Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

How Today's Elections Could Shape 2024 Presidential Race; Netanyahu Says, Israel Will Oversee Gaza Security Indefinitely After War Ends; Survivor of Nova Music Festival Attack Talks to CNN. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired November 07, 2023 - 10:00   ET

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

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The stakes are high from Mississippi to Rhode Island, Kentucy, to Ohio, and don't forget about Virginia.

[10:00:06]

What you need to know about the important issues on the ballot today and the clues that tonight may offer for 2024.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: 241 hostages still held and now one month after the Hamas terror attacks. New statements from the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and what he sees for Gaza going forward.

BOLDUAN: The Republicans, they are getting ready to take the debate stage once again, and, once again, Donald Trump is ditching it all in trying to steal the spotlight.

I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman. Sara Sidner is off today. This is CNN News Central.

It is Election Day in America, and the polls are open. We are closely watching several key races that could not only impact lives today but can also send some pretty loud messages for the next year's presidential election. Abortion rights are on the ballot today in Ohio, where the voters will decide whether to enshrine access in the state Constitution.

It has been a winning political issue for Democrats ever since the Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade, but does that hold today?

Democrats are hoping Reproductive rights also helps them in Virginia, where both chambers in the statehouse are up for grabs, but the Republican governor in Virginia is trying a new approach regarding abortion access that he is hoping to serve as a model for Republicans in Virginia and far beyond.

CNN's Jessica Dean is in Richmond, Virginia, for us. She's joining us now. Jessica, the election in Virginia isn't just about at the lives in the commonwealth. What are you hearing about today and the clues in Virginia could say about 2024?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Kate, you make such a great point. I think some people out there may be watching and going, I don't live in Virginia, how does this really apply to me? But so often what we see happen here in Virginia with their state legislature really correlates with what we see the following year in federal elections across the country.

So, in 2019, the Democrats took the House and the Senate. In 2020, Joe Biden won the state by ten points. In 2021, the Republicans took back the House here in Virginia, and that is what we saw in the House of Representatives up on Capitol Hill. So, that's why we like to keep an eye on here to see kind of what we can pull from what happens here in Virginia.

So, this is a polling site right here behind me. I will say it has been a very slow trickle of voters today. But let me just set the scene for you. Here in Virginia, every House and Senate seat in the state legislature is up for election today, is up for grabs. So, it is big all across the state.

The state's governor, Republican Glenn Youngkin, is not on the ballot. He is in the middle of his term. But you could make the argument, this is kind of a proxy battle for him, because he is really pushing ahead with his agenda and what he wants to do. And he has been foiled by the state Senate which is controlled by Democrats right now. Republicans want to flip that. They want full control of the state legislature.

Here is Youngkin earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GLENN YOUNGKIN (R-VA): We are delivering. And I think that the results matter. And so now it is time to put it in the hands of the voters to ask them to send a team to Richmond that can work with me and not against me.

But I think that we can have a fantastic two years if we can hold our House, flip our Senate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: So, that is Youngkin. He has been all across the state really trying to push his message. Of course, Democrats are hoping to hold the Senate and flip the House. And we have seen other national Democrats here in Virginia making the case as well.

But, Kate, you mentioned reproductive rights and abortion. Virginia is the only southern state that has not enacted further restrictions Since Roe versus Wade was overturned in 2022.

Now, Youngkin tried, that he wanted to put a 15-week abortion ban in place. Democrats in the state Senate stopped that from happening. And so, again, abortion and reproductive rights are central to the conversation here.

A couple of interesting things that we don't hear Youngkin talking about it much on the stump at all, he is talking about other initiatives and other priorities for his administration. And we do hear him, when he is asked about it by the media, he will talk about it as what he sees a compromise, that 15-week abortion ban. What will be a test for him and his view for the Republican Party going forward is will that resonate with the voters here in Virginia. It's made up of a lot of suburban voters that will be very is key, of course, in 2024. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Great to see you, Jess. Thank you so much. John?

BERMAN: All right. With me now is CNN Data Reporter Harry Enten. Harry, parents like to say, we love all our children equally, but we all know that is not true on any given day. We all love one more than the others.

[10:05:00]

Which race are you watching most closely today?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: I don't have any kids.

Okay, going into the Kentucky, number one, the Kentucky governor's race, Andy Beshear, the Democratic incumbent, against Daniel Cameron, the Republican attorney general, tight race here.

Kentucky is a weird state, right? There have been only three GOP governors in the state in the last 75 years. Of course, Trump won Kentucky by 26 points in 2020. So, you have this ancestral Democratic lean at Kentucky sort of going up against the national tie. And I think there's just this real question of what's going to ultimately end up winning out.

BERMAN: It's a wicked red state at this point, yet Democrats have been able to hold onto the governor's seat a lot, partially because of Andy Beshear's family.

ENTEN: Yes.

BERMAN: They've been wildly popular. How far will that go? We'll have to wait and see.

Let's talk about Mississippi. There's a governor's race there as well.

ENTEN: There's a governor's race in Mississippi. Another deep red state, but a deep red state where there have not been Democratic governors recently.

So, we've got Tate Reeves, the Republican incumbent, against Brandon Presley, the Democratic candidate. I'll know Presley is Elvis' second cousin. Maybe that might mean something. I don't know. But, look, no Democrat has won the governorship in the state since 1999.

But there's a welfare scandal that's going on in the state that maybe Democrats are hoping that they could tie Tate Reeves to and perhaps make this state a little bit more blue than it's been in recent elections. We'll just have to wait and see.

BERMAN: Yes, not only an Elvis connection, but a Brett Farve connection also, because Brett Farve connected to that welfare scandal.

Ballot measures, you're looking at a few of them.

ENTEN: I am looking at a few of them. Let's start with marijuana. So, there's an Ohio marijuana ballot measure, would be the state number 24 to legalize it recreationally. And I'll note that all of those states have done so since 2012.

When John was a kid, marijuana legalization, maybe 10 percent of the public want it legalized. We are in a very different era right now. We're in Harry's era. And marijuana legalization is far more popular than it used to be.

BERMAN: When I was a kid. I feel very young, Harry.

All right, abortion, we just heard from Jessica talking about Virginia, how they've been campaigning on abortion. Abortion is literally on the ballot in Ohio.

ENTEN: Correct, it is literally on the ballot in Ohio, not literally on the ballot in Virginia. So, in Ohio, there's an amendment to legalize it. It's literally on the ballot. In Virginia, the question is if the GOP wins control of the state legislature, they may try to limit it. So, abortion has been something since Dobbs, since Roe v. Wade was overturned, that has been on the ballot six times previously, all the times it passed in Ohio. Will it be number seven? We'll just have to win and see.

BERMAN: There's a lot to learn from tonight. It may not all be consistent, but there's still a lot to learn.

ENTEN: And we'll delve into all of it in the future days.

BERMAN: Harry Enten, thank you very much.

ENTEN: Thank you, John.

BERMAN: Kate?

BOLDUAN: Harry Enten and Old Man Berman, apparently. I know, that took a turn. It took a turn. It took a turn.

Joining us right now is CNN's Senior Political Analyst Ron Brownstein. He's also senior editor at The Atlantic. It's good to see you, Ron.

Okay. Jessica Dean, Harry Enten, laying out issues at stake, states to focus on. What is your biggest question about today's elections?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think Virginia is going to tell us the most important -- send the most important signals about 2024, because Kentucky, Mississippi, deep red states, kind of anomalous situations, whether or not Democrats can hold a governorship. Virginia, I think, actually encapsulates a lot of the dynamics, a lot of the ingredients we're going to see in 2024.

It's a state, as Jessica noted, that Joe Biden won by 10 points, but he's underwater with more people disapproving than approving of his job performance in most recent polls. If you look at The Washington Post and Schar School poll that came out a couple weeks ago, Virginia voters give Republicans a double-digit advantage on the economy and crime and a majority approve of Glenn Youngkin's performance. And, normally, you would look at all of those factors and say that Republicans are poised for a very big night in the state legislative races.

But, in fact, it is a toss-up that may be leaning slightly toward the Democrats holding the state Senate and maybe even taking the statehouse. And the reason is too many of those suburban voters who are dissatisfied with Biden's performance are still reluctant to turn over power to Republicans because of their views on abortion and other cultural issues.

I mean, it seems to me Virginia is going to test whether what we saw in many key swing states in 2022 still holds, which is that voters who believe Democrats have not delivered for their interests are still willing to vote for them because they view Republicans as a threat to their rights and values.

BERMAN: You used the S word in there, Ron, suburb. You think the suburbs are hugely important and also point to why you think Virginia is so important here.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. I mean, that's where this dynamic that I was just describing is unfolding most powerfully. You know, we saw it in 2022 in the suburbs of Phoenix and Detroit and Philadelphia and Atlanta and Milwaukee, where Democrats did unexpectedly well, even though the vast majority of people were dissatisfied with the economy and even in many cases disapproved of Biden's performance, because those voters are the ones most sensitive to the Democratic arguments that Republicans, this Trump era GOP is a threat to your rights.

[10:10:06]

And, you know, in Virginia, Governor Youngkin, although he's not talking about it now, has put abortion front and center. He has said explicitly, if he gets unified power, control the legislature, he's going to ban abortion after 15 weeks with the exception for rape, incest and the life of the mother.

That is really, John, the one shield that Democrats have, the one big weapon they have in an electoral environment where most voters, as I said, trust Republicans more on the economy and crime. And if Democrats -- if Youngkin wins control of the legislature, it would be, I think, an ominous signal for Democrats that this singular line of defense is not enough to overcome all of the other problems they have.

But if they can hold the legislature, particularly in these suburban areas, and if we continue to see suburban areas in Ohio vote overwhelmingly for abortion rights on the initiative tonight, as seems very likely, all of that would signal, to me, that Republicans face the same problem in white collar suburbs that have frustrated them in the '18, '20 and '22 elections that too many of those voters, whatever they think about current conditions in the country, simply don't trust the Trump era GOP to represent their values.

BOLDUAN: Is it too bold to say then, that being, you know, looking at an off-cycle election, that after tonight, we will understand how the political climate has shifted from '20 to '22 and now into '24?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know, I don't know if we have enough national -- you know, we have enough races in enough different places to give us a full sense of that. But, yes, I think Virginia in particular will tell us whether we are still operating in a world like '22 or whether it is further deteriorated for Democrats.

Abortion was not a silver bullet for Democrats in '22, as we've talked about in many of the red states that actually restricted abortion, like Texas, Florida, Iowa, Tennessee, even Georgia, red-leaning, Republican governors and legislators got re-elected. It wasn't enough to overcome the resistance of Democrats on other issues, like crime and immigration.

But in swing states, it was a very powerful weapon for Democrats in places like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Arizona. And I think '20, the Virginia legislative races in particular, to some extent, the Kentucky governor's race, where, you know, Yes is counting on big numbers in the same kind of suburban communities will tell us whether this is still powerful enough to over -- not completely overcome, but to neutralize those Republican advantages on other issues, which certainly, as we're seeing in that New York Times and CBS and other polling, are very present at the national level.

BOLDUAN: It's great to see you, Ron. Thank you so much.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me, guys.

BERMAN: All right. She survived the Hamas terror attack at the music festival one month ago. How does she feel now about the alarming rise in anti-Semitism in the United States and all around the world?

Donald Trump skipping tomorrow night's Republican presidential debate. The big question now, will the candidates on stage continue to play nice with him?

And we're less than two weeks away from another possible government shutdown. The latest reporting on how close they are to a deal, actually how distant they are might be more accurate.

BOLDUAN: Yes. I mean, talk about Groundhog Day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:15:00]

BOLDUAN: It has been exactly one month since Hamas terrorists attacked Israel. Today, Israel has claimed that it has secured a Hamas military stronghold in Northern Gaza.

In a statement the IDF said fighter jets and troops on the ground coordinated the attack that, quote, struck a cell of approximately ten terrorists and an anti -tank missile cell operating in the vicinity.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the very same time in a new interview is offering new signals of what may have to happen after the 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: Despite pressure from humanitarian groups, even allies, Netanyahu also insists that there will be no ceasefire until all hostages held by Hamas are released, though he says tactical short pauses are possible in the meantime.

Let's go there. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Sderot, Israel, near the border with Gaza. What is the very latest you're hearing on the progress that Israel is making in their operation in Gaza?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, in recent days, we have been hearing from the Israeli military that they have encircled Gaza, that they have cut Gaza from between the north and the south, and that they were operating in areas around Gaza City.

But today, one month into this Israel-Hamas war, the commander of Israel's southern command, General Finkelstein, is now saying that Israeli military troops are fighting, quote, in the heart of Gaza City. That is obviously a very significant development, as we now understand that Israeli forces are moving towards the kind of business of very deadly, very dense urban combat in the heart of Gaza City.

Overnight, we were watching as an Israeli military operation appear to be underway in Gaza City, very near to Al Quds Hospital. And, obviously, this military operation is very much advancing.

Now, amid all of that, the Israeli prime minister is vowing that he will not agree to a ceasefire unless hostages are released. What he is saying, though, is that there could be some kind of, quote, little pauses, as he described it, to allow for humanitarian aid to make it into Gaza for civilians to leave.

[10:20:07]

That is one thing humanitarian pauses that the U.S. secretary of state was pushing for as he was in the region in recent days.

What the Israeli prime minister also said, as you just heard in that clip there, is that Israel intends to retain the overall security responsibility over the Gaza Strip for an indefinite period of time. And now, the defense minister is also saying that is Israel will, quote, retain complete freedom of action to respond to any situation in the Gaza Strip. And so while that doesn't indicate that Israel intends to reoccupy the Gaza Strip, it does suggest that they plan to treat it much like they do parts of the West Bank, where they do go in and conduct raids to for what they view as potential terrorist attacks.

Now amid all of this, United States is dancing a very, very fine line, Kate. As you know, we've heard the United States reaffirm Israel's right to defend itself, standing by Israel, but also expressing concern about civilian casualties.

We're also now learning that the United States is planning to transfer $320 million in precision bomb equipment to Israel to allow it to continue its campaign against Hamas but also perhaps a nudge to Israel to carry out the strikes anymore precise manner, by providing them with the satellite guided precision bomb kits. We will see if that makes any difference in how Israel is prosecuting this war. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much. John?

BERMAN: All Right, Kate.

With us now are two young women who've been working together since the October 7th terror attack to share the stories of horror and survival that took place that day.

Maya Parizer is a survivor of the Hamas attack on the Nova Music Festival in Re'im. She joins us from Israel. Avery Stern is a recent college graduate who's been working to bring Maya and other survivors to college campuses across the United States.

And, Maya, let me just start with you. We're so sorry for everything that you've been through. One month has now passed since that attack. I'm sure there is not a day that goes by where you do not think about it. But after one month, what do you remember most? What haunts you most?

MAYA PARIZER, SURVIVED HAMAS ATTACK AT MUSIC FESTIVAL: Yes. First of all, thank you for having me. It's been a nightmare of reliving the situation since what happened on October 7th. In the U.S., I actually flew for only five days and intend to speak to congressmen and senators throughout the U.S. And because of what I've seen in the campuses, I'm a recent graduate myself from the Ben-Gurion University here in Beersheba.

And I just had to do something because it pains me to see that students just support one side without even understanding that this was not an attack or what you can say, people were not just killed, you know. People went to have fun in a rave, just like Coachella or all sorts of festivals in the U.S. and they not only died, they were butchered and massacred.

And to see all of that horror through channels on the Telegram channels of Hamas terrorists and civilians just broke my heart every time because there is no other way for a family to really cope with the loss of their kids. They don't need to see the brutality in its way. And if you ask me how I'm feeling, I wish I can say, you know, it's better. I wish I can say, you know, I'm focusing on the war right now that is happening, but I can't really seem to put aside October 7th. October 7th has nothing to do with the war that's happening right now. It was just an excuse to brutally massacre civilians just like myself. And it really changed my life because I can't go back to normal knowing that my friends are now in Gaza or that I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to them because they only want to have fun in a party.

And that is something that needs to be said loud and clear. Don't make this political. It's not about what's happening right now. I feel very sorry for both Israeli and Palestinian lives that are being taken. But this, what happened to us on October 7th, this is something that happened by its own. This was just an excuse for barbaric people to slaughter the Jewish people. And it pains me to see right now that people are justifying it.

And that's why I'm coming back to this state because I can't sit around here and feel like helpless. People need to understand that you have to separate what happens now, which is a war, and what happened on October 7th, which was an attack that just slaughtered many of my friends or just like myself, just went to have fun in a party.

BERMAN: Avery, you've been organizing events on college campuses, bringing Maya and others to tell their story. Why?

AVERY STERN, ORGANIZING TALKS BY HAMAS ATTACK SURVIVORS AND HOSTAGES' FAMILIES: I think that what's happening in Israel is so horrible and almost unbelievable, but it's almost happening here now too.

There's a war in America, and it's on college campuses and people are dying for saying what they believe.

[10:25:03]

And it's scary to see that the Holocaust, which I learned about in textbooks in school and that I learned about for my grandparents, it feels like I'm reliving experiences that they said they lived when they were younger.

And it's really scary to see and I think kids feel really hopeless on college campuses especially. I read a crazy statistic that 48 percent of individuals from the age 18 to 24 support Hamas. And I think that it's kind of the age range where people feel hopeless. And I think it's important to bring people like Maya to hear real stories to hear what she went through. And I think it brings the community closer.

BERMAN: Maya, you survived a terror attack one month ago. You had people killed all around you, again, just one month ago. Yet today, you are witnessing an alarming rise in anti-Semitism in the -- since the terror attack you know in the United States and around the world. How do you explain that and how does it make you feel?

PARIZER: First, it makes me feel scared because everyone said during the Holocaust days, never again. And just like Avery said, it we feel it right now are rising. And when it started in the Holocaust people were like, don't worry, let's be silent, it will pass away, you know, Jews are being picked but it's not, you know, anti-Semitism. It's just, you know, they were kind of annoying, they deserve it or whatever.

But this is not okay to single out people just because of their race or religions is wrong. And people are saying that, you know, loudly when it comes to being Islamic, when it comes to being African- American when it comes to being you know Asian, why is it different when it's about being Jewish? Why can't I -- I'm also an American citizen. Why can't I walk safely in my in my homeland? Why do I have to be scared?

You know, I was just speaking at Maryland University, I think it was Saturday night, when one of my friends ran away crying. And we thought at first it was by hearing my story, but what happened in Cornell was a student sending 15 threats to Jewish people and it made a lot of people be scared in their home, which is something I can relate because I was being locked in a home of not even myself, of some strangers in the Gaza Strip that are now I'm close to. But I didn't know them and I had to stay there for 24 hours just waiting for my turn to die.

And to hear that it's happening in the U.S. to hear that students, students were supposed to be the next generation of leaders, why are you so quick when it comes to the Jewish people? I don't want to ask you to just take my word and treat it as whatever, but study. It doesn't make sense that people justify slaughter of a genocide by protecting another. We should condemn all sorts of terror. We should condemn all sorts of violence.

And when people kidnap in 2023, people should wake up to see, like would I be okay if my kids are taken by some idea or losing their body parts or being filmed and joyfully paraded through the channels of the Telegram? Like this is something that's wrong. It should be separated, because a way to resolve a conflict is not by creating another.

And if people really condemn terror and, you know, see Israel -- I don't even want to say, it's like why can't you see it on the other side? Why do we have to suffer and continue to defend ourselves after going through what I've been in October 7th?

You know, many of my friends did not have the same luck as I had when I was just meeting the terrorists and, you know, managing to escape. Many of my friends were raped, abused, killed, and not by just a shot. They were really butchered. And we can see all of that proven. But for some reason, people are like, oh, I don't believe that. And it's like I don't want to believe that as well. I wish this was all a big dream. I wish I didn't have to dance and stop and suddenly run for my life, but it happened.

And to hear that people are saying, oh, it's not real, or they deserve it, let's, you know, clean ethnicity of Jewish people. Like what is wrong with you? This is 2023. People need to condemn violence. People cannot solve one nation state saving by killing another.

I did nothing wrong when I decided to go to dance at a rave party, and this should be set out there. None of the people that were killed or kidnapped were soldiers at the time. They were just civilians. They were either asleep at their homes or dancing at a party. This is not something people can just, you know, move to the next story and be like, oh, today, what happens in Gaza? Like I'm sorry.

But in World War II, people were not like, oh, look at this poor civilian German.

[10:30:01]

When people are attacked, people have to respond. Israel needs to respond by the fact that 1,400 people were slaughtered that day.