dean heller. we talked about this. this is the area where dean heller, he's from not too far, carson city area to begin with. sort of his natural geographic base when he was elected in 2012. he lost it tonight and then we're getting in now the vote from clark county, from las

vegas. you can see just population wise, this is huge. her margin is huge. she has now moved comfortably ahead. not a lot left there. jacky rosen if this holds, would unseat dean heller. to update you on that montana race. the gap has grown. it is actually 3100 votes. matt rosendale leading jon tester, and i am just looking to see if we have any new counties here. the bottom line, we may be in a situation where the republicans pick up montana. it is still close. >> keep us posted. when we talked at six a.m. today or yesterday, we talked about the early canaries in the coal mine. suburban districts, one in d.c.,

one in richmond. did that tell you something about how the night would go? >> yeah. these are all the democratic targets we were looking at. we said as the results came in, we were noticing a pattern in a specific type of district. these were republican held seats that had been won two years ago in the race by hillary clinton. and here's the complete list. you see more blue than red. the california ones just starting to come in. three, six, seven, 15. we came in with 25 of these and so far 15 turned blue. voters turned off by trump in 2016. didn't want anything to do with trump even though they voted

republican in the past. they sent their republican representative back to washington but two years later, the message coming out seems to be it's not just trump. we don't want anyone attached to his party. so they've made inroads elsewhere as well. but this is the most fascinating thing to see. the suburbs. the gains the president made in 2016. would they become a longer term feature of our politics? they're still here in the mid-term in 2018. big deal. >> still out. nevada. arizona, montana, florida. we're still looking at whether or not rick scott will get it done against the incumbent there. we'll dig more into the california races. you are watching election night on msnbc.

these folks, they don't have time to go to the post office they have businesses to grow customers to care for lives to get home to they use stamps.com print discounted postage for any letter any package any time right from your computer all the amazing services of the post office only cheaper get our special tv offer a 4-week trial plus postage and a digital scale go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again!

sten. thank you for sticking with us on this election night. on the west coast, it is 11:34 and we are still tracking some late results. we know democrats will take control of the house of representatives. the only question now, by how much? democrats need a get gain of 23 seats. and as we've been saying, they have surpassed that number. republicans, meanwhile, will remain in control of the senate. the margin is still too close in some places even at this late hour. let's take a look. the state of arizona, martha mcsally and kyrsten sinema. it is too close to call right now. in the state of nevada. jacky rosen, the democratic challenger, still too close to call. rick scott has a lead.

and still in the state of florida. and in montana, this race that steve kornacki has been looking at moment by moment, hitting refresh. there's the look at the map for governors across the united states at this hour. 20 held by democrats. 25 by the republican party. you can see a handful still out. let's bring in steve kornacki. and the editor for the cook political report. the two best at the big board for my money. >> part of our decision requests, he's had a hand in it. the perfect person to talk about it. let's go through it quickly. the tenth district. the republican incumbent. what do you see here? >> we expect democrats to take some ground as this progresses

over the next few weeks. this is a very tight margin. but the historical pattern has been for democrats to add to the percentage. no guarantees. but democrats look likely to pick up a number of seats. of these, we have six. what do you think is the most exciting? >> well, the tenth, the 45 think, and the 39th as well, where republicans have exceeded our priors. young kim, an assembly woman in california 39, has a lead on cisneros. that's a hillary clinton seat. likewise, california, 45. mimi walters in original county,

she has about a 7,000 vote lead. democrats are really hoping that they can make that up. we know this is probably less than half the total votes cast in this. >> the top two primary in june, walters did lose a lot of ground. here's one people are wondering about. dana recoohrbacherrohrbacher. it looks as if harley rouda has the lead. >> we started this morning. we'll finish up by pearl harbor day in california. >> okay. we'll be here waiting with you. the new look house is defined by a flood of women in congress.

i want to bring back in my panel. this has been, if you'll forgive the cliche, the year of the woman but it actually was. >> i think more on the dem side, certainly. you look at the women who are winning and they're a pretty extraordinary class of women. mimi walters is having a tough fight. we'll see if she manages to squeeze that out. but it is a fight with a member of the progressive scene. they haven't necessarily fared as well in the actual contest.

this will be a good deciding class. they start to figure out who can actually went all across the country. >> i love that you apologized for the cliche. but if i never hear year of the woman. >> many women got seats. >> much better. we need to start to normalize that. once we talk about them like everybody else, it will be increasingly more common. it is clear that others can do it too. >> district five of that state. the firstship women a capitol

hill reporter joins us from washington. good to see you tonight or this morning. it is one or the other. hard to tell. what's the reaction on capitol hill? nancy pelosi getting the gavel back. democrats will be chairing all the major committees and have said that they are prepared to hold the trump administration accountable in a way it has not been over the last two years. >> well. >> explained that, that they have not handed over one document congress has asked for. and the house republicans have set that. i spoke with jim cliburn, the

number one, what they show is that it preserves the mueller investigation. it says they will he said new chair of the intelligence committee is going to be a democrat. and that the russian investigation is what they oversee with, they said they want trump's tax returns. and there is a long list of every day governing that democrats want oversight of. such as the family separation of the border. adding the, they have two years of all of these things that they

want answers. >> you mentioned a new democrat at the top of the committee. adam schiff already on this network saying he is ready to help protect bob mueller and his investigation. when we come back, the head of the governor's association. standing by for us. we'll talk to him about big pick-ups across the country when we continue late night. so this christmas, take care of the hands that take care of you. that's me in back in 1987, when i gave isotoner gloves to all my teammates. now i have a different set of teammates. my family. and they all want isotoner gloves for christmas because they keep getting better. there's smartouch. for selfies whenever, wherever. then there's four way stretch for flexibility. they even have smartdri. see? stays dry. so get isotoner gloves for the whole family. take care of the hands that take care of you.

the medicare enrollment deadline is only days away. choosing the right medicare plan is no laughing matter, pick the wrong one and you might end up with a doctor you're not so comfortable with. i'm not so comfortable. or even worse, be forced to pay thousands in medical expenses due to coverage limitations. that'll be how much? understanding all the options, let's face it, it can be downright confusing. and that's why i love healthmarkets, your insurance marketplace. they search thousands of plans from leading insurance companies to find a plan that's right for you. plans that have prescription drug coverage, dental and vision care, and that offer extra benefits you may not even know were available. some plans may eliminate your out-of-pocket costs, like copays and deductibles, and there's even plans with no monthly premiums. and they can find you a plan that lets you keep your doctor, i know that's important for me. healthmarkets doesn't just work for one insurance company, they work to help you, and they do it all for free. hi, i'm dr. thomas stackhouse.

it's a new medicare year and that means more changes and more confusion. many people may worry about the high cost of medical care and prescription drugs. the key to maintaining your health and saving money on your healthcare cost is finding the right plan for you. don't go it alone, make sure to explore all of your options to find the right plan for your needs. having helped enroll people in millions of policies with an a+ customer satisfaction rating, you can trust healthmarkets. to update your coverage or enroll for the first time, just call healthmarkets. with access to thousands of plans nationwide, it's easy to find the medicare plan that saves you money, so you can enjoy more of the things you love. ♪ your insurance marketplace healthmarkets ♪ call now before the deadline to take advantage of this free service. call the number on your screen. only days left... find out now how easily you can save.

welcome back. democrats recapturing control of the house tonight. they also flipped several governor's mansions. j.b. pritsker notably campaigned with president obama. and state attorney general bill lost by double digits. governor, thanks for taking time with us at this late hour of the night. you had some pick-ups. you have to be happy.

a couple disappointments mixed in and it still remains to be seen in the state of georgia. how are you feeling? >> this is just a really good night for the democrats. we flipped seven seats. this morning we have six women. this was a big night in restoring some decency and balance and progress to our state. but it's not so much a win for the democrats. it is a win for the people of maine. under janet mills, they'll get 40,000 people with health insurance. that people of new mexico. they can get solar energy jobs.

it is a really heartening things. >> are you surprised by kansas? >> to some degree. we had such a great candidate. the republicans have cratered that condition. the fiscal condition. people i think in the democratic party stood up for bread and butter issues of roads and clean energy and clean water. that was very successful for us. we represent more than the republicans. we represent the majority of the population of america tonight. >> were you surprised that the turnout in wisconsin was so high this year against scott walker? >> well, no.

governor walker caused a lot of concern that he was damaging the educational future of wisconsin kids. he rejected a way to have health insurance. he did not stand up for coverage for pre-existing conditions. there were a lot of things people were concerned about including water issues. across the midwest, there is an increasing concern about clean water. you know the story. it is not just michigan. and we feel good about those democrats now who will stand up for clean water and jobs and kids. that's a pretty good value statement. >> i know you said that you are not ruling out a 2020 bid. what do you think the top line lesson is for democrats? >> that we have a vision statement for the country that

works all across the country. pick-ups in nevada and new mexico where we understand the power of solar energy and clean jobs. solid wins in the midwest where we focus heartland values of our kids' transportation and jobs. wins in new england where janet mill will help with health care and protecting women's rights. i think we showed a vision. we won seven seats. this is a big night for democrats and a big night for america to restore that vision of manager. >> we're about through the mid-terms and people look at you and the economic success of your state. they look at you and they say that guy would make good candidate to run for president. what are your thoughts? >> those are obviously brilliant

folks. tonight we're still counting votes so we'll focus on that. >> so wait until tomorrow? >> only thing you have against you is your association with joe scarborough. >> he has surmounted that. >> congratulations on a big night. >> a big picture for you tonight. >> i have to disagree with my friend eddie who had a little bit of a dour take. i think what we've seen is probably the best of both worlds. everybody gets a narrative out of here that is a glass half full approach. and that's great from a national comedy perspective. if democrats had failed to take house, i think they would have withdrawn and engaged in a lot of fatalism and resigned themselves to doing extra political activities. more civil disobedience.

similarly, if republicans had enjoyed an outright victory, we would have seen a ratification of their strategy to engage in racial demagoguery and to invent crisis on the board. i think everyone can claim victory and having a hollow approach. from the national perspective of everybody engaging in politics, it is pretty good. providential almost. >> i agree to a certain extent. i guess i'm kind of disturbed and i'm sure you are, too, by the success of the ugly appeals. we talk about polarization. we talk about hyper partisanship. at the heart of it, at least for me what i saw in this mid-term was some very ugly rhetoric on

the part of donald trump. it was jesse helms v. harvey gant in 1990. it was worse than that. the fact that it was successful suggests that even as we come out of this mid-term with mixed government, that the intensity of our exchange will increase. what do you think? do you think it will be more, shall we say, sharp? >> i imagine it would be. it would be outside the political arena if it had gone a different way. as long as we are engaging in politics. the boring stuff. legislation. cloture votes. the stuff in washington. then we're in a better place. in 2006, republicans lost 31 seats and it was a cataclysmic

thing. we all know how this turned out. it was a mixed bag and democrats did quite well. >> you've been looking at voter suppression. some of that has been in the state of georgia. one of the candidates is the, what did you see? >> a couple numbers. i'll may corn actioni. the pick-ups there kind of reflect that. look at the senate. 42 million americans voted for democratic senators and only 32 million voted for republican senators. and on that night, they stuff that happened in north dakota with i.d. requirements.

but voter, we each have an archaic way with each. what's happening is tthey are looking to the senate. and if you just look at the raw numbers, tonight was a resounding defeat for racism and sbol -- i would hope this new house investigates not just donald trump but political reform. >> briefly. i have to interrupt you because that's kind of a misnomer.

. every second with that was for a democrat. so defending numbers. some of the races were not competitive. y you. >> as you know, a. it is inconsistent with frankly, the kind of reform that we need. >> hold that thought for one second. i have to fit in a break. i said. >> we'll nk coming. [ phone rings ] what?!

ready for christmas? no, it's way too early to be annoyed by christmas. you just need some holiday spirit! that's it! this feud just went mobile. with xfinity xfi you get the best wifi experience at home. and with xfinity mobile, you get the best wireless coverage for your phone. ...you're about to find out! you don't even know where i live...