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American Morning

Examining Election Results Across the Country; The Reaction to Obama Historic Victory

Aired November 05, 2008 - 03:00   ET

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


JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm John Roberts. Welcome to a special early edition of AMERICAN MORNING, as we continue our coverage is this historic election 2008.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome, I'm Kiran Chetry. I can still hear the bustling behind us, as well, on this historic night. Barack Obama winning the presidency.

And we are going to be with you throughout the morning showing you bits and pieces from around the country and around the world; of the excitement this morning from supporters and also where we go as a nation from here.

ROBERTS: Absolutely. And there's a lot to cover this morning. And we're not just going to be with you through the morning. We're going to be with you throughout the morning, all the way until the early part of the afternoon.

Let's go over to the wall here and take a look at how he did it. Barack Obama, now the president-elect of the United Stats, with a win over John McCain, a big win. Lots of celebration on the streets. Here's a picture of Times Square, where people were out there on the streets, as well.

This is Grant Park in Chicago where more than 200,000 people gathered to celebrate Barack Obama's victory. And that's where he spoke to his supporters after this long, almost two-year run for the presidency.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENT-ELECT: I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you.

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington, it began in the back yards of Des Moines, the living rooms of Concord, the front porches of Charleston.

It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to get five dollars, 10 dollars and 20 dollars to the cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy. Who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep.

They drew strength from the not so young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers.

And from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from the Earth. This is your victory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Senator Barack Obama, now President-Elect Barack Obama. The party is broken up there in Grant Park but our Jessica Yellin is still there for us this morning. Jessica, what an interesting evening there in Chicago. What a historic night for America.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A remarkable evening, John. A hundred and twenty-five thousand people, officials say, gathered here inside Grant Park and in the surrounding streets for this event. I was inside the crowd when CNN on the TV monitors here called the race for Barack Obama and when Obama spoke, crying, weeping people, chants instead of "Yes we can," they chanted "Yes we did."

Somebody was walking around with a big sign that says, "We have overcome."

And those were sentiments Barack Obama echoed in his remarks which both alluded to the historic nature of this event, the race barrier he's broken, but also to his efforts to reach across the lines. He said he will work with John McCain, he will work with Republicans and push forward. He was very clear that he is now focused on doing what he can to immediately start to tackle all the many challenges that face him.

For Barack Obama this is an emotional time, an emotional high but also a time to get to work. He will immediately, John, start on unveiling members of his new staff, his new team, he has a transition to - not begin, he has already unveiled some of it internally - I'm sorry, I mean he has already begun the work internally and will unveil it for us shortly.

I can finally tell you, John, I've talked to many members of his staff who obviously we have used as sources all these many months. They were so shocked and so moved emotionally, they say - most of them I've talked to, they just haven't processed that this really happened just yet.

But a real emotional high for them tonight, John.

ROBERTS: Of course, this transition that you were talking about, Jessica, it's going to be headed up by John Podesta who was the chief of staff in the Clinton administration. A person who's very familiar with the task at hand but this transition is going to be different than ones that we have seen in the recent past because this is going to be the first post 9/11 transition and not only do they have to move in new staff to the Department of Defense, the Justice Department, the State Department, but also that big, huge, Department of Homeland Security.

That is going to be a challenge that no other president has had to f ace.

YELLIN: That's right. And George Bush, the current president, has established his own commission internally to help reach out to Barack Obama or the incoming president. Now Obama's transition team to make that part of it as smooth as possible. And I can tell you the Obama transition piece has been in place now for many weeks so they're very far down, far along in their work.

It won't take them long to start naming people to jobs and begin the process of a peaceful transition of power which is something that is always so remarkable in our democracy. Rarely in the world do you see people hand off power so peacefully as they do in the U.S.

ROBERTS: And certainly that is one of the beautiful things about America. There are many, but that is one of the most beautiful.

Jessica Yellin for us in Grant Park this morning. Jessica, thanks so much. Stay awake for a little while yet, will you?

Let's throw it over to Kiran, now, who has got some analysis on what happened last night.

CHETRY: You were talking about the great thing about America and it was certainly democracy in action last night and we saw the tears and the shrieks of joy from the crowd. In fact in Chicago at Grant Park where Barack Obama spoke, more than 200,000 people came out to see that in person. Massive crowds chanting "Yes we did" and our Alina Cho is right there in the thick of it for us in Chicago. Hi, Alina.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Kiran. Good morning. And I want to start with this. Hot off the presses. The Wednesday edition of the "Chicago Tribune." Take a look. The front page says it all. Two words, "It's Obama."

As you mentioned, I was in the middle of the crowd in Grant Park tonight, nearly a quarter of a million people. When CNN made the projection that Barack Obama would be the next president of the United States, immediately as you're seeing now, the crowds erupted in cheers. There were tears, there were hugs from young and old, and simply put, a whole lot of excitement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been so elated, I can't believe that he won. He spoke at my high school graduation. I'm so excited.

CHO: He spoke at your high school graduation?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Yes. In Hyde Park. I grew up in that neighborhood. I'm so - oh my God, I'm (inaudible).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my God, it's overwhelming. Whoo.

CHO: A native son. How does that feel? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To be from Chicago, Illinois to be home of two great presidents, Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama. You can't have it much better than that.

CHO: You've had a bad season with the Cubs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a White Sox fan, ma'am. I've had a great year.

We have a White Sox fan in the Oval Office. The world is set. The world is perfect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: You know, the Windy City badly needed a win after a disappointing baseball season and boy did they get one tonight. Certainly a historic night. I mean, where else are you going to see Howard Dean and Brad Pitt standing side by side listening to Obama speak tonight and in the crowd tonight certainly there were dignitaries and celebrities too.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPIKE LEE, FILMMAKER: I'm thinking about my grandma. My grandma lived to be a hundred years old. Her mother was born a slave and I'm five generations removed from slavery and what Barack said tonight is true, this is the only place in the world where this could happen. America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: Incredible words from the famed film director Spike Lee and there was another notable VIP in the crowd tonight. That would Oprah Winfrey. Oprah, of course, one of the original supporters of Barack Obama. I went one on one with Oprah tonight and I asked her a whole lot of questions including whether she will ever consider an ambassadorship. Kiran, I will have that interview in the next half hour.

CHETRY: Alina, thanks so much. You almost feel like Oprah should have been up on stage but she was out in the crowd. That's a rarity for Oprah. Thanks so much, Alina. We'll check in with you throughout the morning.

Right now we're going to get some reaction about this historic night. Emotionally, certainly, for a lot of the candidates but first we're going to go over to John. I think you have a look at some of the papers.

ROBERTS: Yes. This is the "Standard." This is the oldest newspaper in Kenya. Can see the headline there, "Obama." A couple of newspaper vendors very happy about what's happening. Some other newspapers here, "The Daily Nation" and "The Star." Here is the "Herald Tribune," "The Asahi Shimbun" and people in Japan looking at what happened in America tonight in terms of the election. Of course, the hometown newspapers in Chicago also carrying the headline. "Chicago Sun-Times" calling him "Mr. President," Barack Obama the President-Elect.

Of course, John McCain last night, whenever there is a winner there has to be a loser. That was John McCain last night who gave his concession speech in Arizona. Let's listen to some of what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: A lost election will never mean more to me than the privilege of your faith and friendship. I don't know -- I don't know what more we could have done to try to win this election. I'll leave that to others to determine. Every candidate makes mistakes, and I'm sure I made my share of them. But I won't spend a moment of the future regretting what might have been. This campaign was and will remain the great honor of my life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: John McCain last night as he gives his concession speech. Barack Obama now the president-elect and you've got to think, Kiran, what a long road for John McCain. He tried it in 2000. Almost 22 months on the road and it comes down to that tonight. But what a great fight he put up.

CHETRY: Yes. He was certainly up against a lot of long odds with the situation and the unpopular incumbent Republican but John McCain in his speech making sure to mention Barack Obama right off the top there and it was certainly an emotional night, not only for supporters of John McCain but even more so for the supporters of Barack Obama. A long hard fight to the finish. And there it was, laying out before us tonight so we're going to talk a little bit more about it right now with our panel.

Just some of the reaction of the evening. We have with us John Avalon, Errol Louis, Leslie Sanchez as well as Hillary Rosen. Thanks so much for all of you for being with us. I know it's a long night but I want to start with you Errol because a lot of people and even John McCain acknowledged what a historic night it was for African Americans.

ERROL LOUIS, "N.Y. DAILY NEWS": Oh, absolutely. Look, of the big roar that went up not far from here in Times Square when the final announcement of numbers came out. It was accompanied by a lot of tears. A lot of hugging. I started getting text messages from people. Scripture passages. Little snippets of prayer. I mean, people, it really meant a lot to people. It really kind of struck me because I've been following since - I was in Des Moines on the night that he won and I've been following this sort of from a journalist's point of view.

I didn't realize how deeply it really touched so many, so many people whose one time to really express themselves came today.

CHETRY: We were watching some of the coverage in the control room and we were all asking, do you remember a time, Hilary, when there was such open weeping when a political candidate was elected?

HILARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: I don't. Frankly, I thought I was too old and cynical to weep myself after an election and I found myself thinking about my children and about the future and I think for so many of us there will always be the moment before Barack Obama was elected president and the moment after. My kids are biracial. I know this is a turning point in the way that they will grow up and I imagine that so many Americans feeling that today have to be filled with pride.

JOHN AVALON, POLITICO.COM: Yes. Politics is history in the present tense and never more than today. You can feel a new era opening up, excitement on the streets of New York still going on right now. And what you realize in seeing the speech in Grant Park and listening to him, one of the things we've been missing in politics is inspirational leadership and really this is a great day for our country and it's a great day to be an American.

CHETRY: Last word, Leslie?

LESLIE SANCHEZ, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: No, I think it's very much - I think we all shared that, regardless of whether we're Republicans or Democrats, we're proud of what America has done. I think in addition to that. And I do think I want to herald as well Senator McCain. This is someone who saw that his chances were diminishing and he worked 20 hours a day every step of the way believing in this country, two very great men.

CHETRY: I want to talk more about that a little bit later. I want to thank all of you for being with us -- John?

ROBERTS: As John Avalon was saying, hearing a lot of celebration here in the streets across America, in front of the White House, a scene I have never seen before on the streets here in New York City. Particularly in Harlem and we'll take you there in just a minute as we continue our special Election 2008 coverage of the most news in the morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: It's the answer that led those who had been told for so long by so many to be cynical, fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve. To put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: The line from the acceptance speech last night of Barack Obama and joining us for more analysis on his victory, Errol Louis joins us, columnist at the "New York Daily News," John Avalon, a contributor at Politico.com, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

Leslie Sanchez also joins us right now and as well as Hilary Rosen and I just figure if I cut the titles out we can get some more so let's start with you, Leslie. We've heard from John McCain and the first thing he mentioned in his concession was praise for Barack Obama and also for the historic nature of the night.

SANCHEZ: Absolutely. Yes. I mean, that just speaks to the honor and the credibility and the valor of Senator McCain. He is somebody who really puts his country first, he understands an historic moment and I think he's also going to be somebody who reaches across the aisle and can help this new administration.

CHETRY: He offered that as well in his speech.

SANCHEZ: He did. But Republicans have a choice. We have a choice of whether to be obstructionist or to be people that hold this administration to the center and can actually work to get things done. I think that's really the sentiment of where the public - the message they're trying to send.

CHETRY: And Hilary, I wanted to ask you about this because there were people who didn't want to claim victory too early and there were still a lot of nerves and when we started to see a lot of states fall the way they did and you take a look at what Barack Obama did in terms of bringing people out to vote. What do you think the keys were to his victory?

ROSEN: Well, I think the keys to his victory actually started almost two years ago. They had two strategic principles that they stuck with and that is something Hillary Clinton didn't have and John McCain didn't have.

What the Obama campaign did was number one, they took his biggest weakness and turned it into a strength. They said experience? Not so much. So what can we do? We can say we're about change and we're about judgment.

And the second thing was they said on Election Day, we don't want to be worrying about one state. We don't want to just care about Florida or just care about Ohio. We need a big playing field. Those two strategic decisions, that they were going to play on a big map and they were going to turn what could have been his greatest weakness into his greatest strength and stuck with it.

CHETRY: And John, they also got handed a series of unexpected events. I mean, the financial crisis really hit John McCain and also the selection of Sarah Palin undercut John McCain's central argument about experience.

AVALON: I think that's exactly right. It did undercut the central argument he was making against Obama and then also it backfired among independents and independent women in particular. She excited the base, energized the base but at the expense of uniting the center and that is a killer in a general election. McCain needed to reach out to the center and he actually burned bridges with Sarah Palin.

CHETRY: And Errol, he inherits - I mean, congratulations, you won. Now you inherit one of the biggest financial crises we've seen in a generation, two wars that are going on right now and a lot of questions about our future when it comes to dependence on foreign oil. It's - I could go on and on health care and Medicare ...

LOUIS: Sure, sure.

CHETRY: And so what does he need to do? What are the first steps, does he have this, riding this wave of excitement over his ...

LOUIS: It's interesting. I thought I detected an almost somber tone in much of his speech last night. He was talking to 200,000 people. That's a gigantic crowd. He is at the pinnacle of power. He is going to be the most powerful man in the world. The weight of it seemed to visibly descend upon him and now he's got to be very careful. The rumors before the election were that he was going to make some key appointments very quickly, before the end of the year. And he's going to start naming the treasury secretary, the chief of staff, possibly even a defense secretary to try to really reassure the people that they're going to be in motion, so it's on.

SANCHEZ: Another interesting thing with John Kerry. There was a question a lot of women had about vulnerability. The time it takes to get a Cabinet going. Is the U.S. susceptible to some sort of attack, whether it's on the economic crisis or on a national security front? And I think he's going to mitigate that.

CHETRY: I think it was Leon Paneta who said throw your arms around chaos. And so we'll talk more about that throughout the morning. Let's head over to John.

ROBERTS: The queen of daytime television took a rare step into the political arena a while ago, jumping on the Barack Obama bandwagon. She was there in Grant Park last night as he claimed victory.

What is she thinking about? Our Alina Cho talks with Oprah Winfrey. Coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Barack Obama the president-elect getting a big hug from his wife. Joe Biden and wife Jill there as well. The big party there in Chicago and all across the nation in celebration.

But Obama's victory hits home probably the most in America's African American community. Like Harlem here in New York City. That's where thousands of people crowded into a plaza near the Apollo Theater, celebrating the win for Obama, the son of a Kenyan father and a white mother from Kansas.

CNN's Jason Carroll joins us now live from Harlem and just how big was the celebration there? I imagine it had to be huge.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was huge, John. You're absolutely right. It was incredible. In fact, hundreds of people were standing in the quad area behind me. They had piled in here, watching the results come in on the big video screen that had been set up. It was an incredible moment when the announcement was made. It was something that like I've never seen before. People were on their cell phones, running to get a closer look at the screen because they simply could not believe their eyes, they were on their cell phones, calling their mothers, calling their grandparents.

Despite the fact that the polls - what the polls showed, despite the fact - what it showed in terms of the election results coming in, nearly every one that we spoke to, John, said the same thing. They simply could not believe that this was something that was happening in their lifetime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're going to the inauguration.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And this is a pact that we are going to do this.

CARROLL: This is the pact?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

CARROLL: Which means what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to DC.

CROWD: (Screaming)

CARROLL: Ladies, what do you think?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Screaming)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It gives me hope for our children. It gives me hope for all the little children that I council every day and I tell them that they can make it and that they can become better citizens and now I can go to work tomorrow and hug my children and tell them I love them and tell them you can be the president.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're progressing and we're basically going forward. That's what I think. We definitely needed a change from the Republicans. Right now we have it and on top of that we're making history.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: And John, one young woman, as she was leaving, told me that she was leaving with her, she was taking with her a memory that she would be able to share with her children and hopefully her grandchildren some day. She would tell them about the night that America elected its first African American president. John?

ROBERTS: No question just an incredible impact on the nation and on the world and certainly when those folks wake up tomorrow morning, they're going to wake up in an America that has been fundamentally changed. Jason Carroll for us in Harlem. Jason, thanks so much for that. CHETRY: Talk show host Oprah Winfrey was one of Barack Obama's biggest supporters even from the start and our own Alina Cho got a one on one with the talk show queen. We'll tell you what she had to say about her friend's historic victory, still ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCAIN: It's natural tonight to feel some disappointment but tomorrow we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again. We fought as hard as we could and though we fell short, the failure is mine, not yours.

CROWD: No!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: This morning the nation has turned a page in the history books. Barack Obama elected the 44th president of the United States. He will be the first black president in our country's 232 year existence. And it comes more than four decades after Dr. King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech in the Nation's Capital. Now, the significance of the day was captured in many of these images.

These are images from Chicago, more than 200,000 strong in Grant Park coming out to hear Barack Obama claimed victory. Obama getting praise from around the world as well and also here at home. In fact, Hillary Clinton said in a statement we are celebrating an historic victory for the American people.

Now earlier Obama thanked his supporters and also talked about his vision for the presidency.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: To those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your president, too.

And all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular but our destiny is shared. The new dawn of American leadership is at hand.

(APPLAUSE)

To those who would tear the world down, we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security, we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright, tonight we prove once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth but we support you and to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright tonight we prove once more that the truth strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth but from the enduring power of our ideals, democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.

(APPLAUSE)

That's the true genius of America. That America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Now in that crowd cheering in Chicago was the face known to millions around the world, Oprah Winfrey. Alina Cho got a one on one interview with the talk show queen and she joins us now with more on the reaction. You saw her in the crowd beaming, tears in her eyes, she was thrilled.

CHO: In a beautiful green dress, Kiran, I know you'd like to know. Good morning. I think it's safe to say that Oprah's seal of approval doesn't just apply to books anymore. As you well know, Oprah was one of Barack Obama's original supporters so we wanted to know how does she feel about an Obama presidency.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: How does it feel tonight?

OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: It feels like hope won. It feels like it's not just a victory, obviously, for Barack Obama, it feels like America did the right thing and it feels like there is a shift in consciousness. It feels like something really big and bold has happened here. Like nothing ever in our lifetimes did we expect this to happen.

Something big just happened. It feels like anything is now possible. And I think --

CHO: I'm a woman of color. You're a woman of color.

WINFREY: We're women of color.

CHO: How does it feel? I mean, this is --

WINFREY: Well, I think that the beautiful thing about Barack Obama is throughout this whole process, one of my favorite endorsements came from Colin Powell when Colin Powell said he understands, Barack Obama understands that all villages matter.

I mean, it brought tears to my eyes because I thought, yes, that is it, so it doesn't --

CHO: Did that seal the deal for you?

WINFREY: Well, I was already sealed. I was the deal. I was in the envelope already but this whole process for me has been something that I knew that this was the moment for me and stand up, regardless of whatever kind of heat I had to take or what people's responses would be. I knew this was the moment. This was ... CHO: It's been a long 22 months. So what now?

WINFREY: The best is yet to come. I mean, listen, first of all, geez, if I - I have a chance to talk to him, interview him, I think --

CHO: I think you have a shot.

WINFREY: I think I might but - I wonder, does he wake up in the morning and go, what have I gotten myself into because this country is in bad shape right now. But I think what he is going to do more than anybody else could is help us all to understand that it's not one person, it's not one person who is going to unify --

CHO: One more question, you've got this little thing called "The Oprah Show" but would you consider and ambassadorship?

WINFREY: Would I consider an ambassadorship. Not as - I have "The Oprah Show." I can honestly say this. I did this, I had no agenda. I had no agenda --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: You know what? She didn't say no. Oprah may be Barack Obama's most famous supporter but here in Chicago a lot of people lay claim to him because he is after all not just the nation's first black president, he is also a native son. Certainly a historic night. I don't think there is any way that you can overstate this, Kiran, and nowhere is there more excitement about this than right here in Chicago. Kiran?

CHETRY: Oprah was so excited she grabbed your face.

A lot was made about the Oprah effect when she came out and supported Barack Obama and called on many people that listen to her and watch her to do the same. They said it was possibly a million votes?

CHO: Yes. You know, in fact, I think we did a story about that. They called it the Oprah effect and as you well know I've been doing stories as well about "Saturday Night Live" and they said the same thing about Tina Fey's impression of Sarah Palin. That could have cost or won her a million votes depending on how you feel about her. Certainly a celebrity endorsement can mean a lot.

In Oprah's case I think it fit.

CHETRY: Very interesting. Great job talking to her and boy was she excited tonight for sure. Alina, thanks.

ROBERTS: So what does Obama's victory mean for the African American community and how will President Obama deal with an emboldened Democratic Congress and as well, problems around the world? Joined now by our very own Michael Ware who is here from Baghdad, Jeff Johnson from BET. Jeff, welcome, good to see you here.

Mark Halperin, of course, from "Time Magazine" and Patricia Murphy from citizenjanepolitics.com. Let me talk to you, Jeff. Some personal reflections on the results of last night's election?

JEFF JOHNSON, BLACK ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION: Clearly I've been covering this like so many others for the last two years and tried to remain neutral as a journalist until tonight when after it was called, clearly there was emotion from me as an African American. I don't think the country, really the world, has seen anything like this since the release and election of Nelson Mandela.

I mean something that was able to in a real way spark the interest of a nation but bring the entire world together in an embrace of a shift and a change in a nation that for so long has felt one way, but a glass ceiling, a platinum ceiling in many cases has been broken with Barack Obama's ascendance to the White House. So for me it was an intellectual decision for what can Barack Obama do for the country but then a very emotional one as well.

ROBERTS: History was going to be made one way or the other. Either the first African American president-elect or the first female vice president elect.

Patricia, how do you think the country is changed now? Or is it changed?

PATRICIA MURPHY, CITIZENJANEPOLITICS.COM: Well, I think when you think in terms of women candidates it's been on the one hand a fantastic year to have a woman who could have been the president and could have been the vice president. That's certainly never happened but I think also we've seen that gender doesn't really trump a whole lot else. We know that independent women were really turned off by Sarah Palin and that was a gamble that really didn't pay off for John McCain so if you're looking to build out your coalition of women voters, and you must because we're the majority of voters in the country, you're going to have to do more than just have a woman on the ticket. You're going to have to get to the issues that they care about.

ROBERTS: Of course one of the first orders of business for President Obama after he is inaugurated is going to be to pull the troops out of Iraq.

Michael Ware, what kind of effect is that going to have on the situation on the ground there? I mean, you've been there since the very beginning.

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Six years now, John. That's going to be the big test, isn't it? How President-Elect Obama executes this policy that has been one of the cornerstones of his campaign. Now how durable is it going to be once he is in the Oval Office and is getting the briefings and is more aware of the realities on the ground.

ROBERTS: Yes, the realities as president are sometimes very different than they are when you are a candidate.

WARE: Absolutely. And especially when you're down there on the front line and especially when it's 140,000 American troops that are essentially holding Iraq together. They are keeping the two sides apart. You pull those troops out of the Iraqi mix, and I'm sure that we'll see not only bloodshed but vast instability throughout the region so that's something President Obama is going to have to confront. And the Iraqi government has already said they are willing to cooperate with him, of course, but one of the most powerful blocs, one of their parliamentarians - that (ph) was a surprise. They think it was going to be McCain, that it was rigged (ph) from the beginning and that's the Iraqi view. They're quite dismayed.

ROBERTS: So Iraq obviously a big issue though in voters' minds, Mark Halperin, it wasn't as big an issue as the economy. Somewhere between 12 and 18 percent of voters saying that Iraq was their number one issue. The economy was in the 50s and the 60s.

So what kind of challenge does Senator, now President-Elect Obama face on January 20 when he takes over the reins of power?

MARK HALPERIN, "TIME MAGAZINE": Well, if he views it that way, if he sees the challenges like he does on January 20, I think he'll fail. The last two transitions from one party to the other were disasters. Bill Clinton of his own making made a lot of mistakes during his transition including picking his Cabinet very late, his White House staff very late, bringing up issues that distracted from his agenda.

George Bush, from Bill Clinton to George Bush was a disaster because of the recount. I think Barack Obama has done a lot more thinking about the transition than most people realize, I think he has done a lot more planning. I think he knows who he wants for most of the key jobs already.

On the economy, I think it's going to be interesting to watch his relationship with President Bush. We could have a lame duck Congress start to deal with a legislative agenda on the economy. I think President Bush could make a lot of decisions, he is having this big meeting, for instance, I think he will invite Obama to that. I think in some ways more than usual President-Elect Obama in the eyes of the public and in the eyes of the elite of this country is going to be seen as a de facto president even during the transition.

ROBERTS: There are certainly a lot of challenges, a lot of issues that he has to tackle. Lots to talk about this morning. Thanks for being with us. We'll talk more about this in the minutes and the hours ahead. Thanks -- Kiran?

CHETRY: Coming up next we're going to talk about Obama's star power.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you think this will mean to the African American community?

SEAN COMBS, RAP PRODUCER: It just changes the way --

CROWD: Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can! (END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: That's hip-hop artist Sean P. Diddy Combs one on one talking about Obama's historic victory when AMERICAN MORNING continues.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Sasha and Malia, I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Well, Barack Obama's daughters certainly have to like that shout out. When he gave that speech, Lola Ogunnaike was watching with another famous American hip-hop artist, Sean "Diddy" Colmes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You are watching the first African American president. What is going through your mind right now?

COMBS: It's crazy. It's definitely like the proudest moment of my life. And we're shocked, you know what I'm saying? But it's the most beautiful shocked feeling like you could feel. I don't want this feeling to stop.

CROWD: Yes we can! Yes we can!

OGUNNAIKE: You were very clear about urging people to get out and vote and telling them that they had a responsibility. Do you think their efforts paid off?

COMBS: Well definitely. From 2004 when we started Vote or Die, people thought that young people - they laughed at me when I was doing it - that young people wouldn't register and get out the vote and African Americans wouldn't get out the vote and they saw today that the dream had become a reality but we needed a candidate that spoke a message to us.

OGUNNAIKE: Do you feel like there was a belief that as a black person in this country you couldn't be who you wanted to be?

COMBS: Yes, when I was coming up I said (ph) I wanted to be a garbage man but deep down inside I wanted to say I wanted to be the president but I was too embarrassed to say it because I knew it wasn't a reality. I would get laughed at. Now I can tell my kids if they want to be the president they can be the president. It's not a far fetched idea.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CHETRY: All right. So there was Lola. She was at this private viewing party with Sean "Diddy" Combs. He was celebrating his birthday. Very interesting what he told you. That he was embarrassed to say he wanted to be president when he was younger.

OGUNNAIKE: Yes, he told me that now he feels like he can tell his son you can be anything you want to be and you can actually mean that. Oftentimes African Americans tell their children that and they don't - they know that there are some limitations, there is a glass ceiling. Tonight he said that glass ceiling has been shattered.

CHETRY: What was it like being there?

OGUNNAIKE: You could feel the energy in the room, Kiran. The room was vibrating. People were breaking out into chants, Obama chants, yes we can chants every five minutes. The energy was so palpable. I don't think they've gone to sleep yet. I'm sure they're still there partying the night away. I suspect Puffy will be up for the next 24 hours.

CHETRY: Well, if anyone can do it, he can. Thanks, Lola.

OGUNNAIKE: Thank you.

CHETRY: John?

ROBERTS: Path to victory for Senator Barack Obama. Now President-Elect Barack Obama. What was it? We're at the Magic Wall. We're counting up the numbers according to the counties and we'll tell you how he did it, coming right up.

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ROBERTS: Welcome back to the most news in the morning. Our special coverage of election 2008, Barack Obama's route to the White House really keyed in on four crucial states, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Florida. Let's show you how he won in the State of Florida. Let's take a look at this. This is the I-4 corridor. This is a real battleground here. It's heavily Democratic down here in the south. It's heavily Republican up here in the north. So this I-4 corridor right here in the middle is what's critically important to winning the race.

Orlando area, Orange County, that went to John Kerry just marginally by 0.2 percent in 2004. Let's take a look at the margins here. Take a look at this. Barack Obama won Orange County by almost 20 points. So he racked up a lot more votes there than Senator Kerry did back in 2004. He also won here in Osceola County. He is leading, not all of the votes are in yet in Hillsborough, the Tampa area.

And also he has won in Pinellas County which is St. Petersburg. Now let me just come over here and I'll show you - look at he difference. In 2004 this was literally all red except for it almost was a virtually tie there in Orlando. So Senator Obama certainly put a lot more votes on the map. Where did those votes come from? Let's go to our demographic phase of the map here. You can see here in Osceola County, the darker the color here, the brown indicates Hispanic voters and concentration of them. He had a lot of Hispanic voters in here in Osceola County, he had some here in Orange County as well and here in Hillsborough County. So Hispanic voters - and these are non-Cuban Hispanic voters for the most part, a lot of people have moved from Puerto Rico, helped him to victory there in the Sunshine State.

Let's take a quick look as well at Virginia. This was a real key for Barack Obama here in the northern part of Virginia. These counties in here, Loudoun County which includes Leesburg and Prince William County which includes Manassas, he won those, he won them handily. Let's show you what happened in 2004. Both of those counties went ot George W. Bush over John Kerry. So a big change there in Virginia.

Now here in Ohio he did very well up here in the northeastern part and this has just actually flipped. He was leading here for a while but now - oh, I'm sorry, that's 2004. Here's the big difference for Barack Obama. Take a look at this. Hamilton County which includes Cincinnati, this is so far in the Obama column with 100 percent reporting. And it was very close so unless there's some kind of a recount, he will win Hamilton County and there you go, solidly Republican territory in 2004. George Bush winning over John Kerry 53 to 47 percent.

And it's worth also taking a look next door in Pennsylvania to see where Senator Obama won. Here we are in 2004. Let's flip to 2008. See all this blue in here in Centre County and other counties in the center of the state. Take a look at what happened in '04. All of that was red. And not only that, but Senator Obama also here just outside of Philadelphia in the suburbs, put up a lot of good numbers here, winning the western counties. Take a look at what happened in 2004, those were red.

So he effectively played in Republican areas, Republican states, Republican counties, managed to turn those around, Kiran, and that was how he got to the White House.

CHETRY: Absolutely. All right. We're just getting started with our coverage at 51 minutes after the hour. A lot more ahead. The world welcomes Obama and the reaction to his victory across the globe. We're going to bring it to you here on AMERICAN MORNING.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible? Who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time? Who still questions the power of our democracy? Tonight is your answer.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CHETRY: That was a little taste of the beginning of President- Elect Barack Obama's victory speech. He spoke in front of a crowd of hundreds of thousands in his hometown of Chicago and you know, his fellow Democrats also boosted their majorities both in the House and the Senate. It effectively gives them control of the White House and both houses of Congress. Here to check that out for us right now with a look at the balance of power, Jim Acosta. Hi, Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. Good early morning to you and yes we want to look at the balance of power now. It is safe to say that Democrats have done very well on election night but the American people haven't exactly given them the keys to the castle and if you look at the balance of power right now in the United States Senate you'll find out why. We have live results up here. You'll see 56 seats for the Democrats, 40 seats for the Republicans. These four seats right here, Alaska, Georgia, Oregon and Minnesota, those races at this point too early or too close to call. And so we're not going to call those seats but we want to show some of these seats right now. That is going to tell us how things unfolded throughout the evening but this race was very much about Virginia. Barack Obama started his general election campaign in the Commonwealth, he ended it there.

And Mark Warner, who showed the Democrats how to win big in the South, he won big in the state of Virginia, Mark Warner, the former governor there. Campaigned in places in that state when he ran for governor that Democrats don't normally venture into. But Mark Warner very much victorious there in the state of Virginia.

Moving on to North Carolina. This was a hotly contested and a bitter contested race there towards the end. Kay Hagan, the state senator, upending Elizabeth Dole. That was the race that everybody was paying attention to toward the end there too because Elizabeth Dole ran that ad basically accusing Kay Hagan of being an atheist and the voters rejected that in the State of North Carolina.

We want to move up to New Hampshire and this is very much - it is very much a look at how this race was in many ways - it was in many ways a rejection of President Bush because back in 2002 President Bush had an approval rating of somewhere around 58 percent. Not so much now. So Jeanne Shaheen, former governor of New Hampshire was able to knock off John Sununu there.

And in New Mexico, we've been talking about the Mountain West throughout this campaign. The West is very much won for the Democrats. Tom Udall winning there in New Mexico. His cousin Mark Udall winning in Colorado so two big Democratic pickups in the Senate. Let's show the virtual capital to see how all of this is unfolding. The balance of power in the capitol. There you see right there, 56 seats for the Democrats, 40 for the Republicans. We don't want to talk about Minnesota yet because it's too close at this point. Norm Coleman and Al Franken still very much duking it out at this point as the results are coming in.

So we can't really call that race. That is going to be very interesting. Let's look at the House because that too is an example of how things are still not quite in the Democrats' hands as much as they would have liked. At this point we're seeing perhaps 18 to 24 seats going to Democrats in the House. That's good but that's not as good as they expected.

Chris Shays one of the big casualties of the night. Another example of Republicans not doing so well in this campaign. So John and Kiran, Barack Obama back in 2004, that was his big speech at the Democratic National Convention. You talked about this not a country of red states and blue states, it's the United States of America. Without a filibuster proof Senate, he is very much going to have to govern that way. He is going to have to govern from the center if he's going to pass his agenda through this Congress -- John and Kiran?

CHETRY: All right, Jim Acosta. We're going to be checking it out throughout the day. As you said, there are some races that are still a bit too close to call so we're going to be following them and welcome once again. It is two minutes before 4:00 here in New York. It was just a mere five hours ago that California's polls closed and we were able to then report that Barack Obama is now going to be the president of the United States.

ROBERTS: A history making night in so many different ways and let's take a look at some of the images from last evening. Senator Barack Obama accepting victory here in that massive party in Grant Park in Chicago. Joe Biden there together with his mother. Senator Barack Obama with sisters and his wife, the children there as well.

Take a look over here, 200,000 people jamming Grant Park there in Chicago to cheer on the senator, now the president-elect and he acknowledged their support last night and basically said thanks for coming out and making this possible and also acknowledging the hard work of the last 22 months.

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OBAMA: I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you. I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington, it began in the backyards of Des Moines, in the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.

It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars, 10 dollars and 20 dollars to the cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy. Who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep.