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Arizona Governor's Race Remains Too Early To Call; Senate Conservatives Seek Delay In Holding Leadership Vote; Interview With Representative-Elect Anthony D'Esposito (R-NY); Senate Control Offers Biden Two More Years Of Judicial Picks; Frustrations Grow After GOP Misses Midterm Expectations; Interview With Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX); Stunning Collapse Of FTX Rocks Cryptocurrency Industry. Aired 9-10p ET

Aired November 13, 2022 - 21:00   ET

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

[21:01:45]

PAULA REID, CNN HOST: I'm Paula Reid in Washington. It's ELECTION NIGHT IN AMERICA CONTINUED.

Right now, CNN has a projection to make in the House of Representatives. In Oregon's 5th Congressional District, CNN can project that Republican Lori Chavez-Deremer will beat Democrat Jamie McCloud-Skinner. Now Chavez-Deremer has 51 percent of the vote to almost 49 percent of McCloud-Skinner. McCloud-Skinner has just conceded.

Now this is a pickup for Republicans. The balance of power in the House is 212 for Republicans to Democrats' 204. Now Republicans need to win six of the remaining seats to take control of the House. It's still early to call who will control the House of Representatives.

And in Arizona, new vote totals were just released a short time ago. They show a tightening in one of the most watched governors' races in the country. Trump fire brand Kari Lake has cut into the lead held by Democrat Katie Hobbs.

Now let's begin this hour in Arizona. CNN's Kyung Lah is at the Maricopa County election center in Phoenix, where those voting numbers were just released.

All right, Kyung, what's the latest there?

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm looking down at my phone because we're just getting responses from the campaigns. I want to start by saying the Kari Lake campaign has not really said anything to reporters. And that's an unusual pattern. Most nights, there has been confidence. They have given us an indication that they still think they're going to win. The latest that we're hearing is that they're going to wait. They're going to wait and see.

We are seeing a statement that Katie Hobbs just -- she is the Democrat -- that she has just posted on Twitter, saying that they believe with this latest tabulation result, that Katie Hobbs is the unequivocal favorite to become the next governor of Arizona. That's a bit of confidence, given that these numbers are still really out there. What we saw tonight are 98,000 votes that were released by Maricopa County.

This is the most populous county in the state of Arizona. The county says that they have about 85,000 to 95,000 votes left. That is -- those are votes that the Lake campaign sees as their remaining path. Those votes, they anticipate, will be in their favor. But that has not been as overwhelming in their favor as they had planned. She did manage to narrow the gap with tonight's release. It did -- it definitely favored her versus other nights.

But Katie Hobbs remains in the lead. She is remaining the leader in the state by 26,000 votes. And it is so narrow, that margin, Paula, that it is going to be very difficult to see what happens tomorrow. It is still very, very early to call, too early to call, as these ballots continue to be counted here in Maricopa County -- Paula.

REID: All right, Kyung Lah, tracking the vote in Arizona, as the nation watches. Thank you so much.

Now to the Senate. Even though Democrats will keep control, Republicans are due to hold their party leadership elections this week. But Florida Senator Rick Scott is calling for a delay of game.

[21:05:05]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICK SCOTT (R-FL): What is our plan? What are we running on? What do we stand for? What are we hell bent to get done? You know, there's no plan to do that. The leadership in the Republican Senate says, no, you cannot have a plan. We're just going to run against how bad the Democrats are. And actually then they cave in to the Democrats.

MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX NEWS HOST: Do you want the job?

SCOTT: Well, a lot of people, you know, have called me to see if I'll run. Here's my focus. We've still got to win Georgia. I'm not going to take anything off the table. But my job right now is to do anything I can to help Herschel with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: CNN's Jeff Zeleny back with me. All right, Jeff, could Rick Scott have the votes to challenge McConnell? And how do you see this battle playing out?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: In a word, no. I mean, Rick Scott is coming off of one of the most disappointing and some would even say disastrous times as the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. So Rick Scott is not going to be the leader of the Senate Republicans. There's no question.

Now it is an open question what the timeline of this is. Senator Lindsey Graham also saying this evening that he thinks that the leadership elections should be put off until after that Georgia runoff. So the timing of this is still an open question. But Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, certainly has the support of the majority of his conference. At least it seems like that right now. It would be hard pressed to see who would step forward to challenge him.

And take a listen to just a sampling of what Senators Tom Cotton and Bill Cassidy had to say about Mitch McConnell.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): The great wrestling champion Ric Flair used to say, to be the man, you've got to beat the man. And so far no one has the nerve to step forward and challenge Senator McConnell. So I support Senator McConnell.

SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): Going forward, Mitch will be our leader. But that is not to say that we're not going have a necessary debate about ideas. And I think it's very, again, one more time, important for us to explain to the American voter why Republicans have a better vision for the future of our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: Look, Senate Republicans here were planning to win the Senate. I mean, they thought they would. Senator Rick Scott was predicting some 52 or more seats. That obviously did not happen. So I still expect the leadership elections to happen this week. Again, it could potentially be pushed back. But it's very difficult, based on all the Republicans we're talking to, to envision a scenario where Mitch McConnell would no longer be the Senate Republican leader.

It's just hard to imagine. He controls his conference. Now they may add some other names to the ranks of leaders. I do expect that to happen. But so unlikely for a Rick Scott or someone to challenge Mitch McConnell -- Paula.

REID: All right. Jeff Zeleny, thank you so much for that reporting.

ZELENY: Sure.

REID: A Republican split several seats in New York, including the 4th Congressional District on Long Island. Now CNN projected winner Republican councilman Anthony D'Esposito beat Democratic challenger Laura Gillen to take that seat that was once controlled by Democrats for nearly two decades. Now Congressman-elect Anthony D'Esposito joins us now.

First of all, congratulations, and tell us, how did you flip this district blue?

ANTHONY D'ESPOSITO (R), NEW YORK CONGRESSMAN-ELECT: Well, thank you very much and thanks for having me. I think that the way we flipped this seat is we stuck to the issues. The issues that mattered most to the people of the 4th Congressional District which time and time again, whether it was through polls, whether it was through talking to them, whether it was meeting neighbors, it was about things that affect their pocket, cost of living, inflation, and of course crime.

It's something that's mattered on Long Island and in Nassau County and in New York for the last couple of years. The Democrats failed cashless bail reforms. So we focused on the issues, and even as the Democrats try to veer us off track, we stayed laser focused on the things that really mattered to the people in this district. And it appealed to not only Republicans and conservatives, but it appealed to moderate Democrats and independents.

REID: And you also think that the Republican candidate for governor, Lee Zeldin, in a tweet saying that he inspired and energized and that he spoke from the heart. Even though he lost his governor's race, how did he factor into the GOP wins in New York?

D'ESPOSITO: So, Congressman Lee Zeldin ran an excellent race. He was full of heart, full of vigor. And like I said in my tweet, he energized not only Republicans and conservatives. But he energized people of Long Island and New York state who were sick of one party rule both in Washington and Albany. And there is no doubt -- listen, we all helped each other on this ballot. But Congressman Lee Zeldin and the race that he ran helped candidates down ballot throughout New York state.

REID: Now on that same tweet, you also linked to a news story about why Kevin McCarthy should thank Lee Zeldin. So I want to ask you, will you support McCarthy's leadership if Republicans get that House majority?

[21:10:01]

D'ESPOSITO: I will. I will support McCarthy for speaker of the House.

REID: All right. So New York has long been considered a pretty safely blue state. Trump lost the state by 23 points in 2020. Did your election and the close call for the governor's race really force Democrats to pay more attention? Do you think that they will now have to put more resources and more attention on the state?

D'ESPOSITO: Well, I don't know specifically about the state on a whole. But I know that my district was a seat that Biden won by 15 points. When I first got into the race, people said I was crazy. I was coming from the town of Hempstead where I had a comfortable seat, one that I won with re-election in 2021 with 70 percent of the vote. And people were upset. People were tired of the same old, same old.

And it was good to see people come out, people vote. And I think that our message really resonated with people across Long Island and especially our district.

REID: Not only will you work across the aisle to get things done, as you noted, people are sick of the same old, same old. It seems that voters are telling everyone that they want things to actually get done that can help them. So how will you work across the aisle?

D'ESPOSITO: So, I always lean back to my days as a New York City detective. I worked with teams of people. I sat in a car with people from different economic backgrounds, different religions, different color skin, certainly different political ideologies. And my life depended on them, their life depended on me. And we worked together each and every day to make a difference to protect and serve the communities that we swore to. And I'm going to bring that same mentality that I did in the police department and the same one that I had on the Hempstead town board where I worked with Democrats to put forth tax cut budgets and deliver for the nearly 800,000 residents in the town that I represent.

And so, listen, Nassau County is a community and a county that Democrats outnumber Republicans by a significant margin. And there is no way that you can govern either far to the right or far to the left, and think that you're going to be reelected. I've heard from people that are Democrats, lifelong Democrats, that they feel that they've lost their party. These are the moderates. And I think we need to govern as such. So I am willing to reach across the aisle as long as it delivers for the people of long island and the people of Nassau County.

REID: Well, former president Trump, as you may have heard, is expected to announce another run for the White House on Tuesday, according to his advisers. Will you support him in that run?

D'ESPOSITO: My focus right now is on getting to Washington and taking office on January 3rd. And until anyone announces for president, I'll make my decisions then.

REID: Based on that answer, you're ready for Washington. All right, Congressman-elect, thank you and good luck.

D'ESPOSITO: Thank you so much.

REID: And as the results continue to roll in, we're seeing just how historic this midterm election actually was. We're breaking it all down as ELECTION NIGHT IN AMERICA continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:16:38]

REID: There was a lot of talk about a red wave that was actually more like a ripple. So what went wrong for Republicans? CNN's senior data reporter, Harry Enten, joins us to run the numbers.

All right, Harry, the president's party usually, as we know, loses a lot of seats in the midterms. So what happened here?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA CORRESPONDENT: I mean, this is a historic, historic midterm. You know, I ran the numbers on this. And you look at the governorships that the Democrats had a net gain. You look at there's no net loss in Senate seats. It looks like it's probably going to be that they lose fewer than 10 House seats so that one we'll have to wait and see.

If all of those hold true, that will be the first time since 1934 in a midterm when that happened. If you had spoken to me a week ago, I would have thought that they might have been in for a historic loss in some of these categories. Instead, it was the exact opposite. This is a historically good midterm for the president's party and for the Democrats in this case. REID: All right, Harry, we know of course the economy was the most

important issue to a lot of voters. But it wasn't the only big issue. What else were voters thinking about as they walked into the voting booth or drop off their ballot?

ENTEN: I mean, number two on your list, abortion. 27 percent. Right? You know, we're dealing with once-in-a-generation inflation. I think a lot of folks like me thought that that would result in a good midterm for the party that was out of power. The opposition party. Of course when Roe v. Wade got overturned in June, it kind of flipped things around.

I think that there was some thought in our minds, analysts like myself, that it wasn't going to be nearly as important to voters as it ended up being according to our exit poll. And while voters who chose inflation overwhelmingly went for Republicans, voters who chose abortion basically cancelled them out because they went overwhelmingly for Democratic candidates.

REID: That's a really interesting point. Now, ultimately, did this election turn into really a referendum on President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump?

ENTEN: Yes, you know, normally midterms are referendums about the party in power. But I don't recall a former president being this involved in the day-to-day politics as Donald Trump. And you can see right here that more voters actually had a favorable opinion of Biden than Trump. And amongst that neither category, that 18 percent, that bloc of voters basically split their votes fairly equally. They only slightly went for Republicans over Democrats. If they went overwhelmingly Republican, we'd be talking about a very different picture. But Trump being in the picture was not good for Republicans this midterm.

REID: You make an important point. It's unusual for a former president to be so involved in a midterm like this.

Let's also talk about extremism. How did that play into this midterm election?

ENTEN: Yes, I mean, look, we have been talking about in the lead-up to the midterm that the GOP fielded some Senate candidates, that the voters didn't necessarily think were up to par. And part of that came to extremism. And if you look in our exit polls and basically the competitive races or the races we thought would be competitive pre- election, in six of the seven races that we thought would be competitive pre-election, the GOP Senate candidate was viewed as more extreme than the Democratic Senate candidate.

So I think this ultimately in the Senate came down to candidate quality. And I think the Republicans, at least in the minds of voters, were lacking in that regard.

REID: And of course, election deniers didn't do very well. I mean, how bad were their results? ENTEN: Well, you know, you can look at the gubernatorial races, right?

And you know, it's one thing if you nominate an election denier in a very deep red state.

[21:20:02]

But Republicans decided to nominate them in a number of swing states and in states that Biden won but currently have GOP governors. Four of the five have already been projected to lose. The only one that has not been projected to lose yet is Kari Lake. And obviously she's still trailing at point. So, to me, it's pretty clear that election denialism was not something that voters liked. And they punished the Republicans at the ballot boxes this slide so clearly shows.

REID: All right. Harry Enten, thanks so much for helping us break it down. Fascinating, fascinating.

ENTEN: Thank you.

REID: And as we await new vote counts that could decide the balance of power in Congress, Democrats are celebrating control of the Senate even before the results of December's Georgia runoff. Next, we'll take a look at what two more years of control of the chamber could mean for the party's priorities.

This is ELECTION NIGHT IN AMERICA CONTINUED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

REID: As Democrats claim continued control of the Senate, it's a boost to President Biden's ability to continue to shape the judiciary. Now former chief adviser to President Obama, David Axelrod, tweeted, "President Biden has had 84 judiciary appointments confirmed so far and two more years gives him the opportunity to expand that imprint."

[21:25:08]

Now our political panel is back to discuss this.

Now, Laura, Senate Democrats have two more years to confirm more liberal, more diverse judges, without the threat of Republican obstruction. So how important is that for a president? Because really, I mean, the judiciary is one of your most lasting legacies.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It is. I mean, it's huge for President Biden, especially coming after President Trump, and with the help of Mitch McConnell, really getting through a lot of judicial nominees and clearly reshaping the Supreme Court.

Now, of course there's no guarantee that a seat on the Supreme Court is going to come up in Biden's final two years, but a big piece of his agenda is getting a lot of those judicial nominees through. And they have been moving at a very fast clip even in these first two years of his administration, knowing how key it is to a president's lasting legacy. REID: And it is one of former President Trump's -- really one of his

biggest legacies is how he was able to reshape not only the Supreme Court but the federal judiciary writ large with help from Leader McConnell. During his term, he was able to confirm 234 judges in addition to of course the three Supreme Court justices. He's even taking credit for overturning Roe v. Wade.

So is there any way here that Biden has a chance to mitigate some of what Trump and McConnell were able to do in the judiciary?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: We'll have to see how disciplined Democrats are about this. We know that this really has been the singular focus of McConnell for a long time. It's arguably why he put up with Trump for as long as he did, because there was the ability there to remake the federal judiciary.

I think, though, Democrats have sort of become hip to this game now. And our understanding, especially in the wake of Roe being overturned, the significance in specifically organizing in this space, building a bench, right, of judges, of federal judges. And so if Democrats ultimately end up losing the House, there'll be a lot of time, I think, to focus on what the Senate can do with Democratic control. And this is an area.

REID: That's a really good point. And how does control of the Senate help the Biden administration pursue its agenda?

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it's what it can do and what it won't have to deal with. It's two parts, right? He'll be able to -- President Biden will be able to keep the people he wants around him, those executive appointees that require Senate confirmation, will be able to get through Senate confirmation instead of having to deal with Republicans blocking some of it.

The other thing is what he will not have to deal with, which is investigations from the Senate about his son Hunter, about any number of things that they said that they were going to go after in the run- up to the midterm elections. Now should the House flip, they're going to have to contend with committees in the House. But not having that in the Senate and being able to have the Senate keep on pushing forward on some aspects of the agenda, that is going to be very much worth it for the White House.

REID: And what do you make of this, Mark? What does this do for the Biden administration? Even if they only have the Senate, that's pretty good in terms of moving forward and certainly more than maybe what they expected.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think, you know, given the fact that Joe Biden considers himself a senator, I mean, he had spent so much time, you know, in the U.S. Senate, he'll be able to go to Mitch McConnell and have that conversation that perhaps, you know, other senators couldn't. You know who wasn't able to do that was Barack Obama because Barack Obama never had those relationships in the U.S. Senate. Kind of started as a stopping off point to become president, and by the way he did a very successful job of that. But very much Joe Biden, you know, is an institutionalist. But when we

look at Congress as a whole right now, and this is a very dangerous thing that's happening, is that Congress is a separate branch of government, OK? It's a separate branch of government when it comes to politics as well. And when you have a sitting president or a former president who is trying to dictate who is going to be the leader of the house Republicans or the Senate Republicans, it really starts to get really sticky there and really takes away a lot of the autonomy that these 100 senators have and the 435 members of Congress have over in the House.

So the bottom line is, Donald Trump -- look, Mitch McConnell is going to take a lot of blame. Kevin McCarthy is going to take a lot of blame. The blame lies squarely at the doorstep of Donald Trump of why Republicans did so poor in this election.

KUCINICH: But also the difference is between what McCarthy was able to do when he was negotiating with Boehner and McConnell over the debt ceiling, things like that, you know, at the time when President Obama was president, we're looking at a very different Republican conference, particularly in the house. McCarthy is not leading even the same blood temperature, as they say, as the conference as John Boehner did.

So it's going to get a little trickier. And you know, whether they're going to be able to horse trade, or whether it's going to end up a pressure game, that we'll have to see.

REID: So it's clearly a question right now of who exactly is going to lead the Republicans. But do you see a greater possibility for bipartisan cooperation after these midterms?

[21:30:06]

BARRON-LOPEZ: That's really difficult to say. I mean, if you ask President Biden -- he was asked that this week. And he essentially says, watch me. You know, you think that I can't find some bipartisan legislation, just watch me, and he listed off like the five pieces or more of legislation that he was able to pass with Senate Republicans, and not so much with House Republicans. And so that's the thing there.

I was asking some Democrats today, do you think you could even get like a clean Dreamers bill. Some are already -- Cortez Masto, who just won her Senate race in Nevada, was starting to talk about immigration again. I don't know if there is really room for that if Republicans take the House. But there could very well be some Republicans in the Senate who might be interested in that.

Now whether or not there is 10 or nine, depending on the make-up of the Senate, is another question. But I think you will see President Biden try it, try to find some legislation that he can work on Republicans with. And it's a big question whether or not House Republicans even want to entertain it as they head into '24.

REID: A big outstanding question. All right, panel, thank you so much to all of you. Several key congressional races are yet to be called, as the balance

of power in the House remains up for grabs. So could Democrats really still have a chance at holding the chamber?

And who should lead the party going forward? We'll ask a congressman who won his reelection race next.

This is ELECTION NIGHT IN AMERICA CONTINUED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:35:13]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN MILLER, FORMER TRUMP ADVISER: It would be preposterous to hold leadership elections before the midterms are over, before Georgia is done, and before we have all the data to understand what happened in these close swing states.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: Turbulence has erupted in the House and Senate Republican ranks after the party fell short of midterm expectations. Now Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell are both now confronting challenges to their leadership from their far right.

In the Senate, a small vocal group of Republicans are calling to delay Wednesday's leadership elections. And in the House, members of the Freedom Caucus are seeking concessions and threatening to withhold support from Kevin McCarthy, if the party holds a razor thin majority.

Now let's discuss this with our political panel. All right, Mia, I want to start with you. You've been in the room when these leadership conversations take place. What do you see here playing out?

MIA LOVE (R), FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: Well, I think that -- yes, I've been there. And it's -- you never know what is going to happen until you -- I mean, it's not over until you walk out of the room. And even then, it's still -- there may be a chance that it still isn't over. McCarthy's going to have an issue when it comes to the House Freedom Caucus. And I think he's trying to get these things done and over with so that -- I hope -- so that they can start strategy and the plan for the American people because that is what was missing.

I just want to make one really quick point. The election, I believe, was reflective of the 50-50 split in America. The question is, was this a 50-50 split on policy or was it party loyalty? And I believe because no one really -- not one side or the other -- I'm being fair here -- really articulated a plan for the American people.

And so I think it's really -- Democrats have to be really careful that they don't take this as a mandate to do whatever they want to do. Yes, the American people have told us to do whatever they want. I think they want the members of Congress to work together to figure out a way to fix our economic problems, our inflation problems, our problems with labor issues. There's a list that you can go on and on about.

McCarthy's got an uphill battle. He's got to figure it out. Clean the House, clean his House, and then make sure he has a strategy going forward, his plan.

REID: Now, Alice, here's one example of how the party's right flank is feeling about their leadership right now. Congressman Matt Gaetz tweeted that McCarthy, McConnell, McDaniel, McFailure. So how concerned should McConnell and McCarthy be about their positions right now?

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, Gaetz is one of the Republicans that's all about posturing and click baits and doing everything you can to feed red meat to the base, but, you know, if he has such a problem with McCarthy, then he needs to step up and put his name in for leadership.

Right now McCarthy is in a good spot because former President Trump has said he will support him and has endorsed him. The question is, how likely is that going to be to last throughout the week? And we do have a lot of rebel rousers, the Freedom Caucus Members that are standing up and trying to get some of their agenda approved by McCarthy, for him to move forward. But it will be interesting to see how much he listens to them.

Then there is also another brand of GOP in the House. I've talked to many of them. They want to sit back and let's do a post-mortem on this election. How did we get here? What happened? What fell apart? And who was the best person to lead forward? But at the end of the day, even though it's not a huge majority in the House that we anticipated, McCarthy did do a lot in terms of fundraising for a lot of these candidates, and many of them owe him at least a vote of support this time around.

REID: And Maria, many Republicans are also of course pointing the finger at former President Trump. And that really complicates, as CNN reports, his plan to declare his presidency on Tuesday or his candidacy for the presidency. Now putting aside your feelings about the former president, is now the time to make that announcement amid this larger battle over leadership of the party?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: If you were talking about somebody that actually had the interest of his party front and center, then the answer would be no, this wouldn't be the time. It would be the time to reflect about what happened, about how the Republican Party screwed this up so much, an election and in an environment where they should have run the table in both the House and the Senate.

[21:40:02]

And they didn't. But we all know that Trump is not that kind of leader, that Trump is a kind of leader that focuses on himself. And frankly, I think he'll kind of look at what everyone is saying in terms of blaming him, and he'll be like, no. I still rule this party. The majority of voters in the Republican Party are still my voters. And I think that is inherently the biggest challenge for the Republican Party right now because, like I said earlier, while so many people seem to be ready to turn the page on Donald Trump, it doesn't seem like, A, the elected officials in Congress are ready to do that, and B, importantly, Republican voters.

And until the leaders in the Republican Party are able to lead the Republican voters with an example about what's not just best for the party but what's best for the country and therefore those voters, these voters will continue to follow Donald Trump. He is putting out red meat, which is something that they love. He is continuing to talk about conspiracy theories and fraudulent elections. And they love that, too.

And until the Republican Party figures out how to stop him from doing that -- and I don't know -- no one knows right now what the magic is in doing that -- they're going to have a big challenge because I think he is going to announce.

REID: All right, Paul, voters rejected election denier candidates in six battleground states. These are six states where former President Trump tried to reverse his election loss in 2020. Now as the former president, though, as he keeps teasing this special announcement on Tuesday, do you think that MAGA fever -- is it breaking or is it too soon to tell?

PAUL BEGALA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, it's breaking with independents. Of course we Democrats never liked the guy. But independents, get this, AP vote cast said independents broke for the Democrats by a margin of 31 points in Arizona, 28 points in Georgia, 18 points in Pennsylvania. So the independents. Now, as a Democrat, my party ought to take only humility out of that.

They're not marrying the Democrats. They're just dumping the Republicans. OK. But they're dumping them so hard they're getting a restraining order. The problem that the Republicans have is as their election liars have lost statewide, they've won in Republican primaries for the House. So "Washington Post" estimates that two- thirds of the entire Republican conference in the House in January, in the new House, two-thirds, will be election liars, election deniers.

That's a crisis. When it's an unsaleable position with independents but it seems to be a mandatory position with your most committed base voters, it's a really tough thing for the Republicans. The Republicans have to break the fever. But believe me, the independents right now, they're done with the Republicans and the election lies.

REID: All right. Everyone, thank you so much for joining us tonight. We appreciate your insights and analysis.

As we watch and wait for new vote counts that could tip control of the House to Republicans, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says in a new CNN interview that any decision to run for the leadership of the Democrats depends on her family and Democratic colleagues. We'll ask one of those colleagues where he stands, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:47:13]

REID: ELECTION NIGHT IN AMERICA continues. The balance of power in the House still hinges on a few key races, and we're staying on top of all the results and we will update you just as soon as we get them.

Now joining us now is Congressman Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat who just won reelection.

Congressman, first of all, congratulations on your victory. As you know, the Democrats held on to the Senate and still have a chance to keep the House. Now I'm sure you'll say that you expect that they will keep the House. But if they don't, what does that mean for the party?

REP. HENRY CUELLAR (D-TX): Well, first of all, you know, if you look at the history the last 40 years, there's been I think three times that the president party has done well in the midterms. And it looks like this might be the fourth time we are keeping the Senate. The House, you know, this red tide or red tsunami that they've talked about didn't happen. Just a little puddle. Maybe a little ripple that we saw.

So what this means is that we still have a pathway to win the House. But even if we don't win it, it's going to be a slim majority, single digits. And I can tell you, whoever the Republican is, they're no Nancy Pelosi. Nancy knows how to work the different caucus, work with the progressives, the moderates like myself, and she's able to get the job done, even though it's a slim margin.

I have to say I remind people what happened with the Tea Party with John Boehner and Paul Ryan. And they just couldn't get the job done unless the Democrats came over and helped them.

REID: Well, of course House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has some experience with dealing with some warring factions and dissension within her ranks. But as you noted, we didn't see this massive red wave that many predicted, but we did see the GOP build some momentum with Latino voters. How are you able to maintain support in your district as a Democrat and buck that trend we've seen in other parts of the country like, for example, Florida?

CUELLAR: Yes, you know, it's basically the work that you do, the brand that you develop, the delivery. I'm a congressman, but I run as the mayor. By that is I don't run on national issues, I look at what are the local issues, address the issues of water, broadband, transportation. And that's very important.

When I looked at every county, I have nine counties, I outperformed every single Democrat that was running state-wide. I performed Joe Biden's numbers by double the amount. And that is knowing, first of all, knowing the community. Knowing how to speak a little Spanish is always very important. And it's a combination of things. But, again, I run like a mayor. I address the local issues.

[21:50:02]

REID: Well, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, she hasn't decided whether or not she's going to run for Democratic House leadership. You spoke very highly of her a moment ago, so it sounds like you would support her if she does want to take on a leadership position.

CUELLAR: Absolutely I will. You know, I'm waiting to see what she does. I saw some indications that she might leave the door where she might come back. I know we have a lot of young leaders like, you know, Jeffries, you know, Hakeem Jeffries, and other folks that are great leaders but I think all of us are waiting to see what Speaker Pelosi is going to do.

REID: Would you like to see more Latinos in leadership?

CUELLAR: You know, certainly, you know, we have people like Pete Aguilar. We have other folks, Tony Carnes, I'm hoping that he wins the DCCC chairman. And, certainly, you know, we're adding so many new Hispanics in the House of Representatives. Of course, in the Senate. We have some of the Hispanics there. So yes, when you look at the makeup, I think we're getting a lot more Hispanics in the Congress and that's the way it should be to reflect America.

REID: Very interesting. You leaned more conservative than many of your Democratic colleagues especially when it comes to issues like abortion. How do you think that's going to play heading into 2024?

CUELLAR: You know, I understand, you know, abortions are very important issue. Look, I am pro-life. But I believe in the exception to rape, incest, the health of the woman. I also think there should be some restrictions, you know, especially late-term abortions, but I don't believe in a total ban and I'm not going to impose my -- you know, my religion on anybody else but I understand, you know, what the Supreme Court did.

They did not follow precedent and even though some of those recent Supreme Court judges that were going through the nominations, they said they were going to respect the precedent and they did not respect precedent. You know, the cases that have been there in the past.

REID: All right. Congressman Henry Cuellar, thank you so much for joining us and congratulations on your victory.

CUELLAR: Thank you so much. Good night.

REID: Tonight, we're watching the impact of newly counted votes in Arizona's heated governor's race. And Democrat Katie Hobbs currently leads Republican Kari Lake by some 26,000 votes and our decision desk estimates there are still roughly 175,000 uncounted votes. So stick with CNN on air and online for the latest.

This is ELECTION NIGHT IN AMERICA CONTINUED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:56:28]

REID: As we wait for more results in the Arizona's governor's race and several key House races, we're also following this, the stunning collapse of a leading cryptocurrency exchange as being called one of history's greatest ever destructions of wealth.

FTX filed for bankruptcy Friday and its CEO, 30-year-old Sam Bankman- Fried, resigned his $16 billion fortune evaporated in less than a week.

Let's go to Brian Todd with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It wasn't long ago that Sam Bankman-Fried was called the Mark Zuckerberg of crypto, a modern- day J.P. Morgan. But in the span of a week, the 30-year-old wonder kin founder and CEO of FTX, the mega powerful cryptocurrency exchange, has resigned, has lost his fortune. His firm's in bankruptcy. And by Thursday in a Twitter thread to investors and customers, he was saying, quote, "I'm sorry. I effed up and should have done better."

RANA FOROOHAR, GLOBAL BUSINESS COLUMNIST AND ASSOCIATE EDITOR, FINANCIAL TIMES: In some ways, this collapse of FTX is the Lehman Brothers' moment of the crypto world. It is a classic financial crisis.

TODD: At its peak, FTX was worth $32 billion. It had backers like NFL superstar quarterback Tom Brady, his soon-to-be ex-wife supermodel, Gisele Bundchen, and tennis star, Naomi Osaka. But its value has not plummeted. Bankman-Fried's net worth, once over $15 billion, cratered to under $1 billion in a single day, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. The NBA's Miami Heat had its venue renamed as FTX Arena just last year, but now that name is coming off the building.

The meteoric collapse of FTX was triggered last week when serious questions were raised about the health of its finances. Those questions ignited a run on the bank like crisis.

ANGUES BERWICK, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, REUTERS: Clients suddenly rushed to withdraw several billion dollars' worth of cryptocurrency from the exchange that then put, you know, FTX owner Sam Bankman-Fried in a position where, you know, whereby he effectively, you know, he -- his company ran out of money.

TODD: Back in July when he did an interview with CNN Business, Sam Bankman-Fried discussed the danger of Ponzi schemes in the crypto world.

SAM BANKMAN-FRIED, FOUNDER AND CEO, FTX: Because I think that when you have something which is basically an empty product, which I do think is true in some places, you know, some assets in crypto, you know, that is something where there's certainly real crash potential.

TODD: FTX's fall has more than a hint of irony. Comedian Larry David did an ad for FTX during this year's Super Bowl. Portraying a buffoon who missed the boat on big inventions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I call it, the wheel.

LARRY DAVID, COMEDIAN: I don't think so. What does it do? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It rolls.

DAVID: Yes, so does a bagel. OK.

TODD: At the end of the spot, David is presented with an offer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's FTX. It's a safe and easy way to get into crypto.

DAVID: I don't think so. And I'm never wrong about this stuff. Never.

TODD: Now, analysts are warning about the real future of the cryptocurrency market.

FOROOHAR: I think that the private crypto market, meaning digital coin that is not backed by a central bank, is going to be in for a major correction. I mean, you've already seen that. I think regulators have a great case now to say nobody should be trading this stuff. We need a lot more rules.

TODD (on-camera): And now, according to the "Wall Street Journal", both the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating FTX. And the man who FTX has appointed as its new CEO is John Ray III who helped manage the notorious energy firm Enron after its collapse in an accounting fraud scandal in 2001.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

REID: All right. Well, thank you for joining me this evening. I'm Paula Reid. Good night.