if it's friday, the fda could approve emergency use of the pfizer covid-19 vaccine any time now. we're live as the company prepares to distribute the vaccine across the country. and the challenge of distribution and fear, especially among black americans, the fight to make sure black americans not only have access to vaccine, but will they trust the medical system that has failed them in the past to deliver it? plus standing by president

trump, more than 100 republican lawmakers now join in the bizarre texas lawsuit seeking to invalidate and overturn a free and fair election in the united states of america. welcome to fridays with ""meet the press" daily" and as we await the fda's likely emergency use authorization of the pfizer vaccine that could come any minute now we are in the midst of a catastrophic failure of leadership in this country. no other way to say it. in the past 24 hours, twin crises, the threat to our public health and our own democracy, have sadly both gotten worse in the last 24 hours. it's because of a failure of leadership massively so that begins with the person who calls himself president, that's donald john trump.

more than 270,000 americans have died since february, more than 14,000 in the last week alone and the president tries to show no leadership to stop the spread. congressional leaders are deadlocked on coming to an agreement that they all say they want. and, of course, president trump who could show leadership here as barely participated in these federal talks, if you talk about people on his behalf as participated. but he's trying to destroy the american democracy and overturn the election where he's split the republican party in half over whether to accept a legitimate result in the 2020 election. and in the midst of these emergencies gripping the country right now. the lone bright spot is coming not from the white house, not from capitol hill, but from the

private sector. with pfizer's vaccine, which as we just mentioned, the fda could approve as early as today, paving the way for the first doses to be administered by early next week. even with the vaccine approval expected the head of the cdc is warning of the death tolls like we've seen the last two days could be the new normal for the next two months. >> probably for the next 60 to 90 days we'll have more deaths per day than we had 9/11 or pearl harbor. the reality is the vaccine approval this week is not go to really impact that i think to any degree for the next 60 days. yesterday alone 3,110 americans died from covid, more than on 9/11 or the pearl harbor attack. the second consecutive day deaths topped 3,000 that means wednesday and thursday, just another wednesday and thursday in this country are among the five deadliest events on record

in this country's history. we don't have the daily death tolls from the 1918 pandemic there were likely days that met or exceeded that total but you get the picture. no matter how you calculate it, the death toll is staggering and increasing and the leadership crisis in this country is sadly catastrophic. nbc's gabe gutierrez is at pfizer's largest factory site in michigan, ron allen is in que s queens, new york. and here with his medical perspective is dr. amesh adalja. gabe, let me start with you. the second the switch is flipped by the fda and the emergency use is authorized, what happens behind you? >> reporter: hey there, chuck. there's a high degree of

anticipation here. this is pfizer's largest manufacturing facility in the country. this along with another facility in wisconsin have these doses. they're ready to go. and as soon as the fda approval comes through, we understand within 24 hours the trucks will start rolling out of here to be distributed across the country. chuck, as you mentioned, that fda approval could come as early as today. it could be later today, potentially it could drag on through to saturday. but after that happens almost immediately the work will begin here to get that vaccine out. hospitals across the country are preparing to get some of their initial doses, potentially to start vaccinated people as early as monday. the hhs secretary said that could happen as well as monday or tuesday as well. so chuck, different states will be allocated their amount of vaccine based on population. with the largest states like california for example getting more than 300,000 doses smaller

states like wyoming getting 5, 6,000 doses. one of the crucial things is the logistical challenges involved in transporting this. we understand that u.s. marshals will be brought on to escort the shipments. and a dry ice company here in michigan are scrambling to prepare for this fda approval. listen to what they had to tell me yesterday. what do you think people don't realize about how challenging it's going to be to distribute the vaccine? >> the sheer number of locations it has to go to and the small amount of dry ice companies in the state. >> you have these small places all over trying to get organized to try to get to everybody without wasting a lot of time. >> reporter: dry ice is one of the vital components in the

shipping, temperatures must be kept at 80 degrees below zero. this facility behind me as soon as the fda approval comes through will be ready to start getting the vaccines on the road. chuck? >> gabe gutierrez getting us started outside of kalamazoo, michigan, i believe. let's move to ron allen, of course, distribution, there's distribution and that challenge and then there's convincing people to take the vaccine as well. ron allen, what are you finding out about both of those issues? >> reporter: i think here in new york the approach is to try to do both things at the same time. for example, distributing medicines at a hospital is one thing, like elmhurst and they believe they'll be a priority because they were so hard hit. but the plan is to try to get vaccines to churches, community centers, public housing

projects, to places where people are so they can get the vaccine where it's needed. and it's been a lot of talk here in new york, especially, about equity, about justice, about fairness, about getting these medicines to the communities that have been hardest hit. and that's part of the planning that's happening here now. the city has identified some 27 neighborhoods where the vaccine is going to go first and they are going to direct it there. when it's going to get there is unclear. the thinking now, as we've been hearing all day, is that immediate approval happens, the vaccines start rolling over the weekend and there are i knock lagss that begin tuesday or wednesday. here's what the ceo of the hospital to say when we asked him why elmhurst hospital should be a priority. here's what he had to say. why do you think this kind of community hospital should be a priority? why should this community be a

priority? >> i think if you've been following the news and reading the medical literature over and over again, it's been shown the most vulnerable populations, the poor, the homeless, right, those who didn't have access to health care and health that were disproportionately affected. >> reporter: and the hope is that once the vaccine start arriving and people start taking them, the confidence will grow. especially for people who have lost loved ones who are desperately looking for a way to get out of this awful pandemic. they're going to be very transparent. a lot of information about what's happening. and they're going to try to use influencers people in the community to vouch for this. we'll see lots of public service announcements, lots of examples of celebrities, sports figures other getting the vaccine to try to convince people, in communities of color, especially, that this is in your best interest.

and the hope is transparency and building this slowly and taking the vaccines to where people are, this will all work. chuck? >> ron allen, thanks very much. doctor, i want to start with what i found to be an alarming survey result out of a hospital system in miami. the jackson health system surveyed about half their employees, and it said there, would you receive the covid-19 vaccine once available in the first round. this is a health care system. these are the folks that we want to be vaccinating the first time. it looked like the country, doctor, only just under 50% said they'd be interested and another 35% wanted to wait. didn't want to basically be the first ones to get it. i'll be honest, doctor, i get it, in the overall american public but these are folks that work in the medical community every day. that was a little bit

disturbing. are you concerned about that? >> i am concerned about it. unfortunately the antivaccine movement doesn't respect what your profession is. we have individuals i know for a fact at one of the small hospitals i happen to be on staff in in the suburbs of pittsburgh there is a nurse right now posting on facebook lies about the vaccine. this is something that we've seen before, we've seen it with influenza vaccine mandates you see health care workers oppose it. this is unfortunate because we want our health care providers to be protected, take care of patients in a safe manner. we 'priority group one because we need to be priority group one to get us through the pandemic. i will gladly get my vaccine today and i'm anxious to get it as soon as i can. i know we'll have a problem with some other health care workers who have fallen prey to the anti-vaccine rhetoric in our culture generally.

>> when i think about preparing the country to distribute the vaccine. i think we spent a lot of time, i know we have in the media talking about who's going to get it. what the government has not talked about -- they've talked about it but they haven't started the vaccine campaign. there's part of me that wonders, should we have said six months ago, a psa campaign that basically reminded americans all the good that has come from vaccines and reminded them of the history of successful vaccines in the country to just begin to at least prepare the country to accept vaccines? >> i do think we needed to be more proactive and hopefully we'll be able to get people that want to get this vaccine, however, this is -- this is going to be very difficult because of the misinformation, all the lies and conspiracy theories out there. and unfortunately it's going to be something that impacts vaccine uptake. i think we need to get to a point in the country where we respect vaccines as great pieces of technology that enhance all of our lives and have added

decades to everybody's lives and save hundreds of millions of people. i'm sitting in pittsburgh where the polio vaccine was discovered in the 1950. there were parades for jonas sal we need to embrace vaccines not run from them. scott gottlieb, the former head of the fda, has been among those who have advocated, don't hold back half of these pfizer doses. if you're getting 50%, let's double the amount of people that are essentially got at least 50% of protection from this virus. what do you make of that idea and, look, i can see both sides of this argument, here we are talking about trust in vaccines, the last thing you might want to do is divvy up the protocol. >> it is an interesting idea that he has put forward and

something that deserves discussion because we are in an emergency and i don't think we can let perfect be the enemy of the good. we could likely get more people vaccinated if we did that. but remember the data from the phase 3 clinical trial was based on a two-dose regiment so we don't know how effective a single dose will be. it's something that needs to be studi studied. there may be some hospitals that might do that with their health care workers. i've seen emails that i've gotten about that already. this might be something that some hospitals try based on their guidance. >> i'm curious. are we going to run into a concern where we have to decide who gets the quote/unquote better vaccine? we're going to have two or three more come online in this country and not all of them have that 90 to 95% efficacy rate. if one has a 70% rate, that's pretty good, but how do you

decide who gets that one versus the other one? >> it's going to be very difficult. thankfully the first two, pfizer and moderna, are interchangeable when it comes to vaccine effectiveness so it won't come up until the astrazeneca comes along, but that's based on different dosing regiments and they have good efficacy in the half dose, full dose regiment. so they have to do more studies. but there will be a challenge if there's a vaccine without the same protection. but the astrazeneca has data on asymptomatic infections. so there needs to be guidance to try to understand how to target the vaccines to get the most impact. it could be a problem if there are different levels of efficacy and people wondering why they're not getting one vaccine but getting the other. >> doctor, it's a long road

ahead convincing people and educating people about the vaccine. i appreciate your time and effort in helping us do that. thank you, sir. our special coronavirus coverage continues all this hour and online right now at nbc news.com with their special report on the coronavirus, how america gave up and how we can fight back. later i'll speak to a republican governor who's lashing out at congress for not passing a bill and lashing out at his fellow congressmen for not wearing a mask. >> you don't wear a mask and social distancing for yourself. you do it for those you're surrounding yourself with. for those out there doing just the opposite to make a bizarre political point, it's irresponsible. and that's not speculation, that's not supposition, that's fact. it will have horrible consequences. so please, use your heads,

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welcome back. 106 house republicans, more than half the caucus, have now signed on to the bizarre lawsuit that legal experts are calling hopeless, insane and utter garba garbage. texas attorney general ken paxton's lawsuit has become the laughingstock, but it has earned support from some of the rank and file. 106 house prunl republicans have signed on to a brief supporting this. you're looking at their name here. including the number two republican in the house, steve scalise, the chair of the national republican

congressional committee who would see a bunch of victorious house republicans no longer have their elections certified if this went through. so why are republicans backing an assault on an election system? in short, because donald trump told them to. i asked lamar alexander about the suit he said it goes against what the republican party stands for. take a listen. there's the lawsuit out of texas by the texas attorney general and tennessee attorney general apparently signed onto this and that lawsuit is essentially asking the supreme court to essentially overturn the election in four other states. do you see any of this as being kou constitutionally sound? can you imagine another state telling tennessee how to count its votes to see who the electors are? >> that doesn't sound like a republican argument to me. republicans believe that states are in charge of elections. and texas is a big state but i don't know why it has a right to

tell four other states how to run their elections. so i'm having a hard time figuring out the basis for that lawsuit. >> we will have much more of that interview with senator alexander this sunday on "meet the press." joining me now is ann cold wall and charlie psycsykes. we put up the names of everybody but there were notable names on the suit. the one that shocked me the one was darin lahood, whose father served in the obama administration was a republican in good standing. kathy mcmorris rogers. ann wagner. mario diaz. these are not folks that you would say are part of the trump caucus. >> that's right, chuck. and another person on that list

is roger marshall, who is an incoming senator, who was just elected from kansas. there's not an amicus brief in the senate. i just asked a bunch of republican senators if they were planning one, including senator ron johnson of wyomiisconsin, of the president's most loyal allies in the senate he said not that he's aware of. he's not signed one and there's not one being organized as far as he can tell. someone not on the list is house republican leader kevin mccarthy. i was surprised that he wasn't. even though in the last couple days he's been really reluctant to answer questions about this texas lawsuit, he's tried to avoid it, and he did not sign his name to it. but still there's power in numbers and the fact that all those republicans did sign on, it shows that president trump is, perhaps, maybe extremely powerful lame duck president.

they're still scared of the trump shadow on the one hand, willing to sign onto this legislation but the other hand, the senate is passing the national defense authorization act with an overwhelming majority despite the president's veto. so they're walking this very fine line, these republicans, on how to deal with the president because the president still has this extremely loyal base that most republicans are still afraid to cross. >> and in fairness, you look at the list of republicans, there aren't many swing republicans in there. there's a handful, ann wagner is from a swing district. times kathy mcmorris' district can get competitive. but for the most part it's those that fear the primary. so i have to read you this today one of the new members of congress, michael waltz also signed onto this.

the headline is this, we apologize for endorsing representative walgts to wants o overturn the election. we didn't think to ask would you support an effort to throw out the votes of tens of millions of votes in the united states. our bad. i think we all have a failure to imagine where the bottom is that the trump wing of the republican party is racing to. >> you know, we've been disappointed with the awfulness over the last four years but i have to admit, i think susan glasser in the new yorker said this was a gut punch and she's right. what's shocking is not the lawsuit, it's so ridiculous as you pointed out, it is frivolous, it is clownish, it is an abuse of process. but to have this many republicans sign on to this is really remarkable. and it shows their willingness

to basically wink at their own base and say, yeah, we're supporting something that no serious person thinks is going to happen. that's the clownish part. but the dangerous part is you have millions of people who believe this. this is a fundamental attack on everything that republicans claim to believe in. it's an attack on federalism, on states' rights, an attack on the independence -- the whole notion that judges shouldn't be activist judges we all ought to be constitutional conservatives. asking five non-elected justices to step in and overturn a presidential election this is not going to happen. but this is shocking the degree to which this party is willing to embrace not just something this stupid but also something fundamentally dangerous and anti-democratic. so it is shocking. i'm amazed we can still be shocked to be honest with you. >> i know. i am too.

i am too. this is for both leann and char lee, but charlie i want to start with you. i want to do two excerpts because basically, it's two ideas that are similar, one is the party an authoritarian party and one is making the analogy to a cult religion. here's the bull work, consider why has the gop gone crazy and insists the election is stolen, the only answer is, because donald trump said so. once you understand the gop itself has become an autocracy it becomes easy to understand what's going on. here's what was written in the atlantic. a similar idea. to announce you accept the proclamations of the church of trump is to identify yourself as a member of the faith community. to deny them is to risk excommunication as long as devotion remains tenant in the

republican party few will risk the brand. is this a bizarre sort of religious cult without god essentially involved with trump as the me sigh ya or an authoritarian cult. >> it's a cult of personality. but it's also just an indication of what happens when a party evolves into a cult of personality. think about the things they've been willing to jettison, it feels like the last five years, character accounts, free trade, fiscal conservativism, rule of law, international leadership. the only through line is whatever donald trump wants. the only consistent principle seems to be what helps or doesn't hurt donald trump. so they're willing to buck him, republicans will be willing to buck him on certain public policy issues, including the defense bill but when it comes to the preservation of donald

trump's own power, there's no wiggle room whatsoever. and there's almost nothing they're not willing to say or do at this point. i don't know how you don't describe that as the authoritarian mindset and the cult of personality mindset. >> we saw 106 members signed on, is that the -- is that the base of the donald trump wing of the party or is it bigger than that or is it secretly smaller than that? >> oh, chuck. i think that -- i think that's a happy medium, right. it depends on the issue and it also -- these republicans know that they need their voters, you said it, they are worried about a primary, even though the nearest election is two years away for most of them anyway. and then, of course, there's georgia. that's what senate majority leader mitch mcconnell is most worried about right now and that's where his head space is. he's not -- hasn't commented

about this texas lawsuit. and a lot of republicans in the senate, most of them, are trying to subtly walk around it saying, the courts will deal with this, they'll take it if necessary. but also senator cruz he said he would argue the case before the supreme court. if it gets there. and so, they are trying to straddle a very difficult line, and it's -- you know be i don't see how they get out of it. they're hoping for december 14th, next monday. >> we'll see what that brings. >> but i don't know if they're going to concede. ted cruz has been trying to make his way back in donald trump's good graces since 2016. up ahead, the utter lack of congress' action. e utter lack o congress' action and with brokerage accounts online trades are commission free.

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and save at trelegy.com. this year, it just happens to be greater. ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy. ♪ welcome back. congress is still at an impasse over a covid relief bill. mitch mcconnell's staff told others that the senate leader does not see an agreement on state and local funding and liability protections. today mcconnell blamed democrats for the impasse. >> republicans have been clear about the urgent and unobjectionable relief we're ready to deliver. i offered to set aside a major request, common sense legal

protections. but day after day, the democratic leader finds new reasons not to compromise, new ways to avoid taking yes for an answer. in what universe should emergency aids for small businesses be contingent on bail outs for state governments with no linkage to actual needs. >> meanwhile a bipartisan group of lawmakers ignored his complains and said it reached a deal on state and local funding. they're still working to find an agreement on liability protections too. it's something -- they're working so hard on something that hasn't been a problem yet. there hasn't been a spade of lawsuits that mitch mcconnell had predicted. democratic and republican governors continue to plead for help from capitol hill. we'll speak to one of them, republican governor chris sununu from new hampshire on the other side of this break. nu from new hampshire on the other side of this break and at fidel, you'll get planning and advice to help you prepare for the future, without sacrificing what's most important to you today. because with fidelity, you can feel confident

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welcome back. earlier this week a group of republican governors banded

together to call for congress to pass an urgently needed covid relief bill. in the five days since that call, no progress on the hill and in those five days one of those governors lost a friend and leading state lawmaker. dick hinch was found dead this week in his home. the medical examiner says the 72-year-old's cause of death, covid. new hampshire governor chris sununu joins me now. governor, we played your passion -- passionate sound bite from yesterday, but the fact that we've made mask wearing a political statement. look, we can debate how we got here, but the fact is we're here. what -- who else could help out in trying to depoliticize this in your view? >> look, this is new hampshire. i'm a big believer that everyone has to take those responsibilities among

themselves. when you have someone like dick hinch, who's been speaker, an incredible individual, speaker just for five days. his loss is going to be felt across the aisle, across the state for sure and it is a shocking cautionary tale that we all have that responsibility. the politicalization of wearing a mask, social distancing, the severity of what is a health crisis and pandemic across the country is surprising to us as governors. i think yesterday was just clear frustration. no, not just for new hampshire but the entire country. a small group of individuals trying to spend time trying to convince others not to be safe and it has repercussions. we have a few months to go, we're asking folks to follow the rules and guidelines. we're not tearing up the constitution when we ask people to be safe, smart and socially distance.

but it has drastic repercussions for our families, coworkers and communities. i think that's what you probably heard in my voice yesterday. >> history buffs will know that the founders believed that public health should be in the hands of government. if people want to go back and remind themselves about what kind of power the government should have in a financial crises. let me go back and ask about the state of new hampshire. explain your revenue shortages. where do they come from and what do you need from congress? >> we're in a very good place in new hampshire. our economy has come back strong. we put guidelines in place for health and safety but we're not shutting businesses down and that sort of thing. businesses have to run at guidelines and restrictions, of course. but everything for the most part is open. the trick is finding the balance, keeping the covid numbers low.

keeping our economy strong because of the health benefits of a strong economy and opportunity with that. so we -- we're probably not in touch as an economic situation as other states but if you look at the revenues of other states they're coming in strong, most states largest taxpayers, come from businesses doing well. i know you opened saying they haven't done anything in the last five days, let's be clear, congress hasn't done anything in eight months. eight months since they passed any bill having to do with covid. we've been expressing the frustration, i've been vocal. i don't think any of them deserve their jobs. none of them can stand up and say i led on the biggest health crisis. they fell down and let politics in the way. shame on them. as governors, republicans and democrats, we're innovating, trying to create something, that balance if you will for our citizens. the job in congress ain't that

hard, approve a policy, approve a funding, and that's kind of it. they don't have to operationalize and create anything. the fact they can't do that we're frustrated. whatever gets done it has to be fiscally responsible, of course. you have to look at what is covid related, relief efforts related to covid, bailing out pension funds and that nonsense, they have to put that aside. there's an easy common ground -- >> who's asking for that? in fairness you talked with these governors, what governors are asking for pengs pension relief as part of this? >> i hear it out of washington. i can't tell you exactly, they talk about california and new york and this pension stuff. again, governors i think want to know that something is happening after december 31st, because the vast majority of c.a.r.e.s. act funding can't be used after december 31st. the vaccine is here we're using funds to distribute and manage

the logistics around the vaccine. the testing, ppe, those needs are here. i know we all hate 2020 but when january 1st hits this doesn't go away. we're still there 24 hours a day trying to manage the process. and if washington is go to do something, do something. even if it's phase one, phase two, come back and try the harder parts later, get the easy stuff done. don't let great be the enemy of good. we need something on the front lines to operationalize the vaccine and the testing for our citizens. >> common sense is never a trait than shared much in washington. but governor sununu maybe hope springs eternal there. you talking about what it's like to be governor i'm guessing you and your father and then your brother about how easy his job was in the senate. >> we talked to each other about it quite a lot. >> i bet. governor, thank you for your time and sharing your perspective with us.

appreciate it. up next one of the most at risk populations for covid complications is one of the groups most likely to distrust a vaccine. we'll dive into that after the break. vaccine. we'll dive into that after the break. as to be feeling the heat. it's okay santa, let's workflow it. workflow it...? with the now platform, we can catch problems before customers even know they're problems. wait... a hose? what kid wants a hose?! fireman? says "hose" it says "horse"! not a "hose"! cedric! get over here! now our people can collaborate across silos, from across the globe. so how's the new place? it's a 4 bed, 2.5 bath igloo... it's great! yeah, but you have to live in the south pole. sir... wait, are you sure? yes, we're that productive now. you hear that?! the kids get twice the presents! [ cheering ] about time 2020 gave us some good news.

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marginalized groups. here to dive deeper into both how black americans feel about the vaccine and how we solve distrust is antonio hilton and dr. blackstock. let me go to chicago where an to tonia has been talking to residents. what are you hearing in chicago? >> reporter: i'm on the south side there is a lot of anxiety about the vaccine here. it comes from historical events and and some current events. behind me is mercy hospital, this is a hospital dedicated to serving the poor and black communities here on the south side. residents say that's the perfect example of leaders not caring about their access to health care and things like vaccines. but then a lot of what i heard also has to do with historical mistreatment of patients.

many people brought up the tuskegee syphilis trial with me. this goes back to the early 1900s and black men were able to get sicker and sicker as white doctors watched them and did nothing to take care of them. s doctors watching them and studying them. take a listen to the conversation that i had this week. >> how do you feel about the coming vaccine? >> it is not something that i'm interested in taking or having my children take it. we're not trusting. we feel like we're the first person they want to test it on and we're experimented on. >> we're used to being mistreated and experimented on and last in any category when it comes to health care. so it's going to take a whole education. i guarantee that 20% of

african-american will not take that vaccine. >> you really think so? >> yes. >> so, chuck, i want to be clear, here. the people there did not mention vaccines. they think that vaccines cause autism. they're having fears and concerns that are based on real events in history. that's a key distinction to make if you're a health official trying to figure out how to combat this. >> that is my next question. a antonia hilton, thank you. dr. blackstock, i have been thinking about this vaccine issue for some time. it stressed me out that we have not even begun the public relations campaign. would you confront this head on and have a psa campaign targeted to black americans and other

marginalize groups saying we have failed you in the past, our best way to get other this hurdle? >> thank you, chuck, the points that you bring up up are so very important. we're months behind focusing on vaccines that are targeting the black community. there needs to be an acknowledgment of the past wrong. gaining the trust of black americans especially when it comes to the vaccine. i think there is also a role for black hsk professionals like myself. i think it is important that people know it is very well respected. people will more likely listen to me than dr. fauci because i look like them and i have a

similar lived experience to them. we need to connect with community leaders and community based organizations that are already on the route. i think it is also important to acknowledge there is going to be a serious conversation. one conversation is not going to make the difference. a serious of conversations listening to people about their fears, their distrust, and giving them the information they need to make an informed decision. >> based on what you understand is this conversation being had yet in the coronavirus task force to your knowledge? >> not that i'm seeing or not that i have heard. it is occurring on the national medical association, the largest and oldest association of black physicians. they're doing work with

community organizers in various cities across the country to address these issues. we need funding for this. we need there to be campaigns, social media, buses, trains, we need information out there. i think a lot of people have concerns that the vaccine was developed very quickly. how do we enter that in a responsible way? >> have you, when you looked at the clinical trial process for these vaccines from moderna, do you feel like they had a diverse enough clinical trial group to at least give some confidence to different communities? i think that is a great question. i think the vaccine manufacturers were a few months behind to make sure they had diverse participants. they were a little under represented in terms of black participants, and over

represented for hispanic. but that is another way of messaging to the public. look we tested this vaccine and people with the same lived experience as you do and we have great results. so that is also powerful messaging to have as well. >> so it is -- let me ask you this -- how have doctors, how have you overcome vaccine hesitation on other vaccines? or do you see it? is it more acute with this or do you see it any time you try to encourage vaccinations? >> i have seen vaccine hesitation, but not to this degree. i think this is because it w wwas appearing rushed. and also the parallel instead of consecutively. i have these conversations with people, i give them the information they need to make

the decisions, but i also recognize they're not going to change their mind. but i think it is also the political interference that we saw in the fda and in the cdc. it has worried a lot of people to the integrity of these vaccines and under mine not just black american's trust, but more when it comes to taking these vaccines. >> i could argue it started with what they named the project, operation warp speed. that may be what they were operating on, but it only reinforces the rushed urgency. dr. blackstock, really great conversation, we really appreciate your expertise on our end. thank you. thank you all for being with us this hour. we'll be back on monday. dr. francis collins, lamar alex gander, and others. we continue after this break. d s we continue after this break

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good afternoon, i'm katy tur, we're in special coverage all day here on msnbc with the fda expected to issue an emergency use authorization for the first coronavirus vaccine at any moment. alex azar says the okay from the fda is all but confirmed