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Voters Verdict on Trump Presidency; Racial Attacks in Midterms; Two States Warn of False Voter Information; Concerns in Midterms. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired November 06, 2018 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00] HALEY BARBOUR (R), FORMER MISSISSIPPI GOVERNOR: Wall Street but it sucked on main street. It was bad in the heartland.

Today, we're seeing organic growth all over the country. And we're seeing it because of the right tax policy, the right regulatory policy and people are -- a lot of people are very buoyed up by the judgeships. And particularly the Kavanaugh deal energized and stirred up a lot of those people.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Look, there's no question the economy is strong right now. I will note that Democrats note that job growth in the last, what was it, eight months or -- of the Obama administration, or two years, was equal to the job growth or greater than the job growth the first two years of the Trump administration. So the economy record there at the end is roughly the same.

You're talking again about the record there. You're talking about Kavanaugh. But the president chose something different to close with. He chose something different to close with. He chose that message that included the ad that a lot of people look at as well. It's a racist ad and there were false statements made in that ad.

So, again, if you want to promote the positive message that you're talking about, was that a mistake?

BARBOUR: Well, look, as I said, there are three groups of people that really make a difference in this election. Some of them are going to vote because they love Trump. For that -- for them, whatever he says is a --

BERMAN: And they'll love that ad. But I'm talking about the 25 in the middle that you're talking about.

BARBOUR: And then there's -- then there's another group that are not going to vote for -- you know, a lot of them, they don't care what he says, what he does, they just don't want to -- they're against him.

The group in the middle don't like Trump, do like the -- do like the results.

I think, if I were running, if that's what I would emphasize -- now, I'm not running it, so let me make that plain. Let's see what the results are. But if you were -- if anybody had asked me, I would have said, let's run on economic growth. Let's run on regulatory reform. Let's run on conservative judges. There are a whole lot of Americans who might not find Trump is their cup of tea who really like the results.

BERMAN: If they had asked you, you would have advised, to do something different, which does get to the question of, you know, has politics changed? I mean you were in the game a long time. From the -- and I don't mean to -- that's not a comment about age it's a comment about your career where you had a lot of different things and had an enormous amount of success at different levels. Do you feel like politics has changed, has moved beyond the boundaries that existed perhaps when you were doing things?

BARBOUR: Well, of course it has. First of all, technology has changed. I mean I remember when the ground game was knocking on doors, was writing people letters in your church, was carrying stickers to the high school football game. I mean, today, through technology, people are able to touch thousands and thousands and thousands of people directly, you know, digitally. Digital has made a huge difference.

Secondly, the issues have changed. Let's don't kid ourselves. Y'all like to talk about that Trump is out of sync. Obama was out of sync to lots and lots of people in both parties. The Democrat Party has made a big lurch to the left. I don't think the Republican Party's moved so much further to the right as they've become so purist, if you don't agree with me on everything, that you're a rhino or you're not -- you're not what you're doing what you're all to do. Those are big differences. It used to be when we were at parody, which we are today, we're at a central parody between the two parties. We're bunched up in the middle. Today there's no middle.

BERMAN: And can I ask you, you didn't make your career advising Democrats, but -- but --

BARBOUR: Republicans.

BERMAN: Can you -- can you pick a Democrats that you think that has run a particularly good race in this election cycle?

BARBOUR: I think there are a lot of Democrats who have run a good race, but they don't get the attention. The attention is on the socialists. You look at -- look at the candidate for governor of Florida.

BERMAN: You don't think he's run a good race?

BARBOUR: I don't think he's run a good race. But I think because he's -- he is a -- I think he had run a good race because his economic policies are terrible for Florida. He may win over personalities. But I think his policy arguments are very bad for Florida. I think the same thing's true in Georgia, where the Democrats have a popular candidate, but she wants to have --

BERMAN: But you think --

BARBOUR: She wants to have welfare for illegal immigrants. BERMAN: I was asking -- I was asking from a political standpoint, who

has run a successful --

BARBOUR: Oh, I'm sorry, I thinking about from a policy standpoint.

BERMAN: I'm talking politically, who has run a good campaign? Who, among the Democrats, would you look at and say, they've run good campaigns? Those are the ones that scare me because I think they might win.

BARBOUR: Well, the ones I think that have won very good campaigns don't scare me because I think they're going to move their party further and further to the left. Clearly, in Texas --

BERMAN: Beto O'Rourke.

BARBOUR: A very, very good campaign. I think he'll lose. I think Cruz will win. But the candidates that are getting the attention and ginning up the energy, they're much farther to the left than the center of the Democratic Party that I grew up around or even that we had two year -- ten years ago.

[08:35:00] BERMAN: Yes, look, the interesting thing is, is that a lot of Republicans succeeded by perhaps being on the extreme of their party. Could the same happen with the Democrats? We'll see. That's one of the things -- one of the questions we'll have answered by tonight.

Governor Haley Barbour, a pleasure to speak with you. Thanks so much for being with us.

BARBOUR: Thank you, John. Thank you very much.

BERMAN: Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Well, the midterms have had no shortage of racially charged attacks. Up next, we'll talk about hate, hope and history with a congressman who risked his life in the name of civil rights. John Lewis is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Today, voters in Georgia could elect an African-American woman as governor for the first time in U.S. history. But allegations of politically motivated hacking, charges of voter suppression and racist robo calls have plagued that race.

Joining us now to talk about all of it, we have Democratic Congressman John Lewis of Georgia. Congressman Lewis, of course, is a civil rights icon who spent his youth fighting for the African-American right to vote. He has been campaigning for Stacey Abrams for governor.

Congressman, good morning.

REP. JOHN LEWIS (D), GEORGIA: Good morning.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about Georgia and that governor's race. The tone -- I mean in some ways it epitomizes what we have seen all over the country in terms of what the tone has degenerated to. So it's been divisive. It's been toxic. Stacey Abrams, as we've said, has had to contend with racist, hideous robo calls.

[08:40:12] Where do you think we are today in this country?

LEWIS: Well, the scars and stains of racism are still deeply embedded in American society. We need to lay down the burden of racism and separation and create what I call one America, one community, one house, because all of us live in the same house, in the American house. And as Dr. King said on many occasions, we must learn to live together as brothers and sisters. If not, we will perish as fools.

CAMEROTA: I mean it's impossible to argue with those words, of course, but do you have any optimism that even if, say, Democrats were to win the House of Representatives today that something would change in the tone in the country?

LEWIS: It is my hope and my belief that the Democrats, my party, will win the House of Representatives and we will do everything in our power to bring the American people together.

We must come together. We cannot continue to be divided. We must find a way to do the right thing and be kind to each other and not be so mean.

I came through the heart of the civil rights movement as indicated. We were out to be what Dr. King called a beloved community, to redeem the soul of America. And that's what we must continue to do in the political arena.

CAMEROTA: Do you think the Democrats bear any responsibility in the toxic tone? You know Republicans like to say, well, it's on both sides. I mean they do think like cite Congresswoman Maxine Waters and her heated rhetoric. Do you think that Democrats bear responsibility for where we are today as well?

LEWIS: Well, the great majority of the Democrats in the House and in the Senate, we don't have the bully pulpit like the president. I think the president, a person in the White House, have created the climate, the environment, through his action and through his words.

CAMEROTA: And so, congressman, what about that ad, that campaign ad, that CNN considered racist and factually wrong and so did not put out that campaign ad that the president endorsed, the president tweeted out. And then NBC and Fox and FaceBook all followed suit and wouldn't air that ad. I mean 50 years after the civil rights movement, are you surprised to see ads like this?

LEWIS: I was so, not only surprised, but I couldn't believe it. And I think the television station and network did what was right to take it down. It was vicious, sick and not becoming of a political party, not becoming of the American people.

CAMEROTA: And what does it tell you that President Trump liked that ad so much that he tweeted it out? LEWIS: It tell us, all of us, that we have so far to go. We have miles

to travel before we create one America and one people. We must learn to live together.

There was a man by Afila Randolph (ph), who said during the '60s, maybe our forefathers and foremothers all came to this great land in different ships, but we're all in the same boat now. And it doesn't matter whether we're black or white, Latino, Asian-American or Native American, whether we're Muslim, Christian or Jewish, we're one people, we're one family, we're one house.

CAMEROTA: On a couple of tactical questions for you, if Democrats win the House today, do you believe that Nancy Pelosi should be the leader again?

LEWIS: Well, I (INAUDIBLE) mind Nancy Pelosi. She's one of the most hard-working, committed and dedicated individuals you ever want to meet. And she's been working. She's paid her dues and she continues to pay her dues.

CAMEROTA: So can I interpret that as that you would support her as being the leader in the House and that you think she is the most effective leader of the Democratic Party moving forward?

LEWIS: She is one of the most effective members of our Democratic caucus in the House. I don't know whether she's going to seek a leadership position, but I would be there. If she becomes the leader, I would be working with her and supporting her.

[08:45:03] CAMEROTA: Well, Congressman John Lewis, we really appreciate you taking time to be with us today and to give us your historical perspective on everything that we are seeing on this Election Day. Thank you very much for being here.

LEWIS: Well, thank you so much.

CAMEROTA: John.

BERMAN: All right, we're watching this very, very closely. There are already claims of voter fraud and voter suppression in the midterms. John Avlon takes a look in a CNN "Reality Check," next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right, we do have some breaking news. We're watching very closely voting situations around the country right now and there are some reports of problems in some cases.

MJ Lee joins us now. She's getting miced up as we speak because this is just happening as we speak.

CAMEROTA: We've just run you in here for this breaking news.

BERMAN: What have you learned?

MJ LEE, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, a very, very important issue heading into today as you said is the potential for voter suppression. This is a concern that a lot of people have. And all day today we are going to be on the lookout on social media and our reporters on the ground on whether there is sort of the potential for misinformation, people not knowing where to go and, frankly, just human error, too, right?

[08:50:09] And we have seen some of the earlies signs today of potential misinformation in two states, New Jersey and Rhode Island. The New Jersey secretary of state tweeted this morning, beware of false information regarding polling locations, that they have received reports of people getting texts, calls or e-mails with wrong information, though they didn't elaborate what that wrong information was.

And, similarly in Rhode Island, the Rhode Island secretary of state tweeted that there have been reports of voters receiving incorrect polling place information from third party applications. Doesn't know exactly who they are referring to or what kind of wrong information.

But, again, this is the kind of information that we are on the lookout for because this is the kind of wrong information, if that is true, that could, for some voters out there who want to make sure and get out and vote, might end up going to the wrong place or might not really know where to go.

Just one other quick antidote that I want to refer to as well. In Brooklyn, New York, a city elections official tells us that voters were actually locked out of a polling place for about 90 minutes. Voting was supposed to start at a community center there at 6:00 a.m. but only began at 7:30 a.m. because poll workers could not open an electronic lock on the building.

So, again, not everything is going to go smoothly today. There is going to be an element of human error. But, again, what we're on the lookout for are serious issues today that hopefully will not arise.

BERMAN: Look, and I think it's so important to point out, things do happen. Things always happen. The important thing is to watch over them and fix them, which is why, in some ways, this is a glass half full, not a glass half empty thing. Oh, look, shenanigans.

LEE: Right.

BERMAN: It's so they can get them fixed so people can go vote where they need to today.

LEE: That's right.

Well, and, you know, not everyone will necessarily feel like this is something we know how to do well, right? A lot of people have never voted, or they're voting for the first time. They don't necessarily wake up this morning and know, this is where I'm supposed to go and this is exactly how I'm supposed to do it. So they're really depending on information that can help them get there and make sure that they can cast their ballot.

CAMEROTA: Right. On a good day you can be confused about where you have to show up.

LEE: That's right.

CAMEROTA: But, MJ, thank you very much for telling us all about this.

BERMAN: All right, so what do voters need to know beyond this about the warnings of voter fraud?

John Avlon here with a "Reality Check."

John.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: So election hacks, dueling accusations of voter fraud and voter suppression, welcome to the seedy underbelly of the 2018 election.

First, to break news from overnight, FaceBook announced that it had removed some 30 FaceBook pages and 85 Instagram accounts that they say the feds said may be linked to foreign entities. Earlier, "The Boston Globe" reported that a U.S. government report showed hackers have attempted to violate election systems 160 times since August. They say some of these were from foreign entities, but don't believe the attempts were successful. It's a reminder that the kind of meddling from Russia that marred the 2016 election remains an ongoing concern. But true to form, President Trump has been much more focused on baseless accusations about voter fraud, firing off tweets warning about illegal voting.

Now, voter suppression, on the other hand, can be considered a form of fraud. After all, it's trying to deny citizens the right to vote. And that's a real problem. That's what Georgia's secretary of state and GOP gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp has been accused of. A claim he denies.

Now, we've told you about the 670,000 registrations Kemp purged in 2017 according to the AP, and the investigation into 53,000 voters, nearly 70 percent of them African-Americans, whose registrations were put on hold because of discrepancies in an exact match process, which flags voter registrations for discrepancies as small as a missing hyphen.

Now, Kemp maintains he's simply following the law and has done nothing wrong. But, on Friday, a federal judge determined that 3,000 Georgia voters had been incorrectly labeled as potential non-citizens and must be allowed to vote.

Over the weekend, the latest bombshell. Kemp's office stating, without evidence, that Democrats were being investigated for attempted hacking into the state's voter registration system. It's an inflammatory accusation the Democrats deny. But CNN has reviewed the e-mails that flagged a potential venerability into the state's database and it does not appear to implicate the state Democratic Party for hacking in any way. Instead, it seems to be another red flag about cyber security in Georgia.

An earlier warning led to a federal lawsuit alleging that Kemp failed to safeguard his state's voting system, leading to a 2015 breach that exposed six million voter records. Meanwhile, in a separate development, ProPublica reported that Kemp's office was busy securing cyber vulnerabilities that they publically said didn't exist. Kemp's office defended this as nothing more than website housekeeping.

Behind all of it is a basic conflict. Kemp is overseeing the administration of an election he is running in, which would seem to be a violation of common sense, after all, teams don't get to referee the games they play in. But Election Day is here. And no matter who you vote for, don't let fear get in the way of your right to vote.

And that's your "Reality Check."

BERMAN: John Avlon, a great message. Go vote. The polls are open. Today is the day. And if you don't vote today, Alisyn, your view is?

CAMEROTA: Well, you just have to be quiet for the next two years.

[08:55:00] BERMAN: Completely quiet.

CAMEROTA: I don't want to hear it. Completely quite. I don't want to hear a single word out of your mouth.

BERMAN: At all.

CAMEROTA: No.

BERMAN: Not just about on politics, anything.

CAMEROTA: No, anything. Anything.

BERMAN: Anything.

CAMEROTA: You've lost your right.

BERMAN: So go vote today if you have some spare time waiting in line. You know, pick up a good book, "Amanda Wakes Up."

CAMEROTA: You never cease to amaze me.

BERMAN: Now available in paperback.

CAMEROTA: It is a --

BERMAN: Making a trip to Washington, D.C.

CAMEROTA: It's great for voting. In fact, I believe that there is some voting issues in the book.

BERMAN: Yes.

CAMEROTA: CNN's "Election Night in America" coverage begins in just hours, at 5:00 p.m. And NEW DAY, we should let you know, will be on extra early tomorrow morning. We are starting at 5:00 a.m. Eastern.

BERMAN: By popular demand. We'll have more poll openings. We're keeping a very close eye on some

of these voting issues we just reported in several states.

Stay with us. Our special live coverage continues after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: A very good Tuesday morning to you. It is Election Day. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Poppy Harlow. We're so glad you're with us.

It is finally Election Day, though in this age of early voting, it is a little bit more accurate to say today is your last chance to vote in 435 House races, 35 Senate races, 36 gubernatorial races, plus thousands of state and local races. Polls are opening as we speak in the mountain west, plus Nebraska. In the east, voting has been underway for at least two hours and getting there early has not always guaranteed no waiting. Far from it.