for more nationwide results here's cnn's political director mark preston live in washington. you sleep for now. what's interesting out of last night's elections with the ballot initiatives? >> you know, miguel, we've been talking all morning about chris christie and terry mcauliffe winning the election respectively. but it's the ballot issues that are interesting. we've seen in houston, for instance, that money that would go towards converting the astrodome into a convention center failed. it did not go down. the houston astrodome, an iconic sports arena, which, miguel, i'm sure you remember, was a key venue for the bad news bears when they went to play. back then, but then really, in ways and in a more serious note, we saw out in california, some valid initiatives that were very important. you mentioned one of them in regards to secession. when we saw 11 counties in colorado who decided to secede from the state. it's fool hardlhardy. it's never going to happen. it will not be the 51st state. it goes to show you the anger that we see across the country. we also a marijuana ta

mark preston is in washington with more on the significance of this. what might be decided at the supreme court level? >> well is, hala, what we'll find out from the supreme court, we won't hear from them probably till march or april of the next year is whether this provision can withstand in the affordable care act. and what has happened is we had this very large craft store that's based out of oklahoma city called hobby lobby who opposed it. they opposed this provision because they do not want to have a to pay for contraception. they don't believe that it is right. they think it goes against their religious values and they feel like it is being imposed upon them. i have to tell you, whenever you're on the campaign trail, if you're ever out with the social conservatives, this is a very big issue for them, one of the main sticking points for them in the act. they don't like the idea of the mandate but certainly don't like the idea of the mandate pushing something that goes right against their beliefs. so supreme court has said that they will now hear t

so let's talk more about that with our cnn political director mark preston. as you look at the numbers, what is the takeaway? >> it is that last number that you showed, 59% of americans saying things are going badly in the country, that's a 9% increase from the same question that we asked back in april, so it goes to show you at this point, even though there's talk about the economy improving, if it's improving at all, americans out there don't think it's improving and what's really interesting is that when we asked this question, we asked it of course all across the country, and that is the sentiment all across the country, whether you live in the northeast, the midwest, down south, whether you're a woman, whether you're a man, whether you're black, whether you're white, it doesn't matter, doesn't matter what your income level is. you think things are going bad in the country. in addition to that, politically, though, if you're a democrat, you actually think things are getting better and if you go across the political spectrum if you're a republican, you rea

let me start with you, mark preston.me an overview of how significant or relevant any of what happened tonight may be come say a general election in 2016. >> well, hugely on many levels. let's look at what happened down in alabama. we have the republican establishment beating back a tea party candidate down there, in a race that could have gone the other way. we're looking at chris christie right now, who clearly is the front-runner, at least at this moment, piers, for the republican presidential nomination. will he stay there? unlikely. we'll see somebody else move into that slot. in virginia, right across the river here in washington, d.c., we seen a democrat take back a seat that's been held by a republican. so a lot of implications in 2014, and into 2016. >> two blows for the tea party. one obviously in virginia, but also in alabama, where a tea party candidate was up against a main stream gop candidate and lost. how big a blow is this double whammy, if it's a blow at all. what does it mean to senator ted cruz's camp

we go to cnn political direct mark preston live in washington. st night's election of ballots say about what's going on out there? >> well, it says thatteresting across the country not just new jersey and new york city. but let's start with the republican party, miguel, down in alabama. we were looking the a congressional runoff race between a tea partier versus an stabber republican. this was a race down there, we're looking the it because there was such a battle with gop with the tea party and the influence the tea aparty has over it. the establishment republican won. and for many republicans here in washington they're very happy. because had the tea partier won this runoff, he would have likely won the general election. he's a birther. can you imagine that, having somebody say that president obama was not born in the united states, miguel. >> well, that win in alabama, combined with cuccinelli's loss in virginia seems to indicate that the tea party may be on the ropes, is that the right way to read that? >> you know, you can look at it like a s

out front tonight is our political director mark preston. e question i had all day was trying to understand this. when you hear about obama care going to the supreme court you get a flash back and you think the entire law itself is at stake. if the supreme court strikes down obama care's mandate to include contraceptives, would that mean obama care overall is dead? >> no. the bill certainly would stand on its own as it's currently written. the big question would be then how would the obama administration deal with it at that point? would the have to rewrite regulations? would we have to see company whose did not want to provide this type of protection for contraception and cost would they then have to apply for it. it would not take down the whole bill, erin, but it is a huge political football heading into the mid-term elections. >> huge political football. why is this headline such a big deal? it is, right? >> it's a very big deal for a lot of reasons, but it's a big deal because it mobilizes the two political bases. we've seen republicans

mark preston is live with me now in washington, d.c. there are a lot of stories that are floating out there. but what do we know for sure right now, mark? >> we're being very carol. we do know that he was the democratic -- state police showed up, found the crime scene, was able to transport him to the hospital in charlottesville. there is another person who is deceased at the residence. not telling us who that person is. we should know more details, though, ashleigh, at noon. state police, virginia state police will be holding a news conference in charlottesville. quite a stunner in the political world, but certain in virginia. he's very well-known as somebody who was very close to him just told me that he is the type of person that you want to see in politics. a very descent, honorable man. >> and so many tweets and announcements of support are coming in from a broad range of the political spectrum. but just to be really clear, with the response that we're seeing, at least with the emergency response that we're seeing, is there any indi

let me start with you mark preston.ive me an overview of how significant or relevant any of what happened tonight may be come a general election in 2016. >> hugely on many levels. let's look at what happened down in alabama. we have the republican establishment winning beating back a tea party candidate down there in a race that could have gone the other way. we're looking at chris christie right now who clearly is the front runner at least at this moment, piers. he's the front runner for the presidential nomination. will he stay there? unlikely. we'll see somebody else move into that spot as we move ahead. then in virginia right across the river here in washington, d.c., we've seen a democrat take back a seat that's been held by a republican in a state trending blue. a lot of implications not only in 2013 but certainly as we head into 2016. >> two blows for the tea party some would argue. one, obviously, in virginia. but also alabama where tea party candidates are up against a more mainstream gop candidate and lost. ho

our own political director mark preston is following the tragic developments for us. what's the latest? what's happening with the snait state senator creigh deeds? >> what we've learned from state police is they were called out to a home in bath county, virginia, in the far western part of virginia. they found creigh deeds with multiple stab wounds bob the torso, above the head. in addition to that, they found his son at the scene. this is what the state police spokeswoman had to say. >> senator deeds' son is, gus deeds, age 24 also of middleboro was found inside the residence suffering from life-threatening injuries associated with a gunshot wound. despite efforts by troopers and first responders there at the residence, he died at the scene. >> so clearly a violent altercation at this residence early this morning. right now, wolf, creigh deeds right now at a hospital in charlottesville right now being treated. he is speaking to investigators. so there is some understanding of what happened, but the state police has cautioned they still don't know the all the details

granderson and mark preston.her poll which shows the republican side of the race. chris christie increasing his lead by seven percentage points since september. he now has an 11-point lead over paul, rand paul and a few other candidates, ryan, cruz and bush. as we look at those numbers, i want to ask you first, l.z., if i can, does he keep this lead? is he a clear front-runner? how solid is his support? >> you know, talk about too early to say. one thing we do know about chris christie is when you look over that list, in terms of personality, he is the most compelling figure in the list. i think that's what you're really seeing, is that people are drawn to his strength or bullying depending upon your perspective, but they're drawn to him personally and because of that, he registers above all the others. one of the big disappointments from i think paul ryan is the fact that when he joined the romney ticket, he wasn't a compelling figure that they thought he would be, and that people weren't attracted to him and vo

mark preston from washington for us.y, very much. >>> coming up next, toronto's crack-smoking mayor. he's lost most of his power now, but he's not lost his voice. the mayor uses his own tv show to fire back against his critics. >>> plus, the fallout after one walmart store attempts to feed the needy who happen to be -- well, i'm not going to tell you, but this group of people will surprise you. you really love, what would you do?" ♪ [ woman ] i'd be a writer. [ man ] i'd be a baker. [ woman ] i wanna be a pie maker. [ man ] i wanna be a pilot. [ woman ] i'd be an architect. what if i told you someone could pay you and what if that person were you? ♪ when you think about it, isn't that what retirement should be, paying ourselves to do what we love? ♪ >>> the latest chapter, if you will, in toronto's crack-smoking mayor is this. that he is threatening war, his word, after the city council voted to strip him of most of his power last night. he's using his new tv show to say he's not going anywhere. >> well, i'm not stepping

thanks very much to mark preston. later this hour, we'll talk more about joen's hopes for 2016.may be second in some of the polls but that's not stopping him from acting like the leading candidate. first, u.s. and japanese planes fly into contested air space. china scrambles fighter jets in response. the latest live from the pentagon. i started part-time, now i'm a manager.n. my employer matches my charitable giving. really. i get bonuses even working part-time. where i work, over 400 people are promoted every day. healthcare starting under $40 a month. i got education benefits. i work at walmart. i'm a pharmacist. sales associate. i manage produce. i work in logistics. there's more to walmart than you think. vo: opportunity. that's the real walmart. the day building a play set begins with a surprise twinge of back pain... and a choice. take up to 4 advil in a day or 2 aleve for all day relief. [ male announcer ] that's handy. ♪ [ male announcer ] that's handy. on the table by not choosing the right medicare d plan. no one could have left this much money here. whoo-hoo-hoo! yet

want to bring mark preston in. it was interesting to note she said they weren't looking for suspects. what does that tell you? >> it would lead you to believe there was some kind of altercation between senator creigh deeds and his son, although she was very careful to say they didn't want to talk about the sequence of events or the motive at this time. she noted this is an ongoing investigation. only five hours into it. interesting the details we did just receive right now. police were called out there early this morning. they found.senator creigh deeds with stab wounds to his head and upper torso. they found the son with gunshot wounds, as well on the scene. he was still alive when they were able to reach both men, however, the son died at the scene. creigh deeds was stabilized, put on a helicopter and flown to charlottesville where he has very critical wounds and being treated at this point. i have to tell you, where this occurred happened in a very far western part of virginia. a very rural area where senator cr

mark preston, thank you so much. >>> when we come back, it's his book that surely made for awkward conversationsama and romney insiders this week. so what other bombshells have you not yet heard about? i will talk to one of the authors of "double down" next. customer erin swenson ordered shoes from us online but they didn't fit. customer's not happy, i'm not happy. sales go down, i'm not happy. merch comes back, i'm not happy. use ups. they make returns easy. unhappy customer becomes happy customer. then, repeat customer. easy returns, i'm happy. repeat customers, i'm happy. sales go up, i'm happy. i ordered another pair. i'm happy. (both) i'm happy. i'm happy. happy. happy. happy. happy. happy happy. i love logistics. >>> welcome back to "the lead." i'm jake tapper in asbury park, new jersey, covering governor chris christie's campaign on election day. just behind me is where he will make his speech, whether he gets good news or bad news. just a year ago, both president obama and mitt romney were in the same situation as chris christie, waiting for the polls to close, the votes to be counted an

mark preston is live with me now in washington, d.c.

joining me now, mark preston. good morning. thanks for joining us. >> good morning, carol. >> so let's sken at a time on the race in new jersey for just a second. on his campaign signs you don't see the word "republican" anywhere. it almost seems as if he's saying i'm a new kind of politician, republican in new jersey, running the state just fine, working with democrats. >> in many ways, he is that, carol. when chris christie was first running, he was a long shot. many people thought he didn't have much of a chance. the republican establishment didn't care much for chris christie. look where we are now. 2013, he is walking to re-election at this point. in many ways. we're not talking about what hes to tonight, because he is expected to win in a landslide. the question, what is he going to do tomorrow? and does he have his eyes on the white house? chris christie is one of these republicans, carol, that doesn't walk that traditional path. he is conservative in many of his views but he is also able to talk about issues and work wi