CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Congresswoman Nikema Williams

Interview

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WHITFIELD: Runoff elections for two crucial U.S. Senate seats in Georgia will now likely determine control of the U.S. Senate in a new Congress. Republicans are projected to hold a 50-48 advantage in the chamber heading into the January runoff elections after GOP incumbents in Georgia failed to receive a 50 percent majority on election day. Democrats are confident they can win both seats which would result in

an evenly split Senate with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as the tiebreaker.

Joining me right now is Congresswoman-elect Nikema Williams who just won a House seat formerly held by the late Representative John Lewis until his death in July.

Congresswoman-elect, congratulations. Good to see you.

NIKEMA WILLIAMS (D), GEORGIA CONGRESSWOMAN-ELECT: Thank you so much for having me today. Happy to have this conversation.

WHITFIELD: Wonderful. So how confident are you about this runoff -- these two runoff elections which could very much potentially change the dynamics of the U.S. Senate?

[13:45:10]

WILLIAMS: So, Fredricka, people keep telling me that Democrats don't turn big out for runoffs, but I tell them that Democrats also have never turned Georgia blue, and we're doing that this year. Democrats have also never had a black woman as their state party chair, but here I sit as your chairwoman. And we are -- we're breaking norms this cycle. So I'm excited about our prospect, I'm excited about our candidates with Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raffy Warnock.

And we're doing the work on the ground. We're going to continue to build upon what Stacey Abrams made possible in the state, and we know that we can win for Democrats.

WHITFIELD: And look at you, you're wearing your pink and green, you're an Alpha Kappa Alpha. OK.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: As is your soro-sister, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. You know, what was going through your mind last night particularly, listening to her speech, talking about possibilities, and she's the first, but she says she is not going to be the last.

WILLIAMS: She is not going to be the last. I'm just thinking about the doors that she's opening up for so many people who don't even realized that she's paving the way for them. I look at how many -- like even myself, I am a congresswoman-elect, and it still moved me to know that anything is possible as a black woman in this country. I mean, she's an HBCU graduate. Got to shout out Talladega College, my HBCU that made me. And just opening up the doors for so many people in different communities that shows us what is possible in this country.

WHITFIELD: I'm a Howard alum as well, so I get you on that. So, you know, one of the first things that Harris said in her speech last night, in reference to Congressman John Lewis, you know, she says democracy is not a state. It is an act. And here's the rest of what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), VICE-PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Congresswoman John Lewis, before his passing, wrote democracy is not a state, it is an act. And what he meant was that America's democracy is not guaranteed. It is only as strong as our willingness to fight for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: How do you see yourself fighting to protect democracy for all?

WILLIAMS: We are fighting here in Georgia by turning out to vote. When the votes came in that put Joe Biden on the top here in Georgia, and they came from Georgia's Fifth Congressional District, right in Clayton County, like I felt like John Lewis was speaking to us, and he was his happy dance in heaven knowing that we are deciding the presidency, and we have the option right here by using our voice to decide the balance of the United States Senate.

We are showing up. We're showing out in force. Black women have always been the backbone of this party, and now you have a black woman in the highest office of the land. And we're going to deliver on January 5th.

WHITFIELD: All right. And you're swearing in just, what, 56 days away and counting? I know you'll be doing your happy dance, too.

(LAUGHTER)

WILLIAMS: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Congratulations, Congresswoman-elect Nikema Williams.

And we'll be right back.

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