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CNN Live Event/Special
Moments Away: Polls Close in 16 States and DC; Crucial Battlegrounds Of GA, NC, PA Too Early To Call. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired November 05, 2024 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Going to start to see votes coming in. It's time to do some serious math at the top of the hour, Donald Trump leading at the moment, 182,000 votes ahead, but only about a third of the vote counted, and not much in yet from the Atlanta suburban area. But Jake in the hour ahead, a lot of votes.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Indeed, voting is about to end in 16 states and the District of Columbia, the biggest round of poll closings all night, a whopping 171 electoral votes at stake, including 19 in Pennsylvania, the battleground that could decide the presidential election. And let's bring you some CNN projections.
CNN projects that Donald Trump will win the state of Florida with its 30 electoral votes as expected; Donald Trump, CNN projects will win the state of Tennessee as expected with its 11 electoral votes. Missouri will go to Donald Trump. Missouri, as expected, will give Donald Trump 10 electoral votes.
Here are two more projections for Trump. Alabama, CNN can project will go to Donald Trump with its nine electoral votes. And Oklahoma, CNN projects will go to Donald Trump with its seven electoral votes.
We have some projections for Kamala Harris as well. CNN projects that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, with its 11 electoral votes, as expected, will go to Kamala Harris. CNN can project that Maryland, as expected, with its 10 electoral votes, will go to Kamala Harris, and CNN can project that the District of Columbia, with its three electoral votes can go to Kamala Harris.
Here are the states where the polls just closed where we are not prepared to make a projection. They include Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. No projection in any of those states.
Here is the electoral vote count at this hour, Donald Trump has 90 electoral votes. Kamala Harris has 27 electoral votes, 270 are needed to win. Neither of them has approached that number yet.
Key Race Alert for you now in the big battlegrounds North Carolina, Kamala Harris is in the lead there with 51.8 percent of the vote, Donald Trump has 47.2 percent of the vote. Kamala Harris with an 11,000 plus vote lead. That's with only five percent of the estimated vote count. It's still a lot of votes to count in North Carolina. In battleground Georgia, Donald Trump in the lead with 54.8 percent of the vote, Kamala Harris has 44.6 percent of the vote. That's with a third of the vote in, in Georgia, that's 33 percent of the estimated vote.
In the Commonwealth of Virginia, Kamala Harris in the lead with 54.2 percent of the vote. Donald Trump has 43.9 percent of the vote. Kamala Harris with a healthy 115,000 plus vote lead, that's with a quarter of the vote counted in the Commonwealth of Virginia, 25 percent.
In New Hampshire, Kamala Harris has 55.7 percent of the vote. Donald Trump has 43.7 percent of the vote. Kamala Harris with a 9,517 vote lead. That's with only a 10 percent of the estimated vote counted in the State of New Hampshire.
In Ohio, Kamala Harris in the lead there 54.5 percent of the vote. Donald Trump has 44.7 percent of the vote. Kamala Harris has a 144,000 plus vote lead in Ohio. That's with a quarter 25 percent of the estimated vote in, in the State of Ohio -- John King
KING: Jake, we said this earlier in the program. We're going to say it again, because caution is the operative word here. Sometimes the map early in the night, and we are still early in the night, even though we're moving on a little bit. Sometimes the map looks a little different. Sometimes it looks a lot different than it might look at the end of the night or the end of the count in the states, it takes a day or two.
I say that because at the moment, you see Texas is blue. Texas is most unlikely rule out nothing, but Texas is most unlikely to be blue at the end of our count. At the moment, the vice president is leading 61 percent to 38 percent, but it's just 5 percent of the Texas vote. As you can see, it's all from the Dallas area, right there. So we have a long way to go in Texas. Also, Senate race there we'll be keeping an eye on, but that one is not going to happen right there.
We have our first votes. Look at that in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, again, only three percent of the vote in but you'd rather be ahead from the beginning to the end, if you can be, 73 percent if you round up for Vice President Harris, 27 percent for Donald Trump. But again, where are they from? They're all from right out here in Allegheny County, which is the Democratic stronghold.
Just for the sake of comparison, they say that's about 25 percent of the estimated vote. So it could change, and it could change dramatically, but she's getting 73 percent if you round up, and if you come back here, Joe Biden got 59 percent. So, if Harris can keep that number, that would bode extraordinarily well.
Look at the president four years ago, was at 59 and she is at 72.5, but most likely what you get here early on are early votes, which tend to be more Democratic. So let's just wait and see if she could hold but you'd rather start ahead of your margin and then battle from there. That's the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Let's wander back through the map, North Carolina, a critical battleground. If Harris can win North Carolina, Trump's math gets a lot more complicated. If Harris loses North Carolina and Georgia, her math gets a lot more complicated. Here's where we are right now, 12,000 votes ahead, only six percent of the vote in, again, she's got 179,000 and change. Just for the context, Donald Trump got 2.7 million plus to win this state in 2020. So, a long way to go on the count, but you look at the map and you say, is it filling in the way each candidate would want it to fill in?
[20:05:10]
So let's start here. Actually, Mecklenburg is the largest population center and vice president getting 70 percent if you round that up, this is where she needs to win, and win big. The African-American community, the suburbs around it, if you're going to compete in North Carolina, you start in Mecklenburg County and Charlotte. So, 70 percent if you round up 67 percent for President Biden, four years ago, former Vice President Joe Biden, when he ran. This gets a little confusing, but if you're Harris and you can keep that advantage, that's what you want, right? You want to run ahead of where he was. The question is, it's early in the night, Can she hold that that would bode well for her?
If she can, it would show African American turnout and that she's doing well in the suburbs. Then you move, if you're the Democrat, over to Wake County, which is Raleigh, the second largest population center in the state.
Again, we're only at seven percent so this is just a glimpse. And then we check back 72 percent for her. Or if you will look at Trump's number equally important, where is he performing? Vis-a-vis last time, 27 percent for him. You come back here, 62 percent. So again, in the early returns in North Carolina, the vice president of the United States, in the key areas the Democratic building blocks, is running ahead of her boss four years ago.
That doesn't mean it will hold up. Let's just scoot over to dorm and take a look. Biden got 80 percent there. You come back to Harris now she's getting 84 percent. Again, it's only five percent reporting, early votes tend to be disproportionately Democratic, so let's watch and see how it plays out. Early in the campaign, you're just checking your list. Are we above or below where we want to be? And if you're above, you take a breath and you wait for more votes to come in.
We're going to look out in this part of the state, because this is the part of the state that was hit hardest by Hurricane Helene. There have been questions, could people vote? State has done a remarkable job getting the facilities open and making people to vote.
Buncombe County is where Asheville is, right here. Again, only seven percent in 77 percent if you round up for the vice president, if you go back again in these early results, emphasis on early results. She's over performing Joe Biden, who just narrowly lost in North Carolina four years ago.
So, if that holds up, it tells you, keep an eye on North Carolina at the moment, at the moment, she's doing what she needs to do. But I just want to be cautious that it's early votes which tend to favor the Democrats. So, let's wait until we get more. Only at seven percent in North Carolina, but we keep counting from there.
So, then Georgia is hanging on the board blue, the Sun Belt battlegrounds. We'll get to Arizona and Nevada later in the night. Some of the count there may take us into tomorrow and beyond, but the other two Sun Belt battlegrounds are North Carolina, where we just were.
Let's gas up the car. We go to Georgia now. The president, the former president of the United States, ahead there with 56 percent of the vote. You're up to 36 percent so you start to think, okay, we're doing some business here with the count. However, I just want to caution, Fulton County by far the largest county population wise in the state. It's 10 percent of the state, 159 counties in Georgia. This is by far number one, about half of the vote in 71 percent.
This is where you start to get -- in North Carolina I just said very early on, the vice president was running ahead of the president, but you see 53 percent there, at 71 percent, here, he's running a little bit behind the president.
Again, there's more votes to be counted. But remember this, as we go through tonight, 73 percent if you round up for Biden 2020. In Fulton County, the absolute bedrock of any Democratic victory has to come with big math there, 380,000 votes and change for the president then, you come here, now she's at 71 percent, that's a little below. It's a little below the Biden number.
We'll see where the final turnout number rounds up. But if you're in the Harris campaign, you're working the phone saying, "Yo, what's out there, what's going to come, where are we going, do we really think we matched our numbers?"
And if you lose a little bit in Fulton County, you better make it up in the suburbs around it, which is why this is very interesting. But it's also very early.
Cobb County, 58 percent but look at that, 986 votes for Trump in the lead. It's going to take 200,000 plus, 220,000 or 230,000 to win Cobb County. So, let's be careful and cautious early on about that. Then you just come back out, this one's Gwinnett. Up here, Gwinnett County, Harris at 52 but again, look, we're very early here. We love counting votes. It gives me an early test of how things are playing out. The 52 percent if you round that up, go back to 2020 Biden at 59, you're not alarmed yet, because you're only at two percent.
Just want to drop down here to DeKalb County. This is the most Democratic of the suburbs just to the east of Atlanta. Biden gets 83, we don't have any votes in there for the vice president there.
One thing the Harris campaign has been saying is, if you look out here, you're moving more out to the exurbs now you're moving more out to the exurbs. Still a high African-American population out here that Harris with 77 percent in Rockdale County, getting 76 percent if you round that up, running well ahead of President Biden out here. So there are some areas where you have a higher vote count, Jake in Georgia, where the Harris campaign says we're running a little ahead of Joe Biden. In some of those other places, we still need more votes before you can make a fair comparison.
TAPPER: All right, John King, thanks so much. And we have a key race alert for you now. We're getting some votes in from two key battlegrounds. In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Kamala Harris in the lead with 77.6 percent of the vote. Donald Trump has 21.5 percent of the vote. Harris with a 187,924 vote lead. But it is very, very early. It's only five percent of the estimated vote has been counted in the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, with its big fat packet of 19 electoral votes.
In battleground Michigan, Kamala Harris in the lead with 76.7 percent of the vote. Donald Trump with 22.1 percent of the vote, Kamala Harris with a 62,597 vote lead. Again, very, very early, only two percent of the estimated vote in, in the battleground Michigan with its big packet of 15 electoral votes -- John King.
KING: Jake, I was just in your home state, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It's been at the gym. It's a slimmed down packet of 19 electoral votes. It's not so fat. It's slim down. It's looking good. Here we go. Where are those votes coming from?
Well, number one, they're mostly coming from Philadelphia. Kate Bolduan told you just a few minutes ago, we were going to get them. Here it is. We got, she said, we'll get a hundred thousand votes. We got a little over hundred thousand votes, right, 17 percent though, of Philadelphia, 87 percent in the first batch of votes in Philadelphia for the vice president.
Again, bit of a broken record, but you compare her, Joe Biden won Pennsylvania. So you want to go back and look for years ago, and how is she doing vis-a-vis, Joe Biden, 87 percent in Philadelphia. He got 81 percent in Philadelphia. It's early in the count. We know these are early votes. Kate told us that. Early ballots tend to be disproportionately Democratic. So, will this number hold up for the vice president? We'll see as we play out.
If she stays close to that number, comes out a little bit, she'll be in good stead in Pennsylvania, but we need to get more votes. Where are the rest of the votes, you're going to come out here now at Lancaster County. This will be interesting. If this one stays blue, you got 52 percent for the vice president if you round up. But look it's fewer than a thousand votes there, fewer than 800 votes. If you come back four years ago, Donald Trump won this county convincingly, Lancaster County, 57 percent if you round that up. So we've got a ways to go as we wait that play out.
So, you see things early on again, early votes. You get some early votes. They tend to favor the Democrats, which is why, for example, as we leave Pennsylvania, and the votes that you still see Ohio on the map is blue, unlikely to hold up. We'll see everything's fair game on election night, you count the votes and you see what happens. But we're very, very early on in the count in Ohio. And for example, a few moments ago, we showed you Texas as blue. That has changed, just barely Donald Trump, just barely ahead. But that has changed, as well as more votes come in, in some of these rural counties in Texas.
So let's come back to the states in play, and let's start in battleground Georgia. It was 11,000 votes, 11,000 votes, 700 and change, back four years ago, Donald Trump at 57 percent right now. Why is that? You see the red, see the red, see all that red? Those are the building blocks of the Trump coalition.
Talk about the Democratic coalition. Urban areas, close in suburbs, then you fight in the exurbs and farther out the suburbs. Trump's base is all these small rural counties. I'll just pick one randomly. Wilcox County, but 57 percent reporting is getting 77 percent of the vote. You say, well, that's only 1,500 votes. That's not a big deal.
It's a big deal if you're getting it here and here and here and here. You know, there are a lot of counties, right? You've got 159 counties in Georgia, 159 counties in Georgia. If the Democrats win 13, they carry the state, right? They're all in Atlanta and other urban areas. So, that's how Donald Trump runs it up in these little, tiny counties.
And so, you go back, let's pick another one. Jackson County, 78 percent, slightly bigger, you see the math there, 90 percent counted. So, they're almost there, 78 percent in 2024, 78 percent in 2020.
Donald Trump's base is Donald Trump's base. Let's just pick another one, just to compare it out Hall County, again, slightly bigger. You see 49,000 votes. That matters, that matters. You're getting a vote margin like that. That's 30,000 votes out of one county in a state that is very competitive, 73 percent 2024, let's just come back and look 71 percent so in that county, Donald Trump's over performing, 2020, Donald Trump, which is good news for the Trump campaign.
Now, you've got to add them all up in the end and again, the key for the Democrats is here. I just want to check back on Fulton County, still at 53 percent there, 71 percent for the vice president. This one still no math. Cobb County, if that one stays red, Donald Trump's going to carry the state. But it's still very early in the count.
You come down to Douglas County. A moment ago, I was talking about Rockdale County. This is one of the counties the Harris campaign is tracking and saying, okay, this is good news for us. Why do they say that? She's about 76 percent of the vote counted, she's at 66 percent, when you round that up, and Joe Biden was at 62 percent four years ago.
So again, it's relatively populist, suburban area, Southwest exurban area, southwest of Atlanta, and you're looking at the Biden number, and then you look at the Harris number in those counties, and you say, we're doing a little better than Joe Biden did four years ago, and that's good for the vice president, especially if she's going to lose a little bit in other places.
If she's not matching Biden in places you want to over perform Biden in some others. So Jake, you look at the map, it's getting interesting, but we still have a long way to go. I just make one quick peek at North Carolina still at nine percent, we'll keep counting.
TAPPER: All right, John, let's go to Boris Sanchez now for new projections in the fight for control of the US Senate -- Boris.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT : Yes, Jake, a handful of projections to bring you right now. All of them holds for the incumbent party. Let's start with the Sunshine State of Florida, their incumbent Senator Rick Scott, the Republican will defeat Democratic Congresswoman, former Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, Scott winning a second term in the Sunshine State.
[20:15:14]
Meantime, in Tennessee, the first all-female Senate race in the volunteer state's history. Incumbent Republican Marsha Blackburn will win her second term, defeating Gloria Johnson, a state lawmaker.
Meantime, in Indiana, Congressman Jim Banks, he will defeat Democrat Valerie McCrae, a clinical psychologist. This is for the open seat left by retiring Senator Mike Braun, who's now running for governor.
Let's show you some Democratic polls, beginning in the Northeast with the state of Massachusetts. There you have incumbent Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren seeking her third term in office. The former presidential candidate is expected to defeat John Deaton, a best- selling author and crypto currency advocate.
Staying in the northeast, another projection to bring you for Democrats in the state of Connecticut, their incumbent Democratic Senator Chris Murphy will win his third full term in office as he defeats Matthew Corey, a bar owner/Teamster who's run for statewide office now five times, the fifth time not the run for him. Murphy wins re-election in Connecticut.
Meantime, a projection to bring you from Rhode Island, their incumbent Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse seeking his fourth term in office. He's projected to defeat Patricia Morgan, a Democratic member, or rather a Republican member of the State House.
And now in Vermont, the longest serving independent in congressional history, Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent caucuses with Democrats, is expected to win his fourth term as he defeats Gerald Malloy, a business executive.
So, what do all those projections mean for the magic number, the number that Republicans need to pick up in order to take control of the upper chamber. With the one pickup in West Virginia, they started out the night at two, now it's at one, and they are currently leading, still early, but they are currently leading in zero races where Democrats hold seats. Let's take a look at some key race alerts now and get you live updates, live results as they are coming into CNN, beginning with the state of Texas.
This is a welcome sign for Democrats. It is still early, but right now, Democratic Congressman Colin Allred from the Dallas area, has about a 31,000 vote lead over Republican incumbent Ted Cruz, who is seeking his third term in office. Of course, Democrats love to see this. But it is still early, and this could present one of the few opportunities for Democrats to pick up a Republican seat. We just got an update now his lead up to 14,000 votes with 18 percent of the vote in, in the Lone Star State.
Let's get you an update from Pennsylvania. Here, incumbent Democratic Senator Bob Casey seeking his fourth term in office, he's currently leading against the CEO of one of the largest hedge funds in the world, former CEO, I should say, Dave McCormick. Casey, right now, with a 223,000 vote lead, still very early, though, six percent of the vote in and it just updated a 222,000 vote lead now for Casey, with 6 percent of the vote in, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
An update for you, one of the closest races we are expecting tonight coming from Michigan, their Democratic Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin, 60,000 votes ahead of former Republican Congressman Mike Rogers. This is for the open seat left by retiring Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow, three percent of the vote in, in the Wolverine state of Michigan.
So, looking at the balance of power for the US Senate. These are the raw numbers. Democrats hold 32 seats. Republicans, 42 with that one important pickup in West Virginia, but 26 seats remain up for grabs. It's an open contest right now in the US Senate, you need 51 seats to control that chamber -- Jake.
TAPPER: All right. Boris, thanks so much. We're waiting more votes in the crucial presidential battle, rounds of Georgia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. We're watching those very early votes from Michigan as well. We're also looking ahead to 9:00 PM Eastern when all voting is going to end in Michigan and another blue wall battleground state, Wisconsin.
Voting also ends soon in the key western swing state of Arizona. More votes, more suspense when Election Night in America continues after this quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:22:10]
TAPPER: It is 8:21 PM in the East Coast, and we are getting deeper into this election. Let us take a Key Race Alert right now, Pennsylvania, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Kamala Harris in the lead there with 72 percent of the vote. Donald Trump has 26.9 percent of the vote. Harris has a 240,000 plus vote lead. But it's early. Only eight percent of the estimated vote has come in from Pennsylvania.
In Michigan, Kamala Harris in the lead there, with 61.1 percent of the vote. Donald Trump with 37.1 percent of the vote, Harris with a 58,000 plus vote lead, still early there as well. Only four percent of the estimated vote is coming from Michigan.
In battleground Georgia, Donald Trump in the lead with 55 percent of the vote. Kamala Harris with 44.4 percent of the vote, Donald Trump with a 275,000 plus vote lead. That's with almost half the vote in 48 percent of the estimated vote in from battleground Georgia.
In battleground North Carolina, Kamala Harris in the lead there with 52.1 percent of the vote, Donald Trump with 46.5 percent of the vote, Harris has a 36,000 plus vote lead. That's with only 11 percent of the estimated vote in from North Carolina. It is still very early in North Carolina.
In the Commonwealth of Virginia. Harris and the lead there, 51 percent of the vote. Donald Trump has 47.2 percent of the vote. Harris with a 58,000 vote or so lead, that's with more than a third of the vote in Commonwealth of Virginia, at 34 percent of the estimated vote -- John King.
KING: Jake, it's starting to fill in more of the map. Just trying to figure out where we'll go. I want to caution everybody, if you look at the map, as we start to fill in more as we move, at least to the Midwest, you have Kansas blue at the moment, very reliably red state. We'll count the votes see what happens.
Remember, it shocked us after Dobbs with the referendum there, Ohio is still blue. We expect as more votes come in, that will swing back. But again, that's why we count votes. If you look just big picture at the moment, Donald Trump in an unusual position. We'll see if it holds up. At the moment, he's leading in the popular vote.
He, of course, lost the popular vote of both 2016 and by a much larger margin, more than seven million votes in 2020. At the moment, he's 2.5 million votes ahead in the popular vote, but that's about 17 percent of the National vote. So we have a lot of counting to do tonight into tomorrow and beyond, it will take.
So let's wander through some of the battleground states. Let's start the biggest battleground prize of all, Pennsylvania, 19 electoral votes, right there. The vice president the moment with a big, healthy lead. Guess what? Pennsylvania is not going to end that way, even if she wins it, it's just too competitive a state.
So, why is it such a big lead? Because most of the votes are from right down here in Philadelphia in the Democratic suburbs, But it can still be instructive. Number one, we're still at the same place, 87 percent 17 percent there at 87 percent we haven't moved in Philadelphia. She's ahead of where President Biden was four years ago, but that's a tiny percentage of votes in their early votes.
So let's move up here. This is the most competitive of the three color counties. It's Delaware, Montgomery and Bucks. Bucks has become the most competitive.
At the moment, the vice president is getting 66 percent if you round up in Bucks County, but again, it's 11 percent. If the vice president ends up above 60 percent. If the vice president ends up above 60 percent in Bucks County, at the end of the night, she's going to win the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
[20:25:10]
But it is very, very early. Why do I say that? Because Joe Biden won it last time with just 52 percent, this is a very tough, it is a good, strong Trump base in Bucks County.
So, what you see at the moment is mostly early votes, but we watch and we see.
Another place here is Montgomery County. Again, when I started doing this, this is where Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush, won elections. No more. It's a Democratic stronghold now. But you see right now it's very early on, 800 votes when you add that up. So we won't even bother with the comparison.
Then you just pop down to Delaware County, same issue, about 15 percent of the vote. And so we can take a look here. I was just here the other day in Delaware County, and you see it's overwhelmingly Democratic, but you do see some pockets of Trump support. This is one of the places. It's a key test. He's not going to win Delaware County. Can he improve his standing in the suburbs? Just a little bit? That's Donald Trump's big challenge.
Improve your standing in the suburbs, just a little bit, 15 percent he's at 24 percent right now. If you go back four years ago, he was at 36 percent, so if he stays where he is, he's in trouble in Pennsylvania. But again, these are very, very, very early results.
So, we've been looking at this from the vice president's perspective. Let's come back to 2024 and look at it from the former president's perspective and that is these red areas out here.
So this is Butler County. This is where the rally was, where the assassination attempt was made on the former president's life. Very small smattering of votes right here. But this is Trump country. This is Trump country, 81 percent of the vote at the moment, right now, you go back four years ago, 67 percent so let's see, let's see, it's very, very early. So it's not -- I'm not making the comparison now. It's just one of the places we lay down markers and we look so look, does Donald Trump match or exceed his 2020 performance in these smaller, red rural counties?
That is his building block in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and in all the battlegrounds. He runs it up in the small rural areas, and he goes from there.
Let's move down, North Carolina. Jake, I'll take it back to you. I'll be back in a minute.
TAPPER: That's right. I have a projection now. CNN has a projection.
And CNN can project that South Carolina will go to Donald Trump. South Carolina, as expected, to the Republican with nine electoral votes. Let's take a look at how that affects the electoral map. Donald Trump in the lead with 99 electoral votes. Kamala Harris has 27 electoral votes. There are 270 electoral votes needed to win. Neither of them are particularly close, though, obviously Donald Trump in the lead -- John.
KING: And Jake, it should come back. You just mentioned the electoral council. Let me just wander over here. It's very early, I just want to wander over for a minute. These are the ones that project -- the states we have projected and called. And you see, as Jake just noted, 99 for Trump, 27 for the vice president.
We're very early. Takes 270 to win. The thing you look at when you look at this map is, are there any surprises? And the answer as of now is no, that the states that are red are states that Trump has won consistently in the Republican states, and the states that are blue are Democratic states.
So we have no surprises on the map at the moment, because those states, none of those states, are considered battleground states, but you always watch on election night, every now and then you get a surprise.
At the moment, the map is filling in as expected, as we await for the states that tend to be the swing states and the battleground states. Just one point I want to note as we look big picture. Last time we were here, just a few minutes ago, Ohio was blue. Ohio has turned red now. Donald Trump with a very narrow lead, but it's the trend as the Election Day votes start to come in states that are reliably one color or the other, one party or the other tend to go back to their DNA.
Trump now narrowly ahead in Ohio. We'll keep an eye on that as we do it. So let's look at the battleground states that will matter most, as that map fills in over there, who can get to 270 Georgia is one of the big pieces of the puzzle, and again, in a state decided by 11,779 votes, I believe, four years ago, Donald Trump ahead by more than 300,000 votes, or about half the count. Half the count is good, but there's still a long way to go.
Just want to check this is where the Democrats have to run it up. Remember Cobb County, last time we checked Trump was winning, Harris is now winning with 57 percent of the vote, 57 percent of the count in she's got 57 percent of the vote. You move over, that's around where Biden was four years ago, a little tiny bit above. That's what she wants to do. You come over to DeKalb County. Biden was at 83 the vice president at 75 very early in the count there. Keep an eye on that.
She'd have to make that -- that would be a big that would be -- if she's underperforming Biden there, that would be a big deal. And again, I just want to show you the Trump base. I'm going to just pick one randomly. Wilcox County, I did that one before.
So let's pick another one. Pulaski County, right above it, 95 percent of the vote in, 70 percent for Donald Trump. Not a lot of votes, but this is what he does in rural America, 69 percent four years ago. So a little bit, little bit, hundred votes here, hundred votes there can matter as you're trying to win a battleground state.
We'll see how that one plays out. Let's just pop up to North Carolina. See again, 51 percent to 48 percent if you round that up, this is an incredibly competitive state, and again, I just want to do to check in on how Trump is doing in these small rural counties, 80 percent of the vote in Macon County, he's got 68 percent when you round up, you come back here, 68 percent little. Running the tiny, tiny bit behind, but that's about equal to where he was before.
So you're looking right now. Battleground North Carolina, battleground Georgia, battleground Pennsylvania.
[20:30:19]
Come back to 2024. Some votes coming in slowly in battleground Michigan as well.
As we continue to count and go, just checking to see if anything else is changing up. Let's take a quick look at Michigan before we have to go here, 59 percent. But look at all the votes are here.
Let's check here. This is Kent County, a key suburban area. If Trump can hold on to this one, he'll win Michigan, but we're very, very early in the count, Jake.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, John.
Well, polls are about to close in deep red Arkansas, where six electoral votes are at stake. And CNN can project that Donald Trump will win the state of Arkansas, as expected. Donald Trump will take home Arkansas's six electoral votes.
Let's take a look at the electoral map count now. Donald Trump in the lead with 105 electoral votes. Kamala Harris has 27 electoral votes. There are 270 electoral votes needed to win.
Let's take a look at where there are states that have not been projected yet. In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Kamala Harris has 71.2 percent of the vote. Donald Trump has 27.8 percent of the vote.
Harris with a 238,000 plus vote lead, but it's early. Only 8 percent of the estimated vote has been in from Pennsylvania. In battleground Michigan, Kamala Harris has 57.6 percent of the vote. Donald Trump has 40.5 percent of the vote. Kamala Harris with a 50,000 plus vote lead. That's with 6 percent of the estimated vote in from Michigan. Still a lot of votes to be counted in Michigan.
In battleground North Carolina, Harris in the lead there. 49.8 percent of the vote, but Donald Trump bringing up the rear, 48.9 percent of the vote. Harris has right now a 7,200 -- approximately 7,200 vote lead. That's with 14 percent of the estimated vote in North Carolina counted.
In battleground Georgia, Donald Trump in the lead with 55.4 percent of the vote. Kamala Harris bringing up the rear with 44 percent of the vote. Donald Trump with a healthy 322,000 plus vote lead. That's with more than half of the vote counted in Georgia. 53 percent of the estimated vote in Georgia counted.
In the Commonwealth of Virginia, Kamala Harris in the lead with 50 percent of the vote. Donald Trump with 48.2 percent of the vote. Harris with a 30,000 plus vote lead. That's with more than a third. 39 percent of the estimated vote in from Virginia counted.
In the state of New Hampshire, Kamala Harris in the lead 54.1 percent of the vote. Donald Trump with 45.3 percent of the vote. Harris with a 13,000 plus vote lead. That's with an estimated 18 percent of the estimated vote out of New Hampshire counted.
In Ohio, Donald Trump in the lead, 50.3 percent of the vote. Kamala Harris with 48.9 percent of the vote. Donald Trump with a 36,000 plus vote lead. That's with an estimated 41 percent of the estimated vote in from Ohio.
And now we can make a projection in a closely watched race for governor. CNN can project that Democrat Josh Stein will be elected governor of North Carolina. Stein is the current Attorney General. We are projecting that he will defeat his Republican opponent, Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, who had Donald Trump's endorsement.
Robinson's history of controversy became a major issue in the race, including recently uncovered shall we call them inflammatory posts on a porn website from more than a decade ago. Again, CNN projects the Democrats will hold on to the governor's office in North Carolina with Attorney General Josh Stein replacing the term limited Governor Roy Cooper. John?
KING: And Jake, one of the big questions in North Carolina, as you know, is Democrats were somewhat hopeful that maybe the scandal in the governor's race might help them. And the Trump campaign was nervous that with the Republican candidate Robinson in trouble, would Trump be impacted by that?
So let's just take a quick look at it. You see, North Carolina, this is the presidential race. Very close at the moment. We're only at about 15 percent of the statewide vote count. So a long way to go in a state we expect to be tight. It is tight from the get go in the early count.
I just want to switch over and look at the governor's race. Excuse me. It's down here. Look at the governor's race. So you have the Democrat here at 49.4 percent, the Democratic candidate for president. If you look at the governor's race, Josh Stein winning 56 percent of the vote.
So you have a lot of ticket splitting happening in North Carolina right now. People who are voting for Donald Trump who simply could not vote for Mark Robinson for governor. And so at least at the moment, not the benefit that the Harris campaign was hoping for, at least no evidence of a giant benefit that the Harris campaign was hoping for in North Carolina from the scandal around the Republican gubernatorial candidate.
So what do we have here in the key battleground, North Carolina, Georgia, and then we go west, Arizona and Nevada, 648 votes ahead. That's why we call them battleground states. We're only at 14 percent of the count.
And so you come out here. Let's just go west to east, 73 percent for the Vice President, 26 percent reporting. You just go back and check. Joe Biden came close here but lost, so she's overperforming him at the moment there. And then you want to come over to the biggest population center is Charlotte in the suburbs. That's Mecklenburg County.
The president got 67 percent when you round up. Four years ago, you come back here, she's getting 70 percent.
[20:35:00]
So in the early count, it's neck and neck. It is -- this is one of the great tug-of-war states in the United States right here. And we'll continue to count, still at 14 percent.
Let's pop down to Georgia. We're at 53 percent. We were at 50 percent last time, so we're moving up but moving up slowly. And again, it's trademark Trump just running it up in the rural areas. And so we pick one randomly. You come down here, Bacon County, 95 percent in, so we're close to the full count here.
But look at that, 87 percent of the vote, right? This is how he does it. It's 4,000 votes to 600 votes. In a state this big, you say, oh, that's not such a big deal. When you do it in county after county after county, that adds up. So just go back and take a look, 86 percent.
So Donald Trump is at least matching his performance in most of these rural counties of four years ago when Georgia was incredibly close. So if he matches in the rural areas, all he has to do is improve a little smidgen in the suburbs or in the urban areas and you're more competitive in the state.
So let's just check the suburbs around Atlanta because this is where -- if Trump is performing in the rural areas, as it looks like he is, turning out his base, then the race will be settled here by the margins in the suburbs. Only 16 percent of the vote in, so let's be careful.
60 percent for Vice President Harris, or again, more important almost is can Trump move his numbers up. 39 percent in the suburbs right now. Gwinnett County suburbs, it was 40 percent. So at the moment in this one suburb, he's got some work to do. We'll see if he can do it.
Let's move down here to DeKalb County. This is the most Democratic of the suburbs just to the east of Atlanta. 83 percent President Biden had in winning the state four years ago. The Vice President running a little bit behind that right now, but look, that's not even 1,000 votes. So we have a ways to go before we have to worry about any comparison there.
Let's drop down to Clayton County, the Atlanta airport just south of Atlanta. Big Democratic stronghold. This was critical to Biden coming back in Georgia as they counted their votes in 2020. Trump had an early lead, but as the count went on into the day after and the day after that, Clayton County was one of the places where Joe Biden got a lot of votes. And you see 85 percent for the Vice President, about three quarters of the count. 76 percent right there. So how does that compare to 2020? About the same, right? You got 85 percent when you round that up. You got 85 percent when you round that up.
So here we go in Georgia again. So far as you go through it, you've got a very competitive race. So that one's competitive. Let's come out of there. I want to go up and look at Michigan. We haven't spent any time here yet. Only 6 percent of the vote in. So be careful about anything. But you're trying to look and see what happens.
Again, this is Kent County. Both campaigns focus on Grand Rapids and the suburbs. Used to be a reliably Republican area. Trump at the moment, but look again, we're under 1,000 votes right there.
Trump at the moment, but here's what you're running against, right. Joe Biden gets 52 percent. If you go back to 2016, Donald Trump carried this with 48 percent. In a state -- you know, if Michigan's going to be very close, it's 154,000. It was the biggest lead Biden had in any of the battlegrounds four years ago.
But if you're going to be competitive for Donald Trump, you'd like to turn this red. If you can't turn it red, you would at least like to narrow that margin for Donald Trump. So we'll watch and see how this plays out in 2024.
Come back to today's map here. It was just on the texting. I was going to say on the phone. It's texting. It's the same thing. With a key Democrat out in Michigan who said they're a little nervous about here, not Monroe County, but Wayne County.
He said they're a little nervous about Wayne County. I think turnout among Democrats might be down a little bit in Wayne County. That would be a problem. The African-American vote in Detroit, the student vote, Wayne State, places like that, absolutely critical for the Democratic coalition.
So we'll see what we get. Wayne County is always late to report, so it's going to be a while. We'll see if that's true, if those fears are true among Democrats that maybe turnout is down a little bit here. If it is, if it is, then the Vice President has to make it up here. Oakland County, again, 20 years ago, a Republican suburb, 58 percent right now.
We're just approaching 40 percent, 58 percent. Remember, Joe Biden carried Michigan four years ago to 56 percent. That would help. If you're above Biden, maybe you get a little math to make up if you're losing a little bit in the city. We'll see if that plays out as we thought.
I just want to pop down to bring this issue on the table as well. Washtenaw County, absolutely critical. Young voters were critical to the Biden coalition in 2020. Even more critical when Governor Whitmer won re-election in 2022 and the Michigan Democrats made gains in the legislature. Washtenaw County is the home of Ann Arbor. It is the home of the University of Michigan. Been there four times over the last year, and it's gone now. The school won't allow a protest anymore, but student protests here about the Israel-Hamas conflict had hurt President Biden.
The question was, after the switch to Vice President Harris, could she heal that wound in the Democratic coalition? So you see her at moment, 22 percent, so we have a long way to go. 60 percent for the Vice President there right now. 72 percent for the President of the United States.
If that number stays that way, that's a problem. That's a problem. 73 percent, if you round that up in Washtenaw County, 61 percent -- or 60 percent, actually, you can't round that up quite yet. So that's something to keep an eye on as we go forward.
And I just want to come out just the other day. I was also here. Michigan State is in Lansing, in Ingham County. And again, you're trying to get students to turn out. I was at a Trump phone bank here, mostly young men, college students, young men there.
50 percent for the Vice President right there. You come back in time. And 65 percent for the President of the United States.
[20:40:04]
So as we go through battleground Michigan, it's early, it's early. So I'm not -- you know, this comparison is not in cement yet, but these are the places you want to watch. At the moment, in a couple of key places, that would be Ingham County and Washtenaw County, Jake. She's trailing the President. So she needs to -- if you want to get your math up in Michigan, watch those in the hours ahead.
TAPPER: All right. Now let's check in on the all-important race to 270 electoral votes as we head into another round of poll closings.
So with Donald Trump is in the lead here with 105 electoral votes. Kamala Harris has 27 electoral votes. Obviously 270 are needed to win. We are far from that. Obviously Donald Trump's still in the lead.
But now let's bring you another key race alert. In North Carolina, battleground North Carolina, Donald Trump in the lead there. 52.2 percent of the vote. Kamala Harris with 46.6 percent of the vote. Donald Trump taking the lead there in the first time this night.
This with Donald Trump has a 69,000 plus vote lead. That's with about a fifth of the vote in. 21 percent of the estimated vote in from battleground North Carolina.
In battleground Michigan, Kamala Harris in the lead with 56.9 percent of the vote. Donald Trump has 41.2 percent of the vote. Kamala Harris currently has 59,000 plus more votes. That's with 7 percent of the estimated vote. It's still very early.
In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the all-important battleground, Kamala Harris in the lead there with 69.8 percent of the vote. Donald Trump has 29.3 percent of the vote. Kamala Harris with a 323,000 plus vote lead, but that's only 11 percent of the estimated vote in. It's still very early in Pennsylvania.
In battleground Georgia, Donald Trump in the lead. 55.6 percent of the vote. Kamala Harris has 43.8 percent of the vote. Donald Trump has currently a 339,000 plus vote lead. That's with more than half of the vote in in battleground Georgia. 54 percent of the estimated vote in from Georgia.
Now, we're standing by for the second largest wave of poll closings just minutes from now at 9:00 Eastern when a total of 163 electoral votes are at stake in 15 states. Remember, 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.
All voting is about to end in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, the battleground state of Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, battleground Wisconsin, and Wyoming. As I mentioned, Michigan and Wisconsin are the two battlegrounds on the line in the hour ahead.
Pillars of the Democrats' so-called blue wall that crumbled in 2016 but was rebuilt to help seal President Biden's victory four years ago. Out west, Arizona is another major presidential battleground that we're watching. We're heading into a high-stakes hour in the Harris- Trump contest with polling places about to close in three states that could decide the race.
Let's go to Abby Phillip at Harris campaign headquarters in Washington. And Abby, voting is about to end in three battlegrounds. What's the outlook in the Harris campaign?
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSNIGHT WITH ABBY PHILLIP: Yes, Jake, I mean, I think the banner that you guys have right now is pretty much where the Harris campaign is. It is early in the night, and they're not seeing any clear picture of where this race is headed just yet.
For that reason, they are really focused on the battleground of Pennsylvania because that really becomes the linchpin of a strategy to get to 270. If they get Pennsylvania, the rest of the path becomes much more clear.
So, as I've been talking to people tonight, they're really waiting to see how these results, as they are coming in, really shape the picture. But right now, it's really not that clear to them. And I just want to be transparent about it because they've got great numbers, but they're not willing to go out on a limb on any of this stuff just yet.
In Pennsylvania, though, I think what I am hearing is a lot of optimism. They're seeing good numbers out of Philadelphia. The local officials there are suggesting that Harris could exceed what Biden did in that city. And if she's able to do that, that would make, again, her path to winning that state much more clear, Jake.
TAPPER: All right, Abby Phillip, thanks so much. Let's go to West Palm Beach, Florida now, where we find Kaitlan Collins. And Kaitlan, what is the Trump campaign going to be looking for in the next round of poll closings?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Jake, you just mentioned Wisconsin, and that is obviously a state that they are going to be watching closely tonight. I've talked with several campaign officials. They're not expecting to get a real sense of those numbers until much later in the evening, but they will be watching Wisconsin very closely.
They want to see how abortion lands there and how close the margin could potentially be. But, Jake, one thing that former President Donald Trump will be doing that maybe no other presidential candidate has done is watching the returns come in from Wisconsin with someone who is also on the ballot in Wisconsin.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., he fought to get his name off the ballot but the Supreme Court there told him no because it was too late. He was already on the ballots that people were getting in the mail.
[20:45:07]
And I am told Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is at Mar-a-Lago with Donald Trump tonight watching these returns come in. Obviously, the reason he fought to get his name off that ballot, Jake, is there is a concern that with the margin, as small as it could potentially be there, that it could have an effect.
The margins are everything in this race, as we are starting to see in these numbers coming in. So Trump will be watching that come in alongside RFK Jr., both of them on the ballot, Jake.
TAPPER: All right, Kaitlan Collins at West Palm Beach with the Trump campaign. Thanks so much.
Let's go to David Chalian now, who has some exit polls from Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona. Three battlegrounds we're hoping to hear from soon. David, what stands out as you look at the data from these three key states?
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes. As the polls are about to close in these three critical battleground states, I wanted to look at Biden's approval rating, just as sort of a baseline of the environment in these three states. Nationally, his approval rating has been updated to 40 percent in the exit polls nationally.
In Arizona, you see here, Jake, he's at 43 percent. He's slightly above his national approval number in Arizona. If you look at Michigan, he's at 42 percent approval. Again, slightly above where he is nationally at 40 percent.
But Wisconsin's a different story. His approval rating, the sitting President, Joe Biden, is at 38 percent in Wisconsin. That is below where he is nationally. 61 percent of Wisconsin voters in this election disapprove of the job Joe Biden's doing. That's a hurdle that Kamala Harris is going to have to jump here in the Badger state. Jake?
TAPPER: All right, David Chalian, thanks so much.
This would have been a very different race if Joe Biden had stayed in it. I mean, if it ends with a Trump victory and we have no idea how it's going to end. So don't misinterpret what I'm saying. But there's going to be a lot of finger pointing and recriminations and wondering and wondering. But these approval ratings for Joe Biden are brutal.
DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Six in 10 in Wisconsin say that they don't approve of the President. I mean, it is brutal. And there's no other way to look at it. And that is no question, a big headwind for Kamala Harris, despite the fact that she has been trying to separate herself. Despite the fact that she is saying that she wants to turn the page and that she's a new generation.
And all the things that we've heard at every one of her stump speeches. That is a number that there is no question the Harris campaign is looking at and saying, we hope that that doesn't bleed into Harris and the actual votes.
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN HOST, THE ASSIGNMENT WITH AUDIE CORNISH PODCAST: Especially since the Trump campaign tried to do an effective job in tying her to that administration, saying not just that she was the Vice President, but that, look, you were in the room. You were always there. There were all kinds of decisions. You could have made a difference and you didn't.
CHRIS WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Well, and then, of course, there was her gaffe on The View when she was asked, what would you have done differently over the last four years? And she said, nothing comes immediately to mind, which was probably not the best answer.
Jake, if I can just look back. I think a lot of our viewers may just sort of big picture, be looking at this and saying Trump's got 105 electoral votes.
TAPPER: Right.
WALLACE: And Harris has got 27. And there's a half a country of red and a little corner of blue. And I think the point we need to make is at this moment, and I think of it as a tennis match, there are no surprises. There have been no flips. Nobody has broken the serve, if you will.
TAPPER: Right. All the states that Trump won in -- that he's won tonight are states that he won in 2020. All the states that Harris won are states that Biden won in 2020. There's been no swing state that has been flipped yet.
And there is -- every -- just the way the states roll out that the Republicans get a lot of the early calls and a lot of big red states.
BASH: Yes.
WALLACE: But there hasn't been any dramatic change in this vote. They're both on track to 270.
TAPPER: Yes.
WALLACE: It depends on states. There is on that call.
TAPPER: This is pretty -- it's a good point. This is pretty much where everybody expected the race to be.
WALLACE: But no surprise.
TAPPER: At this point, we still have not projected New York. We still have not projected California. I mean, there are plenty of places with --
BASH: Right.
TAPPER: -- a lot of delegates that would -- I mean, not delegates, electoral votes that Democrats are expected to get.
WALLACE: I will tell you. It's a little bit of a surprise. It's a surprisingly close race in Virginia, which has gone blue since 2008 and Obama the last four cycles.
And if you remember, Trump had a, in late October, had a rally there and people went, what's he doing in Virginia? That's a blue state. He's running --
BASH: That's true. But there's only half of the --
WALLACE: I understand.
BASH: Yes.
WALLACE: But it's 49-49 right now.
BASH: No, but --
TAPPER: But John King set the table on that earlier when he said, is this -- assuming she wins Virginia, is she going to win it the way Hillary Clinton won it with five points in 2016? Or is she going to win it the way that Joe Biden won it with 10 points in 2020? And I think that there can be something discerned from her victory and how narrow it is one way or the other.
BASH: And just going back to sort of the big picture which I think is really important, Chris. And now we're looking at Virginia, which we were talking about before.
[20:50:04]
But just earlier, we were looking at the returns coming in from the blue wall states, from Michigan and from Pennsylvania, because we're actually finally seeing numbers.
It is early, but they are important, Pennsylvania. We cannot stress enough how critical Pennsylvania is that you're looking at right now is to Kamala Harris. Donald Trump, if things go the way that they traditionally go for a Republican, unlike 2020, he could win the White House without Pennsylvania.
It is hard to see in most of these paths. Kamala Harris winning the White House without Pennsylvania. And you see there 68 percent. That's what she has now. It is still extremely early, only 13 percent in.
TAPPER: Right. And this is the point that Chris is making about the larger electoral map. It also applies to the vote that we see in Virginia and the vote that we see in Pennsylvania. If Kamala Harris wins Pennsylvania and who knows, she's not going to win it with more than 60 percent of the vote. That's crazy.
BASH: No.
TAPPER: Like it's going to be -- it's -- it is anticipated to be razor thin. We're still waiting for all the votes to come in.
BASH: Yes.
TAPPER: You know, so brew a pot of coffee, sit back.
BASH: Many pot.
TAPPER: We got a lot of votes to look at.
Let's go back to Erin Burnett. And Erin, voting is about to end in three of the crucial battleground states that we are watching and that you are in charge of at your battleground command center.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: The command center, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona. Now, when you're talking about 60 percent, obviously, it's not going to end up that way in Pennsylvania. You look at that blue wall, you look at Michigan.
Jim Sciutto is in Detroit. And Jim, where you are now, this is the nuts and bolts that I think everybody wants to hear about, which is how the counting is actually happening. So tell us about where you are. This is an absentee ballot counting center?
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: That's right, in Detroit. And they had about -- they were expecting about 100,000 absentee ballots in Detroit, but this is key. Because of changes in Michigan state election laws in 2022, they were able to begin counting those absentee ballots received before Election Day, prior to Election Day.
So at this point, they've already counted 92,000 of about 100,000 expected absentee ballots. And they expect when those 8,000 come in over the next couple hours, it's not going to take them long to finish up that count.
In fact, we heard a short time ago that here in Detroit, they expected by midnight tonight or perhaps a bit after they will have counted, not just the absentee ballots in Detroit, but early voting ballots, ballots and voting that took place today as well. So you're seeing the effects of that law, which allows for counting to begin as early as last Monday.
One more note, and this is important, Erin, because in 202, this site in downtown Detroit became the scene of protests and unfounded claims of fraud. In the midst of that frantic absentee ballot counting, in part, because you have that law, you were able to start early. We're not seeing any of those protests here now.
And there's going to be a truck arriving in the next couple of hours. Going to pull up at that door there with absentee ballots collected from dropped boxes around the city as well. Again, that's not fraud. That's not vote dumping. That's part of the process of counting these votes here. And they expect it to move very quickly tonight.
BURNETT: All right. Very quickly. We'll see.
And they have said they expect to be overall for the state of Michigan faster than last year, which, of course, was --
SCIUTTO: Yes.
BURNETT: -- the day after midday. Secretary of state said she hoped to be a little bit earlier than that. What we'll see as the count comes in.
Kyung Lah is at a Maricopa County counting facility. Maricopa County, biggest in Phoenix, fastest growing in the country, as they say, Kyung. One of the most important counties for the entire election.
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: For the entire election, that's why you have so many reporters here. That's why we are watching Maricopa County so closely. And let's take a look at the clock. We only have a few more minutes, about seven more minutes before polls close here in Arizona.
I want you to take a look at what we are watching, though, here at the county. What's happening here on that split screen, that other video that you're looking at, that's the inside of the vote count, the tabulation center. They are looking at the ballots. They are processing ballots.
All of this is with the early vote. After the polls close, about an hour after polls close here in Arizona, we are anticipating to get the first results out of Arizona. That will be only the early vote, the ballots that have been processed up until Election Day.
And then, as the night moves on, Erin, those ballots that are out at the vote centers will be processed. They're counted, separated in there, and then brought over here to the tabulation center to be processed. And that information is going to start to come out as well.
So it is a multi-step process. It takes time. There has to be signature verification. The ballots have to be cured here in Maricopa County. But something I want to address very quickly, because this is something that's happening right here in Arizona as we watch this clock wind down before polls close, is that there's still long lines at some of the spots that we are watching, at some of these vote centers.
[20:55:07]
At Mesa Community College, where we were at, and you're going to check real quick, it's still an hour-long line. If you are in line when --
BURNETT: Wow.
LAH: -- polls close at 7:00 local time, Erin, you will still be allowed to vote.
BURNETT: All right, which is amazing, and it is amazing that people are doing that and waiting. That is something, as you said, that everyone should be happy about. But amazing to sit there late at night and say, I'm going to sit and wait another hour or two to vote, as both campaigns hope they will.
All right, Kyung, thank you very much.
And let's go back to the voting desk. As these counts are coming in and people have questions about how it's happening, what's happening where, Pam, Macomb County in Michigan, what are you seeing there?
PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Erin, I just got off the phone with this key swing county in Michigan from the county clerk, Anthony Forlini, and he tells me he's actually hopping in his car now with a police escort to get tabulator memory sticks because they're delayed with the results coming in.
Why? Well, he says it's because there were very long lines when the polls are supposed -- were supposed to close at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time. So they had to delay closing and stay open until everyone had the opportunity to cast their votes.
Officials are tabulating the results right now, but those first results from Macomb were supposed to be reported around 9:00 p.m., just five minutes from now. I'm told by the clerk it's going to be later than that due to the long lines. According to the clerk, there were over 122,000 early votes cast in person there and 182,000 mail-in ballots.
As of yesterday, they're on track to have more than 200,000 mail-in ballots, he says. But given the high early voting turnout, he told me that the expectation there was that there would be lackluster turnout today. That is not the case in that key county.
Overall in Michigan, let's look at the numbers here. The Michigan Secretary of State says more than 3.4 million voters cast their ballots early or by mail. That's nearly 47 percent of registered voters. And listen to this. Another 85,000 absentee ballots returned to polling centers today.
Let's go over to Milwaukee. They've had some issues over there in Milwaukee today. They're going to have to re-tabulate about 30,000 ballots after problems with the counting machines were discovered. All 13 tabulating machines are being set to zero. The ballots will be put through again. It's going to take time.
They had initially estimated there. The ballot count from the absentees would be done around midnight. Now it's more likely around 2:00 a.m. or 3:00 a.m. And then in Arizona, I spoke to a source there, Maricopa County, the largest county, that it's taking longer than expected to process early ballots.
The first release of 1.1 million to 1.2 million ballots of those early ballots at about 10:00 p.m. Eastern tonight will only account for early votes through last Tuesday, October 29th. That is less than the initial estimate that the first drop would be comprised of ballots through at least Friday, they thought. So it's going more slowly there.
One more thing I want to note, I'm told they're going to keep up 24- hour shifts in Maricopa to keep things moving. They understand how important it is to get those results out, those accurate results out as quickly as possible.
BURNETT: All right, Pam, thank you very much.
You take all of that together, look at where we are. What do you see, John King?
KING: That tells me to tell the people at home either slow down on the popcorn or make some more because we're going to be at this a while. Maybe brew an extra pot.
I just want to start in Michigan because Pam was just talking about Macomb County, Michigan. You see Detroit right here. This is Wayne County. We have no votes. The reason we can't say much about Michigan right now is we have zero votes in the largest population center. And then she mentioned Macomb County, which is right here, blue collar.
Back in the late 80s, early 90s, this is where they were studying Reagan Democrats, right? Why were union autoworkers voting for Ronald Reagan for president? That debate continues out there right now. It was out there just about a month ago. It's a huge test out there.
But it's very early in Michigan, only 8 percent. So let's come back out to the battlegrounds where we have more votes. Let's check here. Only up to 15 percent of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Vice President with a big lead. Pennsylvania is not going to end.
No matter who wins Pennsylvania, it's not going to end a 30-point race. We just know that as we count more votes. So we'll wait and try to get more in Pennsylvania.
This is one of the surprises. A lot of surprises on the map right now. Unlikely to end this way. You see the Vice President leading in Kansas, the Vice President leading in Missouri, the Vice President, even though we've already projected Arkansas. That's just early votes.
The votes will come in. We'll see. We'll keep an eye on it. We're open to surprises here. But we'll keep a look at it. A surprise that has a lot of votes counted so far is Virginia. They're almost up to the halfway mark here. And Donald Trump is ahead in a state Joe Biden carried four years ago by 10 points, by 10 points.
So let's see. One of the things we do at this point when you get up to almost half of the vote is what's missing, right? This is live outstanding votes. The larger the circle, the more votes are out in an area. The color of that circle tells you how the voting is going so far.
So you see these big circles in Richmond and the suburbs. Huge circles. And then smaller circles within them in the Washington, D.C., suburbs. So there are a lot of Democratic votes still to be counted.
Vice President can't like that right now. You do not like being tied in battleground Virginia right now. But there are a lot of votes still to be counted. And you can tell from that a lot of them are Democratic. So we'll see.
Same test in North Carolina. Up to 38 percent of the vote. Trump with a narrow lead there. Let's just bring it up and look. Live outstanding votes.
Again, your biggest outstanding votes are in the Democratic areas, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, Winston-Salem, Asheville, and Wilmington down there. So you have a very competitive race right there right now. You'd rather be Donald Trump?
