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CNN Live Event/Special
Harris, Trump, Close Campaigns Storming Swing States; Abortion Could Be A Key Issue Among Women Voters; Key Senate Race Between Lake And Gallego On Arizona Ballot; Harris, Trump Close Campaigns Storming Swing States; First Ballots Cast in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire; Trump to Watch Election Results From South Florida; Swing States Expected to Be Pivotal to Path to Victory; Influencers Pushing Gen-z to Vote, Gen-z Voters Make Up 20 Percent of Electorate, Nearly 8 Million Newly Eligible Voters. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired November 05, 2024 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:00:52]
JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to CNN's coverage of Election Day in America. I'm Jessica Dean. We've arrived.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: We've done it. We're here. It's Election Day. I'm Boris Sanchez coming to you live from the nation's capital. It is Election Day in America. Just hours before polls open across the country, both presidential nominees have delivered their closing arguments in key battleground states, as they're looking to energize and motivate voters together.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS (D) UNITED STATES DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: -- together. So, Philadelphia, are you ready to do this? Are we ready to vote?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: All right. Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump both spending the final day before the election in key battleground states. The Vice President ending her campaign in the all-important Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Trump also in the incredibly important Michigan. And while the two delivered starkly different speeches to voters, there was one message they seemed to agree on, and that was the importance of voting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: And let us Please remind everyone that your vote is your voice and your voice is your power. So tonight, I ask you one last time. Are you ready to make your voices heard?
DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: With your vote tomorrow, we can fix every single problem our country faces and lead America -- indeed, the world. To new heights of glory.
Look, the balls in our hand. All we have to do is get out the vote tomorrow. You get out the vote. They can't do anything about it. We win.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: That final push is coming, as the last CNN poll of polls before Election Day shows. There is still no clear leader. It shows a two-point advantage for Harris, but that is within the margin of error. Meantime, Trump is still speaking at his final rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He started well over an hour ago. He's been going for about an hour and a half plus, and we've been monitoring his remarks a lot of what you might expect.
He started out the night asking supporters there if they were better off than they were four years ago. And then he weaved as he describes it, and started talking about election fraud, falsehoods about election fraud, we should point out. And then a number of subjects. Apparently, at one point, he started dancing to YMCA.
DEAN: This has been going on for a long time, and if you think about it, this could be his and will likely be his final rally as a presidential nominee, and he's doing it in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which is where he ended his campaigns in 2020 and 2016. So, we're going to continue to keep an eye on that.
And joining us now here in Washington is Senior White House Producer Betsy Klein who's been monitoring both of the candidates. What they've been saying in their final hours? What have they been saying, Betsy?
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: Well, Jessica, it's been an intentional shift in the last 24 hours from Vice President Kamala Harris, sources telling us that she has stopped naming former President Donald Trump directly instead opting to refer to him as the other guy. Casting a message of optimism and hopes -- herself as a change candidate and a new way forward. Now we'll see what the voters have to say about that the ballot box.
But also talking about some of those key issues, like abortion rights, protecting the Affordable Care Act, affordable housing. And really just a message of hope in this final closing day. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KLEIN: America is ready for a fresh start, ready for a new way forward, where we see our fellow American not as an enemy, but as a neighbor, and we are ready for a president who knows that the true measure of a leader is not based on who you beat down, but based on who you lift up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[02:05:11]
DEAN: Now the Harris campaign looking to tout its diverse and expanded coalition in these final hours. We saw that in Philadelphia as we saw that star-studded rally with Lady Gaga and Oprah Winfrey. We saw it with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on the campaign trail, with Vice President Harrison. And also Liz Cheney appearing on -- now meanwhile, former President Donald Trump really a darkening of rhetoric in these final hours, as you mentioned here, sowing fresh doubt on election integrity, promoting false claims that Democrats are cheating in this election.
He's also saying that he shouldn't have left the White House in 2020 and also going after his political rivals like Nancy Pelosi. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: She's a crooked person. She's a bad person, evil. She's an evil, sick, crazy, oh no. It starts with a B but I won't say it. I want to say it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KLEIN: Now of course, Trump's allies and advisers have implored the former president to stay on message, not getting the memo there, but he did ask voters to consider the question right out of that Reagan play -- to go.
SANCHEZ: Betsy, what about tomorrow? What do we know about these two candidates are spending or actually today? How are they --
(CROSSTALK)
KLEIN: Do the math.
SANCHEZ: How are they spending their Election Day?
KLEIN: Well, first, we know that Vice President Harris is going to wake up in Washington, and she is going to make that final mobilization push to get out the vote, doing some radio interviews. We expect her to have a meal with family and then watch those returns at Howard University, her alma mater. Trump, meanwhile, for his part, he has one key item left on list, and that is to vote which -- would do on his Election Day. And he will be watching those returns come in with his allies and advisers as well.
SANCHEZ: Betsy Klein, thank you so much for the update. I just want to let our viewers know we're getting to nearly the two-hour mark --
DEAN: Yes. Yes.
SANCHEZ: -- of Trump's speech.
DEAN: Yes. He went on around midnight here, this time. Yes. So, this has been going on for --
SANCHEZ: Quite some time.
DEAN: Quite some time. SANCHEZ: Yes. We're going to bring you the highlights as we get them. But now let's bring in our political panel. We have a number of voices. Democratic strategist Meghan Hayes is with us, as well as former Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan.
DEAN: We also have our own Stephen Collinson, Sophia Cai from Axios and Lance Trover, former spokesperson for Doug Burgum's 2024 presidential campaign. A big thanks to all of you for being here and listen, for staying up really, really late with us. This is -- this is great. I want to -- I want to kind of carry over a topic we didn't quite get to finish up in the last hour, which was kind of this idea about what issues are really going to probably percolate the most with the voters out there.
We know what they're telling us, which is that the economy, immigration, that sort of thing. But my question was, is abortion going to drive -- be such a driver of women that maybe we haven't talked as much about? Sophia, I know you've done some reporting on that.
SOPHIA CAI, NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER, AXIOS: Yes. So, I mean, look, abortion is the number one issue for some women, including women who are living in red states, women who are living in states where there's a ballot initiative that codifies abortion rights. I mean, all of that is going to have an impact. And, you know, as I said before, it's the number one concern if you are the Trump campaign, right?
There's a lot of things that they can do with Trump in terms of messaging on the economy, messaging on immigration. There's no --
(CROSSTALK)
DEAN: Where he ranks -- where he ranks higher with voters on these issues.
(CROSSTALK)
CAI: Where he ranks higher. Yes. I mean, even when Trump was running against President Biden, abortion was the single issue where President Biden had the upper hand. And now even more so with a female candidate, Trump, you know, has some problems here.
SANCHEZ: Meghan, is there any concern among Democrats that they saw the strongest effect of this reaction to Roe of being overturned back during the midterms in 2022 and that perhaps the urgency of the moment has waned somewhat now, I think it's three years later, two years later?
MEGHAN HAYES, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: No, I don't think so. I don't think we see that in the polls. I don't think you see that on the ground. And I with the momentum that she has right now, I also think that women are tired of being talked to like Donald Trump talks to them, so I think that compounds the issue of reproductive rights. So, I don't think that it's waned at all. I actually think it's with a female person at the top of the ticket, I think it's reinvigorated women. And I think they'll vote out strong tomorrow. They'll turn out strong
tomorrow.
DEAN: And Lance, I'd like to get your thoughts on this because, you know, I know you have been kind of watching this all unfold as well. Do you think that the Trump campaign has done an effective enough job of being able to push back on this messaging?
LANCE TROVER, FORMER SPOKESPERSON, BURGUM 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: I think they've done everything they can do. I mean, Sophia is talking about. I mean, this is an issue, I's the one issue that Kamala Harris leads by double digits consistently in all the polling.
[02:10:05]
And look, I think if this is your number one issue, you're likely to vote for Kamala Harris. I do think Donald Trump has done a pretty good job of saying, look, I'm not going to support a national abortion ban. And he really went back to the state's rights argument, and really that's the best place he could be throughout this campaign. Is it the top winning issue for him? No, but it doesn't need to be because the economy, cost of living and immigration issue far outweigh.
I'm not suggesting that a lot of people aren't going to go out and vote on abortion. They are, but I do think he's done the best job he can in terms of trying to manage this issue out there.
DEAN: And also, while you're -- while you're talking, we're watching live pictures of Donald Trump wrapping up. I think he might be wrapping up. I don't know he's been going for a couple hours now but he's having a good time. It looks like dancing with his supporters there.
SANCHEZ: Yes. It seems like a shout and response sort of thing he's doing. I'm not sure. We obviously can't hear what he's saying, but he's relishing the moment what may be, as you pointed out, Jessica, his final rally as a presidential candidate. And he's grooving across the stage. Geoff, to you, it's not just Trump at the presidential level that has struggled with messaging on the issue of abortion.
We've seen down battle races where, for example, I was talking to Congressman Don Bacon, a Republican in Nebraska's Second District. This is Omaha, so it's purple. And for years, he had signed on to this piece of legislation. It was a messaging bill that declared that life began at conception. And now his opponent, Tony Vargas, it's a rematch from 2022. He's being attacked for that over and over again.
Bacon has essentially given up on pushing that legislation forward. He didn't decide on to it this year. He erased part of his Web site that had to do with abortion. He's not avoiding the issue altogether, but it seems like he's struggling to develop messaging around it and it speaks to down ballot races across the country. Is there a path for Republicans on this issue that could lead them to having more consistency with women voters down the road do you think?
GEOFF DUNCAN (R) FORMER GEORGIA LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR: Well, politically speaking, Republicans have been their own worst enemy on this abortion issue, and they continue to set the abortion policy and their messaging, as though they're trying to run primaries. I go back to this moment in time where there was eight candidates. I think it was eight candidates in a debate, Republican candidates for U.S. Senate seat, Herschel Walker included.
And they talked about, you know, well, what is your definition of, you know, life. And all of a sudden, before you know it, all eight were no exceptions. So, you had eight candidates in a swing state like Georgia that all said, no exceptions, rape, incest, you know, health of the mother. We've lost the narrative on the issue, and it's a huge -- it's -- and also watching Donald Trump just waffle on life and when it starts and when it doesn't start, what ballot initiative he supports, what ballot -- he's just confused.
It's created chaos. But, you know, as far as abortion goes, Republicans have totally lost the narrative. And I think we've also lost the narrative on the health side of it, which is a huge part of this. Kamala Harris, I think, has positioned abortion is really this health care play, which is huge. And I think there's a broader conversation to have about birth control and abortion, but not necessarily -- there's really no place for Republicans to weigh in on the health of the mother of the child, or incest, or any of the exceptions.
DEAN: That's an interesting point you make because Stephen, that is so much of the messaging that we're hearing from Democrats that this is about health care, that this is about women who are pregnant in these -- in these states with abortion bans that are dying, being denied care, not having medical outcomes that they should be having the United States of America because doctors are afraid of intervening.
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: And the Democrats have been probably quite successful in putting all of that at the door of Donald Trump because of the overturning of Roe versus Wade by the Supreme Court that he -- the conservative Supreme Court majority that he built. I think there is a way for Republicans to talk about this. You saw Liz Cheney when she was out with Kamala Harris, talking about the difference even though she was, you know, been pro-life for a very long time, she was talking about the health care side of this.
Nikki Haley talked a lot more subtly about the abortion issue and Republicans when she was on the campaign trail, but Donald Trump's path to the presidency in the first place was paved by this alliance with Evangelicals and the understanding that he would create a Supreme Court majority that would overturn Roe versus Wade. It was his most significant domestic achievement, but it really has come back to haunt him as he's trying to win the presidency again.
SANCHEZ: Lance, one of the things that I think underpins the conversation that we're having now is the approach from both campaigns to two very different types of voters. And I'm curious what you make of the Trump campaign's approach to bros, to young men, usually low- propensity voters versus Harris who seems to be seeking young women who have a higher tendency to vote, and there's just more of them, there are more registered female voters and male voters.
[02:15:09]
Is that a strategy that you think can win?
TROVER: Well, look, I -- yes. I wish there have been more -- probably more outreach to women, and I think the Harris campaign could probably do. I know they've tried to do some with some reach -- outreach to men. I'm not sure how successful those -- some of those ads and things I've seen are. And look, you got the -- you see Trump touting the Joe Rogan endorsement tonight, and I think that was a huge endorsement for them.
And because, look, yes, he needs those low propensity male voters to come out to put him over the top tomorrow. So that's why you see him promoting a Joe Rogan out there because a Joe Rogan affects tens and 20, 30 million people who listen to his show every day. Most of them predominantly young men, probably low propensity voters.
DEAN: And Sophia, just before we go to the break there, I -- we're just watching video of Trump kind of ending his rally, walking around, taking a look. You've covered him. You've covered his campaign. Just any thoughts from your -- from talking to sources on -- kind of his mood as he both heads into Election Day but also, this is likely the -- likely the last presidential campaign --
(CROSSTALK)
CAI: Yes. I think -- look, I think one of the reasons why he's gone on for two hours is that that is finally sinking in for him. I think the stump has been a place where he's really been able to express himself. If you -- over the course of the entire cycle, if you listen closely to what he's saying on this stuff, how much time he spends there, you can really get a sense of his mindset. And then the closing days, he's really been a bit frazzled.
He's deviated more from, you know, the speeches that are written for him. He's inserting things that I can guarantee you, his senior advisers are sitting there and just, you know, scratching their heads trying to figure out how they can clean up after him. And that's a result of just his anxiety as we come close to Election Day. We know that he has many questions and, you know, frankly, a lot of them can't be answered.
Now he's becoming very distrustful of people, because he knows that (INAUDIBLE) constantly fluff him with polls that look good.
SANCHEZ: Fascinating to get that perspective especially as he is potentially weeks away from being sentenced in New York for that hush money conviction. Panel, please stay with us. We have much more to discuss. We are going to look at some other aspects to election.
DEAN: That's right. We're going to including a showdown in the battleground state of Arizona. The question is, can Donald Trump reclaim that state that Joe Biden flipped in 2020? We're going to talk more about that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [02:21:34]
DEAN: Early ballots are being counted in Maricopa County, Arizona. One of seven key battleground states that could sway the election in favor of Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris. An average of Arizona polling done by the New York Times shows Trump with a slight lead, while CNN, most recent polling shows no clear leader there.
SANCHEZ: Yes. There are 11 electoral votes up for grabs in Arizona, not the most among battlegrounds, but narrowly flipping the State Blue in 2020 help secure the White House for President Joe Biden. And we remember when it was called for Joe Biden, it drew the ire of Donald Trump.
DEAN: That's right. Joining us now is Ronald Hansen, national political reporter at the Arizona Republic. Thanks so much for being here.
RONALD HANSEN, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC: Thanks for having me.
DEAN: Polls. We just went through them. As you heard, showing it's really anyone's race out there. It's Arizona, though, where Trump tends to hold his largest advantage. That state voted Republican for decades, until 2020 when it flipped for Biden by the tiniest of margins. What are you seeing unfold in Arizona as we arrive here at Election Day?
HANSEN: You know, I think a lot of Republicans that I speak with still think that this state is going to snap back to its Republican history, and that Donald Trump maintains an advantage. They'll concede that this is a very close race still, and I think Democrats feel like they are within striking distance, and it will depend on Election Day turnout and some of the extra effort that they have been putting in running to the tape all the way to the finish line to bring back some of that 2020 magic that they pulled out.
SANCHEZ: I wonder what you think, Ronald about efforts, especially on the Trump side, to bring out Latino voters in Arizona because, as noted, I think Joe Biden won it by point-three percentage points and obviously every vote matters. So, do you think that the Trump campaign has made enough inroads with that community to flip the state back to red?
HANSEN: You know, they've definitely made a real effort to try and sustain that conversation that they already had into the 2020 campaign. That is a real thing. It's a real phenomenon that the Trump campaign has done relatively well with Latino voters and especially with Latino men, especially in the southwestern corner of the state in the Yuma area. This is an area that had been historically democratic turf. The Trump campaign really turned it into a safe spot for them, and they're looking to run up good numbers in the Latino community.
They're not going to win that vote share, but they'll do relatively well, and that is one of the things that they're looking at is a way to sort of put a firewall around Arizona and keep that state back in its historical Republican hole.
DEAN: And you guys also have an abortion measure on the ballot out there in Arizona. What kind of -- how is that factoring into all of this?
HANSEN: It really seems like that's sort of the X factor in this campaign in Arizona. As a swing state, this is a state where that issue is front and center. It's literally on the ballot. We had after the Dobbs decision in 2022 about a year or two of real legal ambiguity as to whether a 19th century near total ban on abortion was the state's controlling law or a 15-week abortion ban.
[02:25:06]
And so, what you have now is an effort to put this on state constitution. So, it can't be just erased on the whim of lawmakers. This is something that is seen as a way to help drive turnout for democratic friendly voters. There are a lot of groups that have shown an interest in this. That measure is expected to pass, and it could be helpful to Democrats as they look to keep this state where Biden took it in 2020.
SANCHEZ: Ronald, I also want to ask you about the Senate race there. This is for the seat left open by retiring Democrat turned independent Senator Kyrsten Sinema. You have Congressman Ruben Gallego, a progressive who sort of moderated some of his stances for the statewide race. Going up against former T.V. anchor Kari Lake who has become a full blown MAGA acolyte, she lost in a governor's race two years ago, still hasn't conceded that she lost that race.
My understanding is that Trump has to win Arizona by a substantial margin in order for Lake to have a real chance at winning this senate seat. Is that your read of the situation?
HANSEN: I think that's right. She has been behind Gallego in nearly all the polling throughout this campaign, especially since March, when Senator Sinema said she would not seek another term. Gallego, I think, has been ahead in about 79 out of 87 polls. Since then, he has a lead that is anywhere from three to five points is something that he is expected to win, and that it's a real sort of conundrum for Lake, as well as Donald Trump continues to be doing in Arizona, according to the polls.
She has not been able to match that. Even though she has presented herself and really sold herself as Trump in heels, it's just not translated into equal support.
DEAN: And I also want to ask you we were when we came to you, we were showing up the some of the early ballots being counted in Maricopa County. We know that federal poll monitors, additional law enforcement, has been sent to the State, specifically to that county, which is where so much of the vote, I don't have to tell you, comes in from. There is a real sense that officials there have tried very hard to both make sure that this election runs as smoothly as possible with as much transparency as possible. And that all of those public servants, those poll workers and everyone else, are protected from any sort of potential violence.
HANSEN: Yes. The county has really done a really credible professional job throughout this entire era of trying to manage elections, despite a lot of noise that there were cheating or widespread fraud. That's just not been supported by the evidence. It's not been perfect, but it has been, I think, an honest effort to this point. They really do face a challenge tomorrow. Maricopa County in particular, has a two-page ballot to fill out, front and back.
It is a long ballot. It's going to take a long time to fill out. This is going to also create problems in counting these ballots properly and timely.
SANCHEZ: We appreciate the work of those election workers so much, and we appreciate you as well. Ronald Hansen, national political reporter for The Arizona Republic. Thank you so much for joining us.
HANSEN: Thanks for having me.
DEAN: Yes. The very first results of the election are in, and they reflect what we've been seeing in the national polls. We're going to go live to New Hampshire for a breakdown.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:32:30]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We are going to turn our country around. I will end inflation and I will stop the invasion of criminals coming across our border. I will strengthen our military. I will restore peace in the world.
(CROWD CHEERING)
TRUMP: And I will rescue the American dream.
KAMALA HARRIS, (D) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Ours is a fight for freedom.
(CROWD CHEERING)
HARRIS: Including the most fundamental freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body and not have her government tell her what to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JESSICA DEAN, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "ELECTION DAY IN AMERICA": Closing messages there from former President Donald Trump, who was in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia. Millions of voters across the country will be casting their ballots in the day ahead. Nearly 80 million Americans have already voted.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "ELECTION DAY IN AMERICA": And we already have the first results from voters in New Hampshire. The tiny township of Dixville Notch have already cast their ballots for president and they've already announced the results after a very quick vote count.
DEAN: That's right. Well, they only had to count six ballots, so that's good. CNN's Gary Tuchman is covering it all live from Dixville Notch. Gary, you watched it all unfold in person.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Jessica and Boris, and we welcome you to the voting precinct here in Dixville Notch. But what's notable about this voting precinct, this is actually a living room in a beautiful house in this very small village. And this is a living -- this is a leap year, this year, 366 days. This is a living room for 365 days, 23 hours and 50 minutes, but for 10 minutes, 10 minutes tonight, beginning at midnight eastern time, it was an official voting precinct. This small village is given permission by the state of New Hampshire to have the first voting in the country on Election Day and to do it exactly at midnight. And that's precisely what happened tonight.
These are obviously not the first votes that people have been out voting for because millions of us have voted early in early voting. However, this is the first voting on Election Day, and it's the first result that you're going to hear. And you're going to hear it right now because there are six voters here in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, and this is how they voted. This is the official first-in- the-nation Dixville, New Hampshire 2024 Board.
Three people voted for Kamala Harris. Three people voted for Donald Trump. And wouldn't you know it? It's exactly 50/50. After all this discussion about this election being too close to call, exactly 50/50, three to three.
[02:35:00]
This is the box that people dropped the ballots in. This box has been used since 1980. The voting here in Dixville Notch has been going on since 1960, for 64 years since the John F. Kennedy-Richard Nixon election. It's quite a tradition. And every New Hampshire primary, every general election in this small community, about 20 miles away from the Canadian border, has taken place at midnight on election day. And these were the booths, or three voting booths, paper and pen. They went in, in two shifts, the six people to cast their votes, and it came out three to three.
So now, I talked to the six voters after the voting was all done, and it was reverted from a precinct back into a living room. And two of the people I talked to were both registered Republicans, one a man, one a woman. The man voted for Harris. The woman voted for Trump. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LES OTTEN, DIXVILLE NOTCH VOTER: Came down to the simple question of loyalty. Harris is willing to give me hers; Trump wanted mine. For me, that's backwards. The president is supposed to be loyal to the people. People are loyal to a king or a dictator, but the president works for the people. And for me, at the end of the day, it just came back to -- it's a privilege to be American. I pledge allegiance to the flag, to the Constitution, but not to a person.
VALERIE MAXWELL, DIXVILLE NOTCH VOTER: I voted for Donald Trump.
TUCHMAN: Tell me why you voted for Donald Trump.
MAXWELL: I voted for him because of the policies, and those are the ones that align with my beliefs. And so, it wasn't necessarily voting for the man, but it was voting for the policies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN: What's really cool about this event is that there were media members from all over the world who were here and there were also people observing from all over the United States, from all over New England, other parts of the country, and Canada, because like I said, we're very close to Canada. So it was a party, a festive atmosphere. You forgot how this election has made many people angry and frustrated over the months. It wasn't the case here.
It was a party. There were two dogs running around. So everyone had a lot of fun. I will tell you that. And to review once again, the most important part of the night, three to three between Harris and Trump here in this little tiny town in New Hampshire. It was a wash. Back to you guys.
(LAUGH)
DEAN: Hopefully, by the end of this election, someone will have more votes than the other one. It won't continue to be a 50/50 split. Gary Tuchman, live from Dixville Notch, New Hampshire. Thank you so much for that.
And our panel is back with us now -- Meghan Hays, Geoff Duncan, Sophia Cai, Stephen Collinson, and Lance Trover. Thanks so much for staying with us, everybody. We really appreciate it.
Meghan, I want to start first with you because I was just thinking about, we're now technically in Election Day. You were with President Joe Biden last year on this -- on his election day. What is that vibe like for a candidate, for campaign staff, for all these people that have been pushing so hard, and now you've arrived at this moment?
MEGHAN HAYS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I mean, for us, it was sort of a relief, right? It was in the middle of COVID. We were doing these car rallies. So it was a very different atmosphere than the vice president and the former president had today with their rallies. We -- the president wanted to go, basically. We went to Scranton, we went all around Delaware. We -- I think that the goal was to keep him busy, to not be anxious. I think everyone is very anxious on Election Day, you are watching these results come in. And there's not a lot for staff to do. There's not a lot to do.
So we were out on the road, we were talking to press the whole day. So for us, it was probably very different than what they will experience tomorrow. But it is a very anxious day. There's not a lot to do when you are campaign staff, the data and the analytics team and some senior advisors have a lot to do, but everyone else is sort of just watching and waiting -- seven o'clock, eight o'clock, nine o'clock. And then for us, we didn't get the results until Saturday. So --
DEAN: Yeah. Oh, we remember.
(LAUGH)
GEOFF DUNCAN, (R-GA) FORMER LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR: Don't remind us.
DEAN: We remember.
SOPHIA CAI, NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER, AXIOS: The parking lot in Wilmington.
DEAN: Yeah.
(LAUGH)
HAYS: I was there.
SANCHEZ: Lance, I wonder for you who has been involved in numerous campaigns, what these final moments have been like in your experience?
LANCE TROVER, FORMER SPOKESPERSON, BURGUM 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: I mean, Meghan pretty much took the words out of my mouth. You really, as an operative, this is the time you hate because --
(LAUGH)
TROVER: -- the rallies are over. The speeches are over, the ads are done, and there is nothing else you can do, but sit and wait for the next 12, 15, 18 hours and, and wander the streets, maybe find a bar to hang in and out. And I don't -- I don't know. But you got to -- you got to kill that time until eight or nine o'clock tomorrow night. That is -- that is the toughest thing for any type of campaign operative. I can tell you. It is -- it is an antsy, antsy time as you wait those votes.
DEAN: Yeah, I have an election playlist and "The Waiting" is on there. You know that song? I feel like that's apt here. The waiting is the hardest part. Sophia, what do we know about the candidates' plans for tomorrow?
CAI: So, we know that former President Trump is going to have a late start. He's going to go and vote in person on Election Day. That is a wish of his that will be fulfilled. And then he's going to visit his campaign HQ in Palm Beach. And then we know he's going to go back, relax a little bit, make a couple calls, get out to vote calls, and then he's going to be watching those results from Mar-a-Lago.
[02:40:00]
He's going to have a pretty small election watch party for family and friends. It's very exclusive. I'm heard -- I'm hearing that there's a lot of elbowing to get into that one and then there's going to be a bigger watch party of up to 7,000 people at the convention center. And that is where, if things are looking good, if Trump wins tomorrow, and it is called, it probably won't be, Trump will go and give a victory speech.
SANCHEZ: To the question of timing, Geoff, I share your anxiety about a protracted count. I'm wondering what you think you'll -- or what you'll be watching for in Georgia, because that's one of the first battleground states with polls closing.
DUNCAN: Yeah, I think all the battleground states, specifically Georgia, it's all about the suburbs, right? This whole election is going to come down to the suburbs and what type of intensity. I think specifically to Georgia, you're going to look at this northern suburb, Cobb County, north Fulton County, Gwinnett County, Forsyth County where I live, and you're going to see, especially when these early voting data comes in, like what is that exact breakdown, what does it look like? Does it break those projected, previous projections or previous molds? And that's I think going to be a bellwether sign for the rest of those suburbs around the country and those swing states. DEAN: Steven, I know you've been following this all the way through. I'm just curious what you're watching as this day unfolds.
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: I think, start with Wayne County in Michigan, around Detroit, we might get some indication about whether those Arab American voters who are angry with the Vice President Harris over Gaza, whether they are sticking with her. Then looking around Philadelphia, it may take a while for the vote to come in there, but is she getting the turnout she needs in Philadelphia, in Pittsburgh, that can then be allied with turnout, as he was talking about, in Georgia, in the suburbs, to build her coalition?
I mean, just the feeling tonight, it feels like the vibes are stronger for Harris. But I remember a day, 20 years ago, about this time of night, I was flying back on the Kerry plane to Boston from his last rally in Wisconsin. Everybody in the staff on that plane thought that Kerry was going to be president elect within 18 hours, and it didn't happen. Sometimes campaigns see -- their perceptions are backed up by what they're seeing, and it's not necessarily what though are there. So we have two campaigns here that think they're going to win, one of them is going to be wrong.
DEAN: Yeah.
COLLINSON: Whether it's tomorrow or Wednesday or Thursday, whatever.
SANCHEZ: I'm also wondering, Stephen, let's say it plays out in such a way that we're in this protracted sort of waiting period, what does that look like from a keeping the peace perspective? Because we've heard a lot of efforts being made across the country, security being amped up in certain places, specifically places where votes are going to be counted. What does it mean for the country to have to wait for days, possibly weeks or more to find out who the president is going to?
COLLINSON: Well, the longer it goes on, the more the tension builds. We saw that four years ago. Trump will be out there on TV the whole time, creating suspicion about whether this election is fair or not. It also, as we've seen, opens a window for U.S. adversaries, Russia, China, to start trying to cause mischief in this election. So, it's in everyone's interests really for whoever wins to win conclusively.
DEAN: And Meghan, I know that the Harris campaign has said multiple times, in fact, with that video, with its campaign manager Dave, that they expect Trump to declare victory whether or not that has been -- whether or not we've called the race or any media organization has called the race based on actual data, and that they have a plan for that. Does that -- I don't know. It wouldn't surprise you. I mean, that's what he did last time. But they certainly have thought about this a lot.
HAYS: Yeah, I think they have. I mean, they have hundreds of lawyers that are ready to be deployed. I think that they have a legal strategy, but I think that the thing that they would stress the most, that these are going to be safe elections and they want people to go out and cast their vote. And I think that's really important, that they'll be safe and they'll be fair elections. And I think that would be the message they want, but they are ready for that.
I mean, we saw we were ready for it four years ago and they'll be ready for it today because I think to your point, I think any scenario is up for grabs here. And I think that they are waiting for him to declare victory and then have to like, sort of go through the motions of that not being true, if that's -- once the votes are counted.
SANCHEZ: Geoff, you were in ground zero effectively for Trump's efforts to overturn the last election. And we've seen numerous changes being made, not just in Georgia, but in different states across the country in order to prevent some of the uncertainty that we saw last time. I wonder if you think those changes have been enough?
DUNCAN: Well, I think first and foremost, what's different this cycle in 2024 than 2020 was, I think it caught everybody off guard how willing Donald Trump was to lie and just come out of the gates and just create conspiracy theories, and it caught everybody off guard.
[02:45:00]
There's a huge segment of this country that saw no proof and watched this play out for four years. So I think there's a starting point that's at a different place in 2024 when this -- if this game starts again. Hopefully it doesn't. And yeah, I do think we've made improvements. I mean, especially in Georgia, there was a lot of early angst to try to carry Donald Trump's manifesto across the finish line in the legislature.
But really what we did was we tightened up in a bipartisan way and made things more efficient. That's what you're supposed to do after elections. So I do think we'll have quicker counts. I think we'll have better audits, all of that nature, but nothing has changed with the integrity or the legality of these elections since 2020.
DEAN: All right. Well, guys, thank you all so much for staying with us. Lance, to you too in LA and all of you guys here on the panel with us. I know it is the middle of the night --
(LAUGH)
DEAN: So our thanks to all of you.
SANCHEZ: Let's get some rest and get ready for tomorrow, later, whatever. Thank you all so much. The one thing that Republicans and Democrats can agree on in this election is the importance of the Gen-Z vote. And when we come back, we'll talk about how both campaigns, social media strategies, shaped what some are calling the TikTok election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OPRAH WINFREY, AMERICAN HOST AND TELEVISION PRODUCER: If we don't show up tomorrow, it is entirely possible that we will not have the opportunity to ever cast a ballot again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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[02:50:30]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WINFREY: I am here with ten first-time voters for Philadelphia.
(CROWD CHEERING)
WINFREY: So, Phoenix (ph), I hear you did research before voting.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I did. It was really important to me that like the policies that Kamala Harris has proposed for women's reproductive rights and education equality are what led me to cast my ballot for her.
(CROWD CHEERING)
WINFREY: Fantastic. And Eddie (ph), I heard you stood in line because?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because honestly, it was an honor as an African American to exercise my right to vote, which my ancestors fought so hard for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: That was Oprah Winfrey rallying young voters for Harris in Philadelphia on Monday night. And as you saw, many of them had just voted for the first time.
DEAN: Studies show many members of Gen-Z weren't motivated to vote until Harris joined the race. Columbia University's Columbia Magazine reporting Gen-Z is now one-fifth of the U.S. electorate. That's of course, 20 percent of the vote.
SANCHEZ: And in this election, 80 million newly eligible voters are members of Generation-Z. That means they could have a big impact on the outcome in some states. Let's discuss with Aidan Kohn-Murphy. He's the founder of 'Gen-Z for Change', a political activist, organizer and social media content creator. He joins us live from Detroit.
Aidan, thanks so much for being with us. Researchers say that the Gen- Z demographic sees social media as the most authentic form of media. What issues would you say are breaking through?
AIDAN KOHN-MURPHY, FOUNDER, GEN-Z FOR CHANGE: I think the key issues got to be climate, reproductive justice, gun violence, something that's been incredibly important in this election has been Biden's incredibly unpopular support for the Israeli government. That is something that a lot of young people are really hoping that Vice President Harris will break away from. But, there are a lot of key issues that have been really talked about on social media.
DEAN: And Aidan, you're very active on TikTok. That's where a lot of people get their news, get their information. Do you think that's been -- what's the upside and what's the downside, I guess, is what I'm asking? Because the upside is you can meet people where they are, right? But there is -- there could be a lot of disinformation on TikTok.
KOHN-MURPHY: That's absolutely true. I think the upside is that you can see your peers react to information that they are learning for the first time and bringing it to you in a peer-to-peer model. That really moves people to support candidates more. I think that, like this major trend that has been going around on TikTok has been, young people listening to the Access Hollywood tapes for the first time. You got to remember, we were somewhere between fifth grade, seventh grade when the Access Hollywood tapes came out. We have gotten numb to Trump's horrible words and actions. However, these are things that we have not heard. And I think that TikTok has really provided a way to kind of remind and kind of shock young people into action.
DEAN: It is. I'm just shaking my head while you're saying that because it's so obvious, but I hadn't thought about it that way. Yeah, you were probably -- if you're voting for the first time in this election, you were really young when that first came out and maybe had no context for it. It's wild.
SANCHEZ: Yeah. Celebrities have been out front this election, Taylor Swift and Beyonce getting front row for Harris. Trump receiving endorsements from Joe Rogan, other personalities like Jake Paul. How do celebrity endorsements sit with Generation-Z? Do they move the needle?
KOHN-MURPHY: I think celebrity endorsements can be really hit or miss. I think that what we've seen is that endorsements from trusted sources on social media that -- where -- that young people really feel like they know the people that they're following, these creators. There's a level of trust that you can tap into there that there's not necessarily the same level of trust between a celebrity and a fan. And I think social media can lend itself really well to just that level of trust.
[02:55:00]
You can get young people to take action in ways that the endorsement from celebrities just wouldn't have that effect.
DEAN: Yeah. And then quickly before we let you go, just also to this idea, I think there's kind of a general idea, conventional wisdom if you will, that young voters skew Democratic. But Trump has been making a lot of inroads, especially with young men. What do you make of that?
KOHN-MURPHY: Yeah, it's definitely happening. I think that the Harris campaign has been doing a pretty good job of trying to counter that. But it's a very real thing that's happening that we need to keep our eyes on, the gender gap is widening and widening as young women are becoming more and more progressive and Democratic. So I think there's a new need to really reach young men with why issues of reproductive justice are important to them, and the ways that it connects to the people and the women that they care about in their lives.
DEAN: All right. Aidan Kohn-Murphy, thank you so much for joining us. Really appreciate it.
KOHN-MURPHY: Thanks so much.
DEAN: And thank you for joining us to kick off Election Day. I'm Jessica Dean in Washington.
SANCHEZ: And I'm Boris Sanchez. Our coverage continues with Erica Hill in New York in just a few moments. Thanks for joining us.
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