By MICHAEL FALCONE ( @michaelpfalcone )

NOTABLES

• 5 THINGS TO WATCH FOR DURING OBAMA'S ASIA TRIP: Fresh off the bruising midterm loss, President Obama is shifting his focus to a host of foreign policy challenges during a dizzying week-long Asia trip. In eight days, Obama will visit three countries (China, Myanmar and Australia), attend three different summits with world leaders and cross 16 time zones. Here's a preview of what's to come, courtesy of ABC's MARY BRUCE: http://abcn.ws/11aK8QA

• MUST-SEE: If you thought the 2008 Olympic opening games were impressive, wait until you see this. The arrival ceremony for global leaders at the APEC Summit dinner in Beijing was like no red carpet you've ever seen before, BRUCE notes. Elaborately, brightly costumed performers danced in unison with music blaring as limos drove down a street lit up in bright neon red. It was a show reminiscent of "The Hunger Games." Wait until you see what President Obama and the other leaders were wearing: matching head-to-toe black with silk jackets of different colors (Obama was in a deep purple). It was a club look rarely seen on international leaders. WATCH: http://abcn.ws/1xC0cEV

• HAPPENING TODAY - RAND PAUL TO LEAD GOP RALLY AGAINST LANDRIEU. Republicans are holding a power-packed "unity rally" in Louisiana today to support GOP Rep. Bill Cassidy as he heads into a December runoff against three-term Democratic incumbent Sen. Mary Landrieu, ABC'S JORDYN PHELPS reports. Big names in attendance at the Baton Rouge event include potential 2016ers Sen. Rand Paul, of Kentucky, and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. Tea Party candidate Rob Maness, who came in third place last Tuesday, will also be present to put his public support behind the Republican candidate.

THE ROUNDTABLE

ABC's JEFF ZELENY: President Obama called for a swift confirmation of his Attorney General nominee, Loretta Lynch. But even the White House isn't expecting it to take place yet this year in the lame duck session, which begins on Wednesday. Republican leaders and those on the Judiciary Committee promise a fair, but thorough vetting of Lynch. There's no incentive for them to agree to rush through such an important confirmation. As one top Republican told me: "If nothing comes up in the hearings to disqualify her, why wouldn't we want to confirm her on our watch?" That would be an early - and easy - start for the GOP to make toward showing their intent on trying to govern responsibly.

ABC's SHUSHANNAH WALSHE: So, what's the update with Alaska? There are even more ballots out there that remain to be counted, according to the state Division of Elections. The numbers make it clear that neither Democratic Sen. Mark Begich who is trailing GOP challenger Dan Sullivan nor Republican Gov. Sean Parnell who is behind independent challenger Bill Walker will concede anytime soon. Over the weekend, the Division of Elections reported the number of early and absentee ballots has grown to over 29,000. They have sent out another 10,000 ballots they are still waiting to receive. It's unclear if all of these will come back, but Alaskans do have 15 days from Election Day to get them in, as long as they were postmarked by November 4th. There are also over 15,000 provisional ballots that are being reviewed for eligibility and that number could grow. And there are still ballots coming in from Alaska's many rural communities, all adding up to still quite a lot of vote counting. Alaska Native groups released a statement last week calling on every vote to be counted and saying the election isn't over until "rural Alaska sings." Of course, Begich trailed Sullivan by 8,000 votes on election night, quite a hill to climb. ICYMI: What Happened on Election Night? http://abcn.ws/1yi7VYA

A FAREWELL TO PHIL CRANE. From ABC'S JEFF ZELENY: Phil Crane, a colorful former Illinois Republican congressman who once sought the party's presidential nomination, died over the weekend. He was 84. Crane, a character of the highest order, was first elected in 1969 to fill the House seat held by Donald Rumsfeld. He was the most senior Republican member of the House before he was defeated in 2004. He also had a significant drinking problem, which for many of his years on Capitol Hill was not discussed. But in 2000, several lawmakers and aides intervened and swept him away to a treatment center on the Maryland banks of the Chesapeake Bay. He broke the news to his colleagues in a letter - and later in an interview with this reporter at the Chicago Tribune. He went on to win two more elections before being defeated by Melissa Bean in 2004. His biggest glimpse of national political prominence came in 1980 when he ran as an anti-tax crusader in the Republican primary that another man from Illinois, Ronald Reagan, ultimately won. Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Illinois, issued a statement Sunday, praising Crane as "one of the great leaders from northern Illinois." http://trib.in/1stCOG6

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING: WHEN WILL 2016 HOPEFULS ANNOUNCE? ABC's DAVID WRIGH T looks back at how candidates over the years have announced their run for the White House, and the "This Week" powerhouse roundtable assesses the 2016 field. WATCH: http://abcn.ws/1GEIRBl

BATTLE OVER BALLOTS IN ARIZONA: ABC'S ALI DUKAKIS: Early Sunday morning, lawyers representing the campaign of Martha McSally - the Republican candidate still battling Rep. Ron Barber for the Arizona 2nd Congressional district seat - proceeded with legal action to block the Pima County Recording Office from counting some outstanding provisional votes. The filing challenged ballots missing a signature from an election official, arguing that they are inadmissible under a section of the Secretary of State's Election procedure manual. It was estimated yesterday that of the 9,000 provisional votes still need to be counted for the predominately Democratic county overall, and more than 5,000 of those ballots are from CD-02. The current vote count shows McSally's lead dwindling down - shaved from 509 yesterday to 341 last night. Remember: Barber bested McSally in 2012 with fewer than 2,500 more votes - and 11 days after the election.

THE BUZZ

with ABC's KIRSTEN APPLETON

THIS YEAR THE SUPREME COURT COULD 'BLOW A BIG HOLE' IN OBAMA'S LEGACY (OR NOT). "The highest court in the land has now spoken," an elated and relieved President Obama said after the Supreme Court upheld a key provision of the Affordable Care Act in 2012. Not so fast. Now the law - a centerpiece of Obama's presidency - is before the Court again after the justices announced last Friday that they would hear a fresh challenge to an important part of Obamacare, ABC's ARIANE DE VOGUE writes. "Health Care is the most important part of the president's legacy, and the most unstable part of his legacy," said Julian E. Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. The new challenge has to do with a different part of the law concerning subsidies granted to low and moderate income Americans who seek to obtain affordable insurance from market places called "exchanges." Millions of Americans take advantage of the subsidies. A judgment for the challengers would lead to widespread destabilization of the individual insurance market, said Timothy S. Jost, an expert on health law at Washington and Lee School of Law: "Insurance will simply be far less accessible in two thirds of the states to anyone who does not have insurance through their employer or a government program." http://abcn.ws/1w9gjaC

WATCH: WILL OBAMACARE SURVIVE GOP AND COURT CHALLENGES? ABC's TERRY MORAN reports on the Supreme Court decision to hear a second case challenging the Affordable Care Act, with analysis from the New Republic's Jonathan Cohn and Judicial Action Network's Carrie Severino. http://abcn.ws/1EsWphl

HILLARY CLINTON LEADS IN FACEBOOK INTERACTIONS BEFORE, AFTER MIDTERM ELECTIONS. According to data provided to ABC News from Facebook, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton led a pack of potential 2016 presidential candidates in terms of the number of "interactions" on the social site in the days leading up to and the day after the Nov. 4 midterm elections. ABC's BEN BELL reports Facebook - which defines interactions as "posts, comments, likes and shares" - measured the number of interactions related to each person on the site between October 26th and November 5. http://abcn.ws/1uRGbNz

CORY GARDNER: AFTER TAKING CONGRESS, GOP MUST 'GOVERN MATURELY.' Following sweeping midterm election victories that gave Republicans full control of Congress, Sen.-Elect Cory Gardner, R-Colorado, said that the GOP now has to prove it can "govern maturely" and with competence if it hopes to fix a broken Washington and hold onto gains made in 2014. "You have to fix it right out of the box, I believe, by working together, Republicans and Democrats, putting ideas forward on the president's desk, ideas that the broad majority of American people support, and showing that we can govern," Gardner told "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos. Gardner also said shutting down the government "is a bad idea anytime, anywhere" and that although he supports repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, it was not a feasible option while President Obama still occupies the White House, ABC's BENJAMIN BELL reports. http://abcn.ws/1xyn9bZ

LORETTA LYNCH WILL CARRY ON HOLDER'S CIVIL RIGHTS LEGACY, OBAMA SAYS. As one of the longest-serving attorneys general in U.S. history prepares to leave office, President Obama made it clear that the woman he's nominated to be Eric Holder's successor will be expected to pick up right where he left off on civil rights, ABC's MATTHEW LAROTONDA reports. "Throughout her 30-year career she has distinguished herself as tough, as fair, an independent lawyer who has twice headed one of the most prominent U.S. attorney's offices in the country," the president said at the nomination ceremony for Loretta Lynch, who is currently the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York. "She has spent years in the trenches as a prosecutor aggressively fighting terrorism, financial fraud, cybercrime - all while vigorously defending civil rights," Obama said. http://abcn.ws/13WLwXY

The 5 Most Interesting Cases of Loretta Lynch's Career. President Obama has nominated Loretta Lynch, currently the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, to succeed Eric Holder as the next U.S. Attorney General. If confirmed, Lynch would become the first African-American woman to lead the Justice Department. Lynch is an unconventional choice for the Obama administration - she is not part of the president's inner circle and remains doggedly low-profile. ABC's ERIN DOOLEY takes a look at five of the most interesting cases of her career. http://abcn.ws/10A1xAP

ELECTION 2014 WRAP

-6 AWKWARD WAYS TO SAY 'I LOST.' There are a million different ways to say, "I lost." ABC's KIRSTEN APPLETON takes a look at how some losing candidates handled their concession speeches on election night. http://abcn.ws/1zDbXyV

-NOTED: Scott Brown's 2014 Concession Speech Sounded A Lot Like His 2012 Concession Speech. Defeated New Hampshire Senate candidate Scott Brown may have changed states between 2012 and 2014, but he didn't change his concession speech all that much. The former Massachusetts senator lost the New Hampshire Senate race to incumbent Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. In 2012, Brown lost his reelection race to now Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. Two different states, two different opponents, two different concession speeches. Well, not exactly. Brown's roughly six-minute speech on Tuesday night was not entirely identical to his more than 14-minute concession in 2012. ABC's VERONICA STRACQUALURSI watched both concessions and found some uncanny similarities. http://abcn.ws/1GyDa7Y

WHO'S TWEETING?

@RealClearScott: How you can tell there's no frontrunner for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination: When the "frontrunner" is at 11.8%: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/2016_republican_presidential_nomination-3823.html …

@maggiepolitico: Bruce Rauner, Hickenlooper,Dan Malloy all at underwater approval.They got far greater vote share than approval rating http://www.politico.com/story/2014/11/in-politics-40-is-the-new-50-112724.html?hp=c1_3 …

?@GlennThrush: Lots of interesting detail in @noamscheiber long form on Valerie Jarrett. http://www.newrepublic.com/article/120170/valerie-jarrett-obama-whisperer …

?@jmartNYT: Wicked smart @SangerNYT analysis why admin sent a Cold Warrior & Intel official to NoKo on a diplo mission http://nyti.ms/1APUB3z

?@RyanLizza: Webb: "I have the leadership & experience & sense of history & the kinds of ideas where I could lead this country." http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/11/17/inevitability-trap …