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CNN Projects Democrat Warnock Wins Senate Race; Trump Organization Found Guilty on All Counts. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired December 07, 2022 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Bianna Golodryga live in New York.

The 2022 midterm elections have finally come to an end with a runoff victory for Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock. The Georgia pastor won a special election in 2021 and will now serve a full six-year term. He defeats Republican challenger, Herschel Walker, the former football star who had never held public office. Warnock's victory gives Democrats a 51-49 advantage in the Senate. Which means that they will have majorities in every committee.

Walker's campaign was filled with gaffes and missteps. He was handpicked to run for the Georgia seat by former President Donald Trump and Republican strategists say his defeat is yet another nail in the coffin for Trump's influence. Walker was quick to concede the race after CNN and other news organizations projected Warnock's victory and the Senator addressed his supporters at his campaign headquarters in Atlanta late Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D-GA): And after a hard-fought campaign, or should I say campaigns, it is my honor to utter the four most powerful words ever spoken in a democracy. The people have spoken.

HERSCHEL WALKER, U.S. REPUBLICAN SENATE CANDIDATE: One of the things I want to tell all of you is you never stop dreaming. I don't want any of you to stop dreaming. I don't want any of you to stop believing in America. I want you to believe in America and continue to believe in the Constitution and believe in our elected officials most of all. Continue to pray for them because all the prayers you've given me, I felt those prayers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: We'll talk to a panel of experts to see what fueled Senator Warnock's victory. But first, let's get to CNN's John Berman at the magic wall to walk us through Senator Warnock's path to victory. John, good to see you my friend, even if it's very early in New York City. Walk us through what got Warnock across the finish line.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: First of all, Raphael Warnock right now, the margin is 95,000 votes. That's three times what it was roughly the 37,000 vote lead in the first round one month ago. There were two counties that flipped, just two in the entire state that flipped that voted for Herschel Walker this time. This time for Raphael Warnock. Tiny counties though. You can see Washington County here. Well, Warnock won by about 100 votes. One month ago, it was Walker up by 100 votes. It is the same situation in Baldwin County.

But the real story I think in this election this time around happened around the Atlanta area. The urban and suburban Atlanta area for sure. I can show you some of the margins here. You can take Fulton County which is the most populous county in the state. You can see Raphael Warnock just with a huge, huge lead there. 52 percent. He got 280,000 votes roughly. He had a big margin there too. It was a little bit less of a margin one month ago but you can see what a difference the larger population makes.

There's a story going on in Georgia and it's happening in some other states around the country as well. I want to show you the population growth in Georgia over the last ten years. The darker the shade, the larger the amount of growth, the greater the growth. And there are two counties I want to point out to you. There is one Republican and one Democratic county.

This is Forsythe County and this is Henry County. This is a county that voted for Herschel Walker. This is a County that voted for Raphael Warnock. But look at Forsythe County here, this is an area that had 25 percent growth over the last ten years. Herschel Walker has got a 32-point margin. You say, hey, that's a lot, right -- Herschel Walker, plus 32. But let me take you back to 2012, which isn't that long ago, right. That's just 10 years ago.

In the presidential race this was a county won by Mitt Romney by 62, 62 -- imagine that. So, really 63. Look at the change there. As the population has grown, it has become more Democratic and it's a similar story in this other county I pointed out which is now a Democratic County. I gave away the story here.

[04:05:00]

You can see Mitt Romney won this county by about 5 points so it was Romney plus 5. And take it all the way to this special election we just had and you see Raphael Warnock won it by plus 36. So, it's D plus 33, R plus 5 in 2012. So, you can see over the ten years as the population has grown here this has become a Democratic county. And that's become the story of Georgia as it's flipped from a red to a purple and now, I wouldn't call it a blue state but it's a state that Democrats can and have won now repeatedly over the last couple of years.

GOLODRYGA: So, two years ago, there was a question as to whether that was a one off, an anomaly for the Democrats. And the question of is this what shade of purple has Georgia turned? Can we now definitively say that Georgia is a purple state and are we looking at a deep red purple or, you know, I guess the question is what can Democrats glean from tonight's election? BERMAN: So, I think it's yes, but or yes with an asterisk. Absolutely,

the Democrats have now won three Senate races in two years. Raphael Warnock twice and Jon Ossoff who also won in 2021 there who was two years into a six year term.

But one thing I want to point out, for all the glee that Democrats have in maintaining this Senate seat, in the gubernatorial race Brian Kemp, the Republican won handily. He won by nearly 8 points and Republicans won just about every other statewide race in Georgia this time around. The only race they lost was the Senate race where one big reason, according to many Republicans you talk to around the country, was this guy, Herschel Walker. It might be more of a candidate issue. So, it's a state that Democrats can and have won. Is it a state that they will start winning every time like Virginia, which is now seen as less purple, more blue? Hard to tell.

GOLODRYGA: And will Republicans blame Donald Trump for getting them into this predicament. I me, that sort of the question --

BERMAN: Yes. I mean, look, I think they already have and I'll just point out. If you're looking at states, you know, you talk about states where Trump backed a losing candidate, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona, all states where the Democratic candidate won and the Trump- backed Republican lost.

GOLODRYGA: I see a trend there. John Berman, thanks so much, good to see you, my friend.

Well, here to talk about all of this is our distinguished panel of guests. Jackie Kucinich is the Washington bureau chief for the "Boston Globe," and a CNN political analyst. April Ryan is a White House correspondent for The Grio and a CNN political analyst as well. Maria Cardona is a Democratic strategist and CNN political commentator. Charlie Dent a former House Republican and a CNN political commentator. And Karen Finney is a CNN political commentator who was a senior advisor to Democrat Stacey Abrams in her 2018 campaign for Georgia Governor.

A lot to digest here, panel. Welcome all of you. So, Jackie let me begin with you. The fourth election for Georgians in just two years' time here. There had been some concern going into this election about voter exhaustion especially given that the seat did not hold control of the Senate anymore. Yet people came out in droves, record numbers in early voting and even yesterday. What does that tell you the about where voters stand in this state?

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think you also have to look at what was at stake here for Democrats versus Republicans. The fact that Democratic spending was so high tells you that this was about a lot more than one Senate seat. It absolutely is. In addition to having 51 and a little bit more breathing room, so perhaps to neutralize a Joe Manchin or two, it also allows them to have subpoena power. To have committees that are not easily split which makes it so Republicans don't really have a say on -- they don't have to get bipartisan agreement to get a lot of stuff done on the committee level. This is good news for judges, for parts of Biden's agenda that doesn't -- doesn't involve the House, of course, because that is flipped. So, there was so much more at stake than even just one Senate seat for Democrats. And you saw that in the investment and in the way they were trying to mobilize every voter possible.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. April, if I can bring you in just to go back to what John Berman was talking about, and that is the change in demographics in the states, particularly around the rural and urban areas of Atlanta. Talk about what that means not only for this race because, again, this is not an anomaly now. This is the fourth election for this state. I am sure they are going to enjoy this time off from having to worry about yet another election in the immediate future. But what does it say about where those demographics are taking the state for future elections?

[04:10:00]

APRIL RYAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: We have to always remember that Atlanta is a southern state. In many ways it's still very traditional in some of those old southern ways. And you have Atlanta and then you have the rest of Georgia. But what's happening is, people -- there's been an influx over the last 10 years. People coming for jobs, et cetera, to Atlanta.

But when you look at Atlanta in these counties, in these cities, the choices have been clear. In the northern part of the state where Dalton, Forsythe, et cetera, it went to Herschel Walker. More Democratic populations, and the Atlanta area and Atlanta suburbs, Savannah, et cetera, you have more of a solid blue for Raphael Warnock. Leaving the state trying to come to grips with who it is as the population is swelling with new traditions and some of the old that include coming to grips with issues of race, voting rights, abortion, et cetera.

There's an influx of a new mindset, some liberal in ways in college areas, but this is a state that still has to come to grips with the old and the new. And last night we saw that the new won over the old concept with the Trumpism and the mindset of Donald Trump and the Republican Party making way for a man who wants to bring the parties together. Who wants to heal divides. Who wants to deal with issues of abortion. Who wants to deal with issues of voting rights. Who wants to deal with people seeing everyone if they voted for him or not.

GOLODRYGA: Maria, how much of this election was focused and based on issues versus the candidates themselves?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I actually think the issues vis-a-vis the candidate quality are connected in a way that you really can't separate them. And what I mean by that is that voters went into this Georgia runoff frankly not all that different than they went into the midterm elections, with so many issues at the forefront of their minds. And front line first and foremost -- and this is something that a lot of pundits and reporters and frankly a lot of people in my own party got wrong. And Karen and April and I actually talked about this, and we were all in agreement that the issue of democracy, the issue of abortion, the issue of freedom and privacy and rights were absolutely going to be front and center, both in the mid- terms as well as in this Georgia runoff.

And the reason why you can't really separate it from the candidate quality or the character of the candidate is because these candidates, and specifically in Georgia Herschel Walker as handpicked by Donald Trump, represented those key issues completely on the opposite and wrong side of history. But also, on the wrong side of where voters were going into the voting booth in Georgia as well as in the midterm election.

And so, for example, when you had women who were absolutely worried about the economy and rising gas prices, they were also worried about their rights. And we had women tell us, look, the economy will come back, but my rights won't. And so, that is where you kind of see that the lack of candidate quality, integrity, moral character, really was integral in why these voters went into the voting booth to make the decisions that they made.

Because they wanted somebody that was not going to take away their freedoms, that was going to be decent, that was going to represent the values that a lot of these voters felt traditional as American values and they clearly made a decision that they were not going to accept the extremist MAGA Republican agenda that so many of these Donald Trump handpicked election denying, abortion rights denying, democracy denying, constitution denying candidates represented.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, and if I can just sort of push back a bit and bring Karen in, because these were exactly the issues that Stacey Abrams ran on. And while Governor Kemp is not a MAGA Republican in the sense of supporting Donald Trump, he sort of walked a fine line in staying away from him, he won handily in this race. So, what is it about the candidates who were up for Senator in that seat versus the gubernatorial race? Because as we just heard from Maria, these were big issues that Stacey Abrams also touted.

[04:15:00]

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's a really excellent point. I mean, look, number one I think we should acknowledge that the state of Georgia is a fertile ground for Democrats today in part because it was Stacey Abrams who 10, 12 years ago was really looking at these demographic changes you were talking about with John and a little bit earlier in the panel. The increase in Latino voters, API voters, looking at women voters and looking at the places where you could increase, you know, the Democratic turnout.

To the specifics though of the governor's race, you know, there were a couple of challenges. Number one, Stacey was running against an incumbent. That is always a challenge. In 2018 both were somewhat unknown. And so, I think part of the challenge here you did see in the general election something we haven't seen in a long time where you saw ticket splitters. You saw some people who voted for Kemp and may have actually voted for Warnock.

We know that, you know, in that general election Walker underperformed Warnock's vote by about 200,000 votes and it's clear in this runoff election he was not able to close that gap. The other thing I want to mention that I think was at play here in

addition to the things others have mentioned, is for African American voters, particularly African American men, there was a conversation going on around which of these two men is -- will -- do we want representing us on the national stage and in Washington, D.C.? Someone who's going to stand up and talk about wear wolves and vampires or someone who is a pastor of Martin Luther King Jr.'s former church and who has delivered for the state of Georgia and has, you know, really maintained his connection as a Senator.

He's done all of the things that you would tell someone to do in terms of get back there every week and make sure that you're staying connected to the voters. He really did do that. And so, there was some different dynamics at play there as well.

GOLODRYGA: If I can turn to you now, Charlie, save the best for last in terms of what this means for the Republican Party and their connection to Donald Trump? Is this finally the breaking point given that his handpicked candidates lost and the state once again turned to a Democratic candidate for Senate now twice?

CHARLIE DENT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, certainly this should be a breaking point. We'll see if it is. But let's be very honest about what happened here tonight. Herschel Walker was an awful candidate. Had Republicans nominated -- and thank you Donald Trump for your unhealthful intervention. But had Republicans nominated somebody more conventional without all the baggage, somebody like Brad Raffensperger or Geoff Duncan. I tell you, that person would have won tonight. Absolutely would have won.

But you nominate candidates, you know, who have allegations of domestic abuse, hypocritical on abortion. His own son says he was never involved in the lives of his children, some of whom we learned about in the campaign. There are residency issues. There are regular incoherent statements and we heard Herschel Walker. The most coherent he said during his campaign was his concession speech which was quite good.

But you cannot nominate candidates who -- they cannot defy political gravity. I mean, these were disqualifying issues. And it's not just in Georgia. I mean, Trump's interventions in Pennsylvania, you know, Dr. Oz, you know, he's a good and honorable man but he never lived in the state. It was a problem. Everybody knew it.

You know, Arizona, same problems with that candidate. Trump kept good candidates from getting in. So, Governor Sununu in New Hampshire and governor Ducey in Arizona. Look, people wanted me to run in Pennsylvania because they knew I could win in swing districts and win independence. But you know, I'm not going to run in the party right now where people have to be a Trumpian guy.

Trump has caused enormous damage to the party. Until the Republican National Committee and the state committees wake up and realize that their job is to nominate electable candidates who do not offend independent and swing voters, if they're more concerned about pledging loyalty to Donald Trump and the art of winning, we're going to have more of this disaster. I hope this is the breaking point. It may not be.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, we've had people hoping for this breaking point in the past so we'll see what happens. But you mentioned Goeff Duncan and it does speak volumes when a Republican says -- their lieutenant governor says that he could not bring himself to vote for the Republican candidate. Thank you, panel. Stay with me. We'll be right back.

And still to come, it's a bad week to be Donald Trump from a tax fraud conviction in the Trump Organization, to a major loss for his candidate in Georgia. We'll discuss what it means for the former president and his latest bid for the White House.

[04:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WARNOCK: Georgia did an amazing thing. In 2021 it sent its first African American Senator and its first Jewish Senator to the United States Senate in one fell swoop. And you have done it again. Thank you, Georgia.

WALKER: There are no excuses in life and I'm not going to make any excuses now because we put up one heck of a fight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: CNN projects incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock was able to net more than half the vote in the Georgia runoff crossing that critical 50 percent threshold. But it was a seesaw for much of the night with the lead flipping between him and Republican challenger Herschel Walker. The final race of this midterm election cycle is now over and Walker will soon begin a full six-year term in the Senate.

In other news, a New York jury has found two Trump Organization companies guilty of multiple counts of tax fraud. The case was over a 15 year scheme carried out by top executives who Lavish perks and bonuses off the books.

[04:25:03]

Now it comes as Donald Trump is pursuing the Republican nomination for president yet again. Though he and his family were not charged in the case. Attorneys for the Trump Organization say that they will appeal.

We're tracking major developments into the investigation also into the U.S. Capitol riot. The January 6th House Select Committee plans to make criminal referrals to the Justice Department. The committee chairman says the panel has not yet narrowed down everyone who would be referred or what they might recommend as charges. But those decisions will come soon as the committee is set to wrap up its probe and publish a final report by the end of the year.

To discuss all of this, let's bring the panel back in. So, Jackie let's start with you. It has been, we can fairly say, a very bad week for the former president. What does this mean --

KUCINICH: And it's only Wednesday.

GOLODRYGA: And it's only Wednesday. He has lashed out as expected on Truth Social. But what does this say for his future and his bid for reelection once again to the presidency?

KUCINICH: And I really do think this gives his potential 2024 opponents quite a bit of fodder given, you know, the work of the prosecutors yesterday involving this verdict with the Trump Organization. We don't know whether he will be a part of the criminal referrals the January 6th committee will be making. Chairman Thompson wasn't clear about that. He's kept that pretty close to vest.

But obviously he has been a focal point of that investigation. He will be a big part of that report. And, again, this is just more and more fodder for a potential vote on the Republican side of the ledger and also for the Democrat that faces former president Trump in 2024.

GOLODRYGA: Charlie, this is a man who has withstood past negative headlines, to say the least, two impeachments, other investigations, lawsuits throughout his career, both as a businessman and politician. What is your take on this?

DENT: Look, clearly this is very damaging. And I mean, his company has been convicted of criminal tax fraud. And you know, I think this is a very big deal. And I think if, you know, his primary opponents are smart, and hopefully in the words of the cowardly lion, they can find their courage. They'll call him out by name. They will fight him. And they're going to have to defeat Trump and Trumpism.

I mean, at some point gravity does matter. I mean, this recent conviction from today. His wanting to terminate the Constitution. And we can go on, all the outrageous and outlandish things he's said over the years. But at some point, we talked earlier about a breaking point. I hope we've reached it. Because it's quite clear to me, he is unelectable. He is unelectable.

So, the question for the Republican Party and the Republican base is do you really want to go through this again? You have to not only beat Trump, you have to beat Trumpism. You can't run as Trump like, oh, I love his policies, I just don't like him. That's not going to cut it. We're going to hear that from a number of these guys. But I'm looking to see the one who's going to stand up and take this on head on, by name, not sugar coat it and not try to, you know, mitigate the damage that this guy has done to the party and has made it so difficult.

If the Republican Party wants to be a serious governing party, it needs to nominate serious, sober people who are going to do the hard work of governing instead of, you know, appealing to grievance and all their unhappiness. That's where we've got to go.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, we shall see. And Charlie, listen, I can probably count on one hand how many Republicans have publicly said what you've just said. So, I guess that's what we are all still waiting for. This isn't our first rodeo with him, it's not his either. So, I guess, it's all to be determined. Panel, stay with me. We're going to take another quick break.

And we'll also ask our panel what Senator Warnock's win means for President Biden and his agenda.

[04:30:00]