That is just one of many headlines in congress tonight. Were here to help you make sense of them. From nbc news World Headquarters in new york welcome to the week. 2021 begins with 11 senators and senatorselect calling for a commission to audit the election results. Thats despite there being no evidence of a national scheme. This Group Includes republican senators ted cruz of texas, ron johnson of wisconsin, James Lankford of oklahoma, john kennedy of louisiana, and Marsha Blackburn of tennessee. Today they released a statement threatening to vote against the results without an investigation. We already heard this week from republican senator josh hawley of missouri. He announced that he plans to challenge president elect joe bidens victory. The vote on that is set for this wednesday. In a Statement Released tonight mike pences chief of staff says the Vice President welcomes the efforts of members of congress raising those objections and that he shares the concerns of millions of americans about voter fraud and irregularities in the last election. Lets be clear. This is nowhere near enough votes to block mr. Bidens inauguration and todays announcement did not include any new evidence to back up these claims. But it marks a different kind of turning point. This week Congressional Republicans had been rejecting President Trumps demands. For the first time both the senate and the house overrode a president ial veto from mr. Trump, in this case on the smirlt spending bill, so it will become law. Then Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell blocked a move to pass stimulus checks worth 2,000. President trump called for that after the covid bill had already passed congress. And it seems that leader mcconnell has something new in common with House Speaker nancy pelosi. Both of their homes got vandalized. Police in San Francisco and louisville are investigating. Graffiti about covid relief checks was spraypainted on mrs. Pelosis garage and mr. Mcconnells front door. We have plenty to focus on for next week and that includes georgias runoff elections. Those are this tuesday. And they will determine control of the senate. So lets begin in atlanta with nbc National Political reporter sahil kapoor joining us tonight. You have been talking to folks in and around atlanta. What are they telling you ahead of this election . At this point, joshua, its all down to the final stretch and that means activating turnout on both ends. The arguments have been made. Most voters have made up their mind. And now its a matter of the two parties and all four candidates to turn out the vote, activate their volunteers, knock on doors, and just to try to reach as many people as possible and get them to turn out. We know that its likely to be a turnout election because it was so close at the president ial level where joe biden eked out a win by around 11,000 votes. And well see how many of those people show up again this time. Well talk more about turnout in just a little bit but youve got some new reporting out tonight about President Trump throwing grenades into the runoff. Talk about that. Yeah. I think the president has thrown a lot of uncertainty into this election including by repeatedly questioning the legitimacy of georgias elections. Not on the president ial race but also the Senate Runoff which he specifically called illegal and invalid in a tweet. Thats not actually the case, but that really does undermine Kelly Loeffler and David Perdues effort to turn out voters. How do you ask voters to show up when the leader of your party says this election is not valid to begin with . Along with that i can also say hes been pushing congress to take up 2,000 checks and hes been blaming senate republicans, specifically Mitch Mcconnell, and the republicanled senate, for the failure to act on those and that too is making things complicated for the Georgia Republican candidates who as their central message are saying the senate needs to stay in republican hands. Yeah, was just going to ask but that and how that might affect the runoff, particularly with the 600 payments beginning to move this week. This push against the gop certifying the Electoral College results, basically the odds of that affecting anything are zero with no rounding error in terms of joe biden. What about the georgia senatorial race . Is there any indication that that effort is affecting voters at all or who they might support . Well, its energizing voters in both parties but its also making things a bit awkward for Kelly Loeffler who will be in a position to vote on this. She didnt take a clear position. Everythings on the table right now. Ive said that, that i will keep fighting for this president. Hes fought for us. He put america first. Were going to keep fighting for him. And there you see senator loeffler caught between competing imperatives. One is loyalty to President Trump [ audio difficulties ] thats where david perdue sahil, i think were having a little trouble hearing you on this and i think there may be some audio feedback between you and me. But it will be interesting to see how these two issues definitely do affect the senate race in georgia, including the military spending bill that was passed by a veto override, whether that comes up, whether the president talks about it at all and ultimately how it affects what georgians decide. Thats nbc National Political reporter sahil kapoor. Sahil thanks very much. President elect biden is getting more pushback than the senators. The Trump Administration is still dragging its feet on the transition process. Members of mr. Bidens Transition Team say theyre frustrated with the pentagon and with the office of management and budget. Apparently, theyre missing key meetings and Critical National security information. Joe biden aired his grievances publicly this week for the first time. I said from the beginning, we have encountered road blocks from the Political Leadership at the department of defense and the office of management and budget. Right now we just arent getting all the information that we need from the Outgoing Administration in key National Security areas. Its nothing short in my view of irresponsibili irresponsibility. Joining us now is adrian elrod, the director of talent and external affairs for the president ial inaugural committee. Adrian, good evening. Hi, josh. Great to be with you. Great to see you. Talk about this pushback and the impact that it may be having on the Biden Administration. Are there one or two key areas other than national defense, the fight against covid, that are also of concern to the Transition Team . You know, josh, i dont speak for the Transition Team but i can say that is not cooperating with the Incoming Administration is not a good situation. And you know, the president elect, biden, has made it very clear we are not getting the cooperation that we need out of these agencies. This is important to make sure that we have a streamlined process, an ease of transition into the next administration, that we have these communications. Hes made that clear on the Covid Vaccination process. Hes made that clear with various departments that hes not getting cooperation with. Weve got 18 days left, josh, but every single one of those days counts, and when the Current Administration is not cooperating it makes it that much more of a challenge when biden comes in. But his team is strong. Hes got a great Transition Team in place. And theyre doing all they can to make sure that on their end this transition is as smooth as fobl. Do y possible. Do you get the sense theres any progress being made on trying to make this trnz igs any smoother or are things just stuck until january 20th . I think theres probably some behindthescenes things, josh, happening that are not always making the headlines. As you know, ron klain, the Incoming White House chief of staff, steve rishetti, youve got some of the best, most experienced previous government officials who are a part of this process. So there are discussions happening that are not always making the headlines. And what matters the most is that president elect biden has a plan and youre going to see that plan put into place in 18 days. Can you be a little more precise in terms of the impact of this . I think it would be easy to look at someone like joe biden who got elected partly on his long, long, long experience in washington and say oh, well, a guy like him, he can hit the ground running in d. C. If we had, you know, blindfolded him and plugged his ears for the last 12 months, he knows how washington works, he knows how to get things rolling quickly, that might make this a little easier regardless of what the Trump Administration decides to do. What about that . His experience as a way to kind of get over the stone kahl. Certainly joe biden, president elect biden is one of the most experienced people that you could possibly imagine coming into the white house. That experience is helping. Youre seeing that happen on the hill with some of his discussions with Republican Leaders and democratic leaders. Youre certainly seeing that not just with his experience but the experience of his Transition Team. Many of the people who are working on the transition right now have deep relationships with people from previous agencies who have been working in previous agencies and previous administrations and also of course have relationships with some of those longstanding government officials who have been working at these agencies for a long time and have been there during different administrations, which is very important. So they were perhaps there under bush. They were perhaps even there under clinton and obama. Having those relationships and being able to go to those folks and make sure the transition process is as smooth as possible, just because the Trump Administration, some of the political officials may not be cooperating across the board does not mean that positive developments are not happening behind the scenes. We mentioned these 12 senators who are contemplating, or who have said theyre going to challenge the certification of the Electoral College results. Josh hawley of missouri made his announcement this week and 11 more senators made their announcements today. You can see all 12 of them on the screen now. Including some senatorselect, Tommy Tuberville of alabama, bill haggerty of tennessee, Roger Marshall of kansas and Cynthia Lummis of wyoming. All four have been newly elected. What is your sense, adrian, of what this means for how the Biden Administration might be working with the senate . Look, josh, heres what im going to tell you. On january 6th its going to become official official, not that it hasnt become official already. Were moving full speed ahead. As you know, im working on the inaugural committee. Weve got some incredible events that were planning coming up starting on january 18th, 19th and of course 20th will be the swearing in. And what we want to make sure, josh, we do as part of this inaugural committee is make sure every single american, no matter where they live, no matter what part of the country they reside in, no matter who they voted for, that they can be a part of this inauguration. So were going to have plenty of virtual events. Josh, as youll recall, the convention was one of the best conventions if not the best, that weve ever had in this country. And that was all virtual. Not one human being was in the audience. Weve got the same team, ricky kershner, one of the best producers in the country. Hes done the super bowl the last 20 years. Also done conventions. Stephanie cutter. The two of them are leading this creative effort. We are going to have an extraordinary convention, and we are im sorry, inauguration, and were going to move full speed ahead in getting this country back on track and restoring integrity to the white house. Thats what we are focusing on. Before i have to let you gow regards to the inauguration will there be any inperson events at all or will the entire thing be taking place virtually and with social distancing away from the public . Im glad you asked that, josh, because we will have some events in person. Obviously, the president elects swearing in which by tradition takes place on the west front of the capitol overseeing the washington monument. He will still be sworn in there. Were going to have a parade which is going to be a mix of inperson and virtual. We will have events that are taking place, quote unquote, in person but not with a large footprint. So again, we want to make sure that everyone in america no matter where they live can be a part of this and they will have a very closeup view of a lot of events theyre doing that are very important to getting this country back on track and moving on, which is president elect biden becoming president of the United States. Very, very briefly before i let you go, i covered the inaugural of donald trump regardless of what he says. It was definitely not the best attended. I can extend my arms on both sides of pennsylvania avenue and not touch a soul. But this year is very different because one would expect there to be a big crowd. Is the Biden Inaugural committee actively asking americans not to come to washington for the event or are there certain things you would like people to travel from out of state for and come to the district . Im glad you mentioned this, josh. We are not asking people were actively asking people to not travel to washington, d. C. It is not safe. Safety is first for us. Right . Were striking that balance and making sure that we are holding to tradition, that we are doing the swearing in and several other events that are a standard part of an inauguration but without having people travel to washington. And i can tell you, listen, its cold in washington in january. Ill be watching in my pajamas all these events. And people can do that at home. Which is what weve been doing pretty much for the last year. I can assure you youd much rather be at home watching than be in washington. Adrienne elrod, the director of talent and external affairs for the president ial inaugural committee. Adrienne, good to see you tonight. Thank you very much. Thank you, josh. There is much more to come tonight. California is a major hot spot in the nations coronavirus outbreak. Were in san jose, where hospitals are struggling to keep up with a steady stream of patients. The federal effort to develop and distribute a Coronavirus Vaccine is called operation warp speed. But its not moving anywhere near as fast as the name would imply. Why not . And how do we crank it up . Also, georgias Senate Runoff election is just days away. One incumbent senator is in quarantine after a possible covid exposure. Well preview the final days of the campaign as georgians decide which party will control the senate. And a new video game feels like an apt metaphor in this new year, especially since fans are furious about it. Well check out cyberpunk 2077, and hopefully it wont crash the show. When the week continues on msnbc. Our vision of the dark future. Ur o vision of the dark future popatch. Easy to wear with soothing vicks vapors for her, for you, for the whole family. Trusted soothing vapors, from vicks smooth driving pays off. With allstate, the safer you drive the more you save. You never been in better hands. Allstate. Click or call for a quote today. Itthe new sleep numberst pric360 smart bed. On on you never been in better hands. What if i sleep hot . Or cold . No problem, with temperature balancing you can sleep better together. 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. Dont miss our new years special, save up to 1000 on new sleep number 360 smart beds. Plus, no interest until january 2024 on all smart beds. Ends monday. The georgia Senate Runoffs are on tuesday, and turnout has been big. Voters have cast a record 3 million votes. Both parties are sending their heavy hitters to help secure control of the senate. Vice president elect kamala harris, president elect joe biden, and President Trump are all set to make their ways to georgia in the days to come. The president will make his second and final stop on monday at a rally for senators Kelly Loeffler and david perdue. But we dont expect to see mr. Perdue at that rally. Hes quarantining. Just days before the election. After a close contact of his tested positive for covid19. Will President Trumps visit help or hurt republicans chances . That remains unclear. Even to the gop. Last night the president tweeted that