Midst of the fastest, widest and longest surge of new covid infections yet. As we await the vaccines arrival here in the United States, the question is, whens it going to arrive . And how long is it going to take to slow the spread . And president elect joe biden decides who he wants to lead his department of the housing and urban development and the department of agriculture, as pressure intense nice over diversity. The question is, whos going to lead the Justice Department . Its way too early for this. Good morning, and welcome to way too early, the show that was kind of a little late after getting locked out of its office this morning. It was a plouffe overnight for our producers, but were all here. Im kasie hunt on this wednesday, december 9th and we will start with the new. Another blow to President Trumps chances to overturn the election this time from the Supreme Court where he pinned his hopes. The high court declined to pick up a republicans request for the certification of joe bidens vin in pennsylvania. The lawsuit claimed that the legislature of pennsylvania violated the constitution when it allowed no excuse voting by mail. The state Supreme Court already rejected the claim citing that the plaintiffs waited too long to challenge the law. It was enacted more than a year ago. The u. S. Supreme court did not explain why it was rejecting the claim, issuing a onesentence order that the application was denied with no noted dissents. So, there you have it. We can show you the entire decision there on the screen in that one page. Meanwhile, arizonas Supreme Court rejected the republican effort to overturn that States Election results and confirmed joe bidens victory there. A law seeking to have a judge void over 10,500 biden votes in the state. But an arizona Supreme Court upheld the lower court finding that there was no voter fraud. Another lawsuit pending in federal court against arizonas republican governor and secretary of state alleging, quote, massive Election Fraud and calling for Voting Machines to be seized. In response, the secretary of states lawyer called the allegation, quote, dystopian fiction. Thats a pretty succinct way to put it. Oh, and its happening in texas, too. Texas attorney general ken paxton is petitioning the u. S. Supreme court to invalidate the Election Results in four battleground states won by joe biden based on allegations that have already been thoroughly debunked. Paxton isle challenging results in michigan, wisconsin and minnesota and pennsylvania. Michigan attorney general dana nestle, a democrat, called the action, quote, a publicity stunt. Remember, this is the Texas Attorney general. Paxton alleges without evidence that there were 84,000 forged signatures on absentee ballots in georgia. Nearly half of the Senate Backing the lawsuit along with a lot of georgias republican candidates in that january 5th runoff. Senators david perdue and Kelly Loeffler released a joint statement that reads in part, we fully support President Trumps legal recourses and attorney general paxtons lawsuit. This isnt hard and it isnt partisan. Its american. No one should ever have to question the integrity of our elections system and the credibility of its outcomes. Wisconsins attorney general said i feel sorry for texans that their tax dollars are being wasted. Meanwhile in georgia, republicans are tightening up voting laws in regards to the states high turnout. Seemingly undoing laws their own state created, the state released framework aimed at eliminating no excuse absentee voting. Adding a voter i. D. Requirement for voters with an eligible excuse and eliminating drop boxes. Theyre going to vote on the plan after the new year. Those same state lawmakers also called for an investigation into, quote, any and all fraudulent activities and for additional activities of the 2020 election. Georgia has found that president elect joe biden won by more than 12,000 votes. Joining us now, reporter for the Washington Post eugene scott. Euge eugene, good morning. Its always great to see you. Lets start with the big picture here, the Supreme Court issuing that one sentence rebuke saying, no, were not going to deal with this. Obviously, we just backed everybody through all of the other situations that are unfolding in these states. But the bottom line remains the same. And you are starting to see these splits between president s supporters and the state officials, many of them republicans, who are saying, no, we looked at this. We built this system it worked. But you still have people like david perdue and Kelly Loeffler saying, well, people cant trust this. And theyre the ones that are going to be on the ballot on gentleman january 5th. And its an eyeopening moment for many. One of the narratives that the republican lawmakers and Republican Leaders were in the hands and control of President Trump but this pushback at the moment suggests that may not be the case. Weve seen Republican Leaders stand up to him in ways we havent seen them stand up against him when in the white house. Obviously it benefits joe biden, but also leaders who will not just be lap dogs, for lack of a better word, to their party leaders. This has been the case of how weve seen the Supreme Court respond. One of the things that President Trump reportedly told his supporters, he needed to get judges that they like, that would rule in favor of ideas and actions that benefit them. What were seeing right now, especially with the Supreme Court, that doesnt always mean siding with President Trump, and thats a bit of relief for those who have been fearful that the president could influence the courts to a degree that made things unjust for those outside of his tribe. What does this look like politically as we head into the new year . I mean, joe biden, we know, is going to be inaugurated on january 20th. They are planning the inaugural festivities, although republicans in Congress Still have trouble admitting its going to be joe biden taking that oath and not donald trump. But we saw how the president handled the runoff rally in georgia where he talked about the election being rigged. Theyre starting to call this the stop the steel rallies. Do you get the sense this is something he continues as hes out of office, sowing that doubt, using that as a grievance to weaponize whatever his next political future is . I mean do you see this continuing to have this kind of motivating effect for his base . Or does being in exile prevent him from being able to do that . Hes absolutely going to continue this. And the reality is, because its fruitful for him. Republican voters are lock and step with the president , even if we dont see republican lawmakers and other elected officials siding with him. Hes someone who wants to remain relevant and will, because hes arguably the most popular republican in the party and so he has great influence. And this gives him a narrative to stay visible and active and continue to influence the gop and what were seeing with some of the laws proposed by these southern states. He actually is leading some individuals to reconsider what voting looks like by pushing for a voter fraud narrative that has no evidence. So, its going to be a challenge for those outside of the gop, especially those on the left, to continue to push back on this idea because the president s not going to continue communicating that he believes something wrong happened to him. All right. The Washington Posts eugene scott, thank you as always, for getting up early to talk through all of that. And still ahead here, President Trump signs an executive order aimed at prioritizing coronavirus shipments to americans before other countries. But it seems like its basically symbolic. Plus, a look at where Coronavirus Relief negotiations stand as the white house makes a new offer to democrats. Well have those stories and a check of your weather, when we come right back. Before voltaren arthritis pain gel, my husband would have been on the sidelines. 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You can shop the latest phones, bring your own device, or trade in for extra savings. Stop in or book an appointment to shop safely with peace of mind at your local xfinity store. Jackson keeps, gets it and goodbye touchdown, Lamar Jackson, right up the gut mvp quarterback Lamar Jackson has returned after testing positive for covid19 helps baltimore run past dallas last night. That 37yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Part of his 94 yards on the ground and the teams 295 yards in total rushing gives the ravens their first lead of the game. And they never looked back. Jackson tossed another two touchdowns and rookie running back j. K. Dobbins rushed for a score as baltimore snapped a threegame skid and keeps the playoff hopes alive with a 1723 victory over the cowboys. And after an outbreak that landed more than 20 players on the covid reserve list, baltimore receiver dez bryant did not get to face off with his old team after being ruled with an illness. Bryant who had an inclusive test, was pulled off the field for a retest which returned positive and he was sent home. Bryant later confirmed the diagnosis on twitter. No ravens players were identified as highrisk contacts and all other players returned negative tests administered earlier in the day. Despite all of that, the nfls midnovember move to put all 33 teams under intensive protocols appear to be paying off. A total of 45 personnel and 18 players tested positive last week marking a nearly 50 drop from the previous testing period and the lowest since the end of october. Meanwhile, a story that is very close to my heart on the college gridiron. The seasonending grudge match known as the game between michigan and ohio state wont be played for the first time in more than 100 years. After the wolverines called off the contest because of a rising number of coronavirus cases in its program. We are thinking of all of you. The cancellation puts the buckeyes at just five games played this season. One game under the threshold put forth by the big ten thats needed to compete in the conference championship. Were all very concerned about the michigan players health, so i will refrain from focusing on my intense loyalty to the blue. And intense dislike of ohio state, as we turn to National Soccer headlines. Where yesterdays Champions League between psg and istanbul was suspended after players from both teams walked off the pitch, after using racist language to identify a black coach. Uefa is conducting an investigation and the match will resume with new officials. Finally, Cristiano Ronaldo got the victory over barcelona. It was the first meeting between the worlds top players in two years since rinaldo left real madrid in 2018. Time for weather, lets go to meteorologist bill karins for a check on the forecast. Bill, good morning. Hey, good morning, kasie. A little snow in the northeast. I dont think youll get it in the d. C. Area, we will see possibly snowflakes in areas like new york city. So everywhere in blue shows where well have light snow. If youre driving heading out early especially from beautiful, rochester, syracuse, the finger lakes, heading towards albany, thats where we have slick parts on the roads. Heres the snowfall projection. Its not a blockbuster event. Just light snow. Notice were not noting any accumulations around new york city or Hudson Valley until albany. But the finger lakes area, from cortland, thats who could get snow out of this. The rest of the country, what a forecast this is. I mean, this doesnt even look like a forecast youd see in december. 70s for as far north as oklahoma city. 50s from chicago to montana. Tomorrow looks pretty nice to the great lakes. Some of that cold air is heading to the east coast through thursday. Kasie looks like rain on the east coast especially on sunday. Its going to be in the 50s and 60s. No sign of any snow prolonged. Ive got a couple weeks to be happy about the warm before i start wishing for snow around christmastime. Bill karins, thank you, as always, my friend. Well see you tomorrow. Still ahead here, another person in President Trumps orbit tests positive for coronavirus and there are concerns others may be affected, too, after a recent Christmas Party at the white house . Why . Why have Christmas Parties at the white house . The rest of us are not. Were back in just a moment. Thats whats up we have an assistant locker room manager . Help protect your clothes with new downy defy damage. With acetaminophenction fights pain in two ways. Advil targets pain at the source. While acetaminophen blocks pain signals. The future of pain relief is here. New advil dual action. Honey honey . New nyquil severe honey is maximum strength cold and flu medicine with soothing honeylicious taste. Nyquil honey. 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That was President Trump dismissing concerns about large parties taking place at the white house in the middle of the pandemic. And this, of course, comes yet as another member of the president s inner circle has tested positive for the coronavirus. This time, its his lawyer jenna ellis. Rudy giuliani confirmed the diagnosis while he himself is recovering from the virus. And now there are concerns that jenna may have infected many other people because she attended a Christmas Party on friday. Ellis is not seen wearing a mask raising concerns it could turn into another superspreader. Nbc news has confirmed more than 50 people connected to the president and white house tested positive for the virus throughout the pandemic. President trump held a congratulatory summit yesterday to tout u. S. Progress on Coronavirus Vaccine production in the midst of damning reports that it passed on millions of Pfizer Vaccine, trump signed an executive order demanding that the Companies Prioritize america over other countries and threatened the defense production act. And trump refused to back down when asked about joe bidens administration. Why not include members of the Biden Administration in the summit today. We have to see who the next administration is because we won in swing states and there were terrible things that went on. The work that went on is incredible. And it will be incredible for the next administration. And hopefully, the next administration will be the Trump Administration. Spoiler, its not going to be. Before the event, operation warm speed chief scientist slaoui expressed confusion of the order during his final month in office. Nbc news has obtained the latest Coronavirus Task force report which strikes an incredibly grim tone. According to the report, the current vaccine implementation will not staeshubstantially red viral spread or hospitalizations until the 100 million americans with comorbidities can be formally immunized which will take until late spring. With the most rapid increase in cases, the widest spread of transmission with more than 2,000 counties in red zones sand the longest duration of rapid increase. Since the start of the pandemic the u. S. Has reported more than 15. 2 million cases and over 287,000 people have died. The Trump Administration, meanwhile, threw another option on the table yesterday until relief negotiations making a 916 billion covid relief offer to democrats which has support to Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell. According to the wall street journal the court same after called to narrow the scope and exude assistance to state and local governments that democrats want and Liability Protections that republicans have been demanding. The white house plan offers onetime direct payments of 600 per person. While the Bipartisan Senate proposal that has been at the heart of the weeklong negotiations does not include direct checks. But the president s plan eliminates the 300 per week in Unemployment Insurance thats in the bipartisan bill. And democrats say thats a nonstarter. Stay tuned to that, folks. Still ahead here, president elect joe biden lays out a plan for combatting coronavirus in his first 100 days in office. Plus, well take a look at his latest cabinet picks. Nbcs mike memoli joins us with the details next. But before we go to break, we want to know why are you awake, email your reasons to msnbc. Com. Hughes the way too early and we will read all the answer ises later on in the show. Glycerides. Vascepa can give you something to celebrate. Vascepa, when added to your statin,. Is clinically proven to provide 25 lower risk from heart attack and stroke. Vascepa is clearly different. First and only fda approved. 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Secret. All strength, no sweat welcome back to way too early. Its 5 30 here on the east coast. 2 30 out west. Im kasie hunt. On tuesday, both donald trump and joe biden held competing events on the coronavirus. And you will not be surprised to learn that they were very different. Trump spent his time congratulating himself for developing a vaccine and claiming that life is going to be back to normal soon, despite the significant challenges involved with distributing the vaccine. Biden, meanwhile, used his time to emphasize that were not going to get out of this quickly. And to lay out his 100day plan. Everyone for the first hundred days of my administration to wear a mask. It when start with my signing a order on day one to require a mask where i can under the law, like federal buildings, interstate travel on planes, trains and buses. Secondly, this team, this team will help get at the last 100 million Covid Vaccines, at least 100 million Covid Vaccine shots in the arms of American People in the first 100 day. 100 million shots in the first 100 days. The third thing im going to ask in 100 days, it should be a National Priority to get our kids back in school and keep them in school. The president elect also has nominated congresswoman marcia fudge of ohio to serve as secretary of housing and urban development and former Iowa Governor tom vilsack to serve as agriculture secretary. If confirm as house secretary, fudge would become the first black woman to lead the department in decades. She currently serves on the department of agriculture. Vilsack, of course, previously served as agriculture secretary under president obama for eight years and is expected to bring a source of Institutional Knowledge to that post. Meanwhile, alabama senator doug jones is the leading contender to be nominated for attorney general, by biden three sources familiar with the discussions tell nbc news, jones, of course, leaving the senate in january after he lost his bid for reelection. He would become the second alabama senator nominated for attorney general in four years. Joining us from delaware, nbc news correspondent mike memoli. Mike, always good to see you. Reporter good morning. Lets start with the broad view of the cabinets. How the biden team thinking, i know theyve been under pressure for the diversity front in their picks. How are they handling it and how is it affecting how hes making the decisions . Reporter yeah, kasie, its so interesting weve seen the pace of nominations accelerate significantly. Were going to have the second rollout in as many days with general austin this afternoon. Were also, i think, picking up a little bit of frustration for the first time from biden allies about how this is all playing out. You heard the president elect last week when he was asked about his pressure on diversity, both in the cabinet on ideological and along racial and ethnic lines taken in stride and say, look, this is their job. Their job is to push me to hold me accountable to make sure i follow through on my word to have a diverse cabinet. But as i was talking to one democrat close to biden this week, they were talking about how every announcement they make now sort of changes the calculus of the announcement after it because of the reaction to it. Well, you chose an africanamerican for a pick. And does that clear the way to pick a white man, doug jones, after biden met with civil rights leaders there was a clear signal including from our colleague al sharpton that is an important signal you could send by having a black attorney general. And the other thing out of control here and the way theyre about looking at how it affects the nominations is the georgia runoffs. Biden couldnt be sure in the way he would have otherwise if more successful in the senate races. Some of these confirmations should be as smooth as he likes them to be. For instance, the Justice Department, again, sally yates, somebody who could an easier path if democrats were in the majority is a real fight now. And Merrick Garland as weve heard for the attorney general job, you may not want to pick him as attorney general if you cant guarantee that you can replace him in the d. C. Court of appeals. Thats such a critical court. Mitch mcconnell might not want Merrick Garland there. And as president elect, i think joe biden knew, a man of the senate, some of these confirmation issues were not going to be easy but i think some of these external factors beyond their control are starting to complicates thing. Yeah, i can answer that question for you, Mitch Mcconnell will not want a democrat or that person to fill that seat on the circuit court. Excuse me. Lets talk briefly about the coronavirus, mike. Is the biden Team Reacting at all to the reporting about is the trump decision not to buy more of this Pfizer Vaccine . Does that hamstring them . Reporter yeah, i mean, the frustration on the part of the biden team, for instance, theyre not meeting with operation warm speed leadership until tomorrow is really been something ive heard a lot about behind the scenes. And i think that was one of the takeaways i saw from the dueling split screen moment we saw yesterday. I think the white house expecting to have a celebration of this vaccine. Biden is stealing the thunder a little bit with his announcement, his pledge to have 1200 million vaccinations in the first 100 days. Usually a personnel announcement doesnt involve that kind of policy discussion but that ended up being the headline for the day. The biden team realizes theyre the ones bearing the responsibility for this and they want a bigger role in understanding that fight here. That seems like a fair point. Nbcs mike memoli, thank you as always for being here early with us. Still here, a look at this weeks grim sighting off the coast of new york city. Plus, a popular bag of chips weighs the challenge by late nights john oliver. Oh, i love him. Thats coming up in the cooler. Way too early back in just a moment. As a technical director at 3m, im committed to making a difference in peoples lives. My team helped expand the benefits of reflective technology, so its highly visible when it needs to be, and less visible when it doesnt. Whether youre hard at work or heading home for dinner, its there when it matters most. We know that what we do helps more people get home safely. 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Serious allergic reactions like low Blood Pressure, trouble breathing, throat tightness, face, lip or tongue swelling, rash, itching or hives have happened. Tell your doctor about dental problems, as severe jaw bone problems may happen. Or new or unusual pain in your hip, groin, or thigh, as unusual thigh bone fractures have occurred. Speak to your doctor before stopping, skipping or delaying prolia®, as spine and other bone fractures have occurred. Prolia® can cause serious side effects, like low blood calcium, serious infections, which could need hospitalization, skin problems, and severe bone, joint, or muscle pain. Dont wait for a break, call your doctor today, and ask about prolia®. Welcome back. Time to gather around the watercooler for some of the things that are going to have people talking today. New york city had an unusual visitor this week. A humpback whale was first spotted in the hudson river on monday afternoon. The whale was seen off of pier 84 manhattans west side, gotham whale, a nonprofit that collects data on whales said the whale likely came to the big apple for snacks. The nonprofit also asked for new york city mariners to slow down and be on the lookout. In 2016, a whale took up residence in the hudson river for an entire week. Thats pretty cool. Being able to whale watch out of your apartment window. In other news of aquatic animals popping up in new places. Wildlife authorities in South Carolina were conducting a fish Population Survey when they found a goldfish in a lake. It wasnt just any goldfish. It was, instead, a massive, ninepound goliath of a goldfish. The fish was found in a body of water in greenville county. Greenville posted the picture on facebook asking, quote, anyone missing their goldfish. A greenville official said on advice of professionals we decided to leave the bachelor or bachelorette right there. Obviously, theyre really happy there. And in the latest season on last night tonight on hbo host john oliver made a joke about not knowing what the pringles body mascot looks like. The joke quickly became an on session of twitter and of the host himself, so much so that oliver took a break from his hiatus to make this challenge. What is Julius Pringles working with from the neck down . Do i need to know this . No, i dont. Do i want to . Yes. Very badly so much so that im willing to give 10,000 to feeding america if pringles answers my question. The ball is in your court, guys. The choice is yours. Do the right pring here. Now, weve been able to learn because pringles finally responded to his pressing question and revealed what Julius Pringles full body looks like. The Company Revealed this video. The moment john oliver and last night have been waiting for. And were donating one dollar to feeding america which happens to be 10,000. Well, thats fun. There you go. Learn something new every day. He looks a little bit too much like the buckeyes mascot. My director is correct. Still ahead here, u. S. Authorization for Coronavirus Vaccine nears agency the fda review suggests its even more effective than first thought. Way too early coming right back. When our daughter and her kids moved in with us. Our bargain detergent couldnt keep up. 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. See every yikes. And even every awwwwwwww. Wait, where was i . Introducing self protection from xfinity. Designed to put you in control. With realtime notifications and a week of uninterrupted recording. All powered by reliable, secure wifi from xfinity. Gotta respect his determination. Its easy and affordable to get started. Get self protection for 10 a month. Welcome back. The u. S. Is inching closer to approval for a Coronavirus Vaccine. According to documents published by the fda, the vaccine made by pfizer and biontech provides strong protection against covid19, within about ten days of the first dose. The findings, one of several significant new results featured in the briefing materials which include more than 100 pages of data analyses from the agency and from pfizer. Fda scientists found the vaccine was 95 effective at preventing illness after two shots spaced three weeks apart. Whats more, the vaccine worked well, and this is great news, regardless of a volunteers race, weight or age. The fda is expected to decide on whether to authorize pfizers vaccine within days. Yesterday, the uk began mass inoculations with a vaccine based on its approval for emergency use. Joining us now Health Care Reporter at Business Insider andrew dunn. Andrew, good morning. Its great to have you. Lets talk about what you have been reporting on about pfizer and the final review phase before the government decides whether were going to start these trials. What should we expect, once it is actually approved . How quickly is this going to start to get out there . Yeah, good morning, kasie. Its going to be very quick, by every account, talking to federal government officials really running operation warp speed here. They think within 24 to 48 hours after that emergency use authorization decision that comes from u. S. Regulators, they can start shipping doses out to states and start getting vaccination information the arms of those priority groups which most of us know by now were looking at Front Line Health Care workers and people in longterm care facilities. So, andrew, one thing that, you know, ive been thinking about, but has obviously not been something weve discussed because were so worried about the emergency facing all of us and just how dire things are. But the reality is, this is a pretty its likely to be a real historic achievement. I mean, they developed this vaccine in under a year. Its a new type of vaccine that we havent had before. How did the partnership begin with pfizer and this German Company that they have been working with . And take us behind the scenes of what the development of this has looked like. Yeah. Its really a remarkable story. Both in a business sense and a science sense. Pfizer worked with the german bionte biontech, this is a company around a decade, about the similar length of time as moderna which is another highly effective Coronavirus Vaccine that the fda will be reviewing next week. Both of these are based on mrna therapeutic vaccine, and this is a new approach that has a lot of promise. People at the nih under Anthony Faucis team theyve been looking at this platform for quite a while. Theyve read about it as far as its potential and responding to a pandemic, but weve never actually seen that play out. Just because its a new platform it hasnt been able to be stresstested the way it was this year. Pfizers work with biontech began in 2018 trying to get a vaccine meaning human testing hasnt even begun with the flu vaccine candidate yet but what the pandemic kicked up and the ceo of biontech read an article describing in january some of the troubling spread in china and how that can spread from Family Member to Family Member, i think he realized this is a very serious virus and work on the vaccine should start. Along the way weve seen a lot of steps that should happen sequentially where you go from a small trial to medium to massiv data. Weve seen that play out simultaneously, too, to kind of expedite the process. Business insiders andrew dunn. Thank you very much for your time this morning. I personally cant wait to read the history once were on the other side of this pandemic. Thank very much. Earlier on in the show we asked you, why are you awake . Robby tweeted this photo with a look at the elves on the shelf using their magic, adding, they are so messy. That takes a lot of dedication on the part of the elves. Pretty lucky kiddos there. Thank you for that. I love it. John emailed this screen grab of the buckeyes beating up on the wolverines with the caption kasie, the truth hurts. I have to take this up with my producers and not sure why this is in here but, yes. Fine, fine. Samuel tweeted always 100 awake for your show. Okay maybe not 100 . Thats fair enough, i sometimes feel that way, too. All i have to say this morning to the, to the many of you who have been tweeting at me about michigan ohio state, go blue. Thats it. Thats the sentence. Coming up next here a look at the axios one big thing and coming up on morning joe, duelling events on the coronavirus hosted by the president and the president elect. Biden lays out his 100day plan to tackle the pandemic while trump pates a rosy picture with the impending vaccine. 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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®. Pfizer did offer an additional allotment coming out of that plan, basically the Second Quarter allotment to the United States government, multiple times, and as recently as after the interim data came out and we knew this vaccine looked to be effective, i think theyre betting that more than one vaccines going to get authorized and theyll will be more vaccines on the market. That, perhaps, could be why they didnt take up that additional 100 million option agreement, which really wouldnt have required necessarily them to front money. Thats former fda commissioner and current pfizer board member dr. Scott gottlieb telling cnbc yesterday the Trump Administration turned down pfizers offer for an additional 100 ml Covid Vaccine doses last summer. That claim backs an initial report by the New York Times that the Trump Administration passed on a chance to secure more of the vaccine from the manufacturer. Great. And joining us now with a look at axios a. M. , alexi, good morning. Great to see you. Whats your one big thing this morning . Hey, kasie. Good morning to you. Codes one big thing is about president elect bidens white house. Likely to start out operating with what is described as a skeleton staff. Few Staff Members actually working in the west wing, working on the white house grounds when joe biden is inaugurated and takes office in january of next year as a way to really keep him healthy. Hes, of course in a highrisk group personally and politically for this virus. And his team is taking extra precautions and thinking through extra precautions after theyve seen the way in which President Trump and the current occupants of the white house have really taken a cavalier approach to Safety Measures and enacting those things because of the virus throughout this pandemic. Makes a lot of sense. We talked earlier in the program that 50 of the president s and plus associates have gotten sick. Makes sense not just for the president elect but all the people working for him. Alexi, axios has reporting on Pete Buttigieg and what kind of post he might get . Probably wanted to be u. N. Ambassador. That didnt pan out. What do you know . Thats right. The kind of key trypost for may buttigieg. Likely sending him to china. The idea, mayor pete at just 38 years old has great political ambitions, though some think he needs a little more experience, and this is an opportunity that could allow him to sort of beef up his Foreign Policy chops and allies of his say its a matter of when not if he might seek another president ial bid. Doing Something Like this, although night mnot have been hs first choice and u. N. Ambassador, that is something that could give him Foreign Policy chops in way he hasnt had just yet as former mayor of south bend indiana and boost his future political prospects. So alexi, if youre mayor pete, you mentioned the department of veterans affairs. He struggled in the democratic primary process particularly with voters of color based on his record as mayor. Why, if youre pete, not take a post that might shore up or give you an opportunity to work with those communities and instead focus on National Security . I mean, whats the thinking . Yeah. Look, and thats a really good point, kasie, because he did struggle with black voters in particular. That was a big problem for part of his campaign and i was covering it, and working in a Foreign Policy space is not going to allow him an opportunity to do that. Now, its not to say he wouldnt be able to do that in some other form on this side, but youre exactly right. This Foreign Policy post is something that would take him out of the domestic sphere in a way he would have to figure how to shore up those relationships otherwise. Yeah, look. The thinking, of course, also just like he needs to shore up support with black voters, there is a benefit to shoring up his Foreign Policy chops and experience in that way especially if trying to make International Allies with what he might bill as a future president. So its really playing the long game here and i think maybe he thinks he can get to those things at a different time. Fair enough. Alexi, thank you very much. Always great to have you here, and as we start the day today, this is going to be a critical day for Coronavirus Relief talks. We saw serious bumps in the road yesterday. Some Big Questions about whether they can actually get that done and a lot of americans really waiting, still, on congress. So heres hoping that those talks hang together. Thank you all for getting up way too early with us this morning. Dont go anywhere. Morning joe starts right now. We were very, very happy that we were able to get things done at a level that nobody has ever seen before. That the Gold Standard vaccine has been done in less than nine months. All i can tell you is the truth. Were in a very dark winter. Things may well get worse before they get better. You do van immunity a developed immunity over a period of time and i hear were close to 15 . Im hering that. That is trick. Thats a powerful vaccine in itself and just tremendous progress has been made. The vaccine may soon be available. We need to level with one another. It will take longer than we would like to distribute it to all corners of the country. This will quickly and dramatically reduce deaths, and hospitalizations and within a short period of time i think we want to get back to normal. We need your help