oh, it looks like mark kirk. mark kirk is the winner, everybody.we'll get back down there. we have our results. the puppies have predicted that mark kirk will win the illinois senate race by a score of 3-2. good job. thanks again to the "late night" puppies. we'll be right back with a brand-new "head swap." so stick around! ♪ [ cheers and applause ] anncr: filmed in front of a fake audience. michelle: go red! female friend: go green! amy: go plaid! michelle: are you cheering for our prep coats? amy: yeah! what were you doing? christopher: got it... don't got it. female friend 2: your son is a natural. michelle: actually, he's plastic. wesley: and he's open! wesley: he's all right. walk it off son. anncr: this week, prep coats 29 dollars, kids 24, at your neighborhood old navy! out of every hour,f person out of every day.ry minute... leaving plenty of time to-- [ man ] listen to fitz and the tantrums. the t-mobile g2 by htc. ♪ [ pop ] with 4g speeds, it's as turbocharged as you. [ announcer ]tal: rock ] on rare occasions, opposites can coexist. intr

we have le alan jones who is running against alexi ginnaoulias and mark kirk and wow, i mean, they have just sucked all the air out of the room, they bought up the commercial time. >> i think one thing they have not tuned into the race that both mark kirk and alexi ginnaoulias could be telling the truth but only about each other. it is shameful to look at the money and this is at a point when citizen whose are desperate need to have someone that understands the issues from their viewpoint and work in the process and deliver the results and they deserve. >> do you wish that maybe you are a bright guy you are well spoken wish you are sought the nomination from one of the bigger parties? you could buy all the ads, i would be disgusted with myself. both of the parties have treated they are out of puch with the american people. all they have is special interest to run commercials show car tops. you have people watching the news, you are glad but they wish they had a job of some sort to provide help. people who have been unemployment. people say we'll pick between the lesser of two evils. how

the issue coming to a head in illinois after mark kirk was recorded without his knowledge talking about predominantly minority and predominantly democratic. now, why would mr. kirk want to protect mostly democratic voters from having their vote stolen? he does express concern that these areas are vulnerable. it's not clear whether he means the areas are vulnerable to him. >> i have now funded the largest voter-integrity program for 15 years for the state of illinois. these are lawyers and other people that will be deployed in key, vulnerable precincts. for example, south and west side of chicago, rockford, metro east, where the other side might be tempted to jigger the numbers somewhat. >> democratic candidate alexi giannoulias says it's disgusting, illegal, and smacks of karl rove politics that illinois voters are sick of. how exactly? they've been soliciting to get the voter-integrity plots. today was hans von spakovsky, a former -- bush justice department, his specialty was protecting the country from voter fraud. his specialty was poor people, minorities, people who happened to vote

i present to you your next united states senator, mark kirk. >> reporter: republican mark kirk has hit democrat alexi giannoulias relentlessly over some of the shady characters who got loans at his family's bank. >> blagojevich, rezko and the mob. alexi giannoulias. he'd make tony soprano proud. >> reporter: how do you close the deal? >> i think it's closing. >> reporter: yeah? >> yeah. because i think -- this is an economic vote. >> i love you and you got my whole family's vote. >> reporter: giannoulias talks the economy, too, warning against a return to failed republican policies. why it is a tough year for democrats, even here in illinois? >> people are struggling. they're losing their jobs. they're losing their homes. they're scared and concerned, rightfully so. >> reporter: back on the rope line, bill clinton told us to look at the bright side. >> we're getting there. president is getting out and around and i see a lot more intensity at these rallies now in the last three weeks. so, i think it would be a great mistake to count us out. reports of our demise have been exaggerated. >

between the democrat, illinois state treasurer alexi giannoulias and the republican, congressman mark kirk. the big issues, jobs, spending and taxes and the credibility questions dogging both candidates, making this an intensely negative campaign. >>> then our political roundtable on the bigger picture. how new jobless numbers affect the campaign, whether democrats can make the election a closer contest than most expect. >>> and another high-level departure from the white house. with us, "time" magazine columnist joe klein and "the wall street journal's" peggy noonan. >>> good morning. with only 23 days to go, the campaign team of president obama and vice president biden heads to philadelphia today to try to rally democrats to turn out for pennsylvania senate candidate joe sestak. here in washington, this morning, it's all eyes on the tight battle in illinois. >> hello, chicago! it's good to be home. >> the fight is personal for the president. >> in some very tough circumstances, in a tough political season, he has not wavered. and that's the kind of person that you want. that's the kind o

latest "chicago tribune" poll shows giannoulias narrowly trailing veteran republican congressman mark kirk. as each candidate struggles for the upper hand, their debates have focused on hot button issues like taxes and spending. >> if you're happy with the direction of the government right now of trillions in debt of increasingly accelerating the spending of the congress and the growing of the government into our national life then my opponent is your candidate but there is a growing voice in illinois that wants a check and balance, that does not think we should raise taxes in springfield like my opponent would like or in washington d.c. >> to hear congressman kirk say that he taxes less, borrows less, and spends less, is a tremendous irony because there is no one in this race that's actually taxed more, spent more, and borrowed more. >> ifill: but their disagreements have also turned personal, especially on television. >> his whole political career is probably a lie. >> mark kirk's lies are finally going to catch up with him. >> he's not a leader, he's a liar. >> i would not trust him wit

turned personal, especially on television. >> his whole political career is probably a lie. >> mark kirk's lies are finally going to catch up with him. >> he's not a leader, he's a liar. >> i would not trust him with my left shoe. >> what do you call someone who lent $20 million to convicted felons and mobsters? senior loan officer alexi giannoulias. >> ifill: in colorado, incumbent senator michael bennet, appointed to the seat in 2009, is facing a tea party-backed challenge from republican nominee ken buck. unlike in illinois, president obama has mostly kept his distance here this fall, but other outsiders have played a major role. according to a "washington post" analysis, organizations affiliated with both parties have spent $25 million on the race so far. buck benefits from spending by republican-affiliated interest groups like american crossroads. >> bennet promised his reform would save costs and reduce the deficit. instead, we got tax increases, billions in medicare cuts and record deficits. >> ifill: bennet, meanwhile, is getting much of his help from the democratic senatorial camp

>> what's worse than the lies congressman mark kirk said about himself? the truth about what kirk's done. >> you deserve a senator that will tell the truth. >> but alexy doesn't. >> reporter: that's alexy giannoulias. an obama protege and basketball buddy who is illinois state treasurer. his republican opponent, mark kirk, a five-term congressman and former congressional aide. a recent poll asked which candidate was more trustworthy? more than a third said they couldn't pick. >> i think they both have a lot of flaws. >> it seems more full of lies than truths. >> they seem to be very negative and not focused on the issues. >> reporter: even talk about other issues comes with jabs at the other guy. >> i think the real issue is economic vision. for my opponent, he wants to raise taxes and increase spending. >> washington is broken and this is a race about someone who has been in washington for 20 years or some fresh, new ideas. >> reporter: in a debate this week, kirk attacked giannoulias over his work at his family's failed bank. >> when we look at all thes

. >> democratic state treasurer alexi giannoulias, ck and neck with congressman mark kirk, battling for perhaps the most famous senate seat up for grabs inhis mid-term race, president obama's former seat. for the gop, it's the ultimate prize. >> ifemocrats hold the majority, it will be because they held the president's senate seat. if they lose the majority, it means one of the seats they lost is the president's senate seat. that's the ultimate repudiation if you're a former illinois nator now sitting in the oval office. >> also a race that is marred by scandal from the start. when president obama left one end of pennsylvania avenue for the other, then governor rod blagevich ignored objections from democratic leaders and appointed a former state attorney general, roland burris to the seat, blagojevich was later arrested, charged with trying to sell the president's old senate seat. the campaign began and the scandals ensued. kirk, a naval reserve has erroneous or exaggerated claims on his record. and giannoulias, a 44-year-old former basketball star who played professionally in greece ha

i present to you your next united states senator, mark kirk. >> reporter: republican mark kirk has hitdy characters who got loans at his family's bank. >> blagojevich, rezko, and the mob. alexi giannoulias, he'd make tony soprano proud. >> so how do you close the deal? >> i think it's closing. yeah. because i think -- this is an economic vote. >> i love you and you got my whole family's vote. >> reporter: giannoulias talks the economy, too. warning against a return to failed republican policies. why is it a tough year for democrats, even here in illinois? >> people are struggling. they're losing their jobs. they're losing their homes. they're scared and concerned. rightfully so. >> reporter: in a sign of just how important this illinois race is to the white house abc news learned that both president obama and the first lady will appear in an ad for alexi giannoulias that will begin airing on wednesday. this is the first time and right now the only ad that features both of them. jonathan karl, abc news, chicago. >>> and a little bit of sports news this morning. a funny thing happened to

democrat alexi june juned republican congressman mark kirk. . ♪ >> good evening and welcome.t is great to be in chicago for the senate race and the race could not be tighter. we want to get right to it tonight. we will star with opening statements and each candidate will have one minute each. >> people are struggling to make things me. the decisions over the last decade in washington have made things worse. exploding deficits, shipping jobs overseas, killion to address our environmental issues. congressman kirk has been the architect of some of these decisions of the last decade. why we keep sending the same people back to washington, d.c.? you deserve a senator who will tell you the truth and fight for you every day. and will stand up to the special interests that role washington, d.c. you may not agree with me but you'll always know where i stand. i cannot fix these problems overnight but i promise you that no one will fight harder or work harder to make sure you and your family have a shot at the american dream. >> thank you, i want to thank the league and channel 7 for ha

but i think the republican mark kirk has the problems besides his problems with his imbelishments. army.asn't in the that's great stuff. chris: i forgot i was not in the army elft >> we're out in the midwest. and i think midwest is disaster territory. takeover, simplify but it's try. chris: it's gotten rustier. three kirks or four kirks? >> one said that this is -- they said they're trying to decide piece of garbage are they going to pick up. >> i think looper is going to win. chris: so you're going to call for -- >> for buck. >> i'm not sure that the republicans can win this even though buck has a lot of tea party support. i think it's too close to call. chris: you're not ready to make a pick? >> i'm not going to make a pick. >> i think be net can do this. chris: you're smiling howard? smiling in pain? >> i didn't know how to answer. chris: i'm not sure this isn't dills qualifying you because anybody can say i don't know. >> i did not say i don't know. i think it's too close to call. if you're forcing me to make a decision, i'm going to say that the democrats hold on to that seat.

you point to the illinois senate race, mark kirk versus alexi giannoulis. >> look, there are lots of interesting senate races. joe and i had an interesting set of conversations about these. i just picked this one because to me it is interesting the president is putting a lot of time and energy and effort and going there and the vice president has gone there several times. the president himself has been there several times. and this is the president's home state. a seat that should be easily in the democrats column and the fact that it isn't says something about the quality of the republican candidate mark kirk and the problems and difficulties in the democratic candidate alexis giannoulis. >> you picked washington state. patty murray and republican dino rossi. right now it is essentially tied in the polls or is it. in. >> if patty murray wins the seat there is no way the republican cassiopoeia take the senate. this will go down to the wire, both parties fighting tooth and nail for it. patty murray has been hanging in there. tough race but if she wins it there is no way that the repub

and democrat alexi giannoulias, mark kirk has a slight edge over giannoulias.ania has surprised a lot of pollsters. on the right, sestak has an edge nd on the left, toomey has the edge. russ feingold in an unexctedly tough ride, in danger of losing his seat to republican ron johnson with the edge, 49-47%. and some recent polling in republican-held seats now. the contest in alaska, a wild run, lisa murkowski is waging a write-in campaign against joe miller, who defeated her in the primary. the two of them in a dead heat at 37%. you have scott mcadams at 23%. in florida another three-way contest. marco rubio leading charlie crist and kendrick meek. rub at 41%, cristt 26% and meek at 20%. and finally in kentucky, rand paul, close and increasingly nasty race against jack conway. rand paul at 48%, five-point spead over jack conway. so, those are some of the latest polls. let's talk, overall, about the landsca landscape. i'll do it with my round table ere, as i make my way over to them. joining me to break it all down, e.j. dionne of "the washington post," "new york

you look at mark kirk for instance, he's not their choice in illinois but he ended up there.s in 2012 once these tea parties win if 2010 real pressure on people like olympia snowe to make a party switch. >> you're making my point. >> yeah i'm making your point. that said we have to wait until 2010, see how these results play in the general election. if these tea parties lose -- >> you're setting off i strawman. >> i'm not. >> christine o'donnell's going to lose. >> yeah, of course. >> but here's the question, suppose mark kirk gets in this time because they need a candidate they'll be gunning for him next time, david? >> yeah well -- >> they're after him already. >> he'll have six years to move to the fright the tea party doesn't end up exploding the republican party to bits and pieces. but the senators that you just mentioned, some of those people, like orrin hatch and bob corker, you know not my favorite guys, politically, but they have shown in the past the willingness to try to work with democrats on governing issues, whether it's health care or financial reform, and ther

and as you brought up, mark kirk seemed just as stumped when having to explain why he spent so much timeaggerating his duties when in the reserves. >> chuck, bottom line going into this final three weeks of the campaign, the president is out there, the president is trying to make the case there could be foreign money, the democrats and we'll talk to tim kaine in a second, they are coming up with a new advertisement saying foreign money is about to take over american elections. have they found their voice yet? have they found their theme to try to compete with republicans, with energized tea party republicans or not? >> reporter: well, ed rendell, you are about to have the mayor, the governor was also here, and i asked him, he said in the last three weeks they are starting to get it right. he thinks it does motivate the base with some of this talk. we'll see. it certainly isn't an issue for swing voters and not the number one, number two, number three or number four issue. but i want to close on one final note about going back to the illinois senate debate. it is something i want to bring

>> what's worse than the lies mark kirk said about himself?t what kirk has done. >> alexi is democrat alexis gentleman newlius, an obama basketball buddy. his republican opponent? mark kirk, a five-time congressman and former congressional aide pap recent poll asked which candidate was mon orrest and trustworthy. more than a third say they couldn't pick. >> i think that they both have a lot of smog. >> it seems more lies than truth. >> they seem to be really negative and not focused on the issues. >> this is a race about someone who has been in washington pore 20 years or fresh leadership and new ideas. >> in a debate this week, kirk attacked jenubius over work at his family's bank. >> the people that were your business associates. >> of course, mistake res make and inevitably, there are people you wish you had never done business with. jenulius wevent after kirk's records. congressman, it's a simple question. were you shot at or not? >> a contest that's likely to go right down to the wire and could control the senate. >>> well, should we have

exactly who is mark kirk working for? >> that -- host: that was a moveon.org weighing in on the chamber of commerce issued. american crossroads, as in other, has been affiliated with ed gillespie and karl rove. they have come out and have their own ads and are weighing in on other races are realm the country. i want to show you the latest ads on the florida race attacking charlie crist. >> the choice is clear. marco rubio stood up for taxpayers by saying no to the failed obama stimulus and charlie crist embraced it. mark rubio opposed obamacare and charlie crist flip-flop. marco rubio says no to job killing cap and trade but charlie crist pushed it before obama was elected. we need a leader to put a check on obama's agenda. host: talking about outside groups and their influence on campaign 2010. rose on the republican line. caller: i just want to remind your viewers that obama never disclosed his donors when he was running for president. host: ed gillespie writes about this issue in "the washington post"." he writes the b

. >> reporter: in other problems statewide, mark kirk and bill brady want to know how military absentee ballots cast will be counted when the state of illinois missed a deadline to get them overseas. must be mailed out by september 18. voters have until november 1st midnight to postmark them. those ballots have proven to make a difference in tight races when every vote has counted in the past. the two candidates said our service members deserve an immediate investigation to gather all the facts and find an appropriate remedy to ensure their ballots are continuing in this election. tonight the illinois board of elections isn't worried even if other states have been sued over the mistiming for election. >> any postmarked before midnight the day of the election, the election officials have 14 days after the election to count that ballot. >> reporter: to make sure all absentee ballots will get counted overseas, they will be talking to the justice department tomorrow. rich whitney turned rich whitey, no one believes it was malicious in any way. it appears to be nothing more than a very unfor

mark kirk against alexi giannoulias. it shows kirk up 1.2. this one besides the president was talking about you there thursday? >> look, there are lots of interesting senate races. joe and i had an interesting set of conversations about these. to me this is interesting that the president is putting time and energy and effort. he is going there, michelle has gone there. the president himself has been there several times. this is the president's home state and a seat that should be in the democrat's column and that it isn't says something about the quality of the republican candidate, mark kirk and the problems and the difficulties of the democratic candidate alexi giannoulias. >> bret: joe, you chose washington state, pitting patty murray against dino rossi. real clear has this tied in the polls. why this one? >> if patty murray wins this seat there is no way the republicans can take the senate. this will go down the wire. both parties fighting tooth and nail. patty is hanging in there. tough race. if she wins it, no way the republicans take t

republican mark kirk versus gin giannoulias, why this one. >> look, there are lots of interesting senateaces and joe and i have had an interesting set of conversations about these and i picked it, it is interesting, the president is putting time and energy there and he and michelle and the vice president has gone there several times and the president has been there, several times and this is the e president's home state, a seat that should be easily in the democrats' column, and the fact that it isn't, says something about the quality of the republican candidate, mark kirk, and the problems and difficulties of the democratic candidate, alexis giannoulias. >> you chose washington state, the senate race and it pits patty murray against republican nino rossi. and now, real clear has it essentially tied in the polls. why this one. >> look, i think if patty murray wins the seat there is no, in my view, no way the republicans can take the senate. it will be the one that goes down the wire, both parties fighting tooth and nail for it and mr. and if murray wins it, there is no way the republican

his home senate seat, alexi giannoulis against mark kirk, the republican, that is in the balance, too. >> illinois is what strikes many people who have watched that race very carefully -- kirk should be running away with that race, and is not. that is an oddity when we look at it. one of the reasons a lot of these races have tightened up is that democrats were laid to engage. the wait until after labor day to start going on television. in pennsylvania, for instance, the democrats' pac has very hard-hitting ads against the republican toomey, who in august had the race to himself. that is when the race open a really quiet on the republican side, and it has -- tightened up a has and opened up release wjla.com -- wide on the republican side and now it has tightened a bit. bad news for the democrats is that there seems to be a surge by republicans that democrats hope would not happen. that is tied to the braces that democrats -- that has tightened up raises the democrats had started to flip. >> this ad, "don't vote," despite that the conservative reported -- is by a conservative group. >>

and his home state, his home senate seat, alexi giannoulis against mark kirk, a republican, that is in the balance, too. >> it illinois -- what strikes many people who have watched that risk of a carefully, kirk should be running away with that, and he is not. that is an oddity. one of the reasons a lot of these races have taken up -- tightened up, is that democrats would like to engage. in pennsylvania, the democratic pac had very hard-hitting advertisements against the republican, toomey, who in august at the risk to himself. it has tightened up a little bit. the bad news for the democrats is that they are looking to come at the right moment, but there seems to be a surge by republicans that democrats hope would not happen, and that tightens up races were democrats were starting to slip ahead. >> watch this spot, but " don't vote." it is by the teen as for -- by latinos for reform, a conservative group. >> democratic leaders must pay for the broken promises and the trails. if we go on supporting them again this november, they will keep playing games with our future or vote for grante

look at mark kirk. he's not their choice in illinois but he ended up there.ese tea party candidates win in 2012, you'll see people like olympia snowe to make a party switch. >> you're making my point. >> we have to wait till 2010 and see how the results play out in the general election. if some of these candidates lose like christine o'donnell, you'll see a backlash. >> suppose mark kirk gets in this time because they need a candidate. they'll be gunning for him next time. corker just got in and they're after him already. >> he'll have six years to move to the right if the tea party doesn't end up exploding the republican party to bits and pieces. the senators that you just mentioned, some of those people like orrin hatch and bob corker, not my favorite guys politicalally. they have shown in the past the willingness to work with democrats on governing issues, whether it's health care or financial reform. there's so much pressure on these guys to get to your earlier point, chris, to do nothing with any democrat. not even sit down you in the cafeteria with them

that race between mark kirk and the democrat alexi january you'llas, a new poll, 43% for mark kirk, aght edge over january giannoulias. and joe sestak has managed to surprise a lot of observers tighten this race against the republican former congressman, pat toomey. two new polls, one has says tack with an edge, 44, 44 and the left shows toomey with an edge, 48 to 46. to wisconsin, three-term democratic senator russ feingold in an unexpectedly tough race and ride in danny injure of losing his seat to ron johnson. here's the latest, johnson with the edge, 49% to 47%. and some recent polling in republican held seats, the contest in alaska. lisa murkowski is waging a write-in campaign against joe miller. he defeated her, of course, in the republican primary. the two in a dead heat at 37%. you have the democrat scott mcadams at 23%. in florida, another three-way contest, marco rubio leading charlie crist and democratic nominee congressman kendrick meek. rubio at 41%, crist at 26% and kendrick meek at 20%. and finally in kentucky, rand paul, tea party candidate, locked in a close and incre

you have the case of mark kirk a republican running for senate in illinois at the minimum exaggerated his service in the military. he had two clear -- >> he had two clear misstatements he said he won something called the intelligence officer of the year award which doesn't exist. if it does he never won it. on his website there was a statement he served in operation iraqi freedom. this was the same excuse blumenthal had, stateside that was -- >> paul: what is the different between kirk and blumenthal? >> there's a difference of degree. saying i served in vietnam, saying when we came back and repeatedly saying, it is a more serious lie. but on kirk too. >> paul: dorothy is there a distinction would you draw? >> yes, but the same truth holds for both. which is, it is inconceivable today for a politician to say, i did this because, i felt in my heart, a profound envy of the heroics and enterprise these brave men undertook and i wished in my heart to be part of it and i'm apologetic to those who lived and died and bled there aunt should know this about me and hope you forgive is total den

campaigning for alexi giannoulias, who is locked in a tight race for the president's old senate seat with mark kirk all of the president's events in these final days are on college campuses or in urban centers, all part of his strategy to fire you want democratic base, especially young and minority voters. many people in these crowds voted for the first time in 2008, and they voted because of barack obama. the trick for the president now is getting them to vote in this election when his name is not on the ballot. chip reid, cbs news, philadelphia. >> glor: still ahead on the cbs evening news, school yard bullying get a high-tech boost from the internet. >> glor: a disturbing new study this week shows that bullying is becoming a growing part of high school life, driven in part by cell phones and the internet. now, the u.s. education department is warning schools they better begin to battle bullying or risk being held legally liable. from los angeles tonight, bill whitaker has more. >> reporter: samantha gerson says the bullying started when she came out as a lesbian her freshman year in high school.