December 14th is the day already marked in the history books. Its the tragic anniversary of the massacre as andy hook elementary school. December 14th happens to be the anniversary of the death of george washington, who died on this day in 1799. But when the history of these times is written, december 14th, 2020, will warrant a double entry. Today, december 14th, 2020, the day that we passed the solemn milestone of 300,000 Coronavirus Deaths right here in the United States. Also marks the first day of the Vaccine Rollout in this country for the deadly coronavirus pandemic. These images of Front Line Health Care workers and residents of Nursing Homes are filling our televisions today and providing a realtime solve to our pandemicweary nation. Fridays latenight approval of the pfizer vaccine, which is expected to pave the way for approvals of similar vaccines in the coming weeks and months. Today, december 14th, 2020, also marks the day that is typically noted by broadcasts like this one as a procedural milestone, but not necessarily a politically significant one. But todays convening of the Electoral College takes on m monumental important. Georgia, pennsylvania, wisconsin, michigan. The swing states who donald trump has spent attacking in his attempt to overturn their states votes for joe biden. Today, all those states electors cementing joe bidens win. In georgia, the first electoral votes cast for a democratic president ial candidate in nearly 30 years. It was presided over by Stacey Abrams who called it a moment shes dreamed of all her life, one she says honors the very foundations of this countrys democracy. This is not a moment of partisanship, this is a moment of patriotism. Because we came together to do something that has been done time and again in memorial for more than 200 years. And because we are, there is a United States of america. And it is on behalf of the incoming president of the United States, who has said that he may be a democrat, but he intends to be the president of all of these United States, that i say thank you to georgia for aloying us to speak on your behalf and to usher in the next administration. Thank you so much. Joe biden, a president for all americans that will include Donald Trumps allies in the Republican Party who continue to defy all logic, reason and law, for proceeding with their baseless fight to overturn the result. We should note that the votes were being cast as wisconsins state Supreme Court rejected trumps lawyers lingering legal challenge in their state. Thats days after the lawsuit brought by texas to invalidate the will of voters in four other states was rejected by the United StatesSupreme Court, but only after twothirds of the republicans in the House Of Representatives signed on. In the wake of all of that, at this hour, we turn our focus to california, which is set to cast its 55 electoral votes, votes that will like littly put joe b over the top and officially cement his victory as President Elect of the United States. It will signal the complete failure and collapse of a bid by donald trump and a completely complicit gop to steal an election they lost fair and square. This is where we start today with some of our most favorite reporters and friends. White house correspondent for Pbs News HourYamiche Alcindor is back. Also joining us, cofounder of the lincoln project, Steve Schmidt here. And former u. S. Senator, claire mccaskill. Just wanted to talk to all of you about this historic day. Its almost too much to process, but this step in becoming president usually isnt marked in the way were marking it, because of Donald Trumps attack on the democracy. It was in a more fragile state than it usually is on this day. You know, today is a day that im extremely happy, and i havent felt really happy for awhile. You know, weve had this man, you know, driving the bus of denial full of republican elected officials off the cliff of democracy now for weeks on end and today, i got to watch live an africanamerican health care front line worker take the first vaccine. Were going to have our laws hold with the help of judges of both parties, many appointed by trump, across the country saying time and time again, you know, almost, what, 60 times now, that there is no evidence of any kind of fraud. And these electoral votes are going to be cast. My kitchen and house smells like christmas and today i feel like christmas. Its a great day, nicolle. The history will be marked by an address by President Elect joe biden at 7 30 tonight. Yamiche, we just got our first excerpts of this speech. Democracy prevailed. We the people voted. Faith in our institutions held. The integrity of our elections remains intact. And so, now it is time to turn the page, to unite, to heal. As i said through this campaign, i will be a president for all americans. I will work just as hard for those of you who didnt vote for me as i will for those who did. Theres urgent work in front of all of us, getting the pandemic under control and getting the nation vaccinated against this virus, delivering immediate economic help so badly needed by americans hurting today and building our economy back better than ever. Thats our first excerpt from an address that President Elect joe biden is expected to give to the nation at 7 30 p. M. Eastern. Yamiche, even in victory, he is sounding a signal that is laser focused on this mission of uniting what he is more aware of than any of us, this badly divided country. A country so divided that on friday, 126 elected representatives, people who elect some of the voters in those states that they sought to overturn the outcome of, joe biden seeming to, at least reor the icily, reach an open hand to the whole country, including those who tried to steal an election from him. Thats right. On this historic day, what were seeing the Electoral College officially put into practice the fact that joe biden is going to be the winner of this election. It is also a solemn day, because 300,000 americans have died of the coronavirus pandemic. And people who are close to President Elect biden say he is very aware that this challenge is going to really call for all americans to take this patriotic step to try to keep us all safe together, that we all have to do our part. Hes going to be calling for people to be Wearing Masks in the first 100 days of his election. But this speech tonight is really joe biden doing something that President Trump never got around to doing, which is pivoting away from the campaign and Ginto Governing and reachin out across the aisle, to say, all americans, im your president , im here to represent your needs. And pert of that excerpt we also got, hes speaking to voters who didnt vote for him as well as those who voted. We have to remind people, this was not a close election. Joe biden won by 7 million votes. When you look at the popular vote, but hes still saying, look, im going to need everyone to really buy into the fact that we as americans need to come together to fight this virus. And hes hoping that that will be the thing that americans can do. I think thats going to be the greatest challenge is, how is he going to get so Many Americans who still believe President Trump making all sorts of false claims, how is he going to get people to buy into the fact that hes now the president , President Elect, but theyre going to have to buy into the fact that the coronavirus pandemic isnt the flu, it isnt something to downplay, as President Trump has been doing for so long. And Steve Schmidt, i follow you on twitter, i know youve been very engaged this weekend. And i know that in your view, joe biden isnt just going to have to convince americans that the vaccine is safe and we need to take it to protect ourselves and the community, isnt just going to have to rebuild an economy, reboot our alliances, badly damaged by four years of Donald Trumps arbitrary conduct on the Foreign Policy stage, it seems to be your view that hes going to have to sell democracy again to the 76 million americans who were willing to throw it down the drain after november. Theres no question that thats true. Look, i agree with claire. Today is a happy day. It sets the cements the reality donald trump has been fired by the American People and he will not have political power in this country come noon on january 30th and thats a very good thing from where i sit, but at the end of the day, we saw American Democracy poisoned over the course of november. American democracy relies on faith and belief in the legitimacy of the system from the people who grant it authority under our system of rule. What it requires is one side being able and willing to lose an election, to concede power temporarily in that virtuous circle. We should think about what we saw in washington, d. C. This weekend. What is it that we saw this weekend in washington . What was it . They werent wearing brown and black uniforms like they would have in italy or in germany in the 1920s or 1930s, but theyre the same people. What we saw was right wing violence in the nations capi l capital. This is political violence. This is a fascistic organization. When you have more than a majority of the republicans in the house through their signing of that brief making a political declaration, and lets be clear about this, its not a legal decollar rax, its a junk lawsuit, its a political declaration, and its a declaration of repudiation against our independence, against a fundamental and most notional ideas of the country. And that political declaration is one that you cant walk back from. Theyve crossed the rubicon, so to speak. Liz cheney is the leader of the conservatives in the house of representative. Kevin mccarthy is the leader of the house autocrats. When 126 of them have crossed that line, asserting that donald trump won an election that they all every one of them, except the handful of truly, truly crazy ones, know for sure intellectually that in fact joe biden won, the fact that they did that, that theyre willing to poison American Democracy, means that theres two sides in this political debate in this country, and that american poll sicks is realigned. Theres a pro Democracy Coalition and theres another side. And on that other side, which is trying to throw out hundreds of thousands of black votes to keep trump in power, whose faithless to the ideas and ideals of American Democracy, we can never lose another president ial election to these people again, because maybe next time, the leader will be more able, more competent and the plan will look more detailed and more organized and less like a farce. But this is a dangerous hour we find ourselves in in a country, and nobody should be naive about that. Steve, do you have any doubt that donald trump would have stolen this election if at any of these junctures, either the recounts or the legal challenges or harassing and pressuring the electors, and i think pence has a role to play next week do you have any doubt that it was trumps intention to steal the election . I have no doubt at all. The unknown in this equation is how many people would cross that river with him . That would seek to repudiate the american idea and ideal and the sacrifice of 13 generations of american patriots in blood who gave us our american birthright. None at all. Whats surprising is that we have 17 or 18 out of 25 Republican Attorney generals signed onto this nonsense to disenfranchise the will of the American People. It was rejected and they lost, but we know we now know that a very substantial part of the republican political establishment in this country is hostile to democracy. Weve never seen Something Like this before. So, like were seeing all over the world, we have seen the Conservative Mooument Movement Metastasize into this menace thats come out with a lot of fascistic markers thats autocratic and not faithful to the ideas of American Democracy, which have bound both parties together for all of their history and before that, through the 244year history of the United States. Claire mccaskill, i want to bring you in on this and i associate myself with both of your suggestions that this is a happy day, but i do think what joe biden is now responsible goverening is not the same country that we thought we lived in four years ago or before this gop coup attempt. Attempted homicide is still a crime, technically and legally speaking, and this is a failed coup, but an attempted coup, and violence and threat of violence in places well beyond the beltway. I want to read to you whats happening at the Michigan State capitol today. This is nbcs reporting. The michigan capital and the State Legislature will be shut down monday because of, quote, Credit Bl TlementCredible Threats of violence. The Michigan State senate work spaces were closed and the Michigan State majority leader spokesman, amber mccann, said this, quote, the decision was made is not because of an does pated protests, but was made based on Credible Threats of violence. Its more than an assault on the idea and ideals of democracy, its a, quote, credible threat of violence against people carrying out the necessary and constituti constitutionally mandated steps of our democratic process, claire. Yeah, and heres the thing. I am so sick and tired of begging republicans to step up and do the right thing. Im just worn slick trying to get them to step up, but at this moment, we are now careening towards some place thats dangerous. I mean, lets think about, for a minute, the hypocrisy of the republicans talking about religious liberty and talking about how we have to protect the First Amendment and religious liberty. We have to really, because its under assault by the left. The proud boys, a group of thugs, mar raiders, we roaming around washington over the weekend, under cover of darkness, ripping banners off churches. Now lets just let that sink in. They were ripping banners off churches. Now, a church has the right to put a banner on their edifice. They have a right to Freedom Of Speech in the practice of their religion. The notion that weve heard nothing from these hypocrites about religious freedom. Weve got a Candidate Down in Georgia Lecturing A Man Of God who preaches from Martin Luther kings pulpit every sunday, lecturing him about his sermons and we have the proud boys ripping banners off churches and theres nothing thats being said. It is unbelievable. And if you listen to the words at those rallies, and i did, it was chilling. They have telling people to take up arms, they are calling for martial law. It is now time. This is not, oh, let it run its course and i cant afford to really make the Hard Core Trump base mad somebodys going to get killed, nicolle, and, you know, we already have proud boys in a Knife Altercation as they were attacking a black man who was by himself in washington over the weekend and he struck out with a knife, trying to protect himself. So, it is really very dangerous right now in terms of the rhetoric that the president of United States is embracing and come on. Maybe the republicans in the senate didnt sign on this ridiculous loony toons lawsuit that went to the Supreme Court, but they are still too damn quiet. They need to speak up. Yamiche, i want to just move the goal posts on this. Theyre not quiet because they dont have the courage, at this point, i think theyre quiet because theyre fine with it. I dont think theres anything else to detect. And i think that when you look at the reporting, and yamiche, i want to ask you about this. The times is reporting that trump is not done. Nowhere close to done. As the president refusing to concede, a group of backers in congress is plotting a final Stage Challenge on the floor of the House Of Representatives in florida, to pose another awkward test of allegiance for republicans who have hoped the electoral vote this week would be the final word. If we are testing republicans this week, yamiche, you know, ill give you the answer. Let me put them into focus. The republicans will fail. The republicans are trumps servants, slaves, whatever you want to call them, but they are now soldiers in the w