blackstock, ali, and josh, thank you all so much for joining us. i want to bring in senator dick durbin of illinois. he is the senate minority whip and member of the judiciary committee. senator, thank you so much for your time tonight. we're going to talk a little bit about the vote that is before the senate. but before we do, covid cases breaking records around the country. i want you to take a listen to what mark meadows said about it today. >> here's what we have to do. we're not going to control the pandemic. we are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics, and other mitigation -- >> why aren't we going to get ahold of the pandemic? >> because it is a contagious virus, just like the flu -- z u >> but why not make efforts to contain it? >> we are making efforts to contain it. >> by runni ning all over the country, not wearing a mask? that's what the vice president is doing. >> senator, what does it say to you that the white house admits they're not even trying to contain this virus. >> alicea, this president has no shame for

blackstock, advancing equity founder and ceo. monica, i want to start with you and talk about the dust-up we have been seeing between dr. fauci and the trump campaign. dr. fauci saying that some sound that the trump campaign used sort of paints a rosier picture of the way that dr. fauci interpreted the trump campaign's response to this virus. what are you hearing from the white house? >> yeah, this is a significant development, alicia in the relationship that at times has been strained between the infectious disease expert, dr. fauci, and president trump, who during the beginning of the pandemic had dr. fauci as one of his closest medical advisers who was by his side and often briefing on the health crisis. we have seen a major shift in that strategy in the last three or four months as dr. fauci continues to be media appearances and interviews but is no longer the closest medical expert and aide to the president. that now is dr. scott atlas, as you saw was at that event on saturday at the white house, not wearing a mask or face c

uche blackstock. dr. blackstock is a yahoo! news medical contributor. also the founder and ceo of advancing health equity. she's also an emergency room physician. and dr. blackstock, let's start with that stark warning from dr. fauci about thanksgiving. how concerned are you? what advice do you have for people who are considering getting together in some capacity for the holiday? >> well, first, thank you for having me, craig. i can't even echo that er physician's warnings enough. as we've seen these small social gatherings have been driving up infections across the country over the last few weeks, i understand, i want to see my own family, too, but, you know, my recommendation also is that thanksgiving should be an occasion with immediate household members and to not involve extended family, that's multi-generational. you have other individuals who are older and at risk for being infected and doing poorly, and like that physician said, they may end up in the intensive care unit by christmas. and that's all preventable. >> dr. blackstock, state official

blackstock, why is the sharp rise in cases happening now?reasons one, we never got our cases down to acceptable levels over the summer. so we started from a rather high plateau. the other issue is that the cold weather, the virus loves the colder weather. more people are socializing indoors. we've also seen an increase in smaller social gatherings with family and friends over the last few weeks to months as people have been enduring pandemic fatigue. all these factors are leading to this third surge in cases during this time of the year. >> the president says cases are up because they're testing on an increasing basis. yes, that is absolutely true, but also, along with that, along with the rise in cases yorks view this. hospitalizations are up 46% since the start of this month. how concerned are you about this particular headline there? >> incredibly concerned. often what we see is a lag in two to four weeks. we have cases and then an increase in hospitalizations and then followed by death. so these -- as you mentioned, this increase in hosp

blackstock. he has certainly in my opinion done all that david just said. but questioning the doctor, is this appropriate behavior, for a doctor to engage in deciding he wants to give a different message for whatever reason, political or whatever he thought he was doing, is this the right behavior for a medical doctor? >> thank you for having me on, reverend al. so, what we've seen is a total lack of transparency in terms of the communication about the president's health status. a lot of conflicting messages. we were told that he is doing very well and he had a mild symptoms. but at the same time, he's had fevers. his oxygen level has gone down twice to dangerously low levels. he's been given experimental medications. >> right. >> as well as other medications we know are typically given to patients who have moderate to severe symptoms. what this is doing is confusing the public and worrying us even more about what is the real situation, what is his accurate condition. we don't know. >> if someone is given oxygen twice and the other things that they have sai

blackstock. thank you all. coming up, with the president's diagnosis, the future of the presidential debates is very much in doubt. so, what will the lasting legacy from this week's debate be? we'll talk about it. >>> plus, i'll talk with texas congressman joaquin castro about the bill just passed on covid-19 on the hill. richard. >> hey, alicia, thank you for that. the glass fire in california's wine country continues to burn out of control. the fire has destroyed more than 60,000 acres and is less than 10% contained. nearly 100,000 have been forced to evacuate the napa valley area. >>> another nfl game has been postponed due to the coronavirus. this time, the patriots and the chiefs. however, the league is hoping to play the game either monday or tuesday. new england's new quarterback, cam newton, reportedly tested positive, along with a chiefs player. this is the second nfl game this week to be rescheduled because of players testing positive. >>> and tonight, "saturday night live" is back here at 30 rock, li

uche blackstock, thank you for joining us.ts she makes, what you don't know about coronavirus seven months in, and it's possible there is stuff we don't know, let's read up. let's understand how this thing spreads. >>> when we come back, brand-new poll numbers collected right after the debate. i'll get reaction from ohio senator sherrod brown, and i have move of my conversations with ohio voters. ohio voters ever since i got this little guy, i felt like i was just constantly cleaning up his hair. then, i got my paws on the swiffer sweeper. it's a game changer. these heavy duty dry cloths pick up a crazy amount of hair! this is all you. we stopped cleaning and started swiffering. >>> good morning. each ali velshi. we have breaking news. a brand-new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll shows joe biden taking a huge lead in the national head-to-head against president trump. biden now ahead of trump nationally

blackstock, always good to see you. thanks so much. >> thank you, fred. take care. >> be withell. >>> a democrat threatens a strongho stronghold. could jaime harrison unseat senator lindsey graham? ♪ whoa! ♪ i feel good ♪ i knew that i would, now ♪ i feel good ♪ get a dozen double crunch shrimp for one dollar with any steak entrée. only at applebee's. such as high blood pressure,ve pdiabetes, and asthma.s with any steak entrée. this administration and senate republicans want to overturn laws requiring insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing conditions. they're rushing a lifetime appointment to the supreme court to change the law through the courts. 70% of americans want to keep protections for pre-existing conditions in place. tell our leaders in washingtn to stop playing games with our healthcare. how will we do it, at a time we've been asked that before. and through pandemics, and depressions, wars that split a nation, and fractured the world. americans have always found a way to vote and make their voices heard. so stand with the national

uche blackstock. founder and ceo of the group advancing health equity. doctor, it's nice to talk to you. thank you. >> thank you for having me. >> so much talk about the big cities yet, your focus, now, on the small towns. out in the heartland >> exactly i think, you know, we are seeing a surge that i feel like could have been avoidable. and we're seeing it, as a result of multiple, small gatherings. families getting together. and -- and as -- as mentioned in the earlier segment, we definitely have to be concerned about going into halloween, thanksgiving, christmas. having more indoor gatherings and seeing hospitalizations increase, as a result. >> you know, looking at newspapers and websites, all over the country, today. long island, a sweet 16 party. a superspreader. a wedding, out west. a family get-together, down south. people are covid weary they want to see their people. what do you tell them? >> i know. and i -- i get it. i get it you know i wanted to see my family, too my father's in florida i haven't seen him in a very long audio titime because

uche blackstock joining us.insight into all of this. >> good to see you this morning. >>> the confirmation hearing for amy coney barrett gets under way tomorrow. up next, the key questions and the most contentious issues that may arise. what could jeopardize her chances of landing on the high court? don't settle for silver #1 for diabetic dry skin* #1 for psoriasis symptom relief* and #1 for eczema symptom relief* gold bond champion your skin could protect you from cancer? what if one push-up could prevent heart disease? one wishful thinking, right? but there is one step adults 65 or older can take to help prevent another serious disease - pneumococcal pneumonia. one dose of the prevnar 13® vaccine can help protect you from this bacterial lung disease that may even put you in the hospital. it's not a yearly shot. prevnar 13® is used in adults to help prevent infections from 13 strains of the bacteria that cause pneumococcal pneumonia. don't get prevnar 13® if you've had a severe allergic reaction to the vaccine

blackstock, yahoo! new medical contributor and founder of ceo of advancing health equity. anna, politico playbook says washington is getting a brutal covid reality with this news over the past 18 hours or so, does this grind the capitol to the halt? >> it hasn't so far. what we're trying to get across is oftentimes washington feels a little devoid of reality and right now you're really seeing covid-19 come to the capital, come to washington, the white house, senator mike lee has tested positive. i think there's heightened concern around next week's hearings around the supreme court nomination, there's no mandatory testing in the capitol right now, they're saying the positions, assistant physician to the capital say they're going to have increased testing, no mandatory testing. this at the same time, we don't have a code relief bill -- >> why don't we have mandatory testing on the capitol hill. it's co-equal branch of government, they don't have the same protocols or procedures that they have at the white house. >> 100%. these are people in the succession line, right, if yo

blackstock, you hear it now, the reporter asking has he been on oxygen and the doctor saying he is not on it right now. what does that tell you? >> what that tells me is that there probably was a chance that he was on oxygen and for patients with covid-19, one of the concerning and more serious signs is when the oxygen level gets low. and so if trump's oxygen had actually gone down and he required supplemental oxygen, that tells us he had a deterioration in his condition and what we know is that is an indicator for poor prognosis and that he needs to be monitored very, very closely. >> erin, this is a story about transparency, it is a story about health, it is a story about government continuity and it also comes against the backdrop of an election and so i wonder what this news means both for the trump campaign and for the biden and harris campaign. >> the diagnosis is laying out the reality of the pandemic, both on the campaign trail and in the lives of millions of americans, whether they ever get sick or not. you saw joe biden taking down, you know, his i guess we could say attack a

so let's speak to uche blackstock — she's an emergency medicine physician and a yahoo news medical contributortes to test before the debate. and both of them tested negative, so what can we say about that. the thinking is that if he was with displaying symptoms yesterday, he could have been shedding virus for a number of days. yes. he could have been shedding the virus probably most often within three to five days before he was actually diagnosed. so the chances are either it was too early or the test to pick up that he was positive or it may have been a false negative. but the fact is that your infectious for several days even before you start having symptoms. infectious for several days even before you start having symptomsm now he is is isolated, what does that mean for the way he goes about hisjob in the that mean for the way he goes about his job in the west wing and in the white house? does he have to be com pletely white house? does he have to be completely isolated from other staff looking after him and feeding him and trying to give him briefings all have to be in ppe? how does the wo

blackstock, the president's been promising a vaccine. he initially said by november, by election day, by the end of the year. doesn't seem like any of that's going to happen. a number of the major trials have about not stopped for some reasons that are quite normal. in fact, people need to understand this. when developing a vaccine, the right thing has happened. they have found an abnormality in two of the trials. they've stopped it. they may figure it out and get back on track. that's why you don't rush vaccines. you want to make sure that they're entirely safe. >> exactly. what i would say to everyone is, you know, trust the process. the process that's in place for vaccine development is a process that has worked for decades. and this is part of the process especially with regard to safety and efficacy of the vaccine, that we do need to take our time with. and what we're seeing now in terms of the adverse events coming up, these are to be expected. we need to trust the process so that when a vaccine is approved, that, you know, america

uche blackstock, carol lee, thank you both for joining us. appreciate that. >>> as the president rests at home, today joe biden will give a speech in gettysburg, pennsylvania. the former vice president will use that site of a bloody civil war battle that marked a turning point in the war to call on americans to come together. that speech will come just a day before his running mate, senator kamala harris will meet vice president mike pence on the debate stage. that will be their first and only head-to-head meeting. nbc's garrett haake is in gettysburg where the former vice president will be today. garrett, we showed some of those poll numbers from pennsylvania. this is a state that's obviously very important to electoral math. what's joe biden trying to achieve there today? >> reporter: 20 electoral votes up for grabs in pennsylvania, probably the second biggest of the traditional swing states after florida, a very big deal. this trip is not just about pennsylvania. for the biden campaign, this is about framing the last four weeks of the elec