choice. the select committee is investigating an attack on our democracy and it's essential that witnesses cooperate. >> we have new reaction to that vote, including on some interesting comments from mitch mcconnell that are raising some eyebrows. also derek chauvin the man convicted of killing george floyd changes his plea in one courtroom while in a different minnesota courtroom we could see another officer testify in her own defense in the death of daunte wright. today is a big deadline to make sure your gifts get under the tree in time. good afternoon on this newsy wednesday. i'm garrett haake. we are waiting for the president to begin his survey of the damage in kentucky where deadly tornadoes ripped through entire towns. joining me to break it down from dawson springs, kentucky, we have white house correspondent mike memole and bill karins joins us, as well. mike, i'll start with you. where is the president headed right now and big picture, what is he trying to accomplish today? >> well, guys, this is a president ahead of a party and government and trying to get legislation through congress and big believer, as well in the role of president as the head of state and potentially a unifying figure in moments like this. that's why the white house is always tricky and get there quickly and not too quickly because you don't want to disrupt from the recovery efforts. but insisted he tried to get to kentucky as quickly as he can to show as white house deputy press secretary put it today that the federal government is going to be here for as long as it needs to be in order to make sure and help the people of kentucky to recover. so, he touched down in ft. campbell a few hours ago and now in mayfield and had a little bit of an aerial tour as he traveled there meeting with some of the local officials, as well as the governor, andy beshear is traveling with him as is his father who is a native of dawson springs and actually deliver some remarks. the president is, obviously, focusing on doing everything he can to make sure they are coordinating with state and local government and also playing the other role and the role of wanting to be there for those and speak with and hear the needs of those who have lost so much both in terms of property, but also the loss of life, as well, garret. >> they have to balance the incredible resource drain that a presidential visit can cause and sauls the spotlight that a presidential visit can bring. >> joshua, you have been in kentucky for a little while now the state of the recovery down there and what you're hearing from folks you're talking to. >> yeah, garrett, you know, every single day showing you so much disruption and every day the reality sets in a little bit more that this is a long haul to recovery. i want to show you what some of the recovery is looking like. this is the mayfield fairground and this place started with absolutely nothing and now it has turned into a massive, massive operation. everywhere you look more supplies. bread here, water. nothing was here. wasn't even power here just a few days ago. now you've got donations from walmart, verizon is here providing internet and t-mobile is giving out phones, generators, propane. company out of texas moffett fuel just brought 1,000 gallons of fuel here. you have a gentleman named joe from south carolina that is inside that warehouse. he is a barber and giving people haircuts and tons of food here world central kitchens and there are folks coming in from wisconsin, from ohio from pennsylvania. all over doing everything that they can to help out. and i want to introduce you, garrett, to sandra. this small woman is making a huge impact with this massive operation. she's running this whole thing here and, sandra, tell us how did you make this happen and what are the needs right now? >> well, honestly, it just happens. this is where, this is a central location. this is a good place to come as far as bringing donations and getting something like this set up. although, it's grown so much. so now we're so glad of all this room we have. but we started off with this one building and now we've got the second building but people just started bringing donations and started calling and saying i need to help you. they're calling from all over the country. it's not just the surrounding states. i mean, we're talking texas. we're talking connecticut, we're talking california. if they can't be here bringing something, they're sending it. and they're doing whatever they can. and they're actually, i am going to ask a question. is all of this coming from stores? no, they are helping. but it's coming from individuals that say, i know someone that has a trailer and i'm going to go give donations and we're going to come to mayfield, kentucky. >> sandra, what are you hearing from the people who are coming here that need these services, that need these supplies? >> they need generators, which we're getting them in. but we have to be careful with them because it's a slow process. we're doing the ones, helping the ones with the medical situation first and then we're going on down the line. but we have to send an electrician out with each generator to hook it up. >> you told me some amazing stories about some of the families you met here. >> we had a hispanic family come in -- >> sounds like we may have lost dasha burns down there. connectiity always a challenge in the aftermath of these storms. helping coordinate some of the important work on the ground there. the relief work there. want to bring in bill karins now. you're monitoring what could be more scary weather across the midwest. damaging winds and chance for more tornadoes as early as today. what more can you tell us about that? >> it's absolutely incredible we're dealing with a storm scenario today, only five days after what happened in kentucky. we could see pictures, you know, maybe not exactly similar. hopefully not as bad. but we could see damage, significant damage from the storm system today. this is one of the powerful storms you'll see over land. yes, we get hurricanes that are stronger, but as far as storms go over land, this is as powerful as it gets. sucking up warm, humid air from the gulf of mexico. temperatures at this hour are 72 degrees ten days before christmas in iowa. that is extremely unusual. they broke their record high, by the way, at 5:00 a.m. this morning before the sun even rose. this looks like a map you would see in april or may, the peak tornado months. that's what we're expecting. a moderate risk of severe weather. kentucky, by the way, moderate risk of severe weather the day they got struck by all those tornadoes. not saying the same thing will happen but to give you some perspective. this is extremely rare. one of the first times ever that minnesota in a moderate risk of severe weather in the month of december. ten million people at risk and we do think we could get strong tornadoes in between omaha and lacrosse, wisconsin. des moines, ames as we go throughout the evening hours. minnesota, by the way, never had a conremember iffed tornado in the month of december. that could possibly change this evening and beyond that, garrett, we had just an hour ago 107-mile-per-hour wind gusts recorded in colorado. pube low at 76 miles per hour and 50,000 people without power. this is, as i mentioned, about as mind blowing and as crazy for the middle of december as i've ever seen. i mean, i don't think anyone alive has ever seen anything like this. >> bill, if we keep seeing these warmer temperatures later in the year, does that just kind of expand what we think of as tornado season or where tornado alley is located in this country? >> you know, as far as tornado alley goes and kind of like what we refer to it. we'll show you one of the maps here. tornado alley, technically, considered oklahoma and texas. what we've noticed in the recent trend over the last couple decades is there's an upward tick in the number of tornadoes in the tennessee and mississippi areas, arkansas included in that. alabama, too. a little bit of a downward trend in oklahoma and texas. we still see more tornadoes in texas, oklahoma than in areas like mississippi, tennessee and alabama. not as pronounced as it used to be. a lot of meteorologists said we shouldn't use the term tornado alley any more because it's not like that the hardest hit area out there. that is changing with our climate change. i will say, you know, if we're going to have warmth and humidity like this, you know, it doesn't matter what the month is, we can get severe weather. the calendar says december but it certainly doesn't feel like it. >> about the temperature, not the month. i'm with you, bill. tornado alley, we're done with it, we're moving on. bill karins, thank you. mike we'll touch base with you later. joining me now is john yarmouth. big picture now. what does your state need the most now from president biden, potentially from the federal government? >> well, yeah, thanks for having me on. you know, what's amazing about this incident is the enormous amount of resources that are pouring in as dasha burns' report indicated from all over the country, certainly from all over kentucky and the midwest. so, i think ultimately that's the question that is going to have to be decided within the next few days or weeks because there's still, it's always difficult to assess the degree of damage. one of the things that we know is that the storm took down all sorts of power lines. so, it's not just a matter of reattaching wires. this is rebuilding the entire infrastructure basically for mayfield. so, i think it's probably too early to tell, but right now, for instance, the basics, water, food, clothing i know has been pouring in from all over the country. the shelter situation seems to have been handled fairly well locally. and, so, i think it's going to be, again, it's going to be some time before we know what the most significant response will have to be. but one of the things i know is that these are very low income and people who lost their homes had no insurance and it was a critical one. so, i think getting these communities back on their feet, rebuilding housing and having the capabilities for these kentuckians to afford to move back into some housing is going to be critical. >> do you anticipate needing a supplemental spending bill to direct money specifically to that region? >> you know, again, i think it's too early to assess the extent of the damage. the governor has talked about the damage in hundreds of millions of dollars. i think if it stayed at that level probably existing funding would be adequate. but, you know, this isn't going to be the last storm, and it's not going to be the last demand put on fema and the federal government. so, i suspect at some point there will have to be more money appropriated. >> congressman on another topic you and i have discussed the prospects of the build back better as it was working its way through the house. now nbc is reporting that chuck schumer and senate democrats are likely not going to hit their christmas deadline. that vote in the senate might not come into well into the new year. i wonder what your reaction is generally if you're hearing that and the possibility of yet another significant missed deadline as the bill works its way through congress. >> well, you know, i was not betting on it getting done by christmas anyway. for the last month or so and i thought that was highly unlikely. but really the only critical aspect of the timing here is the extension of the child tax credit, which, you know, the last checks went out today. so if we don't extend the benefit that on january 15th they won't be getting those checks. you know, i suspect that if we come back and do it in early january and they double up the checks in february, nobody is going to be that adversely affected. i don't think it's absolutely critical that we do it by the first of the year. it would be nice. but with a bill of this magnitude, i'm on the side of the people who say it's better to get it right than to get it quickly. and i think there's still some issues with the legislation that we need to iron out. so, you know, my name is on that bill. i would love to see it signed into law as quickly as possible. but as suspected it will be early next year. >> a number of your progressive colleagues had for quite a long time a strategy of not releasing the infrastructure bill through the house. not voting on the hard intrastructure bill until there was a rock solid deal to get the build back better bill done and that is falling apart now. was it a mistake for the house to pass the hard infrastructure bill before build back was ready in the senate? >> i don't think so in order to actually make that promise, you realized you have to be confident in the united states senate. and nobody can be confident in the u.s. senate. so, we did what we could do. we passed both bills and we did them in very close promimity. i don't think the progressives will be that upset. we did all that we can do and now it's up to the senate and get their act together and joe manchin and kyrsten sinema and get the 50 votes we need. >> nobody can be confident in the united states senate is the kind of advice we should all probably keep in mind as we approach some of the year-end deadlines we run into. john yarmuth in kentucky, thank you for coming on with us. we'll keep an eye on kentucky. president biden taking part in a walking tour. you're seeing the tornado damage. we'll bring it to you live as we get the pictures in. plus something congress hasn't seen in more than 170 years. one of its own former members held in contempt. what is next for mark meadows as he faces the justice department. stay with us. 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>> the vote last night will not move the investigation forward as far as meadows is concerned. remember, he does not have to compel his testimony if he's handed over to the department of justice and the department of justice takes it up. this has nothing but they do think it is discouragement for other witnesses to not comply with the committee and they already have thousands of pages of documents from mark meadows and they have been giving little teasers of what is in those documents reading text messages that he received on that day on january 6th. but liz cheney, she also framed it in historical terms. listen to what she said. >> all of my colleagues, all of them knew that what happened on january 6th was an assault on our constitution. they knew it at the time. yet now they are defending the indefensible. whether we tell the truth, get to the truth and defend ourselves against it ever happening again is the moral test of our time. how we address january 6th is the moral test of our generation. >> so, when she talks about all of her colleagues, she is speaking about republicans. last night just two republicans voted to hold meadows in contempt. and last time with steve bannon, nine republicans who did so. so there's less so this time. i asked one republican who voted for bannon and not meadows. fred upton of michigan why they didn't support the meadows contempt referral and he said it was just, felt too rough. they wanted to allow some more space to see if he would comply. he said he and other colleagues talked about that and that's ultimately the decision. they just wish the committee had not rushed to the criminal contempt so quickly. but there you have it. the criminal contempt is moving the department of justice, garrett. >> leigh ann, you broke the news that the senate would not take the build back better plan, do you think the senate will pack it in here in the next week or two or the hope still that they would pass a voting rights package before the end of this year? >> all still unknown. they are working furiously to do something on voting rights and doing something on voting rights would mean a rule change in the senate. there has been meetings with senator manchin and other moderates today. some later today and some yesterday. and if you put build back better side by side with voting rights as far as this year is concerned, people are more optimistic about something on voting rights than build back better. build back better will be next year, maybe not until march, garret. >> interesting stuff. voting rights point out that the master being redrawn and a time crunch on getting that piece done, if, indeed, they can. leigh ann caldwell, thank you. member of the judiciary committee and lucky for us a former impeachment manager who knows january 6th story. i want to ask you about leigh ann's reporting on build back better act. what is your decision apparently by the senate democratic leadership that they won't be able to get this done this year after all and it will slip into 2022. >> thank yo for your question. my heart goes tout the victims of the tornados and i'm glad we passed the infrastructure law that will not only help rebuild infrastructure but make it more resilient to climate change and extreme climate events. in terms of voting rights or build back better, we can get both done but not even as a close question as to what should happen first. voting rights go through first. congressional maps already being drawn right now and there is a time element to this. the clock is ticking. we absolutely have to get voting rights through because democracy is under attack in america. >> on the mark meadows front, the contempt of congress vote last night. obviously you along with all democrats voted to hold him in contempt and i asked leigh ann a version and what does it do for the investigation? it may not compel mike meadows to speak but might compel other witnesses to speak? >> i do. no one in america wants to be held in contempt of congress. and this was a bipartisan vote. and let me just sort of answer this on a more personal level. i served with mark meadows. i liked him. we got along and very sad for me to see the former president hijack his cell and turn him into someone he's not. i hope mark meadows changes and i don't think he wants to go down in history as someone who was being held in contempt of congress and refused to cooperate with a congressional committee. >> i know the committee is keeping their evidence really close to the vest, much to my great frustration as a reporter. but what we have seen publicly including these text messages as someone who is an impeachment manager as someone who dealt with this, how much do you think the evidence they publicly presented moves our understanding of what happened on january 6th forward or not? >> the january 6th committee is doing a great job. when i was an impeachment manager this was an insurrection. this was an attempted coup. the evidence january 6th committee is gathering not only shows this was the case but shows this was planned. you have a powerpoint that was a road map to a coup. you had lots of folks who were there not just to protest, but specifically to stop the certification of the electoral college. they were trying to keep the former president in power. that is what this was all about. >> i have to ask you quickly about mitch mcconnell responding to some of the text messages obtained. here's what he said yesterday on the senate side. >> were you personally in contact with mark meadows that day and other white house officials to urge trump to do more? >> i was not, but i do think we're all watching, as you are. what is unfolding on the house side. and it will be interesting to reveal all the participants that were involved. >> you know as well as i do, mitch mcconnell loves not answering questions that he does not want to engage with. he chose to engage there. i wonder what you make of his level of interest. you think there is a sense that your republican colleagues are nervous about information about their involvement coming out? >> i do. i don't think mitch mcconnell is nervous. i think he actually is interested because if you listen to his speech right after the impeachment trial, the first half of it he basically goes off on the former president. on the former president in spite of the insurrection. no doubt about that. i think mitch mcconnell really does want to see what the evidence shows and i think it deeply troubles him that you got elected officials and also appointees of the president who were engaged in this attempted coup. >> all right, congressman ted lieu of california, thank you for being on with us. i suspect we'll talk again. coming up a former minnesota police officer on trial for manslaughter could be taking the stand in her own defense. the central question that could determine the case. as we go to break, you're looking at president biden touring mayfield, kentucky, meeting with officials and residents after that deadly tornado. more of this when we come back. 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[ sneezing ] needs, plop plop fizz fizz. alka seltzer plus cold relief. dissolves quickly. instantly ready to start working. so you can bounce back fast with alka-seltzer plus. now available for fast sinus relief. we could be just days or perhaps even hours away from seeing a former minnesota police officer take the stand in her own defense. kim potter is charged with manslaughter in the death of a black man named daunte wright back in april. most of tuesday's testimony focused the difference on a handgun and a taser. you're looking at live from a testimony of a use of force expert in this trial as it's happening now. potter claimed she was reaching for her taser when she shot wright having grabbed her gun by mistake. as the state calls its final witnesses we have shaquille brewster with us live from minneapolis and we're joined by paul butler. shaq, what has today's testimony focused on here? >> well, in the past couple of seconds, the judge just broke for a lunch break but we heard from seth soten a use of force expert and a professor in policing and he's someone you might find familiar and find familiar from the chauvin trial and he's been testifying after analyzing the entire case and going through the body camera video and looking at the use of force policies in brooklyn center police and seeing what you're hearing from statements and he was asked what was his conclusion on whether the force was appropriate. the use of deadly force whether or not that was appropriate. listen to what he said. >> the use of deadly force was not appropriate and the evidence suggests that a reasonable officer in officer potter's position could not have believed it was proportional to the threat at the time. the use of force was excessive and inappropriate. >> now, at some point after the lunch break, we will likely hear that cross-examination and what you've been hearing from the defense is they acknowledge that kim potter made a mistake. that is not at issue here. but the prosecution is arguing even if she meant to use a taser, she'd use the firearm. even if she meant to the use the taser, that was an inappropriate amount of force. even the sergeant who trains officers on the use of tasers we heard that this morning and it was a carry over from what we heard yesterday. one thing to note, garrett, much less compelling than what we heard at the beginning of this trial. yesterday the judge told the jury to stand up and take a stretch after they went through powerpoint presentations and much more dry testimony for them and it seems like some of the jurors nodding off a little bit as they were getting into the substance of this argument. garrett. >> shaq brewster, thanks. let's bring in paul butler. paul, i feel compelled to start right there. if the judge is telling the jury they have to stand up and shake it off so they're not falling asleep, that does not sound like a compelling case being presented by the prosecution. >> it sounds like a typical criminal trial. not like what you see on "law & order" and "csi" jurors will lose attention. but make no mistake if kim potter takes the stand as expected, those jurors will be paying attention. >> i would certainly hope so. so it sounds like from shaq's reporting this breaks down two questions. whether a crime is committed when this officer grabs her taser instead of her gun and whether or not it would have been an inappropriate use of force had she grabbed the connect weapon. is that how you see this case breaking down? >> yes. so, prosecutors don't have to prove that potter intended to kill. either that she was reckless or negligent. and if you look at how different a taser looks from a gun, it's designed so that people won't make the mistake that this officer claimed that she made. so, if the juror finds that she was reckless, that is she should have known better, she could get up to 15 years. negligence almost seems like an obvious conviction. all that means is that she didn't act as a reasonable person would. we heard lots of testimony from police experts that no reasonable offer would have even used a taser in a situation like this. it was a traffic stop. >> we have seen a lot of tasers cases with racial overtone whether it was the kyle rittenhouse and how do you see the factors around race playing into this trial? >> so, one difference is that potter is a much more sympathetic defendant than someone like derek chauvin or the men convicted of murdering mr. arbbury. they hope the jury empathizes with this 49-year-old mother, she has two sons. one is a marine. she wanted to be a police officer all of her life and she never fired a gun or a taser before the day that she killed mr. wright. so, someone like derek chauvin had a much longer track record with a number of complaints. this is a different case. it's a different set of facts and we'll have to see how the jury resolves this case. >> you mentioned derek chauvin was in court early today and changed his plea to guilty is that method of reducing a possible sentence. what do you make of that? >> derek chauvin is already a convicted murderer but today for the first time in a court of law he admitted that he kept his feet on george floyd's neck even after mr. floyd became unconscious. that is the closest he has ever come to accepting responsibility. in a plea deal as you note there is something for everybody. the prosecutors get their conviction and they'll ask the judge to throw the book at mr. chauvin. 25 years is what they're asking for. what chauvin gets is that he will probably be allowed to serve his term in federal prison and that would be an improvement over the minnesota state prison where he's being held now in solitary confinement. that's probably why he took this deal. plus if he'd gone to trial and lost, he could have been sentenced to life in prison. >> it all makes sense. paul butler, shaquille brewster, thank you. we'll keep an eye on this case. we're keeping an eye on central kentucky where president biden is touring the devastation after last weekend's tornadoes. the latest on the recovery efforts and how soon people living there could have things like power, water and essential services back up and running. me after time. gold. agile and liquid. a proven protector. an ever-evolving enabler of bold decisions. an asset more relevant than ever before. gold. your strategic advantage. 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>> well, garrett, it's interesting because in the conversation that we were having earlier about the extreme weather events that we've seen over the course of the year that led the president to travel to so many corners of this country and bill karins reminding us of the added storm threat in the next few days. that is part of the president's message when he gets here to dawson springs. the scale of these disasters, the incredible costs that we're starting to see and the frequency of them is a major challenge. but that is part of the politics of this. that the president otherwise loathe to wade in to and we heard him talk earlier about no red tornados and blue tornados and larger message today trying to show that the government is here and work in moments like this. >> immediately after disaster is a time when people are really, really moving and trying to help each other and try to get things done. but after a month, after six weeks, after two months, people can get themselves to the point where they get fairly depressed about what is going on. particularly our young kids. particularly people who have lost somebody. and so i just want you to know the help that we're able to offer at the federal level is not just now. >> the president also said that he was really just there to listen and we saw him sort of go back to his roots 50 years ago. he was a county councilman in new castle, delaware, and invited himself to a city council meeting in mayfield. the federal government is not just here in the here and now but doing everything they can in the future to make sure all the needs continue to we met, garrett. >> mike, i think we have gabe gutierrez in mayfield fighting through some of the transmission issues we were just talking about. gabe, you're where the president is today. what will he be seeing there? >> garrett, well, you're right, the cell phone transmission goes up and down. obviously, in the aftermath of these disasters. but what he will be seeing is just other devastation. just look behind me. this is just one of the many blocks, one of the many neighborhoods that has been dismated by this tornado several days ago. and today we have seen people in this community, garrett, you know coming together as they often do following these types of disasters. but what has struck so many people here is the scope of all this. they're still trying to figure out the death toll and dozens of people dead and more than 100 people still unaccounted for, although the hope is that number will continue to drop in the coming days. garrett, just on the other side of this debris pile we spoke with a business owner who owns three businesses. small businesses. one is a training facility for young children and another one is a car dealership and then detail just over there just a few hundred feet away. he lost all three businesses and making it even harder that he barely has any insurance. yesterday in a hospital room, we spoke with one of those survivors from that candle factory that has gotten so much attention. and we spoke to her and she is still coming to grips with the trauma that she suffered being trapped under a concrete slab for six hours with a pregnant colleague. take a listen to some of our conversation. >> i heard all the constant voices and next thing i know i opened my eyes and i'm stuck and i can't move my legs. >> all this concrete had just fallen on top of you. >> literally like a wall. a concrete wall was on top of me. no telling how long we're going to be under here and by the time they do find us, we'll be dead. i'm not able to breathe, we're losing oxygen. >> did you think you would make it out alive? >> i honestly did not think they were going to find me. >> just an incredible amount of trauma being suffered by that survivor and so many people in this community. another 19-year-old we spoke with who road out the storm. her mother was struggling to get here in time and still tears up when she thinks what could have happened if her daughter had not survived. garrett, incredible situation here. hundreds of national guard members on the ground trying to at least start this cleanup the ahead of them. thank you, both. coming up, surging prices and rising inflation could not be coming at a worst time for many families across the country. and a crucial lifeline could be about to run out. how an end to the child tax credit could plunge some families into poverty. and what needs to happen before those checks can keep coming. at least my shoes look good! looking good start with bounce wrinkleguard, the megasheet designed to prevent wrinkles in the dryer. nurse mariyam sabo knows a moment this pure... ...demands a lotion this pure. new gold bond pure moisture lotion. 24-hour hydration. no parabens, dyes, or fragrances. gold bond. champion your skin. bye mom. my helpers abound, i'll need you today. our sleigh is now ready, let's get on our way. a mountain of toys to fulfill many wishes. must be carried across all roads and all bridges. and when everyone is smiling and having their fun i can turn my sleigh north because my job here is done. 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. is struggling to manage your type 2 diabetes knocking you iout of your zone?ng people of the lowering your a1c with once-weekly ozempic® can help you get back in it. oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! my zone... lowering my a1c, cv risk, and losing some weight... now, back to the game! ozempic® is proven to lower a1c. most people who took ozempic® reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. and you may lose weight. adults lost on average up to 12 pounds. in adults also with known heart disease, ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke, or death. ozempic® helped me get back in my type 2 diabetes zone. ozempic® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles. don't take ozempic® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop ozempic® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. tell your provider about vision problems or changes. taking ozempic® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase low blood sugar risk. side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. looking to get back in your type 2 diabetes zone? 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[♪♪] did you know you can shorten your cold with cold-eeze® lozenges? cold-eeze® can shorten your cold by 42% try cold-eeze® the number one best-selling zinc lozenge. and try new cold-eeze® ultramelt™ chews in a great-tasting orange flavor that quickly dissolves on your tongue. today the sixth and policiy the last checks hitting but for many the timing couldn't be worse as the prices of daily necessity are surging ahead of the hal dee season and one piece of legislation that could ensure they continue is stuck in the senate as we've been reporting. stephanie ruhle the host of the 9:00 a.m. hour here on msnbc. child tax credit helped so many families not just pay higher prices but lift kids out of poverty. what happens if the checks stop? >> not good, garrett. we've seen on average the fam families getting and it dropped family food insecurity a quarter in this has said it's dropped family food insecurity in this country by a quarter. it's massive. critics say families aren't using it for essentials. that's not the case, they're using it for food, supplies, and gas. while we're still living in this inflationary environment, prices aren't going down. the fact that today is the last payment is bad news. we know it costs a lot more to heat your house this year and come january they're not going to have that money. now, it's not a surprise. we knew the expanded child taxes credit was part of the american rescue plan. we knew it was expiring at the end of the year, which is why it's one of the core tenets of build back better and why some lawmakers say it's time to carve this out and make it a standalone. >> we heard that from some of our guests in this half hour. steph, a business lightning round with you, if i can. a new report shows retail sales in november run 3/10 of a percent. what does that all mean? >> on the surface, you may say that's a little disappointing, but it's not. remember, people are shopping earlier this year because of shortages and supply chain issues. when you take october and november, it's a very strong retail season. and you've got to keep looking at december. we don't have those numbers yet but in the last two days, that's when free shipping ends. no longer can the delivery services guarantee christmas delivery. you'll see a big push this week. it's been a good retail sales season. americans are out there shopping and spending. >> that's interesting, you have the folks who rushed out to shop, worried about the supply chain part of it, and the folks who rush out because they worry about the mail getting there on time, potentially driving this. the federal reserve board is scheduled to meet a half hour from now, is my understanding, for the last time of the year. how are they responding to the higher prices? do we expect them to curtail the support they've been giving to the economy? >> when we heard last from jay powell, it was the biggest pivot we've seen. he said we have to stop calling inflation transitory, we have to start tapering, meaning ending, the monetary support coming out of the fed. that will push interest rates higher. don't freak out, interest rates are currently at zero. interest rates are at zero when we're in a time of crisis. we're not in a time of crisis, we have an economic recovery. the taper is coming sooner than you thought. >> is it just up to the fed on inflation right now? those guys i cover in congress talk about this a lot. is there a congressional lever that could or should be pulled on this issue at all? >> there is nothing congress can do, not much the president can do. even when the president gets railed on because of supply chain issues, we're in a global supply chain. one of the reasons we have all these problems is because our transportation infrastructure is so out of date. can anyone pull a real lever, a switch, in the short term? no. only the fed. >> all right. stephanie ruhle, thank you for our business lightning round segment. i can see this becoming a regular thing. i learned something here today. >> i'm glad. so there are only ten days left until christmas. while that might be great news for some of us, those last minute shoppers among us, and they will remain nameless on this program, are on a fast-approaching deadline. it's not too late yet but you do need to act fast. nbc's jo ling kent has our report. >> reporter: at this jewelry boutique, they're doing everything in their power to deliver holiday magic on time. >> we pack our orders as fast as we can, we try to get it to the post office as quick as possible. >> reporter: but after they're out the door, they're out of his control. that's why the brother and sister co-founders moved their shipping deadline two days earlier this year. what do you risk losing if a package is late for the holiday season? >> a lot of times the blame gets shifted to the business. even though it could be the mail carrier that lost that package, they still expect us to be responsible for it. >> reporter: ups's ground shipping deadline varies based on location. while wednesday is the final day for ground shipping in time for christmas for the postal service and fedex. this fedex manager says they're absolutely ready. >> if a customer ships on time, can you guarantee on-time delivery? >> we'll do everything we possibly can. there's a lot of challenges like weather. but other than that, we are definitely doing everything that we can to make sure that we meet our commitments to all of our customers. >> reporter: if you miss tomorrow's deadline, there's still time but it will cost you a lot more. the next best options are this friday for first class mail and next tuesday for fedex express saver and ups three-day select. when you send off that package, do you say a prayer this holiday season? >> yes. and we keep an eye on ourselves as well. after that, it's a little prayer. >> reporter: the holiday hope that's out of their hand. jo ling kent, nbc news, irvine, california. >> thank you, jo, in california. as we appropriate next hour here on msnbc, we're awaiting remarks from president biden on the ground in mayfield, kentucky. you're looking at taped turnaround pictures there as he tours storm devastation there. the president is expected to speak around 4:00 this afternoon, having concluded his tour of western kentucky. we'll bring those remarks to you live when they come. meantime, thank you for watching "msnbc reports." i'm garrett haake. "msnbc reports with katy tur" continues next. ...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? 2 hours and 58 minutes. progressive can't protect you from becoming your parents, but we can protect your home and auto when you bundle with us. someone should've left home earlier. clerk: hello, how can i? but we can protect your home and auto when you bundle with us. sore throat pain? ♪honey lemon♪ try vicks vapocool drops. in honey lemon chill. for fast-acting sore throat relief. wooo vaporize sore throat pain with vicks vapocool drops. before nexium 24hr, anna could only imagine a comfortable night's sleep without frequent heartburn waking her up. now, that dream... . ...is her reality. nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts, for all-day, all-night protection. can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn? at intra-cellular therapies, we're inspired by our circle. a circle that includes our researchers, driven by our award-winning science, who uncover new medicines to treat mental illness. it includes the compassionate healthcare professionals, the dedicated social workers, and the supportive peer counselors we work with to help improve - and even change - people's lives. moving from mental illness to mental wellness starts in our circle. this is intra-cellular therapies. - san francisco can have criminal justice reform and public safety. but district attorney chesa boudin is failing on both. - the safety of san francisco is dependent upon chesa being recalled as soon as possible. - i didn't support the newsom recall but this is different. - chesa takes a very radical perspective and approach to criminal justice reform, which is having a negative impact on communities of color. - i never in a million years thought that my son, let alone any six-year-old, would be gunned down in the streets of san francisco and not get any justice. - chesa's failure has resulted in increase in crime against asian americans. - the da's office is in complete turmoil at this point. - for chesa boudin to intervene in so many cases is both bad management and dangerous for the city of san francisco. - we are for criminal justice reform. chesa's not it. recall chesa boudin now. good to be with you. i'm katy tur on a very busy wednesday. we have significant developments to tell you about on the january 6th investigation, donald trump's taxes and a new push for inviting rights, and how the vaccines fare against omicron. but as we come on the air, president biden is on the ground in kentucky, touring the sweeping damage from that rare and explosive december tornado outbreak. right now the president is visiting a neighborhood in mayfield, kentucky, by far one of the most devastated areas. a short time ago he took anary an aerial tour to get an idea of the extent of the damage. later the president will tour princeton and dawson springs where he will deliver remarks about the administration's response efforts. joining us from dawson springs are nbc news white house correspondent mike memoli and nbc news correspondent ellison barber. the president is touring the damage, meeting with homeowners and business owners as they sit on the pile of rubble that once