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Tom Suozzi Won The Special Election In New York; Controversial Former General Claims Presidential Win In Indonesia; Pianist Plays Vertically While Suspended From Crane. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired February 16, 2024 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COY WIRE, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hello, sunshine. Welcome to CNN 10. Go on and smell the flowers and cool the soup. We made it to Friday, baby. Friyay.
Let`s finish this week strong. I`m Coy Wire.
Let`s start today by taking a look at the possible implications of the special election that took place in New York earlier this week. Democrat
Tom Suozzi defeated Republican Mazi Pilip in New York`s 3rd Congressional District election. This election took place to replace expelled former GOP
Representative George Santos, who`s facing federal charges that include money laundering and lying to investigators.
Suozzi`s win is significant because it helps Democrats tighten the already slim majority, the Republicans have in the House of Representatives, their
control now slips down to just six votes.
And the repercussions may not end there. Our Lauren Fox explains what this might mean for both parties as they try to win over voters in the upcoming
presidential election season.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A democratic victory in New York, shrinking an already narrow Republican majority in the
House.
REP. TOM SUOZZI (D-NY): Let me just enjoy this for one more minute, OK?
FOX: As the GOP grapples with what it means for their chances in November.
REP. MIKE JOHNSON, (R) HOUSE SPEAKER: The result last night is -- is not something in my view that Democrats should celebrate too much. There was a
weather event that -- that affected turnout. There are a lot of factors there. That is in no way a bellwether of what`s going to happen this fall.
FOX: Many in the party arguing former three-term, Congressman Tom Suozzi won in a district where he had high name ID against a relatively unknown
GOP opponent.
REP. NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS, (D) NEW YORK: I think it was a little bit of the, you know, the devil, you know, versus the devil you don`t know.
FOX: But the special election in the New York suburbs still a key opportunity for both parties to test drive their messages and assign for
Democrats that they may be able to play offense on immigration. One of the most difficult issues facing them this cycle.
REP. BYRON DONALDS, (D) FLORIDA: If the Democrats are going to try to campaign on wanting to secure the border, we should actually call their
bluff and make them do it right now.
FOX: On the trail, Republican Mazi Pilip hammered Suozzi on the border in a district where a migrant shelter was built just last summer.
MAZI PILIP, (D-NY): We are fighters.
FOX: But Suozzi attacked his opponent for not having solutions. And instead embraced a bipartisan Senate bill aimed at cracking down on asylum
claims and more quickly processing and deporting migrants that come to the U.S. illegally.
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES, (D) NEW YORK: Tom Suozzi talked about issues, fixing challenges, solving problems.
FOX: The district, which Biden one by eight points in 2020 has emerged as a key battleground for Republicans in recent years with a powerful party
apparatus that helped elect George Santos and a new class of GOP congressmen in 2022. Both parties view those suburban districts as key to
winning the majority in 2024.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: Now this year, there are several major elections happening around the world with people in some of the world`s largest democracies, looking
to vote on their next leaders. One of them Indonesia, it`s the third largest democracy in the world with more than 270 million people.
It appears that 72-year-old Prabowo Subianto won the Southeast Asian country`s presidential elections with unofficial results, showing him
winning nearly 60% of the vote. Subianto who`s eight former military general has a controversial pass. At one point, he was banned from entering
the United States.
Our international correspondent, Anna Coren provides more insight on who this new leader is and what it may mean for Indonesia and beyond?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a job that Prabowo Subianto has wanted for a very long time. He sagged a takeover in 1998 after the fall of
the Suharto dictatorship but failed. He ran for president in 2014 and 2019, but lost both times to Joko Widodo and then falsely claimed the election
had been stolen. The 72-year-old will be Indonesia`s next president.
The quick count, a reliable pollster shows he won almost 60% of the vote, which means there will be no runoff. And as the votes were being counted,
he addressed the media while doing laps in his indoor swing.
Well, official results from the Electoral Commission won`t be revealed until next month. When he greeted supporters last night at a Jakarta sports
stadium may as well have been a victory celebration. He received a rock star welcome where he said, this was a victory for all Indonesians. Take a
listen.
PRABOWO SUBIANTO, INDONESIA`S PRESUMED NEW PRESIDENT (through translator): This victory must be the victory of the people of Indonesia. Prabowo,
Gibran and all of the Indonesia forward coalition will embrace all elements and powers and become the president, vice president and government present
for all the people of Indonesia.
COREN: But claims of vote rigging and massive fraud have been made from the other presidential candidates who`ve vowed to investigate. And there
have been a number of small protests staged in Jakarta today.
Prabowo has an alarming history, a former general under the Suharto dictatorship. He`s been accused of human rights abuses, kidnapping, pro-
democracy activists in the 1990s and ordering the massacre of independence fighters in East Timor in the 1980s, accusations he denies.
At one point, he was banned from entering the United States and Australia. But Prabowo has had a dramatic image makeover. Thanks in part to a slick
social media campaign, perhaps most importantly has been the endorsement by President Jokowi. He`s still wildly popular and credited for the country`s
solid economic growth, but he`s reached his two-term limit and cannot run again. But his elder son, 36-year-old Gibran Rakabuming Raka is Prabowo`s
running.
Now, it`s important to note that half of Indonesia`s voters are under the age of 40. Many weren`t born or too young to remember Prabowo`s alleged
human rights abuses. And of course the narrative has been rewritten. Prabowo is now a statesman, cuddly grandfather. He loves to dance on stage
and who`s campaigned as a continuity candidate.
But critics are very concerned about what this means for the world`s third largest democracy. And if Prabowo, who has previously said that Indonesia
needs an authoritarian leader under his reign, the country will slide back to its authoritarian past.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: Pop quiz hotshot.
A typical full-size standard piano has how many keys on it?
108, 88, 72 or 61.
If you said 88, great, great, great. A standard piano has 88 keys, 36 are black representing sharps and flats. The 52 white keys are the natural
tones.
Today`s story getting a 10 out of 10, a pianist putting on a praise, worthy performance, playing in a perpendicular position to a plethora of people
below.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More than 30 feet above the ground, Swiss Pianist Alain Roche plays a piano hanging vertically in the air, suspended from a crane.
The artist says the piece entitled, winter solstice for the audience in Munich, Germany to listen to nature as part of his piano vertical art
project.
He plans to change the musical composition every day based on natural sounds around him, Roche says he`ll perform in the peace for 182 days from
winter solstice until summer solstice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: Very cool. All right. We are off on Monday in observance of the federal holiday Presidents` Day, and then I`ll be missing you the rest of
the week due to winter school break here in Georgia, but we`ll have some guests filling in. It`ll be awesome. And you will see me for a very cool 10
out of 10, where I ask celebrities for their tips for success for you.
Before we go, shout out time. Let`s go up to Ansonia, Connecticut to give a salute to the Chargers at Ansonia Middle School. What up Mr. Lynch?
And this shout out goes to Ms. Marsh`s class at St. Martin High School in Ocean Springs, M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I, rise up lovely people. From me and my
CNN team, have an awesome holiday weekend.
Make someone smile. Remember you are more powerful than you know. I`m Coy Wire. It`s been a blessing to spend this week with you.
END
