joe biden is america's president-elect
but in washington donald trump has not
as yet
accepted that and is continuing to
allege that the election
was stolen in his first speech after the
result became clear mr biden told
supporters that he wanted to restore the
soul of america
and told those who didn't vote for him
that they should give each other
a chance he was projected as the winner
after getting 279 electoral college
votes past the crucial number
of 270 but that looks likely to increase
with a few states
seen here in gray yet to declare our
north america correspondent nick bryant
is in wilmington delaware mr biden's
hometown nick over to you
president-elect biden is preparing to
take power stating that on the first day
of his presidency he will send a letter
to the united nations
indicating that america will rejoin the
paris climate change agreement
a substantive and highly symbolic move
which would underscore how the united
states
is under new management now there are a
few bleary eyes
in delaware today not just because of
the sleeplessness of the past few days
but because last night they got to throw
a party
with democrats across america a night
both of celebration
and catharsis joy born of the certainty
that joe biden will become the occupant
of the white house relief that donald
trump will soon have to make his exes
the coronavirus turned this into a
drive-in victory party
social distancing temporarily cast aside
but cheers still muffled by masks
a multi-generational congregation that
looked like modern day america
kamala harris the night began with a
historic first
never before has a woman become vice
president-elect
or a person of color karma harris joe
biden's running mate
has achieved both but while i may be the
first woman in this office
i will not be the last
because every little girl watching
tonight
sees that this is a country of
possibilities
the president-elect of the united states
of america
joe biden after nearly 50 years in
public life no wonder joe biden was in a
hurry to reach the stage
and he did so wearing his trademark face
covering
a piece of fabric that's become a
political symbol
in a polarized country the pandemic has
driven even further apart
tonight we're seeing all over this
nation all cities and all parts of the
country
indeed across the world an outpouring of
joy
of hope renewed faith and tomorrow bring
a better day
he presented himself as an elder and a
healer
folks i'm a proud democrat
but i will govern as an american
president
i'll work as hard for those who didn't
vote for me
as those who did let this grim here of
demonization in america
begin to end here and now
a leader who can restore the soul of
america the bible tells us
to everything there is a 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
joe biden says he wants to bring this
country together
but it's in such a state of disunion
there isn't even agreement on who has
won
this election the white house is looking
more like an
elegant bunker under siege from
democrats calling for donald trump to
concede
but the president took to the golf
course this morning continuing to make
unsubstantiated claims that the election
was rigged
that some giant fraud has been committed
the president-elect attended mass and
then visited the grave of his son who
died from cancer
a reminder of how his story of personal
grief
finds a mournful echo in these sorrowful
times
this party last night ended with a kind
of made for television spectacular that
we normally associate with donald trump
a show of the democratic reality
that joe biden is the winner
nick bryant bbc news delaware
well as you heard there from nick
president trump was out on the golf
course again today but then he returned
to the white house
and our north america editor john soppel
is there now
um john any idea what is going on behind
the scenes is he coming under pressure
to concede
there is pressure undoubtedly michelle
for donald trump to concede
we've had president george w bush the
only living former republican president
coming out and congratulating joe biden
today
on his victory not waiting for any legal
mechanisms that the president
is currently going through there are
also reports that the first lady melania
believes that the president should
concede
and so too his son-in-law jared kushner
who is a key
advisor against that you've got his two
sons saying no
no you've got to fight this on to the
end and there are some other senior
republican voices as well saying that
but i've read some commentary today
saying that
joe biden's election victory was a
repudiation of donald trump and trumpism
i think that's wrong and donald trump
got more votes in this election
than he did in 2016 and donald trump
marches to the tune of what his base
wants to hear
and if they believe that he's still
fighting on immigration and still
fighting on economic nationalism
the message is that donald trump has
made his own they make encourage him to
fight this all the way in the courts
and so this could go on for some time
that said there are a couple of fixed
points in the calendar worth marking
in the middle of december the electoral
college this complicated mechanism
for choosing the president is meant to
meet to deliver the verdicts from each
particular state
and then in january the 20th his term
expires
and if it's not resolved he'll be turfed
out they'll change the locks on the
white house door
so how far are we from a phone call
where president trump
picks up the phone and says
president-elect biden
many congratulations i was wrong about
the fraud
allegations i concede not anytime soon
and i can't even see it happening