valerie castro, thank you for that.ight now thousands of people in california are rushing to get tested before the holiday. let's go to nbc's scott kohn. he's in san francisco, one of the busiest testing sites in that area. scott, how many people are waiting to get tested? >> reporter: it's not bad, alex. they're making appointments here, and by the time you get into the line by our sort of unscientific observation, it's about 15 minutes by the time you get up there and get tested. in this site alone, they expect to test upwards of 2,000 people a day or roughly a third of what they're doing citywide in a city that's really been on the forefront of getting this testing done. and they are still turning these tests around pretty fast. they're saying 24 to 48 hours for results even though there is this surge of testing with the increase of cases and, of course, people getting tested ahead of thanksgiving. it's that last part, that's what has officials concerned. >> our actions now will dictate what happens this winter. do n

. >> i'm valerie castro. a team of four astronauts safely lifted off and are on their way to the international space station as we speak. this mission marks the new era where spacex will happen nasa. tom costello joins us from the kennedy spa kennedy space center tom, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. a phenomenal experience yet again as we watch the spacex falcon 9 rocket topped with the space ship that the crew has dubbed resilience. lifting off the pad at 7:27 eastern time a perfect, perfect evening launch here into the night sky coming up the entire east coast of the united states accelerating before finally dropping off its various stages well on its way now to intersecting with the international space station hoping to meet up with the space station about 11:20 or so tomorrow evening so it's going to be a good 24, 27 hours until meeting up with the space station. here's what makes this mission so important this is nasa handing over a real mission, not a test flight, a real mission now to the priv

. >> and i'm valerie castro. the country reaches yet another grim coronavirus milestone as state officials scramble to contain the pandemic the virus is spreading at alarming rates the united states has now surpassed more than 11 million infections. >> at least 15 states have ordered increased restrictions with michigan and washington joining that list. indoor dining suspended and nonessential businesses shut down. >> the pandemic leaves a family devastated in san antonio. 4-year-old raiden gonzalez lost both his mother and father who died just 100 days apart after contracting covid-19 the community there rallying around raiden who turns 5 this week. >>> and ballots weren't the only things circulating on election day. according to a report by the associated press, poll workers in several states have tested positive for coronavirus the biggest outbreak coming from kansas city, where 28 were infected there's no way to determine if the surge is linked to election day, but officials are taking note of the alarming co

valerie castro, good to talk to you. i want to go to nbc's meagan fitzgerald, in the sushs north of los angeles, where we saw really long lines at many testing sites, especially across the weekend. take us there. >> reporter: yasmin, i can tell you, the long lines continue today. take a look behind me here. we are in the san fernando valley, just outside los angeles, as you mentioned. cars lining up all across the treat here, and then if you walk with me down here, this is where they're trying to go. all the way here is the testing location, where we're told they can test some 2,400 people a day. that's the mission across the state of california, is what we're seeing. testing is key. we know dodgers stadium, the largest testing facility in the entire country, testing some 13,000 people a day. the mayor here, had an opportunity to speak with him, and he said, we're pushing out text alert, encouraging people to get tested. they believe that's the strategy here. if they know who has this virus thar then they can contract tr

joining us from chicago, msnbc reporter valerie castro. valerie, good morning.sponse to the strikers' demands? >> reporter: there's not been any sort of response. we reached out to the health care company that owns the group of 11 nursing homes that these 700 workers are employed at, infinity health care management. they went on strike, demanding better pay after the current contract expired in late may. and the facility we're standing at, city view health care center, accounts for 14 covid deaths according to the state health department. workers claim they haven't been given the adequate resources in the form of ppe. and they say that substitutes have been brought in to take their place. they say the substitutes aren't qualified or have the same level of compassion for the residents here. take a listen. >> these workers know the residents like they're their own family. they've been taking care of them for many years. they know about their daughter and mother, what makes them happy. they know, you know, how to lift them. they know how to treat them. when you bri

he does plan to wear his mask indoors whenever possible. >> valerie castro for us there in chicago. valerie, thank you. outside chicago, i should say. >>> meanwhile, president-elect joe biden's thanksgiving address to the nation this afternoon will focus, of course, heavily on this intensifying pandemic. we have a preview of what he might say during his first post election interview with nbc's lester holt. ali vitali is at her post in wilmington, delaware. ali, what else have we learned about what we expect to hear from the president-elect in a few hours? >> reporter: well, this is going to be a set of remarks, as you said, that are focused on the sacrifices that so many americans are making right now as we head into this holiday season, potentially scaling back, not seeing families and staying home. if they're abiding by those social distancing measures, wearing a mask, doing all the things we've been doing for so many months now, biden has acknowledged the va teague that so many americans are feeling, but he's emphasized how important it is for americans to continue to abide by thi

ron allen, valerie castro, dr. kavita patel. >>> we want to go to quick breaking news.e have just learned that covid-19 is forcing one thanksgiving day football game to be postponed. the baltimore ravens/pittsburgh steelers game set tomorrow night on nbc has been moved to sunday afternoon after abundance of caution for ravens players. no word on game time for sunday. >>> just ahead here, lester holt's exclusive interview with president-elect joe biden how he plans to take on the coronavirus from day one. >>> and later, the next 99 days. a closer look at the biden administration's ambitious goals for the first 100 days in office. you're watching msnbc. how much you'll need, and build a straightforward plan to generate income, even when you're not working. a plan that gives you the chance to grow your savings and create cash flow that lasts. along the way, we'll give you ways to be tax efficient. and you can start, stop or adjust your plan at any time without the unnecessary fees. talk to us today, so we can help you go from saving...to living. this was the theater i came

nbc's valerie castro is in cleveland for us with the latest. see you this afternoon. what can you till us about this really troubling spike and the impact it is having on the health care sector there? >> reporter: well, yasmin, this is a problem that several health care facilities are dealing with. the ohio hospital association says 20% of hospitals are reporting staffing shortages at this time. and when you take into account that every single county in the state is seeing a rise in coronavirus cases, no hospital can spare staff right now. everyone is needed. no one can go help out at other facilities because they are dealing with their own cases. we spoke a nurse from akron general hospital earlier today. she actually took to facebook last week to vent her frustrations. she says people are not taking this seriously, and the hardest thing for her, she says, is seeing the fear in the eyes of her patients, especially when they start to head into the icu. they says there's no medication, no treatment she can give someone for that, and she has a me

let's go to msnbc's valerie castro who is on south side of chicago there. valerie, welcome.talking to these essential workers. is there any indication that demands are going to be met? >> reporter: alex, so far there has been no response from infinity health care management. that is the company that owns 11 long-term care facilities across the state, including the one we're standing in front of. 700 workers from all of those facilities are now on strike, demanding better pay and better protection in the forms of ppe. the employees went on strike about six days ago, though their current contract expired in late may, and they haven't been able to come to any agreement since then. across illinois, there have been about more than 45,000 cases of covid in these long-term care facilities, and about 6,000 deaths, that's according to the state health department. you take that into account, 6,000 deaths is half the total number of deaths across the state. these employees say they want a basic starting wage of $15. they say they also want hazard pay and more ppe. they tell us in some

that's where we find nbc's valerie castro tonight. cal center in el paso. valerie, what are you seeing right now on the ground? >> reporter: well, maria teresa, as you mentioned, those mobile morgues have been delivered here to the hospital. we were actually here as they were being brought in. the county administrator says he has asked for 12 of those to be in place because he says let's face it, the reality is things are only getting worse here on the ground. today the city reported more than 31,000 active cases here in el paso. that means more than 4 1/2% of the population is now infected with covid-19 here in the city. now, as resources become strapped, more personnel is also needed. the same county administrator told me that prison inmates are being brought in to help load bodies into those mobile morgues that were delivered here today. the situation is only growing more and more dire. maria teresa? >> so valerie, you had the opportunity today to talk to a business owner. there's a lot of back and forth whether there should be a sh

nbc's valerie castro joins us now from cleveland. so, valerie, that first curfew just lifted about an hour ago. we're seeing these curfews in other states and cities around the country. is this in an effort to clamp down on social gatherings inside the home? >> reporter: lindsey, it certainly is. and as you mentioned, the lockdown just went into effect yesterday. it is essentially a three-week lockdown. it will be from 10:00 p.m. at night until 5:00 in the morning every day for the next three weeks, until december 9th. now, this is comment from a complete shutdown, where nonessential businesses would have to be closed around the clock. in this case, they can stay open outside the hours of that curfew. residents are encouraged to stay home during this period and only leave their homes for essential errands, getting groceries and gas, and going to work. >> and valerie, you are at a food bank this morning. tell us right now about the food insecurity happening to our country. i mean, there are millions of people who find themselves in the

>> valerie castro in cleveland.uch for that. >>> breaking news from wilmington, delaware, nbc news just confirmed president-elect joe biden will nominate janet yellen to become the nation's next secretary of the treasury. she would be the first woman to hold that position. previously, she served as the chair of the federal reserve during the obama administration from 2014 to 2018. let's go back to ali vitali who is in wilmington for us. ali, what more can you tell us? >> reporter: chris, that's exactly right. our colleagues over at cnbc confirming now with sources familiar with this decision that joe biden will likely select janet yellen to head the treasury department. you hit it on the head right there, if appointed and confirmed to this position, she would be the first woman to serve as head of the treasury department. biden teased earlier this week that he had already made a selection for this pick, but he hadn't yet made it public. he did say it would be someone who was acceptable to all parts of the party. we

valerie castro, thanks.eless, from el paso. >>> president-elect joe biden managed to flip five states president trump carried in 2016 including the once reliably state of arizona. biden is the first president to win that state since 1996. after mark kelly defeated incumbent senator martha mcsally, arizona will have two democrats in the senate. reuben gaillego, i want to congratulate you. why do you think arizona flipped this year? >> i think trump was especially bad president and we had the highest rates of covid for quite a while in arizona. we have growing latino population that decided that president trump was not serving them and their interests. we had a very small native american turnout that felt they were being insulted by this administration and i think all those accommodations plus the fact that this administration was slamming john mccain and john mccain's legacy added up to this victory. >> we saw a massive amount of young latino voters as well as indigenous voters turn out for joe biden. what do

our thanks to nbc's valerie castro for that report. >> joining us now is dr.a bassett at baylor college of medicine. doctor, good morning to you. how concerned are you about these numbers? and specifically, texas? tell me about right now how texans are doing with not only covid fatigue, but mask wearing. >> lindsay, i'm extremely concerned. these numbers are dire. they're very, very grim. we've reached yet another milestone, but it's not a good one. the situation in el paso right now is so bad that governor abbott has had to actually deploy state resources down to el paso in order to help their overwhelmed facilities. the united states department of defense has also had to deploy federal aid down to el paso. they're using tent hospitals, because their hospitals are full. their icus are full. they're using the convention center as a makeshift medical facility, because they just don't have a space to take care of all of these patients. and what we're not realizing is aside from space being a finite resource, personnel is also a finite resource. we don't have the

msnbc's valerie castro is in cleveland. e, you not only have patients that are overrunning hospitals but now you have these workers who are out sick too. it feels like the perfect storm. >> it certainly is, lindsey, and it's only a growing problem. yesterday 925 health care workers here at the cleveland clinic were out sick. today i'm told that number is closer to 1,000. just a few weeks ago november 9th, it was 300 workers. those numbers are going up quickly. keep in mind when we talk about 1,000 workers out sick at the cleveland clinic, this is an small percentage of their staff. this is an long work and workers out for a long stretch of time and anywhere around them may have to deal with a two-week quarantine. as you mentioned the ohio hospital association says 21% report staffing shortages and the governor points out covid cases are rising in all 83 counties so you really can't borrow staff from one to another. everybody is strapped around the state. statewide, 16,000 new coronavirus cases reported in just the last two d

valerie castro is on the south side of chicago with more on that. s afternoon. this is once again shocking to see. it's something new york state suffered through in the early days of this pandemic, so what are we seeing in the chicago area. >> good afternoon, yasmin. we are here outside one of the nursing homes. they just held a rally behind me. they were joined by the teachers union for a show of solidarity for the issues they're going through. the workers at these facilities say they don't have adequate ppe and they don't have adequate basic pay. those are demands they want met. their contract expired in late may and they have not been successful in negotiating for infinity health care. these work ers say they're read to negotiate. they know exactly what they want and need. over 4,000 cases of covid have been reported in these long-term care facilities and 6,000 deaths has had about 12,000 deaths, so these facilities count for about half of that number. the workers say they don't have adequate ppe. one worker told us they had been wearing these mas

valerie castro in cleveland. thank you. >>> turning to the race of a covid-19 vaccine.r is asking for approval. a november gallup poll shows 58% of americans would get the vaccine if it is accessible. that number is higher than it was in september, it's raising concerns over how effective the vaccine will be and if americans will trust it's safe. doctor, so happy we were able to ask you these questions. pfizer says the vaccine is 90% effective. there's no long-term data. when i have conversations with family and friends, would you be comfortable taking this? we don't know what the data will show. should americans be able to trust the results? should we be worried about the side-effects? >> thank you so much for asking. this is important for us to think about how we can work together to recover from this pandemic. the foundation came out saying over 1,300 health care providers had died to date because of the pandemic. as we think about the data and the possible vaccines, let's think about how we're all into this together, and protecting each other could go a long way to

let's bring in valerie castro on chicago's south side once again. last hour you said things would be getting hot right about now. we were just looking at some live pictures there. i know overall the strike has been ongoing to six full days. any signs yet that both sides are anywhere close to an agreement? >> reporter: alex, yeah, a rally is set to start in 20 minutes where other labor unions will be here to show solidarity. there's been no word of any sort of agreement yet. about 700 workers are on strike. they went on strike about a week ago monday. they work for infiniti health care management. that is a company that owns 11 different facilities across the state of illinois and they are protesting, asking for better starting wages, asking for better protections in the form of ppe and hazard pay. covid has been a real problem in these long-term care facilities here in illinois. about 45,000 cases of covid and 6,000 deaths. that's according to the state health department. and illinois overall has a total of about 12,000 deaths, so these long-term car

. >> turning to ohio which is also seeing a big spike in coronavirus cases, valerie castro joins us live from outside the cleveland clinic with the latest. valerie, this is an interesting case because the governor of ohio is a republican and been at the front end of the measures after reimposing certain measures, took it on the chin from donald trump who didn't agree with that but the cleveland clinic is one of the foremost health clinics in the country in a state that is now seeing another spike. >> reporter: good morning, ali. that's right. there is a spike in cases here in ohio. there have been 16,000 new cases reported in just the last two days. 4,000 hospitalizations and a quarter of those are now in the icu and the cleveland clinic is also being affected. today reporting about 1,000 health care workers are now out sick. the ohio hospital association says 20% of hospitals across the state are reporting staffing shortages as cases continue to rise in all 88 counties here in ohio. it was a rapid progression here at the cleveland clinic on november 9th. 300 workers were outside with co

valerie castro is at a location near chicago for us. thank you for joining us on this. you actually talked to some employees there recently. what are they telling you about their current working conditions? >> yasmin, the workers are from 11 different facilities owned by infinity care management, a health care management. and they own one of the facilities behind me. the workers tell us their contract expired in may and they have been trying to negotiate a new one ever since. but with nothing coming to fruition, they decided to go on strike last monday and they are demanding what they say is a living wage. $15. they say they also want pandemic pay or hazard pay and say the ppe they have is inadequate. in some cases they're wearing the same things for several days at a time. we heard from a worker who said she believes she contracted covid while working in this building. and she said while she was quarantining at home, her husband then also got sick. she believes he caught it from her and he had to spend a week in the hospital. while these workers are out on strike there

valerie castro spoke with two people on the front lines in cleveland. >> reporter: the situation continueso get worse here in ohio where the state is now reporting around 25,000 new cases of covid-19 since friday. that number does include health care workers. here at the cleveland clinic they tell us about a thousand workers are out right now. that is a mix of workers who are homesick and other workers who may have been exposed over heei here at the hospital or just out in their community. the ohio hospital association says 20% of hospitals across the state are reporting staffing shortages. and with cases on the rise in all 88 counties here, they really can't spare anyone. there's no one they can send to other hospitals to help out. they really need everyone on hand. a doctor here at the cleveland clinic says they are dealing with those shortages by pulling doctors from other services to fill in the gaps wehere needed. the cleveland clinic put out a video highlighting the good work their doctors and nurses are doing, but also telling everyone the fact is they are tired. they are exhausted.

to thanksgiving destinations despite all of those urgent warnings about the ricks, and nbc's valerie castrot one of the nation's busiest rest stops in lake forest, illinois. tom, i'm so curious about this. first of all, looks dead behind you. have you had a chance to talk to travelers? are they nervous about being in the airport and nervous about flying? >> yeah. yes and yes, and yes. so i've saved you a place. hurry down here to the airport because you can get right in rhine really fast. looks can be deceives here. reagan national airport in washington, d.c. is quieter than most airports. one tsa official said to me, well, yeah. washington is pretty much closed. right? government is pretty much all working from home. universities are closed. why would anybody come to washington right now? the smithsonians are all closed. that's true. look what's happening nationwide, we have about a million people a day now traveling. that is up significantly from what we've seen over the last few weeks. highest number since the pandemic began back in march but still down more than 50% on passenger volume

let's bring in our reporter, valerie castro in cleveland where cases are skyrocketing, up more than 1200% just since october 1st. ellison barber is with us from st. paul, minnesota. valerie, you're outside the cleveland clinic. nearly a thousand care givers there are out because of covid-19. just another shocking sign of the strain this virus is having on frontline health care workers. what your learning there, valerie? >> when we talk about the thousand workers out, that's a mixture of workers out with the coronavirus, battling that infection and others in quarantine after possibly having been exposed. the quarantine period is at least two weeks, a long time for those caregivers to be out. and the ohio hospital association says this is a problem across the state. 20% of health care facilities are reporting staffing shortages at a time when the coronavirus is rising in all 88 counties here. they are seeing a rise in cases everywhere. i spoke to a doctor here at the cleveland clinic and he says, not only is it challenging to deal with patients that have coronavirus and the symptoms that th

also with us, nbc's valerie castro covering the latest on the ground in el paso, texas. kathy, rise in cases in new york are leading to fears that schools might soon be closed. what are you hearing? >> reporter: alicia, good evening to you. the mayor warns that school closures could happen as soon as monday because here in new york city they are going off a 3% positivity threshold. as of today, that number is 2.47%. now, earlier in the year the school district as well as city officials decided that families had an option either to select a hybrid model, have a couple of days in an actual school building and then spend some of that time at home or an all-virtual learning model. but once the cases continued to climb up and the city reaches that 3% positivity rate, all of learning becomes remote. now, governor cuomo said today that he believes that other factors should be considered before these school shutdowns take effect. but once again we're kind of teetering on the edge here in new york city because we are inching closer to the 3% threshold. and then the covid cases, y

valerie castro is in ohio. meg meagan fitzgerald is in california for us.ellison in st. paul, minnesota, for us. good to see you. very much appreciate you joining us on this. you have been speaking with some of the brave men and women on the front lines fighting this virus. take us through it. >> reporter: yeah, doctors,

and reporter valerie castro is standing by in el paso, texas. thank you both for being here. cory, i want to start with you. things so bad in wisconsin you actually have the health department there declaring an entirely new category. tell us more. >> yeah, health department officials are stunned over this. so the previous high category was very high, and that was about 350 people or cases per 100,000 people. all counties in the state of wisconsin passed that to the point at which they had to create critically high. and that was a thousand cases per every 100,000. almost all counties have already blown past that marker as well, except for seven. what does that really mean? what that means is epidemiologists find it a lot harder to contact trace in this state because everything is just moving so rampantly. all but impossible is how they described it, alicia. now the case, the latest cases have grown now to 323,000, 2700 deaths in the state of wisconsin. it's not as much as a state like texas, for example, that has a million cases. but you have to look at the rate of spread and

nbc's valerie castro in cleveland, thank you. >>> the cdc in the meantime is sending out a stark warningabout traveling this thanksgiving officials are encouraging people to stay home, to reduce the chance of getting and spreading covid. right now, infection rates are spiking across the country, with some experts saying those numbers will climb this holiday season one of those experts, joining me now, dr. welcome shafner, a cdc -- william shafner, an adviser and professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at vanderbilt university medical center welcome, doctor. we appreciate you being here do you agree with the new travel advisory. >> of course, good morning, but it's a bad time, right this is going to be a covid thanksgiving and i'm afraid this virus really likes to transmit itself from person-to-person, in group gatherings particularly indoors and when people are close together for prolonged periods of time. that sounds like traditional thanksgiving celebrations. and look who usually gathers during thanksgiving. older persons. aunts and uncles who may have diabetes and und

. >> let's bring in valerie castro on the ground. of workers you're talking to and what the health care companies that run these facilities have to say. >> reporter: >> good morning, hallie. in this case we're talking about infin si health care management. that is a company that owns 11 long-term care facilities across the state, including the one we're standing in front of this morning. 700 infinity workers have been on strike since last monday. they're rallying again. they say their contract expired in late may. they've been trying to negotiate a new one since june. they say the company has not been able to commit a starting wage of 15 or commit to pandemic pay, and they say they don't have adequate ppe. they have been rallying every day since they went on strike last monday. we asked them about some of their demands. here's what they had to say. >> we are looking for living wages. proper ppe. we need for them to stop short-staffing us. they were able to bring agency in. when we're short-staffed, if you were able to bring in agency

valerie castro, thanks for your reporting on this, appreciate it. >>> coming up at 4:00 p.m. i'm talking to el paso county judge ricardo samaniego about the legal battle in his state. >>> we are monitoring events happening in our nation's capital, thousands of trump supporters are protesting the results of the election in the event of the million maga march. we're keeping an eye on developments there and we'll bring you the latest live coming up. >>> also, the president-elect has chosen his chief of staff, up next, the man who's literally written the book on how this role defines the presidency, author and filmmaker chris whipple joins us. after the break, we'll be right back. but we didn't stop there. we made a cloud flexible enough to adapt to any size business. no matter what it does, or how it changes. and we kept going. so you only pay for what you use. because at dell technologies, we stop...at nothing. ♪ for members like martin. an air force veteran made of doing what's right, not what's easy. so when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the d