discuss what this could mean for transmissibility and vaccine efficacy. and dr. anthony fauci weighed in just a short time ago. >> well, certainly, there is a new variant that is now in south africa, that has some mutations that are raising some concern, particularly with regard to possibly transmissibility increase, and possibly evasion of immune response. we don't know that for sure right now. this is really something that is in motion, and we just arranged right now a discussion between our scientists and the south african scientists a little bit later in the morning. >> so a lot we don't know. but this news is making the markets nervous, dow futures are down 800 points, with travel business being especially hard hit. with me, more on this. nbc news foreign correspondent, and gary joins us live from a testing site in pennsylvania, and also with us dr. peter hotez, co-director for the center for vaccine development at texas children's hospital, and dean of the national school of tropical medicine and baylor college of medicine. let's start with what's going on abroad. what more are we hearing from global health leaders about this variant and what's happening today? >> there is real alarm among health authorities around the world on this variant. the u.k. is calling it the most significant variant we've seen to date, which means it is the most mutated variant we've seen so far. it is the one that is furthest away from the original wuhan strain and they are noticing a number of mutations on those spike proteins that make the coronavirus so distinct. now, it's probably going to be some time before we know exactly what this variant does, but in the u.k., they are already raising concerns that it maybe more infectious and that it could possibly be more resistant to our existing vaccines and i want you to take a listen to what the u.s. health secretary had to say about this. >> the early indications we have of the variant is that it may be more transmissible than the delta variant. and the vaccines that we currently have may be less effective against it. >> now, the u.k. has cut off travel from south africa and five other southern african nations in response to this. we're seeing similar measures across europe right now. here in israel, they've already found one confirmed case of the new variant. the israeli prime minister saying we are on the threshold of an emergency situation. the israeli government is going further than what we've seen in europe, chris, they are cutting off travel from almost all african nations right now, in response to this new variant emerging. >> so doctor, it's important to say that this variant, at least according to dr. fauci, has not been detected in the u.s. but how concerned should we be? and what are you watching for? >> i think we should assume that it is likely in the u.s. by now since we tend to underperform in our ability to pick up various virus genomes so it wouldn't surprise me at all if it is already in the u.s. i think there's, now, before we press the panic button, i think there's a few things to consider. yes, it does have some immune escape properties, this variant, or at least it looks like it might but that's not what has been associated with high transmissibility. we've had other immuno-scape variants before that have not really taken off. it's the part of the virus that's in the site that is of the greatest concern, that has given rise to alpha among an unvaccinated population in the u.k. in 2020 and gave rise to delta in india, in 2021, and so that's what i'm looking out for, is the level of transmissibility. and whether or not the sharp rise in south africa is truly due to this variant, we don't know, so i think, you know, a way of saying that there is a lot more we don't know than do know. the delta variant is by far the most transmissible we've seen and it tack -- it takes a lot to out-compete delta and i'm not panicking by any means but we have to be thoughtful and how rapidly it is transmitted and whether it is indeed more transmissible to delta, i'm not confident of that yet and then if it does have some immuno-escape property, would it be partial in immuno-escape. so all of this is a consequence of not vaccinating the world and that's number one what we have to do on a global scale, here in the u.s., you have to make sure you're up to date on the your covid vaccines and if you've not gotten that third immunization get it, and if you're infect and recovered, you need to get vaccinated because that will make you more resilient against any kind of variant. >> we will see what comes out of the w.h.o. meeting today, doctor, and as dr. anthony fauci mentioned at the end of the clip we played, there is a call between south african officials and u.s. officials. what are the questions you have right now, what you are hope we're able to determine today, given that all of these groups are coming together and looking at exactly what we do know at this point? >> well, what i want to know is how confident the south africans are that there is a rise in cases and there has been a sharp increase, is it truly due to this new variant or whether there are any factors in play. i think that's one of the most important. and then in the lab, looking at how the antibodies to our existing vaccines are able to cross the neutralized variant. and we will know that in the next couple of days. >> that is good to know we can get a fairly swift action. in the meantime, gary, we're dealing with what has been a surges at least where i live in new york city, you see lines at all of these, you know, one-hour doctor kind of places as people try to get bested before they go home for the holiday, but how busy have things been where you are, are they expecting a busy day there? >> hey, there, this just opened a few minutes ago, and they've already got appointments booked throughout the day. and there's a lot of talk in the early parts of the pandemic about getting the resources out to locations that need them. this is a perfect example of that. this is actually a former petco pet store turned covid testing site and it's a good thing it's here because across the state of pennsylvania, we're seeing 6,000 cases of coronavirus every single day and in the past two weeks it has gone up more than 60%, so that's what we're talking about in terms of the spike. here in montgomery county, we're seeing about 200 cases a day, most of them are coming from the 40% of the county that is still unvaccinated but it is not stopping people from getting out and spending time with family members. here's what some folks i talked to this morning had to say. >> i feel like we haven't really been able to spend a lot of time with family, because of covid, and people with health conditions but it's so nice to actually comfortably come together as families because of the vaccine and everything. >> it feels a little bit normal. we still have the masks, people are still precautionary, especially when it comes to seniors. so that is still the same. >> now, it's important to remember anything that americans were up to last night won't come up with any covid tests until monday or tuesday at the earliest. >> so a word to the wise. let me go back for a minute to the doctor and the new variant. with delta and how it moved, informative, the fact that we're seeing what seems to be pretty quick action on the part of the world health organization, eu firms, is that a good sign? i mean is this going to be dealt with differently than, because -- we've heard a lot about variants and really it is only delta that has come here and made a significant impact on our fight against the coronavirus, so do you think we are able to handle better how we deal with it and assessing information? >> certainly, we're moving thon variant pretty quickly, which is good news. and again, it is all about the level of transmissibility of the virus that's going to be paramount. and you know, part of the problem, is we need to know what we node to do to halt the spread. we need to get everybody vaccinated who's eligible in the united states, and we know we need to vaccinate the world, and yet, there does not seem to be the political will to make that happen. either because of the anti-vaccine aggression from the far right here in the u.s. that has caused so many people to be defiant and incompetence, global incompetence among the g-7 countries to understand that we need simple vaccines to get the whole world vaccinated now and stop this nonsense of vaccinating the world by 2023. we have the ability right now to vaccinate the entire world by the middle of next year and we're just not seeing that political will to make that happen. >> so in the meantime, on a very practical level and this is just really this weekend, the start of the holiday season, right? and it's not just about people then who are traveling back from wherever they were, at thanksgiving. and people who are planning for where they're going to go for hanukkah or christmas, but it's cold and people are going to be in crowds, people are going to go out shopping and they're going to go to the grocery store to get their food for these gathering, dr. hotez, so even if you have done things right, and the break through infections of people who are not just vaccinated but also boostered what is the word to the wise that you had for the vaccinated and who maybe made nervous by what they're hearing by the new variant and what they're seeing in reaction from wall street. >> well, right now, most of the break-through infections for people who are vaccinated or those who have not gotten their boosters and the booster does seem to build in some resilience against break through infections, so one, everyone who is eligible to get boosted, who needs to get boosted, but the other piece that we're not really transmitted the information enough about is the fact that if you've been infected and recovered, it is not nearly as strong a protection as being vaccinated. and if you get vaccinated on top of being infected and recovered, that can give you really strong durable immunity, so that's one of the other messages that we have to get across. in addition, we have to recognize that when there is a high level of transmission going on, and now that's starting up in our new wave -- you should still be wearing masks as you're going about shopping, going indoors in big public gathering, masks will help a lot in building in the extra layers of protection, and the other is to get your kids vaccinated. not only every child over the age of five has the ability to get fully vaccinated, we are under performing in our ability to vaccinate our kids, i think only about 10, 15% of the eligible kids are vaccinated. now is the time to do it, because it's going to take three or four weeks to get every kid immunized even after you start, if you were to start tomorrow. >> and christmas will be here before we know. it dr. peter hotez, great to have your expertise. ralph sanchez, gary, thank you both as well. and still ahead, that stock market slump, more on how investors are reacting to the news of a possible pandemic setback, as we get close to the markets' opening this morning. up next, it is the busiest shopping day of the year. how will the supply chain log jam complicate black friday? 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(vo) t-mobile for business helps small business owners prosper during their most important time of year. when you switch to t-mobile and bring your own device, we'll pay off your phone up to $1000. 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 finish this year strong. visit your local t-mobile store today. this morning marks the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season with 158 million americans predicted to hunt for gifts over this long holiday weekend and two-thirds will be looking in person with consumers heading up stores across the country to get deals on everything from toys to tv sets and of course it comes at a critical point in our economic recovery. people are paying up big time, weeks after we saw the biggest highest price surge in more than 30 years and that's if you can find what you want with shortages and supply chain issues threatening key product availability nationwide. we have more from a best buy in virginia. allison barber is at a shopping center in the italian area and emily in l.a. county. great to see all of you. retail verse been warning for weeks that supply and worker shortages could make holiday shopping let's call it challenging. is that the reality on the ground? >> we're getting the newest numbers when it comes to online shopping and what we're learning so far is the increase in online shopping has been pretty marginal. according to salesforce, we're seeing on thanksgiving day, $6.9 billion was spent. and if you look at the quality of the discounts, and this is where for labor shortages and the higher costs that go into best buy or a target or a walmart really factor in. the average discount on thanksgiving day was 27%, here in the u.s., that is actually down 7% compared to last year. and so you can see the increased costs from the retailers mean people are able to get less of a discount of some of the hot items they're trying to buy. overall where we are in alexandria, virginia, and the video we've seen nationwide, we are seeing the in person lines continue to shrink, as more people are shifting online to shop. and relatively quiet where we have been, including here in alexandria, we've also seen quieter turnout at the mall of america, but what we also see, too, is that many of the discounts were teased earlier, right? so people were spending earlier as well and they will have the discounts throughout cyber week of next week. but the situation in terms of what retailers are offering really isn't as deep as last year, or the year before, and that certainly will hit consumers hard, right? because you're facing inflation and facing a higher cost of living. >> yes, so obviously inflation, shipping delays are impacting businesses but the big question of course is about customers. are you seeing any indication that people are shopping differently this year? >> you know, a lot of people say that they started shopping earlier than normal, well before this week and a lot of people are saying that they are opting to shop in person, because they have concerns about shipping delays. they've been paying attention to the news, they have heard those warnings, and it is impacting and changing the way that they're deciding to shop this year. this mall opened at 7:00 a.m., and when we got here, it was pitch black, and there were lines outside of people waiting to come inside and shop. here's what we heard from consumers. >> it's the stores, it's everything. >> we normally shop in person on black friday. >> it is like a rush to get there to get the deals. >> anything different this year? >> a lot of deals weren't there. we went to two floors already, and one of them, we came out with basically two things. and basically there's nothing on sale. >> this is my first time back after kafbd and it's a lot different, because all of the prices are up. >> a lot of stuff is out of stock, online and in the stores. >> so a lot of people we've spoken to, they have told us not necessarily just here but other sides outside of the mall, one person mentioned going to home depot and what they wanted was not there and out of stock online as well and they felt that shopping in person gave them more options and they could see in realtime what was available and what was not and what the prices were and adjust as need and not have to deal with the added possible stress of waiting to get a package and then needing to send it back if it's not what you were expecting. this mall uses santa photos to get a barometer of how many people are showing up at the mall. santa has here for about a week and they say the total number of santa photo sales for the first week has surpassed the first week of santa photo sales in 2019. pre-pandemic. so people are coming to shop here, and speaking with the property manager at this mall, she thinks that concerns about supply chain issues and delays, it is actually benefitting brick and mortar stores because people who shopped online in the past have decided to come back and do it in person. >> it is nice to know some things aren't affected and the kids still get to sit on santa's lap and tell him what they want for christmas and leads me to, emily and supply shortages, what is going on. santa is apparently stretched very thin this holiday season. >> that's right. the labor shortage stretching as far as the north pole and every year we see some santa professionals hang up their red coat and retire but this year we're seeing some actors deciding to sit this year out and remember santa clauss are typically older, putting them at great ever risk for severe disease as a result of the virus and some lingering concerns with the continued pandemic and one company that staffing santa professionals across the country is reporting a 15% decrease in available santas and that decrease is exacerbated by this pent-up demand, as you heard ellison talking about, so many people had to forego that treasured experience last yer and people want to return to some sense of normalcy with boosters and vaccines available, they want to be able to share their wish lists, upon kris kringle's lap and the company i mentioned earlier, hire santa is seeing a 10% increase in demand for santas so a few pieces of advice. one, if you're having trouble pinning down santa for your event, consider hosting mrs. claus, or elves, to eight add that -- to add that holiday festive spirit and a lot of the locations in the mall are offering online reservations and remember to book your slot early. >> good advice. jo, that brings me back to you and making plans ahead. if you don't want to shop today, but cyber monday, what are the best deals that you should wait on for monday? >> well, certainly travel, and electronic will be very big on cyber monday. if you're shopping today, it is about beauty, apparel, shoes, and televisions. so bigger ticket electronics, you are going to see the deeper discounts, traditionally, as you do see on black friday. and one of the major points that if you're shopping for a hot item, say a gaming console, or a television that has a huge discount, showing up in person, according to the experts, is the way to go, because you can avoid those shipping delays or out of stock issues. and you're able to take that home. if you do shop in person, it's important to look for extra incentives, you may be able to score a gift card or extra few percentage off if you show up and certainly stores like best buy are hoping you do that, but they are also retooling for what is the reality of fast delivery demand, and we have been talking with best by how they're renovating certain stores, and sizing down the sales floor, adding a warehouse right next door, attached to the store, in neighborhoods, so that they're able to deliver those electronics faster and beat the competitors, at least they're trying to, with amazon or target or another competitor in your neighborhood. so you're starting to see physical changes in a very big way. these online shopping trends obviously have been in play for a decade now. and now being accelerated to meet the customer where they are. >> look, i know, jo, that you're in touch with a lot of folks who are on the executive side of all of this, are they generally optimistic? are they in a let's wait and see? are they nervous? what are you hearing from folks like that? >> yes, the ceos and vice presidents i've been talking to at retailers are very bullish on the season. it's a sense of people coming back, gathering again, giving in person again, and that will drive a lot of sales. but we cannot ignore, and ceos don't ignore the fact that inflation is very high right now, and supply chain demand, especially in clothing retailers, as we heard from nordstrom rack last week, and gap, had caused these retailers to have shortages on their shelves, inventory that doesn't meet consumer demand, and they're having to, in the case of gap, slide stuff over instead of the traditional shipping in a container ship, because everything is clogged up and they're having to take extra measures and that's why you're seeing lesser discounts and instead of a 30, 35% off, you're seeing a 20 or 25% off, so it all goes back to how much the consumer is paying here. but executives inside these companies paying very close attention at how people are shopping. >> jo ling kent, ellison barber, emily, thanks to all of you. hope you have a great thanksgiving. and just minutes from now, markets are going to open and futures suggest a rough day ahead as concerns over the new covid variant grips wall street. the verdict is in, and the case for the three men found guilty of killing ahmaud arbery is now over. the latest on the federal hate crime trial they now face. on te crime trial they now face. at fidelity, your dedicated advisor will help you create a comprehensive wealth plan for your full financial picture. with the right balance of risk and reward. so you can enjoy more of...this. this is the planning effect. carl is saving big, holiday shopping at amazon. so now, he's free to become... choirmaster carl. no, he's not in his room. ♪♪ ♪♪ dad, why didn't you answer your phone? 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[steve] we met online about 10 years ago. as i got older, my hearing was not so good so i got hearing aids. my vision was not as good as it used to be, got ch iprescription. but the thing missing was my memory. i saw a prevagen commercial and i thought, "that makes sense." i just didn't have to work so hard to remember things. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. wayfair's black friday sale is on now! i just didn't have to work so hard to remember things. score unbelievable savings with our biggest sale ever! like ge appliances up to 40% off rugs up to 80% off and lighting up to 65% off. plus get bonus savings with a wayfair credit card and free shipping on thousands of products. don't miss our black friday happening now through november 27th. only at wayfair.com. happening right now, the markets just sections away from opening on this black friday as the new covid variant is rattling investors. and the market's futures were down 800 points with travel-related stocks taking a big hit, airline, cruise ship company, among them, and what's up? stock in vaccine makers. take a look at where we are right now. the dow down 769 points, moving quickly, but staying at least in the opening seconds in that high 700s place. i want to go back and talk about this, there it goes over 800 now, what this might mean for the economy, but also black friday, and bring in harvey finklestein, president of shopify that hofs online store force businesses across the globe. it's great to see you as you watch the markets az and hear the reports coming out of south africa and europe, does it make you nervous? >> there is a lot to be concerned about with the new variant but what i'm also watching right know is now is -- right now is a live view of what is happening on shopify, with 1.75 million stores on the platform and shopify merchants which are predominantly direct to consumer brands and small businesses outpacing the entire industry at astonishing rates and continuing to do so during the biggest shopping moment of the year. i'm looking at a live view of what is happening across shopify. right now, $1.7 million worth of sales happening every minute, and 16,000 orders being processed every minute on shopify. so far, across our platform, we saw peak sales happen last night at around 9:00 p.m. on thanksgiving. when you look at average cart price, right now, it is before 106, and that's compared to $90 last year. so there is a lot to be optimistic. in terms of -- >> our merchants. >> let me stop you for a second. we were talking to some of our reporters in the field and one of the reasons they're hearing from consumers that they're at the mall, frankly is they're concerned or have personal problems with getting things shipped on time, right? so obviously these numbers, both in terms of the number of people who are buying on shopify and the amount of money they're spending, it looks like it is trending in the other direction, but what do you say to folks who are worried about the fact that they probably have had a personal experience where something they thought was going to come on monday didn't show up until the following tuesday? >> it's a great question. look, i think shipping and also inventory generally, they remain a challenge for our merchants but i think actually, when we look back on this week, we will see the small businesses, and the direct to consumer brands as being the heroes of the holiday season. merchants on shopify have gone from one obstacle like the pandemic to another, which is the supply chain and the one thing we noticed is they remain incredibly resilient. i think the supply chain looks very different for large retailers, i watched the segment with your colleagues where they talked about being at places like home depot for example and i think a lot of people assume these big box stores they may fair better than independent direct to consumers and that's not the case. in fact, direct to consumer brands have stronger margins and can better weather the storm and leverage technology to prioritize their customers. that's why i think you will see more of these winners come out of this period, being the independent brands, not the big box stores. >> so harley, is there a trent, because everybody wants a deal, especially this weekend, is there a trend about when these deals are showing up and are you seeing that they are less, as we're seeing out in the big box stores and so on, that they just aren't as strong as they have been in years past? >> well, there's a couple of things that i think are different this year. so first of all, i do not think black friday is fading to black. not at all. rather it is evolving. and in 2021, the black friday, and cyber monday shift from a weekend to really more of a season. in october, of this year, a quarter of our shoppers in the united states, told us they were already looking for deals. that's up about 20% from the same time last year, so when you look at merchants that we all love, like our place or jim shark or good american or aloe yoga, they started far in advance of that. that's the first thing that i think is happening. the second thing is consumers are not necessarily only looking for big discount, bargain basement deals, rather this conscious consumerism, and consumers are voting with their wallets, it is a much bigger place this year and i think it is going to be steady state. >> i really want to say you have inspired me not to be quite a procrastinator but a very busy day for you and thanks for taking time with us. >> and if you want to see global commerce right now, data story, shopify.com, it's live anyone you can watch it, you can see what is happening in your favorite brands in hyper realtime. >> thank you so much. we will turn to georgia and the three men convicted of killing ahmaud arbery who are preparing for the federal hate crimes trial in february. they are facing charges of interfering with arbery's right to use the public street because of his race. and also one count of attempted kidnapping. the mcmichaels were also charged with carrying and brandishing a firearm, joining me now, nbc's cal perry who remains in brunswick georgia, barbara mcquade, a professor at the university of michigan law school and msnbc legal analyst. good to see both of you. barbara, prosecutors called the attack against arbery a modern day lynching. the federal indictment says the three men intimidated arbery because of his race. what are you going to be watching for in the trial? what do we know about it heading in? >> in the state court race, i think we know very little about race, and mr. arbery's race was mentioned one time, about the call, the reason for the emergency was that a black man was running down the street. in contrast to that in the federal case, i think we're going to hear a lot about race. the whole civil rights statute, that is alleged to have been violated in this case, is interfering with the civil rights, the right to travel down a public street because of his race and there will be a lot of issues about the racial animus of the defendants, and it can go back in time, to look at their texts, they're mails, their statements, to show whether they did have a racial motive in attacking mr. arbery. >> let me ask you about one thing in particular, and sort of weigh the importance of it, and things like it, i know that hate crimes cases can be difficult to prosecute because you need to prove correct me if i'm wrong that the motive is directly tied to a victim's identity, and in this case, we know brian told investigators he heard traffic is mcmichael use a racial slur and mcmichael denied that ever happened and is that a case of who are jurors going to believe? tell me how you see those individual things that might suggest that race was a motive? >> i think all of that stuff comes into evidence, and the jury themselves can sort out what they believe, they don't have to believe whether he used a racial slur on one particular occasion. it means that this was or wasn't racially motivated. what it comes down to is whether this incident was racially motivated. but there is a real of governance 404 b, prior acts that can be used to help the jury understand the motive and i think all of that evidence is fair game, for a jury to assess, you know, what is and isn't accurate to define the facts but i think we will hear that evidence come in, because it is relevant to, as you said the key issue in this case which is motive. >> are you sensing any nervousness or hearing already about preparations for both the federal trial, but left-hand side the sentencing that's going to be coming up? >> the sentencing i think people are sort of anticipating as a standard court proceeding. it's a difference without really a distinction, when you talk about the murder sentencing. it's life in prison, regardless of malice, murder, or felony murder. it's just whether or not there is a chance for parole and that is up to the judge, he said a few weeks to get both sides time to prepare. the only trepidation we heard about the federal trial is people reliving it, reliving these horrible moments, reliving all of this racism, and again, there are systemic issues here with the local authorities, we have a prosecutor who is now under indictment for not only mishandling the case but basically covering up what happened, you have no crime scene sort of made, you have the trucks being allowed to go home and interesting to see what the department of justice does and what the federal government does and you look at louisville and what happened to breonna taylor and the d.o.j. coming into louisville and looking at what happened with the systemic issues and it will be interesting to see if the hate crimes trial opens up any of that and if the d.o.j. wants to look at what happens systematically and what the problems were as this was prosecuted. >> thank you both. and coming up, playing with fire. a group of bipartisan lawmakers meet with officials in taiwan just two weeks after beijing warned the u.s. to stay away. is struggling to manage your type 2 diabetes knocking you out of your zone? 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[microwave beeps] [ahh] ♪ ♪ ♪ i'm so defensive, i got bongos thumping in my chest ♪ ♪ and something tells me they don't beat for me ♪ ♪ i love romance, but i got eggshells around me ♪ ♪ don't step on 'em, don't step on 'em ♪ ♪ don't step on 'em, don't step on me ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ he'd better not take the ring from me ♪ this morning, another point of tension between the u.s. and china. on thanksgiving day, five u.s. lawmakers met in taiwan, to meet with top officials despite blunt warnings from beijing, stay away. china considers taiwan to be part of its territory, and this bipartisan group of legislators made the trip shortly after the chinese president told president biden that the u.s. is playing with fire, given its unofficial but friendly relationship with the small democratic island. joining me now with more on this, jonathan allen, nbc news senior national politics reporter. always good to see you. walk us through what prompted these members of congress to go ahead and make this trip now. >> well, i think there are a lot of issues. number one, of course, the national security issues for taiwan, the united states, has been providing military assistance in taiwan for many years, and it has been stepping up its unofficial diplomatic relations, the united states doesn't have an embassy there, doesn't have official diplomatic relations with taiwan, because china won't have relations with anybody who does, who recognizes taiwan's independence, and the united states doesn't do that, but the other thing is taiwan is a huge producer of semiconductors, which are so important in so many aspects of the technology being used in our daily lives, and congressman slotkin went over there, was talking about the need for the semiconductors, talking about supply chain issues, with taiwan, which has the world's number one semiconductor manufacturing company. so economic issues and some national security issues to be sure. >> so obviously, china may not like it, but what are we hearing from folks in washington, as reaction to this trip? >> i think for the most part, what you've got in washington, and this is true of most republicans, and certainly at least parts of the democratic party, and most of the democratic party, that they did care what china thinks as far as protecting the independence of taiwan, the separation from, you know, communist mainland china, and particularly, with the way china has been behaving in the course of the last couple of decades, that is something that has been increasing, we've seen republicans adding funding for taiwan. and president biden said that recently, that the town hall meeting, on another network, that he would have a commitment to protect taiwan, the white house had to back away from that because of the relationship with china, but our policy is caused strategic ambiguity, which i mean is an ambiguous policy, but what it means is trying to not let china exactly how far we quill go to protect taiwan. >> these trips are not unusual, and particularly for those on relevant committees but to what end in this case? >> in this case, we have a little contest here where the u.s. congressional delegation went to taiwan recently and china responded with military exercises, meant to intimidate taiwan and suggest to the united states that china was not going to allow the united states to be such an ally and we've seen in the last couple of days here with this delegation going to taiwan, the chinese embassy in washington sent a letter to congressman slotkin, my understanding is similar letters went out to at least. so other members asking them not to go, and basically saying that the relationship between the united states and china would be badly damaged, was the word, or damaged was the word that was used, if they went ahead and went on this trip, the lawmakers obviously ignored that, and figuring that not responding to it was probably the international sign for we don't care. >> nbc's jonathan allan, thank you so much for that. up next, fighting hunger this holiday season. the husband and wife team who are doing their part to keep families in need. to help families in need. families in need to help families in need r fairy godmother alice and long-lasting gain scent beads. try spring daydream, now part of our irresistible scent collection. once upon a time, at the magical everly estate, landscaper larry and his trusty crew... were delayed when the new kid totaled his truck. timber... fortunately, they were covered by progressive, so it was a happy ending... for almost everyone. ♪ ♪ ♪day to night to morning,♪ ♪keep with me in the moment♪ ♪i'd let you had i known it, why don't you say so?♪ ♪didn't even notice, no punches left to roll with♪ ♪you got to keep me focused, you want it, say so♪ ♪day to night to morning,♪ ♪keep with me in the moment♪ new cheetos boneless wings exclusively at applebee's for a limited time. ♪ ♪ 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. you've been taking mental health meds, and your mind is finally in a better place. except now you have uncontrollable body movements called tardive dyskinesia td. and it can seem like that's all people see. ♪ some meds for mental health can cause abnormal dopamine signaling in the brain. while how it works is not fully understood, ingrezza is thought to reduce that signaling. ingrezza is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with td movements in the face and body. people taking ingrezza can stay on their current dose of most mental health meds. don't take ingrezza if you're allergic to any of its ingredients. ingrezza may cause serious side effects, including sleepiness. don't drive, operate heavy machinery, or do other dangerous activities until you know how ingrezza affects you. other serious side effects include potential heart rhythm problems and abnormal movements. shift the focus more on you. ask your doctor about ingrezza. it's simple. one pill, once-daily. #1 prescribed for td. learn how you could pay as little as $0 at ingrezza.com (vo) t-mobile for business helps small business owners prosper during their most important time of year. when you switch to t-mobile and bring your own device, we'll pay off your phone up to $1000. 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 finish this year strong. visit your local t-mobile store today. at a time when a lot of us probably ate a little more than we might normally have yesterday, we also have this. 42 million people this year may face food insecurity, according to feeding america. one in eight americans. right now, philadelphia has the largest poverty rate of any major u.s. city. and across the river in camden, new jersey, that rate is even higher. 37% of the population lives below the poverty line. nbc's kerry smith went to a farm run by a husband and wife, who are addressing that emergency with empathy. >> even in the fall, carversville farm is as green as spring. a response, we're thinking, to the care and goodwill of the folks who work here. >> they're excited to come out. >> listen to that. that's some happy chickens. >> i think so. >> guard dogs thor and natasha make sure no wily coyotes invad this haven that livestock manager craig haney says produces more than a thousand eggs a day. >> these are real, life, superduper organic eggs. >> they're certified organic and pasture raised. good living. >> nearby, turkeys strut their stuff. and across the way, the black angus move on to fresh pasture. carversville farm is organic, regenerative, which means season by season, the soil actually get richer. it shows. >> we've got broccoli over here. >> yep. we've go broccoli here. and we have cauliflower over here. and it's just looking really, really beautiful. >> it sure is, isn't it? >> stephanie zimmerman schmidt is vegetable production manager here. we sample the kale. >> wow. >> yeah. >> so good. >> it's very, very sweet. >> carversville farm fulfills the lifelong dream of a son of south philadelphia. >> he grew up in south philly in a row house. and for him the farm was heaven. for years and year and years, he talked about it. >> amy and tony durazio built and run a still-growing technology company. they've done quite well. >> he said, you know, i think i might want to start a farm and give everything away. and i thought, well, the ride's been pretty fun so far. might as well give it a try. >> they've done well and decided to do something good. really good. >> the food is as good as any food that goes to a michelin three-star restaurant and our dream is to provide the level of respect that you would expect for the food to be delivered to you in a restaurant. >> and in case you missed it, the abundance of their 300-acre farm they give away. give away. every afternoon, there's a line outside cathedral kitchen in nearby camden, new jersey. what these folks come for often rivals the best takeout anywhere. chef matt jenson. >> i have green salad with watermelon radishes from carversville farm. the potatoes are from carversville farm. and our chicken is from carversville. >> how good is this as produce? >> the quality is fantastic. >> reporter: discerning clients like deion sanders echos that praise. >> reporter: how good is the food here? >> on a scale from one to ten, a nine and a half. >> that's pretty good. look at it. it feeds the homeless. >> reporter: pre-covid, cathedral kitchens served meals inside. more like a family restaurant than a soup kitchen. they also run a kitchen academy that trains workers for careers in the restaurant industry. chef niama rutling is a instructor. >> i tell my students, if you're not doing nothing with lo or doing it from your heart, people will feel that. so i try to talk to people through my food or even if it's just saying hi, how was your day today. >> reporter: nothing is too good for the hungry people who arrive at cathedral kitchen's door, says executive director, carrie santiago. >> i went into this work because i want to try to help people that don't have the same opportunity that a lot of the rest of us do. >> there but for the grace of god, the durazio's commitment to serve, like the farm, keeps growing. >> we can't possibly do as much as we want to do. but we'll keep going. >> wow. what an inspiration. thank goodness for people like that. that was nbc's harry smith reporting. i thank him, as well. stay with me, because next hour, we have more on that emerging covid variant and how the markets are reacting to it. also ahead, the biden agenda. the house may have passed the human infrastructure package, but what is the senate democrats' plan to get everything across the finish line? 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[cows mooing] that is incredible. it's the multi-flex tailgate. it can be a step, it can even become a workspace. i meant the cat. what's so great about him? he doesn't have a workspace. the chevy silverado with the available multi-flex tailgate. find new adventures. find new roads. chevrolet. good morning. i'm chris jansing. it is 10:00 a.m. eastern, 7:00 a.m. out west. we begin this hour with the new covid variant. the evaporate was first detected in south africa. already, it has prompted the uk to suspend all flights from six african nations. this morning, dr. anthony fauci was asked if it's possible the new variant is already in the u.s. >> you know, of course. anything is possible. we don't know that. there's no indication that it is right now. it seems to have been restricted. there were some cases that originated in south africa and that went to bot botswana. that's the reason why we're getting together to try to get the precise molecular makeup of it, so you can actually test for it. that's something that will take a little bit to put the appropriate materials together to do that. but we are in very active communication with our south african colleague scientists. >> yeah, there's a lot going on just today in reaction to this. joining me now with more, nbc news correspondent, gabe gutierrez. nbc news foreign correspondent, rav