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CNN Live Event/Special
Trump Gears Up For Return To The White House, Harris To Young Supporters: "It's Going To Be Okay;" Trump's Second Term Priorities Come into Focus; Trump Wins White House; GOP Takes Senate; House Still Up for Grabs; Republicans Preparing Their Agenda for Second Trump Term; Health Experts Worry About RFK Jr.'s Potential Role In Trump White House. Aired: 8-9p ET
Aired November 06, 2024 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Right. Which is crucial. And, of course, as I know Elie you believe that it is possible that the Special Counsel Jack Smith, even though Trump has made it clear he will fire him, could come out with a full report, even though that case could go away. And we we'll see if that will happens, that could be very important just for the historical record.
So Elie, thanks very much, I appreciate it.
ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Thank you.
BURNETT: And thanks so much as always to all of you for being with us on this historic day. Our special election coverage continues now with Anderson.
[20:00:39]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": A live view of our nation's capital, Washington, DC as Donald Trump is preparing to return to the White House. The greatest hope of many Republicans, and the worst fears of any Democrats now becoming a reality.
This is CNN's special coverage, Election Night in America continued, I am Anderson Cooper.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: And I'm Jake Tapper, tonight, we are all breaking down the implications of Mr. Trump's historic and sweeping presidential victory, the monumental shift in American politics and what it might mean for this country over the next four years.
The former and now future president getting a call today from Vice President Kamala Harris officially conceding the election, setting the stage for a peaceful transition of power.
Mr. Trump will assume the presidency for a second time with Republicans in control of the US Senate, aiding his agenda. Still undecided whether the GOP will keep control the majority of the House of Representatives, or whether Democrats will win it back and gain a check on the Trump administration's power. We could get an update on that this evening. Anchors Kaitlan Collins and Abby Phillip are covering every angle of the Trump victory and the Harris defeat and what might happen next. First to Kaitlan in West Palm Beach, Florida near Mar-a-Lago. Kaitlan, what is happening inside Trump world nearly 24 hours after his historic victory?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake , things have been moving quick and moving very fast behind the scenes as Donald Trump himself has basically been on the phone all day long. I've talked to people who have been around him who say, essentially his phone has been glued to his ear as he's been having conversations, not just with tech leaders, with Republican allies, also world leaders have been making their phone calls, knowing that they are not bracing for a Trump return to the Oval Office and what that is going to look like.
And while he is on the phone, his aides have been working on the transition process and what a return to the White House is going to look like and I am told that what Trump is seeking to do in part of this is reward those who have been loyal to him over the last two years. His access to influence has changed greatly since he last left Washington.
He is going to be seeking to reward those people. People like Elon Musk, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Howard Lutnick, and others and Kristen Holmes, we have been talking to sources all day about this at really what this process has looked like behind the scenes. It has almost been frantic to a degree as people are either jockeying for positions, or seeking to gain influence, and also just still processing that this race was decided as soon as it was.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, when it comes to people jockeying for positions, a lot of them that I'm talking to, people who have actually made pitches for themselves or for others are being incredibly careful. They want to tiptoe around Donald Trump in the sense that they are trying to figure out ways to say they want to serve him without looking like they want something. Donald Trump does not react well when people come to him saying, they just want something.
As you noted, there are a lot of people in line to be rewarded by the former president because of their loyalty when others were not there, and because they were by him on the campaign trail, Elon Musk, RFK, Jr.
RFK, Jr., there was a lot of negotiating behind the scenes before he endorsed Donald Trump and dropped out of the race. What exactly he was promised seems to vary, depending on who you talk to. He obviously has said, he has been promised some kind of Cabinet position or overseeing all of these health organizations. We have heard from your interview with Howard Lutnick that that is likely not possible.
But there are a lot of people who are seeking rewards and pitching themselves right now to Donald Trump and Susie Wiles and those in his inner circle trying to get traction on a potential administration post. COLLINS: Yes, and with the Senate make up, how it is now, maybe it is possible. Who knows, Jake, obviously, these are a lot of outstanding questions they are trying to answer here in Palm Beach, Florida.
TAPPER: All right interesting stuff. Now, let's go to Abby Phillip anchoring here in Washington, DC.
And Abby, you covered Vice President Harris' concession speech today. She urged her supporters to accept the results and commit to a peaceful transfer of power. Let's run a little bit of that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS (D) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A fundamental principle of American democracy is that when we lose an election, we accept the results. That principle, as much as any other, distinguishes democracy from monarchy, or tyranny. And anyone who seeks the public trust must honor it.
At the same time, in our nation, we owe loyalty not to a president or a party, but to the Constitution of the United States.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
And loyalty to our conscience, and to our God.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:05:15]
TAPPER: Abby tell us more about the vice president's message and what comes next.
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR OF "NEWSNIGHT WITH ABBY PHILLIP": Yes, Jake, this was a year of incredibly consequential speeches for vice president Harris and this speech that she delivered today is certainly one of them. This was her moment to speak to thousands at Howard University, her alma mater , where they gathered last night hoping for the best and that night ended not the way she wanted, or any of them wanted. And she was speaking to millions of Americans who now, frankly, feel lost.
This was a speech that was about fundamentally the path forward and the key part, Jake, of what she said was that, she concedes the race, but she does not concede the ideals of her campaign effectively.
Now, the question becomes, what does the Democratic Party do? What role does Kamala Harris have in it? And, Jeff Zeleny, you are here with me here in Washington, as we have been covering the last 24-36 hours for Harris and her aides.
It has been incredible whiplash and she had a really tough job tonight, which was to capture the anger, the fear, the confusion, and move people into a forward-looking posture, as they face what she has been telling them is going to be an existential threat to the country. JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Abby, it was so extraordinary. This is the speech, obviously, she did not want to give. Concession speeches are not ones candidates like to give. They do not always come. But she did appear at Howard University to her supporters. The emotion there that we could see, tears in the eyes of supporters. That happens.
PHILLIP: Especially young people, I mean that was so extraordinary to see.
ZELENY: Without question.
PHILLIP: So many of these people, young women, for whom this is probably their first election. It was a woman, a Black woman. There was deep heartbreak there she knew she was speaking to.
ZELENY: There absolutely was, and I was talking to people in the crowd, there was a difference of reaction between the younger women and people who had seen this before in 2016. There were so many memories of that. This was a very different race, such an accelerated race. I was struck by, she said, I know many people feel like we are entering a dark time, I hope that is not the case.
She was as optimistic as possible, but also pretty real. The reality is, she has 75 more days to be serving in the White House here behind us. She is the vice president, I am told, she will go about her day job, but also she is going to be focusing on her future. We do not know what that is.
As of now, she is as much the leader of this Democratic Party as anyone. I think she exits this race with her head held fairly high as we begin sort of deciphering what happened. It is not all on her. It is on the party. It is on President Biden without question.
PHILLIP: Well, speaking of President Biden, he's going to be entering the conversation tomorrow as he speaks in the Rose Garden and addresses the American people tomorrow morning at 11:00 AM, Jake.
That will also be for President Biden, one of his final moments to really speak to what the country is about to face in the next four years as a change of administration happens here in Washington, once again.
TAPPER: Indeed, Abby and Jeff, thanks so much. And a little house keeping now. CNN can now project the Vice President Kamala Harris will win the state of Maine and three of the state's four electoral votes. Remember Maine like Nebraska awards its electoral votes according to the Congressional District, that is why Donald Trump is picking up the one electoral vote by winning Maine's second Congressional District, that brings Mr. Trump's electoral votes as of this hour to 292, Vice President Harris' total as of now is 226. There are few states that remain uncalled as of now.
Let's talk about the vice president's concession speech. I want to play a little more and get your reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: To the young people who are watching, it is okay to feel sad and disappointed, but please know that it is going to be okay.
On the campaign, I would often say, when we fight, we win. But here's the thing, here's the thing, sometimes the fight takes a while. That does not mean we won't win.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: That is a nice concept, what she is saying, in comforting words. They are not the same words that we heard from her and her allies as we led into election night, in which he was called a fascist, this would be the end of democracy. I think Oprah said something along the lines of this might be the last vote we cast, et cetera.
DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR AND POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is somebody who is trying to obviously hold up the people who voted for her, perhaps hold out the possibility that she could try to get on the ballot again. She just turned 60 years old.
But also, I think that you sort of mentioned as at the top of the show and I believe that it bears repeating that broadly, the fact that she even gave this speech shouldn't be noteworthy, but it is.
[20:10:27]
It is noteworthy, because we haven't heard a concession speech, we did not hear it four years ago, when Donald Trump lost the election. I remember being with John McCain when he gave his concession speech back in 2008. It was one of those genuinely, heartfelt speeches, and it did help to at least, we thought, really try to heal the country and change for different reasons.
But I think what you are getting at here, Jake, is that, she is saying the right things, but it is also very clear that the Democratic Party she is talking about isn't really clear what it is after last night's election.
CHRIS WALLACE, CNN HOST, "WHO'S TALKING TO CHRIS WALLACE": I just want to push back on this idea. I know it has been said a few times, that what is her future, and that she is the leader of the Democratic Party.
She is not the leader of the Democratic Party.
BASH: No.
WALLACE: My experience in doing this for a long time is, parties don't like losers. They particularly don't like a loser that is letting Donald Trump back into the White House. There have been many more beloved losers in either party, I think of somebody like Walter Mondale, who had a lot more credibility in the Democratic Party than Kamala Harris ever had. Kamala Harris, one of the things she has said a lot during the campaign is we need to turn the page. I don't think that Democrats -- they can't wait to turn the page on Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, because frankly, this is going to be seen now as a failed presidency.
TAPPER: Yes.
WALLACE: And with the vote, the only way to read the vote was the majority of Americans did not like the way the Biden-Harris administration ran this country and they want to see something different from the Democrats.
TAPPER: The 2024 Republican Party did embrace a loser just for the note, and he became a winner again. One thing, you are talking about turning the page . On Monday night, David Plouffe, the senior advisor to the Harris campaign said, he thought, Harris could win all seven swing states.
Earlier today, after the prediction clearly felt short, he wrote, "It was a privilege to spend the last hundred days with Kamala Harris, and the amazing staff led by campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon who left it all on field for the country."
"We dug" -- and this is the part that's important, "We dug out of a deep hole but not enough. A devastating loss. Thanks for being in the arena, all of you."
The 'dug out of a deep hole' is implicitly a slam on Joe Biden.
BASH: Yes, I think it is even more than implicitly.
TAPPER: Explicitly.
BASH: Explicitly, they are very clear about that. And we don't know, it is an unknown whether or not Joe Biden would have done much worse. Maybe New Jersey, which was a lot closer than Democrats expected, even though the Democrats won, maybe that for example would have gone for Donald Trump and not Joe Biden.
But despite what David Plouffe is saying today, and it is understandable that he is trying to maybe clean things up a little bit, we heard yesterday from the Democrats, in the Harris campaign, and the Republicans in the Trump campaign, the same thing. Our data shows that we are doing well, that we are closing well, that we'll be good and only one of the campaigns was right, with their data and that was the Trump campaign.
WALLACE: No, and there's is no question that there was a deep hole, and it was the hole that Joe Biden with his policies on inflation, and the economy, and foreign policy, and immigration, dug for the party.
I mean, the one, the thought -- this idea that Joe Biden would have run closer to Donald Trump than Kamala Harris, you know --
TAPPER: Maybe the Joe Biden of 2020. WALLACE: Yes, but not the Joe Biden of June 28th, after the debate that you and Dana did. But the question that I think people will ask is, if he had stepped out after the midterm, a very successful midterm, and thrown the party open to a full nomination process, first of all, I don't think it would have been Kamala Harris, it would have been to somebody else, and could they have beaten Donald Trump? We will never know that. But I think that is the only sensible question you can ask.
TAPPER: If it hadn't been, Kamala Harris, it would've been a much more strong and much more battle tested Kamala Harris who had won the primary system. But I understand your skepticism, certainly.
WALLACE: Yes, but -- right.
TAPPER: Just to add, Donald Trump is pledging to keep his campaign promises. What are those campaign promises? We are going to take a deep dive into what a second term is going to look like, that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:18:47]
COOPER: You are watching CNN's special live coverage of Donald Trump's historic victory. Tonight, the former and future president is vowing to keep his promises he made on the campaign trail. Right now, there's breaking news involving Donald Trump's unprecedented criminal convictions.
CNN's Paula Reid is here with the details. What are you learning, Paula?
PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: So, Anderson, speaking with sources, I am told that Trump's legal team will try and get his upcoming sentencing in New York following his conviction on 34 counts of fraud, they are going to get that canceled.
Historically, they have tried to get things delayed or pushed back. Here, I am told, they are going to argue with the court that as President-elect, Trump is entitled to the same protections as a sitting president and should be protected from state actors, including prosecutors.
The judge here, Judge Juan Merchan, has given himself a November 12 deadline to decide if this conviction should be tossed because of the Supreme Court's immunity ruling this past summer. Now, if tosses the conviction, there will not be a sentencing, but I am told the Trump team here, they are going to continue to fight to make sure this is not just delayed, but that this never happens.
COOPER: All right, Paula Reid, thanks very much.
Kristen Holmes has a report from West Palm Beach. Kristen, what are you hearing about the second term and the transition that is already underway? HOLMES: Well, Donald Trump has made a series of promises for the last two years and some of them, people are wondering, how exactly he is going to get done.
[20:20:12]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES (voice over): President-elect Donald Trump already has a lengthy to-do-list.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Promises made, promises kept. We are going to keep our promises.
HOLMES (voice over): Promises he made during his campaign, starting with immigration.
TRUMP: We have got to have the largest mass deportation effort in history.
Going forward, the future children of illegal aliens will not receive automatic US Citizenship.
HOLMES (voice over): Vowing to immediately go after millions of undocumented immigrants, calling for a ban on sanctuary cities, a death penalty for human traffickers, and to reinstate his travel ban on people entering the US for predominantly Muslim countries.
TRUMP: I will send Congress a bill to ban sanctuary cities in the first day that I become president.
I will immediately restore and expand the Trump travel ban on entry from terror-plagued countries.
HOLMES (voice over): On the economy --
TRUMP: Tariffs are the greatest thing ever invented.
HOLMES (voice over): Trump has promised massive tariffs on foreign goods, despite economists saying, American consumers are likely to pay the price, as well as ending and cutting specific taxes.
TRUMP: My plan will massively cut taxes for workers and small businesses, and we will have no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and no tax on Social Security benefits for our seniors.
HOLMES (voice over): Trump has claimed he could end the conflict in the Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine war immediately.
TRUMP: We are going to take care of Israel they know that.
I will stop the chaos in the Middle East, and I will prevent World War III from happening.
Before I even arrived at the Oval Office, shortly after we win the presidency, we, we win the presidency, I will have the horrible war between Russia and Ukraine totally settled.
HOLMES (voice over): While not offering any explanation of how. He has made commitments on changing the education system.
TRUMP: On day one, I will sign an executive order, banning schools from promoting critical race theory or transgender anxiety.
And I'm going to close the Department of Education and move education back to the states.
HOLMES (voice over): Trump has also promised to go after his perceived political enemies.
TRUMP: For those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.
I will appoint a real special prosecutor to go after the most corrupt president in the history of the United States of America, Joe Biden and the entire Biden crime family.
HOLMES (voice over): Including Firing Special Counsel Jack Smith.
TRUMP: I will fire him within two seconds.
HOLMES (voice over): Trump has also made promises to those prosecuted for their actions on January 6th.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you pardon the January 6th rioters who were convicted of federal offenses?
TRUMP: I am inclined to pardon many of them. I can't say for every single one, because a couple of them, probably they got out of control.
HOLMES (voice over): And while unlike some other Republicans, Trump has stated, he does not want a national abortion ban.
TRUMP: No, I am not in favor of an abortion ban. But it does not matter because this issue has been taken over by the states.
HOLMES (voice over):His administration could implement new restrictions without passing a federal law.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Right now, Anderson, what is going on is that the transition, the wheels are already in motion. The people who would put in these laws or these kind of policies into place, they are currently meeting with transition officials, likely going to meet with former President Donald Trump, or President-elect Donald Trump, and they will be put into positions of power to actually implement the things that Donald Trump has promised.
COOPER: All right, Kristen, thanks very much. I'm here with the team in New York. David Urban, let me start with you. How do you think this transition, and what do you think they learned in the first transition that they're going to implement this transition in?
DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: They have already signed the lease for GSA. I think that, that is a start, right, getting the building's basement. There's like a whole -- there's a mechanical part of this that takes place in terms of getting people into place, getting FBI files, people starting to get vetted.
If you look, there's a book called the Plum Book, which is as 4,000 Schedule C jobs that need to be filled from lower-level policy positions all the way to Cabinet secretaries. It is a daunting task.
And so, what Howard Lutnick has been doing, he's been trying to assemble kind of an A-list of people to be submitted to the president and his team, this close adviser, group of advisers, to kind of go through and vet and say, you know it's like collecting baseball cards when you are a kid, got it, need it, got it, need it, kind of like it.
And they're going to through and figure out who they want to interview and interview, and then, they'll vet those folks and then the president will finally pick.
COOPER: And somebody who has been done for the Project 2025 thing, do you think that's going to be because Democrats made a lot out of it. I am not bringing it up to do that.
URBAN: No, it's great, so the AFPI, the American First Policy Institute I think is, if you are going to look at an organization that has as much credibility within, and standing within this group, the American First Policy Institute --
[20:25:09]
COOPER: That was a group that started I think just a couple of years ago --
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: A lot of former Trump senior --
URBAN: Trump administration in exile, right. And so, a lot of people, they are credible folks have been working out things, kind of thoughtful things.
And so, if you are going to look, if you want to go to a website and see what might it look like, the Trump administration, Brooke Rollins ran it with Linda McMahon and they have credible folks there working and so that's probably as much of a blueprint I have got.
COOPER: Linda McMahon is now co-chair of --
URBAN: Co-chair of Howard Lutnick, so, they are serious people. There are going to be credible people in these positions and the notion that this could be filled with crazy people, I think is, exhale, Van, it is going to be okay. And again, the big positions I think are, who is going to be the chief-of-staff of the president? Who is going to be the White House counsel? Who is going to be attorney general? Those are probably the most significant jobs.
COOPER: Are you confident that they can find responsible people?
GRIFFIN: Well listen, at the speed of --
COOPER: Who would want to work with him?
GRIFFIN: A couple of things, I think they will be able to move much quicker. They know how to staff these roles. They have had soft of this administration and waiting these various outside groups. The conservative politicians too as well.
I was a little heartened by some of the folks who are involved in the transition.
Robert Lighthizer, who worked in the previous Trump administration, John Ratcliffe, these are serious people, they served in positions of government. They are policy minded. I think the senior tier is going to be people that at least could credibly get through Senate confirmation. I think it is the next tier of people who don't have to go through the same level of vetting.
But you're going to see some folks go in that are going to make people uncomfortable --
COOPER: Absolutely.
GRIFFIN: In West Wings, in Cabinets, people who in these second-tier roles have a lot of power.
I am curious about this, though, the Schedule F executive order. Because I saw it when I was there. They were ready to do it at the end of the last Trump administration. That would have basically made all civil servants fire at will. So, that Trump would have way more hiring power to put his loyalists into those roles.
That is where it becomes incredibly complicated and also, I think risky when you're talking about pandemic preparedness, disaster management, an all of these things that require decades of just expertise in that field.
DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: This is the thing, Steve Bannon has been talking about this for a long time, basically politicizing what are civil service positions, bringing them undertow. It's like, they call it the assault on the deep state, it is an assault on people who are confident and have expertise in different areas.
One thing that was mentioned in Kristen's piece was ending the war in Ukraine in 24 hours. I woke up this morning to "The Washington Post" and it said some US adversaries rejoiced, Russian officials appeared giddy at the news of Trump's victory. Kamala is finished, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev wrote on X, let her cackling infectiously.
That did not make me feel good.
VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: When we say adversaries, you mean our enemies, the enemies of America.
AXELROD: Just reading from "The Post."
JONES: I'm just saying, the enemies of America are happy. That's not a good thing and I also think, you know, basically when you start a new administration, it is like a startup. You've got to hire a bunch of people. There is a process for doing that. The people have to go before the Senate. Even just from a point of view of public embarrassment, those people are usually halfway decent.
But as you start drilling down, the people, I call them the B team, the people that will be there every day, six o'clock in the morning, midnight, they're judgment matters. Their discretion matters.
What they think, who they know, who they call on matters, and there are a layer of people that are frightening, that are lining up to come into the government. The difference now is, when Trump went in the first time, it felt like a fluke, and some people were afraid to go. This historic level of victory for Trump, when he gets the White House, the Senate, possibly the House, the Electoral College, the popular vote, everybody is going to be willing to go and serve.
So, he could pick from the best of the best, but the worst of the worst are lining up and that's a concern.
COOPER: Let's go back to Jake.
TAPPER: All right, Anderson, thanks so much. Here, we have more unfinished business, CNN can project that Donald Trump will be the winner of the State of Alaska with its three electoral votes. Donald Trump wins Alaska, as you can see on the board there, that only leaves Nevada and Arizona uncalled by CNN, as of right now.
Donald Trump's big win last night of course smashed the Democratic coalition. So, we're going to dig into our exit poll data for clues next as to where some key voting blocs are shifting with Trump heading back to the White House.
Plus, we are going to track those outstanding contest in the fight for the control of the House of Representatives. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:33:30]
TAPPER: Welcome back. "Election Night in America Continued", right now, we continue to track all the latest reaction to Donald Trump's stunning victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. Let's go to David Chalian. Now, he's digging deeper into some of the exit poll data. And David, you're looking at how some traditionally Democratic voting groups shifted toward Donald Trump. Tell us what you're finding.
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yeah, some key demographics where we see a real shift toward Trump, Latino voters, the one that jumps out off the page of the exit polls. Jake, here you see Harris won Latino voters' 52 percent to 46 percent. That's a six-percentage point advantage. They make up about 12 percent of the electorate. Joe Biden four years ago had a 33-point advantage over Trump with Latino voters. Trump increased his support by 14 points.
Take a look here among young voters, Harris wins them 54 percent to 43 percent. They are 14 percent of the electorate. She's in an 11-point advantage there. This was a much bigger advantage for Joe Biden four years ago. Looking at those who earn less than $100,000 a year, Trump wins these voters 50 percent to 46 percent. They are 60 percent of the electorate. Six out of 10 voters earn less than $100,000 a year. I just want you to know Biden won these by 13 points four years ago. Trump flipped it. He wins them by four.
And independent voters, 34 percent of the electorate. That is a big increase in the share of the electorate that says they're independent. It was only a quarter four years ago.
[20:35:00]
Harris wins them 49 to 46, a three point margin. Biden won them by 13 points. So Trump narrows the margin with independents by 10 points from four years ago to last night, Jake.
TAPPER: All right, now to John King at the Magic Wall.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And Jake, David lays out all the progress Trump made with different demographic groups. This is how it ends up on the map. This is the presidential race by county. There are 4,100 something counties and townships across the United States of America, right? So you can look at it statewide like this red states and blue states. But if you look at it, one of the conversations Democrats are going to have after this election is maybe we should stop calling this flyover country. They're hardworking Americans, like David just noted, people who make less than $100,000 a year and these are red states, so are Democrats going to flip them right away? No, but they better learn to understand and to communicate with these people.
Now, I want to follow up on one of the points David just made, and ask him a question about it actually. I just want to come down here and show, he was just talking about Trump's growth among Latino voters. So let's bring this in right here. These are counties across the country where the Hispanic population is 30 percent or more, right? That's what you're seeing on the map right now. They are mostly, you see some in Florida, a little bit in the east, but they're mostly, as you come here into the Southwest. If they're blue, Harris won them. If they're red, Trump won them.
So I would just want to walk through this, right? Democrats have been saying for years, we're going to make Texas competitive. We're going to make Texas blue. Look at all these counties where the Hispanic population is 30 percent or more carried by Donald Trump in the state of Texas. People at home are saying, oh, well, Texas is Republican, don't make such a big deal about that.
Well, let's move over to New Mexico, still a blue state, but a narrower margin that we've seen in years past. If you look at that right there, and again, look at Trump winning these counties where the Hispanic population is 30 percent or more. And then I want to bring David in on this point. Come over here. This is Arizona, right? A battleground state that Donald Trump is -- we haven't called it yet, but he's leading it. And David, you see there, even here, Pima County, it's a big county. Tucson, second largest county in the state, below Maricopa County.
Yes, Harris wins this county with 41 percent. But look at the -- look at the difference. Trump gets a little bit of points. And then you come down here to the border, Santa Cruz County, right at the border, right? Trump against Biden gets 32 percent if you round up there and then bam, up to 40 percent. So it's the growth, David, among these Latino voters in Arizona, in Nevada that are making those battleground states trended his way, at least in this cycle. And you see it in other places as well. It just makes the Republican coalition bigger, stronger, wider.
CHALIAN: And part of what is delivering him this popular vote majority, this big electoral majority, is that he's losing places by less, right?
KING: Right.
CHALIAN: So even though he's losing there, he's losing by less. And he's doing that all over the country. But in Arizona specifically where you are, he increased his share of the Latino vote, his support by five percentage points from four years ago. That makes a difference.
KING: That's enormous.
CHALIAN: Yeah.
KING: It's enormous in a place like that. And Jake, before I come back, I just want to do the flip side of that. Come back out to the national map and let's bring in these counties now. Now we're looking here, let's come all the way out. And you're looking here where the Hispanic population is 30 percent or more. Now I'm going to bring in the other big thing that we know Trump did yesterday, cutting into what is traditionally a Democratic base. This is the African-American population. So now, you're looking at African-American counties. This will slide out of the way in just a second and you can see more of them.
But you see all these counties, this is where the African-American population is 30 percent or more. You see a lot of red on that map, don't you? You see? Just bring one out here. Let's just go into Georgia and bring it out. Donald Trump winning counties where the African-American population is 30 percent or more. That used to be, the math worked this way, you have 30 percent or more of the black vote, that's a foundation for the Democrats. Then you just got to get to 50, right, in those counties.
Donald Trump is proving again, at least in this election, Jake, his coalition is expanding and the Democrats need to go to school and figure out what happened here.
TAPPER: All right, John King, thanks so much. In addition to the White House, the Republican Party also picked up the U.S. Senate last night. Joining us next, a Republican Senator who is now vying for majority leader, Florida's Rick Scott is standing by.
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[20:43:00]
TAPPER: Welcome back to "Election Night in America Continued". Tonight, Former President Donald Trump is preparing for his return to Washington after nearly four years in political exile. The White House is set, but let's dive into the balance of power on Capitol Hill. Republicans we know will take control of the U.S. Senate, but the outcome in the U.S. House of Representatives remains uncertain at this hour. Boris Sanchez is looking at where things stand. Boris?
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah, Jake, the House is still up for grabs, but things are trending in a specific direction. I'll explain in just a moment. First, let's look at the state of play, the balance of power in the U.S. House. Democrats hold 191 seats with two pickups, Republicans 208 with six pickups, 30 seat -- 36 seats remain yet to be determined. You need 218 for control of the chamber. So you see Republicans are only about 10 seats away. When it comes to Democrats trying to take control of the chamber, let's talk about the magic number that they need.
Right now, Democrats need eight Republican seats. They need to flip those eight Republican seats to take control of the chamber. They're currently leading in four Republican districts, and that's not really an indicator of the whole picture because Republicans are currently leading in two seats where Democrats hold that district. So really it's a net gain of two seats for Democrats, far below the eight that they would need.
Let's look at some key race alerts right now to show you where things stand in two very important races. The first in New York's fourth district, this is in Long Island, a district that Joe Biden won by double-digits back in 2020. There, Laura Gillen, the town supervisor has a lead of about 6,000 votes against incumbent Republican Congressman Anthony D'Esposito, a former NYPD detective. 92 percent of the vote in that district in New York, the Democrat in the lead, poised to potentially flip it.
The opposite is true in Alaska's At-Large district. Here, you have Republican Nick Begich currently leading against incumbent Democratic Congresswoman Mary Peltola. Peltola a freshman, the first native Alaskan to ever serve in the U.S. Congress.
[20:45:00] She actually won two years ago in large part because Alaska has ranked choice voting, and she went up against two Republicans who effectively canceled each other out. Now, only going up against one Republican, you see where it stands. She's 11,000 votes ahead, 71 percent of the vote in, in Alaska. Jake?
TAPPER: All right, Boris. With Republicans taking the U.S. Senate and Mitch McConnell, the current Republican leader stepping down as the Senate Republican leader, there is now a major job opening and Manu Raju is diving into who is hoping to succeed the Kentucky Senator and carry out Trump's agenda on Capitol Hill. Manu?
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right. And in fact, this majority at least will be 52/48. It could be up to 54/46, depending on how the Nevada and Pennsylvania races shake out. Those races Republicans currently leading in those Democratic seats. But let's look at the three candidates who are vying for one of the most powerful jobs in Washington, to be the Senate majority leader. Now, one of them is Senator John Thune. He's the current number two, the Republican whip.
He's had this -- been in the Senate since 2005. He did back Tim Scott, the Republican Senator, for president. He had a bit of a fraught relationship with Trump for some time. He has tried to bolster those ties as of late, but he's also facing up against Senator John Cornyn. Cornyn was a two-time Chair of the Senate GOP Campaign Committee, himself a former Republican whip, used to be the number two in that position. He has spent years trying to build a fundraising apparatus, spending -- pouring millions of dollars into his potential votes, his colleagues campaign accounts over the many years here. But, the question is, will that ultimately help him get the votes at the end of the day?
And then there's a third candidate in this race, Senator Rick Scott. He's -- he just won re-election last night to his second term in Florida. He was a former Senate GOP campaign chairman himself, trying to align himself more as being the Trump candidate in this race. He did back Trump before the Iowa caucuses, but he is seen a bit of more of a long shot in this race, Jake, because this is a race that is typically you win by relationship building within the United States Senate. Cornyn and Thune are seen more of the favorites. This is a secret ballot race, Jake, that takes place a week from today.
TAPPER: All right, thanks, Manu. And joining us now is that long-shot Republican Senator Rick Scott of Florida. Congratulations on your re- election, Senator. Have you talked with President-elect Trump, who I guess is a constituent of yours, about wanting to be the leader of the Senate?
SEN. RICK SCOTT, (R-FL): Absolutely. Well, first off, Jake, when you did my debate back in the 2014 race, we've doubled our votes. We got 6 million votes this time. We got about 3.1 last time, nearly 6 million this time. We won by over a million votes. This state is clearly red. The Hispanic vote, which you've just been talking about clearly was the game changer. La Florida is roja. I've been working to make sure we win the Hispanic vote. We won Miami by 10 points. We won Osceola County, which is primarily Puerto Rican. We won that one. We won all of our major cities, the counties there and except for one, the -- I put a lot of effort in making sure we get the Hispanic vote. They -- I think they -- we did it because they know that Republicans are going to help them.
My case, what I always talk about is living the dream of this country, we all need to do it, didn't matter the color of your skin, you ought to have that dream. So I think Florida now has become the center of the Republican Party in the country. And I think the rest of the country can learn a lot about what we've done in Florida.
Now with regard to the Senate majority leader race, I think I'm going to win because I'm talking to my colleagues about what they want and here's what they want. They want change. They want to be part of the process. They don't -- they want to be treated as equals. They want somebody who has a relationship with Trump. They want somebody that has a plan. They want somebody that has a relationship with the House.
I've got a great working relationship with Donald Trump. He supported me when I ran against McConnell two years ago.
TAPPER: Is he supporting you now?
SCOTT: I've got a great working relationship with the Speaker in the House, and I think that they want somebody that's going to get things done, business guys. I'm a business guy.
TAPPER: Right.
SCOTT: We can get our stuff done.
TAPPER: Is Donald Trump supporting you in your race for a majority leader?
SCOTT: Well, we're going to see what he -- what he does. He's been very supportive of me when I ran before. So, I've been talking to him, but we'll see. He's got -- he has to get through his race first, so we'll see what he does if he engages. But I can tell you, my colleagues want change. They want to be part of the process.
TAPPER: Right.
TAPPER: They want -- they know that Donald Trump has got a great mandate. They want that to happen.
TAPPER: Let me ask you, because Donald Trump as you know, and I don't mean this in a pejorative sense, but he is not the most patient individual in the world. And I think he's going to be frustrated if Republicans continue to allow the filibuster because, as of right now, there are not 60 Republican votes, which means that if the filibuster exists, I know you know this, but just for the folks at home, a minority -- the Senate minority of Democrats will be able to block legislation, including the massive deportation process that Donald Trump wants to happen and on and on. [20:50:00]
Are you committed to keeping the filibuster? Mitch McConnell said earlier today that the filibuster should stay.
SCOTT: I believe in the filibuster. But the way you get things done the sooner is you talk to people. What's been happening up there? I've been up here six years. The Republicans and Democrats don't talk to each other. We've got to say what's our agenda. We've got to be clear with our agenda. I'm going to deal -- I've done deals all my life. And the way I got deals done is I said, what would you like to have happen, right? And let's see if we can find common ground.
That's what we have to start doing. We have to have somebody that is going to run the Senate, that's going to work with Republicans.
TAPPER: Yeah.
SCOTT: And work with Democrats and find common ground to get things done.
TAPPER: All right, Senator, thank you so much and congratulations on your re-election. President-elect Trump says he wants RFK Jr. to "Go wild on healthcare." Is it a good idea to give somebody who knows so little about vaccines and science and healthcare, a key role in vaccines and science and health policy? CNN's own health expert, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is going to weigh in next.
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[20:55:00]
COOPER: CNN's coverage of "Election Night in America Continued". One of President-elect Donald Trump's most vocal allies has been Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who Trump has said he'll let "Go wild on health" and "Go wild on the medicines." Kennedy who has a long history of pushing debunk vaccine science is expected to have a lot of influence in the next Trump Administration. Exactly what his role will be is unclear. Today, said he will immediately, those were his -- that was his word, begin studying vaccine safety.
I want to bring in CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Sanjay, what are you hearing from experts in the health and medical community about the idea of RFK Jr. having a role in all this?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a diverse community, so they don't usually speak with one monolithic voice. But I think with regard to vaccines, people are in pretty much universal agreement here that some of his comments really stand the possibility of rewinding lots of decades, generations really of public health advances. So, that is a real concern.
The challenge, I think, is at the same time, he says things that there's a lot of agreement on, the Make America Healthy Again movement. I mean, he's not the first person to talk about this Anderson, but the idea that as -- in the United States, we spend $4.5 trillion on healthcare and we have some of the worst health outcomes in the developed world is true. Again, he's not the first person to bring this up, but those are true statements and a lot of those negative impacts can be attributed to food.
70 percent of chronic disease in this country probably related to how we nourish ourselves. So, we're spending all this money, creating this disease, and trying to fix it. And on that, he makes a lot of good points. Might he be able to get something done in that area? We're not sure. But with the vaccines, I think there's a universal agreement really among medical professionals that he has said some really dangerous things in the past.
COOPER: RFK Jr. office says that he's not anti-vax and I want to play something he said in an interview today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., (I) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not going to take away anybody's vaccines. I am -- I've never been a anti- vaccine. I'm going to make sure scientific safety studies and efficacies are out there, and people can make individual assessments about whether that product is going to be good for them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Do you buy that?
GUPTA: Well, I mean, look, I've covered him for a long time. And frankly, it is -- it is difficult to sort of pin him down because he says sort of two things that are almost the exact opposite. He did this interview with Kasie Hunt a few months ago. Just listen to this and I'll explain at the end.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEX FRIDMAN, RUSSIAN-AMERICAN COMPUTER SCIENTIST AND PODCASTER: Can you name any vaccines that you think are good?
KENNEDY JR.: I think some of the live virus vaccines are probably averting more problems than they're causing. There's no vaccine that is safe and effective.
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: So you did say it. Do you still believe it?
KENNEDY JR.: Well, I -- here's what -- here's what I -- here's what I would say. First of all, I'm not anti-vaccine.
HUNT: How is that statement not anti-vaccine?
KENNEDY JR.: Well, it's -- again, it's this -- I can say right now, there's no medicine for cancer that's safe and effective. It doesn't mean I'm against all medicines. What I want is vaccines that are proven safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: Yeah, I mean, you heard that. I'm not exactly sure what that means. I'm not anti-vax, but I don't think there is any vaccines that are safe and effective. I mean, I don't know what to make of it and I think it's really hard to pin him down. And again, we've been reporting on him for a long time.
Couple of points, first of all, vaccines are tested for safety and efficacy before they're licensed and approved ultimately by the FDA. I mean, there's a whole process. It's very similar to any other drug. They go through these trials. And then with vaccines in particular, like with COVID vaccine, for example, you have billions of people, Anderson, who've taken it around the world. So you have a lot of post- market data, meaning you follow people over time. He has also talked -- he continues to talk about the link between vaccines and autism. He just did an interview in June where he said, again, he believes vaccines cause autism.
So, it's confusing. And to be clear, there've been these huge studies. When I say huge, I mean hundreds of thousands of kids in many, many countries around the world who are followed for more than a decade. Kids who've been vaccinated, kids who've not been vaccinated, follow them along and see are there increased levels of autism in those who've been vaccinated, and the answer is no. This has been a widely studied thing. People were concerned, so they studied it for 15, 20 years worth of data.
There was one study that came out in 2018 that said the kids who were not vaccinated may have actually been more likely to be on the autism spectrum. So, that issue has really been studied. It was raised, you and I talked to Andrew Wakefield many, many years ago. He was the first person to really raise that. It's been debunked, but he continues to bring this up. We don't know what causes autism, but we know the vaccines don 't, Anderson.
COOPER: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, appreciate it. The Trump transition already starting to take shape, our coverage continues just ahead.
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