>> warp speed and traveled the intergalactic universe. this is like nothing he's ever seen before. >> what a day for our astronauts. our team is preparing landing operations. and maybe we'll talk to the world's newest astronauts. some absolutely breathtaking stuff. i'll note that you're going to see our -- the recovery team show up very shortly, because we actually send them out before the capsule has landed. because through our modelling, we get -- by now we're very, very good at analyzing where the capsule is going to come down given where the winds are. and so we're going to see the recovery team come out there, and, of course, they will also be joined by some of their friends and family to watch as they emerge from the capsule. let's check out these beautiful shots of our four astronauts in the texas desert after having gone up over the carmen line and back. here is a shot of them awaiting the recovery team. i understand they've had communication with the four astronauts and they have all given the thumbs up that they're doing okay after an exhilarating flight to space and back. >> awaiting that recovery them and that champagne shower. i'm regretting we don't have any champagne. that feels unfair after this show. >> there's some waves from our astronauts there. there in the foreground you see the capsule. the ride to space, the new shepherd booster. it's flown to space and back four times, and coming to them get them is the recovery crew. good wednesday morning. i'm stephanie ruhle. i want to welcome my colleague lindsey riser into our special coverage of this space launch. right now we are watching. they have made their way back down in west texas. just moments ago on our screen, you could see some suvs in the background. right now all four astronauts are still on board. they have given the thumbs up signal that they are okay. but in the next few minutes, those suvs are going to make their way. you can see them coming now. to see them all, and they are soon going to be surrounded by their closest friends and family. other members of the blue origin team, and, of course, they're all going to be checked out by doctors. i want to bring in nbc's morgan chesky. he's close to blue origin's launch site in texas, and let's bring back the former astronaut who became the first woman of color to be on space shuttle endeavor. and scott, i have to go to you first. what's the last ten minutes for you been like? you know, 40 seconds sort of before launch, when you heard those turbo pumps start to spin up, all of us just civilians, our hearts started to race. for you, what has this been like? >> oh, well, you know, any time someone launches into space on a rocket, it's a really good day when they get back safely and that looks like the case. so i was -- i'm pressed. it was interesting to hear that this was the fourth flight of the booster. i did not know that. so yeah. i was just excited for them to have the opportunity to get to space and return safely. >> hey, morgan, it's lindsey. you next. looking at this from the studio, it looks like it was a pristine launch and landing. everybody is giving the thumbs up that they're okay. william shatner becoming the oldest person to reach space. how did it look from your vantage point, morgan, and i almost feel like i heard william shatner say this is unlike you'd ever experience in your life or experience again. >> yeah. incredible sight. we believe that's what he said as the oldest person to go to space, look down. prior to the trip he said that he was looking forward to being entranced by looking down on the blue orren of earth. i can only imagine that's what he was doing during that three or four minutes of weightlessness when it hit the peak distance traveling along the carmen line before making a safe return to the west texas desert floor. there was nervous anticipation on behalf of shatner. we know that has excited as he was about this trip, he says that he was equally excited about a safe return. well, right now it looks like that's exactly what we have. those teams are making the way to the capsule. that's had a soft landing via the three parachutes and the thrusters right before making impact there. and from our vantage point, a couple miles from the launch pad, i can't impress upon you enough what it's like to hear the sound and then see that rocket already rising above the desert floor, but then feel that boom hit you as it rises even higher. what's so unique about this entire launch is the fact that just as it disappears from sight, when you're looking up into the blue sky, a few minutes goes by before you look up again and see a glint of sunlight returning back not exactly to the launch pad, but to a pad not too far away from where it initially took off. that's one of the main focuses jeff bezos harped on is having this reusable process, a reusable thruster. that capsule is the same one he went in in late july. it's his hope this become a more common practice. blue origin stressing the point that 17 launches have been consecutively successful as of right now. it appears they can make that number 18. >> well, the hatch is about to open. you can see jeff bezos making his way around, giving the double thumbs up to each member aboard. no doubt he cannot wait to hear from captain kirk. he's also been working with audrey powers since 2013 on the blue origin missions. may, for you, what has watching this been like? you were with us back in july for bezos's launch, and here we are again. >> of course it's been very exciting, and just wanting to see everybody go up and come back down safely. that was very much a part of it. so what's thrilling for me is that we remain committed and excited about space exploration, and the challenge that we have going forward just as a society and country and a world as we're thinking about tourism in space and paying attention to the commercial ventures is to maybe commit to covering space exploration and what it does even more. more fully. so that people don't continue to have to ask that question, what does it have to do with me? why should i care? and i think a lot of that has to do with the fact that we take it for granted so much, because the past 50 years made space exploration seem like it was something we could do, and this is built upon that. let's get in and continue to really push and reach for things. as i look at this, there's a big smile on my space. just the same way there's a big smile on the faces of everyone who is on board. and i also think about the comments that were made about the reusable, the first reusability coming with the space shuttle, of course, and then going on, and now we look at all three major commercial carriers are looking at reusability from spacex, virgin galactic and blue origin. this is really building a robust infrastructure that we can continue to expand upon. >> commander kelley, you and your twin brother have been involved in experiments so see the effects of space on the human body. you, i believe, if not the longest time in space, but one of the longest times in space that you have spent. what are you feeling right now? granted, theirs is 11 minutes as opposed to the months you were in space. what are the doctors going to be asking them -- as we watch the crew applaud and we watch them come out, i imagine what stress. tell us every symptom you could be feeling. this is going to help us in the future. >> well, i don't think they're going to be feeling much except for the exhilaration maybe and the flow of adrenaline. you know, the amount of time they felt in weightless is not going to affect their system enough to where when they return they would feel nauseous and maybe get sick. the landing looked a little hard to me, but sometimes it just looks that way. i could see william shatner getting out right now. he looks great. >> i've got to jump in. let's listen in. there is william shatner. captain kirk, hugging jeff bezos right now. let's watch. >> reporter: and glen devries. some big hugs from their loved ones. >> that's what i thought. work on it. it's so hard to describe. >> you have to work on it. not only is it different than what you thought. it goes so quickly. you know what my -- the impression i had that i never expected was that -- is you're shooting up -- >> give me a champagne bottle. i want one. i want to hear this. here. you want a little of this? >> there's champagne showers that become. smiles all around. william shatner taking in the moment, clearly. >> what you have done, if everybody in the world needs to do this. everybody in the world needs to see the -- it was unbelievable. unbelievable. i mean, you know, the little things, the weightlessness, but to see the blue color just whip by, and now you're staring at the blackness. that's the thing. the covering of blue is -- the steepest blanket, this comforter of blue that we have around us. we think well, that's blue sky. and suddenly you shoot there it and rip off a sheet like you're asleep, and you're looking into black ugliness, and you look down and there's the blue down there and the black up there. it's just -- there is mother earth and comfort. and there is -- is there death? i don't know. is that death? is that the way death is? woop, and it's gone. jesus. it was so moving to me. this experience did something unbelievable. you see it, yeah, you know? weightless, my stomach went up, but god, this is so weird. but not as weird as the covering of blue. this is what i never expected. it's one thing to say the sky and the thing the fragile -- it's all true, but what isn't true, what is unknown until you do it is this pillow. there's this soft blue. the beauty of that color. and it's so thin. and you're through it in an instant. how thick is it? do we know? is it a mile? two miles? >> it depends on how you measure. it thins out maybe 50 miles. >> but you're going 2,000 miles per hour. you're through 50 miles at whatever the math is. like a beat and a beat and suddenly you're through the blue, and you're into black, and you're into, you know, it's galaxies and things, but what you see is black. and what you see down there is light. and that's the difference. and not to have this? you have done something. i mean, whatever those other guys are doing, what they don't -- i don't know about them. what you have given me is the most profound experience i can imagine. i'm so filled with emotion about what just happened. i just -- it's extraordinary. extraordinary. i hope i never recover from this. i hope that i can maintain what i feel now. i don't want to lose it. it's so -- so much larger than me and life, and it hasn't got anything to do with the little green and the blue orb. it has to do with the enormity and the quickness and the suddenness of life and death and -- oh, my god. >> it's so beautiful. >> beautiful, yes, beautiful in its way. >> no, i mean your words. >> oh, my words? >> it's just amazing. >> i don't know. i can't even begin to express what i -- what i would love to do is to communicate as much as possible the jeopardy, the moment you see how -- the vulnerability of everything. it's so small. this air which is keeping us alive is thinner than your skin. it's -- it's a sliver. it's immeasurably small when you think in terms of the universe. it's not -- t it's negligible, this air. mars doesn't have it. and this -- and when you think the carbon dioxide change to oxygen, and what sit 1% of that level sustains our life? it's so thin. >> uh-huh. >> to dirty it, i mean, that's another whole subject. >> and you shoot through it so fast. >> so quickly. >> and you're in blackness. >> and you're in death. >> yeah. >> in the moment. >> this is life. >> and that's death. and it's innen instant you go whoa, that's death. that's what i saw. >> that's amazing. that's amazing. >> i am overwhelmed. i have no idea. you know, we were talking earlier before going, you know, it's going to be different. yeah. whatever that phrase is you have, that you have a different view of things? it doesn't begin to explain, to describe what -- for me, i mean, everybody is going to -- but -- and this is now the commercial. everybody -- it would be so important for everybody to have that experience. through one means or another. i mean, maybe you could put it on 3-d and wear the goggles. >> yeah. >> to have that experience. i mean, that certainly is a technical possibility. but what you need also when you're lying there, and i'm thinking, listen, one delay after another delay, we're lining up. i think how do i feel? i'm thinking, i'm a little jittery here. we move the page. oh, there's something in the engine. an anomaly in the engine. they found an anomaly in the engine. we're going to hold a little longer. you're going to hold a little longer? and i feel the stomach, the biome inside, and i'm thinking okay. i'm thinking i'm a little nervous here. another delay. i'm a little more nervous, and then the thing starts. by the way, the simulation is -- they have to be -- it's only a simulation. everything else is much more powerful. >> doesn't capture it. >> doesn't capture -- and besides, the jeopardy. bang, this thing hits. that wasn't anything like the simulation. >> the g-force. >> your skin back. >> what's going to happen to me? am i going to be able to survive the g-force. you feel it? am i going to survive it? and then i think good lord, that -- you know, just getting up the bloody gant ri was enough. oh, my god. what an experience. nothing, nothing. >> it looked like you had a moment of camaraderie. >> you share -- it's like being? battle together, really, and there is a bonding of being in battle, but, but you're also embattled inside yourself. oh, my goodness. >> wow. wow. >> remember that conversation we had? >> thank you again, everybody for joining us live. our second new shepard astronaut crew has made it home. we just heard -- >> there you have it. when william shatner first descended he said in a way, it's undescribable, but in the end, boy, did he describe it. he was overwhelmed. tom costello said it earlier. this was a stroke of marketing genius on the part of blue origin, and it certainly was. william shatner said over and over, every person on earth deserves to experience this. what really stood out was -- we mentioned this before. he is passionate about the environment. he's passionate about preserving planet earth, and he talked about the fragility of it and how you can really feel it and see it in that moment when you're staring back at earth. it's funny, the comment he made was almost identical to what jeff bezos said after his launch back in july. certainly inspirational to see william shatner, an icon to so many, a person who inspired so many children to study science and technology, and dream of going into space. he just did it and spoke of it as the greatest experience of his life. i mean, he was brought to tears. may, what did you think of that reaction? it had to resonate with you. you've experienced it yourself. >> i was really excited. i thought he did a really excellent job encapsulating what happens when you do this so quickly that you go up and you come back down so quickly. you experience this whole ark of seeing the planet and then returning to it while it's still fresh in your mind. there was one thing that was very similar as well to the experience i had which is i had feelings of comfort, of connectedness, that i never wanted to lose when i was in space. so for that time period i was there, i actually tried to imagine being in this environment, what he called the blackness of space that's inhospitable to our life forms. i felt connected with our universe. i think that feeling he's describing is one in which we're connected both to the earth and both to time. and so you can see so many things. just because of this new person spective. and so i was pretty excited about the words that he used, and how he described it. i didn't see the blackness as death. i saw it as an expansion. and that's what we're looking at. how do we expand? how do we evolve? and how do we maintain a planet that's essential for our survival as a species for generations and generations and generations to come? >> so interesting, doctor. i remember when steph was actually interviews jeff bezos, when he came down in texas in july july, that's one of the things he said. you don't realize how vulnerable we are until we're up there. i want to bring in a a professor of physics at the city university of new york. he's written extensively on space travel among other things. first, want to get your reaction from what we just heard from william shatner and really the significance here of what we all just witnessed. >> well, i think william shatner has boldly gone where no hollywood movie star has ever gone before. 66 miles straight up, and experiencing weightlessness for three minutes. and by the way, this is just the beginning, the beginning. in the 23rd century when star tech takes place, this is common place. and elon musk is already selling tickets to go to the moon. there's a japanese billionaire who is already bought out every single seat on that moon rocket. so remember that this is a prelude. this is just the beginning of a new era, the democratization of outer space. >> well, that's what they certainly want it to be. the blue origin team does. let's bring in tom costello. he's been covering this from the beginning. tom, i said it a moment ago. this morning you were saying bringing in william shatner was marketing extraordinary. boy, you weren't kidding. >> yeah. well, they did that right, didn't they? they know how to get the world's media attention back on them just a few months after their successful mission in july. and i think that shatner was incredibly poignant and profound, and sentimental about this. i was -- i had a conversation with them last night. and he is -- he is by nature a very eloquent and emotional guy when he talks about things he's passionate about. and he's very passionate about the earth, about trying to do what's right environmentally. about trying to save the earth. and he was anticipating that this could be an emotional experience, and certainly has been that it would seem for them. you know, it was -- i had a big sun reflection on my monitor. but i swear you know, he was getting choked up and might have been teary eyed. we'll have to look at the images once we get a better view and my monitor doesn't have sun on it. but the point being, this sounded like, it certainly felt like it was a life-changing experience for him. and for blue origin this gives them even more now, even more publicity. even more of a tail wind to market themselves as offering this unique experience to the world, if you can afford it. right? somewhere in the neighborhood of 250$,000. and yes, he is the first hollywood actor, the first 90-year-old to go in space, but oh, by the way, there is a russian actress who has been shooting a movie on the space station. and the russian module. so welcome to the new world where this is opening up to many, many new possibilities. >> hey, tom, when we spoke with morgan chis can i, he said you could see the rocket going up. he could feel the sonic boom. take us on the ground where you are, what you saw, what you felt, and also you know, given the marketing genius here, where do they go from here to continue keeping attention on this top snick. >> yeah. i mean, i'm going to repeat the line i've used earlier this morning. after william shatner and captain kirk, what's next? the dalai lama? if they want to keep the momentum, who knows their strategy. jeff bezos, as you know, is a genius at marketing as evidenced by the fact that all of us have amazon accounts. right? we'll see how that goes forward. i had the same experience morgan did. i held my breath as i always do at these launches. whether i'm at the kennedy space center watching the shuttle go up or the spacex rocket go up with astronauts or here as we were in july. you hold your breath hoping it goes well and they're going to go up safely, come down safely. and then when that sonic boom happened, that's when the rocket comes back down to earth, lands perfectly right on the bulls eye here which is just a testament to the engineering expertise that you have here at blue origin. and by the way, the spacex offers as well. that's remarkable engineering, and then there came the capsule with the parachutes, you know, bringing it down safely and gently, and again, holding your breath. wanted to make sure everybody is safe. because you know, these are people we become a little more familiar with over the last few days. shatner we've been familiar with for 55 years. really a great day, but can i just underscore one last point? we've said it before. but 90 years old? to go to space, remarkable. remarkable. >> well, no one ever said that william shatner is anything less than remarkable. and he blew our blinds yet again. may, i want to give you the last point of the morning. your take away? you've been with us on this ride. you were with us in july. you were with us today. your take away before we sign off. >> my take away is that we're evolving in terms of our space capabilities, in terms of our access. my take away is that there is something wonderful when people of different walks of life have a perspective to share on that adventure. my take away is that it's not just about the people who are riding the vehicles. it's really about all the wherewithal that gets them there and that we should never forget that. and finally, when the media makes a commitment to cover something remarkable attention happens. if we talk about the democratization of space, it's not just from the people who are commercial and private industry. it's taking into account everything that's going on around the world that is happening in developing countries and happening in space agencies for the industrialized leading countries. it's really about bringing everything to bare so we get a more hopeful, better future. one that may be similar to the star trek world. >> amen to that. i'm grateful to have experienced this this morning with you, may. lindsey, i'm going to hand it off to you. thank you from my seat for watching and letting me be part of this. >> it's been great to have you. you were on the ground there in july. nobody bet tore talk about this. it's been so good to be with you. we want to give everybody at home a closer look of what the passengers are experiencing up there, a closer look at the spacecraft itself. so here we go. we're going to go through fast facts. this is blue origin, new shepard's 18th mission. the second crew mission. the crew capsule can hold six people. only four were on board today. it's designed to fly autonomously. while there was a trained astronaut on board, nobody is technically playing that role of pilot. the crew capsule, it's pressurized. that's at the top. that detaches. that's what did detach from the booster. the drag brakes, that reduced the speed by about half. that booster on its descent. then we have booster itself. this is, of course, what propels it into space. it slows down to 5 miles per hour. we watched that happen. it looked like it was going so fast and then a slow and smooth landing. the fins stabilizes the booster and helps guide on the way down, and then the landing gear. not every booster has this. that landing gear deployed as they were nearing touchdown. let's talk about the flight path we witnessed. so we knew that when they were going to go up, everybody on board that crew capsule, they were going to feel gravity about three times stronger than normal. they were pinned to their seats. then we saw about three minutes and that's when the booster and crew capsule detached from one another. so once they did detach, they went on two separate trajectories. the booster went on a corralled landing on a separate landing pad. it went through the carmen line, 62 miles above the earth. that's when the crew inside that capsule felt three minutes of weightlessness. they got to unbuckle. they got to float around. they have big windows. two and a half by three and a half feet. it's a short three minutes. then that capsule starts to fall to earth. gravity takes hold again. we saw all of us wngsed the three parachutes started to slow the capsule back for its descent. there was a recovery team nearby. it landed in the texas desert. the recovery team and their suvs came in and then we saw about 22 minutes between landing and then that hatch opening. really incredible that we all were able to witness really what was to us by the book. we want to go back. did it seem by the book to you as well? >> yes, i think it was flawless. this mission, this was, of course, the successful mission of the space launch. and every single aspect of the space flight was gone over and over again including new features like an escape hatch. so they have the ability to escape in case of a mishap with regards to the rocket. and, of course, the space shuttle didn't have that full capability that this rocket has. so i think they did a commendable job looking at all the things that could go wrong, and then taking care of it to make sure that it was flawless, a flawless mission. >> so glad that everything did go well, and doctor jemma said talking about they prepare for anything that could go wrong. god forbid the parachutes didn't deploy. they have boosters that help slow it down, essentially bumpers on the bottom that help soften the landing adds well. thankfully we didn't see those need to happen. but also from your perspective, when we're looking at by the book, obviously, we did have the hold for a few minutes there, but everything did go off very well. what did you see from this point, and what will the teams look at on how to, if at all, improve next time? >> well, i think -- >> some of the things that we see about -- >> sorry, doctor, that was to you. >> okay. >> one of the things that we have actually seen with this mission that comes full to light is space exploration has to have many, many backups. right? so that means that if a system goes wrong, you have to have something so if the parachutes don't deploy, you still have boosters. it's the mini backups that start to make you feel safe when you're embarking on such a -- what's really an extraordinarily dangerous kind of journey. what will happen is you'll go back and the engineers, everyone will try to understand what happened with the doors. what was the engine issue? are there things that we need to do to change that? it was mentioned about the space shuttle that didn't the ability to pull off. so the apollo rockets, when you have the capsules, all of them had the ability to pull the capsule off of the launch stack. so those are things you learn and different vehicles have various capabilities. after the challenger accident with the shuttle, what we did was we learned to actually create a way that after you slowed down less than mach 1 you could have people exit the shuttle. each time you build upon those things and expect them to go through all of this, not just the things that went wrong with a fine tooth comb but even looking at the systems and you'll look at are there -- is there any damage to the engines? did they fair well? all those things will go through, and they'll be used to build better systems. >> let's go ahead and listen to a little bit of when william shatner and jeff bezos were talking about the profound experience, and then we'll talk about it in one second. let's listen. >> what you have given me is the most profound experience i can imagine. i am so filled with emotion about what just happened. i, i just. it's extraordinary. extraordinary. i hope i never recover from this. i hope that i can maintain what i feel now. i don't want to lose it. it's so -- it's so much larger than me and life. >> i want to get both of your reactions. you and william shatner are part of a very unique small club, doctor. you both were on star trek. also because you've been up there. does that emotion resonate with what you felt? >> i think so. maybe slightly differently, because when i looked up in space, i felt very connected. so i didn't see the darkness of space as something that was death or blackness or a void. i thought of it as the greater universe. and here i was, able to be a part of that greater universe. but one line he said, he hopes he never recovers. and that he maintains that feeling. that was absolutely something i had. because i felt so connected with the rest of the universe that i was comfortable being here. i was comfortable being anywhere. and that is a very unique empowering feeling that allows you to approach the world in a very new ways. i felt spot on with that. >> doctor gemison, thank you for putting it in a way for us to grasp some of it. doctor, we'll give you the last word here. you know, we're hearing that shatner said everybody needs to do this. as somebody who has written extensively about space travel, this is isn't making it more common, but we're probably still a little ways away from maybe you or i doing this. >> well, on the 23rd century, when star trek takes place, people simply teleport themselves into outer space. however, let me say one thing. last saturday we had an explosion on the sun. a solar flare came barrelling toward the planet earth. it could have disrupted satellites. it could have caused a delay or cancellation of this flight, but we dodged the bullet. i think in the future we're going to have to give not just a weather report, but a space weather report. we're going to have to find out exactly what's happening with the universe, not just the earth, but the sun as well. solar flares can definitely cause disruption of our sat hits, mitigations, the -- all of that could go down if a solar flare hits the earth. but thank goodness we dodged the bullet this time. >> fascinating. literally a whole new world for us to explore. doctors, thank you both so much. it's been an honor to talk to you both today about this. >> and right now the white house is giving states a big heads up. they need to get ready to give kids as young as five the covid vaccine as soon as it gets approved. we're going to dive into what the preparations could look like and while we have been watching the launch, we've got a big update on vaccinations from the white house covid team of experts. we'll be right back. 'll be righ. . that's why they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. oh, yeah. that's the spot. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ we did it again. verizon has been named america's most reliable network by rootmetrics. and our customers rated us #1 for network quality in america according to j.d. power. number one in reliability, 16 times in a row. most awarded for network quality, 27 times in a row. proving once again that nobody builds networks like verizon. that's why we're building 5g right, that's why there's only one best network. it's moving day. and while her friends are doing the heavy lifting, jess is busy moving her xfinity internet and tv services. it only takes about a minute. wait, a minute? but what have you been doing for the last two hours? ...delegating? oh, good one. move your xfinity services without breaking a sweat. xfinity makes moving easy. go online to transfer your services in about a minute. get started today. we have had all eyes on the space launch, but the white house covid response team has been holding a briefing. we learned 77% of americans ages 12 and older have gotten at least their first shot. this comes as the white house is now directing governors to prepare to start vaccinating kids as young as five by early next month. the biden administration says they purchased 65 million pediatric doses of the pfizer vaccine. that's enough to fully vaccinate the roughly 28 million kids in this country between the ages of 5 and 11. meanwhile cases and hospitalizations are still heading in the right direction nationwide for the most part. this morning one state is seeing an alarming trend in the wrong direction. shaquille brewster is outside a free covid testing site in minnesota they just opened. i want to bring in a rheumatologist also. doctor, first to you. this news of the biden administration is preparing for this fda approval here of the pfizer vaccine for kids 5 to 11. what does that mean about seeing shots in arms? parents want to know how to plan for halloween, thanksgiving, and the like. >> i think the next steps are going to be more on the state by state level. and setting up vaccination sites in that area in places where people have been getting vaccinated, getting vaccinate second down one option, and the question is it's something that's going to happen in pediatric offices. not all offices are equipped to give vaccinations. this is the type of logistics that are the type of questions we have to answer over the next couple weeks. >> the administration has purchased enough doses for every kid, but how concerned are you we may not see large swaths of kids in this age group going to get the shot? >> you know, that's obviously a big concern, and, of course, hesitancy is in some ways understandable when we're talking about vaccines with this afternoon. we always have to stress how well tested the vaccines have been. how many patients have gotten them already, and then the studies that were done in children which are not always an easy target group to study in clinical trials. they were able to look at this and see that these vaccines were safe. and produce a good antibody response in children. >> all right. shaq, let's go to you in minnesota. the infection rate there is now the highest it's been since late december. hospitals are at 96% capacity. the state says thousands of new cases are among fully vaccinated people. walk us through what's going on there. >> yes. state officials are saying this is very much the fourth wave of this virus. it's driven by the delta variant which is something that we saw really have a hard impact in other parts of the country, and it's now making its way right here to minnesota. so you're seeing cases go up, and you've been seeing that pattern for a little bit of time. you're also seeing the positivity rate. seeing it as a level you haven't seen since vaccines started being administered here in the state, and then you also have hospitalizations also increasing. you mentioned the idea of the breakthrough cases and the amount of breakthrough cases. state experts say they're watching the increase in the breakthrough cases but it's a small percentage of overall cases and even smaller percentage of hospitalizations and deaths. i asked the state health commissioner about that exact topic. listen to what she told me about the breakthrough cases. >> breakthrough cases are increasing. but they're still a small percentage of the cases, even smaller of the hospitalizations, and thankfully not zero, but very few deaths from breakthrough cases of vaccination. >> now, one thing that the state is continuing to monitor, the state is continuing to monitor the idea that children and the younger population is driving this surge. when you look at vac nations and they're continuing to emphasize go and get vaccinated, about 59% of the total population is fully vaccinated here. about 75% of those who are eligible are vaccinated here, but there is not that even spread across the state. there are pockets where the vaccination rates will remain extremely low. and the concern is as the positivity rate increases, the delta variant can do real damage in the areas that still have the low vaccination rates. >> yeah. we know minnesota is one of the places where the weather is getting cooler. i know not this week, but a lot of times there's snow on the ground before halloween. people are going to go indoors. doctor q it's comforting to know the breakthrough cases are a small percentage of total cases and we know there are outliers where breakthrough cases with lead to hospitalization and death, but that's rare. that said, do you think this is going to increase the conversation here about the need for booster shots for the general public? and is there also a concern here that news of breakthrough infections might deter people from getting the vaccine at all? >> yeah. we always have to be wary of that. i think the booster question is probably a very important one. and even among the patients that have been getting the breakthrough infections, the ones that have been getting hospitalized seem to be the ones over 65 and immune compromised. we want to stress those people are already eligible to get boosters and should get boosters as soon as they can. >> all right. doctor, that's good to know. there's more news we want to get to. the dhs secretary is expected to announce the u.s. is going to start allowing fully vaccinated legal travelers to enter the country through canada and mexico by early next month. only essential travel has been allowed across the borders up to this point. do you see this as an encouraging sign that we're moving into a new stage? we're still grappling with the pandemic, but we're starting to see more things open up. we're hearing from dr. fauci. he's going to have a normal thanksgiving. are these signs that encourage you? >> absolutely. you know, we've been asking everybody to get vaccinated, and telling them we're doing that for the purpose to get back to normal. and as we head to the holidays, there are lots of people in canada, on border cities that rely on that travel inbetween, and with people being vaccinated, there should be no reason why they shouldn't be able to come back and back and forth. >> thank you for your reporting there, thank you for being with us, appreciable both of you. >> it's a big day into the investigation of the capitol. democratic congresswoman stephanie murphy was pushed on how far the committee was willing to go to make sure those folks do, in fact, comply. >> would you recommend jail time? >> i recommend the full extent of consequences. jail time, fines, we need to make sure these people understand this is not acceptable. >> are you going to use the martial service to bring people like mark meadows to congress? >> i know that we have engaged with a wide environment of law enforcement officers including the u.s. marshals to issue the subpoenas. we will use erg at our disposal. >> sahil kapur joins us now from the hill. this is really a detail of what we heard for what the consequences could be. we heard members of both party say come buy or face the consequences, is there any indication where they will go? >> there is no indication they will fully comply. the posture is they expect all of them to fully comply by the deadline. there was a deadline for documents to be sent by former president donald trump's inner circle. there is no indication that any of them have fully done that. they scheduled to appear for a deposition testimony and there is a separate subpoena. that deadline is today at midnight. the committees are saying after the deadline passes they will decide what to do but a number of them recognize the writing on the wall. what are they going to do about it? let's see what liz chaney says about that. >> the committee is in solidarity. we know how important it is to enforce our subpoenas. >> what they're talking about is a criminal referral, a vote by the committee, if that is approved it goes to a u.s. attorney in washington that would be tasked with cross cuting these individuals until they come buy. a big stretch coming up for this committee in terms of showing how effectively they be at enforcing these subpoenas. >> you talked about the deadline last week. what is the committee have next on their plate as we look forward? >> well the big question on the minds of many members right now is those 11 individuals whose names were on the permits for the rallies and the bus tours. they were tasked with submitting a series of documents for that and a lot of them is smooint. many a former allies and we know as hallie jackson has confirmed, trump asked some of the individuals, various individuals, not to comply. and the justice department has a precedent of not issuing these criminal referrals. trump indicated that he plans to claim executive privilege. but it throws a new wrench into things in terms of how the justice department is going to proceed, lindsey. >> thank you for catching us up to speed, appreciate it. right now on the hill, looking into domestic extremist groups and their recruitment of veterans. witnesses inclue top officials from the poverty center and the anti-defamation league. listen here. i asked myself how do the veterans show up and do that to the capital building. where did we go wrong? one of the most. we will keep an eye on this hearing and bring you updates. >> in of us noticedemptier stores. this afternoon president bide listen address steps that his administration is taking to fix them. this morning we learned that that bottleneck along with a spike in inflation is driving the largest claim for social security claims in decades. the cost of living increases are usually between 1% and 2%, but this new increase is the largest jurp in nearly 40 years. we have a lot coming up including pete buttigieg talking to my colleague. i'm lipd si reiser and you can catch me at 6:00 a.m. eastern on msnbc. eastern on m msnbc. to close, twist until it clicks. tide pods child-guard packaging. ♪ ♪ there are beautiful ideas that remain in the dark. but with our new multi-cloud experience, you have the flexibility you need to unveil them to the world. ♪ good day, everyone. captain kirk has completed his mission. the new shepherd clue executing a successful reentry and landing in texas this morning. he is the oldest person to ever reach space. >> it's unlike anything you'll every experience. >> stand by touch down. >> and the capsule touched down, welcome back, the newest astronauts. >> there is a lot more to come on that there is another boss tive