Something's gone 'horribly wrong' in Michigan Senate race: Dem activist

[0:00] This week in Michigan, we're likely to see the first joint appearance of former Democratic [0:03] Senate primary challengers Abdul El-Sayed and Haley Stevens. Although just hours ago, [0:09] those plans were on the rocks because of a controversial pro-El-Sayed ad [0:13] that blames high costs on U.S. foreign aid to Israel. Stevens, who faced a bitter primary [0:20] against El-Sayed, in part over their stances on Israel, shared in a statement today that she only [0:25] agreed to appear with the Michigan Senate nominee after she learned from, quote, Democratic Party [0:30] leaders and emissaries, end quote, that her former opponent has, quote, heard the deep concerns of [0:35] the Jewish community and is now, for the first time in this campaign, formally condemning that ad for [0:40] what it is. The El-Sayed campaign has said it was not the one that produced the ad, but Stevens is [0:45] saying she needs to hear him directly denounce it. We are going to play part of that for you. You've [0:50] heard, of course, the warnings about the concerns about it. Watch. You're going to have to put those [0:55] eggs back. They don't like eggs anymore? No, they like eggs, but we have to set that seven [1:00] dollars aside for killing Palestinians. What? I mean, don't we give Israel four billion dollars [1:07] a year anyways? Apparently, it's costing us a lot of money to drop bombs on Gaza. [1:13] All right. Joining our panel is Democratic Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow, who also ran [1:16] in that primary. Mallory, I want to read you something that our Van Jones, CNN contributor here, [1:22] had to say on the platform X. And he directs this at El-Sayed. He says something's going horribly [1:29] wrong in the Senate race in Michigan. I'm going to keep calling it out. He has some tough words [1:34] for Mike Rogers. But then he says, at the same time, we have two ads from the Democratic side [1:38] that also traffic in hate and intolerance, causing alarm for some black and Jewish voters. [1:43] Seriously? WTF? This is what Van said. And the other ad he's referencing is one that was cut by [1:48] the El-Sayed campaign that features Tucker Carlson, who Van Jones points out is a white [1:52] nationalist. What's going on just three days out here? [1:58] First of all, I have no idea what the hell Haley Stevens is doing. This is a moment where [2:04] we have to recognize the stakes. We heard it earlier that this is an administration [2:08] that is willing to do anything. We see the nonsense that they're playing in Alaska, [2:13] being willing to throw chum into the water on an election just days away from people voting. [2:21] So Michiganders understand the stakes. We understand that we may very well be the state [2:26] that sends the 51st Democrat to the Senate. And we will send Abdul El-Sayed to be our next United [2:33] States Senator. I have been working my ass off, as I know people have all across the state [2:38] state, at canvas kickoffs, at rallies, at phone banks. And I am not hearing on the ground. I was [2:44] in Jackson, Michigan earlier today for Jan Mano, who will flip a state house seat. People are not [2:49] talking about ads. They are not talking about Haley Stevens. They are talking about the price of gas [2:53] and groceries and the fact that Donald Trump lied to them. David Urban talks about give us a second [2:59] chance. That's the message from the Republican Party. This is their second chance. It's the second [3:03] Trump presidency. They're trying to take our entire democracy down. And in Michigan, we will not let [3:09] them. Do you think Tucker Carlson should be a voice that Abdul El-Sayed embraces in an ad that way? [3:16] I think Abdul is doing everything he can to talk directly to Michiganders. And that's what we are [3:20] all going to do for the next four days. Let's stop getting caught up in nonsense about ads. People are [3:28] really hurting and they want people who are going to show up and not be a bootlicker for Donald Trump. [3:34] But they're not. And Mike Rogers has put out some of the most bigoted, racist, Islamophobic ads I've [3:41] ever seen in my entire lifetime. I got an ad to my house, which just shows you how bad their targeting [3:47] is. That was a picture of Abdul next to a picture of the Twin Towers. And it is not just in the Senate [3:53] race. There have been multiple women running for state house here in Michigan who have had to cancel [3:59] their events because the GOP is listing their personal phone numbers, their family's phone [4:04] numbers, and they have had credible threats of violence. That is what this MAGA Republican Party [4:09] is doing and why we need to put a stop to it. David Urban. [4:12] Yeah, well, to be fair, I'm not sure the leaflet she's talking about, the flower she's talking about, [4:17] but El-Sayed did campaign with Hassan Piker, who said America deserved to be attacked on 9-11, [4:23] says he hates America. So I'm not sure what the text on the ad says, but I think it's a fair statement [4:29] to make. When you choose, when you're running for Senate and you choose to campaign with certain [4:34] people, that makes a statement. When you make that statement, you either have to come out and [4:39] refute it loudly and over and over again, or it's going to stick and it's stuck. We were talking, [4:46] I've sat with, you know, El-Sayed on these sets before here at CNN. He could have chosen to go [4:52] down the middle lane and run as a moderate Democrat, but he didn't. He chose to campaign with Hassan [4:56] Piker and to air these ads about the reason bananas cost more is because of the Jews. [5:02] He did not, that's not his campaign. That one's not his campaign. That's an outside group. [5:06] An outside group, which he is to yet not to announce enough. And Van's right. There are people [5:13] in that state today that aren't going to vote for him because of those two facts. [5:17] Let's watch the ad that is actually from Abdul El-Sayed's campaign. We want to be very clear. [5:23] This one that has generated a lot of concern about antisemitism is from an outside group, [5:27] and the campaign has made clear that it's not their ad. However, some critics are saying, [5:31] hey, you need to say more. This is the one that is coming from El-Sayed's campaign itself [5:35] here in the final days. Watch. The DC elite spent millions trying to blame me for things other [5:41] people said. But we agree on a lot. Don't want to take my word for it. How about some folks you [5:45] know a little bit better? You got to respect Abdul because he beat the machine. He's very charismatic. [5:50] His campaign now, it's America first. And Abdul El-Sayed, who by the way was captain of his high [5:55] school football team. Mike Rogers wants to pick a fight with him about it. He's a good looking guy. [6:00] I think he's better. He's a great speaker. I wouldn't vote for Mike Rogers at gunpoint. [6:05] Paul Bagala, is that smart politics by Abdul El-Sayed? No. He's got footage [6:11] of Barack Obama, like the most popular Democrat in America, probably the most popular politician in [6:17] America. President Obama went to Michigan to campaign with Abdul. He doesn't need to do that. [6:22] He did. And I thought he did a great job. I thought Abdul did a great job. I thought, great, [6:26] finally this campaign's back on the rails. And so he's got footage of Barack Obama and he's [6:31] running footage of Tucker Carlson. I want him to win. I've endorsed him. I hope everybody in Michigan [6:36] votes for Abdul. But he's making it hard on me as a strategist to understand why the hell you'd want [6:40] to add with Tucker when you've got footage of President Obama? Yeah. Kristen, where's this [6:45] race sit in your view? I mean, I still think El-Sayed is favored, but what I'm going to be [6:50] fascinated by is if this race ultimately does not break for the Democrats, the fighting within the [6:56] party over what went wrong will be unbelievable. Because you just saw in that interview right [7:02] there, what the hell is Haley Stevens doing, right? There is going to be both sides saying, [7:07] the moderates abandoned us. Nancy Pelosi didn't get behind us. And then you're going to have [7:13] the moderates saying, well, we didn't have to pick this person who did all these bad things and said [7:17] all this controversial stuff. If they win, it probably won't be this fission point in the [7:23] Democratic Party nearly as much. But if they lose, look out. Yeah. You would think this would be the [7:26] time that Democrats would be coalescing around their candidate. And it's just fascinating that this [7:31] back and forth shows, actually, it's putting a spotlight on the fissure, the deep fissures in the [7:35] party over these really, really. Well, that's it. Don't you think it's going to continue on on [7:39] November 4th, 5th, 6th, as we go into 28, where the party, where Paul's party is headed? Yes, [7:45] because we have a coalition. The Republicans have a cult. So you have to worship the dear leader. But [7:50] my party, it's hard to hold a coalition together. By the way, President Obama did as well as anybody [7:54] I've ever seen. That's why, again, come back to Obama, get him out there, Abdul, not these Fox News. [7:59] I want to give Mallory the last word here. Mallory, we do have a minute. So if I jump in and cut you off, [8:04] it's just because we're up against the clock. But weigh in here on this conversation. [8:08] What we saw in the primary, I want to highlight this because Paul's right. We are a big tent party. [8:14] 900,000 people voted in the Republican primary in Michigan. 1.5 million people voted in the [8:20] Democratic primary in Michigan. And reporters, you guys love to cover the fissures. But I can tell [8:25] you now in Jackson, Michigan, this is the birthplace of the Republican Party. On a Friday morning, [8:31] there were 25, 30 people at a Canvas kickoff that I launched for a State House candidate. We are united. [8:39] We are excited. And we are going to have a big blue wave here that shows the rest of the country [8:44] that we can do this. And we're going to do it in a really big way.