tonight on kqed newsroom. we speak with california lieutenant governor about the rise of women in politics. and the state's response to the coronavirus pandemic. and we dig into the latest on the covid vaccine hunt. when one would be available in california and who would be first in line. plus a look at something beautiful. we take in the major red retrospective of a pioneering artist. welcome to kqed newsroom. president trump continues his refusal to concede the

election and has the backing of prominent republicans and members of his cabinet. on tuesday, secretary of state said there will be a smooth transition to a second trump administration. mitch mcconnell has refused to recognize president-elect, joe biden and there are lawsuits to challenge the results. president elect biden has called the behavior and embarrassment and is moving forward with the transition plan. molly harris is leaving the seat for her place in the white house. now joining us in san francisco is the look tenant governor. thank you for joining us. let's start with the burning question. your name has been mentioned as a candidate to fill kamala harris is senate seat when she goes to washington, d.c. have you had any conversation with governor newsom about that position?

>> that's a big choice ahead of him. i'm so honored that my name is one he's considering. he will have to sort through and figure out what he thinks is the closest to what california will want. whoever is appointed by the governor will have to run in less than two years. >> what you think the people of california want to see in this position? >> people want diversity. there's a lot of women's group the want to see a woman. again, this is the governor's job to fill that senate see. i know he has quite a few choices. we'll see how he approaches it. >> let's talk about your work day. as lieutenant governor, what is on the top of your agenda to accomplish? >> thank you for asking, not everyone knows what the lieutenant governor does. my job is first and foremost to be available in case the governor goes out of state or

for whatever reason not able to do his job. but that leaves a lot of time for other things. i work in and around the public higher education. i sit on the community college boards and i work in environmental preservation and the chair of the state land commission every other year. and finally, after i was elect did, governor by executive order designate needed me california representative for international affairs and trade. i spend a lot of time on climate change, trade and other issues where the voice on the world stage is needed, particularly in the last couple of years. >> the this issue is still the coronavirus. we see the numbers a rise. many counties are moving into restrict the tears. are you involved in the relief

effort? >> everyone has been involved in this. from the early stages to ppp and ppe and economic things we've been dealing with. as well as frankly, making sure we are out there talking to the public about how contagious this is and how deadly it is and how important it is. first and foremost all californians have to do their part to limit the spread to minimize the impact to the economy and allow us to recover. and when the vaccine is readily available. >> let's talk about the recovery. you are a member of the jobs recovery board. have you heard the criticism that it has not gotten much done ? >> i don't think i can see the

volunteers and all that has been done. all kinds of people have come together. of the private sector, public sector, labor, to help navigate our way through early on. we reopened restaurants for take-out or curbside dining. how did we do it? what does that look like? it was a lot of money for a public/private effort to raise awareness for how people can protect themselves and it's a big part of the task force has been helping to close the digital divide. we have students across the state that are struggling. they don't have laptops or ipads or don't have connectivity. there's been a lot of work done by this group. i know the

governor and myself as a member of the task force is great hold to the outpouring of support. >> i'd like to have you speak directly to small business owners and restaurant owners whose livelihood has yo-yo during the pandemic. questions about whether they could reopen or stay in business. what do you say to people who are struggling so much economically right now. >> we are doing the best we can. this is a very difficult thing. when you have a virus that spreads this easily and people who sometimes forget how easily it spreads. it's a very difficult situation. we are trying to be as consistent as we can. the more we drive down the infection rate, the less likely anyone sitting in that restaurant has a virus and so people won't catch it. the other thing we are doing every day is advocating as

loudly as possible with the federal government to get more financial aid, more stimulus aid to help with those ppp loans and help so that if you are laying off staff, you can get supplemental help like unemployment insurance. for people who get that supplemental they are able to get takeout from your restaurant. a lot of what we're looking for right now is the federal relief. we need everyone who is affect did to be helping a surge the federal government to be doing more. >> i want to turn to international relations you served in hungry by the president obama's appointment.

you spend that time learning about eastern europe and the world. and not long after you sworn into office as lieutenant governor you noted your time as ambassador gave you a window into many things. i saw how others see us and what people see of america is the great shining city on the hill. we have our moments and challenges but we are still the last greatest hope on earth. there was in january, 2019. to do see america's place in the world changed since then? >> yes, of course. i think they are entry now, thankfully some concern a post trump world. america will reestablish leadership in the world. joe biden is extremely experienced in foreign affairs. he has the team around him. the challenge is real. reassuring our partners and allies that we are liable. this will be a difficult thing. we will have to engage with china and the relationship between trump and the chennai chinese is very hostile.

he has saber rattles. he has put tariffs in place but he is not accomplished anything in terms of reconciling our differences. if anything he's bird china on to be more aggressive in the region. same with turkey and rush up. we have a lot of work ahead of us. do i believe that america is still that shining city? of course i do, we are. it takes work and commitment to our ideals. one of which the most important of which is our own national security. the thing that makes us secure is a stable and secure world. no doubt joe biden will be there restoring it. >> that goes directly in my next question. you witnessed a rise in

autocratic government there. are there similarities what you saw happening there and what you see in america today. >> the internet and digital revolution the way we communicate has created an opportunity for untruths to spread. conspiracy theory to spread misinformation and propaganda to spread. for leaders, it's incumbent upon us to be as transparent and clear and fact based as possible. i'm very concerned, right here in california we have elected officials like mccarthy and a congressman from the valley whose very influential as well as even shannon groves, the

leader of the senate republicans in sacramento. they are still perpetuating these lies that donald trump will still win. we've got to hold people accountable for lying to the general public. that requires the general public to insist that we demand the truth and fact based leadership from our elected officials. >> i want to touch a few minutes before we go on your relationship with senator harris. you've known her for many years. she endorsed you early. you lobbied with her to the biden campaign. tell us your relationship with ú>> vice president-elect, kamal harris is so deeply committed to public service. she has worked with so many people and developed relationships where she has looked at people around her and made decisions in terms of

their leadership. i'd never run for office before. i broke a glass ceiling with her help to become the first woman elected lieutenant governor. it's only about the people we represent and supporting others that she believes will do the best possible job as public servants. to see her in washington right now, the first woman vice president of the united states. a woman of color, a daughter of immigrants, this is a california story. i am so proud of her and looking forward to her leadership in washington as vice president. >> as you said you broke glass ceilings. does the gender matter when it comes to issues of governance. have you changed the role of lieutenant governor in a meaningful way with your perspective as a woman?

>> it's scientifically established that when you have women at the table and people of the color represent different voices at the table, when you have leadership that looks like the people who are being represented, you get better outcomes. you need those voices and the diversity of experience. i think it makes an enormous difference. we make a great step forward but still work to be gun done. >> lieutenant governor of california, thank you for your time. >> thank you, really terrific to be with you. the winter surge in coronavirus cases predicted by medical experts is here. the u.s. hit an all-time daily high of hospitalizations and new cases this week with more

than 160,000 people testing positive and one day. 11 counties are progressing to more restrictive measures. the state has surpassed 1 million cases since the pandemic began. on monday, drug maker, pfizer, announced the vaccine has proven to be more than 90% effective among trial volunteers. more testing needs to be done. is under clear who would get the first doses and when they would be available to the public. joining us now a professor of medicine and infectious disease specialist at the university of california, san francisco. dr., thank you for joining us. >> thank you for handed me on. >> many elf health experts say this will not be over till there's a vaccine in place. we have some good news with pfizer and the drug trial. can you tell us a bit about how the vaccine will work? >> definitely, this is my covid buddy. i use this for inspiration. there are five proteins on the

coronavirus. what the vaccine does is pretty clever. and not being a live virus because that would be dangerous to immunocompromised individuals, for example. it takes a message from the five proteins and delivers it into the cells the cells become a factory of your body for making the proteins the antibodies see the proteins not the virus but fragments of the protein and develop antibodies to them. when the real deal covid comes along, your antibodies are fighting to capture it. that's how clever the vaccine is to make you use antibodies to fight off the real virus. >> in the trials it's been very efficacious. >> yes it has been very efficacious. we were all surprised how efficacious it was. it showed there was 90% efficacy in preventing covid-19

disease in individuals who got the vaccine, compared to those who got the placebo. >> is that a big deal, 90%? it sounds very good from a layperson's perspective. >> the bar was not that high for covid vice vaccines. because of the urgency. so the fda bar for vaccine to come to market was about 50%. so 90% and above, it's like you not only pass the test that you got an a+. the influenza vaccine is only 40 to 60% efficacious depending on what year you look at. it changes from year to year. >> look at the next step to bringing this one or another front runner vaccine. the one made by another company to market. >> it's presenting the data in a more mature way to the fda.

the fda will meet and decide whether or not they will grant emergency authorization. similar to what they did to other drugs before they got full clearance. the full clearance from the fda takes a long time. you would receive authorization and it's a fast way to get it into the arms of individuals. >> let's talk about how the vaccine will be distributed. who will receive it first? in your opinion are those the right groups to be targeting? >> these are great questions. of the national academy of sciences did have recommendation. the first tier is healthcare workers and a individuals on the frontlines of first responders. firemen, ambulance drivers, etc.

i think the million-dollar question are the elephant in the room is exactly how will minority populations or vulnerable populations play in this? the next tier which is tier 1 a includes essential workers not included in the first tier. as well as individuals with co- mobility's and those that live in congregant settings like nursing homes, etc. of these populations they are prioritized populations at the front of the disease. minority populations remain to be depressed and advocated one way or the other. >> we've seen a record number of increase of new cases both in the nation and the state. as a doctor that treats covid

patients, what are you seeing in the hospital right now? >> i think we see the calm before the storm. it does not pick up until about two week for hospitalizations after we see a rise. it takes about that time for diagnosis and then when they get sick enough to be hospitalized or intensive care unit. it's like we were about one month ago. the writing is on the wall. it's only a amount of time before we see it pick up. i've seen that and other parts of the country, seeing that and hearing that from my colleagues. yesterday we had a staff meeting in infectious diseases and we are already talking about extra staffing to mitigate this inevitable rise of hospitalizations. >> do you think we should prepare for a strain on california's hospitals such

that we would run out of equipment or space to treat those who become sick with the virus? >> i think our political leaders here have aligned with science and public health. everyone has work together to be very proactive. they've done that before. i'm putting a lot of confidence in them. with that said, even though we may have enough physical beds. i'm wordy wordy worried about healthcare providers going home sick. i'm still worried about enough supplies in terms of some drugs, protective equipment, testing reagent supplies. all those things i am worried about i would not normally have to worry about if we had a national strategy and a national distribution plan which we don't in these areas. >> what have we learned since the pandemic first began? how are treatments and

responses changed? we've learned more than we knew in the spring. >> we are really good now. if we have enough beds. and we don't have a surge. in terms of preventing more deaths. i think we are able to know which medications to initiate at very stages and what's the biggest bang for the buck. early stage we give antiviral. and later stages we focus more on anti-inflammatory to prevent inflammation. we learned a lot in that situation. where we still have to do a lot of work is how do we prevent people from getting to the hospital in the first place. that's why some of the studies with oral pills that we recently published as a strategy. plasma or antibodies to help prevent them from getting to

the hospital. these are all therapies of the future but we're not there yet. ultimately we've learned a lot about icu care. how to treat people when they are critically ill, independent of medicine given. we will not be ready for a surge even a super high surge overwhelming the hospital even if we know what medicines to use and what sequence. >> california is recording the highest number of cases since the summer. he said is because of private gatherings. he himself attended a 12 person party and he said he shouldn't of done that. it's an indication of how hard it is to follow the guidelines. gather outside if you're gonna have a meal, don't be together more than a couple hours. use disposable utensils. are these guidelines necessary? and

you find them reasonable ask >> unfortunately, they are necessary. again, i'm looking at other parts of the country it feels like the calm before the storm. when you get the report the hurricane is coming and everything is fine. we are in that mindset. once governor newsom exhibited was a tough situation even with smart and responsible people about the pandemic fatigue that we've been experiencing through the beginning of the year. >> what you say to that with holidays approaching is airline travel safe? >> we learned a lot about airline travel the last few months. airlines itself have not been

major transition. you sit by a window you wear a mask at all times, put the vent on you. it's very comparable in the airlines to the ventilation that we have in the operating room. the problem with the airline travel is the journey to the airport, hanging out in the airport and that is where a lot of noses and mouths come together. that's where the virus is transmitting itself. if people can navigate that risky area, be safe on the airlines. navigate going to the destination, all we can do is recommend mitigating risk. if it's important to go to, for example, you have an elderly

relative who may not live to see another holiday, if you take these precautions, you do the best that you can. >> president-elect, joe biden has announced there's three doctors that are being appointed to a 13 member panel that he's putting together to create a federal response to the pandemic which will roll out on day one. why do you think they were selected? >> i love the different strengths they bring to the panel. one is a gentleman and a scholar. and dr. david kessler, was the former dean of school of medicine. former fda commissioner so understands the system really well. laws and legislation around new medications and therapeutics. and robert rodriguez whose

whole career has been devoted to eliminating despair's seas and thinking about vulnerable populations. >> thank you for your time, we appreciate it. >> my pleasure, stay well. now a look at something beautiful. this artist led the way for what became known as this bay area's art. this is currently at a san francisco museum of modern art. it's his first large-scale work in 30 years. [ music playing ]

>> you can find more of our news coverage at kqed.org on the newsroom. you can reach me on twitter, facebook and instagram. from all of us at kqed newsroom. thanks for joining us, good night.

robert: the election is over. but the faceoff continues. bind this is the team to heal in -- president-elect biden: this is the time to heal in america. robert: biden and harris win the white house. but days later, the president refuses to aept the result. with support from republicans. >> there will be a smooth transition to a second trump administration. robert: but there are some cracks. >> we need to consider joe biden as the president-elect. robert: beyond the election, a record-breaking spike threatens the nation. president-elect biden: mask is not a political statement. but it is a good way to start pulling the country together. robert: next.