>> from washington, the mclaughlin group. the american original. for over three decades, the sharpest minds, best sources, hardest talk. >> issue one, shellacking two. >> i heard your concerns. i have made them my own. you will be heard in washington. [ cheers and applause ] >> republicans will indeed be heard in washington. the gop won big on tuesday. they boasted their majority in the u.s. house and are on track to host the number of seats not seen since 1947. and in the u.s. senate where democrats hold the majority, 53 seats, the republicans 45, the gop routed the democrats from

control. here is a sampling of crucial battleground states like north carolina where republicans scored. >> i'm the next united states senator of the state of north carolina. >> and colorado, another republican win. >> it is time for a new way forward. >> like iowa, with the first female senator in that state was elected. the republicans self-described hog castrater joni. >> thanks to all of you, we are headed to washington. [ cheers and applause ] and we are going to make them squeal! >> on friday, republican candidate ed gillaspie concede to mark warner. so virginia is democratic. republicans have won seven seats bringing the new senate break down to 52 republicans, 44 democrats, and two independents with two races undecided.

alaska and louisiana. question. was this election a referendum on barack obama? pat buchanan? >> john, that is exactly what it was. barack obama was rejected. if he had been prime minister of great britain, considering the losses of seats he had, he would have resigned and been gone by now. but this city is somewhat? denial. they say the country has told the republicans to go to washington and work with barack obama. the country said the exact opposite. they rewarded republicans for standing up and hammering obama repeatedly. they punish democrats for working with obama. so i think if there is any mandate here, it is for republicans to go back and put forward their own positive agenda based on their own principle. >> with that, let's go to this. okay, the republican agenda. >> we are going to function. this is a gridlock of dysfunction. it can be ended. >> republican leaders have come up with an ambitious agenda. among the big ticket items,

republicans expect to pass one, a major overhaul of the tax code. two, a ten-year plan to balance the federal budget. three, a stiff revision of the affordable care act, and four, approving the long delayed keystone oil pipeline. and there is this mitch mcconnell promise. >> there will be no government shut downs and no default on the national debt. >> @ obama says he welcomes the republican initiative but will veto whatever doesn't fit his agenda. who is in the drivers seat? >> the congress will be initiating but the president will be a strong backseat driver. he is not going to sign anything that compromises or undermines the affordable care act. he can probably take the keystone pipeline. it is still in litigation. let's see what happens with that. but the strongest thing that came through in this election

is dissatisfaction with the way washington works. and if the republicans do what pat is suggesting, just hue to their hard line agenda, they are going to throw away whatever mandate they have and the democrats will be in a much stronger position in 2016. there are things that the president and this congress can do. president leaves for china this weekend. a trade deal will happen. infrastructure which the parties avulse agreed on. so i think they can get some work on. i think the gridlock in the last four years has been so terrible that i have made the pivot. bring in the new faces. they are going to shake it up. we are going to see what happens. and you know, i think when things look the worst in politics on your side, sometimes, there's great opportunity. i think there is opportunity here for this president, and for the republicans as well. >> you think this is too much of a concession on your part? >> not a concession. it is a recognition of reality and it is maneuvering to get

what you can. mitch mcconnell was in washington decades for barack obama showed up and he will be here long after barack obama leaves. so i don't underestimate him and i think he can stand up to the more extreme voices in his caucus. i'm not sure about john boehner. >> cbs's exit polling shows 65% of voters say "the country is on the wrong track." only 44% of them approve of the job the president is doing. exit polls show that the economy was the number one issue for 45% of the voters, and 78% said they are concerned about the direction. question, should president obama reorganize his white house team to show he gets the message? i ask you tom rogan. >> i think he should shake up his team, not just to show he

gets the message, but more to show he can actually institute some changes in policy. the record of the past six years of his presidency has been such that people have lost trust. he suffered a very stinging rebuke in the midterms. and if he gets rid of people like valerie jarot who are a partisan populous of white house control. president bush did this. and that allowed him to bring salvage to that. he brought in robert gates. he allowed a wider thinking to come into it. but the president is known, the current president is known for having an insular attitude. he needs to broaden his perspective. >> does john padesta figure in? >> i think so. i think it would be very damaging for the president if he is moving toward legacy. republicans realize that going

towards 2016, they have to show a different brand. senator senator mcconnell says there will be no more touchdown. shut down. >> the issue the that will continue in my judgment is the economy and the republicans have to come forward with something that makes sense compared so what they have not been able to persuade the obama administration to bring to the public. if they get a series of legislative programs that deal with the issue of the economy in particular, the jobs issue which is very weak, i think they will be able to gain a lot of credibility. if they don't, there will just be another ... >> there is common ground, john. everyone agrees a corporate tax rate of 34% is absurd.

the $2 trillion sitting aproud, it needs to be brought home. we disagree they could use the money. some of the money for that for infrastructure. there are areas where you can find common ground. >> and they could have done that earlier this career, but they didn't want to give the president a victory. now the pressure is on them. they have to perform. >> he has to move in their direction. >> they have to move in his direction too. it takes two. my progressive friends lament the fact there is no donald rumsfeld this president can fire. he is not going to let valerie go. >> he should. >> maybe that is what you think, but not what the president thinks. the problem with this white house is they don't have very many big ticket names that attract a lot of attention. valerie jarod i doubt has a lot of name recognition. >> what about susan rice?

>> i wouldn't agree with that as well. and she is not going anywhere either. [ laughter ] >> the economic anxiety is the top concern in tuesday's elections. unemployment, 5.8%. the lowest since 2008. october jobs, 214,000 jobs. the healthiest in eight years. the labor department added 31,000 jobs. total jobs, nine straight months. exports in september widening the trade deficit. 60% of voters thought the economy was stagnating. one-third thought it was approving. 60% of people thought it was worsening. one-third that it was improving. federal reserve will end the bond purchases program. average hourly pay rose 0.3% benefiting the wealthiest. average income grew 10% for the wealthiest. the rest, income stagnated or

declined. u.s. manufacturers are expanding at the fastest pace in three years. >> are we going to be tested on this? [ laughter ] >> there were a lot of good numbers there, but the problem is that ordinary people are not feeling it in their evidence lives. these are stagnating wages. a gap between what the ceo makes and the worker makes and these were problems before this president came to office. he has not been able to address them in part because congress won't let him do anything. >> mort has an entirely different interpretation of the economy today than might be given people the belief. >> yes. i do. the economy in my judgment is a lot weaker than it looks okay? number one, you have had in the last half a dozen years, a drop of 7% in real income and the president himself said, you know, people are employed, but their real pay is not going anywhere. if anything, it is going down. you look at the number of jobs

and where they are coming from. the unemployment rate, the real unemployment rate is much higher than the 6.1% that they talk about. it doesn't include people who are part time workers which is almost 8 million people. it doesn't include people who give up looking for a job. the real unemployment rate is closer to 20% than it is. and real wages in the last seven years. family incomes have gone down adjusted for inflation have gone down by 7%. that is a huge drop. >> and you have a trade deficit running at $500 billion a year for the 40th straight year which is hollowing out the american economy. and the republicans are talking fast track. >> all of that is just peanuts. just peanuts. we have a national debt of $17

trillion, now pushing $18 trillion. >> ly have to pay it off. >> your generation? >> we will inflate our way out of it. [ laughter ] [ talking over one another ] >> answer the question. on a political richter scale, 0 to 9.5, the strongest earthquake ever reported in chile in 1960. how much did tuesday's midday elections convulse the american political landscape? 0 to 9.5. >> i think it is pretty close to a 9. republicans got numbers now they didn't have since 1929! >> right. i put it at a seven. it was 75% white. you won't see that in 2016. there will be another earthquake in 2016. >> i think this was an absolute

earthquake. >> i will raise that to a 9.5. >> i don't think that is accurate, but i can live with it. >> that shows the kind of character you have. don't forget the the mclaughlin group has a website. you can watch them any time on mclaughlin.com. could anything be simpler? mclaughlin.com. issue two, the view from abroad. >> what do you make of the notion that you are now a lame duck? >> so, the one thing i'm pretty confident about jim is i will be busy the next two years. >> busy? perhaps yes, mr. president. but respected? perhaps not. especially on the world stage. it will be a diminished president obama who heads to china next week for a forum on asian pacific affairs according to the foreign reaction to this week's midterm elections in the u.s. the times of london call

the balloting a humiliating defeat for mr. obama. in a derisery tone, china says obama is full of empty rhetoric and that u.s. society has grown tired of his banality. spain's el paize called it a punishment. the guardian's executive editor says foreign observers will interpret the elections as the begins of the end of the obama presidency. "the chancellors of europe and elsewhere have more than half an eye on the results of tuesday's midterm elections. they may not obsess over the details of indiana's second district or the turnout in kentucky, but they will get the broad message. put crudely, it is this.

the obama presidency is over. start planning for the next one. mr. obama will become a thwarted leader. his hands tied by hostile majorities in both houses of congress." then there is the view from asia. "obama has become the incredible shrinking president. he is weakened by the midterm results and that will diminish him in his foreign policy. leaders in asia will view him as a lame duck." question. how much have the democrats losses in the midterm elections diminish president obama's international stature? >> they have to. it has been diminished. you see the quotes but you also see the basic understanding that international politics. perception drives reality. the president is seen as a weak leader around the world. i think this is just going to reenforce that. you see statements from the

russians. the russian parliament, derision. from china, derision. from allies, concern whether it is france on iran. or arab monarchies. there is real concern about the damage that the president has suffered here. >> i would point out that a lot ... >> let him finish. >> i would point out in a lot of these countries, their leaders are in worse shape than this president. i don't think he is thinking oh my god, he lost the senate. they care the economy is on an even keel and everybody is still parking their money in this country and they care about foreign policy and issues. the president has been writing letters trying to work a deal with iran. he has more trouble with his congress than he has with any people around the world. >> what she said, she said ... she is being derisive herself. how can you come to that conclusion simply because he lost the senate?

as though losing the senate is losing the government. >> he has real problems dealing with the russians in ukraine. he has real problems in iraq and syria and he now has a republican hawkish block in the u.s. congress which is going the try to force on him sanctions on iran before or when this deal comes and he will try to force him into a larger war which i don't think he wants in iraq and syria. >> totally. that's what i said. he had more trouble with the republican congress than people around the world. i would point out ronald reagan lost the senate in 1986. >> i was with him in ... [ talking over one another ] >> what he accomplished in the last two years just has bill clinton did after losing both houses in 1994. >> got a nuclear deal. >> if you have any ability to compare bill clinton and ronald reagan's performance, you and i are talking about two different worlds. this man has lost the credibility that he once had,

not only in this country but around the world. he will be considerably diminished. >> hold on eleanor. ain't to get somebody else in here! >> bill clinton was asked if he was irrelevant losing the house and the senate. >> who is the winner? >> the winner of this election? i think the republican hawks were winners. there is no doubt. >> give me the name of one individual who is the winner to control the action. >> mcconnell. >> talk to me about mcconnell. >> mitch mcconnell has to have 52, 54 united states senators. the republicans have a different agenda. there are some things they need obama for. other things they can pass. let obama become the obstructionist. i think eleanor is correct that boehner will have trouble if they are trying to do trade deals or immigration reform.

you will have real trouble in the republican caucus. he did very well in the minority. >> biden and him had the deal. joe biden and mcconnell were able to work together. it will be interesting. they can work together if they want to. >> is mcconnell the critical name in all of this? does he have the manner and the behavior and the knowledge of politic ins. >> and the castrater race charisma? >> yes he does. >> the tea party caucus has been doubled though he has the largest portion of members since 1929. >> we designed this for you eleanor. let me get it in here. is president obama a lame duck? yes or no pat buchanan? >> yes. >> eleanor clift? he is? >> yes, of course. >> i think he is. [ laughter ] >> yeah. >> he is more than lame.

>> crippled. >> is he a dead duck? [ laughter ] >> no, he is not a dead duck. >> he is going to get things done. >> the president is never without certain influence, but he has lost such political traction. especially in washington. it was never that high this washington because he had no ability to develop the personal relationship you need to be effective across the aisle. >> the answer is crippled duck. issue three, good-bye blue dog democrats. good-bye to the blue dog democrats. hello to civil war inside the democratic party. the last white southern democratic congressman, john bar row of georgia bit the dust in tuesday's election. so did 19 term democratic incumbent ray holla of west virginia. the conservative leaning democrats numbered more than 50 members of the house back in 2009 when president balm took office. they were heralded by the

washington post as one of the most influential voting blocks in congress. today, centerrist democrats have all be vanished wiped out in the 2010 and 2014 midterm elections. progressive, meaning liberal democrats like nancy pelosi and elizabeth warren are who remain. this is a stark reversal of the trends set in the 1990s by the democratic leadership council and the clinton gore administration. they tried to shift the democratic party to the political center after two losses by liberal nominees michael dukasis and walter monded. there has been a de facto purge of the democratic party syntaris. if hillary clinton decides to run for president, will she face a power struggle with the

democratic party's liberal faction? eleanor clift? >> well, i think there might be some tension in the primaries and i don't know who the candidate is. perhaps bernie sanders who is actually a socialist who represents the state of vermont. he might get in the race. there really doesn't seem to be a credible candidate representing the progressive point of view who seems to be willing to get in the primary with hillary clinton. i think hillary is smart enough to figure out the progressive economic vision that is going to put the party together. so i don't see a civil war in the democratic party at all. and where did all the blue dogs go? they went the same place where all the moderate republicans in the northeast used to go. both parties have gone more to their right and left way. >> john, the liberals are now in control of most of the offices. true or false? >> yeah, they don't have any conservative wing. go from the south, you can go from north carolina all the way around down to louisiana and

arkansas, i don't believe there is a single white democratic congressman at all. every one of the democrats ... >> that is not something to be proud of. >> does this complicate the landscape for hillary? >> yes it does. hillary is much more a centerrist liberal democrat than her party is now. >> if you are looking at the electoral map, you know, the democrats are not going to win in the south. they have to count on the southwest and new england and the two coasts. still plenty of states there to get there. but the loss in this election of colorado and iowa and some extent, north carolina, those are bad signs for the democrats because those are states that obama had in his coalition and they look now a lot harder to hold onto. >> few you were hillary clinton after the midterms would you want to spend the next two years of your life running for the democratic nomination? >> yes. absolutely. >> you would? >> she has plenty of fight in

her. there's nobody who understands better how to fight against republicans and republican extremism. >> the democrats have no one. no one. >> will this motivate her to run? >> she is up here and there is no second tier or third tier candidate. >> there is a growing populous element that is very liberal and is trying to exert pressure because they know that hillary clinton is the inevitable candidate. there will be pressures. >> will she run all the harder? >> to some extent. >> she is being pulled to the left john. >> you don't want to take anything for granted. >> she was pulled to the left. did you see that foolish statement? corporations and businesses don't create jobs? she is trying to channel elizabeth warren. >> let mort in. >> hillary clinton, she herself is a very shrewd politician. last time i checked, she had one of the smartest political

advisers you could have at a very low cost. so she is not going into this campaign to lose. if she goes in, she is going in to win. she can't win if he moves in the direction suggested here to the left wing of the democratic party. she knows that as well as anybody and so does her husband. okay? >> that was the point of my question. >> both the pauls have been forced in the congress of the united states. and this is in the republican party. they will be at war with each other on tougher sanctions on iran and whether to go to war in iraq in syria. >> the strong showing of the republicans in the election will swell the ranks of presidential candidates, scott walker, wisconsin governor now looks likely to get in. john casic from ohio. governor christie did well reelecting republican governors. he looks like a sure thing. i think jeb bush is also going to run. going to be probably at least a dozen republican candidates. >> you think he could handle

all that? >> ly be watching hillary clinton and listening to her. it will get underway early next year. >> there will be a major show down in the coming months between congress and president obama on relieving sanctions in iran in the event he signs a nuclear deal. >> which way will it go? >> i think the president will win it. because he will remove it. >> which way should he go? >> i think republicans in congress. >> merits? >> fit is a good deal, it's a good deal i don't think it will be a good deal. >> the collapse of oil prices has had a huge effect on the russian economy and our friend mr. putin to do what he wanted to do because their economy is dependent upon that. >> i predict the catalans will

declare their independence from spain. the group salutes u.s. veterans on veterans day. bye bye! captions by:caption colorado, llc 800-775-7838 email: comments@captioncolorado.com

this week on moyers & company, chevron tried to buy the election. >> as soon as you enter the borders of the town, you see that it's a battleground. you see billboards everywhere. you see signs on every corner and you can tell that someone is really trying very hard to win an election. >> we have a community that is clear that we cannot be bought and that is what the voters said this past tuesday. so it's been a real, real success for grassroots democracy. >> announcer: funding is provided by: anne gumowitz, encouraging the renewal of democracy. carnegie corporation of new york, supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and