this is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk this is bbc news live from washington and london. the us presidential election reaches a climax, joe biden builds momentum in key battleground states. the margins are razor thin, but the trend of the ballot count, favours the democrats. a recount is announced in georgia, wherejoe biden has a lead ofjust over 1,000. and i'm live from the battleground state of pennsylvania, wherejoe biden now leads by about 30,000 votes. as for the candidates themselves, mr biden calls for calm and patience. he says the process is working properly and is confident he's done enough to win.

the final tally in georgia at this point has huge implications for the entire country. donald trump's campaign has put out a statement saying thatjoe campaign has put out a statement saying that joe biden‘s campaign has put out a statement saying thatjoe biden‘s lead is a false projection and the election is not over. it follows his press conference last night where he made accusations of voter fraud, but offered no evidence. each ballot must be counted. we have no doubt that when the count is finished, senator harris and i will be declared the winners. donald trump's campaign has put out a statement, and we also understand from the white house that he has remained defiant within the last ten minutes or so, saying that he will continue to fight.

hello, and welcome. i'm katty kay in washington, and babita sharma is in london. joe biden has pushed ahead of donald trump in two crucial states, which could — could — hand him the us presidency. mr biden is now in the lead in pennsylvania, where victory would push him over the threshold required to win the white house. the state is of critical importance to both candidates as it's worth 20 electoral college votes. joe biden‘s also leading the count in arizona and nevada. and he's ahead in georgia — just. 0fficials there announced a recount due to the razor—thin margin. so, joe biden needsjust 17 more electoral college votes in order to reach the magic number of 270, donald trump needs 56.

the white house has just released this statement on behalf of the president. "we will pursue this process through every aspect of the law to guarantee the american people have confidence in our government. i will never give up fighting for you and our nation." let's go the latest from our north america editorjon sopel. joe biden takes the lead in pennsylvania... donald trump is now trailing... joe biden is winning the overwhelming share... this mightjust be the moment — the whole ball game. the seemingly overwhelming lead that donald trump had in pennsylvania the day after the election — this morning finally evaporated and has become a biden lead. if the democratic challenger wins here, it's game over for the present. pretty soon, the hyphen will be gone from vice—president to president—electjoe biden. it's a happy day for our country. and the march of the maths has been played out in small government

buildings and windowless offices in arizona, pennsylvania, nevada, and georgia. a thousand votes here, a few hundred here — all the time chipping away at donald trump's grip on the white house. there will, though, be a recount in georgia, where margins are tight. four more years, four more years! and outside, protests — some demanding the count to be stopped... the whole world's watching! others that every vote must be counted. from the trump supporters, increasing anxiety. from biden‘s, growing confidence. and in las vegas, nevada, the trump supporters resorting to prayer. "please let our luck change" — not the first time the prayer has been offered in sin city. last night, a disconsolate president made a long, unhappy statement, again alleging without evidence that he was being robbed of a victory that was his. if you count the legal votes, i easily win.

if you count the illegal votes, they can try to steal the election from us. and we think we will win the election very easily, we think there is going to be a lot of litigation, because we have so much evidence, so much proof, and it's going to end up perhaps at the highest court in the land. we'll see. but we think there will be a lot of litigation because we can't have an election stolen like this. astonishingly, all the main us networks pulled away before he'd finished. ok, here we are again in the unusual position of not only interrupting the president of the united states, but correcting the president of the united states. and this morning, legal counsel forthe trump campaign issued this statement. "this election is not over. the false prediction ofjoe biden as the winner is based on results in four states that are farfrom final. biden is relying on the stage for his phony claim

on the white house, but once the election is final, president trump will be re—elected." but, holed up in the white house, the president isn't enjoying that much support for his legal battle from his party. this is the republican senatorfrom pennsylvania. the president's speech last night was very disturbing to me, because he made very, very serious allegations without any evidence to support it. i am not aware of any significant fraud, any significant wrongdoing. if it's happened, then the evidence needs to come out, we need to go to court. meanwhile, in wilmington, delaware, the stage is set for a declaration — a declaration thatjoe biden has won, and that he is now the president—elect. he's marching to the drumbeat of america's long—established democratic traditions, determined to be unaffected by the noise coming from the white house. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. the bbc‘s yalda hakim joins us

from philadelphia, pennsylvania. cbs news, which is our sister network, is not yet ready to curb pennsylvania, none of the networks seem to be. is there holed up in accounting? because it looked like it was moving fast in the direction of being able to make a call. what is the situation? it was quite slow in the days after the election, now four days after, suddenly we woke up and things were moving quite quickly. let me just remind you of where we were at on quickly. let me just remind you of where we were at on wednesday. 0n wednesday, donald trump was ahead by 690,000 votes. by thursday afternoon, they had narrowed to about 80,000 votes. this morning it was 18,000 votes that separated the two men. suddenly a few hours ago we heard that joe biden was two men. suddenly a few hours ago we heard thatjoe biden was now in the lead by five and a half thousand votes. i can now report he is in the lead by roughly 13,000 votes. we

heard earlier from the city officials here in philadelphia who said, "look, be patient, that we need to count these votes and it is still very narrow, their 40,000 votes mailed in from the military." so that is what is holding things up. but they said they'll give us an update later this afternoon with the ballots, 2—3000 more votes being counted. things started to feel like they were moving very quickly, but we we re they were moving very quickly, but we were told by the city officials to remain patient, that this could still take a few more days. of course we are hearing from different quarters of the democratic party saying that joe biden quarters of the democratic party saying thatjoe biden has won this, if he won pennsylvania. and at this point, and city officials actually did say this as well when asked by a reporter, from what you are seeing, does it appear that joe reporter, from what you are seeing, does it appear thatjoe biden has woi'i does it appear thatjoe biden has won pennsylvania ? the does it appear thatjoe biden has won pennsylvania? the city officials said yes! they are feeling quite confident that will be joe biden,

but everyone is holding off from calling it because it is so incredibly narrow. they still have to remain careful about these numbers. us networks feel they won't be confident in calling pennsylvania untiljoe biden is ahead by some 20-30,000 untiljoe biden is ahead by some 20—30,000 votes. untiljoe biden is ahead by some 20—30 , 000 votes. you untiljoe biden is ahead by some 20—30,000 votes. you said they may give us this afternoon a few thousand more, and the moment he's at 13,000? that still doesn't get us to 20-30,000, right? no, it has been a nail—biting day. we've been waiting to hear more, and they've been giving various different conferences, but with small amounts of numbers. and what they said earlier was they would give us an update by about 2—3000 votes, but there was still of a large volume of votes that needed to be counted here in philadelphia, where i am. you will know that philadelphia is a democratic stronghold, so the votes that have come in and the ones that they need to count are believed to

be obviously mailing that they need to count, and the vast majority of those are likely to be for the democratic party. so we're still to find out more, and we may hear from city officials later this afternoon, but they've certainly set at that press conference to wait for a couple more days before they can tell us more. the mayor of pennsylvania actually said, " look, donald trump needs to put his big boy pants on and except that joe biden has won this election." so they are making these statements but not willing to come out and call it forjoe biden. just before not willing to come out and call it forjoe biden. just before we go to oui’ forjoe biden. just before we go to our other guests and let you go, are there votes in those male in votes that we know come from us military members abroad? that seems to be the situation in georgia. yes, that's right. and the election official actually did say that. so the 40,000

or so actually did say that. so the 40,000 or so votes that need to be counted oui’ or so votes that need to be counted our military mail in votes. that is what is holding things up at the moment, and they certainly confirmed that was the case. they don't want to rush into this in any way. and as you say, a very similar picture to what is happening in georgia. we can also tell you that there was roughly 3 million people who registered for a male in, 2.6 million returned those ballots. this is a monumental task that comes down to several thousand votes. but the officials here are very cautious. they say they won't rush anything, there's no rush, and they need to remain patient, democracy is just rush, and they need to remain patient, democracy isjust playing itself out and democracy is winning. that's what officials here are saying, to wait and see what happens over the next few days. thank you very much. it is a very time—consuming process, counting these mail in ballots, and these

poll workers are doing an extraordinary job poll workers are doing an extraordinaryjob under sometimes quite tense circumstances. in madeline wester hout, who is the former director of 0val in madeline wester hout, who is the former director of oval office operations under president trump. thank you so much forjoining us. amanda, let me start with you. what is your understanding of what is taking place at the moment in the biden campaign? we have heard that joe biden is planning to give a prime time address, possibly with senator harris speaking as well. do you think they are planning to announce that they have one, or are we now back into a bit of a holding pattern and they have to wait and see if this will be another keep the faith type address? firstly, thank you for having me, it's good to see you for having me, it's good to see you again. here's the question — right now, biden's team is figuring

out, how do we instill confidence in the selection process? they felt very confident in this from the very beginning, knowing that democratic votes always come late in terms of how the counting process goes. but also their strategy was vote by mail in early voting. so they knew they would have to catch up, and disses how they knew it would go. now what they have to to do is the challenge of keeping people patient, but at the same time the american people also want to plan of what happens when you step into that role, particularly if trump decides he's not leaving. so i think part of the goal, and what i know they're going through is, how do you protect this confidence as well as the humility of wanting every single vote to count, and make sure that the american public are really knowing you have a plan when you step in with full intention of knowing that you have to combat this trump messaging that will continue for the next six days, at least. madeleine,

i'm wondering if you feel satisfied with the tone that donald trump is striking right now? hejust said within the last few minutes that he will continue with his legal fight. what did you make of that?|j will continue with his legal fight. what did you make of that? i think the president is inherently a fighter, and he wants to make sure that every single legal vote is counted. but it is my hope that if it's clear that the former vice president is going to be the president is going to be the president elect of the united states, that republicans give him the grace and respect that frankly democrats in the media did not give mrtrump in 2016. democrats in the media did not give mr trump in 2016. that might be for the republicans, but do you think donald trump will do that forjoe biden? i got to know donald trump very well working with him every single day for over 2.5 years, and i know the amount of respect that he has for the office of the presidency and the american people. so i hope, i believe that if it's clear that the vice president is going to be

the vice president is going to be the new president, that president trump will step aside graciously secular i guess the question is when it becomes clear and what clarity looks like under all these lawsuits. i heard from a senior official on the trump campaign team earlier today who say they believe they have a narrow, ugly path to 270, and they feel there is a low probability of success , feel there is a low probability of success, these hand recounts that have been called for in several states. but they owe it to their voters to try. madeleine, do you think that's what's going on here, that we've got a kind of, the trump campaign saying we have to fight, president trump is known as a fighter? his supporters love him because he's a fighter, and he would not be doing them just as if you didn't launch the legal suits, even though the campaign itself seems to recognise that those suits don't have much chance of success?|j

recognise that those suits don't have much chance of success? i think until either candidate gets to 270 electoral college votes, the race isn't over yet. so i know that president trump wants to keep counting the legal ballots that have come in. but i think it's pretty clear that it is looking more and more likely that the former vice president will be elected secular amanda, as far as we know in terms of the gains the democratic party have made, for you what has been the biggest surprise so far? i'm very excited by what we are seeing in georgia. everyone expected it to be closer get better, but the idea that it is so close that we could have two senate seats up come january is a huge win for the democratic party, and a real indication of what this new majority looks like, what it means to have invested in infrastructure to get out votes to communities of colour and the younger generation. that piece is really important. i do want to say something that really bothers me

here in this discussion, is this idea of separating legal votes to illegal votes. we just can't have that in america, and i do think over the next 48—72 hours, a lot of republicans will look in the mirror and wonder, and have to actually decide, "is now the time to step up and make sure we have a democracy, and make sure we have a democracy, and that really do believe every vote should be counted? " we've made it clear that we do not believe there is a difference between a legal and illegal vote that the president talked about, all the votes that were mailed in that satisfy the guidelines of the states that what they were in, they were mailed in on time — those are legal ballots a nd mailed in on time — those are legal ballots and their being counted. amanda, i'm looking at my twitter feed out of half my eyes, and there are republican senators coming out and saying what you're saying, madeleine, that the vote should be counted and that once the votes are counted, the democratic process is doing itsjob, counted, the democratic process is doing its job, and counted, the democratic process is doing itsjob, and we will get to

counted, the democratic process is doing its job, and we will get to a result. we've had senator pat toomey and rob portman come out in the last few minutes saying the same thing as you are. do you think we will get a coordination of republican voices if it looks like trump has lost, that the legal paths will no longer get them to victory, do you think we will have those republican voices telling mr trump that it's time now? i already had one who worked with donald trump on the 2016 campaign saying that the president has to concede and he will have to concede graciously. i think when it becomes incredibly clear that joe biden graciously. i think when it becomes incredibly clear thatjoe biden has received 270 electoral college votes, that it will be time for publicans to come together, and hopefully is in trouble concede graciously dashed republicans. i think you should be and currently proud of what he's done for this country the past four years. he's made great strides and the republican party has really become the party of the included it dashed

inclusivity and diversity, and he should be proud. think you both so much for sharing your thoughts with us. much for sharing your thoughts with us. as we've been discussing in the last hour, we had that statement that came to us from the white house with donald trump vowing to fight on. let's speak to gary 0'donoghue. a defiant tone still from the president, no change there? no, although the tone is a little bit more measured than certainly be heard last night, isn't it, which suggests to me that other people had a hand in writing that. and it's trying notjust to a hand in writing that. and it's trying not just to address the circumstances of this particular election, but to suggest that not everything is right in the state of denmark, that there is a real integral, systemic problem with

elections in this country, which a lot of people will resist that characterisation. these are past and legislated at a state level, and the president cannot just describe those things as illegal. i'll give you one things as illegal. i'll give you one thing to think about — on election night, some states didn't count there early votes first. places like 0hio there early votes first. places like ohio and texas did that, and you started to see joe biden pulling ahead in those places. well, that was exactly the reverse of what we're seeing now, because of the nature of those votes and the way they were cast, trump is now falling behind in the places that did it the other way around, and he doesn't like it. and on the night, republicans were saying don't worry, this was the early vote, it skewed democratic, that's whyjoe biden is ahead in places like 0hio.

democratic, that's whyjoe biden is ahead in places like ohio. as we talk to you, gary, there have been for a number of hours demonstrators out on the four courts away from the cordoned off area of the white house where you are. it was a carnival atmosphere earlier when you and i we re atmosphere earlier when you and i were speaking about an hour or so ago, and we are now seeing demonstrators take to the streets and a number of states, anti—trump, pro trump, pro biden, which ever way you want to call it. this really is a scene of what has come to be a very divisive election, hasn't it? it has, but we all need to keep our fingers crossed on this one because there were some very apocalyptic visions of what might happen in the postelection period. now we are still in that kind of hiatus moment before a winner is declared or proclaimed by the various organisations in this country that do that, and things could change.

but we haven't seen the widespread problems yet that we might have feared for. there was one rather disturbing account of a chap who seems to have driven towards philadelphia late last night and a humvee with some weapons in his car intent on doing some harm. that got stopped, but that is a very worrying sign. the widespread issue hasn't occurred yet. it may yet. i think there'll be a very big crunch moment when the 270 is passed, because that would demand a kind of response from this white house on a scale we've not seen yet. gary, thank you for that. gary 0'donoghue there live at the white house. it'll be interesting to see how that 270 is called, because different networks have different standards for calling things. and there is a situation in

which it could be fox news that calls to 70, effectively calling joe biden for the presidency before any of the others do, and that will put pressures on the other american networks if they want to follow suit. but there would be an irony, i think most people would appreciate it, if that is where we get to. joe biden has called for calm and patience, something he knows a lot about given that he's waited more than 30 years for this particular moment. this is his third try. barbara plett—usher is in delaware. so the former vice president has said he will make a primetime address somewhere around 8pm est. do we know he will say? will this be another holding pattern speech, or are they hoping, or thinking that they have concrete news to deliver at that one? well they are hoping that they have concrete news to

deliver. and if the race is called by then, we understand that it'll be an address to the american people, to the nation as president elect. i suspect then we will get the same messaging that mr biden has been giving throughout his campaign, he's been extremely consistent, always talking about the need for unity, to come together, the need to not treat opponents as enemies but to work together to deal with the crisis that the country faces, because if he becomes president elect, he will be taking the office at a time of national crisis, with the coronavirus and the impact it has had on the economy. so i would think we would be getting those kinds of messages, but it is a sort of calculation the campaign will have to make because we don't know exactly when the networks will call the race, as you were saying. at the moment we understand that the speeches are being planned for him,

we can see the activity around here, lots of activity at this stage as they prepare for it. what will happen if the race is still outstanding at that point? we will have to wait and see how the campaign deals with it. butjust a follow on what you said at the beginning, he's wanted to be president for a long time, he's tried twice before. he's wanted to be president since he was a schoolboy, writing down in his list of ambitions at that time that he wanted to be president of the united states. now at the age of 7/7, it looks like that ambition is finally almost in grasp. almost there, he took his first date to meet his mother, and when the mother asked him what he wanted to be in life, he said to be president one day. barbara, thanks forjoining us they're from delaware. let's see if that stage is being billed for a victory speech, or if it's being billed for another patient‘s speech.

we just cannot tell you right now. absolutely. the people who keep tweeting me give to up definitive statement, we can't. keep watching. hello there for some it's been a week of november frost and fog for us. week of november frost and fog for us. but once i lifted away for many of us, we've seen lovely spells of sunshine. the satellite picture from earlier on this afternoon shows the cloud thick enough for some drizzle on scotland come up elsewhere another glorious day. take a look at this beautiful weather watcher picture, really telling the story. as we head into the weekend, however, we will see some subtle changes, the potential for however, we will see some subtle changes, the potentialfor it however, we will see some subtle changes, the potential for it to however, we will see some subtle changes, the potentialfor it to be a little bit milder, and one of the reasons is more cloud around. there will be a little more in the way of shall remain potentially on that just a moment. here and now, we will see continuing skies and fog forming close to southern scotland, and

parts of wales as well. chile is well under those clear skies, low single figures for some. but more of a breeze, not quite as warm as the far southwest, and as we go through the morning some of that fog could lift slowly into... particularly across central and southern england. we will have to watch that. lovely spells of sunshine through scotland, northern ireland, northern england and across the channel coast. a bit more of a breeze continuing with showers by the end of the day here. but we should see temperatures peaking at around 15—16 c. as we move out of saturday into sunday, we start to see the size of that change. those showers into the southwest, a weather front is approaching from the southwest. more isobars the further west you are, the breeze picking up but from a southerly direction. that drives in milderair southerly direction. that drives in milder air with it, and on sunday there's more in the way of cloud around. shower e bits of pieces sweeping up from the west, drifting northwards. not all of us will see

rain, it will be a cloudier day with 10-16 c the rain, it will be a cloudier day with 10—16 c the high. rain, it will be a cloudier day with 10-16 c the high. it rain, it will be a cloudier day with 10—16 c the high. it looks as though this trend will continue into our week ahead, so the second week of november looks likely to be dominated by high—pressure blocking these lows that are trying to push and from the atlantic. so all the time, they will start to move in from the west, bringing some rain but not particularly significant. so it means the further east you go as we go through the week, it will be dryer with sunny spells and shower re—outbreaks of dryer with sunny spells and shower re—outbrea ks of rain dryer with sunny spells and shower re—outbreaks of rain in the west.

this is bbc news live from washington and london , the us presidential election nears its conclusion, but it's not there yet. joe biden builds momentum in key battleground states. the margins are razor thin but the trend of the ballot count, favours the democrats. a recount is announced in georgia — wherejoe biden has a lead ofjust over a thousand. the final tally in georgia at this point has huge implications for the entire country. joe biden has also overtaken donald trump in the crucial vote

count in pennsylvania, a prize that would hand him the white house. the city's mayor says trump must admit defeat i think what the president need to do is, frankly, but is big boy pants on. he needs to acknowledge the fact that he lost and he needs to congratulate the winner. as for the candidates themselves — mr biden calls for calm and patience — he says the process is working properly and is confident he's done enough to win. each balance must be counted. we have no doubt that when the count is finished sinister harris and myself will be declared the winners. —— each ballot must be counted. the white house has just released a statement on behalf of the president saying ‘we will pursue this process people have confidence in our government...‘ through every aspect of the law to guarantee that the american people have confidence

in our government...‘ meanwhile. . .trump's supporters stage protests, while millions of dollars are raised to mount legal challenges in a number of states. welcome back — i'm katty kay in washington and babita sharma is in london. this us presidential election is going right down to the wire, and then some. joe biden has pushed ahead of donald trump in two crucial states — pennsylvania and georgia where election officials say a recount will take place, due to the tight margin. joe biden's also leading the count in arizona and nevada. he needsjust 17 more electoral college votes in order to reach the magic number of 270, donald trump needs 56. president trump says he'll fight on through the courts. that's what he said in that press

statement a short time ago. the republican senator for south carolina — lindsey graham — says he believes there are voting irregularities and donald trump deserves a chance to have his case heard. the president should fight hard because what i believe is that when stacey abrams carried the georgia results the liberal media in this country praised her for standing up for democracy but when a republican challenger is a context or contest we are accused of undercutting democracy. and here's my statement. democracy depends on fair elections. president's trompe's team is going to have a chance to make a case regarding voting irregularities. they deserve a chance to make that case and will stand with president trump. ifa case and will stand with president trump. if a democrat were doing this it would be cheered on and we're not going to let the media intimidate us into exploring whether or not these contests were held. let us turn the focus back to pennsylvania. we were

hearing a short while ago from a corresponding yellow yalda hakim who said thatjoe biden is ahead by... votes there. we'rejoined now byjoined by the republican strategist charlie gerow, who's in harrisburg, pennsylvania. there are two things that we predicted, one that pennsylvania will be extremely close, which it is, and to that the election would probably boil down to who won pennsylvania, is anything surprising at this point. charlie, i am pretty sure you tell me about three days ago that president trump was going to win pennsylvania handily!” ago that president trump was going to win pennsylvania handily! i never said handily! never ever for a minute didi said handily! never ever for a minute did i say that, i would have to have been a an idiot to say that, he only won by 40,000 votes a few yea rs he only won by 40,000 votes a few years ago, there was no sooner where anyone was going to win handily! but you still think is to win it?” anyone was going to win handily! but you still think is to win it? i have a lwa ys you still think is to win it? i have always been bullish on the present‘s

prospects here, he has outperformed the polls dramatically and the results are not yet official and i would caution my friend on the other sides of the pond that the media does not call elections, elections are called on the state certified in the legal process is exhausted. then and only end our election is final because otherwise you have a presidentjulie and a president goal. it is interesting you say that, charlie, because we could be ina that, charlie, because we could be in a position where fox news calls this election before any of the other election press? -- american press ? other election press? -- american press? i suppose you're having fun with that but again, it doesn't matter what the media says, what matters is how the state certify their votes and that you have already reported are going to be several state—wide recount and then how the legal process gets worked out and never going to be legal challenges in a variety of the state. how do you feel about those legal challenges, charlie? did you expect it to be as illegal dump to

the hilt as it is right now? —— legalled up to the hilt. absolutely. the biden campaign for some legal challenges of their own. this is nothing that surprises me and it really shouldn't surprise anyone else. when you look at the number of electoral college votes each have that pat the donald trump of victories looking slim at the moment. where things not played for himwell, he has a tougher path. moment. where things not played for himwell, he has a tougher pathm doesn't take a mathematical genius at that point to figure that out. he has a tougher path. the places i think she had difficulty this time around were in the upper midwest, in michigan, wisconsin, minnesota in particular. all three of those states were states that the trump campaign thought they could take. there was still a question about wisconsin, less of a question about michigan, and minnesota, i suppose,

is the relatively well decided and that to me was where things became problematic for the trump campaign. 0k, charlie, good to talk to you. thank you very much for sharing your thoughts with us. that was the pennsylvania republican strategist telling us to wait and see what happens in that state, saying that things could well change but as we know right nowjoe biden has a lead there of a bout 13,000 plus of votes, so it is still looking very there. let's have a look at which states have yet to formally declare and what potential routes remain for each candidate to win? my colleague kasia madera has the numbers... so, this is where we have at the moment. the grey states are the ones that are yet to project. arizona, we're still waiting for the projection from arizona. it has 11 electoral college votes and it is, willjoe biden be able to flip it?

his lead has, in fact, been shrinking. let's a look at the bad and it is six electoral college votes. it has been democrat since 2008. -- votes. it has been democrat since 2008. —— lets have a look at nevada. biden may be able to keep it growing slightly. today the main story is pennsylvania and georgia. more and pennsylvania and georgia. more and pennsylvania in a moment but let's have a look at georgia because we do know that georgia will have a recount for its 16 electoral college votes. believe they're, well, the percentage neck and neck but the lead in term of notes is razor—thin. as the secretary of state for georgia described it as, it is fewer votes tha n georgia described it as, it is fewer votes than the number of people in a large high school, so that they be put into context, and if you think about if joe put into context, and if you think about ifjoe biden is able to flip georgia this will be a huge blow to the republicans because it has been republican since 1996, 1992, bill clinton actually won it. the other

big story today is pennsylvania and its 20 electoral college votes because ifjoe biden wins those he has won the white house so it has been a huge story today. his lead, joe biden's lead, has been inching forward throughout the day, and that's because of the mailing votes, those absentee votes that, as you can see, they tend to trend towards joe biden so it is really interesting to see how that has been developing over the day. now, we did have a press conference a little bit earlier on which were stressing that there are around 40,000 of the votes still to be counted, and that's important because back in 2016, joe biden one pennsylvania by 44,000 votes. so, the officials there say and be patient, they really, really have to get this right, they don't wa nt to have to get this right, they don't want to see if we can bear. so, what happens when we live have a look at the map, back to the map and what happens when we put the, kammer,

arizona, ifjoe biden does flip it? if he keeps nevada, well, he has already won the white house. that's just say, if we finally did get the help of george and after that we can we're not expecting that possibly —— do get that count from georgia, and we are not expecting that possibly officially until the middle of november but if the trend continues as it is anjoe biden does take pennsylvania it brings up to 306 electoral college which, well, ironically, that is the figure by which donald trump one back in 2016. that map! we are so itching to fill it in but we do have to wait until the states are called, it is just the states are called, it is just the way it is, patience is the watchword of the post—election period. as kasia was just saying there, we know there's going to be a recount in georgia — what we don't know is how

long that will take, and what it could mean for the broader election. 0ur correspondent, larry madowo, is in atlanta, levy, we a re levy, we are in this kind of razor—thin position, i think somebody in georgia said that the difference between them was about the size of an average high school in the state in terms of the number of people that dividejoe biden and donald trump, and it's totally to be expected that when it is that then there would be a recount. there is nothing nefarious about that for me the point of view. it is what you would expect and it is exactly right to have that in a tight race, but do you, have you heard anything about how long that might take? and when we might get a result and that recount? the secretary of state of georgia who is a gentleman in charge of the selection and he was in the public and like president trump says there is an unknowable period of time between when this will be open when they can announce the new results are one thing that is still happening is that about 8800 military ballots were requested and they have until this evening to return them and then the seemingly going to be counted in the last

outstanding postal ballots as well so outstanding postal ballots as well so when that is all done they will do an audit and then certify the election. the date that was originally set for that was never the 20th and then after the election was certified that recount could happen so he was asked directly, do you think we will know who won the presidential race in georgia by the end of november and he said, i'm hopeful, but there is this unknowable period of time. i am moving to atlantis if any of your looking for me, this is where i will be from now on! -- moving to atla nta! be from now on! -- moving to atlanta! we will know by the end of november, oh my goodness. it basically ta kes november, oh my goodness. it basically takes georgia out of the running to be the tipping state. i mean, it can't be if we are not going to know it until the end of november. it will be this kind of period where everybody is on tenterhooks. if there is not enough ofa tenterhooks. if there is not enough of a majority the country to bring either candidates two to 70. ifjoe biden can get closer to that it was a hymn. if trump somehow gets closer

to 70 but it doesn't have enough and he needs the electoral college votes here and it means we might have until the end of november to know who is the next president of the united states so iron shirt campaigners are hoping that they don't have to need georgia but for president trump especially it would be devastating if he loses this because his path to 270 appears a lot blea ker and that because his path to 270 appears a lot bleaker and that is why he said today there were a lot of illegally harvested ballots and are going to be and testing this and the republican secretary of state said directly none of that happened here. 0k, directly none of that happened here. ok, the weather is good, the rents are quite cheap, atlanta's very nice city, you will enjoy it there. la rva e city, you will enjoy it there. larvae with a big smile on his face. it is something that the prospect we might have to wait until the end of november. it feels like it is has been an incredibly long week but we are also watching arizona fee this hour. we're also watching arizona — it's a state that offers 11 electoral college votes and has long been won by the republicans.

butjoe biden is currently ahead there by over 43—thousand votes. and trump supporters aren't happy. some of them are protesting in the state capital — from where our west coast correspondent, sophie long, reports. well, this protest in downton phoenix has only been underway for a matter of minutes, but there are already 500 or maybe 600 people here. it is a noisy protest but, at the moment, non—violent. just to let you know where we are, we're at the election centre in downtown phoenix. that building just behind us is where the votes are still being counted. now, the latest figures we have is that there are still more than 150,000 votes to be counted in maricopa county alone. now, that really is the population centre of arizona. it includes phoenix and all its surrounding suburbs. if you take maricopa county, then you really take arizona. now, the protests have increased in numbers and volume and energy over the past few days, as the gap between the two candidates narrows. now, the latest figures we have is that there is just a 1.4 percentage point between them. we've had speeches from members of the alt—right.

they‘ re chanting, "count the vote," "stop the steal," and they are calling for a full audit and recount of votes, notjust here in arizona but across the country. sophie lumber in arizona, another city to be spending time on. we are getting a clearer picture now. we are going to be looking at arizona and pennsylvania, georgia probably out of the running for the moment. we're joined now by dr michael mcdonald — professor at the university of florida who runs the united states elections project — an information source for the us for the us electoral system. my my goodness, we'll need you at the moment, doctor mcdonald! where do you think we have at the moment if we are reading the tea leaves today? i think we have a president elect joe biden. looking at the votes recently in clark county, that is las vegas, that is where vote to

remain as we counted. when those votes were reported joe biden increased his lead that bleed so most likely the votes left to be counted in nevada are going to flip towards biden and he will win nevada. in arizona, they were votes that were reported at maricopa earlier today. they did break towards tromso that was good news for him but the bad news as it is not enough for him to overcome the lea p not enough for him to overcome the leap that biden has and that is primarily where the remaining ballots are to be counted in the state of arizona, so it doesn't look like she is going to make up enough ground in arizona to take those two states alone and that is a electoral couege states alone and that is a electoral college win of 270 electoral college votes for biden. and then you likely the states onto the list. pennsylvania, the votes coming in a mail ballots. we are not even talking about an hundred and 20,000 of mail ballots that had been set aside and are still under this scrutiny for legal challenges. —— 120,000. just the scrutiny for legal challenges. —— 120,000. just the ones left out

overwhelmingly democratic, biden is only going to grow and his lead in the mail ballots in pennsylvania, he is only going to lead, he is going to grow on it, he is going to win pennsylvania most likely we haven't even looked at another 120,000 mail—in ballots which will also likely break towards biden. georgia, they are getting close but you also have to understand that in georgia, if there is a recount, they have electronic machines and so all the trump voters that voted on election day, at‘s just what the machines have. again, if they are going to be votes that are going to be picked up a business is going to be really ha rd a business is going to be really hard for trump to pick up any meal that ballots in the remaining vote there because there are breaking heavily towards biden. —— mail—in ballots. the campaign is making a lot of noise about the military ballots but there are also overseas civilian ballots, of which there are the sum he was there in the uk who have also returned some of those ballots, —— some viewers there in the uk. the overseas citizen ballots

actually dominate over the military vote and that is a very strong millet demo democratically with people. —— the overseas civilian ballots actually dominate over the military vote and that is a very strong democratic group of people. if you're hoping for that military ballots the president has already lost. it does not look good for the president. the only thing they have to hope is that if some ever happened in the county has to happen in multiple states and it has to be an unprecedentedly large ever ink tabulation when there is so much scrutiny that is being played and puts upon the election is counting thatis puts upon the election is counting that is going on right now, so it could happen. and media could come right now while i am in life with you and hit you on the head but it seems like it is very unlikely that it is going to be happening at this point. a tonne of point there that i wa nt to point. a tonne of point there that i want to pick up on, doctor mcdonald.

let me set with the legal challenges. we have just let me set with the legal challenges. we havejust heard let me set with the legal challenges. we have just heard from the current campaign, this has now been confirmed, cbs news is confirming it, —— heard from the trump campaign. the trump campaign is installing david bossi to lead its efforts to challenge election outcomes in several states. they have found theirjames baker, if you like, equivalent from 2000. do you think that any of these legal challenges could doctor do well, it may not change because we know that in recount only hundreds of boats change hand, not thousands, generally, but could they delay the process of us networks being able to call any particular state because there is a legal challenge in going? well, the networks will make their decisions but of course that it is true that it is election officials that actually decide the election outcome so, we have a period of certification when election officials are checking over the results as they happen and then there will be a recount to a recount will happen after certification if

it is required or requested according to the state and then we will have the final result from the state if we get through that entire process. what the media do at this point is, they are looking at like i am doing, if you look at the numbers you think about what the probabilities are an outstanding vote when it is coming from, whether there imagines an outstanding vote and then you take that back make projections on what you think the election vote is going to be. it is very rarely that we find errors but they can happen so i can't say that they can happen so i can't say that they won't be a tabulation of some place but just they won't be a tabulation of some place butjust to have that ever systematic across goal and across several states are in the direction of one candidate, that would be a very unusual situation. so i think at some point, like, nevada, nevada has already been cold. there's no way that trump is going to make up ground in nevada. i think what the media doing at this point is because the associated press and fox news

made a call in arizona, the other media are being very shy about making the call in nevada, because they know that then that is the presidency for biden so they don't wa nt to presidency for biden so they don't want to call it yet for biden when there is still some uncertainty that is out there in the count.” there is still some uncertainty that is out there in the count. i think thatis is out there in the count. i think that is certainly some of the situation, over networks being very careful and, as you say, back in 2000 it wasjust careful and, as you say, back in 2000 it was just one state was in contention, it was florida, now it several. doctor mcdonnell, thank you for joining several. doctor mcdonnell, thank you forjoining us. let's keep talking about those legal challenges. we're joined now by thomas dupree, former deputy assistant attorney general under george w bush and he represented the president before the united states supreme court in bush v. gore. i don't he had a chance to listen to professor mcdonald is there but he very clear picture of how he thinks

is panning out. do you agree with him? i think he is right in terms of the counting and i think one big challenge for the trump campaign is that it challenge for the trump campaign is thatitis challenge for the trump campaign is that it is very, very hard to make up that it is very, very hard to make up the that it is very, very hard to make the type that it is very, very hard to make up the type of deficit, the vote deficit, that... inaudible. .. up the type of deficit, the vote deficit, that... inaudible... but if you are talking about flipping the outcome in two or three awful states, it is all going to cost you. flipping the outcome is a term that we have become quite used to and i know that you know it incredibly well. when it comes to recounts in particular, how much difference as a second recount actually makes the final result? have you ever seen situations where there has been a huge change in the vote tally? recounts get people's hopes up a lot, that you're going to get a number that is substantially different from the initial count. in virtually every single case, though, the amount of votes that shift to a recount is much smaller than people

anticipate. the fact is, as i was states and localities actually do a pretty good job of counting the first time around. you will see a shift of votes in one directional or another so it could adjust the margins, but if the initial count shows that former vice president biden is up by, say, 20,000 votes in a particular state, it is very unlikely that the shift of votes resulting from a recount would be enough to surmount the deficit and lead to a different outcome. so, why do you think the trump campaign is actually launching all of these legal suits? what is the strategy? what is the endgame, if they don't think it is going to change the vote ? think it is going to change the vote? well, given what is at stake, namely the presidency of the united states it doesn't surprise me that the trump campaign, is frankly any campaign would, it is going to explore and pursue all their available legal options. 0ur explore and pursue all their available legal options. our system allows the challenges either by requesting the council by filing lawsuits and because if you want to

contest particular votes are ballots for that sort of thing, so they have a right to do it. of course, it doesn't mean that it's meritorious are likely to succeed, it is one thing for a lawyer to make allegations at something like, quite different for that layer to furnish evidence in support of those allegations all that is to say is that given what is at stake it doesn't surprise me that the trump campaign is pursuing its legal options but they are going to have to win multiple lawsuits on multiple fronts based on the numbers we are looking at if they want to reach a different result here. thomas, what is the piece of advice that you can give for the various losses that are under wayyou the process well. what did you take away from it when you went there? what i take away from it is you need to think big if at all possible. what i mean by that is you need to maximise your chances of winning. challenges to a vote that are really state—wide, that is what happening bush versus gore back in 2000, it was litigation over the

methods of a state—wide recount and i think if the trump campaign was thinking we're going to go after this local percent of his box of balance that was improperly discarded, pieced togetherfive votes here in ten votes there and 20 votes here in ten votes there and 20 votes barely are not going to come close to their goal so that is why ifiam in close to their goal so that is why if i am in the trump campaign headquarters right now, i have got to be thinking, do we have any evidence that was supposed to state—wide challenge and be the source of legal challenge that, if you are to prevail on it with evidence, could have the resulting shifting a massive vote from camp to another. thank you so much for joining us on bbc world news. patients, the waiting game, expectation. exciting time, isn't it? it really is, and it is more than a marathon than a race. it really has been one heck of a marathon. most of us on this side of the atlantic are not slept very much. i also think about the legal

thing, there is something about controlling the narrative and delaying as long as possible the moment thatjoe biden comes out there and says i am the president—elect. that is what they don't want to see. yet, stay with us. plenty more to come. it's been a week of november fostering fog out there, hasn't it, but once that lifted away for many of us we saw some lovely spells of sunshine. if you take a look at the satellite picture from early afternoon, just the cloud for can offer some drizzle across west facing coast of scotland and elsewhere are buried your glorious day to take a look at this beautiful weather watch a picture that really tells the story. now, as we entered into the we can, however, we are going to see some subtle changes. the potential for it to be a little bit milder but one of the reasons is mcleod around and there will be a little bit more in the way a showery rain potentially on sunday. more on that just a rain potentially on sunday. more on thatjust a moment. we are going to

see some further skies and fog forming, particularly across the vale of york where it could be quite dense and parts of wales as well. chilly is well under these clearer skies, a bit more of a breeze, not quite as cold across the far south—west, as we go through the morning, some of that fog could lift slowly into low cloud and sit there for much of the day, particularly across central and southern england, we will need to watch that. some of the spells of sunshine to scotland, northern ireland, and perhaps on the channel coast. bit more of a breeze continues with some showers by the end of the day here but we should see temperatures peaking at around 15 or 16 celsius. now, as we move out of saturday into sunday we're going to start to see the size of that change that show is on to the south—west, well, it's a weather front that is approaching and the south—west. more ice above the further south—west you are, the breeze picking up, but for a southerly direction so that is going to be driving in some milder air with it but on sunday there will be more in the way a cloud around. will be showery bits and pieces sweeping

up be showery bits and pieces sweeping up in the west, drifting away steadily north so not all of us will see rain. it will be a cloudy or cloudy day, ten to 16 degrees for the high. it doesn't look as though this trend is set to continue on our week ahead so the second week of november looks likely to be dominated by high pressure blocking these loans that are trying to push on from the atlantic, so over time, they will start to move in from the west and bring some rain but not particularly significant, as it means that the further east you go, as we go through the week, will be dry it with some sunny spells, some showery outbreaks of rain in the west.

this is bbc news live from washington and london. joe biden has pulled ahead in the vote in more key battleground states, putting him closer to the white house. the margins are razor—thin, but the trend of the ballot count favours the democrats. mr biden has built up a lead of 13,000 votes over donald trump in the crucial vote count in pennsylvania, a prize that would hand him the white house. the city's mayor says trump must admit defeat. i think what the president needs to do is frankly put his big boy pants on. he needs to acknowledge the fact that he lost, and he needs to congratulate the winter. mr biden's lead over the president is also increasing in arizona and nevada. and a recount is announced in georgia, wherejoe biden has