Wednesday morning news - November 4, 2020

Presidential election still too close to call » Even amid the pandemic, voters shattered turnout records in many places on Election Day. Those who didn’t vote early braved long lines Tuesday to cast their votes. But they went to bed without many answers. 

Shortly after midnight, former Vice President Joe Biden told his supporters…

BIDEN: We feel good about where we are. We really do. I’m here to tell you tonight, we believe we’re on track to win this election! 

It takes 270 electoral votes to win the White House. As of about 3 a.m. this morning, Biden had 225 comfortably locked up to President Trump’s 213. 

But that was with several big swing states still counting votes and too close to call. Those states are Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, and Georgia. 

As of early this morning, Trump was leading in all five of those states.  

And at 2:20 a.m. the president commented from the East Room at the White House. 

TRUMP: This is without question the latest news conference I’ve ever had. 

The president said he believes he has won the election and that Democrats are trying to steal it. 

TRUMP: So we’ll be going to the US Supreme Court. We want all voting to stop. We don’t want them to find any ballots at 4 o’clock in the morning and add them to the list.  

Some fear an ugly legal battle lies ahead reminiscent of the 2000 election. 

It could come down to outstanding votes in Pennsylvania. And speaking with Fox News, George Washington University Law professor Jonathan Turley called that a “nightmare scenario.” 

TURLEY: And the reason is because the Pennsylvania laws and their standards are an utter mess. And we will look with great longing back at the age of hanging chads. 

The Supreme Court turned away a legal challenge to mail-in ballots received after the election in Pennsylvania. 

As of now, multiple states will count mail-in ballots received for several more days … as long as they’re postmarked no later than November 3rd.  

Senate still up for grabs » It was also unclear this morning which party will control the U.S. Senate. 

Democrats flipped a seat in Colorado where incumbent Senator Cory Gardner lost to former Governor John Hickenlooper. 

HICKENLOOPER: Tonight, your message is loud and clear. It’s time to put the poisonous politics of this era behind us and come together to move forward. 

And in Arizona, it appears former astronaut, Democrat Mark Kelly, has unseated Senator Martha McSally—though she is not yet conceding the race. 

Republicans gained a seat in Alabama where Tommy Tuberville beat Senator Doug Jones. 

GOP Senator Joni Ernst held off her challenger in Iowa. And fellow Republican Senator Steve Daines also won reelection.

DAINES: We’re so grateful tonight that the voice of Montana has been heard loud and clear. 

Another incumbent Senate Republican, David Perdue won his race in Georgia. 

But the state’s other Senate seat will head to a runoff election on January 5th.  

Two Republicans ran for the seat, splitting the GOP vote. But in a head to head runoff, Senator Kelly Loeffler will be heavily favored against Democrat Raphael Warnock. 

Republican senators are leading races in several other states that are still too close to call. 

To take control of the Senate, Democrats need a net gain of four seats or three seats plus the White House. 

Democrats will keep control of the House, but it’s still unclear if they will add any seats to their majority.

Death toll rises in Vienna as authorities arrest 14 following attack » The death toll from a terror attack in Austria rose to five on Tuesday, including the gunman. That as authorities investigating the attack arrested more than a dozen people. WORLD Radio’s Kristen Flavin has more. 

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: The shooter was a 20-year-old dual citizen of Austria and North Macedonia, who had a prior terror conviction. 

The Austrian government sentenced him to 22 months in prison last year for trying to join ISIS in Syria. But authorities granted him early release in December.

Unconfirmed video showed him shooting seemingly at random in the city center Monday night. He killed four people and wounded 15 others before police fatally shot him. 

It’s not clear whether he acted alone, but investigators conducted 18 raids and arrested 14 people on Tuesday. 

Following the attack in Vienna and earlier ones in France, the UK raised its terror threat level to severe on Tuesday.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin. 

Cruise lines to drop anchor for rest of 2020 » Cruise ships are dropping anchor for the rest of 2020. 

The Cruise Lines International Association represents 95 percent of the world’s ocean cruise capacity. And on Tuesday the group announced that its members are suspending operations until next year. 

In a statement, it said members will use the rest of the year to install—quote—“extensive measures to address COVID-19 safety”

It remains to be seen if major cruise lines will set sail again in January.

(AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File) In this Oct. 8, 2020, file photo, John Hickenlooper, Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate seat in Colorado, speaks during a car rally in Denver. 

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.