thing we can do to stop the spread of covid, wear a mask. the head of the cdc warned this fall for the foreseeable future, a mask remains the most potent weapon against the virus. today's news does not change that urgent reality. i won't be president until january 20th, but my message today is to everyone is this, it doesn't matter who you voted for, where you stood before election day, it doesn't matter your party, your point of view, we can save tens of thousands of lives if everyone will just wear a mask for the next few months. not democrat or republican lives, american lives. you know, maybe we'd save the life of the person who stocks the shelf at your local grocery store. maybe it saves the life of a member of your place of worship. maybe it saves the lives of one

of your children's teachers. maybe it saves your life. so please, i implore you, wear a mask. do it for yourself. do it for your neighbor. a mask is not a political statement but it is a way to start pulling the country together. i want to be very clear, the goal of mask wearing is not to make your mask less comfortable, or take something away from you, it's to give something back to all of us, a normal life. the goal is to get back to normal as fast as possible. masks are critical in doing that. it won't be forever, but that's how we'll get our nation back up to speed economically so we can go back to celebrating birthdays and holidays together. so we can attend sporting events together. so we can get back to the lives and connections we shared before

the pandemic. it doesn't matter whether or not we always agree with one another, it doesn't matter who you voted for, we are americans and our country is under threat. now we're not called to do the same things americans have done faced with crisis throughout our history, rise above our differences to defend the strength and vitality of our nation. you know, that's the character of patriots. that's the character of america. we have to do this together. wearing a mask may seem like a small act. maybe you think your individual choice won't make any difference. throughout our history, the history of our nation, we've seen over and over how small acts add up to enormous achievements. it's the weight of many small acts together that bend the arc of history. you know, i know there's nothing the american people can't accomplish when we work together

as one people with one mission. we can get this virus under control, i promise you. we can rebuild our economy back better than it was before. we can address race-based disparities that damage our country. it's in our power. so let's wear a mask. let's get to work. thank you. may god bless you. and for all those who have lost somebody our heart goes out to you. we know what it's like. our heart goes out to you. may god protect our health workers, our health care workers and all americans. thank you. >> president-elect joe biden opening his transition by launching transition with his top priority a health care task force. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. you've just been watching president-elect biden in

wilmington. confronting the growing coronavirus virus as a top priority saying just moments ago you've heard health care workers need necessary tests and supplies to confront the crisis, he would spare to effort to turn things around once inaugurated. meeting earlier with 12-member pandemic task force led by former obama surgeon general vivek murthy and top vaccine expert fired by president trump, rick bright. their work given just as the president is stopping the administration as officially designating bidened winner, preventing biden team from access to key data as well as federal funding, all of which is usually done immediately under legislation for an orderly transfer of power established after the kennedy assassination. the focus to tackle covid as the

vaccine from pfizer is announced, 90% effective. the first vaccines were to be 50% effective. this groundbreaking announcement comes from pfizer ceo on cnbc. >> it is a great day for science, it is a great day for humanity. you understand the hopes of billions of people and millions of businesses and hundreds of governments that were on our shoulders, now we can tell them i think we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. >> and it still needs final fda approval but that could come rather quickly. wall street now rejoicing in response to pfizer's news. the dow surging to record highs this morning. joining me now nbc's mike memoli in wilmington, political reporter monica alba outside the white house and dr. patel former policy director in the obama administration. so much news today. mike, take it away. this was previously planned. they were not aware, to our

knowledge, of this big pfizer announcement but shows it was the key focus of his campaign and the top priority in his transition. >> yeah, that's right. andrea. anybody who has been involved in a presidential transition in the past will tell you even under ideal circumstances it's an incredibly difficult task. biden himself was part of a difficult transition as vice president-elect, of course, during a financial crisis. now the biden team knowing the success and failure of their administration will largely be determined in early stages by how they deal with the pandemic. the biden team very clearly trying to start with that as their obvious focus announcing this 12-member task force chaired by vivek murthy, former surgeon general david kessler of the fda and marcella nunez-smith. interesting names on the list, rick brights, ousted whistleblower, that warned the administration was not taking the pandemic seriously enough in the trump administration. it's also interesting in a

statement last night biden did indicate -- this morning he did indicate his team was aware of this development, but in real contrast to president trump was still very sober about what's ahead for the country. he said even with the hope that this potential vaccine represents, we're in for a very difficult winter. he said there's still a number of steps they have to take. what we're going to expect from the president-elect and his team is outreach to governors, local officials over the coming weeks, trying to understand what they need in terms of resources to prepare them for the months ahead. he wants to be ail to sign legislation on day one as part of a major covid relief package. of course it goes well beyond that. i spoke to officials as they look at filling 4,000 administration jobs, they have a number of candidates identified beyond that number. their priority as they begin to go into these agencies on filling those departments with a real stake in helping to deal with the pandemic, also getting the west wing staff right.

as it receiplates to cabinet, sd look to obama model. less likely to see announcements in the near term, potentially as soon as december we would see those other major posts filled, andrea. >> it was really striking, mike, want to talk to all of you about this, what we just heard from the president-elect. he said we're still facing a dark winter. my thanks for clarifying they were aware of pfizer announcement but not saying the vaccine is be all, end all. a lot of people won't want to take it, it will take a long time to distribute. he's giving a realistic assessment of what lies ahead from all the experts we've been talking to for many, many months, including dr. patel saying we still, as he's putting it, want to do much more to make a vaccine free available to all americans. contact tracing has to be done. we're seeing even today, and we'll get to that in a minute, monica, they are not doing very much contact tracing despite

their promises from the white house, more super spreader issues coming. they are ramping up -- he said they want to ramp up production of ppe knowing that still needs to be done with these new hospital rates, new infection rates off the charts. we're now talking about 10 million americans. we've crossed that terrible barrier. he said i'll spare no effort to turn this administration around once i'm sworn in. we've got to get kids back to school safely. we will follow the science, listen to governors and emergencies, which ymayors, you pointed out mike and restore local leadership on day one including rejoining the world health organization. then he said this election is over. it's time to put aside the partisansh partisanship. this monica comes from you every signal from the white house, more lawsuits, more challenges, not letting the transition start, actually, by stopping the head of the general services

agency which leads the government from sending the letter that normally comes when any president, any candidate goes over 270, which joe biden clearly has. they sent a letter, this is a 1963 law, letting this incoming team have access to the federal agencies. how many jobs are to be filled. what is your data on this? what is your intel? as well as the money, some million for transition. monica, we're hearing none of that from the white house, the president still in the campaign. >> the consults definitively decided over the weekend declaring joe biden the president-elect as if it never kpi existed. this is a president that doubled down in defiance. they continue to operate in a world they believe they can stay on the legal course keeping the fight. we heard from campaign manager bill stepien held an all staff

call and meeting at virginia headquarters in the last hour or so trying to tell staffers there, who i have to tell you i've been in touch with and are quite deflated to keep hope alive. there's a shred of possibility in certain states where the margin is clear that joe biden is leading the president, that could shrink, could there possibly be anything that will actually alter the outcome, i'm told that's not the case. this is more about public messaging strategy and political one to show the president, as he is outgoing in 70 days, isn't going out without a fight. that's why the campaign now is talking about potentially having recount rallies that would feature more of the president's top surrogates, his sons, other family members potentially without him necessarily being there, though they are leaving the door open to that possibility. i'm told he also wants to thank his supporters in some way and return to the trail, so to speak, in that capacity before january 20th. it also comes as you mentioned

coronavirus which hangs over the entirety of this white house. we learned of more cases in the middle of yet another outbreak. chief of staff mark meadows testing positive over the weekend. now we're learning, of course, the secretary of the department of housing and urban development ben carson has also tested positive for covid-19 in addition to four white house aides. it just brings into stark relief those comments from the former vice president talking about the issue and importance of wearing a mask. that is not something we've heard from this administration. the president, of course, rarely if ever does. ben carson was in that white house event after election night overnight not wearing a mask. he's been at other events without one as well. >> and the fact he was a promine prominent new prominent neurologist before political sphere.

they claim a cdc person but i've heard there is not only not contact tracing but mark meadows reportedly stopped people from announcing his positive test on wednesday. we did not hear about it until this weekend. people that were with him at virginia headquarters election night at that party were presumably not contacted if he didn't announce it publicly. >> absolutely, andrea. we also know from white house staff, who were staffing these events, that they have had to go on their own resources to seek out covid testing. so the d.c. department of public health has put out letters even prior to election night, the rose garden event with supreme court justice amy coney barrett is now kind of in-person famous for being a super spreader event. we know white house personnel, nonpoliticals even, white house personnel had to deal with the fact they were not contacted but they were in sufficient close contact because of the nature of their work. to your point, andrea, around the country only 1 to 2% of

coronavirus cases are getting traced. this is becoming an incredible problem as we now are seeing a surge in our country. we need to know how to keep people safe through tracing and testing and i think the president-elect's task force will concentrate on those efforts going forward. >> and joe biden is saying repeatedly wear a mask, wear a mask. this is not politics. let me ask you quickly about pfizer because we've heard big announcement before. this one is now being hailed asterisk as as terrific by people not involved in the country itself. is that your take as well? >> it is, andrea. let me offer we need to see the data. what we've seen is through the company's press releases. it didn't come from company independent data safety and monitoring board saw these analysis. here is the good news. if it is 90% effective with what they report, that is online with the measles vaccine. this is incredibly promising. i saw the news, andrea.

i was relieved. it means we'll have multiple opportunities to have a safe and effective vaccine hopefully for all americans but likely not until mid or the end of 2021 for all americans just given the complexity of supply chain and distribution. >> indeed. a lot more suspicion among the public because of all the politicization of this that it's not safe and we have to counteract that. as soon as we have the data and fda approval as well. dr. patel, thank you as always. it is an exciting moment and one we should at least tentatively celebrate. mike memoli, monica alba, dr. patel, thanks to all. joining me, co-chair of barack obama's presidential transition team in 2008, white house chief of staff to president clinton. joining me now, first john podesta, let me ask you about the transition and this, i

think, unprecedented refusal by gsa administrator. there are reports she was threatened with firing if she went ahead. in any case she is obeying the guidance of the president that the election isn't over and not sending the letter that will allow the transition to start. >> if that's true, then her course of conduct should be to sign the letter and resign. this is a ministerial act. she has to ascertain the apparent successful candidate for president and vice president of the united states. and as president bush said yesterday, the outcome in clear, joe biden and kamala harris have been elected president and vice president of the united states. the secret service went so far as to enhance their protection as the duly elected next leaders

of our country and the gsa should, you know, stop, and the gsa administrator mrs. murphy should stop fooling around and do her duty under the statutes. don't go down with the trump ship as your earlier reports indicated he's not really even trying to contest the election. he's filing a bunch of frivolous lawsuits as part of a public messaging strategy. in doing so he's endangering the health and we will-being of the american people because he's delaying the proper integration of the new biden health care and coronavirus task force with the existing agencies. >> and john, correct me if i'm wrong, but i understand from our lawyers who have been our experts all along that you have to have some merit to have

success with a lawsuit and that the burden is on the plaintiff, on the trump lawyers filing these lawsuits, the burden is not on the biden team to prove there was no fraud or nothing wrong in any of these individual cases. >> absolutely. with respect to recounts, you know, he's behind by 50,000 votes in pennsylvania. there's no recount that's ever changed that many votes in american history. so this is just -- he's just delaying the inevitable. as i said in so doing whether it's from the perspective of national security, the economic crisis, the health care crisis that we face, he is interfering with the orderly transition of power in the united states. i guess we should expect that given the way he's managed the affairs of the white house over the last four years, but it's still wrong. again, i think the administrator

if she takes her oath of office seriously, she will do the right thing, sign that letter, and begin that process of permitting, again, that orderly integration, let the biden transition team into the federal agencies, provide the financial, the technical and facilitators resources that they are entitled to under the transition act. again, what's what george w. bush did. we couldn't have had more help from the outgoing administration that was provided by president bush, his chief of staff, josh bolt bolten. they from the very outset said we're going to do this the right way. we're in a financial crisis, we're in two wars. they recognized the duty they had to act honorable. again, we can't expect that from

mr. trump, we can expect it from mrs. murphy. >> let me point out the incredible nature of some of these lawsuits. in particular in philadelphia they said on saturday mayor giuliani and the others in that group, i think pam bondi as well, were going to hold a news conference at the four seasons in philadelphia. so the president tweeted it's going to be at the four seasons in philadelphia, right down in center city. it turned out to be the four seasons landscaping company up in holmesburg in philadelphia next to a strip mall next to a shop selling sex shop activities

and crematorium. here is how philadelphia inquirer put it -- t -- now we learned today one of his alleged witnesses of fraud was someone who ran for office in new jersey and was convicted of some sort of sex crimes. >> well, look, this is kind of a pathetic way to end a presidency. i think his self-pitying and anger need to be overcome by the officials who have served alongside him. i know it's very hard to push back. this is a moment where people have to do what is right, what is honorable, what they took an oath to do, which is to uphold the statutes and constitution of the united states. and you know, i think back to

2000 when there was a real recount. where florida was separated by 537 votes. i never put any pressure on the administrator of gsa. we authorized at the president's direction to give then governor bush full access to intelligence briefings in advance of the supreme court decision. once the supreme court made its decision, vice president gore graciously accepted those results. and of course, the bush transition had access to the resources that i've been describing. that was then, this is now. i think that people need to think about how they are going to go down in history if they, you know, decide that they are fog to follow the president's lead and kind of set themselves on fire as they go out the door.

>> john podesta, your perspective on the last transition as well as the one in 2000 is invaluable. thank you very much. >> thanks, andrea. >> as president trump falsely claims corruption and fraud from the election, one prominent republican is warning him to watch his words. plus for the good of the country, we look at the importance of concession speeches. mark salter wrote john mccain's widely praised address and he'll join me later this hour. first when the bidens move in in january, they won't be alone. they are going to bring their two german shepherds. champ in 2008 and adopted major in 2013. major will become the first ever shelter rescue dog to live at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. stay with us. you're watching andrea mitchell on msnbc. watching andrea mitch on msnbc for veterans like marti. when a hailstorm hit, he needed his insurance to get it done right, right away. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for.

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with the senate getting back to work this afternoon, the question is why hasn't majority leader mitch mcconnell congratulated president-elect joe biden on his victory as trump allies lindsey graham and ted cruz encourage the president in his bid to challenge the outcome of the president. mitt romney became one of the few republicans to speak out against the rhetoric coming from the president and his closest allies. >> i think one has to be careful in the choice of words. i think when you say that the election was corrupt or stolen or rigged, that's unfortunately

rhetoric that gets picked up by authoritarians around the world and discourages confidence in our democratic process here at home. >> joining me now garrett haake on capitol hill, democratic strategist joel payne. welcome, all. first to you, why is mcconnell not speaking out, not congratulating the president-elect? is he all about georgia and focusing on those two seats? what's going on there. >> you nailed it. mcconnell's first rule is don't do anything to divide his republican conference especially with these two runoffs coming in georgia in early january. essential everything he does and says how can he best protect his yort by winning the two seats. what you're seeing here starting with his tweet saying we'll count the votes and that's hugh the democratic works and saying nothing else since about the

election. mcconnell knows he can't throw president trump you said the bus without hurting the chance for those two republicans running in georgia and can't come out and trash the democratic process like some have done because he needs voters to think their vote will count if they come out and cast them in georgia. that's the framework with which we should look at everything mcconnell says and does between now and january 5th profit thanks for kicking us off. turning to mr. jolly, let's look at dismissing the outcome. >> if republicans don't chal epping and change the u.s. system there will never be another republican president elected again. president trump should not succeed. it's wild, wild west when it comes to mail-in balloting. >> he's a lawyer, a j.a.g. warrior, he knows better than this. david, what does lindsey graham

have to prove. >> he does know as a matter of law. as a matter of politics lindsey graham knows republicans have lost popular vote in seven of the last eight presidential elections. he knows, at least the former lindsey graham knew, that the way to address republican losses was through the autopsy, to realize that perhaps mainstream republicanism is becoming out of touch with how the nation and demographics are changing. andrea, i think you'll see the raw political animals, lindsey graham, ted cruz and others navigate this moment to figure out what's in it for them within trumpism. but for others, most republicans on the hill are happy to get rid of donald trump. they won't say that publicly but they want this guy out of tonight. mitch mcconnell, mccarthy everything they have done in the last four years hasn't been out of loyalty to the man donald trump, it's been about saving their careers. they would just as soon have donald trump gone. for mitch mcconnell and others it elevates their leadership within the party. most politicians on capitol hill

today, particularly in the republican party, are like pin fish that navigate around the most powerful fish in the ocean. that has been donald trump. it is no longer. republicans will begin to gravitate to where they see the center of power within the party as trump leaves d.c. >> which brings me to where the center of power is within the democratic party aside from the fact it's obviously joe biden and kamala harris. joel, let's talk about this growing conflict between moderate and progressive democrats in the house. congresswoman alexandria ocasio-cortez saying there are very deep divisions in the party that need to be addressed. here is a member like abigail spanberger, elected in a tight race in virginia satisfying terms like socialism and defunding the police are hurting democrats. here is spanberger on "morning joe" today. >> not om did we not win the senate but we lost house seats we couldn't have lost in my

opinion. there were some 70 million americans who didn't think our democratic policies would impact them, that our democratic policies would be good for them. in fact, in some cases might have made them wary of what our policies are because of slogans that don't actually spell out what we're for. >> joel, how is the speaker, how is joe biden going to unite the party? >> well, you know, leave it to democrats to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. this was a really good week for democrats last week. democrats going to net at least two seats in the senate. democrats have a chance to win a sweep of seats in georgia in the runoff. joe biden is probably going to win by 5 million votes, probably 300 electoral votes. i don't actually think this is the time for cannibalizing other democrats right now. but democrats going to democrat. i think it's built on a false premise. like the talk about, you know, some of these slogans that the congresswoman was just referring

to. number one, joe biden, the head of the ticket, was very clear about his opinion of that. that's one. two, some of that energy around things like defund the police is why joe biden won in places like philadelphia, pittsburgh, milwaukee, detroit, atlanta. the problem with having a big party -- >> jim clyburn said on "meet the press" -- did we lose joel's audio. i'm not hearing joel right now. >> hi, andrea, i'm here. >> i was going to point out that jim clyburn said on "meet the press" he thinks jamie harrison lost because of defund the police, because he got labeled it, not because joe biden embraced it but it was used effectively by republicans. >> i won't glow tit for tat with clyburn, his opinion, but i'll say this isn't the time for democrats to cannibalize each other. this was a big win for democrats. i think the focus should be how

joe biden is going to govern and how democrats will take the mandate from the historic wins last week, which are comparable to reagan and other big wins, how democrats are going to transition that into governing in january. >> i understand fully. thank you, joel. thanks for you and for david jolly and thanks to garrett haake. we're back at the big board. we haven't seen enough khaki, so steve kornacki back with how joe biden won the presidency. i think he's gotten some sleep. i hope so. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc now it's about to get even better. and as we work to integrate sprint's network, our nationwide 5g keeps getting stronger. with the capacity and coverage to reach more people and places across the country. who says you can't have it all. now is the time for 5g.

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after days of counting votes, the electoral map for now president-elect joe biden is becoming clear he leads by more than 4 million votes nationwide. how did he do it? let's bring in nbc national political correspondent steve kornacki back at the big board where he's been living just about literally for the last

week. steve, what put joe biden over the top? >> andrea, at this moment it's possible joe biden is still going to build on the electoral vote count he has right now. but at this moment it's the three states we've been talking about for four years. it's wisconsin, it's michigan, it's pennsylvania, it's three states donald trump won by less than a point in 2016, three states that hadn't gone for a republican since 1980s before trump and three states that joe biden flipped. it's interesting to look inside these states. there's a range here of what happened within them. in michigan of these three states biden got the biggest victory, biggest being a relative term. he's up 3 points in michigan, about 150,000 votes. the story for biden, why he won michigan, why he did better than clinton this time around, there is a couple of parts to it. but one place is right here, big, suburban oakland county just outside detroit. you see a double digit 14-point

victory for joe biden. look, he wins the county, oakland county by 110,000 votes nearly. compare that to four years ago. hillary clinton won here but it was a single digit margin, only 8 points, biden gets 14. then there's a difference, too, clinton's 343, clinton won this county by about 50,000 votes in 2016. four years later joe biden more than doubles that. he squeezed a lot more votes out of a densely populated suburban county, out of a population center, out of a vote rich area. that's a big part of what he did in michigan. he did that in oakland county, next door in macomb county, a little more blue-collar. trump carried it but trump didn't carry it like he did in 2016. another one in michigan. take a look at kent county. joe biden just the second democrat in half a century to carry kent county. that's the most solid win he got there. i'll say wisconsin is interesting to me.

20,000 vote joe biden win statewide, i want to show you this. here is wisconsin, red-blue map for 2020. here is the win. check out red-blue map for wisconsin four years ago, almost exactly the same. look at this. you have two small counties that changed by basically a point or two each. otherwise the map basically remained the same. the big difference these red counties outside milwaukee, wild counties, traditionally republican, suburban counties, trump still won them but he didn't win them by as much as he did in 2016. it was a 23,000 vote trump victory in wisconsin in 2016 turns around and it's a biden victory of 20,000. incredibly narrow margins between a trump win four years ago and a biden win this time around. >> there's going to be a recount but it's too big to actually force a change in wisconsin. let me ask you about arizona and georgia before i let you go.

are we going to hear from arizona any time soon? from maricopa or elsewhere to put that over the top. >> we keep getting updates. let's take a look where things stand right now. again, the biden lead there down to 16,0195. the difference between the candidates, trump on pace to cut into the biden lead but not on pace to overtake him. if trump could get that within 0.1%, that's recount trigger. we've watched the votes come in in the last three days, trump has been making up ground. he's not making up ground at the pace he needs to overtake biden in this initial count. you mentioned georgia as well. we can show you where things stand right there. again, about a 10,000 vote difference right now. certainly the recount race in georgia this is well within. i wouldn't look for a winner in

georgia any time soon. for biden a pretty good pad, 10,000 votes to be taking into a recount. >> steve kornacki, incredible. thank you so much. >> thank you, andrea. >> i'd say take a nap but i know you won't. >> appreciate it. >> meantime vice president-elect kamala harris paying tribute to suffrage movement wearing white breaking highest glass ceiling yet for women and women of color in this country. >> while i may be the first woman in this office, i will not be the last. because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities. >> certainly for women of color, for south asian women, of course, native american women, black women, a role model in the white house. >> it's really exciting to finally see representation in

the highest office in the nation. >> it's amazing for our country, again, not only to have a woman but to have a minority in the office. >> joining me now, white house correspondent for pbs news hour and susan page, washington bureau chief for "usa today." what does it mean to have someone from an immigrant family? how does that relate to all the disputes we've had over immigration, daca, reversed executive order january 20th or 21st. what does that mean having kamala harris in the white house? >> for people who are critics of president trump and celebrating president-elect joe biden and vice president kamala harris this is feeling like poetic justice for them. the president started his career questioning the birth place of the first african-american now projected to leave with african-american woman coming

into the white house. a thing to note she paid tribute to icon john lewis saying at one point that democracy is an act and everyone has to do their part. she also said african-american women and women of color are often overlooked, that will not be anymore. they should lead with conviction. this was also a moment we saw president-elect biden say black people, you had my back, i'm going to have yours. he talked about that today in his remarks saying he wants to make people who were hit hardest by the virus, african-americans, latinos, native americans in this country a priority in making sure they get the vaccine when it is developed. so you have an administration now that reflects the backbone of the democratic party, that being african-american women but you also have an administration that is pledging to do specific policy things to help the lives of african-americans and people of color. >> susan page, the "usa today" cover shows a picture of senator harris and photos of all previous vice presidents, all white men. >> yes.

which one of these pictures is not like the other? that would be kamala harris. that is an important statement for our country. you know, of course, being vice president is a supportive role. i do think kamala harris is likely to have some particular stature as vice president because she does represent a figure of such hope for women and for minorities and because she is also an important tie for joe biden to more liberal, more progressive elements in the democratic party. that could be very important as you look ahead in a biden presidency. >> and to a younger generation as well. on a personal note, talk to me about the transition to a woman like kamala harris as vice president after what president trump said about so-called s-hole countries and you having a haitian background. >> i should tell you as someone

haitian american and talking to haitian americans they felt so deeply offended about the way the president spoke about haiti, the first black nation to wrestle its people away from slavery and become free in 1804. it's a sense of pride for so many african-americans and haitian americans. the president put down the country, separated immigrant families, talked about senator harris, calling her at one point a monster. this feels as if the country is listening to immigrants, people that have the background senator harris has with her jamaica father and indian mother. we see you in power, we want you to lead this country. there are a lot of people really excited about this. there are a lot of haitians, wounds they felt like they had to suffer, all the stereotypes the president laid out saying falsely that haitians with aids. painful, painful things he said that might now, we might be turning the chapter on that and finally getting back to a place

where people respect haitians, respect the history. yamiche, thank you so much and susan, thank you for being with us today. refusing to concede, president trump breaking with tradition again. why concession speeches matter. next, the man to wrote john mccain's in 2008, mark salter, with us. stay with us. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. ith us you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. now, he uses therabreath healthy gums oral rinse with clinically-proven ingredients and his gum problems have vanished. (crowd applauding) therabreath, it's a better mouthwash. at walmart, target and other fine stores. ♪ ♪ [ engines revving ] ♪ it's amazing to see them in the wild like th-- shhh.

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presidential candidate loses, the person calls and congratulates their opponent and then makes a concession speech in an effort to unite the country. so far president trump has done neither. in 2008 after losing a tough campaign to barack obama, senator john mccain gave one of the most gracious speeches in history. true to his character, trying the heal wounds and bring the country together behind the new president. >> whatever our differences, we are fellow americans and please believe me when i say, no association has ever meant more to me than that. tonight more than any night, i hold in my heart nothing but love for this country and for all its citizens. whether they supported me or senator obama, whether they supported me or senator obama, i wish godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president. >> and will be my president. joining me now, mark salter, the

man who wrote that speech. former senior adviser to the trump campaign and so much more. his new book is the luckiest man. life with john mccain. you indeed spent your life with john mccain. the speech you wrote for him, it is going viral now. why do concession speeches matter? what is president trump losing by not making a gracious concession speech? >> well, interestingly, i think it was in mccain's name to want to move on from any disappointment as rapidly as he could and he wanted the country to move on. especially his supporters to move on from their disappointment in the outcome of the election. he had known for a couple weeks he would probably lose and he was also aware as you'll remember of some town hall meetings and rallies where his opponents questioned then senator obama's citizenship, that there were unfounded allegations about the legitimacy of the obama candidacy. he wanted to make sure he

discourage that had from continuing. so he wanted to be gracious. he thought he would be remembered for this speech. influencing history was the biggest ambition john mccain ever had. and he thought he would be remembered. he was conscious of how he would be remembered by history. so i think trump is losing all of that to be remembered somewhat better for his exit than he was for his tenure as president by being as ungracious and as foolish as this is. no one in that white house believes that president trump will return for another four years. nobody can do anything about the fact on january 20th, joe biden will be the 46th president of the united states. donald trump can't prevent that. donald trump jr. can't prevent that. rudy giuliani can't prevent that. lindsey graham can't prevent that. it's a fact. now, if he were really putting america first, he would want to do something to at leaf quiet some of the resentment and not

pour gasoline on it over the election. >> especially in the middle of a pandemic which is now reached ten million americans. and the need to move on. to get that transition going, especially right now. what advice did senator mccain give you writing that speech? bringing the country together? >> yeah. he was very -- >> there is a back story. >> go ahead. i'm sorry. >> go on. i was going to ask you about, there was a back story that sarah palin wanted to speak as well which was not traditional. and i guess knowing that her tone might not be what he wanted to strike, that she was prevented from giving a speech that night. >> yeah. matt scully wrote her speech. it would have been nothing but gracious. john just didn't want to prolong the experience. he felt he would go out,

encourage everyone to rally behind the new president. he wanted to move on. he went, as soon as he gave that speech, he dismissed, he said, he told the secret service detail, i would appreciate a reed home and then go home to your families where our association is over. and he wants the country to move on. that was always the way he approached even successes. he didn't want to remain captive to them of the he wanted to move on to the next thing and he thought that was important to the country. i don't think it was out of concern that she would give an ungracious speech. that wouldn't have happened. he told me in advance what he wanted to say. he wanted to recognize the special historical significance of senator obama's election. he was superstitious so he generally didn't like us writing speeches on election night before we knew the outcome. but whad talked about it at

length. and he had given me leave to prepare it a little earlier than usual. i kind of held off until we got the second wave of exits and we knew where it was going. >> and we should point pout president george w. bush has unlike mitch mcconnell and others in the senate, has congratulated and in fact immediately called joe biden and kamala harris. >> he has. any republican office holder or former office holder or republican of some national stature who doesn't do that is not a statesman. is not putting the country first. they're putting their own aspirations first but not the country first. this is a very polarized country. it is a great disservice to the country to pour gasoline on these problems which is what is happening right now. trying to convince people. >> and to point out before we

leave that the president has just tweeted the departure of another defense secretary, mark esper is out. he had written a letter of resignation and was in fact trying to work behind the scenes to get some of those confederate bases renamed. and so the director of nctc of the counter terrorism center will be the next acting secretary of defense. so that's just been announced. this is what we're expecting in this next period. another departure. and how many defense secretaries has he had? i guess this is his fourth. >> yeah. i know mark a little bit. he worked on the hill when i worked on the hill. he's a good guy and i'm sure he was trying to do his best to hold on under pressures. i wish him well. >> and i've had contact with him also. he was secretary of the army before. he was trying to do something

constructive on the renaming of the bases which of course, the president did not want. so this was signified after that lafayette square june 1st that this was not going to go well. he and general milley both regretted their actions that day which happened under pressure of the events. >> yeah. as they should have. >> any other thoughts about what we'll see in this trans snigs there is been a threat to try to force the firing of tony fauci. he can't be fired directly. it would have to come from francis collins who they think nih. that would be remarkable as well. tlls talk about declassifying more intelligence, which would really upset some of the professionals in the intelligence agencies. >> yeah. i think there will be a lot of norm shattering just there is a has been every week of this administration. they can't do anything with fauci really and i'm sure president-elect biden will hastily, immediately reappoint

him should he be removed from office somehow. but i don't think that will happen. we just got to cross our fingers and hope for the best for the next two months. you would like to think that a guy leaving the white house would want to do something to be remembered a little more favorably than he will be but probably not with this guy. >> and what's remarkable as well is that he has yet to congratulate joe biden but that he's tweeting, i am pleased to announce christopher c. miller, the highly respected head will be acting secretary of defense effective immediately. and then chris will do a great all caps job. mark esper has been terminated. i would like to thank him for his service. so that's the way you say goodbye to your secretary of defense. terminated. >> he's a class act, isn't he? donald trump. don't expect him to change.

i'm sorry to note it but it's a fact. >> our regrets about mark esper who did his best under difficult circumstances and was a class act. thank you very much, mark salter. thank you for being with us today. that does it for this busy edition of andrea mitchell reports. kasie shunt in for chuck todd. she'll be here next. welcome to monday. it's "meet the press" daily. i am kasie hunt in for chuck todd. we will start with some just breaking news. as we were getting ready to come on the air here. president trump tweeted that he has foird defense secretary mark esper. this is the first of what we anticipate could be m