but the supreme court just took one restriction off the table in new york. in a 5-4 vote, the court ruled the state cannot restrict attendance at religious institutions like churches and synagogues. meanwhile, in washington, could more pardons be on the way now that president trump has granted full clemency to michael flynn? it's prompting new speculation about a wave of other possible choices. flynn pled guilty to lying to the fbi. while that's playing out this morning, president-elect joe biden is offering a message of gratitude and also reminding americans to keep safe as coronavirus cases surge in almost every state in america. i want to start with the president and president-elect. nbc's carol lee is in washington, ali vitali is in rehoboth beach, delaware, where the bidens are spending the holiday, also joined by "the new

york times'" peter baker. carol, i'll start with you on this one. talk first about how the president is spending the morning and what do we know about what might be ahead for this president. >> sure. he's currently on the golf course at his club in virginia. the president's getting in some golf today on thanksgiving and spending it in washington which is not typically how president trump has spent the holidays, usually is at his estate in south florida, mar-a-lago. but he's here, and he'll hold a conference call via video with u.s. troops later this afternoon around 3:00, that is closed to press, unfortunately. sometimes they've opened those up and allowed reporters in and it's turned into very lengthy question and answer sessions. so far it looks like that's not going to happen today. the president is busy on twitter, while arriving at his golf course, tweeting claims

that he made yesterday calling in to pennsylvania, saying the election was rigged, he says on twitter, just saw the vote tabulations, there is no way, all caps, that biden got 80 million votes, this is a rigged election, unquote. joe biden did get 80 million votes. but that's what the approximately alleged yesterday, alleging there was fraud in this election when in fact there wasn't and calling for the election results to be overturned. at the same time also, as you mentioned, pardoning his national security adviser michael flynn. and as we expect, that's just the beginning of a number of pardons to come. >> we need to have a running tabulation as to how many times this president's tweets have been named fraudulent on twitter over the last two weeks or so, basically since november 3. it seems like every time i see a tweet by the president it's claimed fraudulent by twitter, just incredible to see. ali, let's talk about the

president-elect, the holiday message we're going from joe biden today. >> yasmin, i think the way we're using twitter is going to change in about 50 days, because joe biden did tweet this morning, and the video he tweeted was centered on thanksgiving as well as the coronavirus. we know that for every american right now, the virus is front of mind. many of them scaling back their thanksgivings because of the concerns about potentially spreading covid-19. biden speaking to those concerns and the reality that americans are sharing. biden himself said he usually goes to nantucket for a bigger family thanksgiving. this year that's not the case, he's here in rehoboth beach, delaware, his wife, dr. jill biden with their daughter and son-in-law, not the biggest biden thanksgiving. but he mentions this is what we have to do right now. the point of the individual responsibility we're all taking in not spreading this virus. he also offered another message. listen to what he said.

>> this year we're going to be staying in delaware with just a small group around our dinner table. i know this isn't the way many of us hoped we would spend our holiday. we know that a small act of staying home is a gift to our fellow americans. yes, it's a personal sacrifice that each of our families can make and should make to save somebody else's life. >> and we know over the course of the last few weeks of this transition, we have seen biden and key advisers focus on combating the coronavirus. i'm sure that's going to continue next week. but we are also expecting after the thanksgiving holiday more cabinet picks to be announced as well as biden to receive his first presidential daily briefing on monday. some of the key positions that we're expecting are in the economic sector, specifically we're expecting to see that janet yellen will be formally announced as head of the treasury department. she would be the first woman to serve in that role if confirmed,

yasmin. >> peter, i want to bring you into the conversation here, and i want to talk specifically about the pardoning of mike flynn. here is what you wrote on twitter, and i quote, the white house statement on the flynn pardon says it sets right an injustice against an innocent man and an american hero, without acknowledging, you say, that trump was the one who fired flynn before his prosecution nor even addressing whether or not the president was right to do so. we know this president has worked really hard to spin in a different direction the russia investigation over and over again. and he said in that tweet early on when he decided to fire mike flynn that he was firing him because he lied to the vice president and the fbi but he also included the fact that he felt like the russia investigation and everything that was going on around mike flynn was in fact a hoax. >> yeah, the mike flynn case in some ways is one of the early catalysts for the trouble the president had for four years in

his presidency. the secret talk with the russian ambassador only fueled suspicions that there was something going on there, when mike flynn didn't tell investigators that they had discussed sanctions with the russians, suggesting that the new administration coming in might take a different policy than the outgoing administration. that obviously was part and parcel of this idea that president trump was particularly close to russia in a way that previous presidents have not been. and then i think, you know, the fact that the president felt the need to fire him just 24 days into his administration started a cascade of events that led ultimately to the appointment of robert mueller. he asks fbi director jim comey to go easy, to let go of the investigation against flynn. that ends up becoming one of the predicates for the appointment of the special counsel in the first place. that leads to robert mueller's investigation that goes on for a couple of years. so the flynn case has been at the heart of this president's troubles for a long time. but you're right, the reason i tweeted that is because the president acts as if this was only the fbi or the justice

department involved. he was the one who fired mike flynn, and he's never apologized for that to mike flynn or suggested that he was wrong to do so. if he thinks mike flynn has gotten a wrong deal, then why hasn't the president disowned his own actions against mike flynn? he of course doesn't want to take any responsibility, he's made clear he doesn't take responsibility in a general sense, and he clearly doesn't want to take it in this case. it's part of his narrative of persecution, his narrative of grievance and victimhood. >> it seems like maybe mike flynn is taking this pardon as an apology from the president, it doesn't necessarily seem like he's jockeying for an apology at this point given the tweets we've seen from mike flynn's family after the pardon last night. two of your colleagues, peter, have reported on the jockeying when it comes to pardoning and wanting the president to pardon clients on behalf of so many lawyers that have been in contact with the president. who do you expect to be in the pipeline here of other folks the president might likely pardon before he leaves office?

>> yeah, that's a good question. a lot of people obviously sort of angling to get his attention. he's made clear his approach to pardons is very personal. it's about helping allies of his, people he has personal sympathy with or people whose cases are brought to him by people he has connections with or celebrities. there's no pardon process in the old sense of the justice department reviewing applications in the way they did under previous administrations. this is a situation where a president personally wants to dispense favors and forgiveness and relief to people who think they have been wronged, usually people with a connections to him. there are all kinds of people caught up in the investigations who would like a pardon. it's possible to see a number of them in the next few weeks. you also have people who have paid people close to the president to lobby for them, or at least engaged with them if not paid them, to intercede on their behalf. this is what you normally see when a president is leaving office. of course this is a president

who hasn't conceded yet, but this flurry of pardoning maneuvering suggests everybody else thinks he is. >> ali, quickly here, there's been some criticism amongst joe biden's appointments, particularly secretary of state, that susan rice was at one point in the running and it seemed that joe biden stepped away from susan rice because she would have been a really controversial prospect when it came to the confirmation process. some would criticize the biden camp saying, he's not coming out fighting and this is a different washington, he served in washington for 46 years in which time washington was more bipartisan but now you have to come in fighting after donald trump. what is the biden camp's response to this? >> they would probably push back on that characterization, especially as it relates this first set of cabinet appointees that they've put forward. they would argue that this was the ideal group of people that they wanted in this role. and that might be true, but there is also the reality, they are considering the realities of the senate right now. the margins are tight even with

or without the georgia senate races tipping in democrats' favor. they know the realities on the hill. even though biden's pitch during the primary and into the general was that he's someone who is used to working across bipartisan lines, that he can make relationships with republicans as well as democrats, sure, but biden also has not been in the senate for many, many years. kamala harris actually probably has a better pulse on what it's like in the senate right now. but there is a senate confirmation reality for these folks. and so whether or not it was about susan rice, i'm sure there are other nominees too or potential nominees that are having the same consideration. we haven't heard a ton from republicans on this yet. yes, marco rubio said he was sort of displeased with some of the picks here but broadly speaking there hasn't been a ton of outcry. that's not to say it won't come and that these confirmation battles won't be contentious but at least right now the waters are pretty calm on this and that's the ideal scenario for the biden team. i would point out, though, this

is what you get, when you talk about washington being different, certainly washington's different from when joe biden was last vice president and a senator before that. but at the same time, it's also different for us, when we look at the last four years, donald trump put people in office who were similarly, like him, outside of the usual washington circles that you would see in cabinet positions. you elect someone like joe biden, he is someone who is steeped in the ways of washington and his cabinet reflects that. a lot of them former deputy secretaries, people with expertise in these spaces. >> and we have actually heard that susan rice may in fact still serve somewhere in the biden administration but it may not require a confirmation process, whichever position they put her in. carol lee, ali vitali, peter ba baker, thank you, guys, appreciate it. enjoy your thanksgiving day. i want to bring in congressman ted lieu, thanks for joining us on this thanksgiving holiday, always appreciate you taking the time to talk to us.

let's talk about this controversial pardon overnight of mike flynn. here is what judiciary chair jerry nadler tweeted, and i quote, mike flynn lied to investigators about communicating with a foreign adversary, that's a crime. trump dangled a pardon in exchange for flynn's cooperation, that is abuse of power. is the judiciary committee prepared to do more than finger wagging at this point after this pardon? >> thank you, yasmin, happy thanksgiving to you and to everyone who is watching. i do believe that congress needs to hold michael flynn accountable. but let's first be grateful that michael flynn was in fact fired and did not serve as national security adviser for the last four years because that would have been a corrupt disaster. that's in large part due to the professionalism and hard work of the federal bureau of investigation. i want to commend the fbi for their investigation into michael flynn. this pardon itself is corrupt. i agree with chairman nadler that he was dangled a pardon, that's why he remained silent

and did not incriminate donald trump. but now that the pardon has happened, his fifth amendment right regarding this issue goes away and michael flynn will now have to testify about what donald trump knew related to russia. >> so i just spoke with peter baker a little bit about this but i want you to expand on the "new york times" reporting we're getting when it comes to potential pardons in the pipeline. here's what they write. potential pardon seekers and their allies are discussing a range of strategies including highlighting donations to mr. trump, spending money at his properties, trying to hire lawyers or lobbyists connected to him. is there anything illegal, is there anything improper about basically asking for pardons that they could then subsequently scratch the former president's back once he's out of office? >> it is not illegal for the president to pardon his friends.

it's also one reason the american people fired donald trump, because the president repeatedly put himself and his friends above the law and above those american people. >> what about if he's making money off of these pardons after he leaves office? >> so if a pardon was done in exchange for a bribe, that certainly would be illegal and bill barr himself has said that would be illegal. we would have to look at a specific case, but in general the president can in fact pardon his friends. but it's also one of his behaviors that the american people threw him out of office for. >> i want to talk to you about what i just spoke with ali vitali about, that is this criticism we're hearing from some democrats, not all democrats, just some democrats, that joe biden is approaching this thing a little bit differently than he maybe should considering the fact that he for 36 years approached government

as if it was in fact bipartisan, as if he could reach across the aisle to his friends on the republican side and how washington has totally and completely changed and they talk about not necessarily appointing susan rice as an example here because she would be an uphill battle when it comes to the confirmation process and even senator lindsey graham says publicly when susan rice's name would say floated, that she in fact would be an uphill battle in a confirmation process. by not choosing her it seems that president-elect biden is backing away and would rather calm the situation. >> what i do know is that tony blinken will be an awesome secretary of state. i've been on various conference calls with tony blinken, he has a wealth of experience, he knows the state department inside out. he is an amazing pick for secretary of state. it's possible susan rice will get another position within the administration and that will be up to president-elect biden.

>> can things get done, though, in washington right now, being bipartisan? is washington so divided that things can't even get done across the aisle? look at relief talks, for instance. you have millions of americans suffering in this country right now. i'm doing a story, after hour after, about people in food lines who have never been in food lines before, not able to find jobs, suffering through this holiday. it doesn't seem like things can be done in a bipartisan manner in washington right now. >> so we absolutely have to try. the house of representatives passed the h.e.r.o.e.s. act on may 15 of this year. so for many months, the white house and the senate have twiddled their thumbs and didn't act on it. we're basically negotiating against ourselves and passed a second version of the h.e.r.o.e.s. act, dropping the stimulus act from $3.4 trillion to $2.2 trillion. there are in fact two bills sitting on mitch mcconnell's desk that he could send to the president for signature and the

american people would get immediate relief. it's my hope he will do that in the lame duck session. >> americans do in fact need relief during these long winter months. congressman ted lieu, thank you so much, enjoy the holiday ahead, happy thinking to yanksgu and your family. coming up, we're taking you to the appalachian region where cases and hospitalizations are the highest they've ever been there. first, one man who survived covid gives thanks to those who kept him alive. >> i was intubated in the icu for four weeks. i was finally discharged after 44 days. i'm thankful to the staff, nurses, pas, who ensured i came home to my family. to your doctor about treatment options is key. today, we are redefining how we do things. we find new ways of speaking, so you're never out of touch.

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welcome back. right now the region around the appalachian mountains is seeing a drastic increase in covid cases. this thanksgiving, many health care workers will spend the holidays in icus taking care of patients instead of spending it with their families. nbc's dasha burns, talk to us about the surge in cases there. >> reporter: yasmin, yes, that surge in cases also means a rise in hospitalizations.

and unfortunately in deaths. in the past month, this area has seen more than double the hospitalizations. and just in the past week, they have seen a record weekly death count here. in this building behind me, right now on thanksgiving day, there are health care workers who are right now caring for patients who are fighting for their lives. i'm being told that there will be calls to funeral homes today. and the folks on the front lines of this are the nurses. right now there are more patients being admitted to the hospital today than being discharged, which is putting a strain on resources. and yes, it means a concern for beds and capacity. but it's an even bigger concern for staff. nurses here are exhausted, they're burning out. there's been a higher turnover. and many nurses are now getting sick themselves. there's been a big push here to try and hire more staff, more support. they're looking to get nurses out of retirement and back to the bedside. they're even getting some help

internationally. i want to introduce you to one of those folks, a south korean nurse named daniel oh. he was deployed here by an international nursing agency. i want you to hear his perspective and experience. take a listen. >> i'm from south korea. six years ago, 36,000 american soldiers sacrificed for my country from the north korean invasion. after i saw what happens, i decide this is time that i sacrifice myself for american peoples' lives. when i came here, as long as i remember, the hospital has only two units of covid units. however, in a couple of weeks, we remodelled the regular building, the regular unit as a covid unit. that being said, the cases of covid patients are skyrocketing. we have more and more. we will have more and more.

>> reporter: yasmin, i've been talking to nurses here all day and i've been hearing heartbreaking story after heartbreaking story. what comes through most of all is the resilience of these health care workers, how much they care for these patients for whom oftentimes they are some of the last people that they see on this earth and they are there for them during these challenging times. and the one thing, the one message i keep hearing over and over again is the thing that we all can do to help these folks is the basics. wear a mask, sanitize, keep social distancing, and stay home if you can, yasmin. >> that man is so incredibly selfless. dasha burns, thanks so much, happy thanksgiving, my friend, good to see you this afternoon. i want to bring in now dr. kavita patel, a former obama white house health policy adviser and an msnbc contributor. so good to see you, my friend,

happy thanksgiving to you and your family. what was so striking about the interview dasha just did, so much of what i've been hearing is how this time around, this wave around, it's been affecting health care workers so much more because they have been in this fight for nine or ten months straight, right? we've had kind of respite from it in certain periods when it has leveled off in certain cities where we all live. but the health care workers have been on the front lines this entire time. how do you recover from this, how does it change you as a doctor, as a nurse, having to treat so many of these people and seeing so much death in such a short period of time? >> yasmin, happy thanksgiving to you, it's great to be able to even be healthy and alive to offer these thanks. and to your point, wow, it's so hard to even describe the emotional toll that it's taking on everyone. so, you know, people who are working in those icus, in those covid unit.

i think that the way they recover is by having some faith that their presence matters. they know that, we all know that, when we're in the moment and taking care of patients, we see that we can make a difference. but i think what's so hard, and the reason the burnout is so real, it's not just the toll that putting on the ppe or having to help people die without any loved ones around them can take on you, but it's that feeling, yasmin, when you leave and then you see these crowded airports or you hear people who say that they're not going to wear a mask or that they don't believe this virus is real, that actually is what is driving a very different kind of burnout than, you know, the actual physical labor and the work hours. and i think the way we recover is by actually what president-elect biden said earlier in kind of that video recorded message where, you know, we're not at war with each other, we're at war with this virus, and we have to actually take care of each other and that starts with self-care, yasmin.

i hope today, the thanksgiving i'm giving is that we take time to take care of the people who take care of us, that's health care workers. actually, honestly, it's the people who bag our groceries, it's all the people around us, the people who are staffing those food pantries, one in five children going hungry, you know, families with children who haven't seen their grandparents. those are the people that help health care workers get up every morning, put on their scrubs and fight the good fight. so the light is at the end of the tunnel. we have to get through this tunnel. >> that is so good. so before i let you go, i do want to talk about that light for a moment. we've been talking about the worries that so many doctors, nurses have during this holiday season, these possible super spreader events, thanksgiving dinners, folks getting together in spite of the numbers skyrocketing across the country. but let's talk about the light at the end of the tunnel. dr. patel, when did you see us actually being able to get back to whatever normal may be?

>> yeah, we're going to definitely benefit from the amazing scientific progress of these vaccines. one of the manufacturers has made a little bit of recent headlines, astrazeneca, with some issues with their trial dosing. i want americans to hear that we have confidence that there are safe and effective vaccines. to your point, 2021 will be kind of a mixed year. we will having people getting immunized in populations, health care workers, essential workers, older people. it will take time for us to get to a level of immunity. we will still have to take precautions, wear masks, making sure we don't spread this to others. but with a national strategy, we will have structural elements in place, i hope in the spring we can return to school in person, we can open businesses safely, people can get tested so we know if you're asymptomatic and positive and isolate safely. i really do think that the spring to summer, we're going to

see the sunshine and a lot of hope for our economy as well as our public health measures. >> that sounds really good. i'm going to quote you on that, dr. patel. so good to see you on this thanksgiving holiday. we're so incredibly thankful for you and your knowledge on all this, dr. kavita patel, thank you. coming up, politics. with no sign that president trump is ready to concede, what can he do in his remaining days of office? we'll be right back. e? we'll be right back. (senior) helping seniors. (boy) helping kids. (dad) helping families. (women) helping pets. (vo) these are the lives subaru retailers have impacted in our communities, through our support of over fourteen hundred hometown charities. in fact, subaru and our retailers will have proudly donated over two hundred million dollars

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welcome back. we're getting some details this morning about what's going on inside president trump's inner circle, particularly when it comes to his ongoing legal fight over the election. "the washington post" is reporting, quote, much of the white house is empty. several advisers said they're no longer paying attention to trump's antics. gop lawyers are distancing themselves from giuliani and the campaign has stopped holding morning calls. as that is playing out, this morning the president's pardon for michael flynn is triggering new concerns about what could be ahead in his final 55 days in office. joining me now, republican strategist and msnbc news analyst rick tyler, joel payne, host of the podcast "here comes the payne," and victoria defrancesco soto from ut texas at austin. happy thanksgiving, guys.

rick, i'll start with you on this one, what damage can the the president do the last 55 days he's in office? a lot of this is stemming from the report obviously talking about the president weighing a strike on iran just a couple of weeks ago and possibly sending us into a war while he's headed out of office. i want to talk to you about some of the reporting we're getting from pro publica about what the president is trying to do and draw down when it comes to environmental and worker productions. here is had a they swhat they s quote, trump is racing to weaken environmental and workers productions, reintroducing firing squads and electrocutions to federal executions. behind the skincenes, rick, do expect this to be the busiest 55 days we've seen in a lame duck session? >> the best we can hope for is donald trump place golf, watches a lot of tv and grievance tweet for the next 50 days. there is a potential he could do some harm. a lot of that will just make joe

biden busier. we'll see what happens. >> but i mean, look at the open skies treaty, joel. this is helping americans keep tabs on their allies but specifically russia as well. the president basically pulled out of the open skies treaty as of late. according to "the wall street journal," he's taking steps to destroy u.s. planes built for that surveillance. how worried should democrats be? >> i haven't stopped worrying since january of 2017. this is the failed trump experiment at its apex. it's literally coming to an end with a fantastic fire show filled with fealty to donald trump, rolling back key protections that people depend

on. it's a shrine to grievance politics and a shrine to casual graft. i think what me and a lot of people are focused on is making sure that those folks are nowhere near power any time again soon. >> let's talk about the senate race, georgia will decide who controls the senate. do you think issues like this, the next 55 days, what we've been talking about, do you think this can actually mobilize democratic voters in the state of georgia to turn out? >> it can help, yasmin. but let me just put this on the table. it is going to be an uphill battle, because i think that republicans, especially now that trump has kinda sorta conceded, not verbally but in action, the republicans can take that to the georgia race, to voters in georgia and say, look, this is the firewall, if you don't give us this, you know, we don't have

the white house anymore, we need the senate. so that's going to be a very strong mobilizing message. and i think also in general, the population likes the idea of checks and balances, right? and having one party in office in congress, one in the white house, i think those are the two arguments you're going to be seeing. what is very important for the democrats and which they're going to be doing is on the ground mobilization. that was something that we saw hurt democrats in some key races, where because of the public health concerns, they didn't dispatch those on the ground troops. they've figured out how to do it safely, with public health concerns and social distancing, i think that's important. if they can edge it out, it will be that on the ground contact with voters, emphasizing the importance of providing joe biden that support in the senate. >> it's interesting, rick, right, because as i listen to victoria, what she's saying about what the republican strategy should be going

forward, that seems like the lay-up, that republicans should understand that the biden presidency is essentially inevitable, they should be going to georgia voters and saying, we are the check on the biden administration. and yet they're not doing that, you don't have the mitch mcconnells coming out and wanting to make that argument. why is that happening? >> i have to believe that they're still somehow under donald trump's spell. some people have broken away, you've seen some people being critical of donald trump now. but look, people will hate that i say this, but joe biden -- i'm speaking politically, now -- may be better off if he didn't control the senate for at least two years because that would avoid a fight in the democratic party which is actually occurring right now, and it's occurring over appointments. and joe biden could demonstrate leadership, which is, you can get a republican senate to move if you get the country to move. and that's what people forget. if we have a leader who is moving the country toward a vision that they want, the

congress will follow. change is not found on capitol hill, counting votes. it's not found with mitch mcconnell or kevin mccarthy or speaker pelosi. it's found with the president who can communicate a vision and force the congress to act. that's the kind of leadership i'm looking forward to. >> so let's go with that for a moment, joel, what rick just said, that it could actually benefit joe biden if in fact he has a republican senate. so it's interesting, he could demonstrate leadership. he could demonstrate bipartisanship. victoria and joel are cackling a little bit, i want you to know that, rick, if you can't necessarily see them, but he can reach across the aisle, shall we say. he could also feasibly not get things done because a republican senate in place would block his policy choices. >> yeah, yasmin, i have a very personal perspective on this. i really like rick, and rick, happy thanksgiving, you too, victoria, you too, yasmin, but i

was in congress, i was in leader harry reid's office the last time democrats had united leadership in government in 2009 and 2010 and early 2011. it was the most productive congress on record. and it was because democrats were able to work together to figure out the differences within their caucus and able, by the way, to get some republicans to join them. remember, there were some early wins with bipartisanship in the health care fight, in some of the things like don't ask don't tell repeal, et cetera, that happened during that congress. so i actually believe that it's a lot easier to work with unity government when you are the party in power, based on my personal experience. i don't think joe biden is going to find any friends in that republican caucus led by mitch mcconnell. he has no incentive to do such a thing. >> victoria, i want you to quickly weigh in on this, i'm so happy joel brought up harry reid, because i have a quote from a top aide to harry reid.

rebecca katz says, sometimes you have to fight, we can't fold before we've had one fight. this is a criticism of the biden administration, saying maybe the biden administration is entering this thing with more of a conciliatory tone versus a fighter tone. what do you make of this? >> you know, i think he has to do both. i think he has to put out the olive branch to republicans, but be ready to move if they don't accept it. after having it out there for a while and you don't see any movement, then you do need to fight. but i think the country does want to see some unity, they do want to see some of that trump rhetoric of division toned down. but actions speak louder than words and if we don't get anything from the republicans, then joe biden is going to have to go at it alone. >> we will be watching and seeing. rick fityler, joel payne refuse victoria defrancesco soto, happy thanksgiving to you all, guys, thank you. after the break, work, school, holidays, it's a lot,

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and your investment in the grayscale funds. go digital. go grayscale. welcome back. co-workers, teachers' aides or in my case production assistant, these are not the typical titles we use for our family members but it's a reality a lot of households find themselves in as we all navigate the challenges of a global pandemic. we caught up with one family in philadelphia, juggling it all. >> hi, we're the de vega family in philadelphia and we're working from home and going to school from home during the pandemic. >> it's always been a circ circus-like environment with kids, but being at home with them all the time is a little like being in the jungle, you don't know what's going to pop up next. >> every day something happens that's the breaking point, you're juggling the balls and

they're all up in the air and all of a sudden something will go wrong. owen is 15 years old, in the tenth grade, henry is our little one, he's 4 and he's in pre-k. our great dane is named chewy, he's 9 years old. our cat is 2 years old. >> usually i get up about 4:30 or 5:00 a.m. at that time, because everyone is still asleep, hopefully, i try to get a little work done. then around, you know, 6:30, my youngest usually wakes up. the kids are online at about 8:00 for school. >> i do miss in-person school, i got to interact with my friends, i got to sit at a lunch table, and we wouldn't really have to have like all of this help connecting with computer and stuff. >> there have definitely been tears, i've cruied a few times. i'm like the cleaning person, i vacuum a lot. sometimes you have to flip your

hat back and forth within like 60 seconds. it's like, mom, i need you to braid my hair, then it's like doing this, then it's like, this person didn't meet this deadline and you have to talk to them about it and you have to flip into that personality. >> you're in the middle of doing something for work and all of a sudden there's someone who spilled orange juice. just yesterday the dog threw up all over the carpet. >> some days i wake up and i feel like i can't believe we're still doing this every day. >> i think the best part is probably that i'm able to be here with my parents and my family. >> we're tired. we're working hard. but we're happy. >> ready? >> ready. >> as hard as it is to go through this, none of us will forget this experience. >> we certainly will never forget. and we do have to wear so many hats all at the same time. i was on an editorial call once and i had one of my kids yelling to me, mommy, i just want to the bathroom, while my entire team was on speakerphone talking to

me about the show ahead. that's what life is like right now. the lesson is we're all in this together, and it's happening to every single one of us. that was awesome, thank you for that. coming up next, this pandemic, maybe you're putting your kids to work in the kitchen today. if you're busy cooking, it's possible your turkey is a little smaller this year. the pandemic demand on turkey farms. we'll be right back. farms. we'll be right back. and i'm still going for my best. even though i live with a higher risk of stroke due to afib not caused by a heart valve problem. so if there's a better treatment than warfarin, i'm on top of that. eliquis. eliquis is proven to reduce stroke risk better than warfarin. plus has significantly less major bleeding than warfarin. eliquis is fda-approved and has both. what's next? getting out there. don't stop taking eliquis unless your doctor tells you to, as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. while taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily

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only shrunk the size of americans' thanksgiving gatherings, it's also changed the size of their turkeys. nbc news' kerry sanders went to a turkey farm in florida to check out this new trend. kerry? >> reporter: i'm at crazy hart ranch here in florida, kind of bare right now because, well, happy thanksgiving. a lot of the turkeys that they've grown here are on tables right now. these are part of the breeding stock. what's interesting, of course, this thanksgiving is folks are trying to figure out how to do that smaller table. and so there's been a real run in this country on having smaller turkeys. and that's been sort of hard. if you're doing a table of four or five people, chefs recommend having about an eight-pound turkey. so as you look at the hens, the ones over here, this is a hen, get through the feathers and everything else, that's about eight pounds. when you look at the toms, the

big ones here, well, they weigh considerably more. there's been a real run in this country on trying to find smaller turkeys. you're pretty much sold out? >> pretty much sold out. >> reporter: at crazy heart ranch in florida, their smaller heritateaheritage turkeys are i demand. with the pandemic surging and families opting for smaller, safer gatherings. >> i have way more hence ths th toms. we have smaller turkeys. >> reporter: the hens are smaller? >> they're about eight pounds average. >> reporter: americans consume on average 40 million turkeys each thanksgiving. turkeys typically wearing 14 to 18 pounds. even larger, 20 pounds and over. >> normally we have upwards of 35 to 40 people. this year it's going to look a little bittivi different with t four of us. regime according to butterball, the number of consumers who plan to celebrate with just immediate family has jumped from 21% to 31%, and finding that

right-sized bird may be a challenge. >> the size is still i think the great unknown. i think it's going to vary from family to family what their nooeds a needs are, their gatherings. if it's a three or four-person family. >> reporter: turkey farmers anticipating more demand for smaller birds have made changes like slowing feed and harvesting earlier for a smaller bird. many grocery chains are increasing small bone in and boneless turkey breasts to complement the traditional large table options. >> with the heritage turkeys sometimes i tell people to think of it like a big chicken. the most important thing is don't cook it too long, and don't stuff it. >> reporter: don't stuff it. >> right. the stuffing will prolong the cooking time, and these birds are a little leaner. and you don't want to dry your bird out. >> reporter: there is going to be a lot of leftovers this year because people couldn't get necessarily the smaller turkeys. and again, if you had fewer people at the table, as you're supposed to, keeping that

coronavirus at bay, then that means that we're going to have a lot of turkey soup and a lot of turkey sandwiches. one thing if you're from the city, this doesn't always work, but we're going to try it anyway -- there's a kind of interesting response as i whisper i go gobble, gobble -- look at that. back to you. >> kerry sanders, thank you for that. the billigger turkeys are think maybe i can live another year. that's if from me on msnbc live. my colleague, joshua johnson, picks up coverage after a quick break. joshua johnson, picks up coverage after a quick eak. when it comes to laundry, everyone thinks their way is the right way. i wash on delicate. i just stuff everything in. you have to wash on cold, because it saves energy. the secret is, tide pods work no matter how you wash. so, everyone is right. it's got to be tide. good morning, mr. sun. good morning, blair. [ chuckles ] whoo. i'm gonna grow big and strong.

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happy thanksgiving. i'm joshua johnson and nbc news in new york. thank you for taking time to join us on msnbc. it is a very unusual thanksgiving, but unfortunately, one part of our new normal continues. the coronavirus pandemic is still accelerating. america is approaching 13 million confirmed cases. in the last day, that total rose by more than 177,000 cases, in just one day. yesterday was the first day since july that the u.s. recorded more than 2,000 covid-19 deaths. did you stay put this thanksgiving? if so, the cdc thanks you for not traveling. experts say this holiday could become a superspreader