an indoor event. everybody they invited was like, are you kidding? you want to do something nice for the holidays. that's not it. best party fail ever. that's going to do it for us tonight. thanks for being with us tonight. i will see you tomorrow. "way too early with kasie hunt" is up next. like it or not, 36 days from now, we will have a new president, but don't tell white house secretary kayleigh maccerroni, she seems to think they're there to stay. >> does joe biden acknowledge -- >> the president is still ongoing with ongoing litigation. >> what is the reaction to leader mcconnell today congratulating joe biden and calling him the president-elect? >> i haven't gotten the president's reaction yet. but the president is pursuing ongoing litigation. >> by the way, do you know who

the spokesperson for the campaign is? her. she is. the white house says the trump campaign is still fighting the election results, while the trump campaign signals the fight is over. with all of that mixed messaging, the question is, will mitch mcconnell's latest remarks bring us all a little clarity? plus, all eyes on the on georgia runoffs as they campaign the state. and are the pocket donations meant to help the republican candidates there. and the east preparing for a major snowstorm. snow, sleet, freezing rain, depending on where you live. the question is, just how bad will it get? it's "way too early" for this. good morning. and welcome to "way too early." the show that is about to get snowed in, it looks like.

i'm kasie hunt on this wednesday, december 16th, we will start with the news. it only took about six weeks, but the most powerful republican in congress is acknowledging who won the election. >> the electoral college has spoken. i want to congratulate president-elect joe biden. i also want to congratulate the vice president elect, our colleague from california, senator harris. all americans can take pride that our nation has a female vice president-elect efor the very first time. >> not surprisingly, the president didn't take mcconnell's reversal very well tweeting overnight that it's, quote, too soon to give up and that the republican party should finally learn to fight. but republicans issued a warning on the weekly phone call yesterday he said don't object to election results when they're certified by congress on january

6th. we're told that no one on the call pushed back on this request. but the same cannot be said over in the house where minority leader kevin mccarthy refuses to acknowledge biden's victory. and he's done little to stop his members who plan to challenge the vote on who they think actually won the election. again, they would need a senator to help them do that. mcconnell's messages don't give them a senator because that would be a pretty tough vote for all of them to have to take. meanwhile, a trump campaign email sent to reporters last night is one of the first messages appearing to acknowledge that president trump in fact did lose to president-elect joe biden. the email falsely claimed that the democrats stole the election, note, it's in past tense. and the email asks outright, do you think president trump should run for president of the united states in 2024? note, of course, if he were to

have won the 2020 election, he would not be eligible to run in 2024. president-elect joe biden meanwhile was back on the campaign trail in georgia asking voters to select democratic candidates jon ossoff and raf l raphael warnock in a race next month. >> we want to do the bidding of texas, you should be running in texas, not in georgia. because you know what, you got a couple of folks running for united states senate in this state who aren't confused at all. jon ossoff, raphael warnock, they're running to represent georgia. georgia. they'll actually fight for you, represent you, stand up for you. they won't put texas first.

they don't put donald trump first. they won't put themselves first either. they'll put you first. the people of georgia. >> and with less than three weeks to go, in those two crucial senate races, president trump continues to try and drive a wedge between republican leaders in the state. yesterday, he retweeted a misleading post from lawyer lynn wood who has spearheaded lawsuits based on unvarious filed claims of fraud. the post featured a picture of governor brian kemp and secretary of state brad ra raffensperger. the image was doctored to show face coverages that show the chinese flag. it writes president trump is

genuinely good man. he does not really like to fire people. i bet he dislikes putting people in jail, especially republicans. he gave every chance to get it right. joining us, eugene scott and nbc correspondent carol lee. it's great to have you on board this morning. gene, let me start with you, with that lawyer on stage encouraging republicans not to get out to vote in georgia because the vote was potentially rigged which is, of course, a huge messaging problem for them. what do you make of the president's decision to retweet that last night? and also, of course, mitch mcconnell recognizing joe biden's win. i have a feeling that may be at least a little bit about the georgia runoffs, no? >> certainly, we see the president being upset with how things have worked out in his favor, and trying to keep the conversation on himself. but what he's actually doing is allowing a lot more people to see just how divided the republican party currently is in

a moment where most countries would be moving towards unity following an election that was this divisive. how are the republican parties going to move forward after the president leaves office is still up in the air, it's still a question, because right now, we've seen, especially as we reflect on this past weekend with the march in favor of the president happening in washington, d.c., so much of the focus from the white house and the president's supporters and their anger is actually now being directed at other republican leaders and elected officials. so, how they are going to get on one page is still not even clear. >> carol, you have, of course, been covering this white house all the wait through here. and as we get to the end of this, what are you hearing from those close to the president about this disconnect. it does seem like the campaign is finally getting around to acknowledging his defeat. we obviously saw kayleigh

mcenany say well, we're going to let the president deal with that. is this all about raising money for the president's post-white house future? >> yeah, i think you hit it on the head, kasie. in terms of the goal. they need to continue to raise money, the president's litigation effort has stalled and gone nowhere, in fact, it's somewhat embarrassing in terms of the number of defeats he's had. and that was hetheir initial avenue for trying to raise money and gin up support for the president. and we're increasingly seeing this, the president saying one thing, aides saying others. the email for the campaign sanctioning a run again in 2024 are telling a different story. i think what you're seeing from kayleigh mcenany, she's one of the president's staunchest supporters in terms of the idea he lost and that it was

fraudulent. she's performing, as we've seen many times, for an audience of one there. there have been people around the president for weeks who have been acknowledging the reality that the president faces here's. that's why you're seeing this disconnect and i think that's only going to continue. >> note for sure. gene, how does that democratic playout in georgia? we see some democrats reluctant to nationalize those races, obviously, biden, in fact, did win the state of georgia. meanwhile, the president continuing to gin-up this division. it's like the first rule of politics, if you're divided and the other side is united, you are the ones that have the bigger problem? >> absolutely. i think based on people i spoke with yesterday democrats know if they're going to be effective in a state like georgia that historically has been conservative, they really need to focus the conversation on local issues and not allow the

republicans to distract voters from what matters the most. and that's finding people that have the matters of most significance to georgia voters. >> so, carol, i want to switch gears here for a second because you're up so early with us because you've got new reporting on white house lawyers. and a pretty intense warning that they have here in the final days in office. what are you reporting this morning? >> well, what i learned, kasie, the president has said many times, expressed frustrations about his fbi director christopher ray and has said privately he wanted to fire him. the president's legal team in the white house said look, you should not fire christopher ray, this is a problem potentially for you legally, because it could create a perception of ail pattern in terms of firing fbi directors who aren't sufficiently loyal to you.

we know that the president has pressured christopher ray to start or announce certain investigations. he's resisted that. so this could be seen as some sort of retaliation against director ray. so the lawyers said you shouldn't do that. that said, as we know, kasie, the president could decide to do whatever he wants and he could fire him at anytime. his aides are prepared for that. he's also vented about firing chris wolf who is head at the homeland security department. and he's also been venting about potentially firing cia director gina haspel who we were told was so convinced she might be fired early after the election that she started to clean out her office. >> man, never a dull moment here in the waning weeks. we will obviously, as you point out, carol, one never knows. better watch the twitter feed. nbc's carol lee and "the washington post's" eugene scott, thank you both for bringing strong reporting for us.

still ahead here, winter storm warnings, watches and advisories in effect from the mid-atlantic to new england. bill karins is standing by, he's going to join us with the latest. coming up next. ♪ i'll be home for christmas ♪ if only in my dreams ♪

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help the world believe in holiday magic. and this year was harder than ever. and yet, somehow, you all found a way to pull it off. it's not about the toys or the ornaments but about coming together. santa, santa, you're on mute! just wanted to say thanks. thanks for believing.

welcome back. time now for sports. stanford coach tara vander beer now stands alone in the ncaa history books after passing the record set by legendary pat summitt last night. the victory over pacific is the 1099th of vanderveer's career. s they honored summitt. >> i hope that pat is looking down and happy that i'm still able to coach and try to take the game to the next level. you know, she was a great coach

and i got better because of playing against coaches like pat summitt. >> sure. >> and jean know auriemma. the top coaches in the game, jodie conrad. >> a class act. the top five teams in the penultimate college rankings remain unchanged. alabama leads, followed by notre dame, clemson, and penn state. as notre dame and clemson will meet for the second time this season in saturday's acc championship game. meanwhile, the crimson tide head into the s.e.c. championship after florida dropped a loss at home to lsu. and ohio state, after playing only five games this season, takes on number 14, northwestern, in the big ten championship. on the outside, iowa state who

didn't play this past weekend moved up a spot to number six as they entered the big 12 championship against tenth ranked oklahoma. and undefeated cincinnati now ranks ninth behind the one-loss cyclones and the two-loss gators and georgia bulldogs after slipping a spot in the rankings, despite not playing since november 21st. they're go to be get a chance to impress the committee in the title game against number 23 tulsa. the nba where the milwaukee bucks have announced that reigning two-time nba mvp john y giannis antetokounmpo has agreed to a deal, a $28 million supermax. the star player took to social media writing, quote, this is my home, this is my city, i am blessed to be a part of the

milwaukee bucks for the next five years. let's make these years count. the show goes on. let's get it." and as the league gears up for the december 22nd start, they trailed the warriors by two in the final seconds of the preseason matchup. >> here he goes, down by midcourt, down by two. the shot is up and down. it's a three! they'll review the shot. >> sacramento's kyle guy making his case for a full-time roster spot beating the buzzer for that three-pointer for a one-point win over golden state. nice. time now, though, for weather which is a big story this morning. we've got a big nor'easter moving in. let's go to meteorologist bill karins for a check on the forecast. bill, how's it looking out there? >> yeah, good morning, kasie. it's as advertised. this is going to be a big storm.

some areas you'll get more snow with this storm than all winter. let's get to the numbers and give everyone the latest. we have 71 million people included in the watch and warnings that goes all the way from northern georgia, all of the appalachians, almost all of pennsylvania is covered in the warnings. really, the only people left out of this is northern new england if it's too dry and too cold. here's the latest with the snowfall. that bright pinch, we added 18 inches on to that, that's crazy. that's a huge area from north of hagerstown through central northern eastern pennsylvania through the scranton, women bare area, cats skills, hudson valley, the berkshires, maybe a few spots near boston could get up to 18 inches of snow. as we go throughout the snow today, travel will be impossible as the snow moves into pennsylvania this afternoon and this evening. here's the snowfall totals, harrisburg, 18 to 24, scranton,

18 two 24. hartford and boston 12 to 18. new york city, close to a foot. when you mix that sleet in there, especially philadelphia area, that's why your totals are less. sleet and rain in areas like washington, d.c. kasie, the one good news with this storm, we're not going to see raze high winds. i do not think we'll get a lot of power outages. the snowfall should be historic, but i don't think the flooding and the winds are going to cause too many problems. >> well, that's some good news, especially for folks dealing with cold weather impacted by that. i've got to say this is yet another example, bill, of the washington, d.c. weather being consistently disappointing. we're basically going to have a day full of sleet. here's hoping that kids elsewhere get an actual legit snow day. bill karins, thank you, my friend. i know you've got a long day of coverage ahead of you. thank you.

still ahead, the first at-home covid tests are going to hit the market. we'll have the latest. and did the state of florida manipulate the covid data to help republicans in the election? we're back with that story in just a moment. and is the only approved medication to reduce inflammation on and below the surface of the intestine in uc. you, getting on that flight? back off, uc. stelara® may increase your risk of infections, some serious, and cancer. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, sores, new skin growths, have had cancer, or if you need a vaccine. rpls, a rare, potentially fatal brain condition, may be possible. some serious allergic reactions and lung inflammation can occur. lasting remission can start with stelara®. if you've been financially impacted by covid-19, janssen may be able to help. sprinting past every leak in our softest, smoothest fabric. she's confident, protected,

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with soothing honey-licious taste. nyquil honey. the nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever best sleep with a cold medicine. masks will now be required at all times at the haul of the house, without exception, including while members are under recognition. the chair would reiterate that this is a matter of order and decorum. to be clear, members will not be recognized unless they are wearing a mask. and recognition will be as strong if they remove the mask while speaking. >> that was house speaker nancy pelosi warning lawmakers they'll be barred from speaking if they refuse to wear a mask on the house floor. incoming members, take note. meanwhile, a republican mayer in western kansas has

resigned after receiving threats over her support for a mask mandate. she announced her resignation to officials in which she voiced concerns for her safety after receiving threats via phone and email. these actions came after she was quoted in a "usa today" article on friday showing support for a mask mandate saying, quote, we just felt we had to do something so everybody was aware of how important it was for everyone to be responsible for everybody's health and well-being. and they initiated a mask mandate exactly one month ago. meanwhile, a new report found questionable gaps in florida's coronavirus numbers as published. according to the "sun-sentinel," the pattern states that the state manipulates a backing of unrecorded fatalities. the data released by the state's

health department shows that with some minor exceptions florida quit including long back logged deaths in its daily counts on october 24th. and resumed consistently including them on november 17th. this resulted in the state's daily death numbers being significantly lower than they otherwise would have been. the florida department of health didn't respond to the paper's multiple requests for comment. that graph, you can really see the gap on that graph. pretty remarkable. meanwhile, the u.s. food and drug administration has approved the first at-home coronavirus test that doesn't require a prescription. americans will soon be able to buy the test at a local store and get immediate, positive or negative results. it takes about five minutes to collect the sample which will give results within 15 minutes. the testmaker says it will cost about $30 and be available by january. that's potentially a game-changer. and still ahead here, new reporting 0 wh ining on what th

is really doing with campaign donations? and from campaign rival to cabinet nominee, joe biden finds a spot for pete buttigieg in the administration. why are you awake? sent us a tweet, use the #waytooearly, and we'll have the best answers coming up later in the show. find your breaking point. then break it. every emergen-c gives you a potent blend of nutrients so you can emerge your best with emergen-c. ♪ i'll be home for christmas ♪ if only in my dreams ♪

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president biden said this morning that you spoke on the phone. do you think he deserves to have a cabinet on day one, for example with -- >> well, look, our first job here is to try to finish up this session with this administration. and we'll have plenty of time to talk about the way forward. my concentration right now is on the subjects that we've been talking about, finishing up our work. president trump is going to be there until january 20th. we need to continue to work with him. the future will take care of itself. >> an interesting refusal to acknowledge whether or not he's going to move ahead on the cabinet picks. and speaking of said new cabinet, president-elect joe biden announced his pick for another key post yesterday, selecting pete buttigieg as nominee as secretary of transportation. the former mayor of south bend was a contender in the

democratic primary. buttigieg responded by tweeting, quote, i'm honored that the president-elect has asked me to serve our nation. and telling nbc news that biden is set to nominate governor jennifer granholm to lead the energy agency. and biden is expected to name gena mccarthy, the former chief under the environmental protection agency. and the climb coordinator, as the top priorities. meanwhile, the president needs money to help republicans win in georgia, at least that's what he's telling his supporters in his latest fundraising messages. but according to politico, the money isn't going to senators david perdue or kelly loeffler,

instead, almost all going to president trump. you can see 75% of donations, up to $5,000 go to save america which is the president's new pact. 25% then goes to the rnc. politico reports donors can have cash directed into a trump legal fund or other accounts benefitting the rnc. but regardless of the amount of money given, none goes directly to the georgia senate candidates. top republicans aren't happy about this. we talked about this a little bit on "morning joe" yesterday as they're worried small donor donations are being redirected away from the runoffs. the national senate electoral committee has reached out according to two people familiar with the discussions. joining us now, politics editor for the daily beast, sam stein. sam, good morning. always great to have you. >> good morning. >> thanks for being up early with us. let's start in georgia where is

the center of the political universe. we've got a couple weeks now until the runoffs. and it seems like president trump is going to take every opportunity he can to get in the way of what republicans are trying to do here, even as what happens in georgia is really going to determine the course of the first two years of biden's presidency. >> right. i mean, this just shows the chasm that has always existed between trump and the republican party at large. trump is entirely focused on his own election. or lack thereof. and he obviously is fundraising a ton off of it. these fundraising pitches, they're raising massive amounts of money, raised $250 million plus in the post-election. and that's real donor money here. that could be directed to causes that are more immediate than whatever president trump's long term political interests are. but that's not really what trump carries about. he cares about setting himself up for the future.

there's talk of him running again in 2024. his campaign, for lack of a better word, put out a fundraising pitch yesterday in which they took a poll of whether he should run in 2024. his interests, his resources are all directed in one direction, and that direction is sometimes for the republican party. but for the georgia runoff election efforts, it clearly is not in alignment with it. mike pence has gone there, god, seems like half a dozen times now. there's obviously tension brewing between trump who is mad at georgia election officials and with the senate runoff and with the rest of the party who views this as an existential moment where the control of the senate could end up for them. >> no, it basically for them. mike pence, the rare figure that has been able to live in trump world while still maintaining his strong ties to what is

previously the republican establishment. it's a great question. sam, let's talk for a second about pete buttigieg. because the biden team -- i don't want to say criticized but people have pointed out there are many obama folks coming into the biden administration. they're not necessarily people who represent a new generation. that's not the deal with pete buttigieg. he is the new generation. i did see a tweet, they went after him very hard in the primary. what's your take on what pete's role is goi ing to be here? >> for the uninitiated, the tweet was about how biden attacked mayor pete during the primary precisely because he didn't handle weighty topics but did in fact tackle things like pet chips and smaller retpairre. and made me think where is that video now. this is, i think, a nomination

that was made precisely because of some of the criticisms that were being leveled at president-elect biden's team. it's not that mayor pete isn't bright. obviously, he is. but, i think, you know, what they were trying to deal with as a criticism that biden had in the primary pledged to be a transition figure for the democratic party, if that he would bring up a new generation of younger democratic lawmakers so that the bench could be replenished. through his first 75% of picks or so, really, the case had not been made he was a bridge to the future of the democratic party. mayor pete is the next generation. he's not an obama figure, although obama can tag him as a future member of the office. but there was a message what kind of future was in store for him, because he was in indiana, obviously a republican state, running for higher office would be difficult. he had run for dnc chair and

pulled himself out of that in or to run for president. biden is making a strategic choice here. i don't know if this is going to quiet the criticisms. the cabinet and major positions are going to obama alums. there are a lot of people out there disappointed that there aren't many more young democrats in key positions. so, we'll see what happens. >> we will indeed. kamala harris is the vice president. pete in the wings, we're setting up for an interesting primary contest down the road. the daily beast's sam stein, thank you, my friend, we appreciate it. still ahead here, a look at the out of this world nativity scene outside of the vatican causing an uproar on social media. plus, why may bill de blasio is under fire among school children.

that's in the cooler, "way too early" back in a moment. back i.

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♪ welcome back. time now to gather around the watercooler for some of the things that will have people talking today. this is a fun one. the vatican's nativity scene is out of this world. it looks like from outer space. it's raised eyebrows and has received scathing reviews online. it depicts mary and joseph alongside equally strange, and a darth vader. and there is in fact an explanation. the display was made by italian students and teachers between 1965 and 1975. in italy, it is a tradition to add a character to the nativity that represents a current event. in this instance, the astronaut

symbolizes the moon landings of the late 1960s. speaking of resembling darth vader, new york city school children might cast mayor bill de blasio as a villain. might cast -- he's -- well, i'm not supposed to say that because i'm supposed to be nonauburpart. he said yesterday that snow days are going away. as new york city braces for the massive tomorrow, his honor announced all students will have their snow days snuffed out with full remote learning instead. students are shouldering the pandemic one-fifth grader telling gotham, quote, it's like we're in a pot of water and eventually going to boil over. when you have lost the children of your city, you're in big political trouble. how depressing. we're going to get good an update from congressman pete

aguilar on the state of coronavirus negotiations on capitol hill. "way too early," coming right back. ♪ i'll be home for christmas ♪ if only in my dreams ♪ with new bounce pet hair & lint guard,tually attract pet hair? your clothes can repel pet hair.

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we're exchanging paper and ideas back and forth. >> i think we're moving in the right direction. i think there's a possibility of getting it done, finalizing to see if it's possible. >> it appears reality is setting in for congress. that time is quickly running out to get a coronavirus relief bill done before friday's deadline. congressional leaders met until about 10:00 p.m. last night. they do seem to be optimistic they can get a deal one. joining us now, member of the house committee, congressman pete aguilar, recently elected vice chair of the caucus.

congressman, thank you for getting up way too early with us because the negotiations went late into the night. can you secure this, in interest of getting unemployment benefits, and other key funding out the door? do you and are you at this point, willing to set aside or push to a later day, money for state and local governments in the interest of getting that done? or do you think you and your leadership have concerns about doing that? >> well, i know how critically important that those funding categories are. there's no question. but the bottom line is americans need relief. and they can't afford for congress to keep wait. so, i'm encouraged by the bipartisan framework that exists right now. and so now, we need to do whatever we can to support small businesses, expand unemployment and prevent the eviction moratorium. but, you're right, there are priorities that are still on the table. we'll let the negotiators work

on those. and clearly, there are needs throughout our communities and that remains our primary focus. >> so, how would you characterize your level of optimism that something is actually going to be done here? i mean, what are leaders telling you and others in the house about when this vote could happen and whether they think we are going to end up moving forward? >> well, later this morning, chairman jeffries will convene the democratic caucus, and the speaker will give us an update. so, we're looking forward to those discussions in a few hoyers. but we are optimistic. we know that this is needed. we know that we have a limited window here. we want to make sure that we're providing relief to our communities, but we understand this is a negotiation. but our communities are struggling. our communities are hurting, and they deserve, for us, to do our job. and to make sure that we're providing the relief that's possible in this environment.

>> yeah. that message of get the job done seems to be coming from people across the country and of all partisan stripes. so, certainly hear you on that. while i have you here, i want to ask you about what it looks like next year because the reality i house have an incredibly narrow majority, and it's going to fall to you in part to convince your colleagues to stay united to be on board together because you're only going to be able to lose a handful of votes. how do you think you're going to navigate that? what is the former vice president, now the president-elect, telling you about what he's going to need to make sure his agenda actually is able to move forward? >> we're going to follow the pillars of what the president-elect is proposed and we're going to continue to be guided by our committee chairs who have put forward products to rebuild our economy to build back better our communities, but

that starts with covid relief, and so that remains our primary focus, and without a doubt, we're going to have to put a premium on having these conversations and making sure that people are bought in on our policies, on our process, and on the timing by which we are advancing legislation. that's going to continue to be our focus. we're going to continue to work with our colleagues, have these huddles, have these conversations, within the democratic caucus, ensure that we are guided by the policies that will help our communities knowing that we have to get something done, and now it's not going to be enough to just point at 1600 pennsylvania. we have to get bills across the finish line that can become law and signed by president-elect biden. >> that is a very good point. it is in some ways, in a lot of ways, much harder to govern than to be in the opposition.

congressman pete agular. thank you for being with us. why are you awake, we have harvey looking studious this morning. here he is in a christmas sweater, all ready for the holidays. this is a favorite genera of mine, and thank you to harvey and his owner for watching every day. matthew tweeted this, i need to mentally prepare for snow after a fall of mostly 60 degree days. i'm with you. it's a really abrupt shift, i have to say. sarah posted this photo of the gifts she has laid out for her delivery people. one each for the u.s. postal service. u.s., fedex and amazon. love it. we also have someone who is up making praline candy. it is a louisiana thing. i love praline candy. it is not easy. thank you for being it at this

hour of the day. coming up next, we're going take a lock at the axios one big thing. mixed messaging as the president is still fighting the election results while the trump campaign appear to be acknowledging joe biden's victory, and a two messages, including the newly named chief medical officer with the incoming plans for vaccine deployment. "morning joe" just moments away. deployment "morning joe" just moments away. you can get the perfect gift up until the last minute. let's end the year nailing it. ♪ ♪ birds flyin' high you know how i feel ♪ ♪ breeze drifting on by you know how i feel ♪ [man: coughing] ♪ it's a new dawn, it's a new day... ♪ no matter how you got copd it's time to make a stand. ♪ ...and i'm feelin' good start a new day with trelegy.

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joining us now with a look at axios a.m., cofounder and ceo of axios, jim vandeheim. what's your one big thing this morning, i think it's mitch mcconnell. >> mitch the muscle. he started to establish himself as a central force in the republican party at least on capitol hill. the fact that he called trump, gave him a heads up and said listen, i'm going to come out and acknowledge finally that joe biden is the president-elect.

he called mccarthy, kevin mccarthy, the leader of house republicans, kind of wanted him to do the same thing, and mccarthy made it clear he's not going to do it. wants to run for speaker in 2022. wants the backing of donald trump. knows his members didn't exist in a pre-trumpian era. mcconnell is the man because the power he has in the senate, regardless of what happens in georgia, obviously if republicans win one or two seats, he has more power. in a 50/50 senate, he is the central force, and has been by the way for a long time in terms of the legislative might of the republican party. >> so jim, obviously it's going to be tougher to enact his agenda if mcconnell continues to control the senate. with that said, the incentives are a little bit different if he is in power, and trying to maintain it than if he is in opposition. how do you think this game changes for biden if mcconnell

does lose the senate. does in some ways, i realize it's kind of counter intuitive. are there ways in which that could make biden's life harder? >> at the end of the day, you want as many votes as you can possibly get. you want more power to control a 50/50 senate with a tie breaking vote. just because of the narrow majority in the house and the fact that he doesn't have a robust enough majority to get rid of the big things, get rid of the filibuster, pack the courts, stuff a lot of people were afraid of. the republican party in its modern manifestation doesn't have a ton of incentive to do business with joe biden. however, i think if you look at every single thing joe biden has said on the campaign trail and certainly since winning, it's all about the coronavirus, and stimulus, and it will be about infrastructure. things where they're pretty confident they can peel some republican votes and maybe get

some marginal support for mitch mcconnell like you're seeing on the edges as they try to near a deal right now on coronavirus related aid, and i think that's the bet. i think people are probably over hyping this idea that biden and mcconnell have this great cozy relationship and they like to make deals. they have a relationship. at times it's cozy, at times it's icy. this is a tough city to govern with narrow margins and when you have donald trump sitting on the sidelines shooting spit balls at you and republican members all day, egging them on to be in opposition, very tough environment to operate in. if you think about what joe biden is going to inherit, it is a hot mess. if you think about just china rising, you have the coronavirus, vaccinations, distribution, and you're doing it in a hyperpolarizing environment, where a lot of people don't believe anything they see or hear, maybe one of the most difficult incoming presidential jobs that we have seen in some time perhaps in our

lifetime. >> indeed. it's a very good point, and of course mcconnell's memoir called the long game, my question is what does he think the best way to play the long game under a joe biden presidency. mitch mcconnell told his conference, don't object to the electoral college when it comes to congress. he wouldn't have sent that message if he wasn't worried it might happen. don't go anywhere. "morning joe" starts right now. so as of this morning, our country has officially a president-elect and a vice president elect so today i want to congratulation president-elect joe biden. >> the president is still involved in ongoing litigation related to the election. yesterday's vote was one step in the constitutional process. but he has taken all statutory requirements necessary to either ensure a smooth transition or a continuation of power. >> well, he lost