Transcripts For MSNBCW MSNBC Live With Stephanie Ruhle 20201229

So no word yet, of course, from Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell and how hes going to handle this whole thing. Were also waiting to see if the senate will follow the houses lead and hand donald trump the first and only veto override of his presidency to enact into law a mustpass defense bill. Our team is spread out with the latest on every single angle. Garrett haake is with the president in florida in Leigh Ann Caldwell is on capitol hill. Leigh ann, i want to ask you a big question that hopefully you can answer which is, what is going to happen today with the senate . Oh, yasmin, i so wish i could answer that question outright and tell you exactly what was going to happen. Heres what we do know. Theres a lot of moving parts. The senate is going to open the floor today at 12 00 noon, shortly after which we should hear from senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell. The big question is what does mcconnell say, especially regarding this 2,000 stimulus check because he has kind of a big decision to make. Is he going to let the senate vote on this legislation or is he going to allow his members or is he himself going to block it because what we do know is Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer is going to try to pass that 2,000 stimulus check bill, but what we call around here by unanimous consent. But if any one senator blocks it, then the deal is done. And we are expecting some republicans to do so. But things are going to get a little more complicated as well. Senator Bernie Sanders has said that he is going to slow down the process on an unrelated measure. The National Defense authorization veto override, a Defense Authorization bill that he doesnt want to go through unless he gets an up or down vote on this 2,000 stimulus check bill. So where do republicans stand is the big question today. Theres overwhelming support of democrats, you know, in the house of representatives. More than 40 republicans sided with democrats to support this 2,000 stimulus check. Were seeing a little sign of support in the senate as well. Senator marco rubio tweeted that he would support it despite the nearly half a trillion dollars its going to add to the deficit. But mcconnell is all in his court and we have no idea what hes going to do yet, yasmin. Leigh ann caldwell saying what republicans say is the best question today. Thats been the best question for the latter part of the last four years since 2016 to be frank. I just played that sound from Chuck Schumer saying, mr. President , step up to the plate here if you want these 2,000 direct pay stimulus checks, you have to convince republicans to sign onto this in the senate and the president just tweeting moments ago, im not going to read the whole thing, but attacking the president over the ndaa saying weak and tired Republican Leadership will allow the bad defense bill to pass. Say goodbye to vital section 230. Hes attacking the republicans here, and he goes on. How involved today are you expecting the president to be . Do you think hes going to appeal to the president excuse me, to the republicans to get to the 2,000 relief bill passed . Well, what weve seen from the president over the last four years is the extent of his legislative involvement tends to be these public protestations that he makes on twitter or through videos released by the white house. He has been quite vocal really since last tuesday in pushing for these 2,000 direct payments. He continues to do so even today. We dont really know if hes twisting arms behind the scenes, but these public blasting of Mitch Mcconnell tends to be the kind of thing that unites the Senate Republican conference around something that isnt donald trump. You have other republicans, not directly involved, im looking at the wall street journal editorial page here, essentially accusing the president of splitting republicans. They argue that this 2,000 payments arent conservative in any meaningful sense of that word and that the president shouldnt be pushing for them. What youve got now is you have the president putting the Georgia Senate candidates in a tough spot, Senate Leadership in a tough spot and youre already seeing this split between folks like marco rubio coming out and saying hell support this to somebody like pat toomey, a traditional small c conservative republican who said over the weekend he wont. So whether the president is able to effectively whip his members behind the scenes or whether its just going to be the tweets could make a big difference here, as you pointed out. Very few House Republicans who supported those 2,000 checks in that body. You have to wonder if the senate will be much different. Yeah wall street journal editorial page goes as far as to say 2,000 direct payments wont even help the economy which has me scratching my head on that one. A lot of folks watching want to know the tick tock of all of this. How is it all going to play out . When are people going to see their money in their Bank Accounts . When are they going to get checks . Can you walk us through some of what you know on that . Especially with this 2,000 direct payment . We know the 600 payment has already passed. Are they going to wait to see what happens with this 2,000 before they send checks out . No. So the Treasury Department is pretty bullish on the idea theyll start moving the 600 payments, more or less immediately. A senior treasury official told us they think people who got their if you got your last stimulus by direct deposit you may see it in your bank account by the end of this week or early next week. If the Senate Passes these 2,000 payments the treasury would send out a separate check, separate direct deposit, a separate check. If theres one thing weve learned through this entire process of watching this rescue bill, this stimulus bill move through congress to the president s desk, now back into congress is every stage of this takes longer than weve anticipated. Just quickly, gairrrett, do folks have to recertify their Employment Status considering for so many their benefits have run out . For the direct payments, no. This is all based on the same information, the same data, the same system that was set up previously. Thats part of the reason treasury thinks they can move so quickly. Thank you guys. Appreciate it. Always good information from the two of you. With me now, i want to bring in democratic congressman jamie raskin from maryland. Thanks for joining me on this. The big question i started reigh ann with is what is your sense here when it comes to this 2,000 direct payment. If you are a family of four, thats a huge jump and could be a major boost to your household, right, for two adults, youll get 2,000 a piece. Thats 4,000. If you have two children essentially youd get 1200 extra. That could help a lot. It would help a lot of people hugely, and beyond that, we had the new legislation apply to all family dependents, whether or not youre under 18. So that includes, you know, millions of young people who are off in college and struggling under their College Loans and so on. So this is, you know, the 2,000 is meaningful legislation that would mabke a vast difference fr tens of millions of people in the country. So the Senate Republicans are now caught between their rhetoric of right wing austerity for the wealthiest people in the country to rule over everybody else and then their cultish impulse to follow whatever Donald Trump Tells them to do. It will be interesting to see where they go. What hangs in the balance is the fortunes of millions of people in the country who are waiting to see whether theyll get this meaningful infusion. So are you willing to make a prediction on whats going to happen in the senate here . Well, the word among republicans, at least the ones willing to talk to democrats yesterday, was that mcconnell wants to use this moment to declare his independence from donald trump to say hes been reelected for another six months. Donald trump is on his way out. And this may be their moment to remove the Republican Party from the direct authoritarian control of donald trump. Well see whether or not that happens. Hes obviously threatening people and claiming credit for peoples elections, but so far, they have walked the plank with donald trump for the last four years. And thats why this really is a moment of reckoning for their party. This moment, this moment when millions upon millions of americans are struggling, not the moment when it was appropriate to declare joe biden the president elect, when he had a free and Fair Election when joe biden had won the election yet Mitch Mcconnell not stepping out and declaring joe biden the president elect. Wanting to use this moment with americans that are struggling that cannot pay their rent, that cannot put food on the table. Why is it they cant get on board with this thing . I know how republicans feel about a ballooning debt, right . But the wall street Journal Editorial Board essentially summed it up how do they feel . Well, let me just read for you a quote from the wall street Journal Editorial Board. Never mind that the 2,000 would go to tens of millions of americans who have kept their jobs and maintained their incomes during the pandemic. It would also add some 350 billion or more to a federal deficit already into the trillions of dollars. The economy wont benefit since the recipients arent going to change their behavior knowing its a merely onetime check. This doesnt make any sense. Given 5200 to a family of four would actually help the economy and encourage them to then spend. Imagine for a moment had they gotten this money before the christmas holiday. Do you think theyd be out spending . Especially for those still employed. It doesnt mean just because you have a job you have job security in an uncertain economy. Look, they care about debts and deficit only when the spending would help the vast majority of working people in the country. But when its about giveaways to the wealthiest people in the country and the wealthiest corporations they never utter a peep about debts and deficits. Weve seen giveaways of a 1. 5 trillion in their tiserrible ta plan. We saw it in the last round of federal aid where they tucked in all these tax giveaways to the wealthiest. Its only when you talk about investing in the majority of the working people that they begin their tired old rhetoric about deficits and debt. They dont really care about it. And thats been established by the trump administration. Yeah, established over the last four years. Stand by for me, congressman. I do want to ask you about some developments from the biden transition but i want to go to mike memoli with what were hearing from the biden camp when it comes to the transition. And basically what the trump team is not helping with, specifically, about the pentagon. Talk us through this. Thats right. These transitions from one administration to the next are really difficult even in the best of circumstances. What weve seen for the biden team and its hard to believe, eight weeks ago was election day, and since then, theyve faced a series of delays and road blocks as they try to stand up a new government to be ready on january 20th. And the latest issue here, the agency reviewed teams on the part of the biden team meeting with various departments across the department for the most part, according to the president elect himself yesterday, are getting the cooperation they expect and are entitled to under the law. The obstakele here is from the pentagon. Biden raising concern especially given what we saw in that Solarwinds Hack recently that the Pentagon Team is not briefing his team fully to be ready on day one. Take a listen to what he said yesterday. Weve encountered road blocks from the Political Leadership at the department of defense and the office of management and budget. Right now, we just arent getting all the information that we need for the ongoing from the Outgoing Administration in Key National Security areas. Now yasmin, we should note that biden, for one, has really been one to lower the sort of temperature whenever possible, downplay the concerns. And so to hear him with that rhetoric yesterday is significant. The pentagon, the acting defense secretary downplaying this saying they will continue to work with the biden team but the biden team is saying that cooperation is still not where it needs to be, yasmin. All right, mike, thanks for jumping on that. Good to see you. Want to go back to the congressman who has been standing by for us. You heard mikes report. Not necessarily getting cooperation from the pentagon during this really difficult, shall we say, transition. How worried are you from a National Security perspective . I am very worried and im as worried as ive been for the last four years. Since when did donald trump care about the National Security, the people, the land and the outlies of the united states. The administration begin by denying this terrible assault levelled by Vladimir Putin on our 2016 election. He has proceeded to pardon everybody who was involved in covering up that attack and that involvement with russia, and now hes completely turned the other cheek with the russian solarwind attack on the security of our entire government. So this should not be surprising to anybody, but it is definitely alarming that the biden team has been so stymied to the point where joe biden is publicly complaining about the fact that theyre not turning over information and documents but how could they . Donald trump is still in denial about the fact that he lost this election. 306232 in the Electoral College and by more than 7 million votes across the country. Its been certified by more than 50 courts in the land. Still, hes acting in denial and taking tens of millions of people with him on this propaganda wild goose chase that he somehow won it. Skcongressman, thank you so much. We had a lot to cover and didnt get to it, but we ran out of time. I do want to talk about your league Louie Gohmert who is trying to overturn the election by suing the Vice President. Would be my pleasure. Coming up next new this morning, dr. Fauci says january will be worse than december when it comes to new cases of covid19 and deaths, but some hospitals are now allowing visitors. Well take you live to michigan to see exactly how it works. Plus, the Georgia Senate Runoff Election is just one week away. And more than 2 million georgians have already voted. Steve kornacki will join us to break down where the race stands right now. Well be right back. Hi sabrina hi jen so this aveeno® moisturizer goes beyond just soothing sensitive skin . Exactly jen calm restore oat gel is formulated with prebiotic oat. And strengthens skins moisture barrier. Uh i love it aveeno® healthy. Its our nature. ™ five blades and a pivotingglide flexball aveeno® designed to get virtually every hair on the first stroke, while washing away dirt and oil. So youre ready for the day with a clean shave and a clean face. If your child doesnt seem themself at times, they may not be hydrated enough. Plantpowered creative roots gives kids the hydration they need, with the fruit flavors they love. And one gram of sugar. Find creative roots in the kids juice while. Welcome back, everybody. The coronavirus pandemic is accelerating so fast right now. One of president elect bidens top covid19 advisers says the country needs to brace for one of the worst months in this nations history. And then just this morning, this stark warning from dr. Anthony fauci. Thats what were concerned about that in addition to the surge, were going to have an increase superimposed upon that surge which could make january even worse than december. I hope not. I hope that doesnt happen, but it certainly is possible. An increase superimposed on a surge. So that ominous prediction coming as hospitalizations have reached a record level with over 121,000 Covid Patients being treated across the country as we speak. At this very moment. On monday alone, more than 220,000 new Coronavirus Infections were reported with more than 1900 americans dying from the virus. 1900 americans. Just days after the christmas holiday. And then new this morning, Vice President elect Kamala Harris and her husband are set to receive the covid19 vaccine. I want to go to ellison barber in michigan, where theyre letting Family Members inside the hospital to visit their loved ones being treated for covid. Good to see you. Thanks for joining us on this. There are so many hospitals around this country that are not allowing any visitors at this moment. Why is this hospital changing the rules at this point . So this hospital says this is not the right decision or the right time for every hospital, but they believe that it is the right thing to do at sparrow hospital. And they say a lot of factors went into making this decision. And that a lot of things have changed for them in recent weeks. When this pandemic started, they, like so many hospitals, were not sure if theyd have enough protective equipment for their own health care workers. Now they say they have enough resources, enough ppe to not only protect their staff but also to allow one visitor for Covid Patients and to make sure they are wearing the proper top of the line, most intense type of ppe that could be provided to them. They also say when you look at the late of hospitalizations in michigan, statewide, the hospitalization rate for covid19 patients over the last 14 days has dropped by about 20 and they say hospitalizations at this hospital are stable where they can handle having these visitors. It is one visitor for one hour per patient. They started doing this last week, and they have visits scheduled through the end of this week. For now its a twoweek thing. Theyll see how this goes to see whether or not they can continue it longer. We met a man in his hospital bed yesterday. His wife contracted covid19 about a month ago. Then he got it. He was at home last week when he lost consciousness and collapsed. His family took him to the hospital here in lansing. He has been in the hospital for about seven days now. His daughter is actually a nurse at this same hospital working in a different unit on a different floor. She says every day for the last seven days when shes heard a code come out over the intercom shes wondered, worried, is that my dad . She has not been able to sit next to him or hold his hand in weeks. But yesterday, that changed. Watch. Hi. Hi. Hi. I love you so much. I love you. Im okay. Dont worry. It was overwhelming seeing no words were needed. It was just seeing him. That made a huge difference to me. As of yesterday, 52 Covid Patients at this hospital, 52 families have been able to have a moment like that. The hospital says they are averaging 12 to 14 visits a day. And they have them scheduled through the end of this week. For now, thats all thats scheduled but they are hoping if the conditions stay right and if things go well, this is something they can keep doing in the future. Yasmin . That was a moment between a father and his daughter. Ellison barber in lansing, michigan, thank you. Good to see you this morning. Want to bring in dr. Amiche adalja from the Bloomberg School of public health. Good to see you. Thanks for joining us on this. Gosh, seeing that footage between the father and daughter, its so emotional to see and you can understand, especially for the patient, the benefits of having a Family Member visit them when they are just oh, so sick. Weve talked so many times about so many patients having to die alone during this pandemic. And how it could help to have that Human Connection for them, that family connection. What do you make of this . I think that this is something that hospitals can do and ive been working at hospitals where weve had visitors that have seen Covid Patients and you can do this in a safe manner as long as you have the appropriate personal protective equipment for the visitors and you have it supervised and make sure theres no one being put at risk by this visitation. But it is something that youre going to see hospitals increasingly do. These patients arent going anywhere. This is a surge that were in, and hospitals are learning to adapt to these patients and have visitation. And i think not every hospital is going to be able to do this, but some that do, i think theyll likely see a beneficial impact on their patients. I want to talk about what one of president elect bidens top covid19 advisers, dr. Celine gounder said. She said essentially january will be one of the most devastating months in this countrys history because the number of deaths were going to see across the board and the number of hospitalizations across the board because of covid. And then i just played the sound of dr. Fauci early this morning essentially saying we are going to have more cases on top of this surge. It is going to get worse before it gets better. What do you make of these predictions and what do we do . I think these predictions are going to be accurate. I was working just yesterday and all weekend taking care of Covid Patients and it really is, to me, almost a never ending flood of these patients. More and more of them keep getting infected and hospital e hospitalized, and we know deaths lag the hospitalizations and cases. Were going to see as a result of all the infections were seeing, over 200,000 a day, were going to see a certain number translate into deaths and theyll start to come to fruition in january as people are in the hospital and withdrawing care or people deathly ill. I think the next several weeks are going to be really, really rough when it comes to what hospitals are coping with and the number of deaths is going to increase. The vaccine is a great thing but its not going to be able to impact those deaths that were going to see. These are almost baked into whats happened over the last several months with this surge of cases and the number of the degree of Community Spread that weve seen. So we talk about the vaccine. You just mentioned the vaccine. A lot of Frontline Health care workers are getting it. If you are an american and want this vaccine, the prediction is by operation warp speed youll be able to get it by june, july, some time in summer. Fingers crossed thats hopefully going to happen. In the meantime, a lot of people are referring to the fact we have more treatments. Doctors know how to treat it better. Nurses kn s know how to treat better and we have remdesivir. I want to read a quote from npr. The federal government has purchased 1. 2 million doses of this antibody cocktail from regeneron and allocated more than 300,000 doses to states and territories. But the chief adviser to the operation warp speed says initial surveys suggest only 5 to 20 of the drug that has been delivered has actually been used. Yes, this is a drug that has to be given to people before they are hospitalized. So that is a huge logistical challenge. You have to diagnose them and think theyre high enough of a risk for hospitalization you want to give this medication. Its a onehour infusion and you have to watch them for an hour. You kacant send them to your Infusion Center in your hospital because theyre Cancer Patients in there getting chemo. So this is very challenging for hospitals especially Smaller Community or rural hospitals getting hit hard. So there isnt a concept of operations on how to give these drugs. They are great. But weve got to figure out how to do this. Some places are experimenting giving them to nursing home patients, but its really a major challenge because its an iv infusion and for outpatients. All of that makes this drug something not having the impact it could have if we had a better way to administer it. Hence the reason why a lot more haves in this country are able to get this drug versus the havenots. Dr. A adalja, thank you. This time next week, its going to be election day for the Senate Runoff in georgia. Steve kornacki is back with us to dig into who is voting and where. Plus, the issues getting georgians to turn out in record numbers. Well be right back. 2020 thats it calling anyone with grit change this, change that, but dont ever quit 2020s done a new era has begun so keep pushing forward. Because this is twenty twenty won the future is still ours to win. Make a different future start different at godaddy. Com aging is a journey. You cant always know whats ahead. Since 1995, seniors have opened their doors to right at home for personalized care. To be their guide. To steer them through uncharted territory. And when it comes right down to it, to keep them safe at home. After all, home is the best place to be. Right at home, navigating whats to come. We are exactly one week away from georgias special election and learning the fate of senate control. And it seems georgians are recognizing how important these races are. According to the secretary of states office, more than 2. 1 million georgians have already voted. Nbc News National Political Correspondent Steve Kornacki is joining me to break down this race so far. Steve kornacki, the man thats got me watching football these days. I never watch football, except for you, my friend. Thats a lot of votes, steve. Thats a lot cast already. What are the key areas that we should be looking out for at this point . Great to be here. A week from today well be at the map watching live results come in. What are we going to be looking for in these two, remember two because democrats need to win both of them to get into the 50 50 tie in the senate that Kamala Harris would break. What are we going to be looking at in georgia . One way to look at this is republicans are coming into this runoff with a bit of a builtin advantage. That might sound funny because joe biden just won georgia. Joe biden won georgia in the president ial race. Certainly the democrats could win the senate races. Thats true. But keep in mind one thing about last november. Heres the president ial race. Joe biden won by a little bit under 12,000 votes. First democrat to carry georgia since 92. Bill sclints clinton. Take a look at the senate races here. This is jon ossoff versus david perdue. Nobody got 50 . Thats why were in the runoff. But david perdue did get more votes than jon ossoff. He got 88,000 more votes than j jon ossoff. Biden, 12,000 more than trump but the republican here, perdue, getting 88,000 more than the democrat jon ossoff. Thats a difference there of about 100,000 votes. So republicans didnt win it outright, but got more votes in this race in the november election. And also if you take a look at the other senate race, this one is a little more confusing. The other seat was that wideopen primary, the top two candidates advance. Like 20 candidates in this race. But if you add it up, all the democrats, add up all the republican votes, the republicans got more votes in this race for this seat than the democrats did. Thats the builtin advantage that i say that the republicans have coming into this. Now where is that advantage coming from . Well talk a lot about this between now and next tuesday and i think next tuesday night. This blue area right here in and around the atlanta area, this has become the core of democratic strength in georgia. Its an area getting bigger and bigger in population. More and more diverse. More and more democratic. In both the president ial race and the senate race, democrats ran up big numbers in these blue counties youre seeing here and around atlanta. But in the senate races, the margin wasnt quite as high for democrats as it was in the president ial race. A big part of that difference where biden carries the state, but in the senate race, ossoff falls short against perdue. In the other race, democrats didnt get as many votes as republicans. A big part of that difference is in these counties. In this Metro Atlanta area. Particularly cobb dekalb, gwinnett county. The bulk of that difference coming from those areas. There were some ticket splitters in november. In the grand scheme of things, not a huge number but folks who went out there and said im going to vote against trump in the president ial race but also vote against democrats in the senate race. For democrats to win next week, they probably need to get those voters flipped and voting for them in the senate races as well. This is an area we will spend a lot of time talking about, yasmin, next tuesday night. Seems like its going to be a major nailbiter. Steve kornacki, good to see you. Ill see you this weekend. Joining me is the cofounder of black voters matter, la tasha brown. Good to see you this morning. So steve walked us through a lot of good numbers there. Theres been a lot of early votes, 2. 1 million or so folks voting. 743,000 people have submitted mailin ballots. But you heard steve talking about the republican advantage here it seems, right . They have a leg up when you look at the senate races back from november. That said, its going to come down to those major blue areas as steve mentioned. The Atlanta Metro area. How much focus is being put on that area right now to turn out votes . There are Many Organizations working on the ground including our own that know those votes count and they matter and ultimately what we are seeing, which is a positive trend is that were seeing black democratic voters who are coming out in record numbers all around Metro Atlanta. And they are the base of the vote in georgia. Were also seeing that in cities like columbus and some of the and savannah and some of the others. Metro atlanta, youre seeing a higher turnout than youve seen in recent years. Youre seeing black voters come out in record numbers in those areas and a lot of work on the ground being led by organizations that know how important that metro that turnout in the metro area will be in this race. Some would argue that ive spoken to that this election could be more important than the president ial election was because you know control of the senate and mcconnell losing his top spot. Do voters understand the gravity of what they hold in their hands right now in the state of georgia . I certainly believe so. The voters that weve been talking to, we were out yesterday in Douglas County and clayton county, and the voters we were talking to understood the gravity of it. That normally you see an extreme dropoff in a Runoff Election. Youre seeing a number comparable to a general election or president ial election. That in itself is unheard of. So people understand the gravity. But not just as it relates to the importance for the nation, but the importance for georgia. Georgia is a state that was impacted by covid19 and has been 4 Million People in the state of georgia applied for unemployment. When youre looking at how disproportionately the Africanamerican Community has been impacted by covid19 at the height of covid19 in april, 80 of all hospitalizations in the state were africanamericans. As were going out talking to people, people are very clear that this election is key and centered not just for the nation, not just for the democrat and republican parties but for the people of georgia. And because we have been impacted by covid19 and the lack of leadership that what were when were talking to people, people are very keen on how important those two seats are. So two things here, quickly. What is the Biggest Issue for black voters right now to get them to turn out in this Senate Runoff election . And does it matter about this most recent relief bill that got passed . And especially on this vote that well see in the senate hopefully today . Well have to wait and see. But if they can increase this direct payment from 600 to 2,000, what is that going to mean for black democratic voters in georgia . I mean, i think thats the big deal. At the end of the day when youre looking at a 900 billion package and folks who are struggling, being evicted out of their homes. Everybody has been impacted by covid in some form or fashion. So i do think its going to be a critical driver and has been a critical driver for black voters around covid19. And really being able to have leadership that is going to look out for people and not just for themselves personally. We also, as weve been talking to people, theyve also concerned about criminal Justice Reform in the state. Were also concerned about votery ispressivoter suppression. Thrones Organization Led by a tex at teaparty leader who is challenging votes right now as we speak in every county in the s state. Voter suppression, covid19 and Economic Relief as it relates to that and criminal Justice Reform, those are the three that consistently every voter that were talking to, they care about one of those issues if not all three. Latasha brown, cofounder of the black voters matter fund. 10 out of 10, if i were room raters, your room looks so cozy and very Holiday Themed with the crackling fire behind you. Thank you. The pandemic has forced more than 110,000 restaurants to close. How the new pandemic relief bill is still leaving them behind. Well be right back. Of course youve seen underwear that fits like this. But never for bladder leaks. New always discreet boutique black. I love how the smooth fit hugs my curves, no matter how i move. And, i feel protected all day. A fit so discreet, youd never know theyre for bladder leaks. Always discreet boutique. Wanna see for yourself . Get your coupon. New projects means you need to hire. Gers. I need indeed. Indeed you do. The moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a short list of quality candidates from our resume database. Claim your seventy five dollar credit, when you post your first job at indeed. Com home. Welcome back, everybody. Several businesses across this country are breathing a sigh of relief today. At least temporarily now that President Trump has signed the Coronavirus Relief bill. And the legislation includes a lot of carveouts for various Industries Like cruise liners to local music venues. But restaurant groups, they have been left scratching their heads wondering why the carve outs they asked for came up short. Take a look. There are more than 15. 5 million restaurant employees, thats 10 of the u. S. Workforce. Restaurants make up more than 4 of the gdp. 4 of the gdp. Since this pandemic began, more than 11,000 restaurants have closed permanently or long term across this country. They are suffering in the Service Industry and the pain is far from over. Just a few weeks ago, the National Restaurant association forecast that 10,000 additional restaurants could close their doors by the end of this year, just a few days away. That is just two days from now. Want to go live to jacob ward in San Francisco where hes been talking to Restaurant Owners there. Thanks for joining us on this. This is really troubling. The Service Industry has suffered tremendously throughout this entire pandemic employing so many good americans across this country, now finding themselves jobless. What are you hearing from folks there . Well, yasmin, this city is known as, im sure youre familiar, with restaurants. Its known for its extraordinary places. The history they represent. This place that i am is called the cliff house. It was built first in 1863. It survived two world wars, two earthquakes, the 1918 pandemic but covid was the final straw for it. It just closed this year. And when i speak to Restaurant Owners across the country they say they are grateful for any help they can get but theres something specifically improvisational for Restaurant Owners now that makes this latest effort on behalf of the federal government just a little too little. Have a listen. I think it would be helpful for us, but its also certainly limiting and, you know, one of the hardest things is that we still have to use that money in a productive way and when we dont know if were going to be doing takeout or Outdoor Dining or what and for how long this is going to go on and if our business is ever really going to come back. Its all scary. Jenny schwartz, the owner there of hopscotch restaurant in oakland says she invested money in creating an Outdoor Dining experience and that got shut down. The ongoing pivoting has been so difficult. In fact, a National Restaurant Association Survey of recently closed restaurants and their owners found that nearly half of those owners say, yasmin, theyre not going to get back into the Restaurant Industry again after this closes. If you can imagine, the impact, not just on a numbers, a dollars and cents basis but just to the cultural fabric of the united states. Certainly cities like San Francisco which prides themselves on providing amazing places to go out and eat, how thats going to change the country if this keeps going the way it is. Yeah, the emotional impact as well. We talk so often about whats happening in the here and now because these restaurants are having to open and close and deal with all of that. What we dont talk about is the future as well and whether the industry can even come back, especially with so Many Americans suffering right now. Theyll not be running out and spending money at restaurants if they can barely pay their bills. Its a really bad cycle. Jacob ward in oakland, california, thanks. Coming up next, everybody, were going to florida where American Airlines is resuming boeing 737 max flights for the first time in nearly two years. How the faa is making sure they are safe. All our techs are pros. They know exactly which parking lots have the strongest signal. I just dont have the bandwidth for more business. Seriously, i dont have the bandwidth. Glitchy video calls with regional offices . Yeah, thats my thing. With at t business, you do the things you love. Our people and network will help do the things you dont. Lets take care of business. At t. Some things are good to know. Like where to find the cheapest gas in town and which supermarket gives you the most bang for your buck. Something else thats good to know . If you have medicare and medicaid you may be able to get more Healthcare Benefits through a humana Medicare Advantage plan. 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Sam brock is at Miami International airport where he and other passengers are about to take that flight. Reporter yaz min, good morning. Were about to get a firsthand look at the updated 737 max. American airlines is running a couple max flights to start and ramping up from there. Its after unthinkable tragedies. The faas administrator promising its safe and has undergone and us an unprecedented level of scrutiny. Reporter the first commercial flight in nearly two years. American airlines plans to fly round trips through january 4th before adding more routes. United and southwest plan to relaunch the max early next year. The new flights coming after two fatal crashes claimed 346 lives. The accidents were linked to faulty sensors in Software Failures that caused the planes to nose dive, ultimately grounding all max flights in march of 2018. Now after software upgrades, Pilot Training and maintenance requirements, the faa has given the green light with the dry run earlier this month. Were proud of this airplane. I flew on it last night. My daughter will next week. Were proud of all the work our team has done. Reporter ryan tracks the industry and will be on that first new york trip. Im not worried about getting on the plane. Qualified pilots behind the yolk and a regimented effort to get it back on the airplane, the regulato regulators, not just the faa, i have enormous confidence its a safe flight. Reporter that confidence not shared by all passengers. 57 of americans said they were not likely to fly in a boeing 737 max when told of the planes history. For loved ones of crash victims, its too soon for the max to fly with one writing it is infuriating American Airlines is in effect rewarding boeing for the corrupt process that led to the max. Passengers on all of americans max flights will be given advanced warning with the option to rebook. Well allow you to change. Reporter as they look to build the reputation, the biggest x factor still up in the air. Trust. The 737 max has already flown commercially in countries like brazil and mexico. Today is the first time thats going to happen in the united states. You might be wondering why is it this particular plane is coveted . Its known for High Performance and fuel efficiency. Airlines can hedge their bets against rising fuel costs. Many airlines are having a hard time generating revenues. This represents an opportunity perhaps to stem some costs. Back to you. Thank you sam for that report. That wraps up the hour for me. Ill be back tomorrow morning. Lindsey riser picks up next joined by john garamendi. Well be right back. Be right bad automatically pay your team and file payroll taxes. That means. World domination or just the west side. Run payroll in less than five minutes with intuit quickbooks. Hi in. Its tuesday, december 29th. Heres whats happening. Were keeping a close eye on capitol hill where the senate will be back in session soon. All eyes are on Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnells next move after the house voted to boost the stimulus checks to 2000 up from 600. The fate of that measure now in the hands of the Republicancontrolled Senate as the chambers top democrat sends the president this message. I am telling donald trump, dont just talk about it. Act. These Senate Republicans have