greating with yo you on this first day of 2021. wishing you all a happy new year. i don't think anything can compare to 2020. and we enter a new year with the same global pandemic. here are the facts at this hour. another case of that more contagious strain in the united kingdom has been found in our country. this time in florida. that brings the total to three states where the new variant has been found. it comes at a somber moenlt for our country. we just surpassed 20 million confirmed cases of the virus since the pandemic began. we've lost more than 346,000 americans to the virus.

but we have hope in the form of vaccines. rollout has been slow. a troubling example in arizona. we're learning four out of five doses that arrived in the state by early this week had not been used. that's because there aren't enough people qualified to administer the shots. we have reporters covering all angles of the pandemic. ron allen, steve powerson in los angeles, and mike memoli covering the biden transition from delaware as the president-elect prepares to take over the federal response to the virus in only 19 days. to all of you, happy new year as we kick off this year and kick off our coverage starting with ron. first, we surpassed 20 million confirmed cases here. give us a pulse of where we stand as a country right now as people wake up optimistic about what this new year will bring. >> 20 million cases.

numbers that are still rising. and there are these bottle necks, the problems getting the vaccine out. the concern, of course, is that after the holidays end, now, certainly, as we move into the new year, that because so many people have defied the pleas by public health officials not to gather with family and travel, the numbers are going to continue rising in the short-term, and we could have difficult months ahead before we get to the point where millions of americans can get that vaccine. now, the campaign to vaccinate so many americans is facing a lot of trouble. so far there have been about 3 million or so doses administered and you'll recall the administration's goal was to have the number at around 20 million by the start of the new year. in places like florida, for example, we've seen long lines of seniors waiting for up to eight hours to get the vaccine. and the problem seems to be as

the case in arizona you alluded to, that state and local health authorities say they need more help, more resources, more money, more infrastructure, and from washington, from the central government, to get this job done which is a common theme through the entire pandemic. the states being dependent on washington and not getting the help they say they need. and so we go forward. here in new york, for example, they're saying they want to ramp up the vaccine distribution, and dose as many as a million people during the month of january. unclear how they're going to do that, but they want to perhaps use large venues like sports arenas and stadiums. they want to try to use mobile facilities to get to hard to reach places like public housing projects in the city. areas of the city that have been hardest hit by the epidemic as we know where they're trying to get the vaccine out. and there are some other reports suggesting a lot of health care workers and others are reluctant

to take the vaccine for any number of reasons. so where are we now? the numbers are rising. the vaccine distribution problems, and it's unclear how those bottle necks have the problems are going to be solved as we move into 2021. >> and what is next when it comes to this new year. that's the troubling part. when you wake up to new numbers, you have a person dying every 10 minutes in l.a. county. shocking. i don't think we can say that fact enough. what are you hearing from health care workers there and the trouble they're having? >> that they're scared. unfortunately, the overwhelming emotion is fear. these are brave men and women waking up every day walking into situations where they don't know what is going to happen other than another day filled with heart break and a limited pool of resources, yes. icu capacity at 0% across southern california. yes, resources are incredibly limited like ppe and oxygen. yes, ambulances are backed up. sometimes leaving patients

waiting seven to eight hours before they receive care, but the biggest bottle neck in this, the most troubling thing really is and has been staffing. it is the ratios of trained nurses, trained icu nurses and doctors and specialists that are experiencing this oncoming wave of patients. in some cases icu nurses are saying 4 or 5 patients at the same time. it's dangerous because the standard of care has to drop to accommodate that. we've been speaking to nurses, a few of them leaving vignettes about what they're going through in the hospitals by cell phone. i want you to listen to a few. >> we're wroeoverwhelmed and stressed and stretched so thin. it's unimaginable. >> we are admitting patients faster than we discharge them. in this bottle, we are so

outnumbered. >> and there's more news of the new strain, the new variant discovered in southern california. san diego county says three more cases were discovered yesterday bringing the grand total so far discovered to four. but so far and nobody that's been interviewed has any recent travel history. that's leading health officials to think it is more widespread than they first originally thought. >> that's the alarming part. we see there's three state in the map. the yellow states, it's going to grow. everybody is waiting for this pivot here in the numbers and turning this around, mike. tell us how the biden transition is getting ready to take on this historic challenge and the messaging we're getting from the president-elect. >> reporter: well, as president-elect biden is preparing to inherit multiple crises, the pandemic first and foremost among them, we've been hearing biden has been reading a lot about franklin roosevelt who took office during the great depression.

the biden team is laying out ambitious goals for the first 100 days in office. that includes encouraging mask wearing and getting 100 million vaccinations in the 5r78 arms of americans in the first 100 days. that includes getting most students back into classrooms. part of the lessons of roosevelt the president-elect seems to be applying as well is having to do with public messaging as you say. we saw the president-elect using an opportunity to speak to the nation in part of the new year's eve broadcast last night. talking about his confidence that despite all the challenges, the country can overcome them. listen to what he said. >> we're going to come back and come back even stronger than we were before. i'm more optimistic about america's chances than ever before. we have the most productive workers in the world. we've found vaccines that are available and are going to work. we have to get a better way of getting more out there quicker. >> reporter: now, part of biden's message last night was

also to speak to the first responders who are part of the small group in times square. we've never seen a scene like that for new year's eve in new york city. we heard dr. jill biden encouraging americans to get the vaccine. she said she promised it didn't hurt at all. an important message as we see the pace of vaccine distribution has not met the goals that the trump administration has set. biden also his advisers talking about ramping up the defense production act to try to tackle that distribution and supply shortages that may be responsible. all this depends on the kind of cooperation they want to be getting from the trump administration which biden officials are increasingly being public about, not getting to the level they think they need to. >> it's crucial in the next days to come. to all of you, appreciate you being with us on the first day of 2021. thank you. i want to bring in a professor and vice chair of preventative medicine at the northwestern university feinberg

school of medicine. she focuses on cardiovascular disease and lung health in different populations. i'm anxious to hear your perspective. we heard mike memoli enumerate what president-elect biden's prior ities are going to be. what would you say his priorities need to be? >> i think the priority in my opinion, needs to be on reinforcing the basic messages about what we know about how to stop the community transmission. as we're well aware, our strategy for vaccination is starting with shoring up the infrastructure of health care workers. however, this isn't necessarily the population who is leading to the community spread of the coronavirus. and in particular, this new variant that has been identified in three states, two of which are two of our largest most populous states in the country, we can be sure based on the photographs we all saw from tsa check points over the holidays

that millions of people traveled among these destinations. so we can be fairly confident this variant is now everywhere and it appears to effect more adults under age 20. and i think the reason why that's particularly critical is that this younger adult population is circulating more. they are performing some of the essential roles such as delivery work, factory work and they're generally out there in the population, and that population isn't in line to be vaccinated soon. >> so clearly, from what you're telling us about this variant, that is a concern, but how tough is it considering this time, the holidays, hampering our ability to get a full picture of this and the vax naxs as well? we all know about the spreaders here that could happen. it was small groups gathering. as we fly into the new year blind about this, what would you say is what people need to know about this? >> you know what? people need to know, and i'm

struck by dr. biden -- not dr. biden, i'm sorry, president-elect biden's focus on fdr. we are in the middle of the war still. yes, the u.s. has entered the war. we've got a vaccine ready to go. what a tragedy it would be if we let down on our behaviors at this point in this war, and let this continue to spread? you know, how many more people are going to be infected, hospitalized, experience long-hall co-vid or die when they could have been next on the list for the vaccine. the focus right now, particularly what we saw over the holidays of people gathering and traveling needs to be on reinforcing those responsible behaviors we know can prevent the transmission of the virus. to have so many more people affected, health care workers exhausted at this point when we're so close to the end, i mean, help is coming. we just still have to do our

part. >> you're saying this is a war in one of the biggest battles in l.a. county. parts of southern california, doctors and nurses say they can't take much more. in some cases, quote, hospitals have built shake shift icus and have patients in shops or pediatric wards. some ambulances having to wait hours before unloading patients. we've heard warnings of a dark winter here. is what we're seeing in southern california and l.a. county a warning of what could come in the next few weeks nationwide after the holidays? >> i think certainly. one of the patterns we've seen throughout is there happen to be surges in given regions and cities for reasons that may or may not be clear. but we see these peaks and waves. in late november we had that situation going on in the illinois ree illinois region. what we're seeing in los angeles could be a harbinger of what we're going to see in other regions of the country.

and you mentioned the space issue and the makeshift hospitals. you know, those are infrastructure issues that can be addressed by opening up field hospitals. what cannot be addressed is the need for experienced and trained personnel to be able to manage the individuals. i'm pleased that we have an opportunity to protect personnel right now. however, i have heard reports of some individuals delivering the vaccine in their roles as pharmacists and technicians who have themselves not been vaccinated because they haven't received priority for vaccination. and we need to protect those individuals so that they can help to keep us alive and to continue to protect us. but yes, i'm very concerned that what we see in los angeles is what we're going to see in other areas as january and member continue. >> and that's a tough part. what we're seeing there, we may see in other larger cities and also about this mutant strain.

all right. thank you. you're going to stick around with us. we'll have more insights from you later in the hour. i appreciate it. >> thank you. a record number of people have already voted in the georgia senate runoff races. now the democrats are bringing out the heavy hitters in the final push before tuesday. we'll have the latest on the $2000 co-vid check chaos on the hill. that's next. ll that's next. lactaid is 100% real milk, just without the lactose. so you can enjoy it even if you're sensitive. yet some say it isn't real milk. i guess those cows must actually be big dogs. sit! i said sit!

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some cheering as that coronavirus vaccine is administered. navirus vaccine is administered >> president trump is waking up in washington after returning early from mar-a-lago. it comes as his demand for $2000 stimulus checks appears to be dead in the water. mitch mcconnell is refusing to budge and bring the bill to the senate floor for a vote. monica alba is in washington and joins us. what are you hearing from the white house? is the president done trying to push these bigger checks? >> the reality is, we're not hearing much of anything from the white house.

in fact, they haven't been able to explain why the president left florida early yesterday to return to washington d.c. where really he also unclear how he spent his new year's eve. he asked whether there was any kind of party or festivities going on. we know normally he would be celebrating the holiday at an event with as many as 500 people. that gala went on apparently as planned last night. with some guests expressing frustration because they thought the president and first lady were going to be there, and of course, they decided to skip it in order to return here to washington d.c. but we don't have much insight into what the president is hoping for or why he's here. because we also haven't really heard from him, take any questions on camera or hold any public events. he ignored reporter's questions yesterday. most recently as he returned to the white house, we went

straight to the oval office. the staff says his schedule is full of meetings and calls. there's nothing on the public schedule for today. but we do know that the president has been thinking about at least some events next week and the only way we know that is from his twitter feed. he has been firing off several messages as it relates both to the georgia runoff elections. he'll be traveling there on monday in support of the republican candidates. and then january 6th when the vice president is expected to oversee this joint session of congress that will formalize joe biden's election victory. now we know from a couple republicans who plan to make it a long process and reject the results. maybe the president wanted to come back to washington to continue working on that or coordinate with other lawmakers, but we don't have any real detail to provide which is quite unusual. this is a president who always when he wanted to talk about something, would make himself available to the cameras. he hasn't done that in more than

three weeks? >> meantime, we have the twitter feed. watch out for those alerts. monica, good to have you with us. thank you. i want to bring in senior politics reporter for inside politics. great to have you with us on new year's day. let's start off by playing this. what the top republican and democrat are saying about this bill. >> barring for our grand kids to do socialism for rich kids is a terrible way to get help for families who need it. >> he has made an excuse. >> all right. is this over or there is a dot dot dot? explain what that's going to be next. >> we never really know what's going to happen on capitol hill, especially now. but it seems the chances of $2000 checks being passed through on their own or up or

down vote or as part of the package is unlikelier because of the dynamics of the senate. republicans mostly in the caucus not being as excited about $2000 checks and the stimulus negotiations. it wasn't even clear if there was direct checks at all and obviously democrats are not going to go for what mcconnell has put forth, combining the checks with the repeal of section 230, relating to social media and the commission to investigate the widespread voter fraud. at this point, it's unclear where things go, but it seems unlikely we'll get $2000 checks in any form. >> when it comes to the president, he's been quiet, not saying anything. how involved are not has the president been in trying to make this happen? >> well, that's the thing. he was not involved at all until the very last minute after the deal was reached. then he said oh, these $600 checks are not good enough. we need $2000 checks and this other stuff and confused several

other items in bills. he was focussed on trying to overturn the results of the 2020 elections, instead of stimulus. him coming in at the last minute, a lot of ways people were confused and baffled as to his dmaends and how to resolve them. >> as we talked about economic relief, we want to talk about this as well and bring it to the attention of viewers. between roughly mid march and december 22nd, the united states gained 56 new billionaires. bringing the total to 659. the wealth held by that small group of americans here has jumped by more than $1 trillion in the months since the pandemic. and so many family and business owners that have been left behind in the pandemic. can't put food on the table. can't pay rent. are lawmakers on the hill out of touch with what's happening around the country with these

numbers? >> well, there's a package passed that will help a lot. the increased unemployment assistance is going to be an important lifeline. in addition to sort of the checks and the continued rent assistance and moratorium an evictions and student loan payments. it's only half as generous as the cares about in march. the increased unemployment checks and the stimulus checks and there's no sign that things are going to get better in the immediate future. monthly and weekly jobless claims are high. other troubling economic indicators that aren't captured in the unemployment rate such as underemployment. people who aren't working enough hours and the people who left the labor force. 2450ez are troubling things that are not just captured in the one unemployment number. >> meantime, we're hearing from the president in tweets, taking credit for the stock market hitting an all-time high, taking credit for that. great perspective. stay with us. we'll talk about georgia

politics next with you. stick around. >> thank you. just days before the georgia senate runoffs, one of the republican candidates is off the trail. how it could affect the campaign ahead. as we begin 2021, we asked hosts to reflect on what they hope to see in the new year. here's our hallie jackson. >> in 2021, i'm looking forward to probably something that the vast majority of other people are looking to. the return of human contact. being able to get out into the field and tell stories without having to stay six feet apart. being able to get up close and personal, being able to have guests in studio again. being able to see my family members on a personal note. and being able to reintroduce my baby girl to her grandparents who she has not seen in almost a year by the time it becomes safe to do so. i think 2021 has a lot of good things in store and i'm excited to see what this year holds. t t.

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new developments in the georgia senate runoff elections. david perdue is following medical advice and quarantining after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for covid-19. this added new complications to the georgia runoff.

nbc's priscilla thompson is in georgia, and i want to bring back grace panetta. pr priscilla, tell us about senator perdue. >> happy new year. well, we saw a tweet from senator perdue last night saying that he and his wife are feeling great. they were thanking folks for the calls and texts and outreach to check on them. he also mentioned he is going to be pivoting to virtual campaigning in the final days of this election. and that is obviously a pretty significant shift from what both of the republican candidates have been doing in the state up until this point with lots of in person campaigning, sometimes indoors with little mask wearing. and since david perdue found out he had the close contact yesterday, he has been off the trail, but before that he was barn storming the state on a bus

tour holding all these campaign events. he marked his 100th event on wednesday. when he got the news on thursday he would have to quarantine, he was hoping to hit 125 events by election day. and so we'll see how many events he's able to do from home as he's campaigning virtually. and it remains to be seen how long he'll stay in quarantine and whether we should expect him to be out on time to rally alongside the president whenever he comes to town on monday. >> high octane campaigning, even virtually. you've got tuesday being election day and then you've got vice president elect or excuse me, president-elect and vice president elect harris, and president trump making campaign stops over the next few days. what are the expectations on turnout on both sides there? >> well, this election is going to hinge on turnout. that's what everyone is saying. democrats and republicans alike, and while early voting wrapped up yesterday and we know more

than 3 million people cast ballots either early in person or absentee, a record number, there are millions of voters on the rolls who have not participated the election. not to mention the absentee ballots requested but outstanding. these campaigns still have plenty of work to make sure folks are turning in absentee ballots and to continue to turn voters out, every last voter they can by the time polls close on tuesday. >> with that in mind, we have to manage expectations, grace. early voting is now done in georgia. what should we and not take away from the turnout we've seen so far? >> yeah. absolutely. it's really fascinating. in georgia what we've seen and with runoffs is usually a drop off in democratic support. in the last senate runoff in 2008, the republicans won that one. because there was sort of a dropoff, a falloff in democratic turnouts. that's not happening this time.

and the electorate has changed to much. and the politics in the state have changed so much. we can't look to any past recent examples to draw on what we can expect this time. it's unprecedented. the thing to note is that democrats appear to have the edge in early voting. we don't know because georgia doesn't have party registration. we know a lot of the votes have always come from black voters and predominantly black or heavy congressional districts where the rates are lower up in northern georgia which is more conservative. but we don't know who is going to turn out an election day. it could be all the voters from northern virginia and the rural white areas that come out in full force as we remember from the november election, the early voting picture and mail voting looked amazing for democrats and great, but as we saw a lot of republicans did turn out on election day, and republicans won a lot of those critical races and surpassed the polling expectations. so while democrats are certainly showing up in force, holding their own, it doesn't mean they

have it in the bag by any stretch. >> four days, we may know then. we spoke about mitch mcconnell's block a vote on increasing the direct payment to americans to $2000. how do you think the fight on the hill is affecting the fight in georgia. >> the politics have been muddled due to president trump demanding $2000 checks. the average person that may not be following the news cycle, it may not be clear that it's trump and the democrats on one side and mcconnell and the other republicans on the other side. obviously it could move some voters but we know people's policy preferences are not aligned with how they go to the polls and vote for a candidate. red states, a lot of voters raising minimum wage and electing republican candidates. a difference between the policy and the governance. while it really is important and it could move some voters at the last minute, the politics have been totally scrambled by trump

to a point where it's difficult to say. >> all right. priscilla and grace, thank you. thank you. states across the country are struggling to vaccinate as many people as possible. in the uk they're doing things differently. is it something the u.s. should look at? that story is next. that story it trelegy for copd.

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uk health officials are defending the co-vid vaccination strategy this morning. that strategy to prioritize giving as many people their first dose as quickly as possible. which for those who have already been inoculated could postpone their second dose by up to two weeks. how much opposition is the plan facing. >> reporter: hi. the uk government is really in inchartered territory here deciding to alter the vaccine schedule. essentially against the manufacturer's advice.

and without releasing any science to support this decision. we're hearing criticism from camps. from doctor's associations and also from sizer itself. let's talk about the doctor's association first. this is a group that represents frontline health care workers. in many cases, the people who are are administering the volcano vaccines. they wrote a letter and expressed what they called real and grave concerns saying change in the vaccination schedule undermines the consent process and completely fails to follow the science. remember the pfizer vaccine was trialed with two doses 21 days apart. and pfizer itself has spoken out saying there is no evidence that lengthening the gap between the first and second doses, that it is going to still be safe or effective, because that schedule hasn't been evaluated.

perhaps a third thing to mention is the logistics in changing the vaccination schedule after so many people received their first doses. remember, the uk started administering the pfizer vaccine before the u.s. so people had been getting their first shot since december 8th. many of them were expecting to get their second shot soon. now doctors office's are saying they need to call elderly patients and reschedule appointments. in some cases that's a huge challenge. not only for the doctor's offices, but also for the individuals involved because it ca takes considerable effort to get to the doctor's office if you're in a vulnerable group. for now the uk government is standing by this plan, saying given where the pandemic is, they want to get as many people as possible that first dose. >> the world watches in how they go about it. thank you, sara. we want to bring back the

vice chair of preventive medicine a the the northwestern feinberg university school of medicine. glad to have you back. we were talking about the new plan in the uk. we want your reaction. bad idea or something we should be doing in the u.s.? >> personally, i feel uncomfortable with that decision, because in my estimation, it equates to using the vaccine off label. in a manner it wasn't intended. if maximum efficacy was tested in up to phase free trials, i would have preferred sticking with the strategy of using the vaccine in the way it was intended. however, i can envision that the rationale behind that decision is that if after one dose there is some immunity that is conferred, broadening access to the first dose, particularly given the widespread nature of

the what we're calling the uk variant which appears to be more transmisable, i can understand why they might make that decision to do so, however, i feel uncomfortable with the safety of that approach. >> let's talk about that and what makes you uncomfortable about that and the risks involved. pfizer pushing back. in a statement saying the clinical trial has only tested the 21-day interval. it's the potential harm of not sticking to it? >> i think what could go wrong is that if, for example, one that's conferred 67%. and i'm throwing out a number, but one is conferred immunity from the first dose but not the full immunity. however, what if the person receiving that dose believes that they are then protected? and let down their guard, continue circulating in society, interacting with other people? now, some proportion of those individuals are going to contract the illness, and then they could pass those along to

other individuals who have themselves been partially vaccinated. so the way that really concerns me is that i think it can lead to a false sense of confidence in the individuals who have been partially vaccinated. at worst, it could be completely ineffective, and thus we're back at square one if the partial vaccination doesn't work at all, or whatever the protection is lost between the two doses if they're spread out, and then more vaccine is going to be needed and then production will again become strained. >> yeah. we appreciate you helping us understand. i'm sure a lot of people have questions when it comes to this. thank you so much. happy new year to you. >> thank you. >> for health care workers on the frontlines, 2020 brought unimaginable challenges. you saw them make enormous sacrifices fighting to save lives while risking getting the virus themselves or bringing it home to their families.

as we enter the new year, we'll continue to recognize their efforts and bring you their stories including today with the reflections on 2020 and their hopes for the new year. >> one thing i would change about 2020 is to take back the entire pandemic. >> with a snap of the fingers to just, co-vid go away. >> there never would have been this terrible pandemic. >> without having that same incredible loss that we experienced? >> that the government was more proactive. >> masking at an earlier stage. >> to understand the importance of public health. >> and listen to science, and we could have prevented some of the tragedies. >> to make our battle easier. >> one of the ents that passed away was my original partner. his name was gregg hodge. served the people in his community. the nicest guy on the planet. >> to all the people that lost someone special, i wish that they could be back with us. >> that no one else would lose

their life to this virus. >> that covid-19 no longer exists. >> that the pandemic is declared over. i think that's the same wish as everybody else. >> i really hope that we are able to just give each other a big hug. that's my one wish. >> i want to hug my family. hug my mom. >> i'm proud that i was able to work during this pandemic. >> i'm proud of the people i work with. >> the nurses that i work with. >> they are absolutely fearless. they come to work and put on their brave faces. >> my wish is for everyone who starts the year january 1st, ends the year december 31st, healthy, and happy. >> and we can't say it enough. thank you so all of our frontline workers for your dedication and sacrifice this year. millions of people are behind on rent due to the pandemic. up next, we'll talk to one

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vaccines, the vaccination process itself is falling behind. it was unrealistic to assume that the health care workers already overburdened with covid care could take on a massive vaccination program. he goes on to say, that comprehensive vaccination plan had not been set to the states as models is as incomprehensible as it is inexcusable. i asked mercedes carnethon to stick around, from the northwestern units feinberg school of medicine. do you agree with that assessment? >> i completely agree. it was such a triumph to have pushed forward and created these vaccines with such a high level of efficacy. however, it's as if half the job was done because the rollout is complicated and sophisticated, particularly once we get beyond the hospital setting and we have to find ways to verify who is eligible. we have to find places to be

able to deliver the vaccine. for those vaccines from pfizer that require negative 80 freezers, we need to know logistically which vaccines will get to areas that don't have access to it. all these challenges are complicated logistics problems that were not addressed at all. this is a very different strategy than the centralized strategies that we're seeing in many of the european countries. in fact, it is reflective of our absence of national policies on almost anything related to this virus and now the vaccine. >> hopefully we'll see that pivot in 2021 with so many people so hopeful about this vaccine and receiving it safely. mercedes carnethon, thank you. we so much appreciate you being with us for this new year's. >> happy new year. >> and to you. to millions of americans who don't have enough money to pay their rent. there's a non-profit called contemporary housing alternatives of florida and trying to help tenants from

falling too far behind. the tampa bay times reports about 20% of the group's tenants are behind on rent because they've lost either work or hours since march. the non-profit introduced a back on track program that forgives $100 of overdue rent for every hour of volunteering for a charity. great to have you with me on this new year. >> tell us how did you come up with the term rent forgiveness for volunteer work? >> well, we have a great employee, holly burton who came up with the idea. she's the director of property management. it was implemented by tracy mayer, our senior vice president of operations. we felt with people who could demonstrate they were affected by covid and still wanted to pay their rent, wanted to stay in their unit and find a way to

work, she came up with this program where they can go out and take an hour of volunteer which helps the community with some project or another, whether it's a food bank or a clean-up deal and we give them $100 towards their rent. this essentially is money we may not have gotten anyway, but it lets them get that rent number down so they can participate and see an end to this, and if they get it down and still want to stay and work in the community, then we're thrilled to have them, continue to have them as residents. >> sounds like you have a very strong thoughtful team behind you when it comes to that. talk a little bit about the reaction when you're hearing from these renters and these tenants and you hear how much of a difference that's making. what are they telling you? >> they're excited. they want to do it, and we organize different trips and working with the recognized charities so we're able to get a

bunch of residents that are affected by this. they're thrilled to be able to knock off that kind of rent and we're thrilled to have them there. they're good people and we want to keep them as tenants. you always get some that say, hey, there's a moratorium on evictions so we're just going to go rent-free. that's not the attitude. we work with the ones that care about their housing. >> there's a deficit here. you're saying this is rent you wouldn't have gotten anyway. talk about how you'll make up for the shortfall with the cash coming in. >> well, when you invikt somebody, there's a cost of eviction and and try to find that the unit is in good shape. you've got to replace that unit, those costs are involved. if we can keep somebody in there that is happy with their unit and we're happy with them, then we recover some of those costs. it's clearly taking a hit, make no mistake. but we want to keep the good residents. >> you're talking about how fulfilling it is for renters to go out and do that.

it's go to be fulfilling and satisfying for the community and for you guys as well, hey, okay, here is cash you can always very well use. in exchange for a hitting bit of giving and selflessness, i'm sure there's that satisfaction in itself. >> there is, on both sides. some of them are done it and then they've gone back and done it on their own time, if you will. they're happy to do the food bank and pass out the food. it's been very rewarding. it makes a difference. >> hopeful that's contagious and infectious. thank you so much. what a way to start the new year. >> pleasure talking to you. happy new year. thank you for watching this hour of "msnbc live." my colleague ellison barber picks up the coverage after a short break. we'll be right back. ickly, instantly ready to start working.

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good morning. i'm ellison barber. happy new year and welcome to "msnbc live." the year that saw covid-19 spread to a global pandemic is in the books. hope dawns for 2021. this new year begins with more than 120,000 americans hospitalized with coronavirus and the nation's top infectious disease doctor, anthony fauci, saying things could get worse very soon. >> you have 200,000 new cases a