Welcome to the program. Its been 24 hours since voting ended in the u. S. President ial election and there remains no clear winner democratic challenger joe biden and President Trump along with america and the rest of the world are waiting for results as ballot counting continues in a few key battleground states this election is demanding patience and call from everyone but the president has already claimed victory and hes alleging voter fraud without presenting any evidence joe biden has called for patience but his supporters are confident that hes on track to win so lets look at the results that are significant at this last hour our figures are showing that Vice President ial democratic candidate joe biden with 248 electoral votes to incumbent president Donald Trumps 214 electoral votes that puts joe biden just 22 Electoral College votes away from the 270 that one of these men needs to win to claim the presidency now counting is done in michigan and biden is has won that state which has 16 electoral votes the vote there was really close the win in michigan leaves him chasing just 6 more Electoral College votes which leads us out west to nevada with 6 votes on offer joe biden here maintains his lead in nevada and those other states until the end of counting which would give him enough Electoral College votes to become the next president of the United States and our figures also indicate hes won the state of wisconsin and the 10 electoral votes that go with it. And then lets again go back out west to arizona 11 Electoral College votes its a tense and tight race joe biden is currently leading with 84 percent of the votes counted with 51 percent of the vote out would be a big win for joe biden the democrats historically a republican state but its a long time and a lot of counting still ongoing the president ial race is still very much open and just a short while ago joe biden expressed confidence about the state of the race to see address supporters from his home state of delaware my fellow americans yesterday once again proved that democracy is the heartbeat of this nation yes it has been has been the heartbeat of this nation for 2 centuries and even in the face of a pandemic more americans voted this election than ever before in American History over 150000000 people cast their vote i think this is extraordinary. And if we had any doubts we should have any longer but a government of by and for the people is very much alive very much alive in america here the people rule power cant be taken or certain it flows from the people it is their will that terminates who will be the president of the United States and there were alone and now after a long night of county its clear that were when you know states to reach 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency im not here declare that weve won but i am here to report the count is finished we believe we will be the winners of all those counted. We have won wisconsin by 20000 votes virtually the same margin of President Trump won that state 4 years ago in michigan we lead by over 35000 votes and its growing a substantially bigger margin and President Trump won michigan in 2016 michigan will complete his votes soon maybe as early as the day and i feel very good about pennsylvania virtually all the remaining balance to be counted are cast by mail and weve been winning 78 percent of the votes by mail in pennsylvania we flipped arizona and the 2nd district of nebraska of special significance to me is that weve won with the majority of the American People and every indication is that that majority will grow of the popular vote lead of nearly 3000000 votes and every indication is that will grow as well indeed senator harris and i are on track to win more votes than any ticket in the history of this country that ever won the presidency and vice presidency over 70000000 votes im very proud of our campaign only 3 president ial campaigns in the past have defeated an incumbent president when its finished god willing well be the 4th thats is a major achievement this is a major achievement and its been a long and Difficult Campaign but its been a more difficult time for our country a hard time weve had a hard campaigns before we faced hard times before. So once this election is finalized and behind us it will be time for us to do what weve always done as americans to put the harsh rhetoric of the campaign behind us to lower the temperature to see each other again to listen to one another tweet to hear each other again and respect and care for one another to unite to heal to come together as a nation i know this wont be easy im not naive neither of us are i know how deep and hard the opposing views are in our country on so many things but i also know this is well to make progress we have to stop treating our opponents as enemies we are not enemies what brings us together as americans is so much stronger than anything that can terrorists apart so let me be clear i we are campaigning as a democrat but i will govern as an american president or the president the presidency itself is not a partisan institution its the one office in this nation that represents everyone and it demands a duty of care for all americans thats precisely what i will do our i will work as hard for those who didnt vote for me as i will for those who did vote for me now every vote must be counted no ones going to take our democracy away from us not now not ever america is come too far america is far too many battles americas endured too much to ever let that happen we the people. Will not be silenced we the people will not be bullied we the people will not surrender my friends im confident will emerge victorious but this will not be my victory alone or our victory alone would be a victory for the American People for our democracy for america there will be no blue states and red states when we were just the United States of america god bless you all and may god protect our troops. Lets get more now from our team all of our sally is in delaware right where biden was speaking all over on Election Night or the charlie theyre after were used to acceptance speeches or concession speeches this was neither of them you know what do you make of it. Thats right william he was a lot more careful in his tone than President Trump last night thats for sure he was cautiously optimistic his words where hes not declaring victory but when all votes are counted and thats where you can really hear the optimism then he believes he will be the winner and it is true that in the meantime michigan was called for biden wisconsin was called so if you look at the Electoral College map. He wouldnt even need pennsylvania if he wins every zona and if so it doesnt look like a clear path to victory for joe biden but he again was careful in his words and really trying to be a unifier here of being someone who brings the nation together after these really bitter times of division and after a really bitter Fought Campaign and biden winning these states its razor thin margins even within the margin of error whats whats whats Donald Trumps next move. The time come pain already announced that they would take it to court they want to stop the vote counting that is still underway in pennsylvania they want to challenge the results in wisconsin but then again and that is what joe biden also made clear in the end what apply is are the rules of democracy and the rules that are set for any democratic election and in this case they are arguing that the votes have to be counted until the end and then you will see who the winner is trump has been making the case that the mail in ballots fraudulent he does not have any proof or that hes been repeating that over and over again in recent hours also on twitter if he doesnt have any proof for that of course but that has been the strategy to discredit all the mail in ballots that are still being counted as we speak right now because he knows where. Very well that these mail in ballot ballots are largely cast by democratic voters. And what is your assessment there are multiple states out there still counting votes when do you think were going to have a final result thats difficult to say because also obviously there are challenges still on the way it could be taken to court in some cases when we look at pennsylvania that of course is a state with 20. 4 grab a very crucial state then we might have results by friday as they just started counting today and making progress there but there are still some 100000 votes to be counted there and a similar situation that is looking similar in several other states as well all right all over soweth there in wilmington delaware thanks very much stick with us. Now numbers are coming in thick and fast and they are changing which is all the more reason we have to be so patient and so careful we want to recap our results weve got a little bit ahead of ourselves numbers are changing some of the pollsters have called michigan but a. P. Associated press which we and many other networks are following they havent so lets have a look at what a. P. Is calling at this very moment now there and that means our figures are showing by them currently with 248 electoral votes incumbent president doll trump 214 joe biden with 20 to 22 Electoral College votes away from that magic number of 270 that you need to win the presidency now when it comes to wisconsin that very very tough state up in the midwest our figures show that he has one joe biden has won wisconsin 95 percent of the votes counted by a razor thin margin just point 6 percent of the vote so we can expect a challenge there and then out west in arizona really tough state that democrats very much want to win it looks like that that has happened joe biden with 51 percent of the vote in arizona to donald trump 47. 00 still counting some votes but a. P. Is saying this is firmly in joe bidens category a traditionally republican state now in joe biden the democrats hands now michigan is the big one we called that from michigan other people call that from michigan we are taking that back because the margin is just much too thin to make a call for it biden is however leading this race with 49. 6 percent of the vote 96 percent of the vote is counted that 4 percent thats remaining that is coming from some very very careful counties for example around detroit which should have a lot of democratic voters but we just dont know where its going to go a. P. Doesnt know so we are not calling this for either candidate just yet the vote is still close but a win in michigan could leave him chasing. Just 6 more Electoral College votes which brings us to those 6 cala lets roll call votes in nevada back out west the empty desert state but still some important voters there nevada has joe biden up by just again less than one percent 49. 2 percent for the democratic challenger with 67 percent of the votes counted theres still a lot of mail in ballots left to go nevada recently saying that theyre actually released some more results tonight rather than tomorrow so we might have some new updates for you very very soon but the race is extremely tight the counting is going on we dont know anything until its finished until we have full votes regardless of what either candidate says so lets all take a breath and look at this map very carefully and lets get more i think we have an os if on the line i mean. So tell me state of wisconsin state of wisconsin what can we discern from this. Well i think wisconsin is a really interesting case because. It has been declared for joe biden by a slim margin by 20 of around 20000. 00 votes but as biden pointed out in his speech thats about the same margin that trump won it from Hillary Clinton in 2016 but this year is different because trump says hes going to challenge the vote count there and order a recount now what biden was pointing out is we offered you a concession in that state the democrats offer the republicans a concession in that state in 2016 which trump is obviously not going to return that favor which says a lot about this election it looks like trump is in it for the long haul he has so far made challenges to each state that has been called by one network or another michigan and wisconsin and this hes used as evidence quote unquote evidence that there have been large sums of ballots found last minute which of course is just being counted not found anywhere a lot of cities which lean democratic were counted later in the election early this morning so thats what youre seeing going on there i just want to point out that in Wisconsin Republicans are actually in control of the vote count there its a Republican Controlled Senate so what youre seeing is donald trump challenging the count in wisconsin of. Electoral commission overseen by republicans its just not adding up for a lot of republicans so it seems that donald trump is leading this charge but its going to end up in chords anyway and we should note that it is wisconsin and michigan that are typically democratic strongholds donald trump really surprised a lot of people with a win there in 2016 what are trumps remaining paths to victory here whether through the ballot box or through other other means. Is looking very slim now a lot slimmer than it was late last night if you wins North Carolina pennsylvania and georgia that still would not be enough to put him over the edge he would also have to win nevada arizona is not looking good so it might actually come down to nevada this point or if michigan when they finish counting the votes trump is up there that could also be a path to victory for him but its not looking too good for the president i think hes aware of that you could see in a speech he made last night where he was almost see the ng that this election was being stolen from him you could see that he believed it himself that he believes his own narrative that democrats have somehow rigged this against him but the burden of proof is on him hes not in charge of the courts as much as the Republican Party has put republican nominees on courts around the country hes not in charge of the courts so this is kind of out of his hands at this point its unprecedented for a sitting president to challenge the results this way before the vote has even been counted but thats donald trump signature to make unprecedented claims and wait for the courts to strike it down and we should note that when these margins of victory are so narrow like were seeing them the losing side does often have the right to challenge and call for a recount when were having such thin thin margins like were seeing such as in wisconsin you know joe biden touched on income incumbency i mean that normally the incumbent wins reelection gets that 2nd term just how historically significant is it if joe biden really is successful by getting over that to 70 mark. That would certainly certainly be a big victory for the democrats here but keep in mind theyre expecting a landslide donald trump has also been unprecedented in terms of his unpopularity as president and his divisiveness. His base of course the people who voted for him are absolutely devoted to him and a lot of cases but to lose to lose or win to donald trump by such a slim margin would in some for some democrats be a defeat in itself so while this would be historic defeat of an incumbent president s only happened a handful of times in American History i think democrats were looking for a much bigger win here which they havent gotten so a lot of disappointed democrats but of course joe biden is looking to pull off a very slim win here and just goes to show just how tricky the Electoral College is and what role it plays in United States president ial elections i mean as of in washington d. C. Thank you very much. President trump is claiming to have won the election and his promise to contest the ballot count and dispute it ive raised the specter of a disputed outcome. Report on whats likely to happen next. Donald trump versus joe biden both were determined to win the election but neither of them has emerged as a clear winner the u. S. Could be in for days even weeks of uncertainty the Record Number of ballots sent by mail will now become the focus of a bitter fight. Absentee ballots made it easier for americans to vote amid the coded 1000. 00 pandemic but absentee ballots are also more likely to be delayed slowed down by mistakes or even rejected something that is now dictating a bents across the u. S. We will 1st see fights oh over whether certain absentee ballots should be counted or not be counted with the Election Administrators in those states it wont be surprising if whichever side loses those battles runs to court to try to get a court to overturn it with election day over the clock is ticking there are a couple of dates to keep in mind december 8th is safe harbor day that is the deadline for states to declare a result if they want to guarantee that their decision will count towards the national outcome. The next deadline on december 14th the Electoral College has to vote that is the body that actually elects the president the state select either republican or democratic electors depending on the results. If there is still a dispute at that point it could get really complicated both sides might claim victory that means states could end up with opposing groups of electors one for biden another for Trump Congress would be forced to decide between them but if we get to that point were already in a dark. Dangerous place and if the process drags out over some significant period of time even though the media is preaching patience to the public i think in our social media toxic political culture that could become a more explosive situation. Fairly quickly some americans worry that a more explosive situation could look like this the president s supporters and opponents fighting on the streets if there was no clear result for several days or even weeks Law Enforcement and even the military could be called in to bring things under control and what about another scenario that democrats fear and that President Trump himself has refused to rule out that the ballots show the president losing but he refuses to accept the result and tries to hang on to the presidency. Well the current president s term ends on january 20th by virtue of the constitution period i would assume that any officials who might need to be involved in making sure that transition happens will follow the commands of the newly elected President Biden because he would be the president the legal fight started months ago the democrats and the republicans have amassed an army of lawyers who have already been clashing in court over how and when ballots should be counted now they will push that legal battle as far as it takes to decide the outcome of the election. Now were all laser focused on the race for the white house but there are other elections going on American Voters are choosing more than just a president theyre choosing their house and the senate lets look at some of that republican senator Susan Collins from maine has claimed victory in her race for her senate seat the democrats identified collins seat as one of their key targets in what looks like a failed attempt to take control of the senate away from republicans. Democrats in the house are meanwhile forecast to hold their majority their left wing democrat Alexandria Ocasio Cortez was reelected as were 3 of her like minded Congress Women also known as the squad who are well known for challenging washington centrist or conservative status quo. And republican Marjorie Taylor green who previously expressed support for the q a non Conspiracy Theory has comfortably want a house seat in georgia President Donald Trump boosted her candidacy calling her a quote future republican star to announce supporters assert that trump is secretly waging a battle against pedophiles in the Us Government and the Democratic Party for which there is of course no evidence. As governments around the world wait for the results of this election here in germany people and policymakers have been giving their views on events unfolding across the atlantic. All these u. S. Citizens sent in their ballots by mail ballots that donald trump alleges were fraudulent in many cases to democrats abroad gathered in front of the u. S. Embassy in berlin to protest against the latest from the u. S. President today we are here because we believe that the votes must be counted the votes to come in and many were postmarked and it is not illegal to count them after the election i find it absolutely abhorrent what hes saying this got a language as large to be tolerated thing credibly disappointing that from the president of the United States for the sitting president democratically elected sitting president who himself voted by mail to say that voting by mail is a fraud. I mean well if at the pattern of behavior that donald trump lives in his own reality it is true that donald trump has certainly voted by man in the past as long as the official results of the election remain unknown to German Government were not full of the comment on the outcome but individual politicians have reacted to transfer of claims and premature announcement of victory. Mines and we should all insist that democratic elections are allowed to be completed that means only over when all votes have been counted every citizen must have the chance to influence the result was to only vote to get some type declaring it serve the winner at this stage is something i consider irresponsible and extremely problematic. We are concerned about the situation in the usa we hope that there are no riots and. No problems with. Regard to the security. But we are also very keen on fostering the ties between our 2 governments here in the capital belin opinions are divided on the outcome of the election. We go with this is really i think donald trump is the right president of the United States is. Not finished until all the ballots are counted. Trying to clarion himself the winner in such a close race is a bit strange to put it mildly. Its not clear when the results will be finalized but in the meantime all eyes here in germany are in washington. Youre watching d. W. News up next focus on europe for more news always check out our website w dot com follow us on instagram and twitter d w news i want to look cross remember keep calm and keep counting votes thanks for watching. This for me. Is for you. Beethoven is for. Is for the. Beethoven is for costs. Of it is for every one. Beethoven 2020250th anniversary here on. Dont you mean yes yes we can you can hire last years german chancellor well bring you a glass map call as youve never tried to have a surprise yourself with what is supposed to receive medical relief what moves and want. To talk to people who follow along the way admirers and critics alike how is the worlds most powerful woman shaping public and joining us from eccles last hour. Hello and welcome to focus on europe im liable its great to be back here in europe the coronavirus pandemic has again brought life in many places to a grinding halt spain is one of the worst affected countries and the government has declared a state of emergency