Transcripts For MSNBCW MSNBC Live With Hallie Jackson 20201110

With the solid 63 conservative majority with Justice Amy Coney barrett on the bench beginning to hear all arguments in a make or break challenge right now. Those are beginning this hour. Were going to take you to the court live with president elect bide whon has a front row seat for aca set to fire back this afternoon warning of the risk of overturning the landmark law. And on team biden considering legal action on a slow walking of the transition from the transition. One week after the election trump refusing to concede. The rest of the team is reporting on concerns from trump world about what they see as a spiral. And what critics see as a potentially dangerous move by the Justice Department today, one top official in charge of investigating voter fraud quitting in protest after the attorney general told prosecutors they can pursue substantial allegations of voting irregularities if they find them. Just in, new reporting on potential investigations being launched in a couple Battle Ground states. We have our team with a lot of late breaking news. The latest from doj, outside the white house. A lot at stake. Millions of americans depend on the Affordable Care act for their health care needs. What might behear from the court . Reporter thats right. The Supreme Court behind me is hearing arguments in a consequential case about whether the Affordable Care act should remain valid or be thrown out. Here are the arguments from both sides. About 18 red states led by texas are arguing that because congress zeroed out the individual mandate penalty to buy insurance that the rest of the law should be struck down along with that individual mandate. Recalling the Supreme Court upheld it as a tax. The states are saying because the tax is no longer in effect, the law does not remain valid. California and about 20 blue states are arguing this is an incorrect reading of the law. They argue the intent of congress was clear in 2017 when it rejected efforts to overturn the aca and they say you cant make a law unconstitutional by reducing a penalty. In other words, by lessening the legal weight. Thats a lot of what were going to hear from the court today. And the arguments are just beginning. Any idea when we might get word from the court about where the justice is based on the questions they ask, where their heads are at . The arguments will be live streamed. We should have a vague sense of what questions might try to extrapolate. The justices will cast preliminary results. Were expecting a final decision this spring. President elect biden will almost certainly have taken office by the Supreme Court renders a final decision on the validity of the aca. 20 Million People depend on this law for Insurance Coverage and many others for protection from pre existing conditions. People are arguing it would have consequences for the country to eliminate that kind of Health Care Coverage in the middle of a pandemic. Those arguments being live streamed. Our team is monitoring that. Well bring you interesting developments as they come along. We want to wring you interesting developments from the Justice Department and julia. Theres new reporting about the idea that potential investigations into voting irregularities are happening from the Trump Administrations Justice Department in a couple of key Battle Ground states. What have you confirmed . Thats right. Just before coming on the air with you, i was speaking to a Justice Department official who shed light on why the attorney general is coming out now to say that Justice Department officials can investigate voter irregularities or voter fraud. And it turns out that the Justice Department is looking into what they call referrals of voter irregularities in nevada and pennsylvania. Now, we already know in pennsylvania theres this question of what they would call backdated ballots. Thats something that the person who complained about this, the boss, the person in challenge of pennsylvania, of the vote counting, said that was not the case. That they are not taking ballots that came in past the deadline. Same in nevada. A lot of the complaints that came from the republican party, they fell apart last week. Right now the Justice Department says they are looking into this. We are not hearing the word investigation. The Justice Department official didnt go that far. They said that they are starting to investigate theyre starting to look into these allegations. I think that is key, and explains why the attorney general sent out that memo that we reported on yesterday that said, hallie, that Justice Department officials could look into voter irregularities before the vote had been certified. Thats a key change from previous Justice Department policies. And its what led to the resignation abruptly of the election crimes director just last night. And that sort of resignation in protest, julia, right, for that reason from the guy who heads up the Election Crimes Division there . Yeah. Thats right. I mean, he put out in a memo to his colleagues obtained by nbc news that said that basically he could not stay in that position, and hold it with any level of integrity. He referenced in award he won for his integrity. He said this now stood against those values and he had to leave. Its also unusual to see william barr wading into this territory. Hes gotten pushback from conservative media for not doing enough to stand up for the president right now as he contests this election. But now were seeing william barr put his toe in in a deliberate manner and in a manner thats upsetting people within the Justice Department whose very job it is to keep the policies consistent with administrations past. And that policy has always allowed the states to lead. When it comes to any investigations of voting irregularities and the Justice Department would typically not weigh in until after the vote count and the certification was complete. So you teed up the two big stories, the backdrop to what the two administrations, the administration that is in washington, and the administration that is to be in wilmington, are looking at and dealing with this morning. So mike and monica, i want to get to you on both of the stories and the way the administration and the Transition Teams are working on this. Mike, you heard sahil talk about this critical case in front of the Supreme Court today, a case weve heard about again and again during the president ial campaign not just from the president ial candidates but all the way down the ticket. Biden is looking to essentially seize on this moment, draw more attention to this fight over the aca today where you are in delaware. Right . Yeah. Dont forget that before the pandemic turned the world and the campaign upside down, health care, the fate of the Affordable Care act was a defining issue in the democratic primary when joe biden was running on expanding obama care rather than medicare for all. He expected it also to be one of the defining issues of the general election as well. And so expect to hear from the president elect today about the real world implications for americans if this law is struck down with an eye on the two runoff elections in georgia. This could be a defining issue for the Democratic Candidates there. Of course, biden also raising the prospect of how this would effect his administration. Obviously if the law is thrown out, thats a significant wrench into his governing agenda. As it relates to another potential piece of litigation that the biden team is keeping an eye on, its about this issue of whether the General Services administration will ascertain, never has a word had such impact in potential governance of this country, whether he is the president elect of the United States. The biden team raising last night the prospect of legal action if the gsa administrator does not make his election official, essentially, giving him access to Additional Resources to begin preparing for the work of his government. Its worth keeping in perspective what was happening four years ago at this time. I was at the white house when president elect trump met with president obama for the first time to have a conversation about that peaceful transfer of power. And then 12 years ago, when president bush welcomed president elect obama to the white house, an intraparty transic transiti transition, but it was considered the Gold Standard for how tranls igss should be handled. Its the model that ted kaufman used to write the legislation that puts us in this situation. The biden team clearly concerned about the continued delay of this certification essentially of his election, and what it means for his ability to hit the ground running on january 20th and expect to see democrats continue to raise additional alarm about this as well. Its interesting to flash back to four years ago. I think i was with you at the moment covering the transition. Monica, as you have concerns about the biden team the president is slow walking the transition turnover, you have concerns going from inside the president s orbit, inside trump world. Im about to say a sentence i dont know that ive said at all, maybe rarely over the last four and a half years. For the fifth day in a row we do not expect to see the president publicly today. Its really interesting. Its remarkable. And if the last couple days theme was defiance in defeat, it seems now were shifting more to a reckoning with reality based on what people close to the president are telling our team about how much of a candid conversation needs to be going on in the building behind me right now with the president about his future and his potential legacy. I want to read you some of these quotes we reported along with our colleagues just yesterday. Because they really help exemplify the way this has shifted into a new phase. One person close to the president told us there needs to be a candid conversation with the president. There is simply no path to victory. This person also said the president deserves his day in court and to pursue legal avenues but added continuing to cast doubt on Election Results will simply destroy his legacy. It distracts from the legacy he has to be proud of. Marginizes him and does not behoove him no drag this out much further. Youre hearing a sort of consensus from aides and allies privately. Publicly they continue to say theyre going to pursue the legal strategies, but now were learning theyre even looking more ahead to the future with those around the president confirming to me that he is going to be launching a new leadership Political Action committee. Essentially its a vehicle for him to raise money and poshlly continue to explore political dvts once he leaves office as he contemplates a run in 2024 which were told by those also around the president is something he is still thinking about. He hasnt ruled it out. He hasnt said he will do that. Once he does leave office. That shows you how much theyre willing to accept the loss. Theyre thinking about what the president needs to be doing in the next phase of his life. I talked to one person in the orbit who said yeah, the president might be talking about running in 2024. Theres a lot of skepticism of whether he will, but then again, people thought that ahead of 2016 as the president looks to remain a king maker in the party with that pact. Monica, thank you. Thank you to all of you kicking us off this morning. Much more to get to including the National Security concerns after the defense secretary was suddenly fired. Mark warner is one of the people sounding the alarm. Hes with us live to tell us why. Up next, the u. S. Shatters another daily coronavirus record. As were learning more this morning about how pfizers promising Covid Vaccine might be distributed. Thats been one of the big questions. New details from the secretary of health and Human Services next. Man services next so, uh, yeah, just a silly mistake. I guess i look pretty. Ridiculous. [ chuckles ] no one looks ridiculous, bob. Progressive is always here for you with roundtheclock service. Just so you know, next time, you can submit a claim with our mobile app. Good. 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With new cases hitting 130,000 for the first time in a single day monday. Thats as were learning more about the timeline of when that promising new vaccine from pfizer could get distributed to all of us. Heres secretary of health and Human Services alex azar this morning on today. We have anticipated that we will have enough vaccine by tend of december to have vaccinated our most vulnerable citizens in Nursing Homes and otherwise, and by the end of january enough for Health Care Workers and First Responders and enough for all americans by the end of march to early april. Joining me is a former White House Health policy director in the Obama Administration and msnbc medical contributor. Erin is joining us live from utah where new coronavirus restrictions are being put into place. Doctor, when you heard it this morning from secretary azar on the vaccine decembtimeline. End of december, end of january, and end of march. This vaccine sounds like great news. Give us the reality check. Is that what the expectation should be for all of us . I would be a little more cautious, and heres why. Number one, we actually still need to see the data itself. We have had what i call Science Press release to date. Im not saying we shouldnt be excited. I am. But we need to see the data fully, hopefully the next few weeks. The fda has to review the data, and after there are approvals. At the earliest, probably december. And just to be a little more guarded, pfizer is trying to distribute this to the entire world. The United States has prepurchased 100 million doses but a twodose vaccine means thats really 50 million americans, and the initial emergency authorization will likely be in Vulnerable People and Health Care Workers, and just to add a little bit more to put a caveat to this, keep in mind, this is a vaccine that requires 74 degrees below zero storage. Thats not something you find in a common clinic or hospital. There are supply chain distribution issues, not to mention the fact that we still need to make sure its safe and there is data that we will have to see for followup on safety. Okay. So all of that said, when do you think that people like i would say me and you, but youre potentially on the front lines, people like me, regular americans who arent part of the most vulnerable population could get the vaccine . Yeah, and heres what ive been thinking through with other Public Health experts. We think that the majority of healthy younger americans could start to expect vaccinations in maybe summer at earliest, and or later. But thats because we probably will have not just one manufacturer but two or three. We expect to have an early readout on moderna, the other manufacturer thats close in line after this month as well. So this and the reason im putting all these caveats, this type of technology for a vaccine, mrna has never been done before in humans for a virus, and thats why i want to urge everyone to continue to do what we need to do to keep numbers down, to have a healthy holidays, and this is a light at tend of the tunnel. But we got to get through this tunnel safely first. Let me ask you about Something Else that might be a point of hope or potentially a point of optimism for people, the fda authorizing that eli lilly antibody drug, the head of eli lilly was on cnbc, our Sister Network this morning, calling it, quote, the first drug ever designed for beating back covid19. How hopeful should we be about that . Do you see that as a light at the end of the tunnel for treatment . Very hopeful. The antibody is similar to what the president received. It does need to be infused into the veins. Its not something you can take in a pill form. That means that just, again, i keep saying logistics, but thats the theme of the hour. Logistics are complicated, but that can be give ton people not in the hospital or not sick enough to go to the hospital. We are going to reserve that for people who are older and have other chronic conditions or other reasons to be concerned that they could go to the hont, but i think of this and a vaccine and some of the other treatments coming online that could be incredibly useful altogether. So i am very hopeful, but we need to get there and were starting to see breakthroughs. Which is i think the sentence that so many have been waiting months and months to hear. Erin, were talking about a Record Number of covid cases in the country. Utah where you are experienced i think a 40 increase in cases in the last weeks. Theres a statewide mask mandate in place. Talk about the Decision Making behind that call. Reporter yeah. The governor here is declaring a state of emergency. Positivity rate well over 20 . Situation is so dire that the governor is taking extraordinary measures, finally after months implementing that statewide mask mandate. Also ramping up testing specifically aimed at the 15 to 24yearold demographic. Any College Person classes required to take one in person test. Limiting single households. The governor insists this state is open for business. Take a listen. Utah is open for business. You can still shop, dine in or carry out. Exercise, worship, and recreation. Stay within your Household Group when possible, particularly for the next two weeks. Now, republican governor gary herbert is facing pushback. Yesterday protesters showed up at the Governors Mansion outraged at the mask mandate which raises the question, plenty of Public Officials are telling me a lot of these measures are depending on people voluntarily adhering, voluntarily wearing masks, limiting your social gatherings. What happens if this doesnt work . Well, that is an open question. Erin live for us in salt lake city, utah. Coming up more on the head of the Justice Departments election crimes unit resigning in protest. We told you about that after bill barr told prosecutors they can investigate irregularities if they find evidence of it. Mark warner is joining me on that. Plus new details on the extraordinary rift between georgia republicans as the gop incumbent senators there call on the gop secretary of state to resign. Weve got a live report from atlanta coming up. But first, an update on the one they call the chart slob. The master of the map. Kornacki, now a viral sensation. You saw it last week his effort at the big board. The world worried if he was getting enough sleep. He was not. With the election over, jimmy fallon found our friend and said a little thanks. Wow. Oh my. This is the office . What in the world . Steve, are you Still Standing . Youre doing all right . Im charged. Im feeling okay. What happens now to you . They put me back into preservation for about three and a half years. I got you a little something, a present. This is for you. Okay. Look at that . Its a subway 5 gift card, and a bottle of jack. We love you. A mini bottle of jack, not even the full sized bottle. Come on, fallen. Well see you soon, steve. Well. If you have postmenopausal osteoporosis and a high risk for fracture, now might not be the best time to ask yourself, are my bones strong . Life is full of make or break moments. Thats why its so important to help reduce your risk of fracture with prolia®. Only prolia® is proven to help strengthen and protect bones from fracture with 1 shot every 6 months. Do not take prolia® if you have low blood calcium, are pregnant, are allergic to it, or take xgeva®. Serious allergic reactions like low blood pressure, trouble breathing, throat tightness, face, lip or tongue swelling, rash, itching or hives have happened. 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Because today is the first full day on the job for the new acting defense secretary christopher miller. This is him walking in halfway through the day yesterday into the pentagon. Hes form President Trump was twitter announcing the changes at the pentagon with the move according to some former officials, some experts in their view cementing concerns about a transition that is, quote, shaping up to be the most volatile and uncertain in modern american history. Questions now about not just what military strategy shifts are in the works but about who else President Trump could remove in his final two and a half months in office. Joining me now is mark warner of virginia, the vice chairman of the Intelligence Committee. Senator, thank you for being with us this morning. Thanks for having me this morning. Let me start with the firing of secretary esper. You have said you do not want the president to fire any other National Security officials over the next 70 plus days. Why not . Well, first of all, we are, as the leader in unchartered territory, weve never had an Administration Even looking back at the conflict between bush gore where you have arbitrary firings. And President Trump still has roughly 70 days. Our adversaries know during transitions we may have vulnerabilities and the idea that clearly secretary esper appeared to be fired out of trumps frustration that he said it was not appropriate for military forces to be used against civilians in lawyfayett square, the idea that trump would take down a director would be a bridge too far if we want to make sure that we protect our countrys National Security during this transition time. This is, again, there has never been a time when a senior official like this has been fired during a transition period between one administration to another. Senator, i think you know my day job is covering the white house for nbc news. Ive been covering the president for four years. One of the things im hearing about now from people in washington, those in and around the president s orbit is speculation about others who may end up fired, specifically i think the name has been raised, the fbi director. Im wondering based on your assessment of this, are you concerned others could be on the chopping block here, and if so, who . Ive heard those rumors as well. I think it would be extraordinarily an extraordinary challenge and be totally counter to the United States National Security interest if the directors or any other senior National Security official were dismissed at this point. Were going to be having director haskel this afternoon. Im urging my republican colleagues who still have some heft with this white house to weigh in, because we have seen even prior to the dismissal of esper and other rumors, weve seen actions coming out of the white house against our Intelligence Community professionals that ought to concern us all. Again, echoing what president elect side. Were past the time of the election where Americans First and republican colleagues who have been good partners, the clejs community and our committee has been one bright spot of bipartisanship. Lets not have that undermined in the last 70 days of a Trump Administration. Particularly when the president appears to be firing these folks or potentially firing these folks because theyve not simply been falling in line as trump warned us. That is not the job of the Intelligence Community. The job of the Intelligence Community speaks truth to power. You mentioned leaning on some of your republican colleagues on the Intelligence Committee to use there, as you said heft with the president to convince him to keep some of the officials in place. I wonder if as it relates to the president s refusal to concede the election if youre hearing Something Different from your republican colleagues in the senate versus what theyre saying publicly which is, frankly, with the exception of four senators on the republican side who have acknowledged president elect joe biden has been largely silenced or defense of the president. I think my hope is, at least, youll see that change over the coming days particularly as georgia and arizona get called, particularly as weve seen no evidence put forward by the Trump Administration as weve seen these frivolous lawsuits dismissed that other individuals will speak out. I can tell you the intelligence my republican colleagues a variety of times, im not going to speak to those at this moment, but a variety of times over the l. A. Couple months i think have weighed in and weve tried to protect the integrity of the Intelligence Community when its been under assault and under active assault a number of times in the last 60 days. And, again, im hoping weve kept this community and our committee balanced, bipartisan, and only after the truths are told, 3. 9 of the last years. Lets finish out the last 70 days in the same fashion. The Intelligence Committee meets behind closed doors the vast majority of time. We talk about National Security. Im proud of the fact that 90 of those conversations are happening. A few other topics to get through before were out of time in this segment. The New York Times reporting on the National Security implications of the refusal to concede and what could mean for the transition with the president elect not receiving the president ial daily briefing. No clarity about his team getting access to the information. What happens if that doesnt happen . Thats one of the areas where we a day or two more it will go on, but president elect biden needs access to the president ial daily brief. It gives you a snapshot of the world, and the idea that weve got this political hack over at gsa holding up this process as a trump loyalist is outrageous. Thats the bad news. The good news is we have seen career officials time and again stand up against this president s attempt to politicize the bureaucracy. We saw yesterday the head of Election Security outfit at the department of justice resign in protest. Let me ask you about that. I think the outrageous effort theres plenty of caveats on what barr said in terms of opening doj investigations. Clearly it doesnt meet the smell test with the head of the security. Did it meet your standard of appropriateness . Again, ive been disappointed by attorney general barr consistently. He seemed to be more loyal to the president than to rule of law in this country. But as weve seen, every time he takes this action, both current and former doj officials of both parties stand up in many ways while were treading at the outrageousness of the Trump Administration. I hope we can all take a deep breath. Time and again, i think weve shown our institutions are strong. I tell you a week after the election, we got through this in a way that was much better than what i anticipated two weeks out. The information part of dhs, it perfects Election Security. I think the longterm professionals have stood strong. We have to have their back over the next 70 days and make sure that we pressure the administration to go ahead with president ial daily briefs and not misusing the doj. I hope well see some added bipartisanship in the next couple days. Senator mark warner, thank you for being on the show on a morning that i know has a lot of headlines relevant to you and issues of interest to you. I appreciate it. Thank you. In georgia the rift is growing among republicans in that state. Georgias gop secretary of state is refusing calls to resign from both sitting republican senators in what has been an extraordinary 24 hours there. David perdue and Kelly Loeffler says theres a failure of transparent election. That provided no evidence and in the election theres no evidence of widespread fraud. This morning the president ial race there is too close to call. It seems headed for an automatic recount. President trumps putting congressman doug collins in charge of the effort for when and if that happens. He is responding to the gop infighting this morning. Listen. Were asking the secretary of state simply do their job. Theres nothing wrong. This is simply following the law. Thats what were asking the secretary of state to do. Let me bring in Priscilla Thompson from atlanta. What is happening here and where does this go . Do we expect to hear from other officials or the secretary of state . Whats your understanding . Reporter well, no word yet from the secretary of state coming out to make a statement on camera or any of the lawmakers involved in this situation for that matter. But what we have seen over the past 24 hours is a flurry of statements from everyone involved. This began with loeffler and perdue saying the way elections have been handled in this state is a, quote, embarrassment. Meanwhile the Trump Campaign this morning in that effort led by representative doug collins requesting that the recount here happen by hand. That means folks would be required to count nearly 5 million ballots by hand. They say they will be petitioning the court to see about getting that done. And then you heard representative collins there talking about sort of down playing theres any infighting going on among republicans and they are just asking the secretary of state to do his job. But the secretary of state has said im already doing my job. Working to count the votes thoroughly and accurately. Saying the senators should focus on maintaining republican control of the senate and election bids. Live for us in atlanta. Priscilla, thank you. Speaking of the senate, Mitch Mcconnell and Chuck Schumer will be the leaders of their party. Not a surprise. Both men have been reelected within the last couple minutes on the hill. Well wait to see what happens in georgia who to the see who is majority and minority leader. Coming up, the number of Migrant Children not able to find their parents is higher than thought. Well talk to somebody leading the fight to reunite the parents with the kids after the break. T. But we didnt stop there. We made a cloud flexible enough to adapt to any size business. No matter what it does, or how it changes. And we kept going. So you only pay for what you use. Because at dell technologies, we stop. At nothing. Before we talk about taxsaudreys expecting. New . Twins because at dell technologies, we stop. 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Many of whom might not be on the country anywhere. I have the lead aclu attorney on the organizations effort to reunite the separated kids with the families. Lee, thank you for being on the show. Thank you for having me. Lawyers are asking the doj as we mentioned to provide a means of contacting these parents. Have you heard a response yet . We have not. When the 545 was reported, all of a sudden the department of justice said we want to help. We want to help. I mean, were obviously two and a half years this ininto this. We said theres the 545 we havent been able to find use the phone numbers were useless, and were doing a search on the ground for them. Yet, theres another 100 plus we havent highlighted in the press yet that are still unfound, and we dont even have phone numbers for them. We still havent got phone numbers for them, and were a year into that. Thats the difference between the 545 and the 666. Theres 100 additional we dont have phone numbers for. The administration, the president said the administration was, quote, working very hard to reunite the families. He said that at the last debate. At the time you said you felt that was just a pr move, a pr statement, basically. Has anything happened to change your mind about that . No. They have talked to us, said what do you want . Said you know what we want. We need Contact Information to try and reach them. Does that even exist, lee . I would doubt it at this point. I mean, these are families that were separated at the beginning of the Trump Administration to the extent we got phone numbers of, some of them were use. Most were not. The in your opinions are stale at this point. The real problem is that this is the last group the government didnt even tell us the court about. The court specifically said in june of 2018 when we won this case, tell me how many families need to be reunited. The government said 2800 was only to a watchdog report. Six months later said there were thousands of potentially thousands of other children separated and for a Pilot Program at the beginning of the Trump Administration, did we even learn about these children. Yeah. I dont want it to get last that you have 660 plus kids who are not with their parents, are separated from their parents. I know you work with these kids. What are you hearing from them . What are they saying to you . Whats it like doing that . You know, some of the kids are seemingly doing okay, but what the medical Community Says is theyre all dealing with trauma at some level and some of the kids, the kids that are verbal enough, old enough to articulate it are telling us how airngs anxious they are. I met with a teenager who said every time he encountered anything new his chest tightens up. You know, another fouryearold boy keeps saying, are the men going to come and take me away at in the middle of the night. These 666 are families we have not yet located. There are many others that weve located that are still separated but the Trump Administration will not allow the parent to come back to the u. S. Were hoping a Biden Administration would allow the parents to come back to the u. S. Not just for the 666, but the others, give them some legal status, create some fund to help them, particularly medical fund, and ensure that Going Forward only Child Welfare experts ever take a child away, not Border Patrol who are not trained to do this. Aclu, thank you for bringing us that update. We appreciate it. Unnext, current and former government officials raising a red flag about what a turbulent transition could mean. John brennan is live with me after the break. Back now to the president ial transition and some big news that is just coming into us, potentially, from the office of director of national intelligence. Just in the commercial break basically, weve learned the odni says its not cooperating with the biden transition until the election is certified, saying theyre following the statutory provision which requires ascertainment by the add stater of gsa prior to supporting a potential president ial transition, going on to say they wouldnt have any contact with the Transition Team until notified by gsa. This is what the biden says they see as slow walking from Trump Officials to biden officials. Its affecting the potential for briefings and discussion with president elect biden. Let me bring in former cia director john brennan, an msnbc senior National Security and intelligence analyst. Let me start there. Odni confirming they wont be working with the biden team until they get the green like to do that. Is this what you typically see in a transition . What are the implications of this . I think it is very concerning because its critically important during periods of administration transitions that there be as much continuity as possible from the standpoint of ensuring that our National Security and Homeland Security is going to be secured. I helped lead the president elect obamas transition on the intelligence side back in 2008, and the Bush Administration could not have been more gracious or more supportive, allowing us to have full insight into the ongoing activities of the Intelligence Community. The fact that the Trump Administration continues to give the stiff arm to the biden team is i think indicative of their unwillingness to really take the interest of the American People first as opposed to the interest and the pettiness of donald trump. Part of it seems to be statutory, based on the state from the odni, its part of the president ial transition act. Are these departments or branches following the law, does that hold water to you . It is up to the gsa administrator to release the funds and give authorization for that transition to get under way. Its clear that the gsa administrator does not have the goahead from the white house and is probably being told by the white house not to do this. It is an obstacle. Therefore, i think the biden team, and i know they are waiting in the wings to do Everything Possible to ensure that our National Security is going to be protected during these transition periods. We have had major terrorist attacks during previous transition times. Therefore, its important for the team taking over the reins of government to have as much opportunity to prepare themselves for these very, very solemn responsibilities. Theres reporting about current and former officials concern about potential for state secrets being exposed once President Trump is out of office, either through efforts the declassify while the president is in office or something that could happen after the inauguration. I wonder if you share that concern and if you think president elect biden should be preparing for that potential by, for example, looking at the possibility of revoking President Trumps security clearance after hes sworn in . Its impossible to say what donald trump is going to do because i dont think he knows himself what hes going to do. Why did he summarily dismiss secretary esper . Is it just to settle a score or does he plan to do something on the military front that secretary esper would have opposed . Same is true on the intelligence side. Is donald trump planning to do something, as you say, reveal classified information because he can as president of the United States . These are very weighty issues and i think all americans should be concerned that we have somebody in the white house right now who is petty, petulant as well as going to do things that are going to advance his interests as opposed to protect the interests of our country. Two quick questions, only about a minute left. I have to ask you about the speculation surrounding cia director gina haspel. Have you heard anything about her future, her career, where her heads at . My understanding is that gina is continuing the try to protect the integrity of the cia and trying to prevent the cia from being drawn into partisan politics. Therefore, i am concerned that she may, in fact, be on the target list of donald trump along with Christopher Wray and others who really i think have tried to live up to their responsibilities to the constitution and to the American People. So i just encourage them to continue to hold fast and hold strong and not give in to any type of directives that donald trump might issue that will, in fact, undermine our National Security. And very quickly, have you been in touch with the biden Transition Team . Have they asked you to work on the an situation or in the administration, is that something that you would consider . I give my advice and counsel to anybody who asks. I have been in touch with them. I think theyre ready, eager and able to resume the responsibilities once the Biden Administration is in place. That is our show. Former cia director john brennan, thank you for being here. Thank you for joining us on msnbc. Craig melvin picks it up after the break. After the break. A good Tuesday Morning to you. Craig melvin here. This morning the health of our nation and our democratic proce process are front and center. Right now the coronavirus pandemic is breaking record after record. Nbc news can report more than 133,000 new coronavirus cases on monday. That is another new daily record. In the middle of this crisis, 20 million americans are facing the very real possibility of losing their health care. Right now inside the United States Supreme Court, 18 republicanled states are arguing a case that would scrap obamacare. The acasut