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CNN Live Event/Special
New Votes Coming In From Arizona; Georgia: President Trump Has A Lead Of Only 1,902 Votes; Biden Closes Gap In Pennsylvania. Aired 9- 10p ET
Aired November 05, 2020 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[21:00:00]
WOLF BLITZER, CNN LEAD POLITICAL ANCHOR, CNN HOST, THE SITUATION ROOM WITH BLITZER: Tonight, as new votes keep coming in. Here's a key race alert. All right, let's look at these three states.
In Pennsylvania, right now, 94 percent of the estimated vote is in, 6 percent remains outstanding. Donald Trump continues to have a lead. But it has severely, severely shrunk to only 50,671. Look at this, 49.7 percent to 49 percent.
The mail-in ballots are coming in very quickly right now, and those are way, way, way in favor of Biden. We're watching Pennsylvania oh, so closely, 20 electoral votes. If Biden were to win Pennsylvania, it is over. He wins the presidency with those 20 electoral votes alone, doesn't have to win any other states.
Let's take a look at Georgia right now. Trump's lead in Georgia, look at this, it is down. It shrunk again. Only 2,497 over Joe Biden, 49.4 percent to 49.3 percent, 99 percent of the vote is in, but there are still thousands of votes outstanding. We're looking closely at Georgia and its 16 electoral votes.
In Arizona, 88 percent of the estimated vote is in. Biden remains on top. He's got a lead of 56,833, although that too has shrunk significantly over the past day or so. He has 50.3 percent to 48.3 percent, 11 electoral votes in Arizona.
I want to go over to John King right now, because John, Bill Weir is in Arizona for us. He just got a whole new batch of numbers. We're going to write down these numbers.
Bill, tell us what just came in, in Arizona.
BILL WEIR, CNN ANCHOR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: OK. The new numbers, Wolf, out of Maricopa, just doing quick math, now is 1-point - 1,868,414 votes. That is - I'm trying to do the math here, nine - three - 139,000, Joe Biden now has 944,285 votes, to Donald Trump's 880,347.
Hopefully you guys can help me out with the percentages there on this new dump. But it is around the number that we had expected. Joe Biden's lead is - went up by 3,000 or so. The President's - President picked up about 50,000 votes. You got it?
BLITZER: All right, hold on for a moment. We just got the--
WEIR: So--
BLITZER: --we just got the new numbers just in from Arizona right now, and let's take a look.
Another key race alert in Arizona with its 11 electoral votes, you see Biden's lead has shrunk once again. It is now 46,257. He has 50.1 percent to Trump's 48.5 percent. So, it's gone down a bit.
46,257, John King, the lead for Biden in Arizona, he still has a lead but it keeps going down.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN ANCHOR, INSIDE POLITICS: Right. And that's the point. Again, as we're watching in Pennsylvania and Georgia, the President's lead is shrinking consistently in the recent vote counts here. Joe Biden's lead is shrinking.
And it's because, again, Maricopa County, we're showing Joe Biden leading in the County, but it's a competitive county. You see 51 percent to 48 percent, if you round up.
And these votes coming in are Republicans who drop off their ballots. There are a lot of Republicans in Maricopa County. Doesn't mean former Vice President won't win the County, doesn't mean he won't win the state.
But as these votes are being counted consistently, last night, and now today, every time we get a bunch of new votes, Joe Biden's lead has come down, A, in the County, and B, when you pull it out to look at state-wide.
Again, 46,000 votes, you're still ahead. But that lead has been consistently shrinking, which is why, we need to get to the finish line. And just as we watch the dynamic, in Pennsylvania, and in Georgia, in these two states, we're seeing the opposite.
In these two states, we're seeing as the mail-in ballots are counted, the President's lead is shrinking. But out here, in Arizona, which Biden still leads right now, President Trump has been gaining with every count of votes released over the past 24 hours. So, we just watch it play out.
If you look at the popular vote, this is not how we pick Presidents, but I keep watching every time we come out to the full national map. Joe Biden now has a 4 million-vote lead in the national vote.
So, the Democrats are making a statement, when it comes to the country at large. Republicans would argue a lot of that's coming out of California and New York. And that's true. But in the popular vote, Joe Biden is pulling away.
And so let's just check in on this one just again, it's important anyway, everything's still left on the board is important. But if Joe Biden can hold this lead, and hold this lead in Nevada, Arizona and Nevada, would get Joe Biden to 270 electoral votes, even as we wait to see if he will overtake the President in Georgia and in Pennsylvania.
BLITZER: In Maricopa County, in Arizona, about 70,000 votes, John. Write this down. Just came in. We just got the exact numbers. It's very, very interesting what's going on. Trump got 42,276.
KING: 276, got it.
BLITZER: All right, that's what Trump got. Biden got 31,700. That's why his lead has shrunk.
KING: Right, right.
[21:05:00]
BLITZER: So, we're seeing in Arizona the opposite of what we're seeing in Georgia and Pennsylvania.
KING: Right. And as Bill explained, last time we were there, they have a Republican history in Maricopa County. President Trump carried the County last time. This is one of the most fiercely contested states in American politics right now.
And just as we're seeing in Pennsylvania and Georgia, they're mail-in ballots. They're disproportionately Democrats. In Arizona, as Bill noted, a history of absentee ballots, drop-off ballots, Republicans have a strong tradition of voting that way, and we're seeing the votes come in.
BLITZER: So, Trump likes what he's seeing in Arizona. He's not calling that fraud. He's not calling it a hoax.
KING: Yes.
BLITZER: He's saying that's great news that he's gaining votes in Arizona. But if you go to Pennsylvania or Georgia, he says that's a fraud, and it's unacceptable, it's a crime.
KING: Yes. Trump's definition of democracy is "It's good if I win. It's good if I'm leading. It's good if it's going my way."
Now, he's not still - he's still not leading in Arizona. But you're exactly right. And again, you point out, it's ludicrous. I'm just going to call it inconsistent that the President says "Stop counting votes." He said it in Michigan, which he has lost. He said it in Wisconsin, which he has lost.
Again, in both of those states, Election Day votes, he pulled out to an early lead. They're counting other legally cast ballots by mail, and he lost, and that's what's happening as - I move this away. That's what's happening as we come up.
But again, to his credit, the President is making up ground in Arizona. We're going to count those votes because it is fair to count every legally cast ballots just as we will continue to count the votes here where the opposite is happening. They're counting legally cast ballots. The President's leads keep shrinking. It's 50,000 there.
Think about that, Joe Biden has a 50,000-vote lead in Arizona. Donald Trump has a 50,000-vote lead in a state that is much bigger, much, much bigger, 50,000-vote, and it has been consistently shrinking. So, that one is shrinking there for the President. This one, look at that, we're under 3,000 votes now.
BLITZER: Yes.
KING: 2,497 votes. And again, this has been a steady march. From a couple hundred thousand votes to now 2,400 or just shy of 2,500 votes in the State of Georgia. This is just - it just has been slow and steady as they count the votes. But that is stunning.
And again, the President must win Georgia and must win Pennsylvania. If he loses either one of those, his math to 270 becomes impossible. That's why this is so important.
Now, you can - if it's close, at the end, there will be maybe a recount, maybe litigation. But the path of this right now, the trajectory of Georgia is in Joe Biden's favor. We will see if it gets there.
And again, just to circle back out here, again, the point I'm trying to make is we are counting all the votes, whether they benefit Joe Biden or whether they benefit Donald Trump. The President has a different view of things. This is the way it has always worked. That is, forgive me, what makes America great, and we'll keep doing it.
BLITZER: These are all legal ballots, whether they're day of ballots, whether you vote early, absentee ballots or whether you do it by mail. This is all legal. It's part of American democracy.
KING: Right, right. And this year, it's a little more complicated because of the COVID pandemic, right? States have had to figure out what to do, right?
So, there's expanded mail-in balloting everywhere. Different rules in different states. Some states, just has to be mailed by Election Day. Other states, it has to arrive by Election Day. We're going through all that.
But yes, the option to vote has been greatly expanded because of the COVID safety concerns. And you know what? You know what? This is what, I'll just usual a gentle words, infuriates you when you hear from the President, what has been the end result?
The end result has been more people voting, more people voting for him, more people voting for him, more votes for the President of the United States than he got four years ago. And more votes, Joe Biden now has the most votes cast for any American presidential candidate in history.
Higher turnout in a democracy is a good thing. Then you count the votes. Somebody wins. And yes, it's painful to lose. I can give--
BLITZER: And there are still plenty of votes outstanding.
KING: Yes, right.
BLITZER: Only 91 percent of the nationwide estimated--
KING: Yes.
BLITZER: --vote is in.
KING: Right. And it is possible - again, the trajectory at this hour is in Joe Biden's favor. Joe Biden is knocking on the door of 270 electoral votes. That's a victory.
It is still possible for the President of the United States to win re- election, the same President who just a couple of hours ago, launched a vicious attack on American democracy.
BLITZER: It was totally vicious.
KING: Yes.
BLITZER: And full of lies. It was unbelievable--
KING: Right.
BLITZER: --what he said.
KING: I'm just--
BLITZER: But in order for him to win, as you correctly point out--
KING: Yes, yes, right.
BLITZER: --he's got to win Pennsylvania. He's got to win Georgia.
KING: Right. And Joe Biden right now is winning more than the percentage he needs to win as the new ballots continue to come in. Doesn't guarantee that he keeps it up, but Joe Biden's trajectory, right now, is toward catching the President in Georgia. You know, there's just several thousand votes left. But we have just watched this play out consistently.
That's why I keep going back to it, just to see if the number changes again. This for me, it's the wonder of the tool because it's a - this is a live data feed. So, when election officials report results, they pop up. You'll be watching something.
As you're watching throughout the night, here's the test, does that turn blue? Does that turn blue? Can the President flip one of those red? If those two out there, Nevada and Arizona, if they stay blue, it's game over, Joe Biden is the next President of the United States.
But these two, bigger prizes, more consequential, the President must win them both. There is just no way. You cannot get Donald Trump, from where he is, which is 213, electoral votes, you cannot get him from 213, to 270, unless you win Georgia, and unless you win Pennsylvania.
[21:10:00]
So, the math right now is at a critical point. And let's be honest. That's why the President is abandoning common decency and launching attacks on vote counting, on vote counting.
And again, in this state, he's been railing against the Democrats who run Pennsylvania for some time, about the COVID response, about everything. He's been venting at them for some time. This is a Republican Governor, who is a Trump ally, whose state is counting votes. Period!
BLITZER: Yes.
KING: Right.
BLITZER: And they're doing it well in Georgia.
KING: Right.
BLITZER: They're doing it well in Pennsylvania and Arizona, Nevada, all over the country. They're doing it the way a democracy is supposed to--
KING: Right.
BLITZER: --democracy is supposed to unfold.
KING: Right. And we're under 50,000 in Pennsylvania, 48,854. And again, every time we get new votes, Joe Biden is above the threshold he needs, to keep narrowing that gap, has the potential to win.
If he keeps going at the way he's going - if the votes keep coming in, the remaining votes come in, at the percentage they've been coming in today, Joe Biden will pass the President, and build a lead somewhere in the ballpark of 40,000, could be as high as 50,000 votes.
There's no guarantee of that. There's no guarantee of that. I'm just saying if it stays on the statistical path, it has been on, throughout the day, and that has been consistent. It has been very consistent as it happens. Sometimes, you know, sometimes things change. That's why we're waiting for more votes.
And it's the same down here. We're getting to a much smaller universe of available votes here, but the lead has also shrunk significantly, 2,497.
And just to remind people, many of the votes that are out are in places like this, Clayton County, south of Atlanta, they're up to 95 percent now, but you see Joe Biden is getting 85 percent of the vote here, if that path continues.
The question is, just as he - are there enough votes out there? Mathematically, yes. Joe Biden has to keep winning them at a high percentage. We'll keep counting. BLITZER: And it looks like he is winning those.
KING: Yes, right.
BLITZER: And by a very, very high percentage.
KING: Yes.
BLITZER: Not just 60 percent, 70 percent--
KING: Right.
BLITZER: --80 percent of the vote that's coming in the mail-in ballots in Georgia. He seems to be winning.
KING: He needs 57 percent, and he has been consistently, all day long, in the ballpark of 80 percent.
Some counties, it's high-60s. Some counties it's above 80. But when you average it out, he needs 57 percent, and he's been above that bar, consistently, all day long, as they count the mail-in votes.
And Wolf, to that point, I just want to - I just want to follow-up on this. He's been above that all day long, even in places like, you know, that option came in earlier, but even in places like Taylor County, right, even in places that are Republican, even in places that the President is winning, because Democrats voted disproportionately by mail.
So, they've counted the votes here. And the President, to his credit, is running up big margins in these Republican counties. But when they count the mail-in ballots, they're disproportionately cast by Democrats.
So, even in places like this, when they count those ballots, Joe Biden is getting 60 percent, 70 percent of the vote, or more, in those smaller batches of mail-in ballots. And that's why he's catching up.
BLITZER: Go to Clayton County, if you can--
KING: Sure.
BLITZER: --for a second. So, we got an update on what's going on over there. Get your board up, and we'll tell you.
KING: Sure. I'll follow your lead.
BLITZER: Biden, 1,154. Trump, 165.
KING: OK. So, your eyes tell you what you need to know there.
BLITZER: 86 percent.
KING: Yes. Your eyes tell you what you need to know there. You almost don't need that.
BLITZER: Yes.
KING: But I'll make my sloppy "8," and put it on the board there, 86 percent.
Look, this is just - this is consistently what is happening. Now, Clayton is a Democratic county. It's a blue county. I'm going to move this down just a little bit, so you can see what we're talking about here.
Here's the City of Atlanta. If you've ever flown into Hartsfield International Airport, one of the world's most busiest airport, it's right here.
It's in Clayton County. And so, this is Metropolitan Atlanta. It's growing. It's vibrant. It's diverse. And it is Democratic. That's why you see the blue. And again, Joe Biden, in this County, is getting 85 percent of the vote consistently.
And even in a county where he's averaging 85 percent, when you count the mail-in ballots, he's a little bit above that. He's a little bit above that. That has just been the consistent patent - pattern, excuse me, a little Boston accent coming out late at night, all day long, as we go through this.
BLITZER: Here is something interesting. We just learned there are still 5,726 outstanding votes in Clayton County, 5,726, in Clayton County. And we're told that we will get those results by midnight tonight.
KING: OK. So, remember that number here. I'll remember it, 5,726. I'm going to come out of the County just to do this, OK? 5,726. You just said that, right?
BLITZER: Yes.
KING: He's been getting 80 percent or more of the vote. Look at that lead.
BLITZER: Yes.
KING: Right there. You can get it right there. There are more votes. There are more votes in other counties.
BLITZER: Correct.
KING: There are more votes in other counties. But 5,726 that we're expecting to get out of Clayton County tonight, match that up to that 2,497, if Joe Biden continues to perform, at the rate that he's performing, in these counties, those votes, if he gets 80 percent of those votes, puts that at severe risk. And there are still more votes to count.
BLITZER: Yes, and in other counties that Biden is doing really well in right now. Georgia, I think, it's fair to say, does not look great for the President right now.
KING: The trajectory is terrible for the President right now. It's not only, not great, it's disastrous at the moment.
[21:15:00]
Again, we're going to count every last vote. And sometimes, it changes right now. We'll keep an account. And I'll leave that up right there, right now. But just to make that point--
BLITZER: And just to make the point about Georgia.
KING: Yes.
BLITZER: A Republican Governor, a Republican Secretary of State, it's going to be hard for the President to accuse fellow Republicans, including his supporters like Governor Kemp--
KING: Right.
BLITZER: --in Georgia, of being anti-Trump.
KING: It's, again, it's just ludicrous, to be polite, what we're hearing from the President,, because you have a state - and look, Governor Kemp, if you remember, if you follow American politics, just a couple of years ago, when Governor Kemp was elected, Democrats were furious. He was the Secretary of State, when he ran for Governor.
Democrats thought that their votes were suppressed. Democrats thought back then this was not a fair count. So, there are a lot of eyes on Governor Kemp. In addition - in addition to just this being a presidential election, his own history and the state's history, he's being watched closely, and he knows it.
BLITZER: If Georgia turns blue, and Biden wins Georgia, and its 16 electoral votes, has he blocked the President from 270 electoral votes?
KING: Yes, he does.
BLITZER: Show our viewers.
KING: Yes, he does. So, let's say if that one goes blue right here, all right, if that one goes blue, so let's walk through the rest here, OK? I'm going to try to get this right. My fingers don't quite do it. Look at that. There's a success story right there.
BLITZER: That's one.
KING: That's Maine's 2nd congressional district. Maine and Nebraska allocate Electoral College votes by congressional district, so that would get the President one. The President is leading in North Carolina.
Let me just pull this back out, come on up for me here, let me stay on the Republican. The President is leading in North Carolina. We expect it to go that way. The President is leading in Alaska. We expect it to stay that way, right? So now, you're coming across here, the President is leading - I mean
Joe Biden is leading here, but let's just give it to the President, for the sake of argument, let's give it to the President, for the sake of argument, where are you there?
Now, this would be the perfect storm, if you will, or the perfect disaster, depending on your perspective. If the President won that one, we could get a 269-269 tie.
If he wins Georgia, I mean if Joe Biden wins Georgia, and the President wins everything else, 269-269, which throws the election, in that scenario, unlikely scenario, to the House of Representatives. And so that is a constitutional crisis in the making.
BLITZER: Yes.
KING: If it plays out that way. If it plays out that way. But remember, remember, that's the giant "If." Joe Biden right now is leading here, and is leading here, and the trajectory tells you he may get this one as well.
But even if he doesn't, if he just - if Joe Biden holds those, he's the next President of the United States. Georgia would be icing on the cake.
BLITZER: A Georgia win though--
KING: That would be an exclamation point.
BLITZER: --for Biden prevents Trump from getting 270.
KING: Prevents him from getting 270. There would still be the possibility of 269.
BLITZER: If he won everything else.
KING: If he won everything else. And he's not leading. Again, Joe Biden is leading here, Joe Biden is leading here, and Joe Biden is charging here.
We'll go back to where we are, so people see the fair perspective. But President's leading, but that lead is in dire danger. President leading, that lead is in even more dire danger at this moment. There are more votes, actually, here.
BLITZER: Yes.
KING: And if you're doing a statistical analysis - a statistician would tell you that one's probably at greater risk than that one given the trajectory. I mean the math at the moment tells us this one could flip quite soon.
BLITZER: He's got a lead right now of 2,500 votes, 2,497.
KING: Right.
BLITZER: That could change at any moment right now, and Biden could take the lead in Georgia.
KING: Right. Again, this is, you know, in some ways, this is just a simple math exercise. What did we learn first? Addition and subtraction, arithmetic, 57 - 5,726, right?
And so, Joe Biden gets 80 percent of those votes, then guess what? You're going to see this state flip from red to blue. And then we count the rest of them. It could flip back. It could flip back. But this - just this universe of votes alone, in this one county, make sure this is not on, there we go, right here--
BLITZER: Clayton County.
KING: --right here. Right, Clayton County. So, we have more than 5,000 votes coming out of here right now that Joe Biden - we pull this out right here. Those votes right there, if he keeps pulling - if he comes in at 80 percent of those votes, that's going to get him in that striking distance.
And Wolf, that's not it. That's to say, we're focusing on this one county because we expect them soon. Again, this has just been a steady count, methodical build, 2,497, the count continues. We will watch it.
BLITZER: So, Georgia's definitely within very, very strong reach for Biden, Pennsylvania as well.
KING: Pennsylvania as well, and it's a bigger prize. It's the biggest prize left on the board, 20 electoral votes.
And again, the President of the United States cannot win without it. If he loses Pennsylvania and Georgia, we're done, the President needs both of those, Pennsylvania and Georgia. And Joe Biden can get there, even if the President wins them, mind you, Joe Biden has an easier path.
But here we are. We're below 50,000 right now. 48,854. And we know, starting here, in the largest city of them all, largest vote area of them all, 12 percent of the state-wide population, is Philadelphia, and we know we're still waiting for more ballots here.
BLITZER: Only 89 percent of the vote--
KING: Right.
BLITZER: --in Philadelphia is in?
KING: Right, right, so you're looking at another 10 percent, a 11 percent of the vote to come in, and he's getting 80 percent of the vote. He does not need 80 percent of the rest of the votes out state- wide, but he's been getting consistently, Joe Biden has, 80 percent or more of the count in Philadelphia.
Just going back through my notes just to make sure I have this right. In Pennsylvania earlier, this is - and there have been votes since then, earlier in the night, Joe Biden needed just shy of 63 percent. He has passed that several times since. [21:20:00]
I keep using it to be conservative. I'm using a higher bar for Joe Biden than he actually needs to meet at 63 percent. Every time he get votes, out of Philadelphia, he's above 80 percent, close to 88 percent the last couple of times they've come in.
So Joe Biden, every time we have counted votes, has been higher. He has surpassed what he needs to get there. Again, there's no guarantee that that continues. But it has been steady and methodical throughout the day.
So, we'll keep counting, and see if some county surprises us. There are counties out here that are Republican counties. There's a possibility one county will come in with a different number and, if you will, slow the train. But, right now, the train is roaring toward that lead, and there are enough votes out there to catch it.
BLITZER: Trump's lead is shrinking in Pennsylvania and in Georgia. But Biden's lead in Arizona is shrinking right now. We're going to get new numbers. That's coming in as well.
KING: Sure.
BLITZER: We'll take a closer look at the votes left to count in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona. Also, we're going to talk to the Arizona Secretary of State, as Election Night in America continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Let's walk over to Pamela Brown. She's taking a close look at Pennsylvania right now.
[21:25:00]
The vote is coming in pretty quickly, isn't it?
PAMELA BROWN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It sure is. All eyes are on Pennsylvania. Everyone is watching this count play out. And for good reason, because of how tight the margin is between President Trump and Joe Biden.
Take a look at this. Just today, in Pennsylvania, they have counted more than 500,000 mail-in ballots. But they still have more to go. Look at this. If you go through the timeline of the counting has been if you see this morning, over the five-hour span, they counted around 200,000.
But then, when you go from 3:00 to 5:00, it slowed down. And here's why, I'm told, by a source familiar, because of that lawsuit filed by the Trump campaign that slowed things down. They had to stop for a couple hours. Then they had to make some changes that has had a ripple effect in the counting.
But they've been starting to pick back up. And just this evening, as you can see, they've counted around 100,000 ballots. Now at 9 o'clock, we're waiting to get more numbers.
But things are speeding up. And I am told that the Administration there in Pennsylvania has been pushing every county to work through the night, as much as they can.
And one person tells me no one has pushed back in the counties in Pennsylvania. They know that they're up against the clock, that people want an answer. But they also want to do a diligent job. They want to get it right.
And there are complexities involved when you're dealing with mail-in ballots, Wolf. As you know, as we've been talking about there, double ballots, checking a signature, there are a lot of different steps.
So, they're dealing with a large amount of ballots right now, more than 250,000. They're trying to get through. And they're getting through them fairly quickly across the state, particularly in Philadelphia.
Wolf?
BLITZER: Yes, that's a very impressive job they're doing indeed.
And it's such a huge prize, John King, 20 electoral votes in Pennsylvania. Biden wins that, it's game, set, match. He wins.
KING: Right. And so, if you're the President of the United States, you remember, not all that long ago, a couple days, Tuesday - late Tuesday night, you're leading by more than a half million votes, and there you are, right now, at 48,000 votes.
And again, Pam just mentioned, we're waiting again on Philadelphia. If you've been with us for a long time, we keep checking in here, but every time, we're at 89 percent. So, you've got 10 percent or 11 percent of the votes still to come in the largest area of the city, 12 percent of the vote, largest area of the state, excuse me.
The biggest pool of votes comes right here, out of Philadelphia. You see Joe Biden getting 80 percent. He doesn't need that. But if he gets it out of here, it helps him cut into the lead.
And so, you just come down. There are some more votes here in the collars as well.
The votes out in Allegheny County, Pittsburgh, those won't be counted until tomorrow, because of some legal, we talked to the Executive earlier. He says they'll be counted tomorrow.
But there's 36,000 votes out there. You look at that lead, 36,000 votes. The County Executive told us Joe Biden's been getting about 80 percent of the mail-in ballots, as they count them. It just tells you, when you think about the blue counties, and the pool of votes.
But again, to make this point, we got some votes earlier tonight from out here in Mercer County, right? So, you see this on the map, 63 percent Republican. You think "OK, when they count late votes here, they're going to be for Trump." They're not. They're not, because Democrats are voting by mail.
The Election Day ballot is why - Election Day voting is why the President is way ahead in these counties. And again, he did rallies near this. He did rallies in Butler County right over here. The President's voters came out on Election Day.
But Joe Biden's voters, there aren't as many of them, in a conservative county, they voted by mail, and we're seeing those ballots counted today. So even here, in Mercer County, Joe Biden was above the bar he needs, to keep coming back to challenge that lead.
So 48,000 right now, Wolf, I've done this a couple times, but I just want to go back and look at it again because when you look at this, it is just stunning. Let's get Pennsylvania up here, and let's go back.
Again, this was key to the President four years ago. So, he sees that, at midnight, Wednesday, as Tuesday, Election Day, starts into the next day, Wednesday. The President is up by nearly 550,000 votes. Then that lead actually grows, 589,000 votes by Wednesday morning.
Then you see it starting to shrink a little bit by Wednesday afternoon at 3:00 P.M. Then you keep coming through here, 11 o'clock Wednesday night. Look, they're starting to count mail-in ballots in many of these counties.
Thursday, this morning, it starts to shrink some more. You keep counting, 3 o'clock in the afternoon today, it shrinks some more, down to 108,000 and change. You keep counting. 6:30 P.M, tonight, here you are at 76,000 votes. You keep counting, you're at 63,000 votes. Then you come back live to where we are right now, and you're at 48,854 votes.
As you see, it has just been a steady progression as these counties, 67 of them across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, small and large, as they count their votes, Joe Biden is overwhelmingly winning the mail-in ballots, which are the votes being counted today, because they did the Election Day count first.
The President pulled out to a big lead because they counted the Election Day vote first. We've seen the flip side of this in other states as they count the mail-in ballots. Joe Biden is roaring back.
And again, Bucks County, still have more ballots to count here, Joe Biden winning 51 percent in the overall count. But that includes Election Day and a lot of Trump votes in the votes that have come in here today, Joe Biden is up 70 percent, 80 percent.
Same when you move down here, into Montgomery County, suburban collar around Philadelphia, is where Democrats need to get their votes. Delaware County as well, Jake Tapper told me I'm supposed to call it Delco, and the locals will like me. Jake Tapper is a local. I am not. But Delco it is. There you go, Chester County here.
[21:30:00]
In all of these counties - all of these counties, Joe Biden has more than exceeded what he needs to do in counting these mail-in votes. And so, as Pam just noted, they're trying to count more of them tonight.
Every time I look, just to see if the numbers change, if you were with us when we're talking about this, you'll see it when we do, because it comes in live, when they report them, 48,854 votes in a State the President cannot lose.
Joe Biden does not need Pennsylvania. He would like it because of the statement it would be.
If you come back out here, to the national map, we remember why Donald Trump became President, because he won here four years ago, he won here four years ago, he won there four years ago, the so-called Democratic Blue Wall.
Those states have been blue in every presidential election since 1992. Donald Trump turned them all red four years ago. That's why he's the President of the United States, right there.
So far, Joe Biden promised that he could crack the code, and rebuild the Blue Wall. He has Wisconsin. He has Michigan.
And it would be a celebration, Joe Biden was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, moved to Delaware, it would be a celebration in the Biden campaign. It would get him to victory, and it would be a personal victory, if Joe Biden could turn that blue.
BLITZER: He won all three of those states. And it's outrageous that the President said Biden's wins in Wisconsin and Michigan were the result of fraud and cheating. There was no fraud, no cheating in Michigan and Wisconsin.
KING: Right.
BLITZER: And in Pennsylvania, it's getting closer and closer. If he recreates that so-called Blue Wall, he's going to be the President.
KING: Right. And again, again, the President, consistently, as a candidate, and now, for almost four years as president, has had a casual relationship with the proof - with the truth.
If he wants to prove those points, there are things called courts of law. He can go try to point - make those points in court. We will see if he does that or if he just talks about it.
He talks - but remember, if we go back here - I hate to make this point, I wish I didn't have to make this point, is the way to say it.
Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by a big amount, right, by a very big amount. Donald Trump to this day says that happened because 6 million people illegally voted in the United States of America. That is a lie. It's a lie. There's no other way to put it.
So, since the beginning, if you will, even since - even in victory, even in victory, President Trump had to lie about why he didn't win the popular vote. And then he had the largest crowd in Inaugural history, which is another lie. And here we are. Here we are at the, you know, in what could be the
decisive day, or the decisive hours, if we go into tomorrow of his re- election campaign. And I'm sorry, he's lying again.
BLITZER: And you remember, after he took office, he created this Commission--
KING: Yes.
BLITZER: --to investigate illegal voting, why he lost the popular vote. You remember what happened to that Commission.
KING: Yes. They found nothing, just like I don't think they ever existed.
But you might remember, a long time ago, Donald Trump said he was sending investigators here, because Barack Obama's birth certificate was a fraud, Donald Trump said. Barack Obama was born in Hawaii. Like - like every - like many other things, Donald Trump has said, that turned out to be a lie.
BLITZER: Yes. And that Commission disbanded after a few months.
KING: Yes.
BLITZER: Because they couldn't find anything wrong with the vote in 2016, and it's simply outrageous.
One interesting thing, during the campaign, he would go out, over these last few weeks, and say "Joe Biden is the worst presidential candidate in American history. It would be outrageous if I lost to the worst, the worst."
Look at the popular vote right now. And this is probably so irritating to the current President of the United States that Joe Biden, who he says was the worst presidential candidate in American history, is beating him by 4 million votes, and has won more votes than any other presidential candidate in American history, and only 91 percent of the vote is in, still plenty of votes, especially in California, outstanding.
KING: Yes.
BLITZER: So you know Biden's number is going to keep going up and up.
KING: It's not inconceivable that that gets to 75 million or certainly close to it. As you - you're right. They continue to count in California. And they count more slowly in California because they know the Democrat is going to win California for president.
There are House races out there. There are other races out there. So, they'll keep counting in California. If you remember, the 2018 midterms, some of those races took a week or so to get all the votes. There's nothing wrong with that. That's how they count the ballots.
But yes, you're right. It's likely - it's likely to grow. I just want to turn this, out for a second, just to show you, what we have in California so far, because we don't pay attention to the states that we know are reliably blue.
But you see, so far, 8 million votes, just in California alone, and only 77 percent of the vote is counted in California. So, Joe Biden's total is going to go up, as they continue to count the votes in California. Washington State does mail-in ballots. They're counting as well.
So yes, Joe Biden now has more votes today, right now, and it will grow, than any presidential candidate in American history.
BLITZER: We're getting new vote count in Georgia. It's beginning to shrink and shrink and shrink. Look at this. Let's show our viewers. Look at this. 49.4 percent for Trump. 49.4 percent for Biden. Trump is ahead now by only 1,902 votes. It's a virtual tie that's going on, in Georgia right now.
We're coming back, much more on Georgia and Pennsylvania when we come back.
[21:35:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Let's get another key race alert right now. Take a look at what's happening in Pennsylvania and Georgia right now.
Trump's lead in Pennsylvania dramatically narrowing right now, 94 percent of the estimated vote is in. Trump has a lead of only 42,142. It was in the hundreds of thousands 24 hours ago. 49.7 percent for Trump, 49 percent for Biden. 20 electoral votes in Pennsylvania, if Biden wins Pennsylvania, it's game over. He wins the presidency.
[21:40:00]
In Georgia, right now it's a virtual tie. 99 percent of the vote is in. But there are still votes out there. Trump has a lead of only 1,902. 49.4 percent for Trump, 49.4 percent for Biden, 16 electoral votes in Georgia as well, still votes out there.
A virtual tie, John King.
Georgia and Pennsylvania, let's go to Georgia first right now, update our viewers on what you're seeing.
KING: Let's pull it out right now. Sorry, I was just hunting around to see in some counties I hear I just - I don't need to say a word.
Just look at that right there, 1,902 votes. We continue to count the votes across Georgia. And as we count them, the President's lead has gone from more than 300,000 votes, now down to 1,902 votes.
And so, what are we waiting for? We know there are places where we still have votes out. We know they include a small number of ballots in Fulton County, where-- BLITZER: 5 percent outstanding.
KING: --where Atlanta is. We know we're waiting to see there are more ballots in Cobb County. Several hundred only, but we know they're out there. And you keep coming across, that's Fulton, Gwinnett County at 95 percent.
So, a lot of this is coming from the Metro Atlanta area. This one looks like it's full, Rockdale County. You move over here a little bit, Newton County, they're done. Just want to check down here, again, Henry County, it looks like they're about done.
But we've just seen this steady path of progress as votes have come in. And not just in the Metro Atlanta area. We've seen them come in over here as well. Chatham County, a big vote count here is what cut the lead earlier tonight.
And so what's happening Wolf, is all of these counties - and just to be clear, it's not just in the blue counties. Even in the red counties, Joe Biden is making up ground, because in places that President Trump is winning, and winning convincingly, even there, the mail-in ballots are going to the Democrats.
So, we're watching this count. I keep clicking back to state-wide, because I want to watch it.
Inside the Biden campaign, they believe, soon, they will catch him, because they know what votes are out, and they know where they are, and they know that a fair amount of them are still here.
And so, this has been happening all night long. Is it guaranteed? Absolutely not. But again, you're watching this right now.
And President Trump cannot, I'm just going to say it again, cannot lose Georgia. His math does not work if he loses either Georgia, or Pennsylvania, and his lead in both states right now, down 1,900 votes there.
This one is just as shocking. This is a bigger state, and it's now down to 42,142 votes in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 49.7 to 49.0. And you see there's still 6 percent of the vote out. And again, a lot of this vote, we know, is in Democratic strongholds, and they're continuing to count.
So, two states the President must win, Pennsylvania and Georgia, his leads are shrinking almost by the hour, or even sometimes by the quarter hour. And we're just waiting to see.
They're red on the map right now. If they flip blue, that doesn't mean it stays blue, but the President cannot allow that wave that - if the clock runs out on this election, and those are blue--
BLITZER: And let's not forget--
KING: --he is a one-term president.
BLITZER: Let's not forget, in Georgia, there's a Republican Governor--
KING: Right.
BLITZER: --and a Republican Secretary of State. So, if the President is going to start accusing Georgia, of cheating and fraud, it's going to be hard, when you got a Republican Governor and a Republican Secretary of State.
KING: Right. And again, as the President says that, if he or any candidate, for any office, at any level, across the United States of America, has a legitimate case to make, you can go to a court, and you can file the documents to try to prove it.
But what they're doing here, in the State of Georgia, is what they're doing in all 50 states, and different states are doing it in different order.
So, you saw - again, I'll say this, in Ohio, on election night Joe Biden jumped out to a big lead. They counted the mail-in ballots first. That was the process in the state. Then the Election Day vote was counted. President Trump caught up, won the state quite convincingly.
Here, they counted the Election Day vote first. Republicans, by tradition, and because of the President's rallying, to his credit, he traveled the country, and he turned his base out, and they came out. They counted those votes on Election Day. The mail-in ballots in Georgia they decided they would count after. That's their process. That's what they've been doing today.
And again, by the hour today that lead - and starting into yesterday, but by the hour today, that lead has been shrinking, and we're at 1,900 votes away, and there are more than enough votes in play for the President to catch up without a doubt.
There are 16,000 votes still outstanding. Joe Biden needs about 57 percent of those. He has been surpassing that bar, leaping that bar by a significant margin throughout the day.
BLITZER: Getting new votes in Pennsylvania that are just coming in right now. Let's take a look at Pennsylvania.
All right, let's take a look at - here's the State of Pennsylvania. Right now, Trump is ahead by 42,142. Take a look at Scranton. You can see where Scranton is, those are blue.
KING: Sure, right there.
BLITZER: Right? The County right below Scranton, I think, that's Monroe County right there.
KING: There you go.
BLITZER: Monroe County, it's a small county of about 1.3 percent. Bring out the blackboard. We got some new numbers just coming in from Monroe County. KING: Let's do it.
BLITZER: Biden, take a look at this, he's got 10,841. All right, Trump in Monroe County has 4,129. Biden wins by 70 - I think 71.6 percent.
KING: So, in class, they tell you to round that up to 72 percent. But again, consistently Joe Biden needs a smaller percentage than that. He does not need that many votes.
[21:45:00]
I just want to check to make sure we get this right. We don't want to mislead anybody. This number is actually high because Joe Biden keeps exceeding it. An hour ago or so Joe Biden needed 63 percent, 62.7 percent of the outstanding votes.
Every time we have counted them, since I checked that number, he has exceeded it, which means, the percentage now is actually lower. But let's hold him to the higher bar, you know, hold him to the higher bar. That again is more proof that every time we count votes, Joe Biden is cutting into the math.
And so, let's just - let's just turn this off. I'm going to move this up here. We can bring it back, if we want to look at Monroe County, stop it right there. And then, let's just come back, and look again, 42,000 votes. Again, that lead at one point was above 600,000 votes.
And it seems shocking, especially if you're a Trump supporter, how do you go from 600,000 votes ahead, to 42,000-and-change votes ahead? You do that by counting votes.
BLITZER: We're waiting to see if Georgia flips for Biden. We're getting more numbers coming in. We'll take a quick break, much more right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[21:50:00]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, ANDERSON COOPER 360: And Election Night in America continues, as we are watching the votes being counted. That is what the process is right now. Far less (ph) to what the President says is going on, that is what is happening in states across the country right now. The votes are being counted.
Let's put it up on the screen. Let's put the latest breakdown of each state if we have it? Or not!
We're looking, obviously, at Arizona, looking, and there you go, Georgia. We have - the President still has a lead, 1,902 votes. But that lead has been gradually getting smaller and smaller, as we have watched, over the course of the day, as the votes continue to be counted. There are still votes being counted in Georgia.
Nevada, 11,438, Joe Biden is in the lead there. That had to have been about 7,000 or so, I think, it was earlier this morning. So, Biden's lead has grown somewhat throughout the day in Nevada, awaiting more votes to be counted there though. And you saw Pennsylvania and Arizona.
Also want to put up a tweet that Joe Biden sent out, after President Trump's remarks, at the - in the White House Briefing Room.
Former Vice President Biden tweeted "No one is going to take our democracy away from us. Not now, not ever. America has come too far, fought too many battles, and endured too much to let that happen."
It's a really interesting juxtaposition of what we see happening tonight. I mean, on the one hand, there is the President, and what he is saying, and the charges he is leveling, and the court battles that will no doubt happen, whether or not whatever evidence the President has, and his attorneys have to present will be presented.
But while that drama is going on, the very sort of mundane-focused work of democracy of counting votes continues in each of these states, and it continues no matter what the President says, no matter what Vice President Biden says.
Doesn't matter if it's a Republican Governor in the state, or a Republican Secretary of State in the state, or a Democratic one, the votes are being counted.
DAVID AXELROD, FORMER OBAMA SENIOR ADVISER: Yes, there's a real nobility in that.
I mean, if you believe in democracy, this is the day when people have the power. I mean, now it's the days, but this is the time when people have the power to have their say. And obviously, the President is unhappy with the verdict that is forming.
But this is how we bring change in America, and it's a sacred thing. And it is through the - the votes of people who sometimes wait hours to vote, and through all these people who volunteer, because they think it is their patriotic duty to be there because they want to be part of this process.
There's a real beauty to it. No matter how much the President sullies it, there's a real beauty to this.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: And that's what's so damaging about what the President did earlier, which is that all these people that David is talking about, who are out there, poll workers, government officials, trying to conduct democracy, as it should be conducted, and there may be problems, but you don't undermine the entire democratic process just because you think you may not win an election.
COOPER: Yes.
BORGER: And it's, you know, we saw Joe Biden today who may or may not win, going through having his COVID briefing, briefing on the economy.
And then you have the President coming out, and even his staff, according to our White House reporting, was really nervous about what he would say, because they worried, and I think rightly so, that he was going to undermine his own case by charging fraud and that the election was being stolen, et cetera, et cetera. And that is exactly what he did.
And so, trying to spin this forward, how is the President going to relate to Joe Biden, if Joe Biden would win? I can't even think about it.
VAN JONES, FORMER OBAMA ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I actually - I don't even want to think about it because it's kind of scary.
But I think what's amazing in Georgia, first of all, in Georgia, it's the youngest-ever Republican Governor, who's very Trump-like, and likes Trump. You've got a Republican Secretary of State, and the Election Supervisor is also Republican. You got triple red on top of this thing, and he's still saying it's corrupt and it's a fraud.
So, you know, the facts should actually - actually matter. I think, also, we shouldn't just let go of the fact, the wonder and the amazement that we're talking about Georgia.
AXELROD: Yes.
BORGER: Yes.
JONES: This is Georgia that we're talking about possibly slipping away from Donald Trump, possibly slipping away from a Republican President. And why is that?
It's because we've got some demographic changes that have happened. You got a big entertainment industry there, that's brought a lot of liberals and artists and all that kind of stuff there.
You got a lot of people who left Louisiana, because of Katrina, set up shop there. You've got a lot of stuff happening there, culturally. You got a big LGBT - LGBTQ community there, and you've got a different center of gravity happening there culturally.
[21:55:00]
Then you've got the incredible organizing, Stacey Abrams with Fair Fight, New Georgia Project, and others, who've gotten out there, and they have built a machine to turn out votes.
This is cultural changes, political changes, an amazing thing that's happening. That's not fraud. That's not fraud.
BORGER: Yes.
JONES: That's America growing, changing, transforming, which we saw bring that tonight (ph).
RICK SANTORUM, (R) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, I just--
BORGER: Let me remind you the numbers. 211,000 votes is what Donald Trump won Georgia by, 5 points - I believe it was 5 points four years ago.
AXELROD: Yes.
BORGER: 211,000. Now it's--
SANTORUM: It's over a million--
BORGER: --a tie.
SANTORUM: --million more people, living in Georgia.
JONES: Yes.
SANTORUM: Than in the last few years. So, I mean this is a--
JONES: That's America.
SANTORUM: I've talked - I've talked to some people in Georgia, and they, you know, their State has changed. I mean Stacey Abrams, almost won, and she lost by what, half a percent, something like that?
JONES: Yes, little--
SANTORUM: So, look at the Senate race in Georgia, and it's close to probably, I think, now both of them are going to go - are going to go to run-off, so that the United States Senate is going to be decided. It's, you know, we're going to--
COOPER: Explain that because I mean that's sort of gotten lost in--
SANTORUM: So, the only state in the Union - you hear about run-offs all the time. And you have them, for example, in Louisiana, which has--
BORGER: Yes.
SANTORUM: --what's called a jungle primary, where you have - your primary is on like Bill Cassidy ran for the Senate in Louisiana, and he ran against a whole host of candidates. And unless you get 50 percent, you--
COOPER: Have a run-off.
SANTORUM: --you have a run-off.
But in Georgia, like many other southern states, you have - you have to get 50 percent in the primary. But in Georgia is the only one that you have to get 50 percent in the general. And so, and they've had that for a long time. And it was, I think it was an old Jim Crow--
JONES: Yes.
SANTORUM: --letting off (ph) keeping it in the Democrats' hands. Well, now it's still there, and we have a special - we had a special election where there were a whole bunch of candidates, just like Louisiana's jungle primary, and the top two candidates were a Democrat, Pastor Warnock--
JONES: Warnock.
SANTORUM: --and then the current Senator, who was reported to replace Johnny Isakson, Kelly Loeffler. And then, on the other Senate race, which was for a six-year term, that's for a two-year term, is David Perdue and Ossoff.
BORGER: Jon - Jon Ossoff.
AXELROD: Yes, Ossoff.
SANTORUM: Sorry, couldn't remember his first name.
JONES: If that's the--
SANTORUM: And David Perdue was at 50 percent all, and then just a few minutes ago--
JONES: And we drug him down.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: So, so but again, the importance of that--
SANTORUM: So now there's going to be--
BORGER: Yes.
SANTORUM: --two races, and January 5th--
AXELROD: 5th, yes.
SANTORUM: --in Georgia.
JONES: That will determine the fate--
SANTORUM: --that will determine who controls the United States Senate.
COOPER: So, there's going to be a ton of money now being poured into Georgia.
(CROSSTALK)
SANTORUM: Well I want to own a TV station in Georgia.
JONES: But that - the way--
AXELROD: So, if you can buy a TV station in Georgia--
(CROSSTALK)
SANTORUM: Good investment right now.
AXELROD: --this is good.
JONES: The way that that he got pulled down though, below 50 percent, grassroots organizers curing ballots.
COOPER: Yes.
JONES: And so, anyways, you got - you got the democracy at work all the time.
COOPER: So, that is a battle to come for Georgia.
JONES: Yes.
COOPER: That both Democrats and Republicans I mean on the Senate side.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: The battle right now, tonight, a 1,000 votes - 1,900 votes is now where the President's lead is at. Do we know when more numbers are going to be coming in both for Georgia and also Pennsylvania? I mean, because earlier in the day, the Secretary of State--
BORGER: Piecemeal, yes.
COOPER: --had said they would be done by the end of the day in Pennsylvania. Then the Governor came out and said, well maybe that--
AXELROD: It seems to be driveling in.
BORGER: So, yes, Clayton County--
AXELROD: Yes.
BORGER: --is supposed to be in by midnight.
AXELROD: This is in - in Georgia.
BORGER: Georgia.
JONES: Really?
BORGER: And that could flip it, so that's a bit of a tease. But it--
SANTORUM: Clayton County is about just--
BORGER: --it could.
SANTORUM: --you know, 70 percent African-American. So, it's--
BORGER: So, it could flip it, that's what I mean.
(CROSSTALK)
SANTORUM: --it's nothing to do with Trump.
BORGER: But, so things are coming in piecemeal.
AXELROD: In both states.
BORGER: But that's an important--
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: The other thing that happened today, which also has gotten lost in all this is that another record count of COVID cases--
AXELROD: Yes.
COOPER: --in the United States. Yesterday had been a new record. I think it was 102,000 yesterday and today.
AXELROD: And this is the reality that if Joe Biden gets elected President, this is the reality he's going to have to confront it. And what Gloria said is really concerning. One of the things I'll always remember, when Barack Obama got elected President, is just how helpful George W. Bush and his entire team were with us.
JONES: True.
AXELROD: And it wasn't because we were so kind to President Bush during our campaign. It was because he saw himself as a trustee of the democracy. He saw this as his obligation to ensure that there was a good and peaceful and productive transfer of power. It's more important right now--
COOPER: Yes.
AXELROD: --than ever because we're facing a COVID crisis. We have deep economic problems. And, you know, I mean, again, my prayer for the country is that there is a good solid transition. The heart - the augurings here are not very positive.
COOPER: Yes. Yes it was a 100--
AXELROD: That it's going to be.
COOPER: --it was a 102,000 new cases yesterday, a 100 - more than 120,000 today.
BORGER: So COVID--
AXELROD: Staggering numbers.
JONES: It's the worst in the world.
BORGER: --COVID isn't going to go away. It could be a joint project, if you had two people who wanted to work together on. I mean, all of this--
(CROSSTALK)
BORGER: --what you're talking about reminds me. I just looked it up. When Bill Clinton became President, you know, they'd leave each other notes in the desk there, in the Oval Office. And Bush 41 said to him, "You will be our President when you read this note. I wish you well. Your success now is our country's success." COOPER: Yes.
BORGER: "I am rooting hard for you."
