Chris Wallace: Trump has complicated GOP bid to hold Ga. Senate seats

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Chris Wallace: Trump has complicated GOP bid to hold Ga. Senate seats

'Fox News Sunday' host Chris Wallace joins 'Your World' to discuss the state of the Georgia Senate runoffs

This is a rush transcript from "Your World with Neil Cavuto" January 4, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

MARTHA MACCALLUM, FOX NEWS ANCHOR:  All right, so, welcome, everybody. I'm
Martha MacCallum, in for Neil Cavuto today, and this is YOUR WORLD.

We are coming to you live from the Georgia World Congress Center in
Atlanta, ground zero, as you know, for these crucial run-off elections that
will decide which party controls the United States Senate, as Bill and I
were just discussing.

And in moments from now, president-elect Joe Biden will be holding a rally
in Atlanta for Democrats Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock, while
President Trump is going to be on his way to Dalton, Georgia, to show his
support for Republicans Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, all of this as the
president and Georgia's secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, continue to
spar over the election results and now a leaked phone conversation, which
is getting plenty of attention today.

Coming up, we're going to speak with Georgia's secretary of state, so stick
around for that.

First, we have got FOX team coverage with Peter Doocy in Atlanta traveling
with the president-elect and John Roberts at the White House on what we can
expect to hear from President Trump when he is here tonight.

We begin with Peter Doocy.

Hi, Peter.

PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT:  Martha, good afternoon.

Just three-and-a-half minutes ago, we got word that the press pool
traveling with the president-elect is on the ground. They usually travel
just a minute or two ahead of or behind Joe Biden. So, we expect him to be
here relatively soon, within the next 15 or 20 minutes, if everything is on
schedule.

Biden is coming to try to secure a Democratic Senate that could make it
easier to make his multitrillion-dollar progressive ideas a reality
starting in three weeks.

And that is something that Republicans are very aware of. They're making
that a big part of their closing arguments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KELLY LOEFFLER (R-GA):  We are literally the firewall to stopping
socialism. And my opponent, radical liberal Raphael Warnock, is Chuck
Schumer's rubber stamp to advance that radical agenda.

But you don't have to take my words for it. You have seen him in his own
words calling our police officers gangsters, thugs, bullies, a threat to
our children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY:  The other Republican, David Perdue, is still off the trail and
campaigning virtually from quarantine. He says he's produced multiple
negative COVID tests and he is isolating anyway after close contact with an
infected staffer.

The Democrat Raphael Warnock is campaigning along Jon Ossoff today, saying
the only thing that is going to lead to a loss for them tomorrow would be
complacency, as Ossoff is warning volunteers, this is going to be close.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON OSSOFF (D), GEORGIA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE:  This is going to come down
to just a few thousand votes. And I'm not asking you to work because of my
ambition. I'm not asking you to work for the glory of a political party.

I'm asking you to work because of the real human consequences of the
decisions we make about who represents us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY:  And this is another one of those events where, when people hear
something that they like, they honk their horns, so it won't be hard to
tell when Jon Ossoff or Raphael Warnock or Joe Biden take the stage --
Martha.

MACCALLUM:  It's like watching the movie "Cars."

(LAUGHTER)

MACCALLUM:  Thank you very much, Peter. Good to see you.

So, now to John Roberts at the White House and what we can expect to hear
from President Trump when he is here in Georgia tonight.

John, a lot hinges on his speech here tonight, his rally.

JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT:  It does, Martha.

Just call me Tow Mater. That's the character that I identify most with.

(LAUGHTER)

ROBERTS:  Nothing from President Trump yet.

It's likely that in, Dalton, Georgia, tonight, we will hear a lot about the
Georgia election, not just tomorrow's, but the one back on November 3 and
potentially more about this phone call that the president had with the
Georgia secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, on Saturday.

An attorney for the president said today that that phone call was not about
putting pressure on Raffensperger to try to overturn or change the results
of the election. Rather, it was a phone call to work out details and a
settlement on a couple of pending lawsuits.

Kurt Hilbert saying in a statement to FOX News -- quote -- "We are
disappointed that the secretary of state and his staff secretly recorded
and released a confidential settlement discussion to settle the two pending
lawsuits. While they may think that behavior is appropriate, we do not.
Consequently, we will not be commenting on settlement discussions."

The president's critics, even some of his Republican colleagues, have
pounced on that phone call, saying the president was trying to pressure
Raffensperger into finding enough votes to change the results of the
election.

Here's just a part of that call. Listen here.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:  I just want to find 11,780
votes, which is one more than we have, because we won the state.

So, tell me, Brad, what are we going to do? We won the election, and it's
not fair to take it away from us like this.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

ROBERTS:  Raffensperger thought that it was inappropriate to have a phone
call with the president with litigation pending.

In fact, a Georgia government official tells FOX News that Raffensperger
had rebuffed 18 previous attempts by the president to have a phone
conversation with him.

However, the incumbent Georgia Senator David Perdue, who's up for
reelection tomorrow, said what Raffensperger did in terms of recording that
phone conversation was inappropriate.

Listen here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DAVID PERDUE (R-GA):  To have a statewide elected official, regardless
of party, tape unknown, to the table without disclosing, a conversation,
private conversation, with the president of the United States, and then
leaking it to the press, is disgusting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS:  Two House Democrats, Ted Lieu and Kathleen Rice, have filed a
criminal referral letter with the FBI. They are asking the FBI to launch a
criminal investigation into that phone call.

We're also hearing from some officials in Georgia that they may potentially
look into whether there was any kind of criminal intent or behavior there.
But I don't think we have heard the last of this. And I'm sure President
Trump will have his say tonight -- Martha.

MACCALLUM:  And we're about to hear more on it right now.

John, thank you very much. Good to have you with us.

So, now to the man at the center of the Georgia run-offs and the other side
of that leaked phone conversation with President Trump, Georgia Secretary
of State Brad Raffensperger.

Sir, thank you very much for being here. Good to have you with us today.

BRAD RAFFENSPERGER (R), GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE:  Thank you, Martha.

MACCALLUM:  So, let's start with a couple of the things that just came up
in John Roberts' reporting there.

He said that President Trump's lawyer said that they were very surprised
that you all allowed this to get out there or put it out there. You can
tell me how you want to characterize that. He said it was a discussion to
have a settlement agreement on two outstanding lawsuits and that they would
be very surprised that you would make those public, that it was a private
conversation, that it was privileged.

What do you say to that?

RAFFENSPERGER:  Well, it wasn't privileged.

The -- we were just told that the president wanted to have a conversation.
I knew it was about November's results. Perhaps it was about the run-off
that we're having tomorrow. But there was no specific agenda, that
President Trump wanted to have a conversation with me.

But since it was ongoing, the litigation, I wanted to make sure I had my
general counsel there, so he could answer any questions or just make sure
that we didn't harm any of our legal interests, because we believe that
their lawsuits have no standing in fact.

We think that, if it proceeds to a trial, that we will win.

MACCALLUM:  So, I mean, it's no surprise the president has come after you
repeatedly, Mr. Secretary of State.

He has told you to resign. And we all have listened to the phone
conversation. He was very forthcoming in his desire that you do what you
could to try to recharacterize those votes, as he put it.

You -- is it true that he had made an attempt to speak with you about this
18 times? Can you confirm that?

RAFFENSPERGER:  Apparently so.

But he was calling a number that really wasn't the appropriate number,
whoever was calling from the White House. I know he reached out. Secretary
-- Chief of Staff Mark Meadows reached out to my chief of staff a week or
so ago.

But I wasn't interested in meeting then because there was this ongoing
litigation. But, anyway, we had a phone call Saturday afternoon. My general
counsel was on the call. And we have tried to respond -- respond to all of
the misinformation, disinformation that it seems -- he seems to believe for
some reason.

We will dispute it. There are not 1,000 or 5,000 dead people that voted in
Georgia. Our records show that there's two. And that's the type of factual
errors that is just written with his -- in his lawsuit.

MACCALLUM:  Yes.

So, why did you decide to take the phone call this time? What was different
this time?

RAFFENSPERGER:  I didn't know it was being recorded.

I just was at my home with my wife. And I had it on speakerphone. But I
didn't record anything at my house. But I was making notes. But, also, then
on Sunday morning, he put out a Twitter. I thought we had a private
conversation, just not -- left unsaid that it was private, but I just
thought it was man to man, just having a conversation, and so -- with the
president of the United States.

But then he goes out on Twitter the next morning and says stuff that's not
true. First of all, he releases that we did have a conversation. So, I
didn't see what the issue was. Then, obviously, we did have a conversation.
The whole world knows.

He's got 80 million Twitter followers. But then he also says stuff that
wasn't true and that...

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM:  All right, so, understood. So...

(CROSSTALK)

RAFFENSPERGER:  ... respectful in that.

MACCALLUM:  OK.

Obviously, you have a big difference of opinion on the way that the vote
went in November. But I'm just very curious. We are 24 hours away from an
election.

So, what was the discussion? You say you didn't realize that the phone call
was recorded. At what point did you become aware that the phone call was
recorded? And tell us about the decision to release the phone call, the
audio of the phone call to The Washington Post.

RAFFENSPERGER:  I think it was after Sunday, when the Twitter came out. I
didn't see it, or -- anyway, I became aware of it.

And, anyway, so that's -- recording is out there. And now people can look
at what was the entirety of the comments that were said. And then they can
see what he said vs. what I said.

And we...

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM:  But were you consulted? And did you OK the release of the phone
call? Did you say, OK, let's go ahead and release the audio of the phone
call?

RAFFENSPERGER:  The information is out there. And it is what it is.

MACCALLUM:  That's not an answer to my question. Are you going to answer my
question? Did you -- were you aware of the decision and were you in favor
of the decision to release the phone call, sir?

RAFFENSPERGER:  I think that we had to respond to the president's Twitter.
And we responded with the facts that were in the call. And that's how it
got out there.

MACCALLUM:  OK.

RAFFENSPERGER:  So, now the world can just see what was in there. They can
just make up their own decisions, listen to the whole thing, both sides of
the aisle, right down the middle.

MACCALLUM:  Yes.

RAFFENSPERGER:  And they can make their own decisions.

MACCALLUM:  All right. So, I mean, that's pretty clear that you were aware
that it was going to be released and that you were OK with it.

What about the impact on the two Senate elections? Because this has
provided, in Governor Kemp's own words, a distraction to the election, when
the focus, he believes, should be on David Perdue, who called the release
of this disgusting, and Kelly Loeffler.

How do you feel about the fact that releasing the phone call has taken up
so much of the oxygen in a very important period of time before the
election?

RAFFENSPERGER:  Well, the issues that President Trump has been raising
about all of his contentions that he didn't have a fair vote here in
Georgia, that has been a major distraction for the two senators being able
to run their race.

In fact, he's, in effect, been suppressing Republican turnout. And so we
need to really have a strong Republican turnout. I think -- believe that,
if you listen to that tape, you will believe that President Trump's big
focus is not tomorrow. It's actually Wednesday, January 6.

MACCALLUM:  Well, I mean, that may be what his focus is, and we're going to
learn more when we see him at the rally this evening.

But I just want to ask you once again to respond specifically to Senator
Perdue, who said that he thought it was inappropriate and disgusting to
release this audio. What -- how do you respond to him on that charge?

RAFFENSPERGER:  Senator Perdue still owes my wife an apology for all the
death threats she got after he asked for my resignation. And I have not
heard one peep from that man since.

If he wants to call me face to face, man to man, I will talk to him off the
record. But he hasn't done that.

MACCALLUM:  So, do you think -- it feels like this is very much about a
grudge and...

RAFFENSPERGER:  It's not a grudge at all.

MACCALLUM:  Between you and the president, and between you and Mr. Perdue,
that...

(CROSSTALK)

RAFFENSPERGER:  It's really about getting -- Martha, it's really about
getting the facts out, because we just did a press release today.

We did...

MACCALLUM:  Yes.

RAFFENSPERGER:  President Trump probably had eight to 10 points. Every one
of his numbers were wrong.

And we have a poster board of all the different numbers, the actual
numbers, the real numbers that we have vs. what they have. And our numbers
will be supported in a court of law. Their numbers will not be.

MACCALLUM:  All right, just one last question.

I watched -- after the news conference that we just -- that we just
watched, then we saw an interview with Jason Miller, who was in charge of
the campaign for President Trump's presidential election. He said that he
wants to know why the signature verifications weren't done. Fulton County
is obviously a close focus of theirs and of a lot of people's.

Why those signatures weren't verified, not against the registration, but
against the voter rolls from years past. Can you answer that question for
us?

RAFFENSPERGER:  We have done signature match for this entire year. We have
done that both -- when you made an application, we did signature match.
Then we also did it when the ballots came in. We did signature match.

And the county election officials we made available to have GBI training
with signature match profile. When we did the Cobb County signature match
audit, we looked at all the signatures we had on file and did a signature
match. And of those 15,118 people, we had only two that were questionable,
and it was actually the spouses signing for their husbands that could have
been cured.

(CROSSTALK)

RAFFENSPERGER:  But there was only two.

And, in fact, 100 percent of those ballots were actually lawfully cast. And
that is when we had actual -- an actual plaintiff or an actual complaint,
that we just had innuendo and everything else that we have had. But we need
cold, hard facts, so that we can do an investigation.

And that's what we -- that's why, right now, we have over 120
investigations going on from the November election, 250 total
investigations going on right now from everything that's happened this
year. And, right now, we have some that we have opened up as part of this
run-off race.

MACCALLUM:  All right.

Thank you very much, Secretary of State Raffensperger. Good to speak with
you today.

RAFFENSPERGER:  I will see you. Thanks.

MACCALLUM:  Thank you.

All right, so let's get a read on all of this from Chris Wallace, anchor of
"FOX News Sunday," who joins us now.

Chris, good to have you with us today.

Obviously, so much of the focus in the last 24 hours has been on this phone
call. It's an explosive recording. And then you have got the backlash about
the timing on all of this, which I just spoke with the secretary of state
about, that has also got -- ruffled people's feathers here in Georgia as
well.

What do you think about all of it?

CHRIS WALLACE, HOST, "FOX NEWS SUNDAY":  Well...

(LAUGHTER)

WALLACE:  ... think about it.

Here you have got the Republican secretary of state, who clearly -- and you
asked, and he refused to answer, but, in a sense, that was an answer -- who
clearly was party to the decision to record a conversation with the
president of the United States and then to release it.

In fairness to him, they have been under attack really since early
November. The president has called for him to resign. So has Senator
Perdue, as he mentioned. You had the president this last week talk about
the election, the one coming up tomorrow, as being illegal and invalid.

So, yes, maybe Raffensperger acted like he was under fire, had to protect
themselves. But he kind of did have to protect himself, because he's been
under attack from the president and Republican officials in Georgia for
more than a month now.

MACCALLUM:  Yes, I mean, I would just point out that he said, yes, we felt
that we had to let this out there after the president started tweeting that
-- that there were inaccuracies.

So, I think he confirmed that he was knowledgeable about the release of the
audio and had no -- didn't get in the way of it or didn't stop it, to be
sure.

With regard to the big political picture, Chris, I think one of the
questions that is clearly there is whether or not President Trump is more
concerned with his own election and who's loyal to him and who's not loyal
to him, and whether or not he is more -- or whether his number one
motivation for coming here tonight and doing this rally is to make sure
that these two senators -- to see if he can truly pull them across the
finish line.

WALLACE:  Look, I don't know what his motivation, what's in his heart.

I will say that, if his primary concern was trying to get these two people,
Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, elected tomorrow, he wouldn't be doing
some of the things that he's been doing. He has called for the Republican
governor of the state to resign. He's attacked him, Brian Kemp.

He's attacked Brad Raffensperger, the secretary of state. As I say, he's
talked about the election as being illegal and immoral. Now, look, he may
held a terrific rally tonight in Northern Georgia and be the difference
between getting voters out to support the Republicans or not.

But almost everything he has done is -- it seemed to me, has complicated
the effort of Loeffler and Perdue to get elected. I mean, just think of his
veto of the National Defense Authorization Act. And that's a very popular
act in a state with as many military as Georgia has, and that's an
unpopular vote. And you had -- you put both Perdue and Loeffler in a tough
spot there.

You had his call for the $2,000 direct payment that was blocked by the
Republican Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell. And then you have now
got the Democrats saying, well, elect the Democrats, put Chuck Schumer in
charge, and you will get your $2,000 direct payment.

So, it just seems that the president has, either intentionally or not, made
it much more difficult. Not saying they're not going to win, but made it
much more difficult for these two Republican incumbent senators to hold on
to their positions.

MACCALLUM:  Yes. There's no doubt, if you're the Democrat candidates, you
have got to be pleased with the chaos or the disarray that's going on, on
the other side of the equation, especially in the closing days here of this
election.

So, we will watch with great interest.

Chris Wallace, thank you very much. Good to see you.

WALLACE:  Good to see you. See you tomorrow.

MACCALLUM:  All right, see you tomorrow.

So, Wall Street losing some ground today, as Georgia decides between red
and blue. And a new report from a major investment bank says a lot more
selling could happen if Democrats win both of those Georgia Senate seats.

We will find out about that. Susan Li will join us from FOX Business with a
more -- with more of a rough start to the new year for investors. And she's
here right now.

Susan, great to see you.

SUSAN LI, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT:  Great to see you.

MACCALLUM:  Explain to us your take on what happens, what is happening
today in the market.

LI:  Yes, so, Martha, it was one of the roughest starts to a new year in
decades for U.S. stock markets.

If the Democrats win both Georgia Senate seats, that could mean higher
taxes and more debt spending, two negatives for Wall Street. So, as a
result, 2021 started off on a down note, worse start to a new year for the
Dow, Nasdaq and the S&P 500 since 2016.

Now, just in case, you had investors raising cash by selling off the high-
flying technology giants, like Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft. And one
analysis predicts that the broader stock markets could fall 6 to 10 percent
if the Democrats win both Georgia seats.

You also had airlines, hotels and cruise lines suffering steep drops on the
day, the U.K. announcing fresh lockdowns on schools and nonessential
businesses, which will likely hurt travel. So, as a result, U.S. airlines
writing a letter to Vice President Mike Pence urging the administration to
lift entry restrictions on travelers from Europe, U.K. and Brazil as soon
as possible, promising instead to expand the COVID testing requirements on
more international travelers -- Martha.

MACCALLUM:  Yes, I mean, it's an extraordinary situation.

LI:  Yes.

MACCALLUM:  And I think a lot of the folks on Wall Street were banking on a
Republican Senate win, or at least one of those two seats would be won.

Of course, we don't know what the outcome is yet. That's why we have
Election Day. So, we will see what happens, but clearly some trepidation in
the market today.

Susan, great to see you. Thank you very much.

LI:  Great to see you.

MACCALLUM:  So, it's not just the Senate hanging in the balance. Just two
days away from Congress voting to certify the 2020 presidential election
results as well, but not without a fight from several Republican lawmakers.

We will speak to one of the top Democrats in the House, Majority Whip James
Clyburn, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM:  So, it's January, but the presidential election is about ready
to come to a close, or is it? Congress set to formally certify Joe Biden's
election win on Wednesday, but several Republicans are not going down
without a fight.

Let's go to House Majority Whip South Carolina Democrat James Clyburn on
these fast-moving developments in Washington.

Congressman Clyburn, great to have you with us today. Thank you for being
here.

REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC):  So, thank you very much.

MACCALLUM:  Tell me a little bit about what you think.

Thank you.

What do you think about this effort on the part of some of your Republican
colleagues on the House side to hit the pause button here?

CLYBURN:  Well, it's a -- I think a very serious set of circumstances, and
not because of what they're doing, but because of what they could possibly
do the country.

We ought not have these kinds of shenanigans taking place, especially when
you have a process that has already unfolded. We have had each state to
verify all of its results. You have had, what, 50 lawsuits. All of them
have been reconciled, and, I might say, to the benefit of the November 3
outcome.

And for this to continue to go on is very dangerous for the future of this
great democracy.

MACCALLUM:  So, tell me what you think is behind it at this point.

Do you see 2024 politics as part of this? Do these individuals want to make
clear to their constituents at home that they think that something was
amiss?

CLYBURN:  You know, very few people in this country believe that anything
untoward took place on November 3.

This is all about the future, not just of 2024, but of 2022. You have a lot
of senators who are going to be running for reelection in '22. And you have
a lot of House members who are going to be running for election in '22. And
that's what this is all about.

I would not focus just on 2024, though there may be several people who have
aspirations to run for president, and they may be trying to appeal to that
so-called Trump voter. I don't think that is all of it. I think it has more
to do with House members and Senate members who are up in 2022.

MACCALLUM:  Yes.

Tell me a little bit about what happened in -- on the Senate floor
yesterday. Nancy Pelosi won the vote and has the gavel in her hand once
again for the coming session.

What did you think about the vote, the way it went, and how narrow it was?

CLYBURN:  Well, we start out narrow. We have 222 votes; 218 constitutes a
majority when everybody is present and voting. We have known that for weeks
now.

And what we have been doing as a caucus is developing our methods of
managing that. I tell people all the time that is my first love, managing.
This is my first elective office, coming to Congress. I have been running
agencies, governmental agencies, all of my adult life. And so I relish
management. And I look forward to this.

So, I never had any thought otherwise that she would be successful, because
I thought we would be able to manage it well. And that's what we're going
to do going forward when issues come before the floor.

I know it's going to be tighter than it has been before, but it just means
I will have to be more focused. We will have to operate more as a team. And
I think that this caucus will hold itself out to the American people as the
adults that we really are.

MACCALLUM:  Congressman Clyburn, thank you. Good to have you with us today,
sir.

CLYBURN:  Thanks for having me.

MACCALLUM:  So, coming up, we will speak with a congressman who has a
different take, fair and balanced, a Georgia Republican planning to push
back on his state's election results.

We will talk to him about why he is committed to doing that -- after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM:  Congress set to sign seal, and certify Joe Biden's election
win, but Republicans from the House and Senate are saying, not so fast.

We're going to talk to one of them next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM:  So, when Congress meets to count the Electoral College votes on
Wednesday and formally confirm Joe Biden's win, over 100 House Republicans
are planning to challenge that certification.

Georgia Congressman Barry Loudermilk is one of them. And he joins me now,
Republican from Georgia.

Sir, good to have you with us today.

REP. BARRY LOUDERMILK (R-GA):  Martha, it's good to be here.

MACCALLUM:  Explain to me why -- thank you.

Why do you believe that this is so important. You have obviously -- there's
-- we have got people supporting the effort that you're making and then
others who say that it is -- that it's misguided. What do you say to them?

LOUDERMILK:  Well, one of the things I have to address, Martha,
Representative Clyburn just in the last segment referred to this as
shenanigans.

But what he failed to mention was, when Republican presidents have received
Electoral College votes, Democrats, it's standard operating -- it's
standard operating procedures for them to actually contest these. They did
it in 2016 with Donald Trump. It wasn't shenanigans to them then, even
though they had nothing to base it on.

MACCALLUM:  Yes. Yes.

LOUDERMILK:  Look, mine is based upon evidence that has been compiled.

I have been looking into this for a long time, because I don't take this
lightly. The state Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings, a set of
hearings, and came out with a recommendation that was voted on by that
committee that recommended that the state legislature convene and decertify
those electors, based on the evidence that they compiled.

When that report came out, that made it clear to me that there was a lot of
errors that were done in this election, and we had very little confidence
in it.

MACCALLUM:  So, you just heard from the secretary of state's office, Mr.
Sterling, just a short time ago, went sort of line by line through the
president's contentions about problems that he believes happened in
Georgia. And he worked very hard to debunk all of them in that news
conference just about an hour ago.

What do you say to those contentions, that he -- he said that people
weren't voting from out of state. He said maybe they found two incidents of
people who did things like that and handfuls here and there, but not enough
to make a difference.

What do you say to him?

LOUDERMILK:  Well, it's interesting, because we have sent over massive
amounts of personal testimonies.

I have got over 200 sworn affidavits of people of irregularities. I talked
to people on the phone who went to the polls to vote, and they were told
they had already voted absentee, when they didn't, and poll managers
wouldn't allow them to cure their ballot and vote.

We have numerous accounts of irregularities. Now, there's one that I'm
trying to get background on. But I was told by a state senator that the
secretary of state's office sent out 8,000 letters of people -- to people
who voted in the November election and warning them not to vote in this
one.

I mean, 8,000? This is the thing that we're seeing is, it has been a black
hole of information coming out of the secretary of state's office. We send
over massive amounts of reports and incidents. We hear nothing back.

All we hear is, oh, there's no mass fraud. But we're talking to the people
who are signing sworn affidavits of irregularities, of mismanagement and
fraud.

MACCALLUM:  And those affidavits and the hearings were very much on the
minds of some voters that I spoke to yesterday.

They believe that there was an issue here. There's no doubt about their
conviction that that's what happened. But why didn't these things hold up
in court? And why was it that we saw, in many cases, the people who made
those contentions in hearings and in affidavits were not brought before the
court to make them in that environment, where they might have been able to
make a real difference?

LOUDERMILK:  Well, you got to keep in mind that we have several cases from
the Georgia Republican Party that aren't even being put on the docket.

The clerks are slow-walking these things to try to run the clock out. We
have so many lawsuits that haven't even gotten a hearing yet. So, there is
still a lot out there. This is the -- look, and I don't take this lightly
at all. I'm not doing this to make Donald Trump president of the United
States, even though I would like for him to be.

This is about the rule of law. This is about fair elections. And I do not
have confidence that the Georgia electors truly represent the voters of
Georgia and how they voted. There was just too many unanswered instance --
instances of and allegations of fraud for us to go forward with this.

MACCALLUM:  Yes. Well, you're not alone. We hear a lot of it.

Thank you very much, sir. Good to have you here today.

LOUDERMILK:  Oh, thank you, Martha.

MACCALLUM:  So, there are already big crowds gathering in Dalton, Georgia,
President Trump heading down to the state and doubling down on his election
challenges.

Georgia Republican Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan on that -- right after
this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM:  President Trump continuing to slam Georgia Governor Brian Kemp
and Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan ahead of his visit to the state
tonight, calling them a disgrace to the great people of Georgia in a tweet.

The lieutenant governor joins me now.

Sir, thank you for being here today.

I'm just so struck by the fact -- I spoke with the secretary of state,
Raffensperger, earlier in the program. I'm just really struck by the
animosity that exists between these Senate candidates primarily -- and he
went after David Perdue when I spoke with him a little while ago -- and the
president and the leadership here in Georgia.

It is -- it's really striking, what a sharp divide there is in the
Republican Party just 24 hours before this vote. What do you make of it?

LT. GOV. GEOFF DUNCAN (R-GA):  Well, I -- just the fact that we're having
this conversation this close to maybe the most important election in the
history of the Republican Party, at least as far as the U.S. Senate is
concerned, is concerning to me.

I don't know of a better playbook, a fictional story that we could have
handed to the Democrats than what we have seen play out the last 10 weeks.

But, despite all of that, I'm proud of the efforts of David Perdue and
Kelly Loeffler in continuing to work hard, put their head down, and remind
millions of Georgians why it's important to have conservative leadership
represent our values here in Georgia, but also Republicans nationally.

They're doing what they need to do.

MACCALLUM:  Yes.

DUNCAN:  And, hopefully, we can get across the finish line.

MACCALLUM:  Yes, I got to go to the president-elect, Joe Biden, here.

But, really quickly, what did you think about the fact that Raffensperger
went after Senator Perdue in the interview that we just did moments ago?

DUNCAN:  Well, I didn't hear that interview.

I did hear the one right before this where Congressman Loudermilk spent a
good bit of time talking about the misinformation and some of the election
fraud issues that he's got.

But he missed one important detail. He forgot to talk about the election
tomorrow. And too many Republicans, including our state party, continues to
talk about the wrong thing today.

We need to be talking about Kelly Loeffler, David Perdue, and their awesome
track record of success as conservatives.

MACCALLUM:  All right, hang on, if you would.

We're going to dip in and listen to a bit of the president-elect, Joe
Biden, on the ground here in Atlanta.

Let's listen.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT:  Anything's possible.

There's bending the arc of history toward justice and hope and progress.
And that's not hyperbole. That's real.

Folks, this is it. This is it. It's a new year. And tomorrow can be a new
day for Atlanta, for Georgia, and for America.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

BIDEN:  First, let me start by saying thank you for electing me and Kamala
as president and vice president of the United States.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

BIDEN:  And you voted in record numbers in November.

Your voices were heard. Your votes were counted. The will of the people
prevailed. We won three times here.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(LAUGHTER)

BIDEN:  These recounts. You know what I mean? I think we should count it as
three states. We won three times.

And now we need you to vote again in record numbers to make your voices
heard again and again, to change, Georgia, to change America again. And
this is not an exaggeration. Georgia, the whole nation is looking to you to
lead us forward, for real.

You know it. You cannot turn on any national television show without
knowing about what is going on here and what you all are doing.

The power, the power is literally in your hands. Unlike any time in my
career, one state, one state can chart the course, not just of the next
four years, but for the next generation.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

BIDEN:  By electing Jon and the reverend, you can make an immediate
difference in your own lives, the lives of the people all across this
country, because their election will put an end to the block in Washington
on that $2,000 stimulus check, that money that will go out the door
immediately to help people who are in real trouble.

Think about what it will mean to your lives, putting food on the table,
paying rent, paying your mortgage, paying down the credit card, paying the
phone bill, the gas bill, the electric bill.

Just look around. Millions of people in this country are out of work,
through no fault of their own, no fault of their own. They're struggling.
Many are fearful. And many have given up hope.

Look at the lines at food banks, hours and hours and hours. This is the
United States of America, for God's sakes.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

BIDEN:  And there are food lines like we have not seen since the
Depression. And they're getting longer.

Families, children, people who have worked their whole lives and never
asked for a thing except a fighting chance, now they're lining up for food
in America.

And the debate over $2,000 isn't some abstract debate in Washington. It's
about real lives, your lives, the lives of good, hardworking Americans. And
if you're like millions of Americans all across this country, you need the
money, you need the help, and you need it now.

Look, Georgia, there's no one in America with more power to make that
happen than you, the citizens of Atlanta, the citizens of Georgia.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

BIDEN:  And that's not an exaggeration. That is a literal -- that's
literally true.

If you send Jon and the reverend to Washington, those $2,000 checks will go
out the door, restoring hope and decency and honor for so many people who
are struggling right now.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

BIDEN:  And in send Senators Perdue and Loeffler back to Washington, those
checks will never get there. It's just that simple.

The power is literally in your hands. By electing Jon and the reverend, you
can break the gridlock that has gripped Washington and this nation. With
their votes in the Senate, we will be able to make the progress we need to
make on jobs, on health care, on justice, on the environment, on so many
important things.

By electing Jon and the reverend, you will get the states the resources
that they need to get the vaccines distributed.

It's a shame what's happening now. It's a literal shame. I have said it
before. Getting America vaccinated will be one of the most difficult
operational challenges this nation has ever faced.

But we have known it for the last months. This administration has gotten
off to a god-awful start. The president spends more time whining and
complaining than doing something about the problem.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

BIDEN:  I don't know why he still wants the job. He doesn't want to do the
work.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

BIDEN:  Look, the states needs help.

There's a reason why the Constitution said the federal government could
have a deficit spending in times of crisis, and states have to balance
their budgets. It's for this very thing. It's the whole idea.

Your states have to balance your budgets. So, what's happening? You're
going to see more and more people laid off, more firefighters, police
officers, school teachers, first responders, the people we need badly now.

The states need more money to do the job. They need the federal government
to work with them, not attack them and leave them out there hanging.

MACCALLUM:  All right, keeping an eye on all of the folks who are on the
ground, including the president-elect, Joe Biden, in Atlanta today, as we
take a look at the Senate races going on beginning tomorrow.

So, what do we know about what we're going to be watching for in Georgia,
as we look across the state in all of this?

Bill Hemmer is joining me now with a look at county by county and what we
should be watching as we look at the breakdown out there.

Hello again, Bill.

BILL HEMMER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR:  Good afternoon to you. A little chilly down
here, but it's OK, right? We have got a nice sunset, Martha.

This is the map for David Perdue and Jon Ossoff on the 3rd of November. You
see this right here, Martha, this 49.7? That is a critical number in the
state of Georgia. State law says you need 50 percent plus one vote to avoid
a run-off.

David Perdue missed it by three-tenths of a point back on November 3, and
hence the round two, I guess you could call it now for Perdue and Ossoff
tomorrow.

Martha, a few things we will be watching tomorrow night about the
difference in the vote. David Perdue first was elected to the Senate six
years ago in 2014. See this number up here in the corner? Watching that
very closely throughout the evening to find out how the state has changed.

I will give you a few examples here, OK? This is Chattooga County up here.
You see where Perdue did well? That was an increase of almost 13 percent
since the first time he ran six years prior. It's the way the rural part of
Atlanta is changing -- Georgia, rather, is changing so much.

Just come down here in the southwest, another county, a rural area, not a
ton of votes down there, but, again, you see, Republican plus-10 going back
to 2014. That is a significant increase.

The problem for Republicans comes right here in the metro area of Atlanta,
Georgia. Watch now with the Democrats for Jon Ossoff where they were in
Gwinnett County six years ago. They're up 13 points. Up here in a
Republican county, Forsyth County, they're up more than 12 points. Over
here in Cobb County, which gets a lot of attention in northwestern Atlanta,
they're up 11.5 points.

And this is the reason why you have such a close and competitive contest
here in Georgia at the presidential level and now at the two Senate levels.
What I will show you here quickly, if I can, this is the nine counties that
make -- that are included within the metro area of Atlanta.

In those nine counties, you have -- yes -- you have 43 percent of
registered voters in the state. In the entire metro area of Atlanta, which
consists of 29 counties, you have 59 percent of registered voters in the
entire state.

So, when Democrats start to move more into the area of Atlanta, Georgia,
they're picking up these votes. And that explains why we are here in the
first week of January waiting to see who wins these races.

So, we're watching that for tomorrow night. The difference in the last time
out, it will be a significant marker for us to try and track this and try
and understand how people are breaking this time, in 2021, that is, Martha.

MACCALLUM:  Yes.

HEMMER:  Back to you now.

MACCALLUM:  Really interesting numbers.

Bill, thank you very much.

HEMMER:  Sure.

MACCALLUM:  We will see you later.

So, the crowds are already gathering for President Trump's rally in Dalton,
Georgia, later tonight. And for -- that's for Republican Senate candidates
Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue.

Could his remarks there impact turnout tomorrow? That is the big question
of the night.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM:  The four Georgia Senate candidates making their closing
arguments to voters today, before tomorrow's run-off election.

Meanwhile, President Trump is just hours from making his final case for
Loeffler and Perdue in Georgia tonight.

So, will his message determine if Republicans turn out to vote tomorrow?
Because it's going to be all about the turnout tomorrow on the GOP side.

Let's ask pollster Lee Carter.

Lee, great to have you with us today.

What is your take on what's going on here in Georgia right now.

LEE CARTER, REPUBLICAN POLLSTER:  Well, I think it's really complicated.

And if anybody were to tell you they know exactly what's going to be
happening, they'd be lying. This is just so close. It's so hard to tell.
You could read the tea leaves and go any which direction.

I think it's going to be hard for Republicans, though, because they're
going to have to keep the same level of turnout that they did in November
in order to win. And I'm concerned for the Republicans that they're going
to -- there's going to be some suppression there, because there's been this
narrative that your vote doesn't count, that it doesn't matter if you vote
or not.

And the president has continued that narrative. So, if he goes out tonight
and really does a rallying cry for the Republican voters that are Trump
supporters, it just might very well help them energize them to get out,
because, right now, with three million -- over three million votes in,
that's more than half of the vote -- the voting population in Georgia, it's
looking like it's favoring Democrats.

That's not surprising, because Republicans are the ones that usually go out
Election Day, but they need every single Republican to go out and vote in
order to win. This is a really, really tight race.

MACCALLUM:  Yes, I mean, it's interesting, because I hear that -- kind of
that narrative changing a little bit, Lee, because, when we went into this,
Republicans generally do very well, all of that.

So, what has changed? Real quick, if you can.

CARTER:  So, I think that the thing that has changed the most is the
attitude of the Republicans, the enthusiasm of the Republicans.

There's a disenfranchisement. You have got about 50 percent of the
Republican population right now who believes that their vote doesn't count.
They believe that system is rigged.

And, as a result, they're going to be less likely to go out. Democrats are
really energized. This really matters to them. So, I think that Republicans
are more concerned than they otherwise would be.

MACCALLUM:  OK.

Lee, thank you very much.

Thanks for joining us on YOUR WORLD. Neil will be back tomorrow.

END

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