From KCRW in Santa Monica and PRI, Public Radio International, this is To the Point.

33 U.S. Senate elections will get to most of them.

I'm Mike Peska, sitting in for Warren only, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International,

a daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

47 of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate are controlled by Republicans.

Forecasts had the GOP rated as likely to take the Senate in November.

But that's changed recently.

There are some broad reasons why in truth this year's 33 Senate races mean 33 explanations.

We'll take on some of the more notable, hard-fought, and surprising races out there.

On reporter's notebook later on, The Master is a work of an innovative director loosely about the life of El Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology.

We'll compare fact and fiction.

First, here's this news.

Support for To the Point comes from the members of KCRW and from the Public Radio International Program Fund.

I'm Mike Peska, sitting in for Warren Only, back with To the Point. The Senate is up for grabs, as happens every other year, this time around trends are clashing. Will we see the continued success of Tea Party candidates, or is the latest bad news racking the Romney campaign trickling down to the state level? And on a reporter's notebook, the new film The Master, is largely based

on the life of the founder of Scientology. A look at the worlds created by director Paul Thomas

Anderson and Dionetics author El Ron Hubbard. First, this news update. More than a dozen

killed in clashes in Pakistan between security forces and protesters. These are the same

riots that have been ripping through the Middle East for about two weeks. Pakistan sought to curb

the violence by effectively shutting down schools and businesses. The impromptu national holiday

seems not to have worked. Joining me now is Declan Walsh, Pakistan correspondent for the New York Times.

Thank you for taking the time to do this interview, Declan.

My pleasure. How widespread has the violence been?

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