full lockdown while protests against new restrictions erupt against the continent. and -- >> the last 36 hours, not even a whole 48, it has been a whirlwind of different changes and protocols, and in a game of when sudden things happen, you have to adjust. >> pro sports leagues scramble as covid postpone games in different leagues. not only are they worried there could be another insurrection the next election, it looks more like it could be looking like a military coup. 14 days without food. young people here in the u.s. on a hunger strike, all in the name of voting rights. we'll talk to two of them live. good morning. it's sunday, december 17th. i am lindsay riser. we begin with the address that president biden is going to give the nation tuesday about the sudden surge in covid cases across the country. he's expected to announce new steps to beat ban this variant surge days before christmas. this is what the president is trying to turn around, all 30 states on this map in red or orange have seen rises in the last two weeks. >> a nation on edge, with the omicron variant spreading at an alarming rate. it's now being reported in nearly all 50 states. >> for the unvaccinated, you are looking at a winter of severe illness and death for yourselves, your families and the hospitals you may soon overwhelm. >> ahead of the holidays, americans traveling to gather with loved ones are getting tested. at-home tests now hard to find. once the epicenter of the pandemic, new york is shattering covid records yet again. more than 21,000 new cases for the second day in a row. levels not seen since january. ♪ it's christmastime again ♪♪ >> bracing for a hard winter, new york's governor announcing plans to change the definition of fully vaccinated. >> at some point we may have to determine that fully vaccinated means boosted as well. >> and in los angeles, covid breakthroughs are canceling events. in illinois, doctors are sounding the alarm. >> it seems to go faster, and you hear more people that are positive -- >> hospitals already stretched thin are bracing for more ahead. >> the health care system at large being able to care for all the things we have been asked to do. >> schools in maryland and missouri shifting to virtual learning days before the break, and harvard announcing it will go remote for the first few weeks in january. >> our thanks to kathy park. that's the situation here in the u.s. things in europe are not much better. another national lockdown announced as omicron surges there. shoppers in the country were out getting last-minute essentials hours before that lockdown took affect. countries saw protests against vaccine mandates, and 5,000 demonstrated in london and police officers were hurt in a confrontation with protesters. what steps is the government taking there? >> reporter: good morning, lindsay. the government here had been reluctant to impose any new measures beyond having to wear a mask at large venues, and the situation here is not good. london has become the epicenter of the omicron variant and cases of omicron in this country are doubling every 48 hours. there's been a massive surge of covid cases in the country as well, and there were 90,000 new cases in a 24-hour period. however this morning the health secretary would not commit one way or another as to whether new restrictions would be applied in this country, and he said decisions would be made based on data, and he said there's a lot they don't know about the omicron variant and that they would have to, again, take this day by day. the mayor of london who has declared the state of emergency says new restrictions are inevitable. interestingly, the minutes of a leaked meeting between government officials and their medical advisers has been leaked and it paints a pretty grim picture. those medical advisers are saying if new restrictions are not put in the next day or two, but if these new restrictions are not in place immediately this country could see up to 6,000 people being hospitalized every day and up to 600 covid-related deaths every day, so they are pushing for measures to be taken soon so there is not a massive strain on the health system, and it's those sorts of statistics that scared officials across europe. schools, universities, bars and restaurants will be closed until the 14th of january, and other countries are taking similar measures across the continent. >> thank you for reporting live from london. thank you. and dr. jay varma, a former health adviser to new york city mayor de blasio. what measures do you want to see in place right now? >> yeah, good to see you again, lindsay. happy sunday to you. in your intro you were talking about how the impact on professional sports league, and as a diehard hockey fan i was anticipating the game last night when it was canceled because so many players on both teams were placed on covid protocol. same thing is happening in the nba and nfl. what is happening in professional sports leagues is what is happening in the communities, 1,300 deaths per day, and the cdc predicts omicron will surpass delta in a number of weeks. what we want to hear from our federal leadership is vaccines and boosters specifically are going to be critical in helping us contain the pandemic. masking when indoors is going to be really critical. really regular testing, wide-spread testing and those are the critical measures right now, lindsay. >> yeah, hopefully we don't see lines like that anymore. dr. roy, you talked about those unvaccinated and at this point is it accurate to call this a pandemic of the unvaccinated? >> well, so i'm glad you mention that, lindsay. what people are hearing, particularly people who remain unvaccinated is they are seeing positive cases or infections among people vaccinated and those are breakthrough infections, and they are translating that to say the vaccines don't work, and that's untrue. the vaccines significantly reduce the transmission, and masking is going to be the critical step in preventing the transmission. i want the president to repeat the message, lindsay. >> it looks like new york city is once again becoming an epicenter here and you created a lot of waves of one of your tweets is the positivity in new york city doubled in three days. what do you think the priority should be right now? >> thank you for having me on to discuss this issue. this is an incredible challenge. this strain of the virus spreads so much more rapidly than the previous strain does. one thing new york city has in its favor is the high rate of people that have gotten those two important doses but the priority is to make sure we get the additional dose into everybody. if people don't receive that they don't have near the protection we need them to have. that's number one. number two, we know the city has a number of structural challenges to make it more difficult to weather a pandemic than most places, and so it's absolutely critical that people up their masking. new yorkers have been good about masks, but need to make sure they are wearing the highest quality mask when they are sharing space indoors with people. if you compare this to where we were at last winter, our hospitalizations were at 50% less than what they were, and we don't know if that's going to continue to hold but that's likely showing the impact of the vaccines at this moment. >> 1 in 6 americans of all ages have gotten a booster. how quickly do you think we will see pwaogser added to the definition of fully vaccinated? >> i wish that was last week, to be honest. my expectation is it will be soon from the federal government or you will see local jurisdictions do that as well. >> thank you both for joining us. still to come, a chilling warning from three divided generals about a divided militarya coup attempt and a civil war, and why the country could prepare now for a 2024 insurrection. later this hour, young activist staging a hunger strike outside the white house for voting rights. some have not eaten in weeks. two of them will join me ahead. don't pay for water. pay for clean. it's got to be tide. ♪ ♪ 'tis the season to break tradition in a cadillac. don't just put on a light show—be the light show. make your nights anything but silent. and ride in a sleigh that really slays. because in a cadillac, tradition is yours to define. so visit a cadillac showroom, and start celebrating today. ♪ ♪ with relapsing forms of ms... there's a lot to deal with. not just unpredictable relapses. all these other things too. it can all add up. kesimpta is a once-monthly at-home injection... that may help you put these rms challenges in their place. kesimpta was proven superior at reducing the rate of relapses, active lesions, and slowing disability progression vs aubagio. don't take kesimpta if you have hepatitis b, and tell your doctor if you have had it, as it could come back. kesimpta can cause serious side effects, including infections. while no cases of pml were reported in rms clinical trials, it could happen. tell your doctor if you had or plan to have vaccines, or if you are or plan to become pregnant. kesimpta may cause a decrease in some types of antibodies. the most common side effects are upper respiratory tract infection, headache, and injection reactions. ready for an at-home treatment with dramatic results? 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>> the committee believes there are at least a couple republican lawmakers that may know well more than what they are letting on about the events that unfolded on january 6th. alley alexander, the organizer of the stop the steal rally that took place just before the insurrection on january 6th, and he said he had texts and phone calls with republican lawmakers on january 6th, and mo brooks replaced a statement saying i received a text message from an unknown number and calling this committee a witch hunt because they are revealing certain facts and not others. mark meadows when he was cooperating briefly, thompson told reporters this week the committee is looking seriously into subpoenaing the members of congress for something like this. republicans are already promising retaliation if they take back the house next year. >> thank you so much for that reporting. as the investigating committee tries to determine what happened during this year's insurrection, three retired u.s. generals are warning about the possibility of another one. they say the military must prepare now for the possibility of a 2024 insurrection. how concerned are they? they are, quote, chilled to their bones at the thought of a coup succeeding next time. we are fortunate to be joined now by one of those generals this morning, retired major general paul eaton. thank you for being with us. >> good morning and thank you for having me. >> you highlight many individuals with ties to the military that participated in the attack on the capitol, and we are nearly a year out from the 2021 insurrection. why now? >> 16% of the gop see violence as a recourse, and many do not accept that president biden is the dually elected president of the united states. it's not impossible to think it's going to affect the armed forces. we draw our women and men with u.s. societies, so it's not unlikely some of them would be infected. finally it outlines some of the mitigating opportunities that are available to america, to the united states, to the federal government and to the armed forces to mitigate the challenge posed by a highly partisan divided america. >> we are going to go into the mitigation efforts in a minute. let's talk more about what you talk about in your op-ed. you and your fellow generals talk about chaos in the military, and the national guard refused an order from president biden about vaccinations, and so talk about the danger in the breakdown in the chain of command and the potential consequences? >> so that is a indicator of a political infection. he's not alone. the oklahoma governor is -- has been joined by the governor of florida, by the governor of texas and there are a few other folks out there similar with that incline. the commander in chief with all of our armed forces, and the national guard units embedded in each of our states do respond to command and control or an operational decision to the governor of their states, but the commander-in-chief is the president of the united states, that's true. >> you also write, imagine competing commanders in chief, a newly re-elected biden giving orders and trump or trumpen figure. this sounds extreme and what needs to be done? >> so one of the major things that we need to look at, before the election, we had a bright and capable team came up with four scenarios to analyze how government and how the united states might perform if each of those scenarios. we did not have a scenario where the armed forces of the united states or the federal police forces of the united states, the u.s. marshals and fbi, would be compromised. we didn't look at that. that is -- i do believe that's a necessary scenario in a repeat transition integrity project that we should conduct in about 12 months before the next election. you are going to find flaws in the system, and you can get after mitigating answers. >> i encourage everybody to read the op-ed. thank you for your time this morning. >> my pleasure. thank you very much. a lot of new information came out this week about january 6th, which has been the asking of anybody facing charges. and yasmin was at the capitol as the siege was happening. watch her tonight here on msnbc. the last person the jury heard from, kim potter caps a week and a half of testimony. we'll tell you what to expect, next. showing the world how liberty mutual customizes their car insurance. ow! i'm ok! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ only in theaters december 17th. ♪♪ this flag isn't backwards. it's facing this way because it's moving forward. ♪♪ just like the men and women who wear it on their uniforms and the country it represents. they're all only meant to move one direction which is why we fly it this way on the flanks of the all-new grand wagoneer. moving boldly and unstoppably forward. i thought i was managing my moderate to severe crohn's disease. then i realized something was missing... ...me. my symptoms were keeping me from being there for her. so, i talked to my doctor and learned humira is the #1 prescribed biologic for people with crohn's disease. humira helps people achieve remission that can last. and the majority of people on humira saw significant symptom relief in as little as 4 weeks. humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. be there for you, and them. ask your gastroenterologist about humira. with humira, remission is possible. learn how abbvie could help you save on humira. we gave new zzzquil pure zzzs restorative herbal sleep to people who were tired of being tired. i've never slept like this before. i've never woken up like this before. crafted with clinically studied plant-based ingredients that work naturally with your body. for restorative sleep like never before. real cowboys get customized car insurance with liberty mutual, so we only pay for what we need. -hey tex, -wooo. can someone else get a turn? yeah, hang on, i'm about to break my own record. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ closing arguments get under bay tomorrow in the manslaughter trial of potter, and potter got emotional on the stand recounting what happened stephanie is live. >> reporter: the jury will have a lot to digest once they get the case and closing arguments begin tomorrow. they will have to determine if potter is guilt of first or second-degree manslaughter or both beyond a reasonable doubt. the legal standards for both of these charges do not have to show malice or intent, only that potter acted recklessly when she used her firearm, which resultsa as we known wright's death back in april during a traffic stop. potter from testimony on friday was very emotional, and she broke down as she described the moments leading up to the fatal shooting. she was asked why she quit her job shortly after the shooting. take a listen to what she said. >> there was so much bad things happening, i didn't want my co workers -- i didn't want anything bad to happen to the city. >> reporter: now during cross-examination, there were inconsistencies stated by potter on the stand when she said she could not recall statements she made right after the shooting. potter maintained all along this was a tragic accident that she did not mean to kill daunte wright, and we saw video that her breaking downplayed in in open. if convicted, she could face up to 15 years in prison. after the house speaker, nancy pelosi talks joe manchin and makes a pointed remark about who is in charge. was it triggered by this heated exchange. >> was it joe biden or joe manchin -- >> don't start talking about a republican, about asking whether or not he's president. t laundry to smell fresh for weeks, make sure you have downy unstopables in-wash scent boosters. 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. 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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>> lindsay, it started at $3.5 trillion, got cut in half, and the priorities is a question mark heading into the new year. while the reality is that while the white house says they are continuing to work closely with senator manchin even as we approach christmas, there's nothing we can point to that will be dramatically different of 2022, than in 2021 where they would get enough democrats to vote for this legislation. they see senator manchin moving the goal post at the 11th hour here, and the latest hiccup is making sure everything in the bill likely to be part of law for ten years be funded for ten years as opposed to what he says as gimmicks to try and fund them to keep the price tag down. the voting rights legislation that the democrats pivoted to stands a lower chance of becoming law that democrats can't use that reconsaleation process on voting rights like on federal spending. they will have to get 60 people to vote for it, which would mean 10 republicans, and that's not going to happen, or get around the filibuster, and kyrsten sinema has voiced she is not willing to support that, and democrats are facing real headwinds in 2022, and knowing voters are less likely to let them stay in the majority if they are not able to deliver significant accomplishments. >> what can we expect with covid? >> the white house says president biden will have new aannouncements to make in that speech on tuesday. we're also hearing from the white house that this will be a stark warning about what is to come in the months ahead with president biden wanting to really level with the american people that next few months are going to be very difficult and also to give them the very latest science about what is safe and not safe as we head into the holidays, lindsay. >> josh letterman, live in delaware, thank you. coming up, two weeks without food. they're physically drained, mentally drained, but our next guests say they are committed to a hunger strike until congress passes the voting bill that we just talked about. they join me, next. one up the power of liquid, one up the toughest stains. any further questions? uh uh! one up the power of liquid with tide pods ultra oxi. music: ♪ “i got you babe” by etta james ♪ get groceries, gifts, & more fast and easy so last minute guests are the only thing you'll be waiting on ♪ ♪ joy. fully. 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. learning about our history with ancestrydna®, inspired us to learn more about our culture and where we come from. ...right here? 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how are you feeling? talk to us about why you are going to these extreme lengths. >> thank you so much for having us on. it has been really difficult. even right now i was telling my colleague here that it's hard for me to sit up straight because it feels like my shoulders and chests is so heavy. it's definitely getting difficult. i just don't want to be here. i don't want to be using my holiday like this, being away from my family and friends but the biden administration and our senators have not yet prioritize -- or shown they want to prioritize this issue, and that makes my conviction stronger that i need to be here and using my body and my health to catch the attention of the biden administration and our senators in order for them to really push this across the finish line and pass the voting rights act. >> brandon, we know you lost eight pounds as a result of this, and your home state senator, kyrsten sinema, says she's against getting rid of the filibuster to pass the voting rights. it's an uphill battle. are you making progress? >> yeah, we met with sinema last week, and we are one of the groups to do so over a year, and we hope she has a better understanding of how committed we are on the hunger strike until the freedom act passes this year, and we hope she remembers our sacrifice and holds our futures in her hands. >> one of the photos we saw is you in a wheelchair, and you have not had the strength to protests and march at lafayette square. i spoke with al sharpton, and i asked him whether voters of color feel left behind. let's listen to what he said. >> i think that we made it clear when we supported overwhelmingly the biden ticket that we wanted voting rights and police reform. we are now a week from christmas with neither. >> you have also been hearing this? >> most definitely. not just people from my community, but people of all communities that are marginalized and under represented feel the brunt of the unprecedented attacks on our democracy. i would hope that the biden administration hears the voices of the most marginalized in this country. me, not only as a black woman, but as a young person, i am pleading with the biden administration and senators to not marginalize this issue. we need them to prioritize this issue. it has been 14 days. i want to eat and be with my family and friends, but i'm not. >> i have 30 seconds left. some of your fellow strikers have had to start eating again, and you have doctors check your vitals and send out red flags, and so how long are you will this? >> until the bill passes. we have made a lot of progress here in d.c., and not only back home but across the nation, it has empowered us to stay committed to the cause because our futures are on the line here and it's the only way to ensure that we have a functional democracy. >> thank you both for your time. later today a treat for fans of "politics nation." two shows, the 11th annual revvie show, and that's here on msnbc. still to come after the break, "sln" airs with limited staff and no audience. the nfl bumps more games. the new protocols in place amid a rise in covid cases. and this is for new and existing customers. upgrade to the iphone 13 pro and airpods both on us. only at t-mobile. 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>> gary, thank you. and for more on this, let's go ahead and welcome in zachary benny, a sports epidemiologist and assistant professor at oxford college. zach, let's start with the new nfl policy. it only spot tests vaccinated players and staffers than have them undergo weekly testing. is that a good move? >> well, whether it's good or not i'll have to leave up to other people to judge. but what i would say is, let's understand what it means. the nfl is trying to navigate in this new world with the omicron variant. they're trying to navigate continuing to play the season without major disruptions. they are instituting a lot of protocols, like no in-person meals, moving as many meals virtual or outside as possible, and mandatory indoor masking to try to slow the spread of the virus. but what they're not going to do anymore is test regularly anybody who is vaccinated and asymptomatic, because they're afraid that's going to make them discover a lot of cases and then have to potentially hold players out of games -- >> but as an epidemiologist, isn't that the wrong move? >> as an epidemiologist, in your experience? >> well, yeah. it's not th ideally like to see made. but it's hard to criticize the nfl too much when up until now, sports leagues were honestly taking some of the best steps of any workplace in the country to keep people protected and safe. they're certainly not below what other workplaces are doing right now, and i do appreciate the indoor masking and virtual meetings and things like that. but i think this is an acknowledgement that they're not going to be able to contain the virus at an acceptable cost, so a lot of people within there are going to come in contact with the virus and hopefully most of them will be fine, because they're vaccinated and boosted. >> let's listen to seattle seahawks head coach, pete carroll. >> the precedent that we've set things back, you know, it works against that big date when the super bowl is. so i think it's going to be really challenging for the legal to figure it out. >> so how do you playing this out for the rest of the season and for the super bowl, for that matter. will we see fans in the stands? >> i don't know if we're going to see fans in the stands. that's going to be a determination by the local health authorities. but if i had to guess, i think we probably will. i'm not super worried about outdoor events, at least pre-omicron. there haven't been any outbreak traced to big sporting events. that's not my concern. my bigger concern would be based on how case numbers and hospitalizations are looking is people gathering indoors around the country for any reason, including super bowl parties, particularly if not everybody there is boosted or you're not using rapid tests right before you gather. those are both ways to keep people safe, but if one or both of those is not true, there could be some danger there. zpr and we know around 95% of nfl players are vaccinated. certainly is concerning. zachary benny, thanks for being here. >> absolutely, thank you. omicron also disrupting things right here at 30 rock, where "saturday night live" put on a bare bones show. limited crew, no audience. instead of their big christmas episode, tina hanks, paul rudd, and tina fey tossed to sketches taped earlier in the show as well as some old classics. >> thank you, i'm tom hanks. thank you, surviving crew members. tonight, "saturday night live" planned to do our big christmas show and induct a new member into the five-timers club, but covid came early this year. so in the interest of safety, we do not have an audience, and we sent home our cast and most of our crew. and i came here from california. if you think i was going to fly 3,000 miles and not be on tv, you've got another thing coming. isn't that right, tina? >> yes, i am here. this is not the smallest audience i have ever performed pfr, because i have done improv in a macy's. >> the musical guest's performance was also canceled. but she promised to be back. quite the development. there were people waiting in line for a while outside that had to be turned away. all right. thanks for watching "msnbc reports." "velshi" starts roup. . today on "velshi," new evidence that the investigators from the january 6th committee are zeroing in on republican members of congress as they piece together what happened in the run-up to the capitol riot. plus, this covid winter is starting to feel a lot like the last winter covid, with new record case numbers, long lines at testing sites, and hospitals again stretched to capacity. but we have the tools this time that we didn't have a year ago. we'll have the very latest on what we know about the omicron-fueled covid skpurnlg surge and what you can do to protect yourself. and racism and islamophobia not new in this country, but the racist attacks are coming from inside the halls of congress. representative ilhan omar has been the target of dangerous racist attacks from her own colleagues and joins me this morning to talk about it. and experts framing it as the next coup, and it's already in progress in key swing states across the country. we'll talk about how trump-aligned republicans are moving to influence who has access to the ballots and who's in charge of counting the votes. velshi starts now. >> good morning. i'm ali velshi. it is sunday, december the 19th. we're now 18 days away from the one-year anniversary of one of the darkest days in american history. the investigation into the house of representatives, by the house of representatives into the attack on to the u.s. capitol now appears to be zeroing if on republican lawmakers who were in contact with the insurrectionist former administration last january 6th. and who may have been involved in the lead up to that day. ali alexander, the founder of the stop the steal movement, this guy, told the select committee that he was in contact with republican representatives paul gosar, mo brooks -- i'll have more on him in a moment -- and andy biggs about what he was trying to do to overturn the election leading up to january 6th.