Of homes destroyed, hurricane iotas trail of destruction. We sold all of our turkeys in two hours. Plus, downsizing thanksgiving, the demand for small turkeys and the extreme measures farmers took to deliver. Live from cnbc global headquarters, the facts, the truth, the news with Shepard Smith. Good evening, we have new covid19 reporting on two fronts, one, more Covid Patients are dying, a doctor raising a red flag about Vaccine Distribution his point, rampant covid spread will make getting the vaccine administered very difficult. That from dr. Ashish ja, who will join us live shortly. The death rate is rising, Public Health officials call it alarming, 2,015 people died yesterday from covid, the day before, it was 1848, the day before that, 1,707 rapid alarming death rate. And look at this, the third week of july, right at the peak of the second wave, 863 people died on average per day this third week of november with cases still rising, an average of 1,335 people die on an average per day. The raw numbers are bad enough, but the rapid change, thats what most alarms health care professionals. They call it the case fatality rate, cfr. Its the percentage of all covid positive people in america who eventually die of covid19 since july the 1t, its been 1. 4 if it remains constant at these enormous case levels, well be looking at 2,500 deaths per day very soon. Medical experts say they believe it will go up. Doctors say thats because todays fatalities are from case statistics from weeks ago. The brutal truth is it takes a while to go from infected to dead doctors offer this observation when cases rise, tests are hard to get, hospitals are crowded. Doctors and nurses are overworked the Health Care System is stressed we asked our dr. John torres to break down how hospitals get overwhelmed. Hes a cnbc medical corresponde correspondent. The rising death rate is a direct connection to overwhelmed hospitals. The more people sick from covid put a higher strain on the system even people with low symptoms, mild and moderate symptoms can take a lot of time, a lot of resources but as those symptoms become more severe, as the patients become more complicated, they use a lot more resources, a bigger strain on the hospital and the Hospital Systems and the staff. Seeing the death numbers rise, thats a lot of intensive care being used to try to save their lives, and that puts an incredible amount of strain on the hospital and hospital system. And even worse, deaths lag. Doctors estimate about three weeks behind cases first, there are more cases, then more hospital saizations ad then more deaths the dean of the Brown University school of Public Health, doctor, how bad is this, are you expecting daily deaths to continue to rise as our data indicates they will . So thank you for having me on unfortunately i am i think the horrible death numbers were seeing now, they are going to get meaningfully worse in the weeks and unfortunately the next couple of months ahead. Heres the biggest concern, as detailed in a report today from ed yong in the atlantic magazine, when hospitals are full, and many of the best prepared in the nation are full or getting there, patients will die waiting to get in. So theyll die not just because of the virus but because theres nobody and no place to help them in that sort of reality, widespread be prevented . This is a huge issue, shep, i always remind people, hospitals existed before the covid pandemic we need hospitals for lots of other things, and when hospitals get crowded and other people cant get care, it becomes a huge problem the best way to prevent hospitalizations from covid is prevent the disease itself theres a lot more we can do to manage the crowding thats starting to happen theres no doubt about it, crowding in hospitals leads to higher fatality rates for everybody. I ask because of things we know we know deaths lag hospitalizations, and hospitalizations lag cases cases are exploding and have been for weeks based on todays numbers, two weeks from now, more hospitals will be full and the week before christmas, even more until the Health Care System eventually collapses. With the case numbers like they are, you do the math is that inevitable, doctor well, i would say based on the infections we have today, were generating almost 200,000 new infections 2,000 to 2,500 deaths a day is baked into the system. That is almost surely going to happen the big question is how much worse are we going to be toll rating, letting this go, and thats what we need to prevent, shep, we need to prevent further increases in cases so we can top off at those horrible numbers and start coming down. Especially over thanksgiving. Doctor, in june, you predicted here that more than 200,000 people in america would die by right now of covid, instead, more than 250,000 have died. Where does the data lead you to believe well be by springtime this is obviously one of those situations where i was hoping i was wrong in the other direction, and unfortunately its been worse than i predicted. I see another thousand deaths by inauguration day, and once we get into the spring, we easily could be at 450 or even 500,000 deaths that all depends on us, right, we do things that are smart, we can avoid that if we dont, we could easily get into the 4 to 500 deaths total which is astronomical. I know you have real concerns about Vaccine Distribution, and ill ask you about that in a moment on vaccine efficacy his or her h or how well they work, theres great news pfizer applied for emergency use authorization from its covid vaccine. Its the First Company to seek the green light from the fda normally this takes month, but cnbc has learned a decision is expected in weeks. The fda scheduled a key meeting for december 10th and if approved the first doses of this vaccine could be available by the end of this year a lot has to happen between now and then cn cnbcs meg tirrell explains why. The milestone kicks off a race for the fda to review thousands of pages of data before it outside vaccine experts weigh in the fda could make its decision soon after that. Operation warp speed mo. The vaccines will be in the immunization sites and people will be immunized. Our mantra has been no dose left behind. Reporter ing it be a massive feat of logistics not just because of how many need the vaccine but because it has to be stored is shipped at ultra cold temperatures, 94 below zero fahrenheit she says shes confident. This is what we do every day for hundreds of productsin hundreds of countries, so yes, minus 70 is a more unique temperature but for us, the science is the same. Reporter pfizers designed special thermal boxes, each fits 5,000 doses necessastled in drye to stay frozen, and shipped with temperature monitoring and gps tracking. Well have digital eyes on them all the time. Once they get to pharmacies or doctors offices where they will be used they can be stored in ultra cold freezers or stored in the fridge for five days. And shep, pfizer has partnered with fedex and ups to ship the veep vaccines which could happen in september a whole new holiday package. The vaccine has to get from the place where its made to the places where its distributed to the places where its administered, and the people who want to get vaccinated have to get to the administer. So if covid is running rampant unchecked, uncontrolled, across the nation can all of that happen as planned. Back to dr. Jha, how concerned are you and could you spell out why, doctor . Yeah, so shep, i am concerned and its of course its going to be right in the middle of the transition thats happening at the federal government thats not going very well right now. Theres a lot of complexity that needs to happen. One of the reasons i am concerned is if covid spikes are happening in many places in the country, doctors offices are going to be virtual. Theyre not going to be open for visits were not going to want to see crowding in pharmacies remember, in the middle of a bad pandemic, everything is much harder, and we want to get the vaccines out that is one set of logistical issues im really worried about. Obviously in the beginning, we want to get First Responders and health care workers. That may be more possible through hospitals. Until we get this pandemic under control, everything is slower and harder with, you know, getting the vaccine out. Reporter it feels like to hear it from you, were in the time right now before we get the vaccine and for the next few months, this is the part where we cannot let down yeah, look, we have a twomonth window right now where if we can really curtail our indoors activities, if we can really be careful about not getting infected and slow down infections, we can make a massive difference we can make it easier to get a vaccine out. Save a lot of lives. Prevent hospitals from getting overwhelmed and life will get better as vaccines get out if we dont do these things right now, its going to drag everything out and make things much worse for months and months to come. Dr. Ashish jha, thank you so much 96 of connecticuts under a covid red alert, the highest warning level in the color coded covid system dr. Ned lamont now, hes currently im sorry i meant to say governor ned lamont, hes currently isolating after a member of his staff tested positive for covid. Governor, the numbers keep going up and up, why arent people in your state and everywhere else listening . First of all, shepherd, im a news guy, i love your show its fresh and interesting, and you get into detail on some of these topics, which i appreciate. Thank you. Were doing everything we can in connecticut controlling everything we can control. Ive heard the previous part of your show, were as ready as we can be on vaccinations, weve got track and trace, a lot of capacity i feel pretty good our hospitals are going to have capacity what i worry about is nurses and docs, i think thats going to be the choke point for us i think thats where i got to make sure we have plenty of back up to deal with the stress. As you might imagine at cnbc, we pay very close attention tod to data. Covid in your schools is skyrocketing, cases among k through 12 students jumped 70 from just last week, you fought, governor, to keep the schools open for obvious reasons, for inperson learning are you rethinking that now . Im not you know, first of all, there is a lot of covid spread throughout our community but youre much more likely to be infected outside of school, hybrid or Virtual Learning than you are in the classroom. We have over 50 of our kids now, k through 8, can still have the option of going to inclassroom education so everything i do im fight to go make sure the younger kids still have the classroom experience but i got to take it one week at a time, dont we you do. The northeastern governors for those of you who are not familiar, have a close alliance. They Work Together to do things the same, its a region, not a state. The virus doesnt know the boundaries when you look at new york city, covid positivity in the schools was low, and they shut the schools down, do you scratch your head or how do you react to that restaurants opened, schools clothed, i think its the wrong way to go. I have a city called danbury, it has the highest infection in the state, and i that never opened their schools. Other places that schools are open and relatively low infection. I dont think theres a direct correlation, as long as the schools are careful, as long as the kids are wearing the masks and so far theyre doing that. Testing is so important, and the Contact Tracing that follows, the lines are very long the local newspapers in connecticut reporting two to three hour waits we have months to figure this out. What can we do to change this. I can tell you, we have more testing per capita than just about any state in the country we still have long lines and many selected places no question about it weve got fairly qualified health centers, were going to Church Parking lots, making the Testing Available as much as we can. There were no lines three months ago, shep, now people are terrified and lined up its a good thing in the sense that it makes them careful and they want to get tested. Were ramping that up as fast as we can. Governor, good luck, all the best, and thank you. Nice to see you, shep, congratulations again. Thank you we have all been impacted by covid, there are some communities hit so much harder than others. Well visit one of the poorest counties in one of the poorest states in america for an up close look at what people there are going through. Im tired of being a disposable unit. Pandemic poverty. Rural america devastated by covid. How much more can these people take. The hits keep coming on the gridiron, and an 83yearold coaching icon tests positive for covid19 plus, look at this, an elephant trapped see the extraordinary rescue attempt. The facts, the truth, the news with Shepard Smith, back in 60 seconds strong foundation. Ou need a the same is true for building a business. Blackowned businesses are an integral part of americas foundation. They lay the groundwork for other black businesses like mine that turns concrete into something beautiful. Im kimberley robles, and im the owner and founder of robles concrete design. The Citi Foundation is helping our Community Partners facilitate more loans to blackowned businesses. May your holidays glow bright and all your dreams take flight. Visit your local mercedesbenz dealer today for exceptional lease and financing offers at the mercedesbenz winter event. The president s son, don jr. , covid positive, learned a little while ago the first son has been quarantining at his cabin since the test came back as they put it at the start of this week his Spokesman Says don jr. Has been asymptomatic so far earlier today we learned Rudy Giulianis son andrew also tested positive. Hes at the Trump Campaign legal teams wild News Conference yesterday. He works at the white house. Hes the one wearing the American Flag mask jenna ellis, one of the Trump Campaigns lawyers says she and Rudy Giuliani both tested negative President Trump making his first public appearance in a solid week as he refuses to accept defeat and fights to overturn the results of the election. Mr. President. That was the familiar finish for the 17th day in a row, the president did not take any questions from reporters after he talked about cutting drug prices and falsely claimed that he won the election shortly after, the president met with republican state lawmakers from michigan at the white house. That meeting raised a lot of eyebrows because it comes just days before michigan is set to certify its Election Results protesters greeting some of those lawmakers at the airport certify the results respect the michigan voters respect the michigan voters. Where is the evidence of fraud . Where is the evidence of fraud well, michigan is set to certify its results on monday as is pennsylvania, two crucial battleground states that president elect biden flipped. Hes now the official winner in georgia. Happened today, the republican secretary of state there certified the results after a hand count this afternoon. He says the numbers dont lie. Cnbcs ylan mui covering the white house. Reporter shep, what you saw today was President Trump trying to get back on the offensive even those his options for challenging the outcome of the election continue to narrow. The white house denied that the meeting with the two michigan lawmakers was a last minute attempt to try to influence the vote count, and after the meeting was over, the lawmakers put out this statement we have not been made aware of any information that would change the outcome of the election in michigan, and as legislative leaders, we will follow the law now, a person close to the president told nbc news that trump knows that he is lost but hes trying to make life difficult for the democrats during the transition as he believes they did to him they are also saying that they want trump to adopt a more proactive method, instead focusing on the prospect for a vaccine. That could be why we saw the two announcements today on measures to lower Prescription Drug prices which the president used as a sort of victory lap. Thank you very much pfizer and others were way ahead on vaccines. You wouldnt have a vooaccine i it werent for me, the fda wouldnt have been able to do what they did, what i forced them to do. Trumps relationship with republicans will also be important for the Senate Runoff races in georgia the Vice President was out there campaigning today. Shep, republicans know that even if they have lost the white house, they could still hold on to the senate. Elan, thank you. President elect biden meeting face to face with the House Speaker nancy pelosi, and the Senate Minority leader, Chuck Schumer today. The president elect calling for congress to push out billions of dollars in Coronavirus Relief before the end of the year meantime, nbc news reports, the president elect is growing impatient with the Trump Administration blocking his transition, but that hes concerned taking them to court could backfire nbcs ali vitali, covering the biden transition in delaware thats exactly right. We have heard from sources that president elect joe bidens patience is waning over the pace of this transition continuously being blocked from officially being able to start transitioning into office by the General Services administration. But despite the fact that some democrats are calling for this biden team to take some more tangible steps, potentiall