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PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT

Polls Closed in Wisconsin; Diamond Jubilee Celebration Winds Down

Aired June 5, 2012 - 21:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, I'm Wolf Blitzer in for Piers Morgan. He's in London with the latest on today's Diamond Jubilee celebration. But we begin with breaking news out of Wisconsin right now where polls have just closed. The recall vote that could preview November's election.

Look at this. Our exit polls show it's a 50-50 race as of this minute. These are exit polls, the polls that we conducted throughout the day, throughout the state of Wisconsin. These are preliminary exit poll results. Fifty percent for Scott Walker. He's on the left of your screen. Fifty percent for Tom Barrett, the Democrat, the mayor of Milwaukee. He is on the right.

Scott Walker is the incumbent Republican governor. This is a race to recall him, to remove him from office. Based on the exit polls that we've been conducting throughout the day. Right now the exit polls show it's 50 percent for Walker, 50 percent for Barrett. Doesn't get much closer than this.

Obviously we are in no position right now to make a projection of the winner in this race. Also by the way for the lieutenant governor race, the Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch. She is also being -- there's a recall election for her. And Mahlon Mitchell, the Democratic challenger, 50-50 in that race as well. Based on all the exit polls that we're getting.

John King is over at the magic wall.

John, it's suggested that we're going to be working a long night tonight if it's as close as the exit polls suggest.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We'll have to count the votes, Wolf. But let's take a deeper look at some more exit poll questions. You mentioned the horse race. But let's look a little deeper see if we can learn anything about the electorate in Wisconsin tonight.

Number one, you have city voters, suburban voters, and rural voters. Urban voters, of course, critical. The Democratic challenger is the mayor of Milwaukee. So let's see how they're voting tonight. You see a big win for the Democrat there. Two-thirds of your voters in urban areas are voting for the Democrats. That's a good sign for the Democrats as they look forward and it tends to match up with that 50/50. So then to Scott Walker, the Republican incumbent, he needs to match that one with a strong performance in rural areas. That's about a third of the vote. Let's see what's happening in the rural areas. And he is, indeed. But not by as big a margin. As we watch the vote results come in tonight this could be important to us, Wolf.

One of the big questions, do white down square rural voters in national elections, they tend to be trending Republican. The Republicans winning here. The question is, will that margin be enough? That's one thing we'll watch as the votes come in.

Let's go over and look again. Now there was a big question here about turnout. Younger voters, younger voters are very important to the Democrats. I talked to someone on the ground earlier who voiced some concern they weren't getting as high a turnout they wanted in university towns. We'll look at that.

The Republicans have to be happy with this number. Older voters have been trending Republican in recent years. We'll see how they voted tonight. But that percentage of the electorate is higher than 2010 when Scott Walker was elected. The Republicans will like that number.

What about income groups? This has been an election about the economy, about jobs, and about rights of labor unions in the state. So what did the key middle class voters do? Twenty-five percent of the electorate, those who make between $50,000 and $75,000 a year.

And, Wolf, why do we have a 50/50 race? Because we have an even split among key middle class voters in the state of Wisconsin.

Let's take a slide and just look at one more here. These are the big issues. This is what is stunning to me. How did all this start? The governor, Scott Walker, was restricting collective bargaining rights, asking public employees to pay more for their health care, more for their pensions. It was the defining issue to start the recall. How did they feel on Election Day? Look at that, Wolf. Thirty-seven percent strongly approve of limiting those rights, 38 percent strongly disapprove.

Let's take a breakdown and look at how they voted. Governor Walker, not surprising there, getting 95 percent of the votes for those who strongly approve of what he did. And let's check the other side here and see if Mayor Barrett has equal numbers. Take the 38, bring it up from here, and there you go, 97 percent there.

So you see the polarized electorate around the defining issue that started this all, Wolf. As you know, 50/50 in the horse race numbers. We see the breakdown. We see that people are tired by the partisanship. They're disgusted with both parties. And guess what, we're going to be counting the votes. And we have some key counties to look at. The exit polls to look at. We're going to be at this awhile.

BLITZER: It's going to be a while indeed. Stand by, John. I don't want you to go too far away. Once again, the exit polls showing a 50/50 race right now, preliminary numbers coming out of the exit polls. All the polls in Wisconsin are now closed.

The stakes certainly extraordinarily high in this election with Republicans and Democrats alike. They're watching Wisconsin for signs of what's to come in November. No one knows that better, certainly than Reince Priebus. He's the chairman of the Republican National Committee. Also a native of Wisconsin.

Reince, thanks very much for joining us. I know a lot of Republicans were expecting a win for Walker. You may still win, but it looks incredibly close right now. First of all, what are you hearing from your Republican sources in Wisconsin?

REINCE PRIEBUS, CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Well, everyone we're talking to and our field staff and Walker's team, we feel really good about where we're at right now. And really optimistic about tonight. Obviously not taking anything for granted. We've had to work really hard in this state for everything we have. It's a big turnout operation. We're still working. But, Wolf, we feel as good as we've ever felt here and we feel good tonight.

BLITZER: When you say you feel as good as you've ever felt, 50/50. All the other polls going into today showed a lead sometimes three points, sometimes five points, sometimes six points, for Walker. Are you surprised that the exit polls now, the exit polls that we've been gathering throughout the day show a 50/50 tie at least as of now?

PRIEBUS: Well, I'm not surprised that it's going to be close, Wolf. And I'm not surprised that exit polls show it's close. It's going to be a close race. But, you know, where the polls come from, how it's sampled, and where it goes, you know, I think it makes a big difference.

Ultimately I think people in the state of Wisconsin are going to reward people of their word that keep their promises. That's Scott Walker and Rebecca Kleefisch. I think that's our history and I expect that to be the result tonight.

BLITZER: What -- the results from tonight, let's say it's very, very close. And we don't know which individual is going to win. But what if anything would that say to you about Wisconsin coming up in November because the Democrats in presidential contests have carried Wisconsin, as you know, for a long time.

PRIEBUS: Well, you know what? It's true. I mean for a long time it's been a light blue state that can red under the right circumstances. But I think we've consistently shown over the last couple of years that in tough battles Republicans can win here. We've got a great ground operation. I think we're better than the Democrats on the ground. And we have to be. In order to win in Wisconsin.

I mean I always -- I kind of think this narrative about their ground effort and our air effort is just a false narrative. We have to have a better ground game to win in Wisconsin. And that's why we have won here over the last few years. So I expect that to hold true tonight. And you're going to see hopefully very soon Scott Walker on that stage behind me in victory.

BLITZER: As you know, Scott Walker raised a lot more money than Tom Barrett, the Democratic challenger. Maybe six, seven, eight, maybe 10 times as much money, yet look at how close it is. How do you explain that?

PRIEBUS: Well, I mean I think that the unions are spending a whole lot of money to that, you don't see it, Wolf. I mean there are undisclosed unions like SCIU and AFSCME. I don't think anyone doubts the fact that we wouldn't be standing here tonight if it wasn't for big public employee unions that paid for door walkers to get petition and start this whole mess. And so we're here because of big unions.

And people around the country care about the future of this state because what happens tonight could have an impact on whether we win Wisconsin or not in November. And so I think that's what you're seeing around the country.

BLITZER: Reince, hold on for a minute because on that specific point, I want to go back to John King. He's got the exit poll numbers on the presidential contest, at least as of right now, with these voters in Wisconsin. We're telling our pollsters what are they suggesting looking ahead to November between President Obama and Mitt Romney -- John?

KING: They tell us, even though they seemed evenly split on the race for governor tonight, the recall election, Wolf, you would have to say, then you can ask the chairman about this. President Obama continues to have a significant edge in Wisconsin. They were asked, the voters, today, how are you going to vote in November, 54 percent said they plan to vote for President Obama, 42 percent said they plan to vote for Governor Romney.

Now why is that? Let's go over here. And we asked the voters who would improve the economy? Forty-five percent of today voters say President Obama would support the economy, 36 percent say that of Governor Romney. So that is the key question. The economy.

And let's just dig a little deeper on the economy. Which candidate would better help the middle class. You see President Obama with a 13 point advantage.

Wolf, so on this night, you'd to say the Obama campaign, despite what happens in the end, has to feel pretty happy.

BLITZER: Well, let's get Reince Priebus' reaction to that.

You're the chairman of the Republican Party, what do you say about that, Reince?

PRIEBUS: Well, I think that you can't poll today what's going to be the case in two months. And this president left Democrats at the altar in Wisconsin when they needed him most. And I tell you what. They're going to have a circular firing squad tomorrow on the Democratic side if Scott Walker wins tonight. And then President Obama is going to come in here in two months and he's going to say, hey, guys, remember me? You have to get me elected and I'm president. And these Democrats are going to look at this president and say, hey, thanks a lot, pal, we appreciated the help when we needed you most.

I think that's a dynamic that you can't measure today, Wolf. But you'll be able to measure it in a couple of months.

BLITZER: Reince Priebus is the chairman of the Republican Party. We'll stand by together with you and maybe we'll talk with you later as well. Right now the exit polls showing 50/50 between Governor Walker and the challenger Tom Barrett.

Much more coming up on this.

Also coming up this hour, highlights of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Piers is in London with more on that.

PIERS MORGAN, CNN HOST: Thanks, Wolf. I'm here in Buckingham Palace where it's been a day of celebration like no other. Royals and commoners alike saluting the Queen's 60 years on the throne. From some poles to the palace, to the street parties still going on well into the night. This is the royal event of a lifetime. And I'll have all the must-see moments coming up.

But first let's get back to Wolf for the latest breaking news on tonight's Wisconsin recall election.

BLITZER: Yes. And it is breaking indeed, Piers. Thanks very much.

Much more of the results in just a moment. And our political all-stars on how this state of Wisconsin, the election there, could be a preview of the Romney versus Obama battle in November. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Looking at live pictures coming in from the capital of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin. The vote is now complete. But the results only beginning to trickle in.

Take a look at what the actual numbers that we have right now in Wisconsin, the exit polls showed 50/50 tie right now. But this is what -- about 1 percent of the vote is in, 57 percent for Scott Walker, the incumbent Republican governor, 42 percent for Tom Barrett, the mayor of Milwaukee, the Democratic challenger.

Hari Trivedi, not getting much. He's the independent candidate as well.

I want to discuss what's going on. A very, very close race in this recall election in Wisconsin. I want to bring in our political all-star panel. Dana Loesch is editor of bigjournalism.com. "Huffington Post" blogger and attorney Tanya Acker is joining us. And our newest CNN contributor, Ryan Lizza, the Washington correspondent of "The New Yorker" magazine.

I want to welcome Ryan to CNN. Good to have you on board.

Ryan, first of all, give us your thoughts. It wasn't necessarily supposed to be this close, 50/50 according to the preliminary exit poll numbers. We'll see what the actual official numbers bring in, but it's very, very tight despite the fact that the Republicans completely outspent the Democrats.

RYAN LIZZA, "THE NEW YORKER": Yes, and not to completely drag it into national politics and the president, but look, you know, if Barrett loses this thing by, you know, a tiny margin, there's going to be a lot of second guessing from Democrats asking why the president didn't go into Wisconsin and make a last-minute appeal.

BLITZER: Why didn't he?

LIZZA: Well, look. If Obama loses Wisconsin in the fall, he's got -- you know, he's lost the race. Right? Democrats have won Wisconsin in every presidential election since 1984. So I think he's not really worried about Wisconsin. And I think he learned a lesson in some of those earlier races in his term like in 2009 when he campaigned in a couple of states. You know, New Jersey and Virginia. And Republicans won.

And I think they're very cautious about where they send the president and how they use his political capital. I think that they didn't want -- they didn't want to send him in there and then see Walker win. Because that would be embarrassing. He did obviously endorse Barrett, the Democrat. He put that on his Twitter feed last night. But you know -- as you know, Wolf, you know, sending out a tweet is about the lowest level of endorsement you can do in politics these days.

BLITZER: Yes. It's not very impressive. Especially -- and let me bring Tanya into this conversation. He was in neighboring Minnesota. He was in neighboring Illinois. He flew over Wisconsin. Didn't want to get anywhere near Wisconsin. And as Ryan says, if the Republicans wind up eking out a narrow, narrow win, there's going to be a lot of second guessing whether the president could have done more to help the mayor of Milwaukee become the governor of Wisconsin.

TANYA ACKER, HUFFINGTON POST BLOGGER: Well, I think it's important, Wolf, to remember the uniqueness of this election. This was a recall. This is not an election in the first instance. Only two governors in the history of the United States have ever been recalled. So the notion of having a president come in, you know, look, I mean I know that six on one half, a dozen on the other, there'll be a lot of second guessing regardless of how it turns out.

But a recall election, you know, I'm a Californian. It's something we like in my state but they don't often work. And there are a lot of voters -- you know, it's interesting how close this election is because there are a lot of voters who aren't necessarily supportive of the governor but who didn't necessarily think that the recall was the appropriate mechanism for getting him out of office. And so I think that there are a lot of different factors at play. It's maybe premature to think that this is a -- necessarily national referendum on Barack Obama.

BLITZER: Yes. I suspect that might not necessarily be a national referendum if you take a look at the lopsided advantage. The exit polls show that the president has over Mitt Romney.

Dana, Mitt Romney didn't make an appearance in Wisconsin either. Although plenty of other high profile Republican surrogates showed up to back the governor. Why didn't Mitt Romney come in to Wisconsin?

DANA LOESCH, EDITOR, BIGJOURNALISM.COM: Yes, I'm not sure. I think it would have been a really good idea for Romney to go to Wisconsin. And I think it would have been a very good showing. It would have shown a real unity between the Republican Party and grassroots. But at the same time, Reince Priebus, who was just on with you and I thought it was entertaining how he said that the president left Democrats at the altar in Wisconsin.

We didn't have the RNC chairman saying that Wisconsin was going to be a dry run for November as the DNC chairman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, has for the past several weeks. So because of that I think Democrats made it a little bit more important for President Obama to show up.

And that's true. I do agree with what's been said. That if this does turn out to be a very small margin of victory for Scott Walker, and Barrett ends up losing, that may (INAUDIBLE), there may be some ill-feelings there between Wisconsin Democrats and President Obama. But I think it would have been interesting for both candidates to be there.

LIZZA: Well, you know, the one thing, though, Wolf and Dana. The flipside of that is, in a polarized political environment, you can send the president into Wisconsin and it could have the opposite impact, right? It could drive turnout on the other side. So, you know, that could be the calculation in the Obama world as well.

BLITZER: And Dana, what happens --

LOESCH: Possibly.

BLITZER: If Walker loses narrowly to Barrett, Walker of course supported by the Tea Party movement, what would be the impact? Walk us through the fallout from a Democratic win in Wisconsin.

LOESCH: Oh, it's going to be a massive fallout. If there is -- if there is an absolute victory for Democrats, and I think it's going to take more than just one win. I mean we're not just talking about Barrett and Walker, we're also talking about Kleefisch and the four other state legislators that are in there in Wisconsin. If there is an absolute win for Democrats, say they sweep all six, say they -- say they take control of the Senate and they get the governor's office. That's going to be pretty huge. It'll be somewhat Pyrrhic victory of a Pyrrhic victory at the same time, just because of everything that they spent.

But at the same time that will also chill reform. That we'll see in other states across the country. Already we're hearing of the recall function being used to get Bobby Jindal out of -- the governor's office in Louisiana. This is going to be replicated in other states as well. It's going to be considered a tactic. Not a function to use when there is corruption and massive fraud happening in government.

I worry about the state of election. I worry about voter integrity. They calls a lot of things in question. And I think that this is also going to be a little bit of a test of the grassroots movement. Grassroots have been instrumental in getting out the vote in Wisconsin. They've been huge in fundraising. I know, I took part bomb for the Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch. And that solved something like -- about $54,000 grassroots folks raised in that in just one day. So it's been a huge participation. But at the same time is it going to deliver results? It's a true test to the Tea Party.

BLITZER: Well, let me let Tanya weigh in on this.

Tanya, walk us through the fallout from, A, a Democratic win and B, a Republican win? Give us a sentence or two on both.

ACKER: Well, you know what's interesting, Wolf, is that you talked about the money differential here. I mean here we have the sitting governor who got two-thirds of his money from out of state. The fundraising advantage was about 8 to 1. Walker raised about $30 million. Barrett raised about $4 million. And so even to have it this close, I think that you're going to see lots of Democratic operatives who will sell this as a victory even if their candidate loses.

Now certainly if he does lose, I think if you see how well Barack Obama is polling in Wisconsin, again, I think it would be a mistake to think that even Barrett's loss here is going to have too much blow back on the president. I think there are lots of reasons why people might oppose this recall and still support the president and still perhaps take issue with the governor's policies.

I think that Dana made a good point. A recall is a unique process and people want it to be treated as such. And there might be some folks who even in this close election might be inclined to support the president, might be inclined to support Democrats. But don't think that this is an appropriate use of a recall process.

BLITZER: All right, guys, hold on for a moment. Stand by. We're going to continue this conversation. Obviously a very, very close contest in Wisconsin right now. The preliminary exit polls showing 50/50, a 50-/50 tie in effect for Scott Walker the Republican incumbent governor, Tom Barrett, the mayor, the mayor of Milwaukee. The challenger.

Much more on this story coming up throughout the night, obviously. Also coming up, Piers Morgan is in London with all the must-see moments of today's jubilee celebrations.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MORGAN: Good evening. I'm in Buckingham Palace where the official celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee is winding down. Nothing can put a damper on the festivities. Not even the typically English weather. And we've got all the must-see moments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Here we have the Queen getting out of the carriage, 86 years old. And let's just watch.

And the other carriage now arriving as well. This is the last we will see of the Queen before she appears on the balcony just about an hour or so before the fly pass. Other members, senior members of the royal family, now going inside. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Prince Harry. All the immediate members of the family, directly in line of succession. And they will be the ones that will be on the balcony with Her Majesty.

And so, Brooke and Piers, that's the last we're going to see of the Queen for awhile. Probably taking off her shoes for a moment, having a cup of tea or whatever, while she gets ready for this amazing -- this amazing balcony appearance.

Here in Trafalgar Square the people are now going to start to move and they're going to start to try and get down the Mall as far as they can.

MORGAN: Just watching one of the last bands here at the palace. Watching one of the marching bands here in the palace. Take a look at this because you don't see this very often and will never see another Diamond Jubilee again. So soak in a bit of the atmosphere.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Just look at the crowds and you can just hear the band. You probably can still pick up the band over our microphone. But you can just feel it all around. All these people, thousands and thousands, perhaps a million. Surrounding Buckingham Palace as we're all waiting for the big moment. There's this huge balcony over our shoulders where we will see the Queen and her closest members of the royal family.

Here you go. And we're moments away from that. I want to bring in --

MORGAN: Look at that. These crowds. I mean, look at the scene. I mean, you just don't see this anywhere in the world.

BALDWIN: Well, we're waiting for the big wave. No kisses today. That was last year for the royal wedding.

MORGAN: How do you know? How do you know?

BALDWIN: Because her husband isn't here.

MORGAN: There might be other kissing on the balcony.

BALDWIN: Well, any --

MORGAN: There's always kissing on the royal balcony.

BALDWIN: We want to welcome in, Phillip Gregory, she is the best-selling author, her book is called "The Changeling."

Welcome back.

Thank you.

BALDWIN: We've got some better weather today and so appreciate that very much. We also have India Hicks and Katie Nicholl. And my question to you, Katie Nicholl, is just the significance of who we will be seeing in a matter of minutes out on that balcony. It's the closest of the royals. Yes?

KATIE NICHOLL, ROYAL EDITOR, THE MALL ON SUNDAY: Yes. Well, it should be, of course, the Duke of Edinburgh who's not here. The Duchess of Cornwall, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cambridge, the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry. That would be it. Usually at the Queen's birthday parade, you get to see the whole plethora of the royal family. Not this time. The Golden Jubilee has been very different -- Diamond Jubilee seems different from the Golden Jubilee and the Silver Jubilee where you had a lot of members of the royal family up there.

This is a slimmed down appearance by the monarchy.

BALDWIN: Why?

NICHOLL: Because it's all about the line of succession. And the queen is sending out a very clear message by sending her heir and her other heir out there. And that is what this is all about.

KING: Ladies on the end, we have Katie Nicholl and India Hicks.

And, India, you were one of Princess Diana's five bridesmaids.

I want you to describe to us what in the world that feeling is like, standing on that balcony with all the -- the crowds of her people. She was the people's princess.

MORGAN: Out of interest, when you're all standing behind the curtains waiting to come out, what are you all doing?

INDIA HICKS: Chatting. Catching up with family gossip.

MORGAN: About -- about what?

HICKS: Lots of family gossip.

MORGAN: About what? HICKS: And drinking homemade lemon refresher. The queen loves the homemade lemon refresher.

BALDWIN: Lemon refresher?

HICKS: Yes. Yes.

But the footmen now will be beginning to open those glass doors and the -- the -- the rock stars, as you say, will be beginning to make their way to the front. And everybody just knows who's going to be out there. There will be a gentle push at the elbow.

But I mean, I must say, standing on that balcony and looking down at thousands upon thousands of upturned faces is extraordinary.

But what's so extraordinary is that it's very unusual to see peaceful crowds. So often we see rioting crowds or football hooligans or crowds protesting.

How often do we see thousands upon thousands of crowds --

MORGAN: -- you and I had a little disagreement about the merits of Queen Elizabeth in the standing of great monarchs. I believe she may well be the greatest, because I believe that, actually, after Diana's death, there was a possibility the monarchy could have come to an end.

And now you see these scenes and you think they've bought themselves at least another couple of generations, I would imagine.

But more important, the queen as a role model to the British people. Talk to me about that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, again, I was thinking about our disagreement, as well. And I think if it hadn't been quite so wet and cold, I might...

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I might have been...

BALDWIN: She blames the weather.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- I might have been more generous and less Republican. But I have to say to you, I think that she's a fine -- a fine woman.

MORGAN: I believe the monarchy is stronger today than it was ten years ago. I see a real resurgence in this country. And that is tangible.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I agree with you. I think what we see today and last year with the wedding was a real return and interest in them as a family, and some turn in interest in them as a family, and some people that one could really admire and enjoy watching. But I still think that the danger that they are in is that they are part of celebrity culture. I think the moment something goes wrong or somebody does something wrong, what we're going to see is the fickleness of public taste.

MORGAN: Katie Nicholl, you and I have worked in British media on and off over the last 20 years or so. The reality is that I think the temperature has changed. The relationship is much less confrontational, much more celebratory.

NICHOLL: Look who was in the carriage with the queen today.

MORGAN: Yes, Camilla Parker Bowles.

NICHOLL: You would not have -- if you want to see how things change, look at the carriage.

(CROSS TALK)

MORGAN: -- this day Camilla would be there, people would have thought you were mad.

NICHOLL: Piers, I think they've had to change. They've had to modernize. I know what Phillip was saying about celebrity. I see the risk of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge being billed as A-list stars as when they came over to L.A. But actually, the monarchy needs to embrace the new age.

MORGAN: And later, the big moment her majesty, the queen, and the royal family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MORGAN: Welcome back to London. There it is, the empty balcony. Any moment, it will fill up with the most famous people probably on the planet, the queen, Prince Charles, Camilla Parker-Bowles, Prince William, Prince Harry. Catherine will be there.

We've been joined by Penny Junior, royal historian, author of the book "Prince William, the Man Who Will Be King."

Penny, you've covered this family for a long time, probably as long as I have. What do you think of all this?

PENNY JUNOR, AUTHOR: I think it's just a great endorsement for the royal family, isn't it?

MORGAN: I feel like they've been energized these last four days to a new level again. Let's talk about the historical context of this, because people I think have made a false assumption that the queen may one day abdicate. She might rush through William and all this kind of thing. That's not going to happen, is it?

JUNOR: No, totally false assumption. I mean, it's not the way hereditary monarchy works, as you know. It's the king is dead, long live the king. It's -- the reigning monarch must die for the next one to inherit. You simply cannot go leap-frogging one -- a character that you think is not going to be quite as popular as the next one.

Once you start doing that, why stick with the House of Windsor? And if you don't stick with the House of Windsor, you're into elections. And then the great thing about the monarchy is it is a unifying factor in the country. The minute you have politicians or elections, half the country wants the person that's on the throne or on the -- and the other half doesn't. So there's always discord.

MORGAN: Penny, on that historical point, it's very important I think that we don't allow the monarchy to get politicized.

JUNOR: Yes, I think it is. I mean it definitely would be unacceptable. But the monarchy has power. It has soft power. It has moral leadership. I think that is what is -- you know, William and Harry, the pair of them are fantastic leaders.

MORGAN: Yes, but my brother-in-law actually was one of the colonels in charge of training William and Harry at Sandhurst Royal Military Academy. So my sister used to have to welcome all the royals down, the Middletons, everybody else. What was fascinating was she said about both the boys, they were great soldiers, but they never wanted to be treated any differently than any of the others.

They never asked for any favors. They never got any favors. They are very grounded young men, I think. And that again is a great tribute to the royal family. They've managed to stay so relatively normal.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Actually, probably as much as anybody else, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, because most boys of the age that they were would be absolutely thrown by the death of their mother. They would carry it with them as a sorrow all their lives. These boys obviously remember her very, very lovingly, have very fond memories of their childhood, but have managed to come through that.

MORGAN: India, you would know better than most, but Charles again -- I've seen much of their lives -- because after Diana died, those boys in their teenage years, it must have been a horrible blow to them. We have -- I think we have movement. We have movement.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're coming out. The doors will open.

MORGAN: I've seen a twitching hand by the curtains, which is a --

BALDWIN: Bursting at the seams with your British pride.

MORGAN: I hope I'm seeing a twitching hand. Otherwise we're staring at an empty balcony. But there is movement.

BALDWIN: What do you think they've been doing these last minutes, kicking up their feet inside, taking in some --

MORGAN: They've been watching CNN. That's what they've been doing. Breaking live coverage around the world. We are -- I can definitely see something going on there. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My mother, who has spent a great deal of time with the queen and is very close to her, always says to know her is to admire her above all else. And I think that that today --

MORGAN: Yes, I think that's right. The queen I don't think wants everyone to love her. She wants them to respect her and to admire her and to respect the monarchy for what it provides.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not sure that she actually wants them to respect her. I think it's the office.

BALDWIN: Listen to this crowd.

(CROSS TALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The door's open.

MORGAN: Something is going. There's the queen. The queen is coming out on the balcony. This is a great moment.

BALDWIN: There she is. Look at her. Alone at first. Wow.

(APPLAUSE)

MORGAN: Coming up from Buckingham Palace, the fly pass by the Royal Air Force and the (INAUDIBLE).

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: I'm Wolf Blitzer, in for Piers Morgan. We have an update on tonight's breaking news from the Wisconsin recall. We've updated the exit poll information. The preliminary numbers we showed you earlier showed 50/50. Now take a look at this. The Republican incumbent governor, based on our latest exit poll information, 52 percent for Scott Walker. The Democratic mayor of Milwaukee, the challenger Tom Barrett, 48 percent.

You see a slight advantage there for Scott Walker. Same is holding true, by the way, for the lieutenant governor. John King is watching all of this unfold. It looks like a slight advantage right now for the Republicans.

J. KING: Slight advantage, Wolf. We'll see if it continues to play out. One of the things we look at as we get these results is look at some key counties. Dane County is the most important county for the Democrats in the state of Wisconsin tonight. With 18 percent of the vote in, you see the Democrat winning 55 to 44.

But I'll tell you this, again, it's only 18 percent of the vote. He needs to get that number up to around 70 percent to have any chance of carrying the state. In the early results, he's not at that number. That's the key county for the Democrats.

Come over here to Waukesha County. This is the key county for the Republicans And the incumbent, Scott Walker, is doing just what he needs to do, Wolf. he needs to be around 70 percent. He's above that now with 20 percent of the vote in.

As you look at the early results, still a ways to go here. But at the moment, you showed the new exit polls. Governor Walker is performing as he has to. So far the Democrat trailing, especially in the most important counties.

BLITZER: Yes. We'll see what Milwaukee and Madison, some of the other cities suggest. We're going to be able to project a win at some point. We, of course, will do that whenever we get all the related 00 relevant information.

In the meantime, let's go back to Piers in London for more Jubilee highlights right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MORGAN: The queen is coming out on the balcony. This is a great moment.

BALDWIN: There she is. Look at her. Alone at first. Wow.

(APPLAUSE)

(SINGING)

MORGAN: We're going to see the Royal Air Force Battle of Britain royal flight, featuring the Dakota, flanked by two King Air aircraft, the Lancaster Bomber, Spitfires and a Hurricane. Then there will be nine members of the Red Arrows team in T-1 jets. This will be pretty spectacular.

We weren't expecting it because there's so much cloud and rain, but they're going for it. So the queen will get her fly-by.

(APPLAUSE)

MORGAN: And I'm so pleased for the queen because the fly-by is such an important part of these events.

BALDWIN: Here comes the --

MORGAN: Wow, fireworks. Calm down, carry on.

(MUSIC)

(SINGING)

(APPLAUSE)

MORGAN: Fantastic scenes there as her majesty, the Queen, salutes a million of her subjects outside Buckingham Palace on the balcony. India, what did you think. Gut reaction to what we just saw?

HICKS: Immense pride to be sitting here.

MORGAN: It was emotional. Wasn't it?

HICKS: Very, very emotional. Imagine how she feels. How many times she's been on that balcony. She must be missing her mother and her sister, who were also incredibly close to her, but more so Prince Phillip right now, who we hope is warm and cozy in hospital watching it on television.

MORGAN: She looked really moved to me. She looked to me like she just took a moment, because she was slightly overwhelmed by the whole thing. I haven't seen that before.

Coming up, Queen Elizabeth marks 60 years on the throne and the nation celebrates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Your majesty, on the historic occasion of your Diamond Jubilee, Michelle and I send you and all the members of the Commonwealth the heart felt congratulations of the American people. In war and in peace, in times of plenty and in times of hardship, the United States and the United Kingdom have shared a special relationship.

We stood tall and strong. And together, we face some of the greatest challenges this world has known. While many presidents and prime ministers have come and gone, your majesty's reign has endured.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MORGAN: We have the breaking news. CNN can now project a winner in the Wisconsin gubernatorial contest. The incumbent Republican Scott Walker will retain his job as the governor of Wisconsin. The Democratic challenger Tom Barrett will not be the next governor of Wisconsin.

Once again, he loses to Scott Walker. We base this on the exit poll information, the most recent updated exit poll information, 52 percent for Walker, 48 percent for Barrett.

But take a look at this. 26 percent of the actual vote is now in, and it show a decisive advantage right now for the incumbent Republican, Scott Walker; 60 percent or so -- there it is right there, 60 percent for Walker, 40 percent for Tom Barrett.

You see a significant advantage, 341,000 so far with 26 percent of the vote in. It's gone up to 345,000 for Walker, 230,000 for Tom Barrett. As a result of the actual numbers that have come in, where the numbers are coming from, the actual official results as well as the exit poll information, which showed at 52/48 percentage win -- at least the exit polls showed for Scott Walker, CNN can now project that the Republican governor will retain his job as the governor of Wisconsin.

A close race. The Republicans obviously spent a lot more money, but Scott Walker will remain as governor of Wisconsin.

I'm Wolf Blitzer, in for Piers Morgan. Our coverage continues right now on "AC 360."