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CNN Live Event/Special

Polls Open in Multiple States in Historic Presidential Election; Polls Open in Battleground Georgia; Harris, Trump Make Final Appeal to Pennsylvania Voters. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired November 05, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: As the famed political scientist Barry Manilow once said, looks like we made it. It is Election Day in America. Polls right now opening across the East Coast, Midwest, and South. We have a live look at the critical battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, and North Carolina.

One way or another, there will be history. Will Donald Trump be the first president since Glover Cleveland voted out of the White House then voted back in? Will Kamala Harris be the first woman ever elected president?

Just hours ago, both candidates held their final rallies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: All we have to do is get out the vote tomorrow. You get out the vote. They can't do anything about it. We win.

In other words, to make you feel a little guilty, we would only have you to blame.

KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: This could be one of the closest races in history. Every single vote matters.

Your vote is your voice, and your voice is your power.

Are you ready to make your voices heard?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: I'm John Berman in New York. Sara Sidner is in Wisconsin. Kate Bolduan is in Pennsylvania. This is CNN's flagship morning newscast election edition, CNN News Central starts now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: This is it, everyone. We are here in Pennsylvania. This is the battleground that put Joe Biden over the top four years ago, and the commonwealth could be just as consequential this time around. With 19 electoral votes, Pennsylvania is the biggest prize of all the battleground states, the state most visited by the campaigns this year.

And this morning, we are in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. This is Ben Salem High School, which is where we're at right now, where doors are opening. Right now and the polling site is just now, opening up for business today. People started lining up before 6:00 A.M. more than an hour before doors opened here. Three precincts vote here.

I was here four years ago on election night, and this is one polling site that sees a lot of foot traffic and can handle a lot of voters.

Bucks County is one of those collar counties that we talk so much about just north of Philadelphia, and it is considered the swingingest county of this swing state and is known as something of a bellwether for the commonwealth. And today we will find out if that is true this time around.

So, let's go over now to Sara in another critical battleground state.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Kate Bolduan. We are in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, and we're less than an hour away from the first vote being cast in person here and the first absentee ballot being counted in the state. In this state, election officials have to wait to begin counting ballots until polls open.

Now, already more than 1.5 million absentee votes have been cast in Wisconsin. Election officials tell us the state could set a brand new record for early in person absentee voting. More than 41 percent of all active registered voters in Wisconsin have already cast ballots before the polls even open, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

Now, Cedarburg is an interesting place because it has about 12,000 people in it. And we're inside the community gym, and this is the only place in town where people can vote. So, we're expecting to see big crowds here.

Now, Joe Biden won this election in place by 19 votes. He won the state by 20,000 votes in 2020. There's a lot of excitement here as to what is going to happen as they prepare for what could be a record breaking number of voters. And as you know, Wisconsin has ten electoral votes up for grabs. John?

BERMAN: Ten big ones, Sara. Sara Sidner there in Wisconsin, Kate Bolduan in the swing state of Pennsylvania. I, again, am in the non- swing state of New York.

So, let's check in with both campaigns now. Our reporter is covering them. CNN's Alayna Treene is in Palm Beach, Florida, covering the Trump campaign. What's the mood there this morning, Alayna?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, happy Election Day, John. We made it. And, look, I think, today, when I've talked to the Trump campaign about what they're thinking about, they said it really comes down to one issue, and that is turnout.

[07:05:02] Now, just to give you a sense of what Donald Trump is going to be doing, he's going to be at his club, at Mar-a-Lago, back there behind me somewhere. And he's going to be doing some telerallies, but we also expect him to vote in person today with the former first lady, Melania Trump. And then, of course, tonight, he is planning to arrive and give remarks at some point at the Palm Beach Convention Center where they're doing their election night party.

Now, look, we saw yesterday Donald Trump finish off his final day on the campaign trail with a series of rallies across three different states. And the one thing that his campaign kept pushing was this idea of please hit your closing message. And they really wanted that closing message to be, were you better off four years ago than you were today? Take a listen to what Donald Trump told his supporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We do not have to live this way. We don't have to live this way. We're not living -- they do that was good. Can you name one thing?

With your vote tomorrow, we can fix every single problem our country faces and lead America, indeed the world, to new heights of glory. Think of that statement, how beautiful that is, new heights of glory. That's what's going to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, John, that was the type of rhetoric that Donald Trump's campaign had been hoping that he would be using far longer than just yesterday. But he did end up giving that closing message in both Pennsylvania and Michigan.

He also brought up members of his family. I'd note the only daughter who wasn't there was Ivanka Trump. He also did not have Melania Trump by his side, but they were really trying to make a full show of that final rally before today.

And I do just want to go back to what I mentioned at the very top of this, which is that the big focus for the Trump campaign today is turnout. When I've talked to his advisers, they say at this point, the one big question is whether or not their people, the people that they are expecting to come out for them are actually going to turn out to the polls.

And they argued that they're cautiously optimistic. I mean, of course, they don't know anything. We don't know anything about how this is going to go, but they're going to be very closely huddled up. I'm told at Mar-a-Lago, analyzing this data and seeing what happens before this evening. John?

BERMAN: So, they're saying it all comes down to turnout, a novel idea in political coverage. Alayna Treene, thank you for that.

Let's go over to Eva McKend, who's in Washington, where Vice President Harris will be tonight. What's the mood inside the Harris campaign? Eva?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, the Harris campaign wakes up this morning confident they have multiple pathways to 270. And though the cleanest possible path continues to remain the blue wall states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, they have long maintained that they are competing, or have competed rather, in all seven battleground states.

Now, they are expecting near complete results from North Carolina and Georgia probably this evening with the other states soon to follow. But they are saying that they also anticipate that this process could take several days, and that would not be unusual. But throughout, it's important that the team remains calm and confident.

Now, as for the vice president, she closed out her campaign in Pennsylvania, visiting every corner of the state with the same positive and optimistic, hopeful, forward-looking message, as she tried to consolidate a diverse coalition of voters. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: We are the promise of America. I see it in the women who refuse to accept a future without reproductive freedom and in the men who support them.

I see it in Republicans who have never voted for a Democrat before but who put the Constitution of the United States above party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: Now, as for the vice president, we're going to hear her today do several radio interviews. Her running mate, Governor Walz, will be in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. And then the big event is at Howard University, the watch party tonight, a tremendous homecoming for her after graduating from Howard nearly 40 years ago, and a remarkable moment for this historically black college. John?

BERMAN: So, the Harris campaign feeling it could all be decided very quickly, or it could take a while. That narrows it down.

Eva McKend, thank you very much. We'll talk to you again shortly.

Let's go back to Kate in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

BOLDUAN: It could happen quickly or it could take a really long time. Like welcome to Pennsylvania and the voting rules of Pennsylvania, for sure.

So, we're going to continue our coverage here in Pennsylvania. And we're also going to take you live to battleground Georgia as doors are opening right now at polling sites across the state, and as also, as there are early reports of at least one poll worker arrested after making threats to other poll workers.

[07:10:07] And the huge podcast star, Joe Rogan, making an 11th hour endorsement, throwing his support behind Donald Trump. And, yes, you are hearing some DJing going on behind me because we have a D.J. at the polls here in Ben Salem. So, we're just going to keep that going for you.

And also this, an Election Day tradition, the first votes being counted in the country in tiny Dixville Notch, New Hampshire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, we ready for president three for Kamala Harris, three for Donald Trump, following the national trends.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: All right, we are taking a look there. There is Warren, Michigan. Bright and early, and already voters are standing in line and making their choice. It is Election Day in America. Happening now, polls are also open. In Georgia, one of the seven swing states that could determine the outcome of the election.

[07:15:00]

More than 4 million Georgia voters have already cast their ballots.

CNN's Isabel Rosales is in Atlanta. Isabel, what can you tell us? What's the latest there?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Sara. Yes, polls just opened up about 15 minutes ago. And you can still see, in fact, a line of voters still trickling in one at a time, going in there, to cast their vote for the person who earned their vote.

I want to actually introduce you to Elizabeth Gonzales right this way. She was the first person in line this morning. Elizabeth, thank you so much for talking with us. What time did you get in?

ELIZABETH GONZALES, GEORGIA VOTER: I went to get breakfast at 5:00. I got here shortly after 5:00 and I made sure I was first in line.

ROSALES: First in line. So, 5:00 in the morning, two hours before polls opened. Wow.

May I ask you, Elizabeth, is there a particular candidate that earned -- which candidate earned your vote?

GONZALES: I'd rather not say, but, but yes, it was one of the important ones.

ROSALES: Well, between the two major candidates, can I ask you what issues then spoke to you?

GONZALES: Women's reproductive rights and the way that women -- or husbands are sacrificing their wives. Children are sacrificing their mothers because -- and then doctors are being threatened with jail time all because women need their reproductive rights. And, you know, regardless of what side you believe and what's what issues you believe, women have the right to have their health. It shouldn't be, you know, other people outside of the -- you know, it should be between the healthcare provider and the woman.

ROSALES: Yes. And you told me earlier on, you weren't even sure if you were going to vote this time around, right, because of the politics of everything.

GONZALES: Yes, that's because in the 2020 election, everything was like just crammed down everybody's throat and I had it up to here. So, at the last moment I said, you know what? I know my vote -- I know that my vote counts and my voice needs to be heard. So, yes.

ROSALES: Thank you, Elizabeth. I appreciate your time and your voice was heard, and, in fact, the first person in line. Sara, back to you.

SIDNER: It is wonderful to see Americans who really understand that it's so important to take part in this part of our country. She knows her vote counts and she was there bright and early, the first one in line. That was lovely. Isabel Rosales, thank you so much for bringing that to us. John?

BERMAN: And they're early to vote for one of the major candidates, one of the big ones, one of the two. But it really was reassuring to hear someone who thought through the issues so clearly and went out to vote because she wanted her voice heard.

Okay, F around and find out the new warning for Philadelphia's district attorney for anyone planning to intimidate voters in that key battleground state.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anybody who thinks it's time to play militia, F around and find out.

If you're going to try to turn an election into some form of coercion, if you're going to try to bully people, bully votes or voters, you're going to try to erase votes, you're going to try any of that nonsense, we're not playing. F around and find out. That's what we're going to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

BOLDUAN: Welcome back. We are live in Pennsylvania and what you are looking at right there are live pictures across the country. We have Maryland, which is -- polls are open in Maryland, Georgia. Polls are open in Georgia. And Wisconsin, where my friend, Sara, is standing by, polls will be opening there in the next hour. Back here in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. This morning, we know that the candidates, well, they're basically back at home. But some of their final stops were right here in Pennsylvania, where polls are now open across the Commonwealth. Vice President Kamala Harris, she closed out her campaign by crisscrossing Pennsylvania, ending at the Philadelphia Museum of Art on the iconic Rocky Steps. Donald Trump spent part of election eve rallying supporters in Pittsburgh. He then wrapped it all up where he did in '16 and '20 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

And the mood and the messages from the two candidates as we kind of start off and kick off this Election Day could not be more different. What does all of this mean for battleground Pennsylvania?

Joining me right now is CNN Host, Political Commentator, and Pennsylvania native, the one and only Michael Smerconish.

I don't know what you've got where you are, Michael, but I've got a D.J. DJing the polls here at Bensalem High School, which we're going to have throughout the morning. But you are also in Bucks County. Talk to me about where you are and what Bucks County represents in terms of Pennsylvania and where it could be headed.

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Okay. Kate Bolduan, welcome to my hometown, Doylestown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. This is the county. This is the county seat. Behind me, the iconic county theater, where I'll have you know, in high school, I saw the movie, Slapshot, 12 nights in a row. My buddy was the ticket taker.

Bucks County, as you know, is the most purple of the Philly burbs. If it all comes down to Pennsylvania, it's all going to come down to the Philly burbs. Donald Trump has lost this county twice, but by different margins. If he can keep it as close or win it, as it was in 2016, it'll be a good sign for him. If the margin out of Bucks County is as it was in 2020, it's problematic for Donald Trump and it's good news for Kamala Harris.

What's interesting is that the county is shaped like a rectangle. You're in Lower Buck, which tends to be dense and Democratic. And the further north you move, the more rural and conservative it becomes. Where I am in Doylestown, my hometown where I was born and raised, is really a purple area. And as I say, this is the purplest of those collar counties. So, if you know what's going to happen here, you have a pretty good insight into how this all turns out.

BOLDUAN: Yes. I've got some good insight just this morning and speaking to a waste book for the first voter who was heading in this morning. She lined up more than an hour before. She said she wanted to be here to vote in person. She was voting for Donald Trump because she said what your focus was was the economy, the border and foreign policy.

[07:25:00]

I spoke to two other women who also were early in line, Michael, and they said they voted for Kamala Harris because their main issue this time around is women's rights. One of the women telling us, you don't get to tell me what I do with my body, which, really, in just those two interactions encapsulates what this election is all about and the two very different realities, basically, that it seems that the candidates are offering at the end of this campaign.

What are you hearing from your listeners and from everyone you're interacting with in Pennsylvania on where this -- not where this campaign began, but where this campaign is ending for people?

SMERCONISH: You know, if you were a half hour further north, closer to me, maybe that number one voter in the morning would have been my mom, because I think she's already been to the polls. I think this is a nice encapsulation of where the race is nationally, right? For women, it's largely about abortion rights the way that it has been. For Republicans, it's about immigration, it's about their perception of the economy.

In the big picture sense, the reason why I think where you are and where I am right now is so important, is that this is an election that is a battle for suburbia. It used to be, Kate Bolduan, that it would be Philadelphia, you know, versus the rest of the state, beginning with those collar burbs. But the collar burbs, and not just in Pennsylvania, all across America, suburbia has become increasingly Democratic, increasingly purple.

I went back and I looked at Pennsylvania maps since I came of age here in 1980, and it's amazing to see the change that has taken place, the rural areas Republican, the urban areas Democratic, suburbia increasingly purple and Democratic.

BOLDUAN: One thing that we know is votes come in slowly in Pennsylvania. And so just because of the rules, and we can talk more about that, but that means that it's very likely we won't have a result here in Pennsylvania at the end of the night, maybe not even in, you know, into tomorrow. And in that lag is where their fear can be stoked and conspiracies can be launched. And we saw that in 2020. And we've heard even just yesterday, Donald Trump suggesting that cheating isn't already happening, unfounded his accusation, that it could be happening very soon in Pennsylvania.

How is that conversation landing, do you think, this time around, considering the mess post-vote in 2020 that we all lived through?

SMERCONISH: So, I voted by mail like many other Pennsylvanians. I did it about ten days ago. 25 minutes ago, when the polls open was the first time they could touch my ballot and all the other mail ballots because we don't allow pre-canvassing. That's what you're describing. And it's a shame. I wish the legislature could get its act together because then we'd know a victor tonight.

But as you point out, the likelihood is that it's going to go into the wee hours of tomorrow morning. And if it's a close election, what I'm most concerned about, and I'm so glad you're bringing this up, is to tell everybody, be cool, keep your powder dry. It doesn't mean that any tomfoolery, any election chicanery has taken place. It's just the way we count our ballots in Pennsylvania. So, remember, last time, Wolf Blitzer called the election the Saturday after, and that's when CNN was finally able to make a call. And why was CNN able to make a call the Saturday thereafter? Because of Pennsylvania. It could happen again tonight. Then, again, if these polls are all off in a similar fashion, maybe it's not as close as people suspect.

BOLDUAN: That's the fun of today. It could be a long time or it could be super quick. We'll find out together. And that's the beauty of today is we really don't know. What I'm noticing now, though, is I'm sitting in a cloud here. The fog has set in at Bensalem High School. It's really fun.

It's great to see you, Michael. Thank you so much. Happy Election Day.

SMERCONISH: You too, Kate. Thank you.

BOLDUAN: All right. So, as we're talking about Pennsylvania, the center of the universe once again, Donald Trump made two stops here in Pennsylvania yesterday before closing out his campaign in Grand Rapids, Michigan, taking time in his final speech to rehash old grievances, even his disdain for Nancy Pelosi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: She's a crooked person. She's a bad person, evil. She's an evil, sick, crazy woman -- oh no. It starts with a B, but I won't say it. I want to say it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:00]