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Don Lemon Tonight

President Trump Makes Chief Of Staff Fire Attorney General Sessions; Trump Unloads On GOP, Dems, Reporters In Press Conference; House Democrats Promise Presidential Investigations; Midterm Elections 2018; President Trump Claims He Never Used Racist Remarks; Record Number of Women Elected to the House. Aired 11-12a ET

Aired November 07, 2018 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: This is CNN TONIGHT. I'm Don Lemon. President Trump firing his long suffering Attorney General just hours after polls closed in the midterms. Jeff Sessions forced to submit a resignation letter catching top White House officials off guard. That is what sources telling CNN. The President who became famous for the phrase "you're fired" punting to his chief of staff to give Sessions the boot. John Kelly didn't even do it face to face, but opted to fire Sessions by phone.

Kelly even refused to grant Sessions' request to stay on until Friday. Matthew Whitaker who started the day as Jeff Sessions' chief of staff finishes as the acting A.G. He will be overseeing the Mueller investigation. Relieving the Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein of that responsibility. In Whitaker, the President has found an ally who has publicly questioned the scope of the investigation. I asked him last year why Trump wouldn't publicly say if he would fire Mueller. This is his answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW WHITAKER, U.S. ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL: I think that it's very dangerous politically, but legally there is certainly a way for that to happen.

LEMON: You don't think that is dangerous legally? It's not obstruction? He is saying basically unless you -- unless it goes my way, I'm going to fire you.

WHITAKER: You no, I don't think that is obstructions, because I mean, we keep using that term.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, Whitaker has also previously questioned the scope of the Special Counsel's investigation saying examining the Trump family finances would be and this is a quote, it would raise serious concerns that the Special Counsel's investigation was a mere witch hunt. Witch hunt. Sound familiar? Lots to discuss now.

Mark McKinnon is here. He is the executive producer of Showtime's "The Circus" on Sunday nights, also CNN Global Affairs Analyst, Susan Glasser.

Good evening, everyone. So before, good to see both of you. Before we get started about Jeff Sessions today, Matthew Whitaker, the President held a press conference for 26 minutes, right? Lashing out at everyone who challenges him including the media and everyone he disagrees with. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You are a rude, terrible person. You shouldn't be working for CNN. You are the enemy of the people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On the campaign trail you called yourself a nationalist. Some people saw that as emboldening white nationalists. Now people are also saying --

TRUMP: I don't know why you would say that. It's such a racist question.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you offering my way or highway scenario to the Democrats. You are saying

TRUMP: Negotiation, not at all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If they start investigating you, that you can play that game and investigate them.

TRUMP: Better than them. I think I know more. I think know more than they know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you compartmentalize that and still continue to work with them for the benefit of the rest of the country or all bets off?

TRUMP: No, if they do that then it's just all it is a war-like posture.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Yes. I said 26 minutes. It is an hour and 26 minutes.

Is he feeling the pressure do you think?

SUSAN GLASSER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: You know, I think he came in loaded for bear to that press conference today. He seemed to seek out the confrontation and as often as the case with the President to double down on it once it was launched. And I think that in general is his strategy now for all those people who thought the election was going to bring an end to what has seemed like an exhausting and very divisive news cycle, I feel like, well we saw today from President Trump that is not the case.

If anything we may come to look back on the campaign as that is nice quiet period before all the craziness.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: What land those folks were living in. And of course, I mean this administration is -- they thrives in chaos. Don't you think? So, my assessment was that maybe he was concerned that he now has -- there's some check on his -- you're saying I'm misreading the whole thing. Because you were actually at that press conference today.

MARK MCKINNON, CO-HOST, SHOWTIME'S "THE CIRCUS": Well, I was struck by a couple of things. One was, that I think he came in in rooster mode ready to crow about last night. I think he sees last night was a win for him. It definitely defied expectations. I mean the expectations were much higher for Democrats.

Historically, speaking the important thing is they took the House and that is what matter more, but for him for the moment, he defied expectations and by the way, it's the first time in at least decades and maybe longer than that the in party has actually added Senate seats. So, he had something to talk about, but it was interesting to me that during that whole discussion which was his prepared statement, it was very quiet, it was very laid back, kind of soft in tone.

And then as soon as he went to the q and a, he went looking for confrontation. It was so clear. I mean, there is a rumor of a hundred of reporters, who does he go to, Jim Acosta, right? And he knew what would happen with that.

[23:05:10] LEMON: He goes to all of -- mostly the people he has.

MCKINNON: Yes. There is either two -- here -- Presidents I have known before and others in the past the traditional way is you would have like 10 reporters that you know that you're going to go to, most of them friendly. You know what they are going to say. In this case, the president -- first of all he talks to reporters that he knows he is going to have a confrontation with. Or in this case, there were 100 reporters in there.

And I know that there is a lot of them in there that are kind of whacky. He doesn't even know, he has no idea who they are and he is picking people he has no idea who they are or what they are going to say which is so unconventional.

LEMON: What did you think of the calling the reporter's question racist? I mean, where do you start with that?

GLASSER: Well, again to me that did have the air of a line that he have rehearsed in advance. If you notice he actually repeated it a couple times. And you know, it seemed that he had decided that this was, you know, a brilliant way. We've seen that before from President Trump, by the way. Sometimes when he has been challenged, he does this sort of like no, I'm not, but what are you and you know, I feel like it's a classic Trump move on some level that if he perceives himself to be accused of racism, he'll accuse you of being that. But again, we're drawn into.

LEMON: Let me just tell you that your assessment that is an astute assessment, because personally I know that, if you -- he accuses you of whatever it is that you are saying about him.

GLASSER: Right.

LEMON: Even if that means racism, even if you challenge him, especially if you're a reporter of color who challenges him on race. Listen to women, how he talks about women who challenge him.

MCKINNON: And Don, for him to embrace the notion of being a nationalist, proactively which he did the other day as you know without having some historical perspective about what -- he knows what that means. If he doesn't, that is a deeper problem.

LEMON: The thing is, I think he feels -- how do you say this diplomatically, I think he feels that most of the public or the reporters are as easily swayed by his rhetoric as his supporters. That people -- he is frustrated by people who actually do the research and who know better. People who will say to you, I didn't just fall off the turnip truck, Mr. Trump, come on.

GLASSER: Well, that is right. First of all he is been surrounded in this environment of the rallies and in campaign mode. He is very proud. He pointed out in his press conference today that he had done you know 30 rallies or something in 60 days. He is traveled around the country to these very friendly receptive environment. Remember how he went to the U.N. general assembly and he seemed kind of shock that people were laughing at him and not alongside him, but kind a laughing at him? Because he surrounded himself in atmospheres that are essentially people cheerleading him and his message.

He is taken I think a little bit of his own spin to heart on some level, it struck me that he actually believed he had won a very great victory. And you could even argue as Mark has said, that in a way there's something to that in that in his view, because Republicans have held onto the Senate and actually even added slightly to their majority, the odds which were already very low that they would ever go along with the house impeachment and actually convict him in a Senate trial have dwindled down to very, very low to negligible which means that on some level, there is a check.

MCKINNON: That is existential end game.

GLASSER: If he is basically saying to house Democrats, I don't believe -- he is calling their bluff saying listen, go ahead and impeach me. I'm going to win the political argument.

LEMON: Just what you said earlier, because I just want to bring this in. By the way, he is reading and believing his own press which is never a good thing. You said that Washington will get worse, not better as a result of Tuesday's result. The political scripts of the past have been destroyed. They're not coming back. And I think, you know, we discussed that. Let's talk more about it. So, I want to bring in now Trump biographer and the author of "The truth about Trump," Mr. Michael D'Antonio. Michael, what did you see from the President's reaction today? Good evening, by the way.

MICHAEL D'ANTONIO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Good evening. I think that Susan is right that the President was prepared for confrontation. I disagree with Mark a little bit. I actually thought he seemed kind of depressed at first when he was issuing his prepared remarks. He really came to life when he was battling with the press and I think he is determined that what worked for him in the past is going to work for him going forward. And it is also true that we are in a new reality what existed prior to Election Day has become even more intense. So the Senate is going to become even more intensely Trumpian.

[23:10:03] The House now is in the hands of the Democrats, but it is not going to be cakewalk for them, because they're going to have to work with the Senate somehow. So over it all is going to be the President doing the thing that he is always done and we're going to be talking about his personality. So how strange is that that we have now spent three-years talking about Donald Trump's personality? Not about his politics.

LEMON: I don't think that -- I think you're right about that, but I actually think moving forward, that this is going to be more about policy than personality, because the story will shift from White House intrigue, his personality, and to more policy move, the Democrats will -- the Congressional -- the story coming out of Congress will have equal if not more importance than the story that comes out of the White House which will be interesting to see how the White House handles that. Go on, Michael.

D'ANTONIO: Don't you think that the country sort of expects the Democrats to propose things, but not get much done? And then investigate and hold hearings and that will be conflict times 10. And when the President says that he is very good at this, he was talking about investigations, but he is very good at playing these power games. And at rallying his base. That base is now permanent. We now have a portion of the electorate that is permanently angry, permanently rejecting of Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats. And it's going to a slugfest.

LEMON: I understand that, Michael, but what I'm saying is for so long, the narrative in the news has just been one-sided, because the Congress, the Senate they've all gone along with what the President he had to say. It has been his narrative. The Republican narrative, the Trump narrative the entire time. Now Democrats are in control of Congress and part of what they're doing will come into play, as well. So, I don't think -- listen, don't get me wrong. The White House will be a big part of this, but they won't have the whole pie is all I'm saying.

MCKINNON: President Trump made an interesting argument a couple of times at the press conference which was, he was saying I actually feel better, a little bit better with a Democratic majority in the house than a close majority of Republicans, because he says it's going to force us to come to the table and talk about infrastructure and some issues that maybe he couldn't have before.

LEMON: I want to talk about "The Circus." I'm sorry. I want to get this in.

(LAUGHTER)

MCKINNON: Shut up.

LEMON: You talked with Dave Chappelle about what he thinks of the Trump presidency two years in. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Apparently he is having a terrible go of it. I don't think -- I don't think he is living up to his part of the bargain. And I'm troubled by politicians that only speak to people that they believe will vote for them. And it's sad, because you know, he is got the bully pulpit. It's the highest office in our land. So hopefully, we can either hold him to task or get someone in there that will think about all of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: He said America will have a hangover after Trump. Do you agree with him?

MCKINNON: Well, America's going to have to try and figure out what to do after Trump. Republican Party certainly has to figure that out. The Republican Party has been splintered and radically transformed by President Trump.

LEMON: Have you seen the research on the Republican Party? I mean, what happens after this? Just -- we keep saying that and they keep winning.

MCKINNON: John Weaver last night said, I think on your network that that the Republican Party has been reduced by 10 to 15 million people. So, it may be a hard base, it's a shrinking base. I don't know where he came up with those numbers, but it's interesting to see. So it's a bunch of Republicans out there that don't have a home right now and have to find one.

LEMON: That is all we have time for. We will see you soon.

MCKINNON: OK.

LEMON: Make sure you watch "The Circus" this weekend. Sunday, Showtime.

MCKINNON: Kick it.

LEMON: Kick it. Thanks everyone, I appreciate it. Thank you, Michael. House Democrats say they are preparing to open multiple investigations of President Trump. Congressman Eric Swalwell is promising the American people that we'll see the President's tax returns. I am going to ask him how he plans to make that happen. That is next.

[23:15:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: New questions about the fate of the Mueller investigation tonight after the President fired Jeff Sessions and put acting A.G. Matthew Whitaker in charge, this as Democrats are about to take control of the House. Let's discuss. Congressman Eric Swalwell, sits in the House Intelligence Committee. Good evening to you, sir.

REP. ERIC SWALWELL, (D), CALIFORNIA: Good evening to you, Don.

LEMON: Thanks for coming on. Are you concerned after this firing?

SWALWELL: Yes, but I feel like we can actually do something now. We're not powerless. We won the majority and the American people should be assured that we are going to protect this democracy.

LEMON: So you're feeling some strength. Because before it was frustration every time you came on, you were frustrated about something. I can't believe this is happening -- I can't believe that is happening.

SWALWELL: We had to go to make the case to the public and tell them go to town square, go to your town hall, tell your Congressman, your Senator that you're concerned, but then they went to the ballot boxes. They were hoping that we stand up and do what's right. First thing we can do is protect Mueller also insist documents are preserved as the transition takes place with the acting Attorney General and also insist that he step aside on the Russia investigation, because of his conflicts of interest.

LEMON: I was going to ask you, because you know, leader Pelosi is asking that he recuse himself. Is that what you want? Do you think that will happen?

SWALWELL: Yes. He should ask for an opinion and get a public response from, you know, the ethics department there. I believe they would find that he is conflicted.

LEMON: When I speak of the frustration that you had during the investigation, remember in your investigation, you felt it was shut down by Republicans.

SWALWELL: Obstructed, shutdown, looked the other way, free passes, all set.

LEMON: Did you reopen that now?

SWALWELL: Those days are over. As it relates to Russia, we'll fill in the gaps.

[23:20:00] We're not going to just, you know, get a pounds of flesh. We want to be productive, look forward. Make sure that this upcoming election is protected. Because we know the Russians will seek to interfere again, but also get all the documents that they were unwilling to get whether it was, Don Jr.'s phone records, Michael Cohen's bank records, the Deutsche Bank financing information about the president and his Russian financing, all the stuff that we asked for and the Republicans refused to give.

LEMON: You heard him in the news conference today. He said well, if the Democrats start investigating me, I'm going to start investigating them. How did you read that? Is that a threat, was it an empty promise, what?

SWALWELL: Well, you know, Senate is a separate branch of government and also to suggest that the government is going to come grinding to a halt. Don, during the 1860s when Lincoln was President, we had a civil war, he was at war with Congress, they kept building the dome. They passed -- you know, they purchased Alaska. And we will acquired more property in the west. So America can go on. There's actually opportunities to collaborate I think on infrastructure, DREAM Act, background checks, prescription drugs. We are going to put stuff on his desk and see if he wants to sign it.

LEMON: OK. So let me ask you, I had Congressman Ted Lieu on the net. I didn't get a chance to ask him this, I will ask you now, what about when it comes to the affordable care act? Will you work to implement some of the things that were stripped or removed?

SWALWELL: Yes, put in you know, protections for the bare counties, right now, there is about 1,000 counties where there's not much competition. Whether its reinsurance or you know, cost sharing there's bipartisan proposals there. Also prescription drugs is I think an area where you can reduce the cost. I have a 17-month-old. I went to CBS a day, I bought Tamiflu. The pharmacy clerk looked at me and she said good thing you have insurance. Because it's $5 for you. If you don't, it's $200. That is wrong in America.

LEMON: Yes. You mentioned some of the people that you said that you felt that you did not get, you felt there was inconsistent testimony and that you didn't get enough from them, that it was incomplete. But I'm just wondering, you said that it was incomplete or inconsistent testimony. Including Hope Hicks, Don Jr., Jeff Sessions, Jared Kushner, Corey Lewandowski, and many other.

SWALWELL: Roger Stone.

LEMON: Roger stone. Again, that opens up again.

SWALWELL: Yes, we'll pour into the commercial break if I went through all the witnesses.

LEMON: OK. And what about tax returns?

SWALWELL: Yes, that is actually one of the easiest things we can do through the ways and means committee, you know, chair will be able to request them. And we shouldn't do it just for any voyeuristic interest. We should do it to know if the President is corrupt. "The New York Times" today exhausted report saying that he is a tax sheet. If that relates to how he governs or domestic policy or foreign policy, we should know about it.

LEMON: Will he give it up though?

LEMON: Well, he may fight it. And of course, it would go to the Supreme Court. But you know, the court, I think is going to look at the law which plainly says that if the chairperson of the ways and means committee requests it, he has to turn it over.

LEMON: You heard what Matthew Whitaker said on this show, there's a legitimate way -- an easy way for the President he believes, I don't know how easy it was, but a way he believes to get rid of the investigation. That is to starve it to death meaning starve it of its funding. Are you concerned about that?

SWALWELL: Yes, but again, we are now in a position where that is not going to happen. We are going to protect Bob Mueller. People are going to the streets tomorrow in 900 different communities across America. So, on the inside of Congress and outside advocacy, we are going to protect this investigation.

LEMON: Say it again, people are doing what?

SWALWELL: They are going to the streets. There's a protect Mueller effort outside the White House right now. But tomorrow at 5:00 p.m., there will be 900 different communities that will be rallying to protect Bob Mueller.

LEMON: Congressman Swalwell, thank you for your time. I appreciate it.

SWALWELL: My pleasure.

LEMON: The President today denying that he is ever said anything racist and even falsely accusing an African-American reporter of asking a racist question herself.

[23:25:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So the President flat out denying today that he has ever made racist remarks, this is from a man who launched his campaign with attacks on Mexicans, spent years pushing the racist birther lie that Barack Obama was not born in this country and in just the past few weeks, the President publicly claimed that two black candidates Andrew Gillum in Florida falsely and publicly claimed that two black candidates for governor, Andrew Gillum in Florida and Stacey Abrams in Georgia were not qualified to lead their states.

Bakari Sellers is here, Matt Lewis, as well. Good evening all of you. Good to have you both on. So listen, President Trump his pick in Florida Ron DeSantis he won. CNN hasn't called the race in Georgia yet. But Kemp is claiming victory. I just want to get your take, Bakari on these, what I think are and what most people think are racist dog whistles that they worked on Gillum, Abrams, not qualified.

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I mean, I think it's an apparent they won. And I think that is the disappointment that many of us have in the country that we live in. I think that there were a large swathe of individuals, there are a large group of individuals. And I want to make sure and look at those people and tell them to make sure you come out, you stay engaged, you vote, you do everything necessary, but we thought the progress in this country was further along than it actually is. Andrew Gillum and Stacey Abrams ran a great race. There is a great

rapper who I follow on Instagram. I'm a Ply's fan. Ply said today that he was excited. The reason he was excited is because Andrew Gillum, there was no reason to be upset, because Andrew Gillum took it from here to here. And for many African-American who have run statewide like myself, many people who have dedicated their life to public service like Andrew Gillum and Stacey Abrams may not have made it over the hump, but at least they chipped away.

LEMON: Didn't I tell you the same thing last night, that this was the progress? I don't know why people were like oh, my gosh. I think everybody won. I think Republicans won last night. I think Democrats won last night, but I also think.

SELLERS: I agree with that.

LEMON: But I also think that if -- let's think about it. Right? Stacey Abrams, woman of color whether she wins or not who knows. That is my next question to you Matt about this runoff and vote expression. You see what happened down in Florida and young folks what happened in Texas with Beto. Whether Beto is a Republican or Democrats, he is a young energetic person. Isn't that progress? They almost flipped red states to blue.

SELLERS: No, no, it's almost progress. So the question is what happens today.

LEMON: Baby steps, Bakari.

SELLERS: No, no, no. Because what I want to do is -- is engage this plies (ph) now, right?

LEMON: Right.

SELLERS: Using plies (ph) as the example. I need to make sure that he stays engaged, that all of those individuals at the churches stay engaged that -- that Diddy and DJ Khaled, but all of those individuals who were cutting hair.

LEMON: So you're saying let's not get too far ahead of yourselves.

SELLERS: Don't get ahead of skis (ph). Let's make sure everybody stays in place.

LEMON: OK. Stacey Abrams, Matt, you know, is refusing to concede. She and the Democrats have previously accused Kemp of using voter suppression tactics during this election and the fact the secretary of state oversaw the recount.

I'm just wondering what that does. Is that problematic for people having faith in the voting process that they sort of feel like that their votes counted? And that, you know, whether he won fair and square or not?

MATT LEWIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Right. I think it is. I think it is actually problematic when you have -- I'm sure that there are people on both sides of the aisle who would disagree with me saying this because sometimes secretaries of state run for governor or higher office and we have the rule of law and theoretically you should be able to run the election that you're involved in.

But there's an obvious conflict of interest. And so I think it's problematic. You know, you recuse yourself if you're Jeff Sessions in the Russia investigation. What is appropriate to do if you're a secretary of state? Should you be overseeing it? I don't know what the answer is, but it strikes me as something that you need to fix before it happens.

LEMON: Isn't it something we accuse like Banana Republics (ph) of --

LEWIS: Yeah.

LEMON: The guy is --

LEWIS: Here's the thing. You know, they said avoid even the appearance of impropriety. Democracy is so important and I would say right now it's so fragile that anything that would -- let's give him the benefit of the doubt. Let's say it's completely above board. If it even creates the appearance of impropriety, that's a problem.

LEMON: If you had -- as I sit back and think about this, if you think like hey, I can actually win, I'm the best here. Fine. What's wrong with having someone else come in to oversee the elections, someone who is impartial if you have confidence in yourself?

LEWIS: And remember, by the way, in Florida, this is similar to Jeb Bush -

LEMON: Right.

LEWIS: -- over, you know, being the governor and Katherine Harris down in Florida in 2000. I mean, it's a similar situation.

LEMON: Yeah.

LEWIS: Maybe they should do something about it.

SELLERS: To be completely honest, Van and I had a conversation in the green room. You know, these green conversations that people are not privy to. One of the things that Van and I said is that last night, I think he actually brought it to my attention which is true, we didn't necessarily articulate how much Stacey Abrams had to overcome.

LEMON: Yeah.

SELLERS: I mean, we're talking about the fact that Stacey Abrams got this close. But Stacey Abrams got this close and she's still running a great race. The race is not over yet. But she had to overcome all the voter suppression. There were people who did not vote in Fulton County --

LEMON: Yeah.

SELLERS (ph): until after midnight. I mean, there were polling places in Georgia. They did not have --

LEMON: Power cords, yeah, for the voting. There was a place that had like one or two voting machines and people were lined up.

SELLERS: Yeah. If you have electric machines, how do you not give them power cords?

LEMON: This is America. So Bakari, listen, I just want to play -- let me play this exchange from the president's press conference today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michael Cohen recently said you called black voters stupid.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That's false.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Omarosa has accused you of using the N-word and the --

TRUMP: That's false.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- the rapper Lil Jon has said you called him Uncle Tom. What is you response to --

TRUMP: I don't know who Lil Jon is. I really don't --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was on "The Apprentice."

TRUMP: I don't know. He was? OK. Oh, I see.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you ever made racist remarks?

TRUMP: No, I would never do that, and I don't use racist remarks. And you know what? If I did, you people of -- you would have known about it. I've been hearing there are tapes for years and years there are tapes. Number one, I never worried about it because I never did -- I never used racist remarks. I've never used racist remarks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: OK, so he denies that. Whether he said it or not, that's not -- I'm not saying that. But there are pictures with him with Lil Jon. There's actually a video, a tape of him, Lil Jon on the show, but twice.

SELLERS: I mean, let's just disavow the fact that in order to be racist, you have to say the N-word. I mean, Donald Trump's actions for a long period of time --

LEMON: Yeah.

SELLERS: -- and the language he traffics in has been there. And I'm a Lil Jon fan. He was a curator of my college years.

LEMON: Little or Lil? SELLERS: Lil.

LEMON: You said Lil. I was like, who --

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: Don't come for me unless I send for you.

(LAUGHTER)

SELLERS: Sorry.

LEMON: Sorry.

LEWIS: I feel like Scott Jennings right now. Little Marco.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: No response. He denies. I mean, he denies it all. What do you think? The guy was on show twice.

LEWIS: Yeah, I think it's totally plausible that Donald Trump doesn't remember meeting somebody or met somebody. I love your music, you know.

SELLERS: You think Donald Trump loved Lil Jon's music?

LEWIS: I think he might have said that.

(LAUGHTER)

[23:34:59] LEMON: All right. Thank you, guys.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: Nothing.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: What happens when an African-American female White House correspondent tries to ask a question at the president's press conference?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Sit down, please. Sit down. I didn't call you. I didn't call you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: April is here. April Ryan, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So, the president held an angry, combative press conference today for almost an hour and a half. At one point, branding a reporter's question as racist after she asked about his support for nationalism and whether that -- that support might embolden white nationalists.

[23:40:01] I want to bring in someone who had her own run-in with the president today and that's April Ryan. She is a White House correspondent from American Urban Radio Networks and the author of "Under Fire: Reporting from the Front Lines of the Trump White House."

So, it seemed like a perfectly legitimate question to most people, April. Good evening to you, by the way. So I just want to get your response --

APRIL RYAN, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN URBAN RADIO NETWORKS: Good evening.

LEMON: -- to this exchange between President Trump and Yamiche Alcindor, the White House correspondent for PBS. Here it is.

RYAN: Yeah.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

YAMICHE ALCINDOR, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, PBS: On the campaign trail, you called yourself a nationalist. Some people saw that as emboldening white nationalists. Now people are also saying --

TRUMP: I don't know why you'd say that. That's such a racist question.

ALCINDOR: There are some people that say that now the Republican Party is seen as supporting white nationalists because of your rhetoric.

TRUMP: Oh, I don't believe it. I don't believe it.

ALCINDOR: What do you make of that?

TRUMP: I just -- I don't know. Why do I have my highest poll numbers ever with African-Americans? That's such a racist question. Honestly, I mean, I know you have it written down and you are going to tell. Let me tell you, that's a racist question. But to say that, what you said is so insulting to me. It's a very terrible thing that you said.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: I did not understand his response at all. It was completely inappropriate. Her question was appropriate. Anything but racist. What is the president trying to do here?

RYAN: The president was saying that she was -- Yamiche was accusing him of being a white nationalist. She asked the question as many not just black people but white people who are wondering about the term "nationalist" when there's something called white nationalist.

And he could have easily instead of being on the defense or under defensive, he could have -- just decided to explain once again what his version of nationalist means.

It's a simple back and forth that could have been dealt with and instead, it's now blown up and it's more of a magnifying glass on his nationalism versus white nationalism or if they're combined or if they're different, we don't know, because the president never explained.

LEMON: Yeah. Well, there you go. He also tried to get a question. There's a lot more behind in that too, but, I mean, we don't have all night, April, let's be honest.

RYAN: Yeah, we don't.

LEMON: You also tried to get a question into the president.

RYAN: We were there all night last night.

LEMON: Yeah. Here's how you're trying to get a question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Sit down, please. Sit down. I didn't call you. I didn't call you. I didn't call you. I'll give you voter suppression. Excuse me. I'm not responding to you. I'm talking to this gentleman. Will you please sit down? Such a hostile media. It's so sad. You asked me about -- no, you rudely interrupted him. You rudely interrupted him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So, what is going on? Do you think he not only has a problem with the press at large for asking him tough questions? Do you think he has a problem with women and people of color asking him tough questions? What's happening here?

RYAN: Well, I know for sure he has a problem with me. But it was -- it was something to see my situation than Yamiche.

LEMON: Did you interrupt someone?

RYAN: Let me tell you what happened. And as a reporter, you know that she used to do this and all reporters do this. There was a pregnant moment. The president stopped answering a question and he was going into to ask someone else or call on someone else, but there was a space that I got a clear question.

LEMON: A pregnant pause. There is a pause and you jumped -- people yell questions out all the time. And then he responds, and then you go back.

RYAN: Yes. I was in the second row and I lobbed a question at him in that pregnant pause moment. And he responded. And he said, yeah, yeah, something about yeah, yeah, voter suppression. And he started responding, so I stood up. I actually thought that he was responding to me. And I guess, I don't know, but I believe that when he thought -- when he saw it was me, he got very upset and said sit down. I wasn't being hostile. And I was not being rude. This is a real issue. You know, Don, we were on the set until 5:00 this morning talking about issues of voting in the midterms. We brought up the issues of voter irregularities in the state of Georgia and North Dakota and in Texas. Since then, we found out -- I talked to Reverend William Barber of NAACP. He said -- and the poor people's campaign -- he said there's also voting irregularities in North Carolina and there were --

LEMON: There were a number of them all over the --

RYAN: -- as well as Florida.

LEMON: Yeah, all over the country --

RYAN: Yes.

LEMON: -- especially the south. I got to get this in, April, before I let you go. Back in 2011, I interviewed then businessman Donald Trump and pushed him on perpetuating stereotypes about black people including President Obama. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON (on camera): When you talk about someone like the president and you challenge whether or not he is -- has an education or deserves -- deserves to go to Ivy League schools, you're talking -- you're bringing up, you're promoting one of those stereotypes about African- Americans.

[23:45:01] And as someone who is running for president of the country, which means everyone, then wouldn't you be sensitive to those issues in our country?

TRUMP (voice-over): It certainly does mean everyone and it means everyone to me. As far as I'm concerned, the president's a very smart man. And I think a comment about racism is ridiculous as it applies to me. People that know me laugh at it. They think it's so stupid. I mean, it's a ridiculous statement and certainly ridiculous as it applies to me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Uh-huh. Interesting. There's a whole back story behind that, what happened afterwards, but, again, we don't have enough time. He's never been able to link his words and the way they demean people of color in this country, has he?

RYAN: No. And his actions, as well. This is beyond. This is ,really beyond just an older gentleman from Queens and I'm using that term loosely. People want to say oh, he's in his 70s from Queens. No, no. He even said today he thinks he is a great moral leader.

Morality involves how you treat others. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Someone asked him about church today and his faith. And he got off of that really fast. It's a different day. And for the president of the United States, to have to be asked about issues of race and are you a racist, it's a sad day. I asked it in January.

LEMON: Yeah. I got to run, April.

RYAN: Mr. President, are you a racist? He never responded. It took three days.

LEMON: Yeah.

RYAN: Bye, Don.

LEMON: The evidence is in. And you said spoke about church and the church has spoken. Thank you, I appreciate it.

RYAN: Let the church say amen.

LEMON: The church say amen. Congress is getting a lot more diverse now. The midterms ushering in a whole lot of firsts. My next guest is one of the first two native American women elected to the House and she is the first open LGBT person elected to Congress from Kansas. Sharice Davids is next.

[23:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: A record number of women elected to the House in the midterms has at least 100 serving when the new Congress convenes in January, and it is a diverse group, including the first two native American women elected to the House. One of those women is Sharice Davids, a Democrat who will be the first open LGBT member of Congress from Kansas. She joins me now. Congratulations, Sharice. Thank you for joining us.

SHARICE DAVIDS (D), KANSAS CONGRESSWOMAN-ELECT: Thanks so much. I appreciate it. I'm happy to be here.

LEMON: You made history today. So you beat a Trump-backed incumbent by a comfortable margin. Do you believe this was a direct rebuke for the president?

DAVIDS: Well, I definitely think that played a role in it, but we also -- part of the reason that I win was because I didn't feel like our district was being represented well. We had a representative who I didn't think was listening to everyone in our community. And so I think that it was a combination of his oftentimes full support of the president and also the fact that he wasn't listening to the constituents.

LEMON: A record number of women, Sharice, over 100 of them, were just elected to Congress. Women flipped two-thirds of the House districts that went from red to blue. Many of them are first time office holders. Why do you think this is happening now?

DAVIDS: Well, I think that this is definitely an example of how people are ready for something completely different than what we've seen in our government up to this point. And it's a reflection of the fact that so many people haven't been heard or haven't felt heard. And I think that, you know, so many people have talked about how we need new leaders, new types of candidates to step up.

And, you know, for -- for sure I felt the same thing and that was part of why I decided that it was necessary in a lot of ways for people like me who have a very similar experience to a lot of people in our community to put ourselves out there and run so that we can have our voices heard in Congress and at all other levels of the government.

LEMON: Yeah, talking about women who put themselves out there by actually joining the political process as candidates, but, I mean, this election shows a real shift from white women away from this president. Some 59 percent of women voted Democrat this time, and 40 percent voted Republican. We have it up there on the screen. I mean, that's the largest margin in the midterm exit -- seen in the midterm exit poll. What do you think is behind this shift?

DAVIDS: Well, I can't speak to the national -- the national piece of it. But I know here on the ground in Kansas in Johnson County and Wyandotte County, we certainly had a lot of women coming out and working on the campaign and engaging with the campaign, and we were trying to engage as many people as possible.

And I really just think it has a lot to do with -- I know I said this already, but people just want to be heard. And they want to make sure that their representatives care about every single person that they're supposed to be representing. And too many of us didn't feel that.

And certainly when you look at the composition of Congress or at least up to this point, it was -- you know, there weren't enough women serving, but there are plenty of women who are qualified, who are dedicated to communities, who are often taking leadership roles but not necessarily in leadership positions.

[23:55:05] And I think we are seeing -- I think we are seeing a lot of people who are just ready to change that. That's what we saw last night. And that's what we'll see in the coming years, I think.

LEMON: Yeah. There's a lot of firsts last night, especially when it comes to diversity. You joined New Mexico's Debra Haaland as the first two Native-American women elected to Congress. What message would you like the country to draw from your victories?

DAVIDS: I think that it has everything to do with engaging as many people as possible. You know, I know Deb Haaland had a really strong ground game. Our campaign had a really strong ground game. And I think the more people that you engage in this process, I think that's what led to so many of us winning this year.

Certainly for our campaign, it was literally every conversation we had, every door we knocked, every phone call we made. That was the thing that made the biggest difference in our race because too many -- the number of doors I knocked on where people said, no one has knocked on my door since I bought this place 25 years ago. And, I mean, that to me is an example of how we get to reset that expectation about if somebody wants to be your representative, they should be trying to engage you. And I know there were a lot of people running this year who had a similar mentality and a similar kind of drive to make sure that that happened.

LEMON: Congresswoman-elect, thank you.

DAVIDS: Thank you. Have a good night.

LEMON: You as well. Thanks for watching. Our coverage continues.

[24:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)