Neil lawrence, welcome to hardtalk. Thank you very much for having me. It s a great pleasure to have you. Now, you are a computer scientist, but it seems to me, as you ve journeyed deep into the potentiality of artificial intelligence, you ve also thought a great deal about human intelligence and what is so very special and unique about us humans. Can you try to put that into words? yeah, i think, for me, what we ve seen with a lot of the artificial intelligence debate has been a sort of naturally narcissistic in tendency to think about our intelligence. And what i think it does is offers the opportunity to introspect about our intelligence, to stand in a different place, to look at a different type of information processing, that that s done by a computer, and use our understanding of that, which we built and created, so we understand it, to look back and think about what s special about us. Is intelligence the right word to use when it comes to discussing what machines can do in this
December 14th is the day already marked in the history books. Its the tragic anniversary of the massacre as andy hook elementary school. December 14th happens to be the anniversary of the death of george washington, who died on this day in 1799. But when the history of these times is written, december 14th, 2020, will warrant a double entry. Today, december 14th, 2020, the day that we passed the solemn milestone of 300,000 Coronavirus Deaths right here in the United States. Also marks the first day of the Vaccine Rollout in this country for the deadly coronavirus pandemic. These images of Front Line Health Care workers and residents of Nursing Homes are filling our televisions today and providing a realtime solve to our pandemicweary nation. Fridays latenight approval of the pfizer vaccine, which is expected to pave the way for approvals of similar vaccines in the coming weeks and months. Today, december 14th, 2020, also marks the day that is typically noted by broadcasts like this one
Contact tracing is largely gone. I think and i believe that we should be treating every case as if its a variant during this pandemic right now. The good news according to dr. Anthony fauci is Johnson Johnsons new singledose vaccine could help get more people vaccinated and prevent severe disease and hospitalizations as the virus continues to mutate and replicate. We have now a valueadded additional vaccine candidate. This is a singleshot vaccine in which you start to see efficacy anywhere from 7 to 10 days. It is inexpensive and the company is capable of making doses in the numbers of billions. Joining me now nbc news chief White House Correspondent and Weekend Today cohost Kristen Welker. Dr. Celine gounder, a member of bidens Advisory Board during the transition. And patrice harris, former president of the american medical association. Kristen, how difficult is it proving for the biden team with such a short transition, if any, to get their arms around the shortage of doses and the
Authorization for Emergency Use. That means options when it comes to vaccinations. Thats good. At the same time, republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor greene is holding her own News Conference one day after she was kicked off her Committee Assignments for supporting over years violent rhetoric, dangerous disinformation. We begin with the economic news. Christine romans, 49,000 or so new jobs. Yesterday we had nearly 800,000 new unemployment claims. Do the math for us there. Where does it stand in terms of all these lost jobs . Theres no historical precedent for this. You had 14. 8 Million People who told the government this month that they didnt have a job to go back to. The business they worked for was closed or was barely open but not allowed to give them hours. And a quarter of the people working say theyre working from home. The virus has completely changed what is usually a dynamic labor force. This 49,000 jobs created was mostly in professional business services, going back to
Mccarthy is leaning leaning toward removing congresswoman Marjorie Taylor greene from the Education Committee. Now greene has endorsed statements calling for the execution of democratic leaders. Shes harassed survivors of school shootings. Shes suggested Mass Shootings were staged hoaxes, and this morning the reporting is that mccarthy is leaning toward removing her from the Education Committee. Well see if it happens. Why . Just leaning . What might be pushing him this way . And what is she refusing to do that might help her keep her committee post. That in just a moment. First, Josh Campbell In Washington where officer Brian Sicknick lies in honor this morning. Josh . Good morning. Were taking you live inside the Capitol Rotunda where the remains of this fallen officer are currently Lying In Honor. There has been a steady stream of people coming to pay their respects. Lawmakers, as well as members of the capitol police. Many of them wearing black bands around their badges to symboliz