and it is the top of the hour, thank you so much for joining us. i'm alisyn camerota. >> i'm victor blackwell. it's good to be with you. president biden is visiting ebenezer baptist church in atlanta. the president just paid tribute at king's burial site which is near the church in atlanta. speaking of reverend dr. martin luther king. the city is the backdrop to what's being called the president's most urgent plea yet for voting rights. soon he will push for two federal laws that would standardize elections. it's an effort to combat a slew of new laws put into place by republican state legislatures to restrict voting in response to the lie that the 2020 election was stolen. >> this is one of those defining moments, it really is. people are going to be judged. where were they before, where were they after the vote. history is going to judge you. it's that consequential. >> 19 states have already passed 34 laws that limit voting hours, remove ballot drop boxes or take power away from nonpartisan local election officials. some states center already installed trump loyalists into important election oversight roles. several georgia voting rights groups are skipping the president's speech today. they're demanding action rather than just talk. we spoke with one activist who said the situation is dire. >> it is dire, but we need to be spending time in washington, d.c. to make sure that if anybody knows the u.s. senate is joe biden. senators war knock and ossoff, and we did the work to make sure that it would happen in georgia. now it's time for the president and the vice president to work in d.c. to make it happen in the u.s. senate. >> cnn's manu raju is on capitol hill. cnn's kaitlan collins is at the white house. from you first, what should we expect to hear from the president? >> i think clearly what you're seeing the president do today, make these stops before giving this speech shows you just how symbolic the white house is hoping to make this day. this is something he sees as a defining moment as president biden told reporters beforehand. when it comes to the speech, people want to hear what's going to happen. what is the president's plan for trying to move forward with this. we know the president plans to throw his weight behind this idea of a one-time exception to the filibuster. you see the president and vice president there, as they have been making these stops in atlanta today. of course this one time exception to the filibuster that the president is going to put the pressure on congress to do to get voting rights legislation passed, and so far it has been blocked by republicans. it's something that of course is going to be an up hill battle for him because that is something that's going to need the support of all 50 democrats to get there and that of course has been the struggle at the center of all of this. and so you should expect to hear a passionate plea from the president, putting pressure on congress, talking about why this is so important and using what is so important as the bully pulpit that the president has in going to georgia which has been at the center of the fight for election integrity. i think what you're hearing from voices of some of the voting rights activists, groups in georgia that aren't going to the president's visit today is they're saying they don't just want it to be this deeply symbolic speech. they want to see something change, and they're pointing back to the speech he gave in philadelphia several months ago talking about the importance of this, it can't be speeches there needs to be action here. that's going to be the struggle for the white house of course is translating the speech into action. >> in fact, manu, one of the activists said the president shouldn't be in georgia today. he should be staying in washington, d.c., on capitol hill, trying to twist arms. are there end roads that president biden hasn't pursued yet or could be made on capitol hill. >> there's a fundamental disagreement about the process of changing the rules for the senate. on the policy, the democrats, the 15 members of the senate democratic caucus, they are in line and support the two bills that president biden is trying to get passed. what they're not in line about is how to do that. under the senate process, it would require 60 votes to overcome a republican led filibuster, they don't have any republicans who will support overcoming a dfilibuster on one of the bills. that's why they're negotiating a rules change to advance the bill by just 51 votes. joe manchin, kyrsten sinema, the two moderate senators have for months, noted their opposition to changing the rules. you need 2/3 majority to change the roles of the senate, that builds bipartisan consensus. changing the rules on party lines could have dramatic ramifications on the senate, and they oppose going along on this partisan basis to change rules, and they are not changing their position. what does this all mean? that means there's going to be a vote this week on these bills. they will probably be blocked, and then at that point there will be a vote to change the rules, and joe manchin, and kyrsten sinema aren't there, and joe biden's effort will certainly fail. >> south dakota senator mike rounds was slammed by former president trump for telling the truth about the 2020 election. you spoke with the senator. tell us about that. >> he made clear he is standing by what he said, which is the truth, that donald trump lost the election, and he also said that republicans need to embrace the truth if they're to regain voters trust and provide trust that the elections were real and that in 2022, voters should trust what's actually happening at the polls. listen. >> i think it's critical that we offer the american public our direct view that they can trust the election system in the united states today. and they can go to the polls knowing their votes could be counted. >> they don't want to get into a tip for trump like you did. >> nobody is looking for confrontation. what we're looking for is to be able to provide good nfinformatn in a timely fashion. we're seeing as being responsible and honest. that's what the american people deserve, and that's what many of us want to do. >> ron said there was no effort by him to provoke this fight with donald trump. he said he was simply being asked a question, a factual question. did donald trump win or lose the election, and he made it very clear, of course, that we all know that donald trump lost, and that's what prompted trump to attack rounds, but that is exactly the reason why so many republicans won't state the basic truth and the facts about the election. they don't want to get on the other side of donald trump. but rounds said it's time to do that, at least to make clear to voters that when they fgo to th polls, they can trust what comes out on the other side. >> manu raju and kaitlan collins, thank you. >> let's discuss this further, we want to bring in abby f phillips, and dana bash, cnn chief political correspondent and coanchor of "state of the un union" also on sundays. long time no see, anything new in your life? >> no, good to be back. >> you have been on maternity leave, and i have a picture here of the cutest child i have ever seen, and that includes mine. >> oh, wow. >> and this is naomi. she is the cutest child ever. >> she is the cutest if i don't say so myself. she is the cutest. and doing very well, so thanks. >> welcome back, we've really missed you. so let's start with you. and let's talk about this, you know, herculean task that president biden has. he's in georgia giving a speech on the dire state of voting rights and election integrity in this country, and all sorts of activist groups, voting rights activist groups are boycotting the speech because they say time's up, you know, the situation is so dire, it's time for no more speeches, it's time for action. what other action can president biden take? >> yeah, i mean, that is the big question. look, there's a lot of focus on biden going back as you just said, your previous guest said, go back to washington. you were supposed to be the master of the senate. get republicans on board for this. but the problem is that that's -- on this particular issue, even the moderate republican senators who played ball on previous legislative initiatives are not willing to stick their necks out on voting, and interestingly, i think the kind of way that all of these stories come together is you heard that clip of mike rounds talking to manu, talking about how the election last time was not rigged. there are a lot of republicans who believe the election was not rigged but also believe there's no need to go tinker with it. no need to make these changes that democrats want, and it's for that reason that they're probably likely to stay on the sidelines here, and so, you know, you're seeing among activists a desire to pressure biden, frustration with joe manchin because they believe he double crossed them on build back better, but there's no clear path forward for democrats on this issue. >> so dana, i just had a conversation with senator tammy baldwin in which i tried to get beyond just discussing the urgency of passing something, and why this is happening now, how do you get to it. we didn't get to that point. but is there a specific plan even that they're trying to convince senator manchin, senator sinema to get behind. is it the talking filibuster, is it that you need to change the number? what are they trying to coalesce around? >> all of the above. what's interesting is that we are talking about process here, and that's the most important thing to keep in mind is that when you say where are they trying to get senators manchin and sinema. it's not are they opposed to this provision or that provision inside the two voting rights bills that have passed the house. it's not that. they support the substance of the policy, and that's so important to keep in mind. it is simply the process and why is the process stuck? why is it such that the democrats pretty much support the federal voting rights, it's because of the filibuster. the onus is on democrats because republicans will not play ball, and it is a relatively new phenomenon, victor, and alisyn. r republicans not only play ball but help to push the ball, even the last time the voting rights law was renewed during the bush administration, and it is because the notion of voting, and who has the access to the ballot, and manipulating voting for political power, that has become so -- such a given that it really wasn't not that long ago. >> abby, this is not just academic. there are real life consequences already happening. and here are just a few. in wayne county, michigan, a republican supporter of trump's big election lie was selected to the board of canvassers, which will certify the election results. also in michigan, a 13-year veteran of the county canvassing board lost her seat because she said there was no evidence of widespread fraud. in lancaster county, a handful of candidates who supported false claims won elections to serve as local judges and election inspectors. this is already happening on the ground as we speak. >> yeah, it's such an important point that the real -- one of the most urgent battles, this is -- it's like watching an avalanche, like, coming toward you is the fact that there are these, you know, i don't know, election deniers and people who are spreading the big lie who are being strategically placed in important positions that involve elections all across the country, and those people are going to be on the front lines of the next midterm election, the next presidential election, and for the republicans on capitol hill who say the election wasn't stolen, we don't believe in the big lie, they are not willing to do anything about that. and i think that that is a real problem for our political system, putting aside this particular, you know, legislative fight, what you're seeing is republicans, these are people in their own party who are not speaking up about the fact that there are a lot of election deniers who are being placed in these positions and could be in a position to try to overturn the next election if it doesn't go their way. there's some talk of addressing the electoral count act, which could make some of this less likely, but until that happens, i think that is really the train that is coming directly at us ahead of the next election psych. >> all right dana it was clear there would likely not be republican votes, there would be the challenge of getting 50 democrats in the senate to support it, and in the very first news conference, president biden was asked about what else is possible. here's that exchange. >> everything with power, along with my friends in the house and senate to keep that from becoming the law. >> is there anything else you can do about it besides passing legislation? >> the answer is yes, but i'm not going to lay out a strategy in front of the whole world and you now. >> that was 9 1/2 months ago. is it any clearer now what that strategy is? >> no, and there really isn't much separate from what the justice department is doing which is trying to use the power that they have in the courts to try to overturn some of the state laws that have passed, and you put up on the screen some really important changes that we've seen on the really local level which with voting, that matters a lot. but if you take it up a few no no no notches just to the state level, i spent time in georgia, in arizona, in texas, with state legislatures, particularly republicans, who almost to a person admitted to me that the reason why they have changed the laws in their states isn't necessarily because there was widespread fraud. they admitted there really wasn't widespread fraud. it's because of the lie that the former president is telling, and it is trickling down to the republican constituents who are then pressuring them to change laws, and what we have seen, again, in places like georgia and in texas in particular, let's just take georgia because that's where the president is today, the things that were in place, the structures that were in place, i should say, that allowed republicans, like brad ra raffensperger, those have been eroded pulled down by republican legislators there, which means it is not going to change unless there is federal legislation to do so and there's no other way to look at it except that. >> it's troubling, and you have articulated it perfectly. dana bash, great to see both of you. welcome back, abby. we are waiting for president biden's speech in atlanta. scheduled to start this hour. we of course will bring that to you when it happens. next, we're following breaking news, lawmakers investigating the capitol riot now saying they want to talk to rudy giuliani. and a north korean missile launch leads to a ground stop for airlines flying on part of the u.s. west coast. we'll go live to the pentagon to explain what happened here. relieve pressure points. and its temperature balancing so you both sleep just right. save up to $1,000 on sleep number 360 smart beds. plus, 0% interest for 36 months when you add an adjustable base. only for a limited time. (vo) this year, t-mobile for business is here to help you hit the ground running. when you switch to t-mobile and bring your own device, we'll pay off your phone up to $800. you can keep your phone. keep your number. and get your employees connected on the largest and fastest 5g network. plus, we give you $200 in facebook ads on us! so you can reach more customers, create more opportunities, and make this the best year for your business yet. visit your local t-mobile store today. people with moderate to severe psoriasis, are rethinking the choices they make like the splash they create the entrance they make, the surprises they initiate. otezla. it's a choice you can make. otezla is not a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines, and if you're pregnant or planning to be. otezla. show more of you. with clean, fresh ingredients, panera's new chicken sausage and pepperoni flatbread is a mouthwatering explosion of yes. craft? yes! heartiness? yes! living life to the flavor-fullest? heck yes. panera. live your yes. now $1 delivery. as a professional bull-rider i'm used to taking chances. but when it comes to my insurance i don't. i use liberty mutual, they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. wooo, yeaa, woooooo and, by switching you could even save 665 dollars. hey tex, can someone else get a turn? yeah, hang on, i'm about to break my own record. yeah. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. ♪ i don't just play someone brainy on tv - i'm an actual neuroscientist. and i love the science behind neuriva plus. unlike ordinary memory supplements, neuriva plus fuels six key indicators of brain performance. more brain performance? yes, please! neuriva. think bigger. - [narrator] introducing the grubhub guarantee: our promise to deliver the food you love on time, and give you the lowest price, or you'll get $5 off your next order. the january 6th committee wants to talk to rudy giuliani, cnn's ryan nobles just asked the committee's chairman, bennie thompson if this will subpoena giuliani, and they said they are quote working through the process. giuliani was a personal lawyer to former president trump and a speaker at the rally of angry trump supporters ahead of their riot at the capitol. >> cnn senior legal analyst and former federal and state prosecutor elie honig is with us now. it makes sense considering the scope of this committee that they want to speak with rudy giuliani. >> yeah, victor, it's about time. i mean, this is a move equal pa parts obvious and over due. rudy giuliani was in the middle of all of this. he's the dark heart and soul of the hire coup attempt. he's one of the first to advocate the big lie. he did it in front of any legal filing he could get in front of. present at strategy meetings with donald trump, at the willard hotel war room in the days leading up to january 6th, and of course he spoke at the rally itself. he was the one who said we want trial by combat. if you're the committee, you should be looking directly at rudy giuliani. >> rudy giuliani hasn't seemed very bound by rules lately, and so my guess is he won't comply, and then what does the committee do? >> i think there's a 0% chance rudy giuliani does not comply. there's two ways he can do that. he can take the 5th, he's legally entitled to do that. he's under investigation by the district of new york. i don't think it's likely he'll do that because it looks so bad. his other option is say no thank you and defy the committee. in that case, the impetus goes back to the committee. will they follow up by formal invitation with a subpoena. if he defies the subpoena, will they hold him in contempt, and turn him over to doj for a second round. it will be a test of how serious and determined the committee is. >> giuliani was the personal attorney of sorts for the former president. is there a complication that's presented by attorney/client privilege. >> it's important that people understand this. we hear this phrase, attorney/client privilege. that doesn't mean anything an attorney and client discuss is off limits. there's a well known exception to the attorney client rule, if the discussions relate to a potential crime, an ongoing crime, then it's not privileged. it's not as simple as rudy saying, i'm his lawyer, nobody can get into those conversations. there's a question about was rudy giuliani furnishing legitimate legal advice here. i think that could be a tough thing for rudy giuliani to show. this is not a clear cut case of attorney/client privilege. there's a good argument it does not apply. >> elie honig, we'll wait to see if there's a response from giuliani or his attorneys. thank you so much. >> thanks, victor and alisyn. >> meanwhile, kids in chicago and los angeles are heading back to school with some new safety precautions in place for both kids and teachers. so we'll tell you what those are, next. my plaque psoriasis... ...the itching... the burning. the stinging. my skin was no longer mine. my psoriatic arthritis, made my joints stiff, swollen... painful. emerge tremfyant®. with tremfya®, adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... ...can uncover clearer skin and improve symptoms at 16 weeks. tremfya® is the only medication of its kind also approved for adults with active psoriatic arthritis. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. emerge tremfyant® with tremfya®... ask you doctor about tremfya® today. ♪ when you have nausea, ♪ ♪ heartburn, ingestion, upset stomach... ♪ ♪ diarrheaaaa.♪ try pepto bismol with a powerful coating action. for fast and soothing relief. pepto bismol for fast relief when you need it most. it's been nearly two years since the pandemic started. our students and teachers tried their best, but as a parent, i can tell you that nearly 18 months of remote learning was really hard. i'm so angry that instead of helping our kids get back in the classroom, the school board focused on renaming schools schools that weren't even open . please recall all three school board members now. for the sake of our kids, we can't wait one more day, never mind a whole year for a fresh start. cdc director dr. rochelle walensky testified on capitol hill today, and she reiterated the importance of keeping schools open through regular testing and vaccines for eligible students. >> schools should be the first places to open and the last places to close. we have a delta surge in the fall, and 99% of our schools were safely opened, and one of the things that's majorly different between september of 2021 and today is we have pediatric vaccinations. >> meanwhile in chicago, teachers are back to work today, and students will return to the classroom tomorrow. the teachers union and the city of chicago coming to an agreement on covid mitigation efforts. this is the country's third largest school district. so the measures include more testing for students, distribution of kn95 masks and a benchmark for when a school will move to remote learning. >> the teachers saturdayed voting on the proposed agreement today. it is expected to pass. a 340,000 students have missed four days of class after teachers voted to move to virtual learning amid a covid surge, and the school district responded by cancelling classes. >> in los angeles, a lot of students are back in the classroom today. in order to return to school, they must show proof of a negative covid test. >> more than 60,000 students and staff will not be able to return to in-person learning after testing positive. cnn's stephanie elam joins us now. what is the plan there to keep schools open? >> they're very clear here in l.a.usd that they will be keeping schools open, alisyn and victor, kids coming back today after the winter break taking that extra day to make sure they have plenty of time to do this mandatory testing for students to come here, and that testing of students and of staff and teachers finding more than 65,000 positive cases. so those people aren't here, but they said if there's people that are going to be out, that they are going to have plenty of certified teachers who can step in for teachers who may be out quarantining and the like. that said, i did ask to find out what they were doing here in l.a. usd, the second largest school district in the nation, with 650,000 students, how they were able to stay open. i asked the superintendent, mem megan riley, this is the answer. >> this is our third semester under the new normal. we know how to handle this. we have had many months of being innovative in our communities. los angeles unified is in constant communication with health partners, to continue adapting and reevaluating the multilayered safety protocols and standards currently in place. and just to give you pan idea, the last data they gave us, lausd says the positivity rate was under 15%. it's safer to have students in the classroom where they're learning, their mental health is stronger as well, and also because if you look at the county, while we're in this omicron surge, they're definitely doing better here, and testing and catching the people who are sick so they're not coming and infecting people at the school. the other thing to note is they have about a thousand schools in lausd, and they said this econom academy year, they have had to close zero of them. >> thank you very much for the reporting. >> covid hospitalizations have reached an all time high. they have had to increase the coronavirus threat level to the highest level, and the majority of the people admitted with covid are unvaccinated. the ceo of harris health system in houston, dr. icorsa joins me now. thank you very much for being with me, doctor. i want to start there, with what we know for a year now, the people filling hospital rooms are those who have not been vaccinated. the numbers in your system, what's the percentage if you have it with you of those who are unvaccinated who are there at those hospitals. >> definitely. let me first start by saying thank you for this opportunity, and i want to thank all the health care providers, definitely for what they have done over the last couple of years. definitely more than anything i or anyone else could have asked them for, and also all health care providers across the country who have helped get us through this pandemic to this point. to answer your question, you're absolutely right, i mean, you know, what has not changed is the fact that this continues to be a pandemic of the unvaccinated. specifically to answer your question of harris health system, and hit an all time high of 190 covid positive patients. good 85% of them are not vaccinated. what has changed is that that number used to be 90%, and yes, it's 85%, so more of the vaccinated people are getting infected, but what has not changed, and really very important is that among the people who require hospitalization in the icu, that has not changed. the vast majority of the people who are being hospitalized in harris health system, requiring icu hospital sizations, more th 86% are not vaccinated. >> so again, those numbers, although down from 90% to 85, still the lion's share here, those people who have not been vaccinated. there is now this concern about the distinction between those who are admitted for covid versus those who are admitted for other things, and incidentally test for a positive for covid, what's the break down, if you know, percentage of those who are in the hospitals with covid, but that's not really why they're there primarily. >> yeah, so that has changed as well, right, so logically, it follows that as the percentage of the people who are being hospitalized, given vaccination from, you know, less than 10% to around 15%. the percentage of the people who are going to the hospital and happen to have covid infection, just because the number of cases and the transmission of this variant is so high, it follows, so right now, it's around 30, 35% of the people who are in the hospital with covid are here for something else but happen to have covid. let's not lose track of the fact that it really doesn't matter. if you have covid and you're in the hospital and you're going to be treated with the same precautions, regardless of if covid brought you to the hospital or you came to the hospital because of a gallbladder and you have covid, you still have to be in isolation, and have to follow all the precautions. and let me say this before i forget about the question previously about the impact of the vaccination on vaccination, and this is a really sad story of the people who have lost their lives to covid at harris health systems since the beginning of last calendar year, january 1, 2021, unfortunately 282 people until january 5th of this year, just last week, 282 people lost their lives to covid at harris health system. out of those numbers, only nine were vaccinated. not a single person was vaccinated and boosted. zero who were vaccinated and boosted lost their lives to covid at harris health system since the beginning of last calendar year. >> those numbers really drive it home. of course the importance of the vaccination, as we move into this phase where we're seeing so many people who are getting covid, who are getting -- because omicron is so contagious, those who are vaccinated and those who are boosted get the symptoms of a cold or maybe a mild flu, certainly as we're seeing the numbers from your hospital, no one dying who's vaccinated and boosted, dr. porsa, thank you so much for the insight. >> my pleasure, thank you. victor, moments from now, president biden is scheduled to speak in atlanta. he's going to make a big push for voting rights, and we'll bring you that live. also happening right now in georgia, big celebrations, the bulldogs returning after their national championship victory over alabama's crimson tide. do your eyes bother you? my eyes feel like a combo of stressed, dry and sandpaper. strypaper? luckily, there's biotrue hydration boost eye drops. biotrue uses naturally inspired ingredients. and no preservatives. try biotrue! i just wish more people knew how easy it was to get health coverage. i'm only paying $52 a month for there are quality plans for even less. my job doesn't offer health insurance, but with the new law, i found an affordable plan and only pay $47 a month. actually, a friend of mine recommended healthcare.gov and now we're paying less than $60 a month for coverage. i was skeptical at first, but it is real. i'm covered with no monthly payment. new law. lower prices. more people qualify. at healthcare.gov (birds chirping) ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ (phone beep) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (music quieter) ♪ (phone clicks) ♪ ♪ looking to get back in your type 2 diabetes zone? once-weekly ozempic® can help. ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! ♪ ♪ oh, oh, oh ♪ ozempic® is proven to lower a1c. most people who took ozempic® reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. and you may lose weight. adults lost on average up to 12 pounds. in adults also with known heart disease, ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke, or death. ozempic® helped me get back in my type 2 diabetes zone. ozempic® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles. don't take ozempic® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop ozempic® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. tell your provider about vision problems or changes. taking ozempic® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase low blood sugar risk. side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. looking to get back in your type 2 diabetes zone? 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. your shipping manager left to “find themself.” leaving you lost. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire with age comes more... get more with neutrogena® retinol pro plus. a powerful .05% retinol that's also gentle on skin. for wrinkles results in one week. neutrogena®. for people with skin. will deliver urgent speeches in atlanta pushing for voting rights legislation. the president is expected to support changing senate filibuster rules in order to pass new voting protections. let's bring in professor sam wang, the director for the princeton electoral innovation lab. professor, thanks so much for being here. i don't have to tell you there's all sorts of troubling things happening at the state and local level where former president trump's cronies who believe the big election lie are being installed into important election positions. is president biden making this speech today too late? >> i don't think it's too late. i would say that there are several choke points, weak points in our democracy that really need to be addressed. one is local control of elections, and having elections be honest as they have been in great and large part over the last decades. and the other is election rules that get in the way of fair outcomes, things like antigerrymandering provisions, things like voter i.d. provisions. i would say that it's really important for there to be a local role. citizens can do that by joining their election boards and a national role for the department of justice and federal laws to protect democracy. so it would have been great to have these protections in place a few years ago but it is not too late and it's very important to pass these voting rights acts as president biden is advocating. >> i mean, when you talk about citizens joining their local election boards, some of that is happening, but again, some of that is happening where trump cronies are joining those. i'll give you two examples, wayne county, michigan, a gop supporter of trump's big lie was elected to the board of canvassers which will certify the election results. gen lost her seat because she said there was no evidence of widespread fraud, and so what can stop those things? >> the difficulty is that these election canvassing positions used to be duties that local party regulars did, that used to be not that interesting. i mean, no offense to them, these are essential duties but used to not attract a lot of controversy. now they have attracted controversy. i would say things like passage of the john lewis voting rights act, passage of the freedom to vote act, that manchin and klobuchar have sponsored. those will protect the right to vote in various ways, and local citizens, whether democratic or republican need to be a counter weight to extreme elements of any party that may want to overturn elections and keep elections from being honestly reported. i think there are opportunities and it's just a situation where people at every level have to pitch in and i think at the highest levels, congress and the president have a duty and opportunity to do what they have done in past decades, which protect voting rights. >> it's interesting that those two examples i just gave you are from michigan. you say michigan is like the shining star in terms of the laws it has passed against gerrymandering, you know, gerrymandering is a big problem because it makes these super entrenched districts that are not competitive, so what did michigan do right that could serve as a model? >> michigan is a beacon to the states, just as in other states there have been established independent commissions where the commissioners are citizens. they are selected from applicants taken from the population, democrats, republicans and independents, and at our site at gerrymander.princeton.edu, we did a deep dive into the mechanism there, and found that having independent commission where independents, democrats and republicans had to come together, where there was public input and where the final authority was not in legislators but, in fact, in the people themselves. these were key steps, and about half of states have the possibility of having a voter initiative to allow such a thing to occur, and i would say that the grades that we gave at the gerrymandering project at princeton, those grades that we gave to those plans were a's, maybe a couple of b's here and there, but the outcome as measured by quantitative metrics illustrate that michigan has succeeded in drawing fair maps that in all likelihood will reflect the will of voters in the decade to come. >> everyone should check out your web site to see exactly how it was done, and again, your grades. sam wang, founder of the princeton election consortium, thank you so much. >> thank you. north korea launches a new missile, and the faa issues a ground stop for some pilots on the west coast. we'll go live to the pentagon to find out what happened. and we are waiting for president biden's speech in atlanta. that will be happening at any minute, and we'll bring it to you live when it does. liz, you nerd, cough if you're in here! shh! i took mucinex dm for my phlegmy cough. what about rob's dry cough? works on that too, and lasts 12 hours. 12 hours?! who studies that long? mucinex dm relieves wet and dry coughs. it's time for our lowest prices of the season on the sleep number 360 smart bed. what if i sleep hot? ...or cold? no problem, the sleep number 360 smart bed is temperature balancing so you both sleep just right. and it senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both effortlessly comfortable. so, you can really promise better sleep? yes! you'll know exactly how well you slept, night after night. we take care of the science. all you have to do is sleep. and now, save up to $1,000 on sleep number 360 smart beds. plus, 0% interest for 36 months when you add an adjustable base. only for a limited time. - [narrator] introducing the grubhub guarantee: our promise to deliver the food you love on time, and give you the lowest price, or you'll get $5 off your next order. exploring the heart of historic europe with viking, you'll get closer to iconic landmarks, to local life and legendary treasures as you sail onboard our patented, award-winning viking longships. you'll enjoy many extras, including wi-fi, cultural enrichment from ship to shore and engaging excursions. viking - voted number one river cruise line by condé nast readers. learn more at viking.com. i don't just play someone brainy on tv - i'm an actual neuroscientist. and i love the science behind neuriva plus. unlike ordinary memory supplements, neuriva plus fuels six key indicators of brain performance. more brain performance? yes, please! neuriva. think bigger. ♪ ♪ ♪ hey google. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ officials say the suspected ballistic missile launched monday by north korea is more advanced than the missile the rogue country launched just a week ago. >> we have a picture of last week's missile. according to south korea's military, the latest launch reached a velocity of more than ten times the speed of sound and traveled more than 430 miles. so as a precaution, the faa grounded some planes on the west coast. cnn's pentagon correspondent oren liebermann joins us now. what is the pentagon saying about this? >> the military's indo-pacific command says they were aware of this ballistic missile launch and were in consultation with allies in the region. that specifically means south korea and japan. they say it was never a threat to u.s. personnel or to territory, but that it was a destabilizing action coming from north korea. the missile, according to south korea's news agency achieved an altitude of about 40 miles and reached a speed of mach 10 according to japan's ministry of defense. it landed west of japan in the sea of japan. this comes just one week after another launch from north korea. north korea had claimed it was a launch of a ballistic missile with a hypersonic glide vehicle but there is quite a bit of skepticism about that claim. nevertheless, north korea experts say these two launches so close together just seven days apart is a way for north korea and leader kim jong-un to remind the u.s. and the west of his relevance, as well as the country's importance to the region. a way of trying to figure out whether north korea wants to engage perhaps diplomatically or through provocation. it comes just a few weeks after the u.s. and south korea agreed to update their operational war plan. a classified strategy about how the u.s., south korea and allies would respond should there be an outbreak of hostilities on the korean peninsula and in the months before that announcement which came in early december, there was a number, four in fact, missile launches from north korea, including cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. from this latest launch what's also very interesting is that the faa issued a ground stop that lasted only about 15 to 20 minutes earlier on monday. that was a result of this north korean missile launch. what's interesting is the faa made no mention of north korea but the white house and others made it clear that's what it was. the faa says they often take precautionary measures. that part may be true but not like this in response to a missile launched thousands of miles away. >> yeah, okay. oren liebermann, thanks for that update. we're waiting for president joe biden's speech in atlanta on voting rights. we'll bring that to you as soon as it starts. ng in strong with w oven roasted turkey, black forest ham, and hickory-smoked bacon. it's good, hall of fame good. save big. order through the app. ♪ ♪ (vo) this year, t-mobile for business is here to help you hit the ground running. when you switch to t-mobile and bring your own device, we'll pay off your phone up to $800. you can keep your phone. keep your number. and get your employees connected on the largest and fastest 5g network. plus, we give you $200 in facebook ads on us! so you can reach more customers, create more opportunities, and make this the best year for your business yet. visit your local t-mobile store today. ♪ limu emu... & doug ♪ ♪ superpowers from a spider bite? i could use some help showing the world how liberty mutual customizes their car insurance so they only pay for what they need. (gasps) ♪ did it work? only pay for what you need ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ spider-man no way home in theaters december 17th every day in business brings something new. so get the flexibility of the new mobile service designed for your small business. introducing comcast business mobile. you get the most reliable network with nationwide 5g included. and you can get unlimited data for just $30 per line per month when you get four lines or mix and match data options. available now for comcast business internet customers with no line-activation fees or term contract required. see if you can save by switching today. comcast business. powering possibilities. senator richard burr wants to make sure his colleague, senator tim kaine, is ready if he gets stranded again on a snow-covered highway. >> you'll remember that senator kaine spent 27 hours trapped on i-95 after that powerful winter storm shut down the highway. and senator kaine spoke with us during his ordeal. well, today in a lighthearted, bipartisan moment, senator burr gave senator kaine a highway survival kit. >> i want to make sure that he's got an orange for his car. that he's got a dr. pepper and i provided a blanket to make sure these are three things you've got in your car regardless of what you run into on i-95. tim, we're sorry you had to spend 27 hours, but you're now qualified to be the secretary of transportation if you're looking for a second job. >> that's a fun moment. although, i am pretty sure that senator kaine will not be caught without granola or trail mix or jerky in his car. >> all you need is dr. pepper and an orange. totally life-sustaining foods. that's what the astronauts should take to space. >> you need more than that. >> "the lead" with jake tapper starts right now. this is cnn breaking news. >> welcome to "the lead." we're going to start with breaking news in the politics lead. at any moment we expect president joe biden to begin making his biggest push yet for election reform. he'll take the stage in atlanta, georgia, in a congressional district that used to belong to the late congressman and civil rights icon john lewis who died in 2020. the president will be joined today by a group