the junior senator from alabama,ou doug jones.all know doug came to the senate as a story courtroom lawyer and u.s. attorney. but fewer people know about his more humble origins. doug was born and raised in fairfield, alabama, just outside of birmingham. the scent of a stilt worker, the grandson of a coalminer. he was 19 years old he spent his summer working at the local cotton time mill, ten hours a day, six days d a week. one day a freak accident that a bit of shrapnel flying his way. he came within inches of losing an eye. several stitches later, doug went right back to work. early evidence of a stubborn streak. only at the end of the summer did doug decide it was time to focus a bit more on his studies. that same work ethic, the sometimes work ethic followed his entire life. hehe brought it next to law school. on the one occasion doug decided to skip place, it is not to throw a pigskin around in the quad and engage in some extracurricular activity with friends, no, doug skipped class to attend the trial of klansmen ring leader

the truth is that serving with doug jones has been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me. mr. tester: this guy, his last name shouldn't be jones. it should be justice. he is somebody like nobody i've ever seen, the moral compass is so to the right that it has been an incredible pleasure for me to be able to serve with him and to know him and to also wish him the best moving forward. i don't think we've heard the last of doug jones. doug is not the kind of person who will shrink away. there will be another moment where he can exhibit his ability of common sense, as he's done here in the united states senate for the last three years. i am deeply going to miss his friendship and his ability to sort the wheat from the chaff, because he's been able to do that from day one and continue today with his farewell speech. and i just want to say god bless you, doug jones, and god bless your family. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. alexander: mr. president, i heard a lot about doug jones before he got here from another coura

start with my friend doug jones. throughout the years i've gotten to know doug as so many have as a colleague, but more importantly, as a friend. these past years have not been easy for anyone, but what they have called for our leaders who would do what's right. who are willing to show courage and take risks and one of those leaders is doug jones. a native of alabama and a son of father who worked in the steel industry and my grandfather worked in the iron ore underground i know about this. from the university of alabama law school. afterward served as a top aide for his home state, senator heflen. and he would call and the accent was hard for a minnesotan to get through and mondale within a few days, howling with laughter when he took the call and i'm sure that was a great mentor for doug to have when he first got into politics. and doug became the u.s. attorney for the northern district of alabama and 2017 the first democrat to represent alabama in the u.s. senate since 1997. i'll never forget the first speech doug

judge merrick garland and alabama senator doug jones.e nomination to the supreme court by president obama was blocked by senate republicans. seen by allies as politically independent and unasailable, at a time when rebuilding trust to the justice department will be critical. jones has a strong civil rights record from his prosecution of the clan in alabama and is a long-time, loyal friend to biden. those are the competing questions, a top biden ally tells cnn, someone perceived as above reproach or someone closer to biden? any fallout from the post-trump era and the investigation of hunter biden's business dealings. the president-elect defended his son again this week. >> i'm confident. >> reporter: even saying those two words could create a problem for a new president who has pledged to stay out of justice department decisions. all this, as biden appearing in his first campaign ad as president-elect. >> jnlgeorgia, i know things ar tough right now. >> now that choice of congresswoman halaand puts speaker pelosi's majority down to three

if it is doug jones, look at the big four. you look at that big four, blinken, yellen, jones and austin, the one thing all four have in common is that personal relationship with joe biden. >> absolutely. >> that does say a lot there. as i like to say elections have consequences. primary elections have consequences. >>> peter alexander and mike memoli, thank you both for getting us started with the outgoing and incoming administrations. >>> more on the fda calling the pfizer vaccine safe and effective as another vaccine's results appear possibly less promising. >>> later, the push for covid relief on capitol hill. how soon could lawmakers strike a deal that could help millions of americans cope before the end of this calendar year. and will it be enough to help americans who are hurting? at fidelity, you get personalized wealth planning and unmatched overall value. together with a dedicated advisor, you'll make a plan that can adjust as your life changes, with access to tax-smart investing strategies that help you keep more of

>> i don't have any problems with doug jones.ssion should be whether or not we would accept doug jones over someone who is african-american or black or whatever. of course he's qualified. of course he's done wonderful work in the field. so has deval patrick and so have others. i don't want to be in a position where it's being asked would you accept doug jones if he's named? we'll accept the people this president and vice president put into office because we believe they'll save our democracy and our country. we also believe and have high expectations from the black community that we're going to be at that table when those issues are being discussed and those decisions are being made. >> congresswoman coleman, thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >>> this selfie taking in full ppe in a garage converted into a hospital is being called fake by president trump fueling the conspiracy that the coronavirus is a hoax. that nevada icu doctor joins me live after the break. e live after the break available over the counter.

senator doug jones.m, reverend al sharpton saying he and others raised the concerns in a two hour meeting last night. >> what i said in the meeting yesterday is that i prefer a black to be attorney general. but the least you could do, i said, is to have someone that has a civil rights background that meets this moment of george floyd and breonna taylor. >> i want to bring in somebody else who was in the meeting with the president-elect and vice president elect, derrick johnson. it's good to have you on the show. welcome back. >> good to be here. >> did you also voice your concerns about doug jones to the president in the meeting? >> none of us talked about doug jones. the name didn't come up in the meeting. many of us talked about the characteristic of the person who should step into office day one with the ability to rally the support of the existing staff of doj. understand how it functions. there's no need to bring anybody in to have on the job training. i don't know doug jones' background. this is an

i mean, doug jones is united states attorney. prosecuting the case against the -- the 16th street church bombers. doug jones being a united states senator. you know, merrick garland is great where he is. he should remain there. it's going to be hard to replace him there. but i think this is doug jones's opportunity to be attorney general. and i think that doug jones believes that justice is a verb. and so, black folk will rally around that. we know where he stands and we know where he will lead us. >> thanks so much for being with us, tonight. enjoy seeing all of you. >>> next, we have breaking news on another major issue that president trump has yet to say a word about. that big, suspected, russian-hacking operation, targeting this country. a member of the house intelligence panel joins us next. >>> and later, accusations that the government of -- florida republican governor ron desantis downplayed numbers in the state, as he tried to help president trump get re-elected. sofi made it so easy to pay off my student loan debt. (chi

who will conclude his time in the sete at the end of the term, the junior senator from alabama, doug jones. we all kno he came to the senate as a courtroom lawyer and u.s. attorne but few people know about his more humble origins. he was born and raised in fairfield alabama outside birmgham, the son of a steelworker and grandson of a coal miner. when he was 19-years-old he ent his summer working at the cotton mill ten hours a day, six days a week. one day a freak accident sent a bit of shrapnel flying his way and h came withi inches of losing mia. several stihes later he went back to work. early evidence of a stubbn streak. only at the end of the smer did he decide it wasime to focus a bit more on his studies. that same ethic followed him his life. on the one occasion he decided to skip class it wasn't to throw a pigskin around orhe engage in extracurricular activity with friends. he skippedo class to attend clas with o the 13 bombing of the 16th street ptist church, a tragedy that had shaken the nscience of the nation. the young doug jones was moved by theth position in the trial t he was

i think this is doug jones opportunity to be attorney general and i think that doug jones thinks that justice is a verb. i think he -- >> we have breaking news on something that at the trump has jet to say anything about. later, accusations that the government of florida republican governor ron desantis down played coronavirus numbers in the state as desantis tried to help president trump get personalized wealth planni at fidelity, you get personalized wealth planning and unmatched overall value. together with a dedicated advisor, you'll make a plan that can adjust as your life changes, with access to tax-smart investing strategies that help you keep more of what you earn. and with brokerage accounts, you see what you'll pay before you trade. personalized advice. unmatched value. at fidelity, you can have both. ♪ more than this dreya! hey! how are you so good at this? relax. get into it! aw, yeah! i've got it! rated everyone. finding the right words can be tough.n it comes to autism, finding understanding doesn't have to be. we can create a kinder, more inclusive world for the million

doug jones prosecutor of the kkk terrorist who bombed the birmingham church.t the civil rights agenda. how for example he or sally yates would attack the gop attack on voting rights. and resume the federal investigation of police departments that barr and trump have brought to a stop. how they would push back geps the endless attacks on affirmative action and encollusion efforts. other prominent names demonstrated expertise. if president-elect biden chooses one of the other folks the number two the deputy must have expertise. in civil rights. >> real quickly, i know you're not too thrilled about the idea of doug jones. >> i want to make sure whoever takes the head of the department of justice understand how on day one to execute a plan. the issues that we are confronting here are too serious for someone to have on the job training. i don't know enough about his experience with doj. there are qualified individuals who can walk in the door day one. garner the confidence of the career staff. understand where all the bathrooms are and execute a plan to not only pr

i don't know doug jones' qualification in that area. i know there are competent individuals who understand the function, the role of the justice department and who will walk in on day one and have the confidence of the staff that's there. we have domestic terrorists. we have issues around our election security. we have issues that are far and wide that we must clean up after the last four years and we must make sure that the person selected is able to walk in day one to begin to address those issues. >> you about you don't know if he has those qualifications, is what you're saying? >> i am concerned. there were some votes doug jones took when he was sitting that left a lot of questions, the justice act being one of them. we have a problem with policing in this country. if senators cannot vote to bring more accountability around policing, it leaves a lot of pause for me in terms of whether or not they will be able to walk into the justice department day one and address some of the concerns that plagued this country not only for the last

let's take doug jones. doug jones of course is known by the senate. he was not reelected. but he has some trouble in his own flanks of the democratic party, specifically with the naacp. then you have sally yates who has also has a political challenge because of her actions back with donald trump and the travel ban. so the first hurdle is getting through the senate. the second hurdle is trying to cobble together a justice department, a justice department that finds itself in the midst of a criminal investigation of what will then be the president's son. now, while the president's son is a target of a criminal investigation, and we know that so far today president-elect biden is not a subject but he could be a witness and he could be a material witness and he would have to be deposed as a witness or possibly even testify. so i think there's a lot of things and challenges that are associated with whoever the ag is and of course the question is going to be, is it going to be a political person with a political pedigree or somebody like judge merrick garland who has more of a j

as is, doug jones, also reportedly in contention. doug jones a former u.s. attorney with a storied civil rights career in alabama. doug jones lost re-election as a democratic u.s. senator from alabama, but he is known to be close to president-elect biden. he is certainly very well regarded by his peers in the senate. doug jones, sally yates, merrick garland all described as in contention for ag tonight. we shall see. but the justice department of course is not going to be a typical cabinet pick this time around, if ever it could be. it's always hugely important. it's always a dramatic choice that says a lot about the president-elect or the president making that nomination. but this time, picking somebody to be attorney general, i mean, they're going to be walking into the proverbial smoking wreck of a justice department that's been left behind by the successive disastrous trump era tenures of jeff sessions, the first trump attorney general who trump of course fired. and then remember there was that guy matthew whitaker who trump installed, again, for like fi

people who know doug jones know that he has a career, a lifelong professional career deeply rooted ino kkk members who were involved in the 1963 bombing of the baptist church in birmingham, alabama, that resulted in the heinous killing of those four little girls. and so doug jones is someone who i'm told, if he is nominated to serve as attorney general, would have the backing of the congressional black caucus, he would have the backing of civil rights groups. remember, when he ran to essentially be senator of alabama, he had the support of the late civil rights icon john lewis, chris. so this is sort of a moving target, but the latest we're told is that doug jones is on that short list to include merrick garland, i don't have to remind you the unique space in history merrick garland occupies too. >> yes, former supreme court nominee. much more to come on this administration. geoff bennett, charlie sykes, thanks to both of you. >>> that will do it for me this hour. "andrea mitchell reports" starts after this short break. reak med, tremfya® can help adults with moderate to severe plaque

he's much more personally close with senator doug jones. i think the other real kind of, you know, thing that doug jones has going for him is the fact that he has this very long civil rights background, clearly, the department of justice is going to have to focus on that in this next term, in terms of trying to get the justice department and the whole legal apparatus in a different position than it has been under the trump administration. >> ana, errol, thank you both very much for helping us understand all of this breaking news this morning. >>> and we have more breaking news right now. the french president testing positive for coronavirus after developing symptoms. we have a live report with the details from paris, next. before we talk about tax-smart investing, what's new? -audrey's expecting... -twins! ♪ we'd be closer to the twins. change in plans. at fidelity, a change in plans is always part of the plan. so why wait to screen for colon cancer? because when caught in early stages, it's more treatable. i'm cologuard. i'm noninvasive an

you tweeted when you custody doug jones about at the laughed, which what else is he supposed to do. you hearing? >> yes. senator jones has been very good natured about all our questions. i am sure he is asked four times a day from various reporters. you're right, doug jones, merrick garland, perhaps another person or two are seen as finalists for biden's attorney general pick which is the most important kind of major cabinet position that's outstanding on the list. jones has several benefits going for him here. obviously that he does have an extensive record on civil rights, endorsed by civil rights leaders and they said as much to the biden administration and press. someone we could see being easily confirmable in any senate configuration, whether it is a democratic senate with kamala harris as tie-breaker or in a republican senate. remember, with merrick garland, he does currently sit on the d.c. circuit court of appeals, second most powerful court in the country. if he leaves that post, there would be a vacancy. if mitch mcconnell is in charge, does he let joe biden fill that vac

if you have a majority leader mitch mcconnell, that's a huge risk when you have someone like doug joneso incoming president biden. then merrick garland, someone who has a civil rights background that a lot of biden's black supporters have demanded. leaders in that community. that is having that background. they are really weighing those two, a lot of different options at this point. but we'll have to see. it looks like it's coming soon, but, you know, there is a deadline, and that is mid january. >> speaking of deadlines, i mean, one of the searing images i think of 2020, jackie, is going to be the modern day food lines, bread lines in america. this is san antonio this week. we have seen in play out across the country. in my own town last week, i saw a line that must have been 1/2 mile long of people lined up to get a box of food and to go through a rack of secondhand coats. this is the united states of america, the biggest economy in the world, and this pandemic has laid bare how thin, thin this whole prosperity was for so many people. why can't they figure that out in washington, and

i wanted him to speak briefly so it could flow. >> we are allowing senator doug jones to speak briefly. thank you. [applause] >> well, i got that message. briefly. i get that. no problem. i will be brief. [laughter] >> i want to thank you all for coming here today and letting me just come up for a moment. i am so honored to be here. it was very important for me to come here today to honor and have this opportunity really to recognize the legacy of the clotilda and the descendents from the clotilda. it was so exciting in our office and around the state and around the country, the learning of the clotilda's find, that researchers confirmed that wreckage. i will give a quick shout out to my friend who was bringing this to everyone's attention early on that helped really i think for most the search that went through here. we are here today because of 150 years ago or more, in 1860, 110 men, women, and children were brought here illegally into the united states. that ship was burned in order to hide the evidence of the horrible crimes that took place. many here today are the proud descenden

we are told that senator doug jones who just defeated representing alabama. judge merrick garland and sally yi yates are three leading concerned. obvious all three are white. i wonder if you're surprised given the talk about criminal justice reform, black lives matter, george floyd, all of this in the last year or two, the notion of civil rights and being black in america and the notion of justice, are you surprised that the three final contenders, according to our reporting at least, are white? >> you know, in some ways, i am a little surprised that among the finalists, according to our reporting, there aren't any people of color on that list. i will say that one of the reasons that doug jones might be amenable to civil rights groups is because he has a long history of prosecuting civil rights cases in alabama. it's one of the things that he has made his calling card and, in fact, in the last months of his ten europe in the senate, because he knew that he was in such a tough race, it seemed that he was almost liberated in some ways to speak up forcefully for

doug jones brings a track record when comes to enforcement of civil rights. whether these nominees bring that long extensive unblemished a deepwhen it comes to and abiding when you're talking about racial justice and civil rights. that question must be asked. -- racerings of racial and gender diversity. he needs to be one that reflects the nation and has --. my hope is in the final analysis we can look at the sum total of president-elect biden's cabinet indeed onfeel that he day one will put in place a cabinet that reflects america. host: in california, independent. caller: i'm from the apache nation and i will tell you this. i can speak more than one language. see black-and-white or monolithic. they only speak english. i think we are not diverse at all. you people can get it together. i don't know why. you speak the same language. people, we are all bilingual. we are truly diverse. let me say in closing, my great-great-grandfather was a confederate scout. he could find water, this was in texas. the confederates treated the apaches, the cherokees and all the

it's urgent. >> joining me, now, democratic senator doug jones of alabama.so much for joining me, senator. let's start with -- with this issue. where do you see relief negotiations heading, right now? >> well, i'm -- i'm very hopeful. this should have been done, a long time ago. we've known, for months, months, and months, that this virus was not going away, anytime soon. until we got a vaccine. and that's still several months away for the general public. we need to get this relief for the american people. we need to get this relief for hospital workers. we need to get this relief for city and county governments. and it's -- it's never too late but we are getting that way right now and this is an urgency situation. our economy is going to depend on whether or not the congress can act. and now, that this election is over, i'm hoping people can put that partisanship aside, and get this done for the american people. >> i want to dig in on a couple specific sticking points. my colleague, lauren fox, who covers you up there. she wrote, this morning, that even the

yes, doug jones does have that experience. he is, also, a white man. debate that joe biden and his advisers are having right now about that top job. >> and so, part of the challenge, jeff zeleny, is when you do have some grumbling or rumbling, sometimes it's a little more than that. but often, that's what it is. within the family, if you will, how do you deal with it? in the case of general austin, just today, jay johnson, one of the candidates we thought might get that job. former homeland security secretary in the obama administration. himself, an african-american man. today, issued a statement saying austin would be an outstanding and inspirational leader. so, smart politics here in terms of trying to get some character witnesses, if you will, when you are asking democrats. number one, there is a lot of celebration. again, to have an african-american lead the pentagon. but a lot of democrats have been on the record, because of general mattis, saying we don't like the idea of a general in that job. >> exactly. and that is going to be one of the thing

senator doug jones. those are two top contenders as it plays out now. kate, all indications are that any announcement on attorney general will come after the holidays. >> jessica, thank you. >>> now to a troubling new revelation about reach of the suspected russian cyber attack on the federal government. top democrat on senate finance committee, senator ron wyden, says hackers gained access to treasury department email accounts and systems used by the department's highest ranking officials. josh campbell has been looking into this, joins me now. what are you learning about the breach? >> good morning. investigators are investigating the fallout. we are learning the treasury department was one of the agencies impacted. as you mention, that coming from senator ron wyden, top democrat on the senate banking committee. he says in a statement microsoft notified the agencies that dozens of email accounts were compromised. additionally, they broke into systems in departmental office division of treasury, home to

. >> next, farewell remarks from senator doug jones of alabama, he talked about his experience on capitol hill over the last three years working with colleagues across the aisle and issues he hopes the senate

and one of those leaders is doug jones. a native of fairfield alabama and the son of a father who worked in the steel industry, my grandpa worked in the iron ore business underground. i know a little bit about this. doug graduated from the university of alabama and the university of alabama law school. afterwards he served as a top aide for his home state senator hall heflin. i still remember hal heflin after he left government. he would call for him and the accent was a little hard for a minnesotan to get through. and i remember mondale literally within a few days, a few hours howling with laughter when he took the call. and i'm sure that was a great mentor for doug to have when he first got into politics. doug then became the u.s. attorney for the northern district of alabama and in 2017 he became the first democrat to represent alabama in the u.s. senate since 1997. i'll never forget the first speech doug gave on the senate floor. it was about gun violence calling for bipartisanship and pragmatism and for the courage to s

caller: i just want to tell the biden people that joe biden, please take doug jones for the ag. this man is a nice man. i talked to the people, people love him from main street. please tell him just what i want to tell the biden. please take this man for the ag. host: that is joe out of the bronx. james is next out of walden, new york. republican. caller: good morning. i tape this show every morning and i happened to get up early so now i'm listening to it live. i saw the question, should the electoral college be abolished. i'm a big fan of the electoral college. i believe in it. but then i realized, the electorial is based on population. with all these illegals coming in and raising our population, look at new york. our electorial numbers, i think it's like 40 or 30 something. so it doesn't matter if it's abolished or not. it's basically based on population. i'm an avid watcher of c-span, and every morning i said, i wonder if they are going to mention the topic of the biden crime family, but you guys haven't put that on yet. why is it? why is it when trump with the alleged russ

still weighing his choices for attorney general cnn has learned with judge merrick garland and doug joneshe top contenders. president-elect urging congress to pass an academic relief bill before the holidays. >> it's a important down payment and has to be done. >> reporter: now, the goal for filling all of the cabinet or most of the top spots is still before the christmas holidays. that means next week could be the biggest week yet for the most important positions remaining and that is attorney general as well as the director of the cia. there are competing interests here in the decision for attorney general. again, we are told it is between judge merrick garland who was a supreme court nominee in the obama nominee and blocked by the senate as well as outgoing alabama senator doug jones and complicated by the trump investigations still going on. democrats calling for them as well as hunter biden's own business dealing investigation. a big decision here facing joe biden for his attorney general. we are hoping, at least expecting that will be next week. >> we will watch it every step of the

doug jones, do you feel like he would be an appropriate pick?he senate and certainly has in his historical record the prosecution of those behind the bombing of the birmingham church. he's also somebody who was a vote in favor of attorney general barr. i think that, you know, once a nominee is put forth, their record, their full record will be closely and carefully scrutinized. sally yates is somebody who has long experience inside the agency, and i think that that is critical. she's somebody who will come in the door on day one and understand the landscape and understand what must be done to repair all that is broken. you know, the talk about judge garland, i think, is interesting. he's somebody who will bring a deep understanding of the law and no doubt help restore integrity. but i do think it's critical that president-elect biden take his time to get this right. communities across our country are looking for the justice department to do the hard work to address the problems that really have torn apart the nation. police violence, racial viol

he is a big guy. >> doug jones. >> i've seen his name.'ve seen sally -- >> i'll read you names for attorney general. here is a look at them on the screen. what do you think of them? >> i don't know if i know monaco. the rest i know and admire a great deal. deval patrick is a very good friend. jeh johnson is a great guy. you know what doug is. sally yates proves her work when she was in the justice department before. these people i know personally and i feel real good about them. >> jeh johnson is among the candidates for secretary of defense. he was general counsel to the department of defense secretary of homeland security as you know during the obama administration. we will see what the president-elect announces. i'm sure he is listening very closely to you. congressman clyburn, as usual, thank you for joining us. >> thanks for having me, wolf. >>> more breaking news into "the situation room." georgia, for a third time! not a second time or first time, a third time has recertified that joe biden has won that state after another detailed

there could be a surprise but doug jones and merit garland are the front-runners.ocess will have to go through the senate. we don't know yet if republicans or democrats will be in control. that comes down to the georgia runoffs ongoing. it will be decided january 5th, but biden says that he is not going to wait on the outcome in those races. he's going to pick the people he wants to pick, let the chips fall where they may. boris? >> you mentioned the names that are already out there, rebecca. a lot of familiar faces. it seems like biden is betting on old allies? >> that's right. if lincoln had a team of rivals, biden has a band of buddies. these are definitely familiar faces. he has been in washington for a long time. he's established really deep and loyal relationships in his time in washington, but he's also wanting to continue, as he said as a candidate for president and throughout this transition, biden wants to continue the obama legacy in his presidency. as a result of that, you're seeing a lot of familiar faces from the obama administration, people who serve

doug jones is the likely candidate, and i just think he and senator jones will have no discussion aboutt. >> harris: oh, i see. okay. so no morning beer. >> [laughs] >> harris: attorney general bill barr from today. let's watch. >> i think to the extent that there is an investigation, i think it is being handled responsibly and professionally, within the department. end to this point i have not seen a reason to appoint a special counsel, and i have no plan to do so before i leave. >> harris: why not appoint a special counsel? you are leaving, december 23rd, a couple days from now. why not? >> harris, i'm not a fan of special counsels. they take on a superb prosecutor role, almost answerable to no one. whether it is mueller or anybody else, i am not a fan of the special -- >> harris: but the president of the united states would have to recuse himself from his own son's case. that's a lot different than saying "i'm not going to talk to the media about it." because he doesn't take any of our cousins anyway, when they get tougher than "what kind of ice cream daylight?" and i'm not even maki

were in the mix but they seem to have lost momentum in recent days so now the attention turns to doug jones. biden has a good relationship with him and as you know, andrea, that's critical for these types of decisions. >> he played an important role in prosecuting the case of the little girls killed in birmingham, alabama in the '60s. he's had a long history of commitment to civil rights in the south, of course was defeated in the alabama senate race. we'll be hearing that soon too. a busy day for you, kristen welker, thanks to peter, peter baker, and dr. peggy hamburg, as always, thanks for your expertise. >>> and more on why joe biden's historic pick to head up the pentagon is drawing some criticism. >>> plus warning signs. how disinformation online could wear away as confidence in the covid vaccines. >>> plus my special guest rachel maddow today about her new book about a crook in the white house, and it's not who you might think. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. needles. essential for sewing, but maybe not for people with certain inflammatory conditions. because

right now alabama senator doug jones, outgoing senator doug jones is near the top of the list as a leadingas a background with civil rights cases, a long-time friend of joe biden's. merrick garland, a district judge, a name that viewers know. he was president obama's supreme court pick in 2016, who was refused a hearing by republicans. garland is very much on the short list now. he's gained momentum in recent days according to our reporting. and also sally yates, who used to be the acting attorney general under president trump, but there are concerns growing because of the role she played in the russia investigation. biden is extremely fond of yates according to people we talked to around him but recognizes it would be a tough road for her to achieve confirmation against republicans who will allege wrongdoing in the origins of the russia probe. this is still a fluid situation, it's an extremely important job. we expect a decision to be made at any time from the president-elect. >> we'll have more on these picks coming up with the reverend al sharpsharpton. >>> the trump administration thre

there have been some objections reported to doug jones, senator jones from alabama.rosecutor of the ku klux klan and the birmingham bombing back from the 1960s. but complaints he has not had a prolonged, active role that leads up and continues through the current criminal justice crisis. >> so thank you for having me, again. with respect to the department of justice, in my own view, the gold standard is eric holder who had the lived experience of beaning african-american, who had experience in the justice department and experience in the judiciary. had a career as a great lawyer, and he brought all of that to bear as attorney general. having said that, there's no question that within the civil rights community an african-american candidate, i think, would be preferred. but having said that, i think it's important that the nominee have the confidence of the president because this is a deeply personal choice and a commitment to civil rights enforcement, which has been lacking in the current administration. so while there's jockeying about names, i can say that tony wes

doug jones, who i worked for when he was the u.s. attorney in the northern district of alabama during the clinton administration, is very talented. he obviously has experience as a u.s. attorney, but he was also a line prosecutor for many years and worked as a defense lawyer. so he has that 360-degree world view that we need from an attorney general. he also is relatively unique and maybe poised for the moment where criminal justice reform is important because he commands respect from both law enforcement and the civil rights community. that will, i think, be an essential piece. >> yamiche and joyce vance, thank you for having this discussion tonight. >>> up next is our one and only rachel maddow right here on "the last word," maybe in her pajamas. rachel maddow live here, next. pajamas. rachel maddow live here, next. (burke) deep-sea driving, i see... (customer) something like that... (burke) well, here's something else: with your farmer's policy perk, new car replacement, you can get a new one. (customer) that is something else. (b

to have a black attorney general or maybe with senator doug jones someone who has really fought for civilvery long time. do you have any reporting on who is the leading contender in biden's mind right now? >> nothing beyond what you have just said, poppy. doug jones has been seen as a front runner for a little while and because of that civil rights background, but, yes, the president-elect is under pressure to put somebody in who is a minority candidate and i think it's interesting that we're this far into the process now and to have one of the big four basically spots left in biden's cabinet looked at closely, both for the reasons you just said, diversity but also to find someone who can go back in and, at least from a democrats' perspective, clean up the justice department and restore confidence in an institution and part of a government that they feel has suffered because of bill barr's tenure. >> sally yates has a record as well on civil rights. beyond civil rights what is job number one, briefly, for a new attorney general? >> i think they have to show that the department is going to

meanwhile, alabama senator doug jones is the leading contender to be nominated for attorney general, with the discussions tell nbc news, jones, of course, leaving the senate in january after he lost his bid for re-election. he would become the second alabama senator nominated for attorney general in four years. joining us from delaware, nbc news correspondent mike memoli. mike, always good to see you. >> reporter: good morning. >> let's start with the broad view of the cabinets. how the biden team thinking, i know they've been under pressure for the diversity front in their picks. how are they handling it and how is it affecting how he's making the decisions? >> reporter: yeah, kasie, it's so interesting we've seen the pace of nominations accelerate significantly. we're going to have the second rollout in as many days with general austin this afternoon. we're also, i think, picking up a little bit of frustration for the first time from biden allies about how this is all playing out. you heard the president-elect last week when he was asked about his pressure on diversity, both in the

the fact we're hearing merrick garland and doug jones means that is not what joe biden wants to do.e doesn't necessarily care about putting the top cop in the hands of an african-american or necessarily a person of color but i think the issue is this. this is what i want to see out of whoever he ends up picking as a.g. it has to be someone who is aggressive not just about cleaning up the doj, not just about pushing out all of the trumpists and getting rid of the people brought in who are unqualified or anti-democratic in behavior. it has to be someone who will be aggressive about voting rights and protecting voting rights across the country which we saw with the previous attorney general with barack obama but also someone who will be dedicated to tamping down and breaking up the rising tide of white nationalist terrorist organizations masquerading as groups around this country like the proud boys. we need to have a doj, an attorney general that goes after white nationals the way the fbi went after the ku klux klan in the 1950s. if he doesn't pick someone who recognizes we have a dom

senator doug jones, someone who of course as you and i have discussed, has a history in civil rights. he of course prosecuted those two former kkk members who were a part of the 1963 bombing of the church. and also merrick garland, remember, he was former president obama's pick for the supreme court. republicans wouldn't give him a hearing at all. so those are among the names that are being discussed for the next nominee for attorney general. what we know is that today, president-elect biden is going to announce his next nominee for defense secretary. this of course is general lloyd austin, someone who would need a waiver in order to be approved and confirmed for that position. and you already have some democrats, senator blumenthal, to name one, who has come out and said they're just not going to grant a waiver. of course that was a big issue for general mattis. and he was ultimately confirmed. some of those same democrats who voted against the waiver for general mattis are already signaling they're going to do the same with lloyd austin. so that could be a showdown in the senate, an

sally yates, the former deputy attorney general, doug jones, a former senator from alabama.served in the d.c. circuit right here, who was also seen as somebody who's very reliable and somebody who's very fair. now, doug jones was being talked about as a front-runner in large part because he's such good personal friends with joe biden. that was something that was extraordinarily important and really seen as an advantage. but now people are wondering inside, is that a disadvantage? is it bad to have one of the president's closest friends, the attorney general who's investigating his son? sally yates was a clear preference for the people i spoke with, and it was in large part because so many of them had worked with her. not just when she was deputy attorney general, but also when she was a prosecutor, when she was working her way through the department and they liked the fact that she is really just fresh out of the department. and she is extremely familiar with every issue that they are going to face in the next few years. and she's worked on these issues and they are a little

biden is someone who has known doug jones for a long time. they have a long working relationship. we've loss malso got merritt ga snubbed by mitch mcconnell when former president barack obama tapped him for a supreme court seen, something as a unifying force. the downside, though, with elevating him, such that there is a downside, would be that he is viewed as being potentially too lenient to law enforcement interests by some civil rights advocates i've talked to and the other issue that if biden takes him off the d.c. circuit court of appeals, he hases to nominate a replacement, and then third on the list, you've got sally yates, top choice among progressives and civil rights activists and advocates i've talked to. she's getting lots of praise for things she's done in her past as a doj veteran, closing private prisons connected to the justice department, but because she was involved in the fbi investigation into the trump campaign that later turned into the overall russia investigation, she is widely viewed as being the hardest of the three to confirm. but i'm told when biden ann

and i would say probably that means sally yates or doug jones or deval patrick would be my gut. but any of them would be fine. but before we get too carried away with who's next remember there's a lot of time at the department of justice between now and january. and many terrible things can happen. there can be, you know, pardons handed out like christmas cards. there can be special counsels appoint appointed who will be embedded who can go after the president's enemies and who will be there for the new attorney general to deal with. so it's too soon to take our eye off the trump justice department and just focus on the biden justice department, unfortunately. >> yeah, here-here. there's all evidence that you're absolutely correct. phil, today on paper could have been a good day for the trump white house though we did not see the president on this day when vaccine shots arrived in american arms. >> yeah, you know, brian, you're right it was a good day in terms of the vaccine rollout. and i'm frankly surprised we didn't see the president. this is the one element of the coronaviru

the junior senator from alabama,ou doug jones.all know doug came to the senate as a story courtroom lawyer and u.s. attorney. but fewer people know about his more humble origins. doug was born and raised in fairfield, alabama, just outside of birmingham. the scent of a stilt worker, the grandson of a coalminer.