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Some Senate Races Still Undecided; Stacey Abrams Refuses to Concede Georgia Governor's Race. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired November 7, 2018 - 06:00   ET

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


ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

[05:59:02] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Wednesday, November 7, 6 a.m. here in Washington.

The midterm elections have delivered a split Congress. That's the big headline. Democrats seizing back control of the House by a decisive margin. Votes are still being counted as we speak. Democrats are already vowing to have more robust investigations of President Trump.

But Democrats hit a red wall in the Senate. Republicans not only maintained control, but they increased their majority there.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump spoke with the once and possibly future House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, to congratulate her after the Democratic win. Pelosi celebrated the retaking of the House by saying Americans have had enough of division, and then she hit Republicans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), MINORITY LEADER: Today is more than about Democrats and Republicans. It's about restoring the Constitution's checks and balances to the Trump administration. It's about stopping the GOP and Mitch McConnell's attack on Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act and the health care of 130 million Americans living with pre-existing medical conditions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The checks and balances thing is serious. This will be the first time the president has had to deal with congressional oversights since he's been in office.

Look at the exit polls here. Several key factors. The biggest, probably women, especially in the suburbs. Women made up 52 percent of the overall electorate. They went for the Democrats over the Republicans by about 20 points.

This morning key Senate races in Florida, Arizona, and Montana still undecided. In Mississippi, it's going into overtime. There's a special election there that will be headed to a runoff.

And in Georgia, Stacey Abrams is refusing to concede the governor's race there. She wants every last vote counted.

We have it all covered for you. Let's go to CNN's Phil Mattingly, though, at the Magic Wall, because it's not over in some places.

Phil, what are you watching?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's not over, and there's actually some really important votes still coming in.

Look, let's start with the Senate as it currently stands. As you noted, it's a little bit of something for everyone, depending on which side of the Capitol you sit on whether this was a good or bad night. If you're a Republican and you sit in the Senate, this was a very good night for you.

Right now, as things currently stand, Republicans lead in 55 seats. They would have a 55- seat -- five-seat total majority, Democrats in 45.

However, one of those states that's currently red, Montana, still outstanding vote. And guys, I want to dig in here, because it's really important.

Matt Rosendale's lead has dropped since we last spoke to about 1,500 votes. And earlier, I said Jon Tester, the Democratic incumbent, has a narrow pathway. I'd like to revise that. He has a clear pathway now, not a guaranteed pathway, but he has a pathway. Ninety-four percent reporting.

So the question is what's still outstanding in the vote. Look at what's still outstanding. Jon Tester trailing by 1,500 votes. Five Democratic counties, basically, are still outstanding. And Jon Tester, while there's not a ton of vote in all these counties, very clearly has an opportunity to pick up 1,100 votes, 1,200 votes in these counties potentially pushing him over the top.

We're going to have to keep a very close eye on this right now. The Democrats starting to feel a little bit better about this race. A little bit different down in Arizona.

Another state we still haven't called yet, still waiting to see what happens. As it currently stands, Martha McSally, this is for the open seat that Senator Jeff Flake, a Republican, decided to retire. Martha McSally, the Republican, currently 14,000 votes ahead over Kyrsten Sinema, House Democrat who's running. Seventy-five percent reporting.

Basically, this is looking like it's about baked. Still outstanding. There's still going to be absentees counted, as well, guys. Obviously, a very close race right now. But most of the counties have come in. Right now Maricopa, one of the interesting elements here, Kyrsten Sinema actually won Maricopa County or is right on the verge of it with 99 percent reporting and is still trailing. That's a bad sign for Democrats, but we will have to wait and see on that, as well.

Let's go to the other uncalled race this moment. It's Florida. And you want to explain why this is uncalled. As it currently stands in Florida, Rick Scott up by about 34,000 votes. But the most important number here is .4 percent. That's how much the margin is right now in Florida. The law is an automatic recount is triggered if it's less than point five percent. That's where it stands right now. There's still absentee ballots coming in, or that had to be postmarked yesterday. They'll be counted over the course of the next couple days. That's why it's not called yet as people wait and see. That's what our decision desk is waiting for.

So keep an eye on Florida, as well, over the next couple of days.

Now again, I said if you're Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, you're looking at this map and you're very happy. You're looking at Democrats who had a lot of races in Trump country. Well, they lost a lot of those races. They lost in Indiana. They lost in Missouri. They lost in North Dakota.

Beto O'Rourke, the challenger to Ted Cruz, had a ton of Democratic enthusiasm and a ton of Democratic money. He made it very close, but he also lost here down in Texas.

The Democrats looking at a larger majority for Republicans in the Senate. You want to take a look real quick over at the House where things stand.

Basically, guys, Democrats right now, the topline number, 229 seats; 218 is the majority. Still some races outstanding in California. We're keeping a close eye. The big question is what kind of margin are Democrats going to have to work with? But if Republicans had a great night in the Senate, Democrats definitely had a great night in the House, guys.

BERMAN: All right. Phil Mattingly, doing a great job over there. John King finally letting someone else touch the wall. And you're doing great, so thanks.

CAMEROTA: He's asleep right now. He's -- boy, is he going to be mad.

BERMAN: John King didn't know a thing about it. Thank you, Phil. Appreciate it.

Let me give you one update on voter turnout. We just got word that so far, 113 million people have voted.

CAMEROTA: I mean, just incredible. So the predictions of people being engaged, and of this being a landmark midterm have come to pass.

BERMAN: Yes, it was 83 million in 2014, which was actually an historically low turnout. In 2010, it was 96 million. This blows both those out of the water.

Want to bring in our CNN political analysts and commentators. David Gregory, Jackie Kucinich, Bakari Sellers and Scott Jennings.

So Phil just told us what is happening. I think the two other questions are what happened and what will happen now that Democrats have taken over. David, biggest of big pictures. Talk to me about the most significant

thing.

[06:05:06] DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Out of the doldrums of 2016, Democrats have struck back. They've taken the House. They've shown surprising strength around the country. Bakari will talk about winning an important seat in South Carolina, Central Oklahoma, winning a seat outside of Dallas. This is not just about -- as Bakari said the other day, it's not just about Democrats playing on the coast. They're playing all over the country.

The president, in an up economy, a strong economy still losing a lot of seats in the House. And even in Sun Belt states with impressive candidates that ended up being -- losing and in disappointing losses down in Florida and Georgia and the governor's races, still such signs of strength in those states for progressive candidates Beto O'Rourke in Texas, another sign of strength.

But the president has reason to be energized, as well. He creates a lot of his energy, positive and negative, that's coursing throughout the country. His involvement really kept the Senate fortified for Republicans, and he had some pickups in states that will be important for him as he thinks about reelection, as well.

So this was not a blue wave but a significant night for Democrats, which I think, also some reasons for the president to feel good.

CAMEROTA: So Bakari, as a Democrat, how are we feeling? I mean, these high-profile losses of Andrew Gillum, Beto O'Rourke. Stacey Abrams is still fighting.

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: yes.

CAMEROTA: They're that hurts, obviously.

SELLERS: I mean, it hurts. I mean, those are personalities. Those are friends. I mean, there are a lot of Americans who got to know these individuals.

But because of their races, Democrats got results. Because of their races, that energy, it went from coast-to-coast. And so just because they lost their individual race does not mean the Democrats fared poorly last night.

Some of the things that we looked at that happened were congressional pickups in Iowa, in Texas. Amendments passed in Florida. Felons' voting rights were restored through Amendment 4 in Florida. If that was signed into law, Andrew Gillum wins this race. So that actually changes the dynamic of Florida moving forward.

And I say that the biggest referendum on Donald Trump is a young man named Joe Cunningham, that Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Party leadership are going to have to reckon with and this country are going to have to reckon with. I think he's the future of the party.

He won a district that was previously held by -- I call him Governor Mark Sanford, but Congressman Mark Sanford. And it was Donald Trump Jr.'s last campaign stop. And so he pulled out a district that was a plus 10, 15 points. And he wanted it at 2 or 3 a.m. in the morning.

And so Democrats have a lot to be proud of. I think the leadership, though, needs to do some introspection, because Nancy Pelosi, Jim Clyburn and Steny Hoyer don't necessarily reflect what was victorious for Democrats last night.

BERMAN: I want to talk much more about that a little bit. First, I want to give your friend to the left, there, ironically, Scott Jennings --

SELLERS: The first time he's to my left.

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Bite your tongue, John Berman.

BERMAN: A chance to agree with you that this was just a big clear victory for the Democrats.

JENNINGS: So here's what I think. Structurally speaking, nothing that happened last night tells me anything other than Donald Trump's favored for reelection in 2020. He remains in good shape in middle America. The coasts are still unhappy with him.

On the Senate side, Kavanaugh clearly locked in the Senate. Clearly --

CAMEROTA: How do you know that? What's your evidence that it locked in the Senate. You mean the Senate was going to go down before Kavanaugh?

JENNINGS: Look at -- look at the races. The only race where we still don't know is Montana. And he voted -- Tester voted against Kavanaugh. And he's been in trouble all night. But everybody else -- Indiana, Donnelly went against Kavanaugh, lost. McCaskill against, lost. Manchin, the only Democrat to vote for, wins.

SELLERS: Heller supported him. And Heller's going home.

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Oh, man, he ruined it.

SELLERS: I was like, wait a minute. That doesn't --

JENNINGS: Kavanaugh -- Kavanaugh, would you like to say that Democrats had a good night in the Senate, Bakari?

SELLERS: No, not at all.

JENNINGS: OK. OK, all right, good. So Kavanaugh locked in the Senate.

In the same way O'Connell going all in on the Supreme Court, I think, delivered the presidency in '16. So that's -- that's what's good for the Republicans. Here's what's bad. The suburbs. Donald Trump's going to have to embrace the boring. You know, I live in the suburbs. You move out there because you want your life to be boring. You know, you get up, you go to work. You take your kids to school. You go to your job. You rinse and repeat. You watch your Weather Channel and "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse." You want your life to be boring. You don't need drama. You want peace, prosperity and stability.

SELLERS: Is this what I have to look forward to?

GREGORY: Yes. Yes.

JENNINGS: And so, if there's a lesson to be learned, it's that you're fine in middle America, but if you want to recover the suburbs, focus on what you say is boring, the economy. Peace and prosperity, that's where I think Trump has got to pivot as he heads to his own reelection.

BERMAN: You just made me feel so bad about myself.

GREGORY: Right. Wait a minute. That's not my life.

KUCINICH: But I think the other thing we saw last night is that Republicans really do have a -- and Trump himself have a very tight hold on two previously blue states, Florida and Ohio.

They -- I mean, you really saw it in terms of the governor's races there and the Senate. We don't know yet, clearly, with Nelson. They weren't able to move the needle. And you really heard Democrats, particularly in Florida, wringing their hands last night, because they weren't able to make any in-roads in this state where they really should be.

[06:10:11] BERMAN: They're thinking, "What else can we try? We've tried everything."

KUCINICH: Right. Right. Totally, completely. And that's sort of what they were saying last night.

And they haven't found candidates that really can beat back the Trump surge in those -- in those states. And he also -- President Trump did something that President Obama really wasn't able to do in a midterm election. He was able to hold people over by -- by his, you know, barnstorming, get his people out for Republican candidates.

GREGORY: But these were still about a fight. I mean, I do think Kavanaugh had a huge effect in the areas where the president was popular to hold on to the Senate.

But I think it's very interesting that we had the result that we had. The fact that, I think, both Bakari and Scott are right about the points that they're making shows you that this electorate is really shaking itself out in reaction to Trump.

And there's a lot of fluidity going into '20. You look at these battleground states, were in Florida, Iowa, Ohio, swing states. They retain their control of the governorships in the upper Midwest. Wisconsin, a big pick-up on the governor's of Pennsylvania. These are signs of strength for Democrats, as well. And then -- and of course, the engagement and the energy tells you something about how big 2020 will be.

CAMEROTA: Bakari, what about the progressive versus the, excuse me, moderate philosophy? So the progressives, I mean, in terms of the high-profile ones of Stacey Abrams, Andrew Gillum and Beto O'Rourke, didn't do so well.

SELLERS: Well, actually, I actually have a different juxtaposition about where they fit on the spectrum, because I think that there are people who are further left than them, like Ben Jealous, for example, in Maryland who came up short against -- against Governor Hogan.

I think that this is not necessarily a referendum on whether or not our party is too far left or too far right. I think that our party embraced some of the values of a changing country. We just thought the country was changing faster than it is.

And so, if you look at -- if you look at Stacey Abrams, she -- she's still in the race. I mean, it's a very close race. If you look at Jacky Rosen in Nevada, right, we're winning that race. And so when you start to look at the future of the country, we've realized a few things. It's going to be more (UNINTELLIGIBLE), and it's going to be led by women. And the Democratic Party embraced both of those theories. And so that's --

CAMEROTA: The message you take away is stick with the progressive messaging?

SELLERS: Yes, I mean, I think that the campaign that Andrew Gillum ran was as good a campaign as you can possibly have in this climate.

And let me just say something. I have to give Donald Trump credit on this note. That caravan nonsense, that actually worked. OK? This whole -- the caravan, they're coming to take over. I mean, I know you hate the messaging. It actually worked, because I think that there were people who otherwise wouldn't come out, who came out in that election, because they were stoked by fear. And they appreciate the -- the divisiveness.

BERMAN: Senate races worked. House races, Scott?

JENNINGS: Well, again, I don't think the caravan -- we already had the Senate locked in. Kavanaugh locked it in. And strategically, the president made a choice to go away from the economy and to talk about immigration.

That did not work in the suburbs. They want to hear about the economy. So I think a tactical lesson learned here is that Republicans and conservative voters in these big rural states. They really do care about the Supreme Court.

I think the immigration messaging was overkill, and that's why, going back into the next round in 2020, he's got to focus on the economy. I do want to say that I agree with Bakari. I think they should stay with the progressive messaging. I think they should stay with Nancy Pelosi. I'd like to run more tape of --

SELLERS: We're not there. We're not there yet. We're going to talk about that. That is the key.

BERMAN: Let's take a break here, because I think that's a great stopping point. After the break, I want to talk extensively about how Democrats are going to handle this. They're the dog that caught the car now. What do they do with this newfound power? What does Nancy Pelosi do? What does Steny Hoyer do? Who's going to lead the Democratic Party? That and much more when this special coverage on NEW DAY continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:17:45] CAMEROTA: Stacey Abrams is behind at the moment but not conceding in Georgia's heated governor's race. At this hour, she trails Republican Brian Kemp -- you can see there -- by 68,000 votes. And she is spoiling for a recount.

Nick Valencia is live in Atlanta with more. What's the situation, Nick?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

It was a bitter race. It was expected to be a very close race, and it is still not over. Ninety-nine percent of the precincts reporting, and Democrat Stacey Abrams still trails her Republican counterpart, Brian Kemp, by more than 75,000 votes. It is a significant number, but Stacey Abrams is hopeful, and her hope rests in tens of thousands of absentee ballots, particularly here in the metro Atlanta area, which is part of her progressive base.

She addressed her supporters last night, saying it's going to be an uphill battle; but it is not without -- or not outside the realm of possibility. Both Abrams and Kemp sounding confident speaking to their supporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STACEY ABRAMS (D), GEORGIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Votes remain to be counted. There are voices that were wanting to be heard. Across our state, folks are opening up the dreams of voters in absentee ballots. And we believe our chance for a stronger Georgia is just within reach, but we cannot seize it until all voices are heard.

BRIAN KEMP (R), GEORGIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: We are waiting on the final results, but I'm confident that victory is near.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: Abrams didn't mention Kemp by name, but did allude to people hard at work, trying to keep our voice away, alluding to allegations of voter suppression. Leading up to this election, there was an estimated 47,000 pending voter registrations, disproportionately affecting the minority community. It's because of that that she labeled Kemp, who's the secretary of state that oversees the elections here in Georgia as a vote suppressor. Many people seeing Kemp's role as the secretary of state and running in this race as a conflict of interest.

For Abrams, she's counting on these absentee ballots and says that she is not going to concede until all of them are counted -- John.

BERMAN: All right. Nick Valencia in Atlanta. We're watching that very closely. The Georgia governor's race, not the only big race in the country. You know, Scott Walker, after what seems like 100 reelection battles that he won, lost one.

Phil Mattingly, at the Magic Wall with the very latest on the governor's results.

MATTINGLY: Yes, it was a little bit of a mixed bag. Certainly, when you're flipping six governor's mansions, that's a big deal, and Democrats are very happy about that.

[06:20:05] CAMEROTA: However, there's a caveat to that. We talked about Georgia. Let's also talk about Florida. I was just speaking with one senior Democrat, who texted me, "This one hurt." And that "this one" is Andrew Gillum, the Democratic challenger's inability to defeat Ron DeSantis, Republican, the House member. He ended up winning Florida.

Andrew Gillum had a ton of attention going into this race, a ton of momentum, people thought, going into this race, considered kind of the future of the Democratic Party. That may still hold, but it won't hold in the Florida governor's mansion. So that's Florida.

The other key issue that I think Democrats are a little bit disappointed in, clearly Ohio. Ohio, Mike DeWine ending up defeating Richard Cordray by about four percentage points, 194,000 votes.

Interesting element is Democrats in the Senate. Senator Sherrod Brown won this state easily. They couldn't parlay that over to the governors.

Now good news, if you're a Democrat, and that was going into this night where the opportunities actually were. You take a look at Michigan. You take a look at Wisconsin, as you just noted, John. And a hold in Pennsylvania. These are all states that President Trump won in 2016.

Had President Trump not won those states, President Trump would not be President Trump. So Democrats' ability to win statewide there is obviously a big deal.

One of the bigger deals, I think, and John, you mentioned it. It's Wisconsin. The fact that Democrats were finally able to defeat Scott Walker. He's run and won twice. He had a recall. Tony Evers able to pull it out. We called this race, 32,000 votes ahead. Democrats are certainly happy about that. But I think there's no overlooking the fact that Florida, and depending on how Georgia turns out, some missed opportunities for Democrats. But certainly, going into 2020, not just the presidential but also the opportunity to redraft congressional lines of redistricting, which the governors will have veto power over, good news when you're flipping six, maybe even seven seats, guys.

CAMEROTA: OK, Phil. Thank you very much. Come back to us as there's any movement there.

So let's talk about the new reality that Americans are waking up to. A divided Congress. Dems win the House. The GOP keeps the Senate. Scott Jennings.

Back with us to talk about this and more, we have David Gregory Jackie Kucinich, Bakari Sellers and Scott Jennings.

So Scott Jennings, a wise man on the set said yesterday Americans like divided government. I think it was John Berman.

BERMAN: Thank you very much. The first nice thing in six months. All right.

CAMEROTA: I work up slowly to it.

So they have that, at least in Congress now; and from exit polls, some of the voters said that they did want checks and balances on the president. So now what does this look like? What does this mean?

JENNINGS: Well, it reminds me a lot of what happened in 2006. I worked for President Bush, and after the Congress flipped, the Democrats inflicted a massive amount of investigatory pain and paralysis on the Bush administration in the second term.

I think that's going to happen again. You're going to see investigations. They have to talk about impeachment. Eighty percent of the Democratic Party wants it. There's a petition with 6 million signatures on it. They want it. A lot of these folks that are coming into the House want it.

So they're going to go down that road. It's going to look, in some cases like overreach, which I think will hurt them in 2020. So on the House side, I think it's investigations. For the global back and forth between the executive and legislative branch, it probably means gridlock, except in the Senate, where they can still do judges.

So I wouldn't expect major movement on legislation. I would expect a lot of investigations. McConnell's going to continue to go all in with Trump on judges, and we're going to have a presidential campaign over the top of all of it.

BERMAN: All right, Bakari Sellers, you are a Democrat.

SELLERS: Yes, still.

BERMAN: Who do you want to see? Who do you want to see running the Democratic caucus in the House?

SELLERS: Thank you for the loaded bomb question.

BERMAN: Oh, no, but seriously.

SELLERS: This is my -- this is my issue. My issue is that, for example, Lucy McBath is on her way to being a United States congressman because of Stacey Abrams, right? You have Shalala and a few others in Florida because of Andrew Gillum.

CAMEROTA: They rode coattails.

SELLER: They rode coattails. You have Colin Allred and a few others in Texas because of Beto O'Rourke. You have these personalities. You have these progressive ideas and coattails who helped create this majority, right?

That energy in the country, is fed, even though we couldn't all vote for Beto O'Rourke, he created a lot of energy in our party. The problem that individuals are going to have with House leadership is that they don't reflect that portion of the Democratic Party.

And so you have many people like Joe Cunningham, for example, who vowed to vote against Nancy Pelosi. I think there are about ten members who won, who voted to vote against Nancy Pelosi. And five more of them is races too close to call.

And so with the 18-seat majority, the most difficult race. And Andy Kim in New Jersey, the most difficult race or vote that these individuals are going to have is not going to be health care. It's not going to be infrastructure or pharmaceutical drugs. It's going to be that House leadership vote this month.

KUCINICH: But here's their biggest problem. There's no answer to the problem, if not Pelosi --

SELLERS: Then who?

KUCINICH: Exactly. She fundraises better than anyone else. Her member services operation, which I'm getting wonky here, but it had to do with how she treats different members. That's excellent. There's no -- there's no better whip in the Democratic caucus than Nancy Pelosi. So there really is -- there's no one to fill the void. She's -- it's hers to lose right now, simply because -- because it's such a diverse caucus. What are you going to have? Like a middle-aged white guy?

[06:25:08] GREGORY: But to Bakari -- but to Bakari's point --

SELLERS: But Nancy Pelosi also -- but Nancy Pelosi also gave us -- to your point. And what Democrats fall back on, not only is she our best fund-raiser, but she also gave you -- she carried the Affordable Care Act. She gave you Lily Ledbetter. She led the stimulus and TARP.

GREGORY: But she's easy to vilify.

SELLERS: Right.

GREGORY: And if you're President Trump, you know, running against Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, there's already voters out there, Republican voters, who get it. You just hit "play" on that attack.

KUCINICH: Are those changeable votes anyway? I mean, they're not going to be, like, oh, there's a new Democrat.

GREGORY: But to Bakari's point, whether it's young people, whether it's minorities, the ascendant coalition of Democratic voters want to be led in a -- in a different way. Or even suburban voters who are tired of some of this leadership.

So it's a question, because it has to be balanced. But there's -- you know, there's always this opportunity with Trump or he sees some value in cutting some big deal with Chuck and Nancy, but then he reverts back to, "Let's just go back and fight." You know?

JENNINGS: The president needs a villain. He picked the caravan in this election, which didn't help in the suburbs. I'm cheering for Nancy, because he needs a villain. The exit polls bear it out. She's the right one. Pick Nancy, and that will help bring you back.

CAMEROTA: Is there a way to split the baby where you say, OK, Nancy Pelosi, now she ushers us through the next, Democrats say, five or six months or whatever, and then she cultivates somebody --

SELLERS: One of the things that they failed to do, my party has failed to do is cultivate a bench. Right? So I mean, it's not like -- it's not like Andrew Gillum and Stacey Abrams relied on some older structure of Democrats to say, "Come here."

No, they just kicked the door down. And so we do have a lot of talent in our party. I mean, Grace Mean (ph), Annette Berrigan (ph), Hakeem Jeffries. I mean, we have some really -- Tim Ryan. You have some really talented people. The problem is they've been frozen out. And so this is going to have to thaw or you're going to have some serious issues.

BERMAN: Who's going to talk to Steny Hoyer and Ji Clyburn then if you're going to reach some kind of succession deal and say Nancy Pelosi is going to be here for a year, and then someone else is going to move in. I don't see Clyburn or Hoyer just saying, "OK, no problem with that."

KUCINICH: That's right. And that's going to be -- what's going to happen inside that Democratic caucus, particularly in these first couple weeks, is going to be fascinating. We're going to see what direction they're going to take and where the lines are going to be drawn. Because it's one of the kind of double-edged swords. If you take the majority, your caucus becomes more ideologically diverse.

And we saw Pelosi try to manage it the last time they were controlled and they're going to have to do it now with a more progressive caucus in a lot of ways on that left side. GREGORY: Let's just remember how many energy is going to be around

impeachment with whatever Mueller produces. There's going to be an effort to try to tamp down that enthusiasm. And so there is the risk of overreach.

And just as you said, Bakari, that a lot of progressives thought the country was changing not quite as quickly, I think there's a lot of voters out there who feel like they're being talked down to.

SELLERS: I agree with that.

GREGORY: And I think that is a problem for progressives, and I think it will continue to be. And there's nobody who knows how to exploit that better than President Trump.

SELLERS: But I think you brought up a good point. And I think that we have to do a better job. We always talk about Donald Trump's tone, but Democrats have to do a better job tonally with their rhetoric in not being some high-falluting person who talks down to voters.

The only pushback I give to you on that is that we did pick up seven governor's seats last night. And we picked them up and along that blue wall, as it's called, you know, in Michigan and Wisconsin.

And so, you know, when you look at those things, the Democratic Party did not have an awful night. But to Scott's point, one of the things that the Democrats have to do is tone back the impeachment talk. I don't want to have impeachment hearings. But what I do want them to talk about are prescription drug prices and infrastructure. And work with the Trump -- work with Trump to make it happen.

BERMAN: Do you guys want to hear from President Trump? Because he's up. He's up.

SELLERS: Oh, boy. Is he watching us?

BERMAN: The president is up. Good morning, Mr. President. This is what he writes moments ago: "Received so many congratulations from so many on our" -- capital "B," capital "V" -- "Big Victory last night, including from foreign nations, friends, that were waiting me out and hoping on trade deals. Now we can all get back to work and get things done."

This was predictable. I think, again, if he woke up and had breakfast, he was going to declare victory here. He can rightly declare that they expanded --

GREGORY: Interesting message that -- what he's saying there, is there were foreign leaders who thought he was in big trouble and who now think he's strong enough to do some deals with.

BERMAN: That's what he's saying. I don't know if that's true. I mean, I don't know if that's true, but that's what he's saying. And I know that foreign leaders certainly know how Congress works and knows that the House of Representatives is now in Democratic hands, so any legislation that might have been passed seems less likely now. CAMEROTA: It's also just interesting, because everybody is claiming

victory this morning. So Democrats can claim victory, and the president can claim victory. And Republicans can claim victory. That doesn't often happen. So there we are.

GREGORY: It's a national moment of unity.

CAMEROTA: It is.

GREGORY: Everybody's a winner. You get a victory and you get a victory --

JENNINGS: Everybody is voting and everybody is happy. It is morning in America.

CAMEROTA: Yes. Thank you all very much for the great conversation.

So Democratic Congressman Conor Lamb wins the only race with two incumbents. How did he do it? We ask him next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)