and those promise the fair trial to louisiana. ready to entertain questions from the court. >> i think your biggest hurdle where we held the jury trial right itself should not be applied retroactively. what we're talking about here is a subordinate right to a unanimous verdict a lesser included right. how do you get around stefano? >> there are two considerations a way to bring to the courts attention. stefano has help with the judge's ability to make a decision and as this court noted you cannot say whether or not necessarily george rendered decision is more or less accurate manager evander decision it is the intricacies of the jury room and the more analogous cases the brown decision. provided the same retroactivity standard that was incorporated in stefano that relayed heavily on state interest with the birch decision retroactively which prevented the louisiana from having from nonunanimous. >> five of us thought that was a president that was being overruled and therefore the most compelling evidence for those five justices unr

and-- this restores fairness to jury trials in louisiana. both paths remedy something we know to be wrong. both paths will provide the promise of a fair trial to all louisianaens. mr. chief justice, i'm ready to entertain questions from the court. >> thank you, counsel. i think your biggest hurdle is the court's decision in stefano where we held that the jury trial right itself should not be applied retroactively. what we're talking about here is a subordinate right to a unanimous verdict. lesser included right. how do you get around distefano? >> there's two considerations i'd like to bring to the court's attention. distefano itself was just dealing with the judge's ability to make a decision and as this court noted in duncan, you cannot say whether or not necessarily that a judge rendered decision is more or less accurate than a jury rendered decision. our case here deals with the intracacies of what goes on in the jury room. i will also note that i think the more analogous case, mr. chief justice, is the brown decision. it, too, provided

louisiana. the plurality is supportive of you. but the opinion was the opinion of justice powell and justice stephens and they would have applied burch retroactively only on direct, pending on direct not on collateral. any response to that? >> yes. you know, with the teague analysis now, we do really make that distinction between direct and collateral review. but brown was, that the standard at the time applied the same standards on correct and collateral review. the premise that unanimity was required and under a standard of review that was applicable at the time, it was. >> thank you, justice barrett? chief justice barrett: i want to press you more about what accuracy means. because when i heard your answers to justice kagan it was hard for me to distinguish between your view of the accuracy prong and your view of the bedrock procedural prong, the fairness of the proceeding. because you kept saying well, it's possible for a nonunanimous jury verdict to have reached the i.e. someone committing the act while being unfair. can you

johnson v louisiana when revising its criminal procedures. the petitioner minimizes louisiana and the interest and dismisses puerto rico entirely that there can be no doubt declaring the rule retroactive unsettles thousands of cases that involved terrible crimes in all three jurisdictions. requiring the trials and criminal cases would be impossible and particularly unfair to the victims of these crimes. every juristic state and federal addressing the issue before ramose needed that way as well for almost 50 years. the petitioner can see that they announced a procedural rule so they only apply retroactively if it is a watershed rule while undoubtedly ramose isn't a watershed rule and it isn't rendered unfair nor does it seriously undermine factual accuracy of the verdict. in some cases, unanimity might improve accuracy but in others it might diminish it. edwards confessed to rate and armed robbery and was identified by one of his victims. because he was slide before the conviction became final, the activity bar should prevent him and others li

louisiana adopteds this jury verdict in 1974. after a new constitutiol convention with our delegates are expressly relied on oregon an johnson louisiana, when advising his criminal procedure hourprayed they minimize in louisiana and organs interested dismisses puerto rico's entirely. but there can be known to out the ramus rule retroactively, thousands of cases that involve terrible crimes in all jusdictions . requiring new trials in these criminal cases would be impossible and particularly in fair to the victims of these crimes. ramos is unquestionably a new rule. this court is held on nerous occasions that if discarded clear sign of the new role. these justices agreed that is finding presidents virtually every juristtate and federal addressing the issue before ramus dated that way as well from waslm 50 years. petitioner concedes the ramus announcer procedural so the ramus only applies retroactively if it is watershed world. while doubtedly iortant, ramos is not a watershed rule. it does not render a trial unfair nor does it ser

returning boards was clearly up for sale in louisiana. they offered to both democrats and republicans, if you give me $100,000, i'll make sure you get the votes. this is the first election, interestingly enough, where both parties in south carolina and -- actually in all three states -- the parties go to the courts. this is the first presidential election in the 19th century that i know of where people go to courts seeking rulings that is going to give them an advantage. and the use of courts in florida was particularly interesting. a democratic judge gave writs of quo warranto to the democratic electors to serve on the republican electors. a writs of quo warranto is by what right do you hold this office and you have to appear in court and prove that you deserve to be -- to cast the electoral vote for that state. later the supreme court of florida, the state supreme court rules that in fact the democrats had won the election. interestingly enough, the people who settled the election in washington reject that claim. exactly the same logic

with louisiana they just carried cash. wasthe return to gore clearly up for sale in the louisiana. both democrats and republicans, i will make sure you get the votes if you give me $100,000. first election where both parties in south in all threeually states. the parties go to the courts. this is the first presidential election in the 19th century that i know where people go to courts seeking rulings that's going to give them an advantage and the use of courts in florida was particularly interesting. -- tocratic judge gave servemocratic lectures to -- electors to serve on the republican electorate. by what right do you hold this office, and you've got to prove in court that you deserve to cast the electoral vote for that state. court ofe supreme florida rules that in fact the democrats had won the election. interestingly enough, the people who settled the election in was exactly the same logic that they used in bush v gore. the constitution specifies that state legislators will determine how electors are chosen. note legislators have jurisdiction whatsoever. ok. contested electoral

this is louisiana. and if you allow me i think the best way to put you there is to read a couple of perhaps, -- paragraphs, just first chapter, extreme end of the mississippi river southeast of new orleans, almost entirely surrounded by the gulf of mexico. the river built it and the river defined it. every granule of earth carried by water from the great plains or the appalachians or the rockies from its source in minnesota to mouth, the mississippi river carved path through the interior of the united states forming the third most populist river basin in the world. the mount of the mississippi is the anchor of vast marsh lands from everglades to mÉxico. the marsh had always drawn people. only 5% of the land layed between the levies and can be built on, the rest was wetlands and great fields of grass that overflow with life. there are even settlements out there, tinny wooden shacks built on satellites accessible by boat and people subsisted on what they should shoot or track, life existed on the narrow

both sides claimed that they had carried louisiana, florida and south carolina. they sent competing electoral votes to washington as i said. who won those states was going to be determined by returning boards who were controlled by republicans in all three states. these were the last states that republicans controlled during reconstruction. and it was clear the morning after the election that tilden had this 184 electoral votes and that hayes had 166 and that these 19 electoral votes from the south were being disputed. democrats, by the way, also tried to steal a vote that they didn't -- that they didn't deserve from oregon by challenging an elector, but the real dispute was these is 19 votes from the south. just like 2000, which i think was the most -- clearly the most exciting presidential election of my life because it lasted so long, it wasn't on for weeks and weeks after the election, both sides lawyered up -- well, at least they lawyered up in florida and south carolina and with louisiana they just carried cash and the return to gore was clearly up for sale

all of those off the coast of louisiana are based in black men. after that, the money started coming in. there we go. so it was this isolated back water and suddenly improbably discovered that it held one of the greatest concentrations of petroleum in the world. so it sounds like a pretty perfect location to establish a dictatorship which brings us to our first person. so in 1919 it didn't relinquish control until 1969 so before those years he controlled life to a degree that would have made him a much more familiar dictator than other nations and for a long time he used his power to crush his political adversaries including and this is true, the armed standoff with the national guard during world war ii that went down in the political history as the little war. but then 1954 rolled around and the supreme court decided brown v board of education and perez who had been a racist before but hadn't ever really targeted announced a few days later that he was dedicating his life to preserving and that is when he changed from audible louisiana political

mike johnson from louisiana and jim banks from indiana. i'm going to do a quick introduction of them and ask questions but we will take questions from the audience. we will put them up on the chat box although i do have a bunch of my own questions as well the chairman elect and representative is in his second term representing the third district of indiana covering the northeast corner of the state including fort wayne. representative banks serves on the armed services committee, the labor committee and veteran affairs and the father of young children. we always like to know about people's families. representative johnson is the outgoing chairman of the, second term representing the district in louisiana covering the northwest part of the state including shreveport. he serves on the judiciary committee and natural resources committee so i'd like to start with you, representative johnson. what are you most proud of in the last year? >> thanks for having us and greetings where we are recovering from covid. it is a real thing and we had a tou

one of the activists in louisiana was talking about the louisiana situation, he knew he was onto something when he thought he -- he realized he was reading billions. we are talking very big big numbers. i would love to put down a countdown clock, what is involved in the but i don't have the dollar numbers. >> my best guess, hundreds of billions of dollars. they are perfectly legitimate. all for taxes and if a corporation get a tax break as part of a general tax reduction we would applaud that. when a corporation gets a specified tax break solely for that corporation at the expense of their own competitors they call that corporate welfare but the distinction between the two is not always clear which makes it just about impossible to make a precise calculation. >> what we have seen in the last 50 years is a steady move of subsidies away from clearly identifiable, somewhat hidden and obscure, one of my books had a whole chapter on that, defend is .2 ways of accounting they export import bank makes money. in the government that more or less. and and and boeing customers, and free markets. ther

that was when he change from oddball louisiana legal figure to one of the most famous segregationists in america at the time. nationally he was known especially for being willing to say overtly racist things long after other segregationists had wised up and going to be more careful of the language. in fact, he delighted in breaking those norms and saying the unstable and speaking aloud the aid of southern segregationist, and it should be said a lot of northerners, too. so he had declared war on the black people in his community. that brings us to our second person, gary duncan. gary grew up in postville which is a second to last count assessable by road on the mississippi river just above the mouth. he grew up in a big boisterous family full of fiercely independent men and women. the father was the first black man to run crew boat for the segregated oil industry produces sleep on his boat to keep his white competitors from setting the vote on fire. the whole town was deeply involved in the church. in october 1966, gary duncan had just turned 19. he was newly married. his first child h

that means a lot in a district like mine i am in northwest louisiana. about a third of the state where one of the lower economic scales is relatively low and louisiana is one of the least. we've got the greatest people in the world and the natural resources of any state. we have all of the conditions here to be number one on the list of every economy but what has held us back is wrongheaded policies on this level and decades of corruption and all that. but we have to have a condition on the federal level to allow the states to compete and then it's up to us to adjust to the economic policies to make it work. my people desire that and appreciate the opportunity. they love president trump because of what he did for them. as you said, they went up and had more economic opportunity and economic mobility for more people. the pathway out of poverty was broad for more people and they saw that and experienced it themselves. many of the longtime democrats are scratching their head and said my goodness ma maybe theres something to do to this. we have to see them

i'm in northwest louisiana with 15 parishes and counties in louisiana. there's a rural area with one of the lower on the economic scale, median household income is relatively low. we have the least best of state financially, i don't want to say i'm in a poor state. >> i think we have the greatest people in the world and our state has the greatest natural resources arguably of any state. we have all these conditions here to be number one on the list but what's held us back is wrongheaded policies on the state level and decades of graft and corruption. we've been changing but we have to have the conditions on the federal level to allow our state to compete well and best and then it's up to us at the state level to adjust oureconomic policies to make it work . my people designed that they appreciate the opportunity. they love president trump because of what he did for them. as you said there household incomes went up and they had more economic opportunity and more economic mobility or more people. the pathway out of poverty was brought for most people and t

the milia for example really were elite group in louisiana and the gulfport area. the link between the military and citizenship is so many different pre- and post-emancipation societies and we do see something similar in mexico i have these fugitive slaves that help defend against this invader and they are very pleased with having these extra set of hands to help and that helps to justify both their place in mexico and i think although it is hard the usefulness of these people of african descent who are coming to mexico help to lead the government to adopt some of these increasingly radical antislavery policies and that we can really i think there's a compelling argument to be made that the actions of these people escaping to mexico is part of understanding my mexico past such a radical law. so, the military service i think helped to establish a place for people of color and foreign-born people of color in mexico and then more practically military service and again these parallels in the united states and others where the military service gives you the ability to d

but the severe weather risk is for louisiana, this area shaded in orange. about two-thirds of louisiana tomorrow running a three out of five chance to see a tornado. so that is pretty high for this time of the year. question is, where is that going to go once you get to new year's day? we thought maybe the carolinas, we are downplaying that now. it just doesn't look like the elements are in place. i will say, it's a wet weather day for the carolinas, some icing around pennsylvania maybe into new york. and then for your weekend, still wet around portions of the carolinas. and then you look around the midwest from st. louis to chicago, a little bit of a snow chance there. but there is a big snow chance by the time we get to the weekend for the pacific northwest. we are talking now some of the big mountains like bachelor and mount hood could be seeing up to three feet of snow, so even if you're not a skier, you need that for your reservoirs out there. margaret, that is a look at the weather situation from coast to coast. >> brennan: all right, thank you, lonni

and then this leprous area was created in the early 1900s, late 1800s in louisiana. and people were becoming much more conscious time about the impact of germs. and how germs could cause many awful diseases and the thought that you should isolate people who have these terms and diseases that maybe you could bring them under control. >> and yet even in the context, there's something about the way that people you talk about in your book are treated like the story you tell about your father-in-law's father. in which people come in the night. one of the comparisons you make is the story of typhoid mary which is kind of going on in new york at the same moment as, but something, i was very struck. you tell a story about how this family says she hastv . she's got away they don't want anyone to know she has leprosy so you take tuberculosis which is also an untreatable or incurable more infectious disease but people are more willing to say that that's what they had in the house . >> were to say that we're having a mental breakdown, they would tell people so and so had a menta

>> i think it will get pretty bad for your new year's eve around louisiana. i will show you, we have a 2,000 mile run of precipitation from burlington, vermont in texas, most is rain, northern new england, into new york, a little snow mixed in here and there but the big snow in the pacific northwest. the cascades picking up a foot of snow, two feet of snow, but severe weather risk is for louisiana, this area in orange, about two-thirds of louisiana tomorrow running a three out of five chance to see a tornado. so that is pretty high for this time of the year. question is where is that going to go once you get to new year's day? we thought maybe the carolinas, we are downplaying that now t doesn't look like the elements are in place, it's a wet weather day for carolinas, icing around pennsylvania into new york and then for your weekend, are you wet around portions of the carolinas and you look around the midwest from st. louis to chicago, a snow chance there. but there is a big snow chance by the time we get to the weekend for the pacific northwest. we are talk

and disenfranchise the senior citizens in louisiana. and you canan restrict the amout of federal resources to those communities who need them the mostul in those particular stat. those resources within eradicate and migrate to states that embrace such and ten sanctuary cities by federal law. >> agent state and their vote in washington. you'll agree with that . even though the not lawfully present, it dilutes the oasis is that correct. >> that is correct kargil rc car an apartment base in which to the maturing mary and the congressional enforcement asch u described in your brief. if you can't illegal aliens in the country. in which you applyhose populations have swelled in states that have sanctuary city policies. a state like new york state like california. and gain additional congressional representation at the expense of states like minnesota alabama, and ohio. and so basically youta are creating congressional districts that represent people who came into the country illegally and do not enjoy the rights and complete rights and privil

we've had close connections with the governor of louisiana. he's done a great job with the plans and the distribution of the vaccine. we're ready to go as soon as we get approval. >> neil: real quickly, the ten-daytime target is for both doses, right? the first dose and some days later the second dose, correct? >> no, actually a 21-day delay between the first dose and the second dose. the ten days i'm talking about is that would be the period of time to take us to vaccinate the first 10,000 people. we want to do this in a wave progression just because we're concerned there could be some side effects and we don't want to vaccinate all of our people in one or two days. we're doing this in a few days. we deploy the right nurses and technicians to help us in this process and we'll be doing this across all of our facilities in louisiana. >> neil: understood, sir. thanks for clarifying that for me. they're going to have a big responsibility here getting it out to the fine folks there that have been waiting a long time. sometime tonight we might get

filingyou tell us why that brief is so important to those in louisiana and other states as well? in they american citizen and otherouisiana ,ural states around the country by counting illegal aliens for the purpose of reapportionment disenfranchises minorities in louisiana. it disenfranchises senior citizens in louisiana, and it can restrict the amount of federal resources that those communities who need them the most in those particular states, and those resources will then gravitate and migrate to states that embrace sanctuary city policies, defying federal law. each states member congress is their voice in washington. notng a voice to those that?t dilutes , correct it shows a wrench into the machinery of congressional apportionment. ifagain, what happens is, you count illegal aliens in the country, what you will find is that those populations have swelled in states that have been -- have embrace sanctuary city policies. states like new york and california that will gain additional congressional at the expense of states like minnesota, alabama, and ohio. so basically, you are c

plus our government is raising the food stamps up for louisiana. so, why is everybody complaining over this? why shouldn't they be complaining? let me ask you that. at least we are getting the 600 dollars. we could be getting not anything. host: that was catherine in louisiana. $600 in unemployment aid for those who are self-employed and an 11 week extension under emergency unemployment compensation, all in all $284 billion set aside for the paycheck protection program. from fortune as far as who is going to qualify, this quotes a spokesman for chuck schumer, saying that the phaseout for this would be similar to the spring stimulus package, the cares act stimulus increase for 2019 adjusting to federally taxable income with 75,000 per individual or qualified couple and the checks completely phased out for individuals earning above $99,000 in joint filers .ith no children more there at the fortune story, if you want to see it there. elaine from florida, independent line, high. caller: that fellow that call in about the food stamps and every free thin

athena, i want to ask you about the tragic story out of louisiana. we are seeing an outpouring of sympathy and support after congressman-elect luke letlow died yesterday of coronavirus complications. what reactions are we seeing from both sides of the aisle here? >> reporter: well, condolences are pouring in and this is just a terrible reminder of how dangerous this virus is and how it can affect anyone. luke letlow himself announced on twitter december 19th that he had been diagnosed, thanked people for their thoughts and prayers, and then within two days he was tweeting from his hospital bed also thanking folks for their support. he was treated with remdesivir and steroids but he ultimately lost that battle. we have heard from louisiana governor john bel edwards offering his condolences to let lowe's family and also from the louisiana congressional delegation saying we have devastated to hear of luke letlow's passing, he had a positive spirit and tremendously bright future ahead of him. terrible news coming out of louisiana this morning. >> nancy p

we have some disturbing news from louisiana breaking at this hour, ali. congressman-elect luke letlow, just elected republican congressman in northern louisiana. he has just died from covid-19 tonight. this is a report from wdsu. the nbc affiliate in shreveport, louisiana, saying congressman-elect luke letlow has died after contracting covid-19 last week, according to his campaign manager. letlow, who just turned 41, 41 years old, was getting treatment in the intensive care unit in shreveport, according to an announcement on his twitter page just last week. and ali, this is the kind of news that is so grim to have to report. this is someone just 41 years old. just elected. won about 62% of the vote. very strong republican county there. congressional district in northern louisiana. and he won't be going to congress. louisiana now will have to, at some point, schedule a special election some months away. so that will be a vacant seat. >> and worth noting he was tested on december 18th, and admitted to hospital on december 19th. this is an unusually fast cas

but i came across this indictment against a louisiana slaveholder for having tried to kidnap a fugitive slave in northeastern mexico. in this document really surprised me. because i anointed their fugitive slaves escaping to mexico. so it would not have expected mexico's legal system to be indicting those trade kidnap them. that indictment left three central questions that came to guide my research. the first is why worse enslaved people escaping to mexico in the first place? second, what kind of lives could runaway's forage for themselves there? and certainly what did me for slavery in the united states to have a refuge like in mexico on its southern border? to answer these questions i went to 28 different archives in three different countries. some of those local archives was a leaf in frequent revisited as written up in the local newspaper for going to them. i started to find answers to questions i had asked. i realize enslaved people were not escaping to mexico out of ignorance or desperation. between 18241827 where than half of mexico's 19 states that either abolish slavery outrigh

and last year from louisiana, they still remember this from louisiana but, something of what i call - amnesia. if you're not in agreement with me. is there any better remembering of hurricanes. other lessons from hurricanes now the perhaps from history, what might those lessons be. eric: i had to say up front . that my book in the beginning of the book attack about the four legs of a hurricane printer the four stages. in the coming of the hurricane, the striking the hurricane, the immediate aftermath in the long tail. which is what do people do over years and decades to deal with the hurricane. in sort of been that element, which i don't talk about in the book that much, as all of the lessons that we can learn from the hurricanes. i mentioned any of them. yes, i do think that we are learning. i think inevitably because of the coverage of hurricanes and because of the vast amount of money they're involved, during 2017, hurricane irma and maria generated diversity $5 billion worth of damage. in irma alone destroyed 50 percent of the crop in florida. see you when you are dealing with suc

in baton rouge, louisiana, more than 91%. in albuquerque, new mexico, it's at 118%. erin mclaughlin is in austin, texas. also dr. christopher thomas, a pull monologist who treats critical care patients in baton rouge. erin, paint us the picture in austin. we know the country is suffering. austin, a huge city, a huge growing city. how are they in hospital capacity? >> well, it's not looking great here in austin, chuck. 83% hospital capacity for this city. that number climbs to 90% for the state of texas. and it's really a picture that we're seeing across the country. more than one-third of all americans live in areas right now that are being impacted, areas that are facing critical icu shortages, and surgeons and doctors tell me that it's having a profound impact, not only on covid-19 patients but non-covid patients as well. i was speaking to stephanie deer, her 47-year-old sister laurie's heart stopped in october. she was rushed to the hospital. needed an ecmo machine to save her life. there was not an ecmo machine available because they were all being taken by covid

louisiana has lost more than 7,300 people to covid-19 since march and each leaves a hole in our state. >>> president trump is turning up the pressure on senate republicans to authorize stimulus checks for $2,000, but senate majority leader mitch mcconnell is pushing back with poison pills that could derail the effort for bigger payments. abc's averi harper has the latest from washington, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. those long-awaited stimulus checks are finally going out. now the president is attacking his own party, saying those checks aren't big enough. this morning, another stimulus stalemate is taking shape in washington. as americans begin to receive a second round of economic relief, the treasury department says direct deposits could have arrived as early as last night, while releasing more details about payments for americans who qualify. $600 for individuals, $1,200 for married couples, and up to $600 for each qualifying child. it all comes as a measure to bump those stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000 hits a major block. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell blo

unless you are from louisiana, people still remember audrey. in this country we suffer from something of what i call hurricane amnesia. if you're not in agreement with me, are we doing any better in remembering our hurricanes? are we taking important lessons away from hurricanes now that perhaps that are not in the history and what might those lessons of the? >> that's a tough question. i have to front that my book didn't, in the beginning of the book i talk about the four legs of a hurricane or the four stages. the the company, the strength, immediate aftermath and the long tail which is what do people do over the years and decades to deal with the hurricane destruction. in that fourth element which i don't talk about in the book that much is all the weapons we can learn from hurricanes. i mentioned many of them in the epilogue, but it's more generally, yes i do think we're learning. i think inevitably because of the coverage of hurricanes and the vast amounts of money that are involved, during 2017 hurricanes harvey and irma and maria generat

during one of the last fights of state louisiana, place called the red river. he participates-- appears to be participate in a massacre of union soldiers. >> killing union soldiers who have surrendered. >> right. >> that's right. this is a brutally honest book and i appreciate it. there's a line in your book after you tell the story of this massacre and you say the chances are better than half that if i-- if me, edward ball, was there as a young-- a white creole, i would have shot, too. and i thought -- i thought, wow, that's honest. i suppose were i were a white creole, i would have shot captive yankees. can you explain why, if it were you, you would have shot union soldiers, too? >> well, raised -- had i been raised in that place and time, i believe i would have been swept into the ideological climate of white supremacy and of defense of the white south, which was the ferocious drive of the confederate soldiers to defend their homeland which they believe had been invaded by others. and i think in general, we flatter ourselves about the past. we tend to think,

the newly elected congressman was a rising star in louisiana's republican party. the state's congressional delegation said in a statement, quote, luke had such a positive spirit and a tremendously bright future ahead of him. he was looking forward to serving the people of louisiana in congress and we were excited to welcome him to our delegation, where he was ready to make an even greater impact on our state and our nation. luke letlow is survived by his wife, julia, and two young children. louisiana's governor says that flags in the state will be flown at half-staff for his funeral. we'll have much more on this. >> just sad news. >>> also breaking this morning, british regulators approved oxford and astrazeneca's coronavirus vaccine, where the country's top health official is touting how much of a game changer this shot could be to end the pandemic. cnn's phil black, live in london with the breaking details. so many important ones here. easy to store, that's important for this vaccine. but already, the uk, close to having enough doses for the entire country? >> y

we also have some severe storms through louisiana. as we go into saturday, we are looking for things to turn around some snow lingering across central and northern new england. milder temperatures in the mid-atlantic and down through the southeast. things in texas, hoping to clean up from the storm we're going >> good morning. we have a beautiful start to our day. of course, we saw a little bit of that rain push through overnight. that's going to clear out for this afternoon and temperatures in the 50s. low 60s for this evening. if you will be heading to the coast for any reason, please be careful. there's a high surf advisory that will remain in effect through 3:00 am. we're talking about dangerous waves and rip currents. temperatures will dip into the 50s and 40s and it's going to remain dry for tomorrow morning. >>> we're giving you your football forecast a little early. i'll be watching right here in my living room don't have to go anywhere. washington heading up to philadelphia the weather looks a little unsettled, cloudy, shower

this is 975 from morson dixon in shreveport, louisiana. this is a palette. it has to come off the pfizer truck. immediately you put it in one of these ultra cold freezers. negative 77 and negative 80 degrees celsius. incredibly important. these guys, by the way, $20,000 each. ultra cold and hot storage. this is where it gets really manual and why you need the expertise of 178-year-old company. comes out of the freezer like this. but a hospital may not need all 975 doses. to manually, they'll have a team that is going to put them into these smaller containers, put them into this cooler. by the way, it is not the normal backyard cooler. it's got a temperature gauge every ten seconds that is monitored and sent back to a control station because if in any part of this process the vaccine warms up or is out too long, you risk it. they have three minutes roughly to go from here into here into here. and then put it on their freezer truck to go to rural hospitals out across louisiana. it's hard to believe, guys, again this is not the vaccine but a two mill litre vile

but was a confederate infantry man for three and a half years and fought many battles in louisiana and returned home at the end of the fighting like half a million other white confederate veterans having seen battles and staging guerrilla attacks and very knowledgeable about tactics. this is something that fuels the rise of the white militia many militia and klansman that were confederate veterans the new how to stage of military assault . . . . killing union so surrendered. this is a brutally honest book and i really appreciate it. there's a line in the book after you tell the story of the massacre and you say the chances are better than half if i were there as a white creole i would have shot, tomac. and i thought that's honest. i suppose. can you explain why you think there's a better than half chance you would have shot the union soldiers? >> i believe i would have been swept into the ideological climate of supremacy and the self which was the ferocious drive of the soldiers to defend their homeland which they believe had been invaded by others and i think in general we flatter our

. >> overnight, a louisiana congressman-elect dies of covid days before he was to be sworn into office. >> hotel confrontation. a woman accuses a black teenager of stealing her iphone. >>> good morning. i'm diane king hall in for anne-marie green. we begin with breaking developments in the fight against the coronavirus. a new shot of hope this morning. the uk approved the use of a third vaccine, its third. approval for the medicine developed by oxford and astrazeneca. the shot is up to 90% effective and first doses are set to begin next year. the fda is yet to approve it before americans can receive it. and the first $600 covid relief checks hit the u.s. direct department started last night and paper checks will be mailed. the senate is still fighting over whether to increase those payments, right? >> absolutely. you could say that this fight just took another upper cut. the senate majority leader blocked that vote and is wrapping it up in new legislation. that specific vote about the stimulus checks and two other issues that president trump wants congress to look into. one of them is

. >> and in louisiana, luke ledlow, a newly elected member of the house has died from the virus. and concern over the slow rollout of the vaccines. kerry sanders, good morning. >> reporter: those are health care workers who began lining up here as early as midnight here where it is first come, first serve to get the vaccine. nationwide the rollout of the vaccine has been confusing, as the new strain of the virus arrives in the united states. this morning a strain found in england was found in a colorado man in his 20s who had not traveled. and now officials say it may be also detected in another person in the united states. >> reporter: this morning, a highly transmittable and contagious strain has been found here for the first time. it was found in a colorado man in his 20s who has not traveled. >> it is more transmittable and more contagious and more dangerous in that regard. >> the best protection including against that new strain, vaccines but the trump administration's promise to inoculate millions by year's end falling short. >> it is not as if we didn't know that there wou

we came to louisiana because we want to tell the story about the rest of america. we talk about huge hospitals getting a direct shipment they have the ability to keep this stuff at negative 80 degrees celsius. that what it requires to stay stable for a long time, ultra cold freezers. what about some of the more rural areas? it is a different story. so not to get boring but here's how the vaccine will be distributed. they're calling them pizza boxes jokingly, they're more like small pallets. there are 975 doses in a pallet. when you bring that dose in, you have to use all of it. it stays stable for about six hours at room temperature. so here's the question. if you send this to new york, chicago or any major metro area, you will have no problem finding 975 front line health care workers, elderly, people in phase one to take the dose. what about smaller rural areas? look at l.ouisiana this is a major challenge. they broke it up in nine hospital regions, they'll coordinate with different hospitals some are in more rural areas. morris and dixon, which is a 178-year-old

and look at hurricane law that devastated parts of louisiana last week. if it is in either direction the story might have been different and reached 20 feet there were questions about when it was going to occur and what the ultimate impact was going to be and that affects the meteorological happenstance and if he ha it had gone this direcn versus that direction think how different our history would be. hurricane katrina had a major impact on new orleans but just imagine if instead of making landfall 30 miles to the east it had given a direct hit that might have been a different story when did hurricane forecasting become the weather service was incompetent when it came to forecasting and tracking hurricanes. when they became expert and reliable. >> there was the opportunity to shift the reports they could supplement with information over telegraphs in the early years and telephones later on but it started to change fundamentally in the 40s and 50s when the hurricane hunter planes came online so when they got within a tankful basically need to go out into

the louisiana republican and father of two was hospitalized on december 19th and never recovered. louisiana governor john bel edwards saying i'm heart broken he will not be able to serve our people as a u.s. representative but i'm even more devastated for his loving family. health officials saying distribution of the vaccine is critical. only 2.1 million doses of the vaccine have been administered. that's far behind the 20 million that the trump administration promised by the end of the year. president-elect joe biden issuing a stark warning. >> if it continues as it is now, it's going to take years, not months to vaccinate the american people. >> reporter: trump administration officials say the federal government can only do so much. >> the federal government doesn't invade texas or montana and provide shots to people. we support the states doing that. >> we have yet to see the impact of millions of travelers this holiday season on coronavirus case numbers. many health officials are bracing for surges in the new year. averi harper, abc news, washington. >>> president-elect joe bi

finally, we will hear from jeff landry, attorney general for the state of louisiana. the witnesses will be an muted we can- unmuted, so swear them in. please raise your right hand. you swear or for the testimony you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you god? >> i do. >> i do. the recordloney: let show the witnesses answered in the affirmative. your written statements will be made part of the record. you are now recognized for your testimony. chairwoman maloney, ranking member comer, members of the committee. before you to appear to discuss progress of the 2020 census. i have the great pleasure of presenting the work of my colleagues who have been supporting the congress on census issues for many years. the 2020 census was undertaken under extraordinary circumstances. andesponse to covid-19 related executive branch decisions, the bureau made a series of late design changes that affected the way the bureau did its work at the time it took to do that work. these changes also introduced risks into the quality of the census

it's my home state of louisiana. i want to tell you guys down there, this is real. follow the guidelines. take precautions. wear your masks. wash your hands. socially distance. okay? we'll be right back. >>> the coronavirus pandemic is ravaging in this country. more than 124,000 americans are hospitalized with the virus tonight. that's unfortunately a new record. vaccines are offering some hope but the president-elect joe biden is warning that the trump administration's distribution falling far behind. they promised 20 million people would be vaccinated this month but the cdc says just over 2 million americans have had their shots. the president is pushing the blame to the states, tweeting in part, "it is up to the states to distribute the vaccines once brought to the designated areas by the federal government. we have not only developed the vaccines including putting up money to move the process along quickly but gotten them to the states." so joining me now to discuss, let's talk about this with democratic governor of michigan and that is gretchen whitmer. thank y

on a louisiana note it's the hospitality workers from the casinos of shreveport to the hotels of new orleans, for the recently laid off refinery workers in convent, louisiana for the oil and gas workers in the bayou and lafayette parish. as a republican -- by the way, let me say, let me say, republicans and democrats, neither of us got everything we wanted. both of us got much of what we wanted. and i think that combination reflects what congress is supposed to do, reconciling priority but ultimately doing something good for the american people. as a republican i will say it builds upon president trump's commitment to get something done. and for my fellow republicans, if you care about the effort that president trump and his administration made, you should support this bill. as a senator, i want to give a shoutout to the problem solvers caucus on the house side, part of the larger no labels effort. my staff and i have been meeting with their staff and them for months on some of the policies that are contained here. on the strategy to get it through. they have been fantastic partners,