The era of the obama gridlock is over. Were going to make them squeal. American people have spoken. Theyve given us divided government. They expect the people they elect to get the job done. Just because you have divided government doesnt mean you dont accomplish everything. I look forward to working together to deliver for the American People. Former cbs reporter Cheryl Atkinson said her reporting was stonewalled. Alex rodriguez confessed to using steroids to federal officials. His credibility was pretty shattered already. Recovered safe and sound. We begin with president obamas response to the historic republican blowout victory in the mid term elections. The American People sent a message. One that theyve sent for several elections now. The they expect the people they elect to work as hard as we do. They want us to get the job done. It doesnt make me mopey. It energizes me. Because it means that its democracy working. Even sow, the president remained defiant that tuesdays elections was more about dizzy function in washington than his policies and leadership. But he said he would find new ways to reach across the aisle. If the ways that were approaching the republicans in congress isnt working, you know, im going to try different things, whether its having a drink with Mitch Mcconnell or letting john boehner beat me again at golf. He also promised to go forward with unilateral executive action on immigration before the end of the year. Senate minority leader Mitch Mcconnell who is likely to become majority liter. The americans have spoken, given us divided government. The question for both the president and the speaker and myself and our members is, what are you going to do with it . Joining us from des moines iowa is Tom Leigh Latham who announced last year he would not seek reelection. Congressman congressman latham, good to have you with us. President obama was pretty defiant saying americans showed they wanted to get things done. Do you think theres any chance we will see congress and the white house will Work Together . I think there is. First of all when you talk about funding for ebola, when you talk about fightin fighting the war r with i. S. I. S, things like that, i think the debate will be had on the minimum wage. If that were to be paid for for small businesses, to be able to afford it. But i think hell poison the well if in fact he does some action like immigration , that would totally change the dynamic in the relationship. I think we have an opportunity Going Forward here. If he does that he poisons the well. In fact Mitch Mcconnell who also spoke today, said, made a pretty interesting comment about the president moving unilatera unilaterally, he compared that to waving a red flag in front of a bull. So what do you expect republicans to do if he does come out . And take aggressive action on immigration by himself . Well, i think youre going to see bills pass, that with the version of Immigration Reform that wed like to see as far as securing the border. Addressing then later on the status of the people in this country that are here illegally. But that i think would totally destroy any opportunity for tax reform, comprehensive tax reform, for actually getting spending bills done on a timely basis. Really, as far as efforts throughout congress, to actually get things accomplished, the president has an opportunity here. But as Something Like unilaterally doing something on immigration i think would totally destroy any effort Going Forward. Lets listen to Something ElseMitch Mcconnell who is likely to be majority leader of the senate, said wednesday. Earlier today i got a call from the president also from senator reid and the speaker, and ted cruz too. All of them i think have the view we ought to see what areas of agreement there are. I always like to remind people that divided government is not unusual in this country. Weve had it frequently. You know the reference to cruz is because cruz didnt come out and immediately support mcconnell for leader. Cruz has been the person personifiation of the party of no. Espite mcconnell being conciliatory on obamacare, there are republicans like cruz who dont want to find or dont seem to want to find much agreement with the president. Are those deep divisions among the Republican Party going to continue to be an issue . I dont think its general in the gop but there are individuals who really dont want to govern. Who have their own agenda out there. Whether they be running for president , and thats probably the biggest problem theyre going to have is that there are two, three, four senators who think theyre the next president of the United States and have maybe their own agenda rather than trying to move legislative actions forward. You know, this election i think was unifying for republicans in that the president s agenda was on the ballot, the president said so himself, that the policies he put in place were what people were voting on yesterday. But i think there are individuals certainly that have their own agendas out there and thats going to make it very tough for Mitch Mcconnell. Could it also be more unifying for republicans because few of the more extreme Tea Party Candidates who were blamed in part for the poor showing of the party in 2012 were really a factor this time around . So are we seeing a strong statement for Establishment Republicans . Well, and i think the type of candidates we had generally speaking, across the country, were candidates who actually want to rein in spending, get get the government under control, but that can be done im an appropriator, as a way to reigrein in the federal governmt and control bureaucracy. Ted cruz was the big push behind the government shutdown. That didnt work out well. So i think the group of people generally speaking that were elected are people who actually want to go to washington, be part of a constructive process, and get things done. Republican won the seat that youre vacating there in iowa. Uhhuh. And one of the big wins last night was iowa was supposed to be one of the states in the democratic fire wall and you now have a ernst. Where does that say where iowa is, because it has famously a purple state, somewhere in between republicans and democrats. Right. Well, this is a major sea change in the state of iowa with now two republican senators. We picked up not only defended my house seat but also picked up bruce braleys old house seat in northeast iowa, we have gained a house member and a u. S. Senator. I think it really shows that iowans were disgusted in what they see in washington. The president s agenda was what they were concerned about. Bruce braley was seen as being in lockstep with the president. And i think thats really the difference in the race. So when you look at iowa today, i dont know if its really much has changed other than individual candidates that were out there. And they ran tough races. But i think the message got through that one was going to be an agent of change, the other was going to support president obama up and down the line. Quick question for you what do you think this means for 2016 . Well, it depends on how the agenda is put forward in congress. Whether the house and the senate can actually get together to put together good legislation. You know keystone pipeline, reining in spending and the government controlling the bureaucracy, well see what the president does with that legislation that goes to his desk. But the big problem again is going to be that youve got three, four u. S. Senators that would like to be in the oval office. And what that dynamic has, as far as affecting legislation, is really going to be the big question. But i think were in good shape going into 2016. Congressman tom latham, have good to have you with us. Great to be with you. Exceeded many expectations, winning governor seats in states where nobody thought they could win. Earlier i had a chance to speak with brad miller, a senior fellow for the center for economic progress, he represented North Carolina in congress between 2003 and 2013. I also spoke with rick wilson, a media currently. Is there any doubt this is a very clear message to the white house and to the Democratic Party . It was a bad night for democrats no doubt about it. Theres truth to it that it really was a base election, that was largely thought ou fought out six years after an election had gone well for democrats so there were a lot of Democratic Senators who had won in 2008 who would not win in ordinary circumstances. But we saw a lot of governor seats too. Like i said, it was a bad economy and i think the way people bet on the economy, theres a saying in sports always change a losing game, never change a winning game and since nobody really understands how the economy works anyway thats how voters vote on economics. And they thought that the economy right now is a losing game. But i think more broadly that lets democrats off too easy. I think weve got too parties that have become identity based parties which is very troubling for a democracy. And Neither Party has a coalition that can gof govern. In that context rick republicans have really been seen as a donothing party and as part of a donothing congress. Now theyll have control of both houses on capitol hill. So a big responsibility comes with that. Are republicans ready to govern, and to compromise . Let me make something very clear. The house has passed more legislation in the last few years than people give them credit for. The real roadblock has been harry reid who is the worst obstructionist, i like to roll the words around in my mouth, minority leader harry reid. He is now a man, he exercises the power of his position to block anything that came out of the house. It was always his way or the highway. We are going to see folks in the Senate Address things with the white house harry reid is their ally,. But reid did say no to most things that came out of the white house. Economic catastrophes that are waiting to happen. The one signature bill that was passed bowk, all the stuff thats been pushed back into november of this year with obamacare starts to hit american consumers. What youve got here is an opportunity for republicans the do things like keystone and to do things like reforming the tax system and do things like addressing a lot of the systematic abuse of power that the administration is engaged in a whole host of agencies under barack obama. Youre going to see a lot of this coming out of the congress, youre not going to like a lot of it and its going to go to Barack Obamas desk and hes going to kill it. They dont see this as a rejection of the president or the white house policies. What world could they be living in . I think they should pause and look hard at the economic policies and how well theyve worked for most americans. I understand exit polling showed 67 of voters thought the economy was rigged against working people. That should be an electorate that democrats win overwhelmingly. And red and blue states. Sure, thats one issue of which we address economic concerns of americans but its not enough. And most americans are not working for the minimum wage. That really helps the bottom 20 or so. But the people making 40, 50, 60,000 a year sort of think nobodys really doing anything thats going to help them. Its true the house has passed a lot of stuff, most of it is repeals of the Affordable Care act. But there really has been no compromise. They have passed things that are intentionally an anathema. Maybe the republicans have said, maybe the white house will work with us, the white house has said, maybe the republicans will work with us. The rhetoric on the republican side from people like ted cruz is already pretty heated. Im going to quote barack obama back to the white house when he sat with Paul Ryan John Boehner and the Republican Leadership when he won in 2009, he looked them in the eye and said, i won. That was his my way or the highway moment, his electoral decision validated his policies and his beliefs. Last night, republicans swept the board, we have had the largest majorities weve had in 100 years, we had a crush defeat of the democratic agenda, these are people that have been absolutely devastated by this and they recognize now, in the corner. There is a republican majority in the senate, a large republican majority in the house. Theyve got to face political reality and look theyre famous for not facing political reality. But if they dont face it Barack Obamas last two years are going to be a very unhappy time now. Let me stop you, we only have a minute left. I want to get a reaction, North Carolina, kay hagan was ahead but thom that. What happened . It was essentially dead heat, a poll showed her with a very slight lead, and summing that 21 would be African American which was a huge assumption. An election to an electorate thats very concerned about the economy and very frustrated. Rick, Charlie Crist in florida, rick scott ended up winning the race, why . Very simple. Rick scotts people put up a better Field Operation at the end of the day and Charlie Crist could not recreate the bowm administration hispanic voters to come out for him. He campaigned with the clintons, he campaigned with every other democratic surrogate he could get his hands on and nothing created the magic. Charlie crist is a sociopath, and people recognize it. Im thank you very much. Coming up our coverage of the mid terms continues with last nights big winner in the house. Is the government tracking its opponents in unprecedented ways . Cheryl atkinson said she was tracked by our social media producer, Hermela Aregawi is tracking the top stories. Whats trending . According to the latest tally, the mid terms may have a record below turnout but evidence could turn out it could be worse without facebooks intervention. Check on upcoming episodes, were on twitter ajconsiderthis real reporting that brings you the world. Giving you a real global perspective like no other can. Real reporting from around the world. This is what we do. Al jazeera america. Democrats expected losses on Election Night but not on the scale we have seen. It turned out to be close to the worst case stair cofor president obama. Not only did democrats lose races, but coast to coast, earlier i had a chance to speak with mark pokem, a convincing 68 of the vote, that Southern District carries southern wisconsin and includes the capital, madison. Senator, congratulations on your win, you are the exception to the rule, you are now a democrat in the Republican Congress that hasnt seen the same since the trueman administration, is it realistic to say that well see some change . I hope so, the excuse has been for the last two years that somehow the Senate Democrats were not going to work with the house republicans, now they have no excuse. It is republican control in the agenda. Where are they going to be on health care, where are they going to be in helping the middle class and they can no longer be pointing a finger at anyone. Its time to put up or have to show where theyre really going in the direction. So im looking forward to see what they want to do. As always im willing to, we saw this in the messaging through election cycle and lets see if the republicans actually have a positive agenda to promote. You are a part of a group in Congress Called the problem solvers bipartisan group. Do you think youll be able to reach some compromises. Well, you know i think real question that weve had in the last two years was really the tea party holding up everyone else. So i think the republicans are really going to have to face that. I felt the leadership in the Republican Party had their hands full. You had ted cruz in the senate and a number of people in the house who dont fundamentally believe in government. They stopped the activity that should have happened in the last two years and thats not going to change. The real challenge is are they going to stand up to some of their own members so we can put the agenda forward, we can restore the Highway Trust Fund and get past the budget impasse, we have heavy things to lift together. That takes democrats and republicans. But if they continue to let that tea Party Division the tail wag the dog even if theyre in control of everything i think that people of america are going to look at them and really want a whole lot more. But clearly that didnt seem to hurt them in this election. So why did things go so badly for the democrats . Well, this is the mid term elections. I think generally we lose about 29 seats in the house and were not even at half of that. So in many ways its just a low percentage than an average mid term year . Right but also if you look at turnout across the country one of my colleagues in california a friend of mine i looked at the total votes cast by democrats and republicans and its way less than my republican opponent got who got 32 of the vote. They had 20 of my turnout in wisconsin. Across the country we saw low turnout, that is one of the factors in mid term. When the president s in power for one party it hurts us in the mid term election. Were going to do whatever we can to try work with republicans the actually get something done because congress has been really broken the last two or three years. You were in wisconsin, one of the big races, scott walker has been a bit of a lightning rod especially with antiunion posit