going to occupy it come january. have a great day, everyone. ♪ welcome, welcome to "cbs this morning." from the cbs news election headquarters. here in times square, new york, i'm gayle king with anthony mason and tony dokoupil. we're covering the breaking news on the presidential race. former vice president joe biden has taken the lead in two key battleground states. pennsylvania and georgia. to help break it all down for us, we are joined by cbs evening news anchor norah o'donnell and senior political analyst and "60 minutes" correspondent john dickerson. welcome, welcome to you both. remember at the beginning of the week on tuesday, election night, we were all calling it a big puzzle. we were all putting the puzzle pieces together. waiting for the puzzle pieces. we have a big piece of that puzzle as we sit here right now. >> i'm going to let john address

because it was his metaphor about the puzzle. >> once you get into those metaphors you can break a wrist trying to keep them going. >> if you are just waking up, significant developments. overnight joe biden taking the lead in georgia in part with some of the votes coming in from john lewis' district. an historical significance. >> something poetic about that. >> and then, of course, in pennsylvania, joe biden taking the lead. at cbs news, we are not projecting the race at this point, nor are we projecting any of the battleground states still outstanding because there are still votes out there to be counted. >> these are narrow leads. in pennsylvania, it's about 5,000. and as we noted in pennsylvania, it's 100,000 -- >> there are paths for both candidates but the path for president trump is narrowing, as we say. >> the lead in georgia is translieutenatran transluce translucent, it's so thin but in pennsylvania for the last day

and a half, what's going to happen around philadelphia and pittsburgh? traditionally in philadelphia, going back to 1932, democrats, it's a strong area. what's going to happen when those vote comes in? experts said joe biden will go ahead. and that is now what has happened. so if -- so it seems likely that will continue to happen which means that joe biden is on his way to getting the magic number. >> that magic number is 270. let's go to major garrett for the latest numbers. good morning. >> let me orient you to this map. this is the national vote total and percentages. 253 projected electoral votes for joe biden. 213 for president trump. we're going to go by state byy state and start with pennsylvania. 20 electoral votes in pennsylvania. push that. there's 95% of the vote in and counted. you can see the percentage here. 94 -- 49.4%. 49.3%. very close. about 7,000 for joe biden but as

was discussed at the desk, the trend lines have been moving for the last 24 to 36 hours in the former vice president's direction in pennsylvania. 95% of the vote in and counted. let's go to georgia. 16 electoral votes in georgia. you can see the percentage. 49.4%, 49.4%. about 1,000-vote advantage for the former vice president. georgia appears to be under state law heading toward a recount. let's go out to nevada. six electoral votes in nevada. 89% of the vote in. 49.4% to 48.5%. you can do the math yourself. just under 12,000-vote advantage for the former vice president. we'll get more results out of nevada later on today. and in arizona, 11 electoral votes in arizona. 90% of the vote in and counted. 50.1 to 48.5%. if those trends hold, not only will the former vice president

win nevada and arizona, he is on pace to win pennsylvania. georgia simply too close to call. i'll show north carolina because that's remained stable. 95% of the vote in. 15 electoral votes there. the president has the lead. he's maintained that lead. but as this map indicates, and all the vote totals indicate, he needs much more than north carolina. gayle, back to you. >> thank you, major. john, the bottom line here is the president gets to the 270 number just by taking pennsylvania, true? >> no you mean joe biden? >> i mean joe biden, yes. the vice president, yes, joe biden. no wonder, john, you looked dazed. yes, of course, i mean -- >> some kind of math -- >> i mean joe biden of course. >> yes,s, and that's why everyby has been waiting around and why, frankly, president trump has been throwing so much whatever you want to call it at pennsylvania because he knows how crucial that state is. but i think if you are vice president biden, what you really, really want is,

geographical diversity in these next 24 hours, which is to say -- to be able to say you're doing well in pennsylvania, georgia, arizona. three different regions of the country so that the opposition, the president can't claim this is some idiosyncratic thing that happened in one narrow place. and so that, for the vice president matters not only in winning this election but also in building the platform which he's got to be thinking about already for governing. >> there's also some them attic significant between going over the top with pennsylvania. joe biden was born in scranton because his father couldn't find a job they moved to wilmington, delaware. the biography of him being from scranton. he's the guy from main street not the guy from wall street, meaning, of course, donald trump who lives on fifth avenue. so that's been part of the thematic role that joe biden has tried to lay out. and also it helped. he did regular joe, uncle joe, whatever you want to call joe biden and he likes to call himself, helped him win over white working class voters that

essentially fled the democratic party in 2016 that led to donald trump's victory. so that was always the battle. michigan was that one state that was donald trump's most narrow lead. he won by just 10,000 votes, and it looks like joe biden has opened up a relatively large lead -- >> 150,000, i think. >> a relatively big lead compared to the other margins. >> could go even larger. >> that's a thematic. we kept thinking earlier in the week it would be arizona and nevada that put joe biden over the top. yesterday i started thinking, wow, i bet they would rather have pennsylvania. they would rather have pennsylvania. we saw both candidates spent so much time in that state for the very reason they knew how important it was and how much it symbolized, really, this clash of the two parties. the direction of the country. >> there is something about your home state, too, that your home state in the end came for you. can't underestimate what that means. >> might as well throw in they did the declaration of

independence and constitution there too. the whole thematic -- >> isn't that where barack obama gave his, of course, convention speech right there at the philadelphia -- >> there's still about 140,000 votes outstanding in pennsylvania. but we had the lieutenant governor on a short time ago who was saying he thought, given those were mail-in ballots which have been trending to joen ingi, everything is in joe biden's favor. let's go to jericka duncan in philadelphia where workers have been counting ballots since tuesday night. what's the latest there? >> well, the mood is starting to change. of course, the news is spreading. for those who were supporting and are supporting joe biden, they are excited. about a block away from me, people still with their signs saying count every vote. as you mention, we still have people inside that are counting those ballots, those mail-in ballots. but there's also a -- more of a police presence that we're seeing and feeling where we're standing. authorities say that they received a tip last night about

a group in a hummer possibly carrying weapons and planning an attack on the pennsylvania convention center where votes are being counted. we actually just heard from the police department to confirm that the two men they arrested did have guns on them. now tensions, again, were high all day thursday. supporters of both sides of the political divide gathered outside separated by barricades. you had trump supporters that repeatedly called for the stop of the ballot counting. despite no evidence of voter fraud and then you had people that backed joe biden that were again saying count every vote. now before biden even took that slight lead this morning, the president suggested that there was fraud happening here in philadelphia when it comes to counting ballots that are potentially for him. interestingly enough, though, we went back and did research and found that he's actually up 11% right now, even though all the

votes have not been counted versus from 2016. so he actually got more people voting for him in philadelphia which is heavily democratic. so, you know, just when you look at some of the arguments made and you look at the actual numbers. here in the state of the largest city, philadelphia, there are about 21,000 more ballots to count. and at last check, a total of around 163 mail-in ballots to count for the state of pennsylvania, although that number, we saw, has not really been updated on the state's website in a few hours. >> jericka, the potential for violence that you mention is something i'm sure we're going to be talking about. those fraud accusations as well. pat toomey, republican senator of pennsylvania said earlier on our air that those claims were disturbing and he had seen no evidence of fraud. we'll be talking about that. first to nikole killion with the biden campaign in wilmington, delaware. good morning to you. i saw late last night and into the night, the lights came on,

on the stage there, where we expect remarks. now it's the daytime. no need for the -- the sun is out. when do we expect to hear from the former vice president? >> it's certainly possible that we'll hear from former vice president joe biden at some point today, although the campaign has not provided any official guidance. what we do know is that the campaign is feeling increasingly confident and enthusiastic about its prospects to potentially reach 270 electoral votes today. biden's campaign manager expected these numbers to tighten, and the campaign has really been waiting for this moment to overtake the president in states like georgia and pennsylvania, although at this point, they are just closely watching to see if this holds. yesterday the former vice president urged patience with the vote count. he also attended a briefing on the coronavirus and the economy. cbs news has also learned that there are plans for additional

secret service protection in the event that biden wins, although the agency says it can't specifically discuss its methods and temporary flight restrictions have also been extended over biden's delaware home. back to you. >> niko le, thank you. pen tracy is at the white house. we've heard the president claim victory and also claim fraud at the same time. what's the reaction now? >> sources here at the white house say president trump has no plans to concede even if joe biden is projected to be the winner and declares victory today. but we can also tell you that there is a sense of resignation. acknowledgment amongst members of the white house staff that the end is likely near and that biden is likely going to win. the trump campaign, however, is not admitting defeat. they put out a statement just in the past hour that says the election is not over. the false projection of joe biden as the winner is based on results in four states that are far from final.

but you know, last night we saw president trump in the white house briefing room clearly seemed to be deflated while he made his remarks. well aware that he may lose. and some republicans are heavily criticizing his attacks on the voting and democracy itself. maryland governor larry hogan tweeted, there is no defense for the president's comments undermining our democratic process. but there are other republicans, like senator lindsey graham who repeated the president's baseless claims of fraud and said he was going to donate half a million dollars to the president's defense team. now the trump campaign still does not have a coherent legal strategy moving forward. they don't have anybody who is going to lead that. we have been told that jared kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior adviser has been looking for someone to fill that kind of james baker role for the campaign as they continue to wage these legal fights which they say they will. we have also learned the campaign has raised more than $10 million in just the past 24 hours to keep these legal challenges going.

gayle? >> all right, ben tracy, thank you vrery much. this election is not over. the false projection of joe biden is false. what's the reaction to that? >> nobody has projected joe biden. there is no projection. >> and the more -- >> nor have we called it. >> but what is the reaction to the president's reaction to saying that? >> i think that is a statement from his campaign at this hour, not from the president himself. it's a statement from his campaign at this hour. and that is what you would expect because the networks have not yet called the race. so you can expect sort of this is, what do you call it, roughing up the ref? that's what's going on is that bravado. >> we still have -- do you think the campaign would put it out without a sign off from the president? to say that? knowing how they operate? >> i think that i are reflecting the president's mood, no doubt. we saw the president's mood not only at 2:30 in the morning on wednesday. we saw it yesterday where the president believes that they

have had an historic election, that he believes, as he said yesterday if all the votes are counted legally, that he would be declared the winner. so we're still in a period where he's not ready yet to concede defeat. that is for sure. >> but if this continues in this direction and joe biden comes out and basically says, i'm the winner, but you have the president in the white house saying, no, you're not, have we been through something like this before? >> well -- >> that gaze and that sigh. >> i'm looking up here because that's where all the memory is. >> well, here's how -- let's go to 2000. in our memory. 2000. >> didn't have been incumbent. you had two challengers. through a normal campaign you have deny, deny, deny, concede. the fact the campaign would put out something, that's normal are go campaign. then you have the trump posture which is always deny. always fight back. always -- so the question is can the president fight back against

the relentless march of ballot counting by these individual states and individual counties? i don't think we've ever seen that. a president who -- we'll see how many days this goes by. but we've never seen 98% of what president trump has done through his presidency and he's behaving in this moment as we'd expect, which is to do none of the things you'd naturally expect. so we have to expect what's what he's going to do going forward. >> we're waiting on five states to call here at cbs news. in four of those five states, joe biden holds the lead, but yet we are still waiting for votes to be counted. some of them more narrow than others. north carolina, the president still holds the lead in that state, as does the republican senator there who hopes to regain the senate seat there. so that's sort of the general picture that we're all basing our conversation on right now. and yet we're waiting still for more of these votes to come in and where we are waiting for those diligent public servants who spend their time putting

those ballots through the machines to count them. >> we're being very cautious here. there's been no projection. and, john, a standard campaign strategy may be deny, deny, deny, concede. but the president is not standard in the sense that he's accusing, accusing, accusing of fraud and surprise ballot dumps. that's a big change and that worrying report out of pennsylvania of armed men heading toward the convention center where they're counting. this feels like a dicey moment in america with that kind of thing coming in and the president taking the posture he's taking. >> it's a very dicey moment. again, i keep going back to this. if the numbers march in the way they appear to be marching, the president is not the only political actor in america. there are other voices. there are people who have spent their life asking to be on stage in a moment just like this. they have their chance. >> the other distinction from florida in 2000, those votes had already been counted. this was a recount. i think the president seems to lose sight of that as well when he's complaining.

>> that's right. it was a recount because they were checking those hanging chads. the gentleman with the thick glasses holding it up and recounting. this is a different experience here. we're giving it the time that it needs and deserves. they are moving much more quickly than we had thought. even though it seems like a long time that everybody has been waiting, pennsylvania was able to move a huge tranche of votes this morning. still some outstanding. i'd love to touch base with our reporters about where those are. some of them in allegheny county, the pittsburgh area. >> biden's lead is up to 6,800 votes. as we speak it continues to grow. as we heard from the lieutenant governor, he expects, given where those votes are coming from and that they are overwhelmingly mail-in ballots, that the advantage is distinctly biden's. >> as major was pointing out, it looks like vice president boide is on track to win in michigan, pennsylvania that donald trump

pulled away in such a victory in 2016. wisconsin may be just roughly equivalent. when you think about size of victories, joe biden is winning by many more -- many, many more votes in michigan and appears to be on his way to winning more in pennsylvania than donald trump did in 2016. >> all right. john, we'll have to hold it there for just a second. right no

we have much more news ahead. coming up, atlanta mayor keisha lance bottoms will join us for a look at the race in georgia where overnight, for the first time, joe biden pulled out in front. you're watching "cbs this morning."

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or call during business hours. ♪ welcome back to "cbs this morning." our continuing coverage of the 2020 election results. the race for president may be near the finish line after the vote in the key swing state of pennsylvania took a major turn this morning. joe biden has overtaken president trump in the keystone state thanks to the latest count of mail-in ballots. a win in that state would make joe biden the next president of the united states. trump has repeatedly claimed, however, without proof, that there is massive voter fraud going on across the country, particularly in states where biden has gained ground. republican senator james lankford of oklahoma joins us with more on all of this. good morning to you. we had your colleague senator

pat toomey on earlier this morning who said there was no evidence of fraud in pennsylvania. he called the president's accusations disturbing. so the question to you, have you seen evidence of fraud, and when you bring up ballot dumps as you did yesterday evening on facebook, what evidence do you have for that? >> good morning to you. thanks for all the coverage that you all have done. i don't have evidence of specific fraud. obviously, i live in a state in oklahoma a long way from pennsylvania and from georgia and nevada and arizona and others. the challenge that i have is, states like mine and many other states around the country were finished with vote counting days ago now. and it destabilizes our election for so many of these states to have election law that allows the count to continue to go on. we understand these are legal ballots coming in or mail-in ballots but they set their deadline and their return time so late that it creates this destabilizing moment that we have as a country. so my challenge is to states is to look seriously at your election law to get every vote

in that's a legal vote and make sure that it's counted but also set deadlines that bring confidence and transparency. >> yeah, two important things to underscore there. you have no reason to believe what's being counted now are not legal votes. that's important for people to hear. another matter in pennsylvania, the reason we're in this overtime period, waiting on a vote, all these counts are happening now is because the republican-controlled legislature there in the state of pennsylvania declined to allow election workers to open ballots and process them earlier, like what happens in florida. so really your issue it sounds like is with the -- your colleagues in the opinion legislature there in pennsylvania. fair to say? >> yeah, this is not a republican/democrat thing. this is an election transparency and security and confidence thing. every state has the responsibility to be able to conduct their election in such a way that it's the secure election that builds confidence, not only in their state but in other states. because again there are many states around the country that they've been done for days and it begs the question, why is

philadelphia not done? why is atlanta not done? why is las vegas not done? why certain counties in certain places or certain precincts that are not done. that's up to those state legislatures to make sure they have good election law that builds confidence, not decreases confidence. >> and that's an important conversation for the future. but for the present, given that you say only legal votes are being counted to your knowledge, what's your message to the president who is spreading accusations of a very serious nature that somehow the integrity of this process has been damaged? >> let me -- one thing with that. i wouldn't have any way to know whether a legal ballot or illegal ballot. i'm tracking my state and what i'm seeing there. i have no idea what's happening in another state. there are attorneys on the ground. there are people trying to evaluate from both sides of the aisle. are there election observers? do we have enough transparency. are people allowed to come in and watch the process? has all state election law been followed. that's the key thing we need to track at this point. state election law is what it is. it has to be followed.

if it's deviated, that's not an allowed vote. >> senator, your colleague from pennsylvania, pat toomey called the president's accusations disturbing. since you are clearly concerned about the integrity of the election and also the appearance of that election being free and fair, what's your message to the president who is making claims at the moment that have no basis in visible evidence? >> well, the president should come out and say, here are the specific accusations. here are what my legal team is seeing. here are the challenges that we're laying forward. he did lay some of those out saying they're being prevented from being monitored. that's been changed. the court stepped in and said you can't have monitors. the president needs to make the case on specific cases so the american people can see it. as you know, in 2000, al gore challenged the election for 35 days. there were four recounts. there were two different trips to the supreme court that al gore did at that time period. just like in 2000 with al gore, we should also allow this president to be able to have the right to be able to go to court,

evaluate it, make sure that everything is done, not take someone's word for it, but to actually validate everything. this is a trust and verify type moment. i trust they are tell'iing us t truth. allow people to see the process and to verify it. >> all right, senator james lankford, we appreciate that. we're going to move on to breaking news from another state. ahead we're going to turn to the state of georgia. the other state where joe biden now has a very narrow lead. we're going to talk to the mayor of atlanta, keisha lance bottoms. you can always get the morning's news by subscribing to the "cbs this morning" podcast. get the day's top stories in less than 20 minutes. we'll be right back. about your financial plan... so are we. prudential helps 1 in 7 americans with their financial needs. that's over 25 million people. with over 90 years of investment experience, our thousands of financial professionals can help with secure video chat or on the phone.

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♪ we have mentioned that joe biden also took the lead for the first time overnight in the state of georgia. the secretary of state made this announcement just minutes ago. >> toward our next steps. with a margin that small, there will be a recount in georgia. interest in our election, obviously, goes far beyond georgia's borders. the final tally in georgia at this point has huge implications for the entire country. the stakes are high, and emotions are high on all sides. we will not let those debates distract us from our work. >> mark strassmann joins us from atlanta with more on this story. we just heard the secretary of

state, mark, say the emotions are high and the stakes are high. good morning to you. >> good morning to you, gayle. one of the many ways that president trump has falsely impugned the integrity of the ongoing vote tabulation is to say that in all these battleground states where he is losing ground, where he is losing a lead that he built up initially is that they are all democratic-run states and that they -- and that's the reason he's now losing his lead. that is certainly not the case in georgia. this is a republican governor, brian kemp, and the secretary of state you just heard from is also a republican. he is calling on his own for a recount. georgia law says that if the margin of victory is less than one half of one percent, in this case, it would be about 25,000 votes, there can be a recount. right now, former vice president biden is ahead of president

trump by about 1,000 votes here. there are still 4,000 absentee ballots to be counted. and this is important, too. there are also roughly 9,000 military ballots that need to be counted. so a total of at least 13,000 more ballots with a roughly 1,000-vote biden lead. that's is why this margin is so low and where he's now decided, on his own, that there will be a recount. no sense of how long that recount would take. but a recount it is. anthony? >> gayle is going to take it. >> the mayor of atlanta, keisha lance bottoms, joins us to bring us up to date on her thoughts. good to see you. we just heard your secretary of state say there's going to be a recount because the margin is so close. does that make sense there should be a recount? >> it makes sense with an

election this close. we want to ensure that every vote has been counted. but i am confident that the election will stand. there, of course, we still have the military ballots that are still out. they traditionally lean republican, but this has been an interesting year with donald trump as president. we know he's taken a lot of shots at the military, so we'll see. i'm confident that this state is blue. and i am very excite d that it has happened this election cycle. people heeded the call of john lewis and c.t. vivian, three icons we've lost this year. people took that to heart and stood in line and voted, and their voices were heard, and georgia is blue. >> mayor, let's pick up on that. just hearing you say georgia is blue, i think, has many people saying uh-huh? what did she just say? put this in context for us. how significant is this?

>> this is extremely important to our nation because georgia has been trending blue for a while. we've had a huge demographic shift in our state. we're trending younger. it's a more diverse state. we have motor voter registration in georgia that's helped to register nearly 800,000 people over the past few years. we knew this day was coming. it's shocking to so many that it happened today but i've always believed that it would happen, and i think it really is indicative of the south. i said it back in february about joe biden. the south has something to say. in the words of andre 3000, and we've said it. and i think as you watch georgia turn blue, there's a real chance that we'll see other southern states follow because our demographics are trending in the same direction. >> where do you think the vote came from? why is it turning blue? many people are crediting you, they are crediting stacey abrams. i remember when there was

protests in the streets and you gave a very impassioned plea to people. go home. if you're upset, go home, register to vote. that could lead to change. you have to have a purpose. you have to have a plan. and it seems many people, i don't think you can underestimate the activism in the state of georgia that's led to this moment. >> well, i think, and thank you for that, but teamwork makes the dream work. this win belongs to joe biden when this state turns. but there have been so many people who have volunteered in this state. there have been so many people who phone banked, text people. but at the end of the day, the voters of georgia stood in line, and they made their voices heard. and then you have joe biden who believed in georgia and you saw towards the end of the campaign, we had visits from president barack obama. we had a visit from senator kamala harris and joe biden. that hasn't happened in this state since probably the early

'90s. 1992 was the last time that our state went blue. so i give credit to joe biden and the entire biden team for believing that georgia could make a difference in this election. and we haven't let the country down. >> mayor, it's anthony mason. you've got two senate races in the state that are still undecided and likely headed for runoffs in january. what's your prognosis for those two seats and the possibility of democrats picking them up, which would, it looks like, make the senate a 50/50 split. >> i am optimistic about those two senate seats. i'm also realistic it's going to be a tough fight. we know traditionally in runoffs, republicans often show up stronger in runoff elections but it's really, my hope, that all of the people across georgia who cast their vote and saw that there was an opportunity to change the direction of this country will turn back up in january. so we're going to use the next

few weeks just to remind people that it's not over. that we have to have the senate that supports president biden to make sure that we can get things done. >> all right. mayor bottoms, the counting continues, but right now it looks very good for joe biden who has taken the lead in the state of georgia. thank you very much for your time this morning. >> thank you for having me. >> ahead, our coverage of the 2020 election results continues.

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good morning. it is 7:56. i am michelle griego. richmond police looking for people linked to a deadly fight thursday afternoon on barrett avenue. a 25-year-old was found lying near a residence suffering from gun shot wounds. this is the city's 18th homicide of the year. fema set to open a sight to provide support for glass fire survivors and help them register for federal disaster aid. the center is open through december 16. taking a look at the roads as we head to 580, altamont pass, a few brake lights. we've got a crash there. it looks like it's to the right shoulder. things are improving overall

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we welcome you back to cbs this morning from the election headquarters. we are covering breaking news. we've been talking about it all morning in the race to the white house. pay no attention to the drilling you are hearing next store. we are joined by nora o'donnell and john dickerson. the fact the two of you are here means something major has happened. we'll start with pennsylvania and georgia. this morning, joe biden took the lead in pennsylvania and georgia. john, start us off. we've been waiting all kind of

week to get this news. some movement. >> towards 270, the magic number. we are not there yet. the last several days, saying if the vote totals continue the way they are going, joe biden will get the lead in pennsylvania and take the number over 270. those trend lines have been affirmed. it appears to be heading in that direction. and because he's ahead in georgia suggests a broader victory might be on tap for joe biden. >> it is important to point out we are not projecting but pointing out the status. >> cbs news has joe biden at 253 electoral votes, if he were to pin pennsylvania, that would put him over the top of the 270

required. pennsylvania is just as important to president trump. he cannot win without pennsylvania. that's why we are laser focused on that state. it is true that president trump turned out his supporters on election day. they went to the polls in droves and why he sowed down about the mail-in process. the democratic party said go ahead and vote by mail. we are concerned about the coronavirus. we want you to stay safe. that huge mail-in presence is driving things now in pennsylvania, georgia and other states. >> when you say huge, telling us. mail-in ballots are trending 70 to 90% for joe biden. we are seeing him take the lead, in arizona, hi lead has been stable or shrinking.

we are on the precipice of a new update there. too err will i to tell whether who could hold that. ballots outstanding in pennsylvania that have to be counted. biden's lead continues to grow. only about some 6,000 votes. let's go over to the map where all the information is. watching chief correspondent major. >> let's go to the big board. a lot of information. starting with the biggest picture of all, the popular vote total, joe biden is the majority leader. not just the plurality leader by about 4.1 million votes. 50.5% to 47.7%.

going state by state. pennsylvania. pull it up on the map. 95% of the vote in. 20 electoral votes. joe biden leegd 49.4% to 49.3%. a narrow lead but it has been achieved and ticks up so gradually. back to the map to georgia. 99% of the vote in. you can see, the statistical tie. already announced by the republican secretary of state because this margin is within the state requirement, there will be a recount in georgia. to nevada now. six electoral votes there, joe biden has about a 12,000 vote lead. we are expecting more results from nevada this morning. that has been relatively stable.

joe biden has the lead, president trump has moved up. there is about 8% of the vote there. lastly, north carolina because of the law in north carolina, ballots that arrive up to nine days after election day if they've been postmarked by election day can be counted. we don't expect the results there for nine days. good news for the president but not good enough. he would need pennsylvania and georgia and more. his lead in pennsylvania is not only real but has been generally expanding this morning. one last note about pennsylvania, the reason the vote count is taking a little longer -- we've talked about this a couple of times but worth repeating. the republican legislate your disagreed with the democratic governor who asked for the

processing of mail-in ballots before election day. they would not agree to it. the reason it is taking time is because the republican legislate your so demanded. if you are concerned, you need to take it to the republican legislate your in pennsylvania. >> i notice a lot of people with "every vote counts" t-shirts. one woman who said she voted for

joe biden and another woman who said she cried. you have people in front of the center with trump banners. some saying they feel this election was stolen from him when you look at what is happening right now in philadelphia. we all have the freedom to express things, it's the concern of that very rhetoric that 0 could lead to expressions. in philadelphia, someone tipped police off to two people riding around in a hummer who allegedly had weapons. police pulled the vehicle over and they did find two weapons. these two men were arrested. they are from virginia and now facing firearm possession because they did not have permits to have that gun here in pennsylvania. police were told that these two men were heading to the convention center and they were

armed. >> we don't have a lot of details. it does give concern, when you look around here and see the please present here that has grown over the last 48 hours. i just saw a bus drop off 40 to 50 police officers surrounding the convention center. you still have people counting those mail-in ballots inside. about 20,000 left to count here. the highest amount is in alegany county in pennsylvania with about 36,000 votes that still need to be counted. >> it would be irony if his

birth state were the one to put him over the top. still awaiting results in georgia, arizona and nevada. at this point, if it is pennsylvania, that is enough for them to get to 270. we should point out the trump campaign has said this is not over. the count continues. the fact that georgia state officials say there will be a recount there means it will be slower there. biden's team is preparing to possibly address the nation as soon as later this afternoon, even tonight in the event the race is called for him. >> ed, thank you. >> we are getting some new numbers in out of arizona. >> major is at the board. have you got those? >> sure. joe biden at 1,560,000.

still 92% of the vote in. biden is still up. the margin is shrinking but the number for trump is still not enough to put him over. >> we are still not there yet. the vote is coming in, being taboo lated. you can watch it here in many cases, there is a live feed in arizona. 11 electoral votes in arizona. 92% are in. it may update again while i keep this up. >> talking about penz, the trend of the votes were coming in in such numbers for joe biden, we

could estimate if they continued on that path, they would go ahead. that's the kind of outcome, president trump is hoping for in arizona but it is not happening. he's not doing sufficiently well in the new votes counted to shrink the 43,000 vote lead biden has. both men are hoping for the same thing to happen. it is happening for joe biden. it is not happening for sufficient size for president trump. >> about 51% of votes this morning are going towards trump. >> he needed high 50s there. >> arizona, nevada and encouraging news from philadelphia. very good news for biden this morning. >> not looking at the numbers

but hearing this. there was anxiety about the suburbs around phoenix. they just didn't think they were going to trend as longly for the president as they did in 2016. the numbers seem to verify that the apprehension they had going into the

much more news ahead for you including the president's claims

that something is going wrong with the vote count. we'll ask the voting expert if there is anything to back up those allegations. you are watching cbs this morning. david, we are coming to you in a second. your local news is coming up. it's footlong season™ at subway and minitron's got some new news! contactless curbside pickup is here! just tap for tasty in the app. and pickup contactless. cause it's safety first. right, tiny car? you wearing your seatbelt little man? subway. eat fresh.

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and, had significantly less itch. don't use if you're allergic to dupixent. serious allergic reactions can occur, including anaphylaxis, which is severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems, such as eye pain or vision changes, or a parasitic infection. if you take asthma medicines, don't change or stop them without talking to your doctor. so help heal your skin from within, and talk to your eczema specialist about dupixent. if your financial situation has changed, we may be able to help.

this morning, we are tracking the vote count and also looking at the president's claims without evidence that democrats are in his words trying to rig an election. part of what the president said

last night at the white house. >> we think we will win the election very easily. we think there is going to be a lot of litigation because we have so much evidence and so much prove and it is going to end up at perhaps the highest court in the land. >> joining us now is cbs news law expert and the founder of election center. the president is evoking the supreme court and extremely interested in the supreme court for pennsylvania, which is countyi counting votes that arrive up to friday, that's today. so far, the difference has nothing do with that overcount. the claim observers have not been let in to see the count. the judge agreed partially and asked for an agreement to be

made between parties. could that lack of observer in the room come back to bite biden in any way? >> i can't see that. that fact is false. there were dozens of observers there. the issue is whether they could be allowed 10 feet away or 6 feet away. they allowed them to move in closer. the philadelphia counting center has been live streamed 24/7. anyone can watch it. the trump campaign is there, republicans in pennsylvania is there as they are in a lot of places nationwide. we are seeing litigation by conspiracy theory. there might be a dark room somewhere the president trump campaign is linking pictures with push pin and string because many of these claims have no facts behind them. >> nora o'donnell here, we are

getting information that joe biden has increased the lead to 9,000 in pennsylvania. more coming in from delaware. coming in from lindsay graham, he suggested in pennsylvania, the republican-led state legislate your could simply ignore the will of voters there and choose a pro-trump state of electorals. how could that work? is that feasible? >> that's an outrageous statement and not feasible. writing a piece today saying they are not going to interpreter fear with the will of the people in pennsylvania. they trusted the election and how it would run to govern by those rules.

they have made clear as of today that they are going to trust the will of the people in pennsylvania. >> david bringing the analysis but the news. thank you. >> thank you. we'll go to our reporters covering the white house and the biden campaign for the latest reaction to the news from pennsylvania and georgia. big news indeed. you are watching cbs this morning. california phones offers free specialized phones... like cordless phones, - (phone ringing) - big button, and volume-enhanced phones. get details on this state program. call or visit

we are following breaking news on the race to the white house. we note advantage grew to 9,000 votes. narrow but he's holding on we

are projecting mark kelly h good morning. it's 8:25. i am len kiese. oakland pd closing in on a new police chief. last neither the commission asked questions of the four candidates. the big topic of discussion was how to regain trust in the community specifically with minorities. a big seize in alameda, guns and high capacity magazines offer the streets of oak land, police recovering weapons and made arrests in connection it a series of armed robberies on election night. i am gianna franco in the traffic center. you will have brake lights through berkeley on the west bound side, no accidents and things look good once you get to the toll plaza with the

meters lights off at the bay bridge. it's a pretty windy day. there are gusty conditions, wind advisories for bay bridge as well as the san mateo bridge. the commute is not bad, only 13 minutes to travel west between hayward into foster city. both directions clear looking good through peninsula, south bay, and marin county, not seeing delays south bound 101 as you hide to the golden gate bridge and you are clear into the city. i am tracking gusty conditions with a strong cold front. check out the sustained winds, 22 miles per hour at sfo, 20 san jose, 22-mile per hour wind in oakland sustained. as we head through the day, mid to upper 50s to low 60s. it's going to be a chilly day with below average temperatures. a chance of a few showers, maybe an isolated thunderstorm with small hail. catchi a

welcome back to cbs this morning and continuing coverage of the 2020 election results. we have breaking news for you on the race to the senate. former astronaut mark kelly has defeated the incumbent. this was a close race. back with the latest on the race. this has been very interesting to watch this play out. >> this is a big development for a couple of reasons. let me bring in the 3 d image and you'll start to understand why. if you take a look at the bottom of our screen, at this point, you will see it is 48-48.

we have four races now. now that we've projected arizona. at this point, it is a tie. 48 democrats, 48 republicans have won their elections. now let's look at arizona itself and why we are able to project a winner in the senate when we still haven't projected a winner in the presidential race. kelly leading 51.7 to 48.3. he's got about a 100,000 vote lead at this moment. he's up about 3.5 points. vice president biden is only leading president trump in the state by about 1.5 points. so there is a bigger spread in the senate race and that's why we are able to project that mark kelly will be the next senator in arizona. >> you've always said he was one of the rock stars for this year. >> we've had this race since

election night but we were waiting for more votes to come in to be absolutely sure. democrats have told me all icyce long that you couldn't pick a better democrat senator in a state. husband of former congresswoman gabby giffords. he led the gun safety effort. he's a gun owner himself. >> i love that a senate candidate is known as the husband of gabby give or the. he's an austronaut and his most important known ask being the husband of gabby gifford. >> the biggest question mark is north carolina. the republican there is still up

by nearly two points. we can't really say whether the race is moving in one direction or the other about 94% of the votes tallied. >> and on track to win the seat. giving them heart burn. they had him leading pretty comfortably. now he's trailing now. they have nine days until votes can be counted. >> that's right. we don't know how many votes they'll get back. so it is hard to project when you don't know exactly what that final vote count will be. >> cunningham was well ahead in the polls. then he had a sexting scandal

that the polls seemed to indicate wasn't hurting him. >> they may not have captured the true impact of that. >> georgia's senate race, another question mark at this point. it does appear. all signs point to the fact that this is likely to go to a run off in january. take a look at the numbers now, david perdue is leading but fallen below that critical threshold of 50%. in georgia, if they don't get 50%, it automatically goes to a run off. unusual for a state to have two senate races in any year. they are staggered. because the other was a special

election. >> doug collins dropped out so now it is between the two. >> right. the top two vote getters go to a runoff. two senate races which is unusual. two p will go to a run off until january. you've got every single political consistent in america, finally has a lot of time on their hands. guess twho will be looking for work over the next couple of months. >> control of the senate will be hanging in the balance. we said it was a possibility. >> laura o'donnell is on a little walk about here, what do you see? >> i'm looking online and seeing some new votes have come in. you now have -- this was just about 10,000 votes. now a lead of about 22,000 votes

in nevada. something we've been watching really closely all morning. the original story line might have been joe biden could win nevada and arizona and that would put him at 270. since that vote has been so slow in nevada and arizona, we witched back over to watching pennsylvania. this is significant. a lot of this is coming in from this area. >> clark county. >> that raise was within 6,000 votes just about 24-48 hours ago. now to be in the 20s, that's a major change. you have to be a lot more comfortable if you are the biden campaign. >> what is the makeup of clark county? >> democrat. largely democrat. around the city of las vegas. these are more rural areas. your big cities are more

democratic leaning. we've been waiting for those numbers to come in. we had been told by clark county officials yesterday, joe gloria, that by friday, we'd get 51,000 votes in. he said the bulk of the vote would come in on saturday and sunday. what is trickling in now is that 51,000 that was promised to us yesterday around this area. does this continue to grow in the next couple of minutes? this is what we should be watching? >> the trend line for biden is still on pace for him. >> anthony, does that change your posture as a person who will decide whether we project this state? >> we are not projecting it now. i still think it leans biden. he's maintaining his pace. that means donald trump's need to win continues to be well over

50%, which is not a good sign. >> i realize this is a democratic area and that the latino community would play a big role in nevada. >> implications that they are. >> thank you. norah bay area homeowners,

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let's look now at the courtroom possibilities that could affect the final vote. joe biden has a clear lead in electoral votes and againing ground in key battleground places. president trump claiming without evidence that the democrats are trying to steal the election. now with us, a law professor at george washington university. ceo of the national constitution center. professor, good morning to you. there is not evidence of any fraud, so i don't want to linger on that. but i know a good lawyer is paid to find ambiguity. you are a good lawyer, do you find any case for the president?

>> the president dohas not presented any case. there is this question of whether late arriving pennsylvania ballots might be counted. aside from that, fraud does not seem to be a legal leg. >> do you see him going forward convincing a judge and making a difference? >> they have not convinced any judge so far. lower courts have all rejected them. considering is whether or not to step in and not allow late arriving pennsylvania ballots to count. it is not at all clear, if they don't make a difference, the supreme court is unlikely to hear the case. in the very unlikely possibility the court heard the case, there is a chance even the conservative justices would hold

that even though they should be counted. >> the contusion is clear that january 20th at noon, the prior administration shall end and the new administration will take office. that is a 79-day period. there are key milestones that need to be hit along the way. we consider this legal noise and rhetoric, are you concerned those will not be met and there could be issue of meeting that deadline? >> not so far. the main date that states need to submit their electoral votes to congress. if they submit their votes by december 8th, they can be sure those votes are counted. the only thing that could muck that up is if there are competing slates from a single

state. stay in pennsylvania the court certified by biden but the state legislature swoops in and changes the rules and certifies for president trump. as you stated before, that's an unlikely possibility, legislatures can't change the rules and there is probably no chance the governor would sign it. that's the date that has to be met. as long as the slaets are submitted by them there is not much that can happen after that december 12th is the date when the electoral votes are actually occupanted and early january is when the congress certifies them. >> the trump campaign says we are going to keep fighting in nevada, georgia and pennsylvania. what happens if biden officially becomes the winner but the president refuses to accept the results. >> well, the president's acceptance or not really doesn't carry any legal weight. so it's the states that have to decide who to certify their

electors for. that's the thing in this constitutional system. the president has no influence at all on an election. states decide how to allocate their legislators. the question is when the state election boards will give final certification for their votes and then whether the state legislatures will instruct author legislators to actually vote for those people. the president can say what he likes but the process will move ahead whether or not he is on board. >> he also talked about taking his cases to the supreme court. does he have any legal ground, any legal standing to take anything to the supreme court? >> the only says he has taken and the court is considering it in and out, whether or not to allow those late breaking pennsylvania votes to be counted. but it is unlikely the supreme court will take it up if it looks like the votes won't make a difference. >> hi, this is noro o'donnell. i was struck that a spokesperson for the biden campaignwas asked to respond to the general counsel of the trump campaign

saying mr. trump would not concede and the biden campaign saying the united states government is perfectly capable of escorting trespasser out of the white house. it seemed inflammatory from the i had intoan campaign. i asked their manager kate bettingfield if that is the position of the biden campaign. she said yes, he will no longer be allowed to be in the white house if he is no longer president. that's just a fact. how does that play out? is that even a possibility? >> it was quite a striking statement, wasn't it? the scenario is on january 20th after vice president biden has been inaugurated and sworn in the the outgoing president refuses the leave who would escort him out? i didn't know the answer to that question either. some said the secret service would do it, or the u.s. military. but it is a complete hypothetical. let's leave that as kind of an inflammatory statement by a

campaign official and trust things will not bomb to that. >> by law the current residents of the white house are required to start-up a transition. i am told the president reluctantly signed off on it. the process has begun. it is required by law, correct? >> that's absolutely right. and mark meadows and others have sad that if the president loses the election there will be a peaceful transition. there is going to be a lot of inflammatory rhetoric in these days. but once the results are clear we need to trust the will of law will prevail. >> thank you very much. we have been preaching patience, tolerance, a deep breath as well. it is going to be front of mine for all. it is going to get hot. we all need to stay

election day, tuesday, november

3rd. here we sit on friday. >> yeah. >> we finally have some answers. it fenlly seems to be leading in a direction where we can make a projection, make a call later. later today. certainly, no one is doing that right now. >> we said it was going to take some time. >> we did say that. and we urged everybody to have patience from the very beginning of the week. >> in georgia, pennsylvania and nevada the votes are going to joe biden as he needs them to. and in arizona not enough votes are going to president trump to give him a chance in that state it looks like in this hour. >> he is narrowing the marriage. >> i am fascinated by what we saw in georgia over. it was the county clayton represented by john lewis. good trouble is what put joe biden over the top in the state jaff gentleman. as that state grows for him there. >> there was something very important in that. as john lewis was on his death bed his last wish was that

people would get out and vote. >> important for him and voting rights. >> yeah.

good morning. it's 8:55. scott peterson is expected appear before san mateo prosecutors, second hearing in nearly a decade. prosecutors are preparing to retry the penalty phase. a judge is considering throwing out peterson's murder convictions over possible jury misconduct. peterson was found guilty of murdering his wife and their unborn child nearly 20 years ago. i am track a strong cold front pushing across the area, kicking up the winds. behind the front, chilly temperatures and actual low pressure system moving across

the bay area. unsettled weather over the next few days. mid to upper 50s to low 60s across the bay area, below average for this time of year. few isolated showers are possible today and sunday. we look at the roadways, it is a slow ride along highway 4. we've got a bit up a hiccough on the east bound side. all lanes have been open from the earlier crash. still activity is to the side. the good news is the commute direction which is west bound has cleared up. wind advisories in effect for bay area bridges, specifically bay bridge and san mateo bridge as mary mentioned. be careful if you are traveling in a high profile vehicle especially at the bay bridge and san mateo bridge. west bound 580

>> o'donnell: welcome back to cbs news election headquarters. i'm norah o'donnell, can gayle king, john dickerson, ed o'keefe, and nancy cordes. this is a specialg "2020: america decides" coverage as the race for the white house may be coming to an end, possibly very soon. this morning, joe biden took the lead over president trump in pennsylvania and georgia for the first time. the margin margins are narrow, y are growing. in pennsylvania, biden leads by about 9,000 votes at this hour. if biden were to win pennsylvania, it's 20 electoral votes, would put him above the 270 he needs to win the presidency. president trump would have no path to