captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> lehrer: good evening. i'm jim lehrer. president obama confirmed today that packages containing explosives were shipped from yemen to chicago. he said they were part of a "credible terrorist threat" to this country. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, we'll have the president's full statement about the plot, plus excerpts from today's security briefings, and an update on the investigation from greg miller of "the washington post." >> lehrer: then, on this final weekend of the 2010 election

campaign, special correspondent betsy stark reports on how the sour economy is affecting a close house race in michigan. >> it's ironic that this very spot in jackson, michigan, here under these oak trees, lays claim to being the birthplace of the republican party because neither party seems to have a very firm grip on voters in the seventh district. >> woodruff: and mark shields and david brooks offer their pre-election analysis. >> lehrer: plus, newshour science correspondent miles o'brien has a report on our fascination with robots. >> the moment it can make eye contact, track your motion and gesture toward you, you're kind of toast, because you believe >> lehrer: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. 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. >> lehrer: a scare involving possible package bombs spread across three continents today. suspect devices were discovered overseas, bound for jewish religious sites in chicago. newshour correspondent kwame holman begins our coverage. >> holman: it began overnight in east midlands, england.

british authorities found a printer ink cartridge onboard a u.p.s. cargo plane, apparently altered to become a bomb. another explosive device was intercepted in dubai. the discoveries triggered a scramble of searches of other cargo planes arriving in the u.s. today, including at airports in philadelphia and newark, new jersey. police in new york also searched a u.p.s. truck, but found nothing dangerous. police commissioner ray kelly said he was acting on specific threat information. >> there is a concern about packages, originating in yemen, on certain ups aircraft at various airports in the u.s. we had at least one package that was identified as being possibly involved with this threat. that package has been scanned by our bomb squad and has been cleared. >> holman: meanwhile, the anti- defamation league confirmed law enforcement sources warned

jewish institutions to watch out for packages mailed from britain, yemen, and saudi arabia. the department of homeland security announced stepped up screening and security at airports as a precaution. officials said that same caution late this afternoon caused a passenger flight from the united arab emirates to be escorted by u.s. fighter jets into new york's jfk airport. it was believed to be carrying cargo from yemen. president obama was informed of the potential threat last night. he spoke late this afternoon in the white house briefing room. >> i want to briefly update the american people on a credible terrorist threat against our country, and the actions that we're taking with our friends and our partners to respond to it. last night and earlier today, our intelligence and law enforcement professionals working with our frepdz and allies, identified two suspicious packages bound for the yut, specifically, two places of jewish worship in

chicago. those packages have been located in dubai and east midlands airport in the united kingdom. an initial examination of those packages has determined that they do, apparently, contain explosive material. i was alerted to this threat last night by my top counter-terrorism advisor john brennan. i directedly the department of homeland security and all our law enforcement and intelligence agencies to take whatever steps are necessary to protect our citizens from this type of attack. those measures led to diminish screening of some planes in newark and philadelphia. the department of homeland security is also taking steps to enhance the safety of air travel including additional cargo screening. we will continue to pursue additional protective measures for as long as it takes to ensure the safety and security of our citizens. i have also directed that we spare no effort in investigating

the origins of these suspicious packages, and their connection to any additional terrorist plotting. although we are still pursuing all the facts, we do know that the packages originated in yemen. we also know that al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, a terrorist group based in yemep, continues to plan attacks against our homeland, our citizens, and our friends and allies. john brennan, who you will be hearing from, spoke with president sala of yemen today, about the seriousness of this threat. president sala pledged the full cooperation of the yemeni government in this investigation. going forward, we will continue to strengthen our cooperation with the yemeni government to disrupt plotting by al qaeda in the arabian peninsula and to destroy this al qaeda affiliate. we'll also continue our efforts to strengthen a more stable, secure, and prosperous yemen so

that terrorist groups do not have the time and space they need to plan attacks from within its borders. the events of the past 24 hours underscores the necessity of remaining vigilance against terrorism. as usual, our intelligence, law enforcement, and homeland security professionals have served with extraordinary skill and resolve and with the commitment that their enormous responsibilities demand. we're also coordinating closely and effectively with our friends and our allies who are essential to this fight. as we obtain more information, we will keep the public fully informed. at this stage, the american people should know the counter-terrorism professionals are taking this threat very seriously and are taking all necessary and prudent steps to ensure our security. the american people should be confident that we will not waiver in our resolve to defeat al qaeda and its affiliates and

to root out violent extremism in all its forms. thank you very much. >> lehrer: the president was followed by deputy national security adviser john brennan. in a briefing, he was asked about reports that as many as 15 possible bombs were mailed. >> what we are doing is making sure that we take a close look at other packages that might also have some type of materials in them of concern. both of these packages that we've identified to date originated in yemen, and so i think it is very prudent for us to make sure that other packages that might be coming in similar routes or from yemen as well are looked at very carefully, and that's what we're doing right now. but there are only two packages right now that have materials of concern. i think over the years, al qaeda has demonstrated it is focused intently on the aviation sector. a lot of its plots have focused on trying to carry on the attacks against aircraft, using aircraft also as potential missiles, as we well know.

so the aviation industry has taken those steps over the the years, expressly because al qaeda-- and when i'm talking about al qaeda, i'm not just talking about al qaeda in the fatah area in afghanistan. i'm talking about the franchises including in yemen, which have demonstrated very clearly that not only are they intending to do certain things against this homeland but that, as we saw last christmas day, that they will in fact take steps to carry out those intentions. the american people should be very pleased we were able to get insight into the fact that there were suspicious packages out there that we had to find, and i'm not going to go into the operational details. i think that's the reason why we have a security system in place that has these redundancies and the ability to detect things from inception all the way to the possible execution of an operation. so we were on to this but i'm not going to go into details about how we knew. antibiotic in the arabian

peninsula is an organization of several hundred individuals that are disbursed throughout the country. they are murderers and they are determined to carry out attacks against innocent lives whether they be yemeni, americans, westerners, or others. we working very closely with the yemeni government, and we have been able to make significant progress against al qaeda in the arabian peninsula inside of yemen working with those partners. we'll continue to do this. if anything, this demonstrates to us and i think the yemenies as well that we need to redouble our efforts so we're able to destroy al qaeda and we will. the al qaeda organization has tried to adapt to all of the obstacles and hurdles we put in front of it, and that's why we have to remain very agil. michelle wie have to make sure we stay one step ahead of them. clearly they are looking to identify vulnerabilities in our system and take advantage of the vulnerabilities. fortunately because of the good work of the people expheert very important partnership we have with our allies overseas, we've been able to stay ahead of them.

>> would you call them the primary terrorist threat to the united states? >> my concern is outside of the afghan-pakistan area, where the al qaeda core and senior leadership reside, i would say that the al qaeda in the arabian peninsula is the most active operational franchise right now of al qaeda, and that this is one that deserves a lot of our attention. >> we're joined by greg miller of the "washington post." greg miller, thanks for talking with us. first of all, it sounds as if the administration is taking this very seriously. >> reporter: yeah, very seriously. this is a very serious attack, and it looks like it's being traced back to, as john brennan indicated, a very, very serious adversary, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula has emerged over the past year or two as one of the most worrisome affiliates of al qaeda, one of the most lethal affiliates of al qaeda, that counter-terrorism intelligence officials here confront. >> woodruff: now, how much more

is known than what john brennan and the president said about how the u.s. found out about this? >> we're still learning bit and pieces about it. it's still a little murky, but i was murk but i was told the scramble to search for these packages was from a tip from a very close u.s. ally, which i think is presumably saudi arabia. it was very specific information on the nature of the plot and its origin. it was advice to be on the lookout for packages coming from yemen. >> woodruff: what does that say about the security apparatus u.s. is relying on? >> i think we're going to learn more about that in the coming days because what we don't know is what might have happened had this tip not come forward. if this tip hadn't surfaceed, would these package have been identified before they reached their destination? >> woodruff: now, it's also come out in the last few minutes--

i've been reading the wires and the associated press is reporting, i guess some officials are saying the substance, the explosive substance, may be what they call petn. it's the same substance that the christmas bomber back in 2001 used. >> well, that's right. and this is a-- this is one of the worrisome aspects here about al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. they have a sophistication in bomb-making capability. they've been able over the past year to get liquid-based bombs very close to two targets, including a saudi prince. in that case the bomb actually blew up. it was hidden in the body of the attacker, but the prince survived. and then, of course, on christmas day last year, when the nigerian accused in that plot smuggled a bomb that was hidden in his underwear and was able to get on board. so this is a group that has demonstrated an ability to devise bombs they can get past security. >> woodruff: and so, you know,

to pick up on that, then they-- there is a measure of sophistication they're seeing behind this. >> there is sophistication behind it, and this is a group that has a high level of determination, and also a flexibility. i mean, one of the things that worries officials about this group is that al qaeda, the headquarters in pakistan, the sort first franchise, was always focused on the big attack and the spectacular, which meant there was a degree of difficulty to the plots that made them potentially easier to detect-- although, clearly, not always. whereas al qaeda in the arabian peninsula has been far more ready and willing to use smaller scale plots and put together plots in a very short amount of time and to probe and almost to be experimental in testing the nation's defenses. >> woodruff: what do you mean by "testing?" in what way? >> just3c probing and, you know,

aqap has two high-level figures who actually are u.s. citizens who spent a good deal of time in the country and know it well and one of the questions about the plot revealed today the extent to which this was meant to sort of assess the u.s. cargo screening systems. because we still don't know much about these devices, and how and whether they were actually to be detonated. so it's possible that these were devices sent on their way in part to see if they can arrive. >> woodruff: and just finally, do they suspect there are other packages out there? >> well, that's unclear. as you heard pthe president's counter-terrorism advisor said they're searching for those, but there's no indication that there are any others. >> woodruff: all right, we're going to leave it there for now. but, of course, we'll continue to watch this story. greg miller of the "washington post." thank you. >> thank you. >> lehrer: coming up, we focus

on the election with a report on the close race for a house seat from michigan, and shields and brooks. plus, robots that act like people, sort of. but first, the other news of the day. here's hari sreenivasan in our newsroom. >> sreenivasan: president obama hit the road again, starting a last round of campaign appearances before election day. and there was a last minute development in the florida senate race. ray suarez has our report. >> suarez: the economy was again "topic a" when the president appeared at a metal works plant in beltsville, maryland. he appealed to both parties to look beyond election day. >> political season's going to be over soon. and when it does, all of us are going to have a responsibility-- democrats and republicans-- to work together wherever we can to promote jobs and growth. >> suarez: mr. obama called again for letting businesses deduct all of the costs of new equipment and other investments in a bid to get them hiring again. republicans shot back that the president's policies have been the biggest impediment to

recovery. virginia congressman eric cantor, the house's third- ranking republican, spoke in a conference call. >> the people expect leadership that will deliver results, and that's why this election now has come down to the frustration that we're seeing across this country and, obviously, in the fifth district. >> suarez: that's virginia's fifth congressional district, where first-term democrat tom perriello is locked in a tight re-election race. the president will attend a rally for him tonight. from there, in his role as campaigner-in-chief, he goes on to stump in pennsylvania, connecticut, illinois, and ohio over the next three days, hoping to minimize democratic losses on tuesday. that final swing will not include florida, where a new disclosure roiled the three-way u.s. senate race. former president clinton acknowledged he had spoken with democratic congressman kendrick meek about quitting the race and

throwing his support behind governor charlie crist, who's running as an independent. both men are trailing republican marco rubio, and mr. clinton said meek wanted to talk about bowing out. >> he was concerned that he and governor crist seemed to have frozen the moderate and progressive votes. he thought that there was a majority of people who did not want mr. rubio to win the senate seat, and he was concerned about it, and he was trying to determine what was the best thing for him to do. >> suarez: but meek denied that he ever considered stepping aside or ever agreed to do so. >> the president and i talked about it. you know, i told him i didn't have any thoughts of getting out of the race. he didn't encourage me to get out of the race. >> suarez: republicans charged the democrats had engaged in the kind of cynical maneuvering that americans want to be rid of. republicans pounced on the reports. >> sreenivasan: the economy grew at a slightly faster pace last summer, 2%. the commerce department reported the increase today. it was due mainly to increased consumer spending. but on wall street, the major indexes were largely unchanged.

the dow jones industrial average was up 4.5 to close at 11,118. the nasdaq rose just a fraction of a point to close at 2,507. for the month, the dow gained more than 3%; the nasdaq rose nearly 6%. at least 21 iraqis died today when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a cafe northeast of baghdad. the attack broke a period of relative calm across iraq in recent weeks. and in afghanistan, another nato soldier died in fighting with insurgents. that made at least 57 coalition fatalities this month. the death toll from the tsunami in western indonesia has now topped 400. 300 others are still missing, and bad weather hampered search efforts today. some humanitarian aid did manage to trickle in to the remote island chain that was devastated on monday. it is estimated that 20,000 people there were left homeless. meanwhile, a volcano on indonesia's java island erupted five more times today. there were no reports of new damage or casualties. iran agreed today to resume talks on its nuclear program for the first time in more than a year. the iranian government sent a letter to the european union, saying it is ready to begin meeting after november 10. the u.n. imposed tougher sanctions on the regime earlier this year.

iran has insisted its uranium enrichment is for peaceful purposes only. french unions have voted to end strikes at oil refineries and major seaports. the strikes had targeted pension reforms, but president nicolas sarkozy pushed the measures through parliament this week. at one point, all 12 of the country's refineries were closed and 80 ships were left stranded outside idle ports. those are some of the day's major stories. now, back to judy. >> woodruff: and to campaign politics, and the third of several stories from our "patchwork nation" project. on air and online, we've been reporting on how the bad economy is affecting political attitudes across the country. tonight, special correspondent betsy stark reports on a contest for a house seat from a hard-hit district in michigan. >> reporter: ice hockey is a way of life in michigan, often starting at the tender age of three or four. the mighty mites of chelsea, michigan, are at the rink up to five times a week.

but just beneath the surface of this favorite pastime, in a state where job loss has also been a way of life, is a palpable anxiety about how the people of this state will make their way into the future. >> my husband's been laid off twice. he's gotten a job twice, thank god. but the rich keep getting and the poor get poorer. and the middle man? we're just hanging on. and that's all we can say is we're hanging on. a lot of people aren't hanging on. >> reporter: michigan's economic problems, so tied to the fortunes of the auto industry, are still very much in evidence at south central michigan works, a state employment office in jackson in the heart of the seventh congressional district. >> got laid off? yeah. >> so, with the economy, things change. you didn't have to work and he had a great job, and now, they're gone.

>> reporter: the area is home to many auto suppliers and service businesses that feed off detroit, and while the big three are showing signs of recovery, they have been slow to make their way here. >> i'm not seeing the mass layoffs that we were seeing a year and a half or two years ago, but by the same token, we're at a point now that's so low, there's still huge numbers of people that are either unemployed or under-employed in this marketplace right now. >> reporter: jan o'shaughnessey, who was laid off by g.m. after 27 years, knows there is no returning to what she called her dream job there. for the past 18 months, she's been trying to figure out a new career. >> i have a bachelor's degree in education, i have a master's degree in business administration with an international focus. so i thought, "okay, this won't be too bad. i'll tumble through this for a short while and i'll come out, be able to find a job." reporter: in fact, what happened? >> unfortunately, in michigan, the tsunami hit and it's extremely difficult to get a job. >> reporter: today, michigan has the second highest unemployment

rate in the country, a step up from its previous ranking as the state with the highest jobless rate in america. typically, those grim statistics would be enough to sink an incumbent. but as we learned, voters here expect no magic bullets on jobs from their congressional representative, and are fiercely independent. it's ironic that this very spot in jackson, michigan, here under these oak trees, lays claim to being the birthplace of the republican party. because neither party seems to have a very firm grip on voters in the seventh district. in each of the last four congressional elections, voters sent a different representative to washington. at this coffee house in battle creek, a part of the district that leans slightly left, we found voters more inclined to vote the person than the party. >> there are a lot of moderates. you don't see anybody leaning hard really one way or the other. >> reporter: does that define this area, do you think? >> in my experience, it really does.

but i don't know. you know, i have a select group of people here. maybe more moderates drink coffee. i don't know. ( laughter ) >> reporter: jim dekam, a regular at the coffee house, is a retired electrician from post cereals in battle creek and, officially, a registered democrat. >> i have been an independent most of my life, and i have tended to be more central in my beliefs. i voted for reagan. i think one of the worst things people can do is listen to one side. >> i've been very disenfranchised by the very negative campaign. it bothers me that they've had to go to the mudslinging tactics. >> reporter: the congressional contest in the seventh this year has been dubbed a grudge match. the challenger, republican tim walberg, held the seat from 2006 to 2008, and he wants it back from democratic incumbent mark schauer, who won it from walberg by a slim margin.

each is relying on an arsenal of tv ads, several financed by the national parties, to paint their opponents in this moderate district as extreme. >> wow, rachel, that's a lot of money you've been saving. >> but, mr. walberg, they keep taking it. >> that's mark schauer and the big spenders in washington who keep taking your money. >> reporter: walberg has been trying to tar schauer as a left- wing big-government spender. >> tell them to stop. >> that's exactly what i'm going to do. i'm tim walberg and i approved this message. >> tim walberg, if you think you're going to privatize social security... >> you're going to have go through me... >> and me... >> reporter: schauer has taken aim at walberg's statement that he would consider privatizing social security. >> you're going to have to answer to us. >> i'm mark schauer and i approved this message. >> that schauer guy is full of baloney. you wouldn't do that to your

mom, would you, tim? >> reporter: even walberg's 94- year-old mother has been dragged into the fray. >> i'm tim walberg. my mom and i approved this message. >> reporter: schauer is clearly hoping the social security issue will help him with seniors, who usually turn out in reliable numbers, even in mid-term elections. but the seniors we met at this morning exercise class in tecumseh, michigan, had a lot more than social security on their minds. >> i'm very disillusioned with the whole thing. i am going in the voting booth and i am going to vote against every politician in office. >> reporter: like other voters in this district, these voters are looking not for the right party, but the right candidate. >> my concern is to vote for the person that i feel is the most sincere to get us back on track. >> i think a lot of them have come to realize that politicians

themselves are not the answer to these issues that we're facing here in the state. >> reporter: one reason the race here is such a toss-up, says waymire, is because neither candidate is as moderate as the people in their district. >> walberg is clearly very, very conservative; i would argue, more conservative than this district. at the same time, though, schauer, i think, and some of the positions that have been taken by the democrats in the house are also perhaps a little too extreme for this district. >> reporter: if that analysis is right, this race, like so many others, will come down to turnout. dante chinni of the patchwork nation project says the population centers in the suburbs of lansing, ann arbor, and battle creek could make the difference. >> by square miles, this is a somewhat rural district, and it's not a very wealthy district. but again, miles don't vote, people vote. >> reporter: which is why the national democratic party sent bill clinton to a community college in battle creek to whip up the party faithful, and particularly the youth vote. >> facebook, youtube, twitter,

all that stuff. you can email all your friends. you can put up signs at the student union. you can do all that. we can take this viral. this one place could change america. we could change 2,000 to 10,000 votes in every congressional district in america if you would put it out. would you do that for your future? ( cheers and applause ) ♪ >> reporter: a couple of days after mr. clinton's visit, at a much smaller gathering of the sweet adelines, a chorus of women who sing barbershop-style, women 18 to 80 spoke to us about how they have downsized their lives and their expectations of what politicians can do. >> i don't know if being democratic or republican really makes a difference.

it's not an easy job. and no matter who gets that job, it's going to be hard and there is no easy answer. ♪ >> reporter: hard times are built into many parts of michigan right now, and what will drive this economy into the future is still unclear. so voters here are facing the music as best they can, and reserving the right to change their conductor every two years. >> woodruff: dante chinni, whom you saw in that piece, has co-authored a book called "our patchwork nation." it's based on his newshour project of the same name. you can find more insights about american communities in it and on our website. >> lehrer: and to the analysis of shields and brooks-- syndicated columnist mark shields, "new york times" columnist david brooks. mark joins us tonight from south bend, indiana.s2

first for the record, david, is today's bombing threat likely to affect voters' attitudes in any way between now and tuesday do you think? >> i really don't think so. it's interesting the polls have hardened the last week or so. haven't seen much movement either way. i think people have decided. maybe if something terrible had happened, but it is an election about the economy bpervasive issues, about national decline. i don't think this will have a big effect. >> lehrer: do you agree, mark? >> i do, jim. i think the president, obviously ashcrofted forthrightly and quickly. but-- so i think in that sense there's no negative to it. and maybe a small uptick positive for the democrats, but certainly not a game changer. >> lehrer: all right, david, back to the election itself. do you still feel this is going to be a good night for republicans on tuesday? >> yes, as i said, nothing changed. i still think 52 house seats and

eight or so senate seats. >> lehrer: and 52 translates into-- >> they only need 39. i think they'll take control. i could be wrong, but they could do a lot better. it's said it could go as high as 70. that's unlikely. but the waive is still there. i think it's been there fair long time. i think if you take a look when the change happened, it was really about the spring and summer of '09 when you began to see want two-party movement rise the health care summer, and what you began to see was the independents shift over. my newspaper had a poll this week showing the independents favored obama by eight percentage points in '08. now they favor the republicans by 20. that shift is really, i think, the big shift. and that happened april, may, june, '09. and things have happened since then, but that basic logic, when people make up their mind, i think that's really carried out. >> lehrer: you've seen no real major change since then? >> there have been changes in individual races, what happened in florida. but scott brown won in massachusetts.

chris christie won in new jersey. the trend was sort of starting then, and i don't think anything's really changed. it's adjusted here and there, but fundamentally that trend is pretty consistent. >> lehrer: mark, you see it the same way, first of all, that it's going to be a good night for republicans, along the lines of what david said? >> i do, jim. i think there's a good chance-- i think the republicans will win the house next tuesday. i don't know the precise number, but over the last two elections, the democrats have won 53 seats from the republicans, and it's entirely possible the republicans could win them back, that we could be back to where we were four years ago. i think that the primary motivation in this election, and the landscape is simply when the economy is bad, the economy is the only issue. between 1930 and 1936, the republicans lost 193 house seats simply because it was their depression. and i think that we've seen very few swings of any magnitude in this country over last few

elections. that's why 2006 and 2008 were a little bit surprising. but i think the economy is a killer for the democrats, 9.5% unemployment, and on top of the reality that the-- just having a jobless recovery at this point. >> lehrer: go ahead. >> i think i disagree with that 35% or 40%. obviously, the economy is the substrate of what's happened. i do think there is some ideological element here. i do think health care was a big debate, and one of the things you're noticing in the polls so far is the democrats in the house who voted against health care are doing a lot better in close races than the democrats who voted for it. so i think that was a big issue in swing the electorate. and-- this is something mark has said in the past-- we have a series of elections where the ins have been thrown out. i think that reflects something

deeper than the unemployment rate, which reflects a fear of national decline and that's values that the people when work hard are not being rewarded. the people who don't work hard are being rewarded, or financial games are being rewarded, that something fundamentally is sort of wrong with the country, and as a result, people are looking for anything to get us back on track, as someone said in the last report. they're not quite sure where that is, but they're ready to move do you see it the same way, mark, there is a kind of unrest underlying all these things, including the economy? >> there is, jim. there's a pervasive pessimism. there's no doubt about it, and a concern about their children's future as well as the future of the country in the sense that the united states, exceptionalism included, is no longer going to be the biggest, most important, the most successful nation in the world. i think that-- i don't think there's any question that that drives it. but this will be the third election in a row, as david mentioned, the ins have been

driven out, and i think the election is-- landscape is quite similar. voters are angry at their own conditions. they feel the government over the past 10 years, the political system has produced 9/11, two failed wars, an economic meltdown, and the loss of a sense of american optimism about the future. that is a pretty serious indictment to make of the political process, and, you know that is, i think, the reality that voters are confronting. and there isn't any consensus emerging. that's where i disagree with david. there's no sense of where we're going. eliminating the deficits and extending the bush tax cuts. that seems to be the extent of the landslide without a mandate the republicans are on the cusp of winning. >> lehrer: what about that david? on the "newshour" the other

night, we had the woman who runs bloomberg poll and showed one of the republicans doing very well, they're not doing very well at all in terms of their policies. it's just that, well, guys in charge, get them out of there, but they don't necessarily support what the republicans say they want to do. >> well, the republicans do have this advantage in some polls on some issues on taxes. it is true, the oddity of this election the party that wins will be phenomenally unpopular. the republicans are at historic lows on popularity. so that's sort of a unique thing. and one of the things interesting, talking to republican leaders in the house this week, was they're aware of that. and they-- they say, listen, the public wants us to stop what the democrats are doing. but they're not exactly in love with us. and so what we've got to do is try to offer predictability and stability and reassurance, that business people want to know what their health care costs are going to be, their tax burden,

their regulatory burden. we have to be reassure and safe if we take control. that's what the leadership wants. whether the new people coming in want to project reassurance, safety and caution. >> lehrer: and again in the bloomberg poll, will polling showed people also want both sides to work together. they don't want any more gridlock. they don't want any more stalemates. so if the republicans take control they're going to have to work with the democrats, and the democrats who are already it there are going to have to work with the republicans or this whole thing isn't going to work. >> i'm a little dubious that this will happen--. >> lehrer: the polls reflect that's what the people want. >> as you saw in michigan, the politicians are more extreme than the people and that's true nationwide. >> lehrer: mark, a specific. there was a story late this afternoon that said if it does turn out the way you two and everybody else thinks it's going to turn out, with the house becoming controlled by the republicans, that nancy pelosi will not only not stand as the

democratic minority leader of the house, probably will not run for reelection, and will leave the house. what do you think of that? have you heard that? >> i've heard it, jim. but certainly not from nancy pelosi or anybody close to her. the pattern in the past has been when your party loses or you disappoint your party, or the speaker, in the case of denny hastert, resigned after the republicans lost the house in 2006. newt gingrich resigned in 1998 after his party suffered a defeat in those midterm elections. tom foley, of course, lost the--. >> lehrer: the seat. he lost his seat. >> that's right, in the democratic devastation, debacle that year. i think there's probably little chance that nancy pelosi or any speaker would want to remain in the house after, you know, after a defeat, and if the party's

lost. the idea of hanging around to be--. >> lehrer: sure what, about-- would you agree with those who say, mark, that the biggest loss if it happens, for the democrats will be in nevada, if harry reed now senate majority leader, loses his seat. do you agree? >> i do, jim. i think harry reid got the opponent he wanted. you recall-- maybe you don't-- in the republican primary--. >> lehrer: oh, i recall everything, mark. >> sue loudon-- i know you do, jim, but i was thinking maybe there was a viewer out there who had forgotten for just a second. sue loudon who had been the republican state chair in nevada and a former miss new jersey and a very plausible candidate of the party's favorite, and she made the mistake of saying in a town meeting, in the olden days what we used to do with doctors is you paid the doctor in a few chickens. harry reid's campaign exploited that to the point it became

almost ludicrous and the object of ridicule, and he got sharron angle, the tea party favorite who lost a state senate primary herkz a republican state senate primary, and to lose to her, i think, would be personally devastating to him, and it will be a real knock to the democratic party if they lose the--. >> lehrer: let me reverse the question to you, david? from the tea party point of view knock off harry reid, would that be the number one accomplishment? >> i would think so. i'm hearing a lot more talk in the last few days about the governors and state legislatures because it's a year ending in 0, so once you win the governors and state legislatures, you can begin to control where the lines are drawn for the congressional races, and there are a bunch of states in the northeast and midwest that are going to lose a seat, and from southwest is going to gain a seat. you can really lock in your people so the last few weeks

i've heard a lot more about that than even some of the headline races we're talking about. >> lehrer: andy cohot was on the program and he said his polls show there's great interest in this election, and there's going to be a heavy turnout. but then he pointed ow the reality is, that means 40% of the qualified eligible voters are going to vote. how do you see that? >> yeah, well, we were up in '08 so 40% for an election, a midterm election, probably not too bad. the question always has been for political scientists if we only have 40% turnout, what would the election loom lool if we had 90%. my reading of the studies they've done is it's generally representative. so elections would not turn out very differently if everybody started voting. the people who do vote more or less represent the people who don't vote. >> lehrer: mark, you've been around the country a lot during this campaign. how do you measure the level of interest that you have found? >> jim, i really find a great

dissatisfaction with this campaign from people i talk to. one who looks at television advertising, if you're traveling it's impossible to escape the spots. and the negative element of them is really relentless. and the cookie cutter aspect to the point where some of these outside groups for example have said-- there's one in north dakota they're using, that they use everywhere, earl pomoroy, the democrat in north dakota, democratic congressman at large, said he's contribute to the economy, the terrible economy in north dakota. north dakota has less than 4% unemployment, 3.7% unemployment. now, people in north dakota don't like-- the democrats, to be fair about this, they went back and decided they couldn't make this a national election because with the economy going

against them, there was a sense of checks and balances that voters were tired of one party being in control. they didn't trust the democrats in control. they didn't think their lives had gotten better in the two years. the democrats had run everything. so the democrats decided to individualize their races rather than run a national campaign. it got personal. they went back, and your eccentricitys, your record, whether a driving record or divorce record or academic record or whatever else, to kind of make it an individual manno a manno race rather than on the national issues. >> lehrer: okay, well, look, we have to leave it here. >> it's--. >> lehrer: we're going to leave it here and have a good time in indiana, and david will continue to talk in d.c. thank you all three of you-- all two. >> woodruff: finally tonight, just how close are we to being replaced by robots? newshour science correspondent miles o'brien examines the

efforts underway to develop robots that are just like us. >> reporter: who says you need to be human to have the right stuff? >> i am going to show you some demonstrations as to the capabilities of the robot. one of the most important features of the robot are its hands, and that's obviously five fingers. >> reporter: they call it robonaut, and it is headed to the international space station on the last mission for the shuttle "discovery." it's the first humanoid robot to fly in space. >> we are going to figure out exactly how you would use this technology to assist astronauts, as well as how you would use this technology to assist humans on the ground, because it has spin-offs to everywhere. >> reporter: the idea-- eventually, astronauts will use robonaut as an assistant on space walks. and who knows? maybe, one day, to clean the space station toilet. so the astronauts are getting a robot butler. are you jealous? i sure am. >> danger, danger...

>> reporter: i've always wanted what will robinson, george jetson, and luke skywalker haveú you know, a robot servant to do

hydraulic acuator, a gyroscope, and some breakthrough software,

this prototype can slog through some pretty rugged terrain. it has a remarkable sense of balance, and the ability and agility to break a fall. so what do you do? how do you teach a machine to walk? >> you have to-- you have to build them. you have to experiment with them. you have to push them. you have to kick them and see how they respond, rather than try to build a response to stepping on a rock or stepping on ice, but we try to build is a fundamental sort of core concept of balance and how to behave in the gravitational field. >> boston dynamics is now developing at a two-legged robot called pet man for the army, and in florida, at the institute for human and machine cognition, they're working on some legs with a keen sense of balance that may one day be connected to robots. to get to this point-- let's just say it's been a long, slow, stroll. >> what most

>> what most people today are doing are saying, first, let's get the robot so that it can do the simple things, and then we will make it do the harder ones. i think we should just turn it opposite. >> reporter: while others try to solve the ambulation equation, at m.i.t.'s media lab, cynthia brezeal is focused on this question: >> should it be a human device? how human-like should it be? what do we even mean when we say human-like? >> my name's nexi. what's your name? >> reporter: nexi is just the latest robot in her menagerie that brezeal has programmed to engender trust by bridging the gap between machine and mankind with expressions, non verbal communication-- body language, if you will. >> so things like when i finish speaking and i look at you, that's a very implicit prompt that now i'm expecting you to respond. >> reporter: breazeal is also fascinated with ways to make robots a better learning tool for children. the more expressive and empathetic-- and frankly, cute- the face is, the better.

now, this is a face anyone could love. when you look at leonardo, it is easy to forget what is behind it all. >> here are all my little robots. >> reporter: so these are robots you like? >> yeah. well, you know, im obsessed with robots. >> reporter: really? sherry turkle is a colleague of brezeal's at m.i.t. her latest book is "alone together: why we expect more from technology and less from each other." she says humanoid robot builders are leading us down a slippery slope. >> the moment you make a robot in human form, and the moment it can make eye contact, track your motion and gesture toward you, you're kind of toast, because you believe that there is somebody home-- in other words, a consciousness, even potentially something with feeling, and it is like you. >> reporter: but it isn't, of course. turkle worries about another paradox-- machines that act like humans can dehumanize the real thing. >> and a lot of the fantasies about nanny-bots and elder care

bots are really about being company, being companions for people who, quite frankly, we think sometimes we don't have time for. and there, i think we get into a lot of trouble, because why are we doing this? >> reporter: so this is love's labor lost? >> love's labor lost. it diminishes us. it diminishes us as people. >> i have faith that people actually are pretty savvy about relationships, and the relationship i have with various people, whether it's my children or my husband or my pets, these are all of very, very different kinds of relationships. the relationship i have with pets is a very different kind of relationship. i think people are pretty savvy. >> reporter: so when am i getting my robot butler? in japan, they are fixated on the idea, and they have built some robots that appear to be closer to the holy grail than they really are.

but the makers of bigdog say all the pieces are finally coming together-- intelligence, expression, dexterity, and mobility. so, we are in the post novelty stage? >> i think so. well, in fact, really in the last decade, robots have become real. >> reporter: the proof is in the silicon astronaut, i suppose. in a sense, this is nothing new for nasa-- the space agency has been sending robots of another kind to other worlds for decades. the next one to launch to mars is the size of a mini cooper. of course, rob playter was quick to remind me the wheels of one of the martian rovers, "spirit," have been mired in a sand trap for months. >> now, maybe we can build a robot that can't get stuck. >> reporter: so, the first footprints on mars might in fact be deposited by a bipedal robot? >> it might be. >> reporter: i suppose that would be one small step for robot, one giant leap for robot- kind. >> lehrer: again, the major

developments of the day. two packages containing explosives were intercepted in dubai and england, bound for jewish places of worship in chicago. >> white house said saudi arabia helped trace the plot to yemen. the 2010 campaign moved into its closing weekend. and to hari sreenivasan in our newsroom for what's on the newshour online. hari. >> sreenivasan: we talked to miles o'brien for more on the engineering behind the bigdog robot and other emerging robotic technologies. gwen ifill outlines five key questions for election night. find that and more on the final midterm push on our politics. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. judy. >> woodruff: and that's the newshour for tonight. on monday, we'll look at the last flurry of campaign ads on the eve of the election. i'm judy woodruff. >> lehrer: and i'm jim lehrer. "washington week" can be seen later this evening on most pbs stations. we'll see you online, and again here monday evening. have a nice weekend. thank you and good night. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. 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. captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org