Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by love me tender we can like many, but we can love only a precious few, because it is for those precious few that you have to be willing to do so very much. You dont have to do it alone. Lincoln financial helps you provide for and protect your financial future because this is what you do for people you love. Lincoln financial youre in charge. And with the ongoing support of these institutions this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff its been a long day of voting all across this country, and the vast majority of the polls are still open. At issue whether Hillary Clinton or donald trump will become the 45th president of the United States. Lisa desjardins begins our coverage this Election Night. Reporter new york state, where both president ial nominees began their campaigns, and now, after 500plus days of campaigning, its where theyre ending. Democrat Hillary Clinton cast a ballot today at her home base chappaqua, awash in supporters cheers both inside. cheers and outside the polling place. Hillary hillary its the most humbling feeling, dan, because i know how much responsibility goes with this. And so many people are counting on the outcome of this election. What it means for our country. And ill do the very best i can if i win today. Reporter chappaqua is just north of new york city, and thats where Republican Donald Trump cast his vote. So who did you vote for . Tough decision. Reporter that, after kicking off his day, as he has so many times in this campaign, with a callin to fox news its been a beautiful process. The people of this country are incredible. I went, last night i ended up with my final speech, we started with it, well you guys covered it. But started at 12 45 in the evening and we had probably 21,000 people. Can you imagine that . Reporter that final speech, in the wee hours of this morning, was in grand rapids, michigan. We have to win. Reporter his campaigns closing salvo in a weeklong push to crack clintons blue firewall. Clinton, too, was campaigning into the early morning, in another key state North Carolina. An Associated Press analysis said at least 46 million votes were already in before today, a record for early voting. Still, many millions more lined up across the country to weigh in on the candidates, and this Long Campaign clearly the candidates were not well liked so ill be glad when this is over. I think its going to take a minute for all of us to come together. You know, were a democracy. This is how its supposed to be done. Reporter but as expected, there were serious voting concerns in some places today. Elections officials in lebanon county, pennsylvania said some Voting Machines turned voters officials said calibration problems sometimes meant a vote for the g. O. P. Ticket lit up as a vote for democrats. They say a Software Expert was able to fix each problem. The day was also about symbolism. In rochester, new york, dozens put i voted stickers on the grave of suffragist susan b. Anthony on the day the name of the first woman nominee for a major party was on the ballot. Unknown, what time this race for the white house might end. Also at stake tonight, of course, possible changes in power at the other end of pennsylvania avenue the capitol. But for now, new york is the center of the political world, with the two president ial hopefuls set to end this campaign, just 25 blocks apart. For the pbs newshour, im lisa desjardins. Sreenivasan well be turning to new york city throughout the night, where both clinton and trump have their Election Night headquarters. John yang is with clinton supporters at the Javits Convention center. John, nothing left they can do. What have you heard today . Well, theyre watching and waiting. Theyre very hopeful. Theyre optimistic about their field operations. They think thats whats going to make the difference in a lot of places where the race has been very close. Right now here at the javits center, the door is not yet open to the public. Still putting the final touches on. When i asked the campaign why they were here at the javits center, they pointed up. This has a literal Glass Ceiling, a Glass Ceiling theyre hoping to symbolically burst through tonight with the first woman to be elected president. More symbolism here, the stage that theyre working on is in the shape of the United States. The lectern where Hillary Clinton will speak is pretty much over oklahoma it looks to me. The campaign tells me that she has prepared remarks either way, win or lose, and shell be speaking on a map of the United States. Thats the lower 48. Wheres hawaii and alaska . Over there on the side. Judy . Woodruff john yang, thank you. Were going to be coming back to you throughout the night, both hari and i will be doing that. Now lets move to trump headquarters. Our Jeffrey Brown is there at the hilton hotel in midtown. So, jeff, tell us what its like at this moment. Well, judy, i can tell you, we have no Glass Ceiling here. We have a rather low ceiling and a rather small venue. Its a decidedly small venue, perhaps the smallest one ive ever seen for an event like this. Were only about a mile and a half away from where john was, so john and i might meet at the end of this long night probably about 8th avenue. Thats to my west. A few blocks to my east is trump tower. Of course, thats where donald trump is, were told, spending the evening there. We were told perhaps he could be coming by 10 00 or at least no earlier than 10 00, but at this point who knows how long this night will go on. But were able to talk to some of the people from the campaign earlier today, and as john heard from the clinton campaign, the Trump Campaign was feeling pretty good about what was happening, what they were seeing at the polls. Woodruff so, jeff, are any of the folks there sounding optimistic . Are they sounding worried . Are you picking up any vibes . I know its early in the evening . Yeah, its too early to really know here. I mean, i tell you what. Its funny, here right now, as i said, this is a small place. Im surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of my new best friends who are journalists right now, judy. And so you can see the journalists, a much bigger number of journalists than people in the hall. Outside, of course, talking to people in the Trump Campaign, they were talking to reporters earlier in the day, and as i said, they were watching. They were hopeful. They were watching the returns in some of the key states. Donald trump himself was on twitter about an hour ago, pretty active. He sent out three or four tweets. And he was talking specifically, go, florida, this is still ours to win. Get out there and vote. So hes still pushing people. Woodruff yes, ive been looking at some of his tweets this afternoon. Jeffrey brown, well be talking to you throughout this night from new york. Thank you. Okay, thanks, judy. Woodruff we get perspective now from supporters of both candidates, and start with the minority leader in the u. S. House of representatives, california democrat nancy pelosi. She was the first and only woman to serve as speaker of the house. And at this moment, she is the highest ranking female politician in American History. But madam leader, youre hoping that could change in a matter of hours . Im counting on relinquishing that title. I have worn my white and purple, colors of the suffragettes in honor of the fact that the first woman is soon to be elected president of the United States. But until the people speak, we dont know. Woodruff so what are you expecting tonight . You obviously are hoping for democrats to do well everywhere, but what are you hearing . What kind of information are you getting that you trust . Well, tonight i believe that the democrats will come out in a stronger position. We will, of course, retain the white house, with the election of Hillary Clinton. I believe we will gain the United States senate. It will be close, but we will retain the United States senate and we will pick up many seats in the house of representatives. Woodruff why are you so confident about the white house . Because im confident in the American People. I believe that Hillary Clinton is one of the bestprepared people in our history to enter the oval office with her vision, her knowledge, her experience, her strategic thinking, her connection to the American People, and i think she has made that case. But as you know, the vote is sacred. Its almost a prayerful time for us as we wait for the people to speak and returns to come in. But im confident. Im also confident because in our efforts to win seats for the white house and the senate and governorship, et cetera, we have had a massive mobilization. We are on the ground and we will pull out that vote. Woodruff most of the attention has been on the senate, six or seven seats there, very, very, very close. Less attention on the house, your body, because its been expected that the democrats are not going to make the 30seat pickup you would need to take the house. There was optimism, but then along came f. B. I. Director comeys announcement. What are you thinking . Everything within half a minute or within a half an inch is gold, silver, bronze or nothing. And our races are very close. But i think that we will not lose any members. I think we will pick up many open seats, and we will unseat republicans and there will be some surprises. But you point out director comeys comments with his letter that he sent out. He became the leading republican political opponent in the country. He has had a tremendous impact on the lead Hillary Clinton had, which was important to other downballot races. Woodruff were talking about an election that has divided the country. It seems to me thats the overwhelming feeling coming out of this election at the end of it. Is that how you see it . Do you think the country is further divided by whats happened . I think that people have great anger over what happened in 2008 in terms of the economy. And that has given them. Some of that has manifested itself in a vote for donald trump. But i think our democracy is so great we can withstand even a candidacy of donald trump and emerge from this. It has to be respecting the position of those who supported him, addressing the anger and anxiety that they have, and, again, bringing this country together, which was always the purpose of our founders, a more perfect union. Meaghan that brings me whats going on in blue states, especially the upper midwest, states like michigan, minnesota, wisconsin, where donald trump does seem to be doing better tan president obama did a few years ago. A lot of people are asking, are democrats really being responsive to bluecollar, workingclass individuals who used to think of the Democratic Party as their party but are now looking in another direction . Well, i would say this president obama and young cal democrats have certainly been responsive. What we do in terms of people in the area you mention, we had the bailout of the auto industry, creating so many jobs in the industry and for those who supply the industry. And yet we didnt advertise it enough. So i think, yes, we were there in terms of middleclass economics and an economy that works for everyone, increasing consumer confidence, people consuming, injecting demand into the economy, creating jobs, trickledown economics, tax breaks for the wealthiest people. But we didnt message it properly. So how could it be that michigan, indiana, all of those states have benefited from the auto bailout, from middle class economics have decided to vote republican . There are some other reason, as well, some that are sociological in addition to economics. Woodruff finally, you dont believe the democrats have some work to do in order to not just message, but in order to come up with programs, with ideas that can capture the imagination and the support of these people. Well, president obama came up with tremendous ideas, but he was blocked by republicans nch but we can all do better. We can all do better. Were a entrepreneurial society. We had entrepreneurs who started our country. And they want us to think of fresh, new, different ways all of the time. But the fact is that people in some of these regions are voting against their own economic interests. We have to Work Together. They have concerns about trade. So do we. We want trade that is knock trickledown trade, but trade that recognizes were in a global economy. So we have to Work Together on all of those things, but i stand by what i said. T democrats have been there, for working people in our country. Thats who we are, trickledown, versus middleclass economics. Thats the major difference between the parties. If we didnt have this foolishness going on with some of the president ial campaign, we could have had a better discussion of that. But this is almost a religious experience election day, and all the things that have gone leading up to it, lincoln said, public sentiment is everything. We have to listen to the people and come together as we prioritize our agenda and go forward. Woodruff finally, madam leader, how does the next president bring the two sides together, the two parties together . I think youll see some of that tonight. I think Hillary Clintons statement tonight about being the president of all of the people, again, we have our differences since the beginning of our country. Its a legitimate difference. What does the world of government, et cetera, say, but also we have respect for other peoples points of view. And i think that that has to really come across in what Hillary Clinton says tonight. She needs no advice from anyone. You know, shes an experienceed public figure. But there has knob no doubt that this isnt about democrats or republicans. Thats minor. Its about america. Its about honoring the vows of our founders, respecting the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform, and honoring the aspirations of our children and their futures. So elections are about the future, and whoever is going to be president tonight, and i think it will be hillary, has to understand that its a responsibility well beyond party and all about americas future. Woodruff the minority leader of the u. S. House of representatives, the highest ranking woman. For the moment. For the moment. Woodruff thank you very much for joining us. Thank you. We do hope to be joined any minute now by the Republican National committees Communications Director sean spicer. Hes running late. We hear theres traffic. We hope to get him here very shortly, but for now, our Election Night coverage continues with a team thats going to be joining us at this table all night long. All night syndicated columnist, mark shields. New york times columnist david brooks. Amy walter of the cook political report, Andra Gillespie of emory univeristy. Republican strategist stuart stevens, and democratic strategist, cornell belcher. And from wnet in new york, jeff greenfield, who has been reporting for the newshour weekend throughout this campaign. So thank you to all of you for being here. Im going to turn to you, david brooks. You just heard the democratic leader of the house of representatives talk about, frankly, the problems democrats have in states that used to be all blue. Yeah. And it struck me that she didnt claim they were going to take over the house. A bit of realism there from nancy pelosi i think but optimism and maybe wellearned. It is still a problem for the party that white workingclass voters are more and more heavily republican. One of the exciting things that happened, whether you like it or not, this year is the white workingclass took over a party, and they took over a party that had formerly been a party of the rich and elites. Thats an amazing thing that happens rarely in American History. Woodruff we have a problem with your make phone, david brooks. Well fix that and come rights back to you. Amy walter . Hi, judy. Hello. And i think this may play out in the house tonight, as were watching these results come in, if the results play out as the poll numbers have suggested, where the democrats are going to pick up seats will be in places that were formerly republican, inner suburbs that were very republican for much of our history. Now trending more democratic as White Collegeeducated voters move into the democratic column, as workingclass whites have moved out, white educated voters have moved into the democratic column. And at the same time in place like the iron range in minnesota, that upperworld part of minnesota, you can see republicans winning there, a district that democrats have held for many, many, many, many years. So its really like a tale of two congressional districts. Were going to swap out the suburbs for the more rural areas. This has been happening over the last ten years, but sort of at an accelerated pace i think this election cycle. Woodruff stuart stevens, are Nancy Pelosis expectations reasonable . I think she called it pretty close to whats going to happen. You know, the big test i think tonight for the Trump Campaign, and its going to affect these downballot race, is what happens with White College educated voters. This has been a