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its corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now "bbc world news." >> top republicans call on president obama to change course after the midterm elections. >> we have come to take our government back. >> does this mean stalemate for america? >> what the american do not -- people to not want from us, especially in washington, is to spend the next two years fighting the same battles of the previous two. >> half a trillion dollars is used to bolster the american economy. the deadliest day since may, at least 64 dead and more than 200 wounded in iraq. in the art museums in london, the work of the extraordinary photographer. hello and welcome to our viewers on pbs and around the globe. president obama told the white house that he took full responsibility for the democrats dropping in the midterm election. his party lost that the 60 seats in the house of representatives handing power to the republicans although that did not extend to the senate. we have been following today's events in washington. >> compare the president that we saw today, contrite, downbeat, with the man who promised some much open change two years ago. barack obama confessed that he made mistakes and following the election, as the public had no confidence in his policy choices. he said that he is able to work with republicans for the rest of his term but will they want to work with him? >> republicans win big all across the country. >> we have come to take our government back. >> disaster for democrats and a republican rebirth. it was a spectacular night for chiapas' edition party which captured governors' mansions and congressional seats across the nation. -- it was a spectacular night for the opposition party. at midnight, barack obama called his opponents offering congratulations and commitment to reach defining ground. a short while ago, he gave his first public reaction. >> where the last two years we have made progress but clearly too many americans have not felt that progress and they told us that yesterday. as president, i take responsibility for that. yesterday also told us that no one party will be able to dictate where we go from here. >> power in america is now divided between the democratic president here in the white house and his republican opponents here in congress. both play a role in making laws. they have to work together. >> republicans have made a habit of opposing this president with health care and government spending and global issues such as climate change, arms control. >> i have spent my whole life chasing the american dream. >> in 53, their leader showed a softer side. he also spelled out his party's demands. >> the president will find the voice of the american peeper. they are checking washington's power and leading the drive towards a smaller and more accountable government here in washington, d.c. >> did republican winners including canada's favored by the tea party movement, a coalition of grass-roots conservatives. it's anti government movement was rejected in nevada. the voters reflected on the gamble of divided government. >> people were awaking to displeasure and kicking out people that may or may not have been responsible. >> it is gotten to where they don't listen to the people any more. they need to listen to the people. >> america has been here many times. in 1994, bill clinton's democrats took in midterm mauling but he came back to win another election. barack obama hopes that history will repeat itself. >> joining me now is a former speechwriter for president reagan and he is in the studio with me. thank you for joining us on "a bbc news." let's start with the present that we saw today. he is a world away from the optimistic idealism of hope and change that we sought two years ago. >> yes, at the same time as we look at his demeanor and verses president clinton in 1994 after the democrats lost, president clinton looked a very very emotionally shaken. i thought that president obama was more in command and -- you did not sense that he felt that his presidency had been undermined. yes, it is a tough time for any president or politician to have a big loss like this, nevertheless i think that he handled it pretty well. >> you run a pr agency and some democrats, bill clinton being one of them, are criticizing the president for not winning the p r war over the policy. health care, for instance. millions of americans have coverage. there is no nonsense about getting turned away for pre- existing conditions. the fact that 95% of working americans have actually had a tax cut. has he lost the p r war? >> let me give you an example. he gave more speeches in favor of health care and and i believe any president has ever given for any piece of legislation. he campaigned for unceasingly for a number of months. the more he campaigned, the less popular it became. the more the details came out, the more of that and popularity has settled then and become a permanent feature. -- the more that unpopularity has settled in. the more the people know about it, the more they are against it. he does not have a pr problem, he has a substance problem. the difficulty and danger for the white house is that they will buy the line, the criticism that this is simply pr. they will not address the underlying question of substance. >> there's a lot of talk about finding common ground with the republican leadership and the republican leadership are saying that they can find common ground. this city is so polarized that they will have difficulty finding common ground. we know that the president does not like the house leadership. this is a bit of a mess. >> the president has not done a good job rather than the senior leadership of his own party. underneath the surface, there is a certain amount of grumbling, there has been among the democratic members as well as republicans about being ignored by the white house. this has been more or less a your way or the highway approach. that does not extend to speaker pelosi or former speaker pelosi or the majority leader read but this has extended beyond farther. they have a broader congressional relations task before them. that extends to the republican leadership. in a "a new york times," interview, the new republican majority leader was asked to fight the "new york times," how often have you been in the speaker's office. he says that he had never been invited except for photo opportunities. that is the kind of freezing out that will stop now. that has left a bad relations that extends to the white house. the white house just tested to their basic congressional relations. -- just past to do their basic congressional relations. >> bombings in baghdad have killed 64 people and injured many others. this evokes memories of the bloody sectarian war fought between the shi'ite militias in 2006. >> after the bloodbath in the christian church on sunday, and now it was the turn of muslims to bear the brunt of the violence. most of the bombs were sent off in crowded areas and they were heavily populated by shiite. they found themselves the victims of random explosions with the aim of causing as many casualties as possible. this is the sectarian provocation that worked in 2006 creating a cycle of carnage between the shiite and sunni that the country to the verge of civil war. so far, there has not been such a reaction. a day after the christians buried their dead, now the shiites were doing the same. with the same grief and the same anger. the hospitals swamped with another flood of injured, are around 300 from his latest bonds. among them, this boy who was in his father's car that was hit. >> a large piece of shrapnel tore off the top of the skull. they managed to save his life. they told me they should take him abroad and to have a bone graft. >> the violence comes at a critical time in the iraqi policy. this is politicized. the prime minister is blamed by his rivals for not controlling the violence. his circles accuse them of encouraging it to block the government that he now heads. the political struggle should be resolved by monday when parliament holds their first full session since the march elections. people are keeping their fingers crossed. they hope that the climax of political tensions will not bring more violence like this. >> 80's attempts to recover from the earthquake faces a double setback. -- haiti's attempts to recover from the earthquake. there is now an outbreak of cholera that has deepened. 105 people have died since saturday. almost 2000 people have been hospitalized. there is a 40% surge in new cases. haiti is forced to evacuate tens of thousands of people. the u.s. federal reserve has announced a multibillion-dollar plan to stimulate the economy. there's $600 billion into the economy by the middle of next year. the fed hopes that they will drive down interest rates and encourage more lending and more consumer spending. scientists have confirmed that a body examined in bucharest is that of the former dictator. his eldest son requested the tests he and his wife were in a revolution in 1999. -- was fitted with an experimental chip behind his retina in germany. some blind people can now make out of six using their own eyes as a result of this technology. google has been found guilty of violating privacy laws in the u.k. there was a significant breach of the u.k. data protection laws. the commissioner has stopped short of filing the complaint but this will be discussed with the press minister. coming up, the lessons that barack obama can learn from similar setbacks in the past. an exhibition opens in london this week that highlights the sinking of the titanic. >> two miles down on the atlantic seabed, one of the world's most famous shipwrecks. more than 1500 died when the great liner that they said was unsinkable hit an iceberg. discovered in 1985, the wreck of titanic has been slowly giving up proceedings ever since. on show in london, parts of the ship itself. there are also personal possessions from the passengers such issues, musical instruments, hats, and a handwritten score of a piece of music. it seems astonishing that items like this survived. >> the only reason they survive is that they were inside of leather bags and for some reasons, the microorganisms were not interested in the leather so they did not penetrate or destroy the fabric. >> a first-class ticket cost 8 pounds and got you a bond in a cabin like this. first-class passengers travelled in luxury. this was a phenomenal man-made object in the day. the offices in new york were besieged by friends and families seeking news. when visitors arrived at the exhibition, they're given a boarding pass with the name of a real passenger on the back. this one is for a passenger from england traveling to idaho with his wife. at the end of the exhibition, you can find out if your passengers lived or died. in this case, his wife and daughter survived. >> this is world news today from the bbc. the main headlines this hour. president obama has conceded that his party's dramatic losses show that people were deeply frustrated about the economy and jobs. the u.s. federal reserve has announced a $600 billion plan to help safeguard the recovery. let's return now to that top story, the midterms in the u.s. which has seen the republicans take back the house of representatives. the vote was seen as a referendum on president obama. the shift in power will hinder his domestic agenda. he's not the first to be in this predicament. >> president ronald reagan celebrating getting elected for a second term in 1984. >> tonight is the end of nothing, this is the beginning of everything. >> two years earlier, that victory looked far from certain. his popularity has plummeted and his approval rating set at 42%, less than what obama has now. then in the midterms, the democrats don't back into the house. yet, the republican president reached out to them and the economy came roaring back to health. he was swept to a second term with 50% of the popular vote. in 1994, bill clinton seemed destined become a one-term president. the democrats lost 52 house seats, nine senate seats, and 10 governorships. two years later, he was able to win the white house. the question is, what can president obama do now to save his presidency and what can he learned from reagan and clinton in order to secure a second term in 2012? >> i have been speaking to the editor of slate.com and i asked him if he thought that president obama could bounce back from this. bill clinton is the relevant comparison. he suffered an even bigger setback. he lost both houses of congress. many people thought at that point that his presidency was over. in a famous moment, clinton was left declaring that he was still relevant. this does not look quite that bad for obama in certain ways. at the same time, he might be in more danger if he does not take the threat seriously. this is a moment for him to reevaluate his presidency and figure out how he can reposition himself to reclaim the center of american politics. >> how do think that he should play this? should he reached out to the republicans are be confrontational? >> i think it is a confirmation -- a combination. clinton was ready to compromise on some major issues including welfare reform and he signed a bill he really did not want to sign. he did not much like that. obama will have to compromise on extending the bush tax cuts for a couple of years. he has to reach out to the business community. he also has to take a stand on principle. he has to draw a line on the sand and say this is how far i will go and no farther and i represent a reasonable defense of government and i will not stand for in the tea party like dismantling of the federal government. >> do you think that we will see him concentrating more on foreign policy because that is easier to do than domestic stuff? >> i don't think that that will save him but it is true when you are rebuffed domestically and no longer have a majority in congress, it is natural for a president to turn to global affairs. obama has such a treacherous problem with unemployment, unemployment is at 9.6%, his reelection hinges more on his ability to address economic misery and to start to get to the economy going again. i think he turns away from that problem. >> will the republicans look back to the new gingrich experience -- newt gingrich experience and learn from that? >> there's a lesson there on what not to do. the leaders of that congress really lost their confrontation with bill clinton both because he was reelected and they marginalized themselves so much based on the miscalculation that they could shut down the federal government and people would like it. this demonized the government and bureaucrats that the relief thought that the government was useless. what they found out was that there was a silent majority in the u.s. that understands the basic functions of the federal government are absolutely necessary. that was what bill clinton turned to his advantage. i do think that the new republican leaders in congress are aware of that mistake that gingrich made by being too radical and they don't want to fall to that themselves. >> now away from the turmoil of politics to the artistic visions of the same city nearly 300 years apart. this is an exhibit in london that shows the unchanging beauty of the venice. >> i think that this is scorned by official art history. he was not considered to be a great painter. whether you like, not can be based on preconceptions. he is certainly one of the finest technicians of his den -- of his day. >> these were enormously exciting to photograph. for the first couple of years or so, that is the kind of thing that i did. -- painted the everyday life of the phoenicians. -- venetians. closer in, we look at the details of the building. >> they did not have a great respect for topographical and accuracy. they did not really matter. one gave an impression of an appearance of the view. that was what the klan would benefit from must. -- the client would benefit the most. >> there has been more money to spend, which is good. then i think modern life has stepped in in the way of advertising. >> there was a very active secret police service, a system of anonymous denunciation. a neighbor could be dragged away and lock up and they often wear. -- really offended at the state and yet there was no hint of the darker side of life in venice. >> some of the photographs that were done, they were easier to identify. that is not the case in -- the other advantage is that you are really out in the lagoon and on an island which is much smaller than dennis -- venice. that coincides with the time that i focused more on photograph in -- photography. now, i see something different which i very much enjoy. >> president obama says the dramatic losses in the midterm elections showed that of the people in america are very frustrated with the slow pace of economic recovery. that is all from us. >> hello and welcome. >> see the news unfold, get the top stories from around the globe and click to play video reports. go to bbc.com/news to experience the in-depth, expert reporting of "bbc world news" online. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank. >> union bank offers unique insight and expertise in a range of industries. what can we do for you? >> there is one stage that is the met and carnegie hall. >> o, that this too, too solid flesh -- >> it is the kennedy center. >> check, one, two. >> and a club in austin. the house, no matter where you call home. >> the top of the world, and i'm there, i'm home. >> pbs -- the great american stage that fits in every living room. your support of pbs brings the arts home. >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet, los angeles.