Administrations Public Health team. Former obama certainly vivek murthy has been asked to reprise his role, according to the washington post. And the president elect asked dr. Anthony fauci to stay on in his current position, in addition to an expanded role as the chief medical adviser. The Biden White House will need all the help that it can get. 200,000 americans are testing positive for the virus every single day. 3,000 are dying from it. Those numbers are only getting worse in the coming weeks. And even the muchtouted silver lining, an imminent vaccine, comes with massive challenges. A new report from nbc news outlines how unprepared the Trump White House is for the logistics of actually distributing this vaccine. And how much thats going to challenge the incoming administration, which will inherit the burden of getting the majority of americans vaccinated. As one former hhs official told nbc news quote, this, the team is going to have an amazing challenge of trying to get the publics confidence and overcome all the way thers being set up to fail. Nobody is anticipating smooth vaccine rollout over the next year, which is why the Incoming Biden Administration is hoping to increase mitigation efforts to slow this spread, including a Public Awareness campaign to rally americans, to voluntarily adopt universal mask wearing for the first 100 days of bidens presidency. So lets get into all of this now. Joining me now, nbc news political reporter, ali vitali, nbc news correspondent heidi przybyla, and dr. Vin gupta. Welcome to you all, guys. Heidi, i want to start you and your excellent reporting on this, especially with the ill preparedness, it seems of the Trump Administration, the steps forward for operation warp speed. After phase i, essentially, when the Health Care Workers get their first vaccine, what happens on january 21st . Talk us through this cliff that youre reporting on. Yasmin, phase i is essentially a shipping operation. We already have the infrastructure to vaccinate the Health Care Workers. We have the infrastructure to vaccinate those in longterm care facilities. Cvs and Walmart Associates will go out there and we know where to find them for the second doses. Thats expected to go pretty smoothly. After that, yasmin, and this coincides almost perfectly with february, when were looking at rolling out broader vaccination, to more groups, older people with preexisting conditions. First responders. This is a much broader population. Right now, my reporting is that there has really been a very, very significant gap in coordination with the localit s localities. A lot of places not knowing what the specifically guidelines are for who theyre supposed to be vaccinating. The money is a huge, huge issue. Hopefully this gets resolved in congress with the funding to the localities, given that they have to stand up an estimated 3,000 additional rapid vaccination clinics. But even if they dont do that, theres even if they get that done, theres going to be a lot more here that is lacking, yasmin. Specifically, the i. T. Infrastructure. Look, theyve got this system called titiberius. It is not the kind of tracking system they needed to have started, according to my sources, about nine months ago in order to share all of the information thats going to have to be exchanged between all of the administrators, the people who are giving the shots, the suppliers, the local Health Departments, which all have different systems. Take a listen to dr. Mandy cohen, the Health Secretary for North Carolina. Actually, when i spoke with her earlier, she said that this is going to be one of the main obstacles here, is not having that coordination to know, hey, we have to go into this specific community, because this is an underserved area. These people are skeptical of the vaccine. Were not going to be able to get this under control if we not only if we only give these people one vaccinate or no vaccination, we dont know where to find them for their second dose. Maybe they have side effects. This is all really critical infrastructure, yasmin, as well as that Public Relations campaign that we saw, for instance, with previous pandemics that have loomed, like with h1n1, when the Obama Administration really put together a summit, where they brought together governors, they brought together mayors, local stakeholders, Health Officials and war gamed all of this. They had grants to the states and they had a massive Public Relations campaign to make sure that the information got out to the public. All of those things right now being left to cashstrapped states, yasmin. So, heidi, we actually got that sound that you were referring to a little bit earlier. I want to play a bit of that, because i think its incredibly important in talking about this tracking effort. Lets take a listen to that. Theres a huge tracking effort that we all need to work on together. Because as you know, most of these vaccines are two doses. So its not just delivery on that first dose. Youve got to get that person back either 21 days or 28 days after that first visit. And then making sure that we have both the i. T. Systems that can track, but reminders and the right messaging and coordination across all of these different entities that are going to be doing vaccinations and have different types of vaccines. I think its going to be a huge communications challenge. I think that the federal government has a huge role to play in how they communicate. So dr. Gupta, its incredibly troubling, because if any of these steps go ahead, heidi. Go ahead. Well, i was told by experts who are following this that this Information Technology initiative should have started nine months ago when we knew that this was at the path that we were going down when we started developing the vaccines, that at some point, they need to be administratored. And yet that work really hasnt been done until the past couple of months. Im being told, in many cases, its just too late. Were not going to have that in place. So the Biden Administration will have to take off bitesized pieces of this and try to figure out how to communicate, how to make sure all of this works in a seamless way. So, dr. Gupta, you know, im going to speak pretty bluntly here. This is pretty scary to think about, if its too late at this point. That there is a lack of preparedness and weve gotten here. I mean, its taken nine months. They had so much time to prepare for this moment. For the distribution of this vaccine. The president has talked about this vaccine for so long, and yet they are ill prepared for this very moment. And it speaks to the management that they have had of this pandemic throughout. I actually want to read a piece of the Task Force Report that we obtained, nbc news obtained that was distributed to all states. In it, it reads this. If state and local policies do not reflect the seriousness of the current situation, all Public Health officials must alert the state population directly. It speaks to the fact that theres no National Effort onboard as to how to actually combat this pandemic. If, in fact, your governor is not instituting policies to protect individuals of that state, as a health care professional, in that state, it is incumbent upon you to inform your patients, the people in your community, to do certain things to protect yourselves, because the politicians in your state cannot . Well, thats exactly right, yasmin. Thats the situation we find ourselves in. Let me clear to everybody watching right now, its important that the Incoming Biden Administration, obviously, is embarking on a major pr, Public Health communications effort, i. T. Effort, just to make sure everybody gets a vaccine. The twodose vaccine regimen in most cases that they deserve to get, they need to get. But its going to take time to get to that point. And the university of washington just put out a new forecast, suggesting by april 1st, were so going to see upwards of 540,000 americans in total lose their life from covid19. It does not have to be that way, that we can mitigate that loss of life. But vaccines are not going to save us from the worst of this pandemic. That means every governor needs to think strongly about Indoor Dining and curtailing that. Every governor, every state and local Health Department needs to be messaging locally about not traveling. I talk to so many people who say, you know what, im still going to travel, but what if i do these set of things. Is it okay, doc, to travel . My answer is, no, its not okay. You cannot test or mask your way into safe travel. Everybody needs to be messaging on that. Were in the midst of a disaster, yasmin. As an icu doc, i can say this, that 48 states that were estimating are going to experience extreme stress in their icu dwebetween december a february. That is the window in which vaccinations will be ramping up, but people will have not have had the twodose regimen or the onedose regimen. So we have to keep our eye on the immediate priorities, which is mitigating loss of life. That means highquality masking, the threeply mask, the blue mask if you can get your hands on it. Face shielding if youre above 55. Doing basic things like grocery shopping. Covid19 does not respect curfews. It transmits in any indoor environment and please do not travel. The big supply chain limitation right now is adequately training Critical Care personnel. Im begging all americans here, please dont travel. Yeah the task force also basically said, if youre over 65 years old, you should get your groceries delivered and you shouldnt be leaving the house, at all, really. And if youre under the age of 40 and you celebrated with thanksgiving anybody outside of your household, you should essentially assume that you have covid right now and be quarantined at the moment. Ali, im going to go to you on this one. It all leads top biden. Another thing ill pull from heidis awesome piece. It says, the new team will have an amazing challenge in trying to get the publics confidence and overcome all the ways theyre being set up to fail. This is from a former senior official at department of health and human services. What is the plan here for the Biden Administration to bridge this gap . Reporter well, heidi teased out all the different layers. There are the logisticical and monetary challenges as they try to figure out what rolling out a vaccine looks like. But there are the trust concerns, as well as making sure this vaccine gets into these communities, mostly communities of color that have been hit so much harder by this virus than White Communities have across the country. But trust isnt built overnight, and neither is the habit of americans looking to the federal government for answers on this. What weve seen from the Trump Administration is not leading on this issue, not talking about trying to set a cohesive set of guidelines for americans to follow. Frankly, the white house response over the last few months has really been all over the place from the president at the top of this chain. And so what biden is trying to do is step into this breach and his team is making clear that they want to be an executive that leads on this shaissue by instituting 100 days of mask wearing at the start of his term. Making clear that they support the guidelines that weve all been talking about for so many months now, staying at home, social distancing, social distancing, staying away from Indoor Dining, if you can. At the same time, though, they are also being forced to deal with the hyperpolarization around so many of those guidelines that has been baked in over many, many months. Mask wearing has somehow become political. And so what youre watching this Biden Transition Team do is, yes, figure out the logistics, yes, push forward on stimulus spending, but also make it so theyre not lashing out at republicans. Theyre trying to build a bipartisan and sciencebased consensus around all of these things that mitigate the spread of the virus. Because thats their shortterm focus. Is how do you stop this very bleak situation from getting worse, while also pushing out into the medium and longterm of how do we push this vaccine out . And i would also note that when you talk about stimulus spending, the biden team has made clear that they like the 900 upwards of 900 billion deal thats moving its way through negotiations on capitol hill right now. But we just got off of a call with transition advisers who said, thats really just the starting point. Theyre making clear, and im sure well hear this from biden in a few hours, that theyll need to push for more stimulus spending. Yes, that goes to americans for direct relief, it goes to helping Small Businesses through this continued hard time, but its also going to go to putting money into getting an infrastructure in place, so they can put out that vaccine. It makes it a little bit harder, as you push forward. Everyone wants a vaccine, it doesnt matter, republican, democrat. It makes it harder to say no in those negotiations, when you see money like that, thats wrapped up in it. But then, again, everyones agreed that we need action on this for so many months and we still havent had it yet. Two things. Were actually going to be talking about the stimulus spending, so thanks for that tease there, ali, appreciate it. In the next block, you dont want to miss that conversation with our own Garrett Haake. And the one thing i worry about with bidens 100day mask mandate, is how many people are actually going to follow suit, especially in those trump states. That thats a major worry i have going forward. Thanks to you all, appreciate. It. Hospitals are the first line of defense when it comes to vaccine distribution, and theyre starting to make plans on their own with or without the help from the white house. Joining me now from North Carolina is nbc News Reporter dacia burns. Thanks for joining us. Talk us through what youre seeing so far there. Reporter hey, yasmin. At the end of this grim week where weve seen just these heartbreaking numbers, everybodys looking for a little bit of hope, right . And here at duke, this room im in right now, it kind of represents a little bit of hope here. This is a space where in just a couple of weeks, hopefully, people will be getting some of those first vaccinations. It may not look like much just yet, but even figuring out how to structure this room was a thoughtful planned out process. They have to find a space that was big enough to place these vaccination stations at least 6 feet apart. Theyre going to be able to move through people here in groups. There are about ten stations here. Now, getting a shot, thats going to take only a couple of minutes. But with this vaccine, theres going to be a 15 to 30minute monitoring period, because some people will likely experience some covidlike side effects. So theyre going to put people here to sit, get monitored, have a snack or two. And yasmin, this room was placed very close to the hospital, because the first people sitt tg in these seats, theyll be the front line Health Care Workers that are taking care of Covid Patients and most of them will have to go right back to work. This is one piece of the symphony that has to come together in perfect harmony here and the logistical layers are just incredible. Think about this. Weve been talking about these ultracold freezers. Right now duke is working out the delivery of two of those freezers to this facility. They have to get the right equipment to get those freezers installed. Right now those freezers are empty. Theyre trying to figure out when theyre going to get their supply, how much supply theyre going to get, how often theyre going to get it. That is all going to impact the planning here, because they have to make sure theyve got the right number of syringes, of sharps containers, all of those pieces coming together. And this is going to become even more complicated when you talk about getting the vaccine to the masses. This is just to vaccinate those front line workers here. You talk about getting it out to the community, so many more layers. I want you to take a listen to the emergency manager here and about how hes thinking about it right now. This is coordination between state, federal, local partners. I mean, thats the big thing that were trying to do in this scenario, is to be able to make sure that our local Public Health departments are prepared for this as well, because well be starting to vaccinate the community. You know, that is a big effort. How do you weigh in and how do you make sure that theres an equitable mechanism to provide vaccines for someone who might be older in age and have multiple comorbidities versus a Health Care Worker that could be seen as being young and relatively healthy . And at the center of all of this, yasmin, is staff. Right now, so many people are focused on taking care of Covid Patients. They need staffers here to vaccinate people. Theres a big recruitment effort to get people into these seats to vaccinate and theyre trying to even get retired nurses to come out of retirement. Its all hands on deck right now, yasmin. Certainly is, across the country, really. Dasha burns, thank you. Good to see you. Still ahead, everybody, a Health Official in Rural America speaks out about the damaging impact of pandemic politics. Even if were physically safe from the virus, there are a lot of hurt feelings. What i worry about is that its going to take much longer to get through that than it would be to get through the actual pandemic itself. And later, new reporting that the president is considering pardoning up to 20 aides and associates before leaving office. What that would that be, excuse me, an admission of guilt . But first, new data out today showing our economic recovery screeching to a halt. Hiring has slowed, unemployment claims are still high, right when relief is set to expire. Well be right back. En relief ie well be right back. Pen. Its welcoming. Everything we want to be when helping people find a medicare plan. So if youre looking for yours, say hello to hellomedicare. A one stop shop for medicare plans,. Including a range of Unitedhealthcare Medicare advantage plans. Plans that could give you 0 copays on all primary care, doctor visits, preventive dental care, and eye exams. With hellomedicare, you can learn, compare, even enroll all in one place. No matter where you are in your search. Give us a call. Our licensed hellomedicare agents are here to help guide you to a plan that fits your needs. Because we get it finding the right medicare plan can be challenging. Plans can differ by price. Or benefits. They can even differ by where you live. Thats why were here to put it all together. And be your goto place for all the latest information. Laid out right in front of you, in a way thats easy to understand. It all starts with a few simple questions so we can get to know you better. Questions like, do you want to keep your doctor . And which benefits are important to you . Then, well match you with plans from the top names in medicare, including a range of Unitedhealthcare Medicare advantage plans. For a complete picture of your best options. Next, well help you compare benefits and costs. And when you feel good about your selection. Well sign you up. [done. And. Done. ] remember, the annual Enrollment Period is here. And it ends on december 7th. So whether youre looking to save money, or find better coverage. Lets do this. Lets go find your medicare plan. Call us today and speak with one of our helpful licensed hellomedicare agents. Hellomedicare. Say hello to an easier way to do medicare. Hellomedicare. In a on the most reliable, pnetwork with xfinity mobile. They can choose from the latest phones or bring their own. And because they get nationwide 5g at no extra cost, they live happily ever after. Again, again. Your wireless. Your rules. Your way to stay closer together this holiday season. Switch and save up to 400 a year on your wireless bill. And get 300 off when you buy the Samsung Galaxy note20 ultra 5g. Learn more at xfinitymobile. Com. Welcome back. The u. S. Added only 245,000 jobs in november, as job growth slowed for a fifth straight month. The u. S. Economy is still roughly 10 million jobs short where we were prepandemic, and a rising number of jobs could be gone for good. Thats all the bad news at possibly the worst time because millions could be left without federal aid as of the day after christmas. Think about that, the day after christmas, they are left without aid. That is unless Congress Passes a rescue package and quickly. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Mitch Mcconnell, theyre engaging in their first serious negotiations in months. This is momentum. This is momentum with the action that the senators and house members in a bipartisan way have taken with them. It could provide meaningful relief for millions who are suffering, economically, personally, and health wise. So im pleased that the tone of our conversations is one that is indicative of the decision to get the job done. Lets get some clarity on this. Nbc news capitol hill Garrett Haake joining us, and gene sperling. Welcome to you both on this. Garrett, i want to start with you to give us an update on where we are with things and how likely we could see some package before christmas. So were hearing momentum from pelosi. We also hear from mcconnell that he actually believes that we could get things done. So where are we . Yeah, look, i think were in the strongest place weve been in since probably the late spring, early summer in terms of actual negotiations on a real package here. You heard from pelosi there. Last night, Mitch Mcconnell on his way out talked about their phone calls, saying they were both interested in getting to an outcome, which is kind of mcconnellese for saying, theyre now in the process of getting this bill or working on some kind of compromise. The fact that its the two of them speaking without intermediaries from the white house, all of that bodes well. There are a number of sticking points here. Both sides have things that they wanted included in this that theyre not going to get. Republicans, particularly those in the senate are plarticularly concerned about the inclusion of state and local aid. They want to see that number zeroed out or put much tighter controls on how state and local governments could spend any aide theyre going to get. On the left, theres enormous disappointment that this bipartisan package does not include any stimulus checks. No direct payments to individuals. A lot of folks on the left, including congresswoman ocasiocortez who i spoke to a short time ago said that was one of their big concerns. That Congress Might pass this relief bill, but because there arent those stimulative measures, theres not money that regular folks out in the country may not feel the kind of relief that is necessary, perhaps, despite this nearly 1 trillion price tag on the framework as it exists right now. Hows it going to get to the president s desk, garrett . Thats the other piece of the puzzle here, right . I think well see whatever gets worked out in the final compromise will get attached to this mustpass spending bill, another way thoughfully make sure the president signs it. In theory, mcconnells version of the bill that he would like to see put forward is everything he has said that he knows that the president will agree to. But all of us know, as weve covered this administration over the last several years, that what the president might agree to changes by the day, sometimes by the hour. And he has, in the past, been in favor of much larger packages. In fact, hes been in favor of direct payments from time to time. And so attaching it to this mustpass spending bill is kind of a good way to make sure the president signs it. Not doing so would cause a government shutdown. But how he will react is one of the big unanswerable questions at this point. Gene, talk us through how worried you are at this point, considering were basically at the 11th hour here, Unemployment Benefits are going to run out for millions of americans across this country after christmas. An awful time for it to run out, especially when were in the midst of a pandemic shutdown. Im deeply worried. I think todays job number is the most major proof point for how deeply wrongheaded it is for people to be worried about increasing the debt, instead of being worried about whether we have a strong and bold enough stimulus to, number one, deal with this humanitarian cliff youre talking about. And two, to speed full unemployment. You know, at 245,000 jobs, we would not get back to where we were at the start of the covid, until the end of 2024. In other words, we would have no net job gain in our country until 20 wow. So thats why you have look, this is something sometimes the right thing morally is the right thing economically. This is one of those winwins. You have 10 million to 20 Million People who could face eviction, cant pay their rent. You have over 10 million who could lose their unemployment. To let them suffer now, to go through that, the pain of losing your home, of not being able to feed your family, its just its a terrible thing. But not only that, if you give and i think this is what congresswoman aoc was saying. If youre giving people money, its not only the right thing humanitarian wise, it also means, theyre going to keep spending. Theyre going to help stimulate the economy. So what we really need is this 908 billion is at best a down payment, because you not only need to deal with the crisis of people losing their homes, not being able to eat, losing their unemployment. You are going to need a major job mobilization. The kind of build back better plan that biden was talking about. And ill just give you one more number, which is, in the last three months, 2. 3 Million People have gone to longterm unemployment. That is the longest increase in longterm unemployment in three months since we started keeping those numbers in 1948. And we know, you lose your jobs for a couple of months, its rough, you bounce back. You lose your job for six months or longer, you often lose your house, you often lose your health, it can do lasting damage, again, from a humanitarian point of view and from an economic point of view. And then weve got to obviously, in the longterm, talk about the road ahead, especially for the Biden Administration, instituting policies in order to get americans back on their feet who have millions, as you just mentioned, losing their jobs over this ninemonth period. Garrett haake, gene sperling, thanks, guys, appreciate it. Coming up, by the way, everybody, i want to talk quickly about the breaking news were following on capitol hill this afternoon. The house of representatives has voted mostly along criminal lpa to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level, effectively leaving it up to states whether they want to legalize pot. That would expunge some records that involve marijuana. The bill is a nonstarter in the senate and will not become law. The president continues his attacks on republican officials in georgia, as he is about to campaign for republican senators in georgia. How is this one going to play out . And a baltimore pastor tells me how hes using his pulpit to combat vaccine skepticism among his own congregants. Well be right back. M among his own congregants. Well be right back. Think it solve it try and crack it breathe it calm it and renew it aarp staying sharp is part of renew active. Get medicare with more. Afind a stock basedtech. Ion your interestsctive. Or whats trending. Get realtime insights in your customized view of the market. Its smarter Trading Technology for smarter trading decisions. Fidelity. Welcome back. From the beginning of this pandemic, misinformation and distrust have hampered Public Health efforts to contain this virus and the reallife consequences are playing out all over this country, including in rural kansas, where mask mandates and social distancing measures proven to save lives are often met with hostility. Joining me now is nbc news correspondent, antonia hilton. Good to see you this afternoon. Thanks for joining us on this. Talk us through exactly what youre seeing there so far. Hey, yasmin. Nice to see you, too. I traveled to this small rural town called for eed fradonia. The kind of play where everyone knows each other and if theres a problem, people pitch in. But a local doctor told me she is struggling and finding it hard to look forward to a vaccine when you can hardly get people to agree to wear masks. Take a look at what i saw in town. Dr. Mckinney is one of only five doctors at the small Regional Hospital in fradonia, kansas. Okay. Reporter shes also the countys Health Official, responsible for planning the communitys covid response. Lately, it feels like an impossible job. Nine months after the first covid case seen in kansas, Health Officials like mckinney are losing support with residents, who dont want to hear anymore about masks and social distancing. Some drive by her house, post about her on facebook, and push for her to get fired. Hello dr. Mckinney was born and raed here and says she knows almost every one of the towns 2,500 people, but now she sometimes feels like an outsider. What do you think is motivating the tension in town . I think theres a lot of fear and theres so much unknown. People want to blame something and they cant blame a virus that is too small to be seen, so they blame people like me. Reporter at the end of november, she got a small win. After months of debate, town commissioners put a 30day mask mandate in place. But at the meetings end, the sheriffs deputy escorted dr. Mckenny out. We are in the process of losing our freedoms. Were in the process of losing free speech. That was a first for me, but when i asked them why they wanted to walk me out, they said, well, we just were worried about your safety. Reporter disinformation and distrust of government, many depending on hourly wage jobs at the few restaurants and shops around, and fear being asked to quarantine. Their anger spills out on to administrators and contact tracers, like destiny wheeler. We hear, this is bull [ bleep ] a lot and how are they going to pay their bills and we dont we i know these people. I dont want them to not be able to pay their bills or go to work, and that does get really personal and its very hard. Reporter in the first seven months of the pandemic, the community had 60 confirmed cases. In just the last week, theyve seen 80. My whole bodys sore. It feels like it got hit with a vehicle. Loss of sense of taste and smell. Are you worried at all . I live with and take care of my 93yearold great grandmother and thats something that im worried about. Do you wish youd worn a mask . A little bit, sometimes. Reporter 20 minutes later, both men got the call. Theyre covid positive. Dr. Mckenny says shell keep showing up for her patients and working to combat pandemic fatigue. Do you think that will solve the division in town . I think its going to take a while to solve the division in town, because its personal. Its hard. People have said things, people have heard things and even if were physically safe from the virus, there are a lot of hurt feelings. What i worry about is that its going to take much longer to get through that than it would be to get through the actual pandemic itself with the virus. So, yasmin, i asked dr. Mckenny, pointblank, have you thought about quitting . Would you be a doctor in a different town . And she repeated again that, no, shes going to keep working with her patients and serving in town, even if it costs her relationships. Wow. Antonia hilton, thank you. Appreciate you sharing that story with us, very much. So stemming from a long history of discrimination and exploitation by the health care system, new numbers show that distrust of a Covid Vaccine runs deep in communities of color. According to pew research, less than half of black americans say they would take a Coronavirus Vaccine if it were available today. My next guest, dr. Reverend dr. Terrace king from baltimore is trying to change that. Heres some of what hes hearing from members of his own community. Its time for us to stop being guinea pigs and people need to know where were coming from. Were not just trying to be against everything, but we as a people have suffered. Thats right. Thats right. Thats right. And weve gotten to a point where we just dont trust. Joining me now is dr. Reverend terrace king of baltimores Liberty Grace Church of god. He also established the office of Minority Health at the centers for medicare and medicaid services. Reverend, thank you very much for joining us on this. Really appreciate it. Its incredible to hear you speaking with members of your community, thinking that they would be seen as guinea pigs in this distribution of this vaccine. What are some of the other things that youre hearing in your community when it comes to taking this vaccine . Well, its a laundry list. One of the things really starts with, why now. Why now is there a concern about our health . Africanamericans in the inner city and across the country have really suffered are chronic diseases and Health Disparities and inequities, social determina determinants, all of the phrases that were well ware of all the time. But now that our health is connected with the health of the broader population, interest shows up. And a push to really get us to take a vaccine without understanding the context of the community. Understanding the history, with code words like tuskegee. But currentday Health Inequities and distrust of the health care system. So why now . Is this an attempt to reduce the population of africanamericans . What is going on . Are we at the table . Is there transparency . Whats in the vaccine . All of those things have been put on the table. So what are you saying to them, in order to get them to trust the process more . So, i want to be clear. My role isnt to convince tlhem. My role, first of all, is to confirm some of their beliefs. Treat them with respect. And then one of the things ive been able to do is bring industry to them. We had a Prayer Service recently where we had Johns Hopkins university, sanofi and pfizer on a Prayer Service together. We really understand the importance of honoring sacred space. Weve put together a process where we have the sanctuary combined with beauty salons and barbershops and social media. So those places where we face our fears, have conversations, come together, talk it out. Lets bring industry into those sta spaces and really go through whats fact from fiction. Lets not look at the trusted source . So quickly, reverend. Do you think its making a difference . Do you think people are thinking differently about the vaccine . The reason that i say that is because im leading an effort with religious leaders around the flu vaccine. So in comparison to last year, were up 16 . But i have to tell you, individuals are going to go into the Covid Vaccine, seeing how others react first. And there needs to be a commitment to the longer Term Health Issues of the africanamerican communities. So when you come into this community, dont just talk about the vaccine, talk about diabetes, talk about high blood pressure, and talk about whats going to be done to build us back better. Thats what the conversation has to be about. That is such an incredible point. Reverend dr. Terence king, thank you, and thank you for spending some time with us, as always. Still ahead, everybody, theres a little more than a month to go before georgias allimportant senate runoffs. And now the political heavyweights are stepping in. But first, President Trumps plan to bulldoze through yet another norm. Hes considering preemptively pardoning as many as 20 people in his orbit. Well be right back. Y as 20 peoe in his orbit well be right back. Difference. My team helped expand the benefits of reflective technology, so its highly visible when it needs to be, and less visible when it doesnt. Whether youre hard at work or heading home for dinner, its there when it matters most. We know that what we do helps more people get home safely. At 3m, we aspire to improve lives. Another bundle in the books. Got to hand it to you, jamie. Your knowledge of victorian architecture really paid off this time. Nah, just got lucky. So did the thompsons. That faulty wiring couldve cost them a lot more than the mudroom. Thankfully they bundled their motorcycle with their home and auto. Theyre protected 24 7. Mm. What do you say . One more game of backgammon . [ chuckles ] not on your life. [ laughs ] when the lights go down stand up to moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. And take. It. On. With rinvoq. Rinvoq a oncedaily pill. Can dramatically improve symptoms. Rinvoq helps tame pain, stiffness, swelling. And for some. Rinvoq can even significantly reduce ra fatigue. Thats rinvoq relief. With ra, your overactive immune system attacks your joints. Rinvoq regulates it to help stop the attack. Rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious infections and blood clots, sometimes fatal, have occurred. As have certain cancers, including lymphoma, and tears in the stomach or intestines, and changes in lab results. Your doctor should monitor your bloodwork. Tell your doctor about any infections. And if you are or may become pregnant while taking rinvoq. Take on ra talk to your rheumatologist about rinvoq relief. Rinvoq. Make it your mission. If you cant afford your medicine, abbvie may be able to help. Welcome back. In their final days in office, president s throughout history have weighed using their pardon power. In true donald trump fashion, outgoing president may take the process further than any of his predecessors. Politico reporting hes considering an unprecedented number of preemptive pardons, the list including his adult children, his soninlaw, jared kushner, and his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, as well as up to 20 administration aides and associates. Politico also reporting that the move has frustrated his fellow republicans who believe that offering political reprieves to his friends and family members could actually backfire. Joining me now, anita kumar and former rnc chair michael steele. Welcome to you both, guys. Appreciate you joining me this afternoon. Anita, i want to start with you on this and the reporting that you know so far on possible preemptive pardons here. Talk first about the possible criminal exposure any of these individuals could have from the president s children to his soninlaw to his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. Well, lets start with saying that there are no charges pending against any of these people that were hearing about. You know, the president s children, primarily don jr. As well as Rudy Giuliani have faced some investigations, but no charges were ever made. His soninlaw, jared kushner, had some questions raised about his security clearance and what information he gave for that. But what the president and his allies are looking at doing is saying, lets just do this blanket sort of pardon. So that later on down the road, when joe biden comes into office, when the department of justice is looking at investigations, that they wont face these really long partisan investigations, as they say. This is supposed to save them money and time. Money on legal fees, and the time to just not have to deal with this. Now, important to note that this wouldnt address state charges if there are any. It wouldnt address lawsuits. It wouldnt address what congress can do. There are a lot of other things out there. But the thinking is, lets just get rid of all of these possible things that could come up on the federal level and a clean slate so we dont have to worry about these pending investigations. Michael steele, could this be a potential abuse of power here, pardoning your friends and your own personal attorney . Sure, and the fact that they want to get in front of it, you know, potential what are you hiding . What will Biden Justice department find that you preemptively have to go out and secure pardons for your family members . What exactly are you doing . Yeah, i think republicans are correct in thinking that Something Like this could backfire. It is absolutely Donald Trumps probably one of maybe a couple that he has left, final, you know, middle fingers to the establishment and to the country and to the office itself. And i think thats worrisome. Because youre in the throws of a Major Political battle in the state of georgia, trying to hold on to the United States senate. Youve already got a million ballots that have been requested on the ground there. So any action the path takes between now and then, just on that political tip could tip the balance there in georgia in a way against republicans. So there are a lot of concerns here about abuse of power, how the country receives this. Youre giving a pardon to your daughter who was your aide all of these years. What are you hiding . All of these things come back in a very bad way. But the reality is, trump doesnt care. Because if he did, he probably wouldnt do it. Hey, anita, basically, accepting a pardon is an admission of guilt. Why would any of them do that . Yeah, thats really whats going on here. Is that the president , to be clear, that we have not heard that the president has made a decision to do this. This is something thats being talked about by some aides in the white house, and he is considering. But you both have hit exactly on the problem here. The president does not want to live look like, look, his inner circle is all hes been hanging out with criminals. He does not want to look like theres anything wrong here, and hes afraid of how that might look, both because of his legacy and he wants what he wants that legacy to look like after four years. But also, of course, if he runs again, hes talking about running in 2024, he doesnt want it to look like there was something wrong and hes hiding something with crime. That is a big consider. Its a political consideration of how does this look to everybody. Michael, finally question to you here. The president has pushed his president ial powers to the limit, every step of the way. And he could feasibly be doing it here with preemptive pardons. Is it time to have a discussion, specifically if were talking about preemptive pardons, that maybe the president shouldnt have the power to pardon folks, especially if it meansthal be pardoning their friends and family members, that maybe this power should be taken away from the office of the presidency for future president s . Yeah, you know, i think this plays into the broader narrative about the skproel trole and then of the role of the executive power in this country. Weve seen it play out legislatively since 9 11. You now have in the last four years an exponential use of that executive power in ways that we never thought it would be used by donald trump. So, whether its a Republican Congress or a democratic congress, i think congress generally is going to take a look, a closer look at that narrator and how that has played out in terms of the kind of power and influence that the president has over Foreign Relations and diplomat and engagement abrad to matters more domestic here at home, related to the emoluments clause. Whether or not you disclose your tax returns, and certainly, now, what you can and probably should be limited in doing with the pardon power. So i think theres going to be a lot more on the table for future president s, or put it this way, a lot less, potentially, for future president s a lot less. To play with when it comes to these kind of things. If youre planning on being president of the United States, donald trump just took a lot of power away from you, lets just say that. Anita kumar, michael steele, appreciate it. Coming up, were going to go live to atlanta for the latest on the runoffs that will decide who controls the senate. Well be right back. Who controls the senate. Well be right back. 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. Welcome back, the center of the american political universe is in georgia today where duelling reallying, dualing rallies will be held, former president obama will hold an event for democrats while Vice President mike pence will hold an in person rally for republicans, to quote defend the majority. Donald trump will be in georgia tomorrow as well. Also joining me now from georgia is nbc news correspondent blayne alexander. Good to see you this afternoon. Thanks for joining us. What have you been hearing from obama and pence so far today . And what are we expecting from the president tomorrow . Reporter well, the one thing that we are hearing and expecting to hear from both the heavy yates whwaits coming out race is this crucial race on january 5th and the other thing were hearing that is so interesting is the tragedy behind is the strategy behind this and republicans and democrats, and for democrats, underscoring the importance that they have to win both seats in order to win the majority. So this is going to be certainly a pair of almost competing events, getting people out to vote, getting people excited to vote, in both parties. Now, as for what we will hear from President Trump tomorrow, ill tell you what republicans are hoping to hear. Theyre hoping to hear more of a focus on the two republican incumbents, Kelly Loeffler and david perdue, both senators trying to get back to washington, but the concern among a number of republicans is that for President Trump, it could be more heavy on the airing of grievances that he has with his own election, the fact that hes repeatedly made unfounded claims about georgias election process, and thats something that has a lot of republicans concerned, because not only are they trying to get out the vote for their candidates, but theyre now saddled with this added responsibility of essentially going back and saying listen, we want you to come out and vote and we guarantee that your vote will count, to make sure that the people who they need to come to vote are not swayed by the president s words. Blayne alexander, thank you. Good to see you. By the way, quickly, i want to ask you, are officials concerned about violence when the election comes in january . Thats something that gabriel starling, one of the Elections Officials spoke about strongly this week and people need to come out and speak out about the violent threats made against elected officials and election workers but going beyond, that i spoke to a spokesperson for fulton county, the most populous county here in georgia, in metro atlanta, as you know, back in november, what we saw was a big change because they had security and officers stationed at every single polling location. That was a big departure from what weve seen in years past and in elections past and they said it is because of the environment. Because of the fact that this is one unique election to say the least, but also the environment, so its very likely that we could see it continuing when it comes to the january 5th runoffs because these are indeed just a continuation of that and in the same type of environment. Thanks, i thought we had run out of time but we had more time, so i got to ask you my followup question. That does it for me. Frustrated that clothes come out of the dryer wrinkled . Next time try bounce wrinkle guard dryer sheets. The worlds first mega sheet with 3x more wrinkle relaxers. Look at the difference of these two shirts. The wrinkle guard shirt has less wrinkles and static, and more softness and freshness. To tame wrinkles on the go use bounce 3in1 rapid touch up spray. Bounce out wrinkles with bounce wrinkle guard dryer sheets and touch up spray both, with a money back guarantee. Irresistibly smooth chocolate. To put the world on pause. Lindor. Made to melt you. By the lindt master chocolatier. Good afternoon, everyone. Im Ayman MohyeldinAyman Mohyeldin in new york. 47 days before inauguration day, the brutality of the coronavirus pandemic shows no signs of easing, with the u. S. Once again setting new records on a daily basis, according to an nbc news count, more than 205,000 new cases were reported on thursday. The virus also taking the lives of another 2800 americans. That is just shy of the 2977 americans killed on 9 11. Add to that the nearly 101,000 people who are now hospitalized. The university of washington, and its model, now predicts that if things stay as they