right now, live from abc news, "your voice, your vote," election night 2020. the breaking news at this hour. >> i'm here to tell you tonight we believe we're on track to win this election. >> this is a fraud on the american public. this is an embarrassment to our country. we were getting ready to win this election. frankly, we did win this election. >> the unexpected moments and the details coming in from the presidential race. a proper manner so we'll be >> we want the law to be used in a proper manner so we'll be going to the u.s. supreme court, we want all voting to stop. we don't want them to find any ballots at 4:00 in the morning and add them to the list, okay?

>> to the fight for the senate. >> mitch mcconnell in the state of kentucky has been re-elected to the senate. >> i'm grateful to live in a democratic republic where the voters choose. >> what they're saying group by group, state by state, coast to coast. >> going forward we need to keep the economy steadfast. >> all because you have a family, you have values and you want something for the future. >> our powerhouse poltiical team with the key takeaways on this historic night. what we learned and what's to come in the days and week as head. >> votes are still being counted. stepping in right now and saying, let's stop counting votes, it's just not the way the rules work. >> it's "your voice, your vote," our all night, all morning coverage continues right now on abc's "america this morning." good morning, everyone. the race for the white house is still too close to call but president trump is already challenging the results. >> overnight the president

called the election a fraud and falsely claimed he won. but we're still awaiting results in several states including the crucial midwest battlegrounds of pennsylvania, michigan and wisconsin. >> former vice president joe biden is currently ahead with 225 electoral votes compared to 213 for the president, and biden also has a slight lead in the popular vote. >> overnight biden said he was optimistic about winning, but the president is questioning the integrity of the election and threatening to take his grievances to the supreme court. >> abc's andrea fujii starts us off. >> reporter: overnight president trump declaring victory in the presidential election even as votes are still being counted. >> this is a fraud on the american public. this is an embarrassment to our country. we were getting ready to win this election. frankly we did win this election. so we'll be going to the u.s. supreme court, we want all voting to stop.

>> reporter: earlier president trump tweeting, a big win, then, they're trying to steal the election. we will never let them do it. twitter then flagging that tweet as misleading. an optimistic joe biden speaking to supporters. >> we believe we're on track to win this election. we knew because of the unprecedented early vote and the mail-in vote that it's going to take a while. >> reporter: the presidential election coming down to the major battleground states that may not be decided for days. >> also the state of florida and its 29 electoral votes will go to donald trump. >> reporter: winning in florida, his home state. bolstered by higher support and populous counties like miami-dade, trump's bet on rural america paying off as his suburban supporters gave him a boost in north carolina and ohio. >> the biden people thought they were going to have to beat 2016 donald trump, and what they're now realizing tonight is he has grown his base. he has found voters that didn't vote in 2016 that are now voting for him in 2020.

>> reporter: a record voter turnout. in montana long lines in great falls, people waiting to register and vote even after the polls had been closed for two hours, and as the votes are still being counted this morning, all eyes on pennsylvania. >> i think it's going to come down to pennsylvania. at the end of the day, i think if the president wins pennsylvania, he's going to be re-elected, and if he doesn't, he won't. >> reporter: but election officials in the state are warning ballot counting is going slower than expected according to abc's eva pilgrim in philadelphia. >> originally they thought that we would have the majority of those mail-in ballots counted by friday, but we just heard a little bit earlier tonight from the philadelphia city commissioners, and they were saying they originally thought that they were going to do about 32,000 ballots an hour. that's just not happening. they are saying right now they're doing about 10,000 per hour. >> reporter: also a delay in counting ballots in georgia after a pipe burst at the state farm arena in atlanta. and in the closely watched watcd

senate race, majority leader mitch mcconnell winning his seat in kentucky. >> and kentucky, i'm humbled and grateful you've rehired me to keep fighting for your families and serving our commonwealth for the next six years. >> reporter: in south carolina, lindsey graham holding on to his seat after the red state emerged as a late toss-up. >> this victory is an answer to a lot of prayers. people like what i'm doing and i'm going to keep doing it. >> reporter: graham's democratic challenger jaime harrison spending the most amount of money for a senate candidate, a whopping $107 million. graham facing criticism after becoming a strong ally of the president in the senate after saying this about trump in 2016 -- >> he's a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot. >> reporter: democrats keeping the house of representatives. republicans ousted an incumbent democrat but also two seats in north carolina. >> it's not just about the quantity but the quality of leadership that they provide for our country. >> reporter: in the meantime a surprising no show for the election. a smaller number of young people heading to the polls than

expected. the same percentage of people ages 18 to 49 voted this year compared to 2016. as america awaits a winner, the anxiety still running high. philadelphia, a ghost town overnight, after police closed off roads in a protected zone. and besides the president just speaking to the american people, the trump campaign also sent out an email to supporters saying, the, quote, fake news media and their democrat partners will refuse to call the race. the biden campaign releasing a statement calling the president's statement about shutting down ballot counting, quote, outrageous, unprecedented and incorrect. kenneth, mona. >> all right. andrea fujii there, thank you. with neither side able to claim victory this morning, the nation is waking up to a fresh day of uncertainty. >> joining us now is abc news contributor, amanda renteria, former national political director for hillary clinton's presidential campaign and former republican virginia congresswoman barbara comstock. barbara, let me start with you. some surprises there for

republicans this morning. >> oh, certainly. you know, the polls -- not only were the public polls wrong, republican internal polls were wrong. we were a lot more worried about whether we were going to lose house seats, and now it looks like we gained them and gained some really good women that i worked with, so i was very happy to see those races go through, and then we also were very concerned about what was going to happen on the state legislative level, and again in texas and florida and georgia, north carolina, we've done very well in the statehouse, which, you know, goes to redistricting for the next ten years, so those were pleasant surprises, and obviously we're still a 50/50 country, and so we are seeing, you know, it's going to be very tight here, but i'm part of a group called the national council, you know, protect voter integrity. dan coats kind of is heading it

up, and i hope we will count every vote including every vote in arizona, which, of course, has already been called but let's count all the votes and make sure we get this right in all the states because particularly when we're a 50/50 country, i think everybody has to have that confidence, whether this is who you wanted to have win or not. you know, whether whoever you wanted to have in different races, we need to get these votes all counted and keep calm while we're doing it. >> and, amanda, i want to bring you in. you were the political director for the hillary clinton campaign and after her loss in 2016, a lot. a lot of people said she neglected the upper midwest. now going into this, joe biden spent time on monday in cleveland. he had a hometown advantage being a native of scranton but we're finding ourself in a similar position where it's coming down to three upper midwest states. how do you think we're back in this position? >> i think elections are very tight, and i think there's a hope that there have been more infrastructure in places like

georgia, in texas and florida and the reality is these were the key states from the very beginning for the biden campaign. i actually think they were very disappointed. it was only in the last two weeks they started traveling to other places and started to see some of these polls, but the truth is they've been very focused on wisconsin, pennsylvania, in michigan, minnesota, all of those midwestern states and they picked up arizona, and so, you know, listen, i think we've always known the blue wall has to hold. we were surprised by that in 2016. this campaign has not been surprised by that, and so we'll see how these votes go. >> and, barbara, going back to you, you said count all the votes, but as you know, that's not what president trump said. he said essentially stop counting the votes and that he essentially has won this election. your thoughts? >> well, i think we heard people like, you know, governor chris christie and other republicans tonight say, no, we've got to do this, and i think you're going to hear that from most, you know, from our republican

leadership, and i think calmer heads will prevail on that. you know, i don't think you want to stoke that paranoia. but, you know, i think the fact that we are in this situation again, i mean, it's once again -- you know, i certainly was surprised in '16. i was on the ballot then. the president did not do well with suburban women in areas like mine, and we've certainly seen a lot of losses particularly in '18 now, and we really didn't gain back many of those seats, but i think there are some fundamentally changing party realignments here. and i think the democratic party went too far to the left. i think the losers tonight are also, you know, aoc and that crowd that kind of pushed the party to the left and i think alienated that blue wall, alienated the midwest and, you know, while, you know, certainly seniors were concerned with covid, i think some of the far left policies that sort of

became -- you know, seemed to be acceptable by this ticket hurt overall. >> and on that note i want to ask amanda another question about the senate race. it seems that republicans right now are clinging to their majority, democrats had record spending in certain states, for example, in the south carolina race. why do you think they're underperforming in a sense? >> yeah, you just don't have the infrastructure there. it's hard to ask for a major step function -- you know, 2018 was a big wave that came through. we're not seeing that same thing happen, at least not in south carolina. we'll see what georgia looks like. listen, we've got a win in arizona. maine is still left to be determined. north carolina, so there are some spaces, but it is hard in one election cycle to make that big leap, especially during a pandemic, and so i think everybody is going to be looking at this data and what does it mean for the democratic party going forward? what does the coalition look

like, particularly if a georgia comes online, so they're still yet to be determined and i'm certain we're all going to be looking at this data and strategize differently as the years go by. >> we will be watching it closely. amanda renteria and barbara comstock, thank you so much. all right, coming up, how the world is reacting to this uncertainty in the u.s. stay with us. go on, humans, put yourselves through all that pain. waltz around in those foot knives, watch your blue light lanterns, blast those eardrum bangers! look at this one: he's trying to pick up the mail! hah! silly... oh... silly humans. who do you think you are? pain will bring you to your senses. you cannot keep this up! pain says you can't. advil says you can.

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york. >> but this morning it's not just americans who are waking up to a morning of uncertainty. the rest of the world is as well. >> the uk's foreign minister said the british government has confidence in the u.s. election system. abc's ian pannell joins us now live from london. ian, good morning. i have to ask you, what's the reaction from the world? >> reporter: yeah, good morning. guy, i can tell you the world is watching, waiting, collectively holding its breath. this election matters more, i think, than any u.s. presidential election in at least a generation because whoever sits in the white house will dictate policy, will dictate whether or not america takes part in those international institutions. just to give you an example, this won't get many headlines, but today the united states officially withdrew from the paris climate accords and know president trump said it was something he wanted to do. well, today it officially happens, and why does that matter? joe biden, vice president biden says he will go back into the paris accords if he becomes

president, and, of course, we know that president trump wanted to withdraw. that's why it matters. it matters to climate change and it matters to trade. it matters to those international institutions. let me show you some of the headlines in the britain papers this morning. hopefully you can see these. "the guardian," battle for america's soul. of course, the papers went to bed far before any results came out from the election. "the times of london," america decides its fate and a couple of the tabloids here, trump defiant to the last in "the express" and "the daily mail" more focused on melania trump, hello or good-bye, melania. now, questions to european leaders and to politicians, what is your reaction to what's going on? most are staying tight-lipped but interesting the former belgium prime minister has already tweeted, looking at the chaos in the united states right now, this is more of a reason for europe to work together. guys. >> ian, the world is watching, indeed. thank you so much for your time. and coming up, what to expect today as the votes continue to be counted.

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no more heebie jeebies. phhhhew. glad i stopped cleaning and started swiffering. welcome back. as americans of course shoutly awaited protesters gathered in the streets of the nation's capital. more than 1,000 people descended on black lives matter plaza block away from the white house. >> let's bring in abc news political director rick klein now. rick, i'm curious, what's your take, sir? >> what a wild night that ends or actually doesn't even end. a wild election year. we stand here on the morning after the election knowing that there are several states that are just too close the call, the margin so tight, we could be heading to multiple recounts and the president saying he already won, and joe biden saying, calm down, wait to count the votes and we sit here knowing that the

results in states including wisconsin, michigan, pennsylvania, nevada, georgia, north carolina, all just too close to call right now. some of those states could be headed to recounts and could talk about multiple legal challenges. within the last couple minutes we saw joe biden surge to a lead in wisconsin as a new batch of votes were counted. we're still waiting on complete votes out of michigan and georgia among other states, so it's been a crazy series of twists and turns, an election night like none other and one that's not ending with election night itself. >> rick, regardless of who wins this election, what does it tell us about the state of this country that it is this close? >> yeah, these are bitter divisions, and i think you see it in our exit polls and interviews with voters. people feel like it's not just the presidency but american democracy itself. the state, the fate of the country on the line in this election, and to see the close margins in so many states tells you you're talking about neighbors, families that are so

deeply split. we know that there are a couple of states that have flipped but they're just at the absolute razor's edge, and there was some talk that tonight would be a very clean, decisive victory, one candidate from the other and you'd be able to walk away with something called unity. the president saying there's illegitimacy to a potential loss in some critical states, not the potential for legal challenges but headed for more divisions and probably a dangerous period for the country. >> and when it comes to the president, i think a lot of people are surprised this morning that it appears hat he grew his base, and we knew to possibly have a winning path, the president would have to grow that base over the past four years or so, and now see after this morning after the election day that the president grew in key areas of florida, north carolina, texas. biden doing well in urban areas but trump also turning out first-time republican voters.

>> yeah, one of the legitimate surprises of this election was the fact it wasn't just joe biden bringing people out, democrats who were energized to vote against donald trump. we knew the trump base would be excited, but there were a lot of first-time voters in lots of places and almost man for man, woman for woman, person for person you saw the trump forces match biden, and that's what kept this close because we knew about the energy against him and there weren't a lot of people that voted for hillary clinton four years ago that turned to donald trump but some were quiet and stayed on the sidelines and the trump campaign spent four years trying to activate those people. i was among those that was skeptical and didn't think he was living up to the hype but they delivered in more states than not and saw that in a resounding victory in a close state like florida and the fact that they were able to keep it as close as they have in states like michigan, wisconsin, pennsylvania, all that is a testament to the ability for donald trump to get his base out. >> all right, rick klein, our abc news political director there.

rick, thank you for all the work you've been doing, and guess what you're not done, sir, election day turned into election week, weeks, possibly months, so thank you again. >> i knew it was never going to end. i knew it from the beginning. >> you called it. you did call it. i will say that. thank you, rick. we appreciate you. >> thank you. stay with us, we head to arizona next. my nunormal: fewer asthma attacks. less oral steroids. taking my treatment at home. nucala is a once-monthly add-on injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occurred. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask your doctor about nucala at home. find your nunormal with nucala. and my favorite thing about the chick-fil-a nuggets ask your doctor about nucala at home. is how easy you can share them with your friends. they taste fresh, they're crispy, you can taste that every single one is unique.

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abc's whit johnson is there. >> reporter: it's been a long night in the state of arizona, much like it has across the country. votes are still being counted here, although at the moment, joe biden maintains that lead, that slight lead over donald trump in what is traditionally been a republican stronghold, but this is a state that is shifting demographics, a growing latino population. maricopa county specifically has grown in population by more than 600,000 people in just the last ten years, and that is the state that we're focused on right now because there's still some outstanding ballots. most of these are absentee ballots, people who actually dropped them off today at the polls or over the weekend, and the number could total 700,000 and they're not even going to start counting those until later this morning and into the day today. so that's something that we still need to watch. however, democrats remain confident in the senate race as well which is a big one for the democrats, mark kelly right now maintaining his lead over martha mcsally, the republican who was

appointed to the role after john mccain passed away. so, again, still some votes to be counted here, but this really tells the story of how so much has changed here in the state of arizona over the years. i mentioned the latino population makes up 30% of the vote here in arizona and also people who are moving to arizona from other states like california. things are changing, and we've spoken to a number of voters with that independent spirit, arizona is known for that. the independents make up about one-third of the vote here in arizona and that could be enough to be make the difference here tonight, although we're still going to have to wait a little bit longer for that final result. mona, kenneth. >> all right, whit johnson there in arizona. thank you for that breakdown. we appreciate it. while results continue to trickle in this morning there's a lot still up in the air. >> but one thing we know for sure, enthusiasm at the polls has never been higher than it was on election day 2020. here's abc's will ganss. ♪

>> reporter: a dance party at 8:04 a.m. on election day. voters fired up bright and early in hyde park, massachusetts. similar scenes in columbus, ohio and in philadelphia. a nonpartisan group called joy to the polls bringing just that. ♪ their goal, to make voting a celebration. and across the country, voters sharing pics of their prized i voted stickers. in l.a. they come with lakers and kings logos. in georgia, a peach. in michigan females front and center following the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment. stickers only a smart part of voters' election day outfits. the stars, the stripes and the bunny costumes? this first-time voter in kentucky not throwing away his shot to dress as alexander hamilton, from pacific to atlantic, in new york city voters under a red, white and blue empire state building. >> we need to bring back unity in america. we need to show unity. [ speaking foreign language ]

>> vote for the best. >> reporter: delia has this voting thing down. at 107 she's been doing it for decades and still insists on doing it in person. >> she's actually the backbone of our family, and she's the one that has encouraged us to always do the right thing. >> reporter: the petite political powerhouse has never missed a presidential election doing the right thing like telling her kids, grandkids all the way down to great great great grandkids, yeah, that's six generations, the importance of making your voice heard. >> the same example miss mae is setting for her family. >> you want to vote because you want the person that's going to look out for the future for you, your family, other people's families and not have self. >> reporter: at 100 years old, she's voted in 20 presidential elections so far. >> americans of all ages, all backgrounds coming out wanting their voices heard in this unprecedented election. >> and the votes are still being counted. >> they really are.

238, biden. 213, trump. coverage continues here on abc. right now, live from abc news, "your voice, your vote," election night 2020. a night for history. >> i'm here to tell you tonight we believe we're on track to win this election. >> this is a fraud on the american public. this is an embarrassment to our country. we were getting ready to win this election. frankly, we did win this election. >> the unexpected moments. >> we want all voting to stop. we don't want them to find any ballots at 4:00 in the morning and add them to the list. okay? >> crunching the numbers as they come in. >> analyzing the trends as they develop. coast to coast and state to state. >> whatever he said just now, it was bizarre, first ol.