hi, everyone. it's 4:00 in the east. just about everything in joe biden's life helped prepare him for this moment. while the rest of official washington fumed and vented over t donald trump's assault on democracy, joe biden kept his cool, latching off trump's tactics as a national embarrassment, but never flailing or wavering in his confidence that a transition of power would take place and now today, that official transition

commences. president-elect joe biden announcing a slate of experienced and diverse candidates in key national security posts, including the first latino to lead the department of homeland security and the first woman to serve as the director of national intelligence. here's joe biden today on his vision for the incoming administration. >> it's a team that reflects the fact that america is back, ready to lead the world, not retreat from it. once again, sit at the head of the team. ready to confront offed adversis and not reject our allies. ready to stand up for our values. in fact, in calls from world leaders that i've had, about 18 or 20 so far, in the weeks since we won the election, i've been struck by how much they're looking forward to the united states reasserting its historic role as a global leader. the team meets this moment, this team behind me. they embody my core beliefs that

america is strongest when it works with its allies. >> president-elect biden's new team will finally be able to begin the official work of a transition after trump and the gsa administrator both sought to take credit for finally unleashing the approval for transition funds and other resources to be released to president-elect biden. "the new york times" reports on the nonconcession concession from the president this way. quote, mr. trump did not concede and vowed to persist with efforts to change the vote, which have so far proved fruitless. but the president said on twitter on monday night that he accepted the decision by emily murphy, the administrator of the general services administration, to allow a transition to proceed. the move comes after nearly three dozen legal setbacks in court and a series of public displays from a band of misfits that were spreading wild conspiracy theories about venezuelan election interference

as well as a growing core us can of one-time trump allies who sought to move on. "the new york times" and "the washington post" both reported on an intervention of sorts late yesterday at the white house in which the chief of staff, the white house counsel and an outside attorney, among others, urged trump to face the music. in the end, though, it was not patriotism or love of country that pushed trump to acknowledge his defeat, it was feeling dissed by members of the business community. "washington post" writes this, quote, trump was described as angry about the situation, particularly over comments from blackstone chairman stephen schwarzeman, one of the president's closest allies in the business community, made to axios acknowledging that the election outcome was that very certain and that biden had won and the country should move on. moving on is precisely what the biden administration will seek to do. but the damage done by a president who mainlined disinformation, conspiracy theories and fictional claims of

voter fraud to his millions of supporters and still refuses to concede, will be a headwind that the biden white house will have to contend with. the president-elect commencing his official transition is where we start today with some of our favorite reporters and friends. she's been on the transition beat. also joining us, "washington post" white house bureau chief phil rucker is back and david plouffe is here, as well. i want to show everyone what all of these nominees sound like, they spoke today. let's listen. >> america at its best still has a greater ability than any other country on earth to bring others together to meet the challenges of our time. >> to end this crisis, the whole world must come together. >> my fellow career diplomats and public servants around the world, i want to say to you, america is back.

multilateralism is back. diplomacy is back. >> the department of homeland security has a noble mission, to help keep us safe and to advance our proud history as a country of welcome. >> you know that i have never shied away from speaking truth to power. and that will be my charge as director of national intelligence. i worked for you for a long time and i accept this nomination knowing that you would never want me to do otherwise. >> to the american people, i had the honor of serving as joe biden's national security adviser when he was vice president. i watched him pair strength and resolve with humanity and empathy. that is the person america elected and that is also america at its best. >> you know, i don't know if it's just a sign of this moment, but to talk about diplomacy being back, to talk about joe biden's empathy and humanity, to talk abdi phone si being back, it is all about implicit rebuke

of donald trump's foreign policy stewardship over the last four weeks. >> that's right chlgt and just saying they're going to do their job and be good stewards of america's role in the world, that in and of its being a rebuke of president trump is underscored what we've all been living through in the last four years, a president that wanted to be more isolationist, who wanted to pull back. what we saw today, i was sitting in that room in wilmington, i was thinking about the fact that joe biden in some ways, for his supporters, is fulfilling the promises he made on the gan trail. he said he wanted to have a cabinet that looked like america and there were people there on that stage, of course talking about all of their different accolades and their experience, but they were talking about their families who survived the holocaust, who survived coming from cuba, talked about having g

gumbo diplomacy, cooking southern food. all of those are what america is about, the melting pot. a democrat that i was talking to also said it felt like the avengers, we are being rescued from the craziness and now here are the superheroes to come and save us all. >> you know, david plouffe, to that point, i had this -- i felt emotional thinking about the idea of public service being back and not demonized and not vilified. donald trump has been at war against the truth, he's been at war against the deep state and anyone that works in government knows that in donald trump's imagination is the deep state is the men and women you and i came across when we walked for presidents who are subject matter experts, who could make a lot more money in the private sector, who choose to serve, who made sacrifices to serve government agencies instead of

pursuing careers in the private sector, because they believe in everything that these nominees talked about today. just talk about what it means now that all these folks will go into agencies that donald trump has maligned for the last four years and help build them back up. >> well, nicolle, it was so refreshing to see professionals on that stage, people who believe in the power and role of government, who believe in competence and experience. you know, donald trump, for the most part, kind of surrounded himself with the worst of the worst, people who actually were in agencies and seemed like they were bound and determined to destroy them. joe biden, i think, is going to add real talent. nobody, by the way, today, or my guess is in any meeting we ever witness, will feel like they need to bow down and kiss joe biden's feet. you know, trump's cabinet meetings tended to be a ridiculous affair where people just tried to one up each other, say whag an amazing lead eer

donald trump was. it's refreshing. and we have massive challenges with the pandemic, the economy, climate change, spiraling deficits, and it's going to take everybody. so, one, the civil servants who will remain in government and have been maligned by donald trump, will feel renewed. and you need to review tremendous talent into your administration and i think joe biden, you look at that group on the stage tonight, that's going to send a powerful signal, that america's back and that your talent and expertise are going to be cherished and wanted and desired and that's what it's going to take to build the kind of team to dig us out of this hole. >> so, phil rucker, there was some news today that donald trump felt compelled to be apart of, the stock market closed above 30,000 for the first time and in what has been described by many of our favorite reporters and friends as the most bizarre appearance by donald trump of his presidency in the press office, he popped

in, basically, said a tweet out loud and then popped back out. explain. >> yeah, nicolle, the white house announced this briefing at 12:30 today, very last minute set of remarks and the first thought i had, oh, my goodness, the president is going to give his speech about the transition of power and about how he's instructed the administration to work hand in glove with the biden team, but no, it was a celebratory set of remarks, just a little over a minute, trying to take credit, apparently, for the gains in the stack market, i'm not a stock market analyst, but i'm not sure it's because of trump. anyhow, he said nothing about the election, he refused to take questions, we reporters in the press corps have not been able to ask him questions since the election and then he went back into retreat behind those closed doors. he made another appearance an hour or two later for the turkey pardon ceremony, but again, we have not heard directly from him

about the election or about the beginning of this transition and what appears to be a retreat from his protests over the vote other than the tweets that he's issued late last night and the randy quaid video this morning. >> words that i'm sure none of us ever thought we'd utter here on a newscast. i want to talk about phil's excellent reporting, your excellent reporting, reporting from own our carol lee about how we got here and we should be clear about where we are. the president, as phil rucker just pointed out, did not go to the briefing room today to concede. he still has abon't conceded an he's tweeting things about persisting among things about randy quaid. but there is a lot of reporting about the recognition that where he was heading was truly to an island where he and rudy and whoever the other lawyer is that they haven't fired yet by tweet, would be on an island alone, without any backup from fox news

in terms of the success of the legal effort, because there isn't any, and with fewer and fewer republican allies. so, they went into the oval office, we understand from "the washington post" that mark meadows was there, jay secokulo was there, people forcing him to accept reality has grown. i think ivanka and jared have been reported to have been in there. talk about where we are. so, while we have ascertained the win and transition funds have been released and joe biden can start to begin to do that p transfer, we still don't have a concession and you still have millions of trump voters who leave the lies he's been telling them for three weeks. >> that's right. what we saw yesterday was a culmination of pressure being applied to president trump as well as pressure being applied vocally to the gsa from people including republican officials,

were speaking out more and more about the fact that the transition needed to get started. you saw senator rob portman, you saw pat toomey of pennsylvania, business leaders coming out and saying, look, we need to get this under way. and you saw health officials say, if this transition didn't get under way, the covid-19 vaccine might be slowed down and american live s could be lost, because we're waiting for president trump to process the fact that he lost. and that's when you saw the president tweeting that, but i should say, sources tell me that it wasn't so much that he gave emily murphy a heads up to say, yes, go ahead with this, but it was also emily murphy who had been prepared to make this decision herself. i was told that emily murphy and officials at the gsa literally had prepped their resignation letters and packed up their offices, in case they would never go back to that office. they were expecting to be fired last night. the president didn't do that. but there is a sense that, yes, president trump was pushed by people inside the white house, but the gsa also was in a

position where they had to act. emily murphy, her reputation was on the line to say, what are you going to do now that the facts are there, that michigan and other states are certifying? there were two things going on last night and emily murphy said in a letter last night her decision was made independently. >> and david plouffe, quintessential trump, the disgrace of waiting three weeks is now something that emily murphy and donald trump are fighting for credit for. i want you to speak, though, to this headwind, that for three weeks and i'm sure in a lot of corners of conservative media, they'll continue to carry donald trump's water, joe biden has made it clear that uniting the country is his top priority and he's not ruled out working with republicans, but the cold hard fact is that until last night, only about five had even acknowledged the result of a resounding victory on joe biden's part. he didn't win in a squeaker, he didn't win in a recount, he won

an electoral landslide. and until today, only five republican senators had acknowledged that. who does the hard work of holding those republicans accountable so that joe biden can be joe biden and try to work with them where he can? >> well, nicolle, i think even in a scenario where trump had conceded, which is probably very unlikely, you know, you're still facing down the prospect of mitch mcconnell, you know, being the second-most powerful person in washington. so, you know, there's not going to be an era of cooperation breaking out. if the polls are right, about 40% of the country does not believe the election was legitimate so where that will, i think, be most problematic is republicans who fear primaries in '22, whether they in the senate or the house and the 2024 republican presidential field, who will feel, i think, that they have to carry forward with a lie that donald trump won the

election, it was stolen from him, joe biden's not a legitimate president. now, over time, joe biden will be acting as president, he will be introducing legislation, he will be conducting foreign policy on the global stage, he will be announcing executive orders, so over time, even though that may not think the election was legitimate, will see him as the president, so -- but i think it adds to the complexity, but at the end of the day, mitch mcconnell has to decide whether it's immigration, inf infrastructure, stimulus package to help with the pandemic, is he going to cooperate with joe biden? and mitch mcconnell's viewpoint on that will not be who is right for the country, he's thinking about the 2022 election already and how can he retain his senate majority, if he doesn't lose it in georgia? he's got ron johnson up, he's got up seat in pennsylvania, marco rubio's up, open seat in north carolina. at the end of the day, what donald trump's done right now, of all the things he's done, and

he is the worst american president we've had by a huge margin, this, to me, is the worst thing he's done, because it is such a fundamental attack on the bedrock of this country. and i would suspect that in future years, you're going to see other republicans try and do this, say, i didn't lose, you know, it was stolen from me. the other thing is, he's basically casting asper shuns on anyone who isn't a trump supporter, that their votes aren't legitimate, and you'll see more up forts in states that are controlled completely by republicans to restrict the right to vote even further. so, the damage will be with us for a long time. i'm not sure at the end of the day how much it's going to effect legislation, but it certainly is a factor. you're going to see primary debates in 2022 for the house or senate where someone is going to attack their republican opponent by saying, you know what, nicolle wore a mask. nicolle said joe biden won the election. nicolle is not fit to be our nominee. that's what you're going to see. >> nicolle would lose every

primary in a republican party. i would like to associate myself with everything you just said, i think it's a conversation we'll be having for a long, long time. i want to add to the conversation, though, an adviser to president-elect joe biden's transition team, you have been, if i could just be blunt, on fire on twitter and in your public comments, i've been riveted by everything you've had to say. and really, i just want your thoughts on the announcement made today by president-elect biden on what jeff bennett from nbc news is now reporting just this hour, to be the transition, as representing joe biden's team in contact with every cabinet member, but as david plouffe just said, there's a president that hasn't conceded with millions of followers who believe his lies. >> well, nicolle, i think a lot of us are feeling it's a day of

hope. we finally have been relieved from these last four years and donald trump is receding into the rearview mirror, very slowly, but he is receding. and these are all really great people who were on that stage in wilmington today. they are public servants, in government for the right reasons, they are very smart and experienced and they're sophisticated about the world and going to be led by joe biden, who i think probably along with george h.w. bush, is the president most ready to be commander in chief and in charge of our foreign policy on day one. if you think about recent american history and these are all friends of mine, they are people i deeply, deeply respect and i think they're going to make us proud and, you know, donald trump, nicolle, as you know, dug a really deep hole for the united states, we're mistrusted in europe, we're still at two wars, the chinese are outpacing us in east asia, we've got to run fast, but i think this team can do it. and if we get behind them, we can bring america back, because

we've been weak for the last four years. >> i wonder if you can speak specifically to what sort of damage to morale and recruitment and the sanctity of sort of the state department culture has been done. mike pompeo was on that phone call when donald trump sought to extort zell lynn sin sil lynn z. i mean, there has been so much damage done, not just to the job of secretary of state but to the building and what it stands for. how does tony blinken start to turn that around? >> well, i think tony can do it, and with the people like ambassador linda thomas greenfield, who is an extraordinary person, donald trump called the state department the deep state. he's the one that forced ambassador taylor and

yovanovitch, you remember them when they testified in the impeachment inquiry, out of government. he tried to cut the budget by a third. he just completely sidelined the state department. and, you know, we're saying today diplomacy is back, because there's been very little diplomacy under donald trump. tony blinken is a really inspired choice. he understands the building. ambassador thomas greenfield is a career foreign service officer, so, she's one of the people who, i think, can lead this resurgence. and we just had a two-year harvard study that concluded last week, we launched it, it talks about what you could do. congress can act, by making sure the state department has an adequate budget. we haven't had a foreign service act by congress in 40 years to think through the mission and mandate of the state department. and i think these are the kinds of changes that can be made, that can bring state back, put it in the center of or foreign policy and the big challenge for the next decade, climate change, the pandemic, getting out of the

wars in iraq and afghanistan, ' ba embarrassing our allies. they're going to be led by diplomats, not soldiers anymore. i think this administration, i think the president-elect is determined to do that. >> how do we convince our allies that we're still a functioning democracy? and i ask that in the spirit of something you tweeted, or, you said to jonathan swan. trump is doing more damage to american democracy than china, russia or iran could do. it's the most serious threat to our democracy in my lifetime. >> i think it's the -- i think what trump's done to delegitimatize people's votes, to say if you voted for joe biden you're not a real american and i'm going to try to nullify your vote. it's telling republicans, its own supporters that this was not a free and fair election, and that's why this is the greatest threat to democracy in all of our lifetimes and he hasn't even

conceded yet. when i was a diplomat, i worked for republican and democratic administrations. i can't tell you how many times we would lean on foreign officials, because they were trying to steal an election and now the shoe's on the other port, so, i think that's the danger to us, but we can ev overcome it. and today was just such a positive day, because you could just see this team moving forward to lead us out of this darkness of the last four years. >> yeah. well, we will continue to call on you for your thoughts an your expertise. thank you for being here with us today. >> thank you. >> ambassador nick burns, thank you for your time. my thanks to yamiche and phil. david is sticking around. when we come back, how this new incoming administration will untangle the years of skrulty from donald trump's administration policies and how we make sure those impacted are never forgotten. plus, the pandemic here in the united states is worsening every single day. president-elect biden's been held back without the formality

of the transition until today. how his approach working with scientists versus listening to loyalists will help him beat the coronavirus. and some of the biggest names in business and finance and in new york circles had urged trump to accept the results of the election and move forward with the transition. it's a group trump has yearned to be accepted and admired by for years. will they let him back in post-presidency? we'll ask a special friend. all those stories coming up.

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after years of kay use, dysfunction, absolute cruelty at dhs, i'm proud to nominate an

experienced lead whole has been hailed by both democrats and republicans. >> that was president-elect joe biden introducing one of his most high profile cabinet picks, alejandro mayorkas, as head of the department of homeland security. he is an experienced public servant. one of the architects of the daca program. if he is confirmed, he will be the first latino and the first immigrant to run dhs, which was responsible for many of the darkest episodes of the trump presidency, including the cruel separation of thousands of families at the border. countless families are still living with the fallout from that policy and still hoping for some recognition of their trauma before the country turns the page. "the washington post" spoke to a mother and son who were separated in 2017 at the border. it would be more than two years before they were reunited here in the united states.

they're now fighting for those who are still separated from their loved ones. joining us now is nbc news an m msnbc correspondent jacob and david plouffe still with us. when i hear president-elect biden say it's time to turn the page, i want to grab the book myself and start turning every single page. but i hope no one ever forgets and i hope we get to the bottom of this and try to do right by all these families is this child separation policy. if you could just -- i always like to start with where we are,

how many of these families are still separated and what could a new administration with a different belief system to do help them? >> last time you and i talked, nicolle, the number was 666 parents of separated children, the government literally simply cannot find, 20% of those kids were under 5 years old, toddler age, at the time they were taken away from their parents and president-elect biden has pledged on day one of his administration, this now falls to secretary designate mayorkas, to create a federal task to force to reunite these families. it sounded radical to hear the united states being called a country of welcome. it's probably the most benign thing you can say about the united states of america, but given what this country has gone through, migrants coming to this country, especially over the course of the last four years, it was almost shocking to hear, and, you know, his profile as the first latino to lead dhs, the first immigrant, all of that

is very reassuring to people in the immigrants rights community, but at the end of the day, it's going to be policy. what are they going to do about reuniting those families? what are they going to do about detention, about deportations, about expulsions? i could talk all day about the different immigration policies that have to be unwound that were put into place by the trump administration. but you know, the first indications, according to people who follow this very closely is that his appointment is a very good sign. >> i don't -- you might not know the answer to this, jacob, but i know that the trump administration used all the levers of executive power to be punitive and severe with anyone coming to this country, asylum seekers, migrant workers, immigrant families, children, they used doj, i think at some point they siphoned off money from the pentagon to build some of their facilities at the boarder. will they give all of the authority and policy-making power to dhs? will it be headquartered there

or will there be different pieces strewn across the agencies? >> i think, you know, i learned this as an advanceman to say, i don't know. i don't think we have enough detail yet from the incoming administration, frankly, to know, but mayorkas was the head of not just deputy secretary of dhs, he whas a depth and breath of knowledge about the institution itself, the department itself. and it's still a relatively young department created, obviously, in the wake of 9/11. you know, that would hint that he knows how to use the levers of this agency to effect all the things you were talking about. >> david plouffe, i want your thoughts on what sort of priority this should be. should this be sort of white house-level policy-making? is this an agency that just needs to function competently or

in service of the human beings it interacts with? where would you put this in terms of a priority item for the incoming white house team? >> well, it's got to be a high priority, nicolle. the incoming administration has many high priorities. just think of the difference between mayorkas and wolf and miller calling the shots. different personnel, different policies. there's many things, from an executive action standpoint, from a policy change standpoint, not just as dhs, but at doj that can be done, and they'll do all those things, but of course, the big question is, is there going to be an opportunity to pass comprehensive immigration reform? which would obviously if not solve this problem, come as close as we've been in decades. and it would add a point to gdp. it's a huge booster to the economy. there's a number of reasons to do this. but it has to be high up. the way that donald trump has handled these issue s is an

everlasting stain on our country. i thought hearing the word welcome today, it's such a benign word, but it was shocking, because it is such a depart sure from the way trump and his administration have approached it. they have targeted people. they tried to exploit them for political purposes. it is so counter to everything we were taught to learn about this country, believe in this country, and really, from george w. bush to ronald reagan, republican presidents have felt it almost as strongly, almost as strongly as democratic presidents. i think there's huge expectations out there. one of the things they're going to have to do is do as much as they can in the early days of the administration, but also make sure that advocates and others in the country understand that some of these things are going to take a long time to get done. >> yeah, no, i think that's a good point. it's got to be early and it's going to be one of those things that is so multifaceted, it's not a quick fix.

jacob, david, we will stay on this story and we'll turn to both of you to help us do that. thank you so much. when we come back, more on what a biden transition will look like, as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continue to skyrocket in this country. we will be right back. and everyone can do it. it's from optum, a health care company that's trusted by millions of people. you don't have to sign up for anything. just go to optumperks.com. and get a coupon to use at your pharmacy. that's it. i opted in. i opted in. you can, too. opt in and save big today. stand up to moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. and take. it. on... ...with rinvoq. rinvoq a once-daily pill... ...can dramatically improve symptoms... rinvoq helps tame pain,

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the refusal of the trump administration to recognize the reality we're living through, at a time when almost 1,000

americans a day are dying every single day, is an insult to every single person suffering from covid-19 and every family who has lost a loved one. a pandemic doesn't play favorites, nor will i, as i said, no red states, no blue states, just the united states. united in our response, united in our purpose to stop the spread of covid-19 and beat this virus. >> president-elect joe biden finally has the opportunity to start turning the federal government in his chosen direction in his fight against the raging pandemic, with the transition officially under way. president-elect biden can move forward and send what are known as landing teams into the department of health and human services, the cdc and the fda. from "the new york times," quote, there, officials will have prepared the traditional welcome gift, enormous briefing books that detail nearly everything the say jen sis have

been working on for the past four years, lists of friendly lawmakers, budgets and suggested targets for the new administration this as coronavirus numbers are up, just passing 260,000 lives lost with more than 12.5 million cases of coronavirus across the u.s. think about that. the number of cases is 188,000 more today than yesterday. let's bring into our co conversation dr. kavita pa tell, a former obama administration white house director. i could talk to you for the whole two hours about what we should be doing, but the biden team has today now officially inside all these agencies, i want to ask you about two things specifically. there's some reporting in politico that president-elect biden would like to take a new approach to testing with all the asymptomatic carriers and spreaders in mind. what would you guess that that might look like? >> yeah, nicolle, it's actually

an active source of conversation and colleagues of mine have been suggesting and i agree that we need a way to do what some of the other countries in the world are doing, where we test people even if they have no symptoms. right now, as you know, nicolle, if you want a test, the question you will be asked, have you been in close contact with someone that has had covid, and if the answer is no, they are not recommending testing, but rapid anti-again or some sort of rapid test that's much like a home pregnancy test, is within the reach of possibility. it's something that we would need to have the fda, the cdc and others all concentrate on and for an example, you can look to liverpool, where they are rolling this out in different ways. so, i think it's an excellent suggestion, it's a way to get us back to work to school and back to a semblance of normalcy, while we're also waiting on vaccines is, which i also know the biden administration is synchronizing with the landing

teams and the current agencies. >> i want to ask you about vaccines, but i just have a followup on the testing. we know that entities and organizations with money like the nba have done exactly what you just described, i mean, the nba bubble was such because there was a regular testing protocol and they limited interaction from the outside world. so it sounds like what you're explaining is taking something that so far has only been available to workplaces or sort of self-contained organizations and maybe protecting schools or protecting senior homes, is that viewed as an interim step before the vaccine is readily available or is that for vulnerable populations or how would you see him deploying that? >> yeah, i think that you could have to do it in kind of specific populations at first, but nicolle, there's no reason, with the technology that we have and the availability, if we can work on the supply chain, the

infamous swabs and kits, if we can do this, we could actually have every american have kind of an at-home, highly reliable test that they could do before they leave the house so that they're not even entering the workplace and especially in essential workers, communities of color, yes, i would expect them to prioritize this, but that requires coordination between the food and drug administration, between the kind of operation warp speed, which has been working on some of these tests and also working with the private sector, to your point. we need to make them widely available and it would be just like you could walk into a doctor's office and get a rapid flu test or a rapid strep throat test. that's the way that this would become normalized. >> i want to ask you about what will probably be the largest public health undertaking in modern times, and that will be distributing the vaccine. here's what "the financial ti

times" says about that mission. they said, quote, the challenges include a hostile political backdrop, where outgoing president drk drk has spent the past three weeks contesting the election results, agreeing only on monday night to start allowing contact between administration officials and mr. biden's transition team. it's something we've talked about a lot. joe biden has always talked about the pandemic as something that has no ideology and obviously that's correct, but he's always made his mission to kill the coronavirus and to do so on behalf of all americans. obviously it's raging with the most catastrophic effect right now in a lot of counties that ended up voting for donald trump. but do you think that making this mission, taking it outside of politics, is still possible or do you think too much damage has been done? >> i do think it's possible. at least let's put it this way. i kind of have to live my life

knowing that it's possible, because i do think that science -- i think we also need to lead by example, to your very point, testing or vaccines, i think it means something, nicolle, when i walk into a patient room with my patient and i say, this is what i'm doing for myself and my family and for my children, for my parents. and then watching -- having me go through that, watching me talk about, you know, going through the data and honestly, having to be somebody that looks like the community you're in, when -- we like to say this in communities that we practice in, like, nothing about us without us. so, you can't have this be, like, from on high and people who don't look like you or don't talk like you. so, that's some things that the president-elect and his people, i'm very confident in the co composition of their landing teams, nicolle. i know these people, you know some of them, these are good people and they know that. it's now all about execution and the fact that they can get in the room with the existing agencies and it's been this late means they're a little bit

behind but they're smart and i'm hoping they'll make up that time. >> all right, we will stay on this with you, dr. patel, thank you for spending time with us today. so, tonight on nbc news, president-elect joe biden is going to speak exclusively with lester holt, his very first interview since the election. they'll discuss forging ahead with the transition of power, among other things. that's tonight on "nbc nightly news," our colleague lester holt. when we come back, how the business community and donald trump's old pals and peers in new york are feeling about his nonconcession concession. we'll speak with someone who knew him then, next. [ thunder rumbles ]

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20 days. that's how how long it took president trump to agree to formally begin the transition process with joe biden's up coming presidency. although not a concession, what made trump change his mind. well it may have been the stern rebuke from more than 160 business executives and leaders, a community donald trump has always longed to be a part of it. in a letter yesterday asked the tru trupg -- trump administration staying to move on. how will he take this disapproval from his peers. more on that, let's bring in donnie deutsche. i thought that it was so

revealed in "the washington post" that read out this intervention that the white house chief of staff and the white house council and as i said to phil rucker, the number of people who were in that meeting grew. that went into to tell donald trump time to mover on and green light a transition but what put him over the edge was the rebuke from the business community. why is the view from the business community hold this space where he'll do something because they want to but not because it is in the country's interest. >> because first ever all donald trump holds voters in disdain and t and the finance ears is a club he wants to be part of. the head of blackstone would write that note out there saying the election is certain and it is time to move on, think that strung trump. he's a close adviser and a fundraiser and you have to follow the money. and it is interesting that we're

i guess at 24th of november, 21 days in and the stock market is up 13% this month. a lot of that has to do with vaccine but the market is reacting to a president-elect biden and potentially also the thought of a republican senate. so you're not seeing any business person really upset that donald trump is moving on. because the street loves stability. and donald trump is the anti-thesis of stability. >> joe biden has picken yellen to be the new secretary treasury, that part of that. i'm guessing between janet yell own, if you talk about stability, i imagine she con notes stability. >> yeah, i mean the biggest fear that wall street had was with elizabeth warren head of

treasury and janet yellen will work closely with powell. the entire cabinet pick gives you a big sigh of relief. we have grown ups in the room and stable people in the room. and you know, i think the street is really really poised -- you know leah cooperman said something interesting that donald trump is not a capitalist, it is an inventionist. this is not what the street likes. interfering with china and speak out about specific companies whether it was lockheed or reveal information off market. he was a bane of a lot of wall street existence, they like the tax cuts and deregulation and i think they'll like joe biden even better. when you take obama and you take obama and clinton, their stock markets were up higher than either bush, reagan or trump. so it is also a misnomer so think that the street almostly loves republicans. it is going high with the

democratic presidents versus the republican presidents over the last 40 years. most people don't understand that. >> i know that, having worked in a republican white house, i know that very well. and my question for you then is why is the brand of not just trumpism, but why do republicans get off scott free as being better for the economy than they really are. i went out and interviewed trump voters who thought he would be better for the economy but it is under democrat presidents that the economy usually grows more. >> obviously for the working man, you assume that. but even for the wealthy. the trickle down theory has not worked for the economy. people here tax cuts for the rich, and that is automatically they think this is good for the guys at the top of the pyramid. it is not. and i've had heated arguments with my friends, the economy is good, the economy, and no he's not and the trump stock market was nowhere near obama and one

thing had we gotten bernie sanders or elizabeth warren who is a hard left, we would have a different stock market. joe biden is a friend to business and i think the stability on top of what he's surrounding himself with, the market are ready to explode. i think it is smooth sailing and donald trump, i'm not sure what he goes back to because he wasn't a real business man to begin with it and it is irning to see where he lasts if he comes back to manhattan. >> i want to ask you about the biden team. we talked about the announcements speeches from all of them. i was thinking about donald trump's four year campaign waging war against the deep state and i wondered if this is sort of making the deep state great again, making public service and expertise and wanting to serve your country instead of working the private sector a noble and honorable thing again. does that sound like a campaign

that the biden transition is seeki seeking? >> i think that we're going to see nice in the new black overall in the country. and it starts with the inner circle. decent, hard-working, service oriented and goodness. we live long enough and we understand how the pendulum goes and you'll see everything in culture. you'll see it in the arts in the way people relate each other. a very different way. and i do think a lot of the these trumpers as we go forward in the next six pos, a year and year and a half and things feel about thor to a lot of people, i don't think he'll have the holdover the republican party that he thinks he has. one, two, three, four years is a long time an i think trumpism is going to go away a bit faster than people might think it will be. >> from your lips. donnie deutsche, it is great to see you my friend. thank you so much for spending time with us. the next hour of "deadline:

white house" starts after a quick break. don't go anywhere. n't go anywhe.

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pay no interest for 84 months welco♪ welcome to my house live. do you wanna see something really cool? my man cave. another sharma? it's a place to relax. it's hot in here. grug, you might be more comfortable if you removed your fur pelt. i already did. ohhh... unless the legal situation changes in a dramatic and frankly unlikely manner, joe biden will be inaugurated on january 20th. to say this, constitutes living in reality and if told there was an excellent chance that the supreme court could step in and deliver a victory to president trump, i'd be lying to you. >> hi everyone. it is 5:00 in the east. as barack obama sought through

his new book and interviews to shine a spotlight on impact of what he calls truth delay, we're keeping a close eye on one of the alternative realities in think case what is notable thattine one of trump's stanchest ally is beginning to introduce reality. the reality of the results of the 2020 election that donald trump lost and joe biden to her viewers. question remains how much damage did donald trump do through a three week assault on fact of his loss by manufacturing conspiracy theories about widespread voter fraud. it matters because the playbook isn't just to challenge his political up opponents, and it to delegitimize and as joe biden begins to assume responsibility for the country's fight against the coronavirus pandemic, the weakening of alliances and near unprecedented economic distress. "the new york times" writes this, quote, teams from president-elect biden's transition will begin reaching out across washington on

tuesday. free to interact virtually with counter parts in the government after president trump's administration formally cleared the way on monday for an orderly transfer of power. the start of the formal transition also cleared the way for government run background checks of mr. biden's cabinet fo nominees and others, those checks conducted by the fbi and other agencies had also been held up. nominees like the slate of national security officials joe biden rolls out today, here he is introducing them in wilmington, delaware, just a few hours ago. >> together they'll restore america globally and moral leadership and ensure that our service members and diplomats and intelligence professionals could do their job free of politics. i'll not only repair, it will also reimagine american foreign

policy and national security for the next generation. >> an they'll tell me what i need to know not what i want to know. what i need to know. >> president-elect biden's goal is to be a president for all americans and to reach out to republicans where he can. but the question is how do you engage with a party that went all in with a fake coup. the story state of the gop and the steady leadership of the incoming biden administration is where we start this hour with some of our most favorite reporters and friends. peter baker, white house correspondent and also joining us jeremy bash, former chief of staff to the cia and the department of defense, and former senator claire mccaskill is back. all are msnbc analysts, i want to show you brand-new sound from lester holt's interview with president-elect biden. let's watch and talk about it on the other side. >> the head of the gsa unlocked the mechanisms for a formal transition of power, recognizing your status right now.

is that happening on the ground? are there people talking right now would weren't talking yesterday? >> yes. immediately we gotten outreach from the national security shop, from just across the board. and already we're working out in my ability to get presidential daily briefs, we're working out meeting with the covid team in the white house and how to not only distribute but get from a vaccine being distributed to a person being able to get vaccinated. so i think we're not so far behind the curve as we thought we might be in the past and there is a lot of immediate discussion and i must say the outreach has been sincere. there is not been begrudging so far and i don't expect it to be. so yes, it is already begun. >> anyway, you put it, claire, it is good news that the new president and his team has

access to old president's appointees but these are three weeks that could have been spent in a very different way. what do you make of the delayed transition and of joe biden's announcement today of his national security team? >> well, it is what happens when you have a pet you'llent loser in the white house. that is what happened. and we've watched him slowly break down the backbone of lots and lots of republican leaders to the point that most of thenl have been hiding under their desks for last three weeks. but i got to tell you, i don't think i've ever been so excited to see a tweet last night when joe biden tweeted build back bett better.gov. that send me in a whirling sense of security that we have now crossed over, that they are going to move into position and

i thought today's announcement was handled very well. i think they have been competent on every moment in this transition. even when the hurdles they've faced and i think the republicans will have a hard time demonizing this bunch of people that he nominated today, nicolle. >> jeremy, you know all of the players and you have worked on foreign policy objectives with many of them during your time at the pentagon and at the cia. just talk us through who he has picked and how you think we'll first start to see the impact of a team of national security loo officials would put the country at the center of the policy and decision making. >> highly experienced team, nicolle. all of whom have served in government and understand what prin

principled american values are. and take someone like tony blinken from state department, our chief diplomat, he's been at joe biden's side for 20 yearspee traveled to all of the world capitals with biden. not only is he someone who is unfau unfailly nice and a good guy and a family man and he comes from a tradition of a family that literally had america as last great hope as they fled nazi germany and world war ii in europe and so he understands the value of america and wants to protect refugees and people like jake sullivan who is was noted today a once in a generation talent and avril haines, as deputy director of cia and the national security council, across the board you have the a team on the board for the president and it is the end of chaos and dictator coddling so

that is good news for america. >> you know, peter baker, as i watched the folks that jeremy bring to life to people who don't any of them personally, i thought of what donald trump had done to people in those posts. he alienated john bolton that he wrote a tell all and sought to have the justice department sue john bolton and perhaps criminally prosecute him. he a secretary of state on the phone when he sought to extort president zelensky. he had pushed out national security officials either we w his conduct behind the scenes or with his complete lack of regard for our allies or our alliances or what they meant and mean. when you see this new team coming in, what do you think of the team heading out and what do you think they think? >> well, look, when you work for the trump administration, you knew you had a short shelf life. eye i talked to people would

worked there if you took a job in the trump administration, you started off on day one writing an undated letter of resignation for the day you would need it because you would need it. and that is something that would inevitable in this administration. this is a team, i don't think any of them have written a letter of resignation. that is a change of pace. there is not this idea that the sword is hanging over you at all moments an any time now the tweet could come in and the tenure of public office is over. this is a restoration and this team looks like the obama administration. not so good if you are looking for change. this is a rise of the deputies with the exception of john kerry, none of them have run for public office before and this is not a group that the vice president or the president-elect has reached out to different parts party to bring them in and instead the deputies served add one level in the last administration lifted up into the cabinet of this administration and they bring that experience to the table and that is what this president has

promised. we're going back to normalcy. america is back and reach out to our allies and restore people to government who know how government works and that is the message he was sending today. >> claire, you talked about republicans hiding under their desk, peter baker just talk about a sword that hung over everyone that came in anywhere in the cabinet or in the government, one of the things that is going to persist and i think joe biden sounds publicly and privately committed to outreach to republicans where it is possible, and i think that may be creating more tension within his party, people that think that it is fruitless and joe biden is wired to at least make a good effort to try to do that where he could. but the republicans right now are, as you said, under their desk, they're also contradicting

themselves. and the cuse for not doing what mitt romney did which was to vote to convict donald trump was the election would determine the outcome. we've now had an election that was deemed the most secure in our country's history by chris krebs at the homeland security department who donald trump fired and now they have remained silent. but let me show you how much importance they placed on an election to excuse their con duck during impeachment. >> we have a presidential election in fof where the people of this country could weigh in and make their voices heard. i think we should leave the decision up to them. >> the results of the next election should be decided by the american people. not by congress. >> the american people are going to get to decide in november who they wan to be their president. >> we should entrust to the people the most fundamental

decision of a democracy. >> the voters will pronounce a verdict in nine months. >> let bez not be so arrogant as to take that decision away from the american people. >> the people should make that decision. >> let this decision lie in the rightful place, with the electorate. >> the voters are voting and it is up to the voters to decide. >> it is better to let the people decide. >> the answer is an election. not an impeachment. >> it is unbelievable to watch, claire, because with very few exceptions none of them excepted the result of the election. >> yeah, you know, biden is going to have 306 electoral votes that is the exact number that donald trump had and donald trump called it a landslide. he has something that donald trump didn't have. and that is a six to 7 million

vote advantage in the popular vote. which donald trump doesn't even have. so this is not a close election. it is not a close election. and they are all pretending it is because trump wants them to. and you know that is one of the things that struck me today. i was watching that and i reali realized what i missed. when you went to work for donald trump, you were told whatever you do at every turn you have to kiss his you know what. you have to publicly kiss his you know what and privately kiss his you know what and nobody got up today and did any of that for joe biden. they talked about how they were going to tell them the truth. they thanked him for the appointment. but there was none of this hasn't joe biden done an amazing job and it is an amazing election and isn't he wonderful. they don't need to do that with joe biden and that, frankly, i was exhausted by the lack of humility in the last administration and these republican senators ought to

watch what is going on here and get on board and get on board quickly. i was shocked that more of them didn't come out today after the gsa ascertainment today. it was really disappointing to me. >> i guess the remaining question for them is what else are they waiting for. peter baker, you're paper and others reported today that donald trump releasing the gsa to kplens wicommence with the t came after an intervention with mark meadows and jay sekulow and others that put themselves in the room. what do you think donald trump thinks the next 60 days hold? do you think he plans to -- i know he popped into the briefing room to take credit for the stock market today. there has been reporting in your paper and oeshl places that he has no more interest or engagement in the work of the coronavirus task force. joe biden just said to lester holt that his teams are now in

the agencies. what is the expectation for what he does for the next 60 days? i think ten minutes ago he tweeted something weird in all caps. is he just going to become a side show of diminishing import? >> yeah. that is a great question. i think as this process continues an more people accept that the election is over and decide in his own party, he's left in this position where either it fades away clrks is not his style or lashes out to try to get attention. remember, he hates ceding the stage. right now he has not for last 24 hours been particularly public or vociferous in the way we've known him to be. it is hard to imagine that is the way it stays for next 60 days. that doesn't mean that he is going to find a way to challenge the election. i don't think there issing in plausible in that sphere but he could start firing and fire the fbi director, that is something that we've been talking about. he could fire the cia director

and he could put new people in at the pentagon, why has he done that, we don't know. there is a lot of things done in the next 60 days that could still be of great consequence and co do a lot of things that were good if he wanted to. if he wanted to in fact take this leadership on coronavirus, there is a lot of important things that need to be done in the next 60 days on that just because we have the vaccine doesn't mean this is over because most meamericans won't t it until april or may. there is a lot of sickness and dying between now and then and leadership on what to do in the meantime could be very important. >> it is such a good point. i mean he could actually still be the president when the first vaccines roll out if he wants to take an interest in that process. jeremy, i want to ask you about something peter baker just said. donald trump could commence with more firings. the last round represented a complete change of some of the top jobs at the pentagon.

and there are some individuals there who have been part of the most politicized efforts to target and trash frankly public ser servants in the area of intelligence around the russia investigation. would do the interactions look like for the incoming biden team with those kind of figures at the pentagon and other places? >> yeah, i think it is challenge but i think the main interaction is going to be with the acting secretary miller who actually, the main thing that he's interested in shepherding here in the next several weeks is his draw down in afghanistan and iraq. and i think there are concerns about how that will proceed. if it is done to too hastily or without any leverage on for s-- example ol taliban. and dealing with the covid

vaccine distribution effort. if that doesn't have a clean hand you handoff that could be problematic. as we talk about pardoning, i think flynn and stone and some others and i think we have to look at what the president might dough with respect to criminal cases and pardons over the next two months. >> well you can't leave it there. say some more about what the biden team could do? a presidential power to pardon is absolute and i think that there has been some reporting andn other places that it is possible that donald trump is trying to figure out how to pardon himself and protect those close toast him from the investigations that are ongoing even though you can't pardon yourself from a state probe or prosecution. what else are you hearing and what if anything could the new team do about it, jeremy? >> the new team can't much and there is not much for them to do. this is messages about what

government ought to do and when the new team comes in. i think it is part of the mess, a lot of shattered glass on the floor and careful, it is very dangerous and they're going to have to tread carefully into the agencies and departments. >> and it is a conversation that i think that the country will have in earnest when new leadership of the justice department is announced and it is when we'll call on all three of you. peter, thank you. when we come back, joe biden direct's of national intelligence. avril haines is the first woman to be the dni and a clean break from the corruption and politicization of the intelligence community under donald trump. plus donald trump is still fighting to overturn the results of the election that even he seemed to know he lost. the promises of new lawsuits, more recounts and absolutely

zero evidence to back up any of his false claims. and with cases of coronavirus skyrocketing, cities and states are taking extreme measures, bracing for what promised to be a very difficult winter. "deadline: white house" continues after a quick break. don't go anywhere. their parents. i'm having a big lunch and then just a snack for dinner. so we're using a speakerphone in the store. is that a good idea? one of the ways i do that is to get them out of the home. you're looking for a grout brush, this is -- garth, did he ask for your help? -no, no. -no. we all see it. we all see it. he has blue hair. -okay. -blue. progressive can't protect you from becoming your parents, but we can protect your home and auto when you bundle with us. -keep it coming. -you don't know him. when you bundle with us. (children laughing) ♪ (music swells) ♪ ♪ (music fades)

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mr. president-elect, you know that i've never shied away from speaking truth to power. and that will be my charge as director of national intelligence. i worked for you for a long time and i accept this nomination knowing that you would never want me to do otherwise and you

value the intelligence community and that he will do so even whether what i have to say may be inconvenient or difficult and i assure you that that there will be those times. >> that is avril haines, the pick to lead the intelligence community with, haines joe biden he gets a step closer to fulfilling two goals, one rebuilding a team and two putting in place people that could restore normalcy to institutions that have been gutted during the trump years. if she's confirmed, avril haines will be the first woman to serve as this country's director of national intelligence. she's an experienced national security expert who held top positions during the obama administration, "the washington post" reported that she's, quote, expected to restore rigor and independence to an office that is has been beset by intrigue and mismanagement. we're back with jeremy bash and claire mccaskill.

j jeremy, same question about the pentagon, ratcliffe is there, he was nominated once and didn't seem likely to be confirmed and snuck in again. he's over there still pressing for the declassification of sources an methods around russia. still putting pressure on professionals at the cia and how does she take that portfolio from someone so political and so devoted to donald trump and steer it without a reel -- with a real jarring transition there. >> and if anybody could do it, avril haines could. she was deputy director of the cia and she over saw collection and analysis and krocovert acti and had to preside over langley and high marks for her responsibility and over seeing the national security transition for biden and you're right, out

at liberty crossing which is where the office of the director of national intelligence is, it is been decapitated by political cronies of the president trying to do some bidding talking conspiracy theories about russia. and this is the hart of the american intelligence community and they have to be apolitical and go to the oval office and speak truth to power to a president and say your policy isn't doing something or if you do something, it is not going to advance your policy. she's got a tough job but she's the person to do it. the president-elect has tremendous trust in her to do that. >> claire, there are some other women who have served in very high levels, gina haspel and sue gordon who was the deputy dni under dan coats, do i have that right? >> yes. >> but she does become the first person in this post 9/11 agency

of dni and again she will be collecting and analyzing an intelligence product that hasn't been kplumconsumed for the last years. the first year he didn't read his pdb and jared kushner got a copy and even though the cia didn't want him to have one. just talk about it seems like a greater undertaking than restoring prestige gravitas to one of the agencies known around the world for its competence and expertise and the kind of people it attracts. and she has a job of rebuilding that kind of camaraderie and that kind of workplace after what trump has done to it. >> there has always been a great deal of pride in the intelligence community. many of them are former military, many of them are

veterans. and there was a sense of a higher calling in intelligence. their job is very hard. most of them will never be phone individually to the public for the work they do. a lot of it is grueling, a lot of it dangerous. and when donald trump stood in the world stage with putin and said he believed putin more than his intelligence community, that was a gut punch like no other in our nation's history. to these men and women who are brave, competent and who have standards. they take this very seriously, their job. so the way it is been politicized, the way that he has diminished what they do to the american people, i know there was a big sigh of relief by the intelligence community professionals today that they're going to be allowed to do their work, they're not going to be used politically and they once

again will be able to adhere to the standards that are so important in an area that is always going to seem murky to the american people. >> yeah. no, that is such a good reminder. and jeremy, as claire was talking, i was reminded i think the first weekend of trump's presidency, didn't he go to the cia and in front of analysts and agents talk about the size of his crowds. he has from go used the intelligence agencies as a political punching bag and we say politicizing like use easing them for political gain, he has attacked them, he has doufted them, he has outed them to russians. he has abused the intelligence community and i wonder if you think there will be any need to sort of assess basic relationsh relationships when a new team goes in there. >> it is worse than you describe. on the first weekend he went to cia and he stood in front of the

memorial wall are wr the agency honored the fallen heroes and many are anonymous even to this day and they'ro ifrm can't be described publicly and in front of that sacred ground at cia headquarters in virginia, he talked about how many times he had been on the cover of "time" magazine and he did that in front of analysts in front of operations officers and in front of those from the science and technology realm and the administration and support realm and he did that with no apparent understanding of what they're mission was. the fact that all of them devote their lives to this mission. many of them risk their lives and some have given their lives into sfervice to our country. so avril haines will acutely understand that will want to restore and the sense that these individuals are valued. donald trump threw them under the bus and said they didn't tell him about covid, they didn't tell him about russia putting the bounties on the heads of troops in afghanistan

and when he was told he did precisely nothing about it. and so avril haines and the entire national security team has a lot of clean-up to do here in the coming weeks but i'm confident they'll be able to do it, nicolle. >> jeremy bash and claire mccaskill, thank you both for spending some time with us today. when we come back, the biden transition is under way and so are new recounts as donald trump is still fighting the results of an election that he lost. and the big question, is what is the point. "deadline: white house" continues after a quick break. continues after a quick break. still the right fit? having the wrong plan may cost you thousands of dollars out of pocket. and that's why i love healthmarkets, your insurance marketplace. with healthmarkets' fitscore, they compare thousands of plans from national insurance companies to find the right medicare plan that fits you. call or visit healthmarkets to find your fitscore today. in minutes, you can find out if your current plan is the right fit, and once you've let the

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donald trump never had any chance of changing the results of the election. but even as his attempted to embarrass joe biden by delaying certification are falling flat, the states that re counting are confirming the mandate. we'll start with georgia where election fooofficials kicked of recount of the recounts. and then the hand count followed by this, the yeah, let pez thut them back through the machine again. it is a check the couch cushion strategy for the trump campaign to put it mildly highly unlikely to raise their 12,000 vote deficit there. and there is a recount going on in wisconsin too. the state trump lost by some 21,000 votes and to give you an idea of what trump is up against there, according to the wisconsin state journal, two counties there reported results yesterday resulting in a trump

net gain of 41 votes out of 800,000 cast in the two counties. and as we mentioned pennsylvania governor tom wolf signed the certificate of ascertainment for joe biden after that state certified the results of the election earlier today. so put all of that together, and you're left with the question why, what exactly is donald trump doing, what is the point? joining us now, nbc news correspondent heidi przybyla and basil smikle. i'll hand that over to you, heidi. what is the point? >> the point is that they believe they don't have to succeed to succeed. with donald trump believes that he's still going to have a big audience and probably right about that once he leaves the white house and the more he could get them to really buy into this lie that he lost the election really and he was just cheated out of it, the more he's going to be able to produce once he leaves the white house and

continue his brand and really view himself as the leader of this movement. but i was there in michigan, nicolle, and i have to tell you there is a couple of clear categories here and i think will help complaexplain why there is nothing here and there is a thread that goes through all of the these cases and the first one is they made this case about fraud, right. and in case after case in state after state they provided no evidence. they told us to their credit that there was going to be facts to support this fraud claim which they even started making even before the election. they said there is going to be fraud, there is going to be fraud. we'll give you the facts at some point. we promise. well they never produced any evidence for that. and second in detroit, the individuals who were claiming they were mistreated or disrespected, and in this case a lot of these people were self appointed poll watchers and

didn't know what they were doing, violating social distancing rules and asking for a bench of ballots to be thrown away because a lady didn't have a name tag on but that is not fraud. and that is what a lot of the cases were built on, on those two things. >> you know, bazil, it is undeniable and it is not something that the republicans should ever be allowed to erase, that the fake fraud campaign was about largely disenfranchising black votes and i think about all of the conversations over the last four years about whether it is over the summer after george floyd was killed about doc rivers and other prominent african-american voices from sports, from entertainment, from politics, saying there is a process. and i remember george floyd's brother, days after he was

killed, calling on people to vote. i mean, there is this faith, i will say, and you correct if he many that is in the wrong word, in the voting process. but whether you see the republican party brazenly come out of the closet and be just comfortable for disenfranchising plaque voters, do you think that -- how does that affect the efforts to get out the vote in those communities and to have them have trust and faith in the vote? >> i think faith is a good word. i lot of african-americans have faith in the aspirational process, in what we aspire to in our process, realizing that the activities of donald trump that touch on heidi's point, it is meant, number one, to set himself up for the post presidency donald trump and the per petuation of trumpism. but i also worry to your question that it is also providing a road map for a lot of individuals and groups in

this country that want to disenfranchise future voters. that is concerning because as you saw across the country, that sort of made the plan to vote was carried out extraordinarily well and it certainly impacted elections across the country this. but because of the work that mitch mcconnell and donald trump did to reframe this judiciary, there are pads for anyone that wants to continue to disenfranchise votes to be able to do so. so we've got to sort of keep talking about this because it doesn't end here. i think it continues into future elections and whether trump decides to get involved in those elections personally or he does through his organizations or his followers, they're not going to go away and we should not be comfortable or complacent in thinking that they might. >> heidi, any reporting on how

the georgia recounts could impact the two runoff races there with all of the dynamics at play? >> ironically, nicolle walla, republicans are hearing concern because it is the trump campaign and the trump voters who are showing in poll after poll they are thes who are losing faith in the democratic process. so the republicans particularly in that state are concerned that that could really blow back on them as they try to rally voters who w.h.o. aho do believe if yo the social media out there among support support who only watch that sliver of media feeding them their narrative that they've bought into it and they feel dispirited and upset. we don't know how ultimately it will act things but if those voters feel like what is point, that is going to cut against republican efforts to get out of the vote. >> we'll stay on this story.

two of my favorite people to talk to. heidi przybyla and basil smikle, thank you so much. whether we come back, amid a surge in coronavirus cases across this country, a dire warning about what could happen if americans ignore public health guidelines this thanksgiving holiday. that story when "deadline: white house" continues. don't go anywhere. anywhere. we'd love some help with laundry. spray and scrub anything with a stain. wash the really dirty clothes separately. tide pods with upgraded 4-in-1 technology unleash a foolproof clean in one step.

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drive drunk. i have a constitutional right to not wear a seat belt. or to yell fire in a crowded movie theater. or to not follow the speed limit. it's -- we're talking about a quarter of a million people dying already. more than the korean war and the vietnam war together. this part don't you understand. wear the mask. >> state and local leaders still have to make the case for wearing masks. also they're issuing a dire warning to americans to get tough on stopping the spread of the coronavirus or prepare for things to get worse. warnings come as the u.s. topped 12.5 million case and over 260,0 260,000 deaths and hospitals are bracing for another potentially deadly surge of the virus as millions of americans travel ahead of thanksgiving ignoring the pleas to stay home and stay

safe. mobile morgues are reopening in cities across the country. marking a return to one of the darkest moments of this country's time with the covid pandemic. let's bring into our conversation nbc news and msnbc medical contributor dr. lipi roy. dr. roy, let's make this personal. i'm cooking for two people one of them is 8 years old for thanksgiving. i'm making turkey and ham and all of stuff because that is tradition. but i'm doing it with a full heart and of course i miss my family but i'm encouraged that the vaccine news means i won't have to do it next year. why is it so challenging to ask all americans to make this sacrifice just this year so we don't have a surge like we've had after every holiday, after fourth of july, after memorial day, after labor day. >> yeah, nicolle, it is good to see you and that is the million dollar question, right. and i'm afraid we kind of

already know the answer to this question because as you just pointed out we already have the history of the past eight nines month show us. we're always seeing a surge after every holiday, memorial day, fourth of july and labor day and thanksgiving is the biggest holiday. and i've said this before and this applies in medicine where sometimes it is harder to unlearn something than to learn it. well clearly americans are having difficulty unlearning the traditions of thanksgiving which include usually if you are gathering large family and traveling from all corners of the world, and you're seeing images from airports all over, people traveling, look, nicolle, it seems like people are i think while many people are going to heed the public health warnings of staying at home and being distanced, unfortunately there is going to be people who are traveling and for those people i say if you're in a crowded airplane, train, bus, that is poorly ventilated, please wear a mac and i would suggest wearing

a face shield and if your with family people that you are not isolated with, please wear a mask. when you are eating you can't but main thane that distance. be outdoors an keep windows open do whatever you could to minimize the transmission of the virus, nicolle. >> what is the activity that is most contributing to these not just surges but spikes in so many states right now. >> yeah, i mean, we already have data in fact showing that it is smaller indoor gatherings, in person gatherings that is increasing the transmission. obviously months ago when we saw the large in person rallies and initially they were indoors like in oklahoma and phoenix, in may and june. they were indoor and they resulted in surges. but remember the south dakota that motorcycle event, that then led to a huge surge as well. because remember even though that was outdoors, where did the thousands people go after they

get off their motorcycles. it is inside so it is increasing the transmission, nicolle. >> what are most people that you know would either practice medicine or know somebody who practices medicine, what steps are they taking this thanksgiving? do you know anyone getting on an airplane and going to a reunion or do people that understand the pandemic staying close to home? >> i'm glad you're asking that and making it person. i think it comes down to sharing personal stories. most of my colleagues are working on hospitals and on call. hospitals don't shut down on the holidays. for those that must travel and need to follow for whatever reason, they're most certainly using precautions. i did go to canada to visit my family in september, but i wore an n 95 mask, wore a face shield and kept distance from my eld elderly parents to keep them

safe. most of my colleagues are doctors and nurses working or else taking precautions, but you know, i think, nick coole, it's priorities of the federal government to put funding and resources. remember, since in 2019, congress appropriated $685 billion to the pentagon versus $7 billion to cdc where we know the disease kills far more people than wars. if that funding went to health agencies, we'd have national testing and sufficient ppe. it's just a disparity in priorities, nick coole, that's heartbreaking and infuriating. >> with the transition starting today, we'll keep an eye on whether those priorities are about to change. doctor, thank you for spending some time with us today. when we come back, as we do every day, we will remember lives well lived. day, we will r lives well lived

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during this thanksgiving week, we want to thank you for letting us into your home during these extraordinary times. "the arry b -- arry bell mer starts now. discussioning covid and vaccine planning and national security and biden drawing funding from the transition account for the first time. that's standard transition work. it happened within days of an election call in every other modern transition but president trump's delays make this more significant than usual as there were mountin