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Strong Early Voting Numbers in Georgia Put GOP on Edge; L.A. County Health Official Says Hospitals on the Brink of Catastrophe; How Music Shaped the White House. Aired 10:30-11a ET
Aired January 01, 2021 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:31:49]
ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: With the Georgia Senate runoffs in four days, GOP Senator David Perdue will have to quarantine after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19. This comes as Republicans face growing pressure to turn out their base next Tuesday as Democrats are turning out in larger numbers for early voting.
CNN correspondent Ryan Nobles has more details for us.
Ryan, what are you learning about the momentum on the ground right now?
RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ana, there's no doubt that Democrats are very encouraged by their performance here in the two weeks of the early voting stage of the Georgia runoff. And it does have some Republicans nervous.
I talked to quite a few GOP operatives yesterday that believe that from what they're being able to tell about these numbers that have come in at this point that the Democrats are actually outperforming their early vote totals when you compare it to how they performed during the general election.
And of course, remember that the Democrats won the general election at least at the presidential level and were close enough to force this runoff happening right now. Now Democrats also feel pretty positive about how well they've done up to this point and I caught up yesterday with Stacey Abrams. She's of course the former gubernatorial nominee on the Democratic side here in 2018. She's been very involved in the Senate runoff, and I asked her if she was encouraged by the Democratic performance. Well, listen to what she had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STACEY ABRAMS (D), FORMER GEORGIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I would say that it's better, I would say that it's incredibly gratifying to see so many turning out. We are pleased with the level of energy and excitement, especially given how often pundits were discounting the likelihood of Democrats, you know, performing in a runoff. According to current analysis, we are running at or ahead of where we
were in 2020 November election. But we know that this is just beginning. We still have to get to election day and I don't count anything until it's done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBLES: Now there's no doubt that Republicans are concerned by how well the Democrats have performed in early voting. But it is also important to point out that they anticipated that the bulk of their voters would show up on election day.
That's been the plan from the very beginning for the Republicans just because of the culture of Republican voters. They feel more comfortable voting in person on election day. But it's going to mean that they have to truly turn out their operation on election day itself, January 5th. They're hoping that President Trump coming here the night before the election helps to kind of spur on his supporters to get to the polls.
But, Ana, the wild car in all of that is we don't know what President Trump is going to say on Monday night. The last time he was here stumping for these Republican candidates, he spent a heck of a lot more time talking about his baseless allegations of election fraud than he did David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.
And there's still real concern among Republicans that if Trump focuses more on this election fraud as oppose to the voting at hand, that it could discourage some of his supporters. I mean, it is a very difficult argument to make, listen, I think the election system is fraud -- filled with fraud but you should still come out and vote -- Ana.
CABRERA: Ryan Nobles, thank you. Happy New Year.
Let's bring in somebody who has unique insight into the voters there in Georgia. He is Georgia state majority whip, former Georgia state majority whip, State Representative Edward Lindsey.
Great to have you with us. Again Happy New Year to you. You heard Ryan's reporting there about these early voting numbers.
[10:35:05]
Do you think there's a groundswell of Democratic momentum right now?
EDWARD LINDSEY (R), FORMER GEORGIA HOUSE MAJORITY WHIP: Well, there's no question but the Democrats have done what they needed to do in the early voting. As a matter of fact, they are running a few points ahead in terms of some of their base supporters turning out over what they did in November. For instance, in early voting in November, African- American voters turned out at a rate of just under 28 percent.
This runoff election, African-American voters are making up just over 30 percent. So they are slightly outperforming in terms of the overall percentage of turnout over what they did in November, which is what they need to do. While President-elect Biden did win narrowly here in Georgia, down ballot Republicans did very well in Georgia. The Democrats need to do better in the runoff than they did in the general election if they expect to win these two races.
CABRERA: Right.
LINDSEY: And right now they are (INAUDIBLE).
CABRERA: What do you think is behind that?
LINDSEY: Well, two things are behind that. Number one is that the Democrats are united. You know, they came out of this November election united and are focused entirely on the runoff election. Republicans, there's a certain segment of the Republican base that's divided. They are still focused more on the grievances over the past election rather than focusing on this election.
And what I've been telling folks is that while Democrats may not be able to win based on their past performance, Republicans can certainly lose this race if they don't focus on the runoff rather than on their grievances over what happened in November.
CABRERA: What impact does Senator David Perdue having to quarantine have on the race, do you think?
LINDSEY: Well, you always want your candidate out front all the way to 7:00 p.m. on election night. So any time that your candidate is off the stage, you know, it sort of dampens some of the momentum. However, this race is going to be decided largely not on persuasion but on turning out your base. Folks have already made a decision in terms of who they're going to be supporting.
So the question here is whether or not Republicans can turn out their base. And that's what they're going to be focused on in the next few days.
CABRERA: And so you know I have to ask you about the president's visit to Georgia come Monday. It will be his last political rally as president and also, of course, just the day before this election. In recent days the president is still calling, you know, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp names, asking him to resign. He has spent months attacking the electoral system as fraudulent in Georgia even though it's really controlled by Republicans.
How do all these attacks play on the minds of independent voters and maybe some GOP voters?
LINDSEY: Not helpful, to be candid with you. You know, very much appreciate the fact that the president is encouraging people to vote, but his actions are kind of like someone who puts their foot on both the gas and the brake pedal at the same time. It leads to some really kind of questionable results. And that's what we're having here right now.
We have a certain segment of the Republican base that are questioning whether or not they should turn out because of the president's claims of fraud. So that's certainly not helpful. Also, while it's a small number of independents out there who are undecided, very small number, in a tight election they are key. And having the president question the results, you know, is not -- is simply not helpful in terms of trying to persuade them to come back to the Republican Party.
CABRERA: Well, all eyes, the center of the political universe turns to Georgia this week. It'll be interesting to see what happens.
Edward Lindsey, appreciate your time. Thank you.
LINDSEY: Thank you very having me. Happy New Year.
CABRERA: Be sure to watch -- Happy New Year to you, too. We have our special coverage kicking up again of the Georgia Senate runoff, "ELECTION NIGHT IN AMERICA" continues, it all starts Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. here on CNN.
[10:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:45:07]
CABRERA: California reeling right now from the effects of this pandemic. In L.A. County officials are warning hospitals are, quote, "on the brink of catastrophe," as it witnesses its worst day of deaths. And officials believe this latest surge is driven by Thanksgiving gatherings. They fear what could come now after Christmas and New Year's.
Let's go to CNN's Paul Vercammen in L.A.
Paul, the situation, it just keeps getting worse and worse there.
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT AND PRODUCER: It does, Ana, and when you talk to doctors and nurses on the ground as I do every week, they're just petrified. Let's look at the numbers that have them so scared. The deaths, 290 in the very last count in L.A. County. That is a record. And then the hospitalizations, 7500 people hospitalized in L.A. County with COVID related symptoms.
This is taxing the hospital system. Everything from ambulances to a ripple effect on clinics. And exhausted frontline workers want to reach out and talk to the public. Let's listen to what they had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. NICOLE VAN GRONINGEN, CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER: I can tell you that we really are at a breaking point. We're also worried that at some point soon we're going to have a tough time finding the space and the staff to take care of all the sick patients coming in with COVID- 19 who really need our help.
SCOTT BRICKNER, REGISTERED NURSE, CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER: The best way to describe it that I could tell a friend recently was it's like treading water from 100 feet below the surface. You're already drowning but you just have to keep trying because that's what you can do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERCAMMEN: And to the south, in San Diego County, we now have four cases of the U.K. variant of COVID-19. Two men in their 40s, another in their 50s, found to have this U.K. variant. That in addition to a man in his 30s. Also we should note that San Francisco is extending its stay-at-home orders. Most of California is under some sort of stay-at-home orders.
Back to you now, Ana.
CABRERA: And we all know what we need to do. It's wearing masks, it's social distancing, it's doubling down on hand washing. All of those things.
Paul Vercammen, thank you.
Check out these scenes now out of Wuhan, China where New Year's revelers released balloons when the clock stuck midnight. That city had special reason to celebrate the arrival of 2021. As you'll recall, this city was ground zero for the start of the coronavirus pandemic that has killed thousands, forced that city into a tight three-month lockdown. Well, this month a team of experts from the World Health Organization are scheduled to arrive in China to investigate further the origins of this pandemic.
New intelligence shows Iranian Maritime Forces have raised their readiness levels in the Persian Gulf. This as tensions rise between the U.S. and Iran.
Stay with us. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:52:25]
CABRERA: Welcome back. From peanut farmer to rocking the White House, the new CNN Film "JIMMY CARTER, ROCK AND ROLL PRESIDENT" shows how America's 39th president used his passion for music to win the 1976 election.
CNN's Bill Weir now takes a closer looks at how several presidents showed their love of music.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL WEIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Is popular music downstream of politics?
JIMMY CARTER, 39TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I listened to all big Bob Dylan's records before I was governor.
WEIR: Or is it the other way around? BOB DYLAN, MUSICIAN: When I first met Jimmy, first thing he did was
quote my songs back to me. It was the first time that I realized my songs had reached into -- basically into the establishment.
WEIR: Or maybe music is just a soul detector for any leader of the moment.
Friends of Lincoln say he held equal love for the blue tail fly and opera. That certain songs would mist his eyes and throw him into melancholy. In the modern era, Nixon played classical piano and Kennedy played along with Frank Sinatra. But it wasn't until Jimmy Carter that the White House held a true fan of country, rock, blues and soul.
CARTER: There was some people who didn't like my being deeply involved with Willy Nelson and Bob Dylan, and these disreputable, you know, rock and rollers but I didn't care about that, because I was doing what I really believed. And the response I think from the followers of those musicians was much more influential.
WEIR: Since then Bill Clinton blew some Elvis sax and reunited Fleetwood Mac -- briefly. George Bush filled his iPod with George Jones and John Fogerty.
BARACK OBAMA, 44TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm pretty sure I'm still the only president to listen to Jay-Z's music in the Oval Office.
WEIR: And Barack Obama showed his cool dad range from Jay-Z to James Taylor.
JAMES TAYLOR, SINGER: This is my favorite president bar none.
WEIR: As for the latest, well.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The front man Steven Tyler is now asking President Trump to stop using the band's songs at political rallies.
WEIR: The Trump years brought more cease and desist letters from musicians than memorable White House performances.
But as Bob says --
(MUSIC)
[10:55:05]
WEIR: Bill Weir, CNN, New York.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CABRERA: And "JIMMY CARTER, ROCK AND ROLL PRESIDENT" airs Sunday night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CABRERA: Good morning, and Happy New Year. I'm Ana Cabrera in for Jim and Poppy. I hope 2021 is off to a great start for you.
I know so many of us are just happy that 2020 has come to an end.
