Democrats are on the cusp of having real power in the federal government once again. Tonight, why democrats won and what they plan to do with that newfound power. We start with two newly reelected democratic senators, both of whom are seriously considering a president ial run in 2020. First up, ohios Sherrod Brown on how he was able to keep his seat in a state trump won two years ago by more than eight points. I think its pretty simple. I mean, its all on whose side youre on. If you love your country you might for people who make it work, whether you punch a clock or whether you swipe a badge or work for tips or work on a salary, whether youre raising kids or caring for an aging parent. To me its all about the dignity of work, about whose side youre on and do you fight for workers . I dont look at white workers and black workers and latino workers, i look for workers, and look out for workers, and i think that shows in election time its the way you should govern and the way you should run for office. You know, you were richard cord rayray, who you endorsed, hes a similar populist politics, vision of politics as you. Was not able to pull it out against mike dewine. Do you have thoughts about that . It is a tough state for democrats. It is a tough state. Its moving weve won a total of two statewide elections in the last decade. These two races for the senate in 12 and 18. I think its a you know, we talked about republican interest groups. We talked about made the contrast on health care and taxes that talked about patriot corporation, active Companies Pay decent wages and provide good benefits and make their products in the United States. They get a lower tax rate. We talked about the corporate free loader act. If youre a Large Company and you pay you pay 8 or 10 or 12 an hour and your workers rely on medicaid and rely on housing vouchers and earned income tax credit and food stamps then you pay a high you pay a corporate free loader fee. You pay a higher rate. And that i think that voters in the end think youre on their side because i am on those kinds of issues. I think that matters. You know, yours was a state where donald trump came to rally for jim ranacey, the congressman opposing you and obviously hes got a specific tactic here, theres a lot of talk about the hon duran Central American migrants, did you see it work . I think it did. I think that voters turned out in huge numbers around ohio and the democratic side particularly in the urban areas, huge numbers, motivated by 18 months of a very divisive president who engaged in racist demagogic rhetoric, trying to divide people. Hes been this faux populism, fake populism where but populists, you know, real populism is not racist. Its not anti semitic, its not pushing people down so others can do well, its not turning people against each other. Populism is about work and its about its about those who work hard and play by the rules ought to be able to get ahead. Those whove worked their whole lives ought to have a secure retirement or medicare and Social Security, in spite of the efforts in washington to cut those programs or raise the eligibility age, or they will be there, its a covenant between the public and their government. You have said, i think connie schultz, your wife, had said you guys are thinking about your possibility of running for president in 2020. Are you thinking about . We werent much before the election. People think people from ohio are progressives. As you know, chris, i didnt as a kid dream of being president. I dreamed about playing center field for the cleveland indians. Ive finally given up on that dream. Weve heard an overwhelming number of people whove said i should consider it, in large part because of our message and i think my long Time Commitment to the dignity of work. I think if you stand for workers, it means never compromising onsive righ civil womens rights, lgbt rights, wall street or the gun lobby or donald trump. Thats, i think, why people in large numbers across the country have begun to approach me about it. Its interesting because, yeah, you said two statewide races, your 2012 race, your 2018 race, its a state thats trended in the republican direction, people think it will be harder and harder to win, but do you want to be president of the United States . Well, i dont know yet. I dont know if i have the i mean a lot of my colleagues have thought about wanting to be president for a long time. I really havent until this election. I mean, people have asked me. Ive thought a little bit about it but its not been a lifelong dream and connie and i and emily and elizabeth and caitlin and andy have to sit down and figure out what we want to do. Im not committed to do it because were having the conversation now. Im worried about my country, worried about long time young federal judges he puts on the bench, im worried longterm on the climate change, im worried about the hate speech coming out of the white house. And thats given license for people to engage in racist or worse racist rhetoric or worse or anti smetemitic rhetoric or worse. I was at a meeting with a jewish group today in cleveland and talking to them about the security they now theyve always had good security in most of their synagogues in cleveland. Now theyre stepping it up, at great expense, because they think they need to. I dont put that all at the feet of donald trump but ive called at him, i spoke to the Hebrew Immigration Aid Society right after pittsburgh, a Columbus Group right after the pittsburgh shooting. And, you know, theyre concerned about all this and we all called on the president to try to heal and unify. I dont blame him for this stuff but he has made he has emboldened far too many people to do things that are just awful. All right, senator Sherrod Brown, entering his third term as a United States senator from ohio. And joining me gnaw, senator kristen gill brand, a new book out called bold brave. Its a childrens book. Excited to give it to my daughter. You said this morning, earlier today, thinking about the question of running for president. Im always curious, what does that mean in real terms . What are you thinking about . Whats going through your mind . To me its really a moral question and i do believe that i believe in right versus wrong. Unfortunately up until this election i really believe that wrong was winning. As i traveled the state, as i traveled the country, i really saw the response and the effect of all the hate that donald trump has put into this country over the last two years. And its so disturbing. And its really called me personally to fight as hard as i possibly can to restore that moral compass. Because the truth is, this country was founded on really core principles, that we care about one another, that we believe in the golden rule, that you should fight for other peoples kids as hard as you fight for your own, thats been crumbling and lost under this presidency. So ive been thinking about it, and i am going to reflect on whether this is something that i should do, because i feel like all of us have to decide what were going to do to restore whats been lost. And i just have to think where i can do that best from. So what is that calculation . Theres a bunch of theres a moral question and theres a bunch of tactical questions, a bunch of organizational questions. Whats the sort of yes no threshold . So, for me, its whether this is what i need to be doing. Its sort of, you know, are you prepared as a you know at a time such as this to do something thats very hard and difficult . Regardless of whether you will win, regardless of whether its easy. But youre doing it because out of that moral conviction. And so for me the the sole thing i have to consider, that i have to think long and hard about, is whether this is what im called to do. And otherwise i just you know, i will continue to fight as hard as i can for new yorkers and be a voice for them in washington and fight for the middle class families that are desperate and need health care as a right and all the other issues that are pressing on families in my state. Its interesting so you talked about this moral deck adation of this two years in the presidency. Theres sort of different ways of viewing both his presidency and the defining issue of 2020. One is, this is a this president , this individual represents something particularly insidious for america, for american politics. And the other, which was kind of the way that a lot of people ran in this midterm, was running against basically like the republican agenda, like it was like theyre running against paul ryan, even though donald trump was at the top of the ticket. What do you think of those two avenues . But its also about what youre for. So if you believe in this moral compass, if you believe in this core value that we should care about one another, that we are a brothers keeper, that you should treat others the way you want to be treated, thats why we fight for health care as a right, and not a privilege. Its why we want good Early Childhood education for every child, no matter which block they grow up on or universal prek, why anybody who wants to be working fulltime to have that training, whatever the training is to get a fulltime job to earn their way into the middle class. Constitutional democracy is meant that anyone should be able to reach the american dream, life, liberty, pursuit of hapness for all. Thats why the moral frame is so important, everything youre fighting for, your vision for what america should look like is so different. The one issue, chris thats so encompassing you have to get the money out of politics. You cant achieve these basic rights and protections until you take on the Drug Companies, you cant get to universal health care thats affordable unless you take on the Drug Companies and the insurance companies, you cant build the kind of support that people need until you take on the special interests. The best thing we could do is focus on getting money out of politics, having publicly funded elections, restoring Voting Rights. Were seeing whats happening in georgia, whats happening in florida, whats happening across this country where our right to vote is being fundamentally undermined. Theres talk about the House Democrats bringing that up as a first bill, some sort of strengthening the Voting Rights act. What do you think of that . Well, they should. We should have automatic voting. We should be able to have same day registration, early voting, mail in a ballot no matter what at any time. New york is terrible. Terrible, terrible. I say as a new york voter. And we need proper redistricting. In 2020 you need to have nonpartisan redistricting by commission, not by, you know, governors and legislatures who all decide Different Things and almost always its still political. Thats wrong. So we need to restore our democracy to the people. Its about what this democracy is supposed to stand for and with all the attacks on Voting Rights, its not one person, one vote. With all the attacks on money and politics, people with money have an outsized influence, special interests. It never ends. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Thanks for joining us. Thank you. Up next, one of the brightest stars of the new democratic congress, new yorks alexandria of case owe cor at the scene on what shes bringing to washington. A wealth of opportunities. Thats the clarity you get from fidelity wealth management. Straightforward advice, tailored recommendations, taxefficient investing strategies, and a dedicated advisor to help you grow and protect your wealth. Fidelity wealth management. About that and much, much more. All right, here we go. Congressional life, getting off to a glamorous start. See ya. What happens when you actually check in to orientation in you get a swag bag. Look at that. Isnt that so cute . So i jokingly call it a swag bag. But what we actually need as elected officials is very high security data devices. So thats whats inside this bag, a new tablet and a new phone. Guys, there are secret underground tunnels between all of these government buildings. Theres no special sauce to it. Youve just got to be good at getting things done. So i found this fascinating myself. What is your sort of thinking about this sort of like bringing your constituents in . You know, i think its so important that we humanize our government. Ive kind of spoken about this before, about making it real. A lot of times well tune in to cable news or watch whats going on on tv and all were reading about is bills and all were reading about is legislation or the political dynamics. But i think its really important that when we actually show people that government is a real thing, that it is something that you can be a part of. Its a process that we can transition into. It really kind of opens up the window to show that anyone can serve. Is that the sort of idea here . If you can work a dorm washing machine yeah, exactly. I didnt go into it with some grand strategy. Right, yeah. But i think that this is really the value that ive been hearing from a lot of people to be getting from this. So one of the sort of big issues right now is this leadership fight. There are 16 House Democrats who signed a letter saying the time has come for new leadership, saying they wont vote for nancy pelosi, if ben mcadams wins in utah, theyre one vote short of blocking her. Where are you and how do you read this fight . For me when i was reading this letter that was kind of a release today, my main concern was that there is no vision, there is no common value, there is no goal that is really articulated in this letter aside from we need to change. And for me what is that says is, you know, i do think that we got sent to congress on a mandate to change you government works, to change what government even looks like. But if we are not on the same page about changing the systems and the values and how were going to adapt as a party for the future, then what is the point of just changing our Party Leadership just for the sake of it . What im hearing from you is that you dont feel like theres an ideological or substantive agenda driven core of this objection . No. I mean, if anything i think that what it does is that it creates a window where we could potentially get more conservative leadership. When you actually look at the signatories, it is not necessarily reflective of the diversity of the party. We have about 16 signatories, 14 of them are male. There are very few people of color in the caucus. Theres very few ideological diversity. Its not like there are progressives sign ing on. Its not like you have a broad based coalition. So i find it you know, im not totally bought into the concept. You just as democrats, worked with your Campaign Early on, you and they announced your plans to continue the process of primarying incumbent democrats. How you got to congress. I wonder how that how does that color the relationships you have with the incumbents there . I think whats important to articulate what justice democrats is about is really, its not their mission isnt were going to primary democrats. Their mission is we are going to support working class canada tats to run in Midterm Elections. And so they have supported and endorsed candidates in red to blues, in open primaries, and but they do not shy away from actual primaries in blue races either. And so, you know, im not sure if it really that i think so much because incumbent democrats support and endorse against other incumbents all the time. Thats what incumbency is, being part of the club. You have people that also support other primary challengers. You had dan lipinski, Kirsten Gillibrand that came in and said we need change in this community. I dont think its anything too out of too i dont think its a departure from precedent at all. Right. But i also think that we need to realize that, at least for me and what i tell my community is that we dont once we get elected to congress we dont own these seats, we rent them from our communities and we have to make our case every single time. Im saying this to you as an incumbent to be. Yeah. And i realize that that means i hold myself to that standard as well. But i think it makes our democracy healthy. Follow up on that. A lot of what a Congressional Office does, obviously, in a district is Social Security disability payment got held up in some logistical problem and im calling up my member of congress to help me out, my understanding you dont have that much experience with that. Well, i i know youve worked in kennedys office. How are you thinking ability setting that part of this operation up . Yeah, and dwal the constituent services was what i did in the late senator kennedys office. Thats where i learned how important it was for us to have really robust constituent services. That is the real interaction that an everyday person has with their elected official. They say, hey, my medicare isnt working out. My visa application for my fiance is getting blocked, what can you do . So cutting through that red tape of government bureaucracy in order to serve our constituents with a huge service we can have and its something were really looking forward to building out in an innovative way. Your district i think includes or adjacent to the new proposed Amazon Headquarters in long island city. Yes, its adjacent. Youve been quite outspoken against it. Do you think you can put together a Political Coalition to block it . Well, you know, for me its not just about me governing top down. The reason that i spoke out on this issue to begin with is because organizers and residents of my community were busting down our door saying you need to Say Something about this because we are threatened with homelessness. Were threatened with rising rents. We have seen this happen in San Francisco and seattle. Weve seen it with foxconn in the midwest as well. Right. And so i because i did not accept any corporate lobbyist contribut