vaccine. we're hopeful, prayerful it will work out i believe with targeted restrictions globally you will see likely weaker first quarter growth before we gain traction in the second quarter. [closing bell rings] liz: gotcha. john lynch of comerica, a friend of the show. get out the blue ribbons. a record for s&p and nasdaq. connell: new highs for the stock market ahead of key vote coming up from centers of disease control and prevention. we'll watch that closely, moments from now cdc advisors are expected to vote who should get the covid vaccine first a lot of interest in that. while we wait on it to happen the closing numbers from wall street look good. s&p and nasdaq both in record territory. that is vaccine and recovery hopes. the dow off the highs of the day but still up 185 points. inching closer to getting back above the 30,000 threshold after the best month in more than 30

years. that is the best month of the year, i'm connell mcshane. this is the closing bell. time for news of the hour. jackie deangelis in new york, blake burman in white house, hillary vaughn with the president-elect in delaware and edward lawrence in washington with the latest on the covid-19 relief deal. a lot of moving parts we'll get into. the market is back in rally mode. good afternoon, jackie. reporter: good afternoon, connell. we'll talk about the records we set today with the s&p 500 and also the nasdaq. look at the gains there we beat what we were expecting handily. you only needed 16 points on the s&p and only needed seven on the nasdaq. this was a strong broad based rally today what is interesting big tech continues to gain on this momentum and continues to go higher from there. facebook, apples, amazon, microsofts of the world are

continuing to climb up. that is something you expect to hear. again it wasn't just tech, it was broad-based. look at the dow winners you can see we have more diversity there, health care, united health, johnson & johnson, you have got boeing, you've got travelers. investors feeling good about the market and getting back in. this is about vaccine news, connell, pfizer-biontech, moderna vaccines are waiting for that regulatory approval from the fda, the emergency authorization use and they will be the first to hit the market. then of course behind them you've got novavax and astrazeneca and j&j's vaccine candidate. so we've got a lot to look forward to in the coming months ahead. that is what investors are hoping for, not evenly see a stimulus package which may be coming but also see business getting back to usual once the vaccine is administered and hhs secretary azar said we could see

people in this country getting the vaccine by the end of the month, before christmastime. that is welcome news for investors and the market. dow finishing up with 185 point gain, pretty solid. just under 30,000. connell: very solid, thank you, jackie. to the idea who gets the vaccine first we'll talk about a lot this hour. committee from center of disease control and prevention are holding a vote on the rollout plan. blake burman is at the white house. we'll get the vote later in the hour. blake what is the latest. reporter: we're listening to the discussion, phone call going back and forth this outside group of advisors who they will say or at least who they will recommend should get the first vaccines potentially here in the upcoming weeks. this group is asip. advisory committee for immunization practices. soon they are set to vote. the working group going into this, recommended 21 million health care personnel in this country be that first group.

that specifically includes those who work in hospitals, long-term care facilities outpatient, home health care, pharmacies, ems workers, public health officials. dr. kathleen dooling of the work group laid out the argument during the meeting ongoing why health care personnel should be the 1-a group to get vaccinated. listen. >> vaccinating health care personnel supports the principle maximizing benefits, minimizing harms what we're calling the multiplier effect. in other words protection of health care personnel leads to preservation of health care capacity and better health out comes for all. vaccinating health care workers promotes justice because health care personnel put themselves at risk. they will be essential to carry out the saks nation program. reporter: back to the list, long-term care facilities were on that. there is some discussion, if you vaccinate of workers of long-term care facilities what about the folks that live in those facilities? there has been some discussion there about that.

we should get the vote from this committee here at some point later this hour. connell? connell: all right. blake, we'll back to you for that. once the cdc has its day or this group does, much of the execution will be left up to the states. a doctor joins us now head of the nashville coronavirus task force. good to see you, doctor, thanks for coming on. what role will not only but other folks in similar positions to you, local task force play in all of this once you get the recommendations from the cdc? how do you anticipate it working? >> thank you for having me. here in tennessee, the state of tennessee has been coordinating for several months with municipalities such as nashville and what we were going to do here in nashville is, the state will get allotment of tests and excuse me, vaccines. we'll provide those to health systems for the people, primary health care workers and so forth

but then the city will then work and public health department will work to provide those to first-responders, to the staff of nursing homes, perhaps to school nurses. we will have active role with municipality as well as health systems within our city to make sure the vaccine is distributed quickly and in the manner what is being recommended. connell: how do you feel about, we'll hear later this hour exactly what the cbc group says about it, the order things should happen? health care workers at the front of the line certainly makes sense to anybody who is asked about this but to the point blake was making a moment ago, there seems to be a deso-called 1 a group, people in long term nursing homes and care facilities 3 million in the country, bump them up ahead of other folks or get it at the same time as health care workers? how do you think that one or isa

phase shut work out. what makes sense to you? >> health care workers make a sense. health care capacity right now not necessarily physical space, when it comes to nursing home question i think you have to look at, obviously want to preserve people's life, older people more likely to get it have worst out comes but most of the people in nursing homes will stay in nursing homes. the way virus gets into nursing home is the staff comes in and out of nursing homes. may make sense to vaccinate those individuals first to try to minimize transmission of people coming in to nursing homes. maybe from there, if there is enough vaccine to give to higher risk patients or individuals in nursing homes. there is only so much vaccine on the front end in next month will be available, we have to be careful and judicious moving forward. connell: i don't know if this is too in the weeds for your level expertise at this point in terms of what you were told, what you

know, 21 million health care workers i read, 3 million in long-term care. that is 24 million. i would attach only to that. some groups we're talking about are much larger. total number of senior citizens in the whole country is well over 50 million. total number of essential workers which is much larger group than health care is like 87 million. if we get the 24 million first we would be off to a pretty good and sensible start, right? >> yeah. i think so. especially, health care worker part of it, i'm a practicing surgeon right now, the health care worker part i think is so critical. again our biggest worry in our city, i think around this country is running out of people who can take care of people of all health care needs in our -- [inaudible]. so if you, nurses, the techs, the doctors, then i think the flatting the curve argument, statement we've been making for the past nine months happens right off the bat, right? we flatten the curve because health care workers are not getting sick anymore.

we have capacity. i think subsequently like you're saying, my hope next six to nine months, hundreds of millions of doses of vaccine so essential workers, teachers a lot of people who i think are essential to making our economy and communities work get the vaccine. start with health care workers. have the high-risk older people and go from there. connell: and we get to sort of normalcy which i've been asking a lot of people last couple weeks, june of 2021 is that realistic? what is your best sense. >> people ask me that question a lot. second and third quarter is critical. here is another thing. having vaccines available is important but make sure we as society get the vaccine of the vaccine seems to be very effective, almost same as measles and mumps, the only reason measles and mumps went

away because people were being vaccinated. if we get everyone vaccinated and we do it in a way proposed, yeah i think second quarter, end of second quarter, sounds like a good time for a lot of our society to be vaccinated. connell: well the news is promising and it is promising we're actually talking about timelines rather than whether we will have a vaccine. we know the tests will be going so well on that front. doctor, thank you. in nashville. we wait for stimulus. we'll move on to talk about that. congressional leaders are working to find common ground on a last minute covid relief bill. what is at stake for millions of americans? believe it or not a new by partisan plan on the table and proposal from republicans. a member of the problem solvers caucus is coming up to talk about that. recovery for everybody, president-elect joe biden unveiling key members of the economic team today. what will it all mean for you and your wallet.

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♪. connell: "fox business alert" as we come back, a big acquisition just announced here made official after the bell. salesforce is buying slack, mark benioff's company. i believe the biggest acquisition ever it ever made. $27.7 billion to buy slack technology. both stocks after-hours are down a little bit. salesforce down a little bit down 3% where slack is almost break even, down a little bit, by 34 cents. anyway that is something to watch tomorrow but certainly slack would be a company a lot of people are familiar with, especially working from home communicating around office. salesforce has been around the cloud world a long time, led by mark benioff. a big acquisition, 27 billion. president joe biden and vice president kamala harrisries made a big announcement. six members of the economic team are introduced. after announcing, former fed chair janet yellen would be

hspic for treasury secretary. hillary vaughn with more, the question what the team will mean for us taxpayers. hillary? reporter: hi, connell t could mean billions of dollars added to the debt on day one which ultimately taxpayers pay the price down the line. president-elect joe biden saying this economics team is working on additional stimulus package if the one ultimately gets passed in the lame-duck session this winter in his opinion not enough. >> but any package passed in a lame-duck session is likely to be at best just a start. my transition team has already working on what i will put forward in the next congress. reporter: biden's nominee for key economic positions announced today are now putting his plans for higher taxes and massive government spending in the spotlight. former fed chair janet yellen, his pick for treasury secretary was against president trump's

tax cuts and jobs act in 2018 that cut taxes for millions of middle income earners saying at time the economy did not need a boost. now she will be in a position to squeeze out even more tax revenue without congress. yellen would oversee the irs as part of treasury, putting her in prime position to make tweaks to the regulations that enforce the tax code, that could rake in more revenue by cracking down on corporations. yellen could deploy the irs to do more audits to make sure they're getting every penny owed. that was a tactic used during the obama administration. she is in favor of a carbon tax that would ultimately hit all americans at the gas pump. some conservatives say would break biden's promise not to hit americans making 400,000 or less with higher taxes. biden's pick for the office of budget and management, neera tanden would play a key role helping biden follow through on significant economic initiatives. she would help biden reverse trump's tax cuts, expand the affordable care act and also

prioritize government spending on things like biden's two trillion dollar green energy plan. connell? connell: all right. let's talk a little bit senate confirmation, hillary. from what i have been hearing at least seems like even though as you say republicans might have issues with janet yellen, she is likely to, as much as anyone can these days sail through but what about neera tanden, maybe not the case. what about are you hearing confirmation for these candidates. reporter: not the case at all, connell, especially with tanden who republicans will not get confirmed at least without a fight. tanden has been busy doing damage control before the event. deleted 1000 tweets targeted gop senators she needs to win over. senator john cornyn, one of those key votes called her radioactive. here is what senator lindsey graham said last night. >> so if you want to stop this nonsense, if you want to make sure this nutjob, tanden doesn't

become the director of the budget in charge of the office of management and budget, make sure we win in georgia. reporter: connell, tanden also has combative relationship with progressives. senator bernie sanders has been outspoken against her in the past as well. connell? connell: nutjob tanden doesn't bode well for confirmation necessarily. i guess we'll see. thank you, hillary vaughn, wilmington, delaware. new warning from the cdc meantime. the agency urging americans to avoid traveling to mexico. travel there may increase the chance of getting, spreading covid-19. death toll in mexico surpassed 100,000 with covid, fourth highest in the world with a million confirmed cases in march. the country's actual numbers are much higher with lower testing levels. a lot of people want to go to mexico. airlines are seeing increased

demand for beach destinations during the winner months. new reports mexico was clear leader for international air travel from the u.s. last month. this hour we have the cdc panel that is voting on and they will be the ones deciding who gets the covid-19 vaccine first. we'll bring you that vote as soon as it happens. stay with us. ♪ (teen) mom... it happened again. (vo) add some thrill to your wish list. at the season of audi sales event.

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♪. connell: millions in position to lose paid leave, federal benefits in place because of pandemic set to stop at the end of the year. one of the issues as congress tries to compromise on a last minute relief bill. there are number of developments this afternoon. edward lawrence tracking it all from washington. joins with us the breakdown. edward. reporter: connell, 87 million people could lose some sort of federal ben if congress fails to pass some sort of relief act.

the cares act sunsets. treasury secretary steve mnuchin talking with nancy pelosi talking about a possible government shut down this month. the covid relief package did come up. the house speaker saying it is long overdue. mnuchin told the senate banking committee that he put forward proposal after proposal the house speaker rejected. he is not the negotiator but he is still pushing. >> i do believe we need more fiscal relief. i think there is more relief to be done. i said in my testimony. fortunately the cares act worked and numbers are better than they were two months ago, i would urge congress to pass something quickly to make sure we get something done in the session. >> really did act aggressively. i would just say we've come a long way. the cares act did a tremendous amount of good. we can see maybe a light at the end of the tunnel with the vaccine. we at the fed will keep at it until we're really done. i think some fiscal support now would really help move the economy along as well.

reporter: fed chairman calling for more fiscal help. so is a group much nine bipartisan senators released a 908 billion-dollar framework. money for small businesses and employment and payroll protection program, help for airlines. the house speaker has not said she would bring it to the floor. >> we have not had assurances on them for a vote but i think the american people will put pressure showing there is a group of us coming together this needs to be done. this is the only group made an effort they made right now. the only group that has come together in such a large gathering, with many more people involved. we know the needs there we're determined not to go home until we do something. reporter: connell, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell is trying to figure out what the president would sign. back to you. connell: all right. we'll talk a little bit more about that, thank you, edward. nine senators teaming up with the problem-solvers caucus in the house with bipartisan covid plan. a little more of that, take a

listen. >> it would be stupidity on steroids if congress left for christmas without doing an interim package as a bridge. >> i happen to be a deficit hawk. i don't libor rowing money. i don't like spending money we don't have but the time to borrow money, maybe the only time to borrow money when there is a crisis. this is a crisis. connell: joined by republican congressman from pennsylvania dan meuser, a member of the problem-solvers caucus. also a member of the house budget committee. we've been down this road literally. i remember to have you on talking about effort you guys made a few minutes ago. as edward reported a few minutes ago, maybe this won't get a vote on the floor. what are you hearing about the effort that you guys are putting forth? >> it should and you're right. few months ago, problem solvers came with 1.5 trillion bill that was quite targeted. frankly i like this one a lot

better. it is even more targeted. it is addressing needs. we have real needs. there is, continues to be a high level of unemployment. now it is rapidly declining but it exists. it is at 6.9% nationally, 7.3% in pennsylvania. we also have a needs in our schools. we have, we need funding for vaccine distribution. all of which this bill, this bill contains. so we've got added ppp, because we continue to have a very significant small business shutdown issue in pennsylvania, particularly with restaurants. so, yeah, i'm very glad we have a bicameral, bipartisan initiative here. now you know, the democrats have to come to the table. i'll tell you this, connell, the republican leadership in the house is willing to negotiate from the very beginning. so let's do it. connell: talk about some of those specifics, correct me on any that i'm getting wrong, from what i understand you mentioned some of them, to get to

908 billion, on weekly unemployment benefits for people trying to get back on their feet, take 300 bucks from the federal government, extend that three or four months. you have state and local aid from what i read, 200 billion plus, you have ppp money, that is maybe 300 billion. you don't have direct checks, do you? is that how you save, how you keep it under a trillion, so you don't have direct checks going out to people, right? >> we don't. known as stimulus funds they are not in this bill and we're not seeing necessarily, sure a lot of families are out there struggling but a consumer spending issue. what we wanted was a targeted bill. mitch mcconnell has said from the very beginning we want it to be targeted. we don't want to spend one more dollar more than we have to. this thing is 950 billion but it is targeted. focused on businesses. focused on schools. it does provide for the 300-dollar unemployment suply meant supplement as well as

funding for hospitals which is crucial. we have an increase in covid cases and hospitals are under some stress. connell: right. we're seeing that all around the country which you talk about on the show every day. there is another bill floating around on the senate side from republicans i don't think goes as far, right? you talked about democrats having to come to the table, point well-taken but are there some republicans not willing to quite go as far enough as they need to yet in terms of getting something through both houses? >> perhaps. hopefully negotiation is taking place. the republican leadership in the house is very willing to negotiate. i mean we were at 1.2 trillion number not too long ago. and some of the, some of the negotiations taking place with what states need not what states want but what states need. my state of pennsylvania, for instance, is forecasting a 5 billion-dollar deficit through 2021. this bill will deliver almost precisely, i think if my math is right, about $5 billion for the

loss of revenue during the course of the covid, not for bailouts for things from the past, but again, focused, targeted, based upon need. that is what i think the problem solvers bill has done. it is nice to see republicans and democrats in the senate coming to the table along with 25 republicans and 25 democrats in the house. connell: we don't see much of it anymore. it will be interesting, like you said, that is what the democrats said they wanted was state and local money. there is some in there on targeted basis. dan meuser from pennsylvania for joining us from capitol hill. in a few minutes cdc advisors will vote on which americans get the shot of the covid-19 vaccine. we'll bring you the decision as soon as it happens. a inside look at major safety changes major cruise lines are making before they are given the okay to resume sailing

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪. connell: now to the future of cruises. cruise lines are overhauling their operations trying to meet new safety guidelines with more than 100,000 people already signing up to volunteer for test voyages at this point. ashley webster today in port canaveral, florida, setting sail for us. ashley? reporter: vip room of the cruise

terminal 3, brand new, spanking new but guess what? there is no one here which explains why i haven't been thrown out of the vip room. also, look, because the $155 million to build this facility the cruise lines as we know have been shut down for nine months now. the impact has been, well, it has to be one of the hardest hit industries since covid took hold back in march. $25 billion worth of economic activity has been wiped off. it could bo up to $32 billion by the end of the year. normally, look, this place would be absolutely packed. last year 4.6 million people came through this port. it is the second busiest cruise port in the entire world. so it really is stark when you come here, connell, looking at this beautiful facility, it is like a library. very, very, very quiet. so the question is, when will these cruise lines be able to get back into business as they

continue to lose massive amounts of money? i spoke to the port's director. he says once that can happen, maybe in the next two or three months, if all goes to plan, he says the passengers will most definitely come back. take a listen. >> i do. and it probably won't take as long as you may think. if you're aware of the cdc return to sale order, the first voyages will be test voyages. one of the cruise lines asked for volunteers and they have already 100,000 people to volunteer to test it. reporter: there you go. it is optimistic thinking but the cdc has to approve, connell. there are long waiting times before they actually can set sail. i'm thinking second quarter before things start to get back to normal but certainly for places like this 2020 has been an absolute nightmare. here is praying 2021 will be a whole lot better. connell: think about 30 billion almost just wiped out amazing

for people that work in that industry. i will say, ashley, i hope they didn't leave the food out with you alone in the vip room is certainly dangerous from previous experience. ashley webster in florida, for you today. reporter: thank you. connell: we're waiting on the vote from the cdc. blake burman is covering that for us and who gets the vaccine first. whether they add the group from long-term care facilities and nursing homes as we talked about earlier in the hour. we'll have the vote in just a minute. don't go away. demand a new type of network. one that's more than just fast. you need flexibility- to work from anywhere. and manage from everywhere. advanced technology. with serious security. and reliable coverage, nationwide. forward-thinking enterprises, deserve forward-thinking solutions. and that's what we deliver. so bounce forward, with comcast business.

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♪ if you wanna wi... [ music stops ] time out! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ ♪. connell: we're waiting for that vote to officially happen from that group of advisors to the cdc on how we're all going to line up for the vaccine. i want to welcome in as we wait for that dr. jenette nesheiwat, specializing in family, emergency medicine to talk about it. good to see you again. so people know, we mentioned this earlier in the show, blake burman is monitoring this, basically a conference call he is monitoring. he may jump in a little while once we get an actual vote. seems what they're talking about today not just big picture who will line up to get the vaccine. we have an idea what they want to do with that, particularly people in nursing homes, other long-term care facilities whether they should be 1-a group

right behind the front line health care workers to get the vaccine. that is important group of folks to so many people especially here in new york with all the trouble of nursing homes when this thing started. what are the views how this thing should handle in terms where they should fall in the lineup? >> sure. you know, these are grandparents. one raised us, these are seniors that we should love and respect and take care of but i think what the cdc is going to vote on, number one, decide who is at high-risk exposure daily and who is at the highest risk of severe complications or even death? that comes down to those who work in the emergency room, doctors, critical care nurses. those who are in icu, respiratory technicians. who are the front lines, hands on covid health care workers. that is number one. then we look at the nursing homes. they were the one of the hardest hit because, back then, six, seven months ago, we really

didn't have much known. we didn't realize how contagious this virus is. how it jumps from one person to another. that you needed it to keep the six to 10 feet away to prevent the transmission. they, the cdc will likely put nursing homes, residents off of those long-term health care facilities really high at the top of the list. i won't be surprised if they put them you know, in the same category as physicians but we also have to keep in mind, we now know that, you know, conducting weekly tests, for example, a nurse that works in a nursing home, she will likely get tested at least once a week or twice a week. nobody can go visit the grandma or grand pa or relative in a nursing home unless you get pested beforehand. right now they have very strict guidelines, rules, regulations before you can even go to a nursing home and to visit. so i think the number of deaths in that respect is going down but ultimately, they are still at a high-risk of severe

complications because most of them are older in age and most of them may have already underlying health disease, health conditions, heart disease, kidney disease, maybe undergoing chemotherapy, long-term health care facilities, usually engage also in physical therapy. some maybe just came out of surgery, just had hip replacement or strengthening from undergoing some sort of cancer treatment. so we have to take all these considerations all aspects into into -- consideration. when you think about it, we'll have 21 million health care workers, we have 20 million doses of the vaccine supposed to be available end of this year, the last two weeks of december. two weeks later we'll have 60 million more doses. it is really just a two-week delay, then we'll have another 60 million doses available. everyone will get it. i don't think we need to be

worried, anxious about it, educating america to make sure everyone gets the vaccine once you have the opportunity. the wonderful thing also we need to point out, there will be multiple vaccines available. it will not just be one. we'll have moderna, we'll have johnson & johnson, novavax, eventually astrazeneca there are over 200 vaccines in development as we speak right now. so it is just a matter of time. it will be available to everyone. connell: right. some could afford to wait longer than others. that gets to the priority lists in terms of, you know, who gets it first and who makes it on the list. a lot is just the numbers game. let me bring blake burman back from the white house. he has been monitoring the cdc advisors meeting all day long. the thing, blake, we were talking about it with the doctor a little bit you have something like, as dr. jenette mentioned,

21 million health care workers in the country, obviously a lot of front line health care workers, nursing home long-term care workers is 3 million. that is not a heavy lift. when you say for example, all senior citizens have to be in the 1 or 1-a group, much smaller number in terms of number of vaccines available. go ahead. reporter: they're discussing that right now. the vote is set to take place from acip, the advisory committee to the cdc who should get the vaccine when they end upcoming online. i want to show you connell, apologies if you put it on the screen already, i want to show you the recommendation is and what vote is on right now, it is this. quote, if you can put it up it would be great. when a covid-19 vaccine is authorized by fda and recommended by acip health care personnel and residents of long-term care facilities should be offered vaccination in the initial phase of the covid-19 vaccination program. so not only the health car

workers, 21 million adults in this country, connell that is 8% of the u.s. adult population, but residents in the long-term care facilities. you would vaccinate right out the gate workers of those facilities but they have been talking for a while, connell, what about the individuals, many cases older individuals in the long-term care facilities, do you vaccinate them as well as part of the very first batch? that is at least the recommendation they're going to be voting on. i've been watching here on my cell phone last couple hours, been listening. we think it is coming any moment, connell. by the way before i go. reporter: go on? connell: no, no. finish that. reporter: i was going to say, one thing to keep in mind, this is a recommendation from an advisory panel to the cdc. when there is a vaccine or vaccines, they eventually get out the gate, it is going to be the governors of states and

health departments within states who are eventually going to say it goes there, it goes there, or it doesn't go there. this is what the cdc is recommending. of course their word and recommendations carry weight. that is sort of the context of everything that is unfolding right now on this call. connell: good context on all of that, blake. thank you. dr. jenette, quick answer if we can before we move on here to sort of put you on the spot, does it make sense to you, bottom line, if you had to make the vote yourself to include the nursing home and long-term care patients in that first group? >> absolutely. but i do think the e.r. doctors, icu doctors, critical care nurses should be priority. they take care of you when you go to the hospital when you call 911. you need healthy pilot to fly the plane. need a captain ready to steer the boat. you have to have them as a top priority.

absolutely keep our seniors as a priority as well. again, there may be a two-week delay. blake is absolutely right. the cdc will put out guidelines. state have to come up with the proposal to get it approved by the cdc before they distribute the vaccines. connell: dr. jenette as always, thank you. blake as well. if you hearing is on the conference call hop back in. bigger picture, covid cases continue on the rise, topping 4 million in november. doubling record 1.9 million cases record set in october. casey stegall live in dallas with a look where things stand. reporter: connell, we're also breaking records for hospitalizations all across the country. more on that in just a minute but we're at at a he testing si, a drive-through testing location in dallas. it is steady stream of people all day. they write numbers on the car. they're on car 468.

they opened at 8:00 this morning but it is not the numbers we saw prior to thanksgiving as people were heading out to travel and wanting to try to get a test before they did so. i want to point out a pretty sobering statistic that really caught my attention off the top of that cdc advisory committee meeting you all have been talking about, we all have been monitoring so closely. one of the members kind of started things out with this pretty wild number saying one person, one american, is dying from this disease every single minute. she noted that by the end of the meeting today, after they vote, that 180 people would have died from covid just while they have been meeting. so clearly that is the highlight, importance of that vote today. we talk about hospitalizations. 96,000 americans are hospitalized with covid.

1states 16 states now breaking all time records. connell. connell: we focused on it too. are fewer people dying percentagewise than in the spring? yes. are a lot of people still dying? yes, they are, 270,000 in the united states. casey, thank you. quick break and we'll be right back an veteran made of doing what's right, not what's easy. so when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. that's how you do it right. usaa insurance is made just the way martin's family needs it with hassle-free claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. because doing right by our members, that's what's right. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. ♪ usaa

♪ connell: back here, fox business alert as we continue to wait for this vote to come out of the cdc advisory panel, looking at cdc headquarters in atlanta. james freeman of the "wall street journal" joins us, fox contributor. james, thanks for being patient as we coffer. >> oh, sure. connell: more breaking news than we ended up getting this hour. a quick comment on the biden economic team that was announced today. in terms of priorities for the vaccine, this -- we pretty much know what they're going to do, and i think it's a good sign

we're at this phase so quickly. they want to get the health care workers vaccinated. the only question today is about these, you know, nursing home patients, long-term care facility patients who, you know, again, in new york we know so much about this and how sense tough that particular -- sensitive that particular area is, that you would think you would want to get them in the first group. what's your thoughts? >> you've got a very strong argument when you look at that mortality data and the overwhelming number of people who have died in the u.s. from covid are, have been over 70 years old. most of them 75 plus. and, obviously, nursing home residents in particular have been hit hard. so, yes, if you're thinking about who is most in need of protection, that would be your answer. i think the fact that we're going to have, it looks like, tens of millions of doses of these different vaccines potentially out sometime this month is great news in terms of however they prioritize, that is going to immediately begin

slowing the spread. connell: right. i've just been told, by the way, and we thought this vote would happen at 4 p.m. eastern, that it's going to be after 5 p.m. eastern. they've taken a little break, so it's still going to happen pretty soon but not in the next few minutes. they've taken what i think is a 10-minute break. so, james, while we have a minute, i said i wanted to talk to you about the biden economic team. janet yellen, we knew about, the leaded editorial in your paper, the journal, today was about the old economic team of president obama coming back. what are the concerns on the economics of that in terms of that coming back, because it may not be sum to '08-'09, but we've certainly been through a time with it here with the pandemic. >> well, i think you heard today a little bit of a preview, and if you thought the obama economy was great, i suppose you were, you were enthused. but if you remember a time of

slow growth and limited opportunity and a electorate that was looking for a big change in 2016, then i think you had to be concerned. you mentioned janet yellen talking today about how beyond covid there are deep structural problems related to inequality and wage stag nation. and, of course -- stagnation. that was the theme of the obama era with her at the helm of the federal reserve. we saw real progress on that in the pre-covid era. so i think you have to be concerned as you think about growth going forward beyond the virus that there is not an effort to disrupt what was a pretty strong set of pro-growth policies in terms of a more competitive corporate income tax rate and less regulation on the u.s. economy. connell: it's one of those things, as you know, we could talk about for probably half an hour, maybe we will one day. we'll have you back, james

freeman there from the journal. that cdc advise true meeting, they're in a 10-minute break, then they're going to have a mix comment period, then they'll have the vote. that's where we are. thanks for watching us, reporting the news qualify at the bell." see you back here tomorrow. ♪ ♪ lou: good evening, everybody. president trump, husband legal team -- his legal team, members of the republican party making advances today in the battle for the white house. there have been significant developments in six key battleground states, all of which, all of which bolster president trump's charge that there has been clear electoral fraud, fraud that nullified the will of the people in the november election. the president's progress puts him at odds with the insudden yous rinos -- insidious