years ago. the fact is more americans are working. unemployment has come down. more americans have health insurance. manufacturing has grown. our deficits have shrunk. our dependence on foreign oil is down as are gas prices. graduation rates are up. our businesses aren't just creating jobs at the fastest pace since the 1990s. our economy is outpacing most of the world. but we just got to keep at it until every american feels the gains of a growing economy where it matters most and that's in their own lives. obviously, much of that will take action from congress. and i'm eager to work with the new congress to make the next two years as productive as possible. i'm committed to making sure that i measure ideas not by whether they're from democrats or republicans but weather they work for the american people. and that's not say that we won't

disagree over some issues that we're passionate about. we will. congress will pass some bills i cannot sign. i'm pretty sure i'll take some actions that some in congress will not like. that's natural. that's how our democracy works. but we can surely find ways to work together on issues where there's broad agreement among the american people. so i look forward to republicans putting forward their governing agenda. i will offer my ideas on areas where i think we can move together to respond to people's economic needs. so just take one example, we all agree on the need to create more jobs that pay well. traditionally, both parties have been for creating jobs, rebuilding our infrastructure. our roads, bridges, ports, waterways. i think we can hone in on a way to pay for it through tax reform that closes loopholes and makes it more attractive for companies to create jobs here in the united states. we can also work together to grow our exports and open new

markets for our manufacturers to sell more american made goods to the rest of the world and something i'll focus on traveling to asia next week. we all share the same aspirations for our young people. and i was encouraged that this year republicans agreed to investments that expanded early childhood education. i think we have got a chance to do more on that front. we've got some common ideas to help more young people afford college and graduate without crippling debt so they have the freedom to fill the good jobs of tomorrow and buy their first homes and start a family. and in the five states where a minimum wage increase was on the ballot last night, voters went 5 for 5 to increase it. that will give about 325,000 americans a raise in states where republican candidates prevailed and new reason to get it done for everybody. with a national increase in the minimum wage. so those are some areas where i think we have some real

opportunities to cooperate an i'm eager to hear republican ideas for what they think they can we can do together over the next couple of years. of course, there's still business on the docket that needs attention this year. and here are three places where i think we can work together over the next several weeks before this congress wraps up for the holidayses. first, i'm submitting a request to congress for funding for doctors, scientists and troops for resources to combat the spread of ebola in africa and to increase our preparedness for any future cases here at home. second, i'm going to begin engaging congress over a new authorization to use military force against isil. the world needs to know we're united behind this effort and the men and women of our military deserve our clear and unified support. third, back in september, congress passed short-term legislation to keep the government open and operating into december.

that gives congress five weeks to pass a budget for the rest of the fiscal year. an i hope that they'll do it in the same bipartisan drama-free way that they did earlier this year. when our companies are creating jobs which they are, we don't want to inject any new uncertainty into the world economy and the american economy. the point is it's time for us to take care of business. there are things this country has to do that can't wait another two years or another four years. there are plans this country has to put in place for our future, and the truth is i'm optimistic about our future. i have good reason to be. i meet americans all across the country who are determined and big hearted and ask them what they can do and never give up and overcome obstacles and they inspire me every single day. so, the fact is i still believe in what i said when i was first elected six years ago last

night. for all the maps plastered across the tv screens today and for all the cynics who say otherwise, i continue to believe we're simply more than just a collection of red and blue states. we are the united states. and whether it's immigration or climate change or making sure our kids are going to the best possible schools to making sure that the communities are creating jobs, whether it's stopping the spread of terror and disease to opening up doors of opportunity to everybody who's willing to work hard and take responsibility, the united states has big things to do. we can and we will make progress if we do it together and i look forward to the work ahead. so with that, let me take some questions. i think that our team has got my list. and we're going to start with julie pace at associated press. >> thank you, mr. president. you said during this election that while your name wasn't on

the ballot your policies were and despite the optimism you're expressing here, last night was a devastating night for your party. given that, do you feel any responsibility to recalibrate your agenda for two years and what changes do you need to make in the white house and the dealings with republicans in order to address the concerns that voters expressed with your administration? >> well, as i said in my opening remarks, the american people overwhelmingly believe that this town doesn't work well. and that it is not attentive to their needs. and as president, they rightly hold me accountable to do more to make it work properly. i'm the guy who's elected by everybody, not just from particular state or a particular distri district. and they want me to push hard to close some of these divisions, break through some of the gridlock and get stuff done. so the most important thing i can do is just get stuff done

and help congress get some things done. in terms of agenda items, though, julie, if you look as i just mentioned to a minimum wage increase, for example, that's something i talked about a lot during the campaign where voters had a chance to vote directly on that agenda tigitem, they votedr it so i think it's hard to suggest people aren't supportive of it. the surveys say they want to see that happen. that the key is to find areas where the agenda that i've put forward, one that i believe will help strengthen the middle class and create more ladders of opportunity into the middle class and improve the schools and make college more affordable to more young people, make sure that we're growing faster as an economy and we stay competitive, the key is to make sure that those ideas that i have overlap somewhere with some of the ideas that republicans have. there's not going to be perfect overlap. i mean, there are going to be

some -- some ideas that i have got that i think the evidence backs up would be good for the economy. and republicans disagree. they're not going to support those ideas but i'm going to keep on arguing for them because i think they're the right thing for the country to do. there are some ideas they have got that they believe will improve the economy or create jobs that from my perspective isn't going to help middle class families improve their economic situation. so i probably won't support theirs but i do think there are areas where we do agree. on infrastructure. on making sure that we're boosting american exports. and, you know, part of my task then is to reach out to republicans, make sure that i'm listening to them. i'm looking forward to them putting forward a specific agenda in terms of what they would like to accomplish. let's compare notes in terms of

what i'm looking at and what they're looking at and let's get started on those things where we agree. even if we don't agree 100%, let's get started on the things where we agree 70%, 80%, 90%. and if we can do that and build up some trust and improve how processes work in washington, then i think that's going to give the american people a little bit more confidence that, in fact, you know, their government is looking after them. >> is there anything specific you feel that this administration needs to change given this disastrous first election and what they said? >> julie, i think single day i'm looking for how can we do what we need to do better, whether that is delivering basic services, the government provides to the american people, whether that is our capacity to

work with congress so that they're passing legislation, whether it's how we communicate with the american people about what our priorities and vision is. we are constantly asking ourselves questions about, you know, how do we make sure that we're doing a better job is this that's not going to stop. i think that every election is a moment for reflection. and, you know, i think that everybody in this white house is going to look and say, all right. what do we need to do to differently? but the principles that we're fighting for, the things that motivate me every single day and motivate my staff every day, those things aren't going to change. there's going to be a consistent focus on how do we deliver more opportunity to more people in this country, how do we grow the economy faster? how do we put more people back to work? and, you know, i maybe have a

naive confidence that if we continue to focus on the american people and not on, you know, our own ambitions or image or, you know, varl you concerns like that, that at the end of the day when i look back i'm going to be able to say, the american people are better off than they were before i was president and that's my most important goal. so, but the other thing i just want to emphasize is i've said this before. i want to raeiterate it. if there are ideas that the republicans have that i have confidence will make things better for ordinary americans, the fact that they're republicans suggesting it opposed to a democrat that will be irrelevant to me. i want to see what works. and there are some things like rebuilding our infrastructure or early childhood education that we know works and i'm hoping

that, you know, the kind of attitude and approach that mitch mcconnell and john boehner have expressed, their desire to get things done allows us to find some common ground. jeff mason? >> thank you, mr. president. in 2010 you called the results of the midterm election a that la shelacking. what do you call this? does the election affect your plans to release the report? will it -- is it likely to come out before the lame duck session is over and have you reduced the scope to a couple million people? >> well, as i said in my opening statement, there's no doubt that republicans had a good night. and what we're going to make sure that we do is to reach out to mitch mcconnell and john boehner who are now running both chambers in congress and find out what their agenda is.

and my hope is that they've got some specific things they want to do that correspond with some things we want to get done. what's most important to the american people right now, the resounding message, not just of this election but basically the last several is get stuff done. don't worry about the next election. don't worry about party affiliation. do worry about our concerns. worry about the fact that i'm a single mom and at the end of the month it's hard to pay the bills in part because i've got these huge child care costs. do worry about the fact that i'm a young person who's qualified to go to college and worried about taking $50,000 a year out in debt. and i don't know how i'd pay that back. do worry about the fact that i'm a construction worker who has been working all my life and i know that there's construction work that should be done but

right now for some reason the pro jekt jekts are stalled. if we're thinking about those folks, i think we can hopefully get some stuff done. in terms of immigration, i have consistently said that it is my profound preference and interest to see congress act on a comprehensive immigration reform bill that would strengthen our borders, would streamline our legal immigration system so it works better and attracting the best and the brightest from around the world and we give an opportunity for folks who have lived here many cases for a very long time, may have kids who are u.s. citizens but aren't properly documented, give them a chance to pay the back taxes, get this the back of the line and get through a process that allows them to get legal. the senate on a bipartisan basis

passed eed good bill. it wasn't perfect or what i wanted but it was a sound, smart piece of legislation to greatly improve not just our immigration system but our economy and would improve business conditions here in the united states. and make sure that american-born workers aren't undercut by worker who is are undocumented and aren't always paid a fair wage and as a consequence employers who are breaking the rules able to undercut folks doing the right thing. so we got a bipartisan bill out of the senate. i asked john boehner, can we pass this through the house? there's majority of votes to get it passed. speaker boehner i think was sincere ant wanting to pass it but had difficulty over the last year trying to get it done. so when we finally told me

wasn't going to call it up this year, what i indicated to him is i feel obliged to do everything i can lawfully with my executive authority to make sure that we don't keep on making the system worse but that whatever executive actions that i take will be replaced and supplanted by action by congress. you send me a bill that i can sign and those executive actions go away. that's a commitment i made not just to the american people and to businesses and evangelical community and law enforcement folks and everybody who's looked at this issue and thinks we need immigration reform, that's a commitment that i also made to john boehner that i would act in the absence of action by congress, so before the end of the year we're going to take whatever lawful actions that i can take that i believe will

improve the functioning of our immigration system, that will allow us to surge additional resources to the border where i think the vast majority of americans have the deepest concern. and at the same time i'll be reaching out to both mitch mcconnell, john boehner and other republicans as well as democratic leaders the find out how it is that they want to proceed and if they want to get a bill done, whether it's during the lame duck or next year, i'm eager to see what they have to offer but i won't just wait. i think it's fair to say that i have shown a lot of patience and have tried to work on a bipartisan basis as much as possible. and i'm going to keep on doing so but in the meantime let's figure out what we can do lawfully through executive actions to improve the functioning of the existing system. >> how will you make sure that that executive action -- [ inaudible ]

and can you give us a sense of whether or not -- [ inaudible ] >> jeff, you know, i think if you want to get into the details of it, i suspect when i announce that executive action it will be rife with detail and i'm sure a lot of follow-up questions. chris jansing? >> thank you, mr. president. i want to follow up on a couple of things and start with immigration. and are you concerned that if you sign an executive order on immigration before the end of the year it will scuttle whatever chances there may be for there to be a compromise on the issues that you talked about? and i wonder that given this unhappy electorate, clearly, think seem to be disappointed with both sides pretty much, why they punished the democrats more than the republicans by far. >> well, as i said, when it comes to the political analysis,

that's your job. but what is also true is i am the president of the united states and i think understandably people are going to ask for greater accountability and more responsibility from methane from anybody else in this town. appropriately so. and i welcome that. and, you know, the commitment that i will make to the american people and the way i've tried to conduct myself throughout this presidency is i'm going to wake up every single day doing my absolute best to deliver for them. and there are areas where we have made real progress. i think economically i can look back and there is no doubt that almost -- on almost every measure we are better off economically than we were when i took office. but what is also true is there's still a lot of folks out there who are anxious and are hurting.

and are having trouble making ends meet or are worried about their children's future. and it's my job to give them some confidence that this town can work to respond to some of those worries that folks have. and we haven't done a good enough job convincing them of that. i understand that. they've been watching washington over the last two, four years, what they have seen is a lot of arguing and a lot of gridlock but not a lot of concrete actions, at least legislateively and we have to do a better job and i'm committed to doing that. on immigration, i know that concerns have been expressed, well, if you do something through executive actions, even if it's within your own authorities, that that will make it harder to pass immigration reform. i just have to remind everybody.

i've heard that argument now for a couple of years. this is an issue i actually wanted to get down in the first term. and we didn't see legislative action. and in my second term, i made it my top legislative priority and got work done by a bipartisan group of senators and froze up in the house and if folks are serious about getting immigration reform done is passing a bill and getting it to my desk. and then the executive actions that i take go away. they're superceded by the law that's passed and i'll engage any member of congress who's interested in this in how we can shape legislation that will be a significant improvement over the existing system. but what we can't do is just keep on waiting. there's a cost to waiting. there's a cost to our economy.

it means that resources are misallocated. when the issue of unaccompanied children cropped up in this summ summer, there were a lot of folks that perceived it as a major crisis in the immigration system. the numbers have come down and approximately where they were a year ago or two years ago or a year before that. but it did identify a real problem in a certain portion of the border where we've got to get more resources. but those resources may be misallocated separating families right now that most of us, most americans would say probably we'd rather have them pay the back taxes, pay a fine, learn english, get back to the back of the line and a pathway to be legal in this country. i have executive authorities to do that, we should get started

on that. but i want to emphasize once again if, in fact, republican leadership wants to see an immigration bill passed, they now have the capacity to pass it and hopefully engaging with me and democrats in both the house and the senate it's a bill that i can sign because it addresses the real concerns that are out there and the sooner they do it from my perspective, the better. jonathan karl? >> thank you, mr. president. mitch mcconnell's been the republican leader for six years, as long as you have been president. but his office tells me that he's only met with you one on one once or twice in that entire six-year period. so i'm wondering as somebody that came to washington, promising to end the hyper partisanship here long before you became president but gotten worse since you got here, was it a mistake for you to do so little to develop relationships with republicans in congress?

>> i think that every day i'm asking myself are there some things i can do better. and, you know, i'm going to keep on asking that every single day. the fact is that most of my interactions with members of congress have been cordial and they have been constructive. oftentimes, though, we just haven't been able to get what's discussed in the leadership meeting through caucuses in the house and the senate to deliver a bill. the good news is that now mitch mcconnell and john boehner are from the same party. i think they can come together and decide what their agenda is. they have got sufficient majorities to make real progress on some of these issues and, you

know, i'm certainly going to be spending a lot more time with them now because that's the only way to be able to get some stuff done and i take them at their word that they want to produce. they're in the majority, they need to present their agenda. i need to put forward my best ideas. i think the american people can watch us and paying attention. to see whether or not we're serious about actually compromising and being constructive. and my commitment to them and i've said this when i spoke to them is that anywhere where we can find common ground i'm eager to pursue it. >> are you going to have the drink with mitch mcconnell that you joked about at the white house correspondence dinner? >> i'd like to have some kentucky bourbon with mitch mcconnell. my interactions with mitch

mcconnell, you know, he's always been very straightforward with me. to his credit, he's never made a promise that he couldn't deliver. and, you know, he knows the legislative process well. he knows his caucus well. he eels always given me i think realistic assessments what he can get through his caucus and what he can't. i think we can have a productive relationship. phil mattingly? >> thank you, mr. president. another deadline coming up is on your negotiators by november 24th have to figure out how to reach a deal with iran on a nuclear area, a nuclear agreement. i'm interested what your current perspective is on how those negotiations are going. also, if it is your feeling that you have the power to implement any type of agreement that's

reached without any action from congress and then also just wanted to touch on the aumf that you mentioned earlier s. that more of a codify case of the limits for the missions up to this point or what should we be looking for that on the hill? >> the leaders will be coming here on friday. it will be an expanded group, not just the four leaders but a larger group who all have an interest in the issues we're discussing today. and i'm actually going to invoid lloyd austin, the cent-com commander to make a presenter about how the fight against isil is proceeding and i think to answer questions and assure that congress is fully briefed on what we're doing there. with respect to the aumf, we have already had conversations with members of both parties in congress. and the idea is to right size

and update whatever authorization congress provides to suit the current fight rather than previous fights. you know, in 2001, after the heartbreaking tragedy of 9/11, we had a very specific set of missions that we had to conduct and it was designed to pursue those missions. with respect to iraq, there was a very specific aumf. we now have a different type of enemy. the strategy is different. how we partner with iraq and other gulf countries and the international coalition, that has to be structured differently. so it makes sense for us to make sure that the authorization from congress reflects what we perceive to be not just our strategy over the next two or three months but the strategy going forward. and, you know, it will be a

process of listening to members of congress as well as us presenting what we think needs to be the set of authorities that we have and i'm confident we'll be able to get that done. and that may just be a process of us getting it started now. it may carry over into the next congress. on iran, because of the unprecedented sanctions that we put in place that really did have a crippling effect on iran's economy, they've come to the table and they have negotiated seriously around providing assurances that they're not developing a nuclear weapon for the first time. and they have abided by the interim rules. we have been able to freeze their program in some cases reduce the stockpile of nuclear material that they already had in hand. and the discussions, the negotiations have been

constructive. the international community is unified and cohesive. there's not a lot of cracks in our alliance. where we have differences like russia have agreed with us. and have worked with us cooperatively and trying to find way to make sure to verify and have confidence going forward that iran doesn't have the capacity to develop a nuclear weapon that could not only threaten friends of our likes israel and trigger a nuclear arms race in the region and over the long term potentially threaten us. whether we can get a deal done, we have to find out over the next three to four week weeks. we have presented to them a framework that would allow them to meet their peaceful energy needs and if in fact what their

leadership says that they don't want to develop a nuclear weapon, if that's true, they have an avenue here to provide assurance to the world community and in a progressive, step by step verifiable way, allow them to get out from under sanctions so that they can reenter as full pledged members of the international community. but they have their own politics and there's a long tradition of mistrust between the two countries. and there's a sizable portion of the political elite that cut its teeth on anti-americanism and still finds it convenient to blame america for every ill that there is and whether they can manage to say yes to what clearly would be better for iran, better for the region and better for the world is an open question.

we'll find out over the next several weeks. all right? >> sir, if the -- on whether or not you have the power unilaterally to relax sanctions, to implement an agreement? >> yeah. there are a series of different sanctions. multilateral sanctions, u.n. sanctions, sanctions that have been imposed by us, this administration unilaterally. and i think it's different for each of those areas. but i don't want to put the cart before the horse. what i want to do is see if, in fact, we have a deal. if we do have a deal that i have confidence will prevent iran from getting a nuclear weapon and that we can convince the world and the public will prevent iran from getting a nuclear weapon, then, you know, it will be time to engage in congress and i think we can make a strong argument to congress this is the best way for us to avoid a nuclear iran.

that it will be more effective than any other alternatives we might take including military action and requires it being a good deal. and i have said consistently that i'd rather have no deal than a bad deal because what we don't want to do is lift sanctions and provide iran legitimacy and not have the verifiable mechanisms to make sure they don't break out and produce a nuclear weapon. okay? ed henry? i missed you guys. i haven't done this in a while. >> i've missed you. thank you, mr. president. i haven't heard you -- i haven't heard you say specific thing in this news conference that you would do differently. you have been asked it a few different ways. you have talked about reaching out before. it is like you're doubling down on the policies and approach for six years. my question is, why not pull a page from the clinton play book and admit you have to make a much more dramatic shift in course for two years?

and on isis, it's a dramatic setback with appearing that the syrian rebels routed. there's gitmo detainees that are helping isis and other terror groups is what the reports suggest. my question is, are we winning? >> well, i think it's too early to say whether we are winning because as i said at the outset of the isil campaign this is going to be a long-term plan to solidify the iraqi government, to solidify their security forces, to make sure that in addition to our air cover that they have the capacity to run a ground game that pushes isil back from some of the territories that they had taken, that we have a strong international coalition that we have now built but that they are on the ground providing the

training, providing the equipment, providing the supply that is are necessary for iraqis to fight on behalf of their territory. and what i also said was in syria that's complicated and not going to be solved any time soon. our focus in syria is not to solve the entire syria situation, but rather, to isolate the areas in which isil can operate. and there is no doubt that because of the extraordinary bravery of our men and women in uniform and the precision of pilots and the strike that is have taken place that isil is in a more vulnerable position and it is more difficult for them to maneuver than it was previously. now, there's a specific issue about trying to get a moderate opposition in syria to serve as a partner with us on the ground. that's always been the hardest piece of business to get done.

there are a lot of opposition groups in syria. along a spectrum from radical jihadists who are our enemies to folks who believe in inclusive democracy and everything in between. they fight among each other. they are fighting the regime. and what we're trying to do is to find a core group that we can work with that we have confidence in that we vetted that can help in regaining territory from isil and then ultimately serve as a responsible party to sit at the table in eventual political negotiations that are probably some ways off in the future. that's always been difficult. as you know, one of the debates has consistently been, you know, should the obama administration provide more support to the

opposition? could that have averted some of the problems taking place in syria? as i've said before, part of the challenge is it's a messy situation. this is not situation of one single unified broad based effective reliable -- >> [ inaudible ] >> let me answer the question, ed. and so, what we are going to continue to test is can we get a more stable, effective, cohesive, moderate opposition? but that's not sole measure of whether we are quote/unquote winning or not. remember, our first focus, ed, here is to drive isil out of iraq and what we're doing in syria is first and foremost in service of reducing's isil's capacity to resupply and send troops and then run back over the border and establish a board sore that slowly iraq regains

control of its security and territory. that's the number one mission, our number one focus. there are aspects of what's going on in syria that, you know, we have got to deal with in order to reduce the scope of isil's operations. so, for example, our support for kurds in kobani where they have been able to hold off isil and where we have been able to effectively strike isil positions consistently, that's not just because we're trying to solve a syria problem. it gives us an opportunity to further weaken isil to meet the number one mission which is iraq. in terms of things to do differently, you know, i guess, ed, the question you're asking is one actually i think i have answered. if you're asking about personnel or if you're asking about

position on issues or what have you, then it's probably premature because i want to hear what -- >> [ inaudible ] >> ed. what i'd like to do is to hear from the republicans to find out what it is that they would like to see happen. and what i'm committing to is making sure that i am open to working with them on the issues that -- where they think there's going to be cooperation. now, that isn't a change because i've suggested to them before that where they think there's areas of cooperation i'd like to see us get some things done. but the fact that they now control both chambers of congress i think means that perhaps they have more confidence, that they can pass their agenda and get a bill on my desk. it means that negotiations end up perhaps being a little bit

more real because, you know, they have larger majorities, for example, in the house and may be able to get some things through their caucuses they couldn't before. but the bottom line that the american people want the know and that i'm going to repeat here today is that my number one goal, because i'm not running again. i'm not on the ballot. i don't have any further political aspirations. my number one goal is just to deliver as much as i can for the american people in these last two years. and wherever i see an opportunity, no matter how large or how small, to make it a little bit easier for a goo kid to go to college, make it more likely somebody's finding a good-paying job, make it a little more likely that somebody has high quality health care, even if i'm not getting a whole loaf, i'm interested in getting

whatever legislation we can get passed that adds up to improved prospects and improved future for the american people. sam stein? >> thank you, mr. president. following the elections' koxal republicans are pushing once again for remain reforms to the healthcare act. you said you don't want to undermine the bill. can you tell us what specifically rules you're ruling snout have the election results changed your reform law and on a totally unrelated matter -- have you settled on a nominee to replace attorney general john holder? and if so, who is it? >> you guys want to spread out your news a little bit, don't you? you don't want it all in just one big bang. on the attorney general, we have a number of outstanding candidates who we're taking a look at now, and in due course i

will have an announcement. and you'll be there, sam, when that's announced. but i'm confident that we'll find somebody who is well qualified, will enlist the confidence of the american people, uphold the rule of law and constitutional obligations and confirmed by the senate. on health care, there are certainly some lines i'm going to draw. repeal of the law i won't sign. efforts that would take away health care from the 10 million people who now have it and the millions more who are eligible to get it we're not going to support. in some cases, there may be recommendations that republicans have for changes that would undermine the structure of the

law and, you know, i'll be very honest with them about that and say, look. the law doesn't work if you pull out that piece that or that piece. on the other hand, what i have said is there's no dow that's ever been passed that's perfect. and given the contentious nature in which it was passed in the first place, there are places where if i were just drafting a bill on our own, we would have made those changes back then and certainly as we've been implementing there are other areas we think we can do even better. so, you know, if, in fact, one of the items on mitch mcconnell's agenda and john boehn boehner's agenda is to make responsible changes to the affordable care act to make it work better, i'm going to be very open and receptive to hearing those ideas. but what i will remind them is

that despite all of the contentio contentious, we now know that the law works. you have got millions of people who have health insurance that didn't have it before. you've got states that have expanded medicaid to folks who did not have it before. including republican governors who have concluded this is a good deal for their state. and despite some of the previous predictions, even as we've enrolled more people into the affordable care act, and given more people the security of health insurance, health care inflation has gone down every single year since the law passed so that we now have the lowest increase in health care costs in 50 years, which is saving us about $150 billion in reduced overall costs to the federal

government and the medicare program. so, we are i think really proud of the work that's been done. but there's no doubt that there are areas where we can improve it so i'll look forward to seeing what list they have of improvements. >> individual mandates one of those lines you can't cross? >> individual mandate is a line i can't cross because the concept, borrowed from massachusetts, from a law instituted by a former opponent of mine, mitt romney, understood that if you're providing health insurance to people through the private marketplace then you've got to make sure that people can't game the system and just wait until they get sick before they go try to buy health insurance. you can't insure that people with preexisting conditions can get health insurance unless you say while you're healthy before you need it, you've got to get

health insurance. obviously, there are hardship xerp exemptions and some folks who even with the generous subsidies provided still can't afford it but that's a central component of the law. in terms of enrollment, we'll do some additional announcements about that in the days to come. starting the middle of this month. people can sign up again. i think there are a number of people who the first time around sat on the sidelines in part because of our screw-ups on healthcare.gov. that's one area, ed, by the way, very particular. we're really making sure that the website works super well before the next open enrollment period. we're double and triple checking it. and so, i think a lot of people who maybe initially thought we're not sure how this works, let's wait and see, they're going to have an opportunity now to sign up and what's been

terrific is to see how -- that are available to people and the choice that is are available are better than a lot of people i think had predicted. so the law's working. that doesn't mean it can't be improved. maj major? >> thank you, mr. president. if you do miss us, allow us to suggest we do this every week. >> we might. who knows? i'm having a great time. >> let me go back to immigration. moments before you walked out here, sir, mitch mcconnell and i quote, that if you use your executive authority to legalize a certain number of millions of undocumented workers it would poison the well and like waving a red flag in front of a bull.

do you not believe that's the considered opinion and do you also not believe what they have said in the aftermath of last night's results that the verdict by voters should stop you or should prevent you from taking this action because it was a sub text in many of the campaigns? let me ask you a couple of specifics, republicans haven't made a mystery of things to intend to say. >> do i have to write these down? >> you're familiar with these. >> but i -- you know -- >> keystone xl pipeline, legislation on that. they will ask you to repeal the medical device tax as part of a funding device and would like to repatriate by reforming the corporate tax cut without touching the individual tax code. are any of those three lines you cannot cross and what you perceive to be republican attitudes about immigration? >> all right. i think, major, that i answered the question on immigration.

i had no doubt that there will be some republicans who are angered or frustrated by any executive action i may take. those are folks -- i just have to say, who are also deeply opposed to immigration reform. in any form. and blocked the house from being able to pass a bipartisan bill. i have said before that i actually believe that john boehner's sincere about wanting to get immigration reform passed which is why for a year i held off taking any action beyond what we'd already done for the so-called dream kids. and did everything i could to give him space and room to get

something done. and what i also said at the time was if, in fact, congress, if this congress could not get something done, i would take further executive actions in order to make the system work better understanding that any bill that they pass will supplant the executive actions that i take. so, i just want to re-emphasize this, major. if, in fact, there's a great eagerness on the part of republicans to tackle a broken immigration system then they have every opportunity to do it. my executive actions not only do not prevent them from passing a law that supercedes those actions but should be a spur for them to try to get something done. aen. >> and i'm prepared to engage

them with their ideas every step of the way. i think we should have further broad-based debate among the american people. as i've said before, i do think that the episode with the unaccompanied children changed a lot of attitudes. i think what may also change a lot of attitudes is when the public realizes that's temporary and isolated event and we have fewer ill liegal immigrants com in today than five, ten or 20 years ago and what we also have is a system that is not serving our economy well. so -- >> republicans that say the election was a referendum at least in part on your intentions to use executive authority for immigration. >> as i said before, i don't want to try to read the tea leaves on election results. what i am going to try to do is as president is to make sure that i'm advancing what i think is best for the country.

and here's an opportunity where i can use my administrative authorities, executive authorities and lawfully try to make improvements on the existing system understanding that that's not going to fix the entire problem and much better off passing a comprehensive bill. an i'd hope that the republicans really want do get it passed. if they do, they're going to have a lot of cooperation from me. so let me just tick off -- on keystone, there's an independent process. it's moving forward. and the -- i'm going to let that process play out. i have given some parameters in terms of how i think about it. ultimately, is this good for the american people, is it good for the pocketbook? will it actually create jobs and reduce gas prices coming down? and is it going to be on net something that doesn't increase climate change that we have to grapple with? there's a pending case before

nebraska judge about some of the citing, the process is moving forward. and i'm just going to gather up the facts. i will note while this debate about canadian oil has been raging, keep in mind this is canadian oil, this is not u.s. oil, while that debate has been raging, we have seen some of the biggest increases in american oil production and american natural gas production in our history. we are closer to energy independence than we have ever been before or at least as we've been in decades. we're -- we are importing less foreign oil than we produce for the first time in a very long time. we've got 100-year supply of natural gas that if we responsibly tap puts us in the strongest position when it comes to energy of any industrialized country around the world.

if you -- when i travel to asia or i travel to europe, their biggest envy is the incredible homegrown u.s. energy production that's producing jobs and attracting manufacturing because locating here means you have got lower energy costs. so our energy sector is booming. and i'm happy to engage republicans with additional ideas for how we can enhance that. the clean energy production is booming, as well. and so, keystone, i just consider as one small aspect of a broader trend that's really positive for the american people. and let's see. see? okay. medical device tax. you know, i've already answered the question. we are going to take a look at whatever ideas -- let me take a look comprehensively at the ideas that they present. let's give them time to tell me.

i'd rather hear it from them than you. major -- >> i'm telling you what they said. >> conceivably i could cancel my meeting on friday because i've heard everything from you. i think i'd rather let mitch mcconnell -- >> a line you couldn't cross. >> and we'll have a conversation with them on that. on repatriation i said in my opening remarks that there is an opportunity for us to do a tax reform package that is good for business, good for jobs and can potentially finance infrastructure development here in the united states. now the devil's in the details so i think conceptually it's something where we may have some overlap and i'm very interested in pursuing ideas that can put folks to work right now on roads and bridges and waterways and ports and a better air traffic

control system. if we had one, by the way, we could reduce delays by about 30%, reduce fuel costs for airlines by about 30% and hopefully that'd translate into cheaper airline tickets and i know everybody's be interested in. there's work to do on the infrastructure. this may be one mechanism that republicans are comfortable in financing those kinds of efforts. so, that will be part of the discussion that i think we're prepared for on friday and then in the weeks to come leading into the new congress. whew. major, major, works me, man. jim acosta? >> thank you, mr. president. i know you don't want to read the tea leaves but it is a fact that your party rejected you in these midterms. by and large they did not want you out on the campaign trail in these key battleground states. how do you account for that? the aides said that this is the fourth quarter of your

administration. but i don't know if you saw the morning talk shows but there were several potential candidates for 2016 out there already. is the clock ticking? are you running out of time? how much time do you have left? what do you make of the notion you're now a lame duck? >> well, traditionally after the last midterm of the two-term presidency, since i can't run again, that's the label that you guys apply. here's what i tell my team. i told them this last week and i told them this this morning. we had this incredible privilege of being in charge of the most important organization on earth. the u.s. government and our military and everything that we do for good around the world. and there's lot of work to be

done. to make government work better, to make americans safer. to make opportunity available to more people. for us to be able to have a positive influence in every corner of the globe. the way we're doing right now in west africa. and i'm going to squeeze every last little bit of opportunity to help make this a world a better place over the last two years. and some of that is going to be what we can do administratively. and, you know, simple things like how do we make customer service better in every agency. are there things to do to streamline, you know, how, you know, our veterans access care? are there better ways that we can make businesses understand

the program that is are available to them to promote their business or exports? so there's a whole bunch of stuff to do on that front. and as i said before, there's going to be opportunities to work with democrats and republicans on capitol hill to get laws done. and, you know, if you look at the history of almost every president, those last two years all kinds of stuff happens. in some cases stuff that we couldn't predict. so, one thing i'm pretty confident about, jim, is i'm going to be busy for the next two years and the one thing that i want the american people to be confident about is that every day i'm going to be filling up my time trying to figure out how i can make their lives better. and if i'm doing that, at the end of my presidency, i'll say, we played that fourth quarter well and we played the game well. and the only difference between i guess basketball and politics

is that the only score that matters is how'd somebody else do, not how you did. that's the score i'm keeping. can i look back and say more people working? are their bank accounts better? are more kids going to college? is housing improved? is the financial system more stable? are younger kids getting a better education? do we have greater energy independence? is the environment cleaner? have we done something about climate change? have we, you know, dealt with an ongoing terrorist threat and helped to bring stability around the word? every day i have an opportunity to make a difference on those fronts. >> you are not satisfied where you are now? >> absolutely not. i wouldn't be satisfied as long as i'm meeting somebody who

has -- doesn't have a job and wants one. i'm not going to be satisfied as long as there's a kid that writes me a letter an says i got $60,000 worth of debt and i don't know how to pay it back. and the american people aren't satisfied, so, you know, i want to do everything i can do to deliver for them. >> how about democrats, the fact that they kept you out of the battleground states? bug you a little bit? >> listen. as i think some of you saw, i love campaigning. i love talking to ordinary people. i love listening to their stories. i love shaking hands and getting hugs and just seeing the process of democracy and citizenship. manifest itself during an election. but i'm also a practical guy and ultimately every candidate out there had to make their own

decisions of what they thought would be most helpful for them. and, you know, i wanted to make sure that i'm respectful of their particular region, their particular state or congressional district and if it was more helpful for them for me to be behind the scenes, i'm happy to do it. i don't have -- >> [ inaudible ] >> i'll let other people analyze that but what i will emphasize is that one of the nice things of being in your sixth year of your presidency you have seen a lot of ups and downs and gotten more than your fair share of attention. and, you know, i have had the limelight and i have -- there have been times where the request for my appearances were endless. there have been times where politically we were down. and it all kind of evens out.

which is why what's most important i think is keeping your eye on the ball and that is actually getting some good done. scott horsley, last question? >> thank you, mr. president. you mentioned that where your policies actually were on the ballot they often did better than members of your party. >> why. >> does that signal some shortcoming on your part or the party's part in framing this election and commune katding to the american people what it is that democrats stand for? >> you know, i do think that, you know, one area where i know we're constantly experimenting and trying to do better is just making sure that people know exactly what it is that we're trying to accomplish and what we have accomplished. and clearer ways that people can -- that understand how it

affects them. and, you know, i think the minimum wage, i talked about it on the campaign trail but, you know, i'm not sure it penetrated well enough. to make a difference. part of what i also think we've got to look at is the two thirds of people who are eligible to vote and just didn't vote. one of the things that i'm very proud of in 2008 and 2012 when i ran for office was we got people involved who hadn't been involved before. we got folks to vote who hadn't voted before, particularly young people. and that was part of the promise and the excitement was if you get involved, if you participate, if you embrace that

sense of citizenship then things change. and not just in abstract ways but concrete ways. somebody gets an i don't know that didn't have it before. somebody gets health care that didn't have it before and a student goes to college who couldn't afford it before. and stu staining that, especially in midterm elections has proven difficult. sustaining that sense of, if you get involved, you know, then -- and if you vote, then there's going to be big change out there. and partly i think when they look at washington they say, nothing's working, not making a difference and there's just a constant slew of bad news coming over the tv screen, then you can understand how folks would get discourag discouraged. but it's my job to figure this

out. as best i can. and if the way we are talking about issues isn't working, then i'm going to try some different things. if the ways that we're approaching the republicans in congress isn't working, you know, i'm going to try different things, whether it's having a drink with mitch mcconnell or letting john boehner beat me again at golf or, you know, or weekly press conferences. i don't know if that will be effective but, you know, whatever -- whatever i think might make a difference in this, you know, i'm going to be trying out. up until my last day in office. but i'll close with what i said in my opening statement. i am really optimistic about america.

i know that runs counter to the current mood. but when you look at the facts, our economy is stronger than just about anybody's. our energy production is better than just about anybody's. we've slashed our deficit by more than half. more people have health insurance. our businesses have the strongest balance sheets that they have had in decades. our young people are just incredibly talented and gifted and more of them are graduating from high school and more of them are going on to college and more women are getting degrees and entering into the workforce. and part of the reason i love campaigning is you travel around the country. folks are just good. they're smart and they're hard working and they're not always paying a lot of attention to

washington and some cases they have given up on washington but their impulses are not sharply partisan and their impulses are not ideological. they're really practical, good, generous people. so we continue to be a magnet for the best and brightest from all around the world. we have all the best cards relative to every other country on earth. our armed forces, you talk to them. you know, i had a chance this morning to just call some of the -- our health service that's operating in liberia and the amount of hope and professionalism that they have brought has galvanized the entire country and they have built a platform for other countries suddenly to start coming in and seeing real progress in fighting the disease in a country that just a month or a month and a half ago was desperate and had no hope. so all that makes me optimistic.

and my job over the next couple of years is to do some practical concrete things as much as possible with congress and where it's not possible with congress, on my own. to show people why we should be confident. and to give people a sense of progress and a sense of hope. that doesn't mean there aren't going to be ongoing nagging problem that is are stubborn and can't be solved overnight and despite economic growth, wages and income have still not gone up and that's a long-term trend we have seen for ten, 20, 30 years. and it makes people worried about not just their own situation but whether their kids are doing better than they did which is the essence of the american dream. i think there's some concrete things we can do to make sure that wages and incomes do go up. minimum wage in those five states was a good start but i

think more than anything what i want to communicate over these next two years is promise and possibility of america. this is just an extraordinary country. and our democracy is messy an we're diverse and big and sometimes you are a politician and disappointed with election results. but maybe i'm just getting older. i don't know. it doesn't make me mopey. it energizes me because it means that this democracy is working and people in america were restless and impatient and we want to get things done and even when things are going well we want them to go better and that's why this is the greatest country on earth. that's why i'm so privileged to have a chance to be president for the next couple of years. all right? thank you, everybody.

>> and president obama wrapping up his news conference there. a lengthy one. more than an hour. reacting to the democrats defeat last night. governorships across the country and john harwood will join us shortly with his reaction. john, if you're there, what was your thought, john, what stood out to you about this press conference? >> reporter: the president was convinced not to give us a drubing or shelacking to describe what happened to his party. reporters pressed him. he didn't want to play that game. he talked about hoping to work with republican leaders, mitch mcconnell, john boehner, both of whom he has spoken to about trade, infrastructure, perhaps tax reformt. i must say, i didn't detect an overwhelming expectation on his part that that will actually happen. he talked about being determined to move ahead on unilateral

action on immigration which is something he pledged to do before and mostly said at the end of the news conference, i won't be mopey about it. disappointing but optimistic. there's things to do on my own and i'll send that message and i think that's what he did and also noting the stagnation of incomes that have left people in such a bad mood. >> john, stay right there if you would. joining us for more is larry kudlow and jared bernstein. welcome to "closing bell," by the way. the markets going out at the all-time highs and we are joined around the panel by susan ox and james pathacucos in the house and sharon epperson. larry, what did you make of this press conference? >> number one, the length and probably destroy cable television news and nobody

batched it. more serious vein, i don't think the president recognizes or wishes to admit that the votes yesterday were for a change in direction of economic policy, of health care policy, immigration policy, of all the policy. i don't think he understands that and i also think even though i'm an immigration reform guy, if it's done right, if he goes ahead and uses executive action to legalize and deport and whatever, he is going to create such a rat's nest of arguments and screaming. it will block out any hope of any deals and he knows that. he knows this. >> we heard that, jared. >> less than a third of americans want a change. right? two thirds of americans didn't turn out to vote. those that voted many of them wanted the change and many americans so disaffected and so underpaid, so overwhelmed by debt and all the -- they're not even voting. >> what does that tell you?

>> that's the silent majority theory. >> take that point. what does that tell you? >> the fact they're unhappy they have seen the gridlock and don't want either one. >> jared, what do you think? >> well, i don't agree with larry. i don't think that the president either signaled today or should signal that he's going to change course in some very massive way. i mean, certainly, the senate is still closely divided. i mean, the republicans now control it but, you know, that doesn't change all that much. i think what's interesting and important here is less issues of is he going to, you know, allow the repeal of obamacare. of course he's not. if they don't act with him on immigration, he will act himself. you can count on it. when's important here are some of the ideas he put forth to work together on and the one thing to think larry and others and maybe jimmy take interest in

is corporate tax reform and some of proceeds used for infrastructure nfinvestment. there's a lot between here and there and something that could maybe sort of somehow be on the table. >> that's encouraged. >> jared, do you think we'll get meaningful corporate tax reform? they can't agree on the appropriate baseline and whether it's revenue neutral and feels like they're far apart and even agreeing on the loophole here and there. >> no. first of all, it's a great point. i don't think they're philosophically that far apart or in terms of points to bring it down. people have to realize, it's not democrats or republicans or me or larry blocking corporate tax reform. it is the actual industries that are hurt by it. when you broaden the base, which has to be part of it, somebody's a loser. that's where the blockage comes from. >> jared, my friend, jared? >> make that work. >> jared, my friend --

broadening the base doesn't have to be a loser, jimmy p., if you lower the rates sufficiently. i think that mr. obama wants to use corporate tax reform to raise a trillion dollars to finance more spending. >> i think he just said that. >> yeah. he and simpson bowles. >> has to be neutral. >> i'll jump into the middle of this. you are waiting so patiently and we have a barrage of corporate earnings that we must get to. we'll leave it right there for the time being. give everybody a break from politics. larry, jared, thank you so much. we'll shift gears to tesla and phil lebeau has the details. >> a profit of two cents a share for the third quarter. the street was expecting a loss of one cent per share. revenue coming in better than expected at $932 million. the street expecting $889 million. three headlines that tesla put out as reporting the earnings to

get a lot of attention and that's why the stock is all over the place. deliveries of 2014. tesla saying to deliver approximately 33,000 before the end of 2014. that's a little below what the street was expecting. previous guidance for 35,000 vehicles delivered and the company saying it is not demand constrained. constrained because of changes that have been made with the next generation or the newest version i should say of the model s. the all-wheel drive version and making the changes and in terms of hardware, production is going to be about 2,000 vehicles lighter than previous guidance. second headline, 2015 production, by the end of 2015, tesla expects weekly production to -- model x originally hoping to roll out in the first quarter of next year and then the second quarter. tesla says it is now pushing back deliveries of the first model x until the third quarter

of next year. so that's what we have on tesla. again, beat the street, kelly, with a profit of two cents per share. the street expecting a loss of a penny. back to you. >> thank you. let's get some more reaction of carter driscoll and john thompson. listen, carter, first to you. we heard from phil is basically tesla's going to deliver fewer cars this year, the model x isn't a reality until maybe later into next year and yet shares are up almost 3% after hours. why do you think that is? >> i think there's an expectation that the model x would be delayed by about a quarter. i think consistent with the company wanting to put the best product possible on the market. if you recall, the model s itself delayed over a year and i think the company is smart to put a luxury vehicle exceeding what people expect on the market on the time frame so it's not really surprising and i think baked into the stock. as far as the fourth quarter this year, again, i think it's right on what people are

expecting. somewhere near 35,000. they're not demand constrained. they're supply constrained and managing expectations at this point. >> you're sticking, john, carter, i'm sorry, to the $300 target here? >> and a buy on the stock, that's correct. >> john? >> you know, i don't think the stock's worth anywhere close to that. i think it's grossly overvalued. you know, company making 33,000 cars is worth half of ford motor company today. you know, you know, even though they beat it by a little bit this quarter, two cents is ridiculous and there's risk in the name and, you know, we're short the stock. we think it's going a lot lower. >> there's always risk, no doubt, with a company that is expecting to grow pretty rapidly in the future. the way we look at it is stocks for long term and we think that the production of a mass market

ev is really what the people that are long the stock are looking for and that's really the secret to tesla's driving down the battery price, the idea of the giga factory and the partnership of the number one battery oem in panasonic and takes time to play out and why we think people should be excited about it. >> those shares are up about 5% now. john, before you go, where do you think they're going if you're short here? >> yeah. i think over the next couple of years the stock will be, you know, 100 bucks a share or less. >> okay. >> i don't see how the stock can be trading this high relative to earnings. >> carter, john, thank you both this afternoon as we move very quickly through a lot of earnings. in fact, they keep coming. one of the big movers after hours is whole foods. in fact, they -- shares whacked last quarter and looks like they were on the rebound.

courtney reagan has the news for us. >> 35 cents, estimates for 32 cents. the revenue coming in right in line at $3.26 billion. fourth quarter same store sales of 3.1% and what the street was expecting but the company saying that the first quarter same store sales so far, the quarter you're in, trending up 4.6%. the street is calling for an increase of 3.8% for the entire quarter and very good news in the quarter currently. the company also guiding for the full fiscal year 2015 for same store sales to improve by low to mid-single digits. also upping the dividend to 13 cents. back the you. >> all right. thank you. and those shares up 7.5% after hours. what about cbs? those results now with julia boorstin. >> earnings and revenue slighter better than expected, adjusted earnings of 74 cents a share. a penny better than projections. revenue at $3.37 billion.

upside from strength in television licensing both in the u.s. and overseas and 4% increase in revenue as well as the 2% increase in advertising thanks in part to political ads. back over to you. >> okay. appreciate it very much. be sure to tune in tomorrow at 9:00 a.m., cbs ceo les moonves discussing the media giant's earnings here on cnbc. and qualcomm's quarterly results also released this hour. josh lipton with the details now for us. josh? >> kelly, qualcomm reporting and disappointing. reporting $1.26 on 6.69 billion. the street wanted to $1.31. that's a miss on the bottom and top. shipments of chips, 236 million and misses forecasts. on this call, expect the analysts to have questions of china in particular.

qualcomm facing challenges there. chinese handset makers that use the technology not paying royalties to qualcomm or underreporting the number of phones they're selling. separately you have the chinese government investigating qualcomm under the country's anti-monopoly law and expect questions on that at 4:45 eastern. back to you. >> this is certainly going to be one to watch, josh. thank you very much. down almost 6% after hours. republicans still celebrating their takeover of congress today. the biggest winner could be investors. stocks historically soar double digit no matter who wins. and the markets may love the midterms but we'll hear from somebody saying that the election results will destroy the economy. that's coming up. stamps.com is the best.

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and he went all the way back to 1946. there have been 17 midterm election years prior to this one and the average return for the s&p 500 between october, the end of october of a midterm election year, and a year out is about 17.5%. that's staggering. on average, the s&p returns 17.5% in the year following this midterm election. october to objection. when's even more staggering, though, is how many times it's been positive. all 17. not once since 1946 has the 12-month period between october of a midterm election year and october the next year yielded anything but a positive return. the worst year was the 1986-'87 midterm election year and, of course, that included the black monday stock market drop in 1987 and yet still turned out a positive 3% gain. so for a lot of investors we always caveat the fact that past performance does not dictate or

predict future performance but the bullish optimist in this market will point to 70 years of returns and say that midterm elections are a good time to at least dip your toes into buying the market, kelly. back over to you. >> dom, thank you very much. joining us now for more is jeff cox, out in denver for the schwab impact conference, we should add. welcome, jeff. you heard dom's report. so what do we people say out there about the prospects of investing? >> tremendous amount of enthusiasm out here, kelly. folks looking forward to not just the market up and down and where are the opportunities going to be. one little interesting piece of trivia that liz ann saunders pointed last year. the market never had a down year ending in a 5. a couple of quick points -- >> no. i don't like this newseumeroolo. may be true but i don't think

you can hang your hat on it. >> no. here a couple of things to hang our hat on, kelly the market looks at the republicans going to do tax reform's the big one there. number two thing is going to be fight for the heart and soul of the republican party. which wing wins? does the tea party wing or does the more pragmatic wing win? watch hillary clinton. does she continue this populous tint of hers with the remarks of how businesses don't create jobs that kind of thing? i think overall the market's -- the momentum clearly on the mrkt's side. >> momentum is especially strong thinking about the individual investors and the opportunities they have and may not have seen just a few weeks ago talking about trading in and out of the 401(k) worried about the s&p slides on the certain days and moving from equities to fixed income and now the reports that they may not have paid attention

to and many institutionalizat a investors knew and seeing april to october we see lights of the market so investors need to stay the course and that's not what many of them were doing in earlier october. >> if i thought this was a real thing, i would expect that some point it to be arbitraged awe. >> priced in, exactly. >> it's a certainty. it's about certainty. >> the year 5 thing? that's will with the hem lines and super bowls. i'm not sure that's investable advice. >> i think there's -- year 5 after elections so that's something to consider. >> i think there's an issue around certainty and we know the markets like certainty above everything and an age of nearly per pepetual and then the start gun of 2016 went off yesterday and a little bit of a sense of what will go on.

i don't think that this is a rally on, oh, we are going do get this, you know, tremendous pieces of legislation that are pro business and not getting a lot out of this congress. >> maybe investors should be looking ahead to the third year of the presidential term because bob dolnavine says that's the strongest period in that cycle and the bottom line is that looking at all of these things as you said, jim, that is not the way to invest your money. figure out what to do with it longer term. >> jeff, what are people saying about the fundamentals? susan's point here. are there changes now on the back of these elections going to be bullish for the stock market? >> well, i think it goes to that certainty issue that, you know, the market can adapt. companies can adapt. they have to know what they adapt to. i think the market has confidence that there will be a level of corporate tax change and seeing some reform there and

the republicans nibble around the edges of obamacare and not try to overturn it completely and an issue of, you know, tell us what it's going to be like. don't give us an uncertainty and why you see things like the third year of presidential election years, the five factor. because the markets have more certainty in those years about what they're facing. >> well, i think actually that has something to do with the administration sort of tacetly encouraging fis kathie lee and monetary policy towards -- how would you put it, jim? policies that enhance growth so when their re-election comes around it's good for them. >> i hate to use the word stimulative. something like that. a little bit of -- juice it. juice it. >> exactly. jeff, thank you. good to see you this afternoon. >> absolutely. >> news corp.s earnings are out. hi, yulia. >> hi, kelly. the earnings beating expectations by a factor of three times. the company reporting adjusted earnings of nine cents a share

compared to expectations of three cents per share. revenue of $2.1 billion ahead of $2.9 billion in revenue and saying that digital offerings are expanding and looking at the most striking improvements here, we saw that the company's ebitda of digital entertainment segment, the loss was half as much this quarter as it was a year ago. also strength in growth in digital education and real estate services, as well. >> all right. julia, thank you. look at the shares moving up. record highs here but the next guest says that the big gop win is a disaster for the economy. yes, the nation's katrina van der hovevel and voters approving the recreational use of marijuana. kate rogers looks at the impact on jobs and taxes coming up on

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welcome back. still the debate continues. will the republican win last night be a good thing for the stock market longer term? we want to hear from you on this issue. go to cnbc.com/vote to weigh in. at least one washington watcher believes this is a disaster for the economy. she joins us with the panel. >> thank you. >> what is your main concern about this republican control of congress? >> my main concern is i think the election is about frustration of the recovery that many haven't enjoyed. workers have had stagnant wages for nearly 40 years when the income growth of 2008 have gone to the top 1% and now having a congress that will be open season, big banks, big oil companies run of the place and what we really need is an enormous investment in infrastructure and job creation,

even minimum wage hikes very popular last night, kelly, four red states may not do it. look at the world. growth and demand are the key things and growth is declining in the eurozone and china. how does either party perhaps with the structural problems help a 'n embattled middle clas? these are the central tasks of america to be exceptional and i don't think the republican party has any clue what to do. and too many in the democratic party aren't willing to really double down and confront these facts. >> katrina, to that exact point, do you really think there's going to be a lot of change coming in this next congress and the next two years? as you pointed out, minimum wage is incredibly popular. a lot of commentators says this is a wave election and not a mandate election and not coming out in supportive of republican

policy. marijuana use becoming legal. you know, all of these things are strongholds of sort of democratic policies with minimum wage and doesn't seem like there's popular ground swell for a lot of what republicans are proposing. do you think they'll be trying to drive the change you're talking about? >> you're right. this was not a mandate election and i would point out also a lot of republicans did what i would call etch-a-sketch politics. dialing back on the let's cut social security and medicare or even on their points about contraception and on the economy, a lot of republicans realized how popular these programs were and hunkered down. so i think you could see, though, in congress a gutting of dodd-frank, very few spoke out, republicans and democrats, holding big banks accountable the people. >> jimmy p., has your head exploded yet? >> there's a -- talking about

the dissidence. maybe the thing is they want a higher minimum wage and, gosh, maybe they like more pre-school funding and don't believe eater is enough to shake us off the new normal and they think they're great and don't believe that's enough. that's like the center left agenda, not nearly enough for an economy growing at about 1% since about 2000. they don't think those -- if i could finish my point, they don't feel they're big enough. what will minimum wage and pre-k do to the huge decline of u.s. start-ups over past 15, 30 years and decline in innovation? >> wait a minute. >> that drives growth and what we don't have a solution for. >> i'm on cnbc, i understand. but what pre-k and -- >> paul krugman. >> improve the condition of people's lives and i think politics does that. >> and it's a healing power of and. >> you know what? i agree with you. i just began by saying there are extraordinary structural problems but you got to begin

somewhere but is either party willing to grapple with the enormous inequality we confront and require not just governmental intervention but corporate thinking about sustainability, can corporations the way they're operating be sustainable in this environment of inequality when the ratio of ceo pay to workers used to be 25 to 1 in the '50s and now like 350 to 1 or 400 to 1. that's not about american values as i understand them. i'm not talking about level playing field. i'm talking about a measure of fairness and ending the rules shafting too few. >> it's a big reason i think people didn't come out to vote at all when you talk about people who are working and barely making a wage that they feel is livable. and you ask them, why aren't you going to the polls it's almost 6:00 like i did, many people i confronted last night, they were like why? when's the change today in my

life? i think both parties have to understand how to talk to those people to see more of an interest in the political fabric of our country. >> hang on. >> only two thirds of people not voting. >> young people in particular. >> they offered, you know, obama's terrible. what they need to offer now is a pro-growth agenda and a pro-middle class yaend that deals with the every day problems of people's lives. not necessarily -- like a balanced budget amendment. might be a great idea. how does that help my kid go to college? if i'm a parent, how's that help me raise my kids? that's the kind of agenda, not a katrina's agenda but they're going to come up with an agenda and going toward the middle class. if not, it's a short election win. >> that's the word to leave it on. katrina, thank you for being here. appreciate it. >> thank you. >> we have been asking the viewer wills the gop win be good for the stock market? looks like as the poll closed about 55% think so.

so pretty split. voters giving recreational marijuana the thumbs up in alaska, washington and oregon. we'll get the details on how pot has the states seeing green? dominic chu rounding up the big movers and what you are watching tomorrow when "closing bell" comes right back. stay tuned. ♪ there's confidence... then there's trusting your vehicle maintenance to ford service confidence. our expertise, technology, and high quality parts means your peace of mind. it's no wonder last year we sold over three million tires. and during the big tire event, get up to $140 in mail-in rebates on four select tires. ♪ no question about that. but your erectile dysfunction -

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welcome back. voters in washington, d.c., alaska and oregon voted to allow recreational marijuana. kate rogers joining us with the details and to affect small business owners. welcome. >> thank you. pot may be turning into the biggest small business opportunity out there. after tuesday's midterms, alaska, oregon washington, d.c., soon joined colorado and washington state in legalizing recreational pot usage and that is a wide open opportunity for entremendous prix neuros because big companies want anything to do with a drug that the federal government considers illegal. start-ups are duelling it. in 2014, the legal and wholesale industry at 2.6 billion. that's expected to top $10 billion in the next 4 years. according to the art view group and before the new states joined on. colorado, the first state to implement recreational

legalization brought in $10 million in tax revenue and created jobs. five states will have marijuana initiatives on the ballot in 2016, they'll be continuing the legalization trend nationwide and while setting up shop isn't easy with the regulatory hurdles and tax issues, small business owners tell me it's well worth the head aches. >> so some big moves. what do you make of this? i mean, is this -- is there a lot more to come and really going to be a huge economic engine of growth or regret the whole thing? >> looking at the money behind it, you see more interest behind it and as the small business owners tell you, there's a lot of money to be made and we are seeing venture capitalists in these companies focused on marijuana and a lot of interest here. >> well, if you're just going macro for a second, this can't be good for labor force participation. that's my concern. >> maybe it's solved.

outside the labor force. >> i think that there are -- as we gets more states to legalize on their own and seeing regulation on the federal level and talking about standardizing potency, safety issues, you know, governor of colorado said, you know, colorado was reckless to legalize marijuana so i think the regulation trend is moving in the wrong direction for small businesses probably. >> well some people within the industry said they wouldn't be interested to see president obama deskrel this before leaving office and questionable for the legacy and people are talking about this. >> deschedule, what would that mean for fepeople on the state level? >> on the state level you can get in trouble because it's illegal under the federal government. it's questionable and a hot topic. people may not go for that. >> that's right. coming to colorado, as mentioned, perhaps there might be some growth in the industry, precisely over these legislations and regulations.

kate, thank you for being here. >> thank you. up next, dominic chu recap the big earnings and then tomorrow finding out if orbitz earnings out of this world. we'll be right back.

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welcome back. earnings are fast and furious after the bell. let's check back in with dominic chu on the movers. >> absolutely. let's start with tesla. posting a two cent earnings per share number. they were expecting a penny per share loss. deliveries for 2013 a little bit below what wall street was expecting. they expected to produce 2,000 vehicles by the end of 2015. finally model x deliveries will be pushed back to the third quarter of next year. the stock is -- by 7%. then there's cbs on the media side of things. they came in with 74 cents a

share. cbs shares you can see they're up by 3%. own the news side, newscorp. will end on the technology side with qualcomm. you can see those shares down by 6.25%. that's a mouthful of earnings on the day so far. so i've got them in my head right now. >> great work as always. our tireless dominic chu at headquarters gives you a sense of what to watch more tomorrow. more with the panel when we come right back. ♪

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welcome back. time for some final thoughts. should we begin by just what happened we the midterms and policy implications? >> my first paying journalism job was covering the stock market and i was always told gridlock is good. i do not believe that is true any longer. >> you said you think the gop needs to work on a message to

deliver to the average american. what could they come out and say here's what we're doing for you, america. >> i would expand the child tax credit for families. they haven't had a raise in a long time. there are a lot of ideas. it's not going to be exactly what obama wanted, but those sort of bread and butter kitchen table issues, that's the focus. guess what, those are also good for growth in the long-term as well. >> what do you focus on, sharon? >> i think we're going to be focused on these elections for a few more hours and then people will be like what's the job picture like? we're going to get to friday and that's what the markets are going to focus on. where the jobs are, why don't i have a better one. and once that problem is solved, then people will be more engaged in the political fabric of this country. >> we are starting to see some of the right moves. even the private sector gauge, was that just this morning? can't keep the days straight. 230,000, right? so now the government sector isn't weighing on the line anymore.

it's the part-time stuff to watch. >> deutsche bank just came out today, with quality jobs. great middle class jobs we're missing. >> to jim's earlier point, nobody's talking about education. that wasn't anywhere in this campaign this year. all i kept hearing was are we going to repeal obama care and dodd-frank. dodd-frank is not getting repealed. the guy who's going to come in and is likely to be the chairman of the senate banking committee richard shelby is no huge fan of the banks. >> no. >> he voted against the bailout. he voted against in the late '90s the repeal of eagle. he said why haven't any bankers gone to jail. so the most that they're going to do is do bouts in terms of the regulatory requirements. and potentially change the cfpb had commission structure from a director structure. which frankly is not going to have much difference in terms of

what policy outcomes you get. >> the megabanks are not like a group of friends are coming. that's not the case. bipartisanship dramatically raising capital. that movement broadly put is breaking up the banks that is not going away. and with shelby running that, it's not going away. >> one more thing. does that hold implication -- at the same time they can seem to agree is more still needs to be done about the banks. at the same time this is still the mechanism for monetary policy, getting loans to people. there's attention there. is there -- what do they do if they want to have the best outcome for people who maybe have demand for credit? you know what i'm getting at? >> it would be to avoid another financial crisis that's cost us $15 trillion and that total is running up. that would be a fantastic thing. >> and a stronger economy is always going to lift that up. people say i don't want to lend because they're not good enough

credit. >> we need the rising boat. thank you all for being here. really appreciate it. "fast money" is coming up with melissa lee. >> we have an exclusive with the ceo who a lot of people in wall street say his time might be running out. >> great stuff. straight over to you guys. >> thanks a lot. "fast money" starts right now. live from the nasdaq markets i'm melissa lee. tim seymour, dan nathan, and guy adami with me. phil lebeau has the latest at headquarters. >> when tesla reported about an hour ago, a lot of attention on the fact it beat the street versus the estimate of a penny a share with revenue coming in stronger than expected. deliveries for the third quarter were roughly in line with expectations coming in at 77.85. what's interesting is when you look through their earnings report, their letter to investors, their guidance for the fourth quarter comes in at