stands for at home and abroad, but boy, is there something kind of magic about having the rest of the world give a little wave in our direction this weekend to essentially say, we're so happy you're still here. that does it for us tonight. we'll see you again tomorrow. "way too early with kasie hunt" is up next. the trump campaign launches a new lawsuit aimed at challenging biden's victory, as the president's key allies continue to give him hope the election could be overturned. the question is, how far will the president go to prevent the results from being certified? plus, the secretary of defense fired via twitter. with the nation in transition, the question is, why is the president doing this now? and the u.s. reports its highest number of covid cases in a single day. as the virus rages, the question is, can the nation afford to wait 70 days for a comprehensive

plan? it's "way too early" for this. good morning, and welcome to "way too early," the show that really does have a packed hour ahead of us. i am kasie hunt on this tuesday, november 10th. we'll start with the news. attorney general bill barr has written a memo authorizing federal prosecutors to investigate any credible allegations of voter fraud before election results are certified. in his memo to u.s. attorneys, barr explains why he'll forego the general practice of the justice department's election crimes branch, which is to wait until after election results are certified to investigate any fraud claims. he claims, quote, such a passive and delayed enforcement approach can result in situations in which election misconduct cannot

realistically be rectified. he then writes, "i authorize you to pursue substantial allegations of voting and vote tabulation irregularities prior to the certification of elections in your jurisdictions in certain cases, as i have already done in specific instances. such inquiries and reviews may be conducted if there are clear and apparently credible allegations of irregularities that, if true, could potentially impact the outcome of a federal election in an individual state." he did add, though, "specious, speculative, fanciful, or far-fetched claims should not be a basis for initiating federal inquiries." shortly after the policy change, the justice official who oversees the elections crimes branch quit. in his resignation letter, richard pillager wrote in part, "having familiarized myself with the new policy and its ramifications, i must regretfully resign from my role as director of the election crimes branch.

i have enjoyed very much working with you for over a decade to aggressively and diligently enforce federal criminal election law, policy, and practice without partisan fear or favor." we're going to be tracking this all day long. we should also point out that the lead that joe biden has in so many of these states is not one that realistically could be overturned by any one of these single claims. there is almost no evidence ever of voter fraud that affects an election to the degree it would need to, to actually change the results of this presidential election. let's go now to the hill, though, because ending days-long silence on the election results, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell backed president trump's evidence-lacking attempts to discredit his loss. mcconnell hailed republican victories during a sharply worded speech on the senate floor yesterday before launching into an explanation of why

president trump should not concede the presidential race. >> our institutions are actually built for this. we have the system in place to consider concerns, and president trump is 100% within his rights to look into allegations of irregularities and weigh his legal options. if the democrats feel confident they have not occurred, they should have no reason to fear any extra scrutiny. >> mcconnell refused to acknowledge joe biden's win, but of course, in 2016, he had no qualms calling trump the president-elect before states certified election results. >> i want to particularly congratulate president-elect trump. i think we all agree, this was a stunning election, and clearly, an indication the american people would like to try something new.

and i know the speaker shares my view that we would like to see the country go in a different direction and intend to work with him to change courses, to change the course for america. >> november 9th, 2016, the day after election day we heard that from mitch mcconnell back in 2016. and yet, here we are, a week after election day. numerous people within the president's orbit are expressing concern that he may be hurting his own legacy as well as the republican party as he continues to fight election results. one person close to trump said, quote, there needs to be a candid conversation with the president. there is no path to victory. another ally of the president described the goal of the lawsuits and public statements alleging voter fraud as, quote, branding trump as something other than a loser. this past weekend while he was playing golf, there were moments when trump brought up the idea that he might lose and how he would proceed in the white

house. but then he reportedly became more dug in on the notion of election fraud and was ranting about it to guests at his club. one ally saying, he's never, ever going to admit he didn't win. and to try and pursue that notion, president trump's campaign filed a federal lawsuit yesterday to block pennsylvania from certifying the state's election results, saying that the state has a, quote, two-track system that favors mail-in voters. as counting of mail-in and provisional ballots continues in several counties, the trump campaign alleges that allegheny and philadelphia counties processed more than 682,000 mail-in and absentee ballots without review by both political parties and candidates. the office of governor tom wolf, who's a democrat, said in a statement monday that ballot watchers from all parties have observers throughout the process and that, quote, any insinuation otherwise is a lie.

remember watching those philadelphia vote counters on a live stream all night on election night? the 85-page filing is the most comprehensive attack yet on the state's election results and also alleges that counties that are heavily democratic, quote, provided their mail-in voters with the opportunity to cure mail-in and absentee ballot deficiencies, while republican-heavy counties followed the law and did not provide a notice and cure process. according to "the philadelphia inquirer," campaign attorney matt morgan revealed at a news conference in washington that the ultimate goal is to invalidate enough votes to shrink the margin to half a percentage point, which would trigger a recount. the lawsuit offers no evidence of widespread fraud. joining us now, senior writer at politico and co-author of "the playbook," jake sherman. he is an msnbc political contributor. jake, good morning! it's always great to see you. i'd like to set aside the

lawsuits for a second, because again, the president has every right to pursue whatever he wants to in the courts. if he has evidence, he can show it and it will be investigated. but i do want to talk about republicans' willingness to indulge this. i mean, mitch mcconnell, we showed a little bit of him, went to the floor yesterday, did not call joe biden the president-elect, did not congratulate him on victory, which he did in 2016 for president trump, and i might add, for president obama back in 2008, as soon as the senate came back into session. how do you explain what's going on? is this really all about georgia and those two runoffs? and how are republicans balancing their desire to win those runoffs and keep president trump's base happy with the consequences for the country overall? >> good morning, kasie. a few thoughts here. i actually -- so, i've heard the georgia theory, that mcconnell was doing this to win georgia. i actually -- and we say this in "playbook" this morning, which is going to be out in about an

hour -- but what we say is, this is the last gasp of trumpism, right? we've seen -- you and i have had a front-row seat, kasie, for the last four years of the city, or trump bending the city's wills to his, you know, benefit and to his side. i mean, what you're seeing right now is kind of what i assume and what we assume to be the last example of that. i mean, these are people -- so, let's take the cynic's view here. it doesn't cost senate republicans anything to just say, yeah, let him figure this out and if it doesn't go his way, we're going -- you know, he's gone. i think that's what we're seeing here. and i'm not trying to excuse senate republicans, because it's absolutely hypocritical, but you're seeing this not only in the senate but around the country, right? i mean, you're seeing bill barr authorize investigations in statehouses in michigan and in pennsylvania, they're using their power to investigate, quote/unquote election irregularities. i mean, what you're seeing right now is, again, perhaps for the last time, at least right now, the city and the gop and the

government bend to trump's will, which we have seen so many times. i mean, we can't even count or enumerate how many times we've seen this over the last four years. >> i think that, of course, i totally take your point, jake. i think the challenge here is that we've seen polling that already shows republican voters' trust in the system, trust that the election results are valid, just absolutely plummet. and it just seems to me, while i understand and i certainly -- i've done a lot of reporting that lines up with what you said, that republicans are basically like, well, he can try. if it doesn't work, we're going to accept the results, but we're going to give him some space to try. i think the challenge is that, in the meantime, they're raising a lot of concerns. and people, as we've seen, they follow president trump. they believe what he says. >> oh, yeah. >> and it seems like they're potentially creating a long-term problem for themselves, and you

know, potentially -- i mean, the way it frames america through the rest of the world is, it's -- if we had another country that was doing this where one side was saying this was not a free and fair election, we would criticize that. >> there's no question about that. but since when is donald trump cared about the norms and the continuity of democratic institutions, kasie? we've just not seen it. he cares about, and his party cares about keeping him happy. and we've seen that time and time again. he doesn't really care that he's undermining democratic processes or he's undermining elections systems. that's not his interest. this is a guy who doesn't like to lose and who will do anything in his power and use whatever levers of power he can to try to bend the will of government to his benefit. and i think -- i mean, i think we can say that based on yours and my reporting for the last four years, that this is what he cares about, right?

i mean, he used ambassadors overseas to try to get business to his resorts. i mean, we have just a million examples of this. so, i think that's what you're seeing here. i'm not excusing it. it's not great behavior. but i do think, kasie -- and i think in the next couple of weeks, two, three weeks, you're going to see mitch mcconnell and senate republicans say, the string's run out, and we need to move on. right now, there is no evidence of voter fraud. we have to keep that in mind. they are claiming something without evidence. and that is going to run out at some point. i mean, that's just going to get old. and i think we're going to see that, perhaps, by the beginning of december? i mean, that's my guess. i think -- i don't think this movie's going to go on interminably. i've been wrong before, but that's my educated guess. >> we all have at different times underestimated president trump's willingness to take things to a new place. but i do take your point that -- and the court system, so far, has said no. i mean, across the map, we've

seen them shut down -- >> zero victories. >> there is absolutely no evidence. >> zero victories. >> exactly. >> he hasn't gotten any victories, so that's kind of the reality of it. >> no, that's absolutely right. and i will say, i do think it's important to distinguish between what mitch mcconnell and many republicans are doing here in giving the president this string, and the republicans so far -- mitt romney, susan collins, lisa murkowski, ben sasse who have been willing to congratulate joe biden and say it is time to shut the book on this election. politico's jake sherman, thank you so much, my friend. great to see you. we'll be reading "playbook" in a little bit. still ahead, we've got two more people in president trump's orbit who have tested positive for coronavirus, as u.s. case numbers continue to hit record highs. plus, the federal government is facing growing calls to begin the formal transfer of power from president trump to joe biden, and even a few republicans are weighing in. those stories and a check of your weather when we come right back. your weather when we come back

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welcome back. time now for sports, and the new york jets looking for their first win of the season, hosting division rival new england on "monday night football." to east rutherford, new jersey. things were looking good for the jets with former super bowl mvp quarterback joe flacco under center for the injured sam darnold. flacco with 262 yards and three touchdowns through the air last night, helps new york to a ten-point lead by the end of the third quarter. but that lead is cut to single digits midway through the fourth, and an interception thrown by flacco sets up the patriots for a game-tying drive, capped with cam newton's second rushing touchdown of the game. after a three and out from new york, the pats march into field goal territory and seal it with a 51-yard kick through the uprights. the 30-27 loss drops the jets to a record of 0-9 on the season.

the team's worst start in franchise history. yikes. could it really get worse for the jets? i don't understand. anyway. the new nba season will tip off in a little more than a month. a deal reached in principle on adjustments to the collective bargaining agreement sets the 72-game season for a december 22nd start with free agency beginning on november 20th. that's two days after next week's draft. while the league played its first pandemic season by isolating thousands of people inside a bubble, the games next season are going to be played at teams' home arenas, but with a focus on limited travel. hopefully, everyone can still stay safe under those new conditions. time now for the weather. let's go to meteorologist bill karins for a check on the forecast. bill, are we still looking at this hurricane? >> no, eta is still out there, but it's not going to be a big issue, kasie, so that's great

news. >> thank god. >> we were afraid maybe it could come back to florida as something that could be problematic, but it's really not. and that's not even going to happen for four or five days, so we don't even have to worry about it for a while. the one thing that everyone's been talking about is this incredible warmth. i mean, it's just strange. there's people starting to hang christmas lights in shorts and t-shirts in the northeast. so, here's how it's looking. record november warmth continues today and maybe a few spots tomorrow. all the red dots on this map show you who could set record highs today. we're going all the way from chicago to maine, down through the mid-atlantic and areas through the ohio valley. so, 67 cities. and today should be 75 in chicago, and soak it up, enjoy this, because this is, by far, the warmest it's going to be until we get to, like, the middle of spring. so, 75 today in chicago, 25 degrees warmer than normal. in st. louis, you'll be right there. same with cleveland. and it's been seven or eight days in a row -- that's what's been so unusual. occasionally, you get a warm november day, but to have a week straight of 70s and, you know, the beginning to now the middle

of november, is very unusual. so, here's the reality side of it. the cold air is on its way in. we have rain changing to snow. we even have ice storm warnings in effect for areas of nebraska, all the way just north of omaha. 9 million people are under either winter storm watches or advisories or the ice storm warnings. now, we're going to get a decent little snow out of this for our friends in minneapolis/st. paul. the ice is shown in the pinkish color. so, rochester. that's all icy weather. north of des moines, north of ames, around ft. dodge, that's the area and in mankato in southern minnesota, that's where we're getting that ice and sleet this morning, so that's the problem area. so, as far as the forecast goes, around 3 to 4 inches of snow as we go throughout the day there. and you mentioned it, kasie, tropical storm eta is still out there. but as we said, it's really going to be a weak storm by the time it gets up there towards pensacola or panama city, not a big deal at all, especially considering all the big storms that area's had earlier this season. >> well, that's got to be a relief after, as you point out,

all of that. >> it is. >> and it's crazy you've got ice right on the edge of des moines and chicago's going to be 75. what a weird month. bill karins, thank you so much. really appreciate it. good to see you. we'll see you tomorrow. still ahead here, the u.s. hits another grim milestone in the coronavirus pandemic. those new case numbers and the latest infections inside the trump administration, coming up next. trump administration, coming up next [woman] what is that? [man] uh, mine. why? it's just that it's... lavender, yes it is. old spice, it's for men. but i like the smell of it. [music playing] - 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. (brad) apartments-dot-com makes easier than ever.w home (woman 1) how hot do you think it is? (woman 2) a million. if only we had a/c.

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here's another reason to wear a mask. one of president trump's cabinet secretaries, dr. ben carson, has tested positive for covid-19. according to an email obtained by nbc news, the chief of staff for the department of housing and urban development said carson is resting at home and is already starting to feel better. carson, who is a member of the coronavirus task force, was at the white house as recently as wednesday morning for an event in the east room, where trump falsely claimed victory in the election. the vast majority of participants there appeared maskless, including chief of staff mark meadows, who has since tested positive for covid-19. according to the "washington post," carson has been photographed mingling at indoor gatherings without a mask, despite saying in the past that mask-wearing makes a difference in reducing transmission of the coronavirus. in an interview with the "post" on monday, carson said, quote, i think you have seen an increase in mask-wearing at those ceremonies. you see a lot more masks now.

people are becoming convinced that masking is good. but i'm much more concerned with therapeutics. let's get this thing under control. let's not let it control us. well, it seems it got the better of ben carson. wear a mask, folks. meanwhile, a trump campaign adviser tasked with leading the president's re-election legal challenges tested positive for the coronavirus over the weekend. two sources familiar with the situation tell nbc news. david bossie appeared at a trump campaign press conference on thursday in phoenix. he's seen here without a mask and not socially distanced, behind acting secretary of health and human services, alex azar, who appears to be the only one at the event wearing a mask. the diagnosis presents another challenge to the trump campaign, which was looking to have bossi lead its legal efforts to challenge the election results in several swing states that went to president-elect joe biden. one source has said, due to bossi's inability to be at the campaign headquarters or the white house, he would no longer

be a part of the decision-making process. we do hope both of these men get better quickly, but again, everybody, wear a mask, please. still ahead here, president trump has fired defense secretary mark esper. and now that move is raising concerns about national security. nbc's courtney kube joins us with that new reporting. but before we go to break, we want to know, why are you awake? email us your reasons for being up with us on this tuesday to waytooearly@msnbc.com or send me a tweet, @kasie. use #waytooearly, and we will read all of your best answers later on in the show. in the shw my nunormal: fewer asthma attacks. less oral steroids. taking my treatment at home. nucala is a once-monthly add-on injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occurred. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor.

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welcome back to "way too early." it's 5:30 on the east coast, 2:30 out west. i'm kasie hunt. pressure is mounting this morning on the government to begin the formal transfer of power from president trump to president-elect joe biden. the general services administration -- that's the agency that approves the beginning stages of the transfer of power -- has so far failed to certify biden's win. the head of the agency, emily murphy, who's a trump appointee, must issue what's called a letter of ascertainment. without that letter, biden's team can't get access to federal agencies, including secure facilities where they can discuss classified information safely. according to bloomberg, republican senators marco rubio and mitt romney have both added

their voices to the growing calls for the agency to ascertain biden as president-elect, warning that the delay could put america's national security at risk. rubio told reporters yesterday that the agency's determination wouldn't undermine president trump's legal challenges to the election, saying, quote, we need to have that contingency in place. meanwhile, speaking of national security, president trump fired defense secretary mark esper on social media yesterday by tweeting in part, "i am pleased to announce that christopher c. miller, the highly respected director of the national counterterrorism center, will be acting secretary of defense, effective immediately. chris will do a good job. mark esper has been terminated. i would like to thank him for his service. nbc news reported last week that esper had already prepared a resignation letter since the pentagon chief and president trump have been at odds over several issues. for example, esper was working

with congress to rename military bases named for confederate soldiers. that's a move that the president opposes. and over the summer, esper pushed back on sending active-duty troops to put down protests and also distanced himself from trump's photo op at st. john's church. john kelly, the former white house chief of staff, told the "washington post" that esper, quote, made the decision to stay loyal to the law and constitution and paid the price. speaking to the "military times" last week, esper himself aid, quote, who's going to come in behind me? it's going to be a real yes man. and then god help us. joining us now, nbc news national security and military correspondent courtney kube. courtney, good morning to you. you and our colleagues at nbc reported about esper's -- reported on esper's prepared resignation letter before this firing officially came down. let's talk about the implications of this. i mean, the president only has a

couple months left in office. clearly, he wanted to voice his displeasure with esper, but there are some people who are raising concerns that there might be something more nefarious going on here. what's your take on why this happened and what the impact is? >> yeah, that's right. so, the reality is, secretary esper for months now was believed to be one of the first cabinet secretaries who would be fired after the election, whether president trump was re-elected or not. there were people saying as much as he'll probably be fired or forced to resign the wednesday after the election. what changed was the fact that we didn't have results the wednesday after, so all of last week, there was sort of this tentative waiting -- is he going to get fired? is he going to be forced to resign? but the fact that that carried through the weekend and we still don't have president trump conceding the election meant that people at the pentagon, officials i was speaking with said, well, maybe he's not going

to get fired right away, maybe he'll stick around through the transition. then, of course, we had this very surprising announcement from the president on twitter yesterday. defense officials, military officials who i've spoken with are concerned about the timing of this, kasie, because, you know, there's only about 70 days left here, but without secretary of defense mark esper in there, he's not someone who is known outside the building or even in the administration officials as someone who really pushed back on a lot of issues, but we know that he did push back on some of them. you mentioned the insurrection act as one. we know that he took a stand on renaming the bases named after confederate leaders and confederate generals. the question is, why wouldn't the president, president trump, leave him in office for the last 70 days, instead of putting someone in for this very short period of time? and the concern is, well, he's putting someone in here who's not going to push back on those issues, who may not push back on other things that president trump may want to do -- withdrawing troops from

afghanistan, withdrawing troops from iraq, you name it. the ideas were flying fast and furiously at the pentagon yesterday as people wondered, why is the president doing this right now? is it just him being vindictive? is it just the fact that he's wanted secretary esper gone for all these months and he's finally doing it now that the election is over? and defense officials and also people outside the building, experts in the defense and national security industry, they're worried about what he could do here, kasie. >> it's a relatively short period of time. but as we've seen, president trump can take actions that have wide-ranging impact, shall we say, even in such a short period. nbc's courtney kube, thank you very much for getting up early with us, my friend. i really appreciate it. and we will possibly see more of you if this story continues. still ahead here, cream, charmeuse, and a double-breasted suit. we'll take you inside "saturday night live's" scramble to

recreate vice president-elect kamala harris' victory speech outfit, coming up next in "the cooler." "way too early" is back in a moment. oler." "way too early" is back in a moment hi sabrina! hi jen! hi. so you're the scientist here. does my aveeno® daily moisturizer really make my dry skin healthier in one day? it's true jen. really?! this prebiotic oat formula moisturizes to help prevent dry skin. impressive! aveeno® healthy. it's our nature. ♪ birds flyin' high, you know how i feel. ♪

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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®. and what a testament it is to joe's character that he had the audacity to break one of the most substantial barriers that exists in our country and select a woman as his vice president. >> thank you, everybody. like joe, i am humbled and honored to be the first female, the first -- yes! and the first biracial vice president. >> time now to gather around the water cooler for some of the things that are going to have people talking today. that was maya rudolph on "snl"

playing new vice president-elect kamala harris after her historic win on saturday. did you happen to notice they were both wearing the exact same outfit? usually, that's not so notable for the show, but it is this time, because there were only three hours between harris' speech and when the show aired, making it possibly the fastest wardrobe match ever. and the outfit left many viewers wondering how they did it, even sparking some conspiracy theories, including that the team from "snl" got the inside scoop ahead of time from the campaign. "snl" costume designer tom broker and wardrobe supervisor dale richards confirmed, however, that they had no advance notice. everything maya rudolph was wearing was either pulled from the stockroom or made from scratch in only 85 minutes. broker said, quote, a box of cream charm yoos fabric and a cream double-breasted suit was found that could be completely recut and altered to make the suit work. 80 minutes later and four

tailors exhausted, maya did a fitting, and it was perfect. so, there you have it, the magic, or should we say, very hard work of television. kudos, guys. in other hyperspeed news, remember when elon musk pitched the concept of creating an underground high-speed transportation system? well, there's actually some progress being made. the virgin hyperloop, which is the company that was founded in 2014 on elon musk's premise, announced that it completed its first ever human test of the ultrafast system. the test took place on a test track just outside of las vegas, where two of the company's executives strapped into the red and white pod that was put into an air lock and then accelerated to a comfy 100 miles per hour down the track. there they are. the executives made it through the test in one piece, thankfully, and said the ride felt like when an airplane takes

off. while full hyperloop integration into society is many years away, the company's hopeful and plans to expand the pod capacity to 23 people. fun. all right, still ahead here, i'm going to talk to a member of the house armed services committee, newly re-elected congressman representative john garamendi of florida about the defense department. first, a look at this date in history. in 1982, the newly finished vietnam veterans memorial was opened to its first visitors in washington, d.c., three days before its dedication. >> a parade through washington will end at the site of the new vietnam veterans memorial, a stark, black, granite wall inscribed with the names of the dead and missing. for the loved ones and friends of those named on this wall, the memorial renews the pride and the pain of sacrifice. >> right there. jack d. stewart. jack d. stewart. still fresh

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welcome back to "way too early." joining me now, democratic congressman john garamendi of california. he is a member of the house armed services committee. congressman, good morning to you. thank you so much for getting up early with us. i'd actually like to start big picture with what we've been hearing from republicans. senator mitch mcconnell yesterday not acknowledging joe biden as president-elect and meeting with bill barr, who announced that these fraud claims will be allowed to be investigated before the election is certified. how concerned are you about the impacts of this and this time period where the biden team still doesn't have access to transition money, having an impact on our national security? >> well, i'm very, very concerned, for two reasons. one, clearly, trump continues to sow discord, division, and quite possibly, trouble across the united states. and the international security

issue is a major concern. the military is complex. the department of defense, intelligence community, homeland security, all of those agencies that we rely upon for our security are complex, and it takes time to bring in new people, to develop the information flow from one administration to the next so that that's seamless. that is not happening well after, what is it, well, eight days after the election now. it's time to get going. it is a significant national security issue. and then you toss on top of that the firing of esper, and now the leadership at the department of defense is at least influx, if not in confusion. >> so, that was exactly what i wanted to ask you about next. why do you think -- i mean, clearly, the president was ready to fire esper ahead of the election, regardless of whether

he won or lost. esper has been willing to, as courtney kube reported earlier in the hour, he's been willing to say no to the president sometimes, or at least push back. do you think that whatever happens next -- i mean, what actions are you concerned about the president taking that perhaps a newly installed acting defense secretary wouldn't be willing to say no to? >> well, one of the reasons esper got fired was, he told the president, no, we're not going to put active-duty troops on the street. well, are we going to have civil discourse? are we going to have trouble in the streets? it's quite possible, given what the president is ginning up amongst his supporters. many of whom are on the more dangerous side of this whole spectrum. so, would the new acting -- use the word acting here -- secretary of defense allow troops or order troops onto the street? quite possibly. what does that mean? well, that is a dramatic change

from where we have been, and that's really why esper got fired is the president wants a yes man in that position. internationally, who knows what could happen? there was that rather infamous movie, "wag the dog." is infamous movie "wag the dog." is the president going out of office with some sort of military action somewhere in the world or on the other side of that coin is he going to unilaterally pull the troops out of afghanistan, out of iraq, out of the middle east? all of those things are possible if he has a yes person in the secretary of defense position. remember that mattis wouldn't stand for it when the president struck a deal with erdogan and so mattis quit. he understood the international security risks of actions that are not thoroughly thought out.

not put together with our allies around the world. so here we go. are we in a perilous moment? we certainly are in the last 70 days of the trump administration, no doubt about the perils that are out there and yes, we should be very, very concerned for all of those reasons. >> a perilous moment. that's a very good way to put it. congressman john garamendi, thank you for getting us early with us. if we'd see anything playing out we'd love to have you back. earlier on in the show in a lighter note, we asked why are you awake? vincent was watching our sports block and emails us this. could it get worse for the j-e-t-s? one word, yes. lindsey is up because she's

training for iron man wisconsin and having a coffee before her swim workout. get after it. devin is awake bright and early with the little guy. we love seeing that "i voted" sticker. thank you guys for watching this morning. and coming up next, we'll take a look at the axios "1 big thing" and coming up on "morning joe," attorney general barr gives the go ahead to probe allegations of voter fraud as the trump campaign continues to challenge the election results through the courts. while the initial stages of the transfer of power hinge on the signature of a presidential appointee, trump raises alarm on the national security front firing the secretary of defense. congressman adam smith will join the conversation. "morning joe," just moments away. orningoe j," just moments away (burke) deep-sea driving, i see... (customer) something like that... (burke) well, here's something else: with your farmer's policy perk, new car replacement, you can get a new one. (customer) that is something else. (burke) get a whole lot of something with farmers policy perks. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪

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joining me with a look at axios "1 big thing" the cofounder, mike allen. axios "1 big thing" this morning is this exclusive clip with joe biden's sister, valerie biden

owens. take look and then we'll chat with mike about it. >> what was the moment in the campaign that angered him most? >> what angered him most, calling the military served in like many other men and women in america. >> sounds like an extremely visceral reaction from the now president-elect. >> these men and women put their lives on the line to keep us safe and the commander in chief calls them suckers and losers. are you kidding me? what kind of moral compass does this man have? >> a remarkable moment, mike. it's great to see you this morning. what else does valerie biden owens say? she's not someone we often see in front of the cameras but she's so important behind the scenes to joe biden. >> kasie, that's right.

we never see her but she's always there. so she calls the side kick. but what she truly is is his closest political adviser for 50 years and kasie, really even going before that because she helped her big brother joe run for high school student council president. so she's been there from the beginning. and that room that we were sitting in, so on sunday, i hopped in the car, drove up to wilmington and that room is in the hotel dupont in the gold ballroom where joe biden had held his victory party for senate 48 years to the weekend before. so a sign of the journey that they have been on. and kasie, an example of the consequential advice that valerie biden owens gave behind the scenes. one after senator kamala harris was rough on joe biden in the first debate.

she advised him to move on, to forgive. that obviously proved to be very consequential advice, it's now a winning ticket. second, she's among the people who have advised him to stick to his instincts, to be centrist at this time when the rising wing of the party is progressive. more liberal. she advised him to stick with where the election returns show most of america is. >> and that consistency has been a hallmark of this campaign. let's talk about what's playing out this week in terms of republicans refusing many of them to accept joe biden as president-elect. you guys have some leaked audio with some news on this front? >> that's right. this audio from a call yesterday with the u.s. agency for international development, you see it as u.s. aid, this showed the multiple fronts on which the

trump administration is resisting a biden victory. so jonathan swan obtained this audio of a call in which trump administration appointee said that joe biden had not won, that the electoral college had not acted. and that the usa i.d. should act as if there was not a victory. you mentioned the mechanics of the campaign. the biden campaign is threatening legally to get what they are to get. they set up classified facilities for you to get your briefings, set up office space, phones, computers, all that is ready and all that is being withheld so far from the president-elect's team. >> all right. mike allen, thank you very much.

always good to see you this morning. that was -- as we are thinking about what happens next here, i just want to underscore what we were just talking about. republicans refusing to accept joe biden as president-elect. they may just be looking at his ego, looking at runoffs in georgia. it has real national security implication for all of us. thanks for getting up "way too early" on this tuesday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. you are welcoming fraud and you are welcoming illegal voting. our position is clear. we want to protect the franchise of the american people. we want an honest, accurate, lawful count. we want maximum sunlight. we want maximum transparency. we want every legal vote to be counted and we want every illegal vote -- >> whoa whoa. i have to be very clear. she is charging the -- welcoming fraud and welcoming a legal voti