greg bluestein is a political reporter with the "atlanta journal-constitution" and lisa rayam is host senior producer of npr's "morning edition." let's get started. the topics were not shared with the candidates in advice. the debate will be divided into three rounds and candidates will have 60 seconds to answer questions and 30 seconds for a rebuttal. and as moderator, i will determine when a rebuttal is appropriate. in the first round, candidates will be asked two questions each and, greg, you get the first question. >> president trump opened his election rally last night by falsely claiming he won georgia. he didn't. according to certified state election results he lost the state by 12,000 votes. do you stand by his narrative that the election was rigged and do you support his demand for governor kemp to call a special session to overturn the results. >> first i want to thank the atlanta press club for hosting this important debate. and, look, it's vitally important that georgians trust our election process and the president has ever right to every legal recourse and that's what's

host: let's take a couple minutes and talk to greg bluestein, a political reporter at the atlanta journal-constitution, about what is going on in that senate race and president from going down to campaign there. greg, good morning. guest: good morning. thanks for having me. host: good to talk to you again. greg, what do we expect to see from president trump tonight when he goes down to support senators david perdue and kelly loeffler? guest: well, there are very distinct paths he could take. i think we will see a blend of these two. first off, the republicans hope and pray that he does not go down there and say a vote for those two senators is a vote for him. because no one can rally the republican base quite like donald trump can. they need every republican they can muster to represent. what they fear will also happen is that he continues his grievances about november, his defeat in november, and he will also continue to intensify his attacks on republican officials georgia like governor kemp and secretary of state brad raffensperger. host: what are georgia republicans thinking about this rally? are

greg bluestein is the political reporter for "the atlanta journal-constitution." hings georgia politics. fill in the blank for me, the outcome of this race will all come down to? >> good question. base turnout. that's the easy answer but it's all about the base turnout. both parties are going directly to their bases, not trying to go after independent voters or those in the middle. they're going for the 2.5 million who voted for biden in november and those who voted for president trump in november. >> which party has the momentum right now, republicans or democrats? >> republicans have to battle something the democrats don't have to battle with, that is a president repeating false claims of white spread voter fraud who is telling his base supporters to vote in what he calls a rigged election. democrats don't have to contend with that mixed message. but republicans have an historical advantage, they've won every runoff in history. these runoffs tend to be older, whiter blocs who tend to support republicans. although this year all bets are off because senate control

now, the reporter who broke that story for the atlanta journal constitution, our new friend, greg bluestein. greg, i've said this to everyone who has come on to talk about politics in georgia, both the presidential and the senate, you are at the center of the american political conversation right now. and this is just another stunning piece of reporting. take us through it. >> yeah, well, the president called at the urging of senator david perdue, one of the two senators in control for the runoff. the president spoke with chris carr, the attorney general, who's also republican, like every statewide officer in georgia, and urged him not to tell other attorneys general to oppose this lawsuit. he sees this as one of his last-ditch efforts to overturn the election results. and when chris carr said, no, i have not been telling other attorneys general, but i do believe this is factually and constitutionally wrong lawsuit, but it's another example of the direct intervention of president trump, directly applying pressure to georgia officials to somehow help his efforts to try to overturn election r

and we welcome to the broadcast greg bluestein, political reporter for the atlanta journal constitution. welcome, guys. greg, no one knows georgia politics better than you. this race is certainly very tight. where do things stand right now? >> razor tight. both campaigns see this -- i should say all four campaigns see this basically as a toss up right now going into the final week of the campaign. president trump's visit is going to be a pivotal moment. he's coming on the runoff eve on monday, the night before the election. and republicans are banking on huge election day turnout to overcome what appears to be a democratic advantage in early votes. so that will be a make-or-break moment for republicans here. >> is it going to be about those voters who voted for joe biden and then voted for the two republicans in the general election, or is it going to be about turn out? more democrats suddenly turning out than republican voters, greg. >> it's the latter. this all about voter mobilization, energizing that core of 2.5 million voters, those pools that each campaign has. you know, the gener

joining me is greg bluestein. >> thanks for having me. >> there is nervousness among republicans as tog to say because he's been attacking not only republican leaders but also the process as being fundamentally unfair. do you think the president can walk that tight rope? >> that's the question for the president in georgia for his first rally since the election defeat. there's conflicting messaging on one hand saying it's rigged on the other hand encouraging republicans to go back out and vote january 5th. how does he balance the two? the two republicans want him to come say a vote for them is a vote for him. but he could focus more on the past and his dwree grievances over the election defeat. >> so there was another step, right? we should remind viewers there's already been a recount in georgia, a hand recount, confirmed the results, biden won, trump lost. but now the governor is talking about a signature audit under attack from the president but the secretary of state said that would need to be ordered by a court and there needs to be cause, you candidate 't do it b you don't like th

greg you are in the middle of it we appreciate you joining us greg bluestein. >> thank you. >>> comingls about the final moments before an unarmed black man was shot and killed by an ohio police officer. what the officer supposedly shouted moments before he opened fire. >>> we are following new developments in the shooting of an unarmed black man in columbus, ohio, we're getting more details from a statement given by the partner of the officer who shot and killed andres hill. g tell us what's in the new statement. >> reporter: it was a week ago that 47-year-old andres hill was killed by the police department, adam coy. cnn obtained interviews that happened shortly after the shooting by the columbus police department. these are all part of an internal police investigation that happened. in the interviews we learned from the partner of adam coy, the police officer, that she says he said that hill had a gun. hill had a gun before firing those deadly shots. we've also learned from a separate lieutenant that arrived there at the scene of the shooting that he said that officer coy was acting

joining me now is jamie harrison, founder of the dirt road pac and associate chair of the dnc and greg bluestein "atlanta journal constitution" and one of the panelists at last night's debate. gentlemen, thank you for being here. greg, i want to start with you. talk about what it was like between the -- between the two debates, and start with the one with ossoff. the idea that one candidate shows up and the other one doesn't. >> yeah, that was probably the strangest debate i've ever been a part of, having one candidate debate. especially with as important of a debate as this is. it was the one debate that was scheduled that the candidates agreed to that we thought at least the candidates agreed to. it's the atlanta press club tradition. it's gone back years in georgia. candidates pretty much always participate in these debates. so you start off with a debate where it's just one candidate behind the lectern in an empty lectern and you have the second debate that was simulcast, it felt like, all over the place that had millions of eyeballs. so quite the contrast between these two debates. >> you k

greg bluestein, and dan eberhart. greg, you've been talking to voters and you've got more reporting on the republican nightmare jeremy just laid out. what trump is saying, all these lies about the election, could keep voters away from the polls so they don't vote from this crucial senate election. >> i've seen evidence of that here on the ground in georgia. voters i've talked to at republican rallies throughout the week who are saying that they're actually torn. and these are republicans that are dedicated enough to show up at these rallies and yet they're torn about whether or not they're going to vote in january 5th runoffs to determine control of the senate. republicans are in this awkward position in georgia to reassure the base that even while president trump is promoting false, baseless claims of a stolen election, they should still go out and vote in a few weeks on all-important runoff races to determine how aggressive joe biden can pursue his agenda. >> dan, you're a georgia native. you've been telling me in ve

greg bluestein, not on the record of his predictions what will happen in the special elections.nks for joining us happy new year and thanks to priscilla thompson as well. >>> come up, why the u.s. is falling so short of its goal to vaccinate 20 million americans by the end of the year. we're going to go live to florida to look at some of the issues. plus i'll talk to senator chris van hollen about the vaccine challenges and the fight for more stimulus relief. we'll be right back. dry, distressed skin that struggles? new aveeno® restorative skin therapy. with our highest concentration of prebiotic oat intensely moisturizes over time to improve skin's resilience. aveeno® healthy. it's our nature™. who invented we're car vending machinesnce. and buying a car 100% online. now we've created a brand-new way for you to sell your car. whether it's a year old or a few years old. we wanna buy your car. so go to carvana and enter your license plate answer a few questions. and our techno wizardry calculates your car's value and gives you a real offer in seconds. when you're ready, we'll com

greg bluestein is a political reporter with "the atlanta journal-constitution."isa rayam, the "morning edition" host on npr. now let's get started shared with the candidates in advance. the debate will be divided into three rounds. candidates will have 60 seconds to answer questions and 30 seconds for a rebuttal. as moderator, i will determine when a rebuttal is appropriate. in the first round, candidates will be asked two questions each, and greg, you get the first question. greg: president trump opened his election rally last night by falsely claiming he won georgia. he did not. according to certified state election results, he lost the state by 12,000 votes. do you stand by his narrative that the election was rigged and support his demand of governor kemp to call a special session to seek to overturn those results? sen. loeffler: first, i want to thank the atlanta press club for hosting this vital debate. it is vitally important that georgians trust the electoral process. the president has every right to every legal recourse, and that is what is taking place.

leland: few if any reporters know more about georgia politics in this senate race than greg bluestein. i want to read a quote. i don't want think that we shou quote until we fix the system. it's tough, but i don't think that any voting until it's safe. that the voters should skip. that's ga. is this something that the two candidates are worried about? >> this strikes fear into their hearts is that the mixed messages from president trump talking about a rigged election and trying to urge them to go back out and vote on january 5th will send a conflicting message to voters on the ground. i've seen evidence of it not widespread. most republican rank and file voters are going to come out and vote, but there's a certainly amount of the electorate that's confused by the mixed messages and that's a big concern from republicans here right now. leland: interesting to note, getting back to what the secretary of state said, david perdue in particular did better than president trump did by about 100,000 votes around the state and in particular in the atlanta metro area, did a little better than h

joining us now, reporter for the atlanta journal constitution greg bluestein and editor of the 19th andor greg haines. what is the state of republican angst that donald trump keeps tweeting if i win loefler and period due win but if i don't, they're in trouble. >> the angst is high because the president has continued those attacks on governor kemp and brad raffensperger and any high ranking public official that hasn't sided with his demands and it is a distraction at every event, at every time a high profile figure comes to georgia, vice president pence is coming here on thursday, there will be a continue to be a top offic of conversation and when reporters go to interview voters they'll continue to ask what do you make of the mixed messages, vote in a rigged election. >> aaron, joe biden's speech there in georgia today was forcefully and it was detailed in terms of how important a democratic controlled senate would be to enacting his agenda, to freeing up relief, covid relief which has been stuck in congress due to republicans, doing something on climb, to doing something on racial inj

joining ours conversation, greg bluestein and david plouffe and msnbc political analysis. kemp and we should say, for our viewers, he was as trumpy of a trump ally that you could get. but now he is talking about dea death threats and saying it has gotten ridiculous from death threats, claims of bribes from china, the social media posts that my children are getting, he said, we have the no crying in politics rule in the kemp house but this is stuff that if i said it, i would be taken to the wood shed and would never see the light of day. talk about trump's war on these very conservative republicans in georgia and how that is is playing out and maybe damaging the republican candidates there. >> that is about as emotional as i've seen the governor get. he's fiery because he's upset that the pro-trump conspiracy theorists are threating him and his family. low level election staffers, just people trying to do their jobs. he still hasn't directly criticized president trump. but he certainly criticizing this entire atmosphere that president trump has promoted. these false narrati

joining our conversation, greg bluestein, what is this like there for some of these republicans to becomeormed georgia's political environment here. as you mentioned, gabe sterling who is a -- i guess a lower level state elections official is now almost a house hold name in georgia politics right now. vice president pence was just here in savannah and we have president trump coming tomorrow and former president obama just had a virtual rally with the senate candidates. so we are -- we are getting accustomed to becoming the center of the political universe for a few more weeks. >> and we're all consuming your reporting. you write that president trump could deliver the boost republican incumbents have been dreaming about saturday when he holds the first rally in georgia since losing the election. or he could deal them lasting damage by intensifying his war with georgia republicans who refused his demands to over turn the election results and casting more doubt on the integrity of the state's voting system. i don't need to tell you, two of his allies called on republicans not to vote because

greg bluestein from the atlanta journal constitution.were all over the news and all of the news that was made this week in the political world was made in your state. let's start with the debate and move to other events and other officials but what was the strategy of not showing up? georgia voters like to see people go out there and work for the vote. >> yeah, even some conservative pundits this morning are questioning that strategy from senator perdue to skip the atlanta press club debate. i feel like his strategy is to talk mostly to conservative media outlets and to talk to the base and i think that he figured he had already had two debates in the general cycle and that he said his piece and that perhaps he was worried that johnosoff would have another viral moment. one of the moments in the last debate with a local tv station down in savannah, had more than 14 million viewers on twitter on social media. >> wow! >> yeah. so i think he was concerned about having another one of those repeat moments like that. >> let me show you -- show

host: let's take a couple minutes and talk to greg bluestein, a political reporter at the atlanta journal-constitution

host: speaking of the georgia senate runoff, let's take a couple minutes and talk to greg bluestein, cal reporter at the olanta journal-constitution, about what is going on in that senate race and president from going down to campaign there. greg, good morning. guest: thanks for having me. host: good to talk to you again. greg, what do we expect to see from president trump tonight when he goes down to support senators david perdue and kelly laughlin? guest: there are very distinct paths he could take. i think we will see a blend of these two. republicans hope and pray that he does not go down there and say a vote for those two senators is a vote for him. no one can rally the republican base for quite like him. they need every republican they can muster to represent. what their fear -- they fear will also happen is that he continues his grievances about november, his defeat in november, and he will intensify his attacks on republican officials like bride raffensperger. -- brad raffensperger. host: what are georgia republicans thinking about this rally? are they asking republicans to sh

joining us now political reporter to the "atlanta journal constitution" greg bluestein.from the house oversight and government reform committee, kurt bardella. a senior adviser to the lincoln project. we haven't gotten to the senate debate over the weekend in georgia. i saw it rolling along on twitter. it had a lot of color, a lot of flash, a lot of interest. tell us what happened. >> yeah. well, basically, the two candidates tried their best not to make any gaffes, tried to stay on message. and they ducked questions especially -- well, reverend warnock ducked a question about whether or not he'd expand the supreme court and senator loeffler about whether or not she supported the false narrative of a rigged election. and whether or not she acknowledged joe biden's victory in georgia. so i think those were the two or three main takeaways of that debate. >> yeah. kurt, i'm curious also, president trump just, you know, letting his opinion be known to georgia election officials and the governor, making phone calls trying to get things changed. is there any -- is there any wa