good afternoon, everyone, from new york, breaking news a at this hour, from associated press, attorney general william barr telling the wire service that the justice department has not uncovered widespread voter fraud that could have changed 2020 presidential elections directly under cutting president trump's consistent claims as he

under mines brian kemp for certifying the results and suggested he could undo the results and cancel the state's runoffs which are scheduled to be held in five weeks. fact check, kemp has no authority to do that. his campaign also filed a lawsuit in wisconsin appealing the result there's, one day after that state certified its election for joe biden. the state attorney general tells the ap the state seeks to create two-tier election system to disenfranchise voters in milwaukee and madison. 50 days before being sworn in as president joe biden introduced the leading members of an economic team that he said understand what's it is to struggle. >> from the most unequal economic and job crisis in history we can build a new american economy that work for all americans. my message to everyone

struggling right now is this, help is on the way. >> joining us now nbc news white house correspondent peter alexander with the biden transition team and washington post white house reporter and msnbc political analyst, ashley, let me begin with you and this breaking news, tell us how devastating for the president's case to have his attorney general william barr under cut him and declare there has been no widespread fraud. >> well, it's just the latest credible person coming forward and explaining what most of the nation already knows which again is the election was not rigged or stolen, as you said, no credible fraud. to give you a sense how frustrated you have to imagine the president is, right before your show began the trump campaign blasted out a statement from rudy guiliani and jenna ellis addressing this very interview and took the tone of, with all due respect to the

attorney general, he doesn't know what he's talking about. so i think you are going to see a lot of this push back but again yet another person from the president's circle break from him. another thing to know, william barr has done a lot of the president's bidding. someone who entered the white house and his fellow republicans were surprised at the action he took on behalf of donald trump and loyalty to donald trump this is not a never-trumper this is a deep loyalist who risked his own reputation, president's attorney general saying this. >> may well be thrown under the bus as we seen others who cross the president on this issue of election security. let me get your thoughts peter on the biden campaign they're going full steam ahead regardless what comes out of the department of justice. how is the biden team reacting to the challenges of coronavirus cases on the rise in 37 states, hospitalization climbing faster than ever.

>> i think they're looking forward as evidence by joe biden president-elect's comments short time ago, i was at that announcement he rolled out formerly his economic team there and once again said though times are tough help is on the way. to demonstrate how tough they view this moment, consider the words of what would be the first female treasury secretary janet yellen saying right now with the fall out we're facing convergence of trads with the fed chairman jerome powell appointed by donald trump says the economy is uncertain. so joe biden rolling out a team of ground breaking individuals said are tested and experiences, folks who will focus on making life better for all americans not just for some. he has a big agenda as he

arrives in office just 50 days away, not just affordable health care but family leaver and infrastructure to create a recov recovery, a stimulus package in response to the awful tragedies created by covid but he said even if a package were to get passed in the lame duck session right now he said that would be just a start. >> let me ask what the campaign or should say president is doing they've raised $170 million since the election, something you talked about a short while ago with a constant barrage of e-mails coming out of them. they're continuing to solicit these donations, despite results to over turn in number of swing states, what does that tell us if anything about the president's mindset and intentions going forward. >> the e-mails are fairly misleading because they give an impression that this money going

to sort of an election defense fund, like fraud in the election, when in fact some of the money has gone to retire the president's campaign debt and i believe 75 percent of the money goes to a super pact the president set up for post-white house house which pays for any number of things including travel expenses. it gives a sense of one of the reasons why this president continues to fight this losing battle, in part because it's a financial boom for him, the numbers they are fundraising, the sorts of numbers you find in the middle of a campaign not the donations of a losing candidate. so there is some sort of financial advantage there and it means the president is very much planning for a political post-white house life where he is going to, not as the president, retain his vice-like grip on the republican party on the ballot it seems for the coming years. >> peter let's look ahead real

quick, we've got announcement from the biden national security team and now the economic team and some of the white house key personnel including the coms team. let's talk about the remaining announcements and timeline when any other positions might be filled, notably, secretary of defense. >> of course joe biden just over seven weeks until he's going to be sworn in on january 20th, among other names looking for is defense secretary, some names haven't been mentioned, president obama former homeland security secretary jeh johnson and michelle floornoy of the names to be considered right now. not just defense secretary, broadly last week's theme was national security focused on doomest -- zdomestic policies ad this week focussing on economic

policies, janet yellen for treasury, among the names to look for as soon as next week is who he puts in charge of the health and human services department, the people overseeing the pandemic not just economic relief but the pandemic, they will play a critical role over the next several days and weeks. >> good point on the importance of that team as well. peter, ashley, thanks to both of you for starting us off. president-elect joe biden goes into december without a pick for one of the most important cabinet positions defense secretary. e secretary. michelle flournoy concerns about this top contender "washington post" points out that the far left doesn't like her, and politico

reports the black caucus wants african-american in that post. joining me now, former pentagon official who works guys michell michellel flour noy from 2009-2011. you wrote that biden should choose a woman for defense secretary saying it would send a important and long-over due message but the biden team is concerned about his four top cabinet picks being white. does the cbc have a valid concern here? >> you know, i donenn't envy bi at all because he has an incredible group of people to choose from, jeh johnson, tammy duckworth, michelle flournoy. they're all amazing. no matter what he does some will be happy, some will be unhappy. that said, we should look beyond the optics of.

the defense department has some very particular challenges right now that are going to have to be addressed and we have to think who has the right background to address those challenges. it takes a village to fix a government that is been so badly damaged as our government has been under donald trump. and getting focused on one position is the wrong approach. what biden is doing right now is he's building a team and it's going to be a diverse team cleer clearly. he's made that commitment and it's exciting to see him keep that commitment. i'm a big fan of michelle flournoy i worked for her during the obama administration. i think there's unique things about breaking the gender barrier packing a symbolic powerful punch right now. i don't envy joe biden, he's got a hard choice ahead. >> let's talk about some of the

specifics you see at the department of defense having worked with michelle flournoy and just saying it would be important to send that message. why is nominating a woman why is nominating a woma from your perspective to be defense secretary different from nominator for other positions? >> the defense department has been uniquely and singular inhospitality to women, the largest federal agency with consistently the smallest number of women than other agencies, for instance, at the end of the obama administration there were 44 percent of senior positions at the state department were held by women compared to 22 at the pentagon, that's not an accident there were so few women in senior positions it is because of legalized sex-based discrimination. obviously the defense department -- the military was

ingraded in 1948 by presidential executive order and in that year congress passed legislation to limit number of women in the military to two percent cap even after we had long important firsts in the military for african-american, it if first four star black general, first black chief of staff it tooking in 2008 to get a woman four star general and spills over to the civilian workforce about 50 percent vetera veterans. so the same barriers to women in uniform military has made it extraordinarily hard for women to compete for top jobz at the pentagon and only five years ago the rule ended which prohibited

women to serve in combat positions that are traditionally the route to military leadership. it's unlike any other department where we've had legalized discrimination against women until literally couple years ago. that's very powerful to change that by appointing the first woman. >> very compelling argument why it should begin to change. rosa brooks thank you for your time. certainly appreciate it. >> thank you. >> going back to the breaking story from the interview from attorney general william barr we have learned he is in fact at the white house and we'll have more on this developing story including an interview with associated press journalist who conducted the interview with the attorney general and told the reporter the department of justice hasn't found evidence of widespread voter fraud. can only imagine what

that was like. more on that this hour. across the country, hospitals and icu's are near or at full capacity. after the break we're in california and rhode island where officials are pleading with residents to stay home and warning of further lockdowns and senator mitch mcconnell addressed the growing pressure to pass a new coronavirus relief deal, is help on the way for millions of americans? plus later in the hour, a very big announcement from steve cartoon steve cartoo this week on "the upper hands"... on this giving tuesday. you don't want to miss it. you're watching msnbc. msnbc.lor. international hand model jon-jon gets personal. your wayward pinky is grotesque. then a high stakes patty-cake battle royale ends in triumph. you have the upper hands! it's a race to the lowest rate, and so much more.

only on "the upper hands."

it's a race to the lowest rate, and so much more. it's moving day. and are doing the heavy lifting, jess is busy moving her xfinity internet and tv services. it only takes about a minute. wait, a minute? but what have you been doing for the last two hours? delegating? oh, good one. move your xfinity services without breaking a sweat. now that's simple, easy, awesome. xfinity makes moving easy. go online to transfer your services

in about a minute. get started today.

here are the facts in the coronavirus pandemic as we know them at this hour. next hour members of the cdc immunization advisory committee will vote which americans it recommends get coronavirus vaccine first, initial group of health care workers and elderly residents. florida to surpass 1 million cases of the virus following texas and california who passed that milestone in november. a new report finds the pandemic is exacerbating the education gap among american students, reports found black and hispanic students who attend high-poverty schools awesome -- e --

schools saw that most students recorded a drop in scores anywhere from five to ten percent points compared to last year. right now more than 96,000 people are hospitalized from the coronavirus across the u.s., another startling record. with cases accelerating at an unpresident race, california governor's gavin newsom says new projections show intensive care units could reach 112 pacapacit by christmas eve. on the east coast they've already reached capacity. joining us from burbank, california, out west, what are you hear from health care workers on the frontline? >> i'll tell you, health care workers across the state of california are worried, filled with anxiety as they watch the

state inch closer to a potential crisis situation in its hospitals, where by, you mentioned it, hospitals are over run, in just a couple weeks from now. governor newsom releasing sobering numbers yesterday, saying right now across the state icu's are at 75 percent capacity. two weeks from now they're full. and by christmas eve as you mentioned they could be over run. so obviously this is causing great concern not only for the people on the frontlines but for health care workers across the state. in santa clara county you have public health officials there comparing the hospital situation in the county to a train derailment. really trying to sound the alarm and get the attention of residents that they need to heed the warnings and stay inside. santa clara county we're seeing with some of the most restrictive measures in place across the state where they're asking folks coming into the county from 150 miles away to

self-quarantine for 14 days. they're even further restricting capacity at non-essential businesses and essential businesses. these are the facts here. i want tua take a -- you to take a listen to what a frontline nurse has to say about what's happening in california. >> many of my co-workers have left the career of nursing because it's simply too much. so we are short-staffed and we have staff falling ill from covid. when we're gone there's just nobody that's going to take care of you when you're in the hospital and that should scare everyone because someone you love and care about will be affected by this virus. >> now governor newsom saying as early as tomorrow he could be putting in even more restrictions for the state of california. >> all right, thank you from

california, let's turn now to rhode island hospitals there are capacity for covid bids, in craneston they began taking in the state's first covid paces and as the pause meant to control the rise in cases took effect. joining me now our reporter, good to talk tua again, it's been a ua again, it's been a to you again. it's been tire situation in rhode island talk about what's happening on the ground and what's done to ensure all covid patients get the care they need as they see the numbers rise. >> you know what's fascinating in hearing meghan talk earlier is she said california proposed they are two week as way from full capacity, i was here in rhode island two weeks ago who said we're two weeks away from being at full capacity and hope we won't get there but think we will, guess what, two weeks later, we're here.

earlier today i was in a different hospital and got an update there they have seven patients admit sod far. now i'm outside an alternative care facility in providence, rhode island with 600 beds and staffed for 100 patients if they need more they've staff up even more. also behind me we didn't know this was going on until we got here is a pcr testing facility a drive-through facility that we've seen all across the country. you also have rapid testing and walk up testing here and rapid testing behind my cameraman jeff as well, he can't swing around to see that i do want to bring in the director of this alternative care facility who has been working on getting this thing up and running for quite some time. thank you so much for the work you've been dog and talk -- g a you've been doing and talking to

us. how are thing going? >> things are going well. we received our first patient this morning a little before 11:00 and we've been receiving patients constantly since then and we're going to ramp up to as many patients as we can take from the hospitals to decompress the hospitals because they are full. >> so how do you figure out who gets put in this hospital versus who is kept in the other hospitals. >> we put a lot of thought into that and we devised a checklist and we monitor each patient to see which of those patients fit the profile of patient that we can see here and we go through that list every day and identify the patients, speak with them and bring them here. >> what if someone's situation gets worse, they come here and only need oxygen but they need a ventilator, if they're not getting better. >> we've designed a critical

care area, transition zone, where we can do all that stuff in this facility, even place a breathing tube or place a patient on ventilator. >> did you ever think you would be in this position setting up field hospital in the state of rhode island. >> we started setting this up in ma march it's clear we now need this facility. >> as always thank you, hope i don't get to talk to you again, hopefully next time i see you is because this skilled facility will be shut down thank you so much, and appreciate your work. >> your welcome. >> you heard from the doctor, this is a work in progress. you talked about the pause in the state, 33 percent capacity at religious institutions, 25 percent capacity at indoor dining. k through 8 schools are up and running for in-person learning,

they are just monitoring the numbers and hoping the numbers go down as they hope across the country it's really just a wait and see. >> let's hope you're not there in a month from now as it unfol unfolds. now to breaking news, attorney general william barr has told social security associated press that there's no evidence of election fraud. joining us now on the phone is the journalist who conducted that interview and broke this very important piece of news, let's talk about why the attorney general decided it speak out now, talked about how he would allow his u.s. prosecutors to investigate it and now he sat for this inter,

why do you think he did so. >> thanks for having me. attorney general was clear, the justice department started to review specific information they've received and they've been going through this since he issued that memo last month. and so sfar -- far the justice department hasn't uncovered any evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the election. don't want to speculate why attorney general would come out now to say this but it's significant for him to be saying this at this point. seems based on the investigations that have been completed. >> curious to get your thoughts on his visit to the white house at this hour. did he talk about that at all. had he communicated to the president the same answer he gave to you about the issue of voter fraud. >> sure, senior justice

department official told me earlier that the attorney general was meeting with mark meadow, the chief of staff, that meeting was pre-planned so that meeting was planned before this inter. interview. >> was this interview a spur of the moment or something in the works. trying to read into something this was something he planned on doing as he was heading to the white house or was the timing that the department of justice ultimately came to the conclusion today. >> so in the interview i does was more of a widespread interview that covered a number of topics, including the john dur investigation and claims of election fraud that president and his allies have made. >> we'll get to that john durham part as well. let's talk about the attorney general having anything to say about the president's claim that

the justice department and fbi helped to rig the election against him. did you ask about that. >> senior justice department officials have been pretty clear about this, the attorney general has privately expressed frustration about statements like that. he believes the fbi has been working diligently to investigate this and said that to me today in his interview, he believes fbi and attorneys have been diligently looking at these allegations and they have just come up with no evidence of widespread fraud that would influence the outcome of the election. >> what more work will justice department do on this issue? is this now a case-closed type of scenario when it comes to the issue of election fraud. >> i think this will be as it does in most cases will continue to investigate allegations brought to the department, u.s. attorney's offices can obviously investigate those claims under

the memo that was issued in november before the election results are certified and the fbi can continue to do that as well but based on the investigation so far again there's no evidence whatsoever of widespread fraud that would change the outcome of the election. >> let's talk about the other big headline to come out of this interview which you alluded to, that having to do with john durham, he's now appointed u.s. attorney for connecticut as special council to continue investing the originals of russian probe under the new incoming biden administration. talk about the significance of that. what more can you tell us about that move? >> sure, yeah, it was clearly a deliberate move by the attorney general and was done in october before the election happened knowing that we were going into the election and there was possibility, you know, of a new administration and possibility that that probe could end under a biden administration. you know.

so, justice department obviously has kept that under wraps, they did not make that public in line with typical guidance for election sensitivity is not making statements that would effect the outcome of the election. this is significant development, it points to durham who has additional protections, can't be fired for no reason, it makes it harder for him to be fired, deputy attorney general would have to lay out specific allegations under the statute in order to terminate him. >> thank you for that wide ranking important interview with the outgoing attorney general, william barr, we appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. >> and christopher crabbe told my colleague earlier on t"the

today show". >> are you worried about your safety, sir, this is not the first death threat, unfortunately. >> you know, i'm not going to give them the benefit of knowing how i'm reacting to this. they can know that there are things coming though. >> now it comes as the "new york times" reports you rudy guiliani discussed a potential preemptive pardon from the president before he leaves office. on twitter guiliani denied the report saying quote, hard to keep up with all their lies. the white house has not yet commented. now joining us our nbc news reporter, let's start with president trump lawyer what is he saying about the comments from christopher. >> he's trying ing ting to def rhetoric putting out a statement claiming he was being sarcastic and those remarks were made in jest and said anyone listening would be obvious and wish

mr. krebs no harm. for those who read it it was was not obviously he was joking, he sounded quite serious when he made these comments an is on the periphery of the trump campaign legal strategy. he hasn't been the face of the battles, he works closely with rudy guiliani, he is somebody who does sort of speak as a surrogate for the president. so the fact we haven't heard from anyone in the white house denouncing these comments notable itself and the campaign standpointing to this statement and that's why you have chris krebs saying he will pursue any legal option and that seemed to prompt this statement. i have to tell you it's quite striking because when sydney powell who was sort of working at the campaign and appearing ins press conference in professional capacity made baseless claim and put out a

formal statement distancing themselves from her and making it clear she doesn't represent the president. they haven't done that yet with degeniva. >> all right thank you for that. up next we'll talk about potential relief bill after bipartisan members meet, they were at a loss for words when reporter asked about white house. >> someone asked basket white house. i wouldn't be the best to speak on that. you want to speak on that mitt? >> wish i were there. there

last hour senate majority leader mitch mcconnell spoke to reporters and responded to growing pressures to pass a new coronavirus relief deal before the end of the year. watch. >> we just don't have time to

waste, we have a couple weeks left here, obviously it does require billups support to get out of the congress but it requires a presidential signature. are we actually making a law or are we just making a point? i think the way you make a law for sure is you know you got a presidential signature. >> now this follows remarks earlier from a bipartisan group of senators who presented their own coronavirus relief framework and urged their colleagues to act quickly. >> we're battling covid-19 more fiercely now than ever before, we recognize that, it is inexcusable for is to leave town and not have an agreement. >> republicans and democrats neither of us got everything we wanted, both of us got much of what we wanted. >> if we pass it it's victory for the american people. this is step one. we have a lot of step going forward. >> the only time to borrow money is when there's a crisis and

this is a crisis. >> it would be stupidity on steroid s if congress left for christmas without doing an interim package. >> joining me now senator from maryland a mefb the is a appreciate iations budget and banking committee. good to have you with us. before we get to the coronavirus relief bill want your thoughts on bill barr saying d.o.j. found no evidence of widespread voter fraud. watch this from chuck shum ore. >> in response to attorney general william barr he's next to be fired since he too says no fraud, trump seems to fire everyone in that regard. >> do you think bill barr will be fired shortly? what do you make of the attorney general appointmenting special counsel to investigate the

russian probe. >> good to be with you and the pattern in this administration seems to be anybody who tells the truth gets fired. you talked about chris krebs who pointed out there's no interference in this election, he got fired. attorney general barr is obviously late in stating the obvious here. he obviously fueled a lot of the misinformation early on but his statement i'm sure will not be welcome at the white house. i'm sorry what was your second question? >> the second headline from that interview which is that the attorney general has appointed john durham at the level of special counsel, essentially shielding him, if you will, from any new incoming administration that may want to terminate that investigation. >> right this is clearly an effort just to perpetuate the president's conspiracy. theories. he pressed, as we all know, to get a decision and say public statement before the election

and tried to interfere with the election, that didn't happen and so this is a little bit of the president's hail mary at the last minute to try to perpetuate this additional fraud on the american people. >> let's talk about the american people at the moment, i'm sure more care about coronavirus relief bill. mitch mcconnell seems focused on getting the administration read on what is potential rather than the new compromised legislation being worked out by some members of his own party. do you think it say tactical mistake by senate majority leader putting the needs of the white house before those of the american people. >> that's exactly what he's doing, he's contracting out the responsibilities of senate and the house to the president of the united states which is no way to conduct business in the united states senate, especially right after this very positive development, a bipartisan agreement laying out a framework

as has been said this doesn't have everything everybody wants but i see it as a stop gap measure to take us through these very tough winter months as the coronavirus is spiking and people are hurting, as a lot of the protections expire at the end of december. it would be absolutely shameful for the congress to go home at the end of december for the christmas holidays without providing additional relief to the american people. and that's what this does. it's a bridge until we get to the biden-harris administration and here we see mitch mcconnell pouring cold water on a bipartisan proposal from a lot of his own senate members. >> it's a double whammy, you have only ten days until the government runs out of funding, on top of the need for the coronavirus relief assistance you just outlined. do you think it is possible, this $908 billion bipartisan bill, this compromise could get

the support it needs in time? >> it certainly is possible. you know, senator mcconnell knows very well where there is a will there's a way here. he clearly is trying to throw up road blocks to this effort because it wasn't controlled by him, it doesn't have everything he wants in it, has some things he doesn't, but that's how we have to get this done right now. there's no doubt we can get this done. need to keep the government open, that's on track, right now we have to get that done by december 11. there's no reason we can't add this additional relief package to that poos of legislation. -- piece of legislation. we shouldn't let mcconnell contract it out to the white house. i point ed out to secretary mnuchin that president trump tweeted when it comes to

coronavirus we should go big this is real mitch mcconnell trying to get the white house to under mine a proposal he doesn't like. >> incredible. senator, thank you so much nor your time. appreciate it as always. up next our own steve kornacki answers the call on this giving tuesday, when this year perhaps more than ever the need across our communities is being felt much more acutely. stay with us for a very, very, special announcement. ery, special announcement ♪ [ beeping ] [ engine revs ] ♪ uh, you know there's a 30-minute limit, right? tell that to the rain. [ beeping ] for those who were born to ride, there's progressive.

tget an iphone 12 with 5g on us on every single plan. switch now and save 20% on your bill vs. the other guys. that's right. iphone 12 on us. it's time to holiday on with t- mobile. smells more amazing than ever. flings now so their laundry isn't that the dog's towel? hey, me towel su towel. more gain scent plus oxi boost and febreze in every gain fling. ♪ ♪ you're all, you're all i need ♪ ♪ you're all, you're all i need ♪ ♪ as long as i got you then baby ♪ ♪ you know that you've got me, oh! yea...♪ ♪

$$9.95? no way.? ♪ you know that you've got me, oh! yea...♪ $9.95? that's impossible. hi, i'm jonathan, a manager here at colonial penn life insurance company, to tell you it is possible. if you're age 50 to 85, you can get life insurance with options starting at just $9.95 a month. okay, jonathan, i'm listening. tell me more. just $9.95 a month for colonial penn's number one most popular whole life insurance plan. there are no health questions to answer and there are no medical exams to take. your acceptance is guaranteed. guaranteed acceptance? i like guarantees. keep going. and with this plan, your rate is locked in for your lifetime, so it will never go up. sounds good to me, but at my age, i need the security of knowing it won't get cancelled as i get older. this is lifetime coverage as long as you pay your premiums. it can never be cancelled, call now for free information.

you'll also get this free beneficiary planner. use this valuable guide to record your important information and give helpful direction about your final wishes to your loved ones. and it's yours free. it's our way of saying thank you just for calling. so call now. i will send out an army to find you in the middle of the darkest night gsz zblaunchtsds. . gsz zblaunchtsds oh, i will rescue you

all right, so it is giving tuesday and msnbc is proud to return as signature media partner, throughout the day we're highlighting charities who help those who help the most. this hour, no kid hungry, is a campaign with the goal of ending childhood hunger, a huge problem in normal times with 10 million children hungry in the u.s. but the coronavirus pandemic as you can imagine has made the situation much worse, at least one in four children could go without food because of the pandemic. one of the partners in the fight duff goldman celebrity chef and owner of dharm charm city cakes. >> i support no kid hungry because feeding kids that are hungry is the most important

thing you can be doing right now. extraordinary times call for extraordinary generosity. >> we are pleased to be joined by founder of the parent organization for no kid hungry campaign along with celebrity chef duff goldman great to have you with us. how has your organization seen children's need change since the pandemic. have school closing made the situations worse. >> you put your finger on it, it's been profound, so many kids in this country depend on schools to get meals for breakfast for lunch and so those have gonna way and we've had to fund schools across this country to the tune of $46 million in just the last several months so that they could feed kids in alternative ways. the most important thing to realize is as bad as the problem is, it's increased greatly, it's solvable. we have no shortage of food or

food programs this in country, this is a problem we can solve and giving tuesday is a perfect way for people to get involved and support us. >> certainly is. duff what was it about this program that appealed to you? >> you about this program that appealed to you? >> well, i think just as a chef, we sort of look at problems and we're like, how can i help, how can i help? when it comes to feeding people, that's what we do. we love to feed people and this was a problem that we could actually solve and i've seen it in effect in my own community in baltimore, no kid hungry came in and were serving at schools, i've been to the schools and you really see the difference that the kids sort of have in their day, you know, they're fed so they can concentrate, they can learn. it's a really, really big problem and it's something that we can solve. >> let's talk a little bit about the efforts, billy, if i can, as you mentioned and obviously since the coronavirus began, your campaign has provided

emergency grants to those schools and to local nonprofits, advocating for specific policy changes, which i think sometimes goes underreported. and it's helped find free meals in kids neighborhoods for more than 200,000 families. let's talk about that component of it. can you describe your work on capitol hill and talk about how to use the free meals finder that you guys have set up? >> yes, so, you know, if you go to the no kid hungry website, you find all of the resources you need to make a difference on this issue. you can donate, you can find free meals, you can get information on how to do advocacy. as you just pointed out, our charitable efforts go a long, long way and we're providing schools with everything they need to feed kids, even if they're outside of school. personal protective equipment, storage, refrigeration, but policy is the key to reaching and solving this problem at scale. so an increase in a snap program, a 15%, which would be on $25 per person in a family,

make an enormous difference getting families through this winter. we're hoping the congress will act on that, whether it's part of a stimulus package or separately. but congress does need to act so that we can get the snap increase through. then families have the resources they need to make their own choices on how to best feed their kids healthy food. >> duff, let me ask you about something that is close to your heart that is baking. you've seen kids start their own bake sales. can you talk about the power of food and the best way the public can support this campaign? >> yeah, absolutely. you know, it's giving tuesday and, you know, if everybody is blessed enough to be able to give, that would be fantastic. if you can't, there are other ways to be an advocate. you can see things like holding a bake sale, you know, watching kids baking stuff, first of all, is just wonderful, right? watching kids bake anything and seeing that sense of accomplishment is great. but when taking those baked goods and raising money for no kid hungry, you really see how the kids kind of get this idea

of how giving back is something they can actually do and they can effect change themselves. and i think it's a really powerful thing we can give them. >> as a father of a 3-year-old, one of the best experiences i had was watching her trying to bake a pie. thank you so much. to learn more about the no kid hungry and other programs that are meeting the needs of our communities during the covid-19 pandemic, visit nbc news.com/givingtuesday. and joining me now with more on giving tuesday, our very own steve kornacki from nbc news. steve, you have a special announcement. >> we do, amin. let me set this up, take a look here. the last month, i spent a lot of time here at this board. election week i spent a lot of time here. there was a lot of r that surprised me during election week. how long it took to get results in some places. but there was something else i have to say that also caught me offguard as i was at this board election week and it had to do with my clothes. and more specifically my pants.

now, i think -- this is election week, this is every day, you notice a pattern. to me, these are the standard -- khaki pants, it's what i wear, kind of what it was. but some people apparently did notice that week and that is something i can honestly tell you i never expected. it completely caught me offguard and among those who noticed was the gap. the gap is the maker of the khaki pants, they were very excited to see their pants on television, the gap got in touch with me and said, we were so excited, we'd like to give you free khaki pants for lifetime. >> wow. >> now, i go through about one pair of pants every five or ten years, i don't need much when it comes to that, also that's much too big of a gift for me to be accepting. i said thank you but no thank you and the gap said, well, we have something else in mind, and that gets to what you're talking about here today, amin, and that is giving tuesday. and here is what the gap said on giving tuesday they would do, instead of giving me pants, see

this? these -- would be lifetime supply of pants for me instead is going to go to the boys and girls clubs of america to what they call their workforce readiness program. this is a great charity, the boys and girls clubs of america, a great organization. it helps young americans connect with others, meet mentors, be ready to enter the work force. so, they're going to supply 500 pairs -- this is only a small sampling here, 500 pairs of these khaki pants to the work force readiness program of the boys and girls club of america in my name and there is more than that. there's more that the gap is willing to give, as well, and this is where you, everybody at home, comes in, potentially. they are inviting you to take part in what they're calling the #sharethegapdream. here's how this works. between now and the end of the year, for every qualifying post

that they get, $10 is going to go from the gap to the boys and girls clubs of america. this is up to $50,000. so, the gap willing to give $50,000 to the boys and girls clubs of america on this giving tuesday and amin, for folks wondering, how do i make a qualifying post, how do i get involved, nbcnews.com/givingtuesday, all the details are there, but very generous here from gap, very glad we could help facilitate this. >> absolutely. kudos for you to putting the spotlight on the gap. i have my own khaki pants right here in solidarity. the nice thing about being an anchor, you don't always have to show your pants like you do, but i get to show some solidarity, steve. >> that maybe counts as a qualifying video, that could be $10 right there, amin. >> steve, thank you so much, appreciate the work you've been doing for us. i've see you right back here at 3:00 p.m. eastern. "deadline white house" with

nicolle wallace starts right after this quick break. right after this quick break 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.

hi, everyone. it's 4:00 in new york. not two days after donald trump's accusation that the barr-led justice department was, quote, missing in action as an ally in his fraudulent claim that the election was rigged against him, attorney general bill barr today repudiated donald trump's lie about widespread voter fraud. barr, who is a staunch ally of trump and who often makes headlines for subverting the rule of law in service of trump, today put a nail in the coffin of trump's fantasy that his loss to joe biden was somehow illegitimate. in an interview, barr puts it rather bluntly. quote, to date, we have not seen fraud on the scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election. rudy giuliani and jenna ellis, tru trump's legal team accused the justice department o