Meet the press citing his partys failure to unseat lindsey graham. Started to plateau when defund the Police Showed up with a caption on tv right across his head. That stuff hurt, and thats why i spoke out against it a long time ago. Right. I have always said that these headlines can kill a political effort. Then theres senator joe manch manchin. He twoeteeted this, defund the police, defund my butt. I am a proud West Virginia democrat, we want to protect americans jobs and health care, we do not have some crazy socialist agenda, and we do not believe in defunding the police. Manchin drew the ire of congresswoman alexandria ocasiocortez who tweeted a visual response. It was this photo of her throwing apparent shade on m manchin during a state of the union address. Should democrats win both georgia runoffs, it could be manchin who will be a swing voter and a deciding vote in a 50 50 split between democrats and republicans. Manchin is on record opposing any expansion of the Supreme Court or ending the filibuster. The four progressive freshman known as the squad targeted by conservatives, they all won reelection. Our sisterhood is resilient tweeted ilhan omar, and in an election postmortem in the new york times, aoc remained resolute saying candidates who lost had made themselves, quote, sitting ducks by not, for instance, running savvy online campaigns or accepting her help. And then she added this, progressive policies do not hurt candidates. Every single candidate that cosponsored medicare for all in a swing district kept their seat. We also know that cosponsoring the Green New Deal was not a sinker. Michael evan was an original cosponsor of the legislation. He kept his seat. While theyre praising joe bidens choice of ron klain for chief of staff will the progressives go along with bidens rumored pick of a moderate republican for his candidate. Will they push to reconfigure the Supreme Court. Can joe biden please them as well as moderates and the few republican senators hell need on board to pass any meaningful legislation. All of this leads me to this weeks survey question, please go to my website, smerconish. Com and cast your vote. Which will present more of a challenge to President Joe Biden, progressives in his own party or Mitch Mcconnell . Joining me now is congresswoman ilhan omar representing minnesotas fifth Congressional District. Congresswoman, thank you so much for being here. Good morning to you, michael. In the end, joe biden, he won a substantial victory, 306 electoral votes, the same as donald trump four years ago. Hes over 5 million in terms of the margin. My first question is to what do you attribute republicans gaining house seats, republicans seemingly holding control of the senate, picking up a gubernatorial mansion and more state legislatures than democrats . Let me just say this, i mean, the victory on november 3rd wasnt just a victory for biden, right . It wasnt just a victory for democrats, it was a victory for democratic ideas. We know that even in places where we didnt win, like florida, the minimum wage fight was won. We know places like south dakota and montana had referendums to legalize marijuana, and so we know that this election came about because the base was energized and people want policies that are going to create positive outcomes in their lives. I mean, elections are nuanced. Democracy is messy, and you know, i think to us we know that when george floyd was murdered, people on the democratic side went out and registered to vote and came out in mass numbers. And if you look at what happened in places like detroit, in philadelphia, in minneapolis, in milwaukee, we have seen a huge surge in the number of people that came out. Just in my own district, 88 of the electorate came out to vote. So this is a victory for our democracy, and that is what biden called us to do. He asked people to fight for the soul of our nation, for the soul of our democracy, and people did that in mass numbers. Congresswoman, the l. A. Times today makes reference to your Congressional District. Ill read you a short paragraph, if we put it up on the screen. They said this. The left points to california representative katie porter of irvine as an example of an unabashed progressive succeeding in a swing district, but moderate skeptics argue shes an outlier. They cite the fact that bidens vote in liberal omars minnesota district exceeded omars by more than 70,000, and that biden carried a nebraska Congressional District where a more liberal democrat running for the house lost. To what do you attribute the distance between the president elects margin in your own Congressional District and your victory margin . So i had a very contentious primary. A lot of people in my district knew that i won my primary handily. When we went out and campaigned and put everything into the general, a lot of people were like, ilhan is a shoein when they had the opportunity to vote for legalized marijuana now candidate, even some of my friends and my own neighbors decided to take that opportunity. And i joked i might have even done that if i wasnt on the ballot myself. Look, we know that every single sponsor of medicare for all has won their reelection in a swing state. We know that members of the progressive caucus who are in swing states like ng craig and katie porter won their elections. We know that no one who sponsored the Green New Deal lost their reelection. This idea that we are supposed to listen to republicans who benefit from us, you know, fighting amongst ourselves as democrats is one that is not going to go well with me, and its not one thats going to end well for the policies that we are fighting for as democrats. Were going to have a big challenge. This country right now is dealing with a pandemic. We are seeing a financial crisis. We currently have a president who refuses to concede and allow for a peaceful transition to happen. The Biden Harris Administration doesnt have the opportunity even to try to start that transition, and so republicans really are part of a party that is enabling this president , whos not only humiliating himself but humiliating our country, they have, you know, qanon conspiracy theorists part of their caucus. For them to lecture us on what it takes for us to win, to sustain the house, to gain the senate and to govern is something that should not be taken seriously. Would you agree with jim clyburn, would you agree with joe manchin that in the end the defund the police movement, or at least those words, were an albatross around certain Democratic Candidates . And i note congresswoman, i just read the star tribune this morning and i see that in minneapolis in your home state, yesterday 500,000 was appropriated to hire more police in minneapolis this year. What thoughts do you have on that issue in political terms . Yeah, so i mean, if you think about some of the reasons some of the democrats are pointing to, i mean, if we think about south carolina, the surge for the democratic challenger came in october. He was surging in the polls in october. That is not when that Movement Really was gaining momentum. It was sort of plateauing. So we know that thats not the reason this candidate lost, and so there is really a serious postmortem that we have to do. We have to analyze what went wrong. Where our chances actually existed, where we overreached, and how can we duplicate what happened in georgia and use that as a model, have conversations with people, you know, expand our ground game. We are now working with some of the grass roots progressive organizations in georgia trying to get the resources, trying to utilize some of the skills that we have as organizers who have increased turnout in their own districts and trying to see if we can implement some of that there. So you know, theres really an honest opportunity for us to win those two seats, but were not going to get there without unity, and were not going to get there by pointing fingers at each other. Final question, so your candidate, your partys candidate won the white house. How likely is it that he buys into, that his administration buys into medicare for all, the end of fracking, defunding the police, or the Green New Deal where he didnt buy into any of that during the campaign . So we know that these policies that we advocate for has allowed us to win the generational debate. Weve seen even the fox exit poll that 70 of americans believe that a government run like medicare for all is the way to go, and you know, its going to be an honor for us to lobby and champion these policies under a democratic president. Look, we might not agree on everything, but we know these are democratic policies that our base and the American People will benefit from, and were going to continue to advocate for them. What is congresswoman ilhan omars answer to my survey question today . Which is a bigger challenge for President Joe Biden, dealing with the progressives in his own party or dealing with Mitch Mcconnell . The progressives in his own party are an asset. Mitch mcconnell is the i think it is going to be important for the Upcoming Administration to recognize that this is someone who has stifled progress in our country and to figure out a strategy to sidestep him and get things that need to get done for the American People. Congresswoman, thank you so much for your time. Thank you. What are your thoughts . Tweet me at smerconish. Go to my facebook page. Ill read some responses throughout the course of the program. Now we know how shes voting on the survey question. Smerconish, why are you starting out your show with now that the election is over when in fact, its not . It hasnt been certified yet. Come on, trust the process. You know, that statement was the mantra for the 76ers for a long time. It might not be official, there is a process underway, and i respect the process. As a matter of fact, earlier this week i defended on radio the president s right to litigate whatever legitimate issues there might be. But theres a process, and it goes from tabulation to certification. Then the Electoral College, then congressional acceptance. Im going to talk about it in five minutes as a matter of fact, and i think youre fooling yourself if you dont think that the handwriting is on the wall. So i respect the process, but its over. I want to know what you think. Go to my website at smerconish. Com and answer the question this hour, which will present more of a challenge to President Joe Biden, progressives in his own party or Mitch Mcconnell. Ilhan omar, congresswoman omar just said its mcconnell, not us. Up ahead, President Trump still refusing to concede the election. How long will this drag on . What are the consequences . Election law analyst Richard Hasson will explore some of the possible outcomes. Plus, good news in the fight against covid. Pfizer says early analysis has found its vaccine to be 90 effective, but distributing the vaccine, thats going to take a major effort because the temperature required for storage is cold. Think south pole on a winter day cold. Weve got the doctor whos heading up the Clinical Trials here today. And on election day in an extraordinary move oregon voted to decriminalize possession of small amounts of heroin and other street drugs. Could this be the beginning of the end of americas decades long war on drugs . I had shingles. Horrible. A young thing like me . Actually anyone 50 or over is at increased risk for shingles. The pain, the burning my husband had to do everything for weeks. And the thing is, theres nothing you can do about it shingles can be prevented. Shingles can be whaaat . Prevented. You can get vaccinated. Frank they have shingles vaccines whaaat . Thats what i said. Were taking you to the doctor. Not going through that again. You can also get it from your pharmacist 50 years or older . Get vaccinated for shingles. Now. Balanced nutrition for strength and energy. Whoohoo great tasting ensure with 9 grams of protein, 27 vitamins and minerals, and nutrients to support immune health. And nutrients to for each Family Member with the features they want, like hbo max. What was that . Happens every time i say hbo max. Cool hbo max. It can read . Its not complicated. Now you can save more with at t wireless plans and get things your way with features like hbo max included. Ride. Relax. Now youre cloud surfing record scratch ride. Relax. I felt i couldnt be at my. Best for my family. In only 8 weeks with mavyret. I was cured. I faced reminders of my hep c every day. I worried about my hep c. But in only 8 weeks with mavyret. I was cured. Mavyret is the only 8week cure for all types of hep c. Before starting mavyret your doctor will test. If youve had hepatitis b which may flare up and cause serious liver problems during and after treatment. Tell your doctor if youve had hepatitis b, a liver or kidney transplant,. Other liver problems, hiv1, or other medical conditions,. And all medicines you take. Dont take mavyret with atazanavir. Or rifampin, or if youve had certain liver problems. If youve had or have serious liver problems other than hep c, theres a rare chance they may worsen. Signs of serious liver problems may include yellowing of the skin, abdominal pain or swelling, confusion, and unexplained bleeding or bruising. Tell your doctor if you develop symptoms of liver disease. Common side effects include headache and tiredness. With hep c behind me, i feel free. Fearless. Because i am cured. If you cant afford your medicine, abbvie may be able to help. Pfizer this week announced its vaccine candidate would be 90 effective, and yesterday President Trump said fda authorization is expected soon. We will work to secure an emergency use authorization, which should be coming down extremely soon, and my administration will then coordinate the distribution of the vaccine, and it will be approved. In theory, 13 million americans could be vaccinated by the end of the year. The overall game plan, its complicated to say the least. Joining me now to discuss is dr. Robert salata an Infectious Disease specialist who is heading up the Clinical Trials of covid vaccines at University Hospitals. Hes the department of medicine chair at University Hospitals cleveland medical center. Thank you so much for being here. Explain to me the pfizer vaccine. Ive got a number of basic questions. Its actually two injections separated by three weeks. Might that change . So thank you very much for having me on. It might change in that pfizer is doing an analysis at day 14 instead of day 28, which captured both injections. Day 14, that will be two weeks after the initial vaccine was given, and in that regard theyll look at the same comparison of covid19 cases in the vaccine versus placebo recipients and well see if that holds up. Thats a possibility. But right now what kind of most data maximizing the immune response has been done with two injections. What kind of challenges are presented by the storage and distribution because of the temperature requirement . Yep. So of the vaccines being studied in the united states, and there are four of them with a fifth to come, this is the one that requires the coldest temperatures. As you mentioned before. That is minus 70 degrees celsius, very, very cold, and this vaccine, which is not a live vaccine, virus, it requires that for stability. And in that regard, there are plans to package these in these coolers, especially coolers and the vials within them, which contain five doses per and also using dry ice for transport to places where the vaccine will become available. So those will include health care centers, hospitals, and even retail pharmacies as this moves along. This can be stored in these coolers for up to 15 days and the regular freezer as long as the dry ice is replenished. Dr. Salata, who will determine who among us gets it first . So theres a playbook thats already been put out by the feds, and each state has done the same, and the priority with which people will get vaccinated is according to their risks in part so the first line or the phase 1a, which its been called, will vaccinate Front Line Health Care workers and First Responders followed shortly by the elderly and others with vulnerable conditions, including underrepresented minorities who have had disproportionate complications and death related to covid19. And the general public will probably have vaccine available to them by the spring as said by dr. Fauci yesterday in a very optimistic tone or at least the early parts of the summer. Yesterday in his rose garden press conference, the president made reference to operation warp speed and its applicability to pfizer. Heres what he said. Our investment will make it possible for the vaccine to be provided by pfizer free of charge. Pfizer said it wasnt part of warp speed, but that turned out to be an unfortunate misrepresentation. They are part. Thats why we gave them the 1950000 billion, and it was an unfortunate mistake that they made when they said that. Is he right . Is this all a product of in some way operation warp speed . Well certainly thats been part of the support, but its not the only. Pfizer and the other manufacturers of these vaccines really have undertaken an incredible journey here to get to this point, seven to eight months into the pandemic. And ive never been involved in a study thats been so carefully scrutinized, so nothing is being cut corner wise, and i think i was incredibly excited as many are about the 90 plus efficacy rate and the safety data coming from pfizer so far. The next step is to look at 168 individuals who have had covid and to redo the analysis at that point, and if it holds up like it did in the preliminary analysis, then they will be proceeding to present this to the fda and other independent monitoring groups and hopi