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 many

shake-ups around the president in the wake of his loss. let's go straight to nbc's monica alba outside the white house. good afternoon to you. we just learned about this a couple minutes ago. in a tweet from the president, take us through what we know. and our colleague carol lee had reported that esper had perhaps before the election, or around the time of election night, had drafted a resignation letter already in anticipation of this. >> yeah. incredible reporting by my colleagues who had been documenting the president's displeasure with secretary esper for months. we've seen it aired publicly and privately according to reporting. and three defense officials had told them that indeed secretary esper had drafted this letter before last week, before the election, knowing this could be the potential outcome, and that the president as one of his first acts if he had lost, or even if he potentially won re-election, would have moved to get rid of some cabinet officials whom he had clash with

at the top of that list, according to the tweet that we're now just seeing, it appears to be secretary of defense mark esper. now we understand something that may have contributed to this is the fact that secretary esper would have maybe renamed or made it easier to rename some of the military bases. something that the president was very much against and had made that very well known. and because of that, he knew he was maybe going to be a target. but really, kasie, it shows you this is the presses's first act in a post joe biden as the president-elect world. right? this is the first official business that we see him doing. and something that reminds poem, he is still the current occupant of 1600 pennsylvania avenue behind me and can do all these things. especially as a lame duck president over the next 70 days or so. and we can expect we're told by white house officials, there will likely be more of this action to come in the coming weeks. what stands out here is that we haven't seen the president do any public events over the last four days apart from golfing at

his golf course in virginia over the weekend. so this is white house signaling to us that the president is now back in the oval office having these meetings, doing things a little more normal as opposed to the last few days, all we heard was all these baseless claims on twitter. today firing his defense secretary and replacing him with someone else. probably a preview of what we're likely to see in the coming days. >> monica, i imagine a lot of americans are looking at this and wondering, you know, he lost the election. he is going to be leaving the white house. why is the country better off without a confirmed defense secretary in police than they would be with one? despite this? it is only a found months left of his administration. are we looking at his personality coming to bear on government? >> we're about to report this out more. it strikes me this is an

executive who wants to remind people that he is still the commander in chief and can make these decisions. for the last few days he's been mostly sitting by the guidelines, complaining, airing his grievances, believing this election was somehow stolen from him. making claims that voter fraud are completely not backed by any evidence. there has been no widespread voter fraud. we can't say that enough. he is a president on his heels. and who in the next few months, as he is going to be leaving the white house, i think many aides around him would say, he may be the outgoing president. he doesn't want to go out without a fight. this may be where we see other nakss other areas as the president to me what this signals is him accepting the reality now for the first time in a more concrete way that he is going to be leaving washington and the white house. so he's trying to make these last moves while that he can reflect his preferences, that he was sort of waiting to make until after the election.

>> monica, stick with me for a second. i want to bring ali in. she is in wilmington covering the biden transition. we obviously heard from the former vice president, now president-elect earlier today. the focus, coronavirus. but also, coming from a broad perspective, clearly the events designed to send a message that the president-elect is already building a government in waiting. that he has planned extensively to try to calm, not just the rhetorical and emotional waters of a country that has been racked by a pandemic in the chaos of this white house. but also, a government that has been run in a sort of chaotic slap dash fashion in many regards. the defense department, frankly, that we're talking about here, has gone through quite a bit of changes over the course of the trump administration. do you have anything yet from

the biden team on the esper firing? and how do you think they view the future of the department of defense? in the wake of this move? >> nothing on this yet. but think about the contrast that we're about to see play out over the next 70 some odd days. president trump continuing to govern the way that he has the way he has the whole time in office. terminating by tweet. so this is going to be the argument that joe biden made on the campaign trail, now playing out on a national scale. watching joe biden spend the day meeting with public health experts, talking about the coronavirus as a top priority. this is the same message that we've heard from joe biden over the course of the last year and a half. the only difference now is that he has a bigger bull horn than ever before to make the coronavirus and general traditional styles of leadership much more loudly as he makes that case. to that end, look at the wail he

spent the first official day of his transition. putting forward a task force of 12 individuals, scientists and experts to lead a coronavirus task force that puts in place the five-point plan into an actionable plan that they can use on day one when they actually get into office. it includes names of people that we've heard before. obama era surgeon general vivek murphy. and then dr. rick bright. one of the whistle blowers let go from the administration because his warnings that the coronavirus were going unheeded so biden making the case that he'll be ready to go on day one. this is still trump's job which biden reminded us. listen. >> i won't be president until january 20th. my message today is to everyone, is this. it doesn't matter who you voted for. or that you stood, 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 would just wear a mask. 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 good way to start pulling the country together. >> reporter: kasie, i think what that lays out, what we've seen from biden lays out, the eerraticism is trying to show steadness and methodological planning. they've already identified employees to fill 4,000 government posts at the ready for january. there is one wrinkle to this though. the general services administration, which is basically government hr, has still not sent a letter certifying that biden has won the election. the reason that's important is because it basically allows the biden administration more

information about the agencies that they're trying to seamlessly plug into come january as well as just basic space, money, and even email addresses for them to get this operation going and off the ground. there is concern among sources that i've talked on, the head of the gsa is a trump appointee. a lot of folks in this biden form earlily campaign moving into the transition wondering if this wrinkle had prevent them from doing the work they need to be doing so they are prepared on day one. >> thanks. stick around, please. i want to get to the pentagon correspondent who joins us now. you have covered a number have the defense secretaries through the course of the trump administration. this relationship with esper has been fraught, particularly in the final weeks here. can you walk us through what the elements are of this relationship? how we got here? why president trump was so frustrated with his defense

secretary that this is first act he takes after losing the election? whether 28 jim mattis, acting pat shanahan and then mark esper. the relationship between esper and trump started to sour early in the summer of 2020. the issues became public. and president trump brought them out into a very public way. so one of those was, civil unrest. late may, early june. everyone recalls after the death of george floyd, there were massive protests across the country. while secretary esper, he worked initially behind the scenes to ensure that active duty u.s. military were not brought into cities. particularly into washington,

d.c. to quell the protests. that was go? president trump was talking about very vocally, that he was interested in using the insurrection act. then he came out in an interview with nbc news and then the briefing at the pentagon and said he's against it. that really rubbed the president the wrong way. he was angry that the secretary of defense would openly denounce a decision. a potential decision that he would playing. that was one thing. after that, very soon after that, there was a public dispute about the issue of renaming bases named after confederate generals or leaders. potentially not just bases but also ships, buildings, street names. first army secretary ryan mccarthy came out and said he was in favor of studying the issue, or discussing the issue. and secretary esper signed on to that statement and made it a joint statement and put the

pentagon, the weight of the leadership behind it. that was something that president trump and others in the white house were very he against. particularly mark meadows being one of them. and then we saw president trump issue a tweet saying we're never going to change the names. so there is no question that he the tensions between the two men really ratcheted up. secretary esper's budget was potentially cutting the stars and stripes, which is a decades old military publication. president trump said there's no way we're cutting stars and stripes. it became awkward, clear. it is not a surprise that we're seeing the president make this decision today. it is not a surprise we've been expecting it since over the summer. we know according to reporting from our colleague and myself,

we know that secretary esper was not, would not be surprised if in fact he was asked for his resignation and he's had his resignation letter ready to go. >> that was good reporting by you. i lost time in the last week so i'm not sure which day it was. can we dig into for a second, you touched on it at some length. the chairman of the joint chiefs striding across lafayette square in the middle of those protests and the way that image sort of punctuated this longstanding frustration of many of the top general who's have privately seethed and perhaps spilled out into public view, when jim mattis resigned and then made that extraordinary public

statement. how does what is going on here with esper fit into that? you've covered the pentagon for a long time. how does the way things are now between the commander in chief and the cheefls , the chiefs of his armed forces, what is that like in our longer history? >> so there has been, that's another relationship that has been under tension. remember back to summer of 2017. what has become this infamous tank meeting in july 2017 where the president came in and they were really doing a worldwide wrap up of threat assessment. one of the things they talked about was afghanistan. the president called the then commander of the war in afghanistan, general nicholson a loser. he said we should fire him. and that was the beginning of what we know anyway of a time where the relationships, not just the civilians or the

political poimes of the pentagon and the president but the uniforms. that relationship, i saw it degrade seriously over the summer and it started with the now infamous church walk in june. where chairman of the joint chiefs, general mark milley, he walked toward lafayette square toward st. john's church. and then only a couple days later he came out and apologized and said it was a mistake and he shouldn't have double it. that was something the president, according to a number of sources we spoke with. the president was he very upset that general milley did that. but more than that, it broke some faith between the uniforms and president trump. and we've seen that even exacerbated over the summer where the president really needed, if he was going to be, if president trump would be reelected for a second term accident he would have to repair his relationship with the uniformed military leaders at the pentagon. for a potential follow-on

secretary of defense, he would have to find someone who could help him rebuild that relationship. and one thing that we haven't even talked about is, who is this person he's putting in for the next, for the acting secretary of defense right now? and that's chris miller. an interesting choice. i believe he was sworn in in early august. he's a long time special forces soldier. he has a military background. it is in the speck forces world. it is an interesting choice. he would have to choose 21 if he wants the person to be an acting secretary of defense whose senate is confirmed, who chris miller is being with nctc. but he is not going to someone

completely outside the chain. he's known among military circles here, kasie. >> that seems to underscore that this is really about his anger and frustration with esper. perhaps we even saw the president-elect give his first transition speech today about coronavirus. if we know anything with president trump, he tries grab those chirons and those headlines back at every opportunity. this is something that would certainly prompt such things. so let's bring in retired general nbc news military analyst barry mccaffrey to talk about this. general, thank you so much for being with us this afternoon. i would like to get your top line reaction and your reflections on what we were talking with. the state of play and what he has been leading.

>> first, we ought to assume that this signal mrs. trump does not see himself as commander in chief they only a few more months. it makes no logical sense whatsoever to fire somebody who is highly qualified, literally weeks until you turn over this office. so on brian williams a while back i said this is enhanced vigilance for security forces of the u.s. i would say we ought to be apprehensive about what's going on. i don't have a handle on the new nominee. i'm sure he's a good man. this is an unusual move. you know, americans need he to understand that the military doesn't give orders to the armed forces. that's the secretary of defense. to the nine joint commanders globally commanding the actual

operating forces, we ought to be worried about this. they will follow orders of the president of the united states unless they're illegal. so the senate has to step up to this and say what's going on? what are you up to? what do you think the ramifications are of only having an acting secretary of defense? does that give the president more leeway in certain areas? is there anything in particular that you're watching for? we talked about why there was conflict between esper and trump on capitol hill. i've covered the arguments back and forth about rewill naping bases and roads and other things that are named for confederate he generals. what do you see as the consequences? and i take your point absolutely. assuming he does vacate the

office in two months. what are you most worried about in that period of time? >> well, we have global, national security interests. the chinese, the iranians, north koreans, the russians and others are watching what's going on. this is utter chaos. it looks like patent illogicaliali illogicaliality. the chinese have moved some substantial military forces. hyper sonic missiles, air power up, threatening taiwan. will they act? could we see, you know, autocratic moves by putin against the baltic states? so we need some stability. we need transition. this makes no sense. the department of homeland security, the department of

defense, the department of justice are the three coercive agencies of the u.s. government will these are the people with guns and badges and the ability to carry out high intensity operations. what is mr. trump up to? he is supposed to leave office at noon on january 20th. why is he installing an acting dor d.o.d. secretary? it should be a cause for alarm in the u.s. congress. >> with that, i'm glad you raised that, general, we can ask a republican congressman that very question. francis rooney of florida. he is retiring at the end of the material of he is one of the few republican that's has publicly congratulated the president-elect biden. he is with us now. thank you for being here. i want to start with the general's question there. are you concerned about the implications of the president's actions today, firing his

defense secretary while still not having conceded to the president-elect? >> i'm concerned about all assets. i'm concerned about playing into russia and the authoritarian regimes. i wouldn't be surprised if we wake you tomorrow and china has hit taiwan. anything can happen. our eyes are not on the ball. >> so are you concerned about whether the president is going to be willing to actually leave office? or are you confident that he will and i'm asking that question in the context, have been, of what we've learned today about the defense secretary. >> i think he will absolutely leave. i'm not certifying the opportunity for the transition

team. i think it would be better if we on the lines of john mccain with his discourse but he's not. >> so what would you ask of your fellow congressmen? you're one of the few people who has congratulated vice president elect biden. we did hear from the former president, george w. bush. and a handful of others, mitt romney, for example. we haven't heard that from the bulk of members, republican members of the house. you have senator cruz, senator graham going out on the airwaves saying fight this. raising questions about the legitimacy of the election. why do you think that is happening? can you explain kind of the politics of it? you've been inside it. and how damaging is it? >> it's very damaging. if you can explain the hold president trump seems to have over elected republicans, where

they follow him with unquestionable loyalty, you're a lot smarter than i am. i don't understand it. i think our job is to question and do the right thing and use our values as americans. that's not happening right now. this election is over. we should be uniting behind the president-elect in working to show the rest of the world that we are still a united america. >> what would you say is the level of relief privately among republicans? we obviously see publicly what they're doing and not doing and history will record all of that. i know i have had plenty of conversations with people who wouldn't say a bad word about president trump in public, but who privately are exhausted or frustrated or any one of these types of emotions. do you think there are people that are glad to see president trump go even if they won't say

it out loud? >> i think there probably are. there aren't very many people like me that just call it as they see it right on the line. straight up. but i think there are people that have had concerns. they didn't want to get tweeted at. the instinct for keeping your job and continued employment on capitol hill is a very powerful one. so the president's power over these people has been unusual. maybe even unfounded. >> what kind of influence do you think joe biden is going to be in congress? and do you think it will be markedly different? we know mitch mcconnell famously documented is that widely reported seeing, sat down with biden at the beginning of the administration and said i'll do everything i can to block all the legislation that will come through? we know biden and mcconnell have a strong relationship. biden understands the senate. republicans, of course, gained seats in the house so nancy

pelosi will have a more narrow majority. i realize you're leaving and i understand how frustrated some people in your position have been, and you're not the only one who has decided to hang it up. do you think that this new likely divided government, or possibly divided government that we'll see, will be one that is more productive and the rewarding to work in for someone in your shoes or not? >> i'm optimistic that because of the relationship that the president-elect and the majority leader mcconnell have offers the possibility of being able to discourse and find common ground in some areas that have been very rare and far between in the last 12 years. so i'm going to look forward to that. i think there are possibilities there. i think it is possible to see what happened in the house races and realize the radical left is way far to the left of the american people and the democratic party. i hope the speaker will be able

to show themmeror of their ways and they will moderate some of their excessive tendencies, talking about socialism and violence as a right and all of that to accomplish the goals they want. but accomplish them in a more constructive manner. >> all right. congressman rooney, thank you very much for your time west appreciate you taking time to be with us and rolling with what is a very newsy afternoon here. so thank you very much. thank you, also, to my guests for their breaking news reporting as we kicked off this hour. and coming up ahead here, virus cases are soaring but there's a ray of hope coming out of pfizer's latest vaccine trial. we want to talk with a public health expert about what the news means and what it doesn't. and later, georgia on our minds. the high stakes runoff races, plural, that will determine the balance of power in the senate. and now both sides rushing to turn out the vote again. before money, people traded goods.

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public health experts are cautiously optimistic with these headlines. while they're noting across the board that more data needs to be collected, even if the vaccine proves to be safe and effective, it is still going to be months at least before it is going to be widely distributed. and right now, the u.s. appears to be on an alarming trajectory when it comes to the pandemic. infection rates are soaring. hospitalizations heading toward record levels and deaths are once again inching up to 1,000 a day. the u.s. has surpassed another grim milestone. 10 million total confirmed cases. joining me with medical expertise, the specialist, doctor, thank you so much for taking time out to talk to us a little bit about what this really means. i think everyone has, everyone is looking for rays of hope, right? it's clear this seems like it is at least better than it could

have been. but i think people are also struggling to understand what it means. what does it mean that this trial shows 90% efficacy? what does it mean in terms of how they'll spend the winter? what do you want people to know about what we learned from pfizer today? >> so it is good news but long journeys begin with first steps and these are among the first steps. none of us anticipated that a vaccine might be 90 plus effective. it would have been overjoyed at 70%. this is potentially good news west haven't seen all the data yet. let's take it one step at a time. does it really work as effectively in older people whose immune system isn't quite as strong? we don't know anything about pregnant women yet. the studies are just starting in children. so we have lots to learn. but nonetheless. it looks good so far.

it will require food and drug administration review. they have a tough external committee that will look at these data. but i would anticipate in a few weeks, an emergency use authorization will be issued, and we might even in december start to vaccinate the first cadre of people. health care workers. and they will be watched very, very carefully for safety of the vaccine and its effectiveness. so that when we get to the general population, down into the spring of the year, for example, we'll be able to tell them very solidly that this is a safe vaccine and an effective vaccine, and exactly how effective it is. but those are things down the road. but it's very exciting that we have this first step. i'll also say a couple of other things. the first is, that it won't be a miracle. we'll still have to wear our masks. right?

and the other is, it does hurt and it does take he two doses. and we'll have to persuade people to come back for that second dose. nonetheless, it's a glimmer of hope. a little -- >> for sure. let me pick up on that question of persuading people. because you mentioned emergency use authorization. possibly very quickly. i would be interested to know why you think it may happen that fast. i think that this idea of an emergency use authorization has come into our conversation about politics. because people have been raising questions about whether this would be rushed too quickly. we're dealing with frankly confidence that has been dwindling. fewer and fewer people have said they will definitely take this vaccine as doubts have been raised about it. what would you say to people in terms of, why should they believe this data coming out?

why are you confident in it? and should they be nervous there is this emergency use authorization. >> well, first of all, i'm guardedly optimistic. let's see the data. it would appear that now that we're past the election, that this has become somewhat depoliticized. i certainly hope it puts the scientists in front and the politicians can take a step back. that will be very necessary to convince not only the general public but the medical community. the doctors, the nurses, the pharmacists, the physicians assistants, they're also skeptical because of the veneer that has covered this vaccine. if some of that is taken away, then we can focus on the science and we'll have to see how it goes. there will be some grumping that we don't have enough safety data

yet. but that will be rolled out. the imperative is as you said in the set-up piece, a thousand people dying a day. we need to do something. if we have a product that could blunt that, then we would like to do that. all of us. watching it very carefully. >> you mentioned masks and the fact that we'll all have to wear them. and the president-elect spoke to that today as well. just quickly, how hard do you think this winter will be? what do people need to prepare for? should they be seeing their families over thanks thanks? what should we be doing while we wait to find put to this vaccine is safe and effective? >> kasie, there is covid thanksgiving and it will probably be the covid christmas, hannukkah, new years, et cetera. i think we all noted to be careful. i don't think we noted to gather in our traditional fashion. we need on keep social

distancing. we absolutely all, all of us, need to wear masks. we're going to have to go through this difficult period in order to get to thanksgiving 2021. a year from now, it will be a near normal thanksgiving. we're in a period of months where we need the vaccine. we would like that. but we need everything else also. keep wearing your mask, please. the. >> seriously. wear your masks, everyone. thank you for sending us that message again. we appreciate your time and your expertise. coming up next, democrats didn't get that big blue wave that they were hoping for. to expand their majority in the house. now professors and moderates are pointing fingers at each other. one of the co-chairs of the progressive caucus joins me next. progressive caucus joins me next ♪ limu emu and doug.

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welcome back. as democrats rejoice over joe biden's projected victory in the presidential race, they're also pointing fingers as the majority the in the house appears to be shrinking. democrats will lose several seats down from the 232 that they held before election day. they have made calls in the 27 districts classified as toss-ups by the nonpartisan political report and they've all been called for republicans. some moderate members are blaming progressives in the party who they say pushed policies to the left of joe biden's. conner lamb who narrowly won said the rhetoric and policies and all that stuff has gone way too far. it needs to be dialed back. it needs to be rooted in common sense, in reality, and yes, politics. the progressives are pushing

back saying the left wing energized the voters who got biden oh the finish line. joining me now to talk more about this, the congresswoman from washington, the co-chair of the progressive caucus. it's great to see you as always. thanks very much for being here today. let's just start, frankly, a lot of this anger spilled out on a caucus call that we reported on over the course of the last week. but the reality is these losses surprised everyone. all the sources i was talking to heading into election night expected the democrats were going to win between five and seven seats. if writ a good night, it would be in the double digits. and frankly the opposite happened. the republicans picked up seats. why in your view did that happen? >> well, that's right. i think the important thing is i don't think anybody expected the turnout of trump voters.

i mean, you just have to understand this. in 2018, trump was not on the ballot. so we had incredible turnout in grikts we never expected to win but we mounted great candidates in those districts. and they won. and so that was very, very important. in this cycle i think we expected it to be enormous. but that donald trump would not turn out people. and they are grikts donald trump is winning by 25%. my good friends in new york. i home he gets to say. but donald trump is winning his district by 25%. so i think we have to understand that there are terms that will be thrown at democrats regardless of what democratic members of congress do. they are turns that were thrown at people like teddy roosevelt being called socialist. medicare was called socialist. now it is one of the most

popular programs in the country. the reality is that a lot of this is about not only the turnout which we did a great job on and let's be clear. without the turnout of young people, of new voters who are not part of the democratic base before, these are new people that we energized and got to the polls and got out to vote. in not only swing districts like pennsylvania, michigan and wisconsin, but also, look at the incredible work that stacey abrams, black voters matter and others did in georgia. look at the immigrant white organizations did in georgia to turn out the voters. we won have won without that. and without some other people coming out. so let's be clear. this is an important election for them to turn out and we did a great job doing that. i understand all those points and the data does. you had those new voters and i'm

sure we'll find many were energized. your majority is made in these suburban districts where a lot of these front line members who won in 2018, some of them are still fighting to see if they'll keep their seats. lauren underwood, for example, comes to mind. jim clyburn, the whip in the house, just basically said, well, defund the police. that was a problem. he said it in the context of jamie harrison but it certainly could be employed to these house districts as well. how are you going to prioritize hanging on to the majority in the house and balancing it with the energy on the progressive side in a biden administration? >> that's what in. we have to have careful about pointing if i knowers in any direction. the country is divided.

the reality is there are a lot of people had voted for donald trump as well. and so there is a different map to winning a state and a different map to winning a district. and many of these districts had different challenges. so my appeal to everybody in the party is to not point fingers. we did not do that. we did not say, we are the conservative part of the wing is wrong and we're not going to turn out democrats. we all unified around joe biden and kamala harris in spite of fact joe biden was not our top choice of many progressills. many young people. we made the case that i firmly believe in. that no progress is possible with donald trump in the white house and we turned people out. if we say from anywhere in the party that progressives are the reason for losses in these democrat drikts, some of these democratic districts, i feel we

will lose people for a generation. they gave us a chance to make them believe again in democracy. to make them believe that there is a difference between a democratic administration and a republican administration. we did that. joe biden did that as well. many of us were the translators of the message, and the organizers of people on the ground. and it is important for people to understand that these refolks that really in many ways, are the biggest swing voters. they're not part of the democratic base. they weren't before. we turned them out and we need to respect and celebrate that they turned out to help us get donald trump out of the white house. that's the thing we should be focusing on. what a giant victory for the country that we got donald trump, with, we haven't yet bust that we voted him out of the white house and that joe biden and kamala harris won the vote

in some cycles. >> i'm not sure i buy they will be swing voters in the future but i do understand what you're saying in terms of getting folks energized and turning them out. congresswoman, always great to see you. i am sure there are many conversations ahead in our future over the next couple years. so thank you very much. there are still, of course, a few uncalled states in the presidential race. but it is the two big senate races in georgia that could determine control of the senate. that's next. control of the sena. that's next. to support a strong immune system, your body needs routine. centrum helps your immune defenses every day, with vitamin c, d and zinc. season, after season. ace your immune support, with centrum.

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need help finding a doctor? head to crohnsandcolitis.com welcome back. joe biden is the president elect, but there are still some outstanding states six days after polls closed. in arizona president trump has chipped away at joe biden's narrow lead but his chance to win is narrowing as the remaining ballot drops are not expected to be trump heavy enough to close the gap. we expect more ballots from maricopa county it to be released tonight. president trump is up in north carolina, but we're not expecting any movement in this race until later this week when we'll learn more about late arriving absentee ballots and professional ballots. and we still have yet to call a winner in alaska.

some literally delivered by dog sled. and then there is georgia where joe biden's lead is around 10,000 votes and we appear to be headed towards a recount there. all eyes on georgia for the next two months as it seems like we'll have two senate runoffs there on jan 5th that will decide control of the u.s. senate. joining me now from atlanta with the late zest blaine alex za-- with blayne alexander. these two races together is a fascinating dynamic and is going to be -- going to make you at the center of the political world for the next couple of months. what do you think the dynamics are on the ground.

sources were telling me that if we go to two runoffs, it is more likely in georgia. not looking up, of course like that is what is going to happen. how are democrats feeling on the ground in georgia about how this will play out. what do they need to get their candidates over the line? >> right now everybody in georgia is keenly aware that this is far beyond the state of georgia. we're seeing millions of dollars flowing into the state of georgia to help the democrats or the republicans. let me break down what the strategy is right here. i talked today a number of democrats in the state and many of them are over the moon optimistic with the fact that

joe biden now being called the president elect is going to drive more enthusiasm for their voters. it is more a matter of making sure that both sides get the turnout they need on january 5th. many have done the election and now they want to make sure that people will do it again. so that is really what it comes down to. we have seen adds out there. we have seen them getting ready for the runoffs. they have raised more than $7 million. on the republican side they're doing everything they can to top that and they'ring it saying yes, low pressure, joe biden is in the house but keeping senate control will be the only thing that will stop his agenda from moving forward, casey. >> my question, those suburban

women in the suburbs of atlanta that don't want to see trump be president, are they going to send a check? thank you, my friend. i'm sure we'll see more on the sorry in the coming months. chuck will be back tomorrow with more "meet the press" daily and you can catch me every weekday on "way too early." our coverage continues here with katy tur after a quick break. hh katy tur after a quick break but we didn't stop there. we made a cloud flexible enough to adapt to any size business. no matter what it does, or how it changes. and we kept going. so you only pay for what you use. because at dell technologies, we stop...at nothing. ♪

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it is 20:0 p.m. in the east. joe biden held his first briefing to show he is serious.