Summary
Anthony Fauci backs Biden on push for 100 days of masks. Pelosi and McConnell closer to possible relief deal. Biden calls on Congress to pass COVID relief. A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to fully restore an Obama-era initiative that protects undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children from deportation, requiring officials to open the program to new applicants for the first time since 2017. COVID-19 spike is overwhelming hospitals. Fauci warns U.S. has not hit "Thanksgiving peak" even as cases soar. Nurses and doctors plead for governors to act.
Transcript
ALI VELSHI, MSNBC HOST: It's an action-packed weekend. You won't want to miss Saturday and Sunday mornings at 8 a.m. Eastern. That does it for me tonight. THE 11TH HOUR with Brian Williams begins now.
CHRIS JANSING, MSNBC HOST: Good evening, once again, I'm Chris Jansing in for Brian Williams. Day 1,415 of the Trump administration, 27 days since the election was called for Joe Biden, 47 days until Inauguration Day.
Today, the President-elect spoke to the nation about the rapidly worsening coronavirus pandemic and the stalling economy. The outgoing president was nowhere to be seen.
Tonight nearly 14 and a half million coronavirus cases have now been confirmed in the United States. Today alone more than 2400 more Americans have died.
As overwhelmed hospitals across the nation struggled to cope, healthcare workers are issuing grave warnings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MARK MOROCOO, UCLA EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN: We are in war footing. This is sort of out of control in a way that it was not control in March.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JANSING: A new CDC forecast puts this into devastating perspective. It predicts there may be as many as 19,500 deaths in the week ending December 26. In that one week alone, and it projects the national death toll could reach 329,000 by that date. This afternoon, Joe Biden talked about the need to speed up the nation's response to the pandemic, and about what the current administration has not done regarding COVID vaccines.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: As we inherit the public health and economic crisis, working on a plan that will put forward for the next Congress to move fast to control the pandemic.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you satisfied with the current plans that are underway for distributing that vaccine? Do you feel that the federal government is doing enough at this point?
BIDEN: There's a lot more that has to be done. They've clued us in on their planning and how they plan to distribute the actual vaccine to the various states. But there is no detailed plan, we've seen anyway, as to how you get the vaccine out of a container into an injection syringe into somebody who's on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JANSING: No detailed plan as this virus spreads unchecked. The CDC is for the first time urging universal use of face masks anytime you're outside the home. Just last night, Biden said that his president he'll ask Americans to mask up for 100 days. Dr. Anthony Fauci who is staying on to advise Biden says he supports that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: He's saying, hey, folks, trust me, everybody for 100 days. Now it might be that after that, we still going to need it, but he just wants it, everybody for a commitment for 100 days. I told him I thought that was a good idea.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He asked you to continue in your role, which you've had under six presidents, but also just serve as his chief medical adviser. Will you do that? Did you say yes?
FAUCI: Oh, absolutely. I said yes right on the spot, yeah.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JANSING: The pandemic also continues to exact a heavy toll on the economy. This morning, the Labor Department said employers added just 245,000 jobs in November. It's the fifth month in a row that the pace of hiring has tapered off. And there are still roughly 10 million fewer jobs now than there were back in February.
Today, Joe Biden called on Congress to quickly pass a new relief package.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: This is dire jobs report. We're in a crisis need to come together as a nation, need the Congress to act and act now. If Congress and President Trump failed act by the end of December, 12 million Americans lose their unemployment benefits.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JANSING: Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell have spoken about trying to pass a new Coronavirus Relief Bill before the end of the year. She has also signaled support for a $980 billion bipartisan proposal presented by members of the Senate and House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): There is momentum with the action that the senators and House members in a bipartisan way have taken with them. It could provide meaning relief for millions who are suffering economically personally health wise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JANSING: And there are now more reports of bumps in the transition. Tonight, the Washington Post is reporting the White House is refusing to allow members of Biden's transition team to meet with Intel officials at the Pentagon.
As for the lame duck president he's holding his first rally since he lost the election tomorrow in Georgia. Exactly one month ahead of that state Senate runoff on January fifth. Some Republicans there are worried there's concern that instead of talking about the two Republican incumbent senators, Trump will spend most of his time on those baseless allegations of election fraud. The worry is his comments could depress Republican turnout.
Trump's battle to overturn the election, well, not exactly going well. Late today, courts in four different states dismissed for lawsuits trying yet again to decertify Joe Biden's victories there.
Also, tonight, a new defeat for Trump's efforts to end DACA, that's the Obama era program that allowed immigrants whose parents brought them to the U.S. as young children to continue to work and study here. Well, today a federal judge in New York ordered the Trump administration to immediately restore that program.
With that, let's bring in our leadoff guests on this Friday night, Susan Page, Veteran Journalist, Best Selling Author and USA Today Washington Bureau Chief. She moderated the V.P. debate this year and is currently working on a biography of Nancy Pelosi. A.B. Stoddard, a veteran of political journalism, currently Associate Editor and Columnist for Real Clear Politics. And Errin Haines, an A.P. veteran who is now Editor at Large for the 19th, a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom focused on gender, politics and policy.
We like the gender tonight, four ladies. OK. Let's get into it, because we've got a lot here. Susan, look, once again, we're seeing Joe Biden out in front on an urgent issue. We have a jobs report with no silver lining, horrifically rapidly escalating COVID numbers, and Biden steps in and he tells us what he's working on. But as he himself pointed out, Susan, this week, he's not the boss yet. Where's the boss?
SUSAN PAGE, USA TODAY WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: You know, if you're looking from outer space, you might think Joe Biden was now president United States. He's doing the things presidents used to do is reassuring the country at a time of crisis. He's laying out a specific plan of action. He's urging people to be brace for a tough couple months ahead.
But of course, he's not the president. He doesn't have the powers of the president. He continues to have problems meeting even with some of the trans agencies that his transition officials would like.
To me, with the president United States is now very focused on I think his career path after the presidency. He no longer has any credible path toward overturning the election results. He's now using this as a vehicle I think, to raise millions of dollars for a pack remained at center stage after he's out of the White House, apparently with the idea that he'll run again in four years.
JANSING: Errin, let me give you one more statistic on a single day this week, Los Angeles, just Los Angeles, had as many cases of coronavirus as 44 states and there is no sign that Trump is on any level engaged in battling the coronavirus. I mean, we saw it the other day, his time and attention was focused on putting out that 46-minute video that was filled with falsehoods about the election. Is there anything you see that tells us he cares about that or what the state of the economy is when he leaves office and any sign, he'll address it in the interim?
ERRIN HAINES, THE 19TH EDITOR-AT-LARGE: Well, Chris, I think that that's still an open question, because here we are nearly a month out on the other side of the selection. And you have Joe Biden looking ahead as President Trump continues to look backwards and kind of contest the results of this election to the exclusion of among the most important issues facing most Americans, right, namely, the pandemic in the economy.
And you know, meanwhile, Americans, to your point, are eager to hear plans about how soon and how and if they should even take the COVID-19 vaccine, especially amid these new numbers that are record numbers, record hospitalizations, you know, we're looking at hitting over 300,000 deaths by the time we get to the Christmas holiday.
So, you know, meanwhile, you have, you know, what we're seeing is Joe Biden continuing to, you know, be as presidential as he can, for, you know, the next 47 days until he officially has the job, you know, saying that there's going to be that hundred day mask mandate, asking Dr. Fauci to come on board, as you discussed at the top of this.
You know, these are things that, you know, really send a signal to the country that a national and federal response to the crisis is on the way and will look very different. But again, that's still 47 days away. This pandemic is raging now from both a public health and economic perspective. And Americans certainly could use a response in some national leadership, you know, from the president, both now and going forward.
JANSING: So A.B. Americans are suffering, it's awful. They're suffering from the pandemic. They're suffering from the economic consequences of the pandemic. And for months, Mitch McConnell has not acted. He had a bill. He didn't act on it. So, Joe Biden was asked about McConnell and here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I also wanted to ask you about your relationship with Senator McConnell. Have you talked to him since the election and given the partisan nature of Congress right now, how do you convince him that it's in America's best interest to work with you going forward?
BIDEN: I don't think you have to convince me that he knows me. He knows I'm a straight as an arrow when I negotiate. He knows I keep commitments. And I never attempt to embarrass the opposition.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JANSING: A.B., been around Washington, you've covered it for a very long time. Can Joe Biden be successful at putting pressure on Mitch McConnell, pressure on the republicans in general?
A.B. STODDARD, REAL CLEAR POLITICS ASSOCIATE EDITOR & COLUMNIST: Well, I think there are different sort of stages ahead. I think that Joe Biden, if you've listened to the comments from his campaign, they've been asked about whether or not he spoke with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for weeks now. And they've continued to say, no. And he backed away from answering that specifically today, because I think that Joe Biden is taking one for the team, and it's not the Democratic Party. It is team Biden, McConnell. And he's trying not to reveal that I it's very likely that they spoke before the election. And it's very likely, of course of this sense.
The problem is in terms of what this is going to yield, with results, and in COVID relief packages that we're looking at this suspended reality until January 5, and the goal of majority leader to remain majority leader and the goal of Republicans to abide the fake election fraud narrative coming from the president, but their heads down, and to hope that he doesn't depress turnout, and they can retain these two seats and hold a majority. That's why I think any relief coming out of the Senate in December is going to be pretty small at because we're still in that period where it's the lame duck, President Trump is president, and they're trying to win those hold those seats on January 5.
I think what Biden is doing now and discussions panel is laying the groundwork. This decade's long friendship and relationship of working many, many times together to discuss what they can do immediately, in the new year and after inauguration, because it's clear that it's not likely the Congress is going to give a robust package in December, that's going to help everyone for the winter.
JANSING: And I mean, Joe Biden has made it clear that this first package will be just to start, they're going to have to pick it up once he's in office.
But Susan Page, look, Trump is doing what he likes, which is not policy, but getting in front of a crowd tomorrow in Georgia. But what are the chances do you think that what's supposed to be a rally to support Perdue and Loeffler actually turns into another rant on his election loss? And in fact, the impact could be to depress the Republican vote?
PAGE: So what are the chances that Donald Trump will go off script at a big rally for a lot of tearing people? I would say the chances are not 100 percent. But they are probably close to that. And that is, of course, of some considerable concern to Georgia Republicans who think the more that the President focuses on his baseless allegations of fraud in the Georgia election, the less, the harder it is to get Republicans to bother to go out and vote again. And so I think that if -- let's see on Sunday morning, who's happier that he went to Georgia for this rally, would be the Republicans or the Democrats?
JANSING: Yeah, you know, Errin Haines, I thought when I saw the quote from Newt Gingrich, what does it tell you when Newt Gingrich looks at the MAGA war that's going on in Georgia and he says it's one of the nuttier things he's ever seen.
HAINES: Yeah, I mean, look, Chris, I think what it says is that the Georgia GOP is truly a house divided right now, which is a phenomenon that we've seen on full display this week. I mean, you have Trump surrogates, Rudy Giuliani, Ronna McDaniel, Vice President Pence down in Georgia on the ground to support Loeffler and Perdue, even as the President continues to pursue legal challenges, even in that state, to what he asserts is widespread voter fraud, despite, again, the reality that Joe Biden got 7 million more votes than President Trump, including in Georgia, you know, in Georgia, a state that is now counted, its votes three times.
And so you have folks, other Republicans that are kind of propping up the idea of this rigged election, including Sidney Powell on the ground telling Georgia voters, listen, if Loeffler and Perdue do not get on board, maybe you shouldn't vote for them. Maybe you shouldn't participate in this rigged system, right?
So, you know, on the other hand, look I'm hearing from we had an interview today in the 19th that aired with longtime Trump aide Kellyanne Conway, who says that she's regularly in touch with the President, was in touch with him as recently as this week and said that the President has, "the right to exhaust his legal challenges." But she acknowledged that Joe Biden appears headed to the White House was the next President of the United States. She said, you know --
JANSING: Let's just stop there, Kellyanne Conway has acknowledged -- Kellyanne Conway has acknowledged that Joe Biden has won the election.
HAINES: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, you know, she told her Washington Correspondent Amanda Becker that the President wants to exhaust all of his legal avenues. You know, and he has a right to do that. But if you look at the vote totals, in the Electoral College tally, she said it looks like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will prevail. She said she assumes the electors will certify that and it will be official. She's talked about the need for peaceful transfer of democracy. And she pledged to work with future administration saying that if there's ever anything I can do to help, they can count on me.
And so, you know, you can watch our full interview and read my story, recapping that interview at 19th news.org. But, you know, certainly, if this is, you know, the message that somebody who has, you know, been, you know, as loyal for as long as somebody like Kellyanne Conway is saying, you know, you have to wonder who else, you know, maybe could come out and speak up the closer we get to the certification of this election and the closer that we get to, you know, Inauguration Day.
JANSING: And yet, in Georgia today, Vice President Pence said, this election isn't decided yet. On the other side of the coin, Barack Obama was virtually stumping for the democrats in this senate runoff, A.B., and this is what he said about how he sees it as some Republicans have approached the coronavirus. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As they're downplaying it, as they're ignoring the science and epidemiologists, and suggesting that, you know, this is something that is some partisan issue, as opposed to something that Americans should rally around. At the same time behind closed doors, they're calling their brokers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JANSING: Give me a read on what you just heard from Barack Obama, A.B., but your read on this race overall, right now in Georgia?
STODDARD: I actually think that the story of the trades that Loeffler and Perdue made without taking too much time early in the pandemic, when they had inside knowledge before the public did is probably potent campaign material for the Georgia run off.
I think, even though they're in a circular firing squad in Georgia among the official Republican Party, it just seems that this is still something that would favor the Republicans. And Trump could still build this up or a month away. It's a long time for that battle to continue and to press the vote. The crazier things that he says, and the more people line up and say it's true, and the outcome has been determined, and we can't participate in this propane system.
But it's really hard in a state that just turned blue by only a little where Biden won a lot of white voters who tipped him over the line, not nonwhite voters to turn out low propensity voters in a runoff in January. And I think that there are going to be a lot of white voters who voted for Joe Biden in Georgia, who want a Republican Senate, and they were interested in getting rid of Trump but will be actually turning out as energized partisans anyway.
So, it's really hard since we're not trusting the polls these days to get a handle on where it's going. But my guess would be the Republicans, despite this big problem that they've created, with the Trump is created, still probably eke it out.
JANSING: Well, it's going to be fascinating to see tomorrow for sure. And just one more note, and we said at the top that there were four different states where team Trump lost four different lawsuits today. We should also say that in the last couple of hours, California certified its election. And so those 55 electoral votes go to Joe Biden. The truth is, the certifiable truth is that he keeps winning.
Susan Page, thank you. It's always good to see you, my friend. A.B. Stoddard, Errin Haines, thanks to both of you.
And coming up, a closer look at the plans or the lack of planning to battle what's now become the leading cause of death in this country.
And later, as Donald Trump keeps losing those legal challenges, how history will look upon his soon to end presidency, THE 11TH HOUR just getting underway on a Friday night.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAUCI: We're in a very precarious situation right now. There certainly is light at the end of the tunnel with a vaccine but we we're not there yet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JANSING: We know the coronavirus fax thing will be rolled out in phases with health care workers and nursing home residents coming first. But a clear federal plan for distribution remains murky.
NBC News is reporting today, beyond the guidelines advising states about how to deploy their vaccines and a large Defense Department operation to deliver them. The Trump administration hasn't prepared for a major federal role, a lack of planning that is causing significant anxiety among state and local health officials.
For more, we're joined by Dr. Irwin Redlener, a Pediatric Physician and Senior Research Scholar at Columbia University's Earth Institute. He is also founding Director of Columbia's National Center for Disaster Preparedness with an expertise in pandemics.
It's good to see you today in particular, because Irwin, NBC has this new reporting, while as I said, we know phase one of the vaccine is going to hospitals, to nursing homes, but phase two and as we head into getting the vaccine to a broader population, the Trump administration has not prepared for a major federal role and distribution. The federal government is still trying to fine tune a system, for example, to track critical supplies like syringes, nine months into this, should we know how to do this? Do we know how to do this?
DR. IRWIN REDLENER, EXPERT ON PANDEMIC INFLUENZA: Well, if there's no real evidence that we're --that we do know how to do it, Chris. And it's -- this is really a problem. And even my own conversations with very senior people in Health and Human Services, has actually refuted the notion that the military is going to have a big role in this. It's really going to be produced by the manufacturers, obviously then they're contracting with a private company who will do distribution to the various states and jurisdiction. And they're very murky ideas of how that's actually going to get distributed from there. So there's a lot of confusion out there, and it's not being resolved anytime soon. And I'm afraid that the Biden team is going to walk into a lot of uncertainty and confusion about what the plans are, if any, that the Trump administration has come up with, Chris.
JANSING: Well, let me sort of oversimplify what is the complex situation just in terms of the numbers of people involved? I mean, you mentioned the manufacturers, obviously, state health departments are going to be making a lot of decisions. And as you well know, state say they're underfunded. There are couple of drugstores, major drugstore chains, they're going to have a part of this, doctors, offices, I mean, can we get all of these disparate places coordinated without a strong national plan?
REDLENER: Yeah, so this is going to take some very, very fancy nuanced footsteps to kind of like get everything in order and coordinated and with the proper oversight, and the private drug chains, the drugstore chains are going to be obviously, they're going to be very involved. And we don't know how they're going to work with state health departments. But what we do know is that the governors of almost every state in the U.S. have been vocal about how unprepared they are, and they need more resources. And they need more assistance generally from whoever they can get it from, including the federal government, in terms of funding personnel, and so on. So it still remains a bit of a chaotic situation over there. And we don't have all that much time to solve this, Chris, and hopefully, we'll get some progress within the next few weeks. But I'm really doubtful that we're going to see much clarity actually, before January 20.
JANSING: So January 20, and knowing the people involved and I know you do, and the fact that they're meeting and they're getting some information, at least from the Trump administration about where they are, how quickly do you think they'll be able to turn something that's fairly efficient?
REDLENER: Well, you know, it's a very difficult question to answer. You know, we have some very creative, innovative, talented, innovative and talented people all across the United States working in local health departments, and state health departments. And I think a lot of the responsibilities are going to fall on their shoulders, provided them to get things and get the resources and additional help that they need.
So, we have enough creativity, and people are going to be very committed to getting this done. What we're lacking is a central core mission, much like we lacked for all these months, Chris, a centralized message about how to control this virus is a very difficult situation and is very concerning that there's not more available to share with the Biden-Harris team at this point.
JANSING: Well, I know one of the things that you and I have talked about is pandemic fatigue, which let's face it, all of us are feeling versus pandemic fatalities. Explain?
REDLENER: Yeah, so, you know, I realized all of us, including our own families are exhausted from this when we're tired of having to have to put up with the restrictions that we need to put up with. But the choice is either we have to follow the guidelines continuously now for the next number of months, or we're going to be facing not pandemic fatigue, but pandemic fatality setting. That's exactly right.
And, you know, if you're feeling fatigue, here's a wakeup call for you. We're seeing unprecedented numbers of people who aren't not surviving this disease, the cases are climbing. The ICU and the hospitals are getting filled up. We're facing imminent danger to all of us. We're going to reach fatality levels that will be equal to the number of uniformed soldiers we lost in World War II shortly.
So we have a really big problem. And yeah, we're feeling fatigue, but wake up and really understand how critical it is that we need to follow the guidelines. They're there for a reason and they're going to save lives, but we have to adhere to them, Chris.
JANSING: Dr. Irwin Redlener, always great to see you. Thank you so much for coming on a Friday night.
And coming up, one E.R. doctors plead to residents of his Midwest state when THE 11TH HOUR continues.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAUCI: I think we have not yet seen the post-Thanksgiving peak. That's the concerning thing because the numbers in and of themselves are alarming. And then you realize that it is likely we'll see more of a surge as we get two to three weeks past the Thanksgiving holiday.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JANSING: In fact, the CDC is warning tonight that the country is now entering a phase of high-level transmission. And for the first time in this pandemic, it's encouraging mask wearing everywhere outside the home and inside the home if a family member has been exposed to the virus, critical staffing shortages of hospitals trying to learn nurses and doctors out of retirement. And physicians and caregivers are begging governors for a stronger response to curb the pandemic.
We welcome back Dr. Stephen Sample, ER doc at Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center in Jasper, Indiana. Great to see you. You are a familiar face to 11th Hour viewers then you've traveled this pandemic with all of us.
So here we are again, doctor. We've got desperate doctors and nurses pleading with governors for help begging people to wear masks. How are we here from your perspective, nine months into this pandemic.
STEPHEN SAMPLE, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN IN JASPER, INDIANA: Good evening, Chris. Thanks for having me back. How are we here? I think we're here really for the same reason that we are staring down the barrel of potentially catastrophic climate change because there are some people in power and with money that have convinced enough of us that what we're seeing in front of our faces aren't real, that we're going to continue to do whatever we want to do. And they're doing it for power, money, whatever. But the rest of us are on the ground suffering from their actions.
JANSING: You know, one of the things that a lot of people are trying to figure out today is why the CDC is now saying yes, wear a mask. You've been saying this from when you first came on this program. Dr. Redlener who was on earlier in the show has been saying it. Dr. Fauci has been saying it, is it because the numbers are going up? Is it because the administration is about to change? Is it because we just have more scientific information? Why only now? Are we getting this guidance?
SAMPLE: Well, I think that the science has been pretty, pretty baked in from near the beginning. You know, we didn't know right up front, we're dealing with something that's really been unprecedented. But certainly, I think there has been a removal of some political pressure.
And I think that doctors and scientists and physicians have just been screaming for so long that we have to say that, but yes, I think the country and the administration, that kind of rule, our public health services, they're getting worried because there's enough of us screaming that our hospitals are full, that we have to do something.
JANSING: You know, one of the things that you, you know, talked about is that it really relates to messaging, right. And we've known that there's been mixed messaging throughout this whole thing. I certainly was struck this week, when you had State Department officials telling employees only do virtual events, while the Secretary of State was inviting more than 900 guests to indoor holiday parties with food and drinks. So they're going to take their masks off, if they even have a mask on.
How can you and other medical professionals, and frankly, folks in power counter that messaging can talking about it be effective in a way that it hasn't been so far?
SAMPLE: You know, I'm still working on my messaging. It is a toxic soup of nastiness out there on the internet, which is where, frankly, most of our messaging happens, you know, and I think we really need to practice compassion with one another. And I think as physicians and leaders, we have to be consistent, we have to be firm, we have to let people know that what they're seeing online is not real. Teach them, especially as physicians, teach them how to be smart consumers of medical information, because we are a really scientifically illiterate nation right now. And it's really just got compounded in the age of social media. So, we just have to hold people's hands and walk them through it, I think.
JANSING: Well, you know, we're looking at models that are horrifying. They were already in such a terrible place. Now, the University of Washington's key COVID model predicts the death toll will reach well over, it's hard to even read this number 538,800 by April, with a rapid vaccine rollout more than 11,000 lives could be saved.
But with universal masking, they say more than 66,000 lives could be saved. I know one of the concerns that that we've been hearing is that one state started administering vaccine, even with people who have been pretty good. They'll let their guard down. What's your message tonight about that? And are you worried about it?
SAMPLE: For sure, because that's our -- I think that's our inclination, right, we get the vaccine, we wait the time for it to start and then everything gets to go back to normal, we get to hug and kiss, you know, our friends and family. But this is going to be months. And people really need to batten down the hatches for this because just because the individual human gets a vaccine and their individual risk is decreased.
For your local stores to open back up for your restaurants open up, we are going to have to reach a critical mass of vaccination country. And that's going to be part -- partly the logistics of actually distributing it. But the other part is actually convincing enough of us to take it because there's a lot of nasty false information going around online.
JANSING: Yes, so much so complex, so many things for the new administration to work on. Thank you, Dr. Stephen Sample. Good to see you again. Appreciate you coming out on Friday.
SAMPLE: Thanks, Chris. Appreciate you.
JANSING: And coming up, our next guest points out no previous standing president has ever led active opposition to his successors. Historian Jon Meacham when THE 11TH HOUR continues.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: President Trump has not said if he's going to attend your inauguration yet. Do you think it's important that he's there? You're laughing?
BIDEN: I think it would important only in one sense, not in a personal sense, important in the sense that we are able to demonstrate at the end of this chaos that he's created, that there is peaceful transfer of power, with the competing parties standing there shaking hands and moving on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JANSING: While the president elect elicits call and prepares to take on the pandemic, Donald Trump now ignores it, instead refusing to concede and continuing to make his baseless claims of voter fraud. Susan Glasser writes this in the New Yorker quote, either the President actually believes what he is saying in which case he is crazy, or he does not, in which case he is engaged in the most cynical attack on American democracy ever to come from the White House.
With us for more tonight, Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize winning author and presidential historian, he's the Rogers chair in the American presidency at Vanderbilt University and an unofficial adviser to President-Elect Joe Biden.
It's so good to see you. So, you know, the question Susan Glasser asks is straight forward. Why are we shrugging it off? But she says we've entered the Yeah, whatever phase the transition. But is there a danger in a yes, whatever point at this point, Jon.
JON MEACHAM, PULITZER PRIZE WINNING AUTHOR AND PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: There is, and I must say, I'm a little upset. You wrecking me follow that great line of Susan's. That's a great sentence. But we'll do what we can to rise to the level she sets.
We've been in a dangerous phase of yes, whatever, for about four years, really, since President Trump became the front runner for the nomination in 2016. It is a perilous attitude to have I understand the human impulse to think that everything is going to work out that that ultimately, the system works. I tend to believe that at heart, but the heart and the mind are not always in sync.
And I think that we have to take the evidence of our eyes and take the facts of the matter and accept. I think what Susan's arguing there, which is that, in fact, the President is trying to undermine the very system that propelled him to the pinnacle of power.
We really haven't seen anything like this really since the 1820s, I would argue, and even there, Andrew Jackson, who in 1824, lost the presidency in the House of Representatives, though he had won the popular vote, he came back to Tennessee, he followed the rule of law, he was irritated about it, he called it a corrupt bargain. He gave it a hashtag. But he followed the rule of law. And then he went back into the election in 1828 and ran.
And I think one of the fascinating things and it's what Donald Rumsfeld would call a known unknown about the next couple of years is to what extent former President Trump is going to be of a force of active and potentially effective opposition to President Biden.
JANSING: So that brings me to what he just said, if you want to start his post presidential time, Donald Trump. You know, Joe Biden said, look, personally, I don't care. But I think it's as -- a sort of an important matter for the continuation of power to have a peaceful transition. Do you agree with what you just heard from Joe Biden that, look, it does matter if he comes to the inauguration in the historical sense?
MEACHAM: I do. I think the way the president elect framed it's exactly right. It's both a domestic signal and an international signal that these democratic institutions do work. That despite the ferocity of the hour, despite our polarization, despite our reflexive partisanship, and all the social science, all the political science shows how much more polarized we are now than we've been over the last really 40 years or so, that it would send a signal that the system works, you know, almost, you know, it's a cliche, you know, peaceful transfer power, you accept the elections, the will of the people, President Trump's not doing that.
It's not a particularly -- it's not particularly surprising. There's been nothing conventional about this. But just because it's we're accustomed to his abnormality does not make it any less abnormal, if that makes sense.
JANSING: Yes, I guess the other thing, john, is that he's not doing it alone, right. If you talk to reporters on Capitol Hill, you've been asking a simple question of Senate Republicans, and many of them will simply not say on camera that Joe Biden has won. Is there any historical precedent for that? And where we are we just mentioned? I mean, yes.
MEACHAM: So you're going to - well, the question is, Republicans right now are -- those Republicans are basically running a kind of political hedge fund, right? They don't know the answer to the question we just talked about, to what extent is Trump's power portable from the presidency to the ex-presidency, they don't know it. So they don't want to be on camera saying something that a Trump primary opponent of theirs will use against them.
So Trump has made a lot of money, or at least has made a career out of being a franchisor. Right? He sells his name, he brands different things.
The central -- one of the central questions in our politics is going to be after January, does he become a political franchisor? Will there be a line of candidates on the republican ballot in primary elections, who need his approval, who need his blessing? And will enough Republican voters look for that, as opposed to a Republican who is not in the Trump orbit?
And so that's an immense amount of power. And it's -- I don't think that, you know, we used to have situations where Republicans in the 1960s would go to Gettysburg to Eisenhower's farm so they could have a picture with the conqueror of Hitler, you know, I mean, that was a historical thing, right? People used to go to see Richard Nixon in Saddle River, New Jersey, and have, you know, get some advice.
This is so far beyond that. That it's something that is going to be I think, something that President Biden and the Republican Party are going to have to deal with. And I don't I don't know that anybody's thought much about it yet.
JANSING: Jon Meacham, it is always a pleasure to talk to you, my friend. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
And coming up, a look behind the scenes at how some hospitals are actually practicing how to best get the first round of doses off the trucks and into arms that report when THE 11TH HOUR continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JANSING: Today was the deadline for states to submit initial orders for Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine. So what's next?
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
MEAGAN FITZGERALD, NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): I'm Meagan Fitzgerald in Arizona for a first look at how one major medical center is preparing to administer the vaccine.
LYNDSEY CUNNINGHAM, HONORHEALTH COVID-19 MASS VACCINATION OPERATIONS CHIEF: Our hope is that that's just the beginning of the end of COVID.
FITZGERALD: Dr. Tiffany Pancow is one of Honorhealth's 15,000 medical workers in the first round of distribution.
TIFFANY PANCOW, HONORHEALTH MEDICAL WORKER: it's a chance for us to be able to vaccinate and protect our first of all our health care workers and our first responders.
FITZGERALD: Dozens of volunteers in Phoenix today taking part in a practice drill in this parking lot.
(on camera): This is where it starts, cars will start here they'll advance onto registration where volunteers will confirm their identity and make sure that they have an appointment.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your date of birth.
FITZGERALD: This is where the vaccinations will take place, the cars will pull up their windows will go down and they'll get a shot in the arm just like they would at their doctor's office.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, ready, it's just going to be a little pinch.
FITZGERALD (voice-over): Engineers working on traffic patterns and timing down to the second. Officials here say they're prepared to administer a 1,000 doses a day as soon as the vaccine is approved, which could be as early as mid-December.
(on camera): After being vaccinated. they'll pull up here and be observed for 15 minutes to make sure they don't have any side effects.
(voice-over): If they have a reaction, they're told to honk their horns teams today simulating how they respond to those types of medical emergencies.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're just going to stand here and talk to you and continue to keep an eye on you --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- if don't mind.
FITZGERALD: Getting one step closer to changing the course of the virus. Meagan Fitzgerald, NBC News, Phoenix.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
JANSING: And coming up and election night legend is about to break down contests of a completely different kind when THE 11TH HOUR continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE KORNACKI, MSNBC POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Instead of giving me pants, see this, this would be lifetime supply of pants for me instead is going to go to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America to what they call their Workforce Readiness Program. This is a great charity the Boys and Girls Clubs of America great organization. It helps young Americans connect with others explore careers, meet mentors be ready to enter the workforce. So they're going to supply 500 pairs. This is only a small sampling here. 500 pairs of these khaki pants to the workforce readiness program at the Boys and Girls Club of America in my name.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JANSING: The last thing before we go tonight is about our friend Steve Kornacki. This week as part of Giving Tuesday you just saw the Gap donated 500 pairs of his signature khaki pants to the Boys and Girls Club. The pants and Steve of course became a viral sensation.
Now Steve, who's always been an all-star to everyone around here racked up a slew of fans for being there hour after hour after hour from election night until the election was decided four days later. And well Steve will definitely be here on January 5th to take us all through the vote counting in Georgia senate runoffs.
All of you Kornacki fans out there don't have to wait until then to see him back in action and to discover that his talents go far beyond parsing polls and sartorial splendor. Steve will take you through all the paths to the NFL playoffs. This Sunday night on NBC football Night in America. That's at 7:00 p.m. Eastern before the Broncos take on the last season Super Bowl champs the Kansas City Chiefs only on NBC.
Great for Steve, who's a long-time football fan.
That is our broadcast for this Friday night. Brian will be back on Monday. Thanks so much for being with us. Have a great weekend. And good night.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. END
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