Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20240712 : comparemela.com

KQED PBS NewsHour July 12, 2024

Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. Consumer cellular. Johnson johnson. Financial Services Firm raymond james. Supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the worlds most pressing problems. Skoll foundation. Org. The lemelson foundation, committed to improving lives through invention in the u. S. And developing countries, on the web at le. Org. Supported by the john dee and Catherine T Macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at mac found. Org. And with the ongoing support of these institutions. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Judy a divided nation is still waiting tonight to learn who will be the next occupant of the white house. The tide has apparently tued in favor of former Vice President joe biden, after the Associated Press put wisconsin and just moments ago, michigan, in his column. That gives him 264 electoral votes, just 6 away from the 270 necessary for victory. But President Trump, with 214 electoral votes, was having none of it. White house correspondent Yamiche Alcindor reports. Yamiche an undecided election, votes still being counted, and President Trump, prematurely claiming victory. A day after polls closed, the president spent the morning casting doubt on the vote tallies from the white house. In a flurry of tweets, he blamed mailin ballots for why he lost leads he had last night in michigan and wisconsin. President trump wrote that his margins there, quote, started to magically disappear as surprise ballot dumps were counted. There is no evidence of that. And twitter hid that post, and a number of others from users, flagging them as misleading. The tweets underscored what the president has long been laying the grndwork for. In a speech at the white house after 2 00 a. M. , he charged that legal mailin balloting was fraudulent. Frankly, we did win this election. So our goal now is to ensure the integrity for the good of this nation. This is a big moment. This is a major fraud on our nation. We want the law to be used in a proper manner. So well be going to the u. S. Supreme court. We want all voting to stop. Yamiche the voting has stopped. Its the counting that continues. And former Vice President joe biden urged his supporters to be calm as the process goes on. Today, he spoke in wilmington, delaware. Im not here to declare that we won. But i am here to report, when the count is finished, we believe we will be the winners. Yamiche the Biden Campaign says it is fully prepared to fight any legal challenge by the Trump Campaign. We have lawyers ready to go, papers ready to go, within an hour of hearing of any step they take. Yamiche legal experts see the potential for litigation coming, largely targeting mailin ballots in michigan, pennsylvania, and wisconsin. Today, the Trump Campaign vowed to request a recount in wisconsin. It also filed lawsuits to stop the counting in michigan and pennsylvania. Campaign officials claim that they are not being given access to the counting sites. Its a charge that state Elections Officials denied. But officials in all those states insisted, the process is playing out as it should. At this point, i ask for patience, out of respect to the will of our voters and the work of our election workers, who are volunteering in communities all across the state. I just feel so confident that every single valid ballot was counted in the state of wisconsin. Yamiche in philadelphia, city commissioners said they are working as fast as they can to tally the votes. If you are going to get it right, and youre going to prevent problems, which jeopardize voters votes, its more important that we do it right than meet artificial deadlines. Yamiche outside, protesters gathered, calling for every ballot to be counted. State senator sharif street, vicechair of the Pennsylvania Democratic party, echoed that demand. I am more concerned, as Governor Wolf has said, about getting an accurate count than getting a quick count. It is incredibly important that we count each and every vote, and that we do so accurately. Yamiche in nearby bucks county, gop chair Patricia Poprik said she is skeptical of ballots counted in cities, but that the loser should concede. I just know theres been problem in the past in the big cities, and i think thats where well be most of having our problems. I think whoever ultimately is found not to have been the winner, i think that person should then concede. But until we know that fact conclusively, i dont think they should. Yamiche pennsylvania Officials Say it will likely be a few days before they have even an unofficial result. But a clearer picture of the next congress is already emerging. I am going back to the senate with a purpose. Youve given me the honor of a lifetime. Yamiche Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell held off his challenger. Republicans also look poised to retain their majority in the senate. In the lower chamber, House Democrats appeared likely to maintain control, but with a sharplreduced majority, ensuring a divided legislative branch no matter who becomes president. Judy we turn now to yamiche outside the white house, and our john yang is again in wilmington, delware. Hello to both of you. Yamiche, what is the president saying right now . What is his campaign saying about the state of this race given the fact that the ap is getting closer, it appears, to being comfortable calling it for joe biden . We dont have other states in yet but it is moving in that direction. Yamiche the president continues to do what no u. S. President has done in history, declare victory prematurely and seek to deal legitimate it delegitimize a u. S. Election. He says he won states that trusted sources say he didnt. He claimed victory several times today. He says he won pennsylvania, North Carolina, georgia, states that havent been called. He says he won michigan, and possibly one arizona. Those are states that have already been called for joe biden. We saw a flood of misinformation. Twitter has been labeling tweet after tweet with labels that say this is information that is not true. If you look at the president s timeline on twitter, it is a collage of labels warning people against listening to the information the president is putting out. I have talked to people who want to see the president win and even they are concerned that the president has gone too far, he is threatening u. S. Democracy and being dangerous. There is really in some ways, the campaign has been more cautious with the president , saying not that he has won completely but he has multiple pathways to get there. They now say he may not announce that he is a victory in the election. That is in some ways remarkable rhetoric coming from the president , but he is doubling down and showing no signs of doing this. Joe is urging patients and saying he feels like he will win, but not saying he has won all the way yet. Judy john, tell us what the Biden Campaign is saying. How are they responding . John you might not be surprised to realizethat they have a different take. As you heard the Vice President , the former Vice President say, they firmly believe that they are on track to win the election. With this call in michigan a few minutes ago, this puts them within six electoral votes of the 270 they need. There are four states outstanding. They feel, or four big states outstanding. Any one of those will put them over the top. They are not so much looking at North Carolina anymore, but georgia, nevada, pennsylvania. Any one of those would give them victory and they feel they are going to get that within the next day, most likely nevada tomorrow but they are bullish about georgia, they have been since last night. Ballots, mostly from atlanta and the atlanta suburbs. They feel that is Fertile Ground for joe biden. They have been winning the mailin ballots by about 78 and they think that margin will continue and they could win georgia, but they believe firmly that they will win nevada. Judy interesting. Yamiche, the president s path to victory is more difficult, narrower than the path is potentially for joe biden. That they see something. What are they looking at . Yamiche they are really looking at the state of pennsylvania, claiming victory there without the ap claiming victory for President Trump. They are leaning in on a strategy thats a legal strategy to try to wrestle back some of the states they think were wrongly called. Without evidence that voter fraud or any sort of issue was happening in tse states. The president says he is going to be fundraising areas we saw the Vice President last night who was a little more cautious, he didnt prematurely declare victory but Vice President pence put out of fundraising email saying democrats were trying to steal the election and you needed to give money to the Trump Campaign. The president wants to get to the Supreme Court. Critics say it is nearly impossible for him to launch a successful bid to try to win this in the courts. That said, the president is feeling really good still, and Campaign Aides say they are looking at demographics, saying the president up his numbers with latinos and black men, finding new white voters, but the path is so narrow. They are feeling anxious. The president is continue would continuing to put on a brave face, saying he can win this. Judy john, what are the biden folks doing . How do they see their next moves . John they are waiting to see. They say they are waiting for the votes to be counted. They are confident those votes are going their way. They point out they are winning the popular vote and the electoral vote. They say they are on track to have the most votes cast for any ticket in american history, for biden and harris, and they are in dissipating these Court Challenges from the Trump Campaign, which they say have no basis, as you heard in the tape, the Legal Advisor the Biden Campaign says they have won the votes and are prepared to defend the votes in the courts when challenged by the Trump Campaign. He said if trump goes to the Supreme Court, trump will be embarrassed. Judy strong words from the biden camp. John yang and Yamiche Alcindor, thank you both. Lets turn to our dan bush, who is in philadelphia, in the key state of pennsylvania. He has been washing watching the returns. We heard about the wait for votes in pennsylvania. How is the process going . What is known about the votes that are not counted yet . Dan behind me, there is a heightened Police Presence and protests in pennsylvania as the state continues to count its mailin and absentee ballots. The state received 3 million of those ballots and has counted 1. 7 million but there are a lot to go. These ballots being counted now are not fraudulent, as the president claimed. They are also not late. They were received under state law by 8 00 p. M. On election day yesterday and are now being counted. Its just a matter of resources in larger counties like philadelphia. They can process 30,000 of these ballots. Smaller counties, only a few thousand so it will take time. Officials are not putting an official time on it, but i have spoken to several who say they hope to finish counting the ballots in pennsylvania violate tomorrow or possible by late tomorrow or possibly friday. Judy the Biden Campaign says they feel good about pennsylvania. We know the president is saying he has won pennsylvania. What evidence is there on the ground of the Trump Campaign efforts, legal efforts . What do you see . Dan eric trump, one of the president s sons, and Rudy Giuliani were in philadelphia a little while ago. Eric trump claimed there was, quote, rampant corruption in philadelphia and in pennsylvania. Giuliani says there was strong antidemocratic activity, as he put it. The Campaign Said these ballots need to be found. But these ballots are not lost. In fact, they are in the building behind me, in a room being counted. The county is Live Streaming this. Have let the media in. I have been in the room. It is closely guarded. The ballots are there, they are being processed but the filed a lawsuit today the Trump Campaign filed a lawsuit today, the Biden Campaign received it 20 minutes ago, in which the Trump Campaign is seeking to intervene in the Supreme Court decision to try to halt ballots being counted right now. That is what the Trump Campaign is trying to do. I spoke with a Biden Campaign attorney who said, we are prepared. We know this is what they are going to try to do and we will be ready. Judy dan bush right there. I was looking at the livestream of the vote counting in pennsylvania yesterday so we know that has been taking place. Thank you, dan. Separately, our William Brangham has flown to michigan, and he joins us now from detroit. William, thank you for being here. As you know, moments ago, the Associated Press called michigan and said joe biden is the winner. This is even with both campaigns having spent a lot of effort there. I know you just recently arrived, but what are you hearing from the campaigns about this . William well, i think as folks have laid out, the campaigns have staked out their traditional positions. The Biden Campaign sees this as part of their consistent path to victory. The Trump Campaign is arguing this whole case. Im standing here in a huge Convention Center in downtown detroit. This is where the votes are being counted. Regardless of what the Associated Press or any News Organization says, philadelphia, im sorry come all of michigan will continue to count the votes. They are very nearly done, but as we came into this facility today, there were protesters outside similar to the ones we saw on the videotape. People on the biden side saying count, people in the trump side saying stop the count. I talked with a few of the trump volunteers outside and asked them, what about, at that point there were rumors that the count had been finalized and biden had one michigan. None of the Trump Supporters believed it. They said they dont trust the media. They think there is chicanery going on behind me. Judy is there any evidence of that . What about people who are watching the process closely . What are they saying about the counting, whether they have had problems . What are you hearing . William there is no documented evidence of any kind of fraud going on. There are ballots that get rejected because voters make the stakes, that is totally common. The process is slow because malein ballots take longer to open and unfold and scan and confirm the signatures. Again, those are normal procedures. It was simply state elections rules that didnt allow them to start counting those ballots until yesterday morning. So there is no evidence of fraud, but there is an incredible deal of distrust. The Trump Campaign tried to file a lawsuit today saying they dont have proper access to this kind of counting, they want more volunteers in here. As far as i can tell, the biden then Trump Campaigns have dozens and dozens of people standing at these tables, watching the process unfold. The vote is nearly done. If it has been called, the Trump Campaign has less and less opportunity to challenge what is going on. Judy i hear you say both campaigns have had eyes on, and still do come on this process as the votes are being counted. William reporting from detroit, thank you. Another state, wisconsin, was one of the keys to President Trumps winng the white house in 2016, but as we reported, the a. P. Has called a victory for joe biden this year. To give us a sense of all thats happening there, im joined by zac schultz, reporter with pbs wisconsin. Thank you very much for joining us. Tell us the status of counting, and whether there are complaints. What is your impression over all of the ballot counting process . Zac we are done counting ballots in wisconsin. We wrapped up earlier this morning. It took through the night for quite a few of the larger cities to count the absentee ballots, similar to what we see around the country. There was an abnormally large number of absentee ballots in wisconsin, and it took longer to count. The last few batch

© 2025 Vimarsana