Transcripts For MSNBCW Deadline White House 20201203

Theyll be celebrating at home. In the last few minutes californias governor issued new region by region stayathome orders and limits on nonessential travel in that state because of concerns that icus in many regions are nearing capacity. The bottom line is, if dont act now, our Hospital System will be overwhelmed. If we dont act now, well continue to see our death rate climb. More lives lost. Today we are pursuant to the blueprint we put out some 14 or so weaks ago pulling that emergency brake. Weve done it over the last number of weeks, but were doing in a much more broad, comprehensive way today. Were introducing a regional stayathome order in the state of california predicated on the need to stop gathering with people outside your household. Do what you can to keep most of your activities outside and of course always most important intervention, wear a mask. California reported more than 18,000 new coronavirus cases yesterday and more than 100 deaths. Across the United States nearly 2,800 deaths as weve been reported were reported yesterday bringing this countrys total number of infections over 14 million. Nbc news reporting that the ambulance system nationwide has reached its breaking point according to a letter from the American Ambulance association obtained by nbc raising concerns the situations has gotten so out of control that if your loved one has an emergency were almost at the point where no one might be able to come help you when you dial 911. Despite all that suffering, the white house and state department are planning holiday parties, dozens of them, indoor holiday parties without mask mandates. The types of gatherings that sparked new level of exacerbation from dr. Fauci today. Please realize this is real. This is not fake. This is not a hoax. This is real. The numbers that you said are real numbers. Literally every day another record is broken. The thing thats so frustrating is we can do something about that to blunt it. When you see on tv or in the newspapers people gathering indoors in congregate settings without masks, you have to say to yourself what is going on here . What are they not seeing . It goes beyond trumps refusal to lead by example or even echo the guidance that dr. Fauci says will save lives. As the country endures the worst hours yet, the president of the United States is consumed once again with his president ial election loss. Yesterday, the same day that nearly 2,800 american citizens lost their lives, he was busy. He was delivering a speak witho speech. It was so filled with conspiracy theories and lies. Phil rucker of the Washington Post described it as standing behind the president ial lecturn and flanked by the flags of his office trump tried to leverage the power of the presidency to subvert the vote and overturn the Election Results. The rambling monologue which trump said may be the most important speech ive ever made and delivered direct to camera underscored his desperation to subvert the outcome of his election loss. This is where we start today with some of our most favorite reporters. Msnbc medical contributor doctor is here, medical director of the special pathogen unit at the boston medical centers. Eddie glod and White House Reporter Ashley Parker. Ashley, im dying to know if theres anyone, anyone in the west wing who is still tracking and trying to do something to keep americans dying from the coronavirus. Reporter its a good question. We learned after the election the president abdicated almost all of his responsibilities and a lot of the senior officials and aides are not coming into the west wing to work because ive been told its a depressing place and theyre concerned about the safety of the environment there and getting coronavirus. One group that has continued to meet, even after the election, is this sub group of the task force. Its one that Jared Kushner organized a while back. It con sisists of him, dr. Birxd a few other people. These are operational you know, whack a mole meetings to deal with the immediate problems. What are they doing . Reporter again, the way it was described to me is its very much trying to figure out heres the problem, what do we do about it . When youre lacking the buyin of the president , when youre lacking the rigorous task force that had been stood up several months ago, its not the effective whole of government approa approach. Eddie glod, i dare any one of them to walk up to a microphone and say we grieve when 2,800 of our fellow americans die. Weve never lost that many people in one day without it being marked without a moment of silence, a national prayer. What is the country to do if we have no a president and a white house that is literally awol . To answer your question directly we have to confront the reality that our society is broken. These fat cat politicians, nicolle, are actually reflections of how deeply broken we are. Part of what i mean is that it seems as if the moral and social contract has been shredded. Our responsibility to each other, our care and concern for each other, the way we have fellow feeling, a sense of mutuality has been thrown out the window. These folks in the white house represent that. Let me say this quickly, death was the occasion for the founding of this country. What do i mean . The carnage of the civil war gave birth to the modern u. S. Nation. That unimaginable death gave birth to what we take to be the United States of america and how weve grappled with it. In this case death reveals how broken we are. It seems to me it also reveal that is rour leadership reflect that. Dr. Bedilia, it has fallen to Health Care Workers to mark the deaths of all 2,800 americans who died yesterday. I wonder how the field handles that burden alone. I mean, i spoke to Washington Post reporter who was embedded in the mayo clinic Hospital System in wisconsin and nurses would come in and come off shifts and literally sit with Covid Patients taking their last breath. How does that exist in a country so paralyzed with political divisiveness . How do we support them if we dont agree this is happening and it shouldnt be . Nicolle, it is what weve felt is a dual burden in this pandemic as Health Care Workers watching the tragedy play out and leaving the doors of our hospitals to find people who continuously think we have ulterior motives, that were lying, that this is a hoax. Over 2,800. When we walk away from this, well discover the real toll of covid pandemic is larger than that. Its not just people who died of covid, but people who died because of covid. We have 100,000 people hospitalized. When you look at the data, 15 of people are in the hospitals because of covid. One in seven americans have covid. Theyre taking those beds from other people who need them. People dont stop having babies. They dont stop having strokes or heart attacks. Health care workers cant do it alone. We cant do it in the setting where politicians like the president who goes out and attacks us and undermines the work were trying to do. Ashley parker, theres reporting in your paper and others that holiday parties indoors with large numbers of guests not required to wear masks will go on. Kayleigh mcenany had some choice words to explain why. Let me play it. Is this set ating a good example for the public when the cdc is asking americans to forego those celebrations . If you can loot businesses, burn down buildings, engage in protests, you can also go to a christmas party. Kayleigh mcenany is doing the Family Business of threatening the Public Health. Her husband attended the White House Briefing without a mask. Shawn gil martin appeared without a mask in the White House Briefing room went and declined to cover his face after being asked. Kayleigh mcenany conducted a 24minute news conference. Doug mills politely pointed out to gil martin, a professional baseball pitcher, rules mandate that masks are to be worn in the White House Press area. Doug mills is one of the most polite human beings ive ever met. Simply asked a staffers spouse to put a mask on. Going to Kayleigh Mcenanys comment, its a false equivalency. Its not a war on christmas theyre fighting. People are not supposed to be looting businesses and burning down buildings. It goes to this broader issue which at this point is not surprising. This white house on every level refuses to model good, safe, responsible behavior and the behavior that is advised very vigorously by their own experts. When you have someone like the press secretarys husband in the Briefing Room asked politely to put on his mask and he doesnt, the message he is sending is that he does not care about the health and safety of every other individual in that room. Doctor, it seems to go beyond not modelling good behavior. It seems to endanger the lives of others. If you ask chris christie, thats probably how he feels. Thats right. You know, weve had studies that showed that trump rallies and other large crowd gatherings led to increases in cases. I want to drill into that comment by kalyleigh mcenany. That very comment goes to the root of what has driven this pandemic to levels it is. Everything has been politicized and everything has been pitted as a left versus right issue rather than americans facing the once in a Century Public Health emergency. Theres the direct damage. Theres indirect damage of not setting that example. It also goes further than that. Its dividing the american public. I always get this expression wrong. Something about fish rotting from the head. Let me show you, eddie glod, donald trump some tape of him undermining cdc director robert redfield. Dr. Robert redfield was totally misquoted in the media on a statement about the fall season and the virus. Total misquoted. You were accurately quoted, correct . Im accurately quoted in the Washington Post. Is there a good chance covid will not come back . We dont know. Well be able to find it earlier this time. It might not come back at all. It might not come back at all. Hes talking about a worse case scenario. Its also possible it doesnt come back at all. Eddie glod, he just cant stop. Cant stop lying. Cant stop denying reality. It is almost an extension from the sentence he started at the beginning when he said we have 15 cases and soon well be down to zero. I wonder what a serious policy would have revealed. It would have revealed theyre responsible for all these folks dead. Can you imagine folks who lost their nana . Folks who lost their husbands and wives and brothers and siste siste sisters. Can you imagine people who couldnt sit shiva . People who couldnt have the proper home going. This reflects something rotten at the core. We could talk about the politics, but the moral outrage, the in decency of it all is an indictment on these people. Thats an in caps lags of the last four years. The man has been lying through his teeth since he took the oath of office. Ive always understood what Ashley Parker has reported about the political reality of trumps hold on the Republican Party. Ive never been able to get my brain around the did he cap tags of any feeling piece of american leadership. You dont have to be the president or Vice President , senator or member of congress, why doesnt anyone stand with a country grieving unimaginable losses. 2,800 americans died yesterday. Nothing, nothing. Yeah, it seems to me theres a sense that your grief is yours and yours alone. We dont share it. Its almost like theres this presumption theres a national passover. Because death hasnt landed at your door youre okay. You can party. You can enjoy the largess of the coronavirus. You can benefit. In some ways, nicolle, it shows the depth of disregard. If the people i love arent dying, if im not sick, then all is well. That speaks to the selfishness at the heart of the country that is in some ways threatening the republic at its foundation. Doctor, you brought to my attention this piece in the atlantic. America needs a covid reckoning. For a Covid Commission to succeed it needed bipartisan support from the beginning. Where do we start with this work if, as ashley is reporting, theres complete abdication to do the policy work while the pandemic is raging . Do you know what i mean . Its as though the towers are still on fire. How do we begin an afteraction process when the response is still so lacking . Nicolle, i think that once we have that change in administration the one thing that will change is the will to pursue this examination, this deeper dive. There are technical things we learned. The way we missed this testing issue from the very beginning of the pandemic. The fact that there isnt as much resilience in our Health Care System and we need more capacity to handle a pandemic. The thing that took me by surprise was how vulnerable our system was to politics. I mean, yes, its always hard to get the population on board and particularly with a fastmoving emerging Infectious Disease pandemic. What makes it harder to get the population on board when you have an opposite force working against you. What im hoping is that we do have a covid19 commission. This is an absolute weakness that we need to address as a nation. This is not going to be the last pandemic unfortunately within our your and my lifetime. I can guarantee that. It is a sad but important reality for people to face up to. Edd eddie, ashley, thank you for starting us off. Dr. Bedilia is sticking around. With donald trump bungling all aspects of the coronavirus response, more on what president elect joe biden can do. Plus, firing the United States attorney general with just weeks left on his job is not off the table for donald trump. No one ask safe from the man with a big ax to grind. After years of purposely withholding addresses and phone numbers of separated families, the Trump Administration has handed this information over. Brand new reporting on what took so long. All those stories coming up. Dont go anywhere. S coming up. Dont go anywhere. Its down to the wire, the teams been working around the clock. Weve had to rethink our whole approach. Were going to give togetherness. Logistically, its been a nightmare. Im not sure its going to work. Itll work. I didnt know you were listening. Way back when there were only five known coronavirus cases in the United States, then president ial primary candidate joe biden knew, he knew then, that more needed to be done. On january 27th joe biden wrote in usa today to be blunt im concerned the Trump Administrations policies have left us unprepared for a dangerous epidemic that will come. The United States must step forward to lead these efforts. No other nation has the resources or the relationships to marshal an international response. Fast forward to today president elect joe biden is assembling a team to provide some relief. Before the Biden Administration can take the reins things can be done right now. Quote, the most critical action can be to build a common public vision of the threat of the pandemic and the action needed to control it. Three of bidens predecessors say they are on board to take it on camera if that helps build public trust. Joining our conversation is matt kizer. Matt, its so interesting to play back the Vice President s words, not because he was right that we were in from a painful go at it, but he still viewed america the potential to have a leadership role. He couldnt have predicted we would be at the bottom of the list in terms of our response to covid. That our response would be so botched we couldnt even get our population in masks. I saw joe biden talk about not feeling elation, but what is the commitment to trying to make up for lost time on the pandemic . I think its interesting looking back, nicolle, not only to that, but to march and the whole style with which biden ran his campaign and how different that was from President Trump and how he was running his. Biden talked very early about a mask mandate. He encouraged people to stay home. He told people how bad this was going to be. Hes still talking about those things right now. I think that he view it s part his role as one where hell talk about how bad things could get over the next couple months and how important it is for people to wear masks and practice social distancing and its impacting a lot about what his campaign and transition is contemplating. His health team will be revealed shortly. Were hearing a couple names already and what things they may look to do from the very outset of his administration taking on a much more robust role for the federal government not only in vaccine distribution, but in testing and ppe, the things you would have expected to have happened already biden is expected to do in the next couple months. Matt, share with us what names are being circulated as potential do you think this new team is likely to take up the three former president s and give them a role in being ambassadors to reluctant communities when it comes time to vaccinate the country . I would absolutely expect him to do that. Frankly its different from President Trump. We didnt see gatherings of former president s together. I think joe biden will look to reestablish that tradition in the white house to utilize his predecessors, maybe absent President Trump, implementing things for the nation. Its been something biden talked about too is trying to change the reluctance of people to take a vaccine. Hes said if dr. Fauci recommends it, he would believe it. You can imagine him tapping into his pred secessors to illustrat that. Jeff zientz is one of the names as a coronavirus czar. Vivek murthy as the surgeon general. Its a role he had before, but this one might be more enhanced than his prior role. Hes been with biden and advising him around the coronavirus for the past six or eight months. You would expect him to take on a public face in the administration. This will be the center piece as they take over to demonstrate to the public. The one Health Position thats still out there is hhs secretary. Theres been a lot of names floating around and a lot of names being checked off the list. Dr. Bedilia, when matt is talking about the president elect tapping the former president s your brain starts to go to how massive the publ publ public piece could be. I have heard doctors say youll have eagerness of people get the first shot and if they feel bad, maybe they dont get the second shot. You have huge pockets of vaccine skeptical folks. What do Public Health officials and experts envision in terms of the importance of convincing everyone to take a vaccine once they have it . Nicolle, it is going to be a big undertaking. The most important thing is im glad to see the three prior president s come out. Weve learned that bad leadership can have an impact. You cant say dont worry about this disease and be surprised in a gallup poll that said that 42 of americans dont think theyll take the vaccine. Those numbers might be better now the data is coming out and theres more public understanding of the process as well as the fda taking its due course to show theyre doing whats needed to make sure the vaccines are going to be safe. As a Frontline Health care worker, ill be taking the vaccine. As soon as the fda comes out with the data, ill take it with confidence knowing the way weve decreased the time to getting these vaccines is not through any acceleration of the Scientific Method but by putting money into manufacturing this as were collecting the data. Its important. I think part of how we do this is those who have public facing jobs coming out and putting confidence in the vaccine process. Matt, i wondered watching the biden transition and president elect joe biden was almost stoic in those early days after the election, really never seemed disturbed or distressed by this lack of transition. Now that its under way is there a vibe or feeling theyre trying to make up for time they lost, especially as this pandemic breaks records in terms of the devastation it is having on our communities and our country . Yeah. Theyre going week to week. You think of they had a week where they outlined their Foreign Policy team. This week was the economic team. Next week will probably be the health care team. Its a methodical roll out of the players involved in these key decisions. Hes now getting the president ial daily brief. Theyre doing a lot of things behind the scenes, conducting interviews on zoom and hes having some public roles. Hes doing a few interviews. There are things hes doing publicly. Theres a lot of work around his team. Theres a gravity to this. This is not the type of thing he thought he would inherit. Certainly there was a celebratory mood once he won, but it was a brief celebration and not a celebration that you thought he would have with cars honking at him instead of crowds cheering. Its a different vibe than you would traditionally have. Doctor, we just heard that dr. Fauci met with president elect joe biden and has announced that he will stay on. Thats a good sign obviously. What kind of difference does it make in terms of working for a president who will echo and amplify your advice as opposed to publicly defying it . I would say a huge one. Actually dr. Fauci is a career scientist in the government. It would have been abnormal for him to leave his position. Im glad hes staying on. His presence allows what he called this relay race where youre passing on the information about the experience of the last ten months. The work hes doing, the biden Transition Team, can amplify this. Weve seen the Task Force Members come out and talk about how dire the next couple months are going to be. What the biden team has done really well is amplifying the signal, trying to get the noise out of the way. I talked about this in my article, one way theyre talking about is the important messages. The other things that could happen is the biden team taking stock about what manufacturing capacity is needed. One thing i think he needs to look at is better quality masks for the public and investing in manufacturing capacity of that as well. Matt, im a big fan of your reporting on the Biden Campaign and now the biden ran significance a transitio transition. When we come back donald trump complaining that william barr hasnt done enough for this. Really . Could barr be the next to be fired . Well bring you that story next. Well bring you that story next. Couldve used that before i hired my interior decorator. Voila maybe a couple throw pillows would help. Get a strategy gut check from our trade desk. Ill be eating chicken tikka masala with garlic naan. [doorbell chimes] cheers. I win again, patrick. Thats siiir patrick. Oooooow. Sir. Lelets get fast, accuratell range oresults. Ions. Introducing letsgetchecked Health Testing you do at home. Know your health. Know yourself. Now, get 40 off at letsgetchecked dot com mr. President , can i ask you to respond to the comments by your attorney general who indicated he has not seen any evidence of fraud enough to overturn the Election Results . Given that why is now not the time to concede . He hasnt done anything. Do you still have confidence in bill barr . Ask me that in a number of weeks from now. Over the course of his presidency donald trump has turned on everybody except his kids. Turns out despite what he thought, after all his good deeds, bill barr is no exception. Multiple sources telling nbc news trump hasnt ruled out firing barr after breaking with him in his quest to overturn the election telling the Associated Press theres no evidence to support claims of widespread fraud. Joining our conversation is Washington Post contributing columnist Donna Edwards. Donna, weve had so many conversations about the way bill barr has subverted rule of law and alienated lifelong career prosecutors with his interventions on behalf of donald trump. There is some irony to the fact that hell end up under the bus. Well, i mean, look im not going to celebrate the fact that bill barr is doing his job for once, but hes going to need to call Jeff Sessions for a little intervention on this one. The fact is that bill barr has done every thing that the president has wanted from him except this one thing of claiming that theres fraud where there is no fraud. So maybe even the underneath the bus might not be good enough for bill barr given his performance over the last couple years. Theres another story in the a. P. , emily, thats so weird. Trump aid banned from justice after trying to get case info. The official serving of President Trumps eyes and ears at the Justice Department hands banned from the building after trying to pressure staffers to give up information about Election Fraud and other matters she could relay from the white house. Heidi stirrup was quietly installed at the Justice Department as a white house liaison. She was told to vacate the building after top justice officials learned of her efforts to collect Insider Information about ongoing cases. You covered this family. You understand this family. Its impossible to separate out the fact they all think they need pardons and conduct such as this. This obviously isnt legal to leak information about ongoing criminal investigations, but this is how the trump family is spending its last weeks. All that matters to the trump family is who is working for them, who is serving them and how it benefits them. It doesnt matter their rule of law. Doesnt matter what the norms are. It matters how its going to impact them, their bottom line and their power. All of these things we witnessed over the last four years have eroded all norms, all sense of decency, all sense of whats right. What were seeing with the pardons is the culmination of all that. Whats interesting to me is what we saw yesterday with ivanka trump being deposed yesterday. She said i sat with a democrat attorney general which underlines her stance and maybe her pivot to being a member of the Republican Party. She said its just another partisan play. What awaits them even if theres a potential pardon down the line is a string of investigations led by people in state offices and local offices. A pardon cant fix that. Installing people in the department of justice cant fix that either. There are people who believe in the rule of law and exercise their powers to do right. Thats what awaits them. Let me read to my viewers a little more about that investigation that ivanka trump sat for a deposition for. Fill in some of these blanks. This goes back to questions of fraud and theft around the inaugural committee, right . Thats right. What is happening is that the inaugural committee, which is a nonprofit, paid the Trump Organization for use of the trump hotel in d. C. Now the attorney general in the district of columbia has the ability to investigate whether a nonprofit uses its funds for the intents of its purpose. There are people like melanias friend who kept logs of emails and recorded conversations and kept paper trails. There are papers about how specifically ivanka trump was involved in the pricing of the trump hotel and what the lawsuit says for a similar nonprofit that booked the ballroom in the trump hotel they charged the inaugural committee 30 times more than the other ballroom. Donna, the idea that this family has done anything other than grift off of the inaugural committee or the american tax payer in the case of having government officials stay at trump hotels or moving events to their hotels, thats something that not even the Republican Party for as low as its fallen should normalize. This is the exact opposite of what every single ethics lesson, ethics official and ethics law holds for anyone. How do we level set this . Untangling the level and layers of corruption from this familys fouryear reign on the white house seems like a complicated undertaking . I think theres really no recovery for the Republican Party on this because so many of them have remained silent over this period of time. Keep in mind that whats been detailed about the inaugural committee is so reminiscent of what had an investigation that shut down the Trump Foundation as you recall for really very, very similar things. So this family its like in every single aspect of what they do. They try to skim a whole bunch offer the top. Its really disgusting behavior on the part of the trump family. Republicans who cosigned on this, republicans who stood by and said its okay to do are never going to be able to grab that back. You cant grab back your own ethics. You cant grab back your ethical behavior and your honor. This is what republicans and the Republican Party have lost because people havent stood up. The strategic piece is you cant charge the other side of anything. What you have tolerated, what you have given cover for is a scam the likes of which has never taken place at this level of government. Im glad you reminded us too that stealing from charities is how they roll. Up next for us, what is the Trump Administration doing to help reunite migrant families separated by its own policies. One of the reporters who has been on this beat for a long time joins us to explain. A long time joins us to explain your mission stand up to moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. And take. It. On. With rinvoq. Rinvoq a oncedaily pill. Can dramatically improve symptoms. Rinvoq helps tame pain, stiffness, swelling. And for some. Rinvoq can even significantly reduce ra fatigue. Thats rinvoq relief. With ra, your overactive immune system attacks your joints. Rinvoq regulates it to help stop the attack. Rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious infections and blood clots, sometimes fatal, have occurred. As have certain cancers, including lymphoma, and tears in the stomach or intestines, and changes in lab results. Your doctor should monitor your bloodwork. Tell your doctor about any infections. And if you are or may become pregnant while taking rinvoq. Take on ra talk to your rheumatologist about rinvoq relief. Rinvoq. Make it your mission. If you cant afford your medicine, abbvie may be able to help. Nbc news is reporting that the lawyers tasks with reuniting families by a u. S. District judge separated by the child separate policy say that government has finally handed over new daya from the executive office of immigration review, like addresses and phone numbers that were withheld. That lawyer, lee gowner, director of the immigrant rights project said unfortunately it took the issue reaching the level of a president ial debate to move them to give us this data. Lets bring into our conversation, correspondent Julia Ainsley and dona edwards is still here. And julia, i anybody who watched the president ial debates will remember the Fiery Exchange but but talk about how the separation policy was a lasting clashes in the general election brought about this result and releasing and i didnt know they have phone numbers. That seems like another cruel level of with holding contacting information from separates families. Do you need water . Ill so sorry. You could get a water. Donna, let me start with you. This idea they were in possession of phone numbers for separates families is almost as ghastly as the policy itself. Well, i mean, it really is. And i have to say, it is really clear that this Administration Never wanted to reunite these families. This is an administration that was intent on both separating them from their parents and never reuniting them because they have the data and they have the information and they wouldnt cough it up. And i have to say that i think that america and the consciousness of america owes Julia Ainsley and Jacob Soberoff a huge party thank you for sticking with this and uncovering it. Because otherwise, we may never have known the truth of what the Trump Administration and trump himself have done to destroy families lives and separate children, infants separated from their mothers, infants who are Breast Feeding separates from mothers. Children acceseparated from par and perhaps never know their families again. This is a Great National tragedy. And im not really sure what it is that we can know more but to know that the president of the United States himself intended to harm children in this way. It is a reminder. Julia is back with us. I hope youre feeling okay. It happens to me all of the time. Usually at the beginning of the 4 00 hour. I get that frog in my throat. But if you are back. And your colleagues had a big compliment for keeping this story front and center. But talk about where the phone numbers have been hiding and why did it take this issue becoming front and center in the general election for them to turn it over to help reunite families. Well thank you, donna. And that is exactly what the lawyers are saying. That it took the Media Attention and our own Kristen Welker asking this b this in the last president ial debate for the government to give this data over. Now a lot of the data has been buried in different agencies because they went through with the policy knowing that it would be chaotic, not caring how long it would be for these parents to finally be reunited with children, if ever. So there is data hidden within health and Human Services and for the immigration review and they have all of the information on people going through the court report process. Whether that be for asylum or deportation. These are phone numbers and updates records and that is really important when you talk about families that were separated in 2017, 2018. This is the most updated information. And it was handed over the wednesday before thanksgiving and now the lawyers are having a chance to go through it and make a fresh round of calls and figure out who they can identify, locate and then give the chance for unification. Now i will say who this leaves out are nearly twothirds of the families where the parent has already been deported. Those are still incredibly hard to find. The probono groups have feet on the ground and in Central America trying to find the families. But right now there is hope for the families who are still here. If youre a parent, going through deportation, not knowing if youll see your child again, there is a chance you could be contacted and reunified. What a horrific chapter of the Trump Presidency. Nbc hes Julia Ainsley, the by line on a terrific piece of reporting. Check out the rest of that. It is stunning. Well stay on this story and Donna Edwards thank you for spending some time with us today. Great to see both of you. For us, the next hour of deadline white house starts after a quick break. Dont go anywhere. Dont go anywhere. But its hard to explain to them what i do every day. Right now, im working on purification technologies that help advance vaccine and Therapy Research for covid19. One day, theyll realize i wasnt just trying to help them go out and play again. I was trying to make it safer for the whole world to get back outside too. Tonight. Ill be eating Cheesy Cauliflower Pizza i was trying to make it safer for the whole world with extra broccolini. My tuuuurrrrn tonight. Ill be eating Cheesy Cauliflower Pizza and yummy broccolini doorbell rings thanks. doorbell rings thank you. Is that my leotard . No. Yes. Ehh, you can keep it. I would encourage all georgians to make it known you will not vote at all until your vote is secure. Do not be fooled twice. This is georgia. We aint dumb. If Kelly Loefler wants your vote, if david purdue wants your vote they have to earn it. Why would you go back and vote in another rigged election. Fix it before well do it again. Hi, again. It is 5 00 in new york. Let me explain what you just heard there. For those who were two protrump lawyers in the state of georgia telling Trump Supporters not to vote. Not to vote. Dont participate. And it is a rigged election. Theyre telling them not to vote in critical runoff elections coming up in next month that will determine which Party Controls the senate. God, i hope people listen to them. Sydney powell, and lynnwood are crying voter fraud because if they werent they would acknowledge donald trump lost the election but that is causing georgia republicans to sweat this one. From the Washington Post, quote, trumps baseless allegations of voter fraud in georgia have made republicans dive of divided on whether to trust the election system or the former trump lawyer sydney powell argued stay home in protest. The president showing no sign that he will end his month Long Campaign against the Election Results. Today in the oval office he repeated his false claim there is mounds of evidence of voter fraud, something neither he or his legal team on anybody else on earth has been able to produce. The comments follow a 46 minute rand posted to social media yesterday with more warnings than a pack of cigarettes. President is set to hold a rally this saturday in georgia for the two republican senators running in next months runoff. That is Kelly Loeffler and david perdue. But it is only adding to republican anxiety in the state. From politico, theyre not entirely certain what to expect. Or how much he understands that event is about helping the two endangered gop incumbents get across the finish line in the runoff, not advancing his own political interest or settling scores. It is important that trump comes and focus on the Senate Election and not the side show of whining and complaining and making baseless accusations. A mainstream republican said that is his mode for past four years. I dont think he will change. Im very concerned about this on saturday. Gabriel sterling, the voting official in georgia who slammed the president and the entire Republican Party for not speaking out against the violent rhetoric aimed at Election Officials is at utter disbelief his state finds himself in. It is looney tunes. The president is coming to georgia to campaign for the senators that his lawyers are filing lawsuits to contest the election that the president made in his 46minute video yesterday that have been debunked. Im speechless. That is best i got right now. Well the firing squad and Political Campaign circles it is a party that may have shot itself in the foot with its obedience to donald trump and that is where we start this hour with our most favorite reporters and friend. Peter baker is also, also a. B. Stoddard from real clear politics is back and eugene robinson, from the Washington Post and msnbc political analyst. Does donald trump want the republicans to win or lose . Well, excellent question, actually. You have to wonder whether his own people are there today trying voters not to vote for republicans until they fix a system and the mixed messages will leave anyone wondering what to do. And Mitch Mcconnell and his allies are very concerned that their undercutting the ability to get the turnout to win the seats that are critical to republicans to maintain their majority. So theyll be a razor thin majority and they would keep control of the senate and be a check on President Biden which is why it is so important republicans, even those that dont like President Trump. But you have a president out there who hasnt shown a lot of care in party building, his own interest and the future of this runoff of the president decides to take his marbles and go home. We encouraged that hes showing commitment and we dont know what he will say or undercut in the days to come. Eugene, i never pine for but if i had one i would write on it, donald trump is lynn wood and sydney powell. Donald trump is not Mitch Mcconnell, Kelly Loeffler, gabe sterling. Donald trump is right there with those two people we just showed you. That is where he is right now. Yeah, at this point, who was under the illusion that donald trump cares about the Republican Party and about anything other than himself and a few select members of his immediate family. That is all he cares about. And ive seen on his twitter feed a couple like two tweets saying im going to georgia and im going to campaign for these great senators david perdue and Kelly Loeffler and i would bet you money that he did not write those two tweets, right. And i would also bet you money, i would also bet you money that we know what hes going to do on saturday. Hes going to go and hes going to do the same thing he did in that 46minute bizarre unhinged infomercial that he did yesterday and rant and rave about the injustice of it all and the rigged election and this and that. It is shaping up to be an utter disaster. And which would be poetic justice for some republicans who supported this from the beginning. But i dont think anybody should expect him to go and just do what a president would do in this situation, try to help members of his party keep control of the senate. Hes going to be all about trump. A. B. , let me just kill any suspense that anyone feels right now. He is going to go to georgia and be weirder than he was on that videotape that was too weird for fox news to take live or broadcast. It was posted to social media and literally was covered with warnings about all how nonfactual the content was. That is the speech. I bet he reracked it in the teleprompter. That is the speech. Hes going to give in georgia. And on the plane someone will have to remind him the names of the candidates there. Right. Or he might shoot them off the stage like he did to former senator of arizona martha mcsally, they dont want to hear from you and just finish up. If there is a teleprompter sk t script even if he reads if it is the propaganda meltdown, ill be surprised. This is the first rally since the election. Hes going to go wild with this stuff. And while all of these sydney powell events and Rudy Giuliani hearing are all just kind of the onion and it keeps Getting Better and better and more lunatic by the day, the president is adamant that these are his voters and that he is going to call on them to stop the steal or continue the digging in. And so if you look at the Republican Party in georgia, if you look at Gabriel Sterling and Brad Raffensperger and who is smashed in the middle and trump is calling him, and attacking him as well, theyre running the election and they back the electors for joe biden, certified state for joe biden. Theyre running the runoff. Theyre facing Death Threats. And so while the senators have already attacked them, it wont be enough unless they do it every day between the december 5th rally and the january 5th runoff and trump will continue to call on his voters that will demand that of candidates. And when the National Committee chairman in georgia, voters said, look, why should we turn out. This is been decided. Because they believe that the conspiracy that is all been stolen. And trump is never going to counter that narrative in the rally or tweets after the rally. Imagine how hard the republican senators whether have to dig in on the conspiracy side to counter what is being said by raffensperger and other people trying to run and fair and free election in georgia. It is a complete circular firing squad disaster and we are so far away from the runoff day, we cant even imagine what it is going to do not only on saturday but in the months to come. It is such a good description of the dynamics because this is a state that biden won in the end pretty handily. This is a state that is hard for normal nice republicans to the extent that there are any of those left, but it is next to impossible with all of the divisions youre describing. A. B. , i want to read from your piece. I love everything you write. This is the most important one that ive read. You write abdicating their oath to the constitution and in service to keeping peace with donald trump is going to be temporary for congressional republicans. That is what they told themselves, yet the damage from the refusal to counter trumps fraud is not shortterm. It believes what faced Many Americans have left in our elections not just now but forever. And they will have held not only be delicht mized but many president s as well. They look and sound the same. The language is always familiar and the reaction of republicans could not see or hear is as predictable as the sunrise but this is the worst thing hes ever done to the country and it is the republicans worst dereliction. They deserve to lose the senate. It is an amazing thing to look at what they think is some kind of neutral omission which is to say things like it is time to start the transition or even the fact that joe biden is the president elect. They are not countering the president s lies telling millions of voters that it is a big conspiracy. They are not defending democracy and in that their complicit just as Gabriel Sterling said the other night that you aired on your show. It is the worst abdication that theyve ever committed in service to donald trump. And as i said, it is a long time until january 5th. Will they wake up the next day and say we just want these seats really badly so now were going to tell you it was a most secure election in the history of our country. This is beyond party before country or power before country. It is really trying to break the system. And it is unforgivable. Peter baker, i saw that john bolton praised attorney general barr for coming out and using his bully pulpit as the countrys attorney general to say there is no evidence of fraud that would alter the outcome of Donald Trumps defeat and joe bidens sizable victory but hes in hot water for telling the truth. Is there anybody around the president that is going to go down with bill barr. Is there anyone else that will say this outloud or going out on the night. I think you see the circle around him shrinking further and further, right. You see only basically people like Rudy Giuliani and jenna ellis and a handful of others willing to gooit go out in public and back up the outlandish and factfree claims. Where the traditional people in the white house speaking for a president and where is the chief of staff or the senior adviser. Kayleigh mcenany had briefing yesterday but they dont want to get involved with it because in fak they know there is nothing there, there. And bill barr who is certainly been supportive of the president on so many moments, the key moments that helped him over the last couple of years, whether it is defining him before it was released, whether it is going easy on mike flynn on roger stone. And when he said that is gone too far, that should tell you something and the president of course is in inclined to fire anybody that doesnt back him up. It was asked today, nbc asked do you still stand by the confidence in bill barr and he said ask me in a few weeks. So basically the people willing to go along with him, covertly, are fewer and fewer. And he just left to speaking into a camera in the white house with nobody else around and putting out on social media to be tagged by social media saying do not believe the president of the United States, which is a extraordinary circumstance. And then, eugene, on the other side, joe biden, this hasnt taken the bait on any of this. Hasnt engaged or dignified it. President obama is campaigning for georgia. Georgia seems to represent a real opportunity to turn the page completely. And i wonder if that is an effective sort of energizing or animating message. Georgia, the state biden won, but it is still a battle ground. A battleground of all battle grounds. This is a live picture of joe biden. It looks like leaving his meeting. But is this control room . That is for the day. Eugene, just talk about georgia as an opportunity to really turn the page. On trumpism, particularly if democrats would flip those seats. Well, it is. And surprisingly so. Because we had a sense that georgia, before the election, that georgia could be close, we knew that all of the organizing that Stacey Abrams and others have been doing in georgia have seemed to be effective. A lot of us thought that it probably isnt quite ready to flip yet and then it did flip right then. And so that creates a certain momentum and a excitement and then you have what is happening to the republicans now. I mean, you know, democrats. Because if you say okay, democrats are going to face these two runoffs in a state that has a recent habit going back decades of electing republican senators and so you could say it was an up hill climb. However, if the republicans are going to consume each other and themselves over these groundless fantasies of voter fraud, if sydney powell and lynn wood are going out there and convince republicans not to vote, then, hey, you know, this is a legitimate opportunity. And i think democrats and in georgia see it and nationally see it and are going to do the best they can in what should be hostile terrain to take these two seats. And youve got to say it is not at all out of the realm of possibility. It really is it is possible given the level of chaos and the fact that it is not likely to subside on the republican side. It is going to get crazier. And what is so interesting is people who watch the polls and the Structural Dynamics in the races have a totally different feeling today, thursday of this week, than they did wednesday and thursday of last week. This is a fastmoving political goat rodeo and well keep our eyes on it. Peter baker and a. B. Stott ard, thank you. Eugene is sticking around. When we come back, besides the damage being done to democracy itself, Election Officials across the country are sounding the alarm that Donald Trumps baseless attacks on the election are leading to a growing number of threats of violence against them. Against election workers all for the simple crime of doing their jobs and doing them well. That story is next. Plus brandnew nbc news recording on the inside story of mike flynns firing. And the coronavirus pandemic shattering records for cases, hospitalizations and tragically death. Health Officials Say we are not yet seeing the worst of it. Deadline white house continues after a quick break. Dont go anywhere. T go anywhere, and we turn into our parents. What i do is help new homeowners overcome this. What is that, an adjustable spanner . Good choice, steve. Okay, dont forget youre not assisting him. You hired him. If you have nowhere to sit, you have too many. Who else reads books about submarines . My dad. Yeah. Oh, those are progressive cant protect you from becoming your parents, but we can protect your home and auto when you bundle with us. Look at that. When you bundle with us. [whats this . ] oh, are we kicking karly out . We live with at t. It was a lapse in judgment. At t, we called this house meeting because you advertise gigspeed internet, but we cant sign up for that here. Yeah, but im just like warming up to those speeds. Youve lived here two years. The personal attacks arent helping, karly. Dont you have like a hot pilates class to get to or something . [ muffled scream ] stop living with at t. Xfinity can deliver gig to the most homes. There really arent good words to describe just how unamerican and undemocratic it that the actual individuals that are responsible for the process of this most sacred Democratic Institution of elections are the ones that are getting the blowback here. And it is chilling and to me in two ways. First, it is that were actively undermining democracy, were actively undermining confidence in the electorate process. Second Chilling Effect is that how the heck are we going to recruit election workers in Election Administration officials Going Forward if they think theyre going to get Death Threats online and in person. This is got to stop. That is former cybersecurity senior official christopher crebs warning not just about the lasting damage donald trump attacks on our election are having on our democracy, but also about the very real and growing threat to election workers themselves. He isnt alone in the concerns. In tensefying the vote are fuelling deep alarm among state and local officials who have watched with dread in recent weeks as election workers have been targeted by fastspreading conspiracy theories. Joining our conversation is joyce vance. Eugene is still with us. Joyce, at what point are they breaking the law by sending nooses and threating officials. That is a matter of state right. An assault on individuals. But there is a line at which there are federal crimes that involve impinging on election operations. I dont think that were seeing conduct yet that rises to that level. I could be wrong, nicolle. There could be investigations underway. But typically free speech writes give folks the ability to make comments and engage in conduct that is relatively obnoxious and offensive, once you have nooses involved or racial threats being made or other sorts of threats to people over the smooth administration of elections, you could conceivably see some form of federal criminal investigation. That is where we are. Determining if the hate speech and the Death Threats are enough to exceed the vast protection of the first amendment. Let me read you some of the threats from the new york times. This is under a story with the head line here are the threats terrorizing election workers. Quote, i personally have gotten ten or 12 of those. Emails with the nooses and images of people who have been hung said one Western State who refused to be named for fear of drawing even more threats. Quote, they dont reference anything youre doing wrong, theyre just, quote, this election was stolen and we have something to do with it and were going to come for you. Where are we . So we should be we should be clear about where this comes from. This comes from the president of the United States. The oval office. Because donald trump could shut this down if he would take a stand publicly tomorrow and tell his supporters that our elections are secure, that they were fair and that no one should threaten people who are involved in working in our administration. This is not something that weve ever seen before. This sort of directed focus. And beyond the president , quite frankly, all of the elected officials in his party, the senators who refused to concede that joe biden is the winner and who has fueled the president s just insane rage over this election. They, too, are becoming complicit in this really unthinkable distopian american where people who work in elections and part of companies that provide polling equipment now become targets for Death Threats and are forced to go into hiding. This is something that the president could put an end to. That he and people in his party choose not to is something i think is unforgivable as we move forward and dont say that lightly. And eugene, theyre inciting it. And the white house has some statements saying we condemn threats against anyone. Literally before after and during the statement at president was calling it rigged and openly musing about firing the attorney general for saying there isnt any evidence of fraud. The trumpiest of all trump cabinet officials. I wan to read you more testimonials from officials. This is tray grayson, a former republican kentucky secretary of state and former president of the National Association of secretaries of state who said, quote, fact that folks are receiving Death Threats is horrible and it bothers me because the threats are coming from my political party. There isnt two sides here. There is right and wrong and inciting violence and Death Threats against election workers and everybody else. Yeah. This is completely wrong and joyce is absolutely right. This is coming from one source. This is coming from the president of the United States. It is coming from donald trump, the worst person ever to hold that office. And let us hope that Going Forward he remains the worst person ever to hold that office after hes gone. Because we couldnt stand anybody who, you know, who is worse than trump. And the problem is this doesnt just automatically get better. Trump is not going to take this back. What does he always do. He doubles down and doubles down some more and he has made it very clear that to his dying day hes going to claim this was a rigged election and a lot of people are going to believe him and his hold over his base and voters will not last forever but it could last for a long time. And thats where were going to be. Were going to be in a space where a large numbers of americans have no faith the essential necessary act of democracy which is voting. And they have completely lost faith in it. And that means we dont have a full democracy. We its i cannot be optimistic about this at all. Because i dont see how it gets better. It is not going to take it back. It will some day wear off. But it could take a long, long time. Joyce, you listen to folks who left this administration and im thinking of Elizabeth Neumann and olivia troy who talk about their knowledge and experience with how people become radicalized and were well beyond the first step of extinguishing the truth and main lining lies and making people doubt what they are seeing with their own eyes and hearing with their own ears and tragically this part of the story, this part of the damage that trump has done is something i think well be talking about for a long time. Joyce vance and eugene robinson, thank you both. When we return, an exclusive new nbc news report on the the firing of former National Security adviser Michael Flynn and the 25 days that shook the Trump Presidency to its core. Deadline white house continues after a quick break. Deadline white house continues after a quick break. Youre all, youre all i need youre all, youre all i need as long as i got you then baby you know that youve got me, oh yea. I got it all from you im always pushing through i know well make it to the finish line i know youre waiting on the other side im like you ondemand glucose monitoring. Because theyre always on. Another lifechanging technology from abbott. So you dont wait for life. You live it. A new exclusive nbc investigation takes an indepth look at 25 days that led up to Michael Flynns firing to the white house after lying to mike pence and the fbi and how donald trump thanksgiving eve full pardons flynn capped four years of legal and Political Drama that began when trump fired a National Security adviser, he had come to privately disparage and declaring flynn an innocent man after he pled guilty to lying to the fbi back in december of 2017 flipped on federal investigators this year and aligning himself once again with the president. This report was a result of a three year investigation by nbc news correspondent carol lee and it includes interviews with more than 20 people who were directly involved in uncovering or covering up flynns actions. Carol lee joins us now. Carol, i know youve been working on this story and doing this reporting in addition to all of your day jobs. But talk about what the pardon kind of brought together and brought out for you. Well, it was really the kind of everything came full circle with the pardon. If you look at the arc of President Trump an general flynns relationship, it was started in a campaign with lock her up and then moved into the transition and that is when President Trump really started to sour on flynn according to a number of people that i talked to for any number of reasons, everything from he didnt like that flynn didnt pass on that Russian Vladimir Putin was reached to reach then president elect trump. And he was angry about negative headlines around the conversations with the Russian Ambassador and having to repeatedly answer the question of whether or not they talked about sanction and as we know flynn said that they did not. Which was a lie. And then they move into the white house and it becomes just even more complicated and kind of intense. Somebody described it as a personality clash and others said the president just didnt like how he briefed him. It started to really grade. And so by the time it came time to fire flynn, where the president had this choice, he didnt want to do it in part because he felt like it would make him look bad. It wasnt necessarily about flynn. But then he did and once flynn flipped and started to cooperate with the special council, the president tried to keep him close but wasnt sure how to deal with him or what to think of him until flynn flipped again an was back on the president s side. Ant that is when you saw the president really embrace him and not so much because he liked flynn, somebody said to me, he wanted to fire flynn before they got to the white house. This is not someone he wanted by his side every day but he embraced flynn because it was a means to an end for the president. It was a way to undermine the Mueller Investigation which was his ultimate goal. So if you fast forward to a week ago and the pardon, this is something that the president has wanted to do for sometime, to come in and put his stamp on this, to try to overturn something that the Mueller Investigation achieved, which is a guilty plea from flynn. And what was interesting in talking to people in the past week about this, is that they were prepared for the white house, the white house was prepared for the president to announce this over the summer and then the plan shifted to allow the court system to run its course to the extent it could and the pardon was the backstop. Is once the president lost reelection, as one official put it to me, that was the motivation, that is the reason for the timing of this. Carol lee, you report on one of the enduring mysteries. Mike flynn had all of the authority that he would have needed to be talked to kislyak and there is never an explanation of why he lied. Let me read this. For officials that work with flynn in the white house at the time who asked him for weeks if he talked about sanctions with Russian Ambassador and were told no. The mystery still lingers. Why wasnt he honest with them. The biggest question that has never been answered is why didnt he tell everyone in the west wing that he talked to him about sanctions, one official said. Because no one would have cared if he does. Now if you take that enduring muf mystery and once confronted by the fbi he confessed to lying and pleaded guilty in front of a judge twice to doing so. Why didnt anyone ever get to the bottom, anyone that investigated him of why he told that lie in the first place and who told him to tell it, if anybody . No one it is the biggest question that was hanging over the Mueller Investigation for me and others who covered it closely, was that it seemed so central, if you could just figure out why flynn lied, what the motivation was there, then it could crack open answers that other questions and unfortunately well probably never know because flynns position now is that he didnt lie and not even just flynns position, Vice President pence who said that flynn lied to him and privately and then later publicly said that the president did the right thing by firing him. Now he said, well i dont think i intentionally misled me. So by some folks who are around the president there is an effort to try to rewrite history of what happened and it is flynn feeding into that narrative by saying he didnt lie and he tried to withdrawal his guilty plea. And now that with this pardon, it is a full pardon. So it is covering everything. And so we just arent going to it seems ever get an answer to that unless flynn some day decides he wants to explain it. Carol lee, it is an degreeing piece of reportering. Thank you for spending time with us to talk about it. When we come back, with the coronavirus pandemic spiraling out of control, the steps joe biden is planning to take to get the virus under control. Deadline white house continues after a quick break. R. Tremfya® helps adults with moderate to Severe Plaque Psoriasis uncover clearer skin that can last. In fact, tremfya® was proven superior to humira® in providing significantly clearer skin. Serious allergic reactions may occur. Tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. Tremfya®. Uncover clearer skin that can last. Janssen can help you explore cost support options. I shop on Rakuten Rakuten toni doorbell rings ting crab cakes with spicy aioli. Thank you. Can we be besties, simone biles . I guess . Yessss should we dismount now . Did you know that your clothes can actually attract pet hair . With new bounce pet hair lint guard, your clothes can repel pet hair. One bounce mega sheet has 3x the hair fighting ingredients of the leading dryer sheet. Simply toss into the dryer to bounce out hair lint. Look how the shirt on the left attracts pet hair like a magnet pet hair is no match for bounce. Its available in fresh scent unscented. With bounce, you can love your pets, and lint roll less. I cant touch numbers. I dont understand what 230,000, 240,000 deaths looked like but as a Front Line Health Care worker, i could understand and i could describe the sound a zipper on a body bag makes. I know the feeling of my hand on a chest in the feeling of two minutes of cpr before the next pulse check. I could understand the humans behind those numbers. And that every single one of those was a life and a person that mattered. If that doesnt move you, i got nothing else. Words from the front lines. The reminder of the human toll of this pandemic, a pandemic that is ome getting worse. Just yesterday the United States of america reported a record. More than 204,000 new infections and a record of more than 2,700 americans that died from coronavirus. And more than 100,000 hospitalized. Reassuring news day from joe biden on this front ahead of his major covid and Health Staffing announcement next week. President elect biden has asked dr. Fauci to stay. And here with biden moments ago on cnn. Speaking of fauci, have you spoken with him yet, if so, have you asked him so stay on . Yes. My covid team met with him. I asked him to stay in his same role and be a chief medical adviser and be part of the covid team. President elect biden also said that once dr. Fauci gives it the okay, he will join the three former president s in getting his covid 19 vaccine to help prove that it is safe and show everyone that it is. And he will call for mask wearing. In his first 100 days. It is leadership forra country that has suffered abandonment from washington and now more than 14. 1 million cases later and more than 275,000 souls lost. Joining our conversation, dr. Celine grounder, member of the Biden Harris Administration and the first person that taught me to elbow greet at the very beginning of the pandemic. I cannot process these numbers. And i share that with the nurse that we came in hearing from. But i do not that at other moments when weve lost that Many Americans they have been marked. They have been honored. They have been grieved and i just wonder if it has to seep into the Health Care Profession that we dont do that. I think this really is taking a toll. That we are bearing witness to all of these hospitalizations, illnesses, deaths, were bearing witness to how families are grieving and weve been raising the alarm for months now. Saying we need personal protective equipment and we need more help from the federal government in terms of guidelines and other support and it has just been so frustrating that weve been bearing witness to all of this and dont feel like were really being heard. What is the current trajectory in terms of everything that weve been doing right and wrong . And i know that some governors are moving toward more restrictive shut downs, gavin newsom in california announced region by region tighter restrictions where they are almost at icu capacity, but other than that and more man dates around mask wearing, what could we do so you, if anything surging numbers. The mask wearing is promising. More and more americans are Wearing Masks. The latest surveyed conducted by the cdc over 90 of americans are Wearing Masks, some of the time. They may not do it all of the time or do it perfectly. But over 90 is pretty good. Yeah. And so i think it is really about doubling down on that message as well as the other Public Health interventions like the social distancing and outdoors versus indoors, that the good ventilation. If we could do those things well, we could make a big difference there. Where are people getting them. That is good news that 90 of americans are Wearing Masks, but where are the numbers of Americans Still getting sick . Well, you know, again, people are not perfect about these things and i think in general people do let down their guard when theyre around family and friends. And so whether that would have been watching a game on tv with beers with friends over the weekend or over a thanksgiving and im afraid the upcoming holidays. Those are the situations where people are most likely to let down their guard and not to wear a mask and be in close contact with others indoors. What are the things that you are not doing and that you advise your family and friends to not do with numbers like this and hospitals nearing capacity . Well, you know, i my husband and i have not seen our family since february. He did go travel after his father passed away in arizona. Not from coronavirus. But other than that, we have really stayed put in our household bubble. We have not been socializing. Weve been Wearing Masks consistently and i think it is really important for those of us who are Health Care Providers and hubble Health Officials and so on to lead the way through example as well. What about having americans from the pandemic and models good behavior. What difference can that make . Well, tony fauci is the jewel in the crown of Infectious Disease specialists worldwide. Hes really one of the top such experts and to have him here in this country available to advice us is truly an amazing asset. So i think all of us look forward to working with dr. Fauci as many of us on the Advisory Board and Transition Team have done for years as hes advised president s over many terms over years. So i think this is really going to be quite a strength to be able to leverage that expertise. It was available all along. That might end up being the most stunning thing of all. Doctor, thank you. Wonderful to spend time with you and your expertise. When we come back, as we do every day, remembering lives well lived. O every day, remembering lives well lived im gonna get this place all clean. Ill give you a hand. And im gonna put lisa on crutches wait, what . Said shes gonna need crutches. She fell pretty hard. You might want to clean that up, girl. Excuse us. When owning a Small Business gets real, progressive helps protect what you built with customizable coverage. And im gonna eh, eh, eh. Donny, no. Oh. Experience the power of sanctuary at the lincoln wish list sales event. Sign and drive off in a new lincoln with zero down, zero due at signing, and a complimentary first months payment. So this is the Mccall Family prior to september of this year. Chauntel the mother of the family and Home Health Care worker, you can see her all the way on the lift there died from complications of the coronavirus. A month later, her husband rance martin, also pictured, died of the disease as well. He died on what would have been her 35th birthday and so five children lost their mom and their dad in the span of one month. So here is where chauntels mom comes in, a living saint. Her mom is francesca. Shes a single mother with seven children of her own but the moments before she died, she told chauntel she would honor a promise if anything ever happened to either one of them, shed look after the kids. And she followed through. With the help of her mother, francesca is now the guardian of 12 children ages 2 to 17. All the boys are in one room, the girls share two others. Bunk beds throughout. Francesca is working from home to facilitate the Virtual Learning thats going on. She told wbrc in alabama that its been tough especially with christmas coming up. Thankfully, her community and her church are stepping in to help, we should remember from 200 how they see them, its going to be an occasion and we will be right back. S going to be an occasion and we will be right back [doorbell chimes] thank you. [puck scores] oooow yeah i wasnt ready you want cheese to go with that whine . . To your friends. Your family. To your teachers. In that spirit of giving, chevys proud to give our employee discount to everyone. The chevy price you pay,. Is what we pay. Not a cent more. Because giving,. And giving back, is what the holidays are all about. Use the chevy employee discount for everyone to get a total value of over eight thousand four hundred dollars on this silverado. Get the chevy employee discount for everyone today. Four hundred dollars on this silverado. Youre still the one that i love to touch still the one and i cant get enough were still having fun, and youre still the one applebees 2 for 20. Now thats eating good in the neighborhood. Thank you so much for letting us into your homes during these extraordinary times. Were grateful. The beat with ari melbur starts now. I have a question for you. With all the time in the white house, i was noticing you have news with the fbi where theyre signaling they would hold over the fbi director, which is normal but you have so many people concerned that many of the picks trump made are abnormal and there has to be a balancing degree. I im curious what you think about that given the transitions and white house because you can see it both ways, the tradition is holding the fbi director a term thats nonpart zisan but replacing a nontrump person might be nonpartisan and how