WEBVTT 00:02.000 --> 00:04.366 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: As we have reported, votes are still being tallied from last week's midterm 00:04.366 --> 00:09.366 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% election, but Democrats have picked up more than 30 seats to regain control of the House. 00:10.966 --> 00:12.600 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% John Yang has more on the lessons of the 2018 midterms -- John. 00:12.600 --> 00:16.433 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% JOHN YANG: Judy, was it the blue wave that Democrats had hoped for? 00:16.433 --> 00:21.200 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And will the new House majority look like what the voters that helped elect them look 00:21.200 --> 00:23.266 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% like? 00:23.266 --> 00:26.966 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% It's time for Politics Monday with Tamara Keith of NPR and Stuart Rothenberg of Inside 00:26.966 --> 00:28.333 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% Elections. 00:28.333 --> 00:30.366 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% Welcome to you both. 00:30.366 --> 00:34.100 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Tuesday night, the story line quickly developed that this wasn't the night that Democrats 00:34.100 --> 00:38.400 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% had hoped for, that the blue wave had become - - I heard someone refer to it as a blue ripple. 00:38.400 --> 00:43.366 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Tam, a week now out from Election Day, we have seen more races called, we have seen 00:44.133 --> 00:45.966 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% some margins narrow. 00:45.966 --> 00:48.133 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% What does it look like? 00:48.133 --> 00:50.900 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% TAMARA KEITH, National Public Radio: Sometimes, the initial hot takes are not so hot after 00:50.900 --> 00:53.000 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% a few days. 00:53.000 --> 00:56.966 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And what it looks like is -- and President Trump came out and declared victory. 00:57.733 --> 00:59.766 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% And it was like, hmm. 00:59.766 --> 01:02.800 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Well, now it's even clearer that -- that Democrats picked up a lot of seats. 01:02.800 --> 01:07.800 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% There are still several races that are not called yet still outstanding. 01:09.900 --> 01:14.300 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% At the moment, AP has it at 32 seats flipped, but there are many more outstanding, especially 01:16.833 --> 01:18.833 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% in California. 01:18.833 --> 01:23.366 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And the important thing to keep in mind is that, yes, election night is a big night, 01:23.366 --> 01:28.366 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% it's a big night on television, but the vote counting is slow and arduous, and especially 01:30.433 --> 01:33.733 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% in states like California, where they have a lot of vote by mail. 01:33.733 --> 01:38.466 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Even if it says 100 percent of precincts reporting, that's not 100 percent of votes counted. 01:38.466 --> 01:40.633 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% JOHN YANG: Stu, credit where credit is due. 01:40.633 --> 01:44.800 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% All right, Tuesday night, I remember fairly early in the night you tweeted out -- you 01:44.800 --> 01:46.266 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% didn't -- you said, what's with all this hand-wringing? 01:46.266 --> 01:47.800 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% (LAUGHTER) 01:47.800 --> 01:48.500 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% STUART ROTHENBERG, Inside Elections: That's right. 01:48.500 --> 01:50.633 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% That's right. 01:50.633 --> 01:53.000 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Yes, I think the narrative didn't change two or three days after the election. 01:53.000 --> 01:57.066 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% I think it changed two or three hours after the votes started being counted, actually. 01:57.066 --> 02:02.033 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% I understand why Democrats were fully invested in the Texas Senate race and the Florida governor's 02:03.266 --> 02:06.500 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% race and the Georgia governor's race. 02:06.500 --> 02:10.800 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% And Amy McGrath didn't do as well in Kentucky 6, in an early state. 02:10.800 --> 02:14.633 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% But, look, once we got into the large number of districts that were competitive and that 02:14.633 --> 02:17.766 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% we were really watching, it was very clear we had a wave. 02:17.766 --> 02:21.133 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% I mean, between 35 and 40 seats flipping is a wave. 02:21.133 --> 02:23.066 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% A national election is a wave. 02:23.066 --> 02:26.766 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% It's not a cherry-picked election, where a district here flipped and a district there 02:26.766 --> 02:28.833 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% flipped. 02:28.833 --> 02:32.066 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% There were -- there were upsets, significant upsets, in Oklahoma, in South Carolina's 1st 02:32.066 --> 02:33.166 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% Congressional District. 02:33.166 --> 02:34.833 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% So, look, we just had a wave. 02:34.833 --> 02:35.833 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% People tend to jump the gun. 02:35.833 --> 02:36.833 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% I understand it. 02:36.833 --> 02:37.933 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% Everybody wants to be first. 02:37.933 --> 02:38.933 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% People are emotional. 02:38.933 --> 02:40.166 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% They're invested in the races. 02:40.166 --> 02:42.200 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% But we had a wave, a good Democratic wave. 02:42.200 --> 02:45.000 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG: Stu, a couple of those races you talked about, the Georgia governor's, Florida 02:45.000 --> 02:47.666 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% governor, still up in the air. 02:47.666 --> 02:52.633 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% The president saying that votes being discovered in Florida, being turned up. 02:54.300 --> 02:56.633 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% He really is -- seems to be challenging the legitimacy of this. 02:56.633 --> 02:58.300 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% What do you -- what do you make of that? 02:58.300 --> 03:00.266 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% STU ROTHENBERG: I think this is very consistent for the president. 03:00.266 --> 03:02.800 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% He really doesn't care about process. 03:02.800 --> 03:07.800 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% He's all into outcomes and how the outcomes affect him and how he plays in the outcome. 03:09.800 --> 03:12.033 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% I mean, many of us think the process is actually more important than the outcome. 03:12.033 --> 03:15.500 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% If you don't get the process right, you can't get the outcome right. 03:15.500 --> 03:18.466 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% So I think it's -- what you see with Donald Trump is what you get. 03:18.466 --> 03:23.466 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% This is very consistent all along the ways, with the Kavanaugh testimony, rigged elections. 03:24.933 --> 03:27.800 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% He's always undermining the system when it benefits him. 03:27.800 --> 03:29.733 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% And I expect him to continue that. 03:29.733 --> 03:31.666 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% TAMARA KEITH: Yes. 03:31.666 --> 03:35.933 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And the thing about the president is, the first election that he was probably really, 03:37.100 --> 03:40.400 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% truly invested in the result of was 2016. 03:40.400 --> 03:45.400 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And that election ended at the end of the night -- or very early the next morning. 03:46.966 --> 03:50.533 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% And this election is -- did not end. 03:50.533 --> 03:55.533 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% There are 435 House races and 35 Senate races and all of these governor's races. 03:57.166 --> 04:00.966 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% And the minutiae of the election process is not pretty all the time. 04:02.166 --> 04:04.466 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Close elections get a little bit messy. 04:04.466 --> 04:08.400 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% The process has a lot of technicalities. 04:08.400 --> 04:13.400 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And things that, if you haven't been paying close attention, come off as weird or suspicious, 04:14.100 --> 04:15.366 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% but aren't. 04:15.366 --> 04:18.000 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% STU ROTHENBERG: I just want to add one thing. 04:18.000 --> 04:21.800 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% The more we have mail elections, mail balloting, absentee ballots and the like, the more complicated 04:21.800 --> 04:24.233 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% this counting process is going to be. 04:24.233 --> 04:27.833 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% I remember somebody tweeted the other -- the other day, maybe the president needs to understand 04:27.833 --> 04:29.533 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% how the mail works. 04:29.533 --> 04:30.900 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% It's a slow process. 04:30.900 --> 04:32.166 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% Letters come in. 04:32.166 --> 04:33.566 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% The votes come in, and you got to count them. 04:33.566 --> 04:35.633 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% That's the way it is. 04:35.633 --> 04:37.633 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% TAMARA KEITH: And you have to match the signatures on the absentee ballots. 04:37.633 --> 04:40.066 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG: Tam, we heard representative-elect Spanberger talk about the new voices coming 04:40.066 --> 04:41.700 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% into the House. 04:41.700 --> 04:45.533 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% The leadership, though -- the new voices at the lowest levels. 04:45.533 --> 04:50.533 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% At the top levels, the leadership team that appears to be headed to remain has been there 04:50.533 --> 04:52.000 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% for about a decade. 04:52.000 --> 04:55.933 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% They're, the three top leaders, in their late 70s. 04:55.933 --> 05:00.366 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Is this going to be a challenge for the Democrats, this public face of the party as this -- as 05:00.366 --> 05:02.500 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% we approach 2020? 05:02.500 --> 05:06.666 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% TAMARA KEITH: Certainly, if the leadership stays exactly the way it is, I can picture 05:08.666 --> 05:13.533 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% the RNC e-mails that are probably headed to my inbox already talking about the leadership 05:15.533 --> 05:19.200 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% not reflecting the broader American public, and also the RNC e-mails saying, what about 05:21.633 --> 05:26.433 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% all those Democrats who said they weren't going to vote for Pelosi, and now they do? 05:26.433 --> 05:31.433 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% One argument that you been hearing a lot in the last 48 hours or so is, you can't replace 05:32.200 --> 05:34.566 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% something with nothing. 05:34.566 --> 05:39.566 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And until someone steps forward for the Democrats to challenge Pelosi, this sort of nascent 05:41.600 --> 05:44.200 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% effort that is out there with members trying to put together a movement, it's pretty hard 05:44.200 --> 05:45.966 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% if the movement doesn't have a leader. 05:45.966 --> 05:47.200 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% JOHN YANG: Stu? 05:47.200 --> 05:49.233 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% STU ROTHENBERG: Well, no, I agree. 05:49.233 --> 05:53.333 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% I think -- I think the younger Democrats and more recently elected Democrats need a voice. 05:54.466 --> 05:55.733 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% But let's remember, the speaker is a woman. 05:55.733 --> 05:57.366 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% Clyburn is an African-American. 05:57.366 --> 06:01.866 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% So, this is a party that has tried to be more diverse and welcoming. 06:04.433 --> 06:08.000 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% But there's no question that 18-to-29-year-olds, 18-to-35-year-olds, they would be more comfortable 06:10.666 --> 06:13.566 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% seeing, I think, some younger members. 06:13.566 --> 06:16.333 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% It doesn't have to even be in the form of leadership, John. 06:16.333 --> 06:21.333 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% These are people who speak for the party and are involved in TV interviews and things like 06:22.600 --> 06:24.666 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% that. 06:24.666 --> 06:27.733 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% I think that would be helpful for Democrats, because the leadership should in many ways 06:27.733 --> 06:29.133 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% reflect the party. 06:29.133 --> 06:31.933 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% But, also, they should reflect the country, actually. 06:31.933 --> 06:36.033 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% TAMARA KEITH: And beyond the top three, Democrats have a lot of leadership positions in the 06:36.033 --> 06:38.100 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% House. 06:38.100 --> 06:42.166 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% So, Nancy Pelosi has said that she sees herself as a transitional speaker. 06:44.033 --> 06:47.500 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% They have had farm team issues, where the people who were in the lower ranks of the 06:47.500 --> 06:52.366 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% leadership ended up leaving, like Xavier Becerra, who went to become attorney general of California. 06:52.366 --> 06:55.533 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% So there's something for Democrats to figure out. 06:55.533 --> 06:58.333 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% JOHN YANG: Tamara Keith, Stu Rothenberg, thank you very much. 06:58.333 --> 06:58.833 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% STU ROTHENBERG: Thanks, John.