building a better bay area for a safe and secure future, this is abc7 news. >> hi there, and good afternoon. i'm dion lim. welcome to our daily program called "getting answers." what we're doing is asking experts your questions every day at 3:00 to get answers for you in realtime. now coming up, we'll talk to infectious disease specialist dr. peter chin hong about the new covid mutations, vaccines, and much more, and we'll also talk to the founding director of a new program with the goal of letting inmates earn bachelor degrees. but first, we begin with the covid relief bill, now on hold after president trump said individuals need $2,000 each, not $600. house speaker nancy pelosi said they wanted this all along and are ready to make it happen. so joining us now to talk about

what happens next is oakland congresswoman barbara lee. as always, many thanks for you. being here, we know your time is limited. so let's get right to it. are you surprised to hear this news from president trump? >> you know, quite frankly, i'm never surprised to hear anything from the white house. his behavior has been bizarre from day one. and let me just tell you. we have been trying for eighth months to get resources to people who are living on the edge. this pandemic has to be crushed. the health and economic impacts are just deadly. for eight months, we've been trying. have i been pushing for month until the pandemic ends, and that's still not enough. we've been trying for that. then we tried for the $2,000 just as a survival payment, like

they narrowed it down to $600. now this man comes back and tells his republicans go for $2,000. so i'm not surprised, but i think what is so tragic is that people need this help, and he is playing with people's lives. >> you know, the timing of this is very interesting as well. this almost seems like a last-minute effort. is there something larger, maybe a political move here? i can sense a little bit of frustration with the back and forth over the course of these past few months for you. >> what could be the political move? i mean, his republicans don't even want to do this. mcconnell, who knows where he is on the $2,000 a month. they would not negotiate this eight months ago. so i don't understand if donald trump is trying to play into maybe the georgia races to show that he is the one. but remember, eight months ago, we tried. we've been negotiating for eight month, just to get people this

lifeline to make it through this terrible, terrible time. >> and we weren't even sure if the $600 was going to go through at all. so over the weekend, when that news broke, that was only just one step. do you have any predictions from what is going to happen next, based off of your talks with some of the people you work with? >> sure. we were on a leadership meeting, had a leadership meeting today. and we all agreed we're going to accept that. we're going to try to get the $2,000 to pass, but we have to have mitch mcconnell and kevin mccarthy to support it. so we're working now to get what we call unanimous consent, which everyone agrees. then we would add $2,000 or the difference, the $1400 to the bill. and let it go at that. and then maybe he would sign it. but we've got to have everybody agreeing to that. >> before we get to our next topic, can i just ask you how you're doing?

i think before the show we were talking about all the drama surrounding this. are you doing okay mental health wise with all of this? >> yes, you know, it's always drama for the last four years, from day one. what we're doing is -- and we don't think about ourselves. i know i don't. i'm fight for people who are struggling, people who are about to be laid off, and businesses that are closing. families don't have enough money to patronize businesses, and our small businesses are going under. so i don't have time to figure out how i'm doing. i'm fine. i'm well, and i'm working hard and fighting hard and thankful to my constituents for supporting me and understanding that i'm there day and night fighting the good fight on their behalf. >> your enthusiasm is always so infectious. what are your thoughts on secretary of state alex padilla being selected for the senate

seat. he is making history as the first latino senator to represent california. >> sure. and i know alex. i know him well. and i was so happy i sent him a check. i was flying actually. so i sent him a text. and then i issue mid statement congratulating his historic appointment. and i look forward to working with him. >> besides the fact he is making history as the first latino to represent, can you tell the public what are some of his traits that you have admired or why you think you will serve well in this role? >> sure. i think that his background, his experiences, his family having to struggle coming from mexico, the light that he embodies in terms of so many others really will be reflected through him as our senator in sacramento. and so i think his life experiences are very important to have as part of the senate.

>> we'd love to hear everyone else's comments as well. please join in the conversation on facebook and react to alex padilla heading to the senate. now to wrap up, because i know your time is limited, as an asian american woman, i have tirelessly advocated for representation for diversity. do you have concerns about there perhaps being no black women in the u.s. senate? >> sure. right now there will be after january 20th not one african american woman's voice or perspective at the table in the senate to help solve -- to help solve our problems. we know black women have unique experiences in this country that really need to be in the mix. and let me just give you one little fact. since 1789 when the first congress was seated, total of ten years black women have served. carol moseley-braun and senator

kamala harris. so ten years. that's all. and so diversity, representation matters. we have got to make sure that african american women are reflected, the african american women are at the table which reflect the sentiment of so many in this country and representation matters because it strengthens our country to have people with broader views and with new views and with new ideas. and now with kamala gone, we will have not one african american woman sitting at this table, negotiating with a perspective that needs to in the senate. >> well, congresswoman lee, i cannot let you go without asking you this final question. with all of that being said, all of this representation, that is the beauty of being in america, do you think you will make a run for that seat yourself at some point? >> oh, this is -- listen, let me just say we're trying to make

sure that we get to january 20th with the biden/harris administration and work to crush this virus and help with our terrible economic downturn that has happened in this country. and i'm going work very hard to make sure that we do have black women elected to the senate. who know what's the future holds for any of us, but i can tell you one thing. black women around this country are insisting, and i mean insisting that we have not just one african american woman in the senate, but we have to have african american women in all leadership positions in our government. right now we've fought hard for our democratic party, for everyone. and we do deserve to be represented at all levels of government. and so we're going to work hard to make sure we have an african american woman elected to the united states senate. >> i'm going take that as baby steps, one thing at a time,

right? >> absolutely. we have a lot of work we have to do get to january 20th with this white house and this administration trying to steal and subvert our fair and free elections which took place. we have a lot on our plate in terms of making sure the american people are able to survive this terrible period. and also, we have a lot on our plate to make sure that the vaccine is distributed and so that we have the resources. and i wanted to just say i got $2.8 billion in this last stimulus bill targeted for black and brown communities for contact tracing, for testing, for health care, and for vaccine. and we've got to fight hard because black and brown people are dying disproportionately. and the virus is being transmitted in our communities for all of the reasons we know. and so i'm concerned about that, and i want to make sure that our communities get these resources that they need and that we hire young people, trusted messengers

to deliver these public health messages. we got that in this bill also. i'm really proud of that. not enough, but $2.8 billion set aside for black and brown communities is the beginning of hopefully what we need to make sure that the messages around our health protocols are delivered. >> we'd love to continue the conversation with you at a later time. well appreciate you spending the time that you do have with us. congresswoman barbara lee, a pleasure as always. >> nice being with you. thank you very much. >> now, when we return, we'll talk about the covid-19 headlines of the day and get your questions answered. we are taking a break online, but that conversation, like i we made usaa insurance for members like martin. an air force veteran made of doing what's right, not what's easy. so when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. that's how you do it right. usaa insurance is made just the way martin's family needs it with hassle-free claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started.

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all right. thank you so much for staying with us for our show, "getting answers." with plenty of covid news, we have a lot of questions future our next guest. joining us is ucsf infectious disease specialist dr. peter chin hong. it's always good to see you. you are joining us from your kitchen because you have a couple of days off. you mentioned you have not gotten your vaccine yet. >> yeah, so it's been interesting reason, which is that ucsf has decided to put all of the folks with patient contact in one bucket and to randomize the distribution of the vaccine. and that way it could be as equitable as possible. in fact, the first person to get it at ucsf was a long time custodial staff member, which i think we're all happy about. >> do you have anything to look forward to with this vaccine personally? are you personally excited to receive it when you do? >> i'm so excited. for two reasons. apart from the overall happiness

that i have, is i always had a nagging suspicion of bringing bad stuff home when i left the hospital. and of course that diminished over time, but it's always something i worry about, about bringing it to my family. the second is we have a loft noncovid infected patients in the hospital as well. you go from a covid room to a noncovid room. and you always, even though you disrobe, you still worry about that risk to other patients as well. >> so you personally do not have any major concerns when it comes to side effects perhaps. because we have read a little bit about on occasion people having reactions to the shots. >> yeah. so i'm not concerned about it. again, there are some safety protocols that have been put in place to help mitigate risks of any allergy type reaction. and from everyone, you have to stay at least 15 minutes after

the vaccine. and if you have a serious allergic reaction in the past, particularly to injectables, they're going watch you for 30 minutes. and each room is going to be equipped for in case you needed to get treatment if you have that serious allergy. >> you know, the latest headlines show that the government projection has people vaccinated in december at 20 million, but right now i think we're only at about a million. what is accounting for that large gap with this projection? >> yeah. i think it's for a variety of reasons. one is that i think they overprojected, first of all. and of course some of the leaders in that federal organizational effort have come back and said, for example, california got 40% fewer doses of the pfizer vaccine than we expected. it was just overcalling. and then the second issue is

just really a numbers game. and i think that they didn't -- they just haven't had the doses in the numbers as they thought they would have. interestingly, we're getting more moderna than pfizer, and we thought we would have more pfizer. >> and in some ways also getting the moderna is beneficial because of its not need -- it doesn't need to be deep frozen, is that right? >> yeah. so that's several good parts of the moderna. one is that it's a little heartier. so negative 20 degrees celsius instead of negative 70. and the most important part i think for rural communities is once you defrost it, you can keep it in the fridge for a month whereas in the pfizer vaccine, it just lasts about five days in the fridge after it comes out of the freezer. >> i see. and when it comes to the timeline of when people will get vaccinated, do we have any i guess more specifics than we did when the first vaccines were approved?

i mean, we've heard things places like cvs, they've indicated they may be getting doses for the general population as well. >> yes. so the overall best estimate now is that we'll have 100 million doses by the end of february administer order distributed. which will only get a fraction of the folks, which will mean i think health care worker, nursing home residents, and the most recent thought about the next level after nursing home residents, health care workers are those above 75 years old and essential workers. because they were sort of deciding and struggling should we give essential workers or older americans first who are not in nursing homes. and they kind of met them both ways by saying instead of over 65, we'll do over 75. so we'll include some essential workers earlier. >> i see. and when it comes to the new

variants, let's talk than for a moment. several days ago we started hearing rumblings of a new strain of coronavirus in europe. and i think that put people on high alert. did health officials anticipate is virus mutation? is this something that we see in something like the flu? >> yeah, so viruses mutate all the time. and it's not because they're being conniving or extremely methodical in that mutations. it's just that they are very imprecise when they make copies of each other. and they're kind of sloppy. every time they make a copy of each other, they're not exactly always the same. so mutations are part of the gym. in this particular mutation we call it a variant as opposed to a strain difference, and that's an important distinction because with a variant, it's kind of like a variation of the theme. we don't think that it really jeopardizes facial coverings or other protection that we use. we don't think that it's going

to cause more deaths. in fact, some people think it's going to cause fewer deaths because it's not as deadly. and thirdly, we think the vaccine will still work, because if you look at what the vaccine does it is presents these spike proteins to the body, and you develop antibodies like a thousand guns pointing at the spike protein, and it's a repertoire. so if you just take one gun, you still have 999 left. >> by the way, i do like your little plushy of the virus. it's quite cute in comparison to the damage it actually does. is this variant here in the u.s.? people have linked it to parts of africa. it seems to be very hard to trace. >> yes, because we don't usually do genetic analyses for that level of all the infections we have. people do surveillance, but surveillance is just a random look at what's happening in a population, not every single virus that you isolate.

i think it's inevitable that it's here. it's actually been around and first described back in october. so it's really the serious, crazy virus that people are seeing, it should have been spread like wildfire. so personally, i'm not too worried about it, particularly given the other factors that i mentioned. and it's really prisoning to me that countries have reacted so vigorously by shutting down borders, which only creates more damage by people crowding, similarly to when we shut the borders to travel from europe, and everyone crowded into customs, trying to get back in. >> that's right. it's that panic mentality that does more harm than good. i would like to get to a couple of viewer questions. we do have about a minute left. michael wants to know are, they going to force the vaccine on the general public? has that been done before in history? and can that be done? >> i personally don't think that will happen. it's a new vaccine.

i think people are honoring people's being a little bit anxious about getting it first. even on ucsf, we want to give everyone the information, and they have to be part of the program to get the information. but people are allowed to decline it. they're also allowed to defer it in case they want to get it later. >> all right. dr. peter chin hong. lots of questions still 20 be asked. please continue to do so at our facebook page. thank you for joining us. >> thank you, dion. coming up next, we will talk to the founding director of a program with the goal to let inmates earn bachelor degrees. how about poor fred wilson? what a shame. so soon after retiring. i hear his wife needed help with the funeral expenses. that's ridiculous! -he had social security. -when my brother died, his wife received a check from social security, all right-- for $255! the funeral costs were well over $8,000.

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karamit ryder, the founding director of the program. it's called uci lifted. 240u67 thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you so much for having me. >> all right. california has been allowing community colleges to teach in prisons for a while now since 2014. how is this program different? >> so this program will be only the second bachelor's degree pathway in the state. so since 2014, every state prison, 35 of them now have associates degree programs. but there is only one other bachelors program in the state. it's run by cal state los angeles. so this will be the first uc bachelor's program in a state prison and the second bachelors. >> wow. what type of majors can these inmates receive? and why is this program so important? >> absolutely. i'll start with why it's so important. while there is increasing attention to higher education in prison and increasing investment like the community college program in california and

congress just pass ed legislatin making prisoners available for pell grants, there is widespread education. one of the things that's really exciting about this is bringing every aspect of the higher education system in the state of california, the public higher education into the prison system. building on the cal state program to bring in the university of california and realize the vision of higher education being accessible to everyone, anyone from anywhere in the state that is part of our vision of public education. so that's part of what's so exciting about it, i think. we're viewing this as a demonstration project. so it's basically a pilot where we have a cohort of students who we will admit in the next year, and they will earn a sociology degree. and we can talk a little bit more about why. they're earning an associate's degree in sociology from southwestern college already. and as soon as they finish that, they'll actually be eligible for

admission to uc irvine because there is an existing agreement in place between this ledge and this major and irvine and our sociology department. as long as get a certain gpa, they are eligible. we wanted to demonstrate how this could be a model that could be used across the state, leveraging all kinds of pathways at all kinds of ucs. sociology is the first because there was an associates degree being offered and basically for administrative reasons. but the idea is that this is a model for how lots of different majors and ucs could replicate and offer more programs. >> i didn't realize how widespread it was and how interwoven this program is. that part very exciting. i know we only have about 30 seconds left, but talk about the prisoners themselves. will it be available to all of them? and what type of changes have you seen as these prisoners have been educated? >> absolutely. so for now, because this is a pilot, it will be available to those who earn this associates

degree. but the idea of course is anyone in the state can earn a community college degree. and we want to be part of rolling out programs that make all of the people with associate degrees eligible to get bachelors. an that's programs are transformative. prisoners who complete a bachelor's degree tend to have' a recidivism rate approaching zero. for every dollar we invest in prison education we get a $5 back. >> not to interrupt you. we are heading to commercial break, but we'll continue this conversation live on our social media on facebook. so stay right there. stay with us. we are taking that

once again, thank you so

much for joining us for this interav show, getting answers. we'll be here every weekday at 3:00. i'm dion lim. see you on the news tonight, several developing stories as we come on the air. the holiday travel fears, as more than 80 million americans defy warnings to stay home. will christmas gatherings fuel another deadly surge in the new year, as the nation records 3,000 lives lost in 24 hours. and tonight, concerns about yet another new variant of the virus in the uk that may spread even more easily. new york city orders all travelers from the uk to quarantine or face stiff fines. and news tonight on the vaccine rollout. pfizer confirms a deal with the u.s. government for 100 million more doses by july. also new tonight, president trump threatening to veto the $900 billion bipartisan stimulus deal, demanding congress increase payments to americans. relief on hold, as millions of americans struggle through the pandemic. the holiday weather