male announcer ] help protect your family at aflac.com. [ beatboxing ] >>> west virginia senator joe manchint who held on last night but did anger some in his party along the way. senator manchin joins me now. congratulations on your re-election, senator, and i know it's -- >> thank you. appreciate it. >> but you didn't say up until the last minute whom you were going to vote for. you are a democrat. can we ask, did you vote for barack obama? >> here's the thing that we've talked about, the election this has been so divisive and we're thinking about the future and bringing the country together and i'm committed to working with the president to rebuild this country and i will do the same if governor romney would have. it's time we start healing the country and pat toomey will be on with us and pat and i have worked across the line on bills, cosponsored it. we have to start healing and bringing this country together. >> what were your concerns about the president? why were you reluctant to endorse him? >> i didn't feel compelled. i had problems with the fiscal cliff that we face. i really feel

even at the national level democrats are having trouble in west virginia, at the senate level joe manchins found a way to win in that state. this is a rematch against the same opponent that manchin faced in 2010 to win special election to replace long-time senator in west virginia, so fascinating rematch here and democrats picking up a projected winner here. also in ohio, we've got some interesting news there. in the senate race, too close to call in the race between sherrod brown and republican state treasurer josh mandel. too close to call in ohio, guys. >> we'll come back to you in a little bit. talkings west virginia, john, that robert byrd speak really brings us back to a different time. >> and makes the point about how far that state has flipped. joe manchin won that seat in 2010 with a television ad that showed him shooting a bullet through a piece of legislation that president obama had sponsored. it shows how unpopular the president was in that state. >> want to talk about ohio tonight where many believe this election could be won or lost. scott cohen is live on the ground in col

jon: well, governor romney won west virgina big last night while the state voted to give democrat joe manchinerm in the senate. he scored nearly 60% of the vote compared to nearly 37% for his republican challenger. manchin did it campaigning as an independent voice often on the opposite side of issues from president obama. last night before the presidential race was decided senator manchin offered advice getting past party politics saying who is ever end up being president should immediately begin a healing tour, going around the country and bringing it back together. newly reelected senator joe manchin joins us live from charleston, west virgina. sounds like a great idea. do you think president obama will take you up on that suggest? >> well, i would hope that they would consider that. i think the country has been divided far too long, jon. it is time to bring it back. the time to do that is for the leaders pulling us back together. i'm committed to moving with the president any way we can to move the country forward. all we're asking for a balanced approach with the economy, environment, en

pat toomey and joe manchin. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc.why do we have aflac... aflac... and major medical? major medical, boyyy, yeah! [ beatboxing ] berr, der berrp... ♪ i help pay the doctor ♪ ain't that enough for you? ♪ thers things major medical doesn't do. aflac! pays cash so we don't have to fret. [ together ] ♪ something families should get ♪ ♪ like a safety net ♪ help with food, gas and rent, so cover your back, with... ♪ a-a-a-a-a-a-a-aflac! [ male announcer ] help protect your family at aflac.com. [ beatboxing ] >>> west virginia senatoroe manchin another democrat who held on last night but did anger some in his party along the way. senator manchin joins me now. congratulations on your re-election, senator, and i know it's -- >>hank you. appreciate it. >> but you didn't say up until the last minute whom you were going to vote for. you are a democrat. can we ask, did you vote for barack obama? >> here's the thing that we've talked about, the election this has been so divisive and we're thinking aboute and bringing the country tog

party of jefferson roosevelt and kennedy or is it the party of joe lieberman erskine bowles and joe manchin is a progressive or blue dog the american people are solidly behind progressive policies from education to health care to taxing corporations and the rich now president obama and the democratic party leadership must decide if they're with the people or with the bank's triggers something to keep in mind with the so-called fiscal cliff looming. now for more on this joining me is tom hayden former state senator from california author activist and director of the peace and justice resource center tom great to have you back senator great to have you thank you tom nice to hear from you a great line there of our history well thank you what lessons do you think the democratic party should take from last tuesday's election moving forward into these so-called fiscal cliff negotiations. well i think the election of barack obama with organized labor and african-americans latinos asians women environmentalist l g b t i mean that's a very impressive spectrum a coalition that i think will move into

. >> senator joe manchin says it's important for washington to seize the moment. >> i believe with thelection behind us ve a short period to do something monumental for country and generation. i hope we take advantage of it. i do. >> the uncertainty led wal-mart and other manufacturing companies to decide to pay quarterly dividends in december instead of january. threat of massive spending cut led to boom for lobbyists. the web site open secrets reports 421 groups added lobbyist i and many universities worried about the education spending and federally funded research. >> the check is not in the mail for greece. they are fee using to. they are causing fears of a default. >> they protested the pain over and over. the cuts greece has had to make to qualify for the bail-out money it needs have been unpopular. >> the german chance lar angela merkel in charge of the purse strings acknowledged the sacrifices. >> this is an important improvement we know the evident it's cost the government. >> but it's not enough. they could not agree to calf up the bail-out funding that greece needs. >> the

jon tester said: >> joe manchin damaged it saying: >> in fact, john kerry's name has come up. susan collins said he would be easily confirmed. senator baroso backed him. even john mccain, leading the charge against rice had high praise for john kerry on fox news yesterday. >> john kerry came within a whisker of being president of the united states. i think that works in his favor but i'd love to hear him make his case, but i don't have anything in his background like this tragedy in again gassy that would make me really want to carefully examine the whole situation. >> of course it doesn't hurt that if kerry took the job it would open up a senate seat that could go to republican scott brown who just lost his seat to elizabeth warren. joining me now to talk about the wrangling in washington and on the ground in massachusetts is he is square magazine political reporter charlie pierce. welcome back inside the war room. >> good evening governor, just what we here in massachusetts need another reason to think we're the center of the universe. >> well you are the center of your own

along, of course, sherrod brown and bob casey and bill nelson, amy klobuchar, kirsten gillibrand, joe manchinbbie stabenow, bob menendez, sheldon whitehouse, bernie sanders, maria cantwell, diane finestein, we have delivered to you a great caucus, mr. leader. >> not only did every democratic incumbent in the senate win their race last night, every single one, but democrats actually picked up two seats. elizabeth warren defeated republican incumbent scott brown in massachusetts. joe donnelly defeated tea party favorite, richard mourdock, in indiana. it should have been impossible. joining us now is steve kornacki, co-host of "the cycle," 3:00 weekdays here on msnbc. happy aftermath, steve. >> i was just checking unskewedelectionreturns.com and they said republicans have 67 senate seats now, so i'm not sure what you're talking about here. >> also, mitt romney won with a anonymous vote. >> yes, in d.c., that's right. >> that's right. what happened yesterday in the senate specifically? obviously, the expectations were leaning much more toward the democrats by the time we actually voted, but the d

the third was west virginia's joe manchin. he literally flipped romney's numbers completely securing a 25-point victory in a state where obama took a 26-point loss. how about the republicans? nine republicans will hold senate seats in states that voted for president obama. that list includes senate veterans chuck grassley, susan collins of maine as well as wisconsin' ron johnson, mark kurt, rob portman, pat toomi, marco rubio and kelly ayotte. nevada's dean heller was the only to win in a blue state in the 2012 cycle. he narrow will he won over shelly berkeley despite the president winning the state by six. they have a none of the above. susan collins was the only other senator on the list to face voters while president obama was on the ballot. she won her third it term in 2008. the other seven were all elected or re-elected in the big republican wave of 2010. could republicans take back some of that territory in 2014 is this joining me now political analyst and editor and publisher of the cook political report, charlie cook.

west virginia democrat joe manchin is going on to win another term, his first full term.nd bernie sanders, the independent from vermont is also winning re-election. he caucuses with the democrat. so those are the two calls we'll make. but really the drama is in so many of these critical competitive races. and look at this. indiana, that is really -- look at that. look how close it is. 47-47. only 16% reporting. here's the key on this race. this is going to be an early bellwether as to whether or not republicans can retake control of congress. why? because it's a republican seat, an open republican seat. remember, richard murdoch, the one who made the comments about rape and pregnancy recently. that has hurt him in the polls. republicans i'm talking to tonight say he has to overperform romney by 10% in order to win. so we're really watching closely. and virginia, another neck and neck race, talking about the presidential being too close to call. same with virginia. george allen, the republican ahead by almost 350,000 points but very early in that state. >> and obviously on

not like they have been cozying up to him and then coming in, the picture that republicans had of joe manchinand president obama together, there was only one reason they could get the picture. because they have to be at the same funeral. i mean, that's the only reason the picture even existed because there's not a second picture of them together. and so, these guys have a lot of notice to create a lot of distance, and were able to do. >> i have other examples i could give you. richard to say in massachusetts, a gay, pro-gay marriage, pro-choice, fiscally conservative but moderate style is sent to republican lost, i expect because the partyline voting industry. yes, scott brown ran ahead of his presidential nominee but he couldn't run far enough ahead. and the fact that he lost to john tierney when john tierney wives relatives, a significant number of them are either under investigation or i don't know and i admit are made even more, is stunning. in connecticut's fifth congressional just, by chris murphy ditch and northwestern part of the state, a pro-gay marriage, no choice, republican who ca

that is why you see joe manchin, a democrat from west virginia attack in the present. people from all why it. host: thank you for that, barbara comstock. brian moran, on election night what will you be watching for? loudoun county? guest: loudoun county, prince william county, virginia beach, hampton roads, henrico county outside of richmond. we will get a good indication of those communities and the turnout. it will be at an exciting time here in virginia. we certainly enjoying the position of being a battleground state. it is turnout. virginia voters are very informed voters. they look at the policies of both of these candidates. and we expected to be close. we made history in 2008, the first time in 44 years it helped support -- we helped support a democrat to the white house. i think we would do it again because we have the right message, the right policies. we are getting out of the fiscal ditch. host: barbara comstock, where would you be watching? guest: i will be working for the next six days, because if you come election day i will be working through 7:00 p.m.,

chris kofinis, former chief of staff to senator joe manchin of west virginia. we had your former boss senator manchin, yesterday, chris. he said let's go to washington. let's be bipartisan and get together and move the country forward on issues that matter. what do you think the chances are? >> well, you know i want to be optimistic. i think there is an opportunity there. i think republicans were deliver ad pretty powerful message iners terms of defeat and in terms of demographic realities they now face. you now have the election. president will not run for re-election. that is no longer a factor. i think both sides have come to terms with reality there are big problems that need solutions and you're going to have to compromise. i think devil is in the details. it ails is. if republicans and certain factions of republicans are willing to compromise, if the other faction is smaller, basically hold hard-line on revenues and want entitlement reform with no revenues that will not be negotiating point for democrats i can tell you. i think that is the challenge. jon:

and chris kofinis, former chief of staff to west virgina senator joe manchin. good to see you both. to take in having listened to the three senators, mary katherine, what do you think about this idea of a select committee to investigate what happened in benghazi? >> i think as you saw in the bush administration, lindsey graham referred to, there was select committee to deal with intelligence failures preiraq. i think that is a pretty reasonable request. i think when you have something that has this kind of level of sort of top secret information coming out, perhaps it is good to have everybody in one room talking about this. frankly, will date myself, in my lifetime no ambassador has been killed in the line of duty. so it is an outlying event. it is a very important event. there are four americans as i said who passed awas, who were killed in this event and there have been a lot of questions how it has been handled and how in the future you make sure on september 11th in a place that is clearly at risk we have profession in place and we don't leave those folks hanging sounds like in

chris comean has, former chief of staff to west virgina senator joe manchin.bout the tone of this campaign, you have heard both candidates sort of easing off the rhetoric, easing off especially the attacks on the other guy. we just heard the president say we'll thrive in this new century. you also heard him say we knew from the beginning this was more than a 1-year problem, i'm sorry, we knew from the beginning our work would take more than one year, more than one term. chris, he said if he didn't get the job done, it was going to be a one-term proposition but i will leave that aside. what about the tone of this campaign? >> well, i mean i think the tone is dramatically changed after hurricane sandy. that i think is pretty obvious. you know when you see millions of americans who are, who are really hurting and suffering there is not a lot of tolerance for negative politics. i think the president, what you're going to see from the president in the remaining days i would assume would be much more kind of positive focused vision on the next four years. you know i

abc news is reporting joe manchin is reported to win reelection against the republican businessmen. that is what we know so far, and, yes, the networks have also called vermont for president obama. in a moment, we are going to go to vermont. they have also called the race for governor, and peter there will return it -- retain his governorship, and also, independent senator bernie sanders of vermont has won reelection. a longtime labor, racial justice, an activist and columnist, the founder of the black radical congress, this is going to be a a long evening, bill. what are you looking for tonight, and what have you observed so far? >> well, what i have observed and what worries me are the electoral manipulations that are taking place. i was listening to the tail end of your last guest, and part of what i have been thinking about is that one of the dangers that we face is the continuous erosion of democracy that we have been at with 30 plus years. it seems to be hiding. there is a combination of the citizens united decision plus the desperate move by the republicans to thwart the will

it is not like they have been cozying up to him and then -- the picture that republicans had of joe manchin and president obama together, there is only one reason they could get the picture, because they had to be at the same funeral. that is the only reason that picture even existed, because there is not a second picture of them together. so these guys had a lot of notice to create a lot of distance, and rebel to do it. >> i have other examples i could give you. in massachusetts, a pro gay marriage, pro-choice, fiscally conservative moderate republican lost, i expect, because of party-line voting. scott brown could not run far enough ahead. when john tyrannies wife's relatives, a significant number of them are either under investigation, or indictment, maybe even more, it is stunning. in the chris murphy district in the northwestern part of the state, a pro gay marriage, pro- choice, moderate republican said of want to be the test of whether there is room for and they role for the old style, moderate republican from the northeast. he lost 52-48 in a competitive district. there was some tic

it is not like they have been cozying up to him and then -- the picture that republicans had of joe manchin and president obama together, there is only one reason they could get the picture, because they had to be at the same funeral. that is the only reason that picture even existed, because there is not a second picture of them together. so these guys had a lot of notice to create a lot of distance, and rebel to do it. >> i have other examples i could give you. in massachusetts, a pro gay marriage, pro-choice, fiscally conservative moderate republican lost, i expect, because of party-line voting. scott brown could not run far enough ahead. when john tyrannies wife's -- relatives, a's significant number of them are either under investigation, or indictment, maybe even more, it is stunning. in the chris murphy district in the northwestern part of the state, a pro gay marriage, pro- choice, moderate republican said of want to be the test of whether there is room for and they role for the old style, moderate republican from the northeast. he lost 52-48 in a competitive district. there was som

that is why you see joe manchin, a democrat from west virginia attacking the present. people from ohio. host: thank you for that, barbara comstock. brian moran, on election night what will you be watching for? loudoun county? guest: loudoun county, prince william county, virginia beach, hampton roads, henrico county outside of richmond. we will get a good indication of those communities and the turnout. it will be at an exciting time here in virginia. we certainly enjoying the position of being a battleground state. it is turnout. virginia voters are very informed voters. they look at the policies of both of these candidates. and we expected to be close. we made history in 2008, the first time in 44 years it helped support -- we helped support a democrat to the white house. i think we would do it again because we have the right message, the right policies. we are getting out of the fiscal ditch. host: barbara comstock, where would you be watching? guest: i will be working for the next six days, because if you come election day i will be working through 7:00 p.m., both

that is why you see joe manchin, a democrat from west virginia attacking the present.ra comstock. brian moran, on election night what will you be watching for? loudoun county? guest: loudoun county, prince william county, virginia beach, hampton roads, henrico county outside of richmond. we will get a good indication of those communities and the turnout. it will be at an exciting time here in virginia. we certainly enjoying the position of being a battleground state. it is turnout. virginia voters are very informed voters. they look at the policies of both of these candidates. and we expected to be close. we made history in 2008, the first time in 44 years it helped support -- we helped support a democrat to the white house. i think we would do it again because we have the right message, the right policies. we are getting out of the fiscal ditch. host: barbara comstock, where would you be watching? guest: i will be working for the next six days, because if you come election day i will be working through 7:00 p.m., both loudoun county of fairfax county, watching closely

election is you'll get totally elected in indiana, and you have a lot of friends for people like joe manchin. even though the republicans are more conservative. you have got some hard-core tea party guys that are going to be there. elizabeth warren is a force. she will be a power for democrats in the senate. let's get back to something that ron was talking about. trying to change a story line that mitt romney is winning. there is no numbers, the suggestion about the message. i think it was a mistake for the romney campaign. just sing your wedding is not enough to go out and get more support. it does not mean that you are winning. that is the mistake that romney -- closing by talking about winning. >> in the piece of in trading on the massachusetts race, it is going to be a good punch for lot of people who ran the mitt romney campaign. a lot of them were working on the scott brown campaign because the care for massachusetts. it was their job to elect brown. it was always fun to be a tough race. i think both sides, both ran related campaigns. sometimes you raise a lot of money and run good cam