ms. megyn is next. i am bill o'reilly. please always remember that spin stops here. we're definitely looking out for you. less than 24 hours after the president saw his party routed in one of the worst midterms in 50 years, today he walked to the podium with a message for americans across the country. he's not changing a thing. welcome to "the kelly file" everyone. i'm megyn kelly. despite a decisive defeat for the president's party and what critics are calling a repudiation of his policies, president obama today held a lengthy news conference essentially saying he'll be sticking to his positions and his policies. and then in a dramatic challenge to the new congress he issued an ultimatum, either pass immigration reform in the next six weeks or he will use executive orders in an attempt to rewrite the law. here's more of the president's reaction to what one democratic senator today called a butt

whoopin'. >> you said during this election that while your name wasn't on the ballot your policies were. despite the optimism that 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 the next two years? >> i think everybody in this white house is going to look and say, all right, what do we need to do 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. >> it's almost like you're doubling down on the same policies and approach you've had for the last six years. my question is why not pull a page from the clinton playbook and admit you have to make a much more dramatic shift in course for these last two years. >> 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 where they think there's going to be cooperation. >> moments before you walked out here, sir, mitch mcconnell said, and i quote "that if you in fact use your executive authority to legalize a certain number of millions of undocumented workers, it would poison the well, direct quote, and it would be like waving a red flag in front of a bull. >> i had no doubt that there will be some republicans who are angered or frustrated by any executive action that i may take. >> 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. what do you make of the notion that you're now a lame duck? >> if you look at the history of almost every president, those last two years all kinds of stuff happens.

the one thing i'm pretty confident about, jim, is i'm going to be pretty busy for the next two years. and the one thing 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. >> we have team coverage tonight with bret hume, former deputy press secretary, former bush white house secretary dana perino, joe trippi, and kirsten powers. but we begin with our chief white house correspondent ed henry live at the white house for us tonight. ed. >> megyn, bottom line question is does the president get it and will he make adjustments to his leadership style to deal with this new balance of power. 28 new starts who voted for his hemt care law will be gone come january. so he has to deal with an entirely new dynamic. today he down played his party's historic drubing by suggesting, look, the midterm elections are just a small slice of the electorate. two-thirds did not actually show

up to vote. he also signalled that he's willing, as you noted there, to poke republicans in the eye by moving forward on executive action, on immigration reform even as he made big promises to reach out. after six years in office the president has only had a couple one-on-one meetings with senator mitch mcconnell. listen. >> was it a mistake for you to do so little to develop relationships with republicans in congress? >> i think every day i'm asking myself there are some things i can do better. and i'm going to keep on asking that every single day. >> so a very general answer to a specific question though the president notes to me it's not like mitch mcconnell has spent the last six years working with this president. but i'm told in a phone call today that the president told

mcconnell that he's trying to get -- and build for bigger deals like a major budget plan down the road. at one point the president said he's willing to sit down with kentucky bourbon with mr. mcconnell. and sometimes we all know that leads to -- >> i don't know about that. i'm going to ask you after the show. >> brit, when you hear the president, his tone today, and in particular ed made reference to it. i want to play you this sound bite of the president speaking to two-thirds of the electorate who didn't vote issue. i want to get your thoughts on what he was trying to say. listen. >> the two-thirds of voters who chose not to participate in the process yesterday, i hear you too. part of what i also think we've got to look at is the two-thirds of people who are eligible voting just didn't vote. >> brit? >> well, megyn, i mean, it's

arguably true. i think if you look at the numbers of registered voters it would probably be a larger number who actually voted. i think more than anything he was trying to call attention to the fact there was a small -- it was less than half of the electorate participated and thereby belittled these results is not all that meaningful or important. and to take it a step further, not all that related to him. at least that's how it struck me when i heard him say it. >> the implication seems to be that the two-thirds are in his quarter. is there any indication of that? >> well, with all his wondrous qualities he has magical ability to hear people who haven't said anything. maybe he's simply saying that we need to do a better job here because so many people are so turned off, such a huge percentage of the public is turned off they didn't even vote. if that's what he meant, well, he's got a point. >> what he said, he went onto say the american people sent a message, one they've sent for several elections now. they want us to get the job

done. is that the message? >> well, that's always the message. if you think about it. i mean, the public always wants whatever government it installs in power and whatever party it installs in power to get the job done. that's kind of a -- that doesn't really say anything. if he's suggesting that, you know, the job hasn't been getting done, then presumably he means that he and his team and his party play a major role in that. they've after all had two legs of the three-legged stool that has to do with legislation. they've had the senate and the white house, republicans for the last several years have controlled the house of representatives. so, you know, that's what he meant. that's kind of a peculiar thing to say when you think about it. >> what do you make of the chances of an actual outreach by the white house to the now-republican controlled senate? because when the president was asked about it today, he said surely we can find ways to work

together on issues. and he says, 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. when i read that, it reminded me when i was practicing law. it sounds like a lawyer trying to reach a settlement in a litigati litigation. you never want to make your offer first. you try to get the other side to say what they want and then you react. the question is whether he's in the right role here or whether he's supposed to be leading. >> well, i don't think we're at the negotiation stage really yet. that will come when specific measures are before the congress and the president is deciding what role he wants to play in trying to shape the legislation or what position he will take on them or how he will react if the legislation passes and reaches his desk. it seems to me that's how that more or less works. there's an old saying the president proposes and congress disposes. the president today seemed to suggest it would work the other way this time. now that republicans have gotten control of the house, it's up to

them to come to him with their ideas. and then he will make a pronouncement or decision about whether he finds them appealing or not. at one point he said something, and this is nowhere near the exact words, which sounded very much like if the republicans have some ideas that i like, i'll entertain them. well, that doesn't sound like somebody who's been at all chasen by an election in which his party suffered in a major across-the-board defeat not only including in the house where they expanded majority, loss of the senate to the republicans but also, you know, a turn of events in the governors chairs that nobody really quite saw coming. it looked like the republicans were going to lose governorships this year. it was really quite a terrible night for his party and certainly reflects on him whether he likes to think that or not. >> well, he said it was a good night notwithstanding -- >> a good night for the republicans. >> now reports from "new york times" that he was irritated, which who could blame him? we didn't really get -- >> he never --

>> the shellacking this time. >> irritation seems to be about as upset as he gets. he gets irritated. >> he must be a happy man. i wish i were more like that. brit, good to see you. >> thank you, megyn. well, the controversial story from this news conference was the president's warning that congress has the next six or seven weeks to pass immigration reform or he's going to take executive action. marc thiessen and bill burton are here next on that. plus, rush limbaugh says voters sent all these republicans to washington with one critical mandate. that debate is just ahead. >> it is rare that a political party running for office in a midterm election not standing for anything ends up with a mandate. and they have one. and it is the biggest and perhaps the most important mandate a political party has had in the recent era. and it is very simple what that mandate is. it is to stop barack obama.

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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. >> well, that was president obama today saying congress has the next six or seven weeks to pass immigration reform or he's going to take executive action. how's that for a welcome to the new congress? joining me now bill burton, former -- and now executive vice president of global strategies group and former speech writer for president george w. bush and fellow marc thiessen. before we get to immigration, bill, what do you make of what happened last night? >> it was a tough night.

i think that if you have to take any lesson from it whatsoever it's that democrats are never going to be able to win in midterms if we don't figure out how to talk to white voters. i honestly think that's it. i don't think the message that we have has been able to really translate to the coalition of voters that help bring republicans in to even more power. >> was president obama a drag on the ticket like mark pryor said? >> i think a second-term president in the midterm is always kind of a drag on the ticket. losing that many seats? ronald reagan at this point was 62 and he lost over 20 seats. so i think 42 it was not december tin today go well. >> i am going to get to immigration. how did it go from the greek columns, invesco field, the moment everybody feeling -- you know, to this? how did it happen? the white house take it, go with it, run with it to get out of here, you too and all the governors, go. >> couple things. number one, presidential elections and midterm elections

are totally different electorates. and so the kind of fight you have when the president actually is on the ballot is one he's engaged in, he's engaging constituencys that are more likely to support democrats in presidential years. and in the midterms i think you're always in a situation where people are looking at the situation around the world. when you're in a situation they're in right now where the economy's doing better but the middle class isn't feeling it, you're seeing crises around the world from ebola to isis and the president's just unpopular, i think it's very, very tough to win a lot of seats. >> is that why we're seeing him say what he's saying on immigration? many people came out and said this is about satisfying or placating the latino vote, the hispanic vote, gearing up for 2016 for whoever the next democrat will be. >> well, if i can take one second and take off my obama hat and be my guy watching the presidential press conference hat, you know, every president be it clinton or george w. bush, they talk about the math a

little bit. i think the president did a pretty good job staying out of punditry, but there was a point where he said two-thirds of americans didn't vote and i think just like george w. bush said, yeah, we lost a lot of seats but it was really close in all the seats we lost. in this case though, yes, it was not the same share as it has been in presidential years. but i don't think the president is just talking about the hispanic vote when he's talking about immigration. what he's talking about is take ig care of an issue that republicans and democrats all across the country think need to be addressed right now. >> he waited so long to prioritize this. he went in, had a lot of good will, the wind behind his back and spent so much time, capital and good will. you heard ed henry saying 28 senators voted for the health care bill are now gone. the question is why didn't he prioritize this? is this sort of a last act of desperation to say i did all i could? >> no, you know, i was with president obama from the very

beginning on his first campaign. and i remember the day that he was on the campaign trail and he said i will take on immigration in the first year of my presidency. and all of us at the campaign was like, wow, that seems really hard to actually get done. but he kept it on the burner, the back burner, he moved it to the front burner and he's tried and tried, finally got a bill that actually passed the senate that they would not take up in the house. and now the president's finally at the point where he's saying, look, if you will not act, congress, i'm going to do it. and frankly from a negotiating perspective this is probably pretty good. if he can get the republicans to come to the table and say, okay, let's work on immigration. then he'll say, okay, maybe we don't have to do the executive order. but they'll work together. >> bill, good to see you. marc thiessen with us too. marc, if they don't get a bill and he decides to pursue with executive action, the republicans are going to come back with this sound bite and others like it. this is the president with univision, i think, on radio a

couple years ago being asked why he didn't do more on immigration reform when the congress wouldn't do what he wanted. listen. >> you know, we live in a democracy. we don't live in a monarchy. i'm not the king. i'm the president. and so i can only implement those laws that are passed through congress. >> marc. >> that's the most ironic quote of all. i mean, if you look at his actions on obamacare and all these other bills, this is not a president who seems to be very constrained by what congress passes. but look, the reason he didn't get comprehensive immigration reform passed last year is because of his own immigration policy. it was his last executive order on immigration that this deportation of children that caused the whole immigration border crisis last year. so now he's saying that he's going to do a double down on that and do another executive order that's going to create another magnet for immigration? i think we have a president who's in denial here, megyn.

this is a guy who thinks he's got a two-thirds of a country silent majority. as if two-thirds of the voters not showing up to vote for democratic candidates some sort of an endorsement. he doesn't have popular support for what he's doing. if this was so popular, this represented the will of the american people, why didn't he do this last year before the elections? why did he wait until after the elections? why didn't he sign this executive order last summer and have every democrat run on it? because the democrats came to him and said don't do this. this is incredibly unpopular and you're going to -- we're going to lose the senate because of it. that's why he didn't do it. and the result is they lost the senate anyway. now he has nothing to lose. >> so why is he doing it? just because he thinks it's the right thing to do and doesn't care about the legal fallout or political? >> i think because he's trying to placate his base. i think he's less concerned with governing than he is with gaining political advantage. and you can see this even in what he's doing right now. like he's saying if you don't pass in the next six weeks, no realistic person thinks the congress is going to pass immigration reform in the next six weeks. could there be something

happening on december 6th in the state of louisiana that we wouldn't want this to happen before? he has -- this executive order was written last summer. it's sitting in the white house staff secretary's office. he could pull it out and sign it today and be done. why is he waiting until the end of the year? it's all about politics with this guy. >> do you think he has a point that the people who didn't go to the polls they aren't necessarily against him. there is some silent majority that wasn't motivated because they don't really care about the midterms? >> you know, if -- i haven't seen the poll out there. maybe msnbc has it. i haven't seen a poll that shows two-thirds of the country supports him. this is an incredibly unpopular president. and this was an anti-democratic wave. think about this, the governors of illinois and maryland are republicans now. >> yeah. >> this was not some sort of niche election. anti-obama anti-democratic wave. as president obama promises to go it alone on immigration, rush limbaugh suggesting voters sent republicans to washington not to get things done but to

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to put this in stark contrast, if you help me win this race, you may have someone with your background, your experience, your voice, someone who's been literally fighting tort reform for 3 years in a visible and public way on a senate judiciary committee, or you might have a farmer from iowa who never went to law school, never practiced law serving as the next chair of the senate judiciary committee.

>> that was iowa senate candidate bruce braley back in march of this year. and while he did not win his race last night, he nailed it with that prediction. that republican iowa farmer without a law degree, senator chuck grassley is now in line to be the senate of the powerful judiciary committee. fox news digital politics editor chris stirewalt with me now. voters heard that and said, good, that's what we want. we don't want the want who's been fighting tort reform his whole life. we want the one in favor of tort reform. welcome senator grassley to the senate judiciary committee. >> you know what senator grassley is? tough as nails. and he's taken a very hard line. the obama administration, i don't know whether you know this, has not been super transparent or cooperative with investigations. >> what do you mean? the most transparent in history. >> totally. totes. the reality though is that grassley is a tough investigator. he will hold them to account.

and the other thing is this, all their appointments are going to have to flow right through that judiciary committee. and their ability to fillet these nominees, remember when -- >> just judicial nominees? >> just those nominees. but if we have a supreme court nomination, which there's a very strong chance, chuck grassley will be standing right at the crossroads of history there. and he is a tough iowa farmer. >> half the federal budget on the supreme court is over the age of 75. >> uh-huh. >> hate to get macabre but you never know. what other committees are we looking at? what other extensions on the republican side are important? >> arguably the most important may be this. when we look over at the budget committee, jeff sessions, senator from alabama, who is probably the toughest on the question of immigration, he chose the budget committee because it is the vessel through which everything is going to have to pass. he fought to get over there. he wanted to be there. when he ends up as chairman over there as expected, that means that the administration's going to have to deal directly with

him. and this is a guy on a host of issues, but particularly on immigration. if the president starts going nuclear on immigration, having to deal with senator sessions from alabama is going to be substantially different, i think. >> can he shove that down in part just by controlling the pursestring sns. >> well, he's going to -- >> some of them. >> some of the pursestrings and making them pay a price. what is his willingness? how willing is senator sessions to create impasses? you know what we'll hear soon, it's a shutdown threat, a shutdown threat. >> mitch mcconnell already came out today and said we're not going to shut down the government. >> well, i'm sure no one really wants that to happen, but the administration may want to create circumstances where they're going to bait or troll to see if they can get that going because democrats always believe that helps them. >> what about what are we going to do right now because we have an attorney general who's stepping down, and that post needs to be filled. is that going to go through the republican senate? >> no, no, no. they're going to run that sucker right away. they don't want to wait. they have time, leahy who's

going out on the senate judiciary committee will be eager to help. and they can do a fast nomination. it will be tough for the republicans to hold it up. >> do you think they'll go super radical? >> of course. >> the last hurrah. >> i would say tom perez, he's hard line. >> far left. >> far left. and it would also say about immigration, about voter id, about what the president is considering doing in terms of a nuclear option on amnesty. all of that stuff tom perez lines up. he's already been confirmed once. they could rush him through. >> last question, do you think the republicans are going to stick with these new rules that harry reid put in place that make it so much easier to confirm a nominee? grant it it's still going to be the president's nominee whoever comes through, or do you think they're going to switch the rules back? >> that is the $64,000 question. if they do it would be hard for them to be blamed. if they don't, it might be a demonstration of patriotic grace to say harry reid really was a crummy senate majority leader. but one thing we know mcconnell will do, he's going to change

rules back so people can vote and there will be amendments and they will actually do stuff as opposed to keeping everything in the coffee can buried in the backyard. >> mike huckabee earlier on o'reilly called harry reid's desk the roach motel of the senate. bills come in but they never go out. >> that's attractive. >> good to see you, chris. fun having you in new york. great job last night. >> thank you. one of the big stories from last night, the gop stormed the state races. and there are now only 15 democratic governors left across this country. that was supposed to be the area where the democrats are going to do very well last night, did not turn out to be the case. see how that may affect the 2016 presidential race. and senator mitch mcconnell says he's willing to work with the white house. up next, why rush limbaugh says don't do that. >> the republican party was not elected to compromise. the republican party was not elected to sit down and work together with the democrats. the republican party was not elected to slow down the speed the country is headed to the

cliff and go over it slowly. the republican party was elected to stop before we get to the cliff. [ female announcer ] hands were made for talking. feet...tiptoeing.

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snapshot could save ye even more. meat maiden! bringeth to me thine spiciest wings of buffalo. well, now that republicans are firmly in control of congress, there's a lot of talk about how they can work with president obama. but rush limbaugh today argued that is not at all what they were sent to washington to do. >> it is rare that a political party running for office in a midterm election not standing for anything ends up with a mandate. and they have one. and it is the biggest and perhaps the most important mandate a political party has had in the recent era. and it is very simple what that mandate is, it is to stop barack

obama. it is to stop the democrat party. there is no other reason why republicans were elected yesterday. republicans were not elected to govern. >> joining me now, kirsten powers, fox news political analyst and usa today columnist, joe trippie, former presidential campaign manager for howard dean. and dana perino co-host of "the five" here on fnc. she served as press secretary undebush. dana, does he have a point? >> he certainly has a point, but i don't think it's the only point. i would describe it as stop, drop and roll. they want to stop president obama from doing things like obamacare, they want to stop executive action on immigration. and i also think there's a significant part of the population who wants to stop him from doing a deal with iran. on the drop part, obamacare certainly still played a major part. most of the ads that ran in races where people won were

against obamacare. >> that was one of the untold stories of the election is how that really was played up in a number of races. >> certainly was though democrats like to say it wasn't. and third thing is, get the economy on a roll. that's where i think president -- rush limbaugh i think is not being fulsome enough in the answer because i think people do want to see a change in the economy. these senators, the members of the congress that won on the house side, they're going to have to have something to take back to their constituents in two years. >> when you hear the president talk today, joe, about how the american people just sent the same message they sent in several other elections which is they want us to get things done. really? are the people going to the polls yesterday sending the same message as the people who went to the polls in 2008? >> well, that actually gets the nub of the problem because some of the people did mean what rush said, stop, don't compromise, don't work with the democrats, don't give in to the president. and i do think there are a lot

of people who do want things to get done and want compromise. and that actually exists within the republican party too. that's part of the -- that's going to be part of the interesting thing about how both mitch mcconnell and boehner can -- how they can get their caucuses so move. there will be people in those caucuses who do not want to compromise with the president on immigration reform, on even tax reform. >> mitch mcconnell sounded like he was ready to do some compromising today, in tone. the president seemed like show me what you got and i'll see, i'll check it out. i'll take a look. >> i agree. >> is that the right tone? >> no. he gets to do the tone he wants. i don't agree with it half the time, but that's who he tends to be. i still think the problem for him is how -- there will be people who want to compromise with him, but there's another part of the caucus that won't do that. how that comes together -- and that's going to be something that the leadership in the house and senate are going to have to

do. >> take immigration as one issue. this has been so divisive within the republican party. we saw that split after the last presidential election. is there any way the republicans get together on that issue and manage to strike a deal with somebody who sees it through a very different ideological lens like obama? like president obama? >> it's hard to see president obama supporting something that doesn't have a path to citizenship in it. and there's a certain contingent in the republican party who have used that as amnesty though i don't think it is amnesty. >> yes. there will be a full revolt in the republican party. >> i don't know how they bridge that gap. and i think that -- i feel like this is groundhog day honestly, every time after we have an election whoever wins thinks they have a huge mandate, and they really don't. and i don't think that president obama had a huge mandate when he won even though he won decisively. the american people -- >> in 2008? >> yes, no, i think that generally speaking people are looking for something to change. they're unhappy with the way

things are going and they want things to be different. and i do think that they ultimately want people working together. and the base voters tend to not want that. so, you know, for the republicans -- for anything to get done now, someone's going to have to compromise. i mean, both sides are going to have to compromise. the problem with what rush limbaugh said in my mind is how are they going to get anything done if they don't compromise with president obama? because he's going to veto it. >> the problem is, dana, even though the republicans may want to compromise, they may want to strike some deals, show the american electorate over the next two years we can be reasonable, we can get things done. president obama's the same man he's been for the past six years. and there hasn't been a huge outreach to the republicans. i know there's been some. there's been some. >> hardly any. >> as you heard the reporter ask him, do you regret -- do you regret not doing more to reach out to these folks? >> i think their legislative affairs operation has been terrible. however, i also think that comes from the top. and president obama really just

has not been that interested. as he said today, maybe i'll let john boehner beat me again in golf. okay, kind of charming, they want to have bourbon, that's fine. i do think -- i would think president obama could see this as a big opportunity if he really wanted to do big important things and really do great things for the country, not just for his party. but i've been so disappointed over and over again when i think why doesn't he do this? he could get a big win here and he doesn't take that opportunity. >> and what we heard this week, joe, is that he's sad. he feels depressed having to deal with these ebola meetings and national security crisis meetings. he feels depressed having to deal with -- like sorry, but you ran for this job. you have to do it. >> yeah. look, i don't know where any of that stuff's coming from. >> senior white house aides, senior administration aides according to "new york times." >> according to "new york times." >> they said they interviewed over a dozen. [ laughter ]

>> who are they? >> yeah. >> all the anonymous white house aides that talk to politico and "new york times" you think they don't actually speak for -- >> come on, it's the "new york times." >> then you and i agree -- >> you're like chipper. based on whatever happened today what does your gut tell you what's going to happen in 2016? gop or dem in the white house? >> i have no idea. >> dem. >> republican all the way. no, i'm kidding. >> i would say just as the everything lined up, i mean, the states that were up for the senate this time and the demographics of a midterm and with the president's low ratings, all that was a perfect storm for what happened. the next cycle turns into senate states that are democratic leaning that have different -- >> some candidates will be

campaigning against president obama just like they did against president bush. >> but all i'm saying is, look, one of the things that's been going on now for a long time is you get 2010, the party thinks it's going and in 2012 happens. and vice versa, they love us. >> and the reporters are mean too. listening to that one reporter saying you've clearly been completely rejected, mr. president, could you be any lamer of a duck? like ow, that hurts my feelings. >> the president went -- great audible. >> the "new york times" says he's depressed. all right. i got to go. >> the "new york times." >> they said his body language is depressed. it's not him -- >> they want to buff him up. >> ebola, national security. right? i'm doing method now. okay. we're still punchdrunk from last night. coming up, the midterms changed a lot, a lot more than the

control of the senate. up next, how last night may have affected the 2016 race for president. and we'll look at the new list that ranks both the pope and the leader of a terror army in the same group. [ female announcer ] we help make secure financial tomorrows a reality for over 19 million people. [ alex ] transamerica helped provide a lifetime of retirement income. so i can focus on what matters most. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. transamerica.

from the world headquarter of fox news, it's "the kelly file" with megyn kelly. the gop senate victory wasn't the only surprise last night. we saw republican candidates for governor across this country defy predictions, polls and trends to win a projected total of more than 30 races when all was said and done. the results may also impact the 2016 presidential race. senior political columnist for "national journal." ron, who emerges as the best possible 2016 candidate thanks to what we saw yesterday? >> it's hard to say who comes out as the best. it's way too early. but i think there is some obvious winners. john kasich in ohio rolling up big returns in an important

state. governor walker in wisconsin. here's a guy who's won seven or eight elections in the last three months? >> seriously. >> taken on a big fight in wisconsin with the unions and prevailing. i think, you know, one dark horse i'd look at is my home state, governor snyder. the guy who's anti-obama, a guy who's a can-do, pragmatic, fix-big-problems kind of guy. he's having a big week. later on this week probably on friday there's a good chance detroit's going to come out of bankruptcy, something he deserves some credit for. so that's three right there that i would say probably had the best week. >> so those are obviously not the front runners when we talk about who's going into 2016. we hear more names like chris christie, rand paul. and rand paul seemed to waste no time. he came on with bret and myself last night and repeatedly made mention to, you know, hillary clinton and her failures with her candidates and then on his facebook page he posted pictures

like this talking about hillary's losers, trying to pin these losses on her. suggesting she doesn't have the juice she once had the implication there. does he have a point? >> no, actually, he showed a little desperation there. he realized last night was a day for governors and this may be a cycle for governors. people that haven't just passed laws and stood a microphones in washington. he did it in a ham handed way. this race was not about hillary clinton. it was an indictment on barack obama. if you want to come after hillary clinton, the smart way is saying the obvious which is it's awfully hard to be the third term of an unpopular president. and hillary clinton wants to be the next barack obama and come at her that way. but don't pretend yesterday was about hillary clinton. >> how about chris christie? he e grashuates himself with all these republican governors because he heads up the republican governors association. he gives money out to them.

so now they feel good about him. if he runs for president, does this set him up somehow in a better way than he was a week ago? >> i think, you know, purely politically it probably helps him a bit, although the folks you're saying owe him a favor, they want to run against him. hay look in the mirror and look at themselves being president too. christie's got a bigger problem. and we saw it again this morning when he's talking to matt lauer. and he says i'm not going to change. >> we have that. do we have time to roll that? >> yeah, i want to make a point about that. >> watch. >> it was the second anniversary of hurricane sandy and a guy wouldn't sit down, you said sit down and shut up. that kind of response is something your staunch supporters love. it makes other people queasy. are you going to have to control that side of your personality to be seen as presidential outside ft rough and tumble world of new jersey politics? >> that person has had their

say. i sat down and listened to it. it was time for them to sit down. i'm not going to change, matt. this is who i am. >> go ahead, ron. >> two politicians today looked awfully arrogant when they said they weren't going to change, one was barack obama. the other was chris christie. that act might play really well in new jersey. even for a guy like me i kind of like someone who's blunt speaking and speaks their mind. you try that in iowa. you try standing in diner in iowa or a gym in iowa and have a republican stand up and really stick it to you. which is what they're going to do. that's what caucus goers do out there. they want to put you on your heels, they want to challenge you, they want to look you in the eyes and see whether or not you can, you know, handle a tough question. if you treat an iowan like that the way he treated that person, you'll be run out of the state. i think christie has a temperament issue that he either has to control or realize that it's going to hamper his future as a presidential possibility. >> fun to cover him in a presidential debate.

shut up. you shut up, kelly. >> he'd make great copy. he might not make a great president. >> ron, great to see you. >> thank you. up next, a look at some of the surprises in this year's most powerful people list. don't go away. big day? ah, the usual. moved some new cars. hauled a bunch of steel. kept the supermarket shelves stocked. . ) nice. doing the big things that move an economy. see you tomorrow, mac. see you tomorrow, sam. just another day at norfolk southern. esurwhich means fewer costs, which saves money. their customer experience is virtually paperless, which saves paper, which saves money. they have smart online tools, so you only pay

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well, a big victory in the texas governors race made national headlines yesterday. krrn texas attorney general greg abbott beat democrat wendy davis by 20 points. exit polls show he did it by winning the female vote. you may remember his opponent's famous anti-abortion filibuster putting her on the national stage to begin with. it did not end well for her last night. and two senate races are still too close to call at this hour.

in virginia the race between democratic senator mark warner, the incumbent, has a narrow lead, now he does, over his republican challenger ed gillespie. and in alaska republican challenger dan sullivan holds a nearly four-point advantage over mark begich. absentee ballots won't be counted until november 11th. and the first look tonight at the forbes most powerful list. the pope and the leader of the world's worst terror organization are both on it. trace gallagher has more from our west coast bureau. trace. >> megyn, there are 72 people on the list, which is one for every 100 million people on earth. and the reason president obama is now number two is because one of the key criteria for selecting the most powerful is their total sphere of influence. and because he's now considered a lame duck, the president's influence is fading. one of the other criteria is how they use their power, good or bad. which is why forbes considers russian president putin as the most powerful man on the planet.

that use of power also landed north korean leader kim jong-un on the list at number 49 and abu bakr, leader of isis, took 54. forbes also took intoed number impacted. pope francis is number four on the list because there are 1.2 billion catholics. the final criteria is the amount of money the most powerful control. 29 billionaires control some $790 billion. and apparently it takes a while to become powerful because there are only ten people on the list under 50, six of them are in new technology. facebook founder mark zuckerberg being the youngest at 30. tesla and spacex founder elon musk is 93. angela merkel being the highest ranked woman at number six. megyn kelly was snubbed. i had you at 48. >> thank you for caring. i appreciate that. look forward to next year.

so one more piece of big news still ahead and it involves something that happened right here in this studio. that's next. than ever why now is the best

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and three: get $150 credit for every line you switch. the more you switch, the more you get. verizon. we finish tonight with another big thanks to our viewers. fox news channel was the most watched network on broadcast or cable during coverage of the midterm elections. in fact, our cable competitors numbers combined did not come close to those at the fox news channel. why? because of you. we have the smartest and most loyal viewers of all the networks. and for that we remain very grateful. you all make the hard work we do each day worth the effort. thank you for being g g g g g live from america's newshead quarters, mitch mcconnell and president obama say they're going to try to end the gridlock

in washington. it comes the day after republicans swept the midterm election taking majority in the u.s. senate. both sides warn there still will be veto showdowns. senator mccomfortabnnell says t could compromise on trade legislation. a woman seen on this video being abducted off a philadelphia street is safe. she was found outside baltimore. they had released a stream of images of the suspect before the abduction. the man suspected in the abduction is behind bars. i'm lauren green. "hannity" starts now. ng. i'm megyn kelly. welcome to "hannity." this is a fox news alert. major victories for the republican party last night. the gop taking a historic majority in the house and the u.s. senate. they picked up at least seven seats in the senate, maybe