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CNN Live Event/Special
Kathy Boockvar, (D), Pennsylvania Secretary of State, Discusses Ballot Counting, Trump Campaign Legal Action; Review of Electoral College Count, Battleground State Numbers; Pennsylvania and Nevada Are Key Battleground States Now. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired November 05, 2020 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[13:32:00]
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome back to ELECTION DAY IN AMERICA continued.
All eyes are on Pennsylvania, still too early to call. President Trump has a narrow lead of about 114,000 votes. As voting has gone on today, it narrowed by about 50,000 votes since this morning.
Joining me now to discuss is the secretary of state of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Kathy Boockvar.
Secretary Boockvar, thank you for joining us.
How many ballots remain to be counted? Do you think we could know who won Pennsylvania by end of today?
KATHY BOOCKVAR, (D), PENNSYLVANIA SECRETARY OF STATE: So, yes, I think we definitely could.
I think there's about 550,000 some odd plus or minus ballots that are still in the process of being counted today. Some of those may have already been counted but are not yet uploaded.
But, yes, they're coming in. We're getting 10,000 here, 20,000 here. Counties are furiously at work. And it is looking like we're ahead of schedule.
I have been saying we'll have the overwhelming majority counted by tomorrow. But it looks like we'll have the overwhelming majority counted by today.
TAPPER: Where are the ballots from? Are they largely from population centers of Allegheny County on the western part of the state and Philadelphia and collar counties around Philadelphia?
Is that where most of these vote-by-mail ballots are from? BOOCKVAR: Yes. There's still about 100,000 or so in Philly. About 37
or so in Allegheny, collar counties -- some of them have finished. Some have anywhere from 20 to 40,000 still remaining.
Yes. The largest number in population centers.
TAPPER: You said there's about 100,000 left outstanding in Philadelphia approximately. When do you think they'll be counted? And why is it taking so long?
BOOCKVAR: So they -- I mean, they have been doing everything right. They got hundreds of thousands of ballots. I think They ended up getting 350-some-odd-thousand ballots, which is fantastic.
They've been doing this as quickly as they can. As you know, this takes time.
For example, last night, I know there was some question about why they didn't report some for some hours last night. It is because they were doing reconciliation of the ballots, which is what they should be doing.
They're back counting now. I expect them to be reporting throughout the day.
They have a lot of staff and a lot of equipment. And I am confident we'll have the majority done today, the overwhelming majority.
TAPPER: To be clear for everybody watching, every one of these election centers, where ballots are being counted, allows Democrat and Republican election observers to be there.
And several of them have cameras on them that can be viewed from other rooms or online. Nothing is done in the dark.
[13:35:01]
And Democrats and Republicans all have access to see what's going on?
BOOCKVAR: Absolutely. In Pennsylvania, the party, every candidate and every political party is allowed to have an authorized representative in the room observing the process.
Some jurisdictions, including Philly, also are live streaming it. You can watch the counting process from anywhere in the world. It is very transparent.
TAPPER: Local officials tell CNN election that election workers in Philadelphia briefly paused counting this morning after a Trump campaign legal action.
Can you tell us why Philadelphia paused counting this morning, how long that break lasted, and whether or not they've restarted?
BOOCKVAR: Sure. Yes. My understanding is they've restarted. They paused so there was decision from Commonwealth Court, which is our intermediate statewide appellate court, that reversed a Philadelphia court decision that had OK'ed the distance from which authorized representatives could observe.
The commonwealth court said they had to be allowed closer. Philadelphia has had to reconfigure their operations to allow that.
They had appealed. Because I think their operations work better the way they had it arranged. But they're complying with the court order. They're appealing it.
And in the meantime, they are getting back to counting.
(CROSSTALK)
BOOCKVAR: It wasn't very long.
TAPPER: For people that don't know, there's a legal fight going on about ballots that arrive after Election Day, after Election Night, rather, that were sent before the election or by Election Day that have postmarks or no postmarks.
This does not effect -- this is not about ballots that arrive after -- that are stamped as arriving after. There's a big legal fight going on.
You have until 5:00 p.m. to respond to a motion to intervene brought by Trump campaign related to these ballots.
What are you going to say in that response? And are you confident that ultimately these ballots that were cast before or by Election Day that arrive after in the three days will be counted?
BOOCKVAR: Yes. So, you know, as we said all along, we support -- the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision allowed --as you said, it was just so we are clear, this is just for this year. We weren't asking for extraordinary relief beyond.
We know there are postal service delays that have been impacting vote casting this year. This was -- as you said, everybody still had to cast the ballot by November 3rd. But it allowed time for those postal service delays so they could be received by Friday at 5:00.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued that decision. The U.S. Supreme Court initially declined to expedite and get involved in it. But the Trump campaign continued to intervene and move it forward again.
Look, I am confident that this is the right decision.
But I will tell you, we have been assessing numbers of the ballots coming in from the counties. It is not huge numbers.
So I think no matter what happens, I don't think it is going to be having impact on the race.
TAPPER: You think, even with the ballots segregated -- and you and the Attorney General Shapiro have made sure counties are segregating ballots because there's a legal question. We don't know what will happen ultimately.
You're confident they're not going to affect who wins Pennsylvania one way or the other, these ballots that arrive after November 3rd?
BOOCKVAR: From what we're tracking so far -- you know, counties are reporting anywhere from -- smaller counties are reporting anywhere from zero to some of the larger counties have reported about 500 ballots received the day after Election Day.
So, you know, that's not that many really. So unless it is super close, I don't see them making or breaking this one way or another.
But we are confident. Meantime, we are counting every ballot.
TAPPER: Best of luck to you. Thanks to all of the election workers in the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for all of the hard work.
No serious allegations of irregularities or anything going on. Just a lot of people doing their jobs. And being watched by Democrats and Republicans to make sure everything is above board.
Secretary Boockvar, thank you so much.
There are 550,000 ballots are outstanding. You heard the secretary of state of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania saying she expects most will be counted by today -- Wolf and John?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: That's significant information indeed, John.
As Jake says, if we know the outcome of the 550,000 uncounted ballots in the state of Pennsylvania, we may be able to determine who is going to get those 20 electoral votes.
As you repeatedly point out, if Biden gets those 20, he is the next president of the United States. Trump can't be the president of the United States without Pennsylvania.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The president's math doesn't work without Pennsylvania. Joe Biden has 253. If he gets Pennsylvania, game over, that's 273. And 20 electoral votes here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
[13:40:02]
Biden can win without it. The president cannot. That's the threshold of today as we go through the consequential hours ahead.
Secretary of state just told Jake, she says 550,000 ballots are out, 100,000 of them are here, 100,000 of them, brief pause in counting, logistical legal challenges, 100,000 votes in a place Joe Biden is getting 80 percent of the vote.
Joe Biden has to win 60 percent, 60.4 percent or so. Six of every 10 ballots Joe Biden has to win to catch up. He is winning 80 percent of the vote in Pennsylvania. Your expectation is he will exceed that bar, be over the bar. She said there were another 30,000 or 40,000 in suburban collar around
Philadelphia. Unclear where she means, 30 per county or total.
These counties here, Joe Biden getting 62 percent in Montgomery County, 50 percent in Bucks County. Although we know in mail-in ballots, he is doing higher than that.
Come back in and look. Move it up, easier to see. This is the ball game for Democrats. In terms of Democrats, you see the blue. Not just blue counties, including the city of Philadelphia. It is where the Democrats live. These are populous counties.
She also noted 35,000 ballots out here in Allegheny County. This is Pittsburgh. This is a slower count because of legal challenges as well. But 35,000, 37,000, she said, 37,000 total in Allegheny County.
Again, looking at a situation we know that's blue and the president is at 114,000.
And, Wolf, you just played this out. The way the president's lead has shrunk and shrunk and shrunk. As this has happened, the Biden campaign is quite confident. We need to count the votes.
Most important thing, she said, was originally she thought it would go to Friday before the majority were counted. She believes, in the hours ahead, we'll see the numbers move.
Again, 114,000. You might think 92 percent, that's comfortable. Joe Biden has been winning mail-in ballots as we count them. We can play it out, show you as they come in.
He has been more than exceeding the bar he needs to catch up. Doesn't mean he will catch up. But he has been more than exceeding.
Go back in time, imagine you're the president of the United States, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was one of the blue walls that cracked in 2016.
Election Night, midnight, as went from Tuesday to Wednesday, you're up by a half million votes, feeling confident. Now you go up a little more, Wednesday morning, starts to slip a little in the afternoon, then slips more as they count votes.
That's all they're doing, counting mail ballots cast during the coronavirus pandemic. Thursday, 9:00 in the morning, you see it, Thursday at noon. Then you come out and you are real time.
Every time we get new votes, the president's lead is going down.
Again, 100,000 in Philadelphia, tens of thousands more in the county around it here.
You check other places, you're looking, 99 percent here were Joe Biden. Votes are in here.
Now, you see a lot of red here. Donald Trump wins by significant margins in many of them, these smaller, rural counties. There will be votes coming in there as well, 550,000, total. Maybe 200,000 here, 37,000 here, the rest sprinkled across the state.
The president will get votes, no question about it.
In the count in the last day, Joe Biden exceeded -- every time we got significant votes, Joe Biden exceeded that bar he has to be over to keep tracking that lead, to have a chance to win the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
We'll see. That's the most important thing, Wolf. Just to show you, I'll walk over here. This could be a decisive day if we get the majority of those votes because there is simply -- number one, simple math. Joe Biden is at 253.
We just heard from Nevada. They could be Saturday or Sunday. It doesn't mean we won't know enough in advance of that. But they may not finish in Clark County, Las Vegas, until Saturday or Sunday.
If Joe Biden and you're counting on that, you may have to wait. If you're Joe Biden and you get this, you're done. Then you look to build a convincing victory after that by getting more.
I will go through the math again. The president cannot win without this.
Let's put this back in toss-up just for now and bring it back out there.
The president is leading in Maine, second congressional district. We've done this for many who have been with us for a while. But this has --
BLITZER: One electoral.
KING: One electoral vote. Maine and Nebraska do it by congressional district. That's how they allocate. President is leading here.
Let's assume -- let's go out here first. More of a certainty. The president gets this. The president is leading here.
It is just like Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The president had a big lead midnight Election Night. It has been shrinking constantly.
The Joe Biden campaign thinks they can win Georgia. We'll see. They're still counting votes there.
Let's just, for the sake of argument, let's give it to the president. The president is trailing here and trailing here. If he won them all, you get to 265.
He needs this. He just needs this without a doubt. Joe Biden can win without Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Donald Trump cannot.
As they go through the count today, it's the most important thing we'll watch. BLITZER: It certainly is. We're watching all of this unfold.
President Trump's lead in one critical battleground state is dwindling, down 50,000 since this morning.
[13:44:59]
ELECTION DAY IN AMERICA continues right after this.
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BLITZER: Just moments ago, the former Vice President Joe Biden -- you see him giving the thumbs up. He's walking into a briefing. Not answering reporters' question. People are screaming, shouting some questions. He's walking into a briefing on the coronavirus pandemic.
[13:50:08]
Clearly, we anticipate we probably will be hearing from him at some point, but we'll find out fairly soon.
Let's look at the Electoral College count right now, where it stands, 253 for Biden, 213 for Trump. You need 270 to be elected president of the United states.
Let's get a key race alert. Where things stand in some of the key battleground states.
In Pennsylvania, 20 electoral votes, 92 percent of the estimated vote is in. Trump's lead has shrunk to 114,000 over Biden, 50.2, 48.5 percent. And 92 percent outstanding. And 92 percent of the vote is in and 8 percent outstanding.
In Nevada right now, 89 percent of the estimated votes are in. Biden's lead is only 11,438, 49.4 percent to 48.5 percent.
Pennsylvania and Nevada key battleground states right now.
Let's talk about it with David Chalian. Well, actually, let's go over to John King and talk about it with John King.
Give a sense of what's going on in those key battleground states, John. Pennsylvania and Nevada right now. We can't emphasize how important Pennsylvania and its 20 electoral votes are.
KING: Right. We're in the decisive stretch now in Pennsylvania, especially as we see they're starting to make progress in counting votes.
The secretary of state telling our Jake Tapper, moments ago, she thinks they're get the majority of them will be counted today.
That's of huge consequence because the president cannot win -- cannot win reelection without Pennsylvania. And his lead has gone from well over 600,000 votes down in the last 24 hours to 114,011 votes, 58.2 to 48.5. So you look at the basic map and think, well, still at 92 percent of
the vote in, that seems pretty insurmountable. It is not.
Joe Biden has been more than exceeding the metric he needs and the votes that matter the most.
In terms of, if there's more of them, down here in Philadelphia, still at 83 percent, and the suburbs that surround it, including Bucks County, just outside of Philadelphia.
In the vote here, they're roughly splitting it. But in the mail-in ballots, Joe Biden has been doing better.
BLITZER: Speaking of Bucks County, let's go to Sara Murray is in Bucks County.
Sara, what are you seeing?
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, obviously, we have a number of folks out here who are encouraging to count every vote here. That's exactly what they are doing.
This is a county where they've been counting 24 hours a day since they could, 7:00 a.m. on Election Day.
Right now, Joe Biden has pulled ahead slightly of Donald Trump in this county. He has about a 7,000-vote lead.
But there's still about 28,000 mail-in votes here to be counted. So that's what they're going through.
Like I said, they've been working 24/7. And officials here say they're likely to wrap up the mail-in vote count today.
This is one of those key Philadelphia collar counties. This is one these areas where Donald Trump needed to try to stop his bleeding with suburban voters.
As of right now, as you said, Joe Biden seems to be pulling ahead a bit. But still a lot of these mail-in ballots still to be counted here.
BLITZER: Sara, thank very much.
You know, John, about 5 percent of the population in Bucks County, not too far from Philadelphia, 90 percent of the vote it in there, 10 percent still outstanding.
KING: This is a fascinating battleground within a battleground. If you go back, George H.W. Bush, late 1980s, Republicans won the suburbs in America. That's why they dominated the presidency for so long.
The suburbs have shifted. But you see Bucks County, 50 to 48 here. You go back four years ago, 48-48, essentially. Hillary Clinton just barely carried it.
So this is a suburban collar around Philadelphia. This tends to be the most competitive.
It's also, as you see, it's 181,000 votes, 174,000 votes.
There's a lot of votes in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. When you pull out statewide, 3.2 million, 3.1 million.
But for Democrats to win the state -- you see all of this red. That's rural Pennsylvania.
And Republicans, President Trump especially -- the rallies -- president was in this state a half dozen times in the final week of the campaign at rallies. And they work. It turns out voters in these counties.
Just go through them. You see 70 percent here. You see 80 percent here. It's absolutely imperative -- not as many people live here but the president wins them by such lopsided, overwhelming margins. The Democrats have to run it up here.
So we just said Montgomery County. This is Bucks. Here's Montgomery. Joe Biden getting 62 percent.
They're close to finished here. Tara was here. And 90 percent. She says 28,000 more votes.
Joe Biden and those mail-in ballots has been exceeding this for the most part. The number he's getting in Bucks County, he has been exceeding statewide. Doesn't mean he will here.
But those 28,000 there, 100,000 here, tens of thousands more in these other counties where Joe Biden is getting 60 percent here, 57 percent here, 61 percent here.
So Joe Biden is getting -- he needs to be getting 60 percent of the vote, a little more statewide.
You look at that 114,000. You think a hundred here, tens of thousands more here. Right there, Joe Biden can -- it doesn't mean he will -- but he can catch up to the president right there in southeast Pennsylvania.
BLITZER: The Pennsylvania secretary of state told Jake Tapper just a little while ago we might get results in Pennsylvania by tonight.
[13:55:02]
We're watching nail-biter races going on, not just in Pennsylvania but in Nevada, right now, as well, Arizona. Right now, Georgia getting closer and closer.
ELECTION DAY IN AMERICA, a third day, in fact, continues right after this.
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