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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Interview with Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Kathy Boockvar; Trump Holds Rally in Michigan; Trump on Defense in Campaign. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired October 27, 2020 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[15:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

And we begin today with the 2020 lead.

Exactly one week until Election Day, and the presidential candidate events today are revealing the state of the race and the strategies from President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

At any moment, President Trump will hold his first of three rallies today, all happening in states that President Trump carried in 2016, states he hopes to hold on to this election, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nebraska.

During an escalating pandemic, these rallies are, of course, potential super-spreader events, the way they're being held and no masks required, no distancing crowds gathering in tight groups.

Meantime, Joe Biden is looking to expand the map from states he needs to win to states he would like to win, focusing today on Georgia, a state his campaign would like to turn blue, after President Trump carried it by 5 percentage points in 2016.

Let's begin today with CNN's Kaitlan Collins.

And, Kaitlan, President Trump clearly playing something of a defensive role today, trying to hold on to the states that he flipped.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake, you can see the priorities in the last several days for Joe Biden, and, of course, President Trump really today with these three stops that he's making, as he is going on this swing over the next few days.

He's not actually even coming back to the White House tonight and is instead overnighting in Las Vegas, before making more stops tomorrow. And so, of course, he's starting in Michigan. That has been a priority of the campaigns.

And it's notable to see how the president really is trying to hang on to the stage, where he enjoyed a good lead at other times in the race, certainly in 2016. And now they are just desperately trying to make sure the president

holds onto his base there, but also, of course, those middle-of-the- road voters that he had in 2016 that they are trying to make sure that he gets again in 2020, though, of course, the question is, what's the closing message that the president is offering to these voters in the final days on the trail?

And does this final stretch, where he is doing multiple rallies a day, help him the way it did in 2016, given the dramatically different way that people are voting because of the pandemic this time around?

TAPPER: And, Kaitlan, the president right now is about to hold this rally in Michigan, which just yesterday hit its highest number of coronavirus cases in a single day from the very beginning of the pandemic.

Of course, this pandemic is not stopping the president from pushing forward with what can only be called reckless rallies and inaccurate information about the pandemic.

COLLINS: Yes, inaccurate, because he's saying things like we're rounding the corner on coronavirus, when, obviously, Jake, that's not true.

I mean, in the last seven days in the United States, we have seen over half-a-million Americans get coronavirus, and yet the president is trying to defend his response while he's on the trail and insisting that he has done the right thing, like he did before he left the White House today.

Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Voters are judging me on a lot of things. And one of the things we have done a really good job on is COVID.

We would have millions of people, millions right now, we would have millions of people dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Now, obviously, Jake, we would not have millions of people dead unless there were no mitigation efforts. And that's what the models showed. The president doesn't mention that when he says that time and time again.

And he's talking about how he thinks that they did a good job on coronavirus, which raises the question then, why is the president complaining that the media is covering the pandemic too much, which he says is intended to hurt him?

That's been a common refrain of his on the campaign trail the last few days, when, in reality, his political aides know that his handling of the pandemic has not been seen well by voters who think that he's been incredibly dismissive of it. And that's why he doesn't want it as covered as much in the media.

TAPPER: There is no respected health authority that thinks he's done a good job. And we have, according to official numbers, the United States, the highest death count and the highest infection rate in the entire world.

So, I mean, what he's saying is just completely contrary to the facts.

Kaitlan Collins, thanks so much.

Joe Biden laying out his closing message during a speech in Georgia this afternoon, with a few digs at President Trump, but attempting an overarching message of unity and trying to find common ground and trying to heal divisions in this country.

CNN's Jessica Dean is live for us in Warm Springs, Georgia, where Biden delivered that speech.

And, Jessica, this is similar to how Biden started his campaign months ago. Why are they closing with this argument?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, in short, this is how Joe Biden sees the race. This is what Joe Biden thinks is on the ballot in just a few days.

You mentioned this is -- he's been incredibly consistent. And he started off this race talking about a battle for the soul of the nation, which some people said may have been naive or melodramatic, but he has kept at that messaging all along and been incredibly consistent about it.

He came here to Warm Springs, where FDR, of course, had his Little White House and would come for the healing waters to treat his polio. And Joe Biden talked about how he wanted to talk today about healing a nation that is suffering both from the coronavirus pandemic.

And he did talk about that and how, if he were elected, he would attack the pandemic and try to get it under control, but also about healing the division that this nation faces.

[15:05:03]

Again, that is messaging we have heard from him since the very beginning. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A president who is not in it for himself, but for others, a president who doesn't divide us, but unites us, a president who appeals not to the worst in us, but to the best, a president cares less about his TV ratings, and more about the American people, a president looks not to settle scores, but to find solutions, a president guided not by wishful thinking, but by science, reason, and fact.

That's the kind of president I hope to be. (END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Joe Biden also quoting Pope Francis, warning against phony populism, taking a swipe there at Donald Trump.

We're also in Georgia, Jake, a state that a Democrat hasn't carried since 1992. And the fact that Biden is here so shortly before the election shows just how seriously the campaign is taking this state and how much of a chance they think they have.

Also worth noting, Jill Biden has been here twice in the last month. Kamala Harris was here just a few days ago.

TAPPER: And, Jessica, just FYI, so I know Joe Biden quoted from Pope Francis in the encyclical from earlier this month. And there was a line that Pope Francis said that Joe Biden said, which was something about how every politician needs to ask themselves: Why am I here? What is my aim?

The Trump campaign just took that clip, "Why am I here, what is my aim?" without the inclusion of the fact that he was quoting the pope, and has pushed it online to try to make Biden seem out of it?

It is just -- I mean, the lies that the Trump campaign is saying, even involving quotes from the pope, are just absolutely stunning.

DEAN: Right. I mean, I was sitting right there when he said it, and you're exactly right. He was quoting Pope Francis, essentially saying, we should all have motivation and know why we're here.

That is taken completely, Jake, out of context.

TAPPER: Yes, I would quote Joseph Welch, but I think we all know the answer. Thank you so much, Jessica Dean. Appreciate it.

More than 65 million Americans have already made their choice for president. That's almost half the total number of ballots cast in 2016. And we still have one week until Election Day, as CNN's Pamela Brown reports for us now in our latest installment of "Making It Count."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Unprecedented early voter turnout continues in the final week ahead of the election, more than 65 million votes cast nationwide, inching closer to half of the total ballots cast in 2016.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Swipe it through.

BROWN: Still, millions of mail-in ballots have not been returned, and the deadline is fast approaching.

Today is the final day the United States Postal Service recommends sending mail-in ballots in 27 states. For many voters, at this point, it may already be better to use a ballot box or bring the ballot to an election office.

SHERRILYN IFILL, PRESIDENT, NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND: Because of the increase in absentee ballots, we should expect that we will need time for votes to be counted after November 3.

BROWN: While many states allow mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted days after the election, some states have stricter deadlines.

In Wisconsin, a crucial swing state, mail-in ballots must be received by Election Day to count. The Supreme Court rejected a Democratic attempt to allow mail-in votes postmarked by Election Day to be counted up to six days after the election there.

But it's an opinion written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh that is getting attention. It says states -- quote -- "want to avoid the chaos and suspicions of impropriety that can ensue if thousands of absentee ballots flow in after Election Day and potentially flip the results of an election."

The language mirrors President Trump's rhetoric about calling a winner on election night.

TRUMP: I want to see the results of the election on November 3.

BROWN: While Trump's own administration officials say it's OK for the results to take more time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On November 3, we might not know the outcome of our election, and that's OK.

BROWN: The president is taking to Twitter this morning to cast doubt on that, saying in a tweet that has been labeled as misleading: "Must have final total on November 3."

So far, millions of mail-in votes give Democrats significant leads over Republicans in key states. But Republicans have made up ground in, in person early voting in battleground Florida, Nevada and North Carolina.

Still, Republicans must place their bets on a blockbuster Election Day turnout.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: And our thanks to Pamela Brown for that.

Let's go to President Trump right now. He's speaking in Lansing, Michigan.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: And I think we're up a lot more. You know, they give you the fake polls. I think we're up a lot more. We're going to have a great red wave, people that want to go out and vote, vote.

[15:10:00]

They want to go out, and they want to touch. They want to vote. It's a great red wave. It's happening in Florida. We're up in Florida, up four, up four.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: I'm watching these guys, the way they talk. The poll -- they're down 25 in Michigan.

I said, no, we're going to win Michigan. No. No, I kid when I say 25, but they put numbers. You know, they're called suppression, suppression polls. They make you, like, feel badly so you say to your wife or you say to your husband, darling, let's go out to dinner and then we will come back. We love our president. But the polls say he can't win.

Well, right now, we're leading in almost everywhere, the real -- we're leading almost everywhere.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Now, I got to say, I'm working my ass off here.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: This is sleepy Joe. The guy goes to his basement. He's got another lid. He goes to the basement. The lid, right? That's the garbage can. They put a lid on you.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: Yesterday, we had three big ones, really big. In Pennsylvania, it was incredible. The crowds were incredible, like this. They are all packed. They got people outside. I see people on the streets. It's crazy.

I always say to my people, why don't you just get a bigger airport? Get a bigger -- well, these are better than the arenas, because our rallies are bigger than they have ever been, and the arenas, even if it's 18,000 people, we have had 40, 45, 50.

We -- you can't hold them. And you know what's nice? You get out of the plane, you say a few words, you go back to the plane, you say bye- bye, vote for me. But that's actually what Democrats do. They say, vote for me, and they're lovely to you for a few months before the election, and after the election, it's -- they're gone.

And nobody has done for Michigan what I have. You have car plants being built all over.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: And you didn't have a plant built in 42 years. You have them all over. I tell Japan, I tell Germany, no, no, we're not interested. Go and build plants.

And I always suggest Michigan, because I have to tell you, I think of cars, I think of Michigan. When I got the man of the year, I got man of the year in Michigan a long time ago, like 12 years ago. Nothing to do with politics. They wrote man of the year. I came here and I gave a big lecture on the fact -- I said, Mexico is stealing your plants. They're going to Canada, they're going to -- you lost 32 percent of your car production.

I said, what the hell is going on? It turned out to be quite a controversial acceptance, but I felt that. It's probably the number one reason that I'm standing here is, because of trade. And have we turned that around.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Seven days from now, we're going to win the great state of Michigan.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: And we're going to win four more years in the White House.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: And, by the way, there has never been a campaign -- there has never been a campaign in the history of this country -- first of all, there's never been a movement like this. There's not -- but there's never been a campaign.

And we had the record -- the record was four years ago -- that has had more enthusiasm or bigger crowds. There's never been. Don't forget, they may have a crowd that's a big crowd the night before an election, but not really. There's never been -- this is -- thank you.

AUDIENCE: We love you! We love you! We love you! We love you! We love you! We love you! We love you! We love you! We love you!

TRUMP: Thank you. That's really nice.

A phrase I really -- I say -- I don't think they will find it, because look at all of them back there. Look at them.

(BOOING)

TRUMP: Oh. Hello, John Roberts. He has been really nice to us.

John Roberts has been very nice to us.

Thank you, John.

But, John, there's never been a phrase "We love you" in the history of politics, I don't care where you go. And it happens.

And I love you, too. I do. I love you, too. That's why we're here.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

But there's never been anything like this in terms of enthusiasm, in terms of crowds.

I saw Obama this morning. He had a couple of cars, they're honking their horn.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: And then I saw sleepy Joe. So, he came out yesterday, right? And you're going to see this. He came out yesterday, and he made a speech, and then they had to rip him off the stage, because he had lost it, because he's gone.

Once again, Michigan is going to answer the call of history and show the world that sleepy Joe Biden, his dark money donors and his corrupt special interests -- and, by the way, there's never been anything like this.

[15:15:00]

He goes into a country, and the family walks out with millions of dollars, millions and millions of dollars.

(BOOING)

TRUMP: And then the press isn't allowed to report. The press doesn't report it. They don't cover it.

"New York Times," "The Washington Post," they don't cover it.

(BOOING)

TRUMP: CNN -- I introduced a great justice of the Supreme Court last night, right?

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: They say it's the most important thing a president can do. I say maybe military, but regardless. We have rebuilt our military like nobody would ever believe.

But you know what? It's one of the most important, especially because this turns the court. They a whole thing, most important thing in 50 years.

And CNN and MSDNC didn't cover. They didn't cover. They wouldn't cover. They just couldn't -- even though the ratings go through the roof.

"60 Minutes" had very good ratings the other night, a fake report, but the ratings go through the roof. But they didn't cover my introduction. Can you believe that? My introduction of a woman that is going to be there hopefully for 50 years, as far as I'm concerned.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: And, last night, we did. We made history, and we confirmed Amy Coney Barrett to the United States Supreme Court.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: And Justice Barrett will defend our rights, will defend our liberties and our God-given freedom. She's going to be fantastic.

And she's a terrific person.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Joe Biden -- Kamala. Do you like Kamala? Do you like her to be your first vice president?

(BOOING)

TRUMP: If he gets elected, three weeks into his presidency, they will say, Kamala, are you ready? Let's go.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: That's why they are talking about the -- that's why they are talking about the 25th Amendment, right? Three weeks. Three weeks and Joe is shot. Let's go, Kamala. You ready? Most liberal person in the Senate.

She makes Bernie Sanders look like a serious conservative. This will not be -- we can't let it happen. This will not be the first woman president. You're going to have a woman president. This will not be the first woman president.

That's a lot of cameras back there. Yes, that's right. They're all screaming Ivanka. You know, Ivanka, she is great. She just loves -- she is out campaigning today, doing really well.

But she could be very happy. Her husband is here, Jared Kushner. He is making peace in the Middle East.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: He's here. Where is Jared? Where is Jared? We have got to find him. He's never around too much. He is always sort of -- he doesn't want any accolades.

But he's done something nobody else has done. He's leading peace in the Middle East, without blood.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Find Jared. He doesn't want to be outside. He's Mr. Inside.

But he's smart. But Ivanka, she'd be very happy just being home with the kids. And we got her working. And you know who is making a speech today? First lady. She's out in Pennsylvania.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: She's out in Pennsylvania. People love our first lady. Our first lady's doing a great job.

I mean, she got the plague from China. So did I. So did Barron. Barron recovered in about 12 minutes. How you feeling, Barron? What was the problem, Barron? I don't know. I didn't think I had a problem. The doctor told me. He tested -- sir, your son has tested positive.

I see him like 12 seconds later. Doctor, how's he doing? He's all better. Did you give them any -- Doc, did you give him one of those miracle cures? No, sir. He just recovered.

Hey, young kids, they have a very strong immune system. Nobody even knew it. Get your children back to school. Get them back to school.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Your governor is a disaster.

(BOOING)

TRUMP: They got to open up this state.

And she's got to keep her husband away from sailing and fishing. The only one that is free in your state is her husband. No, it's no good. That's no good. You can't do it.

Joe Biden, Kamala Harris. Of course, she has it the reverse. She's got the -- in the Harris -- and he actually said it, didn't he? In the Harris/Biden -- I have a great vice president. And we all do.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: But -- and I want to give him tremendous credit, but I will never say in the Pence/Trump administration. I will never say that.

But he says it. That's because he doesn't have any clue where he is. You saw that?

[15:20:01]

And the radical Democrats want to pack the Supreme Court with far left justices...

(BOOING)

TRUMP: ... who will shred our Constitution, abolish the Second Amendment, terminate religious liberty, shield the violent criminals, and regulate your economy into oblivion.

You will have a depression. If he gets in, he's going to raise your taxes at a level that nobody's ever seen. He is the first candidate I have ever seen who is running on a promise that I will raise your taxes.

I have never heard that one. I have been involved and followed and studied politics for a long time. He will be the first one. I will raise your taxes massively. This would be the biggest tax increase in history. I have never heard of that one before. I like running against that guy.

This election is a matter of economic survival for Michigan. Look what I have done, we have all done together for the state. This state, you're building cars again.

And if your union leaders weren't in the pockets of the Democrats, because we get the vote, but they got these guys that just -- they come to the White House, they're so nice to me, nice to me, but they go for the Democrats every time for a certain reason. Someday, we will talk about it.

But the people, the workers are for us. And the workers are for me.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Biden's plan to abolish the entire U.S. oil industry -- you saw that? -- will cripple our nation and send us into a absolute deep depression.

And you see what he did with fracking. There will be no fracking. There will be no -- he doesn't say it that way. He goes, there will be no fracking. There will be no fracking.

But he said it for like a year. And then he got to Pennsylvania, where we're leading.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: But we're going to put a -- see that big, beautiful screen? We will have it up there, some -- it saves me a lot of words. That screen is great. It costs a fortune.

We only bring it to very important locations, like Michigan.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: But then you can hear it in his own words. You don't say, oh, the president's exaggerated. No, he said no fracking, no fracking, no fracking.

Then he goes to Pennsylvania, a million jobs. Fracking, it's a big part of their economy, a big part of your economy from the standpoint of energy, right, and gasoline. How do you like the gasoline prices at $2, right?

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: It's amazing.

As they go up, you produce fewer and fewer cars. Well, I got you down to the lowest level. You're so lucky I'm president. I'm going to give another major tax cut, after already having passed the largest tax cut in the history of our country. We're giving a very big middle-income tax cut.

Joe Biden spent the last 47 years outsourcing your jobs, opening your borders, and sacrificing American blood and treasure in endless, ridiculous foreign wars, countries you have never even heard up for the most part.

They're all coming back. You know that. They have been coming back. But our soldiers are all coming back. We're all over the place. We're all over the place. We're in places that even the top people in the country have never heard of these places.

Biden was a cheerleader for NAFTA. You got killed by that.

(BOOING)

TRUMP: A catastrophe for the auto industry and for your state. Following NAFTA, one-third of the auto jobs left, and they went to Mexico and Canada. But they went to Mexico.

Biden enthusiastically voted for China's entry into the World Trade Organization, fueling the rise of China on the backs of Michigan workers, what China has done. There has been nothing, nothing, nobody, no country, there has been no country that has ripped us off for 25 years, 30 years, like China.

Hundreds of billions of dollars a year flows into China. And I put big fat, beautiful tariffs on China. We took in tens of billions of dollars. Nobody else did it.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: And when they targeted our farmers, I told the farmers, don't worry about it. And we gave them $28 billion, which is the amount they were targeted. We don't have too many farmers in this group.

We gave him $28 billion, our farmers. Everybody's happy with that. You get about three farmers here. But you got a lot of manufacturers. Remember when Obama said there will be no more manufacturing? You would need a magic wand? Well, we had 700,000 manufacturing jobs. We would need a magic wand.

Altogether, half of all auto manufacturing jobs in Michigan were wiped out -- think of that -- after the Biden-backed NAFTA and China disasters. China became powerful because of the World Trade Organization. It became powerful, a terrible, terrible thing for our country.

[15:25:00]

And then Biden goes around saying, well, no, China is good for us. No, no, no, they haven't been.

How have they been? No, I don't think so good. And then the plague. On top of everything else, we got the plague sent in.

He repeatedly tried to slash Medicare and Social Security. People didn't even know. Decade after decade, Biden has twisted his knife into the back of Michigan workers and workers all over the United States. You don't have to take my word for it. We have Joe on tape. Please roll the tape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: My problem is, I voted for NAFTA. I'm supporting NAFTA, because I think it is a positive thing to do. And I do not pretend to be an expert on international trade matters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trade agreements like NAFTA...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: All right, that's President Trump. And he was running some video now.

So, President Trump in Michigan, his first of three rallies held today during this deadly pandemic.

President Trump will also hold rallies in Wisconsin and Nebraska this evening. All three of these states, the president won in 2016. He's hoping to hold on to this election.

CNN's fact-checker, Daniel Dale, joins us now.

Daniel, a lot of facts that are not facts.

And I know one of your favorites, this Michigan man of the year, which never happened, and yet he constantly claims happen.

(LAUGHTER)

DANIEL DALE, CNN REPORTER: Yes, we have no -- I mean, there's no evidence that that is even a real award, Jake.

(LAUGHTER)

DALE: But any time he goes to Michigan, he claims that he was once named Michigan man of the year. That did not happen.

He claimed that Obama had declared that they will never be manufacturing jobs created. Obama did not say that. Trump claimed that he had brought back 700,000. It's actually a net loss as of September of 164,000 under Trump.

It wasn't even 500,000, let alone 700,000 even before the pandemic. He again suggested, as he does, basically any state he goes to with a Democratic governor, he suggests the governor has the state shut down. He suggested that about Governor Whitmer today.

She doesn't. She lifted her stay-at-home order months ago. He again dismiss polls as suppression polls, suggesting that pollsters are deliberately trying to deflate his supporters. That's just nonsense. That's not happening.

He suggested that Joe Biden has called a so-called lid today, staying in his basement in Delaware. Biden actually traveled to Georgia today. And he said that we're making cars again in Michigan.

We never stopped making cars in Michigan. There were actually records set for U.S. auto sales and the industry was doing well in Detroit in 2016, before Trump.

So this is just part of his speech, Jake, just the first part of his speech, and just lie after lie, false claim after false claim.

TAPPER: All right, Daniel, keep up the good work. Thank you so much. We appreciate it.

With just one week until Election Day, there has been a major decision from the U.S. Supreme Court. Mail-in ballots in Wisconsin will only be counted if they are received by Election Day November 3.

Now, this could be a preview of what's to come in Pennsylvania, now that Republicans are asking the Supreme Court once again to reconsider whether the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania should count ballots received up to three days after Election Day.

Joining us now, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Kathy Boockvar.

Madam Secretary, first, let me get your reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling about Wisconsin.

KATHY BOOCKVAR, PENNSYLVANIA SECRETARY OF THE COMMONWEALTH: Well, thanks for having me on, Jake. Appreciate it.

Well, look, I can't really speak for Wisconsin. What I would say is, look, we very much hope that the Supreme Court does -- continues to do what it did in Pennsylvania, the last round, which was to allow the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision to stand.

And I can tell you, they're very different decisions. Wisconsin involved the federal law, a federal court, Pennsylvania, a state constitution, state court. Pennsylvania has never had a stay in place, whereas Wisconsin did, so very different circumstances.

But I'll tell you, regardless, I just want every voter to get their ballot in today. Ignore the noise, ignore the courts. Get your ballot in today.

TAPPER: Justice Kavanaugh wrote in his opinion that states that require mail-in ballots to be returned on Election Day -- quote -- "want to avoid the chaos and suspicions of impropriety that can ensue if thousands of absentee ballots flow in after Election Day and potentially flip the results of an election."

What was your view of that? I think that was in a footnote by Brett Kavanaugh, Justice Kavanaugh.

BOOCKVAR: Look, I mean, every law -- every state does this differently, right?

I think there's 19 states that allow ballots to be received after Election Day, and then more -- or not -- that allow them to be received after Election Day. Of course, every state requires them to be cast no later than Election Day.

So that's the critical point here. Nobody's voting after Election Day. This is just dealing with COVID-19 COVID-caused mail delays.

So, I think the right decision was made by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. This is a decision that makes sense for today. We were not asking for permanent resolution, just that, this year, for the mail delays, that ballots are going to take a little longer to be received.

[15:30:00]