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his one-time rival pete buttigieg to lead the department of transportation which, by the way, has been coordinating with operation warp speed for vaccine distribution. one thing the d.o.t. can't control, though, the weather. in a twist that is so 2020, there's now a nor'easter threatening to snarl vaccine deliveries in our country by dropping up to two feet of snow. more on that in a moment. first, these are the facts on the pandemic. this morning "the new york times" reports the trump administration is negotiating a deal to help pfizer produce tens of millions of more doses of his its vaccine. that's noteworthy considering the government turned down an order to secure more doses back in november. a new way to fight the pandemic from your own home. the fda just gave emergency use authorization to the first over-the-counter at home covid test. no sending samples to the lab. results in as little as 20 minutes. even with positive news like that, this sobering warning from the cdc which now projects 60,000 more americans will likely die from this virus in the next 2 1/2 weeks. we have our reporters spread out on different regions of our country covering this pandemic and the historic vaccine rollout that's under way. right now in philadelphia, that impending winter storm could spell trouble for vaccine rollout efforts, even as the first doses are administered. the city is now making contingency plans for vaccine distribution that could include using the state's national guard. nbc's vaughn hillyard is at thomas jefferson university hospital in philly for us. this is going to be a problem all across the northeast, this vaccine rollout which is already, to say the least, logistically challenging, further complicated by a nor'easter. how is this going to work? >> reporter: chris, today is the first day that vaccines are being distributed here in philadelphia. this is a moment when we need to acknowledge that up to six inches of snow are expected to hit here in philadelphia, but up to two feet in other parts of pennsylvania. the governor, as well as the emergency management agency director here in the state of pennsylvania, said the national guard is on standby to help distribute the pfizer vaccines and potentially the moderna vaccines as we head into next week. these are the circumstances. we were just in this hospital to bear witness to the front line workers in philadelphia getting the vaccine. talking with jennifer gill who is the very first nurse here, an er nurse who got that vaccine. after watching that, another nurse came up to myself and producer matt and said, i hope you guys understand the history you're watching here. she said she was an er nurse as well. in so many ways, that history that we talk about, chris, is the lengths to which humans are able to extend not only their own mortality but their hopes in the understanding of their own struggles. what you're bearing witness to is the worst these hospitals are seen. 113 individuals are on ventilators. there are more individuals in these hospitals with covid than at any point over the last year. this is the worst, today, that it has been. that's why these vaccines are so important to the frontline workers in that hope this can be overcome. i want you to listen to part of my conversation with that nurse. >> it's difficult. we're seeing a higher acuity of patients, more patients come in. we're doing what we did in march. so we saw a surge of more patients coming in. we're trying to do our best. i definitely feel like there's hope now after this vaccine. >> reporter: that's why it's so important. it's the frontline workers, those individuals with the national guard, others across the state here, business owners over these next couple months here as we head to the winter in which this is the moment. the last nine months have been tough, chris, but it's these months ahead that will be potentially dire here as these vaccines -- trying the best officials can to get them disseminated. >> vaughn hillyard, thank you. good to see you, my friend. right now south dakota is one of the first states to vaccinate staffs at nursing homes and long-term care facilities, critical for a state that has the highest nursing home death rate in the u.s. it's a state with a lot of ground to cover. one hospital said its couriers log 11,000 miles a day trying to get supplies to rural health facilities. nbc's dasha burns is at the stanford medical center in sioux falls. you've got an inside look at this two-fold issue, vaccinating health care workers now, but also getting the vaccine to the more rural parts of the state. what are you finding out? >> reporter: chris, that's absolutely right. we were here two weeks ago when we saw those freezers that had to be placed strategically across their facilities both in south dakota, and sanford health also covers north dakota and minnesota. a lot of ground to cover, as you said. 1.2 million people spread over an area the side of texas. so those cure years are going to be critical as the vaccine gets rolled out to the broader public. here today, this is the first full day of vaccinations at sanford usd medical center. they started at 7:00 a.m., going all the way to 7:00 p.m. let me walk you through what's happening here. katie is checking in the people who will get vaccinated, also making a second appointment for them. remember, this is a vaccine that requires two doses. if you follow me here, they've got four exam rooms where nurses are vaccinating people about every five minutes. four people getting vaccinated every five minutes. i think we've got a vaccination about to happen here. this is deb and her colleague tony in the room here vaccinating tracy, a nurse here, who has seen a lot, as so many health workers have. there it goes. tracy, how did that feel? >> pretty good. >> are you doing all right? >> doing great. >> reporter: after tracy finishes up in there, he's going to come and walk into the waiting area because this is also a vaccine that requires 15 minutes for monitoring just in case anyone has any side effects from the vaccine. all these folks you see here both on this side of the room and here on this side of the room, they have just gotten vaccinated. how are you feeling? feeling great? chris, here with me, i have connie dehahn who just got vaccinated. your entire family is in the medical field. you're the first one to get this vaccine. what are you telling the folks at home? >> it's thumb's up. so excited to be part of this revolutionary vaccine. it's going to change the world. covid has impacted every one of us. we're getting through it, but the world is going to go back to somewhat normal. such a simple, simple act to get this vaccine and impact everybody's lives around us. >> considering everything that you and your colleagues have seen that you've gone through over the last nine months, what did that moment feel like for you today? >> just being december, i think it's joy to the world. couldn't be more perfect timing. >> a little christmas present for everyone. >> absolutely. >> connie, thank you so much. >> reporter: chris, a lot of join here today. as i've been talking to the folks waiting in this area, it's amazing how many stories i've heard of people who have lost loved ones, nurses who say they currently have family members on ventilators. there's a bitter-sweet sense of joy and hope, but also guilt because they want to see this for everyone. these frontline workers have been going through so much. their message is, there's a vaccine, yes, but this is absolutely not the time to let up. in fact, it's a time to hunker down and do everything you can to protect yourself and your loved ones as we go through the holiday season. >> the best way you can honor folks is to do exactly that. dasha burns, thank you for walking us through it literally and figuratively. now the question is how to convince everyone to get the shot. pew research found that 71% of african-americans either know someone hospitalized or killed by covid. fewer than half say they're willing to take the vaccine. blayne alexander is in atlanta outside the morehouse school of medicine. this is a big hill to climb. what's being done right now to try to repair the distrust, the understandable distrust of vaccines among black americans? >> reporter: a lot of that work is being done here and in places like this. this facility, morehouse school of medicine was chosen as a vaccine test site in large part because of the school's ability to attract a diverse group of participants. that's absolutely key. that's why they want to make sure there are people of all race, gender, all backgrounds represented in these trials. there are two facts in this. one, the fact that while the country has been devastated by covid-19, black americans have been hit especially hard, by almost every metric, when you look at death, hospitalization, unemployment, all those numbers are disproportionately higher. the other fact, unfortunately, is there are many people who simply don't trust this vaccine. that's for a number of reason, chris. i've spoken to a number of people who say they want to make sure they're represented in these trials, to make sure pre-existing conditions that are common among the african-american community like hypertension, high blood pressure, things like that, they want to make sure that's factored into the trials as well. the other thing is there's history here, a deep seeded history that goes back generations of african-americans being used for medical experiments dating back to slavery. there are two people i want to introduce you to working to change that perception. ashley neely is a 33-year-old woman who signed up to be part of pfizer's vaccine trial. and the other is dr. nicole peoples who says when it comes to restoring trust, it's a two-way street. >> i wanted to make sure the vaccine is effective on african-americans. if we don't have enough people participating in the trial, when the vaccine comes out, we could be in the same boat. >> oftentimes the burden is placed on black people to trust more. it really is important that the community is out here instilling or gaining trust of the communi community. >> reporter: chris, one final thing that's important that i've heard from people reporting the story is the issue of representation, making sure that patients are able to look at doctors and health care professionals, nurses, and see people who look like that. that's certainly a crucial part, one thing a lot of people are taking into consideration and making a priority when it comes to the vaccine rollout. >> blayne alexander, thanks for reporting. let's start on this issue of trust, doctor. so far, none of the thousands of health care workers who have gotten the vaccine report serious side effects. early recipients talk about a sore arm which many of us gotten when weave gotten other vaccines. do you think positive experiences will be the best ammunition in convincing skeptics to get the shot, and what else needs to be done? >> i think when people know other individuals who have gotten vaccinated and seem to be doing fine, offer no complaints, that does help people on the fence. there are people that are vaccine hesitant or even anti vax. full transparency needs to be out there. we have to set the tone of this debate, not allow the anti vaccine movements or the conspiracy theorists set all the turns that we're on the defensive for. i've been trying to dissuade people there's not nano bots that are going to communicate with people in these vaccines. we know there are even health care workers that hold these views. this is going to be something that's very hard to do. i'm looking forward to having my arm sore in a couple days when i get my vaccination. >> i don't blame you for that. i thought i was beyond being shocked by some of the numbers that came out. the cdc is predicting up to 362,000 deaths in this country by january 2nd. that means about 60,000 more lives in just over two weeks. how worried are you about this possibility? >> i think it's going to come to fruition. we know this virus is spreading unabated in many parts of the country. we're worried about hospital capacity on a day-to-day basis just like we were back in new york in march. this is something i don't see an easy end to. the vaccine is a great light at the end of the tunnel. it's not going to have an impact on what happens in the next couple months. it's up to us to change our behaviors. i don't see that happening. i have to work tonight in the hospital. i know it's going to be busy with covid patients. it seems to be almost kind of an endless storm of them that continue to come. i don't see an easy solution. we're muddling through this in the united states just like we have been since january of last year. i think we are going to see more deaths as we get through this hard winter season. >> let me ask you about something brand new and how it fits into the solution. the fda announced the first at-home, over-the-counter covid tests. how helpful could this be in stopping the spread? i think there was a pretty strong number of folks we saw who have said they just have trouble getting tested or getting the results back within a timely manner. so could this be, if not a game-changer, at least a step in the right direction? >> it's definitely a step in the right decks. this doesn't require a prescription. it's rapid. it gives you a result that you can interpret through an iphone app. it is something that weave been advocating for a long time, that people need to be empowered, to know their status. so they can know what activities they can and can't do. unfortunately is going to cost about $30, so it's going to be out of the reach of many people. we want high frequency testing. this is a step-down that road. hopefully we'll get there. i hope it has an increased uptake. this is one way to reduce the harm of the virus. we needed this months and months ago. i'm glad that finally we're seeing it come to fruition. i hope that it can have an impact in the face of really what is an enormous pandemic that we're facing in the united states right now. >> dr. amesh adalja. thank you for all you do. good luck when you go in tonight, another night facing just an unbelievable challenge for all you folks in the medical profession. in about 30 minutes we expect president-elect joe biden to introduce his former rival pete buttigieg, he could be the first openly gay cabinet secretary if confirmed by the senate. finally, optimism from capitol hill where congressional leaders say they're closer and closer to a deal on covid relief after all these months of delays. i'll talk to a family doctor in kansas who ha is about to get the covid vaccine herself. now she has an even bigger task, convincing skeptics in her town to get it, too. the need has always been there. this year, it just happens to be greater. ♪ we have to find somethingust else. good luck!ut it. what does that mean? we are doomed. [ laughter ] that's it... i figured it out! we're going to give togetherness. that sounds dumb. we're going to take all those family moments and package them. hmm. [ laughing ] that works. right now covid is a small town horror stories. that's a quote pointing out the coronavirus has been spreading out of control in seven out of every ten rural counties. in just the last hour, midland, michigan, a town of 42,000 people received the vaccine. it's now triggering a critical operation there to get those doses out to even smaller hospitals and towns in that region. nbc's ellison barber is at mid michigan medical center, one of the pre description sites with more on what happens. i want to know what you're seeing now, ellison. this is something we talked about from the very beginning, how do we get the vaccine outside of major urban areas. what are you seeing? >> reporter: things have been moving very fast in the last 30 minutes. they got that shipment from the u.p.s. truck, moved to it the pharmacy and started the process to get this out to other communities. you said it. the thing that is tricky here is we know this pfizer vaccine needs to be stored at negative 94 degrees farenheit. if we walk this way, i'll show you what they're doing here. for the vaccinations that will take place in midland today, they have those in this cooler. they're getting the syringes out and getting things ready to vaccinate people here. the other thing they're dealing with is they need to get this vaccine to other communities, rural communities that are further away and don't have that vaccination type of storage container, if you will. what we saw earlier, they got the vaccine, rushed it to the pharmacy. and then they took out doses they needed to thaw. not only this site from rural sites further away. they have three minutes to take those vials out and repackage them in a soft blue cooler to get it ready to go. we're right here in midland, northeast michigan has been hit really hard by covid-19. we're in midland right now. they got the vaccines here. now the plan is they'll vaccinate health care workers in this area but start distributing to all these other places. later today they'll have a doctor take a soft cooler with some of the vaccines and drive two hours to al pena so they can vaccinate health care workers in this area and take doses of the vaccine so they can go further out to the other rural areas and get more health care workers vaccinated. we've been talking with the doctors and nurses the last couple days. they say they're ready for it. listen here. >> we have seven subsidiaries we're trying to deliver vaccine to, each with a different amount, each with the different locations. alpena is 2 1/2 hours away. we had to juggle the travel time in between there. some of our rural communities have been hardest hit with covid, particularly northeast michigan. not every small community can have one of those freezers. >> reporter: so there are a lot of rural hospitals, pharmacies, that are just going to wait until the moderna vaccine or something like that, that doesn't need that super cold storage comes out. again, they don't have the ultra cold storage freezer and they likely can't afford to buy one. because of this hospital, they're transporting it to all their subsidiaries and making it possible for rural communities and health care workers to have access to this now. the way they're doing that, chris, is surprisingly old-fashioned. they take the vials, put it in what looks like a beer cooler, pack it with ice and drive it in their personal cars. you can keep it at refridge rated temperatures for five days, so that's what it's doing right now. soon it will be on its way in a little bloo color in the back of somebody's truck. >> it also shows you how some of those folks getting the worst of the nor'easter are having the challenges over the next couple days. ellison barber, thank you for that. getting the vaccine to small-town america is a critical step forward. convincing folks to get the shot is another story. in from donia, kansas, one doctor has been dealing with hostility and backlash for supporting basic covid measure. jennifer mckinney is getting her covid vaccine today. i want to start on the high note if i can, doctor. thank you for being with us. talk to us what it means for you to get this vaccine and for your community to get this vaccine. >> chris, i can't tell you how excited i am. i haven't been this nighted for a really long time. i'll tell you i'm not even as excited about me getting the vaccine, but more excited about my 76-year-old dad who is one of my practice partners who has been in this community as a physician for the last 42 years. he's getting the vaccine today, too. it's just this relief as a doctor, as a daughter as someone who sees a light at the end of the tunnel that we're actually here and we're going to be able to do this and we might actually be okay. >> wow. that makes me tear up. 76 you said? how old is your dad? 76-year-old small town doctor. that's amazing. here is what's not amazing. you've gotten threatening emails. you were the target of personal attacks on social media because you tried to get people to do the right thing. just yesterday a republican mayor in western kansas quit because of threats after supporting a mask mandate. if getting some people to take this virus seriously has been so difficult, frankly, are you worried about getting them to take the vaccine itself? >> yes, i am. here in rural kansas, in my county specifically, it took until october for us to get our first 60 cases. here we are in the middle of december and we're already past 500 cases. nearly 200 in the last two weeks. i think somewhere in the middle we kind of let our guard down and thought maybe we're going to be fine, it's not going to be as bad as we thought it would be. but now here we are, right in the middle of a huge crisis. i hope that people realize that the vaccine is going to be a part of the solution to help us get out of this crisis. people talk about, no, there's only 1% of people who die from this. well, now this 1%, they have faces, they have names, they're our grandparents, our school coaches, our neighbors. i'm so hopeful that people will realize this is serious and we need to do something to stop the crisis and get back to real life. i'm going to take the vaccine, like i said. the rest of us in from donia, all us providers are going to take the vaccine. that's the best endorsement we can give to be able to tell people, hey, we would never ask you to do something that we wouldn't do. we'll continue to educate. we'll try to dispel all the misinformation, but, quite frankly, i'm nervous about what's going to happen in the meantime until we get enough people vaccinated because a community like ours cannot continue to see the numbers rise like they are. >> we have a map. i don't know if you can see it. it was compiled by nbc news related to vaccine access. this is an nbc news analysis of pharmacies. 99% of americans live within 50 miles of a pharmacy expected to carry the vaccine, drops to 80% within five miles. the red in the map signifies close to zero percent within five miles of a participating pharmacy. what concerns do you have moving forward when it comes to access to and distribution of the vaccine? >> definitely in our small communities, we don't have the luxury of having a walmart or a cvs or whatever nearby. those are at least 30 miles away. our bigger communities like wichita, kansas city, topeka, those are an hour and a half or two hours away. so i do worry. we have our first shipment and it's very exciting. but when is the next shipment and how are we going to get that out to the general public when we don't have the convenience of walking in and being able to get the vaccine. i do worry about that. i know that our community -- i know we have a strong medical community. i know we will figure it out. for right now it's kind of unknown and we'll continue to work toward a plan to be able to get as many people vaccinated as we can. >> we wish you luck with that. dr. jennifer mckenney, thank you for taking the time ot of your busy day to talk to us. finally, new signtion congress could be close to a deal on covid relief after late-night meetings on capitol hill. will it come together before millions of people lose their unemployment benefits the day after christmas? 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are they close to an agreement? >> reporter: chris, they really are. i feel like we've been close before. now we've got the players in the right rooms having the right conversations. yesterday the four congressional leaders, two each from the democratic republican parties in both chambers, met twice to hammer this out, the second involving secretary mnuchin to get the white house involved in a process that basically has to end by friday. congressional leaders in both parties have said they're not going home until they get a deal. opening the floor this morning, mitch mcconnell painted a fairly optimistic picture of where they are in the negotiations. take a listen to what he said. >> we made major headway toward hammering out a targeted pandemic relief package that would be able to pass both chambers with bipartisan majorities. we committed to continuing this urgent discussions until we have an agreement. we agreed we will not leave town until we've made law. >> reporter: chris, our team has been gathering details on what is in the deal. it closely tracks the outline we've been reporting over the last couple weeks with one pretty significant difference. this would include direct stimulus checks to individuals, probably at a number less than that 1200 we saw the first go around and probably won't include direct state and local aid money which had been a democratic priority. right now the outlines, the contours of this sort of deal in waiting are being circulated around the capitol. the hope given the tightness of the timeline, the shortness of the hour, is we could see the details of what's in a potential deal by the end of the day today. >> nothing like a holiday to get people moving. >> we do this every year. >> every year. some key republicans, believe it or not, are beginning to acknowledge that joe biden will be the next president, although not all of them. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell tuesday congratulated the tuesday elect. we have yet to hear, for example, from house minority leader kevin mccarthy. a divide is reflected across america. you might remember a very passionate panel of senior women we talked to before the election, two democrats, two republicans. post election, wait till you hear what they have to say now. >> do you think that donald trump still has a chance to be president. >> yes, i do. >> i think that's horrendous. i think what he's doing is destroying democracy. >> how many people have to say that everything is done in good order and was legal? >> until we get the final answer. >> president-elect biden will be the next president. >> he is not the president-elect until this is over and it is not over yet. >> what could joe biden do for you to win you over? >> stay moderate rather than go to the far left. >> i'd like him to resign because he's incompetent. >> well, that's terrible. >> that's terrible. >> how do you feel about trump running in 2024? >> 72 million votes is nothing to sneeze at, but meanwhile, there are certainly a lot of skilled, talented republicans looking to run in 2024. >> whatever president trump decides. that's his choice. >> hey, let him go for it in 2024, let him be the loser that i think that he is. >> not olding back. i want to bring in republican strategist matt gorman, the former communications director for the national republican congressional committee. i can tell you got a kick out of those ladies. the woman wearing the "my president" button that supports president trump, leads me to this question, how many republican voters will still be under trump's sway once he's out of office? do you sense any movement out there? >> i was very surprised by that, too. i took note of that. i was thinking about this. i kept thinking of matthew mcconaughey's quote, sometimes you've got to move back to look forward. i was thinking a little bit about what trump was like pre presidency from 2011 to 2015, he was ub bik us to on cable news tried to moderate a republican debate in 2012. he's going to freeze the field in 2024, until he either makes a move, makes a decision or something else intrudes, most likely the other candidates are going to wait to see what he does before committing too hard. >> i want to play something that's a perfect example of the divide in washington. >> as of this morning our country has officially a president-elect and vice president-elect. >> the president is still involved in on going litigation related to the election. yesterday's vote was one step in the constitutional process. he has taken all statutory requirements necessary to either ensure a smooth transition or a continuation of power. >> continuation of power. then the trump campaign sent out a fund-raising email with a subject line, should president trump run in 2024? republicans won't acknowledge he lost but then they talk about the next campaign. so where does that leave them? >> you're absolutely right. down ballot, it was a good night. overperformed in the house. most likely kept the senate. hard to recognize there was fraud at the top of the ticket. it's hard to reconcile that if republicans did so well. i thought mcconnell coming out was a very big step. i've seen it in incidents here and there where the trump administration will refer to the next administration. so it is a bit of a little bit of a pickle there, if you will. >> one of the women i spoke with, and maybe we'll get an indication of the middle ground of people who voted for donald trump with the georgia election. but one of the women i talked to, you heard her say to win her over biden would have to stay moderate, not go to the left. is that the secret sauce for biden, to win over at last some trump voters, maybe that sense in georgia, or is winning them over largely an impossible task? >> that depends. i do think that will be complicated by the fact -- and we're seeing it already with the covid talks, there ends up being a far left freedom caucus where those numbers led by aoc and others have ground. for instance, they will refuse to vote for any package that doesn't include stimulus checks. that might do it this time, but they're going to flex their muscle a little bit and try to move some legislation to the left. with nancy pelosi having a is slim majority in the house among democrats, that could pull biden to the left a little bit, too. >> matt gorman, i love your festive decorations. thank you for being with us. happy holidays. in just minutes we're expecting president-elect joe biden to introduce a former rival, pete buttigieg, to lead the transportation department. we'll get the latest on his team. and the snowstorm that could dump more than a foot of snow in parts of the northeast, maybe two feet, exactly how much to expect and when to get off the road. to show off the ease of comparing rates with progressive's home quote explorer. international hand model jon-jon gets personal. your wayward pinky is grotesque. then a high stakes patty-cake battle royale ends in triumph. you have the upper hands! it's a race to the lowest rate, and so much more. only on "the upper hands." and unmatched overall value. together with a dedicated advisor, you'll make a plan that can adjust as your life changes, with access to tax-smart investing strategies that help you keep more of what you earn. and with brokerage accounts, you see what you'll pay before you trade. personalized advice. unmatched value. at fidelity, you can have both. ♪ more than this at fidelity, you can have both. i and nothing has really worked mifor me. until now.nd years. with nurtec odt, i have felt such relief. i am able to go about my day as if nothing happened. nurtec is the only quick- dissolve treatment for migraine attacks that can get many people back to normal activities and last up to 48 hours with just one dose. don't take if allergic to nurtec. the most common side effect was nausea. for more information, go to nurtec.com introducing the new sleep number 360 smart bed. now temperature balancing, so you can sleep better together. can it help keep me asleep? absolutely, it intelligently senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both effortlessly comfortable can it help with snoring? i've never heard snoring. exactly. no problem. and... done. so you can really promise better sleep? not promise. prove. and now, save up to $700 on new sleep number 360 smart beds. plus, 0% interest for 48 months on all smart beds. only for a limited time. another history making choice from joe biden who at any minute will formally introduce his pick for transportation secretary, pete buttigieg. it's one of the multiple key roles he's filling this week. also on his liss it former michigan governor granholm and gina mccarthy. mike memoli is following the action from wilmington, delaware. i want to talk about all these key roles. let's start with mayor pete who initially at least a lot of people pegged to head veterans affairs. why transportation? >> reporter: well, soon it will be secretary pete if the senate does confirm pete buttigieg for this position. but you're right. there are a number of roles considered for pete buttigieg. obviously a high profile figure, somebody who biden specifically has talked of in significant terms saying he reminds him of his son. there's no bigger compliment for joe biden, connecting anybody to his son beau. transportation is not typically one of the most high profile positions in a cabinet. needy remind you, and you can see it directly behind me, it's the joseph r. biden jr. rail station. biden has put transportation and infrastructure projects at the very front of his agenda. this summer he proposed a $2 billion infrastructure plan that included a significant investment in roads and bridges, expansion in public transit options, a number of proposals that clearly signal what he wants as a priority of his administration. it's also something he played a role in the obama administration. remember the recovery act included a number of infrastructure projects. biden, interestingly, had been critical at times of the fact that the obama administration didn't do enough to sort of sell their agenda, sell what they were doing across the country. he wanted to do more of that. putting pete buttigieg in this position, somebody who the biden team sees as a very skilled communicator among other qualities that bring him to that position, i think shows what they're doing here. the other part of this, chris, as some of the other announcements we're ex-p pekting related to climate. infrastructure including transportation is also a green energy initiative as well. that's why we're also going to see the announcements of governor granholm, gina mccarthy coming in to play a climate czar role within the white house and other announcements to come as well, showing how much of a priority that is as part of this administration. an interesting time to be making on these climate announcements as we're expecting the snow in the days ahead. >> batten down the hatches. we'll continue to watch the podium and wilmington for updates on the event with president-elect biden and mayor pete buttigieg. first, what mike was talking about, the northeast bracing for what looks like a massive winter storm from the vaccine to christmas present deliveries, the logistical mess, and when you should get off the road. speaking of the coronavirus vaccine, check out the reaction of the first person to get vaccinated in new jersey. an er nurse who got the shot on her birthday. >> thank you. thank you. >> happy birthday. 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(crowd cheering) therabreath, it's a better mouthwash. at walmart, target and other fine stores. how did you find great-grandma's recipe? we're related to them? we're portuguese? i thought we were hungarian? grandpa, can you tell me the story again? behind every question is a story waiting to be discovered. right now a winter storm being described as nightmarish, major, and epic is getting ready to unleash its wrath on the northeast. 70 million americans are under winter weather advisories from georgia to maine. nbc meteorologist bill karins is with us to tell us when it's going to all start to get heavy. >> new york city is going to be a mess this evening, off the roads by 5:00 p.m. we may see snowfall coming down three inches per hour throughout the evening. the employees won't be able to keep up with it. as you said, epic or whatever adjectives whatever you want to use. kids are using happy adjectives because they won't have school tomorrow or virtual school or whatever. we'll talk about who is getting hit now and who later. 70 million people, we haven't had a storm like this in two or three years. last year new york city was four inches, philly and d.c. only had an inch, all last winter, that's why this is a big deal for a lot of people in this region, people are searching for their winter stuff. on these maps, the blue is where the snow is. inside the blue, the white is the intense snow. green shows you were the rain is. in between, we have that mixed which is starting to show up in washington, d.c. we've had minor accumulations in the d.c. area. this is it for you. after this it turns sloppy, kind of ice and rain and then probably most of it gets washed away. we're getting reports of very heavy snow, northern virginia, central pennsylvania, maryland, you want to be off the roads in those areas. in the next hour or two, philadelphia will get into that snow. by 3:00 to 5:00, that's when it all arrives in new york city. what does this mean for accumulation? here is our snowfall map. in the area of pink in the middle, that's 18 inches of snow. some spots could get up with yards of two feet, the poconos, catskills, heading towards central pennsylvania, that's the jackpot area. berkshires could get it, areas in massachusetts, north connecticut, hills outside of boston, worcester could easily get 18 inches. sometime they call it a plowable snow. this is like numerous times you're going to have to employeemployeplow. as far as winds go, i'm not concerned with a lot of power outages. usually in nor'easters we deal with power outages. this is a very fluffy snow, it's very cold in the northeast today, that will save us, chris. these winds in 30 to 50-mile-per-hour range, they shouldn't cause a lot of power outages. it's more like inconvene convei then you have to dig yourself out. >> hopefully they'll get it cleared with the fluffy snow quickly. thanks, bill karins. that will do it for me this hour. we're waiting for president-elect joe biden's event to start any minute. we're told the motorcade just pulled up to the venue and he's expected to formally introduce pete buttigieg as his nominee for transportation secretary. we'll have that live up next. andrea mitchell will be talking to have the senator bernie sanders about his push for more covid relief and about the biden transition, coming up after this short break. but we didn't stop there. we made a cloud flexible enough to adapt to any size business. no matter what it does, or how it changes. and we kept going. so you only pay for what you use. because at dell technologies, we stop...at nothing. ♪ subway is open and serving footlongs contact-free. order in the app for quick and easy pickup. or, get contact-free curbside pickup! staying home? get delivery! so many ways to get footlongs contact-free! subway. eat fresh. of the financial system. le have been shut out [music playing throughout] so many ways to get footlongs contact-free! my grandfather founded industrial bank in 1934 so black people would have a bank that would work with them. because our doors are open, other doors are opening to more opportunities for our community. we're excited to work with citi, so we can realize our dreams of expanding our reach and impact. citi is committed to working with black-owned banks like industrial, so they can continue to support their clients and communities. man 1 vo: proof of less joint pain woman 1 oc: this is my body of proof. and clearer skin. man 2 vo: proof that i can fight psoriatic arthritis... woman 2 vo: ...with humira. woman 3 vo: humira targets and blocks a specific source of inflammation that contributes to both joint and skin symptoms. it's proven to help relieve pain, stop further irreversible joint damage, and clear skin in many adults. humira is the number one prescribed biologic for psoriatic arthritis. avo: humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. man 3 vo: ask your rheumatologist about humira. woman 4 vo: go to humira.com to see proof in action. good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington where president trump is holding his first cabinet meeting in six months today as he ramps up his attacks on senate republican leader mitch mcconnell for mcconnell's belated recognition of joe biden's victory. the president still refusing to accept defeat and still considering using a special counsel to go after hunter biden and to go after baseless claims of election fraud. with only 35 days until biden is sworn in, nbc news is reporting the president had to be talked out of firing fbi director chris wray recently by white house lawyers concerned it could put mr. trump in legal jeopardy. the president-elect is in wilmington, delaware, moments away from announcing former rifle pete buttigieg as his choice for transportation secretary. former mayor of south bend, indiana, he would be one of the youngest cabinet members since alexander hamilton and the first openly gay cabinet secretary. biden has selected former michigan governor jennifer
New-yorkUnited-statesGeorgiaTexasPhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaWashingtonDelawareWhitehouseDistrict-of-columbiaIndianaVirginiaKansas Gov. Kelly Announces ACA Marketplace Reopens for Kansans to Enroll in Health Insurance for 2021
Targeted News Service
Feb. 15, 2021:
Laura Kelly today announced that the enrollment for 2021 health insurance has re-opened.
Kansas residents have access to a Special Enrollment Period to sign up for Affordable Care Act (ACA) insurance plans between
February 15, 2021 and
May 15, 2021, in addition to Medicare and Medicaid benefits. The Special Enrollment Period was opened by a January executive order signed by President
Joe Biden, opening the federal health insurance marketplace for three months starting today.
For all Kansans who are uninsured or underinsured, this is an excellent opportunity to secure coverage as
KansasUnited-statesWilson-countyLaura-kellyJennifer-mckenneyJoe-bidenNews-serviceBiden-administrationWilson-county-healthTargeted-newsSpecial-enrollment-periodAffordable-care-act