are they going to be willing to help ease him out of that job or are they going to be amplifiers for the false message of voter fraud that he's spreading. i think the jury is still out. they're clearly trying to manage him, but there are a lot of questions about what that might do in the long run to our democracy. thank you for getting up "way too early" with us on this monday morning. don't go anywhere. "morning joe" starts right now. we have an announcement to make. joe biden is president-elect of the united states. >> the president-elect of the united states, joe biden, has run for president three times and the third time has turned out to be the charm. not only the charm but possibly the most consequential election of our lifetimes. >> an extraordinary election in so many ways, not the of which is that it was conducted in the middle of a pandemic. a campaign unlike any we have seen before.

>> and we were on the air on saturday when joe biden crossed the vote threshold to become the president-elect and to willie's point about the pandemic, biden's first order of business today will be announcing the team that will help him get the virus under control and that team will have its work cut out for it as u.s. cases continue to surge at record levels. now surpassing the 10 million mark and deaths again on the rise. >> well, willie, if you looked at the celebrations on -- over this weekend, there were some in times square that were fine. you had people wearing mask, there was some distanced and spacing and there were other places that people were crowded in. it was dangerous and you can expect the spread of infections. like we said from the beginning of the year, the virus doesn't

care about trump's politics, or biden's politics, you don't crowd in like that. and i stayed up past midnight to watch an incredible football game. notre dame and clemson. what an incredible game. went into overtime. but then, everybody jammed on to the field. and i think sonny bunch wrote something along the lines after watching that i hope there aren't senior citizens in south bend, indiana, because again we have to keep our heads about us. >> yeah. you can understand on both counts, both the election of joe biden and notre dame's big win over clemson why people were excited, why they wanted to gather and celebrate. but saw a lot of public health officials looking at the crowds, let's not forget where where we are, which is as mika alluded to an exploding public health crisis. every day the number went up and

all over 100,000 new cases per day in this country, setting new records almost every single day. joe biden does inherit this problem, the pandemic, but he'll announce a pandemic board and i think for a lot of people watching his speech on saturday night they herd unity, but they also heard competence. oh, right, you can lead with scientists, lead with doctors. the first thing you'll do is assemble a group of scientists to tackle the problem that remains at the center of our lives and that's accelerating as we speak. confidence is back and science is back, but it will be the knows important thing he faces when he takes office. >> well, you know, some of the conspiracy theories that were on facebook and unfortunately some of my friends said to me, oh, this virus is going to be over right after november 3rd. this virus is just a concoction to help defeat donald trump. for those of you who are

thinking that, i told you you were wrong then and i'm telling you now i have very bad news for you. a lot of public health officials believe we'll go into the worst phase that we have gone in to yet on the coronavirus especially across the north where people are going to be shut inside the houses and a lot of doctors fear an explosive growth in the coming months. we'll talk about that in a little bit, mika, but first, let's bring in the panel and talk about joe biden being elected the 46th president of the united states. >> from the associate press, jonathan lemire, washington anchor for bbc world news america, katty kay and host of msnbc's "politicsnation" and president of the national action network, reverend al sharpton. and nbc news capitol hill correspondent, and host of "way too early" kasie hunt is still with us.

and contributor shawna thomas. good to have you on board. >> so jonathan lemire, the election is over. you can look at the data, just like, you know, i looked at the data in florida and knew right away it was over. there was no way that biden was going to catch up there. looked at the data in philadelphia, and realized there was no way that donald trump was going to catch up there and just like you guys at the a.p. looked at the data coming out of arizona back in june and figured there was no way that -- just joking, you are all going to be right in the end. you looked at -- but it was a close one, jonathan. it was a close one. but you look at those numbers and arizona's a perfect example for the a.p. and fox news. but arizona is the perfect example why these clowns that go on tv and say, oh, donald trump has a pathway back, they know they're lying. and by the way, the clowns you

see on tv expect them to be on the short list of running for the republican nomination in 2024. because you take a state like arizona, you have to get within 200 votes for a recount and then the campaigns can't call the recounts. only state officials can. you look at the numbers. donald trump's not going to get within 200 votes there. he's behind in pennsylvania as much as he beat hillary clinton by, about 43,000, 44,000 votes right now. those numbers are going to go up even more as we get the last of the ballots out of philadelphia. georgia, it's over 10,000 votes right now. there's no way he's going to be able -- i mean, recounts usually find you if you're lucky, 10,000, votes, they all know this is over, and what are they

doing to try to move the president out of this contentious state so they can start focusing on winning the senate and winning those two seats in georgia. >> they may know it's over but they're not acting like it. at least not quite yet. you're certainly right to bring up the recount thresholds in a number of states and the margins are such it's not clear if the president will fall within them, to have a recount trigger. he asked for one in wisconsin but you're right. they usually find a few dozen votes. maybe 100 or 200 if you're lucky. looking at the florida 2000 situation it doesn't apply here. not only was that only 500 odd votes, it was in one state. here we're talking thousands of votes and a number of the battlegrounds including pennsylvania with which the president really can't win without. it's not pennsylvania, but several states. so the trump aides privately

concede that these legal challenges really aren't going to go anywhere. even if they happen to be successful in one state that seems unlikely that wouldn't be nearly enough. so now the question is, what next? as much as the biden/harris transition team is hitting the ground running, they already announced the coronavirus pandemic, and we'll hear from the president-elect later on today, we heard him on saturday calling for unity, eyes are on the president. he had two trips to his golf course, in fact, he was on his golf course saturday when the race was called for joe biden. aides are figuring out what's next. they're waiting to see if mitch mcconnell will start signaling, look, time to give this up. he has received statements of support from senator graham and others who say he should keep fighting and indeed the results of the race are invalid. those close to the president as we reported in the a.p. don't

believe he'll formally concede. the question is how much of a fight does he want to put up? there are conversations he should start having rallies in the states again where the vote is being counted and contested and others suggest taking a quieter path. and let this process go, and perhaps -- then even some aides suggest decamp to mar-a-lago for much of the transition. they're watching what fox news say and if the anchors are signaling to tell him what to do. it should be noted for a campaign that had such sound and fury it may have come to an end in a landscaping facility in a rough part of philadelphia, where this ride that began with the golden escalator may have ended in fact at a rather more humble location. >> next to a porn shop in the strip mall right off of i-95

which of course, willie, i just described a good part of your life. i'm joking, kids. i'm joking. >> how did i know that was coming? >> you knew that was coming. so, willie, what doesn't make sense is for donald trump to know -- or to have one challenge after another. he'll lose every single challenge. there's not a challenge out there that he can win. i was going to say, he's lost these states by the same margin that he won the states four years ago, but actually he's going to lose pennsylvania in the end by more votes than he won it in 2016. of course, he's going to -- he's going to lose michigan by far more votes than he won it in 2016. you go out to arizona, there's just -- unless something bizarre happens in the final votes there he won't get close to the 200

votes that he needs for the state to then decide whether he has a recount or not. he's got republicans running the operations in arizona, he's got republicans running the operations in georgia. and so, you know, is he really going to accuse brian kemp of rigging the election or ducey of rigging the elections against him. and by the way, if you're in georgia and you have two senate races coming up, and literally the future of american government rests on those two seats because if they make jackasses out of themselves in georgia and voters are turned off then democrats can win both of the seats and then democrats control washington, d.c. so it doesn't make sense for them to keep, you know, driving the car off the cliff for donald trump because he's lost. it's over.

rupert murdoch is saying it through "the wall street journal" and through "the new york post." i mean -- >> the world is saying it. >> george w. bush is saying it. other republicans are saying it. there's no upside for mitch mcconnell to continue this charade. >> no. these lawsuits that we have seen already time and again have been rejected not just at the state level, but by the supreme court in some cases and i want to underline the point you made about recounts. there was a recount in 2016 in the state of wisconsin because that state was so close, it was actually jill stein who initiated it and then hillary clinton's campaign joined it. donald trump actually picked up votes so his margin got bigger in a recount so that's a lesson that the trump campaign might remember as they ask for recounts. but shawna thomas, joe is right, that the more time republicans spend on this, the more time

they go down this path that has no end to it and less time they're looking at the senate seats in georgia and mitch mcconnell knows that. it's a little bewildering why more republicans -- you basically have two camps. you have republicans saying, well, we have to respect the election, but the campaign has a right to ask for recounts and to file lawsuits. that's their right and then you have others like ted cruz and lindsey graham is saying there's something wrong here, there's something scandalous, something is rigged here. going full trump on the argument and they're in the same group, they're wasting the time not only of the country but their own party to focus on the two seats that will swing the senate. >> yeah. focus on the transition and how they're going to work with a president biden. but i think we have to understand that president trump still has the word president in front of his name and he is and will be presumably after he leaves office on january 20,

2021 the head of the republican party. i think they are trying to balance that out. this is -- you're sort of seeing the idea of like what is the republican party going to be post a president trump play out in front of us as they work through this transition as they work through president trump, you know, contesting some of these vote counts. they are trying to figure out who they have to -- who they have to hold up, basically. for now, with the republican party, president trump is the head of it. so they don't want to necessarily get on his bad side. as for georgia, we'll see what happens with those recounts, but there's a possibility that the two people who are running on the republican side in those races are going to want president trump possibly to show up for them. he garnered lots and lots of votes in this country. it is very, very close in georgia on the presidential left

and very close on the senate level. they may actually need him. so i think that is kind of the path that they are trying to walk. now the mitt romneys of the world seem to be walking it in a fairly more sane way since there is almost no -- actually, there is none, there is no evidence of voter fraud in these cases. but what we're seeing now is politics and the politics despite the end of the presidential election haven't really changed and the republican party isn't necessarily sure which direction it needs to go. >> well, the problem with the republican party, chasing donald trump, mika, down this very dangerous path, which of course -- you do actually have some people whose name i won't even -- because they're doing it to try to get attention on the national stage because they want to run in 2024. but what they're doing is they're insulting republicans as well as democrats when they say this process was rigged.

this is the most transparent election in the history of this country and we have all been concerned for the past six months, the past nine months, there would be problems. so we had cameras all over the place. look at allegheny county, we had observers, democrats and republicans alike and they said that the process was fair and it was good americans making sure that everybody's vote got counted. and, mika, you know, again, when the president insults the vote counting in georgia he's insulting republicans. when he's saying it's rigged in arizona he's insulting the republicans running that state. if he says it in philadelphia, you know there was a republican that was involved in the recounts talking to "60 minutes." talking about how it was insulting there. again, we have the cameras in there. we have the observers in there. >> i know. >> this is nonsense. you don't have to ask where mitch mcconnell is. mitch mcconnell knows how to count votes.

mitch mcconnell knows this election's over. he's concerned about winning those two georgia seats, which he should win, unless republicans really foul things up over the next several weeks which they could do. >> they could. >> it would follow the madness of donald trump's claims. >> it would traitorous to the peaceful transition and any republicans who try to do that might find themselves in the wrong location from across an adult bookstore and that actually happened. >> by the way, do they want to follow the path of rudy giuliani? giuliani is one of the voices supposedly saying that the president should fight on. how much do republicans want to continue shaming themselves with guys who find themselves in a landscaping business on the most important supposed day of the

entire campaign next to a porn shop and making a fool out of himself. that's what it -- >> that's sort of symbolic -- >> that's what it's devolved to right now. by the way, that guy, that's the guy that donald trump and jared kushner wanted to be america's secretary of state four years ago. >> wow. i want to get to kasie on who the republicans might still be at this point, but first, katty kay. the problem trump has is, number one as joe mentioned, this is the most transparent election in american history. number two, the world is resoundingly confirming these results and that's important too. >> yeah. look, i think americans are resoundingly confirming these results. it was interesting talking to republican strategists during the course of saturday and how the mood changed in the country as soon as you started to get people out celebrating on the

streets, as soon as those congratulatory telegrams started to come in from around the world, at that point, joe biden looks the president and taking that back from him becomes quantifiably harder. you know, obviously there's no evidence of fraud but they're letting the legal process come out. but it's important to note how much the narrative shifted just on saturday. i mean, i was in touch with people on the campaign on friday who sounded kind of sanguine who were saying, look, you know, we have to let the legal path play out, we owe it to the voters. we know it's tricky. then suddenly after all of the celebrations and announcements were made, they started to get more hunkered down, this can't be the fake news media that calls this election, the president has to fight this on. it's kind -- it's schizophrenia in the trump campaign is what i'm hearing about how -- and i guess that comes from the president on down. that's the president's mood is dictating the mood of the campaign. they know this is over, they

know the lawsuits aren't going anywhere and they know because of all of the scenes around the country and the trappings of government which have moved to joe biden they have lost control of the narrative. >> it is over. the smart people know it, at least. kasie, it's fascinating though. a couple of things. first of all, i love all of the republicans that are parroting the president, saying the fake news media doesn't call the winners. why are they celebrating? it has to be certified. you know, ted cruz when he was called the winner in texas by the fake news media immediately celebrated. i wonder if lindsey graham is still not celebrating his victory or mitch mcconnell is still not celebrating because they were called earlier in the evening by the fake news. they're creating new standards, oh, we have to wait until he's certified until we determine if

he can be -- start planning. again, it's crazy, but you know and mika and i know and other people, katty, who have been around washington understand that when the votes are counted and when it's obvious who the next president of the united states is, boom, the door closes on the last president. modi of india, immediately congratulated joe biden. boris johnson of great britain, another close ally of the president, immediately congratulated joe biden. you had people across the world, europe, our closest allies immediately -- immediately congratulating joe biden. you saw a shift in "new york post" coverage. you saw a shift in the editorial page coverage and the first order of business at lockheed,

at boeing, the first order of business at the u.s. chamber, the first order of business in all of these places that donald trump thought were his life long friends and allies, they're asking one question. okay, who here has the best relationship with biden? who knows biden? okay, who's going to be running dod, is susan rice -- can you call her today? oh, i know susan through this or that. it happens. it happens every four years. right-wingers attacked me for criticizing george w. bush the second obama was president, boom, everybody started to say, okay, who knows obama, he's an outsider, how do we get to him? the train has left the station, kasie, and anybody who didn't just fall off the turnip truck last week in washington, d.c., understands that.

>> joe, it's how power works and you can already tell that everything you laid out is true. people know it. this is the thing. donald trump has had such a grip on the psyche of the country and everyone has been riveted to his every word because he was clearly leading a movement that was giving him political power and then he was the president of the united states. but that's not going to be the case anymore and it's clear everybody knows it behind the scenes, even if they're saying these different things in public. you're absolutely right. lindsey graham saying oh, the news media, the news media has been calling elections for decades, like since the 1800s basically and we have called elections for republicans, we have called elections for democrats. the tape is all there, you can go back and watch it. i think the challenge for republicans and what they're

trying to do based on the private conversations i have had with some of them is figure out a way to manage the president himself, you know, and i think there are selfish motivations for the 2024 candidates. for those who are interested in governing there's an element of concern about the president's base of supporters and what they're willing to believe about democracy and i think the people who are looking at the recounts and legal challenges in good faith are saying, let's let it play out. let's watch how it goes. so that they can then tell those people there's -- there is all of this evidence that shows our process worked, right? the president wasn't shut down. his legal challenges were considered. they were properly adjudicated so that this gives some people -- i mean, one of the main themes of the last four years has been voters standing

up at these events talking to politicians and the politicians say where are you getting it, on social media, the conspiracy theories. it's a legitimate thing that will be with us for a long time and the republicans have to grapple with that. this is all taking place in the context as you pointed out of those two senate seats in georgia of control of the senate. and if you're a republican trying to figure out how to win those, you have to grapple with a base of supporters that they're believing things online that may or may not be true so trying to thread that needle is very hard. >> willie, this is not the first time this has happened. at the risk of offending 98.6% of the audience watching this morning, you know that 2000 recount, people are saying al gore won by every vote possible. then you calmly say to them, thank you so much for telling us

what you read online, but you know there was a newspaper consortium after and they counted all the ballots and not only did al gore not win and all of those recounts, george w. bush won in the recount that al gore was asking the supreme court to review. i remember watching a documentary on the upper west side. you know, which is what i do. i watch documentaries on the upper west side, willie. after i put on my nehru suit, i had a woman next to me and a woman said that al gore won by every conceivable count. democracy has been stolen! she was weeping and i turned to her and i said, don't worry, it's not true. she just stared at me. like, you know?

with her beads and everything. what are you talking about? so we get through these moments. it's irresponsible. there's still people who believe that al gore got more votes in florida based on -- based on what he was asking the supreme court to have counted. but that newspaper consortium for "the new york times," "the washington post," "usa today," every other news organization you'd want in there counted all the votes, came to the conclusion and the conspiracy theories are still with us. and you have the documentaries with roger stone saying we're going to win this thing no matter what. people are freaked out, 20 years later. i'm sorry. i'm only the piano player here. but it's just the truth. so, yeah the conspiracy theories

will rumble around and breathe into your paper sack and move on. but it will take a while. >> yeah, i want to know more about that interaction on 72nd and broadway and the woman with the beads in her hair but we'll talk about that later. >> next block. >> yeah. that'll be in our next block, of course. 70 million people voted for donald trump. 70 million. he's going tend to up with about 7 million more votes than he got in 2016. and republicans owe it to them not to foment this revolution that they're trying to foment. revolution is too strong of a word, but, you know, this doubt about the election, about what happened and they're insulting them by suggesting that something is amiss and something is awry and they're feeding into the conspiratorial theories that it's rigged against him and

them. if you cared about the country, if the republican senators who are calling a rigged election, if they cared about the country truly, not only about their own power, they'd do everything they could to tamp this down and turn down the temperature. so far they're not. rev, you were on the air with us on saturday when we made the call that joe biden became president-elect. as i said, joe biden got 75 million votes. still some to come in here. that will be the most ever earned by a presidential candidate, but again, donald trump got 70 million votes as well. what do you think the vote on saturday said about the country, what does it say about where we are and where does it say we are headed next? >> the vote shows that we are a deeply divided country. let us not forget that he did get 70 million votes. that also means that president-elect joe biden and vice president-elect kamala harris has to try to move

forward with a very serious surging pandemic with an economy that is unstable and try to reach out to some of that 70 million, some of the republican leadership. regardless as to what happens in georgia, to try to move forward, to take care of the health and the economic reality of the american people. it is time not only to tell the president and those that are going to these conspiracy theories on the right to tamp down, it's time to tell those of us that are progressive, wait a minute. this is not time for gloating party in the middle of everywhere. >> amen. >> we have got to deal with the fact we told the american people we were more adult, we were more grown-up and we were more concerned. we need to show that, not by trying to say we beat you and take it out of the schoolyard, go back into the classroom and let's teach america how to

really do the things that we need to do. >> amen. you know, that -- rev, such an amazing point because that's what joe biden talked about on saturday night. that's what he talked about during the entire campaign. i hear some democrats saying, oh, now's our time to stick it to them -- no, it's not. no, it's not. now's the time to bring the country together. that's what your candidate joe biden promised to do. now it's time for the democrats to work with the republicans and republicans at times are going to have sharp elbows. chuck schumer, he's got sharp elbows. if you ask don't believe it, ask miguela estrada and other people. they have to learn to work with each other. so, rev, i salute you for saying that. and yes, 70, 71 million people voted for donald trump.

as a small government conservative, i don't understand why, but i do know this. they're half the country and we have to figure out how to move forward with malice toward none. if abraham lincoln can say that after my region was responsible for starting the war that killed 700,000 americans, and abe lincoln in the second inaugural address talked about no malice toward none we can do that now. >> just to close this off here, of course, obviously, there's not only a massive search to understand the 71 million people and what drives them and what they need and i think joe biden made that clear repetitively and i think a lot of democrats are too. certainly we are. but where's mike pence and the legal matters trying to undermine the results here, the results show that joe biden won. that's not malice.

that's not trying to stick it to anybody. that's just the facts right now. >> but here's -- mika, you -- and mitch mcconnell said this. let all the votes be counted. if there are legal challenges to undertake, let them undertake their legal challenges. let the courts rule and then we can move on. so the votes still haven't all been counted in arizona. they still haven't all been counted in georgia. they still all haven't been counted in north carolina. they still haven't been counted in pennsylvania. is joe biden the winner, yes, he's going to win this. but let the votes be counted. >> let them do that but if you look at the legal battles and some of the stuff that rudy giuliani is putting out there -- >> he's an idiot. >> but my point is what's the desperation of donald trump's tweets, i won this thing by a lot. >> don't let it bother you. >> it's not bothering me at all. i'm asking the question is what

does he see on the other side of this that is having him act so unbelievably erratically against what is so transparent and true? i'm not bothered by this. >> we're four years into donald trump and you're thinking what does he think is coming out of this? he's a day trader. as maggie haberman said, he's survived trying to live the next ten minutes. he will figure out it's over, because people around him know it's over. >> well, of course. but many would say the more destruction you do now, the more destruction you do to the next act. >> nobody believes him. nobody believes a word he's saying. what destruction? nobody believes him. listen, i think it's reckless, yes, it's reckless. he's a reckless man. but nobody believes him. his family doesn't believe -- i

think everybody knows this is over. they just do. jonathan lemire, let me ask you on this point. everybody knows it's over. what's the family saying to him? >> the family are some of the voices saying it's not just over yet. rudy giuliani is perhaps the loudest in the president's ear and donald trump jr. and eric trump are urging -- >> they don't count. he doesn't listen to don jr. and eric. what about melania and ivanka and jared? are they going to go to go back to new york as champions of undermining legitimate election results? >> well, certainly, the plan had always been for ivanka and jared to return to new york whenever the president left office. we'll see if that's still the case. jared kushner is part of this team. he's part of the decision making process who at least at this point has said that he wants to

let the legal challenges play out. he has not urged despite the reporting over the weekend, as we have confirmed he has not urged the president to concede yet, but he should consider his options. one final note on this. as we talk about what the president may try to do in the next couple of weeks, we see what his goal is for the next four years. is he going to mount another candidacy for 2024? there's a lot of pressure, people around him close to him have talked about his need to make money, to, you know, we about his debt and his businesses have suffered while in office. we know that the president will try to improve his revenue streams. going back to the private sector in the coming weeks or months or years. whether he is going to try to have rallies, but charge for them, you know, does he get back into the licensing, do it more in red states now?

that's that. and then there's the shadow of possible indictments and criminal investigations that could follow him and his family and his businesses once he leaves office. that's another thing, as he and his family weigh what to do here, they're trying to keep an eye on that. the money, the possible investigations and how does -- does he want to stay politically relevant? does he want to tease the idea of a presidency before 2024? >> and if he's going to run four years from now or -- >> or make money. >> or make money, it's better not to have one loss after another after another loss in the coming month or two. much better to just throw your arms up, call it a rigged election and go to mar-a-lago and sit there and plan your future whether it's in business or whether it's running. hey, willie, i wanted to circle back, just because i know there was great weeping and gnashing of teeth out there among the

great unwashed when i talked about george w. bush getting more votes than al gore in the newspaper consortium. to stop the hyperventilating before we get too late into the morning, i wanted to read -- people forget this when they do documentaries on the 2000 count. november 12, 2001, "new york times" examining the vote, find justices did not cast the deciding vote. "the new york times," it reveals that george w. bush would have won even if the united states supreme court had allowed the statewide manual recount of the votes that the florida supreme court had ordered to go forward. contrary to what many partisans of former vice president al gore have charged, the united states supreme court did not award an election to mr. bush that otherwise would have been won by

mr. gore. a close examination of the ballots found that mr. bush would have retained a slender margin over mr. gore if florida's order to recount more than 43,000 ballots had not been reversed by the united states supreme court. it goes on. i only bring that up to say, willie, when are these charges and rumors and innuendo and conspiracy theories going to go away? not so sure they ever will. we're 20 years in. and hbo is still running documentaries that people watch that make them go oh, my gosh, roger stone stole the 2000 election it's so sad. >> okay. can i go to break? >> this happens in politics. people just need to grow the heck up. >> okay. >> willie? >> i'm going to go and read the entire passage you read. i'm going to whisper that into the ear of a woman in line at

zabar today. >> you know what? wear a mask. >> i will escorted out by security. but you're right, last point on this. what joe is saying, the conspiracy theories won't go away. that's right, because donald trump though he'll leave office in one form or another, a lot of people believe he'll never come out and concede that he lost the election. in his eyes, he will be a victim and a martyr to many of his supporters. but in his own mind, this election will have been stolen from him and he will go on the rest of his life saying that as he goes out and tries to live his life and make money. a victim and a martyr despite the fact there's no evidence to support that. >> okay. >> i just hate to keep going back to this, but it's what people on the left have done for 20 years on the 2000 recount.

this isn't what aboutism and donald trump is so much worse than ever, ever been in the white house. i'm just saying we should pay less attention to it. there was a poll during george w. bush's presidency that ben smith at politico reported that over 50% of democrats at one time thought that george bush knew of the coming 9/11 attacks. like come on, this happens in american politics. so if republicans want to be stupid and they want to believe lies, they're going to be stupid and they're to believe lies. there's a long american history. we need to look past that. move forward and report on the next president of the united states, joe biden, making his plans for 2021. >> i was just wondering if there was anyone telling him that he might want to mitigate damage to his next act.

>> he's only -- >> he's not getting that. >> he's only hurting himself. >> the only person that thinks for himself is himself, and he turns to me he says for advice. >> not you, but to himself. >> not me. still ahead on "morning joe" we'll talk to abigail spanberger who narrowly won re-election to her virginia district and who had some tough words for he democratic colleagues. plus, the president said that a joe biden win would tank financial markets but this morning, huh, dow futures rose more than 400 points. >> well, look at that. you know what they call that? the biden rally. >> oh. steve rattner is here with his charts. you're watching "morning joe." charts you're watching "morning joe." i love eggs, and there's a big difference between ordinary... and the best. which egg tastes more farm-fresh and delicious? only eggland's best. which egg has 6 times more vitamin d,

10 times more vitamin e, and 25% less saturated fat? only eggland's best. which egg is so special, i'd never serve my family anything else? for me, it's only eggland's best. better taste, better nutrition, better eggs. for members like martin. an air force veteran made of doing what's right, not what's easy. so when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. that's how you do it right. usaa insurance is made just the way martin's family needs it with hassle-free claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. because doing right by our members, that's what's right. usaa. what you're made of,

we're made for. ♪ usaa we're made for. (children laughing) ♪ (music swells) ♪ ♪ (music fades) (exhales) experience the power of sanctuary at the lincoln wish list sales event. sign and drive off in a new lincoln with zero down, zero due at signing, and a complimentary first month's payment. a master'sdgren, youin chemical engineering., and you're technically a genius... and it appears you're quite the investor. i like to trade. well, td ameritrade has pros ready if you need help, say talking through a new strategy... ... just in case things, you know, get a little rocky? i'm sorry on the upside i think that's waterproof.

maybe not... ♪ - with the ninja foodito intelligesmart xl grill.ing just pick your protein, select your doneness, and let the grill monitor your food. it also turns into an air fryer. bring outdoor grilling flavors indoors with the grill that grills for you.

for 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. our work is hard. for those who didn't vote for me, for those who did, let this grim air of demonization in america begin to end here and now. >> joe biden on saturday with that message to trump supporters. later that night, comedian dave chappelle hosted "saturday night live" the first broadcast after biden was named president-elect. just as chappelle did four years ago after donald trump was declared the winner of that race. here was his message at the end of his opening monologue. >> i would implore everybody who's celebrating today to

remember it's good to be a humble winner. remember when i was here four years ago, remember how bad that felt? remember that half the country right now still feels that way. please remember that. remember that for the first time in the history of america the life expectancy of white people is dropping because of heroin, because of suicide. all the white people out there that feel the anguish, that pain, that are mad, because think they nobody cares and maybe they don't. but let me tell you something. i know how it feels. i promise i know how it feels. if you're a police officer and you feel like you have a target on your back, you're met with the ingratitude that people have when you risk your life to save them. believe me, i know how that

feels. everyone knows how that feels, but here's the difference between me and you. you guys hate each other for that. and i don't hate anybody. i just hate that feeling. that's what i fight through. that's what i suggest you fight through. you have to find a way to live your life. you have to find a way to forgive each other. you have to find a way to find joy in your existence in spite of that feeling. >> so rev, very moving -- >> that was good. >> very moving words by dave chappelle and i must say four years ago, after donald trump was elected, he mocked white people who were running around saying this is the worst thing that has ever happened in the history of america and he implied that, i don't know, maybe there have been worse.

slavery perhaps. and now four years later, that's a great message and it's been your message since joe biden won this election and that is we have got to figure out how to work together. we've got to figure out how to get along. we have to figure out how to get the 74 million americans and the 71 million americans on the same side. >> and it's not just some, you know, beauty talk of work together, walk together. it's how we'll get the work done. the only way you'll get the work done is to find ways to work together. i think the difference between some of us and i think dave chappelle put it beautifully, i think joe biden and vice president-elect kamala harris who i spoke to about this the day she won, is that some of us on the ground, i preached george floyd's funeral. i'm in touch with his family all

the time and eric garner's funeral. they don't want our side against your side. people who suffered losses with covid-19 are sitting there and grappling with people that won't be there for the holidays. all of us that are going into the gloating on either side, finger pointing, not really getting the work done are just as guilty of exploiting those that have suffered as those that we're opposed to. donald trump should not be counterbalance with us being trump light on the other side. i think that's all chappelle was saying, that's all biden is saying. is that people trust us to get the work done and to care about what really happened to people. not to say, i beat you, you beat me, your turn, my turn. it is time to get out of that and grow up and let america gear up for a rebound. >> shawna thomas, what did you

think of dave chappelle's monologue. i mean, i agree with rev. i do think there's a lot of people who feel the way that dave chappelle expressed and what rev just said. and that this behavior surrounding trump is something we don't really want to react to too much. >> yeah. i think some of what dave chappelle was saying, you know, one thing a lot of people in this country have in common is pain. pain over who they are, pain over, you know, what has been lost especially during covid-19 and that if we can see that, if we can see that and then have some empathy for it, perhaps there's a way to bridge the divide of the 74 million versus the 71 million. i think one problem in this situation though kind of going back to something joe said which was joe said that, you know, no one believes trump when it comes to how this election has played out. that there's fraud, he actually won, all that stuff.

but i think the think is his 71 million voters probably do believe him and some of this transition process and keeping our democracy is also about the words donald trump is willing to say. now, i'm not going to necessarily hold my breath he's suddenly going to concede tomorrow or anything like that, but he does have a role in this process of getting that 71 million people who are on his side or some portion of that to believe that a transition, a peaceful transition is actually an important thing to our democracy. because in the end the constitution and the idea behind it, the words are great. the only reason that it actually has power is that the people of america actually give it and imbue it with that power because we believe in something greater than ourselves. if we can't figure out how to

have everyone in this country be on the same page with that, then what joe biden is saying about uniting the country and what senator kamala harris is saying about uniting the country is going to be even harder to achieve. i think one thing biden has is that his number one priority when he gets in to office has to be covid-19. it has to be this thing that's raging through communities, no matter what color, red, blue, whatever. hopefully if he can put together a team that can help get us through this pandemic that some of the people in the 71 million side will see that he wants what's best for the country. i also just want to say it's worth pointing out once again that senator harris now vice president-elect harris that was history. i think women across this country, women of color, whether you voted republican or democrat, can look at that and see some part of themselves in

that office and i think that can also help us get past this point if you start to see those kind of things and people talk about that too. >> what an extraordinary moment. shawna thomas, thank you so much for being with us. we greatly appreciate it. and just to follow up with what shawna said, yes, when i said that people know donald trump -- i'm talking about people inside the white house. mitch mcconnell, republicans on capitol hill. the people that need to step up and be responsible, obviously. one of the reasons i talked about some of the conspiracy theories surrounding the 2000 election that have still taken hold 20 years later is because part of that 71 million are going to continue to believe those conspiracy theories. we just need to move forward and try to unite as many people as we can. >> be kind. >> let's bring in steve rattner

right now. so steve, looks like we have got our first biden rally this morning. what's it looking like and take us through your charts today. >> yeah. the market will open strong today. some of that is i think this announcement from pfizer about a vaccine possibly being effective, but if we look back over the past week we can see that the market has actually been pretty enthusiastic about a biden presidency for some time now. the market has believed as you can see on the chart, the market has believed that a biden presidency would mean more stimulus for the economy, and a steadier hand at the wheel. you can divide it, first it moved up in anticipation of biden doing better. secondly, it moved up after the election day because the market concluded early on that biden would win and going back to your conversation about 2000, during the recount, those 35 days in 2000, the market dropped 4% so certainty is an important thing

for the market. then lastly, the market has started to focus on divided government and what the implications of divided government would be for both president-elect biden's personnel choices and his policy decisions. so if you turn to the next chart, you can get a sense as to how the market has rotated around the realization that we are looking at a different scenario than it probably thought before election day. you can see sectors like infrastructure and renewables falling as prospects for more infrastructure, more emphasis on renewable examples to pick those two examples is diminished. on the other side of the ledger, pharma stocks are up 4%. this is all on wednesday right after the election. pharma stocks up 4% because it's unlikely we'll be doing much about the drug prices in a divided government. tech up 4% because it seems less probable there will be legislation to break up the big techs or do something to the big

techs. then lastly, you see treasuries are up, which means interest rates went down. interest rates went down because people felt with divided government there's less stimulus and less progress on the policies and that drove the banks down because the lower interest rates are bad for banks and also the economy will be slower. so the question then is what -- what is the stimulus program likely to look like at this moment? you know that the democrats and the white house got pretty close right before the election and failed. but now analysts are downgrading the expectation for more stimulus so this chart on the left is goldman sachs which is assuming that the next stimulus program is $1 trillion instead of $2 trillion. and you can see it would have a much smaller effect on the economy. the red line on the effect on the economy, the huge stimulus

package and the blue line is what the economy expected from the next stimulus package and this is the amount of stimulus relative to the gdp. on the right, we're therefore, expecting a expecting stimulus moving down from the dotted blue line to the dotted red line. i would say that goldman sachs has cut the estimate of the first quarter gdp of 7% to 3.5% in large part because of the stimulus but also because of the rising caseload. so the market is optimistic about the biden presidency but a lot of work to do and the amount of stimulus is likely to be a drag on the economy into next year. >> katty kay is with us and has a question. >> yes. steve, at one point during the campaign, joe biden had said that he would follow scientists and if they recommended some

kind of national lockdown he would push for that. obviously he can't do it, but he would push governors to follow that. you see what's happening in europe with lots of countries going back into lockdown. might markets be concerned that if america was to take more restrictive measures that would prolong the economic agony in the country and respond negat e negatively accordingly? >> sure. but the yin and the yang as we have seen throughout this virus, the more you shut down, which you have to do for good public health reasons, it does have a negative impact. so going into to another lockdown would obviously very clearly have negative implications for the economy. and that's one of the things that goldman sachs was worried about when it cut the economic forecast. the market is responding in part to lower interest rates which is always a plus for the market.

as well as this general belief that a bide presidency is more likely than a continuation of the trump presidency to do stimulus and get the economy going. even in a situation of divided government. >> all right. steve rattner, thank you very, very much. our thanks to the a.p.'s jonathan lemire. the bbc's katty kay and reverend -- >> no, tell you what, let's keep them here because they're doing such a great job. it's a bonus hour with everybody. >> just going to say that, but thanks. >> also joining us, white house correspondent for pbs news hour yamiche alcindor and political reporter from "the washington post," robert costa. he's the moderator of "washington week on pbs" and donny deutsch is with us as well. >> mr. costa --

>> oh, boy. >> confession time here. >> no. >> i always want to line up as an alabama fan against notre dame because they're always overrated. we go in to the playoffs and we can usually beat them easily. this is a first time in 20 years that i don't want that to happen, because notre dame is back. the irish are back and yes, the irish lost their quarterback during the game. he's been out a couple weeks but you guys ran over a great clemson defense. congratulations on a huge win. one of the best college football games i have seen in a long time. >> i appreciate it, joe. go irish. i was 3 years old when lou holtz won the last national championship for notre dame back in 1988 and to see the fighting irish team beat a number one clemson, wake up the echoes as

they say in south bend. >> wake up the echoes indeed. so we have sort of a tale of two cities right now in washington, d.c. most of washington is moving towards the inevitable which is of course the presidency of joe biden. as i said earlier, every lobbying firm in washington, d.c., this morning, every defense contractor, every business interest, they're all going to be doing what happens every four years when you have a new president or eight years, they're going to be scrambling around, going who knows biden? who knows people close to joe biden? how do we get in there? who should we hire to be our liaison between lockheed and biden or boeing and biden, et cetera, et cetera. the wheels are turning, mitch mcconnell knows that nancy pelosi knows that. most of the republicans on the hill know that. but they're still -- there are still a few holdouts that are

hanging out in lawn care facilities in philadelphia off of i-95 who still want to carry on the fight. it's going to be a strange week in washington, d.c. what can you tell us about your reporting? are more members of the trump team understanding that the loss -- donald trump's loss is an inevitability they're going to have to face? >> joe, it was a revealing weekend because the transactional nature of the party and donald trump was laid bare as republicans took to the sunday shows or just stayed off and did not join the fight mostly for president trump to keep fighting the election results and questioning and attacking its integrity. this is a republican party ready to move on. formally, privately looking ahead to 2022, 2024.

a big crowd of 2024 hopefuls. at the same time, as i write on today's "washington post" front page with phil rucker, trumpism is here to stay, at least for the moment. it reminds ed rollins who ran perot's campaign in 1992 a bit about perot's movement, like george wallace's movement and they need leaders to be disciplined, to be dominant in order to sustain themselves in american politics. for now, most republicans in washington and inside of the white house are nodding along with the president's unfounded claims about election fraud because they think he has enough political capital, but not enough to make this a real fight. but they need to show the 70 plus million people who voted for trump that they stand for him, at least in spirit. >> you brought up perot, because when i campaigned for first time in '94, i not only went to republican meetings but i went

to every united we stand meeting because it was a combination of a few of the republicans and a lot of the united we stand people that helped me win the race in '94. you can look to sarah palin who while she was a punch line for a lot of people in washington and new york, at least for that first cycle in 2010, her going out and deciding that nikki haley should get her endorsement in south carolina and others should get her endorsement made a difference for at least a cycle or two. >> that's why republicans are still pretty muted. senator romney is out there but even he said on "meet the press," president trump remains in his words the 900 pound gorilla in the room in the republican party. they want those voters. i mean, these are people who want power and acquire power. someone like president trump who can power noneducated and

college educated white voters in all of the states to record number turnout they need those voters to survive as a party. before president trump came along, they felt like with mitt romney and paul ryan around, they wouldn't win back the midwest. and president trump's populism has give up them power back to overhaul the judiciary and put together a populist coalition. without them they're a little nervous as to how it will sustain itself. so they have fragile balance which is transactional at the core. >> jonathan lemire, let's you through some of your reporting this morning. people close to the president tell you and the associated press that trump is not expected to formally concede, but is likely to grudgingly vacate the white house at the end of his term. the a.p. notes that the president's ongoing efforts to paint the election as unfair are

seen both as an effort to soothe a bruised ego and to show his loyal base of supporters that he's still fighting. two officials in touch with the trump administration tell "the washington post" that some advisers have heard -- urged the president to consider his political future and not to taint his legacy with a messy exit. according to "the post," on the conference call this weekend, president trump's campaign manager bill stepian said the campaign may be propping up rallies, protests and other events in the coming weeks. that's crazy. stepian said quote, we may need your help and support on the ground, waving flags and yelling the president's name in support. such public enthusiasm he implied might buoy the president's mood. you know what? it might provoke violence and, joe, you just -- isn't there anyone in the white house or the

campaign -- >> i can answer your question. >> that can show the president the concession speeches of the last four or five presidents and how important those moments were and how big those men looked in that moment because something to them was bigger and that was this country. it's beyond me that there's no one there that can help him. >> it shouldn't be beyond you. >> nobody? >> nobody. >> really? >> we asked him during the campaign in 2015 who he spoke to. >> he said to himself. >> who his adviser -- >> himself. i can't believe you're asking the question. i can't believe there's nobody left to tell -- why do you think he doesn't have a james baker? why do you think he doesn't have a legal strategy? why do you think he doesn't have

competent people to guide him through this because he ran them all off. i mean, listen, he's -- >> i know. i can't think of anyone. >> you know there's nobody so i'm curious why you ask the question. >> because it should be obvious. >> but there's nobody there. they haven't been there for years. he's fired everybody. >> jonathan lemire, who's in there? >> jonathan lemire, you don't have to answer that question. because nobody is in there. i already answered it. he ran off of his good people. >> ivanka. >> he ran off his good advisers a long time ago and i don't understand what other presidents have done, travel the world. you know, try to make a big gesture at the end. doing rallies around the united states does him no good. why doesn't he go to saudi arabia for a while? why doesn't he go to russia for a while? kick back, talk to some old

friends. anything that would be better. set up future business dealings. at least that would make sense logically for his self-interests. instead of just sitting around in washington, d.c., losing one court case after another. >> well, the global pandemic does curtail some of the international travel possibilities for the president, but i think you make a good point that there are some of his even his strongest allies have already come out and congratulated president-elect joe biden including those in riyadh. we haven't heard from putin yet in russia, however. this is a debate within the trump orbit. is to what the next move might be. he laid low this weekend. he golfed twice. he was there when the race was called for joe biden. there is an effort, their campaign is still fund-raising although in you read the fine print a lot is to retire campaign debt that's have some of the money is going. there's speculation as we talked about we last hour some idea of

having some rallies in these states where there's -- the vote is still being counted. whether there may be some legal chances but those court actions to this point have gone nowhere. no anticipation that will change. go ahead. >> jonathan lemire, i thought of someone. mike pence? >> that's -- well, mika, you raise an interesting point there. mike pence has not been seen or heard from since that early morning -- i guess election night, so crossed into the early hours of wednesday morning, and he did not appear with the president a few days later and he has stayed very quiet. we have asked the vice president's office where he's been, how he's doing, because let's remember there's been a coronavirus eruption within the white house. the vice president's team said he's well, he's not ill, but he's watching the results and

staying in washington although they said he may be doing some traveling this week, destination unknown. he has not told the president to drop this fight. no one in his orbit had done so. and it's going -- very few probably have the standing to do so. you mentioned jared and ivanka, though they have the president's ear on things, they haven't taken that step. people are looking to outside forces. mitch mcconnell who we know, he knows how to count votes. it's only a matter of time before he weighs in. influential voices in the conservative media, the fox news hosts, seeing if they give the president cues. there's a sense, yes, the president may never formally concede, he'll you through the motions of a legal fight for a while. he's eyeing the next steps, if he wants to run again, keep his relevance, whether there is an attempt to move into media. certainly an effort to make some

money and as we mentioned, watching the possible investigations closing around him and his family and his business. >> i guess the question is what mike pence does, because i would think he wants a political future after this. >> right. >> and top republicans. >> well, again, i want to go back to what mitch mcconnell said in a tweet several days ago and it's something that mike pence has followed that approach and it's this. count all the votes. count all the legal votes. if you have any challenges, go ahead and present your challenges. we'll go through the process the way which always go through the process. at the end, we see who the winner is. now, we know again just by the numbers, we know who the winner is. we know in pennsylvania, donald trump is actually losing by about the same amount that he won by four years ago and that

number is only going to go up for joe biden. in michigan, joe biden's doing much better this year than donald trump did four years ago. if you just look at the margin, he's pulling away there. wisconsin's close. there's going to be a recount there, but he does -- you just don't -- as everybody has been saying over the past couple days, there just aren't going to be enough votes to reverse for that to flip. arizona has the most stringent recount requirements in america, you have to get within 200 votes and the state has to call for it. right now, look at the numbers, it doesn't look like donald trump is going to get within 200 votes there as well. georgia, joe biden's now up over 10,000 votes. those kind of races aren't reversed. it's always important to remember, people talk about

florida. this 537 votes, and we would see democratic and republican lawyers going from county to county. it would be a huge deal when democrats picked up 12, 15, 17, 50 votes. we're talking now in georgia 10, 11, 12,000 votes. in pennsylvania, it's probably going to be upwards to 50,000 plus votes. in arizona, there's not going to be a recount. go through this entire process. and there's really no way forward. so yamiche, let me ask you, we're talking an awful lot about the trump white house right now. what are we expecting from the biden transition team and even though the trump white house is not helping them move forward at all with the transition, this is no shock to anybody, how do they

do that with an incumbent president who's not going to want to let go of the reins of power any time soon? >> well, i should start saying that the sources describe the white house as paralyzed right now. president trump is in complete denial. he's lashing out. i have been told at one point that he was not talking to jared kushner as someone who can reel him in and face the fact that he's the thing that he's feared the most which is the loser of this election. and there are of course from my understanding he's been talking to john jr. and eric trump who have been going around the country spreading misinformation. that in some ways has put this transition on hold in terms of being effectively being run through the government because there has to be some signatures actually done in order for some of the things -- some of the wheels of government to really start turning. people might think this is something that is bureaucratic,

but in fact, this is national security at stake. we're in the middle of various crises involving the coronavirus pandemic and one person told me if president trump doesn't get it together soon, we could be held up when it comes to the coronavirus vaccine. the operation, the distribution of that could be on the line here. when you look at what joe biden is doing, he's doing all he can to be able to ready on day one when he walks into the white house. i have been talking to sources in his campaign. he just this morning announced a number of people who are going to be forming his coronavirus pandemic task force. those people will be able to advise and make a plan but they can't actually of course do anything because their hands are literally tied by donald trump and the tantrum he's throwing right now in the white house. another thing to note is that joe biden understands that he was -- he would not be elected president-elect without african-americans and let's remember this covid-19 pandemic is killing them at the rate of two times the rate of white

people and also when it comes to policing. when joe biden walks in he has a list of things to get done and on top of the list is the covid-19 pandemic, and the paris accords, and get back into the world health organization, and a number of things. some of that is going to happen through executive order and others legislatively. but the celebrating is going on in the biden campaign and people are back at work, trying to figure out how to move forward. >> so, donny deutsch, let's not talk about what's happening in trump world. let's talk about what's happening with the next president of the united states and specifically what message you think they should be projecting. they're doing a pretty great job right through, but as an ad guy, a branding guru for all of these years, how does the biden

campaign, how does the biden transition, how do they move forward during these very interesting times? >> joe, i love that you said to me, let's not talking about trump world. i think that's an anthem going forward. of course it's very easy for the media. there's been a drug whether you like it or not that's very, very compelling to watch. as we go forward and move into it, donald trump is over. let's remember that. let's -- come mid february, we're talking about the infrastructure and maybe the ratings aren't there, yes, let us move on. to that point, what i would talk about maybe we're not at the -- i want to pick up where chappelle was. 74 million voted one way, 70 million voted another way. but maybe 70 million who voted for donald trump aren't racist, but didn't want to defund the police or don't like socialism. i said something on the air a couple of years ago, i got from a -- a desert storm veteran, he

was in kansas, couldn't be more different than me. he called me and he texted me -- the most nasty things. i reached back out to him and i said, oh, man, you're a vet. i'm in awe of you, i'm so sorry. we started a dialogue and at the end, we said i love you brother. he wrote me three sentences, i hope you're doing good. you're a good man, i truly enjoy this online friendship. i hope one day to shake your hand and have a beer. what the future holds, ready for the unrest in this country to be over. take care and be safe, love your brother. maybe it's on us. we keep saying this was a referendum on us. it is on us to stop saying how divided we are. yes, you have people at the trump rallies and yes, you have people at the washington square park, you have the extremes. but if we kind of start to own that maybe we're not that divided, that maybe 90% of us

live in the same place, it doesn't become the self-fulfilling prophecy and what chappelle said was right. it is on us. if you're on the quote winning side reach out to the other side and say, not to poo-poo, but we're in this together. on the flip side, maybe if you lost, maybe we're not so far apart and that's what joe biden is going to be all about. >> and rev, the same thing. i ask you the same thing and also let's talk about the cabinet agencies. they were going to transition team right -- the transition team right now is looking at what cabinet agencies need to be filled. and obviously, like i said a couple of days ago, joe biden is president of the united states because he won wisconsin. he won wisconsin because of black voters in milwaukee county and their counts put -- their votes put him over the top. he won michigan because of black voters in detroit and in wayne county, it was their votes that

put him over there top there. he won pennsylvania because of black voters in philadelphia. their votes at the end put him over the top. he won georgia because of black voters in atlanta. their votes put him over the top. so what -- what does -- what are we looking at in terms of what joe biden is going to have? i suspect he may well have one of the most diverse cabinets in the history of this country. what are you hearing? >> i am hearing that the plan is that he is going to have a diverse cabinet. he's gonna have a diverse staff. certainly, vice president-elect kamala harris will play a role in that and i believe that he will keep his word. he said in his statement on election night something i never heard any winner say. he said the african-american community had my back and i will

have yours. well, we're going to see to it that he keeps his word on that. he throughout the campaign had periodic meetings and zoom meetings with us and civil rights leadership of organizations and with other groups like the congressional black caucus. he needs to immediate with all of them during this period of transition. but i believe that he has an opportunity to unite this country racially by what he does. by the action. not just the speeches. by fighting for justice, but getting the george floyd bill through the senate. by getting the john lewis voting rights bill through the senate which means he has to reach out and we have to give room for those in leadership and those political parties to reach out. because we need things done. joe biden is a unique person in history. he was the vice president for the first black president. he is the president for the first black vice president. he can be the bridge in history

that shows the possibilities of this country healing its original sin on race. >> and again, you think about that and think about the position that joe biden has held. it's interesting that some people say he's too conservative, he's too moderate. think about that. he was a vice president for the first black president and he's the first president with a black vice president. also something that a lot of people forget that it was joe biden who came out when barack obama was against same-sex marriage. it was joe biden who came out early and said he supported marriage equality. and while it's not going to get picked up by many history books, a lot of people -- most people inside the obama administration were enraged that he would do that before the 2012 election. they wanted to wait until after

the legislatielection. but it was joe biden who moved that process down the road much more quickly than the obama administration and the president himself wanted to move that ball down the road. hey, bob costa, what are your looking at today and over the next several days of this very historic transition week? >> we'll be paying attention to the s.e.c. country, the two georgia senate races are everything in american politics because the senate majority is on the line. and can democrats put together enough money to give reverend warnock and jon ossoff, the two democrats down there enough momentum to put together a coalition for just a few months from now to win the runoffs to put themselves in contention. it will be difficult. you have president trump on the ballot that's a motivating

factor for georgia republicans and independents and now you have to find a way to get them back out. who goes to georgia? what they say it's a difficult race for both democrats but it's possible because democrats are making gains in the south. stacey abrams is registering a lot of voters in georgia. you see across the deep south and the sunbelt some rays of hope for democrats but still a tough road ahead. >> all right. robert costa and yamiche alcindor thank you both. now the sad news, long-time "jeopardy!" host alex trebek passed away yesterday at the age of 80. the official official twitter account confirmed the news, that he died at his home in california surrounded by family and friends. he announced last year he had been battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer. he is survived by his wife of 30

years and three children. his career in the game show business lasted five decades. "jeopardy!" earned him five daytime emmy awards and a lifetime achievement award from the television academy. "jeopardy!" will continue to air episodes hosted by trebek who was last in studio on october 29th. they will air them through christmas day. and still ahead on "morning joe," president trump refuses to concede but the world is turning the page anyway. we'll get reaction from overseas. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. here? nah. ♪ introducing the all new chevy trailblazer. here? nope. ♪ here. ♪ when the middle of nowhere, is somewhere.

the all new chevy trailblazer. making life's journey, just better. the all new chevy trailblazer. you can crush ice, make nismoothies, and do even more. chop salsas, spoon thick smoothie bowls, even power through dough, and never stall. the ninja foodi power pitcher. rethink what a blender can do.

you're on it. exercising often and eating healthy? yup, on it there too. you may think you're doing all you can to manage type 2 diabetes and heart disease... ...but could your medication do more to lower your heart risk? jardiance can reduce the risk of cardiovascular death for adults who also have known heart disease. so, it could help save your life from a heart attack or stroke. and it lowers a1c. jardiance can cause serious side effects including dehydration, genital yeast or urinary tract infections, and sudden kidney problems. ketoacidosis is a serious side effect that may be fatal. a rare, but life-threatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. stop taking jardiance and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of this bacterial infection, ketoacidosis, or an allergic reaction and don't take it if you're on dialysis or have severe kidney problems. taking jardiance with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. lower a1c and lower risk of a fatal heart attack?

on it with jardiance. ask your doctor about jardiance.

welcome back. it's 32 past the hour. alarming new numbers on the coronavirus pandemic with the u.s. cases surpassing 10 million. according to "the new york times," one in 441 americans

have tested positive for the virus just in the last week. "the times" reporting that president-elect biden is in line to inherit one of the most serious and complicated national crises that any incoming president has ever faced. as several experts believe that the virus is spreading out of control and could grow worse before biden takes office. the virus is surging to record levels for more than half the country. nationwide, hospitalizations have doubled since mid september and deaths are slowly increasing again. there is though some potential promising news this morning in the fight against the coronavirus. the drug maker pfizer just announced that an early analysis of its coronavirus vaccine trial suggested it prevented more than 90% of infections in a study of tens of thousands of volunteers,

the most encouraging advancement so far in the battle against covid-19. according to bloomberg, the preliminary results pave the way for the companies to seek an emergency use authorization if further regulation shows the shot is also safe. there's more research that needs to be done. but boy, this looks good. the "new york times" notes that if the results hold up, that level of protection would put it on par with highly effective childhood vaccines for diseases such as measles. we will note though that the potential vaccine will still take a while to get on the market. but at least there's something down the pike. >> katty kay, as which hear good news, we heard good news six months ago from the oxford study that didn't pan out. so people that are hearing the news this morning need to understand that, yes, they have

gotten some good results but we are still a very long way away from anybody getting vaccines. >> yeah. i mean, look, we said the word of last week was patience. well, let's remember the word of the coronavirus is patience as well and dr. fauci has warned everybody even when we get a vaccine this isn't a silver bullet. not like we can suddenly stop wearing masks and social distancing just because a vaccine comes through that actually works. when it does finally come through we have to distribute it. that's the time-consuming process. it's not easy distributing some of the vaccines and getting all of the infrastructure in place. some have to be stored at incredibly cold temperatures so that's going to take a certain amount of time and then the biggest concern for immunologists that people have to take it. with the level of skepticism surrounding medical officials generally and the trust in scientists has declined in

america this year. it hasn't grown, it has declined. some of it has been the political environment but you have to get enough people to take the vaccine for it to be effective. so nobody really thinks -- and fauci has said this repeatedly that we're looking at any time before next summer before life returns to normal. it is great news that the vaccines are making progress in the trials. there has been the odd hiccup or delays that people had to stop for that while or two. great news it's progress. it's what we all need, but everybody has to accept we still have to do the things we're being told to do. the guidelines are in place for a reason. >> we still have a long way to go. >> yeah. the fight against the pandemic isn't just joe biden's first domestic challenge. it could be considered his first foreign policy challenge as well. joining us now the president of the council on foreign relations and author of the book "the

world, a brief introduction" richard haass and professor of international politics at tufts university, daniel -- so give us a one-on-one course on the coronavirus and our national security in the united states? >> what you and katty and others were talking about is exactly right. even this -- if this vaccine pans out it's not a silver bullet. i think the one way to think about it it's joe biden principal national security challenge when he becomes president. unless he get this virus under control, you can't have the economy coming back. this country simply won't have the band width to be involved in the world. so this has got to be -- also, if we'll show the rest of the

world that we'll set an example this more than anything else would say america is back. this is a confident country, with the science and so forth. this is the national security challenge here. not just the public health challenge, so as goes this, so will other things. >> i was surprised that india's prime minister modi was the first to congratulate biden. moon did the same thing and boris johnson came out very quickly, congratulated joe biden and said he looked forward to working with him on climate change and other issues as well. it seems world leaders are lining up quickly as they can other than the usual suspects to congratulate the president-elect. >> yeah. it's interesting to note that, i

mean, traditionally what would happen is that the losing candidate would concede, you know, at which point you would see the rapid congratulations going to the winner. the fact that obviously donald trump is going to -- has violated that norm and has sort of -- is in the white house pouting about the fact that he lost has opened the door for other things to happen that essentially confer legitimacy on joe biden. the fact that you have modi and macron and merkel and almost -- and benjamin netanyahu and the king of saudi arabia all congratulating biden in some ways indicates that donald trump can pout all he wants. the rest of the world is going to move on from him. and this just adds to the idea that the world has accepted that joe biden is the president-elect. it's just a question of how long it takes for donald trump to accept that fact. >> donny has a question for you.

richard, donny. >> mr. haass, always nice to talk to you. a big theme of the -- or takeaway of the trump presidency was the bromance with vladimir putin. if you were advising biden, his first kind of russia reachout or stance on putin, what's the move for him at this point? >> first of all, it's noteworthy that we haven't yet heard from mr. putin. he and some of the other authoritarian leaders have not congratulated mr. biden which tills you something. they're unhappy campers today. the interesting thing with russia in the short run is to nail down the nuclear arms control agreement due to expire in mid february. just extend it. there's lots of issues down the road about capturing new systems, maybe china's involvement. but, you know, the in box facing joe biden is so crowded that the last thing we need is a new era of nuclear arms competition with russia and then talk to the european allies.

talk to others. how do we deal with what they're doing in the ukraine. how do we deal with their interference in our election and how do we deal with them murdering their opposition. that's round two. round one is to stabilize this last remnant in some ways of the cold war. >> dan, katty kay has a question for you. >> the policy challenge facing the united states and the rest of the world is china. it was never clear during the course of the campaign how much joe biden's china policy differed from donald trump's policy. i'm sure the language will change. but are we going to see a real sea change in how they look at china and perhaps bringing the rest of the world on board with china to have a more effective

policy with china? >> i think you just identified the primary difference between joe biden and donald trump on china. i mean, i think there are -- they have the same position and that you had to view china as a rival that needs to be dealt with, no denying that. but president trump did it in the sort of scattershot, universal fashion that wound up harming the u.s. economy far more than it helped. whereas joe biden has said throughout speeches in the campaign that he wants to deal with china but he wants to deal with them in a coordinated way, working with allies and partners. this presumably gives biden and the allies across the world an opening in which they can try to coordinate policy with respect to china. this raises the awkward question of whether the allies will be on board. during the obama administration, for example, allies weren't necessarily on the same page in terms of dealing with china so it will be interesting going forward what -- whether all

sides basically take advantage of pushing together and coordinate an approach towards china that simultaneously keeps them in the global economy and potentially deals with the security presence. >> well, you know, richard haass, it's interesting that for all of his bluster about china there was such an inconsistency coming from donald trump who clearly admired president xi. who would lavish praise on him one minute and then attack china the next. and also such an inconsistency with russia where you had the president of the united states, the commander in chief, being so obsequious to russia that it required the united states congress and others to take a pretty tough line on russia. i'm wondering if oddly enough

the return to normalcy of a president that doesn't kowtow to vladimir putin in the long run doesn't end up being in the best interest of russia as well, that we can actually with our allies move forward and begin a more constructive relationship. >> well, again, that will be one of the principal differences with both. it won't be unilateral and i think in the case with russia, what's so interesting about putin, joe, he's been quite effective in his foreign policy in ukraine, but at home it's a mess. it's one of the worst performers in the world against covid-19 and this is a country without a modern political economy and system. if putin were to die tomorrow, it's not clear if there would be anything like an orderly transition, who are you as an american to talk about transitions, but seriously, i think actually the system in russia is fundamentally at risk.

putin has not put down the foundations of a 21st century country. if he understands that foreign policy is not going to be an area of major opportunity, just maybe russia will begin to finally begin the process of modernizing. otherwise, i think russia's future is an enormous question mark over it. >> yeah. okay. so different reaction from president putin the last time around. so in this segment, we have been showing newspaper headlines from around the world. we'll close with a county paper out of scotland. the headline reads, quote, south ayrshire golf club owner loses 2020 presidential election. okay. richard haass, mr. drezner. thank you. coming up, abigail

spanberger she had some tough words for her caucus. she joins the conversation next. knowyourvalue.com is marking the historic election of the united states. we sat down with the incoming vp at one of the national events in san francisco where she shared her own know your value moment as well as whether or not she was going to jump into the race. we also connected with her always outspoke up niece mena harris about the life lessons she has learned and we'll look at the gains that the women have gained nationwide. look at the 50 over 50 series only at know your boundaries.com. >> dr. dave interviewed her also. >> we should do that.

health is a huge part of knowing your value. we'll be right back. ight back. ♪ (children laughing) ♪ (music swells) (dog barking) ♪ (music fades) (exhales) experience the power of sanctuary at the lincoln wish list sales event. sign and drive off in a new lincoln with zero down, zero due at signing,

and a complimentary first month's payment. proof i can fight moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. proof i can fight psoriatic arthritis... ...with humira. proof of less joint pain... ...and clearer skin in psa. humira targets and blocks a source of inflammation that contributes to joint pain and irreversible damage. humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. humira is proven to help stop further joint damage. want more proof? ask your rheumatologist about humira citrate-free. if you can't afford your medicine,

abbvie may be able to help. oh my gosh you made it! oh shoes! i thought y'all got lost or something. did you put some ah, kale in the greens? oh thank you! we didn't forget about you! welcome to the family. thank you. wooooow. i love it! (laughter) thank you dad!

cost you house seats, the socialism label, particularly in south dakota, those two seats, and defund the police?florida, and defund the police? >> i talked to the people in south florida. they told me that really, really was a problem down there. i can tell you about the first congressional district of south carolina. i really believe that's what caused joe callahan his seat. jaime harrison started to plateau when defund the police showed up with the caption on tv right across his head that stuff hurt jimmy. that's why i spoke out against it a long time ago. i have always said that these

headlines can kill a political election. >> that was congressman jim clyburn of south carolina. you know, jim was on our show very early on and said that it was a really bad slogan, it was unfortunate that he opposed defunding the police. we had reverend al on who said the same thing repeatedly. joe biden also spoke out against the defund the police slogan. it happened time and time again with mainstream democratic leaders. that said, that was something that was put on democratic candidates along with socialism, the word socialism. it's interesting. so funny. we have had some guests on. oh, joe, it's not socialism. oh, it's not defund the police. it's in the data. it is. and it's something that democrats are going to have to confront. now, of course, it's a national party, so, obviously, in some

districts that may -- maybe that works. but nationally, overall, it does not work. not just in south florida, but also in south carolina, also in virginia, also in other parts of the country. it caused real damage to democratic candidates. they have got to figure out how to stitch their coalition together to remain a national party. with us now democratic congresswoman abigail spanberger of virginia. she won virginia's seventh congressional district last week. >> congratulations. how did the final vote tally turn out? and what would you suggest was the reason for it being perhaps closer than you'd like? >> well, so the vote tally ended up being just under two points. we have tremendous turnout in our district. just under two points, about 1.7. there are a few more provisional ballots coming in today. but i won whiby 8,000 votes.

right now that's about 1.7 points. and this is a district that the current president, future former president, won by almost seven points back in 2016. i am the first democratic elected in this district since 1968. and in our district i focus a lot on explaining the policies that i support. democratic policies focused on strength nipping our health care system, focusing on addressing global climate change, focus on criminal justice and equity issues. at this time, focused on getting the virus under control and restoring strength to our economy. and in our district, a district like mine where people aren't historically used to voting for a democrat, there is a lot of explaining that i do every single day to talk through what our policies are, what our priorities are, and why people should change their voting practice. why i will be good for their

family, their farm, their community, and our country. and i think that there has been some challenges -- go ahead, mika. >> well, actually, i think you are getting right into that. you had some tough words for your caucus. i am just wondering, you see it on the local level in talking to your constituents, to the people who voted for you, the people who voted against you, what does the party overall need to do to try not to lose so much in the future and to still retain the core, the essence of what the party is about? >> well, i would start by saying that i disagree, actually, with the characterization from that "washington post" headline. this isn't about blaming anyone. this is about understanding how, when we went into the election on november 3rd, there were democrats across the country, and we heard it on the news media, saw it in the polls, democrats are going to win, win the senate, win the presidency.

while my goodness, i am so excited that joe biden is the president-elect and kamala harris is the vice president-elect, not only did we not win the senate, but we lost house seats that we shouldn't have lost, in my opinion. great members who were focused on the issues that matter to people. and had voted on issues that matter to people. and what i expressed to my colleagues is this is a place we need to do an after action report about how we thought what would happen a was so different from what happened. where is it? where are the areas of opportunity? there were some 70 million americans who didn't think our democratic policies would impact them, our democrat policies would be good for them. in some cases may have made them weary of what our policies are because of slogans that don't spell out what we are for. when it comes to racial equity and justice and reforms and policing, we have voted on an

incredibly good bill. the george floyd justice in policing bill. every single democrat voted for it as well as republicans in the house of representatives. and that bill lays clear we want to make investments in policing and in training that we want to reform kwulfied immunity, we want to ban no-knock warrants. in my central virginia district is in fact already the policy for some of our largest police forces. we have specific policies that we have been for, and that wasn't -- that isn't -- it got lost in some of the slogans that we heard across the country. and my argument to my colleagues, we need to be far clearer what we are for so people know what they are voting for, and any sort of doubt, and, to be clear, attacks are going to be lobbed against of us of course all the time. the more people can say i know what those folks are for the more the attacks will roll off their backs. >> donny has a question. >> congresswoman, i think, and

you have been obviously a proponent of this, that biden's -- i am going to say something blasphemous on this network. maybe is it not such a terrible thing if the republicans hold on to the senate and the country kind of -- and you have got, obviously, mcconnell and biden who kind of are forced to kind of work towards the middle together? maybe that wouldn't be such a horrible thing? >> well, i'll say this. you know, i support coalition building. coalition building within our united democrat party, a vibrant diverse tent party coalition building akro party lines. what we have seen in the 116th congress we have passed bipartisan legislation on everything from common sense gun reforms to, you know, creating a stability and a pathway for dream esters to stay in the country to raising minimum wage.

it didn't go anywhere in the united states senate. so my hope is that mitch mcconnell, senate leader mcconnell might be more inclined to move things forward knowing that there is a president biden in the white house. but i don't know that -- it's up to him to choose to change what has thus far been more of an obstructionist way of leading the united states senate because in the house our bed of work in the 116th congress has been building broad coalition. again across a diverse democratic party and across party lines. things like the equality act that we passed with bipartisan support. the george floyd justice in policing act, we passed with bipartisan support. hundreds of bills with bipartisan support. so i think that question is probably more correctly asked to leader mcconnell whether or not he wants to come to the table and join the coalition that we built around some of these priority issues for the american people.

>> democratic congresswoman abigail spanberger representing virginia's 7th district. thank you for being on this morning. so the biden transition launches today. introducing its covid-19 task force. we'll outline the many challenges facing the president-elect on day one. the next hour of "morning joe" starts right now. >> we have an announcement to make. joe biden is president-elect of the united states. >> the president-elect of the united states, joe biden has run for president three times, and the third time has turned out to be the charm. not only the charm, but possibly the most consequential election of our lifetimes. >> an extraordinary election in so many ways, not the least of which is that it was conducted in the middle of a pan. a campaign unlike we have seen before. >> well, we were on the air on saturday when joe biden crossed

the vote threshold to become the president-elect. and to willie's point about the pandemic, biden's first order of business today will be announcing the team that will help him get the virus under control, and that team will have its work cut out for it as u.s. cases continue to surge at record levels. now surpassing the 10 million mark. and deaths again on the rise. >> well, and, willie, if you looked at the celebrations on, over this weekend, there were some in times square that were fine. you had people wearing masks, they were distanced, there was some spacing. other areas people were crowded in. i don't care how many masks they were wearing, it was dangerous. you can expect a spread of infections. like we said from the beginning of this year. the virus doesn't care about donald trump's politics. it doesn't care about joe biden's politics. it's a virus.

you don't crowd in like that and then, of course, stayed up, i think, past midnight to watch an incredible football game, notre dame and clemson. what an incredible game, went into overtime. but then everybody jammed onto the field. i think sunny bunch wrote something along the lines after that watching that, i hope there aren't senior citizens in south bend, indiana, because again we have to keep our heads about us. >> yeah, you can understand on both counts shls the election of joe biden and notre dame's big win over clemson, why people were excited, why they wanted to gather to celebrate. saw a lot of public health officials looking at the crowds and going let's not forget where we are, which is, as mika alluded to, an exploding public health crisis where our attention the last week was on the counting of the votes, but every day that number went up and all over 100,000 new cases per day in this country setting

new records almost every single day. so joe biden does inherit this problem, this pandemic, but what he is going to do is announce a pandemic board. i think for a lot of people watching his speech on saturday night they heard unity, but they also heard competence. oh, right, you can lead with scientists, lead with doctors. the first thing you are going to do is assemble a group of scientists to tackle this problem that remains at the center of our lives and that is accelerating as we speak. so this is the not just a signal he is sending, the competence is back and science is back, but it is going to be the most important thing he faces when he takes office. sonchts of the conspiracy theories that were on facebook and, unfortunately, that some of my friends said to me was, oh, this virus is going to be over right after november 3rd. this virus is just a concoction to help defeat donald trump. for those of you who are thinking that, i told you were

wrong then and i'm telling you now. i have very bad news for you. a lot of public health officials believe we are about to go into the worst phase we have gone into yet on the coronavirus, especially across the north where people are going to be shut inside the houses and a lot of doctors fear an explosive growth in the coming months. we are going to talk about that in a little bit. first let's bring in the panel and talk about the events of the weekend as it pertains to joe biden being elected 46th president of the united states. >> we have white house reporter for "the associated press" jonathan lamire, washington anchor katty kay and host of msnbc's "politicsnation" and president of the national action network reverend al issharpton d nbc capitol hill correspondent and host of "way too early," kasie hunt still with us, and nbc news and msnbc contributor shawna thomas. good to have you onboard. >> jonathan, the election is

over. you can look at the data. just like, you know, i looked at the date in florida and knew right away it was over. there was no way that biden was going to catch up there. looked at the data in philadelphia, and realized there was no way that donald trump was going to catch up there. and just like you guys at the ap looked at the data coming out of arizona back in june and figured there was no way that -- just joking, just joking. you all are going to be right in the end. you looked at -- but it was a close one, jonathan. it was a close one. but you look at those numbers, and arizona is a perfect example for the ap and fox news. but arizona is the perfect example why these clowns that go on tv and say, oh, donald trump has a pathway back, they know they are lying. by the way, the clowns you see on tv expect them to be on the short list of running for the

republican nomination in 2024 because, jonathan, you take a state like arizona, arizona, you have to get within 200 votes for a recount, and then the campaigns can't call the recounts. only state officials can. you look at the numbers. donald trump's not going to get within 200 votes there. he's behind in pennsylvania as much as he beat hillary clinton by, about 43, 44,000 votes right now. those numbers are going to go up even more as we get the last of the ballots out of philadelphia. georgia, it's over 10,000 votes right now. recounts usually find if you you are lucky, 10, 20, 50, 100 votes. they all know this is over, do they not? and what are they doing to try to move the president out of this contentious state so they

can start focusing on winning the senate and winning those two seats in georgia? >> they may know it's over, but they are not acting like it, at least not quite yet. you are certainly right to bring up the recount thresholds in a number of states. at this point the margins are such, it's not clear the president will fall in them. he asked for one in wisconsin. you're right. they usually find a few dozen votes, maybe 100 or two if you are lucky. looking at the florida 2000 situation, wondering if we have a repeat of that scenario, it doesn't apply here. that was only 500 odd votes, it was in one state. here we are talking thousands of votes in a number of those battlegrounds, including pennsylvania, with which the president can't win without. it's not just pennsylvania. it's several states. so the trump aides privately concede these legal challenges are going anywhere, even if there are any teeth to them,

even if they happen to be successful in one state, which seems unlikely, that wouldn't be nearly enough. so now the question is, what next? as much as the biden/harris transition team is running, they have announced the coronavirus task force already this morning, we will hear from the president-elect later today, we heard from his speech, on his speech saturday night calling for unity, eyes are on the president. he stayed out of sight this weekend. he is was on the golf course saturday when the race was called for joe biden. aides suggest they are trying to figure out what's next. they are watching capitol hill to see if mitch mcconnell will start signaling that it's time to give this up. but he has received support, statements of support from the usual characters, senator graham, senator hallie and others so say he should keep fating, a dangerous suggestion that indeed the results of this race are ip valid. those close to the president don't suggest that he will ever formal formal

formally concede. there is a suggestion, there are conversations that he should start having rallies in some of these states again where the vote is still being counted and contested. others suggest that he should take a quieter path, that they don't think he will, of course, concede, but suggest he should just, you know, let this process go and perhaps -- and some aides suggest decamp to mar-a-lago for much of the transition. they are watching fox news, too. if their anchors are trying to signal him to tell him what to do. but it should be noted. for a campaign such sound, such fury, it may are hahave come tod saturday in a landscaping facility in a rough part of philadelphia, may have been where this ride that began with a golden escalator may have ended, in fact, at a rather more humble location. >> next to a porn shop in a s p strip moll off of i-95, which, of course, willie, i have just

described a good part of your life. i'm joking, kids! i'm joking. >> how did i know that was coming? >> you knew that was coming. willie, what doesn't make sense is for donald trump to know or to have one challenge after another. he is going to lose every single challenge. there is not a challenge out there that he can win. he is actually -- i was going to say he's lost these states by the same margin that he won the states four years ago, but actually he is going to lose pennsylvania in the end by more votes than he won it in 2016. of course, he's going to lose michigan by if far more votes than he won it in 2016. you go out to arizona, there is just -- unless something bizarre happens in the final votes there, he is not going to get close to the 200 votes that he needs for the state to then decide whether or not he has a

recount or not. and he has problems. he's got republicans running to operations in arizona. he has republicans running the operations in georgia. so, you know, is he really going to accuse brian kemp of rilging the election or ducey of rigging the elections against him? by the way, if you're the georgia and you have two senate races coming up and literally the future of american government rests on those two seats because, if they make jack asses out of themselves in georgia and voters are turned off, democrats can win both of those seats and democrats control washington, d.c. so it doesn't make sense for them to keep, you know, driving the car off the cliff for donald trump because he's lost. it's over. rupert murdoch is saying it through "the wall street journal" and through the "new

york post." >> the world is saying it. >> george w. bush is saying it. other republicans are saying it. there is no upside for mitch mcconnell to continue this charade. >> no. and these lawsuits that we have seen already time and again have been rejected, not just at the state level, but by the supreme court in some cases. and i want to underline the point you made about recounts. there was a recount in 2016 in the state of wisconsin because that state was so close, it was actually jill stein who initiated it. hillary clinton's campaign then joined it. in the recount where hillary clinton hoped to take the state, donald trump actually picked up votes. his margin got bigger in a recount. that's a lesson that the trump campaign might remember as they ask for recounts. >> still ahead, more on battleground georgia. how the republican candidates for senate there are hoping to thread the needle as the leader of their party, the president, is so far refusing to concede.

sean a thomas weighs in on that next on morgue joe. blal blal

wow! a new buick? for me? to james, from james. that's just what i wanted. is this a new buick? i secret santa-ed myself. i shouldn't have. but i have been very good this year. wow! wow! wow! this year, turn black friday into buick friday all month long. now during buick friday, pay no interest for 84 months on most 20-20 buick suv models. my husband would have been on the sidelines.

but not anymore! an alternative to pills voltaren is the first full prescription strength non-steroidal anti-inflammatory gel to target pain directly at the source for powerful arthritis pain relief. voltaren. the joy of movement. plus have high blood pressure. they may not be able to take just anything for pain. that's why doctors recommend tylenol®. it won't raise blood pressure the way that advil® aleve or motrin® sometimes can. for trusted relief, trust tylenol®. tyou can crush ice, make nismoothies, and do even more. chop salsas, spoon thick smoothie bowls, even power through dough, and never stall. the ninja foodi power pitcher. rethink what a blender can do. hold the phone in front of you. how's that? get...get mom.

power e*trade gives you an award-winning app with 24/7 support when you need it the most. don't get mad. get e*trade and start trading today. with 24/7 support when you need it the most. you're choosing whento get connected to xfinity mobile, to the most reliable network nationwide, now with 5g included. discover how to save up to $400 a year with shared data starting at $15 a month, or get the lowest price for one line of unlimited. come into your local xfinity store to make the most of your mobile experience. you can shop the latest phones, bring your own device, or trade in for extra savings. that's simple, easy, awesome. visit your local xfinity store today to ask, shop, discover the latest on xfinity mobile.

shawna thomas, joe is right that the more time republicans spend on this the more time they go down this path that has no end to it. is less time they are looking at the senate seats in georgia, and, frankly, mitch mcconnell probably knows that, and it's a little bewildering why more republicans aren't -- you basically have to camps. you have republicans saying, well, we have to respect the election, but the campaign has a right to ask for recounts and to file lawsuits. that's their right. then you have others like ted cruz and lindsey graham who are saying that there is something wrong here, there is something scandalous, that something is rigged here going tul trump on this argument. they are effectively in the same group, which is they are wasting the time not only of the

country, but of their own party to focus on the two seats that will swing the senate. >> yeah, and focus on the transition and how they are going to work with a president biden. but i think we also have to understand that president trump still has the word president in front of his name, and he is and will be presumably after he leaves office on january 20, 2021, the head of the republican party. i think they are trying to balance that out. this is -- you are sort of seeing the idea of like what is the republican party going to be post a president trump play out in front of us as they work through the transition, as they work through president trump contesting some of these vote counts. they are trying to figure out who will they have to hold up, basically. and for now with the republican party, president trump is the head of it. so they don't want to necessarily get on his bad side. as for georgia, we'll see what

happens with those recounts, but there is a possibility that the two people who are running on the republican side in those races are going to want president trump possibly to show up for them. he garnered lots of votes in this country. it is very, very close in georgia on the presidential level. it is clearly very close on the senate level. they may actually need him. and so i think that is kind of the path that they are trying to walk. now, the mitt romneys of the world seem to be walking it in a fairly more sane way since there is almost no, actually, there is none, there is no evidence of voter fraud in these cases, but what we're seeing now is politics. and the politics, despite the end of the presidential election, haven't really changed in the republican party, they are not necessarily sure which direction it needs to go. >> and the problem with the republican party chasing donald

trump, mika, down this very dangerous path, which, of course -- and you do actually have some people whose name i am not going to say because they are doing it to try to get attention on the national stage because they want to run in 2024. but what they are doing is, they are insulting republicans as well as democrats when they say this process was rigged. this most transparent election in the history of this country, and we all know that because we've all been concerned about for the past six months, the past nine months that there were going to be problems. so we had cameras all over the place. you look a allegheny county. we had observers, democrats and republicans alike. they all say that the process was professional and fair and it was just good americans making sure that everybody's vote got counted, and, mika, you know, again, when the president insults the vote-counting in georgia he is insulting republicans. when he is saying it's rigged in arizona, he is insulting republicans running that state.

if he says it in philadelphia, you know, there was a republican that was involved in the recounts, talking to "60 minutes," talking about how he is insulting there. we have the cameras in there. we have the observers in there. this is nonsense. you don't have to ask where mark meadows mitch mcconnell is. mitch mcconnell knows how to count votes. mitch mcconnell knows this election's over. he is concerned about winning those two georgia seats, which he should win unless republicans really foul things up over the next several weeks, which they could do. >> they could. >> follow the madness of donald trump's claims. >> it would be traitorous to the process that our country has in place for a peaceful transition, and, quite frankly, any of these republicans who try and do that might find themself in the wrong location across from an adult bookstore, and that actually happened. >> and by the way, do they really want to follow the putin

of ru the path of rudy giuliani? giuliani is one of voices saying the president should fight on. how much do republicans want to continue shaming themselves with guys who find themselves in a landscaping business on the most important supposed day of the entire campaign next to a porn shop and making a fool out of himself? that's what it -- >> that is sort of symbolic of -- >> that's what it devolved to. by the way, that guy, that's the guy that donald trump and jared kushner wanted to be america's secretary of state. >> coming up, kasie hunt with a view from capitol hill. how mitch mcconnell is prepping for 2021 without donald trump. "morning joe" is back in a moment.

we made usaa insurance for members like martin. an air force veteran made of doing what's right, not what's easy. so when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. that's how you do it right. usaa insurance is made just the way martin's family needs it with hassle-free claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. because doing right by our members, that's what's right. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. ♪ usaa we're made for. beautiful. but when i started cobra kai, the lack of control over my business made me a little intense. but now i practice a different philosophy. quickbooks helps me get paid, manage cash flow, and run payroll. and now i'm back on top... with koala kai.

hey! more mercy. save over 30 hours a month with intuit quickbooks. the easy way to a happier business. and sweetie can coloryou just be... gentle with the pens. okey. okey. i know. gentle..gentle

new projects means new project managers. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. the moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a short list of quality candidates from our resume database so you can start hiring right away. claim your seventy five dollar credit, when you post your first job at indeed.com/home. unlike ordinary memory want supplements-ter? neuriva has clinically proven ingredients that fuel 5 indicators of brain performance. memory, focus, accuracy, learning, and concentration. try our new gummies for 30 days and see the difference.

competitive presidential race in our mod enhistory. that's why every vote should be counted, every recount to go forward and every challenge should be heard. >> this is a contested election. the media doesn't decide who

becomes president. if they did you would never have a republican president forever. we are discounting them. if republicans don't challenge and change the u.s. election system, they will never been another republican president-elected again. president trump should not concede. >> i believe president trump still has a path to victory and that path is to count every single legal vote that was cast, but also not to cast any votes that were fraudulently cast or illegally cast and we have a legal process to determine what's legal and what isn't. >> the train has left the station, kasie. anybody who didn't just fall off the turnip truck last week in washington, d.c. understands that. >> joe, it's how power works, and you can already tell that everything you laid out is true. people know it. this is the thing. donald trump has had such a grip

on the psyche of the country and everyone has been riveted to his every word because he was clearly leading a movement that was giving him political power and then he was the president of the united states. but that's not going to be the case anymore. and it's clear everybody knows it behind the scenes, even if they are saying these different things in public. and you're absolutely right. lindsey graham saying, oh, the news media has been calling elections for decades, like since the 1800s, basically, and we have called elections for republicans, we've called elections for democrats. i mean, anyone that -- the tape is all there. you can go back and watch it. i think the challenge for republicans and what they are trying to do based on, you know, these private conversations that i have had with some of them is figure out a way to manage the president himself. and i think there are some selfish motivations going on for, as you point out, the 2024

candidates. i think for serious people who are interested in governing, there is an element of concern about the president's base of forrers and what they are willing to believe about democracy, and i think that the people who are looking at these recounts and legal challenges in good faith are saying let's let it play out, let's watch how it goes so that they can then tell those people there is all of this evidence here that shows our process worked, right. the president wasn't shut down. his legal challenges were considered. they were properly adjudicated so this gives some people -- i mean, one of the main themes over the last four years has been voters standing up at events talking to politicians saying things that politicians say, where are you getting that? they are getting it on social media, these conspiracy theories. it's a legitimate problem that will be with us for a long time, and republicans primarily are going to have to grapple with

that. and all that's taking place in the context, as you pointed out, of those two senate seats in georgia, of control of the senate. and if republicans figure out how to win those, you have to grapple with base of supporters that are believing things they are reading online that may or may not be true. trying to thread that needle is very hard. >> coming up, thomas ricks joins us with his fascinating new book about how greece and rome influenced america's founders.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (burke)stomer) happy anniversary. (customer) for what? (burke) every year you're with us, you get fifty dollars toward your home deductible. it's a policy perk for being a farmers customer. (customer) do i have to do anything? (burke) nothing. (customer) nothing? (burke) nothing. (customer) nothing? (burke) nothing. (customer) hmm, that is really something. (burke) you get a whole lot of something with farmers policy perks. see ya. (kid) may i have a balloon, too? (burke) sure. your parents have maintained a farmers home policy for twelve consecutive months, right? ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ (burke) start with a quote at 1-800-farmers.

serena: it's my 4:10, no-excuses-on-game-day migraine medicine. it's ubrelvy. for anytime, anywhere migraine strikes without worrying if it's too late, or where i am. one dose of ubrelvy works fast. it can quickly stop my migraine in its tracks within two hours, relieving pain and debilitating symptoms. do not take with strong cyp3a4 inhibitors. most common side effects were nausea and tiredness. serena: migraine hits hard. hit back with ubrelvy. the anytime, anywhere migraine medicine.

they've delivered us a clear victory, a convincing victory, a victory for we, the people. i sought this office to restore the soul of america, to rebuild the backbone of this nation, the

middle class, and to make america respected around the world again. to unite us here at home. refusal of democrats and republicans to cooperate with one another, it's not some mysterious force beyond our control. it's a decision, a choice we make, and if we can decide not to cooperate, then we can decide to cooperate. and i believe that this is part of the mandate given to us from the american people. they want us to cooperate. cooperate in their interest. and that's a choice i'll make, and i'll call on congress, democrats, republicans alike, to make that choice with me. 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. they are americans. 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. tonight we are seen all over this nation, all cities in all parts of the country, indeed, across the world, an outpouring of joy, of hope, renewed faith in tomorrow, bring a better day. and i am humbled by the trust and confidence you placed in me. i pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide, but unify. who doesn't see red states or

blue states, only sees the united states. and work with all my heart with the confidence of the whole people to win the confidence of all of you, and for that is what america, i believe, is about. >> 37 past the hour. welcome back to "morning joe." joining us vanderbilt's roger's chair and the american presidency historian jon meacham, an aclimbed writer and journalist, tom rip currents author of the new book out tomorrow entitled "first principles: what america's founders learned from the greeks and romans and how that shaped our country". >> thank you all for being with us. tom, thanks so much. a huge fan of your book. it was great late summer reading when you all were kind enough to forward it to me. i was thinking about you this weekend as i heard people on the left and the right shout to the

heavens, my god, my god, gridlock again. and i just thought of that silicon valley phrase that you lifted and talked about in your book that this sort of creeping compromise, this incrementalism, it's not a bug in our system. it's a feature of our system. explain. >> that's right. it is central to how the constitution was laid out by, it was madison, which is i am going to disperse power so widely that if you want to make progress in this country you have it find alliances, moving together and find somebody else who supports you even though they are from a different part of the country. and so madison takes power and spread it across three branches of government. in the legislative branch, two houses rather than the previous system, the articles of

confederation, which is out of congress, and then you have dispersal between the states and the federal system. so american power is just all over the place. and you kind of saw that with trump. trump talked a lot but not much happened in the government. in fact, i think kind of the trump era was like we went back to the articles of confederation. we had a bunch of governors trying to do things and we had a central government that seemed frozen and powerless. >> so, let's talk about the book more generally. it's fascinating to have you on now because you, in fact, started this journey of yours four years ago the day after the election of donald trump in 2016, and decided to go back to the beginning and to figure out what this country was about and to do that you studied what our founders studied, but you also examined the differences between their own education and how it

shaped the leaders they became as they were framing our constitution and our country. talk about that. >> well, that's right. on that morning, after the 2016 presidential election, i went downstairs to my library and said, what happened? how can i think about this? so i took aristotle's politics off the shelf. what does aristotle say? that led me to reading what the founders read, which is different how we think of greece and rome. they had a different greece and rome. greece was somewhere off in the background. they didn't really care about greece with a couple of exceptions. they were very focused on roman history. for example, they thought the leading playwright of the ancient world was terrence. terrence was a comic playwright nobody reads today. they had a different world they looked to. when they said how do you design a republic, there weren't a lot

of examples. and so they looked back especially to ancient greece and ancient rome and said where did they go wrong? for example, one of the conclusions of historians about the ancient world was republics don't last long. so one of the questions they had going into the constitution with madison especially was how do you make a republic last? how does it sustain itself? i think if they came back today they would be pleasantly surprised that the machine they designed in the 18th century is still here more than 250 years later, still working, partly because they designed it to be changed, to be fixed, it be amended. and they had a lot of amendments. the education of these guys were so different though. george washington is an uneducated man to the shock of the sort of voluble people around him like john adams and thomas jefferson. washington is very conscious of this, his lack of education, but

the interesting thing is, i think he becomes a real good critical thinker because of it. he knows he is not well educated. he knows he is not a good writer. so he finds this kid alexander hamilton, who is a great writer, and gets him to do a lot of the writing for him during the war. jefferson is a very different guy. kind of the outlier, more greek than a roman. more into epicurean thinking about happiness than stowiccal thinking like washington. adams is this almost a woody allen-like figure, wearing his heart on his sleeve. but i think adams also has been a bit typhyped in recent years. it was a disaster as a president. his most significant act act as president was putting 25 journal is critical of him simply in jail. he just put them in jail for being critical of him. he thought that was tantamount

to treason. you shouldn't criticize the president. and james madison, who i grew so fond of as i wrote this book. madison is small. he has some form of epilepsy, we think. he does not have a good speaking voice. yet he has enormous influence over how the country is built. and i think plays an important role not just with the constitution, which he kind of proposed, let's have a new fundamental law of the land. we goes to the meeting with all these greek and roman references he spent four years studying of how do we design a republic, and then he helps the politics of the country in the 1790s when adams is kind of freaking out as president saying nobody should criticize me, that's illegal. madison is saying, no, let's have politics. let's have party politics. let's have factions that compete with each other. because that way power is so

dispersed, the people will have to come together and make deals with each other and that's a good thing. >> madison certainly, jon meacham shall reading through this book, along with george washington, for so many reasons, even more than the constitution, madison appears to be the one of the two indispensable men of the founding of this republic. but it is interesting. the founder that you spent so much of your life, several years back, writing about, researching and writing about, thomas jefferson was an outlier as far as his education goes. while everybody else was gazing upon the romans and wanting to be the ideal roman, jefferson was enamored with the greeks. >> he was, and the phrase the pursuit of happiness, the greek word of happiness was what

jefferson had in mind, which was that we were in a covenant, that it was not simply individual happiness, but that it, societal harmony game from individual harmony. i think that's one of the great lessons for us in this moment, that in fact our individual virtue, our individual dispositions of heart and mind, find full public expression. so when people feel powerless in a political moment, in fact they are not. jefferson believed in this notion that harmony was conceivable. wildly imperfect, wildly constricted, you know, to be sure, but his basic vision of the world was one in which, to borrow from edmund burke, little platoons of people would, in fact, create this republic that

would find virtue. can i ask tom a question? >> sure. >> so you talked about the greeks and romans. i want to ask you about a protestant. john calvin. can you roll him into this for a moment? >> i don't see a lot of calvin among these guys. this is not a particularly christian religious group of men that i can see. religion is not playing a big role in american life, especially among elites, in the revolutionary era and the post-revolutionary era. it really comes in the 19th century when you get a doubling of the number of ministers in the country relative to the population. i want to go back to something you said about life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. i see this coming out of john locke who writes life, liberty, and property. or he called it estate.

it's a small interchanges that jefferson makes. life, liberty, and happiness. property meant you were a man of property, and that's relatively a small portion of society. changing it to life, liberty, and happiness is so democratic because everyone in a society can pursue happiness whether they have land or property or not. and i think it is -- i have a lot of problems with jefferson. i think my opinion of him went down usually well while writing this book. those small tweaks he makes in this epicurean document, the declaration of independence, that sets forth the aspirations for this country for the last 250 years it is a magnificent document. i actually put at the end of the book, because i like reading it so much. >> fair enough. let's go to katty kay s, she ha

the next question. katty. >> yeah, i wanted to ask about the notion of individualism and collectivism and the idea of harmony and applied a little bit to the moment that we are seeing in because we are seeing a real disintegration certainly on the other side of the atlantic at the moment and it looks like there is a disintegration of it here. do you think it can be revived, a sense of collectivism and community that leads to harmony? >> i would love to see it. we talk so much in this country about individual liberties and so on, but we forethat's rigget constitution not once, but twice refers to the general welfare of the people. in the preamble and later, it says this is really an important part of who we are, the general welfare. so, yeah, i would like to see more talk about the public good and less talk about individual, and especially less talk about individual property and individual property rights. the supreme court seems to me to

have been defining downward by conservatives as the court of american property, that you have a voice, you have money, you can spend it how you want. you can influence elections. i actually think the thing that would shock the founders most after how slavery blew the country apart in the civil war, i think the thing that would shock them most is the role that campaign finance plays in our elections. they would regard our campaign system as utterly corrupt. and i think they would, a lot of them, not all of them, would say that americans now live in an l oligarchy. it still has democrat trappings. but they saw those things in the ancient worlds. it's basically ruled by the wealthy. i think that's what we have in this country these days. >> so, tom, we are going to be having you on all week to talk about the founders, different

founders. tomorrow we are going to be talking about george washington. but i just want to set that up because, for me, washington has always been impenetrable. i mean, you get the sense of who jeffersonis. you read jon meacham the book and get this sense of this brilliant, wonderfully, you know, perhaps the man of the millennium as far as individual rights, but a man with terrible personal failings, as you said of john adams, it's evident there. it's always been difficult to get your arms around who exactly george washington was because, well, in part because if you even touched him as you pointed out in public, he would give you a stern look. and what you read in first principles about this remarkable man who learned from his

failures in the french indian war, who was retweeting throughout the entire revolutionary war. who knew he could very rarely win battles, but he certainly could lose them. and who was actually looked down upon by so many people, especially as he was leaving office. but as you finish first principles, you are left with a very real conclusion that they did not deserve george washington. even those great founders did not deserve washington. he truly had become this uneducated man. had become the ideal roman, as you say at the end of "first principles." >> well, he's a man of deeds, not words, which is, by the way, a slogan still today inside the united states army on which george washington was the first member and the sole member when

he was appointed head of the continental army back in 1775. george washington fascinates me, and i think academic historians have not served him well. he is a guy who has this monumental temper. he's a volcano and he spends his life learning to control it. and a couple of times he loses it. he loses it on the battlefield a couple of times. and he loses it once in the cabinet meeting. thomas jefferson kind of writes a transcript of what -- when washington blew it, he blew hard. he was angry at jefferson and at hamilton for their constant squabbling and so on. and he's a man who learns. he's a man who changes. he was the essential man who i think, because he learned and adjusted during the revolution as a general, he begins as a conventional officer and winds up fighting a error irregular war. the other thing about george

washington, he was a politician before he was a general. and then after he was a general. he was a politician first in virginia politics, elected office, and then as president much longer than he was a general. >> well, the book is "first principles: what america's founders learned from the greeks and romans, and how that shaped our country." we're going to have tom back each morning this week with a focus on the impact of each of the country's first four presidents. coming up next -- president trump alleges flawed in the philadelphia election. but the lone republican on that commission that runs the city's elections says, no. keep it right here on "morning joe." customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need? just get a quote at libertymutual.com. really? i'll check that out. oh yeah. i think i might get a quote.

not again! aah, come on rice. do your thing. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

here? nah. ♪ introducing the all new chevy trailblazer. here? nope. ♪ here. ♪ when the middle of nowhere, is somewhere. the all new chevy trailblazer. making life's journey, just better. the all new chevy trailblazer. -with the ninja foodito intellismart xl grill.illing eliminate the guesswork with the smart cook system. just pick your protein, select your doneness and let the grill monitor your food so you don't have to. and because it's a ninja foodi, it also turns into an air fryer. bring outdoor grilling flavors indoors with the ninja foodi smart xl grill, the grill that sears, sizzles and air fry crisps.

good moves. or hydration. neutrogena® hydro boost. the number 1 hyaluronic acid moisturizer instantly delivers 2 times the hydration. and keeps hydrating all day long. running dry of supple, bouncy skin. never! hydro boost. pair with new serum for 4 times the hydrating power. neutrogena® working, parenting, problem solving. pair with new serum for 4 times the hydrating power. at new chapter vitamins we've been busy too... innovating, sourcing organic ingredients, testing them and fermenting. fermenting? yeah like kombucha or yogurt. and we formulate everything so your body can really truly absorb the natural goodness. that's what we do, so you can do you. new chapter wellness, well done.

president trump has said bad things happen in philadelphia. are bad things happening in philadelphia? >> in the birthplace of our republic, counting votes is not a bad thing. counting votes cast on or before election day by eligible voters is not corruption. it is not cheating. it is democracy. >> al schmid is one of three commissioners who run elections in philadelphia and the lone

republican. >> there really should not be a disagreement, regardless of party affiliation, when we're talking about counting votes cast on or before election day by eligible voters. it's not a very controversial thing or at least it shouldn't be. >> but yet it is. >> unfortunately, yes. >> and that's, of course, a republican. such a transparent process. and by the way, more votes now added and joe biden is now leading the state of pennsylvania by more votes than donald trump won it in 2016. biden up 45,670 moving towards 50,000. jon meacham, final thoughts on what we've seen over this past week. what a momentous week in american history. your thoughts. >> dignity and decency and democracy were on the ballot. and they barely won. and that's an important thing. they barely won.

they did win, but it was a close run thing. and the work of the coming months and years is going to be, i think for president biden to try to live up to what he's been saying throughout the campaign which is, can you reach out to people, the 70 million people who said, yeah, i want four more years of this. can you reach out to those people and bring them into a productive conversation about what the country should be. >> and katty kay, as jon has pointed out so many times over the past five days, presidents that have gotten elected by the narrowest of margins have become extraordinarily consequential presidents as well. >> last night, joe biden's team was told the news about the pfizer vaccine. whatever president trump says or doesn't say or does or doesn't say, do, power is changing hands. we're moving on. trump is the past and joe biden is the future. he's got a big inbox, but he is

the next president. >> all right. well, we'll talk more about this tomorrow. that does it for us this morning. stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now. hi there. i'm stephanie ruhle. it is monday, november 9th. let's get smarter. we've got breaking news this morning. the drugmaker pfizer announcing that new results from its covid vaccine trial suggest the vaccine is highly effective in preventing covid-19. we'll have more on that in just a moment. look at the calendar. it is a new -- biden's team is outlining four priorities for the coming weeks. covid-19, the economic recovery. racial equality and climate change. the president-elect putting special emphasis on the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. this morning announcing a new task fce