captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> woodruff: election day 2014, the polls are still open with more races going down to the wire than any election in a decade. good evening, i'm judy woodruff. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill, control of the u.s. senate hangs in the balance. republicans need to pick up six seats to retake the majority. >> woodruff: 36 states will elect governors. a third of them considered toss- ups, more incumbent governors are at risk of losing this year than any time in half a century. >> ifill: stay with us all night on-air and online for analysis and the latest results. plus, a special report at 11:00 p.m. eastern.

>> woodruff: it's election night on the pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> at bae systems, our pride and dedication show in everything we do; from electronics systems to intelligence analysis and cyber- operations; from combat vehicles and weapons to the maintenance and modernization of ships, aircraft, and critical infrastructure. knowing our work makes a difference inspires us everyday. that's bae systems. that's inspired work. >> and the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions

and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> ifill: all over the country, americans have been casting ballots today and potentially shaking things up in washington and a number of state capitals. the voting followed the most expensive midterm campaign in history with more thanked we begin with a look at how this election day unfolded and what's at stake tonight. after months of campaign ads, pitched appeals and hundreds of candidates debates americans headed to the polls today. in some parts of the country, there were long lines.

in others, turnout was lighter, as voters breezed in to elect officials for national, state and local offices. >> i think that this is what it is all about, to be able to vote and have a voice and hopefully select the people that you think are going to represent the state the most appropriately. >> it is really going to swing things here in north carolina as well as across the nation, so i thought of it as a very important election to kind of get out here and make my perspective heard. >> ifill: up for grabs, one third of the senate and party control of that chamber, plus all 435 seats in the house, where republicans are expected to add to their majority. today, democrats control the senate with 53 seats, plus two independents who vote with them. republicans hold 45 seats. but the g.o.p. is hoping to add at least six more tonight, and shift the balance of power. senate contenders, incumbents and challengers, democrats and republicans cast their ballots early. >> i think we're going to have a

good day here in kentucky and hopefully around the country. >> we need people down in washington that are going to work together with folks, that are going to bring people together. the partisan gridlock, enough of that. >> ifill: in washington, white house press secretary josh earnest said the election no matter its outcome does not constitute a referendum on president obama's job performance. >> the fact is the voters, again the voters who pick up the phone for people conducting a poll for cnn indicated that at least a majority of them were not trying to send a message to the president with their vote, that something else was driving their decision. >> ifill: in many cases, that something else is the economy, and it's been a major factor in making many of the 36 governors races very close. this is also the first election for some states with new voter i.d. rules and the department of justice and various other groups are monitoring for any irregularities including suppressing and voter fraud. >> ifill: we'll begin our deep

dive into the election story in detail, after the news summary. >> woodruff: there's new evidence that islamic state militants tortured and abused kurdish children in northern syria. human rights watch announced the findings today. some 150 teenage boys were kidnapped near the embattled town of kobani, in may. the report says they were beaten with rubber hoses and electrical cords and forced to watch beheading videos. all of the captives have now either escaped or been released. >> ifill: tensions mounted again today in ukraine, as the government announced it's sending more troops to the eastern part of the country. president petro poroshenko said the reinforcements will defend key cities against pro-russian rebels. both sides agreed to a cease- fire in september, but it's been violated, repeatedly, since then. >> woodruff: in mexico, federal police captured a fugitive former mayor who allegedly ordered an attack on student protesters. 43 of them are missing and

feared dead. early this morning, jose luis abarca and his wifek, were taken by convoy to the mexican attorney general's office, after being arrested in mexico city. officials said they were giving statements. parents of the missing students have complained of lack of progress in the investigation. but some of them welcomed news of the arrests. >> woodruff: investigators say the mayor was in league with a drug gang, whose members killed the students and buried them in mass graves. but so far, no sign of the bodies has turned up. >> ifill: the head of britain's electronic eavesdropping agency is charging that u.s. social media outlets are command and control networks for terror groups. robert hannigan made the claim in the "financial times." he said islamic state militants use facebook, twitter, and whatsapp to communicate with

relative ease. hannigan says the tech companies are in denial about the issue. >> woodruff: there's word from west africa that thousands of people have broken ebola quarantines in sierra leone to find food. aid organizations warned today that food deliveries are not reaching many of the remote, cordoned off areas. those left hungry people to search where they can potentially spreading the virus. >> ifill: the world health organization urged today that a prescription drug used to fight drug overdoses be made more widely available. the u.n. agency said nahloxone could prevent more than 20,000 deaths a year in the u.s. alone. the drug can counter the effects of heroin and some heavy-duty painkillers in minutes. and, it can now be administered as a nasal spray. >> woodruff: minnesota vikings star adrian peterson will avoid jail time in his child abuse case. peterson pleaded no contest today to a texas charge of misdemeanor reckless assault. he was accused of switching his

four year old son with a small tree branch. peterson initially faced a felony charge, but appeared before a texas court this afternoon and formally accepted the plea deal. afterwards, expressed his remorse. >> i truly regret this incident. i stand here and i take full responsibility for my actions. i love my son more than any one of you could even imagine. and i'm looking forward to and i'm anxious to continue my relationship with my child. i'm just glad this is over. >> woodruff: peterson has been on paid leave from the vikings under a special exemption from the n.f.l. it wasn't yet clear how the deal would affect his playing status. >> ifill: a man long sought for pirating material from the music and movie industries was arrested today in thailand. hans fredrik lennart nay'uh co- founded the file-sharing website the pirate bay. he's already been convicted in

sweden of copyright infringement and sentenced to a year in prison. he and three associates will also have to pay $6.5 million in damages. >> woodruff: major u.s. banks are joining forces to combat cyber attacks. "the wall street journal" reports several cyber-security firms will use money from 16 banks to create faster communication about potential breaches. the move follows attacks last month on computer systems at j.p. morgan chase and other institutions. >> ifill: the price of oil kept falling around the world today, after saudi arabia cut prices for u.s. customers. oil finished near $77 a barrel in new york trading, putting more pressure on energy stocks and wall street in general. the dow jones industrial average managed a small gain up 17 points to close near 17,384; but the nasdaq fell 15 points to close at 4,623; and the s&p 500 dropped five, to finish at 2,012. >> ifill: still to come on the

newshour. on the ground reports from kentucky and wisconsin. the analysis of mark shields and michael gerson. how money was spent on the campaign trail. young people weigh in on the negative messaging in campaign ads. debating what the election could mean for immigration reform. and how it could affect efforts to tackle climate change. plus, the possibility for a tie in the senate. >> woodruff: in one of the three states where polls close in less than an hour, kentucky. senate republican leader mitch mcconnell hopes to prevail over his democratic challenger, alison lundergan grimes. and if republicans can pick up those six seats needed to take control of the senate. mcconnell stands to become the next majority leader. while in wisconsin where polls are still open for a couple hours, all eyes are on the governor's race. republican scott walker rode the

g.o.p. wave to victory in 2010, but was forced into a recall vote after taking on organized labor. if he survives tonight, he may join the short list of those eyeing a run for the white house two years from now. hari sreenivasan is in our newsroom. he'll be talking with reporters across the country all evening. >> sreenivasan: we start with the bluegrass state. renee shaw of kentucky educational television joins us from lexington. so the big story, the big race that everyone in the country seems to be focused on is between mitch mcconnell and alison lundergan grimes. what was that race like today? >> reporter: well, they have been doing the ground game, as you say, these last 72 hours, hari. they have been out, both of them, in force. there has been a flyer round with the junior senator from kentucky, rand paul. of course, secretary grimes hases had president clinton in and also hillary rodham clinton

in on her behalf. it's been a busy last 72 hours. i think mcconnell says his folkfolks have knocked on theire millionth door, and secretary grimes has been going around the state by the dozens in the last few hours. >> sreenivasan: is it all paying off? where do the polls have the candidates standing tonight? >> well, latest polls show that mcconnell was easing away, that he was enjoying a lead. now, it was within with the statistical margin of error, and one poll, the survey u.s.a. poll. but others show him enjoying a double-dingit lead. many predict mcconnell will be the victor again tonight. zeal to see upon. the heavy turnout across the state has been reported in several different pockets and it's been steady turnout as well. so that could be indicative of a good ground game behalf of secretary grimes or maybe not. we'll just have to see who those voters turn out for today. >> sreenivasan: before they got out the vote on election day they also spent a tremendous

amount of money on advertising, a lot of money coming in from outside spending. i think the republicans outspent the democrats here three to two. you saw evidence of that, i assume, on your tv airwaves. >> no doubt about it. i think if you ask a lot of the voters what they're lookinged for to most out of this election, and that's november 5, they'll be glad to have their tvs back and their mailboxes free of flyers. it has been an aggressive game on behalf those of these candidates and the superpac many has flowed and the televisions have been commandeer and the radio airwaves as well with advertising. mitch mcconnell has had an edge. they eased up on the negativity a little bit over the weekend but came back at it dismnd tuesday. we'll see if that affects who voters support. we know the turnout is heavy so perhaps it doesn't suppress the vote as conventionally you would think. >> sreenivasan: while it is two names grimes and mcconnell on the ballot, president obama

seems to have played an outside role in this. >> yes, he's the ghost candidate, full, hari. as you know, mitch mcconnell, from the gate right before the primary, and especially during and after, has really connected secretary grimes to president obama and his slowing afns that kentucky needs mcconnell but obama needs crimes, and that resonated throughout, even though secretary grimes tried to say we need to get the millionaire who's had a 30-year record in washington that is not serving kentucky the way you like and who was pretty ubpopular, that doesn't resonate as much as the connection to the president and it's something she had a hard time overcoming. and we'll see if she was aicial to reclaim her own narrative tonight. >> sreenivasan: all right renee shaw of kentucky educational television joining us from lexington, thanks so much. >> thank you, my pleasure. >> sreenivasan: it's not only senate that's capturing a lot of attention. for the latest on the governor's race in wisconsin between republican incumbant scott

walker. and democratic challenger mary burke. we turn to frederica freyberg of wisconsin public television in madison. so, let's talk about this race. what was the mood like on the ground? >> the mood like on the ground throughout the campaign or the mood like on the ground today, the last day before the polls close tonight at eight am? >> sreenivasan: exactly. let's talk a little bit about the turnout here. did people come out, especially in the big cities, for this race, that got so much national attention? >> well, we are being told-- we're reading along with the live blog postings throughout the day that milwaukee, city of milwaukee election officials are reporting what they regard to be high turnout. they're saying the turnout is somewhat like the last presidential race, somewhere around 70%. that would be very high turnout. dane county is reporting high turnout. they're saying as high as 90%. the city of green bay is also reporting high turnout.

now, that could change as the evening wears on and the polls close and perhaps those numbers slow down. but mary burke in particular needs that kind of turnout because scott walker comes in to this election night before the polls close with some energy because the latest marquette university law school last week put him up seven point among likely voters over mary burke. now, registered voters were still about even in that poll, and that's considered kind of a gold standard poll in wisconsin, very accurate historically. but so among registered voters about even. that's why she needs that turnout in milwaukee and in madison, the two democratic base cities of size in this state. >> sreenivasan: before tonight, were there national issues that brought these voters out at the numbers you're talking about or was this a local election and local issues? >> well, you know, i really do believe even though this race

has the eyes of the nation on it because of scott walker and bloomberg describing him as having altered the boundaries of republican ambition, even though the national eyes are on wisconsin, this really was a race about wisconsin issues, about jobs, about the economy, about a number of other issues regarding, you know, scott walker's four-year tenure here as governor. and so, again, the nation is watching, but wisconsin is also keenly interested in its local state issues. >> sreenivasan: all right, and finally, i want to ask, wisconsin also has been in the news because of the voter i.d. laws and the supreme court suspending any implementation of them. have there been any voter i.d.-related issues that have come up at the polls today? >> we have not heard of any. the government accountability board here, the election officials for the state have said there have not been any issues or problems. however, it has been suggested

that perhaps there's confusion among voters because it was less than a month ago that the u.s. supreme court kind of put the halt to our voter i.d. law, and so some voters may really not even know that they don't need their i.d. to vote. but in fact, the polls are still open here. they do not need a photo i.d. to vote. >> sreenivasan: frederica freyberg of wisconsin public television in madison, thanks so much. >> thank you. >> sreenivasan: all right, gwen, back to you. >> ifill: thank you, hari. >> ifill: thanks, hari. there's a lot at stake and a lot to keep our eyes on this election night. here to help us make sense of it all, for the long haul, shields and gerson. that's syndicated columnist mark shields. and "washington post" columnist michael gerson. so, michael gerson, what's your canary in the coal mine tonight what, are you watching for? >> i'm watching for whether republicans can win away games. it's not enough to win

republican-leaderring voters in republican-leaning states in a republican year. that's enough to get the senate. the question is whether they can win in purple states. that has implications for 2016. you know, places like iowa and colorado and-- >> ifill: north carolina. >> north carolina, new hampshire. these are places that you need to win that show that you can expand your coalition. so that's what i'm looking for. i think they'll have a good evening. the question is whether they have a swell or a wave, and those states will determine a wave. >> woodruff: what about you, mark, what are you looking for. >> i think michael makes good sense as usual. the i think the blue states, the states that president obama carried twice-- colorado, iowa, michigan, virginia, minnesota, oregon-- i think that will be the sign if there's going to be a real democratic erosion that wilseal start to see it there ad that you'll see it in a state where we didn't expect a race. if virginia, where mark warner has been considered the overwhelming favorite, former governor, running against ed

gillespie, former republican national chairman, it seems to have tiented up in recent days. if that happens, i think it's probably very encouraging sign for the republicans. it's-- you know, i think everything is pointing that way, quite frankly. if a michele nunn pulls it off in georgia, that scrambles all our thinking or the republicans lose kansas. >> ifill: let's step back a moment. does the president ever win seats in a midterm election. it's been presumed the presidentpresidents are at a disadvantage. >> the hero here i think is bill clinton who didn't lose any senate seats in one of his midterms, but this would be a pretty-- if you look at it big picture from the perspective of history, barack obama started with 250-some seats in the house. he could end up with 190-some seats in the house. that's a pretty big deal. that's 60-some seats over the course of his praens. it's a large shift. so i think that that is not

unprecedented, but it is a serious repudiation of his governing vision. >> woodruff: and that being the case, mark, in some of these states, some of these candidates will say there's almost nothing i could have done to overcome the negative feelings out there about the way the country is going and how people feel about the president, many people, not all people. >> and all of them tried different routes, and we'll be able to analyze them tomorrow. as somebody said, the democrats have spent the last nine month running away from president obama, and today is the day they come face to face with him in the polling place. i think that is a real problem for democrats. and one that they-- alison grimes, seeing the piece you did monday night for the show in kentucky, never able to handle it. i mean, just kind of caught on the-- on that tar paper, if you would. so i do think that in answer to gwen's question, president roosevelt picked up seats in 1934 after his historic win in

'32. president clinton did in 1998 in his sixth year, after the misguided, stupid impeachment. -- >> woodruff: because of overreach. >> whip lash. that's right. and president bush picked up seats in 2002 in his first midterm after-- south of the after-glow of 9/11, sort of a national unity ticket. other than that, it's a pretty tough time, and mary, west-- >> ifill: oh, no, here we go. are you going to quote mary, west. >> woodruff: it's early in the evening for mae west. >> it describes this election. when forced to choose between two evils, i like to pick the one i haven't tried before. and that's what i think we're doing. you know, we like change in the abstract. then it happens, and we react to it. it happened with reagan in '82. it happened with clinton in '94, and it's happened to obama

twice. >> ifill: let's take a step up from mae west. >> how can you take a step up. >> ifill: i know, it's not possible. big, sweeping messages. are there any in this election. >> we could have the first combat woman elected. first married gay man elected to the congress. we could have the first african american woman republican congresswoman elected. and they're all republicans. so i think there is a sort of nenl here, diversity has arrived in the republican party. >> ifill: a big tent year. >> this is a marvelous, diverse, geographically massive country that's showing its diversity. we may see those things tonight. that would be an interesting development in this election. >> it's a reach from the diversity of the country, the diversity of the republican party. we both agree with that. >> no, it shows it's reaching even them. >> it is showing. no, there are two strongly

backed, openly gay male candidates endorsed by the republican party, one in massachusetts, one in californ california. total party backing. i think that, you know, we'll know early what kind of an evening it's going to be. new hampshire is going to be instructive. if jeanne shaheen, only woman in the history of the country to be elect the both governor and senator, is in trouble against scott brown into arrived on thursday and filed on friday's, he has been a good candidate and made a close race out of it. and i think the two house seats in new hampshire have been barometers of national opinion. they flip back and forecast, six, 10, and 12. we'll see. >> woodruff: and those polls close in 30 minutes. we may not know the answer to that race, though, in 30 minutes. >> stay tuned. >> woodruff: this election is already one for the history

books when it comes to cash. more money has been spent than any midterm ever, over $4 billion. and the most ever spent on congressional races in any campaign even presidential years. our political director, domenico montanaro, takes a look at what much of that money has bought. >> if you live in a state with a close senate race, you're probably really glad it's election day because that means me more political ads. >> area health plan, canceled. >> mitch is at the heart of everything that's wrong in washington. >> more than $1 billion was spent on tv ads in 2014 more than any other midterm election ever, most of them attack ads like that. and if you live in a place like iowa, with one of the most hotly contested senate races, you've seen more than 60,000 ads just since this summer. republicans' main target-- president obama. >> in 2008, i fell in love. but by 2012, our relationship was in trouble. but i stuck with him. because he promised he'd be better. he's great at promises.

>> and tying democratic senators to him. >> pryor o-b-a-m-a. >> close enough. >> more money was spent on health care ads than any other issue, most against. >> promises that weren't true. mary landrieu cast the deciding vote. >> insurance companies will go back to charging whatever they want. >> every week it seemed like something new. >> while isis grew, obama did nothing. senator hagan did cocktails. >> she's for amnesty while terrorism expert says our border breakdown could provide an entry for groups like isis. >> while republicans tried to nationalize the election, democrats stressed local issues. >> when i'm asked who's responsible for these education cuts, it's tom tillis and his legislature. >> at merrill field, where i expanded the safety zone, and where we kept the f-16s. >> other ads aimed at breaking through had a lighter touch.

they went to those classic political ad props, animals. >> i grew up castrating hogs on an iowa farm so when i get to washington i'll know how to cut pork. >> our tax dollars were spent studying how monkeys respond to unfairness, and how they act while on cocaine. >> when i get to washington, i'll stand up to the big spenders. >> babies: >> help me change the childish behavior up there. >> and even pop culture. >> gary peter's lone shark nato. >> whatever the message, candidates hope their ads can help reassure. >> i never stopped fighting for my daughter, and mitch never stopped fighting for us. >> or plant a seed of doubt. >> can we really trust teri lynn land to do what's right for michigan? >> and motivate their voters to tip the balance in their favor. >> woodruff: we wince at some and smile at the others. >> woodruff: younger voters made a big difference for president obama in his two elections, but like most others, their numbers

drop in mid-terms. that made us wonder how interested they are this go- round. in collaboration with our student reporting lab, we spoke with high school students around the country. our political reporter and editor lisa desjardins began the conversation by asking them to look at this year's ads. >> so go ahead, space bar on that. >> all right. >> reporter: we sat down with teens from our student reporting labs in three states stateswith high-profile senate contests -- kentucky, michigan, and colorado. >> i'm terry lin land-- >> the idea, to understand how this generation sees campaign ads and politics. >> think about that for a moment. >> this is not, like, helped me to choose who i want to vote for at all. >> reporter: we learned they are not impressed. >> because, like, i don't know what to believe. it was two completely different facts trying to state the same thing but they were completely different. it didn't make any sense. i don't know what to believe, what not to believe. >> i sort of tune out ads that are always about what the other opponent is doing wrong or what

the other opponent is saying, because if you really believe in these things and if you really believe that you can help other people, you should talk about the things that you can do to help other people. >> the argument is that people-- young people might not be voting as much as oarldz people, but they in fact are engaged and committed and a fine generation politically. it's just that they're expressing their politics using different methods or means. >> reporter: dan weekly is a political science professor at american university who specializes in voter turnout and what motivates different groups. she sees a young group right now that cares about issues but not politics. this when political parties are launching ads, writing blogs, and join all manner of methods s too get young people in their tents. >> i get e-mails, probably five a day from the democratic party, trying to get me to participate when i think a lot of the process is lost in just

campaigning. i think it's based in putting money into ads like this, and just trying to get votes instead of trying to get policy changed. >> so they are coming of age where they see a politics of polarization and personalization and a lot of big problems and a perception of gridlock, and the government-- "the government--" not doing its job. and they don't want to engage. >> reporter: we learned something else, too, about what young people do trust. to use a trendy word, they curate their information. they trust sources they themselves find and know. >> i think campaign ads put this-- almost like a plastic cover or who they are. you don't know who they are because they're aiming to please. but i think the real way to choose who you vote for is to do your own research, and i think that means going to different news web sites or magazines or

stations, watching them. >> i prefer to get a real-- real information not just the biased argument on tv that often seems-- you know, everybody is saying what other people are saying is untrue. so then it leads me to not trust anyone. so i prefer to read online or find out from sources i trust. >> reporter: there is a real sense of the end game with these young people-- do campaigns mean anything? their answer seems to be no. does voting matter? depends on whom you ask. >> if i'm voting, i'm putting my input into something that could make a difference in my community. there are several things that can change, and i feel like if i'm trying to put forth an effort to help change those things, something could happen. >> reporter: so no to any campaigns which lose to young voters tonight. this group wants facts and they want results. lisa desjardins, pbs newshour.

>> ifill: tonight's outcomes could broaden the definition of winner and loser. there are also major issues hangining in the balance. tonight, we look at prospects for two of them. first, immigration. joining us are two activists intimately on both sides of the issue of who gets to come to the u.s. who gets to stay and who gets sent back. brad botwin is director of help save maryland a group that wants to tighten the nation's borders. and cristina jimenez is co- founder of united we dream, which works on behalf of undocumented immigrants. welcome to you both. miss jimenez, the movement on immigration reform has basically ground to a halt in congress and at the white house. what would this election do to change that? >> well, i think that what's going to be critical here is whatever the outcomes are for these elections, will have a lot of impact for 2016. so the the question is would democrats and the president continue to deport people? would the president take

administrative or executive action on immigration as he promised on june 30, or will the republicans continue to promote the mass deportation agenda, as they did with mitt romney and have continued to do so. >> ifill: brad botwin, is it a mass deportation agenda we're talking about? >> i don't believe so. i think tonight we will see the senate flip to republican, which is actually a good thing for the immigration issue because you will have a more logical approach. i think the president and the democrats in the senate tried to do, effectively, another obamacare for immigration, just a mass bill with the republicans in charge of the senate and the house, i think you'll get a step-by-step process, and this will mean, first off, border security, let's turn off the leaks. let's seal the border. internal security. and eventually, over time, after this happens, i think we can get to groups that are pushing these so-called dreamers and others.

>> ifill: let's take it one step at a time. do you both agree that comprehensive immigration as a result of tonight's election results is off the table? >> what i think is urgent for the immigration communities is the president made a promise to address immigration. what we saw in 2013 and even this year is the republicans were unwilling to work on an immigration reform bill that was passed by the senate and very clearly, speaker boehner said they won't moveed for on immigration. and what we've seen is republicans time after time voting to defund programs. >> ifill: except that a lot of people on your side of the issue are disappointed in the president, too, for not acting. >> exactly. it has been a big disappoint that he actually chose and made a political calculation thinking he would rather protect some of the senate races and the folks running for the senate races instead of taking action on immigration as he had promised,

and i think that based on the outcomes of tonight, we will see whether the white house made a good decision or a decision that actually demobilized voters. >> ifill: let moo ask mr. bot win about this idea of executive action, the president stepping in and overruling congress essentially on some of these issues. >> bring it on, mr. president, bring it on. i think this year with the central american tidal wave coming in, the so-called children and their families just walking across the border, destroyed the thoughts of having a secure border, absolutely destroyed it. and democrats and republicans cameed for and said enough of this nonsense. we need to do something comprehensive but we need to do it in steps. so, again, the obamacare analogy i think is just perfect-- don't blow the whole thing up. let's stop the problem of people just wandering in and, you know, immigrants don't decide who comes here. the american people decide who can come here and how many can come here.

>> ifill: cristina jimenez, you are an undocument immigrant yourself. why don't you respond to that. >> well, we say to people and while we have been pushing the president to do and democrats and republicans to think about is as many immigrant can come throughout the history of the united states-- my family came from ecuador when i was 13 years old seeking a better life. we were in a situation where we had no food, no money to pay for school, and my parents' dream was so i could come here and pursue those dreams because they know that in this country those dreams can be achievable. and that's what i did. i'm the first one in my family to graduate from college. i grew up undocumented and i love this country. for me, this is my country-- >> ifill: mr. botwin says it's not up for you to decide whether it's your country. >> what i say is i truly believe in the values of this nation as i learned in school and my family do, too. and we want to be part of the fabric of society.

>> ifill: let's talk about tonight-- go ahead, respond. >> i'm second generation legal immigrant. my grandparents came over from russia. they came legally. >> but the system that we have now is not the same. >> the system actually works. we have a million immigrants being allowed in and getting green cards every year legally. what we have is cristina, and her organization-- which i looked on your web site, i'm not sure who is funding it, probably larazzo, or some other groups like that-- we cannot allow-- which is pretty much anyone who can walk across the border to come in here. >> ifill: let's come back full circle. >> you'll see it in montgomery county. >> ifill: maryland, you're talking about. let's come back to tonight. what races are you watching the outcome of tonight which could tip in your favor or against

you. >> this year, the map was not good for democrats and incumbents, and the reality is all americans are very frustrated with the gridlock in congress, not only on immigration for the latino community and, you know, most americans want a solution on immigration. it's not only that immigrants want a solution on immigration. so from our perspective, it's going to be important to look at places like colorado, the governor's race in florida, and it will be critical to see whether the decision of the president to delay executive action on immigration is going to have an impact on the number of latinos that will turn out to vote. and that the actions that will be taken by the president will be meaningful for 2016. >> ifill: brad botwin. >> it's really the presidents and the democrat have been kicking this issue down the road. >> ifill: which states? >> same-- colorado, arkansas, really the senate is going to flip. so i can't think of one

democratic senator who was pushing amnesty as their main objective during this campaign season, not one. >> ifill: so if things turn out the way you hope they will tonight, it's good news for you, no matter which states. >> it's very good news. >> sreenivasan: brad botwin of help save maryland and cristina jimenez of united we dream, thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> woodruff: let's look at another set of issues playing a role this cycle: energy and the environment. in some cases, the battle is over the regulation of power plants and greenhouse gases. in others, it's focused on oil and gas development. one analysis found there have been over 125,000 ads on these topics aired in senate races. and it's been a core issue in at least seven of those states, including alaska, colorado, iowa, michigan, kentucky, north carolina and louisiana. so, what's at stake tonight? dan weiss is the director of

campaigns for the league of conservation voters. his group has spent $25 million plus during this election, more than any other environmental group. and, scott segal, a partner at the firm of bracewell and guiliani, which lobbies on behalf of utilities, power plants and other energy companies. we welcome both of you. scott segal, what is it at stake? what energy and environmental policies are on the line in this election? >> well, the president has served notice that he assumes his clean power plan, which is the name for the proposedded rule for existing power plant, that's a major part of his legacy. and as a result, we-- a lot of studying has been done on what those rules would do. they'd cost $47 billion. they don't very much to reduce carbon, over and above what the power industry has already done by doing some fuel switching to natural gas. so lots of cost, very little benefit. that's a major question-- will the next senate engage in

oversight? will they legislator regarding this rule? will they make changes? >> woodruff: and you're saying if it's a republican senate they're more likely to-- >> i think the chances are more likely because if there is a more equitable distribution of political leverage so that the congress can uniformly speak with the president, that is a recipe for actual negotiation on this complex topic. >> woodruff: how do you see this balance changing depending on what happens? >> first, senator mcconnell has already said if he is the majority leader he will use the budget process to try and stop e.p.a.'s clean power plan, the first rules ever to reduce pollution from power plant. it's important to remember scott last time he was here was against reducing mercury and lead poison from power plant. what mcconnell has said is he will use the budget process. what that means is he will stick a rider into a must-pass spending bill that the president

will have to sign or veto and if he vetoes it, it will lead to a shutdown of whatever government agencies are part of that spending bill. what mcconnell made clear is he will seek confrontation with the president over whether or not we're going to reduce pollution from power plant. >> woodruff: if that happens who wins? >> that's not the way i see it. the way i see it is this. this is one of the opportunities for both parties, the leadership in the united states and the president of the united states to act like adults over issues as important as global climate change, and if they come together and actually negotiate on the topic, there are changes that can be made to the president's proposal that make it less costly but do not reduce the benefits attributable to it. why wouldn't anyone want to do that. right now we have gridlock. with more equitable distribution of political authority we can negotiate and thieng that's important. >> ifill: in fact, dan weiss today, the president's press secretary, josh earnest said look for the president in the next two years to exercise more executive action when it comes to dealing with climate change. what do you look for?

again, whether it is a democratic-- still democratic-controlled senate, republican house, of course, or whether the senate goes republican? what do you look for? >> well, the most important thing is that the president is enforcing existing laws passed by congress, interpreted by the courts, that would require him to reduce carbon pollution, not only from power plant. he's going to be doing it for heavy trucks as well by making them go further on a gallon of gasoline, all of the steps we need to take to reduce climate change can happen over the next few years through the president enforcing the law. congress-- >> woodruff: even with a republican-- even if the senate flips to republican. >> that's right. the other avenue that we have is going to be in the states where a number of states have taken leadership to reduce their carbon pollution, and with some luck tonight and we win some seats in oregon and washington at the state level, we could have even more leadership from those in other states. >> woodruff: how do you see that? >> well, actually, the states is where a lot of these battles are

going on. and what i'll tell you is the rules as currently proposeed by this administration, which represent an unprecedented power grab by the federal government, mix up and scramble exactly what the state authorities have been so far. they are topsy-turvy, and, frank leesh the governors' races will be just as important to determine whether we can even implement these rules. look, we talk about an unprecedented use of executive authority. and then dan wonders why the appropriations process, which is the only constitutional power that could possibly combat that is in play? the answer is obvious. >> woodruff: but i hear poafght you saying that is a lot of the action is going to be heading to the states anyway, no matter what happens in washington. >> that's right. >> that's right. and it's important to know that today president george w. bush's e.p.a. administrator endorsed the president's clean power plan. why? because it's a flexible mechanism that allows states to set up plans that make sense for them to reduce their carbon pollution. it's not the power grab. what the president is doing is

enforcing the law as interpreted by the supreme court. >> i think dan needs to read that rule a little bit more carefully. it is an unprecedented extension of federal authority, that have never had that type of authority and type of power. it goes down to the very appliances in our homes. >> woodruff: just very quickly to both of you, scott segal, this report that came out in the last day or so, another global group warning about the dire consequences of climate change. just quickly, what do you see as an appropriate action on the part of an administration whether there's a republican senate or a democratic-controlled senate? >> we believe that there are several important parts that i think there would be consensus and support. improving energy efficiency is one of those. having the environmental protection agency not sue power plant that are attempting to make improvements in energy efficiency. that's a good start. >> woodruff: and what would you add or subtract? >> it's very important to note

that the alarmbles keep ringing louder and louder. what we'd like to see is the republican party, which had a lot of climate action people in it through 2008, obama and mccain's climate plans were very similar, stop being a climate science denial party and deny that there's a consensus that humans are responsible for climate change. they are that today, and that's unfortunate. >> woodruff: we are going to have to leave it there. gentlemen, we thank you for coming in on election night, both scott segal and dan weiss, we thank you both. >> thank you for having me. >> thanks. >> ifill: polls begin closing in less than 30 minutes. what should we be watching? we turn to another dynamic duo on our election night team. amy walter of the cook political report and stu rothenberg of the rothenberg political report. >> i forgot my cape. >> ifill: exactly. what do the political reports say going into this election tonight the range is going to be, amy? >> i think stu and are are on

the same wave length, between a six- and eight-seat pickup for republicans and as we know, republicans would need six seats to take the senate. >> and our last news had our range at 5-8, subsequently, i wrote a column the other day saying i thought 6-8 is the most likely. but, gwen, the reality is there are 10 republican opportunities and only two democratic opportunity. there could be any combination of wins and losses there but the republicans look like they have very good opportunities in eight seats. so this is the kind of cycle where if amy and i are wrong about the 6-8, we're probably wrong because we're a little low, that the republicans bump up to the top or maybe even hit nine. it's unlikely that the democrats are going to win enough of these close races so that we're too high. >> ifill: what are the components of this? when you break it down, not just state by state, but also the kinds of voters who are turning out, who are not turning out in some cases, and the ones who have turned out in previous

midterm elections, like the obama coalition. >> so this was the goal for democrats from the very beginning was if we could just go into these states, even states that obama didn't win, and register and motivate those sorts of voters that vote for president obama-- minorities, women, younger voters-- then we can change the dynamics of these elections on ground in every one of these states. the difficulty in doing that, though, there has to be a message that motivates those voters and right now when you see the economic pessimism out there, even among the obama coalition, it makes it difficult to even get those voters out to the polls. the other thing is that the obama coalition was important in blue and purple states, that turned those states to obama. the battle for the senate really being fought mostly on red territory, and we're going to have a couple of blue-purple states, but the red ones are the ones where even an obama coalition wouldn't be enough to help democrats. they needed to get new people into the system. >> i agree. gwen, i think the obama

coalition is out there. i just don't think they're going to vote. that's part of the problem. in midterm elections you have normal drop-offs, particularly among younger voters but also voters of color. so this electorate is expected to be-- we'll wait, that's why we're having the election-- >> ifill: right. >> but it's expected to be older and whiter and that's in part a description of the republican party. so the question is who votes? and then the map, of course, is a big problem for democrats-- seven states have democratic senators that went for mitt romney, and you have two states, colorado, and iowa, which are swing states that the president carried twice, but very gnarly and add in new hampshire, and the map is certainly difficult for the president's party. >> ifill: we don't have results yet, obviously, but we do have some indications from early exit polls as we seem to talk every two or four years here, people are concerned about the economy. >> really! >> ifill: yes. >> i know, it's such a surprise. what's really fascinating about this, yes, they were concerned about the economy in 2012, and the economy today is better, at

least if you look at it from an unemployment statistic, if you look at it in fr housing starts, the stock market, things are better. voters just don't believe it. and what the early exit polls is showing is i think it's something like 70% say they feel the economy is not doing particularly well. and that's been the problem for democrats all along, which was you would think that given all the statistics they could have run on an economic message in this campaign, like president obama did in 2012. they just didn't have it to give because voters are not believing it. >> i think there's been a drumbeat of bad news for a year, starting with the launch of the obama health care site, and then you had beheadings and isis and putin and ukraine and ebola-- i just think the american public is beaten down. they are in no mood to be happy, content, or feel that things have turned around. >> ifill: well, that's a cheerful note on which we will end it for now, but we will be with you all night online and on air. thank you, stu, thank you, amy. >> thank you. >> thank you. of. >> ifill: judy. >> woodruff: and we'll take

all the cheer we can get. >> woodruff: from politics to sports, americans love clear winners and losers but as lisa desjardins reports tonight's biggest contest might just end up in a draw. >> reporter: if republicans gain six senate seats tonight, they take the majority. check. but if republicans gain five seats, a wildly different plot. the senate is tied. 50 members caucus caucusing with democrats and 50 with the g.o.p. sure, lots of folks know vice president biden would break the tie and it would be his first tie break and would give the democrats the majority efficient barest of majorities. after that, what? dozens of other tie votes. ebiden's motorcade up and down pennsylvania avenue every 30 minutes? probably not. biden would be the 51st vote, but the key number in the u.s. senate would likely remain 60. that's the number required to get past a filibuster, or

procedural hurdle, and neither party would be even close to 60. so it may not be effective, but a tie would be historic. senate membership has been tied only three other times in u.s. history. the first time in 1881 when chester arthur was the tie-breaking v.p. he would become president just a few months later after james garfield was assassinated. one thing to consider if the senate does start out in deadlock, of those three senate ties in the past, two of those ended when a senator switched parties and tilted the balance. >> ifill: let's turn now to lisa desjardins and domenico montanaro for a breakdown of where things stand and some interesting issues on the ballot tonight. let's start with the,lisa. what are you watching? >> oh, there's tons to watch. in this election, gwen and judy, we may see people's salaries change based on minimum wage initiatives that are in five states tonight. also, we have three states and the district of columbia voting on marijuana, potentially easing restrictions on marijuana, legalizing it in some cases.

also the gun issue is on the ballot in a fascinating way in washington state. we'll be watching that throughout the night. and abortion is on the ballot tonight in a big way as well. these are some social issues, but also issues that really affect people, and i think in this election year where some people question what congress does for them, these ballot issues matter day to day. >> ifill: domenico, it's so interesting you wrote this morning online about the money involved in this race. we keep talking about it, but when you take a long look it's a lot. >> we know about $430 million has been spent in total in just 10 key senate races which is pretty astounding. the largest amount was spent in north carolina, and it just so happens to be the one state where democrats were outspending republicans, albeit gnarly. nine of the-- nine of those key

races democrats are being outspent and from what we've heard from a lot of folks already points to a potentially uphill climb for democrats and the chance for republicans to take back the senate. >> ifill: and this is something we're gog have to watch very carefully to see,000 actually plays out in the end. domenico montanaro, lisa desjardins, we're going to be with you all night long tonight. we can't wait. >> great. >> thanks, guys. >> woodruff: again, the major developments of the day. the most expensive mid-term election campaign ever came to a close with republicans gunning to gain control of the senate. human rights watch accused islamic state militants of torturing and abusing abused kurdish children captured in northern syria. and the price of oil kept falling, to near $77 dollars a barrel. it hurt energy stocks, but gave airline shares a boost. and that's the newshour for now. stick with us as we live-stream our live election coverage online at pbs.o.orgshour. i'm judy woodruff.

>> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill, we'll also be right back here for a special report at 11:00 p.m. eastern. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, and stay right there, we are. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> lincoln financial is committed to helping you take charge of your future.

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. >> this is "nightly business report," brought to you in part by the street.com featuring stephanie link who shares her investment strategy and market insights, the multi-million dollar portfolio she mansion with jim cramer. learn more at the street.com/nbr. three-year low oil prices head lower into bear markets territory as one of opec's most influential members declared a price war on u.s. thrillers. who wins? who loses? which industries will benefit, which will stumble? >> few faces? if voters flip the senate to other faces? what doesha