As Americans anxiously await the final results of the election, all eyes are on six states that are still tallying up mail-in ballots. Arizona, a state that both the Associated Press and Fox News called Tuesday in favor of former Vice President Joe Biden, is still facing pressure from residents and the president who have questioned the validity of the counting process.
Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs said the state's priority right now is to be as transparent with the counting process as possible and to protect poll workers.
A group of Trump supporters gathered at the Maricopa County election center to protest overnight. Demonstrations have sparked nationwide as Americans have split, with some demanding states count all ballots and others calling for them to stop the process.
"These folks have been working hard around the clock to get their job done, which is counting all the ballots, and so, these protesters are really a distraction. They are calling for the county to count all the ballots and that's exactly what we're doing," Hobbs told Cheddar.
"Our tabulation process is really transparent. There's observers allowed in, although I think they, maybe, sent those people home yesterday out of concerns for safety; but there's cameras in every tabulation center," Hobbs explained. "Anyone can go to any of our counties' election websites, look for that link, and watch it from wherever they are to see that process as it happens."
Today, voters can expect a significant update in tallied ballots around 7 p.m. MST, Hobbs said, as Maricopa County becomes the focal point of the state's race. With about 450,000 ballots remaining, the count in Arizona is expected to wrap up some time this weekend.
But as The Trump administration continues to follow through on a promise to contest the election process in court, Hobbs said that based on the president's failed lawsuit in states like Georgia, the president should want counting to continue in the state given that the margin between the candidates is so narrow.
With Biden leading by just under 70,000 votes, the once red state is slowly experiencing a shift — one that Hobbs said has been years in the making.
"We've seen shifting demographics for the last 10 years in our state and there's been pushes from a lot of organizations, party-related progressive groups or otherwise, to really engage those new folks to Arizona, those changing demographic folks, and those changing demographics to be engaged, to register to vote and to vote, and it's been 10 years of doing that," the secretary noted.
House Democrats are scrambling to hold a vote as soon as Tuesday on President Joe Biden's economic agenda — both the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and the $1.85 trillion social safety net and climate bill. With Biden still overseas, the bill stands in flux. Jennifer Haberkorn, congressional reporter at the Los Angeles Times, joined Cheddar's "Opening Bell" to discuss.
Lauren Brody, author of "The Fifth Trimester," joined Cheddar to talk about the ongoing fight for a national paid family leave policy after it was cut from the Democratic reconciliation bill negotiation reportedly due to objections from Senator Manchin. Brody discussed how parents are often forced to choose between work and caring for their family and newborns — or even taking time to deal with a traumatic loss. "Frankly, it's appalling to me that we live in a place that doesn't support people who have experienced the death of a baby and then had to go right back to work," she noted.
Even with pandemic lockdowns, greenhouse gas levels reached new highs in 2020, according to the World Meteorological Organization. This report comes just a week ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, otherwise known as Cop26. Shannon Osaka, climate policy and solutions reporter at Grist, joined Cheddar's Between Bells to discuss.
Paid family & medical leave is left out of President Joe Biden's Build Back Better domestic policy plan. Abby Vesoulis, reporter for TIME joins Cheddar News to breakdown what this means for Americans.
Carlo's flying solo today, talking COP26 and climate change, another racially charged trial gets underway, SCOTUS takes on abortion and a stunning rise in traffic deaths points to a bigger societal breakdown sparked by the pandemic.
World leaders will converge this weekend at the 2021 G20 Summit in Rome and the UN COP26 conference in Glasgow with the climate crisis on the agenda. Lord Adair Turner, chair of the Energy Transitions Commission, joined Cheddar to discuss what people can expect to come out of the climate-focused conferences. Turner also noted that one of the biggest hurdles for the attending nations will be coming to a uniform decision on expanding on the Paris Climate Accord goals that have become insufficient to prevent global warming by 1.5 degrees celsius.
Emily Tisch Sussman, senior advisor at Paid Leave US, joined Cheddar's "Between Bells" to discuss paid leave being stripped from the latest budget bill and why it is crucial for parents to have paid time off. Sussman said the pandemic, in particular, highlighted the disparity between women, who left the work force in droves to care for family, and men who continue to work and be rehired as impacted sectors of the economy return.
The Dow, S&P, and Nasdaq each ended Friday's session at a record high as stocks rallied into the green. Chris Vecchio, Senior Analyst at DailyFX, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says this was an 'October to remember' for Wall Street.
