>> democrat rafael warnock projected to win unseating kelly leffler. jillian: the battle for control of the senate and washington still unclear as the race between david purdue and john ossoff is too close to call. you are watching "fox and friends first" on wednesday morning. todd: the future of america comes down to one race with 99% presents reporting. we await the runoff results between david purdue and john ossoff and live team coverage, we start with charles watson

live in atlanta. >> the big news, rafael warnock declared the winner of his senate runoff in the election against kelly leffler. warnock becomes the first african-american senator in georgia who will serve in washington. we heard from him a few hours ago and he sounded pretty confident about his chances in this race. take a listen. >> we were told we couldn't when this election but tonight we proved that with hope, hard work and the people at our side, anything is possible. >> we will fight for this president so i am asking for every single georgian, every single american stay in the fight with us.

>> reporter: senator leffler has not officially conceded but with democrats presumably picking up one seat in georgia republicans are still holding onto a slight majority with 51 seats but that could all change if john ossoff follows up with the same success as warnock. his race against david purdue remains too close to call. campaign manager released a statement overnight saying when all the votes are counted we fully expect john ossoff will have won this election to represent georgia in the united states senate. the perdue campaign is vowing a legal fight should the race be called for ossoff with a statement saying we will mobilize every available resource and exhaust every legal resource to ensure all legally cast ballots are properly counted. we believe in the end senator perdue will be victorious. brad roethlisberger said we could no more answers later today.

>> hopefully by noon we will have a better idea where we are. it is very close. i don't want people looking for that mail coming in friday, 17,000 military ballots will be important. >> reporter: election officials in fulton county tell us there are 4000 outstanding absentee ballots that still need to be counted. election officials will return here at 8:30 this morning to continue counting and outstanding votes in 15 other counties around the state leaning heavily democratic. we will see how the situation develops. jillian: thank you. let's go ahead and bring in "fox and friends" weekend cohost will kane. there could be a number of factors at play. this isn't over. the david purdue race still too

close to call but a number of factors could be at play, response to the coronavirus pandemic in that state, stacy abrams and what she has been able to do and donald trump and his election battles. what do you see? >> reporter: the biggest transformational power this election that cannot be overstated is the role of mail in about letting. look at the total vote counts in these two senate races, 4.4 million ballots cast, the last time there was a georgia senate runoff race the total number of ballots cast with something like 2.1 million. we are watching mail in about letting which accounted for 1 million total ballots in this election changed the way we vote, changed the outcome. it is the biggest single factor in the november election and what we are watching in georgia. todd: i will look at the next 72 hours.

if this was a state like connecticut and were focused on the military vote it would be a drop in the bucket but this is not connecticut, this is not new jersey, this is georgia. a hotbed of military activity. so many members of the military from there, living there, whatever. how important do you think those 17,000 military ballots we are waiting for according to the secretary of state, how important do you think they will become the next 72 hours? >> reporter: with a difference of 12,000, those 17,000 could become very important but i sat and watched the ballot counting in november, late ballot counting tilted heavily towards the democrats. i can't say i am particularly optimistic that late ballot counting will swing this back david purdue's way. with early voting, absentee balloting and mail in balloting early votes and late votes seem

to trend toward democrats. that in person voting on election day where republicans have to show up and the tightest of margins now, they are not pulling the republicans way. jillian: they don't and it makes you wonder over all how people will wake up feeling in georgia this morning because as you know georgia is now considered purple at this point. >> reporter: absolutely. what comes next? it is going to be tight. let's presume for a moment john ossoff wins, we are talking a 50/50 split with kamala harris providing the tie. that gives the democrats control of the senate, the house and the presidency. it means they have to win senators like joe manchin but they can pursue things like raising taxes fairly quickly and easily and also means the pool on the left a party into radical

directions whether they can pull it off or get the votes, changing things like gender pronouns, will become more pronounced. we will see more of that, less pushback on that. that is what we are in store for beyond 72 hours for the next four years. todd: you wonder if the manchins of the world are willing to risk reelection forgoing that democratic more leftist agenda, that will be the story if things play out the way you predicted not just the next 72 hours but the next two years, four years or six years. we will check with you throughout the course of the morning. jillian: tensions rising on capitol hill. congress needs to vote on certifying the presidential election results with 100 republicans planning to object.

todd: vice president mike pence could face his greatest political challenge yet. >> reporter: good morning. it will be mike pence's greatest loyalty tested it appears there is little he can do about it. those gop tensions are surely going to rise more with the warnock victory over leffler, one of the challenges today, these problems started hours ago, the president tweeted this. if vice president mike pence comes through for us we will win the presidency. many states want to decertify the mistake they made, fraudulent numbers in the process, not approved by their state legislatures which it must be. mike can send it back but the new york times reports today pence told the president he did not have the power to block congressional certifications which the president put out a statement saying this, quote, the new york times report

regarding comments vice president pence supposedly made to me today is fake news. he never said that. the vice president and i are in agreement the vice president has the power to act. here is what we know at this moment. vice president pence will preside over the electoral college count, his role is largely ceremonial in overseeing the certification. what happens, we will find out when that begins at 1:00 pm today. senators leffler, polly and kris willis object in georgia, arizona and penciling it, cruz had this to say. >> there are too many in washington who are saying dismiss the claims out of hand, don't look at them, the congress has to have a blindfold on. i don't think that is right. we have an obligation to the constitution to defend the rule of law. >> reporter: more than 100 house republicans, a strong show of support, the effort is not expected to succeed because when

they vote on the challenges the math does not add up band democrats are sure to press the failure as senator sanders is sounding off. >> when you talk about undermining the election results what you are talking about is authoritarianism. >> reporter: thousands of trump supporters are gathering in washington to protest, i am headed up there in a few hours to see what is going on and will bring it to you. >> griff jenkins in dc. let's bring in ptech set on the national mall. you are the report mentioning people on both sides of the aisle have a general sense what the end result is going to be but i have no idea what the next 8 to 12 hours will look like in

the nation's capital. what do you think? >> reporter: exactly right. we see griff jenkins in the location, if you look at my shoulder this is the stage where donald trump will take the stage at 11:00 for the save america march. it is not lit up, the washington monument, taking place on capitol hill at the national mall. a crowd of trump supporters chanting stop the steel, lining up here this morning to get inside. it does add to the tension, on the other side of the white house, supporters from both sides who believe the election was stolen and people who are

antifa members in washington dc, the dc national guard has been mobilized. we arrived last night, the national guard, the police are out, there's tension no doubt which i believe will translate into this rally and if the votes continue, 12 senators and 100 congressman elect object to the electoral college results on capitol hill, how the crowd reacts and how the city react in light of the result in georgia is anyone's guess. tons of uncertainty but no doubt authorities are taking it seriously, the crowd is growing. donald trump junior, a win for trump, america first putting on the event here. it will be an event all morning. jillian: we will check back in with you. protests overnight in kenosha,

wisconsin as the police officer who shot jacob blake will not be criminally charged. todd: oscar odom gives us a look at the decision next. ♪ piano playing ♪ "what the world needs now" ♪ the only thing a disaster can't destroy is hope help now at redcross.org

>> protests breaking out in kenosha, washington after the officer involved in the august shooting of did jacob blake will not face charges. todd: hundred storming the streets, doctor oscar odom joins us now. based on the evidence presented, what is your reaction to that decision? >> first of all with all the incidents that take place, how it took place, one thing i will

say, lawful but awful. lawful but awful. when you look at it from the evidence presented the average american has and you look on tv and see that, officers tried to prevent him moving, tried to talk to him but was compliant. once he went inside that vehicle and reached for something it is a split-second decision and you don't know what happened. the prosecutor and chief police officer investigating the case stated there was a threat for procedures and protocols, and unfortunate incident, lawful but awful. jillian: you wonder how the

police and community are able to fix this obviously severed and broken relationship they have out there. if you are on the police force and you are the chief of police what is your message to officers to gain trust back to the community? >> they have to take an extra step as far as community leaders to talk about that and actual steps what has taken place. a lot of times you hear the narrative of a shooting, a lot of people go up in arms. you see what happened. how can we sit down and prevent these things from happening? how can we assure compliance, this was a domestic violence, if you look at recent cases

officers that respond to domestic violence incidents were killed and no news about it but officers were recently killed, and they perform first-aid. to make sure he's okay, no officer wants to go out on patrol and shoot anybody. we want compliance. they went to execute, we need to sit at the table. we are not on opposite sides. we should be sitting down at the table to act as one, in light of all the stuff that has taken place but a split-second decision and noncompliance. jillian: great insight, thank you for joining us. i believe i said washington.

todd: buffalo bills plans, a push to ban andrew cuomo from the playoff game. jillian: one of two credit the runoff in georgia projected for democrats, georgia native jerry hunt next. robinhood believes now is the time to do money.

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jillian: control of the senate rests on one senate seat after rafael warnock is projected to defeat kelly leffler. all eyes are on the race between john ossoff and david purdue. joining me with reaction is jeremy hunt, thanks for being here. let's pull up the race as it stands, we are looking at john

ossoff and david purdue, that races yet to be called. the other when i was mentioning, rafael warnock and kelly left, rafael warnock making history as the first black georgia senator, projected to win the race. your overall reaction? >> i am disappointed. i think america will see what many of us have been warning about, we are going to witness how far left the democratic party has come, control of the house, the senate and the white house, and cultural influence, the left controls hollywood, the media, academia, the left has such a stronghold so we are going to see very distorted

vision for america codified into law, this whole rhetoric about unity, wanting to work across the aisle was a sham, they never work with republicans. jillian: about georgia specifically, what stacy abrams has been making in the black community for years, have republicans done enough and if not, what else should they do going forward? >> in the last few years, the trump administration made some inroads, willingness to act for

some inroads. how can we build this multiracial working-class coalition, it is not a foreground conclusion. at a temporary time, the billboards, text messages, all the time from activists, georgia can get back to being what it means to be a georgian when the election is over. jillian: the race between john ossoff and david purdue too

close to call. thank you for joining us. todd: protesters descend on a republican senator's home. >> protesters demanding my wife, pounding on her door, if it could happen to my family could happen to any family in america. todd: the culture of violence next. ♪

todd: reverend rafael warnock projected to unseat kelly leffler in georgia. jillian: what implications will this have in washington? will gain joins us. half an hour ago, how people of georgia wake up feeling this morning, people outside georgia

and across the country, unsure how to feel and waiting for the results of david purdue and john ossoff who is going to take that seat. >> this is a georgia election with national implications. there was as much information in texas, tennessee and california as there was in atlanta. this determined the legislative agenda for congress for the next four years. what does that mean? what will happen now? we will see the outcome of david purdue and john ossoff's race. what it means potentially and democrats have the house and the presidency and do what they want. the only check on their power will be moderate democrats like joe manchin and the supreme court but the question is what will they pursue? it will be things on their agenda that would be easy to do like raising taxes.

we can't overestimate this, it will be a hard left pull on this party. everywhere we looked we see the pool, the center of gravity when it comes to democrats on the left, you've seen it in the house, the democratic primary, college campuses, you've seen it everywhere. a hard to the left. two days ago the house embarked on an exercise to get rid of gendered words. they got rid of semen to change to seafarer. they changed everything, why? because of that hard left pull in the party. the senate and the government will somehow be inoculated from that far left pull? i highly doubt it. todd: there's the change from eight men to eight women, down a dangerous path. can moderate democrats be a

bulwark against that going forward? we will check back with you in a bit. jillian: joining us with reaction, rachel campos duffy and sean duffy, good to see both of you this morning. rafael warnock is projected winner of that seat beating out kelly leffler, the fox news decision desk, we are awaiting results on john ossoff and david purdue. your thoughts. as we heard, locations across the entire country. >> it is consequential. my thought when i woke up and saw warnock won and it is possible ossoff will overtake purdue, bernie sanders won this election. we are seeing the hard left socialist wing of the party has

been completely normalized. so many things like will mentioned, removing gender, all pronouns from the house, expect this on overdrive. these happen on college campuses we sit around on "fox and friends" and laugh about is in the u.s. congress. this is what we have going forward. as a conservative i hope you do wins and it is scary to think joe manchin is what stands between us and socialism. todd: a different topic, one of your former colleagues in congress, center josh holly blasting the washington post for printing outright lies to defend, quote, antifa members who threatened his family. the washington post headline, quote, senator josh holly said antifa scumbags terrorized his home, police called protest peaceful. here's the senator on the

ingraham angle. >> screaming at my wife, pounding on the door, nobody -- if it could happen to my family could happen to any family in america. people should be safe in their homes. this kind of garbage did not happen. jillian: put your dad had, your husband have on. you talk yesterday about how awful this was but now we take it a step further, how dangerous is it to have the mainstream media, the washington post normalized this behavior? >> members are gone a lot, in wisconsin, your wife is home alone with the kids and to think you serve your country you don't deserve to have your family threatened like so many members of congress, pound on their doors and make threats.

that to your point the media will call these peaceful protests, we've seen peaceful protests across america where they are burning down buildings, breaking glass, they are not peaceful, these are radical scumbag thugs trying to intimidate every republican member of congress and senate to bend to the socialist liberal will. jillian: we bring in pete hegseth live on the national mall. we will bring him into the conversation and talk about what we are expected to decide today, i want to stick with you for one second. the question a lot of people are asking, this is on mike pence's power, quote, the vice president and iron agreement that the vice president has the power to act, the vice president has several options under the constitution. your knowledge does mike pence

have the power to block congressional certification of the electoral college election results and would this be his most difficult challenge yet today? >> he has the power to preside. if any action can happen in the senate will be from members of the senate who will contest the six states and have a debate and bring forward evidence that have a vote but i don't think mike pence has the power the president says he has. sean: is that your sense? >> i agree with sean. i talk to folks close to the vice president who said precisely that. he will preside over the proceedings the 140 house members, a dozen senate members have all the prerogatives in the world to challenge the validity of counts and they will and there will be a debate america deserves. i'm standing in front of the save america rally that will happen in front of that vote and

the crowd and the sentiment and the feeling the election was stolen, their voices were heard, there never was investigation into fraud, that sentiment will be reflected in the voices of those objecting on capitol hill today. whether or not that can translate into overturning the election i don't think the vice president or other people on capitol hill believe that is possible. the use the president tell these people that it is just conspiracy theories, there was no widespread fraud you're creating a bifurcation in the country where a lot of people feel their voices are completely abandoned and that makes the next two weeks between now and inauguration day you can feel it in washington dc and sean and rachel felt similar sentiments, building the separation between two views of the world that see the election differently and are dug in more than they have ever been. jillian: i want your take, you heard pete say their voices are abandoned and you have roughly

half of this country feeling that way if john ossoff takes the other senate seat. as we talked at length, the house, the senate, the white house, so much of this country who voted for donald trump, who love donald trump and what he has done for this country now waking up this morning saying what is this country going to look like if the other senate seat up for grabs is taken by the democrats? >> such a great point. a lot of people who supported donald trump don't just feel disappointed they didn't win the election, the whole process the last four years they feel like the president they voted for 2016 never got a chance and so this call for unity, i don't see this happening. not only do republicans feel

robbed in the last four years, robbed by this election, they have been learning for the last four years how to fight through donald trump and i don't think the republican party is the same party it was before 2016. republicans like to play nice, that is their instinct. conservatives are generally very nice, but i think they are realizing they have to play hardball especially, these hard left frankly socialists are going to have all levers of power in washington. >> pete with his american flag had, i love pete that he would wear an american flag hat. there is a group of americans that think that is micro-aggression. that's how divided the country is. i love it, others don't. i'm offended by it. how do you bring it together? we have to have a conversation and we have to feel comfortable

the votes are legitimate and that is what we are looking for the senate to do today. >> the next couple hours will be fascinating, thanks to all three of you. appreciate your time. enjoy your day, 40 minutes after the hour, the feds looking into a chilling threat to avenge the killing of iranian general soleimani, suggesting an attack on our capital. >> rafael warnock projected to win senate runoff, the other race has the peach state turned purple. georgia native doctor alvina king answers that next.

iran threatening to avenge the death of general soleimani in chilling audio over air traffic control.

todd: it calls for the arrest of donald trump. >> reporter: a bizarre message aired on aviation frequency monday vowing to avenge the death of general soleimani. multiple air traffic controllers reported hearing a digitized voice saying we are flying a plane into the capital on wednesday. soleimani will be offended. it was heard on channels normally use to communicate with aircraft in the united states. soleimani was a top iranian general killed in the us drone strike a year ago. the message first reported by cbs news, the pentagon in the us intel agencies to investigate. so far authorities do not believe the threat is credible though the faa is asking air-traffic controllers to report any unusual behavior amid rising tension in the middle east with iran as the

international committal agency interpol has been asked by the iranian judiciary rattlers and arrest donald trump along with 47 other officials for the killing last year. it is not uncommon for iran to make threats in the middle east and what we have seen is not a lot of dialogue and more threats between the united states and its allies against the iranian's. this back-and-forth is expected to continue but iranian's are known for being very patient in the region so everyone is on high alert. todd: pennsylvania lawmakers in a heated dispute of republicans refusing to seat a democratic senator, jim brewster's win is being contested over some ballots. >> the results are not read. >> the results were read. they are part of the record because i read them. it was red. >> reporter: republicans voted for a motion to recognize another election and remove the

state democratic lieutenant governor as the body's presiding officer was republicans are trying to invalidate ballots that committed a handwritten date even though the supreme court removed the rule that the ballots can be counted. jillian: a petition to ban new york governor andrew cuomo from the buffalo bills playoff game received 28,000 signatures. fans are unhappy over the 10% attendance restriction saying the governor shouldn't get a seat over someone who waited 20 years for this moment. fans weren't allowed during the regular season, people will have to wear masks and test negative for covid-19 prior to the game. kim kardashian and kanye west appeared to be calling it quits, reportedly preparing for divorce after 6 years of marriage, kardashian hired a divorce lawyer, they had been living separate lives, kanye his wyoming ranch, the couple has four children. todd: devonte a smith winning the heisman trophy, smith is the first wide receiver to take the

award in 29 years, the third alabama player to be named to the ncaa. alabama facing ohio state in the college football championship although it could get moved. i am scared the eagles will get him. i wore the eagles hank last week. we will see. still ahead, vp elect harris accused of ripping off one of mlk's anecdotes. jillian: doctor alvina king says harris is nothing like her uncle. she sounds off. ♪

heather: georgia's senate runoff election offering the first clues about the direction of american politics as rafael

warnock claims victory over kelly leffler. doctor alvina king, your reaction to the projected win by rafael warnock. >> good morning everyone. the pending who we voted for some people will be celebrating and some people will be very disappointed. however i want to encourage everyone not to be angry or fighting and get ready to move through the rest of 2021. i am just saying be prayerful and we don't know what to expect or what this will mean or what direction america will take now but we are still americans and we have to live together here in america. i remember something mild, junior said, live together as brothers and i add as sisters.

it is my prayer there won't be a lot of anarchy, fighting and animosity but we will still be americans and will learn to live together. todd: a great take away, let's hope it comes to pass. do you think the results we've seen so far in georgia is a clear sign that the future of politics in your state coming in georgia will be purple versus red or blue? >> nothing is exactly clear. we know everything is no longer black and white and we are considering moving from red to purple or whichever way whichever direction we take we should become purple which is very possible, we have to learn to work together, be prayerful. my focus has been on god and not politics in the new year so i encourage everybody to take that position. things are not clear.

there is no new normal, nothing is normal. we have to be aware of that as well and proceed i would say with prayer and caution. todd: there is this, kamala harris accused of plagiarizing your uncle in an anecdote he said happened in an october issue of elle magazine. i will read the quote kamala said quote that mlk said. this is kamala, quote, my mother tells the story about how -- she told the magazine, what do you want? what do you need and i looked at her and said freedom. here is what reverend martin luther king jr. said. what do you want? the policeman asked her. the little girl looked him straight in the eye answered freedom. what do you make of those similarities? change interestingly enough miss harris is nothing like martin luther king jr.. during his lifetime he supported

the american dream, believed in the course of the flag, cared for life from the womb, never would have encouraged to help women get abortions, he would be fighting for the family to stay intact. it is amazing, one version i understand she remembers things, freedom, i won't deny that but i want people to remember miss harris and martin luther king jr. had very different worldviews. todd: as always we appreciate your time and insight on all things georgia and all things politics. have a great day. jillian: one race with a projected winner, one too close

to call. special team coverage of the georgia senate runoff continues in the next hour plus congresswoman mary miller, thomas massey and phil mcgurn, all eyes coming up.

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in georgia democrat rafael warnock the projected winner in the runoff against kelly leffler. the other race still too close to call as the left closes in on control of the senate. todd: on capitol hill, the last stand for donald trump, 100 gop lawmakers vowing to challenge the electoral college certification of the presidential results. with that we welcome you to "fox and friends first". jillian: let's get right to our fox news team coverage on this busy wednesday morning. griff jenkins and pete hegseth live in washington ahead of the electoral college challenge. we to will kane standing by in georgia where senator leffler has not yet conceded. live in atlanta results still coming in. >> reporter: good morning. you can bet there are a lot of