voluntarily and turn over information. and we're awaiting a possible decision by the australian government on the fate of the tennis star novak djokovic. will he be able to stay in the country after he admitted to violating covid protocols. there is growing pressure for an answer as player match-ups before the australian open will be drawn just a few hours from now. we want to welcome our viewers hire in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer and you're in "the situation room." we begin with the changing tone among u.s. health officials and covid experts. they're sounding more and more resigned to the idea that almost every american will be exposed to or infected with the omicron variant. cnn's nick watt has our report. >> omicron, when it is extraordinarily unprecedented degree of efficiency of transmissibility will ultimately find everybody. >> it is finding an infecting nearly three quarters of a million americans on average every day. >> we preparing an update to the information on our mask website to best reflect the actions vrabel to people and the different levels of protection the different masks provide. >> the update will stress that n 95 are much better than cloth. marine while, at united, three thousand have covid, the airline forced to crim schedules, more than 800 lapd staff now in quarantine. chicago's mayor just tested positive so did west virginia's governor. i'm thankful to the lord above that i've been vaccinated, i've been boosted. that being said, i feel extremely unwell at this point. the omicron surge appears now to be peaking in parts of the northeast. >> over the past week, covid-19 cases have remained extremely high. but they may be starting to plateau. >> we're not the end but i want to say this is to me a glimmer of hope, a glimmer of hope at a time when we need that. >> but more covid patients are in the hospital now than ever before. the average daily death toll is now -- >> about 1600 per day. which is an increase of about 40% over the previous week. >> even the former president is now boosting boosters. >> watch a couple of politicians be interviewed and one of the questions was did you get the booster because they have the vaccine. and they all -- they're answering it like, yes but they don't want to say it because they're gutless. >> that is probably more about politics than the pandemic. trump didn't name the gutless, but he's talking about his potential 2024 presidential rival. florida's governor. >> you have gotten the booster? >> so, i've done whatever i did, the normal shot and you know that at the end of the day is people's individual decisions about what they want to do. >> and of course with the omicron surge, a lot of talk of boosters and also of masks. i just mentioned the cdc going to update its guidance to tell us all which masks are best and the white house today said they are, quote, in the process right now of strongly considering options of how to get better quality masks out there to more americans. a little whiff of too little, too late right there. wolf. >> nick watt reporting for us. and thank you very much. let's bring in our pandemic experts right now. dr. paul offit is a member of the fda vaccine advisory committee and ounlor of the very important book "you bet your life." you're also joined by dr. aila stanford from the black doctors covid-19 consortium. thank you to both of you for joining us. dr. offit, do you agree with the assessment that the omicron surge appears to be peaking in the northeast right now, is relief on the way? >> i think so. if you look for the united kingdom or denmark which are a couple of weeks ahead of us, it does look like things are going to get better quickly and new york city thinks you get a sense of peaking and coming down. that is the situation in south africa. so i do think we'll get past this quickly. i do disagree with the notion that all of us should be resigned to getting omicron. the term that virologists used to describe circulating viruses is wildlife, like out of control. do everything you can to avoid the virus. remember when you talk about more than a thousand people dying every day, they're dying from this virus. so do everything you can to avoid it. >> and let me bring dr. stanford into the conversation. dr. fauci reiterated today that the omicron variant is so transmissible, nearly everyone will be exposed. the word "exposed" at some point, that doesn't mean they'll be infected but they'll be exposed to this virus. does that mean we need to rethink our overall covid strategy? >> i think still number one is get vaccinated. and after that, get a booster. and then encourage everyone you know who is not protected to do one and two. certainly wearing masks still helps. staying away from indoor gatherings and really focusing on our vulnerable populations. our kids in philadelphia between 8 and 24%, depending on your race and ethnic background, are all that are vaccinated, which are leaving about 90% or 70% of the kids are unvaccinated. we have to get to them because they are vulnerable and they're filling up our hospitals at higher rates now. >> yeah, i checked with the johns hopkins university, right now the u.s. is averaging about 750,000 daily covid cases. almost 750,000. doctor offit, we're still waiting on the cdc to update the masking guidance potentially recommending what are called n-95 or kn-95 masks for better protection. take a look at what one study found about mask leakage. take a look at this. you could see the numbers n-95 went to 10%. surgical masks 15%. cloth masks 75% mask leakage. are americans walking around with cloth masks essentially underprotected from this omicron variant which is so highly transmissible? >> yeah, cloth masks are better than nothing but not much better than nothing. if you could get an n-95 mask and that is certainly a value and other wise the surgical mask could offer protection. please be vaccinated and we will get through this. we really don't have to go through this for about another four to six weeks and i think we're look in our rearview mirror of kroib. >> just be careful out there and clearly wear a mask. dr. stanford, the cdc director dr. rochelle walensky said new search shows a 91% reduction in mortality from the variant and many covid deaths could be due to the delta variant. are you optimistic that the lower omicron mortality rate will keep deaths lower despite this dramatic surge in cases? >> perhaps. but by the time you do that analysis, someone has already gotten seriously infected, hospitalized or died. i mean, that information also came out that you're ten times more likely to contract covid if you're unvaccinated. you're 17 times more likery to be hospitalized and 20 times more likely to die if your unvaccinated. i agree with dr. offit, better days are coming but still the message is get vaccinated, get to our most vulnerable populations that are more susceptible and protect folks from delta and omicron and get to the other side of this. >> and god forbid if there is a future variant, let's protection everyone from those down the road as well. doctor, thank you. thanks to you. and there is more breaking news we're following just ahead. here in "the situation room," the january 6 select committee now asking the house minority leader kevin mccarthy to cooperate voluntarily with the investigation. plus we're awaiting a final decision from the australian government on novak djokovic after the tennis star admitted he violated covid protocols. cis. for insights on when to buy and sell. and proactive alerts on market events. that's decision tech. only from fidelity. hustle sure, but for what matters. when you do, it leads to amazing. welcome to the next level. the all-new lexus nx. ♪ i lost 26 pounds and i feel incredible. with the new personalpoints program, i answered questions about my goals and the foods i love. i like that the ww personalpoints plan is built just for me. don't pay until spring! join today at ww.com hurry! offer ends january 17th! people everywhere living with type 2 diabetes are waking up to what's possible... with rybelsus®. the majority of people taking rybelsus® lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than 7. rybelsus® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't take rybelsus® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop rybelsus® 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 rybelsus® with a sulfonylurea or insulin increases low blood sugar risk. side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. wake up to the possibility of lower a1c with rybelsus®. you may pay as little as $10 for up to a 3-month prescription. ask your healthcare provider about rybelsus® today. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ with chase security features, guidance and convenience, banking feels good. chase. make more of what's yours. 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[echoing] get a quote today. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ 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. we're following breaking news in the house investigation into the january 6th insurrection. the select committee now asking the minority leader in the house, kevin mccarthy, to provide information voluntarily including details about former president trump's state of mind during the capitol siege. our senior justice correspondent evan perez is working the story for us. evan, what is the committee most interested in learning from mccarthy? >> well, wolf, the committee believes mccarthy has a lot of information, especially about the former president's state of mind in those key days around january 6th. one of the things that the committee says in their letter to mccarthy is that they have text messages from multiple witnesses who discuss some concerns inside the white house about the former president's state of mind during that period and they say it appears that you had one or more conversations with the president during this period. of course mccarthy has discussed that he had multiple phone calls with the former president in various television interviews. so these are things that the committee believes he can shed light on if he sat down with them voluntarily. of course, he's the third republican to be asked for voluntary cooperation, wolf. and manu raju asked the minority leader about the possibility of testifying just a few months ago. listen to what he said. >> would you be willing to testify about your conversation with donald trump on january 6th if you were asked by an outside commission -- >> sure. next question. >> so there you have it. he said he was willing at that point. we don't know what his answer is going to be this time, wolf. and look, if he refuses to testify, it's not clear that this committee is willing to take the additional step of perhaps issuing a subpoena. it's not clear, they don't believe yet, whether they can do that, wolf. >> he says sure, next question. that was pretty specific. evan perez, thank you very much for that. let's discuss with a key member of the select committee, democratic congressman pete aguilar of california. congressman, thanks as usual for joining us. so mccarthy may have said last year he'd be willing to talk, but since then he appears to have tried in various ways to trip up your committee almost every step of the way. in what universe would he actually cooperate voluntarily? >> well, we'll hold him to his word. just like your reporting mentioned, when manu raju asked him whether he would talk to an outside committee, he answered sure. so we're going to hold him to that. and i would expect anyone who takes the same oath to the constitution that i took in order to serve here would be willing to talk about january 6th and would be willing to talk about what happened that day. but this is someone who clearly has information. he talked to the white house and to the president leading up to january 6th on their efforts to overturn the election results. he talked with the president by public reporting on january 6th. and he was concerned about the safety of the capitol after january 6th. all of those are key bits of information that we feel are important. >> mccarthy clearly had critical conversations with then president trump during the january 6th attack and in the aftermath. so why is this request only coming now, congressman, months into your investigation? >> well, this is part of the investigative steps that we're taking. we've had over 300 conversations, nearing 400 conversations so far with individuals as we develop that information, as we hear from witnesses we have other questions. so this is part of that process, part of that timeline. it's our hope that our colleagues would be willing to come and speak before us if they are as committed to the constitution as they say they are and the rule of law then this should be a pretty easy answer for them. >> what is the strategy, though, to get the information from your fellow members of congress? we're talking about mccarthy, congressman jim jordan, scott perry, all three members, republicans in the house. is anything short of a subpoena going to cut it? >> well, the question that manu raju asked him, was it about a subpoena, it was whether he'd be willing to talk. and he said sure. you know, it's our hope that he comes forward. but as chairman thompson mentioned, we are researching and evaluating next steps. and if there are next steps we'll announce them. but in the meantime we hope that everyone who feels as strongly as we do about protecting this temple of democracy that's the u.s. capitol would come forward and share. and clearly the minority leader has had contact with the white house and with the former president. all of that would be helpful in our investigation. >> cnn has learned that kayleigh mcenany, the former white house press secretary during the trump white house, spoke with your committee today. she was then -- she was with then president trump back on january 6th. how forthcoming was she? did she answer questions about trump's behavior that day? >> well, i can't talk about any of the individual depositions and conversations that we've had, although i've sat through a number of them. what i can tell you is that we're asking very clear, very concise questions to these witnesses and to these individuals who were around the president's orbit on january 6th. what was his state of mind? why didn't he take action to prevent this violent attack? what was he doing during those 187 minutes at the white house? those are all important questions that the american public and that the public here in washington, d.c. deserve answers to. >> can you just tell us if she was fully cooperative? >> i can't tell you if any witness was fully cooperative, but what i can tell you is the substance of what we are hearing has been positive. and just because you hear a few individuals who don't want to talk to the committee, there are dozens and hundreds of others who have. so we continue to make solid progress in our investigation. we look forward to the next steps. but we're still in that investigative stage and talking to many individuals. >> congressman pete aguilar, thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you, wolf. coming up, with the tournament draw for the australian open just a few hours away, we're standing by for a possible decision on the fate of the tennis star novak djokovic. we're going to have an update from melbourne right after the break. right, and people think... wow... ...he knows what he's doing... ...when i'm actually pretty lost with my payroll taxes. intuit quickbooks helps you manage your payroll taxes. cheers. 100% accurate payroll tax calculations guaranteed. with mucinex all-in-one you've got powerful relief from your worst cold and flu symptoms. so when you need to show your cold who's boss, grab mucinex all-in-one... and get back to your rhythm. ♪ the relief you need. the cash you want. as a dj, i know all about customization. that's why i love liberty mutual. they customize my car insurance, so i only pay for what i need. how about a throwback? 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"while i went home after the interview to isolate for the required period, on reflection this was an error of judgment, and i accept that i should have rescheduled this commitment." >> for not alerting this reporter, not telling him hey, by the way, i'm positive for covid, do you still want to do this, we should probably cancel. the guy was uninformed about this and djokovic knew. and keeping that secret from him i think is pretty irresponsible. >> reporter: then a second sort of apology from djokovic. admitting there was inaccurate information in the travel declaration form submitted to australian authorities. that's a potential crime here. asked if he's been to any other countries in the previous 14 days, his answer is no. social media pictures show he'd been in serbia and spain. "it this was submitted by my support team on my behalf. my agent sincerely apologizes for the administrative mistake. this was a human error and certainly not deliberate." while djokovic trains, desperately trying to focus on winning, the ball is now in the australian government's court as it considers canceling his visa once again. we are told the australian government investigation is taking all of those factors into account, the circumstances, the documentation surrounding the positive test. djokovic's behavior in the days following. there is no formal deadline for this government decision. but wolf, the clock is ticking. the australian open is set in just a few hours to announce its formal draw for the competition. djokovic is the number one seed. the government doesn't have to take into account its impact on a major sporting event like this. but the longer it waits, then the greater the chance you're going to see an escalation in the consequences, the fallout, the circus-like atmosphere that continues to surround this whole saga. wolf. >> this is clearly a huge, huge decision they're about to make. could be very, very soon. phil black reporting from melbourne. thank you very much. let's get some more. joining us now, our chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta and former professional tennis player and espn commentator patrick mcenroe. patrick, just how unusual is this situation? we're now just hours away from the australian open draw and the australian government has yet to make a final decision about djokovic's fate. >> well, as we've been discussing the last couple of nights, wolf, the plot just continues to thicken with this story. just when you think you've got some sort of answer to where this is going something else comes up. djokovic again misplayed his hand with his instagram post, with this public statement, totally off base what he did there, by saying he's going to talk about misinformation -- what misinformation? this is all completely factual, what's happened, and what's being reported around the world. so novak has at least started to attempt to answer some of these questions but the answers are not what anybody, particularly those in the tennis world, wolf, want to hear at the moment. >> yeah, you're absolutely right. sanjay, djokovic now admits it was in his words an error of judgment to take part in a photo shoot in an interview last month after he actually tested pos positive, a formal test, not just a fast test for the coronavirus. how much risk depose to others in the days immediately following when he tested positive? >> it might be considerable, wolf. it's a little hard to understand just all the facts here and the timing of things. but from phil's report it sounds like he had some concern, had an antigen test on the 16th and 17th that were negative, but then the pcr test came back on the 17th evening i guess and that was positive. let me show you a chart, just to give you an idea based on some data of contagiousness after someone is diagnosed with covid. what you find is that you're typically most contagious i should say right around the time of diagnosis, probably even in the couple days before typically is sort of the biggest period of contagiousness. it sort of goes down after that. so if in fact he had interactions with people on day 1 or day 2, again depending on the exact timeline, you can see, wolf, 75% of people are still contagious at that point. now, i don't -- again, the rapid antigen test, that's typically a pretty good test to answer the specific question, not are you carrying virus but are you contagious or not. it doesn't sound like he actually did that test on the day that he interacted with people. so it's very likely he was still contagious, wolf, at that point. >> yeah, that was clearly reckless. you know, patrick, did anything about djokovic's latest statement surprise you? are you surprised he's publicly addressing this saga in the first place? >> well, i thought he needed to do that, wolf. but i think he needs to do it in a press conference and people need to hear him and see him speaking. so again, it was his initial instagram post when he got on the plane to australia that set off this political firestorm in australia. now you've got this one. as i was telling you last night, wolf, it seemed like public opinion was starting to lean a little bit in his direction in australia. but now my sources in australia tell me after this post was released, after this statement came forward from djokovic, that has totally turned. the australian public, they would describe this statement as a shocker and they want him out of the country. that's what it sounds like. but they've got to make the draw in the next couple hours. so of course whether he's in it or not is a huge factor. >> yeah, soon as the australian government makes that announcement we'll of course bring it to our viewers. patrick mcenroe, dr. sanjay gupta. guys, thank you very, very much. just ahead, historically high inflation is causing enormous headaches for american consumers right now. we're going to take a closer look at what's getting more expensive and why. stay with us. you're in "the situation room." 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stores like this one to your neighborhood gas station, just about every american is feeling the pinch tonight. at this grocery store here in d.c., customers getting crushed at the cash register. >> eggs, milk, mainly the basic things that you normally get. even paper products. they've gone up. >> vegetables, i used to make those for dinner, just put them in the oven. i noticed they've gone up maybe a dollar or two. just a single, double serving. so it is noticeable. >> reporter: noticeable to seemingly every american consumer tonight. today the labor department reported consumer prices were up 7% in december from a year earlier. the biggest one-year spike in prices in almost 40 years. >> you go to the grocery store and you reach for something and you go my goodness, this is much more than i used to pay for. >> the typical american family is spending about $250 a month more to buy the same amount of things that they were buying a year ago. >> reporter: at the grocery store chicken prices have gone up 10.4% in the past year, the biggest increase in more than 17 years. fish and other seafood up 8.4%, the largest spike in over a decade. >> $34 for one bag of groceries. >> reporter: and at the pumps americans paid a staggering amount by december. nearly 50% more for gas than they had a year earlier. >> it will be one price one day and then tomorrow it's like up 30 cents. >> reporter: and for those in the market for a new car or truck the biggest ever one-year spike in prices. 11.8% higher. the reasons for the inflation spikes, analysts say, trace back to disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. >> really scrambled global supply chains, particularly in asia, southeast asia. factories shut down, ports shut down. created shortages of all kinds of things from vehicles to lumber to clothing. and that caused prices to rise. and of course the pandemic has made people sick and made a lot of other people fearful of going to work because they might get sick. and that leads to labor shortages. >> reporter: and analysts say millions of american families already struggling to make ends meet due to the pandemic may have to make some serious sacrifices. >> it really will mean that some people might actually have to skip a meal. maybe they can't feed their children the way they want to. they will perhaps not be able to cover their rent, or all of their rent. >> reporter: is there any relief on the horizon for americans? mark zandi of moody's analytics believes once we get to the other side of the omicron variant. he says that within three to six months he believes gas and other energy prices will stabilize and start to come down. right after that he believes that food prices will stabilize and then start to come down. by this time next year he says once that computer chip shortage is eased a bit then the prices of new cars and trucks will come down as well. >> we shall see. brian todd reporting for us. thank you very much. i want to get some more right now on this inflation report, what to expect in the months ahead. i know cnn's matt egan is joining us right now. i know, matt, you've been looking into this. what are the experts telling you? >> reporter: well, wolf, the trillion-dollar question is when will there be some relief on the inflation front. and no one can really say for sure. i don't know that we should believe anyone who tries to forecast precisely when inflation's going to peak because very few people thought inflation would be this hot for this long. as you can see on that chart, after many years of very calm inflation we've seen prices skyrocket during covid. and that is not a coincidence. they're almost going straight up. this is the eighth month in a row where inflation is topping 5% or higher. remember, the fed's goal is for 2%. we're nowhere near that. there were some glimmers of hope in today's report. month over month prices did decelerate. energy prices dropped for the first time since april of 2021. that might not last for very long because we've seen oil prices come up to a two-month high. prices at the pump have stopped going down. now, i spoke to a senior white house official who told me they don't have a crystal ball to know when prices are going to peak, but they said the administration is doing everything it it can to try to keep prices in check, including by trying to get the covid situation under control and trying to unclog supply chains. but you know, i did talk to some economists, who do think that maybe in the coming months inflation could peak. maybe later this winter, maybe this spring. but the better question might be where do prices land once they do peak. because if we see inflation cool off but remain uncomfortably high, that's still going to be a big problem. and it could force the fed to hit the brakes on the economy so aggressively that it threatens the recovery. wolf? >> and the people who are suffering the most from this inflation, people on fixed incomes, lower income americans, they have real, real problems. they're suffering riept now. matt egan, thank you very much for that assessment. coming up, the senate minority leader mitch mcconnell unleashes a truly scathing critique of president biden calling his speech on voting rights incoherent and profoundly unpresidential. which is a lot. so take care of that heart with lipton. because sippin' on unsweetened lipton can help support a healthy heart. lipton. stop chuggin'. start sippin'. plaque psoriasis, the tightness, stinging... ...the pain. emerge tremfyant®. with tremfya®, adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... ...can uncover clearer skin and improve symptoms at 16 weeks. 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. ♪ this... is the planning effect. this is how it feels to know you have a wealth plan that covers everything that's important to you. this is what it's like to have a dedicated fidelity advisor looking at your full financial picture. making sure you have the right balance of risk and reward. and helping you plan for future generations. this is "the planning effect" from fidelity. mitch mcconnell hammering president biden's speech on voting rights. he's suggesting the president of the united states engaged in partisan demagoguery that was "profoundly unpresidential." listen to this. >> the president's rant, rant yesterday was incoherent, incorrect, and beneath his office. 12 months ago this president said disagreement must not lead to disunion. ah, but yesterday he invoked the bloody disunion of the civil war, the civil war, to demonize americans who disagree with him. 12 months ago the president said every disagreement doesn't have to be a cause for total war. but yesterday he said anyone who opposes smashing the senate, smashing the senate and letting democrats rewrite election law is a domestic enemy. and listen to this, a traitor like jefferson davis. one week ago president biden gave a january 6th lecture about not stoking political violence. one week ago. yesterday, with the world's largest megaphone, he invoked the literal civil war and said we're on the doorstep of autocracy? talking about domestic enemies? rhetoric unbecoming of a president of the united states. >> let's get some more on all of this. with senator chris murphy, democrat of connecticut. senator, thanks for joining us. what's your reaction to that scathing speech from the republican leader in the senate? >> well, first, it's important to note that joe biden didn't say the things that mitch mcconnell said. he didn't call every senator that opposes his policies traitors. but i just don't understand where mitch mcconnell was on january 6th of last year. i mean, let's be clear. it wasn't a coincidence that you had people storming the capitol on that day. they were there because donald trump wanted to delay the certification of the electoral college so he could twist arms in pennsylvania and michigan and georgia to try to get joe biden's vote thrown out and to get himself installed as the unelected president of the united states. that's what happened. that's how close we came to our democracy blowing up to the person who's president of the united states being the person who lost the vote definitively. so when joe biden's talking about us being sort of on the edge of losing our democracy, it's because he watched what happened on january 6th. he knows how close donald trump came to installing himself as president for four years, having lost the election. and he doesn't want that to happen again. so the lack of urgency from my republican colleagues, their loyalty to donald trump at all costs, their refusal to put the republican democracy ahead of their loyalty to party i think does deserve a spirited speech like the one that president biden gave the country today. >> gave the country yesterday. biden spoke yesterday. and mcconnell spoke today. mcconnell also says that president president biden poured a giant guess lien of fire with his speech yesterday. how does comparing some republicans to george wallace or jeff jefferson davis advance the push for voting rights? >> listen. we have to sort of tell the truth. i mean, that is our first obligation. and i just don't think you can sugarcoat what's going on right now, in states like georgia and texas. there are laws being passed to try to stop democrats and people of color from voting. i mean, there is just no way around it when you look at, you know, the decision to cancel voting on weekends when many african-americans vote after church to dramatically reduce or eliminate the number of polling places or drop-off locations for ballots in democratic neighborhoods, in neighborhoods where there is lots of black and hispanic voters. i mean, i think you just have to say what is going on here, and that may offend republicans, but i am sorry. it's the truth. um, and we have a long history in this country of standing up to efforts to try to -- to press the vote amongst people of color. >> so, you think some of these republicans are like jefferson davis or george wallace? >> listen. i -- i think what is happening today is very similar to the efforts that were used to try to stop black people from voting in the 1960s. the tactics are different. um, but there are a lot of similarities. so, i -- i just think you can't um -- you can't sugarcoat what's -- what's happening in these places. and listen. i mean, joe biden is somebody who, you know, can tell the truth and still work to try to bring people together. but i'm sorry, we're just not going to shield republicans from the reality of what's happening in this country. >> yeah, there's -- it's a dramatic situation, that is unfolding. senator chris murphy, let's continue this conversation down the road. thanks so much for joining us. >> thanks. >> all right. we have much more news just ahead, including a live report from london on the scandal that could bring down the british prime minister, boris johnson, who now admits he attended a party while the rest of the uk was locked down in the early days of the pandemic. so, it's not a problem at all. you guys aren't gonna give me the fake bill fight? c'mon, kev. you're earning 3% cash back. humor me. where is my wallet? i am paying. where is my wallet? i thought i gave it to you. oooohhh? oh, that's not it either. no. no. stop, i insist. that was good though. earn big time with chase freedom unlimited with no annual fee. how do you cashback? chase. make more of what's yours. 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"erin burnett outfront" starts right now. out front next. breaking news. the january 6th select committee tonight's asking to speak with house minority leader kevin mccarthy -- a man who spoke to trump on the day of the insurrection. well, the man who once claimed he had nothing to hide cooperate fully? plus it is being called a game changer for treating people with covid but will it be months before more antiviral pills are delivered? we will tell you why dr. sanjay gupta reports. and any moment now, australia could decide whether novak djokovic will be allowed to stay in the country and compete in the australian open. let's go out front