we need his deep understanding of the pentagon to help reform the defense department. we need his personal experience helping inform our efforts to ensure that our armed forces reflect the full strength and diversity of our nation. that black, latino, asian american, native american, women, men, lgbt service members are treated with dignity and respect. at a time when more than 40% of our -- listen, it's more than 40% of our active duty forces are people of color, it's long past time for the department's leadership to reflect that diversity. we need his in depth understanding of what it takes to deter threats wherever they arise and to defend the american people, our vital interests an allies from harm just as he did when he was designated to lead the strategy together with a dozen nations to ultimately crush isis. if you don't think that required some diplomatic skill to put that group together, you don't understand what was going on. he did a heck of a job. threats we face today are not the same as those we faced 1 years ago or even five years ago. we must prepare to

we also had a certification from the department of defense that the loan qualified, so of course we were going to prioritize this because, as you said, there was a tremendous risk to the department of defense and a trend is risk to the number of jobs -- tremendous risk to the number of jobs. >> i understand that. but were you aware apollo has close ties to jared kushner? >> what is the definition of close ties? >> in 2017, apollo loaned the kushner company $184 million? >> i was not aware of that. >> i may have read it in the press at some point, but i'm not involved nor did i take that into consideration, nor prior to you asking me that, would i have known that. >> briefly to finish up your, mr. secretary -- here, mr. secretary, can i ask for on the record, did mr. kushner or anyone from his staff reach out to you about providing a loan? staff,and nobody on his

walter reed is honored to join a total of 16 department of defense medical treatment facilities around the world to validate the distribution and recording process of the dod vaccination program and protect healthcare providers and support staff first responders against the infection of covid-19. to have a monumental accomplishment with the entire health care system in the nation. like all dod vaccination sites are think the leadership and staff and with the vaccine. it gives me great honor to introduce senator defense. >> thank you for your leadership soldiers and sailors and the air force people yet that is coming soon. and that is a very important day and good afternoon and thank you all for joining us with this truly momentous and historic occasion and it's only fitting here at walter reed the global leader for medical care and a reminder of the tremendous sacrifices brave men and women make to serve on her nation and in may president trump to deliver a coronavirus vaccine to the american people by january 2021. today, only seven months later the first americans are inoculated by t

with the fulfillment othe departments mission on behalf of t american people and an hor with all the hard work at led us to this moment. is the head of the department of defense i have an obligation to lead by example to demonstrate tohe 2 million uniform servicemembers nearly 800,000 civilian teammat and that this is safe and effective. i was a paratrooper in my first career and the leader is always theirst to exit the aircraft. today is no different all the honestly i not terrified as they would be on a jp. i know these women and men of the department of defense will also lead the w to receive the vaccine as thecontinue to protect their fellow citizen citizens,specially the most vulnerable among us , just as they have done for morehan 200 years. and weill not stop until we hope ensure all americans have access to this vaccine as well and e able to return to the normal way of life, closer to their mmunities and embrace their loved ones ain. thank yo i am enormously honored and privileged t be part of this portant step forward. [applause] [inaudible conversations] >> do you need my id card? >> yes i do sir. >> it is here somewhere. that would have be embarras

they were complaining about the lack of cooperation from the department of defense's political leadership, unlike the help they're getting from professionals in the homeland security department and other key agencies dealing with national security, but not from the department of defense. you heard the president-elect there clearly say this is in his view nothing short of irresponsibility. this is an intentional raising of the alarm on the part of the biden team to this concern, especially when you heard biden talking about what needs to be briefed for their team. he talked about the solarwinds hack, the very clear intrusion across the cyber infrastructure of the united states and his concern that they aren't fully aware of exactly the kind of challenge they'll be inheriting on january 20. another interesting note among the many points we heard from the president-elect, ayman, that we should touch on, he addressed what we saw on christmas day, the suicide bombing in the city of nashville. it's not surprising that the president-elect of the united states would choose to address this. it is

certification from the departmenter of defense that it qualified so of course we were going to prioritize this because as you said, there was a tremendous risk to the department of defense and a tremendous risk to the number of jobs. >> mr. secretary, i understand all that butut my question was we you aware that they had ties, close ties what is the definition were you aware of that i 2017 that the cpanies $184 million -- you are not aware of that. >> i read it in the press and some point but i'm not involved nor did i take that into consideration or prior to you asking me that wt i have kno that. >> briefly to finish up here mrn

from others, most notably the department of defense, we encountered obstruction from the political leadershipd 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. in capacity. and in morale. in policy processes that have atrophied or have been sidelined. in the disrepair of our alliances. in our absence from key institutions that matter to the welfare of the american people. in a general disengagement from the world. and all of it makes it harder for our government to protect the american people, and to defend our vital interests in a world where threats are constantly evolving and our adversaries are constantly adapting. rebuilding the full set of our instruments of foreign policy and national security is a key challenge that vice president-elect harris and i will face upon taking office, starting with our diplomacy. today, we heard from the leaders of the state and usaid agency review teams about the critical early investments we are going to need to make in our diplomacy, in our development e

most notably, the department of defense. we encountered obstruction in the political leadership of the department target and the truth that any of the agencies that are critical part of the security have incurred an enormous damage. any of them have been hollowed out . the personnel, capacity and mrl. in the policy processes, the atrophy or have been sidelined in the despair of our alliances in the disrepair of those alliances. interactions in the key institutions of matter to the welfare of the american people. and in general, disengagement from the world. and all the makes it harder, grow government to protect the american people. to defend our people in a warmer threats are constantly evolving. their adversaries are constantly adapting. and rebuilding the full set of our instruments of foreign policy and national security is a key challenge is a vice president elect harris and i will face upon taken office freighted starting with our diplomacy. today, we heard from the leaders of the state in usc review teams, about the cr

we need his deep understanding of the pentagon to help reform the defense department. onal experience to help inform our efforts to ensure the armed forces reflect the full diversity of our nation. that they are treated with dignity and respect. you know, at a time when more than 40% of our -- listen to this. more than 40% of our active-duty forces are people of color, it's long past time the department's leadership reflects that diversity. we need his in-depth understanding of what it takes to deter threats wherever they arise, and to defend the american people, our vital interests, and our allies from harm, just as he did when he was designated to lead the strategy, together with the dozen department nations to ultimately crush isis. if you don't think that required some diplomatic skill putting that group together, then you don't understand what was going on. he did a heck of a job. the threats we face today are not the same as though we faced ten years ago or even five years ago. we must prepare to immediate the challenges for the future, not just keeping, fighting

of the defense authorization act. a bill that sets the spending agenda for the defense department. both of tonight's vote setting up a loyalty test for senate republicans when they take them up next week. so mitch mcconnell in particular we're talking about while president-elect joe biden slamming the current administration for what he calls roadblocks and irresponsibility when it comes to transition meetings about foreign policy and national security. >> we have encountered roadblocks 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 from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. it's nothing short in my view of irresponsibility. >> so they're going to take those up tomorrow. all of this happening as the coronavirus pandemic is raging on right now. record hospitalizations. dr. anthony fauci saying that holiday travel could produce a surge upon a surge. so much going on tonight. i want to bring in kaitlyn collins and mj lee. cnn's senior political ana

i should point out the commission also invited to the department of defense and the office of the director of national intelligence to participate. the defense department responded that d it's unable to attend the hearing. as a result the commission plans to host a separate teleconference with a video to you regarding the national security loan program. the dod is currently resisting making public the transcript record of that conference. the commission strongly urges the dod to reconsider that position. the commission had a response ability a to inform the public w the taxpayer funds are being used especially given the concerns that have been raised about the loan. the office of the director of national intelligence also responded that it has been unable to attend the hearing and with that said, they've told the commission that it hasn't designated any company as critical to maintaining national security. nor has it provided input with respect. to any dod company designation. the commission currently doesn't have a chair man and in the absence, the commissioners have agreed to each give a

arba standsball, for that- arpa stands advance research projects agency, a department of the defense partment. used to the terms arpa, darpa, and arpanet. james: arpa and darpa of the two different names. it is the same body looking at the same stuff. quite a lot of cool inventions have come through arpa. it is also the one suspected of trying to do mind control, trying to look into artificial intelligence. people say you have aliens behind there. the cool thing is with arpa and darpa, is they researched cool stuff. version of an early the internet that connected first two, then four universities, then 20 campuses. eventually it grew into the thousands, and started to pick up the name we know it by now, the internet. host: i learned in your book the first email message sent on the "lo", froms, lo - ucla to stanford. james: yes, it was not going long distance. it sounds dramatic, like something gandalf would say, behold'. and that was not what they were trying to say. the guys building this network were pragmatic. email was not billed yet. -- not built yet. as they were sending the mes

that i want to remind you later on today there is going to and department of defense department of health and human services briefing with senior officials, including health and human secretary alex azar about operation warp speed and the covid-19 vaccine distribution. you can see that briefing live on c-span at 10:30 a.m. eastern. once again, you can see it here on c-span, on c-span.org, and as always on the free c-span radio app. and later this afternoon, this is going to happen today as well -- later this afternoon, president-elect joe biden will announce his climate and energy team, including his nominee for the interior secretary and energy secretary. you can see the announcement live at 2:30 p.m. on c-span, always, onand, as the free c-span radio app. let's talk to david calling from south carolina on the democratic line. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call, sir. host: go ahead. caller: i wanted to ask a question. out, trying to get this i am a disabled veteran and i see that veterans at the va hospital, they do not even have so shots there for us first, i was hoping

of the defense-authorization act. the bill that sets the spending agenda for the defense department. both of tonight's vote, setting up a loyalty test for senate republicans when they take them up, next week. so, the majority leader mitch mcconnell, in particular, we are talking about. while president-elect joe biden, slamming the current administration for what he calls roadblocks and irresponsibility when it comes to transition meetings about foreign policy and national security. >> we've encountered roadblocks 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 for the ongoing -- outgoing -- and from the outgoing administration in key, national security areas. it's nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility. >> so, they are going to take those up, tomorrow. all of this happening, as the coronavirus pandemic is raging on, right now. record hospitalizations. dr. anthony fauci saying that holiday travel could produce a surge, upon a surge. so much going on, tonight. i

the department of defense has decades of experience with conducting global vaccine programs. whether it is the annual flu campaigns or protection against novel diseases around the world, we vaccinate millions of our service members and families and retirees of every age, every year, and we have assistance in -- we have systems in place to monitor the health of everyone who receives a vaccine. in terms of next steps, following fda approval, the department will receive and begin vaccinations of our high-priority population this month. we have identified the military installations and the military treatment sillies that will receive the initial shipments, as mr. mccaffery said. we have given our staff training protocols and are working closely with our tricare network providers and pharmacies to prepare for wider-scale vaccinations. this phased approach to vaccination will take time. we recommend that everyone continue to follow the latest cdc guidelines to include social distancing, handwashing, and wearing face coverings. this has been a challenging year for all americans, and

he's saying that he's not getting the help that he needs particularly when it comes to the department of defense said that political appointees are getting in the way he's not criticizing the career diplomats the career civil servants or all of these places it's political appointees and particularly in defense he says that there is a problem and he's concerned about that because the department of defense has taken the lead in combating this cyber attack that happened over the last couple of weeks he's one of the 2 about there being a risk to americans and not just here at home but abroad and feels that the department of defense is a key to that as well so he's really saying to the trump administration look you've got to do this for the benefit of the country we know you think you've lost the election but you need to do this for the country the problem is donald trump is still fighting the election just in the last few hours he released on twitter what can only be described as a campaign video where he says he's the best thing that america could hope for but of course he lost the election back in

three presidential transitions, two outgoing, one incoming, 12 years ago i was part of the department of defense when i was stepping into the role of general counsel of the department of defense. a government on january 20 cannot start from a standing still position. this is what a transition period is for, to -- for the good of the nation and for the good of national security to enable the new government to become informed, know what they need to know before they are empowered to act on january 20. and i can tell you from personal experience 12 years ago we worked through the christmas/new year's holiday to get there. >> yeah, that makes sense. so then why do you think -- what could they possibly want to not hand over as a result of stopping these briefings? >> jonathan, i can't responsibly speculate on that point. i can say from personal experience that it is a disservice to the nation for the department of defense leadership to prevent the incoming administration, the incoming government from getting them the information they need to have in order to responsibly act on behalf of the american

a career in the military and knows what he is doing will be charged with the defense -- be in charge of the defense departmenta series of tweets from rosa professor at a georgetown university, also revia's lease served in the defense andment of state department. she says if this waiver is granted so soon after mattis, it will eviscerate the statutory requirement of the seven-your cooling off. referring to the gym gobi new golbyimes story -- jim story. he needs a congressional waiver to serve and the opposite message, she writes on twitter yesterday, i've been delighted by biden's cabinet picks until now. i think biden has been badly advised. i'm god smacked his inner circle does not see what terrible message it sends to the second recently retired general in four years. is out of washington, and independent. caller: good morning. how are you doing? host: doing well. caller: fine. i think you will be a great pick. be a greate will pick. he has been in the military for what, 47 years? host: 41 years, and then out of the military for four. caller: yeah, i think he would be qualified. he hasn't been out of the mi

from others most notably department of defense we've encountered obstruction from the political leadership of that department. we need to make sure that nothing is lost in the hand-off between administrations. we've encountered roadblocks 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 with from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. it's nothing short in my view of irresponsibility. >> the acting defense secretary chris miller responded with this quote. the department of defense has conducted 164 interviews with over 400 officials and provided over 5,000 pages of documents. far more than initially requested by joe biden's transition team. dod's efforts already surpass those of recent administrations. president trump's nearly two-month long campaign to try and reverse the presidential election is now focusing on his allies in congress. he's pushing them to challenge the certification of joe biden's electoral college win on january 6th. telling twitter f

whether it's the department of defense, justice department, other parts of the government. there's so much turnover, so much turmoil, there's not really a picture to even be grabbed on to. i think that really speaks to what will be the next thing. i see a major lull over the next six to nine months where if you're a new biden appointee, you're coming into any of these agencies, there's not much of a hand-off. you've got to take several months to really get your hands around what is going on in these departments, what is going on at these agencies, and then try and pick up and actually move forward. i think in the same point you've got a lot of, you know, mid-tiered civil servants that have been there for four years that are exhausted and have just tried to get through on these jobs. they're going to need support. i think they're going to be looking to these appointees for direction, and we won't have that long. we've got a pandemic. we've got russia and china as big foes. we've got the iran situation in the persian gulf. we have major problems going on in cyberspace. across

one of 13 federal sites chosen to receive the first shipments of the covid vaccine for the department of defense. the federal government will coordinate distribution with each state and county receiving doses on a per capita basis. >> we are recommending everyone take the vaccine when it becomes available. protect yourselves, your families, your shipmates, wingmen, battle buddies and communities. >> staff at long-term care facilities are among the first to get priority along with cdc guidance. so are nurses at acute-care facilities like hospitals. >> likely i will take it. i work in more than one institution at the clinical healthcare setting so probably, yes. >> we are expecting 12,000 doses in our first allocation from the state and federal government. >> the fda is expected to grant emergency use authorization tomorrow. if it does, california will receive 327,000 doses next week in santa clara will get 17,550 while almost 2000 doses will be shipped to marin county where long-term care facilities have been hit hard.>> wide spread distribution could be underway by next spring or summer. >> the

of the leadership late last week. as we said then no department is more pivotal to our national security than the department of defenseunwillingness to work together could have consequences well beyond january 20th. now, something we are watching very closely is that the pentagon department of defense they say they're going to resume these briefings after the holidays, keeping a close eye to see if that actually happens, pamela. >> absolutely. and we also know about biden's short list for cia director. what can you tell us? >> reporter: that's right. and that's something else we are expecting after the holidays, providing to actually announce who he will nominate to that position. sources say there are three top contenders, one is david cohen who is the former cia deputy director, another lisa monaco, counterterrorism adviser under president obama and third darrell blocker, who served as the deputy director of the agency's counterterrorism center and he also led the cia's training facility. so we are told by sources that biden is still mulling this decision. they are planning on having some sort of an announcement, ag

cooperation that we are hearing about again and again and again extends not just from the department of defense, but also to the office of management and budget. and now joe biden is using words like obstruction, irresponsibility to describe what is going on in the relationship between the trump people and the biden transition. listen. >> for some agencies our team received exemplary cooperation. others we have received obstruction. we're not getting all of the information that we need from the outgoing administration. there it is nothing short, in my view were of irresponsibility. >> so biden made those remarks after getting a briefing from his agency review teams on the situation involving national security. and one of the things they say they're most concerned about is an enormous cyber attack being blamed on russia that has affected several federal u.s. agencies. we're going to have to watch to see if things change in the last 21 or 22 days before biden is expected to take office. also important to say today biden has expected to give remarks on the pandemic and his take, at least up to now

we saw even late transitions within the department of defense that eroded the confidence in the effectiveness that department. that's occurred in many other departments and agencies over the past four years. and i think that the biden administration has some excellent people that they'll be able to place in to start rebuilding. but that is exactly what they'll have to do. they'll have to rebuild before they start tackling, even before they start tackling some of the most difficult challenges facing our nation. >> and president-elect biden also warned that we are still learning the full extent of the massive cyberattack against the u.s. you tweeted shortly after the attack became public that while the why now was difficult to ascertain the why is clear. four years of president trump undermining deterrence. the u.s. government can only do so much when the president of the united states is a putin fan boy. we are less safe. so you see a direct connection between the attack and trump's refusal to ever condemn putin? >> i think that is exactly right. even within the past several days after the att

i knew that he would ryder cup the department of defense from a civilian perspective. many of the senators know that general austin just as well. we're talking about somebody who was the leader of sen-com. you don't get to be the leader of them unless you command huge respect in the military. and i keep coming back to this, but it is very important, it is distribution of a vaccine at stake, but there is a moment in history where this president said my cabinet needs to look like america. it is time. it is hard to vote against the first black secretary of defense i think it is just tough. >> biden keeps saying we're in this time of crisis, he knows the logistics, he coordinated the withdrawal in iraq. flush that out for us. what will we see with the vaccine rollout? >> first of all, let me just reiterate what a reassurance it is to listen to president-elect biden and vice president elect harris. they're judgment, their demeanor, this incredibly gifted group of people that have been announcing as cabinet officials. and i fully support the senator's comments on this. he is

of defense, and he saddled him with four squirrely lads. i don't think chris miller's in any way directing department of defense policy. s coming out of the white house. it's this group of people. now, to some extent, they're just hiding incompetence from four years of the trump administration. but there's a lot of money over there, and there's a lot of chicanery going on. so we ought to be concerned about it. we don't need to worry about a coup. if they call for a coup, nobody will come. we don't need to worry about the day-to-day management of the armed forces. the joint chiefs of staff, 25,000 people working in the pentagon, that's going to work. we do need to be very concerned about the next 30 days. >> yeah, i take both of those -- i agree with both of them, rebecca, and part of this is about how important the transition is, how delicate it is. and i guess one question is basically what's the guidance legally here? can the administration just say, like -- there's some reporting today that trump was mad about something or other that biden did, and there was a -- you know, they ordered this shut down. like can outgoi

the department of defense, a senior official from that refuting that, saying it's patently false. nt of defense said there was a mutually agreed upon pause for the holiday to tack a break, but the biden transition team says they never agreed to that and they're still not getting the information they need. it will be interesting to see if we hear any more about that from the president-elect on monday. also looking ahead to the days and weeks to come, the president-elect has five remaining slots to fill in his cabinet. he still needs to name an attorney general, a director of the cia, a secretary of labor, a secretary of commerce and someone to head up the small business administration. we're expecting him to complete that by early january. jessica dean, cnn, wilmington, delaware. >>> syrian refugees were forced to flee a camp in lebanon after a tent caught fire and the blaze spread through the entire settlement. the un agency in lebanon said the fire happened after a violent dispute on saturday night, although no official cause is being given. the temporary camp was destroyed along

the department of defense's senior official said that's patently untrue. e maintains there was a mutually agreed upon break during the holidays. while the biden transition team said they never agreed to such a break and are not getting the information they need. something to keep an eye out for later today as well. also in the days and weeks ahead, biden still has five slots remaining in his cabinet that he needs to fill. he needs to decide on an attorney general, a cia director, a secretary of labor, a secretary of commerce, and someone to head up the small business administration. he's hoping to accomplish that goal by early january. ryan and christine. >> all right. j jessica, thank you. >>> a big question hanging over the white house in president trump's final days, when will he get the coronavirus vaccine. leaders around the world have been rolling up their sleeves, including ones the president admires, like the saudi crown prince mohammed ben in sa lam, vice president mike pence got the vaccine on camera. >> i of course think that the president should

also includes a number of provisions aimed at including diversity and inclusion within the department of defense and services, including the creation of a chief diversity officer within the department and inclusion of programs of the department to respond to white supremacists, extremists, and criminal gang activity within the armed forces. and i say with some sense of remorse and regret that unfortunately there are some -- i don't think significant numbers, but some of these individuals, and we have to respond to them, and we are responding to them. the conference report also includes the elijah cummings antidiscrimination act of 2020 which enhances antidiscrimination employee protections for federal workers. also the conference agreement strengthens the department's civilian workforce by including technical fixes and improvements of the paid parental leave program authorized in last year's defense bill. as the president recalls, last year was a major break through giving federal ploifees the incent -- employees the incentive of paid parental leave and it'sen extremely well received. now we've

is that a hurdle. >> the department of defense is set up for civilian oversite. he's been out of wantive duty service four years. napolitano served as secretary of treasury. >> do having at well as it can be done. to be measured by a performance. he says put together a good team. >> the trump administration was on the fifth or six woman a lot of the bomb point have been floating in and floating out. >> after stepping dip at president of the u.c. it is team she joined the goldman school of public policy next year trees starting the reminders exof hollywood. an imgrant could stay in the u.s. to receive medical treatment. when the trump administration cap selled life-threatening action it caused constituent. the on was if zodiac killer. >>> the special section of coding. the effort to get high school attitude. s interested in tic jobs. >> we're tracking another pedestrian partof the week end. flap ♪ do you recall, not long ago ♪ we would walk on the sidewalk ♪ ♪ all around the wind blows ♪ we would only hold on to let go ♪ ♪ blow a kiss into the sun ♪ we need someone

and it was by the department of defense. it was entirely kind of government and academic creation. it wasn't some big utopian we will save the world by doing this. it was a project to make ait easier to share computer time in an era where computers or the size of the room, costore than house and the were about sort of a few hundred in the world. so building it was left to these of grad students. so most of the people who were there when the internet w first turned on, when the first sampled it, or still alive and you can still talk to them about it. but the internet was born as of the sort of technology trying to make it easyo share computing. now the sort of slight ulterior motive that the department of defense had to fund it, was they were looking for networking technologies that were secure and were reliable sohey could send messages in the cold war, if disastrous happened. so the sort of ultimate version of that would be, if you are looking at command-and-control of your nuclear weapons and you want to avoid a nuclear war, you want to be able to say, hey,, even if you strike us

so the roles of these boards are not to design weapons or whatever but to give the department of defense view of what's going on in the commercial world. because the other thing that happens is that it used to be all the smartest technologies was inside the department of defense or the best commercial technologies. but that's no longer true. all the innovations or most of them are happening outside. and so to keep the department that was our role and it worked well for quite a while. >> and talk about your personal decision. the president clearly decided to cheapen the roles the people who used to fill the seats along side you around the conference table like tossing out doubloons at mardi gras from a parade float. they've now been cheapened with the likes of cory lewandowski and david bosse. so you chose it was of enough value to you to leave than to stay. >> well, yes, that's a colorful characterization of what happened. but for me, brian, i grew up in to 20th century remembering ideological purges and political commissars in the soviet union, where there was only one party and one set

>> the founding of the department of defense, congress put in this requirement that no serving officerho had come off active duty recently, the seven-year timeline, could serve as the secretary. there are multiple reasons. at the heart of it is that the secretary of defense is the only other person other than the president who could authorize the use of military power, whether it's a small airstrike or even nuclear war. the concern was that the nervousness about getting the military too much power, simply changing someone out of a uniform to a suit. he would still have the military having that ultimate control over decisions of whether to go to war or peace. it is anathema to what the culture is about. the concern today, even though there have been some notable exceptions, in 1950, general george marshall, becoming secretary of defense, retired general jim mattis -- even though there have been exceptions, the worry is that generals have a particular mindset and socialization from these decades in the military. they don't look at problems like a civilian. it's not about commanding troop

defense of the country. having somebody of his stature and his color at the head of the defense department also sends a powerful signal to our allying and partners about how inclusive we want to be as the united states military in defense of our principles around the world and how representative -- how seriously we take that responsibility to be representati representative. again, i think he as extremely qualified in any regard, but particularly as an african-american, i think it's a good time. and i think we'll be asking ourselves, what took us so long to get to this point? >> and nia, for you, he's in a coat and tie, a civilian, talking about how he hung up his uniform the last time four years ago, and he was making clear the distinction is important. the quote -- i come to this new role as a civilian leader with military experience. the issue is will he be granted this waiver? a lot of democrats on the hill gave jim mattis a hard time. now they have a democrat in the white house, whether the same be in the reverse? will democrats equally give general austin a tough time? what say you? >> listen, i think they

program announced today, the governor in california is now asking for help tonight from the department of defense? >> reporter: he's asking for 200 medical personnel from the department of defense, david. that, as that mass fatality program that we talked about, this is the first time it's being enacted and activated statewide. it was designed with plane crashes or earthquakes or terrorist attacks in mind, not a virus. and as for what it's like in those hospitals, one ceo in central california telling me today, 80% of the patients in that hospital are covid positive. that is unheard of. he said it's like drinking from a fire hose. david? >> all right, matt gutman leading us off tonight. matt, thank you. >>> as i mentioned at the top tonight, the second full day of vaccinations now under way. the pfizer vaccine being shipped all across the country tonight. and this evening, the new report now from the fda on a second potential vaccine. what they found and could we see emergency approval now by week's end? the fda will hold a public hearing on thursday. and take a look at this graph tonight. it sho

defense policy law that the u.s. congress has approved every year for the last 59 years. it establishes the legal basis for thousands of operations of the department of defense including military pay, the start-up of new technologies and investments in plane, ships, logistics, and infrastructure at military installations at home and abroad. this year's bill like the 59 preeeding it -- preceding it represents 11 months that the house and senate armed services committees have worked with the entire congress to produce a bill that will strengthen our security, support our service members, and boost our economy in countless ways. as house chair of the sea power committee, a body i have served on for 14 years, i want to spend a moment on our section of the bill. we are vested with jurisdiction of the u.s. navy and marie corps set forth in article 1, section 8 of the u.s. constitution. those services today are engaged in the highest operational tempo in our military. in every part of the globe, indo pacific, atlantic, and middle east our sailors and marines are in heel to toe operations straining our fleet and manpower. our chief competitors, china and

know how proud beau was to serve on his staff, and i know that under your leadership, the department of defense of the american people in a way that always honors our highest values and ideals. i thank you again and may god bless america and may god protect our troops and now i would like to turn it over to general austin for the department of defense. >> mr. president-elect, madame vice president elect harris, thank you for your trust, your confidence, and the opportunity to serve as the 28th secretary of defense if confirmed by the united states senate it will be my sincere honor and privilege to return to the department and to believe that our great service members and civilians in accomplishing the mission of ensuring our nation's security. in 1877 a young man from the small town of thomasville, georgia, henry osian flipper was the first officer to graduate from the united states military expressway at west point. he was african-american. he was assigned to one of the army's all black regimens and became the first non-white officer to lead the buffalo soldiers of the 10th calvary. fast forw

many of whom were in the state department or in the defense department previously, now se e serving ourommittee. i'm going to consult with them then talk to the new administration individuals that may be in the state department, some of our diplomats, and then we'll make a collective decision on the best way to move forward. >> all right. congressman gregory meeks. appreciate your time and insights this afternoon, sir. thank you so much. >> thank you, good to be with you. >> thank you. >>> in a three-hour closed-door meeting president trump met with about a dozen gop lawmakers who wanted to help him overturn the november election. as more of the president's legal claims fail in court, he is turning to hard-right representatives like alabama's mo brooks to try to block electors chosen by swing states, an effort all but guaranteed to fail. joining me now, nbc news contributor and "washington post" national reporter, carol lenny. carol, great to talk to you again. so give us an update on what you and your colleagues have learned about how far the president's latest strategy involving his h

from the trump administration that they desperately need, particularly in vital areas such as department of defense. he talked about road blocks. do we know what the impediments are? >> well, we know that the briefings by the department of defense were interrupted a couple of weeks ago. the trump administration claimed there was a mutually agreed upon pause, the biden team says that's not the case. it's pretty concerning development. here is what we know, we know that a few weeks ago donald trump after the election fired his defense secretary and installed a set of political minions at the pentagon to try to do his bidding in some fashion. i don't know exactly what. there were some issues related to declassification of materials related to the trump russia investigation. we know that russia engaged in a massive hack of the united states government and the -- and u.s. business. the chief of staff that the president installed at the pentagon, kash patel, is someone who was a top aide to devin nunes when he was fighting the trump russia investigation trying to discredit t we don't know if there is a r

>> the five federal agencies that affairs, department of defense, department of state, indian health services and bureau federal prisons. the second question about trackingal second doses, what we have done this set up everything from age meconium process where we sent out the ancillary kits with needles and syringes and included paper cards to be filled out in a given to the individuals reminding them of their next vaccine due date accordingly. encouraging them to put in the wallet or take a photo. we are working at the draconian level. second, states have a working plan for notification and inside of state laws it is particular in some states and open and others and they are working that planned within their own rules and regulations. we need to know that pharmacy such as cvs and walgreens have established elaborate tracking systems to set up appointments, notify people and at the federal level and then to send a second those messages out only if and when it is in collaboration with the states laws and regulations and policies. itla and then to capture everybody to me sure they get

the department of defense, pam, had said it was a mutually agreed upon holiday break. back and forth. we'll see what happens moving forward. >> back and forth. confusing communication. i know you'll keep tracking that. >> yeah. >> thank you so much. we appreciate it. >> yes. >> be sure to follow me on twitt twitter. i'm back here tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. eastern and our coverage on p.m. eastern and our coverage on cnn continues right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> this is cnn breaking news. >> welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. we're following breaking news. president trump just left his self-imposed bunker at the white house for florida after unleashing new chaos in his final days in office. he vetoed a critical defense bill just a short while ago and he's threatening to upend the huge coronavirus relief bill as well. as if that weren't enough, he granted a slew of controversial pardons, the outgoing president making demands and causing disruption as millions of americans are sick

in terms of who will lead the department of defense, nbc news has reported three names that are undertion. biden really taking his time. you remember just two weeks ago rolling out those national security and foreign policy picks including secretary of state, but the one that wasn't standing there was department of defense, and the reason why is because biden not just a military father but someone who has had years of experience serving as the chairman of the senate foreign relations committee, also part of the intelligence committee, really taking this seriously. so who is he considering for those posts? well, we are reporting that former homeland security secretary jay johnson is up and under consideration as well as michel michelle flornoy and senator tammy duckworth who, she, herself, is a veteran. >> for health and human services, many people have mentioned the name of the new mexico governor and a lot of latino groups and congressional hispanic caucus would love for her to get it. marianna sotomayor, thank you. >>> the u.s. could be days away from approving a vaccine. 42% of ame