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pandemic as we speak. today, biden expected to unveil a 12-person coronavirus advisory board. we will be watching and listening to find out precisely when that is going to happen. as you can see there on stage, the president-elect with vice president-elect kamala harris getting that briefing. let's get to mike memoli in wilmington. he is following the biden/harris team as they press ahead to wednesday, january 20th. mike, the biden team clearly making the pandemic its top priority. we just got that glimpse of the president-elect's meeting. his team rolling out this new advisory board with some key names. what more do we know about who is going to be on that advisory board at this hour, sir? >> reporter: yeah, craig, the last time we saw the president-elect, the vice president-elect, they were celebrating saturday night with the great fireworks display. now, it's all about the work ahead. so, of course, joe biden's final weeks in the campaign, months really, were all about the pandemic, blasting president trump for how he is handling it, vowing to do better if he was elected president. now that they're in the job, they're setting the tone from the first day, as they stand up their transition. poll siitics is personnel. biden is announcing this 12-person covid task force. it'll be chaired by the former surgeon general, vivek murthy. david kessler and nunez smith of yale university. other names, zeke emanuel, architect of the affordable care act. that's facing the supreme court soon. and rick bright, the whistleblower who was ousted from his position at hhs for warning the trump administration was not taking the pandemic seriously enough. also on this list. now, it's also interesting to remember, craig, in june, then former vice president joe biden was saying one of the first calls he was going to make if he was elected was to anthony fauci. we haven't heard his name as part of this conversation, but we do expect to hear from joe biden with some remarks later, potentially in this hour. maybe he'll give us a glimpse of whether or not he's indeed followed up with fauci, as he promised to do. craig, also, we're hearing from the transition team itself, as the work that has been done quietly behind the scenes for months is now being put into action. they've identified already 4300 candidates for the 4,000 positions they need to fill in the federal government. they're getting ready to deploy individuals into the agencies to take stock of what needs to be done. and expect not to hear necessarily some of the big cabinet positions announced any time soon. i'm told we should look at the obama transition as a guide for what that timeline might look like. instead, the focus is on filling the key jobs inside the west wing, and also a lot of those positions throughout the federal government that don't require senate confirmation. we know, craig, those special elections in georgia coming up, the runoff elections, will determine the control of the senate. that'll also have a big role in determining what kind of nominees joe biden can appoint in order to get in position to help him run the government starting on january 20th. >> mike, speaking of the transition here, what's this we continue to hear about hurdles that mr. biden's transition team is facing? what more can you tell us about that? >> reporter: yeah, a lot of democrats raising some concern about the fact that the general services administration, it's a bureaucratic agency you should think of as the hr department for the federal government, they have yet to officially designate, ascertain is the term of art here, that joe biden is the president-elect. what that means is joe biden can't yet gain access to the full resources that the government makes available to the president-elect, including bigger office space, starting the process of meeting with the federal agencies, as well. now, the gsa has said they're still waiting on, obviously, what they consider to be an election that is still determined, but some real concern about whether there's pressure being put. a trump administration appointee leaves the gsa, for the fact that maybe the president is, as we know, continuing to challenge results. the biden transition team for their part is simply saying that they await that designation from the gsa. they're continuing to proceed, but they also say the effective transition and work of protecting the united states, both at home and abroad, requires them getting the access that they need under this provisi provision. so this is something we'll all be keeping an eye on as a potential signal of just how smooth this transition of power will end up being, craig. >> all right. mike memoli, keep us posted. know you knowill. thank you, sir. joe biden's coronavirus task force coming together as we are hitting grim, new milestones this morning, but there is a potentially huge, new sign of hope on this monday morning. here are the latest facts. we just crossed 10 million confirmed cases in this country. for some perspective, that is equivalent to the populations of arizona and nevada combined. the nation's seven-day average of daily new cases now above 109,000. that's a new record. and we are rapidly approaching 240,000 american lives lost to the coronavirus. that's almost 6,000 deaths since election day. all of that as we have some breaking news on the vaccine front. pfizer and its partner say the vaccine is proving to be 90% effective. the results are still preliminary. i want to bring in correspondent dr. john torres to walk us through this vaccine news. dr. torres, help us understand what this vaccine news means and what it does not mean. >> craig, you're right, it is good news because we thought that the efficacy, which is effectively of the vaccine, we were hoping to be around 50% to 70%. this 90% shows us good hope that sheez evacuati these vaccines could be effective in helping us end the pandemic. pfizer enrolled 43,000 people. they had to wait until they had 94 cases of people getting infected with coronavirus, and then they opened up the data to look at it. what they found were of the 94 people, 90% of them had not gotten the vaccine. around nine or so had gotten the vaccine. they were much less likely to develop covid or covid symptoms. so what that's showing us is this vaccine is very protective. but these are preliminary studies right now and preliminary data, so they have to dig in a little deeper. they're going to wait a few weeks to do that, get a few more cases, then they'll go for the emergency use authorization. looks like they'll probably get that. most people are optimistic that'll happen. if that does, probably by the end of the year, beginning of next year is when they'll get that. they're already producing it, but they'll start distributing it at that point. we have a distribution schedule set up for phases, depending whether you're a health care worker, somebody that's vulnerable, or the general population. most people probably look at getting it around april timeframe if it holds out like we think it will, craig. >> 90% effective, dr. john. again, preliminarily, 90% effective. let's say that holds. how does that efficacy compare to that of the flu vaccine? >> so good point, craig. the glue rigflu right now, 40% effective is the range it's in. usually more the 40% to 50% range. so even though it doesn't protect you from getting the flu, it can protect you from some of the bad symptoms or complications of the flu. measles is up in the 90% range. we have a better way of controlling it with the vaccine. this pushes it up into the range, as well. so if this holds, with this vaccine, with the others being developed, as well, then we have good hope that this can help get the pandemic under control once it starts getting to the general population. the vaccine is only as good as the amount of people who actually get the vaccine. so if people don't get it, if there is the vaccine hesitancy, you can have a vaccine that's effective but won't work well helping to end the pandemic unless people get it, craig. >> sure. we know the anti-vax movement in this country is real. dr. john torres, thank you. we go from dr. john to the medical director of special pathogens unit at boston medical center. also associate processor at boston university school of medicine and an msnbc medical contributor. let's start there, this idea that you can have a vaccine, but vaccinations don't -- vaccines don't save lives. vaccinations save lives. how can you convince the american public this is a vaccine that's safe and they should go out and get it? >> craig, you nailed it. i think this is such good news, right? not only does it tell you that we have this evacuativaccine, b proof of concept of this can be developed and other vaccines may show effectiveness. it'll be the distribution and really getting the vaccines in people's arms, for us to get to a point where we have population level herd immunity from a vaccine. that is the hard work. we've seen a couple of things. we've seen that there is a drop in the number of people who said they would take this vaccine, even over the last few months as we've seen the politicization of the development process. and we know there is a huge political divide going on in this country that's keeping people from simply taking medication measures. i want to stress one thing about the vaccines and add to my colleague, dr. torres', point. we know it is highly infective in preventing symptomatic infections. what we don't know, is if you get the vaccine, could you still get the virus and be asymptomatic and pass the virus? we don't know how long the protection lasts. we don't know how long it works in different population groups. all of those elements, in addition to, you know, promoting vaccine uptakes, are going to be some of the challenges. >> what about potential side effects? forgive my ignorance here, but if they've just been testing a vaccine for a few months, i mean, potential long-term side effects from taking this vaccine, how do we find that out? >> yeah, there's two parts to this. you know, there's some adverse effects to vaccines that are obvious at the very beginning. we will know data on that. of course, this hasn't been published yet because pfizer only published the top line results so far. so seeing this in print and getting that data in terms of what the side effects are going to be will be important. they say the side effects of these vaccines are on par with others, and potentially slightly more than what the pneumonia vaccine they currently have on the market. that'll be an important part to see. even after a evacuativaccine is released, generally what happens is there is a widespread cdc and hhs based fl ed platform, a vac adverse effects reporting system. patients through physicians can report the side effects. that will be monitored. but from what we know so far, it does look promising, even from that perspective. but we need to wait until results are published. >> doctor, i know there have also been concerns expressed the past few months about our ability to deliver a vaccine on a widespread scale once it's ready. concerns about having enough viles and syringes. what more do we know about that? are we ready to get a vaccine to our people once it's ready? >> well, one of the closest things, the challenges, you know, that you can quickly recognize is this is a vaccine that needs two doses. the pfizer vaccine, you know, requires people to come back again. that's one part of it. it's not just managing all the challenges of distribution. some of those include, you know, coaching. this is a vaccine that needs to be held at low temperatures, up until the point it is delivered to the patients. and not only that, but we need to get it out. this is -- craig, this is the biggest vaccination, you know, campaign in the history of humanity. i mean, that's how we have to look at it. it's not just in our country but globally. then it would be to ensure that we do that in a fashion that it's safe when people are coming to actually receive that vaccine. so the points of administration, where people get the vaccines, the advisory -- the vaccine committee, advisory committee of immunizations put out a plan in which they say they'll create new points of enter where people can get vaccines. at your pharmacist, really getting into those communities that we know have been highly vulnerable, like the indian health services. ensuring that we get it to everywhere this vaccine needs to be. that is going to take time because, currently, all we have are these potentially 50 million doses by the end of the year/beginning of next year, which has dr. torres said, the first crop of this will go to health care workers and some vulnerable populations. >> doctor, thank you. thank you so much. we have got breaking news on wall street on this monday morning. the announcement from pfizer seems to be responsible for the market soaring, to a certain extent. right now, the dow up over 1,000. that's almost 4 percentage points. we're going to continue to keep a close eye on the dow. we can also tell you the nasdaq and new york stock exchange are also up this morning. president trump lost, but he's not ready to concede. how much does that even matter? and what will the next two months look like? also, how black voters specifically, how that group powered president-elect joe biden to victory, from the south carolina primary all the way through election day. did you know you can go to libertymutual.com to customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need? really? i didn't-- aah! ok. i'm on vibrate. aaah! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ i've been involved in. communications in the media for 45 years. i've 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. you're choosing whento get connected to xfinity mobile, to the most reliable network nationwide, now with 5g included. discover how to save up to $400 a year with shared data starting at $15 a month, or get the lowest price for one line of unlimited. come into your local xfinity store to make the most of your mobile experience. you can shop the latest phones, bring your own device, or trade in for extra savings. that's simple, easy, awesome. visit your local xfinity store today to ask, shop, discover the latest on xfinity mobile. defiant in defeat and refusing to concede. that's how president trump is heading into this first week after the election. in fact, a trump campaign official tells nbc news there are now plans in the works to organize and hold campaign style rallies in the coming weeks. the focus, battleground states where president trump is projected to lose, and where there could be potential recounts. nbc's monica alaba joins me now with more on the reported plans. monica, it's not clear yet whether president trump will actually be participating in these events, but at this point, what do we know about how all this fits into his team's larger legal strategy? >> reporter: exactly, craig. the trump team is really doubling down in that defiance, telling me they're going to plan for these recount rallies and sort of take them on the road and test them out before we really see the president getting involved, depending on whether he wants to physically attend them or not. originally, this was something that was floated that would include him. he expressed to aides and allies he wanted to be back on the road and thank his supporters, honor them in some way, some fashion. instead, it seems he's being advised, first, they want top surrogates and maybe the president's sons to do this first and see what the reaction is and how that goes, as they pursue legal strategies. i'm told by campaign aides that bill stepien, the campaign manager, just held an all-staff meeting tat virginat the virgin headquarters, where the message was, we are still in this and stay in the fight. trying to boost corral for campaign aides who are quite deflated, seeing a very, very narrow path, if any, evaporating over the weekend when we did project that former vice president joe biden will now be the president-elect. but they feel that if they maintain the course with pursuing some of these legal options, they may be able to at least raise the idea that the president is not going out without a fight. speaking of the president, we haven't seen him publicly, in four days, except for on the golf course where he spent hours and hours this weekend in virginia. so the question becomes, where do we see him next? could it be that he'd go to the road and do an event, for example, in georgia, potentially if a recount takes place there, in wisconsin, arizona, pennsylvania? i'm told all of those discussions are happening behind the scenes. for now, the campaign is really running out of time. they soon won't be able to pay or offer health insurance to their staffers, but they continue to solicit funds for their legal defense fund, which is something else that can be used to pag oying off campaign debt, something else we have to worry about. >> monica at the white house, thank you. let's bring in peter baker, white house correspondent for the "new york times," and chuck rosenberg, former attorney and official. i want to build off of monica alba's reporting there about the trump team's strategy. what are your sources in the white house telling you, peter, about how the president plans to spend these days ahead? >> yeah t it, it's a great ques. he has 70 days to go, and there doesn't seem to be a genuine path to winning this thing. it is getting from this point of defiance to a point of acceptance. you saw mick mulvaney, former acting chief of staff, wrote in the "wall street journal" this morning that once the outcome is clear, he thinks president trump will actually concede the election gracefully. we haven't seen any evidence of that so far. i think, you know, there's a desire on the part of the president to play out this string a little bit more with these challenges. there's nothing in the courts right now that would overturn this election, it looks like. i mean, there's nothing that seems to be on the path toward making any meaningful difference in the kbrout cooutcome. what it really is, it's trying to get a president who hates the idea of being seen as a loser, to come to the fact that this contest is really over. >> chuck, to peter's point there, i mean, when it comes to these legal challenges by the trump campaign, what's the bottom line on these legal plays? >> right, peter is exactly right, craig. i mean, there's a huge difference between filing a lawsuit and filing a meritorious lawsuit. anyone is capable of filing a lawsuit. a meritorious lawsuit, one in which you could succeed, you need evidence. so far, there doesn't seem to be a lot of that. i agree with peter. i think this is a political strategy, not a legal strategy. if it is a legal strategy, it's doomed to failure. >> chuck, i want to play an interesting point that former republican homeland security michael chertoff made about the election results and get your take on the other side. >> if you look at the fact that there was apparently a fair amount of ticket splitting, where people voted for joe biden for president, but then may have voted for republican for the house or for the senate, that reinforces the idea that there was no fraud. >> chuck, your thoughts on that argument? is it a political point that could be considered in court? >> first of all, mike is a very smart guy, and i had the privilege of working with him in the justice department. however, what he is saying is that if they needed to, the biden folks could induce evidence there is no fraud, statistically in the way he's describing. they don't have to, craig, and here's why. the burden of proof is always on the person bringing the lawsuit, the plaintiff, the complainant. in this case, it'd be the rnc on behalf of the trump campaign or something like that. so the biden folks don't have to prove anything in court. right now, the burden of proof is wholly on the trump campaign to prove there was some fraud or procedures that weren't followed, or some regulation that wasn't abided. if they can't do that, and i don't think they can from what i've seen so far, you don't have to worry about the second half of the equation. again, the biden folks don't have to prove anything. burden is on the plaintiff, and the plaintiff doesn't have evidence. >> peter baker, president trump gliding down that golden escalator in 2015, it sort of set the tone for his first campaign. his administration, as well. a moment from saturday stands out for his re-election campaign. here's the headline from the "philadelphia inquirer." quote, no, not that four seasons. how trump team's news conference ended up at a northeast philly landscaping firm. how does that news conference, with the president's personal lawyer, rudy giuliani, standing in front of four seasons total landscaping, near a secretary of state shop and a crematorium, how does that encapsulate this campaign, perhaps even this era of our politics, peter? >> well, certainly a bad metaphor politically. it is hard to imagine a political staff on its game not seeing that that would be a bad idea, to have it at a place like that. especially, you know, given the president himself seemed to be confused about where it'd be. he initially tweeted it'd be at the four seasons of philadelphia, then somebody obviously told him or got hold of his twitter account and said, no, it is the four seasons total landscaping firm. something of a different image. i think, you know, any advanced staff worth his weight would have recognized having the event at this place, with this, next to an adult bookstore, was sending the message of a campaign that was over, sort of ending in a parking lot rather than in the grandeur of the trump tower, as you pointed out, when they announced five years ago. you'll see that, i think, written up in history books someday, as kind of like a, here's how it all came to an end. >> apt med fotaphor perhaps ind. peter and chuck, good to have you, gentlemen. thank you. joe biden leads in georgia, as that state works to finish counting its votes. we're going to go live to atlanta for the latest on that count and what to expect in not one but two senate runoff races that could very well decide the balance of power in the upper chamber. also, how black voters were key to joe biden's victory. we'll dig into that next. at dell technologies, we started by making the cloud easier to manage. but we didn't stop there. we made a cloud flexible enough to adapt to any size business. no matter what it does, or how it changes. and we kept going. so you only pay for what you use. because at dell technologies, we stop...at nothing. ♪ ithe first full prescriptionis pstrengthop...at nothing. non-steroidal anti-inflammatory gel... available over the counter. voltaren is powerful arthritis pain relief in a gel. voltaren. the joy of movement. skip to cold relief fast. alka-seltzer plus power max gels. with 25% more concentrated power. oh, what a relief it is! so fast! ♪ i got it all from you ♪ i'm always pushing through ♪ i know we'll make it to the finish line ♪ ♪ i know you're waiting on the other side ♪ ♪ i'm like you on-demand glucose monitoring. because they're always on. another life-changing technology from abbott. so you don't wait for life. you live it. president-elect joe biden's slim lead is growing in georgia. just this morning, stacey abrams with fair fight announced it's raised $6 million for a pair of senate runoff elections there. those races could very well decide which party controls the upper chamber come january. blayne alexander is in atlanta for us, and i understand democrat john ossoff has already challenged republican senator david purdue to three debates. what are you hearing about runoff plans so far? >> reporter: yeah, the challenge just came out this morning, craig. what we know right now is all four candidates have already hit the ground running. a quick note about the runoffs, we know one is certainly headed to runoff, and the other almost certain. nbc news is calling it too close to call. because neither candidate hit 50% plus one vote, it is almost certainly going to a runoff january 5th. so we are already seeing all four candidates in this race really hitting the ground running when it comes to fundraiser. the incumbent republican, david perdue, already sending out fundraising emails. kelly leffler, the republican in the other race, is getting out calls, saying it is all hands on deck for volunteers and money. the democratic challenger to purdue, john ossoff is embarking on a statewide bus tour for the better part of a week. he told hallie jackson last hour he is staying in contact with the other democratic challenger in the other race. what's interesting about that, the strategy mirrors what i've been seeing from the candidates and what i heard from top democrats recently. they are hoping both warnock and ossoff benefit from what is a wave of enthusiasm with democrats in georgia. the leader of the party believes the race being called for president-elect joe biden will absolutely be a benefit for the two democratic candidates. craig, it's not coming down at this point to trying to change voters' minds. what they're trying to do is make sure that voters actually turn out. we always talk about the importance of turnout. of course, now that the election is over, they're looking to get people to the polls yet again. they're really hoping people will be energized from what happened over the weekend and get them to the polls to come out and flip the seats blue come monday -- or january, craig. >> all right. blain al sa blain blayne alexander in atlanta, thank you. a few moments ago, nbc news confirmed that ben carson, secretary of housing and urban development, and a retired neurosurgeon has tested positive for coronavirus. that coming down a few moments ago. we're working to gather more information. when we do, we will bring that to you. let's stay in georgia for a moment. if there's one group that helped president-elect joe biden win this election, black voters. it wasn't long ago, his campaign was on life support. you probably remember the south carolina primary, really became a turning point for mr. biden. he won with support from 61% of black voters there following an endorsement by congressman jim clyburn. in the general election, 87% of black voters supported him. more than any other demographic group. that's according to exit polls. let's bring in tiffany cross, a fellow at harvard kennedy school. also the author of "say it louder," black voters, white -- and saving our democracy. and joyce wilson, study of hip hop at georgetown. t tiffany, the support from black voters for joe biden has been consistent from the beginning. why? >> i don't know it's been consistent from the beginning, craig. i'd say after south carolina, i think that's when you saw this collision. after leader clyburn came out and gave him his stamp of approval. look, you and i talked about this many times. black voters are a very pragmatic group of people who look at who will do the least harm to our communities. we cannot deny the fact he was certainly helped by having a black woman on the ticket with him. black women voters, as you know, are the democratic base. so i think we have the conversation about why so many black people can do something and vote in the greater good. you didn't see that on the other side of the divide. look, i want to acknowledge latin x voters. the people who voted republican in florida don't comprise the variety of voters. as well as the asian-american pacific islander voters. by far, black voters were the dominant support in this -- g e giving him this victory. i anticipate, craig, black voters will certainly be holding this administration accountable for some of the things they voted for. we voted for a country that's never really loved us back, yet we still voted in the hope of what this country might become for us after we built it for free. >> i would also add native americans to the aforementioned groups. >> that's right. >> polling is showing that native americans, by and large, supported the president by an overwhelming margin. tiffany, speaking of exit polling again, president trump won 12% of black voters. that number may not sound very high, but it's the highest share that a republican candidate has won in the past 20 years. in 2016, the message to black voters from the president, if you recall, was literally, what the hell do you have to lose? in 2020, it seemed to be trying to convince black voters that joe biden was bad for them. why do you think that support ticked up for president trump? >> let me first say, craig, i'm so happy we're having this conversation, because we have to first acknowledge a majority of white ballots passed ballots to affirm they were okay with some form of white supremacy. on that side of the divide, until they get their you know what together, i'm not interested in a conversation about what latino voters didn't do, black men. get your side of the aisle together, then we can have the conversation. because this is a family conversation, i'll say, look, there are people who feel ignored by the democratic party. when i sat in the anchor chair on msnbc, we have centered black men at the conversation. i don't think enough people are talking to them. you see in the republican party, skpechb in t and even the democratic party, they can go talk to joe the plumber, coal miners, and there seems to be an effort to appeal to trump state voters, which can feel like a slap in the face to those of us who upheld this. you can see it on the conversations across networks now. they're not representing the rising majority of the country. immediately after blake voters saved this country from itself, the conversation went to, guys, wait, we need to try to understand the other side. or i hope this is a lesson for democrats, that they can't go too far left. what a slap in the face to us after everything that black people did in this country. so i think we have to change the conversation and really hone in on the rising majority of this country. quite frankly, this is the new american electorate that will decide races. i don't remember people saying, wait guys, we have to understand the other side after trump got elected. i don't remember the empathy after the first or second bush administration. so i would encourage people that, you know, maybe we need to change who is leading some of these conversations. >> joyce, let's talk about georgia specifically where you are, where we are going to see those two senate runoff races in january. what are you hearing from folks on the ground there? are they excited, or are they exhausted? >> i think it's a little bit of both. they're excited and they are exhausted. you know, we're talking about georgia. we're talking about atlanta. we're talking about a city and state that's built for this. we have a history of getting out the vote and doing what's necessary. i want to thank you for having this conversation today, craig. because i think it's important when we talk about black voters, we kind of get into a granular point of who these black voters are, particularly when we're talking about a place like atlanta. because atlanta has done a great job particularly around the triangulation of music and culture, with business and politics. so you see the hip hop generation, particularly atlanta's hip hop generation, really beginning to or taking the momentum that they have from even just the stacey abrams gubernatorial campaign and taking it to another level. this is something that we tend to do well in the city. folks are exhausted. folks are excited. i think that it is important that we understand the role hip hop culture and the hip hop generation is playing as a demographic in these black voters. of course, biden called out the black voters in significant ways, but i believe it was his choice of kamala harris as his running mate and now vp that hauled in the black voter participation and black cities. what are we talking about when we talk about the black voters? what generational cohorts are they representing? we know there was a surge in turnout among millenials, in gen zz-ers, black americans, an also the turnout with the 50ish generation. that's harris' cohort. who are these voters? many of them are of the hip hop generation. harris is of this generation. member of alpha kapaa alpha. she's from oakland. it is obvious she shares a sensibility toward the cultural capitol that hip hop affords us in the political process. when we talk about the harris factor, these black voters in this election, there is an opportunity to remind people what hip hop is and put some context around who the hip hop generation is and why it's important to see the biden/harris win as one that is dripping with hip hop's cultural sensibilities and ideals. >> professor joycelyn wilson, thank you. tiffany cross, thanks to you. tiffany is hosting "a.m. joy" again this saturday, 10:00 a.m. eastern. ladies, we we had moish we had but we have to get more on the breaking news from the white house. u.s. housing and urban development secretary ben carson has now tested positive for covid-19. the 69-year-old retired neurosurgeon. nbc's monica alba at the white house with more. monica, what more can you tell us about how dr. carson is doing? >> reporter: just into my colleague, peter alexander, craig, here we're learning and confirming that secretary carson has tested positive for coronavirus in recent days. we should mention, he has been around the president and may be a part of this larger outbreak that we just learned about over the weekend with chief of staff mark meadows testing positive. in addition to four other white house aides who were in and around different events here over the last week or so. we should also mention secretary carson was at various campaign events in the closing days ahead of november 3rd. he was in michigan at a rally that i was at. i saw him both wearing a mask before the event started, and then when we actually went up on stage alongside the president, he wasn't wearing his mask. we saw him using that in both different kinds of ways. we understand he is doing all right. we will continue to report on more information and details. craig, i have to tell you, it really just continues to hit home at the white house, when they have seen now -- this is their third major large outbreak as it affects not just cabinet officials but their own staffers. i have to tell you, in the west wing, you haven't seen much of it change in any kind of practices or safety and health precautions. and we will continue to report what other events he may have been at in the last few days, who else he may have interacted with, and who else may have to quarantine as a result. >> monica alba, thank you. his deputy chief of staff telling nbc news that dr. carson is in good spirits and feels fortunate to have access to effective therapeutics which aid and markedly speed his recovery. our best wishes to dr. ben carson this morning. it's a big week ahead in washington. the senate will be back, but republicans are split on whether to accept joe biden's victory or to back president trump's legal challenges. when we expect to hear from senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. i guess i look pretty... ridiculous. [ chuckles ] no one looks ridiculous, bob. progressive is always here for you with round-the-clock service. just so you know, next time, you can submit a claim with our mobile app. good. thanks again for -- for rushing over. are you kidding? this is what 24/7 protection looks like. okay. -you smell like fish. -sorry. i was talking to jamie. hello is friendly... hello is open... it's welcoming... everything we want to be when helping people find a medicare plan. so if you're looking for yours, say hello to hellomedicare... ...a one stop shop for medicare plans, ...including a range of unitedhealthcare medicare advantage plans. plans that could give you $0 co-pays on all primary care, doctor visits, preventive dental care, and eye exams. with hellomedicare, you can learn, compare, even enroll - all in one place. no matter where you are in your search. give us a call. our licensed hellomedicare agents are here to help guide you to a plan that fits your needs. because we get it: finding the right medicare plan can be challenging. plans can differ by price... or benefits. they can even differ by where you live. that's why we're here - to put it all together... ...and be your go-to place for all the latest information... ...laid out right in front of you, in a way that's easy to understand. it all starts with a few simple questions so we can get to know you better. questions like, "do you want to keep your doctor?" and "which benefits are important to you?" then, we'll match you with plans from the top names in medicare, including a range of unitedhealthcare medicare advantage plans. ...for a complete picture of your best options. next, we'll help you compare benefits and costs. and when you feel good about your selection... we'll sign you up. [done.and.done.] remember, the annual enrollment period is here... ...and it ends on december 7th. so whether you're looking to save money, or find better coverage... ...let's do this. let's go find your medicare plan. call us today and speak with one of our helpful licensed hellomedicare agents. hellomedicare. say hello to an easier way to do medicare. we're back, live look now at capitol hill, where the senate will be back in session this week for the first time since the election. we are expecting to hear from majority leader mitch mcconnell this afternoon and what he has so say could ultimately set the tone for republicans as they navigate this road ahead. garrett haake joins me from his post on capitol hill. we've noted this hour a lot of congressional republicans have stayed noticeably quiet this weekend. what could we expect to hear from senator mcconnell? >> reporter: mcconnell is as good as anyone at not saying anything he doesn't inted nd so. his only comments on the election is about counting all the votes before anything occurs. unlike a lot of the other senators who have only their own personal relationships with the president and only their seats to worry about, mcconnell's job is to defend his majority in the u.s. senate. the majority is very much still at stake with the runoff election coming up in georgia. so i think when mcconnell takes the floor, we should expect to hear comments largely focused on that race. to the degree it reflects on the presidential race, it is not in mcconnell's best interest to say the elections are being stolen, votes don't count. he needs republican voters to go vote in the two runoff races coming up in january. i suspect that'll be the focus. his office has not confirmed so far whether he's spoken to joe biden since the call on saturday or really at any time over the last week, or whether he will say anything particularly pertaining to the president's conduct in the hours since then, craig. >> garrett haake on capitol hill, thank you. to garrett's point there, they're going to talk to someone who was in congress when joe biden did all of that negotiating with mitch mcconnell. what she expects to see as "politico" dubs them america's new power couple. vicks vapopatch. easy to wear with soothing vicks vapors for her, for you, for the whole family. trusted soothing vapors, from vicks on the sleep number number's 360 smart bed.ale you can adjust your comfort on both sides, your sleep number setting. can it help me fall asleep faster? yes, by gently warming your feet. but can it help keep me asleep? absolutely, it intelligently senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both effortlessly comfortable. will it help me keep up with mom? you got this. so, you can really promise better sleep? not promise. prove. it's our veterans day weekend special, save $1,000 on the sleep number 360 special edition smart bed, now $1,799, plus, 0% interest for 24 months and free premium delivery when you add a base. ends wednesday. ♪ still the one and i can't get enough ♪ ♪ we're still having fun, and you're still the one. ♪ applebee's 2 for $20. it's date night in the neighborhood. clear if republicans will be able to hold onto the senate. but if president-elect joe biden is inaugurated with a divided government, his prior record shows there's reasons to be optimistic he can still get things done. as "politico" notes, quote, during barack obama's presidency joe biden's propensity for cutting deals with mitch mcconnell became a running source of aggravation for liberals. now it will be the key for getting things done at all. joined by a democrat who served in congress during those years, former maryland congresswoman and msnbc contributor donna edwards. former congresswoman edwards, that article i just mentioned refers to them as america's new power couple. given what you saw firsthand during those eight years, how do you see this relationship working under a biden administration, this relationship with senator mcconnell? >> well, it's interesting because obviously the mitch mcconnell we know today is different even than the one we knew in 2008 but they have a long-standing relationship. we know these institutions really depend on precipitation in order to get things done. >> congresswoman, i'm sorry. i'm so sorry. the man we're talking about now, vice president-elect biden is speaking in wilmington, delaware. let's listen in. >> in this fight with announcement that there's been progress made for a successful vaccine. soon the expectation is the fda will run process of rigorous reviews and approvals. the process must also be grounded in science and fully transparent, so the american people can have every confidence that any approved vaccine is safe and effective. at the same time it's clear that this vaccine, even if approved will not be widely available for many months yet to come. the challenge before us right now is still immense and growing. although we are not in office yet, i'm just laying out what we expect to do and hope can be done some of it between now and the time we're sworn in. so the purpose of this is to let you know what we're going to do once sworn in. there's a need for bold action to fight this pandemic. we're still facing a dark winter. there are now nearly 10 million covid cases in the united states. last week we topped 120,000 new cases on multiple successive days. in fedex rates are going up, hospitalizations are going up, deaths are going up this crisis claimed nearly 1,000 american lives a day, nearly 240,000 deaths so far. the projections still indicate we could lose 200,000 more lives in the coming months before a vaccine can be made widely available. so you can't forego the important work that needs to be done between now and then to get our country through the worst wave yet in this pandemic. reduce the spread to save lives. that's why today i've named a covid-19 transition advisory board comprised of distinguished public health experts to help our transition team translate the biden-harris covid-19 into action, a blueprint we can put into place as soon as kamala harris and i are sworn into office january 2021. we'll seek to add other members to this board during additional important perspectives on public health and expertise throughout the transition. this group will advise on detail plans, build on a bedrock of science, and keep compassion, empathy, and care for every american at its core making rapid testing widely available, more widely available, much more widely available, and building a core of contact tracers who will track and curb this disease while we prioritize vaccines first to the most at-risk populations. developing clear and detailed guidance, providing necessary resources for small businesses, schools, child care centers to reopen and operate safely and effectively during the pandemic protecting both workers and the public. scaling up productive lifesaving treatments and therapeutics, and when it's ready making sure an approved vaccine is distributed equitable, efficiently and free for every american. cases rising once more, it's imperative we ramp up our production of personal protective equipment. to make sure our brave health care workers have what they need to do battle safely against this virus. we're going to get states, cities, and tribes the tests and supplies they need. we're going to protect vulnerable populations at risk, most at risk in this virus, older americans, and those with pre-existing conditions. we're going to address health and economic disparities that means this virus is hitting the black, latino, asian-american, pacific islanders, native american communities harder than white communities. folks in these communities are one of our priorities, not an afterthought. the bottom line, i will spare no effort to turn this pandemic around once we're sworn in on january 20th. get our kids back to school safely, our businesses growing, and our economy running at full speed again. to get an approved vaccine manufactured and distributed as quickly as possible to as many americans as possible free of charge. we'll follow the science. we'll follow the science. let me say that again. we'll adjust to knew data when it comes in. we'll listen and work in cooperation with governors and local leaders of both parties who are fighting this virus in their communities every day. there's so much good work across the country, governors, mayors, they are stepping up. the advisory board will listen and learn lessons from their experience. because we know we won't fully defeat covid-19 um we defeat it everywhere, my risery council includes experts on global health security so we can restore u.s. global leadership to fight this pandemic. this is a crisis that affects everyone. as i said throughout this campaign, i will be a president for every american. this election is over. it's time to put aside the partisanship and the rhetoric designed to demonize each other. it's time to end the politicization of basic responsible public health steps like mask wearing and social distancing. we have to come together to heal the soul of this country so we can effectively address this crisis as one country where hardworking americans have each other's backs and we're united in our shared goal of defeating this virus as we work toward a safe and effective vaccine, we know the single most effective thing we can do to stop the spread of covid, wear a mask. the head of the cdc warned this fall for the foreseeable future, a mask remains the most potent weapon against the virus. today's news does not change that urgent reality. i won't be president until january 20th, but my message today is to everyone is this, it doesn't matter who you voted for, where you stood before election day, it doesn't matter your party, your point of view, we can save tens of thousands of lives if everyone will just wear a mask for the next few months. not democrat or republican lives, american lives. you know, maybe we'd save the life of the person who stocks the shelf at your local grocery store. maybe it saves the life of a member of your place of worship. maybe it s
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