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Democrats Asking Questions This Morning; Trump Elected President; Control of U.S. House Up for Grabs. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired November 06, 2024 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I know you said you love your brother and you like your brother. You like spending time with him. Do you trust your brother to be in charge of health care in the United States given what you said about your concerns over the future of childhood vaccines?

KERRY KENNEDY, SISTER OF RFK JR.: No, I don't, and that's clear. And that's on the record. And he knows that. And that's very clear.

But I think, you know, we live in a democracy. The people have spoken. And not it's - it's - our - we have two obligations. Number one, to think through thoroughly, why did people not hear the Democratic message, and how do we reach out to people who were not with us in this campaign and need it - and we - who we need it. And how do we bring them - work over the next four years to bring them into the fold and to work together and to revision where we're - where we're headed. What's our policies and what are also our messaging. That's part of it.

And the other part is to protect our democracy in the meantime. You know, we have a - now a president-elect who's said that on day one he's going to use the government to go after his enemies. That he's already amassing a list of both individuals and non-governmental organizations that he's going to hand to the IRS on day one and have investigations opened up, not because they've done anything wrong, but because he - they disagreed with him. That he's going to use the military to go after the American people, and he's going to target Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff.

And this is very, very dangerous for all of us, as Americans.

BERMAN: Kerry Kennedy -

KENNEDY: And we need to protect the press and we need to protect all of our institutions.

BERMAN: Kerry Kennedy, asking a lot of the questions that I know Democrats are asking this morning. And just before I let you go, I want you to know that I know you lost your mother in the last few weeks. You lost someone you loved very much. America lost an icon. Our condolences.

KENNEDY: Thank you. BERMAN: Thank you very much for being with us this morning.

Kerry Kennedy, appreciate your time.

KENNEDY: Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it.

BERMAN: Interesting.

I mean, first of all, just on the pure politics of it, I mean she's asking all the questions that Democrats are asking this morning, for sure, right?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. And let me just say this about the Kennedys. I mean we talk about the coalition that Donald Trump has put together to win, OK? The irony that Bobby Kennedy Jr., a member of, you know, arguably the most famous political family in our lifetime, most famous political family in the Democratic lifetime - I should note, I did work for - for Senator Kennedy when I first graduated college for one year. I was very good at opening mail and answering phones. But what I can tell you is that they are a very, very close family and it has got to be eating them up inside right now to see Bobby Kennedy Jr. out there now going to take over the health care or was led to believe, you know, control of the health care industry, when his family has spent so much time trying to put together what they thought was the right approach to health care. I mean, the irony is amazing.

BERMAN: I will say, her answer was very caring about that, though. She loves her brother. She likes her brother. Doesn't trust her brother at all to handle what the portfolio that Donald Trump might be giving him.

LEAH WRIGHT RIGUEUR, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Right. And I think that's a reflection of the nature of people in families and people in close- knit families, but also people in families that have political disagreements.

But I also think it's true, and I think she brought up a really important part about, what does this look like in the actual administration? And I think that's something that we actually have to talk about. Certainly, it's a question not just that Democrats are asking this morning, but that most of America is asking this morning. What does a Trump administration look like? What does, you know, Robert F, Kennedy Jr. as health czar, what does that actually mean for the government?

And the first thing that I would point out is that Trump, unlike 2016, actually has a transition team this time around. This transition team is more - far more organized, they're far more disciplined, and they're far more loyal, and they're far more partisan. So, I would be concerned about that.

The second thing that I would be really concerned about is not all of the other promises that Donald Trump made on the campaign trail, but the one specifically about getting rid of non- political civil servants within the government. And that is the one that we should really be paying attention to, because it is those civil servants and those non-political appointees who actually make the government run and function and prevent against corruption, greed, and scandal.

So, we should be really asking these questions, but we should also be laying out what that actually looks like.

[08:3501]

BERMAN: It's a great point. And over the next several hours we'll be talking probably less about what just happened and more about what is about to happen, because I think people waking up very much want to know. So, stand by for that.

So, when might we hear from Vice President Kamala Harris after her loss to Donald Trump? We've got new reporting on that. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN's special live coverage.

At some point today we do expect to hear from Vice President Kamala Harris. It would be her first set of remarks since losing to Donald Trump.

CNN's Eva McKend has been embedded with the Harris campaign.

Eva, what are we hearing at this hour from team Harris?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kasie, it will be a different kind of homecoming for the vice president as she is expected to return to Howard University and address the nation and concede to defeat to former President Donald Trump.

What I'm hearing from a Harris ally is to give the Harris campaign time to process this, to define what they describe as their own strengths and weaknesses at this time.

[08:40:10]

But listen, the campaign went into election night feeling confident, saying that they didn't have to only rely on the blue wall as their only path to victory, that they saw pathways in the other battleground states. Evidently, that was not the case.

The vice president ran on offering the country a new generation of leadership, restoring reproductive rights, and warning against the threat, in her view, that the former president posed to this country, as it relates to democracy. Those issues ultimately did not win the day.

But it is perhaps the strategy, this country over party, so forcefully embracing Republicans, like the Liz Cheney's, as part of the Democratic coalition that will gain the most scrutiny. And we're hearing from some corners of the Democratic Party really push back on this morning. You have a Georgia state representative, the first Muslim American

woman to serve in that body, say, why, instead, weren't Palestinian American voices evaluated at the Democratic National Convention over Republican voices? Why weren't there more elevation of progressive voices in the party? So, these, of course, are all questions that Democrats will have to answer in the post- game now in this analysis.

But it's a very difficult time for the Harris campaign. I was with them. They worked extremely hard to try to pull off sort of a remarkable feat here with the vice president only the nominee for a few months.

So, yes, we will hear from the vice president at some point today from Howard University where she will address the country.

Kasie.

HUNT: I will just say, it's a bit remarkable that we're at 8:41 in the morning and we still don't have a sense yet of when we're going to hear from her.

Eva McKend, thanks very much.

So, as we do wait for Kamala Harris to speak, let's take a look at how Hillary Clinton addressed her supporters following her own defeat by Donald Trump eight years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (November 9, 2016): We have seen that our nation is more deeply divided than we thought. But I still believe in America. And I always will. And if you do, then we must accept this result and then look to the future. Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So, there was Hillary Clinton saying back in 2016 that Donald Trump was owed a chance to lead. The country has obviously been through quite a bit in the eight years since that happened. And many Democrats had warned about what another Trump presidency would look like. And Kamala Harris, Vice President Harris, actually used the word fascist recently when she was talking about Donald Trump.

Let's watch that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Do you think Donald Trump is a fascist?

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. (D) AND FORMER U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (October 23, 2024): Yes, I do. Yes, I do.

He's going to sit there, unstable, unhinged, plotting his revenge, plotting his retribution, creating an enemies list. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So, what is the needle that Kamala Harris is going to thread this morning when we hear from her, considering there - there is this mandate to govern. The country has said, in terms wider than many of the polls showed, that, you know, Donald Trump has a mandate. How does she, considering what she said about what his going to mean, how does she address the country?

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: There's no needle to thread. I mean she is a stateswoman. First of all, let me - let me just say this. I'm extremely proud of Kamala Harris. I'm proud of the way that she served admirably as vice president. They ran a race with no gaffes, no embarrassments, in a short period of time, and she's an amazing woman. And if my daughter could grow up and be half the woman Kamala Harris is, my daughter's life will be a success. So, let me throw that out there, first. She meant so much to so many people.

The second thing is, this is a concession speech, which is probably one of her last, if not her last hurrah on this major stage and platform. This is about a vision that you wanted for the future, but you didn't win. And that happens in politics. In politics you have winners and losers in democracy, all right. That's the way this thing works. And the American public, 81 million people came out and said that Donald Trump is who they want for the next four years and only 66 million said they wanted you. That's all - is that surprising? No. Is that disappointing? Yes.

And she can talk about the fact, what she wants this country to look like in the next four years and say, congratulations, Donald Trump is the next president-elect.

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: But the - but the point is, she just spent weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks conditioning your entire party and near half the country to believe that Trump is a fascist, that he's going to be a dictator, that he's going to rip up the Constitution, that he's going to cause bloodbaths, and on and on and on.

[08:45:02]

And now she has to wake up today and say, OK, and I'm now conceding power to the person that I strongly implied was going to be a modern Hitler. Do you believe that people she just conditioned with that kind of campaign are going to accept it?

SELLERS: Thats not the way this works.

KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: This - yes. Yes.

SELLERS: First - first and foremost, that's - that's not the -

JENNINGS: Is it not been - then was she - then she didn't actually believe it, is that correct?

SELLERS: No, that's not - BEDINGFIELD: No.

SELLERS: First of all - first - yes.

JENNINGS: Did she actually believe it?

BEDINGFIELD: It wasn't her words, it was people who served with him.

JENNINGS: It was her words. She just used - she just said he was a fascist.

SELLERS: First, let me -

BEDINGFIELD: It was people - people who served with him, Scott.

SELLERS: But - but one second - one second, Scott. I mean I don't want to re-litigate campaign talking points. But when you're talking about fascism, we're actually talking about what his chief of staff said. When you're talking about -

JENNINGS: She said it.

SELLERS: I know.

JENNINGS: She said it.

SELLERS: But who else said it?

JENNINGS: So, my question -

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: She agreed with them.

JENNINGS: All - the only question I have is, did she believe it or not?

SELLERS: Yes.

FINNEY: Yes!

SELLERS: Because I still see -

JENNINGS: OK, so she's going then to concede to a fascist?

SELLERS: Yes.

FINNEY: Yes.

BEDINGFIELD: Because that is how our elections, democracy -

SELLERS: Because (INAUDIBLE) -

JENNINGS: I'm glad we got it out in the open.

BEDINGFIELD: What is - what is the alternative?

SELLERS: So like my only point is - BEDINGFIELD: Like, Donald Trump's an -

SELLERS: Like, my only -

BEDINGFIELD: Go ahead. Sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt you. Go ahead.

SELLERS: No, I was just going to say to Scott, like, look, I can believe Donald Trump is -

JENNINGS: Please continue down this path. I - I beg you.

SELLERS: I - I am. I am for the next 30 seconds.

JENNINGS: For the next four years.

BEDINGFIELD: I mean -

SELLERS: I believe Donald Trump is a fascist. I believe that democracy - maybe ten seconds. I believe that democracy is at risk. But I also believe that American voter came out and chose that. And that - that is - that's how this thing works!

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: But you know what, from the perspective of a lot of Republicans, they felt the country has been at risk under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

FINNEY: Well, sure.

SINGLETON: And Ron Brownstein talked about this, you know, and Scott mentioned it in an earlier segment about people being afraid about the state of the country and democracy writ large. A lot of people on the right believe the same thing, because they have seen, after three and a half years, constant, perpetual attacks against them, against their way of life, against what they believe allegedly about who they are as people, because people on D.C. and New York and on the left coast and a lot of progressives don't understand them. Instead of attempting to make the effort to understand them, you guys have called them racists, and bigots, uneducated, who cling to their guns and their Bibles, et cetera.

FINNEY: Well, hold on. Hold on. But - but at the same time we spent four years of Donald Trump, of Democrats and progressives being the same told to us, about us. And this president, as a black woman, said I'm stupid. Said we're stupid.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Vermin.

FINNEY: And - vermin. Poisoning the blood of our people, which I have said before, that actually came from Jim Crow.

So, if we're going to go down that - you know, I mean, Scott Jennings, do you believe that I am poisoning the white blood? I mean come on!

BROWNSTEIN: Well, first -

FINNEY: But - hold on.

BROWNSTEIN: OK, sorry.

FINNEY: But to what Bakari was saying, this was an election. It's like a - it's like any sport. He won. You say, we did our best. I thank my team. Now it's up to him. And I hope, you know, you're - of course you're going to wish the best for the new leader.

JENNINGS: Good - good luck - good luck to the fascist. I mean do you understand how - how - how crazy that sounds when you're going to congratulate -

BEDINGFIELD: It's valuing our democracy ahead of - of partisan politics.

HUNT: OK, hold on, let Kate speak.

BEDINGFIELD: Can I just say quickly, it's - yes, yes, because campaigns get heated.

FINNEY: Yes.

BEDINGFIELD: And the loser comes out and concedes to the winner. And it's - that - that is valuing our democracy more than any element of partisan politics. And that is actually what American democracy is based on.

So, yes, yes, that is what happens. And it's important that it does.

BROWNSTEIN: It goes back - it goes - it goes back to what we were saying - it goes back to what we were saying before, does he do the more extreme things that he said he was going to do? You know, does he deport millions of citizen U.S. children? Does he fire U.S. attorneys if they won't - does he send investigators? Does he send the National Guard into blue cities, as he said he would, to just patrol for crime?

So, you know, a lot of what he wants to do does not require Congress. His two biggest promises, tariffs and immigration are areas where the president has enormous unilateral authority. So, what does he do? I mean how Democrats react, I think, is not going to be as preordained as it was last time.

JENNINGS: Can I just say one thing?

BROWNSTEIN: And it will depend - it will depend in great measure on how far he goes down the roads that he laid out.

JENNINGS: May I just humbly recommend to Kamala Harris, that when she speaks today, she is honest with the people and her people specifically, that the country is not going to come to an end, the Constitution is not going to come to an end. We'll have an election in two years. We'll have an election in four years. Oprah warned us the other night that we'll never have another vote again. All of this was complete bologna. Chalk it up to heated campaign rhetoric. But it is very important that people understand what she said and the way she ran her campaign is not the way this is going to be. This is America. We had an election. I totally agree with you. But if you - if she needs to do that today. And I really hope she does.

HUNT: All right, well, we'll find out in just a couple of hours.

Just in here, the House, of course, still up for grabs, but an interesting new twist in the Senate. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:53:33]

BERMAN: All right, welcome back. This is CNN's special live coverage, Election Day in America.

And we do have a key race alert in the battle for the Senate in the key battleground state of Michigan.

Jessica Dean has that.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we do. Let's look at this key race alert.

All right, let is - let's look at Michigan, where we have Elissa Slotkin now just ever so slightly leading Mike Rogers. You'll remember, this is an open seat that the Democrats are hoping to hang on to. Elissa Slotkin, former CIA analyst, has been in the House of Representatives, running against Mike Rogers, who formerly had been in the House of Representatives, and had also worked in law enforcement. Again, 96 percent of the vote in.

We know that the Republicans have taken control of the Senate currently with 52 seat, including three pickups. Now, this would not be a pickup for Democrats. This would be them holding on to a seat. But, at this point, Democrats, of course, hoping for any good news that they could get in the Senate. The Michigan race still outstanding, but the alert here is that Elissa Slotkin is leading ever so slightly, again, with just 96 percent of the vote in.

John, we'll continue to watch this race and other blue wall states still outstanding, as well.

BERMAN: All right, Jessica Dean, thank you very much for that.

Let's go right to CNN's Lauren Fox, who covers Congress, covers the House and Senate every day of your life.

And I think Jessica's framing there is exactly right at this point.

[08:55:01]

There hasn't been much good news for Democrats, like, at all. Like, almost all of it bad news.

Elissa Slotkin being able to hang on maybe to that Senate seat in Michigan would be a tiny sliver. Tammy Baldwin maybe being able to hang on in Wisconsin, a tiny sliver of good news, but mostly tough for Democrats. LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and, John, in the

Senate, every single seat really matters. And that is because despite the fact that, yes, Republicans now have taken control of the United States Senate, each individual senator, including two Republicans that we watch a lot, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, they can have an impact on what they think of incoming President Donald Trump's cabinet. And every single seat can matter when it comes to filling those vacancies. So, very important in terms of what happens in the Senate, whether Democrats can try to keep some of the seats, keep some of their incumbents in the United States Senate in those key states, like Wisconsin and Michigan.

Meanwhile, when you turn to the House of Representatives, this is still very close. And Republicans and Democrats are watching seats across the country very closely right now from California, to Nebraska, to Arizona, to Colorado, because whether or not Democrats have any check on Donald Trump's power, it's all going to come down to whether or not Republicans keep the House or not.

John.

BERMAN: Last check, there were five flips from Democrat to Republican, which will make it hard, hard for Democrats to re-take control of the House. But we will see, as you said, still counting there.

Lauren Fox, great to see you this morning. Thank you very much.

This is CNN's special live coverage, election now day - day after in America. Much more right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:00:00]