i don't know, it might throw me off even more now. when i hear you say it in december. >> i need eaves all year long. because fridays are very important to me, lawrence. and i have so little that gives me joy. you must leave me this. >> i get it. you know what's going to give you joy? one of our guests that are joining us tonight. he co-wrote a piece in august saying that the justice department should conduct a criminal investigation of what donald trump did to try to violate election laws on january six. and i want to check in with professor laurence tribe to see if maybe the evidence base and justification for criminal investigation of donald trump has increased at all. >> well certainly, the january six investigators started talking in specific statutory language about what it is they are trying to figure out if trump did it. the language from liz cheney on this has been really provocative because it is deliberate, she is quoting federal statutes and they are making a public case for that kind of evidence. which is going to put the justice department on the spot. but the january six investigation seems to be building a real case. >> yes, we will see what professor laurence tribe delivers this week. and rachel, please enjoy the less and next couple of hours. of your friday eve. >> i will. i will celebrated with my family, thank you. >> thank you rachel. well, they are still silent. they are still hiding. they are still living in fear of the day. once the house select committee to investigate the january 6th attack on the capitol will reveal their names. they are the republican members of congress who wrote texts and emails to the trump white house chief of staff, mark meadows, showing that they were active participants in a criminal conspiracy to violate election laws on january six. and to overturn the electoral results of the college vote that was won by joe biden. and they all know who they are. the authors of those text, they know who they are. but none of them are voluntarily jumping up to tell us that they wrote that one. none of them are proud of those texts. today, the new york times revealed a list of republican members of the house who are identified as, right wing members of congress who became key foot soldiers in mr. trump 's effort to overturn the election. they are, jim jordan, and the big, paul gosar, louis gohmert, moe both, dark and scott -- >> all of them remained silent today. here is a text from someone in congress the day after the attack on the capitol. yesterday was a terrible day we tried everything we could in our objection to the six states. i am sorry nothing worked. that is the bank robbers saying the day after, i am sorry that we couldn't get out of the bank with all the money. the member of congress who wrote that texas is afraid. days after it's been revealed, to come forward and say that i wrote that text. i am proud of writing that tax. that texas is saying i am sorry that the crime we committed yesterday, the crime of conspiracy to violate election fraud, did not succeed in our criminal objective. yesterday, congress man jim jordan was forced to admit that he wrote a text that outlined a criminal conspiracy to commit election fraud and change the votes of the electoral college. jim jordan admitted that only after it had leaked to some reporters that jim jordan wrote that tex. that jim jordan forwarded this techs to mark meadows from a republican lawyer describing a criminal plot to steal the election. on january six, 2021, vice president mike pence, as president of the senate, should call out all electoral votes that he believes are unconstitutional as no electoral votes at all. the rambling techs goes on to quote alexander hamilton. before there was an established government of the united states. quoting alexander hamilton on a point that had nothing to do with counting votes or the electoral college. jim jordan did not admit that that was his tax until two days after that text was revealed. two days. jim jordan stayed silent for two days. he had absolutely no intention of admitting that that was his text. jim jordan's plan was to remain silent like every other republican member of congress. even the republican member of congress who sent this text is afraid to admit it. the president needs to stop this asap. he sent that on january six when the capital was being attacked. why not admit, yes i sent that tax. why not be proud of that? they are all silent. every one of them are still silent. the proof of their fear is their silence. there is no longer member of the house of representatives than jim jordan. he was silent today, silent. silent is what jim jordan chooses when he is in very big trouble. jim jordan continues to remain silent about under oath accusations made by members of the ohio state wrestling team when jim jordan was an assistant coach of the team he knew about sex crimes committed by the team doctor against members of the team. and jim jordan said and did nothing about that. members of that team testified under oath that when jim jordan found out that kids on the team he was coaching were being sexually abused by the team doctor jim jordan chose silence. every day that jim jordan chooses silence is a day that jim jordan knows that he is in deep trouble. today, the house select committee to investigate the january 6th attack on the capitol issued a subpoena to a man who the new york times describes tonight as, quote, the founder forklift driver and floor sweeper at one shot distillery ambulatory in dripping springs, texas. the man's name is phil walton. he was one of the non lawyers with no expertise whatsoever in rudy giuliani's kankara explaining about the election in the swing states. mr. phil waldron being investigating for circulating a power point presentation which the chairman of the committee, bennie thompson calls, quote, an alarming blueprint for overturning a nationwide election. phil waldron spent 30 years in the army retiring with the rank of colonel which is not a difficult rank to achieve when you spend 30 years in the army. you will hear him being referred to as a colonel as if it is worth the somehow of your respect. which it is not. he is someone who works in some kind of brewery and distillery. in august, our next guest cole wrote an article with former federal prosecutor barbara mcquade and joyce vance, laying out a roadmap for the justice department to follow in investigating donald trump. professor laurence tribe co-wrote the article, quote, if we were to maintain our democracy and respect the rule of the, law efforts to overturn a fair election simply cannot be tolerated. one possible charges conspiracy. it is a federal crime for individuals to agree to defraud the united states by interfering with governmental functions. in the financial times today, he writes that, history tells us that democracies the field to protect themselves with the full force of the law are flirting with extension. the article quotes washington's governor saying that, the american psyche has not recognize that we are one vice president away from a coup. leading off our discussion tonight is laurence tribe, university professor of harvard law school. he has won 35 cases in the united states supreme court. professor, thank you very much for joining us tonight. i have been wondering this week what the revelations of the week that to your assessment made back in august. that the justice department should be running a criminal investigation of what donald trump was doing. >> this week, the house select committee released a cascade of information that confirms what i believed and others believed back in august. and that is a department of justice really needs to look into the crimes that were committed. list cheney was very precise. clearly channeling a decision of a trump appointee, judged up new from last week. see how she essentially quoted a section from 15 12, which makes it a federal crime for anyone to corruptly obstruct or impede, whether by action or inaction, an official proceeding and she held them in prosecution brought by the justice. that is one of many federal crimes that are involved. another is the federal crime of aiding and giving comfort to an insurrection. which is clearly what happened on january six. and what we have is an avalanche of information about text and emails and other communications directly to the white house. these are all directly to mark meadows at donald trump side. the question is whether it was trump alone, trump and meadows, both of them with the six members of congress -- all of them seem to be involved in a conspiracy to commit a very serious federal crime. punishable by 20 years in federal prison. and to the extent that they were aiding and giving comfort to an insurrection. that is also questionable by ten more years. and by permanence disqualification by holding federal office. and it is certainly true that a democracy that allows this kind of crime to go on investigated and punished and really exposed by the legislative branch is a democracy that is committing suicide. we cannot afford to do that. >> we have a recent person who was convicted involving campaign finance. it's minor compared to what we are talking about here. he was sentenced to a year of home confinement. and so in the western world, we do have examples of this. but it seems to me that washington genuinely and possibly maybe more. a prosecution of a previous president is something that occurs not on this continent. this is not something for us. this is something for another kind of government in other kinds of countries. what is your reaction to that kind of thinking about this? >> i imagine that that kind of thinking might have been an attorney general, merrick garland's mind. before it became increasingly clear that he is almost certainly going to confront a referral for criminal investigation and prosecution of some very high officials, i think he is wise enough to recognize that dangerous as it is to make a common practice of going after the proceedings administrations, it is even more dangerous to allow any incumbent who has been voted out of office to plot and plan from the very date of the election and indeed by planting doubt about the election in advance. regardless of what the people one. it is not indicative to preserve the peaceful succession of power to someone chosen by the people and by the electoral college. that is the hallmark of the democracy that cares enough about its future. they need to preserve itself and remember franklin's famous comment, what do we have if we can't keep it? to keep it we really have to up our game. and i am hopeful, i can't quite say i'm confident because there is no indication yet. but i am confident that the people at the top and merrick garland will wait no longer. and that we are about to see a serious criminal investigation not only of the footsoldiers but of the generals and of the top general of them all. >> donald trump, remaining up salute the silent in the face of these revelations this week with a detailed description of the criminal plot to violate election laws and steal the presidential election, the republican participants are remaining absolutely silent about their participation in the plot. so let me offer a possible defense from the silent side. a member, whether it be a house member or donald trump, says that he doesn't think any of this is illegal. i thought it was within mike pence's power to do this. and i firmly believed that the election results were fraudulent. i don't have any proof of that. i just believed it because all my friends voted for donald trump. >> you meet the insanity defense? is that where you're describing? >> i didn't know that that was the insanity defense. i thought it was an ignorance defense. >> ignorance of the facts i suppose is one kind of excuse. but not knowing that donald trump lost the election, that is ignorance of the law. and that doesn't count. you have to be monumentally ignorant of the constitution and the laws of the united states to think that the vice president has unilateral power to basically disregard the certified electoral votes and allow it completely phony set of electors to come in their steed. people who say they believe that are asking you to accept a fantasy. and i just don't think that that is a plausible claim. i don't think the attorney general of the united states is likely to be inhibited by the possibility that some juror might accept that claim. but even if so, that is not a reason not to investigate thoroughly and fully. the idea of waiting, just waiting until the january six committee is done is a big mistake. memories fade. people shaped their testimony to meet what they already heard. it's important that a parallel investigation by the fbi be underway right now. the justice department, with all of its power should not simply wait for congress but move all speed ahead to investigate the criminal responsibility of those who tried to overturn a fair and free election in the united states. it is the first time that it has gone this far. we cannot let it happen again. and the only way to avoid that is by invoking these laws that among other things disqualify people from ever holding office. if they have taken oath to uphold the constitution and then plot to subvert it -- >> harvard law professor, laurence tribe, always an honor to have you with us. thank you very much for being with us. >> good to be with you. >> coming up, congresswoman said she saw republican members of congress giving tours the day before the attack on the capitol. giving tours up the capitol. congresswoman cheryl joins us next. if it works on nfl jerseys it'll work for you. seriously! just perfect! and it'll save up to $150 a year. and it's cold! so you will turn to cold? fine! i'll turn to cold! that guy needs to chill out! this was a cold call! small businesses like yours make gift-giving possible. now, comcast business has an exclusive gift for you. introducing the gift of savings sale. for a limited time, ask how to get a great deal for your business. and get up to a $500 prepaid card with select bundles when you switch to the network that can deliver gig speeds to the most businesses. or get started with internet and voice for $64.99 per month with a 2-year price guarantee. give your business the gift of savings today. comcast business. powering possibilities. early audiences give "sing 2" an a+. i counted nine smiles, two belly laughs and five chuckles. it's a heartwarming crowd-pleaser that will have feet tapping. our next guest congresswoman mikie sherrill is sounding the alarm on what her colleagues were doing before january six. congresswoman mikie sherrill, a former navy helicopter pilot, kissing that members of congress who had groups coming through the capitol that she saw on january 5th for what she thought was reconnaissance for the next day. joining us now is democratic congresswoman mikie sherrill of new jersey. she is a member of the armed service committee. she is also a federal prosecutor. and a former helicopter pilot in the navy. congresswoman, we have come a long way from that experience you were having on january 5th watching these people move through the capital and wondering about it 24 hours later, getting very suspicious about it. we now have all of these informations gathered and revealed so far by the january six committee which i sense is the tip of the iceberg of what they know. what is your sense of where we are and your understanding now of what you went through a year ago? >> lawrence, you're exactly right. as you mentioned, i am a former navy helicopter pilot. i have served all over the world. we are trained to alert, to report things that are unusual or do not seem right. and certainly, when the capital was closed to visitors to have those tours going through the capitol, and to see what happened on january six i reported that. and i think as we have seen through testimony and thousands of papers that have been turned over and text that we have seen reported, that quite frankly, the coordinated effort that went into planning january six went far deeper than i think many of us had anticipated. and there was a detailed plan, a cordon aided effort, that led to those attacks. the effort to overturn our democratic elections. and luckily, just because of our deep beliefs in congress we were able to go back and ensure the will of the people was heard. that we were able to certify the elections. but it is such at a heavy cost. >> i want to repeat the list that the new york times is publishing tonight about the members who are heavily involved in a plot with mark meadows to overturn the election. these are republican members of congress, jim jordan, and the big, spawn gosar, louis go, mark moe brooks, scott perry. they were actively involved, the new york times involves it this time. this circle moved well beyond words and into action. they bombarded the department with dubious claims. they pressured members of state legislators to conduct audits that would cast doubt on the election results. they plotted to disrupt the certification on january six of joseph r. biden's victory. and as we just heard from professor tribe, that plot was a criminal plot. >> well i think that we saw over time the former president was very impressed. and with putin, she jinping, and kim jong-un where the people he looked to and spoke in very complimentary turns a belt while turning his back on our traditional allies that supported democracy with us. so it should come as no surprise, he was emulating them. and we saw even his own legal team put together a 36 slide powerpoint on how to keep him in powder. and what people can do and we are presenting that evidently to members of congress. so to see that this was a cordon needed effort to overturn the will of the american people, really now comes as no surprise. >> what has been your reaction this week to discover all these text going from republican members of congress to mark meadows during the attack on the capitol, saying, donald trump has to stop this. they all believed that donald trump had complete control of that crowd and could tell them to simply stop in the. >> that is really damning. to have the understanding and then not come forward in the aftermath of january six in a united front to ensure that this never happens again. this was an attempt to floor the democratic force of the people. something i regard a secret. i have taken an oath to the constitution of the united states many times over my lifetime. the first time was when i was 18 years old and entered into the naval academy. most recently, i did it last january as i started a new session of congress. and what is really incredibly heartbreaking to me is that every single member of congress were talking about, when we're talking about people like mark meadows, when we're talking about the president of the united states, every single one of them took that same old. >> congresswoman mikie sherrill, thank you very much for joining us tonight. really appreciate it. >> thank you for having me. >> thank you. and coming up, all transportation -- i'll ask about the build back better bill. secretary pete buttigieg joins us next. joins us next. ♪ "how bizarre" by omc ♪ no annual fee on any discover card. ♪ ♪ o man, that's a whole lot of wrinkly at least my shoes look good! no annual fee on any discover card. looking good start with bounce wrinkleguard, the megasheet designed to prevent wrinkles in the dryer. [sfx: radio being tuned] welcome to allstate. ♪ [band plays] ♪ a place where everyone lives life well-protected. ♪♪ and even when things go a bit wrong, we've got your back. here, things work the way you wish they would. and better protection costs a whole lot less. you're in good hands with allstate. click or call for a lower auto rate today. you're in good hands with allstate. ♪ ♪ ♪ hey google. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ 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. this is your home. this is your family room slash gym. the guest bedroom slash music studio. the daybed slash dog bed. the living room slash yoga shanti slash regional office slash classroom. and this is the basement slash panic room. maybe what your family needs is a vacation home slash vacation home. find yours on the vrbo app. ♪♪ with downy infusions, let the scent set the mood. feel the difference with downy. find yours on the vrbo app. >> secretary pete buttigieg will join us next. i am always eager to tech to the secretary. especially after reading a reported article in time magazine but samuels, entitled, the truck driver shortage doesn't exist. saying there is one, makes conditions works for drivers. but lana samuels reports, there was no trucker shortage, there is a trucker retention problem created by the poor conditions that sprung up in the industry, in the wake of the 19 80s deregulation. there were 1.5 million people employed in trucking last month, according to the bureau of labor statistics, just 1% fewer than in october 2019, and 15% more than a decade ago. that is a faster growth rate than overall non farm employment, which is still down 2% from 2019 and up only 12% from a decade ago. in fact, there are so many truck drivers right now that brokers are able to pick them against each other and worsening conditions. our next guest secretary of transportation, pete buttigieg participated in white house public meeting with members of the biden administration and members of the trucking industry today. including labor leaders. secretary buttigieg helps with what the administration calls a trucking action plan, to strengthen americans trucking them -- joining us now is pete buttigieg. thank you so much for joining us tonight secretary. >> thank you for having me on. >> i would like to begin with the breaking news of this hour, which is the statement from president biden tonight about the build back better act. he said, just describing his discussions with senator manchin, senator manchin has reiterated his support for build back better funding at the level of the framework plan i announced in september. he said, we will advance this work together over the days and weeks ahead. leadership are and i are determined to see the bill successfully on the floor as early as possible. so the timing there sounds like when i hear weeks, it sounds like it won't be before christmas as was hoped, it sounds like it is moving over into january. and the september level that he is talking about with senator manchin, is that the 1.7 five trillion? >> that is right. that is my understanding. the president expressed confidence that this is going to get done. i think largely because the urgency continues. the support among the american people continues. right now, we don't have one republican vote for this. but we are continuing to have the conversation with senators to look at how exactly to get this done. look, this is only becoming more urgent as we see a lot of news about inflation. because this view is about cutting costs. cutting the cost of insulin. cutting the cost of elder care. cutting pre-k to free. cutting the cost of electric vehicles. so that more drivers and families can afford the gas savings that come with a electric vehicle if you can afford one. this is something that america needs more than other. the right policy at the right time. you know i think we are going to get it done, but i can't speak to the exact date that it's going to happen. >> we are going to get to this. the trucking workforce. is specifically addressed in the infrastructure bill that has already been passed. as i was thinking about it this evening, there are so many provisions of the build back better bill that apply to truckers as well as other workers over the country. the child tax credit for example. when you read about just how difficult the economic life of truckers is, in this country. they have -- there is ways of benefiting the trucking workforce outside of the infrastructure bill and in build back better. >> absolutely. i will give you an example. we had a roundtable as you mentioned with secretary waltz and i. we were meeting with leaders from labor and business in the trucking secular. one of the most interesting presentations was by an organization called women in trucking. the number of women has grown to 10%. that's a long way short of 50%. if we are living 50% of the country on the table when it comes to recruiting women into a profession where we clearly many more people. not that you have to be a woman to benefit from the childcare provisions from build back better. but there is no question that it is going to lead to more women to the workforce. which is many reasons why it's good for families and the economy. >> i want to hear one point your plan released today. that addresses would i was talking about in that time magazine article. about the working conditions of truckers. that makes the job so unattractive, which is one of the major problems in the industry. and your plan indicates that the department of transportation, the department of labor, will launch a task force to investigate predatory truck leasing agreements that dissuade drivers from entering or staying in the industry, established in the bipartisan infrastructure law. so that is already established in the law. how do you hope that will help strengthen the trucker workforce? >> we need to make sure that this is the most attractive job possible. on one hand, we are driving more recruitment efforts. because we do know there are a lot of people seeking to get into this profession. that is where some of the work we are doing, for example to cut some red tape out of the process and get commercial driver licenses. so important. more veterans and other efforts. we also have this, there are a lot of conditions that are unfair. or unreasonable, that truckers face. as long as that persists, it is going to be difficult to attract people and keep people in that profession. some of the arrangements in terms of how people are training, they might wind up on the hook after the cost of their training which can be problematic if they are not paired with a good income on the end of that. similarly with these leasing arrangements. it is true of people are told, when they are invited into this profession. you talk to some truckers, they have had fantastic careers. good wages, benefits. that is especially true with the truckers that benefit from being a part of the union. we also got a lot of feel that this isn't the profession they signed up for. we have to fix that. or else are best recruitment efforts are just going to be filling a leaky bucket. >> the reporting in time magazine describes a dramatic difference in your life as a truck or if you are a unionized trucker, or if you are an independent trucker on your own. those unionized truckers have sensible work hours, and the independent truckers are just at the mercy of so many different crosscurrents. >> they are typically paid by an independent. by the load or by the mile. not by the hour. that means if they are out of port and it is operating in an inefficient way, or a warehouse, and they're being wit made to wait hours and hours to pick up or drop off a load. they are not being compensated for that time. so at a time where there is talk about a shortage, i don't want to get hung up on the terminology. clearly we have a issue with trucker capacity. we need not waste the time with the truckers we have. time is money for them. it's just one example of things we need to develop in this industry. if we want it to be the kind of sustaining career. that makes sense for workers and makes sense economically. at a time where our supply chains are getting so much attention. look, supply chains at the end of the day are made of people. literally driven by people. if you think about it, especially in the last two years, we have depended more than ever on truckers. they can't come to work by zoom. they need to be on the road. we have counted on them. when you order something online, it doesn't just descend from the cloud. it is brought to your home. it is brought to wear the warehouses. to get to your home. by a truck or. same thing with everything you see on a shelf in a store. and we have to make sure that this profession is respected and compensated, in a way that reflects its value. >> secretary buttigieg as you look at the supply chain in it's totality. internationally, domestically. what do you see is the areas of needing the most improvement at this point? >> for the reasons we just discussed, we are certainly paying a lot of attention to the issues around trucking capacity. we are also seeing a lot of challenges in our ports. i'm really pleased with some of the progress that has been made. at least one of our key ports in california has cut in half the amount of containers that are dwelling there for a long time. coming up capacity and taking space. when we really need to be moving those through. cutting them in half since early november. we have sweeper shifts picking up empty containers. in savannah where we have seen pop-up container yards that we have helped to support, to move containers inland. so that they can be processed more quickly and efficiently. there's a lot of good work going on. but there is a lot needed to be done. for the long run, it is upgrading our infrastructure. including our poor infrastructure. in the immediate term, it is the steps like the ones i just described. look, the bottom line is, globally and domestically, as long as this pandemic persists, it is going to create disruptions in our supply chains. as it has from the very first time it was hard to get toilet paper in this country, in march of 2020. that is why we have so much urgency about getting everyone vaccinated and putting this pandemic in the past. >> secretary of transportation pete buttigieg, always great to have you here. nobody breaks it down as you do. thank you very much for joining us again. tonight >> thank you. >> thank you. coming up, this was the lot for a drive-through covid testing in miami today. laurie garrett, will join us next, with the latest on the omicron variant. what you need to know about holiday travel and new year's eve parties. that is next. s next after just 2 doses. skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms such as fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches, or coughs or if you plan to or recently received a vaccine. ♪nothing is everything♪ talk to your dermatologist about skyrizi. learn how abbvie could help you save. ♪ limu emu... & doug ♪ ♪ superpowers from a spider bite? i could use some help showing the world how liberty mutual customizes their car insurance so they only pay for what they need. (gasps) ♪ did it work? only pay for what you need ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ spider-man no way home in theaters december 17th just getting by. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ it's an ongoing struggle. that's why president biden and democrats in congress have a plan to lower costs for america's working families. lower costs of health care premiums. and the price of prescription drugs. pay less for electric bills by moving to clean energy. we do it all by making the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share of taxes. it'd be a win for the everyday american family. right when they could really use one. congress, let's get this done. if you're washing with the bargain brand, even when your clothes look clean, there's extra dirt you can't see. watch this. that was in these clothes... ugh. but the clothes washed in tide- so much cleaner. if it's got to be clean it's got to be tide hygienic clean. no surprises in these clothes! couple more surprises. age before beauty? why not both? visibly diminish wrinkled skin in... crepe corrector lotion... only from gold bond. >> during the steps we have taken, omicron has not yet spread as much as it would have otherwise. not as much as it's happened in europe. but it is here now, it is spreading and it is going to increase. for the unvaccinated, we are looking at severe illness and death. but there is good news. if you are vaccinated, you have your booster shot, you are protected from severe illness and death -- >> joining us now laurie garrett, pulitzer prize-winning reporter. she is an msnbc science contributor. laura, you tweeted about being on the show tonight. and you said that you tried to answer these questions, should you change your holiday travel plans and what about new years eve? neither of those questions had occurred to me until i read your tweet. new year's eve is clearly most important of them. so let me put it to you this way. if i were in california, should i fly to new york if i am invited to the coolest new years eve party in new york? and i just checked my new years eve invitation, and there is nothing, so this is a theoretical. >> lawrence, we are facing a truly overwhelming epidemic face. it is going to be gigantic. you can look around the world, places like toronto are reporting today. or denmark, new york city, they're all reporting. it is not a curve that does a nice line at a 45 degree angle. or even a loop-the-loop as we've been seeing with delta. it is straight up. all over the world we are seeing these absolute explosions. because this virus is so contagious. we know that it is significantly more contagious than delta. which is the most contagious that we have seen since january 2020. on top of everything else, it looks like it colin isis and we now have pictures that shows this, it colonizers in the upper airways. so that means just casual breathing is expelling virus into the airspace of all of those around you. unless everybody is wearing really tight fitting and 95 or k 95 masks and covering their nose, which is the main route of infection, then they are at risk. that is a lot to talk about and to think about if you want to get in a taxicab or public transportation. going to the airport, going through all the crowds, going through the tsa at the airport, then flying in a plane. and doing everything in reverse at the other end. to be among a mix of people who may be strangers and try to trust that everyone has tested themselves is tough. we are seeing this virus so quickly. they may testify but clock in the afternoon and come a positive. this is really something different than what we have dealt with up until now. so, lawrence, the question becomes -- even against this omicron do you believe that it's less likely to cause too great harm? that did appear to be the case that was what people were saying two weeks ago when everything was getting started in south africa. but keep in mind it started on a college campus. so you are talking about young healthy 20 year olds. south africa's a very youthful society. it is one of the youngest societies on earth. now we are beginning to see the virus erupting in places where the demographic skews are older. it appears in denmark, uk, and eventually here in the united states. we have a diverse ratio. we also have to keep in mind that we have all kinds of different variabilities of who is unvaccinated and who is. if they may have had one shot, two shots, a booster. which vaccines they may have had. and all these vaccines make a difference in whether or not you are going to get sick if you get infected. and how sick will you be. but you cannot say it is a zero risk. that is absolutely for sure. even if you are trouble vaccinated, plus you previously had covid. because none of it combined offers 100 percent protection. >> laurie garrett, a lot to think about. thank you for joining us once again. we always appreciate it. >> thank you lawrence. >> thank you. and coming up, you are next. in tonight's last word. seriously, it's all about you, next. l about you, next rkey. kidding me?! instead, start small. with nicorette. which can lead to something big. start stopping with nicorette at vanguard, you're more than just an investor, you're an owner with access to financial advice, tools and a personalized plan that helps you build a future for those you love. vanguard. become an owner. with downy infusions, let the scent set the mood. feel the difference with downy. ♪ christmas music ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ if your dry eye symptoms keep coming back, what?! no! over the counter eye drops typically work by lubricating the eyes and may provide temporary relief. xiidra works differently, targeting inflammation that can cause dry eye disease. it can provide lasting relief. xiidra is the only fda-approved non-steroid eye drop specifically for the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease. one drop in each eye, twice a day. don't use if you are allergic to xiidra. common side effects include eye irritation, discomfort or blurred vision when applied to the eye, and unusual taste sensation. don't touch container tip to your eye or any surface. after using xiidra wait 15 minutes before reinserting contacts. ♪♪♪ this holiday, ask your doctor about xiidra. umph! every day in business brings something new. ask your doctor about xiidra. so get the flexibility of the new mobile service designed for your small business. introducing comcast business mobile. you get the most reliable network with nationwide 5g included. and you can get unlimited data for just $30 per line per month when you get four lines or mix and match data options. available now for comcast business internet customers with no line-activation fees or term contract required. see if you can save by switching today. comcast business. last night we updated you about powering possibilities. the remarkable journey of joyce chisale when she appeared on the news. she first received a scholarship in malawi. you had the chance to watch joyce chisale growing up over the years from the first time she appeared with us reciting a poem at her high school in malawi. we brought her to the united states in 2018 when she joined us as a guest in the studio. and spoke to students her age about the challenges about getting an education in malawi. we're public high school is not free. and the girl's graduation rate is less than half of the boy's graduation. last night, joyce chisale joined us from her new campus at the university of malawi college. leslie tweeted, watching joyce chisale brought tears to my eyes. i remember when she was first introduced and read her poems little by little. i've donated scholarships to kindfund. another tweeted, she is my favorite. pam tweeted, thank you lawrence for the update on joyce chisale. i love seeing her. so far this holiday season, you have contributed an additional 786 $766 to the kindfund, kids in need of desk. the partnership i created with msnbc and unicef to provide dusk in schools in malawi. and scholarships for girls to attend high school. stacy roberts tweeted, as the year ends i've contributed once again to providing doesn't scholarship in mulls schools have does. please watch joyce chisale, thankful message no amount is too small. you can contribute any amount at anytime at the last word desk at msnbc.com. you can also make a contribution on your holiday gifts and unicef will send them an acknowledgment of your gift. another tweeted, i just donated to lawrence is kindfund to help girls in malawi. the girls are tomorrow's leaders. and even a little bit continue their life. thank you all very much for your continued support and kindness. i think you. and joyce chisale thanks to. >> to the people who are donating, you are doing a great job up there. you are helping a lot of girls including me. and behalf of all the girls i would like to say thank you for your support. thank you for showing support to all of us. >> joyce chisale gets tonight's last word. the 11th hour starts now. >> good evening, i'm stephanie ruhle. day 331 of the biden administration. with just nine days until christmas, we are back, waiting for long lines for covid tests. the nation now facing an alarming new surge of cases. just as we head into year three. i'm going to say that again. year three of this pandemic. meanwhile, our already exhausted health care system is now caught between the delta variant and this new highly transmissible omicron strain. >> omicron is here. it is going to start to spread much more rapidly at the beginning of the year. the only real protection is to get your shot. the if you are unvaccinated, we are looking at a winter of severe illness and death. we are going to protect economic recovery. we are going to keep schools and businesses. open >> it is already spreading. tonight, the cdc predicts that there could be more than 1 million new covid cases by the end of christmas week. the government says that this new strain is spreading fastest in new york and new jersey. some new york city restaurants and even some broadway shows are having to close back down. the city plans to offer residents half 1 million rapid tests and 1 million masks. we will get an update from the front lines of covid later in the hour. there is al