Mississippi Senate Race on a Knife's Edge

0:01Thank you. You have been listening to President Trump at Arlington National Cemetery address the nation on this Veterans Day. I'm Dana Bash. Welcome to Inside Politics, as you see. I'm on Capitol Hill today. We listened to the president pay tribute to service members wounded in combat and service members in general. He singled out those currently serving specifically for efforts in the war in Iran and also made mention of the art that he wants to build that is currently in litigation. That is going to be if he wants if he is successful, not too far from Arlington Cemetery. I do want to turn to a big political story going on as we speak right now in Mississippi.

0:51some of the final ballots are being counted in a pivotal county, Hines County, a Democratic stronghold that includes the majority black city of Jackson. As of now, Democrat Scott Cologne leads Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith by almost 3 ,200 votes. It's a small lead, but it has been growing over the past seven days, and Cologne believes these final votes will be in his favor. We're watching these numbers very closely this hour to see if any projections are possible. I do want to get to CNN senior reporter Annie Greer, who is live in Jackson, Mississippi. We're not going to see Annie. We are going to hear Annie because she is in that room that we are all looking at where votes are being counted as they feed ballots into these voting machines.

1:40Annie, describe what's happening right now. Yeah, Dan, I wanted everyone to get a close look of this themselves because this is what we have been waiting for. And Hines County officials are counting the accepted provisional ballots, known in the state of Mississippi as affidavit ballots. So officials are working through 817 affidavit ballots. You can see here they are feeding those votes into the machine. Now, Now, the county received 2 ,426 total affidavit ballots. And while 817 were accepted, 1 ,609 of them were rejected. This was a major problem across the state of Mississippi. A number of people had to fill out affidavit ballots.

2:23It was an unprecedented number this election. And their ballots were rejected for a variety of reasons. Some didn't sign their affidavits. Some didn't have proper identifications. Some had been moved to inactive. There are a lot of questions as to why that happened. And in part because of this sheer number of affidavit ballots, why it took so long for officials to go through all of this to make the count. And before they did these affidavit ballots, officials also counted the remaining mail-in absentee ballots in this county. There were only 67 mail-in absentee ballots that needed to be counted.

2:58And these were ballots that were sent on election day but received up to five days later. so up until November 10th. And we have been watching this county very closely, and now I want to take a listen to this local official for an update. We want to have turned over one ballot. It was a check on the selection, so we had to redo the ballot. So as they pull the ballot, they're going to remark the ballot, okay? This is an affidavit ballot being remarked. So you're seeing this process in real time. That's why we wanted to give you these live pictures, is some of these affidavit ballots have had issues as they've been processed before they can be scanned.

3:35This is democracy at work. And this is really an unprecedented situation that we're here in Mississippi, that over a week from Election Day, we still don't know the results. All eyes are on Hines County because they were the ones who had a lot of affidavit ballots left to be counted. And Democrat Scott Colombe says that he believes his lead is only going to increase as more ballots are counted. Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith says she wants to see every ballot counted here and is also still feeling very optimistic about her chances. Both sides are preparing for legal battles, though. Cindy Hyde-Smith's team has deployed 50 lawyers across the state.

4:14Democrats also have an army of lawyers ready. But we are waiting to see what the results of these ballots are going to be. As you see in front of you, Dana, this process is finally, finally underway. ANNIE BIDEN, THIS IS VERY COOL THAT YOU WERE ABLE TO, YOU AND THE REST OF YOUR TEAM THERE, WERE ABLE TO BRING US INTO THE PROCESS THAT WE GET TO SEE THESE PROVISIONAL BALLOTS BEING COUNTED. AND I JUST WANT TO GO BACK TO YOUR ORIGINAL POINT AND JUST KIND OF HIGHLIGHT IT, WHICH IS THAT WHAT WE ARE SEEING NOW AREN'T JUST THESE BALLOTS BEING COUNTED, BUT IT'S WHERE THEY ARE FROM. It's Hein County, which is the county that is expected to make Scott Cologne's lead even greater.

5:07Yeah, this is the county that so many folks have had their eyes on because they were really just have been waiting to see what these results are. And I've watched officials working around the clock long days here just to try and verify these affidavit ballots. calling individuals, trying to figure out who should be accepted, who should be rejected. And this is the moment that we have been waiting for to finally get that counting. And hopefully we're going to be getting results very soon. Okay. Well, please, Annie, keep us posted. You are going to get the results before anybody because you're right there in the room.

5:46So raise your hand, let us know, and we'll come right back to you. Really appreciate your excellent reporting Annie thank you and I'm joined here by some terrific reporters Carl Hulse and Nia Malika Henderson Nia yes we were talking and we have been talking as somebody who grew up in the South South Carolina the fact that Scott Colombe a Democrat a black Democrat is as close as he is to representing Mississippi in the building behind us. Yeah. You know, I can't, it's shocking still to me. On my dad's side, our people are from Mississippi. And then they migrated to Chicago, and then they migrated back down to South Carolina to do work on African Americans.

6:34And he was an African American history professor. But he was part of this long tradition of Black Mississippians trying to move that state forward. It hasn't been since 1871, Blanche K. Bruce, since there has been a black senator to represent Mississippi. And here we are seemingly on the cusp of this history. I was on this show so many times with you, doubting that South Carolina would do this, certainly doubting that Mississippi would do this. But it goes back to the hard work that folks, activists did, you know, in that state, but also this unique candidate who himself is building on the shoulders of people who ran before him, organizers down there.

7:19There's a data guy down there who was looking at what kind of math you would need to have in a state like Mississippi that's like a third black. What kind of math would you need to put together for this to happen? And finally, it looks like it might happen. And Carl, we had Scott Colombe on this show in July when he was up here telling National Democrats, you got to invest, you got to come. But you did a story on him in The New York Times in May. Right. Yeah. This is such a fascinating story because the history is he was nominated to be a federal judge by Joe Biden. And Cindy Hyde Smith was the person who blocked him.

7:59And he had the support of everyone else. She single-handedly blocked him by, as you know, not returning what in the Senate is known as a blue slip to go ahead with his nomination. I'm pretty sure she wishes she had returned that blue slip today. And this was always an opportunity. I think what you said is, like, they've always seen the potential there. Chuck Schumer himself has been a little obsessed with trying to do this in Mississippi. But the conditions had to be right. And it seems to be the case this time. He's run a really strong campaign, but there's also a lot of things that people in Mississippi don't like, right?

8:36And they've been struggling with the gas prices. They've been struggling with the cost of fertilizer. They didn't like the rollback of the Voting Rights Act. So there's a lot of things here that have come together to push him. She was also a weak candidate. She just is not highly visible in the state. Even during the campaign, didn't get around much, doesn't do a lot of media. So, you know, it's a little history in the making here. It also reminds me a bit of 2000. Bite your tongue. Bite your tongue. I'm sitting there having flashbacks. Bite your tongue. Scott Colombe talked to Andy Greyer this week and talked about the sort of import and impact on a potential win.

9:20Let's listen. Do you think the Democratic Party took your race seriously enough and early enough? Some people did, but some people, they were too focused on trading water. You know, we got to be a party that has courage, the courage to compete everywhere, the courage to show voters we want your vote, we want your voice. And if you do that, those voters will reward you. We had gotten to this, too many people had gotten this routine of just writing places off. We can't do that. And Nia, you wrote this week about Democrats' wins across the South being no fluke. Yeah. And I mean, and partly it's because of the work that these activists were doing.

9:56People like Stacey Abrams, a lot of, you know, what she did there is the model of what's happening in some of these states. But listen, the party has got to invest, too. Right. It isn't free to go around and register people. It takes bodies. It takes money. And so this is definitely going to be a signal to the party. Schumer did invest some money down there. It's a huge... Two million at the end. Yeah, which is a lot of money in Mississippi. And so you have seen this wave. I mean, you look at the map now, there's this patch of blue in the South. First time in my lifetime, certainly from Mississippi.

10:33I don't think they're going to make that mistake again, either. I think they see this as a prime new territory. Louisiana, they're a little bit hitting themselves that they maybe could have done something more there. Let's just talk big picture about the Senate. And I think we can put up on the screen the balance of power. Already, the Democrats have 54 seats in their majority. If Scott Cologne wins, it would be 55. If the Democrat Mary Peltola in Alaska wins, it would be 56. If I were to say to you, Carl Hulse, this time last year, that this would be, even 54 would be the outcome of an election cycle where they were playing almost entirely on deep red terrain.

11:17Right. I mean, it's just, no one thought it could go this deep. Everybody thought, oh, maybe 51 or 52. But to win in Kansas, to take the Senate seat back in Ohio, I mean, these are long-lasting accomplishments now for Democrats. These senators are in most of the cases are in for six years. And so the Democrats are really hoping to build, you listen to Schumer and other people over there, build a more enduring majority on this because they feel they were shut out of these states for so long. Now they've seen they can win. And I think they're going to get very aggressive. And as we continue to watch what's going on in Mississippi, I just want to say that our colleague at CNN, Maddie Marshall, did an excellent explainer on CNN.com of why the Mississippi voting is the way it is.

12:00A lot of changes by the Republican legislature there and the secretary of state, to be specific, that has made the process extremely complicated, especially for people in counties like Hines County. So I encourage you to check that out. Don't go anywhere. Still ahead. Same party, different political pressures. I'm going to speak with two incoming House Democrats from opposite ends of the electoral map about their priorities for the new Congress.

12:44known for hits like Get Low and Turn Down for What. In February 2026, his 27-year-old son Nathan went missing near Nathan's home in Georgia. Three days later, his body was found in a pond nearby. Lil Jon has a memoir that just came out called I Only Shout So You Can Hear Me. It takes time to heal. And I kept myself busy that I didn't let myself mourn. I needed to laugh again. I needed to be silly and interact with people. and feel other people's energy and make people happy too. We have to share so other people can see that they can get through it too. Talking grief, building community. That's what the podcast is all about.

13:27This is all there is. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, host of the Chasing Life podcast. You may have noticed gambling doesn't require a casino anymore. You can just open up your phone. It's designed to keep us coming back or maybe never even leaving in the first place. We're going to talk to Dr. Timothy Fong, co-director of UCLA's gambling studies program. You're going to learn what your brain is really chasing when you place a bet, and also importantly, how to keep the game from playing you. Gambling addiction, gambling disorder is the hidden addiction.

14:02You can't smell it, you can't taste it, you can't see it, you can't have a urine drug test. Who are we talking about here, Professor? Who's the most likely demographic to be affected by this? Literally any single human on earth. Listen to Chasing Life, streaming now, wherever you get your podcasts. You're looking at live pictures of Jackson, Mississippi, as officials continue counting votes in the razor tight Senate race. Right now, Democrat Scott Cologne is leading Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith by about 3 ,200 votes. We're going to continue to monitor and keep you posted if we can make any projections.

14:39And now new classmates, new clicks, new rules. It is freshman orientation here on Capitol Hill. It's a big one. The House is welcoming its largest freshman class since 1933. I'm joined by two of its Democratic members. Congressman-elect Bob Harvey flipped Pennsylvania's first district, unseating a five-term Republican incumbent. And Congresswoman-elect Jasmine Clark will represent Georgia's reliably blue 13th district. To put it in perspective for how different your districts are, Kamala Harris won one district by less than half a percentage point and another by 42 percentage points. So that gives you a sense of how far away politically you are from each other on the democratic spectrum.

15:24First, I just want to ask how orientation is going. It's been fun. A lot, a lot of information but I think that all the information that we're getting is very helpful because this is a big deal so I'm glad we're having it. Yeah it certainly is it's a lot of information a lot of stuff happening quickly but it's good to have the support network of having the other freshmen coming in and the sitting members have been really fantastic. It is wild that it's the biggest class since 1933 and we know what happened in 1933 so The expectation is not a new deal, but there are high expectations. On that note, I mentioned how different political worlds within the Democratic Party you come from.

16:08You flipped a seat that has been blue for 18 years. Is that correct? It's gone back and forth, generally speaking. Your district has always been blue, or at least in recent history. So talk about how each of you sees the priorities that you think are crucial for your party in the majority. And I'm guessing there are differences, but obviously a lot of similarities. Yeah, I think it's different districts, but I think there's similar problems. I'm sure I know from the town halls I did, from the doors I knocked, and I'm sure Jasmine's going to say the same thing. It was affordability and accountability.

16:46PEOPLE JUST FRUSTRATED WITH A GOVERNMENT THAT ISN'T WORKING FOR THEM, FRUSTRATED WITH THE PROBLEMS THAT THEY'RE FACING THAT ARE BEING MADE WORSE BY REPUBLICAN-LED CONGRESS AND REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT, AND THEY WANT CHANGE. YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. I SAY IT. IT WAS GAS, GROCERIES, HOUSING AND HEALTHCARE. EVERY DOOR, EVERY TOWN HALL, EVERY CANDIDATE FORUM, THOSE WERE THE ISSUES THAT ROSE TO THE TOP. AND, YES, I AM IN A VERY BLUE AREA, BUT IT DOESN'T It doesn't matter if you were in a blue area or a red area. I believe these were issues that everyone was talking about. And these were topics where, you know, we could directly point to things that the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress had been doing that was making people's lives not what they wanted them to be.

17:36And Democrats had an answer for that. So you were elected on the same issues. How to fix them is going to be where the rubber meets the road. And Congressman-elect Harvey, just for example, on health care, which you mentioned, on the trail you said America is not ready for national health care, but plenty of your Democratic colleagues support Medicare for All. So how are you going to square that circle? I think we all agree that every American deserves access to health care that they can afford. I think how we get there is something that we'll have to decide once we're officially, you know, in the building across the street from us.

18:13But I think the values that we have, caring about our neighbors, caring about this nation, trying to rebuild the American dream is something that we can use to move together on these issues. So you think that there is compromise there? Absolutely. I don't think we have a choice. We have to have compromise on these issues because what we got for the American people, I'm not calling a mandate, I'm calling marching orders. We need to do the things that the American people want us to do to make their lives better. Yeah, I can agree. I feel like we have such a large class, and I've had the opportunity to speak with many of the people in the new class, and we're all singing from the same song book, but some of us are sopranos, some of us are altos, and some of us are basses.

18:58At the end of the day, we can find harmony, but that is going to take us all sitting in the same room, having the conversations, and figuring out where we can find consensus. I know that can happen. And so I'm looking forward to those opportunities because when you have so many ideas in one room, it actually is better for the decision making and the policy making process. I love the optimism of the incoming freshmen. It really, it's important. It really is important. What do you think is the number one piece of legislation that needs to pass? I'll start with you. I think, number one, people right now are wanting us to get a handle on prices.

19:40And one of the things that has really harmed families is the price at the pump. And we can pass a War Powers resolution, and I think that is something that needs to happen like yesterday. So that's something I think we could do. That should be H.R. 1? I don't know about H.R. 1, but I do think it should be one of our top priorities. And I would say on top of that, addressing corruption is another thing that's really important to people on the Democratic base. And I think that's something that we can do on day one because too many people in this administration have enriched themselves over the last two years while American families are struggling.

20:14No, I certainly agree that in terms of getting out of Iran, I think here on Veterans Day, there are almost two dozen American families who have lost somebody in this war that we never should have gotten into and the president doesn't know how to get out of. But we also, I think, need to focus on doing something like raising the minimum wage nationally. And we do also, I think, need to focus on banning congressional stock trading just to show the American people that we mean business coming in, that this is a government that's going to work for them. We agree. Yeah, there you go. There you go. Thank you both.

20:48Congratulations to you both. Thank you. I hope you keep that optimism. It's important. I hope so, too. Hopefully next time we talk, we're still smiling. Me, too. Thank you so much. And coming up, we are live in Mississippi as officials there continue to tally votes in that razor thin Senate race. Democrat Scott Colombe is in the lead and we are in the room where it is happening. Stay with us.

21:19Welcome back. I want to go straight to Jackson, Mississippi. Annie Greer is still live there watching these provisional absentee ballots being counted from a very important county, Hines County, in Mississippi. Annie, what's happening right now? So, Dana, you're seeing live pictures of the provisional ballots here in Mississippi, known as affidavit ballots, being processed and scanned. What you're seeing right now is those ballots are being scanned into the machine to be counted. And this county, we learned this morning, received 2 ,426 affidavit ballots and only 817 of them were accepted. And I watched officials over this last week try and figure out which affidavit ballots were going to be accepted, which were going to be rejected.

22:10It was a complicated process. I've talked to voters who didn't understand why they had to fill out affidavit ballots for the first time because sometimes they were marked inactive in the poll books. There were issues with their driver's license. There was a whole variety of issues. There were concerns about if they were voting in the right precinct or not. And there has been an unprecedented number of affidavit ballots this election, and a lot of questions about the Missouri Secretary of State's actions that led to so many affidavit ballots. And so we are waiting to see when we are going to get a count.

22:44I'm told from officials just now, they just made an announcement that they want to certify the results by the end of the day today. And that is what we have all been waiting for, these outstanding ballots, to finally have them counted as this race remains still too close to call. Democrat Scott Colombe says that as more ballots are counted, he believes his lead is only going to increase. He doesn't see a path to victory for Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith. The Republican Senator says that she wants every ballot to be counted. Her team has deployed 50 lawyers across the state. Cologne also has an army of lawyers prepared for any legal battle or challenges that may happen.

23:24And, you know, I just want to point out about these election workers who've been working around the clock to try and get these results coming as soon as possible. It is Veterans Day. They are here working. They've been working around the clock. And there are a lot of questions as to why there are so many affidavit ballots, why so many got rejected in this county. And we are going to learn the results of the accepted affidavit ballots, Dana, hopefully very shortly. Yeah, affidavit ballots. I said absentee ballots, but it's basically a version, as you've been explaining to us for all week, Annie, it's effectively a provisional ballot.

24:05And I think what you said about questions for the secretary of state about why it was so hard for so many people to vote and why they got to this point are very valid, very important questions. Let us know if you're hearing announcements. I want to go elsewhere on Capitol Hill to our Manu Raju. Manu, the fact that we're seeing the lead of the Democrat in Mississippi already bigger than it was at the beginning of the week, and we'll see what happens when they are done and they certify the votes that they are counting right now as we speak. Republicans you talk to, are they feeling like they're ready to accept the possibility, I would even say probability, of a Democrat winning in Mississippi?

24:56Yeah, look, I think the conventional wisdom here on Capitol Hill among Republicans is that this is probably the race that they're going to lose. This has been, the vibes have been very bad since the aftermath of the election, as the initial vote came in, as the votes have continued to be counted, as we see where the outstanding votes are in Mississippi. And there is almost an acceptance among top Republicans that that's where this is headed. Now, that doesn't mean to say that they may not fight this. They may not fight, they may fight this in court. I asked Cindy Hyde-Smith that yesterday, whether they're trying to battle this in court.

25:27She did not answer that question. Republicans have sent lawyers down to Mississippi to try to challenge some of these ballots as well. So there could be some of these fights that ultimately do play out. But there has been this feeling on Capitol Hill of almost an acceptance that this race is headed in the wrong direction for the Republicans. And I can just tell you, Dana, Republicans essentially are pulling their hair out, knowing that this is a seat that could be lost. No one thought this was even possible. Even Democrats on a week or week and a half before the election did not think that this race could be flipped.

25:58Donald Trump won this state by roughly 23 points two years ago. He's won it overwhelmingly three times. But Republicans just say that Sidney Hyde-Smith ran a lackluster campaign, did not take this race seriously. Republican outside groups didn't think that Scott Colombe really had much of a chance and were debating. They decided they really didn't want to spend money in this race until very, very late in the campaign. Even a couple weeks out, we were hearing that they were considering spending money in Mississippi, and those Republican groups were saying, we're not going to spend money in Mississippi.

26:27They thought they were going to eke it out. That clearly does not appear to the case at this moment, which could mean that Democrats, if they win this, they win Alaska. 56 seats in the United States Senate, something no one could have predicted at the beginning of the cycle. And certainly, Mississippi was not on the map for Republicans or Democrats. But now increasingly, Republicans are fearful that that seat could be flipped to the Democrats. Scott Colombe could be headed to victory as soon as today. Really remarkable, Manu. Thank you. The fact that you found Cindy Hyde-Smith was maybe a headline that you buried there because we haven't been able to see her much.

27:03Thank you, Manu. Appreciate it. Carl, you've been around here a few years. I mean, I like I joke that you battle for the for the job of 101st senator, metaphorically speaking. Can you talk about this moment? Yeah, it's it's it's incredible. We're not there. We have to wait for this to be finished. But right. That in modern Mississippi, that a black man could be become a member of the Senate. I also think, you know, it's just a special case. He was a state prosecutor. He has these right credentials, but, you know, it's a new door opening. And I think, you know, Democrats can be proud of this, really.

27:46You know, I think that's right. And I do think he is a special case, right? His parents, at least his father, is a Republican. He talks about sort of that giving him entree into some of these communities. But, listen, I think for years, people like me looked at Mississippi and felt like you weren't going to be able to organize enough voters, right, organize enough white voters to actually pull the trigger for a Democrat, let alone a black Democrat. And that, you know, there were so many rural communities down there. How do you reach these folks and get them engaged and involved, given Mississippi's history and given the way in which they do try to disenfranchise people?

28:25So it's remarkable. I do think the backlash to the Voting Rights Act decision cannot be discounted here. I think it really, in many states, motivated black voters. And just by way of history, the last Democrat representing Mississippi was Senator Stennis. Right, who was of course a segregationist. He was a segregationist. And he was one of the last remaining Democrats who were part of the solid South before the entire sort of everything flipped on his head party-wise. Also that if he's good you know the structural advantages in that state are significant that's what we're seeing here and to even overcome that that's a extra that's a...

29:06Can we quickly just talk about the impact on the leadership? Sure. And on how this may or may not impact the possibility of Chuck Schumer actually becoming majority leader which he's fighting. Yeah I mean so this is obviously a big thing that's going on over in that building across the street. Chuck Schumer's under some pressure, right, to show that he's realizing that there needs to be a change. And that the problem for Mr. Schumer is that the Republicans had their leadership election yesterday. They took care of their pain. His is almost three weeks away, and that provides time for things to happen and play out.

29:45But, you know, what's the big rule in politics? You can't beat somebody with nobody. And so far, no one has stepped forward. But I think... Officially, Chris Van Hollen is... Right, is talking about it and mulling, and people want him to do it. But Schumer's folks also say he's locked up the commitments from well over half. Now, a lot of people don't want to be public about it because they just don't want to get pounded by the people who are opposed to Chuck Schumer. And as we know, people do change their minds and their votes sometimes. Lamar Alexander, when he lost a leadership election, once said, I had to write 36 letters for 33 votes.

30:21You had 30. Thank you so much for being here. Appreciate it on this beautiful day. And on this Veterans Day, we do want to honor the millions of brave men and women who answered the call to serve. Thank you for your sacrifice and commitment to the U.S. CNN News Central starts after a quick break.

30:46I'm Adi Cornish. I'm Ari Shapiro and it's Engagement Party. It is Engagement Party. And we get to talk about what we're obsessed with, what we're engaged with, what we need to process with a friend. Her name is Amy O'Dell. She is a fashion writer, blogger. But the thing is, she's a journalist who's written about the sacred cows of fashion. And yes, I mean, Gwyneth Paltrow and Anna Wintour. She has done biographies of both. And she is also the sort of rare fashion writer who, at this point, kind of outside the system. And so the question that we're going to try to tackle is... Is fashion terrible now?

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