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 by mail as the coronavirus pandemic

continues to loom over all aspects of american life. election officials across the country urging patience, cautioning voters against jumping to conclusions before enough ballots are counted, and reminding people that it is normal to vote -- for vote counting to continue for days after an election. in fact, it happens every year. what we do know already, a staggering and historic tally of early votes. more than 100 million ballots cast nationwide. it showcases just how extraordinary the election is already shaping up to be as voters continue to cast their ballots into the remaining hours of this presidential contest. of course much of the tension on this final day of campaigning is centered on pennsylvania, where joe biden was out with voters throughout much of the day in his childhood hometown of scranton this morning. then on to philadelphia before making his way to the city where his campaign is headquartered, in wilmington, delaware just in

the last hour. both campaigns have acknowledged in recent days the importance of the keystone state. the clearest path to 270 electoral votes for joe biden runs through it. and donald trump basically can't win without it. already the trump campaign is beginning to signal some concern over voter turnout today in pennsylvania. a person with direct knowledge of trump campaign operations telling nbc news, "the team in pennsylvania was not as prepared as it should be in a state that could decide the presidency." president trump maintaining a lower-key schedule today than his opponent. he called in to "fox & friends" this morning, had some complaints for them, and made a brief visit to his campaign headquarters in virginia before hunkering down inside the white house as the drama of tonight's historic vote tally is set to get under way. let's go out to two of the most closely watched states tonight. the aforementioned pennsylvania. my colleague and friend ali velshi is in philadelphia where joe biden just wrapped up a

visit there. and in miami lakes, florida our friend alicia menendez joins us. ali, let's start with you. what's the feeling there? >> very enthusiastic. very positive. we don't have lines right now. i'm at the overbrook branch in philadelphia. the library. overbrook for those of you who know philadelphia is west and north of west philadelphia. it's predominantly an african-american area but i'm literally blocks from where the city of philadelphia ends and it becomes those famous main line suburbs that we talk about so often. and those suburbs, by the way, have been swinging more democratic. they used to be sort of red areas. they're now blue areas. the issue here, as you know, nicolll nicolle, is not whether joe biden is going to win philadelphia and the counties around it. it's by how much. because as donald trump has made this appeal to pennsylvania, particularly as it relates to joe biden's position on fracking in more rural pennsylvania and western counties of the state, the turnout in allegheny county,

which is pittsburgh, and philadelphia county are going to matter. i just had somebody ted me, a local city councilor tell me they are looking at turnout numbers here that are mimicking barack obama's turnout numbers, not hillary clinton's turnout numbers. in the end there are counties in which a republican presidential candidate doesn't get a lot of votes at all in some of these philadelphia county, philadelphia city, philadelphia counties, but they are looking at levels of voting that are very enthusiastic. the other thing su just mentioned donald trump's call in to fox. he's tweeted and he's said to fox because of the supreme court decision to allow ballots to be postmarked until today that will be counted on friday he thinks that's going to be a problem, it's going to delay the results out of pennsylvania and it's going to cause unrest. as you know, there's been some unrest in philadelphia in the last week or so because a man was shot last monday by police in west philadelphia. there was some unrest because of that. the national guard was in town because of that. they made very clear, the

governor's made very clear, as has the mayor, the national guard's not here for election stuff. i spoke to two voters here about an hour ago who said i don't know what this talk about violence is, they're not expecting any of that in philadelphia. they are expecting, however, that we may not have complete results in philadelphia or in pennsylvania tonight. so if it does come down to it is, you know this better than anyone because you've been talking about it a lot, if it does come down to the 20 votes that the state of pennsylvania has up for grabs we may be waiting a while. nicolle? >> thank you, ali velshi. alicia, let me bring you into this. just pick up on ali's threads about turnout, about the feel on the ground, and pick up on this trump interview this morning. one thing about donald trump is he doesn't really hide a lot in terms of strategy, in terms of his feelings, in terms of his mood. and this "fox & friends" interview belied what i'm hearing about more fluor, which is that donald trump is in a strong position in a state like florida, much stronger even than in -- certainly than he is in

pennsylvania. by the admission of his own advisers. do people pick up on that? are they watching the tone that trump has struck today and some sort of downtrodden mood that he was projecting there on national cable? >> well, everything here has been a big party, nicolle, which is interesting because there haven't actually been that many voters coming in and out. one poll watcher told me 3:30 normally here during early vote this park lot was absolutely packed. you could not find a spot. today i just haven't seen many voters going in and out. this is a precinct that broke for trump four years ago. all of the voters i have spoken with, all trump supporters, some of whom who decided late, some of whom have always known they wanted to vote and were going to come out today. i think a lot of this goes back to the fact you that already have 9 million floridians who have voted either because they voted early in person or because they voted early by mail.

so there is both an advantage to democrats built in there. they had about 100,000 more of their voters showing up for that early vote or those mail-in voting. the challenge for dchlz or the advantage for republicans is they have 150,000 high propensity voters who as of yesterday had yet to vote. so they were hoping, republicans were hoping to turn them out. what democrats were hoping was that they had enough npa voters, voters with no party affiliation, who for them could make up the difference. the other thing i'm hearing from democrats, a little bit of concern over this county, miami-dade, which is a democratic county, will be a democratic county tonight, but it becomes a question of margins. some concern that republicans have built their margins here in part because of inroads that trump has made within the hispanic community. so that's something that we'll also be watching tonight. but the one thing i keep hearing from everyone is this is going to come out to turnout, and so

we're going to be watching that turnout, seeing whether or not people turn out. and part of the reason that's important is because it seems as though democrats and republicans, nicolle, are using two very different models. democrats seem to be using the 2012 model you when you had barack obama getting about 60% support among the latino electorate, still carrying the state, and then you would have in that case, if joe biden hits that 60% number, making up the difference among some of those npas we've seen him polling well with, among white voters and among seniors. if he can do that, democrats believe he can carry the state. republicans seem to be using a 2016 model. those are the numbers that they want to see replicated again tonight. and i think that is the question and part of why the analysis you hear from the two parties is pretty different. >> alicia, you mentioned not a lot of people coming in and out to vote. is that reporting that you can apply to any other precinct or

is is that specific to your location? >> yeah, we've been talking to our other nbc reporters who are on the ground, other precincts in this area, in south florida do seem to be slow. i asked one organizer about it earlier today. they said they weren't entirely clear on what it was, that there was some concern the sort of fear and exhaustion that has been baked into this election, particularly here in south florida, could be demotivating voters. at the sometime she said listen, i'm hopeful that people are going to get out of work at 5:00, 5:30, and then you're going to see them rushing to the polls. but we won't know until we get there. nicolle? >> ali velshi, alicia mend ez, thank you both so much. there's nothing like that ground truth. thank you for starting us off with that. let's turn to some of our favorite reporters and friends. nbc and msnbc national affairs analyst, my friend john heilemann. he's in st. pete, florida. he's the co-host and executive producer of showtime's "the circus." as well as the executive editor of "the recount." as well as the host of a podcast

that he got me to say some words i had to drop some dollars into the swear jar this morning over. also joining us, "washington post" columnist and msnbc political analyst eugene robinson's here. and our dear friend a.b. stoddard, associate editor and columnist for real clear politics. i will start with you, john heilemann. this is as weird of a year, as bizarre of a context for people to have to decide who to put in charge of our troubled country for the next four years, troubled in terms of the pandemic and the economic challenges that have ensued. i know you're sort of barnstorming in a non-traditional way. what is the feeling that you get out there? >> well, first of all, hi, nicolle. happy election day. and i think you know dish think i will say, not to be overly self-promotional about the podcast, hell and high water, but there's been an outpouring of love for you over this podcast.

it's only been out for a few hours. but thousands of people saying how much they love hearing you talk not when you're on television, just in a more casual environment. and also amazement that you curse more than i do. which i don't think anybody thought was possible. but the f bombs were flying throughout this podcast. >> what a way to start. >> swearing like a sailor. >> did they really need me? >> dial it in. that's what i'd say. just dial it in. you know, i've been all over the place, nicolle the last 72, now headed into more like 84 hours or so. we spent the weekend in texas, iowa, minnesota, montana, ohio, georgia and now as you said i'm down in florida, in pinellas county, which is like the swingiest swing county in the state, and i'm going to hang out here and watch some pinellas data geeks in the pinellas democratic party count the votes here tonight and maybe give us an early window into who's going to win florida. look, i think there is an

extraordinary amount of something that you and i have talked a lot about. there's an enormous amount of fear, an enormous amount of trepidation, and an enormous amount of anxiety all over the country. you go north, south, east, west. the notion of this resurgence of covid, than it ever desurged ever, but right now it's on fire in a lot of places around the country and you see it in every corner, in every nook and cranny and crevice. it's front and center and it's in the background all at once. but there's also this other thing, which is you know -- and it's stunning to see it. is that we told america that this virus was serious. we told america. and i mean america knew this already. but we in the media who cover this stuff, we kept telling them the virus is really serious and this election really matters. and so you've got to plan your vote. you've got to do stuff to get ready for this if you want your vote to count, take steps, take measures, make a plan. you know, a lot of -- the

political class and the communications class that covers it really projected this message for months and months. and people listened. i mean, listened in a way that i think is just stunning to see. and i said north, south, east west, been all over the country in the last four days, and man, people just -- they get that this election matters a lot. they get that they are on the ballot, that the country is on the ballot as much as donald trump and joe biden are on the ballot. this is a fundamental existential choice. and they really took extraordinary proactive measures to make sure they were going to have a say in how this was worked out. and i have found that element of it for all of the fear and trembling out there in the country, and there's a lot of it, to see people that committed and that focused and that comprehending of the stakes here and then taking actions to make sure they got to have a say in their future, i have found it kind of incredibly inspiring

over these last few days. >> it's inspiring, a.b., and it also -- i mean, you get to these final hours when you're still having theoretical conversations. and just to pull back the curtain a little bit, we get the most unreliable wave of early data in about an hour. they're called exit polls. and they come in -- >> amen. thank you for telling everybody that. >> yeah. the first three waves were wrong. so we're very judicious as a network not to report data until it's more solid. but i want to ask you just about heilemann's point. people were told to plan their vote. everyone. it was not a partisan message. this network sponsored a campaign, plan your vote. donald trump didn't want people to vote by mail. donald trump disparaged the mail-in vote. donald trump, in the words of ben ginsburg, republican election lawyer, encouraged his supporters to commit felony vote fraud. so the only people that were hearing a different message from this non-partisan covid-inspired

plan your vote were the trump voters. and it might be one instance where that information ecosystem bites trump in the butt. i mean, he was told that -- he was telling his voters not to trust the mail. he was slowing down the mail itself, telling his voters not to trust absentee vote. he was attacking the early vote for months. and it seems like one of the things we'll learn tonight is, one, whether or not they believed him. they usually do. and two, whether or not that helped or hurt him. >> well, first of all, nicolle, thank you so much for having me on this day. it's been quite a journey. and i'm going to echo john heilemann's election day praise for you. you've been a very valuable voice to millions of people in just a wretched, dark time. but on a positive note, i am completely amazed that we have reached this point of the day and we have had a really peaceful, organized process brought to us by not only the

people you just talked about, the voters, but these election officials across the country in thousands of places, in thousands of separate systems, in both parties or non-party affiliated, who are devoted to a legitimate process. and they've worked so hard in the pandemic. we've had new volunteers come in and replace volunteers who were over the age of 65 and just couldn't put themselves in harm's way and risk contracting the virus. this has just been an epic event in people coming together and working so hard to protect this syst system, which is the foundation of our democracy and makes this country so wonderful. so i'm just stunned at how many people whose names we'll never know were going to do a great thing and donald trump never realized that. you had to get past them. now, that said, there will be a lot -- we're hearing bad news about the post office again. there will be a lot of

frustration about ballots. there were 550,000 absentee ballots in the primaries earlier in the year. it's really hard to pull them out in some places properly. so that could cut into joe biden's lead. and i also just want to point out thaefrg the president said and we've been talking about for weeks and months but especially the last two days, in advance announcing that you as president of the united states will disqualify and discount and delegitimize legally cast ballots in the united states of america, if that isn't a high crime i really don't know what is. and the silence of republicans has been absolutely shameful and i really hope that we're going to be hearing from them in the days to come if donald trump continues to stoke his supporters, lie about what happened and create an alternative narrative about the results and his lawsuits and everything else. a lot of people to thank today. and i'm really, really grateful for how far we've gotten to the 4:00 hour.

>> i want to say that that is one conversation that regardless of the results tonight that needs to be picked up. as you said, by democrats and republicans. and you see ben ginsburg and michael steele, they're non-elected officials, but they are the most prominent republican voices. and i would hope that if anyone wants to be a party that still stands for voting and democracy that they would participate in those efforts in an autopsy-like effort. i want to play each side's -- here's joe biden. let's listen it in to what he says. he's in will ming ton, delaware. let's listen in. >> well, i think it's because two reasons. one, my activities related to access for opportunities to donald trump. >> mr. vice president, has this clearly been an unprecedented campaign because of the pandemic. just looking back are there any lessons learned, any regrets,

anything you'd -- >> no, there's not. i mean, as you guys know, you've had to cover me for a long time, i haven't changed what i've been saying since the day i announced. and the day i announced, everybody thought that i was way off base. and by the way, i don't mean that as a -- i'm not being critical of anybody else. i'm just saying that i believe very, very strongly, i really mean it, that we have to restore decency and honor in our system or it's going to fall apart. secondly, i believe extremely strongly, and i know you've all watched it from the very beginning, that we have to rebuild the middle class. we have to give ordinary people a fighting chance. they can do anything when you give them a chance. and third, we have to unite the country. all three of those things are viewed as either too much of a reach or not a reach enough. and i haven't changed my view. and so you know, this is -- for example, i didn't realize this

was here. reverend herring, who was one of the five major leaders in the black community when i got started in wilmington back when i was a kid, when i started off as a lifeguard, my good luck charm is to always go back to where i started. we're going to go by the swimming pool. and it was -- you know, the leadership of the community from here, from riverside all the way up to places run on the east side was overwhelmingly african-american but it's always the black church. the black church was the heart and soul of the entire movement for people here. and so when i started off as a kid getting involved, i had a job with a nice country club kind of pool as a lifeguard.

i wanted to work on the east side because i knew, i played ball with a lot of great black athletes but i knew -- i didn't know them. i mean, we knew each other. they were friends. but i didn't know them. and it was a great education. it was like the green mile. you know, you've seen the movie. it's like that. when you realize the people i've known for a long time, that you know, didn't -- they lived in the middle of a city and a county that was white and they didn't know anybody. i mean, they knew but they didn't know anybody. and it was a real education for me. i'm not being melodramatic. i mean, it really was. and i think i've told a couple of you the guys who -- men. they were all lifeguards at the time. the guys who got the jobs were usually the relatively well-known athletes who they

hired. and there were people, 13 lifeguards i worked-w all of them became really successful in their lives. but it was interesting that we'd sit and talk and they'd ask me questions that stunned me to ask. i think i've told you before. jeremy asked me, do you have a jerry can, meaning a five-gallon can for gasoline. i said no, what do we need a jerry can for? we're going to go see my grandmother. what does she need it for? she lives in north carolina. we can't stop in any gas stations. i mean, things like that that were sort of eye-opening for me. >> are things better now or worse? >> well, i know they're better now. and you see things happening here that are changing the way in which people interact.

i got involved running for the county council because i thought it was unfair there was redlining in the county. people weren't able to move. that's changed a lot. so a whole range of things have changed. but there's still a great need. but what's happening is that there's people who are -- there's people who are in a position that they're getting engaged now. and it's mainly, like i said, you know, when you have guys like reverend herring, we used to go -- i'd go to mass and i'd go down, sit in his church. and we'd talk about, plan about what we're going to do. desegregate a movie theater. we're going to march for something. and by the way, i'm not making myself out to be something special. it was just a lot of folks my age got engaged. and that's how i got engaged. >> what do you think about america you that didn't know in 1972 or 1988 or 2008? just looking back over parts of your career and the moment you're at right now.

>> well, i mean, there's a whole lot. hopefully, you know, with age comes a little bit of wisdom. and what i know is that hasn't changed is my absolute belief in the american people. you give them an even shot, they can do anything. and they really can. >> if it's not clear you that won, what's your plan for that? via tweet or otherwise. because we know based on our reporting at axios that that's what he plans to do. >> well, look, like i said, you heard me use the line today several times. presidents can't determine what votes count or are not counted. voters determine who's president. this isn't going to -- no matter what he does, no matter what he says, the votes are going to be counted. >> are you going to respond, though or -- >> no. looks, it depends on what he says and how he says it. but you know, i don't feel a

responsibility to respond. by the way, as you've seen some of the articles written, this talk about there being disruptions and things like that, embarrassing repuhim. i mean, this is -- but look, like i said, i'm superstitious about predicting what an outcome's going to be. that's who i am. how i've always run. but i'm hopeful. >> early returns, what are you hearing? >> well, what i'm hearing is that there's overwhelming turnout. and overwhelming turnout particularly of young people, of women. and there's an overwhelm iing turnout among african-americans for example in georgia and florida over the age of 65. so the things that are happening bode well for the base that has been supporting me.

but we'll see. we'll see. >> -- positives that you are -- >> i don't know. we don't know. for example, if you had -- if florida came in and i won, it's over. done. if florida doesn't come in and, you know, what happens is the early votes occur in some other states, i think we're going to do well in -- we're going to re-establish that blue wall. i feel good about that. we'll see what -- it's just so uncertain. look, you can't think of an election in the recent past where so many states were up for grabs. the idea i'm in play in texas, georgia, north carolina, florida? i mean, come on. texas? >> do you think you can still win given -- because of their win in ohio? >> there's always been other traditions.

they haven't been able to win unless they won pennsylvania. there's all kinds of traditions. the only thing you know is traditions are made to be broken. there's so much in play right now. and it's such an overwhelming vote out there. we'll see. if there's something to talk about tonight i'll talk about it. if not i'll wait till the votes are counted the next day. okay. thank you. >> candidates at the end, eugene, tend to be really tired and very reflective. joe biden began those remarks by talking about what sounded like maybe his early racial awakening, talking about being a lifeguard, talking about friends who couldn't stop for gas on the drive to north carolina. but then i think answering questions on a lot of people's minds. how does he see tonight shaping up. and eugene, he said if he wins florida it's over. if he doesn't, the night may be a longer one. and joe biden saying i think the

news there was that if there's something to say tonight he'll come out and say it but otherwise he's going to wait until all the votes have been counted. eugene. >> well, that makes sense. i mean, it just makes sense. look, 100 million people have already voted. right? which is most of the people who will vote surely. those votes some places will be counted. they started counting them. other places they just started today maybe counting them and they won't get them counted for another several days. so you know, this is the point -- and it's only 4:00. right? there's a lot more voting yet to happen even here on the east coast. so there is the point where during a normal election cycle nobody really knows anything. you might have a sense of how many registered republicans and

how many registered democrats are showing up here or there but you have no sense of which way independents, who are the largest voting bloc, are breaking. which is really actually more important. and you have no sense of that at all. so this time, you know, we know even less than we would normally know about where things stand. and so i think it's perfectly appropriate for vice president biden to say if there's something to say i'll say it. he's absolutely right that if florida counts quickly and if it's clear that he is winning or is going to win florida then it is pretty much over. it's very difficult to see how president trump can win if joe biden takes florida. but we don't know that we will

get a result that definitive. florida's usually close, and close elections take some time to resolve. there's no guarantee that florida's going to have a winner of the state tonight. so we're just all going to have to settle in and see what the voters said. most of them have already said their piece. and so -- but it is heartening and wonderful that this has been just a pageant of democracy kind of day without unrest, without problems at the polls, without terribly long lines most places. people did make a plan to vote. they executed that plan. and we'll just have to wait. >> you know, john, eugene is so right. nobody knows anything. but we both have i think our reporting from both campaigns about how they see these states in this final day.

and i find it interesting that folks on both sides, florida looks pretty good for donald trump and no one on the biden side would say that they need florida. that's not really being viewed as a bellwether the way -- i just don't want to send out a signal so that people are watching florida and thinking so goes florida, so goes the country. the way folks have really mapped out the travel and the travel reflects this in the final days is democrats are trying to re-establish the blue wall, wisconsin which is, michigan, pen. democrats and republicans will tell you that joe biden is ahead in all three of the blue wall states. and most folks i have talked to are looking to north carolina and georgia to see if those flip biden. what are you hearing from your reporting that folks are looking at in terms of the map? >> well, first of all, i'd say starting -- i'll go through in the order you went through, nicolle. there's definitely the case that florida is not a must win for joe biden. there's no doubt about that.

because the easiest way for joe biden to get to 270 electoral votes is to win those three states in the great lakes, wisconsin, michigan and pennsylvania, that donald trump won by less than 1% in each case in 2016. joe biden traditionally democratic states, joe biden brings them back in the democratic column and that's it he's gotten to 270 electoral votes. that's the easiest path. the complication is that all three of those states have told us that they're not going to have a result tonight. and that's not a problem. that's not a defect. they are just dealing way lot of early vote that's going to take them some time to count those votes. their systems are set up, sometimes they don't have a result on election night. stotts going to take some days. donald trump's going to make hay out of that, though. we've seen him already doing it. that's a little bit of the complexity there and it's why the biden campaign though it does not need florida has put a lot of effort and energy into florida because of the fact that as eugene says if they could get florida it would end the night early. and i think everyone on the democratic side feels that and even some republicans you talk

to. feel like it would be good for the country to not have a long drawn-out process, litigation and donald trump chicanery if you could just know on election night who had won. so there's been a lot of focus on florida. and i'll just say this. it's true -- it was true going into last weekend that most people thought donald trump had a narrow advantage here. democrats had a very good weekend this weekend in terms of early vote. barack obama closed here last night. there was a reason why he closed here last night. because i think the biden people did at the very end here think that there's a -- it's about as close to a 50-50 thing as there could be. but i don't think anyone in the biden world would be surprised tonight if they end up actually winning florida. >> john heilemann, eugene robinson, a.b. stoddard, three of my favorite people to talk to on tv and off. thank you so much for starting us off. when we come back, election officials preparing for the worst, but early signs show that things at the polls are running pretty smoothly and without incident.

but with trump and his campaign already calling places like philadelphia a disaster, will their open effort to disqualify ballots in these must-win places continue through the night? and trump campaigning like it's 2016 all over again. struggling to make the case for another four years for himself. today he's got a pile of grievances. we'll talk about all of that and more when msnbc's special election coverage on election day in america continues. don't go anywhere. ca continues don't go anywhere. did you try it yet? comparing plans? oh yeah. they sure can change year to year. i found lower premiums - and lower prescription costs. and those new insulin savings! hundreds of plans, $35 a month. that'll save you money. so uh, mark? on medicare.gov now. open enrollment ends dec 7th. comparing plans... ...really pays. paid for by the u.s. department of health & human services. my husband would have been on the sidelines.

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there's been some talk of it. they may very well try to, you know, stop the count in a state like pennsylvania. it is a complete fool's errand. those votes will be counted. let me tell you tonight, those votes will be counted. we'll see whether they try it. but if they try, it it will be one of the most clumsy, doomed to failure legal initiatives i've seen in my entire career. >> donald trump can tweet and he can pout and he can make whatever statements he wants to make, but this election will not be over here in pennsylvania. a winner will not be declared

until we can deduce the will of the people. and that will happen after all of those ballots are counted. >> joe biden's top legal adviser and even the pennsylvania attorney general saying therapy prepared and confident that all votes will be counted and that any more desperate legal attempts put up by the republicans to throw out ballots will fail. a desperate trump angered by the possibility of waiting to hear his own fate because of the unprecedented amount of mail-in ballots during a pandemic spiraled out of control under his leadership has warned his lawyers are ready to go as soon as the election is over. as both campaigns brace for intensified battles for in play states. "the new york times" reports this. in his last days of campaigning mr. trump has essentially admitted that he does not expect to win without going to court. trump in that moment said out loud what other republicans have preferred to say quietly, which is that his best chance of holding on to power at this point may rest in a scorched

earth campaign to disqualify as many votes as possible for his democratic opponent. let's bring into this conversation our friend jeremy bash, former chief of staff with the cia and the department of defense and an msnbc national security contributor. and peter baker, "new york times" chief white house correspondent and msnbc political analyst whose byline is one of those on that reporting we just read from. peter, let me start with the reporting. it's a remarkable piece on the front page of today's "new york times" on election day in america. and it really is p as sort of meta as you can get. donald trump, who doesn't expect to win based on the vote count, plans to go to court. >> well, he said at the rally the other day, he said as soon as the polls are closed i'm sending our lawyers np that is somebody who does not sound confident obviously that he's going to win on the basis of the counts as they are currently going to be processed. and he's looking to change the rules in a way to prevent votes that presumably will favor his opponent from being counted. now, he's already railing against the supreme court for

allowing pennsylvania to -- keeping with its own procedures to count ballots that were mailed in by today but arrive after today for three days. he's got a lot of other lawyers looking at other state rules around the country for possible challenges if those become available. now, all this may be moot if the numbers are pretty decisive. but there are states where the count is close, where these kinds of tactics might make a difference. you would expect to see lawyers challenge them as they have in texas. now, they may not succeed. bob bauer from the biden campaign you who just showed may be right. but even if they don't succeed there is a consequence to this. the consequence of course being to sow suspicion and muddy the waters for an election defeat, to give first of all voters a reason why he was defeated, which is to say it was a rigged election, he was cheated. and also with the consequence of undercutting i think public faith in the democratic system that has been the bedrock of

this country now for more than two centuries. >> you know, jeremy, if i hold my breath until my brain's deprived of oxygen and try to see the world donald trump does, you can see his exasperation. right? so he stacked the supreme court. he's been telling his voters for months that the election if he loses is rigged. if he wins, it's hunky-dory but if he loses it's been rigged. and now he finds himself really seeing this race, it would appear the same way the biden campaign does. as being a near impossible or extremely difficult path to 270 if you play fair and square. it strikes me -- and i'm thinking of this interview i did with a golf writer who talked about how donald trump cheats at golf. it would seem that no matter what happens if donald trump wins the way donald trump thinks the only way he can win, it would appear by cheating through legal action. it will again be this conseco of

the trump presidency that he needs to cheat to prevail. >> yeah. and the cheating is on so many levels. he claims he won golf tournaments he never even played in. but nicolle, if i recall correctly, you and i first met 20 years ago around the florida recount. and obviously, since then there's been such a hyperfocus on what happens when there are controversies around elections. but i want to make clear that first of all, if you're listening right now or you're watching, you're going to be heading out to the polls after work, stay in line. your vote will count. at the end of the day the state authorities will make sure that every vote that comes in will be processed and counted notwithstanding whatever donald trump and his legal henchmen claim. by the way, it's not just that they're going to rush into the courthouse after voting closes. they're already there. a story just broke in the last hour out of nevada, out of clark county where the trump campaign has already sued to try to invalidate mail-in ballots. we know that the trump campaign has been trying to do the same thing in pennsylvania. and by the way, they have lost

every single lawsuit they have filed. the pennsylvania supreme court, for example, has said very clearly, very unambiguously, and of course the u.s. supreme court has kept that rule in place, that any vote, any ballot that comes in over the next three days, if it's mailed by the end of today, if it's postmarked by today, will be counted. >> peter, you've covered a lot of presidents and you cover this one. i wonder what you think of the tone he struck on fox & friends, attack brian kilmeade and his co-anchors for not being the fox of four years ago. >> yeah, look, anybody who in any way disappoints him, no matter how supportive they have been, is going to incur his wrath. and what's really striking of course is to see it on "fox & friends" because really there's been no single television show that's been more important to the rise of president trump at least politically, right? maybe you could say "the apprentice." but the truth is when he got started on his quest for the presidency the place he did it was "fox & friends," a place he

was calling in to week after week after week. it really sort of put him in touch with conservative fox voters. was the "fox & friends" show. so for him to lash out i think indicates some frustration. i was also struck by his comments at his headquarters today where he kind of ruminated on whether or not he might lose. he says winning is easy, losing is hard, especially for me. that suggests to me somebody who is aware that he may not come out again the way he did four years ago when he won that sort of inside straight of an election by capturing the electoral college but not the popular vote. >> jeremy, let me give you the last word on just what the rhetoric out of the president looks like from foreign capitals. to see a president talking and the "new york times" reporting on the front page of their newspaper that the president recognizes that he doesn't necessarily have a political path to victory but is pursuing a legal one, how does that look? >> well, nicolle, in our entire

history we've had peaceful transfers of power. and the presidential election is the crown jewel of our democracy. when we go around the world and we talk to foreign leaders, countries, both friends and foes, we oftentimes talk about our presidential elections, our peaceful transfers of power. and for a president of the united states, the symbol of america for better or for worse, to sort of denigrate the values, the norms, the idea that we could have a lawful election, a peaceful transfer of power, i think just shows you how much american power has been undermined by what president trump has done. and we're going to find it's going to be very difficult to achieve our objectives on a global stage if president trump is re-elected or if he has his way about how the next day or the next several weeks go. >> jeremy bash, peter baker, i know one thing for sure no, matter what happens tonight we will be calling on both of you to talk us through it early and often. thank you both for making time for us today. up next for us, we'll get a sense of the fork in the road these candidates are at with just a few hours until polls

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mr. president, you have made an acceptance speech? >> no, i'm not thinking about concession speech or acceptance speech yet. hopefully we'll be only doing one ever those two. and winning is easy. losing is never easy. not for me, it's not. i think we're going to have a great night. but it is politics and it is elections and you never know. >> never know. joining us now is the co-founders of the lincoln project rick wilson an eddie glieb from the princeton department of african-american studies and our dear friend and brand and mark marketing expert donnie deutsche. what do you think of the trump sound bite. he sounds almost contemplateive.

>> i like a trump sound bite like today from a.p. he said, this isn't about, yeah, it is about me, when you think about it. donald j. trump. and if you know about a referendum, he loses. an that is it. and i could look at it from 10,000 feet up or look down and go this is about obama voters going to trump and there is a big difference between where the voters are landing right now in the polls. and i think think speaking fts referendum of donald trump, he made one decision in january and said i'm a war time president and i'll protect you, we would be looking at a landslide for donald trump. instead i think we're looking at a landslide for democrats tonight. i think believe good versus evil and right versus wrong and a congratulations to rick wilson on a fawn job that lincoln project, some of the best

advertising i've seen in my career. >> rick wilson, you turned into thinto the structural race that it is. a referendum on donald trump with your unyielding unrelentless ass kicking of donald trump and his children and his campaign advisers. and everything about his presidency that felt so screwed up. what is the closing kick in the teeth from the lincoln project? >> the closing kick in the teeth is that america sos out there right now. they are in the streets. they are voted early. they have delivered their verdict. we're seeing the turnout in what a republican areas today is a anemic. we're seeing that democrats are coming out even on election day after having already kicked his ass on early voting. and the judgment of the people is here. today it is happening. no ad that we could make could convince people more effectively than what they're seeing in their daily lives and he

mishandled the pandemic and they're done and finished, they're out. they're going to stay in line and folks stay in line if you're in line, but the folks that stay in line right now, they're standing there waiting in the heat and the cold and everything else across this whole country. they are determined to push this man out of office. and it is coming. it's coming. we thought it might have been a 1980 election. it might, might be a 1964 election. where it is a cataclysm for the gop. >> your voice has been one that has cut through, i think sharper than just about anyone else on the sorrow that you feel and that donald trump has brought about. how are you feeling today? >> my gut tells me that we're in for historic night. i think we're going to see an extraordinary turnout across demographics.

we'll see the shift in the center of political gravity of our politics more generally. because, nicolle, we face an election that is taking place in the context of a moral reckoning. our democracy is on the ballot. it is not just trump. our democracy is on the ballot. and what we're seeing and what we've seen is that americans are showing up, all of us are showing up and we're going to take care of business tonight so that we could get about the hard work that november 4th will inaugurate. we'll take care of business tonight because the hard work begins the day after, right, november 4th and 5th. so i'm feeling good. i'm feeling excited right now. >> i have nothing but bottomless love for all three of you and i could not let you be the exclamation point under in rick's case however you put a bad word in pufrnctuation, than you for jumping on the air for us. i am going to duck out about

turn over our network coverage to my colleague chris hayes. i'll be back with rachel, joy, brian, steve kornacki at big board starting at 6:00. but stay right where you are. chris hayes continues our coverage after a quick break. steve kornacki will have the first exit polls. don't go anywhere tonight. ol pls don't go anywhere tonight. - i'm szasz. [norm] and we live in columbia, missouri. we do consulting, but we also write. [szasz] we take care of ourselves constantly; it's important. we walk three to five times a week, a couple miles at a time. - we've both been taking prevagen for a little more than 11 years now. after about 30 days of taking it, we noticed clarity that we didn't notice before. - it's still helping me. i still notice a difference. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. ♪

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good afternoon from new york. i'm chris hayes and we're now officially one hour away from the first polls in the country closing in parts of indiana as well as kentucky on an election day in america where basically no news so far is good news. that is what i want to explain. noib wants a lot of incidents and reports of wrong doing and so far things seem to be progressing smoothly