the road to the White House heats up
when he means you nineteen American not
Zoey more division and hatred and anger
I have zero doubt in my mind that
together we are the campaign that could
be trouble
Democrats going all out to win delegates
seeking the party's presidential
nomination President Trump already has
his party's nomination and true to form
is not holding back Tracy Byrd he's
gonna go crazy crazy for sleepy Joe he
doesn't even know where he is what he's
doing now on King five we expect to see
the first results from the Washington
State presidential primary who will
claim victory as the two leading
candidates slug it out state-by-state
the beat Trump we need the largest voter
turnout in the history of the United
States of America this is a king five
special presentation decision 2020 the
Washington State presidential primary
and good evening ballots have been cast
and ballot drop boxes closed just
moments ago all across the state
good evening on this primary election
night I'm Joyce Taylor and I'm Mark
Wright thank you so much for being here
so counties all over the state are busy
right now counting the votes as the
Democratic candidates pursue their
party's nomination and president Trump
seeks re-election we have a lot on the
way for you right here for the next hour
so we have your very first look at
results right here in Washington State
live exclusive interviews from the
Democratic and Republican state chairs
and our King 5 news analysts will be
helping us go beyond the ballot tonight
first let's take a look at some of the
results from some of the other states
NBC is calling Joe Biden the winner in
Michigan the big prize tonight in the
race for Democratic delegates there are
125 delegates at stake and as you can
see in the vote tallies in Michigan Joe
Biden leading with 54% of the vote and a
similar outcome here at least for now
the former vice president has been
declared the winner in Missouri as you
can see soundly beating Bernie Sanders
68 pledged delegates are up for grabs in
that state Biden is also won the primary
today in Mississippi this adds to his
strong showing in the South during Super
Tuesday just a week ago there are 36
pledged delegates in the state of
Mississippi right now North Dakota
Democrats then the caucuses are showing
Bernie Sanders with a lead right now 14
pledged delegates on the line in that
state tonight a Democratic candidate
needs 1991 pledged delegates to win at
the party's nomination so where do the
candidates stand right now with Joe
Biden's delegate lead has increased he
leads by well over 100 delegates at this
point we're regenerating a Democratic
base the Democratic Party the
african-american community high school
educated folks like the ones I grew up
with in Claymont not far from here in my
old neighborhood
laborer suburban women veterans
firefighters union members and so many
more people of every economic station
the poor who are struggling and they are
struggling in this environment the
middle class worries about whether or
not they're going to be able to hang on
and stay there
maintain their Economic Security they're
the reason Jill and I got involved this
in this campaign in the first place and
they're the reason why I became a
Democrat so long ago Joe Biden along
with his wife dr. Jill Biden speaking
just moments ago in Philadelphia tonight
so as we wait for the vote results in
our state we want to check in now with
the king five political analysts to get
their perspective King 5's Chris Daniels
is in our news room with Scott McClellan
and Ron Sims so Chris gonna be a very
busy night one it's not turning out the
way Sanders supporters had hoped no not
in Washington State and not across the
country welcome to our King 5 news
election desk where we are expecting
those numbers to come in from Washington
State in the Secretary of State's office
at any minute we do know that more than
a million ballots were filed statewide
for the Democrats and we now have in my
ear they tell me results out of King
County where we know that 450,000
ballots were going to be counted today
and you can see the numbers on your
screen again King County numbers only
the people who filled out and checked
the box as Democrats Bernie Sanders with
a slight lead ever-so-slight at thirty
three point six percent over Jill Biden
at 32 and a half remember Elizabeth
Warren dropped out after these ballots
were mailed out along with Michael
Bloomberg and you can see they
registered in the Washington State
primary among Democrats fifteen point
two percent for Warren Michael Bloomberg
at just under nine percent again this is
the King County numbers only
we are expecting many more numbers to
pour in from across the state so there
you have it Ron Sims and Scott McClellan
our first numbers from Washington State
will continue to talk about those as the
numbers pour in here throughout the
course of the hour we have been talking
though as well about what we've seen on
a national
a lot of focus on Michigan tonight
what's your initial take on this primary
evening well this is another big night
for Joe Biden just like it wasn't Super
Tuesday and and falling on South
Carolina you you hear what Joe Biden was
just saying when he was speaking he's
trying to reach out to Sanders
supporters now Sanders campaign has said
he's not going to be speaking tonight
that is very telling that he is not
going to come out and speak tonight that
tells me that he's going and talking to
his advisors and going to be talking to
his advisors more about what is the next
step for his campaign is there a path
forward and why would you continue if
there's not a big win in Michigan for
Joe Biden that set the tone for the
night
we'll see how Washington turns out right
now it looks pretty close in the early
numbers a lot of that appears probably
is some of the early vote because you
have Warren and Bloomberg getting a
significant chunk there and as these
voters who voted later after Super
Tuesday as those votes come in let's see
where things end up Ron you you're a
former as many people know three term
king county executive you know King
County well those are King County
numbers what's your take on just that
margin in King County being so small I
was surprised actually it was that small
that's a pretty you know in King County
you would expect people to move more to
the candidate who called the most
liberal of them all and in this case you
saw some pragmatism so you see a really
tight race between Sanders and Biden
that is it is pleasing and I'm not
surprised King County is has you know
people who are boomers people who are
the Millennials and a really really good
mix people who have strong passions and
feelings so I didn't expect it to be one
candidate over the other I thought it
was going to be fairly close and we're
saying it is fairly close and one thing
that you know we just went through the
numbers in Mississippi and Michigan and
Missouri all have been called for Joe
Biden as you continue to look at the
King County numbers on the Washington
Democratic side in Mississippi there is
a question at this hour if Bernie
Sanders will meet the fifteen percent
threshold otherwise that could be an
all-or-nothing situation for
Joe Biden in terms of all getting all of
the delegates out of Mississippi he's
performing extremely well once again
with african-american voters roughly 85%
of the ballots that have been counted
down in Mississippi from
african-american voters going towards
Joe Biden almost two-to-one margin in
Michigan amongst early returns so that
is going to be something that will
continue to watch as we continue to get
these ballot numbers and any final
thoughts as we talk about the Washington
state numbers well you know I think that
the polling last just last Friday showed
that it was neck-and-neck and the big
question was where are those war and
supporters gonna go and what you saw in
Michigan tonight it looks like from exit
polling that some of those weren't more
those warmer supporters are going to Joe
Biden the party seems to be coalescing
let's see if that's the case here in
Washington State
I think these early numbers as Ron was
saying Doosan an indication that it
might be a good night for Joe Biden even
here in Washington State Joyce Mark one
quick question is it also not a good
night for President Trump because
there's so many returns more than
600,000 people casting their ballots for
President Trump a lot of republicans
voting correct right yeah one would
expect that an estate like this and we
are a number of Republicans and I am not
surprised that there were 600,000 votes
cast well and one thing to point out to
Joyce's question at least as of
yesterday with the Secretary of State's
office the the numbers were trending
heavily on the Democratic side in terms
of you know this this question of
whether you fill out the democratic or
republican box a majority of the ballots
it was about two to one statewide were
Democratic in King County that number
was pushing almost 80 percent on a
Democratic side so that is gonna be one
of the things that we parse out this is
the Democratic state if you look at the
legislature both houses House and Senate
governor all the offices except for one
are controlled by Democrats that is not
going to change because of this election
more to tell them throughout the hour
back to you all right thank you so a lot
of people have voted of course in this
stage you heard the number of returned
ballots will be higher than the primary
four years ago
so the coronavirus doesn't appear to be
having an impact because our state votes
entirely by mail
Chris was talking about the Secretary of
State Kim Wyman here's what she told us
about turnout this time around he had
about 1.6 million people who've already
returned a ballot which is really
exciting
we've already surpassed the 2016 number
so we're looking at record-breaking
turnout
all right we just got some new statewide
numbers on the Democratic side and right
now it is neck-and-neck with Bernie
Sanders and Joe Biden with 33% of the
vote Elizabeth Warren with 13% and
Michael Bloomberg of course those two
not in the race down in the single
digits there and we'll keep tracking the
numbers so there has been a lot of
activity at the King County Elections
headquarters keep 510 at least wavy
joins us live from Renton tonight so
Natalie what's the story there
yeah King County elections telling me
that they've seen record-breaking
turnout they say that they've got about
40 percent voter turnout now just in
about 8 o'clock they close these doors
but a little while earlier we were here
and we have video to show you what it
looked like people arriving here to drop
off their ballots today and in another
part of the building where they were
processing ballots workers were required
to wear gloves because of coronavirus
concerns ballots are being carefully
checked one thing workers are looking
for voters a musta marked democrat or
republican on their ballots so far about
24,000 people have failed to do that
King County elections we'll be
contacting those people because if
that's not included on the ballot it is
not valid and tonight a few voters
talked with us about their decision I
decided to vote for Bernie student loans
they're a big issue and so I'm hoping
that gets in the change scene with that
and I don't know we'll see I just think
that we can probably get it a little bit
of back to normal with Joe Biden
compared to things the way they are now
Joe Biden you know I think he's gonna
win and I was a Kamala Harris guy but
you know she didn't get any traction so
Joe is probably my second or third pick
from the beginning but yeah I don't I'm
okay with Joe you know
that's what some of the voters had to
say tonight now King County election
says they'll be able to tally about half
of the ballots by tonight and the
majority of the ballots will be counted
by Friday live in Renton at leastwe beat
King 5 news Natalie thanks so much so
we're also keeping tabs on what's
happening in eastern Washington reporter
Tim Pham is live at the Spokane County
Elections Office tonight so Tim we're
hearing that some voters they're like
here missed an important step in getting
their votes counted tell us what
happened yeah mark about five percent of
the votes they received we're told they
were not filled out properly and those
votes were rejected like this sample
ballot here you see our envelope rather
you can see that they either didn't
circle a party or they didn't sign the
oath and we're told that those ballots
were rejected and then they're going to
be sent letters telling them that they
have one more chance if they want their
primary vote to count to get that in
before a certain date so this year is
very different in some Washingtonians
might not be used to this process
because both parties primaries are
listed on the same ballot in Washington
but you could only pick one or the other
to vote in and you had to sign a
statement on the envelope promising you
didn't vote in both so there again this
is a new process and election officials
know that there's going to be a learning
curve so if your ballot was rejected
you'll get a second chance a letter will
be sent to you if your ballot was
incomplete giving you one more
opportunity to correct that mistake you
also might have noticed that on the
ballot there are many candidates on the
Democratic side that have since dropped
out so you might be wondering what
happens if you chose one of them well
election officials say the ballots were
printed two months ago and it's up to
the party to decide what happens to
those results there are names on the
ballot that have since dropped out and
it will be up to the Democratic Party to
decide what to do with those votes but
we will count every vote as marked for
each one of those candidates and report
that to the Democratic Party
so far thousands of letters have been
sent out to voters letting them know
that their ballot was rejected if you
receive one of those letters you have to
get that back to your election office by
March 19th that's because the state
certifies election results on March 20th
reporting live in Spokane County I'm Tim
Pham King 5 news Tim thanks so much and
we'll check back with you
while Bernie Sanders won the state's
Democratic caucuses four years ago but
this year ballots cast in the primary
election determine who gets the
delegates not those caucuses those
little neighborhood meetings so how are
Sanders supporters reacting to the
results tonight keep five Sebastian
Robertson live where Sanders supporters
are watching the results come in
Sebastian good evening good evening that
margins still very close we're talking
about four thousand votes that's new
information as of just a couple minutes
ago by no means is that race over here
in Washington State as we see where
those delegates are going to go first
and foremost maybe the elephant in the
room any time you're talking politics in
Seattle
especially Sanders you expect to see a
packed crowd this is a candidate that's
brought out hundreds of thousands of
people here in the northwest but if you
notice you'd be hard-pressed to find
maybe 12 people here that has less to do
with politics and more so what we've
been talking about the past couple of
weeks which is the corona virus many
people heeding the advice of politicians
staying home about just about all the
major candidates all the major parties
have have cancelled any form of formal
watch party this is by no means a formal
watch party it is though organized by
Sean Scott who recently was appointed to
head Sanders campaign here in Washington
I imagine there's there's a little bit
of nerves in the air how are you feeling
as we're just sort of starting to get
these King County results right well I'm
Bernie Sanders is a Washington state
field director here in Washington State
and I know you know my partner
Karen chase is our Washington state
director and I all of our volunteers our
supporters endorses across the state are
looking with great anticipation to see
the results of all the hard work the
grassroots effort that we've been
putting in to make sure that we see
transformative change in the White House
this November this was a big night this
is a big night for Sanders and Biden do
you feel that all this attention on the
corona virus has detracted from the
message or made it harder for you get to
get that final push well I think one of
the things that I've heard from our
volunteers and things that I've heard at
the doors myself is that this really
highlights the need for a real competent
leadership on big questions like
Medicare for all there's no reason why
in the middle of a global health
pandemic what started as an epidemic and
has spread to metropolitan areas like
Seattle people should be going for wants
of health coverage of health care and so
if anything I think that a while it has
presented some complications with
respect to gatherings that people are
having across the county it has really
highlighted the need for leadership on
an issue that is socialized medicine
that senator Sanders has been talking
about for at least four decades in this
country Sean Scott with the Sanders
campaign this race still very close to
call at least here locally let alone in
Washington State that's the latest here
on Capitol Hill with the Sanders
campaign back to you all right Sebastian
thank you
well the state Democratic Party chair is
going to be joining us live next with
her take on tonight's results so far as
we head to break let's check out some of
the results from our exclusive statewide
King 5 news poll first up how would Joe
Biden fare if he is the Democratic
presidential nominee running against
President Trump according to our
exclusive call from survey USA today
USA Today sorry survey u-s-a Biden would
get 57% Trump 34% of the vote Bernie
Sanders also leads in a hypothetical
head-to-head matchup by about the same
margin in our poll Sanders received 56%
- president Trump's 35 percent the
results are much closer from respondents
in Eastern Washington as you can see
here Biden getting 46% and Trump 45%
that is a statistical dead heat the
margin also much closer in the Sanders
Trump matchup among people in eastern
Washington they are both tied at 46%
also a dead heat we will be right back
with more of our election coverage on
this primary
election is Super Tuesday too
[Music]
you
welcome back to our special decision
20/20 coverage and new numbers now from
Washington State as you can see very
very close with about 34% of the vote in
here in Washington Bernie Sanders with
32.7% Joe Biden with 32.6% of course we
will not have final results potentially
for weeks because these are the votes
that are in but a lot of you are mailing
them today so at this point it's a dead
heat
it is super tight all right the
Republican side now the president of
course running unopposed on the
Republican side of the ballot he is
expected to get all of Washington
state's 44 pledged delegates we will
talk with the Washington State
Republican party chair Caleb heimlich
coming up in our second half hour but
first he Nepal Adamski joins us she is
the Washington state Democratic party
chair Tina it's great to have you here
thank you great here great to be here
thank you good to see you and exciting
times with these primaries that we've
been having so let's talk first about
the results not what Sanders supporters
have been hoping Biden's camp obviously
really happy about this how do you think
this happened this way tonight I think
explain you know I think it's a good
night for Democrats and think of all the
great democratic ideals and Democratic
voters that you have out there you have
a difference between as a 5:00 p.m.
reporting 1.3 million Democrats voting
in the primary versus 500,000
Republicans so think about what that
means for our primary in August and
ultimately for November in Washington
State I think what it means is people
are divided on who they want to have
carry out the ideals of the Democratic
Party we have terrific terrific
candidates I think we all want to get to
the same destination of unity and things
like health care for everyone
income inequality fixing our justice
system we might have some differences on
how we get there but the destination is
the same and Democrats will be there in
November Tina electability is a term
that's been thrown around a lot on the
Democratic side Bernie Sanders has flat
out said the Democratic establishment is
terrified of his success do you think
Americans are ready to elect a
self-proclaimed socialist if he's
running against President I think
Democrats are ready to elect whoever
will be our standard bearer and make
sure that they beat Donald Trump for us
this is an election about making change
for a country that has
preferred under three and a half years
almost of Donald Trump and will continue
to suffer until Election Day November
and we get Donald Trump and his cronies
out of office so for us it's also not
just about Trump it's about winning back
the Senate it's about making sure we
keep the house and it's winning up and
down the ticket throughout the state of
Washington let's talk about Biden versus
Sanders let's hypothetically say buying
Biden wins the nomination how do Biden
support how does the Biden camp get
Sanders supporters in the tent how do do
they unify the party because it's split
right now and do Biden supporters
understand what Sanders people really
want I think that's a two things need to
happen number one is just like with
Elizabeth Warren or Kamala Harris or
pita judge those candidates bring their
supporters along so they need to be
there and they need to be visible we
need to have a ticket that indeed if
it's if it's a by denomination that
Bernie Sanders is there he's bringing
his supporters along and all of those
ideas that have been part of the Sanders
campaign need to be included in in what
we do together but the best way to think
about it I think is team of rivals right
and go back to Lincoln go back to that
great book by Doris Kearns Goodwin one
of my favorites and think about you've
got a great team of rivals and if you
looked on that Democratic debate stage
when we had ten folks up on that stage
boy that's an incredible group of people
to be president vice president cabinet
secretaries and making this country a
better place Tina four years ago Sanders
beat Hillary Clinton in both Michigan
and Washington why do you think Joe
Biden is doing better than Clinton
against Sanders well keep in mind in
2016 in Washington we had a caucus and
so we had about 230,000 people
participate in that caucus that was a
record at the time for a caucus in
Washington State we made the move to a
primary and we're going to go past two
million people voting in Washington
State so I think you're hearing the
diversity of the big tent of the
Democratic Party here speaking out
speaking loudly and using their their
vote as their voice the trunk base the
president's support in Washington's I
think unlike something we haven't seen
in this country in a generation at least
so how does the Democratic Party go up
against a president and incumbent
president
where the economy has been good jobs
have been good unemployment spin down
and his campaign style is unique well I
think Donald Trump is something that
we've never seen in our country for a
long time and so many people have
suffered because of it look if you look
at what's happened to the average
working person their life has not gotten
better under Donald Trump that's really
really clear if you look to see what's
happening at our own state right now and
the cuts to the CDC and how that's a
part of the corona virus epidemic and
more will come out over the coming days
as to how poorly that administration has
done it goes on and on and on I think we
have folks who are done with Donald
Trump and all his allies and cronies and
you're going to see Democrats carry the
day okay Kaleb Heimlich with the
Republican Party here in the state I'm
sure he's going to have a different
point of view we're definitely gonna
hear from him and he's taken all this
too but Tina Paula gaskey thank you so
much we really appreciate you thank you
all right so we've got a lot more
election results coming in turnout has
been brisk that's an understatement it
could be days though before all these
ballots are counted because so many of
us vote well we all vote in the mail so
stay with us we'll be right back there
are some election workers working hard
as we speak we'll be right back
you
[Music]
thank you
you
welcome back to our special election
coverage decision 2020 you're watching
King 5 news and here are the latest
results from the state of Washington it
is a razor thin margin right now between
Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden 1587 votes
separate the two candidates right now
with about 32% 34% of the overall vote
having been counted so far so it is a
very close race between these two
candidates on the Democratic side so on
this election night we continue to
monitor the latest developments on the
corona virus outbreak King fives jessica
jenner castro's in the newsroom with the
latest on this Jessica
Joyce and Mark today we learned governor
jay Inslee will make an announcement
tomorrow morning on a new plan to
contain corona virus in Washington State
and this just in we can confirm a source
close to the discussion says the
governor will announce a ban on events
of 250 people or more and this ban will
center around sporting events concerts
parades and we're told public health
will address schools and workplaces at
that press conference the governor will
be joined by county executives of King
Pierce and Snohomish counties as well as
the mayors of Seattle Everett and Tacoma
the conference happens at 10:15 tomorrow
morning and I want to show you a look at
the latest numbers on your screen here
there have been at least 267 cases of
corona virus in Washington State 24 of
those have died the majority of them in
King County
the state says 2175 people have tested
negative for corona virus so far today a
cleaning crew arrived at the Life Care
Center in Kirkland the nursing home at
the center of the outbreak we got an
update from Life Care this afternoon who
say 64 of its 180 employees have shown
symptoms and are no longer working
approximately 30 have been tested so far
21 residents still on site have tested
positive some officials are putting
Seattle in the same category as Wuhan
and northern Italy a university in st.
Louis
banning any student who comes to King
County over spring break from returning
to campus for at least two weeks
and of course we have the very latest
for you on the corona virus outbreak
here in western Washington on our
website King five.com as well as on our
King 5 app mark thank you for that
update
let's take a look now at the overall
delegate count right now Joe Biden so
far has secured 809 delegates it takes
about nineteen hundred and ninety
delegates to secure the nomination so we
still have a long way to go
Bernie Sanders right now was 654
delegates let's take a look now results
from several counties we have about 36
of 39 counties reporting at this point
so first to Snohomish County and you can
see the results here 34 percent for Joe
Biden 32 percent for Bernie Sanders now
to Pierce County let's take a look at
those results in overwhelming lead for
Joe Biden there at least with the
initial dump of ballots Joe Biden was 66
percent interestingly candidates no
longer in the race Michael Bloomberg
with 22% of the booter judge with 10
percent of the vote there in Pierce
County let's move on to Clarke County
now this is in southwestern Washington
the ballot count showing I get a good
lead for Joe Biden with Bernie Sanders
at 32% so still pretty close there 12
percent going to Mayor Bloomberg we will
keep tracking all of the numbers the
latest results as they come in from
today's presidential primary we'll be
right back after a short break
you
that's the meeting
you
and welcome back to decision 2020 our
special coverage on this primary
election Tuesday the votes have been
cast the ballots are being counted and
here's look at who is leaving among
Democrats seeking the party's nomination
right now Bernie Sanders with 32.7% here
in Washington Joe Biden 32.5% with the
air of the a margin of error that's
pretty much a dead heat in Washington
super close race there of course
President Trump running unopposed on the
Republican side right now has 99 percent
of the votes secured for his nomination
in terms of Delegates from the state of
Washington well the big story tonight
former Vice President Joe Biden has been
racking up victory after victory tonight
Michigan Missouri and Mississippi and
the numbers of course not looking as
good for Bernie Sanders not at all what
his camp had hoped for King fives Chris
Daniels is in the newsroom with more on
what is happening tonight with the
Sanders campaign Kristen Joyce and mark
you look like our king 5 statewide poll
of voters was pretty much on the money
we told you in advance would be a dead
heat it looks like a dead heat right now
between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders
with that fraction of a percentage
difference one thing that stands out as
we turn to Ron and Scott Pierce County
went heavily for Jill Biden I mean there
was a lot of talk about Bernie Sanders
having a lead in this state it's pretty
close in King County but Pierce County
went heavily towards Biden and you and I
have talked before about the
demographics of of this region and how
it is different outside Seattle the
Pierce County is a has a different job
base that high tech as much it has a
large marine industry fishing industry
forest industries and it's also a
computer a commuter community as well
we'll go up to Seattle to work and go
back down to Pierce County both because
they have opportunities to buy homes but
there is a different cultural society
Ann's and feel in Pierce County
and it's so we're not seeing anything
that would surprise us if Pierce County
is always been and always will be a
little bit more conservative than King
County when you've seen the breakdown by
congressional district by by County
anything jump out to you let's go
well I think I hear for some of the exit
polling that's been going on in
Washington State today two-thirds of
voters are saying that they're liberal
that's higher than many other states did
where Democratic primaries are current
occurring not surprising but then at the
same time when 60% those exit polls say
that they think Biden has the best
chance to win in November so I think
that's reflection of a national trend
and a narrative that Joe Biden is the
one that can take out Donald Trump in
the view of Democrats and so Democrats
have rallied around him and when you
look ahead after today next week does
not look promising for Bernie Sanders
and I think that's why you're seeing
that he is not coming out to speak
tonight he is going to hold off on that
and probably reevaluate him where he
goes from here because the math does not
look like it's there but it'll be
interesting to see the final breakdown
in Washington State
the King Fahd poll showed very closely
what is happening right now that it's
neck-and-neck and if Biden wins
Washington State that's a very good
night for Joe Biden's it's a big night
for him anyway nationally but it's a
very good night for him if he were to
win Washington State it's still a good
night if he's close yeah let's talk more
about the king five poll and the survey
of voters statewide one of the things
you just mentioned Scott when people
were asked if they had to vote for
president no matter who the candidate
would be if it was Jill Biden in
particular it was significantly in favor
of Joe Biden in terms of what the vote
totals would be head to head with Donald
Trump more than Bernie Sanders and I
think this is another question that also
kind of jumps out did the
self-proclaimed title of Democratic
Socialist heard Bernie Sanders and you
see what Washington voters have to say
as part of the King 5 news poll 30% said
yes it's a major factor for them another
third said it's not a factor Ron what do
you think I think was a big factor
actually
you when you're looking at the
candidates you were saying which one can
best beat the president and I think the
worry among a lot of Democrats whether
you were liberal or conservative was
that Biden offered a far more difficult
challenge for Donald Trump and Bernie
wood because all you gotta say is he's a
socialist he's a socialist and people
have mixed emotions about that and so I
think that that socialism was a much
bigger factor than people are willing to
admit from a strategy standpoint having
worked on so many campaigns on the
Republican side kind of put us in those
in those shoes you know there's been a
lot of talk about whether Donald Trump
really wanted Bernie Sanders or wants
Bernie Sanders I should say as the
nominee because it would be perhaps an
easier matchup for him from a strategy
standpoint is that the case I mean do
you look at it that way yeah I think
every campaign says you know it doesn't
matter who the opponent is going to be
in the end during the during the primary
season but no they they I think the
Donald Trump would have preferred in his
campaign would have preferred Bernie
Sanders to be the nominee because they
could have drawn that big contrast the
country as a whole is not to the left it
is somewhere in the center left to
center right spectrum when you look at
the country and and I think that's why
Joe Biden has been able to bring voters
in the Democratic primary to his side
whether you after went in in South
Carolina and we're seeing that play out
all across the country tonight in the
states that are voting and there you see
once again the margin between Bernie
Sanders and Joe Biden
keep in mind people had to check the box
on their ballot there were multiple
names on the ballot but that is matching
up with our survey USA poll statewide of
voters and you see the top two at this
hour again the number I was trying to
cite earlier Jill Biden head-to-head
amongst those voters 52% so regardless
of who they want to win who they thought
had the best chance of defeating
President Trump 52% Biden 31% Sanders
mark Joyce
Chris I want to ask you guys a quick
question typically during these
campaigns we see people move from the
fringes to the center as we get closer
to the general election but on the
Democratic side we saw two candidates
Sanders and Warren who were way far left
compared to traditional democratic
politics do you think that could cause
some collateral damage as we get closer
to the election because you have to
reconcile those positions in one person
as we as that person faces Donald Trump
I don't think it's gonna impact the
general election at all I think you you
have a candidate Biden and he's gonna
say this is what I'm running on this is
what I stand for and he is going to
succeed or fail on his agenda when they
get to the convention it's going to be a
Biden agenda that comes out of it
so what Bernie or any other or Warren
wanted isn't likely to affect the
general voter it's going to be Biden
standing on his own and I think he's
going to do incredibly well when winning
elections in the general election is
about holding on to your base and
reaching out to the swing voters in the
middle and the independence Donald Trump
can I threw that upside down four years
ago but Joe Biden has the ability to do
that now the big question is the Sanders
supporters those that were supporting a
revolution that has not materialized to
the extent that he needed it to
will they participate in the general
election these are a lot of young voters
and I suspect some we don't know to what
extent are disillusioned tonight and are
disillusioned to see that it's probably
not going to happen for Bernie Sanders
it's not gonna happen Bernie Sanders on
the math just isn't there after tonight
when you look to look to the states that
are still remaining so we'll see that's
gonna be an important thing for Joe
Biden to try to do is to reach out to
those particularly those young voters
maybe some of the world rotors and white
collar or blue-collar voters that
supported Sanders and we'll close with
this as we send it back to Mark and
Joyce so one of the data points already
being analyzed tonight in Michigan in
particular the people who voted against
Hillary Clinton that are voting tonight
for Jill Biden and how that factors in
going forward with the Democrats will
send it back to you for now
yeah we will ask you some more questions
toward the end of this hour a lot of
questions too for both of you gentlemen
but we'll get back to you thanks so much
for analysis so yeah earlier today Chris
Daniel spoke with Trump campaign press
secretary Kelly McInerney so he asked
her about what they are expecting now
from these results here in Washington
State listen well we'll see what happens
of course it's down to Bernie and Biden
so for us it matters very little who
wins this evening we see Bernie and
Biden as both representing government
takeover of health care of energy of the
economy undoing the great Trump economy
so for us whoever wins will find out
tonight but we know the ideology that's
winning and it's big government takeover
how do people in Washington State feel
about the president we have a brand-new
exclusive King 5 news poll with some new
numbers about the president's job
approval 35 percent of respondents
approve of the job he's doing 58 percent
disapproved survey USA conducted the
poll last Wednesday and last Thursday
and again that is a statewide poll of
the entire state of Washington our poll
also asked people's opinions about the
future of the country 33 percent believe
that America is going in the right
direction that's 33 percent 60 percent
think the country is on the wrong track
well Washington State Republican Party
Chairman Caleb heimlich is with us now
thanks so much
Caleb president Trump ran unopposed in
Washington State's presidential primary
of course our k5 statewide poll found
that Democrats in terms of turnout are
voting two-to-one margin by a margin
over Republicans is there a turnout
problem do you think for Republicans now
or are you concerned about this no not
at all I mean in this primary you had 13
Democratic candidates and only on our
side just president Trump so Democrat
voters in Washington state had every
reason to participate yet Michael
Bloomberg spending millions of dollars
of ads during Seahawks playoff games
during the Super Bowl Bernie Sanders had
a rally in Tacoma so they have 13
candidates all driving out their voters
and we saw really unprecedented turnout
President Trump is receiving more votes
in this primary than any Republican
candidate in the history of Washington
state presidential primaries and he's
doing that while he was unopposed we've
seen almost 600,000 people participate
that is a record for participation in a
presidential primary so certainly the
base is fired up they're out there and
now for the next eight months our
message to voters of Washington state is
we can do the same things here in
Washington State we can flip the state
governor Inslee is vulnerable I think
your polling has shown him at about 40
percent job approval and so there's a
real opportunity for the voters of this
state to choose a new direction I want
to ask you about the poll that we did
asking people's opinions about the
future of the country 60% say they think
it's going in the wrong direction
despite the economy despite the jobs in
a pretty good place in this country why
do you think people in lease in
Washington feel that the country's going
in the wrong direction under President
Trump I think people in Washington State
have been doing pretty well historically
and so where we've got a lot of people
that are pretty well-off and what we've
seen as president Trump is really
connecting with voters that were
struggling voters that were being left
behind and so about the 60% I want you
to focus on that those people who think
it's going in the wrong direction yeah
but I think those people think that the
country is going in the wrong direction
they kind of have the luxury of saying I
disapprove of what President Trump says
I disapprove of the way he says it but
for the people that are struggling that
are living paycheck to paycheck
that's president Trump's base those are
people that have rallied to him that are
supporting him across the country and
those voters is I think even your poll
showed in eastern Washington are with
the president they see someone that's
fighting for them fighting for working
people across this country and so yes if
you're living in Issaquah and you're
doing fine then you can disapprove of
the way President Trump handles himself
but if you're a person that's struggling
living paycheck to paycheck you really
don't care what the president says or
tweets you just want someone who's
delivering for your family and president
Trump has done that we've added 250,000
jobs in Washington State the average
family of four received $3,000 more in
their paycheck because of his tax cuts
we got a trade deal with Canada and
Mexico he delivered on criminal justice
reform so we have a candidate in
President Trump that has followed
through on his campaign promises and did
what he said he was going to do the
president has been running primarily on
the success of the economy and as this
coronavirus starts to spread we're
seeing some pretty unprecedented plunges
in turn
that the economy does that change
president Trump strategy as we get
closer to the general election it's
certainly look I mean coronavirus is
shaking a lot of things up it's shaking
up people's lifestyle choices if they're
working from home if their kids aren't
going to school so I think that's gonna
have some ramifications and we'll kind
of see how that applies to politics but
I think we won't know the effects of
that fully until a couple weeks and
maybe coming months and we'll see how
that plays out if you struck me by
saying by something you just said you
said people don't necessarily care what
the president says or does or acts right
so what do you think words don't matter
do you think his words don't matter no I
do think they do
I think they absolutely words matter I
just think that for people that are
struggling and have been left behind by
eight years of President Obama and Vice
President Joe Biden who were losing
their jobs blue-collar workers here in
Washington State down in Grays Harbor
County raised Harford County voted for
President Trump first time voting for
Republican since the Great Depression
since 1930 that's because people out
there in Aberdeen are struggling and so
they voted for someone they decided you
know what he's might be a little crass
he might not be the kind of person that
I want in my house her over after church
but I'm gonna vote for him because I
believe that he's going to deliver and I
think he has for those people cable
caleb heimlich with the Republican Party
here in Washington State it's great to
have you on the set really great great
to have your perspective thank you yeah
thank you okay all right he may have
much more ahead here on our special
election coverage tonight as we head to
break another king five poll result that
you will see only here
[Applause]
[Music]
you
and welcome back
58 of Washington State's 89 delegates
will be awarded based on results from
Washington's congressional delegates
congressional districts that is taking a
look now at district number two
candidates need at least 15% to receive
any delegates at all so once they get
that 15 percent threshold that's when
they can start to get delegates all
right let's move down to district 3 this
is in Southwest Washington states on the
Republican side no surprise there 99
percent for Donald Trump and here is
that district 3 result right now Joe
Biden leading Bernie Sanders by 4
percentage points right now but again
this is the first dump of votes
congressional district number 4 let's
show you that and here you see Sanders
is leading 32% to Biden's 28 percent and
as you know we still have candidates on
the ballot who have since dropped out
including Michael Bloomberg with 17%
more election results from individual
congressional districts this is district
6 as you can see Joe Biden leading by
almost 32 percent of the vote to Bernie
Sanders 29 point 5 percent of the vote
well the polls closed in Idaho at 8
o'clock tonight and here's how Idaho is
breaking down 46 percent for Joe Biden
39 percent for Bernie Sanders we will
continue to bring you the results the
very latest from the state also from the
nation coming up next
before we head to break we have an
exclusive look at two polls so here's
some interesting information this is
what caleb was talking about our King 5
news poll shows governor jay Inslee
approval rating now stands at 42 percent
that's up just one point from January 30
8 percent disapprove of the jobs the
governor is doing if the general
election were held today who would you
vote for in the governor's race
survey u-s-a a statewide poll shows
Inslee has a lead with 43 percent as he
seeks a third term
Tim ayman is in second with 9% you may
remember that he switched to the
Republican Party just last month 34
percent are undecided we'll be right
back
you
[Music]
Ezee be taking out a sitting governor is
never going to be easy
you
well it's been just a fascinating night
here in Washington and across the
country let's take a look at another
another round of our results statewide
and as you can see here Bernie Sanders
leading all ever-so-slightly 32.7% to
Joe Biden's 32.5% with the returns that
are in it so far here in Washington
State so let's check in one last time
with our experts Chris Scott and Ron so
what should we be looking for for the
rest of the night gentlemen
what do you think Chris yeah choice is
gonna be interesting to see the
breakdown by county and by the districts
as we've been laying out over the last
hour just that margin so narrow between
Jill Biden and Bernie Sanders in our
survey u-s-a King five statewide poll
it's interesting in advance of this
primary evening just a breakdown and how
Joe Biden was performing so well in the
Puget Sound in eastern Washington
however Donald Trump was running pretty
even in a head-to-head matchup with
either candidate so that's one of the
takeaways and one of the things we'll be
looking at as we crunch the data final
thoughts here in this hour Scott and Ron
about what stands out tonight here in
Washington State Bernie Sanders is
meeting with his campaign came tomorrow
I think you're going to see the end of
that campaign and I think you're going
to see people move him over to Biden and
we're going to have one heck of a good
campaign this fall I I was surprised to
see Biden leading in three of the four
counties that we put up there on the
screen just a short time ago I
congressional districts I should say and
you know the survey u-s-a King five
polls showed exactly what is playing out
here and it looks like Biden could even
win this state and that that's a another
big feather in his cap for the night
because he's had a very big night
nationally and this yes this the the
revolution of Bernie Sanders has come to
an end
it's a matter of when he makes that
decision well and one of the things we
were looking at tonight is just what
that number was going to be for Bernie
Sanders
early voting it appeared in Washington
State had gone in his direction
obviously if it was with the amount of
ballots that we've seen hundreds of
thousands so heavily in his direction
perhaps that number would have been
bigger but it obviously is not tonight
just want to point out as well and are
in our polling of vote
heading into this primary Joe Biden was
carrying Washington's self-described
moderates by 39 points in a head-to-head
matchup with Donald Trump
Washington's independent voters by 21
points some of this other data that is
interesting now we see the results in a
head-to-head matchup with Donald Trump
55% of women polled favored Joe Biden
over 27% with Bernie Sanders in a
head-to-head matchup so it looks like
women in particular are going to be a
story in this election especially when
we crunch the numbers even further
suburban women and that we've seen that
trend and they're surprising because
many of them many of them are
Republicans and they're going to come
out and they're going to support
Ryden because his record on women's
issues is so much stronger than that of
the president that is a that is a weak
spot for Donald Trump heading in the
general election is is women voters
that's where he struggles the most and
how he tries to you know get to get that
margin closer than what it starts out as
is gonna be a big challenge for him
particularly if Joe Biden goes with a
woman vice presidential candidate well
in let's let's talk about that because
Elizabeth Warren as well as we have just
a few seconds and got about 15 percent
of the vote tonight that's already been
tabulated so we're gonna talk more about
those issues coming up in the next hour
of King five all right thank you
gentlemen
so that wraps up our special coverage of
this special Super Tuesday here in
Washington and five other states thanks
for joining us tonight it's been really
great to have an hour
nice job choice we will have the latest
results and also reaction and as the
results continue to come in next on King
5 news on Cong 6 and 16 and Joyce and I
will see you at 10 o'clock and of course
at 11 o'clock on King 5 have a great
evening until then
[Music]
you
now at nine sources tell King five the
governor plans to announce a ban on
events of 250 people or more to try and
slow the spread of coronavirus democracy
in action as the state holds its
presidential primary we will have
results an analysis and a conspiracy
theorist finds himself in trouble with
the law in Texas
ballots have been cast and drop boxes
are closed across the state good evening
I'm Jessica Jana Castro I'm Gregg
Copeland counties are busy right now
tallying the votes as the Democratic
candidates pursue their party's
nomination and president Trump seeks
re-election here are the numbers so far
and look how close this is tonight
Bernie Sanders narrowly beating Jill
Biden right there you were looking at
the numbers correctly just two
percentage or point two percentage
points I should say we still have two
counties that need a report so that
number could flip by the end of the
night in in the coming days as we get
more of those ballots in remember
ballots were sent out in our state
February 18th and many voted before
Super Tuesday and if we factor in
candidates who have already dropped out
12% voted for Elizabeth Warren 11
percent for Michael Bloomberg so the
only state voting today with more
delegates in Washington was Michigan NBC
is calling Joe Biden the winner there
tonight I here to help us break down
some of the numbers chief political
reporter Chris Daniels live in our
newsroom Chris hi Greg yeah and as you
were going through those numbers
statewide with Jill Biden and Bernie
Sanders I was just looking at the
numbers out of King County where Bernie
had a 33 it's 61 percent versus a 30 to
49 so it was narrow in King County at
least with the ballots that dropped
tonight
in the Washington State primary on the
Democratic side the Republican side
Donald Trump will go on to claim all the
delegates and yes I'm joined once again
by our King 5 news political analyst Ron
Sims and Scott McClellan we've been
talking all evening about these numbers
in the breakdown of the numbers and what
it means in the big picture what do you
think Ron in in your first take with
Washington's numbers and how they break
out tonight and what it means big
picture I think that Washington is we
were perfectly fit you know Bernie is
not going to be the candidate he's going
to get out but Biden has a stronghold
here as well and I think it's just a
matter of building upon Biden's momentum
which we now know exists
in this state and that's really
important in campaigns because if you
don't have momentum you just you know
like you dry up like a grape but if you
had the momentum and he has that he
would do very well in this yeah an
infrastructure for it cannot work very
well for Scot you've been making the
point tonight that Bernie Sanders has
not addressed the media has not made a
statement Joe Biden came out and
addressed the media what do you make of
that at this juncture in the race I
think it's very telling that Sanders his
campaign put said that he was not going
to come out and speak tonight that just
doesn't happen unless you are stepping
back and taking a look at where do we go
from here and then when you look at the
math the math says there's not a path
forward for you I mean free Bernie
Sanders would probably have to get well
over 60% of the vote remaining delegates
to try to overtake Joe Biden and he has
made very clear that whoever is leading
in the delegate count going into the
convention he will support that
candidate and the math says there's not
a chance for Sanders to really catch Joe
Biden at this point all the states next
week a lot of a lot of Delegates Florida
Ohio Illinois in other states and then
Georgia the week after that those are
all strong states for Joe Biden
particularly when you look at what he's
done in Michigan in Minnesota Ohio is
gonna bode well for him Florida he is
way up that's a lot of Delegates they're
gonna continue to expand this margin so
I think Bernie Sanders is taking a look
at where he goes next and it's probably
not on with this his campaign and we've
been talking about Michigan a lot
tonight because this was a state that
Bernie Sanders had a surprise in four
years ago upsetting Hillary Clinton
after the polling had said that Clinton
was gonna run away with that race and
you see what has happened tonight a
15-point spread that was the big prize
bigger than Washington State tonight
we've been analyzing Michigan as well
Ron you know that that statement the
breakdown of that state demographically
what do you take away from in Michigan
is a good barometer for national
politics in terms of its demographics
its industries or its located its
politics and I think to see that
Biden did incredibly well there Bryn did
not bernie took that as i think i
message which is why they're having the
meeting and those meetings i know if
they're like you say should we continue
biden is going to go on and continue to
be proponent it's going to have a good
at pat campaign organization but
michigan was the place that we all said
for a long time would make or break one
of those candidates and we saw one
broken tonight and we're gonna leave it
there for now and have more for you
coming up later on in the hour okay
Chris gentlemen thank you so far
Democrats have shown a higher voter
turnout compared to Republicans in this
primary election the chairman of
Washington's Republican Party says that
doesn't show a lack of support for
incumbent president Donald Trump he
joined us earlier tonight to talk about
the primary election results not at all
I mean in this primary you had thirteen
Democratic candidates and only on our
side just president Trump so Democrat
voters in Washington state had every
reason to participate yet Michael
Bloomberg spending millions of dollars
of ads during Seahawks playoff games
during the Superbowl Bernie Sanders had
a rally in Tacoma so they have 13
candidates all driving out their voters
and we saw really unprecedented turnout
President Trump is receiving more votes
in this primary than any Republican
candidate in the history of Washington
state presidential primaries and he's
doing that while he was unopposed we've
seen almost 600,000 people participate
that is a record for participation and
of course as we mentioned at the top of
this hour senator Sanders and former
Vice President Joe Biden have a very
slim margin between them right now a
fraction of a percentage point the chair
of Washington's Democratic Party says
while supporters are split they have the
same end goal I think what it means is
people are divided on who they want to
have carry out the ideals of the
Democratic Party we have terrific
terrific candidates I think we all want
to get to the same destination of unity
and things like health care for everyone
income inequality of fixing our justice
system we might have some differences on
how we get there but the destination is
the same and Democrats will be there in
November and of course there's been a
lot of activity at the King County
election headquarters
amid record turnout King fives nice wavy
joins us live from Renton tonight with
more Natalie yeah here forty percent
turnout as of today and there's still
ballads to be counted so that is
record-breaking for a presidential
primary for King County they say the
previous record was thirty four percent
now the doors here closed at eight
o'clock tonight but we have video from
earlier that shows the people who came
here to register and vote as well as
drop off that ballots today and another
part of the building where they were
processing ballots workers were required
to wear gloves because of coronavirus
concerns out the ballots are being
carefully checked one thing workers are
looking for voters must mark democrat or
republican on their ballot and so far
about 24,000 people have failed to do
that or sign their ballot and King
County elections will be contacting
those people they have until March 19th
to get that party preference issue
resolved and still count the ballot if
that doesn't happen then the ballot is
considered invalid tonight a few voters
talked with us about their decision I
decided to vote for Bernie student loans
they're a big issue and so I'm hoping to
get some change seen with that and I
don't know we'll see I just think that
we can probably get a little bit of back
to normal
with Joe Biden compared to things the
way they are now Joe Biden yeah I think
he's gonna win and I was a Kamala Harris
guy but you know she's didn't get any
traction so if Joe was probably my
second or third pick from the beginning
but yeah I don't I I I'm okay with Joe
you know
King County election says about half the
bouts tallied today a majority should be
counted by Friday and they plan to have
the election certified by March 20th
live in Rhett and Natalie sway bacon 5
News
okay Natalie thank you Bernie Sanders
won the state's Democratic caucuses four
years ago but this year ballots cast in
the primary election determine who gets
the delegates and king v Sebastian
Robertson live for us where Sanders
supporters are watching the election
results tonight hi Sebastian good
evening good evening as you mentioned
Sanders has a good history in Washington
state and in the northwest he can
frankly draw a crowd of supporters even
if he's not here but that's not the case
this go-round because of precautions
being taken over the coronavirus that
being said there is still a small
unofficial viewing party although there
are some official figures here I want to
bring in Sean Scott who heads up the the
local campaign here in Washington State
as you see these numbers come in what
are your feelings about your candidates
chances right well as the field director
you know for the state and for Bernie's
campaign here in Washington we always
knew that this race was going to be very
competitive right now what we're seeing
is the fact that you know we were out
competing for boats with students with a
lot of renter's people who tend to vote
very late because they're not used to
seeing candidates stick up for their
real material interests in the city and
in this state and in this county so it's
gonna be a very very close election but
we also feel like you know following
some results that we saw for example in
municipal elections without words we're
also built by mail here in Seattle that
we might pull ahead on late ballots and
so that's been our messaging all along
Seattle has been the center of this
fight to contain the the corona virus
outbreak the greater Seattle area how
does that impacted your plans leading up
to election right well we wanted to make
sure that we had some sort of gathering
albeit an informal gathering with all of
our supporters our volunteers people who
put in so much effort we've hit over
five hundred and seventeen thousand
phone calls in Washington in the last
week alone knocked on over 40,000 doors
across the state but at the same time
that that's happening we know that there
are a lot of people that have real
concerns about coronavirus
so we didn't want to hold our
celebration gathering tonight here at a
place where we knew that it was gonna be
bringing hundreds and hundreds of people
like we knew we would probably turn out
I'm an instead decided to have a little
bit more of a modest gathering what's
happened Shaun Scott with the Sanders
campaign thank you starting you'll be
watching that closely as we head through
the rest of the evening
absolutely all right still very close to
call that's the latest from the Sanders
watch party here on Capitol Hill back to
you all right Sebastian thank you okay
so how is the Trump campaign viewing
Washington tonight well we talked with
the national press secretary for the
campaign Kaley mcenany told King 5 it
doesn't really matter if Sanders or
Biden wins Washington tonight because
the president views them as having a
similar ideology of big government
takeover and she says it will be
interesting to see the turnout for the
president here well president Trump yes
of course is the foregone Victor and
these primaries and caucuses but it is
interesting to see weeks when he breaks
records and vote totals or turnouts in
states that we're not even making a play
for at the moment as of yesterday 62% of
returned ballots in Washington were on
the Democratic side according to the
Secretary of State's office
[Music]
tomorrow we are expecting a big
announcement from governor jay Inslee
regarding the state's plan to contain
the corona virus we have confirmed
details on what that announcement will
be coming up also ahead what's it like
to contract coronavirus next we're gonna
hear from someone who went through it
you