dozens of miles in the middle of winter. i want to bring in first kristin powers, a reporter with wjla in washington. you have been kind of in the middle of this as you're getting reports of people being stranded. what's happening right now? >> yeah, kate, i was stuck in it since about 2:00 a.m. at this point though, there's some people who have been stuck on i-95 for 21 hours and counting. so right now, i actually was just able to -- i call it escape, vdot was saying they're letting people off the nearest exit closest to them and that was true. i got off of woodbridge. i'll turn the camera around and you can see. i see people who got off, including a lot of truck drivers, they're now lining those side roads, you know, trying to find a different route. but i also saw a truck getting gas. i saw a lot of gas canisters on the side of trucks there. so that's what's happening here, but back on i-95, i just checked in with a colleague who is closer to stafford. stafford is the area where the majority of the big backlog is happening and people have been there for 21 hours and counting. he says the southbound lane is still at a standstill. this is a gridlock that people have been in all night, really. you can only imagine some are running out of gas, so some are turning on and off their cars to preserve that so people who have run out of gas, food and water. then there's the urge to need to go to the restroom. some people haven't been able to do that and vdot said they're responding, but it's definitely taking time and a lot of people are frustrated here. >> understandably so. tell me what you are hearing what the governor has said, what the department of transportation is saying about this. it's one thing to say they're working to get things moving, but it's another thing entirely when people have been literally stranded in place for 21 hours, of why it's not moving. >> yeah. we did reach out to governor ralph northam numerous times. we haven't heard back from him, but a few hours ago he did tweet out a statement saying his office has been working with vdot and the corresponding agencies in order to help get people out of this mess and guide them. he also said people who were stuck would be getting an alert on their phones letting them know that help is on the way. a few of the people who are stranded who i have been in contact with, just from social media, they got that alert. i personally never got that alert when i was stuck. many also had mentioned coming out and setting up some spaces for people to warm up. but again, i got off so i was not able to see that in action. we did ask, because a lot of people were asking us and they were inquiring as they're just stuck sitting here if the national guard would be on hand to help out with this situation, help out in the efforts to get people off i-95, both northbound and southbound. this is happening in both lanes. but the governor did not respond to that question when we did ask that. >> well, we'll stay on top of that for sure. a lot of questions to be asked now. thank you for your reporting from our affiliate, from local affiliate wjla. i appreciate it. let's go to cnn's weather center on what may have caused this mess and chad myers is looking at this. chad, the weather that brought this about, was this unexpected? how did it get so bad? >> well, the forecast was not unexpected. the forecast was really spot on. the computers today did a very, very good job. what brought it on, it was raining at midnight, then it got cold enough to snow. and then it snowed two to three inches per hour, and people weren't prepared to try to drive in that. one person slid off, somebody else had to slow down. you know, it's not a completely flat area there. got to get up a hill, trucks getting up and down the hill, so there was a lot involved here. look at how much of the area picked up as much snow and we only had one area that's been so, so impacted now. new jersey, the southern part of new jersey was impacted a lot too, don't get me wrong. but 14.6 inches of snow right where most of the problem occurred. people couldn't get moving, plows couldn't get through because the cars were in the way. it was 46 degrees at midnight, then all of a sudden it was raining, then all of a sudden it wasn't raining, it was changing over to snow and then by 2:00 it was snowing so hard people couldn't get out of the way. they couldn't get out of the snow. they were packing it down. this is snowball man snow, so when you pack it down, it doesn't go out of the way. it doesn't fly away like a powder. this was and still is a very big problem. >> chad, thanks for that. so for the hundreds of people stuck in the grid lock since monday afternoon, this turned from inconvenience to a nightmare. joining me now on the phone are two people who both spent their nights stranded in their cars. sean stafford and susan failen on the phone. susan and i have known each others for years working on the hill. i'm so sorry we're reconnecting this way, for goodness sake. you're starting to move, but what are things looking like? >> i'm north of quantico now and i'm excited because the streets are wet, they're not slushy or icy. traffic is moving at 60 miles an hour. i pulled off to the side to talk on the phone, but the on the southbound side, it's absolute gridlock again. it's semi truck after semi truck. it's just thousands and thousands not even moving an inch. >> what has the last 24 -- it's a little short of 24 hours for you, but what has the last day been like? i mean, you get to sleep in your car. >> yeah. well, there wasn't even a whole lot of sleep. the only benefit was i had a charger cord for my phone, i had heat and i had cell connection and internet which is a lot more than i had at the house. i left the house in fredericksburg and i went to go to a different house in alexandria where the power was on. because i didn't have cell phone and internet connection at fredericksburg i wasn't able to see this nightmare i was walking into until i was smack dab in the middle of it and of the too late. >> oh, my gosh. you have been in the d.c. area for years. have you ever seen anything like this before? >> i never have. the times i have seen anything close i have been lucky enough not to be part of it or sitting in the middle of it. but i'm only 50 miles from where i need to be, and it's completely frustrating to have -- i mean, i got on the interstate last night at 8:00, it's 11:00 in the morning now. so i have been -- i could have walked home faster than this, pretty much. >> i mean, sadly that's true. except for the fact that it was, you know, got into the 20s last night and would have been even more dangerous for you. >> yeah. go ahead, susan. >> i'm healthy and i could park the car and walk out of this, but there's other people out here, elderly, infirm, people who can't walk, people who need medicine. not like there are bathrooms out here. it can turn in an inconvenience into a tragedy pretty quick. >> i think that's the real concern right now as the hours tick on, we don't know the full extent of how people are doing stuck in this. sean, susan was talking about her experience overnight. can you tell us about your experience. you're trying to make it home to long island, new york. >> yeah. my drive was a bit longer. i started in central florida at 4:00 a.m. on monday, and i got to 95 in virginia about 5:00 after the gps tried to take me off some side roads that were blocked and i couldn't get through a tiny, snowy lane. then i spent the night there with the puppy i was bringing up from florida and clothes from florida. it was worrisome to have to keep the heat running and not run out of gas at the same time. >> it got down to the 20s, were you scared? >> no i have had over half a tank, and i have had jobs where i had to sleep in the car overnight. so i wasn't too worried. i had enough water, i packed enough before i left. my wife was at home with the two kids and she didn't sleep at all. i didn't sleep very much either being in the car. not scared. but frustrating and worried at times. >> i think it's important to remind folks, it's not like you're stuck on a county back road that we have traveled on many times. i mean, you're on i-95. how many emergency vehicles or even snowplows have you seen through the whole ordeal, sean? >> i saw a number of snowplows on the southbound side that kept -- they kept to be replowing the area that looked to be pretty clean. i guess they were trying to keep it clean even though it stopped snowing hours ago. i saw a pickup with kind of boxes on, you know, for tools and whatnot. they drove up to another car near me. i didn't see what they were doing, but other than that, i didn't see any emergency vehicles until this morning when the sheriffs car passed me. i did get the two alerts that were mentioned, but those were messages on my phone. they didn't materialize into anything i could use, besides a loud noise scaring my dog for no reason. i didn't see a lot of help out there, unfortunately. >> yeah. well, i'm -- i'm really happy to hear that you're doing okay, sean and that hopefully you'll be on your way. that's the thing we don't know is how quickly everyone is actually getting on their way. but thank you for coming on. susan, thank you very much for jumping on the phone with me. i really appreciate it. >> you bet. any time. >> get home safe, please. coming up for us, covid hospitalizations are hitting the highest levels since the delta surge. next, we'll take you inside the nation's largest children's hospital that's now reporting record numbers of patients. with. 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(excited yell) woo-hoo! ensure max protein. with thirty grams of protein, one gram of sugar, and nutrients to support immune health. now to the growing crisis facing hospitals due to the surging omicron variant. hospitalizations from covid have surpassed 100,000 and also alarming is the number of children hospitalized is at its highest it's ever been. more than 500 children admitted each day last week. cnn's miguel marquez reports from the largest hospital seeing record numbers. >> reporter: 4-month-old grayson perry, his belly is rapidly expanding and contracting, one of many children with covid-19 struggling to breathe. are you afraid they have to intubate him? >> yeah, a little bit. it's scary and i hope that he's able to get better and go home. >> reporter: mom to three thinks her youngest picked up the virus at a christmas family gathering. her only job now, keeping her son in good spirits. >> i do talk to him in like a little baby voice. i sing to him. i can't sing, but he likes it. >> reporter: one of nearly 70 children hospitalized at texas children's, a new record high for the largest pediatric hospital. in just the last two weeks, hospitalizations here have increased more than four fold. most unvaccinated or not eligible for vaccines from toddlers to teens. >> our covid journey began -- i don't know my days, we began november 29th. me and my daughter both tested positive for covid. >> her daughter haley has been intubated in an induced coma for nearly a month and she also gave birth three weeks ago. she knows none of it. >> had an c-section in amarillo on december 9th to a beautiful little baby girl, 3 pounds, 6 ounces. >> she has not seen yet? >> she has not seen, and she was covid negative praise jesus. >> reporter: haley was moved to houston for advanced care, still unaware her 3 week old daughter is 900 miles away in the intensive care unit. what will you tell her when you can speak to her? >> i don't want to think about it. that's my little girl being away from her little girl. my heart bleeds for her. >> reporter: the omicron variant not ripping through the lone star state. texas children's preparing for even more sick kids as covid-19 cases skyrocket. what is your sense for what the next few weeks are going to hold? >> i think that the bar for resilience just keeps moving. you think that i don't know how we could do this again and then we keep doing it again. >> reporter: as texas children's readies for a fourth coronavirus wave. already its e.r. is seeing a spike in kids testing and bogging down triage for the seriously ill. >> we are seeing a lot of patients present with mild respiratory symptoms, cough, congestion, fever. known covid exposures and i think a lot of them are seeking testing. >> reporter: the sickest kids those needing hospitalization are having a tough time breathing. >> so they're getting a lot of respiratory symptoms, as we have been expecting. pneumonias, needing respiratory support to help them breathe better. >> reporter: viral spread expected to intensify in the weeks ahead and even if the omicron variant isn't as severe. >> the problem is with so many children and adults infected even if the percent hospitalization rate is lower, we're still -- we could see more children hospitalized over a very short period of time. so that certainly puts a strain on our health care resources. >> miguel, thank you so much for that reporting. sources tell cnn that the cdc will be clarifying the guidance as soon as today on the recommended isolation period for people who test positive for covid. the agency has faced real questions over the update for not including the testing component, one that shortened the isolation from ten days to five. joining me is chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta. it does sound like the clarification is coming quite soon. what do you think of this? >> well, you know, i think the original problem still here, kate, is that we don't have enough tests. i think that is fundamentally what is still driving this. i think it just makes total sense f we had enough tests, people would get tested before they come out of isolation. let me show you where things stand now, and as you mentioned, some of this may be clarified soon. but they say vaccinated or unvaccinated, stay at home at least five days. if you have covid-19. isolation can end if the symptoms are gone or resolving and then you need to wear a mask around others for five more days. if we had enough tests it seems pretty obvious that testing should be a component of determining when someone should come out of isolation. now, i will say there's different types of tests, i think this has been a source of confusion. the pcr tests they find the virus no matter what, even in people who clearly resolved their symptoms or no longer contagious, they could have a positive pcr test. but the antigen test oftentimes are answering the question people are really asking, which is am i contagious still. that's what you're trying to ask. if i'm positive, i'm contagious i should stay home. but the problem again is we don't have enough of them. so we'll see what the cdc says, but as you're listening to the recommendations, keep in mind that at one point we thought we should be doing 20 to 30 million of these tests a day in this country and obviously we're closer to a million or so. we're woefully undertesting here. >> no clear pathway or kind of like guidelines on when there's going to be all of the testing and an influx of testing capability we have been told and promised would be coming down the pike. you know, i wanted to ask you about miguel marquez's piece just really hits home once again and puts a face on all of these numbers that we see. pediatric hospitalizations are at their highest they have ever been as miguel showed in that piece. you hear the numbers and, of course, that is concerning. but i'm wondering as we're seeing with this surge of omicron, and what we're seeing in the numbers with kids specifically, do you think it should change the way people think about this variant and about life with this virus at this point? >> yeah, i really do. i mean, i think that what we have sort of gotten used to thinking this is a virus that predominantly affects the elderly, predominantly affects those with underlying conditions and that's true. what has changed and people realize this over the last couple of weeks, omicron is the dominant strain in this country and it's really contagious. things you may have gotten away with in the past, you're not likely to get away with now because it's that contagious. and even though children are less likely to develop severe illness, as you heard at the end of miguel's piece if you're just talking about a much larger percentage of people overall who are getting infected, then even with the lower hospitalization rate, it's still going to be significant. so we're seeing some of the highest hospitalization rates as you mentioned throughout this entire pandemic for children. that's obviously a huge concern. this is flu season on top of it, hospitals are becoming overwhelmed as a result of that. they're not used to this, this significant surge of patients. on top of that, we have a fairly low vaccination rate still. even among 12 to 15-year-olds. if you look at under 12 specifically, you have vaccination -- unvaccinated rate is around 86%. under 12, 86% are unvaccinated. when you put that together, a highly contagious virus that is causing significant uptick in pediatric hospitalizations and a significant 86% not yet vaccinated, that's a bad mix. >> actually to that, what you were just talking about there and that graphic of how -- large percentage of unvaccinated, you know, young kids out there, when i saw the news that the fda was authorizing kids could get the booster now, my head went to the graphic that is great for some kids, but still, you know, when you look at the younger kids this is still a large population even amongst the 12 to 15 that don't have their first shots. >> yeah. i mean, that's the thing. i mean, you know, as much as we're talking about boosters and i think the date is becoming increasingly clear on their value, when you look at the 12 to 15-year-olds, only about half, 51% are fully vaccinated. yes, boosters are available for people in this age range now, as of yesterday. but, you know, only half the country is really going to qualify for those boosters as well. so, you know, we're sort of having the same discussion that we had before vaccines were even available. we're having that same discussion for certain segments of the population which is unfortunate. if you look at what's happening overall with cases, hospitalizations, you would think the vaccine wasn't even available given how high these numbers are. so vaccine is available. people should get the vaccine. i think the case has been made in terms of the differentiation of likelihood of hospitalizations. we know overall, cases are way up. hospitalizations as a percentage are lower than what they were as are depths, but again, kate, if you're starting to talk about, you know, so many people, such an absolute number of people that are going to become infected, hospitalizations are going to continue to go up and hospitals are already starting to feel those significant surges. >> yeah. absolutely. good to see you, sanjay. thank you. coming up for us, schools across the country thrown into chaos by exactly what we're talking about. some districts are fighting to keep kids in class in the face of all of this. others are going virtual once again. detroit just made a big announcement, pushing back in-person classes. we'l'll take you there next. it's never too late to start. join today for 50% off at ww.com. hurry, offer ends january 10th. ♪ three times the electorlytes and half the sugar. ♪ pedialyte powder packs. feel better fast. looking to get back in your type 2 diabetes zone? 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ask your health care provider today about once-weekly ozempic®. ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! ♪ you may pay as little as $25 for a 3-month prescription. this is elodia. she's a recording artist. 1 of 10 million people that comcast has connected to affordable internet in the last 10 years. and this is emmanuel, a future recording artist, and one of the millions of students we're connecting throughout the next 10. through projectup, comcast is committing $1 billion so millions more students, past... and present, can continue to get the tools they need to build a future of unlimited possibilities. developing at this hour, the surge of covid cases across the country is forcing schools really to rethink their plans. many canceling or adjusting their return to the classroom. overnight, philadelphia schools announced it would close 81 of the more than 200 schools, moving thousands of students back to virtual learning due to staffing shortages. in chicago, the teacher's union is voting today on a potential walkout as refusing -- as refusing to work in person until they say more safety protocols are in place. and in detroit, as the percent of positive cases continues to climb, the superintendent there just announced that all schools will be moving to virtual learning through next week. joining me now is a member of the detroit public school board. thank you for being here. so let's start with what's happening with your district. the superintendent just announced today that detroit schools are pushing back the return to class even further. staying virtual until the end of next week. why is that happening? >> thank you, kate, for having me on. i think the superintendent's decision to do that, they're talking certainly with all of our school board members, that that's the safest thing to do. in the city of detroit, where the infection rate is over seven days is exceeding 40% range, and we are aggressively testing and providing free testing for all of our staff. we see those numbers over the holiday has continued to impact our community. a number of people have had the omicron virus. i just recovered myself, right before and during christmas. so we know that it's highly contagious and we just want to flatten the curve and i think that is certainly the best way to go, to keep everyone safe. >> is the concern in detroit schools that the high positivity rate with the high positivity rate is it's the risk in school or is the concern that you won't have enough teachers or staff to lead classes? >> so i think there's a combination of issues. i am so proud of all of our dft members, i'm a former detroit public schoolteacher and the lion's share of our teachers and our staff in excess of 80% have actually been vaccinated. but we have a number of educators, principals, school staff as a whole that have pre-existing conditions and issues that may prevent them from actually moving forward with the vaccination. but we had a number of people who have been sick even with the vaccination and so with that being the case, yes, all of our schools across the nation are making sure that we're mindful of staffing challenges while we navigate our way through this omicron virus. and the covid as a whole, i should say. >> absolutely. these are decisions that every school districts are facing now and take new york city, similar positivity rate in new york -- in new york city amongst the schools as detroit. yet, the mayor in new york is adamant that he wants to keep schools open for in-person. let me play for you why he says that is. >> the safest place for children right now is in a school building. that's the safest place for them. if they're not in school, it does not mean they're not going outdoors. it does not mean they're not going to deal with the trauma of not being socialized or dealing with the remote learning. it's a luxury to say stay at home when you have all of the tools that you need, but for poor black, brown children that don't have access to the basic things, school is the best place for you. >> he is saying being out of school is less safe for the students than no matter what you could be facing with the virus in school. what do you say to that? >> so i have to push back a little bit. no one would argue that our schools are not a safe haven for our children. many of them especially in communities of poverty rely on the meals that are provided, breakfast, lunch and snacks. so we know that is an issue. we know that unfortunately many of our youth are in homes that are often not safe, but by the same token we have to consider those who are at home and caring for their grandchildren, our seniors. we have a high population of seniors taking care of their second and third generation of children and if their children are exposed to covid and they're bringing that back home, think of the rippling effect that will have on their health or their life. i lost my sister to covid-19 april 14, 2020. i know what that feels like, and i know it feels like for the friends and the legislators that i lost to covid. so we have to be mindful of safety and these decisions are not easy. so they can't be made in a vacuum. i'm thankful that our school district, our health department and our mayor are working together to make sure that these things are discussed and the ultimate decision lies with our superintendent and our school board members and i know we did the right thing. >> i think the point that eric adams is making that a lot of parents feel, if you have mitigation efforts, the other mitigation efforts in place, like a vaccine mandate which i believe is going into place in detroit schools maybe next month for staffers -- >> 18th. >> if you have the mitigation measures in place like masking, and ventilation, and some -- and if you do all of these things it is safe to keep them there. it will -- it can protect them from getting the virus and taking it back home. i think what eric adams is saying, the risk of keeping them out at this point now outweighs the risk of them sitting in classes. do you not see that? >> no, i do not. the loss of one life is worth taking the necessary steps to make sure that everyone is safe. right now, we have mandatory testing for our teachers and all of our staff and we're doing that on a continual basis even while we're virtual. unfortunately there's not mandatory testing for our students and that's something i'd like to see that's something that our superintendent has discussed and something i'll support. until we're able to move our students to the place where there's mandatory testing, until we can remove all of the fears that exist in our community and talk about even vaccination for our young people, that's something that we still have to address. but we have to work together and not make hit driven decisions about what is safe for someone else. too many of our community members the lives have been lost and in the city of detroit we're the highest in the state. we know what that feels like and we have to navigate this together. not one person making a decision. >> thank you for coming on and speaking with us today. >> thank you for having me. >> we'll check back in. the return to school in person is right after january 14th. we'll check back in on how things are going. this week marks one year since the capitol insurrection and some lawmakers are now convinced the brutal events of that day were the beginning, not the end. were just the beginning. i'll speak to a democratic member of congress who was four days into her first term when the capitol was attacked. that's next. always look for the grown in idaho seal. >> vo: my car is my after-work decompression zone. ♪ music ♪ >> vo: so when my windshield broke... i found the experts at safelite autoglass. they have exclusive technology and service i can trust. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ let's break down subway's new baja chicken & bacon. look at that coverage by that pepper jack cheese on that new rotisserie style chicken then boom! here comes the new baja chipotle sauce up the gut, and... great, now i can't even see what i'm calling! save big. order through the app. mass general brigham. when you need some of the brightest minds in medicine, this is the only healthcare system in the country with five nationally ranked hospitals, including two world-renowned academic medical centers, in boston, where biotech innovates daily and our doctors teach at harvard medical school, and where the physicians doing the world-changing research are the ones providing care. there's only one mass general brigham. 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i mean, what do you remember most from that day? >> the thing that i remember the most from that day is the sound of the buzzing from the gas masks we had to put on because there has been tear gas in statuary hall and just the real feeling of terror at not being able to do anything, as being stuck as we heard the rioters getting so close to us and heard really just how close they were. i think it's really important to remember as people try to minimize that they were members in the gallery who were moments away from something really catastrophic to our democracy happening. >> i have been reading about how that's a group of i think about 20 of you who were stuck in the house gallery together, and how you stayed close in touch, becoming something of a support group in the last year. what has that meant for you? >> you know, for me, it was my fourth day in office when this happened, and so i was learning a new job as i was trying to process this trauma that we had all gone through individually and also as a country. and so this group of members has really been my life line during this time and it has been such an amazing group who's provided support and camaraderie and we really helped each other process the trauma that we went through. process how close we really did come to something terrible happening, and develop life long friendships. >> so now we look at this anniversary, and what we know now and i think it's important to reflect on that with you. i mean, i saw that you said that a lot of people may think that january 6th was the end of something, but you believe it was the beginning of something. what do you mean? >> yeah. so my background before coming to congress is actually working on political violence, working on conflict resolution and post coup transitions and what we see in other countries is that you have one big attack, one big moment that happens, that most people see although we know we're having trouble with that here in the united states, but it's usually the second or the third attempts that are successful and those tend to be quieter. more through institutions, through the very things that are meant to protect our country. protect our democracy. and so i'm very concerned at what we're seeing at the state and local level, what we're seeing with voting rights and to put in place certain people to oversee the actual conducting of the elections. i'm very concerned that the next time it's going to seem like it's through the official institutions, but it's still going to be an attempt to overturn the will of the people. that is much harder to combat than a big attack that most reasonable people understand is against the norm. >> there's a startling view among americans right now, not just through institutions but more violence is coming. there's a new poll showing that more than 60%, 62% of americans expect violence after future elections over losing, and that is something in the breakdown that both supporters of joe biden and people who voted for trump in the 2020 election, they expect this to be happening in the future. what do you do with that? >> look, it's very scary, and it's a very real threat and it's made worse by leaders who don't acknowledge what happens in the elections. leaders who continue to perpetuate the big lie. but i also want americans to know that i have worked -- >> congresswoman, so sorry to cut in. we have to jump over to another part of the capitol. senator joe manchin is speaking now. >> senator schumer said they're going to bring a vote upon the rules changes. do you oppose changing the rules by the -- on the nuclear option? >> i have been for rules being done the way that we have done, two-thirds of the members voting, and any way you can do a rules change to where anyone is involved and that's a rule that will stay, that's what we should be pursuing. but, you know, we're so -- there's some ongoing conversations on the voting because i think that the bedrock of democracy is making sure that you're able to cast a vote if you're a legal -- legal of age in the united states you should be able to cast the vote and should be counted accurately. we're talking about those things. >> just to clarify. >> you had to wait -- it was hard. it was hard. >> just to be clear, you are open to the idea of using the nuclear option to change the rules and pass the voting rights legislation on the federal majority -- >> let me say being open to the rules change that would create a nuclear option, it's a very, very difficult, and it's a heavy lift. the reason i say it's a heavy lift is that once you change a rule or you have a carveout, i have always said this. any time that's a carveout, you eat the whole turkey. there's nothing left because it comes back and forth. so you want things that will be sustainable. that's what you're looking for. so that common sense commonality, but, you know, i just believe that it's the bedrock of democracy is voting and we have to do what we can in order to preserve that. let's just see. the conversations are still ongoing. i have been talking to everybody. we have been having good conversations for about -- since we left two weeks ago. >> senator, i just wanted to try to define the point on this. so the 60-vote threshold, are you willing to change that and you are involved in ongoing discussions as you just mentioned with your colleagues so there must be some openness. >> there's basically the -- the need for us to protect democracy as we know it, and the senate as it has operate for 232 years, are extremely, extremely high bars that we must be very careful that we're willing to cross those. so i'm talking, i'm not agreeing to any of this to the extent. i want to see all of the options and they're bringing in the experts. we're talking about filibusters and we continue to talk about this. it's very interesting. we talk about the motion to precede. we should be able to get on the bill and we talk about also the ability to restore some privileges to the committees. they have some weights, so something comes out of committee and i think these are things that republicans and democrats should and could agree on. i want to engage everybody. i'm not doing it from one side. for us to go it alone, no matter what side does it it comes back at you pretty hard. i was there in and i don't think anybody is happy about that when have you to do those changes. >> is the 60-vote threshold a red line or bipartisanship? >> bipartisanship takes more than just 591-vote threshold. that's what we've always had. there's been talks about three-fifths of those investigate so if that doesn't set a precedent and we've done that before. we're looking at all the historical things that we've done in 232 year. i'm trying to learn as much as i possibly can, and i want to be open and fair and keep an open mind about it, by want you to know that the people that go -- everyone should have a right to vote. no one should be impeded from voting and everybody should have -- make sure that their vote is counting accurately. i might be running against you, you against me and when the final vote comes if i might not be happy but at end i can walk away knowing that at least i had the right shot. >> i want to ask a couple of questions at once. it seems like you're saying this again. you would not be open to changing the rules without republican buy-in in some way. >> that's my absolute preference. >> preference different than red line? >> that's pry preference. would i have to exhaust everything in my ability to talk and negotiate with people before i start doing things that other people might think need to be done. >> number two, could you characterize where you are right now on bbb and what your conversations have been with the white house. >> there's been no conversations after i made my statement i think it's basically -- you know, i was very clear. i feel as strongly today as i did then that the unknown with the covid, where we are, and there's different concerns that we had right now that we haven't had for a while. inflation is a concern, still over 6%, and the geopolitical unrest that we have and i think the president has been doing a job trying to talk to putin and calm things down and letting him know where these are. these are all challenges, guys, and these are all expensive challenges, so that's where i am on that. there's been no conversation. >> on bbb, on the child tax credit, are you a hard no on ensuring -- >> chilled tax credit is still there as i'm understanding basically. >> are you a hard no on ensuring income tax can't be expanded? are you a hard no on that? >> i've been basically very clear. there should be a work requirement. that means you nile a 1099 so a 1099, if you want to call it a credit, you have to see if you have liability or not. the only way the irs would know that is if you file a 1099 so i think i've been very direct on that. hold on, hold on, hold on. i think -- >> senator schumer has set january 17th as the deadline for voting on rules changes. >> we're supposed to have a meeting right now and i guess it's been postponed because people are having a hard time coming in. i'll be going to a meeting and finding out what that entails and the time lines we're talking about. >> senator manchin, are you open to starting negotiations on build back better? >> i've never turned down talks with anybody. i really haven't. i just made my -- i was very clear on where i stand and i thought it was time to do that rather than just continue on and on and as we had for five and a half month. i didn't change from the first day when i talked to leader schumer on that. everyone has been working in the best good faith they possibly can. i just had a very difficult time in understanding where -- in understanding where we are and where our country is and the concerns that i have. >> so for a child tax credit, does it have to have some sort of a work requirement for you to be able to support the broader build back better package? >> i've looked and talked about all the different issues on build back better but the bottom line is you're talking about the child tax credit, if you have a credit, that means you've had to earn -- have to have earnings, and to have earnings you can't do that until you decide if you have any liabilities, and if you have liabilities you off set that with a cred i. the child tax credit is still in place until 2025, the $2,000, so if people think that it's all gone by the wayside, that hasn't happened. >> how flexible is the white house on your views on the child tax credit? >> you'd have to talk to the white house about that. >> senator, given your concerns about inflation, would you prefer that they simply shelf build back better until the next congress or just be done with it this year? is there a preference to shelve is all together? >> we'll have to see what the desires are and what the priorities are. they feel very strongly about that and i respect that and i have a different opinion. we don't have, you know, to do some of the things that have been proposed takes more of a majority than what we have. we have no majority, we're at 50-50 with with the vice president being the deciding vote and i think we have to take that into consideration. our caucus goes from one end of the spectrum to the other, and i'm sure they understand that. >> senator, real quick. the electoral count act, is that something that you've been talking to republicans about, and would you support build back better if the child tax credit was not included? >> i'm really not going to talk about build back better anymore. floss negotiations going on at this time, okay? and there's an awful lost things that had a lot of -- a lot of things that were very i think well intended, and there was a lot of things that were a pretty far reach on some things and the most delicate times that we have right now and our country is divided and i don't intend to do anything that divides our country anymore and whatever can i do to unite and bring people together. that means you have to work harder to bring people across the aisle. >> what is your comfort level with the climate provisions in build back better? >> there's a lot of good things in that. we've got a lot of money in there for innovation, technology, tax credits for basically clean technologies and clean environment, and i think we have to continue and be realistic also. we have to have enough energy to run our country and we have to have a transition as it happens as we move from a fossil dependency to more of a cleaner, do you do that by using fossils in cleaner ways? you should be able to and you do that by creating new technologies that -- the renewables that we have as far as wind and solar and hydro and all the different things. hydrogen. i've been big on hydrogen. i'm big on nuclear, okay, and i'm really big on making sure that fossils are used in the cleanest possible fashion and in america we do it better than most other countries. >> so would you say you're not as concerned as some of the other -- >> we've been listening in to senator joe manchin speaking with reporters making pretty clear that he is not inclined to support the democratic -- the other democrats' latest push to change the voting rules in the senate, the filibuster rules in order to allow them to push through investigate rights bills they have been making a big push on. joe manchin not inclined to support that which would be critical. also making it clear, it seems there haven't been any discussions or movements on the big back better plan since everything came apart. we'll continue to follow all of joe manchin's press conferences on joe biden's domestic agenda as they develop. we're also following breaking news. cnn has just learned that a colombian man is now in u.s. custody arrested for his alleged role in the assassination of haiti's president last year. the suspect will appear in a miami federal court this afternoon. let's get over to cnn matt rivers who is joining us now with all the breaking detoys. matt, what have you learned about this? >> yeah, kate, this is one of the top suspects in the assassination of haitian president jovenel moise who who is killed in his own residence going back to the beginning of july. the suspect, mario palacios, is considered one of the top suspects. he actually admitted in a media interview not long ago to being in the residence the night this assassination happened. the big difference with palacios he was able to escape from hate, one of several suspects who were able to escape from haiti. he made his way to jamaica where jamaican authorities actually caught him, and he was charged with illegally entering jamaica. we found out yesterday that he was going to be deported back to his native colombia. he's one of more than two dozen colombians suspects suspected in taking part in this assassination. however, it was during that deportation in which he routed through panama that he was actually picked up and extra dieted to the united states. he goes from jamaica to pan marks picked up by authorities in panama and section tra dieted to miami, and that's where he's going to appear in federal court at 2:00 p.m. eastern today to be arraigned on some pretty serious charges, two charges according to authorities there. conspiracy to provide material support resulting in the death of a foreign leader and conspiracy to kidnap and kill a foreign leader. this is going to be the first suspect to be formally charged in this case, and this is a big deal in the united states signaling that the united states government real wants to sink its teeth into this assassination and the u.s. role potentially this plot being organized in the united states, the u.s. government not turning a blind eye to that. >> thanks very much for that update. we'll continue to follow what happens in this courtroom later today. >> thank you all so much though for joining us at this hour today. i'm kate balduan. "inside politics" with john king starts right now. . hello, everybody, and welcome to "inside politics." i'm john king in washington. thanks for sharing your day with us. soon more covid revisions from the cdc. the agency is expected to update its uselation guidance for the second time in as many weeks. pandemic hospitalizations now again over 100,000, and omicron now responsible for 95% of new infections nationwide. plus, a total setup. an fbi conspiracy, ain't if a, the democrats. we will take a jarring look at the january 6th lies donald trump supporters believe to their core, and th