to stack his cabinet. i know you and have have had to do crazy overnight shifts and neither one of us has slept, it's wonderful to be here with you. the good news is that we'll be back here tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. eastern, 3:00 5:00, seven days a week. >> do not miss it. >> today, 3:00 p.m. eastern. i keep saying that tomorrow as if this is not thunderstorm. thank you for watching msnbc and the special coverage of the 2020 presidential election. well, good evening once again as we continue our special election coverage, the election of joe biden, noisy celebrations continue outside the white house tonight and for that matter, around our country, as joe biden and kamala harris are now preparing to assume power. today, it finally, indeed became

official. they are now president-elect and vice president-elect. in just 74 days, both will take the oath of office. >> people of this nation have spoken. they've delivered us a clear victory. a convincing victory. a victory for we the people. all those of you who voted for president trump, i understand the disappointment tonight. i've lost a couple times myself. but now, let's give each other a chance. this is the time to heal in america. >> you delivered a clear mess e message. you chose hope and unity, decency, science and, yes, truth. what a testament it is to joe's character that he had the audacity to break one of the

most substantial barriers that exists in our country and select a woman as his vice president. the road ahead will not be easy but america is ready. and so are joe and i. >> biden's win makes donald trump the first one-term president in over a quarter century, after the four decisive and chaotic years of the trump white house. not long after the announcement of his loss, the president, who spent much of this day at his golf resort, began posting angry and false allegations about the legitimacy of joe biden's victory. trump has yet to concede, says his campaign will, quote, start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated. meanwhile, joe biden and kamala harris are focused on their new administration. tonight, biden announced he

would name his coronavirus task force, an actual coronavirus task force, mind you, on monday. according to "the new york times" the biden team has accelerated the transition planning, focusing first on the white house staff with cabinet posts likely named around thanksgiving time. nbc news has confirmed "the washington post" initial reporting that biden will sign executive orders reversing trump policies soon after being sworn into office, including rejoining the paris climate accord, reinstating the dreamer program, putting the u.s. back into the world health organization. it's a lot. with us tonight, from wilmington, delaware, karin jeanpierre, senior adviser to the campaign. congratulations. thank you for coming on. is job one an uncontrolled pandemic, obviously, that makes this transition so different

from any other, just as it made this campaign so different from any other. >> as you know, brian, first of all, thank you for having me. as you know, brian, the closing -- when we were talking about our closing argument for the campaign, we talked about the three -- the four crises that this country, that americans in this country are facing, was the covid-19, as you just laid out, coronavirus and also the economy, the mismanagement of covid-19 has led a downturn to our economy. the systemic racism, dealing with that in a real way and climate crisis. so, yes, you know, what we saw behind me tonight was history, was history in the making. we saw kamala harris break the hardest, tallest ceilings in this country. we saw candidate biden and former vice president biden transform into president-elect. and this was a hard-fought campaign. it was divisive, hard-fought,

but clearly, as you know, we won. and now we have to go about the people's business. now, we're going to lay out what a biden/harris administration is going to look like. and as you just talked about, coronavirus is top on that list. we need to, more than 8 million people have cases of coronavirus, we have more than 230,000 people who have died in this country alone of this -- of the virus and now we have -- vice president -- i should say president-elect biden is ready to lead and ready to put forth his plan along with vice president-elect kamala harris. >> well, it's nice to hear you stumble over that, because all of us in this business are getting used to new titles, as well. >> muscle memory, brian. >> exactly. thank you for making time for us. safe travels, good luck to you all and congratulations on this outcome. >> thank you, brian.

>> let's turn our conversation to our leadoff guests for tonight, peter baker, chief white house correspondent for "the new york times." former u.s. attorney joyce vance who spent 25 years as a federal prosecutor. and david plouffe, former obama campaign manager and senior adviser to president obama. good evening and welcome to you. all three returning veterans. peter baker, you are the page a-1 journalist among us. what's the story as you see it after this event tonight, after the week we've just had, with the level of anxiety as it's been in this country? >> well, it was an extraordinary day, obviously, brian. any transition from one president to another is a big moment in the country's history, but i don't think i can think of any where the change has been so drastic and so radical and so emotional, obviously, for people who support president-elect biden. and i imagine it's quite emotional for people who support president trump who is

disappointed and maybe even angry at this point. and president-elect biden made a point of reaching out to them tonight in his speech, he tried to say to them, you know, i'm not going to be president just for the people who voted for me, but for the people who voted against me, as well. and that's a different tone than what we've heard the last four years. this has been a president in president trump who we've seen for this administration who did not seem very many points to try to reach out beyond the people who voted him to begin with. not interested in unity as much as he was in division and that's going to be president-elect biden's first and most important challenge in addition to the coronavirus and the economy that are sitting on his to-do list when he arrived on january 20th. >> joyce vance, it was similar moan sand simone sanders that said that there's nothing in the constitution about conceding office. my question to you as an attorney of note, do any of these legal challenges that you see and have read out there

since the president is predicating his lack of concession on them, do any of them have merit to anything, do they hold water? >> just because you scream on twitter doesn't make it true. and so the president is clearly going to continue to insist that only the votes that were cast for him were lawful, that votes cast for biden were not legal and he has nothing to back that up. he is 0 for 9 in the courts. most of the lawsuits challenge conditions where voting are being counted, they don't challenge the legitimacy of the votes. so, the problem here is this, trump is a president who has gotten away very often with persuading the public to go along with when there is no evidence to back up what he is saying. we've seen people saying that trump should concede and that

there is no merit to his lawsuits. over the next few days, we should watch carefully to see if other members of the republican party will cabin the president's behavior or whether it will be up to joe biden and kamala harris by setting this clear tone and expectation and showing that they're prepared to take charge and if that will have to be enough to get us to inauguration day. >> also joyce, i have to ask you if you share eugene robinson's fear of what could happen in the 73 remaining days and it would be concerns over the attorney general, but do you think enough eyes will be on this administration? >> you know, sunlight has always been the best disinfectant with this administration. a lot of the time, exposing misconduct to the public view has been enough to rein it in a little bit. we saw that with the shenanigans at the post office, and although

they were in large part successful and there is a lawsuit challenging ballots that weren't delivered, perhaps some of the worst damage was avoided. but the president has roughly 72 days left and what we're really looking at is a child in the oval office throwing a temper tantrum. someone who has never been subjected to the law, who has managed for four years to avoid legal consequences for any of his behaviobehavior. and now he'll face the reality that when he leaves the white house, he loses a lot of the protection the office he has sat in afforded him. it's important for people to be on alert, particularly when it comes to pardons. we may see him pardoning people where investigations are under way, as best he can. of course, he can't protect them from state prosecutions, only from federal. but the reality is, brian, he has a lot of power and eugene is right to say that this is a very dangerous time that we're entering into.

>> indeed. david plouffe, i have two questions for you. the first of which calls for you to get your kornacki on. a lot of people heard the main result this morning and went outside like it was a fire drill and haven't checked back in with the race. where's the race right now, what states are the democrats waiting for? >> well, now we're just waiting for arizona, so, i would expect the biden lead holds up, but i wouldn't be surprised if the margin gets down to 15,000 or 20,000. then in georgia, we're heading to a recount. biden's margin is a few thousands votes, which may not sound like a lot, but if a race is decided -- you know, maybe 100 or 1,000 votes, a recount may change the outcome, but we generally don't see that. and i would make this point. if you look at 2016, donald trump won the presidency winning pennsylvania, michigan and wisconsin by under 08,000 votes between the three. you know, joe biden's margin in

those states will be triple that. this is not a close race. in fact, you know, 2008, barack obama won 365 electoral votes with biden as his running mate and our national popular vote, we won by about seven points. biden is going to be close to that. we need to see what happens in georgia in the presidential race. much more importantly is those two georgia runoffs in early january. >> yeah, david, as a party guy, are you fearful about the work that lays ahead of the democratic party? i'm looking chiefly at the results of a whole lot of races across the country, especially in the house. >> listen, it wasn't the election, maybe, of our dreams, with a landslide, but we always knew donald trump was going to get a great turnout. even in 2018, which was a great year for the democrats, particularly in red states, trump got great turnout. he was on the top of the ballot. but you win the presidency in

not a particularly close race. we still have an opportunity to win back the senate. we lost a few house races, but 2018 was kind of a high water mark, so, electorally, the thing in front of the party is the two georgia races. we know from stacey abrams in '18 and biden winning the state, at least ahead, we've got the numbers, but runoffs and special elections have their own dynamic. but the good news is you're not going to have to pull off a miracle. you know the numbers are there if you can execute good campaigns and turnout. so, you know, i think there's always questions in my mind that are directed more at the democratic party. the republican party has their challenges too. suburban women have left them in droves. trump did slightly better among african-american men and hispanic men, but still the democratic party is dominating. so, i think, you know, the coalition biden put together was quite impressive and the challenge for the party is, how can you solidify the gains he had. we do need to get more competitive in rural areas,

trump was able to drive huge turnout. if we want to win more senate races, to get to 250 in the house again, you have to get more competitive in rural areas. but the republican hair by hpar lot of problems in front of them. and, you know, georgia and arizona now, could this decade become the new virginia and colorado? and that completely scrambles the electoral college. >> yeah, i hear you, though, on the work the party has to do. peter baker, it always sounds vaguely patronizing to say about a fellow adult, he or she will get there eventually, they need to get to a certain place m menially, but that is where we are, concerning the president of the united states. what has been your sense, who are the grownups who can either walk in or pick up the phone, we know it won't be the chief of staff, who is home with coronavirus, but who are -- who are the grownups who can talk to donald trump after a period where the -- the anger is let

loose? >> yeah, it's a great question. i think, you know, we went back yesterday and watched some of the great concession speeches and you can do a lot to enhance your reputation even in a defeat with a gracious concession speech. look what john mccain did in 2008 or al gore did in 2000. i don't think that's what we're going to see here. i don't know who has the preside president's ear, who can talk him into giving up at this point what seems to be a pretty, you know, impossible effort to challenge and election. none of these lawsuits, as joyce said, carry the weight of overturning the election, they're all on the margins. and so at some point or another, you wonder if mitch mcconnell or lindsey graham or somebody that's had his back so consistently over these last couple years, three years, four years, will have the ability to talk to him and say, okay, you did your best and now it's time to transition to a new president.

and i don't know. i don't know who he listens to, if anybody, honestly. nobody in that white house, clearly, has that stature with him. nobody who works for him has that capacity with him. it would have to be an outside ally that he represents, but he respects so few people and respects his own instincts and his intingts are to fight and never give up. we could be in for a very, very long 70 days, though i don't think he can do anything to change the outcome. >> we're much obliged to our first three guests in this hour. peter, joyce, david, thank you so much for standing by with us and coming on with us. coming up, the london mayor today said it's time to get back to building bridges and not walls. we'll get more reaction from around the world on this biden/harris win when our special coverage continues. y? new nyquil severe honey is maximum strength cold and flu medicine

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it's time to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature, see each other again, listen to each other again and to make progress, we have to stop treating our opponents as our enemies. they are not our enemies, they

are americans. >> for a time there today, it seemed like no one could possibly be home in new york, washington, philadelphia, los angeles, san francisco, as people headed into the streets, while we're at it, we'll add atlanta. rehema ellis was out in it in philadelphia today and tonight, was there a tinge of pride of authorship, considering philadelphia's going to get credit for putting joe biden over the top. >> you bet there was, brian. people were celebrating not only the fact of the biden/harris ticket, but what it means to this city and to this state. an opportunity to celebrate something so wonderful, so glorious, that here in center city, just across from city hall, the streets here opened up now, but they were shut down because to your point, people spilled out into the street,

literally dancing into the street to show their excitement. let me take you over here just a it wi little bit. there were national guard, lots of police officers, but they were not needed. this was exceptionally peaceful and joyous, as people just wanted to come out and do what you were saying, and that is show what they are hoping the country is going to be. one woman i talked to, black woman with two teenage sons, she said, she brought her children out here because she wanted them to see the possibility of the country going from division to unity. she said she wanted her children to see that you can disagree without being disrespectful of dismissive of people, and to her, that's what the biden/harris ticket represents. also, there were so many people who i talked with who talked about the history of this moment. young women saying that they now really do see themselves in this. another woman said to me, she got emotional and made me want

to be emotional in some respects, she said, kamala harris looks like me, she is from me and it means that we can do anything. this was one of those moments that people who were here will talk about for generations to come. where weer on the day that it was decided that the biden/harris ticket was the winning ticket? and that this city, philadelphia, a place where history has often been made, was a big part of making history again today. brian? >> wow, i know enough not to try to put it any better than rehema ellis just did, from city hall in philadelphia, after the day she's covered. rahema, thank you very much. an incredible thing the voters have done here, and when you think about it, are still doing in arizona. that is to say, they are still counting the votes and the crowd that has gathered outside that vote count may have given us the

strangest two-acre parking lot in all of america. correspondent gad dgadi schwart become one of their closest friends and continues to catalog the humandy showing up there. gadi? >> yeah, brian, so, that's the parking lot we've been spending so much time on and for the first time today, we're seeing something happening here on the other side of the street. i want to show you, these are people that are celebrating biden's win. they've come out and they've been here and i wanted to take some time, because if you just look at these faces, a lot of these faces are young faces here in arizona, gen z turned out in a big way. you mind if i ask you some questions? all right, cool. i want to know, this is the first time you guys voted. >> yeah. >> why did you vote? >> ah, for my mom, especially, because she has tps, she's from el salvador and i know trump is

trying to get rid of that, it expires in january and we're hoping that biden can find a solution so that those immigrants who are under that status can have protection here in the united states. >> were you -- so, you were worried she might be deported? >> yeah. >> yeah. and she's a big financial in our household. >> how often did you guys worry about that? >> all the time. all the time. that was always, like, growing up, my mom is, we have to renew, we'd be in lines for hours for her to renew her status. >> how do you feel now? >> so relieved. definitely relieved. we are hoping biden can find something to keep her here and everyone else who is under that. >> thank you guys so much for sharing your story and tell your mom we said hi. thank you very much. >> thank you! >> so, brian, that's just one of the stories we are hearing on this side of the street. you've been hearing stories on that side of the street for quite some time and in the building beyond, they are still counting those ballots. the last time we checked, the gap here in arizona has narrowed

to about 18,000, with president-elect joe biden leading donald trump 18,000 votes. so, he's still closing the margins just a little bit, but it is an incredible hard, uphill batting for donald trump to recover when it comes to arizona and as we've seen, it may not matter at all. but what we are looking for is whether or not arizona is a red state that will swing completely blue. and remember, we've already got two elected senators here from arizona, this historically red state, that are blue, so, now the last question is whether this is going to be a democratic president elected by arizona, as well. brian? >> indeed. gadi, we're happy you're on top of it. thank you for bringing us that extraordinary interview with an extraordinary first-time voter. appreciate that. reaction has always been pouring in from leaders around the wo d world, as you may have noted today. british prime minister boris johnson was one of many to

congratulate biden and harris, adding, quote, the u.s. is our most important ally and i look forward to working closely together on our shared priorities from climate change to trade and security. back in 2017, the german news magazine published a cover you may recall, on the left there showing president trump holding a severed head from the statue of liberty. well, today's cover, on the right, features joe biden wearing a mask in the midst of an uncontrolled global pandemic, fixing lady liberty instead. for more on reaction to today's news outside the united states, we are fortunate to be joined by our chief foreign correspondent richard engel. richard, i'll say in front of the entire audience, you wrote me the most thoughtful note today when the results became clear and all i can ask is that you share the contents of it with the audience watching tonight.

>> so, brian, as the results came through tonight i started to watch the reaction coming in around the world and people were reacting like the united states had overthrown a dictator, that democracy has been saved, that america's reputation had been saved. because just imagine, had this gone the other way. imagine what the world would be saying right now if president trump came out and gave a very aggressive speech, if his supporters, some of them armed, of course, not all of them are, but that would be the ones that would attract the cameras, were out on the streets and that he would be having another term and he's often suggested that another term is not enough for him, people would think that america lost its democracy. and that this vital role that the united states has played as a load star for democracy around

the world would be gone and the shining light on the hill would be extinguished. but instead, what has happened? countries around the world saw that the united states had a strong man. a strong man that wanted to bring power to himself and to his family members, something that is not that uncommon, it happens all the time, but what happened in this case was, through democratic institutions, through a free press that was relentless and got better over the last four years, they were able to unseat him, push him aside, legally and hopefully peacefully. and that means that the impression of american democracy through this experience is actually going to be reinforced, that, i think, the impression of the united states as a believer in democracy, will be stronger coming, well, starting right now. >> what a great quote at 3:30 in the morning off the top of your head.

a relentless free press that got even better as it went along. richard, one last question, that's about boris johnson. trump bragged when he first heard that boris johnson was called the trump of the uk or vice versa, it doesn't matter now. what matters is, both men were coronavirus deniers, both men have now had the coronavirus and both men are paying the political price for their early denial in the form of a second spike in both countries. >> so, not just boris johnson. there was a whole generation of leaders who came in right around the same time as president trump, there was a wave of -- it's been called populism, sometimes it's just been called a wave ofboris johnson came through on that same wave. there were, as you member, more than a million migrants and refugees coming out of the

middle east, heading toward europe. germany was welcoming them in and there was a panic that was settling in across the continent and boris johnson came in on this -- this climate of fear and there were -- there were others. the leader of hungary is still in power and still very much playing that same political card. and president trump was part of the same generation. now, are we seeing a repudiation of that -- of that movement? is trump the biggest leader of this populous movement, this movement of anger, who is now falling? will boris johnson fall with him? certainly this movement reached a climax with president trump and that crest, the wave has crested and may be falling. >> my always thoughtful, well-traveled friend of many years, our chief foreign correspondent richard engel. coming up on 4:00 a.m. in

london, we certainly thank you for adding your voice, your important voice to our coverage here tonight. another break for us. coming up, former senator al franken on many challenges this new president will face at the other end of pennsylvania avenue, when we come back. still your best friend. and now your co-pilot. still a father. but now a friend. still an electric car. just more electrifying. still a night out. but everything fits in. still hard work. just a little easier. still a legend. just more legendary. chevrolet. making life's journey, just better. chevrolet. gillette proglide and proglide gel. five blades and a pivoting flexball

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despite what the president said in the middle of the night. so, the question before us, if the lawful election process goes forward, is, will the preside president's supporters accept the lawful result even if he is encouraging them not to?

when our very democracy was on the ballot in this election, with the very soul of america at stake and the world watching, you ushered in a new day for america. >> california democratic senator turned vice president-elect kamala harris. and back with us tonight, former minnesota democratic senator al fra franken. he was also hired awhile back to host "the al franken podcast" because they figured he had the perfect name for it. senator, i'm curious to hear you on the job you see ahead of this ticket, knowing mitch mcconnell, as you do, and as we sit here tonight, we don't know if he's going to be minority leader or majority leader. >> of course, the special election in georgia will

determine that. either way, mitch mcconnell's going to have to be dealt with to the extent that mitch mcconnell has human relationships. he and joe biden know each other very well. the president-elect. and they, during the obama administration, a number of times changed has reached an impasse where the president or harry reid couldn't negotiate productively with mcconnell and joe biden stepped in, he's an experienced negotiator and i think it's very useful that we're going to have someone who knows the senate as well as joe biden does. >> i have to read you a quote from joe scarborough this morning. and here it is and i'll just get your reaction. there is no way to put this other than to say, joe biden winning looks like a oneoff. this election for the most part

was an absolute repudiation of the democratic party as a brand. that's the quote. senator, i'm sure it's an overstatement, but i'm also sure he was looking at congressional races, speaker pelosi's thin majority and he was looking at things like the toxicity of a phrase like defund the police. >> yeah, that was a dumb phrase, wherever it came from, because that's ridiculous. no one wants to -- almost no one wants to defund the police, you can't. we need police reform, but that was very unfortunate that that stuck and it did and yes, it was disappointing how we did both in the senate and the house. remember in '18 in the house, we had picked up over 40 seats, so, that was perhaps losing a few

was not to be unexpected, but yes, it would be much easier to accomplish what we want to have accomplish if we had -- also had control of the senate and that's why these two special elections in georgia are just so unbelievably important. >> do you -- do you believe it's about messaging and how you approach folks on the other side? do you think if you and i got in a car tomorrow, drove up to the iron range of minnesota and talked to people that, given the chance, and given a couple of minutes and the right approach and the right argument, you could find common ground? >> well, i did. when i won my first race by 312 votes and if there were a lot of recounts going on, i'd be the expert on that, but my second one, i won by over 200,000, and

that's because i went up to the iron range and i went around red areas of minnesota, rural minnesota, where 1 out of 6 jobs in minnesota is tied to agriculture. and there were issues that we should have been winning on in rural america. medicaid expansion. the last five states to approve medicaid expansion by referendum are idaho, nebraska, utah, oklahoma and missouri. medicaid expansion is one of the best things that's happened to rural america. also, the trade war that this president engaged in with china has devastated farmers all over this country. and i -- i wish, you know, you have to go -- show you. on my podcast, i had jon tester a couple weeks ago talking about how he is the only working farmer in the -- in the senate,

about how democrats can reach out to rural americans and it's something we really, really have to work on. >> senator, thank you very much for your thoughtful answers -- >> thank you, brian. >> we appreciate it. we reason will be talking to along the way. with us now is our friend general barry mccaffrey. decorated combat vietnam of vietnam, former cabinet member and our military analyst. general, i've been looking forward to talking to you, because i read you every day. it is always about our country, it is about the country. you were willing to die for it. it is always about stewardship and rigor and competence and here to for, it's been about your disappointment and deep concern over president trump. i'm curious as to how you're feeling right about now. >> well, pretty much relieved.

i worked with then-senator biden for years. tonight's acceptance speech of his president-elect status was a good window into who he is. this is a kind, descentdecent, experienced, collective thinking, committed to science and the rule of law. he understands the constitution, he understands our big institutions of the congress, the supreme court, et cetera. so i think it's a great sense of relief. look, brian, the armed forces will loyally support, as a nonpolitical inconstitution, anyone the american people el t elect. however, it was clear to me that we have been descending into authoritarian government. unilateral. there's no cabinet. there's no collective party in the senate that was influencing trump. he was making bizarre, impulsive, dangerous decisions on his own. i think the greater national

security expert world, intelligence, diplomats, were appalled and frightened. i might end one note of sense your to the american media, i keep hearing trump called the commander in chief. we do not have a commander in chief in america. that's a title that only applies to the armed forces, not the american people. and by the way, we got a concern of enhanced vigilance during the coming 70-plus days because the, you know, the coercive institutions of america, homeland security, defense and justice, we're going to have to watch carefully what goes on there. >> are you convinced, as i asked michael steele, that democracy grows back like a starfish. for an example, if i sent you on a government plane tonight, start in japan, go to south korea, come on back through france and germany and the uk

and look our allies in the eye and promise them, everything's going to be okay, we're going to get back in the w.h.o., we're going to get back in the paris environmental accords, do you think it can come back with a few scars for the damage that's its been through? >> absolutely. no question. i think if mr. trump had been re-elected by hook or crook, we would have owned him and we would have been in trouble for the rest of our lives, but i think now -- look, biden is american values. senator harris is american values. they're going to select first-rate expert people to be in government. hopefully he's going to reach out as strongly as he can to the people that voted for trump, for one reason or another, but i do not think we have suffered lasting damage at all. the american people are good and sound, we've got to deal with a covid environment, we have to

reform criminal justice. we've got, you know, to stabilize the economic future of the country. we're -- we got a lot of tasks at hand, but i think this team's up to it and the american people will be relieved to not have the chaos, the impulsive stupidity going on day in and day out. so, i feel pretty good about america's future. >> one of the voices i have wanted to hear and pass along to our audience since we got the news. general, it's a pleasure, sir, thank you for coming on. and coming up for us, the presidential race may be over. the pandemic, of course, remains. and it remains uncontrolled. the latest on the coronavirus surge hitting our shores when we come back. don't smell clean? what if your clothes could stay fresh for weeks? now they can! downy unstopables in-wash scent boosters keep your laundry smelling fresh way longer than detergent alone.

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as we speak, nearly 10 million americans have contracted the coronavirus. this week, the u.s. saw three straight days of over 100,000 new cases each day. let's put this another way. and we'll say it twice. the virus is reaching a new peak in our country every day. the coronavirus is reaching a new peak in our country every day. on monday, joe biden is expected to name his coronavirus task force before naming any other white house or cabinet position. a move that indicates how he plans to prioritize the issue and remember, this will be an actual working coronavirus task force.

something we are not used to and have not seen of late. so, back with us again tonight is dr. irwinredliner, a senior research scholar and the founding director of columbia's national center for disaster preparedness. doctor, politics aside, just as a matter of public health, which is your special ty, after all, i imagine it is very good insinew you that a 12-member actual functioning coronavirus task force is going to come online. >> yeah, it's extraordinary, brian, and thank goodness for that, and i'll tell you, i spoke late this evening with some of the senior members of the transition staff, including people who are going to be on this task force and it is extremely heartening. for one thing, it is -- probably comes as news to you and others and certainly did to me, that actually they've been already

working with the vice president, now the president-elect, for many months. the -- joe biden has actually requested briefings by some of the superstars in pandemics and in infectious disease. he's requested, biden has, 40 to 50 hours of briefings by these scientists and experts and has received those and has received those with open heart and open mind. and about, you know, this is going to come as a shock to the system for many of us, but we're going to see an administration that is focused on transparency and honesty and a reliance on science to make policy about this horrible threat that we're facing. as you mentioned, there's no end in sight now, the trajectory is upwards and we need exactly what i think is going to be presented by this task force and how they're going to advice the president. i think that, look, there's no magic bullet here, there's not going to be an instant cure, there's not going to be any

mysteries or miracles or bleach injections. there's going to be policy dictated by science and evidence. and that will be an incredible relief for so many of us. and the other thing, they made a point of telling me that joe biden does not want a shutdown. he does not want to interfere with the growing economy unless it's absolutely necessary. and i think we're going to see a president who will depend on policies and recommendations that will help guide us to a place where we can contain the spread of this virus. without having to necessarily do anything that will interfere with the necessity of getting the economy back going. so, we have a lot to look forward to and it's a tremendous relief to all of us in the business of public health and i think it will be a great relief to the american people, as well, brian. >> doctor, yours was another voice we wanted to hear, as soon

as we heard the result. again, politics aside, based on your life's work, which is public health, it looks like we're going to be heading into some circumstance where we have expertise and exile and we have to wait for the change in administrations to see it have policy teeth, but anyway, thank you for that report from the front lines and your colleagues who are going to be dealing with the president-elect. our final guest for this hour, thank you so much. that's going to do it, again, for this hour's live coverage on this mystery-making saturday night. our coverage, of course, is far from over. that continues at the top of the hour with my friends and colleagues katy tur, amon after a short break. we'll go out on the scene tonight in wilmington, delaware, as the democratic ticket, after a long campaign, became president and vice

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♪ hello. i'm katy tur. >> and i'm ayman mohyeldin. >> we continue with msnbc's special coverage of a historic night in america. the election of joe biden as the 46th president of the united states. for biden it is a victory decades in the making. the necessary electoral votes came 48 years to the day of his first election to the senate in 1972 back when he was 29. the president elect reaffirmed