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At This Hour

Aiming to Seize Senate, GOP Trashes Obama; Charlie Rangel's Controversial Race Comments; Judge Orders Mandatory Quarantine for Kaci Hickox

Aired October 31, 2014 - 11:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: .-- an explosive charge that just begs for discussion.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: The State of Maine, taking the next step to force a nurse to stay indoors, does this mean no more bike rides for Kaci Hickox?

BERMAN: Hello, everyone, happy Friday, happy Halloween. I'm John Berman.

PEREIRA: I get nothing to be happy about?

BERMAN: No.

PEREIRA. I'm happy enough to be sitting beside you, John Berman.

BERMAN: That's enough.

PEREIRA: I'm Michaela Pereira. I'm very much satisfied with that. Those stories and so much more ahead.

We begin @ THIS HOUR, well, we're down to the wire, four days left until election day, just four days until the day that decides who controls the Senate. Who'll drive the policy debate for the next two years. This really could determine a key part of the president's legacy. Huge stakes.

So where is the president today? Is he in a state with a key Senate race that hangs in the balance? Well, there are 10 states with races that are super close so is the president campaigning in any of those 10 states? No.

BERMAN: No! He is in Rhode Island. So blue it's more like navy or cobalt. Which is bluer? Navy or cobalt?

PEREIRA: Cobalt.

BERMAN: It's a cobalt state. His speech, which starts any minute, is on the economy which is always important but, again, where is where he is giving it -- Rhode Island -- and when -- four days before the election -- shows how toxic he has become for some Democratic candidates in these close races. PEREIRA: Republicans need a net again of six seats if they want to

take over the senate which would give them control of both houses of Congress.

BERMAN: And while the president may not be in these key states physically, Dana Bash tells us that as we sit here today the president's political shadow is in every single one.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: From Kentucky --

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), KENTUCKY: A new face to vote for Barack Obama.

BASH: -- to Kansas.

SEN. PAT ROBERTS (R), KANSAS: A vote for Greg Orman is a vote for President Obama.

BASH: To Colorado.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's voted 99 percent of the time with President Obama.

BASH: Across the country Republicans are trying to take control of the Senate by tying Democrats to an unpopular president.

New Hampshire's GOP candidate barely speaks a sentence without saying incumbent Democrat Jeanne Shaheen votes with the president 99 percent of the time.

SCOTT BROWN (R), NEW HAMPSHIRE SENATE CANDIDATE: The president said a couple weeks ago he's not running but all of his policies are on the ballot. I agree with him. And he also said --

BASH: I bet you do.

BROWN: I absolutely do.

BASH: Shaheen gives the quintessential 2014 Democratic response.

Is the president a drag on you?

SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D), NEW HAMPSHIRE: This race is not between the president and Scott Brown. This race is between me and Scott Brown.

BASH: Still, even Democratic strategists admit Obama's negatives help make New Hampshire Senate race neck in neck, now one of nearly a dozen, dramatic, too-close-to-call contests from coast to coast -- North Carolina, Georgia, Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, Colorado, Alaska.

To be sure, these tight battles are much broader than Obama. They're about government failures in general, Washington not doing its job.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator Kay Hagen, absent. BASH: A big reason incumbents in both parties are getting pummeled for

missing committee hearings, from Democrat Kay Hagen in North Carolina to Republican Mitch McConnell in Kentucky.

ALISON LUNDERGAN GRIMES (D), KENTUCKY SENATE CANDIDATE: Mitch McConnell who has been absent from nearly every committee meeting for the past five years.

BASH: And challengers emphasize they are far from Washington's sensibilities, like Republican Joni Ernst in Iowa.

JONI ERNST (R), IOWA SENATE CANDIDATE: I am the one that remains connected to my community, my roots and Iowa.

BASH: Democrats are trying to hold on to the Senate majority by turning up voters in all these critical contests who stay home in midterms, especially single women. It's why the Iowa Democrat Bruce Braley introduced his opponent as too extreme.

REP. BRUCE BRALEY (D), IOWA SENATE CANDIDATE: She introduced a bill in the Iowa Senate to ban all abortions.

BASH: Voters are so discussed with Washington, the ultimate weapon is trashing both parties. It helped independent Greg Orman tie up the race in ruby-red Kansas against the Republican.

GREG ORMAN (I), KANSAS SENATE CANDIDATE: Both Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid have been far too partisan for far too long.

BASH: But many voters are so turned off it's hard for any candidate to break through. In South Dakota, Democrat Rick Weiland got creative, turning to song.

RICK WEILAND (D), SOUTH DAKOTA SENATE CANDIDATE: So I'm running for the Senate, but I ain't a big deal. Don't have an army, just my automobile

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: This whole election is worth it far.

PEREIRA: Dana Bash joining us now from Washington, D.C. So, Dana, how confident are Republicans that they're going to be able to pick up the six seats that they need?

BASH: They're cautiously confident, but because, as just illustrated, many of these races are so locked up they can't be sure. Anything can shift the atmosphere on the ground, particularly the whole question of get out the vote. Republicans feel much more sort of robust about their abilities than they have in the past, particularly in midterm election years.

But I think one of the things that they still are battling is the just -- the disgust, as I said.

I have to tell you the most telling anecdote from my travels was I was in Dubuque, Iowa, this week, and I was talking to a cashier, and she said -- I said, "Who are you going to vote for in the Senate race?" And she said, "Whoever calls me the least." That to me says it all.

PEREIRA: Wow.

BERMAN: Any story that begins "I was in Dubuque Iowa talking to a cashier" and ends like that, a lucky, lucky news report.

Dana Bash, thank you so much for being with us. Joining us to talk more about this, political commentators, progressive activist Sally Kohn and Republican strategist Ana Navarro.

And, Sally, I want to start with you here. Stu Rothenberg says, when all is said and done after this midterm on Tuesday, President Obama could go down as one of the losing-est presidents ever in terms of midterm elections.

He lost so badly in 2010, a shellacking as he said, coupled with what losses may come on Tuesday. The question is, how can he and his team be so good at running for president and so bad at electing members of Congress in the midterms?

SALLY KOHN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I mean, first of all, functionally, they're different teams.

But, look, we step back and we understand the profound history of six- term elections. In other words, the midterm election when a two-term president is in the middle of his second term, the president's party generally always loses. I think only two maybe three times since the Civil War has that not been the case. This is a general trend.

So I actually think fact that the Republicans -- and the president's approval ratings are pretty darn low. The fact that Republicans are not already far and away sealing this thing up says more about the Democrats and their strength than it does about this dynamic.

The fact is that, when Republicans open their mouths and say what they believe in, the voters do not like that. And that's what we're seeing over and over and over again in these races. And you can't win just by bashing the president. It's not enough. It's not working.

BERMAN: Sally, they're doing that to the tune of probably picking up seats in the House, maybe as many as 10 seats in the house, and picking up six to nine seats in the Senate depending on what happens. So they're failing up.

KOHN: In incredibly red places. But, look, let's honestly look at the trend. Reince Priebus, the head of the Republican Party, said this is now a party that cannot lose a midterm and cannot win a presidential race, and that is true. These positions are unpopular with the American people.

And, look, in Iowa, in Colorado, in Wisconsin, you actually see the Republicans backing away from, for instance, their positions on anti- woman policies, on abortion, on equal pay, backing away and pretending to try and talk like Democrats to try and woo voters. It's a desperate ploy ...

PEREIRA: Ana, I know you want to respond, and I'm curious how you're feeling going into Tuesday, probably a little more confident than Sally is painting the picture for you.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I feel cautiously optimistic. I think Dana captured it just right.

I've seen this slip from our fingers way too often to feel very optimistic, and I think's only one way to run all the way to the end of an election -- and that's hard and that's scared.

And that's how everybody should be running, whether you're a Democrat or a Republican. I think part of what we've seen this time around is that Republicans have had better candidates. We haven't had the foot- in-mouth disease that we suffered the two years ago. In fact, it's been a lot of Democrats who are highly afflicted by that disease.

You've got a governor's nominee in South Carolina calling Nikki Haley an escort whore out the door. You've got Mary Landrieu saying that the people of her state are not very friendly to African-Americans or women.

You've got all of these gaffes that are being said by Democrats for a refreshing change for a lot of us Republicans. And we have fielded a strong field of primary -- that came out of the primaries and are now in the general.

I also think --

BERMAN: What about the criticism, Ana, though, that you can do this in the midterms but you can't do this in a presidential year. Can you carry whatever success may be happening to 2016?

NAVARRO: You know, John, I think that, yes, the president's unpopularity is a factor in a lot of these races, particularly in some of the deeper red states. But it's very tight also in a lot of purple states, and states where it shouldn't be tight.

When you have a tight governor's race in the blue state of Illinois, then you have got to start wondering. When you've got tight races going on in purple states like Florida, like New Hampshire, like Iowa, these are not deep red states.

Yes, you've got them going on in Arkansas and Louisiana, but it's much more than just -- the problems for Democrats go far beyond deep red states.

And I think you have to look at races one by one, and you have to look at what's going on locally. All politics is local. What kind of races have they run? What kind of campaigns have they run? What kind of candidates have they been? There's been a lot of self-inflicted mistakes.

PEREIRA: Sally, Ana, we'll leave it there for now, and obviously folks at home remember Tuesday is the big day. Get out and vote. Midterm elections of course on Tuesday. You can watch CNN right here for the results.

BERMAN: All right, as we said President Obama is due to speak any moment in the cobalt state of Rhode Island, but does he have something up his sleeve? A big speech that could seal the deal for Democrats? Stay with us.

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BERMAN: President Obama due to speak any minute at Rhode Island College in Providence. You're looking at a live picture of right there. The topic is the subject of the economy. Now, on the subject of the economy, the Dow this morning soared by triple digits to a new intraday high on news of stimulus from the Bank of Japan.

PEREIRA: Yes, the real focus this morning, though, politics. Midterms, as we've been talking about, just four days away. Very keenly noted, the president isn't anywhere near the states that could be decisive in terms of determining control of the Senate. Rhode Island, we've been saying here, as cobalt blue as it gets, maybe it is navy.

BERMAN: I think navy is bluer.

PEREIRA: I think we're going to go with navy. Just another sign of just how toxic the president has become in competitive races.

Let's stay on the topic of politics and some controversy brewing -- slavery and the confederacy, still alive and well. At least that are the latest comments from a controversial Democratic Congressman.

BERMAN: Yes, Charlie Rangel made these comments about members of the Republican Party, nameless, faceless members of the Republican Party. He did this when he was out on the stump campaigning for New York's Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CHARLIE RANGEL (D), NEW YORK: We have to win. And we're going to be able to send a national message with Andrew Cuomo. And the thing is everything we believe in, everything we believe in they hate. They don't disagree, they hate. They think that if you didn't come from Europe 30 years ago we shouldn't have immigration. Some of them believe that slavery isn't over and that they won the Civil War.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Slavery isn't over, that's what they believe. I want to bring in CNN commentator and senior writer for ESPN L.Z. Granderson; back with us, Republican strategist Ana Navarro. You know, L.Z., they want us to discuss this. I'm not fully sure what there is to discuss. That seems like a fairly outrageous comment. Which Republicans believe that slavery still exists?

L.Z. GRANDERSON, CNN COMMENTATOR: You know, I'm looking at him and, you know, God bless him, he served our country in the military, he's been a strong voice for the African-American community over the decades, but I'm trying to figure out why he's even still in office. After he's been busted on 11 counts of ethics violations, why is he still in office?

Because the type of things he's doing right now, saying those kinds of things that are absolutely ridiculous and have no place in politics and has no place in the Democratic Party. And if you think what he says is true, then I'm going to tell you the truth: you're an idiot. Because slavery -- and that time period does not exist today. Is there racism? Absolutely. But it does not exist in the same way it did during slavery times. And I'm sick of people comparing President Obama to Hitler and people comparing the GOP to racists back in slavery times. It just isn't true.

PEREIRA: Ana, aside from the fact that Governor Cuomo's office is likely making a call to Rangel's office himself, what are your thoughts? Because you heard passionate comments from L.Z. there. I can't imagine that you feel that differently.

NAVARRO: You know, my problem is that I just have a hard time taking anything Charlie Rangel says with any seriousness. This is a guy who's totally discredited. He has been in Congress since dinosaurs roamed the earth, frankly, before I was born. He is a guy who, as L.Z. mentioned, was found guilty of 11 ethics violations, was stripped of his chairmanship of Ways and Means. President Obama wouldn't even endorse him in a heated Democrat primary that he faced.

So I question the sanity of the people that continue voting for him, and also I think there's a lot of Democrats that wish he weren't there, because he does and says things that are embarrassing to their party and to our country, frankly. He has no business saying these kind of irresponsible comments.

But I just -- my expectations of him are so low and I just find him so discredited, I have a hard time even reacting to it. It's just Charlie Rangel being Charlie Rangel.

PEREIRA: Well, I suppose you could say it that way. L.Z., I think it's hard. Because it just feels so non-productive, given -- given the tone and the conversation that has been going on in this country for some time. That we need -- as you were mentioning, he's done a lot for the African-American community, but at a time when we see what's going on in Ferguson, we see what's going on in other parts of the country, this doesn't seem like a productive thing to be saying.

GRANDERSON: I'm probably going get a lot of flak for this in social media, and quite frankly I don't care because it needs to be said. We often talk openly about the different generational views when it comes to same-sex marriages and how we cavalierly say, as the older generation die off, so does that hatred and perspective die off in our country as well. And it needs to be said, the same thing about race. When it comes to certain aspects of talking about people of different races, certain ideas and perspectives, it's time to die off.

I'm not saying people need to die off, but those attitudes need to die off. If you're still saying nothing has changed in society, and we have an African-American president in the White House, than I just don't know what to say to you rationally to get you to change your mind.

That's not to say that racism doesn't exist. That's not to say that institutionalized racism and the remnants of segregation and Jim Crow laws do not still exist. But you cannot say that we're on the same exact playing field or level as a slave -- not if you know actually what happened during slavery times. It is not productive to make those correlations; it is anti-productive. Not only that, it's disempowering. And I just am sick and tired of politicians doing that on the Democratic side, as well as Republicans doing that to President Obama on the other side when it comes to Hitler.

BERMAN: All right, L.Z. Granderson, Ana Navarro, thanks so much for being with us. Appreciate the time.

NAVARRO: Thank you.

GRANDERSON: Thank you.

PEREIRA: Short break here. Ahead, I guess you could call it the main event. The state versus a quarantined nurse. We have brand-new developments for you coming up in a live report.

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BERMAN: All right, major developments just happening right now, this hour, in the case of the quarantined nurse up in Maine. Kaci Hickox, she of course made good on her threat to leave her house. She went for that bike ride. Now we have learned that the State of Maine has made good on its threat to get a court order. But to do what, exactly?

PEREIRA: Yes, we want to understand what this all means. We turn Jean Casarez; she is at the house right there in Maine. So, Jean, break it down for us. What do we know that the order says?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we can tell you a temporary order has been filed and signed by the chief judge of the district court here in Maine, and it was actually filed yesterday. This is a temporary order now from a court specifically saying that Kaci Hickox cannot, number one, go into public places, cannot take commercial aviation, cannot take public transportation, cannot go into any type of a workplace. She can go outside of her home; she can walk, she can run. She has to stay at least three feet from any person.

Now, this is not delineated by the state. These are the most recent recommendations by the federal CDC when you have someone that can be possibly at risk. But now, the difference is, now this is in essence a mandatory quarantine issued by a court temporarily until there can be a hearing. But it no longer is on a voluntary basis.

Now, this order was based upon a sworn affidavit by the Chief Medical Officer for the Maine CDC. Her name is Sheila Pinette. And in this sworn affidavit, she says many things that we have not known before. One of the things that really struck me was she specifically states that the roommate of the respondent -- which is Kaci -- in Africa became infected without knowing how she became infected. She also goes on to state that when Kaci was being transported from New Jersey to Maine, the CDC tried to contact her, asked her to contact them. She did not return the call to Maine's CDC en route to Maine, but responded by an e-mail saying she was not going to go to the home here, she was going to go someplace else in Maine, but then changed her own plans and ended up here.

Another thing that I think is interesting on a medical basis, what this Chief Medical Officer from Maine's CDC states, is that when you are preliminarily tested, as she was in New Jersey, that that is not the end of the story, that someone can be more infectious during the second week when someone is within that 21-day quarantine. And this is the second week right now, so they believe that it is of essence that this order be followed at this point of time.

Also, the closer you are to the most seriously ill people, the people that are dying, that the more you can contract the antigen that then makes you sick. And they say that she was with patients that were very, very ill until October 20 and today is October 31. So we are will confirm with you. An order has been filed, signed by the chief judge of the district court here in Maine.

BERMAN: And, quickly, any reaction from Kaci Hickox yet?

CASAREZ: She's not out of the house. She has not come out of the house, and that may be because she's following this order. We've seen her boyfriend today but we have not seen her at all. And people aren't talking about it, but if you read the order it says that a hearing will be scheduled. But that hearing, probably next week, should be sealed, so it may not be a public hearing because this is a public health issue.

PEREIRA: Well, and the question is her mandatory -- well, her quarantine, I think, or the time, the 21 days, doesn't expire until I believe November 10. So, again, how they're going to handle all of that next week remains to be seen. Our Jean Casarez, excellent reporting. Thank you so much for that.

BERMAN: Just moments ago we got this tweet from the U.S. Ambassador the United Nations, Samantha Power, who went to these West African nations that are dealing with Ebola. She was being checked for signs at the airport.

PEREIRA: She tweets, quote, "Back from West Africa, part of standard CDC protocol, screened at airport on arrival, will report/report health for 21 days." That's her tweet. We know that Power has been vocal about the need for more aid in West Africa to fight for Ebola.

BERMAN: What's interesting about that picture, it was the forehead test --

PEREIRA: Yes, which is the one that Kaci Hickox --

BERMAN: -- which what Kaci Hickox had, and had a temperature, for. And Hickox later said, well, when I took an oral test, I had no temperature. That can be inaccurate.

PEREIRA: And here's the other thing, the 21 days she's going to monitor, will she removal herself?

BERMAN: Well, how close was Samantha Power? I don't think she was treating patients.

PEREIRA: Good point. There are questions. No, she wasn't.

BERMAN: All right, a lot more to discuss on that subject to be sure and a lot more questions to answer. We will keep you abreast of any developments, especially if Kaci Hickox leaves her house in the next few minutes.

Twenty-nine minutes after the hour, a seven-week manhunt is over. The dramatic moments that a suspected cop killer was caught and the symbolic moments just after surprising a lot of people. We'll have that just ahead.

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