. good morning. it is sunday, december 6th. we are 45 days until president-elect joe biden's inauguration. the outgoing president has not conceded and instead yesterday called georgia's republican governor to pressure him in to participating in his boundless and baseless quest to overturn the results of the election which he lost fair and square. i'm alley velshi live in

portland, oregon, second stop of "velshi across america" and today's edition is special because later in the show, the one and only rachel maddow joins me for her first interview for her superb new book "bag man." the wild crimes, audacious cover-up and spectacular downfall of a brazen crook in the white house. this is going to be the book this holiday season. you don't want to miss rachel later in the show. back to what we're doing right now. yesterday the outgoing president was in georgia for the stated purpose of holding a rally to support republicans in the next month's january 5 senate election runoff. what he really did was talk almost entirely about himself, which continued into an overnight tweet storm by continuing to lie and claim that he was the victim of a far-fetched fraud scheme, one that was apparently so clandestine that neither he nor anyone else can find any evidence for it, including his closest comrades in his

soon-to-be former administration. trump even admitted to his followers last night in pursuit -- his pursuit to destroy our democracy and overturn the will of the people and the results of the election, he has, quote, probably worked harder in the last three weeks than i ever have in my life. probably worked harder the last three weeks than i ever have in my life which kind of tells you everything you need to know about how devoted he was to being commander in chief over the past four years. with about six weeks left in office there are concerns trump may turn into a king lear type of character on the way out. as one scholar told "the new york times," quote, we are approaching the end of the play here and that's always where catastrophe comes. that's where his focus is, solely on himself. while president-elect joe biden is heavily focused on the pandemic, tomorrow his team is set to begin meeting with u.s. military intelligence leaders, still 45 days away from the inauguration, it's a lifetime

for citizens, here and across the country, who are struggling medically and financially. as loyal viewers of this show know i love being out in the field and love listening, talking to people much more than i enjoy being behind a desk and that's why i'm coming to you live every sunday from places across the country that are feeling the pressure from the most pressing issue of our times, the covid-19 pandemic and the resulting economic crisis. now i want to hear your stories firsthand. masked face to masked face at a distance of at least six feet. last week you'll remember we were in south dakota on the outskirts of the pine rim reservation to bear witness to the plight of native americans during the pandemic and to make sure that their story isn't forgotten as it so often is. today i'm in portland, oregon, a city like many across the country that is currently struggling medically and economically under the weight of the pandemic. like most cities in the country, cases, hospitalizations and

deaths are all rising in oregon and have been for weeks. now as you can see on this chart, november has been the deadliest month so far for oregon, already in december the state has reported more deaths than in all of march, april, may, or june. we're only a few days into december. friday oregon reported record cases, the latter reached 30 in a day for first time which brought the death it toll to over 1,000. oregon considered 20 or more deaths in a day only five times before reaching 30 deaths a day. governor kate brown said she was, quote, horrified by these record figures, adding that the state is, quote, on the brink of a full-blown crisis. the oregon health authority reports there are 15 active covid-19 outbreaks at medical facilities across oregon up from 10 locations a week ago. that includes a whopping six in

the county where i am now home to portland, oregon. as you can see, hospitalizations are at record highs in oregon, as are the number of patients in icu and ventilators. look at this chart. governor brown enacted a two-week statewide freeze that included a ban on most nonefeshl activities -- nonessential activities. that statewide freeze ended last week and beginning thursday governor brown instituted a restriction framework based on a county's risk level broke ub down into four categories and those last two weeks. this county resides in oregon's extreme risk category. in fact, 25 of oregon's 36 counties are in the extreme risk category and restrictions are very similar to the recent statewide freeze. now this all continues to have a drastic effect on oregon's economy. the latest job numbers are stark across the nation but in oregon it reveals more than 15,000

oregonians filed initial jobless claims during the thanksgiving week, four times the number of new claims from a month earlier and the highest level since may. just like cases and deaths, things are only getting worse as we approach what president-elect biden calls the very dark winter. joining me now for a firsthand report on what it's like to work on the covid-19 frontlines here in oregon is kathie, an emergency room charge nurse at legacy good samaritan medical center here in portland. kathie, thank you for joining us this morning. you're a charge nurse so you have a slightly different set of responsibilities in which you deal with all of these issues that we've been talking to other nurses about. you kind of have to deal with the mood of the place, the morale of the place, the scheduling for people who are overworked, the fact that you deal with nurses who just need some time to themselves but they just got to keep coming in and doing what they do day after day

after day for ten months now. kathie? >> yes. sorry. you are breaking up. yes. so it is, as a frontline charge nurse, it can take a toll, but we have to remember that we have to take care of each other and we have to ensure that part care always comes first so we don't want to compromise that care. but i also feel that since the beginning of covid, we have kind of become a little bit of a long way, we know what to expect in an emergency nurse. it's flu season, so everybody that walks in with cold-like symptoms, cough, nausea,

vomiting, we already go treat them as if they're a covid positive patient. >> so that's the good news, we're more familiar with it, we're good at treating people a little bit better, we may not be short of at least some of the equipment but one of the differences you're normally used to people who are used to their kind of work. now you've got to deal with the issue that so many of your colleagues -- how are they dealing with the pressure themselves as nurses and as medical professionals? >> so as medical professionals, we would like our community to listen to us, to believe in science, believe in your health care providers. we need to work with each other as a community so we just make sure we are also taking care of the really sick ones and just need to keep on doing what we're doing, which is stay at home, wash your hands, wear your mask,

please, and just listen to your health care providers. >> you are not a covid outbreak center at your legacy good samaritan medical center, but there are still concerns across the country that with the number of people you say are coming in and you're treating them as covid patients if they have any of the symptoms that look like covid patients, does that present a risk to people who are not covid patients? in other words, are you yet approaching capacity for your hospital generally so that people who might have other issues are compromised because of the fact that covid is taking up so much of the available medical care? >> yes. so that -- because of the current surge that we are seeing, we end up having at times it becomes a space issue, so if you're healthy and -- or you don't have any preexisting conditions that will put you at a higher risk, then their advice

is just to see primary provider, stay at home, so we can ensure that we are really taking care of the people that are really sick and that way we kind of have space for those people. we are almost there, but we are not there quite yet. -- >> kathie -- >> our health providers -- >> yes? >> i'm sorry. i interrupted because we had a delay. i want you to finish your thoughts. i'm sorry about that. >> that's okay. go ahead, please, ali. >> i want to thank you for that. i cannot say thank you enough on behalf of our viewers in the nation to you and your fellow nurses and fellow doctors and fellow health care providers across the country and at good samaritan legacy medical center in portland, we're so grateful for your work. kathie is an emergency room department charge nurse at

legacy good samaritan medical center here in portland, oregon. joining me is the democratic respective of oregon, a member of the house ways and means committee and a life-long portlander. good to see you, representative. i normally speak to you about other matters but now i'm in your town and i was out yesterday talking to small business people. look, this is a town that is struggling through portland, through covid, and with some remnants with some of the unrest we saw this summer. you are particularly interested in ways in which this countri countries -- the country's restaurants can be helped. tell us about that. >> absolutely. thank you, ali. the restaurant industry was hit harder in terms of unemployment than any other. if you're in portland, you understand our neighborhood independent restaurants are really the life blood. they employ more women and

minorities. it's where people gather. it's very entrepreneurial. it's sort of the essence of portland. across the country, there are 500,000 independent restaurants that employ over 11 million people and as i said they were hit hardest. early in the year in april, half the nation's unemployment were in the restaurantses. we developed some legislation that would provide direct cash grants to keep these restaurants afloat. you know, a year from now we'll have the vaccine, we'll be able to return to normal, but we're not going to be able to do that if these vibrant cornerstones of communities large and small are out of business. if we don't help them and the estimates are 80% will close their doors permanently, so we've got a piece of legislation. it has broad, bipartisan support. half the senate has signed on.

the democratic leadership in the house has. it was in the heros act that we sent over. this is an opportunity to keep them alive, not just the independent restaurants, but the whole supply chain. the people who sell fruits and vegetables. this is an opportunity for us to keep them in business, rather than going out of business and making the problem worse. >> yeah. i think you make an interesting point. it's a supply chain. it's not just the small business owner who you may really love and you may really know. but they cause other people to have to sell them stuff and they employ lots of people. one of the things a number of small business owners have been telling me, restaurants and otherwise, what we don't need right now is more loans because they have not been able to do business for the last ten months in a normal fashion. they're worried they may never pay those loans back. they either need grants or absolutely interest-free long-term loans. they need the right instrument.

it's not just that they need something. >> absolutely, ali. so what we see is there's talk about adding to the ppp loans. those don't work for restaurants. they are highly leveraged. they don't even know if they're going to be in business in two months if we don't give them some help. direct cash grants makes the most sense. we've done economic analysis that suggests that the $120 billion program that i've introduced and have such broad bipartisan support, it sounds like a lot of money, but it will provide more than twice that overall economic benefit, keep them paying taxes, paying rent, making the mortgage, the supply chain functioning, rather than having it unravel. this is something that makes sense economically, makes sense

in terms of the fabric of the community and i am hopeful, i am hopeful that as we enter the next stage, that we will get the help for the independent restaurants that they deserve. they are amazing addition to our community, but every part of the country. the neighborhood diner or the restaurant that means so much that we feneed to keep them at work for us. >> yeah. restaurants sort of matter all over the country but when covid is over if you haven't been to portland people need to come here and understand how central they are to this city's spirits. before i let you go, i want to talk about the fact that portland is associated by a lot of people with this summer's racial injustice movements. you've just been responsible for the marijuana opportunity reinvestment expungement act, the more act, part of what it has to do is with racial

injustice and the criminalization of marijuana use. tell us what you think about that. >> well, you know, this is a stain on america. the so-called war on drugs was directed primarily to people of color, especially young black man, destroyed hundreds of th thousands of lives. it was selectively enforced against people of color, arrested and cited three, four, five times more frequently than whites even though they used it the same. that can completely unravel their lives. and the irony is, we now know that cannabis is no more harmful than certain substances that are perfectly legal. tobacco is more addictive and kills more people. we have an opportunity to turn the corner. what i'm proud of is that that is a moment that was led in oregon and other states around the country to legalize

cannabis. it now employs 250,000 people. it's a $17 billion industry. and in oregon marijuana sales just topped a billion dollars by our having the federal government get out of the way, allow it to be legalized, allow them to have bank accounts and do research and stop the selective enforcement against people of color. it's a signal for racial justice and for economic reinvestment. >> congressman, good to talk to you as always. thank you for taking time this early morning here in oregon. democratic congressman early blumenhauer of oregon. thank you, sir. >> thank you so much for being in portland. we appreciate it. >> my pleasure. not long ago federal agents stormed these streets in portland cracking down on protesters, demanding racial justice and an end to police brutality. a summer of strife culminated with the phrase "defund the

police." president obama recently weighed into the discussion and let's just say his view didn't go over so well with some progressives. i'll have more on that from portland after a quick break. ro portland after a quick break super emma just about sleeps in her cape. but when we realized she was battling sensitive skin, we switched to tide plus downy free. it's gentle on her skin, and out cleans our old bargain detergent. tide pods plus downy free. safe for sensitive skin with eczema and psoriasis.

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still bears the deep scars of a summer of protests, initially

kicked off by police brutality and racial injustice and then fueled by federal agents operating without accountability and acting with violence towards civilians. weekly protests continue in portland and many storefronts remain boarded up. police brutality was on full display in this city in a way many haven't seen by a civil rights movement. a movement that used the term "defund the police" grew here as night after night americans watched protesters clash with authorities. since then the discussion about what defund the police really means has flourished. does it really mean remove the funding for police or a nuanced call to reallocate some of the hundreds of billions spent on policing and direct that towards nonviolent conflict resolution methods that include training and mental health in domestic violence and substance abuse. the debate was renewed this week

when former president obama referred to defund the police as an unhelpful snappy slogan. now the former president got pushback from progressives who believe it's not merely a slogan but a mandate, a specific mandate. for those people the words "defund the police" actually mean just that, completely defund the police. for others it means taking large chunks of money away interest police budgets in a fashion meant to be punitive and descriptive. the conversation is nor nuanced. a discussion about whether our shared resource, the money that pays for policing could be better distributed to make communities and people safer and to ensure a more equitable application of justice. different scenarios have different needs and over time we have bundled into policing but for many police every problem is a nail and the only tool they have is a hammer. behind every tool is a possible criminal and the only tool they

have is violence. this is a tough but important discussion. a june poll from huff post and ugov showed 27% of americans supported the idea of defunding the police without agreeing on what the term means it's tough to know what the respondents meant. a recent poll by a democratic pollster after the election showed the term" defund the police" may have hurt democrats in down ballot races with 35% of respondents saying the issue made them, quote, less likely to vote for democrats. putting the term" defund the police" aside, the idea that justice should be meated out equally and policing equitybly shouldn't be controversial. the part that is is what we do about it. i don't pretend to know the answer but i was out among the protesters this summer and i heard their anger and we've talked about it a lot on this show and i understand in barack obama's world of reason, an informed debate about this makes

sense. now it's a different world in which the president of the united states did not seek to know meant discord between black and whites and police and the communities they are sworn to protect, cities and suburbs. obama didn't berate americans to choose between black lives and blue lives. obama was attempting what obama always attempted as president, he was nuanced. not a binary president. but the violence that we have seen this year and the current president's absolute inability to effectively contend with that violence pushed people toward binary and seemingly uncompromising conclusions. defund the police may not be the most artful term, but it may actually be politically harmful. but it does represent an important sentiment held by many in this nation and it's time for the next president to lead the conversation that slogan demands. demands.

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before the break i spoke about the phrase "defund the police." joining me for more on that, this is the beautiful city of portland you're looking at, portland oregon city commissioner joanne hardsti, the first black woman to sit on ploig portland's city council and joining me the host of the podcast undistracted and an expert on policing as well. thank you to both of you. good morning to both of you. joanne, let me start with you. part of what this thing has come down to is, people who embrace the phrase "defund the police" are accused of being people who want to eliminate the police, abolitionists of police. you believe that's inaccurate? >> it is absolutely inaccurate. this is a big difference between redirecting public resources to totally eliminating police.

i'm old enough to not believe that abolition will happen in my lifetime, but what i know is that based on outcomes, policing, the way we do it today, does not work. it does not solve crime, it does not prevent crime, and what it does is actually exacerbate a lot of social ills in our community. >> brittney, let's talk about this. what does success look like? you studied this issue well. what should happen? we've been pushing more and more public money into policing. largely because as security issues become bigger things, we think that the way to solve them is policing when in many cases it was mental health or substance abuse counseling or domestic violence issues. how do we solve this, brittney in. >> activists use phrases like divest or defund the police, we're ultimately talking about reenvisioning public safety.

we're not talking about as i've said so often, got tham without batman. we're talking about building strong communities from the ground up. this conversation in my opinion isn't about language at all. it's about action. very simply the conversation has expanded and no matter how you describe it, at the very least, americans have declared what they want the outcomes to be and are largely in favor to policing and incarsation. according to the prison policy initiative there is broad support. nearly 80% want 911 to be directed to mental health services and substance abuse support. nearly 60% of people believe policing funds should be shifted it to those organizations that make things healthy from the ground up. this is a fascinating number a lot of people missed. even in overwhelming majority of the victims of violent crimes, want to see us invest our money in community organizations and things like education and mental

health, instead of prisons and jails. we've talked about what we say, but my question, our question should always be, what are we going to do. there are a lot of folks that want to make sure what we do is invest in the things that heal us and remove the money from the things that hurt us. >> absolutely. >> that's what you want to do in portland, right? that was the whole point here about cutting about $15 million out of the police budget. for people who thought you wanted to cancel the ability of -- the police's ability to respond to 911 calls your point is the budget was $240 million it to start with. you're asking for $15 million to be redirected to do something that might be more efficient particularly for segments of society who need other help, other than armed police showing up to deal with the matter. >> no question. in fact, i got $15 million cut out of the budget earlier this year and that money is being

redirected into programs that serve our houseless population and a creation of a program called portland street response which will send a three-person team to respond to 911 calls where there's no weapons involved, there's no violence involved. because, you know, i managed the 911 call center in portland and the biggest increase over the last five years and calls to 911 are for unwanted people. sending an armed response for an unwanted people has proven to be deadly for some folks. so what do you mean when you say unwanted? it could be someone who looks disheveled, someone who is suffering from a mental health issue, or someone who quite frankly just doesn't have a safe, affordable place to lay their head at night. so when we send is people with weapons and people with

aggressive interventions, what we end up with is more community violence. the community wants responses like portland street response which will send a qualified mental health professional, an emt, and a peer supporter, a three-person team, to go out and help people be as safe as they can be where they are. our big problem is we don't have mental health treatment when people feed it, we don't have housing people can afford to live in. we don't have enough living wage jobs that people can take care of their families. so the outcome of that is we have an explosion of houseless people. well, bringing the police in to that mix makes no sense, right. so what do we do? we arrest them and now they have a criminal conviction and they really can't get housing, right, they really can't get employment to support their family and that

has been -- that's the problem. that's been the conversation. i think a lot of people are fearful with the term "defund" because what they want to know is what is going to replace it. the reality is, is that we can't think of it as a one-for-one exchange. we have to acknowledge that we have squandered hundreds of millions of dollars into a public safety system that does not keep us safe. that's why one of my initiatives is rethink a community safety. community safety looks different based on the color of your skin, your social economic status and that's the conversation we have to have, right. then we say what role does police play in that. we will still have crimes that police must solve, right. that's where they should be focusing their energy and resources. >> i could go on. >> you and brittney -- you know

what, you and brittney bring the nuance to this conversation that is exactly what we need. that -- and frankly, i think that might have been the point barack obama was making, that this is a long sentence conversation. it needs long discussions. it's discussions we need to have and what you described what you're doing in portland seems to make a lot of sense. for taxpayers, it probably costs less than the other way, than throwing somebody into the criminal justice system and making criminals out of people who just don't have a place to sleep or have substantial abuse problem or a mental health problem or need some other sort of counseling. thank you for the complexity that you bring to this thing. as always, brittney, thank you, for the complexity and great thought you bring to it. joanne is the city commissioner in portland, brittney is the founder of love and power works. follow them both because they are thinking about this. brittney is the host of the podcast undistracted. these protests and a month-long pandemic have left portland small businesses with

an uncertain future. one thing is for sure, the portland community is -- and so is their coffee. i'll give you the story next. >> in the beginning i was worried and, you know, the goal was just to get people to hopefully come in and buy beans and a cup of coffee and help us stay afloat. the community rallied around us and helped us keep going. i'm thankful. i'm thankful [phone rings] "hello, how can i" sore throat pain? try new vicks vapocool drops in honey lemon chill for a fast-acting rush of relief like you've never tasted in... ♪ honey lemon ahh woo vicks vapocool drops now in honey lemon chill tonight...i'll be eating cheesy cauliflower pizza with extra broccolini. my tuuuurrrrn! tonight...i'll be eating cheesy cauliflower pizza and yummy broccolini! (doorbell rings) thanks. (doorbell rings)

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we're back from portland, oregon, the second stop on "velshi across america surviving the next wave." hundreds of small businesses in this city are uncertain whether they're going to be able to make it to the other side of this pandemic and that is a bitter pill to swallow. but one thing i have learned from spending the weekend here in portland, is that it is a tight-knit city and its residents have been meeting the moment to help keep local establishments up and running. listen to this. the city of portland, oregon, is known for many things, its breathtaking views, beautiful sparks, scrappy professional basketball team, but in covid times it's synonymous with community and there is no better example of that here than dead stock coffee. >> it's one of the coffee shops that not only bring it in the coffee department but also like there's always like a community feel when you come here.

there's always like people hanging out. >> good coffee, good people, and a great way to start the morning. >> reporter: dead stock is owned and operated by ian williams, a portland native, williams opened this coffee shop in 2016 after several years of working at nike, first starting as a janitor and working his way up to shoe developer. >> i just realized what i really loved was like the community behind sneakers, not so much the business, and i just wanted to bring the people back together. i had an idea to start dead stock. >> the idea is bringing people together. >> do you make hot chocolate. >> of course. >> reporter: he's spent a great deal of time cultivating the community feel. >> black men go to the barber shop where you see the older people in the community, the younger people, you're interfaced there. so theed where was to create that same atmosphere in some way, but, of course, without like hair flying around and getting in stuff, you know. >> reporter: when covid emerged in early march his business took

a big hit. >> it definitely has been difficult to stay positive. i mean i remember when the first lockdown orders were coming up i head had a couple days where i was curious what's going to happen for us. the team is strong and i have like strong people around me and even like down to the landlord of the building, contacted me and was like hey, if you're going to be -- if you have to be closed i understand. just tell me what we can do and how i can help you. but him saying that actually motivated me to work harder. >> reporter: it drew portland fashion dead stock's frequent flyers came to the rescue, come traveling up to 30 minutes out of their way just to support the business and get a cup of joe. >> the regulars are really like shining through, like true and true, because they're riding with us through whatever. if they have come to come later because our hours are reduced. >> me and my partner came here once a week to grab some coffee

beans and he's always here with a covered up smile and some positivity and there's just really like -- there is no value you can put on that. it's invaluable. i cherish that. that's probably one of the reasons i continue to come here as much as i can. >> reporter: while profits have taken a dip since the beginning of covid, ian has done relatively well for himself. i asked him what advice he has for other struggling small businesses. >> to be honest and clear with the community. if you guys don't continue to supports us or if you don't start now, we're not going to make it. if this is a place you love to be you're going to put your time, effort, finances towards it. so just to be as connected to the community and as real with the community as you can is really what's going to help you stay afloat. do what you can to let the community know you still need them and you still love them and you still care, but also let them know without you, we can't

make it. >> our thanks to ian williams and dead stock coffee for taking the time to speak with us yesterday and providing my team with a much needed caffeine boost. in the next hour i will speak to a portland restauranteur who shifted her business model to survive this pandemic. you at home have been sending us your questions about staying afloat during these times. those questions will get answered next. before we go to a commercial i have to tell you about a woman who might just be my new hero. angela friedman, is a 102-year-old new yorker who lived through the 1918 spanish flu, beat cancer and has now beaten coronavirus two times. her daughter says she first tested positive in march but didn't show any symptoms. in october she was diagnosed with covid-19 again and this time she got pretty sick, but friedman powered through and here she is on her 102nd birthday in october. she tested negative last month.

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unless your doctor tells you to. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. if you had a spinal injection while on eliquis call your doctor right away if you have tingling, numbness, or muscle weakness. while taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily... and it may take longer than usual for bleeding to stop. seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. what's around the corner could be your moment. ask your doctor about eliquis. this week velshi across america is in portland, oregon, where like the rest of the country, small business owners have been struggling to stay afloat but the issue here is two-fold. there's a continuous impact due to covid-19 and there are also ongoing protests that began here

over the summer after the death of george floyd. in the months since those protests have devolved into rampant looting and vandalism. as we've done over the last few weeks i again asked small business owners and workers to send in their questions about surviving this crisis. i want to turn to our panel of expert ps for owners to turn in their continues for surviving this crisis. i want to welcome in jason fire and angela clark. so you two are the perfect people to get some questions answers for my viewers. della, let me start with you. thanks to both of you for being here. i had a question from david jenkins. i am a black small business owner of a bar soap brand. i wanted to pivot to support black lives matter but i am afraid to do so for fear from

current or future customers a. large band can survive a boycott but it would be devastating for a black owned business like mine, already struggling because of the covid-19 crisis. i think this is an amazing question. if you are ben & jerry's, and dick's sporting goods you can do this because you can sustain a few weeks of somebody protesting your values. how does this business owner deal with making a stand with black lives matter? >> i would suggest the business do cash flow analysis to see if the present business has the cash flow to sustain its own operation, which was the bar soap business. i would not have him take profits from that business at that time to start a new

business. i appreciate while he wants to support black lives matter he needs to make sure he stabilizes his current business f. he has profitability and cash flow i would create a new website for the business that would spaert support black lives matter and go from there and not take profit from this present business because of the uncertainty of the economy. >> if it doesn't cost him anything squlor to do that do you think there is danger in mixing up his brand with black lives matter merchandise? >> i think he should create a separate website and it should be two different brands. he should not comingle the black lives matter and the bar soap business. >> i make my mask on and off touring the course of the show. right now it is off because i am not interviewing people in the

show. this one is asking about masks. i have had customers not wearing their masks over their nose ores pulling them down when talking. some people threatened me with a lout or said they are going break my windows or burn down my business because i have a mask mandate. it is just my daughter and i working. if we get sick we will have to close down. how do we handle these anti-maskers? >> that situation makes me so sad. i want to make a plea to anybody who for whatever reason is not interested in wearing masks. the small business is not your enemy. they are trying to stay open, they are trying to follow the rules, trying to stay healthy. there is no reason for that kind of action. what can you do? a couple of things to do. the cdc recommends if someone does not want to wear a mask do not argue with them because it will only escalate. i think that gives you an indication of the barriers we

are working with here. there are two things to do. number one, be pro active, make sure signage about a mask mandate is there very clearly by the front door and if anybody calls you and seems like they are going to be coming into the store tell them about the mask mandate. that way they know what they are getting into or what they are not going to get into. even better. if somebody does come into the store and they do refuse to wear a mask instead of trying to address them with policy address them with humanity. policy isn't going to make sense to anyone who doesn't want to be told what to do. look, i hope you can make your decision based on the concerns that i have for me and my team and my employees. let me find a way to provide you with great customer service in a way that works for both of us. perhaps there is a way to ukt conduct the transaction outside, or move the service station

offer near an open window something so you are meeting those people in the middle. >> that's a tough one. small business owners are on their own. and their getting sick could jeopardize not just their business but all of their employees, too. della and jason, you will be back with me next hour for another round of fantastic questions. we will see you in just a bit. thank you. we are just getting started here in portland. in the next hour, more of your questions answered, more discussions with business owners and more advice on how to survive the next wave of the coronavirus. and i will be joined by rachel maddow, who has graciously granted me her first interview about her new book. we are just getting warmed up. more very well she across america after this break.

i knew about the tremors. but when i started seeing things, i didn't know what was happening... so i kept it in. he started believing things that weren't true. i knew something was wrong... but i didn't say a word. during the course of their disease around 50% of people with parkinson's may experience hallucinations or delusions. but now, doctors are prescribing nuplazid. the only fda approved medicine... proven to significantly reduce hallucinations and delusions related to parkinson's. don't take nuplazid if you are allergic to its ingredients. nuplazid can increase the risk of death in elderly people with dementia-related psychosis and is not for treating symptoms unrelated to parkinson's disease. nuplazid can cause changes in heart rhythm and should not be taken if you have certain

abnormal heart rhythms or take other drugs that are known to cause changes in heart rhythm. tell your doctor about any changes in medicines you're taking. the most common side effects are swelling of the arms and legs and confusion. we spoke up and it made all the difference. ask your parkinson's specialist about nuplazid. but some things are too serious to be ignored. if you still have symptoms of crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis even after trying other medications, it may be a sign of damaging inflammation,

which left untreated, could get much worse. please make an appointment to see your gastroenterologist right away. or connect with them online. once you do, seeing the doctor is one less thing to worry about. need help finding a doctor? head to crohnsandcolitis.com need help finding a doctor? [what's this?] oh, are we kicking karly out? we live with at&t. it was a lapse in judgment. at&t, we called this house meeting because you advertise gig-speed internet, but we can't sign up for that here. yeah, but i'm just like warming up to those speeds. you've lived here two years. the personal attacks aren't helping, karly. don't you have like a hot pilates class to get to or something? [ muffled scream ] stop living with at&t. xfinity can deliver gig to the most homes.

good morning. it is sunday, december 6th. i'm alley velshi. we have an extra special show for you this morning. joining me later someone i am lucky enough to call a friend and a colleague, the one and only rachel maddow joins us ahead of the roll out of her new book, bag man, the cover-up and spectacular down fall of a brazen crook in the white house. it is set to be the book this holiday season.

you don't want to miss what she has to say. as always we begin with the coronavirus. public health spishls issuing a stark warning saying the next three months to be quote the most difficult in public health history this. as coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths increase at alarming rates nationwide. as of this morning, confirmed coronavirus cases in the united states -- look at this -- stand at 14,654,012 since the onset of the pandemic. the death toll has risen to 281,960. these record break numbers coming as a trio of promising vaccine candidates appear poised to offer americans some defense against this deadly virus which has gripped the nation for the past ten months. health care workers deal with the reality that is in front of them now every single day. >> when the news says we have reached a new death ll