good morning. it is saturday, december 19th. i am ali velshi. 32 days until joe biden's inauguration. tens of thousands of americans are dying each week from covid-19. there's a glimmer of hope. there are now two vaccines available for covid-19. last night, the fda granted emergency authorization to the moderna vaccine which is said to be 94% effective with minimal side effects. nearly 6 million doses are right now set to be shipped to more than 3200 locations around the

country. moderna says about 20 million doses will be delivered before end of the year. dr. fauci expects shots to be in arms by monday or tuesday, like the pfizer biontech. moderna's comes in two doses several weeks apart, however, moderna is recommended for people 18 years of age and older. pfizer is for people 16 years of age and older. moderna doesn't need to be kept at temperatures colder than the north pole. both vaccines are not recommended for people with history of allergic reactions to vaccines. that's standard practice for vaccines. moderna's vaccine will also cost less mainly because it was partially funded by the u.s. government. it was part of operation warp speed. the outgoing president has falsely claimed multiple times the government was also involved in the pfizer vaccine. it wasn't. that's the one that's being sold at a profit. the pfizer vaccine is now subject to controversy, although

thankfully not about the science of the vaccine. more than two dozen states say allocations from the government were slashed. trump administration says the company is having issues with manufacturing. pfizer says it has plenty of vaccine available in warehouses. the administration hasn't asked for more or given shipping instructions. yesterday, outgoing vice president mike pence with outgoing second lady karen pence and the surgeon general, jerome adams, publicly received the pfizer vaccine. the outgoing president didn't join them at the event, nor has he commented on it. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell and pelosi received vaccinations yesterday. joe biden will publicly get a vaccine monday. in a sober reminder where we are, dr. fauci says 50% of the american population needs to be vaccinated before we see an effect on infection rates, and 75 to 80% were able to crush the outbreak, essentially giving the virus no place to go.

that's similar to what the country has done with measles and polio. fauci adds we hope to get to that point by end of 2021. as i mentioned at the top, literally tens of thousands of americans die each week from covid-19. more than 314,000 americans have died since the pandemic began more than nine months ago. the country set records for daily covid-19 deaths on several straight days this week, nearly reaching 3300 americans dying a day by nbc news' ongoing count. other outlets report the figure to be several hundred higher. nearly a quarter million americans are being diagnosed with covid-19 each and every day. according to data from covid tracking project, a record of more than 113,000 americans are now hospitalized with covid-19 and right now 900 hospitals around the country are or thing their icus are 90% capacity.

joining me, correspondent shaquille brewster. you're in olive branch, mississippi at one of the distribution hubs. what are you learning, when should we see batches of moderna ship out? >> reporter: ali, moderna said they were immediately after the fda issued emergency use authorization to start delivering the vaccine and start process of delivering it. moderna is partnering with mckesson, a company that worked with the vaccine distribution process not only with seasonal flu but scaling up during the h1n1 pandemic. the timeline as we know it, now that emergency use authorization has come from the fda, the cdc will maplace an order and they' work to convert the stockpile of doses into individual shipments. the cdc will direct how many shipments or doses go into each shipment and then workers

combine that box with another box of medical supply kits that workers have been working on for weeks and months at this point and send those doses out. moderna says they expect to deliver 6 million doses just next week. that number goes to 20 million by the end of the year. they say by springtime, ali, expect 100 million doses out there. by summer the number will go to 200 million doses of the moderna vaccine. the key difference with the vaccine compared to what we saw last week with pfizer vaccine is the supply chain. this doesn't require ultra cold freezers with sub arctic temperatures. it can go in a regular freezer, more industry standard freezer. you can expect that vaccine to hit more platces more quickly, pharmacies, doctor offices, nursing homes. the idea is while pfizer had the first round of vaccine last week, moderna will add to

quantity, help states meet goals for the first round of the vaccine effort. ali? >> these are amazing reports, amazing levels of efficacy and speed at which they're getting out. good to see you. shaquille brewster in olive branch, mississippi. we'll continue to cover distribution of the vaccines and people getting vaccinated, amid this news and record covid-19 numbers, more americans are out of work. the jobs report shows initial claims rising for the third week in a row, hitting the highest level since september. every week since start of the pandemic in early march has had more first time jobless claims than any other week in prepandemic history. congress continues to prove right its dysfunctional reputation, even when so many people they're supposed to be serving are depending on them in so many ways. here's the situation. senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell, and nancy pelosi, combined new round of coronavirus assistance, which is

reportedly $900 million framework with the larger must pass $1.4 trillion government funding bill. the latter has a deadline of midnight or risk a government shutdown. because of ongoing issues regarding coronavirus assistance and because this is congress, the funding bill wasn't passed last night. in its place, two day stop gap continuing resolution was passed. that keeps the government running through the weekend in hopes that the final disagreements for the relief bill can be finalized. house majority leader steny hoyer says there won't be coronavirus votes saturday, implying the earliest a vote could take place is 1:00 p.m. sunday. even one thing congress has been able to agree on, annual defense bill, national defense authorization act, the president, outgoing president, is vowing to veto. the same outgoing president who

is set to issue a host of controversial pardons, that could include preemptive pardons for family members for unknown crimes they may have committed and haven't been charged with. this is where we are in 2020. talking about a government shutdown during a pandemic which has taken the lives of more americans than on the battle fields of world war ii with tens of thousands of americans dying each week from covid-19 with 32 more days of an outgoing president with a burn it down strategy who refuses to accept reality. there's a lot. joining me, senior opinion writer from boston globe, kimberly atkins, and also with me dino about a dal a. host on sirius xm satellite. we have a lot to get through. talk about the relief bill first. it is tied to a bill that keeps

the government operating. in the constitution, the only thing congress has to do is appropriations to pay for things to keep the government running, they haven't been able to do it. they hope to get a bill out by sunday. lots of people are slipping into poverty. is the urgency there to get this done? are they close? >> the urgency has been there for awhile. unfortunately this stop gap measure is an example of the ineffectiveness of congress that long predates the trump administration. we have seen stop gap measures passed to keep lights on in the government for years and years. it is getting worse. keep in mind, lawmakers when it comes to covid relief, they have been working for nearly nine months, since the last time covid relief was passed and signed into law by the president. americans got one additional payout, then had a period of time where unemployment benefits were enhanced. that's long gone. now you are seeing people

literally slip into poverty, lose their businesses and come into dire financial straights as infection rates rise. that urgency has been there for months. the fact it is still this difficult for congress to come together to find a solution is really remarkable. so we have to hope like everyone else that over the weekend there's movement there. >> in fairness, it is republican senators being intransigent about this, they're worried about the signal it will send to people to keep giving people money for not working, effect on the debt. they're struggling with this, dean. they didn't struggle, 126 republican members of the house did not struggle coming together quickly to back this texas court case against the election that got booted by the supreme court. republicans have zero problem coming together on not accepting this election. they have real problems coming together funding small

businesses and money to people who need it. >> ali, that's a great point. republicans when they want to work hard, they do, such as enacting voter id laws. same with the tax for the wealthy in 2017. let's take a step back. democrats in the house passed the heroes act twice, once in may, once in october, which would have provided robust aid for people with direct stimulus payments, helping state and localities, and what happened? mitch mcconnell refused to act on it. it is important people understand the only reason mitch mcconnell is acting on this is because as he said reportedly that the gop candidates for the senate in georgia are getting hammered. all he cares about is keeping control of that chamber. that's what's moving him, not compassion. the gop, we hear them, even rand paul, parroting comments from trump that he never got his day in court about the election

fraud allegations. just to be clear, nearly 90 judges heard the application of trump and allies, nearly half of them republican appointed. 8 appointed by donald trump. they agreed on one thing. there's nothing there. they had case after case where they made a showing of what was allegedly fraud, even arizona, two day trial. nothing. went to the supreme court, said no, it is not here. the reality is when the gop wants to do things for the base, they'll do it. when they want to do things to help people in need, they turn their back on them. >> kimberly, i don't know if you have more reporting, but there's some reporting that the pentagon decided to slow walk or stop interacting with the biden administration transition team, reporting that chris miller, only appointed november 9th after trump fired his predecessor, ordered pentagon wide halt to the transition with biden.

the pentagon says reporting is wrong, it was a holiday break. the biden team apparently said we weren't looking for holiday break, we have business to do. >> yeah. this is a continuation of what we've seen from the beginning. it has been the policy of the trump administration to try to obstruct the incoming administration, everything from these court cases you talked about that were baseless to delaying even the beginning of transition meetings and briefings to be given. they're already starting from behind at a time when you have everything from a pandemic to a massive cyber hack. this is not time to take a holiday when it comes to leadership. you are seeing that continuation from the trump administration, they seem to be focusing on denying results of the election and not ensuring the transition is safe and smooth so americans remain safe, not facilitating infrastructure necessary to distribute the vaccine that it likes to take credit for even in

the case of pfizer when it shouldn't. there are things that need to be done to protect americans now, and the trump administration seems bent on ignoring that in favor of obstructing joe biden before he takes office. >> thank you to both of you for kicking us off. kimberly adkins, senior opinion writer for boston globe. msnbc radio host on sirius xm. have a good morning to you both. this week we witnessed what might be the biggest cyber attack ever on the u.s. government. secretary of state mike pompeo says he knows who did it, but we wonder if donald trump will agree with him. that's next. later, award winning musician, actor, activist going door to door ahead of the senate runoffs. what he says is at stake in the upcoming elections. keep it locked.

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there was a significant effort to use a piece of third party software to essentially embed code inside of u.s. government systems and it now appears systems of private companies and companies and governments across the world as well. this was a very significant effort. i think it is the case we can see clearly it was the russians that engaged in this activity. >> that was the secretary of state, mike pompeo, first trump official we heard speak directly

about the russian cyber attack on the u.s. government. what we know about the hack so far is more than 40 entities, including u.s. agencies, were infiltrated by malware since march. nothing was found to be deleted, manipulated or modified, suggesting more spying effort on systems. it includes the defense, state, commerce, treasury, energy departments and national nuclear security administration which ma maintains the weapons stockpile. they were connected in a public, private partnership with a texas based company solar winds, believed to be the source of the intrusion. intelligence agencies had already pointed to russia as the culprit. the kremlin as expected denied its involvement. i interviewed the former deputy director of the cyber security and infrastructure agency, cisa, last night. this is what he told me about the breach. >> one of the technologies that cisa provides is intrusion detection systems that sit on

over 101 federal civilian executive branch agencies. think of that in terms of the perimeter. perimeter around those networks, like the perimeter around a house where you have a sentry out front. these systems are designed to block malicious ip addresses that come from adversary nation states or other cyber criminals. they used a third party application, a friendly, trusted source. when the ip addresses came in, they're let in as a sentry guarding a building or organization would let in friends or trusted vendors to deliver or to visit. >> joining me, nbc news terrorism analyst malcolm nance, author of "the plot to betray america." malcolm, you heard matthew travis' description of what happened, the idea that when a friendly comes to your place,

the guards let them in. this has been in place for months. how did we miss it, what do we do about it? >> first, let me tell you that interview you did last night was brilliant. that gave good context to what happens. solar winds is a management software program that's used all throughout the united states government in the civilian world. so as he said, the software allowed these hackers in and they brought in malware tools which they could place hundreds of other types of pieces of software throughout the government that would allow them to take control of systems, monitor systems, collect emails and passwords and other things. what can we do about this at this point? we can see the russians did an entire all nation attack on the united states. they used all the resources that the russian intelligence agencies to carry out what they wanted to do as a christmas

shopping spree because they knew the trump administration would generally be ending and that the united states was vulnerable. all we can do at this point is start scrubbing and closing the doors. but one thing that's missing, ali, from the entire discussion, especially with regards to the biden administration is we need to have a national strategy to confront russia on all spheres, starting with the cyber domain. >> malcolm, the new administration, this mirrors what happened at the end of the last administration with russian involvement in the elections, and strange behavior, strange response from the trump administration that didn't seem to suggest that you know what, russia, we're coming at you for doing this. joe biden said there would be a price to pay for doing this. this is one time we can do the right thing as opposed to the wrong thing when an adverse country decides to attack us. >> you're right. this is a good opportunity. no one is calling for cold war

or shooting war. but there are certain levers we can pull that we didn't pull in 2016. 2016 was the third leg of an attack on the united states, they had been experimenting with phishing attacks with the pentagon and white house in the early 2000s. 2016 was a direct attack on american democracy, sanctioned by putin himself. when nothing happened other than basic safeguards, putin allowed his cyber warfare organizations because they had a friend in donald trump. one thing should happen they fear most, go after oligarch money. whether there has to be executive finding or order stating people that support vladimir putin and his attacks on the united states in 2016 and 2020, you start seizing money, assets, resources around the world. nothing hurts them more than having their mega yacht seized

and turned into u.s. navy or coast guard war ships. >> strangely, this axios reporting that defense secretary chris miller ordered a pentagon wide halt to cooperation with the incoming biden administration is brought into sharp relief by this discussion. the pentagon responded saying reporting by mike allen, jonathan swan is inaccurate. they suggested a holiday break, the biden administration incoming administration said we have zero interest in a holiday break, they take office in 32 days. this is the reason we needed transition to start early and it is the reason to not take a break in them. i don't know who is lieying and who is telling the truth. the trump administration admits there was some delay in the transition with the defense department. >> you know, there was a lot of concern about him taking over the pentagon, coming over from national counterterrorism center, taking over this multi

trillion dollar agency, then using it as a tool of the administration. everyone feared that. let me tell you something, as former senior enlisted man in the armed forces, here's what i have to say. do your job. the united states is literally under attack. all our national cyber infrastructure is under attack. you will be out of a job in 30 days, never to return, so least you could do is defend the constitution the next 30 days because this incoming administration will have to take over from day one. and you don't know whether cyber war will go to shooting war or some other adversary will go at us one minute after 12:00 on the 20th. this man has got to understand being a sick fant endangers all of us. get off the horse, get to work. >> well said, malcolm. good to see you. my friend, malcolm nance, terrorism analyst. he knows of what he speaks.

he is author of "the plot to betray america." how team trump embraced our enemies, compromised our security, and how we can fix it. while much of the country celebrates distribution of covid vaccines, distrust is high in black communities and there's a long, painful history behind that distrust and understanding it. i'm going to give you an explanation when we come back, making sure some communities hardest-hit by the pandemic get vaccinated after this. t by the vaccinated after this. just like your fingertips, your lips have a unique print. ...and unique needs. your lips are like no others and need a lip routine that's just right for you. chapstick® has you covered. chapstick®. put your lips first®. 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.

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a pew research survey shows black americans, 57% don't plan to be vaccinated. the cdc reports that black americans who do get the virus are 2.8 times more likely to die from it, and about four times as likely to be hospitalized by it. while the two ideas being more

susceptible, less inclined to seek the vaccine solution are at odds with one another, it is explained by history of medical mistreatment that black people faced. it is an ugly chapter of american history largely whitewashed by textbooks, generally learned only by african americans in their homes growing up. the united states has a long history of ex-peerm mentation, the tuskegee experiment ran from 1932 to 1972. involved 600 men. two-thirds had syphilis for which they were told they were getting treatment. they were not. all 600 participants were led to believe they received free health care in exchange for participation in the study. they were purposely given placibos even after pencil enwas

the standard treatment for syphilis. 18 participants died from a curable disease, and 100 more from related complications, by the time it was publicized 40 years later. at the same time, 500 miles northeast, north carolina statewide program forcibly sterilized nearly 7600 people, many of whom were black. north carolina u general imcompetents program was one of many that targeted people with illnesses and disabilities living in state institutions. the north carolina program was also promoted as a solution to poverty and i will legitimacy. investigations and reports decades later suggested it was all but designed to, quote, breed out black people from north carolina. both the alabama and north carolina programs lasted decades and are today well documented examples of the racism evident in the health care system across generations, and of the broken

trust between communities of color and government developed remedies. it is a serious contemporary problem, given the black community is so at risk from coronavirus. with a life saving solution sitting in freezers across the country, how does this get fixed? in the case of the tuskegee experiment, president clinton formally apologized, and victims of the sterilization were financially compensated. the chasm between the government and scientific community on one side and those deliberately wronged on the other side obviously still exists. no solution to the problem. especially during a life and death pandemic. coming up, i will unpack the shameful issue with two of the most qualified people i know to have the discussion. here's one of them on screen, founder of black doctors covid-19 consortium, getting her

coronavirus vaccine this week. more on thinking behind her choice to get vaccinated, what we can do to confront this ugly medical history. confront this medical history. ♪ but come ye back when su-- mom, dad. why's jamie here? it's sunday. sunday sing along. and he helped us get a home and auto bundle. he's been our insurance guy for five years now. he makes us feel like we're worth protecting. [ gasps ] why didn't you tell us about these savings, flo? i've literally told you a thousand times. ♪ oh, danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling ♪ i'm just gonna... ♪ from glen to glen

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deion sanders? you sure did! now in the app, get a free footlong when you buy two. because it's footlong season™! amid covid's devastating impact, much skepticism from the black community surrounding the vaccine, black doctors and medical professionals stepped up to set an example with the new covid cures. they hope to demonstrate to communities that this time things will be different. dr. stanford, pediatric surgeon from philadelphia and friend of this show is one of those doctors, founder of the black doctors covid-19 consortium, a group that ran a testing campaign for at risk communities across philadelphia and surrounding areas. wednesday, she received the first dose of the pfizer vaccine. she made the decision to get it, in spite of the fact she already had the virus and has covid

antibodies. she said it was an effort to show other black americans this drug is safe. given decades of medical mistreatment endured by the black community at the hands of the government, her decision was not made lightly. dr. stanford joins me now. also with me, dr. dorothy roberts, director of university of pennsylvania program on race, science and society, professor of law and sociology and africana studies, author of many books, including "killing the black body." another great friend of the show. thank you to both of you. dr. stanford, you made the decision. you and i talked a lot about this. you made the decision last weekend to get this. and you told me you are a scientist, a doctor, you know it is the right decision, yet it was a highly emotional decision for you and it is not one you took lightly. wasn't obvious to you you were going to get the vaccine. tell me about that. >> that's absolutely right. first and foremost, i'm a black

woman. i was long before i became a physician. i grew up feeling certain angst about the health care system. much of that was mitigated as i became a physician. that was in the back of my mind. once i had the antibodies, scientifically i planned to follow it with my doctor and check every four weeks. i quickly realized that that was not something that most americans could do, certainly not most african americans. and people poignantly said when you tell me it is okay, dr. stanford, i will take it, i will roll up my sleeve. i was concerned that by not i would be leaning into fears that people might have that i was saying it wasn't safe. so to alleviate all of that, i received the vaccine wednesday. >> how you feeling? >> i feel good today, thank you for asking. you know, my arm was sore and

the follow-up day i felt like all of the energy had been zapped from my body. i literally sat in a chair about 12 hours, the exact same chair. when i talked to some of my friends in the black doctors consortium, of 16 of us that received it wednesday, the remainder got it tomorrow, half of us had that headache, achy, malaise, and the other half said i felt nothing. but i think emotionally i felt a sense of relief, i felt a sense of hope, of better days, and i don't want anyone to think i have forgotten. it is hard to watch those scenes. we have to use that information as power, power to say it will never happen again in my lifetime and not let us impede it from getting the treatment

that we need now because it is killing african americans more than any other group in this country. >> professor roberts, last weekend dr. stanford and i participated in a facebook instagram chat with a lot of black people who had questions, real fears and questions about the vaccine. you've done extensive research into bio ethics and the deeply racist history of medical research in the united states. you shed a lot of light on this issue. do you think these efforts, the efforts of dr. stanford and other visible black medical professionals both administering the vaccine and getting the vaccine that we have seen so much of in the last week, do you think that's going to cut through the remarkably vis ral emotions that surround this issue? >> i think it is a big help. as dr. stanford said, many black people are relying on black physicians to give them confidence that this vaccine works and is safe.

i also think it is important to emphasize black people suspicion of medicine is not only rooted in a past chapter of u.s. history, it's also rooted in experiences that they have today and evidence today that raises and continues in medicine. we can't just frame this as a problem of convincing black people to trust medicine and forget about a foregone past. we also have to continually work to make medicine today anti-racist and to weed out the many, many practices in medicine that deny access to black patients, that treat black patients differently. you know, some are embedded in medical technologies that either are based on a white standard that leave black people out or adjust for black people as if we are a different form of human

being. these are going on right now. black people have this experience right now and that also has to be addressed. in other words, we're not just addressing a foregone chapter of u.s. history, we have to address racism in medicine so they deserve the trust of black people. >> you divide this interestingly. the stuff we talked about, tuskegee, north carolina, eugenics, sterilization, that's straight up old fashioned racism. you also talk about this structural inequality that leaves people of color in your words especially vulnerable to bad health because of the way in which our society is structured to put them in less healthy condition. it is less obviously racist, but more obviously socially unequal. >> yes. you point out some practices of unconsented to sterilization are

going on now in the united states. there was a revelation about it happening to black and brown women in an i.c.e. detention center. a revelation about it happening in california state prisons, but to the point you're making now structural racism, the way in which our society is structured in terms of segregated residential neighborhoods in terms of lack of access to high quality health care or food in terms of police violence and incarceration in black neighborhoods, all these are structural factors that explain why black people are two to three times more likely to die from covid in the first place. all of this is connected. we have to be concerned not only about black people being suspicious. we might be excluded from getting the vaccine because of different priorities of who gets

access to health care. black people are demanding better health care. it is rooted in history. >> and by the way, that's part of why dr. stanford started the black doctors covid-19 consortium. black people weren't able to get tests easily in philadelphia, her group helped solve that. i got one of those tests from her group at temple university in philadelphia. i stood in a huge line i thought would take nine hours to get through. your system, dr. stanford, was one of the most efficient the country has seen. thank you to black doctors covid-19 consortium being a lesson to the rest of the country. thank you to you for being an example what needs to be done. thank you to you, dr. roberts, for telling us about things we all need to think about. dr. stanford is a pediatric, general surgeon, the founder of

black doctors covid-19 consortium. dorothy roberts director of university of pennsylvania program on race, science, society. what a great discussion. for decades, native americans underrepresented in federal and state government. joe biden may have changed that all with his latest historic cabinet pick. next, more on deb holland's nomination, what her becoming interior secretary could do for indigenous people across the country. first, a toast to bipartisanship. >> for the betterment of this country, we have to come together. we have to sit down, listen to each other, maybe even have a beer. the spirit of the bipartisanship and cooperation, i raise this glass to my colleagues, both democrats and republicans. th democrats and republicans. outgoing democratic congressman joe cunningham cracked open a beer during a farewell speech. he did not take a sip, was wearing a mask during the toast.

he is one of several house democrats that lost their seat in the 2020 election. last year, he tried to bring a six pack into the chamber but was stopped by the congressional bouncers. cheers, he made 2021 bring more stimulus checks, less coronavirus, and more teamwork. we'll be right back. e teamwork we'll be right back. darrell's family uses gain flings now so their laundry smells more amazing than ever. isn't that the dog's towel? hey, me towel su towel. more gain scent plus oxi boost and febreze in every gain fling. renew active. only fro♪ lift it althcare. ♪ press it ♪ downward dog it ♪ watch it ♪ sweat it ♪ bend and stretch it ♪ track it ♪ share it ♪ compare it ♪ think it ♪ solve it ♪ try and crack it ♪ breath it

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to help you build a flexible wealth plan. you'll have access to tax-smart investing strategies, and with brokerage accounts online trades are commission free. personalized advice. unmatched value. at fidelity, you can have both. this land americans live and walk on in the united states was never ours to begin with. native americans were custodians and lived off it. for the indigenous, land is seen not only as form of identity but sustinence. native americans have had little representation and few allies in the federal government, leaving them voiceless when it comes to their own land until now. in a historic move, joe biden

picked deb who will aholland to interior secretary. she already made history in 2018 as one of the first two native american women elected to congress. serves as advice chair of house committee on natural resources. she's a member of one of the nation's 574 recognized tribes. interior plays a major role in distribution and management of native land and is responsible for honoring the country's commitments and treaties with native american tribes, something the federal government by the way failed to do time and time again, democrats and republicans. her presence will elevate the global fight on climate change. last month on the program, she told me if she had the honor to lead interior department, climate crisis would be one of her top priorities. >> one of the things that's important here is that whoever gets that position recognizes

that climate change is the challenge of our time, that our federal lands will play a role ensuring we are moving toward a solution to climate change, and that bring in the former attorney general for the sioux tribe, executive director of thunder valley community development organization, grass roots organization on pine ridge in south dakota. remember three weeks ago i was in south dakota, did a story in kyle, south dakota, where you're

from. >> i grew up in kyle until sixth grade. my roots, my start, my heart is in the pine ridge reservation, that's where i continue work today at thunder valley cdc. it is good to be back. >> i don't want to minimize the work that native americans have done on so many levels. the point i was making is that they have not historically since the 1860s had good and fair representation at the federal government that is commensurate with needs of native american communities. having somebody at the actual table while there have been senior native americans in government, in the federal government, this should mean something. this should change something. >> absolutely. congratulations to deb holland and laguna nation of new mexico. this is a historic event. for a patriarchal system to have

an indigenous woman lead the efforts is truly i think a sign that status quo of white men making decisions is going to change. i think we have to as indigenous people, as allies of indigenous people really continue the work in greater sense of urgency to support them in this work because remember, she has to put forth the ideals of the administration. so where's the work and strategizing on how to educate the entire biden/harris administration around what's important to us as indigenous people as original stewards of the land. i don't think we can place heightened expectations on them alone as one person leading that effort to change a system broken for almost 200 years. we have to be very realistic in expectations but also have a plan to strengthen, bolster

things she's trying to accomplish. >> can you help us draw parallel between the social justice movements we have seen this year and what it means for native americans? in fact, your father was involved in sort of a resurgence of native american issues in america that went on for awhile in the early 1970s. we saw with the pipelines going through the dakotas, there was public support for things happening on or effecting native land. is there some sense that there is work leading towards a broader understanding among the community native and nonindigenous to understand the unfairness we have imposed on native communities in america? >> well, i just want to first recognize yes, thank you for mentioning my father. the late russell means was a part of the american indian movement and what happened in wounded knee in 1973. we're coming up on memorial of

the wounded knee massacre which was december 29th. just honoring our relatives that were murdered in that massacre, mostly women, children, elders. so thank you for recognizing that history and you're right, it is a fight that has continued. what the greater population in america and the rest of the world sees, it seems like it comes in waves, but there are people staunchly advocating for our visibility as indigenous people. that's another important thing to consider with deb haaland's appointment. it brings greater visibility to our issues. i think with social justice and work, there's heightened awareness of indigenous people that we were and are original stewards of the land, original care takers. the earth, animals would continue to exist and thrive without us, however, we as human

beings would not exist and thrive without them. so i think when you think about that, it puts us in our place as human beings as where we are in the greater ecosystem. first and foremost, i hope and wish that the voice that deb brings is for the land and the earth and then for indigenous people because we have the answers, we have the solutions. we lived in harmony and protection of the land for centuries. >> three sundays ago after my show ended, i got in my car on my own, drove to wounded knee, i thought of your ancestors and your father. i sat there in silence and looked around that land. and thank you for the work you continue that he started and that your ancestors started. the executive director of the community valley development corporation. thank you for your time this morning. >> thank you. award winning artist, actor,

activist common going door to door in georgia to get out the vote leading up to the state runoff in two weeks. he joins me life to talk about his efforts and the nature of the two raiseces. coming to you live from savannah tomorrow, for velshi, surviving the next wave. we are looking for your stories how you're helping small businesses in your neighborhood. some great ones i have gotten in 24 hours. my story at velshi.com. don't go anywhere. velshi is back at the top of the hour. back at the top of the hour lift and push and push! there... it's up there. oh, boy. hey joshie... wrinkles send the wrong message. help prevent them before they start with downy wrinkleguard. hey! bud. hey, pop pop! so you won't get caught with wrinkles again. [woman laughs]

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good morning. it is saturday, december 19th. i am ali velshi. this morning, a second shot of hope. breaking news overnight, the food and drug administration authorize emergency use of the moderna covid-19 vaccine, marking the second time in a week the agency gave a green light to treatment in the battle against the coronavirus disease. moderna is preparing a shipping process as we speak of 6 million doses of potentially life-saving serum nationwide, which is expected to get under way this weekend. unlike the pfizer vaccine that needs to be at ultra cold temperatures, moderna can be at standard refrigerator temperatures, gives the general public two formidable treatments in the fight against covid-19. similar to pfizer, it is given in two doses. moderna's is 28 days apart.