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State of the Race with Kasie Hunt
What do 2023 Election Results Mean for 2024 Presidential Race; Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Chris Christie, Tim Scott & Vivek Ramaswamy to Take Part in Debate Tonight; New CNN Poll: Trump Leads Biden in Hypothetical Rematch; U.S. Lawmakers Spar over Censure of Rep. Tlaib; Democrats Get Big Wins Amid Dismal Biden Poll Numbers; One More Thing. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired November 08, 2023 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KASIE HUNT, CNNI HOST: Democrats are celebrating this morning in red states and purple how Republicans can't win on abortion.
Plus debate night in America. Just five Republicans will be onstage tonight in Miami. But without Donald Trump does the race per second place really
even matter?
And censured. Twenty-two Democrats vote with Republicans in a rare rebuke for the Palestinian American Congresswoman who defended a pro-Palestinian
chant that the Anti-Defamation League calls Anti-Semitic.
Good day. I'm Kasie Hunt to our viewers watching in the United States and around the world. It's 11 a.m. here in Washington Wednesday, November 8th,
just nine hours until tonight's Republican Presidential Debate, 362 days until Election Day. This is today's "State of the Race".
Democrats woke up thrilled this morning after voters handed them a string of victories last night especially on abortion rights. One Senate
Republican saying the elections were a "Complete failure" for their party.
Meanwhile, new CNN polling shows the Democratic President behind Donald Trump in a hypothetical rematch in 2024.
About last night, Democratic Governor Andy Beshear won a second term and deep red Kentucky defeating Republican Challenger Daniel Cameron who had
close ties to Trump and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): The candidate should show vision and not sow division. And then a clear statement then anger politician right here right
now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: In Ohio, an overwhelming votes to enshrine abortion access into the state's constitution there. And in Virginia, Democrats not only kept
control of the state Senate, they won the House of Delegates and therefore total control of the state legislature a defeat for Republican Governor
Glenn Youngkin who thought he could win total Republican control.
One of the only bright spots for the GOP Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves won re-election beating out Democrat Brandon Presley who was the second --
is the second cousin of the King. Now all of this comes despite rough poll numbers for President Joe Biden, the latest to CNN survey of registered
voters shows former President Trump leading Biden 49 to 45 percent.
We'll dig into those numbers in a second. But let's first bring in today's panel. Republican Strategist Doug Heye Former Communications Director for
the RNC, CNN Political Commentator, Kate Bedingfield, former Biden White House Communications Director, and Molly Ball, Senior Political
Correspondent for "The Wall Street Journal".
Welcome all, thank you for being here. And it's been a long 24 hours for everybody covering all of this. But it came -- just let me start with you,
because it's very clear that abortion is that was my big question going into the night was abortion going to be as potent of an issue as it has
been in the other elections we've seen since the fall of Roe? And it seems to me that the answer is yes, absolutely. What's your take?
KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Absolutely. I mean, the answer is yes across the board. We saw it in Ohio and a state that Donald Trump
won by eight points and 2020. We saw it in Virginia where it was interesting to me that Glenn Youngkin was so aggressive about claiming that
he had charted out sort of compromise position for Republicans on this issue.
He sort of tried to take on this issue head on for them. And voters rejected it entirely and said, you know, actually rolling back protection
from 26 weeks to 15 isn't a compromise; it's actually just a ban. So it was interesting to see the potency and also to see amidst all of the
anticipatory chatter leading up to Election Day about how dire things were for Democrats?
How dire they were for Joe Biden? It was interesting to see that on the issues -- on this issue of abortion, I would also argue on a lot of the
issues that Governor Beshear ran on some of the kind of, I would argue core Biden economic issues, voters were still incredibly motivated to turnout
for Democrats.
So that's a great sign for Democrats as they move into 2024. But it was interesting to see that it was still so motivating for voters --
HUNT: Yes, although I mean, my only counterpoint to that would be that Beshear's favorable ratings are considerably higher than the President.
BEDINGFIELD: But however, we also have not entered into the 2024 cycle in earnest yet there has not been a full throated campaign where you have the
contrast between Trump and Biden. And I think, as the campaign there's so much room is what am I trying to say? There's so much room for Biden on
these issues.
HUNT: Yes. You know, so look, I'm glad you raised that. Because one thing I do think and the way I kind of want to set up this conversation for
everyone who's watching is to talk about what we saw in this last year's election, or especially around abortion? And what it tells us about what
we're going to see in 2020, because Beshear who won re-election in Kentucky put out an incredibly powerful ad.
[11:05:00]
It's powerful because it's also a very, very tragic story. But I think it really provides a roadmap and honestly preview some of what we are going to
see over the next year on this issue. This is an ad from a girl who is only named publicly as Hadley, watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was raped by my stepfather after years of sexual abuse. I was 12. Anyone who believes there should be no exceptions for rape
and incest could never understand what it's like to stay in my shoes. This is to you Daniel Cameron; to tell a 12-year-old girl she must have the baby
of her stepfather who raped her is unthinkable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: I mean, Doug Heye that's an absolute gut punch.
DOUG HEYE, FORMER RNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Yes, whenever you're in a campaign and an ad comes out that you know, that you can't really respond
to effectively, it's always a single person looking in the camera telling their story.
And when somebody tells their story, looking to a camera, it is always powerful. And my goodness was that ad powerful? And really moved that --
HUNT: And the story --
HEYE: -- that election to not just being a popular incumbent winning, but part of the larger narrative of why? And how often do we hear candidates
say, said that an issue is on the ballot when it's actually not on the ballot, in this case.
And also last year, what we've seen is it is an issue that is on the ballot, both in legislative races and in, you know, moves that states are
making to amend their constitution. And Republicans are legislating out loud on this, which means they get defined by their more extreme state
House or State Senate. It's a problem nationally, all politics on this issue are not local, they're national.
HUNT: So Molly Ball, if that kind of an ad is what we're going to see, a lot of, I would -- I suspect in 2024, there is something that is going to
come back to haunt Donald Trump the likely Republican front runner?
And while he has tried to stake out a relatively Glen Youngkin moderate position on abortion, the reality is, the Democrats do have a pretty potent
fact in their arsenal that they're going to be able to use in campaign ads. I want to show everyone one sound bite that I have a feeling Democratic ad
makers already paying attention to take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, 45TH U.S. PRESIDENT, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Getting rid of Roe V. Wade was an incredible thing for pro-life because it gave pro-life
something to negotiate with. Pro-life had absolutely nothing being stuck in Roe V. Wade to negotiate with. But for 50 years this has been going on, I
was able to do it. And I was very honored to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: I was able to do it. I was able to overturn Roe, it's going to come back to haunt him.
MOLLY BALL, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Yes, I would say to Doug's point, I mean, one argument that you hear Republicans
making is that overturning Roe V. Wade was a means of returning this issue to the states and to, to essentially local governments.
And so what we saw last night, these were all state level elections, and voters are saying all right, if you return it to the states, this is where
we're going to vote on it. Does it then continue to be a national issue? Or are Republicans able to avoid it at the national level by making that
argument?
The other thing is Trump has had this very interesting dance on this issue, where unlike his competitors in the Republican Presidential Primary, he has
tried to avoid and sort of walk back his pro-life position, saying that -- that banning abortion is cruel.
That the six week bans are not a good idea, sort of running away from that decision that is -- that that he did, right? He's the one who put those
Justices on the Supreme Court and enabled it to overturn Roe V. Wade. So I think it's going to be a very interesting debate on this issue in the
presidential election, it could look different than what we're seeing in these off year elections.
BEDINGFIELD: And I would expect in 20 -- to your point, Molly in 2024, you will see the Biden campaign use every arrow in their quiver to ensure that
voters know where Donald Trump stands on abortion to --
BALL: Do you know where Donald Trump stands on -- ?
HUNT: -- to your point.
BEDINGFIELD: Well, I know that I know that he appointed three Supreme Court justices to overturn Roe and bragged about it. And so --
HUNT: And that's a by the way, is one of his campaign, any clips where he talks about overturning Roe?
BEDINGFIELD: Absolutely, absolutely. And the Biden campaign certainly knows that holding Donald Trump accountable for that is critically important. So
I would anytime you hear, as you rightly point out he's already tried to do it. Anytime you hear Donald Trump tried to weasel out of that position, I
would expect certainly the Biden campaign and Democrats to be incredibly aggressive in holding his feet to the fire.
BALL: The other thing that you heard him saying was that we can negotiate and we can find a middle ground and we can make everybody happy. That was
the position that Glenn Youngkin and the Virginia Republicans they said we are going to restrict abortion more than it currently is. But that is going
to represent a compromise. Voters at least in Virginia which is a bluish state but voters did not buy it. They said we don't want you to take away
what we already have.
HUNT: Right. Well I mean, in look the Virginia elections two are about candidates there's obviously more than just abortion on the ballot when you
look at a redder state Ohio. I mean the numbers from last night's you know, shining that in the constitution 10 plus points I mean that's a blowout in
a state that is more you know honestly much redder than Virginia.
[11:10:00]
I mean, look, the reality too. I mean, Trump is kind of, as we know, in his own category of what voters will accept from him and what they're willing
to believe? And how they're willing to think about him? But for Republicans for whom the laws of typical political gravity apply, this is a tough issue
to talk about. And one of the -- one example, I think, is how Vivek Ramaswamy tried to talk about this with my colleague last night, on the
air, take a look at his idea.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just to be clear, you think the issue is how Republicans are talking about abortion or talking about
contraception and adoption, not the actual issue of being against abortion access?
VIVEK RAMASWAMY, U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (R): Not just talking about it, as I mentioned, Kaitlin. But I think being willing to stand for
substantive provisions in the law, that codified greater responsibility for men, in cases of confirmed paternity tests, and also greater access to
options like contraception, adoption, and otherwise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Doug Heye more laws about sex, definitely winning definitely a winner. What is your take?
HEYE: Clearly he was thinking out loud. He sounds a bit like a bot, who's programmed to say certain words that he thinks makes sense. But this word
salad also tells us that the good news is, at some point, whether it's after tonight, or in the coming weeks, we'll stop talking about Vivek as
much as we have been.
HUNT: But I mean look, this is the sort of greater point here, Kate is that this is a very hard issue for Republicans to talk about. And we also could
have shown Glenn Youngkin, talking about abortion. He was very defensive in the last 24/48 hours.
BEDINGFIELD: Yes.
HUNT: It's not quite as you know, fun I guess. It's much more typical Republican sound bite, but it's really hard for Republicans?
BEDINGFIELD: Absolutely. And Youngkin -- I mean, you mentioned Youngkin, you know, when he was interviewed by your colleagues last night, he you
know even before it became clear that he got his clock cleaned. He was very -- even then his language was very sort of, traditionally pro-life.
I mean, he sort of started by saying, you know, I want to forge this compromise. But then, you know, he just proceeded to -- he didn't mention
anything about protecting a woman's right to make a decision with her doctor. He didn't speak in a way that spoke to moderate voters or for
certainly didn't speak to voters who are focused on trying to protect abortion right.
So it you know, he -- it underscores I should say in articulately. It underscores your point; it's very hard for Republicans talk about this.
They have not found a solution. But it also goes to it's hard for them to talk about it because their position is not popular.
HEYE: The Dobbs decision was the dog catching the car bumper, and then they figured out oh my gosh, we have no idea how to talk about this or how to
legislate on it?
HUNT: Right. And we're seeing the results play out. All right, we're going to take a pause because we have so much more to talk about today. Coming up
on "State of the Race" debate Night in America, fewer candidates going to get to be on stage, but is it still too many we're gonna get a live report
from Miami straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:15:00]
HUNT: Welcome back. The Republican presidential field narrowing slightly about two months out from the Iowa Caucuses five debates -- five candidates
will be on the debate stage tonight in Miami. Still no Donald Trump, all eyes on Nikki Haley who has been rising in the polls after her previous
debate performances.
CNN's Steve Contorno joins us live from the debate site in Miami. Steve, it's always great to see you thank you for being here. Obviously Ron
DeSantis, who I know you've covered extensively in your career as a as a Florida reporter and now for CNN really on the spot tonight as he has
fallen out of the honestly the first place in the race for second place. I think I can never exactly quite get that right. But he's he and Nikki Haley
are already kind of sparring behind the scenes. What do you expect?
STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Yes, exactly. And it's funny Kasie, I remember going to DeSantis events early in this race. He went to South
Carolina and I tried to ask him about Nikki Haley. And he wouldn't even take bite on the question.
Well, now he is being forced to confront her because she is surging in the polls. She has matched his standing in Iowa. She is beating him or his
cooler or they're neck and neck in New Hampshire. And she is well ahead of him in South Carolina. He is now running ads, where he is criticizing her
stance on China. You're probably seeing them on our network over and over again.
And I think that is going to be one area where he is going to try to go after her again, is this? This this assertion that she was China friendly
when she was Governor of South Carolina? She obviously contends that, you know, all Republicans were just trying to recruit people to get people back
to work at that time.
So but we have definitely seen these two go head to head and this they have been on a collision course for these debates for weeks now. And it'll be
interesting to see where other candidates make space for themselves and try to continue to contend that they deserve to be part of this conversation.
When it really at this point we can the case for a Trump alternative is really coming down to these two candidates.
HUNT: All right, Steve Contorno for us in Miami. Have fun tonight, I always love a good spin room. Alright, my panel is back with me now. Let's talk a
little bit about the presidential race. The debate obviously, you know, we'll see Doug, but it's starting to feel like they these -- yes things
that Steve I'm not trying to discredit what Steve had to say there.
You know, tell people not to watch it. But also like it's messing around with the undercard. But it's not really changing anything about the status
quo, the race?
HEYE: No. And I think that comes back to those candidates who all of whom, with the exception of Christie and Asa Hutchinson made a decision months
and months ago that they weren't really going to go after Donald Trump.
And in fact, when he would get indicted, what you would typically do in politics, whether you're running for mayor or city council or Senate is
you'd use that against your opponent. But what Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis and everyone else did is they reinforced Donald Trump's messaging, which
meant where Republican voters supposed to go then and where are they supposed to go now?
And if you're going to set yourself up as the Trump alternative, the way to do that tonight is show that you can take on Donald Trump, not that you can
take on Ron or Nikki or Vivek or anyone else. That's the challenge for them and they don't really want to do that.
HUNT: Molly Ball would this have been different if Ron DeSantis had come out of the gate criticizing Trump and particularly Trump's legal troubles
or would you think this would just be status quo?
BALL: I think it would have been different if DeSantis had run a stronger campaign. I think there was a big expectation that he would blast out of
the gate and immediately be a contender.
[11:20:00]
And instead, what we saw was even before he announced his campaign, and then when he had that disastrous announcement on Twitter, he just continued
to disappoint as a campaigner, and continued to fade and so would he have been able to prosecute the case against Trump on the legal stuff?
I don't know. It does seem that, you know, the argument Trump is making to the Republican base about being victimized by the legal system the Witch
Hunt narrative that goes way back to his presidency that is a powerful argument with Republican base voters.
There's also been a lot of discussion about, you know, should DeSantis have tacked to the center and tried to run more on sort of competency as a
contrast to Trump. And that is what we see Haley trying to do now and she's probably going to get some criticism for it from DeSantis and from Tim
Scott, who are saying, you're going for.
You know, the Never Trump errs are going for the centrist. That's not where our party is. But would that have been a more successful strategy for him?
I think we'll never know.
HUNT: Yes. I mean look, I think it's true that that's not where the party is, but also, the party is currently losing elections. And let's really dig
into that OK, because obviously, I'm going to put this up the latest Trump Biden CNN poll came out, we released it last night, seven o'clock, excuse
me, shows Donald Trump with 49 percent, Joe Biden, with 45 percent of the vote.
Some tougher numbers buried in there, showing that Latino voters just narrowly prefer Biden 50 to 46. 23 percent of black voters like Trump. And
then when you look at age voters under 35, it's like evenly split Biden 47, Trump 48. So those are all the Democratic problems, right?
But then I want to show you this "New York Times" a piece of this "New York Times" story, because the big X factor is whether or not we're going to see
an election where we have a convicted felon running against an incumbent president because it is entirely a possibility.
"The Times" writes "If the Former President is convicted and sentenced, as many of his allies expect him to be, in the January 6 related trial held
next year in Washington, around 6 percent of voters across Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, say they would
switch their votes to Mr. Biden. And that would be enough to decide potentially, to decide the election". Kate, do you agree with that?
BEDINGFIELD: I want to agree with it. You know, as an American, I want to agree with it. But I also, you know, it is -- it has been disheartening to
watch his indictment, after indictment after indictment is piled up. And a huge number of voters in this country don't express any concern about that.
So I -- you know, I will be honest, I have my doubts about whether at the end of the day, even if he's convicted, that would be the factor that would
swing the election again, I would hope so. But I think you know remember, this campaign is going to be run over the course of a year on issues that
we have seen you know as recently as last night, motivate voters to come out abortion.
Some of the key economic issues that are central to the Biden platform. You know, I know Biden is going to focus a lot on turning out young voters and
talk about what he's done on student debt and other pieces of his record that haven't gotten as much and that and that have a stark contrast with
Trump.
BALL: Well, let's put that -- I mean, the 47, 48 on young voters that's tough for Biden.
BEDINGFIELD: It's and I think part of part of that is because Trump has in a strange way has kind of receded to the background. To the extent that
he's been public it's been in the context of these trials, which are troubling. But do not directly in many ways do not directly impact the
lives of the American people. They don't impact the life of your family?
HUNT: There are about --
BEDINGFIELD: Right. You're not sitting around thinking like, oh, my God, if the Trump Organization is devalued? What's that going to mean for my family
right? So I think as Trump -- if he becomes the nominee, as it seems he will, and he comes to the forefront, and then we're having this debate
about issues and about you know Trump's own record, by the way.
He is also an incumbent. I just think it's a different conversation. So you know I'm a little dubious, but I hope as an American, that if he is
convicted, that would be dissuasive to a significant number of voters in this country.
HUNT: What do you think Doug?
HEYE: The question of conviction goes to the argument of whether or not Donald Trump is elected certainly -- electable again. Certainly the numbers
that we see are very troubling for the Biden campaign and should be cuts into some of those Republican arguments of Trump's on electability.
But that's also because they haven't been making them essentially, for a year. And so if Donald Trump gets forget convicted, indicted you can say
this is why Donald Trump can't win. He's distracted.
HUNT: Well, he's going to be indicted for crimes.
HEYE: But that's what I mean. When he was indicted he's going to be distracted. He's going to be in courtrooms. We need somebody focused every
day on beating Joe Biden and Donald Trump can't do that. They not only failed to make that argument.
They reinforced his core messaging, which again means it shouldn't be a surprise that Donald Trump is so strong in the party right now. His
candidate -- his opponents have essentially not been opponents and that's helped him every step of the way.
HUNT: Molly Ball, how do you see I mean, this particular question because it also you can play out the flip side right if people watch Donald Trump
getting thrown in jail and he's continuing to make this argument the system's rigged against me?
[11:25:00]
This is a third world country. There's a lot of anger that that's going to touch off. And it's dangerous, I think.
BALL: Yes. And the undermining of the rule of law is very troubling. And the way that he has sown doubt in the legal system, and really all of our
institutions and continues to do so. Look, I do wonder how much of this is sort of priced in, right?
Going back to again, when he was President in a lot of polls, you saw majorities of Americans believe Trump was a criminal. And many of them were
prepared to vote for him anyway. So does that change? If you know the justice system puts its stamp on that conclusion? Or have people sort of
accepted that about him?
And they just go on with -- again, as Kate was saying, the issues that are more important to their lives? You know, I think we hear two schools of
thought coming out of last night's elections, one says, well, you know, polls don't matter elections do.
Those constituencies that are going wobbly, for Biden, the young voters, the minority voters in particular, those are Democratic constituencies.
They come home at the end of the day. They certainly don't go to Trump. But the other school of thought is, well, if the Democratic brand is strong
enough to win in all these places, maybe Biden's the problem, and it speaks to his weakness.
HUNT: I guess we'll see. I mean, I will say, I've always found it to be a bit alarmist when Republicans and Democrats say this is the most important
election of your lifetime. Everything is on the line; it's all going to fall apart if we don't do it.
I get why they make that argument? But it always has struck me as a little boy who cried wolf. I don't think that's actually the case. I think this
this coming election actually is, could stand up to be one of the most important elections potentially in American history for all the reasons
that we are talking about here.
So buckle up. Here we go. All right, coming up next, a rare move by the House of Representatives lawmakers voting to center Democratic
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib over her comments about Israel we'll discuss ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:30:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. RASHIDA TLAIB (D-MI): My criticism has always been of the Israeli government and Netanyahu's actions. It is important to separate people and
government Mr. Chair, no government is beyond criticism. I can't believe I have to say this. But Palestinian people are not disposable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Alright, let's get back to today's panel on this. Molly Ball, this is clearly an incredibly emotional issue. But the reality is this phrase from
the river to the sea. It means functionally if it were actually to be played out in real life, it would mean the elimination of Israel. And
that's why the ADL calls it anti-Semitic.
Rashida Tlaib obviously is at the center, there were 22 Democrats who voted to censure. Where does this go from here, because this is becoming a very
emotional, explosive divisive issue inside the Democratic Party?
BALL: That's right. And you saw that the 22 Democrats who crossed party lines to vote for that center last night. This is something that has
caused, you know, shouting matches within the Democratic Caucus in the House, a lot of frayed tempers and hurt feelings. And we're seeing it play
out all over America in the protests in the anger.
And I think it's something that is going to continue to split the Democratic Party, I think it's part of what we've been talking about with
Joe Biden's weakness with young and non-white voters as well. Those are a lot of the voters that we're seeing and polls are more sympathetic to the
Palestinian cause.
Biden is sort of on the same page as Democrats have historically been with his strong support for Israel, including the Israeli government, including
President Netanyahu, who he's not necessarily had the easiest relationship with. But that's something that has inspired a huge amount of anger.
And when you have a sitting Congresswoman, calling the President of her party complicit in genocide, that's not something you can really walk back.
And coming from a state, Michigan where there's a large Arab American population, many of whom are very angry at the President about this. This
has significant political implications.
HUNT: Kate, I mean, this is honestly Karine Jean-Pierre has struggled with this from the podium at the White House. And clearly, the Biden team is
trying to do one thing behind the scenes to try and push Israel toward a slightly different place than they are now. But they clearly don't feel
that they can do it in public. I mean, what should we be understanding here?
BEDINGFIELD: Yes, well, that's, that is a key, what you just said there at the end is a key piece of understanding Biden's strategy. You know, he
obviously went to Israel just a few days after the attack, which many people were surprised that he would make that kind of show of support, but
also take a trip in which the outcomes were not baked.
And we did not know what he was going to be able to get out of the trip. But the thing to understand about it is that in addition to obviously
showing support for Israel after they had been attacked by a terrorist group, he was also going to try to maximize his leverage and helping keep
Netanyahu, keep Israel from making what could be a rash movement that would cause the conflict to spiral.
He really wanted to use his leverage to try to maintain a level of calm now that's, you know, it has now been a month and tempers continue to be very
high, which is understandable. This is incredibly emotional. But I think, you know, for Biden, I would imagine, he will continue to move forward from
a global strategic perspective, trying to do everything he can and use every again, quiver in his -- everyone's quiver, I guess, to try to, to
keep to try to keep things from spiraling.
And so if that means, you know, not publicly taking a swipe at Netanyahu in a moment where he's privately trying to negotiate a situation where we can
get additional hostages out of Gaza, then he's going to do that.
That doesn't mean that the public component of this isn't incredibly emotional and incredibly hard. We obviously are seeing it play out. You
know, the one thing I would say about the politics of this, to the point to your point about kind of the younger, democratic piece of the Democratic
coalition, I would go back to the conversation we're having earlier about who their alternative is.
I mean, if they're upset with Joe Biden, because they believe he hasn't been supportive enough of Palestinian Americans, they're going to do we
really believe they're going to turn to Donald Trump who instituted a Muslim ban. So I think, as we think about the electoral politics of this,
you know, that's, that's worth thinking about, too.
HUNT: Right. Well, let's show a little bit more of the debate around this from the House floor yesterday, as Republicans and Democrats debated
whether or not to do this, because I do think it's worth underscoring that a century it's only happened 26 times in American history.
It's a pretty rare, rare thing, even though there's no actual practical implication, really, it's considered to be very, very significant. So let's
watch a little bit of that debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MAX MILLER (R- OH): Well, I believe that actions have consequences. And I believe that after a long string of anti-Semitic remarks and hate
filled rhetoric centers and appropriate consequence for the Gentle lady from Michigan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gentleman's time is expired.
[11:35:00]
MILLER: Never again, damn it means never again.
REP. JAMAAL BOWMAN (D-NY): Please stop misrepresenting Representative Tlaib's words. Without her voice we would like even more empathy for the
people of Palestine, maybe because of your lack of diversity, you lack the cognitive and emotional ability to recognize diverse opinions when they
speak truth to power.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Yes, I mean, look, this is also a bigger and very thorny and difficult debate about who can lay claim to a history of oppression and,
and victimization. That is a very difficult one to get into. Doug, I'm curious for you. Republicans obviously led the charge on this.
But it was a resolution that was it was washed back a little bit, it was won by a more moderate Republican Congressman than Marjorie Taylor Greene,
whose efforts to do this were rejected as being inflammatory. What's your sense of how the punishment fits the crime in this case?
Because I think what I wonder is, you know, and this also goes back to people yanking each other off committees and Republicans, you know, getting
rid of Adam Schiff on Intel and Swalwell, et cetera, et cetera. Our politics has gotten to the point where nobody can talk to each other.
And they start, you know, people have started using tools in ways that are punitive, potentially. And there's also been some back and forth on other
issues, where Democrats tried to censure Republicans, et cetera, et cetera. What is your sense of how it was used in this case, and what that
represents more broadly?
HEYE: Well, there's a motion also on in front of the House right now to censure a Republican for something he said, I'm no fan of what the
Congresswoman said and whether she's anti-Semitic or not to steal a line from Andrew Gillum. The anti-Semites believe that she's an anti-Semite, and
I think that's significant here.
But I worry as an institutionalist of the House of when we go through these processes of anybody I disagree with, we're going to censure there's
obviously motions to expel George Santos from the House. We haven't expel expelled a member since I think 2002 for somebody who was convicted of
bribery, the previous time 1980 or 81, convicted of bribery.
Our politics have gotten so personal that clearly has affected and infected the House of Representatives as well. And if we think the situation can't
get worse, with everything of what we've dealt with in the House over the past month, they surely can. And this is a mechanism for how.
HUNT: I mean, if we learned anything under the Trump Administration, if you think it can't get worse, just watch, it will. All right, what are the
takeaways from last night's elections for 2024? I'm going to discuss all that with Ohio Congresswoman Shontel Brown.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:40:00] HUNT: Welcome back. So how did last night go for Republicans? It was a "Complete failure" according to one Republican Senator. Last night,
Kentucky's Democratic Governor swept to victory. Democrats won complete control of Virginia State Legislature and voters in Ohio overwhelmingly
backed abortion rights.
Let's bring in Ohio Congresswoman Shontel Brown. Congresswoman, thank you so much for joining us today.
REP. SHONTEL BROWN (D-OH): Thank you for having me.
HUNT: Let's start with your home state of Ohio, because there is also a pretty interesting election coming up in 2020, not just the presidential
race, but Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown is going to try to hang on to his seat as a Democratic statewide elected official.
You're on the ground in Ohio. You saw the results from last night as well. What was your takeaway about how Democrats should be running on this issue
in Ohio?
BROWN: Well, thanks for having me, first and foremost. And as you can see, abortion is certainly a winning issue for Democrats no matter how -- how
many times we continue to win. I think we are the seventh state who has enshrined reproductive rights into their constitution.
Republicans continue to dig their heels in on this issue in the wrong way. This was a big win for Ohioans, for women, for families. And essentially,
we have come together in great numbers, both I believe, Democrat and Republican, to say that we want the freedom to make our own health care
decisions without the interference of government or fear of being criminalized.
And that's exactly what a yes on Issue One did. So I could not be more proud of the voters and the volunteers who worked tirelessly to get us to
this place called victory last night.
HUNT: So, Congresswoman, these victories for Democrats across the board last night, I don't want to mince words. That's what they were. They come
as there are still some tough numbers for President Biden when we look at national polling heading into the presidential race.
And there's one number in particular that I want to ask you about, and that's black voters. Because, you know, you talk to anyone on Joe Biden's
campaign, they will tell you that black voters are the reason that he is president of the United States today, particularly black women, but also
black men.
Look at the numbers there on the screen. Black voters support Biden, yes, overwhelmingly 73 percent. But Trump has 23 percent support from black
voters, that is significantly higher, it's gone up in recent years. We also have Latino voters on the screen, 50 percent to 46 percent. What is going
on here? Why are black voters in many cases willing to or interested in supporting Donald Trump over Joe Biden?
BROWN: Well, I cannot say why voters would be interested in supporting Trump over Joe Biden. But what I do know is that there's a common saying in
politics, and there's only two ways to run, and that's unopposed or scared. And these numbers are frightening.
But what I do know is that Democrats and the president have been delivering results. And it's hard to get a little bit of traction and oxygen in this
current environment that we live in. But we have to break it down to simple terms that people can really just ingest and digest and appreciate.
Things like one of the events I just did in my community this week, the ACP Sign Up program, making sure that people have access to high-speed
broadband internet, making it practically free. $29 vouchers for anyone who's receiving government assistance toward their internet, reducing and
capping the price of insulin.
HUNT: Sure.
BROWN: Creating over 30 million jobs. Those are the things that resonate with people when I am in a district. So yes, when we start talking about
the accomplishments, people are like, OK, all right, I can have an appreciation for that. But we've got to be able to break through. And so
that means we just have to work a little bit harder.
HUNT: There have been some instances, though, where black voters have felt, you know, let down or not spoken to by President Biden. And what would you
tell the White House about, you know, what they need to do not just to tout the accomplishments I do take your point there, but to try to make up a
little bit of ground there.
[11:45:00]
BROWN: I think that what we learned from the polling early on is that polls don't vote. It's a snapshot in time. And I think it's a little bit early to
be predicting the weather. We know particularly in many communities, they don't really start paying a lot of attention into elections until we get
closer to the actual election date.
So we still have time to make up ground. So I would just really intensify and amplify the fact that we saw last night that people are rejecting the
extreme MAGA Republican agenda. And there is a stark contrast when it comes to governing when it relates to what President Trump did, who had a
national Muslim ban, who encouraged people to drink bleach during the pandemic, that is the presidency that we had when he was in office.
This was a man who also took pride in overturning Roe V. Wade. And we see how that has turned out for the people. They are rejecting that
wholeheartedly. So we just have to make -- continue to make contrast. And that is if, and only if, he does end up being the nominee.
Let's be clear that the Republican nominee has not been officially designated. While he is leading in the polls, he is also convicted of --
being charged with 91 felony counts in quadruple.
HUNT: Right. Not yet --
BROWN: Right, yes, and also, and also been convicted of sexual assault allegation. So this is a man who has a track record that does not deserve
to be back in the White House. And I haven't even begun to talk about his ties to inciting the insurrection.
So when we think about it, those are very stark contrast to the person who is supportive of freedom and democracy and making sure we maintain people's
power any time.
HUNT: Congresswoman, -- point again, before I let you go, though, I do need to ask you about your colleague Rashida Tlaib, she was censured last night,
22 Democrats voted to censure her. What do you say to them? I mean, do you think that Congresswoman Tlaib's defense of the pro-Palestinian chant is
anti-Semitic?
BROWN: Listen, what I know is we disagree on that issue -- Rashida Tlaib on that. But we have a lot of -- we have been able to find a lot of common
ground, where I stand is that Israel deserves and it has the right to continue to defend itself. But we also agree that there needs to be
humanitarian aid.
And instead of my extreme, again, Republican colleagues focusing on censuring people, we should be focusing on legislation and creating
packages that will ultimately help the people of Israel and also not only receive military aid, but humanitarian and civilian aid as well. So that's
where I stand on that issue.
HUNT: All right, Ohio Congresswoman Shontel Brown, thank you very much for joining us today. I really appreciate it. Hope you come back. Thank you.
All right, let's look ahead; excuse me now to tonight as challengers to the four times indicted GOP front runner are setting the stage this way.
Nikki Haley's campaign writing, "Isn't it time we had a Republican who can win a general election?" And Chris Christie saying any Republican who's
overconfident about beating Joe Biden is "Foolish Republican". Trump, who was on the stand in a civil trial on Monday, skipping tonight's debate.
Joining me now is Aaron Evans, President of winning Republicans strategies, and CNN Legal Analyst Elliot Williams. Thank you both for being here.
Aaron, let me start with you first, in terms of lessons learned from last night. And Nikki Haley's argument that Republicans need someone who can win
the general election.
I mean, in some ways, there were mixed messages. Glenn Youngkin tried to do that. He clearly failed. But Aaron, we may have actually lost Aaron there
since he is not with us. So Elliot, let me bring this around to you. Because, you know, we saw again, Youngkin tried to run this sort of non-
MAGA Republican race in Virginia, it really did fail the basis saying they want MAGA.
But I was talking to the panel earlier about all of these legal problems that Trump has. And some of this polling that shows that critical numbers
of voters in swing states might change their minds if Trump is convicted of these crimes. What were your takeaways from last night as we try to wrap
our heads around and understand what this unprecedented reality is going to mean over the next year?
ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Right. What I think is unprecedented is the fact that if anybody's opinion is going to be changed about Donald
Trump, it certainly hasn't happened yet. What is truly remarkable is that really put it another way, Kasie, there is no person in America who does
not have an opinion in some way about Donald Trump's sort of legal cloud.
I mean, OK, fine. 1 percent of the people I think most, I think there was Fox News polling that said that one percent were not aware of the legal
cloud. I just don't think anything is going to move the needle on this question. And this is going to become a quite significant reality I think
for better or for worse.
When you consider that nowhere in American law does it say that number one, you can't run for president if incarcerated. But you could actually
probably possibly be president while incarcerated.
[11:50:00]
So this is, in the event that this all plays out the way prosecutors intended to the president, the former president could be behind bars. And I
just don't think that has sunk in with voters. And I think people really don't care. I think what they care about are these two candidates and their
respective opinions about them, and not really anything having to do with Donald Trump's legal woes.
HUNT: Yes, it is a striking reality. I'm sure we're going to be kind of chewing over this, that same set of facts that you just laid out from now
until over the next 360 -- how many days we have left. Elliot, let's talk a little bit about Ivanka Trump because she is on the stand today.
She obviously has a much different demeanor way about her in terms of you know, her family members have stopped and talked to the cameras. But this
is something that you know that Donald Trump himself really tried to stop and is reportedly unhappy about. What is her role in the courtroom here and
why does it matter?
WILLIAMS: I think it's first do no harm, like the Hippocratic Oath, where she really just has to go in and answer the questions yes or no and not
ramble or talk herself into trouble to some extent, like her father did. So I think the one open question is did accountants prepare the financial
documents for Donald Trump? Or did members of the Trump family do so?
And there was sort of competing testimony on that question. The sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr. were sort of very clear and tried to push the question
off on accountants saying that that accountants helped prepare some of these questionable financial statements that are behind the lawsuit.
The former President went in Court two days ago and sort of went was all over the place and suggested that both accountants did it, but also that he
was aware of, of how things were prepared. So I think prosecutors are going to ask her a little bit about that. And what she knows about the management
of the Trump Organization sort of record keeping and finances.
But to be clear, she's not the most critical or consequential witness here, that all came in the form of the former president and his two sons. She was
not an employee of the Trump Organization following 2017. So there isn't a ton that she's going to say that's really going to make or break this case.
HUNT: Yes, all very interesting. I mean, again, the pictures of her walking into court still striking, but points are well taken. Elliot Williams,
thank you. As always, I know your days are very long, they're just going to get longer, so I really do appreciate you spending so much time with us.
WILLIAMS: No problem.
HUNT: All right, coming up here my panel is back with "One More Thing". Don't go anywhere.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HUNT: Welcome back to "State of the Race". My panel rejoins me now. Before we go, we always like to ask for "One More Thing" on the campaign trail
Washington elsewhere. You're watching in the coming days your thoughts. 30 seconds each. Molly Ball, let me start with you.
BALL: Well, the drama is not over in the U.S. Senate where Senator Tommy Tuberville still has not found a way out of his hostage taking on military
promotions. Another heated meeting of the Republican conference yesterday, no resolution. So we could see another airing of grievances on the Senate
floor and no end in sight for this issue.
HUNT: All right, Kate?
BEDINGFIELD: Didn't get as much attention in the conversation last night. But my former colleague at the White House Gabe Amo, now a member of
Congress in Rhode Island won the first district. I think great news because he is a great guy and will do great things. But also shows that a Biden
Democrat can win a primary and then go on and win a general election.
And that's not something that we see a lot of the Trump candidates doing. So as all this conversation about who is electable and who is a drag. Gabe
Amo is now Congressman Amo and that's a great thing.
HUNT: Doug?
HEYE: So last night is votes were coming in. I was doing something non- political. I want to see Henry Winkler speak. Thank you to Jamie Gangel at the sixth -- synagogue and two things on that.
HUNT: There's been man himself, we got Doug Heye, cool.
HEYE: Henry Winkler was able to bring in a lot of Gentiles into a synagogue which is pretty important right now. But also he's a unifying voice of
positivity that we need so much now. And I hope we hear a lot more from him.
[11:55:00]
Well, that was definitely not a political night fun political fact. The photo credit on that belongs to former Congresswoman Liz Cheney.
HUNT: Oh, there you go. That is political. All right, I have to say tonight I am watching Nikki Haley, because she's used these moments to really float
her campaign into a place it hasn't been before. It's not anywhere near Donald Trump as of yet, but we'll see if she can maintain that momentum.
Thank you all for being here today. I'm Kasie Hunt. That is the "State of the Race" for today November 8. You can always follow me on Instagram and
the platform formerly known as Twitter, but don't go anywhere. "One World" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
