♪ hello. i'm katy tur. >> and i'm ayman mohyeldin. >> we continue with msnbc's special coverage of a historic night in america. the election of joe biden as the 46th president of the united states. for biden it is a victory decades in the making. the necessary electoral votes came 48 years to the day of his first election to the senate in 1972 back when he was 29. the president elect reaffirmed

his promise to be a leader for all americans when he spoke tonight in wilmington, delaware. >> i so the this office to restore the soul of america, to rebuild the backbone of this nation, the middle class. and to make america respected around the world again. and to unite us here at home. it's the honor of my lifetime that so many millions of americans have voted for that vision. and now the work of making that vision is real. it's a task, the task of our time. >> a big day for joe biden is always a historic one for vice president-elect kamala harris. she becomes the first woman, first black person and first person of asian descent ever to be elected to vice president. the california senator marked the consequential moment in her very first address as vice

president-elect. >> what a testament it is to joe's character that he had the audacity to break one of the most substantial barriers that exists in our country and select a woman as his vice president. [ honking and cheering ] but while i may be the first woman in this office i will not be the last. >> their delayed victory ignited sprawling celebrations across this country. nearly 90 hours after polls closed on tuesday. >> being able to see someone who looks like her, who looks like him is going to really help them and help other children to know how far they can go in this world. the last four years have been really hard for parents. and i feel like we've created a better opportunity and a better

world for our children and that means a lot. >> we begin with our own mike memoli who is on the road in wilmington, delaware. mike memoli, gosh, what a journey it has been since the primaries back in iowa. just tell us what was it like to wake up on a saturday for joe biden and find out that he is going to be the next president of the united states? >> yeah, in talking to biden campaign officials and people close to the president-elect i have to catch myself, guys, because i keep wanting to say former vice president. this is going to be a little bit of a process here. but it's so interesting how the day started for him like a saturday often would, sitting on the back porch of his home in wilmington on a warm late fall afternoon. and it was interrupted by just the cheers of his grandchildren and children watching television in the other room at the moment they found out that he had indeed been projected to be the president-elect. they came out and told him pop-pop, you won. and that began a day of great

reflection, of congratulations, of calls to colleagues and friends and it led of course to the moment tonight when we saw him on stage with his running mate, the vice president-elect. it goes without saying 2020 has been a crazy year full of tragedy, full of tumult, and one of the hallmarks, though, of biden's campaign and why he got to this point was the consistency, the steadiness. and that's another thing biden aides are saying tonight. ted kaufman, one of his quloechkt-ser longest-serving advisers who was part of that campaign 48 years ago tonight that won a surprise senate victory, said he's always been a man who had this test in the mirror. he always knew what he was doing and wanted to be able to live with himself, with his decisions and could live with them if they didn't go well in terms of his political decisions. the message that he began his campaign with was exactly what he took to the stage tonight, the idea of running to restore the soul of america, to restore the backbone of the economy, the middle class, and to unite the country. and i think that represents the

biggest test for joe biden that he knows going forward and one he tried to address tonight, speaking directly to trump supporters. said, i know you're disappointed but give me a chance. he's also make clear he's going to move forward with his attempt to try to pass an aggressive agenda but one that we know as reporting from the "washington post" lays out is going to require also a lot of executive orders. we can't overlook, though, as well the moment for the vice president-elect, kamala harris. vice presidents in recent elections, in recent victory nights don't often speak on election night. but it was an intentional choice by joe biden to have her speak, to recognize the history of this moment. and it was interesting. the first words out of her mouth were representative john lewis, speaking to the great history of this moment, and ultimately for both of the ticket tonight, guys. >> mike memoli, thanks so much. we appreciate it. >> thanks, mike. and as we mentioned, tens of thousands of people have poured into streets around the country throughout the day. crowds sang, danced, honked their horns. from the line dances in atlanta to rainbow flags waving in san

francisco. >> let's bring in nbc news's julia jester who is in washington, d.c. along with jake ward, who's in oakland, california. julia, i went outside in brooklyn today and i thought i saw a large crowd gathered at a corner and then i looked at the images coming out of washington, d.c. and i realized that what we were seeing here is just a small comparison from what we're seeing around the country, especially where you are. tell me what you're seeing with people in the streets right outside of the white house. >> reporter: good evening, katy. the party here outside the white house is still going strong, and that's exactly what it is. celebration. i talked to people here who are hopeful tonight, and they acknowledge there's a lot of work to be done but that can wait until tomorrow. i chatted with jill clark, who brought her entire family out here tonight because for her it was an important moment in history. here's what she told me a little earlier. >> we've been down here so many times in past years to protest

for climate change, for black lives matter. and we've been down here so many times when we're upset and worried and angry. and it just seemed great to come out tonight to celebrate. >> why was it important for you to bring your kids along as well to show them what's going on at the white house today? >> again, because they've been with us for all the protest ppz they've been down here to chant and march before, and we wanted them to show what a celebration looks like and see what people's work can accomplish. >> reporter: and katy, it's quite a different scene here than it was four years ago. even a few months ago. i'm here with olivia and venetia who were here for the protests over the summer and it's quite a different mood. what brought you out here tonight, and describe the feeling here outside the white house. >> so we were out here protesting during the summer with george floyd and ahmaud arbery and breonna taylor. it was very heavy. we were fighting for change. we're still fighting for change. >> of course today there's a sigh of relief because we feel that change is possible and

that, you know, we're just happy that we have a new president. hopeful of what's next. >> the energy out here's super inspiring. we're just hoping for change. >> reporter: inspiring is a word that i have heard a lot tonight. and as i mentioned the folks here know there's work to be done but for now it is quite a dance party out here as folks keep coming by to celebrate the president-elect, joe biden. >> julia, thank you very much for that from the nation's capital. we head out west to oakland, where jake is. jake, so obviously there is a lot of symbolism in the birthplace of kamala harris not just because it's where she comes from but also because it's what she represents for everything else in her legacy. tell us how the city of oakland is reacting this evening. >> ayman, you described it absolutely right. and people have been going hard, if that's the word to use, since the news was announced this morning.

the street behind me was basically filled with people dancing back and forth and even to this hour we have dance parties breaking out sporadically around us. it's because as sweet as this victory has been for harris and biden supporters across the country it is especially sweet here in oakland. this is a traditionally black community. full of immigrant communities. that has seen so much hardship over the last four years. when you think about the effect of the deaths of people like george floyd and breonna taylor, i stood in tear gas not even a mile from here as protests broke out here. the feelings were so raw. but then to have people here be able to see not only a city daughter but someone who comes from multiple communities that make oakland what it is is such a powerful thing to hear about. you guys know what it is. sometimes it's hard to get people to talk on camera about their feelings. here we had people lining up to

tell us just how important this moment is. have a listen. >> we're here to celebrate the victory of the kamala harris and joe biden. >> you mentioned kamala harris first. is she in your mind tonight? >> of course. she is from -- her mother is from the india and we're immigrant. we are celebrating her victory. >> we are hoping for -- that the younger generations, when they're four years older, eight years older, whenever they're able to run for anything, whether it's the city, the state, the country, that they'll be able to know that they can do this no matter what and they can make real changes. >> reporter: obviously, the whole country celebrating across this nation. there's just so many people celebrating. but oakland, you guys, is celebrating especially hard tonight. >> i can certainly imagine that. jake ward live for us there in oakland. jablg, thank you. >> ayman, today i know you and i live in the same neighborhood

and once this was announced, once joe biden became the president-elect, it was like everybody was collectively unglued from their television. and people came outside on their front stoops out of their apartment buildings and started banging on pots and pans. i was really struck and i was walking down atlantic avenue, and there are a number of middle eastern -- long-standing middle eastern shops and restaurants. and i saw islamic families waving the american flag. and i kept thinking to myself, what a four years this must have been for them as the president instituted the muslim ban, campaigning that muslims were different and others and that we needed to figure out what was going on, and what a collective sigh of relief it must have been for these families here in brooklyn. i found the whole celebration, everything that i've seen across the country so inspiring. >> so inspiring and like you said, there were so many communities over the past four years who had felt their world had gotten smaller, felt maybe they should keep their head down and go about their business and

now you can see with the celebrations we're seeing around the country that this was a moment for them to really embrace everything this country had represented. so that's what you were seeing on the streets. and in fact, it's a testament to joe biden, president-elect joe biden, who already said that one of the first acts he's going to take is to repeal that muslim ban, the so-called muslim ban. and you can already see what that means. just among the many other things he's going to do early on. but it's just one of those things that i think you're already seeing the reaction -- >> trying to roll back the things that divided the country and bring the country back together. it's going to be an uphill battle. >> and it's certainly welcome news in a lot of these communities. >> absolutely. absolutely. president-elect joe biden invoked several past presidents as he described a path forward. >> america has always been shaped by inflection points. we've made hard decisions about who we are and what we want to be. lincoln in 1860 coming to save

the union, fdr in 1932 promising a beleaguered country a new deal. jfk in 1960 pledging a new fronteer. jfk in 1960 a new frontier. and 12 years ago when barack obama made history he told us, yes, we can. [ honking and cheering ] and folks, we stand at an inflection point. we have an opportunity to defeat despair, to build a nation of prosperity and purpose. we can do it. i know we can. >> let's bring in nbc news presidential historian michael beschloss. michael, i'm going to try to ask you to do something. look forward 10, 20, 30 years and then place this speech we just heard tonight into its place in history. >> well, you know, katy and ayman, i loved what you were just saying about the celebrations all over the place. i'm here in washington, d.c. i saw and heard the same thing

of a medical student son in philadelphia. he went down to the city hall and heard and saw the same thing. it's almost like these countries around the world that were under the shadow of authoritarianism and suddenly we're liberated. who ever thought we'd see this in our own country? >> yeah. >> but i think what we saw tonight was a president-elect who was amazingly normal, with the exception -- the monumental exception of donald trump the last nearly four years this is what presidents look and sound like. they try to unite the country. they try to appeal to the best in us. they try to, you know, make america into something that is a model and an example and a beacon around the world. if we were talking about that a few years ago i would have said that and that would have sounded unexceptional. but here we are after more than 3 1/2 years of donald trump, and it's as if we're living in a new age. and i think the one thing historians will say about this night is that america had a very

close call. >> yeah, and i was actually going -- >> joe biden and kamala harris won an election. they succeeded. they saved our democracy. it might have gone away had their opponents won this week. >> and so this was the point, the work now really begins, which is there's the moment of healing but there's also a moment of reform. and joe biden today as you mentioned was talking about civility and i think a lot of people -- how many years has it been since you heard a president try to reach across the aisle and try to speak to the voters of the opposing candidate? >> four years. >> exactly, it's been four years. michael, i'm curious to get your thoughts. how does this translate into work? how does this president-elect go about fulfilling this mission? >> well, the two things are that have to be done is he's going to have to propose some controversial policies and to some extent get them through congress. to our benefit just as you were saying earlier this is a guy who has served almost a half century

in national government. if i had to choose anyone who's a legislative tactician able to do that it would be joe biden. and the other part of this job is going to be to unify a nation hurt tonight and suffering tonight and bleeding tonight. this is a guy whose entire nature is to be civil and compassionate and try to bring people together. i think he will be in the spirit of dwight eisenhower after world war ii and the beginning of the cold war and lyndon johnson after the kennedy assassination in 1963 and gerald ford after the resignation of richard nixon in 1974 when he said our long national nightmare is over. i think tonight feels as if we're waking up after a bad dream that's lasted almost four years. >> i'm going to ask you to reach back again into history, and i want you to give joe biden some advice about how he can approach the divided time we're in. not just in the country what within congress.

he's got to try to work with it seems like right now, and that could change with the runoffs we're having in georgia, but he's going to work with a republican congress and mitch mcconnell potentially as the majority leader. is there a president that he can look to for advice on how to find a way to work with the other side when the other side is so unwilling to work with him? >> well, oddly enough franklin roosevelt in the 1930s re-elected in 1936 by this enormous landslide, but who was his party in congress? they were segregationist, conservative southern white and negotiating with them was almost as tough as negotiating with another party. yet roosevelt had this ability to understand the other side, to make deals and also have a supreme sense of purpose to make

sure this wasn't just a stream of transactions but he was changing the country in the fundamental way it needed that i think most people right now believe. >> michael, can i just say i wish i was there with you right now. that fire looks lovely. >> oh, thank you. i wish you were here too. >> you have the best zoom background so far of the evening. michael beschloss, thank you so much. >> no doubt about that. thank you, michael. appreciate it. still ahead, dissecting joe biden's win. we will take a look at the numbers behind the 2020 victory, but first president trump has made it clear he has no intention of going quietly. now the big question is what does his campaign plan to do next. is dr. harold katz.

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okay, so news joe biden surpassed the 270 electoral vote threshold came as president trump was visiting one of his golf courses today, perhaps not a surprise. and in short the president did not take it well. in fact, president trump continued to claim that victory tweeting falsehoods about illegal votes as he made his way back to the white house through streets filled with people celebrating his loss. his campaign today is insisting that their fight is not over. joining us now "the new york times" white house correspondent msnbc contributor annie karney. nbc news digital senior white house reporter shannon pettypiece. shannon, let me begin with you. i think the big question today because we're so accustomed to

it as a country when there's a projection of a winner and a president-elect you hear the concession from the outgoing president. is there any talk tonight at the white house that this president is prepared to concede? >> reporter: you know, i don't think anyone around the president and i'm not sure even the president knows exactly what is going to come next in the coming days. i was told that allies are trying to give the president some space today to try and process this, to come to terms with it on his own. you know they say, well, it's something every president sort of has to come around to on their own. whether this goes on for a week, though, without his allies starting to move in and push him in a direction of conceding and graciously beginning the transfer of power is another question. but it does seem like those around him are going to give him a few days. but it's just been quiet. it's been very quiet not only in the white house because you have

a lot of staffers who just didn't come in today but also you have the chief of star mark meadows who has coronavirus. several aides around him are in quarantine. and in the campaign they started out the day still kind of defiant. they held a call with surrogates where they were talking about having rallies, where they were talking about protests and trying to fire up their surrogates and they held a press conference. and then as soon as the news organizations called this race for joe biden it was almost radio silence. so i think there's a lot of people there who are coming to terms on that front as well. even though i will note the campaign has continued sending out repeated e-mails to supporters soliciting donations for their legal fight. so there is that. but otherwise, i think a lot of people trying to figure out where things go from here and they don't necessarily have the answers right now. >> really quickly sidebar since you brought it up who is running interference if mark meadows is slightly out of commission because of covid? >> yeah, i think that's a great question.

typically the vice president, you know, would have a role here. we were not able to get an answer from the vice president's team about where he is today. i know one senior, very senior official who was just out enjoying their day, their weekend when i contacted them not at the white house, not involved in anything going on at all. >> other than that news conference at four seasons total landscaping, which was between -- at least next to an adult film store. shannon pettypiece -- i mean annie karney, what exactly was the president's day like? he went golfing, the news was called. fox news called it as well. what did he do then? >> we didn't see him again. the white house called a lid at about a little before 4:00, which is ironic because they made fun of -- they made the general public even know what calling a lid even is because

it's when you're told that you will no longer see the principal that day, and they made fun of joe biden all campaign for early lids, for having a short day. so first of all we were told very early today we wouldn't see the president again. we saw some tweets saying he won by a lot, saying -- i saw a tweet saying he won 70 something million votes, largest number of votes an incumbent ever won before. that clearly read to me like a statistic brought to him by an aide that wanted to make him feel better, wanted to show he had beat some sort of record himself even if he'd lost the election, and then we heard nothing, radio silence. surprisingly quiet while biden gave his first address as president-elect. no tweeting. we can assume that the president was watching that and has been watching tv today to see the crowds that you're showing on the screen right now, to see the president-elect speaking. and so far an unusual amount of

silence from him. >> and you know he can hear all those crowds outside of the white house. they are quite loud. annie, i've been talking to my sources within trump worlds, and i know you're much better, much more plugged in than i am. i haven't gotten an answer from anyone about how they think the president is going to comport himself in the next few months and then also whether he'd be willing to participate in any of the pomp and circumstance of the inauguration, to ride in the limo with joe biden, to invite him to the white house, to be there to show the public that did not vote for joe biden but instead voted for donald trump that this is a peaceful transfer of power, that this is the next president of the united states as all presidents have done at least in modern history. >> yeah, i don't think anyone knows. i think some of that is actually saved by covid. there won't be a need to share a limo, i don't think, because of the pandemic. so some of these things will be

out the window anyway. they'll be safe from the awkwardness of that. but i've heard people only floating theories that he could go to mar-a-lago and sort of hole up and just not come back or of course he would be at the final moment of power and attention and of course he would be there. i don't think anyone knows. and i think shannon's right, it's not clear he knows how he will comport himself. the trump advisers i've spoken to that have been in touch with him in recent days think that this is just liberal fear that somehow he won't leave the office. they think that -- they thought he was putting up a fight as long as there wasn't a call, and they thought he had a right to do that. he has a right to go through with these lawsuits if he wants to fight it. but close advisers have been in touch seem to think he would concede once it was really all said and done. and they themselves today, the ones i've checked in with, in their own minds think it's over.

>> shannon, as far as transitions go, this would be the time that a lot of officials would start freshening up their résumes or cvs or even junior staffers. certainly not senior members. but have you gotten any word or any sense if there is any movement or posturing among some people either within the president's inner circle or perhaps those that are on the outlying wings that perhaps see an opportunity to leave the white house now? >> -- senior at the white house, senior at the campaign, and you know, while none of them are saying oh, yeah, i'm at the photocopier with my resume right now, i can hear in their voice them thinking about their next steps, what their future looks like in the republican party, what their future looks like in a next administration, and a sense that a lot of them are trying to -- you know, whatever the president wants to do is one thing, but they have to protect their own reputation, their own future, their own career.

and so thinking to that effect. so what the president wants to do but then there's what the people around him want to do, and a lot of them see a long game for themselves here. >> i was talking to a couple of folks today, and i know at least one senior official who expects not to have a job next week because the president might get rid of them. i was speaking to a campaign staffer and asking them the same question, what are you going to do next, and they told me they hope to get a job in television, they want to be an analyst and they think they've maintained their credibility. so we'll see what happens after that. >> anything is possible. >> shannon pettypiece, annie karni. ladies, thank you so much. >> next, we're going to check out the reaction in los angeles and speak with a member of congress. and as we go to break, a look at the moment joe biden learned that he was being declared the winner. surrounded by his family at home in wilmington, delaware. you're watching msnbc.

after a turbulent four years washington is preparing itself for a new political era under president-elect biden's leadership. but with a nation and congress extremely divided what could that era look like? joining us now is democratic congresswoman norma torres of california who was just re-elected to a fourth term. she serves on the house appropriations and rules committee and is the only central american immigrant serving in congress. congresswoman, first off congratulations to you on your re-election. we've been talking about the emotional aspect of today. i would like to talk to you straight about the politics of what we can expect going forward with president-elect joe biden at the helm in the white house and a slim majority for the democrats in congress. i think americans once they wake up tomorrow's reality are going to wonder what can really get done. >> thank you so much, ayman and ka katy. it's great to be with you. it's such a wonderful historic and happy day today. i think every american will have

a great night of sleep finally after four long years of chaos. democracy thrives today. lady liberty is shining its light tonight. and that is because the voters chose their president. the president doesn't get to choose its voters. in congress we are returning with a very slim minority, but you know what? our congress is committed to working for the people. we are committed to a health care system that is accessible to everyone, and we're committed to bringing back our economy with better jobs and better paychecks for the american people. the world is celebrating tonight because for the first time in four long years they will have a partner in the u.n., and they will have a partner for world peace. so i am thrilled to return to washington with a president that

is truly committed to democracy and to the rule of law. >> let's talk about specific policy. we learned roughly a month ago from reporting from our own jacob soboroff from a filing from the aclu that there were 534 children who were still separated from their parents, that this administration could not find them. joe biden has said that he's going to on day one create a task force to go find those parents. if you were advising him how would you advise him to do so? >> absolutely. number one, you know, we need to reunite those parents with their children. but more than that we need to find the 187 children that are lost. we have no idea where they are or who they are with. what i would say to the president is number one let's look to the northern triangle countries, and let's bring back the plan that we had set forward during the last two years of the

obama administration. the people in the northern triangle are ready and willing and want to work with the u.s., but they need to have the political support, the political will from us in order to ensure that they are able to take back their governments and democracy. we need to work to ensure that in these little tiny towns of guatemala where, you know, people do not even speak the language, spanish, they may speak a mayan dialect, are able to come forward and claim their children without the fear that they have been living under this administration. >> let me ask you specifically about that because part of the reason why -- the big reason why these families came over here is because they were fleeing something that was even more dangerous where they were. how does a joe biden administration, how does a task force work with these local governments where these families likely are still -- or have gone back to when the people aren't comfortable going to their government?

how do you find these parents? >> we have many partners in the region that the trump administration has distanced themselves from that we could go back. these are trusted resources that have worked with vice president biden and now our president-elect biden in the past. he has their trust. he knows how committed he is to the region and everyone knows there that he means when what he says and he's going to do what he has said. so that's the big difference i see here. people will come forward and claim their children, and we will work within those three governments of central america to bring accountability and tackle the deep-rooted causes of migration which is public corruption and the drug cartels that have taken over governments, every level of

governments for example in honduras. >> there's also the question of health care. there is the affordable care act which goes in front of the supreme court in a matter of days or weeks, and it could get overturned, which would kick millions of americans off the health care they currently have. is there a way for a joe biden president with a democratic house to work with a republican senate to find a way to get health care to those americans who might end up getting kicked off? >> absolutely. americans by voting in a new administration joe biden and kamala harris, we have sent a loud and clear message not only to the house but to the u.s. senate. health care is the number one issue. this is a pandemic that we are all fighting back. we are not going to recover from the loss of the number of jobs that we have lost until we take control of this pandemic.

that only happens if we have a health care system that is sustainable, a health care system that is available to everyone who needs to participate in that. so on day one i know that joe biden, president-elect joe biden will have a plan to deal with this pandemic, and we will work with him to ensure that we can deliver the votes not only in the house but in a bipartisan way with the senate to ensure that we have protections, you know, for people that have pre-existing conditions and that they have access to health care professionals. >> congresswoman norma torres, i know there are a lot of people out there who are going to be really counting on that. thank you so much. we appreciate your time. and coming up, global reaction to the biden-harris win. and it was pennsylvania that put joe biden over the top, but he is still on track to win arizona and georgia. the cook political report's dave wassermann gives us an update on where those states stand.

so along with the scenes of celebration tonight protests sprung up in places around the country with supporters of the president coming out including in salem, oregon. joining us now from portland, oregon is nbc news's erin mclaughlin who was in salem earlier today. good to talk to you. describe for us the scene there and whether or not there's been a shift in mood since the earlier hours of the day when the president-elect was declared. >> reporter: hey, ayman. well, here in downtown portland the party's just about wrapping up. you can see the dj is packing up. a small group remains, though, mainly black lives matter protesters that are out that are continuing with their evening. downtown portland has been the site for months now of unrest, protest, clashes between protesters and police. there were those very ugly scenes outside the federal

courthouse in the summer as protesters faced off with federal officers. the subject of seemingly countless tweets from president trump. but tonight downtown portland was a scene of celebration. hundreds of people young and old even bringing their pets out to this square to dance and to celebrate the outcome of this election. one woman telling me it gives her hope. take a listen. >> it feels like all the hatred and the violence that's been going on has kind of been lifted, and i feel like there's going to be a lot more like an end to that hatred toward people that look like me, that have values like me. so it's just really beautiful to come out and see everyone celebrating with one another. >> reporter: now, about an hour away from here earlier today in salem a group of pro-trump supporters including proud boys, you may remember president trump

infamously calling on them, a far right group, to stand back and stand by, they were out having their say, symptomatic of the divisions that still exist here in oregon even with an incoming administration. ayman? >> erin mclaughlin live for us in oregon. erin, thank you. joe biden pledged to unify and not divide and to see only a united states, not red and blue states. but that's easier said than done especially if democrats don't actually have complete control of congress. joining us now is david wasserman from the cook political report. he's also an msnbc contributor and had one of the busiest twitter feeds over the past five days. i'm actually surprised when they told us you were going to be available that you actually managed to stay up this late. i don't know how you're doing it. what's your secret? how are you powering through? >> my secret is that my therapy is just to keep on tracking the numbers. >> all right, sounds good. listen, let's talk a bit about the numbers because they're telling a slightly different

story than the euphoria and celebration for joe biden. aside from that the reality is a little bit different when you start looking at those numbers in congress. the democrats control slightly less than what they did going into this race. the control of it senate still up for grabs. the reality for most americans is we're probably looking at a slightly divided congress one way or the other. >> yeah, and look, this is moderate's dream come true because the most powerful people in washington could be this band of senators who are right in the middle who decide which legislation gets through and which deals get cut. people like joe mantion from west virginia but also susan collins, lisa murkowski, mitt romney, perhaps ben sasse. keep in mind also senator pat toomey from pennsylvania who is not seeking re-election might be a target for support for democrats behind the scenes since he doesn't have political repercussions. >> let's talk about the states that are still not called yet. arizona, georgia, and north

carolina. >> alaska i believe. >> what? >> alaska as well. >> alaska as well. sorry. where does the vote count -- sorry, it's been a long day for everybody. long week i should say. where does the vote count stand right now in those outstanding states? >> you'd have to say the single most likely outcome at the end of this is going to be 306 electoral votes for biden which is incidentally the same number of electoral votes trump carried in 2016. when you look at the numbers the closest state is at the moment actually arizona. now, numerically georgia is closer right now at a 9,000 vote margin. but what we know is the up to 8,900 overseas military ballots that are coming in aren't likely to change that outcome, and recounts typically don't change outcomes, you know, of that magnitude.

those overseas and military ballots if anything might pad biden's lead buzz there are people like aid workers. there are people that work for ngos abroad, even people who have affiliations with cnn and cdc and that might pad biden's vote total a bit. whereas in arizona the outstanding ballots and there are up to 100,000 of them include a number of mail-in ballots in maricopa county that still remain to be counted and those have been trending towards trump although not quite at the rate he would need to entirely close the gap, and the biden campaign is really hoping for its electoral votes in arizona to win a higher share of the provisional ballots that remain outstanding particularly in pima county which is more democratic than maricopa, that's tucson, and also to break even even win the maricopa provisionals which

would provide him some cushion against the other losses in the other batches he's been seeing. >> let me ask you quickly about georgia since it is most likely going to a double runoff we know of i think in early january. when you look at the numbers is it your understanding there was a possibility people voted for joe biden for president but not necessarily for the democratic ticket on these two races to propel them beyond 50%? >> yeah, it's interesting. we're seeing this in a lot of different states. and there are two theories that i have. the first is that a number of independent voters felt liberated to out their anger at trump at the top but were still open to vote for a down ballot republican they like. whereas in 2018 in the mid-term their only option would be on the congressional ballot. the other theory that i have, and we're going to have to dive into this and really research it for months to come, but as we

got closer to the election and more voters started to believe that biden would win, it's possible that they decided you know what, i want to put a check on a biden administration. my vote is more anti-trump than it is pro-biden and so you saw some ticket splitting that ended up helping republicans down ballot. and in these georgia runoffs, you know, you might have to give republicans the initial advantage just because we know from past runoffs the electorate tends to get wider in a runoff, but also republicans tend to be angry, might be more motivated. >> stacey abrams might have a second opinion on that. she's going to be mobilized i think. >> we were talking about ticket splitting before the election. we were talking about south carolina and jaime harrison and look how that race played out. dave, thanks so much. we appreciate it. >> get? rest, bud. >> thank you. president-elect joe biden is a familiar face on the global stage, so how did world leaders react to his win today? we're going to head out to europe to find out.

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all right, so we can't just forget about how historic this election is here in the united states, we should also keep an eye on how it's playing out in the world and what it means for the rest of the world. joining us now from paris, france, nbc news's matt bradley. matt, good to have you with us.

obviously, this is a historic night in the united states for a whole host of reasons. but the reaction of the international community is very telling in particular when you consider who is congratulating joe biden and who is not. >> reporter: yeah, a lot of these offers of congratulations they're pro forma. this is just diplomacy 101. they were going to congratulate the victor regardless. but there is an obvious tone difference here. there's a sigh of relief where i am right here in europe that a lot of european countries are really quite pleased, and it comes through in subtle but important ways with the fact joe biden is going to be president as opposed to donald trump. and that's because donald trump has always lambasted europe, always constantly complained about its role in the world, about his perception was that europe was just a hanger-on for the united states, all it was doing was just leaching off u.s.

largesse and benevolence. and so now we have a president who's going to try to see europe as a partner rather than as purely a competitor. but we need to really stress here that, again, a lot of these offers of congratulations, they are pro forma. they are sort of just what happens when a president becomes elected, and a lot of these world leaders they're excited to see a president who wants to actually work with europe on an equal level, who sees them as partners, who sees them as allies. but there's no really going back to this pre-trump era because again, as i mentioned before, a lot of this relationship between europe and the united states it's been a growing problem before the trump presidency. so it's easy to say all of this is going to reset everything to where it was back in the obama years, but the fact of the matter is the relationship between europe and the united states has been diminished quite a bit ever since the bush years and before that. so there's no just restart button for any of this

especially for the united states when it comes to relationships with europe. now, when it comes to the rest of the world it's a little more complicated. actually, you know, trump has a lot of friends in the middle east and other places. he's coddled up to a lot of leaders the united states has historically considered pretty unsavory. >> two countries that have yet to congratulate joe biden, saudi arabia and israel. two key allies of the united states. matt bradley, thank you very much. our next hour of coverage starts right now. it is midnight. i'm katy tur. >> and i'm ayman mohyeldin. >> it is now sunday morning at the white house, and there are just 73 days until the inauguration of president-elect joe biden. here's a look at a few of the headlines, the front pages for tomorrow's newspapers. "the new york times," biden