Reported biden was tapping vivek murthy as his new attorney general. Not a word from the president about the pandemic, not a word about the fact the u. S. Is seeing a Record Number of deaths, new cases and hospitalizations for a second straight day. Heres what were talking about. 219,000 new cases. Nearly 101,000 people in the hospital. And more than 2800 deaths on thursday alone. In the past six weeks weve seen more covid deaths in this country than the total number of u. S. Combat deaths in the entire vietnam war. This morning, dr. Anthony fauci, who has agreed to stay on as part of bidens new administration, says we havent seen even the true impact from the holidays. I think we have not yet seen the postthanksgiving peak. Thats the concerning thing because the numbers, in and of themselves, are alarming and then you realize that it is likely well see more of the surge as we get two to three weeks past the thanksgiving holiday. The thing that concerns me is that abuts right on the Christmas Holiday as people start to travel and shop and congregate. Where do we go from here . President elect biden says hell ask americans to commit to Wearing Masks for 100 days to try to bring the numbers down, but it will not be a mandate. Even if the move was to change the trajectory of the virus, it wont kick in for a month and a half. Vaccines wont even start rolling out for weeks. In the meantime, state leaders, local officials, Health Care Workers and Everyday Americans are left to fend for ourselves. I want to dig deeper with nbcs jacob ward who is in california where the state is on the verge of enacting more measures. And dasha burns where they are preparing to roll out the vaccine. Good to see both of you. Jacob, whats going on in california that the governor felt he needed new restrictions . What are they . When do they take place . Well, chris, you know, the governor had been intimating for weeks this was coming but finally it has arrived. Essentially hes looking here at a lack of Hospital Capacity and the worry that, you know, as we had talked about back when we were First Talking about flattening the curve, when that phrase first became popular back in march, were back in that situation again. Heres how the governor described the decision to impose these new restrictions. Regions where the icu capacity is falling below 15 , we are now mandating that we are implementing a stayathome order for three weeks. The icu capacity in all of these regions by the end of this month will drop based on our current projections below 50 in total capacity. Basically, chris, between now and a couple of days from now were going to begin running out of hospital beds here in california. Even here in the bay area which has been the luckiest place. Will only be a few days behind that. And so having to jump in with these essential restrictions. Those restrictions include, of course, reducing Restaurant Business to only delivery and takeout. Nonessential businesses must close and, you know, Outdoor Activities still encouraged. This is california. We have that luxury and the governor is encouraging us for our Mental Health to get outside when we can and schools will also not be affected. But, you know, the broad power of the state to try to impose restrictions here is definitely going to be tested here. Already people wondering, will churches comply . Will businesses comply . Will the state have to come in with threats of withholding funding from the counties that dont comply . How gritty will this get . It seems to get more complicated, not less complicated the further we sgoeget into it. Dasha, how is duke handling caring for their patients and getting ready to conduct the first round of vaccines. Complicated is the right word. Its a behemoth of an effort. This room may not look like much yet but this is where hopefully in just a couple of weeks people will be getting vaccinated. They had to find a space big enough to set up these socially distanced vaccination stations. Theyve got ten of them here so they can move people through in groups. It only takes a couple of minutes to get the shop but then theres a 15 to 30minute monitoring period because some will likely have some side effects but theyll be monitored in this area here. And this is strategically placed right next door to the hospital because if people who get these vaccines first are those Frontline Health workers who will likely be going straight back to work after this. This is just a small piece of the proverbial orchestra that has to come together here in perfect harmony. Think about just the logistics of the timing. We talked about the ultra cold freezers. We saw one of those here today. As soon as that vaccine comes out of the freezer, the clock starts ticking and the degradation process starts. It can only be in the refrigerator for five days. As soon as that vial is opened, there are five doses in there and they need to be administered to people immediately. So they have to have the exact right number of people lined up. They also need the staff to administer the vaccine which is a challenge when hospitalizations are on the rise and there are a lot of staff taking care of Covid Patients right now. I want you to hear from jason vivika. He runs Emergency Management here and has a lot on his mind right now. Take a listen. Right now theres a lot of unknowns. We dont know exactly when theyll arrive. We dont know how many were going to get. Are we going to have all the supplies with them that we need or do we have to dip into our stockpiles in order to make sure that we have the right equipment . Theres a lot of logistics that go into this that we need to make sure we have down. We want to be able to provide this vaccine as quick as possible to those who want it. The logistics are unparalleled but the main word ive been hearing from everybody here is hope. After so many months of feeling helpless in the face of vaccine, theres a light at the end of the tunnel, especially for the frontline workers who have been putting themselves on the line each and every day here, chris. And have lost so many of their colleagues in the process. Thanks to both of you. I want to bring in dr. Tom frieden, the former cdc director and president and ceo of resolve to save lives. Doctor, good morning. Im always happy to talk to you. A lot to get to. Let me start with joe biden. Hes brought on people like murthy and said, you know, listen, can you please, anthony fauci, stay on, and he said yes. But he doesnt take office for 47 days. What can he and his team do right now to impact the situation . Well, we only have one president and one government at a time, and the Current Administration is still in charge. And the challenge is that theres a lot going on. We have remarkably good news about vaccines. But, first off, theyre not here yet and theyre not going to be here for most people for many months. And second, it can be a bumpy road. A lot can go wrong in the route from rolling out the vaccine to getting it into hundreds of millions of peoples arms. And second, were heading into a really difficult time. We have seen the largest outbreaks that weve seen since the start of the pandemic, and thats before what we fear will be postthanksgiving surge. So we have to double down on protection protocols until the vaccine is widely available. What does that mean, double down on protection protocols . Well, masks are a really good part of that, but only one part of that. Weve learned that we can be more nuanced in what gets shut. Outdoors is good. We can keep schools open. If were careful. But were going to have to shut restaurants and bars for indoor service. Were going to have to reduce our indoor contacts with others, whether thats parties, pizza parties, weddings, bridal showers. Theres a lot of spread from indoor events. The more people youre with for the longer time indoors, the higher the risk. And also travel. Its hard to say but frankly when people travel, the virus travels. And the result is potentially explosive spread. If you go some place that has more covid, you are more likely to get it. If you go to a place that has less covid, youre likely to spread it. Thats why its so important we reduce contact. You put that message out over and over and over but the Associated Press reported this. Vehicle travel in early november was as much as 20 lower than a year earlier, but it surged around the holiday and peaked on thanksgiving day. It was only about 5 less than the pandemicfree period in 2019. Thats according to streetlight data. How do you change behavior . Do you have to fine people . Do there have to be consequences because clearly seeing so many people get sick and die hasnt been enough to convince people to stay home. Well, first off, i think we have to recognize how difficult this is for everyone. We are all really sick and tired of this virus. And second, we also have to recognize a lot of changes happen. 80 , 90 of people are Wearing Masks and understanding that its important. So there has been progress. We have to build on that progress and emphasize outdoors is okay. With your own family is okay. And then if we Work Together we can keep our kids schools open. If were really careful we may be able to keep retail open, and barber shops open, stylists open. But that means universal masking, that means keeping distance. The three ws again. I dont know the answer here but the challenge to all of us, how do we not get hardened by these numbers . More deaths than in the entire vietnam war. Just in the past two months. And the next two months are likely to be as bad or likely worse. But we can change this. And what we all have to do is get on the same page and understand that the vaccine does look like its going to be coming. Lets make sure that as many of us are here where that day is possible. Were also tired. Patience is a hard thing. And pfizer now says its only going to deliver half of the doses of its vaccine it originally promised in part because of supply chain issues. So are we making a mistake if we make all these predictions about timeline are a given . I mean, is the best we can do to tell people, it is coming, you just have to be patient a little while longer . Yeah, ive been saying for months, chris, the road to vaccination is bumpy. Production problems are likely. There may be safety signals that cause concerns. Figuring out how to give tens of millions of doses with overwhelmed Health Care Facilities and Public Health departments that have been underinvested in for decades. Who is going to do that . All of this is going to be very challenging. But the end is potentially in sight. Thats why its so important we stick together but stay physically separated. Keep holding on to that promise if we can just stick together. Then there is light at the end of the tunnel. Dr. Frieden, always great to see you. We do appreciate it. Have a great weekend. Still ahead, were following breaking news. 245,000 jobs were added in november, but that is the slowest pace of growth yet. So how far away are we from a real economic turn around . Plus, taking on georgia. President trump, like pence and barack obama, have events planned to boost their partys candidates in the States Senate runoff. The growing concerns about voter turnout among republicans. Another bundle in the books. Got to hand it to you, jamie. 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Neutrogena® the teams been working around the clock. Wire, weve had to rethink our whole approach. Were going to give togetherness. Logistically, its been a nightmare. Im not sure its going to work. Itll work. I didnt know you were listening. Were following two breaking news stories right now. First, brandnew numbers show 245,000 jobs were added to the economy last month. But thats far below the estimate of 440,000 jobs being added. The Unemployment Rate edged down to 6. 7 . And after months of inaction, lawmakers are finally making progress on another stimulus package, including aid for governments and businesses and unemployment benefits, but not a new round of stimulus checks. Lets talk about all of this with jake sherman, Senior Writer for politico and jason furman, professor of Economic Policy at Harvard Kennedy school and harvard university. Great to see both of you. We were joking its the furman and sherman show. Thats for another time on this network perhaps. Jason, first of all, how do you read these new numbers . This was a bad month for the labor market. You gave that headline number. Thats a terrible number when youre 11 million jobs short of the trend you were on. The Unemployment Rate headline fell, but that was just because people left the workforce and gave up looking for jobs. If you look at the total fraction of people employed, that fell in november. And finally, the progress weve seen has all come from people returning from temporary layoffs back to their old jobs. The number of people who are permanently unemployed who are going to need to find a new job and a new employer went up again in the month of november. Thats going to be a harder problem to fix going forward. This is a concerning month. I think december is likely to be worse, its going to get worse before it gets better next year with a vaccine. And it will start to get better with the vaccine. But that brings us to washington, dc, and what theyre going to do about it and we have to talk about the intensifying negotiations over the covid relief package. Mitch mcconnell and nancy pelosi are finally talking again. As covid numbers and the pressure grow, seemingly so does support for the Bipartisan Senate proposal. I want to play what leader mcconnell said yesterday. The compromise is within reach. We know where we agree. We can do this. Let me say it again. We can do this, and we need to do this. So lets be about actually making a law. Okay. So the white house says that trump supports the smaller republican bill, but weve seen some conservative senators express support for the compromise bill. Are we at a point, jake, where there are enough republican senators who will do what needs to get done, even if the president isnt necessarily on board . Does jake have hi. I think i have you here, chris. I lost you for a second. Did you hear the question. Yeah, so let me just address this quickly. I dont think the 900 billion bill needs much of anything. It was a conversation starter. But there is i think, intensifying and real progress, real chance for a stimulus bill that would include a couple of things. Number one, it would include an extension of the ppp program. Thats a very easy thing for congress to do. Everybody wants to do it. It would include an extension of many of the specialized ui Unemployment Insurance programs that have expired or will expire at the end of the month. It would include vaccine money and school money. Thats a little more difficult. I think there has been a break in the a thaw in the ice on direct payments. I just got off the phone with one of the negotiators just a few minutes ago who said direct payments are a real possibility in this round, and i think thats a new development. Now the big question Everybody Needs to be asking right now, both in political markets and in Financial Markets is this simple trade and im curious what jason thinks about this since were on the furman and sherman show, but whether there is a trade of 100 to 150 billion of state and local money in exchange for some liability protections. That is going to be the trade. Ive talked to both sides this morning. That is going to be the hangup in these negotiations, whether both sides can agree on a trade like that. Republicans have been against state and local money in the past. They have been squeamish about what that might look like. That is the trade that would need to happen to get this done, according to all the negotiators both sides ive talked to this morning. I dont know whether that could happen. But a week from today, government funding runs out. Then its the end of the congressional session. Something needs to get done in the next couple of days, and then biden and whatever the senate is in january and a Democratic House, a narrower Democratic House can take another bite at this apple. But that is the landscape as of this morning, as of like five minutes ago. Yeah, thats the landscape on capitol hill. But jason, let me add to that because we have this report just a few minutes ago about how more businesses are going to be shutting down in california with their enormous economy, the old saying goes, when california sneezes, the rest of the country catches a cold. 60 of businesses have closed apparently already by some estimates, are never going to reopen. So when you look at where the negotiation is from your standpoint, what needs to get done now and what can wait until we see a new administration coming in . First of all, what needs to get done now is what should have been done four months ago is where we start. But we are where we are. The First Priority is the unemployed. You have a set of people, millions that will lose their benefits in the new year they need to get a continued benefit. Others should be getting larger benefits so they can maintain their income. The second is relief to states and localities. The ideal numbers there reflecting their revenue shortfall and their additional emergency needs. Something more like 400 billion. I dont think democrats are going to be able to get that. The more they can get, the better. Anything helps there, will help us continue to reopen schools safely and the like. Third, some continuation for Small Businesses makes sense. The numbers theyre talking about are larger than whats needed given the Economic Situation right now. Thats obviously a political appealing group. And finally, both sides are going to need to compromise. Democrats have moved a lot from the 3 trillion they started at to the 1 trillion theyre talking about now. Theyre obviously going to need to accept something on liability as well, but, you know, all of this something right now is better than nothing and hopefully you can do more later, even if you cant. Its better to get something than to get nothing. So furman sherman, i like this. I think we should make it a monthly thing where you come on when the numbers come out. Its great to see both of you, and thank you for talking about this. So critical to everybody watching here. We appreciate it, guys. Still ahead while President Trump hasnt conceded the election, there are signs some in his circle are moving on. Were digging into whats happening behind closed doors at the white house. First, though, major Movie Theater chains are reacting to news that Warner Brothers plans to make all of its movies scheduled to be released in theaters next year simultaneously available on hbo max with reduced capacity in theaters through 2021, the plan will be in place for one year. The current cost for hbo max is 14. 99 a month. Both warner and hbo max are part of at t. 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 made usaa insurance for veterans like martin. When a hailstorm hit, he needed his insurance to get it done right, right away. Usaa. What youre made of, were made for. Usaa their laundry smells moremily amazing than ever. In flings, usaa. What youre made of, were made for. Uh, honey . Isnt that the dogs towel . Hey, me towel su towel. Theres more gain scent plus oxi boost and febreze odor remover in every fling. Gain. Seriously good scent this morning, were just 47 days from joe biden taking the oath of office. While he hasnt seen much support from republican lawmakers publicly, last night in an interview with cnn he said its playing out differently behind closed doors. There have been more than several sitting republican senators who privately called me to congratulate me. And i understand the situation they find themselves in. And until the election is clearly decided in the minds of the Electoral College votes, they get put in a very tough position. And President Trumps Communications Director alyssa farah resigned yesterday, perhaps the latest acknowledgment from inside the white house that the president did, in fact, lose the election. Joining me to talk about it is Kelly Odonnell in washington, d. C. , and mike memoli and robert costa is National Political reporter for the Washington Post and moderator of Washington Week on pbs. Robert, republican senators are calling biden privately but most of them refuse to say anything out loud in public. Your paper got that video showing senator perdue who is in that runoff in georgia acknowledging the race is over but he hasnt come out and said it. They know its over. They know its been over. What is it going to take for them to actually get on board here or Say Something publicly . Might take georgia, talking to my Senate Republican sources. They are saying that theyre worried the president s allies in georgia are depressing the republican vote by questioning the integrity of the election down there. And they need to have Republican Voters motivated. You saw in amy gardners story in the Washington Post, senator perdue saying that you need to have a Republican Senate to counter a President Biden, should it be President Biden, thats how he articulated it. Of course, its president elect biden, but it shows you that republicans need to run against that reality to get a motivated gop base. Thats the sentiment from my sources on capitol hill. And it makes sense. So the rnc and trump raised nearly half a billion dollars since midoctober, robert. More than 200 million since the election. These numbers are mind boggling. It was a crazy race in terms of numbers but now these kinds of dollars after the election . Most of it, of course, fueled by those misleading Election Fraud claims. So given that, are we really expecting anything to change . Well, its a revealing portrait of the republican party, that financial figure because a lot of that money is coming in from President Trumps voters, historic level fundraiser for the gop, and his grievances, his baseless claims about the election do fuel a lot of money coming in to republican coffers. Republicans know that. And they know that that money equals power in the gop. So its not like President Trump is going to disappear in their eyes. Hes going to remain on the scene and remain probably the biggest fundraiser in republican ranks. And kelly, we saw alyssa farah step down yesterday. Shes been the Communications Director for 3 1 2 years. Theres a sign that, like a lot of people in a white house where the president does not win reelection, they go out and start job hunting. But what are you hearing from inside the white house . Well, this is a significant sign that the green light has been given for top officials to acknowledge that in their own lives theyve got to plan for the next phase. And so while you would typically see many people stay until january 20th, theres also the reality that the president s public schedule has been as thin as its ever been and so even some of the work that many of these staffers would need to do has greatly been reduced. And so alyssa farah will chart her next course and we may see others will do that as well. It comes at a time when, really, every four years when theres a change that in effect was unexpected in terms of republicans were hoping to win a second term, they would have continued their jobs. Now theres this abrupt deadline to try to find their next phase of employment. At the end of a planned sort of end of twoyear, two terms you would sort of see the run for jobs and the there are limitations. Certainly for democrats, there will be a lot of opportunities for employment in a biden administration. And on capitol hill, a little more employment on the house side with an increase in number there. But trying to find other governmentrelated jobs will certainly be a challenge for many, and many may move out of the area and so forth. But for alyssa farah as the Communications Director in her exit letter, she talks about being very proud of many accomplishments of the trump administration. She also worked at the pentagon and so shes got government and defense sort of assets in her portfolio to try to go on and kind of put up her own shingle and move forward. What it says is that there is a different pace of reality setting in at the white house. And while it is certainly out of sync with the daytoday news cycle when you have robert talking about the importance of georgia and what that means before there is a real thorough reckoning of Donald Trumps presidency coming to an end, you begin to see signs like this, which indicate people have to plan for their lives. And at this point, she is certainly the most prominent person to publicly say shes moving on before the end of the term. Alyssa farah, one of the people who was leaving on good terms. In fact, the president tweeting this morning that she did a fantastic job. So an endorsement from President Trump. So robert the interesting thing that i took away, there were a number of them, but from the president elect and Vice President elects interview yesterday was joe biden asked about the importance of donald trump attending his inauguration. And i want to play what he had to say. I think it would important only in one sense. Not in a personal sense but important in the sense that we are able to demonstrate at the end of this chaos that hes created that there is peaceful transfer of power with the competing parties standing there shaking hands and moving on. So robert, personally, he says he can do whatever he wants to do. Its his decision. But i dont think we should underplay what he is saying here. Which is that this is a man who ran on and now who his transition is about, frankly, a return to the kinds of norms and caring about what the rest of the world how they see us and the constitutional mandate, this transfer of power, robert. Well, the constitutional mandate say peaceful transfer of power, but its not a constitutional mandate for the incumbent president to attend the inauguration. And theres an expectation inside of the biden campaign. I know mike has more on this. And inside of the white house that the president would rather have a rally of sorts on Inauguration Day 2021 than attend the inauguration itself to look ahead to 2024. And its an omen for what President Biden would face next year. This shadow of donald trump, the expresident , whether hes in maralago or going from hockey arena to hockey arena, he will perhaps remain a presence and a preference with antagonism toward the new administration. So, mike, let me ask you what youre hearing about that. And any other, you know, big points you want to make after the interview last night. Well, certainly i think the message from the president elect last night was trying to say, this was not about me. The idea of President Trump attending his inauguration. Its about the country more broadly. Its about these norms and traditions, and he thought it was important to do the job that he has promised to try to do which is to bring this country together after a number of polarizing years here. And start on a new footing. One of the other interesting moments in the interview, chris, was when we were talking about the idea of having enough progressives represented in his cabinet. Weve been talking about this all week, right . The pressure not just from progressives in the party, from civil rights groups, from moderates in the party and also the counterpressure from republicans about some of these groups. All on biden and the transition about these choices for his cabinet. Biden very much seemed to be taking it all in stride. He said, listen, these constituency groups have a job which is to push their interest in terms of the number of appointments they want to see in his administration. He says, i have a job which is to follow through on my word, which was to have a diverse administration. And he said hes following through on that indeed. I spoke yesterday with congressman steven horster. Hes the point person for that caucus in deal with the transition. He said, listen, i talk with them every day if not multiple times a day. Hes pleased so far with the kind of interactions theyve had. But he said there is more work to do. And wale adeyemo, the number two pick for treasury, actually spoke to the cbc. They know they have more work to do and are trying to make sure those relationships are staying intact. Mike memoli, good to see you guys. Thanks as well. Up next to georgia. President trump, mike pence, barack obama, all campaigning in georgia. The big preholiday push ahead of the senate runoff. What the candidates need to do to get across the finish line. W. Buttercup to Severe Plaque Psoriasis uncover clearer skin that can last. In fact, tremfya® was proven superior to humira® in providing significantly clearer skin. Serious allergic reactions may occur. Tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. Tremfya®. 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See the difference, after being washed with tide hygienic clean. For a deep clean, try tide hygienic clean with a 100 money back guarantee if its got to be clean, its got to be tide. Youre still the one that i love to touch still the one and i cant get enough were still having fun, and youre still the one applebees 2 for 20. Now thats eating good in the neighborhood. To give you the protein you need with less of the sugar you dont. [grunting noise] ill take that. Woohoo 30 grams of protein and 1 gram of sugar. Ensure max protein. With nutrients to support immune health. This morning, both parties have the big names working it in georgia, one month out from the states Critical Senate runoff. Former president obama will headline a Virtual Event for democrats jon ossoff and Raphael Warnock today. Vice president pence campaigned for georgias two republican senators in savannah, and President Trump will hold a rally in valdosta tomorrow, his first since losing the election. Nbcs blayne alexander has been all over this story. Shes in atlanta for us. Hey, blayne, given President Trumps recent comments about state officials there, are republicans at all worried he could hurt more than help . Well, chris, the short answer is, yes, they are. Some of them certainly are. What youre seeing in addition to pushing the message of getting people out to vote for the republican candidates, perdue and loeffler, republicans are also now having to take on this added duty of reassuring their voters confidence in the electoral process. So one thing that i heard from a number of republican sources is that there is concern, actual concern that some republicans may sit out the election, perhaps in protest, because of the many things President Trump and his team have been saying about georgias election. Now theres even, you know, kind of some side factions, different factions. A small undercurrent of people pushing this notion of writing trump in as a senate candidate. So all of this is stuff that republicans do not want to focus on and cant afford to focus on. We saw last weekend gop chairwoman Ronna Mcdaniel had to actually field questions from people at a Campaign Stop who asked her why she would even bother to come out and vote if the election was already decided. She had to say, its not decided. Heres what were thinking. I spoke to gabriel sterling. He gave that strong message to President Trump earlier this week. Heres what he had to say about the president s visit. Take a listen. Is the president s trip to georgia going to be helpful or hurtful for republicans . At this point, who the heck knows. I believe theres a lot of confusion amongst republicans being told dont trust machines but get out and vote. Its just its loonytunes. You heard just one example from what republicans are saying echoed by others ive been speaking to. Enthusiasm is very high as of yesterday. Georgia has already surpassed the 1 million mark for the number of absentee ballots requested in the runoffs. Blayne, thank you. I want to dig deeper with a political reporter for the Atlanta Journal and constitution. So loanuny tunes. Blayne hit the nail on the head. Republicans are forced to reassure their own supporters that despite these conflicting messages about a rigged vote from President Trump, that its okay to go back out and return to the polls on january 5th for allimportant runoffs to determine control of the u. S. Senate. And thats a challenge republicans have. Thats why im hearing from mike pence who will try to reenergize that base. Joe biden won the state by about 12,000 votes. Republicans cant afford any of their base to stay home in january. You can expect a traditional message, right, from mike pence, but the president , however, on saturday, maybe not so much. Are you hearing any nervousness from republicans that he may just spend all his time there trashing the election . Yeah, a lot of squeamishness from republicans. What they want to hear trump say is that a vote for senators perdue and loeffler is tantamount to a vote for him. What they fear hell do instead is focus more about his election grievances, his false claims of a rigged vote, systemic irregularities and looking backwards instead of forwards. Thats why a number of senior republican officials, including a former governor, signed a recent deal urging republicans to move forward and look ahead to january 5th and stop looking behind them. Special elections are always tough, but what are you sensing on the democratic side . We just heard about the number of mailin ballots that have been requested. And what about president obamas virtual visit today . Does that help . Does the fact that hes not there mean it might not be so impactful . Give me a read on the democratic side. Democrats are trying to unite. Reenergize that same base that led them to a joe Biden Victory in the state. For the first time the democrat has carried the state since 1992. The odds are tough for them as well. Because republicans have won every statewide runoff vote in georgia history. And what democrats in particular need to do is reenergize the africanamerican base, the black base of voters thats the foundation, the cornerstone of the Democratic Coalition in georgia. And thats been tough in runoff votes. With reverend warnock at the top of the ballot, democrats think they have a chance to do that this cycle. And if i can for a minute, lets talk money because it was already the most Expensive Senate election. I think were topping 300 million. And then karl rove is raising crazy money for republicans. Where is all that money going . Does it matter even at some point that there is so much money out there so many ads . I mean, what are you seeing in terms of the impact of those kinds of dollars . What im seeing in georgia is every time you turn on a tv, every time you turn on your car radio or watch streaming platform, you see these ads. 300 million alone just on tv spending right now. That doesnt count all the other money thats being spent on mailers, on organization, on getoutthevote efforts. Sometimes i feel the tv screaming back and forth, the ads just neutralize. What its really going to come down to is the get out the vote efforts that both campaigns and allies are building. Greg, always love reading your stuff. Ajc. Com. Appreciate your time today. Up next, the intersection of politics and Public Health. Anger toward doctors and Health Officials is rising in rural communities. Well take you to one town where it could impact the rollout of a vaccine. Because with fidelity, you can feel confident that the only direction youre moving is forward. I was just fighting an uphill battle in my career. 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As hospitalizations soar past 100,000, rural hospitals which were understaffed and underfunded before the pandemic are being pushed to their limits. That hasnt stopped a lot of folks from ignoring the pleas of front line workers. Across the country, more and more conservative leaders in communities are pushing back on restrictions and mask mandates. Antonio hilton travelled to a small town in kansas where anger is rising. Reporter this doctor is one of only five doctors at this small Regional Hospital in this area in kansas. 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 are losing support from residents who dont want to hear about masks or social distance. Some push for her to get fired and post on social media. The doctor was born and raised here. She 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 so much unknown. People want to blame something, and they cant blame a virus thats too small to be seen, so they blame people like me. Reporter at the end of november she got a win. After months of debate, there was a 30day mask mandate, but at the end, the deputy escorted her out. We have a contest of losing our freedoms. Were in the process of losing free speech. That was a first for me. 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 of being asked to qu h quarantine. Their fear spills out an contact tracers sfwlchlt we hear this is [ bleep ] a lot, and how are they going to pay their bills . I know these people. I dont want them to not be able to pay their bills or not be able to go to work. That does get its very hard. Reporter in the first seven months of the pandemic, the community has 60 confirmed cases. In just the last week, theyve seen 8 0. My whole body is soar. It feels look i got hit with a vehicle. Loss of sense of taste and smell. Reporter are you worried at all . I live with and take care of my 93yearold great grandmother, and thats something im worried about. Reporter do you wish youd worn a mask . A little bit. Sometimes. Reporter 20 minutes later, both men got the call, theyre covid positive. The doctor says shell keep showing up for her patients and working to combat pandemic fatigue. Do you think it 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 and 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 chris, dozens of Health Officials across the state of kansas report having been pushed out or fired after having similar experiences like that doctor right there. I asked that doctor, have you thought about moving . Would you want to be a doctor in a different town . She told me no. Shes committed to her patients, and shes going to keep trying to combat pandemic fatigue even if it means that she loses relationships in town. What an extraordinary official Public Health official she is, what an example shes setting and incredible reporting by you. Its such a revelation. Thank you for bringing that to us. We appreciate it. Thats going to wrap up this hour. Im Chris Jansing in for stephanie rule. Hallie jackson will pick up our coverage after this short break. Have a great weekend, everybody. 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