Vaccinations for front line workers kicks off today, there could be a second option within days. The fdas outside Advisory Panel meets tomorrow to formally review modernas vaccine candidate. Just ahead, well talk to a doctor on that committee. And from washington, we just got new reporting on the intensifying covid relief talks on capitol hill. There is new optimism about a 900 billion bill that could include direct stimulus payments. President elect biden set to formally announce new cabinet picks today after hitting the campaign trail yesterday for the georgia candidates who are going to determine control of the senate and, therefore, his agenda. Coming up this hour, well talk to one of the candidates, jon ossoff. But lets start with our nbc news reporters. Tom costello in washington, Jacob Soboroff where Vaccine Distribution starts today. And operation warp speed briefing is going on right now, and if there is any news from it, well bring that straight to you. Tom, let me start with you. What are you hearing from the Delivery Companies about the impacts of this snow storm. The logistics of getting the vaccine out was tough enough. And its u. P. S. And fedex, theyre the primary drivers to getting the vaccines out. We checked with both of them. They expect they can execute on delivering the shipments to the hospitals in the storm zone, but clearly, we could have a couple hours in which that becomes dicey. Nonetheless, both u. P. S. And fedex say theyre on track. Listen to the number here quickly. Nearly 3 million pfizer doses delivered this week. Next week assuming we have the Moderna Vaccine approved on friday next week, 6 million moderna doses are expected to ship. In addition to another 4. 5 pfizer doses. Were talking about somewhere in the neighborhood of 13 million doses or so will have shipped by the end of this week, and just end of next week, sorry. And a short time ago hhs secretary alex azar drilled down on whats going on in the coming days. As of today, shipments of vaccine will have been delivered to every delivery site identified by Public Health jurisdictions for our first wave of shipments. I hope that every american has been as heartened as so many of us at hhs and dod have been to see heroic Health Care Workers and vulnerable americans getting vaccinated this week. Reporter tens of thousands of frontline medical workers have been vaccinated. That will continue through the rest of the week and well into next week. Next week, kasie, importantly, 1100 Nursing Homes will start to receive their doses as well. Keep in mind, its not just the residents but the staff who also receive vax naxs in Nursing Homes. This is ramping up. By the end of the month 20 Million People should have had access to, should have received a vaccination and then it continues to snowball into january and february by the end of february, they say about a third of the country. Its now ramping up in a real, real significant fashion. Back to you. Nice to have good news. I think we should take a second to give a shoutout to the people at u. P. S. And fedex doing heros work in addition to an overwhelming holiday season. Were grateful to everyone across the country doing that. Jacob, its been a bleak situation in california. You have more records of new infections. And hospitalizations, mobile morgues on stand by. They have to be ready for the hope that comes with this vaccine. Yeah. I think thats right. Theres no way to sugar coat it in Los Angeles County, kasie. The largest county population over 12 Million People in the country. There are 4600 people hospitalized in Los Angeles County right now with coronavirus. The governor of california, newsom ordered 5,000 additional body bags based on the surge of cases they are seeing here in the state. Icu capacity in Los Angeles County was down to 1. 7 . Down a full percentage point from a day earlier. Our neighboring county, riverside has 0 capacity. As you said, there is some good news, and that is here at ucla and throughout Los Angeles County, the vaccines are being distributed. Theyre going to be vaccinating up to 450 people. I think we have video from when they received the fedex shipment yesterday of the vaccines coming in here for the first time, and i dont think it is an overstatement to say that when you watch this, the workers here were absolutely ecstatic. I think the crush and the pressure of whats going on here for the medical community is extraordinary. And anecdotely, yesterday i waited in line. Its the testing infrastructure as well. At main testing location, i waited in my car for i believe over two hours just to get a test. I think there is a lot of anxiety. I think theres a lot of hope at places like this, and as you will see, the frontline workers across the county are going to start to receive vaccinations. My motherinlaw is a nurse across town at another hospital. Shell get hers later today. Theres hope, through theres a lot of hurt. Thank you to her and all of her colleagues who have been on the frontlines. Jacob soboroff, thank you for that. Im joined by a member of the fda Vaccine Panel and ceo of a Medical College in nashville, tennessee. Doctor, its great to see you. Another historic day tomorrow when your panel meets with the fda, and its focussed on the Moderna Vaccine. What can you tell us about what we know so far about this technology . Similar to pfizer but with critical differences. Do you think youll be able to recommend emergency use authorization . Good morning, kasie. Thank you for having me. The Moderna Vaccine, is, in fact, similar to pfizer. Its mrna. Whats remarkable for me is both of them have achieved virtually the same level of efficacy. The Adverse Reactions are similar. Maybe a little more frequent in the moderna, but similar. So the data looks very strong, and i anticipate that the committee will have a favorable review of this vaccine. Can you talk to us a little bit about why the public you feel should be confident in these vaccines . We have seen remarkable numbers in terms of reluctance to take this, nervousness . What have you been able to see in your role on this panel that you think could give americans confidence that doing this is going to be safe and effective . Well, the first thing i would say is that many people have expressed concern about the speed at which the vaccines have been developed. But they need to understand there are some good reasons why this has been able to be achieved in 11 months. First, the Technology Available to the vaccine researchers is remarkable. The fact that one month after getting the ggnome of the virus, vaccine candidates were identify second down remarkable. Thats usually a year or two or more process. There also a logistic magic thats been worked by having some processes run in parallel that would normally run in sequence. And i also think its not its a major contributor that the hiv vaccine infrastructure thats been developed over the last three decades has pivoted to focus on covid19. I think theres some really good reasons why the vaccines were able to be developed so quickly, but none of the steps required to assure safety have been omitted. I think the people in the public should know that. Thats an important reminder and helpful explanation for how we got her quickly. We focus on the communities hardest hit by the virus and who perhaps have had a difficult relationship with medical establishment in the past. Particularly people of color. Blaine alexander spoke with a black woman who participated in the pfizer trial. I want to show you what she said, and then well talk about it. I want to make sure when the vaccine came out that its effective, especially on american african americans. If we dont have enough people in the trial, when the vaccine comes out, we could be in the same boat forever. What do you say to people of color who may be nervous about how they might be able to overcome the long standing and perhaps wellfounded misrust . I think the young lady you played a clip of is exactly right. If we dont participate in the trials we cant be certain the vaccine will work for us, and minority communities and other minorities need vaccines for months. Its wellfounded, and the apprehension people have because of the long history of abuse and ethical lapses when minorities have been involved in research. But i think people should know that on all levels and all sides of the people, people of color have been involved. The amazing young black woman, dr. Corbit, brilliant young woman who contributed to this. Im a minority on the review panel for the approving of the vaccine. So i think that things are different now than a short time ago, but the most important thing from my perspective is we cannot be sure the vaccines will work in minorities unless minorities participate in the studies of the vaccines. So its critically important that we get the message out that we need that participation, but there are safeguards in place that werent there just a short time ago. And there are forces like yours as you point out that help make sure people have another chance to build and develop that trust. Doctor, thank you for your expertise. Well look forward to the work youre doing this week. Were following breaking news from capitol hill on the Coronavirus Relief talks where we learned congressional leaders are zeroing in on an agreement. Nbcs lee an caldwell is on capitol hill. Lee ann, weve had a lot of conversations over the course of the last couple of weeks that there was more optimism. Perhaps they were close and then they back away. Perhaps seem it seemed like things were falling apart. This morning there is more optimism than there has been. Whats changed and do you think theyre going to get it done . Its been months really of dashed hopes on a daily basis on capitol hill regarding covid negotiations. But things seem to have shifted overnight. We heard from senator Lindsey Graham who told reporters that the deal is in the oven being baked. Another source told me that they think this baby is going to be born. The parameters of the deal seem to be coming together, and what its looking like around a 900 billion proposal thats going to leave aside the most controversial components. 160 billion for state and local funding and Liability Protection. In its place, they are talking about adding another round of direct stimulus payments. That is something the president desperately wanted and its a good way to get him on board. So how is this finally coming together at the 11th hour . Well, the congressional leaders met for hours late into the night with Steve Mnuchin over the phone where they hammered out more details, and they took the basis of negotiation of a bipartisan agreement from senators like joe manchin and republican Susan Collins and house members like Josh Gottheimer and tom reed who have been working for months in a vacuum of leadership unable to get anything done. Now when a deadline is quickly approaching friday at midnight when Government Employment runs out. It seems like things could be resolved, and there is a lot of optimism on capitol hill including Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell who i just got in my email and told reporters he is optimistic that something will be done. Well, if Mitch Mcconnell is willing to say that, it probably must be true otherwise he would simply walk by and say little or nothing. We will work on our bread is baked, baby is born metaphors, et cetera. Thank you so Lindsey Graham and others for those words. Thank you as always for your reporting. And she mentioned the bipartisan cochairs of the problem solvers caucus. Well talk to them later in the show about how close lawmakers are to a deal. Were also going to keep an eye on the Senate Homeland security meeting where President Trumps former Cyber Security chief chris krebs is about to testify informal youll remember that krebs was fired last month after he refused to back President Trumps claims of widespread voter fraud. Well bring you any news that comes out of that hearing. We have got a lot of news still to get to this morning including a new nbc report on who president elect biden is expected to nominate to the cabinet in about an hour, and new numbers show georgia on path to a huge turnout to the runoff. Jon ossoff is going to join me later this hour. Still fresh unstopables inwash scent booster downy unstopables wow a new buick . For me . To james, from james. Thats just what i wanted. Is this a new buick . I secret santaed myself. Oh i shouldnt have. But i have been very good this year. Wow wow wow dont forget you this holiday season, get an syouv, from buick. Celebrate the holidays with buick, now everyone can get gm employee pricing on most buick suv models. Use it to get over 76 hundred total value on this envision essence. The we have to find just nosomething else. It. Good luck what does that mean . We are doomed. [laughter] thats it. I figured it out were going to give togetherness. That sounds dumb. Were going to take all those Family Moments and package them. Hmm. [laughing] that works. Welcome back. Were waiting to hear from president elect joe biden coming up in the next hour. He is set to formally introduce Pete Buttigieg his onetime primary rival as his pick to lead the transportation department. If confirmed, buttigieg would be the first openly gay cabinet secretary. At the white house President Trump is about to meet with his cabinet as hes now calling out Mitch Mcconnell on twitter for his much belated acknowledgment that joe biden is, in fact, president elect. That acknowledgment, though, coming with a commitment to move quickly on the confirmation process for bidens cabinet picks. You two spoke on the phone. Do you think he deserves to have key cabinet members in place january 20th . Well, look, hour first job here is to try to finish up this session with this administration. Well have plenty of time to talk about the way forward. My concentration right now is on the subjects weve been talking about. Finishing up our work, President Trump is going to be there until january 20th. We need to continue to work with him. The future will take care of it. It. Geoff bennett, let me start with you in terms of what we expect from biden. Top republicans finally acknowledging he is, in fact, president elect, but there still isnt a plan to move quickly to put his team in place on day one the way there has been in the past. What are you hearing from the Biden Campaign . Reporter kasie, great to see you. The biden transition right now today is focussed on the next slate of cabinet selections. And we expect that to be the folks who will really drive joe bidens climate agenda. And as you mentioned, that includes today, next hour, in fact, hes going to introduce former mayor Pete Buttigieg as his pick for the department of transportation. Our understanding is there will be a climate focus. As you rightly point out, buttigieg will be among the youngest people to serve in the cabinet and also the first openly gay person to be nominated to a permanent cabinet selection. Beyond that, although the transition hasnt announced it formally, our team confirmed joe biden is expected to elevate former michigan governor to be energy secretary, jennifer granholm. The other thing about that governor is she has a personal connection to joe biden. As is the case with so many of his cabinet designates. Theyve known each other a long time. In 2008 she played sarah palin in debate prep ahead of the debate between biden and palin. Beyond that selection, were also told that Gina Mccarthy who led the epa under barack obama will become the white house domestic climate coordinator. Shell work with secretary john ker kerry. The both of them that pair will also drive joe bidens climate agenda. Thats sort of the personnel and the policy. Remember, the biden team wants to within the next ten, 15 years have an Energy Production base here that is carbon free. Theyre also pushing toward electric cars and trying to Ban Oil Drilling on federal land. Theres a whole host of things that needs really to be passed by congress and also sold to the American People and thats the team that will do it. Monica, President Trump is refusing to concede so far or perhaps we should simply say hes refusing to accept reality. What do we know about the president s state of mind right now . I suppose were using his twitter feed to translate it. Yeah. I think you could also say, kasie, hes continuing to live in denial. Refusing to accept the reality that he lost this election, but quite notably, his campaign is starting to talk about 2020 in the past tense. They sent a fundraising email overnight asking supporters whether the president should run again in 2024 which again, the underlaying assumption is he lost and thats why he might be mulling another bid for the white house. Thats the first time weve seen that happen on the campaign front, but its certainly not coming from the president himself who we dont expect to ever concede formally. Overnight he was tweeting his dissatisfaction with Mitch Mcconnell in terms of acknowledging that joe biden is the president elect. He seemed to indicate he wants the fight to continue. He says people are angry. The plural there really, though, more cover for himself. He is the one who continues to be upset as we know aides and allies around him want to think about post presidency plans. And making some kind of a preservation possible for his legacy. Theyve urged him to focus on the Vaccine Distribution and the coronavirus in the final weeks. You raise the issue of the Cabinet Meeting today, kasie. Its notable he hasnt met with this team since may. Largely because of the coronavirus pandemic. But its closed press right now. Well see if they open it up for a spray. But we havent heard from the president on camera all week long so far. All right. Thank you both so much for your reporting this morning. Its great to see both of you. Doubts about georgias election system propelling record breaking in person early voting in the states special senate runoffs. Next jon ossoff live on what hes doing to reassure voters. First, 70 Million People across the country are under Winter Weather advisories right now due to the massive storm making its way from the midwest to the east coast. Were seeing scenes like this one from indianapolis this morning as the effects of the storm start to ramp up. It is, of course, bringing heavy snowfall, rein and high wind warnings. Lets bring in our meteorologist bill karins. Its great to see you at a slightly later hour of the morning. Walk us through the next couple days as the storm takes hold. It started snowing a little bit in washington. Yeah. I was going to ask. I was trying to see if it was. On radar it shows arriving in d. C. Right now. Not snowing for long, but the snow is heading to a cold air mass in new england and the northeast. Thats why were going to talk about the block buster snow events. The picture, maybe grainy tiny flakes but bigger in the next hour or too. The area in pink is 18 inches. Central new england, connecticut, hudson valley, cat scales, central portions of pennsylvania, the poconos getting nail pid the storm. Its going to snow hard. Through the overnight, the bottom line. D. C. Snow develops over the next two hours. Maybe one or two on the gassy surfaces grassy surfaces. Philadelphia snow begins throughout the next couple hours. Heavier throughout the afternoon. You could see a quick 3 to 6 inches of snow. Maybe a little more on the backside. But you also see a period of sleet this evening. New york city, do not be on the roads after 5 00 p. M. Heavy snow this evening. Blinding snow. New york city, i had 8 to 12. Im tempted to go to 10 to 14 and increase. New york city could be one of the higher spots. Boston snow later this evening, 10 00 to 11 00 p. M. , and easily a foot by the time theyre done thursday afternoon. Biggest storm for these cities in two years. Well have more on this on msnbc. Stay tuned. Ed at dell technologies, 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. At nothing. We look at how much youve saved, how much youll need, and build a straightforward plan to generate income, even when youre not working. 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The only thing a disaster cant destroy is hope. Donate now at redcross. Org welcome back. Turnout is soaring in the first week of early voting for Georgias Senate runoffs. Almost 500,000 ballots cast on monday alone. In person votes topping the first day of early general election voting by almost 40,000. Some counties didnt start early voting in the general election until a day later. President elect joe biden is campaigning with both candidates on monday predicting that georgia will again shock the nation come january. He, of course, won that state. Joining me now is candidate jon ossoff. Thank you for being here. You and i have spoken over the years since you were running in that house special election. And i want to start with the state of the race in georgia. How you think things are going on the ground. In particular, weve seen republicans really level quite a few intense attacks on Raphael Warnock who is running in the other seat. And the two of you have tied your fortunes together, campaigning together, appearing together, talking about a unified message. Why do you think republicans are so focussed on warnock at this point . I think that the gop attacks of at this point are garden variety fear mongering, race baiting. Theyve been lengthening my nose in their ads to remind everybody im a jew. Whats emerging in georgia is the new south. You have the young jewish son of a mentor running alongside a black preacher who holds dr. Kings pulpit at the church. You see a bus talking about health, jobs and justice. The gop can run their play book, fear and division. Were talking about what were going to do for working people at a moment of crisis in georgia. It sounds like youre seeing the republican attacks are functionally racist and potentially antisemitic . Well, when theyre lengthening my nose in their ads and calling Raphael Warnock dangerous. Were uniting people for health, jobs and justice. We have so much more in common as georgians than apart. We all stand to benefit when we pass Affordable Health care and build new clinics and hospitals and pass a new Civil Rights Act for rights for all. And when we pass the most ambitious clean energy and jobs bill in hifrt, everybody benefits. The gop can do what they do. Were focussed on energizing people to get out to the polls with early voting having begun on monday. So i want to talk a little bit about some of the diversity questions and how you might work in the senate should you win this election. The Biden Campaign has come in for some criticism for civil rights leaders about the diversity of the picks theyve selected for the cabinet. Are you satisfied with the diversity of president elect joe bidens cabinet picks . Well, i know president elect biden and Vice President elect harris are assembling their home. I humbly recommend that they make sure it reflects the diversity of our country. We have to unite this country after four years of division and remind everybody that we face a common challenge in covid19 and a common challenge with this Unemployment Crisis and economic crisis. That we face a common cholg challenge in terms of climate change. And the team that will lead this country out of the crisis will be a team that reflects the diversity of the United States and the American People. So another element of diversity, of course, is generational diversity. And congresswoman alexandria ocasiocortez caused a stir this morning. She did an interview and said basically that democrats need newer younger fresher leadership in congress. Lets listen to what she had to say and ill ask you about it. I do think that we need new leadership in the democratic party. I think one of the things that i have struggled with, i think a lot of People Struggle with, is the internal dynamics of the house has made it such that theres very little option for success, if you will. Would you like to see some fresh leadership of the democrats in congress whether its nancy pelosi or in particular, Chuck Schumer . Im 33 and running to represent georgia. I absolutely believe that younger voices are necessary in congress. Younger voices are necessary to help lead this country forward. And we have got to confront the Student Loan Debt crisis. We have to confront the climate crisis. We can get young people to the polls by focusing on generation issues such as student debt and the environment. If we dont win the senate races in georgia, if we dont win the senate races in georgia, Mitch Mcconnell is going to block the 15 minimum wage and the kind of infrastructure and Clean Energy Investment we need to create jobs and save our environment. Mitch mcconnell is going to block the kind of covid relief to get help they need to people. So many people barely able to put food on the table. I encourage young people to consider making the leap and stepping into the political arena so we have more young voices in high office. So speaking of Mitch Mcconnell, if youre elected, do you think it would be possible to work with Mitch Mcconnell in good faith, or is that impossible . Im always ready to work with anybody, but i dont think Mitch Mcconnell is going to change his ways. Weve seen who Mitch Mcconnell is. Hes going to try to do what joe and kamala like he tried to do to barack obama. Thats why were traveling the state to rally people to vote. Listen, everybody out there, you have family or friends in georgia, please make sure they know that early voting opened on monday. You can vote right now in georgia. And we have to get out to vote to win like never before. Jon ossoff, thank you. You are at the center of the political universe for the next couple weeks. And perhaps well see you in washington. Thank you very much for your time. We also want to note we also invited his opponent, david perdue to come on the show to talk to us about his race. That invitation still stands. Coming up next, the bipartisan cochairs of the problem solvers caucus, tom reed and Josh Gottheimer and why they havent closed the deal on what sources are saying is a 900 billion covid relief agreement. Welcome back. Just now on the senate floor Mitch Mcconnell basically confirming the report we brought you at the top of the hour. Saying negotiators, quote, major headway with talks on an Economic Relief package. Two sources familiar telling us congressional leaders in the white house are nearing agreement on a 900 billion deal. It is still being finalized but seems to be coming together quickly. Our sources tell us that theyre adding direct relief payments to the bill. Probably in the 600 per person range. But theyre going to avoid the two issues of state and local funding which democrats wanted and Liability Protection provisions which republicans have been focussed on. The basis for the talks, the twopart relief proposel, a Bipartisan Group of lawmakers released this week. I want to bring in two at the fore front of the group, come reed from tom reed from new york and senator gottheimer in hj h new jersey. We may have good news for americans who are obviously extraordinarily worried about losing benefits the day after christmas and are facing incredible hardship this holiday season. Democrats are holding a Conference Call to talk through some of the details of this. Whats your understanding . Is this an issue of the leaders going back to caucuses and clearing it with folks before theyre able to say okay, weve got a deal here . Well, i think youre in the final stretch of making the teal as you pointed out. And this is going to be a christmas miracle. Youre going to have a bipartisan bill thats agreed on in the senate and house. Were proud of the work weve done on this with our senate colleagues. Everyone came together to get this done. Its been months in the making. And i think its going to hit on assuming it gets done, on all the priorities weve been focussed on, ppp, second round of unemployment for families where unemployment is about to run out of a continuation there. Thats key. And rental assistance, and support for our schools, and vaccine deployment which is essential. So it hits nearly every single thing weve been fighting for, and now we have to get it done. Congressman reed, let me go to you with questions about direct relief payments. This is a big question mark. President trump has been pushing for this earlier. He wanted to have his name on those checks. Its been in. Its been out. Do you expect that americans will be eligible to receive a second direct relief payment under this agreement . Yeah. And first, i want to echo what josh said. Working together in the problem solvers caucus, im proud of the work in a bipartisan fashion. We brought people together. Listening to each other, and who wins in that discussion are the American People. And theyre going to get this benefit they need delivered to them here in short order in my humble opinion. The checks, yes, obviously that was a parameter that was brought into the conversations here at the finishline, and President Trumps been looking for the checks, and i know the hard left looking to joshs side of the aisle, theyve been discussing direct stimulus checks, and theyre widely popular out there, obviously, to the American People, and rightfully so. People need some extra money to get through the difficult times. I think youre going to see broad support for the outlines of this package. Were going to get this done and for the right reason, the American People. Congressman reed, let me pick up and then ill turn to congressman gottheimer. What you said about people working together. This has not frankly been how weve seen congress do business lately. Its been a question of leadership, negotiations. There havent been a lot of groups of bipartisan lawmakers who are coming together. In fact, in many cases the political incentives have been the opposite. People get punished for being seen working with the other side. Do you think whats happened here foreshadows a couple years under a Biden Administration where there can be more of this, or do you think were going to go back to the partisan status quo quickly after Joe Biden Takes Office . I hope so. We in the problem solvers caucus, the members that are 50 strong and stronger in the next congress are committed to that. Thats what we built this operation for. Thats why the members who committed to this way of governing are here in congress to do. Our hands are open to the other side of the aisle. Were proud republicans and were not going to shed our ideology or belief structure, but were going to listen to each other. We know theyre proud democrats and were going to be able to find Common Ground. When you stop the yelling and rhetoric and take the time out of respect to listen to each other, you find Common Ground like the victory were going to deliver on this relief package. So congressman gottheimer, to that point, you have members of your progressive members in the Democratic Caucus who have been calling for more like 2000 in direct payment, not 600. How did you bridge that divide in your caucus to get here to this potential deal, and do you think ultimately democrats are going to have a problem in dealing with progressives in situations like this, because, perhaps, they think the compromises are falling short . Well, listen, as you know, and in any agreement where you get both sides and a divided government where the white house is controlled by the republican and senate by republicans and the house by republicans, you have to find an area where you agree. The key is i think and ive talked to several colleagues of mine who are happy with the great progress. We were able to get the direct checks in. Something i supported and tom did too, to get that support and deliver it as part of the package. I think its a great win for the American People, and again, ka your point, in next year in the new congress under president elect biden, i really believe to get things done. And to get his agenda in place, were going to have to work together, and you have to do it from the beginning. Well have a narrow majority in the house, and obviously narrow majority in the senate. Inevitab inevitably, if we want to make progress, this will be the model. It has to be, and we have to talk to each other, and i believe thats the key. All right. Congressman gottheimer, i asked you about progressives. Congressman reed, were out of time so youre off the hook. Its going to be an interesting act to try to get some of them to work with democrats coming up in the next congress. Thanks to both of you. Glad we have some, it seems knock on wood, good news for americans here heading into the holiday season. Thank you both. Meanwhile more Health Care Workers on the frontlines will get vaccinated today. Next well check in with an icu nurse at a hard hit hospital we introduced you to months ago. How he feels after getting vaccinated two hours ago. To cel. Vascepa, when added to your statin,. Is clinically proven to provide 25 lower risk from heart attack and stroke. Vascepa is clearly different. First and only fda approved. Celebrate less risk. Even for those with family history. Dont take vascepa if you are. 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They have agreed to hear a case on pay for college athletes. Nbc justice correspondent Pete Williams is here with details. My sister was a college athlete, so its been widely debated in our house. Whats going on with this case . This is not actually money pay. This is how much the schools can compensate athletes in what are called educationrelated benefits like computers, musical internships, scholarships postgraduate when theyre no longer paying for the school, that kind of thing. There are strict limits on that right now, and federal courts in california have struck those limits down in a ruling in may a federal Appeals Court said they violate in essence, federal antitrust laws, that the schools and ncaa get together and agree on limiting compensation, and the judge, upheld by the Appeals Court, said thats an antitrust violation. This is a large Class Action Lawsuit filed by a number of students in sort of a top tier of student Athletics Division one, a group of students led by former West Virginia running back shawny alston. Theyve been arguing that student athletics have become a multibillion dollar business. Schools make a lot of money, coaching and athletic directors get paid a lot, all on what they call broken bodies of student athletes. The ncaa says whats at issue is not blurring the line between amateur and professional athletics. Its a really interesting point because those programs are huge money makers for those schools. As you point out, the athletes not compensated. Pete williams, thank you very much. Appreciate the update there. Now an update on someone you met right here at the height of the pandemic. You might remember howard sandow a nurse inside an intensive care unit in new york. As far as the nursing staff, this is an incredibly, incredibly sad situation for all of us. Were fighting day and night trying to save peoples lives. Its very, very, very sad and very hard on you as a persons moeshlly and physically. That was howard talking about the covid crisis in new york city and his experience treating some of the sickest patients. Today howard is still working in the icu, and earlier this morning became one of the fro frontline workers to get the coronavirus vaccine. Howard is back with us now. As we said, hes an icu nurse and also a special representative for the federation of nurses. Howard, it is great to have you back here. Lets start with the optimistic news here. You received your first Pfizer Vaccine shot. How are you feeling . What was the moment like for you and did it cause you to reflect on the challenges youve grappled with this year . So i woke up very, very early this morning with great joy in my heart that i was going to be able to get this vaccine. I got to the hospital, and i took the vaccine about two hours ago. Ive had no side effects, no pain in my arm. It was a very simple process, and i just feel an immense sense of relief that today, this day is finally here after what myself and my colleagues have gone through over the last nine months, the struggles, the pain, the sadness. And now the overwhelming joy that i feel personally that ive been able to receive this vacci vaccine. I want to encourage everybody to get this vaccine. We all have to get it. 70 of us have to get this vaccine in order to get herd immunity. We need to get there so we can get back to our lives and enjoy the summer thats coming. Thats what im looking forward to. I think we all are. Howard, have you heard resistance from your fellow icu nurses to receiving the vaccine . What have you heard about your fellow medical professionals being concerned about it . Ive heard some concerns. Ive heard some of my colleagues say theyre not going to get the vaccine, they dont want to get the vaccine. Of course, its not mandated at the moment, but, again, we need to get 70 of everyone to get this vaccine. They do have concerns. I think a lot of people are waiting to see what happens with the people who got the vaccine. Look, im here today to say it was really no big deal and im very, very happy to have done it, and i just encourage all my coworkers to get the vaccine. Everybody is kind of nervous because its a new vaccine and it came out fairly quickly. Thats modern medicine and science, and thats what we have to rely on. Its absolutely an important point. Howard, i wanted to ask how things are in your hospital, to this point of trying to end this. It was so bad in the spring, whats it like right now . After the spring, the summer slowed down quite a bit. Of course, thats due to the Public Health process that the state of new york put in place with the masks, people social distancing and doing all the right things. Thats why we were able to keep our numbers down over the summer. Now were starting to see an uptick in the volume of patients coming into the hospital, into our emergency room, our icu is filling back up with covid patients, and theres no question that we are feeling that things are changing right now. I can only describe it the way were all feeling, like a tidal wave. You feel like its going to come and collapse over the top of you at any minute. So were nervous. Were scared. Were concerned about our staffing, obviously, because in the spring we were able to get a workforce from all over the country to come help. Im afraid this time its in the going to happen. Everybody has high anxiety about that and also suffering from ptsd from the spring. So were all really nervous and really scared whats going to happen over the next two months. But with some hope for whats really going to happen in the summer when were all vaccinated. Lets focus in on that hope. Thank you for that message to everyone. Howard sandou, thank you so much for being here today and all the work you and your colleagues are doing. Thanks to all of you for watching this hour of msnbc live. You can follow the show on twitter at hallie on msnbc. If youre up too early, tune in to way too early at 5 00 a. M. Up next, much more from my colleague Chris Jansing. Every morning i say im going to email you why youre up way too early. Its obvious, youre anchoring. Im Chris Jansing in for craig melvin. Congressional leaders and the white house may finally be nearing agreement on a 900 billion covid relief deal. Big news from the biden transition. Later this hour