Cases COVID-19 cases and now deaths are spiking across America. Cases are up

45% and deaths up 17% over the past two weeks. Donald Trump rounded out his

campaign with super spreader events all over the Midwest. America's current

hot zone. Dr. Fauci warned this week that COVID-19 could continue to alter the

facts of American life, get this until at least the end of 2021. This is

America Dissected. I'm your host Dr. Abdul-Elsaid. And what happens today, maybe

the difference maker in that timeline.

Friends, I probably don't have to tell you this, but it's Election Day. There are

a lot of reasons why you should vote. It's your staking democracy. It's your

chance to help choose the decision makers will shape the contours of your life

for the next two to four years. It's the bulwark of our political system. But I

want to share a story about why the vote is so important to me. As many of you

know, my parents left Egypt. My dad left in part because he was an agitator

against the military dictatorship there. I didn't really appreciate what

democracy and all the rights that come with it, like freedom of speech, freedom

of religion, and freedom of assembly meant until I was back in Egypt one summer

when I was a kid. I was about 13 and my grandmother told me that I should

remember never to talk about politics with anyone there. I couldn't just say

what I wanted about politicians. I was a bit of an iconoclask. I still am. And so

the next time we went out to the market, I screamed the choicest Arabic words my

cousins had taught me about the president. My grandmother flipped out and pulled

me inside. See, it's fine. I told her until that night when plain clothes

...