standard -- tom, vermont standard. tom, the vermont standard? ok.will go to andrew, caledonian record. >>? my thank you. good morning -- yes, thank you. good morning. is there any more information on the -- community outbreak other than the numbers? vaccinationsto do when folks may have already been exposed and are waiting for onset of symptoms? gov. scott: dr. levine? dr. levine: i don't have a specific update on what you mentioned, but in answer to your , there are guidelines that have been out by the cdc regarding vaccination in settings where there are outbreaks. as we using that guidance start with the long-term care facilities because obviously, a number of them do have outbreaks that are of concern. i want people to understand that vaccinations at that time in that setting is not necessarily because it takes enough time for that to build up most ofes, etc., that the people who would have been exposed to the virus have already been exposed, and even if they aren't testing positive, they may subsequently test positive. they are incubating, if y

is vermont impacted by this. >> i don't believe so. i will ask commissioner harrington to weigh in. >> thank you governor. thank you for that question. there are two parts in article that i saw that probably. the benefit, people or different states under paying benefits. a lot of that about what we're hearing from states, that individuals were getting the minimum amount of the program. able to validate iempe earned ie was. from the beginning of the program, we built in functionality, if someone up loads their tax information, this system will recalculate the benefits they are earning. so, some states because of backlog and delay in processing of some claims. have not caught up and made the adjustments, but our system was designed that way to make that adjustment based on what they report in earnings they calculate what their weekly benefit is. it will pay them minimum amount until they up lloyd th up load e communication, it -- documentation. other part of the article, was around data reporting. and at least for some time new we've bee

the presiding officer: the senator for vermont. mr. sanders: let me concur with my friend from illinois on the issue. i have a question of my colleague from texas. very simple question. you are concerned about the issue of corporate liability. i get that. i happen not agree with you. you're entitled to your opinion. you may or may not be concerned about section 230 of the 1996 federal telecommunications bill. that's fine too. we may have a discussion about how we protect american democracy. it's a good discussion as well. but i have the strong feeling, senator cornyn, that in texas as in vermont, you know what? people are really not talking about corporate liability. it's a good issue. it's an important issue. i don't think they're talking about section 230. what i think they are talking about is the senator from illinois just said how are they going to feed their kids today. that is the issue. and what i would ask my friend from texas is what is your problem with allowing the senate to vote on whether or not we are going to allow amer

president vey much and i rise to echo the sentiments of the senator from vermont. heth is right. the republicans are wrong on this issue on every single part of this debate. senatorto sanders is right, the republicans are wrong. we are in the middle of an unprecedented crisis in our country. weea have a health care health care crisis, we have an unemployment crisis, we have a hunger crisis, we have a housing crisis, we have an addiction crisis, we have a moral crisis in this country. the united states government should he responding to the needs, to the desperation of families in our country at this time. it's a crisis of faith that the american people have in its governments ability to respond to human suffering. while this institution has been created to respond to human suffering. that is our job. tony fauci is made very clear that the worst of the pandemic is ahead of us, not behind us. we knoww what is coming and yet we are not responding. we know this is not going away soon and yet we are not responding. a program, operation warp speed was created to create a vaccine but be

it's in vermont, taking place in it senator schumer's state and in kentucky. in fact in the state of kentucky, very beautiful state. i've been there a number of times. but kentucky is the state where ten on the 25 poorest counties in america exist. i'm sure senator mcconnell is aware that around his state, you have thousands and tens of thousands of people living in economic desperation. and i am talking about counties where 30 - 40 percent of people are living poverty . and were any thousands are trying to survive survive on less than $20000 a year. in talking about a the state of kentucky. just using kentucky as an example because that is a state center there o'connell represents. but in kentucky over 22 percent of the children are living in poverty. they might need a little bit of hope. and in the state of kentucky, more than 190,000 workers are making this extremely low wage. it and were over half a million people are less than $15 an hour. somebody might want to add those people rascals people one of $2000 check per adult would mean. and i am talking in k

but the junior senator from vermont had other ideas. remember, senator sanders spent last summer literally trying to defund our military. not my words, mr. president, by the title of a piece he published, defund the pentagon, the liberal case. our colleague authored an amendment to strip 10% of funding from our service members and decimate our defense budget. the russians aren't cutting military funding. china isn't cutting funding. but last summer senator sanders and fellow democrats, including the democratic leader voted to make america unilaterally disarmed and cut ours. the left took a break from trying to defund the police to try to defund our armed forces. the amendment went down in a landslide. but now our colleague from vermont is again putting political stunts before the needs of our men and women in uniform. our colleague says he will slow down in vital bill unless he gets to muscle through another stand alone proposal from speaker pelosi that would add roughly half a trillion dollars to the national debt. which does not align

mrr for vermont. mr. sanders: thank you very much, mr. president. i want to concur with what senator schumer said. and what he said goes beyond economics. it goes beyond the desperation that tens of millions of

the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, i ask consent the equal of the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, steven sidney swaforts, of virginia, to be a judge for the court of federal claims. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, speaking both as the senator from vermont and as vice chairman of the senate appropriations committee, and speaking with a concern about what's happening in the senate. it's been 321 days since the first covid-19 case was reported in the united states. 321 days. it's been 282 days since the first covid-19 death was reported in the united states. the bureau of labor and statistics reports that the unemployment rate in november was 6.7%, nearly doubl

esta es la historia de 3 jÓvenes de vermont, quienes un dÍa se sintieron tan perseguidos por ice, quees, en 2011, buscando un mejor futuro para sus hermanos, josÉ enrique balcÁzar saliÓ de tabasco, mÉxico, también hacia vermont. balcÁzar: me encontrÉ con muchos retos. somos una comunidad bien pequeÑa de trabajadores lecheros, pero mi padre estaba aquÍ. aguiar: aÑos mÁs tarde conociÓ a zully y juntos emprendieron un camino sin saber cÓmo serÍa. palacios: y para mÍ fue muy difÍcil. sabía los riesgos que podÍa pasar. aguiar: palacios y balcÁzar descubrieron lo que para ellos eran las injusticias que se viven en el paÍs mÁs rico del mundo. balcÁzar: tambiÉn ver a mi padre, las largas horas que trabajaba de 60 a 80 horas en un rancho lechero, sin dÍa de descanso. aguiar: y la sensaciÓn de ser perseguido a toda hora, se convirtiÓ en una constante. balcÁzar: siempre me daba miedo. incluso la policÍa, el sheriff. salir incluso a la tienda, al banco, a un parque. aguiar: y fue allÍ cuando naciÓ una obsesión, un deseo. luchar para encontrar un cambio sin importar los riesgos. balcÁzar: agregar

well we are unique in vermont our republican governor was reelected with about 70 percent of the vote he listens to scientists and public health experts he encourages people to wear a mask he believes that joe biden and come out rightfully our next president and vice president united states he called this effort with the electoral college pathetic and bizarre and he is ready to be a partner with us as democrats and we are ready to do the same we are all hoping that washington can get its act together and help save lives around the country and stop with the bickering and the partisanship i personally would say more of that has come from republicans but i'm willing to put that aside so that we can focus on doing the work that americans need us to do and turning the page in this pandemic and in this time of uncertainty let's look at the international picture here obviously the u.s. has a history all encouraging countries around the world to follow the democratic process which it believes is it is a good example of given everything that has happened to the u.s. democratic process certainl

securing critical tools, training at that port for america's armed forces but the junior senator from vermont had other ideas. senator sanders spent last summer literally trying to defend their military. not my words, mr. president that the title of the piece he published defund the pentagon, the liberal case. her colleague had an amendment to strip funding from our decimate our defense spending for the russians arein cutting military funding but last summer senator sanders and fellow democrats including the democratic leader voted to make america a unilaterally cut hours. the break from trying to defund the police to try to defund our armed forces. their amendment went down in a landslide that our colleague from vermont is again putting political stunts before the needs of our men and women in uniform. my colleague says he will slow down this vital bill unless he gets another stand-alone proposal from speaker pelosi that would add roughly half a trillion dollars to the national debt. we should not allow what president trump has suggested which has no realistic path to pass the senate. as i s

he will be joined by vermont health officials. we will have live coverage at 11:00 eastern, and online at c-span.org, or on the free radio app. ♪ c-span, yourtching unfiltered view of government. it was created by america's cable television companies in 1979. today we are brought to you by these television companies who provide c-span2 viewers as a public service. to viewers as a public service. with politicians getting the vaccine on video and other means, twitter is a place where some members of congress are doing that same thing. presley of massachusetts saying -- today i received my first dose of the covid-19 vaccine as part of the continuity of government plan. i am feeling well. i encourage everyone to take the to take thertunity first let's receive the vaccine in the weeks and months to come. marco rubio, i know i looked away from the needle but i am so glad the covid-19 vaccine is safe and affected that i decide to take it myself. this prompted reaction from senator rand paul who said, i was asked about getting a vaccine.

>> the senator from vermont. >> thank you. or resorting the right to objec object, we shall be very, very clear. working class of this country today, faces more economic desperation than at any time since the great depression of the 1930s. and working families need help now. not next year, but right now. last nights, the house speaker of representatives, with a two thirds majority, 275 -- 134, two thirds bipartisan move to increase the direct payment going to working families from $600 per adult for $2000 per adult the house to the right thing, i congratulate them. now it is time for the senate to step up to the plate and do what the working families of this country overwhelmingly want us to do there as a result of the pandemic lost their jobs and their incomes these families in the middle of the winter face the threat of eviction and the possibility being thrown out in the streets. hunger in america is at the highest level than it has been for decades. with moms and dads struggling to feed their kids and working families lini

president, i appreciate the comments of the senator from vermont. i think what senator lee and i was talking about is opposed to the way it used to be, when we got here in 20, the appropriations process was completely broken and it is still broken. it has been a bipartisan failure. i arrive in 2011 under democratic leadership, nowe're under republican leadership. it's broken. the good news is preventing government shutdown act is a bipartisan solution. it passed 12-2 out of my committee. it's cosponsored largely by senator lankford and senator hassan. and the concerns the senator from vermont expressed about an automatic c.r. in passage of this bill is addressed in the bill. the bill has the disciplines to force us to only work on appropriation bills of we can leave town but not on the federal dime, not on campaign money. we'll have to pay for that ourselves. and i don't know what we're going to pay for it with because we're not going to get paid until we actually pass the appropriation bill. so the discipline is already set in here. that's what so

is her to the original request. >> the senator from vermont for unit. >> thank you. our reserve - preserving the right to object. we should all be very much that the working class of this country today f faces more economic desperation than any time since the great depression of the 1930s. and the working families need help now. not next year, but right now. last night, the house of representatives with a two thirds majority, 275, - 134. two thirds bipartisan votes moved to increase theas direct payment going to the working families from $600 per adult, to the $2000 per adult. in theig house did the right thg by congratulating them and now it is time for the senate to step up to the plate. and do with the working families of this country overwhelmingly want us to do. madam president, as a result of the pandemic, tens of millions of americans have lost their jobs and their incomes. these families in the middle of the winter, they now face the threat of eviction and the possibility of being thrown out in the streets. hundreds in th it's at the hight level that it's bee

the senator from vermont. sen. sanders: thank you. reserving the right to object. clear.ld all be very the working class of this country today faces more economic desperation than at any time since the great depression of the 1930's. helporking families need now. not next year, but right now. last night, the house of representatives with a two 75-134,majority, 2 movedirds bipartisan vote to increase the direct payment going to working families from $600 per adult to $2000 per adult. the house did the right thing. i congratulate them and now it is time for the senate to step up to the plate. and do what the working families of this country overwhelmingly want us to do. a result ofent, as the pandemic, tens of millions of americans have lost their jobs and their incomes. these families in the middle of the winter now face the threat of eviction and the possibility of being thrown out in the streets. is at theamerica highest level than it has been for decades with moms and dads struggling to feed their kids and working families lining up mile after mile to get emergen

the senator from vermont. >> thank you. reserving the right to object, we should all be very, very clear. working class of this country today faces more economic desperation than at any time since the great depression of the 1930s and working families need help now. not next year but right now. last night, the house of representatives with a two-thirds majority 275-134 approved the payment going from $600 per adult to $2,000 per adult. the house did the right thing. i congratulate them and now it is time for the senate to step up to the plate and do what working families of this country overwhelmingly want us to do. madam president, as a result of the pandemic tens of millions of americans have lost their jobs and their incomes. these families in the middle of the winter now face threat of eviction and put out on the streets. hunger at the highest level it has been for decades with moms and dads struggling to feed their kids and working families lining up mile after mile to get emergency food packages. we are even seeing an

we saw three people, the electors, signing paper in vermont. they cast two ballots, voted for joe biden as president and a separa separa separate ballot, kamala harris for vice president. and they're signing a bunch of documents, a law passed requires them to sign six copies of this. one copy gets sent to mike pence, two copies to the secretary of state in vermont. two copies to the national archive and one sent to the district court judge who oversees. all of this is written into law before obviously they had email or ways to transmit this stuff more quickly. this is the way they transmit the official results. we'll see it play out in 49 more states and the district of columbia over the course of the day. >> i want to go to georgia, nick valencia live in atlanta. >> reporter: just in the last minute or so we saw one of the electors, actually an alternate, show up and walk up the stairs here. he will be part of the process that takes place at noon. this is an often overlooked process here, the vote, a formality that was attempted to be halted b

experts from across the political spectrum agree that her colleagues from vermont is dead wrong on this. socialism for rich people is a terrible way to help the market families that are actually struggling. so let me say that again. from our grandkids to do socialism for rich people is a terrible way to get help to families who actually need it. watching the democrats to secured it so the checks would benefit even more households per unit a family of five for the parents are in a $250,000 per year and not seen any income loss this past year. speaker pelosi and senator sanders want to send than $5000 from uncle sam. make a quarter of a million dollars. it nobody's out of work. but her so-called progressive frenzy the household needs survival checks. if i can believe in of five should have turn $350,000 before the spigot of government money would stop entirely. the socialism for rich people. that is what speaker pelosi and senator sanders have sketched out. that's a terrible way to help those who need it. and experts across the political spectrum agree that the liberal editors of the wash

the senator from vermont. >> thank you, madam president. reserving -- preserving the right to object, we should all be very, very clear. the working class of this country today faces more economic desperation than at any time since the great depression of the 1930s. and working families need help now. not next year, but right now. last night, the house of representatives, with a two thirds majority, 275 to 134, two-thirds by partisan vote, moved to increase the direct payment going to working families from $600 per adult to $2,000 per adult. the house did the right thing. i congratulate them. and now it is time for the senate to step up to the plate and do what the working families of this country overwhelmingly want us to do. madam president, as a result of the pandemic, tens of millions of americans have lost their jobs and their incomes. these families in the middle of the winter now face the threat of eviction and the possibility of being thrown out in the streets. hunger in america is at the highest level than it has been for decades,

. >> igree with the senator from vermont. to vote, you wantee probablyant to look for another line of work. coming to congress ison a bad place to come and you don't want to actually vote recor mr. president, as marketplace forhe results the 2020 election to be certified in a couple of weeks, former vice president joe biden has began to announce his picks for cabinet and oer high-ranking sitions. some of these nominees have close ties to investments in other consulting firms whose clnts are largely unknown. maybe even subject to the nondisclosure agreement. the truth is these individuals can be working on behalf of the feel-good nonprot. malicious forn actor, or large company with business before the government. in the truth of the matter is that we have simply n idea what kind of businessr financial relationship these indivuals have with foreign powers. that can influence our actio as high-ranking government officials. this goes way beyond compliance fiwith theoreign agents registration act. this is an ethical issue. it is a

vermont senator bernie sanders.lcome back to "special report." >> thank you very much and happy new year to you. >> bret: happy new year to you, sir. you've called president trump a racist, a sexist, xenophobic, religious bigot, demagogue, a liar. now you say he's a visionary when it comes to 2,000 -- >> i didn't say visionary. no, i didn't. i think president trump is the most dangerous president in the history of our country but he happens to be right on this issue. i think he is correct in saying that we are living in a terrible terrible economic moment for tens of millions of working-class families. we fought very hard to get the $600 direct payments. trump is right in saying it's not enough. we need to go to $2,000. i didn't say he was a visionary. he is right on this. >> bret: obviously speaker pelosi, senator chuck schumer, treasury secretary debated this with republican leadership for a long time. they cut a deal for the $600 stimulus check. did they just waste their time and cut a lousy deal? >> look. when y

ludlow vermont 44 inches of snow coming down from a that the storm that rolled through things are goingo settle down low now you can see most that beginning to make its way further to the north and in the middle of the atlantic but getting back out west we go and certainly we had a nice little storm rolling through the bay area mountaintops picked up rtd's of an inch plus of rain. so that's a nice little soaker outside tonight things quieting down as far as the rain is concerned but not for the winds been whipping this income that brisk wind it probably feel a little bite in the atmosphere today the air is very dry. you see more normally upon these winds blowing as high as 40 miles per hour right now, but we've got some gusts stronger than that that overnight tonight we'll see places where you do get some gusty winds settling in mainly in parts of the north bay toward map also be calistoga snow we're going to see some strong gusty winds maybe some 30 mile an hour gusts across some of the higher mountain peaks that will continue throughout the night but down the suburbs down the valleys

i'll get reaction from the independent senator from vermont bernie sanders on the show later tonight.idorrespondent david's pond is in washington keeping an eye on the senate's end-of-the-year legislative business. >> senators have a lot of work to do but not much time to do it.. two major funding bills sit in limbo tonight and those senators hope to come to an agreement before the new senate is sworn in on sunday. >> let's talk about covid-19 relief. >> senate majority leader mitch mcconnell on the floor an hour ago announce he will move forward with a relief package that includes $2,000 direct payments, but there's a catch involving the president's wish list. mcconnell says to get the $2,000 checks, democrats must also repeal section 230 of the communications decency act which protects big tech companies who censor speech online. president trump says companies like twitter and facebook unfairly censor republican perspectives and have been for years. the majority leader also wants a bipartisan study examining the integrity and security of the 2020 presidential election. >> the senate d

the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, i see we are not in a quorum call so so -- and i was planning to speak in a few minutes. everything's been filed now appropriately. let me speak in my role not only as the senator from vermont but as the vice chairman of the senate appropriations committee. we've had months of delay and painstaking negotiations, sometimes those negotiations have gone all weekend long to midnight, 1:00, 2:00 in the morning, but this afternoon we'll have before us a spending package. it includes all 12 appropriations bills for fiscal year 2021. it also includes the vitally important covid relief package. those are the numbers and figures, but let's talk about what it means. it priestles funding for programs that -- it provides funding for programs that are critically important to the american people and i'd like to see it swiftly passed and on the president's desk. after all, it's not like we're suddenly rushing things. we're two months and 20 days into the fiscal year. it would be absolutely

>> that is correct. >> lastly, the fact is that your governor in vermont is a republican.e the idea of you getting a role in the biden administration given that your republican governor would replace you with a republican? >> no, that's not true. actually, the governor has said that he would replace me if that were to happen. i don't know that it will. but if i became a part of the biden administration, what the governor has indicated is he would replace me with somebody who would caucus with the democrats. >> oh, okay. so that is not a real excuse if they don't actually offer you a position? the idea is because you will be replaced by a democrat theoretically? >> yes. >> president trump compared the united states to a -- nation. what is he talking about? that is next. >>> no running water and no electricity and bodies piling up up and hospitals battling a covid crisis in one country where the numbers do not match the images. stay with us. this holiday at t-mobile, get an iphone 12 with 5g, on us, on every plan! and if you're 55 and up, switch to our essentials 55 plan and

on friday, senator bernie sanders of vermont spoke from the floor ofhe senate d decried the aid deals "totally inadequate." he called for $1200 emergency checks for every working-class adult and $500 per child. worsts country faces the set of public health and economic crises that we have faced in over 100 years. as a result of the pandemic, more people are becoming infected than ever before. right now. hospitalization is higher than .t has ever been before right now. and more people are dying than ever before, literally, day after day. we all hope and pray the new vaccine will be distributed as quickly as possible and it will put an end to this nightmare. thatoday, the truth is millions of low-income and middle-class families are suffering in a way that they have not suffered since the the 1930's.sion of today, the reality is over half of our workers are living paycheck-to-paycheck trying to starvation wage of $10 or $12 an hour. the reality is millions of our senior citizens are trapped in their homes, unable to see their kids or grandchildren, unable to go to a grocery store, and m

so i am proud that vermont and the country chose the president who is also elected by the popular vote for our electoral college victory as the wow what i can say about the electoral college is you know it was probably at one point designated for situations that felt uncertain you know we've had to go back into the 800 to remember when there was enough uncertainty to give the vote to the electoral college over the will of the people just in the aftermath of reconstruction in the civil war but you know i am the 1st woman of color to serve as an elector in the state of vermont and that goes to show you that it's not a particularly representative process and we should be focusing on the will of the people on election day. still ahead and al jazeera forced from their homes we meet the people in northern mozambique who've been displaced by isolate fighters. and have a strain is using the i.d.f. to restore one of the world's most endangered ecosystems. once again early winter is showing us a disturbed weather pattern in the eastern med we've seen significant rainfall in southern turkey in th

state of vermont thanks for speaking to us what impact will the collapse of the cease fire have on an already tense situation in the central african republic. well thanks for having me i mean i think this this this temporary cease fire i think a bit too much stock was put into it and i say that because of the groups that make up this rebel coalition the 6 groups that make up the c.p.c. this coalition this new coalition are some of the groups that have perpetrated the most gruesome crimes in the central african republic since 2013 named wantonly killed civilians they've used rape as a weapon of war they've caused widespread displacement and pillage so the fact that they've broken this temporary ceasefire is not in of itself surprising i think what's much more worrying is how much territory they seem to be able to take in how quickly they seem to be able to take it and how close they actually are to the capital bunky all reports are indicating that within a 100 kilometer or so it's very very tense in the city right now and we're also hearing that 3 u.n. peacekeepers have been killed by

one of the senators king the se for more money is bernie sanders of vermont. and he joins me now from capitol hill. >> nawaz: senator sanders, welcome back to the "newshou for making the time. let's start with a littleha recap of whatpened today. mitch mcconnell blocked your request to voteon r at house bill fodirect payments to go up to $2,000. he then put forward a new bill, that combines the $2,000 payments with election security requests from the president, and also rving some legal protections for some tech companies. what does all of this mean for all of e people waiting to see if they're getting that $2,0 check or not? >> it means that mitch mcconnell and senators are muddying the water. this is not a complicated issue. the house did the right thing last night. they understand that all across this country there is a level of economic desperation we hae not seen in this country since the great depression. we're looking at people who are worried about being evicted, people who are going hungry, unabl to feed their kids, people who are the middle of this t

the columns rise three stories high, great shafts of marble in the mountain state of vermont.ide, premium marble is afoot and all around you, in polished walls and columns under a coffered ceiling. in this room, historic meetings take place. with tourists of other days observing. a staircase of marble spirals upward. in the hallway, an open pedestal with the word silence. the feeling here is one of reverence. the route of it is a document head deer to us. the american constitution. article three. the judicial power of the united states shall be vested in one supreme court. the ju dish power shall extend to all cases in law and equity arising under this constitution. the laws of the united states and treaties made under their authority. the first article of the constitution has to do with congress. the second deals with the office of president, article three with the supreme court. one, two, three. that is the way our founding fathers planned it. a government made up of three equal independent parts put together in a system of checks and balances that keeps any one of them from

out of washington and to turn our backs on the suffering of so many men and women and children inry vermont and in every other state in this country would be immoral, e and we cannot allow that to happen. again, we must make certain every working family in this country receives a $1200 direct payment plus $500 for their kids. that's the least we can do. today is the result of the horrific pandemic and economic meltdown. the american working-class is hurting in a way that has not been experienced since the great depression of the 1930s. in terms of public healt health, yesterday alone, yesterday, over 220,000 americans were diagnosed with covid-19. yesterday. tragically all but 3000 died. we are experiencing now some of the worst states with cases being diagnosed with hospitalization and in rms ofe death. th is where we are to date go in other words more americans were killed by the coronavirus yesterday than killed on 9/11. that in president tens of millions of our fellow citizens have lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic , lost income, lost their health insurance, they have depleted

vermont senator bernie sanders says that until mcconnell backs down, he will do all that he can to block a critical vote on the defense funding bill. this hour, i will be speaking to senator sanders about his efforts and the senate's number-two democrat dick durbin about what comes next. >>> we do want to start with that battle on capitol hill this hour. joining us now, nbc news political reporter monica alba traveling with the president in west palm beach, florida. nbc news capitol hill correspondent leigh ann caldwell. nbc news presidential historian michael beschloss. leigh ann, let me begin with you. what are the democrats and republicans planning on doing next? >> reporter: well, ayman, there does seem to be some sort of showdown in the senate over the stimulus checks right now. senate democratic leader chuck schumer tried to pass additional $2,000 stimulus bill that passed the house last night on the senate floor, but it was blocked by senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. mitch mcconnell said in statements on the floor that he hinted at, perhaps, he might bring up a $2,000 stimu

vermont and kentucky were added to the 13 states. the old flag no longer worked.d be done to keep the american flag up to date. within 15 years, there might be as many as 20 states and the banner itself would become a streamer that would go on and on. that last, under pressure to get on to more important business, the whole problem was postponed as the house voted that the flag of the united states should be 15 stripes with a union of 15 stars. and its earliest years, the stars and stripes rose up over a few merchant vessels. most americans did not even see it. then, as now, the world was dominated by superpowers. the u.s. was not one of them. it was just a fledgling nation, not strong at all. the two big powers were england and france. as they struggled for supremacy over all of the seas, america and her ships were caught in the middle. so as the 19th century dawned, america found herself engaged in yet another struggle to boost or -- preserve her rights for independence. it was during the fall of 1812 that francis scott key wrote, the star-spangled banner. with

we probably spend about that much in our small state of vermont. if we gave you double or triple those resources, how would you use them? and how could you use them more effectively, especially with the ocean plastic pollution? and feel free to-- we've asked you the question, you're not here lobbying for the money and just go ahead and tell me what you think? >> well, senator leahy, thank you for the question. >> and you can tell lindsey graham, too. because we've got to write the checks. >> well, senator graham, as well. first of all, i can't overestimate we're thankful for the strong support we've gotten from this committee specifically for the resources we have to date. senator graham, you know a gentleman named mark green and i know you have heard this from him in many testimonies over the last couple of years, there's never going to be enough money in our public resources to meet all of our development challenges. what i think we have been very good at doing is being very strategic in targeting our investments, specifically to the four biggest

he will be joined by vermont health officials.e will have live coverage at 11:00 eastern on c-span and online at [no audio], -- c-span.org or listen on the free radio app. with covid-19 relief legislation approved by congress and coronavirus vaccines being administered, use c-span.org/ co

as a correspondent to the break free from plastic act, in my state of vermont, have a new law eliminating plastic bags and straws. the program, before youere born, mr. chairman. >> let the record reflect at. [laughter] that waseahy: polluting, among other tngs, like champlain, and i do not even want to go into all the cangs that the senators talk about on their coastlines. putting my whole statement in the record, but we often talk about the next generation, and i think of our children and grandchildren. this is not a world they should be in if this continues. not a world anyone of us want to be in. in fact, it is a world that will not support a lot of people the world supports today. thank you for having this hearing. sen. graham: thank you. well said, senator lhy. i promise our two senato will get you out and look forward to your testimony, but we are going too something about this. i mean, i know the average american thinks we have lost our minds up here, but there ia lot we agree on, and getting plastics out of the oceans should be someing we should come together on with that. -- we s

group of for doubt and to wait for a suitable time to come up so as mohammad sick and on to parts of vermont he is covered by all of this group so they citizens or d. . civilians in this tots ah generally. a humanitarian problem because you need to find a way to support them on do you need to find a way to survive so monley on decide how the region is one of the biggest human each area in a crisis or not so that's how beach the the problem is and then suffering from quite a wide range of challenges and we need to keep and for sizing this point the political crisis that money is facing mali is a complex social and physical environment mali has a political system that was coupled together i think in the late fifty's it's. honestly you use every right to your means to keep this just disparate groups together for a better known time and as we've seen through do coups and a bunch elections that this system is no go well for long one not even a monument as we saw with a demonic elite was keep count in in august this year it doesn't work for anyone so do fundamental issues where would the un france

let me play mitch mcconnell talking about defense. >> our colleague from vermont is putting political stunts before the needs of our men and women in uniform. the senate will not let our national security be shut off course by senators who have spent years, literally years trying to get america's capabilities while our adversaries continue ramping up. >> are you and your democratic senators colleagues dug in on forcing a delay on this override? >> that vote is going to take place. what mcconnell said is not accurate. >> why delay it? >> it is the only tool that i have right now in order to force a vote on the real issue. i was on the floor of the senate today demanding it. what is mcconnell's problem to do in the house 44 republicans voted to provide $6,000 checks to working-class families. in the senate as you know a number of republican senators 5 or 6 said they want to vote for this but all i'm asking of mitch mcconnell, give us a vote. he wants to vote against it that is fine. what is the problem is a vote. if he wants to announce that vote now he can have his vote on the defense

beautiful state and the only regret we have is that you're not able to be with us or in person to enjoy vermont university. i'm author travis noris and i have the privilege of being a military symposium executive director and also director of the houston war center and also for everyone this issue is part of a program with george universities center for global resilience and security which is part of a larger initiative, the environmental security initiative. where thrilled you are joining us today for a special presentation to award adam higginbotham that 20/20 military writers award. i'd like to mention details before i introduce them and we present the award. for those of you that are not familiar with the kobe award or for those of you that are we've created a special video to provide context and background of the awards previous recipients and we ask that you go to our website, the link to the website has been pushed out via chat and you can just take acouple minutes to watch the video . it situates the prominence of the award so take a few minutes to watch that. we would also like to ask

we are joined by bernie sanders from vermont. thank you for joining us. you said the relief bill is not adequate. i know you pushed for more money for direct payments for americans in desperate need. in your view, why does this deal fall short? >> it falls short, wolf, because this country today is facing the worst set of crises that we have faced in modern history of this country. as we speak, you're looking at tens of millions of families that face eviction from their homes because they lost their jobs, have no income. you're looking at a record level of hunger in the united states of america. we have over 90 million people that are uninsured, underinsured in the midst of the worst pandemic in the modern history of our country. and you see poverty rising very significantly. so with all those crises out there, what we needed was a major, major response to tell the working families of this country who are struggling to keep their families in place we hear their pain and we are responding. now, this bill to be honest has a lot of very important stuff in it

well, a guard in vermont was in charge of six prisoners who had the virus, and during the course of the day, he met each of them repeatedly, but never for more than one minute at a time. even so, he became infected, and as a result, the us authorities have changed their advice to warn that even very short periods of exposure when you are close to someone can be risky. things like this, that we didn't know could happen before, is really important to document and share with others, so, you know, others can learn from it. so that's kind of been the theme of this pandemic is, is just new and surprising. and what was discovered in a restaurant in south korea is revealing. someone who was infected was finishing a meal when a student sat down more than six metres away. and another person found a place more than four metres away. scientists later established that both became infected in a matter of minutes. they say the air conditioning must have spread the virus, pushing it around even over those long distances, something many thought wasn't possible. and on top of that, there is now concern a

closer to home, the pandemic is ruining the ski season for towns and resorts from aspen to killington, vermont and beyond. some are taking extra measures to entice skiiers, that includes the town of alta outside salt lake city. anna werner reports. >> reporter: even without a pandemic, there's no question devan practices social distancing on the job. >> it's a fun job. >> reporter: he's a snow cab driver who smooths out the rough spots on ski slopes as the sun sets each night. but there aren't as many skiers cutting tracks in the snows these days, and after hours business isn't what it used to be. skiing is open but restricted at all ten of utah's world class resorts. but operators fear closures that have hit california ski lodges might influence utah officials to cut back more than they already have. >> typically in here we would have seven rows of tables along here, and this year we have four. >> reporter: the rustler lodge sits mostly empty. >> we're sitting here in the bar and that's usually open to the public where people can come in after skiing but that's closed to outside guests right