Home as covid19 cases increase across the nation. More than 13 million americans have been diagnosed at over 2,000 americans are dying every day from the virus. As states brace for an uptick in cases due to holiday gatherings the nations most populous county, los angeles county, is set to impose strict stay at home rules that will take effect tomorrow. Meanwhile, health way be on the way as the first doses of pfizers 1ir9 vaccines are headed to the u. S. From belgium, but keep in mind a vaccine isnt expected for wide distribution until later 2021. A cdc panel will meet on tuesday to decide how the initial supplies of the vaccine will be allocated. Joining me now Emergency Room Physician and california congressman and a good friend raul ruiz, cardiologist dr. Bernard ashby on the committee to protect medicare, dr. Mercedes carnethon from Northwestern University and dr. Corey hebert, former cochair of the louisiana governors covid19 Minority Task force. We should also note that dr. Hebert is a Principal Investigator in a Vaccine Trial by the Pharmaceutical Company sonifi. Thank you for joining me. So i would like to start with you, dr. Hebert. I understand that you are currently in los angeles and i just want you, if you can please, give us the lay of the land. Well, i will tell you it was an impressive thing that i saw yesterday, folks were masking up. They usually are Walking Around los angeles outside [ inaudible ] were very serious and they realized that in a county like l. A. County with the density that if they dont do what they need to do then this is going to be [ inaudible ] any way day. So as we starting to into this Holiday Season we have to realize we have to do the things that got us to the point where we were having 30,000, 40,000 cases a day as opposed to 120,000, 130,000. We have to make sure we keep our distance. People understand these things but weve gotten to a point of cognitive dissidents right now, meaning we know exactly what we are supposed to do, we just tend not to do it because we have covid fatigue. Once we have this fatigue, then we dont want to do the things that got us to this point. So, folks, im just proud of the folks of los angeles, but this has to sweep the nation, meaning the good things not the virus because the virus is the constant, its looking for you to infect you. Once our Emergency Rooms and icus overflow then we go back to not having that curve flatten. We talked about that at the beginning, not to decrease cases, but to make sure that we dont overburden our system and we cannot have that going into flu season. Dr. Carnethon, i want to ask you california has often been the marker for what the rest of the country should expect. We just saw that aaa announced close to 50 million folks traveled this Holiday Season. Is this going to be the new normal until we get a vaccine . You know, it certainly is, and thank you for that question. You know, one thing that weve seen consistently throughout this pandemic is that following major holidays we have seen a spike. One thing to note, though, is that we wont see the spike right away. It will be delayed by a week or two because of testing delays, because as people return theres probably going to be a surge in people needing to be tested and the processing time at labs may, again, go up. So what we dont want to do is take heart in saying, well, the cases are relatively flat so were okay and nothing happened. What we need to do is look a little further out. It was the two weeks following memorial day, it was the two weeks following fourth of july, following labor day, following halloween in many places where we saw the spike and, again, i think we might end up seeing the same thing as we go into december. So we need to keep that in mind as we make plans for the next holiday. And i will end with the point that ive been Reading Books about what its like to live during a war and people crave normalcy, they crave wanting to get back to the things that matter to them and to do those things. The distinction here, we are certainly in a war, but the distinction here is that going back to normal is whats going to prolong this war. The extent to which we try to continue as if it was our lives b. C. , before coronavirus, thats whats going to threaten our recovery. So we need to really make the sacrifice now if we hope to come out of this ready to receive this vaccine. And i want to underscore that it really does lie in our hands. And i want to bring in dr. Ashby. Its always wonderful to have you because you always speak such truth and clarity to the most marginalized of the communities that we need to serve and i want to show you this. The Associated Press basically just said that the cdc panel meets on tuesday to vote on covid19 vaccine priority. Experts have proposed giving the vaccine to Health Care Workers first, high priority may also be given to workers in essential industries, people with certain medical conditions and people age 65 and older. I want to ask you one of the things that were seeing as well is that nurses are getting displaced from rural and poor hospitals because other communities can pay them top dollar. Are you concerned that this distribution of the vaccine will disproportionately impact more rural excuse me, more urban areas and wealthier regions than more rural areas and poorer parts of the country . Thanks a lot more having me. I have developed a reputation for keeping it real, but, you know, when you are at war you have to speak truth and you have to speak truth to our leaders and currently there is a Leadership Vacuum. As we go into this as we are in the midst of this third surge and by all accounts the most deadly, there is an un whats the word im looking for . Its appalling to look at the Leadership Vacuum that exists currently as we speak. You know, the vaccines when they do come out theres been a lot of talk and a lot of hype about how its going to curb this pandemic and i am very hopeful, but, again, what weve noticed is that the people who are, you know, workers, who are the people who are people of color seem to get left out time and time again and we have shourtered the brunt of this pandemic. Basically as the vaccines are rolled out i fully expect the disparities in the deaths of covid19 to increase. And why . Its because of the barriers to access, one, and two, the inherent systemic biases that are built into our system. So i think that we need to get out ahead of this and discuss this openly and aggressively so that we can, you know g ahead and prevent this from happening. And as we talk about the current surge thats happening right now, its incredible to me that folks arent looking at this as an emergency situation. This right now is a wartime situation and we need to have daily briefings and i would like to call on the Biden Task Force to get out ahead and actually do daily briefings and not wait for the administration to do exactly what they should be doing right now because i dont think the American People understand whats happening in our hospitals right now. I think that is quite true, the devastation that is leaving folks. What folks dont understand is that hospitalizations are going through the roof. Hospitals dont have enough beds to take care of folks and Health Care Workers are seeing their own ability to take care of individuals maxed out. I want to bring in congressman dr. Raul ruiz who is a longtime friend. I know that you represent one of these rural areas in southern california. How is Congress Planning on helping deliver the vaccine to areas such as yours and the constituents that you represent . Well, maria, the bad news is that we are going into the eye of the storm. This is a war and this is the last great Bloody Battle In Order to get us over the hump, this is the climax, per se, and right around the corner the First Quarter of next year is when were going to start to see these vaccines. So congress has allocated billions of dollars for the research and development of these vaccines, congress has also allocated billions of dollars for helping hospitals and clinic, but like the previous physician said is that we work in a failed system. This system has failed rural, minority, poor, underserved communities and thats why we have health disparities, not only in chronic illness, but now in the death of this covid19. So we cannot just rely on a system that has already failed. We have to think innovate ifl, we have to know that the logistics and the access to clinics, to personnel who are able to administer the vaccine needs to be beefed up. So we need to continue to Fund Programs that will be able to go door to door, that will be able to vaccinate at the workplace, for example, farmworkers and different food logistic chain production locations, at schools, at churches and other locations. You know, we need to and ive been focusing on this issue for several months now, writing to the National Academy of sciences, to the nih, to the administration about having a Health EquityPublic Health approach to Vaccine Distribution and administration in order so that people that are working with infected individuals get them first, then other highrisk individuals. And lets not kid ourselves, we have Essential Workers who are high risk Essential Workers and we have Essential Workers who are low risk Essential Workers. We need to determine which are high risk and make sure they get them first. Those are the people that are in contact in Grocery Stores and other locations because of their work with other people. So we need a Health Equity, Public Health approach, which is the right approach in order to help stop the spread of this virus. And, dr. Ruiz, what you are describing very much on the distribution is what paul farmer developed on how to distribute tb and later hiv aids to the most ruralest parts of the world starting first in haiti. It is this idea that Health Care Workers become localized and you have someone that takes care of you to make sure that you are getting the vaccine and it is this idea of going door to door. I wanted to ask you, dr. Hebert specifically because i knnoknow are part of the Vaccine Trials. How is the distribution going to look for communities of color and what is the timeline realistically that the American Public you or i you are a doctor, i whom not a doctor in a medical facility will actually have access to that vaccine . I think its very important to answer and address because so many folks now believe because there are a couple of vaccines on the horizon that we will be able to get it tomorrow and we know thats just not the case. This is a multilayer question. First of all, id like to say that the folks that are in the rural areas are more likely to die from covid19 right now, but less likely to get the vaccine. So what the folks said before me, that is absolutely true. Marginalized populations at this point have never had access to health care and i like to call them health inequities, not health disparities. Inequities means that they are not equal and they are also bad. So with the vaccine i see that we are out there getting africanamericans, latino, latinx populations involved in the Clinical Trials because by and large africanamericans, latinx communities, people dont trust the medical establishment, they dont want to take the vaccine. So we can talk about Herd Immunity all we want but if we have a vaccine were shipping all across the country and people dont trust the vaccine then they are not going to take it so that means it that it wont work. Thats why people like me have to get out on the front lines and say im an africanamerican, im working on these trials. You have to trust if we say this veep is going to work then people should probably take it. But to answer your question directly, i dont see the vaccine being widely distributed until march or april because its just very difficult to get this thing going. We are at warped speed right now, but we have to be able to have the uptick so people can actually take the vaccine across the medical establishment which because of the last administration they have no trust and no leadership and the Biden Administration i think will be able to provide the leadership that we need to get it across the finish line. Thank you. Before we go, i do have to ask you, i would be remiss, congressman, there are rumors twirling around that you might be in one of the short lists for a Cabinet Position with the biden campaign. What say you . I say that im focused on helping our nation get through this pandemic as quickly as possible and if i were called by President Elect Biden, i will definitely answer that phone and have that conversation. Very well scripted, congressman. Thank you, congressman raul ruiz, dr. Ashby, dr. Carnethon and dr. Hebert for your service but also for being very clear. Folks, we cant expect wide distribution of the Coronavirus Vaccine until march or april. Stay home. Wear a mask. Next up, trumps inspiring chuckles from Kamala Harris. Trg chuckles from Kamala Harris. Oh, i will rescue you finding the right words can be tough. N it comes to autism, finding understanding doesnt have to be. Together, we can create a kinder, more inclusive world for the millions of people on the autism spectrum. Go to autismspeaks. Org President Trump has been Making Motions that he will run again in 2024. Do you feel like you and President Elect Biden would be ready to face him again . Please. Despite what the Vice President elect may think donald trump is already reportedly running for president in 2024. According to the daily beast in trump fashion he may even hold a Campaign Event during the President Elect Bidens inauguration. Joining me now is alexi mccammond, Timothy Obrien author of trump nation and Jennifer Rubin opinion writer for the washington post. Jennifer, as a, you know, minted republican whats your take on this, having a side event during one of the most important pieces of transferring power from one president to the next . Whats your take . I think its somewhat ridiculous and its also a good test for the media, frankly. There is absolutely no bigger story than the inauguration of joe biden and no one should cover trumps [ inaudible ]. This is his pathetic jumping up and down, me, me, me. In point of fact he is going to do all sorts of things and he is not the center of our political life anymore. He is not the story. I think Kamala Harris may have been amused that this is now republicans problem to deal with. He is the one who is now going to be hanging like a dark cloud over the 2024 wannabes, so let them cope with him and they should ignore him thoroughly and get on with the business of governing the country. Tim, i want to talk this whole thing that were finding that one of the reasons that he may be saying that hes running for president is more to line his own coffers. Trump solicits election defense that finances leadership pac. 60 of each donation goes to save america and 40 goes to other committees, including the National Party and the Trump Campaign accounts. You wrote trump nation. Is this just a way for him to continue lining his coffers, tim . Of course its a way for him to continue lining his pockets, his wallet, his coffers, his vault in the basement of trump tower. He has been doing these kinds of things forever. I mean, remember pardon me this is a man who has been essentially excommunicated from the philanthropic world because he and his three eldest children looted a charities that they have been soliciting funds for forever. And the second they began this narrative about election fraud, eric trump was tweeting people to donate to trumps reelection fund. I think theres no question in their mind that this is a money making opportunity. He will get to keep the money that goes into Something Like this. The reality is there are some real wild cards out there about his ability to run again in 2024. The one thats most salient to me is if the Manhattan District Attorney charges donald trump with a crime and donald Trump Service convicted he wont be allowed to run again. So any republican or trump supporter who wants to give money to trump, should bear in mind that he has a long track record of being scamming and weasely with other peoples money and that he has run afoul of the law and that could complicate things as well. And i want to have i think one of the things that the republicans were hoping for is that he might be able to save the senate for the republicans in georgia, but there seems