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Key Races for Governor in Kentucky and Mississippi; Virginia's Shifting Suburban Voters Key Factor in Today's Races; Netanyahu Says Israel Will Oversee Gaza Security Indefinitely After War Ends; 18 U.N. Agencies, Aid Groups Urge Immediate Humanitarian Ceasefire. Aired 9- 9:30a ET

Aired November 07, 2023 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:29]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: It is election day in America. Abortion rights, the Biden presidency, and Elvis Presley's second cousin all facing tests today.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Israel is making new advances against Hamas near Gaza City. New reports of more tunnels being taken out, and the Israeli prime minister for the first time really talking about what comes after this war.

BERMAN: Ivanka Trump set to take the stand in the fraud case against her father's business. The admissions that Donald Trump made in his testimony that could leave a mark.

I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan. Sara Sidner is off. CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now.

BOLDUAN: It is election day in America once again, my friends.

BERMAN: Thank you. You want to know where the country is headed in 2024? Pay attention to today. Candidates and issues on the ballot in key states that could be a barometer of what is to come.

Abortion rights have been a huge issue since the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade, a winning issue for Democrats. Today, Ohio, a red state, will decide whether to enshrine abortion rights in the state's constitution. Abortion rights also a campaign issue in Virginia where every seat in the state's general assembly is in play. Two incumbent governors up for re-election today. Republican Tate Reeves in Mississippi facing a tough fight from Brandon Presley, yes, the second cousin of Elvis.

And in Kentucky, Democratic incumbent Andy Beshear is trying to hold on in a state that voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump in 2020. That is where we find CNN's Eva McKend in Louisville.

Eva, lay out the stakes.

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John. Attorney General Cameron just finished voting here with his family here in Louisville. Actually, upwards of 300,000 Kentuckians already voted early. But Cameron joining the upwards of a million people expected to turn out today.

This contest really presents a true test for incumbent Democratic Governor Andy Beshear if his brand of politics still has durability. Last night, we were with him in Lexington, and he argued there's no such thing as a Democrat bridge or a Republican bridge. And that's really emblematic of how he speaks about many issues here in the state that all voters are on the same team. A clear appeal to Trump supporters. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D), KENTUCKY: Folks, this race is about us. It's about Kentucky. But if we could send one message to the rest of the country, it should be that anger politics should end right here and right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: So despite his popularity in this state, the attorney general really presents a credible challenge to the governor. He has worked tirelessly to connect the governor to President Biden, who is not popular in the state. He's also challenged him on matters of public safety, the economy, education.

Now, keep in mind, John, when Governor Beshear won just five -- four years ago, rather, it was just about by 5,000 votes, so that gives you a sense of how close elections are here and how close this one is expected to be -- John.

BERMAN: Yes. All right. Eva McKend, in Louisville, thanks so much.

Let's dig a little deeper into Kentucky here. You can see no votes counted yet, but look back at 2020, the presidential race in Kentucky. You can see Donald Trump trounced Joe Biden. In fact, Joe Biden won only two counties, Fayette County and Jefferson County, where Lexington and Louisville are.

Now compare the two counties that Joe Biden won to how Andy Beshear, the incumbent Democratic governor, did when he first ran and won in 2019. You can see, the Democratic Governor Beshear he won all these other counties. A lot of blue outside the urban areas. Beshear needs to do that or something close to it again today if he hopes to win.

And let's dig a little deeper into these more urban counties. Look at Fayette County where Lexington is, you can see Andy Beshear here in 2019 when he won, he won by let's call it 32 points. So Andy Beshear, AB plus 32. Let's look at how Joe Biden did in Fayette County in 2020. Look here, you can see Joe Biden won the county, but he only won by 21 points.

[09:05:05]

Beshear won by 32. Beshear has got to run up the score in this county and also where Louisville is if he wants to have a chance today. So when the votes start coming in, this is what you want to keep an eye on. Kate? BOLDUAN: Great stuff. Let's talk about Virginia right now. Both

chambers of the state legislature are up for grabs. And how that shakes out tonight, people believe, may have real ripple effects far beyond the Commonwealth of Virginia, including the political future of the Republican governor there and the potency of abortion rights as a battleground issue.

Still today, CNN's John King has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A change of seasons in Loudoun County, and a choice that will echo well beyond Virginia.

NANNETTE MEES, VIRGINIA VOTER: Abortion is tough. I have two girls. I feel personally that every woman has the right to do what she feels is right for her with her body.

KING: Nannette Mees is a registered Republican but one of the suburban voters who changed Virginia from red to blue.

MEES: Abortion and guns. Those are two big things.

KING: Mees voted early for the Democrat in a critical state Senate race here.

MEES: Five fliers in the mail every day for the last month. It's a lot of money wasted.

KING: Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin is among those spending millions.

GOV. GLENN YOUNGKIN (R), VIRGINIA: Holding the House, flipping the Senate. Holding the House, flipping the Senate.

KING: Youngkin is not on this year's ballot, but his presidential ambitions are. Youngkin thinks he can reverse the Republican collapse in the suburbs even while backing new abortion restrictions. If voters give him a full Republican legislature, Youngkin says Virginia will ban abortions after 15 weeks with exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother.

YOUNGKIN: No more are we going to allow bureaucrats to tell folks that parents don't belong in the classroom.

KING (voice-over): Yet no abortion mention in his rally speech.

KING: You said you're for tax cuts, you're for parental rights, you're for more funding for police. Isn't it strong leadership to say I'm for this, too?

YOUNGKIN: It's very clear where I stand on this. We're running a big advertising campaign.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here's the truth, there is no ban. Virginia Republicans support a reasonable 15-week limit. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: MAGA Republicans like Juan Pablo Segura want to

ban abortions in Virginia. Criminalizing abortions is wrong.

KING (voice-over): It is a giant test of whether Republicans can end a streak of punishing election losses since the Supreme Court tossed out Roe v. Wade.

YOUNGKIN: Discussion around abortion is one between an extreme position from the left and a reasonable position from all Republicans.

KING (voice-over): The Youngkin events look like a presidential test run. This is in Henrico County, a fast-growing Richmond suburbs. Democrats hope to unseat a big Youngkin ally and prove the abortion debate still cuts their way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's nothing reasonable about banning abortion. But that's exactly what Republican Siobhan Dunnavant wants to do.

RACHEL KULAK, VIRGINIA VOTER: During the COVID lockdowns it was Siobhan Dunnavant that really worked to get our kids back in the classrooms and deeply appreciated for that.

KING (voice-over): Rachel Kulak calls herself a conservative independent, supports Donald Trump, prefers a six-week abortion ban, but is open to compromise.

KULAK: I don't support abortion. But if he can get it to 15 weeks, I think perhaps that's a fair middle ground.

KING (voice-over): Loudoun County is 40 miles west of Washington, D.C. It still leaned red when Xi Van Fleet moved here 18 years ago. Loudoun was home to just shy of 100,000 people then. It is more than four times that now, and 20 percent of the county's voters are Asian.

XI VAN FLEET, VIRGINIA VOTER: My neighbors are Indians, are Vietnamese, Korean, and I'm Chinese, and if you talk about diversity, this is a very diverse area.

KING: It's also become more Democratic out here. Does that bother you?

FLEET: It bothers me, yes.

KING (voice-over): South Carolina born Gladys Burke is part of Loudoun's evolution. She is an independent who leans blue, owns a promotional products business, and takes issue with Youngkin's education agenda.

GLADYS BURKE, VIRGINIA VOTER: This thing about not teaching black history in the schools, not recognizing our black history, because I lived it.

KING (voice-over): But still undecided on the state Senate race that could tip the balance of power.

BURKE: I have never been this torn before. KING: But you're open to some restriction on abortion?

BURKE: Absolutely. Yes. Absolutely.

KING (voice-over): Even if she votes Republican this time, Burke says Youngkin is wrong to think Virginia will return to red next year.

BURKE: Absolutely Biden. Biden, Biden, Biden.

KING: You like him?

BURKE: Absolutely. I think he's done a great job.

KING (voice-over): Nannette Mees is the face of Virginia's suburban shift. Her last Republican vote for president, George W. Bush back in 2004. That is the last time the Republican nominee carried Loudoun County and Virginia. Still a registered Republican, but ready to cast a fifth consecutive Democratic vote for president next year but with hesitation.

MEES: I don't think he's the perfect one. But if I have to pick between him and Trump, who I would never, ever, ever vote for, it would be Biden. And just pray.

[09:10:04]

KING: That's for next November. First, this year's big test.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING (on camera): And Kate, just moments ago, I was texting with Gladys Burke. She's the African-American woman you saw at the end of the piece who said she was undecided. This is the key voter in this debate. She's a devout Christian, she's an independent who leans blue, but she does support some abortion restrictions. She's worried about giving Republicans, though, too much power.

How does she vote? This is what's at stake not just in Virginia but can the Republicans find a compromise middle ground after getting thumped on the abortion issue over the last year and a half or so. Fascinating election tonight here in Virginia.

BOLDUAN: It is. And what it means for '24. One of the more -- one of the stories that I did in the 2020 cycle that has stuck with me the most is how suburban women, they had voted for Trump in '16 and how what they had seen, they turned to voting for Biden in Pennsylvania in 2020, which was a huge part of what we know was Biden's win then. And it just, now we see, it's such an unknown of what the political climate in the suburbs is really going to mean a year out from now.

KING: There's a giant tug of war in the suburbs. This profound disappointment with President Biden. You heard even Nannette Mees there at the end. She doesn't like Trump. She can never vote for Trump. She says never. So she said she would vote for Biden and pray. What is that? That's reservations about his age, his vitality. Is he up to the job? A very affluent county, Loudoun County, so maybe less pain from inflation, but still paying for inflation.

So you see the disappointment with the president's job performance and you see the fear of Donald Trump back in the White House, and that is the tug of war that these suburban voters who settle Virginia, who settle Pennsylvania, who settle Michigan, who settle Wisconsin, who settle Georgia, who settle Arizona, who settle Nevada, this is what's going to happen. We have one year to the main event. The presidential election in 2024. We'll get some clues tonight.

BOLDUAN: A tug of war between disappointment and fear. Great stuff. It's great to hear from the voters, as you get it, John. Thank you.

KING: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: John?

BERMAN: Great to hear from John King. We'll have to say it's pretty nerve-racking for me to be touching the magic wall with John King actually watching.

All right. Who will control Gaza when the fighting ends? Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu weighs in on that and talks of a cease- fire.

Ivanka Trump will be the final witness called in Donald Trump's civil fraud trial. What to expect after her father's contentious testimony?

And a Jewish man is dead after being injured in an altercation at dueling protests in California. What police are saying this morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:16:42]

BOLDUAN: Today marks exactly one month since Hamas terrorists launched that horrific attack on Israel. Hamas still holding 240 hostages. And now, with Israeli troops inside Gaza and encircling Gaza City, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is talking really for the first time about plans for the day after this war ends.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I think Israel will, for an indefinite period, will have the overall security responsibility because we've seen what happens when we don't have it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Netanyahu also making clear in that interview with ABC he's open to brief tactical pauses, as he put it, in the fight but there will be no cease-fire until all hostages are released.

Jim Sciutto standing by in Tel Aviv, Israel, for us. Let's get to Jim.

Jim, what do you hear in these new remarks from the Israeli prime minister? JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: You know,

Kate, what I hear, I hear daylight between the Israeli government position and the position of the U.S., its closest ally. President Biden has said that he does not support an Israeli reoccupation of Gaza.

Now, Netanyahu did not say reoccupy, but he did say maintain security responsibility, which you would imagine involves a continued Israeli military presence there. And he did not define exactly how long that is. Is it weeks, months, is it years? You know, it was 18 years ago that Israel withdrew from Gaza and handed it to Palestinian control.

And it's not the only instance of daylight between Israel and the U.S. on the question of a cease-fire. You hear Blinken and others say that there's great support for some sort of humanitarian pause. You know, Blinken describes that in very short term, limited terms, it seems. That's one thing. And also, it seems that his requirement to have a cease-fire is the release of all the hostages which does not seem like a realistic prospect at this point.

In fact the negotiations this weekend with Blinken in the region focused on releasing women and children first. So on all those issues you have distance between the U.S. and Israeli positions. And that's consequential because then it raises questions as to when you get to an agreement on any of these things.

BOLDUAN: Good point. So also, Jim, on this one-month anniversary of the Hamas terror attacks on Israel, talk to me about support for the ground operation from Israel. I mean, what -- do you see people support forging ahead?

SCIUTTO: Yes. Listen, I think that there are two different realities. When you're inside Israel, the way folks view the attacks on October 7th a month later and the military reaction to that, and people outside the country and the U.S. and Europe, certainly in the Arab world, and that here, a country that's divided in many ways and most people by the polling have lost confidence in Netanyahu's leadership.

But in terms of a military response to those horrible attacks on October 7th, there is an enormous amount of support here going forward. Even to the point, Kate, I'll tell you that when I was in the northern part of this country, people will say openly, residents, members of the military, that after the military operations are done in Gaza, that they want to see military action in southern Lebanon to push Hezbollah back from the northern border.

[09:20:06]

So the appetite for ongoing military action is certainly greater inside this country than outside the country. And that gives you a sense of how things might go going forward.

BOLDUAN: It's great to see you, Jim. Thank you. John?

BERMAN: All right. This morning, the heads of 18 U.N. agencies and aid groups including Sidney McCain of the World Food Program are calling for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire. They say, quote, "It has been 30 days, enough is enough. This must stop."

CNN's Melissa Bell is in Cairo.

Melissa, what's the latest on that front?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've actually got a visit today here in Cairo, and tomorrow we expect him to travel to Rafah, John, of Volker Turk, who is the U.N. high commissioner for Human Rights. And he's been speaking here today, saying, look, human rights violations were at the heart, at the source of this one-month-long conflict now. They must provide a way out as well.

And what you have seen, as you mentioned there, that whole 18 United Nations agencies urgently calling as they have day after day individually, for some kind of humanitarian pause to allow some of that much needed aid to get in. With every day that has passed, things have gotten worse.

The U.N. is now saying that 70 percent of Gaza's two million population is now living internally displaced and living in inhuman conditions. So no water, no food, no sanitation, and that that has got to stop. And yet here we are one month on and neither the loud calls from regional leaders that have gone on for much of that month for a humanitarian cease-fire nor indeed the American -- now American position now of coming into that and also calling for some kind of humanitarian pause to allow the aid, nor indeed the fact that so far there have been 88 U.N. workers killed in Gaza.

It is the highest death toll for United Nations workers in any conflict. And that's happened in just a month. None of that appears to have made a bit of difference to Israel's position, either when it comes to the ferocity of the bombing or indeed when it comes to the strictness of that siege. We've just been hearing from one U.N. health agency worker quoting one of his Gazan counterpart inside saying, look, every day we think it is the worst and it just keeps getting worse.

BERMAN: Melissa Bell in Cairo. Thank you so much, Melissa. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Joining us now for more on this is CNN national security analyst Beth Sanner. She is the former deputy director of National Intelligence.

Beth, I want to ask you first about when Benjamin Netanyahu says that Israel will have the overall security responsibility for Gaza for an indefinite period of time, does that tell you that Israeli leaders have landed on a plan for the day after? Do you think the Biden administration and Israel's neighbors, quite frankly, in the region will be on the same page on that?

BETH SANNER, FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE FOR MISSION INTEGRATION: I think it is actually coming to the lack of a plan. The reason that Israel says or Netanyahu says that Israel is going to have to take over is because they're coming to the realization that there actually are no other options. So as much as everyone doesn't want that, there is no real alternative. The Palestinian Authority can't do it. And they won't do it.

The Egyptians, it is a pipe dream to think about the Egyptians and others coming in and being this multinational force, and so I think that what we're seeing is, you know, kind of reality hitting everybody kind of straight in the face and this is where we are.

BOLDUAN: And also you have the reality, as Melissa Bell, was laying out, of just the situation in Gaza going from bad to worse for civilians there, for aid workers there. And calls for a cease-fire are increasing because of the images coming out and the stories coming out. Tony Blinken himself saying while standing in Tel Aviv we need to do more to protect Palestinian civilians.

But then in an interview with Russia's -- with RT's Arabic channel, one of the political leaders of Hamas was asked why they have built this tunnel network, but never built any bomb shelters to help civilians in Gaza. His commentary and answer to that question is telling. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOUSA ABU MARZOUK, HAMAS POLITICAL BUREAU (through translator): We have built the tunnels because we have no other way of protecting ourselves from being targeted and killed. These tunnels are meant to protect us from the airplanes. We are fighting from inside the tunnels. Everybody knows that 75 percent of the people in the Gaza Strip are refugees. And it is the responsibility of the United Nations to protect them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: This from the governing body of Gaza. I mean, they are saying they do not think they are responsible for protecting civilians there, re-enforcing that civilians in Gaza are caught in the middle of this. What should people take from that?

[09:25:14]

SANNER: Hamas is a terrorist group. Hamas is a terrorist group. Hamas is a terrorist group. You know, repeat after me. People who are demonstrating for Palestinians are absolutely on the right side, but people who are demonstrating for Hamas and not recognizing the atrocities that it committed against Israeli citizens are on the wrong side. And so, you know, this is -- we are at a point, though, that I think that, you know, it's getting harder and harder for the United States to be in the position that it's in, in 100 percent support for Israel and everything that they do.

And Jim Sciutto's commentary that we just heard, that emphasizes how Israel plans to go forward and the appetite that the Israeli population have for retaliation is something that the United States and our G-7 partners with Blinken in Japan today, it is getting harder and harder to stick that -- to find that fine line in between. And the United States position ultimately is going to have to move.

BOLDUAN: And that's the unknown, right? The really big unknown is what does that move look like and when does President Biden make that move, if the position they're in right now is an unsustainable one?

Beth, it's great to see you. Thank you so much. John.

SANNER: Thank you.

BERMAN: Three Trumps down, one to go. What Ivanka Trump is likely to say when she takes the stand in the multimillion-dollar fraud trial against her family's business.

A major Second Amendment case before the Supreme Court, the justices will hear arguments over how far the government can go to disarm violent offenders who also face domestic abuse restraining orders.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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