good afternoon, everyone. and happy election day. we are here in new york. we just saw "morning joe" speaking to voters through a horn in philadelphia while wearing a mask. the polls are now open in all 50 states. and 101 million people have already cast their ballots. in a fewen minutes, i'll speak

with joe biden's long-time colleague harry reid for his take on the race. the former vice president began his day in dpe. at a church the burial place of his son beau who made his father promise him on his dath bed he would stay in public life. biden went on to visit his childhood home in pennsylvania where he signed the living wait a minute wall. from this house to the white house with the grace of god. president trump made a rare trip to his campaign hazard kwaeters in virginia. capping off a set of grievance-filled rallies and interviews. >> have you written an acceptance speech? >> no, i'm not thinking about concession speech or acceptance speech yet. hopefully we'll be doing only one of those two. winning is easy. losing is never easy. not for me it's not. >> regardless of what happens,

the president is set to host hundreds at the white house tonight. this as dr. debra birx of the coronavirus task force warns against gathering in a report that was dated yesterday. that was obtained by the washington spoes. quote, we are entering the most concerning and most deadly phase of this pandemic leading to increasing mortality. the ihme projects 97,000 americans will die between now and new year's day. we have an expert team of reporters covering every angle of today. kara lee is in washington covering the trump campaign. ali is in wilmington covering team biden. and allie velshi is live in pennsylvania. blayne alexander is in georgia where voting lines are getting a lot of attention this afternoon. we want to begin with carol. despite what dr. birx is saying, president trump is planning on hosting hundreds of people for

an election night party. what can you tell us about it? >> reporter: what we know is that some 300 to 400 invitations were supposed to be sent out for this gathering in the east room tonight. testing will be a requirement. so that's to address the coronavirus concerns, but as you know, the's testing system with the rapid test has some holes in it that you get false negative results. but the white house saying that they will implement some sort of testing program for anyone who attends tonight. as for the president, he's getting updates throughout the day from aids. he will with family and very close aids in the residence and in oval office. and there's a war room they set up over in the executive office building across from the white house. >> let's head over to delaware with the biden campaign.

we heard from the president about a possible speech tonight. what are the plans for team biden? >> reporter: we do expect to hear from the former vice president tonight in the parking lot around me. the stage is being set for something. but i have to tell you this is the roller coaster of emotions on election day. i just spoke to a senior aid in biden's orbit who was feeling anxious. today they are feeling really good. this is the wave you ride of emotions on election day. we're really as a campaign all of the infrastructure is set and at this point you're just firing on all sillcylinders making suru can get out the last votes you can before election night tonight. and i have to say that in talking to senior aids today, they say they are feeling well positioned to win and that they feel when this is all said and done, they have left everything on the field in terms of getting out the vote, in terms of grass roots organizing, as well as purt putting the candidates on the ground in the key places you need them. look where the candidates and spouses have spent time today.

north carolina and florida for jill biden. ohio for kamala harris's husband. michigan for kamala harris herself and then joe biden going back to pennsylvania, the battleground state he spnt the most time in of all other battleground states this election cycle. and i think that one of the biden cochairs said it best when he said to us yeearlier, hopefuy this will all be over tonight and we can start to heal this country. so again, the biden team not taking anything for granted. i think cautiously optimistic is the vibe here on the ground. but the the end of the day, they are hoping this election has settled dust around it and they can get back to the business of govern i governing the country, if in fact, they are elected. >> all right, the perspective from the biden campaign. let's head to philadelphia. been covering what's happening across this critical battleground state for both campaigns. joe biden was campaigning there this morning. it's a state that the trump campaign focused on. it's also a state that's already

starting to make some news depending on which campaign you are following. what is happening there on the ground at this hour? >> reporter: well, joe biden still here in philadelphia. i'm in overbrook. by the way, maybe it's not as big a deal to people, common was right here at this voting place that i'm at right now. it's got a slow pace to it today. earlier before early hours when polling started, there were long line ups all over. i started in month ggomery coun and i have been to different parts of philadelphia. i ran into these two voters. who have voted. you voted down the road there. how was your experience today? >> it was a pretty fast experience. it wasn't too many people this. got in and out. pla placed my vote and felt pretty good. >> how about you? >> wonderful experience actually. it was my first time voting in a presidential election this year. so i was really proud and it was

a very easy process. no line, just got in and out. it went really well. >> donald trump was saying earlier today twooeted out that he thinks this whole way it's going down in philadelphia, inchuding the fact that mail-in ballots have been counted until friday, it's not just a bad idea, but it's going to lead to violence. he's talking about that. you look very perplexed by that. >> i don't agree with that. i don't i think it's going to lead to violence. at least not in my city. >> i feel as though in philadelphia a lot of us are going to be prth neutral, it's not going to be a lot of violence here at all. i feel as though in other counties maybe there might be some upset pertaining to mail-in ballots in the outcome of those, but i feel as though here we're pretty good. >> you want to tell me who you voted for? >> fair enough. >> bottom line is you voted, which is fantastic. thank you so much for joining us for a few minutes. that's the situation.

the trickle feels slow, but there were a lot of early bal t ballots. there's going to be some more later today. but everybody i have talked to today nobody is anything but enthusiastic about their chances. now remember, biden is going to win philadelphia, that's how it goes. the issue is how much he's going to win philadelphia by. that's going to have to make up for some of the rural votes that donald trump has been going after, particularly with his conversations about fracking earlier this week. it's going to be a long night for us here in phil live. >> set the record straight. not nearly as big of a deal as speaking to a first time voter and hearing that excitement. good to speak to you. thank you. let's head over to blainyne alexander to a precinct in fullton county. all eyes on georgia. both campaigns vying for that key state. you're at a site that back in june during the primary you saw quite a long line. how is voting going there today?

>> reporter: it is like night and day. it is quite remarkable. really quite unprecedented. this is georgia's most populous county. but when we look at the polling places from place to place across this county, there are no wait times longer than 30 minutes. people we talked to for the locations, most people are able to walk in and out within a matter of ten minutes or less. it's certainly even more remarkable when you consider what we saw back in june. i know that you were following very closely my interview with the woman who was sitting with her young baby, sitting in the rain waiting for hours to vote. but over here, we did that interview right here. so this was the location that was just clogged with people back in june. in fact, when i talked to you back then, i'll show you up the street here. we had had people lining up the street, turn right at that stop sign and turn right again all waiting to cast bat lots.

this really was one of the problem areas that we saw back in june. today it's completely different. and a couple things account for that. one, from everybody i have spoken to from precinct managers up to the secretary of state, all of them are pointing directly to early voting. we saw a record early voting turnout here. and the state of georgia some 3.9 million people cast a ballot. here more than 350,000 people voted early in fullton county. they are saying that helped them tremendously be able to manage these lines, get people out and n a good amount of time. and that's going to contribute, as i understand from the secretary of state, an official told me they are optimistic they will be able to have the votes counted and tallied by either late tonight or early tomorrow. >> live for us there in georgia, thank you. that's the lay of the the land from all our reporters and correspondents let's bring in former senator harry reid of nevada, who spent 12 years as the leader in the senate including during the passage of the affordable care act. senator reid, it's great to have

you with us. thank you for joining us. we just gat the lay of the land from our team on the ground. i'm curious your thoughts. who are you checking in with today and what are you hearing around the country? >> we are in nevada we're in good shape. we have the strongest state party organization in the country. we have the culinary union of 75,000 members who have been out on the streets for weeks and weeks. we have had a tremendously good ground program here. around the country, i feel really good. i think that people are beginning to understand why those of us that know joe biden care so much about his life story it's something we should all focus on and understand what a good man he is. a man of character. we have this campaign that appears to me based on character. the character of donald trump and that of joe biden. when you compare the two, it's a pretty easy choice to make. >> ewe know joe biden permly. you're talking about his

character. you have served with joe biden for 22 years in the senate, 8 years during the obama administration. do you want to share with us a personal story about the joe biden that you know that affirms the character that you're talking about? >> i had some back surgery here in nevada and was bedridden. and the doorbell rings. in walks joe biden. with flowers and sat and pulled up a chair up beside my bed and talked to me for ab hour. that's joe biden. >> if it's one thing that a lot of people affirmed, it's his empathy through this election season. let me switch fweers. president trump has hammered the legitimacy of a vote in many states, including your home state of nevada. for the first time in months, more americans say they are confident that the election will be conducted in a fair equal way than those who say it won't. that's something that the president has been trying to discredit. has president trump, do you

think, discredited voting this this country, at least created some tout over the process? >> the answer is i think what he's done has made people mad and that's why we're having tremendous turnout. we had more people vote iing ea than vote in the entire election four years ago. look at what's going on in georgia. georgia, they have 67% increase in the number of people voting. we're having turnouts a all over america. and i think that trump and his badgering, trying to show people how unfair the election is only hurting himself. >> senator reid, can i just interrupt you for a second. kamala harris is speaking. i want to listen to her and then get your reaction. let's listen to what she's

saying. >> they know when we vote, things change. they know when we vote, we win. we win. we win. so let's make sure everybody votes. let's not listen to anybody trying to mess with us and confuse us about it. today is election day. not tomorrow. today is lx day. the polls close at 8:00, not at 9:00. so let's make sure everybody knows the truth. let's speak with the truth and walk with our feet to the polls and get that thing down. >> that was senator kamala harris speaking just outside of troit. her final campaign stop more or less in michigan gives a sense of how important that state is. my apologies for interrupting you. let me pick up on the point we were discussing earlier. that's about the state of the

republican party. today you know many of these people. you served alongside of them. do you feel the republicans have adequately resisted in any way, shape or form what the president has done and said to try to paint this electoral system as rigged? >> united states is a country that people look to with envy because of our two-party system. it's worked out well. i believe in the two-party system. donald trump is ruining the brand of the republican party. that's why you have the lincoln project and many other republicans who are out wardly saying we can't have trump again. we have to get rid of him. he's ruining the republican party. and that's the truth. i'm so -- i think that what we have seen in the senate, my colleagues in the senate, i think they have been very disappointing to me. they should not have put up with

what trump has done. he's done so much damage to the institution of the senate and the country. republicans except for mitt romney, nobody will speak out against him. >> let me ask you about some of those senators, particularly the races you're following. which ones are you watching tonight? which ones do you think are going to go towards the democrats? >> i think we're going to win in colorado. we're going to win in montana. we're going to win in maine. we're going to win in north carolina. we have two shots in georgia. we're going to win in arizona. we're going to win in iowa. and we're going to win in alaska. we need a net of three. and so i have given you the ones i'll be watching closely. i feel comfortable we're going to retake the senate. and chuck shooumer will be the majority leader. >> you think someone like lindsey graham is going to hold on to his seat? what do you make of houhow he's conducted himself? >> it's hard for me to say this

because we have worked together on stuff. when john mccain died, he went to the dark side. he was happier playing golf with donald trump. i hope that lindsey loses. that's difficult for me to say, but i sure hope he loses. >> former majority leader harry reid, thank you. up next, we are live in the battleground state of north carolina where the attention is also on a key senate race that you just heard the former major ri leader there reference. and state election officials there just announced that election results will be delayed 45 minutes tonight. we'll tell you why, just after the break you're watching msnbc. r the break you're watching msnbc. ♪ since pioneering the suv in 1935, the chevy suburban has carried many things. nothing more important than family. introducing the most versatile and advanced chevy suburban and tahoe ever.

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101 million americans have already cast their vote. we have a team of reporters spread out in key states across the entire country. joining me now is garrett haake. there's also a hard fought senate race. and kerry sanders in florida where biden and trump are locked in a tight race in the most recent poll tlgs. i want to begin in texas. let me start with you. you're in harris county. it's been the center of one of the more important legal battles that played out over the last 48 hours. what are you seeing and hearing about the issue of drive-thrust polling centers? >> reporter: if joe joe biden is

going to win in texas, he's going to do it on the turnout we have already seen and continues throughout the day over the last 48 hours or so. we have seen one last fight about drive-thru voting. which 127,000 votes were cast during the rl vote period. after a series of legal challenges led the clerks here to say, he didn't want to risk the possibility that anymore votes could be caught up in there. but the effort by a group of republican activists and a couple candidates to block that drive-thru voting may very well have backfire d for them. i heard from a number of democratic voters who were galvanized by this decision who felt like these were people trying to take their votes out from under them. inkrooud cloouding the woman i interviewed this morning who was worked up about this issue. >> the whole thing about the drive-thru voting. did you follow that? >> did i? first of all, when you're in the car, they don't ask you are you in the car because you got chemo. are you in the car because you

have been in a wreck. they just say, okay, you want to vote by far car, fine. you try that is voter suppression at its heatest. >> votes in the community here have been acutely aware of the fight we're not seeing big lines here in suburban houston. but the goal here, the democrats feel if they can break 1.7 million voters out of this county, that will put them in good shape. it's doable, but it's going to take a lot of turnout in the next couple hours. >> gr ret haake, thank you. turning now to tremaine lee at a polling location in north carolina. a state where black motvoters m a key difference in 2016. what's the latest on the ground there at this hour? >> the big story here is the early voter turnout. for more than 4 million people have already vote d.

black voters are among that number. us but folks we talked to here today, those numbers are slow and steady because so many people voted early. they said we were committed to vote i voting on election day because we want to make our voices heard. covid was on the top of their mind. but also since it was time for donald trump to go. let's take a listen to one gentleman i spoke with earlier. >> i want to vote for peter pan. that's it. i was a bloomberg fan initially. bloomberg got to look. but it was the administration. sometimes it's tough. but peter pan did. >> peter pan is certain ly not n

the ballot and joe biden is in 2016. donald trump beat healthcaillar clinton by 173,000 votes. at the same time, 170,000 registered black democrats were on the sidelines and did not vote. there's a sense here that black folks are coming out because they know they could make the difference and maybe tip the scales of who might end up in the white house. >> that state of north carolina, thank you. from north carolina, we head south to st. peters birg, where kerry sanders is on the ground. no republican has won the presidency without winning florida since 1924. it givehouse a sense of how important that state is. why is this a place to watch tonight? >> reporter: first of all, people want to know, it was calvin kool lij. why are they watching this county? it's really the bell weather for the state. first of all, it's evenly split between republicans and democrats. and then the independent votes much like the mirror of the state here, so you look at pith

knelt lis county. if you go from 1980 forward. it's chosen the president elect for the 40 years except for 2000 when nothing made sense because of the meltdown in the state of florida. so this is the place to watch. so as people are wondering about the florida returns, if they get their phones out and look, it will probably tell them. i can tell you that both the biden campaign and trump campaign are watching the county very closely. we have had an opportunity to talk to some of the voters here today about their participation, about the record turnout in this state. take a listen. >> it feels good to vot. i wanted to vote in person today because i didn't want to worry about slow mail. i didn't want to worry about any problems. i want to put the ballot in myself. >> for me, there's a sense is of comradery coming on voting day. so that's why i wanted to come this morning. >> reporter: how important is

florida beyond the 29 electoral votes. think about how much money that the campaigns have poured into this state. $264 million. so if you take every florida voter, if they all voted, 14 million of them, that would have been $18.85 per vote. >> i suspect that's the price of a decent lunch there. thank you all. americans aren't the only ones with an eye on the outcome of this election. we are live in beijing after the break with a look at how the results could redefine u.s./china relations. you're watching mbs nbc. msnbc. msnbc. who took ozempic® reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. here's your a1c. oh! my a1c is under 7! (announcer) and you may lose weight.

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after years of trade wars and confrontational negotiations between the skpus china, many citizens are paying close attention it who will become the next u.s. president. joining me is janis mackey frayer live in beijing. we caught up with you a couple weeks ago to get the pulse of how the elections were in the final weeks. let's talk about it today. how is the election here being portrayed in china and what is at stake for the average chinese citizen? >> the topic is trending high on chinese social media. there are literally nearly 4 billion views so far.

there's intrigue with the process. the real fascination seems to be with this idea that there could be violence or unrest related to the lx. state media is play iing up the images of store fronts being boarded up in manhattan and beverly hills. extra police being deployed. lawyers are on standby. the editorials in the newspapers here, which reflect the views of the communist party, are really portraying america as a country in crisis. that there's political decline and decay. that they are unable to contain the pandemic. and that there is this real speck tort for unrest relating to the vote. as far as the comments on chinese social media, they say the outcome doesn't really matter. it's being ain't china. what people are saying is that

they will perhaps miss the entertainment value of u.s. politics if trump is voted out. they say that he makes the news fun. you'll remember that we talked about the joke on social media here that he's called "build the nation" implying the country they believe he's made great again is china. >> live for us in beijing, thank you. for a more historical perspective of which this may mean, i'm joined by professor at vanderbilt university john meach meacham. great to have you with us. fist off as someone who has studied american history throughout their life, can you put into perspective what these next 12, 24 hours means for the life of this country? >> i think this is the most important single political day since the presidential election of 1932.

when democracy and capitalism were really were on the ballot a as well. and before that, you have to go back to 1864 to the remarkable wartime presidential election where lincoln was so devoted to the constitution. so devoted to the rule of law that he prepared because he thought he was going to lose. he was preparing his cabinet and the government for a transition to george mcclenen who was going to undo the cause of the war. if you're looking for a sense of the stakes, the stakes are that institutions we believe in deeply are in danger and they are on the ballot. >> so i was going to ask you about that. looking forward as a historian, it's obviously too early to tell who will win this election, but how do you think this race will have an impact on future

elections in this country in terms of the way we have conducted them and what may appear to be exceptional this time around may become the norm in future cycles. >> god and dr. fauci willing, we won't have another pandemic election. it's hard to extrap late because of the pandemic. it's become our reality that in a weird way we factored it in. i think the real historical story here is going to be less about president trump and more about us, the american people. and why so many people were so frustrated, were so angry about the existing order that they initially gave rise to trump, who then attracted more traditional republicans. this story, i think, is as much about the people as it is the president. >> so speaking of the people, we have seen incredible early voter turnout. do you think this level of engagement, if it carries

through the end of today, will continue in future elections or do you think because it is, as you mentioned, an election that the stakes are so high in it will be an outlier? >> great question. i think it's a generational one. the number i'm really looking forward to seeing is how much of the millennials turn eed out. their level of engagement having been set now will continue. jefferson once said that we should be participants in politics, not simply on election day, but every day. and i think certainly the infrastructure of a more engaged public, both because of the digital world and because of the nature of this lx, i think those two tributaries could combine to create a river of much more engagement. >> john meacham, always smarter with your words. thank you. up next, we're on the ground in four battleground states. president trump won in 2016, but

look like they might be going for joe biden this time around. we'll tell you about that, right after the break. you're watching msnbc. after the break. you're watching msnbc. (harold) twelve hundred strings of lights. (betsy) quarter mile of tinsel. (harold) and real snow all the way from switzerland. (betsy) hmmhm... gonna be tough to top. ♪ (betsy) well played. (vo) add some thrill to your wish list. at the season of audi sales event. get exceptional offers now.

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because with fidelity, you can feel confident hi mr. charles, we made you dinner. ahh, thank you! ready to eat? yes i am! polls start closing in a few hours from now. the trump and biden campaigns will be closely upon tort iing e results out of these battleground states. let's check in with reporters in four of them. beginning with gabe gutierrez live in milwaukee. what is the latest on the

fwround there? >> reporter: this really is incredible to watch. election officials here, hundreds of them are scrambling to count more than 165,000 absentee ballots. this is politics during pandemic. you see over here they have all this ppe. gloves, face masks, hand sanitizer, face shields, and if we walk over here, a little careful because this room filled up more in the last few minutes. but this is where all the action is happening right now. absentee ballots are being counted right now. several pods as well are here. about 50 people are put per pod in order to limit exposure throughout this area. you see these machines. the election officials here say that some of these high speed machines will count 2,000 ballots an hour. so wisconsin, as we know, is one of the states that could not start counting absentee ballots

until this morning. election officials here don't expect to finish count iing unt well past midnight potentially three or four this morning. but as you can see, a lot of activity here as this counting is underway. i want to send it to my colleague von hillyer in phoenix. what are you seeing in arizona? >> reporter: unlike you, we may know the results here in arizona tonight. by night's end, we may know more than 90% of the votes cast here in the state of arizona. if donald trump or joe biden have is more than a 1-point lead, this may be a race that those here in the state could be eager to call. let me explain to you what our data is showing right now. just about five hours left for voters to cast their ballots. go back to 2016 here. the number of republicans that voted over democrats was 7%. there were 7% more republicans

than democrats. that was 2016. right now here in the state of arizona, that number is just 2%. now republicans that i talked to in the state say hold on a second. we expect a surge of turnout in particularly the rural parts of the state. in their questions here among in-person voters, right now, we're seeing by nearly a 3 to 1 margin republicans over democrats cast iing their ballo here at that poll. so when you look at that what is right now a 5% margin, republicans can shrink that. they need to shrink that for two reasons. number one, four years ago, donald trump won it. the state of arizona by 3.5%. in the other problem for donald trump is independents. in arizona, about one-third of the electorate are independent voters. here in 2020, polling has consistently indicated that he's losing them by 20%. and if that's the case, this is going to be a tough night for donald trump in what is still expected to be a close race here.

let's send it over to michigan now. >> reporter: you and i have both been spending a lot of time in certain counties for the past year. for me, that's been kent county. this is a critical area that donald trump won by a narrow margin in 2016. he needs to hang on to every vote he can here. this is traditionally been a republican stronghold. it's only gone blue once in half a century. that was in 2008 for barack obama. but here's the interesting thing. if democrats are able to pull it off, it could be because of some of the republican voters. a good indication of some of the shifts that have happened here is the race to replace the seat that has not been held by a democrat in a long time. but today i spoke to the female democratic candidate who is neck and neck with her republican opponent right now. and she tell mess that she thinks a good share of her voters are actually current or former republicans. take a listen to what she had to say earlier today.

>> what i have seen here on the ground is people who have become really disenchanted with the republican party and who have seen especially with the way the republican party has changed under the leadership of donald trump, we hear people saying to us all the time, i didn't leave the republican party. the republican party left me. and that's how folks are feel ing. they don't know where to go. >> reporter: it was fascinating to hear her say that because i have heard those words almost investigator bay item from many of the voters i have been talking to. i have had five voters that i have been following closely for the past year. four of them voted absentee. they voted for joe biden. all current or tomorrower republicans. one voter came into this morning and did vote for donald trump. now over to kelly o'donnell in columbus, ohio. what are you seeing out there? >> reporter: this is a state

that likes to take pride in its a ability to predict the presidential winner. there's an old saying in pmt politics. as ohio goes, so goes the nation. this is franklin county. this is an area that would be expected to turn out very strongly for joe biden today. one of the democratic areas like the the big cities that we see in other states. the rural parts of the state, those are places donald trump has shown b strength and we're talking to elect the officials and so forth think they have been able to squeeze out additional voters who have not been identified before. ground game for donald trump, he won in this state four years ago. can he repeat that. both parties are say thanksgiving expect it to be much closer and expect when the early voting is ctabulated the first returns come in after 7:30 when polls close, expect the big push to be biden votes. that include absentee ballots that would be among the first to run through the system and then

it will be a watch through the night to see if president trump can chip away at what is expected to be that biden lead, if it goes as expected. so this will be a state to watch where the story may change as the night evolves. >> all right. that was the wrap around. thank you to all of you. up next, i'll be joined by congresswoman ayanna presley. you're watching msnbc. n ayanna y you're watching msnbc. frustrated that clothes come out of the dryer wrinkled? next time try bounce wrinkle guard dryer sheets.

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we have some breaking news right now on the stock market. investors appear to show some oopt michigan s&p 500 and nasd composites are up by 2% with just minutes till the markets close on this election day. speaking of election day, here is your latest vote watch at this hour. a federal judge has ordered the u.s. postal service to sweep its facilities in multiple states this afternoon to ensure that no ballots have been held up and that any found are immediately sent out for delivery. judge emmett sullivan set a 4:30 p.m. deadline for a status update. in north carolina voting hours have been extended at four polling sites after technical issues delayed their opening. the extension is expected to delay the release of north carolina's release by about 45 minutes. in michigan state authorities are warning residents in flint

about a couple robocalls suggesting they vote tomorrow. the secretary of state is reminding voters that they must be in line by 8:00 p.m. today to cast their ballot. and some governors are readying members of the national guard today over heightened concerns about political unrest. republican massachusetts governor charlie baker alerted over 1,000 national guard troops to be ready to provide assistance to state and local law enforcement while in oregon democratic governor kate brown has ordered a state of emergency, putting an unspecified number of national guard troops on the ground. now, as the presidential candidates close out their campaigns today, down ballot races are in the spotlight as well. with 35 senate seats in play and all 435 seats in the house of representatives also up for grabs. joining me now is one of those representatives seeking re-election, massachusetts democratic congresswoman ayana pressley. she's of course a member of the committees on financial services and oversight and reform. congresswoman, it's a great pleasure to have you with us.

thanks for joining us this hour. >> thank you. >> in major cities across the u.s. like chicago, dallas, san francisco we've seen unfortunately businesses boarding up in preparation for potential unrest tonight. are you more concerned about post-election violence or voter intimidation/suppression to the run-up today? >> well, donald trump from the very beginning has sought to delegitimize this election, to push narratives of voter fraud in an attempt to suppress voter turnout. so certainly that is a concern. but the chief combatant of voter suppression and intimidation is to show up in unprecedented numbers. and that is what we are seeing throughout the country. and certainly what i've seen throughout my district as i've been visiting poll locations throughout the day. people are clear about the stakes of this election and that it is the most consequential not only in our lifetime but in our nation's history. >> given the fact it is so consequential, are you concerned there may be some unrest? because certainly a lot of officials in various cities are

boarding up their shops as a result of that concern. >> this is the consequence of four years under donald trump, who has with his hateful rhetoric emboldened division and emboldened white supremacists. and this is the consequence of that. but in this moment honestly what i am just holding on to is the joy that i am seeing as people are casting their ballot today because they are ready to turn this chapter in our dark history and to chart a new path for our country with joe biden and kamala harris as compassionate, thoughtful committed partners to progress who will be accountable to the american people. we currently have an administration that has contempt for the american people, and it's high time we had someone that has compassion for the american people, in particular as we need to get this pandemic under control, which is raging,

and have a comprehensive strategy because the greatest wealth of our nation is the health of our people. and we don't have that right now. the commonwealth of massachusetts just hit a devastating milestone of 10,000 lives that we've been robbed of. >> yeah. i apologize because of the delay there. i didn't mean to speak over you for a moment. lately black male voters have been in the spotlight, and today "the new york times" writes that "republicans are making a concerted push to cut into the democrats' base of black support in battleground states and some polling suggests the effort has been moderately successful." are you concerned that republicans could successfully erode black support for joe biden in states like pennsylvania, michigan, and wisconsin? >> well, black americans have been the most reliable voting constituency for the democratic party. and although there has been great emphasis on the role that black women play on the ballot and at the ballot box, black men have been critical to that base as well. doug jones is a united states senator because black men turned out for him. i'm a member of congress and

will be re-elected because of the power of the voices and the votes of black men. so i'm not surprised that they sought to in any way court some of our voters to erode at our base. i do not believe that they will be successful. people know the stakes of this election. and when people reveal to you who they are, believe them. you know, donald trump is the same person who would not rent units to african-americans, who led the birther movement, who called for the lynching of five innocent black men. he's allowed this pandemic to rage out of control. it is now the third leading cause of death for black americans. and furthermore, police brutality is the sixth leading cause of death for black men. and donald trump and this administration do not even believe the systemic and structural racism exist. >> congresswoman -- >> people know the stakes of this. >> i'm going to cross over right now. joe biden is speaking right now in wilmington, delaware. let's just take a quick listen to what he has to say.

>> how are you doing? >> good. how are you? >> how old are you? >> 17. >> tell me what's going on. >> so this is the warehouse. we just created this space with the team. and i have been working on this for two years now. it's 14 teams and our board chair here at the warehouse. >> oh. >> we employ 15 teams. we've employed up to 25 in past years to help design this with an architect. >> that was joe biden there speaking in wilmington, delaware. his final stop back home ahead of tonight. congresswoman ayanna pressley, thank you so much for your time. that wraps up this hour for me. nicolle wallace picks up right after this quick break. after thk ♪ [ engines revving ] ♪

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hi there, everyone. it's 4:00 in new york as we begin msnbc's special coverage of election night in america. it's here. might be the most anticipated election night in recent memory. the first polls set to close about two hours from right now, with all eyes on the critical battleground states that could make the difference between a decisive outcome and a protracted legal battle to determine a winner. of course, either way it is very possible that we might not know tonight or even by tomorrow morning who has won this year's election. with so many americans voting