profile. the question is what kind of an impact, and how much of an impact would it have on protection that is induced by vaccinations. the only way to know that is to do what we're doing. >> that is of course the latest from dr. fauci. the stock market is getting lambed today on a number of factors including omicron. >> the recent rise in covid-19 cases and the emergence of the omicron variant poses downside risks and increased uncertainty for inflation. it could reduce people's willingness to work in person that would slow progress and intensify supply chain disruptions. >> and a story here in washington, a panel of judges is hearing arguments. but we do want to begin with our top story, the coronavirus, and lindsey riser in manhattan. welcome to all of you, thank you for joining us today. lindsey, i want to start with you. there have been so many developments other the past 24 hours. take us through what the key headlines are and what you're watching. >> yeah, good to be with you. right now the world, the country, the city of new york waiting and watching to see how omicron might change potential mandates, lives, or behavior. right now we know that the cdc in addition to saying everybody can be eligible for a booster, they're encouraging saying you should go and get a booster if you're six months out for pfizer and moderna. we also know the vaccine companies are testing their doses against the new variant to see how effective they are. we also know that one of the antibody companies, they do look like they're treatment could be less effective against the omicron variant but they're working on another treatment they say looks promising. and we know the communities are reacting as well. we know los angeles county and the city of new york are issuing mask advisories. so here in new york you still have to wear a mask on public transit, into a school, congregate settings, but now they're encouraging everyone if you're going into a retail store, a lobby, to wear that mask. this is on top of the governor to issue an emergency. that is preparing for a potential spike in covid cases. that will protect hospital staffing and supplies. so kristin i talked to a pediatrician this morning about where we are in the pandemic. what should people be doing, if anything, differently. she said now is even more important than ever to get that booster shot, to mask up in outdoor crowded settings, but it also a wait and see. we're waiting to see how transmissable it is. >> thank you for your great reporting. we should mention that has you have been speaking president biden just departed for minnesota. he is going to be talking about his infrastructure package there later on "today." he was asked about this, didn't respond to shouted questions. i want to turn to you now and play an exchange between richard engel and a scientist that has been studying the variant. >> we have seen a rapid spread of infections and we have seen that in a pop flags the country where we thought that people had a lot of immunity. and the fact that this virus is now spreading so rapidly and so easily, it seems, it is highly transmissible, and it may be able to better get around some levels of our immune protection. >> so, doctor, what do you make of that given all of the unknowns here? it seems like this, at the very at least, is a virus that has a rapid rise in transmission. what do you make of that? >> right, thank you so much for having me on, kristin. definitely we're getting signals from this virus that there could be, you know, increased risk of transmissibility. it is based on what we observed in south africa and also mutations. there is about 30 mutations in the spike protein. they are stopping the virus from infecting cells and it can cause reinfection and evade vaccines. and we still need tremendous data. we need there to be studies and more clinical data to see does this actually increase severity of disease. i do want to say that we have all of the tools in our tool box. not only encouraging vaccinations and boosters, but i can't think of a more important and more critical time to encourage masking and testing. so we still need to make sure that we have robust testing and infrastructure in this country because testing is critical to mitigating the spread of this virus. >> and dr. blackstock, before i turn to jason and talk about what is happening with the markets and the economy, today just very quickly dr. fauci said we may have some answers within two weeks. what do you think the level of confidence will be once we know more about the durability of vaccines. >> i think we will have more data in the next days to two to three weeks. there are very crucial lab studies involving the antibodies of vaccinated people that would be studied in the lab. observational studies looking at people who have been infected and hospitalized with this variant to see how severe this disease is. the data should be available soon. >> let's go back to what is happening today. it looks like they're down more than 600 points. they tanked on friday as well. what are you watching for and how might this impact the economic recovery right now and dealing with the supply chain crisis. >> yes, this being a cause for concern, not a cause for panic apply to the economy as well. there is a lot of strong bhand for workers right now. i don't see that changing. a big problem has been on the supply of workers, the willingness of people to work and that is a big question mark about how it might effect the economy and the economic recovery. we created jobs at a very fast rate even through delta. i think we're going to continue to recover, but there is more uncertainty about it today than there was a week ago. >> and if you were still in the white house right now, closely advising the president, what would you tell him about what needs to happen? obviously he is going to be talking about his infrastructure bill. but what more needs to be done in the short-term, jayson? >> this is more about fauci than janet yellen. it is everything that we have been hearing about today. and the president needs to keep his eye on the health response, but also not forget that we're going to care about the u.s. economy two, three, four years from now and that's what build back better is really about. it's about the medium on the long term of of the economy. i think that is what the president is doing. >> thank you both for helps us get starts on a very busy tuesday. thank you. on the road again, president biden out selling his build back better agenda with an eye on the midterms. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. ms this is nd"area mitchell reports" on msnbc. >> man: what's my safelite story? my truck...is my livelihood. so when my windshield cracked... the experts at safelite autoglass came right to me... with service i could trust. right, girl? >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ ♪ ♪ traveling has always been our passion, even with his parkinson's. but then he started seeing things that weren't there and believing things that weren't true. that worried us. during the course of their disease, around 50% of people with parkinson's may experience hallucinations or delusions. and these symptoms can get worse over time. nuplazid is the only approved medicine prescribed to significantly reduce hallucinations and delusions related to parkinson's. don't take nuplazid if you are allergic to its ingredients. nuplazid can increase the risk of death in elderly people with dementia-related psychosis and is not for treating symptoms unrelated to parkinson's disease. nuplazid can cause changes in heart rhythm and should not be taken if you have certain abnormal heart rhythms or take other drugs that are known to cause changes in heart rhythm. tell your doctor about any changes in medicines you're taking. the common side effects are swelling of the arms and legs and confusion. now this is something we want to see. don't wait. ask your healthcare provider about nuplazid. i'm 77 years young, still going strong. diabetes is not going to slow me down, thanks to my dexcom g6. this little wearable sends my glucose numbers right to my phone or receiver. and the arrow tells me which way i'm heading and how fast. so it's easier for me to keep my glucose in range. and the more time i spend in range, the more i can do. if you're on medicare, learn more at dexcom.com. president biden about to board air force woun to tout the bipartisan infrastructure law. his visit is as democrats try to pass a build back better bill. and to complicate things further, they are facing down a traffic jam. joining me now mike memoli. robert gibbs, and former policy advisor to the romney 2012 campaign, ronny when. thank you for being here, let me start with you. here we have a day when president biden wanted to be with infrastructure and covid is looming large. what is the messaging going to be? >> it has now been a few weeks since the signing that infrastructure doctor law, and hi started with a bridge in narpz. that legislation will help to repair. it is a boost especially for elect tropic vehicles. and now he is coming to minnesota to talk about something that he has talks about so off. the cool behind me, they say it is one of the locations that will be training the workers with the skills they need for the kind of manufacturing jobs of the future. a lot of those people will be put to work because of the infrastructure law and it is also what they say is the kick off. they are talking about what they say is the president delivering on his promise to bring people together, bring the parties together with this infrastructure law, but you see a couple story lines, like a lot of other northeastern states, they are seeing more cases now than they have in a year. so as they try to get back on offense and try to sell some of the positive messages, they are doing erg they can as it now emerges and threatens to throw them off message. the president saying this is a cause for concern, not a cause for panic. they're trying to show they can still walk and chew gum for a long time. >> you take me to robert gibbs. and while you were talking the president did board air force one. i have been talking to democrats for weeks. here we have a day when covid is going to overhad doe his messages to some extent. >> i guess a disagree a little bit. if you're going to turn on your tv in minnesota tonight you'll see the president talking postly about infrastructure. it would not be smart for him to not acknowledge what everyone is talking about. particularly in washington and on television. as he said yesterday, we should be concerned but we should not panic. there are so many challenging that face any white house, this white house in particular, and you have to be able to do this all at the same time and i think i'm glad to hear about a stepped up schedule. i think as i said before the process of the last several months really informed the substance. it is really an important time to show people the substance that he has been working on. and a quick follow for you bald you tried to do a lot at one time. you were there when health care passed and of course democrats lost the house after president balk was elected. what are the lessons there for president biden, do you think? >> i think the biggest difference is health care was set up to take place a few years later. we had not set up health care exchanges, that was yet to come. and i think that the advantage that this white house has over the one in 2009 and 2010 is immediate benefits, right? like when they get to messaging some of the specifics. they talk about making it more affordable. that is part of it that can help people's bottom line. we know they're worried about rising prices and they're worried about they from that perspective. if this house can talk about the progress they're making and the issues they're tackling that will reduce costs, they'll be better off. >> to that point, of course, president biden's trip comes as you have democrats working to advance his jebt but the easy stuff has been blocked. they thought that would be the easy stuff. so how does this bode for getting the big thing done, build back better. >> that is the key question that dcs are focused on. this will be a critical month for the democrats, because they want to talk about infrastructure getting done and if infrastructure shuts down, then there will be other shadowing messaging around that. can they get united? i also think this is a president that when i talk to white house officials, they say this is why he is running. there is bills, juggling bills, and a pan determine take continues to wreck people's lives. they sense this feeling of urgency and they want to get something done to really have some sort of a chance of winning in the midterms. >> i think it will be a long december for congress, that's for sure. what might be a little bit of a side show, but this feud there was a phone call where he called on omar to apologize excite the fact that he made that controversial islam phobic comment, so just taking a step back, what impact do you think this could have on larger goats with which is trying to win back the house. >> you scribed it contractly as a side show. republicans, look, they're in the cat bird seat when it comes to the cycle and the possibility of recapturing the cycles. some of that is atmospheric. they have some headwinds their flying into, but they have some advantages in terms of the macro environment starting with supply chain restrictions. these are all things they think would give republicans an inherent advantage. so when we talk about disputes with members of congress, it is really a sideshow and it hurts republicans ability to focus on messages and focus on the kinds of things that will help them win. and frankly, some of the ways in which the policy this administration will not only help fundamentally the issues for con trained supply. so i think that will be the message going into next year. >> does this jep diez the capacity to become speaker? >> i don't think so, i think fundamentally they have enough support in the republican conference, and look i think they understand that they have a very difficult job to do. he has a conference with many poor reviews, and i think he led that conference to the best of his ability. i don't see this compromising his ability to be speaker. >> a lot on the table there we really appreciate it. we have more breaking news to tell you about here. a update from the january 6th select committee. they are handing over documents for lawmakers this is according to the chairman of the january 6th committee. they are hearing arguments for and against the release of the material that could provide new insight into the election. joining me now is jarrett haake, pete williams, barbara mcquaid, and phil rutger. what can you tell us, what does it all mean? >> he is engaging through his attorney voluntarily, and it is clear that he is engaging somewhat but not completely. they say the committee is looking forward to an initial deposition from him soon. turning to our colleague, he says the committee is working with meadows around his questions of executive privilege. so that is a suggestion to anyway it may come to a head in the future if there is specific questions that they want answered, specific documents they refuse to hold over, but it does forestall any further action. they found out that the committee would pursue a contempt charge again. a lot of us wondered why meadows was not on that list, and now we know in fact he has been responsive to at least some degree. >> yes, and i think you're right to point out steve bannon being in contempt. you have studied and reported on former president trump and his orbit, do you think he would have made this decision? >> that's right, he has stayed in contact and it is hard to imagine him ds suiciding to take this step to cooperate this with the committee, but we should keep in mind that him agreeing to cooperate doesn't mean that he will necessarily spill the beans. he could from vied limited information, he may provide, you know, yes and know alsos, and we should not just assume this news today means that he is open kimono. >> yeah, i think that is a really important point to make there, let me turn to you and the other news and headlines. will the documents be turned other to the committee, will it make it's way to the supreme court? >> to show you how seriously this is going, they set aside a hour for oral argument and it's now going into it's fourth hour. it is clearly very concerned about this. the argument is that he has the right to go to court if he disagrees with the current president about whether or not certain documenting should be withheld. they are repeatedly saying that he doesn't wish to exercise his ability to exert privilege. mr. trump's lawyers say they should be able to go into court and block that. what is troubling them is saying since when does a former president have the ability to affect the current president's ability to work. and one says releasing it will harm the national security and one says it wouldn't, what about a hypothetical when some foreign country says something public they is not true. and the current president wants to document from a former administration, but they don't want it released and they say it is in the national interest. so this is this is a question that has not arisen before where the current and former presidents disagree with former documents being handed other. i would say having said all of that that i think mr. trump's lawyers will not succeed here. they seem very skeptical that he has the right to come in, and be that the court should let him prevail. i think it is obviously the lawyers will go to the supreme court. >> let me respond to everything and the fact that these arguments have been going on for four hours now. what do you make of that and what are you antibioticing? >> i think that these judges are giving the lawyers for president trump every opportunity to make their best arguments. number one that a former president could kick tad what gets turned over. and secondly, and maybe more fundamentally, the judges expressed skepticism whether or not any court could weigh in here. this is a political question, and this could be sujd to judicial review. they have to lead to their brants to suicide when it should be prevailed or weighed. one of the thing that's is an advantage is that the status crow favors disclosure. so if the court does not here and says we don't have a role to play here, then the disclosure will happen. >>. >> it is worth noting that the former democratic presidents, former president obama, president biden, some say this is already in the bag. what is the reality check you give on that? >> absolutely not? they're ready for this moment and for history. as that hypothetical that you heard, as it suggests. not just the case here, but all of the cases ta might come here after and how the decision will be made for this presidency and all others. this very decision could back to bite joe biden in some way. they're not advancing any political agendas and they're trying to protect the institutions. >> phil, let me just say the last thought to you on this point. can you take us back in trump world for a few minutes? what's the level of concern about these documents getting out? what are they saying? >> there is a great deal of concern about the documents getting out. it is the reason it has been so addiment. but that these documents not see the light of day. you know there is a couple things they show and one of them is what he was doing on january 6th, who he was talking to, what that call log looked like. what the notes looked like. what sort of messages they were receiving in the afternoon while the attack was taking place. i think that all paints a picture of a commander and chief absent on the job which is not something that he wants to be hashed out in public and that is what he is going to such extreme lengths for. >> we will all keep a close eye on what happens in today's court case and when and if it goes to the supreme court. thank you for rau rushing to a camera for us. thank you so much to all of you. >> a quick programming note here for you. make sure you tune in tomorrow morning for msnbc's coverage for the future of roe v. wade. it is a rare opportunity to hear oral arguments concerning mississippi's abortion law. watch tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. eastern. coming up wnato warning. u.s. secretary of state now in the region for talks and andrea mitchell is there. she will join us live in just a moment. live in just a moment ben isn't worried about retirement his personalized plan is backed by the team at fidelity. his ira is professionally managed, and he gets one-on-one coaching when 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today, dry eye. earn about covid-19, inflammation: i prefer you didn't. the more questions we have. the biggest question now, what's next? what will covid bring in six months, a year? if you're feeling anxious about the future, you're not alone. calhope offers free covid-19 emotional support. call 833-317-4673, or live chat at calhope.org today. as we come back on the air -- >> the variant that we're dealing with, next slide. >> let's look at some of the characteristics and what emerged over the last several days to weeks. quickly, it was first resported on november the 11th, and in south africa on november 14. what got everyone's attention was the large number of mutations. and some, according to the con figuration, were anticipate ed to increase binding. >> it was in virtually all of the other south for instance conferences. confirmed cases was 205, and sdwlus morning it went up to 226 in 20 countries. i think you will expect to see those numbers change rapidly, and importantly it has not yet been detected in the united states. it has been called omicron and it was the 5th of the sars-co-v-2 variants. so now you heard it from many sources, there is a very unusual constellation of changes across the sars-co-v-2 genome with more than 30 of them in the important spike protein particularly in the binding donation. this mutational profile is very different from other variants of interest. and while some are also found in delta, this is something different. and these are sbn associated with increased transmissibility. next slide. so let's take a look at what we're looking at and then we'll get back to some of the properties. so the cdc and you'll hear from dr. rolenski, has a surveillance program. we have ongoing communication multiple times. and kudos to them, they have been extraordinary, helpful, and transparent in sharing information with us. so the neutralization data with the plasma, and oral antibody therapies, that's what people often ask. generally it will be two to four weeks, possibly sooner, depending on when the specimens, and by specimens i mean the virus, gets to individual investigators as the cdc, the nih, and other countries for them to be able to make that determination. pending these data, the effectiveness, the severity of disease, remains speculative. so what about these potential properties? let's look at what know and what we don't know. first with regard to transmission. obviously when you look at the configuration of those particular variants, it suggests strongly there is increased transmission compare to the original virus. it is different to infer what the transmissibility. there is reductions in the neutralizing that are possible. and we say that because the mutations suggest immune evasion. vaccines and particularly boosters give a level of antibody that even with variants like delta, they give you a degree of protection, particularly against severe disease. so there is every reason to believe, when we talk about boosters, when you get a level high enough that you will get some degree of process protection, particularly against severe disease. these are estimates and with a small number of cases it is very difficult to know whether or not this particular variant will result in severe disease. some preliminary investigations suggest that we don't know and ta it is too early to tell. how do we address omicron. we said it over and over again. if you're not vaccinated, get vaccinated. get boosted if you are vaccinated. continue to use mitigation methods. choose outdoors rather than indoors, keep your distance, wash your hands, and those are the things that we have been doing and we need to keep doing them. >> as i said before, we need to be proactive with new data, new science, and new varnts evolving. one thing has become clear. we cannot predict the future, but we can be prepared for it and we have been doing exactly that. preparing for this moment. today i want to walk through with you what we have been doing at cdc to prepare for our emerging covid-19 variants and what we're doing currently to address the vaernts. we have far more tools to fight the variant today than we had at this time last year. today, we have increased our protections of vaccination for everyone five years and up and we have a vaccine booster doses for all adults to vax nice that protection. compared to earlier this year when we were sequencing 8,000 per week. and we're processing about 80,000 samples per week. and that is more than any other country. and we have increased our nation's testing capacity including expanding rapid testing for quick detection of travel. through masking, vaccination, and predeparture testing for international passengers and we're working closely with our public health partners here in america and around the world to understand the science. let me express how grateful we are to the south african government who has been open in their communication and willing to share their information. their collaboration has allowed us to make evidence based decisions quickly to ensure that we can protect as many people as possible from covid-19. we are actively looking for the variant right here in the united states. right flow is no evidence of omicron in the united states. the delta variant remains a dominant strant throughout the pandemic as noted, the cdc as continued to monitor variants and vastly expanded sequencing in the past nine months. the islands, puerto rico, and the district of columbia. we're sequencing amples from geographically diverse samples around the country. our surveillance system dmom straited that we can detect the variants. we are actively putting systems in place with local and state laboratories to make detection and sequencing even faster. as we have done throughout the pandemic, the cdc is evaluating how to make international travel as safe as possible including predeparture testing closer to the time of flight, and considerations around the quarantine. currently there is express packages. four of the busiest international airports. increasing the capacity on arrival to the united states, and enhancing our surveillance. thanks to our updates travel policies this month, we're also actively working with the airlines to collect passenger information that can enhance act tracing should a case be identified in the traveler. we're holding regular and daily calls with local county and state health officials and our public health partiers. they include state, county, and city health officials. state e epidemiologists. the cdc efforts throughout the pandemic to understand and address variants have providing us a unique experience to respond to new variants as they emerge. we also have the tools to prevent omicron from increasing the strain on our system. with over 80% of our nation's counties still in substantial or high transmission, the cdc continues to recommend wearing a mask in these areas. these mends work to prevent the spread of covid-19. all individuals 19 and older should get boosted to strengthen that protection. so the 45 million unvaccinated adults, now is the time to get vaccinated. we also know it helps to protect you, your loved ones, and your communities this protection at least in part will be beneficial against omicron. we don't know everything we need to know yet about the omicron variant, but we know that vaccination is a safe and effective way to protect yourself from severe illness and complications from all known sars-cov-2 variants to date. i'll turn things back over. >> thank you, doctors. from the start this virus has unpredictable and that's why we've been preparing for all scenarios, following the science and acting aggressively to protect the american people. >> you have been watching the briefing by the biden administration's covid response team. dr. anthony fauci saying the omicron variant was first reported in botswana on november 11th. what makes it so unique and concerning, its large number of mutations, 50, much larger than previous variants. dr. fauci saying it should be two to four weeks, possibly sooner, before we have more information about the variant, including the efficacy of the current vaccines against the variant, but he doubled down, urging people to get vaccinated and to get their booster shots, saying that boosters give a level of antibody that gives you a higher degree of cross-protection, particularly against severe disease. you also heard from the cdc director, rochelle walensky who also underscored the need to get vaccinated and to get booster shots. she said that the cdc has been preparing for this moment for new variants. she also said at this point in time while they are actively looking for omicron here in the united states, at this point there is no evidence it is here yet. we will continue to monitor that briefing and bring you any other headlines as deemed appropriate. we do want to take a turn now and take a look at day two of the ghislaine maxwell trial. more testimony from a pilot who flew one of jeffrey epstein's private planes and dismissal of one of the jurors. they described maxwell as a predator who helped recruit four underage girls for sex and in some instances participated in the abuse herself. the defense presenting their client as a scapegoat. stephanie gosk has the very latest from manhattan. she has been tracking the trial every day. stephanie, bring us up to speed. what's the very latest here? >> let's start with that juror. the juror was dismissed because she said her husband made christmas vacation plans that couldn't be changed and the judge very kindly allowed her to go forward with those plans and took an alternate on so it was just a quick decision. that pilot started testifying yesterday. this is someone who worked for jeffrey epstein for nearly three decades. he flew his helicopters, his planes, including a set of boeing 727 plane. he offered some really interesting details about the lavish lifetime that jeffrey epstein lived, including details about his island home, his private island in the u.s. virgin islands. the fact that the master bedroom had its own separate building, so did the kitchen. he was asked very pointedly if he had seen any sexual activity on that plane and he said that the cockpit door was always closed, he never saw any activity. interestingly, he was also asked if he recognized any of the accusers. he said he did recognize one of them who prosecutors have been referring to with a pseudonym jane, but then later was asked in cross whether he knew her age and he said he did not, that she looked very mature to him, kristen. so he's still on the stand now. >> i know you will continue to track that closely. great to see you, thank you. overseas now with russia amassing forces on the border with ukraine. secretary of state blinken warned russia today that any further aggression can trigger serious consequences. blinken issued that pledge at a nato meeting in latvia. a nato member that is also concerned about russian military movements on its border. here to discuss this is host of this show, andrea mitchell, who is traveling with the secretary and she joins us from that nato meeting in latvia and also with us david milliband who is also concerned about how the russian ally has a migration problem on the border. so latvia is asking the u.s. for a military presence to deter russia and you actually had asked the secretary of state about this. what did he have to say? >> well, he said that the commitment, kristen, to both ukraine, which is under threat from russia and to latvia, which also as a nato member feels this russian threat because of military exercises on its border, that the commitment is iron clad. but i also asked him about ukraine's president's allegation that russia has attempted a coup against his government. here's what he had to say. >> do you have an assessment about the claim of an attempted coup? >> so here's one thing i can tell you is that we have seen russia's playbook many times over. part of that playbook is to attempt to create and manufacture so-called provocation as justification for something that russia is planning to do all along. >> now, a latvian journalist asked blinken what do you say to skeptics and smaller allies like ukraine who look at what the u.s. did with the, as he put it, messy withdrawal from afghanistan. what do you say to those skeptics? secretary blinken said, well, watch what we do -- or don't watch what we say, rather, watch what we do. that is the ultimate test. kristen. >> andrea, it underscores the facts that what happened in afghanistan continues to follow this administration. david, let me turn to you -- >> exactly. >> -- and the news of the migrants that you have been tracking. hundreds of people have been trying to crosses from belarus. some people are pointing the finger at russia saying they are trying to weaponize these migrants. what are you watching for? >> we've had a team on the ground trying to assess the situation from the polish side. it's thousands of would be migrants, and these are people who have been invited to belarus from countries as far away as iraq. they have been invited to come to belarus and the reference to weaponization is the idea that the open border, the hundreds plus kilometer border between belarus and various eastern states of the european union, that people are being invited across the border by the belarus government. that's why the european union has talked about state-sponsored people smuggling, which is attempting to drive fissures and wedges into the european union for whom the issue of migration is such a challenging one. we know that at least eight people have died in the forest between belarus and poland. and we are very concerned indeed, both at the actions of the belarus authorities and at the treatment of the really innocent individuals who are being caught in the middle of a global power play. >> david, very quickly, are you expecting the u.s. to take action here? >> i think this is an area where the european union needs to lead. it has mobilized its sanctions regime. it's also taking action against private companies for supporting the transit of these people and so this is a european problem that needs to be solved by european unity. >> andrea, let me give you the final word here. you also asked secretary blinken about the issue we have been talking about frankly throughout this hour, the new variant of covid, omicron. what did he tell you? >> well, first of all, he had just come from africa, from other countries in africa, but he had been in africa on the continent just last week. he acknowledges that the vaccination rate is very low throughout the continent. he praised south africa for its transparency in revealing this so quickly and cooperating so well, but he said that the wealthier countries have to do more in supplying vaccines to this continent or else there will be further mutations. ironically only an hour later, gayle smith, the coordinator of this global vaccination effort of the state department, announced that she's leaving now. she's going back to the nonprofit with bono, a long-time activist, and so now that job is vacant. so it remains to be seen how effective -- the u.s. has provided more than any other country, but how effective this u.s. operation and the rest of the world is going to be. kristen. >> obviously one of the main messages is that this needs to be a global effort in fighting this virus, particularly now with this new variant. andrea mitchell, thank you for joining us. and of course for your incredible reporting from latvia, david miliband, thank you for joining us as well and all of your great information. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." i'm kristen welker. follow the show on online, on facebook and twitter. my friend and colleague, chuck todd, and "mtp daily" starts right now. if it's tuesday, the white house's top public health officials brief the public amidst the growing anxiety over the omicron variant. is the u.s. doing enough to combat vaccine miss information? plus the latest on the legal battle in the house's probe of the january 6 insurrection as trump's former chief of staff and a former member of congress, mark meadows, begins cooperating with the investigation. and finally it's giving tuesday. we'll talk to the ceo of feeding america about what food banks need this holiday season as food banks battle inflation and supply chain issues.