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Chris Christie's Landslide; McAuliffe Wins Virginia; Inside The Numbers; Family Searching For Motive; Mysterious Nashville Crash; Escaped Inmates Found; Truck Accident On Camera; Mayor Used Crack During "Stupor"; Born to Run in 2016

Aired November 06, 2013 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R) NEW JERSEY: You can agree with me, you can disagree with me, but I will never stop leading the state I love.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Big news. Big election results across the country. The big winner, Chris Christie, who gives his speech with the message to the entire country. You'll hear from him in an exclusive interview.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: This as the Tea Party lose two key races. Are the moderates on the rise? We break down the dramatic electoral shifts and what they could mean.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Stunning admission. The mayor of Toronto, North America's fourth largest city, bluntly admits he smoked crack and then this bizarre press conference where he vows to stay on. The question is, can he?

CUOMO: Your "NEW DAY" starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is "NEW DAY" with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan, and Michaela Pereira.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome to "NEW DAY." It's Wednesday, November 6th, six o'clock in the east. Kate is bubbling with anticipation of election results. We have them, tea leaves to be read, returns to be understood. Political outcome of making what is into what will be. Chris Christie won big in New Jersey in a - really, no Republican's ever won the way he did, 20-point spread. It's how he fared with women, Latinos, blacks and the young that must be analyzed. We will do that.

BOLDUAN: In Virginia, Virginia went for Democrat Terry McAuliffe taking the governor's race by a pretty slim margin. The former head of the DNC got some big-name help campaigning from President Obama and President Clinton before he won. In that heated race, McAuliffe topped Tea Party favorite, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli sending some very strong signals for midterms and 2016.

CUOMO: And New York City, not a governor's race but important. Why? A Democrat is in for the first time in two decades. The man you are looking at Bill de Blasio won by a three-to-one margin. But it's the issues that mattered in the race that could mean big changes for the big apple. We will explain.

BOLDUAN: Let's start though this morning with those governors' races we're looking at so closely. CNN's Athena Jones is live in Arlington, Virginia with more on election 2013. Good morning, Athena.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kate. Here in Virginia, the race for governor was much closer than expected until votes were counted in heavily Democratic districts. In the end, Terry McAuliffe, the millionaire businessman and former head of the Democratic National Committee won back the State House for his party, beating Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia's attorney general and a Tea Party favorite.

In New Jersey, Governor Chris Christie easily won re-election catapulting him to the front of the GOP pack for 2016.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONES (voice-over): Christie put his audience on notice.

GOVERNOR CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: How about this New Jersey?

JONES: And those listening in Washington as well.

CHRISTIE: I did not seek a second term to do small things. I sought a second term to finish the job. Now watch me do it.

JONES: Christie defeated State Senator Barbara Buono, his re-election in a traditionally blue state fueling more speculation that Christie will make a presidential run in 2016.

CHRISTIE: I want to promise you tonight, I will not let anyone, anything, any political party, any governmental entity or any force get in between me and the completion of my mission.

JONES: Making clear that his mission is to ensure that everyone in his state fully recovers from Superstorm Sandy. Christie drew criticism in the wake of the storm from some Republicans for working alongside President Obama. Those same critics also question whether Christie is conservative enough. Christie said he has no plans to stop working across the aisle if it helps him meet his goals.

CHRISTIE: We stand here tonight showing that it is possible to put doing your job first, to put working together first, to fight for what you believe in yet still stand by your principles and get something done for the people who elected you.

JONES: In the battleground state of Virginia, a very different picture, Democrats scoring a big victory in a bruising governor's race. Former DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe beat the Tea Party favorite, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli by less than 60,000 votes.

GOVERNOR TERRY MCAULIFFE (D), VIRGINIA: I know this has been a hard- fought race. I think every single person in Virginia is glad that the TV ads are now over.

JONES: Obama won the traditionally Republican state in both 2008 and 2012. If Hillary Clinton decides to make a run, McAuliffe will be a big ally to help her carry the state. And voters elected new mayors in several cities. Bill de Blasio becomes the first Democrat elected to lead New York City in more than two decades.

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK CITY: Make no mistake, the people of this city have chosen a progressive path.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: Elsewhere financially strapped Detroit elected its first white mayor in 40 years and Boston elevated a state lawmaker to replace its longest serving mayor. Back to you, Chris.

CUOMO: All right, thank you so much. The elections matter. For what happened last night, what happens in those places, what it means beyond. So let's take a closer look at the votes behind the victories.

Chief national correspondent, John King, live in Washington. John, great to have you. We are going to start with Terry McAuliffe's victory in Virginia. How is it run? What does the victory mean beyond his own position?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Chris, this one will be studied because this race was so close. Virginia is the governor's race and Virginia is a tug of war evenly divided on the big major issues. Let's take a closer look at Terry McAuliffe's win. Start by looking at all this red. If you glanced at this map, you would think the Republican won, right? Look at all that red across Virginia.

Terry McAuliffe owes his victory right there, just like President Obama in 2008 and 2012, the more populous Washington suburbs. It's the fastest growing part of the state, more moderate voters, younger voters, a rising Latino population. That is why Terry McAuliffe has his narrow win, all due to big support in the Washington, D.C. suburbs.

Let's take a closer look at how he did it. I'll explain what I mean about that tug of war. Look at this, the electorate, almost evenly divided, 51 percent women, 49 percent men. Women were the majority of the electorate and a majority of those women just barely went for Terry McAuliffe. Higher number in the suburbs, this mattered hugely, a slight gender gap, but enough to help Terry McAuliffe.

Helping him despite this, look at this, here's one thing that's changing in Virginia. We used to think of this as reliably red, a conservative southern state, 44 percent of the electorate described themselves as moderate. It is not the conservative state it used to be. Support among moderates and liberals put Terry McAuliffe just barely over the top.

Chris, over the top despite very strong opposition to the president's health care plan, 53 percent oppose Obamacare in the state of Virginia. This is what kept Ken Cuccinelli close at the end. Look at this, 81 percent of Obamacare opponents supported the Republican for governor. This is what kept this so close, closer than most of the late polls. The recent opposition to Obamacare hurting the Democratic candidate, the president is under water in Virginia and yet the Democrat won just barely, the president's disapproval rating.

Here's how. Terry McAuliffe told the people of Virginia that Ken Cuccinelli was part of the Tea Party crowd that shutdown the government. Virginia voters blamed the Republicans more than the president. Those who blamed Republicans for shutting down the government, remember how close, especially Northern Virginia is to Washington, D.C. a big factor there.

Lastly, Terry McAuliffe made the point, not just on Tea Party issues, but controversial issues like gay rights, abortion. Half of the electorate thought Ken Cuccinelli was too conservative for the state of Virginia. Of those voters, look at that. That's your margin of victory. Push them on the Tea Party, the social issues, get turnout in the Northern Virginia suburbs.

That's why Terry McAuliffe narrowly will be the next governor of Virginia. People will study the exit polls looking ahead to 2014 and especially 2016 where Virginia is still important when it comes to presidential politics.

CUOMO: Very interesting. Seems to reflect they had the right issue with Obamacare, but didn't go about it the right way. Let's go to Jersey where it's very different there. It's really all about the man. How did you see what it means for Governor Chris Christie?

KING: Look, he is now the premier brand in Republican politics. You can say that just flat out. Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, some of the Tea Party guys are with the Republican base. The way you validate yourself in politics is you win elections. Look at that. This has been one of the bluest of blue states in America especially in presidential politics. Chris Christie filling in everything except urban Newark with red so Chris Christie will carry this forward.

I'm sure this will hang on his wall somewhere and mail this to Republican activists all around the country saying look what I did in my state. Let's move over to the New Jersey exit polls, a sweep. He's running against a female Democratic candidate, Chris Christie not only wins men, he wins women and both big.

Of course., Chris Christie Republicans tend to win the white vote but remember, Chris, what happened to John McCain among African-Americans and Latinos in 2008, what happened to Mitt Romney among those same constituencies. Let's look at this. Now Barbara Buono did win African-Americans, but Chris Christie will brag about this.

Look at this number here, 21 percent of African-Americans voted for their Republican governor to re-elect him. Not only did he get 21 percent, he more than doubled his take from four years ago. So Chris Christie can make the case, I can broaden the Republican base. Have you seen that in a long time? That's red.

The Latino vote, 9 percent of the vote in New Jersey is colored red because Chris Christie actually carried the Latino vote by five, six points there, 51 percent. Remember what happened to Romney and McCain in places like Florida, Nevada, New Mexico. This a powerful message for Chris Christie that I can put the swing states back into play.

If you move over and look at little bit more. It's clear the people of New Jersey like their governor, but you want to talk about 2016. I'm going to leave that one for you. Superstorm Sandy 84 percent -- 84 percent of the people said he handled Sandy well. That was a big personal factor for him. Now we go to 2016 to see if Chris Christie can make the case as he travels the country.

CUOMO: Here's the segue way. You showed the numbers there. Last night, the governor won with women, which was surprising, showed strength, but however when we talk about the woman, Hillary Rodham Clinton, the story changes even though a man named John King told me to listen for what you don't hear said. What do we see?

KING: It's a close race. The state hasn't gone Republican for president since 1984. It's a close race. Hillary Clinton is still ahead by four points. Chris Christie's message to Republicans can be I can guarantee New Jersey, but if he's competitive in New Jersey he's probably competitive in places like Pennsylvania and Ohio as well.

These are the races up in 2014 Republican governors. Iowa, that's up. There's a place called Ohio that's up. There's a place called South Carolina that's up. You know where I'm going here. He'll get a chance to test his appeal in the states that matter most when we pick presidents.

CUOMO: Very interesting, John. Thank you for breaking it down on a night that he just crushes it. It's a race before the race begins.

BOLDUAN: A lot to learn from those exit polls. A closely watched Republican primary race in Alabama has gone to the establishment candidate, former State Senator Bradley Byrne beat Tea Party favorite Dean Young in a runoff that was considered a test of the Tea Party following the government shutdown last month.

CUOMO: Lots of interesting ballot questions, too. Two of them dealt with marijuana. Portland, Maine has been the first east coast city to legalize pot for anyone over 21. In Colorado, voters approved a new tax on recreational marijuana by a wide margin, but a vote in 11 counties to secede, still too close to call.

BOLDUAN: You want to stay tuned. We'll have Jake Tapper's exclusive interview with Chris Christie, the re-elected governor of New Jersey coming up next hour. Lots of interesting stuff in there.

PEREIRA: We have headlines to look at away from the election results. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is going before the Senate Finance Committee today. Last week she told members of the House she was sorry for the Obamacare web site debacle. Newly released documents show the site had even more problems than first reported.

The brother of the New Jersey mall shooter says his family still does not know why he did it. Kevin Shoop says his brother Richard didn't plan to hurt anyone but himself. A friend of the shooter said he sent him a message that said they needed to talk, but he was already asleep and he did not respond. Shoop's body was found inside the mall hours after opening fire.

New details in a mysterious plane crash at Nashville International Airport last week. Preliminary NTSB reports says the pilot, Michael Kallen (ph) filed a flight plan showing a short trip within Canada. He did not talk to air traffic control at the Nashville airport before he crashed. The wreckage was not spotted until some six hours after the crash.

Two Oklahoma inmates who escaped through a prison shower ceiling are back behind bars this morning. They were picked up at a home not far from the prison. They were part of a group of four inmates who made a clean getaway last month climbing out of a shower. They were found days later, less than 20 miles away.

I want to show you chilling images from a truck accident that killed a police officer. The entire thing caught on dash camera. The driver 30-year-old Jorge Espinoza was browsing his Facebook page when he suddenly barreled into emergency vehicles that were stopped for an accident. He's pled not guilty to 20 felony charges including second degree murder. This is an unfortunate and tragic reminder of the impact of distracted driving.

COUMO: To see it taking place there, horrible situation.

All right, let's get over to Karen Maginnis in for Indra Petersons has the forecast for us. Good morning, Karen.

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Chris and Kate. We are looking at a frontal system, very vigorous. It's produced as much as 8 inches of snowfall across portions of the Midwest. It marches towards the east, places like Detroit, St. Louis and Dallas, where you see the rain today. The frontal system makes its way towards the eastern seaboard, New York, Boston, Atlanta, you're due for some wet weather and here it comes in the form of the frontal system with much colder air moving in behind it.

In the meantime for this afternoon, those temperatures will be fairly mild, running a little bit above normal. You could see potentially heavy rainfall from the Ohio River Valley down towards the Tennessee River Valley. A couple of inches of rainfall expected across that region and behind this weather system we'll also see pretty gusty winds, maybe on the order of 25 to 30 miles per hour.

Here's what that wet weather is going to be all the way from Toronto, Chicago, St. Louis, eventually making its way to New York City, Charlotte and Atlanta, coming up for Thursday and moving out by Friday. Chris, Kate, back to you, guys. BOLDUAN: All right, thanks so much, Karen. Talk to you in a bit.

Coming up next on NEW DAY, a big city mayor admitting after months and months and months of speculation he did use drugs and he was caught on camera smoking crack cocaine. He says he wants to keep his job, though. Of course the question is, can he?

CUOMO: Boy, did you hear about this? Remarkable find in a German apartment, hundreds of priceless art masterpieces stolen by the Nazis. Wait until you hear what they're worth.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Welcome back to NEW DAY, everyone.

Toronto Mayor Rod Ford has now come clean, facing the cameras and admitting he has smoked crack cocaine. Ford says he won't step down, though, and some legal experts say, he won't have to.

CNN's Paula Newton is in Toronto with more on this.

Quite a story, Paula.

PAUL NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kate, it was such a stunning of contrition really. I mean, this guy put it all on the table. He confessed. Remarkable, though, despite everything you're about to hear, keep in mind, every time something like this happens, his poll numbers are resilient. He says he's running again.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROB FORD, TORONTO MAYOR: These allegations are ridiculous.

NEWTON (voice-over): After months of bold-faced denials --

FORD: I did not use crack cocaine nor am I an addict of crack cocaine.

NEWTON: Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's confession was as riveting as it was blunt.

FORD: Yes, I smoked crack cocaine.

REPORTER: When, sir?

FORD: But no -- do I? Am I an addict? No. Have I tried it? Probably in a drunken stupor, probably approximately about a year ago.

NEWTON: And there it was, the sordid truth that this mayor could no longer outrun. Months of secret police surveillance of Ford was made public last week in connection with the arrest of the mayor's friend and part-time driver.

Sandro Lisi faces drug offenses as well as extortion charges. But police say so far, the mayor isn't charged with anything. Police did confirm they have the video, the one that allegedly shows Mayor Ford smoking crack cocaine from a pipe.

And Mayor Ford says he wants to see it.

FORD: I want everyone in the city to see this tape. I'd like to see this tape. I don't even recall there being a tape and a video, and I know. So I want to see the state I was in.

NEWTON: But Mayor Ford says he's put it all out there, he's looking for forgiveness.

FORD: I have nothing left to hide. I embarrassed everyone in this city, and I will be forever sorry.

NEWTON: He had a lot to say except the words, "I'm stepping down".

FORD: I was elected to do a job. And that's exactly what I'm going to continue doing.

NEWTON: He intends to run for mayor again next fall.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: Our thanks to Paula there.

Let's bring in Supriya Dwivedi. She's a Canadian political commentator. She's covered the Ford scandal since the beginning. She's also host of the exchange on CJAD 800.

Thank you so much for joining us, Supriya.

Let's talk about this -- New York recently saw a controversial scandal involving the congressman from New York. He eventually stepped down. A lot of people were thinking if this had happened in the United States, this would be political suicide for a mayor to make this kind of admission.

Supriya, what do you think it is about Canada that a politician can survive this kind of thing?

SUPRIYA DWIVEDI, CANADIAN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know, to be fair, I don't think this has anything to do with Canada. It has to do with Toronto, and specifically what we colloquially refer to here as Ford nation, which Mayor Rob Ford's basic, you know, dire support that just doesn't seem to waiver no matter what the scandal is.

PEREIRA: Let's talk about that Ford nation. He's talked about the fact that he's against the establishment, if you will. I want to read to you, actually, a full screen we have from a colleague up there. A journalist in Toronto who says the people that support him are a ground swell of hardworking beer-drinking people rallying around an ordinary guy.

How far do you think this regular guy/ordinary guy thing can go for the mayor? DWIVEDI: You know, he's been riding it so far. So your guess is as good as mine, I suppose, at this point. What's interesting is that the Fords come from a lot of wealth. So he's not even a regular guy, aside from being mayor, growing up very privileged. It boggles everybody's mind how he manages to come off as an average Joe.

PEREIRA: What's also interesting, too, this family has had their share of challenges. There's been -- he's been in the headlines a lot for controversy in recent years. I mean, he's been in the headlines a lot for controversy in recent years.,

DWIVEDI: Yes, absolutely. "New York" magazine ran an excellent piece. Before Gawker released the whole crack-gate, if you will, they came up with 21 things we should know about Rob Ford. So, Ford, before the crack scandal, had 21 things worth talking about in a "New York" magazine that were controversial.

PEREIRA: Well, he's standing by the fact that he's not going to resign. He thinks he's going to run again. His approval rating has soared. How do you explain that?

DWIVEDI: I know. I guess it has to do with the suburban and downtown divide here in the greater Toronto area. The suburbanites care about is stopping taxes and he has sort of a tag line is stopping the gravy train at city hall, which to some degree he has done to much of his credit.

PEREIRA: We know there's a move afoot; one of the city councilmen floated a motion to take many of his powers away from him. How likely is that to happen? And have you heard that movement and motion is gaining support from politicians there?

DWIVEDI: Oh, yes, absolutely. I would say the word inside council and around city hall is that there is a lot of support for this movement, because, I mean, how can anybody realistically get anything done when the mayor admitted to smoking crack cocaine?

PEREIRA: We want to say thank you to Supriya Dwivedi. She's a political commentator there in Canada, in the city of Toronto and joining us from Toronto.

So, we certainly want to hear about this from you at home. Sound off, tweet us, use #newday.

Kate, Chris?

BOLDUAN: Quite a story, Michaela.

Coming up next on NEW DAY, the dust is settling from the election. Big wins for New Jersey's governor and the new leader in Virginia. What do these results tell us about 2016? Our political gut check is coming up.

BOLDUAN: And finally, we will know exactly what Twitter is worth, at least as a stock. The company is about to go public and we know some big celebs who are looking to cash in. Invest in this break and we will pay dividends, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Welcome back to NEW DAY, everyone.

Time now for our political gut check of the morning.

The results are in but what do these off-season elections tell us about what matters most to American voters?

CNN political analyst and executive editor of the Daily Beast, John Avlon here with all the answers.

JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: All of them --

BOLDUAN: Good morning.

You want to get -- so you wrote a great article, a great piece in "The Daily Beast", looking at, as we like to say, the cross-tabs going deep into the exit polls. But, first, just what are your big takeaways from last night?

AVLON: I mean, Christie's win is just monster. It cannot be underestimated that a Republican won New Jersey that decisively, across all the demographic divides, that really, really characterize our politics today, and the fact that he won the Latino vote outright, doubled his vote with the African-American community, won women outright. We're not talking about someone who bridged the gender gap. We're talking about someone who reversed it, against a woman. Really, really extraordinary showing by Chris Christie and that itself is a big memo to the GOP.

Virginia, a lot closer than people expected. But still in Ken Cuccinelli's loss, there's something historic. And that itself is a cautionary tell for conservatives.

BOLDUAN: In your piece, you write this is a revenge for RINOs, Republicans in name only, as politicos would love an acronym. You really believe that, though, I know you wrote it, because you said, you're right, extremism alienates, moderation matters. That was these results show. But it was a pretty close race there in Virginia.

AVLON: It was closer than expect. Keep in mine for the last almost three decades, Virginia has always voted against the party of the president just elected. So, you know, history would show that they would -- that Republicans would carry this.