underneath you says joe biden elected 46th president up on the screen has been you speaking that graphic, and that is a graphic and image that so many people have been waiting all week to see. racial mad yo -- >> this is the image. >> yes, there we go. yeah, i am going to leave that up just long enough for people to freeze it and capture that picture. >> here's the bunny selfie. >> thank you very much, rachel, for guiding our coverage to this point and getting us to this finish line and for the four years of coverage that you delivered so flawlessly every night during this term that has been so difficult with so many people with a majority of americans standing in opposition to this president see from day one. thank you very much for joining us. appreciate it. >> back to you, lawrence, too. thank you, my friend. thank you. >> thank you. as we enter the next hour of

the breaking news coverage, nbc news projects joe biden is the president-elect. at this hour joe biden has 273 electoral votes. president trump at this hour as 214. joe biden's projected win was called after nbc news projected joe biden the winner of pennsylvania and its 20 electoral votes. president-elect joe biden will address the nation tonight and will be joined by vice president-elect kamala harris, who will be the first woman and first woman of color to be vice president, and she has a video of the moment she called joe biden. >> we did it. we did it, joe. you are going to be the next president of the united states.

>> americans across the country are celebrating at this hour, including outside the white house where cheers erupted in support of joe biden, but president trump is not there to hear those cheers. he is at his golf course. president-elect biden released this statement saying i am honored and humbles by the trust the american people have placed in me and vice president-elect kamala harris, and a record number of americans voted proving once again that the democrat beats deep in the heart of america. president trump is seemingly in some level of public denial, released a statement in part, beginning monday our campaign will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is sealed.

every legal expect that looked at the lawsuits brought by president trump considers them treuf hrus. joe biden is the president-elect. joe biden supporters across the country have been celebrating this long-awaited victory. we have been showing you images of that. and we are joined from new york city's jubilant park. >> of course, new york is as blue as it can be, and people know trump very well. as far as you can see in that direction, there are people and

there have been people walking around singing the wicked witch is dead, and we hear champagne bottles popping every few minutes. here's a few young women and students who have been here since the beginning. did you think this was going to happen? >> you know, i didn't have any predictions but i think there's still a lot of work to be done, but i am happy that there's not a neofascist in the white house, and it gives me hope there's a semblance of democracy in the country. >> did you hear president trump say he will challenge this? >> i think he will try to put that into this country, and we will not accept it. at the end of the day he has been fired from his job and the people always have the power regardless of what he and his small pea brain would like to think. fplt you seem pretty happy?

>> yes, although biden and harris have their shortcomings -- >> did you think this celebration was going to happen today -- >> we have to interrupt. nbc news is now projecting joe biden as the winner of nevada, six electoral votes in nevada. the electoral vote victory by joe biden continues to increase at this hour. nbc news projecting joe biden the winner of nevada's six electoral votes. that brings joe biden's total in the electoral college now to 279. donald trump still holding at 214.

ron allen, we are going back to you in washington square park. >> reporter: so thanks, lawrence. the news was biden now has won nevada as well. >> love it. >> anything more to legitimize this win, we will take it, and it's a great difficult for everybody and great day for america. >> are you concerned trump will fight this and we will be in court for the next whatever? >> he can fight whatever he wants but the results are the results and biden had the most votes ever, and you can't fight that. >> if something is going to change in the country, what should change? >> i think we need to get a handle on climate change, and really take a force on that. that's our big thing. there's so much in the country that needs progress and i am so excited to see what happens. >> there's a woman that will be vice president. >> amazing.

amazing. >> a woman of color. >> when i found out she was going to be vice president it sroeltd jolted me. >> reporter: is it really that big of a deal? >> it is. barack obama, hope was his message. i think we're in a great position and i love her as his vice president. >> thanks very much. drink some champagne. i think your bottles are empty over there. >> reporter: it's a huge celebration, and you see these scenes all over new york city, times square, columbus circle driving down here from theup east side, and every street corner there are people yelling and screaming in front of trump tower up on the west side up there, there's a big crowd forming as well. a lot of celebrations. a lot of jubilation. peaceful. no violence. seems like the party will go into the night. >> i am jealous. you are in the lucky spot today.

appreciate it. nbc's ron allen, thank you. we want to repeat the news, the latest electoral college news, nbc news has just projected joe biden is the winner of the state of nevada's six electoral votes, and that pushes his total nine electoral votes above what he needed, and he's now at 219 79,d donald trump holding at 214. joining us now is one of the most anti-trump republicans, steve schmitt, an msnbc contributor and founder of the lincoln project. i have been thinking about you and can imagine how you feel, and what we just heard from washington square park, and i love that ron and everything they talked about, especially the historic nature of kamala

harris' win, but i love he asked them about donald trump's threatened lawsuits, and they are all smarter than everybody in trump's circle, way smarter than rudy guiliani, and they all dismissed them, and that washington square park is in the heart of the nyu, and it was heartening to me to hear the smart young people knowing just how hopeless and toothless the trump statements are about trying to legally fight this result. >> yeah, of course it is. listen, on the smart meter, it's not a high bar to jump over. they are toothless and it's baseless and they are going nowhere. when you look at all the people,

the crowds all over the people, lawrence, democracy is fueled by faith and belief in the legitimacy of the system. and donald trump has done everything he could possibly do to pollute faith and belief in the american system, but it's like water breaking through the dam here. the american people have fired the most corrupt, the most indecent, the most incompetent president in american history, the most lethal president in american history. he has been removed from power. the great miracle of this country is the uninterrupted peaceful transition of power that has gone on since 1797. you think about the first president to be defeated in office, john adams, and a very close election went to the house of representatives and he left

the white house. donald trump will leave the white house. joe biden will square the 35-word oath at noon on january 20th and american democracy will be renewed. the hinge of history will swing open and a new chapter of the american story will begin. the possibilities for our future are great. our dreams are as big as our country. we're going to have a good man, a decent man, a man who has met his moment and fulfilled his destiny, somebody we have known for a long time, but we see differently today, we see the american leader that we need in a time of catastrophe and crisis for the country. there are hard days ahead. this will be a terribly deadly winter of covid, and we will see two months of chaos and

institutionalism from trump, but it's all coming to an end. the trump family has debased themselves and the white house, and they have done incalculable damage to this country, but the hours of their ability to do damage are coming to a fast end. >> steve, we will be, no doubt, on pardon watch for the next 73 days. donald trump will surely pardon himself, and others will request pardons and some will get pardons, anyway, including possible trump family members, but they will only be federal pardons, it will field donald trump from being prosecuted in the federal case that michael cohen was prosecuted in and donald trump was basically identified as a coconspirator in that case. the state of new york is not bound by any of those federal pardons. that's where the legal process

seems to be closing in on donald trump the most quickly, including criminal legal processes and a grand jury in the state of new york. the only thing seems to me that donald trump was fighting for in this election and thought he might use election lawyers, using election lawyers this week to prevent him from spending all of next year as a defendant in civil and possible criminal cases. >> sure, i think the name trump will be an ep afat in this country. senators who have been loyal to him will want nothing to do with him as he is out of power, and he will be hounded by investigations for the rest of his days on earth. he will occupy a shameful place in american history. even imagine the act of building the trump library. who is going to fund that?

what is his deal flow going to be. i think trump faces bankrupty and shame. so do many of the people that worked with him. today is a day of national jubilation for sure. we should also remember that we have a quarter million dead americans because of the incompetence of this fool. we have 565 little children were orphaned by the government of the united states. that action, by the way, lawrence, was done in my name and in yours, and in all of our names, and there needs to be accountability for it. we have seen the state department hollowed out, and we have seen competency institutionalized in the

government, and it's going to take a lot longer to undo the damage than it took to cause it. we have the right man and the right woman in the top jobs in the country to begin, and i mean begin the work of accomplishing that task. but today is a good day for this country. this was the most important election we had since 1864, which fundamentally decided as we were going to remain the united states of america. or we were going to break up and accept a slave state confederate states of america. it's a monumentally good day and important day for the country. we should be clear-eyed about the great challenges that lie ahead because of the damage that trump has done. >> steve schmitt, thank you very much for joining us and thank you for your guidance throughout the campaign. you were always confident of what the outcome would be and

you were basing that on your own professional skills running a presidential campaign, and that has been an invaluable insight to our viewers, especially this week when you were confidently clear on what was happening. thank you very much for joining us. >> of course. president-elect joe biden will address the nation tonight from delaware. president trump issued -- president obama issued a statement this evening through a spokesperson. he congratulated each of them on their historic victory and told them how proud he was of the campaign they ran in unprecedented times. joining our discussion now is ben rhodes, president obama's

depos deputy, and claire mccaskill. it's here, the final nbc news projection that joe biden is the president-elect and kamala harris is the vice president-elect. >> there is not a happier person sitting in this bright red state than i am. i am fortunate to have worked side by side with both of them. i know who they are and they are going to be terrific leaders for this country, particularly at this moment. i have to tell you, lawrence, the thing that i am -- you know, there have been so many times in the last four years, i couldn't believe that my republican colleagues were not stepping up. today is probably the worst. today is the worst. because all they have to do is say congratulations. i mean, is that so hard? is it so hard for a republican

senator, knowing they have worked with these two people, knowing that they probably would say they consider them friends, colleagues, and the notion that you have republicans parsing words about the media doesn't get to decide, and this needs to be decided in court -- the very notion that there is a mere handful of high profile republican leaders in this country that have said congratulations is probably the lowest moment for me in terms of their behavior. we know there's no legal case out there. every case they have brought has been a joke. they have no standing to call fraud in this election. the people have decided fair and square and those republican senators know it, so shame on them. and i am really happy -- before you get me talking about them, and i can get really angry in a

nano second. >> the two sides of claire mccaskill on immediate display. ben rhodes, take us on the road of what you expect to happen through the transition. >> what should be happening is right now in preparing to address the nation and move beyond the divisive election, and give voice to the joy we are seeing in the streets all over the country of individual americans who insisted that our democracy was too important to stay on the sidelines this time, and in addition to doing that work, they have to count down the days of january 20th where they will step into office in the midst of a pandemic and economic crisis. joe biden has been there before. 2008 we had a financial crisis and iraq war to deal with, and that involves getting their team in place, and trying to get into

agencies. in 2008, we had an understanding of the financial crisis and what we wanted to do from day one, and then i expect within a week to start to see the key positions fall into place and building the government. lastly, lawrence, the other thing you can do in the transition is begin to prepare the executive orders that will come out on day one, reversing this muslim ban, and a whole slew of things joe biden can do right away to put an end to what we have been dealing with in the last four years. once again, have a government that reflect the goodness and decency for the american people and not just the president. he probably will not have the collaborative partner like we did in 2008, but nobody knows how to do it better than joe biden because he has been there. >> senator mccaskill, if dr. anthony fauci has gone from

being threatened to be fired from donald trump now, because trump said to his rally audience, he thought he would fire fauci after the election to i'm sure what is an imminent phone call from joe biden to dr. fauci either today or tomorrow at the latest, and this change is completely starting now the actual government response to the coronavirus at the dr. fauci level, at the level of the professionals who are now outside of the reach of donald trump. >> yeah. let me blow up, you know, there are so many conspiracy theories that have taken root under this irresponsible leader. let me blow up one about who works in government. there's a whole lot of people, and lawrence you know, and ben you know, you were there, and there's literally tens upon

thousands of people that work in government because they want to serve, and they want to be public servants, and many are professional and knowledgeable about what they do, and they could make a lot more money if they left the government because of their knowledge and expertise. those people of work in government took a deep breath today because they know they are not going to be thrown out just because they happen to work under a different president. most of these people have worked under presidents of all parties for decades and have done great work. i look particularly at our military right now, and ben may speak to this. nobody will convince me that the mill kwre military leadership is not breathing a sigh of relief today, and the majority of the military ballots went for joe biden.

whether it's the military or fbi or dedicated professionals that have no political agenda, all of them are relieved today. >> ben rhodes, the last person in the room, that's always who you want to be with the decision-maker. i had my small version of that being the last person in the room with chairman of the finance committee when he was making big decisions about international trade, social security, the vast range of those subjects that that committee controlled. joe biden was the last person in the room in the most important room in the world, the oval office. after you left, you gave your best advice and left the room and the last person the president got to talk to was the vice president. that last person in the room is now going to be kamala harris. what will that mean in the biden/harris white house. >> first of all, it means she will bring her particular

spertispe perspective, which is what joe biden would want to hear. he was informed by experts, and kamala harris -- well, joe biden reflected the perspective in some ways, and kamala harris will bring that to that joe biden. i want to say one other thing, lawrence, about what that means when she is in that room. i remember after charlottesville, i was traveling abroad and i got scores of questions that were questions, is that you, is that america those people in the streets of charlottesville? we have been asking ourselves that question for the last few years.

the images you are showing us on msnbc today, people celebrating in the streets, that's our america. i heard from people all over the world today, and this is the america they want to believe in and where people can get buy on merritt and not just corruption like donald trump. i got a message right before i came on from somebody who was a human rights activist in a country that has a very difficult circumstance that says you cannot understand what this means to us, god bless america. i think joe biden and kamala harris represent that sentiment here in this country and globally. >> thank you for joining us on this historic day. thank you for all of your invaluable contributions to our election coverage this year. we appreciate it. we are joined now by nbc's

priscilla thompson live in atlanta. what is the feeling there? >> reporter: lots of excitement and energy here, lawrence. this was designed to celebrate coronavirus patients that overcame, and we are maintaining our social distance, but you can see there's music and people are dancing and cheering and lots of biden and haeurris signs, and ao the signs that say voters decide. that has been what has been so important, the votes are being counted and this is an election by the people who have made this decision, and so you got performers up there dancing. what you can't see is on the other side of the street there are lots of cars going by honking and folks waving to those people and celebrating.

a huge bus of folks came up from a different part of the state to be here and to celebrate this election, and now they have this extra news on top of it that former vice president biden is now the president-elect. this is resonating on many people here. we no kamala harris graduated from howard university. so many people i spoke to, i spoke to a woman who brought her children, and she was driving by and had not intended to come here but when she heard the news she pulled the car over and got out with her children. i spoke to her 9-year-old daughter, atlas, and i said, what does it mean to know there will be a black woman that looks like you in the white house? she said, it tells me i don't have to marry a president but she herself could be a vice president or president. a 30-year-old woman, an indian woman was telling me her mom, as

soon as the news broke was texting her and couldn't believe it, and all day her relatives from india have been telling her how excited they are about the historic election. i should point out this is happening as ballots are still being counted here in georgia. the race is still here too close to call. people tell me they wanted the ballots to be counted, and if a recount is necessary they want that, because they want to know what the people decided and this is what they want. lawrence, a lot of excitement and energy. there's about four miles up the road a stop the steal rally happening with trump supporters. there are around a few dozen people from what we can see, and this is really where the celebration seems to be today. lawrence. >> nbc's prau seiscilla thompso.

thank you for that report. now we are joined by phone by joy reid, and joy, i just want you to open your heart and mind with your reaction to this historic news that joe biden is the president-elect and kamala harris is the vice president-elect of the united states of america. >> lawrence, thank you for having me on. it's great to talk with you. i saw that rachel was on earlier. i feel like she, nicole and i were usually sitting close to a six-foot distance on the set, and now we are thousands and thousands and thousands of feet apart, but i feel like we are in one accord. you know, i just heard priscilla and saw her in atlanta. i just came from times square where there was similar jubilation. i don't know if you can hear it faintly in the background, and i am central park where there is another street party going, and

i am hearing from friends people in harlem and in union square are celebrating. new york is full of joy and jubilation. this is donald trump's home city. there is just an air of relief of joy -- it feels like we can move on and sleep tonight, like we can actually breathe again. i have to tell you, for blacks folks this morning, you know, the guy that drove me into my covid set, which is where i was when i heard joe biden had crossed 270, i was getting my nose swabbed at the time this happened so i missed it completely. >> joy, let me get this down second by second for the audience. you are going through your covid test. i had one thursday, and i get one pretty much every week now, and so the thing is -- was the thing in your nose when you got

the news? was it going from one nostril to the other? where were you exactly? >> the worst part is the second nasal swab. i was in nostril number two at the moment this happened. >> one more question. with that in your nose, how did you get the news? how could you tell? when you somehow looking down at your phone at the same time? >> well, i am not as good at math as steve kornacki, but the minute i got up and walked out i turned back on my phone and i was listening to msnbc on seriosirius xm, and as soon as i put the earpiece back in my ear i heard it, and then i heard the aftermath of it and then everybody outside that was there were buzzing about it, so it was

just after the nasal swab i got the news. i was not part of the mass jubilation that people were feeling. then i left and took a walk, and i went to times square, and honestly it's like a new day, lawrence. it's like the city has woken up from a slumber. there are people on social media saying don't dunk on trump supporters today. sorry, that's what people will do. we have had four years of mass deaths. 240,000 of our fellow americans have died and donald trump was vowing to kill another several million of us through herd immunity, and he did not care about the dead, and ripped 1,000 children from their parents without a thought. millions of federal employees,

hundreds of thousands of them have been barred from talking about stystemic racism. my immigrant family members, none of them could have come here under the rules they placed against people who are black and brown and coming from countries that are majority muslim. they banned muslim travelers, grandmas that wanted to see their grandkids. the cruelty, the hideousness of this administration. the awfulness. they were threatening to take away my friends that are married and invalidate their marriages. they threatened to take away my desperately needed health care. they are threatening our lives. they don't mind if we die. i'm sorry if trump supporters are feeling sad this morning, but, yes, we are going to dunk

on you all, because you said that was fine, just give me a few more pennies in tax cuts if you don't make a million dollars, and all you got was cruelty towards people like me. being out in the multiracial crowds, and i saw black people, brown people, asian people. this city is alive and this country is awake. we finally feel like we can both, lawrence. >> joy, i remember when senator obama started for red in 2007, and he got significant black support right away and there was a very significant block of black votes and establishment black politicians that were holding back and part of why they were holding back was the personal belief that a black man could not win the president see. presidency. when did it become a reality in

your mind that a woman could be elected president or vice president and then a black woman could be elected or vice president? >> i would have to say, lawrence, throughout most of the campaign i have been confident, except on tuesday night when i started to have a few doubts. i had been pretty confident that donald trump was going to be a one-term president. once joe biden made the very wise decision to put aside whatever anxiety had been created by kamala harris confronting him on race, for a man of that age and in that generation, to put that aside to say i am still going to make this woman -- you said it this morning when i was listening on the radio, the first decision makes is who will be their vice president, and that's their first decision, and for him to say i am going to make this black woman who has indian

heritage and immigrant heritage, i will make her the last person in the room when high make decisions, to me it was his most wise decision, because every black woman i know suddenly felt that for all we invested, for all shirley chism invested in the party and never got back, and the fact that we have no black women governors, well, we should have one, stacey abrams, and the only black woman senator is kamala harris. we have gotten so little back from the party and for him to say i will give you this thing and then add more on the supreme court. that decision, it mattered. when he did that, i think he won the presidency back today. the fact that you have kamala harris emerging as the first black woman as vice president, this is the currency of payment that black women have asked for, have demanded, and they received

it. it's so beautiful. the guy that drove me in this morning was in tears, because he is jamaican, an immigrant, and her dad was jamaican. the reason i am not crying is because i am so tired. i don't have any tears left. i am too tired. >> nbc's joy reid, thank you so much. go back out into the joyous air in new york city today, and we will talk to you later. joy reid, thank you for joining us. >> it's a beautiful day in new york city. >> new york city is one of the many places that rejected donald trump, and nbc news is now projecting that joe biden is the president-elect and kamala harris is the vice president-elect, and we are

joined now by garrett who is live in washington, d.c. garrett, there you are. you have been in so many crowds in washington, d.c. this year, including protest crowds. this is a different crowd. >> reporter: that's right, lawrence. five months ago i was on this street getting gas as protesters were getting cleared off the block. this is the exact opposite of the scene. it's effectively a block party. i am as close to the proud as i can get without losing our signal. in the crowd they are blasting music now. we have had additions to the cheers we got used to hearing at political events like this, not just which is what democracy looks like, but kamala, and

stacey abrams, and it's a quarter protest, and three quarters absolute celebration for a city in washington that really never in any way overlapped with the president who was its most famous resident. the city and the president could not be more different. the president never embraced the city. he was never really part of this town. this crowd here is quite excited to see him move on to some other town, lawrence. >> garrett, i am so glad you mentioned stacey abrams. it's the first mention of her in our last couple of hours here of this discussion, because she represents a very important part of the political infrastructure and the political inspiration that led to this victory for joe biden. you saw that infrastructure at work as you moved around the country during this campaign. it is clearly what has delivered

this victory for joe biden. >> look, i think that's a huge part of the story. you go from state to state and the infrastructure is different from place to place. in the northern states you talk about organized labor, which has been the foundation of the democratic infrastructure in states like that that had not existed in georgia. stacey abrams build that in her 2018 campaign and afterwards. that organization still did not exist in my home state of texas. that's probably one of the things that is preventing texas from being georgia and that much more competitive, and o'rourke started to do that after he dropped out of the presidential race. in a city that is more atuned to politics than any other, these folks know who they want to thank in the state of georgia and i think at the top of that list is stacey abrams. >> nbc's garrett hake.

and after joe biden speaks tonight, you are allowed to sleep. thank you for your invaluable information throughout the campaign. we appreciate it. we are joined now by the campaign manager of president obama's 2012 successful re-election campaign. he's the ceo of the mussina group. as my panicked friends kept texting me, and i told them forget about the projections, and listen to the campaign professionals, the people who have actually run and been in successful presidential campaigns, and the verdict was pretty much unanimous all week, that this was really a lock by joe biden, who as far as i could tell, and you tell me if you see any difference here, ran a flawless presidential campaign.

>> oh, boy, did he, and his team gets huge credit. lawrence, for their focus, not getting thrown off the ball and understanding the best pathway to 270 votes was the midwest, and not in making sure that pennsylvania and michigan and wisconsin were locked down. like you the whole world was calling me this week and i kept looking at the numbers saying we are going to be fine because we have the pathway. it's super awesome to add states like georgia and arizona. as you know arizona was a state i wanted to compete in both times for obama and we couldn't do it because of resources. if you just look at the new democratic party and the places they are going to be able to compete in the future, joe biden rebuilt the blue wall and then expanded it to include georgia and arizona. what is the one state that is near there that looks like it will go next is texas. i think that the biden campaign did exactly what it had to do with maniacal focus and i could

not be any more proud of them. >> joining our discussion now is pete buttigieg, the former mayor of sound bend, indiana. mayor buttigieg, i just want to say to you that it's very clear to me that your eloquence and insight is such that any question by me would be presumptuous. america just wants to hear what you have to say on this historic day? >> you know, it's actually hard to find the words on this day, because it's such of deep significance that the the american people spoke and the american people decided it was time to turn the page. in so many ways the thing i keep reflecting on is joe biden, even during these last few days was already setting about the work that is going to define his president s

presidency, which is to heal and unite. that has been his instinct throughout and it's work that began long before we came to this point if you think about the coalition he built, progressives, moderates, independents, a healthy number of what i love calling future former republicans. maybe they are just former rupp kup -- republicans now that delivered this historic change. i don't think any of us are any illusions about the challenge he will face in terms of the public health crisis, and the crisis of racial injustice and climate, and this is a good day for the united states of america. this is a day that we remind ourselves that there really is a powerful american majority and it's so much better than what we have been living with in the last four years. >> i got to meet joe biden as a senate staffer, so working in alliance and in support of him

every day. you got to meet him in such a different way, as a political opponent in a campaign. you got to take the measure of the man in such a different way, and yet i feel from our different meeting points from him, we came to the same conclusion about his decency and about his genuine interest in reaching out to people, especially when i used to watch him on that debate stage during some of those breaks where he would be shaking hands with you, and he would be going over and finding that personal moment with each of those people who he was standing in campaign opposition to on that stage. >> it's true. it's amazing when you feel like you are coming to appreciate and respect somebody more and more while you are competing against them. it shows you the kind of guy that he is. you could feel that it was authentic. all of those moments, including, by the way -- it's one thing to be gracious if you have a few

competitors nipping at your heels, but including in the m moments when he looked like he was on the back foot, he was just as gracious then as well as when he was building the commanding lead that brought him to president-elect. he cares about other people and wants to know what is on your mind and wants to get to know you. he would talk with me when he had every reason to be condescending by my presence on that stage, and he would talk to me the same way he spoke to people he served with the senate on. that's the kind of person he is, and with those qualities not only helped him earn the president see but they will be important for him in the presidency, because that simple regard for human beings. it's not written down as a job

requirement or function of the presidency. >> you met kamala harris in that same dynamic of opponents in a campaign, and so you are in a position to actually feel and know what it's like and what they are like as a team, what they may combine to be like as a team in dealing with resistance, in dealing with opposition, in dealing with disagreement. what do you anticipate us seeing in that next year since they are obviously going to be dealing not with just disagreement from republicans in congress, but there will be disagreements within the democratic party. >> there will. no question there will be a lot of competing forces and there are a lot of expectations, you know, left, right and center. there's a ton of expectation for

this administration. one of the things that struck me with kamala harris -- by the way, we cannot overstate the historic extraordinary significance of her election as vice president. something we saw on that debate stage, as she was handling all of the alternate realities coming from mike pence, which is a combination of firmness and warmth that i think is going to be especially important for her as a leader going forward. it's -- you know, she is well known for her kind of brilliant work on the senate committees, and there's the idea of kind of being able to poke holes in arguments, but now she's going to be representing and teaming up with a president biden and his leadership. i think what they both will

share and both be able to work through in a way that i am really looking forward to witnessing is identifying the difference between bad faith opposition and genuine disagreement. because when there is genuine disagreement, look, joe biden is the kind of guy that wants to find the common ground and build the biggest coalition possible, but when there is bad faith, and if history is any guide, it would be the gop, and regardless i think they will be able to sniff that out and have a direct conversation with the american people about what is at stake, because there really is a powerful mandate. think about it this way, all of the stated priorities of the biden/harris ticket are things that the american people really want to see happen, including a

striking chunk of the people that didn't even vote for the biden/harris ticket. we are talking about climate action, racial justice, a fairer tax code. these are the things the american people do want to see and i see. and i think they're going to have a great instinct for rallying american people, and unifying us to get behind it. and at the same time, frankly, putting those who stand in the way on the spot, to face down why they would get in the way of that. >> mayor pete buttigieg, thank you very much for joining us on this historic day and thank you for all of your contributions that you have made, both as a presidential candidate and after your presidential candidacy. in helping to convey to this country, what you see happening in a way, i think, and perspective that is so invaluable. politics in the deep-red state

of indiana, and the way we should see things. thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you, humbled to be part of it. >> thank you. and we're back with jim who was president obama's successful re-election campaign manager. and i want, jim, to turn to jen o'malley dylan who had your job in this biden campaign. she has shunned the cameras. she has refused every one of my invitations to be interviewed on television. she clearly wanted this win for this country. she wanted the win for her three, young children. and shae has done a job that every campaign professional i have heard from is staring at in awe. >> boy, it's true. jen was my deputy in the obama campaign and i got to know her both as an operative, where she is world class. and as a human, where she's one of the better people i have ever worked with.

just a very focused individual. maybe, cusses more than i do, lawrence. but stays absolutely focused. you just cannot knock jen off of her game. and, you know, running a presidential campaign is the hardest thing any of us will ever do, in part because, every day, someone thinks you're stupid and should do something different. and they tell you on national television. they call you and say you should do this. and the entire world had an opinion about what the biden campaign should be doing. and jen, like she always has done, just stayed focused. understood this is not -- this is not a national campaign. it was 270 electoral votes. they had to get there. when everyone was calling her to make a victory lap in these states that maybe we could win, she just stayed focused on pennsylvania and on michigan and wisconsin, continued to double down on those. and i thought it was so fitting for biden and for jen to have

pennsylvania put them over the top because it was just a place they were not going to let get away. i remember being on one of these shows when the biden campaign announced it was going to end basically the time couple days and everyone's like what? why aren't they going to texas? why aren't they doing this? and it's because jen o'malley does not, ever, get knocked off her game. and i am superhappy jen is one of those people now because she deserves all of it. >> she is in the hall of fame with you. jim, thank you very much for joining us today. we really appreciate it. >> my pleasure. thanks, lawrence. >> and joining our conversation now is caroline randal williams. she is writer in residence at vanderbilt university. "you want a confederate monument, my body is a confederate monument." and, caroline, you are one of those people to whom i do not

presume to propose a question. i just want to know what your heart is mind and telling you this morning and this afternoon with -- on this historic day. >> well, the first thing that i will say is that black-girl magic is back in the white house. and i am so glad about that. i am wearing a pin from the 100th annual congressional first ladies luncheon that my mother was lucky enough to attend as the guest of congressman, jim cooper, and which she gifted to me. i'm always wearing black but i'm wearing blue to celebrate. so that's my first thought. my second thought is i have been thinking for the last several weeks a great deal about william tecumseh sherman. and atlanta i feel i am at peace with but last i checked, sherman

wasn't done until he marched to the sea. and to me, the sea is a blue senate. so, i am thrilled today but we have got so much work to do and one of the things i feel most urgently about is making sure mitch mcconnell can't strangle democracy for another four years. so all i want to do is celebrate stacey abrams, after we celebrate kamala and joe because thank god. but now, we just have to remember we have to get jon ossoff and reverend warnock their senate seats so that kamala can be the deciding vote in the senate, and we can actually do the things that we need to do to get this country not just back on track but into a transition. into a more inclusive democracy, that doesn't include 70 million people voting for a hateful buffoonish bigot. >> caroline, i wonder if growing up with your distinguished

mother, you kind of always grew up with the idea that, well, yes, sure. surely, at some point, i will see, in the white house, a black, woman vice president or a black, woman president. >> you know, i have always had a sure sense of the value and the capacity of black women. i haven't always trusted america to do the right thing by us. so, you know, for me, kamala is a dream that i don't know i would have dared. you know, watching her on the stage when she was, you know, debating joe and vying for the presidency. i was like, well, if he doesn't pick her as the vice president if he gets it, he's crazy. maybe, up to that moment, i didn't dare to hope that not because i didn't understand our worth but because i didn't trust

america to see it. and i think that it's a testament to her poise, her brilliance, her track record, her self-assurance, that she has pulled it through and i am so grateful that she has. >> johnny cobb wrote a beautiful piece in "the new yorker." saying, to be black in america in this week of 2020 is to have that feeling, once again, that you are being called off the bench to save the game. that it's all up to you to win this election, in this case. and clearly, with stacey abrams' leadership. she was moving around the country in other states teaching what she did in georgia. we've clearly seen that, that imagery that professor cobb so beautifully put is really what happened here. >> no, i think that that's so

right. and that was a post that i -- that really resonated with me. and it sort of informed me in the last moments before i just had a piece come out in "the times" that -- about how america -- i love america but we -- it needs some chastisement, right now. because black people are always called to drag democracy back from the brink. and then, the party that we vote with doesn't always serve us. but part of that is because, the party on the other side is pulling so hard against our lives. and so, one of the calls that i make in my article is for the republican party to abandon all of these hate groups. all of this language of hate. david brooks had that a couple days ago how we need to make it about policy again. but for me, the cultural issues

are policy when policies of the right put my life at stake. when black lives mattering is a practical, policy issue to black people. so if we want to go back to a world where we can talk about policy, then we need to go back to world where we can vote with decent people who have what we are voting for. i'm not going to even consider your policy ideas if you're making me vote for the same gra grandmaster the ku klux klan does. but about moving toward transcendence. >> caroline randal williams, thank you for your insights during our campaign coverage this year. and, caroline, congratulations on the achievement of the dream you did not dare to dream.

kamala harris as vice president elect of the united states. thank you very much for joining us, caroline. really appreciate it. and as this hour comes to an end, we leave you with this image. this will be the front page of sunday "new york times" biden beats trump. chaotic term ends with rare incumbent loss. that is the first draft of history that will appear tomorrow on the front page of "the new york times." msnbc's special election coverage continues, now, with my friend msnbc's ali velshi. good afternoon, i'm ali velshi in for yasmin vossoughian. joe biden is the president-elect of the united states of