rajini vaidyanathan reports, you could be forgiven for thinking "here we go again". in the end it comes down to these, cold ha rd votes. in the end it comes down to these, cold hard votes. here at in brow with anna cross for a's 66 other counties millions of ballots are being counted again. years ago a here delivered george w bush the presidency. the scrutiny is as intense today. it can go in and see what they are doing right now? al—sayed a group of republicans are protesting. linda gallagher, a donald trump supporters that she is suspicious of the way the recount is being conducted. we don't know what is being thrown away, what has been tampered with, we don't know. so thatis tampered with, we don't know. so that is my whole issue is right now i don't know, even if, whoever wins, if they win, i'm going to think as fraudulent. if you win? if we win then i note that it is right. a smaller group of democrats are also here. memories of that recount in 2000 are enough to make this woman shudder. it is like deja vu. it is very upsetting. we need to have elections were they count eve

this is bbc world news america. reporting from washington, i'm rajini vaidyanathan. it's a race to finish line in the midterm elections. with just four days to go — the top guns are out in force trying to get voters to the polls. sanctions are coming declares president trump — putting iran on warning that the agreements made under the nuclear deal are dead. and he may be the fastest man on the planet but usain bolt‘s dream of becoming a professional footballer has just hit a serious speed bump. welcome to our viewers on public television in america and around the globe. there are just four days to go until the midterm elections and the campaign schedule has gone into overdrive. both president trump and his predecessor barack obama were out rallying their supporters today — in hopes that they can increase turnout on tuesday. one of the states being visted most often and watched most closely is missouri — where incumbent democrat claire mccaskill and republicanjosh hawley are locked in a bitter contest. from there the bbc‘s philippa thomas reports. music. democrat claire

hearfrom him in a moment. first let's get this report from our correspondent rajini vaidyanathan report from our correspondent rajini vaidya nathan in report from our correspondent rajini vaidyanathan in florida. well, it wasn't a good night for the democrats here in the crucial state of florida. for a start, they lost control of the one senate seat that they held. it had been held by bill nelson for three consecutive terms, but tonight republican rick scott, the former governor of this state, one that seat, helping boost republicans' fortunes in the senate as they hang on to control the senate. also, republicans held onto the governor seat here. the democrats were hoping that their candidate andrew gillum would become the first black governor for the state of florida. but in both of those races, it wasn't necessarily a ringing endorsement for the republican party because both of the races were won by the republicans by a very close margin ofjust under 1%, which gives you an idea of how close florida is. it always is in national elections too. there were some good moments for the democr

spoke with our north america reporter rajini vaidyanathan. what do you make of the time because it sounded more like a stump speech than a policy speech to me quizzical and that is what some people have seenin and that is what some people have seen in the wake of scene that a just. a lot of people touted this is a big policy coming from the president but there was no meat and bones. it was a lot of the same things we here at his campaign rallies. as said in that report a lot of fear mongering and stoking fear and quite of the language she was using was strike wing talking of invasion and migrants rushing across the border. but that was the sort of thing we heard during the 2016 campaign rally after rally and indeedin campaign rally after rally and indeed in his 2016 convention speak which painted a bleak picture as well. he knows this works with his base was what he is doing it. well. he knows this works with his base was what he is doing itm this going to driveway more moderate and independent voters? there is a possibility that could buy things at immigration play well. perhaps h

now to florida and the bbc‘s rajini vaidyanathan. the race in florida, very exciting, very consequential. both the governor's race and the senate race and a bunch of house races. florida in play tonight. exactly. it really is. i think one thing that is worth noting, this election cycle is just how the demographics in this state really are changing. you have now got more than half of the state of florida under the age of 54. this is a state that was always famous for welcoming retirees. you 110w famous for welcoming retirees. you now have a much and more diverse demographic voting in these elections. what we are hearing from across the state of florida this evening is that turnout is, in some places, at record levels. so far we are hearing that turn out today is favouring the republicans. in early voting, which concluded last week, turnout favour the democratic editor. in 2016 hillary clinton won in early voting. it could come down to how many people turn out today. we have seen and regular, with his family, if he became the first african—american governor in florida snye,

presidential race in 2020. the bbc‘s rajini vaidyanathan is in for miami and we can cross to her now. we crossed her now. you get miami the sun is shining, standing in the rain in virginia though, i think all of us should move every election cycle down to florida in just saying. the race to now exploit it we heard about other places but between the governors race at a senate race, and a bunch of house races florida up for grabs.” senate race, and a bunch of house races florida up for grabs. i should point out first that it's slightly humid here is a not perfect weather conditions, the moving on, i'm struggling. i was at a polling station in miami off at eight o'clock this morning and unsurprisingly there were lines going around the block huge interest in all the races you mentioned, i did my own unscientific exit polls spoke to about 20 people and i'm afraid to say this, as usual when a report from florida it once again seems to be too close to call. as both a i—person if it republican and said democrat. really most of the races here look incredibly tight but i will say, one conversa

since 2008. jane o'brien is in the city of alexandria in virginia. rajini vaidyanathan in miami for us. let's start with jane. any amount of polling about which issues people are animated about. what are people telling him virginia? this is why we are seeing such an extraordinary move towards the democrats here. what should be able reliably red state in many respects although it has been getting purple is the last two years. and that is because the issue for democrats is health care. the issue for republicans immigration. that is why you have seen donald trump campaign on this issue in the run—up to today. and really trying to galvanise his base because he knows that is the number one issue for them. interestingly, he hasn't been talking about the economy and that is bizarre because the economy is doing well. 230,000 jobs added to the payroll on friday. lowest unemployment and a decade. so it has been doing really well, but has donald trump himself said last week, talking about the economy isn't that exciting. so he's talking about immigration instead. there's a real division on i

it today. rajini vaidyanathan is there for us. tell us about the recount, how long will it take? how close is it? it is that word that gives people the shadows here in florida, the word recount. we are talking about the senate race here, the senator, bill nelson, was hoping to make it a fourth time in the senate seat. but last night, the result was looking close with the republican contender ahead by less than a percentage point. late last night, rick scott took to the stage in front of his supporters and claimed victory. shortly after, bill nelson's chief of staff spoke to a team of reporters and that said that they we re reporters and that said that they were disappointed and that senator nelson would speak to people today to thank his staff. crucially, there was no confession. what we now know is that through the course of the night, at around 3:15am, the gap narrowed to the point that it was less tha n narrowed to the point that it was less than 0.5%. under florida law, if the margin of victory is less than 0.5% —— less than half a percentage point, it automatically goes to e

the bbc‘s rajini vaidyanathan. it is almost two weeks now. how different does this situation look now in terms of results from the midterms to how they looked on the night? starting with florida, i thought i would never come back from florida, the recounts just thought i would never come back from florida, the recountsjust kept on coming! we have now had concessions in both the races for governor and senate. the most crucial was senate, it doesn't change the fact that republicans have held onto the house, but it does mean we had a hand recount on sunday, and in the end the democratic candidates conceded. the next senator for florida is rick scott. this reminded us that there are real problems when it comes to recounts. machines in palm beach county overheated and broke down. this after the infamous recount in 2000. two weeks on, the picture is clear that this was a good night for republicans in the senate and democrats in the house for. which matters more, the house or the senate? in the end, the senate is the more powerful house of congress, so it is important. but let's talk abo