joining us now is greg bluestein, a political reporter for the "atlanta journal-constitution." greg, welcome to the program. >> thank you. >> so what's the best read on the impact that the president's tweet is having? particularly on the gop effort to motivate voters to keep senators loeffler and perdue in office. >> yeah, for republicans down here it's like watching a tennis match. in the morning he tweets something exactly what they want to hear, which is focus on the senate runoffs. and then in the afternoon he's tweeting more attacks on governor brian kemp and it's very, very disconcerting for them. >> data from the early vote shows the turnout was very strong, particularly in districts that usually vote democratic. it's lagging in districts that typically vote more conservatively. what is your read on the votes that have already been cast and whether that trend might continue through tuesday? >> yeah. as you mentioned, more than 3 million people have already cast their ballots. that's a record for a statewide runoff. and that would be in the same ballpark we'd expect to see

host: you can follow greg bluestein's reporting in georgia. washington journal continues. are joined by kylie jane kremer, executive director oneomen for america first, of several groups holding rallies in washington on wednesday. kremer, welcome to washington journal. guest: thank you for having me. rallytell us about your tomorrow. what is the purpose? guest: we are so excited. we are hosting the save america rally. it will be in the president's park. we are excited to move it from freedom plaza where we traditionally have the rally. millions descended on d.c. to stand up for election integrity, to demand transparency and support president trump. we will gather at 7:00 a.m.. people are encouraged to go to .com for information on how to get tickets, what do you can and cannot bring in. you need to rsvp to let us know they are coming. we are excited to see so many in d.c. tomorrow morning. out ofhat are you hoping this rally -? -- hoping comes out of this rally? guest: i started a facebook group called stop this deal. it was growing at a rate of 1000 people every 10 second

. >>> let's bring in greg bluestein from the "atlanta journal constitution." happy new year. new year bright and early with us so we thank you. so perdue's campaign hasn't said exactly when he was exposed. like we mentioned he'll follow the cdc guidelines so the cdc guidelines says one needs to stay home for 14 days after that last known contact. it could be shortened though with some negative tests. will he be off the trail through election day? >> yeah, we're still not sure about that. his campaign is basically just told me that that statement that he released yesterday is all they're saying for now. he did tweet later on he'll be virtual campaigning but we're not sure how long that will last. as priscilla mentioned, democrats have built what appears to be an early and formidable edge on early voting as republicans were hoping to make that up gap with election day turnout. and one of the ways you do that is by going in person and appealing to voters to go out and support you in droves. >> and greg, you have a new piece out previewing president trump's stop there on monday a

joining me to discuss, patricia murphy and greg bluestein, political reporters at the "atlanta journal constitution" who have been covering the race. greg, if i'm a georgia republican, why do i want to go out and participate in a illegal and invalid election, as the president describes it? >> well, that's exactly the challenge that republicans here face, because the president's tweet last night illustrates just what's been happening the last few weeks in georgia, which is a continuing stream of his falsehoods about widespread voting irregularities and voter fraud that are sending conflicting messages to the republican base here in georgia. to be clear, most republicans are still voting, but pa rischa and i have talked to many who say that they are confounded by these conflicting messages and really concerned about whether or not their vote will count. >> patricia, it really sets the stage for some theater on monday night when the president returns to georgia. will he be behaved in a political sense and talk about perdue and loeffler or will it become festivus as it was on december 5th

joining us now is greg bluestein, a political reporter for the atlanta journal constitution. greg, what a night it's been. i've seen the cover, tomorrow morning's cover for the atlanta journal constitution which does imply we haven't quite got decisions yet. what do you know my viewers don't right now? >> yeah, i haven't seen that cover yet. i need to see that. what i know is, look, republicans privately acknowledge that there's no real path to victory for either of these senate incumbents. the race has obviously been called for raphael warnock, but david perdue is in dire straits as well because most of the outstanding votes come from democratic strong holds, left leaning counties. there are outstanding ballots in dekalb county, the most important democratic county in georgia. chatham county on the coast in savannah is another democratic leaning county. republicans feel like they might have provisional ballots, military overseas ballots, but it does not seem like there is near enough for them to overcome the democratic advantage right now. >> talk to me about the role that do

. >>> let's bring in reporter greg bluestein who has been living, eating, breathing, sleeping this electionur reporting has been tremendous throughout. you wrote over the weekend sure biden flipped the state with a narrow 12,000 votes but repeating that is a monumental feat for democrats. did the president's call make that feat a little less monumental and easier for ossoff and warnock? >> a little bit easier, not sure how much. but it plays into the democrats' arguments throughout the campaign that the republicans are too loyal to trump, basically trump stooges and they'll do anything to apeas and placate trump, even putting the president over georgians' self-interest. so it gives ammunition for the final day, and also give joe biden's appearance in atlanta later today an extra bonus level of news coverage because what's joe biden going to say about these tapes? >> so much of this is about turnout for both parties. i've spoken to republican state officials there who are concerned about early voting and democratic advantage in early voting, particularly among african-americans but also youn

. >> so joining us now is greg bluestein.has reportered on congresswoman greene since she first announced her run for office. some people who are only seeing this for the first time, jewish space lasers, satan worshiping stuff are like, oeh, my god! but this has been known by and large from the beginning. this is who she is. the story isn't the crazy things that marjorie taylor greene has said, because she's always said them, the story is the acceptance of it, from institutions at this point. >> the acceptance and the silence. you're exactly right. her beliefs in these deranged conspiracy theories, these violent threats might be news to some republicans in washington, but they're well documented by the atlanta journal constitution, by politico, by cnn, by other outlets long before last year's election and most republican leaders chose to stay silent or even support her rather than risk alienating president trump ahead of a close election. >> so where did she come from? who is she and how was she accepted early on? >> well, sh

. >>> let's talk to political reporter for "the atlanta journal constitution" greg bluestein.d to see you. i'm wondering as we've seen all of these candidates -- and it has been relentless, i have heard some people say they feel like they're being stalked by -- by these candidates. the attacks, people coming to the door. thrive got their ground games on -- they've got their ground games on. what do you think among the four candidates has the best advantage going into tuesday? who has done the best job thus far? >> you're right. we georgians are besieged. and what it is, it's a relentless effort to get turnout the base. so if you have a democratic voting record in primaries, you're getting leaflets and mailers and calls and texts and digital ads targeted at you and vice-versa if you're a republican primary voter. and that's why it's hard to gauge to gauge florida question. the candidates, they're not going after the on the fencers, the middle of the roaders, they're going after the core constituents who they know will support your platform or your ideas. and so it's so -- my ne

i want to bring hour panel, with me now, greg bluestein, a political reporter for the atlantic journal constitution. also with me, erin main, i want to listen to a little bit more of the audio from that trump call. take a listen. >> the people of georgia are angry. and these numbers are going to be repeated on monday night, along with others that we're going to have by that time, which are much more substantial, even. and the people of georgia are angry. the people of the country are angry. and there's nothing wrong with saying that, you know, that you've recalculated. >> well, mr. president, the challenge that you have is that the data that you have is wrong. >> erin, the president says, the people of georgia are angry. what have you been hearing from georgians? are they angry? are they angry for the reason that you suggest they're angry and what are the implications of the phone call? >> well, alicia, you know, even before the pandemic and even before this explosive, you know, phone call that amy gardener has so, just reported so well in this "washington post" story tonight, voter su

also with us, greg bluestein, a political reporter for the atlanta journal constitution. and friends, on top of everything you just heard, there was also, in this phone call what some construe as an explicit threat from the president of the united states to the georgia secretary of state. so let's listen to that. >> the ballots are corrupt. and you're going to find that they are -- which is totally illegal. it's more illegal for you than it is for them. because you know what they did and you're not reporting it. that's -- you know, that's a criminal -- that's a criminal offense. and you know, you can't let that happen. that's a big risk to you and to ryan, your lawyer. that's a big risk. >> so greg, i want to go to you first. you are in the middle of this all in georgia. how is all of this being received this morning? >> a whirlwind. you know, another, just bombshell on top of a climactic ending we're already having with both president trump and president-elect joe biden coming to georgia to stump today. and there's a giant question mark about how this will shape the end

joining us now political reporter for the "atlanta journal constitution," greg bluestein. at is that very, very high number of early voting indicate if anything? >> first of all, the georgians understand the stakes of the election. and the $500 million in ads hasn't gone to waste and it's very good news for democrats. that number shows if you look a it he deeper that democratic strong holds of metro atlanta, rural georgia, all have extremely high turnout when compared to the november general election and there's disproportionately large numbers of african-american voters voting and generally in georgia in runoff elections, younger and more diverse voters tend to sit these ones out and it's good for the democrats who felt like they built an early advantage going into tuesday. >> so greg, i was born in the suburbs of atlanta which is really it's the heart of obviously of the battleground for georgia. but i spent my early summers up in dalton, georgia, at my grand mom's place and that's not battleground territory and the fact that donald trump is campaigning there, it seems li

joining us now from atlanta, greg bluestein, a political reporter for the atlanta journal-constitutionat can we expect to discover tonight? >> reporter: i just got an update from my colleague, who reports dekalb is continuing to count the ballots. not sure of an eta, but they're continuing to tally the ballots. they haven't quit for the day. it's a slow going process. but as you mentioned, the ballots that are still outstanding should be the margin to put reverend warnock ahead, and might make the difference between, almost certainly will make the difference between jon ossoff and david perdue. >> are republicans telling you that they see any path in the vote count that remains to be counted for the republican candidates? >> reporter: i mean, the candidates themselves, senator perdue's surrogate and kelly loeffler was saying they're hinging their hopes on provisional and military ballots. but the provisional ballots went overwhelmingly democratic in november. i think the best chance that loeffler may have is maybe finding some way to force them to recount territory, and hoping for the

also, cornell belcher, and greg bluestein. all eyes are on georgia. what is the latest reporting on the state of the final hours of that race, and how if in any way, donald trump's call this weekend changed it? >> my text messages are filled operatives worried about different tea leaves they're e seeing. we know there are some republican territories with turnout that is pretty solid. and in metro atlanta, it's hit or miss. light turnout, and some heavy turnout. right now, we know that republicans have a hole to fill. democrats built an early advantage with early voting, and republicans are reliant on a surge in tuesday turnout to fill that hole. >> greg, we have talked over the course of these runoffs, because all eyes instantly turn to georgia. the president-elect was in the state yesterday, and his closing message was back on the agenda. it's likely only passable if the two democratic candidates win their races tonight. how much is that in the water, that everything we're facing as a country, the pandemic, economic support, everything that people li

we would like to thank greg bluestein who is the political reporter for the atlanta journal-constitution being with us today. thank you so much and keep us informed. guest: thank you. host: we want to know, are you concerned about political violence in your state. we will go back to the phone lines and we will continue our tour of state capitals and talking to reporters about what is going on. for now, we are going to turn to you to see what you think. let's start with tim calling from pittsburgh. good morning. caller: good morning. this is jim in pittsburgh, pennsylvania and i wanted to say that i pray that there is no violence in america anywhere. at all costs we have to maintain a constitutional republic form of government. that is all i have to say. host: ok. randy is calling from kimberly, idaho. good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: i am not concerned about in a political violence in our state or in our community in this inauguration. host: why not? caller: because historically, idaho is a pretty republican state and you can have a protest without being violen

we would like to thank greg bluestein who is the political reporter for the atlanta journal-constitution being with us today. thank you so much and keep us informed. guest: thank you. host: we want to know, are you concerned about political violence in your state. we will go back to the phone lines and we will continue our tour of state capitals and talking to reporters about what is going on. for now, we are going to turn to you to see what you think. let's start with tim calling from pittsburgh. good morning. caller: good morning. this is jim in pittsburgh, pennsylvania and i wanted to say that i pray that there is no violence in america anywhere. at all costs we have to maintain a constitutional republic form of government. that is all i have to say. host: ok. randy is calling from kimberly, idaho. good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: i am not concerned about in a political violence in our state or in our community in this inauguration. host: why not? caller: because historically, idaho is a pretty republican state and you can have a protest without being violen

host: you can follow greg bluestein's reporting in georgia. thanks so much. guest: thank you.ost: continue this our asking you about those two senate runoff races in georgia. the line for georgia is (202) 748-8003. here is lori on our democrats line. caller: is it me? host: it is. you're on the air. caller: thank you ivy couple , one the woman for minnesota talking about the ballots she received in the mail. this is my first year i ever requested. i have always voted in person. last year i voted in person. they do not just mail you ballots. you are mailed all kinds of applications and requests, but they do not just mail out ballots, not in my area and the people i know never received them. man who called in who was talking about a diverse congress , it is good to have the thelance of republicans in senate and democratic house or whatever, that is all well and good if you have people up there set aside personal views about certain things and think about the people they are representing. it has been proven -- we have years now with mitch mcconnell up there. proof that he is goin

host: you can follow greg bluestein's

host: you can follow greg bluestein's reporting in georgia. use the count to object to joe biden's wins in numerous swing states. c-span.org orat listen on the free c-span radio app. ♪ announcer: you are watching c-span, your unfiltered view of government. c-span was created by america's cable television companies in 1979. today, we are brought to you by these television companies, who provide c-span to viewers as a public service. ♪ announcer: next, we take you to wsb-tv in atlanta for coverage of the u.s. senate runoff elections in georgia, where republican senator, they were purdue, seeks a second term against democrat, jon osoff, and senator, kelly loeffler, and her opponent, democrat, raphael warnock. the race will determine the balance of power in the senate for the next two years. this is live coverage on c-span. >> the entire nation is watching. right now, the senate runoff elections in georgia. >> this is history unfolding in georgia right now. >> we have left it all on the field right here in georgia, crisscrossing the state for nine