joining me now, jared polis, governor of colorado. governor, good to see you. thank you for your time this evening. let me ask you about this new variant. it was a national guard member who tested positive for the new variant, first one in the country. apparently this person has not traveled, so it's literally impossible that they're the first case of the new variant in the united states. they're just the first case that we've been able to identify. what's your sense? was there something about your testing system that made this the first state to spot the variant? >> well, i'm proud of our colorado scientists and our state lab, and i think i speak on behalf of all the governors as well as every american in expressing gratitude for the role the national guard has played. they've manned testing facilities, helped staff nursing homes. they're doing an amazing job. look, i don't think anybody knows exactly how it got here. i think when we found the first case of the variant yesterday, we knew that it was already here. i think it's probably in every state, even more

jared polis is the governor of colorado. joining us now is dr. atul ga juandy, a professor at the harvard school of public health. he's the guy we need to talk to. dr. ga juandy, thank you for taking time for us tonight. if you could help me with understanding the exponential nature of the spread of a vaccine. so the idea that this vaccine might be 50% more infectious or more contagious is much, much worse than it being 50% more fatal. >> you're talking about the variant. yes. >> yes. correct. thank you. >> yes. the most important thing about it being more contagious is that it doesn't necessarily mean it is more likely to cause serious illness or death. and yet because it is more contagious, it will fill our hospitals faster. you'll see more people in the icu, and you'll see more people die. and we've seen that happening in the uk. we're already maxing out hospitals -- a quarter of the hospital icus are filled or near full. that is a concerning situation to say the least. >> we were talking to the health director of los angeles county last night

i want to bring in colorado's governor jared polis, who is joining us now. governor, thanks for joining us. we appreciate it. i want to start with this confirmed case of the new coronavirus strain in your state that caught a lot of people by surprise although i guess not that surprising. the individual had no travel history from what we understand. has the presence of this new, more contagious variant in your state, led to some renewed vigilance? what do you make of that? >> well, i think everybody across the country expected that it was here. it's probably more prevalent in areas that have even more travel to the uk like new england and mid-atlantic. we were thrilled that colorado scientists were the first to find the variant. i fully expect that other states will discover it present among their population in the coming days. i believe there's some initial news out of other states as well. so you know, good triumph for colorado scientists. yes, does it concern us? absolutely. the documentation, the science out of the uk models a higher spread rate, greater

>> i don't know what jared polis' heart is.is that god's people are being discriminated against and this country was founded on freedom of religion and of assembly and i think there is a reason why the supreme court has said they're going to look at this case. leland: this is what justice gorsuch has written in the past about these issues. while the pandemic poses many grave challenges there is no world in which the constitution tolerates color-coded executive edicts that reopen liquor stores and bike shops but shutter churches, synagogues and mosques. do you come at this from a unique perspective given your background in the military and time you spent overseas defending our freedoms. did you think you would have to fight for the freedom to worship in court? >> i was born and raised in colorado. i'm a native. i was born and raised in boulder colorado, the most liberal part of colorado. leland: yeah. >> no, i, i never dreamed that i would be in this position right now but i mean, i've got a job to do and that's to allow, and yo

it's why we are so fortunate to be joined tonight by colorado's democratic governor jared polis. jared, let's start on a personal note. how are you and the first gentleman doing? and are you any closer? are you sure of where you might have picked this up? >> so, i'm nearing the end of what i need to quarantine. thank goodness. i didn't develop any significant symptoms. my partner marlin, however, did have some breathing trouble really after seven or eight days after he got it. at the advice of our doctor he went to the hospital. we're very grateful for that. he only spent two nights there. he's on steroids and it's helping with the inflammation. we're all doing fine, brian. thanks for checking in. that means that hopefully, or marlin is not entirely out of the woods yet, hopefully we're among the lucky ones. >> did contact tracing work in your case? were you able to piece it back together? >> well, i think it worked in the sense that i don't believe that we exposed anybody else because we knew that we had potentially been exposed. whether we got -- how we got it, whether it was f

it's why we are so fortunate to be joined tonight by colorado's democratic governor jared polis.'s start on the personal note. how are you and the first gentleman doing? and are you any closer? are you sure of where you might have picked this up? >> i'm nearing the end of when i need to quarantine. thank goodness, i didn't really develop any significant symptoms. my partner, however, did have some breathing trouble really 7 or 8 days after he got it. and at the advice of our doctor he went to the hospital. we're grateful for that. he's on steroids and we're all doing fine. hopefully -- marlon's not out of the woods entirely yet, but hopefully we're one of the lucky ones. i think it worked in the sense i don't believe we exposed anyone else because we knew we had potentially been exposed, how we got it whether it was from that or something else obviously no one will know, but it was around thanksgiving, so at least in a couple of days where we were contagious there's no one else in that direct chain of exposure. so, you know, we're grateful. but what's really important is everybod

the governor of the state of colorado —jared polis — tweeted, the person who tested positive is a mant would link him to the uk. the number of infections in the united kingdom reported in 2a hours has risen steeply to another record. 0ne senior medical officer has expressed extreme concern at the situation. official data puts the figure at 53,135 new coronavirus cases in the latest 24—hour period. and a14 deaths were reported. this report from our health correspondent catherine burns includes flash photography. we all wanted to have a few days off over christmas but instead have been asked to come back to work. this time, it's a wave. this time, we've seen a massive increase. if we continue with the current rate of admissions, we are very, very close to becoming overwhelmed. so it is affecting anyone and everyone. people are just beginning to be exhausted, it's been such a long year. doctors and nurses from the nhs front line telling us what it's like to deal with a pandemic that, after months and months of hard work, is getting worse. queens hospital in romford today — 20 ambulances

the governor of the state of colorado, jared polis, tweeted: since the uk authorities first announcedin canada, australia and japan, as well as other european countries. in the uk, the number of infections reported in 2a hours has risen steeply to another record. 0ne senior medical officer has expressed "extreme concern" at the situation. official data puts the figure at 53,135 new coronavirus cases in the latest 24—hour period. and a14 deaths were reported. this report from our health correspondent catherine burns includes flash photography. we all wanted to have a few days off over christmas, but instead have been asked to come back to work. this time, it's a wave. this time, we've seen a massive increase. if we continue with the current rate of admissions, we're very close to becoming overwhelmed. it is affecting anyone and everyone. people are just exhausted, it's been such a long year. doctors and nurses from the nhs front line telling us what it's like to deal with a pandemic that, after months of hard work is getting worse. queens hospital in romford in essex today — 20 ambulan

earlier, i spoke to the colorado state governor, jared polis, who said he doesn't think the variant isthe united kingdom. but nevertheless we expect that this virus is likely in many states. colorado scientists were the first to discover the variance, isolated, it's a triumph for them. it was an individual who is part of our colorado national guard. we fully expect that it's already here, as indicated with so much travel and commerce between our two nations. we also know that it's not whether prevalent because we've also been analysing the strains are a number of cases, it's not yet the predominant strain in this part of our country but i can certainly vouch for it being the case. as you're saying it's probably been seeded for travellers in november and december, tell me about the measures you put in place since you became aware of its presence there in colorado. we've requested from the national authority to have a temporary halt to visitation for nursing homes for residents. they are being inoculate and now, nursing home should be inoculated by january 11. but for this last month and

colorado state governor, jared polis, said he didn't think the variant is widely prevalent in the us.wanted from the united kingdom. but nevertheless, we suspect this virus is likely in many states. the variant, isolate it — at a triumph for them, colorado scientists were the first to discover the variant, isolate it — at a triumph for them, it was part of our colorado national guard. we fully expect that it is already here, as you indicated, there's so much travel and commerce between our two nations. we also know that it's not widely prevalent, because we've also been analysing strains on a number of cases, and it's not yet the predominant strain in our country. i think in colorado, about one in six coloradans have had covid at this point, and nationally it's one in five. and you know, we are fortunate to be among the lucky ones. i had very mild symptoms, and my partner had to be hospitalised for two days. he was fine and we're all back to full fighting form. but we're among the lucky ones, and the most important thing for folks is to wear masks, avoid parties or being with others t

. >> reporter: colorado governor, jared polis, recovering from covid.ck and rushed to the hospital. posting on facebook, i experienced a worsening cough and shortness of breath. my doctor suggested, as a precaution, i go to the hospital. this, as experts warn it's about to get worse. >> and the situation is that, as we enter now, from the thanksgiving-holiday season into the christmas-holiday season, it's going to be challenging. >> reporter: some hope, seemingly, around the corner. pfizer's vaccine expected to get emergency authorization for the u.s. food and drug administration, which meets thursday. but according to a cnn analysis, the first shipments will fall short of what 27 states need to vaccinate their priority group. frontline health care workers and the elderly. according to the surgeon general, nearly half of all covid deaths are among those in long-term care facilities or are older. >> we want to make sure we are giving it to the people who are most likely to die from this virus. we, also, want our healthcare workers who are on the front li

reopening their economy and so was colorado, one a red state, the other a blue state with governor jared poli polis'. but essentially murdering georgia voters, you didn't get that for governor -- what kind of bias have we seen from the media on its coverage of the coronavirus? >> i think the three of us can agree that seven months of media touting cuomo and newsom as the adults in the room on covid is the equivalent of suggesting that hilaria should be the ambassador to spain and! these two go -- >> lisa: she might be under biden. who knows... >> proven that you might not be able to give everybody help, but you can sure put the fear into them. not only those who are fearful of getting covid and not being able to get a vaccine and those who are genuinely concerned about their health. but equally, the restaurant owners, the waiters and waitresses, shopkeepers, their employees who are concerned that their jobs are going to be gone. it is why you see ultimately folks voting with their feet. the two states that have led the migration out of their state is california and new york. most states, the

. >> reporter: colorado governor jared polis recovering from covid, his husband also sick and rushed to the hospital, posting on facebook, i experienced a worsening cough and shortness of breath. my doctor suggested as a precaution i go to the hospital. this as experts warn it's about to get worse. >> the situation is that as we enter now from the thanksgiving holiday season into the christmas holiday season, it's going to be challenging. >> reporter: some hope seemingly around the corner. pfizer's vaccine expected to get emergency authorization from the u.s. food & drug administration which meets thursday. but according to a cnn analysis, the first shipments will fall short of what 27 states need to vaccinate their priority group, front line health care workers and the elderly. according to the surgeon general, more than half of covid deaths are those in long-term care facilities or those who are older. >> we want to make sure we give this to the people most likely to die from this virus. >> reporter: now, another warning factor, dr. anthony fauci today warned that people could stil

governor jared polis joins me now. thank you.appy to hear your partner marlon is home from the hospital. how is he feeling? how are you doing? >> he's great. he's just across the room watching us in our home studio. he's relieved to be home. the kids are glad he's home. we're all just so glad he's back. he was one of the luckier ones. he only had two days in the hospital and thankfully, he's not perfect but feeling a lot better and we're just, he wants everybody to wear masks and avoid others so people don't have to go through what he went through or first. >> it brings a smile on my face to know. 18 years, man, you're in it. >> when you come down to colorado sometime, you'll have to meet him. he's a wonderful man. >> and the kids. thank you. i appreciate it. do you have any idea how you were both infected with the virus? >> we had an exposure that we knew about. there were a couple of exposures that were at a greater distance and then of course, it could have been anywhere. nobody can tell exactly where they get it. there are ce

in colorado, governor jared polis disputing reports that inmates in his state could receive a vaccinehe state's distribution plan does have prisoners ahead of the general public. >> prison systems, similar to nursing homes, have tightly congregated individuals who are unable to socially distance. >>> there scheduled to meet next thursday to discuss the request for emergency use. once a vaccine is approved, it can be shipped out and the immunizations could begin within a day or two. they announced approval for the pfizer vaccine today putting extra pressure on fda officials. >> you look at the statistical output. >> we are seeing more than 90,000 hospitalizations nationwide. a new record. california officials say hospitalizations there could triple by christmas. cizek rhode island, new york, and wisconsin, have opened overflow facilities and hotspot areas to handle the surge. >> we do have a very sophisticated plan in place to be able to calibrate down word on our surgeries further. if we need to's, to accommodate additional patients. >>> an additional 23 million healthcare workers wil

just take a look at the colorado governor, jared polis, waiting for his state's first shipment >> anyute now we're going to hear a doorbell is that -- that's not a doorbell, that's a knock, but okay. and then we're going to of course let the vaccine in. [ doorbell ] oh, there we go! this is the pfizer vaccine, arriving here in colorado to end the pandemic [ laughter ] >> jimmy: it got awkward when the delivery guy was like, "hemorrhoid cream for governor polis? did you guys hear about this yesterday, it came out that white house staffers would get the vaccine early. but then trump backtracked and tweeted that they wouldn't come on, just give it to them. what's the difference? there's only three people left working in the white house anyway yeah, trump said his people don't need any special treatment, then he went back to pardoning all of them. some more news from washington government officials say that russians managed to hack homeland security, along with the u.s. treasury and commerce departments. americans heard that and they were like, that's all? it must have been russia's bring

colorado governor jared polis is joining me now.state last week announced it had ordered about 46,000 doses of the pfizer vaccine. do you expect to get that many doses? is that enough? when is this going to start? >> we ordered enough for everybody. over 5 million doses but what we are told the first shipment will have which is the fiepfizer vaccine, hopefully, sunday or monday, colorado will get 46,800 which is share of the national population that colorado has, they are being distributed by population. do i have 100% we will get that many? no. but we are still being told that by the federal government up the sly chain so i'm hopeful. >> we are hopeful too. i know you plan to vaccinate high risk health care workers and long-term care facility residents and staff. tell us how will this unfold. >> it's focused on saving lives and ending the crisis. the people who are in the covid wards providing care, nurses, doctors, they will be among the very first to get it. then really focusing on the folks who live in residential care and nursi

so let's go to colorado right now and talk with colorado's democratic governor jared polis.d evening, sir. good to see you. how are you and your husband doing since this because you both came down with it, right? >> thanks, don. yeah, we're fully recovered. i had an easier time of it. marlon spent two nights in the hospital, but we're all fully recovered. we have the blessing of health, and like everybody i think we're all ready to move on to the next year. but 2020 still wants to leave us with a new potentially more contagious variant. >> that's what i want to talk to you about. i know now you're looking to protect the people so that they don't end up getting the virus if it can be prevented. so this new coronavirus variant in your state is even more contagious. how are you going to handle a potential surge because hospitals are already packed, haven't even seen the christmas spike yet, governor. >> well, look, this variant likely exists in many states, particularly states that have a lot of travel with england like in mid-atlantic, new england region. colorado scientists w

. >> governor jared polis, thank you very much for giving us all the information from colorado today. >> thank you. take care. >> you, too. jim? >>> this just into cnn. dr. anthony fauci making news moments ago about a new plan to hold back second doses of both the pfizer and moderna vaccines, remember they require two shots, to get more americans vaccinated now as the rollout has slowed. have a listen. >> 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. >> joining us now dr. megan ranney, the director of the brown life span center for digital health and she's also an emergency gs physician. dr. ranney, always good to have you on. i'm curious what your reaction is to that plan. it's a risky plan. it speaks to the delay because we are well behind where this administration said we would be at this point, but there is a risk. if you give everybody a dose now, you would need to then manufacture enough doses to meet the deadline in effect after,

is taking far too we will leave this program at this point to go live to colorado where governor jared polis is giving a pandemic response update. you are watching live coverage on c-span2. >> a number of new cases today, preliminary numbers 2451 in colorado, and that is with 24,000 people tested. what we've seen the last few days, perhaps to the holidays is a number of people tested has gone dead. we want to encourage anybody with symptoms come flulike, cold like symptoms please get tested. it's much better to identify this early, , prevent unnecessay risk for your loved ones and family members and others and get the treatment you need if you need treatment. we couldn't have just over 1000 people hospitalized in our state for coronavirus, and we also mourn the death extent it can gnosis them to the 3009 at one coloradans who have died from covid. we have over 4750 4750 people e died with covid at 3901 that have died because of covid. we were also over 84,000 vaccines administered. we are an main the top 45 states for vaccines administered per capita, for population. we are proud of that pee

. >> that's the colorado governor jared polis who was just giddy for the arrival of the covid vaccinest of us. the first shipments of the pfizer vaccine were delivered across the country today, and shortly thereafter health care workers like this group in ohio became the first people in the u.s. to be inoculated against the coronavirus. nearly 3 million doses are expected to be delivered to more than 600 locations by the end of the week. sandra lindsey, who is a critical care nurse at the long island jewish medical center in queens was the first person to receive the vaccine this morning. >> i feel hopeful today. i'm relieved. i feel like healing is coming. i hope this marks the beginning to the end of the very painful time in our history. i want to instill public confidence that the vaccine is safe. we're in a pandemic, and so we all need to do our part. >> just seeing these health care workers able to get the vaccine is a real reason for optimism, but of course as everyone keeps saying, as she said, as lori lightfoot said, there is just a long way to go to curb the spread and keep t

that he had during the search because it was quote for the show unexpectedly colorado governor jared poliscouple yesterday and this was a dad's reaction. >>we're going great use thinking wow haha it was amazing. it but i got to say it really made my day. >>despite his wife admitted to the plot. he still maintains that it wasn't a hoax and says that they want to move on with their lives. >>never forget that one. new cdc study meanwhile is shedding light on where you are most likely to contract covid-19 the agency says based on contact tracing small indoor and household gatherings are where the virus is spreading the fastest. cdc also found people who tested positive for covid we're twice as likely to have eaten at a restaurant in the past 2 weeks compared to those who did not test positive. they didn't say indoor dining or outdoor dining they just said restaurants experts say key underlying factors for high transmission rates is the amount of time spent indoors with no masks and little to no ventilation. scientists are urging people to perform a daily smell test at home to help determine if

first colorado governor jared polis will update the situation including the discovery of a new variantof the disease that has been found in colorado. that is live at noon eastern on c-span2. later, governor roy cooper briefs reporters, discuss the effect of viruses on the tar heel state. watch that live starting at 2:00 pm eastern. you can watch both online on c-span.org or listen live with our free c-span radio apps. a look at the us capitol where the senate will gavilan at 3:00 pm eastern for speeches. at 5 there will be a live quorum call to bring senators to the chamber so they can begin work on the override of donald trump's veto of the 2021 defense programs and policy bill. watch that live on your home for the u.s. senate c-span2. >> the people and events patel the aman

. >>> over in colorado governor jared polis is about to hold a news conference as state health officialsow suspect they found a is being case of the okay crown crone variant. reporter: jackie, the first case came to light yesterday. they believe they found a second local case after variant of the uk in colorado. according to county health officials in colorado, both confirmed case and new suspected case involved men working at the good samaritan society facility in simla, 45 minutes northeast of colorado springs. neither are residents of elbert county. both are residing outside of the county. there is no indication that this point the event gone beyond the facility and the larger community. we're expecting to hear more on all of this from the come governor in a press conference sometime this hour. now the confirmed case is a man in his 20s who apparently hasn't traveled anywhere and so investigators are working on contact tracing to try to figure out who else might have been infected. it is believed this new strain to be as much as 70% more contagious than previous strains. but thankfull

adults with pre-existing conditions as well as the general public, colorado's democratic governor jared poliso human being should be denied the vaccine so no prisoner should be placed ahead of others just because they are prisoner. bottom line, these are the obstacles stay safe with the distribution plan, you will not make everybody happy, you need a plan and it's going to be different where you live. stuart: it is not easy, that's a fact. lauren: controversial. stuart: florida is the third state to hit the 1 million case load level, rick scott republican from florida joins us now. first of all i know you had the virus, how are you feeling now. >> i am fine, i had a very mild case, we're doing fine and i'm back in d.c. working trying to make sure we don't allow the government to get shut down and we don't waste your dollars. stuart: were very glad to hear that, governor desantis in florida says he will not shut down florida despite the rising caseload, our floridians comfortable with that decision? >> absolutely, we don't want to shut down our economy, this is your own personal responsibility

governor jared polis' morning residence there that this new strain is considered to be "significantly more contagious than the original virus. the discovery comes as president-elect joe biden accuses the trump administration of falling short of its goal to vaccinate 20 million americans by the end of the year. >> the trump administration's plan to distribute vaccines is falling far behind. as i long feared and warned the effort to distribute and administer the vaccine is not progressing as it should. the pace of the vaccination program is moving now and continues to move as it is now, it's going to take years, not months, to vaccinate the american people. >> jon: for more on elvis let's bring in fox news contributor guy benson. i suppose it's traditional may be for incoming presidents to criticize a person who is about to leave office but what do you think of joe biden's criticism, is this vaccine rollout slower than it really should be? >> jon i think there is probably a fair argument to make that we would love to see it go faster but there are a lot of moving parts to this and the f

is taking far too we will leave this program at this point to go live to colorado where governor jared polis is giving a pandemic response update. you are watching live coverage on c-span2. >> a number of