This week on Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien, hundreds of rural hospitals are in danger of closing, overwhelmed by the growing number of coronavirus patients. Correspondent Jessica Gomez reports from Titus County, TX where their regional medical center is being pushed to its limits. Then, as progress is made on a COVID vaccine, experts say they’re worried getting vaccinated could become politicized like wearing a mask. Top immunologist Dr. James E. K. Hildreth explains why vaccines need to be seen as a public health issue, rather than a political one. Plus, millions of Americans are struggling to put food on the table. Soledad O’Brien speaks with Trinity Tran who runs Urban Partners Los Angeles, one of the largest food banks in the country.
Drug makers Moderna and Pfizer announced this week that early test results show their respective COVID-19 vaccines to be more than 90% effective. Now, both are on track to request emergency authorization from the FDA. But even as scientists race to roll out a vaccine, there are questions about the diversity of the test subjects. Soledad O’Brien speaks with Dr. James E. K. Hildreth, one of the nation’s leading immunologists and head of the Meharry Medical College in Nashville.
As the U.S. struggles to fight COVID-19, the pandemic is also exposing a health care crisis. Rural hospitals – overwhelmed and nearing capacity – are fighting to keep their doors open. So far this year, 17 facilities have been forced to close and more than 400 face the same fate. Correspondent Jessica Gomez reports from Titus County, TX where their regional medical center is being pushed to its limits.
This weekend on Matter of Fact, we look at one state’s fight over electoral college votes. Nebraska divides its electoral votes depending who congressional districts support. Republicans want to make the contest winner-take-all, but progressive state Senator Ernie Chambers is standing in their way. Then, 2020 proved pollsters wrong again when the blue wave they forecast failed to make a splash. Communication Professor W. Joseph Campbell explains why he calls those polling problems a failure of journalism. And, several battleground states flipped from red to blue this election and the race in GA is still too close to call. That’s due in part to Black women showing up at the polls in force. Special Correspondent Joie Chen shows us their political power in Detroit.
Public confidence in polling is once again on the decline. Pollsters predicted a big blue wave in the 2020 election and while Democrats kept control of the U.S. House, Republicans chipped away at their majority lead. Meanwhile, control of the U.S. Senate rests in the fate of two runoff races in Georgia. American University Professor W. Joseph Campbell is the author of “Lost in a Gallup: Polling Failure in U.S. Elections.” Soledad O’Brien speaks with him about today’s problems with polling.
Georgia is headed for a recount after a too-close-to-call race between President-elect Joe Biden and President Donald Trump. And right now, Democrat Biden is ahead in the deep red state. Many are crediting Stacey Abrams for leading the charge in registering hundreds of thousands of voters across Georgia, including many Black women. They are considered the most reliable and consistent voting bloc for the Democratic Party, flipping battleground states Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan. As part of our Listening Tour, we visited Detroit to talk to Black women about the power of their vote. Special Correspondent Joie Chen reports.
While President-elect Joe Biden is projected to become nation’s next leader, we’ll have to wait until December 14th for the election results to become final. That’s when the electoral college meets. Most states award all their electoral college votes to the winner of that state’s popular vote. But two states divvy up the votes, splitting them between the statewide winner and the winner in each Congressional district. That includes Nebraska, where Republican lawmakers are hoping to reverse course. But, as Special Correspondent Joie Chen shows us, longtime progressive State Senator Ernie Chambers is standing in their way.
This weekend, while all eyes have been on the presidential election, the United States is still struggling to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Correspondent Jessica Gomez and photojournalist Scott Curty have been following an ER doctor and his family in the Milwaukee area since the beginning of the pandemic and show us their journey. Then, a look at how the lives lost to COVID have touched so many others. Plus, a high school football team so good no one wanted to play them, forcing them to drop out of the league. Now, HBO is featuring the team in a docuseries called “The Cost of Winning.”
Through the coronavirus pandemic, people around the world have come up with creative solutions to bring communities together while staying safe. Now, a Dutch company is hoping you’ll want to sit in on their latest design.
Two years ago, we introduced you to a high school football team so good no one wanted to play against them. The team is from a predominately Black Catholic high school in one of Baltimore’s poorest neighborhoods. They made headlines after being dropped from their private school league, after no one wanted to face a nearly unbeatable team. Now, HBO is featuring the St. Frances Academy’s football team in a docs-series called “The Cost of Winning.” But getting dropped from the league wasn’t the end of it, thanks in part to their generous coach. Correspondent Jessica Gomez shows us how their story started.