tremendously. tremendously. china would have super seeded us in two years as an economic power. now they're not even close. china got rid of their china 25. i find it insulting. i said that to them. i said china 25. that means in 2025 they're going to take over economically the world. i said that's not happening. and we're going way up. and they've gone down. i don't want them to go down. we'll have a good meeting, and we're going to see what we can do. but i have to say this. billions of dollars will soon be pouring into our treasury from taxes that china is paying for us, and if you speak to mr. pills bury who probably is the leading authority on china, he was on the other day saying he's never seen anything like it. you know what hasn't? china hasn't. but we're going to try to make a deal with china because i want to have great relationships with

president xi as i do and also with china. >> reporter: how do you see your role as a moral leader? >> there's so many people. i'm. >> reporter: as a moral leader, though? >> i think i am a great moral leader, and i love our country. go ahead, please. >> reporter: thank you, sir. you said earlier in the press conference that democrats had a choice that you would not work with them on legislation if they were investigating you. do you not have a choice in the matter as well? >> i think it's very inappropriate. we should get along and get deals done. now, we can investigate. they look at us. we look at them. it goes on for two years. at the end of two years nothing is done. now, what's bad for them is being in the majority i'm just going to blame them. you understand. i'm going to blame them. they're the majority. honestly, it makes it simpler for me. they will be blamed, but i think nancy pelosi, and i put that

statement out on social media today about nancy pelosi and that she's short of votes -- because frankly i think she deserves it. i wasn't kidding. she's been fighting for it. i mean this. there was nothing sarcastic about it. it was meant with very good intentions. i think she deserves it. she's fought long and hard. she's a very capable person. you have other people shooting at her trying to take over the speakership, and i said it's appropriate, i said if we can and if we will, if she has a problem, i think i would be able to very easily supply her the necessary votes. that's not said in any way other than i really believe she deserves that position. i also believe that nancy pelosi and i can work together and get a lot of things done along with mitch and everybody else that we have to work with. i think we'll get a lot done. >> reporter: mr. president, why can't you do that while

subpoenas are coming through? >> excuse me? >> reporter: why can't you work together while there are investigations in process? >> i think we can. the election is over. now everybody is in love. then i see the hostility of questions in the room. i come in here as a nice person wanting to answer questions and i have people jumping out of their seats, screaming questions at me. no, the election is over. and i'm very -- i am extraordinarily happy. i really am. by the way, i'd tell you if i wasn't. look at what happened in florida. look at what happened in georgia. look at what happened in so many locations with governorships. nobody talks about the governorships. look at the amount of work that was given to these other candidates against my candidate, and, i mean, i'm extraordinarily happy. if i wasn't, i'd let you know. look, you look at midterms and look at elections generally. you see it's very rare that a party who has the presidency

does well. we did unbelievably well. to win florida? both the senate and the governorship against two very talented people? i'll tell you what. we did incredibly. to win georgia when you had some of the biggest stars in the world campaigning endlessly including president obama? you know, i tell you what. this was a great victory for us. and, again, from a deal-making standpoint, we are all much better off the way it turned out. i really believe if the democrats want to, we can do a tremendous amount of great legislation. yes, please, go ahead. >> reporter: mr. president -- >> should we keep this going for a little while? >> yes. >> reporter: yes, i think you should keep this going. >> when you get bored, would you please tell me? >> reporter: you're never boring. >> i don't want toover stay. please, go ahead. >> reporter: hello, mr.

president. on the campaign trail you called yourself a nationalist. some people saw that as emboldening white nationalists. >> i don't know why you'd say that. it's a racist question. >> reporter: some people say the republican party is seen as supporting white nationalists because of your rhetoric. what do you make of that? >> i don't know. why do i have my highest poll numbers ever with african americans. among the highest poll numbers with african americans? i mean, why do i have my highest poll numbers? that's such a racest question. honestly, i mean, i know you have it written down and you're going to tell me. let me tell you, it's a racist question. i love -- the word is -- i love our country. i do. you have nationalists. you have globalists. i also love the world. and i don't mind helping the world, but we have to straighten out our country first. we have a lot of problems. but to say that, what you say is so insulting to me. it's a very terrible thing that you said. >> reporter: mr. president, mr. president, people have -- you talked about middle class tax

cuts on the campaign trail. how will you get democrats to support that policy? >> you have to ask them. >> reporter: what's your plan for working with democrats? >> my plan is i'll ask them. and if they say yes, i'm for it. if they say no, there's nothing you can do because you need their votes. >> reporter: thank you, mr. president. you said many times on the campaign trail that you didn't want nancy pelosi or the speaker or suggested that. you talked about her and chuck schumer. >> it's not a question of want. let me answer it. would i have preferred winning by two or three or hour? i would almost have to think about that. but certainly i like to win. and if i win, she's not going to be speaker. >> reporter: what did she say to you yesterday that -- >> we had a great conversation. we had a warm conversation. she loves this country. she's a very smart woman. she's done a very good job. she was really -- i mean, she's

had. >> reporter: did she promise they didn't seek to impeach you? >> we didn't talk about impeaching. we didn't talk -- what do you do? do you impeach somebody because he created the greatest economic success in the history of our country? let's impeach him because the country is so successful. has he done anything wrong? they asked somebody has he done anything wrong? no, but let's impeach him anyway. and they also said let's impeach justice kavanaugh. let's impeach him. and now the second woman is coming out, and i hate to say this, but it was public. after him we're going to impeach the vice president. we're going to impeach mike pence. mike pence doesn't get impeached for anything. so let's impeach the president, and then we'll impeach the vice president. these people are sick. and you know what? they have to get their bearings. and when you ask about division, they're the ones that cause the division. they cause tremendous division.

>> reporter: okay, regarding all the retirements in the house, regarding all the retirements in the house, quickly, you suggested that -- >> who is retiring? >> reporter: you said many of the retirements that happened in the house made it difficult for you in this election cycle. and that it was because they were chairmanships that were vacated. but jeff flake wasn't and paul ryan retired. why do you think that is? >> in jeff flake's case, it's me. i retired him. i'm very proud of it. i did the country a great service. go ahead. give him that. he is retired. i'd like to call it another word, but we'll treat him with great respect. >> reporter: thank you, mr. president. >> jeff flake, that's another beauty. go ahead. >> reporter: two questions, please. >> one. one. too many people. sorry. >> reporter: all right. you seem to enjoy this venue very much. are you going to make the standard press conference a staple of the remaining two

years? >> no. >> reporter: will you have more briefings with sarah huckabee sanders? >> i think sarah is fantastic. she's so great. i think sarah, you represented me so well and been abused. she's been horribly treated by a lot of people. >> reporter: so she's going to stay on as press secretary? >> it was interesting. we were talking about it the other day. i had a period where i thought i wouldn't do any real interviews. they'll say why isn't he doing it? then over the last couple of months i decided i'll do a lot. we'll stop at the helicopter. we'll do this. and then they say why is he doing so many press conferences? what's wrong? when i don't do them, you say what's wrong? when i do them, you say what's wrong? and when i go in the middle you say what's wrong? you know that. okay. good. no, excuse me. well, you complained about access when i purposely just stayed away from the press for a

while because i wanted to see how it worked. and can i be honest? it didn't work well. >> reporter: mr. president, i didn't finish the question. so sarah will stay on as press secretary? >> okay, please. go ahead. no. go ahead. >> reporter: first off, i personally think it's very good to have you here because a free press. >> i do too. actually, i do too. earned media. it's worth billions. >> reporter: i have two questions for you if that's all right. it's a rare opportunity. first just a point of clarification on the tax returns issue. you brought up the audit. that doesn't prevent you from releasing them. >> i know. sure. i didn't say it prevented me. i said lawyers will tell you not to do it. what's your next question? >> reporter: well, just on that second one, michael cohen said you called black voters stupid. >> that's false. >> reporter: omarosa has accused of you using the word -- and you

were accused of using the term little john. >> i don't use racist remarks. if i did, you people -- you would have known about it. i've been hearing there are tapes for years and years. there are tapes. number one, i never worried about it because i never did. i have never used racist remarks. okay. >> reporter: one point of fact because you told her you have biassed polls among african americans. it's just 8%. >> when you talk about division, it's people like this that cause division. great division. point of fact is that i never used a racist remark. that's the point of fact. who are you from? >> reporter: i'm from yahoo news. >> good. good. i hope they're doing well. >> reporter: first question -- >> where are you from? >> reporter: lebanon. >> yes. >> reporter: thank you. we're happy to have this opportunity. mr. president erdogan said he's

not going to follow your sanctions and he's going to keep buying oil -- >> who said that? >> reporter: presidentered wan. turkey. >> i know. i just can't understand. >> reporter: you're going to meet him soon. you're going to have this talk. and some countries are going to take the same steps preside presidenterpresident erdogan is doing. >> we imposed the toughest sanctions in the history of our country just about. i guess north korea is there too. but i gave some countries a break on the oil. i did it a little bit because they really asked for some help. but i really did it because i don't want to drive oil prices up to $100 a barrel or $150 a barrel because i'm driving them down. if you look at oil prices, they've come down over the last couple of months because of me. because you have a monopoly called opec. wait. and i don't like that monopoly. i don't like it.

and oil prices are coming down. so rather than deciding to be as tough as i am on most of the sanctions, what i've done is i said we're not going to do it that way. we're going to let some of the oil go out to the countries that need it. because i don't want to drive the oil prices up to 100 or $150 a barrel. it could happen easily. it's a fragile market. i know it very well. and it's the absolutely right decision. they'll get tougher as time goes by. maybe. but i don't want to have any effect on the oil prices worldwide where i drive them up. i consider that to be a tax. i don't like taxes. >> reporter: the peace process is over. >> who? >> congratulations to jon tester. congratulations. i'm sure you're very unhappy about that. go ahead. >> reporter: mr. president, can you address the -- >> i'll take a couple more and we'll go. >> reporter: can you address

concerns in places like georgia where people waited in line to vote for hours where voting machines weren't working in certain districts, and -- >> you think that's the reason the candidate lost? >> reporter: there are concerns being raised. >> i wasn't involved in georgia other than i love the state. >> reporter: as president of the united states, are you concerned about the access people are having to voting? >> i heard it was very efficient in georgia. but, again, you'd have to ask the state governments. one of those things you're going to have to ask them. go ahead, please. >> reporter: thank you, mr. president. you expressed some concerns about social media companies unfairly censoring conservatives during the election. do you anticipate working with democrats to regulate the companies or are you satisfied? >> i would look at that. i think it's a serious problem. at the same time you start getting into speech. it's a dangerous problem.

that could be the beginning. so it's very dangerous. believe it or not, i'm one that really likes free speech. a lot of people don't understand that. but i am a big believer. when you start regulating a lot of bad things can happen. but i would certainly talk to the democrats if they want to do that. and i think they do want to do that. yes, sir. >> reporter: former president barack obama famously said he had a pen and a phone to use executive power on issues like immigration. do you see yourself using executive power to get some of your immigration agenda done? >> i do. i do. i think that some of it i can use executive power on some. not all. but he certainly used it. he used it on daca. he said something to the effect i'm not allowed to do it. it will never hold up. i'm doing it anyway. he did it and they found judges that approved it. we also found judges that didn't

approve it. it's going to be determined in the supreme court. and if the court rules in favor of what president obama thinks they should rule, which is what he said, then i will probably have a deal with the democrats in a very short period of time. we were very close to having a deal until we got that strange ruling. >> you also made some promises about immigration during the campaign. i want to know if you're going to follow through with them. >> which one? >> reporter: birthright dealership. >> we're looking at it seriously. i believe we have the right. that's another case that will be determined by the supreme court of the united states. >> reporter: you going to send 15,000 troops of the boarder? >> you've been reading the time documents as i have. you know exactly what i'm doing. you know exactly what i'm doing. what's your next question? >> reporter: on the khashoggi matter. >> a sad, terrible thing.

>> reporter: do you think saudi arabia is guilty of having him murdered? >> i'll have a stronger opinion on the next couple weeks. i'm working with congress, with some talented people. we're working with congress and turkey and saudi arabia and i'm forming a strong opinion. go ahead, john. >> reporter: just a quick followup. you said something about nancy pelosi. you said she loves our country. do you regret some of the things you said during the campaign? >> no. >> reporter: at various times you said democrats want to destroy our current. >> i believe that. with their current policy, it's a wrecking ball on our country. this would be a wrecking ball. but i think there's a compromise somewhere, and i think that can be good for our country. okay, how about one more? >> reporter: do you regret the ad that you did that was branded as a racist ad and even fox and nbc wouldn't air it? >> do i regret it?

i'm surprised you asked that question. i do not. one more. >> reporter: thank you, sir. i think we'd all love to have more of these if you're willing. in 2017 shortly after you took office your homeland security office shuddered a grown to and related terrorist groups. domestic terrorist groups. and redirected that funding toward fighting islamic terrorism. do you believe that white supremacist terrorists, right wing terrorists, these home grown terrorists on that side of the spectrum are a problem, sir? and -- >> yeah, i do. i do believe that's a problem. i believe all hate is a problem. but i do believe that is a problem. >> reporter: what are you going to do about it? >> it's a problem we want to solve. >> reporter: sir, what are you going to do about it? cut off the funding.

>> we have given funding for that. a lot of funding. i believe it's a problem. and can i tell you what? it's a problem that i don't like even a little bit. go ahead. >> reporter: you've said pretend i'm on the ballot yesterday. you called it a referendum on your presidency. many local districts across the country rejected your midterm message, particularly suburban women. how do you bridge that divide now? also with the influx of women coming into congress? >> i think i was well received. look at the results. midterm elections are disasters for sitting presidents and administrations. this has been a very successful -- look, you can write it any way you want. and if you disagree with me, this has been an incredibly successful one. when you look at the races. how about ohio? i didn't even mention. i mentioned florida. i mentioned georgia. how about the governor of ohio? >> reporter: but what's your response to suburban women voters? >> excuse me. a fantastic man down in the polls. everybody was talk act this person who was so great. i went up there and did a rally,

and they have now a great governor. you're going to have a great governor in ohio for hopefully a long period of time, for four years, and mike dewine is a fantastic person. and i went up there for two reasons, because i felt that his opposition was not a good person, and we know a lot about him. and i felt that mike was a fantastic person. and he won, and not only did he win. he won easily. so add that to florida and add that to georgia and add that to all the other races that we won outside even of the senate races which were the biggest of all. because these were races that mike pence can tell you and some of the folks over here can tell you, these were races that were going to be unopposed. we were not going to oppose certain of the people running, certain senators. they said they couldn't be beaten. they said heidi would not be beaten. please don't do it. this was a year out. >> what about in the suburban

districts? >> you're telling me about popularity. they said many of the people, when i said nine out of 11. i said many of these people, these weren't easy. these were tough races. and so i think the level of popularity. the first question i was asked was about, well, what have you learned? what about your own popularity? i think that's what i learned. i was very well received by this great country. by the people of our great country. and i'm very proud of that. i love the people of this country. these people, we are the greatest people. i love the people of our country. >> reporter: what do you say to women? >> when you look at the races we won in florida which we weren't expected to win and georgia which we weren't expected to win, and ohio, which we weren't expected to win, and one, i mean you look at some of them. the number of votes we got is incredible. so i'm really happy with not only the way it came out but the response to me as your president, and as your

president, i've made our country safe. i've rebuilt and am in the process of rebuilding our military and the jobs are here. every one of them built here. we're going to have -- very shortly we'll have the strongest military our country has ever had. i've done more for the vets than any president has done certainly in many decades with choice and with other things as you know with other things. but our vets are doing better than they've ever done. choice alone, take a look at what we've done with choice. but the people of our country have very happy with the job i'm doing, and -- >> reporter: looking ahead to 2020 -- >> one of the things they want so much is security. both at the border they want it with our military. they want it with law enforcement. they want it with ice. you know, we've taken out thousands of ms-13 gang members.

thousands. hard to believe. thousands out of our country. women of our country who are incredible people want security. they want safety. they want financial security also. we've done that. but they want physical security. and we've taken out thousands of people that shouldn't be in this country. but we have to get strong immigration laws so they don't come in. we want laws where they don't come in, where we don't have to take them out, per se. and again, i'm honored to be with all of you. it was a great day yesterday. it was a great evening. i think we had a tremendous success. and hopefully the tone can get better. >> reporter: how do you change that? >> hopefully the tone can get a lot better. and i really believe it begins with the media. we used to call it the press. >> reporter: does it begin with you, mr. president? >> i believe it begins with the media. if you would cover -- it was an interesting story written in a very good paper recently that

talked about the fact that it isn't good what the media is doing. and that i do have the right to fight back because i'm treated very unfairly. i do fight back, and i'm fighting back not for me. i'm fighting back for the people of this country. thank you all very much. thank you. >> days like this i'm glad i got a co-anchor. i'm here with my partner stephanie ruhle who is going to analyze the press conference. >> first we'll talk about the state of montana. jon tester, democrat in montana. that senate race is being called. the winner, jon tester. >> that was a very tight race. it was not being called because the split between the democrat and the republican was very close. we have now called that montana will remain a democrat -- with the democratic senator. that was the president giving a very long, almost hour and a half long press conference.

any moment now we are going to be hearing from the house speaker, nancy pelosi. >> possibly soon to be. >> well, currently. >> oh yes, yes. >> i'm sorry. she's not currently the house speaker. she possibly could be the speaker because she's the democratic leader. you bring up a good point. this is in question. >> we haven't seen another name or heard of anyone else, but it's not a done deal as of yet. we could say the most likely soon to be house speaker nancy pelosi. >> that's what everybody there is getting ready for. that's a discussion as to who ends up being the speaker of the house. peter alexander is live at the white house. he was in that remarkably contentious press conference. very long and contentious press conference. sitting there and listening to it, what's your take away? >> reporter: well, the bottom line is we're trying to ask questions of the president. the lesson we learned today is the premidterm president trump is not too dissimilar from the

post. he would like to see the tone soften. but he mocked members of his own party who didn't embrace him in his agenda. and he maligned democrats and the media including an exchange that i had with him after he was aggressively attacking one of my colleagues from cnn who he described as a rude person. i tried to ask the president about his divisive racially charged rhetoric throughout the course of the campaign at times accusing democrats of being evil, of being the party of crime. and why he was pitting americans against one another. here's part of that exchange. >> i don't think we've got that, peter. >> reporter: don't have it. >> if you want to reenact it, we're game. >> i think you saw it for yourselves. the question we were trying to ask him is why he's pitting americans against one another as

evidenced by his answer, he didn't answer that question. some of the other things that struck me in this -- >> sorry, we have to interrupt you. nancy pelosi is speaking. we'll go back to peter aleck zand -- alexander. >> health care was on the ballot. and health care won. yesterday americans elected diverse democracy candidates. members elected who reflect their district and embody the bountiful diversity of our nation. women led the way to victory with at least 30 new women coming to the congress. is that not exciting? and there's still come races that are not finalized yet. there could be more. democrats also secured big wins in the governorships across the country. while it is my responsibility to win house for the democrats, winning the governorships is

essential, essential for good policy in our country and open elections and the rest. so victories in wisconsin, illinois, kansas, maine, michigan, new mexico, and nevada. we're proud of new mexico that our colleague, michelle is now the governor. in colorado jarod polis is now the governor, even though that's replacing a democratic governor, a great governor. that wasn't a pick up, but it is a democratic member there. jim in minnesota, our colleague, again, winning in minnesota. so for us, just seeing that the extraordinary leadership of these members going into governor's offices, seeing the increased number of democratic governorships, it was a great night for the american people. we won because from the beginning we focussed on health care. two years ago today, the day after the election, not the same

date. but the same day after the election everyone came together and said we see the urgency. we want to take responsibility, and that gave us opportunity to protect the affordable care act. that was so essential to the health and financial security of america's working families. and we knew it would be a target of the trump administration. so just so you know, by that sunday we'd have mobilized many of the groups outside. they were self-mobilized as well. but we all came together depending on -- despite where we might be on the spectrum on other issues to say this was our focus. we made a plan to launch our campaign on the weekend of martin luther king. that's in january. and we did. after the president's inauguration, as you know, something historic happened in our country.

the women's march. and much of that was about health care. women's productive health. excuse me. health care, the beat goes on. over the course of that next year and a half, working with the outside groups and they deserve a great deal of credit, and i'm proud of our democratic unity in the congress of the united states and our inside maneuvering that unity was essential to the clarity of our message and our differentiation from the republicans on that subject. but working together, voting together we were able to make our case. the outside groups we participated in some of this, but the outside groups had 10,000 events across the country. speaking out about the risks that was involved in the republican policy in terms of health care in our country. there are assaults on medicare and medicaid, the results on the

preexisting medical condition being taken away, all of that so much more. the issue about the cost of prescription drugs. all of those issues by groups, coalitions, advocacy groups of patient advocacy groups against the country, labor unions, veterans, the list goes on and on of so many people involved in that. leading up to this being on the ballot, and some of you said to me how did this emerge as the issue in the campaign? my answer is we made our own environment. because we knew how important health care is. not only to the good healths of families but to the financial well being of their families. health care costs being such a major assault on their economic

security. it was -- it was -- and when we put together our for the people agenda, our first priority was to lower the health care costs by lowering the cost of prescription drugs. leader mitch mcconnell went forth and admitted that medicare and medicaid and some aspects of social security dismantling the benefits were on the chopping block. the president pulled his punch when it came to lowering the cost of prescription drugs by enabling secretary to negotiate for that. so this is very important. that was for the people, lower health care costs. bigger paychecks by building infrastructure of america integrity in government by reducing the dark money in the political spectrum. that was our agenda. our candidates ran with it. but health care, health care, health care. in every household in america is an important issue.

the man whose office i occupy now, speaker tip o'neal said all politics is local when it comes to local. when it comes to health care, all politics is personal. when they tried to distract and divide our candidates kept their focus on that subject. and when i say our candidates, our candidates for reelection as well. voters delivered a resounding verdict against congressional republicans' attacks on medicare, medicaid and the affordable care act and people with preexisting conditions in districts everywhere in america. they went in what new direction, a house that will now they want a new direction. a house that will work to make progress in the lives of america's families and seniors. democrats pledge, again, a new majority our for the people agenda.

lower health care costs. lower prescription drugs. bigger paychecks, building the infrastructure. clean up corruption to make america work for the american people's interest, not the special interest. yesterday's election was not only a vote to protect america's health care. it was a vote to restore the health of our democracy. the health of our democracy. under the constitution i'm proud that the legislative branch is the article one, the first branch of government. the legislative branch. right after this beautiful preamble stating our purpose, article one, the legislative branch. there as a co-equal branch of the other branches of government, and a check and balance on other branches of government. american people have -- want to put an end to unchecked gop control of washington restoring, again, the checks and balances envisioned by our founders. that's a responsibility we have

when we take that oath to protect and defend the constitution. and we as democrats are here to strengthen the institution in which we serve and not to have it be a rubber stamp for the president. house democrats will honor our responsibility to the constitution. as i said, have a conscious how we will open, how we will do things, we'll open the congress with a rule that will insist upon openness and transparency so that the american people can see the impact of public policy on their lives. putting an end to what the republicans did with their tax scam in the dark of night with the speed of light no hearings on a bill that would have trillions of dollars on impact on our economy. that's over. we will strive in that openness with the american people as our partners because they will see the impact of legislation on their lives.

we will strive for bipartisanship. we believe that we have a responsibility to seek common ground where we can. where we cannot, we must stand our ground. but we must try. and so my openness and transparency, accountability, bipartisanship, a very important part of how we will go forward. we believe that's a responsibility we have to honor the vision of our founders. they gave us in their declarati declaration, a call for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. how beautiful. they also gave us guidance on how to achieve that. e plur bus unum. from many one. they knew we had to strive for oneness, recognizing that this is a marketplace of ideas. we have different views on the role of government, and that's a healthy debate for the american people to witness and for us to

have. we do so with confidence in our values and our proposals but also with humility and hearing what others have to say. that will be the kind of congress that we have one, again, that honors the guidance of one more many. last night i had a conversation with president trump about how we could work together under the issues that came up. it was part of our for the people agenda, building infrastructure of america, and i hope that we can achieve that. he talked about it during his campaign, and really didn't come through with it in his first two years in office, but that issue has not been a partisan issue in the congress of the united states over the years. we've been able to work together regionally, across the aisle, across the capital, and down pennsylvania avenue. i hope we can do that, because we want to create jobs from sea

to shining sea. good paying jobs whether it's about surface transportation, water systems, my colleague congressman was here, a champion on broad band always on high speed broad band across america. to end the digital divide. and then schools, housing and the rest. those jobs, those -- those anyboditi anybo initiatives will great good paying jobs and great economic growth in their regions. hopefully we can work in a bipartisan way in that way. the other issue that we could hopefully work on is lowering the cost of prescription drugs and that's something the president has talked about. we had it in our six row six 12 years ago when we won the house. five of the six became law. when we couldn't get 60 votes in the senate for was they wanted the secretary to negotiate for

lower prescription drug prices. we hope to get that done now, because that is a big impact on america's families' budget. and then the third really capping the issue for us is integrity in government. to reduce the role of dark special interest money. i depend our candidates for their commitment to the health care agenda, to the bigger paycheck agenda. and also to the good government agenda. they have written letters saying that they want hr 1, our better deal for america's democracy, to be something they vote on. but i say to them, when you come here, you will have an impact on what that legislation is. you may want to make some additions or some tweaking but nonetheless, our newcomers will be part of putting together how the agenda goes forward. and we look forward to that

invision ration of the -- invigorating of the congress. we spoke to leader mcconnell about how we can work together on infrastructure. i did receive a call of congratulations from speaker ryan, and i welcomed that, and we discussed how it is to win and how it is not to win in terms of this. in any event, the concern that he was expressing was about for some of his colleagues who no longer will be serving. on that point, i want to say something, because in winning this election not only were we on the right side of history. we're on the right side of the future. this is where we have to go. but when we talk about the challenges that we face, we have to jump over gerrymandered lines all over the country. so when we talk about our success, it's about the grass roots operation owning the ground. all of these groups that care

about health care. many of them out there to help elect people who shared their value about lowering health care costs, moving lifetime caps, annual caps on insurance coverage and certainly restoring the benefit of preexisting conditions, not being a barrier to coverage. most importantly, though, are the quality of our candidates. they're spectacular from every walk of life, and some of them from a couple of different walks of life, and when they come here they'll bring their experience, theirnology, and especially their values to the congress. we look forward to that. this is no easy feat to win this election. i hear the president attributing to this, that and the other thing. but when you think of how gerrymandered the country is, how we hope to change that but nonetheless, how we were able to succeed in the election is a

tribute, again, to the quality of our candidates, the determination of our grass roots folks across the country, and the values that we share with the american people. in terms of working with the president, i -- i would say that i worked very productively president bush when we had the majority, and he had the presidency. we passed one of the biggest emergency bills in the history of our country. we passed one of the biggest tax bills in terms of stimulus for low income people as well as middle income people in his presidency. the list goes on. pep 4. he wanted that. there's so many issues we worked together and opposed. but the point is that we worked together. be president said i'll wait for them to send me something.

we'd like to work together so our legislation will be bipartisan. we're not going for the lowest common denominator. we're going to the boldest common denominator. we welcome other ideas. we look forward to a new kind of new era in terms of what is happeni happening. the last two years seems like a very long time in terms of the path it's taken us down. when i think of our founders and their courage, their vision, what they had in mind for us, for many one, i think the american people and how beautifully diverse we are and how newcomers to our country have constantly reinvigorated america. when i think of our beautiful planet and, of course, our own country god's gift to us and how it has been neglected and

degraded in this past couple of years, i think that there's plenty of opportunity for us to match our legislation with the rhetoric that we are hearing. it might surprise you to note that the president, i quoted the most on the campaign trail, who would you think? ronald reagan. i'll just -- i won't read you the whole quote. i'll read you just one paragraph. ronald reagan said this is the last speech that i will make as president of the united states, and i want to have one final thought and a final observation about a country that i love. that's quite a headliner in your busyness. ronald reagan's last speech. he said thanks to each new wave of new arrivals to this hand of opportunity, we're a nation for every young, forever bursting with energy and new ideas and always on the cutting edge. always leading the world to the next frontier. this quality is vital to our future as a nation. it goes onto say if we ever

close the door to new americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost. if we ever close the door our leadership would soon be lost. so in that, it's the vision of our founders, the diversity of our country, the beauty of our lands, the values in our constitution first and foremost. we think there's an opportunity to work together. for them to withdraw their assault on the preexisting conditions benefit which the republican attorneys general across the country have put forth, and which this administration has said they will join in the lawsuit. that's just wrong. that's just wrong. we think, again, as a sign of good faith and in keeping with what they're saying on the campaign trail, prove it. withdraw the lawsuit. so that will be one place that

we could start. in any event, next week we look forward to welcoming our new class of freshman. we will celebrate their diversity, the freshness of their thinking and the rest, and they will immediately be incorporated into our building. and how we go forward in a very open, transparent, bipartisan unifying congress. any questions? yes, sir. >> reporter: the president had a press conference. [ inaudible question ] my question is are you concerned about the democratic overreach in any way in your investigations?

>> the president also said this was a good day for republicans. so let's put that in perspective as well. we have a constitutional responsibility to have oversight. that's the balance of power. i'm an aproep ray or the. it was one of the places i was forged. appropriations and intelligence committee. both places were -- those hallmarks were bipartisanship. we could find suolutions. that has changed when the poison pills rained down. but all the other committees we have a responsibility for oversight. and hopefully over the course of asking for information we can just make the request and the information will come in. the concern about what's happening at epa, for example, so degrading of the air we

breathe and the water we drink despite what the president said today. that's one example. i don't think we'll have any scatter shot freelancing in terms of this. we'll have a responsibility to honor our oversight responsibilities, and that's the path that we will go down. we, again, trying to unify our country. >> reporter: however will you go to try to get the tax returns? >> look, when our committees -- i'm a big believer in the committee system. always have been. our committees will make their decisions and recommendations to the caucus. when we go down any paths we will know what we're doing and will do it right. >> reporter: i want to know how many -- [ inaudible question ] >> well, i have always advanced

members into the leadership. they have to decide they want to run. many people like making their mark in their committees, and that's a decision they have to make. but to your first part of your question, some people have said to me, and i appreciate your question. some people have said now that we have more women coming in, will we have more emphasis on things like child care and this or that? we have a big emphasis on that, and we need to make it stronger in the majority. but that's across the board in our caucus. i don't want women only to be -- as important as that is and it's vitally important to women's role in the workplace. i want women to not just be talking about those issues, because we view every issue as a women's issue. we believe the national security of our country is a bopwoman's issue. the economic security of our country, national security economic security. issues that relate to energy and the rest.

they're women's issues. so what i have always tried to do with everyone here is to if they're interested in trying to introduce them to be interested is to have a security credential. >> all right. nancy pelosi, who is poised to become speaker of the house. >> there you got it, there you got it. >> i'm learning, i'm learning. >> we've got a lot to talk about. let's bring in bloomberg white house reporter talus. i can't pronounce your last name. >> jonathan capehart whose name we've mastered and national political reporter for bloomberg, sahil kapur. that was a roller coaster, sitting here listening to donald trump speak for about an hour and a half. nancy pelosi presents very differently than donald trump. >> let's start with that. you have all been intently

watching television with us for the last two hours essentially. what has stood out to you the most? >> i think trump wanted to change the narrative. he saw all of the stories and all of the news coverage about how he lost the house, how he was a drag on the ticket, how all of these various republicans who were incumbents ended up getting ousted by all of these up-and-coming democrats. how even though they made gains in the senate, the loss of the house is a big blow on his presidency. so he wanted to come out, he knows he has the bully pulpit and he can drive media turnout. he talked about earned media during this call and throw out all kinds of red meat and talk about different parts of his message knowing that he can change the headlines and not have as many people talking about how he lost the house. >> it's masterful, though. it's masterful. i would like to change the narrative about how i'm bald and a little chubby. i don't think if i talked about that for an hour and a half i would -- i don't think i could get there. but donald trump in a roomful of people who are there to hold him

to account will just do it. and we know from the results yesterday he's not 100% wrong about his effectiveness in doing this, jonathan. >> true. i think peter alexander got it right just before he had to be cut off with nancy pelosi coming out. pre-election trump is the same as post-election donald trump. the one thing we know about the president is he never admits failure, he never admits fault, he's never done anything wrong, and everything, everything is right. he put the focus on all the things that made him look good and he immediately turned the democrats -- the incoming democratic majority into his foil. he has had the house, the senate and the white house for two years. now he's saying, well, the democrats have to send me some legislation. >> it was remarkable. >> and then in terms of the steadying contrast between the president and the house minority leader, perhaps the next speaker

of the house, anyone coming after that hour and a half tour de force would seem -- >> studied. >> studied, boring, but this is the thing, nancy pelosi is consistently on message. the last point i will make is anyone who has been saying that the democrats do not have a message -- >> if you pay attention and listen to her -- >> that has always been the message. it's not delivered in a trumpian style and might make you go to sleep, but it is a real message and a real agenda. >> studied and boring might be exactly what you want from your elected leaders. sahil, to jonathan's exact point, the president is saying, well, it's up to the democrats. he's had two years to deliver. will he be able to successfully change this narrative and blame them. when he was asked about middle class tax cuts and will democrats vote for it, the question is will republicans vote for it. >> they couldn't get tax cuts 2

2.0 to him. i was struck by the president's mockery of members of his own president who were in tough competitive districts who didn't outwardly embrace him. these three members vote with him. these are his allies on issues of substance. they ran their campaigns in ways they lost were effective. there's not a case to be made that embracing president trump in the upscale suburbs of chicago is the way to win there against a democrat in a blue year. it just goes to show that he values that personal loyalty more so in some cases -- >> more so with somebody who's similar to him. >> he also mentioned how he saved republican candidates and helped them to victory. that is certainly true in missouri and indiana and ohio and in florida. but he's not also batting a perfect game here.

dean heller, matt rosendale, scott walker, are all republicans he campaigned with who didn't win their races. >> thanks for that, guys. stick around. a lot of milestones, a lot of change last night. for those people who think, well, the president is downplaying what happened -- >> no way, no way. >> there are very big things that happened. >> a record number of women and minorities running and winning. for the first time ever, native american women will be represented in congress. >> you said that plural, women. >> joining us now is one of those members in the state of new mexico, congress ann-elect deb holland. congresswoman, congratulations. >> thank you. >> for you, what's the first issue you want to tackle? >> thank you, steph, thank you, ali for having me on. really happy to be here. look, the first issue, the top issue in my campaign here in new mexico is fighting climate change and moving toward a renewable energy economy. that's a winning message here in new mexico. we have a state that has 310 days of sun per year.

but look, there's so many issues that are important. making sure that every new mexico -- new mexican and every american has health care. that's an important issue. i imagine we'll get together and work toward making the lives of americans better at this point. >> you ran on the basis of policy, some very progressive policies, but something that became clear to all americans in this last election, particularly in north dakota, is the degree to which fellow native americans continue to have problems exercising their franchise. >> yes. >> we're not there yet. we believe that every american has the right to vote, but not every american has an equal opportunity to vote. >> that's correct, yes. it happened all over the country, not just with native americans, with people of color, right? in kansas, in georgia. that's the way that republicans seemingly can win is if they disenfranchise folks. so yes, that is definitely something i'm passionate about.

i've been organizing here in new mexico for close to 20 years in underrepresented communities, and so i will go to congress to absolutely fight for everyone's right to vote as well. >> one of the first things you'll be considering at least in the first few days is speaker of the house. will you be supporting nancy pelosi? >> i will. >> all right. there you go. >> girl power right there. >> yes, i will. look, she's so effective, that's why the republicans don't like her, right? she's an effective leader. she'll be an effective speaker. and i think right now in this era, we need to make sure that we -- you know, we have folks leading us who can navigate everything we need to navigate and i wholeheartedly trust leader pelosi and i think she'll do a terrific job. >> congresswoman-elect deb holland, it is with great personal pride that we welcome native american members to the

united states house of congress. >> thank you. >> that is a great, great, great source of pride for our country. long overdue, but a great source of pride. thank you. >> thank you. >> ali, we haven't gotten to talk about it but over the last week we have urged every viewer out there to go vote and we've got to say we saw that happen yesterday. >> yeah, yeah. >> last night when in california there was only 10 or 15 minutes left to vote, the line was three hours long. and so if you look not just at people who won, if you look at all the initiatives that made their way through, whether expanded medicaid or marijuana, there's a lot of things. >> it was great because the heroes in america were the people who held those elections, who volunteered in those elections, who voted in those elections, and people like that who ran in those elections. >> and we've got one more woman who won last night, the mother of our executive producer in north little rock, arkansas's newest city council member, 69-year-old jane ginn is a

single mom who raised two kids on her own while working two or three jobs at a time. she was a secretary, an accounts payable clerk and a landlord. she even bagged groceries at night to keep food on the table and a roof over her family's head. that woman, she persisted. >> her kids went on to have careers and kids of their own. last night this grandmother won. 131 votes. >> check this out, this was jane's third time running. she lost her first two races but she persisted. jane told the "arkansas gazette" that i do want to represent the people. that sounds so generic, but that's the truth. i've got to listen to people and i've got to start digging in to what it is that they need. and that is all we can ask from our leaders, the president and the people. we want to congratulate jane, we want to congratulate our producer, christina. you should always be proud of your mom, but today, last night i know christina certainly is. >> thank you to everybody who ran, thank you to everybody who voted. thank you to all of you for

watching "velshi & ruhle." >> and thanks for watching the crybaby show. again, we delivered. >> katy tur. >> stephanie, you are such a big softy. >> i'm a big ole crybaby. >> i love it. and congratulations to jane ginn and christina, that is amazing. thanks, guys. it is 11:00 a.m. out west and 2:00 p.m. in washington. today the president repeatedly insisted that he is not worried about the democratic takeover of the house. but all evidence points to the contrary when he lost control with reporters today at the white house. >> mr. president, if i may -- >> peter, go ahead. that's enough, that's enough. >> i was going to ask -- >> that's enough. that's enough. put down the mike. >> mr. president, are you worried about indictments coming down in this investigation? >> i'm not a big fan of yours either. sit down, i didn't call you. i didn't call you. i didn't call you.