robea divided nation, a divided washington. >> we have no doubt that when the count is finished, senator heirs and i will be law declared the history. on the brink of history after days of counting and standoffs. >> it will be hopefully cleared up but it will probably go through a legal process. robert: but political war continues as president trump fights on. some reference urge caution. >> we heard nothing today about any evidence. >> a divided nation. and a dided washington. next. -- "washgton week." funding is provided by -- >> when the worldets

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the corporation for publicdc brting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. once again, from washington, moderator robert costa. robert: good evingme and wel to "washington week." days after a record number ofam icans voted, the presidential election is finally nearing a conclusion. with former vice president joe biden inching ahead of president trump ine several bat grounds states but even as the count winds down, the political war in this nation continues. president trump, as you know, is insisting the election is far from over. hes lleging widespread voter fraud, e withoutdence and while some veteran republicans are speaking up and urging him to stop. many in the w party standsh him and feel emboldened. after tuesday, the .comi clinging on to the senate jompletse and has fisked up

seatsn the hues. across the i'm, democrats are upbeat with thehite house now reason reach and possible victories looming in the south and the sun belt and senator harris is poised to be if first black woman to er serve as investment, but they also know they have a lot of work to do. and joining me tonight to discuss this historic american crossroads is yamiche alcindor, white house core responsibilities for the pbs newshour. peter baker, chief white house correspondent for "the new york times" and susan dis, congressional correspondent for national flick radio and co-host of npr's politics podcast. but first, let's turn to joe biden, who has been urging calm and projecting confidence from his campaign hawpes. >> i here to telephone you tonight we believe we're on track to win i election. now, every vote must be counted. one's going to take our democracy away from us.

not now, not ever. criticism. itometimes require as little a patiencewell but that patience has been rewarded anyhow for more than 240 years. robert: let's begin with joede and yamiche alcindor, you're at the white house, you're talking to republicanso ces. they're know that joe biden may speak tonight. it's been reported by cbs news and oters t he may address the nation tonight but the o callated press has yet what is this moment for president trump and for vice esident bide season what do you hair? yamiche: for vice president t' bidens really the culmination of decades of work, decades ofs much as in government. really, this is a moment where he's looking at -- out at his career and realizinghat he the next preside the unitedng states and as you noted, senator kamala heirsl w making history as the first , wom

first black wome woman, first asian to be the first vice president of the uted states. of course, they have a lot of things they need to balan with progressives and governing what looks like a republican-contrled senate but for president trump, he's ben resigned, angry, watching tv, lashing out at people, takg names, wantsing republicans to come out and back his unfounded claims. i've been talking to sources at the white house who feel like this a white house that' winding down. the president has made some of statements honest sitch thus far. heave a speech last night where almost every sentence was false. claims about votes magically appearing, claims about democrats stealing the election. vomentse are being count and would he is losing leads in itical battle grounds and the new battle grounds state, essentially, of grgia. robert: sue, how do you read vice psident biden's handling of this fragile moments?

in northwestern democracy. sorry, that was for sue davis. yamiche: sorry. robert: we're all doing our best here. susan: i think joe bidennd i think the democratic pty saw that the american people sent a messageanhat they more stability to i think biden has been very measured in his house speaker nancy pelosi earlier today said s hasn't even spoken to josme biden yet, that they're don't want to have until icial phone call the enormous and tradition that is donald trump blew up. i think there's going to be a big discussion over what this election meant and what going to mean for the agendas and what can get done inin waon but i don't think there's any doubt that joe biden sees part of his election as returning some so of tradition and flaherty to the way the

perspective con icts himse the overwhelm office. robert: if he does end up in that office, wha would his mandate be as president biden based tuesday's result? peter: it's a greatio que he's going to win a substantial popular vote victory no nearts what. we don't know what the eventualo electoraege counlts would be. if it stays as is, it would be the same number that president trump won four years ago thatt presid trump called a land slide and man date for his own enda. vice president biden's agendas, as sue was saying is normalcy to some extent, it's calm. on his punch card is obviously going to have to be the coronavirus. we're seeing worseha spikes ever this week. while we were paying attention to the election,he number of es in america has gone up to are on the rise as well. deaths

if that hasn't gotten uer control by the time a president biden takes office if he were to win, no question naled be number one but he wants to restore liances with our international partners and a likelyn repub senate will probably brake on some of ideas they wanteto get through. robert: what did you pick up?on thing i picked up was the latino vote s certainly not a monolith. president trump did better with latino votershan h did in 2016. yamiche: that's right. there is a narrative from the trump combine saying they did men, lat men.hite men, black o when you look at the biden coalition, lookingt thexit polls and youee something

interesting -- non-college-cameb voteke evenly for both president trump and joe biledsscombn then you look at people who areaking money. i saw in the "new york times" eximents polls that people making less money, white americans wine bre for joe bind. he still held on to a substantial number of fwren voters, of course, but we see him winning criticalou battle states like michigan, like wisconsin. that telephones that you joe biden was able to in some ways pull together and chip away at the coalition that cents president trump to th democratic parti i sense is the for aot of people wondering why is this race so close? we're not talking about the polar vote but the electoral college vote. people stay all of the messages that democrats made, all of the meaging on president tou

trump's immigration language. separation of feafplgs. uven playing the coronavirus, he still was able to get impacts -- millions of americans, almost half the country to back him and that is something that joe bileds season really going to ve to contend with. robert: whether you look at the political map,ha catches your eye. georgia, suffer a tight rails. emocrats in the stoucht. but fumpts south in florida, president trump did well. n what's happeningmerica when you look at tt plan? susan: i think what'ste sting about this election is that in some ways it really was a status quo election. the country decidedhey wanted republicans to keep the snalt, they wanted democrats to keep the house. virtually no changes in ene stat legislatures, which is remarkable. the one thank they decide tidt i hadt want was donald trump, or so it seems so far. i think republicans some ways

feel heartened and encouraged by in ection, that there was this fear that president trump could cause sweepinghe losses down ballots, that the suburbs in thist country would be of play for republicans for louisiana teches to come and i think th facts that didn't happen has sort of put democrats back on their heels a little bit and in democrats, especially many progressive democrats not only pleaved that was t election that was going to happen but the election they needed to be able too advance some of the ideas and agenda items their party. supports. so the election is a bit of a head scrapper and i think you're going to have republicans dug in, not necessarily t behin bts but on a lot of ideas and the agendas that the president put forward. i don't think they're looki in election as if those issues were big losers. think on immigration, trade, the economy, although the rspective was a bit more traditional on economic issues.

the parnt has still shifted more towards the i lollingy of donald trump. heaviest still going to be the st important member of the republican participants and still have a tremendous swaimha overthe party stands for. robert: president t is dug investment he remains definals. tonigh he has alleged wild spreads vomplete fraud. but his statements runs counter to what election officials are saying nationwide but here is a snapshot of what the president said on thursday and again, he does not have evidenceto back up these claims. >> if you counts the legal volts, i easely win. if you county. the illegal votes, neck fry to steal the election from us. we think there's going to be a lot ofio litig because -- because we have so much evidence, so much proof and it's going to ends up programs at the

highest court in the nds. robert: peter, where is this president in termsf his legal battle against the election results? it w report that would jar kushner, his son-in-law was looking for a james baker to help out withprocess. you've written a book with your wife on james baker. what makes in different than 2000 when bush was at baker's side? d peter: i cal secretary baker yields to ask hum about this. andree said tre huge difference between this and 2000. for one thing in fsrida, it a recounts. they didn't get into a legal battle until after all the votes in florida had been aounty. then gone influence a machine and recounted and at that point the democrats were seeking hand recounts and the republicans were saying enough is enough. y he have a president saying stop the counts before it's even been completed a first time and baker said that' not the kinds

of thing the president should be doing in his view. if nape want fwaker time support, they're not getting support from the actual james baker. theye on't hy evidence ght now for the kinds of things the perspective is saying. things are like shroud the feet away? procedure rull linings -- things like that se things with larger sweep the judges are tossing out wholesale because they're so ungrounded in anything and there's nothing right now the president has come with that justifies new spigs that there's a wholesale stealing of the election. you'd have to believe there's a far-reaching conspiracy that streaches from coast to coast, multiple citie multiple counties, states with democratic s allnors and somehow it

robert: n us? just reported that supreme court jumps samuelto a has issued an orders on the counts in philadelphia. to have ballots continue to be separated by the counts will coinue. i spoke to someone in nevada, the trump campaign is spoiling for a fight there. they've raised concerns about frauds in nevada. they're fighting in pennsylvania. what's the real story when you talk to people at the white house tonight aboutg how l this fight will play out? yamiche: that's the key question. how long is the president going to put up a fight and can he put up a fight in nut states if he gifpbles to le multiple states? if he loses, georgia, pennsylvania, an nevada,an he really launch these legal battles? ll has a trump advisor tell me day the only path that the perspective sees to visibilityry at tt point is to have recounts in tho criticism states they just mentioned so the president is teetering on

this because the math isn't on his side. he has to run the table a a other words to make this work for him. said, he's wanting people believe this conspiracy theory but let's also rember that last night the president was out thing a reds wave, talking about the fact that republicans piked up seats in the house and looked poise to keep the estimates. the conspiracy theory only affected him because the down-ballot races went mainly in the republicans' way. he's touting the votes tt likes while telling people, don't county.es the vhat mht not be for me. these historic may have-in blooths, mostly went to joe bimedsen because he was saying be same. may feel themnvestment and the president had been saying i want you to come inerson. w he's in a situation where mail-in votes are zip coming in

and -- continuesly coming in and favoring joe biledsen in that way. spoken out. >> there may be fralmeds. we don't know that right now and for the be. to go outs and claim that without nil evidence of that is -- is dangerous. >> the if the's allegations of large-scale fraud and theft of e election are not starkte i'm notof atware. noy significant wrongdoing. robert: sue, you talked about how the .comfeels like they're in a pretty good spot after tuesday because of those gains in the house and t senate is tight but will they speak out even more about president trump's handling of the result, about the election's integrity? susan: i think we've already seen what'apn sad really familiar story of the last four years. th president says or dulls something really outrage use and

on the whole key voices in the house stands behind him. kevin mccarthy, the house leader today's sort of echoed thers ctive today. collins, who have been susan contribution of the president before or from replicans whoer tiring thike pat thoomy in the perspective still has an immessages amount of loyalty, escially in the how was. senators have always been a little more reluctant to support him but l makers like louie gohmert of texas has already gone to feameds and is outside the convention center. they see this has sort of a loyalty test to the that will be used to judge other reasons down the line. yes, president trump may election lose thi look at it as they will be

judged about how much they defend him or unified him or championed his cause on the way out. so i think a lot of republicans still see this as an opportunities because they don't actually believe he's going to win in election but they don't want to alienate those trump voters and supporters and they want to be able to say long term i was with him until the very ends a tre's no reason to believe that the presidents is going to backown fromhese unsubstantiateded claims and i don't think there's a to believe there's going to be a major funds mental break from himithin the republican party, although you may see ar lou chorus of republicans saying ok, enough, it's time to move on. robertod earlier senate majority leadser mitch mcconnell said he believes there will be a peaceful transfer of power. my sources say the president is toing ight politely and legally, say the election is sten, proct his brands but he'll ultimately love the white

house. is in uneets, though, inside o this white house and admini defeated and the race is called they -- that he'll put up a fight that usese executwer and not just rhetoric and tweets? peter: if tace is called and the courts have rejected his claims, electoral and i don't kno the perspective cowleds do. his power goes away on januar 2079 at noon regardless of what he wants to do if the electoral college has taken his v congress has sermented the results. because he's such an in-- t that unpredictable character. so volatile and erratic. you hear talk there military officers talking about they'reg not go to intervene, if that was a possibility. the facts we're even discussing

that is stunning. it's testaments or maybe that's not the rights words but it's a mark how far we have come that people are even raisingst that qn but i don't see how he does anything if t process go -- goes to its ends and he hasost. i think he wants to justify a losso they can -- he can say it was all a scan and sexeem he was victimized by the deep state conspiracy that was out to get him. robert:here does this nation go from here. an article say "we were two countries and neither is going to be conquered or disappear anytime soon." so many rumor white voters going with trump in records numbers. urban and suburban voters going with vice president biden. yamiche: it's a harleds thing to answer. when we look at these numbers and election we see two different americas.

america is moreed polar than ever and there are so many people who can't understand why one person vote frds presidents joe biden.the other voted for unifying the nation.in ymeds of on this idea of going back to a decency in the white house. he's worke with lens -- republicans in the past. we saw linledscy graham today, an a ally of president trump saying loo i like president will work with j biden if he is the nt president. but there's so much anger that president trump has ginned up againstt' democrats harleds to see how this country gs towards feeling more unitsed. i should also note quickly that s just in florida talking to people, supporters of the president. there's a real divides with the truth in this uncan. the supportsers of president trump, some of them only believe

what president trump says. they only believe fox news and other conservative immediatea. it dufments matter what the government o what data says. we're in a touch position here. robert: and sue, in a minute here, we're not maybe a nation anymore, reds vs. blue, republican versus democrat but as a professor at notre dame, bob schmul toads me this week we're a tribal nion politically. susan: thatidn't start with donald trump and it's not going to ends with him.e we seen this happening progressively over the past 20 years of politics. people are dwimedsed,urrounds themselves with less and less people that think differently from this will. i think it's one of the reasons exavens havemation cracks in society were already there and they've just been exploited and it's one of the broledserch maclenges, not just for the president but of government to tryhe to ve

ively bri in country back together again and a announcemental task forget administration. robert: peter, your cake a take? nancy: i think that's exactly right. 48% more or less of the american people thinking donald trumpou be re-elected. and for democrats and republicans who votese other sides, it's hard forhem to understand that and it's jus as hard for trump voters to understand how they could not vote for him. that disconnects is so wiped. we are two coasts and one middle and i think that'sge chall for this new president coming in, if it is joe biden. robert: many thanks to our reporters for joinings. yamiche alcindor, peter baker, susan davis. stay with us for our seconds part of our election special. we'll dig on the latest report on congress there a divided washington. politico's jake sherman will i'm robert costa.

see you soon. [captioning perfor the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] announcer:orporate funding for deashington week" is provid by -- >> when the world get complicated a lot goes through your mind. with fidelity wealth management, a dedicated dwrise advisor can

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♪ >> inside a divided washington. >> he's expanded this party that reflects america, that looks like america. >> we've lost some battles but we won the war. robert: the balance of power is ruptured on capitol hill as republicans clingo the senate majority and make gains in the house. democrats arepbeat about biden but debating who's to blame for disappointments. >> with a margin tha small, there will be a recounts georgia. robert: and both parties brace far senate showdown in georgia, next. ♪ announcer: thiss "washington week." fundsi p isrovided by -- the corporation for public