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Will Congress Work Together?; Obama to Hold News Conference Today; How Toxic Was President Obama to Democrats?

Aired November 05, 2014 - 07:30   ET

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

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Chris, we're taking a closer look at just who turned out to vote yesterday and how it compares to the presidential election in 2012. The interesting findings that we will let you in on.

And the president will speak about the results later today so what will he say? We have a live report next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: A lot happened while were you sleeping, let's look at the board. The political landscape in America has turned red. Republicans have grabbed outright control of the Senate. Picking up at least seven seats, we're still figuring out how many they will have.

Now some of those races being outstanding, one of them that means will have a runoff that is Louisiana, December 6th. Let's get over to John Berman right now. He is looking at all the exit polls and see who took the decision into their hands last night -- J.B.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR, "EARLY START": One of the big questions is who voted and the answer is, well, a very different electorate than we saw two years ago. We talk about the gender gap. Look at this. Last night, 51 percent of the people who voted were women, 49 percent were men.

Let's look at a couple years ago. Then it was 53 percent women, 47 percent men. More female, but here's the trick here -- two years ago, 55 percent voted for President Obama, 44 percent Mitt Romney, an 11- point margin for the Democrats.

Compare that to what happened last night and the margin for the Democrats just five points so 11 points two years ago to five points last night. Let's talk about race, there's one thing here I want to point out. Look at this, Latinos made up 8 percent of the electorate last night.

Let's compare that to two years ago when Latinos made up 10 percent. So two years ago, a larger slice of the electorate. Two years ago, Latinos voted for President Obama by a 44 percent margin.

Compare that to last night, and again, if looking at the race last night, the Latino vote broke by a 28 percent margin for the Democrats, not bad, but not 44 points. Let's look finally at age. This was a much, much older electorate than we saw two years ago. You look here, 13 percent were younger than the age of 30, 22 percent older. Compare that to two years ago, 19 percent were under the age of 30 and 16 percent were over the age of 65. So a much older electorate than we saw two years ago.

This is what we saw last night. We already know, Chris, we will see a different group two years from now -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: All right, John, thanks for breaking those down for us. So President Obama will hold a news conference today to talk about the election results, but the White House claims that these are not a referendum on the president. So what is their interpretation of what happened last night?

Let's ask senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta. Hi, Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn. I would say that there has been a change in tone. Yesterday, they were saying that this was not a referendum on the president. They were saying that this was about a bad map that they were fighting on Mitt Romney's turf. They are still saying that somewhat.

But I did talk to a White House official earlier this morning, Alisyn, who said that they are clear-eyed about these results. They do get it over here at the White House. And when they say they, they mean that to include the president as well.

So yes, you're right. The president will be holding a news conference this afternoon at the White House. He'll be asked all of these questions, was this a shellacking? He'll have to come up with a new phrase for that.

But they are a bit shell-shocked over here about the results last night. I don't think they were anticipating so many Democrats to fall. But one thing that they have been preparing for, I'm told by a White House official, is a GOP Congress.

Dennis McDonaugh, the White House chief of staff, has been quietly reaching out around this town over the last several weeks to prepare for that potential outcome. Now that it's here, they feel that they're ready for it.

At the same time, we should note that the president did reach out to Mitch McConnell last night, the incoming Senate majority leader to congratulate him. They did not connect, but the president did leave a message -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: All right, Jim Acosta, thanks so much for that. I hope they were prepared for the outcome of the Senate shifting hands. The writing was on the wall.

CUOMO: Absolutely. The president's team ran away from him in this entire race so this was inevitable. The question is, what do they do about it now? What does it mean for the Republicans going forward? They all have their eyes on the prize. That's 2016. We have an expert panel telling you which team may get there first.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Here's the headline overnight from you the voter. Let's see if the other guys can do a better job. You shifted the balance of power, squarely into the Republican Party's control. Many of you pointing to the dissatisfaction with the Obama administration as the reason, but is it is that simple?

Let's discuss. We have CNN political commentator, Michael Smerconish. We have CNN political commentator, Greg Anthony, and we have wait for it, CNN political commentator, Charles Blow.

We are all qualified to discuss this here. I just said that with your titles. Charles, I'll start with you because you're in studio. Yes, there's anger. We know it red means Republican, and it is also seeing red for the voter.

But do you believe that the Democrats helped the Republican cause last night because of how they ran away from the president? Because they seemed to have no cohesive campaign, they seemed like failures?

CHARLES BLOW, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't go as far as you go with that. But I believe that Democrats are certainly back on their heels. The president does have a point when he says the map did not favor Democrats this time around. You had at least seven Democrats up in, up in --

CUOMO: Purple states, places Romney won.

BLOW: You'll have the exact opposite in two years. You'll have about seven Republicans up in blue states and so you'll go back with a flip here. But they were certainly back on their heels. Republicans did run a very tight messaged race.

Just talk about the fact that this candidate is voting with the president, don't stray, don't flub, and they, they did pretty well with that. So that worked, the president is particularly unpopular now. He's 42 percent approval rating that is the lowest, second lowest since '82. Only George Bush in 2006 was lower.

So they took advantage of it and you also have a lot of money being spent off-cycle, eating away at the Obama brand, both on Obamacare. Also all kinds of ads about impeach now, all of these sorts of things.

And that was chipping away in the right places at the brand so that when you came around to election time, could you just hitch the person who was running to Obama and the damaged brand and say, these are the same people.

CAMEROTA: So Michael, Charles laid it all out, all the factors very well, money, the map and dissatisfaction with President Obama. What do you think the biggest factor last night was?

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: All of which he said is accurate, but I think that Charles leaves something very important off the table. And it's this -- the president has been absolutely gifted in his messaging on two occasions, the '08 cycle and the 2012 cycle.

Beyond that the messaging during his tenure in the White House has been horrific. They haven't sold their own achievements, if they're going to sell their achievements, then why is someone who is running for the U.S. Senate as a Democrat going to take on that cause.

Did anybody in this cycle running under the Democratic banner talk about unemployment being at 6 percent and where's the Dow and consequently where's your 401(k)?

And here are the number of Americans, who have now been covered by virtue of the Affordable Care Act? Instead they put their tail between their legs and ran for cover and so did he. Who was out there fighting that uniform fight? I don't think anybody was.

CUOMO: So Greg Anthony, to you, we know all the reasons that the Democrats weren't supposed to do well last night. Charles laid some of them out. You have a sixth-year presidency. Usually you get a seat swap there. But this did seem like more than that, didn't it?

GREG ANTHONY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Absolutely. That's the reality. You're hearing a lot of spin from Democrats when the reality is, even though the president didn't go out and campaign a ton, he did go to Maryland and he did go to Illinois, and they both lost the governorship.

That's a pretty significant statement against the policies of this president and this administration. And the reality is that people are a little bit fed up. It's going to be a serious challenge for Republicans. I always say it experiences your ability to learn from your mistakes.

They'll have to look back at what happened in '94 and they're going to have to come out and govern and lead and reach across to this president and try to get some legislation that people can agree upon. I think there are a lot of opportunities where you're going to see that materialize over the next two years.

So but to sit here and say this is purely about an inability of Democrats do get their base out, it does a disservice to America. The country elected Barack Obama twice because they're far more sophisticated as a voting electorate.

But that's also a reason they've sent a resounding message to why they didn't support his party and his policies over the course of this last election. And listen, don't think just because Democrats didn't get out a lot of their vote, that means they were disinterested.

They were also disapproving of what's happened over the last several years. You talk about why they didn't talk about unemployment. A lot of those numbers are skewed. A vast majority of new jobs being created aren't full-time jobs. The middle class has been really crushed over the last six years and that's something that has resonated across America. CAMEROTA: OK, so Greg points out that this is an opportunity for us right now. Charles, will either party starting today, seize this opportunity of compromise?

BLOW: I think we can all hope. I think the American people -- I disagree with a lot of what was just said. But I do believe that the American people are disenchanted. They want to believe that government can work. And I think that all of us, I mean even, in the political classes, we want to believe that it's not irreparably broken. There is very little incentive to give your opponent anything that looks like a win.

CUOMO: There may be a window here for that. And let's go to Michael Smerconish for this, Michael, because I've heard you talk about this a lot. Yes, negativity got them through the midterm. It will not get them through the general. The Republican Party showing they win midterms. They don't general elections. They don't win president cycles.

So they are motivated to show a different side to themselves going into 2016 and the Democrats are completely lost. They need to find a way positive going into 2016. Do you see a window?

SMERCONISH: Yes. I think the Republicans have earned an opportunity for some rebranding. I think they desperately need it frankly in time for 2016. This is their chance to turn away those who say you're only the party of no. In order to do that Mitch McConnell and John Boehner are going to have to get together. I think they will.

In fact, Chris, I think they'll get together ala Newt back in the '90s and come forward with a mutual platform that's acceptable to the House and to the Senate Republicans and then put some of those proposals in front of the president.

Now if those proposals are the getting rid of Obamacare, then it's a net loser for them. But if they are things that appear compromising to the American people, then the pressure then shifts to the president so that he, too, can be someone who compromise.

CAMEROTA: We'll have to leave it there. Let's leave it on the shiny optimism note that we've just struck. Michael, Greg, Charles, thanks so much. Great to see you, guys.

Well, the American political landscape shifting wildly overnight if you're just joining us and New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie, could benefit from this Republican tidal wave. Does it come too soon to help him in a possibly White House run? He'll join us live momentarily.

CUOMO: We're also going to go to Kentucky and speak live with Mr. Rand Paul. We want to get his take on the future of Congress. He seemed to have his eyes squarely on 2016, even last night, even before the returns came in. Where does he see his party going? Where does he see himself going?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CAMEROTA: All right, breaking news, Republicans seizing power in the Senate, coupled with the House they have their biggest political advantage in 07 years, 7-0, I just said, Chris. So what does this mean for the president and the rest of his term? We'll hear from him just before 3:00 this afternoon.

But for now, let's go to Washington where our chief national correspondent, John King, is standing by. John, give us your thoughts.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, the president's tone today I think is critical because he's waking up in a very different America than he was first elected in. Let's let the colors do the talking before we go through the numbers.

This is the House of Representatives. Look at all that red and I just want to go back in time, this was the House of Representatives right after the president was elected, 257 Democrats and a majority back in 2009. Now again watch this.

And it's everywhere, it is everywhere, look at every region of the country, blue up here when the president was elected, blue down here in the southwest, blue here in the southern states, in the Midwest, up in New England, now watch all this change, this is how America has changed in the two Obama midterms, a whole lot more red.

Now he's dealing with the highest Republican majority, somewhere in the ball park of 250 in the House of Representatives since World War II. That's the House perspective. Now let's flip over and remind people what happened last night when it comes to the United States Senate.

We started the night with 55 Democrats that includes two independents and 45 Republicans. We've had almost a total flip there in the numbers. Here's where we are now. We haven't called the Alaska race yet, waiting for absentee ballots.

Louisiana will be a runoff in early December and the Virginia race so close we'll wait until they count the votes there. At the moment we're at 52-45 expectation and let's let them count the absentee ballots.

But Dan Sullivan, the expectation is the Republican will pick up that seat as well and right now the polls show in our exit polls show in the runoff the Republican is favored in the Louisiana Senate race so most people think we'll have 54-45 and Mark Warner will hold on here, but Ed Gillespie still in contention.

But Alisyn, even it plays out 54-46, look at the change, Democrats, the president loses a seat here in North Carolina, loses a seat in the Midwest, loses a seat out here in the west so regionally, ideologically, the country changed dramatically overnight.

The question now is, A, what is the president's tone today, is it conciliatory and B, let's remember the Republicans now control the Senate and the House, there's an obligation on them to what will their tone be, where will they compromise and how will they deal with internal differences.

We watched this play out with the Tea Party last year in the House of Representatives and Ted Cruz pulling at Leader McConnell, now Majority Leader McConnell. So the math has changed. The maps have changed. Now the question is, will Washington change? Will it be confrontation continues or compromise enters back into the dictionary here?

CUOMO: If we can't get that ambitious, John, the Republicans now are in the position of having to figure out what they asked for, now that they got it. You know, what do they have to do going forward controlling their own party to show who they are? And as Ari Fleischer laid out, to be a party of ideas, obstructionism and negativity got you this far, won't get to you the next level.

KING: Part of it depends, Chris, the answer to that question on what kind of a Republican Party do you want to be. Do you want to be a majority Congressional party, a majority House party or do you want to be, remember, if we go back and look at the presidential race.

Let me come back to the other map, look at a presidential race the Republicans won big last night that does not mean they solve their demographic problems. It does not mean they won over African-American voters because they didn't.

It does not mean they won over Latino voters, they did perhaps a little bit of progress there, but at the presidential level Republicans are looking at a map that looks something like, this maybe their situation is a little improved today, but they have no huge breakthrough.

So do you want to be a presidential party or are you content to be the legislative party in the country, and I know you're going to talk to Governor Christie and Rand Paul, those are two people who are studying this map, trust me, very well.

And that is the challenge for the party to try to change your own demographics and to build on this victory, not look at it and say see, we're great.

CAMEROTA: We will be talking to Governor Chris Christie about that and so much more. John, thanks so much for that.

CUOMO: Governor Chris Christie says, look at that, we are great. They'll take a moment to say that, the head of the governors organization for the Republicans. There's a lot of news to look at in this election and we have it for you, so let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": This is a major projection, the Republicans are going to be the majority.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are heading to Washington and we are going to make them squeal!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks like it is a good night for America, looks like the Senate has changed over to Republican hands.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tonight Kentuckians said we can do better as a nation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's really a repudiation of the president's policies but also Hillary Clinton.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The country was counting on us to help deliver a Republican majority to the Senate, and we delivered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Good morning again, everyone. And welcome to a special edition of NEW DAY. It is Wednesday, November 5th, 8:00 in the east. I'm Alisyn Camerota.

CUOMO: I'm Chris Cuomo. We have Michaela Pereira here as always also. We have the whole team together to get through this wave of change so remember the passion the Democrats had brought in the president and everybody in Washington six years ago, that's gone and that has been replaced by the Republicans who are now in power.

The U.S. Senate is a deep, dark red this morning. Look at how the balance of power has shifted in just 24 hours. Democrats came in, 55- 45 advantage, now lost at least seven seats. They're definitely out of control. The question is, how deeply out of control they are, a few races still have to be decided.

CAMEROTA: Chris, we saw this same story in the House with Republicans gaining at least 14 more seats, giving them their largest Congressional majority since World War II. And in governors' races, the GOP added at least four seats, also on the ballot for the midterms, recreational marijuana is now legal in Washington, D.C., and Oregon, with Alaska appearing to follow suit, but the numbers there are still being tallied. We'll have full coverage of all of the latest developments for you.