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CNN Live Event/Special

Now: First Polls Opening In Vermont; Harris Delivers Final Pitch To Key Pennsylvania Voters; Trump Insults Nancy Pelosi, Claims Cheating; Wet Weather For Battleground Voters. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired November 05, 2024 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:30]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Tuesday, November 5th.

It's Election Day right on this special edition of CNN THIS MORNING:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are optimistic and we are excited about what we can do together.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We do not have to live this way. What have they've done? Everything is a disaster.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, two visions for America. And today, the voters get to decide who wins the White House.

Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those threats include criminal threats, such as threats to election workers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Bracing for trouble. The FBI manning a command center to protect voters, the polls and the people who work there.

And -- the balance of power at stake. What will take for Democrats to win the House and Republicans to flip the Senate?

(MUSIC)

HUNT: All right, 5:00 a.m. here on the East Coast.

Look at that. They lit up the White House on this Election Day. They actually don't always do that at this hour of the day. It tells you something about what's unfolding here in America, across the country.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.

It's here, finally. The first Election Day polls opening right now in some places across Vermont, the final day to cast your ballot in the 2024 election. It's the start potentially of a new era for our nation. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump zeroing on the states that could secure them their spot, their home in that house we just saw.

For Harris, it's been all about Pennsylvania. She spent Election Day eve barnstorming the commonwealth in search of every last vote.

The vice president even knocking on doors herself to reach voters in Pennsylvania. Notably absent again from her speech as Monday, her opponent's name. Harris made her final major address in this campaign and is a race she started just 107 days ago at the top of the ticket.

Last night she was on the steps of Philadelphia's Museum of Art, and you may remember the stairs made famous by the movie "Rocky".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: It's good to be back in the city of Brotherly Love, where the foundation of our democracy was forged and here at these famous steps, a tribute to those who start as the underdog and climbed to victory.

It is my pledge to you that if you give me a chance to fight on your behalf, as president, there is nothing in the world that will stand in my way. We finish as we started, with optimism, with energy, with joy -- knowing, knowing, that we the people have the power to shape our future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So, Donald Trump closing out his final day on the campaign trail, striking a dark and ominous tone painting a dark picture of America, if he does not return to the White House. Trump appears at rallies in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and finishing in Michigan, taken the stages as the clock hit midnight on the East Coast, once again attacking his political opponents and making baseless accusations about cheating in the election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Who's to approve open borders with criminals coming into the country by the millions? No. They have to cheat. They have to cheat and they do it very well actually.

Crazy, horrible human being, Nancy Pelosi who cheats like hell. She's a crooked person. She's a bad person. Evil. She's an evil, sick, crazy -- no. It starts with a B, but I won't say it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So, the choice on display is as dark as ever and it's your choice and you get to make it today.

Joining me now to talk about his, Sabrina Rodriguez. She's national political reporter for "The Washington Post" and has been out on the campaign trail with the candidates in these final days.

[05:05:06]

Sabrina, good morning. Wonderful to have you on the show.

What did you see on the trail yesterday as things were closing out here? What are you looking for today, election day?

SABRINA RODRIGUEZ, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: Well, Kasie, we finally made it to this election day.

HUNT: America finally made it, Sabrina. It's a collective -- we got there. Go ahead.

RODRIGUEZ: But the closing message is one that I think, I mean, we've seen throughout. There's such a stark difference between these two candidates and I think it was notable the backdrop at Kamala Harris is rally yesterday, set a precedent for all and vote for freedom and that was really the closing message that she had for Americans. In her Allentown stop and Pittsburgh and heading to Philadelphia. I mean, she gave similar speeches, similar closing speeches and in it, one of the things that was notable, was her saying, you know, who is it that help her get to this day? And one of the things she highlighted was, Republicans who made that decision that they care more about the Constitution than their party and have split to vote for her.

And I think on the other side of that, we were hearing Donald Trump with a message that was very filled with grievances, filled with blaming, you know, Democrats and blaming Biden and Harris for the state of the country. You know, the picture he paints of the United States today is one that is in chaos, that is overrun by immigrants that have come into the country. That, you know, has a horrible economy.

And I mean, statistics and data and just living in this country tells us that it is not chaos and it is not as horrible as he may paint it to be. Really, it showed this stark contrast and I guess the question today will ultimately be how voters, who they bought in on that message.

HUNT: Yeah, I mean, it's a great part, right? I mean, you and I, reporters, pundits can look and try to define what's going to happen, but the voters have done nothing if not surprise us in recent election cycles and certainly, I feel like I have learned enough to get out of the prediction business.

But here's what I will ask you. There aren't many people in America who get a chance to do what you are doing this election cycle. You have attended rallies for both of these candidates, and have gotten a finger feel for how each lays out there events. I'm sure you talk to sources in both campaigns. What's your evaluation of how each camp is feeling heading into Election Day?

I mean, you can often pick some of that up when you are out on the trail in the final days about how they're feeling and what this is about what we may see and how we may see the results play out tonight. RODRIGUEZ: And I think a week ago, you know, you hear Trump campaign

officials and Trump supporters themselves kind of talking with more confidence, there is this feeling of momentum, this perception and of course some of the things can be the narrative that is going out at that point but I think there is a lot more of it is being projected from the Trump side a week ago and really with that Madison Square Garden rally and sort of low racist and demeaning insults that were said at that rally, really kind of shifted a little bit of momentum toward Democrats.

Again, I think some people get overconfident and then now we have been on a different page, but I think it just reminded us how close this election is going to be. And from talking to voters I think it's as debate, some of them and some of them who have been more undecided we did not tune in until the election toward the end. You know, some of feel frustrated with the economy, some feel like they do not like the direction of where the country is going and that has maybe made them flirt with Donald Trump as their candidate of choice.

But then they hear some of the comments that he has made the resort of this anxiety around maybe they think policy wise he would be good but there is concern about character and values. So, ultimately, I think it will be interesting to see where those folks who were undecided to the end, which way they actually break.

HUNT: Yeah. That's, of course, what Kamala Harris is counting on here in the final stretch. There was some evidence in the late "New York Times" polling that perhaps the voters were breaking for her. But as you point out, there has been a lot of confidence on the part of the Trump team as the national polls tightened up throughout October.

So, here we go, we're going to finally learn all of the answers. Get some rest today and we are in for a long night tonight. Thank you for being here.

All right. Coming up, on the special edition of CNN THIS MORNING, controlling Congress. Why Republicans believe they are on track to flip the Senate and Democrats are optimistic about retaking the House.

Plus, polls opening soon in blue wall states. How Republicans are hoping to paint the wall red.

[05:10:03]

And, it's all about the math in the Electoral College. How Harris and Trump hope to get on the road to 270.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And I will stop the invasion of criminals coming across our border. I will strengthen our military. I will restore peace in the world.

HARRIS: And we finish as we started, with optimism, with energy, with joy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HUNT: All right. Welcome back.

Kamala Harris making a final campaign stop in Pennsylvania last night. Last night, Harris spoke directly to Keystone State voters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: This could be one of the closest races in history. Every single vote matters. Encourage folks to make their voices heard because we need everyone to vote in Pennsylvania. And you will decide the outcome of this election, Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right. Joining us now, CNN's Omar Jimenez, who's at our voter desk.

Omar, they're, of course, called the blue wall states, if you talk to Ron Brownstein. He says he coined the term. He'll claim they're the ones that fell out of the blue wall, but semantics.

[05:15:02]

It's Pennsylvania. It's Michigan. It's Wisconsin.

What are you seeing?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, yeah. So, the blue wall states as they're known, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, they are states Trump won in 2016, then Biden flipped in 2020 but the key here is that 44 electoral votes are up for grabs between the states. So, let's take a look at Pennsylvania, 19 electoral votes, the most of any battleground state.

Polls open at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time, along with most of the Eastern Time zones. So, that will help officially kick off Election Day. But as you see, almost 1.8 million absentee and mail-in votes have been returned so far and if you dig in, women outpaced men in the early vote by over 10 percent.

But overall, we are only talking about 20 percent of total registered voters in this early vote. So, we've got a lot of vote to look out for today.

That said, let's look at some of the counties that we'll keeping an eye on and especially critical when it comes to the margins, Philadelphia County, but also the suburbs with big populations, Montgomery, Bucks, Chester and Delaware, the collar counties, as they're known. They all went Biden in 2020, same story when you head west to Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, and then, of course, in the top left there, the northwest, there is Erie which Biden flipped in 2020 by less than 2,000 votes. We are expecting forestry sports of mail in ballots shortly after polls close. But the secretary of state has stressed they have never had final official results on Election Day, so be patience, people. And remember, in 2020, the projection here triggered the call for the presidency could play the role this time around.

All right. Let's go to Michigan, polls also open here starting at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time. So far, over 3 million Michiganders have voted earlier absentee and that brings the total to 44 percent among their active voter rolls. Again, before we got to today, and same story, so far, women have outpaced men by about 10 percentage points.

And here, though, we're going to keep our eye on the population centers, Wayne County, home to Detroit and more people live there than anywhere else in the state, really looking at the margins. Biden won 68 percent of the vote there in 2020.

Also, Macomb County in the suburbs which went for Trump in 2016 and 2020, but Obama in 2012. And in the western part of the state, Muskegon County, outside Grand Rapids, it went to Biden by just 500 votes in 2020, out of the more than 90,000 cast there. The Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has said she hopes to have final results by midday Wednesday.

And then, finally, in Wisconsin, polls open starting at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time, a little more than $1.5 million have been returned already and women are also outpacing men in early vote by around nine percentage points and when you look at the map, same deal, keeping an eye on the margins in Milwaukee and Dane counties where Democrats typically win big but also some of the suburbs in Milwaukee. We projected the race for president within 24 hours of polls closing last time around in the close at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time here.

And when you look at all of these in total, remember, the key thing here is we got 44 electoral votes up for grabs, and could make a huge difference maybe the difference.

HUNT: Of course. Every single one counts. Omar Jimenez for us, Omar, so grateful to have you with us this morning. Thank you so much for that.

JIMENEZ: Of course.

HUNT: All right. Let's check on your Election Day weather and it's going to be a wet one for voters in some of the key battleground states.

Let's get to the weatherman Van Dam.

Derek, our meteorologist, what are you seeing across the country as voters head to the polls?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That collective sigh of relief, that's what I'm seeing. No, it's a big day and a lot of people impacted by some rough weather, mainly heavier rainfall. So, the severe weather threat we have had the past couple days has waned but that is now resulted in more excessive rainfall across the nation's midsection. We are looking along this cold front that is producing significant amount of precipitation at the moment.

So let's bring you into Michigan and Grand Rapids, my home state and my hometown getting walloped by heavy rainfall and as you head to the polls this morning in Chicago you will feel the rain as you head out the door. Grab a rain jacket and umbrella and prepared to spend time in some of the voting lines.

Now, St. Louis, that's where we have a flash flood warning and I will show you that in a moment. Look at the rain moving on the same location for the past several hours and it is starting to accumulate at that is why the National Weather Service has issued these flash flood warnings that you can see that shade of red in parts of Missouri into western sections of Arkansas. In fact, that's where we have a slight risk of excessive rain that could lead to flash flooding and timing these out as you head to the polls this morning, you saw the wet weather on the current radar.

But through this afternoon, if you're taking a lunch break to head out to the polls, more wet weather. St. Louis, Chicago to Minneapolis and south into Memphis, showers and thunderstorms with a system moving through and it loses its punch as it advances eastward and we will not see the excessive rainfall threat as we head into the overnight hours.

But it's going to change things across the Southeast but that is for the second half of the week.

But here is your exact forecast for heading to the polls this morning, places like the battleground state of North Carolina.

[05:20:03]

Temperatures in the lower to middle 50s, but warming to the upper 70s by the afternoon, Philadelphia into Pennsylvania, lower 70s for you, dry conditions. Atlanta, you'll stay dry as well.

And into Detroit, Milwaukee to Houston, you can see where the weather will potentially impact your voting day weather and across the western parts of the U.S., a storm system is dropping into the great basin and could bring snow to the higher elevation locations but places like Phoenix to Vegas, you stay dry and Seattle stays dry and relatively cool.

Kasie, have a good day.

HUNT: I was going to say, Derek, I think I just want a blue wall forecast in the future. Just to Michigan, and Wisconsin because they are the ones who will deal with the rain.

OK. Thank you. I really appreciate it. Happy Election Day to you.

VAN DAM: All right.

HUNT: All right. Still coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, they say where the used to say anyway that all politics is local. And here is the reality, a handful of House races could tip the balance of power in Washington today. Plus, there would be no blue wall, he made a cameo this morning. Ron,

he first coined that term and he is coming up next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And, Wisconsin will be, you know the map. It is the blue wall. The blue wall must hold the blue wall must hold and what it does, we can start improving lives.

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Kamala Harris, she is a disaster and we're not going to let her become president of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:25:24]

HUNT: All right, 5:24 a.m. here on the East Coast, a live look at Detroit, Michigan. That is a key battleground state.

Both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are hoping to take the lead with voters in the Wolverine State. The higher the turnout is in that city the better off Kamala Harris is going to be.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.

On the road to 270, both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris's campaigns think they had multiple paths to get them where they need to go. The so-called blue wall states, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, the most straightforward route for Kamala Harris and both campaigns are making closing pitches in those states.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALZ: And Wisconsin will be, look, you know -- you know the math. It's the blue wall. The blue wall must hold. The blue wall must hold and when it does we can start improving life for people.

TRUMP: Hello to Michigan. We're going to do some great things for Michigan. If we win Michigan, we win the whole thing, the whole thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Obviously, there are seven battleground states across the map, but those, of course, are very much in focus here.

Joining us now, CNN senior political analyst, senior editor for "The Atlantic", Ron Brownstein.

Ron, good morning. Wonderful to see you.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Kasie, good morning. Happy Election Day.

HUNT: I know this is -- happy Election Day. You and I are going to -- in about 24 hours, we're both going to be sitting on set in New York together overnight, thinking we may still be counting votes at that point.

Just break it down. I mean, what are using here as we wrap this up as a voters head to the polls.

BROWNSTEIN: You know, so many things have changed since Kamala Harris replace Joe Biden. But we kind of end up in the same place. I mean, she's obviously more competitive than Biden was in the Sunbelt because she has recovered a lot of the ground he lost among -- was losing among Latino voters in particular and Black voters. But it does not look like she has recovered all of it and so the Sunbelt states still look a little harder for her.

And as you said, the most straightforward path for Harris as it was for Biden, is by sweeping the three states that I say are the former blue wall states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, because they fell out of the original blue wall and those are states where Democrats traditionally have been able to run a little better with white voters than they do in most other parts of the country.

Now, you know, people know they have voted the same way and every presidential election since 1980 except one. They have also voted the same way for governor in every election over the past 30 years, except one, in 2014. And if we are talking about Michigan and Pennsylvania, the level of convergence is almost unimaginable. They have deviated in the presidential race once since 1940 and only three times since the civil war.

So, you know, past performance, no guarantee of future results. Pennsylvania could be tougher for the Democrats than the other two but they are so similar culturally, economically and demographically that there is a reason why they have tended to move as a herd.

HUNT: Ron, how would you explain, and look, my family is from Michigan originally and I grew up in Pennsylvania and spent time turning this over in my head. There is a difference, there is a reason and there has to be reasons that Pennsylvania is closer than Michigan at least in the polling or why sort of some of the fundamentals seem to be a little different.

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.

HUNT: What is the difference?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, historically, Wisconsin has seen the toughest because the white share of the vote is higher in the minority share is smaller and the non- college white share is highest in Wisconsin, right? So, about 80 percent of the vote in Michigan and Pennsylvania are whites, in Wisconsin, it's 90, and nearly 60 percent of the voters in Wisconsin historically have been wise without a college degree who are the absolute foundation of the GOP in the Trump era. But, you know, the white-collar parts of Wisconsin have moved so much

for the Democrats that it is kind of leap frog, I think, switched places with Pennsylvania. I think the key in Pennsylvania is that Democrats have struggled for the midsized cities than they do in Wisconsin or Michigan, and I think that's largely because Western PA in some ways, the industrial employment base, has been hollowed out even more than we saw in Wisconsin and Michigan.

But, you know, there is so much focus in the final weeks of the campaign on whether Harris can hold down her losses in the parts of the states that are trending Republican. I think it may actually be more important whether she can maximize her strengths. If you look at the big six counties --