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At Least 12 GOP Senators Plan To Oppose Certification Of Biden's Win; U.S. Surpasses 20 Million Coronavirus Cases On New Year's Day; Senate Control Will Be Decided By Georgia Voters; Pelosi Locking Down Votes With Hours To Go Before Speaker Vote; Interview With Outgoing Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN). Aired 8-9a ET

Aired January 03, 2021 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:26]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): A rare rebuke of President Trump from Republicans on Capitol Hill. As a new Congress convenes, it faces a futile fight by conservatives to overturn Joe Biden's win.

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): Congress won't take any action until they're forced to, and that's what this is about.

RAJU: And in two days, Georgia voters decide the future of the Senate.

SEN. DAVID PERDUE (R-GA): That's what's at stake. We can protect what President Trump and his administration has done.

JON OSSOFF (D), GEORGIA SENATE CANDIDATE: There is a new day dawning in Georgia, and in this country. Retirement is coming for David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.

RAJU: And on the first day of 2021, the U.S. surpasses 20 million COVID-19 cases as a new variant of the virus spreads.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: It's been a very, very tough year. This is the worst we've had literally in 102 years. The good news is that science has and will come to the rescue.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJU: Welcome to INSIDE POLITICS. I'm Manu Raju, in for John King. To our viewers in the United States and around the world, thank you for joining us.

A New Year and a new Congress. The 117th Congress convenes for the first time today at noon. The last act of the outgoing Congress was passed Friday with the first veto override of the Trump presidency. A bipartisan supermajority voted to enact the National Defense Authorization Act despite the president's objections.

One of the first acts of the Congress has both chambers in turmoil. A dozen senators, along with as many 140 House Republicans on Wednesday could vote to throw out electoral votes that have been awarded to President-elect Joe Biden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAWLEY: This is the one opportunity that I have as a United States senator, this process right here, my one opportunity to stand up and say something. And that's exactly what I'm going to do.

SEN. BOB CASEY (D-PA): They've got to choose here. It's real simple. There's only two choices. You choose democracy and the Constitution, or you choose the big lie in Trump. It's as simple as that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, the 11 GOP senators who joined Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri said they intend to support an objection to electoral college votes and propose an election commission to conduct an emergency ten- day audit of election returns in disputed states.

Now, this move comes despite no credible allegations of any issues of voting that would have impacted the election. And President Trump's legal team and his allies have lost 59 out of 60 cases they've brought to court disputing the election results.

Now, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell privately urged Republican senators not to join the efforts. And some Republican senators spoke out publicly against the moves yesterday.

Senator Lisa Murkowski for one said: I will vote to affirm the 2020 presidential election, the courts and state legislatures have found nothing to warrant overturning the results.

And Senator Mitt Romney: The egregious ploy to reject electors may enhance the political ambition of some, but dangerously threatens our democratic republic.

And Senator Pat Toomey, the Republican from the state Hawley singled out, Pennsylvania, said: I intend to vigorously defend our form of government by opposing this effort to disenfranchise millions of voters in my state and others.

Now, the move from President Trump's Republican allies has virtually chance of changing the election outcome, only to delay for a few hours the inevitable affirmation of Biden's victory.

Joining me now "New York Times" congressional editor, Julie Hirschfeld Davis, and "Washington Post" White House correspondent, Seung Min Kim.

Thank you both for joining us this morning.

And, Julie, we'll start with you. A new Congress, a new plan among conservatives to try to disrupt the win. It's not going to succeed, but it's stunning to see the lengths at which a sizable contingent of Republicans are going to undermine the will of the voters here.

What is the real motivation behind an effort that they know has no chance of succeeding and risks sowing more distrust of American democracy?

JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, listen. I mean, I think we've all talked about the desire of the conservatives to show loyalty to President Trump, and that certainly is a motivation here. But there's also another motivation which is connected to that which is the desire to curry favor with their base and to avoid being punished by voters in the country who support Trump unflinchingly no matter what. Believe there was fraud in large part because the president keeps saying baselessly, falsely that there was fraud. And that this election was rigged.

These Republicans have been taken up that charge, and amplified it as well as some of the right-wing media.

[08:05:01]

And then you have a vicious cycle of, you know, Republican senators saying look, my constituents think there was fraud. The president saying yes, there was fraud. And you have Republicans saying if we don't go forward with this, if we don't challenge this result, we're going to be disrespecting the beliefs and desires of our constituents.

And so, you have a real desire not to offend the president, but also a dilemma for Republicans who are now in a position where if they say -- excuse me, if they say that the election was free and fair and validly decided, they are going against somehow their constituents. And that puts -- that's the dynamic that Mitch McConnell was trying to avoid when he quietly asked Republicans not to take up this pursuit.

That's the dynamic we're going to see play out on Wednesday where you have essentially Republicans being asked to choose between the president and what their constituents think invalidly happened in the election which is fraud, and the unambiguous result of the election.

RAJU: Yeah, and we're already hearing some Republican senators pushing back publicly since yesterday including Republican Senator Ben Sass who said it a couple days ago. He hasn't heard a single congressional Republican dispute the election in private, and most Republican senators I talked to don't dispute the outcome either.

And this is what Congressman Adam Kinzinger had to say a couple days ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R-IL): Right now, members of Congress are planning to try to overthrow this election by using the debunk conspiracy theories. Let's be clear, they won't succeed, and they all know it. I've heard from so many members of Congress who know this isn't true but they fear their next election, and a snowball of self- protection has grown rapidly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Yeah. Seung Min, now the scenario that Mitch McConnell is dreading is happening. Republicans are going to have to choose between voters and Donald Trump.

And late last night, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said there could be over 100 members joining hands on this.

Ultimately, Seung Min, do you think a majority of House and Senate Republicans will go along with this and where will the Republican leadership in the House and the Senate be?

We know Mitch McConnell is not part of it, but what about the larger Republican leadership in both chambers? Will they join the president on this?

SEUNG MIN KIM, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: That's a really great question. I mean, I would not be surprised to see a majority of House Republicans support the president in this very futile effort. If you look back, remember, 126 House Republicans, a stunning number, signed onto baseless lawsuits challenging the President-elect Biden's Electoral College victory.

So I would not be surprised to see a majority of House Republicans endorse that. Obviously we know that Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader is a close ally who hadn't been on the outs with President Trump like Mitch McConnell has been.

Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republicans, have been more forceful in the past several weeks telling their members what a bad vote this would be for their caucus. And it's not just Mitch McConnell. You had John Thune be pretty vivid and vocal about just how this effort would be, pretty strong words that prompted strong words from the president himself, threatening a primary or threatening to support a primary challenge to soon in 2020. Roy Blunt has similarly been pretty vocal.

But, yes, it is going to be a tough vote for a lot of Republicans out there, and it shouldn't be. This is just simply affirming the votes of a free and fair democracy that by all evidence shows was carried out like it was supposed to be. If you are, you know, Rob Portman in Ohio, you're up in 2022 in a Trump-supported state. You have to watch your right flank, watch for a primary challenger and win in a general election. And this is -- the president is making this into a tough vote for the Republicans.

RAJU: Yeah, and someone else to watch, Julie, on Wednesday is going to be Mike Pence, the vice president. He has a tight rope to walk as Trump's loyal vice president, but there's not a whole lot he can do. Watch how Al Gore handled this in 2001 after he conceded following the contentious Florida recount battle.

While Pence's team pushed back against the failed lawsuit by Republican Louie Gohmert that tried to give the vice president the green light to disregard the electoral vote, his chief of staff said Pence welcomes the efforts to raise objections.

So, Julie, what do you expect to see from Pence this week?

DAVIS: Well, I mean, he is in a very tough position. And he has been -- he has understood for many weeks he was going to be in this position and Trump was unlikely to be pleased with him doing what his actual ceremonial task is in this proceeding, simply to read the results, and then if there is a challenge, to announce that the challenge falls. If indeed it falls, and as Seung said, and as you have mentioned, we do expect this challenge to be futile.

So, that's his job. And that's really the only thing he can do, and that's the position that he took when these House Republicans brought this lawsuit to try to force him to unilaterally overturn the result on Wednesday. What was fascinating about the statement was that clearly he understands it's not going to be seen that way by the vast majority of members of his party. And, of course, you have to remember that Vice President Pence has political aspirations beyond President Trump of his own.

And so, he's trying I think to be really careful to seem to be sort of on board with this challenge, and yet, his job on Wednesday is to effectively announce that, you know, this challenge has failed. It doesn't have the votes. The result is the result.

And that will be, I assume, what we'll see from him. If it's not, it will be a very striking moment in which he basically goes against what his legally laid out role is. But, of course, that's what President Trump has made very clear that he wants to see happen. And as Seung Min said, this should not be a hard call. This is a pretty clear process.

We all know what happened in the election, and the outcome is very clear. But President Trump has made it into a litmus test, and that can become dangerous both for the members and the vice president himself.

RAJU: Yeah, and if he were to go against -- listen to the president, it'd be different than what al gore did in 2001 and what Joe Biden in 2017 as vice president.

And, Seung Min, you mentioned this, Trump has shown no restraint in going after those who don't meet the litmus test. He's gone after Mitch McConnell and also John Thune, the number two Republican.

Thune did tell me that he thought efforts to overturn the election would go down like a, quote, shot dog. Perhaps that's what prompted Trump to tweet this on Saturday: I hope to see the great governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem, run against RINO Senator John Thune in the upcoming 2022 primary. South Dakota wants strong leadership now.

Now, Noem has said she doesn't plan to primary Thune. She does not plan to do that.

But what does this say about Trump? You know, where days before critical election in Georgia, the next Senate majority, and Trump is attacking the very leaders who have for the most part avoided criticizing, often defended him at length over the past four years?

KIM: It shows that at least in the immediate future, even as the president leaves office on January 20th, that Trump and Trumpism and Trump himself is going to have a hold on the party for the immediate future in terms of the immediate upcoming election cycles. We know the president hasn't ruled out a comeback bid. I would imagine he teases it out like the reality show producer that he is for sometime.

And as long as his kind of -- as long as he is out there, his voters are going to be attracted to that. You know, the people who are running for reelection in 2022 or for their presidential nomination in 2024 are going to have to contend with that, contend with Trump voters. So really, it shows he's going to have an impact on the party for some time. You know, obviously, how far it goes, you know, depends on the Republican Party it, and depends on just whether Trump decides to run again.

But it really just shows how much the president has transformed the Republican Party in such a short amount of time and how loyalty. Even if it goes against basic democracy, it's really what's most important to him.

RAJU: Yeah, and the question will be, how long will that last once Trump leaves office? Particularly over House Republicans who are seeing Senate Republicans break, house Republicans that's another question.

Seung Min, Julie, thank you both for joining us this morning.

Up next for us, America marks another grim milestone, as the coronavirus vaccine rollout hits early roadblocks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:16:51]

RAJU: As the world ushered in a New Year on Friday, the U.S. reached a grim milestone, 20 million coronavirus cases. Hospitalizations around the country hit record highs as health care workers struggled to keep up with the unprecedented surge of coronavirus patients. The CDC is now predicting that in the next 20 days the U.S. will hit up to 424,000 deaths.

Plus, some disappointing news on the vaccine front. Health officials expected to inoculate 20 million people by the end of 2020. So far, some 4 million people have received the vaccine.

Joining me to share their insights and expertise, ER doctor and former Baltimore City health commissioner, Dr. Lena Wen, and executive director of the American Public Health Association and former head of the Maryland Department of health, Dr. Georges Benjamin.

Doctors, thank you both for joining us this morning.

Dr. Wen, start with you. So far, 20 -- 12.4 million doses of the vaccine have been delivered to states but only 4 .2 million Americans have been vaccinated. This is a far cry from the Trump administration's initial goal to vaccinate 20 million people by the end of 2020.

Is it time for the federal government to step in with a national strategy? And if so, what should that strategy look like?

DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, first, Manu, if anyone looking at these numbers should be disappointed. In fact, I think a lot of us are having deja vu of what happened with the rollout of testing and of PPE, because there were so many promises made, and yet, the federal government abandoned their responsibility.

In this case, the federal government seems to have seen their role as distributing the vaccine to the states and after that, it's let me wash my hands and let the state and local health departments take over from here.

The problem is that local and state health departments have been doing everything else in this response. They've been the ones figuring out how to ramp up testing and contract tracing, and doing public education, and now we want them to also take on the duties of launching this massive vaccination campaign.

They really need the assistance of the federal government. They shouldn't be forced all of them to come up with 50 different strategies of vaccinating the public and we're seeing now what happens with the piecemeal approach.

So, absolutely, the federal government needs to step up. They need to step with resources. They need to be listening to what the locals are saying and helping them with the resources that they need. And there needs to be a federal strategy, whether it's with setting up mass vaccination sites or recruiting the individuals, the workers needed to do the vaccination.

There's a lot more coronation that can and should have been done months ago. We're months behind, but the work is needed now, because it would be a tragedy to have millions of doses of vaccine languishing in freezers when there are thousands of Americans dying every single day.

MANU: Yeah.

And, Dr. Benjamin, what can the U.S. do to close the gap between those vaccine doses that are distributed and those that are actually being administered to people?

DR. GEORGES BENJAMIN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION: First, we set a goal, and 1 million a day is great, but 2 million a day would be a better goal, if we really want to get this done by the summer.

[08:20:05]

They need a secure, reliable vaccine supply line. That means invoking the Defense Production Act to make sure that all the vaccine companies and all the materials that they need, 24 /7 operations. You know, this is not something we just need to do Monday through Friday days.

We need to do this with some intention, and technology for appointments. We shouldn't have people sitting in parking lots all night waiting to get to their appointment. We can do a lot of this stuff up front. You know, getting their screenings. That can be done online, up front, and then getting them just to get the vaccinations.

Doing things we call fast track. That means moving people with few health problems through the system. It's the eight items or less line in the grocery store.

And then, finally, you know, dealing with the issue of vaccine hesitancy and recognizing that we need an all-hands approach. And that means stopping the finger pointing. It's a federal, state, local partnership, where the feds are really need to be in charge.

RAJU: Yeah.

Dr. Wen, Los Angeles is one of the many regions in the country that is dealing with this unprecedented number of COVID cases. Now, according to "The L.A. Times", hospitals have been strained by the surge, hallways are lined up with patients, bodies are piling up in morgue, so much so that the National Guard has been called to move bodies into storage. There's a shortage of people who can take care of patients as many frontline workers are out sick with COVID.

What needs to be done, Dr. Wen, to help these hospitals keep up with the increase in patients?

WEN: We need to remember hospitals are the last line of defense. They're not the first line of defense. We're seeing what's happening in Los Angeles. Los Angeles is not alone. There are hospitals all around the country that are filled to the brink, and, in fact, are over capacity.

And when that happens, it's not only the patients with coronavirus who suffer. It's also elective surgeries being cancelled, but elective surgeries just that means that they're not urgent. It doesn't mean that they aren't important, and patients are now waiting for cancer surgeries.

There are individuals coming in who otherwise should be treated for heart disease and diabetes who are waiting in the ER for many hours and may not be getting the treatment they need as well.

So, we need to all be helping our hospitals. The idea we talked about last March and April of flattening the curve is true now as well. The community is the first line of defense.

What everyone needs to do in particular in hard hit areas but all over the country is to see it as our role to try to reduce our interactions with others as much as possible. Make sure we wear masks. Avoid indoor gatherings. Avoid any type of space that's crowded space, continue with physical distancing. Keeping people out of hospitals is what's going to help these hospitals get the ideal care that every patient needs.

RAJU: I mean, on top of all the problems, Dr. Benjamin, this new U.K. COVID strain has now been found in three U.S. states. And experts say that is up to 70 percent more transmissible. The U.S. has already surpassed 20 million COVID cases.

But will this new strain accelerate the case count?

BENJAMIN: Oh, it absolutely has a risk of doing that. But we know the solution. It's wearing a mask, washing our hands, keeping your distance. If we do that, we can do prevention. We cannot treat our way out of this pandemic. Ending this pandemic means doing the non- pharmacological things we've been emphasizing and giving an effective vaccine program up and running.

RAJU: Yeah, and just to follow up on that, Dr. Benjamin, the South African COVID variant produces 22 mutations compared to the U.K. strain which produces only 17 mutations. Will the South African strain affect the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine?

BENJAMIN: You know, we don't know. But we think that at least right now, the vaccine we've constructed should cover the strains that we're seeing, but that all remains to be seen. I think we need to stick with the plan. Vaccinate as many people as possible.

Look, we know how to do this. We change a vaccine every year for influenza. So, that means right now the companies also need to be making sure that the vaccine can keep up with any virus that changes, but for what we know right now, we believe that this vaccine will be effective for what's in the planet that we're seeing.

RAJU: Doctors, thank you so much for your expertise, your insight this morning, answering these questions that are very difficult to answer. Appreciate it.

And up next for us, all eyes on Georgia, as control of the U.S. Senate comes down to two runoff races on Tuesday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:27:56]

RAJU: Georgia voters are set to decide in two days which party will control the Senate in the first two years of the Biden presidency. Now, with that at stake, Biden himself will campaign in Atlanta on Monday, along with President Trump and Vice President Pence stumping for Republicans and conservative northwest Georgia.

The Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is due in Savannah for a rally later today.

Now, who controls the Senate will determine how much of Biden's agenda can actually pass. Both sides have views to motivate supporter's turnout to vote.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AD ANNOUNCER: Total Democratic control. That's their goal. If they're in charge, America will never be the same. Save America. Vote for David Perdue on January 5th.

AD ANNOUNCER: You can send John Ossoff to Senate to beat this virus and make sure everybody can afford health care.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Joining me now to share their reporting and insights of 2020's final election, Astead Herndon of "The New York Times", and "The Atlanta Journal Constitution's", Patricia Murphy.

Thanks both for joining us.

Astead, a record of 3 million Georgians voted early in this election, many in Democratic leaning areas of the state.

Now, take a listen to the early optimism of Democrat Stacey Abrams.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STACEY ABRAMS, FOUNDER, FAIR FIGHT: It's incredibly gratifying to see so many turning out. We are pleased with the level of energy and excitement, especially giving how often -- how they're discounting the likelihood of Democrats for performing in a runoff.

Especially among the 100,000 voters who did not vote in Remember who have shown up today, 40 percent are African-American. We see an increases among Latino and AAPI, and young voters. And those are all good signs for Democrats, but more importantly, good signs for democracy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:29:38]

RAJU: Now Astead, what do you make of these early voting numbers and can Republicans close the gap on Tuesday?

ASTEAD HERNDON, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Yes. I mean, these were the kind of the prerequisites for a Democratic victory. There were some things we knew about this electorate from the November results.

We knew that the Republicans enjoyed an advantage. David Perdue led Jon Ossoff. And when you combine the Kelly Loeffler-Doug Collins vote, that was significantly ahead of where Democrats were.

And so for Democrats to win in these runoffs which have typically been lower performing, they then had to have a strong early vote and they had to see an increase in the vote share from black electorates and from young voters.

Those are both things that they saw in those early results which is a good kind of step number one. That does not, of course, mean this thing is over. We're expecting Republicans to have a better showing on election day.

It's going to be critical to look in those northwest Georgia areas where the president and vice president are going to see if conservatives are really going to come out on the day or whether with the numbers we were seeing in early vote are actually a sign of lesser enthusiasm on the Republican side, because that is really what this is going to come down to.

RAJU: Yes. No question about it.

And Patricia, President Trump had escalated this post election feuds with Georgia Republicans simply because he doesn't like the fact that he lost the race in November there. Even this past week going as far as calling on the Republican Governor Kemp to resign.

Take a listen to his and Lieutenant Governor Duncan's reactions to the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOVERNOR BRIAN KEMP (R-GA): Well, all of these things are a distraction. I mean, I've supported the president. I've said that many times. I worked as hard as anybody in the state on his reelection.

LT. GOV. GEOFF DUNCAN (R-GA): Unfortunately the president has committed to the way he's going to act and react to losing the election. And at this point, it's not helping us here in Georgia.

Look, I'm going to stay positive. I'm going to continue to encourage him to stay focused on trying to build up Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue and their accomplishments to this point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, the president will be there tomorrow for a rally ahead of the election. But Patricia, are his efforts to sow anger about the vote count and to create distrust over voting in Georgia, are those going to hurt Republican turnout at the end of the day?

PATRICIA MURPHY, POLITICAL REPORTER, "ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION": That's the great fear among Republicans. And we're certainly hearing the effects of the president's attacks on Georgia elections among those crucial Georgia Republican voters who senators Loeffler and Perdue need so desperately to come out on Tuesday.

I have not talked to one person at a Loeffler-Perdue rally who believes that Joe Biden won the last election. Some of them don't believe he will be inaugurated on the 20th.

And we're hearing from the president, and these are supporter who believe their president and trust their president. He is telling them that the elections in Georgia are rigged.

That doesn't help to get people out on January 5th to vote in another election. And the senators are doing the best they can to use the energy of anger over November and telling voters to channel that into January. But it has created a gigantic mass of unknown where there simply didn't need to be one for these senators.

RAJU: Yes and what will the president say tomorrow? Another big question. MURPHY: Yes.

RAJU: But Astead, election day is in two days. You reported this week that the Republicans closing message is ginning up fear of Democratic control.

Here's what Senator Graham said at a campaign stop on New Year's Eve. He said anything that comes out of Pelosi's House comes to the Senate and will kill it dead. Anything that comes out of Pelosi's house will come to the senate and kill it dead he said.

So how are voters receiving that message, Astead? And how does it compare to what the Democrats are pitching in the final days?

HERNDON: I mean it is all negative partisanship. It is all kind of using that fear to try to drive turnout among the Republican base. So much so that you barely hear the senators talk about what they support, what the bills that they have tried to implement, a kind of vision even a kind of Trump-esque vision of where the country should go.

It is all about I'm sticking close to President Trump on his claims of voter fraud and then also just negative attacks on what the Democratic side is doing. They're hoping that what unites Republicans in the end is not anything besides Trump and also kind of fear of Democrats and those would be the motivating forces.

On the Democratic side, they are pitching a kind of center left message. You know, expanding health care but not Medicare for all. They're talking about criminal justice reform but not defunding the police.

That kind of splitting the difference between the two wings of the party. And that's part of their message. The Republican message is Democrat (INAUDIBLE) of Schumer bad and driving the kind of partisanship to really try to see a big increase in turnout among their base.

RAJU: Yes, fear is a great motivator, oftentimes works. We'll see if it does here.

Patricia, Joe Biden won Georgia by 12,000 votes. but Jon Ossoff lost to Senator Perdue by about two percent in November but neither got 50 percent which is why we're in this runoff.

And there's some late factors here. I wonder what you think about the impact they'll have on the race here.

Perdue off the campaign trail due to quarantine because of contact with someone who had COVID-19. And also, the president calling for a vote on $2,000 stimulus checks. And Jon Ossoff had been pushing for that too. No vote ever came before the U.S. Senate.

How do you think these factors are going to make an impact on this race or will it not at all?

[08:34:57]

MURPHY: So I think that this is a really set electorate so far. And the question is just who is going to turn out on Tuesday as Astead said.

Senator Perdue had actually kept a relatively low profile. He's been going to small towns, not telling certainly the Atlanta Journal Constitution or CNN where he was going to be. He's zooming into these events instead.

But Senator Perdue got more votes on election day than any other -- anybody else on the ballot, including President Trump. So he does go into Tuesday with a large advantage.

And so Jon Ossoff is going to have to find some new voters. Democrats think that they have done that, and they really are using that $2,000 stimulus check as an example to say look at what the senators could have done, look at what they could have done for you but didn't do for you.

I think that that has been, again, a way to motivate voters on either side. I haven't seen a lot of crossover between the two. But as Astead said, this is really a base election, and these two sides are using anything they can to try and get everybody out on Tuesday.

RAJU: And Astead, Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris is in the state today ahead of Joe Biden's visit tomorrow. But Republicans say that spotlighting Harris's role as a tie-breaking vote in the Senate helps them make the case for a check against the Biden presidency.

What kind of impact do you think that she could have ultimately on this race?

HERNDON: Yes. I think that Harris is again, another one of the Democratic figures that allows Warnock and Ossoff to lean in to their message of not only providing change in Washington but kind of representing a new version of Democrats, you know, not necessarily Joe Biden, but kind of rising tide of a new type of Democrat. Certainly she is emblematic of that.

But again, Republicans and Democrats are both saying in this race hey, if the Democrats win, big change is coming on the policy front to America. It's only a question of whether you think that change is good or bad.

The Democrats obviously think it is a good thing that they can provide to stop Republican obstructionism. Republicans are obviously saying that that will lead to kind of radical changes.

And so, you actually have a shared agreement that the united Democratic House, Senate and White House will bring those changes. It is just about the impact of it. Certainly Senator Harris will then reinforce the Democratic message on that side. Republicans are trying to seize it for a backlash.

RAJU: Yes. And the reality is that no matter what happens on Tuesday, the senate will be narrowly divided. They're going to need bipartisan support to get things done. We'll see if -- how much that actually change.

Thank you both for taking the time this morning ahead of the critical elections.

And up next for us, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi set to win the gavel for a fourth term later today. But what challenges are facing her smaller Democratic caucus in the new Congress?

[08:37:33]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RAJU: Now, in just hours the new Congress will be sworn in. It's a historically diverse class with the most women, black, Latino and LGBTQ members ever.

Among the firsts:

Democrat Cori Bush will be the first black woman elected by Missouri. Republican Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina is the first member born in the 90s. Ritchie Torres and Mondaire Jones, both New York Democrats will be the first black gay lawmakers. And New Mexico Republican Yvette Harrell will be the first Native American in the Republican Conference.

While Democrats kept their house majority, it is slim. And later today House speaker Nancy Pelosi's first test of keeping her caucus together as she vies for a fourth term as speaker.

Now, in the Senate, Republicans remain in the majority. But Tuesday's elections in Georgia could give Democrats control for the first time since 2015.

Joining me now, Time Magazine's Molly Ball, the author of the book about Pelosi called "Pelosi". Molly, thank you for joining us this morning.

In just a few hours, that vote for House Speaker is going to take place on the House floor. Pelosi has not had to fend off potential Democratic challengers in what's likely to be her final bid to become speaker.

But she has little room for error as she needs to keep a majority of the full house to keep the speaker's gavel. At least two Democrats say they won't vote for her while 15 Democrats didn't vote for her in 2019.

And meanwhile some members will not be present due to the coronavirus and family emergencies and proxy voting isn't allowed for this vote meaning they actually to appear in person.

Molly, Pelosi and her team are confident that they do have the votes. Few on the hill doubt her. But getting a majority vote for the speaker's gavel in this narrowly divided house is going to be close. MOLLY BALL, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "TIME MAGAZINE: It is,

and there could be some surprises. It's that last factor that you mentioned, attendance that is really the biggest wild card here. Because we just don't know, and she needs a majority of however many people are there and voting.

And as you mentioned, there are family emergencies, there are members on both sides who are expected to have to stay home because of COVID, either exposure or because they have been diagnosed with the virus.

So it's going to be tight, and the factor, the crucial factor this time is not as it was last time -- those internal divisions within the party. There is widespread agreement.

There are a couple of Democrats who have said that they don't want to vote for speaker Pelosi, but for the most part, she has the party behind her, particularly because this is seen as her last term.

And so it's really, you know, those Republican members who may be staying home, they're not exactly telling the Democratic caucus what their plans are. And Nancy Pelosi is someone who likes of her ducks in a row, likes to know exactly where every vote is coming from.

So even as they have been projecting confidence, we know that the Speaker's team has been scrambling behind the scenes, making a lot of calls, trying to make sure everybody that she needs to vote is going to be there.

RAJU: Yes. And one thing to watch is some of these Democratic members who don't want to vote for her voting present on the house floor, not yes, not for her or for another candidate present that actually would help her because it brings down the overall threshold to get the majority.

Molly this close speaker's vote today is going to foreshadow the challenges the speaker faces in dealing with these competing forces within in her caucus. She's got little margin of error -- for error to get bills passed.

And you wrote the book on Pelosi. Tell us about her leadership style and the limits that she might face in trying to get her caucus to fall in line.

[08:44:47]

BALL: Well, I would say on the one hand, yes, this is the slimmest majority for either party in 20 years and that poses inherent challenges for any leader.

And there are more of those far-left progressives, the sympathizers with the so-called squad in this new Congress who have signaled that they want to use their leverage. They want to use their numbers and the fact of that narrow majority to try to put pressure on the leadership to go in a more progressive direction.

On the other hand, Speaker Pelosi has been around for a while. As you notice I have written about, and if she has -- if she only had one skill, I would say her number one skill is keeping the Democratic Caucus in the House together.

She has -- political scientists will tell you -- has enforced record levels of party unity throughout her time as Democratic leader in the majority and the minority.

It is her number one skill, and she has a lot of experience with it. So it may be difficult. It may be messy. It may be bruising. There may be some real acrimony and fights between and among those Democrats.

But if anyone could keep them together, and I think that's really why she has the confidence of the caucus, is because they recognize this is going to be a tough job. It's going to be tough to keep this caucus together. And it's hard to think of anyone who is better suited to do that than Speaker Pelosi.

RAJU: Yes. And she has rejected the idea that a smaller majority will actually imperil their ambitions. Listen to what she had to say about that this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Our caucus is unified around our common ethical belief, and our responsibility to America's working families. That's what brings us together.

Of course we have our differences in approach and some other ideas. And that's our vitality. I would not want to be a leader of a party that was rubber stamp lock step. That's called Republicans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And just really quick, Molly, in the few seconds we have left, what's your reaction to that?

BALL: Well, that sounds like something that she's probably said 100 times over the course in her career. And that is going to be (AUDIO GAP) for this caucus. They have disagreements on actual policy, particularly when it comes to things like health care, Medicare for all that progressives are very interested in. Or is this more about tactical differences and how to use their leverage versus the Republicans in the Senate and the new Democratic president. So we'll just have to see if she's right.

RAJU: Yes. We'll have to see.

Thank you, Molly Ball for joining us.

And outgoing senior Senator Lamar Alexander up next on whether the GOP should contest the results of the 2020 election. His advice for the next Congress and how Donald Trump is like Ronald Reagan.

[08:47:32]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) RAJU: The 117th Congress meets for the first time today and both GOP senators from Tennessee including the incoming freshmen are part of the dozen Republicans who plan to oppose counting the electoral votes to certify President-Elect Joe Biden's victory.

Now, the outgoing senior Senator from the Volunteer State, Lamar Alexander sat down with us before Christmas to caution his party to take a different course about challenging the election and to reflect on Trump's presidency and how the GOP has changed in his 16 years in the senate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAJU: What kind of impact does this have -- just also on the belief and the fait in democracy when the president is refusing to accept these results?

SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER (R-TN): It's important -- the United States has always prided itself in being the world's leading democracy and one of the most important aspects of that is the election.

George Washington said when someone asked him that it wasn't the first election that was so important, it was the second one to show that we had an orderly transfer of power. And we go around the world expecting other countries to follow our lead. We even sent observers and then tell them that they have.

So it's perfectly fine to challenge the result of an election. That has been done. But when it's over and it's now over, we ought to respect the result.

You clearly said you want Joe Biden so get off to a good start. Does it worry you that this effort could make a lot of Republican voters view his presidency as illegitimate?

ALEXANDER: I don't think -- I would think that even for President Trump's strongest supporters the fact that we took 37 days or 38 days, that the governors in the states counted and recounted and then certified and then went to court 50 times and that the president's own attorney general found no widespread fraud and the electors then voted that ought to say to Trump supporters as well as Biden supporters that the election was valid.

You know, and I look at it the way I look at the vaccine. You know? If the Food and Drug Administration on which we rely for most of the things we buy in the pharmacies, if they take all of this time and the career scientists tell me the vaccine is safe and effective, I'm going to take it. I'm going to rely on them.

If the governors and the courts and the electors are telling me the election is valid and it's over, I'm going to accept it.

RAJU: You, obviously, have been serving for quite sometime and you have seen a lot in the party, how it's changed over the years. In the last four years under Trump, how much has the Republican Party changed? ALEXANDER: Well, President Trump has done a pretty spectacular job of

drawing support within the Republican Party. I mean, we used to think of Ronald Reagan as the great communicator and he was. But President Trump has mastered the way to communicate in this, what I would call an Internet democracy. I mean nobody else has 72 million people paying attention to whatever he tweets in the morning. So he has developed a lot of support.

RAJU: But he's also, you know, he lies a lot. He has done a lot of controversial things in his tenure. A lot of Republicans on Capitol look the other way when things like that happen.

ALEXANDER: Well, it depends on what you think our job is, you know. I say the people didn't elect me to come to Washington and give a running commentary on Donald Trump. I mean if I wanted to do that, I would have stayed home and got a radio program or stood on a scope box in downtown Maryville, Tennessee.

I came up her to make things happen, to get things done. Whether it's President Obama or President George W. Bush or President Trump. I've worked with the presidents that people have elected. I've hoped they succeed because if they succeed our country succeeds.

So I've tried to work with each president whether I disagreed with their policies or whether I disagreed with their behavior. I felt that's what I was elected to do.

RAJU: What advice do you give to the new Congress coming in about how to be functional again?

[08:54:55]

ALEXANDER: Number one, get back to confirming the president's nominees. Any president has more than 1,200 nominees to confirm. The Senate's most important and best known role in many ways is advise and consent.

The Democrats have basically slowed down the advise and consent process so that we only can consider seven or eight nominees a week. That is not good for the country. So we should get back to confirming presidential nominees.

And two, we should get back to allowing amendments. Sometimes that doesn't happen because the majority doesn't bring a bill to the floor. And often it doesn't happen because the minority just says no.

So if the Senate would get back to confirming presidential nominees and allowing amendments to be offered on the floor, a lot more would get done and there would be a lot more respect for the United States Senate.

RAJU: How much different do you think it will be with Joe Biden and Mitch McConnell. You know, they were able to get some things done in the Obama era. Do you think that they have an actual ability to bridge that divide into the new Congress? ALEXANDER: Yes, I do. I mean coming to an agreement starts with

knowing each other and trusting each other and so they both know and trust one another. I think the key will be whether President-Elect Biden is able to withstand the left wing of his party.

I mean if he comes forward with a Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren agenda, he won't get much support. If he comes forward with a center left agenda, he'll find a large number of Republicans who agree with him.

To get an agreement in the senate you can't play on the far left or the far right and ever get much done.

RAJU: You're -- one of the things you said on the floor during your farewell speech is you have concerns about the filibuster and not getting rid of that filibuster here on the senate on legislation. We have seen the filibuster get weakened over the years. You voted for getting rid of the filibuster on Supreme Court nominees. Do you regret that vote?

ALEXANDER: Nope, I don't. Because the senate never denied a federal judge or a cabinet member a seat by requiring that person to get 60 votes. Not in the history of the senate until the Democrats started doing it to judges to George W. Bush.

So what the Senate is for is to see if we can get a broad agreement on big issues that most of us can vote for and the country will accept and the filibuster forces us to do that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJU: That is it for INSIDE POLITICS. I hope you can catch the show weekdays as well as noon eastern.

Up next, "STATE OF THE UNION WITH JAKE TAPPER" with Surgeon-general Jerome Adams, Ohio Republican governor Mike DeWine, voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams, and Georgia Senate candidate Jon Ossoff.

Thank you for sharing your Sunday morning with us. See you next time.

[08:57:50]

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