mandate for health care workers. the question is, can we glean anything from this ruling? it's "way too early" for this. good morning and welcome to "way too early," a show that keeps all its texts off the record. i'm jonathan lemire on this tuesday, december 14th. president biden says he'll visit kentucky tomorrow as the number of people killed in those weekend powerful tornados rises. close to 90 people are now confirmed dead across five states including 74 in kentucky alone. more are missing. rescue workers continue to comb through a candle factory where at least eight people were killed. the owner says they've contacted the others and, thankfully, no one else is missing. the factory management threatened to fire workers who wanted to leave during the storm. one person said managers went so far as to take a roll call to find out who left against orders. company officials have denied these allegations saying that a covid policy was in place that allowed employees to leave any time they wanted. joining us now from mayfield, kentucky, with the very latest on the situation there, nbc news correspondent jay gray. jay, good morning. great to see you again. give us just a sense of where we are in mayfield. how many are still missing, and how many homes are still without power? >> reporter: yeah, jonathan. all the homes in this area basically without power. there is some power to certain areas, but not enough that makes a real difference. i want to give you an idea of what they're dealing with. this is the undercarriage of a transport van. this massive vehicle has been tossed on its side by winds. it also ripped up a row of trees from its roots. this type of scene, this type of destruction is everywhere right now. there are still dozens missing just here in mayfield alone. hundreds as you are talking about missing across the strike zone. the loss is so overwhelming. even the governor talked about some of the victims overnight. >> just a few more facts about those we've lost. 18 are still unidentified of the ones that we know. the age range is 5 months to 86 years, and six are younger than 18. >> reporter: just such a devastating loss for so many here and across six states that are dealing with all this. the search is continuing, and it is still termed, jonathan, a search and rescue. we're now on the fourth day. the rescue portion gets a little more difficult. as for the recovery, it can't really begin especially in areas that are ravaged like this one and so many others until that search is over. so a long way to go toward getting things back and moving forward here. >> and the images of the storm's aftermath remain just so devastating. obviously there are some bright spots of resiliency amid the rubble. we've seen people taking care of their neighbors. i saw one guy an hour and a half to cook some meals for people. what kind of resiliency are you seeing being on the ground there? >> reporter: yeah. we talked to a young boy, a 13-year-old, who ran through the storm really as the rain was pounding, through the debris, to get to his family. the house that they were in had collapsed on top of them. he pulled his mom, his stepdad out, and his six siblings, carrying a 3-year-old and 6-month-old brother to a nearby storm shelter. when asked about it, he said his adrenaline was moving and there was no way he was going to let them stay in that area. it's the kind of determination that we are seeing on the ground here, and it's going to be needed for a long time. >> nbc's jay gray in mayfield, kentucky. we really appreciate you being here and bringing that story to us. stay safe. the house committee investigating the january 6th capitol insurrection voted unanimously to advance a measure holding mark meadows in criminal contempt over his refusal to testify. the resolution, which includes a referral to the justice department, is expected to get a vote on the house floor today. the measure comes as meadows refuses to answer questions about the documents he's already handed over. >> when the record's raised questions as these most certainly do, you have to come in and answer those questions, and when it's time for him to follow the law, come in and testify on those questions. he changed his mind and told us to pound sand. >> mr. meadows' testimony will bear on another key question before this committee. did donald trump through action or inaction corruptly seek to obstruct or impede congress's official proceedings to count electoral votes. mr. meadows also has knowledge regarding president trump's efforts to prevent state officials to alter their election official results. in georgia, for instance, mr. meadows participated on a phone call between president trump and georgia's secretary of state raffensperger. meadows was on the phone when president trump asked the state to find 11,780 votes to change the result of the presidential election in georgia. >> during yesterday's committee vote, advice chair liz cheney also read some of the text messages meadows received while the attack was under way. you want to listen to this. >> members of congress, the press, and others wrote to mark meadows as the attack was under way. one text mr. meadows received said, quote, we're under siege here at the capitol. another, quote, they have breached the capitol. in a third, mark, protesters are literally storming the capitol, breaking windows on doors, rushing in. is trump going to say something? a fourth, there's an armed standoff at the house chamber door. and another from someone inside the capitol, we are all helpless. indeed, according to the records, multiple fox news hosts knew the president needed to act immediately. they texted mr. meadows, and he has turned over those texts. quote, mark, the president needs to tell people in the capitol to go home. this is hurting all of us. he is destroying his legacy, laura ingraham wrote. please, get him on tv. destroying everything you have accomplished, brian kilmeade texted. quote, can he make a statement, ask people to leave the capitol, sean hannity urged. >> mark meadows appeared on fox news last night. the text messages from the fox news hosts did not come up, but he did say this. >> let's be clear about this, sean. this is not about holding me in contempt. it's not even about making capitol safer. this is about donald trump and about actually going after him once again, continuing to go after donald trump. and when we look at the real results of this investigation, it is not really -- the foundation is not based on a legislative purpose. >> fox news did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the messages from its hosts. joining us now, congressional reporter, political analyst and my colleague, nicholas wu. thank you for being here. any reaction from democratic and lawmakers alike about these texts? we should mention a text from donald trump jr. also messaging himself and others in the capitol asking the president to do something. >> right, jonathan. at this point we're waiting. committee members i talked to last night really talked about how these texts made it all the more urgent to hear from meadows and others that were parts of this story to get the fuller picture. like, for example, we have all of these texts from people to meadows about the armed standoff at the doors of the chamber and the frantic messages from fox hosts. it wasn't, for example, what meadows told them in response. for that matter on the hill, there's certainly going to be some consternation over these notes that a lot of people thought were probably sent in confidence n private to meadows that have been sent out into the public's sphere. >> is there any chance it might produce a more bipartisan vote? >> that remains to be seen. you know, committee members and a lot in congress sabanen as a particularly extreme example of criminal contempt of congress. he had refused to comply at all. he did not comment in his deposition as far as an assertion for privilege. meadows did have a handshake agreement to come in later for an interview that collapsed. he did turn over thousands of emails. for some members of congress, that might be a bridge too far to say, yes, meadows is someone they should recommend to the department of justice. >> briefly, given us a quick breakdown of what meadows' argument is here and also what we should expect today. >> it's twofold. as a former official, he is still protected by executive privilege, and also as his side sees it, the justice department's position is they cannot seek testimony as the committee is seeking to do here. as to whether or not that will bring him to testify remains to be seen. you know, the committee is still moving forward with, you know, trying to interview hundreds of witnesses, going through thousands of pages of documents, and we'll see the results of that hopefully soon. >> all right. nicholas wu, congressional board of politico. thanks so much for being here. still ahead, the air force starts discharging active duty servicemembers who refuse to get vaccinated against covid-19. plus, after a long legal batter, victims of larry nassar reach a settlement. those stories when we come back live from washington, d.c. back live from washington, d.c. feeling sluggish or weighed down? 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spot. as i said, big one for rams. they pull the lead with a 30-23 victory. while the rams managed to win without four starters who are in covid protocols, it's unclear how the rest of the league will fair after 37 test positive. that number reportedly includes 36 players and a washington football team staffer who tested positive for the first known case of the omicron variant in the nfl. the league is now requiring coaches, front office staff, and team personnel to receive a booster shot by december 27th. it follows a similar move by the nba that's requiring teams including players to receive an additional vaccine dose by friday or face restrictions. as of yesterday afternoon, 46 nba players have entered covid protocols this season. 31 over the past two weeks. 21 of them remain there. there was no nhl action last night after the legal's only scheduled game between the calgary flames and the chicago blackhawks was one of three postponed for the flames after six players and a staff member entered the league's covid-19 protocol. calgary is now the third nhl team this season to have games postponed because of an outbreak. according to the "a.p.," they have all players on active rosters vaccinated and is recommending but not requiring boosters. a reminder to those in the sports world, the pandemic very much with us. also, a settlement has been reached with the female gymnasts who were abused by former team doctor and convicted sex offender larry nassar among others. the agreement seeks to compensate more than 500. it is among the largest ever for a sexual abuse case. it also involves a series of non-monetary amount including a dedicated seat on the sports committee, active health council and the board of directs as well as a thorough look at the culture and practices within the usa gymnastics that allowed to be unchecked for years. >> time now for the weather. let's go to meteorologist bill karins. obviously we're still watching kentucky and other states dig out from terrible devastation from those tornadoes. give us the latest as to what things are looking like around the country. >> yeah. the west coast is having this huge storm, too, so, yeah, the weather doesn't stop. it just keeps churning out. this storm in the west has delivered. i mean, this is exactly what we wanted. i haven't heard too much about structures or mudslides or debris. that's food. we had almost 3 inches of rain in san francisco. today los angeles is going to get it. this is gold. the mountains have picked up 2 to 4 feet of snow, so this is the big storm they were hoping they would get. as the rain continues today, it will push further to the south. so we still have some flood threats out there, about 13 million people impacted from santa barbara to san diego to oceanside. it does not include downtown l.a., but the mountains outside of l.a., we have to worry about some of those burn scars that we could get mud and debris flows. again, this is filling up the reservoirs. this is so needed because it hasn't been that rainy so far this rainy season. and then this storm is eventually going to kick into the plains. we're going to have one heck of a wind event in the middle of the country. we have 4 million under high wind warnings. as we go tuesday night into wednesday, we could see 70-mile-per-hour wind gusts in areas, especially out into the plains. it's not too bad today, but it's going to be hold onto your hat, two hands on the steering wheel kind of day in the middle of the country. jonathan, i'll throw a little teaser in. you'll hear it on social media. there's the potential for cold and snow on the east coast right before christmas. that's all i'm going to say for now. we'll talk more about that in the days ahead. >> i like that. way to build suspense, bill karins. that's a pro move. thank you very much. still ahead, joe manchin, yeah, that guy, leaves his colleagues guessing on his stance on the spending bill. before we go to break, we want to know. why are you awake? i'm your reasons to "way too early" at msnbc.com or tweet me @jonlemire. be sure to use the #waytooearly. and we'll read some of our favorite answers later in the show. e of our favorite answers later in the show with downy infusions, let the scent set the mood. feel the difference with downy. 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>> i'm engaged. yes, we're engaged. >> both manchin and the white house say the phone call was -- wait for it -- productive and agreed to follow up with another in the coming days. joining us now, co-founder of "punchbowl news," jake sherman. he's an msnbc contributor. jake, i hope this interview is productive. give us a sense of how -- there's a lot of anticipation for this conversation yesterday. it ended up being a phone call, not an in-person reading. give us your readout. no one is better sourced on where things stand on this bill. is there any chance at all it gets passed before year's end? >> as manchin told us yesterday, anything is possible. indeed anything is possible, but it all depends on what joe manchin is willing to do and what he's not winning to. do he has big problems with this bill. he has problems with the cost, provisions in it, medicare expansion, paid leave. listen, they can get it to a position where he would be able to vote for it, but let's focus -- i can't get inside manchin's head. i've talked to him almost every day for the last, i don't know, month about all this stuff, and i kind of just say to him, like where are you on this? and he gives a variety of different answers. but let's talk about what we do know. what we do know is it's december 14th. it's 11 days until chuck schumer's deadline. what needs to happen here? there needs to be a parliamentarian scrub of this bill by the end of the week. it has to get to the senate floor by tuesday. that's the only way to get it done by christmas. schumer could bring them back after christmas. that's a viability. but that's kind of the universe of knowns at this point. >> some of the holdups here are at length, right, the idea of wanting some of the measures in the bill to be longer? ten years even? >> yes, that's one of the money concer -- many concerns he's had. the republicans have put out a plan if none of these were to end. flank, that's probably a good idea because once they put plans in place, they don't end. that's the skop of it, how long they're going to last and what's the cost in the short and long term. >> we played the footage of liz cheney reading aloud extraordinary text messages from members of congress and fox news host to meadows on january 6th. give us a sense of what you expect to see on the hill today regarding meadows? >> yes. there's going to be a referral to the department of justice regarding mark meadows. you know, as a longtime observer of mark meadows, someone that i wrote a book about that was chiefly about him and his relationship with trump and kevin mccarthy. this is quite the -- i wouldn't say fall from grace, but meadows prided himself in being in on the joke. this is a stunning kind of fall from grace, so to speak, for mark meadows as the former white house chief of staff and former member of congress. it's going to be overwhelming. the democrats will vote for it. i'm curious how many republicans will vote for it. he had some interesting relationships with republicans. we don't know. and i can't speculate, jon, whether the department of justice is going to take this up and prosecute him. if anyone has a claim to executive privilege, it's probably the former white house chief of staff. of course, biden has decided privilege is not useful. it's not applicable here. so i want to see what the justice department decides. >> that book "the hill to die on," good plug. >> no one's buying that book anymore, but it's very kind of you to plug it. >> look. there are still 11 days till christmas. you just said so. co-founder of "punchbowl news," jake sherman. we appreciate it, sir. still ahead, we'll go live to cnbc for an early look on what's driving wall street ahead of a fresh round of inflation data. 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we really need a collective response at this point. we need all of those layers of mitigation that work well. not just vaccinations or people getting their boosters, but rapid testing in homes, making it free and accessible. not involved insurance companies because that's another barrier for folks but focusing on efforts, air infiltration in homes and schools that needs some work as well. >> with delta alone, cases are going up. that new variant tearing through other parts of the world includes the united kingdom. some really tough numbers coming out thereof as well. dr. blackstock, i want to get your take on the supreme court decision they just talked about, the one where they declined to block the health care vaccine mandate. in your estimation, is that appropriate? should there be a sense of freedom here? what's your sense of courts and what they should be talking about when it comes to vaccines and mandates? >> i feel especially with health care workers in that clinical environmental, not only is there a clinical health situation but moral situation. there are many patients immunocompromised. we cannot have unvaccinated health care workers. everyone should be vaccinated. so i would say, you know, as a physician, as a health care worker, i was pleased to see that judgment. we also note from religious leaders of every denomination have said there really is no religious contraindication to getting vaccinated. >> dr. uché blackstock, as always, we appreciate your insight, and we will talk to you again very soon. and, of course, the pandemic is weighing on the economy, and a live report from cnbc is straight ahead. as we go to break, a look at this date in history. 13 years ago, an iraqi journalist threw two shoes at president bush during a news conference with the prime minister. take a look. ent of gain so much, 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, now part of our irresistible scent collection. ♪3, 4♪ ♪ ♪hey♪ ♪ ♪are you ready for me♪ ♪are you ready♪ ♪are you ready♪ (vo) what's better than giving a better phone this holiday season? 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(cheers) xfinity brought us together, after all! power your whole home this holiday with wifi speeds faster than a gig. click, call, or visit a store today. sing 2 time now for business, and for that let's bring in cnbc's karen tso who joins us live from london. great to see you. u.s. stocks this week kicked off in the red after we saw green on wall street. they seem to focus on the last federal reserve meeting of the year and the central bank's decision on ids bond-buying program. tell us what we can expect. explain all that. >> well, good morning. we did see a very strange shift in market sentiment as we started out trading because we ended on such a strong note friday. we've got the fed two-day policy meeting where we may see reassessment of the bond-buying program. also bringing forward interest rate hikes potentially. that's a huge market risk for a lot of investors. so we just saw the mood turn quite skittish as a result of monday's session, all of this, of course, at the same time as we have new concerns around the variant of omicron, and what that could mean for the growth. at the same time the central bank may take its foot off the accelerator. we sold off on recovery stocks yesterday. don't forget dollar has been king around the prospect of rate hikes, so any change to these key factors, that could be market moving. of course, the bond market is what we're closely eyeing. we're seeing a flattening of the yield curve. the ten-year has come down a little bit. it's a huge event risk for markets notably going to the sidelines ahead of this meeting. >> so new inflation numbers are expected today. are americans finally going to have some relief? >> well, it's all about expectations, isn't it? we've seen some red-hot prices, 6% of inflation late last week. but congress often looks at expectations, what gets baked into consumers' minds in the months and years to come. the latest has come from the new york fed. this is important because they look at expectations. we're seeing americans are more concerned about inflation, clipping for a 13th straight month. 6% up from one year. the highest gauge since june 2013. a lot of americans are expecting the price of food, medical care, college education to rise over the next year, although, they do expect gasoline and some other prices to get cheaper. and other prices to get cheaper. you are seeing expectations for the out liars in three years. it does give us a little bit of a nod to inflation prices. it's still maybe proving transitory of the course of the next few years. >> apple is about to become the world's first $3 trillion company. what more can you share us about that? >> it's one stock we have clearly been watching. escalation and market values, americans want those devices, it's growing over the course of the pandemic and that valuation is something we have watched. one of the interesting features, if you have been wondering what happens to some of your data have been quite crucial around valuation for tech company. there is been a change to ios, the latest upgrade gives nominated loved ones access to your data, they can tidy up and house keep and also have access to photos and key documents. that's been a massive change. you are going see more of these updates around data in years to come. that's one of the stumbling blocks how they are tackling the use of data. apple has manage to navigate some of those concerns. back to you. >> we really appreciate it. >> earlier in the show we asked all of you this question, why are you awake? james writes it's 11:30 a.m. here in oslo, where norwegians are united in their grief over the loss of alcohol service in restaurants and bars due to the huge omicron surge. looking forward for afternoon morning joe. >>, dan, what do you got here? >> this pretending to be a present. and mary is in the spirit of filling out christmas cards. >> carrie tweets this, no clue we are up early, guess the coffee was lonely. florence chandler says she's up early because she had four teeth pulled this morning. florence, we are sorry, we suggest the novacaine. >> more on how vaccines holding up on the omicron variant. we'll hear from representative eric swalwell is a guest this morning. "morning joe" is a few moments away. joe" is a few moments away kly at least my shoes look good! looking good start with bounce wrinkleguard, the megasheet designed to prevent wrinkles in the dryer. ♪ ♪ (man) still asleep. (woman vo) so, where to next? (vo) reflect on the past, celebrate the future. season's greetings from audi. there's a different way to treat hiv. it's once-monthly injectable cabenuva. cabenuva is the only once-a-month, complete hiv treatment for adults who are undetectable. cabenuva helps keep me undetectable. it's two injections, given by a healthcare provider once a month. hiv pills aren't on my mind. i love being able to pick up and go. don't receive cabenuva if you're allergic to its ingredients or taking certain medicines, which may interact with cabenuva. serious side effects include allergic reactions post-injection reactions, liver problems,...and depression. if you have a rash and other allergic reaction symptoms, stop cabenuva and get medical help right away. tell your doctor if you have liver problems or mental health concerns, and if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or considering pregnancy. some of the most common side effects include injection site reactions, fever, and tiredness. if you switch to cabenuva, attend all treatment appointments. with once-a-month cabenuva, i'm good to go. ask your doctor about once-monthly cabenuva. ray loves vacations. but his diabetes never seemed to take one. everything felt like a 'no'. everything. but then ray went from no to know. with freestyle libre 2, now he knows his glucose levels when he needs to. and... when he wants to. so ray... can be ray. take the mystery out of your glucose levels, and lower your a1c. now you know. try it for free. visit freestylelibre.us when you really need to sleep you reach for the really good stuff. now you know. new zzzquil ultra helps you sleep better and longer when you need it most. it's non habit forming and powered by the makers of nyquil. new zzzquil ultra. when you really really need to sleep. nicholas johnson, good morning, great to see you. what is is today's axios one big thing? >> herschel walker on his new health. he had an exclusive interview of the senate candidate for that seat. he reported candidly about his struggle of mental health. he feels accountable for his biggest mental health issue. no one should be ashamed about it. he's owning up to his struggles in the past. this is something a lot of his opponents were worried about that may be damaging to him. he had a book that came out where he was candid and frank detailing his mental health of what he went through violence, so bad that his ex-wife had to get a restraining order against him. he broke his leg and got a cast on it and it's healed it's important to talk about it. he's talking frankly about his struggles and how he gotten better and being an advocate for men mental health. >> commendable indeed. his son may cut-off some posting on instagram. he's made some headlines. tell us about those campaigns and why does it matter now? >> secretary of state campaigns, these are down ballot races in states, quiet, maybe a steppingstone for the governor for these folks that don't get a lot of attention. they're attracting huge amoun of money. the administration of elections is as huge issue now. a lot of misinformation being spread and the allegation of fraud about elections of 2020, we are expecting ahmad term in 2024. republicans and democrats want to take control of a machinery of elections. republicans are looking for a lot of ways to change the rules. of course democrats are pouring money into keep that. now we are seeing these kinds of issues with election fraud and viability are now seeping down in ton races even lower, off to the secretary of state races. >> throughout the pandemic, axios has done a terrific job tracking the data of virus cases. we are seeing huge spread in south africa and europe and the u.k. right now. what do u.s. officials think of the omicron variant, what will happen here? >> there is a big worry of a large case spread. transmissibility is much higher. >> oh, nick johnson has frozen sadly. this is what happens, we are still doing this from home a lot. if you watch him, you can see he always has the chalk board over his shoulder with the menu for the week. i noticed today, tuesday, left overs. tomorrow looks like he's going to georgetown game. so that should be fun. hopefully gives him arena concessions to make up for today's underwhelming left overs. we'll have you back soon. thanks to all of you for getting up way too early with us on this tuesday morning. it's a busy day with news, stay tuned for "morning joe," starting right now. >> whatever legacy he thought he left in the house, this is his legacy now. his former colleagues seeing him out, criminal prosecution because he would not answer questions about what he knows about a brutal attack on our democracy. that's his legacy. >> the chairman of the select committee investigating the january 6th attack with that message to mark meadows. we'll show you messages of members of donald trump administration and family and fox news hosts had for meadows in real time as the insurrection was happening. good morning and welcome to "morning joe," it's tuesday, along with joe, willie and me, we have our katty kay, professor at princeton university, eddie glaude jr. and mike barnicle is here and the host of "way too early," jonathan lemire. we'll start with that story, incredible text messages being revealed by liz cheney. >> very revealing about members of congress and member of the media and donald trump's own family.