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you. god knows there's a lot to reflect on from this wretched year. no matter what we want to leave behind in 2020, right now this pandemic is not going anywhere. here are the facts at this hour. california's governor says the state has just identified its first case of that mutant more contagious covid variant that was first identified in the united kingdom. meanwhile, l.a.'s mayor is calling his city ground zero for our nation. according to county officials in los angeles someone is dying in l.a. county every ten minutes from covid. 125,000 americans are hospitalized right now with this virus. that's according to the covid tracking project. that is the most we've had at any point during this pandemic. ju in just a few months i'll share

part of my conversation with dr. anthony fauci this morning. i want to start on the ground with our reporters. steve patterson is in los angeles county where covid-19 is responsible for nearly half of all the daily deaths in the county, and gabe gutierrez is in times square, new york city where normally hundreds of thousands are assembling to ring in the new year. steve, let's start with you. california dealing with an unprecedented crisis in its hospitals at funeral homes. yesterday you told us about the concern of running out of supplemental oxygen. now this more contagious strain has found its way into the state. what's the situation on the ground, steve? >> reporter: craig, there's no other way to put it. the situation is growing more dire by the hour, more dire by the minute. first to the new strain, described by san diego county officials in a 30-year-old man who they say had no prior

medical history. the great fear is it's circulating throughout southern california which is the last thing that health officials wanted to report. we're now at the beginning stages of seeing rationing care. every ambulance, every hospital diverting ambulances in this area in some form or fashion. when ambulances make it to these hospitals, we're hearing about patients being treated inside ambulances, its own personal er room because there is no space. if a patient is lucky enough to make it into the hospital, sometimes they're treated in the loading dock, the waiting room, the hallways outside the er. the ers that should be for heart attack, gunshot and stroerk victims are in stead flooded by a sturge of covid patients that should be in the icu. with zero percent icu capacity, this is the situation that many frontline workers are facing, themselves facing ratios way out

of whack with nurses to patient, now one nurse for every two, three or four patients. supplemental oxygen is still a resource that is in dire need of hospitals that need to obtain more of it. then you have a situation in which care is being divided and broken down by who is worse and who is not. intubation, icu space, all of that being looked at on a patient-to-patient basis. we've been speaking to nurses about the desperate situation inside some of these hospitals in l.a. county. here is what one said about just walking into their hospital and the fear as they're treating patients. listen to this. >> i've had nurses crying because they can't get to their patients in time. the one thing that i will say is that i've seen -- the one thing that i've seen more of now than i've ever seen in the past is a look of fear. we're scared.

>> reporter: so health officials are very solid on messaging, telling people not to travel for this new year's eve holiday. they're tweeting every ten minutes because people are dying every ten minutes, trying to get the message out there. in the next two to three weeks, so people have to stop now. that's the latest from here, craig. send it back to you. >> all right, steve. let's come back across the country for a moment. gabe, new year's eve going to look different for a lot of folks, especially folks who usually go to times square. what are states and cities doing so people heed the warnings from officials and stay at home? >> hey there, craig. this final day of 2020 is off to a dreary, soggy, rainy start. that's perhaps fitting for 2020. many people here excited to ring in 2021 in new york city. as you mentioned, no massive crowds this year.

new york city authorities are being very strict. they're saying their message is clear, do not come to times square. in fact, they've already blocked many of the surrounding streets. more streets will be shut down as we go through the day. only invited guests allowed in times square to watch that ball drop including frontline workers and their families. they're being honored today. yes, the ball drop is still happening, but it will be mostly a television event. craig, across the country, other cities also have muted celebrations. in chicago, the iconic fireworks over navy pier will not happen this year. las vegas has also canceled its fireworks show. other cities have new restrictions in place trying to prevent large gatherings or even small gatherings. police in boston, for example, in los angeles say they'll be on the lookout for house parties and are stressing that now is not the time to get together even in smaller groups.

but again, craig, here in times square, it is just -- it's a little eerie, really, to see it like this. this is a rainy morning. seeing times square from the beginning of the pandemic earlier this year, a deserted times square was a symbol of the ongoing crisis. again, it looks like it will be a very quiet new year's eve. a lot of anticipation to ring in 2021 here. craig. >> gabe gutierrez there in the heart of new york city and steve patterson in los angeles. thanks to both of you. our top public health experts hoped to have 20 million americans vaccinated by the end of the year, but we're 13 hours from that deadline. we're not even close. so far, just about 2.8 million people have received the first dose of the vaccine. and according to operation warp speed, around 14 million doses

have been distributed. so this morning on "today," i talked to dr. anthony fauci and i asked him simply what happened. here is what he said. >> well, whenever you have a massive program such as this. this is the largest and most important vaccine program that we've ever undertaken. we would like to have seen it run smoothly and have 20 million doses into people today by the end of the 2020, which was the projection. obviously it didn't happen. that's disappointing. hopefully as you get into the first couple of weeks in january, the gaining of momentum will get us to the point where we want to be. but there really has to be a lot more effort in the sense of resources for the locals, namely the states, the cities, the counties, the places where the vaccine is actually going into the arms of individuals. we have to support the local groups, the states and the

cities, to help them to get this task done which is a very prodigious task. >> dr. anthony fauci, to that point, to the point that the cash-strapped public health departments, especially in many states, this is obviously a threat to our national security. would it be better if the federal government stepped in and took over the effort to get millions of americans vaccinated? >> rather than stepping in and taking over, i think it would be maybe better to give more resources and to work with them in tandem with them. in other words, not saying we're taking over, we're going to do your job, but saying we're going to really help you to do your job, particularly by giving you many more resources. >> while i have you, i want to ask you about this approach that's being taken in other parts of the world. for instance, in the united kingdom, in some provinces in canada, as you know, after the first dose, they're letting people walk around and

apparently reportedly that provides up to 40% protection against infection, unlike what we're doing, reserving both doses for millions of americans. should we change our approach perhaps? >> that's under consideration. i still think if done properly, you can do a single dose, reserve doses for the second dose and still get the job done. but there's a lot of discussion about whether or not you want to spread out the initial vaccination by getting more people vaccinated on the first round. you can debate either way on that. one of the problems of doing that is, if you don't then get the second dose in time, you're going to have a lag period, and we know from the clinical trial that the optimal time is to give it on one day and then, for moderna 28 days later and for pfizer, 21 days later. that's what the data tells us is the best way to do it. if you want to stick with the data, that's the way you should

do it. you can make an argument, and some people are, about stretching out the doses by giving a single dose across the board and hoping you're going to get the second dose in time to give to individuals. interesting to hear dr. fauci say they're perhaps considering changing the approach. dr. fauci also told me he hopes to see as many as seven vaccines around the world before this pandemic is over. the senate will be back in session next hour. if you want an idea of whether there's any chance they're going to increase that $600 direct payment up to $2,000, take a listen to senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. >> speaker pelosi and leader schumer are trying to pull a fast one on the president and the american people. first of all, they're hoping everyone just forgets about election integrity and big tech. the senate is not going to be

bullied into rushing out more borrowed money into democrat rich friends who don't need the help. >> nbc news national political reporter sahil kapur is on capitol hill for us. mcconnell trying to tie those payments with repeal of an internet liability law and this commission to study voter fraud. is the plan to get out more direct payments, is that plan effectively dead? >> reporter: it's not looking good for that plan right now. i think americans were counting on those payments, should not expect them any time soon. the reason is the only viable vehicle that could get through congress quickly in the next few days before the congressional expressi e sex expires is the c.a.s.h. act. mitch mcconnell made an aggressive denunciation of the piece of legislation, complained, among other things,

it adds about $400 billion to the national debt. he complained that some small amounts of money will go to big families that make as much as $300,0 $300,000. the reality is mcconnell is conflicted between competing pressures. there are some republicans in this conference that support the president, that includes lindsey graham. let's play some sound of graham. >> so to my fiscal conservative friends, i understand your argument, but i think the facts on the ground throughout the country would require us to do more than 600. 600 is not enough. 2,000 is about right in my opinion. i'm willing to vote. >> reporter: now, that's one argument. the flip side of that, craig, is many other republicans in mcconnell's conference strongly oppose the $2,000 payments. that includes pat toomey of pennsylvania, made an aggressive argument against them. ron johnson of wisconsin who i

spoke to, he said he would oppose even mcconnell's bill that combines the $2,000 payments of a different structure with the other two items. mcconnell is in a bind between that and the fact that two of his senators are up for re-election in georgia next tuesday that could decide the balance of the senate. they're facing pressure from democratic rival to back the $2,000 payments. mcconnell wants to put out a vehicle that could allow them to say they are in favor of that and potentially cast a vote for that. we don't even know if that bill is going to come up. if it does, it faces no viable path to get through the senate, let alone the democratic-controlled house. craig. >> sahil kapur, thank you. for most americans, it's certainly going to be a while before the vaccine is available. in a part of florida, though, they're already booked through february. i'll talk to a doctor about what can be done to streamline the process on a local level.

also, as sahil just mentioned, we're days away from the senate runoffs in georgia. it's the last day of early voting. we're live at a polling site, a site that's seen long lines all week. innovating, sourcing organic ingredients, testing them and fermenting. fermenting? yeah like kombucha or yogurt. and we formulate everything so your body can really truly absorb the natural goodness. that's what we do, so you can do you. new chapter wellness, well done.

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early voting in georgia's senate runoff election ends today, and more than 2.8 million

georgians have voted so far. democrats could take control of the senate if they win both seats that are up for grabs. senator david perdue facing off against jon ossoff, kelly loeffler up against reverend rafael warnock. priscilla thompson is at a voting site this morning. we've seen the long lines all week. it seems as if, once again, the last day of early voting, the lines are just as long. >> reporter: that's exactly right, craig. we're in cob county, one of the diversifying suburbs of atlanta that helped put joe biden over the top in november. you can sort of see this line is going at least the length of two football fields here to make it to the front of the line. that's not even all of it. if you turn this corner here, you'll see there's tons of people lined up here making this turn here. i actually just found some folks who just walked up here to vote

today. what did you all make of this, the whole family coming to vote. what did you make of it when you saw the line, and are you planning to wait on it? >> we are absolutely going the wait. the line is super long, but it's worth it. it's time to make a change. we're here for our voices to be heard, absolutely. >> have you all decided who you're going to vote for and why? >> of course we've decided who we're going to vote for. just like i said, it's because we're rid difficult for change. >> what's the big issue on your mind when you cast the ballot? >> 2021. we want to make sure 2021 is absolutely better than 2020 and years prior. again, we're just read difficult for the change that is most definitely needed. >> reporter: thank you very much there. craig, there you have it. there have been some folks that we've seen here who have tried to wait for a little while and ultimately gotten out of line because they had somewhere where they had to be. a lot of people are waiting an hour and a half, two hours, to

make sure their votes are heard in this crucial senate runoff race. >> we're taking a look at some of the numbers there from early voting in georgia. it would seem as if folks are turning out in droves. i know a lot of folks see lines like that and think, wow, this is great. so many people are wanting to participate in democracy, even in a special election. other folks look at a line like that, and you've got to think, my god, in 2020, people shouldn't have to wait 2 1/2, three hours to cast a ballot. it's a shame. priscilla thompson, thank you for that report in georgia. new hope for a new year as millions of americans start to receive the coronavirus vaccine. but the number, not even close to the total that the federal government promised would be vaccinated by the end of this year. we're going to look at a big holdup in a part of florida and what states need to actually vaccinate more people, what they say they need. y they need.

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right now vaccines are heading to all 50 states, but in florida, broward health had to stop scheduling vaccinations on the same day they started scheduling vaccinations. the hospital got 100,000 calls and 30,000 emails from people wanting vaccines in less than 24 hours. they're now booked through february. i want to bring in dr. mario ramirez, an emergency physician, also managing director of

opportunity labs. he was also the former pandemic and emerging threats coordinator during the obama administration. dr. ramirez, let's start there in florida. we've seen long lines with seniors waiting in line outside for hours, long lines like this. seniors camped out. isn't there a better way to get shots in their arms? >> i think you're absolutely right, craig. i think on the one hand this is exciting to see folks wanting to take the vaccine, and every person who gets vaccinated is a step in the right direction. i think we have to look at these pictures and say, well, we really could have done better here. is this really what we believe as a country that we should have, elderly folks camping out for eight hours to get vaccinated? i don't think anyone would say yes to that question. there are three things we could be doing much, much better and should have gone better to make this is a much more equitable religionout. the first is creating mass

capacity for vaccination. we should be using places like tents, fairgrounds, sports stadiums, increase that capacity. we didn't fund the states to open those kind of operating centers in most places. the next thing we should be doing a creating a public awareness campaign so people know how to find -- there's a lot of state-by-state variability. if you ask somebody in florida how to sign up, that's completely different than what you sign up in texas. the last thing is creating accessibility. the sort of situation in florida i think highlights this. if you're the sort of person that can sit at home on your internet browser and hit refresh until you hit a spot, that's great. if you're a blue collar worker who is working, it makes it that much harder to get an appointment in a reasonable amount of time. >> you made three really good points there, dr. ramirez, in what continues to boggle the minds of a lot of folks.

we knew it was coming. we've been talking about a vaccine for months. it had been approved. then the vaccines go out and people are like, oh, my god, how do we get people vaccinated. dr. fauci said state and local governments need more resources to make the rollout work. he stopped short of saying that the federal government should just take over the program entirely and oversee the vaccination of americans. do you agree with that assessment, or do you think the federal government, perhaps even the department of defense, the pentagon, would be better suited for this particular mission? >> you know, i think if we could go to the beginning of this pandemic and do things differently, i think a lot of us would have loved to see a much more coordinated federal level response. from where we are at this point, we've devolved so much of this response to the state level, it would take a significant amount of work to put the federal

government back in charge of this. i think there's a role to move considerably in that direction. the state by state administration of the vaccine is going to happen at the local level. we have to find a way for the federal government to work with states to make this is a much more reasonable process. there are ways we can do that. they can create clear expectations of how the sites should be used, how people access those sites, how they sign up. those are things the federal government can do, but the actual implementation will continue to happen at the state level. >> to your point, arenas and stadiums and fairgrounds all over this country that have been sitting empty, you've got to think that those would be great venues to get our fellow americans vaccinated. dr. ramirez, thank you for your insight, thank you for your time. have a happy new year, sir. thank you. just a few moments ago during our conversation, president trump and first lady

melania trump, they boarded air force one at palm beach international airport. you can see them walking up the steps there. this is a change in schedule. the trumps are leaving before mar-a-lag mar-a-lago's glitzy new year's eve celebration. the white house has not supplied a reason why. the president and first lady are in route to the nation's capital. 2020, quite a year. lots of lows, but a few highs as well. from the pandemic to politics. we'll take a look back at all of it, including a few things you probably forgot. first, making history in the nba, becky hammon, the first woman to act as nba coach in the game. taking over for gregg popovich after he was ejected on

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most of us cannot wait to see 2020 end. it has been an extraordinary year on so many levels. all too much to remember. fear not. nbc's joe fryer now with a look at how it all unfolded. >> five, four, three, two, one -- >> reporter: as the final seconds of 2019 ticked away, jubilant revelers in times square were eager to embrace a new year, bliftfully unaware of what the next 12 months would bring. >> let's bring ever win up to speed on the story breaking in china where they 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 and then stretching across the globe. >> to start the day today, the coronavirus had been found in roughly three dozen countries around the world. >> reporter: before long, covid-19 penetrated america's borders, first a little, then a lot. >> now more than 500 cases of coronavirus here in the united states. >> the ncaa officially canceled the march madness tournament, men and women's. >> reporter: as the virus spread, our vernacular spread. >> social distancing. >> social distancing. >> social distancing. >> >> reporter: we were told to stay home, work from home, learn from home. >> i'm working from home. craig and al are working from home. >> reporter: a shift that forced news anchors and host hosts to

turn their personal dwellings into studios. >> reporter: we scoured for every day staples like tail let paper and clorox wipes. 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 p.m. each night the soundtrack shifted in tribute to health care heroes on the front lines. [ cheers and applause ]. >> reporter: 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 is a sign at the front door saying everyone who enters is required to wear face coverings. >> reporter: for some, patience wore thin. protesters, some of them armed,

called for an end to covid restrictions. 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: but 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 emerged as front-runners while former vice president joe biden languished. in south carolina his fortunes changed. >> we just won and we won big because of you.

>> reporter: propelling the 77-year-old comeback kid to stunning wins on super tuesday. >> alabama and 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. >> i think the president is guilty of an appalling abuse of public trust. >> reporter: one day earlier in the 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 rooms punctuated at what speaker pelosi did with that speech.

as the country struggled to contain a new pandemic, it was confronted but an all-too-familiar apademic. the death of george floyd ignited a nationwide movement against racial injustice. the protests followed -- >> this is a police precinct where the four officers worked. >> reporter: not just the death of floyd, but of breonna taylor in kentucky, ahmaud arbery in georgia and so many more. the marches were largely peaceful but tarnished by looting and violent conflicts in the streets, forcing some businesses already battered by the pandemic to board upped and shut down. in washington protesters near the white house were bombarded by teargas 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 will three bold words and officially named black lives matt matter. senator john lewis visited the month before he died. his extraordinary life honored in selma, alabama, washington, d.c. and atlanta. amid this year's racial reckons, joe biden picked senator kamala harris as his running mate. >> i'm 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 fire work

finality. >> the best is yet to come! >> reporter: a republican 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 trail blazing supreme court justice. >> she was a role model. she was a friend. >> reporter: with the election six and a half weeks away, the republicans pushed ahead with plans to replace the icon with a conservative justice, amy coney barrett. >> today it's my honor to nominate one of the nation's most brilliant and gifted legal minds. >> reporter: the white house ceremony was soon known as a covid super spreader event. on october 2nd, the virus reached the highest office in the land. >> standing in the north lawn 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. >> proud boys, stand back and stand by. >> reporter: a raucous event. >> why wouldn't you answer that question? >> the question is, the question is. >> radical left. >> will you shut up, man. >> reporter: the final one, much calmer. >> nobody has done more for the black community than donald trump. >> reporter: between those debates the vice presidential face-off, remembered for the surprising guest that generated

a lot of fuss. most voters made up their minds early, casting their ballots days, even weeks before election day. their 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 from election day and no clear winner. >> reporter: until the saturday after the election finally delivered a decision. >> again, we have an announcement to make, joe biden is president-elect. >> reporter: that night the president-elect and a history making vp elect addressed a divided nation. >> i seek to be a president who seeks not to divide, but unify. >> reporter: still president trump refused to concede. >> it 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. >> no doubt 2020 will be remembered as the year that showed little mercy, starting with a helicopter crash that killed basketball great kobe bryant, his daughter and others. the year that robbed us of actress naya rivera and so many mores. >> reporter: through it all, 2020 has also given us reasons to celebrate, like when a south korean film won best picture at the oscars or 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. >> and it will be a better year to come. a big thanks to nbc's joe fryer tore that look back. millions of americans struggling to put food on the table. we're live at a food bank that's just blocks from some of the most profitable companies in the world. sthma. 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. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask your doctor about nucala at home. find your nunormal with nucala.

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millions of americans are going 787,000 americans filed unemployment claims last week, the second week of declines. in all, close to 20 million americans are on some form of unemployment right now. and it is important to note that figure does not include gig workers. it does not include those who have been under employed as well. jake ward is outside a san francisco food pantry this morning. jake, set the scene for us there where you are in san francisco. >> reporter: so, you know, craig, good morning, first of all. this is a pretty desperate but also inspiring scene. this morning the food pantry is going to open here in about 15 minutes.

and as it prepares to do so, volunteers are going along and essentially shopping for each family. they're going along a line here and putting a handful of onions, a handful of carrots, a handful of broccoli into these bags and then they'll be distributing it out to a line that has already begun to form around the corner here. the people that run this, we were speaking to the executive director a moment ago, he said prior to coronavirus the san francisco marin food bank gave out food to about 30 families a week. now there are families who had never been food insecure before, and in many cases have been too embarrassed to ask for help until now. to be here in this extraordinarily wealthy, extraordinarily expensive city and to see so many people needing help at the end of the

year is hard to see, craig. >> here's the thing, jake, i mean, where you are in terms of geography, as i understand it, you're just blocks away from the headquarters of some of the largest tech companies on the globe. this juxtaposition, it's jarring. and i think a lot of folks watching and listening have to think, how can this be? >> reporter: i think that's right, craig, one of the numbers to think about when you look at this new set of jobless figures is the number of people applying for help as gig workers. you mentioned them earlier, right? we're here in this extremely successful, incredibly prosperous city, and yet you have across america more than 9 million people who were working some form of gig work, who now have to apply for assistance that didn't exist a year ago. you think about the structural change in this nation, it's really like we're in an entirely

new country versus the america of 2019. >> jacob ward for us there at the scene of something that's become all too familiar in this country over the past nine or ten months. a lot of folks waiting in line for food in the united states of america. jacob, thank you, happy new year to you as well, sir. after a racial reckoning across our country, there's been a renewed focus on policing. in los angeles, a community policing program is working to become a model for the entire lapd. steve patterson explains. >> reporter: as police killings ignited nationwide protests, promises by law enforcement to reform from coast to coast. in los angeles, the lapd vowed to shift away from crime fighting to focus on being members of the communities they're sworn to serve and protect.

>> hi, nice to see you. >> reporter: in some of the l.a.'s toughest public housing projects. this officer also grew up in south l.a. the watts native recently became the first black woman deputy police chief in the department's history. >> you have to allow yourself to be open, communicative, approachable. >> reporter: an early advocate of community-based policing, chief "t," as she's known to her officers, heads the program in south l.a. >> the purpose is for officers to understand the history and the culture of the communities they're working in. >> reporter: the hundred-strong csp officers commit to serving in the same community for at least five years. they build relationships with community members, even coach youth sports and mentor neighborhood children. >> it took a lot for the community to trust us. we were brand-new faces for them. unfortunately for some, they've

had interaction with the police which has been negative interactions. >> reporter: in south l.a., residents are cautiously optimistic. >> has it made things better? >> you got your good officers, you got your bad officers. you got your ones who come in here and go beyond the badge and kick in your doors and bust your windows. >> reporter: in one of l.a.'s oldest and largest projects. >> when you turn on the tv, you see people wanting to defund the police. >> the police officers are here to protect us. >> do you remember a time before they were here? >> yeah. >> what was it like? >> not that great. there was a lot of crime, a lot of robberies, a lot of shootings. >> reporter: after protests to defund the police, $150 million was slashed from the lapd, reducing the force to less than 9,000 in a city of over 4 million. violent crime spiked almost everywhere in l.a., with one exception.

>> we haven't seen an increase in our csp engagement areas, which goes to show something is working. >> reporter: the lapd wants csp as the model for the entire force, with police departments across the country considering chief "t"'s methods. >> if law enforcement agencies across this country can buy into the understanding that building trust and humanizing one another has an impact on decreasing crime, then i think it would be a no-brainer for everybody to practice that concept. >> reporter: the reimagining of policing in america, starting with a handshake, one community at a time. >> steve patterson for us there, steve, thank you. that is going to do it for me this hour. have a happy and safe new year. i'll see you next year. "andrea mitchell reports" will start after a short break and you don't want to miss it, her conversation with dr. anthony fauci. so let me just ask you? this aveeno® moisturizer goes beyond just soothing sensitive skin?

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good day, i'm andrea mitchell in washington. today as we count down the hours until we can put 2020 behind us, the somber reality is that the coronavirus will follow us into the new year and all the signs are pointing to it only getting worse. we've now lost over 343,000 americans to the virus. the cdc now forecasts as many as 424,000 people may die by january 23. and now a new, more contagious mutant strain of