have encountered roadblocks from the political leadership at the department of defense and the office of management and budget. right, we just aren't getting all the information that we need from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. it's nothing short of irresponsible. finally, we spoke about the day one challenges that we will need to address immediately, drawing on the skill sets of the department of homeland security and the federal emergency management agency. we were briefed on the steps needed to clean up the humanitarian disaster that the trump administration has systematically created on our southern border. we will institute a humane and orderly response. that means rebuilding the capacity we need to safely and quickly process asylum seekers without creating a near-term crisis in the midst of a deadly pandemic. these are hard issues. and the current administration has made them much harder by working to erode our capacity. it's going to take time to rebuild it. and we're going to work purposefully, diligently, and responsibly to roll back trump's restrictions starting on day one. but

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 analyst and senior editor for the atlantic, mr. ron brownstein. so good to see all of your faces. i hope you had some time off and a great christmas. we're looking forward to a new year. in the meantime, good evening to all of you. kaitlyn, a lot of chaos and drama created by the president holding up the stimulus bill. i have been trying to figure it out. what was this all about? does anybody know? >> no, don. not even his own staff really is clear as to what was behind this because when the pre

said at the beginning, we haven't cleared roadblocks at the political office of defense and the office of management and budget. right now we're just not getting all the information that we need from the outgoing administration, in key national security areas. it's not short of my view of responsibility. finally, we spoke about the day one challenge we need to address immediately, drawing on the skill seth of the the department of homeland security and federal emergency management agency. they carried disaster that was created on our southern border. we will institute responses. that means building the capacity needed to safely house the asylum seekers, without making a crisis in the midst of this pandemic. these are hard issues, and the current administration has made them much harder by looking it. we need to look at it responsibly to roll back trump's decisions, but it's not as simple as turningflipping a swi turn everything back on, especially during a pandemic. we must ensure the safety of asylum seekers hoping for a new start in the united states, free from violence and persecution. we must distribute vaccinati

business and as i said in the beginning, we've encountered roadblocks in the political leadership of the department of defense and the office of management and budget. and right now, just are not getting all of the information that we need for the ongoing outgoing administration. in key national security areas freighted is nothing short in my view of irresponsibility. and finally, we spoke about day one challenge that we need to address immediately. drawing on the skills out in the department of homeland security and the federal emergency management agency. we were briefed on the steps needed to clean up the humanitarian disaster that the trump administration has systematically created on our southern border. we will institute humane and orderly responses. that means rebuilding the capacity we need to safely and quickly process the silent seekers without creating a crisis in the midst of this deadly pandemic. these are hard issues. in the current administration has made that much harder by working to erode our capacity. it will take time to rebuild that capacity. void work purposefully, diligently, and responsibly freighted to rollback trump's starting on day

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 for the ongoing -- from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. it's nothing short in my view of irresponsibility. >> now, we know this hasn't been a typical transition. that's an understatement. but when you talk about the vice president -- biden and the president-elect making a statement like that, what does that tell you about the divisions in the transition team now from the current administration to the incoming biden administration? >> yeah, i think it's important for people to know that this is not typical. you know, this is the third transition that i've covered. i covered bush to obama and obama to trump and both of those previous transitions are really held up as models for how it should be done. even though there was a transition of power from one party to another, officials in the incoming administration really worked overtime to try to help their incoming counterparts get ready for the job, kn

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 of the information we need from the outgoing administration. in key national security areas. it's nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility. >> now, some of the transition concerns aside, this was also a revealing foreign policy speech from the president-elect. he talked about how some agencies have been hollowed out. international alliances have been weakened under president trump, and he said that the go it alone approach from president trump simply will not work to address some of these global challenges, including something like climate change. i also just want to note that the focus on tuesday for the president-elect is going to be covid-19. this as a lot of experts are concerned that we are going to see massive spikes in covid-19 cases after the christmas holidays. christine and ryan, back to you. >> thank you so much for that, mj. today, the vice president-elect kamala harris and future second gentleman doug emhoff are set to receive their c

we've encountered roadblocks from the political leadership at department of defense and the office of management and budget. rightwe just aren't getting all the information that we need with the ongoing, outgoing, and from the outgoing administration in key, national-security areas. it's nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility. >> speaking in his home state of delaware, on monday, biden also referred to russia's possible involvement in a series of cyberattacks against the government and businesses. he said the attacks were a threat to national security. biden said a smooth handoff between administrations was essential. he said the country's adversaries could exploit what he called a window of confusion. he pledged to hold such countries to account. >> as we compete with china, to hold china's government accountable for its trade abuses, technology, human rights, and other fronts, our position was much stronger. build coalitions of like-minded partners and allies. >> biden's team criticized some pentagon officials, earlier this month, for resisting their requests for information. >>> russian president, vlad

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 want to bring in cnn white house correspondent, kaitlan collins. cnn political correspondent, mj lee. cnn senior political analyst and senior editor for the atlantic, mr. ron brownstein. so good to see all your faces here after a week. i hope you had some time off and a great christmas, and we are looking forward to the new year. in the meantime, good evening to all of you. kaitlan, i am going to start with you. lot of chaos and drama created by the president holding up the stimulus bill. i've been trying to figure i

have encountered roadblocks, the political leadership, at the department of defense, and the office of management and budget. right now, we just are not getting all the information that we need for the ongoing and outgoing from the outgoing administration, in key national security areas. it is nothing short in my view of the responsibility. >> he warned that his teams need full visibility into the defense budget. they close that record highs of investors optimistic about the 900 billion-dollar stimulus package. >>> actress lori laughlin is out of prison. she was incarcerated on october 30, she spent the last couple weeks in isolation because of a covid outbreak there. her husband is serving a five month sentence in santa barbara. >>> new video to show you, check out all of the snow they have been getting in the mountains around la, streets, trees, cars, everything is covered. they got more than a foot of snow as well today. now we have seen some bay area snow, as well. a dusting of it anyway. the national weather service tweeted this picture this morning from mount hamilton. where temperatures have been at or near

of confusion or catch up that our adversaries might try and exploit. i said from the beginning that we have encountered roadblocks and the political leadership of the department of defence and the office of management and budget. right the information that we need for the outgoing administration in key national security areas pulled up in my view, it is nothing short of irresponsibility. south africa has announced it's tightening covid restrictions to try to contain a surge in infections. president cyril ramaphosa has warned that hospitals are close to capacity as a new more infectious strain of the virus appears to be well established throughout the country. the adjusted level three regulations will make every individual, meaning everyone, responsible legally for wearing a mask in public. from now on, it is compulsory for every person to wear a mask in a public space. 0ur correspondent, nomsa maseko, is in johannesburg. she says hospitals are under strain. they are severely under strain, particularly in two provinces, where hospitals are at full capacity, some by hospitals are at full capacity, some byup hospitals are at full capacity, some by up to 140%. it's notjust covid patients that are filling up those beds,

of confusion or catch up that our adversaries might try and exploit. i said from the beginning that we have encountered roadblocks from the political leadership of the department of defence and the office of management and budget. righthe information that we need for the outgoing administration in key national security areas in my view, it is nothing short of irresponsibility. let's look at some of the day's other news. on monday, the health ministry in spain announced the country's death toll from covid—19 has topped 50,000. spain has been hit hard by the second wave of the virus, and introduced a 6—month ‘state of emergency‘ in october. all 27 european union member states are embarking upon a mass vaccination programme. a total of 446 million people will need to be vaccinated across the continent. these pictures are from belgium, where residents of care homes were among the first to receive the vaccine. ajudge in the united states has denied bail to ghislaine maxwell, saying she might be a flight risk. the british socialite is accused of helping the convicted sex offenderjeffrey epsteen groom young girls. she has beenjailed since her arrest injuly, and had proposed a 28 million dollar bail package, which included e

of confusion or issue that our adversario may try exploit. as i said from the beginning, wt have enced roadblocks from the political leadership, atf he departmentfense and the office of management and budget. right, we are just not getting all of the information we need from the outgoing administration in key, nationa security areas. they are shirking their responsibility. anchor: some of the day's other news now. daon m the health ministry death toll has top0.he country's spain has been hit hard by the virus and had a state of emergency. all 27 member eu states are embarking on a mass vaccination program. a total of 446 million will be vaccinated. thes pictures are from belgium, where residents of care homes were among the first to g vaccinated. a judge in the united states has denied bail to delay maxwell, sayi she might be a flig risk. the socialite is accused of helping jeffrey epstein grew young girls. she has been held since her arrest in july and had bail package which included electronic monitoring. risouth has announced it is tightening covid restrictions. the president has warned that hospitals are close to capacity as a new, more infectious strain of the virus appears to be well estab

have encountered roadblocks from the political leadership at the department of defense and the office of management and budget. righton that we need from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. it's nothing short, in my view, of sheer irresponsibility. let's get some of the day's other news. on monday, the health ministry in spain announced the country's death toll from covid—19 has topped 50,000. spain has been hit hard by the second wave of the virus and introduced a six—month state of emergency in october. all 27 european union member states are embarking upon a mass vaccination programme. a total of 446 million people will need to be vaccinated across the continent. these pictures are from belgium, where residents of care homes were among the first to receive the vaccine. and south korea is the latest country to report cases of the variant first identified in the uk. a family of three who arrived in the country from london in the last week has tested positive. ajudge in the united states has denied bail to ghislaine maxwell, saying she might be a flight risk. the british socialite is accused

we've encountered roadblocks in 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 on going out going from not going to do strip. now biden also spoke about how he argues that his team needs to have a clear picture of the country's force posture talk about world wide operations to deter enemies and modernizing defense priorities now in his remarks he pointed specifically to russia and china this is joe biden from campaign broad broad dozens and dozens we talked about the different strategic challenges are going to face from both russia and china and reforms we must make to put ourselves in the strongest possible position to meet those challenges that includes modernizing our defense for years to better deter to the future rather than continue rather than continue over invest in legacy systems designed to address threats of the past now despite the fact that it seems very clear the joe biden will be taking the oath of office in january and becoming the next president donald trump continues to contest

have encountered roadblocks in 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 from the outgoing administration now biden emphasized that it's very important for his team to have a clear picture of the country's posture worldwide and operations that were due to her enemies of the united states talk about modernizing the defense priorities to deter aggression and he made a specific point pointing toward russia and china as a potential dangers to the united states and this is joe biden we talked about the different strategic challenges are going to face from both russia and china and reforms we must make to put ourselves in the strongest possible position to meet those challenges that includes modernizing our defense for years to better deter aggression in the future rather than continue rather than to you know over invest in legacy systems designed to address threats of the past now it's important to note that despite the fact that it seems pretty clear that joe biden will be tak

and the political leadership at the department of defence and the office of management and budget. rightt 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. these are hard issues, and the current administration has made them much harder by working to erode our capacity. it's going to take time to rebuild the capacity. we're going to work purposefully, diligently, and responsibly to roll back trump's restrictions, starting on day one, but it is not as simple as throwing a switch to turn everything back on, especially amid a pandemic. mr biden noted that security agencies had suffered enormous damage to their capacity under donald trump's presidency at a time when they're facing challenges posed by both china and russia. the president said it was important for his administration to get a clear picture of budgets and planning in order to avoid confusion that america's enemies could exploit, and he stressed the importance of making sure information was not lost in a handover betwe

have encountered roadblocks from the political leadership at the department of defense and the office of management and budget. righthe information that we need from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. it's nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility. let's get some of the day's other news. spain's death toll from covid—19 has now topped 50,000. the country introduced a six—month state of emergency in october. the health minister has said spain will set up a registry of people who've refused to be vaccinated against coronavirus and share it with other european union nations, but the list would not be made public. all 27 european union member states are embarking upon a mass vaccination programme. a total of 446 million people will need to be vaccinated across the continent. these pictures are from belgium, where residents of care homes were among the first to receive the vaccine. south africa has announced it's tightening covid restricitions to try to contain a surge in infections. president cyril ramaphosa has warned that hospitals are close to capacity as a new, more infectious strain of

> we encountered roadblocks on the political leadership, the department of defense, and the office of management and budget. rightng all of the information that we need from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. it is nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility. >> just three weeks to go until his inauguration president-elect joe biden spoke out and asked the trump administration for what he says is obstructing the transition of power. joining us now is david zanger, he is a national security correspondent. do you know specifically what roadblocks joe biden and his team are encountering from the department of defense? >> we heard about a few. the first is that they're having a difficult time understanding the full dimensions of american posture around the world. now much of that is public. we know how trooms we have here in south korea, japan, and germany. but in the areas where the president talked about drawing them down and said he would have them down to zero by christmas in investigation and big draw downs in rierk, it's not clear how they are distributed and the same thing about pla

and accusing the trump administration of obstructing his transition team and weakening national security. >> we have encountered road blocks from political leadership to department of defense and office of management and budget. right we just aren't getting all of the information that we need from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. cheryl: well, acting defense secretary chris miller firing back, quote, dod career political officials have been working with upmost professionalism to support transition activities in a compressed time schedule. well, one of joe biden's covid advisory member the president plans on the defense production act, the move intended to help the u.s. prioritize manufacturing ppe and the raw materials that are needed to make vaccine doses, novaxx with approval pending in 2021. warning financial institutions about scammers and fraud related to vaccine rollout. be on the lookout for sale of unapproved or ransomware attack. what a day yesterday, the dow higher by 150, s&p up by 17 and a half this on the heels of record highs from all 3 major indices yesterday largely thanks to passage of covid relief government spending bill. joining the conversation all morning long today,

we encountered roadblocks from the political leadership in the department of defense and the office of management and budget. righte just aren't getting all the information we need from the outgoing administration on key national security areas. >> the secretary responding our dod, political and career officials have been working with the utmost professionalism to support transition activities in a compressed time schedule. todd: arizona hitting a grim milestone with a record number of covid-19 cases in icu. 1000 people being treated in icus as the state it's a record high of 2000 new cases monday. according to the cdc, the 7-day average of coronavirus cases, california and tennessee. this morning kamala harris received the covid-19 vaccine was the biden transition team official affirming they will get the first dose in washington dc. harris was vaccinated and it is expected to take place on camera. president like joe biden and the incoming first lady received a vaccine shot last weekend. take a look at this. is working it was a mailman with a huge heart and some nifty moves delivering smiles to the girl in portla

of our posture around the world and our operations to deter our enemies. we've encountered road blocks from the political leadership at the department of defense and the office of management and budget. rightow we just aren't getting all of the information that we need for the outgoing -- from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. it is nothing short in my view of irresponsibility. >> president-elect joe biden won't be sworn in for another three weeks and already he faces a great deal of obstruction on the part of his political opponents inside of the trump administration. biden has been adam ant since day one of his campaign that he'll seek to reach across the aisle to work with republicans on solutions. but given what we're already seeing, is the olive branch approach even possible . the president-elect told me, quote, i haven't changed how i approach politics since i got involved. and part of it is just establishing with your opponents that if they want to play, i'm ready to fight. but one of the things that happens is when you get into one of those kinds of blood matches, nothing gets done. nothing gets done. joining us now is the reverend al sharpton host of poli

have encountered road ploks from the political leadership at the department of defense and office of management and budget. righte aren't getting all the information that we need. or the ongoing from the out going administration. in key national security areas. it's nothing short of irresponsibility. joining me now former country or the fbi counter terrorism. your tweet rewriting the "new york times" headline gave me life today. it expressed the frustration that so many brown folks and black folks feel when we watch the news. we're in the news business. it frustrates me. the way people are described when they do something that sure does look like the kind of terrorism that we have had to report on in our jobs. they are a white person. it's described differently. if this guy blew up a van and he was in the van, that's a suicide bomber. that's regardless of what the reason that he did it. we'll figure it out. that's a suicide bomber. it frustrates me people don't call it that. i want your comment. >> i think you raised a really important point. i want to make the distinction for the viewers between what is the cul

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 from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. >> the reason biden chose to speak out as he did yesterday, i'm told from transition officials, has to do with the fact that that initial flare sent up by the transition a few weeks ago was not met with any change in posture at the pentagon. career officials, the cupboard is now bare in a lot of these places, raising concerns about national security. on top of that, you have the pandemic, you have the solarwinds hack which many are attributing to russia. the biden team thinks they need much more now at this point. as it relates to the pandemic, we will hear from the president-elect in just a few hours, talking about his concern that we, yes, are seeing vaccine distributed throughout the country, the cdc's own data shows more than 11 million of those vaccines have gone out, but only a small fraction of americans at this point are getting the vaccine itself. the

and other agencies in order to avoid any window of confusion or catchup. 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 for the ongoing -- from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. it's nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility. >> but the current president who is all too aware that he'll only be in office for another 23 days -- 23 days -- he doesn't care about any of that. he doesn't really care about sending $2,000 stimulus checks to desperate americans. all he cares about absolutely -- all he really cares about is not looking like a loser. but in his efforts not to look like a loser, he is looking like a loser. he's doing exactly what he doesn't want to do. that's why he is still pushing the delusional idea that there is some way that he could override the will of the people when congress meets to formally affirm joe biden's win on january 6th. well, the president of the united states, he's dreaming of a coup, right? that's why his minions like congressman louie gohmert -- that's why they're suing. they're suing

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. >> caroline heldeman is democratic strategist and associate professor of politics, she joins me now from los angeles. we will get to joe biden, president-elect, in a moment. it is good to see you, first and foremost. i want to let you know. the president, donald trump, tweeting, at this hour, never a dull moment. and he is saying give the people $2,000, not $600. they have suffered enough. of course, no kidding. such a strange situation here, in the sense that he is actually now siding with bernie sanders, who is threatening to filibuster in the senate, unless those americans get 2,000 bucks. >> paula, did you ever think you would see a day where bernie sanders and donald trump agreed on anything? i must say, i -- i don't agree with donald trump on those things. but the $2,000

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 -- from the outgoing administration, in key national security areas. >> you tweeted this underscores the unprecedented and divisive nature of the current transition. can you explain, ann, how unusual this is? >> well, it's extremely unusual. let's start with the pentagon. i mean, this is the largest agency in terms of budget and man power. it is arguably the most important federal agency. it has sprawling responsibilities. and for two weeks now the widen team has been saying that they are not getting the meetings they need. they're not getting the information they need. that the acting pentagon secretary, defense secretary had all of a sudden decided that they weren't going to have any meeting for two weeks. he claimed the biden team agreed to. you heard a version of that from the biden team yesterday. they're saying we can't run a transition like this. we do not have the visibility that we need. and

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 for the ongoing -- from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. it's nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility. >> leading off our discussion tonight, jonathan alter, columnist for the daily beast and msnbc political analyst. he's the author of the new book, his very best, jimmy carter, a life. christina greer is with us, associate professor of political science at fordham university. >>> jonathan, let me start with you and jimmy carter because jimmy carter was in the position that donald trump finds himself in. jimmy carter, a one-time president defeated in his reelection campaign, by a republican incoming president, ronald reagan. it was a tense situation, certainly emotionally for jimmy carter and his staff. how did they handle that transition period with all the bitterness that had built up during the campaign? >> well, first of all, jimmy carter conceded early for democrats too early on election

have encountered road blocks from the political leadership, the department of defense, and the office of management and budget. right now we just aren't getting all of the information we need for the ongoing, from the outgoing administration, in key national security areas. it's nothing short in my view of irresponsibility. >> so how has the president been spending his time in office these days? he continues to send out numerous tweets calling for the election for your votes to be overturned and he keeps fundraising to the tune of at least 554 e-mails since election night many asking for small donations most of which to be clear go to his own leadership pac not challenging the election. of course he is still golfing. same as yesterday. as christmas day. christmas eve. and more than 300 other days at his own golf clubs since he took office. there is breaking news tonight. house late this evening voting to override the president's veto of the big annual defense bill. the senate takes it up later this week. the focus tonight remains on covid relief. reaction now to the house covid vote from a republican critic of the p

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 followers today that he will see them in washington on that date, which is next wednesday. republican congressman louie gomert of texas is now trying to help the president on that front. today he filed a bizarre lawsuit that asked a federa

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 -- from the outgoing it administration. in key national security areas. it's nothing short, in my view, of your responsibility. >> biden also placed career agency officials who facilitated his team's works of art including those at fema who are coordinating vaccine distribution, but biden made no mention of the pandemic relief and spending bill president trump signed into law last night following pressure this week and from lawmakers and from biden, but he did voice support on his way out the door for a new bill the house passed tonight, over $2,000 direct payments. >> do support the $2,000 direct payments? >> yes. >> there was no q&a with reporters however. we did learn tonight by president-elect kemal harris and her husband will be receiving the vaccine tomorrow. harris will receive hers on camera. bret. >> bret: jacqui, thank you. authorities have identified the man believed to be behind the christmas day

we've encountered roadblocks from the political leadership at the department of defense and the office of management and budget. rightjust aren't getting all the information that we need for the ongoing -- from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. it's nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility. >> i'm joined now by nbc's zerlina maxwell. zerlina, you could argue that the comments we heard there mark a bit of a shift in president-elect biden's tone when it comes to this administration. why now? why this issue? what do you make of the timing? >> i certainly think that there's no coincidence to the fact that this is happening after the largest cyberattack in american history and more is being learned about what russia did and what they were able to access. and that is very concerning. biden has a priority of coming in as the president and making sure that the american people are safe and that our national security is impacted. and they've been trying, i think, behind the scenes to have the meetings with the trump officials. but when they canceled the meetings on december 18 saying they were t

encountered road blocks from the political leadership to the department of defense and the office of management and budget. right now we just aren't getting the information that we need from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. it's nothing short of my view of irresponsibility. finally, we spoke about the day one challenge that we need to address immediately, drawing on the skill sets of the department of homeland security and the federal emergency management agency. we were briefed on the steps needed to clean up the humanitarian disaster that the trump administration has systematically created on our southern border. we will institute humane and re-orderly responses that means building the capacity to safely process asylum seekers without creating near-term crisis in the midst of this deadly pandemic. these are hard issues. the current administration has made them much harder by working to erode our capacity. it's going to take time to rebuild that capacity. we're going to work purposely, diligently and responsibly to roll back trump's restrictions. starting on day one. but it's not as s

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. finally, we spoke about the day one challenge that we'll need to address immediately, drawing on the skill sets of the department of homeland security and the federal emergency management agency. we were briefed on the steps needed to clean up the humanitarian disaster that the trump administration has systematically created on our southern border. we will institute humane and orderly responses. that means rebuilding the capacity we need to safely and quickly process asylum seekers without creating near term crises in the midst of this deadly pandemic. these are hard issues, and the current administration has made them much harder by working to erode our capacity. it's going to take time to rebuild that capacity. we're going to work purposely, diligently, and responsibly to roll back trump's restrictions, star

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 for the ongoing -- from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. >> now yasmin, we should note that biden, for one, has really been one to lower the sort of temperature whenever possible, downplay the concerns. and so to hear him with that rhetoric yesterday is significant. the pentagon, the acting defense secretary downplaying this saying they will continue to work with the biden team but the biden team is saying that cooperation is still not where it needs to be, yasmin. >> all right, mike, thanks for jumping on that. good to see you. >> want to go back to the congressman who has been standing by for us. you heard mike's report. not necessarily getting cooperation from the pentagon during this really difficult, shall we say, transition. how worried are you from a national security perspective? >> i am very worried and i'm as worried as i've been for the last four years. since when did donald trump care a

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 for the ongoing -- from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. it's nothing short in my view of irresponsibility. >> president-elect biden also says the trump administration has done enormous damage and l hollowed out many federal agencies that are critical to our national security. nbc's mike memley is in wilmington, delaware, here's the federal government, mike, trying to deal with cyber attacks at multiple agencies, where do things stand on the transition. >> reporter: we are more than seven weeks in this transition of power up to this point, the president has been down playing, what he referred to as road blocks in terms of the cooperation between the trump team and his own transition team. well, very clearly today, if anything, a raising of the political rhetoric on the part of the president-elect especially because of what you just said, given the national security threats posed by the solar wind, t

office in 22 days. >> we encountered road blocks on political leadership, department of defense, office of management and budget. rightren't getting all t all the information we need from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. it's nothing short in my view of irresponsibility. >> biden is raising concerns about the need for a clear picture of the u.s. defense posture around the world as he prepares to become commander in chief. joe johns is in wilmington, delaware. tell us how the trump administration is responding to accusations. >> reporter: brianna, they're pushing back hard. they say what biden said essentially is not true, they say there have been 167 meetings with the biden team, exchanged a lot of paper, and in fact they say there have been a situation where the vast majority though of the meetings that are supposed to occur in the future are going to occur after january 1st. so that slows down the process. when you look at the other things that happened at dod, a number of people have been fired by the president. we had slow ascertainment. took so long for gsa to declare biden the winner o

have encountered roadblocks from the political leadership at the department of defense and the office of management and budget. rightion 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. >> elise jordan, you have a lot of experience in this field. can you walk us through why this matters, why it's so dangerous, and why the biden administration, incoming biden administration 20-odd days out is sounding the alarms about what they are saying is obstruction from the trump team? >> just for context, jonathan, the transition time during the bush administration to the obama administration was something that president bush took very seriously, and it was handled by top aides and i remember i was at the nsc at the time and there was just a lot of legwork and attention that went into it, starting certainly the bush administration knew there would be a transition no matter what, but starting in the summertime in late summer. so it really is outstanding that you, you know, politics does not end at the water's edge with

have encountered roadblocks from the political leadership of the department of defence and the office of management of budget. rightnot getting all the information we need on the ongoing and outgoing administration in key national security areas. it's nothing short in my view, of irresponsibility. mr biden has repeatedly claimed he was blocked from receiving key intelligence briefings and essential and normally routine pa rt essential and normally routine part of the presidential transition. these are hard issues, but the current administration has made it much harder by trying to erode our capacity. following biden's remarks, acting defence secretary christopher miller said officials had been working with the utmost professionalism to support transition activities. the department of defence has conducted 164 interviews with over 400 officials, providing over 5000 pages of documents, far more than initially requested by biden‘s transition team, he said. although donald trump refuses to accept defeat in november's election, mr biden ta kes november's election, mr biden takes office onjanuary november's election, mr

we have encountered roadblocks, political leadersh leadership, department of defense and the office of management and budget. rightow we just aren't getting all the information we need for the ongoing, from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. it's nothing short of irresponsibility. >> jon: joe biden blasting president trump's administration, accusing them of obstructing the transition and slamming his approach to international affairs. he then turned to china, pushing to build a coalition to hold beijing accountable for trade and human rights abuses while his son, hunter, who holds a stake in a private equity firm is under federal investigation for his financial dealings including those with china. joining us now, trent duffy, former senior communications advisor and vice chair of public affairs spirit also with us, ceo of squared communications. he was also a senior advisor on john kerry's presidential campaign and has advised a number of other, democrats welcome. what do you think about joe biden's promises to get tough on china? we know about his son's involvement in chinese business. he

of comfort and shop the new year sale with up to 15% off at casper.com >>> we have encountered road blocks from the political leadership at the department of defense and the office of management and budget. rightst 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

we've encountered roadblocks from the political leadership at the department of defense and the office of management of budget. rightow we just aren't getting all the information that we need for the ongoing -- from the outgoing information in key national security areas. it's nothing short in my view of irresponsibility. my team needs a clear picture of our forced posture around the world and our opposition to deter enemies. we need full visibility of the budget planning under way at the defense department and other agencies in order to avoid any window of confusion or catch-up that our adversaries may try to exploit. >> well, meanwhile, the pentagon is defending its work with biden's transition team. a source tells cnn there are critical meetings that have not yet happened. meanwhile, biden also reiterated his pledge to break from mr. trump's foreign policy. >> we're stronger and more effective when we're flanked by nations that share our vision and our future of the world. that's how we make those efforts more sustainable. that's the power of smart, effective american leadership. right now, there is an enormous v

and neera tanden, the daughter of indian immigrants. she would head the office of management and budget if confirmed and civil rights activists are pushing biden to do more to assemble a cabinet that represents the diversity of america. >> whoever selected black, white, or female, they must walk into the door day one and understand civil rights is top of mind. for the naacp, we want to make sure that civil rights is front and center for this administration from day one to the end of this term. >> joe biden says he intends to keep his promise. >> every advocacy group out there is pushing for more and more and more of what they want. that's their job. my job is to keep my commitment. to make the decisions and when it's over, people will take a look and say i promise, you'll see the most diverse cabinet representative of all folks, asian americans, lgbtq, across the board. >>> joining me now ben ray lujan. senator elect, congratulations on your win and thank you for joining me this morning. >> thank you, dana. good morning. honored to be with you. >> thank you. >> of the ten biden cabinet officials and senior staff announced so far, six are