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The Situation Room

Cuomo Comments on Trump's Endorsement; Former Vice President Dick Cheney Dies at 84; Voters Head to Polls in Key Races Around the Country. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired November 04, 2025 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

ANDREW CUOMO (I), NYC MAYORAL CANDIDATE: -- voted a lot of times. This is first time I ever walked into a polling place, and the polling place cheered for me. So, that's a good sign. And the record turnout is a good sign. I think it's going to be a record. And it's because New Yorkers are concerned. New Yorkers are concerned about New York. And so, I'm feeling very good about that. And everything I hear from people is good.

So, we're going to keep working today. It's not over till it's over. Run through the tape. We're going to be moving around today. Make sure people get out. It's a beautiful day. Get out and vote. The most important election of my lifetime. And I'm not a kid, but this is the most important election of my lifetime. This is going to determine the future of the City of New York. It may also determine the future of the Democratic Party. So, get out and vote. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Trump endorsement. What do you make of the Trump endorsement? Do you accept from the president?

CUOMO: The president does not support me. The president opposes Zohran Mamdani. The president believes Zohran Mamdani is a communist. He believes he's an existential threat. I believe he's a socialist and an existential threat and not a dress up socialist, right?

Their school of socialism, these democratic socialists of America, government controls the means of production. No private ownership of real estate, abolished jails, decriminalized prostitution. This is frightening stuff. And I think that's why you're seeing New Yorkers react and New Yorkers turn out.

I'm offering the exact opposite. Safer New York, 5,000 new police, 1,500 police on the subways. Make New Yorkers feel safe again. You want to bring the cost of housing down, which we have to do, you have to build more affordable housing. It's supply and demand. There's nothing tricky to it. The trick is having the competency and the ability to make the government work to actually build 100,000 units a year. And that's about making the government work, which is what I have done all my life. And that's how you really make change.

You make change by understanding how to run the government, tackle the obstacles, move the bureaucracy, move the politics to actually make progress. That's at Guadalupe Airport, that's Kennedy Airport, that's Second Avenue subway. That's the same story over and over and over.

You want to make change in government? You think it's easy? You go and say, I want to make change. You know what they say? You can't. You can't. They give you a list of thousands of reasons why it can't happen. The bureaucracy pushes back. You have to learn how to make that government work to actually deliver for people. And that's what I've done all my life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any Jewish person that would vote for Mamdani would be a Jew hater. Do you agree with him?

CUOMO: I don't know if that's true.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last question, guys.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

CUOMO: Well, I think what you're seeing is a civil war in the Democratic Party that has been brewing for a while. You have an extreme radical left that is run by the socialists, that is challenging what we call moderate Democrats. I'm a moderate Democrat. And that contest is what you're seeing here. You're seeing it all across the country.

At one time, the Republican Party had a challenge from the far right, the Tea Party. And the moderates pushed back the challenge from the Tea Party. This is the inverse. You have the far socialist left challenging the moderates. I'm a Democrat like Mario Cuomo, like Bill Clinton, like Barack Obama, like John Kennedy, like their grandfather, their other grandfather, Robert Kennedy. That's my school of Democratic politics. And that's what I'm fighting for. All right.

Democrats are not extreme socialists. We're not against the police. We don't believe the NYPD are racist. We don't believe they should be abolished. We don't believe in abolishing jails. We don't believe in doing away with misdemeanors. We don't believe in decriminalizing prostitution. That is not us. We're a party of law and order.

[10:35:00]

David Dinkins, great Democrat. First thing he did when he took office, hire more cops, keep New Yorkers safe. So, that's the contest you see happening here. I think of the far-left socialists were to win, I think long 0term it would be very detrimental to the future of the Democratic Party.

This country is not a socialist country. The city is not a socialist city. The state is not a socialist state. Socialism has never worked anywhere on the globe. Not Venezuela, not Cuba. It's not going to work in New York City.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, You were just listening to Andrew Cuomo, the New York City mayoral candidate running as an independent now on election day in New York City making his final pitch. And you heard him talk about President Trump's endorsement saying this isn't about support for me. It's about opposing Zohran Mamdani. He has said that multiple times since President Trump endorsed him. And he talked about what he views as his opponent's socialist policies and how he thinks they're going to hurt the city. So, there you heard him talking to some of his supporters, thanking them for crisscrossing the city during this campaign. And we'll see how everything turns out. Close -- polls close there around 9:00 p.m. Eastern time.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. Final thoughts just before the polls close in New York City, making the case why they -- the voters in New York City should not vote for Mamdani, they should vote for him. And he was making the case why he would be a better mayor of New York. Very tough words as far as Mamdani is concerned.

BROWN: Yes, and he's really throughout the campaign been pitching himself as someone who is experienced, saying Zohran Mamdani does not have the experience to run a city like this. Zohran Mamdani, though, we have seen him really rise. I mean, remember at the very beginning, he was barely polling. And then you see him become the front runner, beating him, Andrew Cuomo, in the Democratic primary. And his pitch has been about cost of living for the everyday New Yorker. And that has really served him well, including his social media tactics and really putting himself out there. So, this is a race that we're watching closely, and we'll see how it how it turns out.

BLITZER: We should know in the next several hours what's going to happen in New York City and in gubernatorial contests around the country as well. Our Election Night coverage begins 5:00 p.m. Eastern later tonight. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:40:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Looking back at your career, how would you like to be remembered?

DICK CHENEY, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Well, as somebody who didn't spend a lot of time worried about his public standing, I guess.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Well, that was former Vice President Dick Cheney telling our very own Jamie Gangel how he wanted to be remembered. The Republican giant has died at the age of 84.

BLITZER: And joining us now to discuss Dick Cheney's legacy, our CNN Special Correspondent Jamie Gangel. She's here with us in the Situation Room. Also, with us, former Republican Congressman Charlie Dent, who served in Congress when Cheney was Vice President and former Pentagon Press Secretary for Dick Cheney, the longtime journalist Pete Williams.

Pete, let me start with you. I want to get your thoughts reflecting on Dick Cheney's passing right now. PETE WILLIAMS, FORMER NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT AND FORMER PRESS SECRETARY FOR DICK CHENEY: Well, you know, I was very close to him and to his family. And my thoughts about him are, first of all, what a remarkable figure he was in Washington. You know, most people who rise in the corridors of power in Washington sort of shed people as they go up. And not Dick Cheney, not Lynne Cheney, either. They acquired friends and kept them going.

I don't think the people who went to the Natrona County High School class with him ever spent more time in the vice president's residence than anybody else in the world. He kept people close to him. And the other thing is, he was very loyal to the people who worked for him. He was always there for us. He would take the blame for mistakes that we made. And that's just extraordinary. You know, people in Washington don't do that.

I was amused by the answer he gave to Jamie in the interview. He's not somebody who worried much about his public image. He did what he thought was right. And that was his beacon.

BLITZER: That's when I got to know you and him, when I was the Pentagon correspondent. You were the Pentagon press secretary. And you were always very blunt and very honest with us. And I was deeply appreciative of what you did. And you didn't kick us out of our little offices at the Pentagon.

BROWN: Very different days back then, huh?

WILLIAMS: Yes.

BLITZER: Yes. You know, Jamie, I want to play a little bit of what Dick Cheney told me about his daughter, Mary, when I interviewed him. On many occasions, I interviewed him. But listen to this, because I want to get your thoughts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Your daughter, Mary, she's pregnant. All of us are happy. She's going to have a baby. You're going to have another grandchild. Some critics, though, are suggesting, for example, a statement from someone representing Focus on the Family, Mary Cheney's pregnancy raises the question of what's best for children just because it's possible to conceive a child outside of the relationship of a married mother and father doesn't mean it's best for the child. Do you want to respond to that?

CHENEY: No, I don't.

BLITZER: She's obviously a good daughter.

CHENEY: I'm delighted. I'm delighted. I'm about to have a sixth grandchild, Wolf. And I obviously think the world of both my daughters and all of my grandchildren. And I think, frankly, you're out of line with that question.

BLITZER: I think all of us appreciate your daughter. That we like your daughters. Believe me, I'm very, very sympathetic to Liz and to Mary. I like them both. That was just a question that's come up, and it's a responsible, fair question.

CHENEY: I just fundamentally disagree with your question.

BLITZER: I want to congratulate you on having another grandchild.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:45:00]

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: You got the full Dick Cheney there. I was sitting here laughing. So, one of the things that I think is important to remember, and Pete will be able to give the exact quote, "but when Dick Cheney was asked about gay marriage, I believe his answer was --

WILLIAMS: A bit of an old chestnut.

GANGEL: And he then went on to say that he felt everybody should be free to love whomever they wanted to love. And I -- going back to when he became vice president, he was very clear about this with former President Bush. He said, this is my position. I'm not -- you know, and former President Bush. But what's funny about that is when you did hit a nerve with him, that would be the kind of tenor and response that --

WILLIAMS: There was no ambiguity.

GANGEL: No ambiguity, no ambiguity. I just -- you know, we've talked a lot about how powerful he was as vice president, how controversial he became because of his position about enhanced interrogation and the Iraq war. When I did that interview with him, I asked those questions again, that was back in 2015. He never backed down on any of those things.

But I think what his family -- you know, I spoke to Liz Cheney several times in the last couple of weeks, and what she hopes -- for many people, he's now Liz Cheney's father. And what she hopes is that people will know that he raised her to have the courage of her convictions. And for Dick Cheney, who was a Republican's Republican, a conservative's conservative, when Liz Cheney broke with Donald Trump, when she voted for the impeachment, then, as we saw in your obituary package, he came out and called Trump a coward.

He then went on to vote, endorse and vote for Kamala Harris. They both did. What Liz Cheney has said to me over and over again is that her father's legacy should be country over party. Neither one of them, I don't think, ever imagined they would vote for a Democrat for president. But that's how strongly they felt about Donald Trump.

BLITZER: Yes. And as someone who covered Cheney for a long time, I never imagined he would vote for a Democrat either. Did you, Pete?

WILLIAMS: Certainly not. I don't think the thought had ever occurred to him. But, you know, he did feel strongly about defending the country and doing what was right. And I think you saw that in his response to the 9/11 attacks, the searing experience of being alone in the White House with the president on the road, thinking he might have to order the shootdown of domestic airlines being hauled by the Secret Service down to a bunker under the White House. That was a searing experience, and he was determined to do everything he could to protect the country thereafter.

BLITZER: Let me get Charlie into this conversation. Charlie, did you ever think that the American people would really appreciate the person as opposed to the leader that Dick Cheney was?

CHARLIE DENT (R), FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: Well, I think over time people have come to really respect Dick Cheney as a man of principle and honor. He was a great public servant, and he was very capable. I think people forget that. I mean, he really knew how to pull the levers of power and get things done. And I think they respected him more because of the position he took in the most recent presidential election. He felt strongly about things.

I can see why he voted the way he did, because he believed in things like strong alliances and America's role in this world being so important. And I think he just had fundamental disagreements. And, you know, one of my favorite stories about Dick Cheney was I was sworn to Congress for the first time in 2005, and we were about to certify the presidential election, his second -- his re-election and George Bush's re-election, and we were witnessing the challenge from some of the Democrats to the Ohio certification. And I thought this was bizarre.

And I remember talking to Dick Cheney about it that morning on the back of the House floor about how bizarre this was. And then, of course, you know, many years later, his daughter was in the middle of another election certification challenge. But I just think that this man is going to be better remembered over time because of all that he accomplished from the days of a chief of staff to a Republican congressman to, you know, secretary of defense to running Halliburton to the vice presidency. And he was effective as vice president, I think, in large part because he had no political ambitions while he was vice president. He wasn't running for president.

And so, nobody was ever going to question him, what were his political motives. He was just trying to do the work of the country.

GANGEL: And I love the anecdote that he was tapped by Bush to figure out who should be his VP candidate, right? And ultimately, it was Dick Cheney himself.

[10:50:00]

BROWN: Who's tapped into that role.

BLITZER: He was running the committee.

GANGEL: Right. So, at first, I -- the way the story goes is that former President George W. Bush, when he was looking for vice president, he actually wanted Dick Cheney to be his vice president. And he asked him, and Dick Cheney said no, but he would do the search. And they did the search, and he got the job in the end. I think their relationship was very interesting because there is no question, as Charlie said, he took a ceremonial role and made it an important and powerful role. But former President Bush used to always say to me, you know, he wasn't the puppet master. Cheney wasn't the puppet master. He said, I was the decider, he was the adviser. But he was a very smart, experienced and powerful adviser.

WILLIAMS: Yes, I think at that point, he had decided that, you know, when he was eventually tapped to be vice president, that his public service career had been over. After he was secretary of defense, he did actually think about running for president. And he thought about it for a while and decided it wasn't the right time, it wasn't right for him, and he was going to move on and step down from public service. And then he felt the call to come back.

BLITZER: He certainly was a great patriot. And I think I speak for all of us when I say our deepest, deepest condolences to his loving family. May he rest in peace and may his memory be a blessing. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Happening now. Voters are headed to the polls in key races across the country, marking the first major electoral test of President Trump's second term. Virginia and New Jersey will select their new governors. New York City will decide whether a Democratic Socialist will become its mayor. And in California, voters will determine whether to support Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom's push to combat Republican gerrymandering in Texas.

[10:55:00]

Joining us now here in the Situation Room is the chair of the Democratic National Committee, Ken Martin. Ken, thanks very much for joining us.

KEN MARTIN, DNC CHAIR: Thank you.

BLITZER: I want to focus in on the elections subject very close to your heart. A lot of interest, but I want to get your thoughts first of all on this on the passing of Dick Cheney.

MARTIN: Well, obviously my condolences to Cheney family on the passing of Vice President Cheney. Our thoughts are with him and his family, of course, during this time. And you know, obviously there'll be time to talk about the legacy of Dick Cheney, but at this point our thoughts are with his family.

BLITZER: He was a very courageous politician as somebody who covered him for a long time, deeply appreciated so many of the things that he did.

All right. We'll talk about the election right now. Subject very close to your heart as well. President Trump posted overnight as you know, that the Democratic candidates in Virginia and New Jersey, he says, the Governor's races Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger want, quote, "Transgender for everybody, men playing in women's sports, high crime and the most expensive energy prices," end quote. That's from Trump.

Republicans successfully use those issues against Democrats in 2024 as you know. What makes you confident that won't happen again?

MARTIN: Well look, this playbook is not going to work right now. Across the country right now, people are facing economic hardship, right? That's what they voted on last year, and that's what they're voting on again. Donald Trump promised them on day one, he was going to lower their cost. He was going to actually improve people's lives. He was going to make it more affordable. He's done enough. And, but help is rich billionaire friends at the expense of hardworking Americans.

And clearly, I've been on the ground in Virginia and New Jersey over the last week as well in Pennsylvania and California. Democrats are enthused. You saw that in your poll earlier today, 67 percent of Democrats are enthused about voting this election and in the 26 midterms, only 46 percent of Republicans are. We're already seeing that at the polls right now with Democrats having huge advantages with the early vote coming into election day today.

I'm very confident that we're going to win, but we're not complacent, meaning we still have seven or so hours left to actually get out the vote, and we're going to continue to do that throughout the day.

BLITZER: Is it going to be a narrow win or a landslide?

MARTIN: Well, look a win's a win, and we're going to win across the country, both in New Jersey, Virginia. Pennsylvania, California, and there's a hundred thousand local elections on the ballot, and we're going to win many of those as well tonight. It's going to be a big night for Democrats, and that's going to be a message to Donald Trump and the Republicans. The Americans are not buying their BS. The Americans are supporting Democrats and we're coming after them in the midterms.

BLITZER: Abigail Spanberger argued to see an end that there's a level of dishonesty in some of the big promises the Democratic nominee in New York City's mayoral race, or on Mamdani is making, and she said this, and I'm quoting her now, "People do want us to be aspirational and dream big. They also don't want us to lie to them." Which candidates, Spanberger or Mamdani should Democrats embody in the lead up to the midterm elections next year?

MARTIN: Well, I think what -- both. And the reality is this Wolf, we have a big tent party and we have lots of different ideas, lots of different, you know, positions within that party, but there is a through line. And while people want to focus on the differences between our Democratic candidates, one through line is the fact that both so and Zohran Mamdani, Abigail Spanberger, Mikie Sherrill and other Democrats on the ballot are focused on affordability for, focused on bringing down the cost of goods, focused on reducing your electricity and utility costs, making sure you can afford your rent and mortgage, making sure you have access to healthcare in this country, making sure you can put groceries on the table.

Those are the everyday kitchen table issues that are -- most Americans are facing right now, and it's driving anxiety in this country, and that's what Democrats are addressing. While Republicans continue to do nothing to end this shutdown, Democrats are focused on actually providing solutions to the problems that our Americans are facing.

BLITZER: I'm curious, does the DNC, you're the chair of the Democratic National Committee welcome President Trump's endorsement of the Independent candidate in the New York mayor's race, the former governor -- former Democrat Andrew Cuomo? Cuomo is distancing himself from that endorsement as you know.

MARTIN: I'm pretty sure I can say this with certainty, most New Yorkers don't care what Donald Trump thinks.

BLITZER: What do you think?

MARTIN: I -- listen, most New Yorkers don't care what Donald Trump thinks. At the end of the day. I have said we are a big tent party. We have all sorts of Democrats, right? I endorse Mamdani the night he won the primary. I respect the will of primary voters. It's not up to me as a DNC chair to put my thumb on the scale and decide who our nominee should be. That's up to the Democratic primary voters. They made their decision this summer, and I'm going to fight like hell to make sure our Democratic nominees not only now but into next year when.

BLITZER: So, you want Mamdani to be the next mayor of New York?

MARTIN: I -- he will be the next mayor of New York. And I endorsed him right away because that's what Democratic primary voters clearly said this summer. And at the end of the day, like I said, no one should confuse unity with unanimity of the Democratic Party. What do I mean by that? There's lots of different ways to be a Democrat.

[11:00:00]