arizona. i'm so sorry i'm going to have to cut you off because we're just getting to the top of the i would behoove be speaking to you again there are thank you for . and show you some pictures there of crowds gathered outside the white house in washington d.c. to celebrate joe biden. hello i'm barbara sarah this is al jazeera live from london it's just after 21 g.m.t. and there's only really one major story right now joe biden has been declared president elect of the united states it follows more than 4 days of painstaking ballot counting in a handful of swing states as counting continued biden overtook donald trump in pennsylvania and georgia and maintained his lead in arizona and nevada he

eventually secured more than enough electoral college votes to clear his path to the white house or biden supporters are gathering a rallies across the u.s. celebrating the democrats' victory one of the biggest celebrations is just in front of the white house thousands of people have poured on to black lives matter plaza in the capital chanting cheering and singing. let's speak to a white house correspondent kimberly how kid who is in washington d.c. for us says so kimberly it is being contested by the trump campaign but it does seem that joe biden after 4 days of painstaking counting and wafer thin majorities in some places is now the president elect of the united states. yes in his cell or his his supporters are celebrating on black lives matter plaza outside the white house as the president returned from one of his weekend golf games he had to weave his motorcade through these crowds to get back to the white house we're watching

carefully to see if we'll hear from the president but just sort of showing some of the sting of defeat the white house press secretary noting the irony of how much donald trump was criticized for his mager rallies make america great again rallies but yet right now these crowds in many cases are not wearing masks or not social distancing she called it a super spreader event it sort of shows the feeling that the white house house right now that they've lost the momentum that while they're saying on paper that they're going to launch these challenges that they're fundraising clearly when you're surrounded by those that are celebrating for your opponent it makes for a very difficult task at hand still this is what the campaign is saying it did get the sense that this was coming down sending out a statement in advance of the call for joe biden to become potentially the next 46 president of the united states in

a press conference the president's attorney rudolph giuliani saying that there was uniform deprivation of the right to inspect ballots calling this fraud so that seems to be the crux of the argument legal challenges that the campaign says will begin on monday but at the same time the president not able to do much on a saturday evening as he is surrounded by biden supporters now across on capitol hill the congratulatory messages are continuing to. house speaker nancy pelosi saying that voters have chosen a fairer stronger and respected america chuck schumer the top democrat in the u.s. senate saying that the president despite his protesting joe biden has won this fair and square acknowledging though that there is still much work to begin. and kimberly and know that the president had gone to play golf and may well be back but do we get a sense of result should be going on in the white house i mean i know that they're launching all these illegal challenges but i guess the mood is there.

somber in fact our white house producer is out the white house kind of taking a sense of the mood for many hours as the news was trickling in that this was happening that there was finally a call in the presidential election the doors to the press office were closed it was very silent that's not what you usually see at the white house you get the sense that that his campaign his family there watching this unfold in the white house and having to realize ation that the challenge ahead to try and potentially claim victory is becoming harder and harder for the president continues to speak on twitter system that he won this election but as you can see from the crowds behind me as we've taken some of these shots here from the noise the celebrations by biden supporters are only building and it's that momentum that will really really hard for the president to turn around can they have it with the latest at the white house kimberly's thank you. well joe biden is expected to address the nation in the

coming hours but before that he has tweeted saying america i'm honored that you have chosen me to lead our great country the work ahead of us will be hard but i promise you this i will be a president for all americans whether you voted for me or not i will keep the faith that you have placed in me. joins us live now from outside biden's headquarters in wilmington delaware the crowds really filling up there behind you expecting that speech from joe biden 1st of all do we know exactly when and crucially what do you get the sense the mood is within the biden team right now. well barbara it's expected in a couple hours from now that the president elect will take to this stage address his supporters 1st and foremost in front of him but obviously also the nation as he has treated there trying to essentially set the tone for what will be his

presidency a presidency he says that will serve all of those not just those who voted for him and that has been a consistent message that he's trying to be has been trying to push out over the past 48 hours. the divide that exists in the country as well as the new to essentially bring about support from across society his managed to get a bit of support even from the other side of the aisle when you look at mitt romney on a couple of other republican figures who have come up you see there only been a few to name but there is an expectation maybe that that will increase the mood here barbara has been one of joy it is a bit quieter rights now i guess because people have been chanting going. and singing for the past few hours and i guess is. you know a quiet down time right now as they wait for more and more people to join them and biden to speak and it has been a very diverse crowd as people start walking past this we maybe we'll pick somebody

else and and hear their views but a lot of them expressing their both their happiness that biden has been announced as a victor but also their relief. trump losing after what they say were 4 very dangerous years and it mean he is now the president elect but we do know that the trunk campaign is not accepting that they are starting legal challenges in various states so what's the biden team doing to prepare for it that that we know. well throughout the company particularly over the past few days they have been raising funds for legal representation in the case that these votes word be challenge they seem on feel that they are in a strong position to do that but really even with these legal challenges the firm belief is that biden has won so many of the states that even if a couple are contested he still has enough that would take him through i'm going to

just bring in a couple of people here who have come to celebrate biden's victory and i would like to start by asking you to tell us how do you feel on this day we couldn't be happier on this day we've endured so much under this administration of trump we couldn't be happier we voted for joe biden for for the reasons that his commitment to bringing us back together so we came here to start to give him a boost that way. saw something in where they welcome this back and we think the world will welcome a spec after we made a little mistake there was donald trump well for sure trump has been divisive both here internationally many people would say your husband's just described one of the reasons was looking for unity but there are millions of americans millions of americans more now than in 2016 who voted for trump as well what's your message to them and how do you think president elect biden will be able to reach them. joe

biden is a healer he's a unite are i believe that and i think he stands for uniting rather than hatred donald trump divided biden will bring us together we just need to look to that. trump has so far refused to accept defeat do you guys have a message for him. well you know the person who work for donald trump a years ago as a young man there really is no message for that man he was an empty suit back then it isn't a reason it's just a type of thing we need to step away and let him wallow in whatever self-pity he's going to do there's really no healing he taught me a lesson as a young man that there are people that are just so immersed in themselves that you can't reason with them and i could give you example or so to move on from this or thank you very much for your time. so that's another view there of the which has been consistent what we've been speaking to there it's not lost on many americans

how divided the society has become yes there have been reasons on the right for that division not outdates president tom but under his tenure many people believe that that division was increased its was exasperated and the points of pressure in american society rather than trying to find solutions to them under the presidency of donald trump many of biden supporters believe he actually worsened those situations. with the latest there from wilmington delaware joe miles thank you. well as thousands of people are gathering there waiting to hear joe biden's speech president trump has not conceded the race in fact he says it's far from over the president released a statement saying we all know why i joe biden is rushing to falsely pose as the winner and why his media allies are trying so hard to help him they don't want the truth to be exposed beginning monday our campaign will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated

well election officials in pennsylvania have confirmed that mail in ballots that arrived after election day have been set aside this comes after a top u.s. supreme court judge ordered them to be kept separate on friday republican lawyers also asked justice samuel alito to make sure that they weren't counted a little bit not granted that request u.s. president donald trump as alleged voter fraud has been committed with mail in ballots he and his campaign have not provided any evidence for this well the president's personal lawyer and close ally giuliani has promised to pursue legal action in several states where they say there have been a number of voting irregularities judy just about the 700000 votes that president trump was ahead by 2 days ago that disappeared. and we have no way of knowing because we were deprived of the right to expect that

if a single one of those ballots was legitimate that is unheard of it's illegal it's unconstitutional and we will be bringing an action challenging that and i emphasize to you it's only one of the many other infirmities in this election. well particle hain is in philadelphia pennsylvania for us at passy of course pennsylvania a crucial state it slipped in biden's in a 4 biden but tell us a little bit about the way that some of those votes may be being contested. before i show you the fundamental year for a little tour let me just address what rudy giuliani just said the votes that were cast were not illegal they were not unconstitutional what happened is true but it showed up on the day those were the 1st post counted mallon votes went

overwhelmingly to joe biden those were counted over the last couple of days again this only happened because the republican legislature simply refused to let the election officials here count the ballots before election day that said the margin of victory is overwhelming this is the city this is the commonwealth that is making sure that joe biden has nothing like to vote count votes to win and they have been party let's take a tour doune around noon today horns all over the city people started dancing in the street and hasn't stopped this is a volunteer section and i asked where this came from she said oh we all just did it everyone brought bagels and water hand sanitizer and masks were in front of philadelphia city hall of course you've got the national guard here and the police there has been a very sizable police presence here. in since tuesday because of course this is a very tense time for the country but over here and this is just one of several sites where people are just party this city hall and they've got their signs and

they're all talking about you know who got them the selection and it's an issue election and there have over here we had a green new deal now obviously the progressives want to see some big changes from joe biden and i just want to show you the most philadelphia thing there is an eagle . paper maché eagle. there. there's a lot of signs and lot of signs out donald trump that i couldn't possibly put on television but in general the focus here is on a celebration a celebration that their votes did count that this 4 years of divisiveness could it could possibly be on its way to be to end but again these are feelings that are very entrenched in both sides this is a democratic city this is the city that put joe biden over the edge and they're going to take this day and they are going to celebrate even if the president says he's not going to go. back to go again in philadelphia there in pennsylvania that

crucial swing state passy for the moment thank you. and celebrations continue as in philadelphia in cities across america people are out in large numbers from washington to new york welcoming the news of joe biden's victory by kind of takes a look now at biden's road to the white house. it was joe biden's eldest son who nominated him as the vice president and mr chairman it's my great honor to place into nomination for the office of vice president of united states my father my hero joe biden. less than 3 years later both biden died of cancer. it's another personal tragedy for a man who had experienced the death of his 1st wife and infant daughter in a car crash in 1072 but it has been

a life of many triumphs as well perhaps none great to this tribute from his commander in chief for the final time as president i'm pleased to award our nation's highest civilian honor. the presidential medal of freedom thank you. hi. still mourning the death of his son why didn't did not contest the democratic party nomination in 2016 but off to a slow start easily secured the party's support this year and in his acceptance address gave notice a better and kind of country to come we have a great purpose as a nation to open the doors of opportunity to all americans to save our democracy to be a light to the world once again and finally to live up to and make real the words

written in the sacred documents that founded this nation that all men and women are created equal and joe biden has characteristics that previous democratic party nominees that use the streets white christian made all older with were a working class background and doesn't have an ivy league degree right and so all of those characteristics are. republican characteristics biden ran a campaign tightly calibrated within the pandemic in which it took place embracing and seeking the advice of the experts excepting the science that his opponents scorned undeterred by the jibes that donald trump threw his way i don't wear masks like him every time you see him he's got a mask he could be speaking 200 feet away from him he shows up with the biggest mask i've ever seen and he quickly recognized the pulse of a protest movement that surged in response to police violence. embracing the black

lives matter movement at one stage taking a knee with those who are mourning. in a critical move that resonated in these troubled times he invited the woman of color to be his vice president. and together with kamel harris the team that on this day has proved to be a winning one. my kind of al-jazeera at the biden campaign headquarters wilmington one of the surprises of the selection no was the result in a club in georgia so let's speak to the tasha going to name who is covering developments in atlanta georgia for us a state that traditionally has been conservative has been republican that actually now is really there's a way for same difference between the 2 tell us what's going on there.

so yes biden has continued. increases lead over trump in terms of a presidential election but honestly look around listen as far as georgians in freedom park are concerned here in atlanta we have a new president elect and that is biden but the work is not finished they're actually turning it and looking ahead to january the 2 senate seats in the state of georgia are so close that there has to be a runoff in january so that gives you a sense of the shifting political ties in the state of georgia and a lot of people say that voter in gauge it voter mobilization attempts to squash voter suppression by grassroots organization were key in this election cycle and now as i said people are going to celebrate today but say there is more work to do beginning tomorrow there been a lot of people holding signs hugging we saw people drinking champagne here and

freedom park for the last several hours one of them is a rick hudson how are you doing well how are you. did you find out and how did you find out that right in going we actually found out that biden had won on our way to our rally was actually pretty voters to start however it was more of a victory rally. candy and how do you feel about the. status. of that very overwhelming you said that you're a member of a union you've been engaged before what were some of the key. phrases. and that made you throw their support behind biden and hear what we would need someone who is going to unite the country instead of divide. just the negativity going backwards the anti this anti that we need someone who's going to unite. are you surprised by what's happened in the state of georgia i thought. a lot of people considering the fact that it's been 20 years since the 16 electoral college votes

in the state wits of a democratic presidential candidate pretty surprised that georgia would remain in play and is a real became a real contender i was very surprised at the warming especially when he said that i thought was going to be. a true trump victory but i'm. very glad that it was now we're hearing from people that there's work to do because of those 2 senate seats that voters have to return the polls in january to decide do you think the democrats historically do not turn out well in special elections and runoffs going to take to get democrats in georgia to show up in january well the country is going to focus for georgia should be pursued whole lot of things from other states look at the other one is support today i think we have nothing but. power behind us and we were in a hotel lobby when we found out the news and there are a number of truck supporters they were saying this is not true biden is not the

president the media does not decide this election what do you think it's going to take for people who supported try to feel comfortable with the results and to be able to move ahead well i think joe biden can heal the country so hopefully they can. we can put our differences aside respect one another and. thank you so much for talking to us i appreciate it. with regard to those 2 senate runoff here in georgia in january i was talking to one of the grassroots organizers there with a group called the new georgia project it's one of these grassroots groups that have been working for about a decade to mobilize voters in communities of colors get them to the polls they set their vote in the coming months if you get 30 to 40000 new voters so that they can try to get at least one of those. you know if there's some reason. that

the democrats would leave that the democrats had the lead role of the government. the pesher going to aim with the latest from atlanta in georgia very interesting state when it comes to these election results the question thank you. let's go ahead as you castro now she's a black lives matter plaza in washington d.c. just in front of the white house where there are scenes of celebrations a stark contrast to the mass protests that we saw there over the recent months. within minutes of the u.s. television networks making the call for joe biden his supporters began pouring into plaquemines matter plaza by the thousands and as the minutes passed more and more people just continue to gather here the closest they can get outside of the riot fences protecting the white house and it's not just the small piece of d.c. we know this is a very liberal region of the country people are honking their horns in celebration

shouting out there about anything and dancing in the street and my name is heidi what is your name i am heavily heavily crack at emily can you describe your feeling right now how late it is just absolutely incredible yes it's it's about time we voted on the top of the white house he has been a stain on this country and it's it's it's just a day for celebration still with joe biden now with the president elect what exact changes do you hope he makes and how quickly do you hope those are undertaken from forgot where to start i mean just having some basic competence of the administration not denying science not. you just listen to this science on. you know not putting babies in caves or says that there's there's the list is just there's it's it's long i mean it is you know i think we're not going to silly get as much changes as i would like as. actually if we buy it but if we take back the senate with a georgia runoff that will be a big deal but this test of a this is

a very divided country as you as you just mentioned are you worried about the status of how fellow citizens feel we know maybe even as much as half of the country are still very much behind donald trump it is a concern white supremacists and radicalism and terrorism and white supremacist terrorism are big problems. and it's going to be a challenge to figure out how to combat extremism and misinformation and disinformation. but i think it's going to be it's going to be a big deal. who are poor for the white house not to be occupied by you know a would be dictator and a fascist who is racist and who wants to you know just oppress a lot of people and do pretty much anything for his own power and now he says though that he is not accepting defeat and he has said before he may not accept

a peaceful transfer of power are you honestly concerned that he may not leave come january 20th so i'm not concerned as as the biden team said you know the u.s. is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers off the drive off the white house grounds it's you know he's got some legal challenges but there's absolutely no merit to them they are just you know they're pretty much being laughed out of possibility even by a lot of republican strategists and of course just are i'm not worried about him like trying to steal a legally 2 and if he refuses to leave like we have you know we have secret service we have like one person officials who will remove him it'll be embarrassing for him but i'm not concerned about that thank you very much for your time appreciate it and so as you see you're surrounded by thousands of people who are growing in number. 7 and who are celebrating who are feeling in a sense that the lid has. finally come off of the fact that they can celebrate this

moment that so many have been waiting. control of post president strength and what he has done within his presidency and the legs that he may lead of course that will be a continuing concern particularly what fingerprints he has left on this white house on the republican party on this country that still remains to be seen. but this is truly historic election his vice president elect obama harris will be the 1st woman 1st south asian and 1st black person to hold that office she heard the news while she was out jogging and was one of the 1st to congratulate her running mate believe we did 0. you're going to be the next president of the united states. and understandably very happy kemah heris

there will out fisher takes a look at the impact that she might have on u.s. politics comparing her election is historic when she's sworn in on january 20th next year from the hottest will be the 1st african-american 1st asian american 1st woman to hold america's 2nd highest office. this is important as we have these ideas about what it takes to be an executive particularly in the white house because that role is seen as sort of a masculine type role right where there's you know there are issues of economics and of international relations and war and these sorts of things tend to be pegged short ideas of what male decision in me tends to look like if it was just 4 years since she was elected to the u.s. senate and with joe biden know being in the seventy's in 4 more years she could be

ideally placed to win the democratic presidential nomination for the white house born in california to jamaican father and an indian mother come along hottest has become used to busting barriers she was the 1st female district attorney in san francisco she was the 1st woman of color to become california's attorney general experience was really to heading the new administration's efforts in police reform and racial equality it was a role as attorney general in california that brought criticism from both the left and the right that she didn't do enough to investigate police shootings that there were wrongful arrest while she was in the role but none of this criticism seemed to stick nor was her background regarded as disqualifying by many voters we are something in our in the united states a stereotype of the perpetual former and that's usually put upon people who are asian american you see the other side lived into that when they were talking about you know mispronouncing her name and saying you know you know kemal of all of our

whatever they were trying to say in order to make her seem for make her seem not american. and the fact that the american people rejected that is i think really significant. it's just 12 years since barack obama won his sister. recollection and became president. down our way this is expected to be a high profile vice president vocal and visible but more importantly she's expected to have an important voice behind the scenes in the room where decisions are made alan fischer al-jazeera washington. well let's go to rob reynolds who is in los angeles for us and of course california the harrisons home states a kind of reaction has there been there to her election. well here in los angeles there are a lot of people in very typical l.a.

style celebrating in their cars honking their horns you probably can't hear it but it's loud in the streets behind me in west hollywood where there's a very large l.g.b. t.q. community that is extremely happy about the election of joe biden and campbell harris campbell harris of course you know a native daughter of california and this when she takes office that will leave a vacancy in the senate so the democratic governor of california gavin newsom will be able to appoint a new senator to fill out the remainder of camel harris's term that's interesting local story and he could come up with some historic 1st for example of the 1st. senator to represent california but i also want to talk barbara a little bit amidst all of the euphoria that the biden supporters are feeling right

now you know it's always a cliche to say. now comes the hard part but boy is the hard part ever coming for joe biden campbell harris they are facing a spreading and intensifying coronavirus pandemic which has really almost exceeded the ability of you know contact tracing in some other. standard forms of pandemic containment at this stage in this country they have a. economic recession severe economic recession that appears to be getting somewhat worse with. hiring slowing down and they face really a situation where joe biden has been elected but he has no coattails. the democratic party lost seats in the house they failed to win control of the senate state house is the same situation republican domination so republicans will not

feel under any pressure of some court sort of vast national mandate to begin cooperating with a president biden over the things that he wants to do sure he can do things by executive order rejoining the paris climate accords eliminating the so-called muslim ban that president trump put in place and reversing many of the trump executive orders on the environment that environmentalists consider to be harmful but to get some real work done stimulus plans for example to revive the economy as as one very important item is going to have to be able to work with congress and we know he has a good relationship with mitch mcconnell the senate republican leader but is that going to be enough and finally in addition. joe biden being a moderate democrat will face a certain amount of pressure from the left wing of his own party to deliver on some of his promises to make real changes in the racial systematic

racism and racism in policing and things of that nature so he's got a very full plate and a lot of problems that he's going to have to deal with on january 21st absolutely a real challenge rob reynolds with the latest there from los angeles and california rob thank you well to discuss some of those issues in more detail let's speak to allan lichtman he's a professor of history at american university and the also of the keys to the white house a system that has correctly predicted the outcomes of every presidential race since 1984 he joins us via skype from washington d.c. so thank you so much for joining us i know that you had predicted a biden victory just walk us through briefly what you think it is that won it for biden. i predicted a biden victory way back at the beginning of august by not looking at the won't fully inaccurate polls and by the way

a bit of unsolicited advice to you journalists never again publish or talk about a horse race poll they just lead us down the path to error so look at the polls don't look at the pundits don't follow the day to day events of the campaign rather i use my 13 keys to the white house system which also predicted chum's victory last time and the keys gauge the strength and performance of the party holding the white house and our 6 or more go against the white house party they are predicted losers trump was looking good at the end of 2019 with just 4 keys against him but then we had his failed response to the pandemic and to the cries for social and racial justice which cost him 3 more keys enough to predict his defeat the long and short term economic ease and the social unrest ski so it was governing not campaigning that day trump in and never before in the history of the u.s.

has a sitting president suffered such a sudden and dramatic reversal of fortune in just a few months in the election year at so what i seem to understand is that it wasn't so much joe biden winning it as much as trump losing it because he was a sitting president and then of course there was the pandemic. exactly correct under my system as i explained elections up basically votes or down on whether the party in power has governed well enough to merit another 4 years so it had nothing to do with biden nothing to do with his campaign i find it very ironic to see the conventional pundits praising the great biden can't pay well for a few 1000 votes had shifted in wisconsin georgia and arizona they be talking about the awful stupid you know biden 'd camp a and it can't be re campaign because as your correspondent pointed out the

democrats took place think every of the level of office of the presidency and we've been speaking to a lot of people demonstrating right now celebrating at biden as president elect in various cities across the u.s. some very strong words that keep on coming out i q's ations towards trump of racism of him being a fascist and you are a professor of history do you think that this is a dangerous moment for american democracy or maybe has been. i do i think or donald trump 1st of all has done in the days since the election represents the most shameful moment in the history of the u.s. presidency even richard nixon who lost. to john f. kennedy in 1960 and had some grounds to challenge the election because of some skullduggery going on way back then he said i'm not going to do it i'm not going to put my personal political ambitions above the good of the nation and he gave

a very gracious concession speech donald trump has done the opposite he should be following nixon he shouldn't be trashing our democracy shouldn't be filing all these frivolous lawsuits and what the democrats spent let them have this celebration but it's time to put donald trump in the rearview mirror stop attacking him once you get into power and listen to what grass roots republicans have to say they have legitimate issues they have legitimate grievances and even if the republicans keep control the senate there are areas in which you can find common ground we all agree on the crying need to rebuild our infrastructure we agree on the need for criminal justice reform we've come close before to fundamental immigration reform on a compromised basis all of this can be done and although on many issues taxes abortion republicans and democrats are going to disagree but as

a former late republican president gerald ford said we can disagree without being disagreeable so i think both sides have a lot of work to do for the good of the country as a lot of the cultural issues between the 2 parties often seem to be if not the most important maybe the ones that get the sky the loudest certainly in social media do you think it is possible for biden to try to be more appealing to republicans who maybe didn't like trump but still didn't trust the democrats enough while still keeping the progressive wing of his party onside. absolutely that's biden's big challenge is to thread that needle he really needs to dampen down the cultural conflict you're never going to satisfy the far right extremists or for that matter the far left but we're still a very moderate country and biden is the right person to do this look he's not

a great orator it's not dynamic like john f. kennedy or barack obama but he is a non-threatening healing empathetic kind of person who can at least bring together the center left and center right of the country and dampen down this deep cultural conflict you know it is truly the necessary i don't to stand that a lot of charm followers believe that the country is changing in a way that they don't understand and don't like but they have to reconcile to the changing the country this is no longer going to be a country dominated by a white male elite weight class that we're going to be a rich giora team minority society in 20 or 30 years and at least the great bulk 'd of trump followers need to adjust to that and joe biden has a big task in bringing both sides towards the middle professor allan lichtman

author of the case for impeachment and also a professor of history at american university really interesting talking to you sir thank you. here take. now world leaders have been taking to twitter to congratulate president elect joe biden vice president elect cavalia harris 1st up was justin trudeau canada's prime minister who said he looks forward to working with the biden harris team then indian prime minister and then under modi saying biden's contribution to strengthening in the u.s. relations was invaluable later added a congressional wretch elations specifically for camelot harris saying her success is pathbreaking finally the french president the man will mccraw andrews said we have a lot to do to overcome today's challenges let's work together while the passion butler has been monitoring the reaction in paris and she joins us now sort of a solid message from emanuel mcraney must be a little bit relieved because the relations in general between the e.

un and trump but even mccrone himself and president trump were not the best where they are. no over the past few years under donald trump the relationship between the u.s. and e.u. has cerny deteriorated at least become more tense and that's certainly the case between france and the us emanuel micro congratulating joe biden camera harris saying that he looks forward to working with them on some of the most pressing pressing challenges ahead and i think about omicron will really look forward to meeting joe biden has not met him before but undoubtedly he will share our lot more with him politically than he did with donald trump or biden a democrat a man or macro a centrist and michael will hope the joe biden means that the u.s. is going to really enter an era of approaching foreign policy with a multilateral vision which is the sort of vision that

a man or macro has he was of course very upset to see the donald trump took more of a unilateral approach to foreign policy pulling the u.s. out of for example the paris climate deal out of the iran deal the j.c. p.o. a medal michael will hope that biden will do things like sign the u.s. back up to the paris climate deal we know the biden the said that something and like to do that they you might be able to work more closely with the u.s. on iran that they will be more discussion of that just generally relations between the e.u. and us will be a lot more predictable the problem over the past few years for several leaders including macron colluding merkel of course the german chancellor is that the u.s. has become this unreliable partner in some ways that was forced you might say some e.u. leaders to actually take a much more strong stand on this issue of european sovereignty to try and bolster european sovereignty as they've seen the u.s. move away from the e.u. . for example has said over and again the e.u.

must look after itself or can no longer always look to the u.s. even though because these things always very complex the u.s. still is sure. was a lot in terms of security for some central and eastern european countries so german chancellor angela merkel reacting to biden's win also saying that the relationship between the u.s. and germany is irreplaceable a foreign minister heiko mass talking about a new deal a new transatlantic deal in a way sweeping away the last 4 years a reset if you like and i think overall that is what the e.u. will be looking for a reset of relations with the u.s. on devising the butler with the latest from paris thank you let's go to the united nations now and speak to our diplomatic editor james bay so james we heard that tasha there speaking of a reset of relations between the u.s. and the e.u. do you think that that kind of reset will be possible of a u.n. wide level president trump of course was no fan of the institution.

no he wasn't a fan of any real international alliances he didn't really get the point of alliances if there wasn't money involved certainly in this the 75th birthday year of the united nations the whole international system the un at its center set up at the end of world war 2 is creaking it's in trouble you just have to look at what's happened this year with kobe had 19 we have not had any leadership from anyone in the g 7 the g 20 the un security council everyone has been divided everyone has been looking out for themselves and that has been true of the u.s. as well so i think. many of the u.s. is traditional allies will be looking to a return to the way things were before donald trump the way things were 4 years ago with much more cooperation between the key allies one

european official and this was in the spokes person it was a pretty senior person with a serious job told me recently that they believe that the relations between the u.s. and europe were the worst any time since the 2nd world war in the last 4 years so i think among allies at least a real sense of relief that perhaps it can be business as usual going forward when joe biden becomes the president in january. with the latest from the u.n. james thank you. now a prominent democrat and senate minority leader chuck schumer has thanked the american public from maintaining faith in the political system. the long dark night in america is over and a new job on a comic. and i want to thank all of the millions of americans

who voted i want to thank the millions who are volunteers in poll watchers in small dollar donors people we did not give up on america donald trump joe limits star democracy so try to destroy our democracy but the election showed the american people never lost faith and now donald trump can go home to florida well let's speak to joe watkins he is a republican strategist and political commentator is also former white house aide to president george h.w. bush joe watkins joins us via skype from philadelphia sir thank you so much for joining us here 1st of all your reaction not just to the result but also to the sort of things we've seen come out of the white house since the election took place the president effect of taking to twitter saying he'd won already and the various legal challenges that are being prepared. well i know this is probably

a difficult day for the for the president he's a hard campaigner and this is a hard fought campaign he got 70000000 votes in the united states which is a large number of votes that to garner in a presidential election but but it looks like he came up short and joe biden will be the next president of the united states and in the united states the way we've done it is we fight hard in our elections to win and when we lose we congratulate our opponent and then we we make get ready for the transition and then and then move on to support the forward movement of the country and that's the hope here i'm not sure that will necessarily get it that way but but i know that the president for whom i worked george h.w. bush when he lost that hard fought campaign to bill clinton in 1902 he invited him to though he conceded that he invited him to the white house so that he could become a climate climatized to the white house environs and then on the day that he george

bush was leaving the white house he left a handwritten note in the desk for for bill clinton saying i'm rooting for you and all of america is rooting for you we wish you well i wish you well we want to america to succeed and that's the spirit that george bush left the white house in that's the ideal spirit for any american president because presidents come and go you they win the lessons and sometimes they lose reelections and when that happens they need to congratulate their opponent then and have a transition and move on for the benefit of the american people yes certainly the john mccain concession speech when he lost of president obama i think is an example of that a very powerful speech and we have to remember that the president can still call it millions more votes this year than this time that he did in 2006 and the people that i've been speaking to it seems that many republicans perhaps didn't like promptly didn't like his mannerisms but still were not convinced by the democrats now we have joe biden saying he's going to be

a president for all americans what do you think he has to do to convince those members of the republican party that perhaps are not you know all out trump supporters but are still not convinced by the democratic ticket. well he has to work with the with what may likely be a republican controlled senate and i think he has the capacity to do that because after all joe biden spent decades in the united states senate he's got deep relationships with republicans and democrats and so he understands the institution he understands the congress he he knows how to work across the aisle and that would be an incoming strength for him he's not a he's not a fiery speaker he's not given to the large comments he's he's given to conciliatory talk and and certainly we heard that the other night when he said that even though you might be elected as a democrat he would govern as an american president though those are those are good words and helpful words to the to the american public especially at a time when there's such a divide in terms of how americans i think that's so forgive me for interrupting

but but that's kind of my point because biden is a centrist but what do you think not so much him in liaising with that with senate and congress but more when it comes to the issues that the american the american republicans care about what do you think he has to do there to try to convince them i think if we can get some legislation passed that is meaningful to americans and certainly the republicans that's a that's a huge huge step forward for instance if he was able to pass some kind of infrastructure bill if he was able to get past some kind of a middle class tax cut all that would be meaningful to and reassuring 'd to a lot of republicans a lot of centrist republicans who may not have voted for him in this last cycle but but certainly are wishing him well is the incoming president of united states we keep on talking about a split nation but do you think the republican party itself is the split and what do you see that the future of the republican party has now that donald trump will

no longer be in the white house. well the republican party is likely going to have to do what losing parties in presidential races have to do they have to remake themselves they have to consider what it is about them that's good and what can be better what mistakes they made the past and how going forward 'd they can they can avoid making the same mistakes in the republican party of course gained a 'd lot of new voters without trump a lot of a lot of working class white voters join the party many of them had previously self identified as democrats but they are now republicans the challenge will be for the party to be able to retain those new members of the party and then build on that with more diverse groups in the united states surely to grow its numbers with african-american voters and that tino voters and others with younger people all those need to be added for the republican party in order for them to be a majority party heading into 2022 or 2024 joe watkins that republican strategist and political commentator also a former white house aide to president george h.w.

bush thank you thank you right well let's take you now to washington d.c. just outside the white house you can see people there celebrating the fact that joe biden is the president unlike those pictures every vet located in cities across the united states not everyone is happy of course we know that the trunk campaign is launching various legal challenges and the many transporters are not really recognizing the result of this election you can see there thousands of people gathered in support and celebration of the fact that the fight and harris ticket has won that and will be in the white house come january. so that's reaction nationally and reaction internationally has started to come in as well u.k. prime minister virus johnson is among some of the 1st leaders to send their congratulations

to the biden have esteem algis there is that in barber says all eyes will be on what this means for the country's special relationship over the next few months this point says to one issue of contention breck's it and trade deals now the the president elect has been quite forthright in his worries about where britain is going just 2 months ago he said this we can't allow the good friday agreement that bore that brought peace to northern ireland to become a casualty of brics it what does that mean now well if britain doesn't get a trade deal with the european union by the end of the year boris johnson is trying to get through this bill called the internal market bill which in the opinion of the european union and in fact of joe biden threatens a hard border between northern oil and an oil and risking that peace under the good friday agreement joe biden is very unhappy about that prospect and if it came to

pass that would make the likelihood of any swift trade deal between the u.k. and the united states a lot more remote than of course vattel is the bigger prize inter in the eyes of boris johnson and his own entourage so really this piles on the pressure if you like for boris johnson to hurry up and get a deal any kind of deal in the next month and a half. but speak now to christopher louie he was a senior white house official under president barack obama and was also the executive director of the 2008 obama presidential transition team he joins us via skype from washington d.c. sir welcome to our jazeera see you worked with joe biden obviously when he was the vice president to barack obama why do you think he's right for the job well joe biden through and through is thoroughly decent an empathetic person he also brings to the white house probably more experience than anyone who is occupied to be sure

before he has strong relations with members of congress he has an experienced staff and he is a deep understanding of policy and i think most importantly at this moment in the u.s. history we need somebody who can heal some of these divisions this was obviously a very hard fought contest we've had a very difficult 3 and a half years under president trump and i think the american people are really craving a return to normalcy. normality may not actually come back for quite a while because we do know that the trump team has launched various legal challenges to votes in various states you were executive director of the obama presidential transition team in 2008 how much how much do you think that the way that the trump campaign is acting now will complicate a bite in transition. well i'm hoping after a couple more days of president venting that he finally comes to his senses and understands the importance of a peaceful transfer of power we've been doing that in this country for over 200

years and we've done it even after hard fought presidential campaigns but president trump continues not to concede or he does not cooperate with the incoming administration i think that does have serious implications for national security homeland security but if there's somebody who can overcome that it's vice president biden you know he has spent 48 years in washington there's as i said there's nobody who understands better how government works i guess the challenges that perhaps existed in 2008 are very different to the challenges that exist for the u.s. and the world now in 2020 what do you think his priorities should be well i think 1st and foremost the president elect has to focus on coded we are in the middle of a public health crisis in the united states as are countries all around the world and that's having an impact not only lives lost but in terms of our economy and what we've seen over the last 9 months from the current administration is a lack of leadership on this issue to the point where this is

a president now who's not only denying science denying facts but has all but called this a hoax so i think it's important to come up with a comprehensive plan to deal with cove it and then i think to continue to provide the economic stimulus to get the the u.s. economy at full speed it would be quite a challenge for president biden the president elect to i guess appeal to the whole country that's what he said in his tweet he is president of all americans but on the one side there is republicans that perhaps are not die hard supporters of aren't convinced by the democrats but he also has the progressive wing of his own party that he has to keep on side what do you think the balance will be there. it will be a challenge but you know this is the kind of tight rope that joe biden has walk during his entire career and you know i think he will focus on things that the american people want to focus getting people back to work i think an infrastructure legislative proposal would be a great way to start and really the most important issue on people's minds right

now is health care and the supreme court right now is deciding the future of the affordable care act i think there is a desire of both houses of congress among both parties to come up with a fix right now and what we've seen from president trump is 3 and a half years where he continues to promise a health care plan but has never really put anything forward so i think that those 2 issues infrastructure and health care would be great places for vice president or president elect biden and start on a final note and briefly if you can you've seen firsthand how difficult and how taxing the job can be what would you say to people that say that by then simply too old for it well i will tell you somebody spent a lot of time with him he has more energy than you know people half are 3rd of his age and he has a great love of the american people and great love of government and i think that's a good recipe for a u.s. president christopher lew a senior white house official under president barack obama thank you thank you. and let's just take you again to washington d.c.

that black lives matter plaza of course the scene of protests for months but now as you can see filled with hundreds and hundreds of people celebrating the fact that joe biden is now the president elect. hello i'm barbara sarah you're watching a live from london it's 22 g.m.t. and there really is only one major story right now joe biden has been declared president elect of the united states this follows more than 4 days of painstaking ballot counting in a handful of swing states as counting continued biden over took donald trump in pay .