♪ because this christmas it's you and me ♪ ♪ because this christmas it's you and me ♪ >> and thank you for joining us this morning. stay with msnbc for all of your breaking news and political developments right here on msnbc. hi there, i'm yasmin vossoughian in for steph ruhle this morning. it is thursday, december 31st. here we are. one day left. this morning, as we get ready to turn the page on 2020 and thank god for that, these are the headlines americans are waking up to across this country, proving that the fight against the virus is far from over this morning. officials in california now confirming that the more contagious strain of the virus originally identified in the uk has, in fact, arrived in san diego county now. california now the second state to report this new covid variant. and then despite a goal to

vaccinate 20 million americans by the end of this year, "operation warp speed" officials now admitting they are far short of that goal and are working hard to make it better. at this point, just 2.8 million americans have received their first shot. way off the mark. the president is blaming the delay on the states, of course. states, who are cash strapped are looking to congress for crucial support and federal plans that they don't have. but congress is still fighting over stimulus checks. mitch mcconnell shutting down the possibility of larger direct payments saying $2,000 checks, quote, have no realistic path to quickly pass the senate. that is where we're going to begin. we've got a lot to cover. nbc's monica alba is in west palm beach, florida, with the president. thanks for joining us. will he or won't he? mitch mcconnell saying there's no path forward to getting this $2,000 check passed. a lot of people will be pointing the finger at him saying there's

no path forward because of what you've put in place. the restrictions you've put in place to get this passed. what's going on here? >> the bottom line is it's not looking good for americans who were counting on those $2,000 checks. mitch mcconnell aggressively, forcefully made his case against the house-passed bill. said the senate will not be bullied and take that up. pointed out there's no realistic path to getting that through the senate. the reality is he is divided between president trump pressuring senate republicans to take that up and many of his own members in his caucus simply do not support the idea of higher direct payments. now congress is also up against a deadline on sunday. the session expires, and all existing past bills are moot unless they are law. that means the house would have to start all over and with mcconnell saying the house bill is not going anywhere in the senate, that leaves it as a grim

prospect that any kind of $2,000 checks will pass. even though mcconnell has his own bill that pairs that with two unrelated provisions president trump wants. repeal of an internet liability law known as section 230 and creation of a voter fraud commission. democrats view those as poison pills designed to make sure the bill fails in the senate so that's where we are. >> bullied by who? the american people that desperately need this money? bullied by the president who he has stood by steadfastly? bullied by the democrats who want to help the american people? bullied by who is the question. monica, the president being part of that. let's talk through the president's schedule today because of what i'm understanding he's actually going to leave florida early this morning. >> that was an unusual development. we understood the president and first lady were going to stay in south florida at least through the new year's eve holiday before returning to washington, d.c. over the weekend or before

the president heads to georgia on monday. they're going to be departing in a couple of hours, later this morning. this was a late announcement by the white house overnight. and they didn't provide any formal explanation for why the president would be leaving his mar-a-lago club where he typically would host a large event with many hundreds of people, at least in years past. that has been the case. and we understand this year there was a similar event being planned. it may have looked a little bit different based on some coronavirus precautions, but we now know the president will not be there for that event. instead, he's going to be returning to the white house. but when you look back on the week or so that he's spent here, he really hasn't done any on-camera events or public remarks. the only thing really he's done that we've seen him do on camera is golf for most of the days that he's been here. still, the white house maintains he's been very busy with meetings and calls but they haven't provided many details as to what he's been doing.

the only real insight we have is the political pressure he continues to apply on his social media feed when it comes to republicans and legislation he wants to see passed. but all of us are asking questions and pressing white house officials about this change in schedule that certainly caught many by surprise since in years past the president and first lady have stayed through the new year's eve holiday, yasmin. >> let's hope at least he upped his golf game over the last week, spending so much time on the course the last seven days or so. beth, let's talk about this vaccine distribution. it's troubling to a lot of americans if you think about it. "operation warp speed" essentially admitting, okay, this may have been a slower rollout than anticipated. they made this huge goal of 20 million they were going to hit. they have not hit it. 2.8 million or so have been vaccinated at this point. that's well below the goal. the president then is pointing the finger at the states saying, no, no, we've gotten the vaccines out there. not sure where he's getting this

information from but the states aren't doing their job, right? we know there was $9 billion appropriated in this current relief fund for vaccine distribution for the states. do we know how that's going to be used and where the disconnect is here? >> yeah, what's really remarkable about this is we are losing over 3,000 people a day now to the coronavirus. that is more than we lost in 9/11. more than we lost in the attack on pearl harbor which launched world war ii. both of those events were considered acts of war. now we're going through the same number of casualties and deaths per day because of this virus. and it's not being treated as an act of war by this president, by this administration. they are viewing it as a state issue. states need to manage the deaths. states need to manage the patients, the crush of patients that are coming their way, and now they're supposed to manage this extremely complicated deployment of vaccine. the cdc laid out general guidelines but there's no new

national plan for how the states are going to do this. as you pointed out, yes, the congress did appropriate some extra money for vaccine distribution of the states but states are already so cash strapped because of the economic fallout from this pandemic that to then lay this very complicated task upon them on top of everything else they're supposed to be doing and the lack of funding there, it just really does not make any sense. this pandemic is -- it's a war on the american people. the president trump said that last march when we first saw the coronavirus hitting this country and yet he's never acted as though this is how his administration should treat this problem. so that's why the states are struggling. the federal government needs to do a lot more. joe biden has said that he is promising 100 million inoculations by the first 100 days of his presidency. we'll see if he can pull that off. >> monica, not sure if you know the answer to this question, but i've got to ask did. i've been scratching my head over this. "operation warp speed."

do we have any idea if it's staying on through the biden administration, how that transition is going to go? and what is the plan to kind of pick up the pace here and meet some of the goals they're not meeting at this point? >> so individuals that are a part of "operation warp speed" like dr. moncef slaoui, general gustave perna have indicated they're willing to continue working with the biden administration, but it will be up to them. ultimately whether they want to use that infrastructure or build upon it, "operation warp speed" is a partnership between the department of defense and health and human services. so it will be interesting to see whether the incoming team wants to set it up a little bit differently. but in terms of the vaccine development that's already happening under the trump administration, through the "operation warp speed" umbrella, we do understand that is going to continue because they want to get these candidates shepherded through the process which, again, will then go through the fda for that emergency use authorization and then approval. so that kind of development will

still occur no matter who the president is and when we do formally switch over because, again, the biden team is just as interested as the trump one in having the most possible vaccines so that we have the most vaccinations and shots in arm. but to your second question about what they can do to speed up this process, this morning, dr. anthony fauci on the "today" show expressed his disappointment saying it's unfortunate we are where we are. they're going to try to consider second doses that were appropriated for later now to maybe be used for first doses and maybe that will help, again, get those numbers up because they fell quite short of their goal, yasmin. >> sahil, monica, beth, thank you. happy new year's to you if i don't see you between now and tomorrow. thanks again. joining me now to discuss is democratic senator from hawaii, mazie hirono. thank you for joining us on this new year's eve. we've got a lot to cover this morning. one of the major concerns for

americans going into 2021, as we look back on this last year, is that vaccine rollout. and vaccine distribution. a lot of folks anticipating the end is in sight. they're hoping to get that vaccine in their arms, many americans to go back to what we thought was normal at one point. one of the problems at this point is the vaccine distribution, the goals that "operation warp speed" said they were going to hit as i was just speaking to beth about. that 20 million magic number. we're nowhere near that. just out of your own state, the hawaii department of health counting on approximately 80,000 doses to arrive before the end of this year. according to the cdc, 56,000-plus doses have been distributed to the state and 14,000 people have been vaccinated. so your state not even hitting its mark here. what's going on here? because this is one of the most important moments in our nation's history to try and get things back to normal and get the economy up and going and save lives. >> it's the reality that the

states are facing once they get the vaccines sent to them that they have to get those doses into people's arms. so there's a gap there and the states have said, we're going to need help to get all these vaccines into people's arms. in the state of hawaii, i was told the state would need something like $25 million to $70 million to get these vaccines and that is not happening. and once again, the president is saying it's up to the states. it's like deja vu. the testing, oh, yes, all the states are in charge of testing with very little resources to do it. this is why i can't wait for the biden administration to take responsibility and partner with states to get these vaccines into people's arms. that's what needs to happen. this has to be a national vaccination program not all you states that are already struggling, you do it. >> so we're going to be getting a report from nbc's kerry

sanders in just a bit from florida talking about this build-up. a lot of need for the vaccine. a lot of folks calling in saying i want this vaccine. states don't necessarily have the resources to deliver this vaccine and then on top of that, "operation warp speed" hasn't gotten the vaccine to the people. when you're thinking about your state and across the country, is that your understanding, that there is just not enough resources on the ground to even administer these vaccines, even if they had them sitting on the shelves? >> that is a huge challenge because, as i mentioned earlier, the state of hawaii would not need a lot more resources to get all the people in place to do the vaccines and to put the vaccines into people's arms. so that's a huge challenge. i think every state is doing everything they can. at the same time, they sure could use more federal help in order to get this going in a way that it should. and so that kind of federal help and that kind of national program is not emanating from this administration. >> i just wanted to get clear on

that. so let's talk about the $9 billion as part of the relief package dedicated to vaccine distribution. how are you expecting that money to be used? >> to help the states do what i just described. they need to do. which is to have all the resources in place to get these doses into people's arms. states have all said they need this help and they haven't gotten it. so that $9 billion will help. i don't know how much of it will come to the state of hawaii, to each state, but it's going to help. but, you know, the relief bill is a down payment. we know that people out there are suffering. they see the long lines for food if people are unemployed. all of that. so this emergency bill with the $9 billion is a down payment for what we need to be doing. so there's a lot to do for this new administration, and it will be great but not unexpected. it will be great if this outgoing administration provided more continuity of support and

help, but that's not happening, and this is why i'm glad that joe biden is saying that he is going to take responsibility. something that -- they've never acknowledged. and all he cares about is challenging the results of the election, and this is the reason that mitch mcconnell, that we could, today, vote on the $2,000 for people, the stand-alone bill just as the house already passed that. mitch doesn't want that to happen, and that is why he's putting some poison pills into his version of a bill so that it won't pass. people should understand that the person standing in between the $2,000 checks and not is mitch mcconnell who could put this bill on the floor for a vote. he won't do it. >> senator mazie hirono, thank you for joining us on this new year's eve. a very happy and healthy new year to you and to your family. >> thank you and to everyone who

is out there. aloha. >> thank you. coming up, everybody -- much more on that new fast-spreading strain of the coronavirus where it's already being seen in the united states. and what dr. fauci says to expect next. plus, just moments ago, the final unemployment numbers of 2020. this week, another 787,000 americans are looking for work as congress fights over those $2,000 payments that americans desperately need. we're going to take a look behind the numbers and the fight in washington over relief ahead. ? this aveeno® moisturizer goes beyond just soothing sensitive skin? exactly jen! calm + restore oat gel was designed for sensitive skin. uh! it's incredible! we formulated it with a super nurturing ingredient. prebiotic oat. it soothes skin and strengthens its moisture barrier, too. uh! i love it! i love it! aveeno® healthy. it's our nature.™ oh. wait! wait! sabrina! there's a serum, too? of course, there is. of course, there is. i knew that.

welcome back, everybody. more now on the developing story that we told you about at the top of the hour. two states now confirming cases of the highly contagious variant of covid-19 first identified in the uk. and dr. anthony fauci saying we're likely to see more reports of cases in other states as well. california officials announcing the strain was found in a patient in san diego after colorado officials revealed the first confirmed case in the united states is a member of the

state national guard. meantime, another 3,396 americans died from the coronavirus wednesday. those numbers are never lost on me. 233,000 new infections were reported as well. the u.s. also reaching another record for covid hospitalizations on wednesday. 125,220. joining us now, nbc news medical correspondent dr. jon torres and infectious disease expert dr. william haseltine. happy new year's eve. thank you for joining me today. dr. torres, i'm going to start with you on this one. those some are grim numbers i talked about. over 3,000 folks dying from the coronavirus and all predictions are pointing to the fact this is going to get worse. now we have confirmation of this new variant that came yesterday in colorado. now in california as well. what are we to make of this and how worried should americans be seeing that at this point, the

reports are it's 70% more contagious than the current coronavirus we're dealing with. >> and yasmin, you're right. those numbers are going even higher because of what's happened over the christmas and new year's holidays where people are getting together. what we're seeing are the after effects of the thanksgiving break where those numbers would come up and we're coinciding with these holidays. we think those numbers are going to get higher and people have called january the darkest period of this pandemic looking forward. now we have this variant here. just so people understand, a variant means the strain has mutated, changed. this coronavirus strain which happens with viruses in general. this one has changed and looks like it's making it more infectious. people are going to be able to catch it easier and spread it more easily than the old strains of coronavirus. but luckily if there is any luck in this it doesn't seem to be any more deadly, doesn't seem to cause any more complications. however, the fact that it can spread more means we'll have higher numbers of cases, higher

numbers of deaths because of the sheer numbers of cases out there. however, as far as people being worried about it, i think they just need to be worried overall about coronavirus in general because this variant strain like the other strains can be -- you can be protected against it by using those measures we always talk about. wearing a mask, social distancing, washing your hands. it's the same old story, yasmin. >> dr. haseltine, i want to talk about this new piece you have out titled "there will be no quick covid fix." you had a lot of amazing stuff in there. i was shaking my head through most of it thinking, i can't believe this is what we're dealing with. despite its virlens, many simply assume that the pandemic will end some time in the year 2021. but such hopes are misplaced. talk to us about this. >> well, we just heard how bad the infection is. this is not just in the united states. it's all over the world. and we're going to have a better 2021 than we did 2020.

we're going to have vaccines, better drugs, we'll have fast tests, we'll have a better president. all that is good news. it doesn't mean it's going away. one thing that we've now learned, and we should have known, is that these viruses adapt. if there's no resistance, virus doesn't have to change and that's what's basically happened for the first part of the pandemic. now the virus is running into people who have already been infected. it's running into people being treated with convalescent serum and it's adapting. and adapting pretty fast. some ways it's adapting, particularly south african strain, are really dramatic. big chunks have changed all of a sudden. so we know this story before. we know it from the flu. i think we're going to have to start thinking of covid, like we think of the flu. doesn't mean it's hopeless. doesn't mean it's end of our world as we know it. it just means we have to keep up a steady fight. the other thing i'd like people to think about is, science will save us, but it is sad it had to come to that. it's good that we have our

science, but our government hasn't done what other governments have done. even today our government isn't doing what it needs to do. we ourselves aren't doing what we need to do. science will come to our rescue and put this thing in a manageable place. it may not eliminate it, but it will put it in a manageable place, but we can help and we should help. >> it's interesting you say we're going to have to start to think of this as the flu. that's difficult considering some of the numbers we've seen, the death rates of this in comparison to the flu. i understand your meaning here, but if not 2021, when we can see this thing, i guess, nipped in the bud, right, to get rid of coronavirus once and for all, when can we expect an end to this pandemic or do you think this will never end and we'll have to live with this? >> i think we're very likely going to have to live with this like we live with the flu. the flu we know how to handle. when the flu first arrived it

was worse than this. we now handle it. we can do this. and science is way more advanced than it was. but, remember, this is all over the world. we may control it here. parts of the world have already controlled it. that doesn't mean that it's going to go away all together. these viruses, i think, are going to stay. there's other coronaviruses that come back every year and give us our colds. one-third of all our colds are these things coming back year after year after year. that's what we have to look for. not these conditions. i don't want anybody to think that we're going to be anywhere as bad off as we are. but this is going to be another life-long fight. >> you write in your piece and i recommend everybody, i tweeted it out. i recommend everybody go to my twitter and read this piece. we are at war with the virus. few doubt the importance of personal liberty but this is a time we need to forgo certain conveniences for the sake of those around us.

dr. jon torres, dr. john haseltine, thank you to your both and happy new year's. dr. anthony fauci will join andrea mitchell to talk about the latest on the vaccine rollout later today. that is at noon eastern right here on msnbc. you do not want to miss that conversation ahead of the new year. coming up, everybody, as congress fights over getting americans more relief, we've just gotten the final unemployment numbers of 2020. that conversation is next. laund, but they all do it a little different. honestly, i add a couple of tide pods and just stuff everything in. it works. and of course, everyone thinks their way is right. i stood in line for hours to get this. it has to be washed on delicate. it has to be cold water, it's better for the planet. the secret is, with tide pods it all works. of course it does. told ya! they're going to do it their way, and i get a break from the laundry. no matter how you wash, it's got to be tide. you can do better, steve!

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welcome back, everybody. we just got our final job market snapshot of the year. the labor department saying 787,000 people filed for unemployment benefits for the first time last week. more than 5 million continuing claims were filed as well. 5.2 million to be exact. we're also just minutes away from wall street's final trading day of 2020. watching that as we're having this conversation. i'm joined by ben white, chief economic correspondent for politico and a cnbc contributor. ben, thanks for joining us on this new year's eve. really appreciate it. we've got a couple of numbers coming in. i want you to comment on that, talking about the jobless claims and 5.2 million or so continuing claims as well. what do you make of it? >> it's nice that this number is slightly lower. it's been slightly lower a couple of weeks in a row but let's be real about this. it's still near 800,000 people, which is way above the record from before coronavirus hit. this is still a massive number

of people filing unemployment claims every week. it's not dropping that much. the four-week moving average is actually higher. we still have a lot of economic pain. a lot of people losing jobs, and still a very high unemployment rate. great that it went down a little bit. has not gone down anywhere near enough and the economy has clearly soechbted since we last did stimulus. >> so the idea is that stimulus with this passage of this new $900 billion. that's going to help the economy. the stimulus checks headed out or some already have it in their banking accounts. some saying january 4th they'll get clearance on those checks. you have mitch mcconnell essentially saying there's really no path forward for additional money at $2,000 stimulus check. and he's citing folks like pat toomey who was on cnbc yesterday. let's listen to what he had to say. >> the idea that we're going to send out $2,000 checks per

person to households that have had no loss of income, that have -- maybe have six-figure income, that makes no sense whatsoever to me. >> so it's interesting, right? so he's talking about the fact that he feels as if this stimulus money needs to be more targeted. but two things. i want to know your assessment on what it would do if more families were getting more money. they could get these $2,000 payments. that could equal $5200 for instance for a family of four versus what they're getting now. they've also made the assertion that had they passed this and these folks are able to get this money, they wouldn't even be putting it back into the economy. what do you make of that when you look at behavioral economics and the way people spend their money? >> it's a great question. and the fact of the matter is any time you do straight cash fiscal stimulus, you wind up with some people who paid down debt or don't spend it. for the most part, people do spend it. it's the most effective stimulus

tool we have. but sending people cash works. we saw the last time around we did this with large stimulus checks, consumer spending went up. everything improved. the economy was getting better. that money ran out and it got worse. $2,000 checks would go to some people who wouldn't spend them and may not need them. there are millions of people who need this money very badly who are in food lines, who are suffering. so, you know, he's not correct when he says it wouldn't be effective fiscal stimulus. it would be. the allerglarger checks you sen more people are going to spend and the people who are hurting are going to hurt less. yes, it's imperfect and not as targeted as we would like it to be. that's always the case with sending people cash directly and yet still it's the best fiscal stimulus we know how to do. >> millions of americans right now food insecure across this country. yes or no, you think the $2,000 stimulus payment should happen? >> i think it probably would be great for the economy. it's not going to happen. there's no path forward in the senate, but if you're looking to

get this economy from where it is now, when the vaccines are here and we're improving overall, it's a pretty good way to do it. send people a solid amount of money. >> ben white, thank you. happy new year's to you. ahead -- we're going to look back at one of the, shall we say, weirdest years in memory. 2020 lows, and there are a lot of them. highs, there were some. and everything in between. that's next. my nunormal: fewer asthma attacks. less oral steroids. taking my treatment at home. nucala is a once-monthly add-on injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occurred. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor.

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ask your doctor you're having one more bite! no! one more bite! ♪ kraft. for the win win. welcome back. it has been a challenging year for so many. it's one we won't soon forget, marked by a global pandemic, an historic election and a racial reckoning. but at the same time, there's so much hope for the new year. so before we welcome 2021, nbc's joe fryer takes us on the journey that was 2020. ♪ >> 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!

>> reporter: as the final seconds of 2019 ticked away, jubilant revelers in times square were eager to embrace a new year. blissfully unaware what the next 12 months would bring. >> let's bring everyone up to speed on the story breaking in china where they've closed off a major city at the center of that mysterious and growing viral outbreak. >> reporter: it started in january with news of a mysterious virus overseas. first ravaging china, then stretching across the globe. >> at the start of the day today, the coronavirus had been found in roughly three dozen countries around the world. >> reporter: before long, covid-19 had penetrated america's borders, first a little. then a lot. >> now more than 500 cases of coronavirus in the united states. >> the ncaa officially canceled the march madness tournament.

>> reporter: as the virus spread, our vernacular swept. >> social distancing. >> social distancing. >> reporter: even the word zoom took on new meaning. >> mines is a quarantini because it's water. >> learn from home. work from home. >> i'm working from home. craig and al are working from home. >> news anchors and hosts transformed their personal dwellings into tv studios. >> can i do that again? >> yeah, you can. let me tell a joke first. >> reporter: we longed for our friends and scoured for everyday staples like toilet paper and clorox wipes. but more than that, we mourned for those we lost as cases in new york skyrocketed so rapidly, freezer trucks served as mobile morgues. in a city stifled by the constant screams of sirens, at 7:00 pm east night the soundtrack shifted in tribute to heros on the front lines.

comforting sounds also filled the air when coronavirus survivors were finally released from hospitals. in the spring, a new normal started to take shape. >> the first greeting is a sign at the front door saying everyone who enters is required to wear face covering. >> reporter: but for some, patience wore thin. protesters, some of them armed, called for an end to covid restrictions. >> freedom! now! >> reporter: that thing on our face was on everyone's mind. >> excuse me. this nation is built on a constitution that protects the people from the government instead of the government from the people. ♪ >> reporter: the virus could not stop the one thing we were expecting in 2020, an election. for democrats, after a messy caucus in iowa. >> we know by the time it's all

said and done, iowa, you have shocked the nation. >> reporter: a smoother primary in new hampshire. >> thank you, new hampshire. >> reporter: senator bernie sanders and former mayor pete buttigieg emerge as front-runners while former vice president joe biden languished. in south carolina, his fortunes changed. >> we have just won, and we've won big because of you. >> reporter: propelling the 77-year-old comeback kid to stunning wins on super tuesday. >> alabama in the deep south went to joe biden tonight. >> reporter: and eventually to the nomination. ♪ for his general election opponent, 2020 started with an impeachment trial. >> raise your right hand. >> reporter: though president trump was acquitted, one republican senator did vote to convict him of abuse of power. >> the president is guilty of an appalling abuse of public trust.

>> reporter: one day earlier in the neighboring house chamber, the president delivered what would be his final state of the union address. >> the state of our union is stronger than ever before. >> reporter: the tensions in the room punctuated by what speaker pelosi did with that speech. as the country struggled to contain a new pandemic, it was confronted by an all too familiar epidemic. >> i can't breathe. >> reporter: the death of george floyd pinned beneath the knee of a minneapolis police officer ignited a nationwide movement against racial injustice. >> i can't breathe! >> reporter: the protests followed. >> this is a police presinkcinc where the four officers worked. >> reporter: not just the death of floyd but breonna taylor, ahmaud arbery and so many more. the marches were largely

peaceful but tarnished by looting and violent conflicts in the street forcing some businesses already battered by the pandemic to board up and shut down. in washington, protesters near the white house were bombarded by tear gas clearing the way so president trump could cross the street for a now-infamous photo op. days later, a two-block stretch in front of the white house was emblazoned with three bold words and officially renamed black lives matter plaza. civil rights icon congressman john lewis visited the plaza the month before he died. his extraordinary life honored in july at moving ceremonies in selma, alabama, washington, d.c., and atlanta. amid this year's racial reckoning, joe biden made history picking a woman of color, senator kamala harris, as his running mate. >> i am incredibly honored by

this responsibility, and i'm ready to get to work. >> reporter: the campaign carried on with unconventional conventions. >> donald trump is the wrong president for our country. he simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. it is what it is. >> reporter: democrats opted for a largely virtual affair that concluded with a firework finale. >> the best is yet to come! >> reporter: republicans sparked controversy using the white house as a political backdrop. then -- on a friday night in september, 2020 delivered another unexpected blow. >> supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg has died. >> reporter: the death of a trailblazing supreme court justice. >> she was a role model. she was a friend. >> reporter: with the election just 6 1/2 weeks away, republicans pushed ahead with plans to replace the liberal icon with a conservative

justice, amy coney barrett. >> today it is my honor to nominate one of our nation's most brilliant and gifted legal minds. >> reporter: she was introduced in a white house ceremony that would soon become known as a covid superspreader event. on october 2nd, the virus reached the highest office in the land. >> standing here on the north lawn and looking up and watching the helicopter take the president of the united states to the hospital where he is sick with the coronavirus. it is sobering. >> reporter: he would return to the white house three days later, removing his mask on the balcony and delivering this message to americans. >> i learned so much about coronavirus. and one thing that's for certain, don't let it dominate you. >> reporter: it was a stunningly short blip in the campaign book ended by two debates. >> did you use the word smart? don't ever use the word smart with me.

>> reporter: the first one -- >> stand back and stand by. >> reporter: a raucous event. >> why won't you answer that question. >> because the question is -- >> the question is -- >> the question -- will you shut up, man? >> final one, much calmer. >> nobody has done more for the black community than donald trump. >> between those debates, thee vice presidential face-off. >> mr. vice president, i'm speaking. >> reporter: remembered for the surprising guest. that generated a lot of buzz. most voters made up their minds early, casting their ballots days, even weeks before election day. the prompt actions would not be rewarded with a quick decision. >> in wisconsin, in georgia, in north carolina, we have one close race after another. >> reporter: for days, captivated voters monitored every minor update in swing state totals. >> two days out from election day and still no clear winner. >> reporter: until the saturday after the election finally delivered a decision. >> okay. we have an announcement to make.

joe biden is president-elect. >> reporter: that night the president-elect in his history making vp-elect addressed a divided nation. >> i pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide but unify. >> reporter: still, president trump refused to concede. t. was a rigged election. >> reporter: despite no evidence of widespread fraud. all the while the coronavirus surged across america overrunning hospitals from coast to coast. >> we, as a country, are in a very, very difficult if not crisis situation. >> reporter: no doubt 2020 will be remembered as the year that showed little mercy. a year that started with a helicopter crash that killed basketball great kobe bryant, his daughter gianna and seven others. the year that robbed us of alex trebek, chadwick boseman, eddie van halen, nia rivera and so many more.

through it all, 2020 has also given us reasons to celebrate. like when a south korean film won best picture at the oscars. when a tiny adorable owl was discovered inside the rockefeller center tree. nursed back to health and released back into nature. we, too, hope 2021 brings a return to familiar territory propelled by a massive vaccination effort that's just getting started. 2020's vision is for a better year to come. >> what a year, everybody. what a year. thank you to joe fryer for that. so many of us are certainly reflecting on this year and figuring out what lessons we can take with us. steph ruhle shares her hopes for the new year. >> in 2021, i hope we stay

connected. i don't mean social media connected with views and likes. i mean connected like with our family. who we didn't get to see face to face or our neighbors who maybe we only waved to before this year and then they became a lifeline. i hope we keep this sense of ke community and put love first because that's what matters. >> i hope we do, too. what are you doing new year's eve? that's the big question. we'll look at the preps for a very different celebration than usual in times square. we'll be right back. with less of the sugar you don't. [grunting noise] i'll take that. woohoo! 30 grams of protein and 1 gram of sugar. ensure max protein. with nutrients to support immune health.

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welcome back. here is a live look at a pretty soggy times square this morning, final preps being made for a new year's eve unlike years past. security boosted to prevent crowds from gathering. nbc's gabe gutierrez is in new york city's times square this morning. gabe, good to see you today. what an assignment you got so far, with it raining outside. give us a preview of what we can expect tonight. >> reporter: good morning, happy new year. it's guess it's keeping with the 2020 theme. this is dark. it soggy. it is caredreary for the time df 2020 but a lot of excitement to ring in 2021 although as you said it will look different that year than it has in years past, really for generations. behind me you can see some of the streets have already on closed off. more will be closed off as the

day progresses. no massive crowds here, only a few invited guests, including health care workers and their families, and the message from new york city authorities is clear. >> we are not going to allow people to stand on the street corner and stare up. our cops are going to be out there moving them along consistently. don't come. do not come to the area. if you think you're going to be able to stand there and watch the ball, you're mistaken. >> reporter: certainly a very blunt message there in new york city. yazmin, across the country more muted celebrations, chicago and the amazing fireworks every day at navy pier won't happen this year. other cities have new restrictions in place trying to minimize people gathering, places like boston, police will be on the lookout for house parties as well. the message that authorities are trying to get out there is that they do not want people congregating.

here, yazmin of course as you know, hundreds of thousands of people gather here in times square every year. millions more watch on tv. the ball drop this year, that is still intact. workers have been prepping this for the last several days. a mostly tv event, just a few people invited here, front line workers, essential workers and their families being honored here. yazmin, i have to tell you, being here earlier this year at the height of the pandemic in new york city, it was a deserted times square and quite a sight to see this new year's eve this quiet but for many people mere 2021 can't come soon enough. >> it cannot. just 14 hours away or so from the new year here in new york city. and it couldn't be sunny and warm, gabe, on new year's eve after the year that we have all had. >> reporter: i know. >> nbc's gabe gutierrez, thank you, and happy new year, my friend. good to see you. we have continuing new year's

coverage ahead, everybody, including senator chris van hollen on the fight for more stimulus relief.

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good morning, everybody. i am yazmin in for hallie jackson. new warning from dr. anthony fauci this morning that 2021 will see further spread of that uk variant from the coronavirus which is now in califor