>> we want to see your photos, decorations, email your pictures to friends @ foxnews.com. have a great day. >> sandra: this is a fox news alert. 90-year-old british woman becoming the first person in the world to receive the coronavirus vaccine. she got the shot early this morning saying she felt privileged to be first in line. >> i couldn't believe it. but i'm happy it's happened. i've done it and hopefully it will help other people to come along and do what i did, you know, try and find it to get rid of this terrible thing. >> sandra: the u.k. was the first to authorize pfizer's

vaccine for emergency use. we'll have much more on this coming up. meanwhile at home the white house set to hold a vaccine summit this afternoon. president trump expected to sign an executive order aimed at insuring all americans have priority to any american-made covid-19 vaccines. a lot happening on this tuesday morning. i'm sandra smith. hi, trace. >> trace: good morning, everyone. i'm trace gallagher. in two days a panel of fda advisors meet to discuss pfizer and biontech for emergency use authorization. if approved 100 million doses of the vaccine will be shipped out within 24 hours. enough for 50 million people. but pfizer is warning that it won't be able to provide any additional doses until late june or july because other countries have bought up most of its supply. operation warp speed official paula says he is not concerned about a potential lack of

availability. >> we're in contact with the states every day. all the jurisdictions minus a couple have had the opportunity to lay out their plan. it's highly efficacious vaccine and we want to get it out. it becomes a logistical issue. we have that. we haven't afraid of the pfizer vaccine. we'll make it happen. >> sandra: white house vaccine czar dr. moncef slaoui will join us to talk about when people can get vaccinated. john roberts is live from the north lawn. what can you expect out of the coronavirus summit today. >> we in the united states are getting to the first vaccines in this country. encouraging news from the fda this morning. it's initial examination of the pfizer data finds that the vaccine does what it is supposed to do. whether that advisory panel meets on thursday, the feeling

is that it will give the green light to pfizer. the white house is putting all the focus on the vaccine today. the president will be hosting a vaccine summit starts at 2:00 this afternoon. he will talk about how we got to where we are and where we go from here. it runs from 2:00 to 5:00 and streamed online so people can watch it as well. as part of that summit, the president will be signing an executive order insuring that the government prioritizes getting the vaccine to american citizens before sending it to other nations. our own dr. marc siegel saying based on the percentage of worldwide cases in the united states, it is a good idea. listen here. >> we have 15 million documented cases of covid-19 in the united states, 15 million out of the 67 million total in the world. so i think we have to focus on getting our country vaccinated. i think we're the biggest hot spot in the world. >> it is unclear at this point what force of law or force of

influence that executive order is going to have. the white house also pushing back on reports that the administration passed on an offer from pfizer to lock in an order for more doses of vaccine back in the summer. the white house saying it is simply not true. it is a fake story. pfizer saying it may not be able to provide additional doses of the vaccine until summer. officials at the white house telling fox news pfizer is simply negotiating in public. the white house did contract for an initial shipment of 100 million doses of the vaccine and says it believes it will have more doses available early next year as well. the first doses are going to go to people who are at highest risk. healthcare workers and people in long-term care or nursing homes. there are 21 million people on the front lines in the medical industry. 3 million people in long term or nursing homes. 24 million people. right now there are only 20 million double doses of that vaccine. in the initial week the white house acknowledges all the people who need it will not get

the vaccine but they hope they will be able to get it by the end of the year. >> sandra: we'll have a lot more with the white house, vaccine czar joining us in a few moments. john roberts, thank you. >> good to see you. >> trace: new video has surfaced as the owner of a bar in new york faces assault charges after police say he rammed his jeep into a sheriffs deputy. fox news obtained this video from his lawyer. the deputies did not identify themselves and his client believed his life was in danger. we're live at mac's public house. what else are we hearing from the defendant's side? >> good morning. the bar is going to stay closed again today while the owners decide how to deal with their new legal troubles. we understand that some of those meetings will happen over the phone today.

the bar's co-owner presti's attorney providing this video of the incident. the two officers identified themselves before press tee ran inside his jeep according to the officers. the defendant claims the two people dressed in dark clothing never identified themselves. here is what he told fox last night. >> i was scared the entire time. i was scared the entire time from the entire ordeal that happened. i was running for my life because that's exactly what i thought was happening. at no point did i think that those were sheriffs. >> the new york city sheriff has a different take on what happened saying two unformed deputies identified themselves and approached him and attempted to take him into custody for the multiple criminal offenses observed that night. at the time he began to flee towards his vehicle on foot.

the deputies ordered him to stop and he failed to comply and entered his vehicle. the second arrest of him in under a week this incident resulting in 10 charges. the bar has been the site of protests after owners declared it an autonomous zone refusing to close after their like liquor license was suspended. this part of staten island has been designated an orange zone. meaning they can't serve food or booze inside. both the governor and mayor have said that he should face consequences. >> trace: laura, thank you. >> sandra: president-elect biden is expected to introduce his health team today in wilmington. at least one of his picks is already facing pushback. california attorney general xavier becerra. he has no healthcare experience.

katie pavlich joins us now. what is being made about this pick by the president-elect. >> you already have republican senators cotton saying he will vote against a confirmation of the attorney general because he wanted to force crisis pregnancy centers to advertise for abortion and they had to defend themselves all the way at the supreme court. bekierra has sued the trump administration multiple times. he was trying to force pregnancy centers to advertise for abortion. he also supported the lawsuit from the obama administration against the little sisters of the poor. so there are lots of questions about his healthcare experience. he has very little experience running any kind of healthcare systems and questions from senators about his connections and political donations which

are over $1 million from healthcare organizations. this isn't just coming from you would say conservative or far right republican senators. you have moderate senator susan collins also questioning his lack of healthcare experience and yet being appointed to run the health and human services. >> sandra: you mentioned the senators that have questions about the healthcare pick. here is tom cotton laying out his case. >> let's go through the problems with this nomination. first, he supports medicare for all. second he is a true radical on abortion. third, look at what has happened in california during this pandemic. he has been on the forefront of locking down that entire state. he will be joe biden's nationwide lockdown enforcer. >> sandra: the "wall street journal" editorial board is not warming to the pick, either. the headline. biden's identity healthcare pick.

his only qualification is that he sued trump many times. he has no expertise how drug and insurance markets function let alone experience running a healthcare bureaucracies. his selection is what happens when identity and ideology trump experience and expertise. he is mr. biden's most disappointing choice so far, katie. the journal not mincing words on this pick. >> look, this pick by president-elect joe biden is a pay back to the left for sticking with him and putting him in the white house. you have the left wing of the party being for medicare for all, government takeover of healthcare. mr. becerra has been at the forefront of that for year trying to implement medicare for all in california and suing any company that wants an exception for religious reasons or conscience reasons on providing things like

contraception. doesn't have much healthcare experience being an executive but sued a lot to uphold obamacare. he was part of california versus texas, we heard the supreme court hear oral arguments on in november. that's the case that got so much attention because of new justice amy coney barrett being on the court to hear that case. democrats argued that maybe she shouldn't and should have recused herself. in terms of executive experience he has none when it comes to healthcare. it may give him problems getting confirmed if the republicans keep the senate. >> sandra: starting to get a look at what this completed administration could and would look like. good to see you. >> thanks. >> trace: u.s. getting closer to sengd out the first batch of covid vaccines. now there is a big new worry for doctors when it comes to making sure the roll-out works.

white house vaccine czar dr. moncef slaoui joins us live. ventura county sheriff says we cannot police our way out of a pandemic. he and other sheriffs in california pushing back against governor newsom's stay at home orders and he joins us next. >> hypocrisy is just amazing. he is now wanting us to go in and shut down their businesses and arrest them. it is just -- it doesn't make sense at all. ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! ♪

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>> sandra: texas senatored the cruz says he would agree to argue the pennsylvania election case if the supreme court decides to take it up. here is what he said on hannity last night. >> in a country where 39% of americans right now believe this last election was rigged. that's a real problem for confidence in the integrity of our elector y'all system. i'm hopeful the supreme court will step forward and resolve this case and other cases as needed. >> sandra: the case brought by pennsylvania republicans claiming the 201 state law allowing no-excuse mail-in voting is unconstitutional. if successful it could result in nullifying most of

pennsylvania's mail-in ballots. cruz says he believes the high court will agree to hear the appeal. >> trace: california is back on lockdown due to a surge in coronavirus cases. some southern california sheriffs are pushing back to endorse the governor's new stay at home orders. sheriff, thank you for joining us. we appreciate it. i want to set this up for clarity. unlike the sheriff in orange county and riverside county and sacramento county who said flat out they will not enforce the governor's stay at home mandate you are more nuanced. you want voluntary compliance but you might be willing to enforce some of these. explain the fine line for us if you would, sheriff. >> so the tool that is the unfortunate mechanism of the health orders is something we don't want to use. we encourage compliance and educate people on the ever-changing health orders. i don't want to paint my agency

into the corner saying we'll never do enforcement. there may be a scenario unforeseen at this time that is a good tool to use. everyone would be in agreement. it would be painting my deputies into a corner and taking away their discretion and their legs in dealing with some problems in the community. >> trace: here is what one of your colleagues in orange county don barnes had to change. >> rules can't change week-by-week. it has been difficult throughout the nation to keep redefining the way we operate. >> trace: he makes a fair point there, sheriff. i went back and you look and the rules are consistently, the goalpost consistently being moved. has to be frustrating for law enforcement trying to follow all these guidelines. >> you are absolutely right. there is consistent inconsistency in the issuance

of these orders. the requirements have changed over and over again. businesses, community members have made great strides to adjust and adapt. and as they do so they change again and there is a building and growing sense of frustration in the community. >> trace: it wasn't too long ago that governor newsom lashed out at president trump because the president threatened to prove federal funding from california because of sanctuary state policies and now you have gavin newsom threatening counties like yours to pull coronavirus relief funds if you don't follow the guidelines. what do you make of that? >> well, at the end of the day every community is different. my constitutionally mandated responsibility is to keep the peace in the community. and i will ultimately make decisions that i feel are best for all the citizens in ventura

county regardless of threats of funding or removal or any other type of penalty. >> trace: ventura county has 866,000 residents. 455 coronavirus cases yesterday. you are not in the same league as los angeles county, san bernardino county, do you think he should be treated the same way as those counties, sir? >> that's a great point and a source of frustration we've experienced since the onset of the pandemic. a one size fits all approach to dealing with what is an incredibly diverse state. we have massive counties all the way down to extremely rural virtually unpopulated counties and yet they are largely treated the same. and we think in ventura county we understand our community, we know what citizens need and are

interested in and we deliver those services. >> trace: ventura county sheriff. thank you for coming on, sir. >> thank you. >> sandra: this is a fox news alert. brand-new information on the how effective pfizer's covid vaccine is and it comes just days before it could get emergency approval in the united states. america's vaccine czar, dr. moncef slaoui will be our guest live and join us in moments. america remembers chuck yaeger, the world war ii hero pilot who was the first to break the sound barrier.

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glasses, hearing aids and more. a licensed humana sales agent will walk you through your options, answer any questions you have and, if you're eligible, help you enroll over the phone. call today and we'll also send this free guide. humana, a more human way to healthcare. >> sandra: the bottom of the hour. the top stories. more than 100,000 americans are currently hospitalized with covid-19, the highest total at any point during the pandemic. >> trace: president-elect joe biden will announce the nomination for his health team today. california attorney general xavier becerra for health and human services secretary. he has no healthcare experience. >> sandra: howard stern sticking the sirius xm extending his contract for five

years, $128 million a year. >> trace: fox news alert. first covid-19 vaccines from pfizer administers in the united kingdom today with 90-year-old margaret keenan becoming the first person in the world to get it. greg palkot is live in london. good afternoon. where you are, you're at one of the hospitals that is administering the vaccine. explain what the mood is like there. >> exactly, trace. i think the mood is cautiously -- i want to underscore cautiously optimistic. they are saying today could mark the beginning of the beginning of the end of this terrible global covid-19 nightmare. we're at a hospital in south london, one of five across the city. one of 70 across the country starting today to administer the pfizer biontech vaccine. the u.k. is the first country in the world to use a coronavirus inoculation. logistical challenge.

it has to be transported and stored mostly at about 100 degrees below zero fahrenheit. we're seeing today the efficacy 95% and why they rushed it out. here is what the head of distribution for the national health service here told me earlier. >> i wouldn't presume to say to other nations how they should use their vaccines. i'm clear if it's good enough for the u.k. as far as i'm concerned it is good enough for any other nation on earth. >> including the u.s. >> including the u.s. >> being vaccinated today those giving out the injection, front line health workers and yes, some over 80s like 90-year-old ms. keenan. >> so that's what i say, you know, if i can do it, well, so can you. >> if i can do it, so can you.

words of the wise. listen, trace. the united states is watching this very closely. fda in the coming days might yes approve pfizer. it could be used in the u.s. starting next week with cases and deaths as we all know still soaring not a minute too soon. >> trace: greg palkot live in london. thank you. >> sandra: thank you, trace, president trump planning to sign an executive order at this afternoon's vaccine summit that would prioritize american's access to the covid vaccines before the u.s. helps out other countries. all this coming two days before a panel of fda advisors meet would discuss emergency vaccine approval. joining us now white house vaccine czar dr. moncef slaoui. great to have you here this morning. as far as this executive order that is intended to insure that americans get access to the vaccine ahead of other foreign

nations, what is the goal with this and what are we expecting to see from the white house on that front today? >> well, listen, what the white house is doing is what the white house is doing. we at the operation are working very hard on making sure that we have as many vaccine doses from as many vaccines as possible from our portfolio available to the american people. we have committed to having vaccine doses to immunize the full population by the middle of the year 2021. we remain confident this will be the case. we are also remembering that on may 15 the president has said that once the american people will be vaccinated in a supplemental vaccine doses available to us could be made available to the world. i assume that whatever may be announced this afternoon would be in line with that. in the meantime we're focused on making these doses available for the american people. >> sandra: okay.

so we had admiral girard on yesterday and we were talking about how do we get back to normal life? at the end of the day we all see the light at the end of the tunnel talking about the vaccine, doctor. he had suggested that we need to see about 70 to 80% of the american people having had this vaccine, both doses of it, before we can actually see a return to that normal life we all once had. listen to this. >> by the time we immunize 50 or 60 million people we can have all the long-term care facility. a lot of the at-risk people and we'll get a lot of the benefit. we will not end the pandemic, really end the disease transmission until we have at least about 70 to 80% of the american people who have either been immunized or have gotten the virus. >> sandra: being so intimately part of this vaccine roll-out, doctor, is that possible? are we going to have enough of

the vaccine to cover 70 to 80% of the population? >> yes, that's absolutely possible. that's our plan and we feel very confident that we will be delivering on them. probably by the time 70 to 80% of people are immunized we will be somewhere in the month of may. i think at this moment the highest concern i have is the level of hesitancy within the population as to accepting whether they will be immunizeed or not. we're working very hard to make sure all the data about this vaccine's performance, safety and efficacy will be transparently discussed through the fda process with the advisory independent experts advising the fda and more experts have access to the data and hope to relay to the population independently how effective these vaccines are. i would like to also say that

we have these two vaccines, the pfizer and moderna will be reviewed. but there are two more coming that are in phase three trials likely to read out in early january and become available, we hope, in february to further increase the number of doses we have. that's why we feel confident we will be able to immunize the u.s. population as a whole. >> sandra: dr. slaoui, how do you address that public fear? as the doctor heading up warp speed and making sure this vaccine is available, that's an enormous task you have undertaken. did you think about the public fear side of this? you walk down the street and ask people will you get it if it's available at your local doctor's office? it is shocking to hear and see some of these studies that say 50% of people say they don't want to be first in line. to them you say what? >> it's very concerning. i say a few things.

first explain why we went fast. we went fast not by cutting any corners. we took advantage of the technological advances that happened over the last 10 years and took financial risk and operational risks. we did larger trials than what is needed. those are the things that have allowed us to go very fast, number one. number two, we will make all data available and explain it and have independent experts look into it and explain it to the population. hopefully people have different experts that they may trust. i ask people to just keep your mind open, please. don't come to a conclusion before you have been exposed to the data. then the third thing i say is personal example. i have an 8-year-old kid, as soon as this vaccine becomes available for children. it is not yet now, i will make sure he has it. i will take the vaccine as soon as it is approved if i'm authorized to do so. and those are the level of

confidence i have for the people i love most on the earth to make sure they get the vaccine because i know the data and i know it's safe and effective. >> sandra: okay, doctor, it was something to see the 90-year-old woman who took the first dose this morning. we hope that happens soon here. >> trace: dramatic home raid caught on video. >> come down the stairs now. >> police, come down now. come downstairs. >> my children. >> talking about state agents raiding the home of a fired covid scientist. she says she has been falsely accused and why others say her story just does not add up. plus that los angeles restaurant owner who went viral for calling out covid hypocrisy

joins us live. her reaction to the allegations of one tv network's editing her video. >> all the businesses are going under and we need your help. we need somebody to do something about this. the hand models 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."

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don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms, if your inflammatory bowel disease symptoms develop or worsen, or if you've had a vaccine or plan to. serious allergic reactions may occur. learn more at cosentyx.com. >> sandra: chuck yeager has died at the age of 97. the pilot and world war ii fighter ace became the first man to fly faster than the speed of sound on october 14th, 1947. he traveled 700 miles per hour launching the space age. his achievement was immortalized in a movie and book. he is dead at the age of 97 as

we remember the fastest man alive. a life well lived as his wife said in a tweet as she announced his passing. >> trace: genuine american hero. the famous line he asked his mechanic, ridley, you got any demons? he chewed gum because there was so little oxygen in the cockpit it kept his mouth moist and up there and going. what a great american hero. sad to see him go. >> sandra: a legend, yeah. >> tell me that this is dangerous but right next to me is a slap in my face. that's safe. >> trace: that's the owner of a restaurant blasting inconsistent coronavirus lockdowns in an emotional plea

gone viral. word one tv network deceitfuly edited that video. we're talking about nbc. i'll get your response on the other side. watch this. >> everything i own is being taken away from me and people wonder why i'm protesting and why i have had enough. my staff cannot survive. >> trace: what they failed to say is the tents next to your restaurant was an nbc show. and they also went at the end of the story kind of taking a shot at you for putting business ahead of lives. what is your comment about that? >> you know, honestly, i didn't see that and i want to steer the answer away from even dealing with that because the reality is right in front of our face. you can talk to your neighbor, you can talk to your brother.

you know what? i want to do this because i don't understand why people are trying to stop the word of getting out that people are hurting and that our rents aren't going to get paid. this is about people, not politics. i don't really understand, you know, what or why anybody would want to make it smaller than what it is. i got an email, just one of millions. garrett jordan in new orleans. thank you so much. hearing you talk is a prayer answered. 36-year-old unemployed bartender in new orleans. you have given us a voice. when you talked about your employees, the hardship it really hurt me to hear anyone -- nobody speaking up for us, not even most owners. always against us and not being able to pay rent is really, really hard. just thank you. i haven't cried since my grandfather's funeral. hearing your voice stick up for us almost made me do it.

and i paraphrased a little bit because it is hard to read right now. i don't care -- they could erase the tents, the footage is out there, the truth is the truth. i have a manager who just ran out of unemployment. she is crying. she doesn't even know if there will be an extension. i have another one, a bartender couch surfing. this is about my employees, it is about every bartender, every server out there. anybody that wants to change that story can try all they want but there is more of us than them and all you have to do is go out and get to go and talk to your local pub owner, or bar owner, or hairstylist who is crying because she is losing her salon. they can do whatever they want but it only makes them look like they don't care about people that are hurting right now. you know, so that's on them. >> trace: you say it is not about politics but it is about

politics. i want to play this for you because this is governor gavin newsom. he was asked yesterday from the coronavirus task force and admiral girard said there is no science. governor newsom refused to answer the question about that. >> i'm a small business owner, pen to paper, opened a small business with one part-time employee. it was the cause of my life. i deeply recognize people's pain and suffering. >> trace: deeply recognize their pain and suffering. would not answer the question about science. what he is saying is look, i know i'm a small business owner. i feel your pain but that's as far as it goes. your thoughts. >> you know, i'm going to answer when i say it's not about politics i'll tell you why. it's about people. because if it was a republican that was in office doing this

very same thing i would be experiencing and feeling and saying the same thing. it happens to be a democrat. i have plenty of democrat friends that have reached out to me and said that they want him out. that they cannot believe what they are doing. i am not going to put people's names on air, you know. i had a person say to me sheila kuehl. i tried to get through to her and i left her a message. it is gross what you are doing i'll never vote for you again. for them maybe it's about politics. hopefully they will no longer have their jobs. but for the people, what we care about is people putting us first and looking out for us first. so if you are a republican and you are looking out for people you will get voted in. if you are a democrat and looking out for people you will get voted in. the politicians want to make it a baseball game and we are

stuck in the middle. and that is not what the political system was built for. it was supposed to have different free thinking, free ideas, compromises. so, you know, for me and for the rest of america, it is not about politics and we want our politicians to get up and start compromising and get this package. what's going on with the stimulus package? >> trace: these are all very good points. best of luck to you and your business. we are pulling for you. thank you for coming on. >> thank you, guys. >> sandra: best to her as well. months after the controversy over the chop zone the liberal mayor of seattle says she will not run for reelection. why our guest says the city could now take an even harder turn to the left. and the stalemate over -- speaking of which -- covid

stimulus. it could lead to a recession and some democrats could be to blame. >> the strategy is all or nothing and so struggling americans have, of course, got nothing. we're down to the wire. not a "hose"! cedric! get over here! servicenow. the smarter way to workflow.

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>> sandra: economists warning the u.s. economy could face a double dip recession if congress fails to pass another round of stimulus before the end of the year. art laffer is the former reagan economics advisor. always a pleasure to have you on the program. good to see you this morning. this is not good news. is it a likely scenario we could enter a double dip recession? >> it is always possible that we can enter a double dip recession with the huge case surges and all that there may

be more lockdowns and bring the unemployment back up a ways and would lock the economy down. that won't last for very long. once these lockdowns are over you will see this economy grow very rapidly just as it has already grown, sandra. i'm not worried about a double digit recession frankly. >> sandra: this is what s & p economists are predicting, art, if we don't get another round of stimulus before the end of the year saying that the fourth quarter could see a 2.3% drop in gdp overall for the year. that would mean a drop of nearly 4%, art. loosely defined definition of a recession is two straight quarterly declines in gdp. here is tlaib when it comes to the far left democrats. i won't vote for a covid-19 relief bill with no stimulus check. it stops being a relief bill when it doesn't help people

survive the crisis. direct cash relief. josh hawley calling for stimulus checks from the other side of the aisle. i said i think it's vital any relief include direct payments. i won't vote for it if it doesn't. veto any bill that did not have direct payments in it. so what do you make of what we're seeing and hearing on both sides? why can't they come together for the american people, art? >> it's because unfortunately not on both sides of the economic aisle. to put out money somebody has to be liable for the money. national debt has gone way up. the detriment of economic growth for a long time. we have money leftover from the cares act. what should be done and what's imperative you should do the medical work done, operation warp speed, which is the most amazing policy that the u.s. has done since the preparation for world war ii. it is just incredible. those monies should be spent, that should be done. i think relief packages should wait until the new administration gets in so that

they can own the economy when they come in. i do not think we need to have another stimulus package to save the economy, just the reverse. i think the more stimulus you have the worse the economy is going to be. it should come with the next administration. they were put in and elected, let them do it. >> sandra: man, that's tough, art. there are a lot of people hurting out there still. >> there are a lot of taxpayers hurting too, sandra. i'm telling you the national debt has gone way up and someone will pay for this. government spending is taxation. when you give people money like this. i don't deny they need and deserve the money. remember, it comes from someone else, too. it is a double entry system. there is a taxpayer and tax recipient. it's got to be thought through. i think the next administration deserves the opportunity to put

in their economic policies. they've got good economists, great people in there to make good decisions, to be able to bear the consequences of their own actions. that's the right way to go. >> sandra: i've got to leave it there, art. love to have you back on this and we'll continue the conversation. >> any time, thank you. >> trace: fox news alert now. the d.a. in one of america's biggest cities outlining sweeping -- the police union is fighting back. why it says the reforms are disturbing and potentially disastrous. that's next. bill barr.

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>> sandra: a progressive prosecutor putting a new twist on law and order in los angeles. the newly elected district attorney bringing big changes to the nation's most populous county. the police union is calling his reforms disturbing. veteran prosecutor says his policies are a slap in the face to crime victims. welcome to a new hour of "america's newsroom," i'm sandra smith. >> trace: good morning i'm trace gallagher. new d.a. announcing new rules. there are currently 215 people from death row from l.a. county alone. 85% of them are people of color. the death penalty doesn't make us safer. it is racist, morally

untenable, irreversible and extensive and today it's off the table. william la jeunesse in los angeles. sounds like a radical change for the nation's largest county. >> voters in l.a. knew what they were getting. a hard core liberal d.a. who promised to end cash bail and prosecute cops for excessive force. the union and other prosecutors aposed him. he raised more campaign cash from new york city billionaire george soros and the founder of netflix and his wife. he promised to make l.a. like san francisco and ending bail so offenders can stay free pending trial and getting a longer sentence for being a gang member or carrying a gun when committing a crime and not try juveniles as adults or seek the death penalty. >> the bail industry and law

enforcement unions all organizations that profit off taking away your liberties. they gave us a false narrative that more police, stiffer penalties and more people locked up in prison made us safer. >> yesterday he told staff to not prosecute trespassing disturbing the peace, driving without a listens, prostitution and resisting arrest nor will he prosecute being under the influence of drugs or loitering. the l.a. police union was stunned saying as homicides and fatal shots going into homes sore in l.a. it is disturbing his first act is to explore releasing from jail those responsible for the blood shed. kim kardashian is what we've been waiting for. he would review thousands of

old cases to get lighter sentences and release inmates. he was appointed the san francisco d.a. by mayor gavin newsom as endorsed by vice president elect kamala harris. >> trace: william la jeunesse live in l.a. thank you. >> if after five days we haven't seen a stabilization in a region's hospital rate, we are going to clamp down on indoor dining. five days if the hospitalization rate doesn't stabilize in new york city, we are going to close indoor dining. >> sandra: new york governor andrew cuomo warning that indoor dining could soon be banned again in new york city and sharply reduced in another part of the state. business owners in california are pushing back against tough new covid shutdowns there warning of devastating consequences from the latest orders. and a chicago alderman is now

apologizing after allowing indoor dining in his own restaurant while it's currently banned city wide. publisher of the federalist joins us now. looks like another case of hypocrisy there. meanwhile you look at these restrictions that continue to be mounted on individuals, on businesses, school shutdowns, does the vaccine change everything? what happens next with all of this? >> sandra, i wish i could tell you that a vaccine changed everything but i think that our politicians have gotten a little too power mad at this point. they really do think that they can just throw spaghetti against the wall when it comes to these types of restrictions and see something result from them when we've seen time and again that actually these places are not the places that people are often getting this illness, this disease. in fact, the typical place that you get it is at home. that's something that i think has been consistent in a really ever since this started.

instead though we have the situation where politicians feel the need to use their power in these very aggressive ways in order to send the message they're doing something. even if that something isn't based in science. i think that's the real sad part about this. we've gotten used to putting so much faith in our leaders that they know what they're doing when it turns out at the end of the day they really don't. and that there is not going to be the kind of positive result that i think they are promising when it comes to the ramifications of shutting down things like indoor dining. >> sandra: senator rand paul teed off on this last night. >> all these things they tell you to do, closing down the restaurants, closing down the schools, there is no real evidence that they are changing the trajectory of the disease. if you look at the incidence of covid, it is going up like this despite all the mandates. so those who say there is science aren't paying attention to it.

>> sandra: and then, ben, you go to the extreme measures out in california, this complete shutdown that business owner, restaurant owner that was on our program last hour whose emotional plea went viral because she can't even serve her food outdoors. admiral girard joined us on the program yesterday saying there is no science to back that that that needs to happen. >> i don't know of any data that says you need to shut down outdoor dining or bars. we wanted to limit the indoor crowded places. so i think we need to do what's necessary to turn the pandemic but not more that's not evidence-based. >> sandra: you hear that, you are a business owner and restaurant owner and you have your hands in the air as you struggle to survive, ben. >> if we were operating based on evidence, outdoor dining would be fine and schools would never have shut down. it's just a situation i think here sandra where so much of the response to this has been

based on fear mongering and not looking at the evidence that we actually have. evidence that we can take not just from the american experience but looking around the world. i think that's really unfortunate. it demonstrates that this is a situation where i think far too many politicians have used this as an opportunity to grab power, to assert themselves in ways that i think are constitutionally questionable and that's something that i think americans really need to start to push back against in a more vocal way. >> sandra: well, the science is settled according to governor whitmer. it's settled. the best way to slow the spread is limiting indoor gatherings where people are most at risk to contract covid-19. that's fine. the science say masks works and social distancing, limiting capacity of indoor gatherings. that's not where these politicians are ending things. to shut down outdoor dining and some of these complete

shutdowns that we're seeing, ben, it is tough and it's winter and people are exhausted. >> last i checked governor whitmer was the person who said you couldn't buy seeds. this is a situation where a lot of these politicians, while they say things that are generally good advice about behavior and about taking responsible approach to this, they've really gone too far when it comes to so many of their orders and they are starting to get smacked down by some of the courts for asserting themselves in ways that are simply not justified under the law. one of the things that i think we really need to look at as a country going forward, sandra, is whether we're just going to accept these sort of things and be docile going along with these assertions when we really know we can read and intelligent consumers of the news and make decisions for ourselves about the level of risk we're willing to tolerate whether its includes inviting people to our homes or gathering together during the holidays. this is only going to become

more of an issue in the coming weeks as i think you are going to see a lot of politicians crack down in the run-up to christmas. >> sandra: there is no doubt as the virus is causing big-time problems that were predicted for the winter. but a lot of these business owners are saying just don't forget about us and leave us in the dust. appreciate you coming on this morning, thank you. >> trace: challenge hearing getting underway next hour in arizona whether to dismiss a lawsuit claiming a massive election fraud using dominion voting machines. judges in georgia and michigan have already dismissed similar lawsuits. matt finn is live for us in phoenix. matt, good morning. what can we expect today? >> trace, in about an hour that lawsuit alleging voter fraud here in arizona filed in part by pro-trump attorney sidney powell and wood will go before

a federal judge here in phoenix this morning. that judge is set to hear four motions to dismiss this case, two of those arguments coming from named defendants arizona's governor and secretary of state. the lawsuit here in arizona names the state's 11 would be electors as the plaintiffs and is seeking to overturn the state's election results. during a telephone status hearing for this morning's case an attorney explained in part the goal of the lawsuit here in arizona saying we want the current state of electors the democratic slate not to be seated and either de-certify the election because of what we have alleged or at least put a hold on the procedure until the court can look deeper into the allegations. an attorney for secretary of state one of the named defendants explains why he is seeking to have this cased tossed out this morning telling the judge we believe there are multiple legal errors that completely destroy any type of ability for plaintiffs to bring these claims putting aside

their fanciful, factual allegations. last week arizona's republican governor certified arizona's election. president-elect biden declared the winner. on the same day that president trump attorney rudy giuliani was here in phoenix holding a voter fraud fact finding hearing with some legislators. giuliani now has covid. judges threw out similar lawsuits in the state of georgia like michigan similar to the ones to go before the judge in about an hour here in phoenix. >> trace: matt, thank you. >> sandra: well, accusations of playing politics during the pandemic, president-elect biden's pick to run health and human services has no experience in healthcare. how did he get the job? heartbreak in the heartland after the deadly shooting of a young nurse. now her mother has an emotional

plea as investigators search for the killer. >> she was selfless, full of life, lit up a room as soon as she walked into it. she had a contagious laugh. she had beautiful blue eyes. veterans can refinance their loans with no income verification, no appraisal, and no out of pocket costs. one call to newday usa can save you $3,000 every year. you could start saving, beginning with your next mortgage payment. refi now at these historic low rates.

>> sandra: the mother of a tennessee nurse pleading for help after her daughter caitlin was shot and killed while driving to work. police in nashville found her in her bullet riddled s.u.v. on the side of an interstate last thursday. the heartbroken mother searching for answers. >> why did you do that to her? she didn't deserve it. i can't -- i can't wrap my head around it. i don't know how someone can take another person's life like that. she was on her way to work. >> sandra: no arrests have been made yet in her death. police are asking anyone with information to please call the number on your screen. 615-742-7463.

>> trace: president-elect biden facing more pushback from republicans putting together his cabinet over xavier becerra. he has zero healthcare experience but checks several boxes on the wish list of progressives. fox news contributor charlie hurt is the editor of the washington times and harold ford junior is a former congressman. welcome to you both. charlie, you look at the chess board. it is very rich when you see people governor gavin newsom says following the science and shuts down restaurants and has no science to back it up. joe biden sits in a basement for eight months and said listen to healthcare people what they're telling me and then he nominates a guy with no healthcare experience for hhs. your thoughts. >> certainly the return -- the great return of the swamp under a future biden administration.

qualifications don't matter. the only thing that matters about this guy is that he spent 24 years in congress in washington no offense to you, harold, because i know you have good service in washington but that doesn't make you an hhs secretary. it is sort of extraordinary but like you say it is checking off boxes and it is the return of the swamp. >> trace: speaking of checking off boxes, congressman. i want to play this from former hhs secretary tom price who is a doctor. he said this about the checking boxes. >> he checks the box for a progressive individual who would be leading hhs but he doesn't have the kind of background that the american people i believe would like to see in their health and human services secretary. >> trace: congressman ford, your thoughts >> thank you for having me on. when you think with cabinet secretaries some of the great

ones. the one that springs to mind is james baker who served as treasury secretary, secretary of state and chief of staff. he brought a wealth of experiences from practicing law and served all those positions well. i served with xavier in congress. he was elected not only in his congressional district but statewide to be the attorney general. president-elect biden has surrounded himself with medical experts, doctors, physicians including dr. fauci who will be his chief medical advisor. as we think about the head of hhs and make sure the vaccine distribution is done in the smartest of ways becerra will bring perspective and ability and capacity to make people work together. i'm not nearly as concerned. i've read some of the comments of some former colleagues in congress in the senate now saying they can't believe that vice president biden will choose someone close to

president trump. the standard here is can he lead this department. i have great confidence he will. >> trace: you are not concerned. a lot of people from the right are concerned. he supports single payer healthcare, he supports a loft other things. the alliance for defending freedom said the following. they had to go all the way to the supreme court to -- he is an extremist and no regard for conscious. there is nothing moderate about this pick. tom cotton seconded that charlie saying he is not going to vote for him. >> and that really is the primary point here. at a time where we have this very, very serious pandemic that the administration is dealing with and a future administration will have to deal with, this is the last thing we need right now is more politicizing in our healthcare system. and this is nothing if not a

highly political pick designed to placate political factions in the party and a terrible way to address something like the pandemic. >> charlie raises, those are the questions that should be asked in a hearing. to suggest he is not qualified. you may not like his political views and some of the positions he has taken. he should have to answer those questions in a hearing and let the senate make that determination. i think some of these pre-decisions are pre-determined statements by members of the senate is unfair and wrong and opposed to that even for judge barrett. the same is true any president picks for his or her cabinet. >> trace: harold ford junior and charlie hurt. thank you both. >> thank you. >> sandra: a new controversy involving congresswoman ilhan

omar. why does her husband's company get covid relief funds from the government? the decision by seattle's mayor that could push the city even further to the left. >> how long do you think seattle and those few blocks look like this? >> i don't know, we could have a summer of love. if your dry eye symptoms keep coming back,

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>> trace: bottom of the hour. top stories. chuck yeager has died at 97. he was the first to break the soungd barrier when he climbed into a rocket plane loaded in a b-29 bomber and released over the mojave desert in 1947. he became a national celebrity with the publication of tom wolf's 1979 book "the right stuff." >> sandra: president elect biden picking retired general lloyd austen to be his defense secretary. if confirmed the first african-american to lead the

pentagon. he served 41 years in the military. >> trace: congress planning to go on a one week spending bill to keep the government running through december 18th at lawmakers rush to strike a deal on coronavirus relief and avoid a shutdown. the house plans to vote on the measure tomorrow. >> sandra: federal records reveal congresswoman ilhan omar's husband got more than $600,000 in coronavirus relief money for his political consulting firm. on top of the millions that his company received from her election campaign. charles payne is host of making money on the fox business network. he joins us now. charles, you will have to explain this one to me. we'll put it on the screen. the e-street group receiving in total $634,900 in funds, ppp, 134,000 of that, disaster loans

$500,000. why? >> you know, the big knock against the whole ppp program was that 1 per percent of the recipients got 25% of the money and often very well connected rich people or organizations. no doubt that's true. there was a sense of urgency to get the money out hoping if there were flaws it would help the ones who were in most dire need of the cash. a lot of it did. now they will have another chance to do it again and probably be more tailored or specific. it speaks to the insiders who have the ability to take advantage of these sort of things all the time. then, of course, you know, this particular group of people, it is so bad in the sense that they are always knocking everything, right? they knock everything that president trump did, they always knock america and talk about how unfair everything is

and here they are feeding at the trough when other people really needed this money more desperately because they knew how to get it, so they did. >> sandra: that firm was also paid more than $2 million since the start of the year, charles, from omar's campaign for digital advertising, fundraising, consulting, website production. she announced last month i should mention in november her campaign was terminating its contract with that firm because of all the scrutiny she was receiving over those payments. >> yeah, but no money will be returned. listen, services were delivered. this is something people were talking about this cozy relationship long before november. she had a chance the take care of it then. she didn't. it was too much money. millions of dollars, it was too much to ignore. they took it. they'll take a little scrutiny. it won't be a lot. the media won't focus on it and it will go away. america's distrust in the public and media, this is why

both are in free fall. >> sandra: meanwhile to another member of the squad congresswoman alexandria ocasio-cortez. goya the food company is awarding her the employee of the month. she helped out sales so much when she decided to boycott the company. you will remember back in july because the ceo praised president trump. this was her tweet back then. look, it's the sound of me googling how to make your own adobo. the ceo says sales have been great since she called for the boycott. when she did that our sales went up 1,000%. we gave her an honorary. she got employee of the month for bringing attention to goya and our adobo. >> there is no doubt about that particularly adobo. this was really despicable. there is a funny side to it but to imagine that a sitting

congresswoman would actually suggest to other americans to try to force a company into financial straits. by the way, this is a very amazing company. for years it was the number one hispanic business in america. thousands of people worked for them. i'm married to a puerto rican. we have a ton of goya in the house. we bought more after the tweet. we will use it all when the family can get back together again. nothing better than watching my wife and her three sisters cook. we put on the music and i wait for a great meal. it is really unfortunate and despicable that aoc even did that. >> sandra: well, she is employee of the month at that company now. not sure that was the intended outcome of her boycott. charles, great to see you this morning. thank you. >> trace: dancing the salsa.

plenty of reaction coming in from the afghan capital of kabul from the withdrawal of u.s. troops. many say they're ready for the next phase after 20 years of war as peace negotiations continue between afghanistan and the taliban. benjamin hall live in kabul. what are the differing views on the drawdown in afghanistan? >> as you can imagine two totally different afghanistans here. the hard line taliban on one side. the moderate afghan government on the other. how they see the future of this country after the drawdown couldn't vary more than it does. we spoke to people on both sides of the divide today. we spoke to the taliban, a former taliban minister. the minister of vice and virtue under the rule of the taliban enforce what women wear, what education you could have, other social norms. he told us that he believes that the drawdown was a good thing and how they would rule

afghanistan in the future. >> we have our own religion and our own way of knife. nobody, not the americans or anyone should tell us how we should live. >> on the other hand we spoke to dr. abdullah head of the peace negotiations. he said he believes the drawdown happened too soon and gave leverage to the taliban but he said he understood. >> the decision is understandable for us but would i prefer the withdrawal at this? do i prefer the withdrawal now? i do not. the permissions are not here. >> people on the streets of kabul generally support the peace deal and generally support the u.s. drawdown. what they aren't certain is whether or not it will bring lasting peace to the country. so what we're seeing, however, the two sides coming down and talking because president trump has announced the drawdown and both sides seem willing to

discuss it and give it a shot. they are tired of decades of war. whether or not they can find a compromise, whether or not they can find middle ground remains to be seen. there are very big difficulties and hurdles ahead. they don't want them on the ground. wide acceptance they should leave. they want them here so peace can be settled in some way or another. back to you. >> trace: get them in the same room but can you make them settle? live in afghanistan, benjamin, thank you. >> sandra: small businesses fighting to survive amid more lockdowns and one state restaurants are banding together to make it through some of the toughest times

they've ever seen. the movement's organizers will tell us exactly how they're doing it. a live look at the fox square this morning as you can see it's christmastime in the city. but in a small town in minnesota one resident says he is being shamed for putting up christmas decorations. that story just ahead. ♪ when it comes to autism, finding the right words can be tough. finding understanding doesn't 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

record low mortgage rates have dropped even lower. at newday, veterans can shortcut the refinance process and save $250 a month. $3000 dollars a year. with the va streamline refi at newday, there's no appraisal, no income verification, and no out of pocket costs. one call can save you $3000 a year. >> trace: united front and a fight tore survival. hundreds of restaurant owners in michigan are banning together and organizing over skype has governor whitmer has extended the restrictions for 12 days. two restaurant owners behind the organizing effort join us

now, rosalie vi kari and joe. you are following the protocols and know there is little science we've learned behind shutting down the restaurants and yet the governor extends this mandate. what do you do? >> there aren't a lot of things we can do. we have to follow the guidelines set by the governor. we are a business that operates through a liquor license and a food license that are held by the state. so while we -- initial instinct was to ban restaurants together to open regardless of the governor's orders, what we found with after meeting with attorneys, liquor license, we really don't have a lot of recourse. we -- they would take our license away, shut us down and it would be worse for all the people involved. they said no matter for size restaurants they would go to

all 500 restaurants and close us down by taking away our liquor license or food license. so we're really trying to reach out to our restaurants to come up with different solutions, even though we foelt with followed the protocol mandated by the governor. she has stripped us. our customers and staff were all safe in our restaurants that we can maybe try to go to the governor with some middle ground to see how we can try to reopen these restaurants. if she keeps the restaurants closed in michigan longer than they've already been closed there will not be a restaurant industry to reopen. that's how dire the situation is with our restaurants right now. they have no federal money coming in. servers and staff have very little unemployment that's available to them. the situation is becoming very dire. >> trace: the president and ceo of the michigan lodging and restaurant association. it is comprised of creative and

resilient individuals. for a growing number of them the latest pause is the cause of their lost livelihood and well-being. yes, you are resilient but you need help, joe. when you heard admiral girard say there is no science shutting down the restaurants. people are -- they are shutting you down on a hunch. >> that's 1,000% right. we found out that 4% of the covid cases can be traced back to restaurants. not 30%, not 40%. 4%. and shopping malls that are allowed to be open in michigan have a 9% rate. so it makes no sense. yesterday the governor came out and said things are still spiking and we're going to have to continue to do this pause. well, if it's still spiking it

is not because of restaurants. you've shut us down for the last three weeks. it doesn't make sense. restaurant industry in michigan has been operating with 265 days between being shut down for 103 and another 160 days of only working at a 50% capacity. they've tied our hands behind our back and through all that hall the restaurants just want to try to reopen. >> trace: all the restaurants -- we're short and time and apologize we feel your plight and seen it across the country. we're pulling for you. best of luck to both of you and we'll check back in to see how it all comes out. >> thanks, trace. >> sandra: a month after the chop zone controversy seattle's first term mayor says she won't run for reelection.

why our next guest said it could lead seattle to drift even further to the left. (♪ )

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>> sandra: months after the controversy over the chop zone seattle mayor jenny durkin announcing she won't run for a second term. our next guest says that could be bad for seattle. jason rantz joining us now, host of the jason rantz show on the radio in seattle. thanks for being here this morning. please explain why do you think that this would eventually push the city even further to the left? >> because there is no way with the political environment that we have going in seattle that any semblance of a moderate democrat can actually step up and withstand the pressure of

the activist crowd. jenny durkin was not a shoe in but as an incumbent you have an edge and relatively well liked. maybe not well respected but well liked by some of the silent majority of seattle. i can't imagine there will be any moderate democrat who will want to step up and withstand the pressure coming from the activist community that has been willing to literally go to your home and bully you into submission. what we've been seeing on the ground is a bunch of politicians likely going to announce they're running for mayor trying to play indicate the activist class. even making absurd promises to defund the police by 50% or simply saying i'm going to hand over my political agenda to the people who have been rioting/peacefully protesting. the idea that someone is going to willingly put up with the kind of abuse that they would certainly take just seems

untenable. >> sandra: and you go on in this piece, jason, to write any mayoral hopeful must now bow to the will of the activist class. if they don't, there is genuine fear that protestors will show up to their door to bully them into submission. of course we're reminded of all of this after this moment back in july with mayor durkin, listen. >> we've got four blocks in seattle that you just chop zone that is more like a block party atmosphere. >> how long do you think seattle and those few blocks looks like this? >> i don't know. we could have a summer of love. >> sandra: we're reminded of that moment and to be corrected june when we heard that from the mayor and wow, did that make headlines. final thoughts. >> summer of love that led to murders, attempted rape, arson, daily assaults and vandalism. the fear is that the city is

going to go so far to the left that we don't really know what will be left of seattle. this has the makings of detroit. the context is we have record overdoses and yet we do heroin injection sites. a surge in homicide and defund the police. pandemic economy but institute a payroll tax. i don't know how much left we can go. they'll sprint to get to that place. >> sandra: jason, thanks for joining us this morning. appreciate it. >> thank you, i appreciate it. >> trace: fox news alert on the side against covid-19 president trump set to sign an executive order at a vaccine summit today. what it means for you. time to put up the christmas lights, right? a homeowner in one small town says he is getting shamed over his decorations. carley shimkus tells us why next. ♪ the grinch, you really are a

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♪ rocking around the christmas tree ♪ >> trace: the christmas spirit not in full swing everywhere. a homeowner in minnesota got an anonymous letter saying the decorations had a harmful impact on the community.

carley shimkus from fox news 24/7 with the story. i have seen it all. the letter goes on to read quoting here, the idea of trifrngling colorful lights are a reminder of divisions running through our society. systemic biases against our neighbors who don't celebrate christmas or who can't afford to put up lights on their own. we should respect the differences and opinions of our neighbors unless they want to put up christmas lights. >> very good point. my favorite thing this happened in st. anthony, minnesota. this very angry resident might need to move. this town is named after a christian saint. after his own rules it would be offensive to non-christians. i think it is a good thing that these stories go viral because it proves that people are so phased by them. we haven't gotten to the point where this perspective is normal. while it is shocking that anybody would look at christmas lights and see them as systemic

bias against neighbors who don't celebrate christmas, that's a minority perspective. we are one nation under god. it is important to remember the true meaning of christmas but also we are america and we welcome and celebrate all sorts of faiths and different religious traditions. like you said, trace, i would say that this resident is being sort of biased against his neighbor who wants to celebrate christmas. >> trace: bias with a man with christmas lights. move onto the next topic. "saturday night live" is using a loophole to get around having or not being able to have the studio audience. the "new york post" editorial board writes the following. nearly 90% of bars, restaurants, clubs and event spaces couldn't pay their rent in august. that the state let "saturday night live" create its own loophole in the covid-19 rules is an insult to the many

businesses on the brink of destruction. that loophole is what exactly? >> so back in october "the new york times" reported that "saturday night live" was paying its audience members $150 because of coronavirus restrictions people who sat in the audience would need to work for snl. once you walked out you would get the surprise check. nbc did not return fox news's request for comment whether or not it's still happening. regardless this proves there are the haves and have nots when it comes to coronavirus restrictions. the people who can break the rules and those who can't. of course, people are going to be upset that businesses are shutting down by elected leaders who aren't following their own rules using disputed science without any coronavirus stimulus in sight. so you can be upset by that and still respect the fact there is a very serious health pandemic happening at the same time. both can be true at once. >> trace: maybe the restaurants

just slip the customers five bucks each and call them employees and everybody is happy. carley shimkus, good to see you. >> merry christmas. >> sandra: to you as well. fox news alert to start a new hour and we're looking live at the white house where just hours from now the president will hold a vaccine summit. it comes on this very historic day when the first person in the western world just received the covid-19 vaccine. welcome back to "america's newsroom," i'm sandra smith. good morning, trace. >> trace: good morning to you. good morning, i'm trace gallagher. the president signing an executive order to prioritize american's access to the covid-19 vaccine before the u.s. helps other countries after a 90-year-old british woman just got the pfizer shot. >> i'm happy it's happened. i've now done it. hopefully it will help other

people come around and they get vaccinated trying to do the best to get rid of this terrible thing. >> sandra: chief white house correspondent john roberts the live at the white house with more. john, on a day where hopefully we learn more about our own vaccine roll-out here in the united states. >> things are looking promising as well. the news we see out of the u.k. will soon be repeated in the united states. this morning the fda released an initial assessment of the pfizer vaccine and finds so far it appears to be safe and effective given just a first shot. don't forget the pfizer vaccine does include two shots as well. at the white house today the president hosting a summit to talk about vaccine development, distribution and administration. it begins at 2:00 this afternoon and runs three hours and streamed online if folks at home want to watch the developments. a lot of great information there. the white house meantime pushing back on reports that it

turned down an offer from pfizer to buy additional doses of the vaccine over and above the initial order of 100 million doses back in the summer. officials say the white house does still have an option to buy an additional 500 million doses but pfizer was unable to commit to a timeline for delivery of those doses until this past weekend. pfizer now saying it may not be able to supply more of the vaccine to the united states until next summer because of commitments to other countries. white house officials telling fox news that pfizer is simply negotiating in public trying to embarrass the government in an effort to gain market share over other vaccine producers. here is what kayleigh mcenany said earlier this morning. >> according to people involved in the negotiation it was not true. this president contracted for doses of this vaccine from many different companies, 100 million doses. the administration contracted with many other companies. there are six vaccines in

clinical trial phase three will all six, i can check for you. we contracted for 100 million doses. >> the government contracted for the 100 million doses before any of these vaccines were proven to work. they wanted to make sure they had enough in the pipeline should one pan out they would have 100 million doses available. the co-leader of operation warp speed talked about that idea this morning saying they capped the initial orders at 100 million because they were dealing with unproven technology. >> now in the summer if somebody came to us and said let's buy more of this vaccine or that vaccine, no one reasonably would buy more from any one of those vaccines because we didn't know which one would work and which one may be better than the other. >> 500 million doses, the white house had contracted for were at a set price of 19.59 per dose. pfizer was unable to commit

according to white house officials to a timeline. in order to address all of this the president is going to be signing the executive order this afternoon which tells the government to prioritize getting the vaccine to americans before it sends the vaccine to any other countries outside of the united states. not sure what force that will actually have. but the president will sign it regardless. >> sandra: we hopefully will learn more details on that soon. john roberts live at the white house. thanks. trace. >> trace: the new york bar co-owner is now facing charges for alleging ramming his car into sheriffs deputies. they released this video of the incident. presti said the officers didn't identify themselves. laura ingle is live in staten island, new york. what else is presti saying in miss defense? >> he is saying, trace, that he didn't do anything wrong when it comes to that incident with the sheriffs deputies because he truly thought that he was in

fear for his life. we're standing outside of the pub now. mac's public house. the new york city sheriff's deputies say they were observing presti and his crew watching through a side entrance but then after midnight they say the priest tee came out the front door and walked down this block. a half block away and right when he turned the corner that is when the incident went down with the sheriff's deputies. presti's attorney providing this video of the incident. the new york city sheriff says the two officers identified themselves before presti ran inside his jeep hitting and carrying the deputy on the hood of the car 100 yards. presti claims the two people dressed in dark clothing never identified themselves. his attorney says that presti feared for his life and thought he was about to be robbed or jumped. >> he doesn't slam into whoever

is on the hood of the car. he slowly starts to drive away with the hopes that the people that are attacking him are going to get out of the way. >> the new york city sheriff had a different take saying two unformed deputies identified themselves and approached mr. presti and tried to take him into custody for criminal things observed. the pursuing deputies ordered him to stop but he failed to comply and entered his vehicle. the bar has been the site of protests after owners declared it an autonomous zone refusing to close even after their liquor listens was suspended for ignoring covid restrictions and presti's attorney told me earlier this morning they plan on having a chat later today on the phone and then they'll get their ducks in order as they proceed to fight these charges and try to get this bar reopened. trace. >> trace: laura ingle live on staten island. thank you.

>> sandra: florida meanwhile taking much different approach to the lockdowns during the coronavirus surge allowing restaurants, bars and gyms to stay open. that decision by governor ron desantis has drawn plenty of criticism but florida now doing better when it comes to covid cases than some states where harsh restrictions are in place. joining us now florida republican rick scott also chairman of the national republican senatorial committee. great of you to be here this morning. i should start off by putting a heat map on the screen so people can see where your state stands as far as covid cases. it is still a huge problem there but you are -- it does appear to be doing better than many areas in the country. is this something in relation to the lack of restrictions put in place? why is florida where it is at this moment? >> i think people are taking it seriously. we know we haven't beaten it. we're optimistic about the

vaccine and people are hoping to get the vaccine quickly themselves so they can reduce their risk. but we're doing what we're doing in florida we've opened our economy safely. we know we have to wear a mask and social distance and quarantine. if you've tested positive people are taking it seriously and we have a great healthcare system and so they are taking care of individuals and trying to keep them out of hospitals. everybody is working well in florida. like a lot of things in florida we work hard to work together and the more information we can give people and tips we have out there we'll survive this and then we're excited about the vaccine that hopefully prevents any more people from getting it. >> sandra: but still it didn't stop florida from just in the past week topping a million coronavirus cases as the governor there ron desantis does not implement the restrictions that we've seen in so many other states. do you think that there will eventually be the need to shut

down in any further capacity, senator? >> i think we've got to keep this economy open. we have to do things safely. i don't agree with what these democrat governors are doing around the country. they're shutting down their economy, killing people's jobs and the opportunity for people to put food on the table. it doesn't make sense. then the next thing the governors want is the federal government to bail them out. you have to open your economy and figure out how to make sure people do things safely. you can't be shutting things down. i'm glad -- people have a life and give them information and let them make the decision. [inaudible] >> sandra: i just want to make sure that screen we just had up a moment ago does show that there was 66,000 new cases in florida in the past week. that is well off the record highs that florida saw back in

july but still the seven day rolling average has gone up 22% over the past week. we'll keep our eye on that situation. meanwhile the battle for the senate. i want to get your thoughts on what we're about to see and put "the new york times" headline on the screen for our viewers. the suburbs helped elect biden. can they give democrats the senate, too? some atlanta suburbs that used to be blood red went blue in november. democrats need strong turn out. set this up for us. what are we about to see and what's at stake? >> i think georgian's understand what's at stake here. the question is do you want chuck schumer to control the senate and pass what he and nancy pelosi believe all these radical ideas. pack the supreme court, georgiaance don't want them to pack the supreme court court. they don't want chuck schumer to pass medicare for all.

ruin the medicare program and take 150 million people off private healthcare. they don't want the green new deal to cost close to $100 trillion a year. they don't want to defund the police. i believe that perdue and loeffler will have nice wins. we're working hard to get the vote out. it will be a tough race. if we get the vote out -- republicans win. >> sandra: getting a little bit tough to hear you. coming fresh off the debate i'll put the clear politics average perdue the republican has a slight lead over ossoff. and warnock, the democrat in the other race is leading by a slight margin as well. we will be watching all of this. senator, good of you to join us this morning. thank you. >> nice seeing you. >> trace: the man joe biden wants to run the nation's

military once called isis a flash in the pan. why should anyone trust him to keep america safe? >> general austen has served our country with distinction. it's time to restore proper civil military balance to the pentagon. by using their va benefits to refinance at newday. record low rates have dropped to new all time lows. with the va streamline refi there's no appraisal, no income verification, and no money out of pocket. one call can save you $3000 a year.

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>> sandra: president-elect joe biden expected to name retired four star army general lloyd austen as secretary of defense. down playing the threat of isis could derail confirmation. jennifer griffin is live at the pentagon on that. good morning, jennifer. >> trace: well, general lloyd austen would make history as the first black head of the pentagon. however, there is some criticism even among democrats on capitol hill especially on the armed services committee suggesting that he may have a difficult time getting a waiver, a waiver like that of jim mattis. the waiver austen retired as a four-star general four years ago. here is kathleen hicks the head of biden's transition team at the pentagon testifying four years ago whether to give mattis a waiver at the time. >> it is my view that the

principal of retiring commissioned officers from serving as the secretary of defense is a prudent contribution to maintain civilian control both symbolically and in practice. >> congressman slot who worked at the pentagon. i have tremendous with respect for him. choosing another recently retired general to serve in a role designed for a civilian just feels off. i will need to understand what he and the biden administration plan to do to address these concerns before i can vote for his waiver. some questions his handling of isis when he prosecuted the war as head of u.s. central command. early in 2014 obama's intelligence advisors told him isis was of marginal importance according to administration officials general lloyd austin told the white house the

islamic state was a flash in the pan. this analysis led obama to describe the constellation of jihadists groups in iraq and syria as terrorism's jv team. then during an armed services committee meeting at the time when asked about the $500 million program to train syrian fighters to fight isis general austin again raised eyebrows. >> can you tell us what the total number of trained fighters remains? >> it's a small number. and the ones that are in the fight is -- we're talking four or five. >> few are questioning general austin's honor, integrity or tactical abilities as a general. he has many years of experience in the middle east but the question of the waiver is a real one and many who i've spoken to suggest that it is not a good idea to again have a retired general in a civilian role as the head of the

pentagon. back to you, sandra. >> sandra: jennifer griffin live at the pentagon. thank you. >> trace: d.c. consulting firm co-owned by ilhan omar's husband received $635,000 in ppp and joe concha is a fox news contributor. talk about a story that's not getting covered. the $635,000 in covid bail-out money. look at this now. this is the 2019-2020 campaign cycle. ilhan omar's campaign paid her husband's consulting firm 2.8 million dollars, 70% of everything the campaign paid went to the husband's consulting firm. joe.

>> wow, bruce springsteen song about being in the swamps of jersey. thatth is the swamps of d.c. the numbers are stunning. a quick google search on ilhan omar covid. three publications covering it and that's it. then went back and looked at any coverage as far as the evening newscast and you don't see anything on this. so the bias of omission is currently on. here is where we get to play this game. it is fun and we'll do it quite often over the next four years called the parallel universe. let's say we took a young republican congressman, okay, kind of match it up with ilhan omar been in congress for a couple of years, tracked some media attention, but we'll get matt gaetz from florida or better yet let's say lara trump runs for office in north carolina and wins.

let's say she paid her husband millions of dollars to run her campaign. 70% worth going to him and then that husband's particular company i guess in this case eric trump gets hundreds of thousands in covid relief. do you think that abc, cbc and "the new york times" and others would cover that story? you would have to add an extra hour to squeeze it all in. that's the reaction. but since this the ilhan omar, the squad, nothing to see you. >> trace: amazing double standard. i want to play this ilhan omar, she wrote this email. every dollar that was spent went to a team of more than 20 that were helping us fight back against attacks and organized on the ground and online in a covid-19 world. and tim, her husband, beyond his salary at the firm received no profit whatsoever from the consulting relationship the firm provided. so she is saying he didn't make any money. besides the salary.

that was not disclosed. he didn't make any money. last thoughts, joe. >> what do you pay yourself for something like that? she did win her campaign but it's about the optics here, trace. and right now again if we play parallel universe and this were a republican lawmaker in any capacity believe me the shoe on the other foot would be much bigger, trace. >> trace: she did say that she and her husband have found true happiness together. always good to see you. thank you, sir. sandra. >> sounds like my marriage, thank you. >> sandra: more accusations hello to her. more accusations of censorship by the big tech companies over information about the coronavirus. how one writer is claiming he is being suppressed on social media. the fight over getting kids back to school. turning ugly in some american cities. why some teachers and parents are taking their battles to court. >> our education is a critical

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>> trace: some stories making headlines the bottom of the hour. a woman in britain becoming the first person to get the covid vaccine outside of testing. she called it an early birthday present ahead of turning 91 next week. in a twist that's about as british as it gets. the second person to get the

shot is named william shakespeare. a mysterious illness in india. it's rapidly spreading. first case was reported sunday as victims suddenly convulsing, losing consciousness. doctors trying to find the cause. some guessing it could be contaminated food. stopping the pressures on the most printed publication in the world, ikea announcing this year's catalog will be its last after 70 years. at its peak more than 200 million were printed every year. police raided the home of a former scientist. a home camera showing the officers pointing their guns upstairs towards jones and her family. >> come down the stairs now.

police, come down now. >> police, come down the stairs. >> my children. he just pointed a gun at my children. >> jones is under investigation for claims she improperly manipulated state coronavirus data. police took all of her computers and storage devices during the raid. steve harrigan is covering this from atlanta. steve. >> two very different versions of this story. jones version and that of the authorities. jones, of course, was a data analyst for the state of florida. she studied covid numbers and worked on the covid dashboard. she tweeted that video, set up the camera and tweeted it. she was fired in may. she claims for failing to falsify data about covid. the authorities said she was fired for insubordination. at a florida department of law enforcement said they tracked the computer to her house. the computer used to break into the florida department of

health. jones said she is not a hacker. here is what she said about the raid. this is just a thinly failed attempt to intimidate me and get to my sources. she set up a gofundme page that raised $75,000 in eight hours. in florida it's more than 1 million cases of covid, more than 19,000 people have died from it. trace, back to you. >> trace: steve harrigan live in atlanta. thank you. >> sandra: well, big tech has been accused of censorship and crushing conservative voices. a new op-ed in the "wall street journal" suggests the dominant social media flat toerms are censoring alternative ideas about the coronavirus. joining us to discuss that is the writer of that op-ed alex berenson and the author of a booklet on lockdowns. what are we seeing happen here? >> sandra, it is really

unfortunate. there are many reasons to believe that lockdowns may have negative effects. certainly they have negative economic effects. school closures have lots of problems for kids denying them school, masks we can talk about too. yet unfortunately big tech has essentially censored all discussion of this stuff. not all but increasingly hard even for reputable people to get their voices out there. amazon wouldn't let me public my booklets and finally they backed down. youtube pulled a video with scott atlas, the president of pfizer had made. facebook is doing stuff that people can't track because there is so much information on facebook. we know they've pulled groups of people who want to protest lockdowns and they fact check. it is information they don't like, they'll say it's false.

as a society we need open discussion. we need open debate. it is a really bad idea for these companies to be putting their fingers on the scale. there is a competitor to twitter called parler, more free speech platform that has become adopted by conservatives. i don't know how long it will take to happen with facebook or youtube. it is not what we want. we want the platforms to be available to everybody. >> sandra: well, especially as the information that we have learned about this virus has evolved over time with dr. anthony fauci saying we need to find a way to get kids if school. kids aren't spreading it when they're in the classroom and dr. girard, the admiral pointing out the fact there is not a need -- science doesn't say we need to shut down the outdoor dining even though

california is doing just that. this is covid in the new age of censorship in the piece you write about this. it doesn't promote public health when media and tech -- outlets like "the new york times" are unwilling to ask inconvenient questions. top biologists calling to look into if it's a chinese lab accident. as you continue to dig into this. >> sure. i think it's really good that you pointed out outdoor dining and outdoors in general and masks and school reopenings. that is stuff that i and other independent thinkers were talking about in april and may and june. okay? back then we were told oh, you know, you can't even talk about school reopenings it is so

dangerous to kids. now mainstream science has caught up to that and guess what? now i'm talking about this idea and it is not me. i'm reporting on what people are talking about that there is evidence potentially not that the chinese did this deliberately but it possibly was some kind of lab accident and no one in the mainstream media will talk about this. let's see where we are in six months whether these investigations are happening and people are calling for them. it is not -- i don't feel like i'm outside the orthodoxy as much as i've been in front of it. i'll keep pushing it and enable people to talk. you guys have been the main platform that allowed me to speak and i'm grateful to you for it. >> sandra: alex, thanks for coming on the program this morning. thank you. >> thanks for having me. >> trace: the new district attorney promising new reforms to the los angeles justice

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ask your health care provider today about once-weekly ozempic®. >> trace: the new los angeles county district attorney promising a series of big changes hoping to reform the criminal justice system in one of the country's most populous districts. his proposals are sparking outrage among police and law enforcement. ted williams joins us now, former homicide detective and fox news contributor. i want to put these on the board if i can to show you what some of the proposals he is throwing out there. he wants to end cash bail. end the death penalty. reopen police shooting cases, stop charging juveniles as adults. ban on sentencing enhancements like california's three strikes law just to name a few. your thoughts, ted. >> well, good morning, trace. happy to be with you. i can tell you as a lawyer and a former police officer, i have

no problems with criminal justice reform but i do have a difficult problem with radical criminal justice reform and i think that the district attorney before he made a decision to make some of these changes he needed to have gone out in the community and talked to the community. when you are talking about abolishing the death penalty and those who are on death row resentencing them to life sentences, there are people in the community who have been affected by people who have killed people and there are people out in the world here that have no social redeeming qualities. i do believe unfortunately in the death penalty under some circumstances. >> trace: the police protective league says the new d.a. talks a good game but his plans will do nothing more than further victimize black and hispanic

residents who make up 70% of violent crime victims. the victims and law abiding residents lost a voice today and criminals and gang members gained an a lie. the majority of crime victims are black and hispanic people in los angeles county. >> that is where i draw the line. you've got black people out here who are victims of black on black crime and some of these crimes are bad crimes and you are saying you want to abolish the death penalty. are you also saying that young people should be not charged as adults? i have a problem with that. there are some people out here who are young, they are juveniles but they know what they're doing and i do believe that they should be charged as adults. >> trace: we should put this on the screen as well. year-to-date we have homicides

in los angeles, the city we're talking about him as the d.a. of the county. homicides up 28%. aggravated assaults up 6%. shooting victims up 33%. total arrests down 27%. doesn't seem like the time to get soft on crime. 10 seconds, final thoughts. >> it is not the time to get soft on crime and you should get some input from the community as well as law enforcement out there. they could educate you what is going on in l.a. at this time. i'm sad to hear you are doing it this way, mr. gaston. >> trace: always good to see you. thank you. >> sandra: restaurants nationwide struggling to survive as states and cities impose new lockdown measures. why business owners are warning that they could go under at any moment now. i'm erin. -and i'm margo.

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>> we'll monitor the hospital capacity. if it doesn't stabilize we'll shut down indoor dining. >> sandra: new york city restaurants owners are staring down a friday deadline at andrew cuomo warns he will ban all indoor dining again if the hospitalization rate continues to increase. sean kennedy is executive vice president of public affairs at the national restaurant association and joins us now. this is incredibly difficult for everyone. the public health crisis, the shutdown of these businesses. balancing it has been brutal. what does it mean for some of these restaurants that have been able to survive?

how many more may have to shut their doors? >> sandra, thanks for having me. we're in a perfect storm right now. the governments at one level is shutting down restaurants, indoor dining is virtually eliminated in eight states. at the same time, the government in washington has been unable to do anything for the nation's second largest private sector employer. right now 110,000 restaurants nationwide are closed. a quick check of the map. one if six have been around serving their communities for 30 years. unless congress steps in and provides something and only a week and a half to do it we'll see restaurant closures as we move into the cool months of winter. >> sandra: you mentioned some of those statistics we can put up on the screen. some of the notable new york restaurants that have had to shut their doors this year due to the pandemic. restaurants that have survived a lot have been open for decades, in some cases over the

century. then you go to the number that have had to close their doors so far nationwide, sean, 110,000. one in six as you just detailed. on average restaurants have been open for 16 years and employed 32 people. so you talk about for every restaurant that has to close its doors, how many in some cases dozens and hundreds of people that affects and families nationwide. >> well, it's today about 2 million restaurant employees are still unemployed without a job that were working in our industry. when you think about the number of people, the suppliers, the farmers, the electrical workers, everybody that makes a restaurant operational, they are losing their jobs and revenue as well. again, when the nation's second largest private sector reports they've lost more jobs and more revenue than anybody else it needs to be an alarm bell in washington, d.c.

>> sandra: as far as the survey you've taken on the full service restaurants and the impact on them, 87% are reporting obviously a sales drop. 89% reporting low staffing levels. 58% expect staffing levels to drop over the next three months. it will be a tough holiday season. 52% are trying to offer outdoor dining. what is your message to leaders across the country right now as they try to balance keeping the doors open to some of these businesses while also stopping the spread of this virus? >> congress needs to step in. the ppp program was a great program. it was an eight-week program for a pandemic that has brought this industry to its knees for nine months. congress cannot let the enemy be perfect, the enemy is good. at least a down payment from congress in the form of a moderate relief package.

they have put forth a plan like that. we need congress to get something done before they leave town for the holidays. our advocacy website restaurants act.com has more. congress doesn't have a lot of time to act. unless they hear from us they're likely to go home and we'll be left out in the cold. >> sandra: appreciate your time this morning. our hearts go out to all those restaurants trying to get through this. our best to them. thank you. >> trace: the family of a fallen firefighter getting a big gift. the chairman of the tunnel 2 towers foundation and the widow will tell us how this magic moment came together. that's next. ok everyone, our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy.

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investing today wherever you are - even hanging with your dog. so, what are you waiting for? download now and get your first stock on us. robinhood. >> tunnel to towers keeping up its nearly two decade mission to help the families of fallen heroes, paying off the mortgage of the family of ken jones, the 20 year veteran behind a wife and two coyoung children, the mortgage payoff is part of the annual season of hope. joining us now, chairman and ceo

and ken jones' widow paid carrie, you first. we are so sorry for your husband's loss, by all accounts he was a hero and we know the pain is very profound about the mortgage payoff has to be a bit of a relief to you and your family. >> it absolutely is, absolutely. >> bill: when you found out about it, what'd you think, but as you say? say? what reaction? >> moving my kids after losing their father, so when we got the phone call that there are people out there who don't know us, i don't know can and just know our story and are willing to pay off our mortgage is the biggest blessing that anyone could ever receive and it's grateful, wonderful feeling to know i didn't have to move my kids, relocate anybody and it's all because of complete strangers coming together to help those of us that have lost a significant portion of our family.

>> bill: complete strangers. we have seen him, 9/11 after 9/11, it's got to be really invigorating. it's got to make you happy to do this for so many families. >> we are proud of, our mission is to make sure we take care of the families left behind, and of course, gold star families, you know, we are delivering 36 mortgage free homes in 36 days. what we call the season of hope and we have to call these families some help, they just lost their partner, their loved ones, you just turned to carrie, one of their biggest fears, can i stay in the house, we have all these dreams that we have together and we are able to do that. because of your listeners, we ask everybody to go to tunneltotowers.org, donate $11 a month, if we continue doing

that we can take care of every firefighter, police officer, gold star family every year to make sure that we make a promise with these families, they go out to give the kids a kiss good-bye and they don't go home, we, america, are going to take care of these families. >> bill: there it is at the bottom of the screen. he said 36 mortgage-free homes, smart homes for catastrophically injured veterans, mortgage payoffs for families of fallen first responders. the last word to you, he said it gives hope. how important is it that you stay in your home? >> it absolutely gives a lot of hope and encouragement to a very dark time. >> bill: yeah, carrie jones, listen. best of luck to you and your family. as always, we see you every year, we applaud you, you do

wonderful work and thank you for your gift send your time, the tunnel to towers foundation is a really amazing group. thanks so much. speak i you, god bless you, carrie. >> thank you. >> sandra: today the nation were members a country boy who went straight from high school to the air force only to throw up during his first fight. the humble good-bye, and later defy physics when chuck yeager flew faster than the words you are hearing coming from your tv. >> it's a really big moment. for the first time ever. >> sandra: and that was the moment, the first sonic boom as chuck yeager broke the sound barrier back in 1947, he died today in los angeles. many experts thought that breaking the sound barrier would blow up the jet comic on the pilot instantly. he proved them wrong.

he recently said he would of stayed as a plain mechanic but the pilots didn't have dirt on their hands, they had pretty girls on their arms. today his wife says he had an incredible life well-lived. chuck yeager was 97 years old. that does it for us. "outnumbered" starts right now. >> harris: and we begin here, president-elect joe biden facing growing controversy over two of his cabinet choices, some senate republicans are sounding the alarm over health human services secretary choice javier becerra, saying the california attorney general lacks health care experience and accusing him of pushing a far left agenda. >> let's just get through their problems with this nomination. first, he supports medicare for all, second, he is a true radical. third, look at what's happened in california during this