hi, everyone. it's 4:00 in the east. today, today we start with hope. because today doctors, front line health care workers and anyone with a preexisting medical condition and loves someone with a preexisting medical condition can finally at long last begin to picture a light at the end of the tunnel. the first clinically approved doses of fully tested pfizer vaccines are being administer in britain this morning. it is a landmark moment in the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic and an awe-inspiring medical feat. the united states may not be far behind. the fda confirming the safety and efficacy of the pfizer vaccine, signaling an emergency use authorization is likely

right around the corner for us. though the worst days of this dark winter are still very much right now and ahead of us, as the u.s. continues to shatter record after record every single day when it comes to new coronavirus infections, deaths and hospitalizations all across this country. today, though, there's tangible help. the news forms the back drop of the juxtaposition to two polar opposite positions. from the lameduck donald trump and his successor president-elect joe biden. on the trump side, fumbling already over the rollout and availability of the vaccine. a report in today's "new york times" says trump's administration passed on the chance to lock in more vaccine supplied for the united states when they had the chance to do

that this summer before the vaccine was proven effect oivef which now raises questions allowed the united states to take its place in first in line, a blow to the president to put the united states at the front of the line. this afternoon he issued a an executive order proclaiming other countries will not get u.s. supplies of vaccines until americans have all been inoculated. the executive order by itself appear -- this comes on the very same day that the trump administration is holding a vaccine summit. two top vaccine marvers nufactu chose not to attend that summit.

today the formal introduction of the enough health care team in the new incoming biden administration and their mandate from the president-elect for a clear, consistent and science-based approach to vaccines distribution. here's president-elect biden today on his plan, along with his warning that this country can't wait for inauguration day to act. >> this team will help get at the latest, at the last 100 million covid-19 vaccines shots into the arms of the american people in the first hundred days. 100 million shots in the first hundred days. and we'll follow the guidance of science to get the vaccines to

those most at risk. that includes health care professionals, people in long-term care and as soon as possible it will include educators. this will be one of the hardest and most costly operational challenges in our nation's history. without urgent action, by this congress this month to put sufficient resources in the vaccine distribution and manufacturing, which the bipartisan group is working on, there's a real chance that after an early round of vaccines the effort will slow and stall. >> and this is where we start today with some of our most favorite reporters and friends. phil rucker is back, "washington post" white house bureau chief, policy analyst and a columnist for foreign policy magazine, laurie garrett is back and

olivia is here, an adviser on homeland security and counterterrorism. she now works with the anti-trump group republican political alliance for integrity and reform. lori garrett, i have to start with you and that idea that there's hope today, that as we see folks and i saw some of the footage on the morning shows this morning in the u.k. getting shots in their arms and feeling like we are a step, an important step closer to the next phase. and obviously i don't have to tell you it comes as our darkest days are right ahead of us, right? >> well, yes, light at the end of the tunnel. but how long the tunnel is is still unclear. yes, it's wonderful to see the first roll-out of the pfizer vaccine in the u.k. of course we need to keep in mind that the sinovac and other

chinese-made vaccines have already been administered to a million people in china and russia has been doing their campaign. we see on many front around the world that vaccines are beginning to roll out and we can expect a very significant roll out come sprin, 2021. whether or not biden can fulfill his 100 million doses in a hundred days is unclear. pfizer today was saying and yesterday that they won't make the quota initially promised on the timetable initially laid out and moderna is also showing some indication that they've run into some problems in their pipeline of production. so it may be very ambitious to imagine that 50 million americans will be vaccinated with their two doses within a hundred days. >> can you make sense of this reporting in the "new york times" and other places about pfizer going to the trump administration over the summer?

i guess that was the period you're talking about, supply chain, that was the period to place your orders. and the united states of america passed, health policy officials have confirmed that reporting is accurate, even though a white house spokesperson is denying it. why would they have done that and how much does that setups back? >> well, nicole, first of all, let's put this in perspective. the united states has placed more orders for more vaccines than anybody else on the planet, enough to dose every single american many times over. of course most of those are very deep in the pipeline and we don't know when they will be available and we have no way of knowing how one vaccine will compare to another in terms of the quality of the product. it's too early to say. at the point that pfizer reached out and said place your order now or bye-bye, was in july, when they were just rolling out their phase three clinical

trial. it was much too soon to know how well the vaccine would perform. america has always said we want all vaccine to stay on american shores and they did not respond that they turned down the offer to place a hold on some of the shipments so that the united states would have a larger supply. and meanwhile, pfizer turned to other countries. and other countries said, sure, come on aboard i would just add one other thing, nicole. we are not the only country in the wealthy world that has ordered far more vaccine than our population can possibly use. canada has ordered the equivalent of six rounds for every canadian. that leaves the poorer world up

a creek without a paddle. >> well, let's address that. isn't the whole point, isn't the lesson of the last ten months that no one, no country is an island. we either eradicate coronavirus globally or we live with it globally? >> exactly. there is a mechanism set up by w.h.o. to try and create equity of access not on to vaccines but diagnostics and treatments as well. they say it requires $40 billion, 187 nations have signed on to it but they've only received pledges of just over $3 billion. >> we're going to stay on that story because obviously joe biden is going to become the leader of this country when -- i don't know how to say this diplomatically so i won't try -- protecting the whole world will take a different priority than under this president. phil rucker, i am extremely

judicious about how i use any tape of donald trump saying anything because it is almost always a lie. but the importance of showing this, i just want to make this clear to our viewers is this was donald trump at the vaccine event today. let's watch. and afterward i'm going to show you something that happened -- it was taped but it happened at joe biden's vaccine event today. let's watch both of them and we'll talk about it on the other side. >> the next administration will be the one ultimately that implements a lot of the distribution of this vaccine and will oversee much of the future of the way operation warped speed goes forward. why not include members of the biden transition team as part of this summit you're hosting today. >> we're going to have to see who the next administration is because we won in the swing states and there was terrible things that went on so we're going to have to see who the next administration is. >> i believe, as you do, that in the fight against this pandemic, we must lead with science and

that a key piece of our ongoing work is communicating consistently with the american people. i have been through many public health crises before, but this is the toughest one we have ever faced as a nation. the road ahead will not be easy. we have got a lot of hard and demanding work to do in the next year. but as we have done during previous crises, i also know we can get through this pandemic together as a nation. >> phil rucker, i've stopped looking for the bottom for donald trump, but literally using a vaccine roll out event to spread his smear against the democracy he leads, calling into question who the next president will be. the next pred will be joe bidsi biden, he be in charge of

vaccines but that doesn't stop donald trump from spreading his dangerous lies a the a vaccine event. >> what you know and we all know and public health officials, including dr. fauci have said is the biggest hurdle is ensuring that the american people have faith in the vaccine and believe what their government is telling them and the science can believe it is safe to take this vaccine, can believe when they hear that the fda has given it approval or the green light that that means something and that they can trust that and take it to the bank. and the white house organized this vaccine summit today in part to boost public confidence, in part to make people understand better how this is going to roll out to improve what polling shows us is a great deal of distrust about the vaccine across this country and the president chose to use that platform to spread lies, misinformation, false information about the election. the event had nothing to do with

the election. the reality of course is that joe biden is the president-elect and if you want to instill faith in the vaccine roll out process, you would include the people who are going to be in charge of it come january 20th in that discussion, in that summit, make the american people feel like this is not a trump show but that it's the u.s. government, a peaceful transfer of power on display to ensure that vaccinine gets into the arms of every american as safely and embas expeditiously as possible but that appears to be a missed opportunity today. >> missed opportunity and a seized opportunity, olivia, to spread disinformation about the election. i mean, it's -- it's one thing to see him in georgia where he's supposed to be rallying support for other republicans and i do hope that effort is not successful, but to see him making his false and debunked election claims in a political

setting but to see him make them in an event that was supposed to be about vaccines, it seems like a good thing that pfizer and moderna stood him up. >> right, you know, i think the president used this as another opportunity to undermine our democracy, which is what he seems to purposely go out of his way to do on a daily basis right now in the middle of the worst pandemic we have faced. and i think, once again, the president has shown the american people where his priorities lie. it's not saving lives, it's not getting the vaccine out, it's not talking about it in a serious way. it's certainly not bringing in the biden team to work together on this and unify the country on it. it's another opportunity for him to create divide. and it's tragic. and it's just unfortunate. i can't tell you, january 20th can't come soon enough. >> you know, olivia, something that i know you and i have

talked about and that you've twiced abo tweeted about and i've pulled some about gop complicity. the truth is on both these fronts are on the false claims about the election, on the pressure campaign against local election officials, which have led to death threats and armed mobs outside the homes of some of them as well as the lies about the pandemic and a vaccine roll out that is now dangerously politicized. it wouldn't be happening if mitch mcconnell and kevin mccarthy and all of their members flanked the two leaders and told donald trump to stop. it just wouldn't happen. they have the power to make him stop by remufusing to do he's doing. they have the success or failure of the ultima the biden distribution plan of the vaccine by allowing donald trump to exploit it still as the lame

duck president, what do we do about them? >> i think the american people really need to hold them accountable and stop letting them get away with this, especially other republicans. i think, you know, you missed the opportunity to speak out prior to this election. you still have the opportunity now to do the right thing. and the right thing is to stand up for our country and for the american people. stand up for these people who are being threatened right now just for supporting a fundamental thing like our elections and our democracy and stand up for lives. stand up for this vaccine and this whole process. i mean, how much longer will this go on if none of us stand up -- take a stand against this? >> you know, phil rucker, they seem to be moving in the opposite direction. i don't want to amplify this, but the republican-led homeland security committee had a vaccine skeptic, a truther, testify

today before their committee. i think this is ron johnson again. and this just seems like the opposite of what tone ee tony f talking about. she has in the past promoted -- they claim that we put too much confidence in dr. fauci and other witnesses who were critical of masks, critical of social distancing and skeptical about the rahvalue of quarantin. what are the republicans up to? are they trying to set up the biden administration to fail regarding the coronavirus or is

it something i'm missing? >> i'm not sure what the grand strategy is here but it certainly is going to create a bigger problem for biden to inherit insofar as they're seeding doubt in the public about not only the efficacy of these vaccines but, you know, the usefulness and importance of the public health guidance that we've all been hearing now for 10, 11 months. everybody knows that wearing a mask on your face is a way to control the spread, is a way to protect the people around you and a way to protect yourself. and the continued doubt from some of these republican leaders, certainly from the president and those in the white house according to public health officials is contributing to the fast spread of this virus we have. i'm not sure what senator johnson was trying to do, what the end game is there, whether we'll see this continue or not morning republicans in the senate or in the house as well, but it certainly is not the kind

of public presentation that i think dr. fauci or really any of the other medical professionals trying to contain this virus would like to see at the capital. >> let me give you a quick last word. what is more frightening to you, the disinformation being spread? it was seen obviously from the highest levels of the republican party or the virus itself. >> letle me choose option num m three, nicole, and that is if we continue to hold back on release as stimulus package that really goes to the pocket books of the american people, prevents mass evictions, literally starvation, food lines, all the specter of a 1929 scale depression in america, then the antipathy between the people and their public health leadership will just get worse and worse and worse. why don't we see people toting guns in the streets and

protesting against mask laws in france? because france has a social safety net. why don't we see it anywhere else in the world? why is it exclusively an american phenomenon? because we don't have a safety net that keeps people alive and well in times of great tribulation such as we're experiencing now. joe biden is going to inherit not only a massive covid crisis but a massive unemployment crisis, a massive loss of small businesses, every community can say, gee, we used to have a hairdresser on that corner, we used to have a butcher right there. there used to be a great restaurant around the corner and they're all gone now. and with that goes jobs and culture and a sense of safety and solidarity. we can't separate a public health fight from the economic fight and pretend that mitch mcconnell and those manipulating these situations in -- on capitol hill are completely

unaware of what they're doing. it's not just you're letting the president carry out the yarn forever that he's won the election, it's also that you're holding up checks to keep americans alive and well. you're holding up dollars that therefore brings the hatred, the rage, the anger right front and center. it's almost you would be thinking, gee, they're using this situation to set biden up for failure. >> it is so -- it never ceases to expand my brain that everything is even more connected than we think. thank you so much for that answer. as punishment/reward, we'll ask you to stick around. phil and olivia, thank you so much for starting us off this hour onblockbluster

news day. >> plus one man in texas is asking the united states supreme court to throw out, simply ignore millions of votes cast this other states, not texas, in order to make trump the president. we'll explain the dangers of this farce call and desperate attempt of the gop. and raiding the home of a data scientist. all those stories still coming up when "deadline white house" continues. don't go anywhere. dline white h" continues. don't go anywhere. [ engine rumbling ] ♪ [ beeping ] [ engine revs ] ♪ uh, you know there's a 30-minute limit, right? tell that to the rain. [ beeping ]

for those who were born to ride, there's progressive.

president-elect biden is making another historic pick for his prand new cabinbrand new ca nominating lieutenant general lloyd austin to be defense secretary. since trieriretiring from the my just four years ago, he'll require a waiver from congress. it's an exception that's been made only twice in the last 70 years. joining us is geoff bennett and retired four star u.s. army general barry mccaffrey who is now lucky for us an msnbc military analyst. general mccaffrey, what do you know about who, if confirmed, the country's next secretary of defense. >> i watched president-elect biden roll out a series of senior officials of government and been thrilled with them.

this may be his best of all. i've watched lloyd austin for 20 years. he has incredible experience. he is loved and admired by the armed forces and our internation international lies, very low key person of tremendous integrity. he understand the budget and pentagon and how the pentagon works, a lot of joint command time. i think it's a remarkable appointment and will be well received by the national security arena. >> general mccaffrey, i want to read you something that joe biden wrote about his new nominee. i want you to talk about the importance of the relationship of the commander in chief and the person who runs the pentagon. this is from president-elect biden. why i chose lloyd austin as a

second. in his more than 40 years in the united states army, austin met every challenge with extraordinary skill and profound personal decency. he is a true and tested soldier and leader. i've spent countless hours with him, in the field and in the white house situation room. i've sought his advices are seen his command and admired his calm and character. he is the definition of a patriot. and i guess my question is, it's a good reminder that has we kind of game out who's up and who's down in terms of these appointments, it's all about the incoming president's report a and -- rapport and relationship with the certain candidates and it's clear this is who he wants in this job, isn't it? >> no yquestion. >> there's been this chaos to include the national security in the government.

lloyd austin is so easy to get along with. i've been bombarded by people with texts and tweets from people who work with him. part of his reason is to help, he has no ego, and a soft-spoken voice. >> geoff bennett, that's the good news if you're the president-elect. here's some of the potential land mines. will the -- let me read you a quote from jack reed, ranking member of senate armed services. this is about this waiver that's required. if you've not been out of the military for seven years. he says this, quote, waiving the law should happen no more than once in a generation, according to senator jack reed, a west

point graduate and former army ranger. he said that when retired general jim mattis was confirmed in 2017. a former staffer says the pentagon needs to reestablish traditional national security processes and return to a sense of normalcy. too much friction can stop or slow a process. and the conclusion is general lloyd austin should not be secretary of defense. what does the transition team think about the odds of getting him through? >> nicole, i'll put this this way. that is precisely why the president-elect biden that the "atlantic" published the last hour. he has written no such op-ed for

any other cabinet selection. the key part was this, i hope that congress will grant a waiver to secretary designate austin just as congress did for jim mattis given the immense and urgent challenges our nation faces, he should be confirmed swiftly, biden writes. in 2017 there were 17 democrats who voted against the waiver that jim mattis needed to serve as donald trump's secretary and the biden transition team is keenly aware of that. that was cohoreographed and designed to blunt that criticism against the supporters of floury. she was an early contender to be joe biden's defense chief. so there are some folks, democrats in the sort of

national security community who are disappointed, even as they, you know, welcome the fact that joe biden has selected general austin to serve as his defense secretary. there is a bit of disappointment that michelle florinoy did not emerge as the top choice. >> you and i have had and the reverend al sharpton and i believe he's meeting with president-elect biden this evening about the keen interest and pressure that civil rights leaders have placed on the president-elect biden to appoint qualified african-american appointees to some of these key posts. obviously general austin has been tapped because of his qualifications, for all the reasons general mccaffrey detailed and president-elect biden writes about, but it also is a milestone, a glass ceiling broken, the first african-american to lead the pentagon. how important was that to

president-elect biden? >> it certainly factored into his thinking. here again in general austin you have a trail blazer. he was the first black officer to lead an army division in combat and oversee a an entire division of command,didn't necessarily want veto power about any biden pick but they did want to be consulted and they say they deserve to have greater representation in those top four cabinet picks. and they had not met with joe biden since the election and since that time he had already pickedy blinken and jelen and that only left attorney general and secretary of state. there was pressure from the congressional black caucus who

put forward not just general austin but jeh johnson. all of that put pressure on him as his designate. >> i've watched you for years and i've had of privilege to talk to you about all the chaos that trump as brought in and tragically the impact it had on the people who serve in our military, and you are obviously passionate about general austin. i wonder if asked to go and help make the case for him on capitol hill, you are still have very good relationships on both sides of the aisle. i wonder if those are calls you would happily make or if you'd do those on your own. >> oh, sure. but lloyd austin's character, reputation, experience, intellect, the tens of thousands of troops he's served with who are now euphoric about the appointment, the feedback of our

allies, all out to feed into the thinking that, come on, if you trust president-elect biden's judgment, which i do, then you ought to defer to his judgment, say this at this time this is a good appointment for u.s. national security and i think it is. i think there's zero problem with biden trusting lloyd austin's judgment on defense issues. so, you know, i think his reputation stands on its own. >> and you don't think he'll have any trouble getting that waiver? >> i have no idea. you know, inside the beltway has turned into a foul snake pit of sharp elbows. so i'm watching the heads pop up. some it's just a normal bureaucratic maneuver. michelle farnaway would be a

terrific secretary of defense. she's not the nominee. so the back and forth, i think the only concern i have is to make sure that the president-elect has deference from both political parties in the senate, for what i think is an extremely wise nomination of this terrific leader. >> we will continue to watch the nomination process and we will continue -- you raise a really important issue, general mccaffrey. we'll continue to watch and cover the pentagon under new leadership to see what kind of building back, if any, needs to be done after the last four years. thank you both for spending some time with us, geoff bennett and general mccaffrey. up next, officials in some key battleground states are firing back at the state of texas. the attorney general there, a trump loyalist, is asking the united states supreme court to inv invalidate president-elect biden's win in several states.

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another symptom perhaps today of contagious nature of donald trump's delirium and lies about the lebelection. a state is seeking to overturn the election in other states which secretaries of state are calling false and a publicity

stunt. this he is asking the united states supreme court to delay next week's presidential elector's meeting. this texas attorney general, trump supporter, republican with legal problems of his own claims without any evidence, just likes donald trump, that pennsylvania, georgia, michigan and wisconsin, quote, exploited the covid-19 pandemic to justify ignoring federal and state election laws and unlawfully enacting last-minute changing thus skewing the results of the 2020 election. of course that's not true. most dprafraud claims have bee w resolved or thrown out of court

by republicans and democratic judges proving this is a play for the 2024 primary. joining us is a former general counsel at the fbi. is there such a thing as frivolous political lawsuits? can you get in trouble if you keep trying to throw things into the legal process without any evidence, andrew? >> there is in the federal system something called rule 11 and any responsible lawyer worries about something called rule 11 sanctions and rule 11 gives the court the power to sanction attorneys who bring frivolous cases or make frivolous motions. it really applies to any aspect of a case in a civil case. and a lot of people have been talking about when will the courts actually lower the boom.

here this obviously is frivolous and there's a little bit of a goose gander problem because if you're technical as axas and yoi is the power to get the courts regulating, do you want the courts to give other states to tell texas what to do? i can't imagine the courts will even grant cert. not only is it frivolous, there's just no facts. these are arguments in search of facts. what goes around in press conferences given by the likes of rudy giuliani does not fly in a court of law where the courts still say what is your evidence? and if you don't have that, you're thrown out.

>> one of the signs to me of just how low how politics have sunk is it proved politically damaging for sarah palin when her speeches were played on snl by tina fey and the word were unchanged. that's happening now. when snl parodies the rudy and now this new texas a.g. legal efforts, they don't have to make up the words of how assanine the lack of evidence and claims are. what does it say that the legal -- what was i think for a long time even though it's not tr free from politics, it was considered sort of herm eticall sealed from some of trump's wildest antics, it is now the center ring for the most dangerous act of trump's political life. do we need to look at more protections or more sanctions for bringing evidence-free claims into courtrooms?

>> you know, i'm usually on this show and elsewhere a huge cynic, but i actually think there is some good news here, which is i think that the courts have handled this admirably. and you've seen courts, whether they were appointed by republicans or democrats, judges appointed by president donald trump rejecting these claims. so i don't think that the courts are where we have a problem. in other words, they have withstood the conspiracy theory onslaught and have been uniform i rejecting the claims. the problem is in the populous, the electorate, with are we have such a huge percentage of people who believe in conspiracy series and have themselves such doubt in what are really not controversial facts.

and a lot of people feed on that and foment it and i think that's the problem. i think the courts have done as well as can be expected, which is at least some good news. >> you and i have now been on tv for you to have turned into the optimist in our tv relationship. let me give you one more because i really need some optimism here. donald trump said saturday night he's waiting for the supreme court to take this up and decide. should we expect all sorts of trump allies, attorneys general to be throwing spaghetti against the wall to try to find some vehicle for that? >> i just can't imagine the supreme court will enter into this fray with this vehicle. . there may be other attorneys general like paxton who are facing their own legal issues who want to distract from that and show their loyalty to the president so you could see people trying to do, for instance, what ted cruz does and

get their 15 minutes of fame. but i really don't think this has any merit. and even for people who think that the courts are political, i really think this is just going too far. if i were worried about things, i'd worry about the president's use of his pardon power, where that is something that he actually does have that power and, you know, that is a very, very broad constitutional power and i think we are going to see, you know, a laundry list of people getting pardoned. >> there's some reporting in axios that he's got this idea of like costco volume pardons. i wonder if you think that's a cover for sticking all of his kids in there and himself. what do you think the pardon reporting is signaling or laying the ground for? >> i think, one, it will protect his family federally to some

extent. and i think it fits into his mindset of being this aggrieved white person who wants to run as the outsider so this sort of fits with the sort of take no prisoners, throw hand grenades into the system. you know, really muck up the rule of law. and you got me on an optimistic day. >> i'm so glad. >> the few things i would point out is that there are limits to the pardon power and they're important. it does not affect any civil case, federal or state. it does not affect any criminal state case. and remember, new york, the manhattan district attorney's office has a criminal investigation involving the trumps, the trump family and the trump entities. it also does not apply to any future crimes that people commit. so, for instance, the trumps are going to have to be filing tax

returns in the future. all of that is not affected by the president exercising the pardon power. and of course it remains to be seen whether if he self-pardons, which as you know i think he's going to. that's an issue that remains to be decided by the supreme court if it gets challenged. >> andrew weisman the optimist may be blow through a commercial break. that was fantastic. thank you, my friend, pore spendispen -- for spending time with us. >> coming up, we'll bring you news of an incredible raid this week in florida. that story next. id this week in florida. that story next. - i'm norm.

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a former florida state official who said she was fired for refusing to doctor or manipulate the state's coronavirus numbers, had her home raided by police on monday night. authorities allege that a person at rebecca jones's home used her email to tell people, quote, time to speak up before another 17,000 people are dead. end quote. jones has denied sending that text and posted video of the raid last night on twitter. saying that police pointed guns at her and her children. >> come outside. outside.

>> who else is in the house. >> my two children and my husband. >> where is your husband. call him down. >> you want the children down? >> call them all down. >> mr. jones, come down the stairs, now. >> police come down now. >> search warrant. >> -- my children. he just pointed a gun at my children. >> i have no words so i'm bringing into this conversation health policy analysis lori garrett. lori, this is a story about a lot of things and there are a lot of questions here still, what were they doing in her house and who sent that text, what is undeniable is that the process of reporting cold hard facts is not free from politics and corruption and i wonder what you think of that as we head into what i would guess needs to be the most fact-driven and data-driven part of our fight against the pandemic, the

vaccination phase. >> well, nicolle, i think rebecca jones is a complicate the character. it is hard to know what is really going on in this case. she may have been under scrutiny because of a prior sex harassment issue in cyberspace where she is the accused harasser. so i think that one has to approach this specific case with caution. but at large we have a problem. if you don't like the message, attack the messenger and that appears to be the side of this that public health officials are experiencing all over america. if you don't like hearing that covid is killing an that you have to go into lockdown and you have to wear masks, then attack the people saying that, it is a horrible situation. and of course it goes right to the core of what do we believe and what don't we believe. and in contrast, we just had

from health and human services this massive data dump of hospitalization data from every single state and the territories, you know, just annin encyclopedia idea of who is going to intensive care and who is receiving what kinds of treatment and that is the beginning of having the kind of data we should have been working with as the basis of all of our actions in every state regardless of the political complexion of the state for the last nine months. >> lori, it just seems like you and are going to be having conversations as journalists like yourself and experts like yourself get ahold of the actual facts of what is going on for last ten months and how extreme the efforts were to either shield them from getting out or

shape them or frame them and it just seems like we'll be talking about disinformation and how it really did cost people their lives at a time when our politics couldn't afford for disinformation to be coming from the highest levels of our government. we're going to turn to you for that at every step. thank you so much for sticking around this hour. and talking us through all of these developments. they are from the milestones to the surreal, just another day in the news. the next hour of "deadline: white house" starts offer a quick break. don't go anywhere. we're just getting started. we're just getting started ♪ ♪ you're all, you're all i need ♪ ♪ you're all, you're all i need ♪ ♪ as long as i got you then baby ♪ ♪ you know that you've got me, oh! yea...♪ ♪

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republican leadership needs to stand up and say that this is not -- this is just not what we feed to be telling the american people right now. we all just for some reason think that democracy is resilient and could with stand this sort of attack. i actually think that democracy

is quite fragile and when the institutions themselves are under attack from the inside, as you said, that's pretty close to an existential issue. so we need the other parts of the three-part government to actively push back and actively engage. >> hi, again. everyone. it is 5:00 in the east. it is former u.s. cybersecurity chief chris krebs who was ousted by donald trump for successfully protecting the 2020 election from the kind of fraud that donald trump now falsely claimed to have taken place. he today filing a lawsuit against one time trump lawyer and ally joe digenova saying that he should be killed. the warning about the democracy and under constant assault by the gop who stands by as trump blumons it brought in focus by

officials who called a third state to ask them to subvert the will of the voters. president trump called the speaker of the pennsylvania house of representative twice during past week to help reverse his loss in the state reflecting a broadening pressure campaign by the president and his allies to try to subvert the election results. brian cutler's office make pennsylvania the third state where trump has directly attempted to overturn a result since he lost the election to former vice president joe biden. he previously reached out to republicans in michigan and on saturday he pressured georgia governor brian kemp in a call to try to replace that state's electors. and on a day apply named safe harbor day because it locks congress into accepting the vote, another dangerous escalation from the gop. texas's attorney general has asked the u.s. supreme court to

block the battleground states of georgia, wisconsin, michigan and pennsylvania from certifying their states election results. in one of the battlegrounds, a democratic philadelphia election official issued this fiery warning to her republican counterparts in that state. quote, what these republican lawmakers are asking congress to do is unamerican and desperate. it is something trait out of a third world dictatorship. there are all kinds of false and fantastical conspiracy theories floating out there. some that have been pushed by the president and his lawyers an lawmakers and an army of misinformed sad individuals online. any leader who feeds the lies and hate could save their thoughts and prayers because they will be culpable when one of these zealots acts on their words and does harm to someone. and breaking news, just a few moments ago. the united states supreme court has denied a challenge from a republican congressman to nullify the certification of pennsylvania's election results over its mail-in voting law.

yet another blow to trump and his allies legal efforts. the gop as champions of donald trump's anti-democratic tactics to over turn the election is where we start this hour with our favorite reporters and friends. a.b. stott ard is here. also joining us jonathan swan, political reporter for axios. this is your intereview. i want to ask you something. i noticed that chris krebs since his first 60 minutes interview and in the interview with you is broadening out the culpable to the golf who is not standing by idly, they are the reason that he refused to rebuke the actions on the party and he could go about doing this. what did you detect from crebs about his feelings and what seems to me from that interview,

his disappointment in the republican party at large. >> yeah, it is pretty clear from spending time with him that he thinks that this is a crisis and he's trying to sound the alarm. he himself has received death threats, not just the one that you mentioned in your introduction. but he's received other death threats but he's continuing to speak out nonetheless. look, it is two things. number one, what he did in this inview was he went further he had before in describing donald trump as a form of domestic threat in his words. he used the word "threat" and he said the disinformation is a form of threat. but when you saw his frustration come out as you said is when he talked about the republican leaders in washington who are silent and they're not saying anything with a very few exceptions and allowing this to go on.

he's also kind of quite worried and maybe a little dark about the polling that we're seeing which shows that some 70% of republican voters out there believe that this election was stolen. so even if we get through this period you mentioned, the deadlines coming up, et cetera, i don't think anyone at this point doubts that joe biden is going to be sworn into office on january 20th, the long lasting effects of this, of so many tens of millions of americans believing this is a fraudulent stolen election, i mean, it is quite profound if you play out the tape and think about that. >> well let's do that right now. because i'm actually surprised that it is only 70% of trump's voters who will think that joe biden is a fraudulent president when the president of the united states has been saying that every single day and no republicans -- and let's say this, 27 republicans could acknowledge the result of the most secure leks election in ou

country's history. let me show you the sound you talked about. this is chris krebs talking about trump as a threat. one of the questions, what would dough if the russians were doing this. the oath that we pledge coming into office is that you uphold and defense the constitution from threats foreign and domestic. we upheld our oath. >> so is donald trump a domestic threat. >> there is disinformation that he is spreading. i mean disinformation is one type of threat. >> jonathan swan, he said the president is a threat. and if you watch any of the tape of the armed protesters outside of the home of michigan secretary of state while she was decorating for christmas with her 4-year-old son, they were a threat to her safety. she thought so. what is the back story, what are republicans saying privately about why they don't address this threat? because i tell you i was in the

white house after 9/11 and when there was a foreign threat there was nothing they wouldn't do. >> when i talked to republicans, let's say in the senate, more than in the house because they're focused on the georgia runoffs in january, the situation they describe is, well, yes, you know, we think this is crazy. we don't believe all that venezuela and china have hacked into voting machines. they're perfectly willing in background conversation to say they don't believe this stuff. but they're not willing to go out and say it publicly because president trump till has an extraordinary holdover the republican base. and so mitch mcconnell is in the situation where he needs trump voters to turn out on january 5th in these runoffs. he can't have them stay home. and trump has created this dynamic in the party which is you're either with me, or you're

against me and with them. and so he's pitting these republican officials against the republican base. look at the situation that georgia governor kemp is in right now. i would love to see a poll on his approval rating among the republican base now after president trump's has been hammering him versus four weeks ago. trump has the ability to turn the base against these politicians and they're all petrified of it with very few exemptions like mitt romney. >> a.b. stoddard, a patriot would say that losing an election is not a bad price to pay for saving our democracy. and i read chris krebs' lawsuit and one of the things he's charging joe digenova with is intentionally infliction of emotional distress and he a described his son saying it he

goes to be executed. long respected in republican circles has a 10-year-old son asking if his dad will be executed because donald trump is attack him and his lawyer suggested that he be executed. that is what republicans and mitch mcconnell is for right now today. >> right. and what jonathan describes is republicans holding out for two senate seats in georgia. and not telling the voters that this is isn't true. and by saying things that we're just going to give him time to calm down and accept things and it will be all right, we're seeing that add to the threat of violence because the violence inspired by people being radicalized online about this and from the president's tweets and his rhetoric, have already led to the secretary of state of michigan as you described, whose home was surrounded by armed

protesters, the threats are increasing with each passing certification and failed lawsuit which should make it more clear that this is not true. the threats are increasing and there are many, many people and charlie sykes talked about this on your show yesterday, that truly believe the fix is coming soon and the second term will tart and it will stall d start will be okay for donald trump. and it only takes one person to take a life or start some hideo hideous melee. someone is going to get shot and he said someone is going to get killed. and so you have to -- we have to be clear about this. as they hold on and not say anything to keep two incumbent republicans in the senate to hold a majority and keep

mcconnell as majority leader, they know that this threat of violence is growing. what chris krebs described, the arizona state republican party today overnight tweeting that people need to live for nothing or die for something. and asking people who is ready to be a martyr for president trump. i mean, this is a direct insightment to violence. there is no other way to put it and it is hard to imagine where we're going to be in three weeks. >> well, here is where we are today. this is in today's washington post. trump asked pennsylvania house speaker for help over turning election results personally intervening in a third state. quote, the embrace of trump's false claims by many pennsylvanian gop lawmakers show how the president's baseless attacks on the integrity of the election has gained ground with supporters. protesters chanting stop the steal some with firearms at the homes of cutler in pennsylvania

and the democratic secretary of state in michigan. trump asked pennsylvania house speaker for help. what -- i mean this is happening now, a.b. and if you could answer i think what jonathan swan aptly and courageously put on the table. here is trump today in a vaccine event continuing the lie. i play trump tape very judishly but this is the integrity of the election. >> the next administration will implement a lot of the distribution and will oversee much. future of the way operation warp speed goes forward. why not include members of the biden transition team as part of this summit that you're hosting today. >> we'll have to see who the next administration is because we won and the swing states that there was terrible things that on. so we're going to have to see who the next administration is.

>> a.b., he lost in the swing states. there is no evidence. chris christie and john bolton, bill barr have said that there is no evidence of fraud. what is the impact of mitch mcconnell refusing as soon as that comment is made to come out and say that is not the fact. it seems that trump is em -- emboldened by how docile the republicans in the senate are. >> right. and that is what is to frightening. it is clear from the last five days he intends to exact retribution on anyone who said there is no evidence and we have to sit back for the results in our state and stand by the law. so that is the secretary of state of georgia, the governor of georgia and arizona. so those are the people in the cross-hairs that his base turn against and the republicans in its senate at the federal level

have the choice to come clean on january 6th after they secure those seats, if they do or continue for the next four years to say that donald trump is right and the entire election is stolen. they can't be in between. you're in or your out. and the problem to get back to the potential for violence, because these people so much believe it and the deadlines will pass, today safe harbor date and then january 5th and 6th and then an inauguration. if trump acts for and stoke this is more, and creates more lies and gets more angry and asks for more retribution with each passing deadline that fails and a supreme court decision 9-0 that said we don't see anything that makes sense to proceed with this process of -- this case and the invalidation of 7 million ballots. this would make them more angry and as he stokes at that increase is the potential for violence.

>> i want to come back to chris krebs with you, jonathan sawn. the interview is on axios and another tremendous interview by you, jonathan. but i want to talk about this lawsuit. because it seems to me that this is almost fighting trump with a tactic trump will recognize. he's carthing or calling out a conspiracy. his lawsuit seeks remedies and relief against defendants for a calculated and pernicious conspiracy to defame and injure chris krebs and republican party members like him for speaking truth and conscientiously performing public duties with regard to party loyalty. it seems there is now a legal vehicle and he names news max. news max and digenova have a symbiotic relationship. it amplifies the campaign and digenova's attacks on perceived

political threats and allegations of election stealing which pleased viewers and prompted endorsement from trump and supports the political goals. campaign and helps raise more money from dupes supporters. i don't know who wrote that lawsuit, but that is the diagnosis of exactly how donald trump and his enablers have corrupted our democracy. what -- how -- tell me what role the lawsuit plays in the larger case, chris krebs is prosecuting against trump and his lives? >> i'm not a lawyer so i don't have a good idea of whether this has a good chance of being successful. but chris krebs continually points out and this subtext is a shot at trump's legal team. he said i have very good lawyers who know how to win in court which say comment on the fact that the trump legal team is losing case upon case upon case. but i think the thing that is really important with chris krebs is this is not just some routine dispute. up until a few weeks ago, he was

the nation's top election security official. he's not some deep state democrat. he's a life long republican. he was appointed by donald trump. donald trump put him in that job. he's a political appointee. he was -- donald trump signed off on the agency that he led that was charged with this mission of securing the election. and he was basically a good soldier until it got to the point where after the election he just couldn't sit silent when the president and his allies were putting out false claim after false claim after false claim alleging some multi-country global conspiracy of vote switching and machines and whatever. and he just said enough. and put out that statement. and was obviously fired as a result of it. i just -- that was sort of last week's news. we've all sort of moved on.

it is just a profound event and something that i don't know that we've seen before in america. >> well, we haven't moved on and i just want to underscore your point. because it is a very good one. this is a call, i think you said this, from inside of the house. and frankly, at the beginning of the trump presidency, so was jim comey. he thought he could continue to serve as fbi director even under trump. so did don mcgahn, he testified 30 hours in front of the mueller investigators. so was jim mattis. he tries for the men and women of the military and he resigned because of donald trump's syria policy. and donald trump refused to accept his loss like a big boy and i would say that a lot of good loyal republicans have been

repelled by donald trump's lawlessness and are sad to be proven right. but you're right, the chris krebs chapter is more remarkable than all of the others and your interview is stunning. i encourage everybody to watch the whole thing. thank you for starting us off and being here to talk about that interview, jonathan. when we come back. 334 days that is how long it took before the first reported death in china and the vaccine against a disease that has killed 1.5 million people around the world. we'll go to the u.k. for the latest on this historic feat of medicine and science. plus, president-elect joe biden selection of general lloyd austin to be defense secretary as donald trump is filling the pentagon with political loyalists and freezing out the biden transition team. and mexico didn't pay for trump's border wall after all. but a new whistleblower complaint alleges that armed mexican guards were smuggled across the border to protect it.

those stories and more when "deadline: white house" continues after a quick break. don't go anywhere, we're just getting started. e, we're just getting started. ♪ and i can't get enough ♪ we're still having fun, ♪ and you're still the one applebee's 2 for $20. now that's eating good in the neighborhood. save for being a new customer, for adding drivewise, and for driving safely. whatever you drive, start driving down the cost of insurance. ♪ (combative yelling) he used to have bad breath. now, he uses a capful of therabreath fresh breath oral rinse to keep his breath smelling great, all day long. (combative yelling)

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today a moment the whole world has been waiting for. doses of pfizer's coronavirus vaccine are being administered in the u.k. right now today. one of two countries who have approved it already. the very first dose went to a woman nake the maggie that turns 91 next week and she called it the best early birthday present i could wish for. today the fda gave a promising review of pfizer's candidate as safe and effective. that is ahead of the advisory

committee official vote later in week making it possible that there will be a roll out here in the united states maybe within days. for science, for medicine, it is a feat after a year, just a year after the first case of covid. and for all of us, it could be a savior. after more than 67 million cases worldwide, more than 1.5 million lives lost to the coronavirus, more than 285,000 of them right here in the united states. joining our conversation, nbc news correspondent keir simmons, covering the uk vaccine roll out and dr. hotez is here from baylor college of medicine. kier, i wish i could have been there. this is like putting a man on the moon. this is such a feat and an accomplishment of science and medicine. and a good news story i think we all needed.

>> reporter: yeah, it is really impressive. i do think there is good news and bad news, nicolle, from what i have seen. but i'm a positive person and this is a country that is feeling pretty positive today. so let's start with good news. and margaret, as you say, would came out if front of the cameras and had h that first needle in the arm today, a another vaccine recipient was called william shakespeare, a little bit of british humor there, if you like to have a william shakespeare as another early recipient. and then you had lawmakers here, including the prime minister. just encouraging people not to -- to just press the brakes a little bit, to not get too hopeful that things will happen too fast and warning people this is a marathon and not a sprints. take a listen. >> it will gradually make a huge difference but i stress gradually.

because we're not there yet. we haven't defeated this virus yet. it is amazing to see the vaccine coming out. that's mazing to see this tremendous shot in the arm for the entire nation. but we can't afford to relax now. >> reporter: and i think there were reasons why boris johnson is being a little bit cautious. just to say on the positive for a moment, i was at a community center in wales where they have converted basketball courts into immunization pods around the outside of a basketball court and that is the kind of i think community push that you're going to see in the u.s. when things get started there. but it is all about the logistics, it is all about getting the vaccine at the right time at the right place and people at the right time at the right place together in order to make this work. particularly with the pfizer vaccine. but the rollout has started and people are -- they're calling it v-day. victory day. but of course a reference to the second world war.

the vaccine day and victory day and the enemy this time is covid-19. >> kier, stay with us. dr. hotez, clearly the logistics of vaccinating the world, because i think one of the lessons and this is something lori garrett and i talked about in the last hour. if the whole world is not safe, then none of us are safe. but talk about both aspects of keir's reporting. the significance of vaccine commencing today in the u.k. and the long, long road ahead. >> yeah, a few things, nicolle. everyone is talking about what a miracle the vaccine are and they are a miracle in one sense but sometimes people think that these vaccines just popped out of nowhere over a period of four months an one of the things i've been trying to explain to people if they think vaccines are rushed, this is not a four month process. that is 17 year process. the discovery of vaccine for

coronavirus began 17 years ago after sars emerged in 2003. coronavirus started out of south china and shut down toronto, canada. and that is when we identify the the soft protein as the soft underbelly of the virus and experimental vaccines first developed so when the chinese put up the sequence of covid on bio archive in january, the coronavirus community of vaccine researchers looked at this and said we got this. we know how to make a covid vaccine. and then it was a matter of which technology could go the first, be the fastest and which is the most enduring. and so all of the vaccines that you're hearing about, whether it is astrazeneca or pfizer or moderna or j&j and r's which is in india, all target that spike protein and that is important that people realize that this is not rushed. this is way a deliberate

long-term program. so it is exciting to see this vaccine go into maggie's arm and so thrilled for her and her family. and this is scaled up in england and now we're moving to the u.s. i think in a few days. >> i think what you said sounds like it is very important in the category of reassuring people of the safety especially on a day when republicans in the senate homeland security committee had a vaccine skeptic testify. something that i think alarmed a lot of folks. i want to give you a minute to put what you said in more context. so let me ask it way. so your saying the kind of virus that carried covid all over in the world in the last ten months is from a family of viruss that scientists like yourself have been studying for a long time and once they got the specifics they were able to fine tune and put the finish touches on this vaccine. that is what you're explaining? >> that is right. so we have to -- we saw sars in

2003 and then middle eastern represent in 2012 and we said hang on there is a new coronavirus coming every decade. we knew there was another one coming. and this is the power of the national institute of the health and allergy and infectious diseases headed by dr. fauci and nih, they launched a major program for coronavirus in 2003. we were the beneficiaries of that. we got funded to develop some of the first prototype vaccine. so this is deliberate by the u.s. government and the nih to move this forward. again, this is why we were very blessed to have the nih here in the united states and funding that research. and we still have a long ways to go. because we're going to have to see how this vaccine rolls out in terms of being able to scale it up. how robust the production process will be. this is a brand-new technology. and that is the reason why we're bringing out other vaccines on top of it, the adenovirus

vaccine, we need four or five vaccines for the population, we will not do this with just the two rna vaccines. >> thank you both so much for making sense of what is clearly an important step, an important day. grateful to both of you? when we come back. the next secretary of defense as trump's allies at the pentagon are blocking the biden transition team from meeting key intelligence officials. "deadline: white house" continues after a quick break with that story. wanna lose weight and be healthier?

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so you don't wait for life. you live it. turmoil at the pentagon has been one of the most alarming story lines of the entire trump presidency. four secretaries of defense in four years. and exodus of top talent as well as fears that the military is getting thrust way too deeply in politics and with just 43 days remaining in the presidency, donald trump appears intent on creating even more chaos at the pentagon. the administration has purged a key advisory board putting in place people whose top credentials are simply loyalty to trump. and as we reported yesterday, another trump loyalist is blocking officials from giving information, important information to the biden transig team. it is against this back drop that president-elect joe biden has nominated lloyd austin to

become defense secretary and to bring normalcy to a pentagon that has seen nothing but chaos. while president-elect joe biden's pick is a historic first since lloyd austin would be the first black man to become the secretary of defense. joining the conversation, david plouffe and elise jordan and state departments contributor to "time" magazine. david plouffe, the rollout of the national security team for president-elect biden seems to have this through line. and general austin is another example of it. people with relationships, close personal relationships to joe biden. what do you think of this latest appointment? general mccaffrey couldn't stop say nice things about the skills and accomplishments of general austin. >> well, nicolle, joe biden is someone i have complete trust in having served in the senate and

so from that side of the house it was very involved in appointments and cabinet confirmations and then serving as vice president. he knows what he needs in all of these positions. and given what we're seeing from the trump campaign, to the bitter end, they're going to be serving trump and his ego and his political needs first, the country second. you know, the clock is ticking. and so what makes me excited when you see the health team that was announced, general austin, is we'll have professional people with integrity, who put the job and the work first on the job in just a matter of weeks. but, you know, what is happening at -- right now, you mentioned the defense department refusing to brief transition officials. if our adversaries had put a plant in washington, to do damage to america, they couldn't be doing a better job. an this is a duly elected president of the united states who just today said he was rewarded with a great electorate

victory as the supreme court a few minutes ago shut another door. so we've run out of words to describe it. and so every day we see the people that joe biden will surround himself with, it gives us confidence but we remain cautiously confident because there is a lot of damage that could be done on the way out of the door here. >> well, and elise, just to build on david's point, we just have jonathan swan on who has a interview with chris krebs who describes donald trump's disinformation as a domestic threat. and i wonder what you make of the moves that donald trump is making very public and aggressive moves putting wholly unqualified people on to important boards at the pentagon. putting some of the trumpiest of all trump appointees in the pentagon for the final days of the presidency. what do you worry about?

>> those appointments luckily are going to be short-term because i would presume that president-elect biden will immediately remove cory lewandowski and david bossie in particular from the defense business advisory board. >> that is a good bet. >> and that is just one of the moves that you could pretty much say should happen. and the other machinations of trump loyalties within the pentagon, there is a finite amount that they could accomplish before president briden and his team come in. that said, i'm concerned about the political ramifications of president-elect biden's decision to nominate general austin. i wonder if that is a trickier confirmation than his team is foreseeing. i'm sure they have counted the votes but will you have those opposed to a waiver for general mattis and voting against giving

a waiver out of principle, out of opposing that a uniform officer should be more than seven years out of service before heading up the secretary of defense position which is a position traditionally for civilians with the exception of general georgia marshall and another extraordinary appointment. is this going to be a stumbling block for president biden as he seeks to fill his cabinet? i'm not so sure given that senator blumenthal and jon tester have already spoken out and said that they -- notwithstanding the incredible qualifications of general austin and his character and all of the accolades that he's very -- very well deserving that they could not support another waiver for this position. >> david plouffe, i want to give you a chance to weigh in on that. but i just want to say this as someone who has covered the

entire biden sort of political endeavor, he is not an emotional leader. he does not get thrown off his plan after he loses iowa, new hampshire and nevada. and it seems that it is his choice and it is his plan to have general austin as his secretary of defense. i'm guessing that there was some contemplation of what elise just articulated before he made this nomination. >> sure. i think joe biden understands what he's inheriting here, though. so he understands there is even some democrats who may not be there for confirmation. but i think joe biden on each of these positions, whether they be senior staff in the white house or cabinet secretaries, is really focused on one thing. who do i want in that job. even if there are others that might go through an easier confirmation. i think he understands again, no president other than the last

president with this scale of challenges was roosevelt. think about that. so particularly given the economic challenges and the challenges with the pandemic and the distribution and adoption of the vaccine. each one of these cabinet secretaries, particularly secretary of state, department of defense, your intelligence appointees, it is not like the president is not dialed in but you need super strong performers. so i think that is what he's optimizing. i'm sure his advisers are telling him, you know, if you're down to two people, this person might be easier to confirm but he's going to say this is the person i want in the seat. when i'm in the situation room and i turn to my right, this is who i want to be in the secretary of defense's seat. and i think given the level of the scale of the challenges we're facing, i think that is the right approach. >> two of my favorite people to talk about all of these things. thank you for spending some time with us. an this note as we go to break.

nbc news could report that joe biden will nominate ohio congresswoman marsha fudge to business his secretary of housing and urban development. when we come back, mexico didn't pay for donald trump's border wall but say whistleblower complaint alleges that armed guards were smuggled in to protect it. that story is next. t it that story is next i have an idea for a trade.

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and potential profit and loss. could've used that before i hired my interior decorator. voila! maybe a couple throw pillows would help. get a strategy gut check from our trade desk. ♪ this wall can't be climbed. it is very, very hard. we have climbers. we had 20 mountain climbers. that is all they do. they love to climb mountains. they could have it. me, i don't want to claim mountains. but it is designed to absorb heat so it is extremely hot. you could fry an egg on that wall and they're going to bring hoses and water and we are don't know where they're going to hook it up but going over it is virtually impossible. >> he seems to proud that day. and so sadistic.

of course in reality "the new york times" reports that trump's wall has proven anything but. with repeated breaches necessitying repairs and now two whistleblowers are saying that the repairs were completed from help from workers not authorized to be on the job and in a february complaint unsealed by a judge on friday, whistle-blowers accused smuggling armed mexican security into the u.s. to guard construction sites. ultimate concrete built a dirt road to expedite illegal border crossings to sites in san diego using construction to block security cameras. an unnamed supervisor approved the operation according to the complaint. joining our conversation is nbc news correspondent julia ainsley. this goes against everything that trump said, these are jobs

not for americans, this is a wall that was never as great and mighty as said. it is a wall that was never built in the manner that he said it would be. >> right. i mean, the irony is not lost here. especially because the president continued to conjure up images of massive cartels and gangs that were armed coming across border to do harm to innocent americans and we need to build this call to keep people out and now we have mexican nationals armed unvetted to coming to secure this site in a way not vetted by the u.s. government and we don't know who these people are or how they're being used. so the irony is not lost here. the other thing i want to point out, this is not a small company on the border, the large contractor sullivan land services had $1.4 billion in federal contracts to build wall, that being replacement wall and california, new mexico and texas. so this was not some small

company that might have made a mistake. these whistleblowers are alleging that this very large company and the subcontractor or ultimately concrete did, in fact, partake in this scheme to bring the people in and the whistleblowers say they were wh they tried to bring these issues up. now, all of this came out in february, or it was sealed, the whistle blowers came forward in february and just on friday, was this unsealed and made available to the 3public and you can't hep but see the irony, too. >> i was going to ask you about that part of it. it looks like they are alleging a coverup and my last question for you is how much do you think is still unknown about not just the incompetence and cruelty of immigration policies but the legal questions, potential ill legality of it? >> a lot. you diminish the oversight

powers to ram through a construction project like this in warp speed, a lot of the bid processing that's usually competitive and oversight that's usually going into something like this is diminished. these are real problems, allegedly from whistle-blowers that can occur. >> julia ainsley, always with the back story on these stories. just come across and blow your mind. thank you for spending time with us. when we return, as we do every day, we will remember lives well lived. day, we will r lives well lived things... ...can become your big moment. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea or vomiting. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment.

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just the other day, the five children had a request. he wanted to face time his dad. jennifer says she had to tell her son quote, no, honey, heaven doesn't work like that. they don't have that setup. jennifer's high school sweet heart matthew was an american hero. according to the nbc station in dallas-fort worth, he joined the army when he was 17 years old. matthew went to basic training before he finished high school and after he graduated, he served ten years, two tours in iraq when he finally came home, he joined the church band and he raised a loving, beautiful family. matthew started feeling sick on halloween. what started as a fever turned into body aches. he told jennifer it felt like all the bones in his body broke

at once. after awhile, it got hard to breathe so he went to the hospital. matthew law dired a week and a half ago at the age of 35. we'll leave you with jennifer's description of her new normal, the agony. quote i wake up in the morning, i get in the shower, i cry my eyes out. i scream. i get angry. i get out, i get dressed. i pull myself together and say you've got five kids. ready? go. jennifer continued. somebody gave me some good advice. minute by minute, hour by hour you get through it. you never get over it. you'll get through it. so we're just getting through it. we all are and we are thinking of you and praying for you. we g of you and praying for you same goes for all of us. we'll be right back. tonight...i'll be eating crab cakes with spicy aioli.

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thank you so much for letting us into your homes during these truly extraordinary type. we're grateful . "the beat" with ari melbur starts now. we start with breaking news, the supreme court is rejecting a challenge. this is new order that rejects any effort to challenge biden's win in pennsylvania another loss for a trump gop strategy that has become legally futile. a scatter shot of complaints and challenges in different states to be clear would not individually change the outcome of biden's victory no matter what happened even if they were more successful but what i'm reporting tonight, new from the supreme court is even these