BEING OUT THERE, KARI LAKE WHO RIGHT NOW IS LEADING THE ARIZONA
REPUBLICAN GUBERNATORIAL RACE, THAT NOMINATION, SHE SAYS SHE'S
ALREADY WON. SHE'S HELD A NEWS CONFERENCE
SAYING THAT SHE HAS WON, THAT SHE'S ALREADY DECLARING VICTORY.
THAT SHE IS THE NOMINEE AND TO BE FAIR, THE WIND IS AT HER
BACK. A LOT OF THESE LAST-MINUTE
VOTES, THE IN-PERSON VOTES HAVE BROKEN FOR LAKE, DESPITE THE
FACT THAT SHE IS LEADING JUST BY A HAIR, SHE SAYS THAT SHE STILL
BELIEVES THE 2020 ELECTION WAS STOLEN, THAT DONALD TRUMP SHOULD
BE THE PRESIDENT AND TAKE A LISTEN TO WHAT SHE SAYS THE
LOGIC OF WHY SHE THINKS THAT SHE MIGHT BE IN THE LEAD, ERIN,
LISTEN. >> WE OUTVOTED THE FRAUD.
WE DIDN'T LISTEN TO WHAT THE FAKE NEWS HAD TO SAY.
THE MAGA MOVEMENT ROSE UP AND VOTED LIKE THEIR LIVES DEPENDED
ON IT. >> AND THE TRUMP-ENDORSED TICKET
HAS KARI LAKE, IF SHE HAPPENS TO HOLD THAT LEAD AT THE VERY TOP,
THE SECRETARY OF STATE MARK FINCHEM WHO HAS BEEN ON THE
QANON CIRCUIT AND ALSO AN ELECTIONS DENIER AND FOR
ATTORNEY GENERAL AND U.S. SENATE BLAKE MASTERS.
ERIN, AT LEAST AT THE TOP OF THE TICKET, IT DOES APPEAR IF LAKE
HOLDS ON THIS COULD BE A CLEAN SWEEP OF TRUMP-ENDORSED
CANDIDATES IN THE STATE OF ARIZONA.
ERIN? >> IT IS SO CRUCIAL.
SUCH A CRUCIAL STATE. KYUNG, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
AS WE AWAIT THAT BATCH OF BALLOTS, I WANT TO GO TO ONE OF
THE REPUBLICANS WHO RESISTED TRUMP'S EFFORTS TO OVERTURN THE
ELECTION IN ARIZONA. BILL GATES, THE CHAIRMAN OF
MARICOPA'S BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND ALSO WITH ME ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN
FORMER WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR THEN
PRESIDENT TRUMP. BILL, LET ME START WITH YOU
BECAUSE WE ARE WAITING FOR THIS BIG BATCH OF VOTES.
THIS COULD BE THE DECISIVE BATCH IN CALLING THIS, COULD MAKE THE
RACE OVER. YOUR REPUBLICAN PARTY'S NEXT
NOMINEE FOR GOVERNOR COULD BE AN ELECTION DENIER THAT SAYS DONALD
TRUMP WON. SHE SAID THERE WERE SHENANIGANS
WITH THIS ELECTION THAT SHE'S ABOUT TO WIN.
BILL, WHAT'S AT STAKE HERE? >> WELL, THERE'S A LOT AT STAKE,
AND I WOULD SAY IT'S THE FUTURE OF THE ARIZONA REPUBLICAN PARTY,
IF NOT THE FUTURE OF THIS DEMOCRACY HERE IN THE STATE OF
ARIZONA. AS YOU -- AS YOU MENTIONED
EARLIER, WE HAVE SEVERAL OF THE CANDIDATES NOW WHO ARE GOING TO
BE THE NOMINEES OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY HERE IN ARIZONA
WHO ARE ANTI-DEMOCRATIC, SMALL"D."
THEY DON'T BELIEVE IN DEMOCRACY, AND THEY DON'T BELIEVE IN OUR
ELECTION SYSTEM. LOOK, I TALKED TO THE LAWYER WHO
HEADED UP THE ELECTION DAY OPERATIONS FOR THE REPUBLICAN
PARTY. HE SAID WE HAD A GREAT ELECTION.
IT RAN VERY SMOOTHLY AND YET KARI LAKE SAID THERE WAS FRAUD,
THAT THEY OUTVOTED THE FRAUD. THEY HAVE A NARRATIVE THAT
THEY'RE TRYING TO PUSH AND IT IS VERY DANGEROUS.
>> VERY DANGEROUS AND VERY SINISTER, RIGHT?
BECAUSE IF PEOPLE DON'T BELIEVE IN ELECTIONS THEN, RIGHT?
THERE GOES THE COUNTRY. ALYSSA, KARI LAKE HAS MADE THIS
A POINT ALL OF THE WAY THROUGH, HER CAMPAIGN AND EVEN TODAY.
TODAY SHE HAD PLENTY TO SAY ABOUT RIGGED ELECTIONS.
HERE IS KARI LAKE FROM TODAY ALONE.
>> THE REPUBLIC IS IN JEOPARDY BECAUSE OF SHODDY, SHADY
ELECTIONS AND PEOPLE KNOW IT. >> I THINK IF YOU LOOK AT HOW
LAST NIGHT AND YESTERDAY WENT DOWN YOU WOULD SEE THERE ARE
VERY SERIOUS PROBLEMS. I AM NOT SATISFIED WITH HOW THE
ELECTION WAS RUN. >> THERE WERE A LOT OF
SHENANIGANS GOING ON. SO WE KNEW THE SHENANIGANS WERE
HAPPENING. >> SO THE CURRENT REPUBLICAN
GOVERNOR OF ARIZONA IS DOUG DUCEY.
HE STOOD UP TO DONALD TRUMP AND REFUSED TO HELP HIM OVERTURN THE
ELECTION. WHAT HAPPENS IF KARI LAKE IS
GOVERNOR OF ARIZONA IS CRUCIAL, RIGHT?
>> IT IS ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL, AND HAVING AN ELECTION DENYING
SECRETARY OF STATE IS VERY CRUCIAL.
IT IS TO RECRUIT SECRETARIES OF STATE WHO SUPPORT HIM ON THESE
ELECTION LIES SO THAT IF HE IS TO RUN AGAIN IN 2024 AND NOT
WIN, HE ACTUALLY COULD BE SUCCESSFUL IN SOME OF THESE
EFFORTS TO OVERTURN STATE RESULTS, BUT I WOULD SAY THIS.
I THINK LAST NIGHT'S RESULTS ARE BEING FRAMED AS A VICTORY FOR
TRUMP, AND I GUESS THAT'S CORRECT IN THE WAY THAT MANY OF
HIS ENDORSEES WON. IT'S A WIN FOR ELECTION LIES AND
IT'S A LOSS FOR DEMOCRACY. I THINK THAT THE MAGA MONSTER OF
THE ELECTION WAS STOLEN. YOU CAN'T TRUST ELECTION RESULTS
AND IT'S GROWN FAR BIGGER THAN JUST TRUMP HIMSELF.
AC ACROSS THE BOARD I'VE SEEN WHAT
I WOULD CONSIDER SANE AND SERIOUS.
I THINK THE ELECTION WAS STOLEN AND THIS HAS PERMEATED THE PARTY
TO SUCH A DANGEROUS DEGREE AND WITH KARI LAKE, IT LOOKS LIKE
SHE'LL PULL IT OFF. SHE WAS AN OBAMA SUPPORTER AND
NOW SHE'S ANTI-TRUMP WHEN SHE WAS ELECTED AND NOW SHE'S THE
VOICE OF SPREADING ELECTION LIES AND I THINK SOME OF THESE PEOPLE
ARE CHARLATANS AND THE PUBLIC IS BELIEVING THEM.
THAT'S A PROBLEM. AS MUCH AS 60% OF REPUBLICANS
THINK THE ELECTION WAS STOLEN. >> ALYSSA RAISED ANOTHER
IMPORTANT POINTS ABOUT THE OTHER IMPORTANT RACE, THE SECRETARY OF
STATE. THE SECRETARY OF STATE OVERSEAS
ELECTIONS, RIGHT? SO A DOUBLE WHAMMY OF
IMPORTANCE. REPUBLICAN VOTERS IN ARIZONA
CHOSE MARK FINCHEM WHO WAS PART OF THE STOP THE STEAL MOVEMENT
AND WHO SAID THE ARIZONA STATE LEGISLATURE SHOULD BE ABLE TO
OVERTURN THE WILL OF ARIZONA VOTERS IN PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTIONSES. SO IF FINCHEM ENDS UP AS
SECRETARY OF STATE IN 2024, BILL, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
>> OH, I'M VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THIS.
WE NEED SOMEONE AS OUR SECRETARY OF STATE WHO IS FOCUSED ON --
MAKING SURE THAT THE ELECTIONS RUN SMOOTHLY, BUT CERTAINLY NOT
PUTTING THE FINGER ON THE SCALE. I HAVE NO QUESTION THAT MARK
FINCHEM WILL PUT HIS FINGER ON THE SCALE.
HE'S MADE THAT CLEAR, IN FACT, SHORTLY AFTER THE ELECTION IN
2020 HE SAID, YOU KNOW WHAT? WE NEED TO COME UP WITH A
VILLAIN IN THIS STORY, AND SHE SAID LET'S MAKE IT THE BOARD OF
SUPERVISORS AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT YOU'VE SEEN THROUGH THE
AUDIT AND EVEN TODAY. MINUTE BY MINUTE, WE'RE BEING
ATTACKED FOR THIS ELECTION THAT WE RAN ON TWITTER AND ELSEWHERE
AND THERE'S SIFRMLY MPLY NO BAS IT AND THEY'RE ATTACKING THE
FOUNDATIONS FOR DEMOCRACY AND WE'RE SAYING THE FACTS AND WERE
THERE A COUPLE OF HICCUPS, SURE. THERE WAS A SMOOTHLY-RUN
ELECTION AND AS I SAID BEFORE THIS ELECTION IF KARI LAKE OR
SOMEONE ELSE HAS PROBLEMS WITH THIS SELECTION THEY NEED TO LET
US KNOW AND THEY NEED TO MAKE US AWARE OF IT BECAUSE ISSUES ARE
NOT HAPPENING THAT CAN AFFECT THE OUTCOME ONE WAY OR THE
OTHER. >> ALYSSA, YOU RAISE IT.
THEY WERE OPEN, AND ELECTION DENIERS AND IT HAPPENED IN
MULTIPLE STATES. WHAT DID THIS TELL YOU ABOUT
YOUR PERT. IT'S INE GIVICLY GOING IN THE
WRONG DIRECTION, AND I HATE TO GET POLITICAL AND THE MOST
IMPORTANT THING IS UNDERCUTTING THE DEMOCRACY AND THE BASIC
INSTITUTIONS AND TRUST IN OUR ELECTIONS.
SOME OF THE CANDIDATES WHO WERE ELECTED WERE NOMINATED BECAUSE
THEY PROMOTED THE BIG LIE AND NOT VERY GOOD CANDIDATES.
BLAKE MASTERS WILL FACE OFF AGAINST MARK KELLY, AN
INCREDIBLY POPULAR DEMOCRAT WHO WILL HAVE A MUCH TOUGHER RACE
FOR AS OPPOSED TO SOMEONE LIKE DOUG DUCEY WHO WAS CHASED OUT OF
THE RACE AND PROBABLY WOULD HAVE GONE INTO VICTORY, AND I WOULD
ALSO NOTE, ONE, I JUST WANT TO MENTION MY FRIEND PETER MEIJER
CAME IN A VETERAN AND A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSMAN AND ONE
OF THE BEST YOUNG LEADERS LOST HIS RACE FOR TELLING THE TRUTH
AND NOW HE'S THE NOMINEE THERE AS AN ELECTION DENIER WHO BY THE
WAY, NOW THEY'RE SAYING IS A LEAN DEMOCRAT SEAT AND HE'S SUCH
A CANDIDATE HE DOESN'T EVEN LIVE IN THE DISTRICT.
WHAT TRUMP IS DOING IS AIRING HIS GRIEVANCES IS ALSO JUST
HURTING THE PARTY BROADLY.