The guest host for today's show is Brad Bannon. Brad runs Bannon Communications Research, a polling, message development and media firm which helps labor unions, progressive issue groups and Democratic candidates win public affairs and political campaigns. His new show, 'Deadline D.C. with Brad Bannon,' airs every Monday from 3-4pm ET.

Brad is first joined by Dr. Bob Bollinger, the Raj and Kamla Gupta Professor of Infectious Diseases at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.  They discuss the following issues relating to the COVID-19 pandemic:

- Current status of the COVID-9 pandemic
- Prospects for vaccines
- What the Trump Administration should be doing to give the Biden Administration a head start on fighting COVID-19
- What steps President-Elect Biden should take immediately after his inauguration to combat COVID-19- Why Americans should stay home for Thanksgiving (recommended by the CDC)

Dr. Bollinger holds joint appointments in International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and in Community Public Health at the JH School of Nursing.  He is Founding Director of the Center for Clinical Global Health Education (CCGHE).  The Center is doing a lot of COVID-19 related work in the US and beyond.  Their website is main.ccghe.net and their Facebook page is Facebook.com/CCGHE.

During the second half of the show, Brad leads a political round-table with the Boston Globe Opinion Writer Abdallah Fayyad, and progressive activist Mark J. Grimaldi.

The roundtable discusses:

-President-Elect Biden's nominees for his cabinet, including Antony Blinken for Secretary of State, Janet Yellen for Treasury Secretary, Linda Thomas-Greenfield for Ambassador to the United Nations, Alejandro Mayorkas for Homeland Security Secretary, Jake Sullivan for National Security Adviser,
Avril Haines for Director of National Intelligence and John Kerry as Climate Enjoy for National Security
- What President-Elect Biden can do to regarding an economic stimulus package, and an infrastructure bill, if Republicans retain control of the Senate following the two upcoming Georgia runoff elections
- How President-Elect Biden can balance the left and center lanes of the Democratic party as his administration begins creating public policy

Abdallah Fayyad is an opinion writer and Editorial Board member at The Boston Globe. He was previously a researcher at The Atlantic, and holds a degree in economics from American University.  His Twitter handle is @Abdallah_Fayyad.

Mark Grimaldi has been a progressive political activist for the past 12 years.  He volunteered for the campaigns of President Obama (2008 and 2012), Senator Bernie Sanders (2016), and Secretary Hillary Clinton (2016).  Mark is also involved in campaign finance reform efforts around the country, and philanthropic efforts for Cancer research.  His Twitter handle is @MarkJGrimaldi.

Brad writes a column every Sunday on the 2020 Presidential race for 'The Hill.'  He's on the National Journal's panel of political insiders and is a national political analyst for WGN TV and Radio in Chicago and KNX Radio in Los Angeles.
You can read Brad's columns at www.MuckRack.com/Brad-Bannon and watch his previous 'Deadline D.C.' broadcasts at www.Periscope.TV/BradBannon.  His Twitter handle is @BradBannon.

Watch a video broadcast of this episode here on Twitter/Periscope: https://www.pscp.tv/w/1lDxLpWEEwPxm
Or here on Facebook Live: http://www.tinyurl.com/BradFacebook112320

(Image Credit: Tang Ming Tung/DigitalVision/Getty Images)