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Were 2013 Elections Referendum On Obamacare?; Rubio Reacts To Election Results; New York's New First Family; Christie Speaks After Re-Election Landslide

Aired November 06, 2013 - 13:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Was this a referendum on Obamacare? And if so, how worried should Democrats be? What do the results say about the Tea Party and the fight within the GOP? We're going to get into all of that.

But first, Chris Christie's landslide win in the New Jersey governor's race is seen by many as a warm-up for the 2016 presidential race. In his victory speech, Christie pointed to New Jersey as a model for the way Washington should work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: I know that if we can do this in Trenton, New Jersey, maybe the folks in Washington, D.C. should tune in their T.V.s right now and see how it's done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: In purple state, Virginia, the Democrat, Terry McAuliffe, defeated the Republican, Ken Cuccinelli. During the campaign, McAuliffe tied Cuccinelli to the Tea Party activists behind the government shutdown. And last night he spoke about Washington gridlock and he appealed for bipartisanship.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TERRY MCAULIFFE (D), VIRGINIA GOVERNOR ELECT: It was a choice about whether Virginia would continue the main stream bipartisan tradition that has served us so well over the last decade and a time when Washington was often broken. Just think about what Virginia has been able to accomplish when we work together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: By all accounts, Obamacare did play a role in the election results, what that role was depends on whom you speak to in our CNN exit poll. 47 percent of Virginia voters said they favor the health care plan. 52 percent said they opposed it. In New Jersey, 48 percent in favor of Obamacare, 50 percent opposed.

Jim Acosta has reaction from the White House. Joe Johns is following an important hearing that's just concluded up on Capitol Hill. The Health and Human Services secretary, Kathleen Sebelius testifying. Jim, let me start with you over at the White House. How concerned is the Obama administration right now that the Affordable Care Act launch potentially could hurt Democrats at polls going forward?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it's a very interesting question, Wolf. You said, by all accounts. Everybody agrees that this hurt Terry McAuliffe in the final stretch. But I would say that there's one-quarter of Washington where they don't agree with that assessment and that is here at the White House. A top official here at the White House, who is basically in charge of the Obamacare effort or one of the folks in charge of the Obamacare effort, David Simms, he tweeted out sort of a defense of the White House and of Obamacare. And pushing back against the notion that it hurt Terry McAuliffe in the final stretch of the campaign.

I want to put that tweet onscreen because he -- these are one of the few folks who are pushing back on this notion. Fact, candidate who ran against the ACA, the Affordable Care Act, in the midst of Affordable Care Act national media attacks lost the quintessential swing state, being Virginia, D.C. narrative, Dem troubles. So, they're pushing back on this notion, Wolf, that this hurt Terry McAuliffe.

But no question, if you look at what happened in the final days of that race, Ken Cuccinelli was behind Terry McAuliffe. Anywhere between four to eight points in the last couple of weeks, according to a variety of polls.

And then, as you saw last night, Ken Cuccinelli, the Republican candidate, almost won that race. And so, the conventional wisdom obviously here in Washington is that it was basically because a lot of the misgivings over the government shutdown had faded away and that concerns were starting to be raised over Obamacare.

At the same time, we should mention, Wolf, later today, the president is going to be traveling to Dallas. He is going to be talking at an event down there with some navigators in that city. Those are the folks who are hired by the administration to sort of walk through people who are applying for insurance through Obamacare. And those navigators are critical to the process, obviously because of the Web site issues and people having to use the phone and paper applications to sign up for Obamacare.

What is going to be interesting to see, Wolf, is whether or not the president goes back to trying to defend the phrase that he used time and again, if you like that plan, you can keep it. Up on Capitol Hill, you mentioned Kathleen Sebelius, who is testifying right now or has been testifying today. She was hit by a number of Republicans accusing her and the administration and the president of dishonesty. John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, accused Kathleen Sebelius of, quote, "misleading the American people."

So, it'll be -- it'll be interesting to see if the president goes back to try to talk about that pledge that he made, if you like your plan, you can keep it. He tried to do it the other night. Got in some more hot water for it because people thought it was sort of a misleading attempt to try to go back and clean that up -- Wolf.

BLITZER: We'll have live coverage of the president in Dallas on Obamacare during the 5:00 p.m. Eastern hour of the "SITUATION ROOM." Jim Acosta, thanks very much.

Now to that hearing up on Capitol Hill where the Health and Human Services secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, testified. Senators, they dug in, they were seeking answers about the problems with the Obamacare Web site among other issues. Listen to what Senator John Cornyn of Texas asked her point blank about the president's one-time pledge that Americans could keep their existing insurance plan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R), TEXAS: Well, we know that lying to Congress is a crime. But unfortunately, lying to the American people is not. I would just like to ask you a simple true or false question. Is that statement on the White House Web site true or is it false?

KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, SECRETARY, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: Sir, I think the statement is that --

CORNYN: Is it true or is it false, madam secretary?

SEBELIUS: -- you can keep your plan. The vast majority of Americans who are insured are in the employer market, are in public plans or in veterans plans. And the -- those plans have stayed in place and continue to offer benefits. The 11 million people who are in the individual market, a majority of those individuals will keep plans that now will have stronger coverage and others will have to choose -- if they have a brand-new plan and not a grandfather, will to choose of a plan that they --

CORNYN: My time is limited --

SEBELIUS: no longer get medically (INAUDIBLE) --

CORNYN: -- so I would just ask that the record be note -- that the record note that you have refused to answer my question whether it's true or false.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Let's bring in Joe Johns. He was monitoring, watching this entire hearing, several hours of testimony. The second time she's appeared now, in the House last week now before the Senate this time. Any comparisons?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, she's in a very tough spot. You know, this business of appearing before multiple committees in Washington is a ritual. It's always hard to match the first time in terms of intensity but it came pretty close. Plus, Sebelius has been through this before, had a chance to review, reconsider some of her answers.

Still, she's getting tough questions from both sides. A question about whether it would be better to shut down the Web site to repair it actually came from a Democrat. And plenty of acrimony there on the other side, too, of course. Kansas Republican Senator Pat Roberts comes from the same home state as the secretary. Their families are said to have been friends for a long time. But Roberts repeated his call for Sebelius to step down today.

And the chairman of the committee, Max Baucus, on the other hand, saying it's more important for the secretary to stick around and get the Web site fixed. By the way, Wolf, Orrin Hatch, the senator from Utah, suggested that Sebelius come back every month and give regular reports so this ritual could continue.

BLITZER: There was one interesting exchange, I know you were monitoring that, where she was asked if these navigators out there, these individuals who are hired by the administration to take information down, they then go through the paperwork, put it through the computer and all of that, if they're checked for criminal backgrounds -- if they having criminal background checks because sensitive information, Social Security numbers, date of birth, income levels, that's all provided. And she basically said that there is no criminal background check.

JOHNS: Right, no criminal background check which could be pretty shocking to people out there if they're giving their personal information to individuals in order for them to try to shepherd them through the system. She also said that if Congress were to say they need to have background checks, she'd be happy to take a look at it.

BLITZER: That doesn't instill a lot of confidence in the system. If you're giving sensitive information, you want to make sure at least you're not giving it, as one of the Republican Congressman said, to a convicted felon --

JOHNS: Right.

BLITZER: -- who might get a job as a job as a navigator.

JOHNS: And there have been questions about at least one navigator. This was some of the information that came up just yesterday in the documents that were released by Congressman Issa on the House Reform and Oversight Committee.

BLITZER: All right. Joe, thanks very much. Joe Johns monitoring that story.

Let's get back to last night's election and take a closer look at two of the biggest races. What does the New Jersey race say about Chris Christie's prospects in 2016? And why was the Virginia contest so close? John King breaks it down at the Magic Wall.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: One unmistakable take- away, Chris Christie now has the premiere brand in Republican politics. Look at this map. New Jersey known as reliably blue state in presidential politics. Well, in sweeping to a landslide re- election, Chris Christie turned almost the entire map red.

Electability will be his argument now as he makes the case he's a strong Republican contender for 2016 in the presidential race. Chris Christie can argue. I won the women's vote. I won the men's vote. No gender gap for me. He will also argue powerfully that not only did he carry the white vote big, but among African-Americans, even though his Democratic challenger won the African-American vote, Chris Christie, 21 percent of the African-American vote, more than double his take from four years ago. Compare that to Mitt Romney and compare that to John McCain. Chris Christie will say he can broaden the Republican base.

Even more importantly in making that argument, the electability argument, Chris Christie actually carrying the Latino vote in the state of New Jersey with a slight majority there. Again, think about Nevada. Think about New Mexico. Think about Florida. Other presidential battleground states, Latino a critical constituency. Chris Christie will make the case, I'm the more electable Republican.

If there is a dent in the electability argument, it is this. In his home state, as he won a sweeping re-election, voters were asked, what if you had Hillary Clinton versus Chris Christie? In 2016, well, Hillary Clinton carrying a narrow victory over Chris Christie. A bit of the dent in the electability argument with that poll number.

But Chris Christie is going to be able to put this to the test. He is now the chairman of the Republican Governors' Association, about to become the chairman. Look at all these 2014 Republican governors' races and look where they will take him. They will take him to Iowa. They will take him to Ohio. They'll take him to New Hampshire. They'll take him to South Carolina. They'll take him to Florida. They'll take him to Nevada and New Mexico. Those among the key presidential battlegrounds, Chris Christie by way of his duties at the Republican Governors Association about to get a premiere chance to test his national appeal. We'll watch that one as 2013 turns into 2014 and we begin to think of 2016.

Now, let's take a closer look at Virginia. A much closer race here. A tug of war. Literally, a tug of war between the Republicans and the Democrats and what has become a very competitive swing state. Why did Terry McAuliffe, the Democrat, win? Simply right here. The northern Virginia suburbs just outside of Washington, D.C., the margin of victory came there. Look at all of this red. Ken Cuccinelli winning where Republicans need to win, especially in the rural areas.

But the suburbs delivering the victory for Terry McAuliffe. And let's take a closer look at how he did it. Literally, a tug of war on the big issues as well. If we move to Virginia here. Look at this right here. Virginia once known as a reliably conservative state, the biggest slice of the electorate describing themselves as moderates in the middle of the ideological spectrum. And Terry McAuliffe winning convincingly among moderates, 56 percent.

Again, the northern Virginia suburbs, more moderate voters. The key to the victory there. This one played out fascinating. A tug of war in the end over the big issues we see nationally right now. The president's health care plan, a majority of Virginia voters opposed it. This is what kept this race close. Opposition to Obamacare, those voters broke overwhelmingly for the Republican Ken Cuccinelli, keeping the race closer than many of the late polls suggested. However, it wasn't enough for Ken Cuccinelli. If you move this out of the way and take a look at this, Terry McAuliffe using to his advantage, anger at the government shutdown. More Virginians blamed Republicans than the president for the shutdown. Look at the number here, those -- overwhelmingly almost nine in 10 voters who blamed Republicans for the shutdown, breaking for Terry McAuliffe.

And if there was one overriding theme of the McAuliffe campaign, it was to say that Ken Cuccinelli was too extreme, too far to the right. Half of Virginia voters agreed. They thought Ken Cuccinelli was too conservative. That was the margin of victory for Terry McAuliffe. Those voters breaking for him in a very close race that will be studied so closely now because Virginia looms so large in the 2016 presidential race.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: All right, John. John King reporting for us. Thank you.

So, what about 2016? Should conservative Republican candidates be nervous? One high-profile Republican, who could possibly run for president, responding. Senator Marco Rubio gives us his take on what last night's results could mean for the GOP. Just spoke to our own Dana Bash. And Dana is here. Stand by.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: He's a leading voice in the GOP and now Senator Marco Rubio of Florida is speaking out about last night's election results, specifically what they could mean for next year, the 2014 mid-term elections, and the next presidential race in 2016. Today the Florida Republican sat down with our own chief congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, who's here now joining us. So what is he saying about last night's elections, the significance?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, very interesting. He was one of the few Republicans who went into Virginia and campaigned for the Republican candidate, Ken Cuccinelli, unsuccessfully, of course. And his big argument there was about Obamacare. It didn't work. So I asked him about that race and specifically about whether or not Ken Cuccinelli's defeat and what that means for Rubio and the Tea Party, the Republican Party.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Do you think that the results show that his brand of Republican politics, your brand of Tea Party-backed Republican politics, is now in trouble in big swing states like Virginia?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), FLORIDA: I don't - no. I think people try to ascribe all kinds of conclusions to these races. I think it's one of the things that happened in this race is he was severely outspent. In most races I've ever seen, if a candidate is outspent by that much, they're going to struggle to win. I think, secondly, unfortunately, he didn't have those resources to answer some of the negative attacks that were levied against him. That created a caricature of him that he was unable to undo. Despite all of that, he came within just a handful of points of winning a race that a week ago everyone around here was saying was going to be a blowout.

BASH: Did the establishment let him down by not coming in?

RUBIO: Well, look, again, people make decisions about what races they want to be a part of or not. I certainly think that a lot of people now need to look back at that race and wonder, would we not have won had he had just a few more resources to set the record straight about his own record, but also to talk about what he stood for, what he really would have done for the people of Virginia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So there's a lot of second-guessing today because the race was a little bit closer than the polls had suggested going in. Second- guessing about whether or not Republicans nationally shouldn't have effectively given up on Ken Cuccinelli, which they did.

I should tell you that the reason why we are in front of the Supreme Court is because Senator Rubio went to arguments this morning for a case that the Supreme Court heard dealing with religious freedom in legislatures. He was a lead senator on a brief in favor of giving religious freedom to legislatures all across the country, and including, of course, the one that he serves in, the United States Congress, the Senate. The chaplain made a lot of - made a lot of news during the shutdown with his -

BLITZER: Yes.

BASH: With his sermons. So that's why he was there.

BLITZER: With his outspoken remarks.

BASH: Very much so.

BLITZER: I think we can say he got a lot of publicity as a result of that and Marco Rubio, himself a lawyer with a legal background, so he understands these issues.

So there's Marco Rubio, certainly a Tea Party favorite. Ken Cuccinelli was a Tea Party favorite. There are others out there, Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, that are emerging. Did he give you a sense of how this potentially could play out in 2016?

BASH: Very interesting. Very clearly wanting to make the point that he doesn't think that the results from last night's election --

BLITZER: From Virginia?

BASH: Virginia or New Jersey -

BLITZER: Really?

BASH: Have much of an implication for 2016. And we're going to talk a lot more about that on "The Situation Room" later, especially what he said about Chris Christie, which was very interesting.

BLITZER: A little - a little tease.

BASH: A little teaser.

BLITZER: Yes.

BASH: You know, New Jersey's a different state from the rest of the country, Wolf. Very different. It's a blue state. So maybe it won't translate into states like, I don't know, Iowa.

BLITZER: Well, he's probably right on that, New Jersey is a little different than Iowa.

BASH: Yes. And we talked -

BLITZER: Especially a Republican caucus in Iowa -

BASH: For people who might not know, Marco Rubio is somebody who, he won't admit it, but is very seriously considering a presidential run himself in 2016, a potential competitor to Chris Christie.

BLITZER: Yes. And Chris Christie is as well.

All right, let's see what happens. I'm looking forward to it.

BASH: Thanks.

BLITZER: In "The Situation Room," 5:00 p.m. Eastern, Dana will be back with more. Thank you.

Your typical first family, maybe not so much. New York's newly elected mayor, his wife and kids, they are understandably getting a lot of attention. We're going to tell you what the de Blasio's are doing. They're excited. Look at the kids. Their dad is now going to be the mayor of New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The new first family is taking New York City by storm. The mayor-elect, Bill de Blasio's wife and biracial kids, they played huge roles in his run for office, featured prominently in TV ads and campaign events. List to what his wife had to say about him last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIRLANE MCCRAY, BILL DE BLASIO'S WIFE: And it's wonderful to see New Yorkers getting to know the Bill de Blasio that Chiara and Dante and I love so much. Bill is strong. Strong enough to fight for what's right, but smart enough to listen and understand the point of view of others. He will lead this city with courage and empathy and vision. I know this because I know him.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: Deborah Feyerick is joining us now from Union City, New Jersey, where Governor Chris Christie has an event coming up in a few minutes. We'll have live coverage of that. But first let's get back, Deb, to the de Blasios. Tell us more about this new first family of New York City.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, what we can tell you is they really swayed the election, his wife and his two children. The turning point a lot of political insiders will tell you is an ad that his then 15-year-old son Dante did and his retro hairdo captured a lot of imagination in terms of sort of underscoring that de Blasio has an African-American wife and that his son also is biracial. And he was able to get into issues like stop and frisk, giving him instant credibility, talking about how he worries that his own son perhaps one day may be stopped and questioned simply because of how he looks. And so that resonated in a lot of communities, specifically Latino and African-American. They all focused on that. And that really gave him a bump up.

His wife is a poet. She once identified as lesbian. And also she - he says that he is -- she's his close confidante and he fully expects that she will be fully engaged in the administration, giving him advice and doing whatever roles she feels can help the city of New York, Wolf.

BLITZER: Going to be the new first family of New York City.

Let's get to the event you're covering right now. Chris Christie, he's going to speak in the next few minutes. What do we anticipate on this day after his easy re-election?

FEYERICK: Well, you know, it's very interesting. His spokesperson said there's no overall message in terms of what he wants to say, what he wants to tell the press, but he was giving a tour in one of the classrooms here. We're at the Jose Marti Freshman Academy. You can see a number of the kids behind me waiting for him. in fact, they're unusually quiet. It was quite loud in here just moments ago.

But when he was in the classroom, he said that he's not running for president. That's what he told the kids. That's what he told members of the media. He said the people of New Jersey elected him to be governor and that's fully what he plans on doing.

But, Wolf, if you look at the acceptance speech - or, I should say, the acceptance speech he gave last night, a number of political insiders said that was effectively an announcement. It showed that he could win a number of categories, the Republicans, conservatives, Tea Parties, even women. He made huge gains among women. And he barely -- he almost squeaked out the 18-29-year-old vote. So it really makes him a viable candidate. But he understands that he's got to accept what he has right now and lead as governor. We do hope to ask him what he hopes to achieve in the next four years, but also how he's going to do that if his sights are on the presidency as well.

Wolf. BLITZER: We'll stand by. We'll have live coverage. I'm anxious to hear what the governor, Governor Chris Christie, has to say. We'll let our viewers listen in as well. Deb, thanks very much.

Other news we're following, including pot smokers in several states, they are celebrating today after voters made it easier for them to light up. We have that story and much more news right after this.

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