Pbs newshour special. Woodruff good evening and welcome to this pbs newshour special, on the night joe biden has been declared the next president of the United States. Im judy woodruff. In just a moment, president elect biden and Vice President elt Kamala Harris will appear before cameras in their first remarks since the winn was called. Its been four days since the nation gathered at tv sets and smart phones to watch election returns, only to discover the vote count would take longer. Weve been waiting patiently nce then, and late this morning, the Associated Press called the state of pennsylvania for biden, putting biden above to become president. Tes needed his running mate Kamala Harris is breaking three glass ceilings at once becoming the firstwo n, the first black american, and the first Asian American to serve as Vice President. We expect both of them to speak shortly in wiln and to see some of the celebration to follow. Well talk with analysts and with our correspondents, including Yamiche Alcindor at the white house, where psident trump has disputed the results and charged democrats with fraud. John yang in wilmington with the biden team, daniel bush in pennsylvania, stephanie sy in arizona, miles obrie georgia, and here along with me in the studio is amna nawaz,s lisa desjardd amy walter looking at how voters voted. Later, well review the state of the country after such a competitive and fraut president ial race that has taken place in the midst of a oncein a century pandemic. Before i talk to our correspondents, a word of explanation before we move further into this evening the newshour again this year has relied on the Associated Press d lare the outcomes of the election. For 174 years, the a. P. Has been reporting thoroughly and fairly on events in this country and arnd the world. They adhere to the highest standards of journalism. Their team of expert political observers collected voter data and crunched numbers, and onlyen hey were confident there was no path for another candidate to win, did theyar dewinners. Now with me as we wait for this importanoment, i want to go to our john yang in williamington. John, you are there. They are waiting for joe biden and dr. Jill biden, his wife, to arrive. Tell us a little bit about what people are saying. Theyre happy. Reporter well, ill tell you, they are happy indeed. There is not only a drivein rally here, people parked in cars in this prking lot, but along the fence line over here to the side of me, we cant get a shot of it, there are people, several deep, pressed up against a chain link fence. They have been here for hours. They have been here since the middle of the afternoon, looking forward to this momet. As you say, we have been waiting for this moment since tuesda joe biden has been waiting for this moment since 1987, when he first ran for theresidency. This is his third campaign, and in some wayets, this is sng of a remarkable political story, his third campaign, but this is the first year that he actually won a political president ial primary when he won the South Carolina primary. Remember, his candidacy was given up for dead at me point early on in this campaign, and he surged back once the candidates, other candidates consolidated around him and waltzed to the convention and then through this campaign and to this long election night, which is endi on saturday tght, began tuesday night. Ialked to a Senior Advisor to the Biden Campaign to former Vice President iden about this long wait, and the advisor said, you know, nothing about this campaign has been easy, so why should we have expected that the election wouldave been easy . Woodruff yeah, well, for sure. And, john, tell us a little bit about the layout there. You are at whats called the chase center, this big sports arena in wimington. This is where former Vice President biden spoke during the democratic convention. This is where he and Kamala Harris will be. Reporter thats right, Campaign Headquarters is located inside the chcase ter. Sitting in a big parking lot around it. There is a stage set up outside. Cars sort of set up like at a driveine ovie that hiven up. A lot of these people appear to be some perhaps donors. Theyre well dressed in suits there are some elected officials among folks in tir cars at this drivein rally. Folks along the fenceline, also. Nator harris motorcadeay arrived heree 20 minutes ago. Shes going to introduce something of a departure. Usually on victory statements on election nigs, the Vice President elect is seen but not heard, but i think they want to take advantage of the moment of those three glass clingss you mentioned that are being broken here tonight. She will speak for about five minutes and introduce Vice President biden, who will speak for about 18 to 20 minutes, we have been told, and then, afterward, were told tha thgoing to be a drone light show. Im not quite sure what that is im looking forward to that, quite frankly. There will be some fireworks fov about e minutes. This is a night that they had hoped to do last night, and there was actually a little bit of fro frustration among some campaign officials, frustrated that the networks and other news organizations of the Associated Press hadnt made the call that would delare Vice President biden now the president elect. They held off last night making this moving here to the chase center to make the statement. Im hearing a cheer coming , the motorcade nearing, maybe theyre seeing some flashing lights. Woodruff i want to turn toci yamiche or at the white phouse. Yamichsident trump is there and has not accepted these results, has not conceded in any way and is talk about lawsuits. Reporter thats right, the president has not at all wanted to embrace the idea or the fact at this point that he is only the tenth u. S. President not to win reelection. E president is in complete denial. Petle close to the presid said he is fuming, angry. He is sitting in the white house now releasing statements thate thction is not over, claiming he won the election, we are watching a Disinformation Campaign happening, headqutered at the white house, where the president is trying to wrestle back the election. But weve already seen republicans, jeb bush, brother of former george bush, former president , a republican, allies of england, canada, congratulating Vice President elect joe biden. Here at the white house, there are protestors cheering around the white house. There are large a lot of streetd clecause there are a large group of people celebrating he is launching a bunch of legal maneuvers trying to see what he can do, but there are already judges tossing outrguments and cases from the Trump Campaign in georgia, michigan and pennsylvania. So the president is continuing to say hes going to fiht on, but the strategy and math is not on his side. Woodrf its interesting, mitt romney is another one of those who has tweeted that the time to respect the results is now, and im just hearing a few minutes ago that former white house chief of staff mick muisaney saying the time has come to respect the results. So you do see rnsubli starting to make these statements, but certainly,e, yaminot everybody around the president. The people very close to this president are sticking with him. Reporter thats right, people close to the president are sticking with him, ut i talked to somebody who has been in touch with the president , and there arreally two schools of thought happening in the white house now. First, they want to fight for the president want to try to make sure the president gets every single legal argument heard in court. Theyre even possibly thinking the Supreme Court might try to wrestled back from thet this, president , but people who are critics of the president say its nearly impossible for them en launch some sort of lawsuit that wil up at the Supreme Court. The other thought is a lot of people are accepting the loss that are close to the president , on to the trump base. O they hold millions and millions of americans who cast their vote for trump are questioning the election. A lot of republicans are thinking about 2022 nd 2024, that if they abandon t trump t quickly, those might turn on the Republican Party. A hes stiad of the Republican Party. The bottom line is the president is in complete denial and he very much angry at all the defense republicans who comingsa oung that they congratulate joe biden as president elect. Te i should also hat the president was golfing when this news came out. He is omeone who had to drive back into the white house and see a line of prtesters who were celebrating his failure, so theres also a tough thing going on. The president has admitted that does not like to lose, that he hates to lose, in fact, so the president is having to deal with hard realities as he sits at thwhite house watching a this play out on tv. Woodruff one other thing, yamiche, the lawsus that the people around the president , including rudy giuliani, his personal lawyer, are taking about, i mean, these are serious pursuits theyre making. I think theres a sense that we dont get a clear sense of who his legal representatives are. Reporter theres no one, judy, heading up officially the legal strategy for the trump caaign, which is why all o this is really, really confusing. There is david boss he was the head of a conservative Advocacy Group citizens united, who is trying to think through the strategy here, but his not head attorney. They are claim ago outof knees lawsuitsinre serious, say there are irregularities and voter fraud but theres just no evidence of that, judy. Theres no evidence to back up the legal claims which is why youve seen judges in state after state starting to toss out the lawsuit. Hthe preside been saying a lot of things on twitter. Twitr has been having to label tweet after tweet after tweet saying its disputed information, incorrect, disinformation, so that gives you a sense of what the lawsuit and the legal arguments are, theyre not really founded on any sort of evidence. When ive asked the Trump Campaign for edence, ive gotten nothing. So the Trump Campaign is trying to make this case that the president is a victim of se sort of conspiracy theory. The tough thing of that,f course, is there are reublicans who had great gains. The house of representatives, a couple new seats on the g. O. P. Side, the republicans ld on to the senate, it seems, so the president is saying i am the victim of this conspiracy stretching coast to coast, but the republican par as a whole actually saw a good wave, a red wa said, at some point, so its a tough thing for h to argue. Woodruff yamiche will stay with us at the white house. John yang in wilmington. Well stay at the studio while we wait for smar Kamala Harris o introduce the president eict. Here with amna nawaz, Congressional Correspondent lisa desjawiins, alon amy walter of the cook pol of wnycs politics with amy walter. Republicans did well, better than expected. Thats rightand well be digging through the data in the coming days. There are a nber of voters who continued voting for republicans but did not vote for donald trump. They liked the ia of a divided government, they were going to vote for joe bi to be in the white house. They didnt love the idea of having one party ionn trol. We saw some districts that in the 2018 wave went to democrats. They movacedto their sort of ancestral home, you could sayes, cially waiting for the fennel rules but in places like orange counties or charleston, South Carolina, where d emocrats ought maybe they made permanent inroads into these places. So this is going to be fascinating, judy. As yamiche said, wedere wonng about the trump base and is it going to stick around for republicans in 2022, if they feel likrepublicans have abandoned the president . Anybody other than donald trump turn out these voters . Were going to find that out in the coming years. Woodruff i want to take that we to amna nawaz. Amna, you did spend time in this campaign talking to voters, some of them obviously very loyal who liked donald trump, and others who liked joe biden. Did you get a sense of how mh their attitude toward President Trump, if they were planning to vote for him was because of personal appeal and i how much wthe issues . Tell us about that. Yeah, judy, its interestingo on elenight, which now feels like a full lifetime ago, i was in touch wh a number of Trump Supporters who were voted for in 2016 andow tracking they were viewing the presidency over the last four years, and there was the full range of Human Emotion in there, as you can exec. Weve heard all these issues report out before about how some of his policies and decisionand rhetoric resonated across different parts of his base. Tone thing that stood o to me in the county in which i spent a 20t of time in and 2018 and texas who had the highest level of support in 2016 is 90 of the county in the texas panhandle votefor him, that increased in this past election, that level of suppo. Among these viewers were people. Who they had to hold their nose to vote for him back then. I think now both sides hereob ly have the full range of voters, right. Theyve got people who feel like thall in with the candidate, people who feel like there are some policies that speak to them. But i do wanto take a moment tonight to reflect on what is essentially going to be asp victorch we are going to hear, the kinds we usually hear on that night, the vote is go and the races are called, because, as john mentioned, you know, this history that is being made in so many ways for Vice President elect for president elect biden, rather, is decades in the making, but hundreds of years in the making, and i dont think we should lose sight of thatht tonight its a moment, regardless of you politics, that hundreds of years aved blackfirst ensl people were brought to this country, 100 years after women were first given the right to vote, that we have the first woman of color to hold thatfi , first black woman, first asianamerican woman, a child of immigrants, and if the idea of our democracy s a representative government. There are so many more americans who may feel they are represented by this ticket than tickets of the past. We are still, as e everys pointed out, deeply divided. Youve seen Vice President biden cross the 75 million vote markms in t of popular vote, but as pointed out more than 70 million voted for donald trump. Om that will behing this ticket inherits and very muchth influence hoy govern moving forward. But we shouldnt lose sight isof onight because regardless of your politics, its a moment for america. Woodruff no question about it. Think we cant point that out often enough because we know both president elect biden and Vice President elect harris are moving into a truly challenging time with thede panc, two the economy, so many other issues front and center, climate change, and the list goes on, nestic, international, ans i think itso important that we do take a moment to think about what this moment means in history. Lisa desrdins, i want to, while were waiting for the bidenharris ticket to speak to the people, joe biden will be at the white house but he is aling with aven larger will, in the houseit looksu like democrats are not going to be in the majority in the senate. So, i mean, the reality of getting anything done is daunting. It is dauntinand we still will face multiple crises that we dont think will be sved in by inauguration. R three months when you talk to somerooms, i did hear one elent of hope that some republicans, even those who worked for President Trump tell me asthis was unfolding in the last couple of weeks that they acally are okay with the idea of a President Biden if there was a Republican Senate. They were saying openly this is a chance forub the rcan party to sort out its own identity beyond trump if there is ant identity i doump fit works out that way. Le rega of who controls the senate, there i there are modere members who dont go with the extreme side of the party. The progressives and the moderates will be an interesting dynamic for nancy pelosi to contain as fee takes on climate change. There are progressives who want to go with a green new deal. Moderates dont want that. They are scared and they dont want larger government. That how they see it. Progressives say no, this is government that will help more ople. That is an unresolved iss. Here comes biden who wants to expand healthcare with a publici option whi a sort of first step toward universal healthcare. Ewill he even be able tot that . Its not clear. So he does he is somne who says he wants to work with compromise. He has to to get anything done. One other personal note, i have been covering joe biden in thisv cycle, and ito say, he kind of is the ultimate comeback kid. People don realize he first considered running for president in 1984. He first actually ran in 1988. T s has been on his mind a long time. Im thinking back to the days a year ago when it really looked like joe biden was not going to be the candidate to rise. Almost some people said he changing his legacy,this, hes embarrassing himself. It wasnuntil South Carolina, Campaign Said once we win South Carolina everything changes, we werent sure it was true and it was true. Woodruff i go back to remembering how he flamed out in 1988. In 2008 i remember an interviewh sitdown im in iowa when he was coming in last of all the candidates. Kind of a humiliating exoerience, but he had the biden energy, were going to do this, even though the polls showed he w2 , like, i think. Amy sibertamy walter, kamala has servfirst time in the United States senate and shes now literally a hert beaaway from the presidency. She is Vice President to a man who will be 78 when hes inaugurated. Right, and certainly theres ing to be a lot of attention then on Kamala Harris and the role shes going to play. Every Vice President has sort of a different role based on whether the president feels most comfortable witthat person sitting, right, and joe biden, when he was president obamas Vice President , he was the guyt ththat they sent te hill, right, because he had the relationships on capito hill. He liked capitol hill unlike president obama who wasnt as fond of dealing with many of the personalities there, biden loved it. The theory, of course, now, is should republicans have control of the senate when he takes the oathf offe, that those skills will come in handy, right. He knows how o work wih Mitch Mcconnell because hes done it before. He knows how to work in dividnt governbecause hes done it before. But this is very, very different than the congress he ce to in 2000, when he was Vice President. But the congress that he went in front of in 2009. I woodrufn 2009. And even with a great the great stills that he has, the relationships that he has, and, of course, ny of the senators he served with are gone. As lisa said, theseassues tough ones. Healthcare, theres not unanimity on how to approach healthcare in this country, do about taxes, t not on what to unanimity on climate. Well, and the incentive structure in and of itself, lisa said, these folks are thinking of 2022, and 2024, possibility of the House Flipping to theth republicans no the margin is smaller, the senate, keeping it in republican hands, and people on the republic side positioning themselves to run for president in 2024, theres not going to be a lot of incentive for them to work with joe biden, necessarily. The incentive is to do what we can for ourselves politically, and the other big question mark overall is where does President Trump, what role does he play both duringis time, of course, while hes still rving president , but in the postpresidency, i think the expectation is hes still going to be out there on thepaamn trail and on the twitters telling people within the Republican Party which kind of candidates they should support and wha st thouldnt be doing and how they should or shouldnt be dealing with a biden white house. Woodruff and a lonversation of whether he wil run again in 2024. Right. Woodruff live pictures ilmn gton, delaware. We have a pea peek o the white house in d. C. Those are joe biden fans yourek g at. Were minutes away from hearingi vice pnt Kamala Harris introduce the president elect. So i quickly want to go to our daniel bush, he is in philadelia in the state that turned this election, decided it for joe biden. Dan, people still gatre around downtown philadelphia, tell us whakits lie there. Philadelphia has turned into one big block party, judy, as only philly can. Philadelphia, pennsylvania, has been in the spotlight the last couple of days but the sta h been so important to democrats and joe biden from the very beginning. Joe bidespt his Early Childhood years in scranton. He launched his predential campaign in philly a year and a half ago. Last week in the ruup to the election, the president elect said that winning pennsylvania would be pergfsonally mean for him, not only, of course, did he end up winning the statet buas the state that put him over the top. When that news broke earlier today, his supporters took to the streets to celebrate, and its been striking speaking to them over the course othe last couple of days, especially to women, immigrants, people of color who tolme that they felt at under this president theyve had serious emotional toll becaus they feel athough President Trump has not respected them, has not valu their contributions to this country, and you can see for these suporters of biden, the relief that they feel, and, of course, we have been talking about this. Biden faces a lot of significant challenges to unite not just the country, the Democrat Party which is just as divided now on a lot of these issues as it was when thios primary prcess began with joe biden a year and a half ago. But right nofor these supporters of joe biden out celebrating in the streets, all of that is in the future tonight, they are happy and partying. Woodruff and they are partying, and so much of this election, we areoing to move you to the scene in wimming wilmington, delaware, where were expecting Kamala Harris. In many ways, this election was a verdict on President Trump. I think its fair to say Many Americans havent completely thought through what their expectations are of joe biden. They knew though that they wanted donald trump not to serve a second tem. So here we are. The vice presid the. United states of america, Kamala Harris. cheers and applause cheers and applause honking good evening. Good evening. Good evening. Good evening. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening. cheers and applause thank you. Good evening. cheers and applause so congressman john lewis congressman john lewis, before his passing, wrote, democracy i not a state, it is an act, and what he meant was that americas democracy is not guaranteed. It is only as strong as our willingness to fht for it. cheers and applause uard it and never take it for anted, and protecting our democracy takes struggle, it takes sacrifice, but there is joy in it, and there is progress because we the people have the power to build a better future. cheers and applause and when our very democracy was on ballot in this election, with the very soul of arica at stake, and the world watching, you ushered in a new dayor america. cheers and applause honking to our Campaign Staff and volunteers, this extraordinary team, thank you for bringingth more peopln ever before into the democratic process. cheers and applause honking possible, to the poll workers and Election Officials across our country who have workere ssly to make sure every vote is counted, our nation owe you a debt of gratitude. cheers and applause you have protected the integrity of our democracy, and to the American People who me up our beautiful country, thau for turning out in record numbers to make your voices heard. ches and applause d know times have been challenging, especially the last several months. The grief,d sorrow an pain, the worries and the struggles. But we have also witnessed your courage, your resilience, and the generosity of your spirit. For four years, you marched and organized for equality and justice, for our lives and for our planet, and then you voted. cheers and applause and you delivered a clear message you chose hope and unity, decency, science, and,ye truth. cheers and applause honking you chose joe biden as the next president of the United States of america cheers and applause honking and joe is a healer, a uniter, a tested and steady hand, person whose own experience of loss gives him a sense of purpose that will help us as a nation reclaim our own sense of lorpose, and a man with a big heart whes with abandon. Its his love for jill who willl be an incredible first lady cheers and applause honking its his loe for hunter and ashley and his grandchildren and the entire biden family. cheers and applause honking and while i first knew joe at Vice President , i got to know m as the father who loved beau, my dear friend who we remember here day. And to my husband doug cheers and applse honking and our children cole and ella and my sister mia and our whole family, i love yall more than i caever express. cheers and applause we are so grateful o joe and jill for welcoming our family into theirs on this incredible journey and to the woman most responsible for my presence here today, my mother, shyamala gopaian harris who is always in ourarts. When she came here from india at the age o,f she maybe didnt quite imagine this moment, but she believed so deeply in an america where a moment like this possible, and, so, i am thinking about her and about the generations of women black anmen cheerapplause asian, white, latina, native american women heers and applause who, throughout our nationsi ory, have paved the way for this momtoenght, women who fought and sacrificed so much for equality liberty and justice for all, including the black women who are often, too often overlooked, but so often proved they are the backbone of our demoacy. cheers and applause honking all the wwhmehave worked to secure and protect the right to vote for over a century, 100 years ago with theh 19th amendment, 55 years ago with the vote Voting Rights act, and now in 2020 with a new generation of women in our country who cat their ballots and continued the fight for their fundamental right to vote and be heard. cheers and applause honking tonight, i reflect on their struggle, their determination, and the strength of their vision to see what can be unburdened by what has been, and i stand on their shoulders, and what a testament it is to joes aracter that he had the audacity to break one of the most substantial barriers tha it exis our country and select a woman as his vict. E presid cheers and applause honking but while i may be the first woman in this office, i will not be the last. cheers and applause honking because every little girl watching tonight sees that this country of possibilities, and tohi theldren of our country, regardless of you gender, our country has sent you a clear mesge agreeme with ambition, lead with conviction, and see yourself in a way others may not simply because theyve ner seen it before, but know that we will applaud you every step of the way. cheers and applause honking anto the American People, no matter who you votefor, i will strive to be a Vice President , like joe swa to president obama, loyal, honest an prepared, waking up every day thinking of you and your family because now is when the real work begins,or the hard the necessary work, the good work, the essential work to save lives and beat this epidec, to rebuild our economy so it works forpe workingple to root out systemic racism in our just system and society, to combat the climate crisis, to unite ou cound heal the soul of our nation. cheers and applause honking and the road ahead will not be easy, but america is ready, and so are joe and i. cheers and applause honking we have elected a presidenwho represents the best in us, a leader the world will respect and our children will look up to, a commanderinchief who will respect our troops and keep our country safe, and a president for all americans. cheers and applause honking and it is now my great honor to introduce the president elect of the United States of america, joe biden cheers and applause honking cheers and applause hello, my fellow americans cheers and applause and the people abroad, may they dance, delawareans. I see my buddy senator tom carper down there. I think senator coons is there, and i think the governor is around. Is that ruth ann . And former governor ruth ann, andost importantly my sassiers in law and my sister valerie. Folks, the people of this nation have spon, theyve deliver us a clear victory, a convincing victory, a victory for we the people. Weve on with the most votes ever cast on a presideia ticket in the history of a nation, 74 million cheers and applause honking what i just admit that surprised me, tonight were seeing all over this nation all cies and all parts to have the country, indeed across the world, an outpouring of joy, hope, renewe faith and tomorrow bring a better day cheers and applause honking and i am humbled by the trt and confiden youve placed in me. I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide but unify, who doesnt see red states and blue states, only sees the united state cheers and applause and work with all my heart with the confidence of the whole people to win the confidence of all of you, and for that, is what america, i belie, is about. Its about people, and thats what our administration will be all about. I sought this office to restore the soul of america, to rebuild the backbonef this nation, the a middle clas to make america respected around the world again, and to unite us its the honor of my lifetime that so many millions of americans have voted for that vision, and now the w making that vision is real, its a task the task of our time. Folks, as i said many times before, im jills husband. cheers and woplause and ld not be here without her love a tireless support of jill and my son hunter andey asy daughter and all our grandchildren and tir spouses and all our family. Theyre my heart. Jills a mom, a military mom, an educat, and shesicated her life to education, but does, its who she iwhat she for american educators, this is a great day for yall cheers and applause youre going to have one of your own in the white house and jills going to make a great first lady. Im so proud of her cheers and applause honking ill have the honor of serving with a fantastic Vice President who you just eard from, Kamala Harris. cheers and applause hons ng who makstory as the first woman, first black womtan, fi woman from south asian descent, first daughter of immigrants to this countryhe s and applause dont tell me its not possible in the United States its loueng ove and were reminded tonight of those who fought so hard for o many years to make tis happen. Once again, americas bent thel arc of the mo universe more toward justice kamala, doug, like it or not, youre family. Youve become an honorary biden and theres no way out. cheers and applause for all those of youho volunteered and worked the polls in the middle of this pandemic, local elected officials, you deserve a special thanks fr the entire nation. cheers and applause and to my Campaign Team and all the volunteers and g all we so much of themselves to make this moment possible, i owe you, i owe you, i owe you everything. And to all those who supported us, im proud of the campaign we built and ran, im proud of the coalition we puttogether, the broadest and most diverse colingcoalition in history democrats, republicans, independents, progressives, moderas, conservatives, young, old, suburban, rur, gay, straight, transgender, white, asianamerican, and when this campaign was at slowest ebb, the Africanamerican Community stood up again for me. Youve always had my back, and ill have yours. cheers and applause i said at the outset i wanted to represent this campaign to represent and look like america. Weve done that. Now thatswhat i want the administration to look and act like. For all those of you who voted t for presidemp, i understand the disappointment tonight. Ive lost a couple of times myself. But now letsth give eacher a chance. cheers and applause honking its te to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temerature, see each other again, listen to each other again, and to make progress, we have to stop eating our opponents aour enemies. They are not our enemies, they are amicans. They are americans. The bible tells us, to i everything thea season, a time to build, a time to reap and a time to sow and a time to heal. This is the time to heal in america. cheers and applause honking now this campaign is over, what is the will of the people . What is our mandate . I believe its this, americans c have called upon us to marshal the forces of decency, fairness, and the great battles of ourpe time, the battle of control of thrus, the battle to build prosperity, the bttle to sec your familys healthcare, the battle to achieve racialustice and root out systemic racism in this country. cheers and applause and the battle to save our planet by getting climate under control. cheers and applause the battle to restoredecency, defend democracy and give everybody in this country a ir shot, thats all theyre asking for, a fair shot. Folks, our work begs with getting covid under control. We cannot repair the economy, restore our vital, or relish lis most precious moments, hugging or grandchildren, our children, birthdays, weddings, graduations, all the moments that matter most to us until we get it under conol on monday, i will name a group of leading scientists and experts as transition advisorsto elp take the bidenharris plan and convert it toon action blueprint that will start on january 20, 2021. cheers and applause that plan will be built o bedrock science, it will be constructed out of compassion, empathy and concern. I will spe no effort none or any commitment to turn around this pandemic. Folks, im a proud democrat cheers and applause but i will govern as an american president. I will work as hard for those who didnt vote me as those who did. Let this grim era of demonization in america begin to end here and now cheers and applause honking refusal of demrats and republicans to cooperate with Mysterious Force bour some control, its a decision, a choice we make, and if we can decide not to cooperate, then we can decideo cooperate. cheers and applause and i believe that this is part of the mandate given to us from the American People they want us to cooperate in their intere, and thats the choice congress, democrats andl call on republicans alike, to make that choice with me. The american story is about slow yet steadily widthenin opportunities in america, and make no mistake, too many dream have bferred for too long. We must make the pomises to the country real for evrybody, no matter the race, ethnicity, faith, identity or thir disability. Folks, america hs always been shaped by inflection points, by momentin time where weve made hard decisions about who we are and what we want tbe. Lincoln, in 1860, coming to save the union. F. D. R. In 1932 promising a beleaguered country a new d j. F. K. In 1960 pleing a new frontier. And 12 years ago, when barack obama made history, he told us, s we can cheers and applause honking folks, we stand at an inflection point. We have an opportunity to defeai de to build a nation of prosperity and purpose. We can do it, i know we can. Ive long talked about the battle for the soul of america. We must restore the soul of americ our nation is shaped by the constant battlbetween our impulses, and what president s say in this bale matters. Its time for our better angels to prevniail. T the whole world is ietching america, and i b that our best, america is a beacon for the globe. We will lead not y by the example of our power, but by the power of our example cheers and applause honking lwve aays believed, and many of you have heard me say, ive always believed we can define america in one word possibilities. That, in america, everyone should be given an opportunity to go as far as their dreams and godgiven ability will take them. You see, i believe in the possibilities of this country. Were alwa looking ahead, ahead to america thats freer and more just, ahead to an america that creobatess with dignity and respect, ahead to an america that cures diseases like cancer and alzheimers, ahead to an america that ne lveaves anyone behind, ahead to an america that never gives up, never gives in. cheers and applause honking this is a great nation. Its always been a bad bet to bet against america. Were good people. This is the United States of america, and theres never been anything, neeen anything we have been not able to do, when weve done it together. Folks, in the last days of the campaign, i began thinking about a hymn that means a lot to me and my family, particularly my deceased son beau, it captures the faith thatan sustains md which i believe sustains america, and i hope it can provide some comfort and solace to the 230,0 americans who have lost a loved one to this terrible virus this year. My heart goes outne to eachf u. Hopefully this hymn gives you solace as well. K it goes e this, and he will raise your up on eagles wings,n bear youhe breath of dawn and make you a s tn lihe sun and hold you in the palm of his hand. And now together, on eagles wings, weve embark on the work god has called us to do, with full hearts, steady hands, fofah merica and in each other, for love of country and a thirst for justice, let ts behe nation we know we can be, a nation united, a nation strengthened, a nation healed, the United States of america,nd and ladiesentlemen theres never, never been anything weve tried and not been able to do. S so remember, a my grandpa said when i walked out his home when i was a kid in scranton, he said, joey, keep tae fith. And our grandmother when he was alive, she yelled, n joey, spread it. Spread the faith. God love you all may god bless america, and may god protect our thank you, thank you, thank you honking nd applause woodruff president elect joe biden and speaking to many of the themes we hrd ding his campaign for president , appealing to unit appealing to americans coming together saying he wants to be a president not just ohef democrats but of all of america. Quickly,g, to you ver they are watching this andng watchi the crowd. This wasn the joe bidee saw running, and there is dr. Jill biden, his wife, he gives her a lot of credit for getting through thismpaign. They have been through a lot together in tir family. But, john yang, this is a message that is consistent with what joe biden ran on. Reporter thats right, andso onsistent with his years in public life talking about conciliation, bringing people together, talking about work t control the coronavirus, working to rebuild the economy, working to bring racial justice, andto theyre going oll up their sleeves, the transition will be based here in wilmington. Im told that the coronavirus ta force he talk about, we shld look to the former surgeon general, david kessler, and zeke emanuel who helped them design the formercare act, and we should here more senior positions next week and cabinet ofcials start tock namedin december. Judy. Woodruff and as we watch the bidens celebration, a quick note to viewers now, some pbs stations will return togu rlyscheduled programming right now but you can continue to watch this special on our web site, thats pbs. Org newshour, streaming also on youtube, facebook and twitter. For the rest of you, please stay with us, our coverage continues here on pbs. So we see the ben family joined by Kamala Harris d her husband doug emhoff. Yache alcindor, im goingo write bring you into the conversation quickly. At the wte house, they are not celebrating. The president is there but watching. Reporter thats right, the president is not celebrating but there is a celebration outside the white house gates wth fireworks going off as joe biden and Kamala Harris were speaking. The president never did the things you just saw joe biden and comashz to do, they sought to unify the country. They talked about not being gi divideed. The president downplayed the virus throughout his campaign and it contributed to his failure. Theres also a lit by the of poetry. Senator Kamala Harris spoke and anding ton shoulders of women who came before talking and south asian women. Ck women wesident trump began his political careerith the birther conspiracy theory, the one that said the fst africanamerican president wasnt born in this con and is to the white house. Oman coming woodruff coming full circle, Yamiche Alcindor at the white house. Now ill bring in our miles obrien who is in georgia where they are still counting votes. Miles, i know you have been talking to voters hehroughout t day as we watch the bidenharris celebration, tell us what youve seen in atlanta. Reporter judy, theyre still counting votes in georgia. Theres a little bookkeeping left and it will take quite some time before therres a cified election in this state, at least till the 20th, and before that there will probably be an automatic recount. Right now the difference between joe biden and President Trump is 7,200 votes. The counting continues, but as that happens, the people here in the streets of midtatown atl theyre not too worried about the bookkeeping, quite frankly. They see blue shift in georgia for the first time sin 1992, it appears a democrat will have won the presidency, and thats a significant demographic shift here. The focus of the political world will now turn tor georgia o the next eight weeks because there are two senate seats still in play with runoff elections, and the winners of those seats could shift oneor another control of the senate. A lot of folks here, judy, giving a tremendous amount of 2018 ran for governor here and oter amid allegations of v suppression. She did a lot of work to get people registered to vote, and it appears that georgia has flipped from red to blue after a very lonperiod as a red state. So well be watching georgia over the coming weeks for sure. Judy. Woodruff no queio Stacey Abrams deserves enormous credit for what shes done to bring out the vote to get people registered in the peach state and in oeer states where has been working hard since her own race. To arizona, to phoenix where our stephanie sy is. Stephanie, arizona has been called for joe biden, but they continue to count votes. Tums what youre seeing tell us what youre seeing. Reporter this is a state th d feelseeply divided tonight. There have been scattered celebrations for the esidentelect joe biden that we have been hearing about, but the most visible rally, judy, was for President Trump. In fact, we were at the rallyr earlday where hundreds of his supporters turned out and the general ntment there echoed that if the president , they feel this is a stolen election and they e focused on the Trump Campaignuicontinued la in states now including arizona. But it is a windy night here judy, and you can tell, there is no denying that the political winds havshifted in this historically red state that has not voted for a democratic president since bill clinton. Th now are nding twora democc senators to washington. But it was close, and voters we spoke to point to the fact that biden will have to remember that about half this couasntry, reflected in a state like arizona, do not necessarily embrace the president elects agenda. Woodruff no question, this was a state that no so long ublicaoo, had two rep senators, now two democrats, and, as you say, shifting into the democratic column for president. But den will no doubt need to pay attention. We are continuing to watch the celebration, historic celebration, in wimming delaware, hometown of joe biden as they look at the fireworks and, i guess we were expecting a display of drones and were still looking to see what that is. But we are keeping an eye onat at the same time we know even with a winner declared that President Trump is notnc coing, he is pledging several legal challenges, starting in a handful of states, possibly many more. The president allegeshout any proof that ballots have been counted improperly, including those of dead people, and that ballots have been counted sswithout required witne. To look now at whether there are grounds for my of these legal challees im jointed by vanita gupta, former assistant attorney general for the civil rig division. She was the first south asianamerican to head that. Divisi she is now president of the Leadership Conference on civil and thomas dupree, he was a Deputy Assistant attorney general in the Bush Administration and a member of case before the Supreme Court that ultimately dec idedthe 20000 election. Thomas dupree, to you first, as you look at all thellegations that have been made by the trump team, do you see any of them that have meerit that may take them to somewhere, that so far the answer to that is simple, no. Ive looked at cases that have been filed and the problem herep is the tampaign hasnt come up with anything yet remotely to prove the massive systemic fraud they need to overturn an election in the states. So the odds of them prevailing a legal challenge is so mall. Its hard to see the microscope at this point. Woodruff sorry about the audio were having, but we can make out what youre saying. Vanita gupta, to you, tooi know youre on the other side of this. We know youre interested in, of course, joe biden prevailing, but as you look, i mean, at worries you, if anything, in all these allegations that the trmp team has put together . So, judy, im a civil rights advocate, its nonpartisan, but what i do carabout ising sure everyone has the ability to their votes are counted, and thats what the Leadership Conference has been squarely focused on. It has been an amazing past we warned reportere had played this out and understood the scenarios that we were facing, but to make sure that local elected officials have the space all over the country to their jobs, to count the votes that is what the done thist, and past week. They have not as we are doing this interview now there areil local Election Officials across the country to continue to make sure that every las vote is counted. But this is a really important moment, and i think it is a terrible shame for our democrae to h sitting president who is trying to do tickytack litigation to, youw, frustrate the will of the ricancan people and ame voters. We all hope that he will eventually concede, given that none of these litigations stand any chance either in the law the facts, to actually change the outcome of the election that has taken president elect joe biden over the 270 electoral count. It is time its noa good thing for our democracy to have a sitle president unwilling to concede. That said, the constitutio doesnt demand that the person the voters decided thisccedes. Election, those votes have been counted, the outcome has been determin and the litigations not going to stop that. Woodruff vanita gupta, i appreciate you pointing out the nonpartisan nature of the Leadership Conference. I appreciate your doing that. But i just want to circle back. What the trump team is doing and saying were going to allenge whether there were enough witnesses, whether they were close enough, whether dead people voted, ey do have the right to bring these questions before the cot, do they not . They certainly have th right to bring them. The reality, though, the there is absolutely no evidence thahat they put before the American People to suggestion that there is any basis for these lawsuits. S the baf these lawsuits really appears to bema disinfon through litigation, to really disrupt the kind of normal transfer of power if that happens in thisme kind of t. These lawsuits have been frivolous and baseless and court beter court has actually declared them to i think at this point the Trump Campaign is about 0 for 9, i have lost count, but they are not winning the lawsuits they are bringing. They do not have the law on their f de, and even ithey did have the law on their side, the number of vers they arech raising theslenges on behalf of, in one case 53i votersan, these are small numbers that will not change the outcome of the election, and that is why, ultimately, the voters have spoken, the Electoral College threshold was crossed by president elect joe biden, and we are here where we are, and it is time now fr people to understand. This election, people were very concerned about all of the threat we anticipated this unfortunate outcome where President Trump i resiste kind of transfer of power or the concession. But lets see what happens in for any legal experts ive spoken to, none of us see the path for presidemp on any of these challenges, and courts are backing that up over and over again in state after state. Woodruff vanita gupta on the Leadership Conference on civil and human rights. Our apologies about the audio with thomas dupree, formerly general in the bushrney administration. But tom dupree, we thank you and we thank vanitaupta. And right now, in every election, the results and t surveys of voters together reveal a trove of information that tell us who voted how and why. To help us dig int that data, joined by my newshour colleagues Senior National correspondent amna nawaz,co politicarespondent lisa desjardins, here at the table with me amy walter of the cooki cal report and ynycs politics with amy walter. You are going to reveal things. We are going to dig through the trove now. Well take a look at how we got here and where theountry goes from here. The map looks different than 2016. You see thee left west coastap. And you see the northeasterwise dots, islands of blue in the country. Now lets move 2020. You see thmap . This is what history looks like in 2020. You see nnsow itead, more of a ribbon of blue. The great lakes united, the northeast extended, startingot outline this country, Something Different than we saw in 2016. Lets look how the bidenharris ticket got to 27 0rbgs when you look at the states where difference was made, wisconsin, pennsylvania, michigan, when we lookt at pennsylvania and ta a closer look there, we know the counting continues, what do we need to know . This is what happened in pennsylvania, right here ere i am, philadelphia and the suburbs aroundhiladelphia, biden gained some 100,000 votes over Hillary Clinton in this area, over near you pitturgh, allegheny county, one county alone the Biden Campaign picked up 50,000 votes over what Hillary Clinton was able to do. So you the suburban areas and pittsburgh helping them. 20 electoral votes from pennsylvania. Michigan, 16 electoral votes. Lets go to a county, kent county, suburban countoutside of grand rapids, the scenic grand river runs there. T presidump won this county in 2016. Look at Hillary Clintons votes in 2016, 138,000 in this county. Look at what former Vice President biden was able to do, a pickup in this one wayne county in michigan similar to pennsylvania, this is the roit, county outside of det where we saw black voters show upt as vice presidden said, they had his back. T lets looke key voting blocks that helped deliver michigan to mr. Biden. 893 of black voters for mr. Biden, 45 of white voters, an increase of about 9 points from what clinton did in the same state and 54 of suburban voters there, some of the key voting blocks there. Lisa, let take a lookk at the national map, though. I forgot to mention, 68 f the key urban votes there as well. When you go back t the national map, there are states people thought the democrats wouldnt be able to pick up. These are the expansion states. This is what the Biden Campaign wanted to improve on from times past. Ts talk about arizona. Georgia were waiting for final results by the vice esident leading. Arizona and Maricopa County in arizona, 68 of the state lives there. Look at this, this is a county that saw almost a halfon mil new Voters Register since 2016, who got the voters . 300,000 votes for former Vice President biden over c hillarnton. President trump gained in these areas but not nearly by as much as as former Vice President biden. When we take look at the closer race in arizona, 59 of the urban voters there in arizona for biden, 59 mong latino voters as well and also among young voters, americans ag18 to 29. Lisa, we should mention whenn mr. Bi sworn in, he will inherit as i said before a very vided nation. The Senate Balance of power for example is a tie. Race ostanding. It is an uphill battle for democrats to take over theeg senate but rardless a close margin in the senate. I also want to look where the house of representatives stands in a different kind of map, a map in the country, the blue and red dots over who is reprenting these areas in congress. Political divide rains, were divided and also politically segregated, and this is something that eveyone who governs in 2021 will have to al with. Its. Its a look at the country right now, righthere in one picture. Judy, back to you. Woodruff so interesting. Fascinating to look at all the details. I know well spend days and weeks doing that in the future. Lisa, amna, thank you both. Am before we let this go, when it comes to divisions, you and i were talking before the program started tonight, you were saying so much of he divisions are really on the margins. Yeah, so much of what this map looks like was joe biden being able to just do a little bit better in some of these key counties than Hillary Clinton was able to do. So picking up a couple of points here and there, this is why, at the end of the day, all tho were still won by biden by a very narrow margin. We dont he the fal totals yet, but being able to raise the vote in e suburbs, do better in places like, as lisa pointed out, but also being able to shave off some of the trump margin in t some ofhose counties where Hillary Clinton came up woodruff quicku also were saying to me, amy, how the fierce opposition toward the other candidate on the part of both trump and biden voters. Yeah, you know, if you look at the speech that the president gave talking about unifying america and the top issue that he would like to tace,he adeonavirus, of course, he m very important. And he said that he would like to bring that up, the very first thing he does is this Coronavirus Task force. That came out, the a. P. Vote cast, what we find, norit sung, is that half the country a little bit less than half the country, 49 say the virus is somewhat under control, 50 say the virus is not at all under control, but those who say that the virus is somunewhar control, 80 of them voted for trump. Those who think the virus is not all under control, 83 voted for biden. So heres the presi we have a pandemic. We all agree theres a pandemic, so lets fix it. Even the count is divided on that. We also know from pew that 90 of biden supporters bore this election thought that if donald trump were elected, he wouldca e lasting harm to the country, 89 of Trump Supporters thought a biden election could unifying the cou is going to be really challenging. Woodruff and maybe thats one of reasons joe biden spent so much time talking about it in those remarks just a minute ago. Amy waller, thank you. Now want to step back for a few moments and look what this election says about both our hopes and challenges the w futuh karen tumulty, Political Columnist for the washington post. Daniel garza with aan dvocacy group focusing on the hispanic community. Eld t chair to hae department of frairn studies at princeton university. George packer is a staff writer and Gary Abernathyter in southwestern ohio, also a contributing columst to the washington post. I want to ask all of you for a moarntle tell us what you think these results say broadly about our country. Eddie glaude, how do you see this . Well, its an histoc day weve elected the first woman and black wom to b Vice President , and weve put behind us four years of chaos, but we are deep rea divided a deeply dived nation. The scale to have the problems warranted an extraordinary ansponse. In some ways i to insist the nation is on a knifes edge still, and the question is how might wrespond. So the election, to my mind, occurred in the context of a broader reckoning about how do we take ourselves to be, and its answer, in effect, is that were still trying to figure that out. Druff Gary Abernathy, what does this election say to you . Well, were still divided, for sure. You know, the lascole of days, Vice President elect biden has made the point topoint out, as i would if i were him, that hes gotten more votes than anyone in history, any president ial candidate. Guess hos number two . Trump, who this election hasvo over 70 millioes, coming up on 71 million. Was a huge turnout, buta divided nation. I think its a little early to be talking about presidint trump resithe transfer of power. Lets give him a few days, you know, to pursue these questions. Need to be shn and the thees best way to shoot them down is for courts to hear them and send them back. So lets give himof a coupl days. I think if the situation were reversed, this is a raortight election. I dont think joe biden would be i think hed say, hey, lets let count all the votes, all the legal votes should be counted, so lets do that,nd i really feel like things will pan out day. Be okay at the end of the woodruff karen tumulty, what is this moment saying to you . Well, i disagree a bit with gary in that this wasnt a razortight electn. If you look that pre dens margin of victory, its pretty average for a president ial election in modern history. But i have been struck by, in his rhetoric, how he seems to and the line tha really stuckst, out for me tonight was lets give each other a chance. He knows this is a very deeply divided and yet intensely engaged electorate, he knows that he bis likely te dealing with a Republican Senate led by tch mcconnell, but he has really been talking this hasnt been a triumphant few days for him. Ut really has been talking about healing and a bringing people together, and i think that is exactly the right message. Ar woodruff daniel g, i want to come to you next. Division seems to be theword of the day, the word of the night. Is that what were left mainly to thinkbout right now . Well, let me just say bravo to president elect biden who said part of his mandate is to reach across the aisle because it does look like our nation is sort of ripping apartt the seams and that there seems to be a fracture between t almost distinct groups, and amna and lisa were talking about that in the breweakdown bn white urban College Educated mostly white professionals who control tech professional institutions like eation, universities and government. And the second group is sort of a working class group that i think feels resented for their faith, for really their patriotism, almost, and forin wato defend the freedoms that they share so much and that there needs to be a reconciliation. I think that the worst rt we talk to each other. On was how i find it incredie that the selfappointed thought police who want latinos to conform to their ideas will call latinos racist. That is astonishing to me, and i think you just eed to temper it down, and thats why i think i appreciated president elect bidenwords today. Woodruff george packer, your thoughts on what joe biden had to say and on all this conversation about division,on reconcilia well, i think the first thing the election did at the presidtial level was to reject donald trump. It was a profound rejti of a president who has ruled by division and by hatefulness and by chaos and by conmpt for expertise and for his opponents, and the long lines of voters, the incredible dedication of poll workers, Election Officials, the fact that americans came out in the highest numbers ever to vote in the middle of a pandemic shows o thr democracy is that rumors of its death are premature, that we still have a living democracy, if wcan keep it. But you look at all the other aresults of the electio you see we are, as everyone has said, fundamentally divided, and knight said is going to disappear and at times each side thinksother will disappear either demographically orom politically orehow will be rejected by the voters, thats not going to happen. And the problem that i seeiden facing is, for me, the only way that the deep siftions deep divisions are going to heal is not just through rhetoric, which hes very good at, but through policy, actually making a difference in peoples everyday lives, and if washington for four years is the site of blockage and squabbles and culture wars and partisan endless partisan posturing and symbolic politics rather than real policy, then its going to be bad for everyone, but it will be bad for joe biden because he will not be able to tell the American People that they voed for change and he brought them change. Woodruff we have only a few minutes ft,fortunately. So im going to ask each one of you to tell me briefly wheth you have hope right now, or does despair and worry about this division overcome that . Ed e glaude, jr. , in just a few seconds. Sure. Thrts a wonderful line that James Baldwin used0, in 197 he said hope is invented every day, and those are folks who have to face a wold that seems to be arrayed against them but they ha to muster th energy to get up anyway. I have hope butts bluhat comes out of the tradition of which i come which is not naive about the ugliness of america, its underbuside, we have the possibility we can show up, so i have hope in us. Woodruff Gary Abernathy . Yeah, i do have hope, too. We should all be optimistic. Key point, donald trump didnt lose the issues because of lose the election because of his issues. Too many people thought donald trump was simply they didnto like his demer. They thought he was cruel, unfeeling, unempathetic. Joe biden has a chance to bring those things back to theho white e and that goes a long way for a lot of people. Woodruff karen tumulty. Yeah, if the challenge is to reach out and bring people together, i cant imagine that there is arson more well biden, so, yes, do have hope. Oe woodrf daniel garza . Ere americans, we debate, we have disagreements, but ultimately we recognize were all wanting the sameg, which is peace, prosperity and well being for all and that end gameill inspire us i think to search, to seek dialogue and understanding of each other. Sohat we need to do is build policy coalitions where there is ercommon ground, there is much agreement. Fo saw that with criminal justice , we can do it on education, immigration and healthcare. Woodruff george packer. In a way for democracy to work, there has to be a foundation of truth, and what gives me hope is what will no longer be subjected to a ba a be of lies coming from the very top. Everyone isusceptible to their own selfdeception but we will at least be hearing facts andh trthink from the top, and thats going to have a cleansing effect. Woodru we thank each one of you so very much on this special night. We appreciate your being with us. This is an htoric day for the u. S. Another barrier broken, the first woman eleed Vice President who happens to be black and asian descent, and more americans have voted in this election than any other in history. For all to have the divisions in our country weve heard, our democratic system, so far, isan holdinthe transition to the administration of begun. Entelect joe biden has thank you for joining us. Please stay with us online at pbs. Thg newshour. K you. Soease stay safe and well see yo. This program was made possible by the corporation for blic broadcasting. Station from viewee you. Your pbs thank you. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org hvin today on this ose. The original windows of this house are one of its best features, but they all needed work. Riley got the job of refurbishing them. Richard and is the classic hvac challenge where do you hide the ductwork . Kevin what happened to all this plumbing here . Richard ive never seen anything like this before. Roger theres already rot going on in that trunk. Kevin so erat have you found up tom well, a bit of a surprise. Richard its really the classic plumbers lament. Kevin nice richard its five bathrooms. Its a kitchen. Its a full new mechanical. Its its gonna be a biggie. Keviav sounds like you guysa plan. Jenn i think we do. [ laughs ] tom e moneys in the detail. Kevin that is beautiful. D then do it yourself, snap a picture to start doing