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CNN Tonight
Raphael Warnock With Last-Minute Ad Against Herschel Walker; President Biden Says He Got More Calls In A Day; Voters Wants To Have Free And Fair Election; No Man Is An Island Even In Politics; Family Time Doesn't Come Cheap In Disneyland; Iranian Women Had Enough With The Regime; Liz Truss Not Able To Stand Pressure. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired October 20, 2022 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[22:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: And thank you so much for joining us tonight. You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and the TikTok at Jake Tapper. Our coverage now continues with the strong Laura Coates and the mighty Alisyn Camerota. As I head off on this thirsty Thursday to do what I do best.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Drink.
TAPEPR: Sitting at my kitchen table and drink. Yes.
CAMEROTA: God, I know you so well. Laura, I feel like we're going to have to really step it up with the superlatives for Jake.
LAURA COATES, CNN HOST: I mean, I lifted his car one time. Now I'm strong. One time I carried your car.
TAPPER: It's -- there's no, there's none. I don't need a superlative. I'm just, you know.
COATES: OK.
CAMEROTA: All right.
COATES: He said --
(CROSSTALK)
TAPPER: I don't need -- I don't need -- I don't need hype girls.
COATES: He said thirsty Thursday and right on the drink. All right.
TAPPER: I don't need hype girls.
CAMEROTA: You're right.
COATES: OK.
TAPPER: I'm good. COATES: Well, then go poof.
CAMEROTA: You're just you. Have fun with your bourbon. We'll see you later.
COATES: Nice to see you.
CAMEROTA: We'll see you later.
TAPPER: Good to see you, ladies.
CAMEROTA: You too.
COATES: Everyone, we're keeping the conversation going tonight. Apparently, I'm strong and you're mighty. I love that.
Good evening, everyone. I'm Laura Coates in Washington, D.C.
CAMEROTA: And I'm Alisyn Camerota in New York, and this is CNN Tonight.
So, we're here with our panelists from across the political spectrum. One team here with me.
COATES: And the other team, the right one in Washington, D.C. here with me. And Alisyn, we're going to get started with a -- we'll look at two key states that people really have heard a lot about and one that we haven't been hearing enough about. And frankly, it's been flying under the radar, but it's still a very, very important race. I'm talking of course, about North Carolina.
CAMEROTA: OK, so you'll handle that one. I'll take Georgia. So let me bring in our panelists right now and we'll start there. We have former Democratic presidential candidate, Andrew Yang here, also former Trump White House communications director, Alyssa Farah Griffin, and CNN political analyst, Natasha Alford.
Great to have you guys here. OK, so let's start in Georgia with Herschel Walker and Senator Warnock. So, only now, right now is Senator Warnock spotlighting Herschel Walker's problematic past and, I guess record or whatever he has said about abortion. So here is the new ad that Senator Warnock is now airing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D-GA): Herschel Walker wants to ban abortion.
HERSCHEL WALKER (R), GEORGIA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: They have no exception in my mind. Like I said, I believe in life. There's not a national ban on abortion right now, and I think that's a problem.
WARNOCK: But for himself.
UNKNOWN: Herschel Walker paid for an abortion for his then girlfriend.
UNKNOWN: She supported her claims with a $575 receipt.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: Andrew, you've run for president. Did Senator Warnock miss a window of opportunity when he could have been hitting him with this earlier?
ANDREW YANG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think their campaign thought that it was in the news so much that the ads wouldn't really break through, and now they're using the ads to push the message now that it's possible to press, don't cover this story quite as actively.
It's a smart move because if you look at the polling, abortion and women's reproductive rights is perhaps Democrat's biggest advantage in Georgia and other races.
CAMEROTA: Alyssa, do you think it's a smart move, how he's doing it now? The timing?
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. I think he is trying to leave nothing on the table. They're neck and neck. And surprisingly, after the Herschel Walker reporting came out, he had the biggest fundraising period that he had yet in his campaign. So, I think the Warnock folks recalibrated and said, you know, we do need to wait into this. We can't let it get out of the headlines.
This race is going to be neck and neck, which I can't believe I'm saying, but I still do expect, I mean, Governor Kemp and the gubernatorial race is outperforming Stacey Abrams. And Stacey Abrams has run more on abortion in these issues.
Warnock has been prudent in really focusing on the economy, on Democrats accomplishments as he would and he was frame -- would frame them like the Inflation Reduction Act. So last minute he's waiting into this, I think it's smart to leave nothing on the table and this, this is going to be a close race.
CAMEROTA: Do you think that he missed an opportunity? I felt that in the debate that he didn't hit Herschel Walker as hard as he could have. He sort of, pivoted away to his own policy about abortion instead of saying, you know, who knows what you did? But we know that you have not been you, we know you've been an absentee father. We know you haven't been around for at least three of your children.
NATASHA ALFORD, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, I think to be completely real, a lot of us were watching and saying, say more. Right? He was definitely taking the, you know, higher ground Michelle Obama approach. This is a pastor, you know, he is being very respectful. But by not being direct, it made it seem as if Herschel Walker was more authentic, more genuine, more of an advocate, in this way even though he hasn't really said much about his policies or what he's really going to do.
I don't think the window is closed, but I do think that that gap that we saw at the debate had to initiate some sort of action after this.
[22:05:02]
YANG: Well, I think to your point, Reverend Warnock is more comfortable being a positive messenger, and so when the campaign puts out ads, it's not necessarily the reverend standing there lambasting someone who's standing just six feet away.
And if you want to hear about Georgia, I think that this race is going to wind up in a runoff a couple months from now because you need 50 percent or more to win outright. And there's a third libertarian candidate who's pulling it around 4 percent. So, Georgia might be the focus of the political world for a number of weeks after.
GRIFFIN: And Walker has the benefit, by the way of Kemp probably boosting him for people who vote down ballot. So that's helping him also stay afloat at this point.
CAMEROTA: OK. Let's look what at what's happening in Pennsylvania. So, President Biden went there today and traveled around Pittsburgh, basically went to Primanti Brothers best sandwiches ever, with John Fetterman, lieutenant governor. So, I think we have some video of that. But they weren't on the -- they weren't like on the at a campaign rally together.
And you're -- which, what do you call this? Quiet campaigning?
YANG: It's a meet and greet. It's a restaurant stop. It's a man of the people casual sit down. It's a chance to eat a delicious sandwich with French fries wedged into the sandwich itself.
But I think this is a win for both candidates. I mean, the fact is there are a number of Democrats who've not been willing to peer with the president in a rally or otherwise, and that's going to be one of the closest races. It's closer now than it was a number of days ago between Fetterman and Dr. Oz.
CAMEROTA: Does it help Fetterman to have Biden?
ALFORD: Absolutely. You know, his policies are still very popular, right? This idea of infrastructure. Bridge is very safe. You know, he's elevating something that affects you, whether you live in a red state or a blue state, or whatever your leanings are. So, I think that there's still a positive boost from Biden, but again, Fetterman is not taking it all the way, it's like having that girlfriend or boyfriend. You really quickly introduced to the parents, but like you're not really inviting them over for dinner, you know?
GRIFFIN: Well, and it's Pennsylvania, which I would argue is probably where Biden plays best other than Delaware. But there's a reason he's not getting called down to some of these other competitive races, and instead, Pete Buttigieg, the first lady, are getting called in. So, it makes sense in Pennsylvania, but not really elsewhere.
CAMEROTA: He took umbrage today, President Biden, and said, yes, I am being called lots of places. I'm just on 16 to 18 calls --
(CROSSTALK)
GRIFFIN: Sixteen.
CAMEROTA: -- which are just today. So, he was trying to clarify the record on that and show how in demand he is. OK, Alyssa, thank you very much. OK, Laura, tell us about the states that you're covering.
COATES: Well, we know, first of all, I just love the idea of him taking umbrage to that very point of, I know everyone's calling me. But here at the table here in D.C. we've got CNN political commentator, Scott Jennings, Democratic strategist, Xochitl Hinojosa, and CNN political commentator, David Swerdlick.
And we've been kind of champing at the bit here. We're going to touch on a lot of these, but I want to start with North Carolina. Because speaking of the attention, it's all gone to places like Georgia and Pennsylvania and obviously other places.
But North Carolina presents an opportunity as well. And you and I were talking earlier, Scott, and you were like, Laura, that's done, put a fork in it. Why do you think so? I mean, it's a very -- they're neck and neck. You've got a former new North Carolina state Supreme Court justice. You've got a congressman, but they're in a dead heat and not a lot of attention or money pouring in.
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, last couple of polls out in North Carolina have Ted Budd, the Republican, pulling ahead. Republicans have felt pretty good about this race, because the national winds appear to be blowing in the Republican's direction. Ted Butt hasn't done anything super controversial.
COATES: To the new standard.
JENNINGS: Hey, in a state -- in a state with a generic environment favors a Republican, and you happen to present yourself as a generic Republican, that's going to be just fine. And so, I think if Democrats are putting their eggs in the North Carolina basket to save the Senate, that'll be a bit of a stretch.
COATES: But early voting just started today. And the thing is, why not look at that state as well? I mean, is there too much attention going on the other stage? You're shaking your head. Do you agree?
XOCHITL HINOJOSA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I think it's absolutely an opportunity for Democrats and it's -- they want, they're trying to expand their map. Yes, they're trying to protect a number of seats, but at the same time, they're looking for opportunities to ensure that they, you know, can expand that map.
What I will say about Cheri Beasley is she's a strong candidate. Not only that, the money that is pouring into this, right, you might have more money pouring into Pennsylvania and Georgia and Nevada and other places where you do have Republicans that are a little, you know, they're, you know, they're problematic.
You know, I'm really trying to find a piece to put it. But she is raising money and she is widening the fundraising gap, which is important in the final weeks because she can spend that money on television. She can spend that money to turn out voters.
And with all of these races, all of these races are going to be close and it's going to be a turnout game. So that's critical for her in order to remain, you know, at the -- at the top there.
COATES: I mean, I'm surprised as somebody who could be the first black woman senator out of North Carolina that you're not hearing more about just from the -- just from that perspective on one hand and the qualifications. You want to say something?
[22:09:57]
DAVID SWERDLICK, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, that, no, exactly. That's the thing. You're not hearing more. North Carolina is my home state. I'm watching this race with interest. I think Beasley has run a fine race, but not a race that has yet compelled voters to come out.
And that's why I think Ted Butt is a little bit ahead. Democrats have not won a Senate race in North Carolina since 2008 when Barack Obama was on the ballot for president. And I think the challenge in North Carolina for Democrats is to really focus people's attention on this.
She's been elected as a judge. A race that flies under the radar. A Senate race is a different thing.
COATES: Well, I'll tell you, I mean, first of all, North Carolina, you go, you're OK with me because my mom's state from Fayetteville, she calls it God's country. We'll see if it actually is the midterm country or not.
But you know, I want to back to Georgia for a second because I know the other panel was talking about Georgia and they played the ad from Raphael -- Senator Raphael Warnock. But there was a different ad that was playing today and it was Herschel Walker with somebody.
Well, Georgia knows quite well. It's Vince Dooley was a part of this and he is a well, legendary coach. He it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VINCE DOOLEY, FOOTBALL COACH: He is not a, quote, "politician." There is a need in this country. There is need in this state for somebody like Herschel. Knowing him, the character that he has, he will make a great United States senator.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: So, Scott, bring this home as to why you thought this was such an interesting notion because you have Warnock having, well, a negative ad. And you got this one.
JENNINGS: Yes. Warnock closing negative. And Walker closing positive tells me a lot about how each strategist views the state of their campaigns. Now, Herschel Walker's had 50-plus million dollars of negative ads run against him largely on the issue of character. And so, rolling out Vince Dooley, who's a revered figure in Georgia, to repel that struck me as a smart idea.
The fact that Warnock went negative on abortion after demurring on this topic for a few weeks tells me they're nervous. Also, I, do --
(CROSSTALK)
COATES: Well, he went negative on the scandal.
JENNINGS: Well, I know.
COATES: Right.
JENNINGS: But he, but for the last several days, weeks that this thing has been on roll, he has not wanted to touch. I would also just point out on all the national polling that's come out in the last several days. Abortion, falling down the list of priorities for voters, things going up, inflation, economy.
And so, the fact that Warnock is closing on abortion at a time when it's fading, I think it's telling.
COATES: You know, Alisyn, when I think about that and the idea of what's coming up and who goes what and who closes where, I wonder if you're thinking the same thoughts that Scott and I is articulating earlier and Xochitl and Dave as well, about the idea of what the ads and the timing of it is really telling you about how the campaigns see their chances.
CAMEROTA: Well, definitely yes. I mean, as the panel here said, it was time for Senator Warnock to put out an ad. But what Andrew Yang just told me is that you and I are completely missing the story in terms of where we should be focused. He thinks we should be focusing on Utah and the race between Mike Lee and Evan McMullin. He says that's the stealth race that we should all be paying attention to.
COATES: Well, you know, that's a fascinating one and we have covered, Andrew, have you been listening to our show every single day moving on?
CAMEROTA: Yes.
COATES: I don't think you have, but it's OK.
(CROSSTALK)
YANG: I know you're -- I know we're all over it, Laura.
COATES: That's OK. I know. I'm just letting you know. But you know, the reason that's a fascinating race and you pointed out is because it is a state that they have a Republican candidate and an independent, and the Democrats opted not to actually have a Democratic candidate because it may not have had a chance to win.
I think it's a fascinating notion. But as we talk about, I don't think if you're trying to retain control of the Senate that you kind of let anything go for granted. That's part of the problem of politics is always thinking, where's the phrase? You cut your chickens before they hatch.
CAMEROTA: All right.
COATES: And went farm on you.
CAMEROTA: Yes. No.
COATES: You didn't expect it. You didn't see it coming.
CAMEROTA: I'm processing that. Yes, but I mean, look, we're covering all of these things because they're all really interesting in their own way.
OK, so coming up, we have this Washington Post analysis that finds that nearly 300 election deniers are on the ballot in the midterm. So, next up, we have more with our battleground voter panel and their thoughts on the deniers. Our pulse of the people is next.
[22:15:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAMEROTA: Time now for part two of our pulse of the people. We assembled a group of Republicans and Democrats from battleground states to see how they feel about the state of democracy before the midterms, and what they think of so many election deniers running in their home states.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAMEROTA: All of you are in states that have election deniers on the ballot. In Arizona, Amy, in your case, they're up and down the ballot.
AMY CZYZ, DEMOCRATIC VOTER FROM ARIZONA: It's a real issue because it's not just rhetoric. The Republican leadership in our state, you know, entertained a yearlong audit with absolutely zero evidence, and the state attorney general who is a Republican, came forth a few days ago and said there was no evidence provided to justify that entire audit and this whole notion of election fraud in Arizona.
And even still, Arizona put forth a group of fake state electors who interfere with the legal transfer of power and the counting of electoral votes on January 6th. So, it's not just talk. Our Republican leadership in our state actually took concrete measures to interfere with the Electoral College count and. And that is a problem not only for fair and free elections in Arizona, but for our democracy as a country.
RAQUEL RILEY THOMAS, REPUBLICAN VOTER FROM GEORGIA: I hope and pray that we can just come together, understand that people are being elected, some people are not going to be elected. We move on. We focus on the issues of the country. We focus on the issues at hand for our schools, for our families, and for our economy. CAMEROTA: Show of hands, how many of you are concerned about the election deniers on ballot. OK, so three of you.
LINDA LITTLE, DEMOCRATIC VOTER FROM MICHIGAN: It is really reckless to ignore the facts and spread rhetoric. It's an abuse of power when you know that you have a large following of people who will, you know, take your cues and advance. Something that you know, is based in an alternate state of reality.
CZYZ: We're in trouble. Whether we're talking about Kari Lake, Mark Finchem, you know, secretary of state and governor candidates. We have people who not only said that they would not have certified President Biden's election here, they have said that.
[22:20:04]
Kari Lake, just this past weekend made the comment that she would certify the election if she won. And she refused to say that if she didn't win, she would respect the voice of the voters.
CAMEROTA: Lydia, why are you not concerned?
LYDIA DOMINGUEZ, REPUBLICAN VOTER FROM NEVADA: Democrats haven't accepted an election since 1988. How am I supposed to look at the news in 2016 and be told that this election was a fraud, was hijacked, was Russian collusion, was irredeemably corrupt. And then four years later, I'm supposed to just accept the 2020 election was safe and fair and it's ludicrous.
CAMEROTA: I hear what you're saying. There's often questions about what went into voting, but not to this level. When it was Gore versus Bush, at some point the adjudication was done. The country accepted that it was George Bush.
DOMINGUEZ: I mean, the best person that put this -- put this perfectly said that you could run the best campaign, you can become the nominee and you can still have the election stolen. And that was said by Hillary Clinton in 2019. It makes me think that you can have a point to question an election, right?
CHLOE HUNT, REPUBLICAN VOTER FROM PENNSYLVANIA: For me, so Mastriano, as you all know, in Pennsylvania, was at January 6th, major election denier. And as a young Republican, I don't want to be in a Republican Party that is run by people who denied the election. There was no evidence of fraud. There was no evidence that the election did not have integrity.
DOMINGUEZ: You know, I think we can all agree we want our elections to be free, fair, and accurate. We want to trust the election. And how can we do that when I, you know, you're telling me in 2016 that Trump is an illegitimate president, and then suddenly the same processes used in 2020 are amplified. Mail-in ballots, signature verifications were turned down.
CZYZ: Arizona has had mail-in bounding -- mail-in ballots for a quite some time, and Republicans have maintained control in our state, you know, for decades, and there has never been an issue with the integrity of mail-in voting until they lost the presidential election in the state.
CAMEROTA: This, as I said, has been adjudicated. There was something like 86 judges across the country, some of them Trump appointed. Do you -- do you still think that there was fraud in the 2020 election.
DOMINGUEZ: In anything that involves humans or there will be fraud. And any election, it will show that it's really hard to catch fraud. I really truly believe there was a lot of fraud.
GREG CHASE, DEMOCRATIC VOTER FROM NEVADA: I don't understand how a large portion of the country has lost the ability to just look at information and process data and understand. I think at the end of the day, it's important that we stop using, you know, TikTok and Facebook as our personal research tools to figure out what happened.
DOMINGUEZ: I was volunteering with the GOP here in Nevada and I saw a lot of fraud. There were a lot of provisional ballots, which means that these ballots were casted, even though it shows there was some type of issue with the ballot. We found so many people that had already passed away, but their grandson voted for them.
CAMEROTA: How many people did you find that their grandsons were voting for them who had passed away?
DOMINGUEZ: So that was just one. That was one example. There was a couple of examples of family members that did vote for elderly or deceased family. I don't -- I'm not aware of those numbers, but there was 80,000 provisional ballots that were taken to the Nevada secretary of the state.
HUNT: I just wanted to share that mail-in ballots have historically have had a lot of integrity. There's no fraud. There's no document in fraud. There was no document in fraud in 2020, and as you said, many Trump appointed lawmakers saw all the evidence, all the evidence, and found no evidence that this election was fraudulent.
And I think for the Republican Party to move forward, this is an undeniable fact that we all need to accept. Our party looks weak, our party looks stupid. Our party looks like we can't function if we can't accept this election. And we need to instead support candidates unlike Trump, who are going to be more inclusive, able to accept facts.
LITTLE: I have faith in our system and our democracy that that will continue. But I am also hopeful that as we get new leaders in position, that we will put new policies, new laws in place that will prevent this from reoccurring in the future.
HUNT: I want to see Republican leaders who accept a fair election that we lost and realize that this is a turning point and it should be a turning point for us to have better candidates and not let extremist divisive rhetoric like, rhetoric like that of Trump become the face of our party again. And it should be a moment that we reflect on and that we know it's a time for change in the party.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COATES: So interesting, Alisyn, really, I think about how much they're really thinking broadly about democracy. And I know that there's the thought that it's not so tangible. It seems very esoteric, like you're in a classroom.
[22:25:06]
But they're really thinking about what this means for all the other issues. I think that's fascinating.
CAMEROTA: Well, not only that, I mean, so Chloe right there in the middle, on the bottom row. I mean, she's a college student. She gives me hope as do my own children for the next generation. I mean, thoughtful, critical thinking, analytical, has a vision for what she wants her party, which is Republican to look like in the future.
And then Lydia, who was on the right bottom corner. She really, her perspective did sort of open my eyes to how, basically what she's saying is, how can Democrats have had all of these doubts and all of these problems with the 2016 election and then have not a single problem with the 2020 election? I thought that that was really interesting and eye opening.
COATES: You know, I wonder if that really is, and you -- it's true to think that interesting, point she made. But I do wonder if that's an epiphany that others are having or a thought about it or really is it a way of trying to come to it in a backward looking way of saying, look, OK, well then if that's your issue, how about that?
I wonder if it's a sophisticated type of whataboutism. I don't know the answer, but I think it was very, very thought provoking as is, as you mentioned, the college student. Remember, I think she was the one in our discussion yesterday, she was going to do this, the ticket splitting, right? She could not vote for someone in her own party because of the views on abortion.
I wonder similarly if Lydia will have those views as it relates to those who did not have anything to say about 2016 and something to say about 2020. It's fascinating. Really is.
CAMEROTA: Yes. Thanks. I'm really glad that we did it. I get so much out of it.
COATES: Yes.
CAMEROTA: And I just, you know, it helps me. I carry with me for many weeks after I do these, the thoughts of our panelists and I can, you know, kind of conjure and mind them as we have all of our political talks heading towards the midterms.
COATES: You know, who else is? Every strategist and candidate going, wait, did you hear that clip? There we go. That's actually thinking about this. Everyone, voters on both sides of the aisle also are clearly concerned about election deniers that are on the ballot, but really the question to pose is what happens if they actually win? We're going to talk about it next.
[22:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COATES: So, we just watched Alisyn take the pulse of the people, voters in battleground states expressing concerns, well, frankly about election deniers who are running for office and allegations of voter fraud.
Back with me now, Scott Jennings Xochitl Hinojosa and David Swerdlick. You know, it's interesting because there was that one comment that I think Lydia made, suggest saying, look, the reason she is skeptical about non-election now is because those same people, I mean, no one had a problem with the 2016 election where they had one with the impeachments and the election deference and with Russia, but suddenly that's all gone away. Did you think that played at all?
SWERDLICK: So, I think there's a qualitative difference. I understand the point, it's a fair point to raise. But in 2000, Al Gore conceded the election. In 2016, Secretary Clinton conceded the election. Yes, Democrats and Democratic supporters raised a lot of complaints, but we're now in a situation where in 20 -- after 2020 former President Trump hasn't conceded, has pressed an agenda of fighting these results and will never concede.
HINOJOSA: And I just want to point out, I was on the 2016 election at Hillary Clinton's headquarters and working for her, and we were all devastated. We did not see it coming like most of America. There were -- Hillary Clinton herself was not telling staffers, let's challenge this until the end. Staffers inside the campaign weren't saying things that you hear Trump officials saying like, wait a minute. There were all sorts of rampant voter fraud.
Those things weren't happening. What we were talking about is how do we wrap this up? How do we ensure there is a peaceful transition and move forward. So, it is very different what it happened in the 2020. And to your point, what happened with Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, and what it's happened for decades is people have conceded.
COATES: Well, of course. And the rep -- well, we do know that Republicans were very critical of people like, I think it was Congressman Jamie Raskin at one point and others early on because they did take issue in the point in time of the certification process in Congress. And again, they ultimately conceded the point. Is that different?
JENNINGS: Well, I mean, the candidates conceded. I grant your point, but the party at large never did. What percentage of Democrats today do you think Donald Trump won fair and square in 2016. And beyond that, even though Hillary Clinton conceded Democrats still immediately, and there was an article before Trump was even sworn in about the plotting of his impeachment.
And so, a Republican would say, yes, she conceded, but the party never did. And that led to the interminable Russia investigation and the impeachments and everything they did. That's how, I think an average Republican voter would argue the point.
SWERDLICK: I don't know the percentage, but I would venture to say it's less than the 60 to 70 percent of --
(CROSSTALK)
JENNINGS: I don't know.
SWERDLICK: -- Republicans who now still tell pollsters that they don't believe Joe Biden won.
JENNINGS: I mean, I also -- I also lived through the Bush years, and I know after the 2000 election, Democrats did not believe Bush won fair and square. I know after 2004 you had people on the floor of the Congress voting not to certify, which is exactly what Republicans did after the 2020 election, and why we have to update the Electoral Account Act, by the way, which I hope they do this year.
So, the Democrats have had some experience with not, you know, not accepting fully the result of election.
COATES: Well, Alisyn, I'm going to bring you in here because one thing that is very different is even with all the concessions and the analogies being drawn and parallels wasn't a January 6.
[22:35:00]
And we also don't have judges who were saying, finger on the nose. You all didn't see it. She signed me. I was right. And also, Alisyn, on the point in thinking, I wonder what your thoughts are because you didn't have judges who were saying and calling out people like the former president who was recently said, look, you knew at the time that there was no real credible allegations of widespread fraud. You just wanted to delay the process. That is a difference in my mind. What did Lydia think about that?
CAMEROTA: Well, I mean, you know, Lydia was sticking to her own philosophy, which is you can't have, you can't raise those questions in 2016 and then have no questions for 2020. So, she wasn't getting into sort of the nuance that you are.
However, this has been adjudicated six ways to Sunday. The 2020 race has been. And to your other point, yes, there were people who thought that maybe the George W. Bush win or the Donald Trump win. Maybe they didn't win fair and square. There were certainly Democrats who felt that, but they didn't take up arms and raid the capitol looking to kill our elected officials.
COATES: Well, yes.
CAMEROTA: So, I would say that it's just a, you know, exponentially different from the doubts of other years.
COATES: And yet, of course, that's why it's important to go in the nuance here with the panel. Because we're talking about these questions and talking about it, but that's how they're feeling about the issue. But there's a big question that has not been settled, and I really want to get to it.
Because there's a lot of, just talk about the trajectory of Democrats not being able to retain the majority in the House or the Senate. I'm wondering though, in that Utah race, he is, Evan McMullin, if he were to win, right? He's an independent who has said --
SWERDLICK: Right.
COATES: -- he is not going to caucus with the Democrats or caucus with the Republicans. And we're talking about this slim margin, this slim Democratic majority, that would really throw quite a wrench in everything, right?
JENNINGS: Yes. I mean, if he doesn't tell voters who he is going to caucus with, or if he chooses not to organize, I mean, it would throw the, potentially the chamber to some chaos. I'll just say in the past, he's portrayed himself as a conservative on some issues. His campaign is almost being fully funded by Democrats and outside Democrat groups. And so.
COATES: But he's saying he won't caucus with them to guarantee that who he would know --
(CROSSTALK)
JENNINGS: Well, if you were -- if you were running in Utah, you'd say that too. I mean, then when the -- and then when the election is over, you might be. I don't -- I don't know what he's going to do. I think Mike Lee is going to win. The correct strategy for Senator Lee is to portray McMullin as the Democratic candidate. He's running as an independent because you can't win a race as a Democrat in Utah.
SWERDLICK: I don't know who's going to win that race. I will say this for Evan McMullin. He is a Republican even if now he's an independent. I base that on two things. One, he ran as a Republican protest candidate with running Mindy Finn in 2016 against President Trump.
Senator Lee acknowledges that he voted for McMullin even though they're running against each other now in 2016 as a protest vote. The other thing is that, McMullin is representing this sort of never Trump wing of the party. I don't think you can cast him as a Democrat, even though you're right, Scott. Democrats are backing him now.
COATES: Well, we will see. Remember it was between 2012, the Senator Angus King, and whether he caucus Democrats or not, he ultimately ended up doing so.
JENNINGS: Wait, do you all claim McMullin? I mean, you're funding him?
HINOJOSA: Well, we are not. We are not funding him. What I will say is that he's coming to Washington, D.C. and he is as an independent, he will be a very popular person on both sides of the aisle as he tried to get stuff done with a very slim majority. So.
COATES: But he won't be popular with Steve -- with Joe Manchin. He wants to be the person everyone comes to.
HINOJOSA: You're right, you're right. You're right about that.
COATES: Alisyn?
CAMEROTA: I guess Andrew Yang was right. That is a fascinating race. So many different permutations, and of course we will continue to cover it. OK. Now to this. So, Americans are struggling with rising costs, as you know, from gas pump to the grocery store, and now it's even getting more expensive at the happiest place on earth. We'll explain.
[22:40:00]
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CAMEROTA: OK, we have some travel headlines for you now that could affect your holiday plans. First, visiting the most magical place on earth just got more expensive. Disney hiking its prices this month outpacing the annual inflation rate of 8.2 percent. The cost of a single day ticket for one person to Disneyland during the busy season like Christmas was $164 a couple weeks ago. Now it's $179. That's an increase of 9.2 percent.
And what if you want to park your car and use their Genie+, which is like the fast-track service, that's also very expensive. The new price hike for a family of four, it would be $1086 for a single day. That's during the parks busy season, that's an increase of 10 percent. It doesn't even include buying food or souvenirs.
Back with us is Andrew Yang, Alyssa Farah Griffin, and Natasha Alford.
How many of you have gone to Disneyland or Disneyworld?
YANG: This year.
ALFORD: Not until later in life though, my dad actually scrapped and saved, so we could go.
GRIFFIN: Is that right?
ALFORD: And so, this story is really relatable probably for a lot of middle class --
YANG: No.
ALFORD: -- families who were like, how is this even the American dream anymore to us?
CAMEROTA: Absolutely. In fact, the article that I read, there was a woman who had saved up money, saved up money, and she'd got there and because the price had gone up, she had to actually not go for as many days. She had to go home halfway through because she hadn't saved for the price hike. And you just went this year?
YANG: Yes. And there was a dad wearing a t-shirt saying most expensive place on earth, and that was before the price hike.
CAMEROTA: Was it the happiest place on earth? Was it worth it?
(CROSSTALK)
YANG: My kids -- my kids had a blast. And though, you know, we're laughing a little bit, but the fact is, right now a lot of companies not just Disney are raising prices at this 8 to 10 percent level. And what they're finding is that customers are paying it, which means that there's no disincentive for them to keep on doing the same thing. Other companies follow suit.
[22:44:55]
The fact is inflation is nasty, persistent, it's hitting Americans. And just about every walk of life at this point, it's one reason why I think the climate for Dems in this midterm has gone negative. The way it has.
CAMEROTA: Yes, but it's funny what -- it's paradoxical what you say, because people are still spending.
YANG: Yes, they are.
CAMEROTA: So, in other words, and in fact that was in this article about Disneyland and Disney World, people aren't actually canceling their trips for the holidays, so they're not seeing a dent yet in interest.
GRIFFIN: That's true and I do think it's such an American rite of passage. Yes. We all here at the table went. I remember going many times as a kid, but it is, I think pricing some people out of it. I think a lot of people, the barrier to entry now to go to Disney is much higher than it used to be.
But for things like this, what a luxury trip. There's always going to be a demand there. But to Andrew's point, I mean looking at inflation right now, we're heading into the winter season, the average family is going to spend $900 more to heat their homes in the winter season. That is real. That is the most motivating factor for people to vote.
And the fact is Democrats control the House, the Senate, and the White House, and so it's going to be a referendum on the party in power, is my guess.
CAMEROTA: OK. Speaking of luxury, luxury bus, is that an oxymoron? There is a new service that is trying to get people instead of having to fly because, you know, that comes with all sorts of headaches as we know, and there can be cancellations, et cetera, et cetera, and the price. There are -- is now a bus service and you can, it's a luxury bus. You have a full sleeper.
YANG: Napaway. ALFORD: There he is.
CAMEROTA: Napaway is what's it's called.
(CROSSTALK)
YANG: You're talking about. As long as the seats were climb.
ALFORD: Turn on that podcast. I mean, the airline crisis have also outpaced inflation, right? And so, it's expensive. Some people are just swallowing it. But yes, get on the bus, put your blanket, you know, open up a book, listen to Audible.
CAMEROTA: It's 11 hours.
ALFORD: Yes.
CAMEROTA: I'm just -- I just -- let me tell you that you better hold on podcast.
ALFORD: Yes.
CAMEROTA: It's 11 hours. So, there's, what Napaway is doing is from Washington, D.C. to Nashville. So, it's an overnight trip, 11 hours, and you have a full, you know, lay -- the bed that you can lay down on and you can -- they say you, you know, you can sleep for eight hours.
ALFORD: That's better than the bus I took in college. The Megabus, no shades of Megabus, but it's just like a few dollars and not -- not comfortable.
GRIFFIN: Good -- good branding though, to call it Napaway. Like they're branding around sleeping on it. Any like, I look for an opportunity to nap at any time. So that's the only appealing part of this.
CAMEROTA: This is your chance.
YANG: You know, I see everything as would my wife go for that? My wife would totally go for a Napaway bus trip.
CAMEROTA: She would.
YANG: She genuinely would.
CAMEROTA: That's your next family trip you'll be taking.
YANG: Yes. Although we're --
(CROSSTALK)
GRIFFIN: This kind of reminds me, sorry, this reminds me of when Lyft a couple years ago, basically announced that they're adding another thing in addition to Lyft pool, where it's basically meet at this corner and we'll pick up 10 people. You're like, you're invent -- reinventing the bus. We all knew that took the bus growing up. This isn't new, but hey, adjust for the times.
CAMEROTA: OK. Very quickly, last story is American Airlines announcing that they're getting rid of their first-class service on international flights. They're just going to have business class. I don't even think I know the difference. What's the difference? What's been the difference between first class and business class? You get like an extra sundae on first class, in which case, I might not be in favor of this.
ALFORD: You probably get to stretch out more, right? It's more of a bed experience. Like the bus. Like the bus.
GRIFFIN: I fly business and an international and that feels like a luxury and I've always wondered those seats just a little ahead of me. What's so different about that?
ALFORD: What are they getting it up there.
GRIFFIN: Yes.
ALFORD: Clearly, it's not worth it.
GRIFFIN: Yes, clearly.
CAMEROTA: Yes. No, they have just decided that people don't want to pay anymore for first class. They, but they do want to pay for business class because you know you want the free booze. But they don't want to pay for -- I just think it's sign of times. Very interesting that first class is going away.
YANG: If it's the same seat, not worth it. If it was a different seat, physically larger, you could stretch out.
GRIFFIN: If you can sleep and drink what you can do in business class, I think that covers the essentials of international travel.
CAMEROTA: For sure.
GRIFFIN: Yes.
CAMEROTA: For sure. And I'm always the dummy who's like, yes. What kind of wine do you have? Like the pros? Don't drink on the international flights. They go right to sleep. They put on the eye mask and they're fresh for the morning. I'm like, tell me more about your wine selection. Boy.
Guys, thank you very much. Laura, thoughts on any of these travel headlines?
COATES: M God. First of all, I have flown to China in the economy section because I'm five foot three and I can sleep anywhere. So that was fine for me. Let me tell you something. I will be really satisfied when they learn to, I guess, you know, load the plane and board it from the back to the front as opposed to the crazy that everyone always does to have you pick and choose. I'm over it. I'm over the whole travel and I would be over at Disney
at more than a thousand dollars a day. You got to be kidding me. Kids don't even remember half the time.
CAMEROTA: OK. Well, I have a Napaway bus for you. Just for you. That sounds like how you'd be traveling.
COATES: Look, when my husband and I were long distance, we were on that bus from New York to D.C. It was great. I loved it, I had a little handheld DVR player, DVD player. That's how long ago that was. So, I'm for it.
CAMEROTA: That's romantic.
COATES: It was -- no. But you know what? It turned out OK.
CAMEROTA: Yes, it did.
COATES: There you go. Now the question is, are the price hikes on airfare and Disney tickets putting a dent in your travel plans out there? Well, let us know. That anything else you want to say to Alisyn and me, well, not anything else you want to say. Just, you know, within reason, tweet us at the Laura Coates and at Alisyn Camerota. Use that hashtag CNN sound off.
[22:50:04]
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COATES: For five weeks, people in Iran, many of them women, have taken to the streets and protest. This after death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran's morality police. She was arrested for allegedly wearing her head covering or her job improperly.
The anger has only grown since then. Here you can see a woman staging a silent protest eating in a restaurant without her hijab.
CAMEROTA: All of these, Laura, are just acts of bravery, you know, right? In front of all -- in front of the world. So, there are these demonstrations, as you can see that are spilling into the streets with Iranians clashing with Iran's notoriously ruthless security forces.
[22:55:03]
Iran's state news outlet says more than 1,000 people have been arrested. And Amnesty International says between September 20th and September 30th, at least 23 children were killed by Iranian security forces because of all of this.
CNN has been unable to independently verify that death toll. But again, the bravery of people knowing that they're risking their lives to make this point has been remarkable for the world to watch.
COATES: It is, and I really hope that people continue to lean in. You know, here in the state. We are talking about the agency and autonomy over a woman's body, and we're talking about it in a nuanced way. And we have seen protests and people vehemently opposed to any notion that someone would control the rights of a woman.
And then you think about, relatively speaking, compared to places like Iran and what they are going through, and this is the -- these are teenage girls and young women in particular, Alisyn, who are leading the charge, who want a different life and better future. And it's just the idea of a 10-day period that many children alone. It's unbelievable.
CAMEROTA: Yes. And then there's of course the rock climber who's gotten so much attention.
COATES: Yes.
CAMEROTA: I believe her name is Elnaz Rekabi. She didn't wear the hijab when she was competing in South Korea.
COATES: Yes.
CAMEROTA: She now is back, I think, home in Iran. She has had to say that it was an accident. She was unexpectedly called to compete, didn't realize that she was supposed to be wearing the hijab. I mean, who knows if that's true.
But again, all these public declarations, public, I guess, demonstrations of this protest and often with deadly consequences.
COATES: It's unbelievable. And did you see there was a conversation showing that they were reaching out to different doctors around the world on social media because people are getting very seriously injured and they don't want to go to the hospitals there because they might actually be arrested or charged in some way and meet a similar faith.
They're reaching out and using all these networks and trying to get virtual treatment on these extraordinary injuries. It's really, it's unbelievable. I hope we continue to follow this story and the world continues to lean in.
CAMEROTA: Yes, we will. Now to another really important international story. Britain's prime minister resigning after just six chaotic weeks amid an open revolt within her own party. And of course, it begs the question, what should political parties do in this country if the leaders are doing something they don't want them to do or are wildly unpopular?
We have dueling panels coming up to weigh in.
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