Joe bidens transition to the white house can now begin in earnest. Until now, hes doing it without the sport of the federal office tasked with overseeing the transfer of power. Within two weeks after his victory speech, the head of the General Services administration has finally told the president elect the transition can formally begin. They will meet with federal officials to work on the Pandemic Response and National Security. Trump went to titter to twitter to make sure that he is ready for the transition. She has been harassed, threatened, and abused, and i dont want to see this happen to her, her family, or the gsa. We will continue to keep up the good fight, saying he will prevail. He has recommended emily and her team do what needs to be done. He went on to say that he has told his team to do the same. Joe bidens Transition Team has welcomed the move. In a statement, his team says, today is a needed step to tackle the days ahead. They will have accounting of the National Security interest and gain complete understanding of the Trump Administrations effort to hollow out government agencies. We are in wilmington. Patty is in washington dc. Lets start with patty. Just explain to us what this all means, how important it is. Reporter it is a pretty big deal. Why is that . It is the first time we have heard anything from the president that shows even the remote possibility that he acknowledges he is not going to be the next president of the united states. He said he is still going to win and still will continue with the fight. That is looking really unlikely. He said he has directed the gsa administrator. In her statement, she said she came to the decision independently. She has brought up the threats she has been facing online and on the phone. She says they are even threatening her pets. She is not saying joe biden is president elect, but saying that it will be left up to the electoral process. Still, it is a big deal, not just because the action is happening about moving forward, but the first sign the president is starting to give an indication that come january 20 at noon, that is no longer going to be his house. The first indication that that is starting to sink in. Anchor lets talk more about the tweet that donald trump put out. What did you make of it . Reporter i think it is a very big deal and he is starting to say, lets talk about the transition. There has been a lot of reporting that he feels like he needs to fight to send a message to his supporters. And it has been really remarkable how few republican politicians are leaders have come out to say it is over. It has been weeks. It is time to move on. This might give them more cover to do so. He has been threatening very clearly if people speak out against him, he will get involved if they need republican nomination again. He can send out a tweet and possibly cost them their jobs. Georgia. The entire fate of the biden agenda will come down to two races that were too close and they have to go to a runoff in georgia. They have to get 50 . They didnt. Whoever wins those races will determine who controls the senate. It is just how ambitious joe biden can be when he becomes president. The concern among republicans becomes georgia. They couldnt guarantee that trump was the president , so dont show up to vote in those senate races. Mitch mcconnell likes being in power. So they are trying to walk this balancing act to maintain control of the senate, not get on Donald Trumps bad side in case he maintains control of the gop out of office. This is starting to show momentum against the president. We have seen National Security leaders and republican bigwigs say this is hurting democracy and National Security. We have seen the richest people in the country that tend to donate to republicans coming out and saying this is bad. This is time to move on. Now that the president has opened up a little bit of a crack on twitter, it will be interesting to see if anybody stands up to say, it is time to go or time to accept you have lost the election. From news tonight out of the white house, the president not conceding and not making a phone call to joe biden or being at the inauguration or inviting them to tea, as is tradition. Anchor it seems hard to imagine an invitation for tea at this point. Lets go to wilmington, delaware, the home state of president elect joe biden. We have heard from the bidenharris Transition Team. What are they saying about this . There were three priorities that they mentioned in that statement earlier. First of all, they want to discuss the Pandemic Response with federal officials. They want a full accounting of our National Security interests, and they want to gain complete understanding of the Trump Administrations efforts to hollow out government agencies. This clearly does mean that they have the federal resources to begin their transition. They can get office space. Interestingly, they were fundraising for the transition process. I see a member of the pool. What do you do with the money . They have the money cleary and they have the money, clearly. The biggest concern as this transition process was stuttering was the Pandemic Response. That they didnt have a clear idea of where the government was and the current response, and understanding about supply chain. It will be needed to roll out a vaccine quickly. And the possible news about a vaccine rollout. The biden team was simply in the dark. It has to be said that there are career Civil Servants that are planning the rollout of a vaccine. They remain in administration if they do eventually leave. There is comfort there. The biden camp is really clear that they want to start planning now for the Pandemic Response. That is the priority and reflected in what we got from the biden camp an hour ago. Anchor are we likely to see more republicans coming out saying this will be a wakeup call, perhaps. Reporter no, because donald trump has not conceded and says the fight goes on. There are well over 70 Million People that voted for donald trump. This is a huge constituency and you cant just dismiss that. It is a big chunk of the american electorate that believes in donald trump. And a big chunk of that believes trump has not lost the election. It should not be discounted glibly. And donald trump has every right to use the fullest extent of the courts in order to make his claims. He does have that right. Official certification is still underway. The Electoral College doesnt meet until december. He has not conceded as of yet. They were telling them behind the scenes that it was over. And donald trump himself knows it is over. And an analysis for what motivations donald trump may have had, to newington fight continuing to fight. The conspiracy theories floated by democrats as republicans float theirs, they did not want to legitimize his election. That he was prudence puppet and blackmailed through a sex tape. Vast numbers of clinton voters were saying that sort of thing when donald trump was elected and it hasnt been forgotten that they were trying to delegitimize him saying there was enormous russian collusion which the Mueller Investigation did not find. They seem to be forgetting that they were, on a nightly basis, repeating amazing conspiracy theories without any proof or factual basis. That is a raw issue for the republicans. We should remember that it began with president obama and the republicans attended to delegitimize barack obama by saying that he wasnt even american. We have this titfortat process with electoral politics. Democrats were just as guilty as the republicans. The democrats did concede following the projections of Election Night that trump actually, it took a few days. But whether he wants to run again, hes looking to georgia. The Republican Party is looking to georgia. Even if they feel uneasy about this, it is good for the base, the trunk base in georgia if they are angry about if it was a stolen election. This has to be good for trump turnout. There are various reasons. The background reporting is that everyone knew the jig was up. Anchor live for us in wilmington, delaware. The cofounder of the transition integrity project, the gsa is not actually determining the winner, right . It is just saying the transition process has been unlocked. But how major is this, in your opinion . It is very important. 11 weeks between election day and inauguration day. The purpose of those 11 weeks will prepare the new administration to take action rapidly. We talk about National Security briefings, making sure that they are aware of the rats out there. Of the threats out there. And being able to take over the pandemic and rolling out a vaccine at the beginning of the year. They will get senatorial approval and clearance. That process has been stalled until now. The fact that we have the ability to begin the process and get the clearances, getting the processes done means that the Biden Administration can hit the ground running on the afternoon of january 20. Anchor President Donald Trump says he directed the gsa to do this. The administrator to go ahead with what needs to be done. The administrator emily murphy says she was never directly or indirectly pressured by anyone about the timing or substance of this decision. What should we make of that . My supposition is that trump has no idea what goes into the transition process. When he came in in 2016, his people did not show up to the briefings that the obama people carefully prepared for them. They didnt do the transition properly on the front end, so its not surprising that they are not doing it properly on the backend either. In the bidenharris transition statement, they talk about transition officials meeting with federal officials to discuss the Pandemic Response. Three things are noted. And what i thought was interesting, to gain a complete understanding of the Trump Administrations efforts to hollow out government agencies. One of the big things the Trump Administration has been all about is what steve bannon referred to as the deconstruction of the administrative state. But that means is trying to destroy as much of the federal bureaucracy as possible. They been quite successful at that in particular pockets. The state department has been talking about that a lot. The Environmental Protection agency and many agencies have seen the departure of many Civil Servants. A big part of what the Biden Administration will have to spend the first term in office is rebuilding all of the administrative infrastructure. And they need to figure out what has been destroyed. All of this has happened behind closed doors. Anchor this is a question i put to our correspondent, but do you think we are likely to see more Establishment Republicans coming out saying, ok, its time donald trump concedes . Or do you think trumps apparent when win will allow them to take their foot off the gas . I think the elected republicans are a bunch of penguins on the ice flow. They dont want to be near the water for the seals and sharks waiting for them. The shark in this case is trump and his twitter account. We may see a bit of a flood. Once the first couple come out, you may see republicans in the next couple of weeks. I doubt he will make a formal concession. It is not his style. Anchor if he doesnt make a formal concession, hes never going to give up fighting, is it about holding onto supporters . Where is that part of donald trump. Or is that part of donald trump . I think it is both. The 70 Million People that voted for him are an important constituency. He may want to run again in 2024. It would not surprise me if he filed to run for reelection on the afternoon of january 20, 2021, making a big comeback after the election was stolen from him. And he can charge people to subscribe to trump tv and get tens of millions of these people. That may solve many of the financial challenges he is likely to face after he leaves office. Anchor i want to come back to what this all means. This is not an official statement that joe biden is a new president from the gsa. The Electoral College, they give results to congress. The next 11 weeks, how does that play out . Reporter it is not the media who determines what the president who the president is. It is not up to the gsa, donald trump, or anybody else to unilaterally declare that biden has won the election. The process works as follows. By december 8, the states need to submit their electoral votes to the Electoral College that meets on december 14 and votes. Those votes will be tallied and sent to congress. Congress will certify the results on january 6. That certification process is what finally determines the new president has been elected to the office. That is the technical process. Anchor the cofounder of the transition integrity project. Thank you for having me. Anchor a former state department National Security and white house official joins us live via skype from virginia. Thank you for your time. The gsa is not actually determining the winner, just saying the transition process has been unlocked. How major is this . Guest i think it is very significant and implied that even though trump will probably never give a concession, i think it is implying that he is finally conceding in a de facto sense. He is allowing the transition to go forward. He will allow biden to get the highest level of classified security briefings, and vice presidenelect harris as well. He will allow the secretary of state and National Security advisor and secretary of treasurys teams to give classified information and understand the inner workings of the u. S. Government. It is all about a concession at from a to slay significant. Anchor will this be the closest we get to donald trump conceding . Guest perhaps. It is incredibly important in a policy sense. While the world is fixated on covid19, rightfully so, there are many things the Trump Administration might be planning. We saw appointments to the pentagon and the department of defense. A lot of things that could go with a military strike in the middle east. There are things the administration could be doing and planning. It is trimmed asleep important that bidens team gets in there and understands what is being planned. Anchor donald trump says that he directed emily murphy from the gsa to go ahead and do what needed to be done. Emily says she was never directly or indirectly pressured by anyone im reading here, in regard to the substance or timing of her decision. What should we make of that . Guest that is one of the variables i have looked at and contributes to my assessment that this is all but a concession from donald trump. He is not supposed to interfere and the head of the General Services administration has tried to at least have a public stance of independence. By him saying that he directed it, he did not need to do that. It is a signal to republican elites in washington, maybe not to his base, but to republican elites that he knows the game is over and he is allowing the transition to go forward. Anchor i will put a question to you that i have asked other analysts earlier. And it depends on who you talk to, you get a different response. I am interested in your take. Will we see more republicans coming out and blatantly saying that donald trump needs to concede as a result of this . Reporter im not sure that you will. Im not sure what there is to be gained. Republicans everywhere still need the trump base and trump constituencies in order to continue in their current office. Im not sure they gain anything. It is not quite necessary for trump to concede. He can be as he has been for four years. He can be the turn in the punch bowl, as we say the turd in the punch bowl, as we say. He can slam the door on his way out and republicans dont have to put themselves in front of that mess. They can be planning for what they will be doing next. There are important senators that we should be watching for. The Senate Majority leader, seeing what he says. Trump best friends in the senate, lindsey graham. A very important figure on the Senate Judiciary committee. It will be important to see what he says. It is not necessarily the number of republicans, but key, prominent republicans. Anchor i was interested to read and emily murphys letter to joe biden, contrary to media reports and insinuations, my decision was not made out of fear or favoritism. Can you explain what she is getting at . Guest there has been an interesting back and forth behind the scenes here. Various parties and various constituencies putting different kinds of pressure on her. Certainly from the white house, there was pressure to not let the transition go forward. There were certainly compromises that could have been had. The General Services administration could have allowed the biden team in the door a crack with initial protocols, but they didnt even do that. There was private speculation in washington that she was being forced, in a way, to not allow these tiny little steps forward for the biden Transition Team and that the pressure was coming directly from the white house. She also seems to be insinuating that there was pressure from other parties to go forward before she was ready and before it was appropriate to do so. There has been a lot of back and forth. And it is all about donald trump not wanting to concede and wanting to go through every last ditch legal or political stop that he could on his way out the door. And she has been a very loyal soldier in that regard. Anchor what is your feeling about how the next 11 or so weeks will play out with legal challenges or those that are left from donald trump right up until inauguration day. How will that go to plan . Guest i am a Harvard Law School trained lawyer. Even though i am not a trump supporter, i thought he had some interesting legal cases that he could have brought in a lot of these really close states, but he did not bring any of them. His legal team resorted to these wild theories of conspiracy and not any factual or legal basis to really go forward which i think they couldve had, but they didnt. You see even prominent supporters of trump like the former governor of new jersey Chris Christie who is a former u. S. Attorney himself coming out saying that the legal team and strategy of donald trump was a national embarrassment. And it certainly was. The idea that he has any legal plays left to go forward, i dont see that at this point. What i am concerned about over the next 11 weeks and beyond is that he will be a constant thorn in the side of the bidenharris administration, trying to weaken them, ridicule them, make it difficult for them to really do anything effective. Republicans will have their eyes on 2022. Not necessarily the race in 2024, but their own reelection in 2022. More republicans are up for reelection then were even up this year. It is a critical time for them. If they can get enough anger and resentment that biden did not follow through with what he said he was, republicans can consolidate control in the senate and set them up. This is potentially for the next four years. Anchor thank you so much. Former state department National Security and white house official. Joe biden has named his team. Mary Frances Barry is a professor of social thought and history at the university of pennsylvania. She says, despite the diverse cabinet picks, it looks like more of the same from the obama era. If you are really concerned about turning the page from trump and the symbolism of appointing women who are black or males who are hispanic if you are looking at that symbolism, you ought to be very pleased. You have some things you can point to. If you are concerned about more than symbolism, which i am, you would be a little disturbed. All that has really happened is that the establishment of the Democratic Party is back in power again. It is not just the obama administration. All of those people have been with joe biden. Most of us have been around washington and we have watched and seen joe biden and these people politically for years. They are all back. The message to the world is that america is back and our Foreign Policy and domestic policy, the way that it was under obama is basically back again. In my opinion, john kerry who has been working on climate issues, and is a serious guy who has known biden for years, and his senior if he can sit at the table and produce results on climate change, that is the real good news coming out of this. Anchor we have much more on president elect joe bidens transition after the break