Transcripts For MSNBC Andrea Mitchell Reports 20131105

People still show up undecided. As long as they show up, were happy to talk to him. Who knows . Polls are open, people are voting. Anything can happen. On Andrea Mitchell reports, super tuesday. Voters heading to the polls on this important decision day across the country. In virginia the race for governor has been crowded with highprofile surrogates stumping for Terry Mcauliffe and Ken Cuccinelli. Today its all about who supporters turn out to vote. In the garden state governor Chris Christie is aiming to run up the score in his reelection bid and there are 312 races for mayor today including the election to replace new york city mayor Michael Bloomberg after two years in office. Every race covered including what tonights winners and losers could forecast for each partys future. You watch whats going to happen tomorrow. I absolutely believe what youre going to see tomorrow is something that hasnt happened in this state in a generation. I had all kinds of folks whispering in my ear today. Im a democrat. Dont tell anybody, im voting for you. Well dig deeper into that. Also president obama will never be on another ticket but he says hes not done stumping yet. I have run my last political campaign. But ill tell you what, ive got one morecambe pain in me. The campaign to make sure this law works for every Single Person in america. After a month of stumbles, president obama is trying a new tack to turn around Public Opinion of the glitchfilled healthcare. Gov website. Marilyn tavenner who managed the rollout said fixes on track to have the site running smoothly by the end of the month deadline. Will it be enough to convince users to log on again . I think its very confusing. I know my time is up. I think its very confusing about where you go. We hear about navigators. I can tell you people really dont know. A very happy election day to you. Im Kristen Welker in for Andrea Mitchell. Were watching two big races on election day that could provide a blueprint for what to do and what not to do in Major Political contests to come. Joining me for our daily fix Chris Cillizza, host of in play. Tim russert and editor mark murray. Thanks for being here this afternoon. Luke, i want to start with you in virginia. Polls showing a close race. Mcauliffe has a little bit of a lead there. It all depends on turnout. What are you seeing so far . Indeed, kristen, turnout is the name of the game in the commonwealth of virginia. So far in the precinct in mclane virginia, quite a wealthy enclave, which has definitely leaned democratic in the last few years, turnout is about normal, 20 to 20 race. Pretty much on path to what you see in a governors race. Various reports around the area, some in Arlington County show a more robust turnout. Hearing about that, cuccinelli strongholds on the southwest part of the state. From various operatives in both camps trig to work the reps a little bit, better than we expected. We wont know until the polls closed. From where i am specific i can tell you its average. Why is turnout so important . Terry mcauliffe wants to win the governors race in off year election needs to turn out highdensity urban areas Like Northern virginia, like richmond k like the areas around norfolk. Thats where hes really trying to. Cuccinelli wants shenandoah, roanoke, conservative red areas. This will come down to the swing counties weve always said, prince william, wood ridge. Get out the vote effort comes anywhere close to what president obama was able to achieve in 2012, democrats should be all right. As of right now from where we see, its slow but steady. From where i am, nothing extraordinary nonetheless, kristen. Chris, i want to turn to you. Luke says turnout so but steady. As you know, the Virginia Governor race has gotten negative. Mcauliffe far outspent cuccinelli. This race that big national implications, doesnt it . Yes, because its virginia. This has been one of the emergent swing states over the last eight years of president ial elections. Barack obama when he won virginia in 2008 was the first democrat to win virginia at the president ial level since lyndon johnson. That tells you where virginia was for those decades. He won in 2008 with 53, 2012 with 51. Both state senators are now democrats. If Terry Mcauliffe wins today, polls suggest he will as you say, hell be the third out of the last four governor of the state. Its a very interesting changing state. A lot of population growth. Luke mentioned prince william, loudoun, Fairfax County these used to be exurban. Growth has been huge there, largely in democrats favor. Its why youve seen virginia become more and more important in national elections. Every republican with an eye on 2016 and every democrat will be watching closely county by county returns tonight. Mark, we are also watching new jersey very closely as well. Governor Chris Christie has a electronic lead there. He wants to run up those numbers, though. Can he do it, get the above 50 hes looking for . Talk about what his message has been over the last several weeks and what that means. All the polls show Chris Christie is going to have a good night, well in excess of 50 . What hes trying to do is replicate what george w. Bush did when he was running for reelection in 1998. When you run up a big margin and do well in the exit polls with i understand, opposition party, minority voters, later on the campaign trail Chris Christie decides to do so and says, look, i did well in a blue state like new jersey with africanamericans, latinos, independents, all with an electability card he might be able to play in a run for presidency. His message, i want to run up the score. Democrats, please vote for me. Im doing this in new jersey. Hes not really running as a republican, christie. Hes not saying please lebt all these republican state legislators along with me, not only the campaign trail making this about obama care. Hes about trying to make this the biggest spread he can get, the most inclusive victory with an eye on 2016. Mark, i want to turn to health care. President obama was out talking about it. We know mrs. Tavenner is on the hill today testifying. She says they will have results by next week. But president obama last night came out and he really broke with this if you like your plan you can keep it. A little bit different last night. Listen to what he had to say. Now, if you have or had one of these plans before the Affordable Care act came into law and you really liked that plan, what we said was you could keep it if it hasnt changed since the law has passed. Mark, thats not exactly what he said. Is this a messaging problem for the white house . They got busted, i think deservedly so for leaving out that qualifier. It is important to it a step back. President obama said if you like your insurance you can coop it. That does apply to the majority of the people with Health Insurance, whether from your employer or people who dont have Health Insurance at all. Where he was wrong and the qualification he left out was regarding that 5 to 6 in the private Health Insurance market. A lot of the good reporting pointed out, some people worse off, some better off. President obama has really tried to go back at that qualification issue. Its really dogged him. Im not sure this goes up to the level of president clinton, i did not have sex with that women or bushs weapons of mass destruction in iraq. They have to get to the bottom of it and fix it fast. They dont have just the website to fix but the messaging problem as well. Mark, chris, luke, thank you so much for being here this afternoon. Appreciate it. Virginia senator mark werner served as the states governor. He joins us now as his constituents head to the polls. Thanks for joining me. We appreciate it. Thanks for having me, kristen. Senator, when you were governor of your state, george w. Bush won it handily. Now after two wins for president obama and an expected victory by Terry Mcauliffe, is there a permanent shift going on in what was a swing state . Is it turning more blue. I think virginia is a tossup state, fiscally conservative and socially moderate. I think the contrast in this race was virginians seeing the kind of obstruction that took place in washington. Were saying lets stay with the mainstream candidate, Terry Mcauliffe. The republican ticket i think candidly reflects republicans i work with as governor. Way outside. Tea party before tea party was cool. I think virginians are saying we dont want that kind of extremism whether its in washington or richmond. To that point, senator, you bring up the point of extremism. Two years ago Terry Mcauliffe couldnt get 30 in a democratic gub torp primary. Why is he the right choice . Is this more about rejecting the tea party and Ken Cuccinelli . I think terry spent the last four years traveling around virginia learning more about the commonwealth. I think hes ready to govern. I think one of the interesting criticisms made of terry was that he was a business guy and knew how to get a deal done. Candidly where i work having a few more works who could get a deal done, having more people to read a Balance Sheet i think is a good thing. I think folks across virginia recognize that. How has turnout been so far . What are you hearing . I heard early reports. I can tell you where i voted in alexandria, turnout heavier than normal. The commentators earlier said, its a little bit episodic. I think well do as well if not slightly better than we did four years ago for turnout. With that i think it will be a good night for terry and the ticket. I want to switch to the president S Health Care website, healthcare. Gov. A as lawmaker with a business background, how surprised are you by these failures of the website . Youve heard the administration say they are going to get it fixed by the end of the month. Do you anticipate they will be able to do that . I was disappointed. The fact you had all these different vendors, cms, medicaid, medicare trying to be my background telecom. Somebody should have said timeout earlier. They brought in jeff zients, earlier omb, great business background. Im going to give him the benefit of the doubt to get it fixed by the end of november. Candidly its a black eye. If it gets fixed and becomes more user friendly, i think it will fade. End of the day its going to provide Better Health care for more americans. I can tell you in virginia weve got about 400,000 people eligible for medicaid, 50000,000 that would be eligible for health care subsidies. I think getting more people bought system should actually in the long run actually lower costs. Otherwise folks are accessing health care through the emergency room, which i can tell you as somebody who started the Virginia Health Care Foundation is the most expensive and inefficient way to access the health care system. Senator, as you know, this has turned into much more than a problem with just the website. This is also a political problem for this administration. How much concern is there, how much concern are you hearing about from your caucus numbers about those tough races some of them are facing in 2014 . I think folks are concerned. I think weve got to see the website has got to get fixed. Weve got to see how this rollout goes. I think people if they tart to get health care at an affordable price and the system starts to click in come the middle of next year i think this will be in the rearview mirror. If the problems continue it will be an issue relitigated. I can tell you there are parts of the Health Care Law that need to be fixed, 30 hours a week, whether youre a fulltime employeee oar not, something ive pointed out for some time. Youve got to have other folks who want to try to fix and improve it rather than relitigate the whole issue. Senator as you know, some of your colleagues are calling for the enrollment deadline to be extended. Do you agree with that . Should that deadline be extended given these glitches in the the challenge with that, if you roll back this process, you really run into problems about if it does fit together, run into problems of real implementation this year. Ive not signed onto efforts. I want to see over the next couple of weeks can we get this website relaunched, see the take up rate go up dramatically. If we hit the numbers well be fine. If we dont longterm success of the program is important to me and not setting up a system thats not going to be able to kind of numerically work would be a problem. Senator mark werner, i know its going to be a busy day for you. Thanks for taking time to join us. Thank you, kristen. As voters head to the polls on super tuesday, well have much more special election day coverage coming up. Joining me next new jersey senator bob menendez. I started parttime, now im a manager. N. My employer matches my charitable giving. Really. I get bonuses even working parttime. Where i work, over 400 people are promoted every day. Healthcare starting under 40 a month. I got education benefits. I work at walmart. Im a pharmacist. Sales associate. I manage produce. I work in logistics. Theres more to walmart than you think. Vo opportunity. Thats the real walmart. Many cereals say theyre good for your heart, but did you know theres a cereal thats recommended by doctors . Its post shredded wheat. Recommended by nine out of ten doctors to help reduce the risk of heart disease. Post shredded wheat is made with only one ingredient one hundred percent whole grain wheat, with no added sugar or salt. Try adding fruit for more Health Benefits and more taste in your bowl. Its the ideal way to start your heart healthy day. Try post shredded wheat. This has been medifacts for post shredded wheat. To prove to you that aleve is the better choice for her, shes agreed to give it up. Thats today . [ male announcer ] well be with her all day to see how it goes. [ claira ] after the deliveries, i was okay. Now the ciabatta is done and the pain is starting again. More pills . Seriously . Seriously. [ groans ] all these stops to take more pills can be a pain. Can i get my aleve back . For my pain, i want my aleve. [ male announcer ] look for the easyopen red arthritis cap. See who does good work and compare costs. It doesnt usually work that way with health care. But with unitedhealthcare, i get information on quality rated doctors, Treatment Options and estimates for how much ill pay. That helps me, and my guys, make better decisions. I dont like guesses with my business, and definitely not with our health. Innovations that work for you. Thats health in numbers. Unitedhealthcare. Its been almost a year since the senate rejected a u. N. Treaty that would adopt International Standards for people with disabilities. John kerry, then senator and chair of the Foreign Relations committee was on this show just of a the treaty was voted down and he spoke to Andrea Mitchell about his disappointment. Take a listen. We begin with fallout from senate vote that seemed to underscore everything wrong with capitol hill, Senate Rejection for treaty to guarantee equal rights for people with disables. The floor manager john kerry called it one of his saddest days in his years in the senate, which he says is broken and dysfunctional. Senate of Foreign Relations Committee John kerry joins me now. Yesterday was as i described it, just a very sad day for the senate. Fear triumphed and politics triumphed, not legitimate concerns of people with disabilities that want to travel abroad. You live to vote another day. This treaty is not dead forever, it just stopped yesterday. Were going bring this treaty back. The new chair of the senate Relations Committee will hold a treaty this afternoon hoping for ratification this time around. Another year, another outcome . Joining me is senator bob menendez. Thank you for joining me, senator. Good to be with you, kristen. Voted against by five votes. Whats the difference this time around. Have you secured the votes needed for passage . Were not there yet but a few votes away. Weve done several things. Number one, some of the objections of members was the treaty was brought up in a lameduck session. Well, were not going to do that this time. That issue is gone. I think weve broadened the universal support, Veterans Community, vfw, American Legion and other tremendous veterans Rights Groups advocating for the treaty. Weve got a series of republican colleagues, senator mccain, and others engaged to pass the treaty. My hope is the confluence of all that brings us to a successful vote when we come to the floor. Just to be clear, you say youre a few votes away. How many would you say, three . No. Probably around five to six, because some of the people obviously retired from the last vote, last session of congress. But i look at that as a very plausible goal, because when so many people said the reason they were voting against the treat y was because it was brought up in a lameduck session, that is no longer the case. Unless theres some new basis for opposition, i think we should be able to the the votes to get there. Were going to work very hard to do that were working with disability advocacy community, Veterans Community and Business Community who understands the importance as well of American Leadership in the world, creating standards in the world. We already lead, were the Gold Standard in the world. This is about being able to create a Global Leadership so an american with disabili, 58 million americans and 5. 5 million veterans can travel anywhere in the world and more likely have the same accessibility standards they enjoy in the united states. Senator, i want to get to what some of your critics are saying, what you call misconception, treaty could lead to United Nations commission which orders parents about how to care for disabled children. Others argue that adopting these International Standards could actually strain our sovereignty. So what do you say to those critics and to that criticism . I think we will at the hearing today clearly debunk those arguments. I think theres a lot of reason for politics and fundraising people have pursued within their organizations. The treaty does nothing to subvert american sovereignty. If anything were already the Gold Standard in the world, americans with disabilities act, case law and other legislation. What it gives us is the opportunity to lead the world and to have our standards be replicated throughout the world and to make our citizens with disabilities be able to access travel abroad for business, for their jobs, for recreation, for promoting advocacy for disabilities and people in the world. So it does nothing to subvert american sovereignty. It doesnt do anything to subvert the rights of a parent as it relates to their child, to home school their child, all of that is totally untouched by the treaty. Ultimately we will include in something we call reservations, understandings and declarations, which is a statement as to when we ratify a treaty, any treaty, what is our understanding as it relates to that treaty. That supersedes any of these concerns. This is not a valid concern. Senator, i know this is going to take up much of your attention today. As you know, theres also a big election in your state today. Governor Chris Christie gearing up to try to run up the percentage hes going to get. How much of a percentage do you think he could actually walk away with and what do you think the election says about christie as a potential candidate for 2016. I dont know. Well see what the turnout is. By the same token, theres a ballot question about raising the minimum wage in the state that has overwhelming support the governor opposes. Im not sure well tell by the election. What this does exhibit is the fight for the soul of Republican Party, between someone conservative with Chris Christie but not tea party oriented. Those tea party oriented will see him as not conservative enough. Thats ultimately the difference in what youll see in new jersey and virginia. All right. Senator bob menendez, thank you so much. We appreciate it. We will have much more on that election in the garden state coming up next. But first theres no question Football Players play up their tough guy personas on the field. Now one player is being accused of taking it a little too far and bullying one of his fellow teammates off the field. The dolphins suspended offensive lineman Richie Incognito for sending racially charged emails and texts to raymond martin. He left last week after a cafeteria prank. He says bullying has been going on 18 months. Now dolphins are asking the nfl to investigate. I will tell you if the review shows that this is not a safe atmosphere, i will take whatever measures are necessary to ensure that it is. I have that obligation to players i coach on a daily basis and ill do that. That from the head coach. Today the Nfl Players Association responded to the incident with a statement that reads in part, quote, we expect that the nfl and its clubs create a safe and professional workplace for all players and that owners, executives, coaches and players should set the best standards and examples. It is the duty of this union to hold the clubs and teams accountable for safety and professionalism in the workplace. Well be back after a quick break. There are cameras, police, guards. Ds us. But who looks after us online, where we spend more than 200 billion dollars a year. American express can help protect you. With intelligent security that learns your spending patterns, and can alert you instantly to an unusual charge. So you can be a member of a more secure world. This is what membership is. This is what membership does. [ camera shutter clicks ] now, thats cardworthy. [ man ] all right. Here we go. Cardworthy. [ camera shutter clicks ] cardworthy. [ beeping ] [ camera shutter clicks ] so not cardworthy. [ female announcer ] this holiday season, visit shutterfly. Com for all your cardworthy moments and save up to 40 . And save up to 40 . Nothing says, youre my 1 copilot, like a milkbone biscuit. Say it with milkbone. November weather. Good to see you. We feel good about where we are. Weve got work to do. This is our third stop of the day. Well do four more before tonight and ill work tomorrow. That was Chris Christie optimistically campaigning in new jersey yesterday and having some fun with our own chuck todd. Given the polls, it looks like christie has every right to be optimistic in this Gubernatorial Race thats been very much in the national spotlight. Joining me now is steve kornacki, host of up with steve kornacki. Thanks for being here today. Sure. Glad to be here. He has covered new jersey politics as well as Chris Christie, hes a savant in this matter. Thats why we have him here today. The the polls are giving him a clear lead. How important is it that Chris Christie win today but that he win big today . In terms of the party in new jersey, theres some question how big the win is for the Republican Party of new jersey. Theres a question of legislative coattails. The democrats control state assembly in new jersey. Could a big Chris Christie win carry in republicans, maybe give them control of one of those chambers . It seems unlikely it will happen. A lot has to do with the nature of the campaign Chris Christie has run. Christie has not taken immense population in new jersey. Not taken likelihood of a 20, 25point within and said to voters not only do you need to reelect me but a Republican Legislature. If i have a Republican Legislature ill do x, y, z for you. What hes done is run a campaign that acknowledges this is a blue state, a democratic state. Hey, i know you guys would just generally rather vote for democrats. But here is why im the one republican you can feel okay voting for. In addition to that one of the dirty secrets of Chris Christie governorship, one of the reasons hes been able to get through Democratic Legislature is hes made deals, alliances with democratic bosses. A big boss, george norcross, there are potentially vulnerable state legislative in couple bandi incumbents and Chris Christie has touched them because he doesnt want to ruin that alliance. You pointed out he has run as a moderate far ahead of the polls of his challenger. Out on the campaign trail with him, asked about his strategy. Take a listen. Governor, any concerns about Tea Party Conservatives not being supportive of you as you reach out to democrats . I think what youre going to find with tomorrow nights results you dont have to worry about that. You appeal to everybody. Well get huge republican support, 94, 95 at least. It hasnt affected us here at all and i dont think it will affect me or politics anywhere in the country because people want to get things done. Steve, i know its new jersey and its a blue state. Still, what does this say to the tea party and broader Republican Party . Im one of those i might be in the minority on this. I think the whole idea of Chris Christie this idea of Chris Christie the moderate republican who is going to be absolute nonstarter with the tea party right and Republican Party, i think that might be overstated a little bit. I think christies moderation to the extent hes seen and perceived as a moderate, a lot is stylistic. A lot has to do a lot has to do with the fact he embraced president obama at the heart of Superstorm Sandy in new jersey. I think when you get down to it and look at christies positions on the issues, think back a few years when Rudy Giuliani was running on the republican side trying to pass off with the republican base. Ruddy giuliani, prochoice, gun control, out front calling for immigration reform. If you look at those issues, hot button issues to the tea party right to the conservative movement what really stands out about Chris Christie is he checks off their boxes. This is a governor overwhelmingly reelected in a blue state who calls himself prolife. This is a governor opposed to gay marriage. A governor not out there on gun control like ruddy giuliani is. Chris christie has an opportunity to pivot to the National Stage and pickoff a lot im not going to say hes the candidate of the tea party. Hes going to have problems there. Embracing president obama is going to give you problems with the tea party. I dont think hes nearly as much of a nonstarter with them as people seem to believe. Fascinating. Thank you, steve kornacki, we appreciate it. Sure. In an absolutely stunning Statement Today tron mayor rob ford admitted to smoking crack cocaine. The mayors admission comes after months of a controversy over a video showing him smoking the drug. Ford looked forward yesterday to making mistakes. In the interview ford admitted to smoking crack but insisted he is not an addict. You smoked crack cocaine. Exactly. Yes, i have smoked crack cocaine. But no do i . Am i an addict . No. Have i tried it . Probably in one of my drunken stup stupors, probably about a year ago. At the gas station card. Its the nogames, nosigning up, everydayrewarding, kungfufighting, silverlightninginabottle, bringinghomethebacon cash back card. This is the quicksilver card from capital one. Unlimited 1. 5 cash back on every purchase, everywhere, every single day. So ask yourself, whats in your wallet . [ ding ] losing your chex mix too easily . Time to deploy the boringpopcorn decoy bucket. Then no one will want to steal the deliciousness. With a variety of tastes and textures only chex mix is a bag of interesting. Random shooting have become autumn too common especially as of late. Nevada, l. A. X. This past friday, another shooting in denver on saturday. Just last night the latest in a new jersey mall. Here is part of a report filed by nbcs ron allen. Reporter new jerseys garden state mall is a suburban shoppers paradise. More than 300 stores, household names. Last night hundreds of Police Responded to the nightmarish 911 records of a gunman stalking the mall and opening fire. Police identified the gunman as 20yearold richard shoop, unemployed, from a nearby town and said he carried a modified rifle that looked like an ak47, a legal weapon, authorities said, that shoop had stolen from his brother. Police said the gunman had the opportunity to shoot at people in the mall but didnt. He fired at least six times. Inside confusion and chaos as many fled and escaped as store managers barricaded themselves and customers inside. Police say shoops body was found in a back room area behind the part of the mall thats under construction. Ron allen joins me now from the Garden State Plaza mall in paramus, new jersey. Thanks for joining me. Two things strike me. Firstish its incredible no one was woundeded. Second, similarities to what happened in kenya overwhelming. Shoppers must have been terrified. They were, by all accounts. We spoke to people late last night. It was just a crazy scenario. Thousands of people tried to run out of the mall. Hundreds of them stayed behind. Protocol, what the Security Officers did was try to get people to shelter in place, in stores. Barricades came down. People hiding in bathrooms and locked offices for three or four hours before someone came to find them. In kenya, a much different scenario. There four gunman opened fire, killed more than 60 people. Here the gunman seemed intent on taking his own life only. He had the opportunity to fire and kill people, police said, but he never did. Most of the shots were fired into the air, fired high. So miraculous, no one else was injured except the gunman, a situation that obviously could have been so much worse. Ron, do we know anything else about the suspect . Im sure police are looking into his past and what led to this. 20 years old from a nearby town. Police said he had some kind of drug problem. Apparently had run ins with the law. His family has spoken, never saw this coming. They are devastated, cant explain what happened. There didnt seem to be a motive, at least as police could tell. He seemed intent on taking his own life, on not leaving alive, as they put it. Perhaps committing suicide, suicide by cop as its called, and he wanted to be killed. No clue what was going on in his mind. Obviously whenever Something Like this happens, it doesnt make any sense. The bottom line, here at this mall, its a huge place as you can see from the pictures earlier, the authorities are saying protocols, training worked in this case. They are saying so many people sheltered in place, s. W. A. T. Teams arrived, coordinated response that saved lives. Again, miraculous that everybody here got out safely. Indeed. Ron allen, that you so much for that report. Coming up, well have more special super tuesday election coverage. Big races for governor in new jersey and virginia are capturing a lot of attention. But its a busy day all across the country. Here is a breakdown by the numbers. 312 mayoral races, 236 state legislative seats up for grabs. 31 ballot measures in six states on issues ranging from education to gambling and even marijuana. There could be many firsts to watch out for tonight. It could be the First Time Since 1973 when the party that controls the white house wins virginias Gubernatorial Race. Watch new jersey. It could be the First Time Since 1985 when a statewide republican candidate gets more than 50 of the vote. In new york city, it could be the first time a democratic mayor will inhabit the mansion since 1989. And the First Time Since the early 1990s that boston has a new mayor. An action filled Election Night tonight. Stay with us. Coming up, reading the tea leaves. What the outcomes in the races in virginia and new jersey could forecast for gop. You dont want to miss it. Clients are always learning more to make their money do more. ann to help me plan my next move, i take scottrades free, inbranch seminars. Plus, their live webinars. I use daily market commentary to improve my strategy. And my local scottrade Office Guides my learning every step of the way. Because they know i dont trade like everybody. I trade like me. Im with scottrade. announcer ranked highest in Investor Satisfaction with selfdirected services by j. D. Power and associates. [ female announcer ] with five perfectly sweetened whole grains. You cant help but see the good. Whole grains. Nothing says, youre my 1 copilot, like a milkbone biscuit. Say it with milkbone. Many cereals say theyre good for your heart, but did you know theres a cereal thats recommended by doctors . Its post shredded wheat. Recommended by nine out of ten doctors to help reduce the risk of heart disease. Post shredded wheat is made with only one ingredient one hundred percent whole grain wheat, with no added sugar or salt. Try adding fruit for more Health Benefits and more taste in your bowl. Its the ideal way to start your heart healthy day. Try post shredded wheat. This has been medifacts for post shredded wheat. Its time to talk big picture. New jersey and virginia residents are voting right now. Their decisions could mean a lot more, though, for both Political Parties than who has control of two state houses. So joining us now is former virginia congressman com davis and Michael Steele msnbc analyst and former rnc chairman. Thanks to both of you for being here. Thanks. Good to see you. Tom, i want to start with you, Tea Party Favorite Ken Cuccinelli trailing in the polls, governor Chris Christie ran as a moderate. Hes poised to win potentially by large margins. Are these two races in total sending a broader message that voters could be rejecting the tea party . I think certainly in the purple states, in these swing states being a tea Party Conservative is not enough to win on its own. You have to forge coalitions. In virginia they have had difficulty doing that. When christie is winning in very dark blue new jersey by double digits and youre losing in virginia, you have to say maybe something is wrong with the model and we need to look at a different coalition. Michael, i want to turn to you and talk about Chris Christie, obviously hoping to run up the margins tonight, hoping to send a broader message nationally. The question is always can he win in iowa, can he win in South Carolina . Is christie a strong candidate in a primary . I think he is for a whole lot of reasons given what hes been able to accomplish and the relationships he has forged across the aisle in a state like new jersey. I want to be i think folks need to be a little bit careful in extrapolating into 2016 what we see happen here tonight regardless of the margin of victory. Impressive, yes, and important but i dont think its a bellwether of where the party is going to go or where the party needs to go. I think its in its own right says a lot about how governor like christie governs and can win. There are examples we can take from that. I think we need to be careful because a republican primary is not the same as running in a general election in new jersey, number one. Number two, he has no opposition here. So at the end of the day, the voters dont have a real test of christies policies and his governance up against a formidable opponent in a blue state. Thats a very different dynamic when you run against a candidate that not even the president is willing to come into the state to campaign for for his own party. I think we want to take it in measure it over time how this plays out, how christie translates the success in a broader republican primary as a lesson for how to win. Tom, michael says we need to be measured, careful not to draw too much from these results. Still i want to point out something that our colleagues from first read raise, the center for americans politics or changing demographics like virginia. What are the lessons for the Republican Party on this election day, do you think . Are there broader implications for 2016 . I would say to my friend Michael Steele i dont want to read too much into it. The reason he didnt have stronger opposition is democrats didnt think they could win. He has a Good Governance model. You take that and compare it to the governance modelled in virginia at least in this election, its very clear which one is going to be likely to triumph in a state with changing demographics in a swing state. In a red state may be a different formula, republican primaries a different formula. For republicans to be competitive they have to carry states like virginia. Youre not going to do that can a hard right stance. It has to be a more Inclusive Party to be competitive at the state at the state level. I want to put this question to both of you, after the 2012 president ial election, you had Reince Priebus say we need a better job reaching out to women and minorities and latinos. Do you think the party is doing a good enough job of that . Ken cuccinelli is losing by double digits when it comes to womens vote, heading into today. That might change after election day. But still, he hasnt closed that gap yet that we saw in the president ial race. I will agree with that and the point about broadening the partys appeal and making sure you have a message that resonates across the line. The National Party can do more to help that argument made not just in putting a lot of money in the race, which they did, put about 3 million plus into the cuccinelli race. But its what were saying and how its been received by voters that matters most. Were still failing on that point. Theres more bottom to hit there before we begin to figure out what the tone and message is. Maybe Chris Christie is a model for that. Other governors around the country, republican governors can be good models, scott walker, kasich in ohio will present a good model as well. The examples are there. Whether the party gets behind that and puts it out front, remains to be seen. Quickly, is ideology trumping these practical Political Fix snz. I dont think theres any question about it, particularly when you have a convention state, ideology trumps any strategy on this. Most voters are left out. Narrow band of voters deciding the nominees and that makes for in this case a ticket thats going to be having a difficult time tonight, im afraid. Thanks to both of you. Good to see you. Well be right back. Stay with us. Excuse me . Glacier point . Follow me follow me keep up, keep up, keep up. Look hes right there follow me [ male announcer ] the nissan pathfinder. Wow follow me [ male announcer ] nissan. Innovation that excites. Now get a 279 per month lease on a 2014 nissan pathfinder. But if you want to switch plans, how do you know which one may be right for you . If youre looking for coverage that fits your needs at the lowest possible cost, you have a choice with aarp medicarerx plans from unitedhealthcare. Like plans with a 0 deductible. Or a different plan that has low monthly premiums. 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Our commitment has never been stronger. Which political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours, Chris Cillizza is back with us. Tom coburn, senator tom coburn is being treated for Prostate Cancer and hopes to be back at work soon. What are you hearing on this point . Not much other than he is a medical doctor himself. I believe this is a recurrence. I believe he has had cancer, Prostate Cancer before. Im not 100 sure. Hopes and prayers with the senator, obviously. That is accurate, he has had it before and we wish him a speedy recovery. Chris, i want to turn to the election. What are your big predictions, for new york, virginia and new jersey . I feel strongly that bill de blasio will be the next mayor of new york. The only question is does he get over 70 . Chris christie we know is going to win. When you look at the results, think of him talking about 2016, independents winning democrats, going to win republicans. Virginia, watch the attorney generals race, thats going to be the closest statewide on the ballot. Thanks, chris. That does it for this edition of Andrea Mitchell reports. Ill see you back here tomorrow. Tamron hall has a look at whats next on news nation. Happy election day to you. Thank you very much. Great job today. In our next hour, more coverage on why the races tonight in virginia, new york city and alabama do in fact matter to all of us. Plus, breaking news out of canada, the mayor of toronto, ron ford, admitting today that he in fact did smoke crack cocaine. This admission coming after many denials and police saying he was caught on tape. Well play his reaction to all of this news. Plus, growing calls for Miami Dolphins player for incognito to not only be suspended but some want him banned from the nfl after allegations he bullied his teammate, calling his teammate the n word. This is our gut check. Huh. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. 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