Country baselessly fighting the election results, he has tested positive for covid19. Hes in a d. C. Hospital being treated for what were told are mild symptoms but says hes recovering quickly. Rudy is one of the more than 101,000 americans who are waking up in hospital beds this morning. And they are just some of the 14 million americans who have had the virus. I am now one of those americans. After testing positive for covid19, i have spent the better part of the last two weeks in bed isolating and taking all the precautions needed to protect myself, my family and my community. My husband and my kids, they have it, too. We still dont know how we got it, but were getting better, and we are very, very lucky. I am grateful to be back and on the mend and broadcasting safely from home where im still isolating until i know for sure that i am no longer contagious and positive. But that is not the case for the families of the 283,000 americans who have died. More than 2,000 of them died just yesterday. Ill tell you, theres so much more that i now know after having covid myself. Most importantly, we dont have a vaccine today. We have a virus that is ravaging our country, and we need to do a whole lot more to stop it. And as a person who is sick and scared, i am begging you, please take this seriously. It is not over. I want to start by taking you to two places in this country where the virus is surging. My colleague jake ward is in california and kathy park in massachusetts. Jake, take me there. Last night more than 33 Million People in california are now under stayathome orders. Whats going on there . Stephanie, good morning. Im glad to see you looking so healthy. Yeah, here in california, you know, the San Francisco bay area, where i am, originally led the charge back in the spring when it issued some of the first shutdown orders of any urban center in north america. And now were leading the charge again. Governor newsom announcing any region thats fallen below 15 icu capacity will enter a threeweek stayathome order. Were not yet there officially in San Francisco, but San Francisco bay area is going first. This the counties surrounding me have decided to stay at home. Meanwhile, other areas of the state, san joaquin valley, southern california, also triggering that same order because their icu capacity has fallen so quickly. We talked about flattening the curve, and that phrase seems to have gone away for some reason, but were back there again. Trying to flatten the curve here in california, and that is why the San Francisco bay area is going first. Jake, thank you. Kathy, take us to worcester, massachusetts. A new Field Hospital just opened where you are. Steph, thats right. First of all, great to have you back, and good to hear that you are doing better and my thoughts are with your family as they continue their recovery. But here in worcester, thats right, we are dealing with a lot. I mean, when you just look at the numbers, 1 in 5 people are testing positive for the virus. Hospitalizations at an alltime high. In fact, statewide, its growing 2 to 3 a day, triggering this dcu center to turn into a Field Hospital again for the second time this year. Right now, as of this morning, we know there are six patients, but they have the capacity to take up to 220 patients. And, obviously, they dont want to get to that point but they are prepared and bracing for the worst case scenario. Yesterday, we got a tour inside this facility and, stephanie, learned a lot of lessons from the spring. So they are stocked with the ppe, the ventilators, and now they have a new space where Covid Patients can interact. Take a listen. Getting up and Walking Around when you are recovering from covid and getting the blood to all portions of your lungs and getting a little exercise is the best thing for recovery. And again, really hard to do in a hospital room. Everyone will have covid here except for the staff so the patients dont have to wear masks. They dont have to take ppe precautions because theyve already got the disease. So theyre not going to give it to one another. How much does this effort to bring a sense of Community Among the patients help in their recovery . I think it makes all the difference in the world. We truly have people, you know, dying of loneliness. And just hearing that, it really sometimes just goes beyond medicine to help with the ongoing recovery. And, steph, once again, this dcu center is at the ready to respond to even more hospitalizations in the area. As of this morning, once again, just six patients, but theyre prepared to take more. Back to you. Kathy, jake, thank you. Another state being hit hard, my home state of new jersey. It recorded more than 6,000 cases for the first time yesterday. The governor of new jersey, democrat phil murphy, joins us now. Governor, thank you for joining me. You know, i have to ask you about this party. The new york young republicans couldnt hold an event in new york, because the rules wouldnt permit it, but they held a gala here in our state. You called out congressman matt gates who attended this party. Heres the thing. Matt gates doesnt care that you called him a putz or dont want him in new jersey. He loves this national news. But now those people who broke the rules could be spreading this virus and killing people across our state. You are the one who makes the rules. Do you need to put more restrictions in place and actually punish these people . First of all, stephanie, god bless you and your family. And we wish you a speedy recovery in your personal testament to the toll that this virus can take. Its extremely compelling. Godwilling, will save others from the path youve been down. Secondly, weve got the same darn rules new york has. These jerks came in. Its under investigation, including the venue, and its unfathomable. The pictures, nobody is wearing a mask. They are inside. Theyre on top of each other. Its ridiculous. This guy, all he craves is National Attention as you rightfully point out. He doesnt care about people getting faecget ing infected or hospitalized or, god forbid, people dying from this. Its the height of irresponsibility. But the answer is, yes, weve got the same restrictions, plus or minus new york has. These folks violated it. Its under investigation and im not happy. I dont know how you could be happy after Something Like that. But maybe people would care more and listen more if there were more punitive consequences, right . In your rules youre urging people who come into new jersey from out of town to quarantine. All it is is an honor system. Matt gates didnt follow it. Do you need to do more than an honor system . Lives are at risk. Listen, steph, theres just its impossible to enforce somebody taking the lincoln tunnel from new york city into hudson county. We enforce them all the time. Theres a restaurant in burgen county thats paying a huge price for gatherings right around thanksgiving. Weve got enforcement up and down the state. I worry, frankly, more because most operators are doing the right thing. And most people are doing the right thing. I worry right now about somebodys living room. A private setting. Where no amount of enforcement can get into every living room or private setting in our state. That to me is where our biggest challenge is where the pandemic fatigue is at its height. Thats where people are letting their guard down and i would just plead with people, not just do the right thing when youre in a restaurant or a gym, but do the right thing when you are in your own home. What about people who cant afford to do the right thing . People who arent like me who dont have a salaried job or work at a company that says go home and take care of yourself. Do you need to do more to financially support those people because i can tell you, as sick as ive been, i feel well enough that i could go to work if it meant the only way to put food on my table. Yeah. Its a great point. And this is where the federal government has to come in. We are way past due for a big meetthemoment federal stimulus that would go right at a whole number of our weakest aspects right now, including those who dont have the alternatives that you and i have. The folks who are living in multigenerational intense living circumstances that may not be able to afford health care. That informs our testing priorities and informs our Vaccine Distribution priorities. Well lay every penny we can on the street. No american state has the amount of money that is needed right now. The federal government has got to step up. It is way past due. And it needs to be a big move by them. It has to meet this moment in history because its unlike any other moment weve ever faced as a country. Do you need to take over testing . Right now, people are just going to urgent cares. Were waiting in line for hours for a test. And then were waiting days to get those results. And the guideline is, during that period of time, we should all be isolating. But people arent. Theyre out and theyre infecting others. Would that change if the government took over testing . I think if we had a National Testing response. A National Response, period, which would include testing, face coverings, the defense production act to pick three examples. Weve got far too much of a Patchwork Quilt approach to this virus from day one. We have over 400 testing sites. We constantly are sponsoring mobile sites, particularly in our urban communities. If youre watching from new jersey, its covid19. J covid19. Nj. Gov testing. Lines have gotten longer. Turn around has gotten longer and thats because were all facing this at the same time. Every american state. So the answer is, yes. If we had a federal government approach that had some very basic national principles, wed be in a far better place. I ask you as someone who hasnt been called. How do you think were doing with Contact Tracing . Mixed, at best. The good news is weve got really good my guess is youll get called at some point today. Weve got really good folks who have volunteered, who have come in, and who are now paid on the staff of our community Contact Tracing corps. They reflect the community. Were the most diverse american state. They make the calls. Too few thats the good news. The bad news is, too few people are cooperating. And that is really hurting us right now. How about some of the folks on your team. Do you have a dr. Fauci . New Jerseys Health commissioner is an rn, not an Infectious Disease doctor. Do you need to upgrade your team . Weve got a terrific team, stephanie. I have to tell you, judy persakelly, first rn to hold the commissioner of health. Her number two is a medical doctor. We rely not just on their team and their independent Advisory Boards that advise them on things like Vaccine Equity and distribution, but we run deep into the new jersey hat as you know and it happens to be as it was called for so long and still is, the medicine cabinet of america. Weve got an overwhelming presence of pharmaceuticals, research universities. Were not bashful about reaching out to the likes of tony fauci who has been really helpful to us. Vivek monurthy, part of the bid incoming team. Someone who has been really helpful to us. Im proud of our team, and im completely convinced that we have the right access points. And by the way, we dont take any of that for granted. We look in the mirror every day. If we think we can get better, we do everything we can to get better. All right. Governor, thank you so much for joining me this morning. I appreciate it. Bless you, and stay well and get better. Thank you so much. As you heard, governor murphy just mentioned how much stimulus is needed. Lets find out where we stand on that. I want to bring in nbcs Garrett Haake on capitol hill. Whats the latest . Hey, steph, good morning, and welcome back. The Bipartisan Group of lawmakers have been working on this covid relief emergency measure met over the weekend. And as we come into this new week there are two sticking points as they try to hammer out the fine points. The first, money for state and local governments. Things to keep first responders, teachers and so forth employed during the pandemic. Im told this is something they feel more confident about their ability to work through. They may already be doing so. The bigger trouble is this Liability Protection provision. This is something that republicans in the senate, especially mitch mcconnell, have demanded be part any of covid relief bill. As it stands right now, this package is designed to provide a liability shield for companies at the federal level, just for a few months. Essentially long enough for states to set up their own system. That may not be enough for some republicans. The other piece of this puzzle, something thats not currently in that 908 billion bill, stimulus checks. Direct relief to American People. Those are not in the bill. Ive heard from some lawmakers on the left, including alexandria ocasiocortez and some on the right, josh hawley, who would like to see that added. Thats a 300 billion price tag. That would push this up over a trillion dollars. Negotiations on this continue and, steph, remember, the deadline for this, in theory is friday when government funding runs out. But congress has the ability to extend that deadline by a week or so if they choose. Watch for this oneweek sprint to maybe become a twoweek sprint. And people need help now. Garrett, thank you so much. Weve got a lot to cover in this hour. Still ahead president elect biden making it official. What his newly announced medical team says about their top priorities. Plus, the candidates vying for Georgias Senate seats make their case to voters. Well, some of them. This as today marks a key deadline for voters in the state. But you know, before we go to commercial, this shoutout was coming. Our dear friend Steve Kornacki in his very smart new little haircut, he started his sunday on meet the press and ended it on sunday night football. The master of the big board broke down the playoff picture. Instead of a path to 270, he made a path to the playoffs. Washington, they still have to play pittsburgh this week. If washington loses that game, the giants then move a full game ahead of washington and, by the way, they have the tiebreaker over washington as well with those two headtohead victories. A possibility that that 45 could climb even further. Liberty mutual customizes your Home Insurance, heres something you shouldnt try at home. Look, Liberty Mutual customizes Home Insurance so we only pay for what we need. Its pretty cool. That is cool grandma very cool. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Who takes care of yourself. So why wait to screen for colon cancer . Because when caught in early stages, its more treatable. Im cologuard. Im noninvasive and detect altered dna in your stool to find 92 of colon cancers. Even in early stages. Tell me more. Its for people 45 plus at average risk for colon cancer, not high risk. False positive and negative results may occur. Ask your prescriber or an online prescriber if cologuard is right for you. Ill get on it thats a step in the right direction. Ill get on it put yourselves through all that pain. Go on, humans, waltz around in those foot knives, watch your blue light lanterns, blast those eardrum bangers look at this one hes trying to pick up the mail hah silly. Oh. Silly humans. Who do you think you are . Pain will bring you to your senses. You cannot keep this up pain says you cant. Advil says you can. [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. Gubut force factors test x180 are tough. Can help us man up, america, by boosting total testosterone. Build muscle, fuel desire, and improve performance. Get test x180 from force factor, the 1 fastestgrowing mens health brand at walmart. This morning, president elect biden Just Announced his medical team as they gear up to fight the coronavirus. He tapped California Attorney general xaf jvier becerra. Hell lead a team that includes dr. Vivek murthy as Surgeon General and dr. Anthony fauci joining the new administration as chief medical adviser. Nbcs mike memoli, of course is with the biden team in delaware, and we also have New York Times chief White House Correspondent peter baker. Michael, why becerra. Why not someone with more of a medical background . Hey there, steph. Good to see you doing well. Its a good question that you ask about becerra. If you look at this team broadly you see dr. Fauci asked to stay on as the chief epidemiologist with expanded role as chief medical examiner. You look at rochelle walinsky, asked to lead the cdc. Also somebody with great Management Experience in the public and private sector. Jeff zienst asked to be a covid czar. Becerra is somebody we were looking at as potentially attorney general nominee, not for this post at hhs. During his 12 terms in congress, not necessarily seen as someone who was a particularly health care wonk. But heres what the Transition Team is saying about his position. Its his current job as the California Attorney general where he has emerged as one of the chief defenders of the Affordable Care