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Katie Woolf spoke with US Correspondent for The Sun Megan Palin on the US Election · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We know that all eyes are on the US today
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  Speaker 1: and joining us on the line. US correspondent for The Sun,
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  Speaker 1: usually based in New York, but on assignment to cover
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  Speaker 1: the election in Washington, DC, formerly a journalist here in
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  Speaker 1: the Northern Territory as well. Megan Palin, Good morning.
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  Speaker 2: Hi, Kamie.
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  Speaker 3: How are you doing very well?
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  Speaker 1: Megan? I bet it is quite busy for you over there.
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  Speaker 1: Talk us through the feeling on the ground.
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  Speaker 4: Look, it's pretty hectic, but it's also.
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  Speaker 3: A really mixed situation at the moment.
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  Speaker 4: I've just spent the last few hours out walking around DC,
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  Speaker 4: around the ground of the White House, which at the
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  Speaker 4: moment has a huge steel fence. It's been erected around
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  Speaker 4: it to prevent any potential rioters from breaking in tonight
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  Speaker 4: well in the coming days.
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  Speaker 3: They've really gone all out with that.
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  Speaker 4: It's the entire block, not just around the White House,
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  Speaker 4: but also the grounds that surround it. You can see secrets,
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  Speaker 4: verse members, police snipers there alone. Then you've got outside
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  Speaker 4: of that, you've got lots of demonstrators from Black Lives Matter,
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  Speaker 4: anti Trump, anti.
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  Speaker 3: Biden, a bit of everything.
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  Speaker 2: You've got a whole lot of religious groups.
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  Speaker 4: At the moment, they earlier today almost outnumbered all of
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  Speaker 4: those that were there for political reasons. They were also
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  Speaker 4: getting involved in some verbal scuffles outside or some verbal
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  Speaker 4: debates that kicks off quite early. It's just been really
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  Speaker 4: heading up since the sun went down, probably about an
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  Speaker 4: hour ago, and we're just about to see the first
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  Speaker 4: polls start closing any minute now. And that's kind of
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  Speaker 4: where the concern is once we start seeing results, that
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  Speaker 4: things could get more out of hands. But I mean
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  Speaker 4: I just personally saw just in the last half an
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  Speaker 4: hour a group is probably about thirty police officers if
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  Speaker 4: not a few more, being screen that by a huge
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  Speaker 4: group of people because they had apparently arrested somebody, which
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  Speaker 4: I didn't see that part, but they were getting screened
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  Speaker 4: at and to the point that they had to back
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  Speaker 4: away or they had to retreat, and they ended up
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  Speaker 4: doing that about three times because every time they went
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  Speaker 4: down one street the crowd follow them. That looks like
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  Speaker 4: it was really about to get out of hand at
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  Speaker 4: one stage, but they did eventually get away from that.
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  Speaker 4: And as I just mentioned to you earlier, I also
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  Speaker 4: just saw a person walking down the street and I
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  Speaker 4: filmed this. He was holding a bat and sort of
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  Speaker 4: swinging it, you know, quite clearly as a yes who
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  Speaker 4: it was as a weapon.
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  Speaker 3: You know.
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  Speaker 2: So this is always I said, just within the first.
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  Speaker 3: Hour of going down, So it's a bit of a precursor.
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  Speaker 1: I think, what's Yeah, it sounds like it's pretty crazy.
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  Speaker 1: And Megan, it sounds very quiet where you are right now,
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  Speaker 1: but I know that you ducked off into a quiet
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  Speaker 1: location so you could have a chat to us, and
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  Speaker 1: you also also sent us through that vision. We will
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  Speaker 1: make sure that we share that on the mixed Facebook
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  Speaker 1: page so people can get a bit of a sense
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  Speaker 1: of how it's feeling on the streets in Washington, DC
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  Speaker 1: right now. Megan, you did say that in the next
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  Speaker 1: few minutes or so, you are anticipating that those that
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  Speaker 1: those first polls will start to close. I mean, what
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  Speaker 1: are you anticipating is going to happen on the streets
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  Speaker 1: tonight in Washington.
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  Speaker 3: Look, it's really up in the air.
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  Speaker 4: I mean one minute, you sort of go down one
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  Speaker 4: street and there's people dancing and you know, praying and
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  Speaker 4: all sorts of things that look completely non threatening, and
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  Speaker 4: you think this looks like it's going to be okay.
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  Speaker 4: Then you go down another one and as I just mentioned,
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  Speaker 4: you see somebody with the spat and people you know,
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  Speaker 4: yelling at police and then having to retreat, you think, okay,
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  Speaker 4: you know what it's like now, It's probably going to
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  Speaker 4: get a lot worse.
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  Speaker 3: Later on.
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  Speaker 4: I also encountered there as a man I interviewed. He
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  Speaker 4: was a Trump supporter, and I interviewed him earlier in
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  Speaker 4: a few hours later, I saw him screaming down the
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  Speaker 4: street at a family who had some Biden merchandise on
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  Speaker 4: and he was screaming at them, take your kids home
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  Speaker 4: to no place for children tonight. Wow, you know that
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  Speaker 4: was That was in the morning.
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  Speaker 2: So there's also been There are a lot of verbal
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  Speaker 2: altercations happening out just outside the White House or by
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  Speaker 2: Lefayette Square where most of the crowns are gathered. And
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  Speaker 2: I mean from eight am this morning through right until now,
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  Speaker 2: you're constantly see so far, but I've seen they've just
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  Speaker 2: been verbal, but you're constantly seen people go toe to
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  Speaker 2: toe with each other, getting each other's faces and I'm
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  Speaker 2: talking write masks off and everything. Quite the pandemic and
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  Speaker 2: all sorts of stuff. So it really does look and
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  Speaker 2: feel on the edge every.
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  Speaker 1: Megan and I know that we're still I guess it's
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  Speaker 1: anyone's guess when we're going to know the outcome of
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  Speaker 1: the election, But what's the feeling on the ground. Who's
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  Speaker 1: going to win? Do you know?
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  Speaker 4: Look, I think obviously with the polls, they're all indicating Biden.
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  Speaker 4: But you know, I think from obviously the last election,
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  Speaker 4: people are very cautious, I guess, not as eager to
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  Speaker 4: say it's a sure thing. But you know, also I've
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  Speaker 4: personally seen how much support there is for Trump here
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  Speaker 4: as well, which I think is something that we don't
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  Speaker 4: see as much from Australia. I mean, we know he's
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  Speaker 4: definitely got his supporters, but I think the one thing
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  Speaker 4: that I guess really become apparent to me is how
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  Speaker 4: many quiet supporters there actually are for him. So I'm
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  Speaker 4: definitely not jumping the gun in making any predictions at
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  Speaker 4: this point. I can see what the polls are saying, which,
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  Speaker 4: as I said, is Biden, but I don't think that
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  Speaker 4: we can count Trump out. I know that one of
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  Speaker 4: a lot of the political analysts is saying that Florida
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  Speaker 4: is really the one state we're expecting to see the
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  Speaker 4: counts come through tonight, and then if Trump wins that
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  Speaker 4: it's basically going to be an indication that he's still
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  Speaker 4: in the game. And if he doesn't, it looks like
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  Speaker 4: it's going to definitely go bight and play.
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  Speaker 1: Megan, how many hours are you do you think away
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  Speaker 1: from from finding out how this election is going to
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  Speaker 1: pan out.
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  Speaker 4: It's really unknown at this point because it's really going
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  Speaker 4: to be quite dependent.
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  Speaker 3: If Trump does win.
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  Speaker 4: Florida, it's then we'll all be looking at the some
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  Speaker 4: of the key battleground states which are win Wisconsin is
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  Speaker 4: one of them, and Pennsylvania especially, But those states are
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  Speaker 4: ones that we do know are probably not going to
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  Speaker 4: come through with their results tonight. So Trump is going
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  Speaker 4: to need those states to get it over the line.
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  Speaker 4: And if he's already not counted out tide to that,
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  Speaker 4: if he hasn't lost Florida prior to that, then that's
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  Speaker 4: what we'll all be looking at. But where as I
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  Speaker 4: said earlier, if he does lose Florida, then it's going
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  Speaker 4: to be I think a bit of a given that
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  Speaker 4: he I think he might be out of the base
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  Speaker 4: at that point.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Megan Hayle, as you've.
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  Speaker 4: Been hearing is cooked on today, Yes, get those states
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  Speaker 4: that the needs because of the counting and cook one
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  Speaker 4: of those states.
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  Speaker 3: But for the first time.
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  Speaker 4: Doing these mailing ballots, they're a little bit slower to
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  Speaker 4: do them than others like Florida that has done them previously,
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  Speaker 4: so because of the weight on that if we end
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  Speaker 4: up if everything ends up hanging on those states, that
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  Speaker 4: could take several days until we have a real indication
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  Speaker 4: of where it's all going to land.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Meghan, I tell you what, very different reporting for
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  Speaker 1: you today than what you're doing on the ground here
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  Speaker 1: in the Northern Territory a few years.
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  Speaker 3: But I doose crocodiles though.
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  Speaker 1: Alien Meghan Paland please stay safe over there. Thank you
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  Speaker 1: so much for taking the time to have a chat
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  Speaker 1: with us. I know you're incredibly busy. Stay safe, look
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  Speaker 1: after yourself.
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  Speaker 3: Thanks Katie, good to chat you too.
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  Speaker 1: That is Meghan Palan there, US correspondent for The Sun. Now.
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  Speaker 1: She's usually based obviously in New York, but she's on
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  Speaker 1: assignment at the moment in Washington, d C. And as
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  Speaker 1: you've heard, some fairly fairly chaotic scenes on the ground