thanks for staying with us. i'm lindsey riser in new york. the wait for desperately needed stimulus checks continues for millions of americans as the president threatens to derail the $900 billion covid relief deal that also funds the government into next year. a bill that his advisers helped negotiate and that the white house said he would support. today, house democrats tried to fast track a stand-alone bill that would increase stimulus checks to $2,000 per person as the president is now demanding, but the effort was blocked by republican republicans. republicans then tried and failed to fast track another of the president's demands to revisit the foreign aid portion

of the government aid bill. without this bipartisan bill being funded government aid will be delayed and the government will shut down on monday. leaders on capitol hill are simultaneously grapple with the president's veto of a massive and overwhelmingly bipartisan defense bill to fund the military which congress will soon try to override. and in addition to the chaos on capitol hill, the president is also sparking controversy with his latest round of pardons. paul manafort, roger stone, jared kushner's father charles. they headline a group of close associates and individuals that have some legal experts wondering whether president trump will select rudy giuliani, his adult children, or even himself to be part of the next round of pardons. let's get started with garrett haak haake. house republicans trying to spin what they are seeing as them

standing with the president on funding foreign aid. is this a message that will resonate with americans? >> the foreign aid portion, it's almost impossible to see how it would. look. it's not just the checks that are caught up in this covid relief bill. it's expanded unemployment benefits which will run out the day after christmas. it's the eviction moratorium which will run out in january. it's tens of billions of dollars for testing and vaccine distribution that would have been useful weeks if not months ago that's all being held up and the funding for the entire government which will run out on the 28th if the president does not sign this bill. that's why back on capitol hill, my usual stomping grounds today, we heard from both republicans and democrats saying the president needs to sign the bill passed with the input of his administration, with the negotiating done by steven mnuchin and perhaps then we can continue to fight over some of these other measures, particularly those plussed up stimulus checks which democrats tried to put forward today and

were blocked by the president's own party. >> congressman kerbella, some of your colleagues did express a level of concern with what the president is doing as his time in office runs out. why is the will to publicly push back on him still not there? >> well, lindsey, the greatest fear that most republicans still have these days is a primary challenge and getting sideways with donald trump makes it more likely that they could face primary challenges. so that's why they are trying to give him this opportunity to save face to try to resolve this amicably. but what a lot of them don't understand is that the president will not stop and will not take an off ramp unless republicans go along with his efforts to overturn the election result or to undermine the election result to say that it was somehow delegitimate. that is ultimately what he wants. that is why he's acting so desperately.

that's why he's fighting to stay relevant. so republicans, they try to continue feeding him bits and pieces, but it's never going to be enough until he gets 100% of what he wants. so some republicans are going down that path, as you mentioned, but others have said, enough is enough and understand that it's time to break with donald trump because his requests are unreasonable and his actions are reckless. >> garrett, when the president released his video slamming the code relief bill, this question came into my mind because it caught so many allies off guard. do you think there's some part of mitch mcconnell that sees all this chaos from president trump in these final weeks, and he actually looks forward to a more predictable politician like joe biden, someone he's worked with in the past in these future negotiations? >> mitch mcconnell wrote a book a couple of years ago about his political philosophy called the long game. that's how he thinks about politics. he knows that he's playing a game that will go far beyond

what president trump will do, even if president trump had won. mitch mcconnell just got another six-year term. his relationship with joe biden, which he has described as a friendship, goes back for decades. one of the only senate republicans, maybe the only senate republican to go to beau biden's funeral. while they will have significant policy differences, perhaps more pitch policy battles, especially if mitch mcconnell's relegated to minority leader again next year if democrats win the two georgia seats. he knows that biden is someone who he can negotiate with and who is going to stand by the commitments they've made so many times over the last four years we've covered situations up on capitol hill where mcconnell has held his cards particularly close, knowing that the possibility always exists to be undercut at the last minute by president trump. and he's once again doing it on his way out the door here in less than a month. >> pete, let's bring you in here. i'm not going to ask you about the long game, but i want to ask you about the pardons which are

within the president's powers. these aren't the first controversial pardons a president has made. bill clinton certainly made some controversial pardons. how do these stack up against past presidents. >> fewer. president trump has used the pardon authority less frequently than many predecessors have. secondly, he's not used the traditional avenue for pardons which is that people file clemency petitions with the justice department, the office of pardon attorney reviews them, sees if they merit the suggestions that justice makes and then pass those recommendations on to the white house. but those are only recommendations, and the president is free to pardon whomever he wishes. in this case, president trump has tended to pardon people either recommendations made by political supporters or friends of his or other republican members of congress. quite a few of these recent pardons, for example, the white house notes were supported by conservatives in congress. and then people who were politically loyal to the

president and it would seem that a big theme in some of these recent pardons is a continued rejection of the mueller investigation. anybody who was convicted by mueller gets a pardon with two obvious exceptions. rick gates who cooperated with mueller. wouldn't expect him to get a pardon and michael cohen who basically turned on the president. >> pete, what would be some of the considerations from that review board? is remorse one of them? >> well, sure. the justice department office of pardon attorney considers pardons to be an act of grace, of mercy. and so one of the things is, does the person who is receiving the pardon, has that person shown remorse? have they shown contrition? george papadopoulos yesterday, for example, has never shown remorse and has said the pardon was rejection of the mueller investigation. generally speaking, the person pardoned has to be at least five years out from finishing service of a sentence or getting

convicted. and so there are a number of factors like that, service to the community. now, you know, in fairness to the president, a lot of these pardons have been people who were given long drug sentences, for example, and have shown service to the community and have shown some efforts at reforming and expressing some remorse. but the more high-profile ones don't fit the justice department definition, but again, the president is free to accept or ignore those recommendations. >> and accepting a pardon is accepting guilt? >> well, you know, it didn't used to be the view. the old view of the law was a pardon expunged everything, wiped the record clean. but the supreme court has said when you accept a pardon it is an admission of guilt, and it doesn't completely blot out your record. it does certainly allow people to get restoration of civil rights, for example, and vote and own a firearm. interestingly, a lot of the clemency petitions that have

piled up at the justice department are people who want a pardon so they can once again own a gun and go hunting. >> congressman curbelo, what's the lack of public outrage from republican lawmakers in -- pertaining to these pardons, except for senator ben sasse of nebraska, tell you? >> again, it's the same theme that a lot of what motivates members of congress these days, in both parties, but in this case, obviously, republicans, is fear. and that's fear of a primary. fear of a tweet from the president attacking a member of congress. that is what members are trying to avoid. common wisdom among republicans is that it's best to stay low, stay under the radar. let this storm pass. hopefully january 20th will come and go without a whole lot more fanfare, even though i think the next few weeks are probably going to be turbulent. and then, yes, as you indicated, i think not just mitch mcconnell

but most if not all congressional republicans are looking forward to a more predictable, stable environment under president joe biden. as good as it's been for republicans in some ways to be able to move some of their agenda priorities over the last four years, the cost has been very high. and that includes a personal cost. the personal cost of having to contend with president's antics every single day. there will be a sigh of relief on both sides of the aisle when joe biden is sworn in. >> what should we expect, if anything, from the president down at mar-a-lago? >> well, traditionally speaking, when he's been down here, he is less ensconced with staff and less surrounded by the aides who sometimes keep his other impulses in check. i expect a lot of golf and

potentially a lot of twitter activity and always the possibility that other action like more pardons could follow. obviously something he doesn't need the legislature for. i suppose in the spirit of christmas, i'll lay out hope that the president could also change his mind about the covid relief bill and choose to sign it. the office travels with him. he could make that decision at any time. >> garrett haake, pete williams, carlos curbelo, thank you. the impact of the pret's ve president's veto of the defense bill. what does it mean for the military? plus, an increase in cases, a more contagious strain possibly also in the u.s. and christmas gatherings under way. it's a deadly combination, especially as hospitals are already overwhelmed. 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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some people say that's ridiculous. age is just an illusion. how you show up for the world, that's what's real. what's your idea? i put it out there with a godaddy website. welcome back. as we mentioned earlier, the president vetoed a major bill last night. the annual military spending

bill known as the ndaa. setting up a showdown with congress and possibly the first ever veto override of his presidency. the president says he vetoed the $741 billion bill because it allows for the renaming of military bases for confederate figures. and because lawmakers didn't use the bill to change protections for social media companies. the ndaa has passed every year for the past 59 years. and while it already passed both chambers of congress, with veto-proof majorities, it remains to be seen how many republicans who voted for the bill will vote to override the president's veto. we expect that house vote to happen on monday. joining me is retired four-star u.s. army general barry mccaffrey and an msnbc military analyst. and a former member of the national security council. thank you, general, for your time today. i want to start with your reaction to this veto by president trump. >> well, look, the national defense bills have been a

bipartisan agreement for 59 years. the president normally has already proposed, overwhelmingly, all the major provisions of the bill. it doesn't get invented in congress. it goes over to congress. frequently, congress will put into that bill controversial measures, normally not huge ones, with a presumption that the president won't dare veto the whole bill and it will slide on through. that certainly was the case of this renaming of u.s. army bases after second tier confederate generals. it's just an astonishing, chaotic, irresponsible action by the president. they got to pass the bill, combined with shutting down the government on monday at midnight. the president is setting fire to the policy -- defense policies of the united states. >> general, what happens if they

don't pass the ndaa? there's so much up in the air right now. what is hanging in the balance? >> politics. do republican congressmen and senators have the courage to stand behind a bill they already voted for by veto-proof majorities. they already signed up both political parties largely by overwhelming majorities for this provision as an example on confederate military bases. so i don't see any way out. they have to pass the bill. if they don't, the entire u.s. defense establishment goes into a partial lockdown, utter insanity when we're dealing with russian aggression, north korean nuclear weapons, iranian transigence on the nuclear development program, a massive russian hack on the entire u.s.

government. is trump actually capable of leaving the country with its defenses impaired? i think he is completely. now the question moves to the republicans in congress and what they'll do about it. you know, it just -- there's no way to understand the man's thinking. this basically was tweeted out to his republican supporters in congress as he left to play golf. monday and tuesday, i hope, they reverse course and stand behind sensible defense policy for america. >> yeah, general, while the president tweeted that news, there are men and women in our armed forces who are away from their families on this christmas holiday. what impact does all of this political football have on them, the military families who sacrifice so much? >> well, you know, i think largely speaking the deployed fighter squadrons, u.s. navy ships, army battalions, special operations forces don't tend to

pay a lot of attention to any of this stuff. for 59 years they've learned the country, all americans, want a sound military defense. and these defense bills have been argued out in enormous detail over the last year. so they are assuming the thing will go through. i think the big impact on it is that our government is starting to look like a third world bunch of nincumpoops. there's no way to run a congress the way the president runs national security. the 2.1 million men and women active guard and reserve, $740 billion budget and they just have thrown all the cards up in the air. so it's incompetence. the congress is failing in their

duties and this president is a lawless rogue. >> general, does it add insult to injury because of what president trump is dangling in holding this bill hostage and that is his own personal grievances with renaming bases currently names after confederate soldiers and tweaking section 230? >> certainly the confederate soldiers part is really astonishing. i think there's overwhelming support inside the armed forces and among the american people to ban the symbols of the confederacy from any military bases. army, navy, air force, marine. everybody is behind that. there has been some controversy, particularly, i think, among white southerners about renaming these bases. it's inevitable. 800,000 americans died so we could end this moral depravity

of slavery. does trump want to stand behind that sort of thing? so he -- you would think he put himself in an untenable political position, but he has such support among some americans for some reason, his calculus is this is a good political move to make. i think senator mitch mcconnell and mccarthy in the house must be appalled that this carefully fought out, compromised, gigantic bill just got thrown over the cliff. they've got a problem. they have to pass that bill, and they have to do it this week. >> general, thank you so much for your frankness. have a happy holiday. thank you. >> same to you, lindsey. the pain of this pandemic is being felt in ghcommunities all across the country. i'll talk with the mayor of one major city in the south with how he's handling the current situation.

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welcome back. amid growing concerns over a new more infectious strain of covid, just last hour, our own kerry sanders broke the news here at united airlines announced they'll be requiring a number of passengers traveling to the u.s. from the uk to show proof of a

recent negative covid test. it comes as the crisis inside the u.s. hospital system is growing worse by the day. right now hospitalizations are at a new record high nearing 120,000. the health care system is on the brink in multiple states as the cdc says up to 92,000 additional americans could die by mid-january. nbc's erin mclaughlin is in los angeles with the latest. >> reporter: the number of hospitalizations across the united states have more than doubled since november. states are seeing an exponential raise in cases. here in california, the first state to surpass 2 million total cases. as people are moving for the holidays, there's a real concern this situation is only going to get worse. the day before christmas, health care workers fear this may be the eve of yet another dire surge. >> the trend lines just continue to go up. there's no sign of a plateau. >> reporter: with cases spiking

across california. icus at nearly 99% capacity. patients spending christmas eve in hallways, conference rooms, even parking lots. >> everyone is a different shape, size, age, background. we can't predict who is going to come in next. >> reporter: the holiday threatens to push the system even further over the edge. >> this is one christmas where that large gathering should not happen. if it does happen, people that you love may not be there for the next gathering. >> reporter: 11 states have seen an over 60% rise in deaths. as new york's governor cuomo says hospitals should start testing for the new possibly more contagious strain. already detected in the uk. >> if it is here, i want to know exactly where it is. and then isolate it immediately. >> reporter: tennessee, nurses say they're seeing patients die on every shift. and in utah, they are watching each other fight for survival. >> i actually had the wonderful privilege of taking care of her

and being her nurse for quite a few nights, and it was hard. >> reporter: after caring for covid patients for months, nurse jill holker is now on life support, battling the virus herself while waiting for a double lung transplant. >> she's fighting for her life and we can't really do much about it. we just have to hope and pray and just think the best every day. >> reporter: amidst the uncertainty and despair. santa claus brings christmas cheer. passing out gifts in the neonatal icu, including tiny clay molds of the baby's feet. powerful gesture of hope and care. >> my one wish for this season, we're only going to get through this okay if we abandon selfishness. >> reporter: the cdc announced it has vaccinated 1 million people receiving those critical first doses so far. but that's far short of their earlier projections of 20 million doses. 9 million doses shipped.

authorities say they plan to pick up pace in the coming weeks and months. lindsey? >> erin, thanks. let's bring in medical contributor dr. nahid bhadelia, infectious diseases physician and medical director of boston medical center special pathogens unit. dr. bhadelia, what's the impact here with so many hospitals on the brink on patient care. will people who need a bed have one and what about people who go to the hospital for non-covid reasons? >> this is a great perspective because we are -- 120,000 hospitalizations. even here in my own state of massachusetts, the state's now rolling back reopening so that 25% capacity because we don't want to get to that position. it depends on what state you're in. there are states that are -- who have severely restrained -- constrained icus. it doesn't matter if you come in for something else, if those beds are taken, then there's fewer beds available.

for everybody else who requires care. the other thing massachusetts has done because of this growing number that other states have done is they've asked hospitals to reschedule, delay or cancel nonessential elective surgeries. most surgeries are elective. that's still medical care. that's the secondary impact, as you see those hospital beds fill up, other issues for other care, you know, other patients coming for other services may not potentially be able to get that care or may see their care delayed. that really is the worry with overwhelmed hospitals. >> the death toll is the worry, too. the cdc expecting it to rise from around 327,000 right now to up to 419,000 in the next three weeks. what more can and should be done right now as we brace for this? >> well, i think at the individual level, lindsey, you heard the other doctor mention his only wish. my only wish for this holiday season is for us to realize that our actions are having an impact. i had a friend call me this

morning because one of her family members is in the icu. this is touching all of us. one of my cousins passed away earlier this year from covid as more of us see this disease roll out. all of us are being touched by it. don't travel if you don't have to. wear those masks. don't gather in groups. keep that distance because what we've seen is around 400,000 more americans will die this year compared to last year. this 15% increase in the rate of mortality. that's a lot of family members. a lot of loved ones. this year is when you're going to step back those celebrations so that to we can potentially celebrate with more people next year who make it through the season. >> i'm so sorry to hear about your cousin. and it's so true that you may think that your actions only impact you, but it impacts so many other people. let's turn now to those concerns across the pond. that new strain in the uk. united airlines now says, hey, if you're flying from the uk

into the u.s., you have to test negative. what's your assessment of the risks and the response here in the u.s. so far? >> i think the most important thing, you know, is that we need to limit travel and make sure that we clear that travel with that testing in quarantine. in general, individuals need to make that choice. if they don't have to travel right now, they shouldn't. but getting those negative tests is one step. the other would be to quarantine people as they come to this side of the pond before they start mingling. it's not just the uk, right? we're seeing south africa has identified another strain that they think might increase transmissibility. so someone could, for example, move from uk to paris and take a flight from paris to boston, right? the important thing is not just ensuring that we get that testing and quarantine underplace but increasing our ability to detect those strains. as you heard governor cuomo say, we need to start looking and

sequencing those strains so that we pick up those strains if they cross the borders or if they're already within our borders. >> dr. bhadelia, i know you have already gotten your vaccine. what are your thoughts right now on how "operation warp speed" has been rolling out so far? some are saying the vaccinations are moving slower than they had hoped. >> yeah, you just heard that. there's a big difference between 1 million and 20 million that was projected as a pop tetentia goal. those are frontline health care workers, other folks who require that, folks in long-term care facilities who should have been getting vaccinated. you're taking such a big endeavor in rolling it out. the thing that bothers me, that covid relief act has -- bill has about $6 billion for vaccine distribution. and that could be so helpful for states to start rushing and ramping up this effort. and we really need that to get going. >> the bill that is now stalled.

dr. nahid bhadelia, thank you. the mayor of jackson, mississippi, on the growing covid crisis in his community. first, the east coast bracing for a winter wallop. the storm system churning through the mid-atlantic and up to new england bringing heavy rain, wind and some snow for some. it's already going to be a white christmas. and then some in minnesota, part of the states getting pounded by a blizzard. the twin cities could see close to a foot of snow. that's the kind of weather that could turn anyone into a snow bird, even santa. check this out. st. nick hitting the beach in florida. social distancing, my friends, only one can hang ten. we'll be right back. the need has always been there.

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holiday as many states are now seeing a surge in covid cases. mississippi has just crossed the 200,000 case threshold. more than 4,500 people in mississippi have died due to coronavirus and more than 2,600 new cases have been identified in the last 24 hours alone. jackson, the state's largest city, will continue to keep city hall and other city buildings closed. it's an attempt to bring the spread under control. i want to bring in the mayor of jackson. mayor, thank you for joining us today. and i want to ask you, are the restrictions you've put in place enough? how can jackson avoid the post-holiday surge? >> first and foremost, happy christmas eve to you and to everyone else. and what we're trying to do on the ground is implement the very basic measures that we can, considering all the surrounding circumstances and what is

necessary to keep our people safe. we have made the decision to close city facilities, not only in the interest of those that frequent those facilities, but also in the interest of our city employees. i do believe that having more stringent protocol across the city would be beneficial but that is also weighed by the ineffectiveness of congress to pass legislation that provides financial relief for private businesses. businesses that we all know should be closed at this time in the interest of people's safety and the interest of public safety. >> let's talk about that stimulus relief bill that's stalled right now. were you disappointed to see state and local aid didn't make it in? >> you know, at this point, people are feeling the weight of the lack of leadership. people are frustrated. i believe that, first and foremost, it fails to truly recognize the severity in which

people are suffering financially. and we need a relief package which truly holds that into account but also it's past due. it's something our residents that i'm seeing firsthand are in need of several months to weeks ago. >> vaccine distribution. there was supposed to be some money in the covid relief bill for that as well. who is going first and how has the process been going so far? >> we have seen the repercussions of the thanksgiving holiday. prior to thanksgiving, we were having about 300 confirmed cases a week and now we're approximately at about 500 -- more than 530 cases per week. we've seen the ineffectiveness of state and federal leadership. the governor has made a decision to do a county by county mask mandate to the extent that it is now at 90% of the counties

within the state of mississippi, and i think it appears to be some ideological position, not to have a statewide mask mandate. we have to recognize that we have interconnected communities and to fail to adhere to or to address that and understand that people travel from city to city and county to county and the understanding that we need a statewide mandate that will keep people safe is beyond me and i don't understand the rationale behind it. >> you guys went from 300 cases a week to 530 cases a week since thanksgiving. pretty remarkable. mayor lumumba, there's a lot of skepticism among minority communities to take the vaccine, justifiably so because of the history of malpractice. are you and your colleagues having discussions at the local level about any kind of campaigns or what you guys can do to talk to your constituents and encourage them to get vaccinated? >> the city will certainly step up in any capacity that we can

in order to make certain that we, you know, stress the efficacy of the vaccine. that we work with credible messengers throughout the community in order to spread and disseminate that message. but we are also looking for more information on the state level to, you know, to articulate what the actual distribution strategy will be. i think that it's important that we spread that information and communicate that early on so that we can be effective in getting the message, the word out and the vaccine to people who need it most. >> quickly, mayor, what are your plans for tonight and tomorrow? >> i will be here, small gathering of just my immediate family. you know, enjoying the holiday, taking in our traditions. we certainly regret that we can't be with the larger portion of our family. but i think that it is important that we love each other from a

distance at this time. >> well said, mayor. jackson mississippi mayor lumumba, thank you for your time, sir. merry christmas. we've got a new way to look at america's growing poverty crisis. first, a star-studded rendition of a holiday classic. 'twas the night before christmas when all through the hour, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. >> the stockings were hung by the chimly with chair in hopes that st. nicholas soon would be there p. prin there. >> they had quite a bit of help. famous brits including dame judy dench, daniel craig all joined in. the recording was made to benefit struggling actors in britain's film industry. we'll be right back. we look at how much you've saved, how much you'll need, and build a straightforward plan to generate income, even when you're not working. a plan that gives you the chance to grow your savings

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wrenching pictures and videos of the lines of people waiting at food banks across the country. the situation for millions of americans is dire amid this raging pandemic. and president trump is suggesting he may not sign the covid relief bill congress passed this week. 12pandemic. president trump is saying he may not sign the covid relief bill approved this week. according to a realtime estimate of poverty in the u.s. from researchers at the university of chicago and the university of notre dame nearly eight million more people fell into poverty since the summer. business leaders and economists are urging for more aid. joining me now is two experts on the realtime poverty estimate. thank you both for joining us on such an important subject. professor sullivan, what made you decide to do this realtime estimate of poverty in the u.s.? >> yeah, bruce and i have been working on measuring the

wellbeing of the poor here in the united states for well over a decade. one of the novel things that has arrived with the pandemic is the need for realtime information. they were not armed with the information, usually we get official poverty estimates with a lag of over a year. we won't have estimates on poverty in the united states for 2020 until september of 2021. so what we did was construct estimates using consensus data that could be updated on a monthly basis to provide accurate information on what is happening throughout the pandemic. >> it highlights the importance of your work. professor meyer, in your

estimates you have -- have you noticed anything in particular, anything very surprising that stood out to you when you were studying this? >> less things that were surprising than things that we expected. there was much bigger increases in poverty since june for black americans, for americans with a high school education. or less those are the things that stood out to us. >> what can be learned and what can be acted upon? we have congress right now that reached this stimulus bill. the president says he will veto it because the foreign aide is too high and direct payments are too low. right now what can and should be done based on the data that you compiled? >> yeah, so, one of the

interesting take aways from our estimates is how it speaks to the urgency that many families are facing. we have seen poverty rise every month since june. usually they're fating the loss of government benefits. there is a relationship between how the government responds and what we're finding. when the government passed the cares act we saw abovers falling as a result. as the benefits expired poverty started to rise. this really speaks to the urgency first and foremost to pass another relief package. with there are not good options in the labor market. >> did everyone at home hear that? i mean the need went down

because of the cares act and more people fell into poverty when that money dried up. professor sullivan, i know you're looking at the data, you're looking at numbers, but who are these people? you're looking at census data and you're saying many of the people who fall into poverty are people who use government aide, what do we know about the demographics? >> one of the clear drivers are the people that lost their job due to the pandemic. they are unemployed, they have given up looking for work because of the lack of strong prospects. the groups hit the hardest tend to be groups that are struggling to make senends meet before the pandemic. they see sharper rises in poverty since june than those with more education.

that is due to which tries are affected by the pandemic. some had to curtail operations for the pandemic. professor meyer, eight million people entering poverty since the summer. your modelling appears to be farely new. have we seen this in the tracking of data and the study, have we seen anything like this before? >>. >> no, the increases in the last five months poverty went up 2.54 percentage points in our

estimates as the year to year increase that is on record back in 1979 to 1980. this increase in the last five months is really something that we just have not seen before. >> very remarkable research and thank you so much for your time. thank you for being with us this hour. happy holidays, our coverage continues right after the break. e continues right after the break.

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good afternoon, everyone. it is 11:00 a.m. out west, 2:00 p.m. in the east with this country in the grips of the worst public health crisis in more than a century. it's government is unable to offer any relief to it's citizens. right now covid-19 is killing more than 2500 americans every day according to the seven-day moving average. nearly 120,000 americans are currently hospitalized with the virus and more than 200,000 new cases are being reported every single day. congress approved spending for untilly a trillion dollars to help americans that lost their jobs and could lose their homes as a result of the pandemic, that help is on hold for now. this morning