nick bryant reports from georgia. nick: the democrats hoped to off a major upset, it was midnight pain in georgia. they put heart and soul into turning a review read republican red republican seat blue. the candidate was 30-year-old jon ossoff. mr. ossoff: at a time when politics is dominated by fear and division, this community stood up, women stood up. nick: republican relief as well as jubilation, and although karen handel hated the way the race became a referendum on donald trump, she had warm words for the president. ms. handel: a special thanks to the president of the united states of america. [cheers] [crowd chanting "trump"] ms. handel: let's not forget out equally great vice president, mike pence. nick: republicans have defended their turf in the face of a democratic onslaught. if they lost the stronghold, it would've sent shockwaves through washington. for donald trump, a win is a win, and it is welcome news after weeks of russia-related negative headlines. but it also suggested that democrats could be compe

we are going to seek history made in georgia. the other thing is, georgia used to be totally in the backwater when it came to national politics. we did not have obama money in this state. we do not have clinton money to speak of in this state in the last two presidential contest. we were one of the most purple of the red states. this campaign has continued the trajectory of waking up the nation about coming to georgia and working here to turn this state around. we're in the state or the governor did not expand medicare. we have medicaid expansion that was never done here. we have a huge number -- one of the top numbers of uninsured people in this state. i think the future is bright. the future is blue. at the risk of sounding like a bumper sticker. and i saw in this campaign, i had close family members that worked in it every day, got up and knocked on doors all day long. the enthusiasm, the layers of people -- if you could have it at that hotel last night, you could not get in. the cars were backed up. i mean, you never would ha

he is also the chair of the new georgia project. nan orrock is a democratic state senator in georgia. her senate district 36 includes downtown atlanta. we welcome you both to democracy now! let's begin with dr. raphael warnock. what happened in atlanta? it was close, but in the end, the republican pulled it out and karen handel, in her acceptance speech and her victory speech last night, thanked president trump as people chanted "trump." >> good to be here with you, amy, even on a day like this. we have to play for the long game. we were very focused on this election -- indeed, the whole country has been focused on the special election here in georgia. i do think we have to keep in mind that this has been a solid republican district for a very long time, for about four decades. this was an uphill journey from the beginning. the fact that this was actually a real race, that this was -- there were serious movement on the left can only be accounted for with reference to donald trump. so there is deep unrest in the country. ,is approval

i spoke to her last week in georgia. she said she does not necessarily support the border adjustment tax, the subject of much debate in house but she is on, she is firmly behind a lot of the policies that president trump is trying to put forth. you know, this is a huge win across the board. as we were talking about, this is a sweep for republicans. you cannot understate just the depression that democrats now face. they are torn between what kind of candidate they should run and the issues they should run on. instead of having a clear mask for the midterm there is confusion for the democratic party. >> bret: as much as we talk about for all the time spent talking in the media about a split in the republican party, that some like trump and the trump agenda, some others don't and are standing up to him. this seems like a clear indication of split in the democratic party. and that ossoff couldn't find whether to be a moderate or to embrace the national furor in the democratic party coming from the left of the party. >> there

i spoke to her last week in georgia. she said she does not necessarily support the border adjustment tax, the subject of much debate in house but she is on, she is firmly behind a lot of the policies that president trump is trying to put forth. you know, this is a huge win across the board. as we were talking about, this is a sweep for republicans. you cannot understate just the depression that democrats now face. they are torn between what kind of candidate they should run and the issues they should run on. instead of having a clear mask for the midterm there is confusion for the democratic party. >> bret: as much as we talk about for all the time spent talking in the media about a split in the republican party, that some like trump and the trump agenda, some others don't and are standing up to him. this seems like a clear indication of split in the democratic party. and that ossoff couldn't find whether to be a moderate or to embrace the national furor in the democratic party coming from the left of the party. >> there

this whole election, how do you bring in an outsider not born in georgia, not from georgia. the woman had her children, wife, her marriage was there, she was local. have you bring in someone like that and expect to win? they don't like the country, they don't believe in america or even the people who are voting for them. they keep losing and they don't understand that. it's not about the money. they had the guy on bill martin about three weeks ago, he made a statement that he gave $1 million to his campaign on that show. that's not going to do that in georgia. they are going to hate outsiders . if you ran a commercial of all the people in california, thank you for the support he's getting. they are not going to put up with that. people realize that. the democrats have to wake up, they don't care about americans. they care about foreigners and everybody else except real americans. paul kane continues by saying that republicans countered with the message that should cause great concern for democrats, returning to their nancys to tie her to pelosi one senior republican involved

ey we're in roswell, georgia. this is a polling lace in this area where karen handel a candidate in this congressional race voted inning. we've seen a steady stream of voters all day today. >> reporter: this now extra special election day began as each candidate made their final pitch to voters with smiles on their faces but ready to fight. >> what do you say to your voters today? >> if he could vote like me because i live in the district. >> reporter: as republican karen handel put in her vote today at a church near her home she pointed out that democrat jon ossoff doesn't even live up here. he didn't take the slight quietly. >> it's typical of a career politician lacking any substance like karen handel when asked by the press about her message to the public to throw something out like that. >> reporter: handel is a former georgia secretary of state and businesswoman. >> you have been covering elections long enough to know that special elections are called special for a reason. >> karen handel is a long-time fixt

hope is still alive. >> bret: as we look at the race in georgia six, the congressional district in georgia six, republican karen handel, the big win tonight, bigger than a lot of people projected. it is the first republican woman to beo sent to the house from e state of georgia. the president congratulating karen handel tonight. he tweeted a number of times about this race. he senior advisor, kellyanne conway, tweeting this...nw that sets the stage for our panel tonight. let's bring in our panel. charles heard, picking editor for "the washington post." annana palmer, and katie pavlic. charlie, big night for the president. big night for the white house. aho speaker without a doubt. for the past six weeks or more, we have been told that this is going to be a referendum on the president. as kellyanne conway pointed out in her twitteran message, he outperformed his own performance in the district. when he won the election by a good at least five points. so, that was addressed that it is a tremendous win for the president. >> bret: there were a lot of projections l predictions. there were a lot

in georgia. cnn's david chalian joins us with now with analysis. right off the top at 10:00, karen handel is the winner georgia, the republican. >> that's a huge projection that we just made, don. this is a big victory for republicans. i know it is in a republican district. really in other years, this would not have been a competitive district, but democrats went all-in on this. they raised a ton of money significantly outspent republicans. this was the best shot democrats in these special elections to try to make a victory in the trump era. and they came up short, which now of course, is going to create a whole series of questions about how the democratic party should run in the year of donald trump because they came up short here. >> what's interesting is that breaking news, a republican wins in georgia it shouldn't be breaking news. this is the way it should happen. but the fact that it was so close at least it appeared in the polling and in the results, as well. the results are really close.

the latest polls out of the sixth district of georgia show the democrat john a soft as about a three point advantage over republican challenger karen andal if these polls are accurate asaf will sneak by with a win and tuesday's special runoff election or will he one of america's leading investigative journalist now thinks that the georgia six runoff will be stolen or at least could be by republicans and their racist voter suppression laws joining me now to explain just what's going on down in georgia's greg palast state a reporter and creator of the new documentary the best democracy money can buy billionaires and ballot bandits greg welcome back glad to be with you tom and why don't we have escaped from the sixth i was just going to say welcome back home from georgia so tell us you know first of all if you pay attention the mainstream media they're pretty confident that asaf will win tuesday but you aren't what did you learn when you were in georgia last week that informs your opinion oh boy because that os off isn't running against karen and all the republican she's running against

and here's what's coming up tonight on the big picture for republican steele the georgia six runoff election between john asaf and karen handel investigative reporter greg palast slinks they couldn't ill explain why in just a moment and donald trump has confirmed he's under investigation how much longer are republicans willing to sit by and let this dumpster fire burn the whole house down alaska greer and kind newkirk into night's big picture. the latest polls out of the sixth district of georgia show the democrat john os off as about a three point advantage over republican challenger karen angle if these polls are accurate asaf will sneak by with a win in tuesday's special runoff election or will he one of america's leading investigative journalist now thinks that the georgia six runoff will be stolen or at least could be by republicans and their racist voter suppression laws joining me now to explain just what's going on down in georgia is greg palast state a reporter and creator of the new documentary the best democracy money can buy billionaires and ballot bandits greg welcome back. glad

planned parenthood in georgia, there are four.. so you are a low income woman and you are looking for the full range of health care, you're not traveling three, four hours to get to a planned parenthood clinic. you're going to the community health center that's right there in your community, and i support more funding for that and will fight for that. >> moderator: moving on to the environment. and this comes from a question that we got from our audience. they want to know from both of you and, mr. ossoff, i'm going to start with you. if elected, will you represent the majority of your district -- this, according to the member of our audience -- and stand up to president trump on climate change because he recently decided to pull off the paris climate agreement and is rolling back obama-era plans. but the paris climate accord is voluntary, so there's no guarantee that it by itselfed would produce effects that might not happen otherwise.er you probably know quite well here in georgia, georgia power is phasing out coal plants even wi

two special elections tonight, one in south carolina, the other in georgia. that would be the most expensive house race in u.s. history in both races, the republican candidate has come out on top. as nbc news projectsed earlier this evening, republican karen handel has defeated john ossoff by five points in georgia's sixth congressional district. nbc news also projectsing earlier that republican ralph norman defeated archie parnell in south carolina's fifth but by less than the expected, by three points. in the at last 30 minutes or so we have heard a victory and concession speech in georgia. handled he will thanked the president as chants of trump broegt out in the her crowd hen her husband and supporters. >> tonight i stand before you sfroerdly humbled and honored at the tremendous privilege and high responsibility that you and the people across the sixth district have given to me to represent you in the united states house of representatives. >> at a time when politics has been dominated by fear, and hatred, and scapegoating, and division, this community s

last night was a big win for republicans in georgia, but the margins are shrinking, whether it's georgia or other special elections. democrats are saying this is a moral victory for them. do you believe this margin shrinking is something that republicans need to address? >> you know, moral victories don't get the vote in congress. the ones who win get to vote. we've got two great candidates, two great members of congress now who are going to be coming up here in ralph norman and karen handel. we're very proud of them and we're very proud of the fact that we're adding two more members here to our team. i will tell you that this was a big victory for us in the republican party in the state of georgia, but it had to be demoralizing to the democrats. i mean they hit us with their best shot. you know, special elections are wild cards. and i don't think you can put a lot into the margin of victory. we won. that's what's most important thing. and as far as these shrinking numbers go, you know, special elections, i don't think that you can look at them and make a judgment on whether numbers are

look, we have rain forecast in georgia. i can tell you right now, it's raining republicans in the sixth congressional district. >> so he hopes. the reason why this gets so much attention is for democrats who are pouncing here to think that this could be their first win after losing special elections in montana and kansas, that this is the closest that they could come to pulling off something that could portend next year. sometimes it doesn't jive that way. but the fact of the matter is, a lot of attention here. if it's a big victory for the democrats, it could affects republicans and whether they can stay united and behind the efforts to get healthcare rework going, tax cuts, the whole drill and whether they stay loyal to donald trump or vice versa. sarah westwood on the implications of that. what do you think, sarah? we obviously look at this race and see it as the way many have been presenting it as an early barometer of what could happen next year. probably too soon to say that. a lot of money here to wage bets on that,

[laughter] mercedes, what about this race specifically in georgia. they had some bad weather, turnout is a big deal. but the conventional wisdom about democrats -- you had events. you had kathy griffin holding the head up and that kind of turned the tide. that unfortunately you have the shooting with republicans targeted, including scalise. did that change the dynamic late in the game in this race? to go i think it definitely benefited handel in that sense. i think ossoff changed his narrative from being "make trump furious" to be more about matter it -- moderate candidate. he is a wolf in sheep's clothing, that's clear. i'm getting real-time information and right now what we're seeing is presidential level turnout for republicans. there is an encouraging sign on the republican side that democrats are running out of voters. 59,000 registered voters are republicans. 31,000 are democrats. ossoff was hoping there would be crossover, why he shifted the message. looks like so far what's coming in right now is the republicans are feeling a bit positive it'

a steadfast voice for georgia in dc. heather: earlier polls indicated the highly contested seat could have gone to the democrats. they were wrong. political editor explained those are not the numbers republicans were watching. >> we don't care about the top line numbers as much is the movement. the closing weeks karen handel was closing the gap and we focus on this race down to this being cast as make or break, do or die, if republicans lose the party exploded by nuclear bombs, cast into the abyss and it will all be over for them. isn't it funny that the race that got $50 million poured into it, celebrity endorsements, robot calls, full freak out, was a much wider margin than the one in south carolina that had half of the number of voters and significantly closer. rob: ralph norman will fill the south carolina congressional seat, mick mulvaney, office of management and budget. the president weighing in on that race, ralph norman ran a fantastic race to win in south carolina's fifth district, we are honored by your succes

five-point republican margin in georgia six. think of all the focus on georgia's six. you see a republican lead by five points there. look at this did you know this was happening tonight? south carolina the district to replace mulvaney, three-point margin. the democrats came within three points of winning this district. this is a rural district. rock hill is rural around there. this went for trump by almost 20 points. we've got democrats coming in within three points of winning this district tonight while in georgia, the one everybody in the party was paying attention to, the margin looks like five right now. big picture. this is the last of the special election season. take the margin for donald trump, he won all these districts. margin that he won all of them by and how did the democrats, how did the republican dozen in these special elections? democrats had gained by 20 points in that kansas one. trump won the district by 27. their candidate only lost by seven. 20-point gain. montana democrats made up 15 points. this is why they were saying these were moral victorie

the special election in georgia. really special getting national attention. >> trump went after ossoff writing he wants to raise your taxes to the highest level. >> the concerns regarding the competence and integrity of this administration have only grown over time. >> she will fight for lower taxes, great health care. a hard worker who will never give up. vote today. >> lawmakers locking horns over the gop's health care plan. >> i have not seen a final proposal. >> our colleagues seem to have a disturbing lack of interest in transparency. >> we need three republicans to say i'm not voting for a bill unless it's seen the light of day. >> the first press in weeks. >> does president trump believe that the russian government interfered in the 2016 election sns. >> i have not sat down and talked to him about that specifically. >> there are reports that your role is changing. >> i'm right here. when we have an announcement of a personal nature, we'll let you know. >> still ahead, gop leaders writing their health care bill

ing about that georgia six. when you add up the results, will you see what happened in south carolina, 18th% of eligible voters showed up compared to 66% in georgia. it turns out you ends up wake up the other side's base up. >> in some rates, democrats overperformed came up short. so what is our strategy? do they want to not tell republicans when the election is or do they want to not quite fire at their base so much? >> look everyone thought ossoff could win. no one thought rg parnell would come this close in south carolina. it's because the race flew under the radar t. good news for democrats going forward is that turnout in 2018 is not going to be as high as it was in georgia. so that enthusiasm gap could be wider and benefit democrats. >> that i don't quite believe. i think we will head up to a quick turnout. you said if the democrats can do this, 8 points better, like they've done before, we'll put as many as 80 seats in play. we know there is a lot of caveats there. walk me through the big things, under th

you probably know quite well that here in georgia, georgia power is phasing out coal plants, even with or without the clean power plan that the president is scrapping. so isn't there enough happening in the united states and here in georgia with or without the paris accord? mr. ossoff: here's who agrees that climate change is a major threat to our prosperity and to our security. the military, the intelligence community and peer-reviewed science. if that's not enough for you, your head is buried pretty deep in the sand. when the military, the intelligence community and peer-reviewed science all agree, then policymakers need to take that seriously. and in paris, for the first time, china and india, two major emitters, as well as two major economic competitors of the united states, also committed to significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. and rather than letting them off the hook, we need to take a tough stance that holds china and india accountable to living up to their obligations and the u.s. should continue to exercise global leadership in the fight against climate change.

sixth congressional district of georgia. it is estimated more than $50 million were spent in the race. with more than 52% of the vote, karen handel became the first woman to be elect did from the of georgia as representing them. here is a look at her speech. [chanting] [cheering] ms. handel: thank you. i have to start first of all i -- by saying thank you. [cheering] >> you did it, girl! [cheering] ms. handel: there are literally hundreds of people to thank and scores of elected officials and gop leaders who put their confidence in me right from the very beginning, and i will probably miss a few but there were several who stepped up right from day one, including my very good friend, bob ott, joanne burrow, my hometown mayor, jerry wood. [applause] handel: and i need to on april 18 iw said to everyone that this was going to be a very, very tight race. it was going to be contentious, and it was going to require all hands on deck. that is exactly what we had. [cheering] ms. handel: from all of the others who were the gop compet

i was born and raised in georgia. unlike secretary handel who was born and raised in washington, d.c. >> is he old enough to run for congress? he looks like my son. seriously. the guy lives a two hour walk away, living at his dad's house or something? but then he got engaged to a woman in the district right when he started running. speaking of frank underwood, who really knows -- >> your terrible. >> i am sure they are very much in love, but the whole thing is strange. >> what's going on. >> john locke wrote a piece for fox news, he makes a great point that if government expands, there is more at stake. >> these are all national. >> so now everything is a national election. $30 million for one congressional seat in georgia because government has invaded all of our lives. government -- taken over health care. it makes people want to vote for more government or a liberal. >> the house republicans don't have a lot to worry about for 2018, i actually think that they wield to keep the house. i'm gonna make a production her

well georgia sixth was a good test of that theory. and that idea. because this is a traditionally republican district where donald trump only one o won by a single point last fall. so the question was well if he could only win boy about buoyant a point after with all the troubles he had you can see the republican still win. john ossoff number is basically right where hillary clinton was in this district and the big picture question that poses for democrats they wront couldn't pull it off in georgia sixth. they couldn't get the win that's not what was supposed to happen. they have been looking at 23 districts around the country where republicans hold them where hillary clinton wins these are suburban districts if they couldn't do georgia sixth these may not be as ripe targets as they hoped they'd be. >> that's an interesting way to put it. all right. steve thank you so much for going back through the numbers what happened tonight and why. another break for us when we come back, the urgent issue of health care. what's going on in the senate that's abo

karen handel won tonight in georgia. our continuing coverage will continue right after this with john vause and amarah walker. thanks for watching. [ intense music playing ] it's here, but it's going by fast. the opportunity of the year is back: the mercedes-benz summer event. get to your dealer today for incredible once-a-season offers, and start firing up those grilles. lease the gle350 for $579 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. mercedes-benz. the best or nothing. finding the best hotel price is now a safe bet. because tripadvisor searches over 200 booking sites - so you save up to 30% on the hotel you want. lock it in. tripadvisor. with the new sleep number 360 smart bed. it senses your every move and automatically adjusts on both sides. right now save on sleep number 360 smart beds. plus, it's the lowest prices of the season with savings of $500 on our most popular p5 bed. >>> this is cnn breaking news. >> hello, welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm amara walker. >> i'm john

hillary clinton only won 28% of college whites in georgia. michele nunn didn't do much better in 2014. this is a tough nut to crack for dras and points them toward the reality they probably have to win in more blue collar places, as well. that's where you get back to the argument before, the argument about a more populace message. >> or all the districts in california they say they're going to target, newport beach, huntington beach, white collar districts where the incumbents won by double digits. that's a very tough pot. >> orange county went for a democrat for the first time since the great depression in the presidential race. orange county will be fascinating watch not just because i used to live there. there are four races that will be interesting there. on the point of money, you had one race right now and all an the donors focusing energies, volunteers focussing on one race. they won't have the luxury of doing that in 201. lastly, on that ad, the controversial ad you brought up, that was a small item by fox news. more reporters saw it

returning now to the hard-fought congressional race in georgia. cnn projecting karen handel a winner over new comer jon ossoff but it wasn't as easy as predecessor's wouhave enjoyed. >> many voters angry about president trump's election. >> a special thanks to the president of the united states of america. [ cheers and applause ] [ trump, trump, trump ]. >> but let's not forget our equally great vice president, mike pence. >> all right we are back now with our panel, our senior reporter for media and politics, and political writer for the los angeles times. >> and senior political analyst and ron brownstien. when we look to 2010 the way the party took over it doesn't seem to have happened for democrats. big difference in 2010 the republicans were fired up and the democrats we are depressed. if you look at this election seems both sides are fired up and enthusiastic. >> good point. so far president trump has picked republicans from his cabinet from four very reliablely publicly places georgia, kansas, montana, so forth. so every place is going to h

now, tonight it's south carolina and georgia. and south carolina, it is considered to be another race that on paper at least would be very hard for a democrat to win. this is a race to fill the seat that was vacated by former south carolina congressman mick mulvaney. when it came to the presidential race in that district in november, trump won there by 18 points. now tonight this is the results that we've got so far. in that south carolina race. again this is the 5th congressional district. ralph norman, a real estate developer. hey's the republican candidate in the race right now. he's at 51%. the democratic candidate in the race is archie parnell. this is a significant portion of the vote in here, 71% of the vote in. but it's a three-point race between them. again this was a district that trump won by 18 points. right now with 71% of the vote in, the republican in that race is only winning by three points. now it's an interesting district. republican mick mulvaney held that seat comfortably for, i think, three terms. but before

all eyes on georgia today'. in less than an hour, voters will start heading to the polls for the high stakes special election. republican karen handel facing john ossoff for the congressional seat left vacant by tom price. and on the night before the big race, a washington free beacon reporter says he was barred from' covering ossoff event and escorted out by a staff. karen handel will join "fox & friends" in the 8:00 a.m. hour. stay tuned for that the u.s. will not back down. that's the message military leaders are sending after russia threatens to target american and coalition planes in syria. the' pentagon says we will not hesitate to defend ourselves. the latest comes after u.s. fighter jet shot down syrian warplane that dropped bombs nearist backed fighters. a senate floor showdown overnight. democrats seizing control of the floor demanding republicans hold a hearing on the healthcare bill. >> republicans won't relent and debate their healthcare bill in the open for the american people to see. they shouldn'

six but all of the red districts in georgia. there is a group of women here remaking their lives to getting involved in progressive politics and it's remarkable to talk to them. >> cornell, the numbers coming in right now, it's very tight. there is some early indications that of of was off his targets. as someone who was the pollster for the dnc at one point, what are the benchmarks that you're looking at here. >> i'm looking at a couple of things. i always thought this was a tough district. it should be a 20-point republican district. this shouldn't be close. when you look at what democrats have been able to do in the early vote, the republican here has to dominate election day. and right now it doesn't look like she's dominating election day in a way that makes them comfortable. particularly when you look at fulton, a place where she did particularly well in the primary. she doesn't seem to be dominating that as well as she should. this race is neck in neck on election day, i think democrats like their opportunity given what t

>>> that loss in georgia has some democrats revolting. nancy pelosi is hearing growing calls for change of leadership in the house. good morning, everyone, welcome to "early start." i'm dave briggs. >> good morning. i'm alison kosik in for christine romans, probably getting much-needed r&r. >> she is. last day of school for the kids, i believe. >> absolutely. it is june 22nd. >>> up first, senate republicans coming out of the shadows revealing their plan to reform obamacare. until then, details had been a closely guarded secret with a handful of senators working behind closed doors. >> here's what we know about the plan. we'll see it later this morning -- 9:30 a.m., he tells the senate about this. it slows down the time frame and the house measure for rolling back the medicaid expansion. it also improves tax credits for low-income and older americans from the house version. it offers states more flexibility on waivers to opt out of obamacare regulations including essential health benefits. >> it also takes away money for blood f-- for pla

she talked to supporters at headquarters in sandy springs, georgia. [chanting] [cheering] ms. handel: thank you. i have to start first of all i saying thank you. [cheering] ms. handel: there are literally hundreds of people to thank and scores of elected officials and gop leaders who put their confidence in me right from the very beginning, and i will probably miss a few but there were several who stepped up right from day one, including my very good friend, bob ott, joanne burrow, joe lockwood, mo -- my hometown mayor, jerry wood. -- on aprilo thank 18, i said to everyone that this was going to be a very, very tight race. it was going to be contentious, and it was going to require all hands on deck. that is exactly what we had. from -- [cheering] ms. handel: from all of the others who were the gop competitors in the primary, including several who are here tonight. i see bob gray. thank you for your help. [cheering] ms. handel: every single member of the republican georgia congressional delegation, our constitutional officers, the legislators, the governor and first lady, sena

secure groeschel district some think just didn't have a message others think that the georgia six was just too conservative for any democrat to win very few pundits however virtually none of the mainstream media are looking at the role voter suppression may have played in handing former georgia secretary of state karen addle a four point victory joining me now to talk about just that is greg palast investigative reporter and creator of the brilliant new documentary the best democracy money can buy a tale of billionaires and ballot bandits greg palast welcome back glad to be with you tom it's always great having you here greg you were covering this angle of the georgia six back when no one else was i mean literally walk us through this what kind of what kind of different levers of voter suppression do ga six voters have to face. i mean this was jim crow with a bullet but instead of using white sheets to their way voters they use spreadsheet sophisticated methods i was actually in the georgia six investigating vote suppression beginning in in two thousand and fourteen so it's an old sto

georgia's going to get the attention today. they have the big special congressional election voters choose in between republican karen handel and democrat jon ossoff, who just discussed the high-stakes race with us. will today's race be more than just about that district? let's get the bottom line with cnn's political analyst ron brownstein. how do you see it, professor? >> look, i think inevitably, donald trump is the reason we are talking about this district and this race. tom price, who gave up the seat to become health and human services secretary, has never won less than 62% of the vote in this district. mitt romney and john mccain both won it by about 20 points in the 2008 and 2012 presidential election. the reason it is competitive at all is because donald trump's most significant underperformance relative to other republicans is his weakness among the kind of college-educated white voters, suburban white collar, white voters, who are in this district and districts like it. this district has more college-educated white v

she talked to supporters at campaign headquarters in sandy springs, georgia. [chanting] [cheering] ms. handel: thank you. i have to start first of all i saying thank you. [cheering] ms. handel: there are literally hundreds of people to thank and scores of elected officials and gop leaders who put their confidence in me right from the very beginning, and i will probably miss a few but there were several who stepped up right from day one, including my very good friend, bob ott, joanne burrow, joe lockwood, mo -- my hometown mayor, jerry wood. i need to think, on april 18 i said to everyone that this was going to be a very, very tight race. it was going to be contentious, and it was going to require all hands on deck. that is exactly what we had. [cheering] ms. handel: from all of the others who were the gop competitors in the primary, including several who are here tonight. i see bob gray. thank you for your help. [cheering] ms. handel: every single member of the republican georgia congressional delegation, our constitutional officers, legislators, governor, sen

ignoring the role voter suppression may have played in helping karen handel defeat john asaf in the georgia six runoff greg palast just a mole and the senate republican health care bill is secret no more just one problem it's not really a health care bill will discuss what it really is into its politics panel what they would call on and krrish. since the race was called thursday night a variety of theories have been put forward to help explain john asaf loss to karen handel in the special run off election for georgia's secure groeschel district some think just didn't have a message others think that the georgia six was just too conservative for any democrat to win very few pundits however virtually none of the mainstream media are looking at the wall voter suppression may have played in handing former georgia secretary of state karen addle a four point victory joining me now to talk about just that is greg palast investigative reporter and creator of the brilliant new documentary the best democracy money can buy a tale of billionaires and ballot bandits greg palast welcome back. glad to be

think about a poor woman who lives in south georgia. the closest planned parenthood clinic is going to be in macon or savannah. she does not even have a car or gas money to get there so we need to build up the infrastructure as well as the resources because they are the front door for a full range of health care. we are already into our domestic issues section. motheroff: my fiance's survived breast cancer because it was caught early and there are millions of women who survived breast cancer because it was caught early in this is why it is -- important. agenda.ght in her own she led the effort to defund breast cancer screenings and it cost the komen foundation tens of millions of dollars or more in lost revenues. it did significant damage to their lifesaving mission. handel:r: secretary what i supported than and what i support now is making sure dollars go where women can get mammograms. planned parenthood does not do mammograms. if you are a low income women and you are looking for the full range of health care, you are not traveling 3

i'll do the best job possible representing georgia. they want representation focused on them, not this partisan, politic politic political circus. >> it's not about the national implications, who is suited to represent them in washington. it's me, someone who has the experience and the relationships in this community. my husband and i have lived here almost 25 years. that's longer than my opponent, pretty much has been alive. >> reporter: handel is cracking a joke about ossoff, i want to talk about handel herself, casting her vote in rozwell. she's getting that under way. ossoff is not 25 years old, he is 30 years old. even though both candidates, john, are trying to down play the national implications here, look at the reality. the president was down here fund raising for handel. you have top democrats down here stumping for ossoff. the reality on the ground pretty much speaks for itself. let's talk about the implications here if there are national implications. if ossoff pulls out a win -- if handel is able to pull out a win, this is

the polls close at 7:00 eastern in georgia. i'm telling you i think you set your alarm for 5:00 a.m. that would be my guest. coming up could russia be trying to interfere in today's election? i'm going to talk to a democrat, the top one on the senate intelligence committee wants to change that. ♪ art. it can be sculpted, bringing to life beautiful detail. or painted in luxurious strokes. and in rare cases... both. ♪ hey you've gotta see this. cno.n. alright, see you down there. mmm, fine. okay, what do we got? okay, watch this. do the thing we talked about. what do we say? it's going to be great. watch. remember what we were just saying? go irish! see that? yes! i'm gonna just go back to doing what i was doing. find your awesome with the xfinity x1 voice remote. >>> welcome back. as we mentioned earlier no matter what happens tonight in georgia's special election, we could see quick ramifications for how the senate tackles healthcare. majority mitch mcconnell said today, they'll release a discussion draft of the bill this t

we will not approve that in the state of georgia. because it harms wild livle and i don't understand why they didn't figure that out to start with. and so that's where if you had that cooperation between states and the states have a seat at the table on a wide range of subject matter and actually, we believe this is really important at fda, the implementation of food safety modernization act and a lot of other things where we're on the ground every day. we'd like for some folks maybe continue to open invitations for washington to come to the ground where the work's being done and i promise you we'll be good hosts in georgia. >> can i ask mr. reyes one quick question. thank you for your forbearance. i understand the seriousness of the -- or the dangers around these products. i'm interested, was there a comment period and what comments did you get from family farms an the 18-year rule? i'm not debating. i'm not arguing against it. but as a person who did a lot of work on a farm below the age of 18, i'm curious as to what impact it had