as the oldest president of the united states. democrats nine are very excited about the scenes they are seeing. it is 8pm here on the east coast of the united states and democrats are waiting. in barbara plett usher. i am wondering with all that noise going on whether you have a hope of hearing me over those yea rs. hope of hearing me over those years. i hope you can. we are expecting him to come out any minute now. ican hear him to come out any minute now. i can hear it and see it behind you, it has been building over the past few minutes. yes, that is right. we see kamala harris arrive in her motorcade and thenif arrive in her motorcade and then if you minutes agojoe biden came through in his motorcade. the programme should begin shortly. although you may know mr biden doesn't have a great reputation for being on time, so we will see if things get going in exactly the right time, but they have already started with their preshow

videos and music, and, yes, the crowd has been singing along, waving flags. i was thinking as they were waving american flags, because we have seen some supporters waving american flags, the idea of two americas. the idea of the americas. the idea of the america us internet is definitely a democratic one. the scenes at this democratic rally, they are people who have worked with mr biden and been supporters of mr biden. this will be his chance to address the american nation for the first time as the president—elect, and that should be happening very shortly, after the vice president elect comes on stage. they have been so careful about making sure everybody was socially distance, about not having crowds together. it seems tonight they cannot resist, master of and people are partying. parked cars are there, but there is a party atmosphere in the car? that is

right. they are not staying in their cars. they are out dancing and waving flags and having a good time. but they are wearing masks. i am seeing are wearing masks. i am seeing a lot of not social distancing going on. laughter thatis laughter that is true, there is not a lot of social distancing but more than if you were at a concert. we know mr biden will be addressing the pandemic in his speech. that has been the focus of his campaign, as you said. it has very much govern how he campaign. there were some doubts amongst democrats it was the right way to go, he was not coming out publicly very much. in the last couple of weeks he aggressively started to travel. he had small events that were very carefully socially distance. sending the message, of course by his own health but also for how you should behave in a pandemic. and i wonder, katty, we were talking about the period of tuesday through to today, whether that was the right

strategy, should they have been impressing the ground or knocking on doors? well, tonight it seems mr biden‘s strategy has been vindicated as he will be taking on the mantle of the president. it is amazing to think about it, barbara, this man has wanted this for so long. this is his third attempt. perhaps if he got the presidencyjust by attempt. perhaps if he got the presidency just by wanting attempt. perhaps if he got the presidencyjust by wanting it that much and being that doggett about it, then he deserves it finally, —— being that dogged, but i can't think of another american politician who has been in political life so long in the united states. he is well—known around the world, 36 years in the senate on the foreign relations committee. no—one can imagine doing 36 years in the us senate, butjoe biden did it. that longevity may stand him in good stead when he comes back to washington as president, in this very divided time, he will have invited government and

media takes somebody like that, with those relationships he has hearing this capital city, in order to try and get anything done and try and address the big challenges. his inbox is going to be huge, isn't it? yes, very much so, and today, interestingly, 48 years to the day he was elected senator in 1972. that gives you some idea of how long he has been in currency, i suppose you could say, and he has also been using his experience on capitol hill asa his experience on capitol hill as a selling point for his message, which is, i am the one who cannot only bring the country together, but i can actually work with congress as well, with the broken and divided congress, to get things done. i can work with republicans, i have done it for more than 30 years. and we will see actually that is still possible, congress is different 110w possible, congress is different now than it was when he was successful at doing that. there

have been — it has been very difficult for them to pass any sort of legislation, the differences and divisions are very stark, and as you know, the democrats had been hoping they would gain control of the senate. at the moment that looks doubtful although not com pletely looks doubtful although not completely impossible. so, whether mr biden can build a relationship with the senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell, to get something concrete out is the question. i think the very ambitious plans he had, sort of, fdr— kind of new deals he talked about was that he was talking about a restoration in the early days of his campaign, of america, a sort of return to 0bama policies. he started talking about it being transformative because he felt that historical circumstances were right for that and he had policies that we re that and he had policies that were about big government intervention in infrastructure,

injobs, in healthcare, and he thought americans might go with that given the times. but to do something that ambitious would need democrat control of the senate. without that he will really need to be exercising those across the aisle skills. a few days ago what at one of —— at one of his rallies president trump said you don't see american flags atjoe biden‘s rallies. we are seeing some there. anthony zurcher, there are a couple of theories for the case forjoe biden. 0ne could be he came in with president 0bama and they trade to be purple america, they tried to be united, it didn't work well for them and they we re work well for them and they were rebuffed by republicans. perhaps he will decide it is not worth his while, or will he say, iam not worth his while, or will he say, i am an institutionalised, iam say, i am an institutionalised, i am someone who has always reached across the aisle, i have years in the senate when i used to do that, and can do it again. which joe biden you think it will be? i think the

difference between 2009 and 2021 is going to be thatjoe biden is going to have to reach across the aisle, he is going to have to co—operate with the republicans, because it looks like, as barbara mentioned, by all accounts, republicans will control the us senate. if he wa nts a ny control the us senate. if he wants any kind of legislative achievement, it is going to have to be done on a bipartisan basis. and there is an entity may be able to work with, susan collins, a moderate from main, got re—elected. she could potentially be someone they could approach to get support for some sort of a legislative agenda. he may be able to work with mitch mcconnell, he might wa nt to with mitch mcconnell, he might want to be able to have some achievements going into the 2022 midterms, which two years away now, not that long away, republicans are going to have to defend some open senate seats in swing states. they are going to want to have some sort of achievements they can point to and say, well, we should leave republicans in charge of the senate. in 2009, barack 0bama came in with almost a

senate supermajority, with a big majority in the house of representatives. yes, some people say it might be a mistake for them to try to do things ina mistake for them to try to do things in a bipartisan way, they should have pushed through their agenda earlier and got on it done with rather than wasting months and months trying to negotiate on things like healthcare reform, but the reality of 2021 is very different forjoe biden. and as you mention, he may be the right man to do that. you mention, he may be the right man to do thatlj you mention, he may be the right man to do that. i am going to break and just quickly, anthony, we're looking at another motorcade. i may have misled our viewers. we saw a motorcade earlier that was a very long motorcade with lots of suvs. barbara plett usher mentioned on air it may be the president—elect‘s motorcade, but it may be the vice president—elect‘s motorcade. earlier, it was senator harris. she is going to be the vice president, he, joe biden, is

the former vice president. this may be joe biden‘s the former vice president. this may bejoe biden‘s motorcade thatis may bejoe biden‘s motorcade that is arriving now. the car looks extremely happy with it. they are cheering, the flags waving, you can hear the cheers there, iam waving, you can hear the cheers there, i am sure. it looks to me like this is actuallyjoe biden arriving at this event. what we saw earlier was in at harris. if this isjoe biden arriving now, we a few minutes away from the events writing —— senator harris. barbara, what is your understanding of events now? barbara plett usher, can you hear me? i think the noise is too loud for barbara to hear us. if she can hear us... i can hear you, i us. if she can hear us... i can hearyou, ican us. if she can hear us... i can hear you, i can hear you. does this seem to you likejoe biden is arriving? well, i am going to be looking through the ambulance. yes, isee to be looking through the ambulance. yes, i see an ambulance, that means it isjoe biden arriving. there is always

an ambulance in a presidential motorcade. we should point this out, barbara, as of now, when he won this election this morning, there were a whole load of trappings that go with the president—elect, that joe biden didn't have a week ago, is that correct? well, yes, although he has been picking them up over the course of the week. we have seen this kind of motorcade before since tuesday, and he has picked up extra security details. there has been an expansion of the restricted travel zone. arizona —— error zone around his home. those things have been picking up those things have been picking up throughout the week, —— air zone, and he will be taking office very shortly. also, we know he has been getting updates on security briefings, too, in preparation for any transition, quirky to win, right? -- were he to win? that

is right. he has been getting security briefings and briefings continue on things like the state of the economy and the state of the pandemic and the state of the pandemic and that is where he is going to be turning his focus most immediately, at the beginning of the week, we understand he will be creating a coronavirus task force on monday and beginning to lay out a strategy that he has a ready been talking about in order to deal with the pandemic. the economy, also, a priority to see what can possibly get done in this lame—duck session before the inauguration. so he has his priorities laid out and he has his path towards them and will be appointing staff very quickly, starting next week as well. they are really organised and prepared to move quickly. they are partying for the drone cameras in wilmington, delaware, at the moment, including a little boogie there

in the car park. it is with remaining viewers around the world we are now into this period of transition, which is strange for people in other countries, because it is a very long one. i think only mexico has a longer period of transition, where joe biden comes up on stage transition, where joe biden comes up on stage tonight, declares himself the president—elect and then kind of nothing happens until january 20. he can't impact policy or do anything about the coronavirus and silky is inaugurated, right —— until he is inaugurated? there is something like 70 days between him being elected and inaugurated. there will be planning, who will be starting key agencies, what the priorities of those agencies will be on day one, what the white house staff might be looking like, co—ordinating with those dark and there needs to bea with those dark and there needs to be a radar line of communication between the current administration and the incoming administration. that is something traditionally that

has happened regardless of partisanship, regardless of the situation of the election. we had a reduced transition period in 2000 with george w bush, he won that contested election, there was still a transition period than that was going on behind—the—scenes. i expect a lot of activity, katty, but not much reporting on it apart from the usual washington intrigue about who will take over what positions at which departments are. my understanding is, with speaking to people involved in the transition team, that although the scaffolding of government is ready forjoe biden when he takes over in january, and particularly around the issue of the coronavirus, because i think they have, you know, there is quite a lot of frustration, understandably, that these two men may have very different approaches to this coronavirus, and we are heading into the winter, a dangerous time, we know. we keep getting reminded great immunologist that cases

are —— getting reminded by immunologist that cases are spiking. maybejoe immunologist that cases are spiking. maybe joe biden immunologist that cases are spiking. maybejoe biden would like to do things like encourage mass mandates around the country, for example. he cannot do that, he can give a press co nfe re nce cannot do that, he can give a press conference but he cannot actually do anything until he is president? it doesn't have the mechanisms of power but he can use the bully pulpit to convince or try to cajole governors. there are governors across america considering doing that. you can begin to put in place the outlines, as you know, of a plan to distribute vaccines when that becomes available, a plan to enhance testing, a plan to ensure that the country is ready with countermeasures when, and not if, when, i think, this virus continues to flare up in various places across the country. so there are things he can do to get ready, but you are right, the mechanisms of authority, whether it is executive action, working with congress, that

cannot begin in sealjanuary, 2021. -- until. and in the intervening months, do you think you jump administration, watching this, this phrase —— of the trump administration, following all statutory requirements. having lost this election, do you think now he is going to co—operate, focus more intently on the coronavirus, for example? i always remain hopeful, and they do think that there is a hat to ego if biden does continue to win these states, i think that does affect your ability to lead but i also think it affects how other republican leaders respond to vice president biden in this moment of time and that is really the key question, as folks who are negotiating policies right now, do they start to bring an vice president biden or those close to vice president biden,

thinking about what we need to be doing come january thinking about what we need to be doing comejanuary 20 as a country. i am be doing comejanuary 20 as a country. iam hopeful about that, i am country. iam hopeful about that, iam hopeful about country. iam hopeful about that, i am hopeful about his relationships. able to think of the president is going to be out there leaning into a public conversation it is going to require vice president biden to also lean into the public conversation because he is going to be taking over and thatis going to be taking over and that is going to be the interesting part to see in all of this, how do communications work even though you don't have clear power at that moment. anthony, how do you think donald trump will handle this period of transition? having been defeated, it's a hard time for any president who is a first term president who has not won re—election, you can think back to jimmy not won re—election, you can think back tojimmy carter, george hw bush, they have to carry on running the country, knowing that they are about to be kicked out. it's a terrible lame duck period if you are the sitting president of the united states, you've got to carry on with all the mechanisms but you

don't get any of the reward at the end of it, you know you have got to leave something under a cloud of not having been re—elected. how do you think donald trump will handle that? it is a very real challenge for anyone and for this president who has seemed less interested in the nuts and bolts of governing, never really got too involved in legislative negotiations and things like that, he always seemed to enjoy being on the campaign trailand being seemed to enjoy being on the campaign trail and being in front of a crowd much more than he enjoyed the minutia of government. i think it is going to bea government. i think it is going to be a challenge for him to stay engaged and to continue to oversee this government and in fa ct oversee this government and in fact it could be that the government kind of rolls along without him being that engaged. there have been reports that he was thinking about firing some members of his cabinet, even if he ends up losing which now it seems like he has, including his defence secretary. that would be something different, something unexpected to start having staff turnover right before giving up the reins of

power and bringing in a before giving up the reins of powerand bringing in a new administration but donald trump has been an unconventional president for going on four yea rs now president for going on four years now and i think it is safe to say that whatever happens in the next few months, it won't necessarily be dictated by convention and traditional norms and respect for them. and alternatively, he may decide, you had a commentator on fox news last night giving a very clear message to one person and that one person was donald trump saying, look, you are much loved, effectively saying you have been a great president and your legacy will be enhanced if your legacy will be enhanced if you leave with grace, was the word she used, and you kinda feel that donald trump is getting this message now from the murdoch empire, from some of key supporters on television saying this is the moment to rise to the challenge and he may surprise everybody by enacting some discipline and acting as a fairly conventional president, i don't put that beyond him, do you, anthony?”

wouldn't to be on it was fascinating to listen to that message from last night. interesting that you use the word message too, because i heard it as a message. exact lee, because i think the republican party and members of the republican party that have a future to look beyond the next few days, weeks, months, wa nt next few days, weeks, months, want this to be a smooth transition because they don't wa nt to transition because they don't want to have any kind of damage done to their political futures, they have elections to win beyond this. donald trump, by all rights, this should probably be his last election. 0f probably be his last election. of course he could run in 2024 and would be about the same age asjoe biden right now so not beyond the realm of possibility but they are pitching this message to him to think about your legacy, think about how your legacy, think about how you want history books to remember you. you have done so much, now go out with grace and preserve your standing within

the party and that way you can serve as a kingmaker, you can serve as a kingmaker, you can serve as a kingmaker, you can serve as someone who has influence within the party going forward and when people look back on your administration they will remember not how you left but the things that you accomplished while you government. having so many judges and justices seated in thejudicial judges and justices seated in the judicial system, judges and justices seated in thejudicial system, tax judges and justices seated in the judicial system, tax cuts, the judicial system, tax cuts, the criminal justice the judicial system, tax cuts, the criminaljustice reform, all of these things i think will be part of his legacy and he may not want to overshadow them by what he does in the next few months. there is a lot that he has done that republicans and evidence are very happy with and there are things he has achieved around the world as well. he has been tough on china than many of his predecessors, something that actually even european allies feel was a thing that needed to happen. he has brought about reconciliation between israel and three arab countries just in the last couple of months, so there are definitely things that he will want to point to and as anthony is suggesting perhaps not overshadow his legacy. just a reminder to viewers, it is eight 20 pm here

on the east coast of the united states, the scenes are in wilmington delaware, that is the hometown and campaign headquarters ofjoe biden who has just been declared today as the president—elect. he will become the 46th president of the united states. he has won this most unusual of american election campaigns and he follows one of the most unusual presidents and american history. it has been a tumultuous three or four days here in the country stopping mostly peaceful, it has to be said. we have seen a lot of demonstrations and protests around the country but we have not heard reports about outbreaks of mass violence which some people had expected and in this parking lot where they are having a drive and rally in this time of covid—19 and they are trying to keep people socially distance, people socially distance, people are wearing masks by and large but not totally socially distance. they are waiting to hear from vice president—elect kamala harris and then

president—electjoe biden to give their victory speech is. it does look like things are starting to kickoff. wejust saw the motorcade, by the way, ofjoe biden arrive at the venue ofjoe biden arrive at the venue about five minutes or ten minutes or so ago, so at 8:07pm, i'm being told by my producer that he arrived at 8:07pm. that's very specific. they are now waiting in the parking lot to get a glimpse of joe biden and kamala harris. barbara pleat usher is still there, any sense now of how the mood is? what are you hearing? i'm hearing another song start up. ithink... i'm hearing another song start up. i think... i i'm hearing another song start

up. ithink... i expect i'm hearing another song start up. i think... i expect it will start shortly, but it hasn't started yet. we haven't seen mr widen or, lia harris who we understand is going to be the beginning of the programme and yes, he is known to be a little bit on biden time but i suppose as president—elect now he can set his own time to some degree. we are going to be expecting to hear him speak, of course, that is the highlight of the evening, a speech between 15—18 minutes, it has been telegraphed as an his themes are fairly well—known, in fact it's the same sort of themes he's been hitting throughout his campaign, and tonight he will be making them tonight he will be making them to the american people as the president—elect, trying to convince those who didn't vote for him that he also has their back. he said yesterday, i will be the president of those who voted for me and those who didn't vote for me, but as we have been discussing, this is a time of extraordinarily bitter partisan divide so the question

is, whether he is able to bridge those gaps that he keeps saying he would like to. he is quite optimistic, actually. he has called himself an optimist and he regularly says that in his speeches, i'm very optimistic, i believe that the future can be great for the country and i believe in america, which is also, i think for many people who have been dismayed by the trajectory of the country recently, a tone of optimism, so i am sure that he will be hitting all of those themes tonight and also talking about the crises facing the nation and how he wants to approach them. and it does seem so fitting that it is all ending and wilmington, delaware on this particular evening because it was 48 years ago today thatjoe biden was elected as a senator for delaware at the age ofjust 29. he was one of the country's youngest senators and after his election, of course, he suffered this huge loss, his

wife and his baby daughter were killed in a car crash, his two young sons were injured and he was sworn and beside the hospital bed of his young sons. even though he was born in scranton pennsylvania, he spent the first years of his childhood and scranton pennsylvania, he is a creature, as an adult, a creature of wilmington delaware and when he was elected senator, he used to ta ke was elected senator, he used to take that train home, famously, every evening from washington, dc. it's about a two—hour train ride and joe biden would take it home every evening in order to spend the time with his young sons. he was worried initially that he wouldn't be able to take on the job of being senator because he would look after his sons and he was so grieving and counsel by friends that he should do it for himself and do it for them but he insisted on taking the train home which is why he is known as amtrak cho and why everybody on that train knows

him -- everybody on that train knows him —— amtrakjoe. i think it was you, barbara, saying earlier today that the striking thing about being in wilmington, it is a fairly small town, is that everybody seems to knowjoe biden. small town, is that everybody seems to know joe biden. yes, small town, is that everybody seems to knowjoe biden. yes, i was just seems to knowjoe biden. yes, i wasjust going to seems to knowjoe biden. yes, i was just going to say, he was an unusual politician and that act because politicians or congresspeople, they go to washington from their home states and stay there for the week, often, when congress is in session and then they go back at the weekend, but he went back and forth every single day, as you said, so he is very much a delaware man, very much a wilmington man and hisjustjoe very much a wilmington man and his justjoe that everybody knows, and he had been a senator in delaware for decades, so people knew him not only someone they bump into at the grocery store but as their man in washington as well. he was just a very familiar figure, so it is exciting for this crowd to be hailing a president—elect of their party,

somebody who has won an election but also as one woman said to me, the moment is that much better and more poignant because he is one of our own. in this crowd, he is one of their own. he was a young single dad of two small boys who had just lost their mother and lost their sister and been injured themselves in that car crash. it is hard for anyone, anthony, to conceive of doing that, of taking on that task and carrying on... please welcome the vice president—elect of the united states of america. i'm going to be quiet because here is, harris, the vice president—elect of the united states. -- kamala harris. music

and cheering. car horns beeping. . good evening! good evening. good evening. good evening. good evening. good evening. thank you, thank you. good evening. thank you, good evening. so, congressmanjohn lewis, before his passing wrote, democracy is not a

state, it is an act. and what he meant, was that america's democracy is not guaranteed. it is only as strong as our willingness to fight for it. to guard it, and never take it for granted, and protecting our democracy takes struggle, it ta kes democracy takes struggle, it takes sacrifice, but there is i°y takes sacrifice, but there is joy in it, and there is progress, because we, the people, have the power to build a better future. and people, have the power to build a betterfuture. and when people, have the power to build a better future. and when our very democracy was on the ballot in this election, when —— with the very soul of

america at stake and the world watching, you ushered in a new day for america. to our campaign staff and volunteers, this extraordinary team, thank you for bringing more people than ever before into the democratic process. and for making this victory possible, to the poll workers and election officials across our country, who have worked tirelessly to make sure every vote is counted, our nation owes you a debt of gratitude. you have protected the integrity of our democracy. and to the american people, who make up our