this is what brad raffensperger, himself a republican, told cbs news. if ballots could be matched back to the envelope, the absentee ballots. i explained our process after it went through two sets of signature match, at that point they were separated. but then senator graham applied for us to audit the envelopes and then throw out the ballots for counties who had the highest frequency error of signatures and i tried to help explain that... because we did a signature match, you couldn't tie the signatures back any more to the ballots, just like you voted in person, my name is not on my ballot, and so it can't be tied back to me. it's something that has been around for over a hundred years, the secret ballot. let's bring in amy gardner, the reporter at the washington post who broke the story. good to have you with this in the programme. the people decide, just explain to us who brad raffensperger is and what his role as. he is the secretary of state, he is elected state—wide in the state of georgia. not every state but many states have a secretary of stat

kudos to brad raffensperger. honestly. well done. kudos to him for having some integrity here and not bowing to it. the president is soliciting a primary challenge to mike dewine because he said biden is going to be the next president. every republican in the country knows the score. if you're some election official somewhere, now you get pressured unless you fix the election for the republicans. >> yeah. look, chris, donald trump's corruption has been contagious among people we thought would perhaps be immune from it. >> yes. >> that's what we're trying to reconcile and at times you can't reconcile it. you just have to call it what it is, which is election fraud. possible criminal activity. this is a party that has lost seven of the last eight national elections. we know that. so they're going to engage in rigging the election as best as they can. but this conversation, chris, this is the worst case scenario. we get wrapped up in our partisan allegiances. trump-biden. we get wrapped up in the binary fight between the parties. whethe

kudos to brad raffensperger for having some integrity here and not bowing to it. the president is soliciting a primary challenge to mike dewine. every republican in the country knows the score. if you're some election official, now you get pressured unless you fix the election for the republicans. >> yeah, look, chris, donald trump's corruption has been contagious among people we thought would perhaps be immune from it. >> yes. >> that's what we can't reck reconci reconcile. you have to call it what it is, election fraud. this is a party that has lost seven of the last eight elections we know that. they're going to engage in rigging the election as best they can. this conversation, chris, this is the worst case scenario. we get wrapped up in the partisan allegiances. we get wrapped up in the binary fights. whether or not donald trump will leave the oval office, he will become a tenant. the worst possible scenario, what our body poll particular is not prepared for, is the doubt that can be created within 20 to 30% of our public to question the legitimacy of our ele

i want brad raffensperger to be able to focus on his job, and that is a job of running free and fair elections. and when he is doing that job, i will celebrate it. when he is not, we will challenge him, because every day we should be spending our time thinking about how do we make certain that georgia's citizens can be heard. >> and are you feeling like right now he's doing his job, as he's resisting pressure from other republicans and being fairly public about it? >> absolutely. look, we have the right as americans to litigate, to challenge, and to call into question, but we do not have the right to our own facts and we do not have the right to manufacture evidence. we know that this was a free and fair election in georgia and that brad raffensperger ran the election based on consent decrees and changes that we were able to compel, and those changes have made it easier for voters to cast their ballots. donald trump is entitled to his opinion. he's entitled to be unhappy about the outcome. but as i did in 2018, i acknowledged the legal sufficiency of the election. i just simply chall

georgia's secretary of state brad raffensperger has announced a hand audit of ballots has confirmed joen in georgia. he said there's "no doubt" the state will certify biden‘s victory on friday. i'm joined now by our north america correspondent peter bowes in los angeles. what else are we hearing out of georgia? well, this was a hand recount of the votes in georgia, an automatic recount because the margin between the two candidates was so small, less tha n two candidates was so small, less than 0.5%. and as you have just said, this recount has really found that there is no change in the result. most cou nters change in the result. most counters reporting exactly the same results. some reporting a difference of maybe four or five votes. really just a handful of five votes. really just a ha ndful of votes. five votes. really just a handful of votes. the highest margin of error anywhere was very .73 of a percent so very little change. joe biden still wins the state by about 12,000 votes. peter, what impact do you think this will have now? well, it is going to have clearly no impact on the o

georgia's secretary of state, brad raffensperger, has announced a hand audit of ballots has confirmediden as the winner of the presidential election in georgia. mr raffensperger said there's "no doubt" the state will certify biden‘s victory on friday. i'm joined now by our north america correspondent peter bowes in los angeles. remind us, what has been happening in georgia? hi. as expected the recount has confirmed what the original result was, thatjoe biden won the state, becoming the first democrat to take georgia since bill clinton in 1992. according to officials, very few discrepancies were found, perhaps in some counties a handful of perhaps in some counties a ha ndful of votes perhaps in some counties a handful of votes and in most places no changes at all so the result stands. but in the last hour we received a statement from the trump campaign that disputes that i will read you pa rt disputes that i will read you part of it it said that georgia recounted all of the illegal ballot that had been included in the total. they do want to say that we continue to demand that georgia c

georgia's secretary of state brad raffensperger has announced a hand audit of ballots has confirmed joe biden as the winner of the presidential election in georgia. mr raffensperger said there's "no doubt" the state will certify biden‘s victory on friday. joining me now is our correspondent in washington will grant. hello. talk us through what has gone on there in georgia? well, as we know, the margin of victory was pretty slender the first time of asking. it was below the 0.5% which meant that a recount could be put forward and the trump campaign called for that to happen, as was the right, but ultimately all that has happened is that has confirmed what we already knew, as you explained just there, that this state goes to joe biden. we knew that, this is confirmed and the only margin of error in a couple of places was the greatest margin of error was 0.73% in one county, but the vast majority of counties remained exactly as they had been. on election night, essentially. so this is a blow, clearly, for the trump's bid to try and overturn the result of this election? undoubtedly. there i

host: that is brad raffensperger, secretary of state in georgia. in the washington post, they write a quote from him. "people are just going to have to accept results. i believe in fair and secure elections. " hasput their swirl that followed trump's defeat, the pushback comes from the little-known but hugely influential state official in georgia. now he is on the republican firing line on two fronts, a confluence of events. he must provide -- preside over andure's election system, in just eight weeks a runoff for two u.s. senate seats in's which his party's majority is at stake majoritych is party's is at stake. should trump concede? just republicans. 202-748-8000 if you say yes, 202-748-8001 if you say no. go ahead, charity. thing: i think the whole -- i don't think he should and seen i think the whole thing was a fraud. how about the news media dictating to us what is going on? is thet believe this true count. i think the mail in has led us to a fraud. weak.k joe biden is if it falls into his hands, he will fall into the very left part of his pa

georgia's secretary of state brad raffensperger has announced a hand audit of ballots confirms mr bidene winner of the presidential election in the state. around 15,000 votes out of a total of five million separated mr biden and president trump, prompting a recount as per state law. philippines president rodrigo duterte has declared a state of calamity for the island of luzon after it was hit by devastating typhoons goni and vamco. luzon is the country's most populous island and is home to the capital manila. more than 70 people have died in severe flooding. a draft report about one of the british government's most important members, home secretary priti patel, concluded this summer that she broke rules on ministerial behaviour. she'd been accused of bullying her staff. the most senior official in her department, who resigned, said that staff felt she "created fear" in the department. 0ur political editor laura kuenssberg reports. good morning! she's the most powerful woman in the cabinet, long—standing brexiteer backer of borisjohnson, in charge of the police, immigration, one of the m

senators david perdue and kelly loeffler in a fight for a january 5th run off are saying brad raffensperger should resign. here is what raffensperger said earlier today >>> i felt they were coming under pressure from the trump campaign and they sent that out there. and i don't know if there's a per function torii request for my resignation but i'm not going anywhere. i was hired by the voters of georgia and i'll be up for reelection, and the voters will decide that issue >>> let's go through a couple other things going on. rudy giuliani who you see arguing anything a federal district court in pennsylvania yesterday against a motion to dismiss a trump complaint though giuliani did notice that if they lost that case that could get them to the supreme court. losing might not be a bad thing. in wayne county michigan two republican canvas boards initially refused to certify the vote counts of the canvas in wayne county. after a second vote they turned around and did vote in favor of certifying that canvas, the president saying they were pressured into doing it. feel tweeting at first they voted

i'm not sure i want to have to have that faith moving forward. >> secretary of state brad raffensperger of georgia wrote an op-ed in "usa today" today and he's pretty upset with how this has all gone down. this is a guy who wanted donald trump to win, he is a loyal republican in the state of georgia for a long time. he writes, quote, my family voted for him, donated to him and are now being thrown under the bus by him. what do you say to the secretary of state? >> i would say to the secretary of state that, you know, there are things that republicans in georgia are upset about with respect to how mail-in ballots were tabulated, whether the signature verification was accurate or not, and they are looking for some sort of audit to determine it. georgia is a funny state, it's one of the few states in the union where if there are enough votes that are irregular, the election is actually nullified. i mean, it happens actually with some frequency in georgia where if you have a very close election and let's say it's a 20-vote election, by 25 ballots that, you know, someone wasn't there correct

. >> first talk to me about brad raffensperger.e is the republican secretary of state in georgia overseeing the election there and also the recouldnnt that's happening rig now. what's on his mind? >> he's angry and frustrated and exasperated by being under attack from fellow republicans. he's a conservative republicans who worked his way up in georgia politics, he was a still councilman and then a member of the state legislature. he's a businessman, a wealthy concrete manufacturer. and so he's feeling really under attack by his fellow republicans who have -- [ no audio [ no audio ] instead he's trying to get through this recount and do it methodically and do it accurately and ethically. >> so talk to me about the specific claim that he's making. i think no one disputes that senator graham called him twice. i'm not sure why the senator from south carolina isle kai caa secretary of state in georgia who is conducting a recall. you can ask why that's even above the board in begin with. talk to me about that graham implied that he looke

>> yeah, brad raffensperger has been great to work with.e actually served in the state house of representatives together. he's a rock star conservative. he has absolutely focused and on trying to follow the letter of the law, and certainly our team has worked well, and we've communicated well. this is not easy, right? it is absolutely in the spotlight on the national stage, but we are making sure that we count every legal vote. every citizen in the state of georgia deserves that. every candidate deserves that. that is the process we are focused in on. >> neil: you know, the president is not pleased with the states that don't go his way or feels that there has been some fraud or rigging that may be state officials are unaware of. mitt romney, among others saying that the president has been very undemocratic, though way he has been pressing republicans to overturn election results. do you believe the president has been undemocratic in his approach? >> i've said this a couple of times on tv the past week or so. just because that guy i voted fo

george's secretary of state brad raffensperger joins me now. thank you so much for joining me.e recount stand right now? >> all going as planned, many of the counties here are counted and every will hit the deadline. >> dana: we know he's not happy with a lot of things, one of the things he tweeted this morning is the fake recount going on in georgia means nothing because they are not allowing signatures to be looked at and verified. breaks the unconstitutional consent. your response to that? >> we have signature matchups, twice signatures are asked when you ask for your ballot and the application process, we signature match that and we also send your ballot in an signature match that. this past year, the election officials were given the signature match training process and so they are trained at looking at signatures. >> dana: he is also complained about monitoring, tell me what you did. >> for the recount, it's really an audit. it's a retelling of all the votes by hand. we have both parties there, republicans, democrats, and independence are available to watch the process to

georgia secretary of state brad raffensperger is joining us now.our viewers why you ordered a full state recount by hand? >> well, we ordered a -- audit that is a bill we passed in 2019 when i first got into office so we are conducting a risk limiting audit which will trigger then a statewide recount. >> why did you decide to do that? >> it's in state law that we had to do a statewide audit this year. new voting machines with a verifiable paper ballot. prior to this year was without a paper ballot. we are doing a statewide outsidity and had to pick a statewide race and chose the presidential race. we understand the national significance of this race and it's within 14,000 so it's close and we thought the most objective way of doing an audit that a race that really matters. >> as you know, president trump predicted in his words that georgia will be a big presidential win as it was the night of the election. thousands of ballots have been counted since then. president-elect biden leads as you know by more than 14,000 votes. are you aware, mr. secreta

all yung lah, thank you for the latest there. >>> georgia secretary of state brad raffensperger willg arlington national cemetery on this veterans day as defense official accuses him of, quote, dictator moves. how douse his final days in office could be with loyalists running the pentagon. we did it. americans from both parties. turned out to vote in numbers like we haven't seen in a hundred years. and election officials counted those votes carefully, transparently and in accordance with the law. so, no matter who you voted for, if you cast a ballot, or counted them. thank you for showing the world that even in times like these, america is still going strong. she always wanted her smile to shine. now, she uses a capful of therabreath healthy smile oral rinse to give her the healthy, sparkly smile she always wanted. (crowd cheering) therabreath, it's a better mouthwash. at walmart, target and other fine stores. >>> assepresident trump is repl people. they called it scary and settling said, quote, these are dictator moves on this veterans day. barbara starr has this report. >> reporter

however, georgia secretary of state brad raffensperger tells "cbs this morning," that is unlikely. >> at the end of the day, you will find that when they recount all the votes, it will substantiate what has happened with the electronic ballot- counting, with the machines. >> reporter: the trump campaign has yet to produce any evidence of widespread fraud, which would change the outcome of the election. skyler henry, cbs news, the white house. >> the trump campaign continues to contest election results in pennsylvania, michigan, wisconsin, georgia, arizona and nevada. all states where president- elect biden has either won or either leads. >>> tropical storm eta just won't quit. >> coming up, the impacts of florida and where it heads next. >>> plus, lifting the spirits of kids in the hospital, a very safe, cold it safe, superhero visit. >>> i love that and hopefully you are enjoying this sunshine out there. big changes ahead as we look to tomorrow. tracking our next weather system, we will timeout the rain on futurecast, coming up. >>> a reminder, kpix 5 has a new app to give you 24 sev

to overturn the results is georgia congressman doug collins the georgia secretary of state, brad raffenspergerblican, went so far as to call collins a liar and a charlatan. now you might remember collins as the insanely fast talking person who took a lead role for republicans during the impeachment proceedings. >> we've talked about the law. they didn't put it in the constitution so i'm not - i can yell on both of them. i can talk about both of them. i still have not got a transcript we still don't know what got in the white house. still has not got their stuff. i was told i couldn't even though they have been staff conversations well before i was told i was asking -- asking too late he said -- as he said help us as a country because we're trying to heal. >> seth: he sounds like he's auctioning off the cocaine from a drug bust after taking a test himself. we got one kilo, we got two, we got five kilo, we got gold plated guns. we got regular guns. we got tiny little guns. then there's south carolina senator lindsey graham, who according to raffensperger, who again is a republican, called and pr

senators kelly loeffler and david perdue accused republican secretary of state brad raffensperger of unspecified failures in last week's elections. they provided no evidence to back up their claims. joe biden holds a small lead of 12,000 votes in the state. loeffler and purdue face runoff elections in january that will determine which party controls the u.s. senate. raffensperger says he's not stepping down. >>> the miami herald said tropical storm eta caused heavy flooding in the city and throughout south florida. the storm made landfall sunday night in the florida keys. entire neighborhoods were hit with fast-rising water that did not drain for hours. it left cars stranded and damaged homes and businesses. >> the street does this a lot. it's crazy people try to drive through it. i've seen two people stuck already and i just got here. >> no, no damage at all. >> just a lot of flood water? >> a lot of flood water. you can see all these cars trying to cross intersections and just getting wrecked. >> eta has moved into the gulf of mexico. forecasters say it could strengthen and hit the

the secretary of state brad raffensperger claims members of his own party have been pressuring him to ensure the president comes out on top with votes. >>raffensperger said he's even gotten death threats and that republican senator lindsey graham of south carolina also asked him whether he could discard all mail in ballots in counties that had higher rates of non matching signatures basically to toss ballots that were cast illegally. graham called the allegations ridiculous saying he was just trying to verify ways to validate signatures on mail in ballots in states that were hotly contested following the be matched back to the voters. >>and then there a good chance it implied that up. >>then you can throw those out president trump who hasn't held any public events so far this week but has been active on twitter tweeted georgia won't let us look at all the important signature match without that the recount is meaningless there's been no evidence of widespread voter fraud in this election and illegally modifying a federal election vote tally is considered a federal offense. >>that was k

. >> ahead on "cbs this morning" we speak with georgia's republican secretary of state brad raffensperger about the pressure he is facing from his own party to exclude legally cast votes. >>> president trump is reportedly expected to order troop reductions in afghanistan and iraq. news outlets cite u.s. officials who say the plan would leave 2500 troops in both countries. right now there are up to 5,000 troops in afghanistan and more than 3,000 in iraq. republican leaders are warning about making a rushed exit from afghanistan. they say it could jeopardize the peace process and undermine counter terrorism efforts. >>> a powerful hurricane iota made landfall overnight in northeastern nicaragua. the storm hit as a category 4 and packed 154-mile-an-hour winds and torrential rain. the wind peeled the roof right off of this building. the storm made landfall in almost the same location as hurricane eta did. people have been evacuated. they warn storm surge could reach up to 20 feet. >>> and a spacex capsule with four astronauts on board safely docked with the international space station. the sp

in georgia, where the manual recount is ongoing, the republican secretary of state brad raffensperger says he's getting death threats after coming under attack from trump and his allies. how does it feel to come under this kind of fire from members of your own party? >> well, it's surprising at some of the vitriol and outright lies and some of the threats that you get. i would have thought republicans were better than that. >> reporter: raffensberger even says one of the president's top allies, senator lindsey graham, tried to pressure him, asking if legally cast votes could be tossed out. what's going through your mind when he's making these requests? >> well, i think, you know, i am a republican and can we be influenced? and we have laws in place and we have security protocols in place that i have to follow the law. >> reporter: at the end of the day, when this recount is done, do you expect the results to change significantly? >> no. >> reporter: you expect joe biden to be the winner, fair and square? >> fair and square. >> reporter: graham categorically denies he tried to pressure

let's bring in georgia's secretary of state brad raffensperger. i know it has been a long, long night. early morning. your workers, the poll workers are working around the clock. any idea when all the votes will be counted? >> we're working hard on that. by midday we should be pretty much through it. probably by the end of the day we'll definitely have it done. fulton county is a little behind as you mentioned due to the problem they had at state farm with the water. >> and that was one. there were just a few glitches in the state. any way in any way does that compromise the count? >> no, the count is secure. we're continuing to go through the process. as you mentionedless we had yesterday an average of two-minute wait times. we had a successful election. over 4.8 million georgians voted which is also a record turnout for a presidential election. >> t.j. brought up the word "recount." i know you haven't even completed the counting. what do you think is the probability there will be a recount? >> i don't get into probabilities. we just do the count

more of a kind of risk minimising audit, but as you mentioned there, the secretary of state, brad raffensperger been in the news quite a bit. he reviewed pressure and been put on him by topper publicans been put on him by topper publica ns to try —— top republicans to disqualify... he came out and said, look, i am disappointed, iama said, look, i am disappointed, i am a republican, but the results are the results. i imagine comfortable have a recount, because he can, that is his right to do so. the weight works that joe is his right to do so. the weight works thatjoe biden is ahead by asserting out of votes, it falls within that margin were donald trump can demand a recount. we expect them to do so. and michigan legislators, in the meantime, have been at the white house talking to the president. what is it this presidents try to do with michigan? he wants michigan to be declared for him, and he is hanging onto the fa ct him, and he is hanging onto the fact that michigan has not confirmed its state—wide votes, so we are confirmed its state—wide votes, so we are still waiting for michigan to come

that the election apparatus in georgia is run by democrats, but georgia's secretary of state brad raffensperger is a republican. trump even endorsed him in 2018. in the meantime, some republicans are pushing back against the president. >> i know there's a lot of people who think this election is stolen. a lot of people think there's fraud, and you know what, there may be fraud. there may be -- we don't know that right now, and for the president to go out there and claim that without any evidence of that is -- is dangerous. >> reporter: tennessee senator marsha blackburn, an ally of the president, requesting to see evidence of any irregularities. >> what i think is that if there are irregularities, let's document them. >> reporter: and overnight senator lindsey graham standing by the president even donating $500,000 to trump's legal defense fund. >> he stood with me. he's the reason we're going to have a senate majority. my race was overwhelming. he helped senate republicans who are going to pick up house seats. >> reporter: and donald trump jr. last night vowing to fight. >> i think the number

he will do so, but it is insured and one with georgia because georgia's secretary of state, brad raffenspergerbeen pressure from topper publicans to basically throughout any ballots that did not favour donald trump, and alyeska not to say, look, i am a republican, favour donald trump, and alyeska not to say, look, iam a republican, i disappointed the republicans did not win the election, but the numbers do not lie. at the moment, yes, georgia has certified forjoe biden, as i say, donald trump is expected to demand a recount. in michigan, legislators are meeting with donald trump. again, what is he inspecting them to do? what is he expecting from them was nick what are they talking about coachella —— talking about coachella he basically wa nts —— talking about coachella he basically wants michigan declared for him. donald trump is hanging onto the fact that michigan is not officially declared what its results are. the vote is not officially counted and confirmed, they are still waiting on two counties at the moment, and the trumpet legal team by his personal lawyer, rudy giuliani, has launched

brads raffensperger says top republican lindsey graham asked him to question the validity of absentee ballots. graham denies this is berger says his family has received death threats. georgia is currently hand counting ballots after of course, race that saw joe biden when the states by around $14000.00 votes were in a tweet, us president donald trump has accused the state of preventing officials from looking at what he called important signature match, which is part of the votes in verification, paul says he says, without that the recount has been inglis, but his claims were immediately flagged up by twitter as disputed. well, let's get more now from charles moran. he's a republican political strategist who joins us now by skype from washington. d.c. good to have you with us here on al-jazeera, just a starter's of reminds us why this georgia election and georgia recount is so importance. thanks so much. thanks so much for having me. that i think we have some scape issues there will try and get reconnect with charles in a 2nd. but for now, let's bring you some more news now on the coro

the headlines: georgia's secretary of state, brad raffensperger, has announced a hand re—count of ballotsonfirms mr biden as the winner of the presidential election in the state. around 15,000 votes out of a total of five million separated mr biden and president trump, prompting a recount as per state law. the number of patients in american hospitals with covid—19 hasjumped nearly 50% in the last two weeks. it comes as people are urged not to travel during next week's thanksgiving holiday. president electjoe biden has called for unity in what he described as a national emergency. philippines president rodrigo duterte has declared a ‘state of calamity‘ for the island of luzon after it was hit by devastating typhoons gonni and vamco. luzon is the country's most populous island, and is home to the capital manila. more than 70 people have died in severe flooding. now on bbc news. hardtalk. welcome. i'm stephen sacco. as if the eu didn't have problems enough what with the pandemic and brexit, the union is now facing an internal political crisis. two members, poland and hungary, are blocking th

judge jeanine: that's the subject of a lawsuit where the secretary of state, brad raffensperger is suedy lin woods. it says raffensperger, an avowed anti-trumpist. who agreed with stacey abrams to interfere with the ballot and how they are counted. that's my understanding. when he didn't have that right as secretary of state under the constitution article 1 section 4, only the legislature can change that. what exactly did he do? >> there were several lawsuits brought after the 2018 election. this was done in march when they signed the consent decree. number one, it consider they limited it to where you had to verify the signature. but any signature would do. any person who sent in a request for a ballot could have that signature matched to the ballot that received. that's not a verification that's useful in the long term. if it doesn't match the original person's signature on the registration to vote, it's a problem. so this is the problem it has. and we sent out a request for a ballot to he registered voter. some people got more than one request. this problem developed over time and it

the secretary of state in georgia is a gentleman called brad raffensperger, who is a loyal republicanfic... if you dig into what donald trump is saying, it simply doesn't hold water. and the other thing, if you're going to talk numbers about all of this, is that, look at the margins right now in the states that matter. pennsylvania, biden has a a5,000—plus margin. arizona, 17,000. nevada, 15,000. georgia, 10,000. you talked to me about the election in 2000. i remember very well that when the florida original count was made, the margin was only 1,500 votes. there is no way that the kind of irregularities you are talking about, which are hotly disputed, no way they're going to reverse the margins that i'vejust mentioned. stephen, so we abide by our own constitution because our constitution allows for this process to go on. and while you might not like that process, and i don't know that you're saying that, but the truth of the matter is the process protects all of us. if there are people who voted illegally, i want to know about it. and i want to know about it even if... but mr kingston

the headlines: georgia‘s secretary of state, brad raffensperger, has announced a hand re—count of ballotsd mr biden and president trump, prompting a recount as per state law. the number of patients in american hospitals with covid—19 hasjumped nearly 50% in the last two weeks. it comes as people are urged not to travel during next week‘s thanksgiving holiday. president electjoe biden has called for unity in what he described as a national emergency. philippines president rodrigo duterte has declared a ‘state of calamity‘ for the island of luzon after it was hit by devastating typhoons gonni and vamco. luzon is the country‘s most populous island, and is home to the capital manila. more than 70 people have died in severe flooding. now on bbc news.

georgia secretary of state brad raffensperger joins us now.ant to begin with the lindsey graham back and forth. we have been following on this show efforts to challenge votes in a variety of states. mostly that's been lawsuits so far, but now you're saying that trump ally lindsey graham pressured you in a phone call to potentially throw out legally cast ballots. he says that's ridiculous. why do you believe that's what his intent was? >> well, when senator graham called, i just assumed that he was calling about the two runoffs for the senators so i called him back. ad then during our discussion he asked if ballots could be matched back to the envelope, the absentee ballots could be matched back to the envelope. i explained our process after it went through two sets of signature match, at that point they were separated but then senator graham implied for us to audit the envelopes and then throw out the ballots for counties that had the highest frequency error of signatures and that i tried to, you know, help explain that that's -- because we di

pursuant to article one, section four of the constitution, the secretary of the state in georgia, brad raffenspergerdoesn't have the right to change the law. only the legislature can, and a superior court in pennsylvania can't after they said that they refused to do it. covid was used as a ruse, as much willy-nilly voting as possible. >> jesse: but judge, what's the case? you need a case. if i am a brilliant lawyer, what's the case that these facts are salient to you? which cord is it? state court, federal court? what is the issue? is it a constitutional issue? statutory issue? >> jeanine: it is a constitutional issue. these cases, and i just spoke to lynwood. a constitutional issue in georgia where a federal judge dismissed his case based on -- not on the issue as it relates to the secretary of state. who moaned for two years that she should have been the governor, right? get a settlement with the secretary of state that is unconstitutional. that's going to the 11th circuit on an emergency appeal. it will go to the supreme court. you can't just change the law and safe what's the crime? >> jesse: i

i should also mention that secretary of state, brad raffensperger, is telling me he does expect presidentrump to request a recount, he must do so by next tuesday. kate. >> it's over, and not over still. sounds like 2020 all wrapped up in one sentence. amara, thank you so much, i appreciate it. >>> but joe biden, still president-elect, he still won georgia. coming up the largest vaccination distribution effort in u.s. history could be under way in weeks. how is that going to work? how is it going to go? i'll talk to the chief medical officer for the largest drugstore chain in the country, cvs. re-entering data that employees could enter themselves? that's why i get up in the morning! i have a secret method for remembering all my hr passwords. my boss doesn't remember approving my time off. let's just... find that email. the old way of doing business slows everyone down. with paycom, employees enter and manage their own hr data in one easy-to-use software. visit paycom.com for a free demo. >>> pfizer and its partner announced this morning they are submitting today for emergency authorizatio

listen to this >> stunning allegations by georgia's republican secretary of state brad raffenspergerhe washington post" he had been pressured by fellow republicans, including south carolina senator lindsey graham to question the validity of legally cast absentee ballots. >> jimmy: i'm sure the secretary of state was terrified. how intimidating is lindsey graham meanwhile the trump campaign still hasn't given up in wisconsin. however, it looks like a a recount is going to come with a pretty big price tag watch this >> president trump's campaign wants a recount in the state of wisconsin. it's going to cost nearly $8 million up front the trump campaign has until wednesday if they want to request a recount. >> jimmy: trump is like okay, i concede. okay not only did he have to pay that, but it came out that rudy giuliani wants to charge the trump campaign $20,000 a day for his services i wouldn't hire rudy giuliani if he paid me $20,000 a day. trump was like if we are going to pay that, we could have afforded a real lawyer i'm excited when trump doesn't pay and then he hires rudy giuliani

do you have confidence that the secretary of state brad raffensperger will hold on to his position?is trying to do the best he can obviously. >> imagine that. two sitting republican senators asking for the republican secretary of state, who was endorsed by donald trump, to step down. welcome to 2020. it doesn't make sense. it doesn't always go your way in the leelections. the people have spoken. there is an opportunity if these two senators feel this is their lex and they should have prevailed, they will have an opportunity to test that on january 5th. >> have you seen any evidence, mayor, of widespread voter fraud in georgia? >> no, wolf. the concerns that we saw with voting in georgia were at the beginning of early voting with the long lines and the glitches and the machines. after a couple of days of those challenges, then what we saw was a very smooth process. i've not heard of anyone complain of voter fraud. i've not seen any specifics on that. these are just losers complaining. nothing more than that. and this is what a democracy is all about. you have an opportunity every few

he says the law prohibits him from meddling, he trusts his republican secretary of state, brad raffensperger found no fraud. raffensperger is warning the president he is being swindled. >> once the recount is complete, everyone in georgia will be able to have more confidence in the results of our elections, despite massive amounts of misinformation that is being spread by dishonest actors. there are those that are exploiting emotions of many trump supporters with fantastic claims, half truths, misinformation, and frankly they're misleading the president as well apparently. >> let's get straight to cnn's ken line. this is the latest chapter in the book of trump that is not fiction, but nobody would believe if it were actually fiction, and it is really remarkable. >> reporter: it is incredibly remarkable. especially to see the volley going back and forth between the republicans. the top republicans in this state with the president of the united states who continues to talk about the myth about the election not being valid. let's look at what we're seeing from the spokesperson of the governor,

here is what brad raffensperger said yesterday on that topic. >> they asked if the ballots could be matchedto the voters. i got the sense it implied that then you could throw those out and really would look at the counties with the highest frequent error of signatures. it's just an implication that look hard and see how many ballots you could throw out. >> basically, he's saying the suggestion was throw out the whole county. if there's some signatures that don't match, can you just throw out the whole county. >> it is shocking that a public servant at that level has to endure that kind of pressure, along with death threats, by the way. he fortunately has gone public, which is the first step in curbing some of those potential abuses. let make no mistake about this. this is about the january 5th special elections and about trying to maybe rescue or at least humor what's left of the trump campaign. but it more important to focus we have control of the senate coming up in a few weeks and making sure these shenanigans and pressure campaigns and death threats and everything else are purged from t

brad raffensperger is also a republican and georgia's head of elections. he says graham implied he should throw out some mail-in ballots with a recount underway. raffensperger shared his side of the story with cnn's wolf blitzer, take a listen. >> he asked if the ballots could be matched back to the voters and then i got the sense implied that then you could throw those out, really would look at the counties with the highest frequent error of signatures so that's the impression that i got. >> i want to be clear on this, mr. secretary, you say senator graham wanted you to find ways to get rid of legally cast ballots because cnn asked him about these allegations. he denied them. he says that's ridiculous. his words. that's ridiculous. >> well, it's just an implication that look hard and see how many ballots you could throw out, and i think they're looking at that as part of a court case. >> well, unofficial results show joe biden managed to eke out a victory by roughly 14,000 votes. the state flipped from republican to democrat for the first time in decades.

i've spoken to brad raffensperger a few times leading up to this general election. he's a republican. he is not one to be out there wanting to criticize this administration even when he disagreed with some of the president's rhetoric around mail-in ballots. for him to be coming out and saying that he felt like the president and his allies were trying to do things unethical or even illegal, it says a lot what is going on in georgia does not make sense from a political perspective or a practical perspective. when you listen to what the lawyers, his new lawyers, rudy giuliani and others are saying about this election, they're completely making things up out of cloth to imply there is justification to throw out hundreds of thousands of votes. and what you're seeing from raffensperger is someone who is on the ground dealing with this kind of recount saying this is not right. that is really extraordinary. this is not someone who is a sort of -- as the president likes to call him, a rhino. he's a republican who is thinking about his own political future and is doing someth

listen to brad raffensperger talk about how the call from senator graham unfolded. >> just an implication to look hard and see how many ballots you can throw out. i think they're looking at that as part of the court case. >> senator graham calls raffensperger's statement ridiculous. a staffer who was on that call confirmed raffensperger's version to cnn yesterday. graham said he was trying to learn how the three states validate signatures insisting it was part of an effort to determine whether any changes needed to be made. >> what i'm very concerned about is that if you want to continue to vote by mail, that we need to know what systems work and what don't. it's up to the people of georgia. i have every right in the world to reach out and say, how does it work? >> the audit of the state's presidential ee vote is supposed to be in bed spot dead on. georgia is required to secure its votes by friday. >>> president-elect biden is moving full speed ahead with national security planning despite being blocked of classified briefings. jessica, nice to see you this morning. a slew of appointments

georgia's republican secretary of state, brad raffensperger -- >> he asked if the ballots could be matched back to the voters and i got the sense it implied that then you could throw those out, look at the counties with the highest frequent error of signatures. just an implication, look hard and see how many ballots you can throw out. >> reporter: graham calls the accusation ridiculously and deniden denies he trying to do that. >> what i'm very concerned is if you're going to continue to vote by mail, we need to know what systems work and what don't. it's up to the people of georgia but i have every right in the world to reach out and say how does it work? that's what i did. >> reporter: there's been no widespread evidence of voter fraud in georgia or anywhere else. >> my lindsey, my lindsey. thank you, lindsey. great guy. >> reporter: a far cry from graham's days as a republican maverick, an ardent supporter of the late senator john mccain, a man who bucked the party line and once stridently attacked trump. >> he's a race baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot. >> since he said he doesn't t

griff: georgia's secretary of state, brad raffensperger, put out a warning, saying if you illegally participateour of elections, you may spend more time in georgia than you planned. do you think we might actually see celebrities or others follow freedman's advice and actually move there and then run afoul with the law? >> i have literally seen tweets from celebrities saying they're moving there, that they'll work out of tyler perry's studio which is in atlanta, that they'll attend john ossoff's bar mitzvah for their kids if they have to, whatever they have to do to get the vote out. if you say i'm moving to a state and the state has very lax laws like georgia does in terms of when you can vote in their tickle exes, look, you -- particular elections, you should have to establish residency in terms of a utility bill or something, apparently in georgia it's a lax thing. the secretary of state did say that, he did say he will prosecute people that do that sort of thing in terms of moving to the state to vote in the election. i don't know how you track that, right. how do you prosecute people if the

turns out, georgia's secretary of state brad raffensperger says graham and other republicans have pressured to toss legal ballots. well, they finally found some voter fraud! and it's always the last place you look: in the mirror. according to raffensperger, senator graham was concerned that he wasn't disqualifying enough of georgia's mail-in ballots based on signatures that don't match the registration, so graham had a suggestion: >> senator graham implied for us to audit the envelopes and then throw out the ballots for counties who had the highest frequency error of signatures. >> stephen: so, because some people have sloppy signatures, lindsey graham wants to throw out all of the votes from whole counties. that's like saying, "well, this door hinge is squeaky, th simplest thing is to just burn the house down. graham denied making any uncomfortable demands of the secretary. >> i think that's just ridiculous. if he feels threatened by that conversation, he's got a problem. i actually thought it was a good conversation. >> stephen: in other words, it was: >> an absolutely perfect phone call.

georgia's republican secretary of state brad raffensperger is rejecting calls to step down after the state's two sitting republican senators kelly loeffler and david perdue called for his resignation, claiming he had "failed to deliver honest and transparent elections." senators loeffler and perdue made the stunning request after both of their races went to runoffs against democratic challengers and with president-elect joe biden on the verge of becoming the first democratic presidential candidate to win georgia since 1992. the republican sretary of state raffensperger dismissed part of loeffler and perdue's claims as "laughable." as the number of u.s. covid -19 cases tops 10 million, president-elect joe biden gave a nationally televised address warning of a dark winter ahead, pleading for the use of face masks. mr. biden: i implore you, wear a mask. do it for yourself. do it for your neighbor. a mask is not a political statement, but it is a good way to start pulling the country together. i want to be very clear. the goal of mass wearing is not to make your life less comfortable, it