>> good evening, i'm mehdi hassan. remember last night when i mentioned donald trump might be the only person in history to almost get a future president and his own vice president killed in the space of three months. i was talking about the news that trump tested positive for covid last september, three days before debating joe biden. face to face, without masks. of course, i was talking about mike pence on january the six. remember what trump's crowd chanting as they breached the capitol and pence was withstood away? >> hang mike pence. hang mike pence. hang mike pence. >> right. in an interview with christian broadcasting network yesterday, the former vice president give a rare statement about trump and january the six. and it was, well, see for yourself. >> i don't know if president trump and i will ever see eye to eye on that day. or that many of our most ardent supporters well agree with my decision that day. but i know i did the right thing. >> yeah, you don't generally see eye to eye with someone who incited a mob that was trying to kill you. talk about stockholm syndrome. this comes just weeks after audio was released of trump speaking with abc reporter, jonathan coal, and basically not giving a damn about pence's safety or the threat to his life that day. >> were you worried about him during that siege? were you worried about his safety? >> no, i think he was well protected and i had heard he was in good shape. no, because i had heard he was in very good shape. but -- >> you heard those chants. that was terrible, i mean you know -- >> he could have, a lot of people are very angry. >> because it's common sense, john, it's common sense that you're supposed to protect -- how can you, if you know voters is fraud, right -- how can you pass on a fraudulent bill to congress? >> the people that wanted to hang his vice president, they were just angry. that's sociopathic. this is the spirit that animates trump's republican party. a party who's reaction to january 6th it has been to look for other ways of stealing elections. they've moved from pushing laws that restrict voting, to pushing laws that could make voting moot. in wisconsin, which joe biden won by 20,000 votes, trump senator juan johnson is calling for the gop legislature there to take over the state's election commission. and the state house speaker says election commissioners should probably be charged with felonies for the crime of letting nursing home workers help patients fill out their mail-in ballots. republicans also aren't discouraging their faithful from intimidating election workers. in georgia this week, to poll workers are suing the kiwi pundit, a far right blog that accuse them by name of stealing ballots in a suitcase. a false claim that trump himself picked up. according to the lawsuit, strangers try to break into one election officials house, to quote, make a citizens arrest. twice. what can stop all this craziness? how about accountability for trump and his aides, who stopped the violence. stocks the conspiracies and continue to do so. last night, the january six committee and the house voted to recommend contempt charges against former doj lawyer, jeffrey clark. clark is the official who reportedly offered from the justice department help in overturning the 2020 election, if trump made him attorney general. he reportedly intends to invoke his fifth amendment rights, rather than answer basic questions. look, every american has the same constitutional right not to incriminate themselves. but when one of the justice department's top lawyers pleads the fifth, in connection with allegations of election tampering, that should give you a chill. what doesn't he want you to know? the january six committee also subpoenaed professional conspiracy theorists, alex jones, who was very outspoken on january the 6th in d.c. and last night, jones got a high-profile defendant. high-profile defendant >> now the committee has decided to shut down one of the most popular journalist on the right, alex jones. yes, journalist. jones has often mocked for his flamboyant, but the truth is, he's been a far better guy to reality in recent years. in other words, a far better journalists than say, nbc news national security correspondent candidly. our margaret brennan a cbs. >> alex jones? alex jones? alex jones? a journalist, according to fox's tucker carlson a guy to reality. that's the same alex jones who didn't just stop and harass sandy hook appearance, but who's also claimed government chemicals in the water a quote, turning the frogs gave. these are the fellow travelers of the american right anti-democracy, anti-reality, pro insurrection movement. and here's what's so scary. they're much stronger as a movement than they were even in january. amid all of this, lots of people are asking, where attorney general merrick garland's. most of the january six participants card charge by the feds have gotten lenient sentences, and only one witness has been charged for refusing to car break with the january 6th panel. there may be stuff going on behind the scenes at the doj, but why not more public action, to? why not for example a special counsel. if the threat to democracy is as grave as democrats say, if that failed coup in january was merely a dress rehearsal for what republicans seem to want, why isn't this attorney general doing more to address it? to answer that and a whole lot more, let's talk to a democratic lawyer who's running for a key state attorney general see. . -- as a law professor, progressive organizer and as of last month, a candidate in next year's election for new york city attorney general. welcome, thanks so much for coming on the show tonight. i have to start by asking you about merrick garland and january the 6th. he was a very cautious, centrists, kind of small seat conservative judge, who obama nominated for the supreme court to get the support of influential republicans like van utah senator orrin hatch. he was clearly robbed of that position, but should the a.g. of the united states really be a political consolation prize? i felt like an own the cons moments, a lot of democrats. below democrats are wondering, is he the right guy for this moment? what is your view? >> well, there's a lot we don't know, as you said, in terms of what it's happening. what kinds of investigations are happening behind this scene it's. but time is of the evidence. we have a lot of low level charges, low level guilty pleas allow around this violent insurrection. this direct attack on our democracy. and even in those low level cases, he seems to be under charging. the real question is, what about the big car charges? he'd better be preparing those. just because we haven't seen indictments does that mean they aren't happening. what we know so far is it seems to be more timid across the board and slower across the board. and there's so much urgency now. the because we had a presidency who took a body blow -- was given us a body blow at the rule of law. who is basically saying, there is no law, there's just me. and right now, to have -- to be clear that we're going to up a cold rule of law is really important to enforce those laws. look, the a.g. has an enormous amount of discretion. a normal segment of discretion. and has the ability to make a judgment about what areas are deeply serious and need quick urgent, serious, responses to. me this is a no-brainer. we have people who are attacking the democracy. literally attacking the. buildings so -- >> do you think? >> i hope more action is being prepared. >> do you think there will ever be any real consequences for a former president of the united states? this is not a country that tends to prosecute former leaders, unlike some other western democracies. do you think -- i mean, there was talk after the impeachment trial. okay, there might be a real trial on inciting violence. that never happen. the georgia fulton county da's looking at in election interference, with a famous phone call to brad raffensperger. are we gonna see trump held to account for january six in a court of law? >> look, we don't know. we really don't know. and there is both what can happen at the federal level. and by the way, as you well know, there's ongoing criminal case that's being driven by the manhattan da's office in conjunction with the new york a.g.'s office as well. but accountability and the rule of law requires that we -- nobody, not the former president, nobody's treated differently because of their stature. and i think the fear around garland and january 6th is that there -- he may be being more timid because of fear of backlash. but we can't plea nice with republicans. no matter what garland does he's going to be biased. there is no way to appease that than and -- not just bannon himself, that the ban strain. so zephyr? we're going to take a quick break because there's a lot more to talk to you about. you mention the manhattan da and the new york a.g.. we'll talk about your race as well when we come back in 90 seconds. all roads and all bridges. it's not magic that makes more holiday deliveries to homes in the us than anyone else, it's the hardworking people of the united states postal service. 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(gasps) ♪ did it work? only pay for what you need ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ spider-man no way home in theaters december 17th ♪ my songs know what you did in the dark ♪ ♪ so light 'em up, up, up light 'em up, up, up ♪ ♪ light 'em up, up, up ♪ ♪ i'm on fire ♪ ♪ so light 'em up, up, up light 'em... ♪ small businesses like yours make gift-giving possible. ♪ i'm on fire ♪ now, comcast business has an exclusive gift for you. introducing the gift of savings sale. for a limited time, ask how to get a great deal for your business. and get up to a $500 prepaid card with select bundles when you switch to the network that can deliver gig speeds to the most businesses. or get started with internet and voice for $64.99 per month with a 2-year price guarantee. give your business the gift of savings today. >> we're back with zephyr comcast business. powering possibilities. teachout, who is a democratic candidate for the new attorney general's position. zephyr, if elected, you'd be taken over from new york a.g. letitia james, was spoken -- bragged, some might say, about suing donald trump 76. time she also has a open civil investigation against trump. but her office is also assisting, as you mentioned a moment ago, in the manhattan county da's criminal investigation of trump. you could potentially inherit those investigations. what would your approach to trump and the trump organization looked like? >> i want to pick up on the trump organization, because i think it's one of the key areas where the new york a.g. has a really unique world to play. because the state attorney general has authority over state corporations, when you have corporations that engage in repeat and consistent illegality, the city a.g. can and does dissolve them. i mean, there was a pet cemetery that was dissolved a few years ago, because it was riddled with fraud. what we've seen in the investigations over the past few years, as a result of the civil investigation, but also what we've seen in terms of public records, is that the trump organization is riddled with fraud. so, while there are investigations into the trump organization in terms of both criminal and civil law breaking, i think it's also really important to investigate with an eye to dissolving that organization. because we're talking about a multi-pronged corporate entity, which is really the source of trump's power. we tend to go criminal, but dismantling the source of power is critical. and the dissolution of the trump foundation was a critical moment. i don't think we should be stopping the foundation at all. also looking into the organization. zephyr into th , look at whose fill that you new york attorney general's post for over the decades. , from 1999 to 1996, elliott spits. are following him in 2010, andrew cuomo, we all know how that ended in this year. after cuomo, for eight years, the a.g. was eric schneiderman, we also have to resign in disgrace. with multiple harassment allegations. how did this happen in the empire state? in the new york democratic party? and how do you plan to keep it from happening again? >> well, we are luckily in a really new moment in york politics. it's not just the top toppling of andrew cuomo, really revealing who he's been for a long time. thank you for reporting on that when it was hard. it's also, joe crowley used to be a pinnacle of new york politics, and he's not there anymore. there's a real transformation and i'm pretty excited about this race, because of the power in this office. this is an office that's basically the largest public interest law firm in the country. we're talking about power to investigate corporate abuse, but we're also talking about the power to make sure that these big companies that rely on quote unquote gig workers, are abusing their workers. which we know they are in a rampant way. one of the exciting things about the a.g.'s office is you have the power to directly deliver real results. whether it's on housing, environmental injustice, or on repeat tax right. so, i'm really excited about the power of this police. you know i'm not scared of a tough fight and being in a tough fight is part of the job of the office. >> we're also a time, zephyr. you mentioned the tough fights. so forgive me for asking -- you'd rather get to andrew cuomo before. you are right about angela. in many ways you've been vindicated. but you lost for andrew cuomo. he ran for governor, a.g., the house. you lost all those. races admire your persistence, but what will you say to your critics who say why will this time be different? >> look, i was ahead of the curb. not just on andrew cuomo, but on fracking. not just on fracking, but on antitrust, which is now at the center of biden's agenda. i am proud to have been out -- >> facebook. >> facebook, i'm proud to have been out front and new yorkers know me as somebody who will actually be out ahead of the problems before they start, which is the essence of their job. we don't want to be cleaning up afterwards. we want to make sure big companies or elite politicians know they can't break the law without consequences to start with. >> zephyr teachout, we'll have to leave it there. we will watch this race in new york very closely. appreciate your time tonight. >> thank you so much. >> coming up. it's a never-ending amended can tragedy. for high school students shot dead by a fellow student. this time in michigan. the latest on the suspect and why his parents might end up getting charged. that's after the break. don't go we. riders, the lone wolves of the great highway. all they need is a bike and a full tank of gas. their only friend? 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here's how that scene played out at oxford high school in michigan on tuesday. >> sheriff's office. it's safe to come out. >> he said it's safe to come out. >> now, we're not willing to take that risk right now. >> we can't hear. >> we're not taking that risk right now. >> open the door, bro. >> yeah, brooke. >> he said, bro. >> go, go,. >> in that unimaginably frightening moment, one word, bro, suggested to the students the man at the door was actually a police officer. i had the students running for their lives. the oakland county sheriff has confirmed it was an actually -- it was a plainclothes officer. that kind of caution in those seconds may have helped save those students lives. you shouldn't have to make those decisions but -- that's where we are. unfortunately, nothing ended up saving the lives of four highschoolers. tate myre, hana st. juliana, madisyn baldwin, and justin shilling. 15 year old suspect of oxford high school student ethan crumbley has been charged as an adult with two dozen crimes including murder, attempted murder, and an unusual choice, terrorism. could crumbley face life in prison. schools across the detroit region were close today after reports of copy cats and other threats of violence on social media. we're still learning more about not just use a suspect, but about his parents, too, who could also face charges. according to the sheriff, the suspect's father purchased the gun just last week. they're investigating social media posts including when the appears from the from crumbley showing images of the. gun police declined to confirm to nbc if the post belonged to the suspect or whether it was the same weapon used. they did confirm they found cellphone videos and eternal in which he described plans to shoot and kill students. in fact, his parents were called to the schools a few hours before the shooting to discuss his behavior. police say if he wasn't caught when he was, there's a chance he may have killed even more students. they found 18 more rounds of ammunition in his gun, when he was arrested. bear in mind, he's the scent of a woman who according to ap will roll and letters to trump in 2016, thanking him for allowing her right to bear herbs to protect herself. that's right. donald trump. the icon of a party that talks at the top when it comes to being pro life, including at the supreme court right now. a party that spent the last few months obsessing over school curriculums and parents rights to protect their click kids education. but if every school shooting reminds of something, is that in practice, the gop is a party that cares neither about schools nor the lives of children in them. joining me now to discuss more on this developing story is cameron kasky, a survivor of the 2018 massacre in stoneman douglas high school in parkland, florida, and now a bunch ventral advocate. cameron, thanks for much for coming back on the show. what goes through your mind when stories like michigan happen? for the rest of us, it's horrifying. i can't begin to think what happens to someone like yourself. what was your instinctive reaction on tuesday when you saw that? re>> well, i was certainly hesitant to talk about it. ball is coming on the show, because it's one of the only network shows i care to watch as i think that you talk about a lot of important things here. look, we lost tate myre, hannah st. juliana, madisyn baldwin and justin shilling the other day in a horrible shooting. a shooting where there was evidence that the attack was planned in advance. it was a video where the shooter mentioned that this was a plan. a journal entry where this was mentioned. and of course, as many people know, the father of the shooter had purchased the firearm for days before the shooting. i did some research and of course, michigan does not have a law according to the giffords law center, that requires firearms owners to luckily their weapons. my father has guns in our house. i have no idea where they are. i know there is a safe. i cannot access them. because he is a safe gun owner. he practices safe gun ownership. and that is something we don't see enough of in this country. the nra narrative that there are responsible firearm owners is very, very often a farce. >> cameron, i remember a school shooting similar to this one. similar to parkland, similar to others here, when i was a teenager in the uk. 16 students and one teacher were killed in the dunn blaine massacre in scotland. there was a national race. huge public debate and then the british government banned private ownership of most handguns. straight after. and there hasn't been a mass shooting worse than that since then in the uk. why are we so numb to the shootings here in the u.s.? why does nothing happen at the national level over here? no man no matter how many children die. >> well, i think that after sandy hook we learned that there is no amount of cruelty that will get serious laws passed in this country. the gun lobby is too strong. the democratic party has proven time and again that they do not have the spine to make something happen. we have congress. we have the president. and simply no substantial laws are being passed to make people safe. asked not to say that democrats don't have the capability right thoughts. and that is not happening and people are continuing to die. it will not stop and i thought after parkland, my friends and i came together to see never again. maybe we can make this slow down. maybe we can stop the school shootings. maybe we can make this be an anomaly that people thought it was when columbine happened. but nope. the gun lobby has too strong a hold on this country and is very clear. n this country>> that is true a. cameron, the oakland county prosecutor karen mcdonald said she might charge the parents. she held a press conference saying a looming against st. -- we have to hold individuals accountable who don't do that. you just mentioned your own situation and your own father, we say is responsible gun owner. we almost never hear about the appearance of school shooters. is that something we should be more focused on in each of these cases going forward? >> it's really interesting. republicans love to bring prince into conversations when it comes to school boards. when it comes to vaccine mandates. masks. and yet, the appearance suddenly -- this is it about the parents accountable. the blood of the people who died at oxford's on the hands of the person who purchase this firearm. the father of this child. there were reports that this child was violent. the parents were at school, what's? three hours before the shooting discussing this students violent history. and the student was able to get the firearm that his father purchased. safe storage while save lives and anybody at advocating against them has a hand in shootings like this directly. >> cameron, you mentioned a moment ago that democrats haven't had a spine for this stuff. they haven't done enough. one democrat who's been very outspoken is also the democrat that happened to represent the district in which sandy hook is, now senator chris murphy of connecticut. i want to play a clip of him speaking on the senate floor on tuesday after the massacre. o tumake >> no mistake about it, there is a silent message of endorsement sent to would be killers. sent to individuals whose brains are spiraling out of control. when the highest levels of the u.s. government does nothing, shooting after shooting. >> today, senator murphy try to get the senate unanimously passed a bill in the house approved for background checks and firearm transfers between private parties. republicans, surprise price, blocked it. as the survivor of a school shooting, do you agree with senator murphy's comment that the republican party silently endorses the suffolk offense, when they choose to do nothing about them? not just to say do nothing. block action to stop them. >> the republican party is doing every single thing they can to make sure we are not passing more laws to stop these kinds of shootings. murphy is great. there are tons of people in congress who are great. swalwell does a great job. you can name a ton of people out there who are advocating for this. but the fact of the matter is, until the republicans are willing to put kids lives before the money that they get from their lobbyist, we are not going to be able to do anything. biden has an opportunity to put the pressure on every single person we have in the senate to make this happen. but you have people like joe manchin, who run around as -- you sink their support for the second amendment as some sort of way to show that they're a maverick. who isn't falling in line with democratic party. this is all a mess. gun violence in the united states is an international embarrassment. this type of stuff does not happen elsewhere. the republicans love to talk about masks, stabbings, as though that's what's going to happen. but this is clear. it's a clear issue. and there are a lot of clear answers. gun violence in general in this country is very often a class issue. it's very often a race issue. it's a policing issue. but there are laws that can very, very simply save lives. and we need to meet that kind of thing happened. unfortunately, as we've seen right now, the way that our government is working, we're just not going to see it happen. >> yeah, the stabbing destruction, whataboutism is just bizarre and ridiculous. but you're right, this is an international embarrassment. but as you al-sissi, the gun lobby keeps winning. let's see if we can turn things around going forward. appreciate your activism on this subject. appreciate you coming on the show to talk to me tonight. cameron kasky, thank you so much. up next. susan collins assured us that brett kavanaugh would not overturn roe v. wade. that he would honor president. that he wouldn't undo abortion rights if he got to say on the supreme court. what's the republican senator from maine say now, when it looks like brett kavanaugh might do just that? 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(excited yell) woo-hoo! ensure max protein. with thirty grams of protein, one gram of sugar, and nutrients to support immune health. these are the faces of listerine. the face of millions of germs zapped in seconds. the face of clean. the face of whoa! some are of intensity, others joy. all are of... various: ahhh... listerine. feel the whoa! alice loves the scent of gain so much, all are of... she wished there was a way to make it last longer. say hello to your fairy godmother alice and long-lasting gain scent beads. try spring daydream, >> it is now one day after now part of our irresistible scent collection. women in america had to listen to a majority mail, majority conservative, supreme court talk about the legal merits allowing a woman to control what she does with her own body. it was bizarre and maddening for many. and the fact is, the current six three conservative string only exists because of a republican woman, senator susan collins. in 2017, the main republican became famous for being perpetually disappointed with the extremists in her own party voted yes to confirm the nomination of neil gorsuch as her supreme court gus. itch merrick garland should actually be in that seat, but that's another story. -- the president is the anchor of the law. if you think susan collins was defenses about that vote. as for 2018 and extremely controversial confirmation hearings of one brett kavanaugh. collins gave a 45 minute floor speech -- 45 minutes. you can roast that you can in that time. explaining her support of the nominee who is facing multiple accusations of sexual misconduct. and yes, she talked about kavanaugh's views on legal precedent. in other words, tell me talking about roe v. wade without telling me you're talking about roe v. wade. >> to my knowledge, judge kavanaugh is the first supreme court nominee to express the view that precedent is not merely a practice and tradition, but rooted in article three of our constitution itself. in short, his views on honoring precedent would preclude attempts to do by self that which one has committed not to do over. >> it was agonizing. americans waited and waited and waited some more. to see what susan collins was going to decide. to find out how she was going to vote, because her vote was going to determine whether brett -- sometimes i had too many beers, kavanaugh, would get a lifetime appointment on the supreme court. and her decision to vote yes, yes on brett kavanaugh nomination, was devastating. and okay, i know that susan collins doesn't voted no on amy coney barrett, but the republican majority already have the decisive votes landed by the time senator collins made her choice known on barrett. so, her novel there was meaningless by then. it was just a gesture. a bone that was thrown to's undecided voter at the height of an undecided election bid against cigarette gideon. and it worked. she won. she is still senator susan collins. which means that yesterday, because of susan collins, just susan collins, only susan collins, we got to hear justice, let's blame the clintons kavanaugh, waver on the importance of precedent against abortion. aborti>> if you think about somf the most important cases, the most consequential cases in this court's history, there is a string of them were the cases overruled precedent. and it turns out, if the court in those cases had listened -- and they were presented with arguments in those cases -- adhered to the president -- in brown v. board, adhered to plessy, on west coast tell, adhere to atkins and adhere to lock near. and if the court had done that in those cases, the country would be in a much different clip place. >> the country is already in a much different place because of the six three conservative majority on the supreme court. a lot of american women are terrified. let's go to happened when the decision from yesterday's oral argument from abortion is handed down? well, collins, who perhaps is disappointed today -- she's always disappointed -- perhaps she has a solution for that. her office tells nbc news, senator collins supports the right to an abortion and believes the protections in the roe and casey decisions should be passed into law. she has had some conversations with our colleagues about this and is open to further discussion. but we shouldn't be in a place where rule needs to be cool to fight. it's been a constitutional right for nearly 50 years. and that would not be in question right now if not for susan collins. it's disingenuous for her to still labor herself a pro-choice republican. it is a mockery that she touted her meaningless no vote on amy coney barrett in order to eke out a way to return to the senate for six more years. so, i frankly don't care how disappointed sewell collins may or may not be. i'm more interested in how dishonest she perpetually is. coming up next, you ever feel like you no longer pay attention when the house passes a really important piece of legislation, because the senate has become a black hole that engulfs all those bills? 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(gasps) ♪ did it work? >> it's the end of the year and only pay for what you need ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ spider-man no way home in theaters december 17th everyone is rushing to finish everything on their 2021 to do list. everyone it seems, except lawmakers on capitol hill. that's right. it's been another slow week in d.c., despite multiple looming december deadlines for our elected representatives. >> are you confident it will get done before christmas? >> i am. and senator manchin is still at the negotiating table. >> 95% of the bill has been negotiated. it -- that's why it took so long to get both of these. it's >> a belief we're going to get build back better done done by christmas. we need to get it done. it will make a difference in so many american lives. >> that's right. democrats hope to get biden's build back better plan through the senate by christmas. janet yellin says congress has to raise the debt ceiling by december 15th, in order to avoid a default. and a government shutdown is eminent unless lawmakers agreed to a quick funding deal. and while the house, just now, this week, pass that deal, a group of republican senators is threatening to block it over biden's vaccine mandate for large employers. >> i just want to vote on one amendment. i want the members of this body to go on record on whether they support funding, in this bill, president biden's vaccine mandate. while providing every opportunity to avoid a shutdown. and all we ask for is a simple up or down vote. >> that's republican senator and attention seeker mike lee of utah. nancy pelosi waved off the idea of a government shutdown, but didn't say it was out of the question. dn't say it was out of the ques>> i don't think the republicans in the senate want to shut down government. i don't know that they would even have the votes to do so. but it is yet again a double, double sense of irresponsibility. first of all, they shut down government and then they shut down science. >> now, don't get me wrong, i know that there are major obstacles in the way. obstructionist republicans. joe manchin and kyrsten sinema delaying the biden agenda at every turn. but come on, democrats. you control the house, the senate and the presidency. why does it still feel like republicans are the ones setting the agenda? something tells me that if the gop was in the same powerful position, mitch mcconnell would have figured out by now an infuriate infuriating back alley way to tech items off his signature sinister to do list. -- he would've this funded pbs just for fun. we need some real urgency from the party in power, in office. because in less than a year's time, if the polls are to be believed, democrats will almost certainly lose control of the house and maybe even the senate, to. so, you have questions about omicron. i have questions about omicron. let's put them to an infectious disease expert. coming up after the break, doctor nahid bay here. don't go away. y. saved, what you'll need, and build a straightforward plan to generate income, even when you're not working. a plan that gives you the chance to grow your savings and create cash flow that lasts. along the way, we'll give you ways to be tax efficient. and you can start, stop or adjust your plan at any time without the unnecessary fees. we'll help you go from saving... to living. ♪ play all day ♪ the airport can be a real challenge for new homeowners who have become their parents... okay, everybody, let's do a ticket check. paper tickets. we're off to a horrible start. ...but we can overcome it. we're not gonna point out our houses, landmarks, or major highways during takeoff. don't buy anything. i packed so many delicious snacks. -they're -- -nope. would you say, ballpark, when group two is gonna get boarded? 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salonpas contains the most prescribed topical pain relief ingredient. it's clinically proven, reduces inflammation and comes in original prescription strength. salonpas. it's good medicine. wondering what actually goes into your multi-vitamin. at new chapter. its innovation organic ingredients and fermentation. fermentation? yes, formulated to help your body really truly absorb the natural goodness. new chapter. wellness well done. >> for those who don't have a private health insurance plan, biden vowed to make 50 million at-home tests available to health clinics and rural centers for you to pick them up and take them home. there's been nothing rapid at all about rapid testing in this country. it's been unbelievably slow. we're behind the rest of the world when it comes to rapid testing. i was in the uk in august, where i'm from. in britain, you just get free tests sent to you every week from the government if you want them. and it's the same in places like germany. the big question now is, will rapid testing work against this new omicron variant that has now been detected in california, in colorado, in new york and minnesota, a state that was slammed by the delta variant earlier this year. here to discuss is infectious disease physician and founding director of boston university center for emerging and infectious diseases, dr. nahid bhadelia. president biden's plans focus on ramping up existing procedures. other countries are clamping down if other ways. what do you make of this new approach for the president today? >> i'll echo what you just said. it's about time. we could have used the presence of this rapid test throughout the pandemic. and the way that these work is they don't detect genetic material of the virus, which is what the pcr tests do. the rapid tests look for proteins for the virus, tend to detect when there's a lot of virus. they may not be accurate when a person is most contagious. what they lose potentially on either sides of sensitivity, they make up because they're easily available, and if you do them serially, and a lot of people do them, you can actually decrease transmission. the way i think about it, if you have an eating problem in your community, and let's equate that to high virus transmissions, rapid tests are like speed bumps. you want a bunch of them and everyone to go through them frequently so it can change behavior. people when they find out positive, they may not do the activity they were going to do. and you want them to be. when it come to these rapid tests, you want them to be free and easily available and accessible. and the plan now is going the try to bridge some of those things. there are still details i would like to hear about. for example, the insurance bit, the insurance companies reimbursing, that's got to not create a lot another hurdle. it has to be easy for people to take advantage of that. otherwise, it's a barrier to accessing those tests. >> sorry to sing the praises of the national health service in the uk, but in the uk, my understanding is, you just say , i would like some tests and some tests come to your house for free. there's no insurance companies or middleman. you're right talking about the hurdles involved. omicron is in new york, minnesota, california, it's probably in many more states. we just don't know yet. how concerned should we be and the really big question is, what do we actually know about omicron right now? we're in a weird waiting game, where we talked to dr. fauci on the show a few days ago, in a couple of weeks we'll talk more about vaccines and efficacy and everyone else. what do actually know right now? >> i actually feel that a lot of people, including myself, are hesitant because things may change, this is a moving picture. but i want to, before we tell you what i know about omicron, when people hear those, they think, we've been through this for two years and people are overwhelmed. whatever we find out, we're in a better place now than we were in the winter of 2020 a year ago or two years ago because we have all of these things include rapid testing and vaccines. what we know about this variant, genetically, it looks like it might potentially have properties that allow it to be more transmissible. if you're in a room with a person with omicron versus delta, the person with omicron will pass it on to you, that's what more transmissible means. we don't know that for sure. that's what the genetic code is telling us. and in other variants, they have potentially been able to reduce the effectiveness of vaccines against infection. in most of those cases, the protection against severe disease still remains. and against all of that backdrop is just epidemiology in south africa, which is one of the countries where this was first detected, not originated, first detected, where the cases and hospitalizations are going up. but it's all too early. and what we're going to find over the next couple of weeks is laboratory tests that tell you whether, you know, whether it does or doesn't reduce the effectiveness of vaccines. south africa is saying that they have a signal that they're seeing that a lot more people who had prior infections are now getting infected, and that raise s a question of, maybe there is some new notification component to this. we have to see how they respond to one dose, two dose, three dose of vaccinations. most people think that if you've gotten that booster, you'll have better protection against infection and probably very good protection against severe disease, as well. >> we're out of time. i'm just going to say, you're right about the unvaccinated, but they won't listen. dr. nahid bhadelia, sadly, we're out of time. thank you so much for your time tonight. thank you for joining us. i'll see you right back here tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on msnbc where i'll kick off another week of in-depth interviews with key newsmakers. you can catch me monday through thursday at 7:00 p.m. eastern on peacock on "the choice" on msnbc. first up on msnbc, police in michigan zeroing in on who may have helped the parents of the school shooting suspect allegedly hide from police, as more copy cat threats pour in. >> we're inundated with threats right now. we had threats against the candlelight vigil last night. it's absolutely absurd that after a tragedy, we see a huge spike in threats, but that's what we're seeing. plus, a u.s. congressman posts this h