Going on, the president was publicly lashing out on steven hahn on twitter for not getting this done faster and having his own staff and chief of staff lash out to him privately because we are told that mark meadows did call dr. Hahn this morning and basically, complaining if they did not get this coronavirus authorized, this emergency authorization granted by the ends of the d ofe may not have a job. The job security of the fda commissioner now in question after the white house steve of staff told him to be prepared to resign if his agency doesnt grant emergency use authorization of pfizers vaccine by the ends of the day. Sources say mark meadows called dr. Steven hahn this morning after President Trump spent the week venting that the uk had already rolled out vaccines. Top Government Health officials have said emergency authorization is in the works. The fda informed pfizer that they do, intend, to proceed towards an authorization for their vaccines. Reporter but things arent moving quickly enough for President Trump. Today, he called the fda a moneydrenched big slow turtle on twitter, adding get the damn vaccines out now, dr. Hahn. Stop playing games and start saving lives. Tension has been building between the white house and fda for weeks. Leading to multiple meetings between meadows and hahn where the fda commissioner has denied he was pressured. The same, i think, as being sort of pressured by you, although youre not really pressuring me by asking questions about why it takes us so long. I think its a natural question. I dont mind being asked that so, no, i dont think its any different than this. Reporter after meadows warned he could be fired, hahn issued a statement saying it was an untru representation of their call and that the fda was encouraged to continue working expeditiously. Stewing behind closed doors today, President Trump had multiple targets in his sight in addition to the fda including Benazir Bhutto and barack obama . He acknowledged he wont be in office much longer complaining the Biden Administration will be a scandaledplagued mess for years to come. Trump spokesperson said it wasnt a concession but his latest effort to overturn the election. I think that was sort of a couched in terms of, you know, if, in fact, but i dont think he was conceding anything in particular. He is still litigating his case in the courts. Reporter now back to what is going on with dr. Hahn. When you talk to fda officials, they basically describe many extremely difficult situation they have been put in where they are trying to walk a fine line between getting this vaccine approved quickly but not undercutting Public Confidence in the vaccines given the reports that stephanie laid out there. Dr. Hahn said they will not approve a vaccine that regulators have said is not safe or effective but people in the white house saying why settle the head of the fda with six weeks to go left in office . That remains to be seen if that question will be answered and whether or not dr. Hahn will ultimately be offered. You heard dr. Offit who is on the Fda Committee who expected dr. Hahn to okay this vaccine today or tomorrow any way so there is no what he called saber rattling or other words i can call it. We are behind the curve and one top fda Health Official told cnn on the lack of messaging. Sara has this reporting. This is after we saw the first members of the publics g get th vaccine in the uk. Reporter earlier this week there wasnt a plan to do something similar in the u. S. And that lines up really with some of the frustration we have been hearing from Public Health organizations and state Officials Say for months hear an effort to educate the American Government and seen contracts ink designed to be Public Awareness campaigns and some have not seen the fruition of that. We are on the cusp of shots going into arms they are particularly concerned. States are especially concerned because they havent had additional money coming into them from congress. They say we have to not only educate our residents how safe and effective this vaccine is but explain to people where and when they can get the vaccine and they dont feel they have had the support they need from the federal government. From the federal side officials at operation warp speed and hhs say this campaign is starting up perhaps quietly than we thought. They point to events at the white house and bigger robust paid Media Campaign will be under way beginning next week. A lot of folks are concerned that could already than too late. We have seen the private sector stepping up to try to fill the information void. Pharmacies putting out signs saying we dont have this vaccine yet, check back later. We have seen the ad council saying they are going to have a Big Ad Campaign so a lot unknown and what we have seen from the president is not helping the Public Confidence around the vaccine. I would imagine that. Sara murray, thank you. Joining me is the head of operation warp speed dr. Moncef slaoui. Thank you for joining me. I dont want to put you in a position you have to respond to a phone call between mark medicines do medicine dose and dr. Hahn from the fda. I dont want to put you in an awkward position. But i want to ask this question. Are you concerned that this story that the white house is pressuring the fda could undermine confidence in a vaccine that you feel very positive about . Yes, i think there is an important opportunity there for people to see undue pressure if the story is right. I just heard before this that dr. Hahn said it wasnt a true reproduction of what happened. I can say because i watched all of the events yesterday is that it was an outstanding set of discussion, presentations by the fda, presentation by pfizer, the discussion that the Advisory Committee had. They really honed on very important questions around the age or so around potentially the people that have very severe allergies and the country for the whole day see that this was an effective transparent thorough indepth review. Now the fda is clearly in the very last steps of approving. They may approve today or tomorrow. I dont see the reason for any pressure if that has happened. As i said, i wouldnt be able to know whether it has happened or not. Right. I guess here is the question because its so important that so many people, at least 70 of the American Public get this vaccine. What do you want the American People to know about this vaccine if they are skeptical . Maybe they dont trust President Trump . Maybe they dont trust dr. Fauci. Maybe black americans and they are aware of the hideous history of the tuskegee experiment and doctors using blacks as agaigui pigs. What would you want us tonow . Frankly, two words. Keep an open mind and trans transparen transparency. Please keep an open mind and from the fda is 100 transparency of the data and everything people look into. Experts, on the other hand, Specialty Independent from the fda and operation warp speed should look into the data and say what they think. I feel very confident as they do that that they will explain this vaccine has exceptional efficacy and excellent safety profile that is comparable to many approved vaccines, and, therefore, that it should be used in the populations have been identified and i think the experts yesterday voted very favorably for the vaccine and i assume that those voted against it that some of those that did, did so because of the age brackets, 16 to 18 years of age as a discussion supported. So that is what i would say. Please allow yourself to be exposed to the data and information before making up your mind. If you do that, its very likely you would be convinced. Let me caution people out there. Because somebody is on twitter and claims they are an expert does not mean they actually know what they are talking about. Do some research as to who that person is, where they got their medical training, or their training in immunology. Make sure people claiming to be experts are experts before you listen to them. I want to get your react thank you for that, jake well, its important in this day where, you know, there is a great place of megaphones. I want to ask where the u. S. Stands right now when it comes to messaging to convince americans to take the Covid Vaccine . We ran a report yesterday from tennessee where ellie reeve talked to a pastor who is very negative about this based purely on ignorance because he nodoesn know what he is talking about. What is your fact that the messaging campaign does appear to be behind schedule . Listen. We have made sure that we, for the last, frankly, what, two months, we are present in the media to discuss what we have done. The messaging, the specific message is around data to the vaccine can only be done once that information is public. We cant talk about it when its not public and when the agency has not said the performance of the vaccine, you know, is this and that and its benefits outweigh its risks, et cetera. Now that that is the case, we have to go out there and engage with all of the leadership at all levels in our communities to help explain the features with of the vaccine, its performance, and hopefully engage with people and convince them but we frankly couldnt do it effectively before because we couldnt be very specific. Of course. You cant say the vaccine is safe if the vaccine has not been approved yet and that makes sense. Exactly. The world did get to watch this week in the uk when the first brits got their coronavirus vaccines. I imagine that was very reassuring to people to see people getting the vaccine, doing well, saying it didnt even hurt. Is there anything like that planned in the u. S. . Will President Trump, for example, get the vaccine on camera to assure his supporters that the vaccine is safe . Frankly, i dont know whether President Trump will take the vaccine. I know that President Trump was infected not long ago with coronavirus and that is a situation i think where his physician would need to really advise on because its kind of different to be a known person that has been infected and has received these could be all things that potentially can impact the immunization process. However, i can tell you that there are plans to have people being immunized. I would like to be immunized at the right moment when my turn in terms of priorization in public. I would like my family to be vaccinated. In order to demonstrate to the people that we are walking the talk, we believe this vaccine is safe and the vaccines that will follow, if they are approved, they will be approved on the basis of being effective and safe and, therefore, we take them. So the fda advisory group, they looked at it, but they didnt make judgments, i believe, correct me if im wrong, about this. They didnt make judgments about whether or not the vaccine is safe for kids 16 or under, pregnant women, people with allergies to vaccines and two medications. When with we finding out about them . I supposed pregnant women and children are of most concern to the viewers right now. So, clearly, there were no data in pregnant women of any relevance to recommend the vaccine for pregnant women and there were no data in children of any significance blol telow age of 16 and particularly below the age of 12. Actually, moderna announced they started study to go for that indication. However, what the Advisory Committee was asked to vote on is whether the vaccine was safe and effective in people age 16 and above. The vote was positive. Therefore, it is conclusive of people between 16 and 18. I believe its the fdas decision, and i dont know what their decision will be, to decide on that bracket of 16 to 18. Clearly, the companies we are supporting them, to study these vaccines in people that are 18 to 12, 12 to 5 or 6, 5 or 6 to 2 and 2 and below and that goes stage wise and, you know, we need to have more than a thousand to 2,000 individuals per group to be able to document the response and the safety of the vaccine in those populations. Pharmaceuticals companies are going to do testing with those kids in groups . Is that going to happen . Absolutely. It started today. It started today. Okay. An official tells cnn that most governors have informed you at operation warp speed that they expect to use up all of the vaccines they are getting 2. 9 million doses within days of receiving the first shipment. So what happens then . When will states be able to get more vaccines . So the plan is to ship vaccines once a week and to inform the governors a week in advance about the number of doses they will be receiving. Those vaccines, those that they receive are meant to be used in full in the population during that period of a week, because the same states will receive an identical number of doses in the case of Pfizer Vaccine three weeks later to give to the recipients of the first dose earlier. The number of vaccines shipped will increase week on week because of the rampup in manufacturing at pfizer and also hopefully when the Moderna Vaccine gets approved, if it gets approved next week, that would be quite a significant boost of vaccine to be distributed. So maybe in the first week, 34069 vaccine those will be, you know, injected within three or four days. Thereafter, i think it will take a week. Id like to note in the uk, i learned this morning, i have interactions with my uk counterpart every other week indepth, 2,000 people have been vaccinated in the first two days. I think that is an appropriate pace if i exemplify one significant states would be equivalent to the uk, just to see how things are ramping up, are going. Today, for instance, also training of 3,300 people have attended, a Life Training on video to educate people on how to use the vaccine and how to prepare it for immunization, et cetera. Then they will practice and start slow and then ramp up. Dr. Moncef slaoui, thank you so much for what you do and for your time today. I appreciate it. Thank you for having me. Go birds. Any moment the Supreme Court could weigh no a lawsuit they are calling a coup attempt. Many americans are on the brink. No jobs, no food. Many close to being evicted. How close is congress to finally reaching a deal to help the desperate American People . That is ahead. 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Man 3 vo ask your rheumatologist about humira. Woman 4 vo go to humira. Com to see proof in action. Now every bath fitter bathbath fis installed quickly, safely, and beautifully, with a lifetime warranty. Go from old to new. From worn to wow. The beautiful bath youve always wanted, done right, installed by one expert technician, all in one day. Weve been creating moments like these for 35 years, and were here to help you get started. Book your free virtual or inhome Design Consultation today. Unfortunately, we are still limiting inperson appointments due to the pandemic and well need to move your fathers visit to a later date. Were sorry. Of panera deals that make you want to move. doorbell rings duh duh upbeat music duh duh duh duh duh duh duh [announcer] for a limited time, get a 5 off perk on your panera order, only on. [group] grubhub [announcer] grub what you love. Politics lead. Any minute we could happier the Supreme Courts decision on this deranged lawsuit from the Texas Attorney general challenging the Election Results of four states that president elect joe biden won. Today, believe it or not, 20 additional House Republicans announced their support for that crazy lawsuit bringing the number to 126 much to the republican partys embarrassment and shame, lets discuss. Abby, legal experts on both sides of the aisle, credible ones, have resoundingly said that they think the Supreme Court, even though they have three trump appointed justices will resoundingly reject this challenge being as its nuts. So why are all of these House Republicans signing onto it . Its the same reason that they will not say a cross word about this president. They have to show their loyalty and their allegiance. Each and every one of those districts, for the most part, you have republicans that are reliant on a base that effectively worships President Trump. They cant cross him on this and the whole point of a couple of days ago, there was a letter sent out to members urging them to sign on to this. It was partly because there is a desire for the president to see who is behind him. He is asking to see the names, the list of names so that he can hold accountable the people who are with him or against him. This is nothing more than the president showing off his political must, proving to republicans that he is going to be a Political Force to reckon with right now, as well as potentially in four years if he does decide to run again. So conservative legal experts, conservatives have called this lawsuit garbage, insanity. I dont know one who has said even anything holding back at all. It is truly embarrassing and you could go into detail and find examples of how nuts it is, just the idea that they didnt they pretend not to understand the Texas Attorney general that the votes that came in in the middle of the night between tuesday and wednesday were largely votebymail and democrats used that disproportionately antisaying its a mystery and evidence of fraud, its not. We were saying that for weeks before. Jackie, at any time any of this backfires, forget outgoing President Trump, on these House Republicans . Just as an anchor, i can say how am i supposed to take any of these people seriously ever again . Its unclear if this will backfire on them because to abbys point, if youre someone in a trump district who loves President Trump and think everything he says is true, youre rallying to these lawmakers and think its a great idea. The people im most confused about are the lawmakers from michigan, georgia, pennsylvania who signed on to this because they havent really squared how this whole corruption was corrupt why they should be in the seat they are in. You mean they havent resigned . I would think they would say i was elected fraudulent, i need to resign totally. But they havent really squared that. But they are not going to. Those are the folks i just wonder if there is gckoing to b any repercussions from them. Look at this headline from pbs. I dont want to embarrass them but here it is. I love pbs but there is nothing conservative about this. The brief is a joke. It destroys any concept of states rights. Its not going to be upheld but if it were, it would mean from now on, new york can sue alabama because new york doesnt like alabamas voter i. D. Requirements. This is only about loyalty to trump, right . It is totally the opposite of a conservative, you know, you could say im suing and take it to Supreme Court and have Supreme Court throw out every single ballot that was cast in that state. None of has has to do with idealology. Small government, you know, alliances all over seas and things that characterized the party or want to characterize the party. Limited spending and bringing down debt, its not about any of those things any more. Its about what President Trump wants it to be about. That is why the republican partys platform in 2020 was effectively whatever the president says it is. They didnt even bother to do a platform because it was about the personality of President Trump. Somebody got in my ear. It wasnt a pbs headline. It was Associated Press headline that appeared on the pbs website. My apologies to pbs. I love my colleagues from a. P. But that headline was ridiculous. Thank you both. How a single medical convention in boston led to more than 300,000 coronavirus cases around the world. Stay with us. Youre all, youre all i need youre all, youre all i need as long as i got you then baby you know that youve got me, oh yea. burk customer deepsomething like that. You know that youve got me, oh yea. burke well, heres Something Else with your farmers policy perk, new car replacement, you can get a new one. customer that is Something Else. burke get a whole lot of something with farmers policy perks. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum twto treat acute, nonlow back stmuscle and joint pain doctors with topical nsaids first. A formulation they recommend can be found in salonpas. A formulation they recommend can be found in salonpas. Salonpas. Its good medicine. Hisamitsu. We are back with breaking news in our health lead. Moments ago, cdc advisers say they expect fda authorization for the pfizer Covid Vaccine before tomorrow morning. As soon as the fda makes this final decision, it will be the cdc who gives the final signoff for americans to be vaccinated as cnns nick watt now reports. Reporter any minute, the fda could sign off on that historic thumbs up. So we do have a favorable vote. Reporter from their advisory panel. The fda informed pfizer that they do intend to proceed towards an authorization for their vaccine. Reporter medic shippers are ready for the most complicated and consequential vaccine rollout in american history. Its the beginning of the end of this crazy pandemic. Reporter this weekend the cdc will likely sign off on the vaccine and who gets it. Maybe monday, shots in arms. We could be seeing people getting vaccinated, monday, tuesday of next week. Reporter but it will be as early as the spring before most people can get a vaccine. The challenge, in the meantime, keeping as Many Americans alive as possible. Probably for the next 60 to 90 days we are going to have more deaths per day than we had on 9 11. Reporter already averaging well over 2,000 lives lost every single day that will rise because we are also averaging well over 200,000 new cases every day and that number has never been higher. Los angeles just smashed its daily case count high. In this year of constant crises, this is the greatest crisis we have ever faced. Reporter in virginia, overnight curfew kicks in on monday. If you dont need to go out, go home. This is just plain common sense. Reporter new york city and all of pennsylvania will close Indoor Dining again we need to take further mitigation actions to protect pennsylvanians and stop the spread of covid19. We all hope it would not come to this. Reporter it has but at least there is now real hope. If we have a smooth Vaccination Program where everybody steps to the plate quickly, we could get back to some form of normali itity reasonably quickly in the summer and certainly the fall. The economy back up and running and all kids back in school. Right now, pfizer is studying its vaccine for use in the 12 to 16 age group. Remember, pfizer is not necessarily going to be the only game in town. Modernas vaccine about a week behind that Fda Committee will meet on that next thursday. Jake, maybe this time next week, we will have another vaccine to be all excited about. Back to you. Nick watt, thank you so much. Cnn chief medical correspondent dr. Sanjay gupta joins me now. Sanjay, the white house is ordering the white house chief, dr. Steven hahn, to authorize the Pfizer Vaccine by the end of the day or else he has to resign according to Kaitlan Collins reports. Cdc advisers think it will be authorized by the latest tomorrow morning any way. Do you share dr. Moncef slaoui concern that this pressure by mark meadows, the white house chief of staff, might undermine less confidence in the vaccine . I really do. I spoke with steven hahn about this very issue a few days ago. He got a smoummons to talk to mk meadows. You could see the inner workings of the Fda Committee. I talk to other colleagues to get a sense and people were pleased with that level of discourse and then the entanglement of politics again. Its a concern. What dr. Hahn told me was that they have a very strong Regulatory Framework here and trying to answer some questions and need a Legal Framework they have to abide. It may be as early as 10 00 a. M. Tomorrow is what we are hearing. Why this bluster makes no sense and undermining the president s only achievement by approving operation warm speed. A new study use s genetic fingerprinting that the biotech conference in february we covered in boston at the time led to 333,000 cases 6 covid across the United States and europe, making it one of the latest documented superspreader events in the u. S. What does this say to you about the scale and what we can be doing that doesnt happen again . Yeah. This was stunning. I looked at this study and it was using basically identified a very specific mutation in the virus and was able to use that mutation as a fingerprint to essentially trace and they found that one person, one individual likely led to 245,000 cases himself or hear herself. We deo not even know. This was back in february and we were still figuring things out by then but that was the largest superspreader event. Florida has accounted for the most cases overall but that was the largest superspreader event in massachusetts. What works is in the things we have learned certainly over time since then. When you look at these significant rates of increase at a hyperlocal level like in arizona, for example, you find that as the numbers went up in those places, when you started to put in these Public Health measures like people at least mandate of masks for a period of time, no public gatherings, you know, creating physical distancing, you could actually bend the curve down fairly quickly within a few weeks. That is the thing. You know . All of the discussion about the vaccine, it is important, it is powerful. But its going to take a while. Masks are surgical and how quick they can work and we have seen that over and over again. Quickly if you could, at least 200 hospitals in the u. S. Are completely full. Onethird of hospitals are at 90 capacity. Should people being avoiding hospitals at this point . Not yet, jake. We have been talking. It depends where you live but i think for people who have certainly urgent issues should still be going to the hospital. Telehealth is a great option for other things. Telehealth has really grown the last nine months. Setup Telehealth Communications now if you havent done so already. That can help take care of a lot of visits. The medical organizations are not advising people to skip going to the hospital certainly for urgent or emergency things just yet. We are not there yet. Thank you. President elect biden trying to put out a fire the Trump White House started minutes before he took the stage. Stay with us. To directly engage floors and dig deep into carpets. Pick up more on every pass with no hair wrap. Shark vertex with duoclean power fins. The only thing a disaster cant destroy is hope. Donate now at redcross. Org hey kim with 5 cash back on travel purchased through chase from freedom unlimited, you can now earn even more. Book that hotel kim, because you are worth it. I am worth it. Now earn 5 on travel purchased through chase and so much more. Chase. Make more of whats yours. Fighting cancer starts with you. Covid has devastated our funding for lifesaving research. Help us help patients. Donate today. Help us help patients. Now, braava jet mops right where you need it with an adjustable Precision Jet spray and an advanced pad system. And offers personalized cleaning suggestions unique to your home. Braava jet m6 and the irobot home app. Only from irobot. Braava jet m6 and the irobot home app. Okay, give it a try. Between wisdom and curiosity, theres a bridge. Between ideas and inspiration, trauma and treatment. Gained a couple of more pounds. Thats good for the babies. Between the moments that make us who we are, and keeping them safe, private and secure, theres webex. Beautiful. President elect biden introduced another level of cabinet nominees. Biden kicked off the event by stressing the political independence of the covid19 vaccine. As tough as things are now, i firmly believe better days are ahead. Reporter president elect said politics should be set aside to guide america through the coronavirus virus. He reassured the nation the vaccine was scientifically sound and soon to be fully authorized. We are as grateful to the public scientists and public experts who evaluated its safety and efficiency free from political flungs. I want to make it clear to the public, you should have confidence in this. There is no political influence. Reporter he announced more cabinet picks today and turned to trusted allies he has long relationships with. They bring bold new thinking and deep experience and above all they know how government should and can work for all americans. Reporter biden has settled on more than half of his cabinet now with several familiar faces from the obama era. Latest is Dennis Mcdonagh as tom vilsack and susan rice. But many are new roles like the new u. S. Trade representative. Trade is like any other tool in our domestic or foreign policy. It is not an end in itself. It is a means to create more hope and opportunity for people. Reporter ohio congresswoman marsha fudge is one of the new additions and nominated today as secretary of housing and urban development. We will help people believe once again that their government cares about them, no matter who they are. Reporter yet some of these flashbacks are stirring criticism from various corners of the Democratic Party and particularly the progressives saying they are experienced and crisis tested and diverse. One top biden ally telling cnn the following. Biden and harris named Time Magazine of the year. She is the first woman to be a heartbeat away from the presidency and the first time a Vice President elect has been chosen. Biden has not said when he plans to at that time vaccine. He was asked that directly today and he did not answer. His aides say they are going to way and see how the authorization proceeds over the weekend but he could take it as early as next week. The president elect was asked about the biden investigation and he simply said, i am proud of my son. Millions of americans are frankly on the brink. I need help. Its the first time ive said it. We will talk to the head of one food bank who says they are nowhere close to meeting the intense demand. Stay with us. Because the pain youre feeling could be a sign of irreversible joint damage. Every day you live with pain, swelling, and stiffness. You risk not being able to do the things you love. Especially in these times, its important to keep up with your rheumatologist. Schedule an appointment today. Now roomba vacuums exactly where you need it. Hey google, tell roomba to vacuum the kitchen counter. And offers personalized cleaning suggestions for a clean unique to you and your home. Roomba and the irobot home app. Only from irobot. And ask your doctor about biktarvy. Biktarvy is a complete, onepill, onceaday treatment used for hiv in certain adults. Its not a cure, but with one small pill, biktarvy fights hiv to help you get to and stay undetectable. Thats when the amount of virus is so low it cannot be measured by a lab test. Research shows people who take hiv treatment every day and get to and stay undetectable can no longer transmit hiv through sex. Serious side effects can occur, including kidney problems and kidney failure. Rare, lifethreatening side effects include a buildup of lactic acid and liver problems. Do not take biktarvy if you take dofetilide or rifampin. Tell your doctor about all the medicines and supplements you take, if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or if you have kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis. If you have hepatitis b, do not stop taking biktarvy without talking to your doctor. Common side effects were diarrhea, nausea, and headache. If youre living with hiv, keep loving who you are. And ask your doctor if biktarvy is right for you. Breaking news in our money lead. The fda has approved a one gap spending bill averting a Government Shutdown for now and giving Congress Additional time to end this months long stalemate over muchneeded pandemic relief for the American People. Stimulus talks, however, are stalled. There remain major sticking points. Manu is on capitol hill. Where do they stand right now . Reporter they are stuck and deal they hope to reach next week is a pivotal week. Key members are gone. They are trying to come up with this deal have not been able to do so because they are stuck on two key sticking points. One for state and local aid, money that democrats say is desperately needed. Republicans argue that they want Liability Protections for businesses and other entities that could be hit by a wave of lawsuits during the pandemic. But that Liability Protection language has not been agreed to and its threatening to tank the entire proposal. Now, mitchell mcconnell, the Senate Majority leader, has suggested moving forward with a narrow package absent those two sticking points. Democrats, however, are still pressing for that state and local money. But, jake, the Democratic Leaders have not yet sat down with Mitch Mcconnell so discuss what they can ultimately agree on to pass and ultimately it is expected to be their decision. Key decisions to be made next week to keep the government open past next friday. But with the two sides about the size and scope of the provisions its ub certain what ultimately will be decided whether its an extension of jobless benefits or more Small Business loans. Or whether its money needed for the Vaccine Distribution for covid19. All of those are on the table right now. But will they actually get it through . We will be back here next friday when the next deadline comes on and will they still be stuck . Uncertain at this point, as so many people wait for action. Manu raju, thank you. I want you to hear from one of these people angela kerney, a mother of five, she was furloughed from her job as a paralegal in march and she has been unable to find another job during these very difficult economic times. I promised them we would get a house. I promised them that they would be normal children and then the pandemic hit. And i cant keep those promises any more. I have to take the bills and pick the ones and hope they total the amount that i have. Its a widespread problem. This was the scene yesterday at one los angeles food bank. They had food prepared to give away to 1800 families in need in one day. The head of the Central Texas food bank is joining me. Mr. Chubb, tell us what youre seeing there on the front lines. Thank you, jake, for, you know, the opportunity to be here. What we are seeing is unprecedented demand, particularly now during the holidays. Prior to covid, here in Central Texas, we were distributing food to approximately 200,000 on a month basis. Since covid, during the month of november, we were very close to 400,000. So that is almost 100 increase since covid. We expect them to come in the january and february months to come. According to the latest census data nearly 26 Million People in america said they had a hard time putting food on the table. Is it getting worse as we head into the holidays . From the food bank perspective, they were major distribution periods for us any way. We know as a culture, food is around so much. We have food around so much in our discussions during the holiday season. But you take that and you put the pandemic on top of it and we are finding some really challenging times. And these are families, so many of them are coming to us for the first time. We are hearing families who are telling us now that they are in positions where they have to sell personal items just to make ends meet and they are coming to us so we can at least provide them with the food that they need during this season. Two weeks ago here on cnn, you estimated that you were about 30 short of meeting demand. How are you doing now . Can you meet demand . We are still running about 30 short of that demand and as the number keeps growing, i think in september, we were at 297,000, 343,000 in october and over 384,000 in november and we havent closed the numbers yet. My hope is we are doing everything we can do to scale. You know, we are doing more distributions. We are talking to our Partner Agencies to see if they can increase their capacity and we will continue to provide food for as long as we can as much as we can. I think our largest challenge at this juncture is how we change or shift our Distribution Models or our infrastructure in order to adjust to this new environment that we are face. Youve put out calls for more volunteers. The cost of food i should note is rising. What do you need right now . How can people help . When we need and what food banks need across our 200 Food Bank Network for feeding america, we need monetary donations. Ill use the Central Texas food bank as an example. Precovid we would spent about a hundred thousand dollars a month to purchase new food. Based on the new demand and the increased cost of food and based on increased costs for transporting that food, we are spending 10 x now as in 1 million a month just to purchase food. So in order to continue to meet this demand that is not going anyplace any time soon, monetary donations would be very valuable. Additionally, we still need volunteers. We are having to do additional shifts in order to maintain socially distancing to minimize the risk and the more volunteers we have i think the better off we are. It wont change any time soon. Where should people go . A website they can go to to make donation donations. For the Central Texas food bank. Org. You can make a donation there. If youre not in the austin area, feeding america. Org will help you find where your local food bank is. Feedingamerica. Org. Right. Mr. Chubbs, thank you for the work you do and we want to keep on top of this story. Thank you, jake. We want to take time to remember some of the lives lost to coronavirus. Today we remember rich martin. He was a therapy dog handler from illinois. He devoted his life to making others feel love and comfort in their times of need. He traveled the country on behalf of Lutheran Church charities with his wife and their golden retriever comfort dogs during some of our nations greatest tragedies including the Boston Marathon bombing, the sandy hook shooting, the pulse nightclub shooting, the el paso shooting. He did this in an effort to provide victims a moment of joy and happiness and comfort during these very dark days they went through. Rich was 68 years old. He passed away after nearly twoweek battle with covid. He is survived by his wife, his daughter, and, of course, his beloved comfort dog ruthy. May his memory and the memories of all of the victims in this horrific pandemic be a blessing. Tune into cnn state of the union this sunday morning. Ill speak to the fda commissioner stephen hahn and then clufs wi interviews with bill gates and also bill cassidy and Stacey Abrams will be my guests. Thank you for wochiatching. Ill see you sunday. Announcer this is cnn breaking news welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. Im wolf blitzer in the situation room. We are following breaking news. We are standing by right now for a u. S. Supreme Court Decision on the widely ridiculed texas lawsuit