BREAKING ELECTION ALERT: Scott Colom WINS Mississippi Senate race making HISTORY

mississippi the ap is projecting scott colomb. will be the next u .s senator. from the great state of mississippi he is. the first democrat to hold that seat. in a very long time and the first black u .s. senator since reconstruction a big night. of breaking news I'm going to. hand things. over to my colleague Ari Melber. Ari we are watching history in the making. Incredible Alicia we have one.

of these nights where election. night continues you just made. the call I have Reverend Al Sharpe. and standing by with us but as you know there's a. striking. development in a state that wasn't. even supposed to be close. My thanks to Alicia this has been. the closely watched race. and as we've reported now MSNOW. calling this race here. Democrat Scott has won the Mississippi. Senate race. This is a razor-thin margin as you can see it is the. type of situation. that of course can continue to be reviewed. in the state but for the first time.

since election day this once and long. time reliably read deep south state has been. flipped to a Democrat Cologne defeating. the incumbent there Cindy Hyde-Smith. this contest went on counting. for eight days election officials counting. those ballots the victory in the broader sense. expands this Democratic map and majority to 55. seats what under the current count. and we're going through all this is an 11 seat. Senate margin also as has been remarked. and covered since Tuesday night when we saw.

how close this thing got he will become. the first black senator from Mississippi. since reconstruction that's over 150 years ago. and if you're checking that was Blanche Bruce. a man who was born into slavery and later rose. into the highest halls of government power. only to see of course a lot of backtracking when you. look at voting rights. and civil rights in that and other deep south states. We can tell you that during the campaign Colom. was drawing on black Americans hard fought. and long running efforts to secure voting.

rights especially in the south and he mixed. that clear positive unapologetic stance. with constant outreach to the MAGA areas. of his state which were far and wide. We showed you on this broadcast. since Tuesday how he would go to MAGA rallies. and talk to Trump voters so he would pair. that outreach, hey, he wanted their votes from the red MAGA parts. of the state with a tribute to what he saw as, of course, the central struggle for civil rights.

He stood in front of Medgar Everett's home. and discussed the process. of trying to make this hard-fought progress. This is where Medgar Everett's died. He fought for this country at Normandy. He came home to Mississippi and they wouldn't let him. vote. In Mississippi, no one is above the law and. no one should be. outside its protection. He was killed for helping Mississippians vote ON. TUESDAY, USE YOUR VOTE AND HONOR EVERYONE.

WHO DIED FOR THAT RIGHT. THAT WAS THE MESSAGE. WE CAN SEE IT RESONATING. HERE. WE ARE BASICALLY TWO MINUTES INTO THIS. BREAKING NEWS, THE THE DEMOCRAT WINNING MISSISSIPPI. AS I MENTIONED, I HAVE OUR SPECIAL GUESTS. TONIGHT. INCLUDING REVEREND AL SHARPTON. TO WEIGH IN ON WHAT IS THIS HISTORIC. DEVELOPMENT ALONG WITH The New. York Times' Michelle Goldberg. They are with me. But for the breaking news, I want to begin. with MSNOW reporter Nnamdi Iguanwu.

in Mississippi. Tell us what you've seen on the ground as. WE'VE BEEN FIELDING QUESTIONS. ABOUT WHEN THIS RACE IS GOING TO BE CALLED, SPECIFICALLY AFTER WE SAW THE RESULTS. FROM HINDS COUNTY COME IN. THAT'S A DEMOCRATIC STRONGHOLD, ONE OF THE largest in the state. And earlier today, that county alone added. about 700 votes. to Scott Colum's vote total. It increased that margin and it made it increasingly. more. difficult to see a path forward. for Cindy High Smith. Even in counties that Cindy High Smith won,

Scott Colum was cutting into her lead. in terms of the affidavit ballot. So he was overperforming in Republican counties, sweeping in Democratic counties and just. as the hours went on it became harder. and harder to see a path forward. for Cindy Hyde-Smith. Moments ago, I would say our very own. Simone. Sanders Townsend came and said, look, I'm hearing there was a concession, and lo and behold, that call was made shortly. after. So she's been on top of this reporting. for a while now. Many people, including. THAT IS THE STATE YOU NEED TO WATCH HERE IN.

MISSISSIPPI. THE DEMOGRAPHICS ARE THERE, THE TREND LINES ARE THERE, THE ENTHUSIASM IS THERE AND MORE IMPORTANTLY YOU HAVE. A CANDIDATE IN SCOTT COLOMB HE'S VERY FAMILIAR WITH THIS. ELECTORATE. HE'S WON IN A REPUBLICAN DISTRICT BEFORE. HE KNOWS HOW TO BOTH MAKE DEMOCRATS HERE EXCITED AND. FEEL. THE ENTHUSIASM WHILE ALSO APPEALING TO SOME OF THOSE. REPUBLICANS, HE HAD CONSERVATIVE LEANING IDEAS SUPPORTING A. SECURE. BORDER, COMPLEMENTING PRESIDENT. TRUMP ON THINGS LIKE NO TAX ON TIPS, NO TAX ON OVERTIME. ALL OF THAT LED TO THE WE'RE SEEING HERE TODAY. WHERE.

NOT ONLY IS SCOTT COLOMB MAKING. HISTORY AS THE FIRST BLACK. SENATOR TO REPRESENT THIS STATE. IN MORE THAN 100 YEARS SINCE. RECONSTRUCTION BUT ALSO THE FIRST DEMOCRAT TO. WIN STATEWIDE HERE IN SEVERAL DECADES. SO A LOT OF EXCITEMENT ON the ground here. Scott Cologne makes history. Incredible. And as mentioned, Reverend Al Sharpton, who's been in this fight is standing by. But before I lose you, can you walk us through. I WANT TO GO THROUGH HOW DIFFERENT. THIS FELT FROM MAYBE ELECTION EVE, YOU KNOW, MONDAY NIGHT GOING IN THE. MIDTERMS. AND THAT VOTING DAY WHEN THIS WAS,

EVEN THOUGH THERE HAD BEEN ALL THIS MOMENTUM, THIS WAS NOT CONSIDERED THE LIKELY. OUTCOME TO TO THE NEWS YOU'RE REPORTING. FOR US TONIGHT. TALK ABOUT THAT SHIFT. YEAH, YOU KNOW, I THINK THIS IS A RACE THAT. FOR A LOT. OF PEOPLE FELT LIKE A LONG SHOT. AND I THINK I CAN TELL YOU, FROM A FIRSTHAND. PERSPECTIVE, TALKING TO PEOPLE ON THE GROUND HERE, THERE HAS BEEN FRUSTRATION AT HOW LONG. IT'S BEEN TAKEN TO CALL THIS. RACE. THERE'S A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO FELT LIKE IT'S CLEAR THAT. SCOTT COLUMB IS THE CANDIDATE. THAT HAS BEEN ABLE TO SORT.

I DON'T THINK IT'S GOING TO BE ABLE TO BUILD A. CONSTITUENCY. THAT INCLUDES SOME REPUBLICANS, SOME INDEPENDENTS AND A WHOLE LOT. OF DEMOCRATS WHO TURNED OUT AFTER SORT. OF BEING APATHETIC FOR YEARS IN THIS STATE. I'VE SPOKEN TO. DEMOCRATIC VOTERS HERE WHO TOLD ME, LOOK, THERE'S A LOT OF US THAT DIDN'T SEE A POINT. OF VOTING BECAUSE I FELT LIKE REGARDLESS. THE REPUBLICAN WAS GOING TO WIN. AND SCOTT CULLOB KIND OF CREATED. A SENSE OF HOPE AND INSPIRATION. THAT REALLY TURNED OUT A LOT of people here. You know, we're at Tougaloo College right now. and that summer that Scott Cologne two months. ago I met him here as he was holding events.

with students trying to register more to vote. And I would talk to students who said yeah, we're kind of getting excited because this was. like a SO I THINK YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. THAT THIS WAS BY NO MEANS A FORGONE CONCLUSION. THAT HE WOULD WIN BUT AS THE DAYS WENT ON, YOU DID FEEL SOMETHING IN THE AIR, JUST THIS EXCITEMENT AND WE'RE SEEING ALL. OF THAT CULMINATE TONIGHT.