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CNN Live Event/Special

Vivek Ramaswamy is Interviewed about the Presidential Election; Trump and Harris Court Voters in Last Weeks of Campaign; Election Determines Direction of Republican Party. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired November 05, 2024 - 06:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[06:30:00]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: Ground with women voters. However, that didn't stop him and his allies from using some choice words to describe some of his female rivals in the final days of the campaign.

Plus, former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy spent this election cycle pitching Donald Trump to younger voters. He joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is a six pack under the leadership of Kamala Harris. This is a six pack under the leadership of Donald J. Trump. Let's make America great again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: OK, the Trump-Vance campaign taking their final pitch to social media. I'll let you decide whether you think that's effective. It's certainly visually arresting (ph). Their goal for months has been to reach generation z voters, especially young men. Our next guest has spent a lot of time making the case for Trump to young people on college campuses who, like these students at Penn State, have a wide range of opinion about the candidates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am not a fan of Trump. I think it's all show. I think he truly does not care about anything other than himself.

[06:35:03]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm voting for Donald Trump. For me it's really just the threat of rising global conflict.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's just some things you can't - you can't play with. You know, the economy stretches, goes back and forth all the time, but abortion's gone, it's gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The past four years haven't been great. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that January 6th was one of the most

unacceptable like attacks on democracy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's some, like, the people I'm friends with, I would say it's like the cool thing to vote for Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: The cool thing to vote for Trump.

Joining us now, entrepreneur, former Republican presidential candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy, who is now, of course, backing Donald Trump.

Sir, good to have you on the program. Thanks for being here.

VIVEK RAMASWAMY (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Good morning, Kasie.

HUNT: So, I don't think anyone would argue with - with more beer. My question for you, big picture though, because the majority of voters in America are women, straight up. If Donald Trump's going to win this election, he needs men to vote for him in greater numbers than women vote for Harris, by a greater percentage.

Is Trump going to be able to do that tonight?

RAMASWAMY: I think he is. And that's one way to cut it. I also look at other demographic groups that have historically gone for Democrats that are clearly coming our way this time around. Greater portions of the black vote and Hispanic vote I think no doubt. And then you put your finger on an important one, where I have traveled college campuses, met with young people across the country and especially in swing states. And I think decisively we're going to see a greater shift in gen z towards voting for Donald Trump this time around.

Kasie, principally motivated by staying out of foreign conflicts, avoiding world war three, growing the economy and bringing down housing costs. Those are some of the issues most on the minds of young Americans. And I think those shifts are together going to comprise I think a new coalition for Republicans.

Reagan was the last Republican candidate to do this, to really build a new coalition. I think that's happening in plain sight. And if my experience traveling the country is any indication, I think that's going to be very positive for Donald Trump tonight.

HUNT: I will say, it's antic data for sure, but conversations among moms, other women, I run into about young people not necessarily quite college age yet but they perhaps are showing, especially men, an inclination to be more willing to vote for conservatives than perhaps people would have assumed in the past.

You mentioned wars, foreign conflicts. Do you think that's the main issue for them? I mean what - what is driving that? RAMASWAMY: Yes, if I had to boil it down to two issues, one is the

concern that if there is a foreign war, God forbid that the United States is involved in. That's going to fall on gen z's shoulders.

I think there's a lot of skepticism, even from the millennial generations on down, about the failures in Iraq and Afghanistan. I think people give Donald Trump a lot of credit for not being a partisan in the sense that he was actually bucking the Republican trend of supporting wars, like the Iraq War. I think that's carried a lot of credibility with young people who feel duped by a lot of the bases for entering those wars.

And then you look at the results in terms of the Ukraine conflict and the Middle East conflict. We didn't have that under Donald Trump. So, I think that's probably the number one motivator for young people.

Combine that with the rising costs. What we've seen over the last several years, and this is a hard fact, is that prices have gone up but wages have not kept up. And that keeps the American dream out of reach for a lot of those young people. I think the top concern, frankly, for people graduating from college with debt is, are they going to be able to start a family and own a home.

And it is a hard fact, Kasie, that about 4 million Americans - fewer Americans own a home now than they did under the Trump years. And so I think those are the two factors especially motivating young voters, especially young men.

HUNT: Yes.

RAMASWAMY: But I see it among some young women too. This is a real concern.

HUNT: All right, I want to play for you something that Donald Trump said at his rally in Pittsburgh on Monday about - he called the election too - too big to rig.

Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I do believe it is too big to rig. I think it's too big to rig. They'll try. And they are trying, you know, though. It's too big to rig. This is a big movement. This is - you know, we did great in 2016. We did much better in 2020. But a lot of bad things happened.

This is that big powerful vicious party though. No, it's a vicious machine. I mean they can take all these bad ideas and win elections. It's like - there's only way you can do that, one way. There's only one way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Sir, if Donald Trump loses the election today, should he concede? RAMASWAMY: Look, I think that one commitment I think Republicans can

make is, if Donald Trump loses this election and Kamala Harris becomes the president, God forbid in my case. I'm not rooting for that outcome, Republicans are not going to launch some type of multiyear investigation that impedes the first two years of her presidency with false allegations of foreign election interference. We've seen that within the last decade in this country.

I think by contrast, that Joe Biden -

HUNT: Right. But it's a yes or no question, sir. I mean should he concede or should he not?

[06:40:00]

RAMASWAMY: I think whoever wins the election should win the election and whoever loses should concede. But the fact of the matter is, when we look at the last ten years - and, Kasie, you and I both understand the subtext of this question. There's been this, I think, brewed up concern that I think is really designed I think in many ways to mislead voters about what's happened in the last 10 years. There's been exactly -

HUNT: Misleading voters? I mean people attacked the Capitol to try to interrupt the process of certifying the last election.

RAMASWAMY: If - if I - if I may - if I may just - if I may just finish my point. That's no doubt been talked the - January 6th, this year, has been talked about ad nauseam. What hasn't is the fact that the presidency was actually undermined by Donald - by Kamala Harris and the Democrats. The Democratic Party that Kamala Harris is a part of.

For the first two years of Donald Trump's presidency, on allegations of a false Russia collusion hoax that was disproven.

So, what do we want this time around? We want a free, fair election where the winner is decisively decided. Americans can then move forward as a country behind that. Whichever candidate wins, I'm looking forward to that happening for the country. And I'm hoping that's Donald Trump tonight.

HUNT: Are you confident our election today is going to be free and fair?

RAMASWAMY: I certainly hope so. I mean I think I would - I would ask the same question of you. I have every hope that the polls are - the polling locations are properly monitored. That you see a lot of the cases that have worked themselves out this time around with respect to early voting. The time stamps that need to be on them. I think Pennsylvania and their courts came down, I think, on the right side of that decision.

HUNT: All right.

RAMASWAMY: One of the things that we have a great consciousness of as well is people being able to vote effectively on time. So, I'm hopeful that we're going to see an outstanding, well-run election with a great result. And, as you know, I'm supporting Donald Trump and I'm rooting for that victory tomorrow.

HUNT: All right, Vivek Ramaswamy for us this morning. Sir, thanks very much for your time. I appreciate it.

RAMASWAMY: Thank you. Appreciate it.

HUNT: All right, let's turn now to this.

Both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have spent the past several weeks looking to win over voters of the opposite gender, respectively. At the same time, in the final days of this campaign, Trump and his allies have gone after Harris and other Democratic women in remarkably disparaging terms.

Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Kamala is - I mean this is known. She's a very low IQ person.

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In it two days we are going to take out the trash in Washington, D.C. And the trash's name is Kamala Harris.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kamala Harris is a c-word. You heard that right. A big old c-word.

TRUMP: That crazy, horrible human being, Nancy Pelosi.

She's an evil, sick, crazy bi - oh no. It starts with a b but I won't say it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Brad Todd, is it productive to use b and c words for women that you would like to vote for you?

BRAD TODD, PARTNER, ONMESSAGE INC.: I think - one of my business partners is fond of saying, we've reached the groundling phase of this campaign in Shakespearean terms -

HUNT: OK.

TODD: You know, that the appeal is to the people on the ground who paid a nickel for the show and not the people in the boxes who are perhaps a bit more high-minded. It's definitely not a wrong track appeal, or an economic appeal, which is I think what would get Donald Trump more votes. But I don't think we're going to change Donald Trump or his vaudeville style.

HUNT: But even like Nikki Haley and Megyn Kelly are - are saying, you know, hey, the brotastic (ph), the bromance, like maybe less of that. TODD: It's the economy. It's the economy.

Well, you know, I mean we do have a gender gap in this election. It sits right on top of a marriage gap. And I think your segment with Vivek Ramaswamy points to something. You know, single men really are important because the male vote is definitely for Donald Trump but it's less so if you're single. The same thing in reverse for Kamala Harris. And so I think that that portion of what you saw with the beer and all that sort of stuff, I actually think that's productive for that xBox, single male vote.

HUNT: Oh, I mean, I laughed at the beer. That's funny.

ANNIE LINSKEY, REPORTER, "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL": Yes.

ALEX THOMPSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Just one thing that there's - there's two yeses here. One is the political effect of all of those things that he's saying. You know, honestly, a lot of what he's saying reminds me of exactly what they did to Hillary Clinton in 2016. But there's also, I think, just - we should just call it out, that there has been a large sexist campaign against Kamala Harris in the final days. You had Hulk Hogan going up there and making very crude jokes at Madison Square Garden. You also - and Kamala Harris, because she does not want this race to be about questions about is America ready for the first woman president, has basically had to not respond and just like take it and have the - and she's had the discipline not to do that.

TODD: Well, again, I think Donald Trump would be much better off if he would focus on ideology. Much better off. I don't think he's going to get swing voters over personal insults. I think he can get them on saying she's too far to the left.

LINSKEY: And he was, in 2016 and 2020. I mean if you looked at the last two weeks of his election campaign in those two races, he was a much more disciplined candidate than he is being right now. In 2016 he won. 2020 he way overperformed where the polls were saying he was at. So, I mean there is a difference in how Trump is behaving (INAUDIBLE).

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: But, I mean, also, I mean, I - one of the things that I haven't really seen in - I mean we have all of these amazing papers and we work with a lot of journalists all the time is talking about the double standard that we've applied in this race. Donald Trump gets up there and he makes no sense and calls it a weave. And Kamala Harris goes out and presents herself. You don't have to like the ideology.

[06:45:01]

That's a - that's a sound debate. But she gets called everything but a child of God by people, but she has to be perfect.

I mean Kamala Harris - and I've said this before - as a woman in this country running for president, has to run the 110 hurdles in high heels and then do a flip at the finish line just for the media to treat her with the same type of lens that they treat Donald Trump. There - there is no way that someone who goes up there and dances or does like this really weird fixation on microphones or loses his train of thought or actually is in Georgia and thinks the Senate candidate from Pennsylvania is there -

TODD: I think it was North Carolina.

SELLERS: Or North Carolina and thinks that - thank you - and thinks the Senate candidate from Pennsylvania is there and gets treated with some level of credibility. Whereas she has to be perfect.

The crazy thing about that is, she's talented enough to give herself an opportunity to be president of the United States today. And I think that's a failure on all our parts.

HUNT: All right, Annie, Alex, Bakari, thank you all for being with us on this Election Day.

SELLERS: We'll be around all day.

HUNT: Alex, Bakari, you guys are going to be up overnight with me.

THOMPSON: Right.

SELLERS: Yes.

HUNT: OK, 2:00 a.m. we're going to actually be in New York, where we all have to go right after this show is over.

TODD: 2:00 a.m.

HUNT: Brad's going to stick around for our next segment.

Straight ahead here on this special edition of CNN THIS MORNING, I'm joined by a panel of Republicans, two of whom are voting for Kamala Harris. We're going to talk about what it could mean for the GOP if this is Donald Trump's last turn on the national stage.

And, how we got here. We're going to take a look back at the events of the last two years. It's head-spinning how this race has been transformed leading up to this Election Day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The - the - the total initiative relative to what we're going to do with more border patrol and more asylum officers.

JAKE TAPPER, MODERATOR: President Trump.

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don't think he knows what he said either.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HUNT: All right, welcome back to CNN THIS MORNING.

Also at stake in this election, the future of the Republican Party as Trump completes his third presidential campaign. Traditional conservative Republicans, like Mitt Romney and the Cheney family, are finding they don't have much of a voice in Donald Trump's Republican Party.

It began on that golden escalator ride in Trump Tower back in June of 2016 where Trump announced his candidacy for president. First floated the idea of a border wall. And then, of course, came Trump's presidency.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (August 15, 2017): But you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Then President Trump talking about protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, that featured neo-Nazis chanting "Jews will not replace us." In those protests, dozens were injured, a young woman was killed after someone drove their car through a crowd. To this day, Trump maintains those remarks were perfect.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (July 20, 2015): He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured, OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: And, of course, before that, there were Trump's remarks about John McCain's military service. The start of a pattern of derogatory comments directed at the former prisoner of war.

And in so many ways, Trump has transformed the GOP, culminating in these closing remarks last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We will defeat the corrupt system in Washington because I'm not running against Kamala, I'm running against an evil democrat system. These are evil people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:50:08]

HUNT: All right, joining us now, former Congressman Adam Kinzinger and former Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan. They are both part of Republicans for Harris and have been campaigning for the Democratic nominee.

And, of course, Brad Todd, who is a more traditional Republican, I guess shall we say, is actually really not anymore, you're a Trump Republican.

Gentlemen, I'm so grateful to have you here on this - on this consequential day.

Congressman, let me start with you.

I mean, what do you think is really at stake here? Certainly, Democrats seem to be using the phrase "nauseously optimistic" about what's going to happen.

ADAM KINZINGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.

HUNT: But put it - put it in terms of what you think is at stake for the country and - and what it means for the party that you served in for so long.

KINZINGER: I think it's the future of conservatism, I mean, honestly. There is nothing conservative about the Republican Party today. There really isn't. You know, standing with Vladimir Putin against your own, you know, intel services, kind of throwing Ukraine under the bus, a lot of spending, a future that's just based on dividing people against each other and not really showing any kind of an optimistic future.

I think if the Republican Party loses, if Donald Trump loses, it's a chance for the GOP to kind of look inside and say, what have we done with our soul? How many times - I mean if they'd have elected Nikki Haley, you probably could have won the presidency today and had the presidency for eight years. But instead there's this cult.

And so, I think it's the future of conservatism. And that's why I, and I know Geoff, have no - we have no regrets for what we've done. And I always jokingly say, I'd do it twice as hard if I could go back in time.

HUNT: Geoff.

GEOFF DUNCAN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, this isn't position A, right? I didn't get into politics 12 years ago and expect to be doing this. But this is where I believe is the best place for us to be able to hit the reset button and create a GOP 2.0. A party that focuses and defends on policies and uses empathy to grow the size of the tent and use a tone that invites and encourages. I think all Republicans, for the most part, including the ones that are voting for Donald Trump, would agree he's not the future of the party.

And I think we're in this really awkward spot right now where regardless of whether Donald Trump wins or loses, this party's got this little short window of time to get it right, to start taking our own medicine. If Donald Trump wins, there's no doubt he'll wreck the car and continue to soil the brand of being a Republican. And so I think you're going to watch entire herds of Republicans look for somewhere else that's more respectable. And that could mean we could start hemorrhaging to Democrats by the droves.

If Kamala Harris wins, and actually does govern towards the middle, she has a chance to grow the size - the net total of the party if she does govern towards the middle. Not in the middle. She's a Democrat. But if she governs towards the middle, like she did on the campaign trail, and ask our opinion on certain policies, then I think she's got a chance to grow the party.

HUNT: Brad, if someone other than Donald Trump, to the congressman's point, had been at the top of the Republican ticket, considering the approval rating of President Biden and even the way - some of the way Harris' numbers have moved, would Republicans be running away with this election? I mean -

TODD: This is a big debate inside the Republican Party. I mean there is certainly an argument to say that a candidate like Nikki Haley could have had a lot more suburban voters who are skeptical of the way Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have run the country. That's one argument.

Another argument is the fact that a lot of former Democrats, blue collar voters, are a lot more comfortable in Donald Trump's Republican Party than they would have been in Mitt Romney's Republican Party. And the data is pretty clear that there's a good argument for that too.

You know, I didn't predict Donald Trump would win in 2015. In fact, I said the opposite plenty of times over and over in the primary. After that election, I wrote a book with Salena Zito on the Trump coalition, trying to understand a little bit more about how the populist coalition was reshaping it.

It is a realignment. And we have a working class coalition on the Republican side now. And the Democratic Party has become an upper class coalition. Historically in America, the working class coalition wins.

HUNT: Geoff Duncan, I do want to make sure that we kind of end this show today talking about what I think is one of the things that brought you to where you are, and that is the sanctity of our peaceful transfer of power and the stakes for the election here because there are already signs that if in fact Donald Trump were to lose, there's unlikely to be a concession.

You, obviously, personally experienced the violence that came with standing up to Trump when he tried to convince Georgia officials, you included, to change the election results. What are those stakes of that today?

DUNCAN: Well, there's so much at stake. But I think - and way more than a party. I mean just the ideology of a country, the nature of having a fair and free election, and then the peaceful transfer of power. But I can't help but think how off base this country is right now. How off base the Republican Party is. And it all goes back to one person. And I think what's happened is, we've lost - we don't have any leaders. We don't have anybody standing up modeling the right thing to do. The job of president is the least important. It doesn't determine how much traffic you sit in, how good your kids schools are or how safe your neighborhoods are.

[06:55:00]

The job of president sets the north star. And Donald Trump has set that north star in the gutter. And we, as Republicans, have said, that's' OK. It's not OK.

HUNT: I will say, Congressman Kinzinger, I remember sitting on a different TV set with you as this was first unfolding with Trump and you saying something very similar to that, that our leaders have to lead.

KINZINGER: Yes.

HUNT: And, of course, now here we are.

I would love to have this conversation all morning. Unfortunately, we're out of time because I do want to spend the last few minutes of this taking a little bit of a walk down memory lane. This election has been many things, unprecedented, unpredictable, and really more than anything unforgettable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (November 15, 2022): In order to make America great and glorious again, I am, tonight, announcing my candidacy for president of the United States.

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (April 25, 2023): This is not a time to be complacent. That's why I'm running for re-election.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (November 13, 2023): His approval numbers are historically low. The only - rivalling only Jimmy Carter, who got slaughtered, of course, in that election.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR (April 15, 2024): Donald Trump will officially become the first former president in the history of these United States to face a criminal trial.

TRUMP (April 15, 2024): This is an assault on America.

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST (December 5, 2023): You would never abuse power as retribution against anybody.

TRUMP (December 5, 2023): Except for day one.

He says, you're not going to be a dictator, are you? I said, no, no, no, other than day one.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR (May 15, 2024): The first Biden-Trump debate of 2024 is now set for June 27th right here on CNN.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (June 27, 2024): What I've been able to do with the - with - with the Covid - excuse me, with dealing with everything we had to do with - look, if - we finally beat Medicare.

HUNT (June 28, 2024): We are f-ed. That reaction from a Democratic source after watching President Biden's performance in last night's CNN debate.

HUNT (July 2, 2024): It sounds like you're actually open to the idea that it might be the right decision for him to step aside.

REP. MIKE QUIGLEY (D-IL) (July 2, 2024): I think what I'm stressing is it has to be his decision.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA) (July 10, 2024): It's up to the president to decide if he is going to run. We're all encouraging him to - to make that decision because time is running short.

ANNOUNCER (July 14, 2024): This is CNN breaking news.

HUNT (July 14, 2024): Donald Trump injured but safe. The 2024 election fundamentally altered. America reeling from a horrific act of violence.

HULK HOGAN (July 19, 2024): And I said, let Trump-o-mania run wild, brother.

HUNT (July 19, 2024): Congressman, do you think that Kamala Harris, at the top of the Democratic ticket, could beat former President Trump in the fall?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (July 19, 2024): I think she would smoke him, honestly.

HUNT (July 22, 2024): For the first time in over half a century, a sitting president, who can still run for re-election, will not appear on the ballot. President Joe Biden making the stunning announcement on Sunday.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (July 23, 2024): Kamala Harris.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (July 23, 2024): Do we believe in the promise of America? And are we ready to fight for it?

HARRIS (August 6, 2024): The next vice president of the United States, Tim Walz.

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE (August 6, 2024): You know it. You feel it. These guys are creepy. And, yes, just weird as hell. That's what you see.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (July 15, 2024): It is therefore my honor to nominate Ohio Senator J.D. Vance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (July 27, 2024): The childless cat lady. Would you like to comment on that?

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (July 27, 2024): Obviously, it was a sarcastic comment. I've got nothing against cats.

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (September 10, 2024): In Springfield, they're eating the dogs. The people that came in.

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT (August 20, 2024): This weird obsession with crowd sizes.

HARRIS (August 22, 2024): We are not going back. We are not going back.

HUNT (August 23, 2024): Welcome to all of you. So grateful to have you here.

Bakari, you OK?

SELLERS: Yes. I'm -

KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Caffeine. Caffeine. Caffeine.

SELLERS: I don't know where I am or what I'm doing, but I'm - I'm apparently here.

HUNT: Just a little concerned.

SELLERS: First morning.

HUNT: Can we put this shirt button?

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: No, no -

SELLERS: First - first of all, I am making a statement.

WILLIAMS: That's a lot. That's a lot.

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Hang on. Hang on. Let me get - let me get my Bakari going.

SELLERS: All right.

JENNINGS: Here we go, Bakari.

HUNT: Oh, my God, Scott.

WILLIAMS: No, no, no, no.

HUNT: Thank God you could barely see that on camera.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR (September 15, 2024): The Trump campaign says shots were fired in in the vicinity of the former president at his Doral golf resort. He is safe.

TRUMP (September 17, 2024): A few days ago we had an incident. I have to say, Secret Service did a hell of a job. They really did.

TRUMP (October 19, 2024): Arnold Palmer was all man. He took showers with the other pros. They came out of there, they said, oh my God.

TRUMP (October 20, 2024): I'm looking for a job and I've always wanted to work at McDonald's.

TRUMP (October 30, 2024): How do you like my garbage truck? This truck is in honor of Kamala and Joe Biden.

HARRIS (November 4, 2024): Are we ready to vote? Are we ready to win?

TRUMP (November 4, 2024): With your vote tomorrow we can fix every single problem our country faces.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:00:01]

HUNT: All right, on this Election Day, a final reminder that it is now up to you. It's in your hands. It's the beauty of the system that we have, that no matter what we may or may not say here as we cover the candidates, it's your decision. It's up to you.

Voters are voting. Get out there. Don't miss your chance.

Thanks to all of you for being with us. I'm Kasie Hunt. CNN's Election Day coverage continues right now.