Transcripts For MSNBCW Way Too Early With Kasie Hunt 20201113

Biden and trump in georgia, where a statewide hand recount has been ordered. Good morning and welcome to way too early, the show that absolutely refuses to believe in bad luck on this friday the 13th. Im kasie hunt. And weve got more breaking news overnight. China congratulated president elect joe biden today on his election victory. China, along with russia, had avoided congratulating biden and his Vice President ial running mate, kamala harris, after the election was called last weekend. A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry Today said, quote, we respect the choice of the american people. We congratulate mr. Biden and ms. Harris. But the spokesman did not give a reason for the delay, saying, instead, quote, the result will be confirmed according to u. S. Laws and procedures. Earlier this week, turkish president erdogan, who had a close relationship with President Trump, also congratulated biden after initial silence. On monday, the kremlin announced that russian president Vladimir Putin would wait until all legal challenges end before he comments on the election. Im not sure how that bodes for our future relationships with russia. And now, a group of federal, state, and local Election Officials are directly countering the president s claims of widespread voter fraud. They called this election the most secure in u. S. History. The statement came just hours after the president tweeted an unsubstantiated report that millions of trump votes were deleted or altered. Didnt happen, folks. According to a coalition that includes the department of homeland securitys Cybersecurity Agency there is no evidence that any Voting System deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised. According to reuters and politico, the director of the agency, chris krebs, set up an elaborate rumor control effort to push back on russian disinformation designed to undermine confidence in the vote. But instead of rebuffing the russians, the agency and its director haveste instead been pushing back against conspiracy from President Trump and his allies. A source tells nbc news that the white house has asked the agencys assistant director, brian ware, to design, and that hes done so. A report also confirms that krebs, the agencys director, fears he could be fired for breaking with the president. Were not talking about breaking with the president over policy or misbehavior in office. Were talking about breaking with the president by underscoring how secure our elections are. Just let that sink in for a second. Meanwhile, there are more republicans who are speaking out in favor of president elect joe biden receiving access to classified intelligence briefings, despite the Trump Administrations unwillingness to allow those to happen. We should be in the same posture that we were in throughout the whole campaign with both of them receiving briefings. I think its important that both continue to get those briefings. Vice President Biden should have access to those classified reports. Should joe biden get security briefings . I think so, yeah. I would think, especially on classified briefings, the answer is yes. If youre asking me whether i think joe biden should have classified briefings, the answer is yes. In a letter obtained by nbc news, over 150 former National Security officials have also urged the General Services administration to move forward with the transition, including those security briefings. Meanwhile, appearing as both a Trump Campaign surrogate and White House Press secretary on fox news yesterday to be clear, this is not how its supposed to work Kayleigh Mcenany declined to comment on the topic by effectively referring questions to herself. Senator lankford, a republican, he said, listen, give joe biden the president ial daily brief. After all, senator harris gets these shes on the Intel Committee she has highlevel security access. Has the president considered that . I havent spoken to the president about that. That would be a question more for the white house, but i will say that all laws are being followed. Okay. Joining us now, nbc news political reporter ali vitali. Ali, good morning to you. What is your sense from talking to your sources about where things stand on the security briefing question specifically . I mean, clearly, theres bigger issues at hand funding, other challenges that the transition is going to have to overcome if the president continues to hold this posture. But it does seem like the dams breaking a little bit on classified security briefings. Whats their expectation about whether that might start sooner rather than later . Reporter i mean, obviously, the hope is that its sooner rather than later. And if you look at the way that its breaking out on the hill, youre now seeing republicans become more comfortable with the idea that any of the challenges that the Trump Administration says that they are mounting really have very little evidence behind them, if any at all. And so, it does make that position more untenable for republicans to say that joe biden is not the president elect of the united states. Certainly, thats the position of the transition, thats the position of the sources that ive been talking to. Certainly, though, there is frustration here that this has not been a more seamless transition. Im not sure anyone thought that it was going to be, just given the way the Trump Administration has been, but at the same time, now living in that reality, i think, is frustrating for a lot of these folks who really do want to hit the ground running. Because as you mentioned, there is the president ial Daily Briefing classified information portion of this, and then there is also just the information that you need to actually begin a transition. I want to play for you a little bit of what newly minted white house chief of staff ron klain said last night with our colleague, lawrence odonnell, on these issues. Listen. What i know is that the president elect is the president elect. He is entitled under the statute to get those kinds of briefings. The Vice President elects entitled to get those kinds of briefings. And hopefully, they will be forthcoming very soon. Reporter and, kasie, in terms of what the course of recourse could be, klain says that theyre going to leave that up to senators on the hill to determine what that looks like, in pressuring the gsa and others to get biden the classified intel briefings that they believe had he deserves. But then on the transitional information piece of this, klain said last night that its not been hugely disruptive in terms of what they need to do, putting together landing teams, putting together Agency Review teams. They can do all of that staffing. They had a private operation set up even before they thought about the gsa influx of cash or locations or even email addresses. All of those things are things the transition can continue on with. But i think the one point that klain made last night that really stuck out to me is that it becomes important that you have access to this information when you consider the fact that some of the Health Agencies right now are planning the way that you could distribute a potential vaccine in february and march. Thats something that, obviously, the biden team wants to hit the ground running on. They have a covid task force. Being a part of those conversations, having that information, all of it really crucial for them to get in office at the end of january and then begin, if there is vaccine dissemination or anything else that they need to do to tackle covid. Obviously, all of that is critical. And obviously, a lot of americans waiting on action on that and not interested in the governments delay on making all of that happen. So its a good point. Nbcs ali vitali, always good to see you. Meanwhile, speaking of coronavirus, we have another recordsetting milestone in the u. S. The number of new coronavirus cases reached 159,000plus nationwide yesterday. This number surpasses wednesdays singleday record of over 148,000 new cases, and it marks the ninth day in a row that weve had more than 100,000 cases. And yesterday we also recorded over 1,100 deaths. The cdc now projects that over the next four weeks, the number of new daily covid deaths will likely reach 5,500 to 13,000 by december 5th, which would place the total number of covid19 deaths between 260,000 and 282,000. So many families missing loved ones over this looming holiday season. Several states, in reaction, are issuing new restrictions, as this rise continues at such an alarming rate. California has now reached a million coronavirus cases statewide, becoming the second state to do so, shortly after texas hit that grim milestone. In chicago, mayor Lori Lightfoot issued a stayathome advisory and put a cap on social gatherings, limiting them to ten people. Statewide, illinois governor j. B. Pritzker hinted at a potential stayathome order, saying were running out of time and were running out of optioned. In new jersey, Governor Phil Murphy signed a rule yesterday, allowing counties and towns to implement an 8 00 p. M. Curfew on nonessential businesses. Murphy stopped short of requiring other measures, such as making schools go all online. However, philadelphia, detroit, indianapolis, and minneapolis have all called for a halt to inperson learning and urged the School Districts to use online teaching. Out in utah, the states bringing in nearly 200 outofstate nurses to help keep Staffing Levels up. And in north dakota, after governor doug bergum encouraged positive nurses to keep working, the Nurses Association came out supporting them publicly. Thats a devastating shortage. When come t comes to a stimulus deal to help deal with the economic fallout of all this, democrats and republicans on capitol hill are still pretty far apart. The house speaker, nancy pelosi, is still pushing for a sweeping bill that would total nearly 2. 2 trillion. Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell is looking for something that is much smaller than that in price tag. He says he wants to be more targeted, spending around 500 billion. And here are mcconnell and pelosi making their respective cases yesterday. It seems to me that snag that hung us up for months is still there. I dont think the Current Situation demands a multitrillion dollar package. So, i think it should be highly targeted, very similar to what i put on the floor, both in october and september. This is a red alert and all hands on deck, but it should have been a long time ago. The president and the republicans in congress have ignored, by delay, distortion, denial, deaths have been caused. And what are they doing now . Continuing to ignore, in spite of these numbers. The difficult reality for millions of people, what you just saw, means that its unlikely relief is coming any time soon. Were likely looking at months, not weeks, before they can figure out how to do anything at all, and thats tough news on an already tough winter. Still ahead here, the ivy league is now the First Division one conference to cancel Winter Sports because of the new covid outbreak. Well have the latest. Plus, heavy rain leads to deadly flooding in north carolina. Homes, businesses, and roads washed out. Were going to check in with bill karins for more on that and get your weekend forecast when we come right back. [announcer] welcome to intelligent indoor grilling with the ninja foodi smart xl grill. Just pick your protein, select your doneness, and let the grill monitor your food. It also turns into an air fryer. Bring outdoor grilling flavors indoors with the grill that grills for you. But we are hoping things will pick up by q3. Yeah. Uh. Boss doug . Sorry about that. Umm. What. Its. Um. Boss you alright . [sigh] [ding] never settle with power e trade. It has powerful, easytouse tools to help you find opportunities, 24 7 support when you need answers plus some of the lowest options and futures Contract Prices around. Dont get mad. Get e trade and start trading today. Plus have high Blood Pressure. They may not be able to take just anything for pain. Thats why doctors recommend tylenol®. It wont raise Blood Pressure the way that advil® aleve or motrin® sometimes can. For trusted relief, trust tylenol®. And now your copilot. Still a father. But now a friend. Still an electric car. Just more electrifying. Still a night out. But everything fits in. Still hard work. Just a little easier. Still a legend. Just more legendary. Chevrolet. Making lifes journey, just better. Welcome back to way too early. Time now for sports. There will be no Ivy League Basketball or hockey this season, after the conference announced yesterday its canceling all Winter Sports as the u. S. Deals with a recordbreaking surge in coronavirus cases. The unanimous decision by the Ivy League Council of president s will also postpone spring sports through at least the end of february. The ivy league is the First Division i conference to cancel Winter Sports. They were also the first to cancel its tournaments for basketball in march and the first among top leagues to delay and then later suspend football. Lets turn now, though, to the nfl. And the titans hosting the colts in a battle for the afc south on thursday night football. To nashville, tennessee. Trailing 1713 at the break, indianapolis takes advantage of three special teams blunders by the titans to take control of the game, including a blocked punt returned for a touchdown. Colts quarterback Philip Rivers threw for 308 yards and a touchdown to running back ma home heinz, who also rushed for a score. Held scoreless in the second half, tennessees last chance to mount a comeback ended with a turnover on downs inside the indianapolis red zone. The 3417 victory gives the colts the headtohead edge atop the division. Pretty sure my disdain for the colts outstrips my love for the philadelphia eagles. Im going to thank my baltimoreraised dad for that. Anyway, lets go to pro golf and round one of the masters at augusta. It is hard to believe it was 19 months ago that tiger woods claimed his fifth green jacket and 15th major at this very tournament. But as we trade azaleas for fall foliage at the typical seasonstarting event that has become the closer, tigers back in the hunt to defend his title, matching his best round in 22 starts at the masters, shooting a 4 under 68. The bogeyfree effort is his first in a major since the 2009 pga championship. Woods currently three strokes behind leader paul casey, whos had five top ten finishes in 13 previous masters appearances. Time now for the weather. Lets go to meteorologist bill karins for the forecast. Bill, good morning to you. Hows it looking for our friends playing at the masters and the rest of us for the weekend . Yeah, the masters, obviously, we had the rain delay yesterday with our tropical system and the tropical moisture in place today and through the weekend it looks like its going to be fine. Could get a little breezy there for the final day on sunday, but i think theyre going to be able to make it up and finish on time. But let me show you more of those pictures and what happened in north carolina. I mean, we showed you right before the break about, you know, we had houses that the water was up to the top of them. We had a kaemp ground that was just overrun with flash flooding. Theres still two people missing, including a 1yearold boy, six fatalities from this flash flood event. Just horrific pictures and stories. Most of this was outside, just outside of charlotte, north carolina. So, let me get you the latest. We just heard from the National Hurricane center, Tropical Storm eta is no more. Its now what we call posttropical. And can you believe it . Theres actual another system thats going to try to develop. The season ends the last day of november. Typically, we maybe get one storm every other year in november . Here weve had like three or four. And this one is going to form and head towards nicaragua and honduras, just like eta did, and theyre still trying to recover from getting hit there from that hurricane. And theres a 90 chance of developing. And if it does, it will be called ioda. Were that far into the greek alphabet. In the southeast, were going to recover today, plenty of sunshine following the heavy rain from eta. Its going to take a while from boston to hartford, long island, new york city, new jersey, all the way down towards even baltimore, too, for those clouds to break up. Youll start your day kind of rainy and drizzly. It will improve by the time we get through the afternoon. And as far as the weekend forecast goes, were tracking a new storm through the midwest. Very rainy and windy with that storm system. Not too much snow, but it will be very windy come sunday in areas of the northeast as that storm system kicks through and the ohio valley. Also, our friends in the west, kasie, its fantastic, theyre getting a big snow event and some heavy rain. Its the beginning of the rainy season. And for all the firefighters out there, todays the day they celebrate. That is, in fact, some good news. And i cant believe were going to be dealing with a hurricane called ioda. This is too much for me, bill. I think we need to or after it . For serious. All right. Thank you so much, bill. Have a great weekend. Well see you on monday. Still ahead, former president barack obama weighing in on the current state of affairs in washington, saying hes more troubled with republican officials than he is with donald trump. Well listen to his remarks straight ahead. D trump. Well listen to his remarks straight ahead for what . burke every year youre with us, you get fifty dollars toward your home deductible. 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With the ninja foodito intelligesmart xl grill. Ing just pick your protein, select your doneness, and let the grill monitor your food. It also turns into an air fryer. Bring outdoor grilling flavors indoors with the grill that grills for you. They appear to be motivated in part because the president doesnt like to lose and never admits loss. Im more troubled by the fact that other republican officials who clearly know better are going along with this, are humoring him in this fashion. It is one more step in delegitimizing, not just the incoming biden administration, but democracy generally. And thats a dangerous path. That was former president obama with cbs news in his first Public Comments since joe biden became president elect. The former president says he remains hopeful about the country as he read an excerpt from his new memoir, a promised land. If i remain hopeful, its because ive learned to place my faith in my fellow citizens, especially those of the next generation, whose conviction in the equal worth of all people seems to come as second nature, and who insist on making real those principles that their parents and teachers told them were true but perhaps never fully believed themselves. Joe biden, meanwhile, spoke with pope francis by phone yesterday, the latest influential leader to congratulate the president elect on his election win. According to a readout of the call released by the transition team, biden, quote, thanked his holiness for extending blessings and congratulations and noted his appreciation for his holiness leadership in promoting peace, reconciliation and common bonds of humanity around the world, as well as integrating immigrants and refugees into our communities. Biden will be just the second catholic president in u. S. History following john f. Kennedy. And democratic congressman max rose conceded defeat if his election fight with republican Nicole Malliotakis in new yorks 11th congressional district, which represents Staten Island and parts of brooklyn. Rose, who had flipped the seat, which is in the most conservative new york city district, back in 2018, said in a statement that the absentee ballots that he had hoped would swing the vote in his favor had narrowed malliotakis lead, but that it wasnt going to be enough for him to win. He said he would ensure a smooth transition and called the opportunity to represent the district the honor of his life. Malliotakis described roses concession as gracious and thanked the army vet for his service to our nation in both the military and in congress. Still ahead here, were going to talk to former Obama White House Health Policy director dr dr. Patel. And amid the covid crisis. Plus, more republicans tell the president its time to come to grips with his loss. Were back in a moment. But before we go to break, we do want to know, why are you awake . Email your reasons to waytooearly msnbc. Com or drop me a tweet kasie. Use waytooearly. As always, we will read the best answers later on in the show. Tide pods ultra oxi one ups the cleaning power of liquid. Can it one up spaghetti night . It sure can. Really . Can it one up breakfast in bed . Yeah, for sure. Thanks, boys. What about that . Uhh, yep it can . Yeah, even that i would very much like to see that. Me too. Tide pods ultra oxi. One up the toughest stains with 50 more cleaning power than liquid detergent. Any further questions . Uh uh nope one up the power of liquid with tide pods ultra oxi. Here . Nah. Introducing the all new chevy trailblazer. Here . Nope. Here. When the middle of nowhere, is somewhere. The all new chevy trailblazer. Making lifes journey, just better. The ive been involved in. Zer. Communications in the media for 45 years. Ive been taking prevagen on a regular basis for at least eight years. For me, the greatest benefit over the years has been that prevagen seems to help me recall things and also think more clearly. And i enthusiastically recommend prevagen. It has helped me an awful lot. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. Welcome back to way too early. Its 5 30 on the east coast, 2 30 out west. Im kasie hunt. Prominent republicans are beginning to acknowledge that President Trump has lost his bid for reelection. Ohios governor, mike dewine, suggested on monday that the country wait for Court Decisions before honoring the results of the election, but yesterday there was a slight change of tune. I think that we need to consider the former Vice President as the president elect. Joe biden is the president elect. The white house has every or the president and his campaign has every right to go into court. The Editorial Board of the las vegas review, the newspaper owned by gop mega donor and trump supporter Sheldon Adelson is also backing the reality of a biden win, writing the president does a disservice to his most rabid supporters by insisting that he would have won the november 3rd election absent voter fraud. Thats simply false. The board went on to say an electoral system that involves the participation of 150 million americans will have its share of issues, but its an insult to reason and logic to argue that isolated irregularities constitute proof of a grand national conspiracy. Wow and ted olson, who successfully argued for then candidate george w. Bush in the 2000 Supreme Court case bush v. Gore said in a Panel Discussion yesterday, quote, i do believe the election is over. We do have a new president. And yet, here we are. Joining us now, republican strategist and Senior Adviser to the lincoln project, susan del percio. Susan, good morning its always great to see you. Good morning. The pressures clearly mounting, especially on National Security concerns, to get biden what he needs for the transition. But at the same time, there doesnt seem to be some sort of master plan to get the president to move off of this position and for Congressional Republicans to help him get there and start to actually begin working with the incoming biden administration. Maybe thats just his personality, but it seems like its going to have unintended consequences. Absolutely, kasie. There has never been a master plan when dealing with the Trump Administration. Even when he came into office, he wasnt prepared for a transition. So, of course hes not prepared to transition out of it, which is probably why you start seeing the republicans now starting to say, at least give biden the security briefings, let him have the necessary funds to have secure offices and not have to make phone calls on his cell phone. Give him the skids. Let him start transitioning a staff that will need background checks, something the president never really cared much about, obviously. But its becoming dangerous. And thats why i think now you see republicans starting to speak up, because there will be real consequences, and they will be held accountable for playing to the charade for much longer. I mean, its a reminder that we really all, from a National Security perspective, should be on the same team, and its a bit stunning that we have come this far, and you point out some of these things are so concerning. Susan, i actually want to talk a little bit about some of the potential 2024 hopefuls, because we saw some reporting from Maggie Haberman and her colleagues at the New York Times overnight that the president may be willing to say, okay, fine, you know, hes not going to concede, but not going to contest the results. But only if he can turn around and announce a 2024 reelection campaign, because obviously, hes allowed to serve again. The terms youre limited to two terms, but they dont have to be back to back. That puts an awful lot of republicans who have spent the last four years, i mean, cowtomorrcow cowtowing to trump, essentially, on capitol hill in a very difficult position. Because i mean, tom cotton was already in iowa, new hampshire. Nikki haley has, you know, reportedly has designs on the presidency. If he does that, its going to freeze all of them and keep them in this i mean, they have a lot of them privately will acknowledge theyve been in an impossible box for the last four years with trump sucking up all the oxygen. And it seems like hes just going to keep them in that position where theyve been miserable for four more. Good they deserve it, kasie they have been compliant in enabling this president for the last four years good, they get frozen out. They should be, because theyre not qualified. If theyre not willing to stand up for what they know is right, then they dont deserve to be a candidate for president , or certainly not the republican nominee. As far as trump goes, i think he just does this because he could keep sending out fundraising notices. He doesnt have to put a dime into anything and he can keep raising money for as long as he wants. It also kind of keeps a cash flow in for the rnc, which can support his children or anything else hes doing. Okay. Susan del percio, thank you very much for that cheerful end to our conversation. Thank you so much for getting up early with us. Its always great to see you and have a conversation with you. Still ahead here, put on hold because of the pandemic, the friends reunion appears to be back on track weve got those details coming up next in the cooler. Way too early back in just a moment. The cooler. 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Time now to gather around the water cooler for some of the things that are going to have people talking today. When new years day 2020 came around, no one told you life would be this way. Excitement turned to disappointment when the friends reunion, which was announced last year, had to change its filming schedule due to covid. But good news matthew perry, star of the classic sitcom, tweeted yesterday that filming for the new, unscripted special, will start in march. Friends reunion being rescheduled for the beginning of march. Looks like we have a busy year coming up, and thats the way i like it hbo max confirmed the filming will likely happen in 2021, though plans are still being finalized. Could it be more exciting . Im very excited. Im also going to be singing that friends theme song in my head all day, thanks to my producers who put that in the top of the script. So, thanks for that, guys. Meanwhile, the weeknd will headline pepsis 2021 super bowl halftime show. Writing in a statement, we all grow up watching the worlds biggest acts playing the super bowl, and one can only dream of being in that position. I am humbled, honored, and ecstatic to be the center of that infamous stage this year. The super bowl is going to take place on february 7th in tampa. And of course, it will look a lot different due to the restraints of the pandemic. The nfl had previously announced its planning to fill 20 of the seats with fans. And now to my favorite story of the election. My friend, steve kornacki, now a household name after a very long election week. We have always known him for his invaluable analysis, impeccable bigboard work, and a personality that has now charmed america and earned him the title chartthrob. Now we can add fashion icon to his list of accolades. After many news outlets reported that kornackis signature khakis come from the gap, the Company Reported it saw a dramatic increase in online traffic and a more than 90 sales increase on khaki pants. Go, steve i want to know when theyre going to start selling the embroidered ones on the msnbc store. I think youd have a pretty big market for it. Still ahead here, were going to check in with dr dr. Kavita patel as Coronavirus Infections continue to mount across the u. S. And as we go to break, lets take a look at this date in history. Back in 2001, president george w. Bush and russian president Vladimir Putin met at the white house, where they pledged to slash cold warera Nuclear Arsenals by twothirds. My attitude is, heres what we can live with. And so, i have asked a level that well stick by. And to me, thats how you approach a relationship that has changed. And though they remain at odds publicly, Officials Say bush and putin are now close to an agreement on scrapping or amending the 1972 antiballistic missile treaty, freeing the u. S. To begin rigorous testing of a Missile Defense shield, which the president says is vital in the wake of the september 11th attacks. The wake of the septembh attacks. Instantly clear every day congestion with vicks sinex saline nasal mist. For drug free relief that works fast. Vicks sinex. Instantly clear everday congestion. When panhe doesnt justs mmake a pizza. He uses fresh, clean ingredients to make a masterpiece. Taste our delicious new flatbread pizzas today. Panera. With the ninja foodito intelligesmart xl grill. Ing just pick your protein, select your doneness, and let the grill monitor your food. It also turns into an air fryer. Bring outdoor grilling flavors indoors with the grill that grills for you. As a barber, nothings especially for guys who tend to get razor bumps with ordinary razors. But now theres gillette skinguard. It flattens the skin and lifts the blades for a shave thats close, but not too close for comfort. Welcome back. At least five passengers aboard the sea dream cruise ship, which is the first to sail the caribbean since the pandemic, have, get this, tested positive for covid19. According to cnbc, there are 53 passengers and 66 crew members on board the ship. Every passenger had to test negative for the virus several days prior to boarding and again on the day of boarding. They are currently quarantining in their quarters while barbados authorities conduct more testing. Joining us now, physician and fellow at the brookings institution, dr. Kavita patel, a former White House Health policy director and an msnbc medical contributor. Dr. Patel, good morning. Reading that story just makes me feel like, have we learned anything from all of this hardship that we have all been enduring for the past eight months . I mean, a story about people being sick on a cruise ship feels like it should have been a story that we covered in march and then nobody made the mistake again after that. What should we be doing now in some of these situations to try and get this under control . I mean, the number of infections that we have is i mean, its getting to the point where its literally crawling off the top of a chart. Yeah, kasie. Good morning to you. And youre absolutely right. Just to put it into perspective, weve doubled cases each day in the last ten days, and in the last week, kasie, weve had 7 of all covid deaths just in the last week. So, this is absolutely going off the chart. And when i saw the news about the cruise line, heres the interesting problem we never started really with a national strategy, so we kind of started in march and april, and we saw that even these kind of stayathome orders across the country were not successful because this is a regional and local problem. Saw the first peak in march and april, second peak kind of around july 4th, and now were in what really is, you know, rightfully, a National Kind of third peak, but still being experienced locally, as some parts of the country even though the entire country is lit up red in positivity rates, some are at about 4 to 6 , and then you have some states north dakota, wisconsin, the midwest where theyre in double digits every single day. I think that the problem has been, unfortunately, is a lack of a national strategy. Businesses have been ground to a halt or had these fits and spurts. So, the cruise industry is kind of emblematic, in my opinion, of just this overall kind of clearno clear language for what a business could or should do, and they should not have resumed business right when we were roiling into these sevenday averages. So, what to do today . We have to we know, we have data that is definitive indoor capacity must be reduced. This means gyms, bars, restaurants. And yet again, here we are where people have mentioned the fated phrase lockdown orders. Thats not the answer. The answer is reduce the capacity and try to mitigate the spread of the virus. Yeah, well, and i think there is obviously tension as well on the school front with so many parents being worried about whether their kids can go safely to school, or rather, worried that their schools might close while people are still congregating in bars and restaurants. So, a lot of very thorny and difficult questions ahead of us. Dr. Kavita patel, thank you very much for your time this morning. Its great to talk to you. Earlier on in the show, we asked, why are you awake . We got this from karen. She says, the Caribbean Sun is up at 5 30 a. M. , as well as the dog, cat, tortoises, and hubby sounds like a menagerie. Good morning to you all. Shanne tweeted, watching the colts game i tweeted last night, you know, that team you disdain. All right, fine, shane. I know there are many colts fans out there, but when the team leaves in the middle of the night, thats a decadeslong scar that that leaves. Anyway, another one i had to visit my Favorite Team employee from work. Havent seen him in months. Look at him how cute is he i love the headphones. Im amazed hes willing to wear them wear them that long. Sherry said shes waiting for the birth of her first grand child, a baby boy. Congratulations to your family. We can all use some joy. Coming up here we have a look at the axios 1 big thing. And purple heart recipient, Tammy Duckworth will weigh in on the shakeup at the pentagon. And jason sade kiss will talk about portraying joe biden on saturday night live. Talk about portraying joe biden on saturday night live. Clean ingredients to make a masterpiece. Taste our delicious new flatbread pizzas today. Panera. Diddeodorants onlysome alumask odor . Secret aluminum free helps eliminate odor instead of just masking it. 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He was also reportedly present at Rudy Giulianis press conference at the four seasons total landscaping in philadelphia. Despite the diagnosis, he told cnbc in a text message, i feel great. A number of other guests tested positive for covid19 including mark meadows, President Trumps chief of staff. Ben carson, the housing secretary and david bossie Senior Adviser to trump. And Republican National committee chief of staff Richard Walters has tested positive for coronavirus. He was not at the Election Night party. 44 Trump Administration Campaign Officials and contacts have tested positive for covid19. Joining me with a look at axios a. M. , hans nichols. Good morning. What are you looking at this morning as the 1 big thing . Were looking at the stimulus stall. It is unlikely that youll have any fiscal stimulus injected into the economy. Yes, joe biden is talking to his counterparts on capitol hill but it seems exceeding i unlikely youll get anything for an economy that badly needs it. Number one, the pandemic is getting worse and it will drive people back into their homes. You will see restaurants not having an outdoor seating, and a whole host of things, especially at the state and local government where you dont have enough money to make ends meet. I suspect this is coming together in the next couple of weeks and well have a conversation about a shutdown. It doesnt look like youre hans, i take your point, but i cannot handle a shutdown on top of the rest of this. I agree. It is entirely possible but im sorry to interrupt you, but im not sure we can handle that after this contested election. Well, look, i mean, donald trump hasnt we know donald trump hasnt conceded. To get to prevent the government from shutting down you need donald trump to sign legislation. You need the president to engage on this issue at some point. And, you know, i agree, you and i have done too many shutdowns and warned gravely about what will happen, but the money is going to run out and Congress Needs to come together. The only optimism there is thats a vehicle funding the government, kicking it down to march. Thats a vehicle to maybe attach some additional stimulus. If theres some additional stimulus for state and local, that gives joe biden a little bit of breathing room before he starts on january 20th. Theres a way to get something done thats not an endall fix. But we can go straight from the capitol hill to the studio and then we can bore everyone with Government Shutdown talk and say cloture and filibuster in the same sentence. Oh, hans, you are my kind of reporter. I appreciate this. Lets talk a little bit about speaking of late nights at the capitol and staking out meetings, conversations, we have talked about the Mcconnell Biden relationship but we havent talked about the biden pelosi relationship. Anyone thats been watching us through this Administration Knows we have talked we have focused on the relationship between the president and the congressional leader in the president s party. We know biden talked to schumer and pelosi yesterday and pelosi has been you know, onehalf of the key negotiators here on this stimulus project. She has drawn a line in the sand and said i want this to be a big bill. Do you think theres any tension between biden and pelosi . I mean, if bidens team, you know, is pushing for them to do something sooner rather than later, that might require pelosi to give. I mean, what do you know about that dynamic . Well, if i had that tension in my notebook i would be talking about that right now, because thats going to be a potential story. But its not a story yet. At least not that i have. Right . You can see where their interests are going to diverge. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has to protect some 20 vulnerable democrats that come from trump districts. She was always pushing for a big number. Now i can tell you democrats around town suspect or theyll suggest privately on background is the saying that pelosi should have taken the deal that was offered because the deal that was offered whether or not it was 1. 5 or 1. 8 trillion on the table thats a lot higher than shell get now or will ever get if Mitch Mcconnell maintains control of the senate. I dont have any tension between biden and pelosi, theyre both similar, theyre both deal makers and pragmatists so i suspect theyll have a functioning relationship. Certainly better than the current relationship with the current president and the same way that the house and the senators split, you can see biden siding with them and understanding their equities better than pelosis. Potentially, again, maybe this is a story for december and january. The house versus senate rivalry an undercovered one but it exists. Hans nichols, great to see you. There are millions of americans who are still waiting for relief, but the reality is we have an incredibly unpredictable person still in the white house and there is a lot of concern about whether the government is going to be funded through the fall and headed into the Christmas Season. Perhaps a tougher Christmas Season than we anticipated. Stick around. Morning joe starts right now. Breaking news overnight, nbc news projecting joe biden wins arizona. Biden flips the state that hadnt voted for a democrat since 1996 for president , at the same time that state, the home of Barry Goldwater and john mccain now has two democratic u. S. Senators. With this win, president elect joe biden