President Trump raises legal team to challenge election results
Fox News chief White House correspondent John Roberts has the latest on 'Special Report'
This is a rush transcript from “Special Report ” November 4, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR:: Good evening, welcome to AMERICA'S ELECTION HEADQUARTERS. Animals
are great and I'm Bret Baier.
MARTHA MACCALLUM, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: That's about where we are right now,
right? I'm Martha MacCallum.
Breaking tonight, everybody America watches and waits the fate of the
presidency rests not with candidates or consultants but with counters at
this point, with calculators and perhaps ultimately in the courts.
BAIER: All right, here's the most important set of numbers, the electoral
college count. Right now, former Vice President Joe Biden has 264, that is
six shy of the 270 needed. So far, getting Wisconsin and Michigan added to
his win column today. President Trump has 214. The winner again needs 270.
MACCALLUM: So, they're counting ballots continuing to count ballots
throughout this evening. They're going to determine the outcome in a
handful of these battleground states. Those electoral college votes will
decide ultimately who occupies the highest office in our land.
Now, a short time ago, Joe Biden came before the microphones. He said that
he expects that he will be the winner when this count is finished. But he
said he's not declaring his victory until he hits 270. President Trump has
yet to speak since very early this morning when he did declare victory.
Both sides are deploying armies of attorneys, they are ready to go to court
over any perceived in irregularity in this counting process, so that's
where we are.
BAIER: We should put an asterisk on this because the Trump campaign is
already saying that they are filing lawsuits or joining lawsuits they're
calling for recounts in a number of different states.
We have journalists and experts ready to help you understand all that is
happening and where things are headed, but we begin with Bill Hemmer at the
Billboard to bring us up to date. Good evening, Bill.
BILL HEMMER, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: Good evening, guys. Bret, Martha, 24
hours ago, we were standing in this very studio and we told the audience
that this was an election unlike any other because of the massive amount of
mail-in ballots in. The initial impression may not be the final conclusion,
remember that the twists and the turns as we go.
We might be in for a few more tonight. Let's see, OK. So, here is what is
on the board at the moment. Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia and
Nevada. I can tell you after talking to the Trump campaign tonight, a lot
of people want to know why can't you call Georgia?
You got a four percent of the vote outstanding, the president has about 1.2
advantage percentage point here. A lot of the vote here in Atlanta is in,
that's Fulton County. A lot of the vote here in the cabinet, it appeared to
be in as well and that's really the Democratic heartbeat of the state of
Georgia.
The Trump campaign believes it's closer than they would like however they
feel they're going to win. They also believe they are "confident" about
keeping North Carolina. Again, a race at the moment that's just about a
point plus out of reach.
Nevada, what's happening out there? (INAUDIBLE) the Pennsylvania that will
--
Let's go to Nevada and see what's happening here. What we're hearing from
the Trump -- you got about 8,000 advantage for Joe Biden over Donald Trump.
So, why can't you call the state? They started counting again late today
that was a little quicker than we thought. We went to bed earlier this
morning. We thought that wasn't going to happen on Thursday.
The Trump campaign is saying they can start making up some of these
ballots. This is Las Vegas down where Clark County. Reno was up here.
There's a big rally here in Douglas County just about a week ago.
And you can see the votes here that are coming in. You're about 80 percent
of the ballots that have come in from Douglas County. Same down here in
Mineral County about -- well, about 80 percent of.
So, the -- clearly there's more numbers that come in here. Just pop on down
here, it's the same situation. If you look at, it's 80-85 percent, so
there's more votes coming in. And that's where -- they believe they can
make up ground.
This however is that -- this is the coin of the realm, this is Clark
County, this is Las Vegas, this is a lot of ways where you determine
winners and losers and the state of Nevada.
Joe Biden at 53 percent, Donald Trump 45. How was that four years ago? Just
on a percentage basis. Well, Hillary Clinton 55, almost 56. On a percentage
basis, Donald Trump is doing better in Clark County as of tonight.
Here's the catch though, this is up here, this is Reno, he was down here,
Washoe County here. This was Hillary Clinton's tab from four years ago and
now we see where we are tonight.
On a percentage basis anyway, Joe Biden is doing better than Donald Trump,
so that gives us the hesitation in Nevada. They're counting them as we
speak and as we go through the night tonight, we'll see whether or not we
can make a call on Nevada or whether were cast into another sphere in this
election in 2020 guys, back to you.
BAIER: It is 2020. Bill, thank you.
MACCALLUM: Yes, in every -- in every possible way. So, the ultimate
battleground might not be a particular state but a collection of courtrooms
around this country. President Trump is already putting his legal team to
work. Chief White House correspondent John Roberts following all of this
for us by the president's campaign. Good evening to you, John.
JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Martha,
Bret, good evening to you. As was more and more states slowly fall into the
win column for Joe Biden, President Trump's path to victory does really
start to narrow. But his campaign is banking that a push to count legal
votes and exclude others will ultimately net him another four years in the
building behind me.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: The Trump campaign today filing a lawsuit in Michigan claiming it
has not been given meaningful access to the opening and counting of mail-in
ballots. Demanding to halt counting until meaningful access has been
granted.
The Trump campaign also moving to do the same thing in Pennsylvania and
join a Supreme Court case challenging the extension to count mail-in
ballots in the keystone state.
The campaign will also demand a recount in Wisconsin where this afternoon
the race was called for Joe Biden. In a statement Trump campaign manager
Bill Stepien saying, there had been reports of irregularities in several
Wisconsin counties which raise serious doubts about the validity of the
results.
In Arizona, the Trump campaign predicting day of votes yet to be counted
will break for the president. Giving him a victory there by Friday and
boldly declaring Pennsylvania is a lock.
BILL STEPIEN, TRUMP 2020 CAMPAIGN MANAGER: We are declaring a victory in
Pennsylvania. This is not based on gut or feel, this is based on math.
ROBERTS: As the vote counting ground to a halt in several states early this
morning, President Trump entering the East Room of the White House to claim
victory.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We were getting ready to win
this election. Frankly, we did win.
ROBERTS: The declaration drew criticism from some of the president's
Republican colleagues. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie calling it a bad
decision. The re-elected Senate Majority Leader more charitable.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): It's not unusual for people to claim they won
the election. Claiming he win the election is different from finishing the
counting.
ROBERTS: As the counting now continues, the Trump campaign fundraising for
legal action to challenge mail-in ballots. President Trump firing the
starting gun to that early this morning.
TRUMP: So, we'll be going to the U.S. Supreme Court. We want all voting to
stop. We don't want them to find any ballots at 4:00 in the morning and add
them to the list.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: The president certainly though would like to find some more
ballots in the state of Wisconsin. In 2016 there was a recount in Wisconsin
requested by Green Party candidate Jill Stein that added to the president's
vote total by 131 votes which this year would leave him 3,379 votes short
of an overturn. But back in 2016, there was not the mass mail-in balloting
that we saw this year. Will that make a difference? We'll see, Bret,
Martha.
MACCALLUM: Thank you, John.
BAIER: Joe Biden says he will be the winner when the vote is fully counted
but he's not ready to declare himself the winner just yet. Democratic
nominee making those comments a short time ago. Correspondent Peter Doocy
is with the Biden campaign in Wilmington, Delaware tonight. Good evening,
Peter.
PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Bret. Joe Biden
is back home here in Wilmington about 15 minutes away. Nothing else on the
schedule today or tomorrow, but the campaign still has not touched the
elaborate election night set they built behind me. So, there may be
something coming up if this changes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not here to declare that we won.
DOOCY: But his team is doing that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're winning the election; we've won the election and
we're going to defend that election.
DOOCY: Even though they warned Trump not to talk like that unless he
reached 270.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you do tonight if he prematurely declares
victory?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, it just doesn't work that way.
DOOCY: Biden himself admits they're not there yet.
BIDEN: Now, after a long night of counting, it's clear that we're winning
enough states to reach 270 electoral votes.
DOOCY: Now, Democrats are preparing for fights in court.
BIDEN: We the people will not surrender.
DOOCY: And the campaign is asking for cash to hire Democratic lawyers. An
e-mail to donors explains, the Biden Fight Fund will fund election
protection efforts for Joe Biden and the Democrats up and down the ballot.
They're ready to go all the way up to the Supreme Court.
BOB BAUER, BIDEN CAMPAIGN ADVISER: If they want to put it up for something
up to the Supreme Court one way or the other, presumably they can do that.
We're not worried about it.
DOOCY: In very brief remarks early this morning, Biden warned supporters
they may have to wait.
BIDEN: We knew this is going to go wrong, but who knew we're going to go
into maybe tomorrow morning, maybe even longer.
DOOCY: Kamala Harris stood by his side in silence.
BIDEN: Indeed, Senator Harris and I are on track to win more votes than any
ticket in the history of this country than have ever won for presidency and
vice presidency, over 70 million votes.
DOOCY: Even without clarity, Biden sees himself as a history maker already.
BIDEN: Only three presidential campaigns in the past have defeated an
incumbent president. When it's finished, God willing, we'll be the fourth.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOOCY: The Biden team is telling us there still has not been any kind of
formal communication with the Trump campaign, that's the kind of thing that
would happen if one side or the other was planning to concede so it does
not seem like that is happening anytime soon. Which means the next time
reps for both sides might communicate with each other could be in court,
Bret.
BAIER: Peter Doocy in a familiar parking lot in Wilmington, Delaware.
Peter, thanks. Obviously --
MACCALLUM: He knows all the stripes.
BAIER: Yes, that's right.
MACCALLUM: Every spot.
BAIER: DNC Convention spot.
MACCALLUM: Exactly.
BAIER: Peter, thanks.
MACCALLUM: All right, let's get the Trump team perspective tonight. Tim
Murtaugh is the communications director of the campaign. Tim, good to have
you with us this evening
Obviously, today we heard from Rudy Giuliani and Eric Trump and others
about the potential push back in Pennsylvania, the desire of the Trump
campaign to watch and observe the counting of these votes, Arizona also in
the middle of this mix. Which one do you want to jump in on first? What's
most important to you guys right now?
TIM MURTAUGH, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, TRUMP CAMPAIGN: I think Arizona is
clearly the most important. And I think what you guys are going to see
tonight, we expect some more votes to be dumped-in in Arizona a little bit
later tonight and then again after midnight. And you're going to see the
tightening of that race because we know what these votes are. These are
what are called late early votes or Election Day drop off votes.
These are the Election Day voters that the president was getting from
Maricopa County and elsewhere at the rate of 62 percent. So, in order for
the president to close the gap and he only trails by 93,000 votes. He only
has to get 57 percent, so that's less than what he was already getting. And
there are 605 out -- 605,000 outstanding ballots right now.
So, as this narrows, there is going to be great pressure on you guys, to be
honest with you. Fox News to rescind your call. It was -- it was a
premature call. You know, we were livid about the fact that you and then
the A.P. made that call. There are seven organizations that call states on
election night from time to time, seven. Five of those seven did not make
that call.
BAIER: OK, we got it.
(CROSSTALK)
MURTAUGH: We don't want to be in a position --
BAIER: Thank you.
MURTAUGH: This is going to lead Joe Biden to falsely declare himself the
president elected some point.
BAIER: Understood, we are going to have (INAUDIBLE) Michigan back here. And
we're going to talk about this. We did in the early morning hours. We went
through all of the different stats and we're going to go through them
again. Appreciate it and we're going to --
MURTAUGH: Well, soon we won't be talking about stats. This is a -- this is
actual math and you'll see --
BAIER: No, I understand.
MACCALLUM: And if that's the case, Tim, we'll be the first ones to point
that out. You know, it's all about counting the votes and our decision team
looks at the remaining vote that you look at and they get different
percentages in terms of where those votes are likely to come from.
But if there's any need to change it and the numbers reflect something
different, you know, it is what it is. We'll see what happens.
BAIER: Yes, of course. All right, so, let me talk to you about the legal
fights. The lawsuits that have been filed with that you all will join are
in what states?
MURTAUGH: Well, we filed one in Michigan today because we want to -- we
need to have meaningful access according to state law. We're allowed to
observe when ballots are being opened and counted and they were preventing
us from doing that. So, we want that.
We also are joining the case in Pennsylvania to have the Supreme Court
address what Pennsylvania did. They actually effectively moved Election
Day. They moved it back three days and allow the receipt of ballots beyond
what the state legislature had set. We're also asking for meaningful access
in Pennsylvania so that our poll watchers can see what is actually
happening. We don't know why these Democrat operatives in these election
locations are blocking us from watching that.
And again, when we go back to Arizona, Pennsylvania follows Arizona. The
president is also going to win Pennsylvania. And when that occurs, he will
be in fact re-elected so --
BAIER: Mayor Giuliani today --
MURTAUGH: Arizona and then Pennsylvania and then the president's re-elect.
BAIER: Mayor Giuliani today said that Philadelphia is a history of tapping
into voters who are dead people, of fraud. Have you seen or been briefed on
one instance of fraud in any of these states as of yet?
MURTAUGH: Well, look, let's talk about Philadelphia which is by the way my
hometown, so I feel OK in saying this. Philadelphia has actually a very
sordid history in election fraud. In 2012 --
BAIER: I mean, this year.
MURTAUGH: There were fifth -- there were 50. Well, sure, in lots of
different states. In Michigan for example, there you have people who have
been filling out -- I'm sorry, I mean in Wisconsin what's called curing
ballots which is where you have poll workers actually correcting mistakes
in filling in gaps on ballots filed -- voted by other people and having the
poll workers do it.
You had people who had voted in the wrong precinct and had the poll workers
and a giant stack of ballots correcting that, filling in the correct
precinct number, and then, casting those votes on behalf of the voters.
That's against the law. You can't do things like that.
You have people boarding up the windows of polling locations so that our
poll watchers can't get in. Republican poll watchers being kicked out. You
have cases where ballots were damaged and they had people coming in to
actually hand transcribe the filled-out ballots onto blank ballots on
behalf of voters who had already gone away and were outside of the polling
location and gone about their day. You can't do things like that. There are
all sorts of irregularities.
(CROSSTALK)
BAIER: Right. So, Tim, let me just ask you this final thing. The remedy
that you're seeking is to kick out all of those votes, let's say in
Wisconsin. And then, you're going to get to the number --
(CROSSTALK)
MURTAUGH: No, we want the opportunity to -- we want the opportunity to
examine that.
(CROSSTALK)
BAIER: And then, you're going to get the number, the 20,000 that's going to
make up the difference in Wisconsin?
MURTAUGH: Well, we want the opportunity to be able to examine all of these
things. That is the purpose of having people getting access to the polling
locations. That is the purpose. It's absolutely legal. And under Michigan
law and other state laws, we are allowed to have meaningful access, and we
have been prevented from having that.
All we want to do is to ensure that these elections are free and fair. The
president wants every eligible voter to be able to vote, vote once, and
have that vote counted. And what we have encountered in state after state,
in city after city, and they're largely in cities run by Democrat
politicians, they have prevented access and the transparency that is
required under the law to allow people to see what is happening there.
(CROSSTALK)
BAIER: Well, Tim --
MACCALLUM: Tim.
MURTAUGH: And I want to go back to what's happening. In Arizona, when the
president wins Arizona --
BAIER: Yes.
MURTAUGH: And then, Pennsylvania, the president is going to be re-elected.
And you guys will see later tonight the gap in Arizona is going to close,
(INAUDIBLE).
(CROSSTALK)
BAIER: OK. But we're going to be transparent here.
MACCALLUM: We'll be watching.
BAIER: We're going to be transparent here. Thank you very much.
MACCALLUM: Thank you, Tim Murtaugh. Let's go to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
right now where Democratic Governor Tom Wolf is speaking. Let's hear what
he has to say.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GOV. TOM WOLF (D-PA): That's exactly what Pennsylvania is doing right now.
It's not surprising, as I've said before, that this election, the returns
are taken a little longer than we're used to, but that's actually a good
sign. Part of the reason for that is because so many more people have
voted.
And it does met -- mean that, that votes in Pennsylvania are actually being
counted. We're taking the time to make sure that in this new system that
went into place the end of last year that all the votes are being counted.
Again, the vote is central to our democracy. It's how we all choose the
people to be our public servants. This is the hiring process, the election.
We have to have fair elections, and those elections have to be free of
external influences. We need to have confidence that people are choosing
their leaders and that the leaders are not choosing the people who vote for
them. We need to make sure that the voters are choosing the leaders, not
the other way around.
Elections are the bedrock of our democracy, and our commonwealth and our
country thrive when people freely exercise this franchise. And that's why
it's essential that every eligible vote -- every eligible vote is counted
in this election and in every election.
We've seen efforts across the country to undermine this election and to
block -- to block the counting of votes. This afternoon, the Trump campaign
filed a lawsuit to stop the counting of ballots in Pennsylvania. That is
simply wrong.
It goes against the most basic principles of our democracy. It takes away
the right of every American citizen to cast their vote and to choose our
leaders. Our election officials at the state and local level should be free
to do their jobs without fear, without intimidation, without attacks.
These attempts to subvert the democratic process are simply disgraceful.
We're going to fight every single attempt to disenfranchise voters. We will
continue to administer free and fair elections in Pennsylvania.
Let me be clear, in Pennsylvania, every vote is going to count. I'm going
to fight like hell to protect the vote of every Pennsylvanian. I'm going to
do everything in my power to make sure that every vote counts because in
Pennsylvania, every voice matters, every vote matters. Thank you.
Now, I'm going to turn it over to secretary of state who's done a
phenomenal job of making this election, I think as smooth as any election
I've ever seen. And I've seen a lot of elections in Pennsylvania.
Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar.
KATHY BOOCKVAR, SECRETARY OF STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA: Hi, everybody. We've
got to stop meeting like this. Please soon.
So, thank you all for coming. And it was another really good day in
Pennsylvania. Our amazing county election directors and personnel across
the commonwealth once again just put in incredible hours and time and
energy and patience and attention to detail to make sure that they could
proceed with counting hundreds and hundreds of thousands of ballots.
They've made excellent progress, they're still working. Department of State
are still working all back at our operations center. I'm going to be going
back there after this and we will be continuing to work into the night, all
of us to support the counties to get this done.
So, I expect you know hundreds of thousands more probably to be counted
still tonight. So, you could keep watch on the election night. Returns web
site, and you know, at this point, I think we're actually probably a little
bit ahead of where I thought we would be, which is great. So, stay tuned.
But still thinking, you know, we're talking about a matter of days before
the overwhelming majority of ballots are counted in.
You know, I was thinking the other day, just a couple of days ago was the
100th anniversary -- you know, we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the
19th Amendment this year. And so, just a couple of days ago, November 2nd,
was the 100th anniversary of the first election that those suffragists got
to vote in and how -- and I think when Governor Wolf was talking about how
much we cherish and will fight for every voter's right to vote, I think
about the suffragists, and it's really been an inspiration all year long to
be in this position and to be working to make sure that every single voter
of all backgrounds.
And I should say, you know, we had -- 100 years ago, it was 19th Amendment,
and then, of course, there were decades longer that voters of color were
still denied the right to vote, and it took, you know, civil rights
activists the -- you know, incredible struggles and tragedies, and triumphs
that led to President Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
And I just -- I take all of this with me every day in this job to make sure
that we ensure that every single qualified and eligible voter has the
opportunity to vote. And I'm so thankful to work for Governor Wolf, who is
incredibly dedicated to that mission as well.
So, we will continue to fight for every Pennsylvanian for their vote to be
counted. And thank you all for being here and we're happy to take
questions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With the law --
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BAIER: The secretary of state and the governor of Pennsylvania, talking
about the count in Pennsylvania, saying they are making progress slowly,
and it is not completed there as of yet.
We're going to bring in the other side, we talked to the Trump campaign
representative Tim Murtaugh. Now, to Delaware Senator Chris Coons, a member
of the Biden's campaign team.
Senator, first of all, congratulations on your re-election. I want to ask
you about where you think this campaign is.
(CROSSTALK)
SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): Thank you, Bret. Great to be on here.
BAIER: Obviously, we have it at 264. Last night in the early morning hours,
I should say, President Trump said that he had won this campaign. Frankly,
he had won this campaign and they were going to fight for all of these
votes. Did you have a problem with that speech?
COONS: Well, Bret, earlier this evening, Joe Biden came out and said that
he fully expects, when all the votes are counted that ultimately, he will
have 270 or more electoral votes. And as we both know, President Trump made
that announcement very early this morning. Joe Biden came out and made that
announcement.
The key difference is that Joe is asking for every vote to be counted. He's
not seeking to stop any of these counts. And by your own estimates, at this
point, Joe only needs to win one of four states, either Georgia or North
Carolina, or Nevada, or Pennsylvania, and Joe Biden has more than 270
electoral votes.
(CROSSTALK)
BAIER: Sure, we've got the math, but --
(CROSSTALK)
COONS: In order for Donald Trump to be re-elected, he's going to have to
win all four. And it's striking to me that the Trump campaign is going into
court to try and stop counts that are ongoing in states where he's
projected to lose, and to try and restart counts or to recount in a state
Wisconsin where he's been already projected to lose. But the counting has
stopped.
BAIER: Yes. Senator, what's the difference --
(CROSSTALK)
COONS: What we should all be standing for together, Bret, is that every
vote gets counted. We may have to be patient, but in the end, I'm convinced
that will lead to Joe Biden being our next president.
MACCALLUM: Yes.
BAIER: What's the difference between what President Trump said in
projecting, saying, we've frankly already won this election. And what Bob
Bauer, the vice president's attorney said, we're winning the election,
we've won the election, and we're going to defend the election?
I mean, he hadn't won it yet.
COONS: Well, I think, the key difference is that at 2:00 in the morning,
without several of these key states having been called yet, having release
their vote totals yet, Donald Trump declared himself the victor.
(CROSSTALK)
BAIER: But he hasn't won it yet.
COONS: Earlier this evening, Joe Biden came out and said, I believe I will
when all the votes are counted be determined to be the next president.
(CROSSTALK)
MACCALLUM: Well, Bret's quoting the attorney for the campaign.
COONS: And I'm going to govern for the interest of all Americans.
MACCALLUM: Yes, Bret's quoting the attorney for the campaign, and who said,
we have won this election, which clearly hasn't happened.
You know, I just want to talk to you about Pennsylvania for a second, and
this, this issue of stopping the vote. You know, digging into what's going
on there a little bit, there's a dispute going on between the state
legislature in Pennsylvania, and the secretary of state, and the people who
are running that vote.
They never liked this whole construct of being able to have these ballots
come in after November 3rd and to continue to count them. So, they're
having sort of interesting warfare in Pennsylvania over how this should be
conducted.
So, it's not that they -- that the campaigns don't want them to be counted,
is that they want the opportunity for that to play out. And then after they
have, you know, you also heard they want to have the observation rights
that, that would all be able to go forward.
It's not that they want it to stop forever, it's just that they want to
pause it, and let that play out. Do you believe that it is fair and right
for both sides to be able to observe the vote? To be able to stand there
and see what's going on?
COONS: Yes.
MACCALLUM: Do you have any problem with that?
COONS: No.
MACCALLUM: So, then, you would say that they should stop until they can do
that, until they can pull that off there in Michigan, if that's their
right, and that's what they want to do? Should they be stopped until they
can actually do that?
COONS: Well, Martha, I'm not fully briefed on what the allegations are that
the campaign -- the Trump campaign is making about a lack of transparency
and access. But I've watched on television today. As vote counting has
proceeded in a number of different states.
(CROSSTALK)
MACCALLUM: But you can't see anything on the actual ballots. That's what
they're saying.
COONS: My expectation is that the vote-counting process will be fair and
open and transparent.
MACCALLUM: That's fine. But you know, I mean that their argument is that
they can't actually see what's happening. They're asking these people this
-- the guy that they had on today, they're asking them to stand so far away
that they can't actually observe anything that's happening. There's paper
ballots and they're 25 feet away from them.
So, do you agree that they should have the opportunity to get in there and
to watch? Because that way, no one can say that they weren't given every
opportunity and that it wasn't fair across the board.
COONS: Right. Martha, I just said, yes. The counting process should be fair
and appropriate and follow the law. And I haven't read the filings in court
from the Trump campaign.
But I'll tell you that, frankly, when I listen to Rudy Giuliani and when I
listen to some of the claims that are being advanced, they smack of
desperation. We need to allow the counting to proceed. And to the extent,
there is disputes for them to be resolved appropriately by the courts.
(CROSSTALK)
MACCALLUM: Yes.
BAIER: I think --
MACCALLUM: I think, if you let that play out, then both sides feel like
they got what they needed.
COONS: One campaign is asking for all ballots to be counted. And in the
end, I'm confident that we're going to see Joe Biden elected freely and
fairly as the next president of the United States.
BAIER: Senator, I just want one quick question. You know, we look at the
election and how this country is really split. Democrats were thinking this
was going to be a blue wave. You obviously won in your race, however,
Senate races on the Democratic side, hundreds of millions of dollars spent.
Eight of the top 10 Senate races ever were this year in 2020. And right
now, you stand at a net gain of one in the Senate.
In the House, Democrats are losing seven seats. What message do you think
that sends to Democrats?
COONS: I do think that we're a sharply divided country. And that we hear
and see and respond to what's going on in our country differently. Today,
the United States had 100,000 new COVID-19 cases. Many of us think that
this ongoing pandemic is a significant public health problem, and it is
largely the result of President Trump's bundled mishandling of the
pandemic.
There are many others who think the number one issue is reopening and
reviving the economy, and they don't ascribe any blame to the president for
the pandemic, and its impact on the economy.
Joe Biden, earlier today, gave a speech about being a president for all
Americans, for fighting hard for those who voted for him and who voted
against him, for trying to bring our country together, to deal with both
the pandemic and the recession, and to try and heal some of the divisions
in our country.
I do think that the results of these elections, presidential and
congressional, point to a very sharply divided country, and that's why I've
always supported Joe Biden, someone who sees our divisions and tries to
heal them, rather than our president, who I think tries to sharpen them.
MACCALLUM: All right, Senator, thank you very much and congratulations on
your election -- your re-election last night.
COONS: Thank you.
MACCALLUM: Always good to have you with us.
BAIER: Let's recap where things stand tonight in some of the key
battleground states, starting in Nevada. Joe Biden is leading President
Trump by a half percentage point there. That counting is continuing
tonight, we're told.
MACCALLUM: Votes are still being counted in the state of Georgia as well,
very close race there. The president has a lead of 50 percent to about 49.
BAIER: In North Carolina President Trump has an edge of about 1.5
percentage points there. We should point out that all of these states have
not matched the polls going in, the average of polls.
MACCALLUM: That's for sure. And in Pennsylvania, the president has the
lead of about four points at this point.
BAIER: So let's get an update now from Arnon Mishkin of the FOX News
Decision Desk. Arnon, thanks for being here.
ARNON MISHKIN, FOX NEWS ANALYST: Thank you for having me.
BAIER: You heard the Trump campaign spokesperson Tim Murtaugh calling on
the Decision Desk to pull back the Arizona call, saying that there is a
vote coming in tonight from Maricopa County that will change the dynamic.
Can you address that, and are you pulling back that call?
MISHKIN: We are not pulling back that call. There is vote, additional vote
that will be reported in Maricopa County. We do not believe that this will
change the tenor or the texture of the race, and we strongly believe that
our call will stand. And that's why we're not pulling back the call.
BAIER: But explain why, because the percentage of the vote that you think
is out there, and how much the president has to make up to get the balance
of that separation.
MISHKIN: There appears somewhere, about 550,000 votes outstanding. Nobody
knows the exact number. We think it's a little less than 550,000, maybe
it's a little more than 550,000. The president needs to make up the deficit
of roughly 100,000 votes. It primarily from Maricopa County. Maricopa
County is a county where Biden is doing well. The president needs to get
basically 60 percent of that outstanding vote in order to overtake or tie
Joe Biden. We don't believe he is going to get more than 45, 46 percent of
that vote.
What you have to appreciate is that voters in Maricopa County tended to be
more Biden voters than Trump voters. Voters who voted by mail, and the bulk
of this vote is the mail-in vote, tended to be even stronger for Biden than
the Election Day in-person vote. I do not ascribe any significance to his
point that they mailed it on Election Day, therefore they are Election Day
voters.
BAIER: Or they walked it in.
MISHKIN: Or they walked it in.
MACCALLUM: He is saying these late early voters, which is a difficult
term, but people who did not vote in the voting booth but showed up on the
last day to either turn in their ballot or put it in the ballot drop box,
they are saying that the outstanding vote is over 600,000, and that the
president is on schedule in terms of what they see to be an over a 60
something percent. If that were the case, would that state move?
MISHKIN: If a frog had wings. What we believe fairly strongly that the
vote is going to come in, it's going to confirm our call. Others will then
call Arizona for the former vice president. We're confident in our call,
and we'll see when the data comes in. But we're confident that the data
will basically look like the data that we have noticed throughout the count
in Arizona, and therefore, we are not pulling back our call.
BAIER: Quick answer here. Why can we not call North Carolina, but we could
call Arizona?
MISHKIN: Because in North Carolina we are waiting for a different flavor
of votes than is reported so far. What we're waiting for is the last
remnants of the mail-in votes. And we know in places like North Carolina,
the mail-in vote was strongly for Biden, a much stronger than you generally
see in terms of the difference between mail-in and in-person vote. And so
there is a possibility, a sufficient possibility to prevent a call that
actually Vice President Biden might catch up some to the president. North
Carolina is probably the president's best chance of winning a state that's
outstanding.
MACCALLUM: What do you say -- obviously you have heard that people were
outraged by how early that call was made, that it was only one percent of
the vote in. How do you justify calling it when it was at one percent so
early in the night?
MISHKIN: Where does the one percent come from?
MACCALLUM: What was the percentage?
MISHKIN: It was made at 11:20. It was made at 11:20. There had been a huge
dump of vote. It was roughly 80 some percent of the vote was in when we
made the call. We felt confident in the call. We had been sitting and
watching it for about a half-hour, an hour, and we said it's time to pull
the trigger. We felt we made the correct call at the correct time, and
that's why we made it.
BAIER: When we make the 270 call, is Nevada going to be called tonight?
MISHKIN: We do not know when Nevada is going to report its latest tranche
of vote. We expect it to be more likely tomorrow than tonight. We thought
that there might be a drop of vote today. By drop, I mean additional vote
put into the system today. It looks like it's going to be tomorrow.
BAIER: OK, Arnon Mishkin, we appreciate your time. Thank you for taking
our questions.
MACCALLUM: Thank you very much.
BAIER: We are just getting started, tonight's expanded election coverage.
Still to come, the panel analyzes what has happened so far and tells us
where things are going. And up next, we'll go live to Wisconsin where a
recount may be brewing.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BAIER: The Trump campaign is already talking about requesting a recount in
Wisconsin. Mike Tobin reports tonight from Milwaukee. Good evening, Mike.
MIKE TOBIN, FOX NEWS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Bret. The
canvassing will begin here in Milwaukee at the county courthouse. That
finalizes the vote which needs to happen for the request for the recount to
become official. The margin still needs to stay within one percent as well.
Meantime, Meagan Wolfe, the administrator for the Wisconsin board of
elections, is pushing back at the president's late-night criticism of the
election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEAGAN WOLFE, WISCONSIN ELECTIONS COMMISSION: I think that it's insulting
to our local election officials to say that anything -- yesterday's
election was anything but an incredible success that was a result of years
of preparation and meticulously, carefully following the law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TOBIN: And the president went into Wednesday morning 100,000 votes up.
However, there were more than 160,000 early and absentee votes in the city
of Milwaukee, a Democratic stronghold. Those were totaled, loaded onto a
flash drive. City Clerk Claire Woodall-Vogg with a police escort hand-
delivered the drive to Milwaukee county. As expected, Milwaukee voters
favored Biden. Green Bay early votes also favored Biden. By sunrise, the
president's 100,000 vote lead had dwindled to a 20,000 vote deficit to Joe
Biden.
Late in the afternoon, Little Willow, Wisconsin, became the final township
to post their results. When that was done, Richland County, Wisconsin,
showed a 949 vote favor to President Trump, not enough to make a
difference. Bret, back to you.
BAIER: Mike, thank you.
MACCALLUM: All right, let's bring in George Washington University law
professor John Turley. Jonathan, great to have you back with us tonight. I
have a feeling we're going to see quite a bit of you in the coming weeks.
JONATHAN TURLEY, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: Thank God.
MACCALLUM: I want to start -- Rudy Giuliani came out this afternoon
representing the president, making a lot of charges about corruption in
Philadelphia. And I want to play a little soundbite from him, and we'll
start there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S ATTORNEY: Not a single Republican has
been able to look at any of these mailed ballots. They could be from Mars
as far as we are concerned. We have no idea if they're signed, if they're
postmarked properly, if it isn't just the same person that submitted
100,000 ballots, and they all got counted. This is the way they intend to
win.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: So this is obviously the president's argument since early on,
that because you have this enormous amount of mail-in ballot that has never
really happen before in the history of the country, that it needs to be
watched extremely closely by both sides to ensure transparency. Is that a
decent argument? What do you say?
TURLEY: Well, there is merit to being allowed to observe this process. I
should note that there is a Mars, Pennsylvania. I have relatives who live
there. But the fact is that he is making the valid objections to the
process, but they really need to tamp down this rhetoric. We don't evidence
of widespread fraud in Pennsylvania. We do have irregularities in various
states. We do have laws that were changed shortly before the election.
Pennsylvania has a serious issue in terms of those laws being changed
shortly before the election that went to the Supreme Court, and Chief
Justice John Roberts sided with the liberal justices in a tied vote. And it
sort of kick that can down the road. That can may come rattling back to the
Supreme Court as these legislators say that we want a ruling on the merits.
We wrote the law one way, and then suddenly it was changed by judicial
fiat.
BAIER: And Jonathan, very quickly, recounts, there may be multiple, not
just in Wisconsin. There may be one in Georgia, maybe Nevada if they call
for them. The last recount in Wisconsin according to the former governor,
Scott Walker, changed the numbers by 131 in 2016. The one before that
changed it 300 votes. The deficit in Wisconsin is 20,000.
TURLEY: Yes, presidential challenges are measured in inches, not yards.
It's by aggregates, by attacking a lot of little pockets of votes. We don't
really see anything right now that would materially change that type of
sizable vote deficit.
BAIER: OK.
MACCALLUM: Jonathan Turley, thank you very much, law professor at George
Washington University.
So what some predicted would be a blue wave last night that would overwhelm
Republicans and carry Democrats to control the United States Senate has so
far not materialized. Let's find out where things stand right now with
Chief Congressional correspondent Mike Emanuel who joins us with the story
from Washington tonight. Hey, Mike.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS, (R-ME): I feel that this is an affirmation of the work
that I'm doing in Washington.
MIKE EMANUEL, FOX NEWS CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A huge hold in
Maine with Republican Susan Collins defeating Democrat Sarah Gideon in a
critical race for the balance of power in the Senate. In South Carolina,
Senator Lindsey Graham had the fight of his political life, but held on
against Democrat Jaime Harrison.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R-SC): I have wanted my job more than I do now. I
never appreciated my job more than I do now.
EMANUEL: Republicans also picking up a seat in Alabama with Tommy
Tuberville defeating Democrat Doug Jones. Senator Mitch McConnell
expressing hope today he will continue leading the Senate.
MITCH MCCONNELL, (R-KY) SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: I don't know whether I'm
going to be the majority leader or the minority leader. As I've told you,
I've been both. Majority is better.
EMANUEL: Two pickups for Democrats so far in Colorado with John
Hickenlooper defeating Republican Cory Gardner.
JOHN HICKENLOOPER, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's time to put the
poisonous politics of this era is behind us, and come together to move
forward.
EMANUEL: And in Arizona with Mark Kelly defeating Republican Martha
McSally.
MARK KELLY, (D) ARIZONA SENATOR-ELECT: Our state doesn't need a Democrat
senator or a Republican senator. We need an Arizona senator, a senator like
John McCain.
EMANUEL: In the House, Democrats lost numerous seats, many that they won
two years ago in Iowa, New Mexico, and Florida. Donna Shalala and Debbie
Mucarsel-Powell, in Oklahoma, Kendra Horn, and in South Carolina, Joe
Cunningham. And it wasn't just freshman. House Agriculture Committee
Chairman Collin Peterson of Minnesota lost his 15-term seat. Democrats
could still lose seats in New York, Michigan, and California. House
Republican leader Kevin McCarthy celebrated beating expectations so far.
KEVIN MCCARTHY, (R-CA) HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: As our numbers continue to
grow, I think at the end of the day, no matter where we end up, that we'll
be able to have a very big say or even run the floor when it comes to
policy.
EMANUEL: Last night, Speaker Nancy Pelosi downplayed her losses.
REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D-CA) HOUSE SPEAKER: It's not just about the quantity.
It is about the quality of leadership.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
EMANUEL: There could be quite a bloodbath ahead among Democrats. In the
House the expectation was they would gain seats, including in places like
Texas. And in the Senate, this was the cycle that was supposed to be the
opportunity to regain the majority with Republicans defending tough seats.
So far Democrats in Congress have not lived up to the hype. Martha, Bret?
BAIER: Mike, Thanks.
MACCALLUM: Mike, thank you.
So back with the panel after a quick break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is a fraud on the
American public. This is an embarrassment to our country. We were getting
ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win this election.
JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: After a long night of counting, it's
clear that we're winning enough states to reach 270 electoral votes needed
to win the presidency. I'm not here to declare that we've won. But I am
here to report when the count is finished, we believe we will be the
winners.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: Let's bring in our panel, Mollie Hemingway, senior editor at "The
Federalist," Byron York, chief political correspondent for the "Washington
Examiner," and former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford Jr. Byron, let's
start with you. Where we are right now, where we may be going here with the
challenges that the Trump campaign is bringing forward?
BRYON YORK, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "WASHINGTON EXAMINER": First of
all, it looks pretty tough for the Trump campaign right now. He needs to
win some states. Georgia and North Carolina are not in the bag yet. He
needs to win both of those, then he needs to win Pennsylvania, then he
still need something else. They think they have a good chance in Arizona,
perhaps in Nevada. They need one of those. So that's an uphill fight right
there.
As far as these challenges are concerned, the Trump campaign has every
right to demand what they call meaningful access to the process of vote
counting. That is really something they should have. They have every right
to file for a recount. But in the next few days, at the same time, they are
going to need to produce some examples of irregularities, of problems in
the counting, of significant issues in this vote count that could possibly
affect the election. They are going to need to produce those maybe in a
court document or maybe just in a news conference, but to give us some
examples of what they see going on.
MACCALLUM: Absolutely, great point. Harold Ford Jr., Michigan and
Wisconsin in Joe Biden's column this afternoon. Your thoughts on how it is
shaping up on the Democrats' side?
HAROLD FORD JR. (D) FORMER TENNESSEE REPRESENTATIVE: First, thanks for
having me on. It puts him at 264 electoral votes. Obviously, Nevada,
Pennsylvania, I agree with Byron's reaction to whether or not we should
have counting. I think every vote should be counted. We should even try to
recover votes that have been lost or fraud or intentional negligence.
But if you are the Biden campaign, you have to feel good. So let's assume
he wins, and I want all of them to be counted, and we'll see what happens.
The great thing about last night was that the country spoke in a loud, loud
way. There was a lot of noise in the campaign, some of it contentious, some
of it really harmonious, most of it not harmonious. But the American people
spoke and gave the Democrats fewer seats in the majority of the House, gave
Republicans maybe on less seat in the Senate in their majority. And it
looks like they have replaced their president. And you're replaced the
president with a guy whose strength, his greatest strength in politics has
always been working across the aisle.
If we're going to accomplish much in the nation in the next few years with
a divided Congress, a narrowly divided Congress, and a different person in
the White House, a different party, this might be the set up that the
country needs in order to unleash perhaps an era of compromise and problem-
solving. So I'm relieved and I'm encouraged tonight as I listen and watch
these numbers unfold.
BAIER: Mollie, your thoughts? The president is obviously not stopping. He
is not fighting - he's giving up as of yet. And Joe Biden has not gotten
270 as of yet.
MOLLIE HEMINGWAY, SENIOR EDITOR, "THE FEDERALIST": Right, the Biden
campaign wants stats to be called in their favor so they can start
declaring that they have won the Electoral College vote, which will be in
December. The Trump campaign, for its part, feels very confident that it
has won Pennsylvania, and they also feel confident about Arizona. And they
have a rational case for why that may be, and we will see as those votes
are counted.
The reason why it's important to actually have those votes be counted is
because, prior to yesterday, we were told that Biden would win in a
blowout, that Democrats had an extremely strong case for taking over
control of the Senate, that Democrats would gain and strengthen their
majority in the House. And when votes were counted, what we saw was that
Florida went overwhelmingly for President Trump, contrary to what we were
told, that not only did the senators in Maine and Iowa and North Carolina
not lose their seats, but that the Republicans kept their majority in the
Senate. Susan Collins did not lose by 12 points, but in fact is winning by
eight point. And that Republicans are actually gaining seats in the House,
including 11 new women elected to Congress.
We are learning that in states not just in Florida, but Texas and other
states, that Donald Trump seriously increased the Republican share of the
minority vote. Donald Trump through this enthusiastic campaign he ran and
reaching out to minority voters is on track to get the largest percentage
of minority votes of any Republican in 60 years. And so what we were told
by the media and by Democratic activists versus the reality of what is
happening in the field is different. And so I think people need to wait and
just see how these votes play out before rushing to any judgment.
BAIER: And just one quick thing, and people at home should know, and I
just saw it on social media, that when a network or a news association
calls a state, that does not mean any of the counting stops in any place.
And the real vote is what determines the real election in that state.
MACCALLUM: And that is all still coming in.
Just quickly, before we let you go, Byron. You talked about the rhetoric.
How important is it how the president handles this going forward in the
next few days? Just a couple of seconds here.
YORK: The facts of the matter are going to drive this. The facts of the
matter are going to drive this. And so when people see that the votes are
against them --
BAIER: Byron, I have got to cut you off. We'll be right back after this.
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