Administration it will be, i guess time will tell. But i can tell you, this administration will not good to a lockdown. Who knows . Well, we know the man set to replace him in january president elect joe biden is hitting back, saying, quote, urgent action is needed today, now by the current administration, starting with an acknowledgment of how serious the Current Situation is. So we begin tonight on the ground in two hard hit parts of the country. Msnbcs Corey Kaufman is in oclare, wisconsin. And reporter Valerie Castro is standing by in el paso, texas. Thank you both for being here. Cory, i want to start with you. Things so bad in wisconsin you actually have the Health Department there declaring an entirely new category. Tell us more. Yeah, Health Department officials are stunned over this. So the previous high category was very high, and that was about 350 people or cases per 100,000 people. All counties in the state of wisconsin passed that to the point at which they had to create critically high. And that was a thousand cases per every 100,000. Almost all counties have already blown past that marker as well, except for seven. What does that really mean . What that means is epidemiologists find it a lot harder to Contact Trace in this state because everything is just moving so rampantly. All but impossible is how they described it, alicia. Now the case, the latest cases have grown now to 323,000, 2700 deaths in the state of wisconsin. Its not as much as a state like texas, for example, that has a million cases. But you have to look at the rate of spread and you have to look at the Positivity Rate and the testing, which in parts of this state have topped 37 . To put that into perspective, in new york, at the height of the pandemic in new york in the spring, their top rates were 25 . So this state has already blown past that, and Health Care Workers here in places like oclare, which is on the list for New York Times hot spot, number 11 in the country. Folks here in oclare trying to deal with the influx of patients coming in. We spoke to the front line workers here at mayo clinic. Listen in. Were stretched, stressed in the state of wisconsin right now as far as icu beds. Were seeing referrals from places weve never had before, and so that says that across the state people are looking for intensive care beds wherever they can find them. We have ramped significantly on totally elective care, care that be the delayed for two to three months. So thats what we have significantly cut back on so that those staff can aid in the taking care of the in patients. And theyre also trying to send some patients who do qualify home with therapies that will work for them like remdesivir to open up some of those beds here. Thats kind of the process that were going to be seeing over the next few weeks is people trying to find a bed, and icu beds at 90 capacity, alicia. This on top of the fact that there is no statewide response because the democratic governor in this state has tried to put executive order after executive order which has largely been steamrolled by the gop legislature. So its unclear how quickly theyre going to be able to take these numbers down without that statewide response. All right, cori, thank you for that reporting. Valerie, an Appeals Court in el paso, texas just ruled the county cannot force residents to stay home and force businesses to close. What has been the response from those youve spoken with . Well, good evening, alicia. Here nonessential businesses just finished enduring a twoweek total shutdown. The county administrator, a judge was actually hoping to extend that shutdown until december 1, but the Appeals Court rejected that order. However, the reality here on the ground is that those mobile morgues, those refrigerator trucks have now arrived here at the hospital. El paso has a population of about 683,000 people. And right now more than 4. 5 of those people are now infected with covid. The county administrator says he is hoping for 12 of those trucks to eventually be in place here at the hospital. And when we were talking to him earlier today, one of those trucks actually pulled up behind him. He says it is a grim visual reminder of what is happening here right now, and heres what he had to say. I think if people understood where this could end up, thats what i need to get peoples attention. That when you have a truck like this coming in because we need to fill it with more bodies, and weve got 350 bodies under investigation at this time, its a matter of time that were going see the 30s, 40s a day. You know, its 1 of your total. So if youve got 1100 on one day, that means 11 people might die from that, that will come out two weeks from now. And thats where we are. Were dealing with the impact its having on our health care system, the impact its having, and more than anything else, the indignation. This is the indignation. Judge samaniego says not only is this a strain on resources, it is a strain on personnel. Because of that he tells me Prison Inmates are now being called in to help move those bodies into those mobile morgues that you just saw the video of. Alicia . Unbelievable. All right, cori and valerie, thank you both. For more on where we are and where we are likely going, lets bring in dr. Chris purnell, a Public Health physician leader. Thanks for joining us again. What is the main factor driving just the explosion that we are seeing in the numbers across the country . Good evening, alicia. So this is what we feared could happen in the fall and the winter as the temperatures drop. You have people going indoors. We have what we think are the small gatherings. And typically, the small gatherings among people who know one another thats actually fueling the spike in cases that we see now. So its going to be important more than ever that we have a unified message across the fall and winter. And we really explain to people just how important it is not to be dismayed and not to have pandemic fatigue, but to hunker down and do what we know works. Yeah, and that fatigue we know is so real. Some in president elect bidens Advisory Board have floated the idea of a four to sixweek lockdown period that would come with Financial Aid for affected americans, because we know in as much this is a health crisis, there is also an economic crisis that is now coupled with it. Do you think that is worth considering . Look, we cant take anything off the table. I can tell you, we in Public Health, we want to make sure that we first follow the Public Health guidelines that we know works. And we can start with everyone wearing a mask. I think as a primary consideration, we should be thinking about a universal mask mandate. If we could get everyone to mask, weve seen models that say upwards of 100,000 lives could be saved. If we cant get everyone to universally mask, then we have to consider some of those more aggressive factors like those partial shutdowns or those even temporary shutdowns. You see a very hyper local responses. You see cities across the United States enacting curfews or asking nonessential businesses to close earlier, or even considering having some restaurants good back to curbside or only delivery and takeout. So these are all the things that unfortunately have to be in our tool kit. But if we followed the most basic public guidelines, hopefully we could head those things off. But serious and realistic leadership says we cant just say off the bat well totally not be able to use that. The early conversations about this had a lot to do with ppe. It had a lot to do with the fact that there was so much about this virus that medical professionals didnt know. Didnt know how to treat it. There is a new component to the conversation. There was this piece by ed young in the atlantic where he writes that Health Care Workers around the country are burned out, and people could start to die when there arent enough of those workers. I mean, how real is the threat of the burnout that medical professionals are now facing . That threat is real. That threat of burnout is not just real in our Health Care Workers. You see that emotional and that Mental Health impact of this pandemic across all americans, in particular its concerning with our Health Care Workers because theyre our front line. Well need our front line to be healthy. And healthy physically, healthy mentally. And a part of our front line workers being health think is knowing that they are being kept safe, is knowing that they have adequate access to ppe. Its knowing that their Health Care Organizations understand the risks that they face and doing anything that they can to lessen those risks. But yes, the risk of burnout definitely is real. There was a lot of excitement this week, dr. Pernell over this new vaccine. The cavalry is coming, but dont put your weapons down. You better keep fighting because theyre not here yet. Help is on the way, but it isnt here yet. Help is on the way, but it isnt here yet. Where does that leave families, especially in the leadup to all these big holidays where people want to get together and want to celebrate with the awareness that there is this pandemic happening in realtime . Look, im a Public Health physician, and i believe in our staple Public Health tools. I believe in the power of vaccines. But were just not there yet. Where the wider public would have access to vaccines. We havent had a vaccine approved yet, though pfizer has come out of the gate with pretty positive interim results. And i understand what American Families are faced with. My family is no different. This is the first thanksgiving that we wont have my mother or my father. I lost my father to this pandemic. So we would love to be able to get together and have a big celebration, but its just too risky. And i was just having this conversation in community the other day. Now more than ever when we cherish and we want to cherish our loved ones and want to be with them, we just got to do whats wise. So i dont recommend that families outside of those who live together in the same household get together on thanksgiving. Unfortunately, well have to delay that until a safer day and a safer time. But were not just there yet. Dr. Pernell, weve talked about your loss before, and i am grateful to you for that sobering reminder. So thank you. Coming up, the cost of a sitting president refusing to accept reality, from the severity of this pandemic to his own electoral defeat. But first, how the biden transition is being forced to charge ahead without the peaceful transfer the American People deserve. We are just Getting Started on a busy saturday night here on american voices. Ou how Liberty Mutual customizes Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need. Isnt that what you just did . Service stand back, im gonna show ya how doug and limu roll, ya you know you got to live it if you wanna wi. [ music stops ] time out only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. When panhe doesnt justs mmake a pizza. He uses fresh, clean ingredients to make a masterpiece. Taste our delicious new flatbread pizzas today. Panera. Unstopables inwash scent booster downy unstopables we started by making the cloud easier to manage. But we didnt stop there. We made a cloud flexible enough to adapt to any size business. No matter what it does, or how it changes. And we kept going. So you only pay for what you use. Because at dell technologies, we stop. 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Get 5g included and save up to 400 dollars a year on the network rated 1 in customer satisfaction. Its your wireless. Your rules. Only with xfinity mobile. Today marks one week since the 2020 race was called for joe biden. And while that is a fact, the man he beat, donald j. Trump, is still coming to terms with his own defeat, translating to a shall we say bitter stand still in what we usually see a peaceful transfer of power. His refusal to go gracefully prompting his former chief of staff john kelly to speak up saying, quote, it hurts our National Security. Top advisers to the president left are expressing concern over the General Services administration not yet certifying biden as the winner. And we know the Trump Administration is still refusing to Share National security briefings, and more with the incoming administration. Instead, it is business as usual for this white house. Instead of real work, its all about pushing fake, unfounded conspiracies about how this election was, quote, stolen. While its easy to eye roll that away, his followers believe it, leading to a maga march today on the streets of our nations capital. But facts are facts. Over 78 million americans chose biden in this election. Joe biden has claimed 306 electoral votes. And now the department of Homeland Security adds this, declaring the november 3rd election was the most secure in american history, and in bold print making clear there is no evidence that any Voting System deleted or lost votes, changed vote, or was in any way compromised. And with that, team biden is charging ahead with plans to move into 1600 pennsylvania avenue january 20th. So far the inhibition has been relatively minor. Weve been able to proceed with building our covid task force. Weve been proceeding with our personnel meetings. But as time pass, the unreasonable position of the administrator of the General Services administration to refuse to ascertain that joe biden is the apparent winner of the election, as the statute requires, will have an impact. Covid is a really good example. The sooner we can get our transition experts into meetings with the folks who are planning the vaccination campaign, the more seamless the transition. With me now nbc news political reporter ali vitali. She is in delaware covering the biden transition for us. Ali, what are you hearing from the Biden Transition Team on this lack of sharing information from the Trump Administration, specifically on the covid front . Look, privately there is frustration that this is the way the transition has gotten off to a start. But publicly, theyre speaking about it as a nuisance, as a problem, but not speaking about it really as a fivealarm fire. And really, thats because theyre pushing ahead. What you have right now basically is a split screen reality that were going to see play out over the course of the next 60 some odd days until inauguration day. You have the Current White House right now, and the way that theyre talking about the Biggest Issue of this moment, which has been the Biggest Issue of this year, which is the coronavirus pandemic, the Current White House talking about it in a future sense, the way that they think were going push past it, that a vaccine is coming and imminent. We heard it from trump in the rose garden just a few days ago versus the way you hear biden talking about this, long planning for what he has called a dark winter. Were seeing those spiking cases unfortunately begin to play out. And weve watched his transition, despite the fact that theyre not having a freeflowing information cycle right now between the agencies and the incoming transition. Still try to center this issue as one that needs to be dealt with on day one. To that end, weve seen a transition that has really put covid front and center, so much so that the doctors involved in this transition have even started planning for a potential mass dissemination of the vaccine because they dont have access to the health and Human Services agencies that are actually talking about that right now. And so theyre planning to talk with people like cvs and walgreens, making sure they have the supplies that they will need if they have to vaccinate millions of people in the early part of next year. Theyre also talking to pfizer about the technology needed to store this potential vaccine. We know it has to be stored at subzero temperatures. So the planning process is still going on, alicia. Its just the reality is theyre pushing forward, and theyre pushing uphill right now because the gsa has not yet done that letter of ascertainment, which basically makes all of this official. It dots the is and crosses the ts and triggers for the freeflowing of money. But especially the freeflowing of information. That being said, though, the transition is also looking at staffing options. Yes, theyve got about 4,000 roles within the government they need to fill. Theyve got about 4300 potential candidates for those, were told. But at the same time, were also expecting to see in the coming weeks more names coming out about who the inner circle in the white house could be, as well as those key cabinet positions. Tonight, for example, were hearing that former top pentagon official michelle flornoy could be head of department of defense under biden. If so, shell be the first woman in that position. This is something biden said was important to him, making sure that the cabinet looks like america. Certainly doing so, that would do it. All right, ali vitali, thank you so much. With me now, amanda renteria, former National Political director for Hillary Clintons campaign. She is also ceo for code for america. Emmy reece, former Senior Adviser to Kamala Harriss 2020 campaign. And errin haines, also an msnbc contributor. Ladies, good to see you all. Amanda, i want to start with you having trumps former chief of staff john kelly criticizing over the delay of transition, saying the president does not have to concede, but its about the nation. It hurts our National Security because the people who should be getting up to speed, its not a process where you go from zero to a thousand miles per hour. Drawing from your experience, aman amanda, what do you make of this lack of cooperation from the Trump Administration . How different does it make things then pour the Biden Transition Team . Its tough. So there is a lot of behindthescenes work that does need to happen. You need to learn from the folks that are in the job. You need the learn whats happened over the last four years. The good news is that biden does and is bringing together a team with experience, with talent, with know how of how to address a moment like this. But you do need to hear whats actually happening in these departments, particularly because over the last four years a lot of these agencies have lost folks. And those relationships, that understanding is really important. But you got a great team. And what i am seeing, one of the things that makes me most inspired is that they are not stopping, despite some of the challenges they are facing. They are putting their plans together. And lets make no mistake about this. This is going to be an incredibly challenging start for any administration. I am happy to see kelly come out. I am happy to see a lot of the former republicans come out to try and fill this gap for this Biden Administration to come. Emmy, can you give us a peek behind the curtain, give us a sense of what the team biden is doing, given that they have not yet been handed over the keys from the Trump Administration . Sure. I mean, look, i think that the biden harris Transition Team is operating on all cylinders. Joe biden and Kamala Harris campaigned on being ready on day one. And they are already showing us what their priorities will be. The first thing that they did within days of being named president elect and the race being called, they released their covid task force, right. Every single day, they are prioritizing updates on how theyre working to tackle this tremendous problem that we are facing in this country. In addition to that, you know, theyre staffing up the Transition Team. They are reaching out to partners. They are keeping people engaged, and theyre staying focused on the task at hand, which is making sure that on january 20th, at 12 01 p. M. , we are ready to go, and we begin to build back better, because this administration has completely dismantled government, has completely mismanaged this covid response, and unfortunately, as you mentioned, we are ahead for some very dark few weeks in this country. Erin, you heard our colleague ali vitali just a moment earlier referencing something weve heard from team biden before, that they want to put together a cabinet that looks like america. You heard that in the context of the pentagon. What does that look like when you step back and look at the cabinet as a whole . And as much as that may be demographic, how much of it is also about really capturing sort of the ideology of where the party and the country is at this moment . Yeah, well, alicia, it appears that diversity is also headed back to the white house, and not just with, you know, Vice President elect Kamala Harris joining the executive leadership ranks to become the most powerful woman in the country. Listen, as ali said, the Biden Campaign said that they wanted an administration that is reflective of this country, and joe biden said in his acceptance speech just a week ago today, can you believe, it doesnt even seem like its only been a week, but a week ago today he got on that stage and he said that he understood that black voter were the ones that got him to this point and credited them. And so it appears that they will also have a role in shaping how he governs in that policy. Listen, i talked to two folks who are in contention to possibly replace senator harris when she vacates the senate, which would leave no black women in the senate. And that karen bass, the current chairwoman of the congressional black caucus, and barbara lee, the highest ranking black woman in congress. And both of them said that they would be happy to serve in that capacity or any other, but also talked about other black women who are ready to lead at the federal level. Marcia fudge, congresswoman out of ohio potentially for secretary of agriculture, or Brenda Lawrence as potentially the new postmaster general, somebody who had a long career at the postal service. Terry sewell out of alabama who worked on wall street and could be potentially mentioned as somebody who could lead treasury or commerce. Ali mentioned initial flornoy for a potentially pioneering role to lead the pentagon. Women and women of color we have seen in this cycle are ready to lead. You saw the Record Number of black women and women of color reasoning for office and turning out to vote and organizing. And i think that they all expect that that should translate into leadership at the highest levels in this new administration. Errin, i feel like part of the tell in what you just reported back to me is theyre saying we would be interested in the role of senator or any other role. Its that dot, dot, dot that i am especially curious about. Amanda, i do want to ask you, though, as a veteran of capitol hill, someone who spent a lot of time in the u. S. Senate, how much does the fight over the control of the senate sort of factor in to the decisions that joe biden and Kamala Harris are making as they put together their cabinet, as they begin to put together their legislative agenda for lets say the first 100 days of their service . Well, this certainly delays it that everybody is going to be waiting for the georgia election. But heres what ill say is that Senate Staffer that has gone around the world talking about america during moments of crisis is every single time countries look at us and say how do your institutions hold at moments of crisis . I think we are going to, again, were testing them now, but you have incredible public servants. Not only those who are willing to step up and serve right now, but those are sitting in agencies, waiting for leadership to come. And so i believe that those folks will step up. I believe agencies are going to be ready. I think the key answer here is were going to need an answer in 60 days. I wonder what republicans are going to do, and they have 70 days to figure out whether theyre going to be on the right side of history or move forward. No doubt that this Senate Election is going to take up a lot of energy, but there is a whole host of things that can move forward, and there is a lot of really great candidates that have relationships on both sides of the aisle to really make a difference and bring this administration to where it needs to be for the moment in this countrys history. A lot of energy and a lot of money, as you all know, amanda. Amanda, emmy and errin, thank you all. Up next, facts and the fight against them. President trump remains relentless in overturning the will of the American People. Is this fight pointless, or could it actually bear fruit . And later, why georgia should be on your mind. One state, two senate seats, and how runoffs for each are bound to determine if joe biden can keep his campaign promises. This is american voices. When paneras chef claes makes a pizza, he doesnt just make a pizza. He uses fresh, clean ingredients to make a masterpiece. Taste our delicious new flatbread pizzas today. Panera. You work hard for your money. Stretched days for it. Juggled life for it. Took charge for it. So care for it. Look after it. Invest with the expertise of j. P. Morgan, either with an advisor or online, through chase. After all, its yours. Chase. Make more of whats yours. 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 you never been in better hands allstate irresistibly smooth chocolate. To put the world on pause. Lindor. Made to melt you. By the lindt master chocolatier. I got this Mountain Bike for only 11. Dealdash. Com, the fair and honest bidding site. An ipad worth 505, was sold for less than 24; a playstation 4 for less than 16; and a schultz 4k television for less than 2. I won these bluetooth headphones for 20. I got these three suitcases for less than 40. And shipping is always free. Go to dealdash. Com right now and see how much you can save. Thousands flocked to washington, d. C. s Freedom Plaza today to support the president in what was called the million maga march. The president s motorcade made a brief appearance driving through the rally, breathing life into the theories he has fed to his base, that democrats stole the election. And despite the facts not being on his side, the president is not giving up on trying to overturn the results in court in states like pennsylvania, arizona, and michigan. And by his side this uphill battle, trump has turned to just about the only person who would be willing to lead this unwinnable fight, rudy giuliani. Nbcs Josh Letterman joins me now. Josh, good to see you. The president s legal efforts appear to be failing him. What is the mood now inside the white house . What are you hearing . And is the president any closer to accepting the results of this election . Yes and no, alicia. On the one hand, the clear directive to the president s team is to continue full speed ahead with the legal challenges even as they are continuing to fall flat one after another, as you just pointed out. On the other hand, people that are close to the president and have spoken with him recently have described President Trump as in various levels of acceptance of the likely eventuality that these legal challenges are not likely to alter the outcome of the election and keep him in office past january 20th. And so you have a situation where theyre continuing to fight in the courts, but with one person whos familiar with the president s deliberations saying whats likely to happen is after the states go ahead and certify the results of the elections in their state and president elect biden moves forward as the president elect that the president President Trump that is, will announce basically a quick move to run again in 2024, thereby keeping himself front and center in the political conversation, even if he is no longer going to be in the oval office come january. You know, it reminds me, alicia, of voters i talked to in ohio on election day who supported President Trump very strongly in this election, who acknowledged readily that a lot of the fights that he was fighting he had not been successful in bringing jobs back to the steel industry, for example, but they appreciated the fact that the president was in the arena of fighting for them even if he wasnt going win all of those fights. I think thats the instinct that President Trump is playing into, particularly as he is being egged on by all of those supporters who came out to march in the streets today, as you were just showing. Well, the same time that you have those conversations happening, you have this week we learned that more 100,000 secret Service Agents have tested positive for covid after working detail for Trump Campaign rallies. That is, of course, on top of the number of trump aides and advisers who have also become sick. Is there any sense that they have been able to or are trying to control the spread among trumps team much less the rest of the country . Well, you mentioned in the leadin, alicia, that there wasnt really anybody left willing to take on the president s legal fight at this point other than rudy giuliani. The fact of the matter he is one of the only people around the president who doesnt have coronavirus right now. David bossie, who was assigned to lead the president s legal fight just a week or so ago now has coronavirus, had to step aside from that role. The president s chief of staff, coronavirus. The white house political director, the rnc chief of staff. So there arent a lot of options left. And as far as the coronavirus outbreak that seems to be spreading in the president s orbit, no sign that theyre doing anything differently than theyve done before. Instead, the president trying to focus on the positive by talking about the vaccine. What a distinction to have, the only person without coronavirus. Lets bring in michael kang, a researcher at Northwestern School of law and an msnbc legal analyst. Good to see you. So right now four lawsuits in pennsylvania alone, including one made by the Pennsylvania Republican party that has made its way to the supreme court. Where do we stand on these cases in pennsylvania, a state that to remind everyone, was called for president elect joe biden a week ago . Well, its not looking good for the Trump Campaign. They really havent had very much success at all. I think they have more than 30 lawsuits across the battleground states. And in pennsylvania, as in elsewhere, theyve hardly won any. They have one small victory in pennsylvania, where they were able to disqualify certain number of ballots pause of a deadline that was invalidated by a state court. But it really didnt affect the state count because those ballots havent been counted yet. They just wont be counted, but they dont affect the current outcome, and they dent really affect the margin that we see now. So the prospects for some sort of post election challenge really changing the election or swinging the election relative humidity back to donald trump seems exceedingly unlikely at this point. I mean, what about the lawsuits in arizona like the one you have over the use of sharpie markers on ballots and the suits in michigan over ballot processing there . In any case, are there sort of numbers big enough to even warrant having this debate in the first place . There really arent. I think all these election challenges look like theyre really not going to have an effect. You have a set of lawsuits that are about observing the counting. But i think judge has been really quick to dismiss those, because it seems like republican watchers had sufficient chance to observe, and they dont seem to find any wrongdoing. I think some of the lawsuits that youre mentioning allege some sort of irregularity, or some sort of problem with mechanics of vote counting, but so far, courts really havent found anything to substantiate any of those claims. Those claims havent gone anywhere so far. There are a few cases about election rules and certain decisions made by election administrators, secretary of state, a lot of those are ongoing. But actually, if you look at those, even though they look more like the kinds of legal challenges that you see by losing candidates in elections, they really dont affect many votes. So even if the Trump Campaign were to win those, it wouldnt really change the outcome. So i think its really a huge uphill battle for the Trump Campaign to really change the outcome at this point. So what is your sense, then, of why the president is doing this, if its not actually about amassing enough votes to form a counternarrative to joe bidens win . Right. Its a little bit of a puzzle, because i think a lot of candidates would have given up the fight at this point. I think probably part of the legal strategy right now is as much political as it is legal, that part of this is to position donald trump as a kind of egrieved champion of his supporters. They were robbed of an election, and positions him a little more favorably for whatever politically comes next. I think thats as much the strategy as anything else. There is a kind of long shot strategy that has been discussed where perhaps the Trump Campaign can create enough of a mess where supporters, republicans conclude this is all just a huge partisan mess, and maybe we should try to override the election results. Half the state legislatures that are controlled by republicans declare this a failed election and let Congress Sort this out. A this point its not a legal fight as much as a political one that might benefit trump if it ever got to that point because theyre not going to win on the law right now. I think even that long shot strategy is really, really improbable. And there is lots of obstacles both political and legal to even get to that point. But one can imagine maybe thats the kind of dream scenario that they have in mind, given that their other options are so limited at this point. We will talk about what the implications of what that would all mean a little later in the show. Michael kang, thank you so much for spending time with us this evening. Still to come, Donald Trumps moves with just weeks left in power. He is making shifts at the pentagon. We will tell you why. But first i cant wait to go home and see my family and my dog. tis the season for ugly sweaters, awesome food, and time with your family. But as you will hear College Students grappling with bringing an unwanted gift home for the holidays. More american voices right after this. My husband would have been on the sidelines. But not anymore an alternative to pills voltaren is the first full prescription strength nonsteroidal antiinflammatory gel to target pain directly at the source for powerful arthritis pain relief. Voltaren. The joy of movement. 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I have grandparents, and i i wouldnt want to be responsible for that. Reporter Cameron Mills plans on getting tested before heading home for thanksgiving. Other students with less reason to worry. I actually got covid. So i got the full College Covid experience. Reporter a crush of college kids about to trade dorm rooms for childhood bedrooms. I cant wait to go home and see my family and my dog. Reporter without rules governing what schools have to do from testing to quarantining we believe test shotgun be done prior to leaving campus, and then once again when at home. Reporter the American CollegeHealth Association represents 1100 schools and has a set of guidelines that includes exit and arrival testing and students quarantining back at home for the first 14 days. Advice thats all the more urgent as covid outbreaks disrupt college life at all levels. Powerhouse football frams program lsu and alabama because quarantine depleted their rosters after auburn and Mississippi State were just forced to do the same. In total, some 250,000 College Students have contracted covid. A few schools require mandatory testing before thanksgiving, including the new york suny system and all of its 140,000 students, the university of michigan for anyone living in campus housing, and tulane, which already tests two students twice a week. A significant number of colleges lack funding and staffing to do the same, leaving discretion in the hands of those most likely to transmit the virus. My family is not planning anything big for thanksgiving because of covid and stuff like that. We have a lot of elderly. In order to keep everybody safe, were just not going to have a big gathering like that. That was nbcs sam brock reporting. While testing before heading home does help, Health Experts warn that one test is only a snapshot in time and recommend more than one test before and after travel. And for anyone going home for the holidays, they also advise to add another layer of protection, the flu shot. Up next, the two runoffs in georgia that would make or break joe bidens ability to legislate. Plus, what happens to america when a sitting president refuses to accept reality. There is power in a peaceful transfer of power, as well lay out when american voices continues on the other side of this break. You protect your clothes from getting damaged in the wash. Nah thats why i use new downy defy. It helps stop stretching, fading, and fuzzing. Thats whats up we have an assistant locker room manager . Help protect your clothes with new downy defy damage. Well, audreys expecting. Twins grandparents we want to put money aside for them, so. Change in plans. Alright, lets see what we can adjust. 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What happens in georgia ultimately determines if joe bidens agenda will become reality or remain another democratic pipe dream. Nbcs is a hisahil kapur in atlr us. Can you talk me through their strategy and whether or not democrats are considering doing something similar . Reporter alicia, the two republican senators, david perdue and Kelly Loeffler are running together saying this is no longer about their individual candidacies or seats, and this is now about keeping the senate in republican hands. That is a delicate dance theye doing because theyre careful of alienating trump voters. So theyre not really contradicting the president , but they are essentially saying in the subsex thtext that subsidiz going to be the next president and calling the senate the republican firewall. They will be able to control the agenda and this should not be thought of as one or two votes here or there. This is whether the Senate Agenda will be run by mitch mcconnell, the republican, who can control what pieces of legislation and what cabinet nominees come up, or whether it will be an ally of president elect biden and Chuck Schumer who will make the decisions, so the stakes are enormous here. There seems to be some disagreement about whether or not you can look at the turnout you had in georgia, the compensation of the electorate for this president ial race and this early senate race and whether or not thats going to transpose onto this second round of this election. So i wonder what you are hearing both about what both parties are expecting and the organizing they believe they will have to do in order to turn out the voters that they need to secure these seats. Reporter there is an enormous amount of uncertainty here, alicia, given that President Trump has so dominated american political life for four years, and now hes not going to be on the ballot. So democrats are wondering, is their turnout going to flag as it traditionally does . Was this massive turnout that powered joe biden to win a one off . Theyre not leaving anything to chance. I talked to labor leads who say theyre going to be sending mailers to every voter, registering new voters, trying to register young voters who just turned 18 after election day. So theyre working very hard to do this. And republicans are just astonished. Many of them ive spoken to are shell shocked that this traditionally red state has now apparently nbc has called it gone for joe biden at the president ial level, and they are eager and desperate to make sure that their voters turn out. Thats a big part of why theyre trying to elevate these contests, its no longer about one or two seats. Theyre saying its about the republican ability to have kind of a restriction or blockade on parts of the biden agenda that conservatives dont want passed. All right. Sahil kapur, thank you so much for joining us. It is good to see you out there in georgia. Up next, the raging pandemic in the hands of a distracted president. The risk it poses to american lives and the hurdles it creates for the incoming president. Plus, where immigration stands now and where reforming americas immigration system will go once joe biden gets the keys to the oval office. Well dive into the major shakeup at the pentagon. What the president is doing with just weeks left in power when we kick off another hour of american voices after this quick break. Quick break. Moment. Heres to one more, the lexus december to remember sales event. Lease the 2021 nx 300 for 349 a month for 36 months and well make your first months payment. Experience amazing at your lexus dealer. We started by making the cloud easier to manage. But we didnt stop there. We made a cloud flexible enough to adapt to any size business. No matter what it does, or how it changes. And we kept going. So you only pay for what you use. 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Just so you know, next time, you can submit a claim with our mobile app. Good. Thanks again for for rushing over. Are you kidding . This is what 24 7 protection looks like. Okay. You smell like fish. Sorry. I was talking to jamie. Welcome back. Im alicia menendez. Thanks for kicking off another hour with us. Tonight in focus for us, your family and the raging pandemic. The United States is dealing with yet another deadly wave of covid19. Cases are reaching levels we thought were in the past. Hospitals struggling to meet the demand on the shoulders of american heroes, frontline workers facing increasing danger by the hour. Tonight how joe biden is laying the groundwork for cleaning up this mess when hes finally than they keys to the oval office. As a defeated donald trump still refuses to accept the reality that he lost. Tonight a hard look at one group of voters who made it happen and what democrats need to do if they want to keep them in their corner. Welcome to a new hour of american voices. We begin this hour with a grim reality in what is usually an exciting, happy time of the year, with the holidays just a stones throw away, here we are again under a new deadly wave of coronavirus. New infections reaching records daily. Since november 1st, daily infections have more than doubled to 175,000 cases. As of tonight, nearly 11 million of your fellow americans have contracted this virus. Nearly a quarter million have died. If we stay on course, expect 1,000 americans to die each day. No state is immune. Forget the days of hot spots. All of america is a hot spot tonight. If americans are