raffensperger and his family have received death threats for not overturning that outcome. walker joins us now in atlanta. you sat down with him today. how is he handling these threats in the midst of all of this? >> reporter: well, jim, if there's one word or way to describe georgia secretary of state brad raffensperger it's that he is defined by his christian faith. he values integrity, decency, sticking to his principles and that is why we have never seen him waiver even in the face of attacks from president trump and fellow republicans, even when he faced the worst tragedy any parent could, he clung to his faith and that's what he's doing right now. >> my faith really is part of me, it's part of who i am, it becomes part of your character. >> reporter: character, faith and family, they've lit the way for georgia secretary of state brad raffensperger in his darkest times. >> we've been through an awful lot. losing your child, i think tricia says it best, it doesn't matter how old they are, you could be, you know, halfway, you know, carrying a child and lose that child in

i want to go to you, secretary raffensperger. you faced targeted assaults by the president as did others. what was your experience like? and what was the pressure you faced, your scariest moment, when you think about this election? sec. raffensperger: from the standpoint of threats, really, when someone broke into my daughter-in-law's townhouse, that was -- and then they later, a couple weeks later, they followed her into a store with their iphone on, and so, anyway, that was scary for her and that was really troubling for us. then my wife got a sexualized text, we got the death threats. but then they started attacking election workers. one of them was one of our best persons working for them. 25 years old, gets a text. had a different last name like i do and so many of us do on this call. and they started threatening his parents also as well. those are the kinds of things that happened. our education manager, gabriel sterling, he really spoke very powerfully and he spoke powerfully at the right time when that situation arose. it

host: we can pretty much assume that secretary of state brad raffensperger will not be there, given the back and forth between washington and himself over the counting and the certification of the votes in georgia. what is his state within the republican in georgia right now? guest: it is interesting, because while governor kemp has avoided firing back at president trump, secretary raffensperger has had a different angle. he has basically said that president trump has offered his own defeat in georgia by denigrating the absentee ballot. there's about 24,000 or so republicans who voted by absentee mail in the primary back in june in georgia and they did not vote in the november election. and so that is double the margin of joe biden's victory here in georgia. he has taken a much more forceful tone. if he runs for reelection, which his office and aides say he is placed to do, he will almost certainly face a republican challenger in georgia in 2022. host: a final question for you, you have a senate debate coming up between kelly loeffler and a reverend are aware raphael warnock.ove raphael

but in an editorial published by "usa today" last week, raffensperger wrote, my family voted for him,under the bus by him. >> do you think the president shares your values of civility and compassion and understanding and truth and integrity? >> well, i really don't know. i just know at the end of the day, my job is managing myself. a lot of times, it's bigger than the person. it's really a philosophy. and so as republicans, we have a philosophy of, i hope we still do, of small, limited affected government. >> reporter: do you feel abandoned, though, in any way, by other republicans and more influential ones who haven't come out and spoke out to stop this kind of rhetoric and false, baseless claims of fraud? >> well, i know that some people maybe think it's not their fight or also, they realize that someone has 50 million twitter followers, maybe more, and they have likely 50, and they're thinking, why would i want to join that fray? >> if you would all bow your head for a moment of silence. >> reporter: rachffensperger sa in all the chaos, he finds comfort in reading the bible, and at

, accusing raffensperger of supporting attempts to disenfranchise eligible georgia voters and callinghe task force a farce. joining us now, reverend james woodall. reverend woodall is the state president of georgia's naacp. reverend, good to see you. thank you for being with us tonight. >> thank you, ali, for having me, and good evening. happy early new year to you. >> and to you, sir. thank you. tell us about this, because to many americans who had no idea who brad raffensperger was, he almost has seemed like a bit of a hero for the last several weeks as he has stood up to the attacks of donald trump, who continues to claim that the election on november 6th in georgia was fraudulent. you've got a different view of what brad raffensperger and republicans in the state are up to. >> well, for sure. and one, let's be very clear -- me resigning from the task force is saving white people's lives. our secretary of state here has committed himself to partisan attempts to keep black and brown georgia voters from being able to cast their ballot in a very safe, secure, and accessible way. when

it's not right. >> after senators leffler and purdue condemned the violence today, raffensperger hadn't know what he was going to say yesterday. even after this request that president trump try to quell the violent rhetoric being borne out of his claims that he won the states he obviously won, he tweeted out expose massive voter fraud in georgia. this is exactly the kind of language that is at the base of growing threats of violence to election workers. >> joining me now is vaughn hillyard. he is live in gainesville, georgia. vaughn, at the same time brad raffensperger condemns president trump's allegations of fraud, his office sent out a press release they're launching an investigation for allegedly encouraging false allegations. walk us through this now. >> reporter: this is where republicans find themselves, ayman. you have a rally in the atlanta area taking place with former trump campaign lawyer sidney howell who is encouraging georgia voters to not vote until they believe their voting system is backed by one of integrity. that is where republicans find themselves. that's where

reporter: character, faith and family, they've lit the way for georgia secretary of state brad raffenspergerhis darkest times. >> we have through an awful lot, losing your child, i think trisha said it best, it doesn't matter how old you are, you could be halfway carrying a child and lose that child in a miscarriage, they could be six weeks old and they could be 6 years old or 60 years old, it will always be your child. >> the hurt still evident, he lost his 40-year-old son almost three years ago after a fentanyl overdose. >> when he was 25 years old, he was hit with cancer, stage 3b, hodgkin's lymphoma, then clean and sober, maybe then incarceration, and clean and sober, things like that, it was a struggle throughout his life, but every one of those times that we had, you know, that he struggled, you know, god was there for us. >> reporter: and he says that god is watching over him, his wife trisha, their two grown sons and three grandsons right now, even as the death threats and vulgar messages continue to pour in from many who are vying into president trump's repeated and baseless attacks

raffensperger said he was stunned that graham appeared to suggest that he find a way to toss legally> seth: so lindsey graham called up the secretary of state of georgia like it was a casual schmooze and said, hey, brad, want to do brunch? also, do you have the power to like throw out a bunch of legal ballots and hand the election to trump? now, according to the "wall street journal" there were two phone calls and multiple witnesses who confirmed what graham said on those calls and even when graham tried denying it, he accidentally confessed to something possibly even worse that he'd been calling election officials in other states too >> did you not ask him to throw out votes? >> no, that's ridiculous i talked to him about how you verify signatures. i'm really worried about mail-in balloting. i'm worried about how you verify a signature. and i think georgia, i've talked to doug ducy in arizona, i've talked to the people in nevada, we've got contests all over the nation >> seth: so basically lindsey graham called states where joe biden won to ask about vote counts. i'd say they were t

i'm going to judge brian kemp and brad raffensperger by what they do in january.they stand up not only for the rule of law but for the 5 million voters who made their voices heard in the general election or do they allow themselves to be pulled back into that maelstrom that says the only way to win is to silence the voices of the people. >> the georgia secretary of state, brad raffensperger, he's been a vocal critic of president trump's actions since the election, but he's criticized you. he did so in an op-ed, he wrote, publishing a playbook that president trump is following to the letter now, ms. abrams refused to concede and began collecting hundreds of millions of dollars from donors convince that had the election had been stolen from her, unquote. what is your response to that? >> first and foremost, he's never listened to what i said. i said that the election was stolen from the georgia voters because under the previous secretary of state, brian kemp, millions of voters were -- 1.4 million voters were purged from the rolls. there were thousands of voters tha

he is talking about republican georgia secretary of state brad raffensperger who certified the vote for biden and once again said there is no evidence of fraud. as for his brother who president trump says works for china, marcus, that is big news for pav raffensperger because he doesn't have a brother! wow way is a chinese company has the same last name but not in any way related. >> fact check. thanks, scott. >>> new video this morning of the largest crane ship passing under the golden gate bridge this morning. look. massive there. that ship carrying new container cranes to oakland. crane boones were dropped down yesterday to make sure there was enough room for that ship to pass through. boy, that is large. >>> are you ready to roll up your sleeves and get the vaccine? we will take a look at the reason some americans say they are definitely getting the shot. >>> plus, the calls for justice may be answered. the actions being taken against two officers who walked free from the breonna taylor case. our new house is amazing. great street, huge yard. there is a bit of an issue with our neig

it has to stop. >> reporter: raffensperger spoke to wolf about the threats to his wife. >> the first came in more subtle and then they got more graphic and then they come in with vulgarity also. >> reporter: the final straw for sterling, he said, was that a 20-something tech contractor for a voting system company in georgia received tlhreats and a noose in front of his home for his work in certifying the election. >> this kid took a job. he just took a job. and it's just wrong. someone is going to get hurt. someone is going to get shot. someone is going to get killed. >> reporter: at the time sterling spoke on tuesday, neither the white house nor republican senators kelly loeffler or david perdue has condemned the threats to georgia election officials. >> all of you who have not said a damn word are complicit in this. >> reporter: after sterling spoke, both senators along with the trump campaign did condemn the threats. but the white house hasn't specifically called out the threats in georgia. >> look, i think this is what happens when you have a president who politicizes the mechani

we should also point out that just yesterday brad raffensperger the secretary of state finally did conductsignature match audits that the president had been clamoring for for with weeks in cobb county. they found that there was a 99.9% accuracy within that signature match system. so just no evidence of fraud. basically every single accusation the president has been made has been debunked by the republicans in the state, but this is the problem for david perdue and kelly loeffler. you have the president telling his supporters to vote in an election that he says is fundamentally flawed. it's a very difficult argument to make and one that republicans are being forced to deal with here in the closing days of this campaign. >> it is cuckooville. the president continues to focus just on himself. thank you so much. >>> as millions of americans watch washington for movement on these stimulus checks another crisis. demand at food banks is soaring as millions of families need help to put food on the table. moments from though the central texas food bank will hold its 67th food distribution event sin

but that was before brad raffensperger got tough on his job. brad is now part of the liberal conspiracy, i guess. and people believe this. your uncle believes this. [ laughter ] the bad news for trump is, the legal part of his legal strategy is not working. even worse news is, rudy giuliani is running his legal team. rudy guiliani gave another doozy of a press conference today. it was a success in that it did not take place in a parking lot next to a dildo shop. [ laughter ] but otherwise, it was not a success. it was a desperate, vomitus attack on every american who bothered to vote. here's rudy using the movie "my cousin vinny" to explain why trump was swindled out of the vote in pennsylvania. >> we could do like -- did you all watch "my cousin vinny"? you know the movie? it's one of my favorite law movies because he comes from brooklyn. when the nice lady who said she saw, and then he says to her, how many fingers do i -- how many fingers do i got up? and she says, three. well, she was too far away. to see that it was only two. these people

this just in to cnn, georgia's secretary of state brad raffensperger gave an update on that state's secondof votes in the presidential election. have a listen. >> now on to the recount. we have had about 110 counties that have finished their work and are continuing conversations with the counties. we anticipate all of them will make our midnight deadline. we'll be putting up the reporting site at 2:00 p.m. today. we've seen no substantial changes to the results from any counties so far. and that's what we expected. and i think that's what most other people have also. >> so a republican election official defending the results of an election. the well, there was another blow to the president's claims of widespread fraud. he and vice president pence will be in georgia this week ahead of critical senate runoffs as president trump's days left in office grow shorter, his potential pardon list grows longer. sources say preemptive pardons for his own children, his son-in-law, his personal lawyer have been discussed by this president. cnn's john harwood is at the white house. john, listen, in the d

amy: raffensperger's wife has been threat sexually and otherwise with text that have been centers of on. raffensperger's comments came a day after another top georgia election official, republican gabriel sterling, blasted georgia's two republican senators, david perdue and kelly loeffler, for not condemning violent threats from trump supporters, saying, "someone's going get killed." this ces as twrepublican torneys w'vereviously worked on trump's behalf led a rally of trump supporters in atlanta, uing georgis not to paicipate in senate ruff onanuary 5 this is sidney powell, who was ousted last month from trump's soalled elite strike force legal te. >> i would encourage all georgians to make it known you will not vote at all until your vote is secure. amy: powys joined by lynwood who said -- lin wood who said georgia republicans should refuse to vote for incumbent senators david purdue and kelley loeffler, saying they haven't done enough to overturn the results of the election. >> they have not earned your votes. don't you give in to them. why would you go back and vote in another ri

, another republican, and help him "win the state." >> the truth matters. >> reporter: raffensperger disputed the president's claim of voter fraud and said today the third party groups are continuing to spread false information. >> there are those who exploiting the emotions of many trump supporters with fantastic claims, half-truths, misinformation and, frankly, they are misleading the president as well, apparently. >> reporter: the president's repeated claims that the vote in georgia was "rigged" is worrying republican leaders ahead of the two key senate runoffs in january. >> i just wish trump would stop. quite frankly. >> reporter: g.o.p. fundraiser dan eberhart said mr. trump's rhetoric could lower republican turnout and cost him the senate. >> acting like a sore loser is just plain not helpful. >> reporter: christopher krebs, the former top cybersecurity official mr. trump fired earlier this month, told "60 minutes" the president's voter fraud claims have no merit. >> the proof is in the ballots. the recounts are consistent with the initial count, and to me that's further evide

explain. >> yeah, i was with secretary of state raffensperger last week in his home. does have 24-hour protection. he and his wife especially have been subjected to violent threats, sexualized threats, very invasive threats. it's something that they have been going through actually for a number of weeks, it hasn't just started, this has been going on for quite some time. they were not only worried that this is going on, but also that republican officials in the state had not been stepping up to do anything about it or to even say anything about it. they themselves, i think, felt confident in the process that the secretary of state is following, he certainly does not seem like he's going to change what he's doing, but certainly these threats are very real and it's a situation where there were activists in his neighborhood over the weekend searching for him, they had gotten his address, looking for him in a caravan. this is a situation where his safety is certainly of concern and it's not just him it's his staff as well. >> you know, it's interesting, greg, because what

we still say if you're in georgia, go listen to secretary raffensperger.e edge where we can provide indication on security measures and controls in place, that was the intent. so i do understand the sisa team will continue to promote and glad to see that. i think it's effective. more importantly, i think it's a model for debunking disinformation going forward and my gosh, with the vaccine and some of the disinfo claims out and including coming out, it's more important we have good solid information out there for people to make decisions. >> as someone who served for president trump and by all accounts, democrats and republicans on capitol hill, was well respected and well regarded, if you had five minutes alone with president trump, what would you say to him? >> i'd tell him the same thing that we kind of adopted as our mantra. not officially mantra but defend the democracy. things are more important than a four-year term. this american experiment in diagnosis in general is fragile and you have to care and nurture it. these are constant attacks and undermi

the most common side effects are pain, redness, raffensperger siraffensperger raffensperge tiredness,dache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. talk to your doctor or pharmacist about protecting yourself with shingrix. shingles doesn't care. shingrix protects. so join in now. breathe in breathe out. and see your best self in the mirror. guys, times are tough. but force factor's test x180 can help us man up, america, by boosting total testosterone. build muscle, fuel desire, and improve performance. get test x180 from force factor, the #1 fastest-growing men's health brand at walmart. happening now in areas that include the five most populous cities, los angeles, san diego, san jose where i am, san francisco, and fresno, all included in this. and basically we're going to see that all sit-down dining is gone, not just indoor restaurants, but also outdoors. restrictions on travel, nonessential travel, things like playgrounds are closed, hair salons, and the like. that is all going to go into effect now for much of the state tomorrow night. here's the issue. it's basically intensive care

raffensperger is chairman of that board.e he's also a witness, someone else will step in as chairman and hopefully they'll do an investigation that builds sop confidenme confidenc voters and turn the results over to the attorney general who then i hope as well will take a look at the case. the problem is, frankly, that over the last five years we r s really sort of seen the customs and norms and decency leave our political discourse and we are in a time when tensions are high. regardless of who you voted for, regardless of your political party, everybody has a right to have those votes protected and here the losing candidate is at odds with his own party because he felt like he should win and now apparently has allies on his behalf seeing if they can't put their hands on the scale to change those results in some way. i found that vote troubling and offensive, both as a former law enforcement prosecutor, but also as a voter in the state of georgia. >> what are your concerns for the senate election in georgia on january 5th? t

alex azar, georgia's secretary of state brad raffensperger, senators from both side of the aisle, and insight from our powerhouse round table. >>> good morning, and welcome to "this week." we saw it coming. we were told it would get worse. too many ignored the warnings, and now the surge upon a surge is here. covid-19 is the single biggest killer in the united states this week surpassing heart disease for the first time. cases are rising across the country. hospitals under stress. more than 280,000 american lives have been lost to the pandemic. that toll could double before a vaccine is widely valuable. all eyes on the fda now expected to approve the first vaccine for emergency use later this week. abc's rachel scott starts us off from the fda headquarters in washington. good morning, rachel. >> reporter: george, good morning. it is the news americans are waiting for, and while we'll mark a significant turning point, the fight against covid-19 is far from over. nine months into this deadly pandemic, we are now headed into what could be the most dangerous period yet. >> december and ja

>> i think the fact that people like brad raffensperger are put in the position of having to say these elections are above board, everything is, you know, on the up and up, i think they are doing the right thing obviously. i think the tricky part is republicans have talked about this in some cases, you know, real things that happened in various elections over not just the last ten years but going back into history of machine politics. so the base has been fed this idea all along. so when the president comes them and tells them that hugo chavez did do this or his hologram, they're apt to believe it. i think it's very tricky because they've created this frankenstein monster and now they have to deal with it. >> stephen, what is your sense? obviously the republicans in the state legislature are participating in this. this has been the kind of way giuliani has done this. he's had, you know, local republican legislators who hosted him in these sort of ersatz hearings. what the republican party in georgia is thinking about this and whether you have -- do you have republican state officeholde

yamiche: stling's boss brad raffensperger backedim up and joined in blaming the president. >> this ishectly kind of language that is at the base of a growing threat environment for election workers who are doing their jobs. yamiche: but president trumple ed a 46-minute video repeating his claims of fraud and saying the election system is under coordinated assault and siege. trump's lawyer suggested that christopher krebs who was fired by the president as director of infrastructure security agency be shot. krebs responded during a virtua forum. >> it has to stop. we have to let the professionals do their jobs. d is well beyme for everyone on both sides of the political spectrum to or an end and to call for this, our process and certification ess, and move to the nex administration. yamiche: but at a white house briefing, secretary kayleigh mcenany said there is blame to go around. >> we condemn threats. there is no place for violence. what i will say too is the president's lawyers, they were doxxed by a left organization, their private information being put out, so we are seeing that for

if raffensperger and van langvelde are drummed out of politics, the message to republican officials in the next close election will be clear, put party over country or you can say good-bye to your career. the next set of local officials might prove to be less honorable, so might a younger and more partisan batch of judges. america's election arrangements are rooted in a venerable anglo-saxon system in which citizens are called upon to perform official functions. the anglo-saxon approach contrasts with the french continental system in which the state has more control. but this anglo-saxon system depends on the idea that citizens will place the public interest ahead of their private interest. donald trump has put that assumption to the test, plunging our democracy into crisis. we need a set of post-trump reforms to bolster american democracy. independent, nonpartisan boards should be established to manage elections rather than partisan officials. standardized rules should be set about voter registration, mail-in voting, ballot challenges and the reporting of results. we need a broader se

and secretary raffensperger, we served together in the house.cord in the house definitely is what led him to be able to serve as our secretary of state. both are working hard. i told you this before, just because the person we voted for didn't win the election doesn't change our job description. >> well, president donald trump doesn't see it that way. he thinks there's some sort of corruption maybe all of you are engaged in. here's what he said this weekend on tv. >> they had judges making deals and electoral officials making deals like this character in georgia, who is a disaster. and the governor's done nothing. done absolutely nothing. i'm ashamed i endorsed him. >> i think he's talking about raffensperger. were there back room deals like the president is suggesting? >> certainly not. what is alarming is the amount of misinformation that continues to throw. it disheartening to watch people put their morals out there so they can spin a half truth or a lie to flip an election. that's not what democracy is about. i would urge the republicans and

secretary of state brad raffensperger saying the numerous baseless, federal reserve lus lawsuits funded by unsuspecting georgians. you remember brad raffensperger, the georgia republican who stood tall against the president's completely false claims about election fraud? >> whether it is the president of the united states or a failed gubernatorial candidate, disinformation regarding election administration should be condemned and rejected. integrity matters. truth matters. >> sure does. and if you don't remember, lynn wood, he is the guy to whole the people of georgia not to vote in the senate runoff last week and told a rally crowd that the republican governor, brian kemp, should be locked up. >> i want you to go to the governor's mansion. i want you to circle it. i want you to blow your horns until brian kemp comes out and orders a special session of the georgia legislature. and then he can resign. and then as far as i'm concerned, lock him up. >> it's like some weird ryan murphy 2016 election thing all over. it's just bizarre. okay. so let's just recap here what he's doing. so he is

secretary brad raffensperger has launched 250 investigations into the election.oll watchers being denied an opportunity to on the counting of ballots, ballots being cast by people who do not live in the state. people not registered to vote. >> we've also done two recounts, as you know, in the state. one of them by hand. and also that the secretary of state has come forward and said despite what minor irregularities that was thought. there is nothing that he has seen that would change the outcome of the election. why do you persist in saying that there is something that would suggest otherwise? >> well in all three of those recounts, ballots cast by people who don't live in georgia were counted. ballots were cast by people who were in prison were counted. ballots were cast from people who had died were counted. we filed an election contest yesterday to show the ballots that we believe are irregular. and that will obviously be decided by the judicial process. you know -- >> again, the secretary of state who oversees the election says there are no significant number

the secretary of state brad raffensperger family has endured threats for his life.where we are. >>> meanwhile, we're learning new details about the nashville bomber's checkered past with police. the tennesseean saying that officers were tipped off to the suspect reportedly making bombs. on august 21st, 2019, police visited the suspect's home after his girlfriend said, quote, he was building bombs in an rv at his residence. after findi ing the evidence, t officers forwarded to the fbi. the fbi ran his name through a database. but in the aftermath of last week's destruction, the tennessee bureau claimed that the suspect was, quote, not on our radar prior to the bombing. >>> and two louisville police officers tied to the deadly raid that killed breonna taylor both received notice that the department plans to fire them. detective joshua james who prepared the search warrant of the raid were notified of their department's intentions yesterday. the officers still have a right to a predetermination hearing. before they are officially fired, according to the louisville metr

. >>> for weeks georgia's republican secretary of state george raffensperger, pushed back against donaldnvestigations. but now we learned that he support him more than we realized, with comments about illegal voting and violations of the law. there is no real evidence of fraud in georgia or anywhere el else. but, of course, you can't have voter suppression without fake claims of voter's fraud. election officials that were crucial in biden's win have limited their georgia options in the senate runoff at a time when they a tensions are at an all-time high. imagine how high that number would be without the suppression efforts. joining us is letitia brown. thank you for coming on the show. republicans talk about votes. isn't it just about how do we stop black people from voting? >> the whole purpose of the voting rights act is about asking minority voters. we're seeing georgia live up to its history around voter suppression. and raffensperger, while he has been under attack because he didn't do what trump wanted him to do, does that mean he would not support voter suppression? he didn't noti

here's raffensperger, the secretary of state, speaking yesterday. >> there are those who exploit themotions of many trump supporters with fantastic claims, half truths, misinformation, and frankly, they are misleading the president as well apparently. upholding the law matters. truth matters. and your vote matters. anyone telling you to boycott an election is not on your side. >> so again, joe, that's the secretary of state raffensperger. it's not a long list but we ought to call them out every time we have a chance. people who stood his ground. he's a republican who said i voted for donald trump and he was endorsed by donald trump and again and again and again he walks out in front of cameras in the face of death threats to him and his family because he won't overturn the vote in georgia. he says i did my job, donald trump lost here. i don't know how many times you want me to say it. >> well, why this is so confusing for rank and file republicans is because listen to what he just said there. he said the law matters. >> yeah. >> and the truth matters. and that is the antithesis of wh

firm. >> integrity matters, truth matters. >> reporter: raffensperger's confirming his brother does not work for a chinese company and his name is not ron. something else to consider about president donald trump's attacks on georgia officials just how much confidence republican voters are going to have in the state's elections when two senate republican incumbents are fighting in very tight runoff races days away. boris sanchez, cnn, traveling with the president in west palm beach, florida. >>> from georgia to washington, a lot of developments for us to cover, and joining me now to discuss them all. leslie, it's been a while since we have spoken. let's talk about president trump, if we can, with only a few weeks left of his time in office, heading back to d.c., trying to disrupt president-elect biden's certification. what is the exit strategy here, do you think, leslie? >> i think his exit strategy is very much partly just, you know, continuing to be deeply distressed by the result, not wanting to accept it. i think there's also a play here. donald trump, as we saw him tweet just re

raffensperger. he called the election, quote, rigged.he record straight, if you would. >> well, i think the rally last night was kind of a two-part message message. the first part was encouraging to listen to the president champion the conservative strategies of the senators, the second message was concerning to me. worry that this continuous fanning of the flames around misinformation puts us in a negative position with regards to the january 5th runoff. the mountains of misinformation are not helping the process, they're only hurting it. i worry that it's -- we're handing off a playbook to the democrats for january 5th and certainly i can't think of a worse playbook to hand off over the last four weeks to the democrats. >> and it seems as though many georgia republicans believe the president in his false claims about the integrity of the election. take a listen. >> you believe in the results and what happened here in georgia? >> no. i really don't. >> i believe there's a little something shady going on. >> i don't know 100% what's goin

. >>> for weeks georgia's republican secretary of state brad raffensperger pushed back against donald's claim of fraud investigations. becoming a hero to some of us in the process. but a new report shows that he are participated in the misinformation campaign, illegal voting and violations of the law. investigations he undertook were fewer and less significant than he let on because of course, there is no real evidence of fraud in georgia or anywhere else. but, of course, you can't have voter suppression without fake claims of voter's fraud. republican election officials in counties that were crucial to biden's win have limited their voting options in the senate runoff at a time when tensions are at an all-time high. fewer than the number of georgians that had voted by this time in the general election. imagine how high that number would be without the suppression efforts. joining us is latosha brown. thank you for coming on the show. republicans talk about votes. voter i.d. laws, democrats about voter suppression, isn't it just about how do we stop black people from voting? >> absolu

so far, raffensperger's office has 23 investigators working on 250 open investigations into what the credible claims of illegal voting and election law violations. he said yesterday that they've received specific evidence that groups have solicited voter registrations from ineligible individuals including people who are living out-of-state or those who are dead. among the allegations, one organization, america votes, sending absentee applications to addresses people haven't you lived in since 1994. they sent voter application registrations to new york city. the allegations are specific and frightening. i think it's a very good sign that raf raffensperger's offices trying to gee ahead of this, -- get ahead of this, ahead of the runoffs in early january because really the future of the company falls on these two senate runoffs. maria: yeah. the policy that we will all feel will be dictated by these senate runoffs. even more than that, the safety and security of our elections should really be paramount and should be considered safe. this is why we are doing this every day and looking at

today georgia's republican secretary of state, brad raffensperger, publicly confirmed that he completely agrees with what one of the officials in his office, gabriel sterling, said yesterday in a passionate denunciation of donald trump's dangerous lies. >> and just to let you know, yes, i didn't know what gabriel sterling was going to say yesterday. that had our full support. he spoke with passion and he spoke with truth. and it's about time that more people were out there speaking with truth. >> raffensperger is a republican, he has said he voted for donald trump twice. what gabriel sterling said yesterday was so powerful and sadly rare among republicans, that we are going to show it again. it's very sad that gabriel sterling had to say this. but it is in its way a thing of beauty. >> good afternoon. my name is gabriel sterling. i'm implementation manager for the state of georgia. just so you know, heads up, this will be sort of a two-part press conference today. at the beginning of this, i'm going to do my best to keep it together, because it has all gone too far. all of it. joe did i

last week, schwarzenegger made a call to raffensperger letting him know that the industry demands tod status. >> you will go down in history of being a good guy. a good public servant. >> governor, honestly, we're just trying to run an election. just follow the process, follow the law. and we didn't set out to earn any awards. we don't really -- we'd love to make elections boring again. >> i just spoke with governor schwarzenegger. hey, governor, welcome back. it's so good to see you. >> it's great to see you. thank you for having me. >> let's talk about democracy action heroes. there's a letter that you sent out to election officials. i want to quote from it in september. and you said this, the united states gave me everything i have. and i believe it's my duty to repay the kindness of this country every day of my life. everything i achieved. my body building success, my movie roles, my investments. my governorship, my family, would have been impossible anywhere but america. so, what did you decide to do? >> well, just like you said, i felt strongly that i should invest in our democ

georgia secretary of state, brad raffensperger, blasting what he calls massive amounts of misinformation, and going on to say this. >> there are those who are exploiting the emotions of many trump supporters with fantastic claims, half-truths, misinformation, and, frankly, they are misleading the president as well, apparently. >> remember, these are republicans. georgia election official, gabriel sterling, even more blunt. >> the ridiculous things claimed in some of these lawsuits are just that. they're insanity. it's fever dream, made up, internet cabal. i can't -- how ever many words i can use to say how crazy some of these things are. >> crazy sounds just about -- that's like the right word to say. crazy. maybe, there's a word, beyond that, that we haven't even come up with. i'll have to figure it out. this is what people have been telling you, for years. saying, on this network, and then, all of a sudden, here you go. now, republicans have to come out and admit it. before, it was, oh, yeah, cnn. no, we're telling the you truth. and now, you're dealing with the same stuff that we had

trump has called secretary of state brad raffensperger an enemy of the people.en brad raffensperger and his wife have received death threats and they are not alone. a top election official in the state, a republican pleaded for the rhetoric to stop. >> stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence. someone is going to get hurt. someone is going to get shot. someone is going to get killed. >> that official, gabriel sterling now has police protections around his homes due to threats he has received as well. a young election worker in georgia accused of treason found a noose left outside his house and members of his family election officials say have received death threats as well. both republican georgia senators up for re-election and the trump campaign have now condemned the threats, the white house press secretary too have condemned them but so far silence from the president himself. this just didn't happening in georgia. a front line investigation reports that election officials and poll workers in as many as five states have faced threats. michig

he attacked your governor and attacked the republican going to be raffensperger a friends of urs.lled the election rigged. set the record state if you would. >> the first part was very encouraging to listen to the president champion the conservative strategies of senators loeffler and perdue and the importance for them being re-elected and the second message was sqerconcerning to m. i think the fanning of the flames puts us in a negative misinformation. mountains of misinformation are not helping the process but only hurting it. i worry we are handing off a playbook to the democrats for january 5th and certainly i can't think of a worse playbook to hand off over the last four or five weeks to the democrats. >> reporter: it seems as though many georgia republicans at lea least. >> i believe a little something shady going on. >> i don't believe 100% what is going on or how they count the votes or whatever. it's confusing but i don't trust anything any more. >> reporter: obviously, gwynne this what is your message to your fellow trump supporters in georgia? is joe biden the president

secretary of state brad raffensperger confirmed that the second recount will be done by wednesday at paper ballot system for being accountable, but that didn't stop the president from calling governor brian kemp, quote, hapless, for not using emergency powers to overrule his secretary of state. trump's instructions were, quote, get it done. in response, a kemp spokesman said in part, quote, georgia law prohibits the governor from interfering in elections. the secretary of state, who is an elected constitutional officer, has oversight over elections that cannot be overridden by executive order. in other words, they're following the law. the continued conflict has the gop concerned about the impact on voter turnout for a january 5th runoff that will determine control of the u.s. senate. raffensperger talked about the president's misinformation campaign, and he urged voters to disregard it. watch. >> there are those who exploit the emotions of many trump supporters with fantastic claims, half-truths, misinformation, and, frankly, they are misleading the president as well, apparently. up

. >> the georgia secretary of state, brad raffensperger, has been a vocal critic of president trump'sctions since the election and he criticized you in an op-ed that mentioned the 2018 governor's race, wrote writing, miss abrams refused to concede, announced she would launch major litigation against georgia's election system and began collecting hundreds of millions of dollars from donors convinced the election had been stolen from her, unquote. what is your response to that? >> first and foremost, he has never listened to what i said. i said that the election was stolen from georgia voters because under the previous secretary of state, brian kemp, millions of voters were -- 1 1.4 million voters were punched from the rolls. thousands were rejected through a absentee ballots and provisional ballot process that was not equal. he is complaining about the lawsuits we filed that successfully fixed those challenges. my mission has been very clear since i was 17 and that is expanding access to the right to vote for those who are entitled to vet in our country, and especially in the state of

if you've got integrity, brad raffensperger certainly has it.were five of the 236 legislatures that got 100% rating from faith and freedom, a very conservative group when he was in the legislature in '18. we're both conservatives, but we also believe in following the rule of law and the oath to our state and our country. >> i appreciate your time, senator. thank you. >> thank you. >>> and next joe biden speaking privately to a group of people, he thought it was private but then this tape of his conversation was leaked. >> i also don't think we should get too far ahead of ourselves on dealing with police reform. >> and then the other side of the story. florida law enforcement now releasing its footage of the moments before the raid on that former covid data scientist's home. you'll see. when it comes to autism, finding the right words can be tough. finding understanding doesn't have to be. together, we can create a kinder, more inclusive world for the millions of people on the autism spectrum. go to autismspeaks.org >>> new tonight. leaked audio

you have governor kemp, who has not gone as far as secretary of state, brad raffensperger, has in saying this election was done well. it was done with integrity. and the vote count that shows biden winning is accurate. you know? governor kemp has -- has repeated some of the concerns that president trump has raised about, you know, the integrity of the election. so have senator loeffler and senator perdue. and again, that doublespeak is why there is concern that, as they question the integrity of the election, they could, also, be depressing turnout in this runoff. >> tia, i also want to ask you, as you talk to voters in georgia. specifically, republican voters. how are they interpreting what we are understanding as mixed messaging coming from the republican party? >> so, i and my colleagues have been working hard to make sure we're talking to voters. and we're hearing both. one of my colleagues wrote an article, just today, and there were republican voters he spoke to who said, you know, i'm not happy with the way the election is done. i do think it -- president trump was robbed. but, i'