out, to coat losses, south carolina and georgia and now the question, what does this all mean for what's happening here in washington and potentially down the road in 2018? 2018? >> bret: this is a fox news alert. i'm bret baier in washington. it's 11:00 p.m. in washington and in atlanta. welcome to the prime time "special report." democrats are 0 for 5 in special elections. against the incumbent president who they say is vulnerable. under attack constantly from investigations into collusion and obstruction of justice to daily negative stories about his style, his tweets. you name it. but democrats are 0 for 5 so far in special elections. democrats tonight say all five of the candidates out perform traditional democratic turn-out in the republican leaning districts. but after spending tens of millions of dollars, they haven't won one. tonight's focus the special congressional election in

georgia where republican karen handel defeats jon ossoff in the special runoff election. the most expensive congressional race in history. we have fox team coverage. we are at the headquarters in atlanta but we begin with steve harrigan at the handel headquarters. we just saw her speak on fox. good evening, steve. >> the celebrations here now in full swing. we saw the crowd build throughout the night. screams and roars when karen handel came out to announce her victory. the biggest roar is when she thanked president trump for his support. handel had been on the fence about how closely she would make it a referendum on president trump's presidency. she tried to focus it on the people here, on the issues here. but when she thanked trump, this crowd went wild. she did get a lot of support from the president in person and on twitter from the vice

president, from the speaker as well as the cabinet members. really, part of the reason this was such a referendum on trump is both sides poured in so much money, so much attention, the most expensive house race in history for the $50 million spent. ossoff moderated the campaigns it when on initially saying he would make trump furious. by the end, he, too, was not mentioning donald trump. the man this election may have been about was really an unmentioned man in the final days. so his strategy of moderation really failed. handel was able to paint ossoff as an outsider. the 30-year-old documentary filmmaker didn't even live in the district and handel made the point today. when she was voting she said i can vote here. my opponent can't. he doesn't live in the district. she painted him as the far left, liberal getting money from the left, from the

outside. that painted him as an outsider. it would supposed to be a cliff hanger and upset of a seat that republican held for 40 years. turned out to be nothing like that. convincing win for the republican tonight. back to you. >> as the days close down, was there a sense that the momentum changed after the kathy griffin incident where the republicans rally around pushing back against the picture of her holding up a severed head. or even after the shooting up in arlington, virginia. was there a sense on the ground that things changed? >> it's been speculated that things did change after the shooting. there was an advertisement by outside political action committee that used some of the footage from the shooting. her remarks tonight, too, handel said we need to find a

way to be more civil. to make sure that people don't risk their lives when they run for office. it may have been a factor. but the race drew such intense emotion and competitiveness. more than 50,000 people who didn't vote the first time out in april came out to vote this time around. so really, people said they were annoyed by the robo calls and annoyed by the knocking on the doors but they came out to vote in big numbers on both sides tonight. >> bret: steve harrigan at handel campaign headquarters. thank you. the democratic challenger jon ossoff spoke to his supporters a short time ago. jonathan serrie was there and he joins us live with more on what he had to say on a tough loss. good evening, jonathan. >> good evening, bret. people here are disappointed but maybe not surprised. early on many jon ossoff reporters saying they knew it would be an uphill battle in

the efforts to in their words flip the sticks. in other words to take the district that had been solidly red, supporting republicans for 40 years, turning it blue. they thought they had a chance based on the last presidential election where donald trump won this district by a very razor thin margin of 1.5 percentage point. but clearly they did not have the numbers in the congressional race. what they thought might be a victory speech turned out to be a concession speech. give it a listen. >> it's about extraordinary community at extraordinary moment in history. the first opportunity in this country to make a statement about values that can still unite people. [applause] >> reporter: jon ossoff and other democratic leaders this everything calling on

supporters to continue their efforts. they say this is really part of a movement. but it was not able to deliver for them this evening. again, the republican karen handel presumably going to washington to take tom price's old congressional seat. bret, back to you. >> bret: jonathan serrie in atlanta at the ossoff headquarters. georgia wasn't the site of the only special election tonight. voters in south carolina have elected republican ralph norman over his democrat challenger archie parnell. norman spoke to his supporters a short time ago. >> the people in this district decided to send a loud message today. i think the message is this. it's time to govern. it's time to get things done. it's time to go to work. everybody is pulling together. we can make the country as great as we can make it. we can make it a reality.

i want to go to washington, d.c. to make it a reality. >> bret: he fills the seat vacated by the budget director for the president mick mulvaney. let's turn back to the georgia special election and get analysis. we have the political reporter for "atlanta journal constitution" in atlanta tonight. shelby is reporter for the "wall street journal" in new york. in washington, chris stirrewalt. greg, start with you. surprised by results tonight? did you see it closing in the last few days? >> we saw it closing but we didn't realize it would be this wide of a margin for handel. this looked easier than it seemed in the field. every poll showed it razor thin. it was not even close by the end of it. this is a six-point margin where jon ossoff wasn't able to improve on hillary clinton's margin in georgia. >> bret: so is this a situation where the polls are wrong again? >> well, now, wait a minute. >> i'm just asking.

>> i'm just saying that the poll, we did see the late polls that showed -- we don't care about the top line number as much as the movement. in the closing weeks the movement for karen handel was clear. she was closing the gap. as the focus on the race came down to the make or break, the do or die, if the republicans lose this the party will be exploded by the nuclear bombs and cast in a by -- in an abyss and they will die, they said we better vote. what the democrats really wanted was to sneak up on them like in south carolina. isn't it funny that the race that got $50 million poured into it, celebrity endorsements, robo calls, full freak-out was a much wider margin than the one that was in south carolina that had half the voters and was significantly closer. >> bret: shelby, what turned the race? >> you can debate about the polls all night. we can debate about them but it resembles 2016 in a lot of ways.

the pollser a bit off. ground games didn't matter as much as everyone thought it was. votes, money and enthusiasm did not turn into votes for democrat jon ossoff. some of it had to do with the 30-year-old political novice. he didn't have a record. there is a lot of talk in district about what he really did stand for, despite the fact he was running on this moderate fiscally conservative platform. but i think karen handel going to washington is not just a win for karen handel. it's a huge win for the white house. big win for paul ryan. in karen handel republicans now have yet another house member who is fiscally conservative, who shared their conservative social values. also she wants to build a wall on the southern border and repeal and replace obamacare. i spoke to her last week in georgia. she said she does not necessarily support the border adjustment tax, the subject of much debate in house but she is on, she is firmly behind a lot of the policies that president trump is trying to put forth. you know, this is a huge win across the board. as we were talking about, this

is a sweep for republicans. you cannot understate just the depression that democrats now face. they are torn between what kind of candidate they should run and the issues they should run on. instead of having a clear mask for the midterm there is confusion for the democratic party. >> bret: as much as we talk about for all the time spent talking in the media about a split in the republican party, that some like trump and the trump agenda, some others don't and are standing up to him. this seems like a clear indication of split in the democratic party. and that ossoff couldn't find whether to be a moderate or to embrace the national furor in the democratic party coming from the left of the party. >> there is already second guessing among democrats i talk to about his message. he didn't overtly attack near the end of the campaign, overtly attack trump when he

would visit or mike pence visited. he largely refrained from attacking saying he doesn't want to weigh in on the national figures coming in from washington. maybe if he was edgier it would have worked for him but tonight didn't look like anything would have worked for him. >> bret: translate that in washington. you said paul ryan is extremely happy tonight. as they have now a healthcare bill that we haven't seen. we are expecting to see it thursday on the senate side. the showroom model. they may get a little wind at their back, perhaps, on the trump agenda with this win. >> or get out of the giant win tunnel blowing in their face. the head winds that republicans are facing are real. they shouldn't pretend they aren't facing serious challenges. every party that holds the white house faces challenges in the first mid-term. except for 2002. that's just what history says. republicans have head winds and the president is not that popular right now.

all that said, if the check mark was on the other box, what paul ryan would be facing tomorrow, what mitch mcconnell would face in the senate is revolt. they would both be facing members that said oh, yeah, you want me to stand around next to you and wait for the steamroller to come in and squash me. i'm not doing it. i'm going off on my own. this buys them time they need between now and the end of august to put together a package and get legislation done. >> bret: shelby, what is your bet we see the stories tomorrow and say well, this was a republican district and held by republicans since 1979, and the margin was less than it was going to be in south carolina and georgia? that will be the focus and not this is a big win for the president. >> we'll see the headlines but being on the ground and talking to voters this past week, everyone said this is, in fact, a referendum on donald trump. republicans wanted to send what -- send someone to washington to support him. democrats wanted to block it

and claim a revenge victory in their backyard. this is about the president. a lot of people are saying it's about healthcare. it's really not. it's an affluent district. people have healthcare. they don't have as much at stake when it comes to their healthcare. they were more worried when i spoke to them about the government spending. they are frustrated frustrated e turmoil in washington. trump is not particularly popular figure in this district. but this was a referendum and it's a victory for the white house. make no mess take. >> bret: earlier i said 5-0. president trump had the biggest surprise victory. of the contested special congressional elections republicans are 4-0 with kansas, south carolina, georgia. they picked up one to replace becera not a surprise in california. but greg, put it in perspective for georgia. what that state looks like. is it now a more contested. >> clinton wanted to look at georgia, but it seems like the

old days of michigan and wisconsin and pennsylvania, the democrats looking to state that really are republican at their heart. >> yeah, i mean democrats hope that an ossoff victory would have given them to a path to wealthy suburban -- sorry, conservative leaning districts like this one. it didn't. so where he stands in georgia, where the situation stands in places like orange county california, and suburban new york districts republicans are trying to flip. it makes this sort of centrist message all the more difficult to sell. in georgia, which has been widely republican for decades now and the republicans control every state led office and commanding majority of the state legislature. it makes it harder for the democrats, especially newcomers like jon ossoff to come from out of nowhere to make a real challenge in the district. >> bret: most expensive house race in history. 150 to $250 per vote.

shellby, greg, chris, thank you very much. when we come back, a look at the other headlines tonight and what they are saying at the white house about the two special elections. continuing coverage on fox live next. my business was built with passion... but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. with it, i earn unlimited 2% cash back on all of my purchasing. and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... which adds fuel to my bottom line. what's in your wallet? hey. pass please. i'm here to fix the elevator. nothing's wrong with the elevator. right. but you want to fix it. right. so who sent you? new guy. what new guy?

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>> bret: fox news awe letter. updating you on the top story. former secretary of state karen handel is the winner in the congressional special election in suburban atlanta. handel defeated challenger jon ossoff with 10,000 votes and the most expensive house race in history to replace h.h.s. secretary tom price. more on that in a moment. first here are some of the other stories making news tonight. president trump met with ukrainian president today at the white house amid growing tensions with russia. he was a guest on special report tonight. and a plane flew within five feet of reconnaissance plane. russia has warned that it will now consider american jets in western syria air targets. belgian authorities say they stopped a terror attack at a busy brussels train station

tonight. the federal prosecutors say soldiers shot and killed a man after a small explosion inside the station. witnesses say he was yelling about jihadist. no one else was hurt in the incident. capitol security forces plan to step up security for lawmakers in the wake of last week's shooting at a republican baseball practice in alexandria, virginia. it could include sending officers to large gathers of lawmakers outside the capitol, as well as having uniform officers present rather than in plain clothes. settlement reached in the wrongful death suit filed by the parents of michael brown who was an unarmed teenager shot by a white police officer in ferguson, missouri, in 2014. the death sparked months of protest in the city. details of the settlement have not been released. the georgia special election was viewed by many as the referendum on president trump. correspondent kevin cork at the white house with reaction. i'm sure they are happy to accept that tonight.

>> reporter: they certainly are. frankly, bret, by all accounts for the president a good night. he had a dinner date with wife melania at the residence of the vice president and second lady. then came the news that the 2016 election g.o.p. wave continues to wash over to 2017. >> it didn't take him very long. after g.o.p. victories in georgia and south carolina congressional races the president as is his custom took to twitter. tweeting congratulations to karen handel on her big win in georgia's six. fantastic job. we are all very proud of you. he made no secret of the keen interest in congressional race for the georgia six district. tweeting earlier in the day karen handel for congress. she will fight for lower taxes, great healthcare, strong security, hard worker who will never give up. vote today. while some political experts had suggested the contest was a referendum on the trump presidency, others caution

against reading too much in the outcome. >> we will read an enormous amount in the results. some of it will be justified. most of it probably won't be. a month from now we'll be talking about something else. >> reporter: still, it could be argued that the race sent a clear message to the white house. proceed full steam ahead with the trump agenda on capitol hill. including major policy initiatives on infrastructure, healthcare, and tax reform. experts say the wins in south carolina and georgia not only keep alive a string of g.o.p. victories in 2017, they amplify the political capital of the president. especially at a time when some polls have given him relatively low marks, including the latest cbs survey that showed a mere 36% of americans approve of mr. trump's job performance. though it should also be noted that the very same poll found that most people believed he faced far more criticism than his predecessors, making tonight's victories and his endorsement more important

moving forward to 2018. >> here is why it matters. it will energize one side and deenergize the other. particularly in the recruitment of candidates. this is prime recruitment season. >> there is no empirical evidence of the president's endorsement to tip the scales in one direction or another, one thing is clear. his voters and those of the g.o.p. spoke with a loud and clear voice as they had with every special election in 2017. >> bret: kevin, thank you. when we return what the year's special elections could mean for congressional races in 2018. la quinta presents "how to win at business." step one: point decisively with the arm of your glasses. abracadabra. the stage is yours. step two: choose la quinta. the only hotel where you can redeem loyalty points for a free night-instantly and win at business.

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we are joined with more on which way the political pendulum is swinging. >> political experts across the country spent a lot of time watching special elections. why? many analysts say the political party will use it to figure out how they campaign in 2018. as we are already seeing tonight to try to predict winners in 2018. five states have held special elections. california, montana, kansas, georgia, south carolina. republicans have cheered victories in places like kansas and montana. montana's special election president trump backed the republican congressional candidate. republican gianforte won, even after assaulting a reporter. >> i should not have treated that reporter that way. >> reporter: the pressure in georgia seemed different than the others. for one thing there is a lot of money in the game. >> the base of the democratic party is demanding something to cheer about right now.

the democrats need to deliver. this is a district they have poured an incredible amount of money into. for democrats this is already a win. this is evidence that coming 2018 election even for state republican districts trump is such a factor that republicans are going to have to fight tooth and nail and spend tens of millions of dollars to hang on what previously had been safe republican seats. >> in a race like this, the margin matters. turn-out matters. >> reporter: and one big picture question stays the same. what kind of strategy will work best in 2018? will republicans run with trump or away from him? how do they handle things like healthcare? at least one republican says the strategy won't change. >> republicans have share the policy agenda of the president and will continue to advocate, advance that agenda regardless of what happens in georgia today. >> reporter: as so many morning republicans held the

house with 238 seats. democrats had 193. montana's greg gianforte takes office wednesday. >> bret: thank you. let's talk more in depth about how the elections possibly affect the house. chad joins us, our political reporter. what is your take? is this a bellwether? >> we look at special elections. they are just that. they are special. sometimes you take something away from it and sometimes you can't. in may of 2010, there was a special election in western pennsylvania for jack murtha's seat. they said they had to get the seat to win the house that fall. the democrats held the seat and held that seat that fall and the republicans took the house of representatives. they are always trying to find meaning. >> bret: it's been redrawn in that district many times. i grew up in the area. don't the democrats need this kind of a district to flip the house in 2018? >> yes. they need the suburban

districts and more so they need the rural districts. one reason that the districts won the house of representatives in 2006, they won multiple seats in rural indiana, rural ohio, western north carolina. those are the type of seats they need to win to flip the house of representatives. they are not in play at all in any of the districts. this is like in hockey, bret, where you have one team that outplays the other but there is a hot goaltender on the other side. you need your goalie to steal a couple of games. here the democrats haven't been able to steal any of the seats. they need a steal to get in the house. >> bret: overwhelming trump in 2006. would ossoff's success if he won tonight be sort of a recruiting tool for democrats to find that kind of candidate? and conversely since he lost, does it hurt the effort? >> you are always looking for a model that goes in the next election. this is a try and true model. let's see if it works in the fall or 2018.

by the same token republicans will look at this and they will keep going back to the same play book. nancy pelosi. they have done that since 2010. it works pretty well. that is why the chairman of the national republican campaign committee, the n.r.c., in charge of electing republicans to the house of representatives put out a statement saying democrats threw the kitchen sink at karen handel and it still backfired on them. nancy pelosi is still somewhat toxic. >> bret: it's not hard to make that stick. she is the minority leader in the house. chuck schumer from new york is the leader in the senate. bernie sanders and elizabeth warren are the leaders of the party, or the heart of it. it's kind of an easy thing to take. one more thing. georgia, right now, karen handel is up five points. it's not completely done but it's almost completely done. ralph norman in south carolina up 3.2. he won that race, the republican. closer there than in georgia.

>> democrats will look for a silver lining there. wasn't much attention paid to that race but they made the contest closer. so maybe they look to see what they did in that contest to see if there was a difference. political consultants will tell them there are a lot of districts. if they can get to 49% but not the 50.1%. maybe that happened in georgia and south carolina as well. >> bret: good to have you here on a big night. thank you, chad. when we come back the panel on what tonight's special elections really mean, maybe for the trump agenda up on the hill. introducing new parodontax. the toothpaste that helps prevent bleeding gums. if you spit blood when you brush or floss you may have gum problems and could be on the journey to much worse. help stop the journey of gum disease. try new parodontax toothpaste.

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tonight, i stand before you extraordinarily humbled and honored at the tremendous privilege and high responsibility that and the people across the sixth district have given to me to represent you with that fighting spirit, that perseverance and tenacity that i will take to washington. it's been the driving force in my life. and it will be the driving force for you as i represent you. >> we showed the world that in places where no one thought it was even possible to fight, we could fight. this is not the outcome any of us were hoping for. but this is the beginning of something much bigger than us. the fight goes on. hope is still alive. >> bret: as we look at the race in georgia. sixth congressional district in georgia, republican karen handel with a big win tonight.

bigger than a lot of people projected. the first republican woman to be sent to the house from the state of georgia. the president congratulating karen handel tonight. he tweeted a number of times about the race. the senior advisor kellyanne conway tweeting "thanks to everyone who breathlessly and snarkly proclaimed georgia six as referendum on potus. you were right." we have a panel. anna for politico. kateie babich news editor of townhall.com. charlie, a big night for the president and the white house. >> without a doubt. for the past six weeks or more we have been told this will be a referendum on the president. as kellyanne conway pointed out in her twitter message he outhe performed his own --

out-performed his own thought in that district when he won the election by a good at least five points. so that was suggesting it is a tremendous day for the president. >> bret: there were a lot of predictions. a lot of predictions. there were a lot of democrats across the nation, especially in washington who thought this thing was heading their direction. nate silver tweeted six days ago, "it means there is a 70% chance ossoff wins and 30% chance that data is broken." again, you look at polls. it may be within the margin of error but they are tilting republican. >> yeah, clearly karen handel had a big night tonight. bigger than anyone predicted. i try to get out of the prediction game. we are bad at it. the last election showed it. we continue to be bad at it and we'll continue to be not

accurate. this shows for democrats that they have a lot to be nervous about. this was a race they had all of the money in the world. they had all the energy and the enthusiasm. they came close in the primaries but they were not able to deliver. 0 and 4 means they will have a tough time in the midterm election. >> the movement has gone from being activists going to rallies, protesting to staying there. their challenge going into 2018 was going to be to turn the people upset about the trump agenda into voters who get to the polls. i don't think the republicans thought it was going to be a race they should lose certainly. you had newt gingrich campaigning there. john bolton sending out e-mails. the president was involved. but the ground game was strong. it's a republican district, the americans for prosperity, a group responsible for the 2010 turnover of the house had thousands of phone calls going out. 50,000 calls since may. so they didn't take it for

granted. they thought they had to put the work in. but in terms of the left they had to find out what kind of candidate they want to run. do they run to the left as bernie sanders suggested or go to the middle? this is an example of throwing spaghetti against the wall against trump and hoping it will stick. here we are that it does not. >> bret: not just spaghetti. $20 million plus from the democrat candidate and most spent from outside and the candidates themselves from a u.s. house race. what does it tell us? does it tell us at some point money can't buy you love? look at the numbers. it's amazing. >> it's staggering, especially considering the politics. rule of thumb is whoever has the most money and raises the most money wins. clearly that is not the case here. that i think is particularly troubling for democrats i don't think that -- although i love the idea of making this into a referendum about donald trump i don't think it was necessarily a referendum on

donald trump. nancy pelosi was a far bigger name used in the campaign. and the fact that here we are, you know, however many years into her reign, and nancy pelosi is still a lightning rod in house races. people are winning races by saying oh, if you elect that person, he will represent nancy pelosi? >> bret: anna, if you are tim ryan from ohio who ran against nancy pelosi for the house minority position and lost, more moderate, aren't you saying i told you so? >> i think nobody really thought tim ryan was a serious challenge to nancy pelosi's reign atop house democrats. but i think for nancy pelosi, this will be another issue. you know, what we said earlier on the program they need to win rural districts and find a blue dot democrats that have disappeared from the party. if you are jon ossoff, you see this race and your candidate looks at jumping in, this is not a good sign. >> bret: as the results are

coming in, she was tweeting out pictures at u2 with the fans as she was at the concert. >> the grassroots moved on people of the south. nancy pelosi, she is. karen handel ran against the course but also ran against nancy pelosi. what does nancy pelosi represent. the establishment of the democrat party which is the problem on the left and what they are grappling with when it comes to the candidates they are trying to run. they are really going to have to figure out what issues they will run on. and campaign heavily against the g.o.p. healthcare bill. if you look at the money we have been talking about here, we break it down by vote, it's about $to 0 -- $200 per vote which is more than jeb bush spent in the primary. in terms of money, money doesn't always buy you love. yet, they won't sink this much money in every house race. they will have to come up with the better candidates. >> bret: a democrat tweeted ossoff race better be a wakeup

call for the democrats. business as usual isn't working. time to stop rehashing 2016 and talk about the future. we need a genuinely new message, a serious jobs plan that reaches all americans and a bigger tent, not a smaller one. focus on the future." that's to your point, anna. sounding the alarm bell. >> yeah. i think we will see it a lot from the house and the senate democrats. they will get back to the town. the issue is going to be who is going to be the person? is it the member of the tim ryans of the party? are they going to come forward? so far there hasn't been anybody except for trump, trump has been the one person for democrats that unified them. they have to figure out what the message is to try to get people out to the polls. >> which is the problem with a resistance message or an obstruction message. it obfuscates any larger message. i always felt the revolution we have seen in the last year

or so with donald trump and the republican party has been painful for the republicans. it's what we are still waiting to see is that same revolution among the democrats. it's because bernie sanders endorsed every one of these people and got behind every one of these people. they all lose in general elections. that will be something that the democrats will have to -- it is a schism in the democratic party they will have to face at some point. >> bret: there is an up-ending if you will overseas tonight. breaking news that the saudi king has now named his son as the new crown prince up-ending what was the traditional movement there. the royal succession, m.b.s., as he is known was the person who came here and met with president trump. he is also the person who is the forward-leaning younger version of the royals. he is now in the poll -- pole

position to be the next king of saudi arabia, if you will. that is a big event for the saudis that i'm sure we will hear a lot about tomorrow. next up, we focus back here on capitol hill. the way forward for the trump agenda and how tonight possibly affects that. i just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance with geico. huh. i should take a closer look at geico... geico can help with way more than car insurance. boats, homes, motorcycles... even umbrella coverage. this guy's gonna wish he brought his umbrella. fire at will! how'd you know the guy's name is will? yeah? it's an expression, ya know? fire at will? you never heard of that? oh, there goes will! bye, will! that's not his name! take a closer look at geico. great savings. and a whole lot more.

we have a lot of work to do. a lot of problems that we need to solve. >> so far we have wracked up wins and we have not lost a special election yet. >> the president will support republicans up and down the ticket, especially to maintain the majority in the house and the senate as we move forward. >> karen is keeping it local and she is going to come to washington and be support to the white house and help us repeal and replace obamacare, pass tax reform and get jobs coming back to that district. >> bret: a lot of hope on the republican side. perhaps some wind in their sails for the agenda up on capitol hill. we are back with the panel. katie, what does this done? we have a senate healthcare bill. repeal and replace. we are expected to see something about thursday. haven't seen it yet. concern about getting the 50 votes. does this somehow bolster the

ability of republicans to get things across the finish line? >> it certainly gives republicans more ability in terms of saying we won a presidential election but we won a number of special elections in a row on the issues that really affect americans. they are not talking about the russian scandal and the campaigns. they are talk about obamacare, tax reform, fighting terrorism. even jon ossoff discussed those things and ran as a fiscal conservative and talked about how he wanted to take out isis. these are the things that americans really care about. in terms of the resistance movement on capitol hill is a reflection of some of the lawmakers' con analysis ten wi -- lawmakers' constituencies. they have to decide if they want to continue the resistance and look like they obstructing progress and getting things done in washington or look at why so many democrats crossed the aisle to vote for trump in the first place. >> bret: here is the house speaker from the newsroom.

>> democrats threw the entire kitchen sink at this. they spent tens of millions of dollars to pick up the congressional seat. marginal congressional district. >> bret: pointing out they spent now tens of millions of dollars to lose. paul ryan put out a statement congratulations to karen handel. democrats from coast to coast threw everything they had at the race. karen would not be defeated. the people of the georgia sixth congressional districts are the winners because they elected a representative who will fight for their interest. have a partner the house of representatives and i look forward to working with her as we tackle the country's most pressing problems." will it allow them to tackle it easier? >> i don't know it will allow them to tackle it easier. i think the republicans on the hill were nervous about the low approval rating. every day a new scandal, russia, a witch hunt, robert mueller. this gives them ability to say trump is not the drag on the ticket maybe we thought. i think the republicans and

the democrats alike are about self-preservation of getting re-elected and this gives them breathing room in the republican leadership to try to move the agenda forward. >> bret: obviously, rasmussen has a 50% number for approval rating but there are others down in 30%, 35%. does it matter? >> i think that -- you know, of course it definitely matters but i think that it is an important -- republicans are always skittish anyway. they are really skittish right now. so the idea that the republicans were able to pull out of this -- and this is a district, this is not trump country. this is as establishment republican as you can get. trump won by one point versus congressman price who won by 23, 24 points. this is not, this is not a place where trump does particularly well.

if this race is the canary in the coal mine and handel was able to pull out a six-point win, that is going to give a lot of relief to republicans. >> bret: i tell you when i travel the country, this is the issue. tax reform. today we had the house speaker talking about that. you had karen handel talk about it on the campaign trail. >> president trump recently introduced a set of principles for tax reform. right now we, the house, the senate, the white house, we are working together to turn them into a transformational tax reform plan. we want to make it easier for companies to sell goods abroad and turn it to jobs at home. >> the tax will be very, very difficult in my district with auto manufacturing and large retailers like dollar general and tractor supply. >> bret: when you talk about

it, people say yeah. i mean, forget talking about healthcare right now. give me the tax reform. at least for businesses. >> this is something a lot of people can agree on. everybody to some extent pays tax or has to file taxes with the i.r.s. it's a long arbitrary process. when paul ryan as he did today talks about the fact we spend millions of dollars, hundreds of hours of our time trying to comply with the tax code that could put us in prison if we don't comply the right way. americans respond to that. they also respond to things like saying we want to submit your taxes on a postcard. we want to make it simple and go from seven tax brackets to three. most importantly we believe you are a better distributor of your money that you earn than the government. we have seen the money come in the federal government for years and we have seen it wasted. last week we talked about how we're still studying y2k all these years later. this is something people identify with on a personal level. >> bret: they did in georgia six and south carolina five.

republicans with two big wins tonight. big win for president trump and the white house. we'll see how it plays out. thank you for inviting us into your home. that is it for this "special report." still, fair and balanced. which is such a dad thing to do. after he gave his name the woman from capital one said "mr. garner, are you related to jennifer?" kind of joking with him. and my dad was so proud to tell her, "as a matter of fact, she is my middle daughter". so now dad has the venture card, he's earning his double miles, and he made a friend at the company. can i say it? go ahead! what's in your wallet? nice job dad.

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2018? 2018? >> bret: this is a fox news >> this is a fox news alert. i am bret baier in washington. it's 11:00 p.m. in washington and also in atlanta. welcome to our primetime "special report." democrats arefo 0 for 5 and special elections. against an incumbent president who they say is incredibly vulnerable. under attack constantly from investigations into collusion and obstruction of justice to daily negative stories about his style, his tweets, you name it. but democrats are 0 for 5 so far and special elections.ns democrats tonight say all five of thoses candidates are performed traditional democratic turnout in these republican leaning districts. after spending tens of millions of dollars, they haven't won