Should be seeing the authorization of this first vaccine. We will work with pfizer to get that shipped out, and so we could be seeing people getting vaccinated monday, tuesday of next week. Its an historic moment, no doubt, and an important scientific victory for millions of suffering americans, and it collides once again today with Donald Trumps desperation, it would appear, for political victory. A crush of new reporting out just this afternoon, including from axios and the Washington Post say that donald trump and his Chief Of Staff have signaled to fda chief stephen hahn that his job is on the line if he doesnt get the vaccine approved by the end of the day today. A rush that is unlikely to make a meaningful difference in when the vaccine makes it to everyday americans. The Washington Post adds this. Quote, the warning led the fda to accelerate its timetable for clearing americas first vaccine from saturday morning to later friday. Dr. Hahn denied the report in a statement to nbc news. Quote, this is an untrue representation of the phone call with the Chief Of Staff. The fda was encouraged to continue working expeditiously on pfizers request. The fda is committed to issuing this authorization quickly as we noted in our statement this morning. The white house telling nbc news, quote, we dont comment on private conversations. But mark meadows regularly requests updates on progress toward a vaccine. The reports follow a pair of tweets from the president this morning, his first acknowledgement of any sort of the virus since wednesday, first lashing out at the fda for not getting a vaccine out even sooner, complete with a misspelled swear word, it would appear. And then a demand that he get credit for the vaccine. Credit is where donald trump has focused almost all of his public attention when it comes to the coronavirus despite another new singleday death record. Surpassing the already unfathomable record from the day before, 3,110 souls lost yesterday. That staggering reality as the president lashes out at the agency that could bring this yearlong Global Nightmare to its end is where we start today with some of our favorite reporters and friends. Former White House Health policy director under president obama and practicing physician dr. Kavita patel is back. Also joining us, White House Reporter for the l. A. Times, e eli stokols is here. And president of the National Action network, our friend the reverend al sharpton is here. Dr. Patel, first take us inside where the approval of the vaccine stands and how quickly after approval is granted, which seems to be the trajectory were on, could be the vaccine start to be administered . Yeah, nicolle, great question. By the way, its one that hospitals around the country are anxiously awaiting for. But whats happening right now is the fda staff is trying to craft the very careful language for the emergency authorization. Remember, this is not a full approval, but at least kind of a temporary permit for a very specific use, and it will be that specific, nicolle, and they are likely to even include some warnings about people who have had a history of allergies to vaccines, et cetera. That will happen maybe by tonight as weve already heard, and then literally that moment, pfizer will begin kind of the, you know, beginning of the distribution. At the same time there is already kind of a set of thirdparty distributors ready with kits, with gloves and other supplies like needles, and hospitals have already been made aware whether they will be in that first batch to get the vaccine. So we could, as Secretary Azar mentioned we could start to see that happen this weekend. Pfizer has been waiting, and hospitals have been doing Practice Drills for days now to make sure that no Vaccine Doses are wasted whatsoever. I think the other thing thats happening just for people to understand is this weekend the Advisory Committee for the cdc, different than the fda and separate from its actions, will also be making some recommendations for doctors such as myself about who should receive the vaccine and within how many days, et cetera. So there is a lot going on for a weekend, and im really looking forward to coming back next week and saying, the first shots have been given, especially when we see that death toll, nicollnico. It weighs heavily on our minds. I want to turn to that. I have one more question, though, about this first wave of vaccinations. Do the two doses get earmarked for an individual patient . So a hospital gets sent not just the first round but both of them so that we know vaccination will be complete . Yeah. Great question. I can tell youve been studying on how these doses are complex in the delivery. This first wave will be the first doses. I think the smart thing that Operation Warp Speed did is they actually reserved the second half of doses so that we wouldnt have a situation where i, for example, got the first vaccine but we didnt have enough doses for me to get my second shot. So what is getting shipped is just that first part, and thats really because its a logistical nightmare of epic proportions, and they want to make sure they get the first doses out as quickly as possible. And ill tell you, nursing home residents are the target demographic. Weve had about since pfizer released their data on november 19th, weve had approximately 170,000 nursing home patients get diagnosed with covid with 20 of them dying. So this is incredibly tangible and real today and now. Oh, you just gave me the feels for anyone with a loved one in a nursing home. Help is literally on the way. Eli, i want to bring you in on this reporting about the white house and their involvement and their threat. This is a white house that every day since election day has taken a pass on engaging in the Policy Process and engaging with the public, frightened and more battered by the virus than at any point since it arrived. This reporting is one of those trump stories that isnt surprising but is still shocking, that while were on the cusp of approval for a vaccine and all the folks like dr. Patel and scientists have said one of the greatest hurdles will be stripping away the politics that have pervaded the debate in this country for the last ten months, stripping that away from the vaccine and the Vaccination Process so that people are willing to get vaccinated. What was your reaction when you saw the reporting about the white house threatening dr. Hahn with his job if its not approved by the end of the day . Well, the usual reaction, nicolle, the face palm. Its the usual stuff from this president who, you know, right here at the finish line has to inject more politics into this just as he has all throughout this pandemic, whether it was pushing the fda On Hydroxychloroquine or whether it was about politicizing masks and state governments and cities and counties, you know, implementing decisions to keep things closed. Hes injected politics throughout this, and now hes doing it again here at the end in terms of the vaccine and undermining potentially the publics confidence in a vaccine that has gone through a long scientific process. And yet, you know, people who Tune In Today and see this may ask themselves, did this get all the way to the end . Is this safe, or was it fasttracked before, you know, all the ts were crossed and the is were dotted by the fda because the president wanted it to be pushed out a day earlier . I mean hes putting this pressure on the fda, and for what . Were talking about the fda scheduled to get this thing authorized tomorrow. Now the president making it clear that he wants it today. Its an insignificant difference, and it just is happening because this is a guy who demands to be the protagonist in every scene of the story, who demands credit. He doesnt want to give credit to the scientist whos have developed these vaccines. He wants the credit for himself. We see this in all of his public tweets, and were seeing it in the reporting about this private conversation that obviously isnt that private anymore. This story was first reported by the Washington Post, has been confirmed by countless other outlets. That tells you, one, its likely true, and, two, somebody, the white house, wants it out there because the president wants to be seen as the one whos pushing this out there, who is getting americans vaccinated more quickly. And its consistent with the behavior that weve seen from this president for four years, nicolle. His thirst for credit, for affirmation, for attention. That thirst is unquenchable. It continues, and its injecting more politics into the distribution of this vaccine toward the end of his presidency. You know, rev, i will take elis analysis of this insatiable desire for credit, but it has to be held up against a pathological refusal to acknowledge the loss of life that dr. Patel referenced and that we mentioned at the top of the hour. I mean more than 3,000 people have died in this country from covid over the last two days. Were Setting Records for the casualties, having a mass casualty event every day in this country, and theyre among the deadliest in our countrys history. More people died the last two days than died in the attack of pearl harbor and in the attacks of 9 11. But the president is so pathologically or i dont even know the right word, but incapable of tapping into that or even acknowledging it, but is running this very hamfisted i guess elis theory is a strategic leak that hes the one bullying the fda into approving this tonight instead of tomorrow. We must really make sure we dont normalize this kind of bizarre insensitive behavior by the president. Were talking about over 3,000 americans dying a day. Donald trump and i both lived in new york during 9 11, and we saw that many die in one day and how numbing that was and how a whole city and a whole nation, the whole world was numb. He is acting like 3,000 people dying a die is a nonissue, a day. And we must not let him bring us to a position where we think that is normal. To reduce it for him to tweet give donald trump credit, credit for what . Not listening to the experts in january where you could have avoided a lot of this . Well give you credit for being incompetent and for, in many ways, leading to the disaster and catastrophe were dealing with now. It is so insensitive and arrogant in its insensitivity that it is absolutely unthinkable that the man who could have avoided this and could have warned us and not misled us, that said its going to be 15 people and it will go away and it didnt, now wants to get credit for trying to deal with something that has gone and escalated to the point of 3,000 people a day . The man who told us to put bleach in our arms . He wants us to give him credit . I think that we need to really focus on trying to solve the situation and bring it down because our loved ones are dying while this man in the white house is running around trying to take credit for something that he should have done his job and we would not be at this point. Ill give him credit for one of the biggest disasters in human history. I mean, dr. Patel, the facts bear out what the rev has saying. Hes been at odds with the scientists, most publicly dr. Fauci, but News Reporting from eli and other reporters on the white house beat have suggested that dr. Birx has been ostracized as well for hewing to the data. So it is an interesting moment to want to be associated with this scientific feat. But i want to pull in the reality of where we are right now and something that you said. You said this on this show, and i tried to put this into practice in my own life. Its harsh, you but its a good way to protect your family, and i want to come back to it. You said, we have to act like everyone we come into contact with has covid, and we are going to have to make the kind of sacrifices beyond what we were asked to make in march and april. Its going to get worse unless were willing to make severe restrictions of our own movement. Im not just saying cancel your air tickets. Im talking about not having people over or going to someones house for christmas and hanukkah. I want to unpack all this. But act like everyone you come in contact with has covid. The first time you said that, it was really jarring. But it just changes the distance you keep around yourself, having your child wear a mask, you know, even when you go to the park in case you might run into someone. Because if youre thinking because of the way its circulating in all of our states and all of our communities, its certainly possible that someone doesnt know they have covid. So protect yourself as though they do. But talk about just the mind shift thats required to lift that way. Yeah. Its an incredible mind shift. Ive had to do it myself, and its heartbreaking to tell your children that they cant have a play date. Its incredibly isolating, and so ive also tried to be mindful that even when im trying to avoid others, and i also am trying to find a way to meaningfully connect with other people because the fatigue is real. The depression is real. So we have to just substitute what normally would happen in an embrace or in kind of having a smile because you cant see it under a mask as easily, you have to find ways to do it differently. And that can come in a number of forms. But be clear. I mean youre right, dr. Birx has been silent. Ill give dr. Redfield credit. He said we are going to continue to see deaths that equal kind of mass catastrophes every single day. So you have to really act like your life depends on it. And im hoping that people will take that to heart going into the Holiday Season. And we didnt have to be here. The reverend is right. We did not have to be at the stage we are at, but it is where we are at, and we have to do Everything Possible to protect ourselves and our loved ones. If any of you know people who are planning on inviting or visiting people that are at higher risk from dying from covid of a certain age, chronic conditions, people who live in nursing homes, try to find ways to meaningfully engage with them without getting them into highrisk situations. We have to decrease our contacts, and i would say anything over the next several weeks that you were planning to do that involved going to a restaurant, going someplace even to have a cup of coffee, just think about your movements and how you can minimize interactions but still support small businesses, still support the restaurants that need financial support, and do Everything Possible to protect the ones you love. I mean can i ask you just bluntly, like for how long . I mean for how long do you think we have to live like that . Yeah, its i do think that until we start to see the numbers come down, and then even past that. Unfortunately we are not going to have enough of the population vaccinated until probably im being a little more cautious in my estimate, and im trying to say that we might get to 70 of the population getting vaccine or having been infected by the summer, kind of may june timeframe. So, nicolle, the world as we know it, until that time, at least through the holidays and this darkest period of kind of january, we are going to have to act like this because of the numbers, because of the threat of hospitalization. And then i do hope that after january and we will see Tens Of Millions of people having had the vaccines already in their first doses, and then we will understand how we can get out of this, and you and i can talk in months about having been vaccinated, still Wearing Masks but then in a year, i am looking forward to having a Holiday Season where i hug everybody i know as tight as possible, and i do think thats within reach. I do. Gives me a lump in my throat. Eli, dr. Patel made an important point, important for all of us to keep in mind. It didnt have to be this way. Let me show you some of Donald TrumpsGreatest Hits at Contribu Contradicting the scientists and experts. A lot of people dont want to wear masks. A lot of people think the masks arent good. Who are those people . Ill tell you who those people are. Waiters. Im not going to comment directly about the president , but i am going to comment as the cdc director that face masks, these face masks, are the most important powerful Public Health tool we have, and i will continue to appeal for all americans, all individuals in our country, to embrace these face coverings. We have Clear Scientific evidence they work, and they are our best defense. I might even go so far as to say that this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against covid than when i take a covid vaccine. So, eli, imagine for a second close your eyes if you have to having a president that isnt constantly undermining and contradicting and putting out through his bullhorn, which far exceeds the bullhorns of the head of the cdc or fauci or birx or anybody else, contradictory information. I mean were about to have a president who agrees with that statement, that masks are the single most effective Public Health tool weve got right now. Right. You dont have to work too hard to imagine that because you can just rewind an hour to joe biden onstage in wilmington, and he unlike donald trump was talking about the catastrophic death toll. His words were we are in the teeth of this crisis right now. He is delivering a sober message to the country that its going to be a long few months until maybe were through the worst of this. And it just is so so clear of a contrast from what weve heard from President Trump. So, yes, that will be the new reality of the presidency come january 20th. But biden you know, all those statements that the president made going back to january and february when he said, oh, its just going to disappear, and all the sort of hedging about masks and all the criticism of democratic officials and people who wanted to keep the eco