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Cuomo Prime Time
Heated North Carolina Congressional Race Tests Trump's 2020 Chances; CNN Poll: 60 Percent Of Americans Say Trump Does Not Deserve Re-Election; Alyssa Milano On Her Gun Control Meeting With Senator Ted Cruz. Aired 9-10p ET
Aired September 10, 2019 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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MALCOLM GLADWELL, AUTHOR, "TALKING TO STRANGERS: WHAT WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE PEOPLE WE DON'T KNOW": Yes.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, ANDERSON COOPER 360: Who we're talking to.
GLADWELL: I don't think we do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: It's a fascinating conversation. You can see the full one-hour interview with Malcolm Gladwell in the coming weeks. We'll bring that to you. The book "Talking to Strangers" is out now.
News continues right now. Want to hand it over to Chris for CUOMO PRIME TIME. Chris?
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST, CUOMO PRIME TIME: All right, Anderson, it's an exciting night. I am Chris Cuomo and welcome to PRIME TIME.
Tonight matters my friends. We should get our best look yet at the state of play for the 2020 election by seeing what happens in North Carolina's special elections for Congress tonight.
Now, you have to look at these elections in light of the two polls that just came out, ABC and CNN, both out today, showing that the President has slipped in support, the economy, a concern, confidence in him, flagging.
So, the vote that is being counted right now will show what does that translate into in a district that should be a layup for Republicans, North Carolina's 9th District.
We got all the big shots here, John King working the magic wall, our top team here to make me look smarter, and tell us what is at stake in this tally.
Plus tonight, Alyssa Milano is here to talk about her face-to-face meeting with Ted Cruz on gun violence that ended just hours ago. What do you think? Can the Celebrity and the Senator put politics aside and find any common ground?
It's a turbulent Tuesday. Let's get after it.
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CUOMO: All right, the voters in North Carolina's 9th District have just had their say at the polls. Again, the GOP should win the seat. Trump won it by a dozen points, so did Romney.
But doubts about this President gave Democrats, if you look at the numbers, about a 12-point swing in midterm races in some Red districts. Will we see more slippage tonight?
This is important enough that the President was down there last night, rallying the MAGA troops, so to campaign for Dan Bishop. He is the Republican running. But let's be honest. It's not about him. This is about a proxy for the President.
Dan McCready, as you see on your screen, is the Democrat. It is very close. It has been getting closer. It should not be a surprise if the Republican wins, but we want to see by how much.
What could happen here in light of what happened in that 2018 earlier midterm wave? Now, in that district, remember, why the 9th District matters right now, why we have to have a special election.
There were allegations of voter fraud. McCready lost, I think, by like what, like a hundreds of votes or something, or close to that, something like that, very small the last time. The person he was running against is out, they needed a new election.
So, let's bring in John King to give us the state of play. What is the latest, my friend?
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The latest is Dan McCready, the Democrat continuing to lead in this race. I want to emphasize, we're still counting.
38 percent reporting in the 9th District, as you noted again, we shouldn't be having this conversation tonight, Chris. This should be a rock-solid Republican district. They've held it since 1963. President Trump, as you noted, carried it by 12 points.
But will 2018 carry over? Meaning, will the Republican Party's problems in the suburbs carry over? Will Presidential visits prove to not have the juice? The President was just there last night. As you said, will they now have the juice?
Let's take a look at some of the district here. I want to start over here in Mecklenburg County. This is the largest part of the district. Now, the County actually goes out a bit further. Hillary Clinton carried Mecklenburg County in 2016. But Donald Trump carried this part. I want to go back in time. And look, President Trump, then candidate Trump, carried this part of the district, the part of Mecklenburg County that is in North Carolina 9, not by a lot, but the President carried it.
What - what are we seeing tonight so far? Dan McCready, the Democrat, winning it by a lot at the moment. But remember this, only 4 percent in Mecklenburg County.
As we go through these other counties, so far, it looks like this number, when it goes up, can McCready hold the lead anything like that in the biggest part of the district? That is the defining question at the moment, as we move through the rest of the race.
Union County is the second largest county. We're up to 67 percent there. You look at that, and you say "Whoa, Dan Bishop doing what he needs to do," right? He's winning a Republican County by 20 points.
That's not bad. But again, margins matter in politics. Can't compare a Presidential race and a House race. But you can say President Trump won this County by 30 points. Republicans need these more rural counties. This is a test.
The President was right there, telling his people, "I need you. Come out." At the moment, as we look at the results here, Dan Bishop is winning, but maybe not by the margin he needs. Again, we'll keep counting the votes.
Let's move to the other end of the district, Chris. Third largest county is right here, Robeson County. Dan McCready winning by a pretty healthy margin, only 26 percent. Let's watch. The early vote tends to come in for the Democrats. Then we watch the day of election voting, see if the Republican catches up.
But again, you're comparing this here in a district Republicans have held forever, President Trump won this county by about 5 points. The Republican, President Trump, won this county by about 5 points, 4 or 5 points in the Presidential election.
The Democrat is winning it right now by 20 points. If you're in Republican headquarters, that concerns you.
And lastly, we talked about the suburbs right? Mecklenburg County, the Charlotte suburbs, the closing ex-suburbs (ph) they've been moving away from the Republican Party.
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President Trump has put that on steroids. Will it happen here too in the Fayetteville suburbs? Dan McCready winning 12 points. If you look at that, a 11 - 12 points right there.
Again, back in time, President Trump carried this part of the district just barely, but he carried it. Margins matter in close races. And if you're looking at this map, as it fills in right now, Chris, 38 percent, so we got about 40 percent of the vote in, the Democrat is ahead.
If the Democrat's even close tonight, even if the Republican wins, and it's close, Republicans are going to have jitters.
If this holds up, and Dan McCready is the next Congressman from North Carolina 9, the President's going to be questioning "Can I get my voters out?" And you're going to see a lot more Republican retirements.
CUOMO: Margins matter in elections. Wins matter even more. Is there any population center that you're going to be watching closely as the rest of the vote comes in that would be responsible for any big move?
KING: Yes, two actually. And I'm going to start again over here. You look where the people are, right?
And this is the largest part of the district here, again Mecklenburg County, that's where Charlotte is. Charlotte is not in the district, but they're close than suburbs are in NC's more exurban areas, right here, only 4 percent right now.
So the largest piece of unaccounted-for votes, uncounted votes are right here in the battleground part of this, now battleground, never before, but now battleground district.
Again, Republicans have held this district since 1963 that I'm calling it a battleground tonight tells you everything you need to know about the climate. This is the largest unknown at the moment.
As this vote number goes up, they left some polls open because of people in line. I suspect that's why that number's low, and the counting is a little slow right now. This is the one to watch here.
And then, again, just to come to the other end of the district, you look here. This was Republican in the Presidential race. If Dan McCready can hold on by that kind of a margin, it just tells you that it's not just in the suburbs, it's starting to stretch out into the rural areas as well.
What does that tell you? It tells you that even though the President went, the Vice President went, and Donald Trump Jr. went, if this county over here, now at 26 percent, if that stays Blue, the Trump campaign is going to be thinking, "What do we need to do to do a better job getting our people out?"
CUOMO: All right, anything you see that swings your interest let me know, and I'll come right back to you, OK?
KING: I'll give you a wave.
CUOMO: All right, so let's bring in the experts here. We have David Chalian and Dana Bash.
One, Chalian, is there any hype alert going on at this and that "Well, it doesn't really matter that much. Oh, it's just because it's happening tonight." You know, in reviewing for tonight, McCready's running the same race he ran last night.
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes.
CUOMO: He was very close. There were allegations of fraud. They had to rerun the race. Dan Bishop seems to be a solid candidate for the GOP. All the buzz is about what this means for the President. Is that fair?
CHALIAN: Yes. I mean, they had to rerun the race because the North Carolina Board of Election refused to certify it because of those fraud issues that occurred there.
You are right. Bishop is running the same race. He's running on healthcare. He's putting his bio forward, his veteran status forward. He's not doing the Trump-bashing thing, right, because this is a really Red district.
So, he's running like all those Democrats that ran in 2018 that delivered the House Majority to Speaker Pelosi. So, they're following that playbook. You are right to note, Bishop, the Republican, doesn't have the stink of the fraud issue on him--
CUOMO: Right.
CHALIAN: --the way Mark Harris did, right, the previous guy that was there. So, Bishop is a Republican that perhaps fits this district better. I'll tell you one thing though. He does have the bathroom bill. You remember that famous bill--
CUOMO: Yes.
CHALIAN: --bathroom bill (ph)? And that where John is talking about, the suburbs and independents, that has a potential to turn some voters off that perhaps Bishop needs tonight.
CUOMO: And, you know, I was looking for an indication, Dana that this really isn't about the President. The voters there are upset that there seemed to be something fraudulent.
The person who was running at the time had a horrible set of explanations for how they hired this person, who was known for monkeying with votes.
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: There's a reason they wouldn't certify it.
CUOMO: Right.
BASH: Yes.
CUOMO: So, but again, Dan Bishop is a different person. He's seen as a high character person. He does have that culture war mark on his side, which voters there, you look at registration in North Carolina, they're more Democrats, but those are Blue Dog Democrats.
So, if it's 2 points, they need some recounting, the Republican wins, is it a win is a win is a win or is it something else? BASH: It's, look, a win is a win is a win. It - the fact that we are talking about this is a big deal. I mean, you asked David if - if there are, you know, the expectation games, if they're playing it. They're playing it big time in Washington.
Steve Scalise, the Majority Whip said today that this is a swing district. This is not a swing - if he considers this a swing district, I want him to show us what a safe district is.
CUOMO: When's the last time a Democrat won?
BASH: 1963.
CUOMO: I know.
BASH: 1963. So that's - that's, you know, kind of a joke.
But you know how this goes in politics. If the Republicans win, as they should, based on the history of this district, they're going to take - they're going to breathe a sigh of relief, and they should still look into the - to the - to the numbers, and to the voters, and to the messages, and what this does mean going forward for 2020.
If the Democrats win, forget it, I mean this is going to be a five- alarm fire, looking at 2020, because yes, this is one - potentially one of several, as you mentioned, at the top of the show, suburban districts that Trump won that - that could potentially go to the Democrats.
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But this is as Ruby and as Red as we've seen, even on real Election Day in 2018.
CHALIAN: And Chris, remember, North Carolina, that's going to be a big battleground state--
CUOMO: Yes.
CHALIAN: --in 2020.
BASH: Yes.
CHALIAN: So, I know this is just one district, but never mind to try to extrapolate it fully nationally for President Trump. He needs North Carolina.
CUOMO: That's right.
CHALIAN: And if we're starting to see some erosion tonight, that - that is going to be a big problem, just in the map to 270 for Trump.
CUOMO: Right, especially on the same day that they're trying to convince themselves that two just separate polls that came out aren't true. You get a result that goes against you, it's a problem.
CHALIAN: We'll see.
CUOMO: Let me take a quick break. Stay with me. Do me a favor.
Harry will spell out for us, The Wizard of Odds, about what's going on in the polling and why we're looking at it in tandem with this election. The Wizard of Odds would tell us who is not as enthusiastic about this President, what does it mean for this election tonight, what does it mean for 2020?
The Whiz, nice shirt, next.
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CUOMO: President Trump just claimed that "Nobody's ever done a better job than I'm doing as President." Now, why would he say something that screams of such insecurity?
I'll tell you why. A new CNN poll. This special election in North Carolina is a big deal because it will be a test of what we see in the numbers that show a slippage of support at the wrong time.
What does the Wizard of Odds, Harry Enten, see here? Perspective please.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN POLITICS SENIOR WRITER & ANALYST: OK. Here is this perspective, and I will give it to you.
Look, we have a latest CNN poll, President Trump's approval rating at 39 percent. What's important here, take a look at this trend, going back to April, 43, 43, 43, 40, 39, he's dropped 4 points from April to September.
Now, you might say to yourself, that's one poll, but take a look at this. I think this is rather important. We have an ABC News/Washington Post poll, take a look at this.
From late June or early July, he was at 44 percent back then, but take a look now. Late August, early September, he's dropped 6 points. CNN, we have that 4 point drop during that same period. Gallup, a 5 point drop during that same period.
So, we're seeing that across the board that the President's dropping by mid-single digits. And, of course, the President has been - had to have a pretty steady approval rating, so a 5 point drop is a pretty big drop.
Now, here's the real question, of course. Is that translating to the ballot test? Well, as a matter of fact, it is, because take a look at this. Does Donald Trump deserve re-election? Only 36 percent of Americans say "Yes" at this point, 60 percent say no.
And I think this is rather important too. Take a look here. This was an earlier poll done by Quinnipiac University. We're seeing the same thing going on here. President Trump's number, 38 percent to 40 percent, versus all the potential Democratic nominees, who are all up at least 9 points over him.
Now, let's translate this over to North Carolina's 9th District, because I think this is rather important. Remember, in North Carolina's 9th District, what did we see? We saw in 2016, Donald Trump winning that district by 12 points. The same thing, Mitt Romney won that district by 12 points in 2012.
But, of course, remember, what did we see back in 2017 to 2018 in the special elections? We saw the average Democrat outperform that 2016 margin by 12 points. And if that, of course, happens tonight, we're going to have a very, very tight race in our hands.
CUOMO: Harry, that was excellent, and thank you. So, those are all the numbers. Let's bring back Dana and David here.
The "Why" becomes very important. My suggestion is looking at the crosstabs as available in some of these early polls the President's mouth is getting in his way.
The economy, depending on how you want to look at it, it's hard to look at it, and say it's bad. It's pretty easy to look at it and say it's good until you look at it versus the President saying it's the best ever. It's the best for everybody.
China, trade, the tariffs, putting pressures on him, fighting with Powell, creating recessionary concerns in the markets, these are all on his mouth, not the metrics.
BASH: Or what's not on his mouth.
The fact that he is maybe just talking about those issues, not talking about the good news, I mean there are bruises on the heads of so many Trump campaign people, from banging it against the wall, because they're - the - their boss, the President, doesn't use this incredible tool that he has, Twitter, to talk exclusively about the economy.
And instead, picking fights with, you know, reporters, and people in Hollywood and, you know, all kinds of other things that gets in the way of the message.
And now that the economy is showing signs of weakness, his opponents are jumping on it, and they are being relentless, and talking about the negative signs in the economy. And that is maybe one of the biggest telltale signs, there are lots of them, warning signs for the President in this poll that he's not yet totally underwater on his approval on the economy, but he's pretty close, and it's as bad as it's been in seven months, right?
CHALIAN: Yes, yes, we haven't seen it dip below 50 percent, his approval on the economy, in seven months. That's where he is now.
He took what is an advantage, right, and it's now an even shot for him on the economy. It used to be the strong suit. And now, it's even.
And you're right to note trade as well. Those numbers are down, his handling that. Every other issue other than the economy, you see, he doesn't crack 40 percent approval on any issue, except the economy, and now that that's an even play.
I will the - the one thing that is really intriguing me - intriguing to me, Chris, this re-elect number, 60 percent saying he doesn't deserve re-election, we tested that a couple years ago. It was about the same result. That is what is astonishing to me.
We are two years - 2.5 years in, I don't - he hasn't added a voter in - in many ways. You see it across the board. 80 percent of the country says Donald Trump has changed the country.
And, of those, more say changed for the bad, than changed to the good, and that has been on the rise, specifically with independents who say changed for the - the bad.
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These are the kinds of signs when I - I'm constantly looking for seeing, since his first day in office, where is he adding, and I think these numbers show he's not adding at all.
CUOMO: I'll tell you what. This should be good news for Democrats, but here's what it also means.
If he's not growing his tent, and he isn't, that means that whoever is the nominee for the Democrats is going to be getting their butt whooped from day one. It will be a relentless bashing to bring down the opponent. So, whoever it is, better be ready for that kind of fight.
So, that's why we're looking at North Carolina. How much of these polls size up with the reality in actual voting?
John King, the man, has new numbers ahead.
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CUOMO: All right, new numbers, take a look at this.
The Democrat, Dan McCready, just slipped in his lead, all right? You have Dan Bishop up now, half a percentage point. OK, fine, you can say well it's too close to call. You have to look at a race like this in terms of where the votes remain.
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I'll open up to Dana and David. We're looking on a laptop here of where the votes remain. And we see that there's not a lot of vote in yet in a couple of places that could mean something to McCready, the Democrats.
CHALIAN: Yes. And we should note, while you were talking, the votes updated, and Bishop is a point ahead now, so he may be taking a lead here, obviously, we'll see if it'll (ph) but you're right.
In Mecklenburg County and in Cumberland County where Fayetteville is on - on the book-ends of the district, as John King has been pointing out throughout the night, this is McCready's stronghold areas, and they're big population centers, and we don't have - that is where most of the vote is out right now.
So, he - if he can hold big margins, could potentially start--
CUOMO: Got it.
CHALIAN: --closing that spread.
CUOMO: And look, here's what we do know. We still have about a third of the vote or so to come in, so we'll be watching it. But right now, Bishop has pulled ahead. But this is a district that should have never been a question.
What will the ultimate selection be, we'll take you through it, and what it means. But, right now, let's get to what this whole narrative is about, and what the reality is, going into this next election cycle.
We have Wajahat Ali and David Urban.
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CUOMO: Waj, it's great to have you. Dave, thank you for being here. So, Dave-- DAVID URBAN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER TRUMP 2016 CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISER: Thanks.
CUOMO: --let's look at this way. You guys should win this one, the 9th District tonight. I think it's going to go that way. We'll see. There's still outstanding vote. But it should have never been close. What does it mean to you that it is?
URBAN: Look, and so - so, as Dana - you'd heard earlier right, Dana talked about people banging their head, having some bruises from - from talking to the President, heard her talk--
CUOMO: How you're looking there? Lower that dome for a second.
URBAN: Here they go.
CUOMO: You look smooth and pretty.
URBAN: Some - some big bruises there from - from banging on.
What - what we should continue to harp on is - is a great economic message and - and - and not lose sight of that because that's - that's what's going to win and carry these - these - these very close districts.
Look, the President - the President's still very popular in North Carolina. He's 51 percent. I wouldn't read too much into this either way.
McCready's an incredibly great candidate, very attractive young guy, who's, you know, Marine Corps veteran, Duke, Harvard B School, McKinsey consultant, entrepreneur, very appealing to folks in the suburban areas.
And - and, you know, his opponent, Mr. Bishop there was - as Dana points out, the - the author of a very controversial bathroom bill, which is very polarizing the state.
So, you know, you have - you have two very different candidates running. And - and at the end of the day, this - this doesn't have - you know, Donald Trump isn't on the ticket here, no matter what we say. He'll be on the ticket in 2020, and we really won't know until then.
CUOMO: Well but obviously, Waj, the President went down there. He sent the Vice President down there. He sent his son down there. I don't know if it's a good or bad thing. But they put a lot of attention into this--
URBAN: Oh.
CUOMO: --for a reason.
URBAN: Absolutely.
CUOMO: Waj, how do you read it? WAJAHAT ALI, CNN CONTRIBUTOR, CONTRIBUTING OP-ED WRITER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Yes. Yes, David, I don't got any bumps on my smooth head because I'm not supporting Trump.
And a Republican does not have to die on the Orange Decrepit Hill. You could see the signs. This should not be a competitive race. A Republican has held this seat since 1963.
And let's just remind the - the viewers that the only reason we're having this special election is because of alleged ballot fraud committed by a GOP operative. McCready only lost by a 1,000. And, by the way, he still might eat this out. If you're a Republican--
URBAN: Hey, he's a - he's a great candidate.
ALI: Yes. And you should be afraid because there's been about a dozen Republicans who say they're going to retire. That includes Will Hurd, which means there's only one African-American Republican Congressman left.
And so, if you look at the 2018 midterms, Donald Trump himself said that that was going to be a referendum on Trump. What happened, Cuomo? 40 seats were picked up in a Blue wave tsunami.
URBAN: Waj.
ALI: Trump only won 2016 by 78,000 votes across three states. He lost to Clinton by 3 million votes. This is not a good sign for Republicans.
CUOMO: But Dave, you know--
URBAN: Yes, yes.
CUOMO: --look, I think you got to look at it in context of the polls. What's the do chance you think that this President listens to somebody like you or someone around him?
I know he just said I only follow my own advice. But where they say, listen, if you talk more about the - the economy doing well, what we want to do with the healthcare plan, and make it more consumer- friendly, and you stop running your mouth about all these fights, our poll numbers will go up, because he's--
URBAN: Right.
CUOMO: --creating his own problems.
URBAN: Listen, I - I don't disagree with you on a lot of that, Chris.
Obviously, like I - I - as you know, I like to see the President talk about all the positive things, talk about things that unify voters that, you know, politics is about addition, and not subtraction.
And so, when - when you talk about things like that, you - you end up adding to our vote total, not subtracting from it. But is - is, you know, Waj pointed out, this is going to be a close election tonight.
It's going to be a close election in 2020. It's going to be decided by a handful of states, handful of counties. And, you know, to - to suspect that, you know, and to - to - to look at this - this one district is a predictor of what's going to happen--
CUOMO: No, no, no.
URBAN: --in 2020--
CUOMO: It's just a snapshot--
URBAN: --it's pretty - pretty tough.
CUOMO: --in light of the polls.
URBAN: Yes.
CUOMO: Just a snapshot. But Waj, let's--
ALI: Yes.
URBAN: Yes. And--
CUOMO: --let's flip the challenge, Waj.
ALI: Sure.
CUOMO: Let - let me - let me flip the script here for a second. Now, here's what we know, OK? I don't care what happens tonight in this 9th District. It's closer than it should have been.
And that's going to make them start talking about what are we doing here message-wise? We just went down there.
URBAN: Right.
CUOMO: We thought we had a great rally. It didn't come out the way we wanted, why? It's going to wind up being that they have figured out that the President can't add to his tent.
ALI: Right.
CUOMO: And that's going to leave one option, and it's his favorite one anyway, Waj, and that is whoever you guys put up, they are going to attack that man or woman from day one.
What does that make you think about who you have to put in the position because they're not going to argue about single-payer plans?
URBAN: Oh.
CUOMO: He's going to be going at whoever it is as a bum from day one.
[21:30:00] ALI: Yes. Rep - Republicans have always done that. Every single Democratic candidate is a flaming socialist. Remember, our Muslim brother, Barack Hussein Obama, that radical Kenyan socialist who was going to make you pray towards Mecca.
Democrats should be aggressive. You're comparing yourself to Trump. Compared to Trump, every single Democratic candidate is a flaming moderate. In that poll you showed, all seven of them are head-to-head beating Trump right now.
Be bold with your agenda. Your policies, your economic policies, your healthcare policies, your climate change policies are far more popular than Donald Trump's policies.
Attack! Attack! Attack! Quit bringing a fork to a gun fight, Democrats. Fight Donald Trump. You can take him on it.
This is what I think Donald Trump should do. He should go to Mar-a- Lago and not do anything for an entire year. Don't tweet. Don't do anything, just golf. Because then he would improve the Republicans' chances of maybe winning.
URBAN: Waj, Waj, so Chris, listen, I - I - I love Waj. But, you know, I think he's--
ALI: But - but--
URBAN: --he's way - he's way - he's way - he's way off the mark on this, right?
So - so, you know, I went to Detroit. I was there with you in Detroit, and I listened to the parade of - of folks trying to run to the Left like open - like decriminalizing the Border, allowing felons to vote from prison, I mean - mean things that just aren't popular amongst - amongst a wide swath.
Steve Bullock, you know, Governor Bullock got up there, and said to people, look, we're not going to win with this message, folks, let's get real.
CUOMO: Well it's going to be--
URBAN: I mean it sells as primary.
CUOMO: --here's what we know for sure.
URBAN: Not a general.
CUOMO: And I - I hope--
URBAN: They didn't sell with general.
CUOMO: --I hope I'm really wrong about this.
But I don't think we're going to see in the election what we are able to do here on this show at night, which is you guys don't check a lot of boxes that you agree with, but you do agree with being decent. And I don't think that's going to happen.
ALI: That's right.
CUOMO: I think that this is going to be an ugly battle of attrition--
URBAN: Well--
CUOMO: --because the President's going to need that to win. I hope I'm wrong. But we'll see. Dave, thanks.
ALI: I - I don't - I don't got any bumps on my head though.
CUOMO: Waj, you have a nice new haircut though.
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CUOMO: Don't think I didn't see it.
ALI: Thank you, Sir. Thanks for it.
URBAN: Look, he's trying--
CUOMO: And Dave, you got one--
URBAN: --he's trying to look. He's getting--
CUOMO: You've got one of the most beautiful heads in the business.
URBAN: --getting like this Cuomo.
CUOMO: One of the most beautiful heads in the business.
URBAN: He doesn't - he doesn't need the hair, just like me, Cuomo.
CUOMO: But neither of you can do this. And that's the game-ender right there.
All right, we're going to get much right back to this razor-close race in North Carolina, in what should be a Ruby Red district. When we get the numbers, we'll give them to you.
But there was some real-time democracy in action. Did you see this? Ted Cruz and Alyssa Milano actually had that meeting. They did it on Facebook Live. What was it like between the two? What did it mean? What does it mean for guns in America?
Milano's here.
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CUOMO: The race in the 9th Congressional District in North Carolina is razor-close. The Republican is in the lead right now. But remember, Trump won it by a dozen points. This should have been a no-brainer for the Republicans, a layup.
All right, that's politics. What about policy?
In an era when opposition is what gets rewarded, we saw something noteworthy today. A die-hard Conservative Senator Ted Cruz and a Hollywood Liberal Activist sat together, and discussed the idea of limiting access to weapons.
Here's our discussion with Alyssa Milano.
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ALYSSA MILANO, ACTRESS & ACTIVIST: I look at my children, and I'm terrified. I don't know how to keep my children safe.
For many people in this country, the - your stance has made you almost like this caricature of a villain. And that's why this meeting was so important for me because I wanted to be able to look at you in the eye, and know that you're really a human with a heartbeat.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): Mm-hmm.
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CUOMO: Alyssa Milano, thank you for being on PRIME TIME, as always.
MILANO: Thank you for the opportunity--
CUOMO: What an--
MILANO: --as always.
CUOMO: --what an interesting day you had. Tell us everything. Tell us everything.
MILANO: Well - well I was here for the last two days in D.C. on the Hill, advocating with Peter Morley, who is a patient advocate. And today, I had a - a meeting with Senator Cruz on gun violence in America.
CUOMO: Did you think it was going to happen? When you started the Twitter back-and-forth with him and the opportunity of a meeting came up, almost as a suggestion of like to put up or shut up, did you think it would ever really happen?
MILANO: I didn't. And I didn't think it would happen this quickly because usually, when this stuff happens, you say "Yes. I can meet you," and then it becomes a back-and-forth between scheduling and - and, you know, trying to find the time. And if they don't want to meet with you, they usually can't find the time.
But luckily, they came back, and said, "We have a time for you. It's Tuesday at 4:15." I woke up this morning with such an incredible pit in my stomach. I was so nervous. And not--
CUOMO: Why?
MILANO: --not because of Senator Cruz. But I think the weight of what was possible was weighing on me. You know, look, we have a major, major gun violence problem in this country.
And like 90 percent of Americans, I go to bed every night, and I worry that I can't keep my children safe. And I don't know how to keep my children safe. And there's not a worse feeling as a parent.
And so, I felt like this meeting was important, obviously, to reach across the aisle, to have a civil discussion on this matter, to look at him in the eye, and say, "You - you're on the wrong side this."
So, I think I just felt the weight of - of the possibility--
CUOMO: So--
MILANO: --really and--
CUOMO: What--
MILANO: Go ahead.
CUOMO: What did you take away on two levels? First, on a human level, what did you see when you looked at Senator Ted Cruz?
MILANO: I think that he understands the magnitude of the issue right now, especially in regards to mass shootings in this country, and the - the apparent weapon of choice, which is usually the AR-15 assault rifle, in which these killers kill people.
I think he understands. I think - when I - I said to him - I said, "No 17-month-old baby should ever have shrapnel in her chest in this country," I think he got - I think he gets it.
Now, to - to understand it, and then to have the courage, and the fortitude to do something about it, are two very, very different things. So, I'm cautiously optimistic that he knows the issue, and hopeful, I guess, that he's willing to do something about it.
[21:40:00]
You know, he - he takes a lot of money from the NRA. We all know this. He has been on the wrong side of this issue. But I - I do understand how fossilized we are as far as parties.
And the most important thing, I think, in this - on this issue is that this is not even a bipartisan issue. This is a non-partisan issue. Children are dying in this country from gun violence. 40,000 people a year dying in this country from gun violence. We have--
CUOMO: But you know what the other side says. "Yes, then - then automobiles are a much bigger threat for us because they kill a lot more people, and there's a whole list of things that do worse things than weapons."
And when you look at Ted Cruz, not to damn the man, but he did push some legislation about enhancing the procedures of information sharing, and how things can get done from agency to agency when it comes to a background check.
But it's never been about his intelligence. It's been about his political desires.
MILANO: I will say this. He--
CUOMO: What makes you think he'll do something?
MILANO: --he does not - he is not for background checks.
CUOMO: Right.
MILANO: And his bill is basically trying to close the loophole between agencies.
CUOMO: Right.
MILANO: So, that's very different than background checks.
CUOMO: Yes.
MILANO: And he is very concerned that it will lead to lawful gun owners losing their guns.
And I made it very clear. We don't want to take all guns from all people. We want to take certain guns away from certain people. We want to reduce the lives lost from this epidemic in this country.
CUOMO: Yes. You just have two different sides of thinking about how to be safe. One side is less guns, the other side is more guns, and he's on the side of more guns.
I'll tell you what I liked. You know, this was built today, as like an MMA match. People were tuning into this Facebook Live because it was going to be like "Oh man, Milano and Cruz are going to go at it. This is going to be something."
And I love that it wasn't. I love that people who are looking for a fight were disappointed. I like that it was somebody with serious concerns and a heart, and him having the gumption to sit down with you, and to put it on live, you know, media, and to listen, and to respond.
It was disagreement, but it was decent, and we need more of that to be sure.
MILANO: I was very appreciative for the opportunity for that reason alone.
But I have to tell you, we - we have to stop - our politicians have to stop patting themselves on the back when they pass bipartisan bills, like you're supposed to work together. That's the point.
And this obstructionist behavior that we have seen now, from both sides, I think is harming the country in a very severe way. And there are no talking points in the world that can justify the amount of mass shootings and deaths that we've seen at the hands of one assault rifle.
CUOMO: What was the biggest thing that he promised you to do going forward?
MILANO: He didn't really make any promises.
I told him that I would look at this - this bipartisan bill that - that would close the - the data-bank loophole. And he didn't make promises. But he did agree that there is a serious problem. And I think that that's a good first step.
Look, we need to talk to each other. We need to have these conversations. They're awkward. They're uncomfortable. We fumble. We can't find the right words.
But if we all speak from the heart and lead - lead through service - service, not to our political party, but to our country, and to each other, then maybe we can get something done here, maybe we could fix the problems that we're having right now. And--
CUOMO: Well it's not about finding consensus because you can't find a percentage of the country that believes more united in fashion than when it comes to background checks, and even red flag laws.
So, you've got consensus on your side. But consensus among people and consensus among power are two very different things.
I think it was a brave thing you did today. And I think it was a helpful thing for everybody listening, no matter where they are, and I thank you for that.
MILANO: Thank you. And thank you for the opportunity to come on your show and vent. I appreciate it so much, Chris, thank you.
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CUOMO: She does a lot more than vent. That was a big step today, and it's something I never thought would happen.
Now, in that category, what's going to happen tonight? The polls are one thing, votes are another. We're watching the results in the special election that the Republicans should have run away with. The President won it by 12 points. That's not happening now.
John King is back, next.
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CUOMO: Let's bring back John King, and figure out what's happening in this North Carolina 9th Congressional District race. What's the latest?
KING: We're getting near the finish line, Chris, but we're not there yet. And the vote that's outstanding is going to decide whether Dan Bishop, now is a 2,500 vote lead, can he hold on?
50.5 to 48.9, this shouldn't be close, this should be a solid Republican district, but it is close, and it will be close. The question is can Dan Bishop hold on.
So, what do you do? You look at the map. You see what vote is still out. And you see, is this possible. So, let's start in the biggest pool of votes in this district, that's Mecklenburg County.
Let me bring it up. It's the edge of Charlotte. It's these suburbs to the southeast of Charlotte. If you look here, Dan McCready up by a very healthy margin, 16 points in the votes counted so far in Mecklenburg County.
So, if this margin holds up, or something close, only 54 percent of the votes in, there are more than enough votes, just right here in Mecklenburg County for Dan McCready to catch up, but that's a big "If." Underline it. Underline it again.
If the margin stays something like this, as the rest of the votes come in, no guarantee of that, we have to watch as these votes come in, are they from the areas farther out, these tend to be more Republican, are they more from up here, more Democrat? We're going to watch as this plays out.
But the Republican is ahead right now. The Democrat has an opportunity. Let's just go across the district.
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A 100 percent in here in a very Republican County, Dan Bishop winning by a big margin there, that is critical to his catching up. Remember, Dan McCready was ahead early on. But a 100 percent in, so Dan Bishop can't account for anymore here.
Same for McCready here in Anson County, relatively small county, a 100 percent in, that helps him early on. Richmond County, a 100 percent in, so we're done here. Now, you're moving over to the eastern part of the district, Scotland County a 100 percent in.
Here are the next two counties, Chris that matter as we get into the finish line here. Robeson County is the third largest county, first, Mecklenburg, then Union County. Union's all the way in, we're still waiting on Mecklenburg.
In Robeson County, normally a Republican County, a slight lead for Dan McCready, 92 percent in, watch this one. If this one stays Blue, it's a good sign for the Democrat. If Dan Bishop can change that, you'll see how this race is going to end.
And then here, Fayetteville, Cumberland County, and the Fayetteville suburbs, only 55 percent in. So, in the two areas with suburbs, Fayetteville in the East, the Charlotte area in the western part of this district, still a lot of votes out.
You've got about half the vote, little less than half the vote here in Mecklenburg County. And you've got about the same percentage, little 50 - 45 percent still to be counted out here in Fayetteville, so you map it out right now.
We're at 81. The Republican has a lead. 2,600 votes, 2,558, that's hard to overcome late in a special Congressional election, hard to overcome, but not impossible. If Dan McCready can hold on to his margin here, and here, it is doable. We're going to be counting for a while.
CUOMO: We're going to hear different stories told off the same result tomorrow morning.
KING: Yes, you are.
CUOMO: It's good to be with you, John King.
KING: Yes, you are.
CUOMO: Thank you for taking us through it.
All right, almost over, but not quite enough. All right, tomorrow, most of us should take time to remember the fallen of September 11th, 2001.
Today is also a day that we should remember, and it's about saving lives. How? What about? That's the Argument and I hope we all agree on it, next.
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CUOMO: What takes the lives of more firefighters than fire? What kills more police than criminals, more soldiers than combat? The answer for all three is suicide.
Here's another take. In a large corporation, say a 100,000 employees, every single day, an employee or family member will die by suicide. I'm telling you this because today is World Suicide Prevention Day.
More numbers. 800,000 people a year take their lives in the United States, 800,000 a year. It's up 33 percent since 1999. It's the leading cause of death for men under 50.
I'm not ignoring women's suicide. Just, isn't a threat for women the way it is for men, for a host of reasons, but it is real, and there was a spike in the rate for women in 2018.
Today is called Prevention Day because unlike so many other major maladies, suicide is preventable. The idea that those who are severely depressed, or having suicidal thoughts are beyond help, or in hiding, not true.
Half of the people who die by suicide see their primary care doctor the month before they die. We just don't ask about mental health the way we do blood pressure or vision. But we should.
We can do something, drug therapy, talk therapy, reducing access to lethal means, they all help. But there is something that is very effective that is in your power alone, and it could be the most effective tool. Connection!
Studies show that showing you care enough to connect can save a life. Asking people that you know where you live, work, workout, hangout, whatever, it may sound simple, but checking in with someone, asking them how they are, it hits at something severe. Loneliness!
We know loneliness is more lethal than obesity or hypertension. And if you couple loneliness with the stigma about mental illness, which is seen as a reason that 75 percent of people don't get treated, you have the picture of desperation, someone who is hurting and desperate for help but afraid to reach out.
You need more proof for the urgency? Fine.
We all care so much about gun violence, right? Nearly two-thirds of gun deaths are suicide, not homicide, suicide. For all the talk of keeping weapons out of the hands of killers, most often, the killer and the victim are one and the same.
Now, the challenge is "OK, I care. What am I supposed to say? I'm not a therapist." You don't have to be. You just have to be someone who cares enough to check in.
There are questions you can ask. It's called The Columbia Protocol. It's been proven to reduce the number of suicides. It's potent and helps us find people who need help before they write the note or buy the gun.
As I said, this is World Suicide Prevention Day, emphasis on Prevention, and that is an awesome prospect. We can prevent something that is killing us like almost nothing else. The cure is connection, caring, remembering that we are not just our differences.
Another way to see it, it's the same impulse that made this simple hello so special.
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CUOMO: The two toddlers, Maxwell and Finnegan, so happy to see each other, they run, and they embrace. It makes us - gives us all the feels, right? You can make it about how we are essentially colorblind, nature versus nurture, place in society.
But at its core, the feeling that you get when you see this, the warmth, the relief, it is proof of the power of human connection that caring makes us human, compassion is compelling, and it can change someone's condition.
Remember that. Please go to the site for The Columbia Protocol. Get the card. You can have it at your desk or in your car. They're simple questions. Connection makes us human, and it can make you a lifesaver.
Thank you for watching tonight. And our special coverage CNN TONIGHT with D. Lemon starts right now.
DON LEMON, CNN HOST, CNN TONIGHT WITH DON LEMON: You know how I - you know how I love you, and I love that video, and I love what you're doing with suicide, and just checking in on friends because we all go through tough times now and again, right?
And it means the most. You may think you're bothering someone. Even if they - even if you are bothering them, who cares? Bother them. Check in on them. Love them and tell them - smack them on the head like you-- END
