GOP Effort to Impeach Pete Hegseth Fails in House

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1:07Well, Pete Hegseth holds on for now. The Democrats say round two of his impeachment fight is right around the corner. Good evening, everyone. I'm Laura Coates. I've got my panel here for the hour to talk about what's next in the impeachment fight and the power struggles rocking both parties on Capitol Hill. Mississippi Senate candidate Scott Cologne joins me on his nail-biter race that just added some new votes in his favor. You know what? I want you to join me in the coverage. Just send me your questions, send me your comments at CNN.com slash engage politics. We're going to answer them live on air this hour.

1:41So look, when you get hit with a political beatdown as bad as Republicans did last week, getting back on your feet ain't easy, especially when you're bracing for potential gut punch. But tonight, Republicans close ranks. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dodged an impeachment showdown, at least for the time being. House Republicans voting to kill the push launched by GOP Congressman Thomas Massey. You know, it's especially striking considering several Republicans were openly questioning Hegseth's leadership after last week's shellacking. There's a lot of questions about Hegseth. We have no idea what the strategy is moving forward in Iran.

2:26Would it be better for Hegseth to just resign, in your opinion? Yes, I would say that. I don't think he was the right choice to begin with. I personally have some concerns with what has happened inside the Pentagon, particularly at the senior leadership leadership level, and particularly as it concerns the U.S. Army. But raising questions about Hegsack is one thing. Wanting to impeach, well, that's quite another. Sources tell us Republican leadership and White House officials scrambled behind the scenes to put all this to bed. President Trump is now claiming victory, saying the Democrats' attempt to impeach Secretary of the War Pete Hegseth has miserably failed.

3:05Every single Republican except Thomas Massey, a major loser, voted in favor of Pete. And just to be clear, seven Republicans didn't vote at all, which makes tonight's twist all the more interesting. Do the math with me. Because even more Democrats missed the vote. Eleven, to be exact, including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Congresswoman Melanie Stansberry. And considering that math, if seven of those Democrats showed up and voted no, the motion would have failed. So now top Democrats are making two things clear. This fight isn't over, and they want to know how this round got away. What's your reaction to attendance deciding the acceptable time?

3:51I haven't had a conversation with anyone on the floor team about what may or may not have happened in Trump. the Hexen resolution, but this is not the end of it. This could have passed if these Democrats were here. How concerned are you about that? I mean, the people send us here to do a job. I can't speak to, I don't know if anyone had any real health issues or anything significant to that respect. So I want to leave room for that. But that being said, at the end of the day, we're here to do a job. Barring some sort of medical issue, it is a failure of duty. to not show up for the vote, especially something as important as this.

4:32Let's talk about my panel. We've got senior political commentator, former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger, president of American Principles Project Terry Schilling, senior advisor to the Texas Democratic Party, Kurt Bardella, Republican strategist Leslie Shedd, and senior strategist to the Tallarico campaign, Andrew Mamo. Glad to have all of you here. I want to begin with somebody who has had this job, Congressman. I'm bringing you in on this very point because, I mean, is it just a matter of time before the new Congress takes it up again? Yeah, I think so. I mean, clearly, I think the hope here is, you know, Hegseth, the president, if they're going to keep Hegseth, they're going to try to do some damage control in whatever way they can.

5:16But I was actually a little surprised that the president hasn't thrown him under the bus yet because he still has time to put in his replacement. You know, now with the new Senate, he's not going to be able to put in who he wants to put in. And I'll tell you what, the Democrats not showing up to vote is especially disappointing. They've got to be ready for this fight. The Republicans are very good at playing hardball and they're going to play hardball with them. And one of those things is when the clock hits zero, you better have been to the floor to place your vote, because typically these votes go on for 45 minutes.

5:47So the clock hits zero and you have 30 minutes of zero. But obviously they were enforcing the clock and those folks weren't ready. So they need to have a real conversation. So I'm going to guess probably in January, this will be one of the first orders of business, though, for the new Congress. I can imagine. So, I mean, the idea, Leslie, on the issue of party unity, I mean, with the exception of Thomas Massey, every single House Republican decided to protect Hexeth. Does that demonstrate to you that there is, in fact, party unity? And is it because of what happened last week to stick together?

6:17I think yes, but I also think impeachment is a really serious thing. We're not saying, you know, they're not saying they disagree with his policies. They don't like the war. They are saying that he has committed treason or high crimes against the United States of America. And this was done without a single hearing, without any investigation. No reports were written. We didn't even know what was going to be in these articles of impeachment until Massey dropped them yesterday. day. So if we're going to take this seriously and say he has done something where he should be removed from office, the process matters.

6:52You went to law school. I went to law school. It is the one thing that they teach you is that the process matters. This is a legal proceeding and none of that happened. So if Democrats decide to do this and, you know, I don't encourage going after impeachment. I don't I don't think that's what the American people want here. But if they decide to do this, they need to do it in a really clear process way and bring the American people along with them so that they get a chance to know what they're claiming. There's a process I'm really interested in. It's called Article One of the Constitution that says Congress and only Congress is designated with the power to declare war, something that the president has not done.

7:29This war started days after the State of the Union address in which every member of Congress was in that chamber. And you know what didn't come up during that address? A war with Iran. And here Here we are now, all these months later, it's still going on. $40 billion of American taxpayers out the door with nothing to show for it. No explanation for what we're really doing there. No explanation for what victory will actually look like. No plan to extract us from this. The Secretary of War is presiding over a war that was never constitutionally blessed by the Congress, which is their sole power.

7:59So you're right. This is a process issue. It's not about whether you like the war or not. It's not a popularity question. It is a process question. I never want to hear a Republican ever again question a Democrat president for declaring war, using military force, doing whatever they want, because here was their moment to take a vote and stand for the checks and balances, stand for the legislative branch's prerogatives as consequently protected. And they didn't do it. I just think it's a show vote. I don't think it's serious. Democrats have a way to end this war. We saw them pull those votes just this past summer.

8:30They came very close to defunding this war. But this is a distraction. This is not going to achieve anything. It'll maybe handicap President Trump if they can get to 67 votes in the Senate to actually remove him. But if they really want to end the war, they'll do it first thing in January and they'll defund it like they tried to this summer. Look, Democrats were elected with a very simple mandate. Lower the cost of living and work with President Trump to make our lives better. That's why they absolutely kicked our butts this week, or last week. That is why. And they're already doing the same exact things that got them Trump back into the White House.

9:07So, look, I think Democrats are going to screw this up if it keeps going like this. This is not about retribution. This has to be about making Americans' lives better. Wait, hold on. Was the mandate singular or was it accountability and accounting? I think it's both, but I don't think the Democrats are going to screw this up. I mean, in 2021, when Pete Hegseth was a second-rate Fox News correspondent, we booked James Tallarico, who's then an up-and-coming state legislator, on his show. James ran circles around him then, so I think it's wild that this man now controls the greatest fighting force in the history of the world.

9:42But James and Adam Hamilton and, you know, Kate Conley and Nancy LaCour, all of these great Democrats who won in tough seats, didn't spend all their time talking about impeaching Hegseth. They said, sure, he's a bad guy and he should probably go. But they were focused on doing the cost of living and the corruption underneath the system legislation that I think we're going to see in January. So I think they're going to take another vote on this. But I think you're going to see much more of their focus is going to be on costs and is going to be on corruption than taking on Hegs out there, frankly, any of the other cabinet secretaries.

10:10A viewer is weighing in. Here's the question. Mitch McConnell rose from the dead to cast his vote. This is the actual I'm reading the question, people. why did 11 Democrats skip such an important vote today? All right. Can someone answer? I don't know. I can answer this according to what I've seen on social media, which is that Melanie, which is always the truth. So Melanie Sandsbury, one of the congresswomen who missed it, said that there was some kind of a traffic jam. And it seems like another one of the congresspeople that missed it too said the same thing, that there was some kind of an accident or something where they had been at an event together and were trying to get back.

10:47And because of that, like, they weren't able to get in enough time to get to the vote. Donald Trump sent his motorcade through there? No, I don't know. I mean, maybe. Kinzinger, let me ask you on that point. I mean, not that you have one job, right? But there's one job, right? You've got to be able to be present and voting. And I don't know why people have missed it. I don't know. But 11 did. And just doing the math, that could have changed the outcome. Let me pull the curtain back a little bit. one of the most annoying things and not asking for sympathy from anybody, but is when you go down to vote, that clock hits zero and you have about 30 minutes of everybody running in and saying one more, one more.

11:28And you keep the vote open for 45 minutes. Anybody that's ever worked on the Hill knows this and it's annoying. And I think that's what happened. They probably called the vote. These folks, maybe there was a traffic jam, but they probably left when they thought maybe they'd have enough time to show up. And on a vote like this, especially something like this, if this is an important vote to you, you need to make sure you are around the floor and that you're one of the first to put your voting cards in and vote yes on it, or I guess it was no, whatever their vote was. And I mean, the reality of it is, is they messed up here.

11:59But it may be a mixed blessing because now they actually can have hearings into what Pete Hegseth has done, have a full conversation about it and go through that process, which I think the American people, honestly, are fully on board with. They're not on board with impeaching Trump, but they are on board with impeaching Hegseth. This guy's a clown, and pretty much everybody except him knows it. Pelosi was actually at an event in San Francisco with veterans. Of course, you know, tomorrow is Veterans Day in this country, and we'll honor them. But there was also a moment about whether Hegseth will stay in the job.

12:32Some were talking about this impeachment discussion protects him further. He's able to double down. The president has given him support. But Senator-elect Abul al-Sayed was actually on with Caitlin Collins earlier this evening, and here was his message for him tonight. Pete, like really, just open question, why are you still doing this job? You are really bad at this. You are failing your responsibility. You have mishandled this war, and nobody really actually understands what it is you're about. Every day you're talking about fighting a new cultural war, but like you're supposed to be waging an actual war that is actually illegal on its own terms.

13:04So just resign. Make it easy for everybody instead of, in the end, getting taken out because that is clearly what's happening. So Pete, just take it from me, like, you're not good at this. I just find it funny because there were no impeachment proceedings for Lloyd Austin when he completely bungled the withdrawal in Afghanistan. We lost so many, we lost 13 service members. We left billions of dollars in equipment over there. There were no impeachment. We did, I will give you this, we did impeach Alejandro Mayorkas because he allowed 10 million illegal immigrants into the country in just three years.

13:37Like, I just don't think, I don't think the American people were thinking at all about Pete Hegseth when they went to the polls last week. Wait, are you implying the commander in chief's decisions, which should be held under the microscope? I think, yes, look, I think that President Trump made the decision to go to war in Iran, period. He's the one responsible. Hegseth works for him and he's carrying it out. And by the way, recruitment for the military is up. We're no longer kicking people out for not getting the COVID vaccine. Like, I have friends and family members, not family members, but friends who were kicked out of the military and they were coming to me for help.

14:10I know nothing about military policy on this stuff, but there were cruel things. And Lloyd Austin was never even discussed about being impeached in a serious fashion. So it's just funny to hear from Democrats and now Congressman Adam Kinzinger that everyone wants to impeach Pete Hegstead. I don't think I heard that from a single voter. We did tons of polling. Gosh, you know, I'm never personally never convinced by that. Well, why didn't you have this guy? If it's applicable to both, that's the question. But we'll talk more about it. Stand by, everyone. We have a key race alert.

14:42New votes have just been added in Mississippi, where Scott Cologne is now leading by nearly 3 ,000 votes as he inches closer to becoming Mississippi's next senator. Critical ballot deadlines have now passed. So is he ready to declare victory? You know, I'm going to ask him that. And much more when he joins us next.

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15:51All right, all eyes remain on Mississippi as we end closer to finding out who will represent the state in the Senate. You know, today marked the deadline for absentee voters to make sure their mail-in ballots were received. And as you can imagine, every single vote counts. At this very hour, Democrat Scott Cologne has expanded his lead over incumbent Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith. New votes just added have him up by 2 ,990 votes. And tomorrow could be decisive because officials in Hines County, a Democratic stronghold, if I could to upload the results of their outstanding affidavit ballots.

16:32Joining me now, Mississippi Democratic Senate candidate Scott Colombe. Scott, thank you for joining us this evening. You are, as I've said, picking up more votes than Senator Hyde-Smith, and you are confident that you will win. You know that orientation's already happening right here in Washington, D.C., on the Hill. I'm wondering what's stopping you from declaring victory. Well, I want to make sure I respect the work of so many election commissioners and local officials that are going through this process, particularly in Hines County. But I expect that they'll be done in Hines County tomorrow.

17:06And that should give me a lead that clearly is insurmountable. And then it's time to focus on the business of the people. You know, we got a lot to tackle this next Congress from dealing with these tariffs, dealing with the war in Iran that's got everything more expensive, dealing with these health care cuts that are going to cut health insurance from so many Mississippians and put rural hospitals at risk of closing. So I do think that it's time to get to the transition so we can serve the people of Mississippi. Many people looking at your race, wanting to know the conclusion to then do those very things and get started.

17:43Have you seen what Senator Hyde-Smith had to say, though, about why she feels there's only one reason why this race was even close? Listen. Mississippi is such a red state. It is so deep. Nobody expected that it would be this close. How did it get to this point? A lot of money poured in. Do you hear a lot of money poured in? We had a conversation about this very issue. What's your response to this idea that there was so much money poured into your races? Well, listen, I did over 60 town halls. I went to the housing projects. I went to the music festivals. I listened to the voters of Mississippi and I learned their needs and I'm ready to fight for them.

18:24Our junior senator did the exact opposite. In six years, she did not one town hall. She did almost no interviews. She did almost no campaigning. And the reality is most of her money came from outside the state of Mississippi. She got hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars from corporate PACs, from lobbyists, from Florida, from APAC. And so she doesn't have anything to complain about. The people of Mississippi have chosen a new direction, and I'm happy to be their next United States senator. Well, the other senator from Mississippi, Roger Wicker, he supported your nomination to fill a federal judicial seat.

18:56Many people might not know that Hyde-Smith actually blocked. Have you spoken with Senator Wicker at all? No, I mean, at this point, I respect the fact that he probably is waiting for the race to be called. But I look forward to working with him on issues that we have in common that can make progress for our state. You know, he's a big advocate for community health centers. I want to partner with him to make sure those community health centers get the resources they need. And so I'm confident that we can work together on things we agree on and be respectful when we disagree. You know, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer could become the next Senate Majority Leader.

19:32But you've raised concerns about Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both being from New York, Brooklyn, to be exact. What message do you think it would send to voters if both leaders came from the same borough in New York City, even if you take away all the experience they do have collectively? Yeah, I mean, I think it would be something that we need to make clear we balance out with other ways we can show rural America that we care about them. There are certain committees that we need to make sure have rural voices. We need to understand the Democratic Party's future has to include the South.

20:09And we can do that through picking the right committee, put people like myself who are able to win very difficult races in positions where they can deliver for those voters so we can be competitive in the South. You haven't yet even formally announced your victory. You're not on Capitol Hill yet. And yet everyone wants to know what and how you're going to vote. once you become a senator, which obviously welcome to Washington, D.C. But Schumer says that he was one of the people who helped convince you to even run for Senate. Listen to this. I had Scott Column and his father come to my house and I served them a nice little brunch or something.

20:50I said, you've got to run. They were smarter than me. This was four years ago. They said, we don't want to run this time, but we know that Hyde Scott, the incumbent, is so weak we could beat her. And so I said, good, we'll back her. And here we are. Here we are. Do you feel as though you need to back him for majority leader based on the branch? And of course, your name is Cologne. We know that. But go ahead. Yeah, I think it's important that the people of Mississippi get credit for recruiting me. Those are the folks that I listen to. I mean, you know, Congressman Thompson, the longest Democratic survey member, he was the person that kind of told me what it was going to take to win this race.

21:27It's people like Derrick Johnson, national president of the NAACP, who is a mentor of mine for a long period of time. Other folks in Mississippi, they gave me the direction I needed to decide to get in this race. And there were a lot of national leaders that I listened to. Senator Warnock, Senator Whitehouse, Senator Cantwell. So I don't think one person deserves credit for any decision I make. I think the people in Mississippi have decided to pick another senator. And I'm blessed to be that person. Ms. Sippy, you have centered throughout your campaign. In our conversations as well, you have done so, and certainly here as well, giving them credit for your decision to run.

22:03You wanted to campaign, I understand, with former Vice President Kamala Harris. Your staff initially said no. Why did you think she would be an effective surrogate for your campaign in this particular arena? Yeah, well, I want to make sure that that's not misconstrued. It wasn't that the staff said, no, they wanted to make sure that I understood the risk. OK, and then I got the right information in making that decision. And I decided to do it because I needed to get attention to the issues that matter. What was the risk that they articulated? Well, they were just worried that it could backlash with some Republican voters and not keep clear my Mississippi first message.

22:42And I understood what they were talking about. But for me, I knew that Audra Sanders, she wanted a very sleepy race. She didn't want attention to the race. She didn't want any press because she was full of gas. And so I needed to shake the race up. I needed to wake it up. And so I knew that also our president, Vice President Harris, could get attention to the issues that matter. You know, I did a press conference at Clarksdale Hospital early on in my campaign, and nobody showed up because the local press in Mississippi doesn't have the resources they need. But I knew if I brought Vice President Harris down to that same hospital and I did a press conference and a roundtable, I would get the whole country to pay attention.

23:20And that's exactly what happened. And I think that was the right strategy, because in this particular era that we're in, you've got to get attention to your race. If you can't get attention, you can't get resources. If you can't get resources, you can't win. You know, some on the right think that your brand of politics could actually win over Republican voters actually more broadly. You know, one Fox News host, Mr. Colom, called you a bigger threat to the GOP in 2028 than AOC. Why do you think conservatives find you threatening in that way? For me, I think that they're, you know, the thing is, I'm not trying to be a threat to anybody.

23:58I'm trying to focus on delivering for Mississippi. I'm not trying to get into the national punditry where we try to figure out, you know, who's this or who's that. You know, I think we got too much celebrity in our politics. We got to get back to leadership that's rooted in serving people, listening to them, learning their concerns and delivering for them. And so my focus is going to be delivering for the people of Mississippi and the people of this country. And I don't think that makes me a threat. I think that makes me somebody that's going to be a great senator. I respect that. You've also called out the political forecaster, Cook Political Report, for rating your race as likely Republican.

24:33Now, they did shift it in October from solid R to likely. Tell me about what compelled you to call them out and what this means for the future of putting attention on the South in politics. Well, I'm so glad you asked me that question, because the reason I called it out, because I want them to understand the influence they have on elections. They're not a neutral arbiter that's not having influence. Because when you have someone listed solid R for so long, it makes it very difficult for that person to raise money. And it had an impact on Jamie Davis, Holly Schaffner, a lot of these Southern candidates who I don't think really were given a proper analysis as to their chances.

25:13And, you know, I'll say this. There was one gentleman there that I thought was a little rude to me and condescending to me when I tried to make my pitch. And Jessica Cook, she wasn't that way. She listened and she heard me out. But I also think these people need to not be. They should be looking down on people that are sacrificing so much to run for United States Senate. They need to be respecting them, listening to them and stop pretending that they know these states better than the folks who actually live there. Scott Cologne, thank you so much. Thank you, Laura. God bless you.

25:49And we have another key race alert this time out of Alaska. New votes just added, and Democrat Mary Patola has now extended her lead by 1 ,733 votes. She's now ahead by 4 ,250 votes over Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan, with 84 % of the vote in. Again, this is a ranked choice voting state, and no one is at 50 % so far. Still ahead, Republicans rolling up their sleeves and picking Jim Jordan to lead them in the House. what it means for Trump, MAGA, in the next two years.

26:28Progressive's Accident Response can contact emergency services if you're in a major accident. The only thing worse than someone you love being in an accident is not being able to help them. So Progressive is here to help when you can't. So get peace of mind knowing your loved ones are protected with Progressive's Accident Response. Learn more at Progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates limited availability in California. Driver is responsible for emergency and towing charges not covered by the policy. Coverage subject to policy terms and conditions.

27:03A week after the midterm blowout, Republicans tried to regroup by choosing their next leader as they faced their new political reality as the minority party. On the Senate side, Republicans stuck with John Thune as their leader, but in the lower chamber, House Republicans went with Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan. Current House Speaker Mike Johnson says the pick sends a clear message to Republicans and the country. Jim is a known entity, a trusted voice, a trusted leader. He's an honest broker. He's a good man. He's a fighter. And I think that that's the signal that is being sent here, that we are ready to dig in for the fight.

27:43My panel is back with me. I want to begin with you, Congressman, because Republicans, they are elevating Jordan. Trump promoted Stephen Miller to be the wild sheep of staff. Republicans say they want to fight, but are they really just handing Democrats an early victory with these choices? I think so. I mean, look, it's like clearly, clearly they lost because they were unable to create daylight between themselves and Donald Trump. And this is just doubling down on that. I mean, it's like they're basically burning the party down and now they're just throwing more gasoline on it because it's not burned down enough.

28:20Now, as a guy that would like to see the Republican Party come back from the ashes, I'm kind of looking at this saying, fine, at least in 2028, people will have a clear difference. But yeah, Jim Jordan is a very close ally to Donald Trump, the moves that Donald Trump is making. And the fact that I'm not hearing very many Republicans out there, at least elected Republicans, talking about the need to actually do their job and be an independent branch of government means that they're not going to find the courage that I was hoping they would after this election. So, look, I mean, ultimately, the job of the minority leader is to fight, to create a counter narrative to the majority.

28:58Probably Jim Jordan's going to do a decent job for that perspective. So just looking at this neutrally and saying he's going to be able to stand at the podium and make arguments and make cases. But I think this is just clear that Republicans have doubled down and they're unwilling to separate themselves from MAGA. And they're going to have to ride that to 28 and hope they're victorious that way. I mean, Andrew, when you look at this, this is not someone who's a shrinking violet. Steve Miller isn't either. This is somebody who has been more than a thorn in the side to Democrats. even if Trump won as well.

29:28So what signals it send to you that it's Jim Jordan? I mean, look, after 2024, Democrats lost and we learned a bunch of lessons and then we actually put them into practice. We got younger, we got more willing to break with our old orthodoxies, we competed in more places. I think the Republicans are doing the dead opposite of this, which is taking a huge electoral thumping and then doubling down on the least popular people in their party and the least popular parts of their agenda. So I think, I mean, this tells me that they haven't learned anything and they are going to do more of the things that voters just rejected last week and less of, hey, maybe we were wrong.

30:01Maybe we should focus more on costs and being a little more reasonable on immigration. And they're going to go with the Jim Jordan, roll up your sleeves, and execute the Stephen Miller playbook instead. And they're always rolled up, by the way. We have you interviewing the same thing. But let me tell you, there's a viewer question. Here it is. Do you all think Jeffries is a good speaker? The message against Jim Jordan as minority leader, the viewer says, I'm not convinced he is. What do you think? I think that this election actually has more to do with the oversight agenda. Jim Jordan comes from the Oversight Committee, comes from the Judiciary Committee.

30:29He spent the last decade leading one of those two committees. All the conversation has been next year, it's going to be congressional investigations, accountability, oversight. This job now, being the top Republican, you are the public defender of the White House, that shield against oversight. No one in the Republican conference knows that job better than Jim Jordan. And I think that the width and breadth of the victory the Democrats had is the reason why they went in the Jordan direction than the Scalise direction. If it's just a one, two, three seat majority like we've had the last couple of years, I think they go with Scalise.

30:59But because they know they're in for a fight, because they're up against Jamie Raskin and Robert Garcia, that's what it has to do with. Not Hakeem Jeffries in this case. Jeffries is going to be the speaker. He's going to be focusing on bigger picture things. He's empowering his chairman to do the job of oversight. And he's going to let him do it. Jordan is the right foil for that if you're Republicans right now. Guys, Kurt just said something nice about Republicans live on national television. So I want to make sure we mark that day. It's analysis, not a compliment. It's not objective. It's, you know, come on.

31:26That's a short, it's analysis, not a compliment. I like that. That's almost like a different level of shade. Let me tell you what Sanders had to say. Bernie Sanders, the senator, of course, says that when it comes to Senator Chuck Schumer, he's not supporting him. I personally have known Chuck Schumer for over 30 years. And I like Chuck, nobody who works harder than Chuck Schumer. But in my view, the time is now for change, and I will not be supporting Chuck to be reelected as the Democratic leader. Also analysis and not a compliment. First of all, I mean, how realistic is this idea that he won't, is a challenger for Chuck Schumer?

32:11Is there one on the horizon that Republicans are looking at and saying, gosh, I hope it's him? Or her. It sounds like there's kind of this movement or push for Van Hollen, who's a fine, you know, senator. But Chuck Schumer just brought the Democrats this huge victory in the Senate. I just don't know why they're deciding now they can't trust him anymore after he gave them 54 to 56 seats in the Senate in a cycle that nobody thought they could win. Well, not everyone's giving him credit as in being a university supporter, but what do you think? Yeah, I mean, I think competition is good. Like, I think there should be a credible alternative to Chuck Schumer.

32:49They should all get in the room. And if Chuck has the power in the caucus he thinks he does, and frankly that he may because he helped a whole bunch of people get elected, then he'll crush that election and he'll be the majority leader. If he doesn't and his coalition falls apart and Chris Van Hollen or someone else gets it, then he's as weak as the people who, you know, Bernie Sanders thinks he is. But I think Democrats mess up when we say you have to go with this guy, especially when it's an old guy. So I'm glad to see that there's at least going to be some competition. If Chuck pulls it out, good for him.

33:15And I love that the old guy is the one that's saying the other old guy is too old. Bernie Sanders is talking about change. We need a change. We need a new generation. I'm like, you're like the oldest guy in the room right now. They're like 100 years old. But Bernie Sanders represents, obviously, I think, the populist swing of the Democratic Party. And what we're seeing with the rise of the DSA, that's the Democrats' populist uprising. That MAGA was the Republicans' populist uprising. And so that's ultimately what the concern is about Chuck Schumer, is he's the Wall Street senator, he's the private equity guy, and you talk to the DSA folks and they think that he's more likely to sell them out than someone from their wing.

33:48I will tell you this, that I was at a coalition meeting this morning and we were talking about the new leadership roles. Jim Jordan got great reviews in contrast to what people were saying about John Thune. People were very concerned about, you know, why are we, you know, keeping him in his role after such big losses. So I think you're going to start to see that play out more. It's the old tension of the House and the Senate right there. The answer to that question, though, is nobody else wanted to run. Can't beat something with nothing. Well, that's glass half full. Thank you, everyone. Up next, he is part of the freshman class who pulled off a shocking upset, booting a seven-term GOP incumbent from his North Carolina seat.

34:31And tonight, he's dedicating the next two years to his father, who just passed away. It's an incredible story. An Army veteran and now Congressman-elect Richard Ojeda will share with us next.

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35:35In an election year full of major upsets, there's one House race that really took Republicans and frankly Democrats by surprise. Democrat Richard Ojeda pulled off a narrow victory against a Trump ally and the House GOP's own campaign chief, Congressman Richard Hudson. This was a district that President Trump carried by nearly 16 points two years ago, with hardly any spending from Democrats until the very end. Joining me now, retired Army Major and North Carolina Congressman-elect Richard Ojeda. Welcome. Congratulations on your victory. This was not actually your first rodeo. You have run before.

36:19You've run for the House. You've run for the Senate. You've run for the presidency as well. Why do you think this was the time connected? Well, first off, when I ran for the presidency, I knew that I wasn't going to win. I just wanted to make it to the debate stage because I wanted to make the opioid epidemic a topic of conversation. Because I grew up in a place where the opioid epidemic just went through like a wildfire. And it still bothers me to this day. But, you know, I had no desire to get back into politics when I moved back to North Carolina. But after a couple of years, I started looking at my representation.

36:51I realized that I don't have representation. And it bothered me when he basically said that it can stop the town halls. And if you're not willing to stand in front of the people, then you shouldn't be there. And that's when I made the decision that I was going to get into this fight. And we knew that if we were going to defeat the chair of the NRCC, we were going to have to go nonstop. We went 22 months. We didn't take a day off. Three to five events a day. But hard work paid off. And the money that didn't come to the very end, why do you think that was? Well, I don't think that, you know, I think that for the most part, they believed that this was a race that was impossible to win.

37:26I mean, this was the chair of the NRCC. What they wasn't, you know, planning for was to have somebody like me and my team that went nonstop. And that's, you know, the people saw the work that we put in. They recognized us. We showed up. We went to city council meetings, board of education meetings. We went to everything. And people saw that. And people started saying, wow, you know, we see you everywhere. And we got the reputation of being workaholics. And you know what? That's the reputation I want to have. And that's the reputation I want to have in Congress. Well, you know, there are some who are very critical about incumbents right now not being workaholics.

37:58Eleven Democrats, 11 missed Hegseth's impeachment vote this evening. We're actually on the screen. Was this a failure of leadership? How do you explain this? I say shame on them for not showing up. I mean, this is this is important. I mean, we have an opportunity. They had an opportunity to finally get rid of this buffoonery that we have. You know, and they failed. So, you know what? I think the 120th Congress, I think we'll take that up. You think so? I believe so. Would you vote to impeach? Yes, I sure would. I wouldn't vote to impeach this entire administration. But when it comes to Donald Trump, no.

38:33If we impeach Donald Trump, we martyr him. We need to investigate him thoroughly and show the American people. Imagine if you could tune in every night from 6 to 8, and the first part is the classified documents. Number two, January 6. Number three, the Epstein files. But you know what? If we show these people the evidence, some of them are going to finally wake up. And we need to get these people to wake up. We can't throw these people away. You know, they drank from the wrong fountain, you know. But at the end of the day, we need to get these people back on track. We need to educate them about the truth with this administration.

39:09And then we can finally move on. Explain the distinction between impeaching, say, a Hegseth, Secretary of Defense, or he said Secretary of War, The commander in chief, obviously, President Trump, would give a pass based on martyrdom. Square that circle for me. It's not necessarily a pass. What this is, is first off, I think that RFK Jr., I think that Pete Hanks, these are people that should be impeached. Impeached and then prosecuted for what they have done. You know, Kristi Noem, Marco Rubio, people have been snatched off the streets, given no due process, and have ended up in gulags someplace.

39:44For what? because they wanted to come to the United States of America and create a better opportunity for their children? This is unacceptable. That's not American. You know, immigrants make this country great. You know, for what you do to the least of my brethren, you do unto me. Jesus did not tell you to hate the stranger. Jesus told you to love the stranger. And that's what we need to do. And that's not what we're seeing right now. I want Hagseth and them prosecuted for what they have done. But I know that if we just impeach Donald Trump and call it a day, they're going to martyr him. people need to see, and they may need to see the worst of the worst in order to finally open their eyes and say they're done.

40:21I want these people to cut ties with this and then get back on the right track. I don't want nobody to be thrown away. Let's talk about the track that H.R. 1 may have to have or other areas that you have been campaigning on in addition to accountability. And one has been the issue, many Democrats have talked about Medicare for all. There are some Democrats who do not think that it is possible to get passed in the new year. Is it? If not, what is? Look, we have the power. We have a super majority here. Now, look, I got it. Donald Trump is going to veto everything. We're going to give Donald Trump the opportunity to not go out a lame duck.

40:59If he allows us to pass legislation that elevates the lives of Americans, good for him. Doesn't mean that he's going to get a pass. But at the end of the day, at least he won't look like a lame duck. So that's what I want to do. That's what I think we should do. I want to mention, because this is something I learned of, and I was so sad to hear about the passing of your father. I want to play for the audience, though. You actually had a moment to tell him that you will be a member of Congress. Listen to this. Good morning.

41:35You said I made it to Congress?

41:44I mean, if that smile on his face does not say it all as a parent, what did that moment mean to you and how proud your father is? I got to tell my dad that his son made it to Congress. You know, I got that for the rest of my life. I love him. I wear his watch. My father was proud of me. Of course he was. I'm happy that you were able to tell him. And I understand this was a moment, even other members of Congress wanted to make sure you felt celebrated for Secret Johnson in a private moment, said something too. He did. And to be honest with you, I wanted to dislike him so bad. We were sitting on the house floor and it was just an amazing just to be sitting there.

42:32And all of a sudden he just said, is Richard Ojeda here? And I raised my hand and he said, my father died three days before I made it to Congress. And in that moment, he become human to me. You know, we may differ when it comes to politics, but these people aren't bad people. We just disagree. We can still find ways to work together. And that's what we need to do. We need to all come together and elevate the lives of people in this country. We need to put money in the pockets of the working class. We need to pass That's the PRO Act. Everybody in this country should be allowed to unionize. These are the things that we need to do.

43:11And if we do these things, we're going to elevate people's lives. And isn't that what we're here for? I'm not here. I'm not here to become a millionaire. There's not one person in my district voted for me so that I could come here and play stocks and become a multimillionaire. They sent me here to fight for them. And that's what I'm going to do. I didn't come here for that. I didn't come here to learn politics. I came here to teach these people who the hell they work for. Tell me your father's name so the world can hear about his son. Richard Nis Ojeda. Thank you. Thank you. Really powerful. Congressman-elect Richard Ojeda.

43:49Remember, you can stream my show live on the CNN app. Scan the QR code in your screen or go to CNN.com slash all access to learn more. Thank you all for watching. The story is with Alex Michelson is next.

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