mr. desantis, thank you. i would ask the audience not to applaud because we want to have these gentlemen get all of their time in and discuss the issues. the question is to you, mr. gillum. your opponent says you are corrupt. you were befriended with undercover fbi agents looking for corruption in your city. you socialized with them in the city. you said the fbi told you, you are not the target of their investigation. this week, we know the subpoenaed text messages from a lobbyist who was your longtime friend appeared to show a high-priced ticket to see the broadway show hamilton came from the undercover agent, not from your brother as you stated. the question for you is did you know when you took that ticket from your brother in the lobby of the richard rodgers theater in manhattan that an undercover agent had gifted it to you? mr. desantis: i know this has been a great theme of news today and so i want to set it straight, especially for the benefit of my opponent. one, i did go and see hamilton. i was aware

ndrew gillum was also there running against former congressman ron desantis for the governor seat. mr. gillum has less than a 3 3-point lead according to polls. >> welcome senator bill nelson. >> wow! outcome on ow the tuesday. [cheers and applause] you don't he things know is that i had the privilege when a new senator came from , i nois to the senate brought him to florida for the .irst time i will never forget this. town hall meeting macedonia it in the mickels baptist church in edenville florida. the only place that would hold a congregation. and so many people turned out to senator obama that day. they were hanging from the rafters. now, years se, ater, he's coming back to help some more of us and he's doing it is so he knows important because think of the he has had and what in order rying to tdo to undo his legacy. and we are not going to let them do it. [cheers and applause] there another reason, and he's oming here because tired of all of the untrue .hings that are being said the former president was that about s ought to be honesty and integrity. [cheers and applause] he, of

mr. desantis a racist. i'm simply saying the racist believes he's a racist. >> we saw and noted that there were members of the proud boys group that has done some violence that has been called the fasist side joining in protests about the vote count. i don't think they were out there supporting you or bill nelson. how does -- i mean, first of all, what is your assessment now of whether this incoming governor, ron desantis, how is he going to govern such a diverse state? how is he going to be the governor of all these different diverse backgrounds when that is what most people of wcolor know about him. >> if i had advice for mr. desantis, it would be very quickly to bring in a divert set of people. i was disappointed to see him appoint matt gates to the transition committee. this is somebody who invited a known, you know -- i don't know if it is a known neo-nazi, but someone whose values are inconsistent with my state. mr. desantis, i hope, will take this as an opportunity to acknowledge that half the people

mr. desantis. they have no relationship with the truth. i believe in borders. i believe in the law. what the president has turned our immigration and enforcement agency into is a family separation force, putting kids in cages and separating feeding babies from their mothers. that's not who we are. the real threat is in fentanyl being dropped into this country coming from asia. it is rapists and sex traffickers and quite frankly very dangerous murders coming in because our folks are focussed on ripping babies away from their parents than securing borders. the president is attempting to use scare tactics, fear mongering. this is a race to the bottom, the kind of politics they're used to. i just happen to believe they are sorely underestimating the people of my state. that's not the branch of politics that we want. we want to hear our elected officials talk about what we're going to do to make our community, our state better. that's what we have been running on. >> again, the president talked about yo

now, i'm not calling mr desantis a racist.imply saying the racists believe he's a racist. [ laughter ] >> seth: if i may appropriate some black culture for just a moment. oh, ap. [ laughter ] i really -- [ applause ] i really hope republicans ar right about health care, because after a hit like that, that dude's gonna have a pre-existing condition. [ laughter ] that debate should have gone by "mortal kombat" rules. >> i'm simply saying the racists believe he's a racist. >> finish him. [ laughter ] >> seth: seriously.lo at that guy's face. [ cheers ] any time someone makes that face, it should be accompanied by this sound. [ pac-man dying ] think about what it says that after two years in power, all republicans can do is lie about health care, make up a fictional tax cut, and try to te people about a group of vulnerable migrants slowly walking toward the border. they've had two years to governs and nothing w for it. i'd say a lot worse than that but -- >> i'm trying to b[ nice. ght laughter ] >> seth: this has been "a closer lo

mr. desantis a racist, i'm just saying the racists believe he is a racist. do you believe this issue is resonating? guest: i think so, but i think they are still interested in the candidate and the candidate does it or soda. one thing that andrew gillum did was to really target younger and minority voters, and to personally go to them. 1968 was the year i graduated from college, and 50 years later , activism was the key on college campuses, and we've almost come full circle where we see activism and aggressive outreach to these young college students, again, for a while, we didn't. is clearly appealing to the more conservative, economically focused voter, people with military backgrounds in their family. gillam is appealing much more to the younger people, democratic leaning and progressive in their policy stances, really interested in racial diversity. host: in the florida senate race, how is the environmental that, the algae blooms florida has been dealing with, how is that impacting the race between the governor and the incumbent, bill nelson? -- between

mr. desantis, but what we're going to do is grow an economy where people can work one job instead of two and three jobs in order to make ends mean. we're going to lean into the kind of economy where folks can earn enough where they can not only pay their bills, they is save up to take a vacation every once in a while. that's the kind of economy that we envision for ourselves. right now in florida, 44% of people say that they cannot make ends meet at the end of the month. 36 counties today out of 67 are economically worse off than they were in 2007. so when we talk about a recovery, we want a recovery for everybody, not just some but for all. >> we were here, we spoke with you about historical implications of what may happen today. if you win today, what does that say about where we are? >> us winning tonight, i think, will send a message to mr. trump and mr. desantis as well that the politics of hatred and of division, of separation, that they have come to an end. at least in this election, that's what we're going to show. that people are going out and they're voting for something and no

mr. desantis a racist, i'm simply saying the racists believe he's a racist. >> reporter: the republican then taking aim at gillum, pointing to the feds looking into corruption in tallahassee. >> the fact of the matter is, he has not served honorably as the mayor. >> reporter: the other big race in the senate, the incumbent democrat bill nelson facing a tough challenge from republican governor rick scott, who's maintained president trump's support, despite their differences on several key issues. and tonight, new polls just out in florida show both democrats with a slight lead. but it's all about turnout, and the party that wins florida gets an influential advantage looking ahead to 2020. david? >> whit johnson in the key state of florida tonight. whit, thank you. >>> and across this country, many democratic senators are trying to keep their jobs, keep their senate seats in states president trump won. abc's deborah roberts tonight in missouri. will claire mccaskill hold on with a challenge from josh hawley? president trump in missouri later tonight. >> reporter: david, president trump won mis

mr. desantis on becoming the next governor of the great state of florida. we're going to do everything that we can to make sure that over the coming weeks, over the coming months, that we do what we can to perfect our electoral system. we need to update florida's election system and bring it into the 21st century. >> joining me now, white house correspondent with time magazine and jonathan allen and nbc news political reporter. let's get right to it. you were there in florida the final deadline is noon and i would like to get an early postscript from all that's happened in light of gillum now conceding and senate nearing an end. what have you learned. >> this recount wasn't really about 2018. this was really about 2020. democrats coming to florida. interested in seeing if they can turn the election results. based on court challenges and recounts state mandated recounts. nobody has won it with more than the point since 1988. carries the huge electoral vo votes -- you wrote about the president's post midterm news conference. where he declared victory sectly.

mr. desantis as well that the politics of hatred and of division, of separation, that they come to an end. at least in this election that's what we're going to show, that people are going out and voting for something and not against. by voting for somebody, we're returning the politics of decency and what's right and what's common between all of us. we'll worry about history later but today we're working to win. i'll take one over there. >> this has been a nasty race. are you worried that the allegations of racism against your opponent, allegations against you, have overshadowed the issues that matter to the people in florida? >> all the way along we tried to talk about the issues that matter to people. i am extremely proud that we ran a campaign focused on expanding access to health care, paying teachers what they're worth, leaning into the green economy. we've really at every turn inspite of all the distractions have tried to keep voters in this state focused on what matters. i believe that's what's going to allow us to walk away with a win today and i'm looking forward to turning aroun

mr. desantis. >> we did as much as can be done. i'm happy with letting the chips fall where they may. >> reporter: other states perhaps holding clues to 2020, iow , michigan, neva ohio, and wisconsin, where republican governor scott walker is facing what he's called the toughest race of his life. and red kansas could see a democratic shift, with republican secretary of state kris kobach, who led the voter fraud commission, in tight contest against democrat laura kelly. in a state energized by oprah -- >> here in georgia, there's been long lines at polling places, and voters could make history tonight, where there's been controversy surroundg the republican candidate. and the woman who could become the nation's first black female governor. >> reporter: with 2020 on the horizon, pitical control of states vitally important.y kenders, nbc news, tallahassee. >>> president trump has been crisscrossing the country in the closing days of this election, trying to put himself on the ballot, telling voters in fact that casting a ballot for hi

mr. ron desantis and congratulated will behat we expect him as the next governor of the next state of florida. i want you to know, i want you in spite of our congratulating him on his victory this evening, nothing that we believe in is compromised. i still believe we ought to pay teachers what they are worth. i still believe that. i still believe we ought to clean up our environment, our ai r, our water quality, our shores. our i still believe we should have the kind of economy where people can work one job instead of two or three to make ends meet. i'm proud that the voters of the state of florida decided to pass amendment 4. i'm proud about that. that is one step closer to getting us where it is we need to be as a state. y'all, i want to encourage you not to give up. i want to encourage you to stick to the fight. i want you to know that every step of this way, even though i won't have the blessing of serving as the next governor of the state of florida, i still plan to be on the front lines right alongside every single one of you when it comes to standing up for what we believe in. as i sai

mr. desantis on becoming the next governor of the great state of florida.> desantis responded r, call "hard-fought campaign" and calling on florida to come together.the race went down to the wire and a machine recount that was completed this past thursday.it showed desantis leading gillum by just under 34-thousand votes.however, the margin was not large enough under florida law to force a hand recount. (jrstone) president trump will head to mississippi later this month as he gets involved in the state's closely-watched race for u-s senate.the president will hold a pair of campaign rallies in mississippi on november 26th on behalf of republican senator cindy hyde-smith. she was appointed back in april to fill the senate seat vacated by g-o-p incumbent thad cochran, who retired for health reasons.but hyde-smith could not win a majority of votes back on election day ... ... meaning she and democrat mike espy will compete in a runoff november 26th to see who will complete cochran's term.the president publicly endorsed hyde-smith back in august. today -- senator

mr. desantis. >> reporter: meanwhile president trump, who tweeted his support of scott today, claiming victory in the recently decided georgia governor's race. >> hello, georgia! >> reporter: which had oprah winfrey stumping for the democrat. >> and i won against president obama and oprah winfrey and michelle obama in a great state called georgia for the governor. >> let's get to stephanie now. stephanie, president trump is still boasting about republican success in the midterm. but there was also a significant win for democrats in california. >> reporter: absolutely, tom. california is a blue state. but some of the suburbs of los angeles like in orange county have been traditionally very conservative for decades. over the weekend, gil cisneros won a closely watched house race. turning all four house seats in orange county, one of the most conservative areas in the nation, blue. tom? >> stephanie ramos on capitol hill. thank you. >>> moving on to the deadly cruise ship mystery. the princess cruise ship returning to ft. lauderdale with investigators, including the fbi waiting, after a 52-year-o

mr. desantis -- has given to much to racist and antisim it's. he has spoken at conversatio co. >> laura: that is a bold face lie. wrote a book justifying slavery. we pulled the book and in it desantis accounts how they lamented the notorious compromises that were made to tolerate slavery so the constitution could pass. here is the quotations. >> laura: the -- historic fact -- it's not racist nor is it justifying slavery and either andrew gillum is not that smart or he is purposely lying about something this awful and horrible. it's defamatory and it should notg be tolerated or rewarded by the florida voters. everywhereth you turn the refran is thehe same. >> what i did wrong in 2016 is i over estimated white people. i didn't think white people would put him in office so here he is running around the country appealing to our darker angles. our hatred and fears and i'm suppose to believe that ohio is not going to vote for him. thatat the suburbs in pennsylvaa are going to vote for him. >> the truth and the evidence points to him being a racist. he

mr. desantis on becoming the next governor of the great state of florida. >> ron desantis tweeted, this was a hard fought campaign. now it's time to bring florida together. absolutely one of the closest midterm elections in florida history, possibly of all time. here's how close it was peered out of it was. at every .2 million votes cast in florida, scott wins over nelson by 10,000 votes in the governor's race wins by 32,000. arthel: nailbiter is indeed very thank you very much. eric: back in washington, president trump it, president trump at, president trump it is feared in feisty interview on "fox news sunday." the president touting his record despite republicans losing the house in the midterms. interviewed by chris wallace on a wide range of issues including a strong economy, the murder of "washington post" columnist jamar khashoggi and the possibility some cabinet members could soon be replaced. >> the white house is running like a well oiled machine. it is doing really well. at great people. i will make some changes but not very many. i'm very happy with my cabinet other than a couple

mr. desantis on becoming the next governor of the great state of florida. >> gillum's concession makes desantishe governor-elect of florida. bill nelson will have to come to grips that he is the only top flight democrat and he's separated by 12,000 votes in his race against rick scott, the governor of florida. here in tallahassee a federal judge has ruled against democratic interests multiple times when they were trying to expand the universe of available votes for senator nelson. at vote counting sights across the state, the machine recount done on thursday, did not do nearly enough for that. he's now as far ased to come to terms. >> dan, thank you. >>> a family is grieving and a chicago community is demanding answers after a security guard is being called a hero. fatally shot by police while doing his job. stand by, we'll have this for you. >>> story that's getting a lot of attention out of chicago, illinois, a family of an african-american security guard shot to death by a police officer says he was working extra shifts to buy gifts for his young son. jamel robber son was killed after he pin

mr. desantis would call mr. gillum to congratulate him and concede but they're not legally binding. >> the governor appears to now be suing the broward county board of elections over their processes saying liberals are trying to steal this campaign. that's in the scott nelson race for senate. do you have any read on that? >> no. i'm not involved in the strategies with the scott nelson campaign. as far as mr. gillum is concerned, no lawsuits have been filed and there are no -- there's no anticipation of filing a lawsuit at this time. mr. gillum is waiting for the system to work its way out and is intending to abide by the results. >> all right. barry richard. >>> coming up, protesters take to the streets to protect the mueller probe. o protect the mueller probe. let's be honest. every insurance company tells you they can save you money. save up to 10% when you bundle with esurance. including me, esurance spokesperson dennis quaid. he's a pretty good spokesperson. ehhh. so when i say, "drivers who switched from ge

mr. desantis on becoming the next governor of the great state of florida. >> right after that comment is om the desantis campaign. this was a hard fought campaign. now it's time to bring florida together. in even closer senate race, florida's republican governor rick scott is also expected to be declared the winner on tuesday. for the past 12 days he's been ahead of democratic incumbent bill nelson by about 1,225,000 votes. this morning the sky campaign again called on nelson to give it up. be remembered as the graciously conceded after 42 years of public service or be remembered of the sore loser who refuse to face the people he served. yesterday, scott's attorney was confident on fox news that the final numbers will be good for them. >> we believe it will. we believe tuesday's election results will be certified and governor scott, senator elect scott will head to washington. >> in tallahassee, the mathematical work is happening right now. if it's not some already come adding up the final count numbers of all 67 florida counties and as they did on thursday after the first recount deadlin

mr. desantis is given too much harbor to racists and a xenophobe's and anti-semites, he spoken at conferences with them, he authored a book justifying slavery. >> laura: that is just a bald-faced lie. ron desantis wrote a book justifying slavery? it's a wonder he was ever elected to the house of representatives. we pulled to the book, it's called dreams from our founding fathers and in it, desantis recounts how alexander hamilton and benjamin franklin lamented the "notorious compromises" that were made to tolerate slavery so the constitution could actually pass, they could form a government. here's a quotation. the recitation of historical fact is not racist, nor is it justifying slavery. either andrew gillum is really not all that smart, or he's purposefully lying about something this awful and horrible. it's defamatory and should not be tolerated or rewarded by the voters of florida. racism seems to be one of the most potent forces that the democrats have in their trick bag this midterm season. everywhere you turn, the refrain is the same. >> what i did wrong in 2016 was i overestimated whi

mr. desantis, others around the country, we used to be able to disagree principally on the issues. quite frankly, in this race there are enough issues on which we can disagree. but the fact that that kind of rhetoric and disagreement is leading to political violence in my opinion is unacceptable. >> reporter: ana, this race is in a dead heat with essentially a 1% difference between andrew gillum and ron desantis. we've seen desantis pick up momentum late in the game from independents and republicans, as the president has been bashing andrew gillum, linking him to a fbi investigation, the president calling the mayor of tallahassee a thief. we'll see if the president brings that up at a rally in pensacola, ana. >> thank you, boris. more on that yoga studio shooting is coming up. first let's head to rebecca berg in virginia. >> reporter: ana, we're right in the thick of it in virginia's seventh district. this is exactly the kind of district that republicans are watching very closely and are very worried about at this stage. this is a district, as you mentioned, that's been republican

mr. desantis on becoming the next governor of the great state of florida. >> gillum's concession makes ronpublican closely tied to president trump the governor-elect of florida. in the senate race bill nelson will now be forced to come to terms with the fact that he is the only top flight person in this race. so far democrats have not done enough to close that gap. here in tallahassee a federal judge has ruled against democratic interests multiple times when they were trying to expand the universe of available votes for senator nelson. the machine recount that was completed on thursday did not do merely enough for nelson to close that gap. nelson is having to contend with the fact that he is now alone in the spotlight with gillum stepping aside and he is now forced to come to terms with this being the end of his career. >>> we are past the mid term elections and the u.s. house of representatives will look a lot different come january. democrats will have the majority and that raises the distinct possibility that nancy pelosi will again be the speaker of the house, but it's not a sure thing

mr. desantis had repeated opportunities to tell people of the state what he wants to do with them.tead, he was so quick to get my name out there, it was the only thing coming out of his mouth. i am flattered, but the people of the state of florida deserve to hear what he wants to do for us. unfortunately, he fails the test that is most important. that is he couldn't be honest with you. he could not level with you about what he wants to do. he couldn't let you know he voted over a dozen times to repeal obamacare. he couldn't tell you that. we have an opportunity to send and mr. trump a message on november 6. >> [cheers] mr. gillum: let me put some more on that, we have a chance to send them an unapologetic message. right? one that will not confuse them that their brand of politics is no longer acceptable in the state of florida at all. >> [cheers] mr. gillum: i want you to know that my wife and i, we are going to put everything we have into this. i'm so proud to be joined by this mission with the woman who is definitely the wind beneath my wings. >> [cheers] mr. gillum: she is here

mr. desantis on becoming the next governor of the great state of florida. reporter: and ron desantis tweeted, this was a hard-fought campaign. now it is time to bring florida together. and it was so close in florida, as i mentioned, six races had to be recounted. 8 and a half or 8.2 million floridians voted. in the senate race, scott wins by 10,000 vote and in the governors race, desantis wins by 32,000. jon: both of those squeakers. thank you very much. a fox news alert now on another big story we are following. the wildfires raging at both ends of california. they been burning for more than a week now. most devastating when the so-called camp fire in the northern part of the state which destroyed the town of paradise. here is a magnitude of the horror so far. the wildfires have claimed the lives of 79 people. staggering 1300 people are still listed as missing. more than 125,000 acres have burned. along with more than 1300 structures. we are going to malibu with anita. reporter: hi there. the street that i am on, dude drive was leveled by the fire. look ove

mr. desantis on becoming the next governor of the great state of florida. >> right after that, this from the desantis campaign. this was a hard-fought campaign. now it's time to bring florida together. president trump yesterday tweeting out congratulations to desantis and even sets out a very nice tweet about andrew sub to calling him a hard fighter in the state of florida and expects to see him soon as do many of us. once the division of elections number scriptures of tallahassee right now working on final results. once they complete that we expect they will then post those today sometime on the website. leland: will be watching. phil keating outside the board of elections. appreciate it, phil. gillian: president trump insists he's written answers while robert mueller's questions himself and he answered them easily. it is looking less and less likely will do a sitdown interview with the special counsel. garrett tenney with the latest on the investigation. >> great to be with you. he's open to sitting down to answer questions as long as those questions are related to any alleged obstructi

mr. desantis a racist, i am subleasing the racists believe he is a racist. >> sign me up in the category of people who think he is racist. he has said so many racist things. he is a racist pig! >> making overtly bigoted, racist statements, attacking down people, attacking black people. >> laura: when bizarre and suspicious racist roll calls were reported in florida, remember republicans, including desantis and rick scott, immediately and vociferously denounce them, as they show it. back in 2016, the media tried to paint trump as they want -- remember, he wasn't going to be accepting any of the results of the election. >> are you saying you are not prepared now -- >> i will tell you at the time, i will keep you in suspense. >> laura: hillary responded to that like this. >> that is horrifying. every time donald thinks that things are not going in his direction, he claims whatever it is is rigged against him. that is not the way our democracy works. he is denigrating, he is talking down our democracy. >> laura: "talking down our democracy" bear the media echoed hillary, outraged that trump

mr. desantis. they have no relationship with the truth. i believe in borders. i believe in the law.d our immigration and enforcement agency into is a family separation force, putting kids

mr. desantis, as well, hatred and division, of separation, they have come to an end in this election, thate're going to show, people are going out and voted for something and not against. >> also voting this morning, three-term congressman ron desantis. he, too, arrived with his kids and his wife in panta vidra, south of jacksonville. huge trump supporter and the president not only endorsed him months ago, brought him on stage saturday night in pensacola. >> we have to protect florida's future. we need to protect the economic momentum we have under governor scott and president trump. i will keep it going and i will build on that success and we'll have success like we've never had before. >> this one going down to the wire. it's been a toss-up for weeks in a state where no democratic candidate for governor has won for the past 20 years. shep. >> shepard: phil kating live. in georgia, stacie abrams trying to become the first ever african american woman, running against georgia secretary of state brian kemp. jonathan serrie live in midtown atlanta. >> we have seen heavy turnout all day. the d

mr. desantis as well that the politics of hatred and of division, of separation, that they have come to an end. at least in this election that's what we're going to show. people are going out and voting for something and not against. and by voting for something, we're returning the politics of decency and what's right and what's common between all of us. we'll worry about history later, but today, we're working to win. >> now, the governors race is locked in a dead heat. and if early voting numbers are any indication of what this race is going to be like, it will be nail biting. take a look at these updated numbers from the florida secretary of state. more than 5 million people have already voted, and if you break down those numbers from party, here's the breakdown. the republicans that are registered that have already voted, 40.1%. democrats, 40.5%. the rest, 19.4%, are no party affiliation or other. so kate, when you look at those razor thin margins, that's why florida is either famous or infamous for these razor thin margins, and that's how people win these elections. let's not forget i

mr. desantis, quite frankly, has not demonstrated that he has much of a relationship with the truth overrse of this campaign. what i have run on, in fact my opponent, i think, just put out a health care policy a week or two ago, after running in this race for over a year without any willingness to talk about what he's going to do to expand access, lower costs and ensure coverage for more people. >> let me ask you this final question. you've got a big state, a fascinating state with all kinds of different people and all different stages of life, famously weird, i say that with love and affection, for those in your -- >> watch it. >> for those in your state who say look, this gillum guy, i like im, i also like the president, the president says he's a bad guy, people who voted for the president, like the president, but maybe are interested in andrew gillum, what is your message to them why should they vote for you if they also like president trump? >> well, i want them to vote for themselves. i mean, over the course of this race we've been willing to go anywhere and talk to anybody. i was i

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mr. desantis as well, that the politics oftr and division and separation, that they've come to an end. >> woodruff: in pennsylvania,er republican gtorial teddidate scott wagner t his chances. >> i've turned over every rock in every part of the state. i'm feeling good, i'm optimistic, i believe we're going to win it-- i know we're going toin it. >> woouff: all of this depends on voter turnout, of course, and it could hit rords. more tn 39 million votes had already been cast before today-- an increase of ten million from the 2014 midterms. adrian fontes holds the office of recorder for arizona's maricopa county, encompassing phoenix. >> this elecon is looking more like a presidential election, with the amount of ballots coming in. >>aroodruff: these midterms e also shaping up to be the most expensive ever. kantar media tracks that spending, and estimates the total of television and radio advertising has run well over $3 billion. as ever, much of that went for attack ads. the wesleyan media project follows political advertising. it reports a 61% incree in attack ads over 2014, and many candi

mr. desantis as well that the politics of hatred and of the vision of separation that they've come to an end. >> are you expecting to win? >> yes. >> what do you base that on? >> i just, you know, don't have a poll, don't have a pollster, just have travelled to every single county in texas, listened to everybody. >> my gut feeling has been that things, i think, are going really well this past week and kind of coming together. i was stunned yesterday by the level of interest and sort of excitement there was when i did the fly around. >> so our big question today is no surprise. it's everyone's big question today. what is going to happen next? our road warriors are out all across the campaign trail on election day. we've got ali joining us from naples, florida. what are you seeing down there? >> reporter: katy, the fascinating thing we've been tracking over the course of the past week or so is how trump factors in and possibly there's no race he's inserted himself into more than the florida governor's race here. we're down here in collier county. this is an area where republicans are reall

mr. desantis. >> reporter: this is gillum's second concession since he admitted defeat on election night. >> we didn't win it tonight. >> reporter: when results narrowed to just a difference of a half percentage point, an automatic recount was triggered. >> i was never really in danger of losing because my margin was big enough. now i can go forward without having to worry about this. >> reporter: the florida elections like in years past have been plagued by technical glitches, missed deadlines and even power outages. republicans invested heavily in the florida senate race, targeting a seat they could flip to expand their slim majority. dan. >> we keep talking about florida. i suspect that will not change for many years to come. tara, thank you. >>> we have new developments in a story that played an outsized role in the most recent campaign, the so-called caravan. some 3,000 migrants from central america have now reached the mexican side of the border with california with many more expected to arrive. the migrants who are seeking asylum in the u.s. are setting up camp in the city of tijua

mr. desantis as well that the politics of hatred and of division of separation that they've come to an end, at least in this election. >> i worked hard. i think withe really worked har. we did as much as can be done. let the chips fall where they may. >> reporter: and nbc marist poll indicates that likely voters that there is a 4-point lead for andrew gillum but just remember the breakdown in this state, republicans is 35.3% of registered voters are republicans. 37.2% are democrats, which means that the 26.6% of those non-party affiliate voters, those are the ones who are probably going to make the ultimate decision, and then the unknown question here is ron desantis who got that support from president trump who helped push him over the primary and has had repeated visits in the state to help him with his campaign, the question is whether those people who were drawn to vote for donald trump two years ago, especially those voters who had not participated in elections before, are they going to get out or have they already gotten out early? are they participating, or are they sitting on the s

mr. desantis, as well. but the politics of hatred and division, of separation, they come to an end.ection, that's what we're going to show. people are going out and they are voting for something and not against. >> republicans former 3-term congressman ron desantis made his vote south of jacksonville, along with his wife and their young kids. desantis is a conservative low-tax trump supported, promising to keep florida's economy humming. he made a comment after voting, but here he is yesterday. >> this is a significantly higher turnout the 2014. we are already seeing it with republicans. our thing is, we have identified the voters we need. we are trying to turn them out. we want to do that after event. we will get more democrats then gillum will get republican vote votes. >> this seat is open today because current governor, republican rick scott, is termed out. that's why he is challenging 3-term incumbent senator bill nelson, the other big race on this ballot. i say this could be a historic election in the gubernatorial race because, if gillum does win, he will become florida's fir

mr. desantis on becoming the next governor of the great state of florida. be more to come. this fight for florida continues. >>> good morning. and welcome to "a.m. joy." stay tuned. that is the teaser from andrew gillum, signaling he is not done with politics after officially conceding his campaign for governor yesterday evening. the contest was one of the hardest fought races for governor this year, including what many heard as racist dog whistled aimed at gillum's candidacy. gillum stood on the brink of becoming florida's first black governor, trailing desantis by 34,000 votes out of more than eight million cast. for many democrats it was a shocking loss in a midterm electi

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mr. desantis as well that the politics and hatred and the division of separation, that they've come to an, at least in this election, that people are going out and they're voting for something and not against it. if by voting for something, we're returning decency in what's right and what's common between all of us. we will worry about history later but today we're working to win. >> jason johnson's still with us. jason, this race, andrew gillum is, i'm going to say, the best candidate in either party running this cycle. he's got the whole package. he's got instincts in a debate. he can turn a line, turn a phrase, come back, and as a disciplined candidate, he's taken incoming from trump's little mini me in florida, ron desantis, but he's kept the campaign positive. talk about what you think tonight will mean for andrew gillum and what it means? >> i will start by saying i don't want my friends to get too excited about the gillum and work ticket in 2020. people are already talking about that. i describe gillum as this, and i went to one of his rallies with jimmy buffett in palm beach on sa

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mr. desantis, mr. scott, president trump, and standing off against stand of andrew gillum. things are fairly calm and the crowd is larger and tempers more heated and wouldn't be surprised if things further escalate, but i haven't seen anything deinvolve into fisticuffs or anything of that sort. and this might cool tempers, but if people are armed they have a little more confidence in their ultimate power. so i'll see where things head from here. a lot of shouting matches and getting in your face. that's the extent of it. inside the board is where the canvassing is happening and controversy continues, even at this hour. 20 discarded illegal ballots found among the certified provisional ballots according to the miami herald just last night and election lawyers for governor rick scott are vigorously protesting inside there. i just spoke to a man by the name of william sheerer, an attorney for governor rick scott who says brenda snipes, the broward county supervisor of elections here she's always thes last to close the door so the rats can get inside. that's a direct quote from

mr. desantis a racist, i'm simply saying the racists believe he's a racist. is this issue resonating? >> guest: somewhat, but i think they're still really interested in the candidate and the candidate's persona. one of the things that gillam did to win the nomination, the democratic nomination among five other -- four other candidates was to really target younger and minority voters and to go personally to them. you know, '68 was the year i graduated from college, and we're 50 years later, and activism was the key on college campuses in 1968. we've almost come full circle now where you see activism and aggressive outreach to these young college students again. forou a while there we didn't. desantis is clearly appealing to the more conservative, economically-focused younger voter and people with military backgrounds and their family. many contrast -- in contrast, gillam is appealing to the democratic-leaning, progressive in their policy stances and also really interested in diversity, racial diversity. >> host: on florida senate race, how is the environmental issues, the algae t bloom

mr. desantis was on with us 50 minutes ago.s helping that. so we feel really good what is going on. part of it, floridians understand there is a real significant choice for the direction of our state. i will build off the success we've had. our economy is going well. we need to continue that, expand on it. andrew gillum, want as 40% tax increase will cost jobs, cause businesses to leave florida, prevent what could be historic flow into investment in florida over the next several years. brian: what he brought up last night, there is fbi investigation into mayor gillum. he also, yesterday, this story came out. gillum is being investigated for using city funds for private travel. documents show this in his latest finance release, using city funds, private round trips on a developer's plane to meet with campaign donors, contradicting his account on previous flights. emails released earlier this week all part of a state ethics probe. gillum had great momentum coming out of primary, more you look at his record, you realize what he ha

mr. desantis.utter on this campaign not talking to voters what he wants to do, what he wants to achieve but rather trying to distract them with side shows. you probably have seen even our debate stages every opportunity he's had to talk to florida voters about what he wants to do for them. he has not stood up to that opportunity and i think that's been a lost cause for him. i believe we'll win this race for governor because we're talking about tissues that matter and are giving voters something to vote for and not just against. >> the president has called you a thief. ron desantis has used some racist overtones in his language as well. but let me just ask you about the actual issue and the hamilton tickets and the fbi investigation. any errors in judgment in that situation that you can clear up? >> yeah. let me first say, if the president called me a thief, if i'm stealing anything it's hearts and minds. we'll win that race because of that reason. on the issue as i said all along i had zero toleran

mr. ron desantis and congratulated him on what we expect will be him at the next governor of the great statef florida. wase saw assaults that unprecedented. we sought a $100 million race with hollywood coming against us, with of the national media coming against the state, but all the money in the world was no match for the good people of texas, and the hard-working men and women across our state. >> thank you. tomorrow will be a new day in america. know thethis feeling, power to win. almost all congratulations to dynamic, diverse, and credible candidates have taken back the house for the american people. let us salute all of our candidates. >> we had some good results tonight. the democrats that the house of representatives. -- took the house of representatives. we have governors that are democrats now in both illinois and kansas. there were some bright spots. obviously, we fell short, and that is disappointing. tom: terrific images there of some of the emotion of last night. we have resulted in from of nevada and the governor's race in wisconsin as well. mr. walker house in wisconsin. -- o

president trump campaigning for desantis, former president obama for gillum. tonight, though, mr. obama made a surprise stop in northern virginia bearing donuts and stumping for senator tim kaine and jennifer wexton. today was national donut day. nobody got me donuts. or anybody on this panel got donuts. ana cabrera. she is in tallahassee. what is gillum's message to voters now the night before the election? >> reporter: hi, anderson. the main message tonight is go vote. and you can hear this crowd is fired up. they are calling this the bring it home midnight rally. we are at florida a&m university, a fitting venue given andrew gillum was a graduate of florida a&m. and he has a star-studded line-up trying to turn out the vote for him tonight. the headliner at this event is