no other way to put it. >> the counting continues in the four outstanding battleground states. let's go to wolf blitzer for more on that. >> another dramatic key race alert. in pennsylvania with its 20 electoral votes, biden's lead over trump is increasing. it's up to 6,737 votes ahead of trump, 49.4% to 49.3%. 95% of the estimated vote in pennsylvania is in. but biden's lead is increasing. let's walk over to john king at the magic wall. we just got -- you want to write this down john -- numbers from bucks county in pennsylvania -- >> let me bring it up for you as we do. >> these are the specific numbers why the increase in biden's lead over trump right now. talking about bucks county in pennsylvania. 2949 votes -- don't write it down yet -- of that nearly 3,000 vote that just came in from

bucks county, biden got 2,016. trump got, 897. in other words, biden got 68% of that vote that just came in, and that's why his lead has increased over trump in pennsylvania. >> and so i'll get you to the statewide lead at the moment. when you see it, it's modest. you think the president can still come back, and he can. except the math is beginning to look inevitable. look at this county, this is all the vote, joe biden is getting 51%, donald trump is getting 48%. if you round it up. this is the most conservative of the democratic leaning suburban counties around philadelphia. and yet in the mail-in voting when you add them up, donald trump getting just shy of 48%, but the mail-in vote, look at that. donald trump has to start winning, getting more votes, as

we get 2,000 votes, 3,000 votes, the president has to start winning like 52, 53% to come back in the race. watching the votes now in a place where the president is much more competitive than in other places in places he's getting walloped, 68% of the votes coming in. at this point the math becomes, you run that out of here. you have a theory of inevitab inevitability here. 3.2 million of nearly 7 million votes counted when we're done, 6.5 million by the way. joe biden has a lead of only 6,737 votes. there are more votes to be counted down here, what do you notice about the map, up here, what do you notice about that, and up here. they're all blue. there are still some votes to come in from the red as well but most of the votes are from the counties that joe biden is winning already. the mail-in votes are coming in lop sided, 60%, close to 70% in

philadelphia city itself. so if you're looking at the map there's an inevitability to this as it grows. look right now, if you look at this map, nothing changes on the map, joe biden is the next president of the united states. that's just a simple fact that is where we are headed today as this plays out. we'll keep counting votes. i just want to come back in, this is a challenge for the candidates and the countries, if this was flipped and that was president trump with a 6,700 vote lead in pennsylvania, what would democrats say at this moment? everybody calm down. there's a process called a recanvasing, when an election is this close they'll go back and check the machines, the notes that people took. we counted the votes, the president is mad about that, shouldn't be. we counted the votes, the math is clear. but there's a process here. there will be a process in pennsylvania. there will be a process in georgia where the vote is 1,098

more votes to come in from democratic places. likelihood that lead will grow. and in the hours ahead it'll be more and more clear that joe biden has on the table more than 270 electoral votes and is most likely the next president of the united states by the end of the day he'll likely be the president-elect. but there is a process here, they will recanvas here, here, the president has the right to ask for recounts. what he said yesterday at the white house was reckless, he said there was cheating. there's no evidence of that. there's courts if he wants to try to prove it. but the challenge is how does each candidate handle this moment? by the end of the day, if this math continues, joe biden will have every right to come out and speak to the american people as the next president. >> his lead now 6,737, there's still 125, 130,000 votes outstanding in pennsylvania right now. we'll get a lot more of those numbers coming in in the hours

ahead. some of them fairly soon we're told. and that lead that biden has, 6,737 right now, that could grow dramatically. >> it continues to grow. so i don't want to, at all, rain on the former vice president's moments. the math has been methodical and steady. just that's why you have a lead for the president has disappeared and joe biden leads here. the same thing happened in georgia. the president still leads in nevada and arizona. we're still counting votes out there. the president has narrowed biden's lead a little bit in arizona so we'll watch this play out. but the president cannot be reelecre reelected without these two. all evidence tells us the lead in pennsylvania and georgia is likely to grow because the legally cast ballots they're still counting, they're just counting the mail-in ballots last we expect it to grow here and there. that does not mean they won't go

back and check the machines, making sure nobody had a -- writing down the numbers had an error. i've been at this for a long time, when they do that, sometimes 12 votes change here, 18 votes here. prayerly do you see a swing, even in a close election like that. but the process is going to play out and we're at a contentious moment because the lead is narrow. some people think it could get as high as 50,000 as more as we get throughout the day, but the challenge is what does the president say, what does biden say. and after what the president said yesterday, what is his team telling him? if you thought it was just one state, florida 2000, one state on the board, we fight over that, what happens if joe biden is winning here, winning here, winning here, and winning there? it's both a different legal calculation and an incredibly different political calculation if joe biden gets to 270. >> he's leading in all four of

those states right now. go back to pennsylvania because we just got a little more increase for biden in pennsylvania. take a look, it's now 6,817. it was 6,700 plus a few minutes ago. so the numbers keep going up slowly but almost certainly it's going to continue to grow. >> that is what's happened consistently. you have counties reporting a couple hundred votes, philadelphia thousands of votes. it's been an inevitable march every one has come in, joe biden has more, at a time joe biden is ahead. it's the president who has to start outpacing him as they count the new mail ballots. it's not happening. >> what did trump win four years ago in pennsylvania when he beat hillary clinton? what was the margin? >> it was 44,000 votes, 49, 48 if you round up. 2.9 million votes for each candidate. this one is this close. coming over and going through

the decimal points. 44,000 votes. and you come back to where we are now, it's 6,800 votes right now but joe biden is 49 to 49. one thing in this campaign, turn out is up, the third party candidates aren't having the influence they did four years ago. based on everything we know about where the votes are out, 36,000 here, 20,000 or so in philadelphia, others, that lead is going to grow. does it get to 40,000, 50,000, does it get higher, that's important. recanvassing, the likelihood that ten votes change here, 20 change here just because someone wrote something down wrong. if you get to 40, 50,000 the likelihood of anything being reversed, even if they find a

subscripti transcription error, just doesn't happen. >> if biden wins pennsylvania he's the president-elect of the united states. david, you're getting new information, what do you think? >> as john was walking through this march of the math now that we're at that 6,817 vote lead for joe biden over donald trump in pennsylvania, we continue to see -- crunch the numbers inside of that to look for where are we expecting the next batch of votes to come from in pennsylvania? when the next batch of votes come in, how big with ill be and are they performing like john walked you through? are they performing as these mail-in ballots have been performing in the huge advantage for joe biden. if a large number of returns come in and it is matching up with that kind of performance, it will increase our decision desk's level of confidence about

whether or not donald trump will be in a position as the number two candidate to take the lead again in pennsylvania. once our decision team can get to that high level of confidence that that won't be possible with what is outstanding, then a projection can be made. we're not at that point at this particular moment, but we are looking at the math, looking where the outstanding vote is and trying to see what else is needed to get to that confidence level that the number one candidate right now, joe biden leading, will remain so with what is outstanding. >> and, you know, john king, cnn the decision desk, take it easy, no rush, see what happens, the votes are come coming in pennsylvania and biden's lead is almost certainly going to increase. >> caution is the watch word here. no need to rush the account but also no need to deny the math and the momentum and no need to deny what we're seeing. again, let's be conservative. the presidency of the united

states is at stake here. president trump cannot be re-elected if he loses this state. that is simple math. to david's point you see the lead going up. what have we done in the last hour or so, came to philadelphia, got votes, the president received 87% of the votes. we went up to bucks county, one of the suburban areas where it's more competitive, joe biden received 60 plus percent of those votes. president trump has to start winning when we get these vote installements the president has to start winning because he's behind. bucks county above 60%. philadelphia above 80%, almost to 90%. more votes came in recently here, harrisburg, the state capitol, it's more competitive. this is not philadelphia where joe biden is getting 80% of the vote. this is a place the president is comparati comparative. but even here, they're lop sided in favor of joe biden because democrats overwhelmingly disproportionately voted by mail.

if you're the president of the united states and you're looking, coming from here, here, here, they're blue. most of the votes outstanding are coming from places that joe biden is already winning and he's winning mail-in ballots by more. >> 20 electoral votes at stake in pennsylvania. we'll see how quickly the numbers keep coming in. jake back to you. joe biden is on the verge of being declared the president-elect. but we are told by caitlyn collins at the white house, that president trump has no intention of conceding. let's go to jeff zeleny who covers the biden campaign for us. he's in wilmington, delaware. it's not unexpected that president trump would refuse to go graciously, jeff. but is the biden campaign contemplating how they're going to react to this news? >> reporter: jake this is something that was telegraphed for so many weeks if not months that the the president would question the legitimacy of the

election. the biden campaign saying a short time ago that the president may refuse to concede should joe biden be the winner. they're referring to a july statement they made. let me read this statement to you from a campaign spokesman who said as we said on july 19th, the american people will decide this election. and the united states government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the white house. that's from a campaign spokesman andr andrew bates. so the biden campaign is going along here, not getting ahead of matters waiting for the votes to come in pennsylvania as well as other states. they're preparing on a variety of fronts, the transition team is moving forward with its work. they're preparing for a speech for joe biden to give here in wilmington, likely late this

afternoon or perhaps this evening and they are pushing back on the president. they're also responding in legal lawsuits and other fronts. so they're keeping an eye on all these balls. interestingly how the biden campaign decided to respond is by going to an old statement from a few months ago, making the point this is not a new argument from the president. jake? >> jeff zeleny, thanks so much. that's true, the u.s. constitution does not require a u.s. president who has been defeated, should that happen to president trump, to be mature or patriotic. it doesn't matter if he concedes or not, other than for his supporters and the tenor of what happens in this country. let's bring in ben ginsburg now, a republican lawyer, a long-time widely respected republican lawyer here in washington d.c. and now a cnn consultant also. with the one exception of this case having to do with ballots that arrive in polling places after election day in

pennsylvania, with that one exception, i have not seen any lawsuits or legal actions taken by the trump campaign that i would view as having any merit whatsoever. they all seem frivolous to me. i'm not a lawyer. what do you think of what you've seen? are there any credible cases for any legal action by the trump campaign? >> so far, no. to contest an election what you need to do is to challenge enough individual ballots to throw the results of the election in that state into doubt. and that's a standard they have not come close to meeting yet. it does have to be filings in court or in a state contest or recount proceedings. so they have some time. but in my experience in trying to piece together election contests, you have to have the evidence on election day. trying to get affidavits and

sworn statements about fraud and irregularities after the fact just doesn't work. and so, there may be a lot of noise and a lot of statements about how there are illegalities, but so far the really difficult job of amassing proof that will stand up in court, they have not made public or evident and so far does not exist. >> ben, it's dana bash again. given your experience over so many presidential campaigns, working on behalf of republican candidates, do you believe the notion that there could be widespread fraud given the fact that other republicans on the same ballot as the same president seemed to do quite well? would that make sense? >> yes, i mean, that -- it does make sense. the other factor to remember there is the 50,000 poll worker

army that the trump campaign talked about. that means they had representatives in every polling place in the country that they wanted to. and so, if there was that fraud, it should have been raised and the fact that republicans control the senate still, picked up gains in the house, did just fine in state legislative races would suggest that the fraud is just not going to be there if they try and present it in court. >> ben, this is abby phillip. you said earlier the trump campaign strategy should be put in quotes for strategy but we know what they're going to do they said they want to take this to the supreme court. what is the likelihood they'd be able to do that in the places where they are down right now? several states, pennsylvania, nevada, arizona, and georgia. is that a realistic strategy? >> so far based on what we've seen abby, it's not a realistic

strategy. again, it's the very difficult job of coming up with specific instances in particular precincts. the supreme court is not going to note original jurisdiction on any of this. there has to be the disputes that move their way through the state system. so that actually does suggest another possible strategy, which is to stir up so much dust about the way the election was conducted. albeit in the absence of proof so far. that states are not able to certify their results, in time to choose the slate that goes to the electoral college. so that's a strategy to keep our eyes on as this unfolds. >> i want to make sure that our viewers who are watching understand who you are ben obviously i know who you are, abby and dana do. you are a widely respected republican attorney who has an expertise in election law.

you have been waging these fights on behalf of republicans literally for decades. you are not here to be a mouthpiece for the biden campaign, for the democratic party -- >> no. >> -- you're just here to call balls and strikes. >> that is absolutely what i see my role as. i spent 38 years being in polling places on election day or running the nationwide voter operations for them. in every one of those elections we had people in the polls whose job was to look for fraud and irregularities it's an important part of the validation of our results that both parties under the laws of the state have people in the polls to look for those things. that's the t 50,000-person poll watcher army they talked about. but that evidence simply is not there to claim our elections are rigged. that the results are fraudulent

that there's cheating going on. that evidence has not been amassed. it's not been amassed this time. so my real disappointment with the republican party, the president has said our basic sin institution of elections is fraudulent without the evidence to back it up is insulting. >> pennsylvania is emerging as a key steppingstone in joe biden's path to victory as new numbers come in. we're following it all, we'll be back. prove symptoms... rinvoq helps tame pain, stiffness, swelling. and for some... rinvoq can even significantly reduce ra fatigue. that's rinvoq relief. with ra, your overactive immune system

attacks your joints. rinvoq regulates it to help stop the attack. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious infections and blood clots, sometimes fatal, have occurred... ...as have certain cancers, including lymphoma, and tears in the stomach or intestines, and changes in lab results. your doctor should monitor your bloodwork. tell your doctor about any infections... and if you are or may become pregnant while taking rinvoq. take on ra talk to your rheumatologist about rinvoq relief. rinvoq. make it your mission. if you can't afford your medicine, abbvie may be able to help.

and you are looking at the state of the race in the

commonwealth of pennsylvania. vice president biden is up by 6,819 votes. more votes still to be counted. some 100,000 or so we believe left to go in the state. as we said, the biden campaign has put out a statement, they say, quote, as we said on july 19th, the american people will decide the election and the united states government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the white house. that a short time ago. the president earlier today was tweeting statements from some fox anchors, stuart varney saying philadelphia has a rotten history. it seems odd that one of the things that -- if the president had a ton of evidence, you would think that is what would be tweeted out, that is what he would be showing the american people. if what he's doing is basically just quoting anchors on another

network, that's not necessarily bolstering his case. >> no, but it reflects what we've seen for four years. his twitter feed is a bunch of conspiracy theories that are recycled that he throws out into the arena. i will say on the quote from the biden campaign, i'm not sure i would have gone there. it may be that people are feeling uneasy about the situation because of what the president is saying, but, you know, i don't think you need to go -- i don't think they need to be -- >> poking people -- >> >> -- that aggressive at this point. it seems clear they're going to win the race. and there is no question that donald trump, whether he likes it or not, is going to leave the white house. the fact that the security has been amped up around vice president biden in anticipation

of this, tells you that the government is now -- the agencies that are responsible are doing their job -- >> we should point out that's a standard procedure. >> that is standard procedure. >> it's not in response to any, you know -- i'm sure every presidential candidate, every president has threats. but that is standard operating procedure. i remember when barack obama was elected. and immediately there was a much larger security when i went to see him the night of security. we had to get off the elevator two floors below him and walk up two flights of stairs with a lot of guys with weapons. it was like a lot of things have changed in the last few hours. that's typical. all i'm saying is i have faith in the institutions of our government to do their job. >> rick, how do you see this sort of -- i mean, beyond

arguments, just playing out today, tomorrow, i mean -- >> a couple of things. first off, we're going to look at those numbers. and if those numbers get to be big numbers in blue, then i think some of the air will go out of the balloon. i don't know whether they're going to be big numbers we don't know that. in michigan, the numbers are 150, 160,000-some. it's hard to figure unless you can point out a specific case of fraud -- >> the arm on that is if there are isolated incidents of somebody doing something you're not talking about massive fraud. >> what they need to do and i think what they're going to do is they're going to track down all of these accusations that are coming. they're accusations about dead people voting and they got -- put it out there. have the media track it down,

which they will. and, you know, you have other types of these types of accusations. let's track them out, let's see how substantial they are. the president has -- i think one of the areas he has a legitimate case is on the issue of transparency, the fact they were putting up pizza boxes in detroit so people couldn't see in -- >> which is explainable. i'm happy to if you want. >> it's explainable because people are afraid. >> people were videotaping people opening up the things and it's not allowed. all of it can be litigated in court. >> i understand that. it's one of those things where we'd all do a lot better if we had good laws that everybody enforced to the letter on these things so people didn't go -- so you don't have these types of accusations. so let's walk through them all, let's see. if he loses pennsylvania, by -- if there are 100,000 votes out, i don't know what they are, if there's 100,000 votes and he's

getting 80%, then joe biden is going to win pennsylvania by 70,000 votes. >> jusse smollett t so i hear e you're saying, litigating those arguments, finding out what is real, what is not, finding out what's really -- >> that's what they're doing. >> that's a process that takes place in court if it's valid enough to get there, the lawyers will -- trump lawyers will look at it and say i can't bring that to a courtroom but this i can bring to a courtroom -- >> yep. >> -- does the president then -- he's not going to wait. does he wait for the legal -- >> i don't think so. >> that's the scary part. >> there's a public relations point. >> there's two different things happening here. one you have reasonable people like rick santorum and others pointing out reasonable claims and calling for a reasonable process. that i think everybody has to respect. there's something else happening. which is that the president is

throwing raw meat to his base and his base is starting to react and the other republicans seem to be going in that direction. the concern i have, no matter what the numbers look like, if you get enough people whipped up, they're going to say it's all fact. then you have a legitimacy crisis. what you don't want is a legitimacy crisis. thousands of people saying they're not being governed legitimacy. >> and they're coming out saying it's harder to make the case when republicans did so well in these states and the president did not do well, it gets harder and harder. i think what's going on in the white house you have a president, remember, who said that joe biden was the worst candidate in history. and he probably feels humiliation to a degree. and he cannot -- >> yeah. >> -- he cannot get around the notion that he could lose to that guy. losing is hard enough for this

president. but losing to that guy -- >> i'm sure there's a couple republicans who have had that same thought about the current president. >> right. hillary clinton may have had that thought about donald trump. >> i stood on the stage i remember with like 15 republicans and they all -- i'm sure at one time or another, they were like this guy. >> they're thinking how to go to him and talk to him about it and say, wait a minute, this -- >> and this is one of the things i'm just -- give people time. >> yes. >> he's just found out that he's, you know, probably not going to be the president of the united states. you can say it was in the cards but you don't know until the votes are counted. >> it's democracy's schedule. not donald trump's schedule. >> but give him time to figure this out. that statement they can take trespassers out of the white

house, that's not helpful. >> i agree with that. >> either side under this election, it would have -- no offense, anderson, that's why they're boarding up places across the country. they were afraid if joe biden was going to win by 10 points and he loses, fraud. this would be the cry of the other side, too. let the process work. >> i remember when -- >> give space to work through this. >> i'm agreeing with you. i remember people wanted hillary clinton to come out that night. and she needed a minute and her supporters needed a minute. she came out the next day. i don't think we're looking at that same situation with donald trump. the fear is this isn't about him getting himself together and come out and make a responsible speech this is going to be a bitter ender. there are things that can be done. there are extra innings in if our constitution which we don't talk about. you can go and try to fight it out in the state legislature in congress at the electoral level,

it's never been done before. it's a concern if you have a bitter ender in the white house, continuing to fight in the extra innings that have never been used before, a growing crisis. >> beyond that -- >> finish your thought. >> the extra inning, i don't think it's going to go there, unless they have a clear record of substantial fraud that they've been able to prove. >> they've been hiding it, if they have it. >> give them time. >> i hear you and i agree with you. here's the concern. we have a president who does not have particular regard for rules, laws, norms. that's -- and institutions. we've seen it for four years. why now would he find a sense of decor rum about the process. that is the concern. i hope he does. here's what i remember four years ago, hillary clinton lost michigan by 11,000 votes. she lost wisconsin by 27,000 votes. she lost pennsylvania by 40,000

votes. there was no talk about, you know, how do we overturn this? because she had some regard, even as in -- you talk about humiliation, how about waking up and learning that you lost to donald trump? >> i think the -- what's going on in the white house now is they're trying to figure out ways to convince the president that he's lost. if all these challenges don't prove to be what they hope they are. but lots of people believe they're not going to amount to much, including ben ginsburg, who has more experience than anyone we know. it seems to me that this president, as you're talking about david, is not interested in what the people voted for. he's interested in the fact that he feels bad. that he's humiliated losing to this guy and he wants to keep punching when, in fact, people

voted against him. >> also what did his father tell him? his father said, there are two kinds of people in the world, there are killers and there are losers. >> right. >> the message was clear, you have to be a killer, right? >> if i can, here is what i say to donald trump, yes, he didn't get enough votes. but there is no way republicans are looking at this election as a loser. >> right. >> we flipped -- >> exactly. >> -- seats in the congress. we held onto the -- no one thought we would hold onto the united states senate. we picked up state houses. we picked up one additional governor's seat. this was a great election for republicans and we were out spent 4-3, 4-1. >> and donald trump doesn't care. >> the bottom line is we have a good election and we wouldn't have without donald trump. donald trump was responsible for all of these wins. i know you say, well, donald trump the selfless leader -- in the end, he may not see it that way. but i think a lot of republicans are going to be very grateful

for donald trump for what he does. if philadelphia was cheating, then they did a bad job of it because donald trump got a higher percentage of the votes in had philadelphia than he did four years ago. so understand he actually did do better in the african-american community than he did four years ago, because he did worse in the white house communities. so give -- donald trump has done a lot of good things here. there's a lot of people that are grateful. personally i am. i'm very grateful for the course he charted for the policy and our party and maybe more talk about that, about the success of donald trump would be a salve on the wound. >> we are watching history in the making as joe biden's lead in pennsylvania grows. the former vice president moves closer to the president. new vote counts expected to come in soon, our special coverage continues next. - when i noticed my sister moving differently,

she said it was like someone else was controlling her mouth. her doctor said she has tardive dyskinesia, which may be related to important medication she takes for her depression. td can affect different parts of the body. - [narrator] in today's trying times, we're here to help you manage td. visit talkabouttd.com for a doctor discussion guide to prep for your next appointment in person, over the phone, or online. - we were so relieved to learn there are treatments for td. ♪ ♪

[ engines revving ] ♪ it's amazing to see them in the wild like th-- shhh. [ engine revs ] for those who were born to ride, there's progressive. that selling carsarvana, 100% online wouldn't work. but we went to work. building an experience that lets you shop over 17,000 cars from home. creating a coast to coast network to deliver your car as soon as tomorrow. recruiting an army of customer advocates to make your experience incredible. and putting you in control of the whole thing with powerful technology. that's why we've become the nation's fastest growing retailer. because our customers love it. see for yourself, at carvana.com.

welcome back to election day in america continued. we're watching the race for 270 electoral votes, 253 right now for biden, 213 for trump, 270. that's the number you need to be elected president of the united states, and biden is getting closer and closer and closer. let's get a key race alert right now. let's look at the numbers coming in from the key battleground states. pennsylvania right now the most important with 20 electoral votes if biden wins pennsylvania it's done. he's the president-elect of the united states. his lead has increased in pennsylvania now 6,826 over trump, 95% of the vote is in, 20 electoral votes in pennsylvania. in georgia biden's lead is 1,579, 49.4% to 49.4%. 99% of the vote in georgia is in. that's 16 electoral votes. in arizona biden's lead is

47,052. 90% of the vote is in. still a lot of votes outstanding in arizona, 11 electoral votes. in nevada, 89% of the estimated vote is in, biden's lead 11,438, 6 electoral votes in nevada right now. watching what's going on in all those states. checking in with our battleground reporters now. what are you learning? are we expecting more votes any time soon? >> reporter: i'm getting this upset from the elections department, we do not have the results yet. we're anticipating them in 15 minutes. the latest ballot update from maricopa county, the largest here in arizona, which ined cluclu clue -- includes phoenix, we're expecting those in 15 minutes but we're expecting to learn

60,000 ballots here in maricopa in 15 minutes. that means as we look at how many votes are still left outstanding in this county, there are 140,000 left to count still. that's the latest we're getting from maricopa county. look at it statewide, 80,000 to that and looking at 220 votes left to count in the state of arizona. we don't know what's going to happen in 15 minutes. the current arizona biden lead at 47,000 that number is going to change. we don't know which way yet but the picture here in arizona what's going to happen with the 11 electoral votes. the picture again coming sharper into focus in about 15 minutes, wolfe. >> we'll get back to you in 15 minutes. gary tuchman is in atlanta. i see something going on behind you. >> reporter: i'm in the state

capitol building in atlanta, i'm going to talk softly like an announcer at the masters golf tournament which is next week. the secretary of state's office is having a news conference right now, but i can give you the main information, there's still 4,169 absentee ballots to count, almost all from democratic counties. >> that's not all the votes that will be counted, there are still provisional ballots to look at, perhaps in the low thousands that have to be looked at throughout the state of georgia. and then there's up to 9,000 military ballots that could still come by the end of the business day today. there may not be any that come,

may not be thousands that come but joe biden leads by 1,600 votes right now. what's important to mention is the secretary of state said every vote should be counted. one of the questions to be counted is there are inferences that there are illegal votes and the secretary of state's office said there's no evidence of illegality at this time. it's huge impliations for the nation so they're going to be careful. they expect a recount for whoever loses this. if the deficit is half a percent, the candidate can ask for a recount, one final thing, wolf, the secretary of state's office said a short time ago, the margin, this is an interesting way to put it, the margin of this may be less than a large high school. wolf? >> interesting, indeed. the secretary of state of georgia is a republican. the governor is a republican as well. let's not forget that. let's go to nevada right now.

erika hill is on the scene for us in clark county, the largest county obviously. what are you hearing there? >> reporter: we are waiting on new numbers which we'll get in just minutes. the secretary of state has said they know of about 190,000 ballots that still need to be processed in this state. of those about 90% are from clark county. we learned yesterday we should get the results for clark county from 51,000 ballots today. so we're looking for those numbers from clark county and over the weekend they expect to process the remaining 63,000 or so additional mail-in ballots that they received in drop boxes on election day and were delivered on election day and the day after. even as we get the rest of the results in and the secretary of state say they know of about 190,000 ballots that need to be processed statewide, mail-in ballots in this state can arrive

up until the 10th, until next tuesday if they were postmarked by november 3rd they'll be processed and have a couple days to make sure if they have any issues that need to be dealt with before they need to have the final tally in clark county on november 12th. >> these four states very? john, biden is ahead but the most important is clearly pennsylvania. >> it gets him over the top, 273. and the flip side is there's no way joe biden can win without pennsylvania, donald trump cannot. that's why it's the most important. as you look at it and see 6,826 votes ahead. that's a narrow lead, 3.2 million votes for each candidate here. it's a narrow lead but it's been steady and methodical as almost all ballots come in they're for

democratic candidates. we've seen joe biden winning at 87, 88% coming in. we'll continue to count the ballots. that lead is growing. as the president raises allegations, completely unsubstantiated at the moment of some sort of nefarious activity, fraud, cheating, the like, what's the number at the end of the day, the republicans in the state are not alleging anything. we'll see what happens. right now this is the decisive state right here, that lead has been growing consistently, it flipped to blue this morning and the lead has grown a couple hundred at a time as it moves up. that is by far, the most important when it comes to the other states, the president cannot win if he doesn't carry the commonwealth of pennsylvania. in georgia, this has consistently grown. another example of what we've seen in all the states. a small number of votes came in a short time ago, clayton county, democratic county where

the airport is, just south of atlanta. we've seen this consistently. more votes come in, 527 for biden. it's 46 for the president of the united states. which means this is 91%. we've seen this consistently in a county -- let me move this up and pull up clayton county. i want you to see what is happening because it's happening repeatedly. joe biden getting 85% of the county, that's overwhelming. wow. 85% in the county. they're counting just the mail-in ballots in just about every county that joe biden is exceeding. the bulk of the votes for the president, 46 here, but the bulk were cast on election day, so they counted those already. now in georgia and pennsylvania they're counting mayil-in ballos and joe biden continues to exceed the percentages. every time you see new votes, it puts you on a path for a bigger

leads, they're small leads they understand it, they i don't know how many more ballots are coming back in georgia for those overseas. but we expect the number to go up because some of the ballots remaining are here in gwinnett county, some in the atlanta suburbs. joe biden's number has come in big. by the end of the day, how big is the lead with the mail-in ballots counted and the secretary of state will tell us how many more came in from overseas overnight. >> let's check in with pamela brown at the cnn voting desk. let's talk about georgia and the potential recount that may be necessary there. >> let's dig deeper on that, wolf. the superintendent in georgia may recount if it appears there's an error. we heard from gary tuchman in his report that at this point officials are not seen errors or irregularities that lead to that. so that raises the question will

the trump campaign ask for a recount, they can if the margin of victory is less than .5%. a source familiar, close to the trump campaign, tells me, yes, if it stays this close they will ask for a recount in georgia. that's important to keep in mind. it still may take a while for that to happen. it has to happen within two business days after election results are certified so it could be as late as november 24th. ballot scanners are looked at, they're conducted by superintendents, that's the process for the recount. it's also important to keep in mind, we don't have the exact number of provisional ballots in georgia and we know there's up to 9,000 outstanding overseas ballots including from the military. so all of that could factor in with how the numbers in georgia shake out. >> we'll watch it together with you. the numbers are coming in, more votes coming in, pennsylvania

and arizona right now. we're about to get a new batch of votes. we'll share them with you. election day in america continueds right after this.

do you have a life insurance policy you no longer need? now you can sell your policy, even a term policy, for an immediate cash payment. we thought we had planned carefully for our

retirement. but we quickly realized that we needed a way to supplement our income. if you have one hundred thousand dollars or more of life insurance you may qualify to sell your policy. don't cancel or let your policy lapse without finding out what it's worth. visit conventrydirect.com to find out if you policy qualifies. or call the number on your screen. coventry direct, redefining insurance. the nail biter presidential election is on the verge of a dramatic finish. i'm wolf blitzer. this hour former vice president joe biden is inching closer and closer to locking up a victory over president trump as his lead in crucial pennsylvania is now growing. we're awaiting more votes from the battleground state where counting continues in

philadelphia and other locations. we're also expecting new results in arizona at any moment now, new results from the most populous county in that state we're watching arizona, pennsylvania, georgia, and nevada for important undecided battlegrounds where biden is leading. but pennsylvania certainly is key because its 20 electoral votes will have the power to decide the presidential race. biden currently has 253 electoral votes, pennsylvania alone would push him over, above the 270 he needs to win. trump significantly trailing with 213. he may be soon be handed a crushing defeat. if biden wins pennsylvania or two of those other states. let's get a key race alert right now. let's start with pennsylvania. and its 20 electoral votes. so important. right now biden is ahead by 6,826 votes, 49.4% to 49.3%. it's close by biden's lead in

pennsylvania is growing. in georgia right now, biden's lead is at 1,586. it's close in garj 49.4% for both of the candidates. we're watching vote counting in georgia. in arizona 90% of the vote is in, still lots outstanding, 47,052 that's the biden lead over trump in arizona but we're about to get thousands more votes, actually 60,000 more votes in arizona any minute now. and in nevada, 89% of the estimated vote is in, biden has a lead, maintains his lead 11,438, 49.4% to 48.5%. six electoral votes over there as well. let's look first of all what's going on. we're expecting in arizona a bunch of votes, 60,000 votes are about to come in. that could be a huge development. >> it could be because we have

seen, this is the flip side of what we've seen in pennsylvania, georgia, those two battleground states as they count the mail-in ballots joe biden has caught up to, passed the president, joe biden leads in pennsylvania and georgia. here in arizona we've seen a different trend. republicans are used to voting with mail-in ballots and the like so as they counted votes in the last 24 hours, president trump has narrowed joe biden's lead. you see it, 50.1 to 48.5 -- >> hold on for a moment. we have the new numbers. we're taking notes. tell us what you got. >> reporter: okay. these are numbers and before i read them, i want to make clear to our viewers this is maricopa county, the largest county in the state of arizona these are not state numbers. here are the numbers, joe biden at 972,570 going to repeat that. 972 570.

the president, at 912,115. here in this county, that is a 3-point difference. it is a smaller gain in this county than what we saw last night at that ballot release. just an every slight shrinking, as far as that jump every time we've seen the ballot numbers coming out. so again, joe biden at 972,570 donald trump at 912,115. so that's the latest we have here out of maricopa county, the county that includes phoenix. important county. wolf, you have to win here if you want to win the state of arizona. >> thanks very much. let's take notes. we've just been told how many votes biden gained in maricopa county and how many votes trump

gained. 28,285 votes for biden. trump gained 31,716 votes. >> this is what we've seen consistently in maricopa county. i'm going to move this up on the screen so i can move around the map. we just had the totals in the county. let's get maricopa. the contest for maricopa county, probably a little bit higher than the statewide total in arizona. the battleground here, 6 in 10 votes are cast here. look how close, 51 to 48 if you round that up. this is where we have seen in the last 24 hours or so when we get new votes, the president is consistently coming out on top. you see it as blue. it's the flip of what we've seen in georgia and pennsylvania. it's just a different situation out in arizona. i want to go back in time to show why this is different. the president carried maricopa county four years ago.

no question the suburban shift in america is helping joe biden in this election. but this is not philadelphia. this is not a blow out democratic county. joe biden is winning it but just barely right now. as the later votes come in, just as we have seen the opportunity for joe biden and now the reality for joe biden catching up in georgia, in pennsylvania, passing the president, first in georgia then in pennsylvania. this is the opportunity for the president, the possibility. he still has a long way to go. we have seen it consistently when we get these batches of vote, that the president, not a by ton but he's chipping into the lead. this is in maricopa county, bring it back statewide and here what you have, 50 to 49 if you round up. 43,000 votes that lead is smaller than it was. >> it's gone down a little bit it's 43,569 votes. biden is still ahead of trump but it's been narrowed just a little bit. >> it goes down as we go through it. again, there's a strategic

importance to this if i can come over here for a second as we go through this right now. we know -- let's go through where we believe the president has a chance. in maine's second congressional district, the president is leading. >> one -- >> right. joe biden is on the door of becoming the president-elect of the united states. joe biden is knocking through the door. the president is leading in north carolina right now. the president we expect fully to win the state of alaska when that comes in. here you're looking right now, if joe biden holds pennsylvania, if joe biden can hold pennsylvania, so the president of the united states is in trouble. that gets joe biden over the top. he has to keep this. there's no way. so i'm going to put this back in toss up to say donald trump has to come back here. if we move on in this election in the calculation, do you sue? how do you keep suing? if the president can come back here and the president can come back here, then you're in a place where you have a close election. the issue with the white house calculations about a legal challenge. if joe biden holds this lead and wins here and wins here, joe

biden is already president of the united states here. so one state is not going to make a difference. now you're thinking of how to mount a legal challenge. you can't sue because you lost. it doesn't work that way in a democracy. i'm mad the other guy got more votes i'm going to work. that doesn't work. you have to have a case of fraud, but even if you think there is fraud, and it's just in one place, it's not going to matter. that's the key calculation for the rest of today, as we get more votes in arizona and nevada, is joe biden at 270 or 280 or 300. if he's at 300. maybe we wait for a recount here because it's close. maybe there's a court challenge somewhere else but there's inevide inevident ineability to the math. again if joe biden protects

these two leads he's the president of the united states pending whatever court battles we get. >> even if there's a recount, the republican secretary of state, the republican governor, the recount is a normal thing. it's not that unusual in close races, statewide to have a recount. let's go back to arizona. there's still we're told 220,000 statewide ballots outstanding and most of those are in maricopa county, where phoenix is. >> yes. we have seen again recently when we get more votes, the question is, 3,000 votes right there. i'm rounding up a little bit, doing it on the fly, but what does the president need? we knew coming into the day the president needs to get 61, 62% the question is is he meeting that threshold. the president is coming out on top every time we get more

votes, by a narrow margin but the count is trending in your direction but does it pick up enough as we get to the end? does arizona matter in the end in the calculation of 270? not if joe biden holds pennsylvania, protects the lead in georgia. as we go through this day, hours ahead, the counts here and here, if the president loses both of these, no matter what happens in pennsylvania and georgia, joe biden is the president-elect. it affects your legal strategy, recount strategy. >> arizona is an important state. biden still has the lead, 43,569. gone down a bit but still a lead. still a 43,000 vote lead. >> just for context, we have watched. if you're in the trump campaign and a trump supporter thinking is that feasible? we'll keep counting votes. remember donald trump was ahead there when we woke up this morning, at one point ahead by

650,000 votes. he was ahead there in the morning. and joe biden passed him and is now building a lead. so it's possible that happens out there for the president. we're counting every vote and see where they go. we'll count them if it changes to red, it'll flip to red. if you're in the biden campaign you want to protect the lead. they believe it'll narrow and they'll ultimately win but we'll count the votes and we'll know more in the hours ahead as they count them. it matters to the people of arizona, the final count, but if joe biden protects that, stretches that lead in pennsylvania to the point it's irrefutable, he's the president-elect of the united states and the rest of the counting is to find out by what margin. >> the president made it clear he likes the vote counting in arizona doesn't necessarily like it in georgia or pennsylvania. >> that's an excellent point as we go through the day. democratic governor here, they're crying foul. that's a republican governor there, they're counting the votes, joe biden has pulled

ahead. it's a republican governor out there and the president has been narrowing the lead but joe biden leads right now. so there's intellectual inconsistency to what we're hearing out of the white house. >> intellectual inconsistency, nice phrase. >> trying to be polite. >> david, what are you seeing? what are you thinking up? >> we're looking inside the latest update from arizona. you noted the state of play, joe biden still has a lead, though slight slightly diminished. there are 220,000 outstanding votes in arizona, that's the universe of ballots left to count, rough estimate. joe biden would need 39 to 41% of them to hang onto his lead to win arizona. donald trump would need about 58 to 60%. somewhere in that range of those uncounted ballots in arizona in order to overtake joe biden and

win the state. and here is the slight downside for donald trump. that latest update that we just got, donald trump won 51% of those votes. joe biden got 46%. that number, 51% for donald trump, that is below what he needs to be doing if he's going to overtake joe biden and win arizona. so he has to actually -- even though he's making some ground, donald trump has to significantly improve his performance in the rest of the vote than what we just saw in that latest update. >> very important point. let's pick that up, john. because arizona we have plenty of votes outstanding, 220,000 votes david just said, waiting to be counted. >> a slower counts in the western states, arizona and nevada. to david's point you show the numbers if you're a trump supporter you should be happy. the president came out ahead in the latest batch of votes. the president won there, as

david noted not by enough. the challenge is when the new votes come out in maricopa and also the rest of the state. is the president performing over that metric, well over 50%, getting close to 60%, what he needs as we count the rest of the votes. it's a slow process, given where we are with joe biden on the cusp of 270 electoral votes if you're a trump supporter you're looking anywhere for it. arizona is there, but it's not as big as pennsylvania or georgia. if you look at the map right now, the cold fact, no matter of who you support is joe biden is on the verge of being the president-elect of the united states. right here 6,800 votes it's a small honest lead but we know of what is out is largely in blue counties like allegheny where pittsburgh is. still more votes in philadelphia. so the vote count is trending up

for joe biden. the question is by the end of the day how big of a margin is that, which gets you to the whole do you have a recount, is there a recanvassing, do you have any prayer of a challenge there? but the fact that the commonwealth of pennsylvania is blue, if it stays that way right there, joe biden is the next president of the united states. and again you come down here, this is such a hotly contested election. look how close this is. 1,500 votes right now. but we know the votes out, it's a modest number in georgia. they are the modest number out they are in democratic counties, so we expect that to grow a little bit too and the challenge becomes as you try to do the final math. still waiting on alaska, the president is leading there, we expect it to stay that way. and north carolina, the president is leading, expect it to stay that way. into nevada, they said it could perhaps be tomorrow. if joe biden protects those leads those two alone are enough to get him to the presidency.

but if he holds pennsylvania, it's above 270 which changes the political conversation in this town and in the country and the president's legal strategy. if you have to flip more than one state that's a pipe dream. >> because if the president-elect, let's assume it's biden if he wins pennsylvania, assume he wins georgia and these two states, arizona and nevada, that's 306 electoral votes and it's difficult for the president to start raising questions about legal challenges, supreme court decisions if four states are at play opposed to one. >> look, the supreme court or any court, state court in pennsylvania would have to start, a state court in georgia, unless you're alleging some federal rights violation, you could start at u.s. district court somewhere in pennsylvania, georgia or somewhere else. you have to make your case, sure. but the question is, if it's 306, even if you think you have some challenge here, it's not enough if you take one state away. that's the legal dynamic to the politics. there's another factor in this,

a court would tell you, this is not how we make decisions. but as this goes forward, 73 million and counting. right. a huge 4 million vote margin in the popular vote. courts make decisions, at least they're supposed to make decisions based on the letter of the law as the country would watch that play out, though, that is a strong moral argument for joe biden, especially again if you get at or close or above 300, even if there's one state being contested, the overall result will be crystal clear, those 20 are the most important. let's watch those numbers as they play out. that goes in, we're in the 6,000 plus now i think is the last time. that grows to 10, 20, 30, 40, then we can have an argument over this, that and the other thing, joe biden will be the next president. >> i remember donald trump has a history of making accusations of election fraud when he lost the p popular vote to hillary clinton four years ago he claimed the

only reason he lost the popular vote was because there was election fraud. he organized an inquiry to look into it, it lasted a few months, disbanded, they found no evidence. >> that was one of the early, original lie of the trump presidencies, i don't know which came first which was one of the early lies. 6 million of those votes for secretary clinton, 6 million of those the president said and the allies said, 6 million of those allegedly cast by illegal voters, undocumented immigrants voting illegally in the united states. simply, flatly not true. hillary clinton won those votes fair and square. the president won those votes fair and square. but you look, the turn out in this election, give people more ways to vote, turns out they want to vote. this is a high turn out election. the president got more votes than he did last time. one of the interesting conversations will be if joe biden is the president of the united states what does donald

trump decide to do? he can still tell the republican party that's the second highest vote total in american history. >> awaiting more results from pennsylvania right now. much more of our special coverage when we come back.

we got a key race alert. look at this, joe biden's lead in pennsylvania is increasing right now. it's now 9,027. it's gone up. biden leads trump by 9,027 votes. 49.4% versus 49.3%. 90% of the estimated vote is in. let's go back to john king at

the magic wall. it was 1,000, 5000, 7,000. it keeps going up and up. i expect it's a going to go up more dramatically. tell us where the increase occurred. >> this happened right here, delaware county just to the southwest, one of the suburban areas around philadelphia. a place where joe biden is getting 63% of the vote compared to 36% to the president. this is delaware county. new batch of votes from here. we've seen this consistently. here's what happened here. joe biden gets 3,523. donald trump gets 1,289. and so that is 72%. right, 72% for joe biden running almost ten points higher than what he's doing in the overall vote when you add up election day the mail-in ballots and we've seen it consistently. so we're at a point in the race now where the president, because

he's trailing in pennsylvania, the new numbers in delaware county, increase joe biden's lead to 9,027 votes. the president right now needs to get 53% of all the incoming votes. it'll be higher now because of this. before these numbers, the president needed 53%. joe biden is getting 72%. so just the simple math lesson here, the president needs to overperform dramatically, instead what we're seeing in every county when they send in the new batches of the ballots we see joe biden getting 72% of the mail-in ballots in a place where when you look at it, he's only getting 62, 63%. that's impressive, don't get me wrong, but joe biden is overperforming the totally of the vote just in the subset of these mail-in ballots and it's been consistent which is why that's a small number you might say, a modest number in a giant state like pennsylvania but it's a methodical build for pennsylvania first catching up

to the president. and the smart people in pennsylvania say this pattern continues within a couple hours that lead will go past 10 and 20, and they expect it to grow. there's a science to this and a consistency to it, every time they count the mail-in ballots, and there are 35,000 there in allegheny county, joe biden is pulling 72% of those, the math is going to grow. that alone is enough, it's blue now. that alone is enough to make joe biden the next president of the united states. the question is, as we get later in the day, as the president talks about challenging this and suing that, how big is the lead? the bigger it gets, you find me a recount in a 10,000 vote race that has returned the results. you have to spend a long time looking for it. if that grows to 20 or 30 or 40 it impacts the president's political and legal abilities

going forward. >> it's the trajectory we're seeing unfolding, easy for you to say, that 9 thourkts000 could become 50,000. >> there are people in the state who think it's going to go as high as 100,000. i did back of the envelope math last night, and joe biden's percentages came in higher than i gave him. that's not inevitable but we've seen it. i can't remember the time when any of these mail-in votes have come in. we're seeing it in arizona that's why we'll watch it. the simple math and history here in the commonwealth of pennsylvania has been every time, even in the republican counties we get a new batch of mail-in votes being counted -- these are legally cast mail-in ballots that they decided to count last. the election day vote was tallied first, they're just counting votes that have been legally cast and every time,

again, even in these ruby red republican counties joe biden is coming in ahead. in the ballpark of 60%, and sometimes 70%, 80% or more. and you're trying to be fair saying where are the votes, a lot of the outstanding votes are in philadelphia, and joe biden is getting 81%. so the president is not going to make up ground in philadelphia. out here in allegheny county, pittsburgh, the president is more competitive here than philadelphia but the president is not going to make up the votes in allegheny county, it's math and fact. >> the numbers are increasing. let's go back to david chalian. at what point would we be able to project a winner in pennsylvania? >> people watching see the vote totals get added, see joe biden's lead continue to grow over the president in pennsylvania, hear john walk through the pattern of the

ballots and wonder why is it not decided yet? our team is looking at the 9,027 vote lead you see there for joe biden in pennsylvania right now and then they look at everything that's outstanding. what do we know about that outstanding vote and where is it coming from? if if it is all mail that we expect, we know that's a big joe biden category, that gets factored in this. but is there enough vote out there that we can say who the winner of the state is going to be? that we are certain the number two candidate, right now donald trump in pennsylvania, has no chance of becoming the number one candidate when all of that vote comes in? when we reach that level of confidence, that threshold that we know the number two candidate cannot overtake the person currently in the lead and right now that is joe biden, then we make a projection. until then we look for more information about the outstanding vote as it comes in to get the confidence level. >> history unfolding right now

and we're getting more and more votes, especially in pennsylvania right now. our special coverage will continue right after a quick break. o is usaa made for? it's made for him a veteran who honorably served and it's made for her she's serving now we also made usaa for military spouses and their kids become a member. get an insurance quote today.

let's get a key race alert right now. look at nevada, a large number of votes just came in and biden's lead is there. you see it, 22,076. he's got 49.8% to trump's 48.1%. we hadn't received a lot of votes from nevada lately but all of a sudden a whole bunch just came in and biden's lead has grown to 22,076. six electoral votes in nevada right now. so let's go to john king at the magic wall. nevada it's an important state that we're watching closely, six electoral votes but all of a sudden the lead increased a bit for biden. >> all of a sudden we have more votes. we're up to 91% now, you see the 22,000 votes. that's a modest lead but the other states when we get the new votes we look at the trajectory of the race. in clark county, joe biden,

19,995. president trump 9,357. so 65%. 65% for joe biden. this tells you all you need to know. in the new votes joe biden gets 65%. statewide, just shy of 50%. joe biden is doing better, he builds the lead. donald trump knowing he's behind in pennsylvania, georgia and arizona, if the dynamics of the race are going to change he can't keep coming in under joe biden and can't keep coming in with joe biden getting 65% when we get a batch of new votes. let me bring this up. these came from clark county down here, the overwhelming chunk of the vote, 70% or more of the vote in nevada comes out of las vegas and the growing suburbs around it. donald trump saying joe biden is

for coronavirus lockdowns, distorting the position, but in clark county joe biden getting 54% to 45%, if you round up. secretary clinton, pretty close, 52 to 42 and you come forward here now. the president doing a little bit better. you take the third party candidates out, maybe selling the coronavirus lockdown argument a little bit still but the trajectory, come back out to statewide, narrow lead, modest lead, in the trump campaign things are going against you right now so you're looking for help somewhere. narrowing in arizona, this is joe biden stretching the lead. still a modest lead. still have votes to count in nevada. we've seen it in pennsylvania, georgia, arizona has been the only state when we're getting new votes it's the president getting more in maricopa county. the dynamic here in pennsylvania, georgia and now

nevada, trending in biden's favor. perhaps a little bit of growth for the president in arizona. factor all of that in and what does it mean? the trend line of the race is that's all joe biden needs, he's the president of the united states if he wins it. he's leading there and both of these and he's growing his lead at the time moment. the dynamics of the race continue to be favorable to biden and grow in the favorability to biden. >> impressive batch of new votes coming in favor of biden. i want to check with dana bash getting updates in the balance of power in the state. >> a democratic pickup in the state of arizona. cnn can predict that mark kelly, former gun control advocate, will be the next senator from arizona. this is john mccain's old seat. he's defeating martha mcsally who was appointed when john mccain passed away. this goes to democratic hands. what does this mean for the

balance of power? 48 democrats, 47 republicans. five seats yet to be called for the 2020 election in the senate. >> important pick up in the senate. an impressive win for mark kelly. >> impressive win for mark kelly. this was john mccain's arizona. she was appointed senator. mark kelly, democratic win. the democrats haven't had good news to cheer when it comes to control of the senate. but this is good for the democrats to cheer in a state where martha mcsally, the republican leadership thought was the best can't in the state. i want to make a distinction here. remember this number right here. the last time the president was out there, he sort of mocked martha mcsally. he was having a rally in arizona he was like, martha come up here, nobody wants to hear you but come up here i'll give you a minute. 1,497,199. let's shift this over to the

presidential race. the president is getting more votes in arizona right now than the incumbent republican senator in arizona. 151,736,814 it's not a huge difference there. but martha mcsally, the republican incumbent senator is under performing the president of the united states. he's losing arizona as well at the moment. this is an impressive win for mark kelly, husband of gabby gifford, who was tragically shot. this is good news for democrats. >> it was humiliating when the president was in arizona and he sort of treated her with such disrespect. >> this is the trump party more than the republican party, that's just a fact. most -- there are a lot of republicans privately we've been through it for four years, even today as the president makes the allegations about the white house briefing room, about cheating and fraud and people

trying to steal an election from him, people talk so negatively about this president in private the question is, there's a conversation happening in this town, we're not at the finish line yet, but there's an inevitability to this math, the way trump treats people in his own party that are loyal to him. she is incredibly loyal to him, he does not return it. he demands loyalty, he doesn't return it. he didn't on the ballot in a competitive race, final days, spoke critically, mocking of her. as we have the conversation i want to come back to the number quick, pull it out as republicans say, maybe, finally, the republicans who don't like the president, maybe finally he's gone. he may not be in office in three months, he's not gone. in no indication he's going anywhere even if he loses. >> we're about to get more votes

in pennsylvania, that key battleground. we'll continue our special coverage right after this.

you know when your dog is itching for an outing... or itching for some cuddle time. but you may not know when he's itching for help... licking for help... or rubbing for help. if your dog does these frequently. they may be signs of an allergic skin condition that needs treatment. don't wait.

talk to your veterinarian and learn more at itchingforhelp.com. and latest numbers from pennsylvania, joe biden ahead

8,867 votes at this point in pennsylvania. still, though, tens of thousands of votes to come in. in georgia ahead 1,585. arizona 43,779 and more votes still are being counted in nevada ahead 22,076. we're getting some further responses from a couple of senators, lindsey graham on a zoom call, according to manu raju said it's incumbent on trump's team to detail specific instances of voter irregularity he said he spoke to the trump team today and expects more of these -- whatever cases they have to be detailed in the next 48 hours. also senator roy blunt of missouri said you can't stop the count in one state and decide you want it to continue in another state. that might be how you want the system to work but that's not

how it worked. asked if he'd seen widespread voter fraud, blunt said there's always fraud but you have to look at the correlation of that and the gap between the candidates. >> pretty much what i've said here. i think that's what most republicans are going to -- where they're going to come down. there's concern, a widespread belief out there there were a lot of sketchy things going on. i can tell you in the state of pennsylvania, the state party and the state legislature, they're very concerned about how the secretary went out and violated the pennsylvania supreme court order, violated the pennsylvania law, and instructed counties to cure ballots that came in that were -- mail-in ballots that came in that were defective. under pennsylvania law you can't do that. many other states you can.

but in pennsylvania you can't. and there's no procedure in the statue to do so. so for her to go out and say to montgomery county, a suburban philadelphia county, you go ahead and contact these people. you can't say go ahead and do whatever you want. that's not how you run elections. that's -- so the people -- i can tell you people in pennsylvania are hot. if this race is 100,000 votes, well, they're not 100,000 cured ballots you worry about. but if this race stays at this level -- i don't think it will, but if it does, then you have real concern, could fraud have had an impact? the answer is, the actions of the secretary of state could have had an impact to prejudice the elections. >> john king was saying it could be in the neighborhood of, you know, 40 or 50,000 lead. the votes -- >> that's why roy blunt's comment is a comment i made yesterday, depends how big the lead is. >> lindsey graham was a little more hot headed last night. this morning he's saying put up

or shut up. you have to show us the fraud within the next 48 hours. you have roy blunt, whom as you all know, speaks for the leadership in this case because mitch mcconnell isn't going to speak and one other thing he said, that was really interesting to me was he said part of the obligation of leadership is you should always have in your mind how do i leave? win or lose, both candidates should have been thinking about transition now for some time, and we will have a transition. i think this will all be settled within the next ten days or so. >> so -- >> let me finish. so they are trying to sort of take the temperature down. talk to the american public. this is going to get settled. and in a way, as you were saying before, rick, eventually they will say to the president, take credit for all that you've achieved in other republican races. you've done a great job, mr. president.

and that's how i think they're going to move him across that -- >> just explain -- >> that's the only point i want to make is just give people time. >> right. they're starting it. >> don't say i know people say, why aren't republicans going out and -- give people time to work this process. >> i think that's what they're trying to do. >> that's what they're doing. >> you say roy blunt speaks for -- >> mitch mcconnell. >> explain that. >> roy blunt is in the leadership and he is -- >> he's very close to senator mcconnell. >> as rick santorum knows also, an institutionalist. mitch mcconnell is not being as forward, i think, at all, as roy blunt, who was more blunt, excuse me -- >> you're saying blunt -- >> he's as blunt -- >> i didn't want to make the dad joke. >> you're saying blunt is speaking on behalf of mitch mcconnell? >> he is. i don't think he would go out and say this stuff on his own. but i think they're sending

messages to the president and saying, you've done a great job, everybody needs to think about transition, in life, in politics, in whatever, and so i -- >> i -- >> i think that's the clear message. >> to be clear, i talked to a they feel very bad for the president. they do. this guy went out there, laid it all on the line. he campaigned like a maniac. >> but not for them. >> the point is he did and they benefitted from that. there's a feel, a genuine feeling of affection to what the president did. >> david, one of the problems is that the president's kids are going out on television, rudy giuliani going out, for every roy blunt sort of -- >> donald trump who tweeted 11 minutes ago with the attack by the radical left dems on the republican senate, the presidency becomes even more important. that's his message back to them. so we'll see how it goes.

i appreciate exactly where you're coming from, and i hope that he responds, but again i said this before, i don't think, he is not someone that cares that much about institutions, including, and you can disagree with me, i think including the republican party. i think he puts himself first. and right now, his priority is donald trump and the question is you said the other day he loves his country, he will put the country first and we'll see. i sincerely hope that that is the case. >> i do, too. i just think part of the reason this is important conversation is that democracies are fragile. democracies can fail. we have people from around the world, they'll tell you what happens when the institutions get bumped around, people start to have massive distrust in the processor whatever. you don't want to be in that. it is hard to put the toothpaste back in the tube once you have

tens of millions on both sides who just no longer respect the system. we are very lucky here that we've had 200 years of this stuff to get it right, and as sick as it is at the top, at the bottom, people are acting right on the whole. starting to get hot, starting to see bubbles on both sides as people see a tug of war happen, what you describe is tug of war at the top of the republican party. you have some bitter enders that are willing to burn the house down, other republicans say can we calm down, get ready for transition. how that plays out at the top is having impact at the street level. at the street lecvel, this weekend could get rough if we don't get more signals. >> it is a matter of doing what rick santorum says should be done, in some way they have to convince the president he was a success and not a failure. >> hold on a second. listen, giving him an honorable way out is not a bad thing.

everybody gave hillary clinton that 24 hours she needed to get herself together. again, i think hillary clinton legitimately needed that moment, didn't have a history of going and doing bad stuff. let's create an off ramp, give him his roses, let him move on, then we still have to clear the deck for biden to be able to govern. don't forget, big game is we have to put a new team in that building and they have every problem in the world. it is easy now to get it all stirred up. we have people dying across the country, people that don't have jobs, standing in line for food. can we get past this moment of crisis, get back to solving real problems. that's what -- >> the most important thing, donald trump, first of all, it won't matter what the margins are, it will matter if these four states come in and biden wins all of them and he -- georgia we won't know for some time, it is close enough we have to wait for runoff, not a runoff but recount, they already

announced that. but it may well be that he ends up with the same exact margin that donald trump had four years ago and called a landslide. he is going to win by far more votes than hillary clinton did in the popular vote. and hopefully that will send a message. but the most important thing right now is not to van's point, for the president of the united states not to send coded messages to people who believe in him and who believe in all their heart there was no way he could lose except if it was rigged because that's what he told them, and now believe that somehow they have to take action. that's what we want to avoid. >> i understand all of that. but you're in politics and there's a winner and there's a loose loser. that's the way it is in politics. you get into the arena, you win or you lose. and i understand the notion that

people are trying to sort of communicate with with the president and say okay, let's give him a graceful exit should he lose, but he ran for president and he lost, let's just say if he loses, he has to accept that because he's in that arena. and there's only one of two outcomes. and so i understand giving him the space and all the rest of it, but come on. he ran for president. >> i would also say it is not just him. van and i get at it here and one of the reasons that you see this election be as hot as it was is because both sides have convinced themselves that this is an -- the other is an existential threat. how many times did you hear democrats say, joe biden, this is -- donald trump and what he is, authoritarianism, fascism.

and socialism and communism. to say okay, we have a close election, let's move on, that's a hard step for people to sort of go with. it would have been a hard step for the left to go over with and i don't think it is fair for the winners to say well, you know, it is an institution, let's just move on. it is a time of, i can tell you a lot of people are on edge, they want to fight because they think this is an existential threat and that we need to fight this battle until we're sure. margins will matter and evidence will matter and that's what we have to wait for. let's not push it too fast. >> i understand that. the margin particularly in pennsylvania will matter. the two men at the top need to behave well. that is what i am saying. i didn't like that tweet we were talking about earlier from the biden campaign. i did not like that. but joe biden when he has spoken

about this has been very correct. >> one is a conventional politician, one is not. >> that's the point. that's exactly the point. hillary clinton we talked about this earlier, hillary clinton, believe me, she felt as aggrieved four years ago as donald trump does now and she had some justification, but she believed in the institution and she did what was -- you said 24 hours. i hear you on that. i hear you talk. i admire you for the way you're talking about this but it should not be a hostage drama to get the president to acknowledge what is manifestly clear. >> here would be another message to the president. do you think hillary clinton's grievance she carried has been a good look for her, held her in high regard with the country? holding a grievance or grudge, feeling like you were cheated and sort of complaining about

that, which -- >> do you think that would work with donald trump, holding a grievance is not a good thing? huh? >> i'm not saying that to donald trump, i am saying it to trump people. you think if that's a good look, if you think that's been a good look for her or for the country, it is not a good look for us or donald trump is my point. >> coverage continues in a moment. pense intensifies as we wait to see if joe biden locks up the presidency in the hours and perhaps minutes ahead. i am wolf blitzer. the former vice president on the brink of a victory over president trump as his lead in crucial pennsylvania grows wider. we're monitoring the vote counting in pennsylvania and standing by for new results that

potentially could be decisive. the presidency is coming down to pennsylvania as well as georgia, arizona, and nevada. they're all battlegrounds where biden is leading. he widened his advantage in nevada. if biden wins pennsylvania or two of the other states, he would climb above the 253 electoral votes he has and reach the winning number of 270. trump trails with 213. although he made some gains in arizona, trump's path forward looks very, very bleak. let's get a key race alert right now. let's look at nevada right now. trump's lead in nevada, excuse me, biden's lead in nevada increases a bit. he has a lead over trump, 20,548 with 92% of the estimated vote in. 49.9% to trump's 48.1%. six electoral votes in nevada. in arizona where there are 11 electoral votes, biden maintains

434,779, slightly less than it was awhile ago. still 43,779. 50% for biden, 48.6% for trump. 93% of the estimated vote in arizona is in. in the critically important battleground state of pennsylvania, the most electoral votes at stake, 20. biden maintains a lead. 8,867. a little less than awhile ago, still 8,867. he is 49.4% to 49.3%. 95% of estimated vote in pennsylvania is in. in georgia right now, almost all of the votes are in, 99% of the volt, biden has a lead of 1,584 votes. 16 electoral votes in georgia. 49.4%. 49.4%. let's go to pamela brown at the voting desk. in georgia, there's an important development unfolding now. >> that's right, wolf. we are headed to recount in

georgia. moments ago, the secretary of state in georgia said they're looking at the next steps. the secretary of state said, quote, with a margin that small, there will be a recount in georgia. here is what this entails. you take a look. there's no automatic recount in georgia. candidates can request a recount if the margin is within .5%. as it is now, it is within that margin. today is the deadline for outstanding overseas ballots. there's up to 9,000 still not returned at last check. don't know the provisional county. and today is the deadline for cured ballots. the georgia officials say they have no errors are irregularities. the trump camp wants a recount. that's where this is heading according to secretary of state. the question is when would that happen? it is possible for it to happen

before recertification. certification deadline is november 20th, could be as late as november 24th. we heard a georgia official say they want certification to happen sooner than the deadline. what would it entail for a recount in georgia? ballot scanners, they would put them back through scanners, unless they're defective. this is a process that would be overseen by superintendents. it looks like there, wolf, that's where we're heading this hour. >> thanks very much, pamela, for that. john, it is interesting that in georgia there's a republican secretary of state whose in overall charge as well as the governor. if they do the recount and it comes back basically the same, there's not much trump will be able to do about that. >> and remember the governor himself, brian kemp, is former secretary of state. he was secretary of state when he ran for governor, hotly contested race. democrats still grumbling about the vote count in that race. the question is, is georgia decisive in the sense if joe biden continues on the path he

is on, he will have 270 plus and this will be important to get the final outcome of the race. but it is possible it does not determine the winner, it is in limbo. you can understand this, whatever your partisan leanings. 1500 votes now. more votes to come in. we expect that lead to grow for joe biden a little. not many more votes to come in, but mostly from democratic strongholds. anticipate that lead grows more. you see 49.4 to 49.4. well within reason for anybody to think let's take a look. wolf, you look at the presidential race, there's two senate races on the ballot in georgia. this one here, a recount could be incredibly significant. first we have to get to the final vote total. if david perdue is under 50%, you have a runoff. that's the way georgia state law works. a recount could be consequential, not just for the electoral votes for the presidential race, could have dramatic impact on state politics as well. let's see where we are at the end of the day.

you just heard what pam said, encouraging, if they can, the state wants to move up the certification process, if comfortable they can do that so they can get about the business of recount sooner. you see a republican governor, republican secretary of state, trying to move the process along. >> another key race alert. look at pennsylvania. biden's lead went up a bit. has a lead of 9,746 over donald trump. 49.4% to 49.3%. still close but approaching 10,000 right now. biden's lead over trump, 20 electoral votes, that's the most important now. pennsylvania, pennsylvania, pennsylvania. >> right. you watch this. new votes came in from bucks county. you come here in the philadelphia area, move up to the north of philadelphia, you see one of the suburban collar counties around philadelphia, this one more competitive. you see overall, 51-47. votes came in here. you noted joe biden stretched out the lead a bit. short time earlier, wolf, in the

northern part of the state, president trump picked up a modest number of votes, counted several hundred votes, the president picked up a bit, 100 or so votes on joe biden. you saw in one of the counties. we have been saying even in the republican counties when we get mail ballots, joe biden is gaining. in that one, there was a modest gain for the president. a lot more live in bucks county. every time votes come in in philadelphia and suburbs around it, joe biden builds a lead. >> pennsylvania the lead for biden over trump is 9,746. let's look at how that increased. we have the numbers if you want to put them on the screen. this is coming in from bucks county. biden picked up 2,617 votes. trump picked up -- excuse me. erase that. biden picked up 1732.

trump picked up 853. there were a total of 2,617 votes. biden got 1732, trump got 853. biden got 66% of the vote in bucks county with the latest batch. >> again, you look at this number in the sense that donald trump is behind now. that's bucks county, donald trump is behind. let me pull out to commonwealth of penlnsylvania. 9,746. sure, you're close, but you're trailing. every time new votes come in, you have to get more and yet almost every time new votes come in, it is joe biden not only getting more but getting two-thirds of the votes. joe biden, not a giant lead in a state so big. you see the total vote counts. this is a competitive race. the overall trend with one tiny exception in one of the republican counties to the north

is get new votes, joe biden is not only winning, building a lead, that lopsided advantage makes it harder and harder for the vote count for donald trump to catch up. final margin is important. the margin is important. the final number in pennsylvania is going to matter. but what matters most at the moment now, wolf, is that it is blue because that one alone is enough to make joe biden president elect of the united states. >> 20 electoral votes are critical. kate bolduan is in philadelphia. what are you learning, kate? >> reporter: hey there, wolf. we are standing by for a press conference that should be coming up in the next 30 minutes. this will be the first press conference of the city election officials that have been running this count in the convention center behind me. this will be the first time that we have gotten a press conference, a briefing update

from them since wednesday. i'm told we're going to be hearing an update on what's still outstanding, what is left to be counted, and hopefully how long it will take, but it is not clear if they'll be offering an update on numbers, an update on any additional count that's been finished in the process, finishing up the ballots. we know from sources that the process here has slowed. here's why. the 25,000 ballots that are outstanding still to be counted include ballots that have issues, things like signature issues or date issues. it requires review. that takes longer because it requires a second look. there's an ambulance going by right now, wolf. should be past in a second.

one thing, segregated ballots that have come in post election day are not included in the process now. they're still shrink wrapped as described to me and held securely separately from what's going on now. we should be getting more information in just a few minutes, wolf, 12:30 press conference scheduled here. >> about 20 minutes or so. kate, we'll get back to you as well. john, you were telling us about pennsylvania. right now, 20 votes at stake, electoral votes. if biden wins that one state, forget about the other states, if he wins that state, he is the president. >> right. and we're going to keep counting votes in other states. arizona and nevada we're still counting, georgia is likely to be a recount. we may not know the final allocation of electoral votes, but if joe biden holds onto this, he is president-elect. he would have 273 just with pennsylvania alone. kate went through the math. we'll see if we get new numbers out of philadelphia. we know 20,000 of the

outstanding votes are still here. your eyes tell you the story. joe biden is getting 80% plus. last batch in the mail in, was 89. joe biden is not worried about leftover votes. he knows he will increase the lead. that's the problem for president trump. more votes there, 36, 37,000 votes in pittsburgh. biden won't get them all, of course. he is getting close to 60% already in allegheny county. in mail in ballots, he is consistently getting a higher percentage, sometimes much higher percentage than winning county wide because overall totals include the big election day turnout. if you go through the counties, modest increase of 160 votes for the president, but every county today and yesterday, and biden builds. modest leads, with votes out based on percentages he is getting, you can project out maybe 40,000, some in

pennsylvania thinking higher than 50,000 will be the ultimate end of it. we'll see that end of the day. the final number is significant if thinking of recount or challenges. when you stretch a number like that even in a big state like this, 3.3 million votes, you start getting about 10, 15, 20, history tells you that's a number that's most unlikely to be overturned. may find 12 votes here or there tabulated wrong, but once you get to 10,000, gets almost impossible. >> that's the history we're pretty familiar with. brian todd joining us from pittsburgh now in allegheny county, second largest county in pennsylvania. brian, what are you picking up? >> wolf, we're excited to be here because of access we are getting in the period after the election, questions about transparency and questions about access that observers have to vote counting are coming up in all states not called yet, we're getting a firsthand look close to vote counting. we are here at the elections

warehouse in pittsburgh. allegheny county, crucial county. these people behind me are members of the election board. they were sworn in a short time ago. what these people are going are going through bins, these are all damaged ballots. about more than 2,000 of them that people are picking through, checking carefully, processing them so they could be counted. we don't know how many of those might have to be tossed out because they're too damaged and you can't tell. we're getting an update on numbers within the next hour, hour and a half or so as to what numbers are for biden and trump campaigns among damaged ballots coming in. i will show you here, we talk about access that observers have, these are members of the board counting damaged ballots and processing them. right behind them, this lady in the red and gentleman in the blue sport coat are observers. bipartisan observers. they're kept in the area behind this fence here. they can't go closer than they are. but look, they have access.

only a few feet away, watching this closely. we have been told no anomalies, no irregularities have been reported to chairman of this counting facility here. we spoke to him a short time ago. after they do these more than 2,000 damaged ballots and we get results of those in about an hour, hour and a half, then they're going to process more than 4,000 ballots from overseas and military members that are coming in to allegheny county and short time after that, we'll get those results. we're bringing you numbers shortly here, wolf, from allegheny county. and what's interesting also about this is we're not able to be here much longer, only a few more hours until we are kicked out. why? 5:00 p.m. eastern time 29,000 plus ballots that are coming in that have not been counted in allegheny county will be processed here. these are ballots, mail in ballots. when they were mailed to voters, they had wrong information on them, then by court order that information had to be corrected, had to be sent back out.

those ballots are coming in. they don't start to get counted until 5:00 p.m. eastern time today. that count could take a couple of days. they'll start to upload numbers tonight but we won't get final numbers there until maybe tomorrow or later in the weekend. the key thing is allegheny county with 35,000 plus ballots that have yet to be counted are being counted now, are they going to help joe biden drive up margins in pennsylvania. the area favors joe biden. he spent a lot of time in the area in the later part of the campaign, especially in the last few days. came here with lady gaga day before the election. again, allegheny county is crucial with 35,000 plus total ballots yet to be counted. this is interesting, wolf. enjoy it while you can watch it. we'll be kicked out in a few hours. very exciting. firsthand look at the ballots being counted. this is one of the things that makes us jazzed about covering the election like this and covering races that haven't been

called. you're seeing people, two feet away from these guys, they're doing some great painstaking work so results come in accurately, wolf. >> we are grateful to the poll workers doing an incredible job. brian todd, thank you very much. 9,746 vote lead that biden has in pennsylvania right now, and we're told 95% of the vote is in. there's still thousands of votes outstanding. >> as brian noted, 30,000 plus are in allegheny county. again, your eyes can tell you joe biden is getting close to 60% of the vote. traditionally getting in excess of that in mail in ballots. you can anticipate if it is 35,000 ballots and he gets 60%, he will add to the lead. that's the biggest chunk outstanding. i see 9,746, math tells you that lead is likely to grow. the question is how many. and to brian's point being in that room at a time when there's

heated rhetoric at the podium of the white house and president of the united states and in social media and the president and his allies, i have been in those rooms before. democrat and republican standing behind somebody, those are damaged ballots. sometimes you fill out the circle, don't fill it in. worker says i think this is a vote for wolf blitzer, they say okay. you didn't finish the circle or it is creased that the machine won't read it, worker says i call this a vote for wolf blitzer. both look at it. any doubt, one says i object, they take it, look at it, talk about it. that's how it works in the election. two people standing there looking at it. when you hear people saying there's no transparency, there's people doctoring ballots, if they have evidence, we have things called courts. what you saw there is happening all over america, in close states, in states the president is winning, states the president is losing, that's the way it works. it is refreshing to see it. >> you and i covering in 2000, bush v gore, remember the

hanging chads that were coming from palm beach county. what were you saying? this is pittsburgh. you can see took more than 30 days to determine who won florida. it did go up to the supreme court. >> just the mention of hanging chads. years of therapy down the drain, wolf. we thought we would never have anything like that. let's hope we do not. if anyone has a complaint, make your case. but don't stand and say things and see pictures like that of honest, hard working americans. who knows what party they belong too. counting votes. >> nothing wrong with counting votes. all has to be done by election day, can't wait, can't count anything after election day. that's totally unacceptable. >> the reason the president is mad because a lead that was once go back in time, over 600,000 votes because they counted

election day votes first, the president dominated that, he ran a good campaign in pennsylvania. he got 3.2 million votes and counting in pennsylvania. more votes than he received four years ago when he won the state. the problem with pennsylvania is not that the president didn't turnout the vote. if you're president trump, the quote, unquote problem is the other guy got more votes. in america we don't call it a problem, we call it democracy. right now joe biden is winning. math. simple. we'll see where it goes from here. again, as we are having this conversation, civics lesson for some that haven't seen recount rooms. that's blue. that is blue going to recount. these are staying blue. joe biden's lead in nevada and arizona, both of those came down in the count, still leading in all of them. if he gets this here, commonwealth of pennsylvania, game over. gets him to 273. and the rest, if he can build more, the question of that, if you get this, then the question for these is more when joe biden speaks to the american people not as president-elect but as

president, how much more political power does it give him, how much more leverage. question of mandate will be debated when we get past today getting these states to the finish line. >> we were told that as little kids, every vote counts, that's a democracy. let votes count, whether it takes another few days, few more weeks, it is important that every vote counts in a real democracy. we have more votes coming in very soon from pennsylvania. stay with us as special coverage continues. ♪

♪ you can go your own way ♪ go your own way your wireless. your rules. only xfinity mobile lets you choose shared data, unlimited or a mix of each. and switch anytime so you only pay for the data you need. switch and save hundreds on your wireless bill. plus, get $300 off when you buy the samsung galaxy note20 ultra 5g. learn more at your local xfinity store today.

welcome back to cnn's coverage of the presidential election. let's go to jeff zeleny, covering the biden campaign in wilmington, delaware. jeff, you have news? >> reporter: we do, jake. we are being told that plans are being made for joe biden to deliver an address to the nation tonight during prime time, not exactly sure what time during prime time, those are plans being made at this hour. much of that depends upon how the race goes, how the counting goes in philadelphia. i can tell you, all eyes in the biden campaign and likely by the former vice president himself are on these counts in pennsylvania. i'm also told he is doing a variety of other things today, looking forward to transition and other things should that be how this develops.

we do know that plans are being made for a speech tonight in prime time, and the stage behind me you've seen all week, significant more activity happening here in the last few hours or so, higher secret service presence, repositioning some jeeps and vehicles that were in the front of this. it looks like it is being prepared for another drive in rally which became a hallmark of the biden campaign. this is a speech the former vice president has long anticipated giving, not knowing if he would give it, but i'm told it will be serious in substance and tone, much like we heard over the last few days. as of now, it will be in prime time tonight. >> jeff zeleny, thanks so much reporting from biden headquarters in wilmington, delaware. knowing the response from republican officials when it comes to untethered, wild

allegations by the president and his spawn and supporters about the election, all of the crazy and false claims about it being stolen. there is new development from mitt romney, republican of utah. what does he have to say? >> we were talking last night. he put out a statement last night. >> mealy mouthed? >> he spoke out, said let the votes happen. effectively he says that doing things, he, meaning the president, he is wrong to say the election was rigged, corrupt, and stolen. doing so damages the cause of freedom here and around the world, weakens the institutions that lie at the foundation of the republic, recklessly in flames destructive and dangerous passions. wow. >> that's strong. there was a sentence at the top. >> the top said the president is within his rights to request recounts, to call for investigation of alleged voting

irregularities where evidence exists and to exhaust legal remedies. doing these things is consistent with our election process. >> that's fine. absolutely. there's a recount going on now in georgia because margin of victory there for joe biden is so slim. you see there, it is 1,567 votes, that's within half a percentage point. >> but the fact that he is being so forward leaning more than we've seen any prominent republican do in saying to the president cut it out, cut it out, you're undermining democracy is noteworthy. it is not as if mitt romney has not done that before, but in this case at this moment in time, i think it is significant. >> it is a correction and it was a necessary one because i think his previous statement left the impression that he was sort of not willing to denounce broad, sweeping claims of fraud that

everyone knows has no basis in fact, and this one is more clear about what is within the leans of what is ploappropriate and acceptable in a democracy and what is not, and there should be more republicans making stronger statements frankly about what is going on here because there is really no justification for the kinds of things you were hearing from president trump last night. almost everything he claimed was evidence of fraud was not true. >> right. >> or not evidence of fraud at all. and it is worse when you watch fox news where many of the president's advisers, supporters, campaign aides go on television, speaking to the president's supporters every day, reinforcing falsehoods, frankly fake manipulated videos on social media, these are all things that are corrosive to democracy and not enough republicans are being specific about what the problem is. >> if you're upset about what

you see on fox and you have every right to be, check out the twitter feed of the president's spawn because it is like rantings by somebody having an lsd trip. these are claims that are so wild that they wouldn't even make, forget fox, they wouldn't make fox business where, you know, all sorts of facts go to die. >> what jeff zeleny just reported is interesting which is that right now, joe biden is preparing what so far will be the most important speech of his life. probably going to be the first of many important speeches of his life because he is going to have to walk the line, depending what happens in this prime time speech, presumably won't give the speech until people feel comfortable enough calling the presidency, given where votes are in pennsylvania and elsewhere, but regardless, he's

already set the tone of the campaign from day one, reaching out to everybody, being all inclusive and so forth. presumably he is giving that speech without what normally happens, which is a call from the person who you beat. my guess is that he is going to ignore it. talk about what he would do as president. >> if there ever were a democratic politician for a moment like this to talk about the need to unite the country, to ignore the noise coming from the likes of the president and his supporters, and to try to appeal to our better angels as a different president once referred, it is joe biden. whatever you think of joe biden and his limitations as a politician or as a person, this is the moment that he has been preparing for his entire life, attempt to bring the country together, an attempt to reconcile deep divisions in this

nation, even while there are still actors trying to rip apart those scabs. >> to play devil's advocate, i think you'll find many people, democrats, wondering if joe biden's nostalgic view of washington is outdated, whether it applies to the republican party of today. >> that was sure the charge against him in the primary. >> that was the charge against him in the primaries. if he were to reach out his hand to mitch mcconnell and lindsey graham who was at a time a very good friend of his, would they reciprocate. i think it is an open question. one of the biggest questions for this time, this post election period. what are republicans going to do? i think we know what joe biden is going to do, what are republicans going to do to reciprocate on that and does that work in the donald trump washington that he's really created with the republican party. >> such a good question.

we don't know if it is going to work. as you were talking, i was thinking of the second to last debate that biden and trump had, and as we were watching gary tuckman doing the interview with the focus group and of all of the things said during that debate, i think it was you that noted the thing most striking was everybody liked the fact that joe biden wanted to just stop the chaos and bring people together. and that's something that that was the most resonant thing that joe biden said for undecided voters. >> in addition to being who he is, i don't think that it wasn't a strategic decision by him. i mean, it was naturally who joe biden is, and he got hammered for it in terms of willingness in the '70s to work with horrible bigots part of the democratic party and republican party, but it also is strategically wise, they were making calculation that there were enough moderate, independent white voters that

were just tired of fighting, that were just exhausted of the fighting. >> people are really tired. >> and we see -- >> in addition to us being. >> physically tired, that's different. he is going to win the popular vote by several million, at least 4 million at last count, maybe five or six when it is said and done. appears to have been a good bet. in addition to that, i think that this is a time for that because the trump presidency, he didn't create these divisions, they were there in the country before he came. he sure ran towards them. >> and harnessed them. >> harnessed them. he won the white house using them. but he has been one who has sought very of ento divide. that's the direction he ran getting people to the polls, attacking joe biden personally,

attacking joe biden's son personally. you might remember a few days ago it was a huge national security risk that hunter biden existed. we seem to have, the republicans pounding that seem to have forgotten that. >> my guess is it will come back. >> there will be hearings. >> joe biden did survive a general election in which the kitchen sink was thrown at him by this president. and the counter argument to the devil's advocate argument i gave earlier is that joe biden not only got through the democratic primary arguing that he could bring the country together, he got through a general election. if pennsylvania goes his way, he might be president-elect having won narrowly or not on that message. so maybe that is proof that it is a message that, a, the american people want, and b, that it is something that might be able to work because a win is

a win. if you win, that's it. >> one other personal note on joe biden when i prepared to interview jill biden who may be possibly the next first lady of the country, she wrote, believe it or not, read her biography, actually pretty good. a pretty good book. one of the observations she makes is that her husband, joe biden, forgives people, not only forgives but forgets. not her, but maybe he was born for this era. we are following critical ballot count in pennsylvania where joe biden's lead is only growing. we are standing by for new numbers to come in momentarily. special coverage continues after this. the dexcom tells me my numbers every 5 minutes.

and it also tells me which way i'm going. i can just look at my phone and see my numbers. in real time. it's the easiest app in the world. and you don't have to

prick your fingers at all. it's a you know, not having to prick my fingers anymore... wow...that's incredible. you know, i would have never dreamt that years ago. the dexcom gives me that knowledge and it gives me control. it gives me power to be who i want to be everyday. it gives me power car vending machines and buying a car 100% online.vented now we've created a brand new way for you to sell your car. whether it's a few years old or dinosaur old, we want to buy your car. go to carvana and enter your license plate, answer a few questions, and our techno-wizardry calculates your car's value and gives you a real offer in seconds. when you're ready, we'll come to you, pay you on the spot, and pick up your car. that's it. so ditch the old way of selling your car, and say hello to the new way-- at carvana. i'm a talking dog. the other issue. oh...i'm scratching like crazy. you've got some allergic itch with skin inflammation. apoquel can work on that itch in as little as 4 hours,

whether it's a new or chronic problem. and apoquel's treated over 8 million dogs. nice. and...the talking dog thing? is it bothering you? no...itching like a dog is bothering me. until dogs can speak for themselves, you have to. when allergic itch is a problem, ask for apoquel. apoquel is for the control of itch associated with allergic dermatitis and the control of atopic dermatitis in dogs. do not use apoquel in dogs less than 12 months old or those with serious infections. apoquel may increase the chance of developing serious infections and may cause existing parasitic skin infestations or pre-existing cancers to worsen. do not use in breeding, pregnant, or lactating dogs. most common side effects are vomiting and diarrhea. feeling better? i'm speechless. thanks for the apoquel. aw...that's what friends are for. ask your veterinarian for apoquel next to you, apoquel is a dog's best friend.

let's get an update on pennsylvania. 20 electoral votes in pennsylvania, it is certainly key. 95% of the estimated vote is in. biden maintains a lead, nearly 10,000 vote lead, 9,746. 49.4% to trump's 49.3%. let's go over to pamela brown. you're at the voting desk for us. where are the outstanding votes in pennsylvania? >> the votes we are anxiously awaiting, wolf. let's look at the overall of pennsylvania as we wait for these results to come through. 124,000 outstanding ballots that we're waiting on results for. these are three counties. we talked about allegheny and philadelphia, two of the biggest counties in pennsylvania with outstanding ballots. philadelphia has 25,000 to get through. you look here, these are suburbs

outside of philadelphia. delaware still has more than 3600 ballots, montgomery has 2800, little over 2800, and chester has a little over 2,000. we are trying to find out, we are going to find out when they'll release results. they know they're under the microscope as we await to learn more of pennsylvania. >> thanks so much. here with john king at the magic wall. bob harvey, bucks county commissioner is on the phone with us now. bob, thanks so much for joining us, thanks to you and your team for the important work you're doing. what's the latest information on how many outstanding votes there are in bucks county and when do we expect to get a new count on what's going on? >> well, we just did an update an hour ago on our website, the next update should be somewhere in the 2:00 hour. outstanding votes we have in bucks county are in categories. we have some of the roughly

7,000 that are naked ballots, we know those we are not able to count. we have some that are being independently verified now because we were -- as they went through the scanner, couple thousand that were going through manually to make sure. and then we did receive some that came in after election day and pennsylvania supreme court has given counties until today, 5:00 for those that have come in. let's look at those. there are some that are, we have to look at the outside of envelopes, there may be issues whether or not people signed them, put the right date, things of that nature. we plan to have verification done, 2,000 more of those to go in the next roughly hour and a half, and then the others will be sort of over the next few

days. >> bob, john king. grateful for your time. i know you're busy trying to get finished. you mention naked ballots, for viewers that may not understand, if i am right, mail in ballot process in pennsylvania, you have an inside envelope, you put the ballot in, then it goes in a larg larger envelope, mail it back in. if you don't get it properly sent back, one of the envelopes is missing, are they set aside, discarded or then you have a conversation whether you count them? >> there are certain categories. if the ballot comes in not in the secrecy envelope, can't look at it or do anything with it. there's also a rule in pennsylvania law, can't be identifying marks on the secrecy envelope. maybe some people the instructions signed on the outside of the secrecy envelope, law is clear about those. stray marks, anything that

doesn't identify who they're voting for, those are ones you have to have discussions about. >> thank you so much. we have to end the conversation. a news conference is going on in philadelphia. the president of the city commissioner. >> ballots generally fall into one of three categories. those that require review, provisionals, overseas ballots. i would estimate there's approximately 40,000 remaining to be count. we can also tell you that it may take several days to complete reporting of that. as you know, election results are not officially certified until 20 days after the election. thank you again. thank you to citizens of philadelphia and now i would like to invite commissioner omar

severe to the podium. >> good afternoon. i'd like to thank the county board of elections staff, i would like to thank the tax paying citizens of philadelphia and across america. i think it is safe to say that democracy has won. democracy is beautiful. we saw the statue on city hall where he died so americans can have access to the democratic process. as we stand here today in 2020, people still have access to democracy. it is a beautiful thing. we still want everyone to exert patience, ignore a lot of the noise going on, allow us to complete the counting process. and i would like to thank everyone, i would like to thank my beautiful wife at home with

our six children where i'm down here doing all of the counting, i would like to say hi, wife, i love you and thank you. right now, i would like to bring on council president, daryl clark who is a friend, a mentor, and true leader of philadelphia. >> thank you, commissioner. good afternoon, everyone. so to say this was a tumultuous year would be the understatement of the year. we in the city of philadelphia and across the nation have gone through some very, very challenging times, in spite of that, democracy works. democracy works. i want to thank the commissioners who were given a short time frame to transition from the traditional in person voting that philadelphians are known for to having a mail in ballot system and multiple options. guys, you did a great job, you did a great job. all due respect to you, you guys, i want to thank the people

that worked. every time you went by broad street or went by city hall or went by delaware. >> the leaders in philadelphia updating what's going on. john, most important information we got from those officials, 40,000 votes remaining to be counted in philadelphia. >> so you heard from bucks county executive we were talking to, then the philadelphia and city officials, they're near the finish line. they're looking at ballots, some are provisional ballots. show up, you requested a mail in, or they have the address wrong, some mixup, not sure you're eligible to vote. you fill out the provisional ballot and they go through after to make sure it is legit. ballots creased or marked wrong. they have to see what they can count. you're at the finish line. happens every election. getting more attention now because you have, come back out, philadelphia city, you have in the state that could decide the presidential election, joe biden with 9,746 vote lead in a state where if you look, more than

6.6 million votes have been cast. they're getting intense scrutiny doing nuts and bolts, unglamorous work of finishing an election count. you mention that number there. that number is here. that number is the largest basket of still uncounted votes, long ago cast, uncounted. joe biden getting 81% of the vote in philadelphia. every time they count more votes in philadelphia, you can be certain joe biden's number is going to grow. we were just talk to go the county executive in bucks county. to the north, it is more competitive. every time they counted votes there, joe biden's number has gone up. what they're counting now are mail in ballots, disproportionately democrats. pam brown talked about ballots still out, modest number, a couple thousand in montgomery county, some in chester and delaware county. what is unique about the suburbs around philadelphia, they're blue. joe biden getting a healthy percentage of vote in mail in ballots, even higher than what's

on the screen. montgomery county, 62. we'll see numbers closer to 70. sometimes in excess of 80. the math going forward because some of the ballots are damaged, some have a bipartisan group come in, do we count this or not, we have to have a conversation about it, it will take time. what it will do is add to the lead in the end. you have 20,000 i believe in philadelphia, plus 2, 3, 4,000, add the other counties, another 8 to 10,000 there, 35,000 out here in allegheny county they're trying to get through today. that will be the aprocess. others there are legal challenges. they'll get through it, it may take into the weekend, this happens at the end of every election. if he had a 50 or 60,000 vote lead, we wouldn't be concerned. they wouldn't get that attention. that's what happens. we have to go through the process. >> a legitimate process.

kate bolduan in philadelphia. give us an update on what you're learning. >> reporter: so one thing that we learned from the press conference from the chair woman and city commissioner overseeing the count is that what they expect is this afternoon they'll be updating the count of 2 to 3,000 more mail-in ballots to the count. they said there's overall 40,000 ballots remaining to be reviewed. from what i heard and i believe this checks with all of the reporting that we have, that includes, that 40,000 includes provisional ballots which previously they had not necessarily combined and discussed as the remaining ballots to be counted. the reason that matters is what we have been told, there are 15 to 20,000 provisional ballots and that's why viewers have been following us, it might be

confusing at one point earlier this morning we were told there were 25,000 left to be counted, now it has increased. that's why. they're now talking about provisional ballots as part of that overall total. importantly also, it could take several days to complete. wolf? >> very interesting indeed. john, 2 to 3,000, mail-in ballots, they'll release that fairly soon. then the 40,000 as kate says, provisional ballots, they have to check to make sure they're real and worthwhile. >> again, most elections in the united states of america, those numbers, provisional ballots are counted days or a week after. they're not part of the conversation when you try to pick a new mayor or city council or school committee. we are picking the president of the united states. when philadelphia counts votes, joe biden is in the lead statewide, knows that will add to it. that's why we're in this

conversation. again, provisional ballot if you don't understand, say you show up at pam brown elementary school and you moved, they don't have you on the voting roll, you say you registered to vote, changed your address. they say fill out a provisional ballot, we'll check to make sure you didn't vote in the old district and not voting twice. once they check that, they count the ballot. find something wrong, they don't count it. happens all the time. the reason they get attention, in the state it could decide the presidency, even perhaps by end of the day, joe biden has 9,746 vote lead. they have a couple thousand they'll update soon. every time we have increased count from philadelphia where kate is, joe biden is getting 80% or more of those ballots. another couple thousand in montgomery county. the same. when they count those later today, unless something dramatic changes, throughout yesterday and early morning today, joe biden gets more there. chester county, the same dynamic. couple thousand here as well.

a couple thousand here in delaware county. trying to get through most of those by end of the day today. then in western pennsylvania, allegheny county where pittsburgh is, that's the blue, 35,000. they're trying to get through most of those by end of the day. that tells you, went up to 12,000. you see as we are speaking, more ballots are coming in. that's what is happening. sometimes they count a couple hundred or a few thousand. every time with the exception of one county up here, this county came in with mail-in ballots, net change of 130 plus for the president. >> hold on. let me do the key race alert. numbers have gone up. joe biden now has a new lead of 12,390. 49.5% to 49.3%. biden over trump. that number is increasing almost by the hour, john. keeps going up and up and up. we anticipate it could go up to

30, 40, 50,000 within the next few hours. >> let me tell you where those ballots came from. focusing down in philadelphia, suburban collar around it. i was telling you about western pennsylvania, allegheny county. this is lehigh county. this is what happened to change the vote totals. we had new counts here. joe biden got 47, 47. president of the united states received 2103. that's 68% for joe biden. again, joe biden is in the lead. just the most basic math of all, he is leading the race, keeps getting more votes. that's a problem for him. again, you look at this and say 2,000, 4,000, not a ton of votes, but this is the end of the line. these counties are counting mail-in ballots. they're done with most. this is lehigh county. this is important going through

the counties. this is happening almost every time. joe biden getting 53% of the vote in this county, a competitive county. it was red most of the day yesterday. donald trump was leading. they kept counting votes, it switched. in the overall vote, it is 53-46. if you round up. look what's happening when they count just mail-in ballots. it is above the overall number. as they continue the process throughout the day, tells you joe biden's lead will increase and it will increase in bigger proportions, disproportionally in a good way for him than where he is in the vote now. again, 4747 to 2103. that adds to his lead in lehigh county and statewide. that was just a perfect demonstration of what we are talking about. they expect when more come in in philadelphia, chester, delaware, montgomery county around here,

allegheny county there, most democrats would tell you, republicans are not arguing, they expect that will grow, surpass 20, likely pass 30, that's the challenge. what is that number for joe biden at the end of the day as the president of the united states considers then momentous options. this stays blue, that makes joe biden the president. >> more votes from president any moment now. numbers will increase. we'll have much more after this. it's an important time to save. with priceline, you can get up to 60% off amazing hotels. and when you get a big deal... ...you feel like a big deal. ♪ priceline. every trip is a big deal. hello is friendly... hello is open... it's welcoming... everything we want to be when helping people find a medicare plan. so if you're looking for yours, say hello to hellomedicare... ...a one stop shop for medicare plans,

...including a range of unitedhealthcare medicare advantage plans. plans that could give you $0 co-pays on all primary care, doctor visits, preventive dental care, and eye exams. with hellomedicare, you can learn, compare, even enroll - all in one place. no matter where you are in your search. give us a call. our licensed hellomedicare agents are here to help guide you to a plan that fits your needs. because we get it: finding the right medicare plan can be challenging. plans can differ by price... or benefits. they can even differ by where you live. that's why we're here - to put it all together... ...and be your go-to place for all the latest information... ...laid out right in front of you, in a way that's easy to understand. it all starts with a few simple questions so we can get to know you better. questions like, "do you want to keep your doctor?" and "which benefits are important to you?" then, we'll match you with plans from the top names in medicare,

including a range of unitedhealthcare medicare advantage plans. ...for a complete picture of your best options. next, we'll help you compare benefits and costs. and when you feel good about your selection... we'll sign you up. [done.and.done.] remember, the annual enrollment period is here... ...and it ends on december 7th. so whether you're looking to save money, or find better coverage... ...let's do this. let's go find your medicare plan. call us today and speak with one of our helpful licensed hellomedicare agents. hellomedicare. say hello to an easier way to do medicare.