CNN "The Lead With Jake Tapper" - Transcript: Interview With Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen

Interview

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TAPPER: All right, Ed Lavandera, thank you so much. Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen joins me now. He's the head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Senator, good to see you. Thanks for joining us.

SEN. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D), MARYLAND: Good to be with you on Election Day, Jake.

TAPPER: So, I don't know if you remember this. But eight years ago, when you were the head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in charge of the House, and I was with a different network, you told me that you were confident the Democrats were going to retain the majority in the House.

And your party went on to lose more than 60 seats in the House. Now, you were being polite and diplomatic at the time. You said it was going to be a challenge.

How confident are you feeling today about the Senate, about Democrats in the Senate, compared to how confident you were feeling eight years ago about Democrats in the House?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, Jake, I have said from day one in the Senate races that this is a very difficult road for Senate Democrats, certainly to get a majority.

In fact, the story of this race is the fact that we're so competitive right now in the states that the won big, and that you and I are not even talking about the Midwestern states that Trump won, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan.

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Those are not on anybody's big board tonight. So we're going to be battling it out. This is a very difficult path. This is the toughest political map that Democrats have faced in 60 years. And so that's just our sort of realistic view.

Now, the fact of the matter is, turnout has been good in the early vote and turnout as good around the country. So let's wait and see. But this is a very tough road for Democrats to get to a majority in the Senate.

In fact, I think the real story is the fact that we're fighting it out at the point we are.

TAPPER: Yes, I mean, we just did -- we just did a reporter hit in Texas, not a state where Democrats normally compete very well.

The map is definitely tough for Democrats this year. Republicans say they might even pick up a seat or two, North Dakota, for instance, or Indiana.

Do you think it's possible that Democrats might actually take the House, but lose a seat or two in the Senate?

VAN HOLLEN: I do believe the Democrats are going to win a majority in the House. But, again, just everybody's got to get out and vote.

As you know, a lot of the polls are all open on the East Coast and we got a lot more hours to go out West. Look, as I said, the Senate is a much tougher road to any kind of majority. So I'm not going to make any predictions with respect to particular races.

I will say that the president's really extreme rhetoric has turned off a lot of swing voters. And the fact that Republicans have spent the last two years trying to dismantle the Affordable Care Act and take away protections for people with preexisting health conditions has had a significant impact.

If you look at Nevada and Arizona, there, you have got a senator, a Republican senator, Dean Heller, who voted to strip away protections for people with preexisting conditions. Martha McSally, the Republican Senate candidate, helped lead the charge in the House to take away those protections for people.

They're trying to spin it all differently now, but the reality and the truth is, that's how they voted, and people are going to hold them accountable.

TAPPER: I understand you're not going to make any predictions. But let me ask you, what state are you going to be watching as the best bellwether, meaning that if you're doing well in it, it will likely symbolize that there is a Democratic wave that even helps the Senate for you?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, Jake, there's just too many states.

We have got seven tossup states and in the Senate races right now. And so I don't think there is any one state to watch. Obviously, Florida is going to come in among the earlier returns. And so we will be watching very carefully what happens there.

There are a lot of House races that can provide some indicators as to how some of the Senate races will go, like Nevada or Arizona. But, again, I'm -- what I'm trying to do right now is monitor turnout in different states. Turnout overall seems to be good and healthy for Democrats and independents.

But, as you know, in those very deep red Trump states, in addition to winning Democrats and independents, our senators have to win Republican votes. And the reason they have been able to do that in the past, and the reason they're competitive today is, they have always stood up first and foremost for their states.

And they have been very clear that they will work with President Trump when it's good for their state and they will oppose him when it's not good for their state, like on the health care issues and certainly on Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader's proposal to cut Medicare and Social Security, now that they blew a huge additional hole in our deficit and debt.

So I think all these issues are coming into play as we speak. And voters will have to render their judgment. TAPPER: Senator Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland, thank you so much. Always good to see you.

VAN HOLLEN: Good to be with you. Thanks, Jake.

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