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CNN Live Event/Special

Inside the Trump Campaign's Moves in the Last Hours; Official: FBI Probing Robocalls Telling Voters to "Stay Home"; Democrats Push Hard to Make Biden 1st Democrat to Win Texas Since 1976; Biden Speaks in Pennsylvania; Katie Hobbs, (D), Arizona Secretary of State, Discusses Presidential Race in the Crucial State. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired November 03, 2020 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: But for now at least, still keeping that focus on Pennsylvania. Because that could be for all the marbles -- Chris?

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: Jeff Zeleny, appreciate it. Keep the energy up. We'll see you throughout the day and night.

It's not a throwaway question about when they're planning to address. Because it gives you an insight into what they think will happen.

The earlier in the night they go, the more confidence they must have. You don't want to put Joe Biden out there to give a non-message. So it will be interesting.

And are you going to address the country in the early morning hours? There's something odd about that in terms of your reach.

So the strategy of when they think Biden should be out there is going to be a nice window into their perspective on the state of play. We'll keep tracking that.

We heard from the current president last hour. To break it all down what's going on in that campaign, inside their moves in these last hours, CNN's White House correspondent, Kaitlan Collins.

Good to see you.

And again, spending history together is something that makes all difficulties of this business worthwhile. Good to share it with you, Kaitlyn.

What are we hearing from the campaign about the state of play?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: They're waiting, just like Jeff said, the Biden campaign is waiting to see what happens.

We saw the president, the one trip he made outside of the White House today. It was to the campaign headquarters in Arlington earlier today.

Before he addressed the staff on camera, like you saw, and took questions from reporters, Chris, we're told that he huddled with his top aides in a conference room for about 20 minutes, obviously going over numbers, seeing what they're seeing in states like Florida and Pennsylvania, all of these places they're watching closely.

But the president also said he's not thinking about an acceptance speech or a speech if things don't go his way tonight. Because he's waiting to see what is going to happen.

This is a president who is deeply superstitious. Four years ago, he did not have an acceptance speech written on Election Day in 2016 because the president didn't want to jinx it. That's how he felt.

They started to write him one when it looked like he actually might pull off the election. And the president still would not look at that speech. So that is how he approaches things. He's doing the same this year.

He ended his 2020 race in Grand Rapids last night, just like he did in 2016. He started the day with a "FOX & Friends" interview, just like he did in 2016.

So you see the president is trying to replicate that. The question is: Can they replicate that outcome?

Things look a lot more difficult this time than they did when he was going up against Hillary Clinton.

But we should talk how the president is viewing things and whether or not there will be legal challenges to come. Because, Chris, you heard him say earlier he believed they are entitled to know who the president is by tonight.

Of course, state officials have said that's very unlikely.

CUOMO: Absolutely. Entitled is the wrong word. Because the way the system works and the laws work, any sense of entitlement is vacated by the reality.

We know voting takes time. We see what's happening in North Carolina right now.

And we must remind people at home that this president won Arizona and Michigan, and he did not get them on Election Day or Night or the early morning hours thereafter.

So if he really wanted that to be the rule, he would have had to have surrender those two states by his own reckoning.

We know what's going on here, Kaitlan, in the state of play.

Thank you for bringing that to us.

A very interesting opportunity missed for this president. I thought there was a good chance that when he left the White House today or he was letting you see where his head is by his actions, he would have been meeting about the pandemic.

He would have been meeting with his advisers being the president, in real time on Election Day, showing you, showing everyone, what this job is about.

Instead, he's just like the rest of us, waiting around to see if he is the winner.

Let's talk now with Harry Enten, CNN politics senior writer, analyst, known on primetime at the Wizard of Odds.

Let me ask you something, brother. Early now. Polls don't close for hours. Campaigns are basically quiet. Working us for information.

Where does an analyst like you go in hours like this in terms of what you watch?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN POLITICS SENIOR WRITER & ANALYST: I go to sleep. No.

(LAUGHTER)

ENTEN: Look, Chris, on my couch. Exactly right.

I'm just impressed continuously by the turnout. Right? That's really what we can take away from this. We know there was a record early turnout.

Everything we're hearing, granted some anecdotal, some is real time, that the turnout's going to be high. You and I discussed this.

Traditionally, historically, in this country, we haven't had the turnout we necessarily wanted. Right? People weren't taking part in the process.

For whatever reason -- and I think there are multiple reasons why -- this year, people are taking part in the process. We saw it in 2018 as well.

I just think, as an American, it's a good thing to see, win or lose for either side, that people are going to have their say.

CUOMO: And, look, your favorite words, "I was wrong." When I heard about early voting my supposition was, seriously? In the middle of a pandemic, you think people will go out early, before they have to, in a campaign where people are almost exclusively focused on what they're against than what they're for.

And everybody is disheartened about government, you think they're going to go out?

I thought it was going to be an afterthought. And 100 million-plus.

[14:35:01] So what is your read on the why? Do you think this is more? And what can you tell us about who came out? Is this more about I want change from Trump or I see Trump as change and want to keep him?

ENTEN: I'm not sure necessarily which side it is. But I think you hit the nail on the head. It's Trump.

That is what drove the midterm results. That is what's driving this year. You either love him or hate him.

There's not a lot of in between with this president. And you see it in the numbers when it comes to what Biden supporters say is motivating them.

They're much more likely to say they're coming out in opposition to Trump than necessarily for Biden. Although, the for-Biden numbers are going up.

While Republican voters, Trump voters, are much more likely to say that they are coming out for Trump than against Biden. So I think it's both of those.

It you look at the pre-election polls, you think Biden will win. But we have to wait and see.

CUOMO: I was going to say that North Carolina would have been the first really interesting state to see. They just extended their deadlines there just by minutes.

But I wonder if they'll come out before Florida. Florida has part of that state in the central time zone.

Those two states -- we'll be watching them in particular to get a feel for state of play. We'll be together with people throughout the night whenever needed.

Harry Enten, as always, thank you.

Now we'll check in with the states. We checked in with the campaigns. We got a sense of where analysts are. Where is the action in states and why? Iowa, Texas, next.

Plus, what I was just talking about in North Carolina. There was a glitch. What happened? What does it mean? What is the remedy? What's the controversy? Live update, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:40:16]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: All right. In the key battleground state of Iowa already more than half the total amount of ballots cast in the state in 2016 have been cast in this election.

There are now, though, reports of robocalls in parts of the state trying to get people not to go to the polls. The Iowa secretary of state spokesman confirms to CNN that the office

shared information with the FBI regarding a recorded phone call that urged Iowans to, quote, "stay home and stay safe."

Martin Savidge is OUTFRONT now.

Martin, what can you tell us about who was trying to put something like this out? Which, of course, is disinformation and could disenfranchise voters?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. We don't know. There's a lot of finger-pointing going on, on the part of Democrats and Republicans.

There are some Republicans in Iowa claiming that this was orchestrated by Democrats. The Democrats in the state immediately came out said, no, they had nothing to do with this.

Some reports of these calls were coming from the Cedar Rapids area.

But it's not just Iowa. There's a number of other states are reporting these robocalls as well.

Neighboring Nebraska says they've had reports of similar calls. In Michigan, there, too. They've been warning people to ignore those calls. Also in some southern states as well.

It's clear this is being targeted amongst a number of different states here. The FBI is reportedly investigating. We haven't heard who they think may be behind it.

Those who received the calls, some of them, have told CNN they felt it as a kind of voter intimidation, especially on Election Day.

BURNETT: Yes, on Election Day when every vote counts.

Martin, where you are in Des Moines, what have you seen in terms of turnouts and lines and who is turning out?

SAVIDGE: First of all, the polls opened at 7:00 a.m. this morning. It could be a long day. They close at 9:00 p.m., Central time. Of course, 10:00 Eastern time.

It's been extremely busy at this particular polling place. Many polling places throughout the state reported long lines when the polls opened in the morning. The lines quickly dissipated.

Here, there isn't a line. We're in kind of an afternoon lull. But steady and just voter after voter. Hundreds sometimes, every hour. So the numbers have been stacking up.

The concerns with the record early voting, we saw, a lot of states did, it might diminish the number of voters turning out on Election Day. Here, there's no sign of that.

BURNETT: Thank you very much, Martin Savage. As we're in these final hours until the polls close, the president

visited his campaign staff back at the White House. Joe Biden is still on the ground in Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia. Went to a restaurant and just come out that.

I will show you, that is what just happened moments ago as the former vice president is trying to add in a couple more stops here in the final hours before the polls formally close.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: What you saw, addressing supporters there outside a restaurant in Philadelphia.

All right. I want to go to Texas now. Reliably a red state. Democrats are pushing hard to try to make Joe Biden the first presidential candidate to win Texas since 1976.

Brian Todd is in Houston, the largest city in that state.

And, Brian, you say you've been seeing a lot of energy and passion. In fact, even some heated exchanges between voters waiting in line today?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Erin. This place is pulsating with energy. These people are not content to just come out and vote. They want to engage in the art of dueling rhetoric and dueling campaign speeches and dueling shouting matches.

The Trump supporters are over there on the other side of the street and Democrats and other supporters are over here. They've been shouting each other down all day.

Look over here. A lot of people over here with signs, music, chanting, everything. They've been dueling each other all day long.

I'll talk to one gentleman who has been at the heart of it, John Smith.

There have been people over here chanting, "Four more years, four more years." John has been shouting them down saying, "No more years."

John, what's driven you to come out here?

JOHN SMITH, TEXAS VOTER: Enough is enough. I'm tired. I'm old. I'm 63 and not concerned about me. But I got grandkids and I'm worried about their future. You know? We can't have no more of that.

The man just -- I don't know, he thinks he -- I think he want to be king. I really do. I think if he get in there and win again that he might change the amendments and, whereas, unlimited terms on the president. TODD: I notice that a lot of these people, again, there's a lot of

shouting back and forth and a lot of, like, insulting each other and all that. Some taunting. Police came and tried to get people to tamp it down.

But you, a few minutes ago, went across and you hugged some of the Trump supporters. You wanted to kind of say, hey, despite all of this, we're all in this together.

What was the message you wanted to give to them?

[14:45:00]

SMITH: I wanted to let them know there's only one race. It's the human race. We all in this together. You ain't got to be belittling us, bring us down, and everything else.

I can show you love. After this all over with, we going to have to have love anyway. So I'm just letting them know that it's all about the love.

TODD: John, thanks for talking to us.

SMITH: All right.

TODD: All right, guys, I'm going to toss it back to you just to give you --

(CROSSTALK)

BURNETT: Thank you, Brian.

(CROSSTALK)

BURNETT: All right, sorry to interrupt you.

Just want to listen to Joe Biden here speaking in Pennsylvania.

(CHEERING)

JOE BIDEN, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'll tell you what. By the time I started as a U.S. Senator, Philadelphia brought me to the bench, man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We love you, Joe.

BIDEN: I'll tell you what, you've been great to me my whole career!

(CHEERING)

BIDEN: And so goes Philly, so goes the state of Pennsylvania!

(CHEERING)

BIDEN: Tell you what --

(SHOUTING)

BIDEN: -- turnout's been incredible.

(SHOUTING)

BIDEN: The job you're doing is incredible.

I really mean it. I really mean it. I can't thank you enough.

I want to introduce you to two ladies with me. Come here.

(CHEERING)

BIDEN: I want to introduce you to -- this is my son, Beau Biden, who a lot of you helped elect to the Senate in Delaware. This is -- my granddaughter, Natalie.

(CHEERING)

BIDEN: No, wait. Got the wrong one.

This is Natalie. This is Beau's daughter. And we're out campaigning together.

And Hunter's number two who goes to school here in Philly. This is my granddaughter, Finnegan Biden.

(CHEERING)

BIDEN: Thank you.

Got another grad here. Anyways -

(CHEERING)

BIDEN: So, folks, I can't thank you enough. Look -- look, the country is ready. The country is ready! The country is ready!

(CHEERING)

BIDEN: We're going to have more people vote this year than anytime in American history!

(CHEERING)

BIDEN: They expect over 150 million people to vote. Guess what? Between the ages of 18 and 30 are turning out in big numbers. That's going to be a big deal.

And by the way, you guys that understand, 54 percent of the vote so far is women. I tell you what.

(CHEERING)

BIDEN: The president's got a lot of things backwards. One of which is, he thinks that he can decide who gets to vote. (SHOUTING)

BIDEN: Well, guess what? The people who are going to decide who gets to be president!

(CHEERING)

BIDEN: Look, folks, I'm not going to keep you standing there long, but I want to say one thing. We have an enormous opportunity as a country. I don't mean just my being elected. We have an enormous opportunity.

I want everybody to understand. The public nationwide has figured it out. Not only are we going to be able to overcome this virus by taking some smart moves.

(SHOUTING)

BIDEN: But, for real, we're going to do it.

But secondly, we're going to rebuild the middle class.

(CHEERING)

BIDEN: And by the way, the middle class built this country and unions built the middle class!

(CHEERING)

BIDEN: And, thirdly, I promise you this. I'm running as a proud Democrat. If you elect me, I'm going to be an American president. There's going to be no red states or blue states. Just the United States of America!

(CHEERING)

BIDEN: I really mean it. We're going to pull together.

We are in a better position than any country in the whole world in the 21st century. We're three times more productive than the rest of the world. We more great research universities in America where everything comes out of than all of the rest of the world combined.

We just have to remember who we are, dammit. This is the United States of America.

(CHEERING)

BIDEN: Folks, everyone knows who Donald Trump is. You got to know who we are. We choose hope over fear!

(CHEERING)

BIDEN: We choose truth over lies!

(CHEERING)

BIDEN: We choose science over fiction!

(CHEERING)

BIDEN: We can take this. I promise you. I promise you.

I'm going to take responsibility. When I make a mistake, I will admit it.

(CHEERING)

BIDEN: I'll tell you what, I promise you. I will never break my word to you.

And by the way, back to your service, pal. Back to your service.

(APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: OK.

(CROSSTALK)

BIDEN: Last thing I'll say, the president said a lot of really not so good things but one that bothers me the most, as I'm seeing an Air Force guy here, is when he said that vets are suckers and losers.

[14:50:12]

Let me tell you something. No president has ever said anything like that before. Now I'm not joking.

And by the way, my son, Beau, was the attorney general. He gave up that seat to go fight in Iraq. He won the Bronze Star and the Distinguished Service Medal. He was no loser!

(CHEERING)

BIDEN: All of you who served, all who served.

This guy doesn't understand. He doesn't understand sacrifice. He doesn't understand -- he talks about being a tough guy, and what a macho man he is.

When's the last time you ever heard when a president shows up, shows up at the United Nations and the whole U.N. laughs as him? That's never happened before.

Or when he shows up at a NATO meeting and they make fun of him. Ladies and gentlemen, that's the reason why. Six generals, commanding generals who worked for him, resigned, left, said he wasn't fit to be commander-in-chief.

Folks, I'm so happy to have you all, I tell you what. And I promise you --

(CROSSTALK)

(CHEERING)

BIDEN: Thank you, thank you, thank you.

(CHEERING)

BIDEN: God bless America.

(CHEERING)

(CHANTING)

BIDEN: Lastly --

(CHANTING)

BIDEN: It's expected. There's already 110 million people have voted in the United States.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

BIDEN: They're expecting up to 150 million, the largest turnout ever.

And by the way, folks, if you haven't gotten everybody out, get them out.

(CHEERING)

BIDEN: It ain't over 'til it's over. And when it's over, we're going to win Pennsylvania because of you.

(CHEERING)

BIDEN: Thank you.

BURNETT: Former Vice President Biden there talking to supporters, rallying supporters in these final hours.

First polls closing in just a few hours. As I said, he was there in Philadelphia, just a couple more stops.

Let's just listen here.

BIDEN: I'm leaving here to go to Delaware. I'm going back home. I'm going over to the eastside to work because that's where I started.

And I'll tell you what, people are turning out at home. As much as I love Pennsylvania, and I'm a Pennsylvania guy, I am a Delawarean and I have to go home.

(CHEERING)

BIDEN: Thank you, thank you, thank you!

(CHEERING)

BURNETT: There he is leaving, referencing the other side of the river for those familiar with the geography of the area. Obviously, everyone there knows.

As you see, the former vice president there in Philadelphia. Getting ready to head back to Delaware where he's going to watch the election results.

President Trump will watch from the White House. Has already met with his campaign staffers in Virginia. And now we are moving into the wait, wait, wait.

And one of the states that we will be waiting for, a crucial state, no state is more important than Arizona. Trump won Arizona in 2016. Biden has a slight lead, though, in our poll of polls.

Now, Arizona crucial. Hasn't voted Democratic presidentially since 1986.

The secretary of state for Arizona, Democrat, Katie Hobbs, joins me now.

Secretary of state, I appreciate your time.

So I know you've already - sorry -- already started counting votes. Every state is different, when you count the earlies, when count the earlies, when you're allowed to start counting them.

You have already started. Have you encountered any problems so far in vote counting or at your polls today?

KATIE HOBBS, (D), ARIZONA SECRETARY OF STATE: No. I've been saying this since early voting started four weeks ago. Things have been going so smoothly. And we're seeing the same thing today. I'm so happy to see that.

We made a commitment that voters in Arizona were not going to have to choose between their health and their right to vote. That's what's happening. And I'm really happy about that.

BURNETT: We have seen long lines, obviously. Early today, we saw some in Arizona's traditional Republican strongholds.

And President Trump said -- I don't know if you heard, but about an hour ago, he was speaking to his campaign staffers and he talked about Arizona and Texas specifically, singling them out, saying he thinks he's going to do tremendously in your state.

Which, again, he won in 2016. Final polls giving Biden a very narrow lead.

Do you, Secretary of State, see reason for Trump's optimism right now?

HOBBS: Well, you know, wearing my official hat, I try to be nonpartisan. But we've seen Biden leading in most of the polls that have been done here for Arizona.

The margins vary, but he's been ahead. And I think that we've seen so much voter enthusiasm this year compared to the 2016 election. [14:55:10]

Arizona could really go either way. And I don't think that it belongs to one candidate or the other right now.

BURNETT: And, obviously, you've still got people voting.

And that leads me to this question, then. When you put together all the early votes you're counting and the votes you're getting today, when do you think we'll actually know who won the state of Arizona?

HOBBS: We'll have a good number of results available tonight after the polls close at 8:00, Arizona time.

What we won't know until really late tonight is how many outstanding ballots there are left to count. And those are the early ballots that were returned in the last few days, yesterday and today, at polling places.

And that is the number that's going to tell us, like, what percentage of the results have been reported to know how close it is and if there's enough votes left that --

(CROSSTALK)

BURNETT: That change the margin of victory.

HOBBS: Yes, yes. Right.

BURNETT: OK.

(CROSSTALK)

BURNETT: The bottom line still is you won't know until later tonight how many mail-in ballots. You still don't know, right?

HOBBS: Right. Yes.

BURNETT: OK. I appreciate your time, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, from Arizona. Thank you very much.

Right now, you see on your screen Las Vegas. We see lines there, lines across this country.

And, you know, I think one of the most fascinating things is going to be what are the actual in-person turnout numbers?

So many places still have lines. So many places had long lines early in the day. And then a little bit of a lull. And now we're waiting to see if there will be another surge.

You heard Joe Biden say we could have 150 million people turn out. Some say it could be even higher than that, up to 160 million.

Either way, it would be a record in terms of eligible voters voting in this nation, this great democracy that we are all lucky enough to live in.

Next, in-person voting resulting in some lines in Pennsylvania and Arizona. We'll go to different polling stations there right after this in both battleground states.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)