Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Event/Special

Biden Cuts Into Trump's Lead In Georgia, Pennsylvania; U.S. Presidential Election Still Undecided, Race Narrows; Trump Mounts Legal Challenges As Path To Victory Narrows. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired November 05, 2020 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:00]

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: You come down here. You come down into Montgomery County, 95 percent is in now. Joe Biden, you see 62 percent there. That now -- that percentage there goes up but in the mail-in ballots they're counting, he's winning a higher percentage than that. You come into Bucks County, you see the two candidates splitting the votes here. In the mail-in ballots, Joe Biden is making a comeback. What matters most is we're still waiting.

This is Philadelphia. This is 12 percent of the statewide population. This is the biggest population center, the biggest basket, if you will, of available votes. They're still only at 83 percent. They're still only at 83 percent. You see Joe Biden 488,000, right? Let's just go back in time, Hillary Clinton won 584,000 votes in Philadelphia four years ago. So you see Joe Biden right now, just essentially 100,000 votes shy of that, with votes still to be counted. And the expectation is that turnout will be up.

So it is not unreasonable to think Joe Biden is going to get very close or he may be even higher than that Hillary Clinton total, which is a game changing event, as you count more ballots here --

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: As you point out there still 17 percent in Philadelphia County outstanding, that's a lot of votes out there.

KING: So there's enough votes there, and especially in the surrounding suburbs still, plus they're waiting. There's been a pause put out here because of some legal challenges. We talked about that earlier. There are going to be lots of these as the lead shrink, the Trump campaign is surmounting legal challenges. There's more votes to be counted too, 35,000 or so votes still to be counted in Allegheny County. So the votes are there.

Joe Biden is on a trajectory if he keeps getting in the mail ballots, the percentages he has been getting over the last 24 hours. The math is certainly within possibility. And again, as you watch that 115,000 votes, the President needs it.

BLITZER: I want to check in with Kate Bolduan, she's checking to see what's going on in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. What are you learning, Kate?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Will say, yes, there is. Hey there, Wolf, I'm sorry, Wolf, someone was in my ear.

BLITZER: Yes, Kate, go ahead.

BOLDUAN: I wanted to give you an up. Sorry, Wolf, thank you, of course. I want to give you an update on Allegheny County, which of course is home to Pittsburgh, a very big county here in Pennsylvania. They have paused -- They have a pause on their counting today with the outstanding ballots. The details here are important.

First, the number, there's 35, about 35,000 outstanding ballots to be counted. Within that 35,000, Wolf, there are 29,000 ballots that are -- that cannot be counted until tomorrow because of a court order. Because of a legal challenge that has been brought about -- against that pool of 29,000 ballots. It has to do with voters being issued incorrect ballots, and then being reissued ballots. There's been a legal challenge to that. So there's a court order that that large chunk, 29,000 ballots cannot be counted until Friday.

There's also an additional 6,000 ballots that according to Allegheny County officials include everything from some partially damaged ballots to ballots that were overly creased and could not go through the scanner, to ballots that had issues like date issues or signature issues that all need to be reviewed and handled manually. Because of that, they will not be -- they will not be actually putting any more ballots into the scanners until tomorrow.

The county officials we spoke with are stressing that this is not a vacation day this Thursday for all of those workers who have been working around the clock to get these votes counted. This has to do with the process of they need to set up. Literally one official said that even getting -- even to the extent of moving chairs and tables to get them in place for this review board with the process that will begin again tomorrow.

That's what's happening in Allegheny right now. But while we were speaking with these officials, we have some interesting new numbers. I also wanted to make sure that we get out to our viewers as well. They also now tell us that there -- they have in Allegheny County 500 segregated ballots. Those are the ballots that were received mail-in ballots, received after 8:00 p.m. Election Day that can be counted if they're received by Friday.

They've -- in that county they have received 500 so far, just for some perspective. I also found interesting when we were told that they believe that they're going to have between 10 and 15,000 provisional ballots, so there are ballots that are coming in that are out there that we're going to need to be dealt with. And the pool I find very interesting because 10 to 15,000 ballots, these officials said was about double of the provisional ballots that they have in the last election.

They also said that they have heard from the state that they believe statewide when it comes to those segregated ballots, Wolf again, received after 8:00 p.m. Election Day, those mail-ins that are allowed to be counted by state law up to three days after the election when they've been received, they believe that the statewide across the Commonwealth there's going to be close to 10,000 of those segregated ballots that needs to be dealt with.

Getting a much more interesting picture of what kind of outstanding ballots are going to be out there that need to be dealt with and it's not as simple as we know when we're talking about these legal challenges as receiving and scanning, because there's a lot of disputes that are going on with all of this, Wolf.

[12:35:13]

BLITZER: Yes. I know, you're working your sources. Excellent, excellent reporting, Kate, thank you very, very much. Allegheny County, that's Pittsburgh, that's what almost 10 percent of the population of the state.

KING: Right. And so you're looking at, you know, if you have 35,000 ballots that are in limbo right now. And that's often done when you have a court challenge, when you have a court challenge. But the party suing, challenging the ballots wants to stop them from being counted first. They want a judge's decision, should they be counted, because once they're counted, it's just harder in a democracy to get votes taken off the books, if you will. It's a higher legal bar to hurdle in most cases unless you can prove something definitive.

So they'll test that one out. Just to the point about this, though. So the President has a lead of 115,000 right now, has been shrinking. There are tens of thousands of ballots out over in this part of the state. But if you get down to a point where the President's lead is in the 20s, let's say it keeps moving down, well, then obviously, those 35,000 ballots become absolutely essential to count. So we're going to have to wait a little bit. But it all depends on what the rest of the math is, from the rest of the state.

But it's a Democratic stronghold, you see the blue on the map, it speaks for itself, Joe Biden expects to win the majority of those votes and he expect to win actually a sizable majority of those votes. So he will want them counted. Kate raised another point about ballots received after 8:00 p.m. The state says under state law, it believes and it has a couple of court cases, then it can count them. But the United States Supreme Court, has -- the Trump campaign believes there's an opening to perhaps go back to the United States Supreme Court.

So this is complicated for people. But it could be very important. Again, this state could decide the presidency. There could be some court fights even after Pennsylvania gets to the finish line or very close to the finish line. And one of the things we're seeing now because the stakes are so high. And because this election is so tight, these are conversations that happen in every election, provisional ballots, let's say you requested a mail-in ballot, and at the last minute you thought, OK, I don't trust to mail this, you show up to vote on Election Day.

But in the books, they say you got to mail-in ballot, they let you cast a ballot, they just put in a stack of provisional ballots. And then that were they think your address is wrong. And you say let me have a provisional ballot. There any number of reasons you asked for a provisional ballot. And they set it aside. And it's so -- if it is going to be counted in the end, anyone gets to challenge it, both campaigns come in and look it.

This is arcane happens in every election, it normally doesn't matter, because you don't have elections settled by 10, 20 or 500 votes. In this case, if we get to that point, we're going to have a fight over 8 o'clock on election night, we're going to have a fight over provisional ballots, we're going to have the challenge we have in Allegheny County, and more, and more. It's just you know, these things happen in every single election. There's a lot more spotlight on them when they're happening late in a presidential election right now.

And again, we're at 115,000 votes right here. Let's go back in time, and just watch how this has played out because, Wolf, this has been very stunning. And we'll come back up to the top here. Again, this was a state that Donald Trump is President because of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

As of Tuesday, election night gave way to Wednesday at midnight, he's up by more than a half million votes. At that point, you're thinking, OK, Pennsylvania is going to stay in the Trump column. But remember the mail and uniqueness of this election, they keep counting ballots Wednesday 9:00 a.m., 618,000. You're feeling even better. Wednesday 3:00 p.m. it's starting to trend in the other direction. Thursday 1:30 a.m. this is one of the Trump campaign starts saying whoa.

Now remember, they know the data. They know the mail ballots that are out. But then they're watching them be counted. And you see 6:00 a.m. there and you see 11:36 a.m. today on Thursday and then you come out as they keep counting, my mistake hit out of that, come back in to Pennsylvania, you hit out of that into real time. So every time we get new ballots in Pennsylvania in the last 24 hours, the President's lead goes down.

BLITZER: And it's significant. It's not just happening in Pennsylvania, but all these mail-in ballots because of the coronavirus, in part, people decided they want to mail their ballots and instead of showing up waiting in long lines on Election Day. So Trump is ahead now in Pennsylvania by 115,000 in Pennsylvania right now. But there's only 92 percent of the vote is in, 8 percent still outstanding. That we estimate is about 600,000 outstanding votes, and a lot of that are the male-in ballots.

KING: Right. And so and we know, again, the ratio that Joe Biden needs is now much smaller than it was yesterday. We were saying he needed two-thirds of the vote yesterday because he is cleaning that up. Now his rate -- what he needs the percentages are shrinking. And so it is more than within the realm of possibility. And again, we keep coming back to the same places Chester County 95 percent. I just keep like looking at Montgomery County 95 percent, Bucks County 90 percent. And then you come down here again, it's a bit of a broken record, but Philadelphia is 12 percent of the state, you know, of the population.

Democrats think they did a pretty good job of voter turnout in Philadelphia. We're only at 83 percent. If you're an 83 percent and you got 488,000 votes, your expectation is when the rest of that comes in, you are going to jump, right? You're going to jump by tens of thousands of votes at a time the President's lead is 115,000. Now there are more. There are more ballots to count as well around the state at the Commonwealth and we'll just count them.

I mean today is going to be an interesting day. They're moving. They start -- they're moving the ball there. And we'll just see by the end of the day. The Secretary of State has said she thinks some of this will carry over to tomorrow. Kate has told us the Allegheny dispute will carry over likely to tomorrow. The question is by the end of the day today, is he still in the lead? Has Joe Biden passed him? How big is that margin? And then you're starting to do the math of what's still out.

[12:40:17]

BLITZER: Pennsylvania, one of those, you know, blue wall three states. But Michigan and Wisconsin, Biden has already won. Now we're waiting to see what happens in Pennsylvania. Let's go to Georgia because that is so incredibly close right now in the state of Georgia. Look at this 14,100 vote lead that Trump has over Biden, a 98 percent of the estimated vote is in 49.5 percent to 49.2 percent. Let's check on Atlanta, the Atlanta area, which is so -- which is a big chunk of the state right there.

KING: And so Fulton County, which is Atlanta and the suburbs right around Atlanta, and you can see by the math, 72 percent of the vote for Joe Biden. We got a bunch of votes from here earlier, a 6,000 votes were counted and Joe Biden narrowed the lead. Every time they count a big batch of votes in Atlanta and the blue suburbs around it, we see this lead narrowing. That is why it has been dramatic and we're still waiting for more votes out of Fulton County.

But again, you come over here. Fulton County to Cab County, they're up to 95 percent now. But look that 83 percent. So they're still counting ballots in places where Joe Biden is getting 83 percent of the vote. That's why that lead is shrinking down. You move over here to Gwinnett, they're at 95 percent. So the count is, you know, they're moving in, but there's still more to be counted. I just want to check down here at Rockdale County, they're at 95 percent. If you move this way, Henry County here, and you come over here, this is what I was looking at earlier, now they're up to 92 percent in Clayton County, so.

And Joe -- look, Joe Biden is getting -- this is where you're looking because he's getting 85 percent of the vote in these counties or maybe higher here. So the math continues. We'll put I'll tell you, again, that just like Pennsylvania, this lead was overwhelming late on Tuesday night. Now, Joe Biden is in striking distance.

BLITZER: It was hundreds of thousands and now it's 14,100. We're standing by for a news conference from officials in Nevada where the vote is very close. Our special coverage continues, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:46:54] JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Hello world and welcome to Election Day in the United States of America continued. Reminder that Biden and Trump are competing to get to 270 electoral votes neither candidate has achieved that.

As of right now, Democrat Joe Biden has achieved 253 electoral votes. President Donald J. Trump has achieved 213 electoral votes. So it is a race for the last competing battleground states. And let me tell you where they are. Nevada, Joe Biden has a narrow lead just over 11,000 almost 12,000 votes. In Georgia, President Trump has a lead over 13,000 votes. In Arizona, Joe Biden a lead of almost 70,000 votes. In North Carolina, Trump a lead of 76,000 votes plus. And then in Pennsylvania, the big prize on the board, Donald Trump is at 115,069 votes.

But really given the size of the electorate in those states, those are very, very narrow margins right now. And we are waiting for all of the votes to come in to determine whether or not we award the states to Trump or to Biden. Let's check in with the campaigns right now. Let's start, of course with Jeff Zeleny, who is in Wilmington, Delaware with the campaign of Joe Biden. Jeff, there was a campaign call, a conference call with the campaign manager earlier today with Jen O'Malley Dillon. How are the Biden folks feeling? Do they think that Joe Biden ultimately will get to the magic number of 270?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Jake, they do. There is the same air of confidence that there has been really, since Election Day ended. There is that same confidence because of the numbers, because of the changes we have seen. But there are five words from Jen O'Malley Dillon, she's the campaign manager for the Biden campaign. She sent five words to supporters. Stay patient and stay calm. Those are hers -- is her message and this is why. They're looking at all these numbers state by state. They do believe that Georgia is going in their direction. They do not know if they will win it or not. But it is why they sent President Obama there the day before the election because they saw such a good return in early vote. So they're keeping an eye on Georgia.

Arizona is a place that she had a bit of caution for people. She said she believes that their margin there is going to narrow even more. They believe that the President is going to get more votes in Maricopa County in Phoenix. They do not believe that the ultimate outcome will change. They believe that they by tomorrow will have an advantage there because of votes in Pima County, in Tucson. So she is saying that don't be worried about Arizona, it will tighten. They believe it will expand tomorrow. We will see. We'll let the vote count, take care of itself here.

But Pennsylvania of course is something they have their eye on. They are optimistic about that. But the bottom line here, Jake, they do not believe that there will be a winner declared today. They say at least tomorrow. So this parking lot you see behind me here which was a victory rally set for Tuesday night is still hear gathering a bit of dust. They do not think they'll use it today but still optimistic.

TAPPER: All right, Jeff Zeleny with the Biden campaign in Wilmington, Delaware, thank you so much. Let's check in with Jim Acosta. He's at the White House. And, Jim, we are hearing from the Biden people, be patient and be calm. Those are not really the vibes I'm getting from President Trump, patience and calm.

[12:50:12]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's not the feel here, Jake. Let me just tell you, we've not heard from the President so far out in front of the cameras. But the President is making his presence known in his social media bunker. He has been tweeting in all caps. And now we have a statement in all caps from the Trump campaign from the President. We can show you what this says. He says if you count the legal votes, I easily win the election. This is a statement from the President. If you count the illegal and late votes, they can steal the election from us. That's a statement in all caps from the President right now.

You know, listen, obviously, the President is continuing to question the legitimacy of this election. But if you talk to aides and advisors inside and outside the campaign, they -- some of them will tell you a different story. Some of them are expressing confidence that they're going to pull this out. But some will tell you a different story, when those numbers started to bump up for Joe Biden in Nevada, I just heard from a Trump adviser a few moments ago who said, you know, listen, the President is running out of options here. This is an indication the President is running out of options.

When we talk about Georgia talked to a separate Trump campaign adviser who said it is looking increasingly bleak in Georgia for the President in that state, which is just a stunning development to think that President Trump could lose the state of Georgia. So there is a growing pessimism inside the campaign. They still feel like there is a chance there as a narrow path of the presidency, one more time for Donald Trump. That's how the President sees it at this point. He's calling allies, he's calling family members trying to, you know, generate enough outrage out there to potentially, you know, by the will of the President himself, change the outcome of this election.

But one other thing I want to note, Jake, and I think this is an indication of where things are heading in the mentality that is taking shape inside the Trump campaign. There are some aides and advisors who are starting to talk about the potential not only that the President is going to lose this election, but that he may mount some sort of resurrection run in 2024. This possibility has been discussed, I'm told inside the Trump campaign by some aides and advisors, and that some have even talked about it with the President himself.

That obviously is something that's way off into the future. But it's an indication that they're starting to feel like perhaps they're running out of time inside the Trump campaign, Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Jim Acosta at the White House, thanks so much. And let's discuss this. And before we do, I just want to make sure people out there understand. We have been saying for weeks, that this election was in all likelihood not going to be decided on election night, that there were going to be tens of millions of vote by mail ballots that would need to be counted. And in order to do so responsibly, it was going to take some time, we'd been told that by Pennsylvania, we'd been told up by Arizona, we'd been told that by Nevada election officials. And that is exactly what we're seeing.

DANA BASH, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It turns out we're in a pandemic. And because of that this is a pandemic election, things move more slowly. But more importantly, people, a lot of people, millions of people took advantage of new laws in their states, including battleground states to vote from their perspective more safely. And that meant sending in ballots by mail or putting them in drop boxes.

TAPPER: And there's nothing nefarious about it.

BASH: No.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: But you know what we didn't probably realize as we were leading into this, we knew that this was going to be a closely divided election. But the sheer number of battlegrounds that we have right now, as we sit here, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania, all still undecided, is what is causing everyone to be so on edge, the margins, and all of those states are very, very narrow.

So there is a lot of uncertainty about a very small number of ballots, and it's causing people to feel anxious, but the only resolution to this is to have the ballots be counted.

BASH: Exactly. And that is why despite the public bluster from the Trump campaign, the fact -- despite the fact that they are trying to bend the narrative to prepare for the possibility that the President loses. That's just not what's going on here. There have been no reports of nefarious situations in any of these places which for the most part, are really transparent as they count these votes.

TAPPER: They have Republican officials observing in all of them.

BASH: Exactly.

PHILLIP: And I have confidence, look, the courts are going to sort out what's being written in these court filings. They're going to throw out things that are not on the level. But at the same time, what I'm really concerned about is the disinformation universe that is continually being fed and created by the President and his allies, people are believing it. Last night in Maricopa County, the President's supporters showed up yelling about a sharpie conspiracy theory.

BASH: Correct.

PHILLIP: These things are starting to matter.

TAPPER: Yes. And that some of them were armed.

[12:54:49]

We're following the count and all the battleground states including Nevada where officials are about to hold a news conference. We are expecting some new vote numbers there. Our special coverage continues next, stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're back with our continuing election coverage. I'm Wolf Blitzer.

Right now, former Vice President Joe Biden is gaining votes and momentum in three of the battlegrounds that could decide if he wins the White House and defeats President Trump. We're expecting more results out of Nevada at any moment now after Biden increased his lead there just a little while ago.

[13:00:07]