years. president barack obama wins re-electi re-election. in the end it wasn't even close. >> you made your voice heard. and you made a difference. >> with a gracious concession, republican challenger mitt romney made a humble request of both parties. >> to put the people before the politics. >> no republican has ever won the white house without ohio. >> in the end the battleground state of ohio put the election out of reach. >> the president of the united states defeats mitt romney. >> but the nation remains a house divided as the balance of power holds firm on capitol hill, a call for unity. >> we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. we are and forever will be the united states of america. >> i'm soledad o'brien. >> this morning we have every issue covered. can the white house and congress work together to fix the economy? will the partisan gap now close?

with the empire state building bathed in blue light, this much is clear. >> let the world know that 11:18 pm on the east coast of the united states, we projected this win, the re-election of barack obama for another four years. good morning. and welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm soledad o'brien. lots to talk about this morning including the winner. president obama re-elected. lots to talk about, including the electoral map. had to get to 270 votes. 303 for president obama. we're still waiting on the state of flchlt there was a victory speech and a concession spoech as well from governor romney. first, president obama's victory speech. >> our economy is recovering. a decade of war is ending. a long campaign is now over.

and whether i earned your vote or not, i have listened to you. i have learned from you and you have made me a better president. >> governor romney conceded late in the night around 1:30 in the morning. here is what he had to say. >> the nation, as you know, is at a critical point. at a time like this, we can't risk partisan bickering and political posturing. our citizens have to rise to the occasion. >> we have reporters covering this story coast to coast for us. john? >> as you mentioned, those speeches were well after 1:00 am on the east coast. in chicago, you can imagine the party probably went on all night long. my "early start" co-anchor zoraida sambolin is in her

hometown. probably some weary partiers wandering in at this very moment. >> reporter: good morning to you, john. there were people that came straight from mccormick place that had been up for 24 hours, trying to convince folks to vote for barack obama. the chicago sun times has no contest. and then in the chicago tribune, re-elected, swing states give obama a second term. the guy who actually delivered this paper, a black gentleman, he said the first time around he voted for barack obama simply because he was a black man. but he said this time around when he he went to the voting booth he went and voted for barack obama because he really thought he could change the economy and had done some great things for him. he had a small business and he ended up being able to find a job when his business went under with the chicago tribune. it was a union-paying job. his family is covered with health care. at the end of the day, he felt this was the right candidate for him, not just because he was a black man. there was a 67-year-old woman

who had been up more than 24 hours. she had traveled to wisconsin in order to personally convince people, going door to door, to vote for president obama. why? because she said she simply trusts him. she really believes he needs four more years to accomplish what he needs to accomplish. we ran into romney supporters, young people that were romney supporters as well. one guy in particular really stood out because he is a latino man. he said at the end of the day he felt a connection more to the republican party and that they would be able to move this country forward. when i pressed him as to why, what they could do in order to bring in more of the latino vote or support for the republican party, he said he really had had no idea. so, you know, some lukewarm support for president obama from some other folks this morning, saying we're just going to try four more years and see what happens. this is his adopted hometown. the support here really is

always going to be there for him. i have to tell you one last thing. last night i was trying to get some sleep because we were going to be here really early in the morning. the way that i knew president obama had been re-elected was because of the horns on the cars in this town. so everybody is celebrating this morning. john? >> all right, zoraida. thank you very much. i was in grant park four years ago with hundreds of thousands of people celebrating his victory then. there was more euphoria. last night there was more directed focus on the future, both from the crowd, as zoraida was saying, and from the president himself. that could be in large part because of the state of the economy, which voters said was the most important issue to them in the election. >> we asked people how the economy was important to them in the exit polls. the conventional wisdom had been this was the strong suit for mitt romney. i want to dig into the numbers. 38% of the people at the exit poll said unemployment was the most important issue to their family.

look at this. president obama won this category, which is a surprise. six months ago a lot of people thought if you thought somebody was going to create jobs it was going to be the businessman, right? nationwide, who would be better to handle the economy for you? pretty much a draw. also your family's financial situation, is it the same, is it worse, is it better? 41% said their situation is the same right now. of those 58% chose the president. one last issue to show you, who is more to blame for the current problems, barack obama or george w. bush? 53% said george w. bush. the vast majority of those went for barack obama. >> that is interesting. also when you talk about who would be better for the middle class, the president seemed to come on top consistently. >> that's right. >> christine romans, thank you very much. to senator dick durbin, majority leader.

nice to have you with us this morning. glenn thrush at politico wrote this, obama's victory seemed too narrow to grant him anything close to a mandate, much less the popular support needed to break the deadlock of washington partisanship as he promised during the campaign. what do you think of that? >> let me tell you why i think he's wrong. i believe for the american people the campaigns ended last night. the question is on capitol hill will the campaigns end today. we're going to wait to hear from speaker boehner, but the solution to america's problems regardless of who won last night was both parties on capitol hill working together. the republican senate leader started four years ago by saying our number one priority was to make sure last night never happened, obama was never re-elected, it really soured the relationship. we need a more positive outlook to solve our problems. >> he says, though, speaker

boehner, that the american people want solutions and then went on to talk about how republicans were re-elected to the house and that's an indication that they have as much of a mandate as president obama has, which reads to me as stalemate yet again. >> let me tell you why a stalemate is impossible. the cliff. dose december 31st. this was the worst outcome we could dream up. we voted for it. democrats and republicans voted for t why? so the super committee would do its work, but it failed. now we need something more than the super committee. we need to have democrats and republicans in the house and senate working with the president to avoid the cliff, reduce the deficit, cut spending and raise revenue so we can get our fiscal house in order. >> this is months and months of conversation. lay out the vision of what that looks like which, by the way, would be something that both sides agree to. what does it look like? >> simpson bowles. that's what it looks like.

11 of us, of the 18, voted for it, including all three republican senators, two with of the three democratic senators, myself and senator conrad. it really is the outline we need to follow. it puts everything on the table. it is balanced. it includes revenue. it really focuses on economic recovery. make sure this economy is really chugging forward. and then let's get serious about this deficit. but put it in writing. make it enforceable. >> there is a major gap if you look at the white vote between what governor romney got and what president obama got. how do you close that gap or does the democratic party become the party that minorities support and the republican party becomes the party that white people support? >> noch. you saw in states like ohio where white voters are much more closely aligned -- i should say closely voting. it wasn't a wide split. one of the issues governor romney had the most difficulty with when it came to white men

was his position on the auto industry bailout. there were too many jobs at stake for president obama to walk away. mr. romney said some things at the republican primary which were popular then. didn't work very well afterwards. here's what it boils down to. we are a diverse nation. we should be a nation where both political parties appeal to all of the people in this country. when the candidate for the republican party says i will veto the dream act, it is like a dagger to the heart of hispanic voters across america. if you can't help these kids find a legal place in america, then you really sour the relationship. >> dick durbin with us this morning. thanks for being with us. senator from illinois. >> thank you. a few challenges internationally in his first term. now what for president obama? woel talk with christiane amanpour about the next four years. that's straight ahead. >> we may have battled fiercely but it's only because we love this country deeply.

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>> digesting the fact that president obama has earned four more years. the news did not move the markets in any way, a slight uptick. it is the economy on the minds of many people here. japan is the third largest economy in the world and one of the united states biggest trading partners. >> in berlin, germany, i'm fred pleitgen. barack obama, according to early polls, would have gotten about 90% of the vote here in this country. nevertheless, there were a lot of newspapers that were quite unsure. look at this one, for instance, they had two front pages. if obama won, they had this one. if romney one, it would have been this one. >> some reaction from around the world this morning. it's proof that we were gloued to our television sets last night, watching the election returns. you can bet they were gloued at homes around the world as well, including the homes of world leaders. i'm joined now by cnn's

christiane amanpour. what are you hearing from these world leaders this morning? >> you can see from our reporters around the world how popular president obama is around the world. and he has been for a long, long time. in europe, particularly, and in so many other parts. although his popularity has plummeted somewhat in the muslim world. they like stability and continuity. they've had a relationship with president obama for the past four years. in so many of the tweeted congratulations of the official congratulations through official channels that they're very pleased to be able to continue working with him. i will say, however, that many observers did look very closely at mitt romney. they were looking for a pragmatic, economically successful businessman. but what so many were saying is that we just did not know which mitt romney would turn up if he was president. would it be hawkish mitt romney, who spoke very, very hard about russia, about china, about possibly another war in iran, or

would it be moderate and practici pragmatic mitt romney, who turned up in the foreign policy debate with barack obama? so a lot of uncertainty about what romney would have done in foreign policy. a lot of knowledge and certainty about what president obama brings to the table. >> one of the world leaders he has had the most complicated of relationships is israel's benjamin netanyahu. what kind of influence does president obama have over what happens in israel? >> well, john, in general, the american president has a huge role to play. because it's such a close relationship, as we all know. and israelis want to have a good relationship with the united states. to that end, one of the first congratulations that did come in was from the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. the strategic alliance is stronger than ever, said the prime minister. i'll continue to work with president obama in order to assure the interests that are vital to the security of both

citizens and both countries. so that's that. obviously, president obama has had a notoriously frosty personal relationship with the prime minister. but the relationship between israel and the united states is very solid. and there are very big issues ahead, not least what to do about iran. we talked about a lot of that over the months and years. will there be a renewed push for the israeli/palestinean peace process. >> are there areas you can see the u.s. taking new action? >> well, again, of course it wasn't a foreign policy election. and that is always so in american elections. and i think you are probably a little bit right there because it is a little status quo. if we've seen anything from both

president obama and, indeed, candidate mitt romney, there is a sense of retrenched america, a sense of america not wanting to project its power abroad. look, the wars are ending. that's a good thing. people are coming home. but also will america lead in some of the very tricky areas that still are out there? syria, we've been talking about for the last 20 months. both president obama and mitt romney said that assad has to go. if they don't do anything about that, it makes america look a little bit weak. i think that will be a big question. and what to do about iran, that will be a huge challenge and how to meet the challenge of a rising china, also going through its leadership change this week. >> always a treat to get to talk to you. great to see you this morning. what about the status quo on capitol hill? both the house and the senate maintain the republican and democratic majorities, respectively. what does it mean for the president's ability to govern going into a second term? [ woman ] it's 32 minutes to go time,

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♪ >> big celebrations in chicago. meanwhile, here in washington, things feel a lot the same today. that's because they are. kind of status quo in congress. i'm here with dana bash for a balance of power. >> let's start off with the house. boy, status quo. republicans have 231, democrats have 190 at this point. those white seats in the middle. it's pretty clear there are still many outstanding races we're still watching. let's now take a look at the

senate. this is where the real drama was last night. democrats again retain control with 51, plus two dependents. republicans have 45. let's walk over here. this is really fascinating. already what time is it? 8:30 eastern almost? we still have two montana, this was a nail biter. it really is till the very end. democrat incumbent jon tester not sure if he will win against his challenger denny rehberg. and this open seat in north dakota. >> rick berg was the dream candidate for republican. what are you hearing? >> i'm hearing from democratic sources they believe it's inis your mountable for him. we're not calling it. he might have been the dream candidate for republicans but for north dakota so is she. she virtually ran against president obama. >> a big, big win for the

democrats. soledad? we'll look closer at that one state that hasn't been called. that is because they have stopped counting the ballots. that is the state of florida. [ male announcer ] whether it's kevin's smartphone... ♪ ...mom's smartphone... dad's tablet... or lauren's smartphone... at&t has a plan built to help make families' lives easier. introducing at&t mobile share. one plan lets you share data on up to 10 devices with unlimited talk and text. add a tablet for only $10 per month. at&t. add a tablet for only $10 per month.

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welcome, everybody. we welcome our viewers in the united states and all around the world. i'm soledad o'brien. we have a winner and it is president barack obama who has been re-elected. take a look at our electoral map. it's been a long day. let's get right to the electoral map. if you look to the senate for the balance of power, 51 democrat, 45 republican. here is how it sounded last night when the president did his acceptance speech. >> i believe we can seize this future together.

because we are not as divided as our politics suggest. we're not as cynical as the pundits believe. we are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. we are and forever will be the united states of america. and together, with your help and god's grace, we will continue our journey forward and remind the world just why it is that we live in the greatest nation on earth. >> it took a little while before governor romney came out and gave his concession speech. they were still crunching the numbers, looking at the state of ohio. when he did come out, he was very gracious in what he had to say. listen. >> i so wish that i had been able to fulfill your hopes to lead the country in a different direction. but the nation chose another leader and so ann and i join with you to earnestly pray for him and for this great nation. >> we're expecting the markets

to open in the next hour. alison kosik joins us. good morning. >> good morning, soledad. >> what are you predicting? >> expected sell-off at the open in an hour. futures are down. a big part of the decline is actually coming from comments from ecb president. what he said is turning the markets into the red. he said that the euro crisis is beginning to affect germany's economy and the problem here is because germany is really the checkbook that's holding up all the other european economies that are having trouble right now and germany's economy is starting to suffer. but the election is still in focus here on wall street, all eyes focusing on the fiscal cliff. congress has 55 days to come to a deal on tax increases and federal spending cuts. ratings agency also sent the first warning shot, saying they'll downgrade the u.s. credit rating if we go off that fiscal cliff. analysts are saying president

obama, you don't have time to celebrate. congress, you, president obama have to deal with this fiscal cliff in the coming weeks. if we do fall off that cliff, the country would go back into a recession, cause unemployment rate to jump. one analyst telling me this morning, soledad, if there's no resolution on this fiscal cliff, stocks will plummet and the economy will drowned in quicksand. >> that's just doom and gloom. alison kosik for us this morning. thank you for that update. we want to take you no you to miami, florida. still a state in yellow. we have not yet projected florida. ashleigh banfield is there. you were dealing with long lines yesterday. today there's a hold up. what's the hold up, ashleigh? >> well, soledad, it wouldn't be florida if there wasn't a hold up. you're right. and the hold up is the counting, unfortunately. what a strange notion. what do you do in florida when you wake up in the morning and you know that your state is the only state that hasn't made a decision and the rest of the country moved on without you?

you order brunch on miami beach at the news cafe and you wait and wait and wait until south florida can count all those absentee ballots dumped on them last night, u.s. post delivering them and then opening every ballot, scan ining every ballot checking, verifying and counting. it's a lot of work. they worked all through the night. i've got to be honest with you. i talked to -- that would be a ferrari driving by. when a surprise. i talked to the county officials about 4:30 in the morning, 5:00 am. they've been up all night. some had worked 48 hours straight, a lot of them working 24 hours straight. they counted about 50 people in that elections office, absentee ballots all night long. they're not getting to the provisional ballots until thursday. in this close a race, they want ed to make sure that they could get the quickest results as possible. and the quickest results, soledad o'brien, mean that you can have your brunch, enjoy the sunshine in the morning and you can wait until about noon or so when they think they might

actually have some numbers for us. >> all right. then we'll get breakfast, brunch and wait for those numbers to come in. >> you are not the only girlfriend who gets to have diner food. >> exactly. enjoy, ashleigh. thank you very much. interesting. long lines in miami. president obama referred to that in his victory speech. he said we've got to do something about that. it was a laugh line in his speech. there was some seriousness in it, too. we saw problems in voting all over the place. >> i was an elections lawyer for a number of years. as we have gotten -- >> you were? >> i was. as we've gotten more technologically adept at doing electrics, we've made them a lot more complicated. the problem we have in this nation -- it is a real national crisis. we have a lot of senior citizens who run the polls, volunteer for 100 bucks. they're retiring. people aren't stepping up to do it. it puts a bigger burden on a smaller pool of workers and the system is breaking down electronically because they

bought all these things after 2000. the machines are getting old, software isn't kept up-to-date, people still don't know how to use them. >> first of all, we have really 50 state situations. you have the different counties. there's no consistent standard. ana n aavaro, if she was here, she would tell you that the problem in florida, they print out the ballots in three different languages and because they put the entire constitutional amendments on, the ballot is 10 pages long. >> i pay my bill with his my phone. >> i understand. it took her 22 minutes to vote. she said i'm a lawyer, going through this whole thing. that contributed to the long delays there as well. >> do you think it's fixable, margaret hoover? >> it's got to be fixable. senior citizens running the polls, we've got 65 million eligible millenials who can vote. we should employ them. >> this is a constitutional issue. states are in charge of

elections. congress didn't actually set the second tuesday after the first monday in november in 1884. >> if there were a lot of problems yesterday, there would be pressure on congress to do something about it. there weren't enough problems. >> you called it a laugh line. i don't think it was meant as a laugh line. i think the president was ticked off and i think the response was resounding from democrats and republicans. a lot of republicans were upset at the long lines last night and maybe this is an area where people -- >> he didn't sound mad in his speech. he sounded like, hey, yeah, we've got to do something about that. >> it can be fixed by the spread of early voting. >> 65-year-old, my mom was a precinct judge in texas. my dad worked the polls. there are 65-year-olds out there who handle their business now. let's not dis the 65-year-olds. >> what are we predicting for congress? are we predicting gridlock? >> yes. >> are we going to be able to solve it? >> absolutely it will be

gridlock. >> is that a happy yes? >> say it ain't so, erick. say it ain't so. >> every election season we sit around and say the american people want us all to get along. no, they don't. >> they do. they do. trust me. >> wait a minute. stop. stop. the american people do not vote for gridlock. there is no possible way. >> yes, they do. >> that it's possible. they don't. >> historically, we've had divided governmentacy check and a balance. we got the highway system done, marshall plan done, everything under reagan, clinton/gingrich. now we have divided dysfunctional government. every swing voter i've spoken to hates for it. >> then why did they vote for it? >> come up with a balanced plan. >> you don't vote for gridlock, you can't actually go into the voting booth and vote for gridlock. and the history of last few decades is voters being much more partisan in their voting. not voting for republican and

democrats. how do you vote for gridlock? >> they want their cake and want to eat it, too. they want big government and small government at the same time. voters want gridlock. >> we'll see about that. tammy baldwin of wisconsin, victor, moving over to the senate. her election victory earned her two spots in american history. we'll talk about that when we talk to her loiv. that's coming up next in a moment. one is for a clean, wedomestic energy future that puts us in control. our abundant natural gas is already saving us money,

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♪ you're looking at pictures last night of chicago, president obama's victory, his re-election to a second term in the white house. aside from that election, history was made last night. in at least two states, maybe more, for the first time ever voters approved the right to same-sex marriage. again, that's never happened before. a little more about the politics of this and how voters opinions have changed over the years. >> it's something that's come up 36 times since 1998 and voters made history. we asked people leaving the polls their opinions on same-sex

marriage. should same-sex marriage be legal in your state? 49% said yes. 46% said no. 73% of those who said yes voted for the president. maryland voters, whoa asked them what their vote would be on question number six, 52% said yes. what is question six? here it is. here is the maryland outcome. this is something that support ed same-sex marriage, asking voters to support or reject a new law allowing same-sex marriage. look at this. by a margin of 52% to 48%, they said yes. i want to back out and go to maine on the magic wall. this was a maine question one on the ballot. would you support same-sex marriage? yes came up 53%. there was also another ballot item, amendment one in minnesota, a no on this one was support of same-sex marriage. that one passed as well, supporting same-sex marriage. two of them making history on

same-sex marriage last night. >> take the case of maine specifically. in 2009 they voted on same-sex marriage and they voted against it. last night they voted to approve. >> people's opinions on this and their views on this are changing more quickly than anything else i can think of over the past 20, 25 years. exit polls reflect that. >> christine romans, thank you very much. soledad? >> john, thank you. let's get to senator-elect tammy baldwin, first openly guy woman elected to the senate there. so you're not only a first on that regard but you're also part of a congress that has the most women ever. what does that mean in terms of what we'll see out of the congress? >> i do think having a seat at the table matters. and i think that we will see a senate that is more reflective of america. we're certainly not there yet. but this will be a change that will move us forward and will have the life experience of more

women in the united states senate. >> do you feel a personal burden to push forward with a guy agenda? >> you know, what i would say in terms of crashing through that glass ceiling is, you know, if you're not in the room the conversation is about you. if you're in the room, the conversation is with you. that does transform things. as i said last night, i didn't run to make history. i ran to make a difference. and my campaign was about the struggle of the middle class, retirement security for seniors, doing right by our veterans when they return home from war. that wisconsin selected me to face those challenges is historic. but i think it was much more about confronting the very significant challenges that our nation faces right now. >> gays have asked for support from latinos.

do you think now we'll see the flip of that, that we will see gays now saying, listen, we want to pass the dream act and now we're going to work as a coalition around all of these issues? >> you know, i see that increasingly happen. people want -- who see our country and our states move towards full equality in many, many respects. again when you have legislative bodies that look much more like america, that tends to happen. >> senator-elect, it's hilary rosen. congratulations. >> thank you. >> you look tired. >> she sounds tired. >> but happy. we've been talking about gridlock in washington and what makes a difference. you're going to be moving from the house a very bifurcated environment to the senate where there's more hope for collegeiality. give us a sense of how you think

republicans and democrats in the senate can actually help lead on these budget issues. spoker boehner has been getting a lot of attention these past few hours, throwing down the gauntlet, that their compromise is probably not in the offing for house republicans. >> i look at this, there was obviously intense partisanship, gridlock in the last two years of the congress. but moving forward, this election is now past us. i think the american people and i certainly think that the people in the state of wisconsin are looking for us to work together. we have very clear challenges facing us with the elements of the fiscal cliff. they want to see us responsibly work to settle those issues. the president outlined a very balanced approach moving forward. i think that's exactly what we need to do. we do need to tackle our deficit but in a way that doesn't short change our future. >> senator-elect --

>> i just have to say one quick thing. as a lesbian, you are a role model to young gay kids all across the country and it is so unbelievably exciting and moving to see you go to the senate. >> thank you. >> representative tammy baldwin now senator-elect from the state of wisconsin. thank you for talking with us. appreciate it. >> we do have some news just in. we've been talking about the world reaction to president obama's election last night. we have new reaction from rather interesting quarter, the taliban is now responding to his election. for that i'll bring back in christiane amanpour. what is the taliban saying? >> well, they are saying what they usually say. and that is, you know, you have lost the battle in afghanistan. you, the united states, need to pull back and look after your own country. that is their opinion. they've said this before. they've constantly said the u.s.

should pull out. the problem, of course, is not just the statement but what is happening on the ground. that is that there is an active war still going on in afghanistan. and the initial goal of the obama administration was to either defeat the taliban or beat them to the negotiating table. this has not happened. and there is a real issue about what the state of play will be. many people incredibly worried about what happens once the u.s. leaves. as you know, the u.s. is committed under president obama to leave at least by the end of 2014 and there's a huge amount of pressure coming from many corners to leave earlier than that. the taliban is still very active and the whole place could descend into another round of civil war. that's the issue going on there. it will be a big issue for the president going ahead. >> on afghanistan voters did not have a real choice. there wasn't much of a distinction between the two candidates and afghanistan took a backseat to other foreign polishes, including china. both candidates liked to talk

about china a lot. it's going through change of its own right now. they will soon have a new world leader to speak of. how will this affect that relationship? >> that's exactly right. it takes place tomorrow. the whole congress is under already under way. it's huge, once in a decade leadership change and it matters very much to the united states, the relationship between china and the u.s. obviously because of the domestic ramifications, jobs, trade, et cetera. now president obama has hit china with some trade sanctions. and the business community over there, including americans who do business over there, don't like that very much. they want to see a much better relationship across the bored with china. of course, mitt romney had threatened to call china a currency manipulator on his first day in office. and that, of course, didn't go well down at all with the u.s. business community there, nor, of course, with the chinese leadership. i think that relationship will be a very interesting one p to look at. not just because the u.s. under president obama has declared a shift and a pivot towards the

pacific and we'll see what exactly that means and what that entails. because this relationship has so much to do with the u.s. economy as well. >> four years ago during the election, there was a lot of talk of the u.s. role in the world, our image. what others thought of us. four years later now as we head into the president's second term, how has that changed? >> four years ago the u.s. image and influence around the world could not have been lower. there was a major crisis at the end of president bush's terms because of the war in iraq and it was just terrible for the you state. president obama changed that. and his popularity, personal popularity was huge around the world. with that, he lifted the popularity of the united states. now over the last four years, he has remained very popular personally, particularly in europe and africa, in parts of the far east. but in the islamic world, in the arab world, his popularity has plummeted. and so that will be a challenge as well. not just because it's a

popularity contest but because there are real issues to look at, going forward. iran, one of them. syria, another. israeli and syrian process another one. key to the white house, helped to seal the president's victory last night. next a live report from columbus, ohio.

i put away money. i was 21, so i said, "hmm, i want to retire at 55." and before you know it, i'm 58 years old. time went by very fast.

it goes by too, too fast. ♪ but i would do it again in a heartbeat. [ laughs ] ♪ ♪

we are an american family and we rise or fall together as one nation and as one people. >> all eyes were on ohio. that's where we find carol costello, inside a diner in columbus. hey, carol. >> reporter: yeah, had to come inside a diner in celebration of your many diner visits, soledad.

i'm in tommy's diner in columbus, ohio, on west broad street. one of the more famous diners in the city. sitting between me, tommy, who voted for barack obama and mike, who voted for mitt romney. and they're still talking. and they're still friends. how is that possible, mike? >> it's tough. it's tough. but after it's all said and done, we're still friends and we're hoping for a -- >> reporter: let me talk about your friendship. barack obama has been elected president, right? but there's still this bitter divide in the country. if you read social media you really see it. republicans who are unbelievably angry that barack obama got a second term. >> i think they need to put that behind them and work together. and that's what really ticks people off. they get all this bickering in washington. we don't need that. we need problems solved and solved now. get this deficit under control. that's a good start. >> reporter: so do you think barack obama can do that in a second term? some people might say he didn't

achieve that in the first term. >> well, this is going to be his legacy, whatever he gets done over the next four years, so i hope so. and i support him. >> okay. you voted for barack obama. i'm going to ask you the same question. why is there this bitterness among some republicans that barack obama got elected to a second term? >> first, carol, welcome back to columbus, ohio. we used to have carol here on the local tv. >> i worked in local television for a long time. i love columbus. >> we remember her well. there is this bitterness in politics today. it didn't use to be this way, i don't think, maybe 20 years ago. some of it is the advent of the 24/7 news cycle. not cnn, certainly, but there are stations out there, networks that do take a very dogmatic stance and just don't want to compromise at all. i think that fuels a lot of it. my good friend, mike, we've had a lot of heated discussions

during the election. but we're friends and in the end we know we have to come together. >> when does barack obama need -- how does he need to show leadership? >> one thing i would have done if i were barack obama, every month i would have said i'm going to have a lunch, dinner or something with the opposition leaders, just get together routinely. that would certainly help. he he's going to have a big opportunity with the fiscal cliff coming up in the next month or two. and tess a very divisive issue. >> absolutely. tommy, mike, thank you so much. thanks for welcoming me back. they're still friends even though they voted on opposite sides. you can stay here. it's possible. bipartisanship is possible. hope springs eternal for us. >> mike seems somewhat depressed. tommy was talking about hope. what do we think as we move

forward? ryan lizza. >> we witnessed yesterday the last campaign, that republicans will run the way mitt romney ran it, overwhelming majority of the white voters. big political story is how the republican party adapts to the new reality of the demographics in this country. >> we'll excuse you from the table. >> all these d.c. folks are talking about a mandate, not a mandate. where i come from in texas, when you win, you win. you're the president, you lead. >> that's good if you don't have to negotiate. >> bottom line is, you're the president. you won. you get to lead. that's a mandate. >> look, politics is not the purpose of the system. governing is. you heard those folks in columbus. they want the country to come together. they want washington to come together. you saw the real cost that the republican party suffered for embracing folks who directed an enormous amount of hate for this

president who has been re-elected. >> having to fight ul these issues internally, trying to get them to shape up. i'm to the left of a lot of conservatives on conservative and hispanic issues. that will be an interesting fight in the conservative movement not just the republican party. >> coverage after this historic election continues. ka kat kate bouldan is up next. you made your voice heard. and you made a difference. >> with a gracious concession, republican challenger mitt romney made a humble request of both parties. >> to put the people before the politics. >> no republican has ever won the white house without ohio. >> in the end, the battleground state of ohio put the election out of reach. >> the president of the united states defeat s mitt romney. >> the nation remains aou