his country. there's a new documentary shining a light. let's begin this hour with the future of reproductive rights in america and the battle brewing. should the supreme court uphold mississippi's abortion ban, gutting the 1993 decision that legalized abortion, reversed five generations safe abortion access, which would leave those rights to each state in our union. and that is the battle we want to focus on this sunday. here's how the associated press frames it. as the supreme court weighs the future of the landmark roe v. wade decision, a resurgent anti-abortion movement is looking to press its advantage in state-by-state battles while abortion rights supporters repair to play defense. proponents of abortion access claim they are prepared for the state by state fight and are devising multiple ways to help women seeking abortions travel to states where they can receive them. but republican leaders have plans of their own, and they are ready to pounce. >> if roe v. wade is overturned, you will enforce the almost total abortion ban in mississippi that exists in the inevitability or in the situation where roe v. wade is overturned, yes? >> yeah, um, jake. that is a yes because if you believe as i believe very strongly that that innocent, unborn child in the mother's womb is, in fact, a child, the most important when we talk about unborn children is not "unborn," but it's "children." so, yes, i will do everything i can to protect the lives of those children. >> that's the governor of mississippi shrugging there when asked that question. but mississippi not alone. the gut maccer institute finds -- 26 states are likely to ban abortion if. that, of course, if you have the money and the ability to travel out of state. as history shows us, abortion bans dispro-portly impacts -- this warning from senator amy klobuchar on "meet the press." >> you're going to go back to a time of back alley abortions. you're going to go back to people busing from one state to another. now they're willing to just flip it on its head. so what is the answer? the answer may well be doing it through the political process now. i don't think that's the right thing to do, but it may be the way to do it. and i think the best way to do it is not a patchwork of state laws but to codify roe v. wade, put it into law, and we even have some pro-choice republicans that have signaled interest in doing that. >> we kick off the hour, msnbc contributors melissa murray. she's a former clerk to judge sonia sotomayor. also with us, activist and msnbc political analyst brittany pack nick cunningham. she hosted indistracted podcast which is now back for season 2. melissa, i want to start with you. i think we really set it up there, right? which is they're not going to do this and then be done. they're going to do this, and then they're going to keep going. give us a sense of what shifting control of reproductive rights to states means for abortion care. >> well, brett kavanaugh was the justice who seemed to be most enamored of this idea of returning this to the political process and specifically putting this in the hands of the state. as you say, there are about 25 states in the union that currently have trigger laws on the books that are just ready to go into effect to criminalize abortion if roe v. wade is overturned, and that seems imminent. even if this is returned to the states, that means, then, that there will be broad swaths of the country where women will not be able to access reproductive care and it will basically make those individuals reproductive refugees, having to go to other states in order to seek that care. but that's not it. in that oral argument on wednesday, justice clarence thomas seemed to be signaling some concerns that we ought to be treating the fetus as a person for purposes of constitutional law, and that signals that once this is returned to the states, we might see some more agitation for creating a personhood amendment that would recognize the fetus as a person for purposes of constitutional law. and once that happens, then it doesn't matter what occurs on the state level. it doesn't matter if california permits abortion. if the fetus is considered a person like the woman is considered a person for purposes of constitutional law, you can criminalize abortion outright. >> right, and brittany, unlike some of the other issues we talk about when it comes to the supreme court, this is very much about people's lived experience. these are not esoteric ideas. shifting these issues to the states will likely widen the economic burden for those who need this care. those who can't afford a plane ticket, who can't just jump on a bus, who can't afford to take 48 hours, sometimes more off of work. how would a post-roe america dispro-portly impact people of color and low-income communities? >> it would be absolutely devastating as your opening package alluded to. you mentioned the second season of our podcast, undistracted. the episode coming up this thursday features femme nest icon and a veteran of the abortion storytelling moment helping people remember, to your point, alicia, that this takes a human toll, and that there are real people who are attached to the stories of abortion, who are experiencing what happens when abortion is restricted and when it's legal in name only. and as you said, that dispro-poergs atlee affects poor women, black women, indigenous women, people of all genter identities, people of color. the folk who's are already most marginalized, have much more difficulty taking the time off of work, traveling across state lines, and having the funds to access the abortion care that they need. we also have to understand that fundamentally this is one of the things we talk about on this upcoming episode, that this is not just an attack on our personhood. this is an attack on our democracy because fundamental to democracy is the idea that all of us have autonomy and agency over our bodies. so here we are, people who have the ability to get pregnant, who should be able to choose when, if, and how they expand their families being spoken to as if we don't exist and as if we don't matter. we are people here right now. there's no viability argument to talk about the folks who can bear children. so let's make sure that we're having a focused conversation on how this will affect the most marginalized and frankly how it will affect all of us because it will continue to erode at the very delicate experience of democracy that we're already having right now. >> and brittany, let's also declare about where this comes from. after wednesday's arguments, you tweeted, the roots of the pro-life movement -- and you have that in quotes -- are about preserving segregation and building a white supremacist religious right. tell me more. >> so this is well documented and well researched. i included in that tweet a link to an article from 2014 that i feel like i share, frankly, every year, every couple of months as of late because i want people to understand always that in order to understand the fruits of the tree, you have to understand the roots of the tree. essentially segregationists lost, and when they got together and had to figure out how to maintain their political power, they figured that they needed to find a new issue. and six years, six years after roe became the law of the land, they decided that abortion rights would be the thing that they would go and attack. and they were able to build a new religious coalition that is largely white and that, again, was ceded from the people who were focused on keeping as segregates as possibility. there's no way to disentangle these priorities for a certain group of people. if this were about pro-life principles, the gop would be fans of robust sex education and access to contraceptives because those things actually reduce teenage pregnancy. they would be working to reduce maternal deaths and making sure that in particular, there were not a disproportionate amount of black maternal deaths and infant mortality. they would be making sure that we have paid family leave instead of being the party that continues to fight it. this has not and has never been about pro-life principles. this has always been about creating, maintaining, and coalescing power. >> melissa, there you have brittany taking us back to the post-segregation era. you bring us to today. you have a very organized body of people who have worked to stack the courts in their favor beyond abortion. how are we going to see that play out? >> well, we're already seeing it play out, alicia. this is a concerted effort. again, as brittany says, it is about power. we've already seen the supreme court be weaponized in order to pursue a minoritiarian domestic agenda, things that could not be done by the republican party through congress, like overruling the affordable care act. when they couldn't overrule the affordable care act, they took it to court and tried there. so we're basically seeing court used to advance anti-democratic ends. again, reproductive rights is just the tip of that iceberg. they have done it with voting rights. they've done it with the affordable care act. at least they've tried to. now they're doing it with roe v. wade. 70% of americans favor a right to abortion even if they disagree with the scope and substance of that right. and this is a court that's very much going to be out of step with that majority, and that's the point. >> melissa, brittany, they are back with me after the break because we have an overlooked issue to talk about when it comes to school shootings in america, specifically when it comes to this country's obsession with guns. and later, how veterans are facing deportation despite their service to this country. the documentary putting a spotlight on that issue ahead. first to richard lui. good evening, alicia. flags now at the u.s. capitol and the white house at half-staff in honor of late republican senator bob dole. he passed away this morning at the age of 98. according to his family, he died in his sleep. in february, dole revealed he was fighting stage 4 lung cancer. senator dole served the united states for more than 79 years. he was a world war ii veteran, a longtime kansas senator serving as majority leader in the mid-'80s. he then won the republican nomination for president in 1996, ultimately losing to bill clinton. of his former political foe, the former president today calling dole a hero dedicated to public service that should inspire generations to come. president biden and the first lady expressing condolences as well to elizabeth dole today by phone. president biden calling dole an american statesman like few in our history. former president george w. bush thanking dole for his life of principled service. former president barack obama reminding americans dole was a political leader who put country over party. former president trump saying the republican party was made stronger by his service. more "american voices" after this break. but if you're a kid with diabetes, it's more. it's the simple act of enjoying time with friends, knowing you understand your glucose levels. ♪♪ ♪ 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... ♪ like pulsing, electric shocks, sharp, stabbing pains, or an intense burning sensation. what is this nightmare? 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(sha bop sha bop) ♪ ♪ ♪ alexa, play our favorite song again. ok. ♪ i only have eyes for you ♪ it's another day. and anything could happen. it could be the day you welcome 1,200 guests and all their devices. or it could be the day there's a cyberthreat. only comcast business' secure network solutions give you the power of sd-wan and advanced security integrated on our activecore platform so you can control your network from anywhere, anytime. it's network management redefined. every day in business is a big day. we'll keep you ready for what's next. comcast business powering possibilities. it's a thirteen-hour flight, that's not a weekend trip. fifteen minutes until we board. oh yeah, we gotta take off. you downloaded the td ameritrade mobile app so you can quickly check the markets? yeah, actually i'm taking one last look at my dashboard before we board. excellent. and you have thinkorswim mobile- -so i can finish analyzing the risk on this position. you two are all set. have a great flight. thanks. we'll see ya. ah, they're getting so smart. choose the app that fits your investing style. ♪♪ now to america's obsession with guns. with december now marking the worst school shooting of 2021. the teen accused of killing four classmates last week at oxford high school in michigan in custody. so are his parents after being found near the canadian border, allegedly hiding from police. they are now charged with involuntary manslaughter, accused of not addressing numerous warning signs. a person of interest now named for allegedly helping the parents evade authorities. the man's attorney says his client has not been charged, maintains his innocence, and helped provide information to police. while there will be an independent probe into what led to last week's shooting, we must remember why these shootings are made possible, why they happen so frequently in this country. connecticut senator chris murphy saying, 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. then today, issued this call to action. >> i won't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. i want universal background checks. i want a ban on assault weapons. but i will settle for something much less because that will save lives. >> my panel is back. melissa, it's rare for the parents of a shooter to be charged. how will these charges hold up in court? >> well, that really depends, alicia. this is going to be a really fact-intensive inquiry. this is likely to go to a jury. the parents will surely fight these charges. i can imagine a second amendment defense. michigan's law is quite unusual in that is allows the parents of a child who is under 18 to be charged with a crime if the parents have done something that would further the crime or otherwise provided the means by which the crime could occur. but, again, it's unusual to have parents take liability for something like this when they really didn't have a direct hand in the shooting itself. so this is, i think, a symbolic move on the part of the prosecutor. it sends a very strong message. how it will hold up in court, i think really depends on the kind of evidence they can amass about what these parents knew, when they knew it, and whether they took steps to prevent this from happening. >> brittany, representative thomas massie posted a picture. i'm sure you've seen it, of his family holding, just days after the michigan shooting, guns with the caption "santa, please bring ammo." i want to be completely transparent. i struggled with whether or not to show that image and whether or not to even talk about this because i am concerned people like this just want us to be talking about them, that they are provocateurs and not actual legislators. but the reason it felt important for you and i to have this conversation is because it goes back to a topic you and i talk about unfortunately week after week, which is who is seen as a threat in this america? trevon free, a filmmaker, responded to the tweet, writing, quote, it's funny how the existence of this photo will ever interfere with these kids' lives moving through the world because this is viewed as american. but if this was a black family, this photo would be used to deny them access to anything good in life. i mean to me, there is the callousness of choosing to post this photo given the tragedy that we have watched unfold. but there is also, brittany, so much baked in there that tells us about the privilege of being a white gun owner in america. >> well, alicia, you are correct that this person is a provocateur and not instead of. he's also a lawmaker, right? therein lies the problem because these are moments that one can use for fund-raising. this is somebody who has won with over 60% of the vote for the last few terms and is not winning despite being this kind of person. he is winning because he is this kind of person. so we have to reckon with the fact that this particular image is a tractive to a large swath of america, who see the defense of the power structures that benefit them and the lifestyles that restrict the rest of us but support them. they see that reflected in this photo. they see that being protected in this photo. so we have to reckon with that challenge. we also frankly have to reckon with the fact that the kind of deeply white supremacist patriarchal belief system that would arm a bunch of children and take a photograph of it by a christmas tree the day after children were slaughtered, it actually harms white people too because the young people who were killed in oxford, michigan, many of them were white. the young people that were killed by kyle rittenhouse in kenosha, wisconsin, who were standing up for black lives, were white people. so white supremacy is actually just as damaging or at least as certainly damaging to white people, maybe not just as, but it certainly not only erodes the moral fabric of a culture and a society, but it literally harms white people and their children because there are families right now who have empty seats at the dinner table. why? because this country is unable to deal with and reckon with the fact that it's obsessed with guns. why? because we want to make sure that certain people are able to protect themselves from the rest of us. this has roots in what we talk about every single week, alicia, and until we deal with those root issues, we're going to find ourselves right back here. >> melissa and brittany, i appreciate your clarity. both of you, thank you so much. next, getting ahead of omicron. the new variant of concern and what experts say makes it different from delta. later, veterans threatened with deportation from the very country they fought for. one of them will join us. stay with us. dad are you sure you're up to host? yeah! we want to keep it the way it always was, right? ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ that's your grandma. she was the best at the holidays. (tiger) this is the dimension of imagination. ♪ ♪ pharmaceutical companies like pfizer and moderna already working to develop vaccines to battle the new covid variant, omicron. the cdc and fda already in talks to get it approved. here's the cdc director today. >> they're already in conversations about streamlining the authorization of this, of an omicron-specific vaccine, partially because much of the vaccine is actually exactly the same, and really it would just be that mrna code that would have to change. >> also today, a warning from a former fda commissioner highlighting a risk of developing a more targeted vaccine. >> there's reason to believe that as you develop vaccines that are very specific to some of these new variants, they may not work as well against the full complement of different variants that we've seen. so you want to try to stick with the ancestral strain, the wuhan strain, in the vaccine as long as possible. >> president biden now calling for federal money to pay for at-home toifd covid testing. a travel ban remains in place for countries across southern africa. joining me now, msnbc contributor dr. ebony jade hilton, co-founder and medical director of goodstock consulting llc and an associate professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at the university of virginia. you heard me lay out what the biden administration is doing. what more do you want to see them doing to tackle delta, to tackle this new variant ahead of a possible omicron surge? >> right. i think we need to do what was first presented when we had covid in the first place, which means if we think we need a variation of our vaccines, we go back to their original plan, which included masks, which included social distancing, which included these public health measures that people can do at their own home. but right now we're not really forcing that issue, particularly when it comes to masks, and more specifically, use of n95 masks. >> we just heard the fda is discussing streamlining approval for an omicron-specific vaccine. you also heard the former fda commissioner moments ago talking about the dangers of a narrowed vaccine. i got to say at a time when there are so many people questioning and rejecting science, i find it so edifying to hear people talk about science. can you break down a little bit of what they were talking about for us in common speak so we can all understand it, and are they really disagreeing, or is it just sort of a specification on the broader point? >> right. i think they're not disagreeing at all. what we know is that vaccines work. the question is how specific of a vaccine do you make? and i agree with the latter and would say this variant has 15 mutations on the spike protein. but we know we're not just fighting omicron. we still have delta. delta reigns in the united states of america, and delta reigns globally. so the question is not necessarily making finer-tuned vaccines. right now the very question we should be asking is why do we not have global vaccination? the very question we should be asking is why haven't which lifted the i.p. ones this vaccines and shared the formula so the poorer of the countries in our world can actually be vaccinated in the first place? until that happens, the fact we only have 6.2% of the poorest countries haing one dose of the vaccine per person, that's a problem and we'll have another variant that will threaten the very utility of our vaccine. >> you would think at this point we would understand that this is in fact a global crisis. i want you to hear what the president of moderna has revealed about omicron, about what moderna scientists found when studying the virus. take a listen. >> there was literally a list of eight or ten mutations that we never wanted to see show up in one variant of concern. and we opened this one up, and all but one of them was there. and the instant feeling was, this isn't going to be good. >> all right. doctor, can you give me a little bit more context around that? >> because we know the coding is important for these vaccines. what we understand is these mutations hit in some very specific parts of that spike protein. should this be a surprise to anyone? no. the simplest way i give an analogy for a variant is the telephone game. we teach this to kindergartners, right? when you gf a message to one friend to the next friend, that message slightly changes. but when covid has been allowed to circulate throughout our nation, we should not be concerned or confused at the fact that a telephone game has played and that the coding has switched slightly. so how do we stay ahead of this? we stay ahead of this by truly addressing means to mitigate the spread, which was a common phrase we used back in march, april of 2020, that has gone away. to mitigate the spread, we wear masks. we social distance. we try to avoid those large crowds, especially indoors. and then the added layer is going to be the vaccinations that we have now, the boosters that we have available now that people are not getting at the same rate they were back in december and january. >> i don't know what it says about my scientific prowess, doctor, that that analogy really hit home for me but thank you because you actually allowed me to understand it. a south african study found omicron might cause less severe covid. it's also believed to be more contagious. there are still so many other unknowns, so what are you worried about most in terms of variants? delta or omicron? >> at this point, again, delta still reigns. but what i'm concerned about with the south african variant is who is getting infected. what we know is that 80% of those cases have been less than 50 years old. in fact, 1 in 5 are children less than 10 years old. so when we're thinking about that most vulnerable population and we think about the overall economic wealth of our nation being dependent on that working class, that's the persons that are being infected. and what does it mean? earlier this this pandemic, we get obsessed with this number of deaths, but that is not the only consequence of covid. we know long covid exists. and what do these chronic illnesses do to the overall health of our nation that was already not healthy to begin with? >> we've not even begun to reckon with what long covid means for us as a country. i have about 30 seconds. lots of people thinking about their holiday plans. what needs to be top of mind? >> top of mind needs to be the fact that we still have at this point about a death every 66 seconds. covid has not changed the game and the rules of the game, but we have. so get tested before you meet. wear your n95 as your traveling to and fro. and understand each interaction carries a risk. at the end of the day we want to see all of our family members in 2022. so do the things that are appropriate to make sure that happens. >> very sobering. dr. hilton, as always, thank you. next, they served our country but could now be deported from it. the new documentary revealing a shameful reality facing thousands of immigrant veterans. that's after this break. 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[thud] [clunk] [ding] ugh... ♪ ♪ what the- henry? thanks. if it's “out decorating the neighbors” season, it's walgreens season. ♪ ♪ what a pain in the- alice? if it's “lets wrap this up?” season, it's walgreens season. united states army veteran valls, he and his brother both served in vietnam. and in 2009, decades after coming home, both american heroes received deportation notices. the threat of deportation is on pause for now. their story is far from isolated, which is the focus of a new pbs documentary called "american exile." it follows the brothers in their unified fight for justice not just for themselves but for thousands of fellow vet who's have either been deported or faced deportation. joining us now, writer, director, and producer of "american exile," john valadez. thank you so much for being with us. did you find this story, or did this story find you? >> this story found me. you know, i wish i could claim credit, but i was actually in colorado a number of years ago doing a screening of another film, and manuel and valente came up to me and told me, you know, that they knew what my next film ought to be. and i was like, oh, really? and as it turned out, they were correct. they told me a mind-blowing story that was just so incredible, i had difficulty believing. >> tell me why that was. why did you have difficulty believing it? >> because i -- you know, they told me this were combat veterans who were horribly discharged and had served in vietnam, suffered from ptsd, and valente was awarded the bronze star, and here they were being deported. and i thought, come on. the united states does not deport honorably discharged u.s. military veterans who have seen combat. that's never happened. and yet that began a long process of research and discovery where i found out actually it does happen. it happens -- it's happened thousands, maybe tens of thousands of times, and it kind of -- it's kind of heartbreaking actually. >> i want to bring in retired marine corporal manuel valenzuela. we're having a little trouble getting him in. corporal, thank you so much. i'm glad we are able to talk to you, and i love the sort of early rendering of you going up and saying, i've got your next story for you. as this was happening in your own life, could you believe that it was happening? >> first of all, i'm lance corporal, okay? >> thank you. >> not corporal. but anyway, i couldn't believe it when i got my notice on a letter to appear to be deported in 2009. i couldn't believe it. >> you have been traveling the country to shed light on these deportations because of course, as we learn in the film, as anyone who knows about this issue knows, as shocking as it is, this is not unique to you and to your brother. talk to us about why you chose to turn to activism. >> we have no choice because my last mission in the marine corps, every war that we have gone to all throughout the centuries, we never leave a soldier behind. this is wrong. it shouldn't be a word in the vocabulary, deporting veterans. that should not be at all existing right now. >> lance corporal valenzuela, i want to play a clip of your brother from the documentary where he discusses his struggle emotionally after receiving that removal notice. take a listen. >> you don't know until you personally receive a deportation what it does to you. ♪♪ it turns your world apart. i was thinking, i'm going to go to el paso, texas, to the same bridge where we came across when i was 7 years old, and i'm going to wear my uniform, take all my medals, and climb up on the rail on the fence and dive down, down the bridge. >> kill yourself? >> yes. >> heartbreaking. i understand your brother is still in mexico. both you and your brother have received letters from the department of homeland security saying you're both no longer subject to deportation. tell me if i'm getting all of that right and talk to us about the emotional toll this has had on you, on your family. >> well, for starters, there's 12 of us in the family, and 5 of us brothers served in the military. and for this country to do that to my older brother, we were raised to protect each other. and to me, anybody that would do harm to my brother, i always stood up and fought for him. it's just that it gets me very emotion. i've been traveling throughout the united states for 12 years, and i'm sorry, but this is just wrong. deporting veterans, not just that, my brother, he's gone through a lot of hell like i did. and for me to see that, him being treated that way, it got me so mad that i just said to myself, i absolutely will keep fighting. and still to this day, they're still veterans deported, and we need them back, all of them at one time. i mean they all need to just walk up to the border and put their fingerprints, and they're documented. and that's what i saw in the movie documentary, that the head of homeland security says we don't keep documents. yes, they do. they got us all. we know every veteran that served this country has been documented, period. they should be back home. and my brother going through that, it just tears me apart when i saw that. >> i don't know how anyone can watch that clip from the film and not have them tear it apart, john. i think it's going to come as a surprise to a lot of viewers that are undocumented people that serve in our armed services, that there are undocumented people who serve and then are deported by this country. there's a push in the senate to pass a reform act. it was introduced in the house in february, introduced in the senate last month. in your seven years, it has been seven years of you making this documentary, how did you come to understand the vulnerability that these veterans face? >> well, as you watch the film and, you know, you have to remember that it's not just veterans who serve. it's really their families. >> yeah. >> who also pay the price, the heavy toll, the burden. and when a veteran is deported, that means that, you know, that's somebody's dad or grandpa or uncle or somebody's husband or somebody's wife. you know, that tears families apart. and the lion's share of the veterans, almost all of them, at least all of them that i've met over the time that we've made the film, they're all people of color. and the lion's share of them are latinos. so this also has a lot to do with race. it should be noted that in the history of this country, we have never had a tradition or a heritage of deporting veterans. it wasn't until relatively recently that we started doing this. this is a very recent phenomenon that also coincides with the rise of white supremacy, and i am just so thankful to president biden for ordering the department of homeland security to create a process to bring the deported veterans back. and i would urge whether you're republican or democrat, stand up for our fighting men and women because they deserve to be treated much better. the other thing i'll say is that everybody who serves in the united states armed forces are documented. they're not undocumented. they are documented. they're here legally and, you know, and if they're honorably discharged, they should be treated with the dignity that comes with that station. >> i appreciate that distinction. thank you both so much. "american exile" is streaming right now on pbs. we're back after this quick break. (burke) well, you'd get a discount for insuring your jet skis... and boat...rv...life... ...home and more. you could save up to forty-five percent. (man) that's a whole lot of discounts. (burke) well, we offer coverage for a whole lot of things, and you could save a whole lot of something with farmers policy perks. (kid) sup, dad! (burke) seventeen-car garage you got there? ♪we are farmers♪ ♪bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum♪ healthy habits come in all sizes. like little walks. and, getting screened for colon cancer. that's big because when caught in early stages, it's more treatable. hey, cologuard! hi. i'm noninvasive and i detect altered dna in your stool to find 92% of colon cancers, even in early stages. early stages! yep, it's for people 45 plus at average risk for colon cancer, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your provider if cologuard is right for you. count me in! me too! there is no place like new york especially during christmas. just look outside our studios at the rockefeller center christmas tree. a midtown tradition since 1931. one that folks like my executive producer just wait on pins and needles for. just across the street, radio city musicst hall, home to the world famous rockettes which for oneke grandmother is a truly special place. she saw the rockettes when she wasck 12 years old and now that she is in her 90s her granddaughter thought it was about time for a reunion at radio city. >> reporter: growing up shelby had always heard stories about her s grandma who she calls nan and her time growing up in new york. >> she was born inwi new york. she told me all these wonderful stories about going out with her friends and when she was younger she went s to the rockettes sho >> reporter: that 1930s visit to radio city a cherished memory. >> every year on thanksgiving when the rockettes come out for the macy's day parade she gets so excited to see the rockettes. >> they arese so perfect. you know, really. >> the first time you saw them you were 12? >> i was 12 years old. for my birthday. >> reporter: this year shelby decided to make a new memory with her nanny, a surprise trip to new york city to see her favorite show >> i got us tickets to the rockettes. >> no! how wonderful! really? i can't believe that! >> reporter: on the drive up to the cityr: the memories flooded back. ♪ giveoo my regards to old broadway and tell them i'll be there somehow ♪ >> reporter: then walking into radio city, the flashbacks. >> i could remember the dome and the lights and the stars and the beautiful big curtains and the stage. and it was just so very exciting, really. >> reporter: what was your favorite part of the show this time around? >> i loved the wooden soldiers best of all. bravo! >> reporter: after the show, another exciting surprise. meeting a few of the current rockettes. >> you'll never believe it really. i was 12 years old. >> oh, my goodness >> i will be 97 in june. >> reporter: so how did it compare to when she was 12 >> i think it was every bit as wonderful the first time i saw it as it was the other night. >> reporter: the whole trip a dream come true >> ime can't believe this cold day. it's almost too much. >> reporter: nanny and shelby ending that night with a bike ride through midtown manhattan. >> everything we did in new york was just so special. it was really lovely. ♪ anywhere it's up to you new york new york ♪ >> that was nbc reporting. next, america's shrinking birth rate. why more and more millennials are saying, no thanks. 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. ♪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♪ hi susan! honey? yeah? ♪no punches left to roll with♪ i respect that. but that cough looks pretty bad... try this robitussin honey. the real honey you love... plus the powerful cough relief you need. mind if i root through your trash? now get powerful relief with robitussin elderberry. (vo) t-mobile for business helps small business owners prosper during their most important time of year. when you switch and bring your own device, we'll pay off your phone up to $1000. you can keep your phone and keep your number. visit your local t-mobile store today. ♪ when you have nausea, ♪ ♪ heartburn, ingestion, upset stomach... ♪number. ♪ diarrheaaaa.♪ try pepto bismol with a powerful coating action. for fast and soothing relief. pepto bismol for fast relief when you need it most. - grammarly business turned my marketing team into rock stars. (diana strums guitar) maya swears by grammarly business because it keeps her work on brand and error-free. fast and easy. - [announcer] learn more at grammarly.com/business. where's mom? she said she would be home in time for the show. don't worry sweetie, she promised she'd be here for it. oh! nice shot! thanks! glad we have xfinity. with wifi speeds faster than a gig. me too. [claps] woah! look! [chuckles] mom is on tv! she's amazing! [screams and laughter] yeah! xfinity brought us together after all. get started with xfinity internet and ask about wifi speed fast than a gig. click, call or visit a store today. new insights into how the state of this country made the influencing a record number of americans against having children. pew research polled people between the ages of 14 and 49. when asked if they will ever have kids 44% said it is either unlikely or not too likely. when pew asked the question in 2019, only 37% felt that way. for the past six years the cdc reports birth rates across the country have been dropping. last year an historic record low per capita. a 4% decline in births. if you ask people who said they don't want to have kids why and a majority said they just don't want to, which i appreciate that no is a full sent but also like a nosey parent i want to beg the question, no, really, why? perhaps it is due to the world they would be bringing a child into. a long-term outlook of our climate not great. even morgan stanley is worried about it telling investors, quote, the movement to not have children owing to fears over climate change is growing and impacting fertility rates quicker than any preceding trend in the field of fertility decline. it is also the reality that congress still can't bring us into the modern age when it comes to parenting and care giving. the pandemic revealed it. parents mostly moms tossed from the work force, let go or forced out to take care of children or sick family. some parents forced to become teachers. the producer who helped write this script did so as he watched his 2-year-old at home because his daycare closed for covid protocols. if a deadly pandemic is not scary enough think about how we now have a second generation of kids attending active shooter drills at schools. congress has yet to address gun violence through legislation. then there is the whole just affording a kid thing. millennials hold just 5% of the nation's wealth unlike boomers before them who held about 21% of the nation's wealth at the same age. it is impossible to buy a home to raise kids if you don't have cash or collateral to make it happen. millennials also facing mountains of student debt at such high rates that monthly minimums barely pay off the monthly interest. while student debt forgiveness was in the biden agenda democrats had to cut it from the spending bill to lower the price tag so it would past. so millennials putting off kids until college is paid off? well, they keep waiting. as of now paid family leave could still happen but already is cut down to just four weeks. it might be axed from the final spending bill entirely. that is right. we gave the world a walk on the moon and the iphone but we can't give folks a few weeks off with their kid. long and short of all of this, younger americans are opting out of kids because of the reality of the current moment seeming untenable and the future is more uncertain than ever and that should alarm us all. that is all the time i have for today. i am alyssa menendez and will see you back here next weekend 6:00 p.m. eastern for more "american voices" but for now i hand it over to mehdi hasan. hi, mehdi. >> hey, alyssa. well said. we live in a country where you have a party that is pro life but not pro life in schools and pro family isn't pro family leave. it is all very weird and kind of orwellian. i am glad you raised that. >> i'm excited to hear what you have to say about it tonight. >> i've been away so i'm glad to be back. have a great rest of your sunday. >> you, too. tonight on "the mehdi hasan show" the omicron variant is popping up in states across the country so why are we not taking more action to mandate vaccines? i'll discuss the threat with the special adviser to the director general of the world health organization. plus how do we build a coalition to save democracy and

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