Up until about 2 30 this afternoon, the news was all about the midterms and how President Trump had lost control of the house. After the president held a lengthy News Conference to go through all of that, he decided to shake up the etchasketch and create a brandnew headline. [applause] moments after the news first broke on fox, President Trump confirmed that attorney general Jeff Sessions was out and that matthew whitaker, chief of staff to attorney general Jeff Sessions will become our new acting attorney general. The president went on to thank Jeff Sessions for his service and wish them well, adding that a permanent replacement would be nominated at a later date. It was minutes earlier that President Trump deferred when asked about possible changes to his cabinet, even though chief of staff john kelly had already called sessions this morning to ask for his resignation. President trump ill answer that at a little bit different time, were looking at a lot of different things. The press conference was the president s first opportunity in person to comment about the results of yesterdays midterms. President trump losing control of the house but increasing his margins in the senate. President trump i thought it was a very close to complete victory. The president said he looked forward to working with the democrats. President trump there are many things we can get along on without a lot of trouble that we agree very much with them and they agree with us. I would like to see bipartisanship. Nancy pelosi the presumed speaker of the house said to the democrats would pursue bipartisanship but Many Democrats have already talked about an endless blizzard of subpoenas and investigations into everything from the russia investigation into the president s cell phone use, to his tax returns. President trump if that happens, then we are going to do the same thing and the government comes to a halt. I would blame them. If they do that, then all of this is as a warlike posture. For nearly 90 minutes, the president held forth on the election saying some long simmering issue is. At several moments, the News Conference growing extraordinarily contentious. President trump youre a very rude person, the way you treat Sarah Huckabee is horrible. Im not a big fan of yours either. President trump even as he duked it out with the media, President Trump said he would prefer to adopt a softer tone. President trump i would be very good at a low tone. President trump said hes still considering an executive order to ban birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants, to respond to the killing of the saudi journalist jamaal khashoggi. He made news saying he would be willing to raise rates on some people in order to get a deal with democrats. President trump if the democrats come up with an idea for tax cuts, im a big believer in tax cuts, i would pursue something even if it means some adjustment. He said today losing control of the housemate were cut to being a good thing, he said it would force the democrats to come up with ideas, not just opposition and he and they would begin negotiations. Bret john roberts live on the north lawn. We will have more on those exchanges between the president and the press later in the program. From media analyst howard kurtz. First, a closer look at Jeff Sessions in the way forward for the administration when it comes to the attorney general, many insiders expected the mildmannered attorney general to be gone at some point following that rocky relationship with the president , but todays action did catch a lot of people off guard especially since the president was asked about it at the News Conference. Catherine harris is here with us with details, what do we know about how all of this came to be . Based on the reporting i heard from contacts, in the midterms, the president , the Republican Party was able to expand its majority in the senate, the president would move very quickly to push out Jeff Sessions which is exactly what we saw today. Bret what does this mean for special Counsel Robert Mueller . We havent heard from the acting attorney general about the special counsel but theres a lot of attention tonight on the knob that he wrote last summer that said if Robert Mueller investigates the finances, that would be a redlined crossed. It doesnt take a lawyer or even a formal federal prosecutor to conclude that investigating Donald Trumps finances or his familys finances falls completely outside of the realm of his 2016 campaign, and allegations that the Campaign Coordinator with the russian government and anyone else goes beyond the scope of the appointment of the special counsel. That seems prescient now given the calls from democrats to look at finances specifically. Bret the doj is saying he will oversee the Russia Special counsel probe, Jeff Sessions did not. He had recused himself, Matt Whitaker has not recused himsel himself. If you talk to people inside that white house and Justice Department circle, they say he is very wellliked by the president. More importantly he was seen as someone who is an outsider, someone who did not come up through the ranks with former fbi director james comey, also the special Counsel Robert Mueller, attorney general Rod Rosenstein, hes an outsider who would be more in tune with the president s thinking. Bret it was interesting, the images of that goodbye for sessions. The handshake with whitaker. We take a closer look at that video again, the attorney general leaving. If you Pay Attention to the handshakes at one point he is coming out of the building, hes surrounded by a lot of Justice Department employees, their clapping. And then he turns to shake hands and you can see one of his deputies there but then if you just pause one moment, youll see a very tall gentleman and he will shake his hand and sort of pat him on the shoulder, thats the solicitor general there. Now if you look there, the very tall man thats whitaker. There is Good Chemistry between the two men, a smile. I thank you and he departs. Bret interesting. Lets talk more about the sessions retirement, really firing with South Carolina republican congressman trey gowdy who sits on the judiciary and intelligence committees and chairs the oversight and government reform committee. Thanks for being here. Your thoughts of this news. It was going to happen, i knew it was going to happen after the election. I didnt think it would happen before all the votes had been counted but hes been a proverbial dead men walking for several months now. Bret Chuck Schumer had a real problem with the acting attorney general, take a listen. Our paramount view is that any attorney general whether this one or another one should not be able to interfere with the Mueller Investigation in any way. If they shouldnt be able to end markets, limited or interfere with mueller Going Forward and doing what he thinks is the right thing. That will help guide us as we go through this process. Bret their concern is that Matt Whitaker is going to do that. Every prosecutor has jurisdictional boundaries. I dont know a single prosecutor that does not. Muellers jurisdictional boundaries have been set by Rod Rosenstein and they were amended in the memo that we have not seen. There has never been a prosecutor that had unfettered power to go investigate whatever the heck he or she wanted to do. If your estate prosecutor you cant investigate federal crimes. If youre in new york you cant investigate things in idaho. The notion that we are going to create a special counsel that has no boss, no jurisdictional structures at all is just typical Chuck Schumer and i think its why so few people take them seriously. Bret what about Rod Rosenstein in his role here . Hes a deputy if the attorney general is not there that he would step in as acting. These are Interesting Times that we are in. Rod rosenstein, i was ready to question him, i had 37 pages with questions for him, a couple weeks ago. He was alleged to have wanted to vote the 25th amendment and question the president s fitness for office, im not sure that wouldve been the right pick. He is overseeing the speed probe right now, i dont think anything is going to happen to rod until after mueller finishes it his investigation. Bret rosenstein had a meeting today at the white house, do you have any sense when the spirit moves forward with anything . Do you have any timeline for whatever shortcomings people perceive that he has, hes done it a good job of keeping his business private. I have not seen a single piece of evidence that suggests collusion between the Trump Campaign in russia. No one has interviewed more witnesses and i have. I think mueller is going to issue an exhaustive report on what russia did which should unify america and then hes going to disappoint cnn and all my Democrat Friends by saying there is no evidence of collusion. Thats what i think hes going to do and i think it will happen before the end of the year but i dont know that. Bret do you think acting attorney general whitaker could expand the investigation the other way . Into looking at the fbi, the early parts of the investigation from inside the administration . He could. Chairman goodlad and i wrote a long time ago, we wrote attorney general sessions and said we think there ought to be a Second Special counsel. I say that to somebody who used to work for the department of justice and wants to see that institution restored to its greatness. I think there ought to be a Second Special counsel to look at the origins of the russia probe and the way the fbi conducted itself. Chairman goodlad and i have been investigating to the extent that we can without a grand jury or compulsory process, weve been looking at what we can and i am deeply troubled about what the department and the bureau did. I think another special counsel is warranted and i thought that months ago. Bret is there more likely that it happens with acting attorney general whitaker than not . My chances were zero with sessions, not to quote the movie dumb and dumber, i guess its not wanted a million but its better than it was with session sessions. Bret youre saying theres a chance. Your reaction to losing the house . Not surprised, historical headwinds, retirements, its tough to win in off years. We picked up seats in the senate, im sorry for some of my friends that arent coming back. Mia love and Stevie Russell and others, its an unusual line of work that we have chosen and the jury has spoken in the jury is always right. Bret what about the president saying if you didnt stand with me, too bad. Today at the News Conference. We lost the seat in South Carolina, Katie Arrington stood with the president much more so than mark sanford. Regrettably, she did not win. I think he had tremendous success in the senate seat that he involved himself with, the house, its a different entity. Its tough to win in off years. The historical headwinds, the money that poured in, the retirements, i think kevin and paul knew that we were in trouble even though they fought like the dickens to prevent it. I think it was inevitable. I didnt see us picking up seats in the senate, that was a plus. Bret we appreciate your time as always. Heres how the balance of power stands right now. As of tonight with some races still pending out there, republicans have picked up three seats in the senate. 5246 lead at this time. A couple races out still. Democrats take the house so far picking up 27 seats, thats 222 to 196 advantage at this time. It appears nancy pelosi will regain the speakership she held from 2007 to 2011, she is speaking softly right now. Other Top Democrats carrying a bigger stick. 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. It sounded like a call from compromise for the presumed next figure of the house minutes after the president tweeted that the conciliatory, the next term and of the House OversightCommittee Elijah Cummings signaled a different approach. I want to probe senior officials across the government as well as President Trumps decisions to act in his own financial self interest. Other Committee Chairman are salivating at the prospect of subpoenas, hearings, and investigations of all things trump. Including corruption that has permitted the president to reap personal financial benefits from industries they govern. Trump gadfly adam schiff is on tap to head the intelligence committee, he wants to probe further into russian collusion regardless of what the Mueller Investigation finds. Where they laundering money to the trump organization, that will be a very high priority that can get an answer to. Slated to chair the Financial Services committee. President trump a seriously low iq person. On the con man will say anything. Californias Maxine Waters has repeatedly threatened impeachment proceedings as well as regulating banks. Nancy pelosi remains wearing of Committee Chairs over reaching history offers a good lesson. We impeach president clinton, his numbers went up and hours went down. Political mutually assured destruction, as the president s had an Early Morning tweet today the g. O. P. Will have a larger Senate Majority now that means turtle can play that game. Bret thanks, lets go over to some of the big contests from last night. Start off in florida, republicans were ecstatic, two apparent state wins. Correspondent peter doocy is in naples tonight. Confetti was flowing in florida. Now that this campaign is behind us. Incumbent democratic senator bill nelson has hired a lawyer and has said we are proceeding to a recount, the spokesman for the lawmaker in the lead governor rick scott has said this race is over, its a sad way for bill nelson to ends career. Hes trying to hold onto something that no longer exists. The florida secretary of state is set to rule on a recount saturday. If scott holds on, florida will be one of the laces president ial pressure paid off. On stages in front of thousands. We have a narrow window. Weve got two years to show that as conservatives we can make things work. Scandal plagued democratic senator bob menendez one represent a new jersey and a close contest last night and today montana senator jon tester found out he held on. The democratic ranks when they return in january will have thinned. Indiana senator joe donnelly and missouri senator Claire Mccaskill are out. I know my mouth gets me in trouble a lot, right . But believe it or not i had to be careful. Not anymore. Jackie rosen is responsible for the only republican loss in the senate last night. To move the Supreme Court to the right, that also was a generational achievement. I was pleased and proud to be part of that. As heller exits a former leader of the party enters. Ill be the junior senator. Ted cruz be the highest profile challenger of the cycle, congressman beto orourke. They were seen as future leaders of the democratic party, maybe even president ial candidates and they both lost. Now attention shifts to the ranks of the soontobe democraticcontrolled house where new democratic veterans are on their way like jason pro who beat congressman mike coffman and colorado and where there will soon be a Record Number of women serving together, included the youngest woman ever elected, new yorks democratic congresswomanelect, alexandria ocasiocortez. We advocate and champion the causes of our neighbors and economic dignity and come with ambitious plans for our future, there is no community beyond victory. Late here in florida, senator nelson launched an Emergency Recount Fund and hes using act blue thats the same online tool that helps democrats in dozens of districts out raise republicans this cycl cycle. It lets money come from outside of florida and it lets small donations stay anonymous. Bret thanks. Some of the other extremely close races, republican scott walker will not have a third term, he was defeated by democrat tony devers by about 30,000 votes in the end. Republican brian camp has declared victory, he has led the georgia governors contest by about 63,000 votes over stacy abrams who is refusing to concede. In arizona, counting continuous. Republican Martha Mcsally leads Kyrsten Sinema by about 15,000 votes. Up next the president and the fresco added in unprecedented fashion. Well look a