Transcripts For MSNBCW Way Too Early With Kasie Hunt 20201203

Nearly 205,000 new cases reported in just one day and more than 100,000 people hospitalized. The question is, just how much worse is it going to get before it gets better . Also this morning, the top Democratic Leaders in the house and Senate Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer come out in support of a bipartisan 908 billion coronavirus aid package. The question is, will Mitch Mcconnell get on board . Its way too early for this. Good morning, and welcome to way too early, the show that has a very important correction coming up about elf on the shelf. Im kasie hunt on this thursday, december 3rd. Well start with the news. Today marks one month since election day, and President Trump is escalating his baseless claims of voter fraud. The white house released a 46minutelong speech by the president yesterday filled with lies about the election being rigged, and the president falsely claiming it was, quote unquote, statistically impossible for him to have lost to joe biden. Obviously not the case. A twominute edited version of the video was posted on twitter, which the social media site quickly labeled as disputed. A white house official tells the New York Times the video was recorded last week, though its unclear why the president waited until yesterday to post it publicly. The president s rambling claims come just one day after attorney general bill barr undercut the president s arguments, telling the Associated Press that the Justice Department hasnt found any evidence of widescale voter fraud. Thats where we are, folks. And all of this unfolding as the pandemic shows no signs of slowing down. The opposite, in fact. The u. S. Surpassed another grim milestone yesterday with nearly 205,000 new cases reported in a single day, according to our count here at nbc news. That figure comes just a month after the u. S. Singleday record topped 100,000 cases for the first time. And according to the data, the u. S. Also broke another record. Yesterday alone, more than 2,700 people died from the virus, making it the deadliest day for americans since the start of the outbreak. And meanwhile, hospitalizations also reached an alltime high. The u. S. Is reporting more than 100,000 people are currently in hospitals sick with coronavirus across the nation. Doctors, nurses, and other Health Workers are boeing pushed to their absolute limits. According to the covid tracking project, the grim milestone more than doubles the number of hospitalizations compared to the beginning of november. Many hospitals are running out of beds or turning away new patients, limiting the care available to both Covid Patients and those with other health care emergencies. Meanwhile, Health Officials warn that the surge in cases is likely going to continue because of Holiday Travel and gatherings. Lets think about all of the nurses and doctors who are having such a hard time with all of this before we take risks in our own lives. Lets go now to the hill, where theyre still trying but not quite there in terms of sending relief to people. The two top Democratic Congressional leaders came out in support of a 908 billion bipartisan covid relief package, trying to put pressure on republicans to return to the negotiating table. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumers embrace of the Senate Package is a significant concession from the monthslong position that relief has to start in 2 trillion range. In a joint statement, they write in part, while we made a new offer to leader mcconnell and leader mccarthy on monday, in the spirit of compromise, we believe the bipartisan framework introduced by senators yesterday should be used as the basis for immediate bipartisan bicameral negotiations. Of course, we and others will offer improvements, but the need to act is immediate, and we believe that with goodfaith negotiations, we could come to an agreement. The proposal would provide an extra 300 a week in unemployment payments and extend help to cashstrapped local governments as well as provide support for Small Businesses, transit systems, and airlines. And so far, Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell has insisted on a much smaller, targeted relief plan that comes in at about 500 billion. Both sides seem to agree that temporary relief must pass during this lame duck session and that there will be more to come next year with the new administration. Joining us now, congressional reporter for politico, andrew des dario. Andrew, good morning its great to see you. So, im interested in your latest reporting on where things stand, especially in mcconnells camp. Its clear pressure is building. Members of Congress Went home for thanksgiving, heard from people in their districts, regular folks who are struggling, local governments, transit systems, people that they represent who are saying, why havent you why have you not done this yet . Why could you not figure out how to do something . And it does seem like were on track for something to happen here. Where does Mitch Mcconnell stand on this, in your view . Is he going to be open to these bipartisan negotiations, or are Chuck Schumer and nancy pelosi coming down to that position simply now a reset of negotiations, and we potentially are facing a lower threshold even than that . Well, it does feel like a reset, kasie. And as you know, congress is always moved by a deadline, right . Everybody views this december 11th government funding deadline as also the deadline to get something done with regard to covid relief, if they are to get something done, right . That is the easiest legislative vehicle to attach this to. And obviously, the urgency is growing and growing by the day with case numbers surging, hospitalizations and deaths reaching record highs, and of course, the economy continuing to sag. And you know, what Speaker Pelosi and leader schumer offered to leader mcconnell and republicans was indeed a significant concession, but the issue right now is that leader mcconnell is not really backing off of his view that a more targeted 500 billion approach, rather than a closer to 1 trillion approach is the best way to go. And leader mcconnells argument is, essentially, that theres no time left to negotiate anymore and we need to do something that can get broad support among republicans and that can get signed into law by the president of the United States. Some republicans are taking issue with leader mcconnells position, namely, senator lisa murkowski, who is part of that Bipartisan Group that introduced that 900 billion plan. Were told that she said during a Senate Republican Conference Call earlier this week that its offensive to, you know, put forward what she calls messaging bills. Thats obviously something that leader mcconnell pushed back on, but it shows the tension right now within the gop on capitol hill. Yeah, so i mean, what is your when you say messaging bill, just to make it clear for our viewers, thats the idea that mcconnells putting forward this 500 billion package that he knows is too small but that gives his members something to rally around, say that theyre doing when i say he knows its too small its too small for democrats to accept right. And there is going to have to be some sort of negotiation to actually make a law. I guess my question is, did the fact that democrats lost seats in the house, didnt do as well as they expected to do in the senate i mean, have they lost all negotiating standing with mcconnell at this point . How much does he think i mean, this is obviously a question im putting to them day in and day out how much does he think they absolutely have to do something to get signed into law at this point . Right. Well, thats the big question, right . And putting forward a 500 billion proposal that you know democrats have rejected is not really the way to go if you want to actually get something done, but it is significant that democrats have come down from their initial offers. We were really close to 2 trillion to 3 trillion in the last round of negotiations, and that was something that republicans made clear that they couldnt stomach, even if the white house and secretary mnuchin, who is leading the negotiations for the white house, was willing to stomach, right . So, thats sort of been the push and pull of this. And leader mcconnell, you know, has criticized democrats for doing the same thing, by putting forward a 2 trillion or 3 trillion proposal in the house to vote on before the election to show that, hey, were doing something, right . So, again, it does feel like a reset of negotiations right now, but its hard to see them coming to an agreement because they still are so far apart, not just on the substance, but on the dollar amount, and that is going to be the critical thing moving forward over the next week and a half here. It does seem like for a lot of rank and file members, centrists, pragmatists, the pressure is really building. Theyre trying to tell their leaders, hey, we really need to get something done. But its obviously been an incredibly toxic environment at the conclusion of the trump term, and i think thats a big xfactor in terms of whether they are actually able to get what is clearly, everybody agrees is absolutely needed. Politicos andrew desiderio, thank you so much for getting up early with us. We really appreciate your reporting this morning. And still ahead here, two protrump attorneys stage a rally in georgia and urge republicans not to vote in the Upcoming Senate runoff elections. It comes just ahead of President Trumps planned visit to the state. Plus, the president files a new lawsuit in wisconsin, challenging the States Election results. What Governor Tony Evers is saying about that new legal effort. Those stories and a check on your weather when we come right back. Check on your weather when we come right back introducing voltaren arthritis pain gel. The first full prescription strength nonsteroidal antiinflammatory gel. Available over the counter. Voltaren is powerful arthritis pain relief in a gel. Voltaren. The joy of movement. [announcer] meet the make familysized meals fast. And because its a ninja foodi, it can do things no other oven can, like flip away. The ninja foodi air fry oven, the oven that crisps and flips away. 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. You know that youve got me, [whats this . ] oh, are we kicking karly out . We live with at t. It was a lapse in judgment. At t, we called this house meeting because you advertise gigspeed internet, but we cant sign up for that here. Yeah, but im just like warming up to those speeds. Youve lived here two years. The personal attacks arent helping, karly. Dont you have like a hot pilates class to get to or something . [ muffled scream ] stop living with at t. Xfinity can deliver gig to the most homes. To pittsburgh, where the steelers remain undefeated, despite what head Coach Mike Tomlin called junior varsitylevel play against the undermanned ravens who were missing more than a dozen players out on the covid on the reserve covid19 list, including reigning league mvp quarterback Lamar Jackson and both of their top running backs. While pittsburgh took an early lead with a firstquarter pick six, their offense managed just one touchdown in four trips to the red zone. The steelers also turned over the ball twice and allowed baltimore backup qb Robert Griffin iii to run for a gamehigh 68 yards before leaving the game in the Fourth Quarter with a left hamstring injury. Rg3s backup cut pittsburghs lead to five after connecting for a 70yard touchdown with less than three minutes to play, but the steelers took control of the clock and hung on for a 1914 victory. Pittsburgh improves to 110, while baltimores loss means the ravens wont repeat as champion of the afc north. Well, thats a messy game. Lets go now to the nba and a blockbuster trade between the rockets and the wizards that sends houston star Russell Westbrook to washington in exchange for point guard john wall and a future lotteryprotected firstround draft pick. Meanwhile, lebron james has cemented his place as an l. A. Laker for at least another two seasons after his agent announced james has agreed to an 85 Million Contract extension. Wow. In the first round of coronavirus testing for nba players, as they return to their teams ahead of the regular season start later on this month, 48 out of 546 players tested positive during the week of november 24th to the 30th. Those who tested positive will isolate until theyre cleared to return. And while the leagues positive test rate in its initial testing is lower than the National Average over the same time frame, it is significantly higher than the rate during the same returntomarket period back in late june, before play started in the bubble at orlando, florida. And so far, one team, the golden state warriors, has delayed the beginning of its individual workouts by a day this week because of positive tests. Now to a pair of lastsecond finishes on the College Court last night in asheville, North Carolina. Number 17 texas wins the maui invitational after senior matt coleman drained a stepback jumper with 0. 1 seconds to play against North Carolina and the longhorns win it, 6967. And in university park, pennsylvania, vcu and penn state tied in the final seconds of regulation. Six seconds to go. Hes slow to get it over the midcourt line. Rockington picks up his dribble. Its wheeler, over from the wing ahead of the buzzer amazing the buzzerbeating threepointer gives penn state a 7269 victory. Time now for weather lets go to meteorologist bill karins for a check on the forecast. Bill, hows it looking out there today . Hey, good morning, kasie. We have concerns in southern california. One of those days where were worried about the high winds and fire risk. Then were going to talk about the rain and snow for the east coast this weekend. So, first things first. You know, its going to be one of those days where we just pray and hope that no fires do form, because if they do, they would spread rapidly. 18 Million People at risk, and its all those areas of southern california. Weve become very accustomed to seeing the fire situations. They have not had any rain yet, so the vegetation is very dry. They are expecting the strong santa ana winds to blow through the mountains and this will continue today and tomorrow and finally get better on saturday. So, the forecast for today, much of the country looks good. Oklahoma city still has a chance of some showers. A decent amount of snow in a few areas out there. Heres how the weekend storm shapes up. Friday, rain in the southeast. Saturday, rain and wind with that coastal storm from new york city to boston. Snow will be inland into the mountainous areas. The cities will not get snow from this, and then that storm exits on sunday, kasie. A little too early to say specific snow amounts with that storm, but were hoping the ski resorts get some of it. They need it. They sure do. All right, bill karins, thank you so much, my friend. We will see you tomorrow, bright and early. And still ahead here, joe biden could announce more cabinet picks next week. Were going to take a look at who may be on the list to lead hhs and the department of education. Dont go away. Were back in just a moment. Ion. Dont go away. Were back in just m aoment. Tired of clean clothes that just dont smell clean . What if your clothes could stay fresh for weeks . Now they can this towel has already been used and it still smells fresh. Pour a cap of downy unstopables into your washing machine before each load and enjoy fresher smelling laundry for up to 12weeks. Sprinting past every leak in our softest, smoothest fabric. Shes confident, protected, her strength respected. Depend. The only thing stronger than us, is you. You can count on me ill be home for christmas if only in my dreams did you try it yet . Comparing plans . Oh yeah. They sure can change year to year. I found lower premiums and lower prescription costs. And those new insulin savings hundreds of plans, 35 a month. Thatll save you money. So uh, mark . On medicare. Gov now. 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Lawyers loosely tied to President Trumps dwindling legal efforts staged a rally outside atlanta yesterday to, get this, urge georgians not to vote in the runoff races, unless state officials address unsubstantiated voter fraud claims. Sidney powell and lynn wood challenged republican senators and Governor Brian Kemp to call for a special session of the state legislature to overhaul voting procedures, including the use of dominion voting machines. The lawyers stoked the crowd enough to incite lock him up chants, and they were directed, get this, at the republican governor. Wheres Kelly Loeffler here . Wheres david perdue . He ought to be standing right here those two people want your vote . Then they ought to tell you what were telling brian kemp. Get a special session of the legislature now. Do not be fooled twice this is georgia. We aint dumb. Were not gonna go vote on january 5th in another machine made by china youre not going to fool georgians again i want you to go to the governors mansion. I want you to circle it. I want you to blow your horns. Until brian kemp comes out and orders a special session of the Georgia Legislature get us our legislature and tell everybody we want our legislature to meet and we want them to fix the mess that he created and then he can resign. And then as far as im concerned, lock him up lock him up [ crowd chanting ] ha wow. These are republicans talking about two republican senators and a republican governor about elections that, again, there is there have been repeated attempts to discredit the president ial election outcome, but georgias secretary of state, also a republican, reiterated yesterday, no fraud has been found. And he urged President Trump to drop his unfounded claims. You also had Election Officials in georgia pleading with the president and with senators to stop this rhetoric because its leading to violence and that someone was going to potentially get shot. And remember, what is at stake in the election in georgia . Nothing less than control of the u. S. Senate and the direction of the next two years of the country and joe bidens administration, and there are supporters of President Trump rallying the trump base to not go to the polls to vote for those republicans that are going to decide a significant portion of the country for the next two years. That is where we are with the president s rhetoric around this election. Meanwhile, more key members of the new administration joe bidens cabinet could be named next week. Nbc news has learned that the president elect could announce his picks for health, education, and Small Business. Top contenders for health and Human Services roles include jeff xience, bidens transition cochair, as well as Surgeon General murphy and gina area mondo. And then we have the ceo of Baltimore City schools considered a top contender. Also, orlando mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is the top pick for the Small Business administration, a role that could be elevated to a cabinet position. Its certainly become extremely important, considering the coronavirus pandemic. Also yesterday, senator mark kelly of arizona was sworn in by Vice President mike pence, becoming the first of a new class to be inducted into the senate. Kellys one of two democrats who were successful in unseating republican incumbents in last months election, narrowing the republican majority in the senate. Following the ceremony, the Vice President avoided questions about whether or not he accepts the results in arizona, although, clearly, swearing in kelly is considered a formal acknowledgement by the Trump Administration that the arizona results have, in fact, been certified and are legitimate. There are some ceremonial photos of that moment right there. Still ahead here, is the president about to fire attorney general bill barr . According to the washington post, trump is livid after barr threw cold water on his claims of election fraud. Were going to dig into that new reporting and what the white house is saying. But before we go to break, we want to know, as always, why are you awake . Email us your reasons at waytooearly msnbc. Com, or drop me a tweet kasie. Use waytooearly and we will read all of the best answers coming up later on in the show. 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Because success isnt just about where you want to get to. Its also about how you get there the all new 2021 cadillac escalade. Never stop arriving. Its also about how you get there 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. Welcome back to way too early. Its 5 30 here on the east coast, 2 30 out west. Im kasie hunt. After a recount confirmed joe bidens election win in wisconsin by over 27,000 votes, President Trump filed a federal lawsuit against the states governor and elections commission. The Trump Campaign issued a statement yesterday, alleging that, quote, the rules of the election were changed at the last minute and guardrails against fraud were simultaneously lowered. In response, attorneys for wisconsins democratic governor, tony evers, say that the Trump Campaigns lawsuit should be dismissed, calling it an outrageous assault on democracy. Earlier this week, attorney general bill barr also disputed the president , saying that the Justice Department found no evidence of widespread voter fraud that would have changed the outcome of the election. And on that note, will the attorney general be the latest victim of firing by tweet . Does he have faith in attorney general bill barr . Does he still have confidence in bill barr . The president , if he has necessary personnel announcements, you will be the first to know it. Can you tell me, was President Trump upset when he heard the attorney general say that he has not seen or the doj has not uncovered evidence of widespread voter fraud enough to overturn the outcome of the election . I havent spoken with the president specifically about a. G. Barr or that comment. According to the washington post, trump is said to be still livid at bill barr for his conclusion about the absence of fraud in the election. Barr is the highest profile member of the cabinet to directly contradict trump, who continues to push completely false claims of fraud, including in that rambling 46minute video from yesterday. As for barrs future, nbc news has learned that no decision has been made yet and some in the white house are trying to persuade the president not to fire him. For more, were joined by senior opinion writer at the boston globe and msnbc contributor kimberly atkins. Kimberly, good morning. Thank you so much for being up early with us. And you have pointed out that while barr is being praised pretty widely for contradicting trump, in the past hes done his part to push voter fraudrelated claims, or at least allow the Justice Department to open the door to looking into these things in a way that wasnt necessarily how he did it in the past. Thats absolutely right. I mean, right up until election day, the attorney general has been one of the president s biggest defenders when it comes to the rhetoric that suggested leading up to the election that there was going to be fraud. As you said, he opened up he changed policy within the department of justice, which normally would not publicly announce investigations or open investigations into elections, if it could have an impact, if it could somehow sway voters one way or the other. And bill barr explicitly changed that policy to allow such investigations. So, now that hes saying, there is no evidence that shows any level of fraud that would change the outcome, hes drawing the president s eyre. And keep in mind, the attorney general also expressly said, that doesnt stop civil suits from going forward. That was maybe trying to give himself a little bit of wiggle room to say that he wasnt explicitly denouncing President Trumps baseless litigation thats going on in several states hundreds of lawsuits being filed even though thats wasting the resources of the courts. He just stuck with what the doj was doing and he essentially said, not it. Lets talk about the president for a second and his role here, because i mean, we havent played very much of the 46minute rambling speech because its full of falsehoods. But its clear that his base is listening to him. I was talking to a couple of members of congress and some sources yesterday. And if you talk to people who are on the ground in swing districts or who come from red states, there is significant evidence that, at least i mean, perhaps i should say anecdotal evidence. But these politicians who spend time listening to their constituents, talking to their communities, trying to address concerns, they told me these claims are getting through. In some cases, people who arent hyperpartisan are coming to them and saying, hey, like, should i be concerned about this . And that really showed to me that the president is doing what he is doing is having a Significant Impact in terms of whether people are willing to trust and have faith in this process. And i guess my question for you is, do you think at this point its even possible to undo that with the president doing what hes doing from the podium at the white house and then, you know, we also showed the lawyers who are down there saying, stop the steal and urging people not to vote at all in the runoffs. I mean, this it seems very difficult to unwind whatever is being done right now in this period, even though many republicans in washington want to look the other way long enough to get President Trump out the door. Well, i dont think that it is too late. And i think if we continue to see, particularly from state officials who are running these elections, you continue to see them pushing back against this rhetoric and saying not only was there not evidence of fraud, but americans should be really proud and grateful to the election workers who were able to pull off elections from coast to coast with very few hitches, if you consider that were in the middle of a pandemic, and record numbers of voters. It meant democracy won. It meant democracy carried the day, and we should be celebrating that, instead of embracing any false claims of fraud. But that is difficult. Its extremely difficult when the president is pushing these false narratives. And its bad for democracy in the big picture because americans should have faith in their election systems and the election of 2020 is actually proof that they should have it. But also, its politically problematic. As you were pointing out, these Runoff Senate elections in georgia there are voters in georgia, republicans, saying that they dont want to vote, that the systems already rigged and the outcome is already determined, which isnt not. You had the gop chairwoman trying to implore voters, no, please, we need you to go out and vote. So, its hurting republicans. Its hurting democracy. But there is a solution, and that is for everybody who is elected to make the case that democracy worked and democracy won. Kimberly atkins with a little bit of hope, and thank you for bringing a little bit of Holiday Cheer to your screen with that tree. Thank you so much for being here with us this morning. And still ahead here, were going to gather around the water cooler for a look at the 2020 people of the year, including who People Magazine calls the doctor america needed. Way too early back in just a moment. Arly back in just a moment [phone rings] hello, how can i sore throat pain . Try new Vicks Vapocool drops in honey lemon chill for a fastacting rush of relief like youve never tasted in. Honey lemon ahh woo Vicks Vapocool drops now in honey lemon chill betsy quarter mile of tinsel. Of lights. harold and real snow all the way from switzerland. betsy hmmhm. Gonna be tough to top. Well played. vo add some thrill to your wish list. At the season of audi sales event. Get exceptional offers now. burke stomer happy anniversary. customer for what . burke every year youre with us, you get fifty dollars toward your home deductible. 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People magazine has released its 2020 people of the year list, and the nations top Infectious Disease expert was honored, of course. The magazine called dr. Anthony fauci the doctor america needed in 2020 and praised fauci for his steady guidance during such a troubling time. Fauci has had quite the year, from working to mitigate a pandemic, facing Death Threats against his family and against himself, and having brad pitt play him on saturday night live. When asked by the magazine how he stayed focused through it all, fauci replied, you dig deep, you grab yourself by the bootstraps and you say, youve got to do it. Theres no other alternative, because if you dont do it, youre going to fail, and failure isnt an option. Other 2020 people of the year honorees include george clooney, selena gomez, and regina king. All right, so, i love this. Actress Catherine Ohara has also, as many of you know, had quite the year. After wrapping up her emmywinning performance from schitts creek, many fans are realizing this makes me laugh so hard ohara portrayed kevin mcallisters mother, kate, in the classic home alone films and ohara is now going viral for reenacting an iconic scene from home alone 2. Kevins not here. What . Kevin the reenactment came as part of a tribute to honor the late john hughes, the writer and producer of home alone and other classic films. I mean, i guess this has got to go in the category of home alone is making me feel so old this holiday season, knowing that people are just learning that Katherine Ohara was also kevins mom. Still ahead, well check in with a leading Health Experts after a warning from the cdc that the u. S. Coronavirus death toll could reach 450,000 lives lost by february. Way too early coming right back. By february. Way too ear lycoming right back this holiday at tmobile, get an iphone 12 with 5g on us on every single plan. Switch now and save 20 on your bill vs. The other guys. Thats right. Iphone 12 on us. Its time to holiday on with t mobile. Honey honey . New nyquil severe honey is maximum strength cold and flu medicine with soothing honeylicious taste. Nyquil honey. The nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever best sleep with a cold medicine. Janie, come here. Check this out. Let me see. She looks. Kind of like me. Yeah. Thats because its your grandma when she was your age. Oh wow. Thats. Thats amazing. Oh and she was on the debate team. Yeah, thats probably why youre the debate queen. Mmhmm. Ill take that. Look at that smile. I have the same dimples as her. Yeah. The same placements and everything. Unbelievable. The reality is, december and january and february are going to be rough times. I actually believe theyre going to be the most difficult time in the Public Health history of this nation. Were in that range, potentially, now, starting to see 1,500 to 2,000 to 2,500 deaths a day from this virus. So, yeah, the mortality concerns are real, and i do think, unfortunately, before we see february, we could be close to 450,000 americans who have died from this virus. Cdc director Robert Redfield yesterday with that incredibly stark warning about the pandemic for the coming winter months. Joining us now, Infectious Disease doctor and a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins center for health security, d dr. Aimidr. Dr. Amash adalja. Thank you for being here. Id like to talk about where we are and underscore just what a difficult period were entering. We had our worst death day on record. And i know you focused a lot in particular on hospitals in rural areas, in places that maybe struggle to get some of these resources. What are you seeing out there, and what are your concerns over the next month . What im seeing right now is that there are many hospitals and these arent necessarily the big academic med centers in big cities but in the suburbs, in the rural areas, where were running up against a wall where theyre unable to expand capacity. Their hospital has maybe 20 , 30 of its beds occupied by Covid Patients. And theres no end in sight because theres so Much Community spread. And i wonder how these rural hospitals are going to cope, because they are already having to curtail other services they offer, for example, nonemergency surgeries that require people to stay overnight. And this is something thats really going to have a major hit on the community, because not only will the hospital be inundated with Covid Patients, theyre going to not be able to offer the same level of care to people who have heart attacks, strokes, who need help from a car accident and i dont see an escape valve because theres so Much Community spread and its happening, at least in western april where a work, its happening in peoples private homes and i think were going to see more death and some of the hospitals may collapse and be no more after that because this is not sustainable for their business model. Lets talk for a second, too, about the staff. I mean, one way that we dealt with the early months of the pandemic new york city, for example, when they were the epicenter of the outbreak, there were so many doctors, nurses, staffers who volunteered to go and help, and they were able to because it wasnt spreading everywhere else. Whats the situation now with our doctors, nurses, people who operate ventilators and do all of the other things that are required to try and care for one of these patients . When you have a national surge, theres nowhere theres people from. So when new york was getting hit hard, much of the other country was it was much basically dead. There wasnt a lot of Covid Patients and there wasnt a lot of demand for other services and they were actually laying off in in pittsburgh they were laying off doctors and nurses because there was such little census inside the hospital. You dont have people you can pull because every state is dealing with more cases than they have had to deal with and more hospitalizations. Even if you think of alternative care sites, maybe you want to convert a school into a care center you dont have the staff there. Its something that was very well predicted, that we knew wed be going into the winter and we didnt expand capacity sufficiently. I guess thats another example of the fact that we dont have a coherent strategy here and it was testing, tracing, isolating and supporting hospitals. We cant do that either. Its a really dire situation. Doctor, thank you so much for getting up early with us and reminding us all that we should continue to do those things in our own lives for the sake of everyone who is on the front lines fighting this pandemic. Thank you very much for being here. Earlier on the show, we asked why are you awake . Kim sent us this picture saying shes up watching with her pup molly celebrating a birthday this week. Happy birthday. Nadine tweeted this photo saying shes trying to get the christmas masks done to keep her family and friends safe this holiday season. And nicole emails i woke up because a giant bird, aka giant palmetto bug flew into my room. Sorry, we cant help you but i appreciate your reaction there. And we do want to make a quick correction here. Yesterday, we had an item during this segment about elf on the shelf. We just want to reiterate everyone knows the elves move around the house by themselves. Thats no help from grownups or anyone else. Speaking of that, michael tweets today to say that kennedy and brooklyn were excited to find where ellie the elf was this morning. Yay, happy holidays and Merry Christmas to all of you. That elf definitely got there by itself. Coming up next, well take a look at the axios 1 big thing and coming up on morning joe, another day, another rambling speech of falsehoods delivered by the outgoing president. Will Republican Leaders finally say enough is enough . Plus, dick durbin will discuss the latest negotiations on a Coronavirus Relief package. Morning joe, Just Moments Away. Ef package morning joe, Just Moments Away in our softest, smoothest fabric. Shes confident, protected, her strength respected. Depend. The only thing stronger than us, is you. Lelets get fast, accuratell range oresults. 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Department of health Human Services. Welcome back. Joining me me with a look at axios a. M. , the editorinchief for axios, nicholas johnston. Good morning. What do you have for the 1 big thing today . 1 big thing, trumps dire china warning. We have some new information about the director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe will be giving some public statements today warning about the dire threat from china. Why this matters is that its very rare for a Senior Intelligence official like this the most Senior Intelligence official in the United States to speak about these kind of threats. We are seeing this as part of to educate the American People in the sort of the final days of the administration about how they see the greatest National Threat and thats the rise of china. The Biden Administration next year will take a softer tone on china so theyre trying to set a foundation for the American People seeing china as a real threat and so well see the director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe making a series of public statements outlining the threat and trying to educate the American People, sort of a final act by the Trump Administration before they hand the reins over to the Biden Administration next month, kasie. Well, this is about politics too. Right . They tried to portray the democratic rivals as weak on china, especially amid the virus surge, no . I mean, theres all of these kinds of things but theres also a broad sort of consensus in the United States about how to view china going forward. I mean, the coronavirus certainly changed some peoples views about how the role theyre taking in the United States i mean, the role theyre taking in the world, the leadership position they have taken in africa and the World Health Organization and they see china as a rising adversary and the Trump Administration took a hard line on that with the enactment of tariffs. We have spoken to folks in the incoming Biden Administration and they have said theyre not looking to roll back all of the moves right away, some of the tariffs may stay at the start, so look for not a full change, but the Trump Administration has taken a much harder line on china during their term and they want that to continue into the beyond when theyre gone. Lets talk about bill barr for a second because you have some reporting around that. He may get fired or resign. One never knows, one needs to know follow the president s twitter feed patient to know if you have a job. What do you know about whether this is something that is going to happen or not . Its hard to underestimate or overstate the rage in the Trump Administration when the president saw the interview that the attorney general gave to the Associated Press that he said there wasnt widespread voter fraud. Then they walked that back saying that the investigation was complete and barr may resign and then what comes next . The acting attorney general position, who would replace barr . You would unlikely find an official to launch a much more thorough investigation, chasing down the allegations that are so far unsubstantiated as voter fraud. Not like you can put Rudy Giuliani in as acting attorney general until the end of the administration. It is looking like attorney general barr remains on thin ice. I mean, what could they accomplish if they put somebody new in there . Theres a dwindling number of days of the Trump Administration for anyone who could actually step in and make big changes. Theres certainly at love mischief making as we saw from the public hearings with President Trumps lawyers, the rallies that are happening, to add a government veneer to that, could you imagine theyre in the rallies and saying not to vote in the special election. I think thats something under consideration. I think its unlikely to have the government officials participating in that versus some of President Trumps private attorneys. All right. Nicholas johnston, thank you as always. Great to have you on here on way too early. Im watching to see what rep n republicans will do, about chanting lock up the republican governor of georgia. Its a problem for them. Thank you for getting up way too early. Dont go anywhere. Morning joe starts right now. It is important to know the problems with mailin balloting