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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Biden, Trump Focus on Pennsylvania; Trump Suggests He May Fire Dr. Fauci in Second Term. Aired 3-3:30p ET
Aired November 02, 2020 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Now, the president rushed to the defense of his supporters, saying they did nothing wrong, saying the FBI should instead be focused on Antifa.
[15:00:04]
Former Vice President Joe Biden also responded, saying the nation has never before had a president who would condone what took place on that Texas highway -- Brianna.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Josh, thank you.
And Jake Tapper picks up our coverage now.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Ah, the election music is back.
Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.
It is election eve. At this time tomorrow, we will be standing by for the first results from this historic presidential election.
Right now, President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden are making their final pitches to voters in key states, Biden right now campaigning in Ohio and Pennsylvania, while President Trump is holding five rallies in North Carolina, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.
These events that the president is throwing are reckless and large events, with no distancing or masks required, as health officials suggest, or in some states even mandate.
The closing arguments from President Trump are not largely focused on the economy or his accomplishments as the incumbent. Instead, in the height of the spread of the coronavirus, the president is suggesting, if he wins, he will fire the nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, in his second term.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AUDIENCE: Fire Fauci! Fire Fauci! Fire Fauci! Fire Fauci!
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Don't tell anybody, but let me wait until a little bit after the election, please. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: The crowd there was chanting "Fire Fauci."
It's all part of the president's campaign strategy to deny the serious -- of the virus. His son even denies the dead bodies, the president undermining health care experts, holding events where the virus has literally been spread, incredibly reckless.
The nation, of course, is on edge, as the United States prepares to pick its president. President Trump also defending behavior today by some of his supporters whose caravan the Biden campaign says surrounded a Biden bus on the highway in Texas and attempted to slow the bus down and run it off the road, the Biden campaign says.
The incident is being investigated by the FBI, so we do not really have any definitive idea of what happened or who did it, beyond the viral videos out there. But the president is backing his supporters as patriots who did nothing wrong.
Perhaps the most worrisome development of all however, President Trump is now signaling that he may very well prematurely and falsely declare victory on election night, a Trump adviser tells CNN, even if votes are still being counted and the outcome of the election is unclear.
One of the president's top campaign aides Sunday seemed to refer to the normal process of counting vote-by-mail or absentee ballots as -- quote -- "stealing the election," which, of course, it is not.
President Trump has denied that he has plans to prematurely declare victory, but he is openly threatening legal action to stop the counting of legally cast vote-by-mail ballots in places such as Pennsylvania. Democrats have disproportionately voted by mail and early voting during the pandemic, so we should note that.
This seems, therefore, a clear attempt to disenfranchise voters who may not be Trump voters.
One of the president's former top White House advisers will be on the show today to rebut what he calls a Trump chaos strategy.
CNN's Ryan Nobles is at the Trump rally in the Wilkes-Barre Scranton airport in Pennsylvania right now.
And, Ryan, this is a crucial commonwealth the president is hoping to win again. What is the president's closing message right now that you're hearing?
RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's interesting, Jake, that you were just talking about the president and his advisers preparing an opportunity for the president to maybe declare victory before all the votes were counted, because, at this rally here just outside Scranton, the president again alluded to what he claimed would be the illegal counting of votes in Pennsylvania. He said that the only way he would lose Pennsylvania is if the race
were fixed. And this is before any of the votes have been counted at this point. And they're still being collected across the commonwealth and, of course, a whole day of voting that still is yet to come.
But, to your point, Jake, Pennsylvania is enormously important for President Trump. In fact, he told this crowd here today that, if he wins Pennsylvania, that means he wins the whole thing.
And when you look at the various paths to 270 electoral votes for both the president and Joe Biden, most of them include Pennsylvania. And that's why the president has dedicated most of his travel throughout the campaign to Pennsylvania. It's a state he's been to as many as any of the states on the map.
And it's also a state that he's spending here on the last day of campaigning, one of five visits he will make up to four different states across the country.
And the other point we will make, Jake, about his travel is the places that he is going to in Pennsylvania. He's not spending too much time in the suburbs of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, but instead going to the more rural blue-collar parks of the commonwealth, spending a lot of time here in the Scranton area, which is, of course, Joe Biden's boyhood home, but also make a trek to Erie in the northeastern part of the state as well.
[15:05:10]
That's where they know the Trump voters are, and that's where they're hoping to get them out to vote tomorrow. And it's also important to know that the Republicans in general believe that the closing day of the campaign, Election Day itself, is where the bulk of their voters will cast their ballots.
Republicans feel comfortable casting ballots in person and on Election Day. So, while there have been millions of votes that have already been cast, including here in Pennsylvania, the Trump campaign believes it needs to happen for them on Election Day, which is why you see the president making this last-minute push here in Pennsylvania -- Jake.
TAPPER: All right, Ryan Nobles, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
Today, the Biden campaign is also barnstorming the crucial Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which Donald Trump narrowly won in 2016 by just over 44,000 votes. That's less than 1 percent of the tally in Pennsylvania in 2016.
It's a key part of Biden's mission to rebuild what the Democrats once referred to as their blue wall.
CNN's Jessica Dean is live in Monaca, Pennsylvania, outside Pittsburgh where Biden just finished speaking.
Jessica, Biden needs to flip a handful of states to beat President Trump and focus -- he is focusing quite a bit on Pennsylvania yesterday and today.
JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's exactly right, Jake, the Biden campaign and Vice President Biden himself very laser-focused on Pennsylvania in these closing hours of this election.
Vice President Biden just wrapping up here. We're in Beaver County, which actually went pretty overwhelmingly for President Trump back in 2016. And he was here to really talk to union workers. That was the really the tailored message that he was delivering.
The Biden campaign really sees Pennsylvania as representative of their larger strategy across the country, which is kind of bringing together this coalition of voters, union workers, union households being part of that, but also black and Latino voters, suburban women, white working-class voters.
They want to bring all of these people in, along with lifelong Democrats, and then expand their base as well.
Here's Vice President Biden from earlier today. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Tomorrow, we have an opportunity to put an annual presidency that's divided this nation.
Tomorrow, we can put an end to a president that has failed to protect this nation. And, tomorrow, we can put an end to a president who has fanned the flames of hate all across this country.
The power to change the country is in your hands. I don't care how much Donald Trump tries. There's nothing, nothing he's going to do to stop the people in this station from voting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: And, Jake, the Biden campaign knows, if they win Pennsylvania, that makes President Trump's past reelection all but impossible, which also explains all the time they're spending here.
And, to that end, we just learned recently that Vice President Biden will travel once again tomorrow to Scranton, his hometown, and back to Philadelphia in the final hours to get out the vote.
TAPPER: And, Jessica, President Obama is also out there campaigning for Biden today. He's in Florida and Georgia.
We saw Senator Kamala Harris in North Carolina yesterday. Does the Biden campaign really think they have a chance to pick some of these Sunbelt and Southern states?
DEAN: They very much believe they have that chance, Jake. They gave a briefing this afternoon, their campaign manager saying they feel really confident about these early voting numbers that they're seeing, the data behind those early voting numbers. And, as evidenced by that, you mentioned President Obama's travel,
Kamala Harris' travel. They're sending Jill Biden back into North Carolina tomorrow again, on Election Day. So, they really believe that they can expand the map here.
And also, to that, and, in the briefing, they talked a lot about the confidence they have in the fact that they have multiple paths to victory, they believe, and the Sunbelt states really figuring into that heavily as well -- Jake.
TAPPER: All right, Jessica Dean traveling with the Biden campaign, thanks so much.
This has been a remarkably stable race for months, at least when it comes to polling. But, of course, as we learned in 2016, polls are snapshots and assessments. They're not vote totals. They are not facts. But anything can happen.
CNN political director David Chalian joins me now live from the Magic Wall.
So, David, just hours to go, and, at this point, Joe Biden appears, according to polling, to have more possible paths to the White House than Donald Trump does. Can you walk us through Biden's possible paths to the victory -- to victory?
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, Jake, this is the 2016 map.
And notice all the campaign trail activity today you were just talking about with Ryan and Jessica, it's all in this Great Lakes region, what you called the former blue wall that Donald Trump busted through in 2016 to create this map.
Let me show you why Joe Biden thinks rebuilding that blue wall is his best path. Take a look at the poll of polls in Wisconsin, 52 percent Biden, 42 percent Trump, Michigan, 51 Biden, 42 Trump, and a narrower slight edge in Pennsylvania, which is why you see the president so focused on Pennsylvania, as well as Joe Biden, because look what happens on this map if we flip, Pennsylvania to Biden, Michigan to Biden, Wisconsin to Biden.
[15:10:10]
Just rebuilding that blue wall makes Joe Biden president without anything in the Sunbelt you were just mentioning.
TAPPER: And Donald Trump -- let's make it very, very clear, President Trump could win reelection. What states are key for him to do that?
CHALIAN: Yes, take a look.
I'm going to now show you a different map here on our road to 270, Jake. All the solid red states are red. The solid blue states are blue. But those that are leaning one direction or the other right now or true toss-ups are yellow. So, what is Donald Trump's path? Well, his path starts with keeping
the states that were his last time, Arizona, Texas, keeping that Republican, keeping Florida. These are all battleground states right now, all toss-up states, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, even Iowa. He had a good poll out of Iowa this weekend. He needs to get all of that.
That gets him to 258. So he still needs, at that point, one, at least one, if not two, of that former blue wall that he had. Pennsylvania alone would do it. You know, he would like Michigan added well. If Pennsylvania did not happen, Michigan alone would do it. So, Michigan or Pennsylvania, holding everything else, would do it.
But here's the problem. Look at the polling right now in all of those Sunbelt states, the averages, Jake. In North Carolina, I mean, these are margin of error races, 50-46, Florida, 49-46, Georgia, 49, Biden, 46, Arizona 50-45.
These are averages. They are margin of error. There's no doubt they could all tip Donald Trump's way. He still would need to recreate some success in that former reliable Democratic territory in the Great Lakes, Jake.
TAPPER: And if you go back to 2016, he had the wind at his back last time. Hillary Clinton had a lot of headwinds because of the FBI investigation being reopened and more.
It doesn't feel like he has that right now with coronavirus. But we will see. It's up to the voters.
David Chalian, thanks so much.
And President Trump keeps saying some legal ballots should not be counted. Does this strategy of disenfranchising voters in the final hours help him, or does it hurt him?
President Trump's road to 270 could hinge on two key states. What's happening on the ground right now in Arizona and Florida? We will go there.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:16:47]
TAPPER: In our 2020 lead today: More than 95 million ballots have been cast in this election so far, 95 million. That's 70 percent of the ballots cast in 2016.
And with rising COVID-19 cases across the country, there are two other factors that brought many Americans to the polls early and in person, instead of voting by mail. One, Democrats shifted their strategy, encouraging in person voting, after people of color and young voters had their absentee ballots rejected at higher rates.
And, two, many Americans did not trust the U.S. Postal Service to deliver their ballots on time.
Let's discuss.
Jeff, let me start with you.
What does the sheer volume of early votes tell you?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, tells us there is a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of interest in voting early for this race.
But it doesn't necessarily tell us much beyond that. Republicans certainly have gained over the last few weeks or so with Democrats, who really wanted to get out early on and vote. But what the Democratic operatives I talk to you right now say, look, we need to focus on the people who have not yet voted.
We need to focus on the tens of millions of people who could still turn in their absentee ballots, who've requested ballots who have not yet turned them in. So, right now, there is an urgent really all hands on deck here in critical battleground Ohio, Pennsylvania, other states, to, A, get those ballots in, and, if not, get people to vote tomorrow.
So, this is not a time when Democratic operatives are sitting around and pleased at the fact that 93 million Americans have voted. They're trying to find the others who have not yet. And without that traditional field organization that is always present in every Democratic race, there is a little bit of uncertainty if they will be able to reach those voters who may have other things to do tomorrow, and not cast their ballots.
TAPPER: And, Abby, all eyes are on Pennsylvania, where officials are not going to start counting the more than two million mail-in ballots there until Election Day.
President Trump has demanded a final total by tomorrow, but votes are always counted after Election Day. What is the Trump strategy here?
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the president has been pretty clear that the strategy is going to be to try to delegitimize any ballots that are counted -- and I'm not even talking about ballots that are received after Election Day, ballots that are counted after Election Day.
That is a strategy that really has no parallel in American history, and, if it's carried out, I think would really be -- it would really be something that is shocking and historical in nature.
The president is insisting that this all be wrapped up in a tight bow on Election Day, when there is no history of that really happening. And we know already that that's not going to happen in the state of Pennsylvania in particular.
One of the things that we will be looking out for is to what extent their legal strategy shows up and how aggressive it is. They have already tried in some states, like in Texas, to try to invalidate legally cast ballots that were cast through drive-through polling centers.
Those are the kinds of efforts that I think Democrats are looking out for all across the map to see what efforts are being made, if any, to try to invalidate illegally cast ballots that may not have been counted before Election Day.
[15:20:07]
TAPPER: And, Jeff, a senior Trump campaign adviser told CNN's Jim Acosta on Sunday that the Trump campaign plans to be very aggressive on election night, and that the president is prepared to declare victory if he's even close to the 270 electoral votes needed to win reelection.
Now, the president's denying this, but he's still very clearly threatening legal action.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think it's a terrible thing when ballots could be collected after an election. We're going to go in the night of. As soon as that election is over, we're going in with our lawyers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: What happens if this ends up in the court's hands?
ZELENY: Well, Jake, that is an open question here.
It depends, of course, how tight these elections are. It depends what states they're in. But the reality is, we could be heading into unchartered waters here, if there are multiple recounts in various states.
So we should be very clear about this. The president does not declare the victor here. He is a participant in this presidential election. The American voters have a say in this. And elections are conducted state by state at local levels here. So he must sit back tomorrow and watch this proceed.
He can do whatever speech he would like from the White House. But he does not declare himself the winner. That is done by Republican and Democratic elected officials across this country.
But one thing we should point out, Jake, the president yesterday was saying that some of these counts will be slow in states like Pennsylvania and Michigan. The reality is, Republican legislatures in these states did not pass laws to allow election officials to open ballots and start counting ballots earlier.
So, it has nothing to do with those election officials. In Florida, for example, a Republican-led state by the governor, they have long had absentee ballots. So, they are -- have much easier rules in place to allow their election officials to process these. Several other states do not, because they were following the direction of the president, who was opposed to early voting.
So, that is what is going on tomorrow, perhaps into Wednesday, into Thursday. It is not the fault of the states. There's nothing wrong that is happening if the winner is not declared.
The Electoral College, of course, as devised, the history of this country, was to declare the winner a month from now and send their victor to Washington. So, this is nothing that is unusual if the victor is not declared tomorrow or Wednesday or even Thursday. Let's just take a breath.
TAPPER: Yes, I agree.
Obviously, we didn't know the winner in 2000 election night. We didn't know the winner on 2004 on election night.
ZELENY: Right.
TAPPER: Abby, President Trump is clearly trying to undermine vote- counting, undermine democracy, really, in the final moments of this campaign.
But, even putting that aside, there is still a viable path for President Trump to win this election, regardless of his efforts to cheat.
White House communications director Alyssa Farah says the silent majority will prove polls wrong once again. What do you think?
PHILLIP: Look, the president has a shot to win this. He is competitive in a lot of the states that he would need to win in order to get to 200 electoral votes. That remains true.
And if Alyssa Farah is correct, and the silent majority is going to show up on Election Day, then that -- the president ought to be able to win fair and square, without disqualifying ballots of the other side, because his people will all show up.
One of the advantages that the president has is that he won the last time around. So, he really has to hold on to a lot of states that have Republican DNA states, that are competitive this time, but typically vote Republican. So that's a realistic map for President Trump.
And it puts him in a decent position tomorrow night to be competitive with Joe Biden.
TAPPER: Yes.
And a reminder that, in 2016, he was saying, when he thought he was going to lose, that it was all because the fix was in. And then he won, and then, suddenly, he didn't make that complaint again.
PHILLIP: And yet he still won and claimed that there were three million invalid votes.
TAPPER: Right. I mean, it's--
PHILLIP: So, it almost doesn't matter what the scenario is here.
TAPPER: Yes, it's pretty obvious what's going on here.
Abby Phillip and Jeff Zeleny, thanks so much.
Our special coverage of election night in America starts at 4:00 p.m. Eastern tomorrow night right here on CNN.
Breaking news: Any minute, we are expecting a judge's decision that could impact an effort by Republicans to throw out nearly 127,000 ballots.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:29:28]
TAPPER: In our 2020 lead: Florida was crucial to President Trump's victory in 2016. And with 29 electoral votes up for grabs, that swing state is crucial again for Donald Trump and even for Joe Biden.
But, right now, the race there is incredibly close. A CNN poll of polls in Florida shows the candidates are virtually neck and neck.
CNN's Drew Griffin joins me now from the capital, Tallahassee.
And, Drew, already almost 94 percent of the total number of people who voted in Florida in 2016 have already, early, cast their ballots in this election.
What are hearing from voters there today?
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: I mean, it's amazing, the enthusiasm just to vote.
