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John Kasich: Liberal Democrats Almost Lost this Election for Biden; Senate Control at Stakes as Two GA Races Head to Runoff; Biden Sets Tone Administration as Trump refuses to Concede. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired November 09, 2020 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: What explains this hold that the President has -- not all sitting Republican lawmakers because a handful have come out, Romney, Francis Rooney on our broadcasts a short time ago, but But why on such a large piece of the party?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, POLITICO: Well, I think it speaks to the President's hold on this party, which is far more entrenched than just this is a one term president and that Trump's policies are his own. They are also the policies of the Republican Party.

And this election, the fact that Trump was able to grow his numbers, the fact that Republicans picked up a number of seats in the House, when initially they were potentially preparing to lose more seats and Democrats were preparing to expand the majority in the House, that further entrenches their belief that if they tie themselves to Trump then they will continue to win seats or continue to hold on to their current seats.

We see that in the vein of Senator Lindsey Graham in South Carolina, where despite the fact that his opponent outraised him significantly, he was able to hold on in South Carolina, and because of that he is falling in line with Trump, repeating baseless claims about voter fraud and saying that Trump should not concede.

So because Republicans feel as though they can potentially continue to win or at least hold on to certain seats, hold on to potentially a Senate majority by repeating Trump's politics and policies, then I think it's going to be a very long time before we see more Republicans distancing themselves from Trump's brand of politics.

SCIUTTO: OK.

POOPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Jackie, what, you know, John Kasich, said over the weekend, basically, the Liberal Democrats almost lost this election for Biden. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of those folks had this response to "The New York Times," if the -- OK, take a look at these images. This is Joe Biden arriving in Wilmington, Delaware, for the first task here, priority for them, which is the COVID Task Force meeting that he has assembled.

I'll let you watch these images out of Wilmington, Delaware arriving to some cheers, for sure, going into take care of some very important business. So number one priority in the White House for sure.

But getting back to what I was asking you, Jackie, and that is AOC responding, "If the party believes after 94 percent of Detroit went to Biden and after black organizers just doubled and tripled turnout down in Georgia, and so many people organized in Philadelphia, the signal from the Democratic Party is that John Kasich won us this election. I mean, I can't even describe how dangerous that is."

What are your thoughts on both their arguments this morning?

JACKIE KUCINICH, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, THE DAILY BEAST: Well, you also had in another interview Conor Lamb who is also a Democrat from a place that's a lot more conservative than where Congresswoman Ocasio- Cortez is from also pushed back against that.

Listen, we're going to see this over and over again in the next four years, this disconnect both are this push and pull both internally within the Democratic caucus and externally with Republicans that helped Biden, get Biden over the line in certain places where perhaps there aren't -- there isn't a big embrace of the green new deal and some of the more progressive initiatives out there.

And the fact that it took this long, I mean, they everyone was kind of quiet and waiting for Biden to win before this internal party --

SCIUTTO: Yes.

KUCINICH: -- friction started is saying something.

SCIUTTO: We've seen it before. I mean, we've seen a battle over the leadership, Nancy Pelosi's leadership before, we'll see where that goes this time.

Laura Barron-Lopez, Jackie Kucinich, thanks to both of you.

KUCINICH: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Well, if you could believe it, it's almost a week after Election Day, but control of the Senate is still up to the air. It comes down to two Senate runoff elections. In one state Georgia, we're going to have more on that where it stands. What's next? Coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:38:48]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back, President-elect Joe Biden's lead in the state of Georgia has widened now sitting at more than 10,000 votes with nearly all the votes counted. But beyond the presidential race and attention moves very quickly in politics, attention now shifting to two likely Senate runoffs in the state that could determine the Senate majority. Ads from both Democratic contenders Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock have already hit the airwaves and what is expected to be an extremely competitive and also expensive race.

Joining me now is Greg Bluestein. He's the political reporter for the "Atlanta Journal Constitution."

Greg, good to have you on this morning. It's amazing how quickly our attention shifts, but of course it would, because the control of the Senate hangs in the balance here.

First question is this, is about turnout because Biden winning Georgia appearing to or close to winning Georgia was a credit to Stacey Abrams enormous registration and turnout campaign there. Is it likely the Democratic Party can two months later say, hey, we need you to come out in numbers again?

GREG BLUESTEIN, POLITICAL REPORTER, ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: Yes, this is where the Democrats had a major challenged in Georgia.

[10:40:00]

Republicans have won every statewide runoff election in state history dating back to 1982. That's because the electorate in the runoffs tend to be older, more conservative, less diverse. But with senate control, potentially hanging in the balance, Democrats are doing everything they can to reenergize the same base.

And they hope having a younger candidate Jon Ossoff and an African American pastor in Reverend Raphael Warnock on the ballot will help motivate their base to come back out and vote this time.

SCIUTTO: OK. Let's talk about each of those races individually and the candidate on each side. So Warnock versus Loeffler. Warnock, you know, the pastor of a world famous church, Kelly Loeffler, of course, appointed by this President, from your vantage point who has the advantage there?

BLUESTEIN: It's going to be very, very close. You know, Reverend Warnock benefited during the entire first round of the campaign, because he was the Democrats top choice. The party establishment got behind him, state Democrats got behind him. He had the enormous fundraising advantage over other Democrats, whereas Kelly Loeffler was duking out with Congressman Doug Collins over who is the most supportive of President Trump.

So, Reverend Warnock pretty much skated by without getting attacked by either the Republicans. Now, he'll come under attack by Kelly Loeffler and the entire Republican machine here in Georgia nationally. So I think it's even odds right now.

SCIUTTO: OK. The other race, sitting Senator Perdue versus John Ossoff advantage there.

BLUESTEIN: Yes. I mean, I think if we were to do a poll today, it would show neck and neck as well because those two candidates were neck and neck in every major poll in the runoff, in the in the lead up to November. And so very, very tight dynamics here. John Ossoff says that David Perdue is a symbol of the corrupt status quo in Georgia and nationally, whereas Purdue calls Ossoff inexperienced and basically too radical for the state.

SCIUTTO: And both Loeffler and Purdue, we should note have been accused of profiting off briefings they received the senators on the COVID pandemic buying stocks very soon after. Where do those investigations stand?

BLUESTEIN: Yes. Both the Republican incumbents say that they've been cleared of federal -- of any sort of federal wrongdoing, the Senate Ethics Panel has said that they did nothing wrong. But Democrats say they don't pass the smell test because they both made a series of stock transactions in the lead up to the pandemics economic fallout that could have benefited their bottom lines. So, expect to hear Democrats harp on that, continue to press those attacks, that from now until January 5.

SCIUTTO: All right. Well, we've got a couple months, less than a couple months. I'm sure we'll be talking to you again as these races heat up. Greg Bluestein, thanks very much.

BLUESTEIN: Thanks for having me.

HARLOW: All right. Well, a divisive election. The country divided, history mean, how big of a role well, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris play in a deal making by the administration? We're on that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:47:27]

HARLOW: As Vice President-elect Senator Kamala Harris celebrates her historic win, only time will tell just how tough it will be for a Biden administration to get a lot done through a divided Congress.

With me now as former Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun, who was the first black woman to become a U.S. Senator, Senator Harris was just the second. It's really good to have you.

FMR. SEN. CAROL MOSELEY BRAUN (D-IL): Thank you. It's my pleasure to be here. Thank you for having me.

HARLOW: Of course.

All right, let's begin here. Senator Harris won, Biden won. They won against the backdrop of an opponent, you'll remember, who just weeks ago, called Senator Harris after her vice presidential debate a monster and nasty. How will she define herself as vice president?

BRAUN: Well, to begin with, she has got a lot going for her. She's a very skilled debater, very skilled former prosecutor, she's liked by people. And in fact, communities of color, women of color are over the moon about her election, both here and in India. So, she's got a lot going for.

She's got a lot of mana, if you will, going into this job. And she will be able to make a huge difference for a lot of people. And so I'm just, I'm personally delighted, obviously, and very, very happy about it.

HARLOW: You know, Ambassador, I thought this was interesting. There was a piece written in Essence magazine over the weekend by a black political activist Arisha Hatch. And here's what she writes, noting that 91 percent, 91 percent of black women who voted in this country supported the Biden-Harris ticket, that's according to CNN exit polls. And she writes this quote, "We deserve a chance to reflect and to celebrate, but soon we will turn to holding Biden-Harris's administration accountable to the needs of black voters who put them in office, specifically, the black women who have carried the campaign from start to finish."

Knowing and noting importantly, that this is not a monolithic group. But noting what she says, what do you think Biden and Harris need to do to hold up their end of the promise here to these voters?

BRAUN: To begin with, it's never a bad thing to talk about holding politicians accountable. Every politician, every person's elected should be accountable to the people who vote for them. And what Joe Biden has said is that he wants to be president for all Americans, whether they voted for him or not. And so holding him and his administration accountable, I think is a first priority for voters and for all of us.

[10:50:08]

And so all of us as Americans, and frankly, and not just for our own benefit, but for the world, we have a lot, they have a lot to do to get our position back in the world, to restore the faith in this country that people all over the world have had.

I just -- I've gotten more e-mails and text messages from people across the world, from Japan, to Africa to the Middle East. I mean, people have been just -- Canada, people have been reaching out all delighted and over the moon about this election, because they have such high expectations. Those expectations are very difficult to reach. But at the same time, we have to hold them accountable and say, this is what we expect of you. This is what we'd like to see. And how well do you think you can do that?

HARLOW: I thought it was interesting the press secretary for the Biden team told our Brian Stelter yesterday that they expect the media and they welcome the media, holding them accountable. Just a little bit different tone than what we've seen over the last four years in terms of a relationship to the media. Let's see how it plays out.

I wonder what you think about your party, in general, in terms of the House, at least seven House Democrats lost their seats, Republicans lost none. And when asked about it, Congressman Jim Clyburn had this to say when asked about things like the de fund the police rhetoric, et cetera, which was not broad across the party, but it was used by some. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): I spoke out against the slogan there, and that we are very strong with. We can't pick up these things just because it makes a good headline. It sometimes destroys headway. We need to work on what makes headway rather than what makes headlines.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Make headway, not headlines, is that a prudent message for your party right now?

BRAUN: He's absolutely right. And quite frankly, the Democratic Party is going to need do some real soul searching. Because quite frankly, what Georgia is that kind of important? And I hope everybody is focusing in on Georgia now.

They let Alabama go for no good reason. And I mean that, I don't know what Doug Jones was the senator, we will be talking about picking up one instead of two Senate seats to get control in the Senate. Had that not been -- had the pundits within the party, just not just cut him off.

I mean, from the -- think about it, for months now, they've been saying Alabama was lost. Well, the South is not lost two Democrats. And frankly, if we go back to our roots and begin to examine and listen to people, I mean, that's the real thing. God listened to people wherever they are in the country. And understand that at the end of the day, people want the same things. They want to be able to make the world better pass on their children more than they inherited from their parents and to live a happy life.

And so we have, I think, a lot of soul searching to do in terms of getting there.

I'm sorry.

HARLOW: That's OK. I wish I had more time. I don't mean to cut you off. But I'm being told we have to get to a break. But it's a strong message that you're sending, certainly to your party. And I hope you come back soon. Thank you, Ambassador Moseley Braun. Thanks so much.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:58:06]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back. Unfortunately the U.S. is approaching really just a devastating milestone. It is on track now to report its 10 million confirmed coronavirus infection today.

HARLOW: Oh my goodness. Look at that map, 43 states reporting huge spikes with hospitalizations on the rise as well.

Let's go to Adrienne Broaddus. She joins us live this morning. The numbers especially bad in the Midwest.

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the numbers are bad here in the Midwest Poppy and Jim. And over the weekend we saw so many celebrations across the Midwest and here in Chicago.

On Saturday, we saw people filling the streets partying. On that same day, Illinois reported more than 12,000 new coronavirus cases. And on that day the state reported 76 people died.

Now we're outside of Chicago's Rush University Medical Center. Experts here tell me over the last 10 days they've seen a spike.

And you talk about the number of cases rising, the positivity rate really tells the story of the Midwest. Here in Illinois, the positivity rate is around 11 percent. But in Iowa, it's at 48 percent. And in other states, they are seeing an increase in cases.

Let's take a look at what's happening in Indiana. For example, the Hoosiers state reported well over 1,000 new cases per day every single day for at least the last month. Iowa tat a 150,000 total cases over the weekend. And Minnesota the land of 10,000 Lakes reported 5,900 new cases yesterday on Sunday. That was the state's highest single day.

But as you guys have been mentioning throughout the newscast, a bit of encouragement today from Pfizer with news of a possible vaccine. Poppy and Jim

HARLOW: Yes. Good news. We hope. Fingers.

Adrienne Broaddus, thank you very much for the reporting.

And thanks for joining us today. We'll see you back here tomorrow morning. I'm Poppy Harlow

[11:00:00]