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CNN Live Event/Special
Expecting New Vote Totals In Arizona And Georgia Tonight; Presidential Race Narrowing In Pennsylvania; Biden Leads, Trump Casts Doubt On Results; Trump Campaign Files Lawsuits In MI, PA, GA. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired November 04, 2020 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[20:00:00]
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Donald Trump is leading Biden by almost 46,000 votes, but that has dramatically, dramatically shrunk 49.9 percent to 48.9 percent. Let's check in with our reporters who are on the scene for us. Kyung Lah first, to you in Phoenix. What's the latest there?
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are watching our clocks here, Wolf, because in just about one hour, we are anticipating and that's fluctuating about an hour, it is approximate that we are anticipating a ballot update from the Maricopa County Recorder's Office.
Here at the Elections Department is where all the counting has happened, where all the data has come out and we are anticipating to get some numbers, numbers that we haven't had all day, some numbers to come out in just about one hour.
A few hours after that, and that is again, a bit floating, but a few hours after that, we will get a second ballot result. So we're going to have two ballot results here in Maricopa County. Now, why does that matter? Why am I here? Because this is the county where Phoenix is. It is a highly populated county. And if you can win Maricopa, you can probably win Arizona. That is the numbers logic.
So we are watching about 450,000 early ballots that were not able to be counted before Election Day. These are ballots that came in Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. They are being processed.
And then across the entire state, we are getting this latest number. CNN math looking -- talking to all the different county reporters, we have the outstanding balance at about 650,000 ballots here in Arizona that still have to be counted. This is before we get that ballot drop here in Maricopa County.
Now, one other note that I want to make as we are watching our clock, one hour away from that ballot result, what we are starting to see and something we haven't seen yet here in the parking lot, we are starting to see politically motivated activity coming to the place where the ballots are being counted.
There was a post on social media that there was going to be a rally in support of the President, but it is happening here where the votes are being counted in the most populous county. So, I've seen a bit more security, just a bit more eyes on what's happening outside -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Kyung, we will stay in touch with you. It's going to be dramatic developments. I'm here with John King. We're watching all of this unfold.
I want to check in with Gary Tuchman. He's in Atlanta area right now. In Georgia, Gary, I take it, the race is beginning to shrink a little bit.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The race here in the State of Georgia, between Joe Biden and Donald Trump is very close, Wolf, and here in downtown Atlanta behind me, there are the people who are processing and scanning the absentee ballots that have arrived in the mail.
These ballots had to arrive by yesterday at seven o'clock. We know this: according to the Election Director here in Fulton County, there are still 36,000 ballots that need to be added to their website and they hope to do it tonight by midnight or shortly after.
There were originally 142,000 absentee ballots. They have finished 106,000 of them. There are 36,000 left.
This is the largest county in the State of Georgia. The second largest county is Gwinnett County. They still have 4,400 ballots left. The fourth largest county is DeKalb County. They still have 7,500 ballots left that they intend to finish tonight. The reason I mentioned these counties, not only are they large, they are also heavily Democratic counties.
The Trump campaign has just sued the State of Georgia, saying that they had a witness who saw in one county in Georgia, more than 53 ballots that arrived late being put on top of a pile of ballots that arrived on time. All the ballots had to arrive by seven o'clock yesterday.
I asked the Director here of the Election Department of Fulton County what he thought about that lawsuit, he didn't want to comment specifically on the President. But he said, "We locked the ballot boxes. We did not accept any ballots after seven o'clock."
I also want to mention to you they scan the ballots here, they then go to counters in a different room. Those counters look at the ballots, and as I mentioned before, and this is a very important thing, the way they do it in this county, they have one Republican and one Democrat look at the ballots. Those are adjudicators -- if there's any problems with the ballots, they then make a decision if the ballot should be counted.
If they disagree, if it's one to one, then they have an election observer who is independent, make the final decision about it. That's the way it's done here in Fulton.
In other counties, they have one Democrat, one Republican and two Independents working together. Every county does it differently, but it is very important to point out that that is the process. Whenever there is a problem ballot, you look at it in a bipartisan way -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Gary, you mentioned about 47,000 ballots are still outstanding in those three counties. Do we know how many outstanding ballots there are in all of Georgia?
TUCHMAN: According to the Secretary of State's Office, there are currently -- and here's the number -- 149,000 ballots that still have to be counted. Now, we don't independently know if that number may even be higher than that. That's the number we have been told by the Secretary of State's Office. The Secretary of State of Georgia is a Republican. He has stressed -- and this is kind of an indirect aside to this lawsuit -- I don't know if he is responding to the lawsuit, but there is a reference in it. He says that everything has been very secure since the seven o'clock deadline for absentee ballots last night. No ballots are accepted after that.
[20:05:14]
BLITZER: So of those approximately 149,000 outstanding ballots, do we know if they are mostly or all mail-in ballots?
TUCHMAN: Yes, they are all absentee mail-in ballots. There are some other ballots that come in, that are problem ballots that that haven't been mailed in. It's a very small number. But you could rest assured that most of this 149,000 is mail-in ballots and the State of Georgia says they all arrived in time by seven o'clock last night to be counted.
BLITZER: Very interesting, indeed. We'll get back to you. Gary, thank you. Excellent work.
And John King, if we take a look at the numbers in Georgia right now, Trump is ahead by 46,000 or so votes. If there's still -- if there is there's 149,000 outstanding ballots, who knows what could happen?
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right.
BLITZER: Those are mail-in ballots and the Democrats like those mail- in ballots.
KING: Democrats like those mail-in ballots. We've watched more ballots counted today and we know that disproportionately, at a much higher rate than the statewide total, Joe Biden is winning those ballots so far, it doesn't mean he will as we get to the finish line, so let's take -- let's walk through slowly what we are talking about.
About 149,000 ballots, according to the Secretary of State, again, these numbers are bounced around. That's not to say anything going on. These officials are trying to do the best they can, checking in with all those counties.
So the Secretary of State at this hour says, 149,000 left. Well, that tells you, Joe Biden, if he performs very well, it's a steep hill, but he can catch up, right? There's enough votes.
So then we come over here to the just shy of 48,000, right, that Gary just noted. Now, where is Gary? Gary is here in Metro Atlanta. Let me turn this off so I can zoom this out for you. These may wave away a little bit, but just remember, just shy of 48,000. Right?
Fulton County, that's part of it, Atlanta. That's where Gary is. Look at -- you know, just look at the percentages. Joe Biden needs to run it up with these remaining ballots to catch up to the President. Well, he is running it up in Fulton County, so 36,000 more ballots to be counted here. Joe Biden has been winning 70 percent plus of those ballots throughout the day. You'll see that there.
So again, if you're in the Biden campaign, it's a narrow window, but you can get through if your math continues the way it is going. Gary mentioned DeKalb County over here, guess what? More ballots to be counted here. I think 4,400, I believe, he said, 83 percent. Right? Joe Biden is getting 83 percent of those ballots so far, so you're counting those ballots here. That's why the math works.
And you just go around -- right -- Gwinnett County was the other county he mentioned. Joe Biden's total, not as great here in the full count. But again, if you're getting 58 to 60 percent, maybe in the mail-in ballots, a little bit higher, maybe it's a little lower, but it just shows you in the Metro Atlantic region, as you bring these counties back into play, 3,600 -- thirty six thousand, I'm sorry, 4,400, seventy five hundred, there is some math here in this deep blue area here to make up some votes.
And that's not all the votes. That's not all of them. I am going to blank this out just a little bit. I mispronounced this earlier. We know in Houston County, it is not Houston County, my apologies to the people of Georgia. I said this wrong earlier. We know again, there's a -- the earlier couple of thousand that were still out here, and the President is doing well here. It doesn't mean he is going to catch up when these votes are counted. It doesn't mean they are all his or 55 percent of his was counted.
But let's be fair to the President. There are some ballots for him out there, too, in these smaller red and that's why we need to count them all. And then you come over here, Chatham County along the coast, there's been some arguing between the state Republican Party, the Trump campaign, and the counters here, the county here about the count, we'll watch that play out.
But if you look here right now, again, 57 percent for Joe Biden to 41 percent -- 87 percent. So you have more ballots to be counted here as well. Joe Biden needs to do better statewide. He needs to do better than that 58 percent.
But remember, that's the full count of everything counted so far. We do know, in the mail-in ballot so far, his rate of return has been higher than that. So that's just why, look how close this state is: 49.9 to 48.9. There's a history here going back to the governor's race, Stacey Abrams lost to Brian Kemp on that race. A lot of anxiety with Democrats thinking that the votes weren't counted properly, that the system, you know that not enough attention was paid to the integrity of the system. Well, guess what? Everybody is watching now. We will watch this play
out 49.9 to 48.9, and 45,000. Remember, Wolf, in the early morning hours, that lead was six digits, it was way higher than that. And so it is shrinking down now, which is why you count them to the very end.
BLITZER: We've got another key race alert, speaking about shrinking down. Look at Pennsylvania right now. Donald Trump's lead over Joe Biden has gone down to some 200,000. Now, it was 600,000 earlier today, 600,000. Now, it's down to 200,000.
Trump has 51 percent, Biden has 47.8 percent. John, 88 percent of the estimated vote is in, so the President's lead has gone from 600,000 down to 200,000 and there are still lots of votes out there.
KING: And what makes this late counting interesting, I would say fascinating at a campaign headquarters, a source of great tension is where we know it is in the sense that again, going to the City of Philadelphia and you bring it up, we still have 70 percent estimated reporting.
Well, look at this math, Joe Biden is getting 79, close to 80 percent in the City of Philadelphia to 20 percent for the President of the United States. They still have a lot of votes to count in Philadelphia.
[20:10:15]
KING: Remember, look at Joe Biden, 457,000 right now, close to 458,000. Four years ago, in Philadelphia, the Clinton campaign did a pretty good job. They thought they did a great job in Philadelphia four years ago. It didn't work out. Trump won the state narrowly.
But look, 584,000. We know -- our anticipation is, this is a higher turnout election. It has been everywhere. I'll show you the Popular Vote in a minute. That's one of the remarkable things, no matter who you're rooting for.
But look, Joe Biden at 457. We have every reason to believe this number is going to go up and to go up substantially, which again, helps Joe Biden narrow that gap.
The other suburbs around, Montgomery County, up to 92 percent now, but again, Joe Biden winning 62 percent of the vote here. Every reason to expect mail-in ballots. We'll see if it changes, but Joe Biden is winning these votes.
So as you count them a little bit more conservative, a little more close race, but still 13 to 14 points, Chester County there, Joe Biden is going to rack up some votes, and we don't want to spend all of our time in Southeast Pennsylvania. This is where most of the votes are.
But if you come up, here's a Trump county, Luzerne County, up to 94 percent now. So again, in these states, we're going to go through them all. There are places where it is possible, the President picks up some votes, not as populated as Philadelphia and the suburbs around it, but there could be some votes here that helps you offset if it's happening, or these could be mail-in Democratic votes, even in a Republican county that the President carry. That's why we have to count them and find out.
And then lastly, I just want to come out to Allegheny out here in western Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh, again, 89 percent. That means 10 to 11 percent of the vote is still out.
Joe Biden is getting 59 percent here to 40 percent for the President, when you round it up, we don't know if those trend lines will continue. Would it be higher for Biden? Will it be lower? We don't know. But that's why you count the votes.
And so again, you come back and you look now that 200,000, that's stunning. That's stunning, because you could roll the tape back several hours and we were talking 400,000 to 600,000. So as they count more votes in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, it is getting closer and so that the calculations now are, you know, the President is still leading there. But if I can just walk over here for a second.
So where are we is the issue, and 253 to 213, which means Joe Biden is closing in, and so there's just a couple different ways to game this out. This is hypothetical, right? But this is just what's going on in the campaigns right now.
Okay, Joe Biden is leading there and Joe Biden is leading there. If he holds those, that's it. That is game over. Right?
But the President has his lawyers in several of these states and we have a very contentious environment right now. If the President were to win, you know, the rest and you had Joe Biden to 270, the President just behind him, well, think about the divided country, the contentious environment, what would happen?
What would happen if Joe Biden could come back in Georgia, and come back in Pennsylvania? Then you get above 300.
So you know, the President's lawyers will still have their questions. But you're in a very different political environment. Now, will the President of the United States listen? That's one question. I won't try to answer it. I'll leave that to our White House reporters.
But if you have 306 -- above 300, well, then other Republicans are going to be leaning on the White House to say, Mr. President, sorry, this broke late the other way, which is why it's critical that we count all the votes.
Now, again, to be fair to the President, it is perfectly conceivable, he holds on to that one narrowly. It's perfectly conceivable, he holds on to that one narrowly. Perfectly conceivable, we expect he will hold on to that one and we know the President is going to win Alaska when we count the votes there and we know the President at the moment is leading in Maine's second congressional district, Maine awards them by congressional district.
So it is also possible if Joe Biden holds his leads here that he is the President-elect, or at least in theory, he is the President-elect. We have some litigation and demands for recounts, may be challenging ballots somewhere in the country. Wait for that to play out at 270 to 268, which is essentially where we are, polarized, even divide.
So we know these are the two that could clinch it. Most of our attention right now is going to go to Nevada and Arizona, because if Joe Biden wins them, they get him to the finish line. But how these other states play out, is going to say a lot in the next maybe 24 hours, maybe 48 hours, maybe 72 hours about the balance in that electoral count, and the political mood, if you will, the political leverage back and forth that we see evidence and displayed at the White House,
BLITZER: And we'll see if we can make some more projections in the coming hours right here as well. Jake, over to you.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: All right, Wolf, as the most powerful nation in the world continues to try to figure out who exactly is going to be our leader for the next four years, let's check in with the campaigns. Let me first go to Jim Acosta who is at the White House. Jim, what's the latest? What are you hearing from Team Trump?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake, I think it's fair to say there is some high anxiety inside the Trump campaign about Georgia. You heard John King just talking about how that gap is narrowing in Georgia between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
I am told by a Trump adviser looking at the numbers right now. This adviser is saying that this is a jump ball in the State of Georgia. Earlier, this adviser was telling me, no, they felt like Georgia was going to be fine. That it was going to be closed. It would tighten here as these ballots are counted.
Now the same adviser is saying, no, Georgia is a jump ball and in the words of this adviser, the President cannot lose Georgia. He can't lose Georgia.
[20:15:09]
ACOSTA: If he loses Georgia, in the opinion of this senior Trump campaign adviser I just spoke with a little while ago, the President is likely to lose this election.
Now, if you take those 16 electoral votes in Georgia and put them in Joe Biden's column, according to our math, he's at 269. He's on the doorstep of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. He has not clinched 270, but it makes it much easier for Joe Biden to win the presidency if he has Georgia because then you just add Nevada or Arizona and then you have President-elect Joe Biden.
So who would have thought, Jake, that we would be talking about Georgia, Georgia, Georgia in this election, but Georgia is certainly on the minds of people inside the Trump campaign tonight. They did not see this coming -- Jake.
TAPPER: All right, Jim Acosta, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Let's go to Jeff Zeleny now with the Biden campaign in Wilmington, Delaware. And Jeff, we're still waiting to hear from Georgia. We're still waiting to hear from Arizona, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. How does the Biden team think that this is all ultimately going to end?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Jake, I would say as the day is ending, the Biden campaign is feeling pretty confident. But it's unclear if today is ending, actually, particularly with those states out west. We are going to see more ballots and more votes coming in.
So we still have the Biden campaign watching all of this very carefully as it unfolds. But there is one number that they are thinking about. It's at the center of virtually every conversation you have with Biden advisers. That is 17.
They are 17 electoral votes away from hitting that 270. That is all he needs to win the White House. Georgia would be extra on top of that. Other states as well.
So the Biden campaign is being extraordinarily disciplined. They're not responding with statements after every time the Trump campaign is sending one out. That is dramatically different from what we've usually seen from them throughout the course of this campaign, when the President says something, the Biden campaign responds.
We have not seen that in this moment. So one thing that has been a bit of a surprise here is the silence from the President. All day long, the Biden campaign has been wondering what he is going to do. Is he going to speak? Is he going to come out and say something?
He has tweeted, but not spoken. So that was certainly different from the former Vice President. Joe Biden, of course, struck a tone here in an afternoon address talking about unity, bringing the country together. So at this moment, as we watch these come in, virtually 24 hours after they were hoping to have some type of a celebration just behind me here, everything is still set up.
They do not know when this will end, but they are confident -- they remain confident, but they still need those votes to come in. So they will be watching Nevada tomorrow and we will be watching Arizona tonight.
And Georgia, should it happen, that would be just ice cream on the top of this -- Jake.
TAPPER: All right, Jeff Zeleny, thanks so much. And Abby, I mean, I think it's clear, we don't know who the President is going to be. We don't know who is going to get to 270 electoral votes.
But I would rather be Biden than Trump at this point in terms of where the outstanding votes are.
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there are a lot of holes in the President's wall right now that he has to patch up, and Georgia is a really big problem for him. I think the campaign knows that, which is probably one of the reasons we saw that lawsuit come through, but as Jim said, if the President loses Georgia, and either Arizona or Nevada, this is over. That's it's as simple as that. They understand that in Trump campaign headquarters.
And at this point, though, like with all of these states, there's not much they can do. The votes are coming in, and they are coming in from heavily Democratic parts of the states, and so it is creating a real problem for them. We just have to wait and see what happens, but it's not looking great.
TAPPER: And remember, Dana, I said yesterday that the Biden people were telling me that the outstanding states were they thought going to be like Virginia, which was a lot of Trump vote, but they didn't. The urban centers and the suburban centers reported their votes late. Richmond, Virginia, and then Fairfax County, Virginia, and then Biden won and they said that was going to happen with Wisconsin. It did.
They said that was going to happen with Michigan, it did; and now we're waiting to see if it happens elsewhere.
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: And we're going to know really soon. I mean, this is -- this all has been exciting, and certainly angst provoking for a lot of people, but if you look now, it's what -- 8:19 p.m. Eastern and according to Kyung Lah, a reporter in Arizona, we are going to maybe get a big tranche of votes that are outstanding. That could give us a sense of how big of a gap Joe Biden has or how much of a lead he has or whether it is going to shrink.
And we really are on the precipice, potentially, of knowing who the next President of the United States is. And the fact that we're talking about it, and it is Arizona is pretty remarkable. We don't know if it's going to happen, but just the fact that that is a potential pivot point for a President of the United States, who is a Democrat, just shows the fact that that demographics are changing in many states, and number one is Arizona.
[20:20:21]
PHILLIP: And you know what, Arizona is also their best shot right now, really? I mean, if you really look at what's going on in Arizona, the reason they have been expressing so much confidence about Arizona is because the state is not -- you know, Maricopa County is not quite as polarized as say Atlanta and the metro areas around Atlanta. So they feel like they might get a more favorable split of those votes coming in. But that's not saying a whole lot.
I mean, they have a fair amount of ground to make up in that state, and it really shows how big of a problem that they have that Arizona is their best shot, and it's not a really good situation that they are facing right now.
That state is right now, Joe Biden has a pretty comfortable lead for Arizona, and if he is able to hold on to it, it blocks Donald Trump's path to the White House.
TAPPER: So much of the Trump era has been as if it was conceived in a writer's room in Hollywood. And the idea that his advisers have been begging him for years to stop attacking and insulting one of Arizona's favorite son, Senator John McCain, who he attacked and said he wasn't a real hero, "I like people who weren't captured," et cetera et cetera and just went on to attack John McCain and attacked John McCain and then John McCain died and he was incredibly ungracious and then continued to attack him when he died.
Ultimately, his widow, John McCain's widow, Cindy McCain, very beloved and respected in Arizona endorses Joe Biden. There must be so many people in the White House right now who are just tearing their hair out watching these Arizona returns thinking, "I told him not to do that."
BASH: Yes. You just -- you really -- you read my mind. I was sitting here thinking Arizona and thinking John McCain and Cindy McCain, and frankly, now former Senator Jeff Flake who endorsed Joe Biden, but much more, it is much more of the McCain legacy. And I mean, I'm sure you're talking to people who are close to John McCain. That it's John McCain's last laugh if in fact, his state, his beloved adopted State of Arizona goes for Joe Biden, his old friend who spoke at his at his funeral, who eulogized him when John McCain was an aide to then Senator Biden and other members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
I mean, can you imagine the poetry of that if it happened.
TAPPER: If it happens, but the way that the writers have been conceiving of this, this season of the Trump Show, it might.
Stay with us as we head into dramatic moments tonight, as new results are released out of Arizona and then Georgia. Will they help Joe Biden cross that finish line? It's just 17 electoral votes away. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:27:07]
BLITZER: Take a look at this first, now, the Electoral College map where things stand right now. Biden has 253 electoral votes, Trump has 213. Remember, you need 270 -- that's 270 be elected President of the United States. Biden is getting very, very close.
Let's take a key race alert, right now. Three battleground states in Arizona right now with its 11 electoral votes, 82 percent of the estimated voters in, Biden is still ahead. He has got more than 92,000, almost 93,000 vote lead over Trump, 51 percent to 47.6 percent. We are told in the next half hour or so, we're going to get a whole bunch more votes out of Arizona. We're going to see where that goes.
But take a look at Georgia right now. Look at how it has narrowed so dramatically, under 40,000 now. Donald Trump's lead over Joe Biden in the state of Georgia is 39,817. Ninety five percent of the estimated vote is in, 16 electoral votes. Only hours ago, that lead was in the hundreds and hundreds of thousands, now it's down to 39,817.
And look at the lead how it's shrunk in Pennsylvania for Donald Trump as well. It is down to 195,953. Earlier this morning, there was many, many more, 88 percent of the estimated vote is in 20 electoral votes in Pennsylvania.
Very dramatic developments. We are watching those three states very closely": Pennsylvania, Georgia and Arizona.
Let's check in with Dana Bash. She's got a closer look at the balance of power in the U.S. Senate. What are you learning -- Dana.
BASH: That's right, Wolf. Well, we have a projection to make in the State of Michigan and that is that incumbent Democrat Gary Peters will go on to another term in the U.S. Senate defeating Republican challenger, John James. This is a back and forth race, but the Democrat has eked it out.
So let's see where the balance of power is. Democrats have 47 seats, Republicans have 47 seats. Six seats remain to be called.
Remember, Democrats need four seats to take back the Senate. That's exactly where they were when they started this race.
Let's look at some of the tight races right now: Arizona. This is one where the Democratic challenger Mark Kelly has been way ahead of Martha McSally. He right now has 144,000 votes more at 52.6 percent and Martha McSally at 47.4 percent. We're still waiting for votes to come in there.
And there are two races in Georgia. The first that we will talk about is incumbent Republican David Perdue, who is 133,000 votes ahead at 50.2 percent, Jon Ossoff, the Democratic challenger at 47.5 percent. That 50 percent is key to look at because that is the only way that anybody can win in Georgia if they get at least 50 percent without a runoff.
And speaking of runoff, let's look at the special election. This is going to a runoff. The Democrat, Raphael Warnock is going to go up against Kelly Loeffler. That runoff is going to happen January 5th of next year.
[20:30:19]
So, let's look at some of the other tight races that we have yet to call right now. North Carolina, incumbent Republican Tom Tillis is ahead, he is 96,000 votes ahead at 48.7 percent. The Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham at 46.9 percent, 94 percent of the estimated vote in there.
And in Maine, the Republican incumbent Susan Collins has many saw as the fight of her life. She is ahead by our count 52,000 votes at 50.3 percent. Sarah Gideon at 43.0 percent. Sarah Gideon has conceded that race, we have yet to call a winning for most more votes to come in. In Alaska. Dan Sullivan, the incumbent Republican has a significant lead. He's ahead by 53,000 point -- votes 62.9 percent. And the Democrat is trailing pretty significantly.
And then let's look one more time Wolf at the ballots of power right now. Democrats have 47 seats. Republicans have 47 seats, six seats remain. And Wolf this has been a heartbreak for a lot of Democrats because they saw this as a perfect opportunity to take back the Senate. They had a lot of Republicans that they were trying to beat who were very vulnerable. And right now it is a very, very tough slog for them to actually achieve that goal. Wolf.
BLITZER: We'll continue to watch it with you Dana. Thanks very much.
Let's get right back to the presidential contest John. Under 40,000 vote lead now in Georgia for the President, 16 electoral votes in Georgia. Let's check in with Gary Tuchman first. I want to see the latest developments that are unfolding there. I know we're anticipating a lot more numbers about to be released.
TUCHMAN: Wolf, if Georgia has been a reliably red state for a long time. The last time it picked a Democrat for president was 28 years ago with Bill Clinton. So that's why these numbers are eye opening. You just said to yourself 39,000 now separates Donald Trump from second place Joe Biden. But here's the number that really matters in this moment.
The Republican Secretary of State here in state of Georgia says there are still 122,535 outstanding votes. And behind us are some of them. This is Atlanta, Georgia, Fulton County, the largest county in the city of Atlanta. These are the processors and the scanners. Looking at the absentee ballots that arrived by the deadline at 7:00 last night. They've counted in total, they will count a total of 142,000. When it's all over.
They still don't have 36,000 just in this county that will be posted tonight. That's the plan by around midnight or shortly after midnight. They plan to post 36,000 additional votes. These processors and scanners send these ballots to counters in another room. If there's any problem with the counters that are looked at by adjudicators.
The adjudicators are a two-person team, one Republican to one Democrat, to make sure the intent of the person who filled it out is clear if they disagree that a third neutral person looks at it. In addition to Fulton County, there's the nearby county of Gwinnett, which is the second largest county in Georgia, they still have 4,400 votes to count. And then there's the cab, which is the fourth largest, and they still have 7,500 votes to count. They all plan to finish their accounting tonight.
We can tell you it's a very tense and interesting scenario when you're in this room of these people. These folks are doing really important work. It looks like a beehive. They never stopped working. But we are told as long as we've been here, I mean, they just never stopped moving is what I'm saying they're also never stopped working. But we've been told by the election director here that everything has been done really honorably.
He wants to make that very clear, the Trump campaign has filed a lawsuit saying that in one county here in Georgia, that they spotted 53 absentee ballots that came after the 7:00 deadline put on the pile of absentee ballots to be counted. That's their allegation. Election director here in the largest county Fulton County says that it's absolutely not allowed, that when 7:00 came last night, the ballot boxes were taken away. No mail was accepted today, every ballot and these people's desks came before 7:00.
One more thing I want to mention to you Wolf, lots of counties in the state are counting absentee ballots and not just the few I mentioned in the Atlanta area. We're talking about 60,000 total ballots through the Atlanta metropolitan area. But we told you the total of 122, that's another 62,000. One of them is in Republican County.
I mispronounced it earlier for the record I want to say correctly. It's Houston County not Houston County, there's also a Houston in St. in New York City and there's a Houston Texas, we always want to get our Houston and Houston right. Wolf.
BLITZER: And Gary, just to be clear, those 60,000 ballots in the metro Atlanta area, those are all mail-in ballots right?
[20:35:00]
TUCHMAN: These are all mail-in absentee ballots, which is the way people have voted for a long time, which is the way members are our military vote. It's an accepted way to do it. Each state has different rules when the absentee ballots can arrive. For example, I spent the election in Ohio, Ohio allows absentee ballots as long as they were postmarked by Monday to arrive 10 days after the election on the 13th. Here in Georgia rules they had to arrive by 7:00 last night.
BLITZER: All right, Gary will stay in close touch with you. Thank you very much. So John, Trump is ahead right now by less than 40,000 votes in Georgia. 122,525 ballots are outstanding, the whole state, but in the metro Atlanta area, there's a significant number he was just talking about right there.
KING: He said half of them. Roughly half of them are right there in metro Atlanta and you see the blue star. I want you to remember this number. 122,000 left, right. So again, I'm going to blank this out for a minute. I'm going to keep metro Atlanta circled. Just want to show you something.
So, you think OK, 122,000 left. Yes, that's a narrowleaf just shy of 40,000. You think you can't make that up. I just want to make a point here. At midnight last night, forgive me for turning my back, I'm left-handed. At midnight last night. That was Donald Trump's lead --
BLITZER: In the state of Georgia.
KING: In the state of Georgia, 372,000 votes. It is 39,800 votes right now. So that is the momentum that is what has happened is they're counting these ballots overnight and throughout the day today. So, that was your number at midnight. That is your number now. You're nervous in the Trump campaign headquarters and the Biden headquarters. You're saying count those votes, please.
We want to see them. So, let's blank it out and see where we go. Gary standing in Fulton County. Again, 93 percent more ballots to be counted. Gary says we should get those later tonight. We know Joe Biden is in the public record is winning 72 percent. We also know from the ballots counted today, that's actually a little bit higher, the votes for Joe Biden, the percentage is a little bit higher today. So if you're trying to make up that gap, that's what you need to do. Post a big number.
Gary mentioned more ballots out in DeKalb County. Look at here, Joe Biden is getting more than 80 percent of the vote there. If you're going to catch up, you have to win a disproportionate number of the votes simple math there. We know that's happening. We have more coming in Gwinnett County.
This one, so a little closer 58-43 Joe Biden needs to win, you know, again, overwhelming majority of those votes, we'll see as they count him right here. But if you pull this back out, you see this blue star Atlanta in the suburbs that's going to most likely determine the outcome of this race as they continue to count them. But as Gary noted, he mentioned Houston, that's down here. Right, we'll count the votes there.
They're up to 95 percent right now. So that means you got a couple thousand left probably could come in the President's way. He's running the county right now. It could be Democrats who mail-in their ballots we know from pre-election polling, Democrats said COVID safety measures, not many of them prefer to mail them and we'll see. That's why we count them.
And we know earlier Gary mentioned Chatham. This is one of the places where the Trump campaign, the state Republican Party, are in a fight with the Democrats with the counters here, with the county here will see, they can litigate that that's what you do after elections. People say a lot of things today after an election, and we'll see how it plays out. We'll just let the process play itself out.
But you see here, it's 2.8 percent in Savannah, the suburbs around Savannah and you see Joe Biden is doing quite well here. 58 percent of the vote, if you round that up 41 for the president, you're counting ballots here as well. There were several thousand just a short time ago here. So you have 122,000, statewide, about half of them in the Atlanta metro area, a couple thousand to come out of here, at least as we count them up.
And so, where do you get 39,811? Again, in most elections, you'd see that 95 percent. And you would think, well, if they split them at about this rate, now the President would eke it out. But knowing what we know about what has happened since midnight last night, that was 372,000.
At midnight last night, these mail-in ballots are overwhelmingly going for Joe Biden. So we will see. I'm fascinated to see what we get out of Fulton County, what happens in DeKalb to the east of Fulton County, we still have some more from Gwinnett here. As we get these votes, we will see if that lead shrinks or if it stabilizes for the President.
But again, we're focusing right now on Arizona and Nevada because the math of those two states if Joe Biden wins them, gets him to 270 gets them to the finish line. They're not done yet. So if you're Joe Biden, and you could have a backup plan, if you will, right here in Georgia, that would be remarkable. Which is why yes, we're focusing on Arizona and Nevada because of that obvious math that gets him to 270.
A plan B would be pretty good at this moment in time. The President there's nothing left. The President can afford to lose, the President, he has to pick up Arizona steel or Nevada, and he has to hold that we have game over.
BLITZER: We're about to get a whole lot of ballots. The results coming in from Georgia. We'll see if that 39,000-vote lead for Trump over Biden how it unfolds. The suspense is building also out of Arizona in addition to Georgia, as new ballot totals are about to drop there as well. We'll share it with you when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:43:44]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: And welcome back. We're waiting for votes to be counted in Arizona and Georgia. We're expecting to hear by the end of the night from both of those of those states.
Rick, do you think we'll actually I mean, have an answer for even if we don't have all the votes in from Arizona?
RICK SANTORUM, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I think that I think this tranche of votes coming in from Arizona will tell us whether Arizona is in player it's not.
COOPER: Yes.
SANTORUM: If the numbers don't move much, then the -- what we were told, which is this is Election Day voting, which is going to be heavier Republican. If it doesn't come in heavier Republican. That's I don't think it's the end or maybe I'll ask David Chalian that. But I --
COOPER: Well that's the belief that some Republicans have tonight that the votes that are coming in.
SANTORUM: This first tranche doesn't close at least --
VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thumb (ph).
SANTORUM: -- something.
JONES: Right there.
SANTORUM: And something more than, you know, on the on the margins. That's not a good sign. And then in Georgia, I mean look, I'm getting much more nervous about Georgia. My friends in Georgia are telling me that it all we're going to pull it out. But I think most people think now Purdue is going to go to -- this as the Senate candidate, could end up going to a run off, which means the United States Senate will be determined by to run offs in the state of Georgia which either went for Joe Biden or, you know, was either way was basically a 50-50 state.
[20:45:09]
So it's a talk about money going to Georgia between now and --
JONES: Yes.
SANTORUM: -- first the year, it's going to be a pretty expensive time.
JONES: You know, yesterday was just like rollercoaster was like up and down. And there's like all these like reversals of fortune. So like that today, it's just been a slow, steady grind --
SANTORUM: Beat down.
JONES: -- against Trump. Trump is just sitting there every hour watching his life gets smaller and smaller, watch his numbers go down watching that. And it's --
COOPER: I got to say, you do have a slight smile on your face.
(CROSSTALK)
JONES: Reporting, reporting the facts. But yesterday, I had rumblings in my thumbly it was really, really scary. Today is just Democrats feeling a little bit better, a little bit better, as that's right said always nervous, always scared, but a little bit better. And if you're Donald Trump, if you're sitting in the White House, just watching these numbers get smaller and smaller, and then spray getting these silly little lawsuits all over the place that everybody knows are silly. You are not having a good day.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, and our reporting from the White House is that even Donald Trump is telling allies with whom he's speaking, saying, look, I'm not so sure these lawsuits make that much of a difference. I mean, he kind of understands that, I believe.
SANTORUM: Generally, don't they?
BORGER: Well they overwhelmingly.
SANTORUM: Unless there's something to sue for. Right?
DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I mean, there's also look, a lot of what he always does, has to do with positioning, it's, you know, and right now, he's trying to hold play a place, these suits are a way of saying there's still a chance here, we can still fight these things. But if Georgia goes, you know --
SANTORUM: It's not over but --
AXELROD: And I mean, we were --
(CROSSTALK)
AXELROD: -- Arizona when, Georgia has five more electoral votes than Arizona. I mean, that would be devastating. (CROSSTALK)
JONES: Yes, which means, you know, love the blue wall. But that means Lucia, in Arizona and Stacey Abrams in Georgia, brought the Trump presidency. Now if that happens, those words, you're still waiting for Pennsylvania, and you get Arizona in Georgia, Stacey Abrams, DeLucia, wind up having the biggest impact at the end of this thing. Unbelievable.
BORGER: And Georgia was so overwhelming last time over 200,000 votes. So, if Republicans are very nervous now about taking it, it says something, it says something about those Senate races that may be coming up. And I think you're right. I think Stacey Abrams had may have had a lot to do.
COOPER: Someone made this point earlier, though. I mean, in Arizona, if in fact, Joe Biden gets Arizona, it just shows. I mean, President Trump has gone after John McCain from --
AXELROD: Yes.
COOPER: -- meaning this is still partly John McCain's sending a message back to --
(CROSSTALK)
AXELROD: Senator McCain's add in particular that Maricopa County area that I think is must have been very, very powerful.
COOPER: I mean, the number of times that President Trump has just gotten in his own way of, you know --
BORGER: Winning.
COOPER: -- of winning --
BORGER: Yes.
COOPER: -- is extraordinary.
BORGER: Well, I spoke with an ally of the presidents who said that they had tried to talk him in to pursuing Cindy McCain, trying to make peace with her in some way because they understood how important she was and they knew where her head was, and that he refused. He just couldn't get over himself with that. And Cindy McCain, I'm not sure Cindy McCain would have accepted his entreaties to sort of make up. But he didn't. And it is kind of the ultimate, in a way, the ultimate Revenge of John McCain should that state (INAUDIBLE).
JONES: And also the ultimate revenge of black women. Because it's not just Stacey Abrams. You know, African-American women, across the board, up and down, when this is all said and done, an unbelievable failings, and we're really not just a backbone to be the Democratic Party, the backbone of Democratic values, or Africa-American women who work their butts off to get people out, who often don't get the credit, who often don't get the recognition. And you have Kamala Harris being able to kind of, you know, finally break one of those glass ceilings, but this, this party was carried across the finish line by black woman.
SANTORUM: Except the job -- that Donald Trump did better with African- American woman in this election. So --
JONES: I mean I felt like (INAUDIBLE) 3 percent instead of 1 percent (INAUDIBLE) the day, you got to admit.
SANTORUM: No, no, I understand. They did. But the point is, I keep going back to that, that had he not gotten in the way of himself. John McCain is a great example of that.
BORGER: Women (INAUDIBLE), yes.
SANTORUM: And the way to say with women and with African-Americans and with Hispanics. There's -- there was opportunity as in --
BORGER: Absolutely.
SANTORUM: -- in a whole new coalition based upon what Donald Trump was doing, instead of what Donald Trump was saying.
BORGER: How about COVID?
COOPER: Well, let's talk about tonight, though. What to be looking for in this first grouping of voting votes? We expect Arizona to be first right?
[20:50:06]
AXELROD: Yes.
COOPER: In the next hour.
AXELROD: Yes. I think Arizona will be the only thing. There'll be two trenches from Arizona. Now, Nevada says they're going tomorrow. So we're going to be focused on Arizona tonight. And as Rick said, I think the big question is, I mean, there's two sides are saying different things.
So, if this first tranche comes in, and that number in Maricopa County shrinks in a appreciable way, it means that, in fact, yes, there was this flood of late votes from Republicans that the Trump campaign suggests that that they expected. If it is a more, you know, even if it narrows a little, you know, that would not do it, you need you need some dramatic movement.
And I think people are going to begin to lose faith in that theory. If there's not some big movement, and that's, that's, I think, what everyone's going to be looking for if after both trenches, the number in Maricopa County is appreciably, not appreciably different than it is right now, in terms of margin, then, you know, this, there's not a lot of life left in this.
SANTORUM: But remember, I mean with David Chalian was saying earlier is that Trump needs to get in Arizona with these tranches about 52 to 55 percent of the vote. So, it's not that he has to come in and do what frankly, Joe Biden is doing in Pennsylvania, which is getting 80 percent of the vote, doesn't have to get 80 percent of the vote, he has to get 52, 55. So, you can say it's not an appreciable, but 55 isn't going to be a big number. But you get that up.
AXELROD: Yes.
SANTORUM: Make up the difference.
AXELROD: Yes. Well --
BORGER: It's going to be difficult to see if he can do that. And that's why last night, when a couple of places called the state for Biden, the Trump people went nuts about it right. Now, how important.
COOPER: Do you think it's possible that -- I mean, the -- you know, there's the reporting that President Trump has already talked with people, you know, that he's in communications with sort of pointing out that he doesn't really think some of these legal challenges are going to do anything. Do you think he might give him the fact we haven't heard from him all day. I assume that's obviously intentional.
He had the opportunity at any point to come out and speak and you would think he would have been motivated, speak after former vice president came out and spoke and got a lot of attention for what he said. Do you think he might change course and just realizing if in fact, he has lost, realizing --
(CROSSTALK)
AXELROD: That would be my prayer over the country. That would be my prayer for the country. It is not in keeping with who we've seen. The idea that he --
COOPER: Right. But if you're going to be a loser, is it better to be a good loser in the Trump --
(CROSSTALK)
AXELROD: I think in Trump's mind, no loser is a good loser. Losing is not good.
(CROSSTALK)
SANTORUM: Filament --
JONES: We'll see, we'll see.
SANTORUM: Donald Trump loves his country. I know, some of you don't agree with that. But I do. I think Donald Trump loves this country. And if Donald Trump is going to lose, I mean, if it's clear, he's lost, and there's no place to go. Donald Trump loves this country. And he'll do what's right for this country. I mean, he's done it repeatedly, in my mind, either off the course of his presidency --
JONES: He didn't do it last night. He didn't do it last night.
(CROSSTALK)
SANTORUM: He's still the fighter in the arena. And yes, does he hit behind the neck? And does he punch below the belt? Yes, he does.
JONES: I pray that you're right. And but what I'll say is, first of all, I do think that I agree with Axelrod, that would be the best thing. And I believe in second chances redemption, that's my whole deal. If he do that, if he does come out and just concede graciously, I think there should be no requirement. Democrats accept that and better. I'm just saying.
SANTORUM: Good luck with that.
JONES: And it's just as likely Democrats will accept that he'll do it. But I think that that if that does happen, I think that we should accept it. I think the fear that we have on the Democratic side, is that he has said so clearly that the only way he could lose is if it was written. And then he has a whole bunch of people who are geared up. The question is, can he back away from that? And if you come back with I don't know, but I hope that he does do what he say.
BORGER: I think we spent four years talking about Donald Trump pivoting --
JONES: Well, that's yes.
BORGER: -- and turning into somebody that he isn't.
JONES: True.
BORGER: And he is who he is, and we know who that person is. Now, if he thinks it is in his own self-interest at a certain point. He will say maybe, OK, but they cheated. But there's nothing more I can do about. He's never going to give up on the notion that this election may be legitimate if he loses. Never going to --
(CROSSTALK)
BORGER: Because what obsessed him was about the last election, and the popular vote was that Democrats were trying to deal --
COOPER: Well, if the goal is to have a Trump network or whatever it may be, whatever it is, if in fact, he's voted out of office, and whatever his next step is, having grievances is --
AXELROD: Yes, I mean that's the point. I've always felt that there were two reasons he wants both He wants to express his own sense that I'm not a loser. And secondly, it's a launching point for whatever is next thing.
[20:55:07]
COOPER: It is all about Arizona just minutes from now. When new vote tallies will be released. We'll have a little bit more of a clear idea. Will the state push Joe Biden closer to victory? We'll find out after break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: We're closing in on a potential turning point in the presidential election. As it's continuing tonight. I'm Wolf Blitzer in the CNN Election Center.
Joe Biden is now on the brink of getting enough electoral votes to win the White House and defeat President Trump. This hour, we expect new vote totals out of Arizona where Biden is in the lead. Arizona is one of the six undecided states right now.
Georgia, Georgia is another, we're awaiting new results there as well after a very significant tightening in the race. Biden now with 253 electoral votes is looking to hit the necessary 270 mark. President Trump trailing with 213 electoral votes right now.
[21:00:03]
Let's get a closer look at the state by state numbers in this key race alert. Let's take a look at these four states.
