00:00And also the U.S. midterm elections are less than a week away.
00:03To know how the country is preparing for such a crucial date, we go to our correspondent, Don Albright, live
00:09from Boston, Massachusetts.
00:14So what exactly are the midterm elections and why do they matter so much for Donald Trump's presidency?
00:21Well, they're called the midterms because they happen halfway between a president's four-year term.
00:27Every House C is up for election, along with about a third of the Senate.
00:33Historically, voters tend to punish the president's party in midterms.
00:37Democrats are in a strong position to put a check on Trump's presidency,
00:41but they're not currently projected to see any kind of historic landslide, which would give them veto power, for example.
00:49This year, Democrats are leading by nine points among likely voters in a Reuters-Ipsos national poll,
00:55almost exactly their national margin in 2018, when they gained 41 seats.
01:00Current forecasts generally put them comfortably above the 218 seats needed to control the House.
01:06But now the Senate is also in play.
01:09Republicans hold a 53 to 47 advantage, so Democrats need to get a net gain of four seats.
01:16North Carolina is their strongest pickup opportunity,
01:19with Democrat Roy Cooper sitting with about a nine-point advantage.
01:23If Democrats win there and hold Michigan, where Abdul Syed faces Republican Mike Rogers
01:29in one of the most closely watched races in the nation,
01:33they still need to flip at least three more Republican-held seats.
01:38Polls show the main battlegrounds right now are Maine, Ohio, Texas, Iowa, Alaska, and Kansas.
01:44But now even South Carolina, long a Republican stronghold, has polling showing a tied race.
01:51So again, Democrats would need to flip at least three of those seven toss-ups,
01:55plus North Carolina, and hold on to Michigan.
01:59So overall, it looks fairly certain we'll have a Democratic House,
02:02but the Senate is now also up for grabs.
02:05Winning either chamber would put a significant check on Trump's final two years.
02:09A Democratic House could block legislation and spending bills and investigate the administration.
02:15Winning the Senate, as well, would also let Democrats block many presidential nominees.
02:21Control of both chambers would still not let Democrats enact their own agenda.
02:27Trump could veto legislation, as overriding him requires two-third majorities in both chambers.
02:33No projection currently shows Democrats with that kind of landslide, despite Trump's historic low popularity.
02:40All that said, it looks like next Tuesday will be all about the power voters give Democrats
02:45to constrain the rest of Trump's presidency.
02:48From Boston, Dan Albright, Telesor.
