It is a question, i think, of looking at the laws and the individual states and finding the right lawyers and attempts. But these laws that are being passed and the efforts to weaponize Poll Watchers in the Polling Place are all part of thinking, i think wrongly that intimidation of election officials is going to help republicans. I think what my fellow republicans are not recognizing is what goes around can come around and that this weaponization in Election Laws can be turned on them. This is not going to be a oneway street. And that overall is bad for the democracy. Yeah. Its not what any party should be about. No. Right. Were seeing that as you two join together. Ben, thank you so much. Bob, really appreciate it. Its a pleasure. Thank you. New day continues right now. Welcome to our viewers not United States and all around the world. Im John Berman with Brianna Keilar on this New Day. We do have Breaking News. A Covid Decision that will immediately affect thousands of children and could eventually influence millions and millions of school kids in america. And a matter of hours, Los Angeles could become the largest public School District in the country to require vaccinations for students 12 and up. The School Board Votes Today on the mandate and one member tells New Day it is expected to pass. The plan requires vaccines for students 12 and older who are part of inperson extracurricular programs by october 31st. The Vaccination Deadline for attending inperson classes is December 19th with a few exemptions allowed. Tonight, President Biden will address the nation to roll out his new Sixpoint Plan for stopping the pandemic in its tracks. That is the goal. The virus is surging. Hospitals in a number of states are near or at capacity. Children representing one out of every four new cases and the president planning to focus on vaccinating the unvaccinated on Booster Shots, keeping schools open, ramping up testing, Mask Mandates and a new push toward mandating vaccines. So lets begin now with Jeremy Diamond live for us at the White House with our top story. What is ahead . What are we going to hear from the president , jeremy . Reporter good morning, brianna. President biden is expected to outline a revamped strategy for tackling this Coronavirus Pandemic in a speech this afternoon. The president will be pushing for new Vaccine Mandates as well as increased testing across the country. Those are a couple of the six pillars that White House officials disclosed to us so far for what the president is going to be focussing on. You can see theyre vaccinating the unvaccinated. Further protection for the vaccinated. Expect to hear about Booster Shots in that portion of the speech as well as also looking at the economic recovery and making sure the economy can continue to push forward even as this pandemic continues to rage. But one thing is very clear, this is going to be a very different speech from the one we heard from President Biden two months ago ahead of the July 4th Holiday when the president said that we are closer than ever to declaring independence over this virus. In those two months we have watched coronavirus cases skyrocket, surging across the country amid the spread of this delta variant. And so now clearly the president facing a lower Approval Rating for his handling of the pandemic, sees a need to show that he is on top of this and what more his administration can do. The question is, of course, this administration so far has said they dont believe they have the power to mandate vaccines for all americans across the country. But we have watched over the last couple of months as the administration has taken more steps in that direction and also encouraging the private sector to do its part as well. I think you can hear more of that later today as well. Brianna . Certainly looking forward to that. Jeremy diamond, thank you so much. Live from the White House. Well also speak with the white House Press Secretary Jen Psaki coming up. The Biden Biden Administration asked for resignation from appointed boards. One member refusing to resign Megan Mobbs an appointed member of the board of visitors at West Point. She is also a veteran of the War In Afghanistan and she is an advocate for veterans and military families. Megan, thank you so much for being with us this morning. Can you just tell us off the start here why are you refusing to resign . First of all, thank you so much for having me on. I appreciate the opportunity to share my perspective. The reason why im refusing to resign it is imperative we do not politicize our Military Academies. When i was first appointed to the board, there were four Obama Appointee holdovers that were there serving out their threeyear terms. I was graciously welcomed, treated with Dignity And Respect and that type of nonpartisan engagement is what we need in america right now, the ability to come together, have discussions bring different perspectives, have these conversations. Thats one reason why im not going to step down. So why do you think you were asked to resign . I think it is for a variety of reasons. The only way i can imagine is because of this politicization or this kind of wanting to capture this as being a political appointed board. While you are appointed by the commander in chief, the president , who by their very nature is from a political party, this Advisory Board Igts is remarkably nonpartisan, one of the last places in america where those things are checked at the door. What comes first is the health, the well being of the cadets to make sure at least speaking act West Point right now, to make sure they have the best possible opportunity to become excellent army officers. You know, let me ask you about that because you say its not about politicizing the board and you say the President Shouldnt politicize the military. Didnt President Trump politicize the military . I think theres a long history of many president s politicizing the military. And honestly what i really want to speak about, though, is this Administrations Decision to do so versus decisions made by previous administrations because its important in this moment now to accept whats happening because this has not been happened before. This is an unprecedented move by a president to dissolve all boards, all appointees and label them all as being unqualified. Okay. So, i want to ask you a little bit about that because you say its about Focussing On What Biden is doing, not what trump is doing. You obviously were an adviser to the campaign, former President Trumps reelection campaign, when it came to veteran and military family outreach. You have recently been very outspoken about what you talk about and, look, many people have talked about as the moral injury of the evacuations from afghanistan. As an adviser to the Trump Campaign, did you advise them or the president on the moral injury of basically scrapping the Siv Program that contributed to the difficulties that weve seen in evacuating afghan allies . So that Wasnt Something that i worked on. It would be very hard for me to speak on. Something im often an advocate for is Mental Health for all of our veterans across administrations and something i think is remarkably again bipartisan and nonpartisan ensuring the health and well being of our veterans, military and our military families are first and foremost in a variety of ways and this includes at the v. A. And includes during their period of service and also during their period of being at the academies ensuring were taking proper and appropriate precautions to make sure those needs are addressed. Every opportunity i can speak about getting left of bang ahead of any of these issues that might occur as a result of Military Service im a very outspoken advocate for that. Yeah, look, certainly not taking away from your advocacy on that where you talk about the importance of transitions for Military Personnel and just how that can affect their Mental Health. You talked about a number of issues that i think theres broad bipartisan agreement on saying that, hey, these are things that should be addressed. You also, though, you were an adviser to the Trump Campaign and i do wonder if, for instance, on that, you know, weve seen President Trump just yesterday praising or not praising, really pushing back on the removal of this robert e. Lee statue in richmond. He actually referred to the former confederate general as a unifying force. He said if only we had robert e. Lee to command our troops in afghanistan that disaster would have ended in a complete and total victory many years ago. What an embarrassment were suffering because we dont have the genius of robert e. Lee. You know, i want to ask you about that because as someone on the board of visitors for West Point, youre well aware that West Point is trying to figure out what to do with all of its stuff thats named after robert e. Lee, Lee Bare Ricks that you or while you were at West Point one of your fellow cadets may have actually stayed in as a dorm. You know, what do you say when you hear the former president saying things like this . So, we serve at the current pleasure of the current president which is why hes able to terminate in the way that he did. So my focus is ensuring that were representing those values and those ethics when we come to the board of visitors and making sure again those decisions that youre talking about are outside of the purview of the advisory board. Were there to provide insight around curriculum, around discipline, about fiscal expenditures around those sorts of things. So were not necessarily having discussions around any of the things that you just mentioned. One of the things we do speak about which i think is important that we do bring up very frequently is the rise of Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault in our Military Academies and in the military broadly speaking. So those are the things that were focussed on. Were focussing how we can best and appropriately meet the needs and demands of the cadets so the conversations that youre mentioning arent things that happen at the advisory board. Do you see how some of the folks that President Biden and the Biden Administration have looked at here are people who maybe dont belong on advisory boards for service academies, for instance, former kernel who has attacked the role of women in certain Military Situations . Or has you know advanced Replacement Theory or a former appointee who tried to get Election Fraud Information to the White House from the doj or people who enabled the Big Lie which was really the impetus for many veterans and even active Duty Service members breaking into congress. Do you see a distinction here between some people like an Hr Mcmaster or im sure you would put yourself in this category, someone hes being honored as a graduate of West Point here soon. Do you think that it makes sense that some of these people should have been scrapped but that youre not one of them . How are you seeing this . So, i can only speak for myself. I havent met the individual that youre speaking act. We havent had a Board Meeting since the election because of the suspension of all the board. So ive never worked alongside him or know him personally. So again i can only speak for myself. And what i can you megan, megan, lets not dodge that. Because you dont have to work alongside someone to know that they promote Replacement Theory or that they attack women being in military roles that men are in. I mean, you know, you know the record of some of these people. So do you think that it makes sense that some of these people would be scrapped . So i think it makes sense that any president can look at those that are appointed and make the decision to assess on an individual basis. I absolutely think the president obviously has that ability and that purview to do so. I think wholesale scrapping every appointee and throwing kind of the baby out with the Bath Water sets a very dangerous precedent because this sets a precedent for future administrations to do the exact same thing. And it prevents the ability of what i spoke about previously the ability for people with different perspectives that are rooted in very good intention and beliefs around the best way to serve cadets can come together and can have these discussions and have this discourse thats done in a respectful way. And by doing this, it sets the precedent that in the future someone disagrees with someone they can just label them as being unqualified or just scrap them wholesale and it prevents the ability of having those conversations that i think are imperative for our democracy. Megan, i want to thank you for having this conversation. Look, its one we very much need to have as we look at the credentials of all of these individuals who are on these Service Academy advisory boards. And i appreciate you coming on to talk about it. Thank you so much for having me. Hospitals strapped, resources strained and now prominent voices in the media are speaking up blaming those who refuse to be vaccinated. Cnn returns to one rural town almost a year later to see whether this latest surge in cases and hospitalizations has changed any minds. Have you thought about getting the vaccine . No way. Oh, really, how come . Because i dont want to get sick. Him to be here. Your Heart Isnt just yours. Protect it with bayer aspirin. Be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. You founded your Kayak Company because you love the ocean not spreadsheets. You need to hire. I need indeed. Indeed you do. Indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. Visit indeed. Com Hire Carl lost his gig as a Hand Model during a bizarre hitchhiking incident. [ thud ] aah its over. But with amerisaves great rates, he can save money while he looks for footmodeling gigs. And Thats Something he can give a big thumbsup to. See how much you could save at amerisave. Com. burke this is why you want farmers claim forgiveness. [echoing] claim forgivenessness, your Home Premium Wont go up just because of this. woman wow, Thats Something. burke you get a whole lot of something with Farmers Policy perks. [echoing] get a quote today. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum in business, its never just another day. Its the big sale, or the big presentation. The day where everything goes right. Or the one where nothing does. With Comcast Business you get the network that can deliver Gig Speeds to the most businesses and advanced cybersecurity to protect every device on it all backed by a dedicated team, 24 7. Every day in business is a big day. Well keep you ready for whats next. Comcast business powering possibilities. This morning a new wave of anger focussed on the unvaccinated and especially people pushing Vaccine Misinformation coming from Media Hosts even from a republican governor. Lets start with what Howard Stern said yesterday about the need for Vaccine Mandates. When are we going to stop putting up with the idiots in this country and just say its mandatory to get vaccinated. [ bleep ] their freedom, i want my freedom to live. I want to get out of the house already. I want to go next door and play chess. I want to go take some pictures. I want to do all those things. So many hospitals filling up with Unvaccinated Covid patients. Late night host Jimmy Kimmel saying this about who should be getting priority care. Dr. Fauci said if hospitals get any more overcrowd they have had to make some very tough choices about who gets an icu bed. That choice doesnt seem so tough to me. Vaccinated person having a heart attack, yes, come right on. Well take care of you. Unvaccinated Guy Who gobbled horse goo. Rest in peace, weezy. Here is west Virginia Governor jim justice who seems exhausted trying to cut through the lies being spread about vaccines. For god sakes of living, how difficult is this to understand, why in the world do we have to come up with these crazy ideas and theyre crazy ideas, that the vaccine has something in it and its tracing people wherever they go. And the same very people that are saying that are carrying their Cell Phones around. I mean, come on. Joining us Now Cnn Political Commentator Michael Smerconish, host of Cnn Smerconish and general star of the radio. So let me ask you what you think about this . Well, im a howard super fan. When he said it, i was cheering him on as i was listening. You know, we talk a lot in this country about the 1 ers. Theres a great spread right now in the new York Post of all places about the 99 ers, drawing on the fact that according to cdc data january through The End of august, 99 of all hospitalizations for covidrelated illness, the unvaccinated. Those who are not fully vaccinated. Similarly, 99 of covid deaths, january through The End of august, all those unvaccinated. So, the time for cajoling i think is over. Were no longer dealing with vaccine hesitant. Im not going to say that anymore. Its the vaccine on csta nant. We have to force people to get vaccinated. One last thing if i may. This is happy and sad at the same time. Im dying to show people my Vax Card. The only place ive been asked to show it was at a dead company convert. This cloud of lawlessness we all knew we had to show our Vax Card to get into the show and we were fine with it. Yeah. I see berman chuckling. He loves that. I thought i would be carrying my Vaccine Card around showing it places and its only i used it to get into my Kids School so i could volunteer at the library. Thats really the only place i had to show my card. And i just wonder what you think we had people on the show, michael, who we had the mom of a veteran whose Son Couldnt get into the icu because of people with covid in the icu and he died because of the delay in care. So i wonder what you make of this conversation about hospitals prioritizing vaccinated or unvaccinated people in a crisis of care situation. So, i dont think its just the stuff of a late Night Routine by Jimmy Kimmel. It was nancy gibbs, the former editor at time in an essay for the washington post. It stands out in my mind because i used it for radio fodder. She put forth this idea that if were allocating scarce resources we ought to have consideration for that fact. Ill give you another example i view similarly. There was a representative of kaiser health, it may have been their ceo, i forget her name. Who said why arent we charging for for insurance among the unvaccinated . In the same way we factor in smoking and risky behavior. These are people making a conscious decision not to get vaccinated, defying the science. Im sorry. Im tired of trying to coax them along. The time for coaxing is over. So, give me governor justice, give me Howard Stern, and give me Jimmy Kimmel. You know, michael, i like to say i need a miracle everyday. This vaccine is a miracle in so many ways protecting us. Can you be specific about how you would stop coddling the unvaccinated . What you are supporting exactly. Okay. So, lets begin with president lets begin with President Biden and the Speech Hell deliver today because i think his is a half measure. I dont think hes done The Full Monty in terms of saying the federal employees, you must be vaccinated. Well contemplate a religious exemption, thats a subject we ought to debate in the future because no major religion is at odds with the notion of vaccination. I recognize some people for medical Reasons Cant get vaccinated. Okay. They should have a negative covid test. But, law enforcement, if youre a police officer, like this union b. S. In some departments standing up for cops who dont want to get screw that. If youre in the Front Line as an emt, as a firefighter, as a cop, as a Government Employee anywhere, youre getting vaccinated. How about flying on airlines . Im back resuming now travel for speaki ing engagements. Im surrounded by people i have no idea what their vax status. Were wearing masks. Im cool with that. Private employers, my Lawyer Firm was on the cutting edge, the Law Firm im associated months ago saying you must be vaccinated to work here. You guys know, cnn drawing a hard line as well, which i totally applaud. Thats whats necessary. Forget trying to sell people because they dont want to be sold. Its like theyre taking pride in the fact that theyre saying screw you to all of those of us who are vaccinated and are lying on the cdc guidance. So stop with the cajoling already. Listen to bob were and Michael Smerconish. Thank you both very much. You can watch Smerconish And Dancing bears Saturday Morning at 9 00 a. M. We do have more Breaking News this morning. A Flight Carrying about 200 people including a number of u. S. Nationals has, were told, just taken off from the airport in kabul. Well ask the white House Press Secretary about the plan to get americans out safely. Plus, this this is a very this is a very shut up. This is that is a high School Teenager being mocked during a School Board meeting while making a personal plea for masks talking about a Loved One who died. Hes going to join us live ahead. You booked a cozy vrbo mountain cabin. [laughs] with a kitchen where everyone can chef. [laughs] a Family Room where you can let your hair down. And a backyard that is a treelined living room. But the Thing Theyll remember forever . Watching the game together once again. The time for getting back together is now. Find it on vrbo. Reentering data that employees could enter themselves . Thats why i get up in the morning i have a secret method for remembering all my hr passwords. My boss doesnt remember approving my time off. Lets just. Find that email. The old way of doing business slows everyone down. With paycom, employees enter and manage their own Hr Data in one easytouse software. Visit paycom. Com for a free demo. Trelegy for copd. Birds flyin high you know how i feel breeze drifting on by you know how i feel [man coughing] its a new dawn, its a New Day. No matter how you got copd its time to make a stand. And im feelin good start a New Day with trelegy. No oncedaily Copd Medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy. With three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy helps people breathe easier and improves lung function. It also helps prevent future flareups. Trelegy wont replace a Rescue Inhaler for sudden breathing problems. Tell your doctor if you have a Heart Condition or high Blood Pressure before taking it. Do not take trelegy more than prescribed. Trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. Call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, Mouth Or Tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or Eye Pain occur. Its time to start a New Day. Ask your doctor about oncedaily trelegy. And save at trelegy. Com. We have Breaking News. Los angeles could become the largest School District in the nation to require vaccinations for students 12 and older. A vote is planned for today. In the meantime, President Biden will lay out his administrations revamped approach to ending the pandemic. Joining us now is white House Press Secretary Jen Psaki. Good morning, jen. Thank you so much for being with us. Good morning. Look, the Breaking News out of Los Angeles is big. It directly impacts thousands of children soon and could influence the course for millions of others. What is the white House View about schools good for them . Good for them . Good for them. Absolutely, john. Look, we know what works in schools. We know that getting your kids vaccinated if theyre 12 and older works. We know having more adults, teachers, people working in schools works. And for kids who are under 12, the best thing we can do is ensure that every adult around them is vaccinated. This type of a step is a step toward that. So definitely a positive sign. Does the White House encourage School Districts or states around the country to put in Vaccine Mandates for 12yearolds and older . Well, look, every school is going to make their own decision, but certainly putting in place requirements that would increase the number of people who are vaccinated, decrease the number of people who are unvaccinated around kids is a step forward and something, yes, weve been encouraging. Will the White House take federal action in order to get more School Districts to do this . Well, its always up to local School Districts to put in place requirements. Whatever they are. Theres a role that leaders and states can play. Theres a role that civic leaders can play and, sure, theres a role the president of the United States can play as well. Hes going to speak later today on this. But putting in place additional requirements to ensure more people are vaccinated, kids are protected, parents can feel calmer about sending their kids to school, something thats key for Mental Health, emotional health, that certainly is a part of his speech later this afternoon. So the speech today, can i ask its a Sixpoint Plan or were told there are six areas. But whats the overall goal here . Well, the overall goal is to speak directly to the american people about whats next on covid. And we know that while theres been a range of issues that weve all been discussing that are also vitally important whether its afghanistan or the build back better agenda that most people in this country, covid, addressing covid, returning to some version of normalcy is their number one, two and three issue. Hell talk about the progress we made, john and also talk about whats next. That includes getting more people who are unvaccinated vaccinated. That means reducing hospitalizations. That means putting in place more testing requirements. And putting in place more protections in the form of boosters to make sure people have an even greater level of protection. Thats what the president will talk about. And he also will acknowledge the fact that the 175 Million people who are vaccinated out there, many of them are frustrated. They want to go back to normal. Of course they do. Thats going to require moving more unvaccinated people to a vaccinated status. Thats what Hell Talk about. We heard Howard Stern and Michael Smerconish and jim U Justice republican governor in west virginia. Theyre coddling the unvaccinated. What wr is the White House on this . Theyre not alone and thats reflective of millions of americans across the country. Now, we dont want this to be a vaccinated Versus Unvaccinated issue. Thats not what were aiming toward or looking to do here. But what we are focussed on doing is protecting more people. And you talk you started our interview here talking about kids who are under 12. We know what works. We know if theyre surrounded by adults who are vaccinated theyll be better protected. We know how to protect people who are immunocompromised. We know how to safely go back to Sporting Events and safely go back to concerts and people are sick and tired of waiting. We know requirements work. We put in place some mandates over the past couple months for the components of the federal government. Many big companies put in place requirements. We have seen them work and theyve also become more popular in part probably because vaccinated people want to return to some version of normal. If i can i want to run through a couple major overnight developments on different fronts i want to get the white House Position on. We learned that there is a plane in kabul that will be leaving at some Point Carrying as many as 200 people including some americans leaving for doha. What can you tell us about this . Well, i cant get into any specific details for security reasons, john, but what i can tell you is that one of our focuses, the focus of our Secretary Of State who has been on the ground the last couple of days and our diplomats in the region, are working overnight every night all night is to get these planes, get this airport operational. And qataris, the airlines, they have been a key partner in this. What were working to do is get flights in and out of the airport to help people who want to depart depart. People who are eligible for different programs we have from the United States, special Immigrant Visa Programs and others. So, this is what we have been working toward. Every moment of everyday and its something we hope will be instrumental moving forward. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Biden Administration is going to Sue Texas to try to stop their new near Abortion Ban from continuing. What can you tell us about this . Well, the president on the day this announcement was made in texas, the president made pretty clear to the department of justice, to the Department Of Health And Human Services that they were to do everything they could to protect a womans right to healthcare. A womans right to choose. So there were steps the department of justice announced, the Attorney General announced on monday, additional steps theyve been considering. Well let them announce any legal actions, of course, from their end. Hope to hear more soon. But this is certainly consistent with the president s call for urgency and for action to protect Womens Healthcare in texas. Lawsuit announced today . Well see. Well leave it to the department of justice to announce any specific details or plans. All right. So the White House asked for several members of these Military Academy Advisory Boards to resign or they would be removed. Many have refused to resign. So what happens to them now . Well, were confident in our legal abilities here, but i will tell you, john, No One is looking to have a battle here. The president of the United States just as every president and every Administration And Cabinet members have the right to appoint people they deem as qualified as aligned with the Administrations Viewpoint priorities to these boards. And to any position in the federal government. And thats what were really talking about here. But, were confident in our right to make new decisions about who serves on these boards. Traditionally these appointees do serve out their full threeyear term, though. Why is there no distinction between the likes of Kellyanne Conway or Sean Spicer political operatives and Megan Mobbs or general mcmaster who is receiving an award from West Point later this week, why no distinction . Well look, again, this really goes back to what every president s right is, which is to appoint individuals they choose because theyre aligned with their values, because theyre aligned with the qualifications that they deem or any of these positions in any of these boards. Thats whats taking place here. Its not personal. I will say that there are some people, of course, on these boards who have supported or stood by silently while their former boss supported an insurrection. Thats not really okay with us either. Youre right, theres a span of individuals on these boards. Its really not more complicated than the president , his Cabinet And Team wanting to be able to appoint a fresh layer of people. As far as youre concerned, are they effectively off the boards now . Have they been fired from these boards as of this morning . Well, theyve certainly been its been conveyed to them as you know yesterday that they were asked to resign in terms of their exact status this morning, i dont have an update. Again were confident in our legal capacity here. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, thank you for being with us this morning. Thank you. Still ahead, well speak live with a School Board member in Los Angeles about todays potentially landmark move to require Covid Vaccinations for students. And one part of the country is seeing a fast rise in covid cases yet vaccinations are still well below average. Why many people here are still hesitant. I do not want the vaccine . I dont like people trying to push a shot on me or something else because im bull headed Fella Youve ever seen. What happens when we Welcome Change . We can transform our workforce overnight out of convenience, or necessity. We can explore uncharted waters, and not only make new discoveries, but get there faster, with better outcomes. With app, cloud and anywhere workspace solutions, vmware helps companies navigate change meeting them where they are, and getting them where they want to be. Faster. Vmware. Welcome change. Another day, another chance. Make the most of it with the network that can deliver Gig Speeds to the most businesses. And get the advanced Cybersecurity Solutions you need with Comcast Business securityedge. Ask how to get Comcast Business securityedge to help protect all your connected devices. And get started with a great offer on fast and reliable Internet And Voice for just 64. 99 a month. Plus, ask how to get a prepaid card up to 500. Call or go online today to learn more. Comcast business. Powering possibilities. Coronavirus is crushing a corner of rural america. Theyre getting the vaccine can still feel like treason. Now Van Buren the town in Ozarks Cnn visited last fall is seeing another surge. Here is more. This spike is a little shocking. Its really raging here. Everybody is scared. Everybody is coming down with it. Its almost like a plague. I had both shots of the vaccine, and people just acted like it doesnt help. It bothers me sometimes that people act like covid is a big joke. I always want to say, well, why dont you just come right up here to the cemetery and ill show you my Husbands Grave and i can show you its no joke. Over the five days we spent in carter county, missouri, it felt like covid was closing in around us. The Positivity Rate kept climbing and is now 32 . Some people we wanted to interview told us they just been exposed or were too sick to talk. This is a chicken. Hold that in your hand. Reporter we first came in October Of 2020 when covid was starting to surge in rural america. We heard one of the diners we interviewed in had close ffrd covid, we wanted to come back and see what had changed. Many Thought Covid was over but in the past few weeks its raged through town. The Vaccination Rate is very low with only 27 fully vaccinated. The overwhelm ing Majority O our patients admitted to the hospital with clinically severe covid are unvaccinated. I didnt realize how unvaccinated we were. I guess thats my fault. I didnt continue to push as hard as i should have to get people vaccinated because i thought everybody was because the virus and the disease was abating. But i was wrong. It came back like a brush fire. Reporter are you vaccinated . Nope, but i will be. I was pretty skeptical of it until i watched all this happen. Reporter jims wife ruth fought cancer for 12 years but covid killed her in eight years. He says the doctor told her not to take the vaccine because of her chemo. When did your wife die . July 20th. I talked to her up until sunday when she died. She said this is bad. She said, youll need the shot. I think shes right. Reporter last time we came here the debate was over masks. And it had gotten very political. We sit in the Coffee Shop and watch people walk in the door. We look at a mask and we all look at Each Other and we go, democrat. Reporter later that fall, there was a Covid Surge in the area. But the Health Center says this wave is much worse. And Van Buren after two days of school this august about 20 kids tested positive. Five days later, almost a quarter of students were under quarantine. The preschool had to close for two weeks. Come get your food, tyler. People in town were gossiping about who had it and where they got it. They all seen our last story. The last story, well, i count that as Bull Shit myself. Tell me why . I think people here try to take care of Each Other. Coffee shop dont know what theyre talking about and talking about covid. They need to walk through the covid ward. Jim admits some people are pretty set in their views. Good friend of mine, he hasnt had the shot. But everywhere he goes, he goes any place he wears a mask and hes probably one of the best guys i know that youre not going to change anything about him. You maybe ought to interview him. Would he talk to you . Yeah but you wouldnt like what he would tell you. Thats okay. Thats okay. Let me get him on the phone. Hello . Im surrounded. Who are you surrounded by . A bunch of women. Okay. Ill be right there. Hey, theyre going to interview you. Oh, no they aint. Oh, hell ya. Come on. Can i sit down there by you . Why do you not want the vaccine . I aint taking that shit. I aint taking it. I dont like people trying to push a shot on me or something else because im Bull Headed Fella you ever seen. Reporter last Fall Covid put him in the hospital for seven days. I was on everything they had. Steroids, full drip, plasma from people that had covid, drugs that they give and they finally burn it out of them. Reporter whats the difference between the vaccine and the drugs that you did take . Well, i would have took anything. It wouldnt have mattered what it was. Reporter but why would you test the medicine and not the vaccine . Am i going to have to tell her . I dont know. Well, the one thing is they shafted my president. If they would have had the vaccine, already had it. Already had it but they wouldnt give it to him because they knew damn good and well he would be reelected. So they had to swindle down and keep it from him just until the election was over. Here we got it. Shafted me of my president , i aint taking your medicine. Ill take what they give him but im not taking yours. He took the vaccine, though. Well, he might have. I dont know that. I think they give him the regeneron. They did give him that but he did take the vaccine. Later on probably. Yeah. Im not saying he didnt. I dont know that. But thats what pissed me off and i aint taking it because im that bull head. Theres no evidence for waylands theory, but he wasnt alone in his skepticism. Have you thought about getting the vaccine . No way. Oh really, how come . Because i dont want to get sick. And you think the vaccine would make you more sick . Yeah, probably. Made my mom sick. Okay. You mean when she got well, she got the vaccine in february. And she got sick on monday with covid . Yep. Maybe covid. Is she going to get tested . Probably not. Shes just saying home. Oh, okay. Im bringing her groceries and doing whatever i can away from her. Yeah. One of her friends tested positive. And she had been with him, so more than likely. Im really behind. A week and a half be sick. Hey, i had covid. If reporter so, did you have the vaccine . No. Why not . Theres not enough research on it. Im not totally against the shot. If i have to take it and its going to help me in the future and not hurt me, yeah, i may take it. Reporter are you vaccinated . I am not. Reporter And Why Not . I just havent got vaccinated. Reporter okay. I had a lot of people around mes had it. I just havent ever got vaccinated. Around here, Country Folk and its hard to get people to do something they dont understand completely or they dont feel the need to. Reporter but are you in that category . Well, i guess. I wont really get deep with you. I believe if the good lord wants me now, it doesnt matter if i take the vaccine or i dont. A lot of people say, it may be common sense, you ought to get the shot. Thats just the way i look at things. I dont want to ever give anybody an excuse for doing something like not getting vaccinated. But the reasons do hearken to someone who has, you know, been told that theyre a dumb hill billy all their life by the rest of the country. Thats not an excuse, but its part of the reason. I dont know that were oppressed or disenfranchised. I dont know if we deserve to even feel that way here, but we are a flyover state, in a social situation where Peer Pressure is so hard. Weve had a lot of trouble to try to get people vaccinated, to break out of that Peer Group is very hard for people. Reporter has anyone wanted to get vaccinated in secret . Well, um, yeah, absolutely. Reporter tell me what they say. When theyre in my office and they say, i dont want to get vaccinated and this is why, and its usually at the very best, a specious reason or fallacious reason, we can sneak one in your arm. Thats our goal. Its not hard. The hospital said more people in Van Buren got the vaccine after two kids were hospitalized this summer. Last year we talked to brian who was pretty cavalier about covid. I guess if i get it and it kills me, then its slow walking inside singing for the family. Reporter what would you put on your tombstone . Didnt wear a mask. Reporter it took some c convincing, but he agreed to talk to us about whats happened since. No one trusts me. Its not my fault No One is wearing their mask. Its not my fault No Ones taken the vaccine. Its the governments fault. Did you get the vaccine . Doesnt matter whether i got the vaccine or not, whether i did or didnt. They dont care whether who you are. Whether you think youre a big tough guy or whether youre anything. It doesnt matter. Did you get it . It can kill you, end of story. I dont want my wife to have to wonder when they put you in medical induced coma and stick a tube in your throat, is he going to come back out. Thats why i got a vaccine. Reporter ellie reeve, cnn, Van Buren, missouri. That is really weve talked a lot about it, berman, how fear is motivating people, right, that theyre afraid. They see these stories. Theyre afraid. I mean, someone like that has seen a story. Hes seen a wife on television talking about her spouse or a husband talking about their spouse and knowing that perhaps if they had just gotten vaccinated, maybe hearing that warning on the death bed, you know. Thats what jumped out at me from that piece. Theres a lot in there. When ellie was saying there is an increase in vaccinations when two young people ended up hospitalized and severely ill from covid, thats what motivated people to get vaccinated. By the way, there arent many people vaccinated there, 27 . It did increase the rate. Thats the motivator, fear. Not anything thats being said at the leadership level. Yeah, i think theyre seeing people who they identify with, right, telling them they should get a vaccine. People who are in a situation, horrible situation that No One wants to be in, which is losing a Loved One. And they see themselves in that. And they know that it could happen. And with seek the younger people as you mentioned, i think especially you talk about it may be happening to your kids, and thats all betts are off. One last thing in terms of being politicized there. The man who admitted to ellie the reason he was not getting the vaccine is it wasnt approved before the election. He was bitter that it wasnt approved before the election when it might have helped Donald Trump get reelected. It didnt matter to him him that trump got the vaccine. He didnt believe trump got the vaccine. But to hear that, thats not a medical decision, thats a political decision. Case in point that the vaccine has been politicized. Yeah, and i also would say i wonder in a case like that if donald Trump Weve wondered if Donald Trump had come out and been supportive of the vaccine, would it have made a difference for people who support him. Perhaps in the case like that it would have. But instead, he got the vaccine in january and we didnt find out about it later. He did not champion this vaccine that was ushered through during his administration. And now there will be this question, could he have saved lives if he did. Really great report from ellie reeve. So, almost everyone knows where they were almost 20 years ago to the day on september 11. Its what the country and the major figures have been through since then that really No One could have seen coming. John avalon with the reality check. Its been 20 years, roughly a third of americans were either children or not yet born during the attacks of 9 11. But trust me when i say that our nation was briefly ignited in Shock And Grief and resolve. Ands hard as it might be to believe, we even transcended politics for a time. Which is why looking back its kind of surreal to see where weve ended up now. Who would have believed that the taliban, who gave shelter to bin laudin, would be back in control of afghanistan after a 20year war that cost america an estimated 2 trillion, nearly 2,500 u. S. Soldiers lives. Who would have believed that rudy giuliani, man known as americas mayor, would find his reputation in tatters after the attacks he was compared to church hill, lauded as a tower across partisan lines. I was proud to work for him in city hall. 20 years later hes under investigation in an office he once led. His words played a dual impeachment, called for an attack on our capitol. Who would have believed Donald Trump, the man who bragged on 9 11 his building was tallest on the new York Skyline would have attacked the president , banning immigration from several majority immigrations while in a peace agreement. Or the deal would be followed through by the next president , joe biden. Hed been a senator almost 30 years when he did a September 2021 Town Hall with Cross Fire cohosted by young tucker carlson. The onetime Bow Tie Aficionado opposes foreign wars. Back then he was already floating the false idea that iraq had something to do with the attack. Israeli intelligence, terrorism, apparently believes that iraq had a role in this. Thats a view thats currency in washington. A, do you think iraq had a role, and b, does that make iraq the enemy . Big nations cant bluff. We cant miss on this. We cannot go out and cause the coalition that this administration is painstakingly put together, including the arab world, including the islamic world, including our erstwhile former enemies and or possible adversaries in the future. We cant go out there and make a mistake or in a Sense Declare War on every country that has in any way harbored terrorists in the past. Of course, the invasion of iraq is where things really started to go off the rails. America overreached, Moral Authority was compromised and we took our eye off what should have been a singular focus, Stopping Radical Islamist terrorists. Trying instead to remake the middle east. Instead, 9 11 Mastermind Khalid Sheikh mohammed is still in Guantanamo Bay and getting a pretrial hearing this week. Should have been tried in the u. S. Court, preferably New York a long time ago. To Add Insult to injury, this saturday while president s bush, Obama And Biden mark the anniversary of 9 11 memorial, exPresident Trump will be at a fight for aging heavy weights in florida. None of these tragic and ironic twists should stop us from remembering what happened that day. We cannot give in to 9 11 amnesia. That day our nation met the worst of humanity with the best of humanity. The firefighters and Police Officers and passengers on flight 93 set an enduring example of what courage in a democracy looks like. They ran toward danger, to help other people. People they didnt know. They ran into the fire, showing a selfless commitment to the Common Good in a time of crisis. Ive always resisted calling the attacks of 9 11 a tragedy. It was an act of war. Tragedies are selfinflicted. But that brings me to a final sickening twist. Its always been a given that our nation could unite in a time of crisis, but we can no longer take that for granted now. Thats something weve done to ourselves. But its not something we have to accept as inevitable. I still believe that the character of our country has not changed. Thats why we need to learn from history, and honor the examples of the heroes of 9 11 now more than ever, channeling their commitment to the Common Good