Return to Transcripts main page

CNN This Morning

Trump's Gains With Women, Latino Voters Helped Fuel Re- election; House Ethics Committee To Meet Amid Gaetz Report Pressure; Report: McConnell Signals Opposition To Recess Appointments. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired November 19, 2024 - 05:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:30:21]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: All right, just ticking up toward 5:30 a.m. here on the East Coast. A live look at St. Louis. You've got to love the Arch at this hour of the morning. It's 4:30 there.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.

As Donald Trump gets ready to move back into the White House political analysts are also busy examining the coalition that gave him the win in the popular vote, making him the first Republican to do that in 20 years.

Exit polling data shows Trump overperforming with women. Kamala Harris still won with women by about eight points nationally but that's only about half the margin that Joe Biden won with women compared to Trump just four years ago. The former president chipped away at this key support bloc for Harris even as she called comments like this one "demeaning and offensive towards women."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) THEN-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm president. I want to protect the women of our country. Well, I'm going to do it whether the women like it or not. I'm going to protect them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: My next guest, Ron Brownstein, wrote this about the women who broke away from Democrats and voted for Trump, saying, "Trump regained ground among women this year largely because so many of them were dissatisfied with the results produced by his successor, Biden. But Trump's provocative initial round of cabinet nominations, including several figures who faced allegations of sexual misconduct, points toward a presidency whose style and agenda could again strain his support from female voters."

And Ron joins us now. Ron, good morning. Always wonderful to see you.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST, SENIOR EDITOR, THE ATLANTIC (via Webex by Cisco): Good morning.

HUNT: Fascinating as always. I've been sitting there. This piece is going to be available on cnn.com right at 6:00 a.m. for anyone that wants to find the whole thing.

But say a little bit more about what you found when you really dug into this data about women voters, but also how -- what Trump has done so far might be impacting.

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah, good morning.

Well look, first of all, I think if you go through the results the surprise on Election Day was not so much that Trump especially ran up the score among men, although he ran very well among them, it's that he really held down his losses among women.

I mean, both the exit polls and the vote cast show Harris winning women by eight points in the exit, seven points in the vote cast. That's the smallest margin for any Democratic presidential candidate in this century except for John Kerry in 2004.

And it is, as you note, a big departure from what we saw when Trump was actually president. In fact, Gallup gave me figures that showed his average approval rating over this whole presidential term among women was only 35 percent -- by far the weakest of any president in the 21st century.

And, of course, these results were very different from what we saw not only in 2020 when, as you know, Biden won women by 15 points, but also 2018 when Democrats won women by almost 20 points in the -- in the congressional election.

And what that kind of contrast says to me is that there were a lot of women who remained ambivalent about Trump in all sorts of ways -- his agenda, his style, his values -- who voted for him anyway because they thought he would be more effective at dealing with their most immediate problem, which was the cost of living and secondarily, I think the border and crime.

Kasie, if there is a master key to this election it is the large number of voters who said they were pro-choice but also negative on the economy and Trump's performance among them. A little over one- third of all voters who were pro-choice but negative on the economy, Trump won more of them than Harris did. That kept her margins below where she needed among those pro-choice voters.

And I think if you kind of, like, sift through the whole thing that gives you the pivot in this election. Strength again strength. Too many of them went to Trump for Harris to prevail.

HUNT: Yeah, no. It's actually -- it's a part of your piece that I was highlighting as I was reading it in the break. And one other thing that stood out to me too about this group is you spoke to a woman who is -- works with -- a group --

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah. HUNT: -- that is oriented toward moderate women in Arizona. And she told you that women who believed that Trump would deliver more economic security for their family actively resisted information that could make them --

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.

HUNT: -- uncomfortable about voting for him.

And she tells you that even if they were shown clips of Trump making threats in belligerent language that repelled them, promising extreme policies that they questioned -- she says, "They thought he was just being hyperbolic. They were choosing to believe --

[05:35:00]

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.

HUNT: -- a vision of him that was aligned with what they wanted to get out of him -- a strong economy -- and they were absolutely discounting anything that felt extreme as disinformation or hyperbole even if he said he would do it."

I mean, this is so interesting because in many ways this is -- was such a big part of the closing message from Harris and her team that hey, you just need to look at women in the suburbs --

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.

HUNT: -- especially. You need to look at these things that Trump says and vote based on it, and it seems like they didn't.

BROWNSTEIN: They didn't. I mean, it was as -- several pollsters told me versions of that -- of that analysis. And, you know, as someone else said in the story -- I mean, voters prioritized the here and now and they chose -- you know, it wasn't as if all of the concerns about Trump just kind of dissipated or disappeared. But a large -- a kind of surprising large share of voters who said they were pro-choice or negative on the economy, or who viewed Trump as too extreme, voted for him anyway.

You know, white-collar -- blue-collar white women -- white women without a college degree were absolutely critical -- once again, in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin -- the states that decided the election as they usually do -- one-fifth of those non-college white women who called Trump too extreme in the exit poll voted for him anyway. A majority of those blue-collar white women who said they were pro-choice but down on the economy voted for Trump.

Now, the question will be with the backdrop of Biden gone -- with the backdrop of their discontent over Biden's performance on inflation and the border gone, and Trump alone in the spotlight, does the style and the kind of confrontational approach to the presidency that has been -- that he has signaled in the transition -- does that again begin to drive away some of these women, or at least remind them of all of the things they were hesitant about the first time? I think that is a real question for Trump.

As I point out, in the -- in the exit polls women were more resistant to ideas like mass deportation than men were. Eighty percent of college women and 70 percent of non-college white women support vaccine mandates in the public schools. Inflation, and as I said, the border to some extent overshadowed everything else. Now the everything else is going to be front and center.

And the question for Republicans looking toward 2026 will be can Trump hold the support of these ambivalent female supporters who I think were absolutely decisive in making him president?

HUNT: Yeah, very interesting.

Ron, I also want to ask you -- we have been, of course, continuing to count votes because California, in particular, counts very slowly. And Trump has now actually fallen below the 50 percent threshold in the popular vote. I thought him breaking 50 percent was very interesting. It now looks like that's --

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.

HUNT: - unlikely to hold.

And then here you can see these are the popular vote margins in recent elections going back to George W. Bush in 2004. Obviously, we're still counting some of these votes right now. It's a -- you can see a narrow popular vote win compared to some of the previous -- the past --

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.

HUNT: -- our past elections.

There are a lot of Democrats out there who are saying this shows that the mandate is not as broad as Republicans have argued.

What do you think?

BROWNSTEIN: Well look, first of all, it is a significant achievement. This is only the second time a Republican has won the popular vote since 1992. As we talked about, Democrats were in a position to win it in eight out of nine elections, which no coalition in American history -- not even the most dominant ones -- have ever done.

So -- and Trump improved, what, in 49 states -- 90 percent of the counties. It was a big, broad shift toward him that I think was centered on this common national experience of disappointment and discontent in the results produced by Biden. But there was still a lot of resistance is what this tells you. I mean, there -- the country is still very closely divided over this.

Trump treated 2016, when he lost the popular vote, as a mandate. He is certainly going to treat this by every indication -- by the kind of appointments he's making, he's treating this as an even more emphatic mandate. And in many ways, he's right. You know, voters don't get to order off different sides of the menu. All of those pro-choice women who voted for him, the one-quarter of

Latinos who said they opposed mass deportation and voted for him, the one-sixth of voters who said they worried that he would lead the country in an authoritarian direction and voted for him -- they may have thought they were voting for someone who -- you know, primarily because they believed he would lower the price of groceries and gas. But they are getting everything else that goes along with electing Donald Trump.

And you see the very clear indications of attempting to undermine birth right citizenship or establish internment camps and move forward on mass deportation. All of those voters now get everything else that goes along with him.

[05:40:05]

And he is going to treat this as a mandate. Republicans in Congress will largely treat it as a mandate. And really, the one question is are there enough Republicans in the Senate who will say no on anything? And we're going to get a pretty good idea with that -- on that about how they handle nominees like Tulsi Gabbard, and Matt Gaetz, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

HUNT: For sure.

All right, Ron Brownstein for us this morning. Sir, always a treat to have you on. Thank you so much for being here.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

HUNT: All right. See you soon.

Still coming up after the break, some senators not sold on Donald Trump's cabinet picks, but the president-elect is set on pushing his people through even if he has to bypass Congress. We'll dig into that.

Plus, a Texas face-off during "MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL." Much more in the Bleacher Report .

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:45:15]

HUNT: All right, welcome back.

The House Ethics Committee set to meet tomorrow as they weigh whether to release the report on former Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz, Donald Trump's pick for attorney general. Members have been investigating allegations of sexual misconduct and illegal drug use against Gaetz who has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. But since his resignation from Congress it is unclear whether that report will ever see the light of day.

The top Democrat on the House Ethics Committee weighing in on Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. SUSAN WILD (D-PA): We have a scheduled meeting on Wednesday, and it remains to be seen what the chairman's agenda is for that. But I believe we should vote on whether we're to disclose it or not, and we'll see what happens after that. Everybody on the committee now has the report, so they've got the opportunity to be reviewing it. I believe there will be a unanimous Democratic consensus that it should be released.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: House Speaker Mike Johnson has been urging the committee not to release the report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): I don't want to open that Pandora's box. We're in a -- we're in a different era, OK, and I would be concerned about opening the Pandora's box. It's saying the House Ethics Committee with its vast resources and unlimited power, effectively, could investigate private citizens and release reports about them. I don't -- I don't think we want to go down that road.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: CNN has learned that Trump is determined to see Gaetz and his other nominees confirmed even if he has to bypass Congress to do it.

But Punchbowl News reports the top Senate Republican, Mitch McConnell, signaled at a private event that he opposes Trump's demand for recess appointments, and he's not alone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KEVIN CRAMER (R-SD): I just think it would be unwise to do that if he can't get the votes of the majority party, which is his party. I just think it sets -- it would set the attorney general up to not have all of the confidence and the strength that person needs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right, joining us now, Andrew Desiderio, senior congressional reporter for Punchbowl News. Andrew, good morning.

ANDREW DESIDERIO, SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, PUNCHBOWL NEWS: Good morning.

HUNT: Nice to see you.

So let's -- can we talk about recess appointments -- Mitch McConnell and his willingness or not to take on Donald Trump? First of all, what was apparently said or not said at this private event with McConnell caused all sorts of consternation on the right.

Can you tell us what the event was, what he said there, and how this actually played out? DESIDERIO: He essentially signaled his opposition to recess appointments, which is this idea that Donald Trump brought up a couple of weeks ago right before the Senate Republican leadership elections as kind of a litmus test for the three candidates at the time to run the Senate Republican Conference and, in turn, be the Senate majority leader come next year.

Mitch McConnell obviously will not be in charge next year. So some of the freakout we've seen on the right online is a little overhyped in that sense because they were trying to spin it as oh, well, Mitch McConnell says this isn't going to happen so it's not going to happen. He's not going to be in charge of the Senate, but he does have a vote just like any other senator.

And when it comes to this idea of recessing the Senate so that Donald Trump can make these recess appointments that is going to be something that eventually comes to a vote in the Senate. And so when you think of the fact that would need 50 plus one and there are 53 Republicans in the Senate, he is one of those votes who could -- one of those members who could vote against that motion to go into recess to pave the way for these types of recess appointments.

So it is notable because, of course, he is Mitch McConnell. He has that sort of clout and the influence. But really, it's more notable from the perspective of he is one vote, and Republicans can only afford to lose four votes when it comes to going into recess.

HUNT: Right. And that, of course -- that four-vote threshold also applies to these nominees, right?

DESIDERIO: Right.

HUNT: So what is your sense of where -- I mean, there's been a lot of, sort of, chatter about OK, who might he oppose? Obviously, we know how McConnell has felt about Trump. We know he has come back around and said OK, fine, I'm going to endorse you and tried to kind of bury that hatchet. That said, there is not a lot of love lost still.

I guess my question is what's your understanding of where might McConnell be willing to buck Trump on these nominees? Like, Tulsi Gabbard stands out to me, for example.

DESIDERIO: Exactly. McConnell has said quite openly that he's going to spend his remaining years in the Senate pushing back against what he sees is the isolationist drift within his party. He is, of course -- is a longtime national security hawk, defense hawk. Some would say he's even the reason why Ukraine got the aid that it got in that aid package earlier this year because he kept pressing the issue against his own party in that respect.

Tulsi Gabbard is absolutely someone you could see him opposing. Of course, she was nominated to be director of national intelligence. There are other potential nominees that could come down the pipeline that could -- that could be put into that same category.

But I've talked to Republican senators who are very eager to see the exact role that Mitch McConnell plays when he is "liberated" from the pressures of leadership.

[05:50:05]

Senator John Cornyn, who, of course, lost the Republican leadership race to John Thune last week, joked to me. He said, "Senator McConnell and I both feel liberated in some respects."

I don't think Sen. Cornyn is going to sort of trend more in that direction but I think it's very possible that Sen. McConnell does, especially on these national security picks that Trump is unveiling because he has quite openly said this is a top priority of his to push back on what he sees as a growing sort of isolationist -- what he calls and America First narrative within the Republican Party.

HUNT: All right, Andrew Desiderio for us this morning. Sir, grateful to have you. Thank you.

DESIDERIO: Thank you.

HUNT: All right, time now for sports. The Houston Texans dominate the struggling Dallas Cowboys on "MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL" to win the battle for Texas.

Carolyn Manno has this morning's Bleacher Report. Carolyn, good morning.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kasie.

It is tough to be a Cowboys fan right now, let me tell you. They are the only franchise in any of the major North American sports leagues that still has not won a game in the 2024 calendar year.

Things got off to a really bad start a few hours before kickoff, too, when sheet metal fell from the stadium's retractable roof. Thankfully, nobody was hurt.

And then once the game began the eyes of Texas squarely on Houston running backs. Joe Mixon had himself a night scoring three touchdowns and posting 109 rushing yards.

But the Texans' defense really put the game away early in the fourth quarter. Defensive end Derek Barnett knocking the ball out of Cooper Rush's hands as he was throwing. Dallas rookie lineman Tyler Guyton picking up the loose ball and trying to run for the first down, but the ball was knocked loose again. Barnett scooping it up and sprinting into the end zone.

Houston winning 34-10, handing Dallas their fifth-straight loss -- the longest losing streak since 2015 for America's team.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE MCCARTHY, HEAD COACH, DALLAS COWBOYS: It's very frustrating. It's frustrating for everybody. It's frustrating for the players and frustrating for the coaches. I know it's -- you know, it's disappointing for the fans. But we just -- we have a lot of moving parts going on and we just have to be cleaner and more detailed in certain spots. We're not playing well enough, executing well enough, and coaching well enough to overcome some of the mistakes we're making at the critical times in the game.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANNO: In the NBA, last night featured the return of Bucks star Damian Lillard who sat out the previous three games in concussion protocol. The All-Star point guard showing the home crowd he's just fine. He finished with 18 points and 10 assists.

But he saved the biggest shot for the end. Lillard driving with the layup with 3.9 seconds left, proving to be the game winner in Milwaukee's one-point win. The Rockets' five-game win streak coming to an end.

The U.S. Men's Soccer team headed to the final four of the Nations League Tournament. They dismantled Jamaica 4-2 in St. Louis last night. Christian Pulisic getting the scoring started with a highlight reel goal in the 13th minutes. The AC Milan forward then helped them double their lead and actually was an own goal in the 33rd minute.

The Americans will be playing for their fourth Nations League crown in four attempts when the action picks up again in March.

Let's go to the NHL now. Alex Ovechkin lighting the lamp twice for the Capitals against Utah before leaving the game with what looked like a knee injury.

But with that pair of goals Ovechkin is now just 27 away from Wayne Gretzky's all-time record of 894. He's currently on pace to reach that mark before the end of the season. That's assuming that he can stay healthy. The legendary forward has tallied at least 41 goals in 13 of his 19 NHL seasons. He's been on fire lately. No update yet from the team on his injury. Hopefully, he's OK.

And lastly for you this morning, you may not remember who won last year's inaugural Pop-Tarts Bowl. It was Kansas State for those who might recall. But you probably remember the postgame celebration -- a mascot jumping into a giant toaster before the players ate it.

So how do you top this viral moment that took the internet by storm? How about adding two more edible mascots and rewarding the game's MVP by letting them decide which flavor will be sent to "Mouth Heaven" by their team?

So the choices, Kasie, hot fudge sundae, wild berry, and a mystery fan favorite flavor coming out of retirement. All will be revealed at the Pop-Tarts Bowl on December 28 in Orlando.

I'm going for cinnamon roll as the flavor that might come out of retirement. I -- this is very -- harkening back to my childhood. I love it. I think it's fun. What about you?

HUNT: You and me both. Actually, that was my favorite pretty much to my mother's chagrin, I think. She always wanted me to eat ones with fruit in the middle and I was like no, I just want sugar.

MANNO: I can't eat them anymore. I can't eat then anymore, yeah.

HUNT: I'm, like, forget that.

I find this whole exercise a little bit like -- well, it's a lot.

MANNO: Sick?

HUNT: It's a lot. I would like to spare all the Pop-Tarts but look, what can you do?

Carolyn, thank you. I appreciate it. We'll see you soon.

MANNO: You're welcome.

HUNT: Coming up here on CNN THIS MORNING, Congressman Mike Quigley joins live to discuss the future of Ukraine in the next administration and how President Biden is trying to cement his legacy after giving Ukraine permission to use U.S. weapons against Russia.

[05:55:05]

Plus, younger voters made, of course, a significant impact this election. How President-elect Trump was able to close the age gap.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE 1: Most of the information I got was from Joe Rogan.

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Joe Rogan?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE 1: Joe Rogan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE 2: Joe Rogan. He's a legend, man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE 1: Yeah.

O'SULLIVAN: Yeah?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE 2: But mostly, like, social media.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL)

HUNT: It's Tuesday, November 19. Right now on CNN THIS MORNING --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOEL LEPPARD, ATTORNEY FOR TWO WOMEN ALLEGING SEXUAL MISCONDUCT AGAINST MATT GAETZ: And Rep. Gaetz paid my client -- both of my clients for sexual favors.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HUNT: Going public. We're now hearing from the lawyer for two women making allegations against Donald Trump's A.G. pick Matt Gaetz.

And this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And this is a biological man. He does not belong in women's faces.

(END VIDEO CLIP)