Pence world as the president previews an attack on one of his most loyal soldiers. Speaking of loyal, check out whats happening just below where im standing. Supporters of the president s heading to hear him speak in an hour. We can hear them from our position on the hill. What sources are telling us about whether todays drama will be the president s last stand. Spoiler, no, and more on whats happening behind the scenes in the west wing. All as we could find out any minute which party will control the u. S. Senate. Its down to one close race after democrats took one of the georgia runoff races. The other, still too close to call right now. But the democrat candidate leading. Were at the big board with Steve Kornacki and when you should expect the final votes and we have our team spread out this morning from washington to d georgia for special coverage. And go to blaine and steve. Steve, control of the senate down to the perdue, ossoff race. Ossoff declaring he won. Most organizations have not called the race yet. Where do we stand . Its too close the call. The official designation is ossoff is leading. His margin over perdue sits at 17,000 votes. The vast majority of the vote is in but what we are waiting for . There are a couple of clear pockets. The biggest one is actually ill show you, its dekab county. That county has an awful lot to do with why ossoff leads right now. This is an overwhelmingly democratic county. Outside atlanta. 80 plus democratic county. Overnight, it was the release of the early vote that came out that pushed ossoff ahead statewide. The early vote is all done in dekalb county. It looks like a number of mailin ballots need to be processed there. Could be up to 20,000 of those mailin ballots from that county. Again, you can expect them to be overwhelmingly democratic. So thats mail votes from dekalb county. There are also mail votes next door in Fulton County. In the last couple minutes we got a small release of those that pushed ossoffs lead just over 17,000. There are probably about 5,000 mailin ballots to be released in Fulton County still. Again, heavily democratic county. Steve, well check back in throughout the morning. Any indication on when we might see more of these, time of day wise . Right. So in Fulton County, for instance, the rest of us i think you can expect this afternoon. A couple other counties too we can expect some today. All right. We might have a few hours to go. Blaine, warnock won overnight. That race was called. A big deal for democrats. Hes set to be georgias first black senator. Absolutely. The first black senator from the state of georgia and first black democrat to head to the senate from the south, and its been decades since georgia has sent any democrat to the u. S. Senate. Were talking about history on a number of fronts. But when we also talk about the magnitude of the moment, it does a lot for the diversity of the u. S. Senate as it currently stands. As you know, its not terribly diverse. If when warnock heads to washington along with tim scott and cory booker that makes him among three currently sitting African American senators. So we talked about he talked about the magnitude of this moment earlier this morning on the today show. Heres what he had to say with savannah guthrie. Our opponent, Kelly Loeffler spoke last night. She did not concede the race. Do you expect a long drawn out process with legal challenges as we just saw in november in georgia . I expect to serve in a few days in the United States senate. I think the people of georgia heard a clear contrast. I talked about how i intend to represent them, and my opponent was focussed on how she would represent her own interests. And hallie, i think its hard to overstate just politically what this means for the changing tide here in the state of georgia. Something we, of course, saw in november once we got the results with georgia flipping blue for joe biden. To see a democratic senator headed to washington and to see the race as close as right now is something thats remarkable. One thing i want to mention is the question of recount. Something we talked about a number of types over the past few weeks given what we saw with the november election. Because this race is larger than. 5 and theres about a percentage or more difference between warnock and loeffler, thats not going to be eligible for a recount. Ossoff and perdue are within the margin. More votes to be counted but it could lead to a candidate requested recount possibly. Yeah. This thing may stretch on for a while. Thank you to you both. Back here in washington, though, in just under three hours behind me, at that building, the house and senate are going to meet for a joint session of congress. Thats where theyll count the electoral votes and officially declare the results of the 2020 election. This process is something were not even talking about much on the show. Its typically a formality and quick. Check out how long it took over the last three president ial elections. No more than 35 minutes. Not this year, you have dozens oh how was and Senate Republicans planning to object to the results in several states. It will drag out for hours and possibly late night tonight or Early Morning tomorrow. Theyre objecting to millions of legally cast votes. But when its all said and done, its all but certain that mike pence will declare joe biden the winner of the 2020 election. Thats how this is going to go down. Lets go to capitol hill. What are you hearing from the sources youre talking to this morning both democrats and republicans managing what were about to see unfold on the floor . Reporter hallie, youre right. This is usually a formality. This time its going to be a fight, however, futile it is. Whats going to happen today is that we are going to see two mahogany boxes enter the House Chamber during a joint session of congress. A designated group of lawmakers are just going to read the electoral vote count. Again, a formality. But whats going to happen is watch out for arizona. That is the first state we should expect to see objections from House Republicans joined by Senate Republicans. Remember, they need both House Republicans and Senate Republicans for the objection to stand. The senate will go back to its chamber. The house and senate will then vote debate up to two hours separately. And then have a vote on those final on that final motion. Its sure to fail. The house is controlled by democrats. In the senate only 12 or 13 senators have said they would object. Nowhere near the simple majority. Then they go back to the House Chamber and do that again through the entire alphabet and wait for the next state objections. We hear the House Republicans could object up to six states. Senate republicans could object perhaps up to six states. My sources are telling me that this is just going to be a long day. Nothing is going to change. It could go into tomorrow. But at the end of the day, joe biden will once again be declared the victor of the 2020 election. And its going to start fairly quickly, the potential objections we know will happen. Pete, you know the constitution. Explain it to folks here. Congresss role, and what, if anything, can change . It seems like nothing particularly related to the role of Vice President pence. Well, the constitution says almost nothing. All it says is that the president of the senate shall in the presence of a joint session open the votes and count them. Thats all it says. But there is a long law that was passed 133 years ago that divides the process. The way its supposed to work is members should object if they think that the votes they have on the floor in their hands are not the ones that were certify b certified by the state, but they are saying they want to see if the state properly certified them. Thats whats causing the questions about whether they can do this. I think one thing to watch is what will the Vice President s role be . Its largely to run the show. Sort of like the chief justice in impeachment. So the question is, we know that there are republican slates that were sent in to his office from at least five states. Arizona, georgia, new mexico, nevada and pennsylvania saying yeah, we know biden is the one the governor won, but heres our republican slate. We want you to count it. Will he bring that with him to the floor to be considered . We dont know. Peter alexander, your colleague, asked the Vice President s office that yesterday and didnt get an answer. I think its doubtful. He could try that. He doesnt have the authority to do that. But thats one thing to watch. Okay. Play it out, pete. If he tries it, what happens . Those dont count. You cant just show up with a bunch of electors that havent been named by the legislators. Thats right. Theyre certified by the governor or occasionally over history, certified by the state legislature. And thats how they get into the boxes. You know, i dont know. Its never been tried before. But he could say well, i think this is the slate that ought to be counted and thats my ruling and then they would be an objection and the two chambers would vote and that would fail. It wont work, but the question is will he try it . And what unfolds between those two points . Kelly, take us on the ground where you are. Im on capitol hill. I cant see you on the wall behind me but i can hear the people heading to where you are. You can see the crowd gathering on the ellipse. Theyre waiting to hear from President Trump. And President Trump has been very clear about his message over the last 24 hours. He is really putting the pressure on his Vice President. He is continuing to try to insist that this is a stolen election. Despite, of course, the fact that he legitimately lost it. Reporter and those are the themes we expect the president to bring here. You may be able to see over my shoulder the white house in the background, and there are thousands of people who are supporters of the president here on the ellipse. Its a lot like a rally, but the mood is different. In part influenced by whats happened in georgia, and, of course, the week since the november election and the grinding the president has done about the status of this election. So the spirit here among the speakers and the crowd has been all about fighting. All about taking the names of the republicans who do not vote or stand up or object in the ways they want to have happened to support President Trump somehow getting a second terp. And so theres a real mood here of Trump Supporters being prepared to take a fight to members of the Republican Party and beyond that, of course, to democrats. So a lot of talk from speaker after speaker about fighting. Weve seen from the president on his twitter feed, and i imagine it will play out here as well, pressure on Vice President mike pence, the president insisting that pence has powers beyond what we believe he has based on the constitution and the conversation you just had. So consider this a mix of of in some ways the rally spirit, in other ways, its this tension about is this the end of the trump era . These supporters say no, but we expect in Washington Joe Biden will be inaugurated and then what is to come of this movement . What theyre talking about is fighting to try to bring the trumpinvolved spirit of conservatism or populism back in a different way, and theyre standing for President Trump today in what is a cold and loud and raw kus environment here. He asked supporters to come and many of them have. Kelly odonnell. A cold and loud indeed, my friend. Stay warm out there. Well try to do the same up. Well have another look from a different Vantage Point on whats happening wi proteswith crowding the mall. On capitol hill were talking to one of the democrats leading the floor about his strategy and what he expects. First, a flash back to the Electoral College count in twun when a different v. P. Presided over his own loss. Giving george w. Bush a win over then Vice President al gore. I rise to object to the fraudulent 25 florida electoral votes. Is the objection in writing and signed by a member of the house and a senator . The objection is in writing, and i dont care that it is not signed by a member of the senate. The chair will advise that the rules do care, and turns out its mostly water. So, we switched back to tide. One wash, stains are gone. Daughter slurping dont pay for water. Pay for clean. Its got to be tide. Your happy place. Find your breaking point. Then break it. Every emergenc gives you a potent blend of nutrients so you can emerge your best with emergenc. announcer do you washed pounds . Stress . Do you want to flatten your stomach . Do all that and more in just 10 minutes a day with aerotrainer, the total body fitness solution that uses its revolutionary ergonomic design to help you to maintain comfortable, correct form. That means better results in less time. You can do an uncomfortable, oldfashioned crunch or an aerotrainer super crunch. 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The potential for a chaotic scene. A lot of the president s supporters traveling here as the Washington Post put it, for what they see as a last stand for President Trump. He, of course, is still denying president elect joe bidens win. Some of the tensions have started playing out at a rally yesterday. And in scenes like the video were about to show you. Appearing to show mitt romney being confronted by the president s supporters at an airport. Check it out. We have a constitution. The constitution is clear. Ill follow the constitution. Your legacy is nothing. Youre a joke. An absolute joke. Its disgusting shame. Alison barber is at the capitol. I tried to pick you out of the crowd. My eyesight isnt that good. You have protests and a march plan time happening at 1 00 this afternoon. The joint session of congress. Whats going on on the ground to try to manage the crowd thats expected . Reporter yeah. Capitol police are out, and we have seen the last hours them bring more Capitol Police officers to this area. You can hear the crowd here. There are a couple of groups in the area. If you look at the signs, i dont know if you can see. They turned it a little bit. There is one sign, a blue sign with a red q for qanon. Ill show you more of the signs of the people that we are seeing down here. We know, of course, that d. C. Police have asked for assistance from the national guard. They say the guardsmen will be helping with crowd control and Traffic Control so d. C. Police can be prepared if, for some reason, they need to deal with any violence. You see the sign, stop the steal. People ahave driven from all ovr the country. I asked one man what his plans are, what he would say to legal experts who have said theres nothing pence can do and today is an Electoral College vote count and at the end the results are the same. I asked him what he hoped would come from this. He said he was here because he wanted to make sure people knew they were not happy. They feel like this election was fraudulent and he wants to make sure that people on capitol hill know theyre not going to stop until they see something different. What that will be, its not entirely clear, but you can see the crowds have gotherred here. We are expecting to hear from something republican lawmakers at some point this morning. Theyre not hear just yet. The thing that unites all these people is they believe the election is fraudulent and they want to see republican lawmakers object when Congress Goes to count the Electoral College vote. And theres the sign up there again. Weve seen quite a few of qanon and conspiracyrelated signs out here as well. Yeah. You see it at the rallies and the protests. Thank you. Well have more on what alison is talking about. The objections that we expect to this Electoral College count later on this afternoon. First, check out how some of the newspapers are covering the other big story, the Georgia Senate runoff. The race between jon ossoff and david perdue too close to call. This morning check this out, a live look. The vote counting beginning again in atlanta with control of the senate hanging in the balance. Were going back to georgia next. Next keeping your oysters business growing has you swamped. You need to hire. I need indeed indeed you do. The moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a shortlist of quality candidates from a resume data base claim your seventyfivedollar credit when you post your first job at indeed. Com promo until i found out what itust . It actually was. D me. Dust mite droppings . Ewww. Dead skin cells . Gross so now, i grab my swiffer heavy duty sweeper and dusters. Dusters extends to 6 feet to reach way up high. To grab, trap and lock away gross dust. Nice for dust on my floors, i switch to sweeper. The heavy duty cloths reach deep in grooves to grab, trap and lock dust bunnies. No matter where they hide. No more heebie jeebies. Phhhhew. Glad i stopped cleaning and started swiffering. But not every tomato ends in the same kind of heinz ketchup. Because you cant be everyones favorite ketchup without making a ketchup for everyone. We have new reports from our Capitol Hill Team in the last couple minutes. Theyre reporting House Democrats are feeling pretty good based on how their weekly call began today. Steny hoyer opened it up by playing georgia on my mind. Within the last couple hours, nbc changed the characterization of the race between ossoff and perdue. It is too close to call still, but ossoff is leading that very close race. The other senate race seems to be pretty wrapped up. Democrat warnock winning defe defeating loeffler. We are live in atlanta and Steve Kornacki is at the big board. Steve, what are we waiting for . Where are votes being counted and what are you reading into it . I would say the lead here for ossoff statewide is 17,000 votes, four tenths of one point. I think theres every reason to believe its going to grow potentially significantly as the remaining votes come in. The votes left in georgia, number one is dekalb county, atlanta and immediately outside of it. This is one of the most overwhelmingly democratic counties in georgia. There are mailin ballots still to be tallied and released here in dekalb. Overnight they put ossoff in the lead. We think theres something on the order of 20,000 mailin ballots now to be released, to be processed and released from dekalb county. Expect ossoff to wine the majority of wine the majority of those. You could see what that does to his lead. The other place, outstanding vote, 20,000 in dekalb. 5,000 mailin ballots in fulton. Expect them to be heavily democratic. Probably 4500 up here in gwinett county. The mailin ballots tend to be more democratic. Right there youre talking about 30,000 votes that are likely to skew heavily democratic. Down here in chatham county, savannah, probably about 3,000 or so vote by mail votes to come out today. More than 30,000 there. Everything im describing looks like its going to be a heavily democratic vote. The opportunity exists there in those places for ossoff to build on that. To build on that advantage statewide. There are some other places, not as big in size, where there is going to be vote by mail coming in here, but im identifying big places where democrats can get and ossoff can gain. Its hard to look at whats outstanding, what we know to be outstanding and see big places where perdue can offset that and eat with the lead. Those are big places. Thats a scattering besides that. A couple days from here, about 8 8,000 provisional ballots that will probably break democratic two to one. Thats what they did in november, and 18,000 overseas military ballots. Put them together, hard to see what perdue would undo, what could end up being when everything im talking act is added in an ossoff lead north of 35,000 votes and quickly, i think thats important. If this ossoff lead does grow, the threshold for the recount statewide is hes at. 4. He doesnt have to move it that far to be above that threshold. Ten there are opportunities to do that. Its significant with the timeline. If its under 5 , that stretches this out further. Shaq, youre in Fulton County. We see the votes being counted as we speak. What are you seeing and expecting from the vote count and the candidates . Yeah. That vote count restarted in just the past hour or so. Youre looking at the live pictures now. When we got an update on the overnight hours, the county official said there were about 4,000 absentee ballots to be counted. We havent gotten a specific number from Fulton County specifically. You can see the process underway. These are largely absentee ballots. Statewide, an official from the secretary of States Office estimated in an interview this morning that there are about 65,000 ballots when you take up all the counties in the state that have yet to be counted. He said and this was an estimation from him, based on where those ballots were still available. He said that he believes once we get to lunchtime that was the time that he played. One we get to lunchtime, we should have a clearer idea of the race. He also said that based on where the votes are, he believes the democratic challengers will receive more vote. That the leads will expand once the votes come in. Its because of the outstanding vote, thats why we heard from jon ossoff this morning when he declared victory. Again, nbc news has not called this race. And ossoff is leading, but youre hearing candidates and National Democrats say they believe the democrats have been successful in both senate races. Thank you both. We are staying on top of the other big story this morning. Of course, the count of the Electoral College votes that will cement joe bidens victory. I want to bring in joe neguse. He will be leading the floor response during the count. Thank you for being on the show on what i know is a busy day for you. Good to be with you. Thank you for having me. Talk about your role today. Speaker pelosi described it on the floor of the house we will have what she calls a civics lesson about protecting the integrity of our democracy. Explain your job and what your strat egy is moving forward thi afternoon. Well, clyburn has often said the floor of the house is akin to a class room. There will be a lot of people tuning in today to listen to the proceedings as we engage in a very solemn and important duty the congress has before us. Its ultimately to honor the will of the American People, and to confirm the election results. I dont think the question before the house today is whether or not joe biden was elected the 46th president of the United States. He clearly was. 8 1 Million People chose biden as the president elect. The question before the joint session of congress is will we adhere to the constitution, honor our oath and ensure the constitution will endure in the United States . Ive been encouraged by many of my colleagues in the house who have made clear that they will reject the attempts being made to object to the certification of the election results. Lets talk more about that piece of it. Republicans and the adherence to the constitution. Because there is, of course, the role the Vice President will play. Youll see that firsthand. Youll be obviously in the room where its happening. Do you expect given President Trump putting a lot of pressure on his right hand man on the Vice President , do you expect anything that breaks norms from him today . Well, that certainly remains an open question. What i would say is this. The role of the congress and the role of the Vice President is very clear. Its outlined in the constitution. The Vice President s role is a ceremonial role fulfilled by his predecessors for decade after decade, century after century. Its what has enabled a peaceful transfer of power since the early days of our republican. I expect todays proceedings will go smoothly and ultimately the dignity of this process will be respected. That my colleagues will treat it with the respect it deserves and that the conclusion of todays proceedings, joe biden will be certified as the 46 th president of the United States. Do you have any guidance . Are you hearing anything about how many states we expect to hear objections to . The number, because that obviously affects the timing. Are we chucking red bug through 6 bull through 6 00 a. M. Or midnight . Were not sure. Obviously some members of the House Republican caucus indicated they would like to object to many different states notwithstanding that there is no evidentiary basis to make the objections. Well have to wait and see. I can tell you that the House Democratic caucus is prepared to defend the propriety of the election, the reality that the people have spoken, and that its time for the congress to respect their will at the end of the day, we cannot, the congress, substitute our own judgment for the judgment of the American People. And the republicans and democrats, frankly, have been speaking resoundingly in that favor. So i hope that todays proceedings goes smoothly. I have every expectation they will. What about the work of governing . Does this effort by the republican colleagues in your view effect your ability personally, your parts ability to try to work across the aisle in the congress . Democrats hold the white house. Maybe youll get the senate depending on who happens with jon ossoff and david perdue. I hope not. President elect biden made clear during the course of the campaign that he intended to unite the American People and heal our country, to work across party lines, to try to deliver on so many of the important consequential Public Policy issues that face us as a country. We have the covid19 pandemic which continues to rage across the land and significant economic disruption as a result thereof. So right now in my view, its time to get to work and move forward, do what we can to heal the country and try to solve some of the pressing challenges. I believe the president elect biden, and Vice President elect house and the Democratic House and the senate as well will be up to the task. Congressman neguse, thank you for joining us. Well see you as you take on your responsibilities of the floor later on. Appreciate your time. With control of the senate still in question, were going to drill down on what it means for president elect bidens agenda with a live report. Plus, what is Mitch Mcconnell thinking today with his Senate Majority hanging by a thread, and a potential war inside his own party that could play out publicly today. Were talking with his former press secretary who knows him like perhaps very few people do. First, a look back at the electoral vote count after President Trumps win in 2016. Mr. President , i object because people are horrified by the overwhelming evidence of russian interference in our election. The United States code prohibits debate in the joint session. Session. Or psoriatic arthritis, little things, can become your big moment. Thats why theres otezla. Otezla is not an injection or a cream. Its a pill that treats differently. For psoriasis, 75 clearer skin is achievable. With reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. For psoriatic arthritis,. Otezla is proven. 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If democrats win the last senate seat, its going to be her responsibility as president of the senate to break any 50 50. New reporting now from sources on how president elect biden might address georgia at his remarks later tonight. Jeff bennegeoff bennett is cove biden transition. We have new reporting in about what biden plans to say. Whats up . Reporter yeah. Right. And heres the deal. We know that the president elect later today here in wilmington will deliver remarks focussed largely on the economy, but im told at the top of the remarks, he expected to talk about the results in the Georgia Senate runoffs. Our team, mike memoli, was told by a transition official that joe biden will frame the results as a key mandate from the American People. So that he, the biden administration, and democrats more broadly can act on the challenges the country faces from the covid19 pandemic to the environment to Racial Justice to the economy. In fact, today biden will talk about im told his commitment and his plan to make sure Small Businesses get the direct federal relief they so desperately need, and hell make a particular focus on blackowned, nativeamerican owned businesses which has been hard hit in the pandemic. Back to the issue of the Georgia Senate results, the Biden Transition Team believes that bidens approach overall to focus on building a coalition of African American voters, of voters in the suburbs, that the success of that was borne out not only in his own campaign but also in georgia. Theres a transition official who is quoted as saying that democrats were focussed on january 5th and republicans have been focussed on january 6th. And that approach really has been borne out in what weve seen so far today. Thats interesting. Geoff bennett live for us. Thank you for that great reporting. Well check in with you throughout the afternoon. Back in washington Vice President pence will preside over the congress. And President Trump is pushing him to try to deliver a second term. Thats not happening. Next, were diving into the relationship between the commander in chief and his number two and the fallout if and when, frankly, pence delivers a fatal blow today. Love you. Have a good day, behave yourself. Like she goes to work at three in the afternoon, and sometimes gets off at midnight. She works a lot. A whole lot. We dont get to eat in the Early Morning. We just wait till we get to the school. So yeah. [narrator] right now, here in america, millions of kids like victoria and andre live with hunger and the need to help them has never been greater. But when you join your friends and neighbors to support no kid hungry, youll help hungry kids get the food they need. If we want to take care of our children, then we have to feed them. [narrator] your gift of just 63 cents a day, only 19 a month, at helpnokidhungry. Org right now will help provide healthy meals and hope. 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Call or go online to helpnokidhungry. Org right away and help feed hungry kids today. The protein on any footlong. Or on any new protein bowl so many ways to go pro at subway® its not amateurtein, its protein, baby go pro and get double the protein for just 2 more. Subway. Eat fresh. Lets talk about a powerful pair in the white house. The kind of oscar and felix style odd couple from a personality perspective. President trump and mike pence. Mike pence is many things donald trump is not. Disciplined, devout, deliberate, and devoted to his boss, publicly. Loyal through it all. And then today happened. Despite the fact the Vice President cant do anything to stop joe biden from becoming the next president of the country. President trump wants him to try. Even the president s allies, even his own lawyer says thats not possible. Jay sec ykulow is a supporter a knows the constitution. Listen to what he said just this morning. Some have speculated the Vice President could say im not going to accept these electors. That he has the authority to do that under the constitution. I dont think thats what the constitution has in mind. If that were the case, any Vice President could refuse any election. Sekulow says some have speculated about it. Its the president of the United States who did. Even the arguments like that are doing nothing to slow down President Trump who challenged his Vice President to come up with, quote, extreme courage. Peter alexander is at the white house. Peter, you have covered mike pence as long as i have. Youve covered President Trump as long as i have. You know what this moment means for their relationship. Its interesting. While legally and constitutionally mike pence is restrained, frankly, politically and optically, this is a very difficult spot for him. Reporter yeah. Youre right. This really is a remarkable reward for mike pence for four years as a loyal deputy that hes now being. Thrown to the wolves like hey, now its on you, mike, to get this done. Those in and around the pence orbit tell us that hes studied this and been diligent. Hes reviewed the legal opinions, looked at the electoral count act of the late 1800s. Hes spoken to his chief of staff about that, but none of that changes his understanding that theres nothing he can do as one of his aides told us, a person close to him, hes going to follow the constitution and follow the law, but the president as you note keeps you keeps ramping this up. The challenge for the Vice President here who has sort of indulled the president s conspiracy theories but not gone as far, hes said theyre going to get their day to have it all heard before congress, that they will hear the grievances, hear the objections and the evidence. He didnt commit to doing anything about it. For him, the challenge Going Forward politically is his prospects in the future are so closely tied to the president s in that he needs the president s base of supporters to sort of stick with him Going Forward here. The president himself didnt make it any easier when he in his rally in georgia said were counting on mike and i hope we does what we want him to do. If he doesnt, im not going to like him quite as much. The bottom line for pence is its not going to be a great day. Theres not an easy way to avoid it. At the end of the day what iks it good is hes following the constitution and thats all he can accomplish. Hard day for Vice President pence from a political perspective. Peter alexander, thank you. Its also a hard day for Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell, hard in the way we look at it from a political perspective. For leader mcconnell, the majority, the one hes held for six years might be slipping away right now thanks to georgia. Thats just one of the problems hes facing. His iron grip on the senate gop loosening with a lot of people, at least a dozen breaking from him by supporting these Electoral College objections. We learned mcconnell is getting ready to give a major speech as all this unfolds. A source familiar with the plans says hes going to be the first republican speaker during the first objection debate. I want to bring in antonio fair yay, former press secretary to Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell. Its great to have you back on. You know leader mcconnell very well, perhaps like few other people do. This may be a rare moment, maybe, where we say senator mcconnell putting his people on notice. What are your expectations for what he might say this afternoon . Well, you know, senator mcconnell is sort of like paul newman in cool hand luke. I suspect thats how hell handle today. Hes going to be a sober voice and hes going to express why he objects to the objectors. Hes a man who believes in the institutions of this country. He has already said he accepts that joe biden is going to be the next president of the United States. Hes going to explain why. It is not the congresss role to try and overturn the will of the people. Theres been a peaceful transition of power since the founding of our republic. Thats exactly how we should continue moving forward. But if there are members on the republican side, and we know there are, who have objections, their objections will be heard. At the end of this, incoming President Biden will be certified as the next president of the United States. He has called it, antonia, a vote of conscious, according to senator kevin cramer who we had on our show yesterday, clearly telling his members, senator cramer said, the most important vote they may take here. You and i talked about this before. Leader mcconnell has a very strong grip on his party. Do you see this as potentially a turning point for your former boss, a watershed moment as he looks ahead to 2022 . I dont, because i think, hallie, hes had to deal with many challenges in his career, professional career as leader. We have to remember back during the obama years there were constant threats to try and shut down the government over the Affordable Care act. He fought those tooth and nail. He was frequently on the other side of senator ted cruz on that. I think this is an important and historic moment for the country. Hes going to be on the right side of history, that group of 12, four incoming freshmen. I hope this is a learning experience. They can vote their conscience and hopefully theyll understand moving forward touching the stove isnt always a good move. Senator mitt romney in the last couple minutes said it turns out, of georgia, that telling the voters the election is rigged is not a great way to turn out your voters. A rather blunt assessment of what went down in georgia, what is going down in georgia from senator romney. You also have josh holmes, former chief of staff to Mitch Mcconnell saying about the suburbs specifically, we went from talking about jobs and the economy to qanon election conspiracies in four short years. As it turns out, they were listening. If youre a party trying to win that election and youre fighting each other, trying to beat the other side, that generally doesnt work. Josh is right, senator romney is right. You have to be unified to win. There were a circular firing squad. We went from a good position in november to a position where it looks like were losing two senate seats in the senate of georgia. Thats insane. Suburban voters matter. There are not enough voters out there in Rural America to be enough for a Republican Coalition to win the white house and hold the senate and the house. But having said that, look, there are other opportunities moving forward. The senate thankfully is a 60vote institution. Theres going to be have to be working across the aisle, incoming boyd den knows that, Mitch Mcconnell knows that, so does chuck schumer. Not a good day for senator mcconnell and Senate Republicans, but the Lesson Learned is pretty simple. Dont attack each other. Fight against the other side. Antonio ferrier, thank you for joining us. We want to show you a live look at the save america rally. In a couple minutes, you can see the president s other attorney Rudy Giuliani to the cited of the microphone. At the microphone in a little bit were expecting to see President Trump. Hes going to be joining thousands of supporters to protest the legitimate election consults. Well take you there live adds our special coverage continues. For skin as alive as you are. Dont settle for silver 7 moisturizers 3 vitamins 24 hours hydration gold bond champion your skin essential for sewing, but maybe not gold bond needles. 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An unjection™. An herbal stress reliever ashwagandha, that helps you turn the stressed life. Into your best life. Stress less and live more. With stressballs. vo weairlines, hotels,of fees. Food delivery, and especially car dealers all charge excessive, lastminute fees. When you want something badly enough, it feels like your only choice is to pay up. But what if you had a choice to take a stand instead . At carvana, we believe in treating you better. With zero hidden fees, you can drive off without feeling ripped off. Thats what it means to live feelessly. Good morning. Im Hallie Jackson reporting live from capitol hill, back with you with msnbcs special coverage of this history making day, with joe biden set to official, again, become the next president of the United States. Democrats inching closer to regaining control of the senate. In just under two hours from now, youre going to see lawmakers convene in a joint session of congress in the building behind me. Thats ahead of a vote to sign off of president elect joe bidens Electoral College victory over President Trump. Republicans are expected to throw up some of those procedural roadblocks. Its only going to delay the inevitable. Dont tell that to President Trump. Hes about to speak any minute to supporters gathered at the white house. Hes leaning hard on Vice President pence to shrug off his constitutional duty and reject the legitimate votes for joe biden. Well talk to two senators on where this goes