of congress for failing to comply with the committee's investigation. the committee presented evidence that included a batch of text messages from various conservative figures including white house officials unnamed lawmakers and other associates of donald trump. >> a number of these last night at our hearing. i won't read them all today, but i will read a few of them. mark, one member said, he needs to stop this now in all caps, tell them to go home. potus has to come out firmly and tell the protesters to dissipate. someone is going get killed. >> these text messages offer just a small preview of the 30,000 documents that the january 6th committee has gathered so far. other members of the trump administration are taking a different track. for example, last night nbc news confirmed that former homeland security official ken cuccinelli recently sat down with the committee for a four and a half hour interview. he joins a growing list of more than 300 witnesses that the committee has heard from so far. among those paying close attention is senate minority leader mitch mcconnell who raised some eyebrows thursday with his latest comments regarding the investigation. >> i think this fact finding is interesting. we're all going to be watching it. it was a horrendous event, and i think that what they're seeking to find out is something the public needs to know. >> that's a notable shift in tone for senator mcconnell who previously called the january 6th panel, quote, slanted and unbalanced. meanwhile, the reckoning continues for those wo took part in the insurrection. january 6th rally organizer dustin stockton and jennifer lawrence publicly acknowledged they're cooperating with the congressional investigation. yesterday, a u.s. district judge charged arnold palmer for assaulting police officers. that's the largest sentence so far. >> julie, mark meadows finds himself in a tough position rate now. the committee is turning up the pressure him. why is he such a central and important figure here? >> remember the role he played here. he's perhaps the highest person on their list out of those that they subpoenaed because he was there with the former president on january 6th because of these 9,000 pages of documents and emails and texts that he turned over to the committee. those texts were quite a bombshell on monday when the committee voted to hold him in contempt of congress because it is the first time we have this inside look and the light being shed on these specific communications with mark meadows on trump like fox news hosts and members of congress, and from the folks that were central on that day. they were pleading with mark meadows and they were telling him to ask the former president trump to call this thing off, to tell the rioters to go home when previously and publicly, a lot of these folks were saying that was no big deal. it was nothing. the insurrection was just basically a passing day in the past year so this is really, really central here and as we move forward he's going to have a longer process with the department of justice than perhaps steve bannon who was indicted, of course, last month by the justice department for also obstructing congress and for failing to appear for his deposition. mark meadows has claimed executive privilege, of course, because he was in the white house on january 6th unlike steve bannon who wasn't with the administration after that first year and it will be a long couple of months, but the committee stands to gain from meadows from the texts that he turned over. it's a lot of information that's helping them connect the dots here. >> some of the text messages the committee read this week include messages sent by unnamed members of congress. what's been the reaction from capitol hill? >> it actually may have come from former energy secretary rick perry and not members of congress. we reached out to the committee and they issued no comments on that. for example, these other unnamed congressmen sent these text messages to mark meadows and had these interactions and this week, bennie thompson, the chairman of the january 6th select committee said they will issue subpoenas in the coming weeks and months for those individuals and the members of congress. it's an ongoing investigation and part of the reason why they didn't name them. it caught everyone bee surprise and it perked everybody's ears up when liz cheney went through those texts and when she read them on monday and read more of them throughout the week because it's pretty startling the first time we're seeing this concrete connection between republican lawmakers and between former president trump and the rally organizers and the claims of election fraud on january 6th. >> senator mitch mcconnell's remarks this week that the january 6th committee investigation is something that the public needs to know caught a lot of people's attention. what should we need to make of that? >> he's very tactical, right? he's very good at ignoring us in the hallways when we're asking him questions that he doesn't want to answer and when he answered that question on tuesday, when he was asked if he had any communication with mark meadows on january 6th, he notably said it will be interesting to see what the committee finds out. this is the same republican leader who voted against having a bipartisan commission established to investigate the attacks and that's yet house select committee was formed with liz cheney and adam kinzinger and he repoeted that line telling other reporters and other interviews that he wants to hear what happens in this investigation and that's notable because it's a change from minority leader kevin member mccarthy. >> what did you say there? i'm just kidding. >> thanks. shifting gears here, the coronavirus pandemic where covid cases, hospitalizations and deaths are rising across much of the u.s. signaling we could be in for a rough winter. public health officials warn that the latest surge brought on by the delta variant and now omicron could have a devastating impact. we're already starting to see familiar images reminiscent of the height of the pandemic with long lines at covid testing sites, lines that stretch as far as the eye can see. we have the latest on the country's worsening situation. >> this morning a covid whiplash as the nation teeters once again on the edge of a winter freefall. long lines at testing centers across the country, families hoping for negative test result a head of the holidays. health officials pleading with the public. >> for the unvaccinated, we are looking at a winter of severe illness and death for yourselves asks and your families and the hospitals that you will overwhelm. with cases up over the last two weeks and deaths 1300 a day, hospitals are bracing for a hard winter. >> there's a lot of death and sadness and feelings of anxiety in that unit every single day. >> 18 states reporting a 5% spike in hospital admissions over the past week alone. emergency rooms from the midwest to the northeast filling up. >> i think we should be prepared for a very significant amount of cases and hospital jagzs that is at the level that we've seen prior in the pandemic. >> in ohio, the governor is calling on the national guard, in the single highest case count of the pandemic and even broadway is losing its shine. the radio city rockettes forced to cancel the christmas shows due to an outbreak and the production of moulin rouge cut off right before showtime after a cast member tested positive. the nfl also hit hard. the league postponing three games this weekend after a highly transmissible form of the virus led to a substantial increase in cases across the league. and a setback in the lab. pfizer forced to add a third dose for the vaccine trials after the two-shot regimen failed to have a response. they won't be able to apply for fda approval until later this year. omicron tightening the grip as we head into the holidays. >> steve paterson, thanks for that reporting. still to come, michael cohen joins me next. voting rights joins me at the top of the agenda for democrats. all eyes are on two key bills and closing arguments for former minnesota police officer kim potter, potter took the stand and recounted the moment she fatally shot daunte wright. >> i remember yelling, "taser, taser, taser" and nothing happened and then he told me i shot him. as a professional bull-rider i'm used to taking chances. but when it comes to my insurance i don't. i use liberty mutual, they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. wooo, yeaa, woooooo and, by switching you could even save 665 dollars. hey tex, can someone else get a turn? yeah, hang on, i'm about to break my own record. yeah. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. ♪ there's a different way to treat hiv. it's once-monthly injectable cabenuva. cabenuva is the only once-a-month, complete hiv treatment for adults who are undetectable. cabenuva helps keep me undetectable. it's two injections, given by a healthcare provider once a month. hiv pills aren't on my mind. i love being able to pick up and go. don't receive cabenuva if you're allergic to its ingredients or taking certain medicines, which may interact with cabenuva. serious side effects include allergic reactions post-injection reactions, liver problems,...and depression. if you have a rash and other allergic reaction symptoms, stop cabenuva and get medical help right away. tell your doctor if you have liver problems or mental health concerns, and if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or considering pregnancy. some of the most common side effects include injection site reactions, fever, and tiredness. if you switch to cabenuva, attend all treatment appointments. with once-a-month cabenuva, i'm good to go. ask your doctor about once-monthly cabenuva. for more than a decade, michael cohen served as donald trump's personal lawyer and so-called fixer. in 2018, however, he and the former president had a very public falling out after it was reported that cohen paid off adult film actress stormy daniels on president biden's behalf after her affair with trump. trump was charged with campaign finance violation for that and pled guilt per serve other criminal charges. he completed his prison and home confinement. michael cohen joins me now. he is the author of mea culpa podcast, and author of "disloyal," the true story of the former attorney of donald j. trump. i want to start with the lawsuit that you filed against trump and other government officials. you allege that there are retaliatory actions taken against you. tell me about that. >> actually, it wasn't my words. it's the word of judge alvin heatherstein here in new york. it was his words because it's actually a fact and what they did is they retaliated against me. they lied in their affidavits in their opposition to dania perry, who was my attorney at the time to her motion to have me returned back to home confinement and again, judge alvin k. hellstein appropriately ruled in that case. they did exactly when they intended to do. there was no chance when i was as opposed to going like everyone else up to the bronx to the location center to have an anker monitor put on. they knew exactly that i was never going to be leaving and it was a matter of having me sit in the waiting room long enough for me to get the paperwork done, three marshals appeared. they told me to stand up. i was there with my attorney, jeff levine and they told me to stand up and face the wall and they shackled me which i was surprised. i've never been shackled before and they had me remained back to otisville for 15 days where i spent another 15 days in solitary confinement with no movement which now brought it up to 51 days of solitary confinement. >> i want to ask you, because obviously, you're in a unique position here. you used to be the president's former fixer, but before your fallout with the former president you were firmly in the inner circle. at what point did you know you were being pushed out? >> you know, i think it was a time when i was watching on television and trump came on and said i'm really disgusted that they just raided one of my lawyer's homes and his law office. what do you mean one? one of your lawyers? it's typical donald, deflection, distraction. distance yourself and it's always somebody else's fault. i mean, what i did i did at the direction and for the benefit of my employer. did i it for the benefit of donald j. trump and you know i really came to an awakening. it was during an abc george stephanopoulos interview when i turned around and i said that my first loyalty has to lie with my wife, my daughter, my son and my country, and i will not be remembered as far as history is concerned as the villain of donald trump's story. >> i want to ask you some of the developments we saw this week. what do you think is going through mark meadows' head right now? he's turned over texts and documents and he won't fully cooperate with the committee. what do you think is going on there? >> i've been very vocal about mark meadows for a multitude of reasons. first and foremost as i continue to say, i think mark meadows is the dumbest a-hole on the hill, to be honest with you. not only does this dope go and put out a book and claim the rights of the fifth amendment. he's stupid. you put out a book. they now have the right to does you about things like that. that was his first mistake. the second -- and this is something that i constantly look at and i think about when i see the nonsense that goes on in the inner circle, considering i was there at one point and at the top of the heap. i'm watching and i'm seeing these 9,000 texts, emails from who to who to who, and i wonder, i know for a fact that there are more, but what i wonder is why these 9,000, who is the next one to be thrown under the bus? and the way it looks like to me, it looks like a few people and mark meadows is certainly going to be one of them and i think don jr. is potentially another. >> all right. michael cohen, thanks for your time today. >> you got it, linsey. still to come, another covid-19 wave, possible tests and fatalities on the rise. i'll speak with andy slavitt, former senior white house adviser for covid next. 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. meet stuart and byron, owners of sml, a tiny home architecture firm. they were getting ready to travel to portland, maine for a pitch when their 3d-printer broke. luckily, sml is with american express business platinum, and has access to over $1000 in value per year with the business services suite. so they got new software and created a full augmented reality experience. sml won the pitch, and with their membership rewards® points, extended their hotel stay for a few extra days. they had a whale of a time. get the card built for business. by american express. - hi, i'm steve. - i'm lea. and we live in north pole, alaska. - i'm a retired school counselor. 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[steve] we met online about 10 years ago. as i got older, my hearing was not so good so i got hearing aids. my vision was not as good as it used to be, got a change in prescription. but the thing missing was my memory. i saw a prevagen commercial and i thought, "that makes sense." i just didn't have to work so hard to remember things. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. the spread of the omicron variant is gripping the nation. yesterday alone the country recorded nearly 120,000 new covid cases. the average number of hospitalizations up 18% over the last two weeks and the average of daily deaths is at about 15% in that same span. meanwhile, the biden administration notched a big win last night in its push to enforce federal covid-19 mandates. yesterday that federal appeals court reinstated the white house's vaccine or testing mandate for large businesses with at least 100 employees. business groups quickly filed an appeal to the supreme court. >> joining me right now is andy slavitt, a former senior white house adviser for covid response and previously served for the centers of medicare and medicaid under president obama and author of "preventable" how leadership failures, politics and selfishness doomed the coronavirus response. let's talk about this appellate court ruling of large companies, we know it will be an appeal, but how big is it for the biden administration? >> good to be with you in that it says that osha does have the right to make sure that workplaces are safe which i think we all know that they do so if you go into a workplace, a meat packing plant, you have the right to make sure that there's nothing about that workplace that will get you sick. and an airborne respiratory virus like covid certainly meets that definition. this is a not controversial set of policy prescriptions that people are turning into controversy to basically oppose the president or to fight efforts to take on covid. so it's common sense where it's a good decision by the court. >> we're looking at lines -- long lines at testing facilities. we know the importance of testing in curbing the pandemic and i talked to dr. celine gower and you can't rely on natural immunity for the omicron variant. the trump administration tried to undermine the government's covid response by weakening testing guidance and championing widespread herd immunity. what are your thoughts? >> i think what we are seeing is a widespread suppression of science and replacing science with what the president believed which is that we shouldn't have to take efforts to prevent covid from spreading, and the testimony in the panel that was submitted by deborah brooks was pretty incredible because at the time she said she would prefer to leave rather than condemn people to die. it's a lot of what we experienced in 2020 that was, in fact, preventable. >> let's talk omicron. we know it's highly transmissible and we're seeing this rapid rise in cases and it was eerily familiar seeing it, and where are we right now and how bad can it get? >> we will see omicron, no question about it and it appears that it will overtake delta as the dominant variant here. it's high in new york and a couple of other places, but it still hasn't hit us yet. so what scientists are expecting is a big rush into january which will mean maybe more cases than we've seen before in a single day. hopefully those cases won't result in as much serious illness because of people that have been affected before or because the way the variant works, but even if that's the case the hospitals will be overwhelmed and that's the reason why you're seeing things put on pause. the hopeful news is linsey, because it's rising quickly and those that rise quickest fall quickest. while we can't count on anything for sure, the hope is that this peaks in january and starts a very rapid decline and we can get back to the things that are moving the country forward. >> very quick, andy. i want to ask about this new test to stay strategy that will hopefully prevent kids from quarantining in the event of the exposure. what do you think about the policy? >> i applaud the administration for doing anything they can to keep schools open and safe. i think we have a lot more tools this year in 2021 and 2022 than we did just 12 months ago. we need to use the tools and whether it's boosters or testingor anything else can allow us to make the choice to stay hope even in this wave. >> andy slavitt, former senior white house adviser for covid response and author of "preventable." the inside story of how politics and selfishness doomed the u.s. coronavirus response. closing arguments for former minnesota police officer kim potter are set to begin monday. we'll have a live report from minneapolis after the break. this is msnbc reports. wrinkles send the wrong message. help prevent them with downy wrinkleguard. feel the difference with downy. get help managing your money for the life -- and years -- ahead. with fidelity income planning, we'll look at what you've saved, what you'll need, and build a straightforward plan to generate income, even when you're not working. a plan that gives you the chance to grow your savings and create cash flow that lasts. along the way, we'll give you ways to be tax efficient. and you can start, stop or adjust your plan at any time without the unnecessary fees. we'll help you go from saving... to living. ♪ play all day ♪ 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. it's the hardworking people of the ♪ ♪ ♪ hey google. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ at progressive, we love your pets as much as you do, like this guy in a hat. that's why progressive car insurance covers your pets for up to $1,000 if they're ever in a car accident with you. this mini majorette's gonna march her way right into your heart. -i'm sorry. can we stop? 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[ inaudible ] >> the objection is overruled. >> no! i -- no! >> you knew deadly force was reasonable and unwarranted. >> i didn't want to hurt anybody. >> you didn't want to hurt anybody. >> no. >> that's why you said i'm going to go to prison. >> now potter does face one count of first-degree manslaughter and one count of second-degree manslaughter and the defense has rested its case so closing arguments will begin on monday, linsey. >> nbc's stephanie stanton in minneapolis. thank you. joining me right now is tiffany cross from "the cross connection." tiffany is live at 9:00 a.m. eastern. what do you have lined up today? >> good morning, linsey. that's such a sad case with daunte wright. i hope his family is doing okay this morning. coming up on my show "the cross connection." the future of voting rights is looking dire that any legislation will be passed so we're looking for any ounce of hope. i have lat asha brown joining me and we'll talk about it. plus what's being done to reach out to the latino voting bloc. it is such a large important constituency particularly for the party and we'll dig into what's driving this voting bloc to the polls. obviously, you know, there's another surge in athlete covid cases and that has the nfl canceling games left and right. what happened to the protocols and testing? my girl kerry champion will join me to discuss and this is what i'm most excited about. vegan social media star tab that brown is joining me on "the cross connection" this morning. she will share her latef loves with us and we'll have a jam-packed show. >> i love tab that. i'm team tab. i went to her book signing in brooklyn. we are huge fans. >> she makes you feel like everything's going to be okay in the world. >> wonderful. yes. >> we will hear from her this morning. >> yes. her energy, i believe her big saying is have a good day, but even if you can't don't you go mess up everybody else's which is something we all need to live by. >> tiffany cross. i just fan girled. i'll be watching. thanks so much. the cross connection starts at 10:00 a.m. eastern right after this. >> still to come, democrats in congress are banking on the new year bringing in rights legislation on president biden's agenda. you're watching msnbc. 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. 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it's time to ask your doctor about kesimpta. the senate has adjourned until january 3rd, setting aside their build back better push until next year as well as a fight for voting rights legislation. president biden calling it, quote, the single biggest issue for the country domestically. the two bills in the works the john lewis voting rights act and the for the people act, the senate filibuster has stopped them from even coming close to the president's desk. in an effort to overcome the filibuster democrats brought in a senate rules expert yesterday to discuss the different ways the party can move forward procedurally, that is if they can get senator joe manchin to agree. these two bills are very important because if passed they will supersede any restrictive voting rights laws enacted by republican-led legislatures. here's the latest count showing 19 states have passed laws that make it harder for americans to vote. nbc's josh letterman is in wilmington delaware traveling with the president. josh, president biden has been out on the road making his case for voting rights this week. he was very fiery yesterday. in fact, i was listening to him in the field and one of my crew members said i've never heard him like that. talk us to about the changing strategy here especially since the senate has adjourned this year. >> i hate to be the pessimist here, but ringing in the new year will not change things as far as the political standing of this legislation. in fact, the white house had been really focused squarely on the build back better agenda at the end of the year until it became very clear that that was not going to get wrapped up by that christmas deadline that schumer had set and then they pivoted at the last minute to voting rights. one of the reasons for that white house official tells us is that they wanted to show particularly as progressives are getting so uneasy about the lack of accomplishment and the lack of achievements here that they were not letting this issue go and taking it seriously and even on voting rights they knew they were not going to get anything and they still faced the exact same problems they faced in 2021. particularly on the voting rights issue, senator crist en sinema saying that she opposed a carve out for the filibuster for voting rights reforms or any other issue, for that matter. we know senator manchin was among a group of democratic senators that met with president biden this past week to figure out is there a way that we can work with the filibuster that we can figure out a way to move past this, but he was not part of that legislation and think, they'll need as many democrat, all of them lined up behind this if they're going to get anything done. >> real quick, i want to play a clip between charlamagne tha god. who is the real president. joe manchin or joe biden? >> come on, charlamagne. no, it's joe biden and don't start talking like a republican about asking whether or not he's president and it's joe biden and i'm vice president and my name is kamala harris. >> josh, we have 30 seconds left. what did you make of that exchange? >> it shows the level of frustration right now in the vice president's office. she's been under a lot of political pressure. she has been getting a lot of questions about the staff departures in her office, reports of a chaotic atmosphere in her office, and i think that this was a real effort by the vice president to show she is in lockstep with the white house, with president biden and to push back on some of this skepticism that they're getting from members of their own party, lindsay. >> nbc's josh letterman, thank you. >> not only has senator joe manchin faced pressure from his democratic colleagues for not supporting voting rights legislation. he's been the main targets of grassroots organizations, too. one of those groups is the poor people's campaign led by dr. william barber. they've been leading so-called moral marches in manchin's home state of west virginia and calling him out personally for blocking voting rights bills by supporting the filibuster. joining me right now is the co-chair of the poor people's campaign and from the cairo foundation. is your message any different now that senate democrats have pivoted toward voting rights? >> so we joined hundreds and hundreds of people in washington, d.c., this week. this has been an ongoing season of moral, direct action where hundred of folks in states across the country and in washington, d.c. have put ourselves forward needing to say we need to end this democrat democracy and there are infrastructures that we need to invest in right now. sure the investments with people's daily lives in wages and the democracy and voting rights. you know, when we have been organizing all across the country, poor and impacted people, we've been very clear that we have to get this done. it needs to happen first thing in the 2022 agenda. we need to pass voting rights and we need to invest in the people and we need to keep on going because the people of this nation, 140 million folks who are poor or one emergency away from deep poverty at a time when our voting rights are being attacked in ways with the reconstruction in the civil war that we can't stand ideally by and wait for others to pass policies, but we need to put pressure on politicians to get it done. >> you have called senator manchin's policy positions sinful. what would you say to him right now? >> we are in the christmas season. i'm a christian pastor. senator manchin professes to be a follower of catholic teachings and yet, we are seeing a senator who has the power to make people's lives in his state and all across this country better. invest in living wages, invest in a child tax credit, and pass voting rights protections and expansion and that when you have power and you refuse to use it for good that that is sin of the highest nature and that is exactly what the profits throughout history speak against and so we need for him to have a change of heart and that's going to come because of the pressure of people, people in his own state. more than 700,000 people in west virginia are poor and low income and 75 to 80% of people support the expansion of voting rights and he as a politician elected by the people stands with the people say they want and it's immoral and it's wrong and we'll keep fighting and keep on pushing until we win what the people, poor and low income people in this country need. >> reverend liz, theoharis, thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> ready or not, student loan payments are coming back and what it means politically next. altered dna in your stool to find 92% of colon cancers, even in early stages. early stages! yep, it's for people 45 plus at average risk for colon cancer, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your provider if cologuard is right for you. count me in! me too! ♪ ♪ what a pain in the— —alice? 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>> sure. the things you've mentioned could be reversed, instead of cutting off child payment, they should be continuing child payment. instead of cutting off student loan forgiveness, they should be extending it. ramping it up, frankly, wiping away all outstanding student debt. i don't know of any regular person who would be hurt by wiping out regular student debt. it's the companies that would potentially complain about that lobby against that, i think the taxes that underwrite those things. i don't want how to say, we're having a fancy conversation, like, just help people. just help people. literally help people. it is not complicated. help people, a, people need help. help people, b, they don't care about a. it's an election year coming up. you might be able to keep your job if you help people. i do not understand and i said this manchin and sinema and people the sadists who enjoy blocking, but i think we need to hear from the president, the vice president, the party apparatus. we need to see ads anywhere, a general strike if we need to, to make clear how we feel about democracy not being reformed or delivering. there needs to be such pressure, such a temperature raising and such clarity on our part about the stakes that these people can't ignore it f. joe manchin wants to live on a yacht the rest of his life and enjoy what people do on yachts, let him do that in private life. we would wish. a happy retirement. >> okay. >> he needs to understand that right now with the ways of trauma of held, of economy of democracy, washing over us every day, a new drama every day, it is a make or break moment for this country and help people. >> we have to leave it there. thank you so much for being with us. we appreciate it. and that does it for me today. thank you for watching, ali velshi will be joined by minnesota congresswoman ilhan omar for the first time since her house colleagues made her the target of islamophobic attacks. the "cross connection" with tiffany cross begins right now. [ music playing ] >> good morning, everyone. we begin the "cross connection" this morning on capitol hill, let's be honest, this week has had more twists than a season of successions. long-trump roger stone repeatedly took the fifth with the digging into his role leading up to the insurrection. meanwhile, a florida man received the longest sentence yet for january 6th, 63 months for assaulting capitol police with a fire extinguisher. senate democrats seem to have abandoned passing president biden's build back better agenda, they're pivoting to voting rights and facing the two same road blocks that held up bbb, that