♪ ♪ ♪ >> hello, and welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm kasie hunt, live in washington. we begin with the major win tonight for democrats. cnn projects that senator raphael warnock will win reelection in a very close runoff election against herschel walker. the race closes out the difficult midterm cycle for republicans, who did win a slim majority in the house. but after tonight, they lost ground in the senate. we're not victory gives democrats a 51 to 49 edge. it is a critical seat, because it gives them a majority in all of the senate committees. and it limits the influence of any single moderate democrat. they have, at times and senator

warnock spoke with supporters at his campaign headquarters in atlanta of short time ago. he said he was honored to repeat the four most important word that he said were ever uttered in a democracy. the people have spoken. >> i want to say thank you to my mother who is here tonight. [applause] you will see her in a little while. but she grew up in the 1950s. in waycross, georgia, picking somebody else's cotton. and somebody else's tobacco. but tonight, she helped pick her youngest son to be a united states senator. >> never a bad plan to thank

your mom. herschel walker conceded defeat in a short speech at his headquarters in atlanta about an hour ago. he thanked his supporters and pledge that he would continue to work for the voters of georgia. >> one of the things i want to tell all of you is you never stop dreaming. i don't want any of you to stop dreaming. i don't want any of you to stop believing in america. i want you to believe in america and continue to believe in a constitution and continue to believe in our elected officials. continue to pray for them because all the prayers that you've given, me i have felt those prayers. i want to thank all of my team as well, team herschel, because they put up with a lot. and i want to thank team herschel, thank all my donors, as well, because you guys -- without you i, could not do what i had done. so, i want to thank all of you as well. because there's no excuses in life. and i am not going to make any excuses now, because we put one up -- put up one heck of a fight. >> it's going to be a lot to chew on there. we're gonna talk about it with

our panel in a second. but first i, want to get straight to cnn political director david chalian, who is at the magic wall for us. david, help us understand what unfolded tonight and what it has about the voters in georgia and the state the country. >> and where it leads us, because as you noted, this is the senate now that america wakes up to this morning, a new balance of power, 51 democrats, 49 republicans, democrats have increased their majority in the united states senate. and they did it with this georgia runoff, this last race of the cycle, to be called. i want you to note here, right now in the vote count, you have raphael warnock, 82,801 votes ahead, of herschel walker. 51.2% to 48.8%. this is 99% the estimated vote in. obviously, we projected warnock the winner here. but we are gonna see these votes change as more votes get reported. i want to note, if you look back to november 8th, and you take a look at the runoff --

the general election, there you see raphael warnock emerge ahead of herschel walker by 37,675 votes. that was just four weeks ago. look at how's margin increased. now, 82,801 votes. how did he do this? take a look. we can show you. this is the votes as they came in tonight. and i'm going to show you where warnock overperformed what he did four weeks ago on november 8th nearly everywhere. save about 14 counties, he overperformed everywhere, including critically up here in the atlanta area and in the suburbs. and that was a critical component to him edging ahead of walker four weeks ago. and it is what drove his big victory tonight that gives democrats that 51 seat majority. >> david, can i ask you -- and i realize, this is the final race of 2022, but it also kickstarts 2024. we already have at least one

announced republican presidential candidate for 2024. obviously, georgia was a critical state in the 2020 election. what does this tell you about where georgia stands in future presidential races? and how much of this do you think is about donald trump, and how much of it is about fundamental changes in the electorate in georgia? >> i think it's all the. above because i think you see obviously a changing electorate. i, mean you will remember, casey, of course you go back to 2008 in 2012, the obama campaign manager, david plop, always had trump on a list that he believed democrats would get. two we saw joe biden flip that state. no doubt, that is something to do with donald trump as well. and yes, donald trump played a role here. but so too did the coalition that warnock was able to put together here. and when you ask where does georgia sit in 2024 presidential politics, it sits right at the center of it. i mean, this is a purple state

that has republican roots of recent decades. and clearly is going to be a place that both parties heavily invested to compete in 2020. four >> it's amazing to see how the maps change in two years. dave it chalian, thank you for being with us. here to talk with the georgia senate runoff, we have a distinguished panel of guests joining us for these early morning hours here the united states. paula gala, a democratic strategist and cnn political commentator. alice stewart, republican strategist, also cnn political commentator. -- correspond for the pbs news hour, also one of our cnn political analyst. and april, ryan who is a white house correspondent for thegrio and also a cnn political analysis. thank you so much for being here tonight as we break this down, late into the, i guess, early morning hours? it's not necessarily light as we get started here. but paul begala, let me start with you, you've been around, you've seen a lot. georgia is not a state that was necessarily on the map for democrats when you first got

into this business. what did you see tonight as things unfolded here? >> i want to talk about georgia in a minute. i'm wearing my georgia bulldogs tie. i lived there and work there. >> i love being a bulldog, thank you for the tie. >> it is changing the. first of all, reverend warnock. it's hard to say if the guy has won four races in two years that a star is born here. i thought not just winning, but the way he did, with the weight of his world on the shoulder, on a spotlight you can have, never a false note. and tonight's victory speech, we are going to talk a lot about herschel walker conceding which is the right thing to do and i'm proud that he did it. but oh my goodness, reverend warnock, he did not quote, he did not exude, he did not over interpret. he wore a purple tie. just like i'm wearing my georgia bulldogs tight, he wore a purple tie. he talked about bipartisanship. you can tell that he is a preacher. >> oh yes, he basically gave a sermon. >> oh my gosh, yes. >> yes, yes. so, a star is born. people wonder where the democrats go after the current

generation of leaders. my party has a lot of talent. when you have a man who can win in a state where just a few years ago they were hunting us down with dogs, that puts him right at the top of the democratic party. >> it's interesting, paul and april, i'm really interested in your take as in this as well as to. there's a lot of interest herschel walker and his flaws of candidate. all true. but the reality was he was a flawed candidate standing up against somebody who is incredibly talented with a very bright future. this was not a generic democratic candidate in reverend warnock. >> reverend warnock is someone, again, who has felt the state of georgia. he understands the state of georgia, being a person from georgia. he has also been involved more. he patient baltimore as well. he has not all his life lived in georgia. but he has seen some of the heard that he is talking about tonight. he's seen people say, look,, i need to be seen. and he talked about that. and he also said the vote, the

critical nature of the vote is like -- >> like a prayer. >> like a prayer, yes, because it moves people to think and call for the betterment of this nation. colin response. and people really resonated with that. and then also, he said i see you. because part of the problem in georgia, as paul and i had this conversation before, pollex to say, you know, georgia's changing. it's changing, but we still had a -- , talk about gunning down with dogs. we still remember maud aubrey. and we still remember fourth south county in the 80s, when forsyth had not one black person in that county. and now it's 4.4% black. but at the end of the day, raphael warnock is a man who wants to connect with the people. he says i'm with you, and i will serve you. but you juxtapose to what they had, a republican candidate who was put there the cause he was a friend of donald trump and it was on the prentice one-time, and also an attempt to bring

black men into the republican party. it failed tonight. >> i was just in georgia last. week and there are a number of black voters i spoke to that actually said that very thing, april. they said that they felt insulted, and felt as though republicans were just running a black candidate and trying to win them over with representation rather than substance. and a lot of the question walker's experience and felt as though he was not experienced enough to be a senator. on warnock, those, that prayer line, as well as a lot of what we heard as well tonight, him talking about voter suppression was a big part of his stump speech throughout the campaign trail. and the fact that he really focused on voting rights and voter suppression i think was interesting, especially since it was part of his final message heading into the runoff. >> alasdair, let me bring you in here because i want to make sure the top of the hour we get to underscore one of the things that herschel walker said in his concession speech, which, first of all, i think we do need to note his team put out

in advance that he was going to concede tonight. he was not going to question the results. this is of course the state where donald trump aggressively not just question the results but try to pressure elections officials into changing results. and then herschel walker stood up and said believe in the constitution. this at a time when former president trump, now a contender for the presidency in 2024 is saying that he wants to throw it out because of the massive fraud that was committed. i think it's fascinating, whether that walker said that off the cuff or written into speech, probably more likely we're trying to report that out right now. what was your take on how the walker team handled the final weeks and days of this race? and how walker himself handled the hours in the wake of this one calling this race for reverend warnock? >> i will say speech tonight, i think he was gracious in defeat. i was impressed with how he thanks's team, he thanked his supporters, he thanked his donors. and really, i think handled it

in a very professional way. and look, acknowledging the fact that, you know, raphael warnock was a great candidate. he ran a very disciplined campaign. and so much has been put on herschel walker and him being a flawed candidate, which is absolutely true. but we cannot do so without also acknowledging the fact that raphael warnock was a strong candidate. >> agreed. >> herschel walker getting into this race as the appointed candidate of donald trump was a fatal flaw, not of his own doing. donald trump was nowhere to be seen on the campaign trail. but that was simply a geography issue. he was all over this. race his fingerprints were on herschel walker. it is stain was on herschel walker throughout this entire race. donald trump's influence on races across the country, he's been a huge weight, but it's been an anchor down on all these candidates. and this is a huge wake up call to republicans. i'm hearing from republicans all night long. this is it. this is the final straw. what sounded move.

on we need to move the page. and these are people from iowa to georgia and right here in washington d.c. saying that we're tired of losing. and the fact that donald trump and points his self appointed candidates to win these primaries, that does not help us if we cannot win a general election. and this is the final straw for many republicans. >> sure, but i guess my question is is the final straw for the base voters? because the reality is -- we're in this position because they knew that the base was going to go along with whatever trump wanted. that's how you end up with people like blake masters out in arizona, who lost, j.d. lance one in ohio, but it was closer than it should've been. now we've got herschel walker losing in georgia. and now you're facing a republican primary potentially crowded with, you know, many people you've worked for in the past. that potentially clears the way for these voters who seem to stick with donald trump regardless. do you see any times that they are changing their mind after what we? seen >> i think we've seen evidence of that in georgia with the governor's race. brian kemp won by eight, eight

points, over stacey abrams. and he did so by keeping trump's base on board and broadening the electorate, because he focused on the policies of the state of georgia, he focus on the economy and crime and education, and did so with a positive message moving forward. he was also able to capitalize on his success as a governor, helping the state through covid, focusing on the economy, and when we see republicans like brian kemp and brad raffensperger, secretary of state, who stood up against trump, took his wrath, and still were able to come out on top, that is a good playbook moving forward. we saw so with glenn youngkin in virginia, also doing a similar strategy in terms of let's focus on the policies and a positive vision moving forward. not standing aligned with trump, standing up to trump. that is where republicans -- that's the future the republican party, keeping its base on board, broadening the electorate. >> all, right let's pause for. second i know paul you want to jump in here. but we went out every bite back after the break. paul begala, laura steward, --

april ryan, but we're going to take a short quick break right. now it is of course a big celebration for democrats, our panel you back to discuss senator raphael warnock's victory in georgia. good news! a new clinical study showed that centrum silver supports cognitive health in older adults. it's one more step towards taking c charge of your health. so every day, you can say... ♪ youuu did it! ♪ with centrum sililver. living with plaque psoriasis? otezla canelp you achieve clearer skin. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. otezla can cause serious allergic reactions. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight

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♪ ♪ ♪ >> welcome back. u.s. senator raphael warnock celebrating a major win. he is going to keep that title. the final race of the 2022 midterm elections. cnn projects that warnock -- fox's -- it is a critical seat. we're not thanks supporters in atlanta just a few minutes after walker conceded the race. we're going to bring back our.

panel we've got cnn political commentator paul begala and alice stewart, along with analyst laura barrón-lópez and april ryan. let's pick up where we left off, which was we were trying to -- we are discussing the state of palaces party. what happens next and how -- look, the reality is, i covered the capitol hill under donald trump for the entirety of his administration. the reality was privately so many republicans wanted nothing to do with him. they kept insisting privately this was going to be it this is gonna be the end of it. and frankly, it never happened, until the voters rejected him finally in 2020. now he's refused to accept. that paul begala, what is the -- if you are democrats looking at the campaign landscape here, watching this republican primary start to take early shape, yes, you're one of president biden and kind of the future of the democrats for sure. but if you are looking at running against that kind of a scenario what has how what has unfolded in the midterms, particular in georgia tonight,

affect your outlook? >> i think it's solid evidence that trump can't lose a primary, but he can't win a general election. that is the conundrum the republicans have. because you talked about this, his fanatical base. but both parties need to learn this from georgia and through the whole cycle, which is persuasion still matters. it's not only the base, stupid. we talk all the time about the trump base. we talk with the democratic base. reverend warnock, you heard -- , he improved his vote in 145 counties. 100 of them are republican counties. >> yeah. >> he reached out and got republican votes for him. 140,000 georgians last month voted camp warnock. 140,000. now that used to be -- year or two ago, we would've said tickets letters, it's gone. they're extinct. >> there's no such thing as a median voter anymore, and the parlance of voters -- pullers. >> scientists found a harlequin frog in ecuador. they thought was. extinct that's how i feel about these tickets. harlequin frog. but democrats need to learn this to. the only thing the democrats

talk, about they will not be following a warnock strategy, which is to reach out to see everyone. he talked about farmers. when was last time he saw a democrat talk about farmers on a victory night? speech >> farmers, farmers is on the table right now, is especially in georgia. you've got a lot of farmers who are having problems financially, especially in the midst of covid, and then we have the inflation act that the president has talked about for distressed farmers, not just for black farmers, for people to be seen, for them to feel like they are heard, their issues are on the table for a politician means a lot. and character means a lot. another georgia pastor, jamal bryant from new birth shirt, said character is the currency for new democracy. he texted that to me as he was at raphael warnock's acceptance speech. but at the end of the day, people want to be seen. politics is not about party. it's not about politics. it's about people. and that's one thing i think politicians in washington have

forgotten. >> i mean, call me old fashioned, but i have to tell you. the fact that character -- i've always been a big believer that character should matter. it should be one the most important things, no matter what. no matter what you want your policy believes. i think scott jennings, who will talk to later on the hour, who was saying some republicans are saying to him, hey, that issue really came through this time. alice, go ahead. >> one of the things we heard tonight from senator warnock about i hear you and i see you, and donald trump was able to make that connection with the republican base as well in 2016 and 2020. giving voice to people across america that felt like no one was speaking up for them, no one was fighting for them. and one thing, being from georgia, former governor, former senator zell miller, democrat, but he was also very moderate -- >> a character. >> one of the things that he said that always stood out to me is you want to find middle america, you want to find the average america, they're not on the right, they're not on the left, there it came out.

those are the people that any person running in a general election in the future needs to work out for, the walmart voters, the k art voters, because this extremism on right and light and left is not the winning formula. it's right on the. middle >> something about the way warnock was able to win over those split ticket voters, those republicans who voted, those moderate voters who voted for camp and maybe raffensperger as well, the secretary of state, and then we're not, i have talked to one in georgia, and it came down to the fact that herschel walker was an election denier in 2020. they said that, i'm sorry, i can't vote for somebody who is not gonna stand up for the constitution. and i know that tonight, walker said you need to believe in the constitution to his supporters. but the aftermath of 2020, he was full on trump train about lying of the election, saying that there is country wide fraud and actually was attacking brian kemp, republican governor in georgia, as well as the secretary of state. so, it's interesting to see that kemp and then decide to come on and support walker after he'd been attacked by him

in 2020 to try and win over those some 200,000 voters that voted for him and not for walker. and clearly walker was not able to close that gap. because on the stop, when you watch his stump speech across the state, it was already, meat was all about culture wars. he was very focused on gender identity. very anti transgender athletes. and by comparison, warnock talk about voting rights, he talked about expanding medicaid in georgia, and he talked about abortion access. >> yeah, look, i think when you listen to the different ways in which there campaigning, especially the final stretch, it really underscores also your point about trying to figure out how to appeal to people who are willing to consider both parties, as he was there maybe nowadays, they still do really matter these very close analysis. paul begala, alice stewart, but laura barrón-lópez, april ryan, you're going to stick around with us. we'll have much more from georgia later this hour. also ahead, the january 6th committee investing in the attack on the -- plasma criminal referrals to

the justice department. what the chairman says about who is going to be referred. plus, guilty on all counts, the trump organization found guilty of a 15-year tax fraud scheme. what it might mean for donald trump's family business when we return. ♪ hey lexus... play holiday music! make this december one to remember. together. happy holidays from lexus. ♪

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♪ ♪ ♪ >> cnn projects incumbent senator raphael warnock will keep his seat in georgia, his senate seat. and democrats will strengthen their grip on that chamber. warnock was able to net more than half the vote in the runoff, crossing that critical 50% threshold that you might remember from the previous race. but of course it was a seesaw for much of the night. the league flipped back and forth between warnock and republican challenger herschel walker. the final race in this midterm election cycle now over.

warnock will soon begin his first full six year term in the senate. we are also tracking major developments in the investigation into the u.s. capital riot. the january 6th house select committee plans to make criminal referrals to the justice department. the committee's chairman says the panel has not yet narrowed down everyone who would be referred or what charges might be recommended. but the decisions are going to come soon. remember, the committee is set to wrap up its probe and published a final report by the end of the year. time is running out, because republicans are set to take control of the house and are widely expected to disband the panel. they lack the power to prosecute themselves. but the justice department have -- has launched a parallel probe into the attack. last -- to the january 6th, battle claiming that he should be immune from testimony about the time that he was president. a new york jury meanwhile has found two trump organization companies guilty of multiple

counts of tax fraud. and while the former u.s. president and his family were not charged directly in the case, the verdict could have further impacts on the business. cnn's -- has more from new york. >> after two days of, deliberations a new york jury found two entities of the trump organization guilty of a 15-year tax fraud scheme. the verdict, handed up by a jury of eight men and four women, deals a blow to former president donald trump. trump was not charged in a legal scheme, but prosecutors told the jury that he explicitly sanction some of that tax fraud. the guilty verdict tarnishes the real estate company he built from the ground up and comes as trump is embarking on a second run as republican president 2024. matt had district attorney said that it proved in manhattan there is one standard of justice. over the seven-week trial, the jury hold testimony from trump's one-time right-hand man, the company's former chief financial officer allen weisselberg. weisselberg, who is on paid

leave, pleaded guilty to the tax fraud scheme and -- tax fraud. weisselberg testified that he and the others received off the books conversation the former perks, luxury car leases, and for him, private school tuition for his grandchildren. prosecutors told him the scheme was win win for him and everyone, both executives and the company, who all paid less in taxes. the trump organization could face a maximum of 1.6 billion dollars in fines when his sentence next month. lawyers for the trump company said that they will appeal. kara scannell, cnn, new york. >> our thanks to kara for that report. joining me to talk more we've got scott jennings, cnn political commentator, once served as special assistant to president george w. bush, and a close confidant of the senate minority leader. and cnn political competed bakari sellers is with us. he's an attorney and former south carolina state house democrat. thank you both for being here tonight. scott, let me start with you on this trump case.

what, if any, impact you think this ruling as on what donald trump's potential future in republican politics is? >> it's hard to assess what anyone thing is going to do. and i just think it's a multitude of things that have happened over the last month that have really eroded or degraded his ability to wage this campaign. his announcement was flat. you've got a number of investigation issues. you've got a number of political issues. i mean, this georgia situation tonight is a massive blow to him. georgia may be remembered as the state -- i tweeted this earlier tonight, that breaks donald trump. he lost it in 2020. his candidates that he preferred in the primary lost. people have stood up to him in georgia in the republican party and in the democratic party and in the suburbs and everywhere else they've said no to donald trump and. he's got this investigation going on over his investigations after the 2020 election. this may be the stay that. doesn't i think it's hard to assess anyone thing, kasie, but

if you're looking at what happened to him since he launched his campaign, it is not good. that is a political science term, but it ain't good. >> very technical, scott. bakari, your home state of south carolina is setting up to take on a new role in the democratic primary process. but of course the republican situation is likely to be a messy and long one. it is going to be impacted by these things that we have just run through. let's take these issues one at a time between the trump organization as we've seen today, what is your take? there do you agree with scott, none of this necessarily matters, one thing at a time? or the criminal referral from january six with the department justice, we're still waiting on what they are going to do. >> while, i do agree with scott somewhat. i think it all matters. and i think that drip by drip it matters more and more. follow me on this, guys. because i actually think it benefits and helps donald trump.

why do i say that? i say that because it is going to embolden so many other people to run for president of the united states to challenge him. of, course he just wants to have a coronation in his nomination process. but that does not look like it will be the case. what i believe scott will tell you, is is there's 15 or 20 people onstage, donald trump is more likely, because he still controls from anywhere to quarter or a third of republican base, he's more likely to come out of that victorious. because what the republican party has not done, and nobody has talked about this or mention this, they have not structurally changed their republican nominating process. as long as states are winner take all states, and some can only get a court of the vote, all of these little things, the january 6th indictments that may or may not come, the prosecution of the trump business, his losses in georgia, all of that means is you are going to have all these one percenters, one percenters like mike rogers, mike pence, mike pompeo, all these individuals who cannot get more than 1% of the electorate because they do not have a base are all going to run.

but they cannot beat donald trump, because they refused to take. alonso, i actually think trip by drip, each thing that we've seen happen in this puzzle over this past month have done nothing but help donald. trump >> scott, your name was invoked. your response? >> yeah, i, look. i think bakari is right about the rules. a massive fragmented field does benefit a candidate like trump. the question is how long all these people stay? i think bakari is right, some of these folks don't really have much of a chance. but the question will be do they stay in the race long enough to fragment the field? last time around in 2016, you had people staying at way too long. so it would benefit this thing to window down sooner so that you have sort of one strong alternative. i think if you got it down to that today, look at some of the national polling that has come out, kasie it's obvious republicans that are -- >> look, i don't disagree with you at all on that. and i think we have seen some evidence in the midterm elections that would show if they were able to pick somebody other than donald trump, it is entirely possible they could

win the national election, like brian kemp and other republicans. but look, scott walker back in 2016, he tried to warn everyone in september actually of 2015 that they all needed to clear out. and nobody's ego would allow that. and i'm not going to, lie i've covered politics long enough to know that the ego that it takes that you think you should be president united states means these people do not drop out. >> it could be. i hope not. i do think that desantis today -- >> do you think mitch mcconnell is going to? >> i would say today, desantis strikes me as a little bit different of a candidate then exists in 2016. i don't think trump has faced another republican who has the reservoir of support, the deep affection of support that desantis does. not just because of what he did as governor, but this crushing victory he scored in florida juxtaposed against what looks like a lot of defeats against trump. so, i do think he is a bit of a stronger player. that is not going to stop others.

but it looks to me like he is on a rocket ship right now. and he still has room to grow. so, you know, we'll see how it develops. that's what primaries are for. we will see if people learn the lessons of the past. but trump is there to be beaten. and that is the only way he is going to go away, is for republicans to beat him in a primary. isn't going to be hauled off to jail in time. he has to be beaten. he has to be beaten and republican has to do it. that is my view. >> the car, you get last word. here what is your thoughts? >> yeah, no, i love when republicans talk about ron desantis because republicans failed to remember history. rhonda santas is none other than scott walker. it's funny that you invoked his name. he's someone who came off a resounding election at the time. scott walker came off, beating back a recall. but like a chris, he got to close the sun. and we know how that ended up. ron desantis, and no one else, i mean, we talk about all these, things the constitution et cetera. what no one else has done is actually throw a first punch at donald trump or shown they have been able to take one. so, i don't have faith that ron

desantis can do that. today was a horrible day for donald trump on all fronts. he has not had a very good day in a very long period of time. in fact, until scott said it, i forgot he actually announced for president united states. today was a good day. and if we saw anyone -- if joe biden does not win, or does not run for president of the united states, i think you saw somebody today who could beat one of the many people who run in 2024. >> all, right bakari sellers, scott jennings, we could keep talking about. this but i'm going to let you guys both go to bed. thank you so much for staying up late with us tonight. we really appreciate. it >> will be back in the morning, we'll be back in the morning, no worries. >> yes we will. [laughter] >> cnn. all right, sounds, great. this runoff, of course, has highlighted out georgia has really become the epicenter of american politics. once a reliably red state, it now seems to be a true swing state. we're going to talk to george's -- about georgia's political dna, coming up next. create something new? our dell technologies advivisors can provide you with the tools and expertise you need

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backed republican herschel walker in the georgia senate runoff. and during his victory speech, warnock said quote,, after a hard-fought campaign. you've got me for six more years. walker conceded almost immediately. remarkably, telling supporters should never stop dreaming or believing in america and its elected officials. let's get an analysis for someone who is on the ground in georgia. she is the washington correspondent to the atlanta georgia constitution. she joins me from atlanta. tina, you have covered the ins and outs of this race for a very long time now. we knew this was going to be very at the center of the battle up for the senate, honestly for the 51st seat. and not the 50th in some ways. pretty remarkable here. i will say, because all of the sources that i talked to. none of them were surprised that warnock was able to pull this out. i'm interested to know what you are hearing from your sources. and what they are telling you tonight about what this all

means. >> yes, we knew that warnock's name came into election day very confident. they built up a big lead here in early voting. and then, once it, the poll was closed. and results started trickling in. it became very clear that there just weren't enough votes out there for herschel walker to win this race. the bigger counties, dekalb, cobb county and gwinnett. for a while, it was 50/50. and herschel walker happen to be slightly ahead, but when we looked at the counties that still had the votes and counts that needed to do. these were counties that were going for warnock, 8%. 75%. so it just became clear that the math was not in herschel walker's favor. i think people who support

raphael warnock, that it was going to happen. but at the same time, they were cautiously optimistic. they said that they did not want to count their chickens before all the eggs have hatched because anything that happened if election day had been strong for herschel walker. >> sure, and tia you mentioned voting. and that in so many ways has become a central theme in our politics. generally, whether it's a questioning of elections. election fraud. two questions about voter suppression. two in georgia, in particular, that early voting was so important here. and one of the things that i heard from republicans is that they're very frustrated by the fact that the voters do not trust early voting as part of the process. and that really hurt them. what does your reporting tell you about the impact on the results here from the willingness, or lack thereof from republicans to vote early? >> yeah, i mean i think that's truly something that the

republican party is grappling with. but that is a problem that republicans brought on to themselves. and you know, not all republicans. but we know that particularly in 2020, there became this shift to prioritize election day voting. there was always this criticism from republicans, particularly allies of the president, donald trump. that began to criticize voting by mail. criticize the use of drop boxes. criticize the different ways during the pandemic that a lot of municipalities, they made voting easier for everyone. so republicans are the sides that turned off a lot of their voters to seem like some of those methods weren't solid for weren't reliable, but what we're seeing now is that republicans now aren't reaping the benefits the way that democrats are in ways to vote that are very popular for people and i think also in georgia, when one republicans

said that saturday after thanksgiving would not be available for early voting and we know that warnock's campaign in the democratic party suit and they won. not only did that provide another day of early voting counties that decided to opt in, but it became another rallying cry for democrats. democrats were able to say that this is an example of republicans making it harder to vote, suppressing the vote. this is something that we heard from warnock on the campaign stage in the closing weeks of the runoff. and it paid off in a lot of counties. warnock performed better than he did in november. >> yeah, pretty remarkable. okay tia mitchell, thank you so much for staying up with us with this race. euro account has been stellar. thank you for being with us. i will be back for much more of this on the georgia runoff, with our panel, but john vause

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>> welcome back everyone. i am john vause, our coverage of the georgia senate runoff election continues in a moment. but first, the latest on the war in ukraine. and just as ukraine appears to dole out a long-range attract drone. it seems that russia has exhausted its supply of iranian-made products. in the early morning, thick black smoke could be seen about 60 miles from the border. russia says that -- officially, there was no comment from ukraine. but this would appear to be the third attack in two days. on military bases inside of russia. these drone strikes on russian soil, did a -- on russia's air offensive and ukraine's power grid. which caused blackouts. on tuesday, they were asked if

ukraine's strikes were justified. >> we have neither encouraged, nor enabled the ukrainians to strike inside of russia. but, the parent thing to understand is what ukrainians are living through every day with the ongoing russian aggression in the country. and our determination to make sure that they have our hands, as long with many other partners along the world. the equipment to defend themselves, defend the territory, defend their freedom. >> and what appears to be yet another setback for moscow as western officials said that russia has exhausted its supply of iranian-made attract drones. associates in washington and kyiv have -- and in particular has not been used by the russians in the last two, weeks and the saudi crown prince and his role in the murder of watching a journalist, kamal could show, get has been thrown out of the court by u.s. federal judge. they rolled on the allegations of muhammad in the killing of

khashoggi. the decision to dismiss was based on that biden's earlier administrations duty of head of state. he was appointed by prime minister of his father in september. and the judge had an eagerness, and suspicious timing of the appointment. -- khashoggi founded before his death in 2019. and john, buys live at the cnn center. casey in d.c., with that report. our special election coverage. right after this! . happy holidays from lexus.

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