let's go now live to nbc's megan fitzgerald in los angeles. megan, the numbers look very, very bad. how does it look on the ground? >> reporter: richard, this situation is worse than the county has ever seen before, but what's even more concerning you see a dire situation that county officials now is going to get worse. as you mentioned, they are seeing just the explosive numbers. just think about this. a seven-day average of new daily infections at 13,000 or more. that's what they saw last week. then as you mentioned we're seeing records for deaths. it was 145 on wednesday. yesterday, 148 people died. the hospital systems just overrun. we have -- you know, we have been talking and reporting about how southern california's completely out of icu beds. you have the nurses and the doctors scrambling to try to create space where they're not typically caring for the icu patients so that they can care for people that just continue to come. the projections is by next week, by new year's eve, they expect to see 1,400 people going to the hospital every day. they cannot care for all of the pe

we have every angle covered and we begin with megan fitzgerald. >> reporter: tonight 33 million californians hours away from a lockdown. people told to stay home, stop gathering, no more in-person dining, and reduced retail as health officials try to save hospitals in crisis. the governor's orders in effect at least through the holidays. >> the bottom line is if we don't act now our hospital system will be overwhelmed. >> reporter: fear turning to frustration for restaurant owners >> i am losing everything. everything i own is being taken away from me. and they set up a movie company right next to my outdoor patio. >> reporter: for so many other workers forced to close down, desperation. >> we've been taking one for the team and there is nothing left to give. like nothing left. >> reporter: in some parts of southern california, defiance. the sheriffs of orange and riverside counties saying they won't enforce the state's new stay-at-home orders. >> riverside county sheriff's department will not be blackmailed, bullied, or used as muscle against riverside county residents in the enforcement of

shaq brewster, megan fitzgerald, and dr. adalja, thanks to all of you. >>> there could be some movement though on the long-delayed covid relief package after democratic leaders nancy pelosi and chuck schumer endorsed the smaller bipartisan proposal. now senate majority leader mitch mcconnell hinted at progress but maybe not so much. nbc's garrett haake is on capitol hill. what are you hearing, garrett, the reaction to the signal from the majority leader? >> reporter: it's a confusing situation, andrea. it's the holiday break, all of these lawmakers want to go home and they want to pass something, that's the key difference between this and the other false starts in this process. everybody involved, the biden administration in waiting, the trump administration, republicans and democrats on the hill, all say they want to do something now in the lame duck period. that's pushing people forward. but whether we should be confident or not based on that bipartisan framework depends on who you ask and when you ask them. this is mitch

megan fitzgerald is in los angeles with the story. >> reporter: the u.s. now surpassing 19 million cases of the coronavirus. adding more than a million new infections in less than a week. >> this is the worst stage of the pandemic. we have to get through this. the only way we will get through this is if we're all working hard to take precautions. >> reporter: americans don't seem to be listening. ignoring pleas to stay home. more than 8 million people flew for the holiday, marking the busiest travel period since the pandemic bebeggan. >> we have this third surge that's the worst. we don't know what this looks like yet. >> reporter: in the uk, where a more contagious strain is running rampant, travellers to the u.s. facing new restrictions monday. they must show a negative test within three days of boarding their flight. in los angeles, where a person dies from covid every ten minutes, testing for the highly contagious strain in the uk has begun. fears that it may already be here and contributing to the surge. experts are hopeful that the vaccine, currently

nbc's megan fitzgerald is in phoenix, arizona. megan, what have you been seeing this morning? >> reporter: andrea, this is a massive undertaking. honor health along with mayo clinic and other partners have been working on this process for the last several months to try and make sure it goes as efficiently as possible, because they'll be vaccinating a thousand people a day, over the next two weeks 15,000 people. 21 days from now they'll be doing the entire process again to get that second dose. this morning we had an opportunity to walk along with a doctor as she went through this process. here is how it works. folks will be pulling onto the lot behind me here, they'll pull up to a registration booth to confirm their identity and prove they actually have an appointment. then they'll pull into these tents which you can probably see over my shoulder here. that's where the vaccination happens. they roll down their window, they get vaccinated in their arm, then they pull forward where they'll be observed for 15 minutes to make sure there isn't any adverse effects to the vaccine. we

they die alone. >> that was megan fitzgerald reporting. >>> a live look at sfo. cloudy skies clear on the car mack. a new rule starts tomorrow. all passengers flying from the united kingdom to the u.s. must test negative no more than three days before they leave and show proof. this order comes from president trump after a new variant is spreading throughout the uk. >>> and the jury is still out, the word from experts aiming to answer the big question about when we will reach herd immunity. it was estimated it would require vaccinating 60% to 70% of the u.s. now many are saying that number is too low. dr. fauci said just this morning in an interview that about 75% to 80% of the country needs to get vaccinated for herd immunity needs to be achieved. a poll found that 46% of american adults plan to get vaccinated while 26% say they would decline. >>> a possible break in the investigation of the explosion that rocked downtown nashville christmas morning. federal agents are closing in on a person who may have been involved. here's nbc's morgan chess can i. >> reporte

megan fitzgerald is at l.a.x. for us this morning with that inside look. megan, tell us more about the rapid testing push. it's a critical attempt to curb this explosion especially now that los angeles' mayor is asking folks to hunker down. >> reporter: ayman, that's it. the mayor issuing another order using some of the strongest language we've heard yet calling on folks to cancel plans and stay home amid the surge we're seeing here. officials saying the virus is running rampant in the city and surging statewide as well. as you mentioned, no surprise that testing has been their strategy and we're seeing the first rapid testing location at an ar an airport in the country. in l.a.x. just across from terminal six here, they're telling us they can test 1,000 people a day. they want folks to register on their phone. passengers will get in line here. you'll notice the yellow circles on the floor. they want folks to be social distancing. you'll notice there's slabs here to give folks privacy. once they get here they'll get their test here. they'll swab their nose

megan fitzgerald, nbc news, phoenix. >>> and coming up, an election night legends is about to break down completely different kind when "the 11th hour" continues. i love audible because it's changed my life for the better. whatever question i have i feel like there's an avenue to seek the answer. hit that app and you start a story, you're on an adventure. download a new book within seconds and it's ready to go. there's something for everybody on audible. i like short stories. short stories are easy. they're quick. i like long and like intricate stories, that's really what i love. audible originals. i like biographies. self-help. fantasy. true crime podcasts. i love it so much. i can literally listen to anything. i can do it any time. and any place. and you know, for as long as i like. getting really into a story can totally transform where you are and your mindset. it's really cool. every time i learn something new, it just fuels the curiosity to explore more, to learn more. there's anything and everything. to start your free 30-day trial, just text listen 17 to 500500. >>> instead of gi

has led tech giant apple to temporarily close all 53 of its retail stores in the state nbc's megan fitzgerald has more. megan, good morning. >> reporter: frances and paul, good morning to you. as cases of the coronavirus continue to surge to record numbers here in california, los angeles county health officials are warning frontline workers about the darkest days ahead covid-19 bringing california to its knees. hospitals overwhelmed with patients who keep coming. >> we're getting crushed i'm not going to sugarcoat this. >> reporter: rising cases already impacting the quality of care doctors and nurses can provide. a document from l.a. county health officials obtained by the "l.a. times" warns that overwhelmed hospitals may not be able to provide optimal care for covid or noncovid patients "some compromised standard of care is unavailableable. >> this affects anyone who needs to go to a hospital for care the number of patients that need care, covid and oncovid alike, are exceeding the capacity of care hospitals can optimally provide. >> reporter: la county out of icu beds, averaging 13,000 new

megan fitzgerald, nbc news, phoenix. >>> and coming up, an election night legends is about to break downind when "the 11th hour" continues. hour" continues. - [announcer] your typical vacuum has bristles that can leave cleaning gaps and wrap hair. so shark replaced them with flexible power fins to directly engage floors and dig deep into carpets. pick up more on every pass with no hair wrap. shark vertex with duoclean power fins. okay, so, magnificent mile for me! i thought i was managing my moderate to severe crohn's disease. until i realized something was missing me. you okay, sis? my symptoms were keeping me from really being there for my sisters. so i talked to my doctor and learned that's us. (reacting to boarding announcement) humira is for people who still have symptoms of crohn's disease after trying other medications. the majority of people on humira saw significant symptom relief in as little as 4 weeks. and many achieved remission that can last. humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, inclu

but the pandemic's darkest days may still be ahead megan fitzgerald nbc news, los angeles. >>> one more growing concern, those new strains of the virus that have many countries, including the united states, placing new restrictions on air travel from the united kingdom. richard engel has the latest on that >> reporter: the united kingdom feels like plague island with two new coronavirus strains. one homegrown, already dominant and spreading. the other from south africa, still believed in small numbers scientists say both variants are more contagious than the normal virus here at london's heathrow airport, traffic is extraordinarily light. from today, passengers traveling to the united states first need to present a negative covid test before boarding. other countries have gone further banning flights from the uk altogether. japan took the most dramatic step, cutting itself off from today, no foreigners allowed for a month. >> the japanese government must do everything it can to protect its citizens >> reporter: hong kong extended the quarantine period from 14 to 21 days and south africa

megan fitzgerald has details from hard-hit los angeles. >> reporter: tonight hospitals already in crisis bracing for catastrophe as millions prepare defy health warnings and see family this holiday season amid the deadliest surge. >> just planning to sigh my mom and hang out with family. >> reporter: flying is proving to be a gamble a united flight landed in l.a. after being diverted to new orleans when a passenger had a medical emergency onboard and later died the man's wife overheard telling emts he had covid-like symptoms, although cause of death not yet determined. the airline releasing a statement saying in part, at the time of the diversion, we were informed he suffered a cardiac arrest so passengers were given the option to take a later flight or continue on with their travel plans. the cdc now reaching out to passengers, but despite the risks, aaa predicting some 85 million americans will travel for christmas and new year's a similar scene from thanksgiving, which health experts say led to the current surge where more americans are hospitalized for covid than ever before. >> the

megan fitzgerald reports from los angeles. >> reporter: tonight, americans heading home from holiday travel and family get togethers, concerns those gatherings are contributing to the growing national covid catastrophe. >> i'm going to be as safe as i can, but i felt like it was important to see family. >> reporter: nearly 10 million americans flew in the past ten days, despite pleas to stay home. a record during the pandemic that's deadlier now than ever before. >> as we get into the next few weeks, it might actually get worse. >> reporter: dr. anthony fauci warning of a surge to come, in part due to holiday travel. >> when you're dealing with a baseline of 200,000 cases, new cases a day and about 2,000 deaths per day, with hospitalizations up over 120,000, we're really at a critical point. >> reporter: and the holiday season isn't over yet. new york city install this had iconic crystal ball that draws millions to times square each year. this year's ball drop will be closed to the public. the cdc urging americans to stay home on new year's eve. as the nation's hospitals buckle under

megan fitzgerald is there. a warning, some of the images tonight are disturbing. >> reporter: tonight, covid-19 bringing california to its knees. hospitals overwhelm ed with patients, who keep coming. >> we're getting crushed. i'm not going to sugar coat this. >> reporter: rising cases already impacting the quality of care doctors and nurses can provide. a document from l.a. county health officialsbtained by "the l.a. times" warn overwhelmed hospitals may not be able to provide optimal care for covid and noncovid patients. >> this affects anyone who needs to go to hospital for care. the number of patients who need care, covid and noncovid alike are exceeding the capacity, the care that hospitals can optimally provide. >> reporter: l.a. county already out of icu beds, averaging 13,000 new infections a day. in the last month, hospitalizations for covid-19 patients increased 330%. across the state, icu availability at dangerously low levels and dwindling. >> it's what we call a disaster situation. our hospital is

was a production linked to nbc, only part of her comments made it into nbc of sunday today but megan fitzgeraldedited out marsden pointing to the hypocrisy with the tents and tables, nbc covered up the fact the catering was for nbc's comedy show good girls, don't why they edited it down, can't show every case we get. with a questionable they didn't show the proximity of what was going on? >> two kinds of ice, the kind you see in broad daylight, very apparent bias is going on that is the bias of omission which you don't see. you have to mention that was in nbc show even if it was an nbc report and the bottom line is in new york close to where i am 1000 restaurants have closed during the pandemic, hundreds more will over the next couple weeks as we go into the cold weather season. nbc is allowed to have insights to the audience for saturday night live, broadway just down the block isn't allowed to open. that's all you need to know in terms of's for thee but not for celebrity. >> you are a poet and maybe didn't know it but you have an eye on all these things are great to have you with us. new toni

nbc's megan fitzgerald is in los angeles where officials are telling residents to stay home. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. california is imposing yet another lockdown as cases and hospitalizations accelerate. it's taking a toll on everyone from overworked health care professionals to small business owners who worry they won't survive. this morning, californians waking up to a new reality, bracing for a lockdown affectsingaffects i affectsing 33 million. hospital icus close to capacity. >> we had more cases this last week than we had in the entire month of october. >> reporter: much of the state, including los angeles, and five bay area counties, will be under a stay-at-home office as soon as tonight, banning in-person dining, limiting indoor retail capacity to 20% and prohibiting gatherings. >> every time there's an announcement that comes out, people will become a little more nervous about going out. >> reporter: scenes like this playing out across the country as the nation climbs past 14 million cases with over 280,000 deaths. northern texas seeing restric

nbc's megan fitzgerald joining us from los angeles. just how dire is the situation you're saying? and how hard is it for these poor health care workers to just try to keep up? >> reporter: chris, simply put, doctors are describing the scenes in their hospitals as a disaster, likening it to scenes from movies. those hospitals in southern california where they're so overrun that dozens of patients are waiting, gasping for air, trying to wait for care. doctors and firsts trying everything to get to them but their just so overrubbln. you see tents being put up in parking lots. in los angeles county, they've transformed a gift shop into a place where they're providing care. as we know, southern california has been out of icu beds for a while now. doctors and nursi nurses doing everything they can. by new year's eve, hospitalizations are expected to be ten times the amount they were in october. ten times. we're talking 1400 people a day going to the hospital. 1400. doctors say this is just not sustainable. take a listen. >> there's an overall feeling of anxiety, fear and uncertainty, as

i want to go to megan fitzgerald. she was on the ground in l.a. also maura barrett outside penn medicine in philly. meagan, what do we know how they plan to get vaccines to the next group of people? because i want to get to that before we get to the contact tracers. >> yeah, as you know, steph, right now priority is frontline medical workers along with those who are in nursing homes. on sunday, a cdc panel voted to recommend the second batch of vaccine go to essential frontline workers, those folks that work inside meat-packing plants, teachers and grocery store workers. many of these folks who can't work from home. the cdc calling them absolutely essential to our economy, to our society. all told, this is about a group of 30 million people. of course, this is just a recommendation that's being made to the states. it's ultimately up to the states to decide who will get the second dose of this vaccine. but when you look across the country we've seen the massive outbreaks at the meat-packing plant ss. we're seeing the outbreaks in grocery stores. we

nbc's megan fitzgerald is in l.a. for us, and nbc blayne alexander is in atlanta.talizations are off the charts. what is going on? >> reporter: yeah, steph, a situation incredibly bleak. hospitals just spiraling out of control. when you break down the numbers, you start to understand a little bit better of why the situation is what it is. let's start with hospitalizations. october we were seeing on average, 150 people being hospitalized a day. november, that number jumped to 300. here in december, we're looking at 700 people on average being admitted to the hospital, and then as you mentioned, by next week, new year's eve, that number is expected to double to 1,400 hospitalizations a day. and then of course you take a look at the infection rate over the last seven days here in los angeles county, and you're seeing 13,000 people on average getting new infections. we know hospitals will see that two weeks later, so by next week, even more people will be coming in. so truly really no end in sight. we know across southern california, icu capacity has been at 0%. you're

here's megan fitzgerald's reporting for "nightly news" earlier this evening. >> reporter: the covid crisis in california slips further out of control. >> it's like a war zone and we're asking for help and help is not coming. >> reporter: regional stay-at-home orders extended for most of the state as the virus kills some 230 people a day over the last week. >> patients are dying like flies. we're full. we're at max capacity. >> reporter: with more than 13,000 new infections a day in los angeles county, up from just 1,200 at the beginning of november, health officials warning of darker days ahead. >> doctors are exhausted, they're stretched thin and they're already caring for more patients than they can safely handle. >> at hospitals in los angeles, ambulances are waiting hours for patients to be triaged. here at mlk hospital, space is so critical that the chapel has been turned into an overflow unit. >> that's incredible. martin luther king, jr. community hospital resorting to using a chapel as overflow. across l.a. hospitals are putting patients into conference rooms, even gift shops. beca

nbc's megan fitzgerald has more. >> reporter: this morning the u.s.ow surpassing 19 million cases of the coronavirus adding more than a million new infections in less than a week. >> this is the worst stage of the pandemic, and we've got to get through this. the only way we're going to get through this is if we're all working hard to take precautions. >> reporter: but americans don't seem to be listening. ignoring pleas to stay home. more than eight million people flew for the holiday, marking the busiest travel period since the pandemic began. >> we faced a surge in april, surge in august, and now we've got this third surge that is the worst. and we don't know what this looks like yet. >> reporter: in the uk where a more contagious strain of the virus is running rampant, travelers to the u.s. facing new restrictions starting monday. they must show a negative test within three days of boarding their flights. in los angeles where a person dies from covid every ten minutes, testing for the highly contagious strain in the uk has already begun. fears that

. >>> i want to turn to our colleague megan fitzgerald in phoenix, arizona, where drive-through vaccinations. not testing. drive-through vaccinations are set to get under way in just an hour. tell us about it. >> yeah, steph, i can tell you, honor health medical, which is doing this entire process, say not only are they excited, but they're ready. it was just two weeks ago we were out here as they did their practice run, their dry run of this entire operation here to make sure that it goes perfectly because they're going to be vaccinating 1,000 people a day in the next two weeks, about 15,000 people and then, of course, they'll do this again in 21 days for those folks to get the second dose of the vaccine. i want to walk you through how this operation is going to work. it's a drive-through process. so they'll pull through here and then they're going to go to these tents where they'll register. they'll pull around through their cars and come into the tents just behind he here. window goes down. arm out the window. they'll pull over here into the parking lot. this is where they'll sit for abou

megan fitzgerald joins us now from los angeles. merry christmas to you. we're talking about here. health officials are making a last-minute plea and it's about indoor church services? >> that's exactly right. health officials begging the public not to gather but certainly not to gather inside for religious services this holiday. because cases are just exploding here. los angeles county seeing a crisis situation like they've never experienced before where cases are exploding. seven-day average of more than 13,000 new infections a day. hospitals just overwhelmed and what that means is, they're running out of beds. they're trying to make space for icu patients in areas of the hospital that aren't designed to care for icu patients. we see tents being put up in parking lot to care for patients and we've also mentioned the fact that there's a gift shop in hospital that is now treating icu patients. and doctors and nurses are stretched thin. and they will be very candid in saying that the level and quality of care they're able to provide is subsiding because the

we begin with nbc's megan fitzgerald in los angeles and dr. dara cass, emergency physician, and a yahoo medical contributor. we appreciate you being in on this christmas morning. megan, let's begin with you. you did have the chance to speak to some of the care workers who are spending their holiday on the front lines. what are you hearing from them? >> reporter: cori, they're at their breaking point. these doctors and nurses along with so many of these front line workers have just been going nonstop trying to meet the demand as patients just continue to flood the hospitals. so you take nurses, for example, typically there's one nurse for two patients, but right now we're seeing that ratio being expanded. one nurse to three patients or even more. you're hearing doctors describe the situation inside their hospitals as a disaster, as scenes from a movie because there's so many patients coming that doctors are candidly saying we cannot provide the same quality and level of care because we just can't get to everybody. we've talked about how icu capa

perform joining me now is nbc news correspondent allison barbara in springfield, illinois and megan fitzgerald in los angeles. allison, let's start with you. what's the situation where you are? >> reporter: hey, ali, this hospital were expecting to get about 7,000 doses of the moderna vaccine. they did not get it when expected. but 24 hours later, that was remedied and all was forgiven as a fedex truck pulled into the loading docks here and started taking all of those boxes out. the brown boxes inside that truck, that -- those were kits from mckesson. it included everything doctors and nurses needed to properly administer the vaccine, syringes, alcohol pads. inside the white boxes were the vials of moderna vaccine. we saw it as they took it to the pharmacy and pharmacists carefully unloaded the boxes, checking to make sure the temperature, the thermometer inside those boxes kept the vaccine where it needed to be. obviously, a big difference between the moderna vaccine and the pfizer vaccine is it doesn't need to be nearly as cold as the pfizer vaccine but still needs to be kept at a cold tempe

. >> thanks to megan fitzgerald for that reporting. >>> on a lighter note, one of this year's smallestsay, came out of our own christmas tree here at rockefeller center, looking amazing for all you haters. now rockefeller or rocky, the tiny owl, has her own children's book. rockefeller the christmas owl. rocky hitched a ride inside the norway spruce last month after being found by a work beer in the branches. he was rehabilitated, as was the tree. but she was rehabilitated at a wildlife center before being released into the water. >> a resilient one. 2020's finest. >> bright little spot right there after -- >> sometimes you can't write those books. they write themselves. >> they do. especially if you're an owl. >> and a cute one at that. thanks so much for watching msnbc live. >>> we'll be back next weekend at 6:00 a.m. eastern time. busy day ahead here on msnbc. velshi is in savannah, georgia, for velshi across america, surviving the next wave. state lawmakers and organize rs. then at 10:00, auntie di onne warwick will walk on by the sunday show. i'll see my way out. >> bye. ye easy t

. >> joining me now, nbc correspondent sam brock in miami, florida, and megan fits swrer megan fitzgerald in burbank, california. how are local leaders and mayors handling the surge, sam? >> reporter: it's a great question, andrea, good to be with you. local leaders have to put in their own workarounds to get people to follow the rules in spite of the governor. where i am right now in miami beach, police officers are handing out masks to people who aren't wearing them and then issuing citations if they refuse to put them on. but those citations have zero teeth because of the governor. i'm joined by the mayor who is one of dozens calling on the governor to take more action. thank you for joining us. >> unfortunately we're trying to help people without the help of the governor. he's saying all the wrong things, following an ideology rather than reliable science. and it's really hurting us down here, it's killing people. >> reporter: what can you actually do, as you see the hospitalizations stack up, and sadly the deaths stack up as well? >> as you point out, we have our cops out there comin

nbc's megan fitzgerald is in los angeles tracking these developments. good morning. >> good morning to you. >> reporter: the virus the ravaging the state of california. in los angeles county they saw their deadliest day on christmas eve and by new year's eve officials are expecting to see some 1,400 patients a day and they say there's no end in sight. this morning millions of americans are waking up in a post-christmas nightmare. >> in the period of three hours, i went to five cardiac arrests. in a period of three hours, that never happens. >> reporter: california now the epicenter of the pandemic where new infections surpassed 2 million in just six weeks. the governor now issuing an ominous warning. >> we can have a surge on top of a surge on top of a surge in january and february. we're planning for worst case scenario. >> reporter: in los angeles county where a person dies every ten minutes from the virus, hospitals are in crisis and icus are running out of space. there was no celebrating christmas for those on the front line and the patients they're

we want to begin with megan fitzgerald who is in los angeles. good morning to you. >> reporter: kristen and peter, good morning to you. millions of people waking up this morning in california's bay area are being asked to spend their weekend at home unless it's for outdoor exercise or absolutely essential travel. and by tomorrow night in some parts of the bay, that's an order. it comes as icu availability becomes even more scarce and hospitals across the nation feel the strain. the cars lined up in phoenix aren't here for a covid test, but a test run of how the new vaccine will roll out. the relief can't come soon enough. for the third day in a row, over 200,000 new cases and record hospitalizations, nearly two americans will dying every minute. >> there's too many people sick at a time. we can't -- how do you take care of all of them? we don't have the capacity. >> reporter: the cdc doubling down on mask wearing, urging americans to wear them everywhere and anywhere, even indoors. in minnesota, state officials say they have run out of trained p

nbc's meagan fitzgerald is in los angeles for us, now the epicenter here in the united states where a person has been dying from the virus every ten minutes. megangood to see you this morning. that means essentially at least two lives there have been lost since we came on the air. just thinking about that, it is just so troubling. what are you hearing from health officials there? how overwhelmed are they and are the hospitals at this point? >> reporter: yasmin, doctors and nurses telling us that the situation just gets worse by the day as they patients continue to flood the hospital system here. you know, icu capacity across southern california has been at zero percent capacity, so there's a situation here where doctors and nurses are setting up these makeshift icu wards in parts of the hospital that are not designed to care for icu patients. you are seeing tents going up in parking lots for overflow, but what is most concerning here is doctors in the county are saying that they are just days away from having to decide who gets care and who doesn't. i want you to listen to my conversation with a doctor here in los angeles county. >> reporter: wo