for 20 million americans before the end of december. it is truly a medical and an inspiration to people across this country. >> 20 million, that's just 18 days away. you have 2.9 million going out right now, that doesn't seem possible, does it? >> i think it's possible. you know, i certainly heard those discussions and i think that's a reasonable prediction, and i have confidence around that. >> so you still expect to vaccinate 20 million people by the end of the month, even though you just shipped out 3 million doses this week. >> we'll be getting more and more pfizer product and we have 12 1/2 million of moderna, that will ship out soon thereafter. 20 million vaccinations this month. ♪ promises promises ♪ >> promises, so many promises, the trump administration has been pledging vaccinations for

20 million americans by the end of december. december ends tomorrow. and yesterday the cdc reported that 11.4 million doses have been sent to states and only 2.1 million people have received the vaccine's first dose. >> we certainly are not at the numbers that we wanted to be at the end of december. you heard talking about 40 million doses for 20 million people. i mean, even if you undercount, 2 million as an under count, how much under count could it be. we are below where he want to be. >> all right. good morning, and welcome to "morning joe," it is wednesday, december 30th. i'm kasie hunt, alongside white house reporter for the associated press, jonathan lemire. we are once again in for joe, mika and willie as we wrap up this hard year. with us we have republican strategist and senior adviser to the lincoln project, susan del percio, and host of msnbc's

policy nation and the president of the national action network, reverend al sharpton. john, it is pretty incredible to watch all of those comments from white house officials over the last couple of months making these promises, saying they are going to get this out the door, only to be where we are here with just one more day, 1 1/2 more days left in 2020. the trump administration has to be on the defensive about this, and they have been under attack from the biden transition even. >> first let's grab the good news piece of that sentence, we are in the pen ultimate day of 2020. this terrible year almost over, but you're right, this is a president, as we have been documenting morning after morning, who has largely checked out. who has abandoned his day job and responsibilities, particularly when it comes to battling this pandemic that is surging throughout the country and has claimed more than 100,000 lives just since election day, but one thing that was supposed to be a signature

achievement was the development and rollout and distribution of this vaccine. you saw the clips there, the promises were bold. they were strong and at least to this point, they haven't been met, and we're going to get into this much more in a moment. there's been extraordinarily strong push back from the white house, trying to be defensive about this from the president himself, from the press secretary, from the administration officials, trying to suggest that this vaccine rollout is happening as planned even though we know that not as many americans are receiving this as nearly as they hoped, but of course the other drama that we're following right now, and i know you're watching so very closely is capitol hill, and we saw some pretty dramatic stuff on the floor yesterday. can you walk us through the machinations and the plotting, perhaps, that senate majority leader mitch mcconnell has been doing? >> as dramatic as the senate floor can ever be. john, we have been talking about this all week, and the way that president trump has suddenly

decided that he's going to push these $2,000 checks, and we should remind everyone, if this is what the president wanted, he could have had it, he just would have needed to say so during any of the months that these negotiations were going on, but now he's insisting, okay, i want a vote on this, and it's left mitch mcconnell in a position of trying to defend the two senators that are running for reelection in georgia. they both have said they want $2,000 checks, but it's clear so many other republicans are opposed to it, so he's come up with this strategy, and he's basically laying it back at the feet of the president. he's saying while president trump tied these three issues together when he actually gave in, signed that covid relief bill, and those issues are related to tech liability or liability for tech companies, i should say, as well as an election fraud commission. and basically, what happens, you package all of those things together, and then you cannot get the support for the $2,000 checks, even though there is

incredibly broad support for it in congress. the house passed it by a 2/3 vote, and that really underscores, as we head into the new year, how difficult it is. and i keep thinking about the people who just are watching what is happening and they're saying, my life is so hard because of this pandemic and you, congress, can't get it together. but this is often how they deal with things like this, and this is how mcdonnell has been doing it, john. >> sort of regular business, and i'm sure we know the partnership between mitch mcconnell and president trump is remade in many ways, the federal judiciary. there are a lot of conservative goals accomplished. one has to wonder in private moments if the senate majority leader also counting down the day to january 20th. at least his job will have more clarity. we're going to revisit that shortly. first, back to the matter of the vaccinations and the struggles this administration has had getting to the americans who need them, and they're receiving a lot of criticism, including from president-elect joe biden. he spoke yesterday, again,

urging americans to wear a mask, and calling on president trump to set that example in nhis finl days in office and called trump out for his handling of the vaccine distribution. >> the trump administration's plan to distribute vaccines is falling behind, far behind. this will take more time than anyone would like, and more time than the promises from the trump administration have suggested. this is going to be the greatest operational challenge we have ever faced as a nation, but we're going to get it done. >> likely in response to biden's comments, trump took to twitter to blame the states for the vaccine distribution lag and threw out a random swine flu tweet. reflecting a lag in reporting from local health authorities. the white house released a statement touting the speed of the vaccine developments, and here's the assistant secretary of health, admiral brent g

girrard. >> the federal plan is to provide the guidance, infrastructure, the vaccines, the distribution mechanisms, the needles, alcohol swabs but it's at state and local levels to get vaccines at arms, like it always is, every year, it's done at the local level. the federal government doesn't invade texas or montana and provide shots to people. we support the state and locals in doing that. >> let's bring in geoff bennett in beautiful wilmington, delaware, geoff, great to see you. walk us through yesterday the argument that the president-elect is making and specifically the complaints that he is voicing about both the vaccine distribution but also the obstacles that his team is facing as they are about to inherit this problem in just three weeks from today. >> reporter: and jonathan, what's so interesting about this push back from the white house, admiral brett girar explained

the crux of the issue. the administration is saying they're responsible for the distribution of the vaccines but the states are responsible for the vaccinations. as we well know, states are stretched thin. they are cat strapped, now ten months into this pandemic, and what they're looking for is stronger, federal, intervention. it was the same thing with testing, the administration kept saying for months that more test kits are being rolled out to states. yet, we knew the tests weren't being administered because the states needed more help from the federal government. what we heard from joe biden yesterday was not a plan to get vaccines distributed. it was a plan to get vaccines into the arms of americans. he talked about how he would invoke the defense production act to ramp up the production of vaccines but also the protective gear that's needed to administer it. he called for additional funding from congress so that the states could get the money they need to really stand up, for a vaccination effort, and even

talked about creating vaccination sites, federally backed vaccination sites and having mobile units sent out to hard to reach parts of the country. beyond that, he talked about having a public messaging campaign to boost vaccine acceptance. for two days straight, we saw joe biden call out the administration. earlier this week it was about the roadblocks that trump appointees at the pentagon were p putting up, and yesterday he was talking about how the trump administration has fallen short of the vaccine rollout. joe biden becomes president in 21 days and he is articulating the challenges the country faces and he will inherent as commander in chief, jonathan and kasie. >> reverend al i was struck

watching when we came in with the long list of promises from administration officials. they have gotten americans' hopes up for month, really. everyone has been desperate for the pandemic to come to an end, and the officials have been out there saying don't worry, it's coming, we got this, but they're setting in some ways expectations for the biden administration that are just being set up to fail. do you think that's part of what's going on here, and what is the challenge for the biden team? >> well, the challenge for the biden team is to give a realistic projection on what can be delivered, whether this is a set up or not, it in effect, will be acting as a set up if the biden team does not give realistic expectations, be able to deliver on them, and if we are not successful in challenging the federal government to give the states what they need to operate. one of the arguments on capitol hill and you know this better

than anyone, has been aid to the states who are already operating in deficit, and if the federal government under president trump is saying that it's not us, it's the states, but then they're not giving the states the kind of revenue and support that they need, it really falls back on them and they will pass it off to biden and be the first one blaming biden on january 21st, the day after the inauguration, they will make it his problem. >> we saw an extraordinary amount of defensiveness from the trump administration on this yesterday, geoff. including saying that they have invoked the dpa, which we should remind viewers, was a career war level to boost production for a war effort, in this case, a vaccine effort. joe biden and his team is saying, no, we're the ones that are going to step forward. can you explain the discrepancy. what is the trump administration talking about.

how have they used this measure before, and what specifically do we think the biden team is going to do in order to get these, to use that nsh measure to get the vaccines to the americans who need them. >> so the trump administration invoked the defense production act to ramp up the production of ppe. to ramp up the production of nasal swabs and so the president used that 1950s era law, really as it relates more to the testing kits and rollout of a testing strategy, such that it existed. the administration really has not used that for vaccine production in the way that the biden transition is talking about doing as it relates to the vaccination rollout. there's also an issue with producing the raw materials needed to actually produce the vaccines and so that is where the defense production act, biden transition officials say, could be particularly useful, jonathan. >> nbc's geoff bennett, thank you so much. enjoy the day in delaware.

kasie, this is certainly going to be a monumental challenge for the biden team as they come in. starting behind the game, and certainly the urgency will only increase as we see numbers of americans dying rise sharply, and are expected to surge even more in cases of infections after the christmas holidays. >> yeah, those warnings of course that january is likely to be the toughest month that we have seen yet, even as we have this hope of a vaccine, and to that point, a newly elected member of congress has died from complications related to the coronavirus. lou letlow, a republican from louisiana was set to take office on sunday. the entire louisiana delegation, as well as speaker pelosi and minority leader mccarthy offered c condolences. he leaves behind a wife and two young children. he announced he was diagnosed less than two weeks ago on december 18th and just a few

days later he was hospitalized and later transferred to another hospital. it is not believed that letlow had any underlying conditions. our thoughts are with his family today, and we're going to get much more on the coronavirus pandemic from dr. nahid bhadelia in just a few moments. we want to go to politics in georgia where an audit of the state's absentee ballots has found no evidence of fraud. more than 15,000 randomly chosen absentee ballot envelopes in cobb county were reviewed for this report. there were ten ballots that were initially flagged as being unsigned or having mismatched signatures, but investigators later confirmed that they were, in fact, legitimately cast by the voters who returned them. and the audit ultimately confirmed a 99% confidence level in the presidential election results after two recounts, both by hand and by machine. still, president trump continued to rail against georgia republicans, tweeting last night, quote, i love the great state of georgia but the people

who run it from the governor to the secretary of state are a complete disaster and don't have a clue or worse. nobody can be this stupid. trump then proceeded to touch on some type of conspiracy that raffensperger's brother works for china which somehow connects to what he says is going on in georgia. there is only one small problem with this, brad raffensperger does not have a brother, as has been pointed out by many on social media. according to newsweek, trump is likely referring to ron raffensperger, ceo of the chinese technology firm huawei. the two men are not, in fact, related. susan del percio, we are, in the final days of this, seeing conspiracy theories spiraling. brad raffensperger has been the subject of threats to himself, his family member, all four, a sensible crime of telling the

truth about this election. and the president will just not let this go. >> for president trump, it's never enough, and he will continue to live out these delusional fantasies that somehow he's going to change the election results. the results are in. biden won. donald trump lost. he lost georgia three times. once on election day, and two other recounts, but what does concern me is the talk of violence and the talk of getting revenge, and speaking out against people in such a divisive way, especially when we look towards next week when the electoral college will be certified and donald trump is urging people to come to washington and saying it's going to be, you know, a crazy time. and the proud boys, we talked about in your showcase, they are now banned from your hotel where they typically gather. but they cause a lot of violence

three weeks ago, including several stabbings, and donald trump encourages this behavior and that's what's truly dangerous. i laugh when i hear about the brother that doesn't exist, and that's just trump being trump, but then he takes it a step to a point where people's lives are in danger and this is what he's focusing on. we now look at almost approaching 340,000 deaths, and donald trump is focused on losing yet another court battle, and who he can go out and rant and rave about. and just looking at georgia, is this the person you want coming to georgia the day before your election and quote supporting you? i think he's going to cause a lot of problems for republicans in georgia on january 4th. >> i strongly suspect that hugo chavez knows the location of the georgia secretary of state's nonexistent brother. reverend sharpton, this of course, the president's latest conspiracy theories, his latest

attacks on the great state of georgia come less than a week before the senate runoff election there. and the president is heading to georgia in a matter of days for a rally, and i'm sure rhetoric like this makes a lot of republicans rather nervous. give us your assessment, what's the state of play from what you're hearing on the ground from georgia. one of the democratic candidates, jon ossoff will be a guest on the show in a little bit. what's your sense of it, the enthusiasm that carried joe biden to capture georgia, the first democrat to take that state in decades, is that going to be able to be recreated here, rev? we have heard, kasie and i have both heard, that operatives on both sides of the race, democrats and republicans alike believe it's a close race, but might say a slight advantage to the gop right now. >> there is a lot of enthusiasm on the ground as i can attest to from talking to people throughout the state. national action network, my

group has an office in atlanta. there's a lot going on on the ground but there is also a lot of pushback by the republicans. there is clearly going to be a close race, and i think that the behavior or misbehavior of donald trump on the night before could be very decisive in a race this close, but i think that ossoff and reverend warknock has put together a great ground game and may be able to pull off the enthusiasm in terms of delivering the vote that biden got, and stacey abrams and others are to be given credit for that, but i think it's too close to call. >> of course we're going to ask jon ossoff about all of this later on on the show. still ahead on "morning joe," the united states confirms its first case of the new coronavirus strain that has been spreading rapidly across the u.k. we're going to have the very latest on the pandemic.

the "wall street journal" editorial board continues its criticism of president trump. we're going tyo take a look at latest piece, mitch mcconnell is trying to minimize the harm from a vengeful trump. you're watching "morning joe." don't go anywhere. we'll be right back. g "morning " don't go anywhere. we'll be right back. i got uh sausage - you can do better, steve! get a freshly made footlong, from subway®! you can even order on the subway® app! did i just get picked off by deion sanders? you sure did! now in the app, get a free footlong when you buy two. because it's footlong season™! it's time for theraflu hot liquid medicine. powerful relief so you can restore and recover. theraflu hot beats cold.

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in the fight against the coronavirus as the british drug maker astrazeneca's vaccine candidate received regulatory approval in the united kingdom. some good news here. the vaccine made in collaboration with oxford university comes three weeks after the u.k. became the first nation to roll out the pfizer biontech vaccine. the vaccine is considered vital for vaccination efforts in developing countries because it's cheaper to make and easier to store for long periods of time because it requires only normal refrigeration temperatures to remain viable, so that makes distribution quite a bit easier. the british health secretary

says the first doses would be administered on january 4th. john. >> 2020 is not done with us yet, kasie. for the first time in the united states a case of the new coronavirus variant has been found. initially seen in the u.k., it has been reported, adding urgency to the efforts to vaccinate americans. the variant was found in chicago in a man in his 20s who is in isolation southeast of denver in albert county. according to state health officials, he had no travel history. scientists in the u.k. believe the variant is more contagious than previously identified strains. the discovery sparked border closures in european countries like ireland, france, belgium and germany, as well as countries outside the continent. joining us now, infectious diseases physician, and medical director of the special pathogens unit at boston school of medicine, dr. nahid bhadelia, an msnbc medical contributor. thank you for being here. let's start there. we sensed it was a matter of

time as soon as there were reports that the new more contagious variant was discovered in the u.k. and quickly spread across other countries that it would be found here in the u.s. can you tell us now, obviously this is still a new thing, but after a few weeks of study, what's the latest in terms of how contagious this strain really is, how dangerous it really is, and is there a sense that the vaccine can handle it? what should americans know about it, and how should they prepare? >> good morning, jonathan. as you said, this was something that public health practitioners have been expecting, partly because we're not sequencing as many diagnosed cases in the u.s. we're likely to see more cases being reported because we're actively looking for it. the u.k. has done a couple of different studies to show that the variant is 60% more transmissible. over the period of december it's become the predominant strain that they're diagnosing so after it was discovered, it became the

new strain that most people are getting infected with. they have now also done two other studies, one that looked at secondary infections. what they showed is people who had this strain were much more likely to pass it to other people around it in a case controlled study, and lastly, they noticed people who have the strain are much more likely to have a higher amount of virus in their respiratory tract which makes it of course easier to transmit. all of those things bring it together to the fact that even though we don't yet know in terms of, it doesn't look like it's likely more deadly. they haven't discovered that in the studies that the threats have done so far. we do know that because it's more transmissible, it is likely to lead to more infections which may eventually lead to more hospitalizations of course and deaths. the good news, of course, jonathan is we know how to protect ourselves from this, do the same things we do with every other strain, wear the mask, keep the distance, do not gather in crowds and of course when the vaccine is available get vaccinated. >> dr. bhadelia, let's talk

about the vaccine here, and we do know that the astrazeneca vaccine operates a little differently than the pfizer and moderna vaccines. are you confident that all three of these vaccines would work against this new strain? or what do researchers know and not know about whether or not these vaccinations will still be effective against this new strain we're seeing? >> kasie, so this is the concern, right, i think that for the most part, most folks would say if you were to put a bet on it right now, it's likely the vaccines will remain effective because a number of, you know, mutations that you might need in a virus to change the effectiveness or efficacy of all of these vaccines would have to be much larger. however, this is something that's still being studied. astrazeneca has looked at that, and they're currently sort of going to be reporting that as are both pfizer and moderna looking at just the mutations and the effectiveness, so we don't have complete data on that. even if it reduces the efficacy of the vaccine by a little, most

public health folks would agree, even if you saw the efficacy went down, the vaccinations themselves would have a huge public health impact for the individual and most people who take it to bring the number of cases down and keep people protected from new infections. >> doctor, what is being done to educate people on the safety of the vaccines? as you know, there's been a lot of people, particularly in communities of color that have based on history suspicions about the vaccines. now that we're hearing about additional vaccines, it complicates matters even more. what is being done to relieve people of the fear of even engaging in the vaccine at all once it becomes available to the general public more readily? >> this is where i'm so glad to hear president-elect biden talk about it yesterday because, as you know, some amount of that relief bill that was passed on monday or sunday, was supposed

to be money for vaccine education as well as resources to administer those vaccines at the last mile, and so i'm really glad to hear it's passed. but there hasn't been as strong of an outreach as you would like to see from our federal government. you have seen a lot of sort of citizen scientists reaching out, you know, and you're seeing trusted messengers coming out of the communities that are affected, which is great to see. really what i would love to see is more considered an effort as president-elect biden said in terms of investing in that messaging, particularly reaching out to hard hit communities, black, indigenous, people of color, those that have really been disproportionately affected by this disease, and for whom. these vaccinations will be particularly a relief in the communities trying to bring hospitalizations and deaths down. >> doctor nahid bhadelia, thank you so much as always for your insight and expertise here.

we want to go now to system of the other stories that we are following this morning. we are learning new details about the nashville bomber's checkered past with the police. according to documents obtained by the tennessean, more than a year before the christmas day explosion that destroyed parts of downtown nashville, officers were tipped off to the suspect reportedly making bombs. on august 21st, 2019, police visited the suspect's home after his girlfriend said he was quote building bombs in the rv trailer at his residence. after finding no evidence in a search of the property themselves, the officers then forwarded the information to the fbi. the fbi claims to have run the suspect's name through a data base, but no further action was taken at the time. in the after math of last week's destruction, the tennessee bureau of investigation claimed that the suspect was quote not on our radar prior to the bombing. now to louisville where two police officers tied to the deadly raid that killed breonna

taylor both received notice that the police department intends to fire them. detective miles cosgrove who is one of the officers who shot taylor, and dr. james were notified of the department's intentions yesterday. a lawyer for cosgrove confirmed he received a letter of termination, but he did not comment further. the officers still have the right to a pretermination hearing before they're officially hired according to the louisville metropolitan police department. also yesterday, the justice department announced it will not bring federal criminal charges against two cleveland police officers in the 2014 killing of 12-year-old tamir rice, saying video of the shooting was too poor of quality for prosecutors to conclusively establish what had happened. the decision revealed in a lengthy statement doesn't condone the officers' actions but says the cumulative evidence was not enough to support a federal criminal civil rights

prosecution. reverend al, your reaction to both this decision in the tamir rice case, and also the actions of the louisville police department in the case of breonna taylor. >> the decision of the federal government not to proceed in the tamir rice case, a 12-year-old boy with a toy gun, and you can see in the video the police jump out of the car. you don't need a high quality video to see what happened. in seconds they shot and killed him, and for there not to proceed with a federal kcase is an outrage, and many of us involved in this particular situation only asked for a fair day in court, and they have now denied that. i think it is indicative of the trump administration's using the civil rights division of the justice department to really deny civil rights proceedings going forward and letting a jury decide on evidence. and in terms of louisville, i not only think those policemen should have been fired, i think

they should have been prosecuted. they engaged in clearly going in a wrong place and killing someone who was not even guilty of being looked into for a particular situation that they were assigned to do. they should not have not only been on the force, they should be in a courtroom having to defend their actions. >> reverend sharpton thank you for your perspective on that. we'll shift gears when we return. coming up, with foreign policy a delicate matter for any american president, there are additional hurdles for joe biden as his transition team faces resistance from the current administration. we'll break down the biggest national security concerns awaiting the president-elect. don't go anywhere. "morning joe" will be right back. anywhere. orning joe" will be right back university of phoenix is awarding up to one million dollars in new scholarships

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we have encountered road blocks from the political leadership at the department of defense and the office of management and budget. right now we just aren't getting all the information that we need and the truth is many of the

agencies that are critical to our security have incurred enormous damage. many of them have been hollowed out in personnel, capacity, and in morale. in the policy processes have atrophied or have been sidelined and the despair of our alliances, and the disrepair of those alliances. >> that was joe biden on monday calling out pentagon officials for their quote stone walling of his incoming administration by those he describes as trump loyalists. he says adversaries could exploit any confusion during the changing of administrations. joining us now, former nato supreme allied commander and retired four star navy admiral, james z james, also with us the president on the council of foreign relations and the author of the book, the world, a brief

introduction, richard haas. admiral, i want to start with you, you have firsthand experience when it comes to these transitions. i want to get your take on what the president-elect deemed stone walling by the trump administration. do you agree with his assessment that this is something that could be taken advantage of and exploited by our adversaries. explain to us why this is so dangerous. >> the right word, jonathan, is dangerous, and yes, i have been involved as senior official in secretary of the navy and secretary of defense during periods of transition so i have seen this firsthand and i'll give you three quick ones. there are tactical problems, operational problems, and strategic problems, so tactically, let's imagine that we see movement on the korean peninsula, that that intelligence flow, that build up of information is not available to the biden team, yet they walk

in the door, literally january 20th. they're blinded. secondly, operationally, the decisions being made right now about where to move a carrier strike group, for example, toward the arabian gulf, we just moved one in there, we moved tomahawk shooting missiles in there, what's the operational rationale behind that, what's the logistics, you don't want to walk in blind to that on january 20th, and finally, jonathan, at the strategic level, the incoming team needs to understand at least a snapshot of what the outgoing team is thinking about and how they're connecting the dots on how we face china. for example, in the south china sea, freedom of navigation patrols continue. so there are real world consequences here, and i call on, absolutely call on the pentagon officials who are indeed trump loyalists who walked in the door less than a month ago at the very senior

levels, including the acting secretary of defense. let's do the right thing here for the nation. >> well, and that brings us, richard, richard haas to one of the top three foreign policy stories you're looking at as we wrap up 2020 and head into 2021, that is the change from the trump administration to the biden administration. how do you view all of this from a big picture perspective as it relates to our national security going forward? >> it makes it difficult for the new administration to get out of the blocks at the speed you would like. but these are experienced people, and places like the pentagon, you've got the uniform military which will still be there after january 20th. it's highly professional. i actually think the new administration there will patch up. i'm actually more worried about areas where they're sempimply n going to know what was said and done in u.s./russia relations

and china relations in the communications this president had with his counter parts, and you know, one of the big things the biden administration is going to have to deal with is going to be the reemergence of great power rivalry, above all with china. a china that's far more assertive or broad. far more repressive at home. it's also wealthier, it's coming out of this pandemic in very good shape relative to others, and that to me is going to be one of the fundamental challenges facing the biden administration. >> richard i want to just drill down a little bit more on china and our relationship there. our relationship with our allies, if you will, can, i think, be recovered by biden, but dealing with china, what do you see the biggest challenge biden faces because we're dealing on so many issues. like you said, there are national security in their aggressiveness, for example, as what they may be doing towards

taiwan, and also what their control over hong kong, but i also look at the tariffs that were put in place by this administration and the relationship and the stress it caused between the tariffs and the covid or coronavirus response by this administration, how they blamed china. what exactly is biden walking into and what would be the first thing he should try and tackle to maybe temper our relationship a little bit? >> i actually think the most important thing we can do vis-a-vis china is get ourselves in order. if we're going to compete with china, the united states has to be working on all cylinders. that means getting covid under control, it means getting the u.s. economy going. it means coming up with a more intelligence immigration policy. essentially, if we get ourselves shorted out, if we rebuild our relations with our allies, i'm not worried at the end of the day about our ability to compete with china. more fundamentally, what we're going to have to figure out, and this will be a challenge for

american diplomacy, how do we push back where it will be essentially in the south china sea and in particular over taiwan, over their human rights violations, over their theft of intellectual property, how do we push back where we must at the same time the relationship does not spill over into direct conflict, and we don't rule out the possibility of cooperating where it's still in our interest to cooperate. for example, on reigning in north korea's nuclear and missile problems. that's going to be a neat and difficult piece of foreign policy. >> one of the other challenges on richard's list is iran, and admiral, i wanted to get your assessment of the situation there. obviously tensions are high. we're coming up in a matter of days on the year anniversary of the killing of general solemani, and the fate of the jcpoa, the nuclear deal. where do you see how things stand with iran now, and how

would you advise the new administration to come in as they inherit which is a particularly tricky situation left to them by the trump team. >> i would start not by going to teheran but by ging going >> i would start not by going to teheran but by ging goi to brussels, what i mean by that, the most important thing we can do in terms of confronting iran is to get our allies, our house in order. our greatest advantage in the world, and i know my good friend richard would agree with this, and i have extreme globe envy, looking at his two globes, as opposed to i only have one. richard would agree that we need to put our alliances together, and just as we need to do so to construct a strategy to deal with china and i have always formulated that as with china as confront where we must, cooperate where we can. i think it's a little different in iran, and therefore we're going to need those allies more than ever. go to brussels, get alignment

with that team, talk to ursula vander lien, the the marvelous leader of the european union, construct and approach that gets us back to the negotiating table. we're not going to be able to parachute back into the jcpoa. it's going to require another round or two of negotiation, carrots have to be offered to the iranians but also means we need to be prepared for some bumpy rides in the arabian gulf. that's going to be in my view, the most complex problem immediately facing this administration. >> so richard haas, your top foreign policy story for both of your globes this morning was the covid-19 pandemic. how do you think that affects our national security and foreign policy over the course of the next year? >> on one hand, it really restrains us economically, politically. we simply don't have a lot of

band width as a country to act in the world until we get things sorted out at home. we don't think of health in some ways as a national security issue, kasie, but it really is. the problem is the world's not going to weight. it's not going to say, okay, you americans, go sort yourselves out and when you're ready, we welcome you back. things are going to go on. we talked about iran, north korea, china, russia, we're going to have to basically deal with our domestic challenge at the same time we deal with the rest of the world and what we're seeing is the world is coming out of this very unevenly. china is doing quite well. vietnam is doing well. several countries in europe and asia are doing well, but the united states, brazil, india, russia, iran, and others are doing terribly. what's so interesting is the countries that are doing well or badly, what doesn't distinguish them is whether they're democracies or authoritarian systems, it's really the quality of the leadership to make smart decisions and then execute them. so what we're going to find out is we're going to inherit, the biden administration is going to

inherit a world very uneven, in many cases, very poor, struggling with this public health challenge, at the same time, all the traditional stuff of foreign policy continues to be sitting there on the agenda. >> and i have heard jake sullivan, the incoming national security adviser echo what you're saying here, richard, that it's important to get things together here at home, and focusing on frankly our own economic health is the first step toward fixing these problems. we should point out, we should not get to a few other stories on richard's list, russia, the cyber attack, the brexit unrest, you gentlemen are going to have to bring your globes back sometime soon to talk about everything on the map. richard haass, and james stavridis, thank you for joining us. 2020 will be written about in the history box as one of the

worst years for workers and their families in american history. we're going to take a look at what happened to the economy this year coming up next on "morning joe." my this year coming up next on "morning joe." ♪ 2020 that's it calling anyone with grit change this, change that, but don't ever quit 2020's done a new era has begun

so keep pushing forward... because this is twenty twenty won the future is still ours to win. make a different future start different at godaddy.com

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>> work ♪ ♪ do the mashed potato ♪ do the twist ♪ i can do the twist tell me, baby ♪ do you like it like this, do you like it like this ♪ >> boston dynamics known for their fleet of agile robots created that dance routine to wish everyone a happy new year. i don't know if it's hilarious or terrifying, jonathan. >> kasie, i, for one, welcome our new dancing robot overlords, although the fear is that this routine would be the last thing the human race sees before we're wiped from existence by these machine. switching gears. senate majority liter mitch mcconnell blocked the stand alone bill that would send checks for $2,000 only to introduce legislation with strings ataetacattached. "morning joe" will be right back. trelegy for copd.

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george wasnia wasn't going bullied. georgia wasn't going to be silenced. georgia certainly wasn't going to stand by and let donald trump or the state of texas or anyone else come in here and toss out your votes. >> that was president-elect joe biden, and on sunday we learned vice president-elect kamala harris will go to georgia, and welcome back to "morning joe." it's wednesday, december 30th, the year is almost over. i'm jonathan lemire alongside nbc's kasie hunt. we're in one more time for joe, mika and willie. still ahead, republican strategist, susan del percio and

the reverend al sharpton and joining the conversation, msnbc mike barnicle. walter isaacson and former act be secretary of labor under prd obama seth harris, currently advising president-elect biden's labor advicement transition team. a lot is going on, kasie, but much of the attention in the political world is focused on what happened in congress yesterday, and the maneuvers from senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. >> that's right. he figured out as he often does how to thread the needle the way that he wants to thread it and all but ensuring that the $2,000 checks will not be going out to americans, and that has president trump lashing out at his own party in this fight over increasing the relief payments. yesterday senator bernie sanders made the argument in favor of sending those higher checks. >> the leaders of our country,

president trump, president-elect biden, minority leader chuck schumer, the speaker of the house nancy pelosi are all in agreement. we have got to raise the direct payment to $2,000. do we turn our backs on struggling, working families? or do we respond to their pain? >> senator sanders didn't mention who, the man who really is the key leader in all of this, and that is senate majority leader mcconnell, who yesterday blocked the attempt by democrats to pass a stand-alone bill that would boost stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000. >> will senate republicans stand against the house of representatives, the democratic majority in the senate, and the president of their own party, to prevent these $2,000 checks from going out the door? we're about to get the answers to these questions.

>> is there objection to the modification? >> object. >> the objection is heard. >> after mcconnell's objection, president trump ramped up the pressure on his own party tweeting, yls republicunless re have a death wish, they must approve. $600 is not enough. before he addressed the senate mcconnell appeared to reveal his strategy for moving forward and is already under fire from democrats for it. mcconnell introduced a bill boost the size of checks, repeal liabilities for companies like facebook and twitter and create election fraud. the legislation would meet many of president trump's recent demands, which are, of course, unrelated to coronavirus relief, but ensures many democrats would almost certainly vote against the measure. senate minority leader chuck schumer criticized him for packaging these, depriving americans of a $2,000 survival

check. and mike barnicle, i mean, this is how things used to be done in washington. it feels like the way i would cover maneuvering in the senate before donald trump was in the white house, but it's pretty cynical, and i think probably pretty demoralizing for the millions of americans who are really struggling to get by as we battle the worst month of this pandemic. >> yeah. demoralizing at a minimum, kasie, i would submit. in your coverage of the senate and the house, and congressional politics prior to the trump administration, that seems like literally another century ago. so much has changed. >> doesn't it? >> drastically change and none for the good. you know, listening to senator mcconnell over the past few days and reading about what he did yesterday, it really is tragic. it's sad. it's pathetic, because here you have a man, mitch mcconnell of kentucky, going out of his way to ensure his own personal

political survival as senate majority leader and leader of the senate republicans. his own survival, over the survival of millions of americans and their families who are at the edge of their own financial survival. somebeing evicted, some already having lost homes, some having lost jobs and some having no hope at the conclusion of this drastically terrible year, and earlier i was listening to you and jonathan as you interviewed admiral stavridis who interviewed that the trump appointees at department of defense has haven't hiding or preventing the biden transition team from important intelligence having to do with how we deal in the world with china and with the soviet union, and walter isaacson, i would like your view on this, given your background, given your status as a historian. this is not only abnormal, it's not only dangerous, it's

historically dangerous, i would submit. do you agree? >> yes. i mean, i think one of the things that we've seen is that in the old way the senate used to do things, which i don't want to glorify, there was a lot of complexities built into bills. there was, as there is in this country from three martini lunches to tax breaks for everybody else. one of the simplest things you could do right now to cut through and help americans get through this it coronavirus pandemic is a serious $2,000 check. and so you first should look at it on the merits, and i think on the merits, the fact that somebody like senator mcconnell is clearly trying to stop those $2,000 checks shows that he prefers that complex maneuvering that gives tax breaks to all the lobbyists, but doesn't say, let me find a way to help people through this crisis.

>> reverend sharpton, i didn't serve isn't congress from the state of florida but am sitting in the chair of a guy who did. seems to me from my amateur analysis with an election a few days away in georgia it's easier to be on the side offering more money than not. seeing in lechler and perdue, the bind president trump put them in as they have come out in fave every or of the $2,000 cheh majority leader mitch mcconnell has made very difficult to achieve. how do these republicans try to figure out balance between what mcconnell wants and what trump wants and what the people are georgia might want? >> the only way they have been able to try to thread the needle is with real hot plate hypocrisy they're serving the people in georgia, because they supported mcconnell in blocking a adoption

by the senate of the congress when it passed the bill that would have given people more money. so now they reversed themselves on the very legislation that could have been passed in the first place. they supported mcconnell when mcconnell said we should do just what mcconnell says we do now, and then they flipped on mcconnell when the president flip and mcconnell. so they have, in my opinion, have demonstrated to the people in georgia exactly where they are, and that is they're going with the wind will blow at any given time. i think what is missing here, is we're not just talking about giving money to americans. we're talking about a pandemic. this is nothing like congress used to be, senate used to be. we've never had to deal with this under a pandemic where you have 300 and almost 40,000 people dead and millions of

people who have been infected, and we're acting like this is about whether it's the old days or the new days. this is a crisis, and the question is how we deal with people that are most impacted by the crisis. >> it's like business as usual for mcconnell in the most unusual and difficult time that we've faced as a country, and seth harris, we were talking earlier with the admiral and richard haass and they talked about the impact of our economic crisis on our position abroad, our standing in the world, and the reality in the view of many is that we are only as strong as our middle class is. the people that are powering our economy, working, taking care of their families every day, and the realities for those people this year in this pandemic are just so incredibly stark and difficult. as you look back over what we've seen this year what do we need

to do in your view to rebuild what has been broken here? i mean, is it possible? >> well, kasie, you're exactly right. this was the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year for american working families with, you know, losing 20 million jobs in a period of about six weeks back in the spring. we still have -- we're still 10 million jobs short of getting back to where we were in february. we had tens of millions of people filing for unemployment claims. we have epic hunger in the united states right now. we've lost hundreds of thousands of small businesses, especially in black and brown communities across the united states. and we've lost 340,000 souls in the united states who, some of whom were the economic supports for their families. they were the bread-innewinnersd now those families are looking at the danger of long-term

poverty. yes, we're in a terrible situation and the question whether or not we'll be able to overcome our politics and pass legislation in washington which is the only place we can make this work that will help bring our economy back. will we have money invests in jobs and things like manufactures, education, and care and other parts of the economy to help us grow as president-elect biden laid out during the campaign to build back better, that program. will we provide immediate emergency relief to americans so that they can support themselves? will we continue to extend unemployment benefits for those who are having grave difficulty finding jobs? will we provide food assistance? provide support to small businesses? we've a done it now, and to their ed considerate, congress acted in the spring and they've just acted. they can do it. they've shown us that they can do it, but there's a very substantial question going forward about whether or not they intend to help lift this economy out of this deep, deep

hole that it's in. >> seth, when you talk about the deep hole that we are in, and the importance of the federal government to help out state and local governments, i think people don't understand exactly what that means when it comes to things like transportation. like in new york city, with the subways, and transportation, and buses, it turns 0 ut that they are operating at such a deficit that they'll have no choice but to raise their fares, which will increase the cost of workers to come and go from their jobs. the fact that governments will have to start laying off more and more people means that there are going to be more unemployed, and even when it comes to things like health care, we're starting to let off emts and ambulance workers and all of those things and how that affects the health of everyday workers who can't afford to go to a private doctor, et cetera. can you explain how that, we

need this -- how we need this support right now or otherwise it could just spiral and take decades to get out of? >> well, susan, you're exactly right, and this is a lesson we should have learned from the great recession and the recovery from the great recession, and that is the critical importance of state and local governments in helping to bring our economy back. we have a million and a half fewer state and local government employees right now than we did back in february, and that's because state and local governments have to balance their budgets. their revenue has fallen through the flo the floor because of the pandemic, and spent huge regarding the health care system because of the pandemic and getting no support from the federal government. one of the great tragedies of this period in our politics is the politicization of support for state and local governments. it's not just support to my home town of new york city. it's support to kentucky.

it's support to texas. it's support to other red states that voted for president trump. those states are also in dire economic shape right now, and your point about transit systems and our infrastructure generally is very, very important. those are the systems, that's the way that people who work for a living get to work. it's how we deliver most of our goods and services in the united states. and those systems are struggling. i'm not sure they're going to be able to raise their rates enough to be able to support themselves. a lot of them, frankly, don't charge anything at all. so they're going to be in very, very serious trouble. they are losing workers. they've certainly lost a lot of riders. the transportation system in our country is in dire shape and was even before the pandemic struck. this politicization of the money going to state and local governments is a tragedy and it's self-defeating for the republican members who are doing it. >> seth harris, thank you very much for your perspective.

we've been talking about georgia, and joining us now, political reporter for the "atlanta journal-constitution," john blustein. i want to ask about hilaria baldwin's non-existent accent but instead will ask about the 11th hour of the debate. how do you see this ton capitol hill? 2,000 versus 600? how do you see that as an 11th hour campaign issue? how does it play out on both sides? >> democrats were just bombarding senator david perdue and kelly loeffler over their wavering, over their silence whether or not they backed their own president, president trump's call for $2,000 checks and just yesterday announced they would. democrats say it's a flip-flop. others say caving to demands and see a ploy. they don't think this vote will even happen. they just think it's sort of an 11th-hour campaign tactic to say they supported this then

actually not having to vote for it. republicans are breathing a little sigh of relief but it deprives democrats of that attack that they've been leveling for the last six or seven days now in georgia. look, even senator perdue had cut and ad last week touting the benefits of the $600 stimulus checks and then was silent over whether or not he'd support president trump's call for tripling it. >> so, greg, it's kasie hunt and good to see you. you are on the ground there in georgia. this is obviously an extraordinary situation, historic runoffs, deciding control of the senate. there has been some polling, but obviously the polling in the general election in 2020 had some misses, although they did actually get it right at least behind the scenes in the state of georgia. what's your sense where the race stands from the ground right now? i mean, i'm talking to plenty people here in washington. democrats, pessimistic about it. republicans, optimistic. what's your take on where it stands here just a couple days

out? >> yeah. look, republicans have the historic edge in georgia. they won every state runoff in history. it's a toss-up down here. operatives i talk to see it as close as can be. democrats clearly built an edge in early voting. so republicans are really relying on a surge of election day turnout, just like they relied on in november. that's why president trump visit monday is so important to them visiting northwest georgia, an area lagged far behind the rest of the state in early turnouts and a deeply conservative area an why in the news this morning president-elect biden is coming on monday as well to rally atlanta. the deepest blue bastion in the state of georgia is going to be, it's huge. a huge moment. a climactic moment for democrats in the state as well. look, these races are coming down to the most climactic ending possible with duelling

campaign clashing events the same day with president-elect biden and president trump on the eve of runoffs that will determine biden's presidency. >> greg, walter isaacson. i wondered to what extent this has become a referendum in georgia on big, national issues and to what extent there's a local difference between the two candidates? ossoff and warnock, and whether or not people are going to vote on them personally or based on what they want to have happen nationally? >> yeah. they're returning basically as a ticket. running as a package deal. the two democrats. they also hope that their differences help drive out electorate, a part of the electorate that doesn't usually vote in huge numbers in state-wide runoffs. younger voters. ossoff, millennial senator, and

with the two a tag team tells hope to drive out a different part of the electorate and they'll need to. 2.5 million people have already voted. so they need all the votes they can get. >> the stakes could not be higher. greg blustein, thank you, as always for your great reporting and insigthts. still ahead on "morning joe," the fight against the coronavirus as astrazeneca approved in the united kingdom. you're watch wering "morning joe." be right back. e. be right back. exactly jen! calm + restore oat gel is formulated with prebiotic oat. and strengthens skin's moisture barrier. uh! i love it! aveeno® healthy. it's our nature.™

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some good news. there is now another vaccine approved in the uk to combat the coronavirus. british drugmaker astrazeneca candidate made in collaboration with oxford university received regulatory approval in the

united kingdom just three weeks after rolling out the pfizer vaccine. the vaccine is considered vital for vaccination efforts in developing countries because it's cleep echeaper to make and to store long periods of time because it only requires normal refrigeration temperatures to remain viable making distribution, of course, much easier. the british health secretary said the first doses would be administered january 4th. walter isaacson i know you participated in one of these early trials and looking carefully at all of the different types of vaccines. this one from astrazeneca worksalities bworks aliti a little differently than some other ones. what should we look at here as they roll that out? >> i think one of the things we should do is look at this historically. for 200 years vaccines have been pretty much based on the same concept, which is, you give a

weeke weakened or killed version of the virus to protect you as a way to inoculate you. instead giving genetic instructions to our own cells. you have the pfizer and moderna vaccines and they do it by putting message mrna into your cells making spike proteins to stimulate your immune system. the oxford vaccine is somewhat different. it engineers the gene that will make those spike proteins in a harmless virus. a virus that gives colds to chimpanzees, but in both cases, our bodies, our own cells, become the manufacturer of the proteins that will give us immunity. i think the just huge that the oxford vaccine, which many of us thought was going to come in first, because it was developed more quickly, they had a sloppy clinical trial, where they gave the wrong doses at first to some

of the initial shots, but they learned from that, and this will be an extraordinarily effective vaccine and as you said, it will be easier to distribute. i'm in the trial and have remained in the trial. meaning i'm still blinded because i want to keep playing by the rules, of the pfizer vaccine, which uses this message are mrna. that needs to be done at very low temperatures, the distribution of that. i assume the johnson & johnson vaccine will be approved in the next four weeks. once we have four types of vaccines, all of them of this new variety, which is using genetic information to tell our cells how to make these proteins that stimulate our immune system, this will be a game-changer and make us able to stop future pandemics. because they're easy to tweak. if the virus mutates, if a new virus comes along, you just

reteich the cor retype the code you need for that particular virus. i think this will be remembered, despite the horrors of this year, as the year in which we finally are able to say we can stop major pandemics from viruses. >> now, i'm really glad that you highlighted that, because this year has been so dark and difficult and obviously it's lard for all of us. to look beyond and all focused whether and when we may be able to get this vaccine ourselves, but that the historymaking nature of this. i can't wait to read whatever you're about to write about this, walter. i'm sure it will be great and of course, as the push for the vaccine continues, there are big questions surrounding them for specifically groups of people who may be expecting babies, breastfeeding or dealing with fertility questions. joining us now, columnist and political analyst, the author of the forthcoming book "hysterical: how sexism in health care kims women."

alities wialso with us, overseeg policy development to advance women's health rights. welcome to you both. i'm so glad to have you here fon this incredibly important conversation, and full disclosure. i have a young toddler and many friends right in the middle of their child-bearing years. this is a question many of them are asking me, they're asking me to ask people like you on tv to figure out what they should do especially if they are pregnant, especially if this is safe for them and for their baby. what is the advice doctors are giving right now and if you are pregnant, what should you be thinking about, what should you be considering if you have the opportunity to take this vaccine? >> well, kasie, that is an excellent question and definitely the question on the minds of many pregnant women. i think frankly it's outrageous after everything we have seen in 2020 and the massive gender gap,

gender impact of covid, that we are not making pregnant women an absolute priority for these vaccine trials. we know overwhelming majority of frontline workers are women. women are child-bearing age, and quite frankly, it is a scandal that we're not making them the priority to be tested on. how can we leave women who are pregnant thinking about being pregnant, could be pregnant and not know it without concrete guidance? this vaccine cannot be safe for everyone until we know it's safe for pregnant women. >> and that is exactly the question. especially for -- women are color already struggled so much. i mean, i spent a lot of time learning about this when i was pregnant with my son. i mean, the numbers are just embarrassing for the united states of america for how we treat especially women of color and our maternal death rates already are just, they are a

tragedy that we should all be frankly ashamed of, and this is, of course, going to be a question for women of color who also, you know, face hurdles of trust when it comes to the vaccine in the first place, because of the history of mistreatment in the american medical system. so what do you think needs to be done to build trust with communities of color, assure them it's going to be safe, and assure the safety of them and their babies? >> yes. certainly. i mean, in order to build trust what we need is more information about how these vaccines will impact pregnant people. as you mentioned, black and indigenous women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications even before the pandemic and now we see that the pandemic is only worsens those disparities. we see that pregnant people are more likely to have severe health outcomes and more likely to be at risk related to covid. and so in order to have a safe,

effective vaccine that we know works for everyone, as was mentioned, we must include pregnant people in these clinical trials, and if they are not included, we must explain the reason why they are not included, and also provide them with the information that they need in order to make informed decisions about whether or not to take the vaccine. informed consent requires information, and right now we are short on information and data to make those decisions. >> the fact that they are not including, pregnant women are not included you does that also mean if there are particular training or particular kinds of service that they would need that may be different than those that are being tested? are doctors and those that are handling the vaccine, are they up to par to handle this situation if they're not working with people that are pregnant? >> you know, it's a great

question, and just to be clear. i mean, from the information we do know, there is no reason to think that these vaccines will not be safe for pregnant people. we know that some vaccines, many vaccines are safe and effective for pregnant people. so, for instance, pregnant people are still encouraged to take the flu vaccine. however, not including pregnant people in trials thus far, just means that we don't have the data to make a definitive answer, and so the guidance that has been given so far is that pregnant women should be given information in order to make an informed decision, but because there is, of course, an increased risk of them with, contracting the vishrus and increased risk if they are not vaccinated. i don't want to say that the scientists have not, you know, done a great job, it's a

historic feat achieved over this past year that many of us didn't think would happen at this time earlier in the year. however, not only do we need more data about the vaccine, we also need more data just generally about covid and pregnant people. most states, many localities are not even reporting pregnancy status as it relates to covid. >> it's a very good point and also left many of our women, health care workers, on the front lines of this having to make these decisions without having the data available to do it. so thank you both for coming on to highlight this problem. we really appreciate it. coming up here, nbc's tom brokaw looks back at an unprecedented year. where the country stand now and what challenges await us in the future. "morning joe" is back in just a moment. ♪

2020 that's it calling anyone with grit change this, change that, but don't ever quit 2020's done a new era has begun so keep pushing forward... because this is twenty twenty won the future is still ours to win. make a different future start different at godaddy.com

there's the white house this wednesday morning, december 30th. welcome back to "morning joe." as he has throughout this unprecedented year, nbc's tom brokaw offered "morning joe" commentary on the state of the nation's political landscape as well as the challenges this country still faces. >> it will be a new day in american politics come january 20th. joe and kamala, the oldest president, and the first woman vice president, a californian with a multiracial background. they won big, but it was overall a mixed result. democrats lost 13 seats in the house. if republicans win the georgia senate races, they'll control that chamber. suburban voters split tickets. they were for biden and harris, but they were still loyal, many of them, to local gop candidates. in the big picture.

black lives matter became a great political force in urban areas. hispanics were left, but they were also right. the american melting pot hat s many more ingredients, so much better organized in the online age. it's no longer just labor versus business. then there is president trump, soon to be the ex president. his bizarre refusal to accept the election results, his war on his own party, his whining while covid patients struggle to survive before too long donald trump's principle audiences will be his caddies. for me an amazing journey. 57 years as a reporter. as a young reporter in omaha i broke into local programming with a bulletin. president kennedy had been assassinated, and for the next 57 years, i covered the seismic

events that roiled our world. but not as catastrophic as this pandemic. we still have miles to go, and no assurances of just how it will all turn out. >> thank you, tom brokaw, for so much, including that commentary. mike barnicle, get you in and get your parting thoughts on it's year that was 2020. down to the last day and a half or so. no one will be sorry to see it go. >> yeah. you know, jonathan, in actuality, the new year really won't begin until shortly after noon on january 20th, 2021, when joseph biden is sworn in as president of the united states, because as tom mentioned, his first day on the job announcing that president kennedy had just been shot in dallas, we are now, i think, in epic -- epic -- danger as a nation, because we

are led by a clearly badly da l damaged man at least since the election, you can prove it, has been just fueled with evil intent trying to destroy the existing order every single day with his tweets and his behavior, and he is the commander-in-chief, and yet i can't think of any other aspect of history where the commander in chief, who's behaved like donald trump behaved since the election and prior to the election but certainly since the election. he would have been relieved of duty in any other command situation. so i'm optimistic, because joe biden is optimistic, but it's going to be a dangerous few days until we get to noon on january 20th. >> thank you, mike, for that. i think some would say there will be two new years beyond january 1st. certainly january 21st, inauguration and whatever day, spring, summer, the vaccination

to all who need it helping us turn the page on next year. up next, runoff in georgia. run vying for a u.s. senate seat, jon ossoff is standing by, right there. he joins the conversation next on "morning joe." e." ♪ the only thing a disaster can't destroy is hope. donate now at redcross.org

the president wants to cut payroll taxes. are you in favor of that? >> well, you know, i think in sending people right now through payroll tax is one way to do it. i do support that. i support that rather than a direct payment like in the first round of c.a.r.e.s. i really opposed that. >> this should have been done four months ago. i'll delighted to support the president in the $2,000. absolutely appropriate. i fully support what the president is doing right now. >> should have been done four months ago. hmm. georgia senator david perdue seeming to just flip his stance on passing out stimulus checks to americans.

joining us, senator perdue's opponent in tuesday's runoff election, candidate jon ossoff. great to see you. thank you for being here this morning. >> good morning. >> it's clear that mitch mcconnell is willing to do whatever it takes in his view to try and win these two senate seats in georgia including using complicated maneuvers to kill this bill while trying to give your opponent the chance to say he voted for it. what's your response to at what mcconnell's done and are democrats in washington doing enough to help you and raphael warnock in these final days? >> thank you again for having me, and with so many georgians and so many americans in dire financial straits right now, credit cards maxed out, bills piling up, behind on rent, facing eviction or foreclosure. the united states senate has for months and months and months obstructed the direct relief payments that people need to survive, and my opponent david perdue who was lining his own

pockets buying medical and vaccine stocks to profit from this pandemic, as you just pointed out in those clips, has opposed direct relief this entire time. what's happening in just a few days? an election. and perdue's in trouble, because georgia voters are standing up in record numbers to remove him from office. so he's flipped his position at the very last minute, but he doesn't mean any of this. he's just another dime a dozen politician who will say whatever he has to say when an election arrives to try to win re-election. if he meant this, he'd be on the floor of the united states senate demanding that mitch mcconnell put up the house bill, a clean $2,000 check authorization for an up or down vote. >> jon, it's jonathan lemire. good morning. thanks for being here and good luck next week. the distinction in the state of georgia when joe biden won it, a few months ago, i know your

final ad entitled "we the people" aimed at the black and brown community, walk us through promises you're making there and how are you trying to generate enthusiasm to ensure that they'll turn out next week? >> well, look, it says a lot about how far georgia has come. that not only are we the most competitive battleground state in the country hosting two u.s. senate runoffs for control of the u.s. senate but the standard bearers in these races are the young jewish son of immigrant mentored by john lewis and a black preacher from ebenezer baptist church who pastored john lewis, and it is no exaggeration to say that black vetters in georgia will determine control of the united states senate, and the course of our republic for the next decade. and they are voting in record numbers right now for health and jobs and justice.

we have the opportunity for the next two years to be the most productive for civil rights in the voting rights legislation since 1964 and 1965, but here's the story that's not being told about what's happening in georgia right now. and this is really really impo and it's being undercovered. the republicans and our opponents are filing lawsuit after lawsuit to disenfranchise black voters in georgia. right as we speak, they have been trying to purge the rolls, trying to remove ballot drop boxes. i am running against a guy, david perdue, who sees black georgiaans as second-class citizens and he is trying to rip away their voting rights as we speak. it's not getting the attention it deserves. i am asking everybody watches to recommit to these races. go to elect jon dot-com to fend off these attacks on voting rights and defend the sacred franchise in georgia. >> mr. ossoff, isn't that really the point of a lot of the

turnout and a lot of the momentum that you are feeling on the ground because this is about the right to vote, this is about the legacy of john lewis and others that we lost this year, c.t. vivian, that are real important to georgians. john lewis was a congressman from georgia, was from georgia. vivian was there. isn't this about not only getting relief from the pandemic and the flip-flop of your opponent there in terms of needs financially, but it's about the right to vote that goes back decades that many families there dealing with two or three generations of their family members having to fight to get this right to vote and it is their duty to protect it? >> reverend al, john lewis' spirit is palpable in georgia right now. he was my first boss, as you

know. reverend warnock pastored john lewis, and he is looking down on what's happening in our state right now with hope and with pride because georgia holds the future of this country in its hand. as i said, it's black georgians who hold the future of this country in hotheir hands. we must end police brutality and reform our criminal justice system and secure equal justice for all, pass a new voting rights act to secure the franchise and make voter suppression the abuse of power tody enfranchise citizens a federal crime. we can do these things if we win these senate races. that's why it is so viet that will we defend the franchise here. and again it's not getting enough coverage, reverend al, that they are working as we speak to rip voting rights away from black georgians. it is a redux of the jim crow tactics. we had a former rep state rep

here a few weeks ago proposing to bring back literacy test. our opponents have been filing lawsuit after lawsuit to take away voting rights from black georgians. it's unacceptable. we need everybody to be focused on protecting the franchise in georgia and resourcing our efforts to defend voting rights here. >> mr. ossoff, it's susan del percio here. you talk a lot about black vovo how it's essential for you to win. turnout is critical. on election day, joe biden won the state with 12,000 votes, and you received 80,000 fewer votes than your opponent. so, yes, turnout is important, but the part where the way joe biden won was also appealing to those suburban voters who had been republicans but had enough of donald trump and they were really turned off. a lot of them are still turned off by republican policies. so what -- and it's a difficult

balance, but what are you doing to reach out to them and say, yes, there is more than one moderate democrat out there and why you should support -- why they should support your candidacy. >> well, it's not a difficult balance at all. the bottom line is that reverend warnock and i are saying the same things no matter their race, no matter their demographics, urban, suburban, rural areas. this is a movement in georgia for health and jobs and justice. for all the people. the level of human suffering across our country and in our state right now is profound. there are so many families, black and white, on the brink of financial ruin. so many have lost so much this year, and it's because of the arrogance and incompetence of incumbent politicians like david perdue who said covid-19 was no deadlier than the flu while he was getting rich off the pandemic, that thousands of people continued to diaper day. we need competent, ethical

leaders who have a heart for the people, who have a record fighting for justice, who will fight to expand access to health care here in georgia, who will fight for the kind of investment and infrastructure and clean energy and economic revitalization that we need here in georgia, and this all about getting out the vote. this is about energy, enthusiasm, turnout and momentum, and it's about protecting voting rights. and i continue to hammer this point home because the public needs to know. the american people need to know that these ongoing efforts to take away voting rights in georgia cannot and will not be tolerated, and i repeat my request for folks to resource our voters protection efforts at elect jon.com. >> all right. i am not going to take that as proof that you guys are out of money. we appreciate your time and your focus on all of this. senate candidate jon ossoff, thank you very much for being here with us this morning. >> thank you. walter isaacson, we have

been focusing on georgia, but ossoff was talking just there about the covid pandemic. over 35 -- we lost over 3,500 of our fellow americans yesterday. your thoughts? >> well, we also have lost more than 1.7 million people around the world. but my thoughts, i'd pick up on something that mike barnicle said, which is we have a new year coming. in fact, two new year's because january 20th at noon will also be a new year. and i think of richard iii, shakespeare, that against with nail is a winter of discontent, may glorious summer by the son of york, that the sun will rise again and by february, march, april, we will start getting vaccines. people are going to be going back to work. we are going to have invented new genetic technologies to fight pandemics and we are going to have a much calmer white house of competent people. you look at all of the

incompetence, that have destroyed us during this pandemic. i think it will remind us we are in this together. we lost in louisiana luke letlow, a republican who had just gotten elected to congress, 41 years old, a really good guy. we are in this together, democrats and republicans. and joe biden is going to help, i think, get us there next year. >> we are going to cling to those notes of hope that you just sounded. still ahead, the trump administration said earlier this month that they planned on vaccinating 0 million americans by the end of december. it seems that goal may not have been realistic and now joe biden is vowing to pick up the pace. "morning joe" will be right back. e right back

been realistic and now joe biden been realistic and now joe biden

under operation warp speed, we are poised to have vaccines

for 20 million americans before the end of december. it is truly a medical miracle. and an inspiration to people across this country. >> 20 million, that's just 18 days away. you have 2.9 million right now. that doesn't seem possible, does it? >> i think it's possible. you know, certainly i heard those discussions and i think that's a reasonable prediction and i have confidence around that. >> you still expect to vaccinate 20 million people by the end of the month even though you just shipped out 3 million this week? >> sure. we will be getting more and more pfizer product and we have 12.5 million moderna product assuming we will get approval. 20 million vaccinations this month. ♪ promises, promises ♪ you knew you'd never keep the trump administration has been pledging vaccinations for

20 million americans by the end of december. december ends tomorrow. and yesterday the cdc reported that 11.4 million doses have been sent to states and 2.1 million people have received the vaccine's first dose. >> we are not at the numbers that we wanted to be at the end of december. you heard talking about 40 million doses for 20 million people. i mean, even if you undercount 2 million, how much undercount could it be? so we are below where we want to be. >> all right. good morning, and welcome to "morning joe." it is wednesday, december 30th. i'm kasie hunt alongside white house reporter for "the associated press" jonathan lemire. we are once again in for joe, mika, and willie as we wrap up this really hard year. and with us this morning we have republican strategist and senior advisor to the lincoln project susan del percio and host of

msnbc's "politicsnation" and the president of the national action network reverend al sharpton. jon, it is pretty incredible to watch all of those comments from white house officials over the last couple of months making these promises, saying they are going to get this out the door only to be where we are with just one more day, one and a half more days left in 2020. the trump administration has to be on the defensive about this, and they have been under attack from the biden transition. >> let's grab the good news. we are in the penultimate day of 2020. this terrible year almost over. but you're right, kasie. this is a president, as we have been documenting morning after morning, who has largely checked out, who has abandoned his day job and responsibilities, particularly when it comes to battling this pandemic that is surging throughout the country and has claimed more than 100,000 lives just since election day.

one thing that was supposed to be a signature achievement was the development and rollout and distribution of this vaccine. you saw the clips there. the promises were bold. they were strong. at least to this point, they haven't been met. and we are going to get into this much more in a moment. there has been extraordinarily strong pushback from the white house trying to be defensive about this from the president himself, from the press secretary, from the administration officials trying to suggest that this vaccine rollout is happening as planned even though we know that not as many americans are receiving this as nearly as they hope. of course, the other drama that we are following right now, kasie, and i know you are watching so very closely, is capitol hill. we saw some dramatic stuff on the floor yesterday. can you walk us through the machinations and the plotting, perhaps, the senate majority leader mitch mcconnell has been doing? >> dramatic as the senate floor can be. we have been talking about this all week, and the way that

president trump has suddenly decided he is going to push these $2,000 checks. we should remind everyone, if this is what the president wanted, he could have had it. he needed to say so during the months that these negotiations were going to on. now he is insisting i want to vote on this and it left mitch mcconnell in a position of trying to defend the two senators that are running for re-election in georgia. they both have said they want $2,000 dheks, but it's clear so many other republicans are opposed to it. and so he has come up with strategy. he is basically laying it back at the feet of the president, right. he is saying, well, president trump tied these three issues together when he actually gave in, signed that covid relief bill, and those issues are related to tech liability, or liability for tech companies, i should say, as well as an election fraud commission and basically what happens, you package those things together, and then you cannot get the support for the $2,000 checks,

even though there is incredibly broad support in congress. the house passed it by to two-thirds vote. that underscores as we head into the new year how difficult it is, and i keep thinking about the people who just are watching what is happening and they are saying, my life is so hard because of this pandemic and you, congress, can't get it together. but this is often how they deal with things like this, and this is how mcconnell has been doing it, jon. >> sort of regular business. and i am sure we know the partnership between mitch mcconnell and president trump is remade in many ways the federal judiciary and there is a lot of conservative goals. one has to wonder if the senate majority leader counting down the days to january 20th. we are going to revisit that shortly. first, back to the matter of the vaccinations and the struggles this administration has had getting to the americans who need them. they are receiving a lot of criticism, including from president-elect joe biden.

he spoke yesterday again urging americans to wear a mask and calling on president trump to set that example in his final days in office and he also called trump out for his handling of the vaccine distribution. >> the trump administration's plan to distribute vaccines is falling behind, far behind. this will take more time than anyone would like and more time than the promises from the trump administration have suggested. this is going to be the greatest operational challenge we have ever faced as a nation. we are going to get it done. >> likely in response to biden's comments, trump took to twitter to blame the states for the vaccine distribution lag and threw out a random swine flu mention. a spokesman for operation warp speed said efforts remained on target and the low numbers published by the cdc reflected a lag in reporting from local health authorities. the white house also released a statement touting the speed of the vaccine developments. admiral brett jury ar yesterday.

>> the federal plan is to provide the guidance to provide the infrastructure, you know, we are providing the vaccines, the distribution mechanisms, the needles, the alcohol swabs. but it's really a state and local level to get vaccines in arms like it always is every year, 170 million flu shots that's done at the local level. the federal government doesn't invade texas or montana and provide shots to people. we support the state and locals in doing that. >> let's bring in white house correspondent geoff bennett reporting on the biden transition in beautiful wilmington, delaware. walk us through the argument that the president-elect is making and specifically the complaints that he is voicing about both the vaccine distribution, but also the obstacles that his team is facing as they are about to inherit this problem in just three weeks from today. >> yeah. and jonathan, what's so interesting about this pushback from the white house is admiral

girard explained the crux of the issue. the administration is saying they are responsible for the distribution of the vaccines, but the states are responsible for the vaccinations. well, as we well know, states are stretched then. they are cash strapped now ten months into this pandemic, and what they are looking for is stronger federal intervention. it was the same thing with testing. the administration kept saying for months that more test kits are being rolled out to states, but yet we knew that the tests weren't actually being administered and it was because the states needed more help from the federal government. what we heard from joe biden yesterday was not a plan to get vaccines distributed. it was a plan to get vaccines into the arms of americans. he talked about how he would invoke the defense production act to ramp up the production of vaccines, but also the protective gear needed to administer it. he called for additional funding from congress so that the states could get the money they need to really stand up.

he even talked about creating vaccination sites, federally-backed vaccination sites and having mobile units sent out to hard to reach parts of the country. beyond that he talked about having a public messaging campaign to boost vaccine acceptance. and so this was really for two days straight we saw joe biden call out the administration. earlier this week it was about the roadblocks as he put it, that the pentagon, the trump appointees at the pentagon were putting up so that the biden transition officials didn't have a good enough view into the force posture of the military around the world, and yesterday he was talking about how the trump administration has fallen short of this vaccine rollout. so, you know, joe biden becomes president biden in something like 21 days, and he is articulating the problems, the challenges that the country faces and that he will inherit as commander-in-chief, jonathan and kasie. >> so, reverend al, i was struck

watching as we came in with that long list of promises from these administration officials, they have really gotten americans' hopes up over the course of the last couple of weeks. for months, really. everyone is desperate for this pandemic to come to an end, and those officials have been out there saying, don't worry, it's coming, we got this, but they are setting expectations for the biden administration that are being set up to fail. do you think that's part of what's going on here? and what is the challenge for the biden team? >> well, the challenge for the biden team is to give realistic projection on what can be delivered whether this is a setup or not, it in effect will be acting as a setup if the biden team does not give realistic expectations, be able to deliver on them, and if we are not successful in challenging the federal government to give the states what they need to operate. one of the arguments on capitol

hill, and you know this better than anyone, has been aids to states who are already operating in deficits. and if the federal government under president trump is saying that it's not us, it's the states, but then they are not giving the states the kind of revenue and support that they need, it really falls back on them, and they will pass it off to biden and be the first ones blaming biden on january 21st, the day after the inauguration. they will make it his problem. >> we saw an extraordinary amount of defensiveness from the trump administration on this yesterday, geoff, including saying that they have invoked the dpa, which is a career war era measure that gives the president authority to compel american industries to boost production for a war effort, in this case a vaccine effort. joe biden and his team says we are going to step forward and use the dpa.

can you ex complain the discrepancy here? how have they used this measure before and what specifically is the biden team going to do to use that measure to get the vaccines to the americans who need them? >> the trump administration invoked the defense production act to ramp up the production of ppe, to ramp up the production of nasal swabs, and so the president used that 1950s era law really as it relates more to the testing kits and the rollout of a testing strategy such that it existed. the administration really has not used that for vaccine production in the way that the biden transition is talking about doing as it relates to the vaccination rollout. so there is also an issue with producing the raw materials needed to actually produce the vaccines. and so that is where the defense production act biden transition officials say could be particularly useful. >> nbc's geoff bennett, thank you so much.

enjoy the day in delaware. city ahead, a more contagious mutation of the coronavirus appears in the united states. we will tell you where it popped up and what scientists are saying about it. you are watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. did you know you can go to libertymutual.com to customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need? really? i didn't-- aah! ok. i'm on vibrate. aaah! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

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♪ new developments overnight in the fight against the coronavirus as the british drugmaker astrazeneca's vaccine candidate received regulatory approval in the united kingdom. some good news here. the vaccine made in collaboration with oxford university comes three weeks after the u.k. became the first nation to roll out the pfizer/biontech vaccine. the vaccine is considered vital for vaccination efforts in developing countries because its cheaper to make and easier to store for long periods of time because it requires only normal refrigeration temperatures to

remain viable. so that makes distribution quite a bit easier. the british health secretary says the first dose wous would administered january 4. 2020 is not done with us yet. for the first time the united states, a case of the new coronavirus virnt hariant has b found. adding urgency to the efforts to vaccinate americans. it was found in colorado in a man in his 20s who was in isolation in elbert county. he had no travel history. scientists in the u.k. believe the variant is more contagious than previously identified strains. the discovery sparked border closures in ireland, france, belgium and germany as well as countries outside of the continent. joining us now infectious diseases physician and medical director of the special pathogens university at the boston university school of medicine, dr. that heed bhadelia. thank you for being here.

good morning. let's start right there. we sort of sensed it was a matter of time. as soon as there were reports of this contagious variant was discovered in the u.k. and quickly spread across other countries that it would be found here in the u.s. can you tell us now, obviously this is still a new thing, but after a few weeks of study, what's the latest in terms of how contagious this strain really is, how dangerous it really is, and is there a sense that the vaccine can handle it? what should americans know about it and how should they prepare? >> good morning, jonathan. as you said, this is something that public health practitioners have been expecting partly because we are not sequencing as many of the diagnosed cases we are seeing in the u.s. we are likely to see more cases being reported because we are now actively looking for it. so the u.k. is actually done a few different types of studies to show now that this variant is at least 60% more transmissable. what they have done is they have shown that over the period of december it's become sort of the

predominant strain this they are diagnosing. after it was discovered it became the new strain that most people are getting infected with. but they have now also done two or studies. one looked at secondary infections. they showed that people that had the strain were much more likely to pass it to other people around them in a case controlled study and, lastly, people who have the strain are much more likely to have a higher amount of virus in the respiratory tract which makes it easier to transmit. all of those things bring it to the to the fact that even though we don't yet know in terms of it doesn't look like it's likely more deadly, they haven't discovered that in the studies that they have done so far. we know that because it's much more transmissable that it's likely to lead to more infections which eventually may lead to more hospitalizations and deaths. the good news is we now how to protect ourselves from this. do the same things for every other strain, wear the masks, keep the distance, do not gather in crowds and when the vaccine is available to get vaccinated.

>> so, doctor, let's talk about the vaccine here. and we do know that the astrazeneca vaccine operates a little bit differently than the pfizer and moderna vaccines. are you confident that all three of these vaccines would work against this new strain, or what do researchers know and not know about whether or not these ra s vaccinations will still be effective against this new strain we are seeing? >> this is the concern, right. i think that for the most part, if you were to put a bet on it rate now, it's likely the vaccines will remain effective because a number of mutations you might need in a virus to change the efficacy of all of these vaccines would have to be much larger. however, this is something that is still being studied. astrazeneca has looked at that and they are currently sort of, you know, going to be reporting that as are both pfizer and moderna looking at just the mutations and the effectiveness and we don't have complete data

on that. if it reduces the efficacy by a little, most would agree even if you saw that the vaccination efficacy went down by a little, the vaccinations themselves would still have a huge impact, public health impact for the individual and most people who take it to bring the number of cases down and to keep people protected from new infections. >> doctor, what is being done to educate team on the safety of the vaccines? as you know, there has been a lot of people, particularly in communities of color, that have based on history, suspicions about the vaccines. now that we are hearing about additional vaccines, it complicates matters even more. what is being done to really relieve people of the fear of even engaging in a vaccine at all once it becomes available to the general public more readily? >> this is where i think i am so a glad to hear president-elect joe biden talk about it yesterday.

as you know, some amount of that relief bill that was passed on sunday, signed on sunday, was supposed to be money for vaccine education as well as resources to administer those vaccines at the last mile. so i am really glad to hear that it's passed. but there hasn't been as strong an outreach as you would like to see from the federal government. you have seen a lot of sort of citizen scientists reaching out. you are seeing trusted messengers coming out of the communities that are affected, which is great to see. really what i'd love to see is more concert effort as president-elect biden said in terms of investing in that messaging, particularly reaching out to hard-hit communities, you know, black indigenous people of color, those that have been disproportionately affected by this disease, by, you know, and for whom this vaccinations will be particularly a relief in those communities trying to bring the hospitalizations and deaths down.

>> all right. dr. bhadelia, thank you for your insight and expertise here. a conversation with the greatest olympian of all time, fenway pa michael phelps. how he is giving back to an important cause next on "morning joe." rtant cause next on "mornig joe. ever wonder what retinol dermatologists use to fight wrinkles? it's what i use! neutrogena®. the #1 retinol brand used most by dermatologists. rapid wrinkle repair® visibly smooths fine lines in 1 week. deep wrinkles in 4. so you can kiss wrinkles... and other wrinkle creams goodbye! rapid wrinkle repair®. pair with our most concentrated retinol ever for 2x the power.

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♪ joining us now the most decorated olympian of all time, michael phelps. he serves as a mentor for the colgate optimism project. michael, great to see you. boy, this has been a tough year for optimism, hasn't it, in so many different ways. i think this project probably comes at the right time. lay it out a little bit for us and why you think we need it right now. >> i mean, you said it yourself. it's been a challenging year, and extremely challenging to stay optimistic. so i think when i first heard about what colgate was doing with the six team members, i mean, i look at them as kids, but honestly what they are doing does not make them seem like kids. they are doing unbelievable work in their community that is bringing so much positivity to

them during this time. i feel like we can all seem to focus on a lot of the negative, but i think one of the things that for me personally when i look back at my career, i tried to focus on the things that i could control, and when i see these kids or these members doing what they are doing, that's exactly what they are doing. they obviously have challenges. they obviously have difficulties, but they are blasting through these barriers and making significant change. and it's really impressive to watch. >> we are talking about some of these gen-z leaders that you guys are focusing on. i am curious. you touched on finding optimism in dark times that you talked about openly yourself. what do you find to be the best avenue to being optimistic in a time like we are in right now where it's hard to look around and feel good about things? >> i think we're all going through some kind of challenge, and that's, i think, something that we should all realize and

understand. it's not, you know, there aren't some people having grand old times. we are all going through this. so i think if we can find little small ways to continue to go through our routine that we have always had, you know, for me i am a huge believer of routines. i am working out every day. i am spending time with the boys. i am working. there are little small steps that help me be me, and i think those are the things that i'm trying to force myself to keep doing. i think that's something we can all do. it's difficult not having that social interaction, but we are chatting virtually. so it's something that we've all had to deal with, and this change and this unknowingness and, you know, it's, yeah, i don't know. >> yeah, no. >> it's challenging, brutal, hard. yeah, there are ways through it, and i think these members are showing us that and showing everybody that. we do have some many positive

things to look at in this world, and we can get through these things together. >> yeah, and it's hard not to know where the end is. at the beginning we thought it was a couple weeks, then it became a couple months and a year here shortly. mike barnicle is here with a question for you. >> the people participating in this, what are they doing specifically to bring a little light into the darkness that seems to envelope so many of us today given the covid virus? what are they doing and how are they recruited? how did you find them? >> i don't know how they were recruited. i know that some of them are providing meals. some are providing comic books. like with stories that give you, i don't know if hope is the right word, but give you that feel-good, that we can do good in the future. we can do things moving forward that are going to make change. you know, i think back to myself

as a kid and dreaming as big as i could possibly dream, and that's what i see in these members. i see these members who aren't afraid to, as i said, to bust through a barrier. so being able to help out where it's needed so much right now. it's truly, like i said, i can't say enough, it's remarkable to watch. >> michael, one of the effects of this pandemic that we are talking about is the postponement of the olympics by a year. we certainly hope they have them this summer in tokyo, it becomes 2021 instead of 2020. but what is the impact on an athlete at that level, if you can put yourself back into that moment where you are training and trying to peak for an event and it's pushed back a year. what does that mean for an elite olympic athlete? >> what say the best challenge is mentally. we know every quad comes around and we are going back into an

olympic season. i think it's changing that focus. in my opinion, i think it takes four years to mentally and physically prepare for an olympics. so having that extra year, having another year to kind of throw in there. i think it's almost could be looked at as a positive. you have a lot more opportunities to maybe change some of those things that you have leading into the olympics, to make sure that you give yourself that best chance. but also, like i said, just continuing to figure out what you can control. that's something that bob and i did so well throughout my career, and i think one thing that i try to continue to do in this everyday life that i'm living now. >> good advice from the most decorated olympian of all time, the great michael phelps joining us. i want to commend you for the public speaking you have been doing about mental health as well. i know that helped a lot of people. michael is a mentor for the goal indicate optimism project. good to see you. and we will be right back with more "morning joe."

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never wanted to have a kid for seven specific reasons. number one, i never felt like there should be more of me in the world. don't get me wrong. i think one is fun. you know, ha ha, good one! you know what i mean? let's get tickets. [ laughter ] but i believe in survival of the fittest, and this is not the fittest. >> that is some of the netflix special the new one. he is the author of the recent book called the new one, painfully true stories from a reluctant dad. he has been posting a podcast working it out virtually along with comedy events live from his office. all of the proceeds from his new year's eve show will go to six food banks and to nonprofits.

the award-winning comedian, storyteller, director, actor, he joins us now. mike, great to see you. thanks for being here. what's really cool about this podcast is that we actually get to sort of watch how the sausage is made. i mean, if you are lucky enough to see a big comic doing small rooms, working it out until he gets to his netflix series, you see some of this. but rarely do we get to see two creative funny people sitting and deciding what works and what doesn't. how did this idea come to you? >> it's the strangest thing. i mean, when we closed up shock in march with live shows, i just started doing instagram live events called tip your wait staff. we would raise money for comedy club wait staff on tip your wait staff dot-com. we raised a bunch of money. we thought how do we get this out to a lot of people. i did this podcast. now that we can't do live shows,

we created a virtual studio. check this out, willie. this is camera 3 right here. >> wow. >> and this is camera 1 right here. this is all my office, my production office in providence, rhode island. we have camera 4 up here. we're just trying to do what you do, willie, but we are doing it in our little offices. >> i was going to say, that is vastly more sophisticated than the setup i have right now. i need to talk to some of your producers. that's incredible. as a fan of yours and a fan of comedy in general, i sort of love, there are a few podcasts out there right now that kind of pull back the curtain on comedy where you kind of dig into the process of it. do you like sitting down with another comedian and kind of hashing these things out? and is there any hesitation? you said before it's sort of like a magician revealing how the trick works. any hesitation into opening the doors to your process? >> at first, a lot. i mean, that's the thing.

comedians, we are very proprietary over our material because once it's out there, it's out there. and so much of jokes are just surprise. and at a certain point in the pandemic it became clear, like, we have no choice. like, we're just going to entertain people as best we can, and it's actually just forced me to honestly just write more jokes. like, you will see over here on the board the -- it's just joke after joke after joke. so, like, this is one that's, like, it's, like, i love pizza so much that i get excited when i see the word plaza. there it is. it's called "plaza." and because the word pizza itself, it is exciting. it's got, you know, it has pizza in it. the a is a slice. each of the zs has two slices. it's five slices in one word, which is a phrase i call onimata

pizza. that is the best wore worst joke you will see in the virtual show. >> hey, mike. jonathan lemire here. kudos on the setup. my home studio is basically a ring light and a red sox photo. i wanted to ask you, it's obviously very different now. you are not performing in front of an audience, as sophisticated as your camera setup is, you are missing that feedback from a crowd. talk about the challenge you faced in terms of to go that. and then, secondly, when do you think you would get back in front of a crowd again? when would you feel comfortable heading in a comedy club? >> the down sides is obviously there is the latency of, you know, the timing goes away because there is, like, there is a half-second delay, even if people have good internet. the upside is i am looking on

this screen here and on this screen when i do my shows. there is about 700 people and i can see pretty much everyone. i can see everyone in their living room with their cats and their dogs and their rabbits and their christmas trees, and in some weird way it's more intimate than my typical live touring shows. and so that's cool. and i also do a lot of interaction and participation, so that's cool. when we'll get back? i don't know. i mean, i was in the -- in the summer i did outdoor distance shows. i feel like in the spring and summer we will see more of that. i'd say the hope is that we're doing something indoors by the fall, but, again, it's a big nobody knows. >> yeah. so, mike, what does it mean to you when you are looking at the people on your zoom screen, you see them in their house, you see

them laughing. you know, a lot of people are struggling right now. i would think that there is a part of you that it's just rewarding. it's got to make you feel good to be able to make that human connection with them and to know they are also -- being able to connect with you in a way that is far more intimate than being one of 500 people in a room. >> yeah. i mean, like, there is a degree to which you just go, we're all doing the best we can. and people need to laugh, and, i mean, of anything i have done in my career, ab-i have been doing this 20 years, this is the thing that i have gotten the most sort of heartfelt letters from and posts on instagram and people really desperately need to laugh right now and desperately need to feel like they are a part of a group. and so, you know, it's just that. we are all doing the best we can. >> talk about your book "the new one." i love it. i love the title.

i love your brother talking to you about having a baby and the story behind the book where your brother, you asked your brother what having a baby was like, and my god, a wonderful description for a guy that has like 87 kids. it's relentless. it's relentless. >> yes. >> you don't worry about it. it's going to be new. it's just going to be a new thing for you. >> it's going to be new. that's right. yeah, i mean, i honestly, like, i never, my whole life, i never pictured myself having a child. i was really adamant about i am never going to have a child in the book. and my wife and i just had -- my wife jen and i who writes poetry, i have this really frank talk. and she says, you know, i think this is what we should do and i think you'd be a good dad and lays it out and i decide to do it. then it sort of goes into the first year. me being furious about, like, i

was right about that! it was -- you know, a huge mistake. but then ultimately what happens, and certainly my daughter's 5 1/2 now, and it is just pure joy. i mean, this week we're sledding and snow-tubing. i mean, honestly, you become the cliche. the joke in the book, i say, like, you know, people with kids, they go, like, it's the most joy you have ever experienced. you are like, no, it's not the most joy. and then you have a child and at a certain point, if you have a child at a certain point you go, this is embarrassing. i have become the cliche. what the book is about is sort of the struggle to arrive at that because i think it can be, people arrive at that at different points. or never. but often different points. >> mike, you're not alone. trust me. i want to ask you about the new year's eve show. 6:30. a version. podcast right there in the office with all the proceeds

going to food banks. good for you on that. so how do people watch this? where do we go? >> my website birbig.com. it's actually one of six shows. i am doing four or christmas, two for new year's, and again all the proceeds of the 6:30 new year's show go to food banks and nonprofits because, again, if people are watching this, i am sure they know, there is a poverty crisis in america right now. and so whatever you can do for your local food banks, please do it. >> awesome. such great work. good for you. i think we have to get you out on the road. now that i see you alone in your office holding a stand-up mic kind much roaming around, we have to get you back in the clubs as soon as it's safe. >> oh, i know, willie. you're telling me. >> great to see you. mike, thanks so much. ♪ ♪

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white house correspondent and "weekend today" co-anchor kristen welker joins us. an honor. senior adviser to the lincoln project susan del percio, "morning joe" member of the family. editor at large for the nonprofit newsroom the 19th and msnbc contributor erin haynes, new member to the family and professor at university school of medicine and msnbc medical contributor dr. in a hieb bedelia and, she, too, a member of the "morning joe" family and for terrible reasons we've come to know this brilliant woman and so glad to have you all onboard and dr. bedelia, your help with the pandemic has been fantastic. let's get started. talking about this year's election cycle. women on both sides of the aisle broke records across the country and then, of course, our vice president-elect senator kamala harris first female black south asian-american elected to the nation's second office.

an incredible moment in history. i'd like to start wir you, erin in terms what it means and where we go from here? >> an extraordinary year to reflect on this. women, as we know, are the majority of the electorate. to think about the strides women made even in a pandemic, a s centennial year of suffrage knowing in 1920 white women had action to that franchise and that there were black women, asianti teetinas others too fight for their access to the ballot to see that women helped usher in an even more diverse congress, the most diverse congress in u.s. history. to see that kamala harris becomes the second most powerful person in the country. it really is remarkable to think about, but we know that women still are not represented. women are majority of the u.s.

workforce and have been impacted by this pandemic, not just from a public health but from an economic standpoint, and so how gender factors into policy going forward i think is going to be interesting to see when you have women in these kinds of roles bringing their lived experience to governing in 2021 and beyond. >> kristen welker, what are the positives for women of color we have seen? >> when you think about the positives, you laid it out so well. the fact that you have more women who have won seats in congress. vice president-elect kamala harris who will be the first black vice president to lead this country. think about the message that that sends to little girls, little boys, all across the country. it sends a message to them that they can do this, too. that they can have a voice, but, of course, the question becomes, what do these women do with their elected offices? >> you look at the women in the

biden administration as was pointed out, but we've got a long list here. janet yellen, neera tanden, marsha fudge, the first interior secretary all-female white house communications team and then, of course, dr. jilled biden. recently responded to an op-ed "wall street journal" calling dr. jill biden to drop "doctor" from her name. dr. biden, the first, first lady to continue her own professional career while in the white house. also surprised by this. what is your reaction? all of you, to op-eds like this and what example do you think dr.ed biened will set as the incoming first lady? susan del percio, i'll start with you. >> i think dr. biden will be a fantastic first lady in setting an agenda that women are out there. we do work. we do manage a whole lot of

things, and i do think it did raise interesting questions, though, especially on the response of the "wall street journal." instead of just saying you know what? this was a mistake, they doubled down. that is equally as disturbing. i think that the example that dr. biden will provide so many, of all generations, and this is really important, mika. it's not just young girl whose will see a working first lady. it's also women in their 40s, 50s, 60s who see this woman who has this great responsibility, and says it's okay to keep working and still respect your own value and know your own value, if you will, that you are not defined just by your spouse. i say, kudos. >> i want to take a moment now to focus on kristen welker, because this has been your year, kristen, on so many levels and especially in terms of the concept of knowing your value. kristen moderating the last presidential debate. i want to know what you're

taking away from that experience now, except a lot of like, whew, finally! >> there's a lot of relief. you're absolutely right. i think my message, though, mika, to other young women and young girls who found something inspirational in the debate is this -- that i did that debate as a part of a team, and a lot of my teammates were other strong women when i stepped out on to that debate stage. it was a real sisterhood, i think, and it helped me to find strength in that moment that was daunting, but one of the things we all agreed on. it was important for me to really ask questions on behalf of the american people, and so every single question was really targeted through that lens. >> let's close with women and the fight against covid-19, more than 300,000 americans have died from the virus. earlier this month we saw sandra lindsay, a nurse at a queens hospital buck the first person in the country to be vaccinated. says she wanted to set an

example and inspire people who looked like her. dr. bedelia, can you talk about the significance of that moment? >> drawing attention to a couple women that have blown me away in this fight. just have incredible stories. nurse lindsay, you mentioned, sandra lindsay, the first woman, a nurse, and health care worker, to receive this vaccine. as we know, particularly as she said she wanted to serve as an example to help alleviate some of the vaccine hesitancy. we know from a kaiser family foundation survey that african-americans, black americans, 35% of black americans still are hesitant, think they probably or definitely will not take the vaccine. her setting that example is not just beyond brave, but it is america. it is the culmination of this year where we get to roll out these vaccines and have it presented by what america looks like. the other women that sort of stuck out to me i want to draw attention to is dr. maria from w.h.o.

the covid-19 face of w.h.o. done an incredible job as technical lead of that team. the other folks are, i cannot leave without giving kudos to dr. kaitlyn kari c co, a researcher who definitely has been working on mrna technology nor 40 years. hard work is what made it so that synthetic mrna was produced, can be accepted by the body, which led to the vaccines which are going to turn the world around over the next year, back to normalcy. two other people katherine jansen with pfizer. scientific head of vaccine research. and, of course, dr. kizzee corvette. at a research center, that got us the moderna candidate. >> thank you all very much. we should also mention no your value partnered with forbes to roll out a special project.

it's 50 over 50. one of their power lists. we are elevating women who shattered norms and found success way later in life, and, of course, if you want to nominate someone, you can do so at knowyourvalue.com. that does it for us this morning yasmin vossoughian picks up coverage right now. hi there, everybody. i'm yasmin vossoughian in for steph ruhle this morning. it is wednesday. december 30th. we have multiple praki inbreaki stories we're following at this hour. the fight against the coronavirus taking another turn with colorado reporting the first case of the new covid variant believed to have emerged from the uk. colorado gonvernor announcing a man in his 20s with no recent travel history. experts warning the strain be is more contagious but not more lethal. that's good news. more cases