♪ the holidays begin here at the disneyland resort. >> jimmy: hi. welcome back. our next guest tonight is the mayor of los angeles. whether he will or will not run for president is something that may never be revealed. please welcome the number one guy in america's number two city, the honorable eric garcetti. [ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: thank you for coming. >> my pleasure.

>> jimmy: i know you've had a very, very busy day, haven't you. >> it's been a light day. >> jimmy: when you're the mayor, you have to go vote in person, you can't do it by mail. >> absolutely. >> jimmy: so people see you voting. >> there's cameras that come. i feel all this pressure like i have to know exactly how to vote quickly. like you're the mayor, you know every measure, you know every person so you're going, boom, boom, through all them. people are like, i'm about to beat you. there's a sense of civic pride. >> jimmy: you don't have to bring a little guide in there. >> i try to memorize it with a little song inside my head. yes on one and yes on two. >> jimmy: what about the judges? do you sing their names? >> no, judges, i rearrange the letters in their names and if it spells something cool, i vote for them. >> jimmy: you take a jumble approach. >> exactly. >> jimmy: you were also, i saw, a paragraph hotograph of you ma telephone calls. who were you calling? >> i went to ucla, our local campus, went to democratic headquarters and whenever i call voters, i think they're surprised. i'm like, hey, this is eric, i'm

the mayor of l.a. but i'm just volunteering today and hoping you've turned in your ballot. and then there's silence. and they're like, am i in trouble if i haven't? and i'm like, you're not in trouble but wear 're encouragin you. a lot of people, their lives get busy. >> jimmy: and they think their votes don't count and sometimes they don't, but for the most part, they do. >> exactly. >> jimmy: especially in l.a., a lot of people go, we know how it's going to go, i don't need to vote. >> but this election, i think, across the country, there were surprises. there were heartbreaks. there's great ones. >> jimmy: what were some of the surprises for you? what were some of the heartbreaks? >> kendra horn was just elected in oklahoma, the first time in 28 years an open seat in oklahoma was won by a democrat. that was incredible. sharice davids in kansas, former mma fighter, a lesbian, she's the full package. she won in kansas and a woman won as governor in kansas too.

i think there was -- the one i'm most excited about, though, jimmy, is actually a proposition on the ballot in hillsboro county, which is kind of tampa in florida. that's $300 million a year for 30 years to fix the damn roads, to get some public transportation built, because as washington has this kind of charade about what politics really is, i think real people want actual things to pass and the mayor of tampa, amazing guy and a huge coalition past that, that's $9 billion. >> jimmy: i wouldn't be rooting -- if i was you, i'd want traffic in every other city to be worse than l.a. because there seems to be no way to make it better here, but if it was worse every where else, no one would complain. >> well, l.a. voters did that a couple years ago and we're building 15 new lines here. i think americans are sick of just the partisan politics. they want to see people who are actually getting something done. >> jimmy: mayors have to get things done, right? >> absolutely. absolutely. >> jimmy: you -- do people complain to you all the time about things when you're mayor? >> josh, your producer, just talked to me about a stop sign

and some speed bumps. >> jimmy: did he really? >> it's true. we're going to do it. you know, when people come -- what i love about being mayor is you can get stuff done and it's a contrast everywhere else. >> jimmy: yeah, when you're president -- >> you don't have to get things done, apparently. >> jimmy: yeah. or the things that you do get done are nightmarish. >> right. >> jimmy: do you want to be president of the united states? >> you know, certain days, i think, everybody who's a patriot should be thinking about running, even if they have a snowball's chance. >> jimmy: yeah, but do you want to be president? >> i don't know. other days, i think i don't want to be away from my daughter and my wife in l.a. >> jimmy: they can come. i think they're invited. i think they have an extra room in the house. >> they do. i heard they do. i'm thinking hard about it. i think whether i do or not, i hope a bunch of mayors do think about it. because i think it's such a contrast to washington right now. you can't b.s. a pothole. you either pave it or you don't. we deal every single day with real problems from homelessness

to traffic to international trade and electricity. we're the ones who deal with climate change when fires here or floods in houston and the florida panhandle come. and i think people are sick of washington talking a good game but not doing much. so, i'm going to think real hard about it the next couple months. >> jimmy: this is a yes, then. >> jimmy kimmel, kimmel-garcetti ticketed. >> jimmy: if we ever do run together, and by the way, you would be president, i've got a nice slogan for us. it goes like this, garcetti and meatballs 2020. i've got a few of these for you. >> i love it. >> jimmy: i'm going to send them home with you as well. so you're not ready to announce whether or not you're going to do it. >> i've been so focused on tonight's elections. >> jimmy: you were going around the country helping democrats raise money and raise awareness. >> mississippi, oklahoma. >> jimmy: when you go to mississippi and oklahoma, are they like, who the hell is this person? >> that b.s. that is being

pedalled right now that we don't know each other across america, that you're red or blue or urban or rural, that's not how people talk. you're not a kardashian and you're from l.a., tell me more. they want to get to know you. my wife's from indiana. i think all of those divisions are kind of more pronounced and folks in washington eat off of them. you know, they eat their dinner off that. when i'm in mississippi, we talk potholes. when i'm in oklahoma, they tell me how school is four days a week because of cutbacks. that stuff transcends politics. you just listen to people. listen to their problems and they respond really well. >> jimmy: are you still in the naval reserves? >> i just got my papers in march after 12 half years. >> jimmy: you would go, like, once a month down to san diego and report for duty. >> and here and in close alamedos. i served alongside some of the most amazing folks in the u.s. navy. we had a joint unit. >> jimmy: i remember once we were talking and it may have been after your inauguration and

you had to go, like, the next weekend to go do your reserve duty and there's no two ways about it. >> you're mayor and you're in charge of everything, and i'd go, and i'd go and have five guys in charge of me. it keeps you humble and directed. that's what i love about the military. >> jimmy: boy, i wish we'd had some video of that. >> wives and the military do that to you. >> jimmy: yeah, well, sure. wives in any area will do that to you. eric garcetti is here. he's the mayor of los angeles. we'll be right back. and all thro' the house. 'twas the night before christmas, not a creature was stirring, but everywhere else... there are chefs, bakers and food order takers. doctors and surgeons and all the life savers.

the world is alive as you can see, this time of the year is so much more than a bow and a tree. (morgan vo) those who give their best, deserve the best. get up to a $1,000 credit on select models now during the season of audi sales event. well, it's a whole day's worth of love songs. or 300 minutes of baby videos. a gig goes a long way.

that's why xfinity mobile lets you pay for data one gig at a time. and with millions of wifi hotspots included, you'll pay even less for data. or if you need a lot we have unlimited too. plus, get $200 back when you buy a new smart phone. it's simple, easy, awesome. click, call or visit a store today. >> jimmy: well, that was our live show. i want to thank sacha baron cohen. i want to thank borat. i want to thank fred willard. i do not want to thank matt damon. i do want to thank our mayor and our possible future president of the united states, eric garcetti. i have another couple of -- what do you think of this? garcetti, an eric that's not a trump. or -- and this one, really, i know you're going to laugh but i hope you'll really seriously consider this and just zoom in real close there if you can. let's get sweaty with garcetti. >> yes, i like it. i like it. >> jimmy: fitness.

it's so important. >> all about fitness. >> jimmy: stick with abc news. good night and may oprah bless america. tonight on this special edition of "nightline." democrats take the house. while republicans retain control of the senate. now what president trump is saying about this split decision. and our divided nation. around the country, it was your voice, your vote. in the ted cruz/det toe o'rourke showdown, cruz keeping his seat. in tennessee, no swift lift as blackburn reigns. and that pink wave. a record number of women heading to washington. some even making history. plus our powerhouse roundtable looking at the issues that you voted on. from immigration to health care

to the economy. this is a special edition of "nightline." here now, dan harris. >> good evening. thank you for joining us on this historic night. millions of americans turning out to vote in what has been perhaps the hardest-fought, certainly the most-expensive midterm elections ever. the results in the battle for control of congress, democrats taking the house of representatives, surpassing the 23 seats needed to seize control and flip the majority. in the senate, however, a very different story. republicans holding on to power, even picking up seats. president trump claiming victory via tweet, of course. quote, tremendous success tonight, thank you to all. however, exit poll numbers from "today" show a majority of voters disapprove of his job performance. and most people who went to the polls say they oppose the president. and interestingly, when voters were asked what is the most important issue, health care

came in at number one. way ahead of immigration. the issue the president chose to highlight in the closing days of this campaign. so much to talk about. so let's get straight to some very smart people. abc news senior national correspondent terry moran, our political director rick kline, cokie roberts, political analyst for abc news. good evening to all of you, or good morning. >> whatever it is. >> depending how you're looking at things. democrats took the house. what does that mean for president trump starting right now? >> trouble. he's got a whole new world in front of him, a world of committee chairmen who will have the power of subpoena and will maybe come after his tax returns, his family organization, business records. and also a very different world on policy. there's no more republican trump agenda that's going to get through the congress. nothing might get through the congress. so it's going to be a much more difficult presidency for him and one that he will have to probably adjust to in some form or fashion, suggesting he'll change his tone. i'll believe when it i see it.

>> cokie, do you believe that? >> that he'll change his tone? >> yes, or that he can navigate this -- >> i think he probably can do some navigation. i think he naturally enjoys the company of nancy pelosi more than that of paul ryan. a boy scout from wisconsin versus a signed pol originally from baltimore and san francisco. >> just for the uninitiated, paul ryan, current speaker of the house, nancy pelosi, the once and perhaps future speaker of the house. >> right. i think things like infrastructure that the president talked about in the campaign, the democrats have been dying to do. used to be always a bipartisan bill. hasn't been in recent times but it might be again. there might be some things that can happen. look, we've got a bunch of interesting things going on in the house. and they might contribute to more cooperation than we think. all these veterans, you know, veterans, we talked about it earlier, dan, veterans care about the country, work together, and might be working together in the house of representatives. >> we've got a lot of veterans elected to office tonight. rick, let me ask you, if this

was a referendum on the president, what were the results of that referendum? >> yes, and no. it was a little bit of everything. you could look at this election any bay way you want to slice and it find plenty to love about what happened and plenty to hate, a perfect enhance lation of our politics. maybe all of the contradictions of president trump. you can have one country on one night vote in entirely different directions. to ratify the trump agenda in red states, a number of states that were key to his voting coalition two years ago, to reject it in other states. in suburban centers, you can go outside of washington, new york, chicago, dallas, houston, oklahoma city, kansas city, los angeles, and you find these little red spots that are now turning toward the blue. and president trump was very much repudiated in those places. it is this contradiction, i think, that's going to define this election. >> cheered and chastened. >> depending on where you sit, everybody is cheered and chastened. >> look at the governors races,

very important. we just decided at abc news wisconsin has gone democratic, michigan has gone democrat irk, illinois, nevada democratic -- >> states that handed donald j. trump the presidency. >> exactly. >> kansas as well. >> kansas, now that was aberrant for various reasons. but still, quite remarkable. >> in some way dozen we start where we began? we're moving chips around on the board. we started with a divided kun true, and here we are again. >> divided not necessarily politically. it's this cultural division between us. between those of us who live in certain places and look at life a certain way, and those of us in other places. rural and suburban. >> and between men and women. a big, big difference between the way women voted and the way men voted. we now have all these women in congress. when my mother was elected in the special election in 1973 to congress, she became the 16th

woman in congress. she joined 15 other women in congress. now we will have more than 100. that is quite something. and another optimistic note, women do tend to work together better than the men do. >> so that's what i was going to ask about. there is data to show that women govern and legislate differently. >> they do. they tend to be -- obviously not every woman. but they tend to be less idealogical, more pragmatic, more willing to cross party lines, particularly on issues that have to do with women, children, families, but on all kinds of things. you saw the government shutdown, the most recent one, women in the senate came together and said, for god's sake, let us not play stupid games. you see a lot of that. >> we know issues that brought people out, health care, immigration, gun control, the economy. how are these issues going to be dealt with or will these issues be dealt with in any way going forwa forward? >> start with immigration. there's a chance of a showdown before the democrats take over.

you could have a government shut down if the president pushes his case for his border wall. he's talking about the caravan. troops are still at the border to greet the migrant caravan. i think health care, though, is something -- it was the dominant theme of advertising. it was the thing that candidates were asked about more than anything else. and the parties are not just opposed, the president is trying to pursue a lawsuit that would get obamacare thrown out entirely. the patch they'd have to put together for pre-existing conditions, that might be one of those areas, where as cokie mentions, they're going to have to work together. >> referenda in the states, extended medicaid, you have the voters speaking as well. >> that's right. thank you all, really appreciate it. >> good to be with you. tonight was a night of many firsts. for a look at some who made history in these elections, horse my "nightline" coanchor byron pitts. >> reporter: a pink wave of candidates. has now become a record number of women heading to washington. many of them democrats. among them several veterans.

including former navy pilot and federal prosecutor mikey sharrow in new jersey. >> it's a simple truth that we love our country. >> reporter: women racking up the score of other firsts along the way. iowa and new york will be sending the youngest women elected to congress. at age 29. michigan and minnesota electing the first two muslim women to the house. from kansas and new mexico, the first two native american women to serve in congress. for "nightline," i'm byron pitts in new york. >> our thanks to byron pitts. next, our pow urhose pundits on the president and the new political balance of power.

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joining us for insight and analysis, our powerhouse team of experts including former new jersey governor chris christie, donna brazile, former chair of the dnc, matthew dowd, political analyst. former governor chris christie, what is your friend, donald j. trump, thinking tonight? >> what he always thinks, i won. he's going to say, i added seats in the united states senate. i went into red states that i'd won and got republican senators there. vanquished some people who opposed my agenda. and oh, the house? that was paul ryan's fault is i think what we'll hear at some point from the president. i think the president's going to look at that, look at the landscape of the governors, where he did better than expected, and say, this was a good night for me, and he'll move on. but i also think the one change i think he will make is, from an issues perspective, you'll see a guy who's going to look for opportunity to make an

unexpected deal with house democrats that gives him credibility moving into 2020. >> donna brazile, would your former chair of the democratic national committee work, donald trump be right in telling himself a story that he won? if you look at this historically, didn't he do better than most president dozen in their first midterm? >> no, because he didn't -- with a good economy, donald trump lost seats in the house of representatives. democrats knew going into tonight that we had an opportunity to pick up some of the seats where the republicans had retired or did not run. but what we saw tonight was that democrats were able to even reach into some red state territory and pick up seats in the house and win back some key gubernatorial races, including in the state of michigan and kansas, which was a big surprise for democrats. >> matt, governor kristy talked about the possibility of donald trump reaching across the aisle and cutting some sort of deal. do you see that happening? >> i think it would be really smart. i think at this point in time every president that has been

successful after a loss like this has figured out a way to make a deal with the other side. bill clinton did it after he was badly beat no one the '94 election. barack obama attempted to do it. many of the presidents who have been successful in their presidency have done that. the question is, does he have the capacity to do that? over a longer period of time than 24 or 48 hours? i think that's incouple bnt on him. the other thing is both sides in this, democrat and republican party, have things to celebrate and things to lament. i think they both do. democrats suffered more losses than they expected to suffer. they expected to pick up more governorships. i think the republicans had a good economy at their back and they have an unpopular president, and they lost the house, which could put them in dire danger of investigations. so they can both celebrate, but they also ought to identify their own wounds that came from tonight. >> governor kristy, a wild card is robert mueller. this investigation continues. does the president have reason to be concerned? >> well, i think, you know -- i've said all along, as long as

there's a special counsel who has the ability to subpoena things, you should be concerned. >> now you have democrats who can subpoena things as well. >> that's a different story, that's in a political nature. this guy's a prosecutor who can send people to jail. the house democrats are not going to be able to do that. so as long as there's special counsel out there who can serve subpoenas and bring criminal charges, you need to be concerned and wary of that. until that shop closes down, the president has to be very careful about what he says and does vis-a-vis the special counsel. the house is a whole different political problem. a prosecutor problem is a much bigger one. >> with a wider majority in the senate does he have more leeway to be tough on the special counsel? >> no. >> can he fire him? >> no. because republicans in the senate will not put up with firing bob mueller. they just won't. that will be a red line he knows he can't cross. if he thought he could, he would have done it a long time ago. he has a great sense of self preservation. knows just about how far he can

go before he gets himself in real trouble with the people he needs, like republicans in the senate. what the republicans' increased majority in the senate will do for him is allow him to appoint people, both to the bench and as replacements for cabinet members who leave, that he really wants because he's going to have a little leeway in the senate, maybe 54, maybe 55 votes, to be able to get people confirmed. >> we have seconds left here. i apologize for asking a big question. do you have any optimism, given the current formulation in washington, that we'll be able to see a reduction in tox sister any. >> yes. because democrats campaign on the wave of hope and opportunity for all. >> i don't have much hope in the short-term. i have hope in the long-term. i think we're so divided today that it's going to take many years to get through this. hope in the long-term, not in the short-term. >> thank you all, really appreciate it.

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covered california. it's more than just health care. it's life care. this special edition of "nightline," your voice, your vote, continues. >> for many of you our midterm election coverage continues on a