Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Event/Special
Votes Comes in a Snail Pace; Joe Biden Gave a Message of Unity; COVID-19 Cases Hit Grim Milestone; President Trump Frustrated with the Results. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired November 06, 2020 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[22:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: We expect to hear from Joe Biden soon as he stands at the brink of winning the White House.
I'm Wolf Blitzer.
We are told the former vice president will likely talk about his growing lead over President Trump stopping short of declaring victory until he is actually clinched.
Biden made significant new gains in his lead in Pennsylvania just a few moments ago. He is now some 27,000 votes ahead as ballots continue to be counted around Pittsburgh and other areas. With leads in Arizona, Nevada, and Georgia as well, Biden is well positioned to secure the 17 more electoral votes he needs to reach 270.
Trump has 213 electoral votes and no real options left as Biden inches closer and closer to becoming president-elect of the United States.
Let's take a look at the numbers in this key race alert right now in Pennsylvania. Ninety-six percent of the estimated vote is in. Joe Biden, he has 49.6 percent. Trump as 49.2 percent. He has a lead right now of some 27,130 votes, 27,130. That's a significant lead right there.
Let's go to Arlette Saenz, she is joining us from Wilmington, Delaware right now. The former vice president, I take it, Arlette, is going to be speaking soon from where you are. Is that right?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: He will be, Wolf. Right now, Joe Biden is still at home here in Wilmington, Delaware, but we do expect that the former vice president will soon be speaking. Now, this is not expected to be a victory speech since the race still remains uncalled, but instead the former vice president is expected to talk about his current views on the race, where he is seeing his lead growing in states like Pennsylvania.
Aides at the start of the day had been hopeful that the race would be called by this moment, by the time that the former vice president would be speaking, but that reality has set in that for the time being this race remains uncalled. Now, the former vice president is expected to strike some similar
tones to what we've heard from him from past days where he has talked about the need to respect the vote-counting process and be patient as this plays out.
Now, while we are waiting for the former vice president to speak, our colleague Jeff Zeleny reports that just outside of the Chase Center hundreds of people have gathered hoping to catch a glimpse of the Democratic nominee. Many people had been hoping that the former vice president would be delivering a type of victory speech this evening, but here at the Chase Center outside right here where we are it is quiet. You are not seeing the cars that were parked here just a few nights ago on election night when the former vice president came out to speak.
So, for the time being, the Biden campaign remains in this waiting period. They are hoping that the race will be called soon, but Joe Biden has to wait for the time being for quite a little bit more time, at least, to learn whether or not his third run for the White House will be successful. Wolf?
BLITZER: Yes, it's looking very, very good for him. We shall see. We are anxious to hear what he has to say. Arlette, thank you very, very much. John King is with me. We have been spending a little quality time together lately, John.
Let's talk about what we anticipate the former vice president might say in his remarks. That's coming up fairly soon.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: All right. So, he has to be careful. He can walk right up to the edge of claiming victory but he wants to respect the process as he has said. And just imagine the anxiety and the sense of anticipation for Joe Biden. We see anger from President Trump. We see anger from President Trump because, again, this state is trending away, modest growing lead for Joe Biden.
This state is heading for recount but not since Bill Clinton in the 1990s has it been blue for Democrat -- blue for president. You see it right there it is blue for president. Joe Biden leading there. Joe Biden leading here in Arizona. Donald Trump won that state four years ago. Democrats think they are changing the sunbelt. Joe Biden has a chance to win there. We're not done counting votes. Joe Biden leads there.
So, if you add all that up it not only gets Joe Biden across the finish line, it gets him up to 306 electoral college votes. It would give Joe Biden when he can give a victory speech if he can that speech but it does appear inevitable at this point once we get there, to say this is what the American people want. The American people have done this.
The problem is you can't do that tonight because the race has not been called. So, what is the delicate balance of saying I'm confident I will win? I understand Democratic anxiety. You're waiting now that the election was Tuesday, and here we are late on a Friday evening. And also, as he has consistently reach out to President Trump
supporters. The president right now is angry. He is trying to stoke his supporters. He is trying to stoke this idea that the election is being stolen.
[22:05:02]
The election is not being stolen. They are counting votes. They are counting legally cast votes. And if the president or his team see anything wrong, they have every right to prove it in the right process and in an election board or in a court of law. A political rhetoric does not change votes nor should it.
So, Joe Biden says it's a delicate moment. And it's an amazing moment. think about it. Joe Biden first ran for president back in 1987 and the 1988 campaign. This is his third try and he is literally knocking on the door of being the president-elect of the United States and three months away from taking office if the math continues. But the math is not final yet. So, it's a delicate balance. But he wants to speak.
BLITZER: But the math in Pennsylvania right now has improved pretty dramatically during the course of this day and even in the course of the last few minutes.
KING: Right. We added about 5,000 votes to that total just a short time ago when votes came in from Allegheny County. That's out here, blue, Democratic area around Pittsburgh is 27,130 right now. It was 5,576, I think, 5,500 and change to start the day.
So, you just -- the math has grown steadily. Now in a state with so many ballots vast, more than 6.6, approaching, you know, 6.7 million, then you say 27,000, that's not a lot of votes. It's a sizable lead, though. It is a sizeable lead in a very competitive state.
President Trump won it by 44,000 and all expectations there are still votes being counted right now. Joe Biden's lead will grow because we know the bulk of the outstanding ballots are in places that are shaded blue on this map and some of those places, he is getting 80 percent of the vote or more.
And we also know (Inaudible) counted these ballots the mail-in ballots, that even in the red counties where the president has deep support, Joe Biden tends to be either breaking even or in most cases actually getting more of these votes because Democrats voted by mail in this election.
So, there is an air of inevitability even in the Trump White House about this. But we are not at the mathematical point yet where you can say, you know, statistical probability to call the race. But look, this has been building throughout the day.
We just talked to Senator Bob Casey. He thinks it will go even higher. Nonpartisan data groups have run the math where these votes are looking at. They believe it will go higher. We want to see it because calling this state is the last step. This would put Joe Biden over the top and he would then be the president-elect. BLITZER: Yes, the 27,000 number could go up and it would become
increasingly difficult, if not impossible, for President Trump to reverse that.
KING: Right. The expectation, let's just be honest about it, and there is a lot of frustration. I'm going to say the expectation is it will go up and a Democrat watching says, then why don't you call it? I get it. We understand the frustration too. It's been a long few day. But it's been a long few days for a worthy cause, which is counting votes.
And again, this is the presidency of the United States at stake. We can say the obvious. We can show you the obvious. Everybody can understand the obvious. But given the fact that is the most sacred gift in our democracy we should count the votes.
And the President of the United States, this is why we are not calling. We are not waiting to call this race because we know the president is going to attack us when we do. We are not waiting to call this race because the president is saying there is cheating going on.
And I know a lot of Democrats are saying the longer we wait the more the president can stir things up. We block all that out. We understand all that's out there. There is a process. There's a talented team of people who crunch the numbers. They understand that. They understand that. They understand the methodical build in the Biden lead.
There's just we have a statistical formula where you say we just want to look at how many ballots are left, where are they, is there any chance to do that, and we are, you know, we are in the ballpark at that point but we're just not there yet.
BLITZER: Very quickly, Philadelphia right now, how many votes still outstanding in that Democratic stronghold?
KING: I do not know the latest number. I think earlier we were waiting for about 20,000 votes still. And including --
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: And that says 99 percent of the vote is in?
KING: Yes. And then some provisional ballots. I have not seen an update in sometime. But I do know, you make a great point, though. The ballots that were left were here and in the suburban collar counties. I'll bring git put here. I just shrink it and then stretch it out so you can see.
This is where -- this is the money for Democrats in Pennsylvania politics. Philadelphia City here and then Bucks County, Montgomery County, Chester County, Delaware county in this circle. Joe Biden winning them all. Most of them convincingly.
And again, to echo the point, when we see the mail-in ballots, I'm just going to hit Bucks County, it's the more competitive of the Philadelphia color suburban counties and you see by competitive what's happening here. What we have seen, Wolf, that is a fact. Those are the vote counts of
the overall votes including election day votes. But it's deceiving in some ways that there and also here in Montgomery County when we see the mail-in ballots, you know, the vice president is getting 62 there, he's getting 50, about 51.5, 52 here. When the mail-in ballots come in its way higher because Democrats made a conscious decision to vote by mail in this election.
BLITZER: During this coronavirus pandemic. We are standing by to hear from the former vice president in the meantime. let's go back to Jake, Dana, and Abby.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Thanks, Wolf. So big speech for Joe Biden tonight. Probably not the speech he thought he was going to be delivering. He thought he was going to be accepting the moment as president-elect, but nobody in the media has decided that data is there yet to project Pennsylvania or Arizona or Nevada.
[22:10:04]
But what do you think he should say? I mean, if you were advising him, what would you have him suggested that this moment calls for?
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I would say less is more. I don't think this needs to be some kind of big speech. I mean, this is not -- it's not -- he is not quite ready to do that speech that he needs to give when it actually is called.
So, this is just a moment to ask the American people to be a little bit more patient, to wait for it, to thank the election workers who are slaving over these votes and literally trying to count them manually, vote by vote. And just wait and see what the results are. I just think, you know, that the leadership moment is just in letting people know he is willing to wait, too. The big speech will obviously have to wait until later.
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I agree. I mean, my sense in talking to sources in and around the Biden campaign is that, that is all he can do, is to act presidential without actually saying he is going to be the next president. Which is something that Joe Biden has been trying to do, that's the whole premise of his campaign.
So, it's not that far field from what we have heard from him time and time again. Of course, they are tearing their hair out in Biden headquarters, in Wilmington and all the people who are, you know, joining them virtually. But they also feel super confident about the way that the numbers are going.
TAPPER: Sure. And I would, too, if I were them. The numbers are going in the right direction in Georgia and Nevada and Pennsylvania and in Arizona they are not going in the right direction, but Democrats in Arizona are confident that it's just going to be a bridge too far for Trump, that the number of ballots and the margins he is going to need will not be enough.
I think that there is an opportunity for the vice president to do more than he has in the last few nights, which is basically come out and say we feel good, but let's be patient, et cetera. I think there is an opportunity for him to say I am getting to work.
And if it ends up that Donald Trump wins, then that's fine. But 100 -- this is the third day in a row that 100,000 Americans or more have been diagnosed with the coronavirus. We have a lot of stuff to do.
Because here is the thing. He is inheriting, you know, a mud sandwich. I mean, the country is not in a good place economically. It's not in a good place when it comes to the coronavirus. Infections are getting worse. Deaths are getting worse. We haven't covered this in a few days because we have been waiting to see who is president is going to be.
He needs to start, in my view, setting expectations low as to how much the world is going to change when and if he becomes president-elect and start communicating and reaching out to people who didn't vote for them, this is what I'm going to do for you. Not just I want to be your president. Let's come together, let's hold hands, kumbaya, but also, I am going to start working on this so that your kids can go to school safely, so your businesses can open.
BASH: It's --
TAPPER: Why not do that?
BASH: It's a really -- it's a really fine line. Why not do that because saying that means that he is effectively saying I won. I mean, he might go that far, but it is kind of that never neverland that he is in right now that makes it difficult.
He has been -- they made a big show of the fact that he went and had a coronavirus briefing yesterday, I think it was. So, he has been showing that he is doing things that are not just waiting around for the results, doing things that are meaty and important and preparing himself. You know, I am not sure how far he could go given that nobody has said that he is going to be the next president of the United States.
PHILLIP: Yes. I mean, I think at the very least, Jake, you're right, acknowledging. We -- we -- we've kind of -- there is a big thing happening. There is a major election going on. But we have hit records day after day by this week for the coronavirus. And I do expect that he will probably acknowledge that as he did, I think it was yesterday, could have been two days ago for all I know.
TAPPER: It's all been one day.
PHILLIP: But at the same time, I do wonder if he will address -- I mean, just address the matter at hand. Look, we are waiting for the ballots to be counted but there is going to be a legal fight. And will he address that? Will he talk about fighting for people's votes or denounce what seems to be an effort by the Trump campaign to undermine the integrity of the entire election in order to get ahead of a few states.
TAPPER: Well, we are waiting to hear Joe Biden address the nation as we expect more numbers from the commonwealth that could give him the White House, Pennsylvania. Our special coverage continues. Stay with us.
[22:15:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Joe Biden is getting ready to address the nation. We'll of course have live coverage once he shows up. We are watching that very closely. We're also, we are watching Pennsylvania very, very closely.
Right now, Biden just took a significant jump in his lead over President Trump. He now leads by 27,130 votes, 49.6 percent to 49.2 percent. Ninety-six percent of the estimated vote is in, in Pennsylvania.
Let's go to Pamela brown. Pamela, what are you -- what are we waiting for in Pennsylvania right now? What are you looking?
PAMELA BROWN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, we are laser focused on what's going on in Pennsylvania now for good reason. Because when you look at the outstanding ballots right here, there are 89,000, as you see on your screen here, outstanding mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania.
And on top of that you have 101,000 provisional ballots. But what's interesting to note here, in this number you see on your screen, a majority of those ballots are coming from blue counties. So, let's look a little bit deeper into that. When you look at Philadelphia, there are around 38,000 outstanding mail-in ballots that are going through. That includes 15,000 to 28,000 provisional ballots.
[22:20:00]
Those provisional ballots take a little bit longer to go through, these are ballots that people filled out either because they didn't get their mail-in ballot or there was a problem when they showed up to vote in person.
Then you go over to Allegheny county, there was a release, a batch that was released earlier tonight. Now there are 37 ballots outstanding there, including provisional ballots. We're told they are working through the night in Allegheny trying to bring us the latest numbers as soon as they can.
In Bucks County, another blue county right outside of Philadelphia. So above over there's 2,000 damaged ballots that need review and 6,700 provisional ballots. Again, the provisional ballots, the damaged ballots, they take a little bit longer to get through.
And then you look at others, the only red one here in this group is Luzerne, right outside of Scranton where Biden is from, 4,300, a little more than 4,300 there. Montgomery County, 10,000 ballots, and Chester 2,300 ballots.
And as we noted earlier, John and Wolf, all of these counties have their own pace, their own formula, their own process for going through the ballots and posting them. So, we are checking up with them hourly. Back to you.
BLITZER: All right, Pamela, thank you very much. And John, with that 27,130-point lead, vote lead that Biden has over Trump, if you do the math and you see what's outstanding so far, it's going to be really, really difficult if not almost impossible for Trump to overcome that lead.
KING: Right. It's the simple math that tells you that the high percentage that the president would need to overcome that. And then the geography also tells you because just to lock through where Pam said those ballots were. This in chunk 30,000 plus out here, Allegheny County. The blue tells you what you need to know. Joe Biden has been getting 59 percent of the total vote.
Again, when they are counting these mail-in ballots, the total has been significantly higher than that because of the disproportionate voting for Democrats.
And Pam was talking about, I'm going to move the state up a little bit here and come in here, it was a more modest number in Philadelphia than I thought, they are making some progress there getting it up, but still 30,000 plus here. Joe Biden is getting 81 percent and again in the mail-in ballot count it's even been higher than that.
Remember, in the rest of these ballots the president has to get 60 percent plus and these are all in places where Joe Biden is winning. Pam also mentioned there's a modest amount left in Bucks County. Modest amount left in Montgomery County. Modest amount let in, I believe Chester and Delaware County.
These are the suburban collar counties, again, all of them blue, all of them for Biden, some by as much as 60 percent or more. And when we see those ballots, we see the mail-in ballots it has been higher.
She did mention Luzerne County up here. This is a county that the president has carried with 56, 57 percent if you round up. However, even here when the mail-in ballots have come in they have been -- Biden has been leading. They have been disproportionately Democrats voting by mail-in ballots.
So, let's even for the sake of argument, to be generous to the president, assume that the ballots up here he breaks even or does a little better than that, run something like that, it's just that -- that would not be enough in the blue counties. They continue to come in at the lopsided way.
And again, I am being generous here because we have not seen any evidence of that, that in these larger counties especially. These are Democrats. And Joe Biden is getting 42 percent of the total vote. That includes election day, early voting and mail-in voting.
And when we've seen the mail-in voting over the last two days when we've been going through this, the slow pace, the reason we are still here is it's taking a while. But even in the red counties. So, you just pull it out, you look at the map and you see 27,000 votes, you know, they are inside now, counting 100,000 more ballots or so.
And the map tells you Donald Trump has to win way outside what he has been doing in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Especially because so many of these ballots, we'll move, stay it again, they are right here. The blue speaks for itself. And Joe Biden's margins within those counties lopsided.
BLITZER: Because people see a lot of red in Pennsylvania. But those counties have limited populations.
KING: They do. Most of them do. And so, you come up where I said, Luzerne, this is one of the larger ones. Right? The president gets 84,000 votes. Look, do not underestimate the president's popularity in Pennsylvania. He turned out a ton of votes in Pennsylvania when you come out to statewide. He got 3.3 million votes.
Four years ago, when he won Pennsylvania, he got 2.97 million votes. The problem for the president in Pennsylvania is not that he is not turning out his vote. He got more votes this time than in four years. That's a good job. You are an incumbent president. you're looking at your last map. I need to match that. I need to do that again. Well, he more than did it again here.
Joe Biden just beat him. I mean, we're not on the finish line yet, but Democrats, more Democrats came out. But you're right. To most of these points, this is conservative country, it is Trump country. Look at the numbers he's getting. Then look at the population. Seventeen hundred people here to win the county.
You move, that's Cameron County. You move down here to Elk County, it's 11,000. It's a little bigger but there are 67 counties in Pennsylvania. This is the 59th in terms of size. Now there are some. There are some that are modest size. There is no giant. Most of these red counties are modest.
This one is the 50th in population, Jefferson County, 17,000 votes and you're winning. But just think about that. The president is winning there with 17,000 votes. That's a wow. That's impressive. The president is doing fine with 17,000 votes.
But then you come to Allegheny County, Joe Biden is leading with 408,000 votes and they are still counting and then you come over to the southeast corner of the state in Philadelphia. Joe Biden is leading with more than a half-million votes.
[22:24:59]
So, these counties, you know, don't get me wrong, this is impressive for the president and they add up, all those red counties, but, but Joe Biden did -- there is a formula for a Democrat to win. You know a Republican is going to win 10,000 here, 15,000 there, maybe 25,000 there, the way the Democrats counter that is that. A half-million.
So more than 400,000 votes out of Philadelphia. You come in here now there are 300,000 and a gap over there. You come in here, another 180,000. When you round that up here, the population center of Pennsylvania is right here in southeast Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania the suburban collar around it, 200,000 votes here versus 116,000 for the president.
You'll take that 200,000 every day over 7,117. No offense to the people of Potter County. These are fabulous territories, a lot of agriculture in Pennsylvania. Just incredibly diverse and fascinating state.
The president did his job. The president did his job. He turned out his votes. Remember all those Trump rallies in the final weeks. The president did his job and turned out the votes. The problem for the president that 27,000-vote lead for Joe Biden likely to grow because the Democrats, including the former vice president, who was born right here in Scranton, Pennsylvania, he did his job as well and the Democrats in a very competitive state in a high turnout election, Joe Biden turned out more.
BLITZER: He might wind up doing it in Pennsylvania. Biden what he did in Michigan and Wisconsin and re-create that so-called blue wall.
KING: That will be one of the stories of this election. This is what made Donald Trump president four years ago. Stunned the Democrats. Just frankly stunned the Democrats. Donald Trump, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin. He tried it in Minnesota, but here's where we were four years ago.
Four years ago, this was the wow that changed America and put Donald Trump in the White House. And Joe Biden from the very beginning, do you remember how progressive said no, he is wrong. He is not the man for this moment, he can't do that. That was the central mission of the Biden campaign all along. I am the blue-collar guy who has an appeal with blue collar workers.
One of the interesting things, Wolf, and this will be stunning. We have to get to the finish line, right. We have to get to the finish line, call the race, make sure we know who the president-elect of the United States is and move on.
But as people study this in years, one of the fascinating things is when you look at it, Joe Biden did not take a lot of votes away from Donald Trump. That's not what happened. That sometimes happens in elections. You beat me last time with '12. I have to come at you and take some of your guys away. That's truly not what happened.
You'll find pockets of that. But mostly what happened is the president turned out his voters and turned out more of them this time. The Democrats just learned the lesson of 2016 and they came to play.
BLITZER: Both of these candidates amassed even during a coronavirus pandemic a huge, huge turnout. We are waiting for Joe Biden to address the nation. We'll have live coverage in Wilmington, Delaware. New details emerging as well. We'll be right back.
[22:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: And I want to check in with Arlette Saenz who is covering the Biden campaign for us as we await for comments by Vice President Biden.
Arlette, any word when and or if the vice president is actually coming out? Because it's now 10.30 on a Friday night. I am not sure whatever they are trying to accomplish is going to be able to be accomplished at this time of night.
SAENZ: Well, Anderson, Joe Biden did just recently leave his home, his motorcade has departed en route to the site where he is expected to deliver a speech tonight even though this race still remains uncalled.
Now, Biden isn't expected to declare victory in his speech. That is something that we'll wait until the race is officially called by the networks, but he is expected to talk about where he currently views the race, including addressing the leads that he has seen in states like Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada.
You know, Biden is expected to strike similar tones to what we have heard him talk about in the past few days as he stressed the need to respect the process and remain patient --
COOPER: Yes.
SAENZ: -- and calm. Now, a short while ago Kamala Harris did arrive here on site. We heard supporters right outside the Chase Center erupt in cheers. But I'm told that Kamala Harris will not be speaking tonight, but she will be appearing with the former vice president. That's a little bit different than what we had been told earlier in the day when aides had been hopeful that this race would be called by this moment.
But for the time being they have to remain patient as they are waiting for the counts to continue to come in so we'll wait to hear if they are going to reach that 270 electoral votes.
COOPER: All right. Arlette Saenz, I appreciate it. We'll continue to wait and see what the vice president has to say. It just does seem odd, though, David, I mean, given all that has gone on. Clearly, they were expecting to have --
DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.
COOPER: -- some sort of media organizations announced that.
(CROSSTALK)
AXELROD: Yes. Definitely plan b. And I think they waited -- my guess is they waited longer than they expected to hoping that the thing would congeal and someone would make a call. We had heard Arlette mention that Kamala Harris was going to speak and introduce him.
COOPER: Right.
AXELROD: She is not speaking now. So that suggests that they had another plan, and, you know, but the question is, I guess they had set it up, they had people there so they are going through with it, as you point out. You know, it's a little bit bewildering as to what you are going to get out of it.
COOPER: Because earlier on the way it had been sort of pitched was he is going to be speaking and have a primetime address. I mean, you know, this is still like --
AXELROD: So now it's a late-night chat.
COOPER: Yes.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: But if you tell everyone you are going to have a speech and we assume it's because you are going to say thanks to the American people for making me the next president of the United States, and then you don't have the results officially declared or declared in any way, shape or form, then you have a choice. Do you cancel it?
COOPER: Right.
BORGER: So, if you cancel it you look like well, maybe you think the election is in doubt, which they don't. So, they have to go ahead now.
[22:35:04]
COOPER: Yes. I think there's also an argument to be made for both candidates, frankly, to want to keep themselves in the public eye so there is not this sort of this vacuum of --
VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I do think we are calm and, you know, maybe a little bit annoyed with the process, but Joe Biden is a healing presence. He is a calming presence. And I do think that we are in a moment where there are people, there is tension.
I like hearing from Joe Biden. I mean, I'm curious what he is going to say. I hope -- I do hope that he does, you know, honor people working hard and counting the ballots and that kind of stuff and lift up democracy. It is of course an unprecedented year.
I mean, who has ever been in this situation? I mean, you know, it's not like with Al Gore and Bush, you have the big rally, it was called, it was called off, there's lot of drum -- high drama between those two. He had to call, you know, Gore had to call Bush back, say I retract my concession. You know, this is just sitting around looking at the television all day for him and all the rest of us.
COOPER: But also, when you talk about the year, the America that Joe Biden, assuming if he is, in fact, the president, will be the president-elect, the country he is going to have to try to govern over and govern with is, I mean, it is a very difficult situation.
Obviously, you know very well the situation that President Obama and Vice President Biden inherited in 2008. But, you know, just today, and it didn't -- it hasn't gotten a lot of attention just because of the eyes of the world are still on this election, but, you know, we passed for the third day in a row yet another record day of COVID cases --
AXELROD: Yes.
COOPER: -- more than 125 -- 125,596, and there is no sign of that fading.
AXELROD: This is, you know, I thought we had, when we walked in the door in 2009, I thought we had the worst hand of any president since Franklin Roosevelt. I didn't realize that record would stand for, you know, eight years, whatever, 12 years.
And now, but I have to say, between the virus, the economic problems attendant to the virus, some of the -- you know, these issues of trust that we talked about and the corrosion of institutional trust and alliances and so on --
COOPER: And division, too. I mean, the America of 2008, I don't think was this divided --
AXELROD: It wasn't. And we saw the leading edge of it, you know, at the Sarah Palin rallies and so on. But, you know, it really kind of exploded. And look, without kind of spinning it at all, what is very clear from this election, I mean, we do have this huge turnout. We celebrate it. We should. But we also have two distinctly different Americas. And it's going to be a chore for a president who aspires to bring the country back together to find that common language and common agenda.
COOPER: Brian Todd is in Allegheny County where more votes are coming out. Brian, what are you hearing?
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Anderson, Rich Fitzgerald, the county executive is stepping to the podium now. He is going to give us some updated numbers, we believe. Here he is.
RICH FITZGERALD, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA EXECUTIVE: This evening, they will be packing up and then returning in the morning. The next batch I think they will have to do has a lot of processing in place. It will be much more time consuming. So, they have been able to push out as many of the 29,000 tonight. I don't have a number of how many.
But the last batch is a total vote of 3,212 votes. Joe Biden got 2,436 votes. Donald Trump got 733 votes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you (Inaudible) one more time please?
FITZGERALD: Total vote was 3,212. Biden 2,436. Trump 733.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What category? What vote are we talking about?
FITZGERALD: They would have been part of those 29,000 that were in that cohort.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible), that's in addition to the ones that you updated us with about an hour or so ago? FITZGERALD: Yes, it is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That does not include those --
(CROSSTALK)
FITZGERALD: Those are new numbers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those are in addition to the --
FITZGERALD: We have done three numbers that we have given tonight. One was about 5,300. And you know --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
FITZGERALD: One was about 90 --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ninety-two --
FITZGERALD: -- 200. Yes. And then this third one of 3,200.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And again, this 3,200 is part of the 29,000.
FITZGERALD: That's correct.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was sent out incorrectly and resubmitted?
FITZGERALD: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With the correct version.
FITZGERALD: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How many of that 29,000 are left?
FITZGERALD: I don't -- I don't. Because some of those will be already included. That's what they have got to go through on this. This kind of last batch, it's a lot more complicated and a lot more time consuming for them to review.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The counters are stopping for the night. When will they resume tomorrow?
FITZGERALD: We don't know yet. Probably sometime in the morning. We will get that word you to. But I'm going to have to check with them to see exactly.
[22:40:03]
Because I think there is a lot of processing, like preprocessing that's going to have to take place. So, I don't know when they will be running the counter to bring numbers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You anticipate that the 29,000 will be wrapped at some point tomorrow?
FITZGERALD: I can't say that for sure. I really don't know. I will have to find that and talk to the folks that know how that goes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you say the people who are like they are eagerly anticipating this, they think it's moving at a snail's pace?
FITZGERALD: What I will say is our folks have been working an unbelievable amount. And I will put our workers up against, you know, what else has been going on. But they have been really going at it. They have done a great job. I am so proud of the workers of Allegheny County who have been here really not just for today and last night. They have really been working hard. And they will keep at it.
And, you know, I got to be honest with you. These numbers are all going in the right direction. So, I think, you know, it's pretty obvious where this thing is going.
(OFF-MIC)
FITZGERALD: No, that's a little more of again an involved process as well. They got to double-check if that person voted, if that person is registered. There is a lot to it. So, it takes a while for that.
(OFF-MIC)
FITZGERALD: I don't.
BLITZER: All right. So, a net gain right now of another 1,703 votes, John, for Joe Biden. You can see it's just changed over there. His lead over Trump has gone from 27,130. It's now 28,833. A net gain once again of 1,703 votes based on these latest results coming in from Allegheny County.
KING: Right. And that's the second time in a couple hours we have gotten results, and this is Allegheny County, I just want to pop it out. You see the overall totals in this county. And you got to give them a lot of credit. They are trying to count them as quickly as they can here. They understand what's happening here.
This is the Pittsburgh area and the area around it. Now we'll come back in to the statewide just so you can see it. And these are the new votes that came in, 2,436 for Joe Biden, 733 for President Trump. That's 23 percent and 76 percent. So, this was the net gain, 17 -- 1,703 votes was the net gain for Joe Biden.
So, there you have it now. And so, where were we? We began this day at 9 a.m., that was 5,575, 5,575. And so, you have this methodical march for Joe Biden now approaching 30,000 votes. And you heard the administrator there in Allegheny County saying pretty clear to him where this is going.
What he means by that is that he is convinced, and he is an expert at it, that Joe Biden is going to carry the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. If that happens that's 20 electoral votes and the Joe Biden is the president-elect of the United States.
He is at 253 right now. And again, on day four, it's Friday, a lot of people are wondering why hasn't this been called? There's a lot of criticism of our business and the states for counting so slowly and all that. We get all that. Caution is the watch word because this is the presidency of the United States.
But facts are also facts as we have that caution and Joe Biden now building a lead that is approaching 30,000 votes and they are still counting votes. They have again to reinforce that point, most of the votes still to be counted are down here. Your eyes tell you why I am showing you that, they are all blue counties.
Joe Biden has been performing very well in all these counties in the total vote and even better in this late mail-in ballots that they are counting. Now there are provisional and military votes as well. There are some other new votes in the pull but everything we have seen throughout the day tells us when they count more votes, that lead grows.
BLITZER: Yes. It's going to be very, very hard for Trump to overcome a nearly 30,000 vote lead at this late stage in the race in Pennsylvania.
KING: Right. And he understands that. Let's just walk over, we have been going through this. And so, if you haven't been with us, you are going to see it again and see it for the first time. If you have, you are going to see it again. That's all you need. That's all you need.
Joe Biden -- that would put Joe Biden over the top, 273. And it would be both mathematical victory that makes him the president-elect, a moral victory restoring Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin to the Democratic Party. Donald Trump took those away in 2016.
And just to be clear, you know, if Joe Biden is still leading here and here. Still counting votes. These states are going more slowly but that would get him up to 290 and Joe Biden also is leading here. This state, because the margin is so close, is going to have a recount.
The Trump campaign exercising his right to ask for a recount because the margins are so close. But Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, if that holds, Joe Biden would end the election with 306 electoral votes. You see some gray here.
The president is leading in Maine's second congressional district. They allocate by c, d. (Ph). The president is leading in North Carolina, early count in Alaska is counting very slowly, we expect the president to win those.
But Joe Biden could get one, two, three, four, and end with 306. That would be well past what he needs obviously and a statement.
BLITZER: That's what 306 is what Trump won four years ago against Hillary Clinton. He had 306. I remember at the time he called it a landslide.
KING: He did. He did. He called it some other things and some of them weren't true. We don't need to go back through them. He told them the most convincing win ever, for example, and things like that.
[22:45:01]
No. But it was a convincing win especially with someone who never run before. The 232 was Hillary Clinton's total four years ago. It looks like that is going to be -- if these holds, if the ones that we come back to where we are now, if North Carolina, Alaska, and Maine's second congressional district go to the president, and these other ones where Biden is leading all stay there, we'll have the flip side, 302 to 306 again.
BLITZER: Yes. We are waiting to hear from Biden right now at some point. He's going to walk out. It's getting, it's 10.45 here on the East Coast. It's ready. You see the flags. You see the podium. The lectern there. He is going to be speaking at some point making a statement. It's going to be interesting to hear what they have to say.
All right. Jake, Dana, and Abby, guys, it's all yours.
TAPPER: Well, it's a big night for the former vice president. Not the big night he thought he was going to have perhaps when they originally planned this address. And they thought that by now a major news network was going to call one of the key states to bring him over the line of 270 electoral votes, but that has not yet happened, however close it might be to happening in Arizona or Pennsylvania or Nevada.
But he still has a lot to say and he wants to get cracking. Dana Bash, while we wait for him to step up to the podium, what are you anticipating the former vice president might say?
BASH: Well, according to his people around him, people in the campaign, it's going to be an attempt to kind of build on what we've heard from him over the last few days. Stay calm, stay patient, and like I said before, to give an air, an aura of being presidential, of saying, OK, this is what we do in America. This is what we do in a democracy. We see the votes counted.
What I don't know is how much he is going to lean into the fact that he's got this. I mean, the fact that he is coming out suggests that that is obviously what the message is that he wants to telegraph.
PHILLIP: Yes, I think though that he is going to point out just as a statement of fact that he is leading in most of the states that have not been called by CNN, although some states have been called by other networks. He is leading in Pennsylvania, in Arizona, in Nevada, and in Georgia right now.
And you heard that Allegheny County election official just a moment ago say we know what direction this is headed in.
BASH: Yes.
PHILLIP: And I think that's kind of the sense that we might get from Joe Biden tonight. That they know or they believe they know what direction Pennsylvania in particular is heading in, which is for him, if he wins it, a decisive factor.
BASH: And it is an indisputable fact as you speak, we see on the screen four states, Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania, they are the color of blue with Joe Biden's face there. And four years ago, those were Donald Trump wins. And that's what made him president. And we're not there yet on those, but that tells a very clear story.
TAPPER: And just a few minutes ago we heard from Allegheny County, the county where Pittsburg is and there was a net awarding of about 1,800 votes for Joe Biden. We anticipate that's going to happen throughout the night as Pennsylvanians continue to count the votes. There are still tens of thousands outstanding. but the trend is very, very clear as you just heard from the Allegheny County election supervisor.
The trend is very, very clear that Joe Biden, the more they count, is just picking up vote after vote after vote because so many Democrats disproportionately voted according to vote by mail, and so many Republicans, Trump supporters voted on the day of the election, and that continues to be the trend.
And we have watched it happen now for days, completely eroding Donald Trump's once surmountable lead based on day-of voting almost exclusively to the point that Joe Biden is now ahead by almost 30,000 votes.
PHILLIP: Yes. And the president mused tonight about why the number -- his lead that he once had in Pennsylvania went away. And it's just pretty simple. They are just -- they are counting votes. They are counting as many votes as they can, as quickly as they can in a really laborious fashion in Pennsylvania. So, we have to give those election workers as much credit as we can.
TAPPER: All right. Here comes former Vice President Joe Biden, and Senator Kamala Harris, the would-be president-elect and would be vice president-elect. Let's listen in.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Good evening. My fellow Americans, we don't have a final declaration of victory yet, but the numbers tell us it's clear. Tell us a clear and convincing story. We are going to win this race.
Just look at what has happened since yesterday. Twenty-four hours we were behind in Georgia, now we're ahead, and we are going to win that state. Twenty-four hours ago, we were behind in Pennsylvania, and we are going to win Pennsylvania.
[22:50:02]
And now we are ahead, but we are winning in Arizona, we're winning in Nevada, and in fact our lead just doubled in Nevada. We're on track to over 300 electoral votes, Electoral College votes. And look at the national numbers. We're going to win this race with a clear majority, with the nation behind us.
We've gotten over 74 million votes, I'm going to repeat that, 74 million votes. That's more than any other presidential ticket has ever gotten in the history of the United States of America. And our vote total is still growing. We're beating Donald Trump by over four million votes and that's the margin is still growing as well. One of the things I'm especially proud of is how well we've done
across America, and we're going to be the first Democrat to win in Arizona in 24 years, we're going to be the first Democrat to win Georgia in 28 years. And we've rebuilt the blue wall in the middle of the country that crumbled just four years ago, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, the heartland of this nation.
I know watching the vote tallies on TV moves very slower -- slow and it's as slow as it goes, it can be numbing. But never forget, the tallies aren't just numbers. They represent votes and voters. Men and women who exercise their fundamental right to have their voice heard.
And what's becoming clear each hour is that a record number of Americans of all races, faiths, and religions chose change over more of the same. They've given us a mandate for action on COVID, the economy, the climate change, systemic racism. They made it clear they want the country to come together, not continue to pull apart.
The people spoke. More than 74 million Americans, and they spoke loudly for our ticket. But while we're waiting for the final results, I want people to know we're not waiting to get the work done and start up and start the process.
Yesterday, Senator Harris and I held meetings with groups of experts on public health and economic -- and the economic crisis this country is facing. The pandemic, as you also know, is getting more worrisome all across the country. Daily cases are skyrocketing.
And it's now believed that we could spike, see as many as 200,000 cases in a single day, the death toll is approaching 240,000 lives lost to this virus. That's 240,000 empty chairs at kitchen tables and dining tables all across America. We'll never be able to measure all that pain, the loss, the suffering, that so many families have experienced.
We know something about what it feels like to lose -- feels like to lose someone. And I want them to know, they're not alone. Our hearts break with you. We want everyone, everyone to know on day one, we're going to put our plan to control this virus into action. We can't save any of the lives lost, any of those that have been lost. But we can save a lot of lives in the months ahead.
Senator Harris and I also heard yesterday about how this recovery is slowing because of the failure to get the pandemic under control. More than 20 million people are on unemployment. Millions are worried about making rent. And putting food on the table. Our economic plan will put a focus on a path to a strong recovery.
Look, we both know tensions are high. They can be high after a tough election. One like we've had. But we need to remember, we have to remain calm. Patient. Let the process work out as we count all the votes. You know, we're proving again what we've proved for 244 years in this country, democracy works. Your vote will be counted.
I don't care how hard people try to stop it. I will not let it happen. The people will be heard. Our journey is toward a more perfect union, and it keeps moving on. In America, we hold strong views, and we have strong disagreements, and that's OK. Strong -- strong disagreements are inevitable in a democracy. Strong disagreements are healthy. They're a sign of a vigorous debate of deeply held views.
But we have to remember, the purpose of our politics isn't total unrelenting, unending warfare. No.
[22:54:59]
The purpose of our politics, the work of the nation isn't to fan the flames in conflict but to solve problems, to guarantee justice, to give everybody a fair shot. And to improve the lives of our people. We may be opponents, but we're not enemies. We're Americans. And no matter who you voted for, I'm certain of one thing. The vast majority of almost 150 America -- the 150 million Americans who voted, they want to get the vitriol out of our politics.
We're certainly not going to agree on a lot of issues. But at least we can agree to be civil with one another. We have to put the anger and the demonization behind us. It's time for us to come together as a nation to heal. It's not going to be easy. We have to try.
My responsibility as president will be to represent the whole nation. And I want you to know that I'll work as hard for those who voted against me as those who voted for me. That's the job. That's the job. It's called the duty of care for all Americans. We have serious problems to deal with. From COVID, to the economy, to racial justice, climate change. We don't have any more time to waste on partisan warfare.
You know, and more than that, we have such an incredible opportunity to build the future we want for our kids and our grandkids. I've said many, many times, I've never been more optimistic about the future of this nation. There is no reason we can't own the 21st century. We just need to remember who we are.
This is the United States of America, and there's never been anything - anything we're unable to do, unable to accomplish, when we've done it together. I hope to be talking to you tomorrow. I want to thank you all, and may God bless you and may God protect our troops. Good night.
(APPLAUSE)
TAPPER: Former Vice President Joe Biden, walking out with his running mate, Senator Kamala Harris. It was quite a contrast from what we heard from President Trump yesterday, if that's when it was, President Trump's address was about him, it was about his anger, it was about his grievance, it was about his desire to stay in power.
We just heard a different message from the former vice president who said that nothing was official yet. But he thought that it was clear where things were going. That they were going to win the race. He talked about how he thought it was a mandate, that he was getting from the American people. He and Senator Harris, given the 74 million votes as of now for him and the Electoral College victory that seems quite within his grasp. And he talked about how the nation needs to come together. That people
might be opponents, but they are not enemies. And lastly, I thought it was interesting that he talked about the voting process and the counting process, and how in fact it could be numbing, in his words, but people need to remember that these tallies don't represent just numbers. These represent voters.
BASH: That's right. I mean, he leaned into the fact that he believes he's going to win. He was very specific in the states in which he has pulled ahead. Pennsylvania, Georgia, he talked about Arizona and Nevada as well which is understandable.
But beyond that, what was so striking was how big that speech was. Big. And all encompassing, and not just about the specifics about coronavirus and other things that he wants to do which are very important. But about democracy and about coming together and about the need for a more perfect union.
I mean, it was a soaring speech, as soaring as we have heard from Joe Biden maybe since his Gettysburg speech during the campaign. But he has made the pivot from candidate to president-elect, rhetorically. That is what he wanted to communicate.
PHILLIP: Yes, I was struck by exactly that. He said the purpose of our politics isn't total unrelenting warfare. He knows what's coming. And that this is not going to be a walk in the park in terms of dealing with the fallout from a contentious election. But he's signaling very strongly that his intention is to move forward.
And I did think it was also notable, we were discussing this earlier in the day, you know, Joe Biden is president also because the liberal wing of the party stuck with him. He heard him refer to that today. He said this was a mandate for action on the coronavirus, on climate, on racism.
[23:00:03]
Those are all big picture priorities for Democrats, the Democratic base.
