Gov.-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms on her historic win in Georgia

0:00Keisha Lance Bottoms: This holiday, all plans, even unlimited, are just$15 a month. A holiday deal this good obviously deserves an enormously expensive holiday song. Like, all I want... Right. Okay, we can afford that. You know what? Forget the music budget. We're gonna stick with whatever's in the public domain. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three months,$90 for six months, or$180 for a 12-month plan required. $15 per month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra. New customer offer for initial plan term only. Greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. See terms. Watch Ali Velshi five nights a week in primetime on MSNOW.

0:34Keisha Lance Bottoms: The breaking news in the last hour. The 11th Hour with Ali Velshi. Weeknights at 11 p.m. Eastern on MSNOW. And find more on the MSNOW app. I don't like to consider it a defeat for me.

0:48Joe Scarborough: I was on the ballot. When I'm not on the ballot, much fewer people come out to vote. That's just the way it is, midterms. and pretend I'm on the ballot because essentially I am on the ballot. But all I'm asking you to do is one thing, get out and vote, because if you do, we're going to have a tremendous success. I really want you to pretend I'm on the ballot. But I'm asking you to do me one favor, pretend that I'm on the ballot, because when I'm on the ballot, for whatever reason, 49.2 % more people show up. So I'm asking you to pretend that I'm running. Pretend I'm on the ballot. Because if you get out, we're going to win big.

1:29Joe Scarborough: And in this election, I'm asking you to pretend, please, that I'm on the ballot. Just pretend. Pretend, if you will, I'm on the ballot. And actually, I am on the ballot because they will destroy everything that we've built. Just pretend I'm on the ballot. Here's the story. When I'm on the ballot, we win everything.

1:48Keisha Lance Bottoms: I don't like to consider it a defeat for me. I wasn't on the ballot.

1:52Mika Brzezinski: He was on the ballot. And when Donald Trump is on the ballot, it brings out people who don't usually vote. I remember all of us looking two years ago at the numbers and seeing the people that put together that coalition for the most unlikeliest of returns to the White House. Again, he has shocked the political world twice over the past decade. But when Donald Trump's not on the ballot, Republicans lose. They lost in 2017. They lost in 2018. They lost in 2019. They lost in 2021. when he was on the ballot. They lost in 21. They lost in 22. They lost in 23. He won in 24. They lost in 25. They lost in 26.

2:35Mika Brzezinski: When Donald Trump is not on the ballot, they lose. This was a big one. No, this was a massive defeat and I think driven by so many things. But let's bring in right now MSNOW contributor Mike Barnicle, and also former ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel. He served the White House chief of staff under President Obama and chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. And in Washington, former host of Hardball.

3:02Joe Scarborough: Have a cup of coffee, Chris. Chris Matthews. Hold on. I'm going to press the button. Ready, Chris? Press it. Go. Tell us what happened last night. Well, I think we had something like what Jimmy Carter faced back in 1980. He lost the Senate. The president lost the Senate. 30 seats. Yeah, it could be 50, 60 seats. Far more worse dismissal from the American people. A rebuke. It's a biblical word. A biblical word, rebuke. I think it was worse than that. I think it was a vote of no confidence. Get out of our face. I think it's remarkable. I think the victories of people like Georgia are just unbelievable.

3:44Joe Scarborough: And the wonder of the Democratic Party, I want to say something really good about the Democrats. This party has got an Arab American who's just a new senator from Michigan. We've got a Muslim in New York, the mayor of New York. We've got a Hispanic woman down in Texas who's governor of Texas. We've got African-Americans who have been backing the Democratic Party forever, have been doing all the great work, now have the Speaker of the House. And, of course, you know, it's what they do. And, of course, Atlanta. Possibly Mississippi. They just keep doing it. They're finally getting their place in the sun.

4:19Joe Scarborough: They're coming out and getting the major positions in the Democratic Party, finally. And Hispanics, too, they took this grief from ICE agents. They've got a fabulous role now as the governor of Texas. So you've got this great diversity in religion. You know, you were talking about this earlier today, Joe. The Democratic Party is a little too a little bit too cleric or non-cleric or whatever. I mean, look at this. Westmore talks about his religion all the time. You got the same thing with Puerto Rico. Same deal. You've got the new guy, the seminarian from Kansas. It's incredible how they're all talking religion.

4:58Joe Scarborough: And even Josh Shapiro, who's Judaism, he talks about his faith, his religious belief. It's not just his ethnicity. It's his religion and his belief. For some reason, it must be fear, because there is fear in this country of Trump, that people have moved to religion in a public way. It's a wonderful thing to watch because it's so surprising. Well, and it really came through last night all night.

5:21Mika Brzezinski: I thought the religion that they're moving away from is the Christian nationalism, where people talk about AR-15s instead of Jesus Christ. They're moving to a faith that's a loving faith.

5:33Joe Scarborough: It is consistent, whether you like it or not.

5:37Mika Brzezinski: Maybe you don't like it. But what they're saying, what Tallarico speaks of on the stump this time and what you're hearing the next senator from Kansas talking about is what Jesus talked about, about love and forgiveness and kindness. And, you know, I thought, you know, the issue, the trans issue that is just bedeviled Democrats for the past couple of years. They just didn't know how to handle it. They asked Adam Hamilton about it. He goes, well, because I don't know a whole lot about it. I don't I just don't know a whole lot about the trans issue. But I do know this. They're children of God. And we have a responsibility to love them.

6:18Mika Brzezinski: And I think it's really sad. And we cannot hurt these people. Pick on this small group of people just because some people may make political gains from it. It was a beautiful statement. It also happened to be true. And I guarantee you, Republican, Democrat, independent alike looks at that and goes, yeah, I'm with that guy.

6:38Joe Scarborough: Look, it's a last night and Adam Hamilton having been talking to him through the campaign. He is exudes a sense of both peacefulness, grace and humility. And that's not a natural talent for me or any of us here. And he spoke there. Now, look, 1939, last time there was a Democrat in the U.S. Senate from Kansas. This is an incredible statement and it's broad. It's deep. This was a repudiation of the president. And unlike in 06, where people were tired of George Bush, tired of the war here, there was an anger. We were just talking about this earlier in anger towards Donald Trump because he played the voters for chumps.

7:20Joe Scarborough: He said, I'm going to put money in your pocket. And they watched him every day put money in his own pocket. He said, I'm going to end the endless wars. He started in this war. He said, I'm going to lower prices. And he spiked under him. So this was their chance to say and give him a piece of their mind. And this was broad, deep. Now, the big part for the Democrats was repudiation. them. 2027 is how we win. We build a lasting coalition. This election should not be transactional, but transformational. Major ethics reform, major minimum wage increase, major restriction on the tariffs and start reforming and making sure health care is accessible because that's what's driving people crazy right now is premiums going up two years in a row by 12 percent.

8:01Mika Brzezinski: And Mike, a complete wipeout in New England for Republicans with Susan Collins gone. Kelly Ayotte, I think the only major Republican still representing anybody up in New England. You look at Texas. Texas is now officially on the map. Republicans path to 270 just got exponentially harder.

8:22Joe Scarborough: It did. But the Kansas race that you were just talking about, I think it's a microcosm of what happened yesterday in this country. Cruelty lost.

8:32Mika Brzezinski: Yeah, cruelty lost.

8:33Joe Scarborough: Decency won. Yes. And the American people grasped got hold of the foundations that built this country 250 years ago and decided, I want the United States of America, the United States of America. I want it back.

8:51Keisha Lance Bottoms: Democrats put the right candidates out. I mean, 100 percent.

8:55Joe Scarborough: You got to give Chuck Schumer took a lot of crap over the year. He did. And he put some refurbish on the field. And people should acknowledge that.

9:02Keisha Lance Bottoms: Let's take a moment and go to Georgia. All right. Joining us now, the Democratic governor-elect of Georgia. Come on. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. Come on. She is the first black woman to be elected governor of a U.S. state and the first Democrat to win the office in Georgia in nearly a quarter century.

9:23Mika Brzezinski: Keisha, it is so great to see you. And not only because you're a long-suffering Atlanta Falcons fan like me, But the first time I saw you on a national stage, there were riots going on in Atlanta. And you you get on there and, you know, a lot of politicians like, well, you know, we want to respect the rights of the pro. And we want to respect this. And you're like, hey, go home, go home, go home right now. If you are out right now, you are doing something you shouldn't do. Go home in peace. And I said, I don't know who this lady is, but man, that is a message that all Americans can relate to. And you took that message across Georgia without money, without money.

10:13Mika Brzezinski: And you won big. Talk about it.

10:16Joe Scarborough: Well, I can tell you coming out of the primary, I said we were the dental floss and shoestring campaign. And I said it in all love, but we were meek and mighty. And thankfully, the hard work paid off. We were up against a billionaire who spent the most amount of money that has ever been spent in Georgia, but will likely go down as one of the most expensive statewide races in the country. And we prevailed. So I'm so grateful to the people across the state who heard our message loud and clear. I listened to them when they told me they were concerned about the cost of living and all the other things that they shared with me on the campaign trail.

10:59Joe Scarborough: So I'm grateful.

11:00Keisha Lance Bottoms: Governor-elect, good morning. It's great to see you. By the way, Rick Jackson spent$100 million of his own money. He's a billionaire in this race.

11:07Mika Brzezinski: Maybe he should try to buy the Mets. And lost. With Elon.

11:09Keisha Lance Bottoms: So, Governor-elect, I think some people were surprised you won it all, but certainly were surprised by the margin you put up last night in your victory. So talk to us about what you were seeing and hearing on the ground. What did you know about this race that a lot of people didn't?

11:24Joe Scarborough: I could feel the energy and I knew that people were excited to vote. And it was like going through the stages of grief coming out of the presidential election. I saw the ups and downs of the emotions of the people across Georgia. And by the time we got toward the end, people were just ready to go and vote. And that's what we saw in the record turnout that we saw and the victories that we had up and down the ballot. We were able to flip every constitutional seat, I believe. Also, we picked up a public service commission seat. We now control the public service commission. We also flip the House in Georgia and several Senate seats.

12:05Joe Scarborough: So it was a tsunami.

12:07Mika Brzezinski: That is just crazy in Georgia, in Texas, in Kansas. This is biblical, man. A lot of women. This is 17. A lot of women. It is. It's extraordinary, especially after the last two years, women and black Americans and Hispanic Americans being treated like second and third rate citizens by this administration. It's just been outrageous. We got we got Rev here, Governor-elect. Reverend Al, he's got a question for you. Rev.

12:44Joe Scarborough: Governor-elect, and I'm happy to say that you and I've known each other down through the years. You've always been able to stand with balance, even if some people wanted you to be more extreme. Now that you will be governor, how do you deal with the fact that we have the affordability crisis? We have things that are on the ground that are scaring as well as as as threatening people all over the state. And you've got to keep that balance to deal with the rural parts of the state, the red voters and those in the urban centers like Atlanta. Like you've always demonstrated, even when you were mayor, when I would deal with you.

13:30Joe Scarborough: You know, Reverend, it's been so much about listening and then going back into a room and saying, OK, what can I actually do about this? Because people would ask me, well, when you're elected governor, what can you do about the cost of living? So we came up with a grocery tax relief plan to allow local governments to suspend or end their grocery taxes if they can absorb it. When I was mayor of Atlanta, we closed a multibillion dollar real estate transaction. And out of that, I carved out an affordable housing trust fund. I want to fully fund that and expand that statewide. So I know that there are things that work and I know that there are solutions that we can offer.

14:12Joe Scarborough: I think we just have to get out of our own way and put our common sense hats on and think about how we get it done and stop getting caught up necessarily in the process and the intricacies of the policy. Just keep it simple.

14:30Mika Brzezinski: All right. Democratic governor-elect of Georgia, Keisha Lance Bottoms, it's great to have you here. Congratulations and good luck.

14:39Joe Scarborough: Thank you.

14:40Mika Brzezinski: All right.

14:42Keisha Lance Bottoms: Nearly a nine-point victory there. A nine-point victory.

14:46Mika Brzezinski: But again, we're talking, again, we're looking at these huge races. But then, as she said, I mean, statewide Democrats just ran roughshod over Republicans in Georgia, in Texas, in Kansas, in the reddest states in America, North Carolina.

15:04Keisha Lance Bottoms: And we were talking earlier today about the importance of Democrats now having control of the state houses in 2028 battleground states, making it that much harder for the president to try to interfere. So while we're on the subject of 2028, if you had any news you'd like to make this morning. We're happy to listen. But beyond that, tell us about how important that is for the next election cycle.

15:26Joe Scarborough: Just put this topper of the seven battleground states across the country, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada. Democrats are governors in all of them. We flipped and just you just heard of Georgia. You also have it in Michigan. The statehouse now is Democratic. Now, that is a big piece of not just going into to 2028, but also confronting the next two years and setting the agenda on health care, on housing, on other topics that get right to the basic point. So look, we're going to let this run through. You'll have enough problems or challenges in the sense of making sure that people, we solidify this coalition so it's not a transactional, but transformational.

16:09Joe Scarborough: But I actually believe, and I'll just take a look at how the depth, give you a couple points. When President Obama gets elected, there are 13 senators from eight states he lost. Today, you're going to have about seven, when it's all said and done, I think seven senators from states that Democrats traditionally lost. Second, in California, the billionaire's tax went down 55-45. Third, in this effort, if you look across the spectrum, you have won a series like in Georgia, like in North Carolina, state legislative houses that showed you the depth of this. And I mean, in North Carolina, the Speaker of the House lost the head of the NRCC for the Republicans that ran the campaign.

16:51Joe Scarborough: He went down. North Carolina has always gotten close and disappointed. That's now a truly a battleground state. But I believe you're going to see, like mayors and like others, ideas that generate the deal with the health care crisis in America and plans to actually start solving things for people. And I do want to say that the biggest win here from which you think about the party is non-MAGA Republicans across the country. So that's not my party anymore. And that is a huge opportunity for Democrats to build a lasting governing coalition. And that's a big deal.

17:25Mika Brzezinski: You know, you know, Chris, let's just celebrate this country as we do every two years. and I've always talked about the back and forth of it. 2004, George W. Bush wins what Karl Rowe calls a permanent majority. Two years later, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House. Two years after that, Barack Obama gets a coalition of the ascendant that's going to be in charge for a generation. Two years later, the Tea Party just completely wipes out the Democrats. Two years later, Barack Obama wins. Two years later, Republicans have a massive legislative sweep. Two years later, Donald Trump gets in. Two years later, you know, I could just keep going.

18:07Mika Brzezinski: Every two years, except for Joe Biden's 2022, every two years, there's just an incredible turnover. It happened again last night. It's almost as if our founding fathers knew what they were doing.

18:23Joe Scarborough: Joe, I think one thing missing last night, and it's been missing more and more each cycle. That's the concession speech. It's always my favorite part of the night is when all the ads are finished. You don't have to watch them anymore. And somebody goes up there and with a full heart says, I'm thanking my campaign workers. I did my best. I fell short. And there's some heart in that and real humanity in that. And that was Hillary Clinton. That was John McCain. It was Mitt Romney. All the people, Adlai Stevenson. I started watching television like this when Averill Harriman, the governor of New York, lost to Rockefeller.

18:57Joe Scarborough: My dad was with me and we're watching it from the basement. And we realized this man with all the wealth in the world, all the power in the world of April Harriman, and he had to accept defeat. You've got to have that voice of the loser to certify the election. It's how we know our elections are not fixed, that we know that they are true expressions of the people. And the loser has to say that. I don't know why they didn't coax these people that lost last night all the way from Texas, all the way north. Why don't they go and get them on television and say, get up there. Jimmy Carter did it. Get up there to admit defeat because that's how we know our elections are true.

19:35Joe Scarborough: And I just it's missing. Why, Joe? Why is it missing? I don't know.

19:39Mika Brzezinski: Well, it's a big part of the night. It just may be the era that we're in right now. But that may be an era we're passing through. And one name that we want to make sure we underline on that list, a guy who probably did more for this country and his concession speech than anybody else. Al Gore. When he knew that it was a race that he won, he still went out there and he conceded it because he knew that was the right thing to do for America. That's the sort of patriotism we need.

20:10Keisha Lance Bottoms: Chris Matthews and Rahm Emanuel, thank you very much for coming on this morning. What a morning it is. Coming up on Morning Joe, Democratic Senator-elect Adam Hamilton is our guest after flipping a seat in Kansas. Plus, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer will join the conversation after his party's big wins. But first, our next guest easily won a third term last night. Democratic Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey standing by. You're watching Morning Joe. We will be right back.

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22:21Keisha Lance Bottoms: Look at this. Come on, baby. Democratic Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey was reelected to his third term in office last night, beating Republican challenger Justin Murphy by 27 points. And Senator Booker joins us on set right now. He's a member of both the foreign relations and judiciary committees.

22:44Mika Brzezinski: Senator, congratulations on New Jersey. Total landslide. Also, congratulations on Mississippi. You've been doing a lot of work in Mississippi. That's a race. I mean, how are you feeling right now about the possibility of Democrats picking up North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and possibly Mississippi? So these are my roots. I'm a Jersey boy, but all my family comes from those southern states. And I think people continue to underestimate the power of African-American voters. to swing any election. If you speak to the issues, which are economic issues, health care issues, if you speak to those issues and there is an enthusiastic turnout, you win elections.

23:29Mika Brzezinski: We were talking offset. And I want to bring this on the camera. You were talking about what Democrats need to do. I brought up an unfortunate tweet last night from, I think it was Congressman Garcia, who said, Lawyer Up. I mean, that's the last message. That's the last message voters want. They want, you know what they want. They want to be able to afford to fill up their car with gas, their tractors with diesel. They want to be able to afford their rent. They want to be able to afford their groceries. They want a chance of their kids having a better life than them. And retribution, looking back, doesn't do it, does it?

24:17Mika Brzezinski: No, no. First of all, character matters and retribution is not the American character. No. But more than this, there are 75 to 80 percent of Americans that want bold, pragmatic, sensible leadership now. I had this conversation with Mitt Romney a year or two ago where he said to me, there's a permanent there's this massive competition between the two parties to see which party is going to become the permanent minority party that both of them seem to want that spot. and and i don't want that i want this to be you had john mitchum on earlier yeah he's my nerd hero it's just like seriously uh incredible he is a nerd he is a nerd and he touches the inner nerd of even a former uh all-american football player but this is the thing in people think fdr coming in after hoover coolidge harding right they thought fdr was going to be a typical democrat he wasn't he remade that party african-americans were all republicans a party of Lincoln shifted.

25:15Mika Brzezinski: They became the big tent party and kept permanent majorities in the House of Representatives until Tip O 'Neill. And it was our biggest period of shared growth in American history. Even the black-white wealth gap was closing during that period. 90 % of that generation's children did better than them. My generation came after that. 60, 65 % of us did better. It was the American dream personified. The biggest difference in America right now is not the difference between left and right. It's the difference between the American people and the American dream? Which party is going to redeem the dream, which is the basics, as you said.

25:47Mika Brzezinski: Let's not have a corrupt government that's self-serving. Let's have an economy that works for everybody. Let's make sure that my children can do better than me and have a better shot. And let's freaking leave the world again on the things that matter, where we've fallen behind on so many indices. So that is what we have. I want to see us to remake the Democratic Party to be America's party again, not the party of interest groups and narrow bands that alienates the people that should be in our tent. And I love what he said. Don't focus on retribution. Focus on redeeming the American dream.

26:22Keisha Lance Bottoms: And retribution and accountability are two different things. I think Americans do want accountability, but not just retribution for its own sake.

26:29Mika Brzezinski: Let me give you an example. If there's a rush to impeachment right now, we we we are so wrong and then we leave the american people american people right now want real real delivery so basic things to jam donald trump first of all you know what got got mortally wounded last night and we need to do the knockout blow now is big money in politics it it lost spectacularly but it's not out we could knock out that blow by ending stock trading i don't i don't take corporate PAC money. I don't take issue-eggible PAC money. Let's pass legislation, challenge Donald Trump, who's the cheater-in-chief, the commander-in-cheat.

27:09Mika Brzezinski: Let's put things on his desk that force him. Am I going to sign a stock trading ban? Am I going to get rid of super PACs? Am I going to do all of that thing? Let's out him. Who are you with? Are you with the Constitution or corruption? Are you with the people or yourself? These are the kind of things that we do that would be smart and that would begin to restore people's trust in government and our ability to govern. And there's a real connection between corruption and costs that most Americans kind of get. But I'm telling you, as a guy that witnesses how big corporations come in, flood Washington with money, and then jack up our prices as a result.

27:44Mika Brzezinski: Look how many mergers that are being approved right now that clearly are violations of antitrust that are driving up people's costs.

27:51Keisha Lance Bottoms: So, Senator, on the question of costs, let's be specific, because that was you all, Democrats, in a very disciplined way brought everything back to gas prices and grocery prices and diesel and all of those. So now Republicans are already saying this morning, congratulations as to your problem now. So what in a practical way do you do? Is it getting the tariffs repealed? Is it bringing about an end of the war in Iran? How do you begin to bring prices down in the short term?

28:15Mika Brzezinski: So there's a right away we can do bills on health care. So many Americans are choosing between their premiums and their deductibles and their rent or their child care. Donald Trump has taken a battle axe towards Medicaid, towards the Affordable Care Act. We can restore those things. And I bet you we pick up some Republicans as well. There are practical, bold things we can do right away and put them on the president's desk and make it clear to America, where does this president stand? His wacky ballrooms, his reflecting pools and the like. And I'd like to see us push this war back into the center of America's understanding and force votes right away of ending this war that is driving up your gas prices, your diesel prices, hurting farmers and families.

28:58Mika Brzezinski: We can do quick things right away to show America where we stand and where he stands.

29:02Keisha Lance Bottoms: Let's see if there's synergy on this. Corey, Senator Booker, I want to bring in someone who's going to be your colleague. Joining us now, Democratic Senator-elect Adam Hamilton of Kansas. He flipped the state with his historic win last night, becoming the first Democrat from Kansas elected to the U.S. Senate in nearly a century.

29:24Mika Brzezinski: From minister to senator. Congratulations. Pretty exciting. Senator-elect. What made the difference in Kansas? Well, thank you. First of all, I appreciate Corey and what he's been saying, Senator Booker as well,

29:36Keisha Lance Bottoms: and what you guys have been saying. I'll just say in Kansas, people are frustrated with what's happening in D.C. I had a guy, and I've shared this story frequently, a week ago. I was in Chicken Mary's, which is a famous restaurant down in Pittsburgh, Kansas. And this guy comes up to me and he says, I voted in 46 elections. I have never voted for a Democrat. And I voted for you.

29:56Joe Scarborough: Wow.

29:57Keisha Lance Bottoms: And I voted for you because what's happening in Washington is immoral. It's indecent. It's not Republican. It's not who we are as Americans. It's just wrong. And you're a decent guy and you're moral and you care about people. That's what's on the ballot. And that's why you got my vote.

30:08Mika Brzezinski: And I told everybody I know to please vote for you. And we heard that again. It's not about party. It's about decency and character. It's about decency, character, honor from the new senator to Candace to Tallarico. Yeah, we're talking about human decency, about what patriotism really is, which is love of country. You cannot love your country unless you love your fellow country man and woman. That's love thy neighbor. I cannot wait till we work together in the Senate. That's that is what is this is about. It's not about party. It's about people. It's about honor.

30:37Keisha Lance Bottoms: So, Mr. Senator-elect, let's speak about that. You talked about this in your victory speech last night, the idea of setting aside cruelty, the idea of loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. And we've talked a lot about how Democrats have sort of almost reclaimed the mantle of faith in the public discourse during this election. Speak to us, if you will, why you think that was so important for your victory, but why also maybe for governing? Yeah, well, I think it's critical. You know, there are many people, 60 percent of Democrats claim to have a faith, but we've been quiet about that. We haven't spoken very clearly about that.

31:10Keisha Lance Bottoms: And I think because we've been turned off by people who use their faith and misused it, used it to manipulate people. And I think there's a need for people who speak up and say, look, this is what following Jesus looks like. I hear from, you know, Christians in Washington, D.C. And I'm like, what Gospels are you reading from? And when we read the Gospels, what we find is a lot of things that resonates with a lot of people. But for me, it's what drives me. I'd wake just a few minutes ago here in the hotel. I woke up on my knees. I'm like, here I am. Please help me to be kind. Help me to see people and notice the people who need love and care.

31:39Keisha Lance Bottoms: Help me to follow you, Jesus, the way you lived. And that's, I think, I'm not saying everybody should be that way. I'm just saying that's, there's a lot of people out there who are like me. And I think we bring values. I think we bring passion to what we're doing. And I think the Democratic Party being able to say, look, this is a party for people like Hamilton too. And I think across the state of Kansas, there's a lot of people saying, that's who I am. That's the kind of person I want to be. And so anyway, it's, you know, the things that Jesus talked about, I was hungry and you gave me something to eat.

32:07Keisha Lance Bottoms: I was thirsty. You gave me something to drink. I was I was a stranger and you welcome me. And that stranger, that's the Greek word is immigrant. I was a stranger and you welcome me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and in prison and you visited me. I mean, that's that's just, you know, who we are as Americans.

32:21Mika Brzezinski: But that's I mean, yeah, I mean, and that's we talk about it all the time. I mean, Jesus was asked, who's my neighbor? He said, love your neighbor as yourself. And he said, let me tell you a story. He tells the story of the good Samaritan. He didn't pick somebody that they were comfortable with. He picked a Samaritan. And you could almost sense the people around Rev going, oh, we have to be nice to Samaritans. Yes, especially Samaritans. And that's the message. And that's why what I've been seeing members of my church being OK with a stranger being beaten. Yep. The stranger being brutalized. Yep.

32:59Mika Brzezinski: The stranger being interned, the stranger being shot and killed in the streets of Houston, shot and killed in the streets of Minneapolis, shot and killed in the streets of Maine. That that that is not the message of Jesus Christ. And that is not the message of our U.S. Constitution.

33:19Joe Scarborough: And Jesus reached out. I mean, he spent his last night on Earth with the with the lepers. I mean, so we've got to deal with how we really talk about the real Jesus. But Reverend Hamilton, first of all, I want you to know that Joe and I do well at churches if you need us. I know you'll be in Washington. We have inter-denominational meetings. I think that'd be fun. Just let us know. I want to ask you this. One of the things that is important is that we focus on really relieving the American people of what we're doing. And Senator Booker was just talking about not getting into just talking about impeachment and all.

34:03Joe Scarborough: Talk to us about how we can go for retribution. There's a lot of anger and and and other feelings I have about the president. But at the end of the day, our people will still be left with paying four dollars and 15 cents for gas. How do we come in focused? We're dealing with the emotions of the electorate that are angry. But at the same time, they need solutions. Well, I don't want to spend the next two years in court hearings.

34:33Keisha Lance Bottoms: What I want to see in the next two years, really the next six months, is solving the problems for American people. We've got to drive prices down on fuel fertilizer. That's going to mean ending the war in Iran and ending it quickly, as you all have been talking about. Then we've got to claw back, at least from my perspective, we've got to claw back the tariff policies so that we're actually having some input into what's happening in tariffs, not crazy tariffs. And, you know, wage or levied in the middle of the night because the president's irritated with one of our allies. We've got to be able to bring that back because that's costing the average American about$150 a month.

35:01Keisha Lance Bottoms: and it's costing our farmers. It's and businesses, businesses in Kansas are saying, look, we need stability and predictability in order to be successful instead of what we have is unpredictability, instability and chaos in Washington. And that's not OK. So let's put the guardrails in so this never, ever happens again what we've been seeing happening. But let's I'll tell you, Democrats have got to show in the next six months that they are actually performing. They're actually getting something done for the American people. And if they don't, I think people will be disillusioned with them. We've got and there's so many other things.

35:29Keisha Lance Bottoms: Health care is another one That's just critical. We've got to be addressing that. There's there's just and then we look at the really big problems. We've got to require thoughtful Republicans and thoughtful Democrats coming together to solve. And I think there's going to be a lot of Republicans who are going to find some nerve and courage now after the primaries and the shellacking that the party took in its midterms, the rebuke to what's happening in Washington. And they're going to start saying, hey, let's work together with the Democrats to get something. And at least that's what I'm determined to do.

35:54Keisha Lance Bottoms: I want to become Jerry Moran, our Republican senators from Kansas. I want to be his best friend in Washington. I'd like for Kansas to be able to model. Here's what it looks like for thoughtful Republicans and Democrats to work together on really big issues. Because if we don't, we're not going to get anything solved. We've got to get to that point, not the retribution. We've got to get to the point where we're actually working together and healing and fixing government. That's part of, I think, why the people elected me in Kansas. Beautiful. Democratic Senator-elect Adam Hamilton of Kansas. Thank you very much.

36:24Keisha Lance Bottoms: Congratulations on your big win. And Democratic Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey. Thank you, Senator. Thank you. Great time, Senator. Yes. Great to have you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Let's keep it in the tri-state area. Joining us now, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. Leader Schumer, good morning. I know it is a good morning for you. It's been a parade of guests on the set. Rahm Emanuel most recently this morning saying, make sure you give Chuck Schumer his due for what we saw last night. So candidate selection, your view of the map heading into these midterms. Take us through what you saw and your reaction to what happened last night.

36:59Keisha Lance Bottoms: Well, first, I want to quote Frankie Valli, another person from the metropolitan New York area. Oh, what a night. What a night.

37:09Mika Brzezinski: Not sure he sung that one, but yeah.

37:11Keisha Lance Bottoms: So talk about how great last night.

37:13Mika Brzezinski: Talk about how great the night was and talk about the candidates. It's how how did you end up getting candidates that actually whether you're talking about war heroes or ministers, but candidates that actually made voters look at the Democratic Party so differently?

37:29Keisha Lance Bottoms: Yeah, that's a great question. And what our candidates are, our candidates had to be high quality, good people, not only good brains and not only articulate, but good souls. And these candidates, when we recruited them, when I went to recruit a lot of these candidates, you know what motivated them? Patriotism. Almost every one of them could have had a better job in terms of pay, in terms of less hours and things like that. But they ran because they knew our country was in trouble. They loved their states. They loved America. And they stepped up to the plate. And the people saw that. In a campaign like this, you have the rare moment where there's such intensity and such focus.

38:14Keisha Lance Bottoms: They look inside and say, who are these people? And they were really great people up and down the line. I can tell you story after story when I first visited some of these candidates and they didn't want to run. And when I made the pitch how America needed them, you know, I told Sherrod Brown, you could have a great retirement. You have seven, you know, your seven grandchildren are all in the Columbus area. You've had a great career. You had a great legacy. But if you don't run and you're the only one who could win and we lose the Senate by one vote, it's going to be a really bad thing. That helped motivate him and Connie to do this.

38:47Keisha Lance Bottoms: And people saw what a good person he was. That story can be repeated over and over again. So we had great candidates. We had them in states that were not the blue states but purple and even red. They fit their states. But every one of them agreed with our basic campaign thrust. What Adam Hamilton said is true for the whole caucus. We wanted to get costs down. We wanted to put a real crimp and end the corruption. And we wanted to end the chaos. And each candidate, each candidate said it in his or her own way. How you put that forward in Maine and how you put that forward in Kansas is different.

39:26Keisha Lance Bottoms: But it's all the same theme. And so it echoed and resonated from one end of America to the other. And people knew what we stood for. that we spent a year and a half in the Senate as Democratic caucus. And I got to thank my caucus members. They were amazing as well, not only in finding unity in these issues, but in, you know, if you looked on a map a week before the election, you probably have three quarters of the caucus in different states campaigning with our candidates. So, you know, we have a great team now. But now I have to tell you, the burden's on us. The burden's on us to produce. That's the key.

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41:22Keisha Lance Bottoms: On The Line with Alicia Menendez. Weekdays at 12 p.m. Eastern on MSNOW.

41:34Keisha Lance Bottoms: So, Leader Schumer, what does that look like for you?

41:36Mika Brzezinski: Leader Schumer, we got questions we want to ask you. We only have a limited amount of time. No filibustering on this happy morning. Willie has a question and Reverend L. has a question.

41:45Keisha Lance Bottoms: So, we've talked about the map, Leader Schumer. You just said now we've got to do the work. Where does that work begin? What do you do in terms, immediately, policy? How do you balance policy with accountability? Okay. The number one focus for us is what the American people would tell us is number one, costs. They are not able to have a decent life because they can't pay the bills. You know, a woman who has to drive 40 miles to work and can't afford gasoline and misses a day of work and misses pay, stuff like that. And so that is number one. How do we get their costs down? We're going to focus on health care.

42:22Keisha Lance Bottoms: We're going to focus on electricity. We're going to focus on gasoline and diesel by ending this damn war, a useless, stupid war, as quickly as possible. And that has got to be our first focus. Should we investigate? Yes. Trump is the most corrupt president we have ever had by a lot. And Americans don't like that. A lot of Republicans don't like it. A lot of moderates don't like it. And so we have to pay some attention to that. But number one, get those costs down. Yeah.

42:55Joe Scarborough: As I've said earlier today, you and I go back to the 70s and Brooklyn. But you you called me a couple of weeks ago and you outlined what you were doing. And a lot of people thought you should not focus as broad as you did. This really was the Schumer plan that won last night. Tell us how you go forward now and make these things that you're talking about in terms of cost of living for people, affordability and ending the one I ran. happen if you have a president that may try, he's threatened that he's going to veto everything. Do you think you can get enough Republicans to now come with you to help you deal with some unified way of the issues that are really facing the average American?

43:40Keisha Lance Bottoms: It's a great question, Rev. Let me just say this. We won because we had great candidates and we focused on the issues that people cared about. But Republicans lost because they embraced Trump and they embraced his policies. And half the time he was talking about these crazy, stupid things, you know, like the ballroom or the waiting pool, which had nothing to do with lowering their costs. But worse, much of the time, what he did raised their costs. When you got rid of the ACA tax credits, people's health care benefit, health care insurance went up seven, eight hundred dollars. When you eliminated the cheapest form of energy on the grid, that is solar, people's electricity bills went up.

44:23Keisha Lance Bottoms: When you put in the tariffs, when you went to the grocery store, everything was more expensive on the shelf. So they embraced them. It made no sense. And what happened was that, you know, their big red brick wall became a bunch of bricks scattered all over the ground. It collapsed. Will they learn? That is a very important question. We're going to go forward with them or without them. We're not depending on them. But there may be, Reverend, a number of them who said, wow, we when we embrace Trump, we're like the movie Thelma and Louise. We're just driving over the cliff with him at the steering wheel.

45:02Keisha Lance Bottoms: And I think I think that if they if they at least read the election halfway right, maybe they'll change course. But we're going forward with them or without them. All right. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. I just want to say we got to go, Senator. We got to go.

45:20Mika Brzezinski: We thank you. Congratulations. An incredible night and incredible, incredible strategy you had. We will talk to you soon. Jonathan Lemire in the three seconds. Senator didn't leave much time there. All right. That's some filibuster there. We had a great night. A lot to be very excited about. Listen, we'll we'll talk about what happens tomorrow. tomorrow. Let's just talk right now again about this moment, this moment, what happened last night and what Americans said to Washington, D.C.

45:50Keisha Lance Bottoms: Yeah, it was 2020 a long way away. This is about now. It's a repudiation of President Trump and his policies. The breadth and depth of the Democratic win in places they have not won in generations up and down. Extraordinary. And I think I will say this for a lot of Americans. They woke up today pretty hopeful for the first time in a while. And I think that matters to a lot of people. That matters for the health of our democracy. Rev?

46:10Joe Scarborough: The Bible says that that a man's souls he shall reap. They sowed a lot of hate and bitterness. They reap the whirlwind of a new direction.

46:20Keisha Lance Bottoms: They reap. America this morning is saying enough. With their votes last night, they said enough to the policies, but also to the style of politics we've seen for the last decade.

46:30Mika Brzezinski: America's great. I mean, that's why we have elections every two years. You have a party that overreaches on the left. Well, the right comes back and brings them to the middle. You have somebody overreaching on the right. Well, you have, again, our system of checks and balances realigned again for the first time in a few years. It's very exciting. I hope Democrats and Republicans do the right thing. I hope the White House and the Senate do the right thing and work together for the betterment of the American people. A lot of people struggling out there. They need help.

47:03Keisha Lance Bottoms: does it for us this morning. Stephanie Rule picks up the coverage right now. Lucky Land Casino. Imagine signing up and finding your welcome surprise already waiting. Spin free with gold coins or collect Sweep Coins, plus daily login delights. Sign up now. Let the magic talk. Lucky Land Casino, where the magic happens. No purchase necessary. VGW Group. Void where prohibited by law. CT &Cs 21+.