Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Election Day 2010 Arrives; Control of Congress Up for Grabs; No Pot on 'Real Time With Bill Maher'

Aired November 02, 2010 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Want to remind all of you, you can get another update here, Political Ticker, in the next hour. You can go online, CNNPolitics.com. They're on Twitter at @PoliticalTicker.

And with that -- first hour flew by. We're on hour two here. And with that, I want to welcome the men and the women watching us right now on American Forces Network all around the world. We're hitting you fast this hour and let's go. Let's talk elections here.

Live pictures, beautiful pictures, Capitol Hill, braced in expectation of a possible changing of the guard. So, this -- and look at this with me -- this is where the action really is. You have the House of Representatives. These are bigger numbers here. And today the Republican Party needs a net gain of 39 -- 39 -- seats to take control of the House.

Talked to a whole lot of people. They say absolutely that is very much so within reach. And that also means John Boehner -- you see him voting there, his home state of Ohio -- conservative John Boehner very much so poised to be the next House speaker.

So, with that, I want to go to our A-team, Dana Bash live for us on ghost town of a Capitol Hill.

And let me just ask you, will we hear from, will we see John Boehner at all tonight?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We will. We will.

There's going to be an event downtown, not here on Capitol Hill, but at a downtown hotel, that will include John Boehner and also other Republican leaders in the House. It is possible those leaders in the Senate will come. And we do expect the head of the Republican Governors Association, Haley Barbour, to be there.

It is being called an election night event. It is not being called an election night party. And one of the most interesting things to watch as Republicans in the House particularly brace for potentially taking over the majority is the way that they want to handle it and the tone they want to set.

And, Brooke, over and over, I hear from people who work for John Boehner, who work for other House leaders, that they want to try to immediately set the tone not as a big victory party, but as obviously happiness that, if they do, in fact, at that time majority, that they have done that, but the fact that, we hear you, we get it, we Republicans understand that people out there are frustrated, they're angry at everybody in Washington, at the institution, at politics and politicians in general. And that includes the Republican establishment.

Whether or not they will be able to keep things calm with a bunch of people who have been working very hard to get Republicans elected is going to be a whole different question, but that I'm told is going to be the tone that John Boehner and others are going to try to take whenever they do come out and address the crowds and the media later tonight.

BALDWIN: So whether John Boehner is, as we mentioned last hour, measuring the drapes or not, perhaps he is behind closed doors there whipping out the measuring tape. We will look for him, of course, tonight.

Dana, stand by.

I want to go to Dan -- Dan Lothian -- at the White House.

I know the president isn't going to talk strategy here looking ahead the next two years and I'm sure they're trying to remain optimistic here, but at some point, are they at all admitting the throwing in of the towel?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, no. They will not do that because they want as many voters throughout the night until polls close to go out there and vote. You have heard the president on all the various radio shows today encouraging voters to go out, if they voted already, to encourage family members to go along as well.

I think the first time we will hear from the president, though, reacting to what happens tonight will be tomorrow when he holds a press conference around 1:00 in the afternoon in the East Room. That will be a chance for the president not to only answer questions about what went wrong, the impact of the election night, but also going forward what will happen.

The president has already suggested that there will be a need from both sides to compromise in order to avoid gridlock. So it will be interesting to see what the strategy will be for the next few years, the next two years, in order to get the president's agenda moving forward.

BALDWIN: Dan, stand by. I want you to weigh in on my next question, but I want to direct it to Shannon Travis, who has been pretty much embedded with the Tea Party Express for the better part of the last year, so, Shannon, I'm directing this to you.

Often, we have talked about the Tea Party experiment. Well, let's talk about the Tea Party invasion. Is Washington ready?

SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Maybe not, maybe not so much.

If a lot of those Tea Party candidates come here to Washington, they may have to actually fall in line with the ways that they have railed against all the -- all campaign season. The Tea Party movement says we don't like the ways of the Washington establishment. We don't like what they call the back room dealing.

But a lot of these Tea Party candidates, if they win, will have very low seniority, and they may have to actually go along and toe that Tea Party -- the Republican line. It will be interesting to see what the Tea Party thinks about that.

BALDWIN: Dan Lothian, what about the Tea Party and the White House? What has the president -- how has he spoken about the Tea Party?

LOTHIAN: He hasn't really weighed in too much about the Tea Party, other than that's an outgrowth of the frustration of Americans across the country, pointing out that, yes, there are a lot of things that his administration had promised in terms of trying to get the economy on the right track, but that the economy was in much worse shape than anyone anticipated.

And he points out -- I mean, he's been doing all the last few months on the campaign trail, this last weekend as well, when he was in Cleveland. I was there as well. You heard from the president pointing out that: I hear what you're saying, that you're frustrated.

But what he hopes is that people won't, you know, jump to the Tea Party or to Republicans, but will focus on what Democrats have been doing and give them a chance to finish what they have started.

BALDWIN: Dana, you get my last question.

And that is, we already talked about possible House speaker in John Boehner. Let's talk Senate. And if the Democrats win the Senate, but Harry Reid loses, who would then be in line to be majority leader there?

BASH: Ah, the palace intrigue. That is one of the subplots, frankly, soap operas, that has been going on for quite a while.

Look, there are two people who are certainly not openly campaigning for it, but if you look at the way they have raised money and been out campaigning for candidates, it's pretty clear that they would potentially want it.

BALDWIN: All right.

BASH: And those people are Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin. Dick Durbin is now the number-two Democrat in the Senate and Chuck Schumer helped get senators -- Democrats elected last time around. They are both, I should say, very genuinely close friends with Harry Reid. And it would be a very bittersweet thing for them.

(CROSSTALK) BALDWIN: We will wait and see, wait and see, and we will be seeing a whole lot more of you, Dana Bash and Shannon Travis and Dan Lothian of course this evening and throughout the election center. Guys, all of you, thank you so much.

Want to remind all of you CNN's election night coverage begins in just three hours from now, 7:00 Eastern, the best political team on television. You just got a preview. They will be bringing you up-to- the-minute results as the polls close, so stay close to your TV here.

But, coming up, what does the best political team have for us in store for tonight? Coming up next, a behind-the-scenes look at election central. What do they have? What are they up to up there? Their state-of-the-art graphics and the latest voter tracking technology, we're giving you a backstage pass. That is coming up.

And, meantime, we have been talking a whole lot about jobs, jobs, jobs with regard to this election. And voters have said economy issue number one. So, looking at the Dow, it is down just a tad, 64 points at 11188, as we close out the day here on Election Day 2010.

Back in two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We're in the final stretch, final hours of an election that could very much so impact the balance of power in Congress. And tonight you will see it all unfold live on CNN's election night in America.

And here's the question for you. How do you become like Tom Foreman, one of -- a member of the best political team on television? The answer is practice, practice, practice. That was Tom from earlier today. That's him just walking through and getting ready for tonight's coverage.

Got to have all the numbers, the colors, the states right. Jeter apparently not the only one who practices in New York. Foreman has got it as well.

And Tom there joining me now with this exclusive look behind the scenes of the big day, CNN's election night coverage.

And, Tom, I was there two years ago. It's almost like controlled chaos.

(CROSSTALK)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know what? This isn't -- because it's not a presidential election, it's not quite the Super Bowl, but this is like a conference championship.

BALDWIN: Conference champion -- yes, yes.

(CROSSTALK)

FOREMAN: -- political folks here.

Yes. And I will tell you something. The other way you get good at this, you're part of this team, you rely on the real team behind the scenes here. This is where all of the crunching of all that information and all those numbers is going to happen tonight.

People like Alex Wellen here, he's going to be watching.

Alex, what are you going to be looking at tonight, like the Twitter feed and what people are saying about this online?

ALEX WELLEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNET PRODUCER & CYBER CRIME ANALYST: I'm looking at all the different social media conversations around midterms right now and trying to get a sense of analyzing what is being said and how we visualize it on TV and on the Web.

FOREMAN: So, Alex is going to be doing that in this area tonight.

I'm going to move over this way. The camera is going to go this way. Steve over here is going to be watching overall what's happening. Paul, you have seen all day, Amanda. All of these folks are going to be gathering all day keeping track of the different things that are going on, the big picture of these political races across the country.

John Helton over here will be flowing information to CNN.com. While you watch, you will want to have that on because you will be able to follow all sorts of details that we may or may or not be able to do on the air, but you can watch them together and learn a lot.

Mark Preston here knows so much about politics, and he lost his voice.

BALDWIN: Oh, no.

FOREMAN: So, he will be communicating -- yes, he will be communicating entirely with hand signals all night. He's going to be like a third base coach.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: Hi, Mark. Feel better.

FOREMAN: Mark, how are you feeling about the results tonight? Yes, see, that's good.

It's complete torture for him on the day that he lives for all year. He can't speak. But, oddly, it's a blessing to us.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: You're awful.

FOREMAN: This area over here, you will notice a few empty desks. That's where some of the suits sit. They don't actually do that much, but they show up late and say they do.

BALDWIN: Ah.

FOREMAN: The people who are here are real workers. You get down into this area, right here is where we have a lot of people who will be studying all these final numbers and figuring out projections.

This is where they actually make the call when they look and they say, OK, we're ready to project, based on all the numbers and everything we know, what's going to happen in that race. We will keep moving down this way. In the back over here, lots of people who will reaching out with phones all night getting people all over the country to talk to us on camera when we need them to talk to us so we can get reaction to what is going on.

I'm moving over into this area here. I'm actually very fortunate. He has no idea I'm here.

(CROSSTALK)

FOREMAN: Sam, step over this way on camera for a minute.

BALDWIN: Surprise.

FOREMAN: Sam Feist, who knows everything about our politics here.

I was saying earlier this isn't -- it's not a presidential election, so it's not like the Super Bowl, but boy is this like a conference championship.

SAM FEIST, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: This is the best midterm election in our lifetime. It's a great election. It's full of great storylines, terrific characters. We could see one or both houses of Congress change. It's going to be a fascinating night. It's going to be really interesting.

FOREMAN: Yes. This is the kind of thing you live for, isn't it?

FEIST: Yes, kind of. Midterm elections for political junkies are actually more interesting than presidential elections, I think.

(LAUGHTER)

FEIST: It's true.

FOREMAN: There's a lot more to talk about.

(CROSSTALK)

FEIST: Right.

(CROSSTALK)

FEIST: Instead of looking at one presidential race, 50 states and one presidential race, you're looking at, well, in this case, 37 Senate races, 37 governor's races, and at least 100 House races that we really care about.

(CROSSTALK)

FOREMAN: Like baseball fans, they know all the little details.

So, Sam Feist, we will be going to him all evening.

You saw the crowd over here. I will keep drifting over this way and show you a couple of other really important things you want to pay attention to tonight.

Over here, these people -- you may notice it's a little bit dim over there. That's because they're practicing the dark art of exit polling.

BALDWIN: Ooh, Scary.

(CROSSTALK)

FOREMAN: Yes, Brooke.

BALDWIN: That's the studio where we saw all you guys sitting with your laptops, prognosticating.

(CROSSTALK)

FOREMAN: Yes. They're all sitting over there. They will let all those numbers sort of flow, Rebecca Allen, the whole crew over there, let it all flow in. And they will be keeping track of what really was behind those raw numbers, why people were behaving the way they were behaving.

And then you mentioned earlier all the technology. All that's through sort of the portal there into our election center. That's where all of our people are. You see that big crowd in there?

BALDWIN: Yes.

FOREMAN: That's just a tiny fraction of all of the people who are involved tonight in making this happen and making all those magical effects happen.

BALDWIN: The crew.

FOREMAN: They really are doing stupendous work. And they have been working many of them absolutely around the clock. I'm telling you, Brooke, some of these guys have had zero sleep for several days right now and they're not going to get any, any time soon.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: -- tonight. But, Tom, you've got to answer this one question, didn't hit on this. What kind of -- are you getting like five-star free dinner? Because you guys are going to be up all night, like dinner/breakfast. FOREMAN: It sort of -- you know, it used to be, Brooke, that election coverage was sort of -- came on for like 12 hours in the evening. Now it comes on and it just goes on and on and on and we have all these moving parts. So really it is around the clock.

But it's like Sam said there earlier, this really is a historic moment in our coverage. This is the kind of midterm that you don't get many of.

Now, maybe it's a cycle of having a lot of them come along in the years to come, but most of us here who have been covering this for a long time, and I've been in news now for 34 years, something like that, I've never seen one quite like this. This is really an unusual time. That's what has everybody so excited about it. So as I said, this is a conference championship.

BALDWIN: Conference championship, not quite the Super Bowl. We'll all be watching. I'm just saying I hope they feed you guys very well all night long. Tom, good to see you.

FOREMAN: We're going to have little chairs over here with the medics who will treat us when we get headaches, put us back in the game.

BALDWIN: Oh, gosh. Yes, give you some quick Red Bull in the veins.

FOREMAN: Everybody, this is the place to be tonight.

BALDWIN: We'll see you tonight, Tom, thank you.

Write-in votes will an crucial factor in Alaska's Senate race and it has the potential here to be the source of a whole heck of a lot of voter complaints. We're monitoring election hot spots, we'll drill down on that race when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: If there is one single race, you know, if you have to pick one, we're all watching this one. Take a look, this is Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid teetering on the edge of political extinction. Tea Party Republican Sharron Angle has battled Reid neck and neck, he has not been able to shake her.

Here is Harry Reid campaigning within just about the past hour or so out in Las Vegas. He stopped and he spoke with one of our CNN cameras.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: Well, I'm waiting to see what happens. I'm not much of predicting things. So I'm going to just wait and see what happens.

We feel comfortable where we are and we have a good Get Out the Vote operation. We'll just have to wait and see. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Keep in mind, Democrats might retain control of the Senate even if Reid fails at reelection and then what would happen is they will have to elect a new majority leader, that would certainly give us something to cover here on out.

Now as for the battle of the balance of power in the Senate, the race in Alaska very much so stands out. So it is there that you have the write-in candidate, Lisa Murkowski, she's in a statistical dead heat here with Republican candidate Joe Miller. You see 37 and 37.

And while Murkowski is a conservative, she hints that she may be using her newfound independent status as this write-in candidate here as sort of a free agent vote.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: So if you do go back --

SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (I), WRITE-IN ALASKA SENATE CANDIDATE: When I do go back --

QUESTION: When you go back, if you do go back, do your fellow Senate Republicans have to earn you back to them?

MURKOWSKI: Well, that's an odd way to put it.

Let's just say I know, I know very well who will have returned me to Washington, D.C., to the United States Senate, and it will be these people in this state and nobody else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So clearly Murkowski knows who her supporters are. But remember, she is a write-in candidate and if her name is too terribly misspelled, the vote may not even count at all.

Now, once again this election cycle, Josh Levs is at his post. We're calling this the Voter Irregularity Desk and I can't think of a better moment to talk about voter irregularities, potential irregularities, right, than Alaska here.

We may not know the final result of this thing for weeks, dare I say a month?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's a lot of ways that this could drag on for a long time. In fact, let me tell you something, Brooke, the Pew Center on this day (ph), this is the way they're putting it, "The signs are pointing to Alaska as this year's epicenter of possible elections trouble."

And the reason is that there's just so much room for subjectivity in the way this thing shakes out. If it's really close, if Lisa Murkowski is really close, then how do you decide about each one of all the write-in candidates. Take a look here -- write-in ballots. They're saying right now, they're not going to require that her name be spelled perfectly. They're going to be going by what's called voter intent, but that isn't always so clear. What if someone writes in "Lisa"? What if they write in "Lisa M"? What if they write in something that maybe counts, maybe doesn't, maybe one of the other opponents could come along and say you can't count that one, that could go into the court system, it could end up being a serious question for a long time.

I'll tell you one other thing, we took a look in our polls and you can ignore this part up here, but basically we asked the people in Alaska who might be voting for her, who support her, whether they feel confident that they understand what they need to do in order to cast that vote. Most of them are saying they do, 82 percent are very confident that they know what to do, they know how to handle that write-in situation. But I'll tell you, that still leaves another 18 percent that are not necessarily very confident, and what it means is that there could be a handful of votes.

And what if this is the balance of power in the Senate, right? I mean, what if it's that seat that makes the decision and what if we really don't know for weeks what happens with that seat? We could be talking about this race in Alaska, weeks, months to come. I could end up in the court system. Obviously, we can't know until the results come in tonight, but, Brooke, that's where that is right now.

BALDWIN: So that's a tad frightening, A; B, this is another part of this race that I find fascinating that the people who are counting these votes won't actually count the write-in votes until they see the stack of McAdams' papers, the stack of Miller's papers, until they see the need to start counting those write-in Murkowski votes. Is that right?

LEVS: I mean, look, it's totally that tonight we at CNN will be able to tell who you won this race, you know, straight up. It's absolutely possible that we will know based on, you know, you got to look at how of those ballots there are and how big the victory is in other ways. So we might have an answer tonight.

But it is also quite possible, given what you just mentioned how close this race has been so far, it is possible that they might actually need to take the time to go through and figure out what each of those write-in ballots says and whether it's going to count.

And it is possible that, based on what some people write in there, that some of the challengers will be able to come along and say, this one shouldn't count, this one shouldn't count, here's what you need to look for. Then suddenly we'll need to learn what counts and what doesn't count.

No one wants a hanging chad situation, but the fact is there's subjectivity in this system when you're talking about voter intent. So what will it be, what will it not be, that's what we'll wait and see.

BALDWIN: Josh Levs, no offense to you, but I hope not to see a lot of you tomorrow because that's a bad sign.

LEVS: I hear you. I'll be on something else.

BALDWIN: Josh, Josh Levs, thank you.

LEVS: You got it.

BALDWIN: What stories are developing right now that could affect the outcomes tonight? We'll check the Political Ticker once again. Stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We're in the final hours of an election that could change the balance of power in Congress and CNN has all your latest political news with "The Best Political Team on Television", "CNN Equals Politics."

And Candy Crowley, busy, busy woman, brilliant woman. She is in New York, she's part of our best team. And, Candy, I hear you have our latest Poll of Polls, so the floor is yours.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, likely voters, that is those who fit a certain criteria that makes pollsters believe they actually will show up at the polls, we average out the major polls here and here's what you see. Likely voter choice, 42 to 52. Now, that's a pretty darn big gap that you're looking at. It does not bode well for Democrats.

Not much has boded well for Democrats. There is another measurement I wanted to share with you, take this for what it's worth. That when you look at Facebook fans, Facebook fans of Republican candidates outnumber Facebook fans of Democratic candidates two to one.

I talked to our Twitter person who knows all these things and knows about Facebook and he told me that, in fact, during the primary, more times than not, the person with the most Facebook fans won the primary. However, I did ask if you necessarily had to be a fan to be on Facebook and, of course, you don't. So use the it term fan loosely.

And finally, a couple of high-level Democratic sources talking to CNN, it's all on our page now. And what you will see is one Democrat telling CNN most people that is, Democrats, have made peace with this election. That despite the happy talk we heard over the weekend, that many senior Democratic leaders believe they are, after four years, about to turn the House back over to Republicans. It's -- what's that Latin phrase -- sic transit gloria, you know. And never so much true as in politics.

BALDWIN: Speaking of the House, I just want to pose this question to you, as well. So with what you just said, is John Boehner pulling out the measuring tape and measuring curtains right now?

CROWLEY: He won't tell you that. (LAUGHTER)

CROWLEY: Listen, I will tell you this, that this looks very much like the Republicans will take over and we will see it no matter how many seats House Republicans gain. If they do not gain the magic 39 and take control of the House, it will look kind of like a defeat even if they win more seats than the Democrats.

Having said that, the Republicans are looking at a night that should be pretty good for them and we'll see how it all pans out. Because Democrats keep saying, I've talked to them all day long, saying you're not counting our Get Out the Vote effort. So perhaps that, you know, obviously makes a huge difference, I mean, two, three points difference if you have a really good Get Out the Vote machine.

But the Republicans are very aware and have put out the word for weeks now, this is not going to be some big old giant celebration tonight if we take control of the House. This will be a very measured, thank you, we understand this responsibility. They don't think it's a time for them to be bringing down the balloons and the confetti and they just want to take sort of a serious approach to it.

So are they planning on it? Yes. Will they tell you they're measuring the curtains, no, because they want to take a more sort of sober approach to it should they win majority.

BALDWIN: Candy Crowley, we'll be watching right along with you all night long. Good to see you, Candy, thank you.

CROWLEY: Thanks, Brooke. BALDWIN: By the way, you can get the latest political new, hop online, CNNPolitics.com, or they're on Twitter @PoliticalTicker.

Switching gears a tad here, talking terrorism. Did terrorists in Yemen who sent out package bombs actually do a dry run weeks prior to Friday? And did the U.S. actually know about that? We're going to get to some of those answers also next as we await the first election results.

Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Want to bring you up to speed on the story at the Athens airport. (INAUDIBLE) airport. We had reported that there were these suspicious packages that they had found in this airport, and so the update is that they have been detonated and they have been destroyed. That's according to sources here.

Police were trying to figure out what in the world was inside, but all we know at this point is that they have been destroyed, and I'm told airport traffic was not too affected by this. Certainly frightening for people at the airport. Certainly.

Final note, just want to connect some dots here. We had reported also that there had been a suspicious package sent to German chancellor's Angela Merkel's office. It did originate in Athens, and it was actually an explosive device.

So, that said, let's talk terror and al Qaeda and Yemen. And the question really today - one of the question is, was there a dry run for that al Qaeda attack targeting the U.S., the one from Friday? That is just one of the things investigators trying to find it out as they drill down on that airline bomb plot tied to militants in Yemen. And I have a lot of question about this whole issue.

I want to bring back our terrorism analyst, Paul Cruickshank. Excellent yesterday. Brought you back for today. And if could I just I could just follow up with a dry run, what kind of information could a terrorist glean from a test run?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, Brooke, it appears back in mid-September, an al Qaeda Yemen operative tried to send a package, indeed did send a package from Yemen to Chicago. That package contained innocuous items like books and things like that. But from looking at the tracking information online like you can in these cases, the supposition is that these terrorists were able to get information about when this package would likely be approaching Chicago the second time around. So, from that information, they could know when to trigger the device.

Now, the supposition right now is this may have been some sort of alarm clock function on the modified cell phone components that they would have set it for a certain time to explode when the plane was approaching Chicago, Brooke.

BALDWIN: So, that further would confirm that that would be the motive, would be the intent, not to send the package all the way to one of the synagogues as on the address label, but to have it maximize casualties over Chicago potentially.

I want to also, though, Paul, ask you about the U.P.S. mail cargo flight. There was a crash over Dubai, it was in September. And now we're hearing from some of these counterterrorism officials from the state saying they're going look back at that and reexamine that, if it that at all might be connected. What's your take on that particular crash?

CRUICKSHANK: Well, it was taking off from Dubai on September 3. there was big fireball, it then crashed. It was a similar sort of itinerary on the way to Germany, and it was a U.P.S. flight, as well. So will is now being looked at again.

However, American aviation officials believe this could have been a case of lithium batteries igniting and causing that explosion on that plane. It's known that that airport was carrying a large consignment of lithium batteries, so there may not be a connection between the two. But it is being reexamined at this point, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Worth looking at that, of course, as well. And also we're learning more details, Paul, with regard to that package, the two packages addressed to synagogues in Chicago. And according to some of these American officials, they are saying on the address labels they were sent to some of these outdated address synagogue, but also sent to some historical figures from the crusades and Spanish Inquisition. Why might that be - and might that also be further proof that these were sent not to detonate as a synagogue, per se, but in midair?

CRUICKSHANK: That's absolutely right. This may be messaging going on. They're saying the target is the Jewish Crusader Alliance that Bin Laden goes on about all the time. They believe that the Jewish Crusader Alliance is sort of pressing Muslims around the world. They believe that Israel, United States, and other Western powers are doing that, and they want to fight back.

So, this might be some messaging going on, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Paul Cruickshank. As more details come out on this, we want to bring you back. Appreciate it. Paul, thank you.

Back to politics. The House and Senate races will be getting a lot of attention today, but the results of the gubernatorial races will no doubt also play a huge role in 2012. So, which states are most in play here? We'll have the governor of Delaware joining me live coming up next. There he is. Good to see you, Sir. We're going to get his take, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: That's a whole lot more at stake than simply control of Congress. Voters will be deciding 37 different governor's races, and their choices today will reach all the way to national elections in 2010. So, governors have the power to reshape the political landscape. They have a say on redistricting - that's redrawing all those boundaries of congressional districts based upon population shifts in this year's census. Happens every ten years. So, redistricting is also controversial, often ugly. It's a process marked by bickering and allegations of partisan favoritism.

Delaware governor Jack Markell chairs the Democratic Governors Association and he is not - important to point out -- no on the ballot this year. Doesn't have to deal with that this year, but you can bet he's keeping a very close eye on those 37 gubernatorial races.

So, Governor, thanks for coming on. First and foremost, if I can get your prediction for the midterm elections. How is it going down?

GOV. JACK MARKELL (D), DELAWARE: Well, I'm not in the business of making predictions, but we have some really important races across the country. Places like California, where Jerry Brown is running. And we feel good about that race. Places like Florida. We've got a tremendous candidate in Alex Sink. She's in a very tight race, but she's running strong. Ohio, Ted Strickland, the incumbent governor who's been a great governor in a really difficult time, we feel good about that. Colorado, the mayor of Denver. Strong, great candidate there.

So, it's a tough cycle. Typically in the midterm election, the president's party loses six governor seats. This is not even a typical election, it's a tough cycle. But that being said, we think we've got some great pickup opportunities across the country.

BALDWIN: So let me just press you, if I may, Governor. I know you say you're not in the game of predictions, but how are you feeling about your party tonight? Feeling pretty positive?

MARKELL: You know, I feel good. I do. I feel good. We have some tremendous candidates across the country. The closer we get to the election, more and more voters realize this is not a referendum on the president or on a party. It's really a choice between two candidates in their states.

For example, in Florida --

BALDWIN: Actually, if I may, Governor - if I may, because I think we're going to -- let me -- we'll go to the Florida race. I want for take a closer look at that in just a second, but I want to make sure we get on Haley Barbour, because he's your counterpart here with the Republican Governors' Association.

Mississippi governor, as you know, says he'll be surprised if it there are not 30 Republican governors after this election. And he also says the big gains Republicans expect across the board in this election do not equal a lovefest for the GOP. He spoke with our own John King last night. Let's take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. HALEY BARBOUR (R), MISSISSIPPI: This will more than any midterm election in my career, which has been pretty long, this is a referendum on President Obama's policies. And if we have the kind of Republican victory some people are predicting, it will be a repudiation of Obama's policies. Excessive spend, skyrocketing deficits, huge debt piled up on our children and grandchildren, a giant tax increase around the corner in January.

But Republicans have to understand, it's in the saying the public loves us, it's saying Republicans, the public is going to give you a chance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, Governor, and I apologize for running out of time, but he's basically saying that it will be a repudiation of Obama's policies. Do you agree with him? Do you think the voters instead are not just voting for Republicans. They're just not voting for Obama's party?

MARKELL: Right, and I heard Governor Barbour interviewed this morning. I have great respect for him. But when he was pressed on that, you know, the fact is the Republicans took on huge debt, huge deficits over the last eight years. So, they can try to spin it that way all they want, but the fact is they really created much of the problem.

Typically, the party of the president loses six seats. We currently control 26 seats across the country. So maybe he'll make his 30. In fact, they've said before that they'll end up with more than 30. We'll just have to see.

But what I do know is that in some of these key swing states like Colorado, California, Florida, Ohio, I like our chances. We've got some tremendous candidates in those states.

BALDWIN: Let me ask you, sir, about the issue of drawing of the districts, the congressional districts. And I know at least in Florida on the ballot, there are these two amendments to try to prohibit what we know as gerrymandering. And also in California, maybe voting to give the power to an independent commission. How do you feel about, taking redistricting out of the hands of politicians?

MARKELL: I actually think it could probably make a lot of sense. I don't know that it's going to happen in too many places, but I think you raise a really important point. The Republicans have said that they expect that they can pick up 30 seats on the basis of redistricting alone. Thirty congressional seats. That's why these elections where so important, because governors do play an important role in many of these states, and redistricting is a critical part of it this year.

BALDWIN: They do, and I think it's just a point we all need to underscore. So, even if you're voting for your governor in one state, all states all make a difference come 2012.

Governor Markell, good to see you. Thanks for coming on.

BALDWIN: There is yet another word leader, the possible target of a mail bomb. We've brought you bits and pieces of this story. I'll tell you about the package that was found at German chancellor Angela Merkel's office and why it may have something to do with the bombs found in Greece. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I'm checking the clock here. About an hour 15 from the first poll closings. We're of course not going too far from politics, but I want to bring you up to speed on some of the other stories unfolding right now.

First up, the feds are investigating another shooting at a military facility near Washington, D.C. This one at a Coast Guard recruiting station in northern Virginia. Employees reported bullet marks on the window early this morning. Police say it's very similar to the overnight shootings at the Pentagon, the Marine Corps Museum, and the Marine recruiting station over the past couple of weeks.

Of course, updates as soon as we get those.

Next, German chancellor Angela Merkel, the possible target of a mail bomb. A package containing explosives found in her Berlin office during a routine inspection of the mailroom.

No one was injured, but here's what we know. It was mailed from Greece. That, by the way, is where several mail bombs were found just yesterday, including one intended for the president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy.

Several embassies also apparent targets in this, as well. No word yet as to whether the package in Germany came from the same group.

Next, bid farewell to the Space Shuttle Discovery. It is scheduled for one final launch into space tomorrow, but engineers are having a little bit of difficulty here. They are studying an apparent engine controller glitch that may delay that launch.

NASA tells us the Discovery crew will bring spare parts to the International Space Station. The 11-day trip will mark Discovery's 39th and final mission. It and the rest of the shuttle fleet are to be retired next year.

Next, how about this one? Just three weeks after crews pulled him from the ground, one of the Chilean miners will be running the New York City Marathon this weekend.

Edison Pena spent more than two months trapped underground with 32 of now his closest friends here. And they in fact nicknamed him "The Runner" because he ran, like, six miles a day into the mine's tunnels.

Pena says he listened to Elvis on his iPod while trying to keep in shape. After hearing his story, marathon organizers up in New York say they invited him to attend. He insists on running. So, heads up. Look for miner number 12 to run 26.2.

Coming up next, Wolf Blitzer with a look at what's ahead in "THE SITUATION ROOM." And Election Day in America," that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Here we go. Countdown is on. We're in the final hours of an election that could change the balance of power in Congress, and tonight you will see it all unfold live on CNN's "Election Night in America."

Right now you're watching CNN's -- there he is -- Tom Foreman from earlier today, getting all the numbers and the colors and the states right and ready for his coverage. He's of course a member of "The Best Political Team on Television."

And, you know, I'm showing you Tom there because my spies couldn't get any behind the scenes of Wolf Blitzer. I tried and I tried. Apparently, I don't quite have the pull that he has. Wolf Blitzer, though, is in so early in the morning, practicing, going through all of this.

The camera crews not even in the building yet this morning to grab you, Wolf Blitzer. Let's talk elections, though, in all seriousness. I know you're watching a lot.

What do you expect to see this evening? WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Well, this is an exciting moment, 37 Senate seats, 37 governors' races, 435 races in the House of Representatives, of which at least 100 are seen as competitive. About 91 of those 100 competitive races in the House the Democrats currently control. This is one of those historic nights that will unfold hour by hour, sometimes by half hour.

Some of the states close at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, all the polling. Some close at 7:30, some at 8:00, some at 8:30. So it's going to be one after another.

What we're going to do is bring you the results as they come in, all of the results. We're also going to have the exit polls starting, by the way, at the top of the next hour, 5:00 p.m. Eastern, in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

We're going to start sharing some of those exit poll numbers with our viewers to give you a sense of the trend, what we're seeing in some of the East Coast states. And as it gets later in the Midwest and in the West, we'll share some of the exit poll numbers from there, as well.

But the exit polls, regular polls, are all important, but what's really important, as you know, Brooke, is the actual vote tallies. And as soon as they start coming in, we'll share those with our viewers, as well.

It's going to be a big night. It's going to be an exciting night. And for all of us political news junkies out there, it's going to be a great night to watch politics unfold.

BALDWIN: I know Tom Foreman said it's like a conference championship, and I'm thinking this is still like the Super Bowl.

And Wolf, before I let you go, I want to talk quickly about Prop 19, out on the ballot, of course, for people in California, essentially legalizing an ounce of marijuana for recreational use. And you had comedian Zach Galifianakis. He lit up on this joint on TV, brining attention to this whole measure, this issue on the ballot.

And here he was. This was from Friday night with Bill Maher, on his show, pulling out the joint, lighting up. And you and I were having this conversation yesterday, and Bill Maher was a guest with you in "THE SITUATION ROOM." So you asked Maher about that moment.

What did he tell you? Was the joint real?

BLITZER: He says it was not real. He says if it would have been real, he would have started smoking it.

He said it was not real, it was just some cloves. He said Zach may be crazy, but not that crazy, to bring in real marijuana, while it would have been illegal to start smoking that on the set of "Real Time With Bill Maher."

BALDWIN: Yes. BLITZER: One of the things that we should note, a very serious note, that a lot of young people will probably be motivated to vote because of that Proposition 19 in California. And if the Democratic candidates, Jerry Brown for governor, Barbara Boxer for Senate, if they win, the thinking is that all of those young people coming out, many of them will vote Democratic. And it will probably help them when all the votes are cast.

BALDWIN: Boy, oh boy. That will be an interesting one to watch.

Cloves. We were all wondering.

Wolf Blitzer, you've got a huge night ahead of you. Can't wait to watch you. Thank you, Wolf. We'll let you go.

Also, a big day potentially, or days to come weather-wise. A deadly tropical storm moving through the Caribbean. So, coming up next, we're going to talk about some urgent warnings about Tomas and the new threats with an eye on Haiti.

Stay there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

BALDWIN: And with that, let's toss it to Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM" in New York. Big night.

Wolf, take it.