Not only did we not see the president yesterday, like we did yesterday. We heard from him on twitter sporadically, but silence from his campaign and allies. A lot of folks in the white house, yesterday, held a call in the morning, they were defiant about a path to victory, talking about picking up votes in pennsylvania, some ballots in arizona, how they thought georgia would be a recount. So yesterday still talking about a path they saw to victory. There was none of that today. Yesterday, multiple press conferences by Corey Lewandow i lewandowski, and other trump allies talking about the voter fraud issue. There was none of that today. When i talked to people privately, there seemed to be a sense and recognition particularly among campaign veterans that the numbers arent going to turn their way, in the level they need them to. Maybe here or there, around the margins. But now everything will turn to the legal fight, and every hope they have left is going to be by something happening in the courts. And i said, what is the vote changing action that will happen in the courts . A lot of them said, im not a lawyer, im not on the legal team. They dont have a clear path for how this gets to 270 in the courts, rather than some unknown event happening, and things breaking the president s way. Well talk about the legal possibilities later this hour. The short version of it is, its absolutely hopeless. There is no possible way for the trump side to change any voting outcome in any state through any court action. And it counters an image that was created somewhere in trump world that there was this army of republican lawyers that would descend everywhere that donald trump may be in trouble, in any significant way, and it turns out to have been a complete mirage. And by the time you get to this week, Jared Kushner is rushing around looking for his socalled jim baker. Not only that. But fundraising heavily for a Legal Defense fund to pay for their legal challenges. So, you know, you would think maybe people could come volunteer their time if their passionate about this. But i got text after text and email after email from the campaign trying to get money from donors to pay for a legal battle. There are some lawyers who sort of come to the surface, i heard John Sweeneys name mentioned, from the florida bush v. Gore, but im not even sure what role he will be playing. Jay sekulow, but im told that is just for the pennsylvania case. Theres no general, no person overseeing a broad legal strategy. David bossi has been doing that to some extent, but hes not one of these bigname election lawyer strategists who has done this big, multistate event. And there are diehard lawyers out there who were volunteering. I was talking to one who has been volunteering their time, but that wont get them over the finish line. Shannon, thank you very much for joining us tonight. Thank you. And we turn now to jonathan and zerlina, both are msnbc political analysts. Zerlina, we once again are turning a calendar day without a call by the networks, without joe biden being able to take that stage tonight outdoors where he thought he would be able to take that stage and make his claim on this presidency. That may now be another day away, or were not sure. Well, it looks like its just another day away. But i think that, you know, as the votes are counted and its important for everybody to understand that thats what we do here in america, we count peoples votes. Americans votes, until the end. So whoever comes out on top will be the winner, lawrence. But i remember so vividly Election Night in 2016, sort of, as it sunk in that we werent going to come out on top, at that moment, there were still votes being counted. So this is a very different situation. And i think its clear that the Biden Campaign is pivoting towards a governing strategy. He talked about his covid19 plan, which i was very curious to hear, because i would like america to have a plan for covid19, since were in the middle of a spike. And also, you know, the places that still have votes to count are looking favorable for joe biden. I think its clear that while 70 Million People voted to reelect donald trump after the last four years, and the pandemic response, there were even more people who showed up overwhelmingly to repudiate donald trump, and i think the message seems a little bit delayed, if all of these votes had come in on tuesday, we would have said joe biden had a mandate, but instead, tonight he said it himself. Tonight, he delivered a shorter speech, indoors, in a less dramatic speech than they were planning. But he gave a quick summary saying hes absolutely going to win the battleground states and the Electoral College. But also about the need for economic recovery during this pandemic. Lets listen to that part of what joe biden had to say. Senator harris and i heard yesterday about how the recovery is slowing because of the failure to get the pandemic under control. More than 20 Million People are on unemployment. Millions are worried about making rent. And putting food on the table. Our economic plan will put a focus on a path to a strong recovery. Jonathan, donald trump must have been surprised watching joe biden say that, since donald trump told us that nobody would be talking about coronavirus after election day. Biden is almost in fact already president. And the vietnamese say, the mandate of heaven has changed. You can almost see everything moving in his direction, you can almost see and feel the power seeping out of the trump blimp. He has checkmated trump in this election. The election is over for all intents and purposes. Now he can get on with confronting a genuine economic crisis. As well as a health care crisis. When we look at history, franklin roosevelt, there was a much longer transition in the horrible winter of 1932 33, and the banks started closing when he was president elect. When barack obama was elected in 2008, when he was president elect, the Auto Companies started to collapse. Joe biden is faced with almost a comparable situation, if there is not a covid relief package coming soon, we could really hit the skids here as the pandemic accelerates. And twith the cover of your book about jimmy carter over your shoulder, i want to talk to you about the transition of a president who loses his reelection to a challenger, that administration going into transition with the incoming administration. You have written about that. Youve studied it. Tell us how it worked in the carter to reagan transition, and what you expect this time. Not only did jimmy carter work on behalf of the american people, to in that case free the hostages after he was defeated in 1980, he was clesleeping on couch of the oval office the night before the inauguration, working so hard to get the hostages out. And he completed the deal. Of course, the iranians, they didnt release the hostages until a minute after reagan took the oath. But its interesting, in his inaugural address, reagan paid tribute to the peaceful transfer of power, and to jimmy carter for carrying that out. Even though they had kind of a chilly conversation, riding together up pennsylvania avenue, they did go through those rituals. And i dont expect that donald trump will do that. I dont expect that he will show up for joe bidens inauguration. His contempt for our democratic traditions and ideals is so deep, and his humiliation now in this election is so hard on a very insecure man, i dont believe he has it in him to do the right thing. I predict he will long since, you know, have fled to ma maralago and will sulk there. Ive been saying for a long time, ive expected donald trump when the Electoral College votes come in, just to go to maralago for thanksgiving and never come back. Never go to the inauguration, of course. And he can pardon himself on the golf course in maralago. He does not have to be in washington washingt washington to pardon himself. I guess that sounds like a pretty good plan if youre donald trump. I dont anticipate that he will go through any of the rituals. Because he doesnt have grace. Hes never been gracious to anyone, hes never exhibited that quality for the last four years or even before that. But i do think its important for the rest of us, the ones who voted in this election, even if you didnt vote for joe biden, to be a part of this peaceful transfer of power. Part of it is acknowledging other citizens in this country voted for someone else. The last four years, there were a lot of folks on the left who called themselves the resistance, in part due to the fascist tendencies of the president and some of his more authoritarian impulses that are being borne to this very second. It would be smart for us to unite postelection, after we all maybe get some sleep once this is all said and done, we can move on as a more united country. One of the things that has been missing in this country for four years, kindness, compassion, empathy. We need those things to connect to one another, its been devoid in our leadership, and i feel like its impacting our everyday people. I feel like people are meaner to each other than before the trump era, and i want us to get back to a place where we respect each other. Im not a fan of much political speechmaking, since ive been exposed to thousands of them. However, some of the truly greatest and most beautiful and most noble political speeches ive ever heard are the concession speeches of losing candidates. The form itself has nobility in it, before you even open your mouth. And this is something of course that donald trump could never, ever comprehend. You ask any dramatist, would you rather write a victory speech or concession speech . Ask any actor, and donald trump could never imagine why anyone would ever want to be or choose to deliver the concession speech that is generous, the concession speech that is unifying, the concession speech that steps out of the individual and speaks to something larger. Lawrence no, hes never okay, jonathan, go ahead, quickly. So, you know, Abraham Lincoln said that stevenson in his concession speech quoted lincoln saying, you know, i feel like a little boy who stubbed his toe in the dark. Im too old to cry, but it hurts too much to laugh. And this is an example of what youre talking about. We saw al gore give a really gracious concession speech after that long struggle in 2000. John mccain, giving a gracious concession speech in 2008. We know were not going to get it. But what we are going to get, is what joe biden started tonight and will continue in his speeches to come. Thats that were one country, and were moving beyond red and blue to red, white, and blue. If he can inhabit that unifying message, hes going to have a real head start on a successful presidency and healing of the american people. Zerlina, thank you for joining us tonight. And thank you for your contributions to our discussions of this Political Campaign all the way through. Weve always appreciated it. Jonathan, thank you for your invaluable historical perspective. We really appreciate it. Georgia is turning out for joe biden, especially in john lewis Congressional District. The woman who won john lewis seat in congress this week will join us, next. Since pioneering the suv in 1935, the chevy suburban has carried many things. Nothing more important than family. Introducing the most versatile and advanced chevy suburban and tahoe ever. My husband would have been on the sidelines. But not anymore an alternative to pills voltaren is the first full prescription strength nonsteroidal antiinflammatory gel to target pain directly at the source for powerful arthritis pain relief. Voltaren. The joy of movement. 5g is going to change everything about the way businesses run. And most important is the ability to transform the smallest of businesses right in our neighborhoods. We created the 5g Business Impact challenge to give them the tools for them to come back stronger. The things that folks are doing today to survive during the pandemic will help them become more resilient into the future and Technology Like 5g is whats really going to enable that. burk customer deepsomething like that. More resilient into the future and Technology Like 5g burke well, heres Something Else with your farmers policy perk, new car replacement, you can get a new one. customer that is Something Else. burke get a whole lot of something with farmers policy perks. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum the work that has been done over the last ten years, the work that has been led by people like Stacey Abrams to register voters, to expand Voting Rights in this state, were now seeing that change has come to georgia. And georgia is the heart of the change that is coming to america. That was Georgia DemocraticSenate Candidate jon ossoff on friday. Hes in a runoff campaign for one of the senate seats that will be decided on december 5th. And Raphael Warnock will be the other one. And joe biden has a 4,430vote lead currently in georgia. Join us now, katie beck. Is the counting continuing overnight . Reporter yes, even at this wee hour of the morning, votes are still being counted in georgia. What is left is the military and overseas ballots, and provisional ballots. That is what is taking up most of the time at this point. We were told earlier that the military ballots could be up to 8,400 votes, and 14,000 provisional ballots. But this could go into early next week, were told by officials. Thats because the provisional ballots take time to verify. There is a Research Process that goes into them to make sure they can be counted. And at this point, we know there are still outstanding votes to be counted, and it could take some time. But the exact number of votes, were not sure. We just know the numbers keep coming in, and keep favoring increasing joe bidens lead, 4,400 votes now separating them. Its a razorthin margin, and the secretary of state indicated there will almost certainly be a recount in georgia. And the two senate races will go to a runoff, that could potentially determine the power of is senathe senate. And the secretary of States Office says so far they feel this process has gone shomoothl. They expected it to take several days, but theyre taking time and being very careful and deliberate, because they want to get it right and make sure everything is accurate and fraudfree, and at this point, they feel very good about that. We expect more to be done this weekend, and we expect the total will increase. In terms of when it will be over, we may not have a final total until next week, and three weeks after that, the expected end of the recount. Katie, thank you very much. Thank you. And joining us now, nakima williams, congresswomanelect in georgias fifth Congressional District, the seat of the late congressman john lewis. Thank you for joining us, and congratulations on your win this week. What do you think is the vote count expectation in georgia . Do you have a view of the way the returns are coming in that tells you how well joe biden is going to do . Will he hang on to this lead . Thank you so much for having me, lawrence, bright and early in the morning, middle of the night. But just looking at the votes that are coming in, every vote dump that comes in gives joe biden a few more votes here in georgia. We said from the beginning, we were a battleground state. And in true battleground fashion, its coming down to the wire with razorthin margin. But i firmly believe in counting every vote, and that joe biden will flip the state of georgia for the First Time Since 1992 with bill clinton, and well deliver the presidency in the south. As chair of the Democratic Party in georgia, youve been telling us, Stacey Abrams have been telling us, jon ossoff has been telling us, the national media, Pay Attention to georgia. Its not a red state forever. Were on the move, its changing, its changing. Could you possibly have been more vindicated in what youve seen in these returns . The returns have given me so much joy. Especially watching in the middle of if night last night, when the fifth Congressional District that i now represent, delivering the votes that finally pufina finally put joe biden in the positive in this race, it was a joyous occasion. Weve been saying were a battleground state, and im happy that the rest of the country is finally catching up. Lets listen to what Kamala Harris says, because it sounds so much like an echo of john lewis. Your vote is your voice. And your voice is your power. And dont let anyone ever take your power from you. And that was her last speech as a candidate for Vice President and there she was, reaching for the john lewis message. Lawrence, if anyone ever thought their vote did not matter, look how close the election is in georgia, where were dumping 24 votes at a time into the vote totals. This is going to be such a close election here, and every vote truly does count. I was arrested in 2018 after the gubernatorial election, protesting, demanding that every vote be counted. We take this serious in georgia, and were going to do it in the legacy of congressman john lewis. What does it mean to you to be taking the seat in congress, occupied by the honorable john lewis . I dont take this lightly. And i understand the obligation that i have to make sure that i am continuing to live up to his legacy, to push us forward, to make sure were not just fighting for what he fought for, but moving us further along in our agenda, so that we have Voting Rights that are equalized across the country. Im looking at things in some of the states were seeing. And if we have sameday Voter Registration in one part of the state, it should be the same way across the board. Im looking to take john lewis lega