Tighter, just 13,000 votes. Well have more on what it all means politically. While it may take at least a few more days before the dust completely settles from this weeks midterm, the results were largely as expected. The most obvious change being that democrats will begin the coming year with a once in a generation House Majority and some key gains at the state and local lechlvels. The real shift is how progressive messages are now starting to work in the reddest states. Ill talk with fellow radio host charlamagne about the black communitys reaction to the wins, scandals, which is already looking at its next fight. This one over what former attorney Jeff Sessions ouster means for the russia probe, which acting attorney general Matt Whitaker says he will not recuse himself despite past criticisms of that escalating investigation. Does the shakeup mean that its days are numbered, and can democrats now in charge of oversight protect special counsel robert mueller. Joining me now New York TimesEditorial Board member mara gay, Fordham UniversityPolitical Science professor and author Christina Greer and republican strategist michael steele. Let me start with you, myra. Weve seen the biggest shift toward a democratic majority since 1974, watergate. What does this really mean politically . Has the nation moved politically . Is it the personality and behavior of President Trump . What do you think is motivated this historic shift. I do see this as a repudiation of President Trump. Its a referendum on him. What were seeing is the house moving more toward the vision of the country shared by a majority of americans, whereas the senate, which is not done by population, is kind of stuck in the past. Its a pretty frustrating reality. I think thats why a lot of democratic voters woke up wednesday saying to themselves how could so Many Americans still support President Trump. So you are seeing this split screen we have in this country, two visions for america. One represented in the house. The house looks more and more like the rest of urban and suburban america. We have women, we have people of color, we have openly gay, openly lesbian, native american. Its incredibly encouraging. Muslim. Muslim, absolutely. The senate is a little behind. I think that is going to create mayor and more conflict as this unfolds. Now, michael, was it a mistake for President Trump to make himself the center of the republican message. He actually started saying the vote for the republican is a vote for me. Was that a mistake . This was a tale of two midterms. In the senate races which were dominated by Senate Democrats running in very red, very rural states where the president is still very, very popular, his support was very helpful. Thats why you saw an expended republican majority in the senate. However, because of his personal scandals and harsh tone and policies, he was increasingly unpopular among suburban voters, particularly College Educated women. That was toxic for house republicans. As for whether it was a smart political strategy for him to make himself the center of the campaign, i dont think it was a matter of political strategy, he simply cant help himself. That we agree. Let me push it a little before going to professor greer. The fact is that we have arizona, florida, and a runoff in mississippi. So we dont know that they are going to end up gaining. They will have control. But if the democrats sweep these three, its going to be more narrow than saying that he added to the senate. They will add more narrowly if these races dont go well for republicans. Well see as the process plays out whether that turns out to be the case. In either case no matter what happens with that, were going to have a republican majority in the senate, a democratic majority in the house and an entirely new battleground here in washington. Now, professor greer, i was in florida last sunday the amendment and there was tremendous turnout. Then when i heard about there may be a recount and now we do have a recount officially, i started having shudders. I remember 18 years ago i was in florida and the hanging chads and all of that. Not to be as mara said, stuck in the past, but i cant help as i do to sleep at night, are we going to have deja vu. Or is this foreshadowing of 2020, instead of calling real elections into question, saying this is voter fraud, which it isnt. We live in a free society, we should count the vote. Im surprised gillum conceded so quickly. The last three elections are within 1 percentage point. We should count every ballot, provisional, absentee, our soldiers who were voting out of the country. Also wanted to go back to something michael said. We keep using suburban for white women. If we say white women we can say white women. As ucla talks about a lot of white women moving to the suburbs. Its not what it used to be. Not what it used to be. Metropolis not what it used to be. A little word mara taught me called gentrification. Its a whole different world out there now. Indeed. When we look at the composition of how the house and senate turn out, enormous turnout. Even though republicans by and large are not democrats are registered more for the most part and republicans tend to turn out more. We know in 2020 democrats will be prepared, i dont know who our candidate will be but there will be a real desire to try and turn Certain Senate seats but also the presidency. Mara, one of the things i noticed is that many of the democrats that won were not to the far left. They were progressive. Many of them medicaid for all and other things but they were not to the far left. Does this give us a profile of where the Democratic Party is going or will there with an inner fight in the Democratic Party on direction as we saw with clinton, Bernie Sanders in 2016. There will be a fight among the democrats because they cant quite seem to get a unified message and that frustrates a lot of folks. I think beyond the actual policy difference what we saw is the people who are most successful from ontario delgado, outer suburbs of new york, first time black candidate, very impressive, won in a 9095 white district. Right. In the catskill and Hudson Valley region against a conservative republican who ran a racebaiting campaign. With impressive numbers. Impressive numbers. We saw that there. We also saw beto orourke, stacey abrams, gillum, all three of them, those are impressive numbers. In new york city where trump is from the republican there lost. What they all have in common is actually an ability to build coalitions across racial lines, an ability to actually talk about what democrats stand for. For example, leading, i would say, with health care. With unions, with jobs. Talking about the bread and butter issues that all Americans Care about that are very successful, that democrats are very successful with. They know how to talk about those issues with everyone. Thats where the party needs to go. Fall on the side of kind of didnt get there. There was a lot of report, michael, the night of the election and the morning after that the blue we have didnt happen. I think those that were drowned know that a blue wave did happen. In fact, you had the biggest turnover in the house since watergate. I know the president is entertainer in chief, but how do you spin that . They lost 30 to 35 seats in the house. That has not happened since 1974. Yeah, there are two ways to look at that that people wound up feeling disappointed about a historic victory. The first the last two republican pickups of the house 1954 was 20 seats and 2010 was 50 seats. This looks small compared to those wave elections relatively recently. Also frankly washington democrats let the expectation game get out of control. Lights on certain races. Christina, the fact is that whether or not, you know, michael says two ways to look at it. Yeah, it is, whether youre drowning or whether youre trying to gulp for water on the blue wave. We know the president knew a wave happened. The next day he fires Jeff Sessions to distract us from the conversation. One of the most bizarre press conferences in president ial history. I do want to back up to something mara said. We need to look at women of color going to washington, d. C. They are going despite the party. Look at cortez oath. One of the pillars. Right behind nancy pelosi, priestly. She did this on her own. Cbc endorsed her opponent. We have women coming in, new freshman coming in, i also want to have a conversation about what leadership looks like purchase and what the party looks like. The panel is back with us a little bit later. Up next, additional returns from the midterms give the democrats their biggest house gains in 44 years. So why are they not happy . Be right back. Are they not hap . Be right back. It was here. I couldnt catch my breath. It was the last song of the night. It felt like my heart was skipping beats. They said i had afib. Whats afib . I knew that meant i was at a greater risk of stroke. I needed answers. My doctor and i chose xarelto® to help keep me protected from a stroke. Oncedaily xarelto®, a latestgeneration blood thinner significantly lowers the risk of stroke in people with afib not caused by a heart valve problem. Warfarin interferes with at least 6 of your bodys natural bloodclotting factors. Xarelto® is selective, targeting just one critical factor. For afib patients well managed on warfarin, there is limited information on how xarelto® compares in reducing the risk of stroke. Dont stop taking xarelto® without talking to your doctor, as this may increase your risk of stroke. While taking, you may bruise more easily, or take longer for bleeding to stop. Xarelto® can cause serious, and in rare cases, fatal bleeding. It may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. Get help right away for unexpected bleeding or unusual bruising. Do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. Before starting, tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures and any kidney or liver problems. Learn all you can to help protect yourself from a stroke. Talk to your doctor about xarelto®. The 2018 midterms are far from over with several key races still under way. But either way you la at it, democrats won big on tuesday. They gained back control of the house and are on track to pick up between 35 to 40 seats. Women were the driving force. So far a record breaking 121 women will serve in the next congress. So with all the history made, what are the lessons from this election and what do the midterms predict about 2020. Joining me now is president ial historian and Pulitzer Prize winning author of leadership in Turbulent TimesDoris Kearns Goodwin and editor and publisher of cook political report, charlie cook. Let me go to you first, charlie. What just in terms of raw data, nobody does it better than you, what did we really see in terms of the political patterns that the vote on tuesday showed us where the nation is politically in terms of active voters . You know, coming out of 2016, we had a split country, a split decision, popular vote going one way, Electoral College going the other way. We kind of saw that again this time. The senate with republicans having a pretty good night, we have to wait and see arizona and florida and possibly mississippi. But we saw a split decision where the house of representatives, governors, legislatures went blue for democrats and senate went pretty good, awfully good for republicans. Again, a split decision. These Midterm Elections, they are not good predictors of the next president ial election, but some of the states where democrats had problem in 2016, like michigan, like wisconsin, like pennsylvania suggest that maybe some of the problems democrats had in 2016 arent quite as big as 2018. Now, doris, i find myself on sundays going to the pulpit and my bible and leadership in Turbulent Times. You break down some things i could really preach about. Tell us in the big picture where we are in terms of the historic patterns that are being made at this point. 100 years from now, what will they say about this point in the era of Donald Trumps presidency and in the era of completing the second decade of the 21st century. What does the big picture look like on american politics . I wish i were 100 years older and i could actually tell you what it would be. I think the most important thing that will come out of this is the record breaking number of women that have come into office. Its a long time in coming. We thought twice before we had the year of the women, i think this time theres a real movement. Leadership is always a twoway street. Its never just who is in power but whether the citizens are awakened. Everything thats really mattered has been from a movement, antislavery, civil rights, womens movement, not only are women coming in but from different places, teachers, doctors. They had never been in public life before and they wanted to be part of this process. We have an infrastructure for women we didnt have before. Weve got many more donors. A list larger than before. Training women and having boot camps for women. I think its a permanent thing. The more women in library, commissioners, city council that can be role models for other women. More women come in, Research Shows more collaborative. Research shows they go over the party line. Research shows they care about issues that are forefront right now like health care. I dont think its just me as a woman speaking, i really do think its the fundamental thing some male historian will talk about 100 years from now. Now when we look at this shift, and being led by many women who are not ideologues, people necessarily the ones out leading the movement, but they have been brought in and empowered by the movement and awakened by the movement, how will that shift american politics as we go forward, in your opinion . What would be your prediction . Doris . My hope is it will bring us back to some sort of more bipartisanship. Women in the house and senate over time have crossed party lines. Its time everybody in the country wants us to be able to solve problem. Women have solve problems at local levels. Hopefully when they get there they will solve problems at the washington level. I think theres a certain sense obviously this was a referendum on President Trump. More than two out of three people were thinking about him when they came into that election. The one thing you would hope he would take out of this election was to be chastened somehow and reach over to the other side of the party line. It doesnt seem thats whats happening now. Its got to be the people inside the congress thats going to think about a new way of doing things. Weve been at war in the congress for nearly four decades. They dont know how to make peace anymore. Thats why a whole infusion of new people coming in i think could bring fresh energy. More young people voted than voted in a long period of time. All that says something good in the country. If we can awaken our citizenry we can get our problems solved. Without it nothing can happen. Charlie, does your data show there is a desire to move towards a unified and civil kind of politics or are we as polarized as people see the projection from this president , when he plays to this base, whatever the base is, erosion in this base or constant us against them mentality in american politics that donald trump frankly has played very well. The way i learned politics, politics is about addition, not subtraction or division. In that sense President Trump has not practiced politics of addition, trying to build on his coalition. If i could put in a plug, though, for doriss book, i read it within a week after it came o out, it was not just enjoyable but inspirational. I think people really should read it. To me the other thing coming out of this, it wasnt just women as candidates, it was women as donors and women voting. I think there was some experience coming out of 2016 where you just had women turbo charged at every level. I do think it really changed politics this year in the on coming years. Doris, i agree with his assessment. I read it on a plane and i refused to get onout of my seat until i finished the chapter i was on. Are you hopeful . Guarded . Where do you see the country going . As i say, i think one of the things Abraham Lincoln said with public sentiment anything is possible. Without it, nothing is possible. Until citizens were awakened to whats going on in the country, the lack of leadership in the washington, i wasnt hopeful. Weve come through worse times before. Think about it, were not in the middle of a civil war, not a depression, not world war ii. In each one of those cases we not only had the right leader in place but we had citizens shoring up the leader and bringing forth the possibility. So if this is an awakening of the citizens, not just women but young people and citizens and more people voting long lines than ever before in a midterm, thats terrific hope for the country. If the citizens are there, as fdr said, if the citizens are told what should be done, and they believe and understand where we should go by leaders and by their actions, you can never bet against america. So thats my hope. We needed make hope in these Turbulent Times as you see. Thank you Doris Kearns Goodwin and charlie cook. Thank you. Up next, my weekly memo to President Trump. This time my advice on how to handle the media in a more president ial way. And next week, ill be in washington, d. C. , for the annual National Action networks legislative and policy conference. We call it from demonstration to legislation. This tuesday and wednesday