inauguration and joe biden is finally set to receive his first presidential daily briefing monday. >> the u.s. now reporting more than 13 million cases of covid-19 since the start of the pandemic and it could spike more in the wake of the thanksgiving gatherings and breaking overnight, l.a. county issuing a new stay-at-home order, placing stricter limits on gatherings, and occupancy at businesses as the cdc advising they're reportedly gathering for an emergency meeting, to discuss who they think should be the first in line to get a vaccine. we do say good morning. it is saturday, november 28th. i'm kendis gibson. >> i'm lindsey riser. hope you had a nice thanksgiving. maybe small wer more leftovers in the fridge but we're happy you're with us and a team of reporters following the latest, the first to washington where president trump appeared to backtrack on the comments he made about plans to leave the white house in january. so on thursday, the president said for the first time he would leave office if the electoral college votes for joe biden. but then he tweeted, biden can only enter the white house as president if he can prove that his ridiculous 80 million votes were not fraudulently or illegally obtained. it is important to note no requirement to prove his votes were legally obtained in order to take office. joining us from washington is nbc's carol lee, so do we expect the president to peacefully leave office come january 20th? >> well, lindsey, the president said himself that if the electoral college next month confirms that joe biden as is widely expect, it would be big news if they didn't, is the next president of the united states, that he will leave the white house. the question is of a concession is a different one and we've been told for weeks the president will never concede in the way we think of an incumbent president who has lost re-election or a presidential candidate who has lost conceding and admitting they lost, the president is not going to do that so we got a little mixed messaging from the president when he took questions on thanksgiving from reporters. take a listen. >> just to be clear, if the electoral college vote fos -- votes for joe biden -- >> if they do, they made a mistake because this election was a fraud. just sow understand, this election was a fraud. >> if the electoral college does elect joe biden, are you not going to leave this building? >> just so, certainly, i will, certainly, i will, and you know that, but i think that there will be a lot of things happening between now and the 20th. >> reporter: now, this was the first time the president has taken questions from reporters in 23 day, the longest stretch of his presidency, the last time we've gotten to ask the president any questions was on election day, when he visited his campaign headquarters, in virginia. and so the questions had built up, and the most pressing one was this issue of whether or not the president is going to admit that he lost. and it got pretty testy. take a listen to that. >> between you people, don't talk to me that way, you're just a lightweight, don't talk to me that way, don't talk, i'm the president of the united states, don't ever talk to the president that way. >> reporter: now, that was jeff mason of reuters long time white house correspondent who is not necessarily a fire-breathing white house correspondent, he's pretty mild-mannered, and was just pressing the question on the issue of the day, which is he going to indeed leave the white house, will he concede, and the president was also asked whether he would attend joe biden's inauguration, as is customary for an outgoing president to attend his successor's inauguration and he says he knows the answer to that but he didn't want to tell us and share that at this time. he was also asked if he would run for re-election, for a new election, for the white house, in 2024, and said that he didn't want to talk about that either. because there's a lot to go in this current election. and as for that, guys, as you mentioned, the president's having setback after setback, his appeals court decision in pennsylvania yesterday, where they just slammed the president's legal team's case, saying there was no merit to this, and it's worth noting that this is a republican panel of judges, including the one who wrote the opinion, was not nominated by president trump. president trump's legal team is pushing back, saying that this was a biased judicial branch, who is against the president somehow, and that they would take this to the supreme court. not clear at all that the supreme court would actually take this case. but the biden team is also pushing back saying look, this election is over and a spokesman issuing a statement saying the president-elect won 306 electoral votes and i will read you part of this, joe biden will be sporn in on january 20th, 2021 and shortly thereafter enter the white house as the duly elected president of the united states. a little pushback from the biden team there. >> as pushback goes, they are very careful with their words but carol lee in washington, thank you for all of that. let's talk a little bit more about the biden team because they have been fairly calm, despite all of the rhetoric that has been coming out of white house. they have been planning for the transition that will take place in 53 days. nbc's ali vitali for us in wilmington, delaware. >> reporter: good morning, lindsey and kendis, overnight the biden campaign responding to a tweet from president trump that alleged that biden had to prove his 80 million votes weren't fraudulent. a baseless claim. but here's what the biden campaign's team is saying, president-elect biden won 306 electoral votes, states continue to certify those results, and the electoral college will soon meet to ratify that outcome. joe biden will be sworn in on january 20, and shortly thereafter, he will enter the white house as the duly-elected president of the united states. looking ahead, biden's transaction continuing forward. he is going to be getting the first of the presidential daily briefings on monday. the same goes for vice president elect kamala harris. that's an outcome of the general services administration ascertaining their win. they can now move forward on both the information front as well as starting to coordinate with all of those key federal agencies on things like the coronavirus pandemic and getting the economy back on track. two things that the biden team has prioritized heavily in the early weeks of this transition. but we're also likely to get more cabinet picks in the early part of next week. we're told that those are going to be related to the economy. although biden hasn't said that it is going to be janet yellen formally yet, sources tell us that she is the likely pick for treasury secretary if she's confirmed the first woman to lead the agency but talk of another key economic post, the national economic council chair likely to be roger ferguson the outgoing ceo of an investment fund and all of these picks are being made with criteria of qualification and diversity of experience in mind, but also of those looming senate confirmation battles, we know the balance of power in the senate is tight right now and all hinges on those races in georgia. donald trump is clear he will be heading to georgia to campaign for the two republican candidates but we're also told that biden will campaign there as well. not sure when that date will be, but likely closer to the election, all eyes are going to be on georgia for some time now, because they control the keys to the senate. guys? >> and ali, that georgia runoff is set for january 5th. ali, joining us from rehobeth beach, delaware, thank you. let's bring in now panelists including republican strategist susan dell perso, and democratic strategist joe payne. welcome to both of you. good morning, guys. thank you for being here on this saturday after the holiday. joe, i want to start with you. as ali mentioned right there, biden will have access to the presidential briefing on monday and how will he sort through the amount of information he is about to obtain after weeks of the trump administration delaying the transition process? >> fortunately, joe biden is the former vice president and he is very familiar with this process, and this will be information that he will be very, very well adjusted to receiving. and understanding how to process. i think what frustrates me is what we just witnessed over the last few segments, which is just a rehash of donald trump having a hissy fit on national tv. he is yelling at reporters. saying things that are ridiculous. and it's just nonsense. i think we should really stop repeating the false things that he is saying. he's saying that he's going to stop joe biden from going to the white house on january 20th. that's not true. he has no control over. that donald trump is powerless. he can't do anything. he has no functional power. and i think it's important for people to understand that. i think that that statement from the biden transition team reflects that. and i do think it would be better if people start to think about this as the end of the donald trump presidency, as opposed to donald trump raging a war against something he can't wage a war against because he's lost the election. in fact he's lost georgia five times. >> susan, certainly to that point, he still has his base, he still has pretty full coffers right now and the daily beast is reporting trump has thought about holding a 2024-related event during the week of biden's inauguration. what do you think about that move? and really how it potentially stuchb stunts the rest of the gop and players who might want to run? >> i want to go back to what joe said, and i agree with the intention of it but president trump is still the president and his word does matter, and what he says is relevant, he's president for another seven week, and he can do a lot of damage in that time. so i think it's really person to remember, he is still the most powerful person in the world for practical purposes. now, when he leaves office, he will not be that person. and he thinks he can rally all of these people, his base, behind him, i don't know how much of that base will go with him. we're going to have to see how he handles himself. because right now, he just looks like a big cry-baby and complainer, and just, you know, like he needs hill list blanky or something, because right now, president trump, he knows he's lost, he's like joe said, he's lost georgia five times, he's lost, he's lost 30 lawsuits, he is the loser. he now has to decide how he is going to go on. personally, i think all of this talk is really out of fear because of lawsuits he faces in new york. >> in the meantime, joe, you have biden, he has also gotten praise for picking cabinet members with more experience compared to many of trump's initial picks, and as you look at that stage of advisers, not a single person there with a last name biden. it ushers in a new era right there, within the west wing, that is coming up. is he expected to continue on that path, or could we see some unforeseen nominees? what are we hearing? >> i think the president-elect is going to pick people who are experts, right, he's not going to pick political patronage picks. i mean look, certainly there are going to be people who are loyal to him politically but there are going to be people who are qualified to do the job that they need to do. people like linda greenfield-thomas. people like antony blinken and we talked about the potential for janet yellen being the first female treasury secretary. these are people who are smart and who are experts in their field. and i think that that is a restoration of something that i certainly experienced in my 15 years in working with government and in washington, d.c., it is people who understand how to do the job and i think that is the mandate joe biden is given, put people in place who can do the job and who are loyal to the constitution ands to the country first, and to him second. >> joel payne, susan del percio, thank you very much for your time on this holiday weekend. we appreciate it. >> thank you. coming up in the next half hour, ali devel, talks to valer jarrett, former senior adviser to president obama about what is next for the transition team. >> big concerns about a covid spike after this holiday weekend. should people returning home from family gatherings quarantine? that's next. ings quarantine that's next. tired of clean clothes that just don't 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 12-weeks. to syour body needs routine. system, centrum helps your immune defenses every day, with vitamin c, d and zinc. season, after season. ace your immune support, with centrum. to help you build a flexible wealth plan. you'll have access to tax-smart investing strategies, and with brokerage accounts online trades are commission free. personalized advice. unmatched value. at fidelity, you can have both. unmatched value. ♪ ♪ since pioneering the suv in 1935, the chevy suburban has carried many things. nothing more important than family. introducing the most versatile and advanced chevy suburban and tahoe ever. tomorrow is expected to be the biggest travel day of the year despite the cdc warnings for people not to travel this holiday weekend, now the concern is those same people won't quarantine once they're back home, which some experts are saying could lead to another huge spike in covid cases. msnbc's corey kaufman is at a hospital in milwaukee, wisconsin, one of the nation's hot spots right now. good morning. there is fear those gatherings that many people had could end up being superspreader events all across the country. >> good morning to you. and one of the biggest problems with this holiday versus the summer holidays is that despite the spreader that could actually be worse, because this is the winter season where more people are gathering indoors and of course, we have more of those holiday parties and such. and travel, that was only down 10% compared to last year. a pre-pandemic year. so that's almost certainly going to add to the spread as well. here in wisconsin, there's currently a five-day downward trend. not sure if that will hold though. health officials will wait and see, because testing has been reduced because of the holiday season. wisconsin is sixth in the nation per capita for covid cases, 301,000 cases right now. and here in milwaukee, where we're at, some 56,000 cases. and it's especially concerning in this area, because covid deaths in milwaukee over the past week have doubled. and now, icu beds are full, nearly 90% in the state of wisconsin, and here at frederick hospital where we're at this, is one of three facilities they have. they reported some 167 covid positive patients including this man, that our affiliates spoke with, to get this story. listen in. >> today, there's no family gathering over a big thanksgiving feast. instead, curt will do a video chat with family and eat whatever meal the hospital serves. not ideal in any way. but curt is still grateful. >> appreciate everyone, because you never know when this thing can get you and change your life. >> reporter: to be able to survive this, certainly thankful this holiday, and another population, i'll call it, that have been severely affected are the elderly, kendis, some 300,000 reported covid deaths in a four-week period, for nursing homes across the state, that is a ten fold increase over the previous month, this is something that the state is going to be battling the rest of this winter. >> so many states are in a similar predicament, texas is running out of icu beds, arizona where you're from is at 90% filled to capacity, with their icu beds, and it's only getting worse. msnbc, in milwaukee, thank you. on an optimistic note, there is some promising news on the vaccine front. several pharmaceutical companies including pfizer, moderna and astrazeneca showing their vaccines have better than expected results but is that enough to satisfy public skepticism. our next guest says once the vaccine is available, don't overthink it, don't wait. the director of the texas children's hospital center for vaccine development, dr. hotez, good morning to you, your ears must have been burning, we invoked your name and your article in the last hour and i want to show the graphic about public skepticism. 42% of americans saying they would not take a vaccine. what is your argument to those people? >> well, remember, there's a reason for the vaccine skepticism, and operation warp speed is a solid program scientifically in terms of the rigor of the studies, and the integrity of the clinical trials but there was never a communication plan, so it was always left to the pharma ceos who did not do a very good job in terms of communications and they have a pretty aggressive anti-vaccine movement so we have a lot to do in catching up in communicates the safety and efficacy of these vaccines. they look really good in terms of what we heard so far, but remember it is only through company press releases, so that's all we really know about these definitive trials for pfizer, moderna and astrazeneca, so this still has to be formally presented to the u.s. food and drug administration, reviewed by committees and what i would say is we still have the most robust testing and safety program for vaccines anywhere in the world so what i've been telling people is, you know, because i will say, doc, what vaccine you are waiting for and i will say look, i'm not waiting, the best way to prevent yourself from going into icu or hospital is, to have virus neutralizing works. and it is how recombinant vaccine proteins work. and don't cherry pick. don't delay. get what you can. because you're going to have limited options in the beginning. and even if it turns out later that better vaccines are coming along, in terms of dure ability, of protection, and other things, so what, you can always get boosted but don't hold off. this is the best way to keep yourself and your family members out of the icu and hospital. >> and you mentioned about the press releases we're getting from these drug companies rit now, a lot of questions about astrazeneca's vaccine. from what you've seen, are you concerned also the fact that they're likely going to start a new trial, although it is not going to be completely a brand new trial? >> i'm a little concerned that we're going to have a delay. what happened there with the pfizer and moderna vaccine it was one large clinical three trial is what it looked like and done really well and astrazeneca, there were multiple trials conducted in brazil and the u.k. and i think south africa and that doesn't bother me so much, but what happened is what they did was they did what's called a meta analysis, they brought different trials that have a slightly different design together in order to come up with those numbers and i don't know that the regulators will be happy enough with that. so i'm sure they're getting guidance from the fda in which case they may require another large phase three trial to confirm the statements in terms of level of protection. so that unfortunately may delay things a bit. but we'll still have other vacs coming along. we have the j & j vaccine. so by the early part of next year, we'll have a fleet of vaccines and we should be pretty excited about that, to help us through this. >> and dr. hotez quickly, you have suggested that the next covid surge will destabilize the economy. can you elaborate on that? >> well, this is the worst public health crisis affecting the country in the last 100 years. we're going to be up over 200,000 new cases a day and the deaths really upset me. i mean we're going to be looking at 3 to 4,000 deaths per day so a week after the inauguration we could be looking at the institute for health metrics at 500,000 americans who lost their live, this will be highly destabilizing for the country in terms of multiple aspects including economy and including homeland security. the new biden team's going to have a very tough job putting back the pieces together, and it's going to be a tough fight. i know we'll do it. i know we'll get our way out of it but this is going to be one of the most unstable times in modern american history. >> dr. hotez you are the person to talk to about these things. thank you for your time. >> thank you. could donald trump be planning a pardoning blitz? we saw coming up this week, we saw as you know, the president's former national security adviser, michael flynn, off the hook and we will speak to a senior member of the house judiciary committee about who might be next. ciary committee a might be next. now, there's sky. ♪ things are getting clearer ♪ yeah i feel free ♪ to bare my skin, yeah that's all me. ♪ ♪ nothing and me go hand in hand ♪ ♪ nothing on my skin that's my new plan. ♪ ♪ nothing is everything. woman: keep your skin clearer with skyrizi. with skyrizi, 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months. of those, nearly 9 out of 10 sustained it through 1 year. and skyrizi is 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. ♪ i see nothing in a different way ♪ ♪ and it's my moment so i just gotta say ♪ ♪ nothing is everything. skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, such as fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches, or coughs or if you plan to or recently received a vaccine. ♪ nothing is everything. woman: now is the time to ask your dermatologist about skyrizi. woman: now is the time to ask your dermatologist did you know prilosec otc can stop frequent heartburn before it begins? prilosec otc uses a unique delayed-release formula that works to turn down acid production, blocking heartburn at the source. with just one pill a day, you get 24-hour heartburn protection. take the prilosec otc two-week challenge. and see the difference for yourself. prilosec otc, 1 pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. if you have postmenopausal and a high risk for fracture, now might not be the best time to ask yourself, 'are my bones strong?' life is full of make or break moments. that's why it's so important to help reduce your risk of fracture with prolia®. only prolia® is proven to help strengthen and protect bones from fracture with 1 shot every 6 months. do not take prolia® if you have low blood calcium, are pregnant, are allergic to it, or take xgeva®. serious allergic reactions like low blood pressure, trouble breathing, throat tightness, face, lip or tongue swelling, rash, itching or hives have happened. tell your doctor about dental problems, as severe jaw bone problems may happen. or new or unusual pain in your hip, groin, or thigh, as unusual thigh bone fractures have occurred. speak to your doctor before stopping, skipping or delaying prolia®, as spine and other bone fractures have occurred. prolia® can cause serious side effects, like low blood calcium, serious infections, which could need hospitalization, skin problems, and severe bone, joint, or muscle pain. don't wait for a break, call your doctor today, and ask about prolia®. president-elect joe biden will start getting daily briefings monday and when donald trump leaves office, he can request access to classified information, as other ex-presidents have done. but some intelligence officials are questioning the security risks. if this practice continues. nbc's ken -- >> there is a long tradition of former presidents being afforded the courtesy of intelligence briefings sometimes about before they travel overseas and sometimes when the current president wants to consult them on a particular national security matter. current and former u.s. intelligence officials are telling nbc news that they don't believe that joe biden should grant that curt courtesy to donald trump. they say donald trump is a security risk and what he knows about america's security secrets is bad enough and the biden administration should not grant him access to further classified information and two arguments, one they said we never had a former president who had the kind of international business entanglements that donald trump has, the trump organization does business and has pending deals in russia and china, two adversary nations that badly would like to know american national security secrets, and we know from the "new york times" reporting, that trump has some $400 million in debt that he is personally guaranteed, much of which is controlled by foreign banks. so somebody like that normally would not be granted a top secret security clearance. that would rule him out. but of course, presidents don't get clearances. they just are handed the keys to the classified kingdom, when they're elected, and when they leave office though, it is entirely up to the current president, whether they get any further classified information so it will be up to joe biden in this case. the other issue of course, for donald trump, is that he has a history of being careless and cavalier with classified information. so even if you believe that he would not sell secrets or intentionally provide secrets to russia or china, or some other government, he has a history of just being indiscrete. for example, he disclosed highly sensitive terrorism intelligence to the russian foreign minister and the russian ambassador in the oval office back in 2017. just this year, he told the journalist bob woodward about a secret nuclear capability that had never been disclosed that the defense department later confirmed and said they were shocked that donald trump talked about it. so intelligence officials are really worried about giving donald trump any further access to classified information and they're calling for biden to deny any of these briefings. and it is not even clear that trump will want the briefings because he didn't pay much attention to the intelligence briefings while president and didn't have a lot of love for the cia so this may go quietly away but if it doesn't, if trump demands briefings then president biden would have a tough decision to make. back to you. >> thanks, for laying it all out for us. joining me is a democratic congressman, steve cohen, of tennessee, and he sits on the house judiciary committee, and congressman, thank you for being here. good morning to you. >> good morning. nice to be with you. >> you hear the concept of former president donald trump getting intelligence briefings. what goes through your mind when you hear that? >> the first thing is, it's joyous to hear the words former president, and the second thing is connecting trump with intelligence is an oxymoron. but to your question, i don't think he should get the briefings. i think that your previous interview was right on point. he has at worst a propensity to use everything to his advantage and he wants to share what he has to impress people but he uses it to his advantage and in the future will be $450 million debt that he is stairing in the face. -- staring in the face. and that's the worst. and in the best light, he's careless. and not concerned with the parameters of the secure information in trying to keep it to the united states as a benefit. so i don't think president biden will have a difficult decision. i think it is a sim decision. his job is to protect the united states of america and that would be not to share information that could put the united states in jeopardy. trump will do all he can to hurt biden and to question biden and every action he takes, and if trump has classified briefings and something comes up for foreign policy, he will second-guess him and he will use that knowledge to really hurt the united states, and to hurt joe biden. >> if you were the president-elect or president biden in 53 days, you would say do not give this former president these intelligence briefings, this information. >> i don't see any reason why the former president should have them. there is talk about going overseas. but he's not going to meet with the government officials who are our friends. he's made a history, in his four years, of disturbing our friendships and embracing authoritarian leaders like kim jong-un and putin and erdogan, and the same with the president of hungary and lukashenko, if given the chance he will, and he will not be one who will share with allies, information that is important, except for him and i would say definitely nix it. >> and congressman, way nt to get your take on the situation in the middle east and i think a lot is happening and i saw the secret meeting between netanyahu and then something is up, an five days later we have the assassination that took place and we have suggestions that the u.s. and israel may have collaborated on the assassination that took place near tehran. do you look at the situation that is going on there? and what's your interpretation of what exactly happened? >> well, i don't doubt that that could happen. israel has got a target on its back with the iranian, and these are weapons that are meant for israel. that's what they're meant for. bob dylan had a song called neighborhood bully, and it said, you know, the tough neighborhood, and you got a right to be tough, because the missiles are meant for you, at the time talking about iraq, but israel probably did engage in that situation, and probably involved in another figure in iran, and another nuclear scientist who had been killed over the years and that probably meant certainly a path, and i think some of it has to do with our appreciation of israel, that's good and understandable, but a lot of it, there's where the money is, show me the money, there's a movie, show me the money, and the money will either support in israel and enable them, and mbs and others in the middle east, and president trump and kushner getting their money and i think they have debts there and they want to go there for money for to help in the future. so i think a lot of it deals with trump's national finances and not our national security or national interest. everything comes back to pocketbook. >> everything he says comes back to the pocketbook. congressman, representing tennessee's ninth district, the greater memphis area. appreciate your time. it has been a week since the national guard was called in to help el paso officials deal with a frightens spike in covid cases. we'll talk with the county commissioner about where things stand and some of the challenges they still face. challenges they still face. ♪ ♪ you're all, you're all i need ♪ ♪ you're all, you're all i need ♪ ♪ as long as i got you then baby ♪ ♪ you know that you've got me, oh! yea...♪ ♪ finding the right words can be tough.n it comes to autism, finding understanding doesn't have to be. we can create a kinder, more inclusive world for the millions of people on the autism spectrum. go to autismspeaks.org. ♪ ♪ smooth driving pays off with allstate, the safer you drive the more you save you never been in better hands allstate click or call for a quote today ♪ ♪ working, parenting, problem solving. ♪ at new chapter vitamins we've been busy too... innovating, sourcing organic ingredients, testing them and fermenting. fermenting? yeah like kombucha or yogurt. and we formulate everything so your body can really truly absorb the natural goodness. that's what we do, so you can do you. new chapter wellness, well done. narrator: upgrade your protectin this holiday season... why?! ahhhh! incoming! ahhhahh! i'm saved! water tastes like, water. so we fixed it. mio. . some of the top headlines we're following, in sacramento, one person is dead and another in the hospital in critical condition after a shooting at a mall. police confirmed it was an isolated incident and not the result of an active shooter. and we're taking a look at tony hsieh, the former ceo of the popular clothing and shoe brand zappos and we learned that he died at the age of 46, he passed away from injuries that he sustained during a house fire, while visiting family in connecticut. he recently retired after 20 years with the online shoe and clothing retailer. zappos is worth $1.2 billion. >> a lot of messages on twitter show how beloved he is. in sports, the nfl rescheduling the thanksgiving matchup for a sec time due to a covid outbreak. the game between the baltimore ravens and the pittsburgh steelers originally planned for thanksgiving day has been moved to tuesday. after originally being postponed to tomorrow. at this pace, it will be a christmas matchup for those teams. the appalachian region has already been hit hard by koiv, and now seeing some of the highest rates of the virus yet. the region is struggling with high unemployment and a grim economic outlook, making the fight all the more difficult. joining us in johnson city tennessee, msnbc dasha burns. good morning. what you can tell us about the situation there? >> reporter: hey, lindsey, good morning, i'm at johnson city medical center, the largest hospital in this area part of valid hospital systems, and the only hospital provider for this part of appalachia, and in the last month, they have seen hospitalizations more than double here. and they've seen 15% of all deaths since the pandemic began, 15%, in just the last week. that means in this building behind me, just about every day, health care workers are having to call funeral homes and that is taking a major toll on the staff here, and to talk a little bit more about that, i have one of those front line workers here with me, this is dakota walker, and dakota, how often are you having to make those calls? >> definitely, it's not uncommon that one to three times a shift, that i have to call families, and let them know that their family has passed and call the funeral homes. >> one to three times in a single shift. you're just beginning your day today. >> yes. >> so that means you could see that during your shift today. >> yes. >> and what is that like and what are you seeing behind those doors every day? >> it's definitely hard. and what we see is folks come in, and it is a nasal cannula, and then progress to a higher level and then eventually on the ventilator and it isn't uncommon a couple of days later they're passing away so we're seeing this rapid deterioration of health. >> and people are coming into the hospital already in pretty bad shape. what does that mean for you and for their potential outcomes? >> i think folks wait on the positive result before coming to the hospital and i would encourage, if you have shortness of breath or feel terrible in general, come to the hospital before it is too late. >> dakota, thank you so much for all do you every single day and at this point, lindsey, there are more people coming into this hospital coming into the hospital every single day than come out which is a concern for capacity and bed space and concern for staff who themselves are getting sick now about. 250 staff members in this region are currently out with covid, which means resources are tight and they are concerned about what's coming in the next couple of weeks here. lindsey? >> we echo your thanks to dakota for all that they're doing. appreciate it. >> over to el paso, texas, right now, one of the hardest hit areas in recent week, the county with the population just over 800,000, recorded 919 covid-related deaths, among the highest fatality rates in this country. and it's pushing funeral home capacity over the brink. so much so, the national guard had to step in to help. >> joining us now, dave stout, el paso county commissioner, good morning to you. commissioner, it's been a week now since the national guard was deployed. how are things going? what are the biggest challenges? >> thanks for having me. good to see you. we are using the national guard to help us set up an alternative site, at a warehouse, where we are going to have space for 11 or 12 docking bays so we can can pull up those refrigerated mobile wards to make it easier to load and unload the bodies and building out a refrigerated space within that warehouse to hold more capacity. the medical examiner's office right now is at capacity. i believe we're using at least nine of the 11 mobile morgues that we have on hand right now. >> and commissioner, the numbers are so staggering right now. they bear repeating right now. more than 900 people have died from covid-19 in el paso county, more than 84,000 cases, and i have lived iel paso, in fact, i alongside you, you were a reporter in the field as well and we both know that el paso is a tight close-knit family ownered society, do you get a sense that that culture, that multigenerational family connection is driving these numbers? >> well, i think that you're seeing an uptick in cases all over the country, it's not just here in el paso, unfortunately, if you look at the social determinants of health, you know, for the folks that live in this area, it's disproportionately negatively affected folks here, unfortunately, and that's why we see the high rate of death and you know, that 900, over 900 cases are the reported cases but there are also about 540 deaths that are still under investigation that i'm sure the vast majority will end up being attributed to covid. so it's in the community and i'm glad we're starting to see a downtick in the number of cases. these deaths are attributable to cases that, where people caught the disease probably three or four weeks ago, and so, you know, we're still not out of it, because about four weeks ago, three, four weeks ago, is when we started to see the very large surge in the number of cases, but hopefully, in the beginning of january, once we get up into the new year, we'll start to see that death toll going down. >> and you guys did implement a curfew that went into effect, thanksgiving eve, and it is set to run out on monday. should it be extended? >> i believe we should be doing everything that we possibly can to keep this in control. you know, i supported the judge when he did his shutdown a number of weeks ago, and it seems to me that is bearing out, the success of that is bearing out in the number of cases we're seeing now, so yes, i think that a curfew definitely works. >> david, still a lot of pain right now in el paso. please take care. >> thank you very much. many people spent the thanksgiving day holiday alone. and may have to do this the same time, the same thing, for christmas. how it's caused an increase in anxiety and depression, and what you can do to cope with this holiday season. on [ engine rumbling ] ♪ [ beeping ] [ engine revs ] ♪ uh, you know there's a 30-minute limit, right? tell that to the rain. [ beeping ] for those who were born to ride, there's progressive. -well, audrey's expecting... -twins! grandparents! we want to put money aside for them, so...change in plans. alright, let's see what we can adjust. ♪ we'd be closer to the twins. change in plans. okay. mom, are you painting again? you could sell these. lemme guess, change in plans? at fidelity, a change in plans is always part of the plan. .. ♪ sofi made it so easy to pay off my student loan debt. ♪ they were able to give me a personal loan so i could pay off all of my credit cards. i got my mortgage through sofi and the whole process was so easy. ♪ choosing sofi was literally one of the best decisions i could have ever made because it gave me peace of mind. ♪ welcome to a bebetter way to live. ♪ welcome to my house we have one house rule here. we don't go past the wall. wanna jump it? -yeah! [ screaming ] duh, duh, duh! what's on the other side of the wall? [ screaming ] the only way to survive is if the pack stays together. that's my girl. boom! kill circle. [ gasps ] hey everyone you'll never guess what i found? sorry. never apologize for an effective kill circle. the winter holiday season is notorious for increased anxiety, depression, loneliness but as the pandemic rages on and people are forced to spend the holidays alone, mental health experts are warning this year could be worse than ever. >> dr. victoria noh is the director of the city university of new york center for innovation and mental health. doctor, thank you for being here. >> thank you for having me. >> a lot of people had to rearrange their holiday plans. are people feeling more pessimistic as we go into these winter months? >> especially this year given everything that we've been through and the world is upside down. alongside the surge in the coronavirus, we have the greatest unemployment since the great depression so that combined with -- >> see you thought that -- >> oh. can you hear me now? >> we can hear you. it's a little frozen. but i have missed seeing "frozen" on broadway so it's good to see it happen here. let's give you one more shot, doctor. >> i was just saying with the coronavirus this year, it's just turning the world upside down and alongside that, a number of other stressors, unemployment, grief and loss, tremendous loss and so i think all of that combined together made it especially hard this year. with the virus, normally with a crisis like this we tend to rely on one another and want to connect and we can't do that because the public health intervention requires people to be physical lly distant and tha is what we need to take care of our mental health. >> doctor, what can we do for ourselves and loved ones who might have to be isolated, grandparents, what can we do for ourselves and family members? >> finding more creative ways to connect is important so i think for many of us we turn to zoom and other virtual texs but doing that and playing games, finding other ways of connecting and making sure you reach out to those isolated, those who have lost, at higher risk like health care workers, essential workers, people you know who live alone i think is important and basic things, recognizing the things you have and expressing gratitude to the people around you and the people you love, it's really important and in many ways returning to the basics i think is what many of us are doing this year. >> dr. noh, that is great advice. thank you for your time. if you or someone you know is strugg strugg struggle, please contact the help line on your screen 1-8001-800- 1-800-662-help, it's in spanish and english. >> importantly we're in a texting era so you can text your issues. a lot of people don't feel like having that face-to-face conversation with folks nowadays. >> it's hard to talk about it sometimes. >> exactly. you can text your feelings over. we to thank you for watching. appreciate it. i'm ken disgibson. >> we'll be back here tomorrow at 6:00 a.m. coming up ali velshi speaks with valerie jarrett on "the road is head for president-elect biden." "velshi" starts next. bring outdoor grilling flavors indoors with the grill that grills for you. dcoughing's not new.. this woman coughs... and that guy does, too. people cough in the country, at sea, and downtown. but don't worry, julie... robitussin shuts coughs down. a son once returned home from afar and gave to his father a gift. it wasn't a thing of great meaning but a thing of quality and purpose. this gift was used well. over 40 years this thing of quality of purpose. became a thing of the heart. a thing of a son. but some things are too serious to be ignored. if you still have symptoms of crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis even after trying other medications, it may be a sign of damaging inflammation, which left untreated, could get much worse. please make an appointment to see your gastroenterologist right away. or connect with them online. once you do, seeing the doctor is one less thing to worry about. need help finding a doctor? head to crohnsandcolitis.com need help finding a doctor? oh, i will rescue you but you can work out anything wowith comcast business.w. get fast, reliable, and secure internet on the nation's largest gig speed network. flexible tools - like wi-fi you control. voice solutions that connect you from anywhere. and expert advice here, here, or even here. be fast. be flexible. bounce forward with comcast business. get started with a powerful internet and voice solution for just $64.90 a month. plus, for a limited time, ask how to get a $500 prepaid card when you upgrade. switch today. good morning. it is saturday, november 28th. i'm ali velshi. we are 53 days out from president-elect joe biden's inauguration. the general services administration has certified joe biden's victory, the outgoing president has not conceded but claims he will leave office while also claiming that he won't. i hope you and your family had a healthy and safe thanksgiving holiday as the covid-19 pandemic continues out of control across the country, growing at rates seemingly unfathomable back in the spring. this chart shows when the united states hit the million case milestone, showing how fast case counts are