>> o'rourke: yeah, it's a great idea. >> wertheim: why's that? >> o'rourke: it's fun.ay to connect with people. i love being on the road every day, going to one community after the next. it's the only way to really get to know the state and the people that you want to serve. when we decide that we're going to invest in people, great things happen. >> cruz: if you believe in low taxes, and low regulations, and lots of jobs, if you believe in defending the constitution... >> wertheim: you have two polished politicians, both in their 40s, ascending stars in their parties. is there a sense in texas, the stakes are really high in this race? >> wright: yeah, because you know, we already had one who ran for president. and, but for donald trump, might've gotten the nomination. and then we have one that's already being talked about as a future presidential contender, without regard to whether he wins this race or not. they each have a core constituency that wants to be heard. that's something they have in common, and it runs very deep. >> cruz: if we lose our freedom here, wher

stronger opponent, beto o'rourke is getting 59%. that's votes in a major metropolitan area of texas. >> he has to run up it in the four largest cities. >> exactly. >> and the suburbs of musthoust san antonio, dallas and austin. >> here, here, here, here, and, again, corpus christi to a degree. again, this is the magic for beto o'rourke if he can pull it off in the sense when you talk to texas democrats they say, you know what, guys from here never win statewide. they never get the nomination statewide. they always get beat by guys from dallas or houston or somewhere else in the state in the statewide contests. so texas democrats who say we don't know if we can pull this off but think we're going to do a lot better than you think say watch down here, too. they say it's a point of pride not only beto o'rourke's congressional district, he's a member of the house, in neighboring areas they think a guy there el paso has a chance to win statewide. we're looking at it right now, 53%- 53 53%-47%. a competitive texas senate race, you don't s

the race between ted cruz and beto o'rourke is tightening. we'll take you live to texas for the latest on the state of that race. first, president trump's brand of politics being put to the test in montana. in just a few minutes, he'll rally supporters in belgrade, montana. that has we get new numbers on early voting and we've reached an all-time high. so far some 33 million voters have cast their ballots. well, the president's tone has changed somewhat. at a rally on friday, he acknowledged republicans could lose control of the house of representatives. >> they will try to erase our gains and eradicate our progress. the democrats, and it could happen, could happen. we're doing very well and doing really well in the senate but could happen. >> we have road warriors in key states and disabilities across the united states. we'll get the latest from several of them this hour. i want to start in washington, d.c. with our white house correspondent jeff bennett. here we are, three days out. the president has been distilling and distilling his messa

i don't see beto o'rourke catching fire the way obama did.en and doesn't have the sharp elbows. obama was strong in the debates. i think beto o'rourke is to nice. castro has a good look. he could go far. and brown has that gravelly voice that people listen to. he could go far. there will be so many -- >> in depth analysis. >> [laughing]. >> this is jesse's theory that good looking people go further in life? >> that's true. >> that's a burden i bear. there will be so many candidates. there won't be enough money to go around. they will dropout after the first couple of races if they can't raise any money. >> i won't respond to jesse. >> i have something. >> go ahead. >> before rom was a clinton guy, he was an obama guy. he knows how to win. in 2006 rom was in charge of the mid-terms. he won twice in chicago. he knows now to win. there are more regular strength democrats on the progressive side. when he said beto o'rourke is a lures. he came close in a red state and raised a ton of money. rom is saying you have to earn it. you have to court us a

o'rourke for five minutes. mr. o'rourke: dr. lawrence, not very encouraging. i think in your testimony you failed to account for the scope of the problem. minimized the problem. and tried to remind us that, you know, they're doing great work in many cases, which i don't think anyone here would contest. but there's the very real problem that veterans who have earned this benefit are not receiving the payments that they need to complete their education. i encourage you to give us a deadline, because you missed the last deadline even though we met with you two weeks before that last deadline, doesn't mean you don't get to have a deadline going forward. that's a recipe for it's aer if i've ever heard one -- for disaster if i've ever heard one. how many veterans have outstanding payments greater than 30 days? mr. worley: i have a greater than of-day number, it's over 1,000 claims pending over 60 days. each day it's a different number because some go over 60 days, some get worked, many get works. we worked many claims in that ballpark. we focused on the early claims

>> when we come back, we'll go to texas for more on o'rourke versus cruz. today...n. now introducing aleve back and muscle pain. only aleve targets tough pain for up to 12 hours with just one pill. aleve back & muscle. all day strong. all day long. - [narrator] meet shark's newest robot vacuum. it powerfully cleans from floors to carpets, even pet hair, with ease, and now for cleaning surfaces above the floor, it comes with a built in shark handheld. one dock, two sharks. >>> here's more of beto o'rourke campaigning in texas. >> young mothers with their young children who are fleeing the deadliest countries in the hemisphere, doing what any human being would do in the same situation. so meeting that low level of apprehension and that kind of suffering and people trying to lawfully claim asylum with walls, with militarization, with fear, with paranoia, that's not us. that's not this country. and if the president doesn't get it, then the people of texas do. on the 6th of november, we will decide the future of this country, and it will be a far more positive one. we'll

this theme that -- i've heard robert francis o'rourke, beto o'rourke galaxy yesterday, we have a 500% increase in voter participation by those under the age of 30. i went and looked -- the only evidence we had in the early vote, the top early vote in the top 15 counties in texas, 63% of the statewide vote, the only part of the state for which we have detailed information, voter participation by 18 and 19-year-olds in 2016 was just over 2% of the total turnout. now it's just under 2% of turnout. those participations of 20-29-year-old 11% of the total in 2016, it's under 10% this time around. where we get these signals of 500% increase in the youthful per dissipation like mr. robert francis o'rourke says, i don't know. >> martha: wasn't counting on karl rove fact-checking him. let's take a look at this from the president's editorial which is his last statement ahead of the election tomorrow and he really focused completely on the economy in this which allowed republicans have been wanting him to focus on a lot more rather than the caravan. he says america faces a critical choice, whethe

not like beto o'rourke is. what we have seen is an extraordinary campaign of an individual with extraordinary political talent and an ability to carve out his own policy positions without taking dictation from washington or taking talking points from anyone. and there's probably not many democrats in the country who would agree with beto o'rourke's position on every single issue right down the line. but he's carved a space that is so appealing that wherever democrats find some slight disagreement with him, it feels very minor compared to the way they agree with him. >> lawrence o'donnell waiting out the poll closing times in california -- >> rachel, can i get in one word about heidi heitkamp? >> please. >> i worked in the senate seven years. i never once in my time in the senate saw a united states senator cast a vote, that that senator knew could decisively -- >> guys, i have to interrupt. we have a big call. this is out of texas. nbc news is projecting ted cruz will return to the senate from texas, and republ

o'rourke spent the day in austin. he'll finish out the week in san antonio.andera is standing by. how are the candidates spending these last couple days before the election? >> reporter: well, wolf, both campaigns know that this is really going to boil down to turnout, and they're going after their most ardent supporters to make sure they can turn out the vote. that's beto o'rourke you see behind me on stage in a club just north of downtown san antonio. he's been walking neighborhoods, talking to people, and this is a fascinating thing to see, wolf. some 21 months ago when beto o'rourke kicked off this campaign for texas senate, he was a virtually unknown congressman from the town of el paso. these are the kind of crowds that are greeting him now as he is trying to essentially rewrite the political landscape here in texas. we've asked o'rourke repeatedly on the campaign trail over the last few weeks about the polls out there that have consistently shown him behind ted cruz. republicans believe the math is simply on their side, that there are far more conserva

beto o'rourke has been asked about it. he was mostly unconcerned about this when we spoke to him about it earlier today. i'm going to take a look at it myself and get a better idea of what kind of a scale of an operation it is we're talking about here. >> we'll let you do that. garrett haake in el paso, thank you my friend. we'll be checking in with garrett throughout the course of the day. chuck todd says virginia house races, virginia house races are key to whether a blue wave is hitting the house or perhaps a potential tsunami. nbc road warrior tom costello live for us in henrico. >> reporter: good morning, we've got dave bratt who is up against abigail spanberger. dave bratt is a tea party republican and trump supporters. could spanberger upset this race? we'll have all the details coming up on the other side of the break. minimums and fees. they seem to be the very foundation of your typical bank. capital one is anything but typical. that's why we designed capital one cafes. you can get savings and checking accounts w

the o'rourke campaign sees a lot of signs of hope in that. they could run the most competitive election in texas in the last 2r5 years, and still lose by half a million votes. the math here is incredibly difficult. but the energy level here on the ground is undeniable. and i think when we wake up tomorrow morning, if we see lines around the block at some of these polling places, in some of these big cities in texas or the valley where there's a million voters who have never really been fully activated, 80% of them hispanic, we could be looking at an upset here. again, it is an unprovable, unknowable thing this coalition, beto o'rourke is betting on that exists even tomorrow. >> trying to solve the texas voting rubik's cube unsuccessfully and beto taking a different run. garrett haake, thank you very much. >>> msnbc national political correspondent steve kornacki has been covering the big picture from day one and he joins me now. steve, what are you looking at as we head into tomorrow? >> i think the question here, when are we going to get som

o'rourke, for any remarks you might have. mr. o'rourke: thank you, mr. chairman. i don't know that there's a whole bunch that i can add to your excellent opening comments. but to say that i think typically the format for a hearing like this one, having now served on this committee for six years, is for those of us up here to express our outrage, those of you at the witness table to tell us that you're working on the issue, to express your dedication and commitment to serving veterans, and for all of us to leave with some kind of vague understanding of what will be delivered. what i would challenge all of us to do, since we have the v.a. here, the undersecretary responsible, the oversight committee, and authorizing committee, the contractor who is doing the work, is to come up with specific deliverables so that every person in attendance and watching and the press who are write being this leave with a very crystal clear -- writting about this leave with a very crystal clear understanding of when this will be fixed, how it will be fixed, and the neck i had -- mechan

the electorate by better, o'rourke's definition, may involve the fact the turnout might be voting o'rourke. that's interesting. we will mark your words because you often make predictions and it often turns out true. >> sometimes not. >> with me mostly not. >> my confusion, because we heard over and over, the importance of suburban women voters and i understand that, i just don't understand which way those women are going. >> right. and if they break in significant patterns in one way or the other, that changes the picture. if they don't, look, i think suburban women voters are a remarkable area of concentration. many suburban women voters will tell you we're not a thing, we're not a monolith. >> louis ruehl would tell you that. >> we will be watching it very closely. i don't know i've ever -- exciting midterm elections, i don't know there were as many going into them as opposed to the couple days before. >> ali, the fact we're looking at early voting numbers that look more like 2016, 2014, big deal. >> unbelievable. >> next, we're honing in on two states, two states that can change history

campaign, and beto o'rourke careful not to do negative campaigning. in an atta attack way. it's a pac that has put the ad of donald trump saying these things about ted cruz, in another campaign, you might call that a negative ad because it's negative about ted cruz, but it's the guy who endorsed ted cruz saying negative things about ted cruz. i don't know what you call that ad. i want to clarify for the audience, whatever you call it, it's not from the o'rourke campaign, how is that kind of ad playing in texas. we have all been expecting it to happen that they be running what donald trump used to say about his now friend ted cruz. >> well, lawrence, it's no secret in texas that ted cruz polls very low. the truth in texas is that, you know, there is a trump factor and everything that comes with it. however, texas has had trump like leadership for a very long time. we currently have attorney general ken paxton with, you know, he's sitting attorney general and he's under indictment for multiple felonies. we have governor greg abbott, lieutenant governor,

senator ted cruz and three-time congressman beto o'rourke could not be more different. overnight, we were with cruz in his final push. >> you look at the texas economy right now. the economy is booming. we've got the lowest unemployment rate in 49 years. and i think texans understand, why would we want to screw that up? >> reporter: and beto o'rourke with a new ad, traveling to all 254 counties, documenting it on his iphone. >> this our chance, texas, to lead this country. america has never been more divided, never been more polarizeorter: more pe have already voted than the total that voted in the last midterm. do you think that early voter momentum is leaning your way? >> i do. >> reporter: and with president trump focused on the images of the caravan, so is cruz. >> security is on the ballot tomorrow. >> reporter: you say you want to secure the borders, can you do that without a wall, can you do that without militarizing the border? >> we don't need a wall. we don't need to militarize the border. >> reporter: o'rourke says we need immigration reform. >> it is precise

ted cruz and the challenge from beto o'rourke. and th texas tonight. >>> also this evening, severe storms. tonight, and right into election day, possible tornadoes, dangerous winds moving into the east. ginger zee standing by with the new track. >>> the other news tonight, the newlyweds married just 90 minutes, cheered on as they board their helicopter. the deadly crash just a short time later. what we've now learned tonight. >>> the teachers accused of pitting children against one another at day care. the video of them fighting. there is major news on this tonight. >>> and the winner is? one mom in america whose life suddenly changed in an instant. tonight, she's changing other lives, too. she's america strong. >>> and good evening tonight from abc news election headquarters here in new york city. this is where we will watch it all unfold with you at home. we're on the eve of a crucial midterm election here in america. the polls in so many key races razor thin tonight, and president trump knows it, telling supporters, pretend i'm

beto o'rourke. we've called that race for ted cruz now. just moments ago, will hurd had pulled ahead in his race down here. we look at these districts. we just went through some districts president trump carried like dave brat's district. this is a district, will hurd's district, hillary clinton carried. this was always one of the democratic targets. will hurd, even democrats will tell you, ran a good race. what's going to happen here? we don't know. two-thirds of the vote in. it's gone back to gina ortiz jones ahead by 100 votes. a lot of close races. those close races are going to matter because the democrats need nine more. you look at the map. that's just in texas. you look at the national map. they need nine more. they're leading in 26 republican seats. they're on the path to get what they need to get the house. the question is by how much? at the end of the night are you net 25? are you net 30? can you get up to 35? that's the math, wolf, we're going to do as we go. again, democrats aren't there yet. the map looks like there's a path

but beto o'rourke cheering them on. welcome in. stay awhile. don't be paranoid, beto tells us. >> nbc's garrett haake joins the conversation from murphy, texas, north of dallas where beto is talking to voters. there's nothing reporters hate more than being told by campaigns what questions to ask the candidates. >> yeah, we love that one, nicolle. >> tell us what's going on there on the ground. is beto's popularity nationally, the fact he's captured the imagination of democrats across the country, of independents across the country because he's doing so well in such a deeply red state, is that a mirage or is this still something you'll watch on tuesday? you talked to democrats and republicans in texas who say there's something going on when you look at the early voting, you look at the turnout and projected turnout among young voters. he may have grown the pie and grown the universe of people especially for a midterm. >> well, that's the only way he can win down here. yeah, i think when you're down here on the ground there's a sense there's some

they want a unifier and that's what they see in o'rourke.urns out. >> good to see them all there. thank you so much. really appreciate it. >> coming up for us, republican governor scott walker in a tight race to keep his seat in wisconsin. he's not the only republican on the ropes right now in the midwest. details ahead. dependability as midsize car-the chevy malibu. i forgot. chevy also won a j.d. power dependability award for its light-duty truck the chevy silverado. oh, and since the chevy equinox and traverse also won chevy is the only brand to earn the j.d. power dependability award across cars, trucks and suvs-three years in a row. phew. third time's the charm... ♪ whoa! (phone rings) daddy, mommy's on the phone! hi! how are you guys? at&t proudly offers wireless and tv discounts to military, veterans, first responders and their families. visit att.com/hero. we really pride ourselvesglass, on making it easy to get your windshield fixed. with safelite, you can see exactly when we'll be there. saving you time for what you love most. >> k

and ted cruz in the highest profile race of the night defeating o'rourke. o'rourke coming up just short. in the state of wisconsin tammy baldwin holds on to her seat. and in new jersey bob menendez winning by a comfortable margin despite some of his troubles in the state, he will be back in his seat. too close to call still this hour, arizona senate, 2,000 votes separate martha mcsally the republican from the democrat. and in florida the senate race too close to call. just over 38,000 votes there. trrs the republican with a slim margin over the incumbent democrat bill nelson. we've been keeping a close eye on the state of montana where it tester is trying to hold on to his seat. he trails right now as of 4,000 votes. a democratic take over wasn't completely unexpected. in house district 10 a lot of eyes on the state off virginia and another one, max rose winning the house district elect in parts of brooklyn. tlrs afghanistan veteran win inning an episut. former nfl player colin allred, the democrat unseating pete sessions who had been there for 11 terms in

> let's go with beto o'rourke. his opponent has been out not talking trump. he has had a specific message to voters. what is it? >> yes, o'rourke never talks about the president. i don't think i've heard him mention ted cruz's name on the stum. yesterday, we were down closer to the border. 1 million voters in the rio grande valley. where the immigration issue plays differently. we heard o'rourke talk about the idea that the border communities here don't want walls and they certainly don't want troops. they want commerce. the cultural connection that happens. he pushed back pretty hard against the kind of language, the receiptry, the president's been using. >> the lowest levels on the u.s./mexican border since 1971. we're seeing people who are not being am ppprehended, they're turning themselvturn ing themselves in. people trying to lawfully claim asylum. with fear and paranoia. that's not us. that's not our country. if the president doesn't get it the people of texas do. >> today is the last day voters in texas can

and so for democrats who were rooting for beto o'rourke and want to see more from beto o'rourke, the only thing they need tonight is patience. the crisis in american government, the trump crisis is a washington crisis. there is nothing democratic governors can do to stop donald trump. and so for the governing emergency that america has face for the last two years, but really mattered last night is what happened in the democratic takeover in the house of representatives. it is a huge victory for the democrats and for democracy. in a country where democracy does not always win, as we saw in the last presidential election. last night 51 million votes were counted for the democrats running for the house of representatives. 47 million votes were counted for the republicans. 4 million more votes were counted for the democrats, and this time the party that got the most votes won. this time democracy won, and democracy had to fight against jerry mandered congressional districts rigged by republicans to defy democracy. democracy had to fight against voter suppression where republican controll

that's senate candidate beto o'rourke. the president inserted himself into the race, campaigning with beautiful ted. those are trump's words last month. garret is with him where he is making his last stand. what are you hearing? >> ali, a few minutes away from o'rourke's third and final rally. we are hours away from any of the major population centers in texas. down here in the rio grande valley, you have about a million people who live down here. maybe 80% hispanic and a lot of potential voters here of target rich environment if you're beto o'rourke. this state has not been as politically active and it's a critical part of what o'rourke would need if he pulls off this up set victory. we have been hearing him talk about immigration than he typically does on the stump. that's a huge issue. certainly not issue down here. and the way o'rourke talks about it as someone who lives in el paso and his supporters say it gives him a certain degree of authenticity on this issue that other politicians and other democratic politicians

if beto o'rourke wins, that's the story. that's it. >> dana: that's true. have to read even another round of national media profiles of beto o'rourke. the daily briefing was in indiana last week. we talked to mike braun, the republican. you still think the democrat, donnelly, pulls it out? >> i think donnelly pulls it out. it's tough. the polls close at 6:00. if donnelly is ahead and wins, that's a good sign for all the other democrats coming up after him. in montana, missouri, west virginia, and if he wins indiana, i think democrats look like they will do much better in the senate. >> dana: president trump won indiana by 20 points. he's been there several times. >> and he's going there tonight. he's coming in for the close. senator donnelly is propping up a third party libertarian candidat candidate. >> the fact that trump has to go in there on the eve of the election tells you everything about that race. >> dana: they must think that it's very close. i don't have time to talk to you about election security. kirstjen nielsen, director of homeland security,

well, congressman beto o'rourke gave senator cruz a run for his money. this was a close race. he was trying to become the first democrat elected to that seat since 1988, but it didn't happen. you know, at the end of the day their personality and their policies just couldn't be any more different. ted cruz, his platform was jobs, security and freedom and beto o'rourke's platform was health care, unity, it was dreamers and just this morning he talked about the borders not being a threat. there's going to be a lot of talk about whether or not his platform was too progressive. in fact, when i sat down with him a couple of weeks ago i asked if his platform was so progressive that he had his eye on a bigger prize, maybe the presidency and i asked him if there's any scenario he runs for president in 2020. he said no. but cruz believes he will probably run one day. >> and i also want to take a moment to congratulate beto o'rourke. he poured his heart into this campaign. millions across this state were inspired by his campaign. >> i want to thank this amazing campaign of people. i'm so

this is where beto o'rourke could win.t would push him over the edge would be if republican voters who were not that enthusiastic about cruz decided to stay home. that is what a lot of the experts said it would take for o'rourke to win. maybe not. we are seeing him run a tighter race than expected. >> our colleague in houston. let's turn to al hunt. you have been through so many of these elections. it doesn't look like there is a huge big wave for the democrats. if this was all about donald trump the person, as he said it was, what does this tell us what the country thinks about president trump? >> it is as divided as we thought it was going into the election. i oversupply five. oversimplified, the blues are delivering for blues and the reds for reds. it,t now, as i look at these are not over yet, the democrats are struggling in a couple of seats they thought they were going to win in new jersey. they look like they are going to win two. kansas. they are going to pick up two in texas. lose, inurke, win or dallas and housto

o'rourke has become a rock star on the left.ised more money than any other senate candidate in history and he's been spending knit large part traveling around the state, putting together a get out the vote machine that they hope can finally give texas democrats something they've wanted for more than 20 years, which is a foothold in state-level politics. no democrat in the state of texas has been elected to any statewide position since 1994. the math in this race still favors ted cruz. this is a conservative state. but the enthusiasm for o'rourke is undenial. the pictures should prove it. if they don't, listen to ted cruz describe the enthusiasm on the left in this state. here's what he told "60 minutes." >> we got numbers on our side. there are a lot more conservatives than there are liberals. what the o'rourke campaign has had on their side is intensity. the liberals who are in texas are really, really mad. they hate president trump. that anger is dangerous. that's mobilizing. it means they're going to show up. they'll crawl ov

and chuck, the o'rourke campaign doesn't know.take it as a great point of pride that they do not employ a pollster, so they don't have their own numbers here. they continue to point towards the early vote and say they're turning out huge numbers of people and that's what they're watching down the stretch. >> all right. garrett haake, jon ralston, two races where immigration could have a big impact. thank you both. >>> up ahead, the house battleground has expanded again in favor of the democrats. we'll break down the new numbers with the man who has those numbers. >>> plus, who is this guy? john cool person, whos rr running for re-election to the house. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ eastbound and down. ♪ loaded up and truckin'. ♪ are we gonna do what they say can't be done? ♪ ♪ we've got a long way to go ♪ and a short time to get there. ♪ ♪ i'm eastbound, just watch ole bandit run. ♪ whatever party you've got goin' in the back, we've got the business up front. ♪ this is frank. sup! this is frank's favorite record. this is frank's dog. a

, and really all of the stars are going to have to align for the o'rourke campaign. and this is what the cruz campaign has been banking on, that essentially at the end of the day here there are just more republican voters in texas than there are democrats. so o'rourke has really got to focus on younger voters, which he has done over the last few weeks, hitting college campuses. it's no surprise here that he ended his last rally here at the university of texas at el paso with a huge rally in front of students here. and really getting perhaps suburban women in the towns of dallas, houston, austin, san antonio who were disgruntled and angry with president trump, to get them to switch over. as well as a huge influx of latino voters. really a lot of people thinking that awful those stars are going to have to align if beto o'rourke is going to have a chance tomorrow night. >> ed lavandera, thanks very much. i just want to take a minute to expand on something we touched on at the top of the broadcast and that ana cabrera said a factor in florida, the number of people voting

let me say this about beto o'rourke.le will say beto o'rourke should not run for president because he lost the senate race or because maybe he's not experienced enough. well, tell that to donald trump that he's not experienced enough. the reality is when you're hot, you got to go when you're hot. i would argue that chris christie is not president today because he didn't run for president in twe2012. i'm not saying he could have beat barack obama, that was his moment. he didn't go and we saw what happened in 2016. it flamed out. >> let's look ahead to tomorrow, democrats meeting behind closed doors apparently to talk about leadership. our friend bob costar over at "the washington post" has this headline. democratic rebel seeks negotiations with pelosi on races for leadership. there's the headline. congressman seth moulton, the man leading the resistance seems to have shifted his focus to getting a replacement for the number two or perhaps the number three democrat in the house come january. will the house democratic leade

o'rourke. and a look at how the battle over health care plays a central role in the final sprint to election day. and president trump is convincing -- or rather convinced that immigration is a winning issue for republicans, but it could also be a driving factor for latino voter turnout tuesday. ♪ go. take off to the big city. find fortune... romance... ...find freedom, just one touch away. ♪ because the sky has no limit. if these packs have the same number of bladder leak pads, i bet you think bigger is better. actually, it's bulkier. always discreet quickly turns liquid to gel, for drier protection that's a lot less bulky. always discreet. you're in the business of helping people. we're in the business of helping you. business loans for eligible card members up to fifty thousand dollars, decided in as little as 60 seconds. the powerful backing of american express. unstopand it's strengthenedting place, the by xfi pods,gateway. which plug in to extend the wifi even farther, past anything that s

beto o'rourke out there voting.z in one of the most high profile and surprisingly competitive races in the country against the democratic candidate beto o'rourke. man, a lot of money was spent on this thing. how sis it looking this morning >> reporter: we'll wait and see what happens today. we are in the third most populus county in the state of texas and also the largest urban county that remains red. it is a bellwether county. president trump won this county by nine points. that's exactly the margin he won the state of texas by. and beto o'rourke has said we have to win this county in order to win the state of texas. it will come down to the size and shape of the electorate. we have been talking a lot about white women, suburban voters and college educated voters. i have a voter with me who is both of those things. you said you were one of the earliest voters on the first day of early voting. you are supporting beto o'rourke and we talked about what motivated you and this idea of fear being a powerful motivator, b

chris for us at beto o'rourke headquarters.one back and forth to chris over the course of the night. you can see things filling in there. >> yeah, it's noisier. >> yes, for sure. these numbers, look at this. >> look at that. >> 49.7 to 49.7. >> come on. >> we're just looking at a difference of 100 votes. now it's a different of 1500 votes. this is with less than two-thirds of the vote. and chris made a good point there in terms of the polls closing completely across texas. this is just like -- is this the story of ted cruz? is this the story of beto o'rourke or is this the story of a new texas? >> i think to nicole's point, this tells the story of the lawn signs, and this also tells the story of the enormous unpopularity of ted cruz. >> and of donald trump. ted cruz ran arm and arm with donald trump in a state that should be donald trump country. and if a democrat can win in texas, a democrat can win anywhere. if beto o'rourke can beat a trump ally like ted cruz, which is what ted cruz chose to become, he could have gone to the

democratic congressman, beto o'rourke is hoping to ride a turn out race against ted cruz. >> garrett, i know you basically moved your entire belongings and house to texas. that's how long you have been there. what is the state of play, 24 hours to go before polls open in that state. >> reporter: i'm standing at a beto o'rourke rally in houston, texas. the crowd around me thinks they can pull off this upset win. they have about 800 people in the house of blues in downtown houston for a rally that starts at 8:00 in the morning local time. the energy here has been electric, but they are playing against the math here. this is still texas. it's still a heavily republican state, and the o'rourke campaign has gotten some push back saying maybe they should have tried harder to get republican voters. maybe they should have tried harder to come after ted cruz in the middle. they are buoyed by this incredible energy. o'rourke told me, in the 22 months he's running, he has no regrets and he is not focussed on anything but this race. here's some of our interview this morning. anything you would do

beto o'rourke does have the chance. beto o'rourke is the favorite for the democrats to be president of the united states or their nominee in 2020. he immediately goes to iowa or new hampshire and becomes the big celebrity if he wi texas is a deeply red state. that'sh race but he had a lot of money, a lot of momentum and if democrats are able to catapult him forward, that's a big deal. >> one of the big issues, the improving economy, healthcare, illegal immigration. we've seen president trump make a number of stops in the last 10 days at rallies pushing illegal immigration issues, a strategic torts for him. do you think that will help pay off for him at this point? >> it looks like that has generated republican turnout that we have seen so far. if you can hold back the democratic wave, it is going to be 50, 58, 60 seats, pre- kavanaugh and post-kavanaugh and talking about these issues. that generated attention that wasn't there just a little while ago. that is to the white house's benefit but, what have sins -- what happ

beto o'rourke performing well getting 2/3 of the votes there.uburban counties, collin and tarrant county, cruz is leading just bary in tarrant county. fort worth, arlington. been trending towards democrats in the last couple of elections. that was essentially tied. that's not good news for ted cruz. overwhelmingly in the state of texas the math favors cruz. republicani talked to aren't in any kind of panic yet but they're watching what th're seeing in dallas a little bit nervously. we're still waiting to see any numbers by harris county, houston. the o'rourke campaign is expecting big, big turnout. >> a lot of monespent the race, a lot of new voters. >> beto o'rourke i believe raised more money than any we'll find out if money can get you a win in deep red texas. we're going to be right back insights from election night. veteran tom brokaw. our coverage continues live in hest a moment. >> regardless of we live, we share a common belief that gi gecan do more, can be more for all of us. >> you get a vote and you get a vote. >> i've got a message f

here is beto o'rourke. >> regardless of party affiliation, don't care who you voted for last time.hance to do something great and positive in the united states of america. >> a far left liberal. if you look on immigration he supports open borders, he supports sanctuary cities, kate's law. i'm the author of kate's law and i will tell you what people of texas want. if you are present texas we went the caravan stopped. >> reporter: millions spent, texans will get their vote today. an early voting more folks voted early in texas than altogether in the midterms in 2014, lots of enthusiasm on the ground. we will see how it shakes up. we will be live at the old south pancake house on "fox and friends". folks in the area come on out. >> talked to pete about who you think will win. it will be a long day. as we were talking about the balance of power is at stake in the crucial election, donald trump making a closing argument in three back to back rallies as he tries to help the gop keep control of congress. garrett tenney is live with more on what to watch today. >> reporter: there's a lot r

. >> reporter: in texas, beto o'rourke trying to become the first democratic senator elected in texas in nearly 25 years. >> let's remember that before we're republicans or democrats, we're americans, texans. >> reporter: he is up against incumbent republican senator ted cruz. >> stopping all the positive progress we're making is that good for the people of texas? >> reporter: andy field, abc news, washington. >>> last night, beto o'rourke told "60 minutes" he doesn't want national democrats to campaign for him because texas voters should decide on their own terms. >> senator cruz who is backed by president trump claims o'rourke is too radical for texas and cruz is holding only a slight lead in the polls. he talked to our paula faris a short time ago. >> too close for comfort here? no, you're good? >> i think momentum is very much with us. we're seeing record turnout which is great news. we always knew the hard left was going to show up. they were ticked off. this election was all about ordinary texans showing up. >> paula will talk with beto o'rourke today. more than 5 million people

beto o'rourke is improving on that.sting is when you get outside of austin, williamson county here, one of the wealthiest -- a very wealthy county. beto o'rourke doing nine points better than hillary clinton did, and also, you go to hayes county on the other side, about a ten point improvement there. so those are numbers in that area that the o'rourke campaign wants to see. but that's very early, democratic friendly areas that are in. they need to get that kind of shift in the suburbs around the state. they need to have a turnout surge there, and we've got to see what happens as these republican counties begin to come in as well. >> steve kornacki, thank you. we have two calls to pass along to our viewers from illinois. we are projecting pritsker wins as the next governor, a pick yup for the democrats. and a hold in maryland, as larry hogan will be returning. we have one more, rhode island governor, it's going to be raimondo, gina raimondo, the democrat. and let's go to james carval, long-time democratic strategist. i t

o'rourke saying we may never get this chance again.to capitalize when it comes to this moment in time in texas? >> well, you can always tell a campaign is going with how people close. so beto is closing with an as pas -- aspirational speech and ted is closing with outlandish claims. i think that the race is very close. i'm not predicting that beto will win, but i think that it will be a close race. >> and what is the geography of this closing part of the cka campaica campaign tell you? cruz is scheduled to be in north texas sunday, harris county on monday. o'rourke has three stops. both plan to spend election night in their hometowns. help us understand the geography. >> beto needs a big turnover in the urban centers. so he needs a big vote in houston, san antonio, austin, dallas, ft. worth. ted needs an overwhelming vote out of rural texas, out of harris and dallas. >> and there are really interesting smart house candidates running all over texas. beto gets a lot of attention as he should. he have jones, fletcher allred. they are all

beto o'rourke, is he a real contender against cruz? does money make a giant difference?oney is in dramatic fashion. shattering all kinds of records for fund raising in this election. he's really become a nationwide phenomenon. here this afternoon, we're at a women for ted cruz rally where ted cruz is expected to speak here in the next hour or so, appearing with his wife and also the wife of texas governor greg abbott and from here, he continues on to the small town of victoria, texas, and this captures the intensity that both candidates are campaigning across the state. beto o'rourke literally going through neighborhoods and we've seen this here, fredricka, throughout the last few days of early voting. it's really important to point out the early voting totals in this state have been astronomical, through the roof. the final numbers, last i checked, aren't quite in but they were already record setting from across the state and that's really what political observers are paying the most attention to, trying to figure out what all of this means. one of the things beto o'rou

what the o'rourke campaign has had on their side is kpeintensi. the lib raerals in texas are really, really mad. they hate president trump. that anger is dangerous. it means they're going to show up no matter what. >> garret is in austin, texas. >> betobeto o'rourke just finis another rally. austin is going to be critical to any chance o'rourke has to becoming the first democrat texas has had since 1988. it has always been the big blue dot in the center of texas. it's the liberal capital of the state. in the last weekend day of the campaign, o'rourke is focusing here on austin and just down the road in san antonio, two of the big cities, heavy latino populations a i little bit more democratic leaning. ted cruz will be up the road in the dallas suburbs, part of the dfw metro plex. he's going to be focusing on turning out conservative voter there is. texas is a huge state, i don't have to tell you, and these candidates have hit every corner of it. in the race's final day, they're focused on those mega cities from which maybe 2/3 of the vote in texas

>> it would be a monumental shock in o'rourk were to pull this off. every poll that has been done shows o'rorke steadily behind. what the o'rourke campaign and what he has been saying repeatedly is that he believes the energy that they have created here over the course of the last 20 months of this campaign has generated a great deal of support among people who they believe the polls aren't taking into account, and there might be something to that when you look at the number of newly registered voters here in this state that has jumped dramatically into this election cycle, and then you also look at the huge number of early voter turnout and a lot of those people, young people. o'rouke has spent time touring college campuses all over the state, and, you talk to some old-time political observers here in the state wondering why he would do that. young voters, you can't usually count on them to vote. the o'rourke campaign is banking on a swell of young voters that would turn out for him, that those areal the kinds of things that could tip this election.

for beto o'rourke this is about beto. it's about him as a big figure, a cultural figure, someone who gets people fired up on his own. for ted cruz, the supporters here are about his work with the president. they are about his work with the republican party. it's a structural thing. it's a texas republican thing more than it is about cruz uniquely himself. and that's the dynamic here down the line, whether or not that that relationship with the president and that ability to get things done within the republican party appeals to enough people in this very conservative to a long time red state, or whether beto o'rourke essentially on his own in texas can flip that. that's what we'll be watching over the next couple of days. that energy level, especially today on the last day of early voting, we expect to be extremely high for both candidates. >> the president's talk on immigration over the last few days, is it resonating with republican voters there in the lone star state? have they be sufficiently riled up? >> reporter: i t

this election wasn't about me and it wasn't about beto o'rourke. this election was a battle of ideas. it was a contest for who we are and what we believe. it was a contest and the people of texas decided this race. we traveled every part of the state from east texas to west texas, from the panhandle to the valley. and the energy, the excitement we saw was incredible. just a couple weeks ago down in the valley, in harlingen, 2,000 people coming out. in mission, 2,000 people coming out. in el paso, 2,000 people coming out. and what was truly amazing, at many of these events, we would ask how many of you here are former democrats, and we would see hands throughout the room as we're seeing hands now, because texas came together behind a common sense agenda. low taxes, low regulations and lots and lots of jobs. securing the border and keeping our community safe, and defending the constitution and the bill of rights. and that is a common sense agenda that unites texans from every part of the state. it was your hard work, this is a victory for the single

beto o'rourke has a colorful character. he is a former punk rocker turned congressman, with some saying he has kennedy-esque qualities. 18-year-old record in terms of fundraising, raising over $60 million during his campaign. twitter, there is a hashtag for him. >> there were also unusual candidates who equally won their us -- one their races. >> denver reutimann one his house seat in virginia, defeating leslie cockburn. it was one of the strangest and closest races of the midterms of accusingcockburn --.er of campaigning with zipperer: good afternoon, and welcome to today's meeting of the commonwealth club of california, the place where you're in the know. i'm john zipperer, the club's vice president of media and editorial, host of its week-to-week political roundtable series, and your moderator for today. and now, it's my pleasure to introduce today's distinguished speaker, chaharlie sykes. he's the a author of 8 books on n current afaffairs and education, inincluding h his new book, "how the right lost its mind." for yea