this is bbc news live from washington and london. joe biden inches closer to the white house, pulling ahead in more key battleground states. the margins are razor—thin, but the trend of the ballot count favours the democrats. joe 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 winner. mr biden‘s lead over the president is also increasing in arizona and nevada. and a recount is announced in georgia, wherejoe biden has overtaken donald trump

by 1500 votes. the final tally in georgia at this point has huge implications for the entire country. i met black lives matter plaza here in washington, dc, people have gathered inside of the white house patiently awaiting the result of the election. as for the candidates themselves, mr biden is expected to speak to the nation in the next few hours. he's called for calm and patience, saying the process is working properly. each ballot must be counted. we have no doubt that when the count is finished, senator harris and i will be declared the winners. but mrtrump‘s camp haven't given up. they're saying of "false projections" are putting mr biden ahead. donald trump has made accusations of electoral fraud, but offered no evidence. if you count the legal votes, i easily win. if you count the illegal votes,

they can try to steal the election from us. meanwhile on the streets, mr biden‘s supporters are already celebrating, but mr trump's supporters are still waving flags for their man. hello, and welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. i'm katty kay in washington, and kasia madera is in london. american politics has become a high—stakes game of mathematics. joe biden has added to his numbers in two crucial states, but has not yet crossed the threhold needed to give him the presidency. he's overtaken president trump in pennsylvania. a victory there, with its 20 electoral votes, would tip the balance and hand him the white house. joe biden is also ahead in georgia,

as well as the counts in arizona and nevada. a short time ago, georgia announced a recount due to the razor—thin margin there. 0verall, joe biden needsjust i7 more electoral college votes in order to reach the magic number of 270. donald trump needs 56. and the white house has released this statement on behalf of the president. 0ur north america editor, jon sopel, begins our coverage. 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 ballgame. 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 overfor the president. 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 in windowless offices in arizona, pennsylvania, nevada and georgia. a few 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's 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'll 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. 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 senator from 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. so, which states have yet to declare and what potential routes remain for each candidate to win? my colleague reeta chakrabarti in london has the numbers. thank you very much. this is the electoral map as it stands. the grey areas of the states we have yet to get the result and it is so close. in georgia, we know they are going to do in georgia, we know they are going todoa in georgia, we know they are going to do a recount. it is very close in arizona and we have all been very focused today on pennsylvania in the east, where joe biden has inched ahead and the democrats do seem confident of victory there. let's have a look and see what happens if in fact they do take pennsylvania. i will use the blue pan and colour in pennsylvania blue and you can see

that takesjoe pennsylvania blue and you can see that takes joe biden pennsylvania blue and you can see that takesjoe biden over the magical 270 electoral college votes and it would mean that he was in fa ct and it would mean that he was in fact the next president of the us. i wa nt fact the next president of the us. i want to show you something else. let's return to pennsylvania as undecided for the moment and sayjoe biden manages to retain nevada, hillary clinton won that in 2016, and that he manages to flip arizona. that also takes him to 270 so we has two potential routes to the white house. if i return the map to the present state. you see that of the grey states there, president trump has to win pennsylvania and three of the four other states that are still in great, so much more uphill task for the president. i in great, so much more uphill task forthe president. iwant in great, so much more uphill task for the president. i want to show you one more set of figures. now this is the national popular vote. it does not decide the presidency but these are very important and interesting numbers. if you look at the numberof interesting numbers. if you look at the number of people who have voted,

joe has had a vote of 74 million. that is about 11 million more than hillary clinton got in 2016. i relate sizeable turnout. donald trump has got about 8 million votes more than he got in 2016 kim is looking at these figures there'll be some people who will be wondering if donald trump does lose with her that isa donald trump does lose with her that is a repudiation of the trump project. given that he has built so much of what he had in 2016, it is very ha rd much of what he had in 2016, it is very hard to draw that conclusion. thank you very much for that. laura trevelyan's outside the white house. for the last couple of days, the president has been saying stop account and has launched several lawsuits in the country to try to stop account and yet here we are friday afternoon in the us on the eastern seaboard and votes are still being counted, even in pennsylvania

where the president would have liked to them stop being county. the president's legal strategies are simply not getting anywhere from the white house's point of view. they are hopeful that in pennsylvania where they are seems to be a lot of provisional ballots that they can get somewhere there. the one legal success get somewhere there. the one legal success they have had so far has been pennsylvania, where they were allowed to move closer, the election monitors, to those who were counting the ballots. so they are going all in on pennsylvania and you can hear the drumming starting next to me and by the way the atmosphere here is quite festive. the only anxieties people wondering why pennsylvania has not been called forjoe biden. the white house is pursuing a legal strategy in the hope that in pennsylvania they can slow the count right down and they are hoping that a lot of the military ballots that have come in will help them. so the strategy is that if you file enough

lawsuits and through another spaghetti at the wall, eventually hopefully something will stick in their one success so far is in pennsylvania. just to give us a sense of where you are, you are and what is known as black lives matter plaza outside of the white house. i am assuming it is washington, dc, the fact that is out of the white house does not mean they are many trump supporters there. is it all biden supporters around you?” trump supporters there. is it all biden supporters around you? i been looking for donald trump supporters my producer and i went and walked through the full extent of black lives matter plaza and so far we have not found one. that security fence behind me which is now festooned with antitrust posters was put up earlier in the weight because of worries that there could be trouble here. but people have been gathering here for the last few nights and has been peaceful. it is peaceful now but of course the mood could change very quickly at any moment as we know. just next to me is that church where the president

injune had is that church where the president in june had that is that church where the president injune had that extraordinary is that church where the president in june had that extraordinary photo up in june had that extraordinary photo up where protesters were clear so he could walk from the white house to the church and have a photo up with a bible. so already this has become something of a historic site in washington and biden supporters are gathering hoping they will be able to say goodbye to the president. and more fences have been put up in the last few days right around the white house compound in order to stop protesters. i was down there during the race protesters and protesters really were banging up against the fences and you had rows and rows of national guard and rows and rows of police. that is not the situation at the moment right. you've got the fences but is there a heavy police presence, and heavy military presence, and heavy military presence at all down there? no, not at all. in fact there are about three policemen that i have been able to see. in the atmosphere, it's more like a party. people are hoping that it more like a party. people are hoping thatitis more like a party. people are hoping that it is going to be a celebration, which i guess is why so far we don't have any donald trump supporters here. but essentially

this is black lives matter plaza, and the black vote in the upper midwestern states, if you talk to any black elected democratic politicians right now, they will tell you that it was a big black turnout in milwaukee, it was a big black turnout in michigan, and they are hoping a big black turnout in philadelphia as well which has helped joe biden get to this point because after the height of the black lives matter, there were tonnes and tonnes of new voter registration and democrats feel the activism inspired by black lives matter help them get what they hope is the white house in 2020. that is so interesting and that is really worth clarifying. thank you very much and of course the donald trump camp and is .2 number suggesting that exit polls of the president had increased his turnout amongst african—american voters, both men and women, but it looks like the democrats and an even betterjob in increasing their turnout and some of those key locations. actually and

crucial to stress that. load people out on the streets at the white house as he saw and people on the streets in las vegas as well. 0ur correspondentjames claytonjoins me now from las vegas in nevada. ifjoe biden can flip nevada and went arizona, he gets the white house. what is a situation that was meant over 90% of the votes counted so far? that is right and were signed the democrats did when here in 2016 but people were expecting that nevada not to be that close was of their looking at arizona be much more interesting but nevada is way closer than people thought. 0ne suggestion may be is it many people moved out of las vegas because of coronavirus and unemployment here. and that may have really hurt the democrats because the democrats usually do really well in las vegas for the moment it is 20,000 votes in it and at the moment hillary clinton won las vegas by about 11 points and at the moment joe

won las vegas by about 11 points and at the momentjoe biden is winning by about eight points. so he has not done as well here as he thought he would. so that is why this is so close. there are about 120,000 ballots to go to be counted. we will get a bit more detail in about three hours' time but we won't necessarily know who is one this for days of the registrar here said they might be saturday or sunday or into next week possibly until we know what has happened here. so it's kind of a race of the moment. which day is going to declare first was met at the moment it isjust taking days and days and i know it's first ready for viewers but we are not calling this date. the nevada independent commander for the new paper here, has and they think that nevada will go blue again. we are not doing that. but certainly joe go blue again. we are not doing that. but certainlyjoe biden is in the lead of the moment and his leg was 8000 yesterday and it is now 20000 and it is going in the right direction for biden. apologies is a mistake you for sophie in arizona

which was a republican state. though explained to us we are not expecting to hear potentially until sunday can remind us again because the weight continues and it is just agonising. we could hear today. we will have another announcement in three hours and you never know they might say we have counted 60 or 70,000 votes now and joe biden has a 50 or 50,000 vote lead with only 50,000 to go but it seems unlikely. the registrar here is very much safety first and here is very much safety first and he said he wants to be right than fast. so my condition would be that the announcement today will be another 30 or 40,000 votes of 120,000 votes and that will almost certainly not be enough to call this day. so i think i'll be hanging around in this car park for a lot longer. people as well milling around waiting for that press coverage as well so what is the mood there like now? i mean most people here are queuing because they need to bring edification for the

provisional ballots because there is been something wrong with identifying them. people here mostly are not waiting around but some of the press are waiting around for this announcement and it may not be a press conference and they mayjust release the figures to us another way. release the figures to us another by release the figures to us another way. by tweet or something. so we don't know actually how they will convey that messaging at the moment. but as i say at the moment i don't expect they will say we have suddenly counted all of the ballots. it isa suddenly counted all of the ballots. it is a very slow process here. we know you will be hanging around that car park for know you will be hanging around that car parkfora know you will be hanging around that car park for a few hours more. james clayton there and thank you so much from las vegas. 0ur west coast correspondent sophie long is in phoenix, arizona. 0utside one of the halls where there doing that counting. it has been the scene of some tension in the past and there be people banging on the windows and protesting that to bring in armed guards at some point. we have not actually got sophie so she is not reporting and we will get her

when we can. at the moment, i should tell you there is a press conference going on in atlanta with the chair of the republican national committee, they have asked for a recount in georgia and that race is very tight. when we get some work from that press conference, i will feed it to you because that is from a trump supporter and we will be to did hear what they have to say that the moment the white house and joe biden campaigns kind of in holding patterns. as joe biden biden campaigns kind of in holding patterns. asjoe biden waiting and is meant to be addressing the public in about three or four hours' time, 8pm we think eastern time. the biden campaign would love after what are we, cannot rib the day, wednesday, thursday, friday come after three days after the polls close they of course would love to come out and say that they have the votes and they are the president—elect and one of the states has gone but it is an agonisingly slow process. of the states has gone but it is an agonisingly slow processm of the states has gone but it is an agonisingly slow process. it is agonisingly slow process. it is agonisingly slow process. it is agonisingly slow but it has to be because there are so many legal challenges and lawsuits and they really don't want to go into that recount territory. the issue is also

the ballots themselves and i been hearing about crinkled ballots, and naked ballots, there are so many opportunities for the counters to have to really take their time over those votes. i thinki have to really take their time over those votes. i think i feel like a crinkled ballot at the moment. that resonates with me. back in 2000 it was all about chads. the term of the pregnant chassis of the hanging chads and the nipple chats and we had all of those. this time around it is whether the ballots give you scatter with and they have not been put into the appropriate envelopes in different states have different rules. about exactly how you have to hand in your mail in ballot and of course there is the signature issue whether the signature that is put onto the ballot is matching the one thatis onto the ballot is matching the one that is on the registry. and all of that is on the registry. and all of thatis that is on the registry. and all of that is what is taking time. let's go live to atlanta where we are joined by the mayor. we know there

isa joined by the mayor. we know there is a recount going on in georgia and can you tell us if you may not be aware in atlanta but our viewers are gripped by the story. they are following every single twist and turn in the probably know far more about this process and is good for them, every county in georgia they are watching for some know when you'll be able to get as result from georgia? we don't and i don't think anybody around here has been asleep ata anybody around here has been asleep at a decent hour since tuesday. we have been waiting on this moment. but up until the close of business today, there is still an opportunity for military balance to be received. 0nce those ballots are received and they are processed, the secretary of state has to certify the election. 0nce state has to certify the election. once the election is certified, then the recount can officially begin. but what we think is if this will be a razor thin margin and a recount will likely be in order. and i do

think it's appropriate just to ensure the integrity of the election. but i am very confident that these results will stand. just to clarify, the ballots and have yet to clarify, the ballots and have yet to be counted, are they all military orare to be counted, are they all military or are there some civilian overseas ballots in that batch as well? there may be some. i don't know the answer to that. i do know that as of this morning there were even still some absentee ballots and then there were some provisional ballots that people still had an opportunity to cure. we call still had an opportunity to cure. we ca ll cu re still had an opportunity to cure. we call cure that ballot, meaning that they still had a chance to bring in their identification, to verify that it was appropriate for them to vote. but all of this should close out by around 5pm, another hour from now. if that will be the close of business and i will assume that the accounting can continue on and what

is remaining and what has been received by 5pm and that is appropriate to received by 5pm today and in the secretary of state can go about the business of certifying the election. why 5pm today? anything that comes afterwards, what happens? is it put to the site and deliver counted and not imply? that is not counted and not imply? that is not counted and not imply? that is not counted and again the military balance, my understanding is that those could be received by 5pm today. the other ballots had to be received on election day. and so again we are talking millions of ballots that had to be counted. so you had a section of early vote balance, ballots that were mailed m, balance, ballots that were mailed in, then you had ballots from election day and then you have the military balance, so its aquatic applicator process but obviously something that we are used to

dealing with in our state. but it takes time but certainly when the i of the world is awaiting that result, it seems an eternity, but this is a normal process but it was complicated a bit more this year because of the number of people who chose to mail in their ballots. many people mail in ballots yearly, but certainly with covid—19 we saw an uptick in the number of people who sent their ballots in via the mail. let's zoom out from the weeds and go up let's zoom out from the weeds and go up to 50,000 feet. we have been looking at georgia for a while. democrats have been eyeing georgia, hoping the demographics of the state we re hoping the demographics of the state were trending in their direction. we don't know yet whetherjoe biden has one or whether in the end donald trump will have won it but it is really very close. what do you think it says about your state that it is this close? did you think this might

be the year that georgia voted for a democrat for president for the first time since 1992? i actually did in every community i've had to state to joe biden, i have said it even when i had my interview with him when i was being vetted for vice president, i told him that this was our year so i'm glad that he listened. because we know at the end of the campaign, he sent and barack 0bama, he said and senator harrison even came himself so we have the campaign believed this could be the year for georgia. we are seeing a demographic shift in our state and we are trending younger, we are a more diverse state and on top of that we have had about 800,000 new voters registered through art motor voter registration law. meaning that once you apply for a driver's licence or you apply for a driver's licence or you transfer your driver's licence, you transfer your driver's licence, you are automatically registered to vote so that has been extremely helpful and then you add on top of

that all of the volunteers and people on the ground who have done voter registration and people like me encouraging people to get out and vote. it made a difference. all of this has come together at a perfect time and in our state in particular we lost congressman john time and in our state in particular we lost congressmanjohn lewis and reverend joseph lowery this year does to people in the memory relate taking to heart their right to vote is very fitting for this year. what do you think the push was? is of the economy, the coronavirus? what you think is a push to turn georgia democrat? i think it is all of the above also all the challenges that are facing our communities from covid—19, to certainly the economy, and just the rhetoric from donald trump. it has all been a convergence of issues that has met people show

up of issues that has met people show up and say that i want to make a difference in america and what we have been telling people all year is your vote is your voice. and people cried out loud and clear to say that we want change and i'm just very happy and i'm very proud in georgia that it happy and i'm very proud in georgia thatitis happy and i'm very proud in georgia that it is a part of this conversation. as you just mentioned, you are vetted for the vice president seaboard joe biden. i wonder if you are thinking in a bit of you if you picked he was that of senator harris, georgia might have already been declared by now and you might be able to carry your state for him? well, you know, i'm not going to monday morning quarterback on that. he made a great choice with senator harris but i am just proud that georgia is here and joe biden stands for so many of the things that we stand for in this state. so i may not be on the ticket but i'm

still on the team and am just very happy today. there are those who we re happy today. there are those who were not happy in georgia. we are getting images of donald trump supporters protesting. given that it is so, so close potentially going towards the democrats, there will still be important to recall people who are unhappy. and that happens with alexis was a bobbin on the receiving end of that. i was there in 2016 and i was not happy. there are elections and you have to give people an opportunity to govern. and what i said when i endorse tojoe biden over a year ago is it we would need a leader in this country who could comment on day one who understood the complexity of issues, who knew how to bring people together across the aisle and really would be able to heal our nation. none of us could anticipate that that healing would also be a physical healing as it relates to covid—19, butjoe physical healing as it relates to covid—19, but joe biden physical healing as it relates to covid—19, butjoe biden has been here before. he has been here as

vice president of the us, as a senator for many decades and it is most fitting that he will be the next president of the us and what i do know even though people are not happy about this election, i do know thatjoe biden happy about this election, i do know that joe biden will govern them with respect and with dignity and will work to make sure that we are one america. thank you so much. your vote is it your voice. a very poignant word on which to end your interview. thank you so much and voting will in half an hour's time orso, voting will in half an hour's time or so, they will stop taking in any new vote so all eyes on georgia thank you so much for your time there. thank you. pennsylvania another state they have all eyes on and they have a giving a statement about ongoing operations there and the city mayor there has a message to the president, to donald trump.

uh, you know, ithink 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 winner, just as jimmy carter did, just as george h w bush did, and frankly, just as al gore did and stop this and let us move forward as a country. that's my feeling. i'll doubt he'll listen to me, but that's it. that was the mayor of philadelphia and seeing the numbers of changing and seeing the numbers of changing and have not seen an update in georgia for a while so wonder when we will update that. we will go to it so feet long in arizona where they are still counting. how are the numbers moving and we might expect more news from arizona? they are still counting here and i am at a protest for donald trump supporters outside the vote counting centre and the crowd is very much diminished

now but at its height this morning there was about 600 people here. there has been a very good atmosphere throughout the day and people have been here with their families and their children but also a numberof families and their children but also a number of people in the crowd who are very heavily armed and it is of course their right to do that and this is an open carry state. in terms of margins, these protesting and giving bigger and people have been coming down here since wednesday for the day after the polls closed and those protest have been getting bigger and more voluminous as that margin within the two candidates has narrowed. the la st two candidates has narrowed. the last figures we have, there is only 1.496 last figures we have, there is only 1.4% between the two candidates. now it is still leaning in favour ofjoe biden but it has gotten slimmer and slimmerand biden but it has gotten slimmer and slimmer and some people here think that this race is far from over. it has become a bit less crucial now than in the previously four hours rippled it could be arizona and nevada that could push joe rippled it could be arizona and nevada that could pushjoe biden over the edge to the magic to semi—numberthat he over the edge to the magic to semi—number that he needs but certainly hear people have been calling throughout the day not just

for a recount here but across the us. they feel that this election have not been fair and they are counting and asking for every vote to be counted. there are 39,759 votes thatjoe biden has at the moment and that is his lead. how many more outstanding balance are there still to be counted? across arizona, the latest we heard isjust over 200,000 balance to be counted and that is from across the whole state. i am in and that is from across the whole state. lam in phoenix, in and that is from across the whole state. i am in phoenix, in maricopa cou nty state. i am in phoenix, in maricopa county and we think about 100,000 votes here. maricopa county is a population centre of arizona with more than 50% of the population living here so if you take maricopa counting, you take arizona so a lot of focus on maricopa county and the building behind me were the voting is being county. it is been going on now for three days and you will see a fence there that has been put up overnight and has not been here for.

people have been gathering here since wednesday and people have been previously up on the steps and always very peaceful and they have been taking their knee and praying for god to look over their ballots and chanting for every vote to be counted most of the other thing here is sharpie gate with people here saying the republican voters had their normal pins removed when they we nt their normal pins removed when they went to the polls and were given a sharpie instead which is not read by the tabulator. despite the fact that the tabulator. despite the fact that the secretary of state who is a democrat but also the state attorney general who was a republican have both dismissed this as a nonstory as this has not happened and that every vote will be counted and even if it cannot be read by the machines, they have human beings in there who will make sure that they are all counted. another charge here is a sharpie gate is real so there is a sensor has been some unfairness whether intentional or unintentional. no evidence to support that that we are aware of. which is why it is very careful and accurate that we say

there are these conspiracies going on and then what the officials in charge and it is republican and a democrat debunking that particular conspiracy theory in arizona. sophie, do you think that the people that are in the crowd behind you will accept the result of the election in arizona if it turns out thatjoe biden has one?” election in arizona if it turns out that joe biden has one? i don't think people here will accept that president trump has lost this election anytime soon. i mean, the votes are continuing to be counted at the moment. what they are saying is that this isn't over and when every vote has been counted, we will see that donald trump is the victor here. ithink see that donald trump is the victor here. i think over the last few days, there has been some level of introspection within the republican party and what people say to me is that, you know, you have to remember, of course, this is normally republican territory. the fa ct normally republican territory. the fact that the boat is so close here at all is remarkable. this would be the first time in many years since bill clinton, if they do indeed go

forjoe biden, bill clinton, if they do indeed go for joe biden, that bill clinton, if they do indeed go forjoe biden, that they have gone forjoe biden, that they have gone for a democratic candidate. so what people are saying here is that it's very close. they don't accept that the race is over. will they accept that when that comes? we will have to wait and see. sophie long there in arizona. that will be interesting to watch. it certainly will be, however this ends, the engagement has been huge. the overall turnout is projected to be the highest in 120 years at 66.9%. so huge historic turnout. well, we have been getting reaction from the republican senator for south carolina lindsey graham has reacted to his party's legal challenges. he says he believes there are voting irregularities, although he provided no evidence, and said donald trump deserves a chance to have his case heard. the president should fight hard because what i believe is that when stacey abrams challenged the georgia results, the liberal media in this country

praised her for standing up for democracy, but when a republican challenges a contest, we're accused of undercutting democracy, and here is my statement. democracy depends upon fair elections. president trump's team is going to have a chance to make a case regarding voting irregularities. they deserve a chance to make that case, and i will stand with president trump. if democrat was doing this, they'd be cheered on. we are not going to let the media intimidate us into exploring whether or not these contests were fairly had. senator lindsey graham there. earlier, we have heard from nancy pelosi, the speaker of the house of representatives. take a listen. i wish we weren't wearing masks so could can see how exciting it is to come before you today withjoe biden having the tremendous

mandate that he has. pretty soon, the hyphen will be gone from vice president to president—elect — joe biden. it's a happy day for our country because joe biden is a unifier, because he is determined to bring people together, because he respects all points of view. and as he has said, "i ran as a democrats "and i will govern as president for all of the people whether they voted for me or not." so i am so over officially pleased with the outcome that is imminent and also personally delighted because of the quality and calibre of leadership that joe biden will provide. this morning, it's clear that the biden—harris ticket will win the white house.

that was speaker nancy plosive there. tiptoeing up to the line of saying something that is not true yet, but she did put in a future tense there, clear that they will be, that they will win, its a little different from the president is that we have one already. well, joining me now is ron christie, republican strategist and former adviser to president george w bush. ron, thank you again forjoining the programme. you have been with us all week. i'm so glad you have. here we are, three days after you and i spent the whole night watching the results. i hope we will have results soon, what do you think? well, good afternoon to you. i sure hope so. we can't pull these all nighters. we have been doing this for the last couple of days. we are far too old sto kley couple of days. we are far too old stokley think the end is near. i think it's very clear right now that the that the vice president has very slim leads, very slim margins in several of the key battleground states. the president really needed a win in one of these, he needed a win to

really propel his candidacy forward, and as we spoke the other night, now theissue and as we spoke the other night, now the issue is going to be what the lawyers are going to say and what the courts are going to do. are there irregularities? is there sufficient legal basis to mount a challenge that would get into the federal court that could bring it to the supreme court of united states? we saw two specific cases in michigan and that validated today that the state court level, what would the trump campaign do next? so, while the speaker of the house, nancy pelosi, did come right up to the line and of course she was almost wanting to spike the football, we still have not yet reached a final tabulation in a certification as to who will be the next president of the united states. yes, andi next president of the united states. yes, and i made the clarification there for a reason about speaker pelosi because we did, when president trump and when you and i we re president trump and when you and i were speaking about this, when president trump says i have already won, that really was a subversion of democracy. nancy plosive he is

getting close to it, but she use the future tense which doesn't mean something a little bit different. she said they will when come off question we cannot guarantee it. we don't have the results. it looks like it's going to be forjoe biden, but until the states are called, nobody is going to be calling to 70 for anybody until we are absolutely sure. and that's why this process is taking so long. let me ask you about those legal challenges. do you think, ron, and the president is quite within his rights to launch legal challenges, when he got very close race is like you do in georgia, it is right and proper that there should be recounts within a certain percentage difference between the two. i heard from somebody senior on the trump campaign this morning saying that they think it's a narrow ugly path to victory and that they don't think there's much success for these legal challenges, but they also think they own it to their voters to show that they are fighting every possible route. if the trump campaign doesn't think that this much success for the legal challenges, do you think that pa rt legal challenges, do you think that part of the reason for having the

legal challenges is just to delay as long as possible the moment at which joe biden can stand before the country and say, "i am the president elect." there are couple of things at play here, numberone, the there are couple of things at play here, number one, the secretary of state of arizona said that given the narrow margin of the vote tabulation, they will order a recount in georgia. so that's not the trump campaign doing that, it's the trump campaign doing that, it's the secretary of state in georgia. but i recognise the point that you are making here. if you're looking at michigan, pennsylvania, potentially nevada and arizona, you have to ask yourself, "are there enough votes to be counted to be tabulated that are propel this in a different direction than what we are seeing? " for example, if you look at clark county in nevada, home of las vegas, there are still a number of votes that could change the trajectory of this race. i was looking and i saw something to be effective about iso—200,000 mailing ballots, the vice president's lead is so very, very narrow. i'm not

quite certain that president trump is doing this to really drag this out. i think he's looking for every avenue to ensure come as he said, to be charitable to him, that every legal vote is tabulated and counted. 0k. ron christie, thank you come around. have a good weekend. i think you've moved to dc to maryland. i can on most of the waves in the background. right behind me. i cannot mosey the waves in the background. right behind me. a weekend away to fault —— the weekend awaits. you deserve it. you limit my goodness, you both deserve it. __ my goodness, you both deserve it. —— my goodness, you both deserve it. joe biden has called for calm and patience — something he knows a lot about given that he has waited more than thirty years for this moment. we also expect them to give an address from his home city of wilmington and delaware, and that's where barbara platts usherjoins us from his campaign headquarters. so what can we expect, barbara? well, at the beginning of this day, i think that the biden campaign was

convinced that this would be decision day. now they are not so sure as i'm sure you've been talking but at some length, there are still convinced that the decision will go in there favour, but it's not entirely clear if it will be for it today for all sorts of reasons. we're still expecting an event here tonight for the president to come out and speak. it hasn't been entirely clarified whether he will do that if the race hasn't been called for him, but we haven't heard otherwise so that's the expectation at the moment. there has been activity behind us for most of the day getting the stage ready, so we will wait and see along with mr biden's campaign to see if this is the day that you mentioned. he had been working for decades. you know the second time that he threw his hat into the ring for president, he came up against a historic moment called barack 0bama that was in 2008. so he left that race. he's now up

2008. so he left that race. he's now up with another historic moment called the national crisis, and for some reason, he seems called the national crisis, and for some reason, he seems to fit the bill to lead a crisis presidency. but we will see in the next hours on that decision and whether it will be made today. they've got to be feeling pretty confident, we heard them talking about how nancy pelosi has been speaking about this quite close she is in almost calling us, but not quite. so there's got to be confidence, there's got to be a confidence, there's got to be a confidence feeling there. oh, yes. it's a question of if, not when. and because it's pennsylvania, and because it's pennsylvania, and because if they give pennsylvania come as you know, if the 20 votes that put them over the top and the trajectory is very positive. so the state has not been called by news organisations because the margin of error is still two types, still too many votes to count. but most of them are male and votes, and that has very strongly favoured mr biden,

and many of them are from democratic strongholds. so the confidences they are that it will happen, it's a question of when. so if it's another day or so, perhaps that's not too long to wait. but you know, people started this day feeling really elated by the change of mr biden overtaking mr trump elated by the change of mr biden overtaking mrtrump in elated by the change of mr biden overtaking mr trump in pennsylvania. i should say, by the way, another reason they are so elated is because it has been the focus, really of the campaign strategy to win back the rust belt states, and pennsylvania being of course the key, and mr biden'sjob was being of course the key, and mr biden's job was to get a strong vote out in democratic strongholds, but also to chip away at the margins of mrtrump's also to chip away at the margins of mr trump's base of support in the rural areas amongst white blue—collar voters. and he seems to have done that, that's the indication that this vote suggests. he did visit pennsylvania 19 times at least during the campaign, he very much focused on it, i think

there's also a sense that the strategy that they have been pursuing, it looks to them as if it's going to pay off. a lot of focus on those electoral couege a lot of focus on those electoral college votes. barbara, thank you so much. let's go to philadelphia, pennsylvania. 0ur correspondent is there. what's happening with the count at the moment, bring us the latest? well, the count continues. and you will remember what the officials, the city officials here said earlier today when they held that press conference, just to echo what barbara was just saying there, they very much indicated that it wasn't a matter of ifjoe biden will come out on top in this state or commonwealth, but when. so they say they are meticulously counting these votes, that every count matters, and that they've called for patients. at the moment, we are seeing the boat

going joe binds way by about 15,000, close to 15,000 more like 14 and a half thousand. so every hour, it's been going up. i woke up this morning and the lead from last night had narrowed by about 18,000, and donald trump there had 18,000 more votes thanjoe donald trump there had 18,000 more votes than joe biden. donald trump there had 18,000 more votes thanjoe biden. by lunch time, it had gone to about 7000, now that's doubled to about 14,000. these demonstrators that you can see just behind me have become increasingly confident. they are pro—biden demonstrators that have turned to the streets here in philadelphia into some kind of dance party, and they have been playing the village people. you will remember that ymca song from many trump rallies fun. i have been playing it over and over again and having a party and in many ways taunting the trump supporters who are just taunting the trump supporters who arejust in taunting the trump supporters who are just in front of them. i'm not sure if you can see the flags behind

me, the trump flagsjust behind me, so both sides have been standing here outside the convention centre, one side celebrating come of the other side angry and demanding that the count stop and calling this voter fraud. so, really, the count stop and calling this voterfraud. so, really, he did take them into very tense nail—biting day here in philadelphia. we are expecting joe biden to speak this evening. i've been watching the pennsylvania numbers while we have been on air. you are right, they are kind of bouncing around 14 and a half thousand, they've gone up to 14 725 at one point, they are now done and 14 513 that he is above. do we know why we are not getting much movement in the count on pennsylvania? movement in the count on pennsylvania ? it seemed movement in the count on pennsylvania? it seemed to move rapidly for a while yesterday evening and earlier this morning, and now we seem to be sort of slightly stalled, what's going on? so, on november the 4th, you will rememberon so, on november the 4th, you will remember on wednesday, november the 4th, donald trump was ahead by about

690,000 votes. it was incredibly slow for a couple of days there. yesterday afternoon, it had gone down to 80,000. suddenly today, we decide the number just down to 80,000. suddenly today, we decide the numberjust increase, and joe biden suddenly was ahead. then we got this press conference from the city officials who said, " look, we are slowing things down, we still have about 40,000 votes here in philadelphia that needs to be counted that are military or overseas votes. " now, counted that are military or overseas votes." now, those ones had to come in before november the 3rd, by november the 2nd, and they had until november the 10th to send in their votes. so, they until november the 10th to send in theirvotes. so, they are until november the 10th to send in their votes. so, they are saying, "we are slowing this down, we will let you know what it's going to buy 2-3000 let you know what it's going to buy 2—3000 votes." but there is still such a volume of votes that need to be counted here. so they said it could take days. days, we need patients. thank you very much.

we are hearing that word a lot, patience, patience. what we need patience, patience. what we need patience when it comes to georgia. there will be a recount there. our correspondent larry is in atlanta, not just a recount, correspondent larry is in atlanta, notjust a recount, we were speaking to the mayor of atlanta little bit earlier on, and she was saying that at five o'clock local time, so in 11 minutes' time, any more votes that come into georgia will no longer be counted. it feels like we are coming toa counted. it feels like we are coming to a moment as we wait the recount. absolutely. and exactly 11 minutes, all the ballots must be in. so we are talking about the military balance, they are expecting about 11,000 or so that are requested by the military, and if they are not in by 11 minutes, that's it. so what election officials are telling us here in georgia is they will have the final universe of all ballot numbers today. however, they will not have the final count of bouts,

and they've just put a timeline to it. so by five p:m., everything that supposed to be and must be in. all those provisional ballots all those military balance and any outstanding balance which we have about 4000 left. still, everybody is going to be watching what that outcome or how it changes because, right now, joe biden is leading by the tiniest, the razor thin marginjust over 1000 votes. it was described, that razor thin margin, fewer than the amount of people in a large high school. so every votes co m e of people in a large high school. so every votes come every single vote, larry, matters. every single vote matters. it's being watched closely and the secretary of state's office here that runs the election is saying they are trying to make sure they are getting it accurately and not fast. they are expecting a legal challenge may from both campaigns, they have said so far they have not seen any they have said so far they have not seen any reports of widespread irregularities, they have not seen

any widespread fraud from even the president trump keeps raising this claiming today in a tweet that there we re claiming today in a tweet that there were a claiming today in a tweet that there we re a lot claiming today in a tweet that there were a lot of ballots harvested illegally that the statement from the trump campaign said that as well. he said yesterday he won georgia biological donald trump junior spoke right after men said there is some fraud happening here in georgia, that they will get to the bottom of it, officials here, all republicans seem to be distancing themselves from it. brian kemp who is a republican as well, when asked by local media here, he refused to comment on that specific claim. and we haven't even had time to talk about the senate race. we will have to leave it there, because we are pushed for time, but we will be back with you i'm sure. so, as the counting of votes in the us election goes into its third day, it was a moment of drama when joe biden overtook donald trump in pennsylvania — a crucial state in this contest. clive myrie has been reporting on the battle for the white house over the past two weeks travelling through some of the key states that are deciding who wins the presidency. he reports tonight from pennsylvania

and looks at what this election has done to america. birdsong. it's morning again in america. past presidential elections here heralded a sense of hope, a peaceful dawn. but this is now america. chanting: count every vote, count every vote! a land of ambient ugliness. divided, angry, frustrated. primed for trouble. there are many whose opinion we've canvassed in this disunited states of america in recent weeks. 0rdinary voters. i looked to track my ballot, and it wasn't there. now wondering, can the nation meet this moment to heal? you can'tjust find hundreds of thousands of votes. bridge the chasm

between red and blue? we first came across catherine and herfriend pam stumping for trump in phoenix in arizona just before polling day. they endure the heat... we love trump! ..and very public disapproval. i'm sorry for you! if we lose the election, we're going to lose our way of life. we won't be free. we came across chris smith at a trump rally in tucson last month. and after touching down in philadelphia on election eve, we chatted with debbie smith, a democrat who voted forjoe biden. as the election draws to a close, she says america cannot tackle its most pressing problems without unity.

our people need to get back to work, we need to heal this country. so at the end of the day, it's going to come down to we need to recover from the coronavirus. people have lost sight of what's happening. for some republicans, the coronavirus isn't the main election issue. ask chris smith. you think it's fraud? i mean, guys, we don't go to bed at ten, 11, 12 o'clock at night, two in the morning leading all the key swing states and wake up at seven o'clock in the morning and suddenly they've found hundreds of thousands of votes and they all happen to be forjoe biden. hello, catherine, greetings from philadelphia, it's good to see you again. the last word goes to catherine. do you think the two halves of america can unite now? perhaps in the future we can start to work on it, but right now, no. the wound is too open.

sobering words, but if it's winter in america, can spring be far behind? clive myrie, bbc news, in philadelphia. so, the world waits as the united states waits, as we all wait to find out who will be the next president of the us. at the moment, the projected figures, 253 electoral college votes forjoe biden, 214 for donald trump. the magic number, the magic number is, of course, 270. we are still waiting for those key states, and we will continue to keep you updated as we all wait. the word is, i think the keyword that we keep hearing todayis the keyword that we keep hearing today is patience. of course, everybody wants to get this right. for the time being, thank you so much watching bbc news.

hello there, the first full because come and gone, on a quiet note, quite literally actually with many of the firework displays being cancelled this year. but mother nature brought its own display in the morning, we have some frost and some dense fog and places, didn't we? that's because the story for the last few days has been one dominated by high—pressure, drifting in from the west, then moving its way steadily east. it's now parking itself across the near continent. so, that means we will start to see some subtle changes as we head into the weekend. we have seen some of the weekend. we have seen some of the spells of sunshine, though, and on thursday, parts of aberdeenshire saw temperatures above the average for the time of year. now, that milder theme is going to develop for all of us as we move through the weekend. but, unfortunately come to

these areas of low pressure will certainly introduce more cloud. for some of us, they will introduce him showery outbreaks of rain. that said, it's not looking too better weekend. the quiet theme is set to stay with us actually for the next 6-10 stay with us actually for the next 6—10 days, in fact. but our weekend will stay milder with a good deal of dry weather in the forecast. the fog could be an issue first thing on saturday and some of that will lingerfor saturday and some of that will linger for a saturday and some of that will lingerfor a time. it will saturday and some of that will linger for a time. it will lift away, it may well lift across central and southern parts of england and wales into low cloud throughout the day. the best of the sunshine looks likely to be across scotland, northern ireland and northern england, and along those channel coasts as well. a bit more ofa channel coasts as well. a bit more of a breeze. maybe some showers into the southwest by the end of the day. but here, we should see temperatures peaking at 15—16 degrees. further north, 9—12 some xl seo. now, moving out of saturday into sunday, those weather fronts will start to make more of an impression. so saturday evening, overnight come into the early hours of sunday morning, we

will see those weather fronts pushing in from the west. cloudy for most of us, sharia bricks of rain the further west you are. but a relatively mild night. we are going to see those temperatures holding up into double figures and that will be a shock of the frost and fog of recent nights. so, for the second half of the week, it looks likely to be fairly cloudy. but we could have more opera except rain more significantly out to the west with heavier bursts moving through northern ireland and western fringes of scotland. that said, some of us will dodge the rain altogether and despite the cloud, temperatures are likely to be 16 degrees. 61 fahrenheit. what's in store for the new working we? welcome another front is trying to push in from the southwest, once again, and we will see more isobars on the isobars, so the breeze will likely pick for monday. and should be —— fairly late once again. and a theme with some sunny spells turn to come through. this wider theme is going to stay

with us the second week of november the high—pressure that words responsible for the brother recently parking itself into the continent which is going to prevent these for making too much of an impression. moving in off the atlantic, but it's ona moving in off the atlantic, but it's on a cycle force field, deflecting those frontal systems along the west coast and up to the north. so, in actualfact, i don't think coast and up to the north. so, in actual fact, i don't think we're going to see that much in the way of significant heavy rainfall. so, as we go further ahead, it really does look as though it will continue to stay mild for the time of year with the winds always coming from the southerly. rather cloudy at times, most of the rain is likely to be out to the west. so that high—pressure is going to stay with us for some time to come.

hello, i'm katty kay in washington, and this is bbc world news america. state by state, vote by vote, officials have been updating the nation and the world on the ballot count in the us election. in georgia, we already know there will be a recount. the final tally in georgia at this point has huge implications for the entire country. joe biden is expected to address the nation tonight. his supporters hope it'll be a victory speech, but with the count as it stands, he mightjust rally the troops. looking at the numbers, it could be pennsylvania that tips the balance. the democratic mayor of the state's biggest city says president trump should admit defeat. i think what the president needs to do is frankly put his big boy pants on.