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 day.

we have now over 2,000 to 3,000 deaths per day. we have record hospitalizations. over 125,000 hospitalizations. it's a very difficult position to be in. things could get really quite bad as we go into the first couple of weeks of january which will reflect what went on two weeks previously, namely where we are right now. >> nbc's ron allen is in long island city new york and shaq brewster is at bradley international airport outside hartford, connecticut. ron, you're in queens, the one-time epicenter of this pandemic. what is the situation like on the ground right now as we head into this second calendar year fighting the virus? >> reporter: well, the positivity rates are going up here in new york city and in new york state as they have been in other places, in the region as well, massachusetts and connecticut. these are the states hardest hit

early on in the pandemic. now it's sort of coming back again. there's also huge problems with distribution of this vaccine which is also worrying. the numbers that dr. fauci was talking about, that's all troubling. the solution of that was thought to be the vaccine, is still thought to be the vaccine. across the country we're seeing in the plays where the rollouts are happening huge lines, in arizona and florida, people waiting a long time to get the vaccine. we're worried there's a shortage of qualified staff workers to do this. they need more help from washington and not getting it. washington is saying this is a state problem, they need to be sorting it out. it echoes the same thing we heard about testing going on back and forth during the many months of the pandemic. so the hope is that that kind of problem can get solved as we move into january. as we move into the new administration, the biden

administration, the president-elect is saying they're going to do things like invoke the national defense production act and do things to try and help the states roll out an build more infrastructure. here in new york, the goal is to inoculate as many as 1 million people in the month of january which is much larger than the tens of thousands inoculated so far. they want to use stadiums and arenas, mobile units to get the vaccines to hard-hit communities that are not easily accessible to hospitals and clinics. public housing projects, for example, is one thing that's being discussed. a lot of challenges as we enter 2021. the vaccine rollout is rolling out as efficiently and effectively as is desired. there's a lot of reluctance and skepticism about the vaccine. in some cases that's health workers saying they don't want to take the vaccine. a lot of work to do in terms of public relations, public

education to move things forward as we attack this pandemic. >> thank you, ron. shaq, for weeks we've been warned by cdc, state health officials, governors that holiday travel is risky and they didn't want to do it. airports seem to be pretty busy of late. what are you seeing at bradley airport? >> reporter: ellison, you mentioned how busy these airports have been. we got some new numbers to help quantify that, the tsa reporting that yesterday nearly 900,000 passengers went through the security checkpoints yet alone on new year's eve. that was the first time since christmas day where that number has been less than 1 million passengers. while that's less than what we normally see during the holidays, we simply haven't seern a pace of that magnitude since before the pandemic started. so people are still gathering, people are still traveling. that's why there's an emphasis on what you're seeing behind me which is testing directly at the airport. we're in a gap in between flights right now. this is one of the testing

centers where you can walk up, pre register. this is happening right across from the baggage claim area. people come, get their bags and go over and get tested. this is what public health officials are hoping will slow the spread when people return to their communities. i spoke to our msnbc public health analyst about what is his advice for people who did participate in those holiday gatherings, who did travel. listen to what he told us. >> i think you should be quarantined if you've been traveling and i think you should be tested if you've been traveling. we're been warning people over and over again stay away from train stations, airports. stay off the trains and airplanes. if you must travel for some reason, then it's really by car, in your own car if it's feasible. otherwise it's really better not to travel and certainly not to travel in public transportation. >> reporter: ellison, he mentioned the numbers that we've

been seeing, both before the holiday and what's expected. now he's saying he doesn't think we have even reached the peak of this virus at this point yet. ellison. >> shaq brewster, ron allen, stay safe both of you. we appreciate the time. joining us for a medical perspective is dr. u shea blackstop, a yahoo news medical distributor. dr. blackstock, let's start vaccination numbers. at the beginning of december, administration officials, the fda commissioner, they were saying vaccinating 20 million people by the end of 2020 was a realistic goal. we're at least 17.2 million vaccinations short of that goal, some 14 million vaccines have been distributed to the states, but the vaccines available are two doses and because of the severity of the pandemic, we need more vaccines and need them abnormally fast. do you think these delays we're seeing are just bumps in the

road that were to be expected, or are they a big deal and should we be worried about them? >> thank you so much for having me and happy new year. i think the bumps in the road were preventable. they are concerning. what they show is getting the vaccines to the states is just a small fraction of the work that needs to be done. a lot of the problems that we're seeing it's due, as your reporter ron said, to the lack of funding of local and state public health departments who are key in getting the vaccines out to communities. they just don't have the funding. unfortunately some of the funding will come from the relief bill that was just passed, but we also need the incoming administration to have a national strategy, a coherent one, around vaccine distribution. >> you mentioned resources to states. my colleague andrea mitchell talked to dr. fauci yesterday and he touched on that as well. listen to what he had to say and i'll ask you a question right after. >> one of the things that we've really got to make sure we do,

we've got to make sure the states and local authorities have the resources necessary to implement these programs. when you speak to them, and i've had the opportunity to do that, many of them just do not have what it takes to get this type of a program running at the efficiency that you want it to run. >> resources for a small simple word can be such a big word with so many means. what specifically are we talking about, resources that state and local health departments need. what specifically do you think they need at this point? do you feel the federal government is doing enough when it comes to the actual process of getting people vaccinated. >> it's a great question. we need health care workers to be trained in administering the vaccine. we need institutions and organizations giving out the vaccine to have appropriate equipment for vaccine storage. we also need funding for extensive public health campaign as we know that there is significant vaccine hesitancy

out there for a number of reasons, and that campaign really should have been started months ago if we knew that vaccines were in development. we're already quite behind. what i will say is that this vaccine distribution effort, uptick effort should be one led at the federal level. we know state and local departments are key in ensuring that everyone gets vaccinated. >> i heard you also got the vaccine yesterday which just makes me happy beyond belief. i cannot imagine all the emotions of that. we thank you so much for your time with us today and also for all that you do. you're amazing on so many levels. dr. uche blackstock, thank you so much. >> thank you. one of the four candidates running for the u.s. senate in georgia quarantined days before that critical runoff race. what that might mean for the balance of power in washington. 19 days before joe biden is

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welcome back. january 2021 will see a new president ininaugurated on the steps of the capitol building. capitol hill will see a flurry of activity in the next few weeks. tuesday the majority control of the senate will be decided with twin runoff elections in georgia, and finally on wednesday, president trump's republican allies in both chambers of congress say they'll object to the electoral college vote tally in an effort that is more likely to rile up supporters that overturn the results of the election. does all that make you feel stressed? we have wonderful smart people to help make sense of it all.

monica alba is outside the white house. "washington post" ann gearrin and nbc senior political analyst john allen. john, let's start with you. is there any chance that majority leader mitch mcconnell surprises us and decides to hold an up or down vote on the bigger stimulus checks before this congress leaves? >> i think there's a -- i guess you would call it a non-zero chance -- >> josh hawley says he'll join a handful of house republicans, objecting to certifying the electoral college slates. let me ask you, his colleague, republican senator ben sasse heavily criticized senator

hawl hawley's decision says, o n facebook, when we talk in private i haven't heard a single congressional republican allege that the election results were fraudulent, not one. two questions for you. is senator sasse a monday on an island here, or do other republicans feel that way. what's been the reaction inside the white house to the moves by senator hawley and also the criticism by people like senator sasse? >> we've heard of a couple other senators, for example, maine's susan collins who says she'll certify the election results in favor of president-elect joe biden, cementing his victory in november. we've heard from texas senator john cornyn who said while he didn't think this would be the best course of action in terms of objecting, he understands it's part of the process. it's something that can happen. in his words he said something like, we need to learn to live with that. we haven't heard from other key

republican senators. it's unclear how they're going to respond and what they're going to do on january 6th. you asked about the white house. we've gotten very little reaction from officials there, and most notably about why the president cut short his florida vacation to return to d.c. yesterday afternoon. that surprised many people since the president and first lady were supposed to stay at mar-a-lago and host a new year's eve party there as has been tradition for years. we do know that this president is currently obsessed, still, with his election defeat and seeking to overturn the results. we actually, interestingly haven't heard him talk much about senator hawley's words in the last couple days. will we hear more from him on that? there's nothing on his public schedule for today. he hasn't taken questions from reporters in more than three weeks, ellison.

>> anne, the biden team accused the outgoing administration of holding up and obstructing the transition efforts. where can do things stand now? will the biden administration have enough information and resources to hit the ground running once they're in office? >> well, ellison, their answer to that is no, and they really have been struggling for weeks now since the formal switch was flipped, when president trump allowed his administration to cooperate with the biden team in the normal fashion that usually happens between an outgoing president and an incoming one. that's been more than a month now, and they are still laboring to get what they call the full cooperation they need, principally from the pentagon and from the office of management and budget. those sound a bit random or arcane, perhaps. if you think about it, the pentagon is really in many ways the most important agency.

it has an enormous budget and enormous manpower, a sprawling set of responsibilities and many that deal obviously very closely with national security matters that may be on going. things may be happening now that the biden team doesn't know about. that's what they say they are most concerned about. in 19 1/2 days, it will be their responsibility and they're not having the kind of meetings they need with mid level pentagon officials, not seeing the documents they need to see. that's a real issue for them going forward. one case in particular that a couple of the biden folks have pointed to is that things are changing on the ground in afghanistan after nearly a 20-year war. the trump administration is trying to bring troops home and close down that war, possibly before the president leaves office. a lot of that is happening without real visibility for the incoming biden team.

>> monica, i know you said we have not heard from the president in a while and no indication we will in the coming hours at least. but what do you think we should be expecting or what are we expecting to see and hear from the president during his last three weeks in office? >> a couple of really key dates. next week, of course, ellison, when the president is expected to travel to georgia on monday to stump for the republican candidates there ahead of the runoff races. an open question is whether senator david perdue who is quarantining after being exposed to somebody with coronavirus will attend those events on monday that the president is going to be at. we don't know yet. he can, of course, go and rally for kelly loeffler. monday evening would be probably one of the first opportunities we'll hear from the president in demgt and in extended remarks in a long time. i'm watching closely for that. of course, january 6th when the vice president is expected to preside over that joint session of congress, the president has sent some kind of cryptic tweets

in the last week or so telling his supporters see you in washington, d.c. on that date. it's not clear from his campaign or other officials whether there's any kind of formal event being planned or a rally, whether the president will go and try to address some of these people who may flock to d.c. we have questions on all that. those are important things. in the last few weeks we know the president has been weighing whether to issue additional pardons of computations. that's something he could still be doing in these waning days as president. >> it's going to be a very busy week for all three of you. through for your time, monica alba, ann gear ran, john allen. four days before the critical senate race and the gop candidates are walking a fine line of standing with the president. how that may or may not play with the voters. this is msnbc. my auntie called me.

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2020 may be hindsight, but the election year is not behind us yet. we're four days away from the georgia runoffs which will determine control of the u.s. senate and the course of president-elect biden's first term. voting is well under way with more than 3 million early votes

cast. senator david perdue is currently in quarantine and off the trail after he was exposed to a staffer who tested positive for covid-19. senator kelly loeffler is walking a delicate tightrope as she faces tough questions about president trump's false claims about voter fraud. pre sis sill la thompson, what is the latest you're hearing from senator perdue's campaign? obviously no candidate wants to skip the last few days they have on the trail. >> reporter: absolutely not, ellison. this is certainly not the position that senator david perdue had hoped to find himself in in these final days. just this week on wednesday, he hit 100 campaign events that he had done in this runoff. he spent the past several weeks crisscrossing across the state campaigning mostly in person, almost entirely in person actually. and now that is going to change

with him going into quarantine, having had this exposure. initially the senator had hoped to hit 125 events by election day. so what we do know is that the senator tweeted last night that he and his wife are feeling great, they are feeling well, and also that he will be kicking off the new year with some virtual campaigning. quite the contrast from what we've seen from him in recent weeks, large events, sometimes inside, largely without masks, now going virtual in these final days. we know his fellow republican senator running, kelly loeffler, will still be on the trail rallying voters for herself and also likely perdue. of course, president trump will be here on monday to stand in support of those two senators. ellison. >> president trump and president-elect joe biden both there on monday. priscil priscilla, tell us more about senator loeffler?

how is she responding to president trump's voter fraud claims. >> reporter: she's tried to remain in lockstep with the president. we've heard her on these claims saying she understands the president's frustration, even going so far last month as to call for the secretary of state here in georgia to resign, keeping in mind that all of the state leadership here are also republicans just like senator loeffler and president trump. one of the things we have not seen her do is call for the governor to resign, even as the president has tweeted that governor kemp should do that. the other thing to think about here is what's going to happen when electors certify those results, certify joe biden on january 6th. senator loeffler was asked about whether she would object to that. take a listen to what she said. >> do you know what you'll do on january 6th --

>> everything is on the table right now. i've said that, i will keep fighting for this president. he's fought for us. he put america first. i have to win on january 5th. i need georgians to turn out and vote. if they're my voice on january 5th, i'll be their voice for years to come in washington and we'll keep fighting for this president. >> reporter: keeping everything on the table as she barrels toward election day. of course, the electoral certification the day after. >> priscilla thompson, thank you very much. i'd like to bring in ceo of the new georgia project so we can keep the focus on the peach state. your project is focused on registering new voters. when you're looking at the turnout that has been really high so far, especially when you consider the fact that this is

not a presidential election, this is a runoff election. we usually see a dip. what do you make of these early voting numbers at this point? >> it's extraordinary. it's history breaking, history making. i'm filled with warm fuzzies when i think about our theory of change being borne out, not only in the november general election but also in these hotly contested super expensive, the most expensive congressional races in the history of american politics and our theory of change about the deep south, about investing in voters in color, about investing in young voters is baring out for the entire country to see. >> i know your group expects to knock on about 2 million doors by the end of this. talk to me about the enthusiasm you're seeing from voters. typically you don't see the same

enthusiasm as you do in a general election. how is it compared to what you saw in november? >> i'm not sure i would describe it as enthusiasm. i think what we're seeing is resolve, from the memes we're seeing, mitch better have my money, to georgia and the leadership and the number of coronavirus vaccines that are going to get into the hands and bodies of georgia residents. i think the people are concerned about the eviction moratorium that's about to end in a couple of days. we're a few days away of knocking on our 2 millionth door, from making our 5 millionth phone call. it's still clear at the top of most georgians' minds, how do i keep myself safe, keep myself

alive, keep myself stable in these extraordinary times. voting in our senate runoffs seems to be one of those things that there's a consensus that those who can work to elect u.s. senators who will go to washington, d.c. and do the work of the people of georgia. >> "new york times" magazine, they have pointed out that historically runoffs have favored republican candidates. the weight that carried biden into office translated into real numbers, was only about 12,000 votes, an amount a runoff could easily shed. how do you, if you're in the democrat position, if you are a democrat looking at this, how do you make sure you keep those gains and how difficult is it to kind of estimate and measure right now whether or not the memes, the resolve, the things you've seen online, whether or not those registrations actually turn into body, people showing

up to cast their ballots come election day, early or in the mail? >> well, the new georgia project has registered half a million woung people and people of color to vote. we are very much able to track whether or not our folks are showing up to vote, the people we've helped register. we can also determine sort of the age breakdown, gender and to a lesser degree of reliability, but still enough to make plans, the race of people that are showing up. we don't have information about people's partisanships. again, what i know and what i'm understanding is that turnout is high across the ideological spectrum. 12,000 votes is not a robust margin. it represented 0.25% of all the people that voted in the november election. that's the nature of battleground state politics,

right? that you fight for every single vote. that you ask for all georgians to show up and vote and you hope they vote for your candidate, et cetera. so in this -- as america's newest swing state, as america's newest battleground state, i suspect that it will be a slog, that people will fight all the way through the fourth quarter until the clock runs out. that's the nature of battleground state politics. >> nse ufot, thank you for that. we appreciate the time. >> thank you. now to a look at the national reckoning that transformed the fight for racial justice this year, exploding with the death of george floyd in may. the protests reached from minneapolis across the u.s. and across the world. cities and suburbs from main street to wall street. it forced many conversations about how race is seen in this country. the question is where do these conversations go in this new

year? msnbc's trymaine lee reports. >> black lives matter! >> reporter: in 2020 america was on fire. >> reporter: from milwaukee to miami, los angeles to louisville, the fires of racial unrest burned furiously, exploding with the police killing of george floyd in minneapolis. >> it was a live execution and the police did that because they want to tell us, we wear this uniform. this is what we can do to you black people. >> i can't breathe, my face. get up. >> reporter: the bystander's cell phone video begins with police restraining a man on a minneapolis street monday night. >> later dying after a white officer kneeled on his neck, the man heard saying "i can't breathe." >> when i watched that officer taking the life of george floyd with his hands in his pockets looking out in that way, it was

apparent to me that he did not think anything would happen to him. >> reporter: in the 7 minutes and 46 seconds it took for floyd to take his last breath, a movement was born and grew into the largest protest for racial justice the u.s. and perhaps the world had ever seen. >> george floyd's story has been the story of black folks, because ever since 401 years ago, the reason we could never be who we wanted and dreamed of being is you kept your knee on our neck. >> reporter: soon after floyd's death, on memorial day, cities across the country began debating policy changes and limits to police power. there's a new call for deep structural reform of policing across the country. many are now demanding departments be defunded,

dismantled or outright abolished. the names of other black people killed by police or white vigilantes added fuel to the fire. >> drawing international attention, ahmaud arbery who is african-american -- >> you can still see some of the bullet holes on the front of breonna taylor's appointment. her family and lawyers told me if anyone else had barged into her apartment and shot and killed her, they would have been charged. >> video of rayshard brook's deadly -- >> protesters amplified calls for justice monday, this time in kenosha, less than 24 hours after police shot jacob blake in the back, causing serious injuries. >> reporter: two days later a white 17-year-old, kyle rittenhouse of illinois shot three protesters, killing two of them. >> he walked by police hands up without being arrested. >> they let him literally go home. there are two justice systems in

america, and that's why people are protesting. >> reporter: he claimed self-defense and was later charged with felony homicide and other charges including reckless endangerment and illegal underage gun possession. the racial unrest of 2020 reshaped how we saw american policing, our politics and even ourselves. did we ultimately get the kind of policy change you think can effectuate some real movement in terms of social and racial justice? >> no. we actually haven't got the policy climate change that's going to -- multiplier yet. >> reporter: the year 2020 also marked the transition with passing of civil rights icons, congressman john lewis and reverent c.t. vivian. both men dedicated their lives to justice, both died on july 17, during the height of the protest. >> when we do form a more perfect union, whether it's

years from now or decades or even if it takes another two centuries, john lewis will be a founding father of that fuller, fairer, better america. [ applause ] >> reporter: the push for equality kept expanding. it crossed racial and class lines and elevated the voices of women and members of the lgbtq community as americans from all walks of life demanded change. >> usa. usa. >> reporter: the movement for black life also spurred a counterreaction with a wink and a nod from president trump. >> proud boys, stand back and stand by -- >> that exchange immediately picked up by the proud boys. one proud boy organizer say, the president basically said to go f them up. >> reporter: the racial justice movement -- the virus

disproportionate killing of black people exposed structural and systemic racism. >> do you believe the epidemic of racism is more threatening than the pandemic? >> yes, of course. we have the pandemic, killing thousands of americans. our country was founded on slavery, founded on killing innocent black men. >> reporter: racial inequality and the rises of hate in america were key voting issues. >> the african-american community stood up again for me. you've always had my back and i'll have yours. >> black lives matter. >> reporter: hollywood and america's multibillion dollar professional sports leagues were forced to confront racism, too. >> we the national football league admit we were wrong for not listening to nfl players earlier and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest. >> reporter: nascar took down con federal flags. baseball and soccer players stood in solidarity with black

players. the women of the wnba helped lead the way. nba players forced the cancellation of games to protest the ongoing killings of black people by police. the league joined them adding black lives matter to nba hardwood and allowing players to add pro black slogans to their game jerseys. >> collectively athletes felt much more empowered. the whole mask came off in this country. you can't unsee what you've seen. >> reporter: the fiefrs res of burned hot. the question remains, will we still feel the heat in 2021 and beyond? >> our tran, to tray main lee. can we learn any lessons from the brits as vaccines hit delays in their country? this is msnbc. proof of less joint pain

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doctors in the uk are pushing back on the decision to delay administering the second dose of the pfizer vaccine. uk health officials said they would prioritize giving as many people their first dose of the vaccine as quickly as possible which could push back the second dose by up to 12 weeks. on thursday, andrea mitchell asked the nation's top infectious disease expert if the u.s. should be following what the brits are doing to get more people covered right away. >> you have to remember that, when you're doing things like administering vaccinations, you warrant to do it based on the science. yes, there is the advantage that, if you do that, you can stretch out the number of doses you have. but we do not know really with any certainty based on the trials that were done, what the durability of a single dose would be. if you get a single dose, it really is not a guarantee that you're going to get the second dose available to somebody at

exactly the same time that they need it. >> nbc's sarah harman is joining us from london. sarah, uk health officials there seaing they want to get at many at-risk people vaccinated as soon as possible. but do other doctors, other health care workers, the manufacturers, do they agree with this plan? >> hi, ellison. yeah, concern is growing about the uk government's plan to essentially invent its own vaccination schedule. lengthening the window from 21 days which is the schedule that pfizer trialed to as much as 12 weeks. pressure is growing. just in the last hour the uk's chief medical officers collectively released a letter essentially laying out their justification and saying this is a public health issue. we've also heard from doctors associations here in the uk who say, firstly, this undermines

the consent process and also, it's not what the science says is best. pfizer has also spoken out saying that this new vaccination schedule is not the one they trialed and they don't know if it's safe or effective. so concern is growing also among the doctors here who are going to have to give these vaccines and tell people who got their first dose three weeks ago, surprise, you're not getting the second one, because starting on monday, people who would have been coming in for that second dose are going to have their appointments canceled and be told you're going to wait so we can get this first shot to as many people as possible. ellison. >> fascinating stuff. the world is certainly watching that. sarah harman, thank you so much. from sunscreen to cell phones to your state-issued id. a new year means new laws taking effect. more on those changes next. we wanted to check in with some of the heroes of 2020, the

frontline workers from lessons learned to hopes for the new year. >> this year has been filled with a lot of really hard lessons. >> to just make every moment, every minute of your day memorable. >> not to take the little things for granted. >> to appreciate family and loved ones. >> that i am more resilient and i have more fight in me than i ever imagined. >> what i want us to have learned from this experience -- >> social justice, on equity for all, and that is one of the most amazing things of 2020. i'm hoping that doesn't die in 2020, that that will continue and it will continue to grow. >> that we don't go back to normal. >> to contend with some of those deep-rooted issues. >> we've needed that for so long. >> don't let this world harden your heart. >> just really love one another and take care of each other. >> we can get through anything. >> no matter what comes in 2021,

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skip to cold relief fast. alka-seltzer plus power max gels. with 25% more concentrated power. oh, what a relief it is! so fast! a new year brings with it a slate of new laws. joining me now, nbc's catie beck to break down what we can expect

in 2021. catie, what's changed, what should our viewers be on the lookout for? >> reporter: hey, ellison. i think the law that most people should know the most about right now, at least on a national level, is the real i.d. deadline. it is approaching. it will be coming in october of this year. if you are going to be boarding an airplane, you are going to need a real i.d. compliant driver's license, a passport, or a military i.d. in order to board. this is an idea that's been kicked around since 9/11 as an additional layer of security with the airlines and is actually coming to fruition, we're told, this year in october. so that extra layer of protection is going to have three stars on the real i.d. on your driver's license and indicates that you've gone through that screening. folks that have travel plans next year, and we expect a lot of people will for the holidays, they're going to want to get this done before october. another thing that seems to be trending right now in terms of

laws changing in 2021 is distracted driving. a lot of states are doing what they can to curb that. virginia and arizona today making it illegal to have a phone in your hand while driving. you can be pulled over and you can be ticketed if you are texting on the phone and seen by an officer. >> catie, are there any other more unusual laws taking effect this year? >> reporter: there are a few. hawaii really wins the prize. it is the first state ever to ban the sale and distribution of sunscreen, which seems odd because it is hawaii. but the reason they're doing that is they say dollar harmful chemicals in these products that are hurting the marine life and coral reef that they need to protect. so they're actually banning the sale and distribution of sunscreens. another interesting one is out of illinois. in the state of illinois, if you were born in 2021 or adopted in 2021, the state is going to put $50 into an investment account for you to use towards your college tuition.

the state says while this is not a huge sum of money, they hope it will encourage parents to continue contribute to ing to t fund and have something growing there by the time college approaches now, with the rates of colleges tuition going up. >> fascinating stuff, catie beck, thank you so much. that does it for this hour. my colleague jo ling kent picks you want coveragpicks up the co. the strain of covid is pushing the health care system in california to the breaking point. lifornia to the breaking point. eart isn't just yours. protect it with bayer aspirin. be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. up to one million dollarsx in new scholarships through this month, because hope fuels opportunity.

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good morning, i'm jo ling kent here in los angeles. happy new year and welcome to "msnbc live." we've made it to 2021 but our country is still facing the same crises with the coronavirus pandemic, and the calamities that have come with it. while we're in the final weeks of president trump's term, he seems preoccupied by last ditch attempts to extend his time in office rather than dealing with the pandemic that experts say could become worse in the coming weeks. nbc's steve patterson is on the ground here in los angeles where the coronavirus is pushing hospitals to the brink. nbc's kelly o'donnell is outside the white house.