trump inner circle, i'll speak with michael cohen, former fixer of president trump. what is the shift of priorities as the hail mary plan emerges to push voting reforms. a new hour of msnbc reports starts right now. we will begin this morning in the senate which only just adjourned at 4:00 after a marathon session pushed through votes on judicial and cabinet nominations. the big news is what mitch mcconnell is saying about the january 6th select committee. >> were you personally in contact with mark meadows? >> i was not. 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 of the participants involved. >> we are watching the investigation that's occurring in the house. reading about it like everyone else. it will be interesting to see what facts they find. it was a horrendous event. i think what they're seeking to find out is something that the public needs to know. >> read the reports every day. it will be interesting to see what they conclude. >> the signal of support for the select committee from mcconnell is at odds with kevin mccarthy who opposed the investigation. the select committee has been busy issuing a subpoena for the man who wrote the 38-page power point presentation over how to overturn the results of the election. that presentation was given to gop lawmakers before the attack on the capitol. the presentation had assertions like china and venezuela taking control of the system and calling to declare electronic voting in all states invalid. the presentation was turned over to the committee by former chief of staff mark meadows. he was held in contempt of congress after failing to comply with his subpoenas. alex jones was supposed to appear today, but that was postponed. roger stone appeared yesterday and pleaded the fifth in response to every question. nbc news learned that homeland security official ken cuchinelli was set to speak out. and a florida man repeatedly assaulted officers on the west terrace and throwing a pole and fire extinguisher at officers. joining me now is julie and kyle. julie, the news that ken was interviewed by the committee that broke last night. what do we know about his appearance? >> this is significant, lindsey. he appeared voluntarily. he was not subpoenaed by the committee. we learned the former dhs official for president trump appeared before the committee and spoke to them about the preparations that his agency did leading up to the day of january 6th. the january surveyed the night after the insurrection. all of the things that were broken and all of the stuff that went on and when people stormed the capitol. he told them about the preparations that day. he also answered questions on what contact he had, if any, with former president trump and mark meadows and with other cabinet officials and administration officials. we know that part there. what we also know is something key you mentioned at the top. phil waldrin is on the list for the next set of committee members. the subpoena announced for waldrin and worked with john eastman on the memo outlining the ways that vice president pence could object. he said the document he provided to officials and members of congress is an alarming blueprint for overturning a nationwide election. you also mentioned the committee was supposed to hear from alex jones this morning. we don't know what else, but they are working to postpone his deposition. he issued a video statement saying he will plead the fifth. he called the investigation a kangaroo court and witch hunt. the committee has a lot of work on their plate. lindsey. >> kyle, mark meadows has been seen in contempt of court similar to steve bannon. where does the situation with meadows go from here? >> in the hands of the justice department. it is more complicated than steve bannon. he did not only defy, he was in the white house during the key issues in question. mark meadows did briefly cooperate. he provided thousands of documents that the committee is actually finding to be significant in their investigation. it is a more complicated question for the justice department to issue charges. that is where it is right now. they may still say look, you were subpoenaed to appear. you didn't appear. that's a crime. there are questions of privilege that are wrapped up in it. at the end of the day, it may be what it comes downs to for doj. >> kyle, mitch mcconnell says he was not in contact with mark meadows on january 6th. we have learned from the committee and other lawmakers were. what do we know about the trove of meadows' texts and whose names could turn up? >> we know that one went from jim jordan to mark meadows. it was a legal analysis justifying theory of what pence could do to stop the election of biden. that is one we identified. the others, we understand, from lawmakers and other espousing these things. we learned the interplay with the white house and capitol hill with trump allies. we have only seen a scratch of the surface. the committee released a dozen pages of the thousands. there may be more to come. >> kyle and julie, thank you both. joining me now is the representative of illinois. congress member, thank you for being here. >> good morning. >> let's start with jan 6th investigation. you tweeted in response to the meadows' contempt vote that actions have consequences. these consequences don't compel meadows or bannon to cooperate? >> not yet. that's why it has to go through the justice department and they have to act. i also think it sends a signal to others, lindsey, who choose to defy the subpoena authority of the committee and congress that if they decide to stonewall, that they meet with the same consequences that bannon and meadows have so far. >> last night, trump homeland official ken cuccinelli answered questions for four hours over his interactions with meadows and donald trump. what do you hope the committee learned from him? what questions might you have asked him? >> i think the biggest question that people like myself and others who lived through january 6th was why did it take so long for a response once we knew what was happening at the capitol? what did people like cuccinelli and others know in the run-up to january 6th? we knew there was intelligence and people descending on on the capitol and yet, still, the government was flat footed or intentionally holding back its response. that's deeply disturbing. >> we have a glimpse at a few of the thousands of texts that meadows turned over to the committee. we know there are some from the republican colleagues who texted meadows. what do you think we will learn from that and why is that relevant to this? >> i think a lot echo the sentiments of donald trump junior or sean hannity and fox news meaning you have to call this off, mention the trump administration white house and trump specifically. it threatens their future prospects and his legacy and so forth. yet, i think the deeply disappointing aspect of this is none of them will publicly come out and say what they were saying privately. inaddition, we learned polling through 60% of republicans believe the election was stolen and some ways we believe what people did on january 6th was somehow justified. that is really the deep disconnect that we see which is on the day of january 6th, there was deep revulsion across the spectrum. in the months afterwards, the mood has changed. certainly among republicans. now they are willing to support the president's theories. >> congress member, let's talk build back better here. it appears stalled for now in the senate. where do you see the future of the legislation? are you disappointed we won't see passage before the end of the year? >> yes, i think it will happen shortly after the new year. they negotiaing with the house. we have to get it done. as you know, the child tax credit expires at the end of the year. i expect that many people, including senator manchin and others, are going to hear about how important this particular provision and others were and are for families across the country. >> democratic representative of illinois. thank you. >> thank you, lindsey. still to come, the omicron outbreak. things are beginning to look a lot like the early stages of the pandemic yet again. we will break down what you need to know and the lead up to the holidays. first, live to kentucky where the clean up continues following the historic string of deadly tornadoes. you are watching "msnbc reports." ports. her cape. but when we realized she was battling sensitive skin, we switched to tide hygienic clean free. it's gentle on her skin, and out cleans our old free detergent. tide hygienic clean free. hypoallergenic and safe for sensitive skin. i've got moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. now, there's skyrizi. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months, 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. 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. ♪ i see trees of green ♪ ♪ red roses too ♪ ♪ i see them bloom ♪ ♪ for me and you ♪ ♪ and i think to myself ♪ ♪ what a wonderful world ♪ a rich life is about more than just money. that's why at vanguard, you're more than just an investor, you're an owner so you can build a future for those you love. vanguard. become an owner. what does a foster kid need from you? 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>> reporter: it has slowed down a bit, lindsey. good morning. there are heavy equipment trucks in the rain. they will get it done. they made a lot more progress than monday or tuesday of this week. things are coming along despite the rain and what is going to be a drop in temperatures. they gave residents earlier in the week to salvage what they could from their homes and businesses and now trying to literally remove the debris. it will be a long painstaking process. really unclear as to when they will start to take down the main structures in the downtown area. >> you know, wendy, a lot of people across the country want to help. what can they do? >> reporter: well, just like governor beshear donated blood, they asking people across the nation to donate blood. the blood supply is so depleted because of covid and also if you are going to donate money, donate to an organization or non-profit that you trust. that is the quickest way to get money from your pocketbook to the ones that need it most. i have been floored by alabama or mississippi and north carolina and illinois. i met people from seattle. they are really appreciating all of the outpouring of help and support around here of what is going to be a long process. >> wendy woolfolk, thank you so much. the omicron variant surge in covid cases across the country continues. wreaking havoc on professional sports leagues to holiday plans. now the cdc says stay away from a certain vaccine if you can. we will look at where the situation stands next. situation. what do we want for dinner? 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[ everyone agreeing ] right now, coronavirus is gripping the united states. day by day, cases are rapidly rising and hospitals are again pushed to the brink. mostly due to the omicron variant. yesterday, the country reported 120,000 new covid cases. the hospitalizations are up 18% over the last two weeks. the average of daily deaths is up 15% in that same time span. new york state, one of the epicenters of the pandemic, is experiences the worst surge case wise. 21,000 new cases. that is the highest single day total for new cases for the state since the pandemic began. governor kathy hochul said the total number of tested submitted came back positive. in new york city, you can see people's concerns by long lines at tests sites. i caught up with folks in line in midtown manhattan yesterday. >> what are you doing in line? >> well, a couple of reasons. one of my coworkers was diagnosed with covid and with the upcoming holidays, i thought it was the prudent thing to do. >> why is it important to get tested? >> i had friends recently exposed to covid. to be safe, i want to get tested. >> what do you think of the line? >> it is crazy. i came at 6:30 and, you know, i'm at the middle of the line. >> very long wait. we're happy to wait. very important at the moment with the current rise of pandemic rate. >> that line was two and a half hours long. covid is also taking a toll on professional sports. three of the four sports leagues postponing due to outbreaks on several teams. for more on all of this, i'm joined by steve patterson. steve, good morning. recent numbers of covid cases are staggering, but so have hospitalizations. any sense how omicron could be the dominant strain? >> reporter: there is a timeline, but i hate to say it. omicron has a doubling time of two days, lindsey. think back and imagine the fervor that experts talked about the transmissibility of the delta variant. this is worse. it will takeover in the u.s. in two or three weeks. the hopeful estimate is some time around mid-january. there's good news followed by more bad news. the good news is we should say omicron doesn't appear to be more harmful or deadly than what we have seen. experts say it is easier to catch. the additional bad news is just because omicron takes over, doesn't mean the delta variant is going anywhere. we are still in the fairly young delta surge as it is right now. we are talking about another variant superimposed on top of that with hot spots all over the country. it is haunting how this feels exactly like a year ago. except, we have vaccines to save lives if people would take the avice and get one. >> you say it feels like march of 2020. i was reporting and rockettes cancel four shows and the nfl cancelling games this weekend with the surge on four teams. what do we know specifically about the nfl? >> reporter: they released the statement saying the new variant is causing an increase in cases across the league. the count is now north of 150 players tested positive for covid in the last five days. some teams are operating with more than 20 guys on the roster sidelined. to try to mitigate this, the league is announcing masking regardless of vaccination and no outside visitors. this variant is like wildfire. we are seeing this across all of sports. lindsey. >> steve patterson, thanks a lot. steve was talking about how transmissible omicron is and dr. collins, the outgoing director of the nih predicts omicron will be the dominant strain in a matter of weeks. >> i am concerned because this is a variant, omicron, which has more than 50 mutations compared to the original virus from wuhan. it makes it apparently very contagious with the doubling time you just mentioned. two-to-four days. we saw that in south africa and in the uk and now in the united states. that is much faster than delta which we thought was already really fast. this will potentially be the dominant strain in two or three weeks at the rate it's going. >> joining us on the phone is dr. gounder. an epidemiologist and former member of the biden advisory board. dr. gounder, people are freaking out about covid again. you can tell by how long the lines are. it is what people are talking about. we know it is highly transmissible. what does that mean? how worried should we be? >> that really means, lindsey, if you are infected, you are more likely to transmit that infection to others and to infect many others. that's what it means to be more contagious or more transmissible. we are still are not entirely sure now viralent omicron is. the data based on age out of south africa, it does seem to be promising it is a milder form of illness versus the older strains of covid. i think it is important to understand and even if this is the milder illness, on average, if more people are infected, you will see an increase in hospitalizations and see an increase in deaths. i think we need to double down on all of the things we know work. including vaccination and hospitals really need to get themselves prepared for what is another surge. >> doctor, quickly, because i have more things i want to get to. even if there are more cases and it is a mild, and it is circulating, doesn't that open up to more mutations? >> certainly. >> only 17% of americans 5 years and older have gotten the booster. how important is getting a booster for protection against omicron? >> we have seen omicron which is immune evaevading. do not count on natural immunity or prior infection to protect you. it is somewhat, but you can overcome that with an extra booster dose. with omicron, it is important to get the booster dose. >> the cdc now says americans should choose pfizer and moderna over johnson & johnson citing a rare blood clotting disorder. if somebody got johnson & johnson, what is the answer? >> if you got the j&j, you need a booster. we have known that for some time now. you need a moderna or pfizer booster. you should get that as soon as possible. >> doctor, christmas is a week away. we know a lot of people were planning on spending with family after last year. should people consider cancelling? >> i think it depends on whether you and your family are willing to take other measures to protect yourself. number one, everybody is vaccinated and boosted. number two, are you potentially masks? if not, are you opening doors and windows or gathering outside? if you are indoors, use the hepa air filtration and take a rapid test in the morning. if you are negative, it is safer, not perfectly safe. it is safer to go without a mask that day. if you and your family are not all willing to do all that, there is a high risk of omicron this holiday season. >> i remember hearing the tests are selling out. dr. gounder, thank you. >> my pleasure. the fallout continues over this video. teachers rummages on the ground for money for their classrooms in south dakota. it is described as what's wrong the education system. more on this next. the educationm more on this next. honey? 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south dakota school teachers in the effort to fund classroom supplies. >> it shows how broken our system is. >> reporter: that system? the public education system. >> you are in this every day. what did you see when you saw this? >> i saw a well intended gesture from the community. it really highlighted the funding structure our teachers have to work through to provide the high quality education. >> reporter: the video igniting uproar over the visual of educators reaching for every dollar possible. stuffing the money down their shirts. >> teachers should never have to grovel for money. >> teachers are spending up to $150 out of their pockets for supplies. every salary in south dakota ranks 50th in the nation. >> reporter: the money donated. the organizers wrote in a statement following the criticism. our intent was to provide a positive and fun experience for teachers, we see how it appears to be degrading and insulting to teachers and profession as a whole. we apologize. nationally, the average teacher salary is $65,000. the latest data from the census bureau in teachers are spending $13,000 during the 2019 fiscal school year. >> this is a teachable moment. we need to do better for teachers and students. >> that was vaughn hillyard reporting. the senate adjourned for the year. the first on the agenda when they return? 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what we are trying to do is get a way to get this done. i think what we have seen now with the president speaking out and the priorities now of given in the senate, we are better than where we were, but we are nowhere where we need to be. we are need to be in a position where we have a clear 50 votes in the democratic caucus saying they will change the rules if necessary. on the filibuster to pass the john lewis bill. this is the future of democracy. how can we as states are as i speak changing state election laws displacing some of the local election boards that count the votes? how can we sit here and talk about next year when they are not waiting to next year to change state votes? >> any sense of joe manchin playing ball? >> i think he has been in the conversations. he is not as inflexible as he once seemed to be. he is not saying he is there yet. we have to keep the pressure and appeal on. this is too important and too significant for performance politics. this is about getting to the table from the streets to the suites and making this happen. those that want to be performative are not serving us well. i think it is about trying to do what is necessary to get this done. this is the fundamental right to vote being protected in the country. >> rreverend, you said the urgency could not be more palpable to take action on voting rights. why is this current moment so critical? i feel like it was more on the front burner several months ago when we see states pass restrictive voting laws and like any news cycle, attention shifted. do you think the public attention will shift also? >> i think that is our job which is why we continue to rally and march and doing what is necessary to keep the public's attention. the shift in my opinion is what opens up the door to states like georgia and north carolina and ohio and texas to start changing state election laws. they've changed them right now. you have even in certain counties in georgia. they literally changed the election boards of certain counties. that means they would be able to count the vote. those counties are stacked up by right wingers appointed by state legislation would not certify biden as the winner. this is not something that would be there for biden, but diseven franchise choiced the voters. we are going back to the state right model where they are no longer respects the united states of the union. they are saying we will decide state by state what is going to be the election laws or abortion laws or the voting laws or civil rights laws and who would be the president. we cannot go back to the jim crow states rights era all the way back to the civil war. we are in a state of emergency when it comes to the urgency of this moment. >> rev, do you feel almost a year into the biden administration that black voters feel left down and nothing hang on this issue? we go into 2022 and nothing done on this action and it will impact the midterms? >> i think when we supported the biden ticket we want voting rights and police reform. we are a week from christmas with neither. there are other things that are good. he helped families in some areas. the areas we most voted and rallied for, there is not significant movement. i think inaction on that level will lead to inaction with a lot of voter turnout. i'm getting it on my radio show and national action network which i lead. i'm saying it not to make a threat, but to give a forecast. sometimes the weatherman tells you the storm is coming. don't blame the weatherman for the storm. i'm telling you inaction is setting in. if there is no action on the reason there was action in the first place. >> all right. reverend al sharpton, thank you. check out rev tonight on politics nation. airing at 5:00 p.m. eastern on msnbc. as states across the country rush to restrict abortion access, the fda served abortion rights activists a victory. that's next on msnbc reports. bcs (vo) t-mobile for business helps small business owners prosper during their most important time of year. when you switch to t-mobile and bring your own device, we'll pay off your phone up to $1000. you can keep your phone. keep your number. and get your employees connected on the largest and fastest 5g network. plus, we give you $200 in facebook ads on us! so you can reach more customers, create more opportunities, and finish this year strong. visit your local t-mobile store today. and finish this year strong. when our daughter and her kids moved in with us... our bargain detergent couldn't keep up. turns out it's mostly water. so, we switched back to tide. one wash, stains are gone. 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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 at a time when many states are imposing strict abortion laws and the protections of roe v. wade hang in the balance, a change in fda guidelines is set to make abortion access easier nationwide. the fda announced thursday that patients can now get the medication used to terminate early stage pregnancies by mail instead of having to go and get it in person. the abortion pills can be prescribed by telemedicine appointment and mailed to the patient's home. groups have studied the drugs since it became available more than 20 years ago. they have deemed it safe and effective, but the medication can only be mailed in states where it's permitted by law and op points have been prepare for example years. take a look. all of these states have bans or restrictions in place to limit access to medication abortion. many of them already ban telemedicine for abortion. plus a new law in texas that went into effect this month that bans abortion after seven weeks, before many women know they're pregnant and criminalize abortion pills through the mail. with me now is kathleen sebelius, former secretary of the health and human services under the obama administration for the state of kansas. it's good to have you with me. thank you for being with us. >> this is an interesting and unique drug because few other drugs are dispensed in the same way as this abortion pill. patients couldn't just go to the pharmacy, they had to pick it up straight from a doctor. why this change now? >> well, i think, lindsay, you're absolutely rate. this is one of the drugs that the fda regulates and this drug was treated very differently. if a treatment needed to be done in person at a clinic or a doctor's office by a specially certified doctor. in spite of the fact that there are 4 million patients who have taken this drug over 20 years, the safety record is really almost unparalleled. during the period of the early breakout of covid is a lot of medical groups joined together once again to say to the fda you're putting women at an even greater risk by continuing this in-person distribution limitation by putting this drug under a very restricted distribution scheme. women are being penalized and a lot of them will not have access to their constitutional rights. so the fda made a temporary change that was then resistant by the trump administration, but when the biden administration authorized that temporary change to continue and just on thursday, on the 16th, the fda said we are lifting the restriction on this drug and a more global fashion. so it's not just pandemic related. we're going to look at this evidence. it's still very tightly controlled. unfortunatelies are as you pointed out in the map, i live in a state right now where they've taken action to say a woman cannot have a telemedicine appointment and have access to this drug. other states are making different restrictions for what doctors and providers can distribute the drug. so there are 19 states where already this is pretty tightly controlled, but for the 32 states that have not taken action at the state level. this is a big breakthrough for women. the odd thing about this restriction, linsey was that you had to go see a doctor to get this prescription and yet you left the office and could take the drug in your house. there is no other drug that was treated this way. this was a lot of people have thought for years much more about politics than about good health policy. >> we know that right now what's in the supreme court with the mississippi case which ban abortions after 15 weeks. it has yet to be decided and we will not know a ruling probably until the summer, but what potential impact could that decision have on this new fda rule? >> well, it depends on again, what the supreme court decides. right now because this is sort of a two-step. this is the fda saying that they're going to lift the restrictions that were in place nationally about how this drug could be prescribed to women. again, abortion has changed dramatically in the 50 years since roe v. wade. one of the things that people, particularly the opponents don't like to talk about is that abortion rates have gone down over the last 30 years pretty dramatically and we're at half the rate of abortions today than we were in the 1980s and part of that is that we have longlasting, affordable birth control which works. it reports unwanted pregnancies and people have access to drugs that allow them to make choices about their pregnancies, but this drug which could make it relatively easy for some women to have in their privacy of their own home and their office building and their car, take advantage of medication abortions which are terrifically safe and have been, as i say, available for 20 years. there can still be state rules that can interfere. so if the court decides at the end of this term that states rule that anything that goes at the state level supersedes any national standard, we're going to see a rush of states trying to limit this option for women, up to ten weeks, about 54% of the abortions are with medication abortion and that could be strictly cut off by states fairly quickly. >> we'll have to leave it there, former health and human services kathleen sebelius thanks for being with us. >> don't go anywhere. we're just getting started on this saturday morning. michael cohen, his new lawsuit against his former boss and much more. another hour of msnbc reports begins right now. ♪♪ ♪♪ good morning, everybody. it is 9:00 a.m. in the east. 6:00 a.m. in the west. i'm linsey riser in for ali velshi. ali has the day off. he'll be back tomorrow. this may be the most revealing week yet for the house select committee investigating the january 6th insurrection at the capitol. members of the house of representatives voted this week to hold former white house chief of staffmark meadows in