Biden wins battle to become 46th U.S. president

(KAMALA HARRIS - SOT) "We did it. We did it Joe."

A phone call from the Vice President-elect to the President-elect...

Democrat Joe Biden emerged as the winner Saturday of a contentious battle for the White House as voters narrowly pushed him over the finish line to fix a battered economy and a divided nation, as well as fight the coronavirus pandemic.

The declaration came just before noon after a batch of mail-in votes in Pennsylvania expanded Biden's lead in the battleground state so wide, there was no chance of President Trump catching up.

That was all that was needed for major TV networks to declare him the winner of the state, pushing Biden's tally in the electoral college beyond the needed threshold to 273, after days of ballot counting and nights of national nail-biting.

Knowing that he will lead a bitterly-dividend nation, Biden tweeted on Saturday: "America, I’m honored that you have chosen me to lead our great country. The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a President for all Americans — whether you voted for me or not."

There were spontaneous celebrations in city streets across America.

(SOUNDBITE TOURIST, BELINDA GROSS, 50, FROM WASHINGTON D.C. - VISITING LAS VEGAS, NEVADA)"Well to be honest, we already knew he was going to win. We all know why Trump kept on trying to holding on to something. That ain't cheat. Come on. America spoke, the people spoke. You got to count every vote, ok. The people spoke. We showed up, we showed out. Woohoo. I'm so proud of our people. Yes."

President Obama joined in the celebrations, congratulating his former VP in a statement: "We're fortunate that Joe Biden has what it takes to be President and already carries himself that way."

Trump, who was not at the White House, but out golfing when the election was called, wasn't in the mood to accept defeat.

He immediately accused Biden of "rushing to falsely pose as the winner."

Trump who also said in a statement that this election is far from over, has repeatedly, without evidence, made claims of electoral fraud.

His legal team, which includes personal lawyer Rudolph Giuliani, laid the groundwork Saturday for their strategy to try to stop Biden from his victory, claiming discrepancies with mail-in ballots in Philadelphia.

"The same thing was done in Georgia, the same thing was done in Michigan. The same thing was done in North Carolina. Seems to me somebody from the Democratic National Committee sent out a little note that said, don't let the Republicans look at those mail in ballot. These lawsuits will be brought starting on Monday."

Trump supporters, who were in disbelief - took to the streets to vent against the Biden win in several "Stop the Steal" demonstrations.

(SOUNDBITE: RETIREE AND TRUMP SUPPORTER, ED PALMER IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA) "If it's not reversed, if we don't get a change to the count and it's a legitimate count, then he's going to be our next president. Unfortunately, I think that that's going to take our country off the edge of the cliff."

The legal challenges, though, might have little bearing.

Even after the race was called...other states like Arizona and Georgia were still counting votes. And Biden had at least one more win before the day was out. He was named the projected winner in Nevada - taking him even further beyond the magic number of 270 needed to clinch the vote.