1
00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:02,920
Speaker 1: We know that all eyes are on the US today

2
00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:07,040
Speaker 1: and joining us on the line. US correspondent for The Sun,

3
00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:10,560
Speaker 1: usually based in New York, but on assignment to cover

4
00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:15,080
Speaker 1: the election in Washington, DC, formerly a journalist here in

5
00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:18,759
Speaker 1: the Northern Territory as well. Megan Palin, Good morning.

6
00:00:20,079 --> 00:00:20,720
Speaker 2: Hi, Kamie.

7
00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:22,720
Speaker 3: How are you doing very well?

8
00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:26,520
Speaker 1: Megan? I bet it is quite busy for you over there.

9
00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:28,720
Speaker 1: Talk us through the feeling on the ground.

10
00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:33,080
Speaker 4: Look, it's pretty hectic, but it's also.

11
00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:35,560
Speaker 3: A really mixed situation at the moment.

12
00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:39,280
Speaker 4: I've just spent the last few hours out walking around DC,

13
00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:41,559
Speaker 4: around the ground of the White House, which at the

14
00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:44,920
Speaker 4: moment has a huge steel fence. It's been erected around

15
00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:49,519
Speaker 4: it to prevent any potential rioters from breaking in tonight

16
00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:51,000
Speaker 4: well in the coming days.

17
00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:52,600
Speaker 3: They've really gone all out with that.

18
00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:56,200
Speaker 4: It's the entire block, not just around the White House,

19
00:00:56,200 --> 00:00:59,760
Speaker 4: but also the grounds that surround it. You can see secrets,

20
00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:06,880
Speaker 4: verse members, police snipers there alone. Then you've got outside

21
00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:11,880
Speaker 4: of that, you've got lots of demonstrators from Black Lives Matter,

22
00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:13,679
Speaker 4: anti Trump, anti.

23
00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:15,520
Speaker 3: Biden, a bit of everything.

24
00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:17,920
Speaker 2: You've got a whole lot of religious groups.

25
00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:21,000
Speaker 4: At the moment, they earlier today almost outnumbered all of

26
00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:25,240
Speaker 4: those that were there for political reasons. They were also

27
00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:29,479
Speaker 4: getting involved in some verbal scuffles outside or some verbal

28
00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:33,839
Speaker 4: debates that kicks off quite early. It's just been really

29
00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:36,840
Speaker 4: heading up since the sun went down, probably about an

30
00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:41,440
Speaker 4: hour ago, and we're just about to see the first

31
00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:45,160
Speaker 4: polls start closing any minute now. And that's kind of

32
00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:47,560
Speaker 4: where the concern is once we start seeing results, that

33
00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:49,840
Speaker 4: things could get more out of hands. But I mean

34
00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:53,040
Speaker 4: I just personally saw just in the last half an

35
00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:57,120
Speaker 4: hour a group is probably about thirty police officers if

36
00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:01,240
Speaker 4: not a few more, being screen that by a huge

37
00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:04,440
Speaker 4: group of people because they had apparently arrested somebody, which

38
00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:08,000
Speaker 4: I didn't see that part, but they were getting screened

39
00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:10,679
Speaker 4: at and to the point that they had to back

40
00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:13,640
Speaker 4: away or they had to retreat, and they ended up

41
00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:16,480
Speaker 4: doing that about three times because every time they went

42
00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:19,600
Speaker 4: down one street the crowd follow them. That looks like

43
00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:21,799
Speaker 4: it was really about to get out of hand at

44
00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:25,520
Speaker 4: one stage, but they did eventually get away from that.

45
00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:29,480
Speaker 4: And as I just mentioned to you earlier, I also

46
00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:32,400
Speaker 4: just saw a person walking down the street and I

47
00:02:32,639 --> 00:02:34,880
Speaker 4: filmed this. He was holding a bat and sort of

48
00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:39,720
Speaker 4: swinging it, you know, quite clearly as a yes who

49
00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:40,880
Speaker 4: it was as a weapon.

50
00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:41,200
Speaker 3: You know.

51
00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:44,800
Speaker 2: So this is always I said, just within the first.

52
00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:46,920
Speaker 3: Hour of going down, So it's a bit of a precursor.

53
00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:50,720
Speaker 1: I think, what's Yeah, it sounds like it's pretty crazy.

54
00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:53,239
Speaker 1: And Megan, it sounds very quiet where you are right now,

55
00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:55,400
Speaker 1: but I know that you ducked off into a quiet

56
00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:58,480
Speaker 1: location so you could have a chat to us, and

57
00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:01,960
Speaker 1: you also also sent us through that vision. We will

58
00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:04,280
Speaker 1: make sure that we share that on the mixed Facebook

59
00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:06,160
Speaker 1: page so people can get a bit of a sense

60
00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:09,080
Speaker 1: of how it's feeling on the streets in Washington, DC

61
00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:13,160
Speaker 1: right now. Megan, you did say that in the next

62
00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:16,520
Speaker 1: few minutes or so, you are anticipating that those that

63
00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:20,600
Speaker 1: those first polls will start to close. I mean, what

64
00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:24,359
Speaker 1: are you anticipating is going to happen on the streets

65
00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:25,639
Speaker 1: tonight in Washington.

66
00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:29,160
Speaker 3: Look, it's really up in the air.

67
00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:31,360
Speaker 4: I mean one minute, you sort of go down one

68
00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:35,560
Speaker 4: street and there's people dancing and you know, praying and

69
00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:38,320
Speaker 4: all sorts of things that look completely non threatening, and

70
00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:40,760
Speaker 4: you think this looks like it's going to be okay.

71
00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:43,360
Speaker 4: Then you go down another one and as I just mentioned,

72
00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:45,360
Speaker 4: you see somebody with the spat and people you know,

73
00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:48,520
Speaker 4: yelling at police and then having to retreat, you think, okay,

74
00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:51,120
Speaker 4: you know what it's like now, It's probably going to

75
00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:51,800
Speaker 4: get a lot worse.

76
00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:52,840
Speaker 3: Later on.

77
00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:56,000
Speaker 4: I also encountered there as a man I interviewed. He

78
00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:59,160
Speaker 4: was a Trump supporter, and I interviewed him earlier in

79
00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:02,960
Speaker 4: a few hours later, I saw him screaming down the

80
00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:07,640
Speaker 4: street at a family who had some Biden merchandise on

81
00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:10,480
Speaker 4: and he was screaming at them, take your kids home

82
00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:14,640
Speaker 4: to no place for children tonight. Wow, you know that

83
00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:15,640
Speaker 4: was That was in the morning.

84
00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:19,960
Speaker 2: So there's also been There are a lot of verbal

85
00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:23,360
Speaker 2: altercations happening out just outside the White House or by

86
00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:27,440
Speaker 2: Lefayette Square where most of the crowns are gathered. And

87
00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:30,800
Speaker 2: I mean from eight am this morning through right until now,

88
00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:34,599
Speaker 2: you're constantly see so far, but I've seen they've just

89
00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:38,400
Speaker 2: been verbal, but you're constantly seen people go toe to

90
00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:41,120
Speaker 2: toe with each other, getting each other's faces and I'm

91
00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:44,520
Speaker 2: talking write masks off and everything. Quite the pandemic and

92
00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:48,120
Speaker 2: all sorts of stuff. So it really does look and

93
00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:51,239
Speaker 2: feel on the edge every.

94
00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:54,160
Speaker 1: Megan and I know that we're still I guess it's

95
00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:56,840
Speaker 1: anyone's guess when we're going to know the outcome of

96
00:04:56,880 --> 00:05:01,279
Speaker 1: the election, But what's the feeling on the ground. Who's

97
00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:02,240
Speaker 1: going to win? Do you know?

98
00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:07,560
Speaker 4: Look, I think obviously with the polls, they're all indicating Biden.

99
00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:10,520
Speaker 4: But you know, I think from obviously the last election,

100
00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:13,880
Speaker 4: people are very cautious, I guess, not as eager to

101
00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:17,760
Speaker 4: say it's a sure thing. But you know, also I've

102
00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:21,240
Speaker 4: personally seen how much support there is for Trump here

103
00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:23,479
Speaker 4: as well, which I think is something that we don't

104
00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:26,840
Speaker 4: see as much from Australia. I mean, we know he's

105
00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:29,120
Speaker 4: definitely got his supporters, but I think the one thing

106
00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:32,520
Speaker 4: that I guess really become apparent to me is how

107
00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:36,680
Speaker 4: many quiet supporters there actually are for him. So I'm

108
00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:39,920
Speaker 4: definitely not jumping the gun in making any predictions at

109
00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:42,320
Speaker 4: this point. I can see what the polls are saying, which,

110
00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:45,400
Speaker 4: as I said, is Biden, but I don't think that

111
00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:47,640
Speaker 4: we can count Trump out. I know that one of

112
00:05:47,839 --> 00:05:51,440
Speaker 4: a lot of the political analysts is saying that Florida

113
00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:54,120
Speaker 4: is really the one state we're expecting to see the

114
00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:59,320
Speaker 4: counts come through tonight, and then if Trump wins that

115
00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:02,320
Speaker 4: it's basically going to be an indication that he's still

116
00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:04,560
Speaker 4: in the game. And if he doesn't, it looks like

117
00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:06,640
Speaker 4: it's going to definitely go bight and play.

118
00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:09,880
Speaker 1: Megan, how many hours are you do you think away

119
00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:12,560
Speaker 1: from from finding out how this election is going to

120
00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:13,480
Speaker 1: pan out.

121
00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:18,719
Speaker 4: It's really unknown at this point because it's really going

122
00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:19,799
Speaker 4: to be quite dependent.

123
00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:21,520
Speaker 3: If Trump does win.

124
00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:24,320
Speaker 4: Florida, it's then we'll all be looking at the some

125
00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:27,560
Speaker 4: of the key battleground states which are win Wisconsin is

126
00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:32,880
Speaker 4: one of them, and Pennsylvania especially, But those states are

127
00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:35,560
Speaker 4: ones that we do know are probably not going to

128
00:06:35,560 --> 00:06:38,680
Speaker 4: come through with their results tonight. So Trump is going

129
00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:41,719
Speaker 4: to need those states to get it over the line.

130
00:06:42,480 --> 00:06:45,800
Speaker 4: And if he's already not counted out tide to that,

131
00:06:45,839 --> 00:06:49,320
Speaker 4: if he hasn't lost Florida prior to that, then that's

132
00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:52,120
Speaker 4: what we'll all be looking at. But where as I

133
00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:54,280
Speaker 4: said earlier, if he does lose Florida, then it's going

134
00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:56,159
Speaker 4: to be I think a bit of a given that

135
00:06:56,320 --> 00:06:58,479
Speaker 4: he I think he might be out of the base

136
00:06:58,520 --> 00:06:59,000
Speaker 4: at that point.

137
00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:01,720
Speaker 1: Well, Megan Hayle, as you've.

138
00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:04,719
Speaker 4: Been hearing is cooked on today, Yes, get those states

139
00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:07,760
Speaker 4: that the needs because of the counting and cook one

140
00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:08,360
Speaker 4: of those states.

141
00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:09,480
Speaker 3: But for the first time.

142
00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:12,800
Speaker 4: Doing these mailing ballots, they're a little bit slower to

143
00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:15,600
Speaker 4: do them than others like Florida that has done them previously,

144
00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:19,200
Speaker 4: so because of the weight on that if we end

145
00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:21,520
Speaker 4: up if everything ends up hanging on those states, that

146
00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:23,920
Speaker 4: could take several days until we have a real indication

147
00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:26,239
Speaker 4: of where it's all going to land.

148
00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:29,920
Speaker 1: Well, Meghan, I tell you what, very different reporting for

149
00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:32,040
Speaker 1: you today than what you're doing on the ground here

150
00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:33,960
Speaker 1: in the Northern Territory a few years.

151
00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:36,400
Speaker 3: But I doose crocodiles though.

152
00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:43,440
Speaker 1: Alien Meghan Paland please stay safe over there. Thank you

153
00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:45,160
Speaker 1: so much for taking the time to have a chat

154
00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:48,200
Speaker 1: with us. I know you're incredibly busy. Stay safe, look

155
00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:49,000
Speaker 1: after yourself.

156
00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:50,960
Speaker 3: Thanks Katie, good to chat you too.

157
00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:55,640
Speaker 1: That is Meghan Palan there, US correspondent for The Sun. Now.

158
00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:58,960
Speaker 1: She's usually based obviously in New York, but she's on

159
00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:01,960
Speaker 1: assignment at the moment in Washington, d C. And as

160
00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:06,680
Speaker 1: you've heard, some fairly fairly chaotic scenes on the ground