agenda. we have new information just how talks broke down between the white house and the west virginia democrat. new reporting of manchin's counter offer to the president. despite the bad blood, is there still a chance they can strike a deal? good morning, welcome to "morning joe," the first official day of winter. joe and willie have the morning off. i got the table. with us, we have al sharpton, congressional correspondent, jackie alemany with us this morning. john meacham is with us. and the host of "way too early," john lemire. we'll get to the new reporting surrounding joe manchin and the white house in just a moment. but, first, the omicron variant of coronavirus over taken delta as the dominant strain in the united states. according to cdc's data, more than 73% of new cases in the country were caused by the new variant. in some places including parts of the tri-state area. the midwest, specific northwest and the south, omicron accounts for more than 90% of new infections. in texas, the harris county health department is reporting the country's first death from the new strain. health officials say the man was older than 50. unvaccinated and that's the key there and had already contracted covid once before. new york state recorded a record high in new covid-19 cases yesterday for a fourth day in a row. nearly 24,000 infections were reported on sunday including the state's own health commissioner according to governor hochul. the majority of those cases are in new york city. new surge, bill de blasio insists the city that never sleeps will never go dormant again. >> we'll double down on vaccinations to avoid restrictions and shutdown. i do not see a scenario for any kind of shut down because we are so vaccinated as a city. that's where our energy should go. another shutdown would have a horrible impacts on the people of the city. >> president joe biden will deliver a speech today on how his administration plans to slow the surge of coronavirus cases, fuelled by the omicron variant. despite has americans worried heading into another covid winter. press secretary jen psaki previews the president remarks. >> it is not a speech of locking the country down, this is about the benefits of vaccinated, the steps we'll take to increase ax access and testing and the risk posed to unvaccinated individuals. >> president biden is directing 1,000 members of the military to held hospitals of all staffing and equipment and appoint fema to set up over flow operations at hospitals at capacity. hopefully we don't get to that point. the biden administration is preparing to start shipping 500 million free at home covid tests to any american who wants one starting next month. so jonathan lemire, do you have any more intel on what the president is going to say tonight? the feedback that he's showing up at hospitals is ominous but when you look at our past experience with coronavirus, we had situations where body bags were being put? in freezer trucks. the president appears to be preparing for some surge at hospitals. >> they are concerned. we have hospitals in certain parts of the country are at capacity or threatening to run out of icu beds. they'll send military personnel to help with staffing shortages. it's delta running rapid throughout the country. it's a real concern here for those who are not vaccinated. there are people who have covid, natural immunity is not helping too much. if you just had covid previous and have not had your shots and you are in real danger here. omicron is milder than delta, it's dangerous for those who have not vaccinated. those who have been boosted, a mild case. and testing is a big part of that. right now there is a real lack of testing in the united states. big cities and lines that stretched blocks. so this is something that we are trying to surge tests so people can feel safer knowing if they are positive or not and if they are asymptomatic or if they can spread it. that's not available for the holiday. we'll hear from the president again encouraging people to get the shots and suggesting if you have, we'll get through it and pushing mandates for employers, pushing people to get boosters which are vital to keep people safe. >> i want to go to john meacham about that which in terms of what's expected of what he's expected to say. presidents in history at moments like this show how they meet challenges and can define their presidency. we have such division in the country especially about the vaccine. what do you expect to hear from biden tonight and what are some of the challenges he faces as a president presiding over a divided country in terms of how he needs to message on the vaccine. i don't think it's a plea at this point. i am not sure what it is that he does in order to make it very clear that it's the unvaccinated that's keeping the virus sort of alive in this country. >> yes, i think to your point, he says that. i help the president when he asked and i have nothing to do what he's going to say today or offer brilliant opinion. >> do it. >> candor is your friend here. there is no percentage i would argue in soft pedaling of what we are dealing with. we are dealing with the pandemic while less deadly because of the vaccine. it's deadly to our matters and morals and customs. i think that's a huge thing. i know the president gets that. he's been eloquent on that. about the graduations and the christmas. he understands grief which he certainly does. he also understands the rituals of family and community. it's fascinaing to me that he goes back to wilmington and does not go to camp david, he wants to be at home. he understands and part of this is commuted all those years from washington to delaware. if you think about it, that character matters in the presidency and biden's character in this is important. candor matters fda says in the terrible winter of 1942 that the news is going to get worse and worse before it gets better and better. the american people deserve to have it straight from the shoulder. as you said, if you give it to him straight from the shoulder, are they going to listen? that's the central challenge of the age. i don't know how a president does this except arms himself with the facts and goes out and explains that if you want to pursue happiness, if you want a more perfect union, you got to follow the social contract and that's to get vaccinated. >> he's got one more tool in his arsenal today. one that he didn't have before. i want to hear more about your advise about how the president showed if you were advising him on this one. how the president should present himself to the american people. you said candor is your friend, i would argue that he could point out that even though the former guy is finally on the vaccine train. take a look at this john meacham and we'll talk about it on the other side. >> we did something that was -- >> the president and i are vaxed, did you gate booster? >> yes. >> i got it, too. >> no, don't, don't, very tiny group. >> we did something that was historic. we saved tens of millions of lives worldwide. we together, all of us, not me, we. we got a vaccine done. three vaccines done and tremendous therapeutic that would have saved a lot of lives. this would have been like the spanish flu. this was going to ravage the country. take credit for it. don't take it away from ourselves. you are play right into their hands when you sort of like oh the vaccine. if you don't want to take it, you should not be forced to take it. no mandates but take credit because we save tens of millions of lives. don't let them take it away from you. >> so it's about two years late on the information that was in front of him throughout the pandemic that took hundreds of thousands of lives. but he's on it now. do think that helps this president communicate to the american people that all americans need to get vaccinated. >> well, it can't hurt and it may help. i think you are right. if i were doing this, i would say his name, which i know folks are reluctant about that. but donald trump and the previous administration, as the former president said that there, we did this. it's classic trump. he takes something. if you parse that clip. he takes a message of public service and public health and make it more palettable. he turns it into a triable question. don't let them take it away from you. that's not a criticism. it's an observation about his rhetorical style. i think it does help. one of the great questions and we have all debated this for a long time is does the antivaxed distrusts trump that he's so exacerbated. is that something that's stronger than trump? and that's an unknown. let's test it. i think you are exactly right. i would play that clip a lot because it can't hurt. a quick thing tieing it together. this is about trust. it's about a sense that you can trust the institutions and the government. what trump has given you there is a chance to say this is us and not me if you are biden. >> right. >> it was american ingenuity and it was our scientists. yes, it happened on trump's watch. he's saying no to the anti-vaxers who are booing him. if that saves one life out there, i will take it. and perhaps there is some hope in there that all the lies that are festering on facebook can perhaps be you know not listened to by those who live on facebook if they are listening to trump, if they are still listening to trump but facebook is another story in terms of lies about the vaccine and it poses a real problem for this president who's trying to get this country safe from a virus and the ongoing variant that keeps developing out of the unvaccinated. that's where it's coming from. not the vaccinated and not the boosted. that's the truth. let's go back to politics now and the drama on capitol hill, so much is happening there. democratic senator joe manchin is speaking out about why he rejected the president's build back better bill. manchin said democrats never came around to his position. >> they figured, surely to god we can move one person. surely, we can badger and beat one person up. well guess what, i am from west virginia and i am not where they are from and they can beat the living crap out of people and they they are submissive. >> it's true other lawmakers need to keep in mind that manchin represents west virginia. that's where he's always going to come from. three sources tell nbc news in recent months manchin had told democratic senators and private conversations he was concerned parents would use their child tax credit payments a key part of the legislation to buy drugs. two sources say manchin also raised concerns during negotiations of paid time off and telling colleagues he feared west virginians would use the time for dear hunting. a spokesperson of manchin's office says the senator made clear he supports the child tax credit and believes the money should be targeted to those who needed most. he has expressed support for a paid leave program that has a dedicated and sustainable funding mechanism. the senator has been consistent in saying he wants to be mean tested. we have heard this for many months now, going only to those who need the government help. manchin's abrupt announcement on fox news may come from a sense of frustration with white house's aides. >> you know me, i am always willing to work and listen and try. i just got to the end and they know the reasons what happened. they won't tell you and i am not going to tell. >> they know the reason, they're not going to tell us. what do you mean? >> it's bad. i understand that. it's not the president. it's the staff. they drove some things and put some things out that is unex c unexcusable. >> well, what is it? it was going to mention the west virginia's senator by name. manchin objected that his name is blocked out. the statement went out any way and contained only manchin's name. the senaor snapped at white house's aide and told them he was done. the west wing interpreted that as means the current talks are done but can pick up again next year. manchin was walking away publicly a few days later on fox news on sunday. however, there does appear to be a path forward. two sources tell nbc news that the president and senator manchin spoke sunday night and that the conversation was cordial and ended with the sense that negotiations would resume in new year. manchin wants the bill to go in the process. manchin counter offered the white house with the deal that would include universal pre-k for ten years and expansion of obamacare and hundreds of billions of climate change totallying $1.8 trillion. manchin's limit was 1.5 million. in his latest piece in new york magazine entitled biden should take manchin's deal right now. we would have the largest green energy investment in history. our joe scarborough tweeted, manchin supports repealing the trump tax cuts in full, keeping closed the $300 billion salt loophole and going after carried interest and the deal that jonathan chate describes here. jackie, i will start with you and we'll jump to jonathan lemire. first of all, manchin can't, that's a deal worth taking. what are you hearing on capitol hill about the potential of something coming through that serves some of the issues that are confronting this country? there was a collective sigh of relief after my colleague broke the news of the parameters of a deal that manchin could get behind the ones that he presented to the white house last week. the $1. trillion deal that you just outlined. there are clearly some common grounds here and the white house recognizes that. there are palpable frustration. there is one potential major casualty that the white house and moderate democrats, people like senator michael bennett that are not going to be happy with. that's manchin's exclusion in this proposal that he puts forward of the child tax credit. that being said this is a step in the right direction, there is still between 500 and $600 billion included in manchin's proposal to fight climate change which i think is also a surprise to some of manchin's colleague as a lot of what he's been saying has been his concerns of transitioning off of fossil fuels to soon. but, i still think that democrats are looking for cooling off period between now and the new year when everyone comes back from recess. they'll have some time to hash it out in a little less tense terms. >> the pick up on that point, things look so bleak for democrats. as i broke the news yesterday about his call with the president that night, there is a sense of sliver of hope here that some deals can be done. white house aids telling me work can be done. reverend al sharpton, i want to get you on this. we played earlier and comments on more progressives on capitol hill. house and senate says they don't want to take manchin on his words anymore. negotiations start again after a two-week cooling off period. how do democrats get by that? can the rest of the caucus trust joe manchin again? i think what we are looking at is the real need for senator manchin and others to realize the gravity of what we are talking about. we are talking about climate change. we are talking about millions of millions of americans being affected by this. this is not some game of chest where we just move pieces around. we affecting lives. in that type of thinking, i think that everyone then has their best foot forward. the white house staff insulted me, that's kind of childish. whether or not they agree or disagree. manchin acted that way. i think it's time for adults to come to the room and act like adults. i disagree with manchin, manchin has been straightforward and you knew where he was. he has some concerns. progressives have the right to be in many ways upset because they went on a limb against their own constituents and said we'll go with the first part of this. we want to make sure that we have guarantees the second part which is build back better bill would be done. they're not acting out of school here. they are going by promises made should be promises kept and that should be done. we need to grow up a little here and stop saying, you didn't return my call. you put my name in the press. we are dealing with some serious things for millions of americans. >> and john meacham, i will end on you on that note. how important is it for biden to prevail on build back better bill? >> i think it's hugely important that he makes the policy and he gets the policy's victory whether it's in bites or whether it's all wrapped up together. that i think is less relevant. i believe and i am not a partisan. i believe as a citizen for what it's worth that success of biden's presidency is about the success of american democracy. it's about the survival of american democracy. and the president needs to be seen and needs to be a competent efficient and forward leading leader. i think he is but he has to find a way in the most polarizing environment to put together legislative majorities at an hour we never seen polarization like this since the 1850s. we all know how that decades turned out. that's what the stakes are. the government was shutting down and that's what the speaker of the house was upset about. politics is human. politics does not have to be petty. john meacham, thank you very much for being on. still ahead on "morning joe," dr. murthy will be here today. we'll ask what needs to be done to stop the rapid spread of this latest variant. plus, the january 6th committee seeks an interview with its first sitting member of congress. why is the committee interested in republican congressman scott petty, we'll have the latest, you are watching "morning joe," we'll be right back. e watching we'll be right back. age before beauty? 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more than just an investor, you're an owner with access to financial advice, tools and a personalized plan that helps you build a future for those you love. vanguard. become an owner. house speaker pelosi is announcing plans for a day of commemorative events. in a letter to the democratic caucus, the speaker writes "preparations are underway for a full program of event including discussion among the historians about the narrative that day and an opportunity for members to share their experiences and reflections from that day and a prayer vigil in the evening." the event will be live stream. the white house plans to mark the anniversary of the insurrection but has not yet released the specifics. as for the house committee investigating the january 6th attack, it's seeking for information from a sitting member of the congress. chairman benny thompson sent a letter to scott perry of pennsylvania asking him to provide documents and appear for a sit-down interview. the letter that states had evidence that perry quote "an important role" in effort to install justice department official jeffery clark as the acting attorney general during the final months of the trump administration. clark then went onto play a key role in trump's efforts to challenge the election results. thompson writes in part quotes, acting general rosen and deputy attorney general donohue, we are aware of these plans. they are aware of multiple texts and other communications with mark meadows including evidence that they communicated over the encrypted app signal. jackie, you have been following the committee's work. what else can you tell us about all the efforts to bring some accountability right up to the top in terms of what happened on january 6th. >> my colleague confirmed that -- direct meadows to check your signal and that immediately piqued the interest of the investigator. for the reporters that have been covering the committee since july early of this december, it's been a question of how the panel is going to handle getting and sitting lawmakers to cooperate with them as we knew from the beginning that people like kevin mccarthy and jim jordan were in touch with the president and his inner circle about the effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election. scott perry is particular of interest. we found reporting that he's the leading conduit from the white house in terms of trying to effort the challenge of the 2020 election and he's been on the mind of congressional investigators for a whole year now when the senate judiciary report their report in october. he's involved with these efforts. they had gotten evidence that thompson echoes yesterday that he was pressuring doj officials to investigate these various fringed conspiracy theories. he acknowledged in those interviews that he was the person introduced mark meadows to jeffery clark. there are so many pieces fallen together here. the big question remains whether scott perry is going to cooperate and how far this committee is going to go in getting a member of congress to comply with this investigation. >> meanwhile jackie and other hefty sentence was handed down. a washington state man was sentenced to 46 months in prison for assaulting a police officer with a dangerous weapon during the january 6th, attack on the capitol. devlin thompson sentenced to three years and ten months followed by three years of supervised release. thompson pleaded guilty in august. prosecutors say he helped a mob that was seizing riot shields from police officers in a tunnel and attempted to throw a speaker at officers. thompson wrote an apology letter to the officer that was filed in court where he expressed remorse for his action and said his behavior was unexcusable. thompson's understanding of the event was impacted because he's been diagnosed with autism disorder. an argument that the judge rejected. what led people to attack the capitol is the focus of the hit podcast, american radical. we have been featuring it on the show over the past few weeks. it examines the radicalization about once a political woman named roseanne boylen who died during the january 6th riot. here is a clip from the latest episode entitled "monsters and martyrs." >> i don't want her to go down as a crazy person about trump because that's not the person she is. i don't want them to tie roseanne with this terrorism event. >> for me regarding to january 6th and all people died and in injured there trump's supporters and we owe it to themselves and ourselves to find out how it happened. because this was you know an act of terrorism. we don't think that roseanne was a terrorist but january 6th was an act of terrorism and the damage that's done from it has the potential to be generational. >> the host of "american radical." ayman is join us this time. got your name right this time. mangled it a little bit, sorry about that. >> no worries. the podcast delivers an important service to anybody who listens to it and everybody should because this process shows just what has happened over the past four years and how many have fallen into the wrong direction and i would like to maybe ask you to tell us what more we can expect from learning from roseanne's story and your hope from creating this platform. >> thank you so much for that question. we finish out the series with this podcast and particular episode called "monsters and martyrs," it brings us back to what you are talking about a few minutes ago, the narrative around january 6th. our final one called "monsters and martyrs," they described january 6th as a terrorist attack. the reality is right now you have this phenomenal that's playing out with the far-right. members of congress, marjorie taylor greene and others who were exploiting roseanne's death. people trying to portray her as a martyr and when they do they're trying to rewrite the narrative. they were attacked by the police and acting in as self-defense. you can recruit a whole group of people to go out to defend democracy as what you saw it. that's why the family wanted us to tell the story. they knew what was happening to roseanne in terms of radicalization. they were keen that her story could perhaps offer other families out there. i can't tell you how many people have reached out to me since this podcast went out. i have a mother and uncle who's gone down the same rabbit hole, how do i get them out of it. >> ayman , it's al sharpton, one of the things that strikes me, we are talking about georgia, we are talking about in the deep south and a lot of people that roseanne have recruited to do what is terrorist attack comes more out of the culture than them being politically involved one way or another. i think it would be helpful if you explain how the culture impact of where people are kind of shifts them into where they actually are doing what is normal and acceptable, given their environment and the culture which they live in and defending that, they don't see it through political lenses. >> yeah, reverend al, that's such an important question. the politics of what's happening in georgia is so important to what roseanne believed in and why she was going to storm the capitol on january 6th. at least to go to rally, part of the so-called stop the steal rally as trump was holding. georgia has become the epicenter of both president trump's attempt to steal the election as what he calls the georgia's secretary of state trying to find thousands of votes for him. we know they're trying to gerrymander districts. we know the demographics of georgia have changed and it was black and brown people delivered georgia to the senate for the democratic party. the politics of what's happening is central to this. roseanne was listening to representatives like marjorie taylor greene to politicians like donald trump. that angered her in the community and made her believe to do something. in the span of six months went from believing donald trump and believing the election was stolen to then wanting to go all the way to the capitol in the span of one night walking there and ultimately tried to storm it. it was bizarre to her family. when you understand why politicians use these lies, things like the election was stolen and georgia was rigged, it becomes essential. what happens and how politicians speak about our elections? we may think it's politics or policies but it has real life consequences for vulnerable who are ultimately go down that rabbit hole and exploited. . >> ayman , thank you. the latest episode of the podcast, "american radical" is available now. it's so important, chilling, thank you very much ayman . still ahead with covid cases surging, ohio hospitals is issuing this message to unvaks unvaks -- unvaccinated americans. we need you to car as much as we do. and former president trump launched a new legal fight against new york attorney general. 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[beep] i just wanted to say... ♪ find yourself in these situations and see who you are. and that's just part of the bargain. ♪ look daddy, an angel gets its wings. >> that's right. >> wow, top of the hour, 75 years ago, "it's a wonderful life," it began screening on a continued schedule. it's christmas time everybody, welcome back to "morning joe," jonathan lemire and reverend al sharpton is still with us. we have new york times reporter, jeremy peters. we hear christmas music and steve ratner. washington bureau chief from usa today, susan page is with us at this hour. great to have you all on board. great group. president biden will deliver his speech this afternoon on how his administration plans to slow the surge of coronavirus cases fuelled by omicron. jen psaki says the speech is not about lockdown but about the benefits of being vaccinated. they'll start to ship 500 free at home covid tests to every american who wants one starting next month. the dominate coronavirus strain across the country. states are scrambling to contain it with cases doubling every two or three days. hospitalizations are also rising in many states but public health experts stress that if you are vaccinated and boosted, symptoms are generally mild like not even as bad as a bad flu. nbc news national correspondent gabe gutierrez has the latest. >> reporter: a covid surge coast to coast, omicron is most dominant variant making up three quarters of cases. >> it's time for boston to follow the science. boston announcing it will require proof of vaccinations for some indoor faces. >> reporter: dc is reinstating its mask mandates. six states called in national guards to ease the strain of hospital. downtown los angeles cancelled its in person new year celebration in grand park. the mayor saying he'll make a decision before christmas. >> thanks god based on everything we have seen, cases are more mild than what we have experienced. >> reporter: broadway cancelling more performances and snl this weekend going without a live audience. >> where is everybody? >> reporter: omicron cases doubling two to three days. the testing lines are eerily familiar. >> frustrating to say the least. >> this is my third clinic i am going to in the last one hour. >> reporter: because of vaccines and boosters is an effective treatment. >> this is not march of 2020. >> reporter: according to the latest cdc data, here is the difference, of those who are vaccinated and those who are not. there are 450 covid cases for 100,000 people. among those who are vaccinated, that number drops to 140 cases and among those boosted, still lower. here is the crucial part, among the unvaccinated, there are six deaths per 100,000 people. among the vaccinated, that drops considerably to 0.5 and among those boosted, 0.1. >> we are seeing breakthrough infections in elderly people. it's turning out mild. >> moderna is out of its own data suggesting its half dose booster shot raises antibody levels. >> can this booster stop omicron? >> i hope it can. >> reporter: dr. steven hope says the company is hooking ento developing another booster specific to omicron. >> the reason is this virus continues to surprise us as it evolves. >> wow, some really important information in that piece that we are going to review. president biden is facing the collapse of the major portion of his legislative agenda, at the hands of joe manchin. garrett haake has the latest. >> reporter: president biden facing a duo nightmare before christmas, a new covid surge ripping the country and his domestic agenda derailed by democrats. he won't back the president's climate bill. manchin said the bill spends too much money too freely, including on a paid family program he proposes. >> i am from west virginia, i am not from where they are from and they can beat the living crap out of people and thinking they are permissive. >> i think what senator manchin did yesterday represent as breach of the trust of the president. >> the republicans celebrating. >> we have absolutely seen christmas come early this year. shout-out to joe manchin for doing the right thing. >> that blow to the president a day before his speech on the covid surge. increase access to testing. with more americans with covid this year than 2020, the president's covid response facing scrutiny a few months after he tauted big progress. >> we are closer than ever to declare our independence from a deadly virus. >> okay, so a lot to get to this morning. jonathan lemire, first of all, as the president sets to address the country on the virus at 2:00 p.m. today, he also is navigating build back better bill and joe manchin. what's on tap for today and what is he expected to deliver as a message to americans at 2:00 today? >> it's a perilist moment for this president. his essential argument during the campaign beyond the nation of donald trump was to restore a real sense of competence and faith in the government that can do big things for people. democracy can work. right now with inflation up and test sites at long hours and the break down for now of his agenda. there is some hope as we reported last night and we talked about it last hour, the president did speak to senator manchin a few days ago, they got a long way to go, there is some renewed form of build back better bill or at least some of it could be signed into law next year and the central piece, the primary mission of this presidency is to get the pandemic under control. we'll hear from today preaching americans to get vaccinated or boosted. if you are boosted, this could be a mild experience and if you are not, it could kill you. it could rip through pockets of the population that are unvaccinated. he's going to be releasing over 500 million at home testing kits that'll be sent out sometimes next month. that's important. sending military personnels across the country to help with staffing to deal with icus that are about to overflow. he's also going to be clear, mika, he's going to talk tough with americans who have not been vaccinated and ask those who have to do their part. >> we are going to toggle between the president's efforts on build back better bill, the omicron variant and the economy. the person best suited to do that right now is steve ratner. we are going to start with omicron because i understand you are at home because you yourself had a breakthrough infection. how are you feeling? >> i am feeling fine. i did get it about six or seven days ago now. i took all the precautions. i wore my mask and i didn't go for any sporting events where i was in close contact. i did go to dinner about a week ago in which everybody was tested before they went, there maybe 100 people there. there was still a bunch of break out cases and i was one of them. i caught it from somebody there or whatever. i would not call it a super spreader event. this thing is highly contagious. i feel fine. i think getting as the president say today, getting triple boosted is essential to this or a huge help. what i had was a bad cold and a sore throat but none of the terrible conditions that people had earlier on, lost of taste or smell or fevers or chills. i didn't have any of that. i suspect because i am triple boosted. everybody should get it done if they have not already. >> that's what experts are saying. it's that boost that really protects you from what could be a terrible experience. let me take a portion of the package that we just ran that reenforces what you are showing us on a human level. steve sounds a little congested but that's the worst of it because he's boosted but he has the variant right now. take a listen to this. i believe this was gabe gutierrez's package. >> here is the difference between those who are vaccinated and not. among the vaccinated, there are 451 covid cases. among those who are vaccinated, that number drops to 140 cases. here is the crucial part, among the unvaccinated, there are six deaths for 100,000 people. among the vaccinated, that drops considerably to 0.5. among those boosted, 0.1. >> we are seeing break through infections in elderly people. they are boosted. it's turn out mild. moderna is out with its own data. >> steve ratner and i thank god for the booster and thank god that you took it and that your symptoms are extremely mild and you are able to be on the show this morning to talk about a number of things including the cause of build back better bill, why don't you take it away with your charts. >> i am happy to be on the show today. you guys have been talking about joe manchin. what i want to do is illustrate, he's got a lot of different objections. the core of them has to do with the cost and what he's particularly upset about is the white house and the congressional folks used a variety of, we can call them gimmicks in order to make it look like this thing was fully paid for. the one that bothers him the most is some provisions expired early on. if they were to get renewed, it would come at greater cost. more support for premiums and affordable care act, that was 145 billion which was the darker color. the congressional bill will go to 428 billing and if you extend it to ten years, universal pre-k going to 310. the biggest one is the child tax credit which was put in the bill for one year. if you go to the full ten years, it would go to 185 billion to $1.46 trillion. what you don't see at the bottom there, it was basically the cost of this bill goes up by something like $1.8 trillion when you had all this stuff together. and so it takes a bill that may or may not be balanced and turns into something expensive. let's take a look at the impact on the deficit. white house talks about this as fully paid for and it's not quite. in the early year, we have annual deficits of 100 to $200 billion from this bill as it's written and theoretically you get surpluses in the outer years. this creates some concerns of inflation. you can see what the total impact would be if all provisions were extended and at the bottom of the number i was looking, you can see $160 billion of deficit increase as written, not much. really small in the economy of 22 trillion. if you send all of these programs for the full life of this ten-year window, you get to 2.8 trillion and you get those dots at the bottom which are deficits of 250 to $350 billion every year for ten years. now the last thing i want to talk about is that president biden came as a kind of transformational president, he unleashed all kinds of proposals and trillions of dollars of proposals and kind of acted like he was like fdr or lyndon johnson. the numbers unfortunately we learning don't really allow that. if you compare him to johnson who had 258 seats in the house in his first year in office and biden had a slimmist majority of 271 seats. biden has 50. if you look at somebody like obama, he had 59 seats or 60 seats to work with in if senate at a large majority in the house. i think the mistake was made on both sides, the biden administration left the impression that he was going to be a transformational president with all the vast programs and nothing like this has been done since lyndon johnson. on the other hand he didn't have the majority up on capitol hill to get it done. that's what we are finding out now. the 50th senator in effect gets to decide what's in. >> so, i want to turn to susan page on steve ratner's analysis there. there is the problem of the concept of pain of paying for all of these programs and what's actually paid for and what sort of put off and tugged away and the timing of it impacts the payments. it does not seem like there is time, i don't want to say tricks but for little loopholes like this because it can cause someone like a joe manchin who cares about physical responsibility and things being paid for and how this impacts our overall economy and steve ratner has the point there. perhaps democrats putting it together is clear how this works together. he's asking time to mean test a lot of this. >> it's definitely shocking that the party in power in congress is using some gimmicks to try to make a package look like it costs less. what's surprising is that one person standing up, you can't undo it and it's hard to see how this proposal gets put back together and anything like the scale that they're talking about. here is a calculation that democrats will make. if you did a vend diagram, i don't think we know yet. whether there is going to be ability for progressives to say even though we thought we had a better deal for bigger package, we'll accept whatever it is. >> you're our go-to guy, let's talk democrats. give us your reporting, your sense of where things stand in the party right now in the wake of manchin temporarily blowing up the biden's agenda. how can the moderate/centrist of the party be trusted by progressives. we heard the last few days simply unloading on him. >> well, i think that when manchin said earlier or implied earlier that a lot of the protests directed at him had a big impact on his thinking here. you can't overstate that and the people who tried to block his car and followed him to his house and following sinema in the bathroom. they felt threatened and under attack. i think that and if you talk to the people around senator manchin and sinema, that did have a big effect on these discussions. there was a piece released yesterday in the hill by one of joe manchin's close friend who said a lot of this came down to his feeling that the white house was too aggressive in its public posturing and its messaging against him that got too personal. these people are political actors but they are human beings. what you dealing in a lot of ways, i don't want to say like hurt feelings but not everything that was on the up and up and that translates, that applies also on the other side. the white house, progressive democrats felt like manchin had gone back on his words and betrayed the trust of president biden. looking forward, there is one thing we have not mentioned here which is a looming fight over voting rights. right now you have the democratic party divided over president biden's key legislative party. going forward in the weeks and months ahead, they appear on the brink of having another huge fight over the filibuster. this is also going to be extraordinary messy and it's kind of hard to see how the democratic party rehabilitate its image going into 2022 in the midterms if all it's known for in media and the public per session fighting among itself. >> reverend al, i want to get your thought on that. while build back better bill is important for the president's agenda for trillions of reasons, voting rights is fundamental. >> that's going to be the real dilemma for this president. as we look at how we savage if it's possible to savage the build back better bill even if it's piece by piece, they are changing state law it is as he speaks. we are looking at dismantling american democracy. we'll decide state die state how we are going to vote. we'll decide on women's rights to vote and policing and et cetera. i hope the president can take the front on this. he made a great speech in south carolina. we asked him to address this at the annual breakfast on martin luther king's day. it's important that we understand and john meacham said it in the first hour today, democracy is at stakes. as we run the track of dealing with the bbb, we must in my opinion and at the same time in the interim if he takes along dealing with voting rights and the john lewis bill. the right wing willover take the senate and the house and he'll be a lame duck president come november and all of us what we want, progressives and moderates out the window if we don't save voting rights now. >> voting rights is a renew focus here. the filibuster seems like in obstacle right now. we are expecting to hear the president after the new year. aides suggested that he'll weigh in more of the filibuster. he's not married to it. he's willing to suggest that it could be some reform to it and which joe manchin as well. others have not. there is some opponents to the filibuster among democrats. without that being at least adjusted, it's hard to see any sorts of meaningful voting rights legislation getting past. the white house is aware that there are voters in their parties strictly african-american voters, look, we came out for you. we braved the pandemic and we provided your margin of victory, what are you going to do for us. if you don't do this, we can't address that, maybe we don't show up next year. that leads to devastating democratic losses for the midterms and the party of bad footing for presidential for '24 as well. >> so many important vital issues to juggle at this point. steve, with all that in mind, what's the possibility before christmas of a deal any time soon? >> first of all, democrats have to get something passed. i think we'll take a difficult electoral outlook and making it impossible to remain at least the house or the senate. bbb is really tough. you don't issue a 712 words statement attacking a member of your own party and go off together in a moment and come back with a compromise. i think there is a lot of bad feeling. i do deals for 40 years and it's hard to put it back together. susan page put it well. the best we can hope for is a vend diagram, we can find enough provision that sinema and manchin can support. it will look a lot different and a lot more modest but something the president can put across. on voting rights, it's going to come down to manchin and sinema are willing to ben the filibuster rule or some kind of amendment to get it through. the principles of it, manchin is not far off on a reasonable bill. now you have to get past the senate rules on that. you got two different challenges. they got to overcome at least one of them from a purely political matter moving the country for ward. >> steve, thank you so much for coming on. we hope you feel better soon and thank you for sharing with us in realtime what it's like to have the breakthrough infection with the vaccine and booster. >> thank you jeremy peters as well. still ahead on "morning joe," it's day two of jury deliberations in the trial of kim potter. the former police officer who says she mistook her gun for her taser when she fatal and shot wright. a look at what both sides said. they were able to get past their kidnappers and escaped freedom. you are watching "morning joe," we'll be right back. 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[echoing] get a quote today. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ 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. superpowers from a spider bite? i could use some help 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. hospitals there have fewer available beds during the pandemic's deadliest surge last year. the state is staffing more than 900 more beds and caring for at least 1500 patients a day. hospitals in the state are also facing staffing shortages because workers are burnt out or are leaving for better paying positions. officials say there is an uptick if people suffering from non covid ailments as well. multiple ohio healthcare systems are asking their community to do its part to stop the coronavirus from the spreading and to get vaccinated. leaders of six healthcare facilities took out a full pay job -- pleading with the people, help. primarily among the unvaccinated and end with the call to action, we need you to care as much as we do. the six medical systems help care for nearly 3 million people in the cleveland area. meanwhile ohio governor activated the national guard yesterday to help with staffing shortages. there are currently more people hospitalized than north eastern ohio than any other point during the pandemic. >> this is incredible. >> people need to get vaccinated. do it for the community. deliberations continue as jurors weigh man slaughter charges against kim potter. the police officer who fatally shot daunte wright. >> who won't be home for the holidays is daunte wright. >> reporter: accusing kimberley potter of making rash and reckless choices by firing her gun after warning she's about to fire her taser. >> she chose to engage and use force. she chose to escalate. she knew she had both weapons on her duty belt. she knew how to get it right. she failed to get it right. she failed daunte wright. >> potter age 49 facing man slaughter in the same courtroom where a jury convicted former officer derek chauvin. >> no threat by daunte wright? he took off from his car even after he was shot, no threat? >> i would preferred had daunte wright followed commands. >> reverend al, i want your thoughts on this case, i know you are headed there today. >> yeah, i am certainly hoping that there would be justice here. when you look at the fact that charges are man slaughter and recklessness is not intent here. i stayed in touch with wright's family. no one is saying daunte should follow the instruction of the police. if you have an officer that's been trained for 26 years and they are saying they don't know the difference between a taser and a gun, you know which side you are supposed to have them holsted. if you are saying you are reacted in an emotional, the trauma of the moment or whatever the moment brought and your training didn't kick in, that's recklessness. it's very insensitive and offensive to members of the community when defense attorney says daunte caused his own death. he should have followed police orders but why would daunte and anybody else would think somebody would be killed from getting in a car and trying to move away from a situation they thought they are being unfairly stopped. we are hoping for some justice and we are hoping the police department dealing with her training. you are talking about a gun and taser, different weight and size and a young man is dead which we should all agree there is no reason for this young unarmed man to be dead. >> no. coming up, the european union slaps sanctions on a private military group carrying out combat on behalf of the kremlins. next on "morning joe." kremlins next on "morning joe." as a dj, i know all about customization. that's why i love liberty mutual. they customize my car insurance, so i only pay for what i need. how about a throwback? ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ age before beauty? why not both? visibly diminish wrinkled skin in... crepe corrector lotion... only from gold bond. hi susan! honey? yeah? i respect that. but that cough looks pretty bad... try this robitussin honey. the real honey you love... plus the powerful cough relief you need. mind if i root through your trash? now get powerful relief with robitussin elderberry. 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>> it's a great question. look, as i say blogger got his start in ukraine. this is their laboratory of their proven ground for being deployed now. we don't really know what putin decided or even if he made a decision with respect to reinvading ukraine. just today in fact a couple bits of news. the russian defense secretary, sergei, this is a ludicrous piece of agenda. >> they're deploying some kind of capability near the border with russia. they are creating a pretext for an invasion and pinning it on the united states and not even ukraine military units. i have no doubts whatsoever if toews pin takes the decision to go back to ukraine. >> hey michael, thank you for the terrific reporting. a quick question for you and i ask you to put on your analyst hat here. putin were to move on ukraine, is there a sense to when? would i be time, date or period or what happens event? i know there is strong speculations that about the beijing olympics. >> it was the sochi winter olympics. i talked to european intelligence sources. they all say the build up is proceeding settlely. full capability to go in of what they need to do. now that was only a few days away really. so i think you know we are not looking at a matter of weeks of months here but in fact this could happen if you decided on it. >> the bill set up is so excessive. there was another military, it pails in comparisons to what he's move there now. >> michael weiss, thank you so much for jour reporting on this. up next here on "morning joe," have begun the deliberations of maxwell. we'll have the closing arguments from both sides. plus, donald trump files a lawsuit in an attempt to stop the vifl investigation into his company. >> we'll have reactions from the new york state's attorney general. tate's attorney general. superpowers from a spider bite? 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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 ♪♪ 53 past the hour. former president donald trump yesterday filed suit against new york attorney general letitia james to stop her long-running civil investigation into his business practices and other participation in the manhattan's district attorney's criminal investigation of his company. the 30-page complaint filed in federal court in albany accuses james of political motivation, personal animus and harassment in her almost three-year investigation of the company's potential manipulation of asset values for tax and loan purposes. trump filed a similar unsuccessful suit against new york's d.a. cyrus vance for his office's criminal investigation of the same practices. the suit cites theories about the company, democratic ag made running for office to argue that subpoenas from her office, with unof which is for a deposition with donald trump, have violated his constitutional rights. james issued a statement calling the lawsuit a delay tactic, adding, quote, neither mr. trump nor the trump organization get to dictate if and where they will answer for their actions. we'll be following that. and jury deliberations are under way in the high-profile sex trafficking trial of jeffrey epstein's longtime confidante, ghislaine maxwell. nbc news reporter dasha burns has the latest. >> reporter: ghislaine maxwell's fate in the hands of a jury. maxwell, a longtime confidante of jeffrey epstein, facing six criminal counts including sex trafficking and charges she conspired to transport and entice underage girls for epstein. closing arguments, the prosecution calling the two partners in crime who exploited young girls together. their case centering on the claims of four women who say they were sexually abused by epstein, alleging maxwell help recruit and groom them. sometimes even taking part in the sex acts herself. all four say they were teenagers at the time. the prosecution calling maxwell, a, quote, sophisticated predator, trading young girls for money and status, showing maxwell received a total of $30.7 million from epstein, telling the jury, quote, when maxwell took the money, she knew what it was for and now you do too. the defense arguing their client is a proxy for epstein, who died in prison, saying she's being tried here for being with jeffrey epstein. maybe that was the biggest mistake of her life, but that was not a crime. the defense also arguing the accusers want a payday, the case against their client was built on false memories. maxwell has pleaded not guilty to denying all accusations against her. >> at its core, it is a sexual assault case and that's driven by the victim witnesses who get up on the stand, point at the defendant and say that's the person that did this to me. so ultimately, credibility is everything. >> reporter: the verdict could come before the christmas holiday, the same day as maxwell's 60th birthday. still ahead -- the check-in with the nation's doctor. surgeon general vie vehicle murthy is our guest to whether the united states has a plan to weather another covid winter, but even as new cases overtake the previous delta surge, many americans still plan to head home for the holidays. how airlines are handling what's shaping up to be the busiest travel week in two years. also ahead, nbc's garrett haake joins us with the latest from capitol hill as senator joe manchin plays grinch to the president's christmas wish of advancing his build back better plan. plus, the truth is out there, and a new government office tasked with investigating ufo sightings is trying to find it. we'll have that story. and what it was like being the riccardos. a look at the latest project from renowned screenwriter and director aaron sorkin that reimagines life with lucille ball and desi air nez, the married couple and masterminds behind one of the most successful and beloved sitcoms of all time. "morning joe" is coming back in two minutes. "morning joe" is co two minutes. as a dj, i know all about customization. that's why i love liberty mutual. they customize my car insurance, so i only pay for what i need. how about a throwback? ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ 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. 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. ♪ ♪♪ welcome back to "morning joe." everyone is out skating already? that's pretty good. jonathan lemire, reverend al sharpton still with us. we've got a lot to get to this hour so let's dive right in. president biden is set to address the nation today about the fight against the omicron covid variant, which has quickly become the most dominant strain in the u.s. the federal government is now saying it will send free tests to americans who want one. nbc news national correspondent gabe gutierrez has more. >> reporter: amid another coast-to-coast covid surge, the rapid cries of omicron is staggering. the cdc says the variant now makes up 73% of all u.s. covid cases, up 13% from last week. the first known omicron death is reported in texas, unvaccinated man in his 50s with underlying health conditions. >> things are moving quickly and i know people are concerned. >> reporter: this morning president biden exposed to covid, a staffer tested positive monday after being on air force one with the president friday. the president has tested negative. it's ahead of a speech on the omicron this afternoon, telling vaccinated americans they can enjoy the holidays while delivering a dire warning for the 40 million unvaccinated that they're at risk of severe illness and death this winter. it comes as his predecessor, former president trump, heard boos in dallas alongside bill o'reilly after saying he received the booster. >> both the president and i are vaxed. did you get the booster? >> yes. >> i got it too! >> don't, don't, don't -- >> the white house is rolling out new measures preparing to ship 500 free at-home covid tests for any american who wants one starting next month, directing thousands of members of the military to help understaffed hospitals and expand on 20,000 free testing sites already available in the u.s. >> it's been frustrating to say the least. >> reporter: the first opening this week in new york city as omicron rages. los angeles canceled its in-person new year's eve celebration in grand park. d.c. is reinstating mask mandates, weeks after lifting it. in boston proof of vaccination will be required starting next month for indoor spaces, including restaurants, gyms and theaters. overnight, the nhl announcing it will pause its season until after christmas, calling off a five-game schedule thursday. joining us now the surgeon general of the united states, dr. vivek murthy. it's very good to have you back on the show. first, i would just like to ask what can we expect to hear from the president today, especially per training to the highly transmissible omicron variant. >> thanks, mika. today the president is going to lay out for the country what we can expect in the next few weeks with regard to omicron. he's also going to provide advice for people what they can do to stay safe during the holiday season. more importantly he's going to lay out concrete steps in three critical areas around testing, hospital support, increased vaccination and booster efforts that will help keep us safe during the next three weeks as omicron cases rise. >> so, obviously getting ready for a surge in the hospitals and the surge most likely will be for those who are unvaccinated. i want to show you some graphics that we played earlier in the show that i think really hone in on the problem here. if we can play those now, let's listen to it. >> according to the latest cdc data, here's the difference between those who are vaccinated and those who are not. among the unvaccinated, there are 451 covid cases for 150,000 people. among those vaccinated, that number drops to 134 cases. among those boosted, still lower, 48 cases. here's the crucial part, among the unvaccinated there are six deaths per 100,000 people. among the vaccinated, that drops considerably to 0.5. among those boosted, 0.1. >> so the bottom line is if you're boosted, your chances of survival and also of not having a severe experience infection are very high. >> yes, mika, this is something is a really important point to underscore here. look, i know the news about omicron has been scary and worrisome for many people and folks after two years of the pandemic are just plain tired after wave after wave. unfortunately, covid is not done with us but we are in a better place than we were a year ago and one of the critical reasons is because of the vaccines and boosters. scientists are telling us even in the face of omicron, if you get boosted, you have a high protection against both infection and particularly against hospitalization and death. that's why we've been encouraging people to go out there and get boosted. we also want people to be extra vigilant during this time and use the other protective measures we have, like wearing masks in public indoor spaces, making sure you're using testing before you gather whenever possible. and making sure if you do gather, you're doing so in ventilated spaces, where we know the risk of transmission is lower. >> i won't have you comment on this but just pointing out former president trump even went on stage, and we've been showing on national television as i'm sure many other outlets as well, the former president talking about being boosted. because in this case, having the vaccine and -- the two vaccines in some cases and the booster can protect you from a very bad fate. and the science has shown out before the eyes of all americans, no matter how they feel. the question i have for you, dr. murthy, is someone who's completely unvaccinated at this point, an adult, who's out in the community, maybe has a family, is that person at risk or is that person at risk and also putting other people at risk of getting a severe infection? >> yes, and what covid has done for us, mika, it highlighted for us our decisions have consequences on not only our health but health of the people around them. i'll tell you earlier this week i heard from a good friend who is a doctor, works in a hospital and was taking care of a man who's a lung transplant recipient and he unfortunately now has covid and is hospitalized. he caught the infection from a family member who had chosen not to get vaccinated. that family member got infected and didn't do too poorly but they ended up transmitting the infection to somebody who is vulnerable. that's one of the things we're trying to emphasize to everyone, getting vaccinated is a decision you make not just for your health and well being and it does reduce your risk of illness and serve dj but something we do for the people around us. think about our kids under 5 who are not vaccinated yet and need the protection of those vaccinated around them. think about the immunocompromised and those who have multiple medical conditions that put themselves at greater risk. this is about recognizing our decisions have an impact on the people around us. if we get and stick together, they make decisions that can benefit the common good, we will get through this pandemic. >> mr. surgeon general, good morning, jonathan lemire. we know the president from first taking office has said he's committed to keeping schools open. from what you can tell of this new variant, which we know to be very transmissible, but a lot of school children vaccinated. do you believe it is safe for schools to remain open? >> i say this not just as a doctor but father of two small kids who are in school right now but were not last year during the pandemic, keeping our kids in school is so, so important. we have to do everything we can to make sure that continues to be the case. now, i'm certainly happy that this year we've been able to get more than 95% of kids back in school, but here's the key, we have tools to make it safer for our kids to be in school. we just have to make sure we're using those tools. the billions of dollars that the administration secured in the american rescue plan to help schools afford testing, improve ventilation, get masks, make sure precautions were in place, many schools used those but we want more to do so because we can keep rates of infection in our schools low and keep kids learning and that helps their families as well. >> as a father of two underage children in school, i could not agree more. can you update us on the covid-19 medication, the pill pfizer, merck, others are working on, how soon they may be available for americans and what kind of role they might play in the fight against this pandemic? >> absolutely. this is one of the promising parts of the effort against covid-19. we now have on the horizon two oral medicines that have been shown to reduce the risk of hospitalization and death per the company's data. and now the fda is looking through the data to make sure the medications are safe and effective. they recognize how critically important these medicines are and they're working as fast as possible to render a decision for them. they just want to make sure that process is thorough because people relip on the fda to be the gold standard. when you look at everything going on now, we're in a much better place than we were in 2020, and it's because we have more tools in our toolbox. we have the prospect of oral medicines, vaccines and boosters. we know our masks work and ventilation works. the president will announce additional measures, including 500 million tests we are procuring to make free and available to the public, as well as measures to support our hospitals and help more and more people get vaccinated and boosted. i know this is a very difficult time for many people. i know during the holidays we hoped to be done with covid, but even though covid is tough, i believe we are tougher because of our science, our tools and ultimately the resilience of the american people. >> so to close, i really wanted to point out that the government, along with major pharmaceutical companies, is working on treatments, vaccines, not only just the vaccine and booster but vaccines that keep up with the variants because the variants keep happening because of the unvaccinated. also, the messaging to try and promote health among the american people, to try and convince people who are leery of the vaccine that this is life saving, not just to you but to people around you. that messaging is difficult. i hope the president gives some cold, hard facts to the american people today at 2:00. but my question to you, sir, is disinformation still an issue as it pertains to coronavirus, whether it be on facebook or other platforms where the information kind of flies around freeform and a lot of people take it in as actual news? >> mika, you're spot on in terms of bringing this up. misinformation continues to be a profound problem in the united states and around the world. it is preventing people from getting access to accurate information about the vaccine, and has led many people to make decisions that ultimately have harmed their health. i believe people have the right to make their decisions but i also believe they have the right to have accurate information to do so. we know a lot of this misinformation is spreading on technology platforms and social media platforms in particular. i believe companies have a moral responsibility to step up and address misinformation on their sites. it's one of the reasons why i issued a surgeon general's advisory on misinformation and called the companies to action earlier this year. we still have not yet seen them take enough sufficient action to address the crisis, and it's costing us in terms of people's health and their lives. >> yes, costing lives. u.s. surgeon general dr. vivic murthy. thank you very much for coming open the show again. hope you enjoy the holiday, a safe one. thank you. in spite the increase in covid cases, the tsa screened more than 2 million travelers for the fourth straight day and already some airports are seeing a pandemic record number of passengers. wow. nbc news correspondent tom costello has that part of the story. >> thank you very much. >> reporter: day two of the christmas week travel rush is now fully under way. even with the rapid spread of the omicron variant, many travelers appear undeterred. some airports now on target for record traffic including miami international, projecting 156,000 passengers each day, breaking an all-time holiday record. after foregoing family gatherings last christmas, many are determined to go this year. >> i think that's one thing because you're doing your part and wearing your mask and getting vaccinated, just being careful, i think that's what matters. >> reporter: here in miami the american airlines ramp tower manages more than 700 flights a day, arriving and departing from their gates. everything from catering to luggage to fueling to maintenance issues and the occasional plane that is too heavy, like this one, at gate 49. what happens if the plane is too heavy, you have to offload cargo? >> if the plane is heavy, it all depends if we have anything we can move on the other side and put passengers on, and we might ask for volunteers for other flights. >> reporter: miami international has 11,000 luggage belts carrying an average 35,000 bags a day. this 777 traveled in fully loaded, and that means it's carrying 380 bags on top of the cargo. >> we target getting two bags on the plane in 20 minutes. >> reporter: how often does that happen? >> 63% of the time. >> reporter: meanwhile after a year of bad behavior in the skies and airports, another incident late yesterday here in miami, when police confronted an unruly passenger who they say took the keys to an airport golf cart. the escalation to the point the officer drew his gun. more than 5,664 cases of passengers disturbances this year. >> lately, we've been punching bags. >> reporter: airline passenger service workers now releasing a new public service announcement. >> we're your friend and we're trying to get you where you need to go. >> help us help you. >> wow. nbc's tom costello with that report. in washington this morning, democrats are still reeling over senator joe manchin's decision to publicly oppose president biden's nearly $2 trillion climate and social spending bill. as manchin defends his decision in his home state of west virginia, the white house is now searching for a path forward on the party's agenda. nbc senior capitol hill correspondent garrett haake joins us. good morning, garrett. what more can you tell us? is there a deal to be made anywhere? >> hey, mika, good morning. look, democrats certainly hope there is. now they moved from reeling to trying to bring down internal tensions and maybe come up with some kind of plan after that surprise announcement from manchin on sunday. for now though the strategy seems to be this, they are vowing to push ahead in january on an agenda they say it's simply too important to abandon, even as manchin and senate republicans dig in further. this morning president biden under pressure, as one man, democratic senator joe manchin, could derail the biggest part of the president's agenda. the president speaking to manchin sunday after a heated clash over the build back better bill. >> we're ready to move forward and get this done and click held to do that. >> reporter: manchin saying he's frustrated at white house staff. >> i want social reforms to the point that has responsibility and accountability. >> reporter: supported by some voters back home. >> anything that would alter west virginia right now is kind of scary. i can see why joe would be skeptical to do it. >> reporter: and by republicans who balk at the bill's cost as well as its progressive policy changes. >> it was an exciting thing to hear. great shot in the arm for the country. >> reporter: all while enraging progressives. >> i think what senator manchin did yesterday represents such an egregious breach of the trust of the president. >> reporter: among those parts opposed is the extension of the child tax credit, which he privately raised concerns would be spent on drugs by some parents and family leave position that could be abused to go hunting instead, according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions. manchin's office saying in a statement he supports the child tax credit and paid leave if they're targeted to those who need them and sustainably funded. democrats now hoping they can bring the bill back from the dead in the new year. >> it was infuriating to hear the senator pretty much trying to kill the build back better act. it might be on the deathbed, but we're going to resurrect it to make sure it passes at some point. >> look, progressives have said for months they trust president biden to deliver joe manchin's vote but they don't trust manchin at all. that makes that sunday night phone call between the senator and the president, which two sources have described as cordial, all the more important. if democrats can thaw out that relationship, there may still be hope of passing some elements of this agenda. mika? >> garrett, i have the reverend al sharpton here for you. he's got a question. >> garrett, as we look at this, is there any since that you feel that there can be a rising above the acrimony back and forth and adults take over? i mean, we are talking about something that will affect millions of americans. and at the same time are you hearing that they're going to deal with voting rights because we cannot wait to see what goes on with build back better and put voting rights aside while states are changing state election laws as we speak, so doesn't that put double pressure on the white house to really deal in the hasty and adult-like matter and on manchin, who's been an obstacle in both issues? >> hey, reverend al. let me unpack that. build back better, yes, ultimately i think you will see adults in the room try to lower the temperature. i think you saw some of the that with the president and manchin talking on the phone sunday night. these are both very tactile politicians. they do their jobs with their hearts on their sleeves. i think the temperature got raised here at the end of the year. manchin, as long as i covered him, he wants to be in the center of things. if the democrats revive elements of it in the spring and get him in the room, he's going to want to be there. that's why i think the posture is don't give up on build back better just yet. it may not have that name. it may not have everything democrats like but they're not just going to leave it behind and move on. on voting rights, it's all the issues you mentioned plus the continued adoption of gerrymandered maps by so many states. democrats know the longer they wait, the more it screws up the calendar. even if they're able to pass a voting rights bill, they have to undo some of maps put in place. so there's a sense of urgency there and there's going to be a call tonight among democratic senators to talk through the possible rule changes they can put in place. the problem is, that still relies on joe manchin and his willingness to change senate rules. he hasn't been there yet so they're still pretty much stuck when it comes to how they get to a solution that all 49 other democrats appear to be believe is the necessary solution, at least on the senate side. >> nbc's garrett haake, thank you very much for your coverage. stay on it. we'll get something done at some point. still ahead on "morning joe" -- ayman mole adean joins us as he closes out his popular american podcast, with a look at some donald trump allies are trying to rewrite the narrative of january 6th. plus, new video of the christian missionaries who escaped hair haitian captors on their own last week after making a run for it in the middle of the night. how they pulled it off. and a new government office designed to investigate those serious ufo sightings, will this lead to greater transparency and maybe some answers as to what's out there? also, screenwriter and director aaron sorkin joins us with his latest project ""being the ricardos," a real-life imagining behind the real-life couple and iconic i love lucy. we'll be right back. w in the new chicken & bacon ranch, but the clock is ticking, so we gotta hurry! there's new rotisserie-style chicken, new peppercorn ranch, new hickory-smoked bacon, new- did you just spike the footlong? sorry, i didn't want the delay of game. save big. order through the app. superpowers from a spider bite? i could use some help 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. ♪♪ the only thing a disaster can't destroy is hope. ♪♪ donate now at redcross.org ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ experience the power of sanctuary at the lincoln wish list event. ♪ ♪ ♪ small businesses like yours make gift-giving possible. ♪ now, comcast business has an exclusive gift for you. introducing the gift of savings sale. for a limited time, ask how to get a great deal for your business. and get up to a $500 prepaid card with select bundles when you switch to the network that can deliver gig speeds to the most businesses. or get started with internet and voice for $64.99 per month with a 2-year price guarantee. give your business the gift of savings today. comcast business. powering possibilities. ♪♪ what led people to attack the capitol is the focus for the hit podcast "american radical." we've been featuring it on the show over the past few weeks. it examines the radicalization about once a political woman named roseanne boyland, who died in the capitol during the january 6th riot. here is a clip from the latest episode entitled "monsters and martyrs." >> i don't want her to go down as some crazed trump fanatic terrorist person, because that's not the person that she was. and when my daughters grow up and learn about this in history class, i don't want them to automatically tie roseanne with this terrorism event. >> you know, for me in regards to january 6th and all of the people that died and ended up there, trump supporters and metro and capitol police, we owe it to them and to ourselves to find out who really is behind this and how it happened, because this was, you know, an act of terrorism. we don't think roseanne was a terrorist but january 6th was an act of terrorism. i think the damage has been done from it has a potential to be generational. >> the host of "american radicals" ayman mohyeldin -- got your name right this time. mangled it i little earlier, ayman. sorry about that. >> no worries. >> the podcast is amazing. it delivers such an important service i think to anybody who listens to it and everybody should, because this process shows just what has happened over the past four years and how many have fallen into the wrong direction. i would like to maybe ask you to tell us more what we can expect about learning from roseanne's story and what your hope is moving forward with this platform that you're creating. >> yes, mika, thank you so much for that question because i think we finish out the series with this podcast, with this particular episode called "monsters and martyrs" because in some way it ironically brings us back to the beginning of what you just talked about, and that is the narrative around january 6th. this episode, our final one called "monsters and marters" talks about the legacy of roseanne boyland from her family, they described january 6th as a terrorism attack. they used the word radicalism when reaching out to talk to me about this story. the reality is, right now you have this phenomena that is playing out with the far right, members of congress, like marjorie taylor greene, members of congress like representative louie gohmert and others who are exploiting roseanne's death. people leave steve bannon on his radio show or podcast trying to portray her as a martyr and when they do that, they try to rewrite the narrative around january 6th that these were mostly peaceful protesters and they were attacked by the police and acting in their self-defense. as a result of that january 6th takes on a whole new meaning, you can recruit a whole new generation who are willing to go out and defend democracy as they saw it and roseanne believed as she was walking on to the capitol. that's what was so dangerous about this. i think that's why the family wanted us to tell this story because they knew what was happening to roseanne in terms of radicalization. they were very keen her story could perhaps offer other families out there. i can't tell you how many people reached out since this podcast went out saying i have a mother, uncle, sister, who have gone down the same rabbit hole and believed the same things. how do i get them out? this is a dangerous situation playing out in our country. >> ayman mohyeldin, thank you so much. we really appreciate it. coming up -- the remaining abductees from haiti are detailing their dramatic escape from kidnappers. that story is next on "morning joe." at'liberty mutual. they customize my car insurance, so i only pay for what i need. how about a throwback? ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ as i observe investors balance risk and reward, i see one element securing portfolios, time after time. gold. your strategic advantage. ♪♪ ♪♪ ok, let's talk about those changes to your financial plan. bill, mary? hey... it's our former broker carl. carl, say hi to nina, our schwab financial consultant. hm... i know how difficult these calls can be. not with schwab. nina made it easier to set up our financial plan. we can check in on it anytime. it changes when our goals change. planning can't be that easy. actually, it can be, carl. look forward to planning with schwab. schwab! ♪♪ just getting by. it's an ongoing struggle. that's why president biden and democrats in congress have a plan to lower costs for america's working families. lower costs of health care premiums. and the price of prescription drugs. pay less for electric bills by moving to clean energy. we do it all by making the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share of taxes. it'd be a win for the everyday american family. right when they could really use one. congress, let's get this done. age before beauty? 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[beep] i just wanted to say... ♪ find yourself in these situations and see who you are. and that's just part of the bargain. ♪ and that's just part of(soft music). hey dad, i'm about to leave. don't forget your hat . good morning. how can i help? i need help connecting with my students. behind every last minute save, ok, that works. and holiday surprise, thank you! a customer service rep is working unseen, making it happen. and at genesys, we're proud to help them help you everyday. ♪♪ welcome back. the group of missionaries who were kidnapped in haiti back in october are detailing their dramatic escape. all 17 are now safely back home, including children. nbc news chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell spoke to one of the missionaries, and she has the latest. >> reporter: this morning new images of the once-captured missionaries now safely back home after the final group of 12 pulled off a stunning escape. >> when they sensed the timing was right, they found a way to open the door that was closed and blocked, filed silently to the path they had chosen to follow and quickly left the place that they were held. >> reporter: the eight adults and four children, including an infant, sneaking out in the dark of night last wednesday, navigating by stars and moonlight, moving north towards a mountain they recognized in the distance. >> after a number of hours of walking, day began to dawn and they eventually found someone who helped them make a phone call for help. they were finally free. >> reporter: within hours the group was on a coast guard flight to florida, where they reunited with the other five hostages, who were previously released, including 29-year-old matt miller who got out in november, speaking for the first time. were you allowed to pray when you were held captive? >> yes, we were. we prayed and sang for hours every day. our captors got a chance to hear the gospel. they got to see what love looks like. >> reporter: the kidnappers had demanded a $1 million ransom for each of the 17 missionaries. it's not clear whether any money was paid. the group was kidnapped in october by a notorious street gang. do you forgive them? >> reporter: we forgive them. we love for them to turn their life around. we pleaded with them to realize the harm they're doing to their own country. we pleaded with them to find a better way. >> coming up -- we're learning the government is about to make investment in outer space, a big one. officials are opening a new department to investigate ufo sightings. what we know about that next on "morning joe." ♪♪ entresto is the number one heart failure brand prescribed by cardiologists and has helped over one million people. it was proven superior at helping people stay alive and out of the hospital. don't take entresto if pregnant; it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren, or if you've had angioedema with an ace or arb. the most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high blood potassium. ask your doctor about entresto. nicorette knows, quitting smoking is freaking hard. or high blood potassium. you get advice like: just stop. go for a run. go for 10 runs! run a marathon. instead, start small. with nicorette. which can lead to something big. start stopping with nicorette. superpowers from a spider bite? 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>> lasers maybe. >> reporter: now sci-fi becoming reality, with a government office tasked with identifying unknown phenomena, also known as ufos. >> if there's a reported incident, now we react and go collect that information. >> reporter: it's all part of a bipartisan-backed amendment, in the organization act spearheaded by senator kill steyn sin gram. >> these are serious issues of national security and technology that we should know about. >> reporter: the effort calls on a rapid response to new uap cases, sharing information with other countries and sharing if these might be foreign adversaries or something else and even promising to look into cases where service members say they might have suffered health effects after encountering unknown fa nom no. in the pasts they fodder for late-night parody like "saturday night live." >> i was trapped in like a robe made out of warm energy. >> yeah, like a blanket made out of pure love. >> reporter: but today even the highest levels of academia seem to be taking ufos much more seriously. one stanford research looking at the brain scans of members who say they encountered ufos and at harvard, the focus is on the sky, cofounding in the galileo project to invest in high-tech telescopes, infrared cameras and software to collect scientific data on the objects who have been spotted by fighter pilots who say they seem to break the laws of physics. >> the answer to this question will have huge implications for humanity. it affects our exploration of space and each and every aspect of human life here on earth. still ahead -- whether they can't handle the truth are on a mission to civilize, aaron sorkin has created some iconic characters. the renowned screenwriter and director is next on "morning joe." 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. 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>> ladies and gentlemen, enjoy the show! >> and action! >> i had no idea it was going to be a hit. ♪♪ >> wow, the new film "being the ricardos" offers a unique glimpse at the lives of one of hollywood's most influential couples, lucille ball and desi arnaz. in a moment we will speak with the film's director and screenwriter, aaron sorkin. but first we will hear from the film's stars, nicole kidman and javier bardem. today chanel jones recently sat down with the actors. ♪♪ >> reporter: "i love lucy" defined the tv sitcom in the 1960s with still-iconic scenes like vita mita veg men. >> it says vitamins vegetables and minerals. >> reporter: and of course, stomping grapes in italy. which was recreated in the new film "being the ricardos". >> we only did three takes and that was it. >> really? >> yeah, i spent two months preparing it and it's like it's gone. >> reporter: written and directed by aaron, "being the ricardos" focuses on lucy and his turbulent marriage and a crisis that threatens to end their careers. there were 181 episodes of "i love lucy." did you watch all of them, some of them? >> all of them in one night. your face. your face. your face saying really? >> ricky, this is it. >> there is always brilliance in every show. >> reporter: brilliance that's daunting to live up to. when news broke of nicole kidman's casting, not everyone thought she was right for the role. >> critics said does she look like her? can she do this? does that get space in your head? >> try not to but a human being says gosh, maybe i'm not the right person for this but having somebody like aaron at the beginning said i don't want a perfect rendition of imitation of lucy. no, no, no, no, no. >> reporter: kidman felt a special connection to lucille ball. >> a lot of it i can relate to and i can be like okay, i've been in that situation and i know that. >> there is a scene where they say you're 39 and that's it. it's kind of over for you. i know that feeling. i sort of had that and it was like okay. where television suddenly opened a door for her and opened a door for me. around the same age. i was like gosh, that's kind of -- i know that feeling really deeply. >> javier plays the famous cuban american band leader whose tango skills may have been hard to replicate. you play the congo so hard your hand bled at one point, is that true? >> of course. you hit it hard, you start to bleed. if you're not a congo player -- >> are you? >> no. >> and you say load it, load it and you don't hear what you're doing and go crazy and then cut. it's like what is going on? >> i read you pursued this role for years. what was it about this role? >> i watch the episodes and felt drawn into him. his skills, his talent, his humor, his way of taking the place. i wanted the place in that moment where it was so difficult to be a foreigner in this country. >> filmed until the middle of the a pandemic and rehorsed largely over zoom. >> i had to tell my 9-year-olds not to come down stairs. did you guys have a space? >> you find your own place. also, they cross the screen. >> they talk over and you go hold on one second or i'm on this and they'll be off camera going get off like that. >> zoom mishaps aside, they capture the deep and complicated love between lucy and dezzy possibly drawing from their own high profile marriages to keith urban and penelope cruz. >> we have partners that understand the artistic process and say i want you to have that, which i love. >> it's a gift to belong to such a great story and such a great mo movie. so when it happens, it's like take it. >> good show. >> good show. >> wow, joining us now the screen writer and academy award winner aaron. good to have you on the show. i want to hear from you what drew you to the story. >> a few things. it was a long court ship. it took about 18 months for me to say yes. initially, i didn't know lucy was accused of being a communist and that she was almost literally cancelled in the early 1950s and i found very interesting points of friction and you start to get a picture of them being much more uncomplicated of characters they're playing on tv and much different. >> a lot of what was happening in their life ended up on -- this is such -- this is a biopic as we call it, not a biopic, i'm sorry, this is a total look at what it was like to be lucy and dezzy creating a show but a show about their creation of a show and how their relationship thrived but often was quite rocky throughout it. it's got so many different layers. what excited you the most about their relationship and wanting to put it in together like this? >> lucy and dezzy, you're right, it's not a cradle to grave story of this happened and this happened and this happened. takes place one production, monday will read to friday when they're dealing with three separate crisis that are going on simultaneously. but, you know, you asked me what it was about them. lucy and dezzy were deeply in love with each other until the day they die. long after they were divorced they had an enormous respect for each other. dezzy protected, promoted lucied a hired her talent but they each had a hairline frank tour in their personality that made it hard breakingly impossible for the two of them to stay in a marriage. >> hey, aaron, jonathan lamarre. good morning. great to see you. i know a lot of your work you've been drawn to political themes and i hope you could touch a little bit what you found making this. it's a remarkable story, the immigrant story but you mentioned briefly before, the controversy or speculation about lucille ball and whether she had communist sympathies. what did you find there and what parallels do you see to what you encountered in the current moment? >> sure, lucy was raised by her grandfather. her father died when she 4 years old. she was raised by her grandfather who she called grandpa fred. grandpa fred while never using the word communist was a communist. this was in the '20s and '30s now and would talk to lucy about workers rights and sticking up for the little guy and that kind of thing. so in 1936, lucy just as an omage to grandpa fred registered as a communist. back then it wasn't much worse than being a republican. it's not meant as an elbow at the right. the reason that statement is relevant today is that this is something she checked that box a long time ago. the movie takes place in 1952. she check that box a long time ago when checking that box meant something different than it means today and she is about to be cancelled for it, and just reminded me a lot of twitter. >> aaron, also, what parallels did you see as you made this film between the off screen and on screen relationship between lucy and desi? how are they alike and how are they different? >> the two of them are -- couldn't be more different from the characters they're playing. the thing that lucy yearned for was the career she had but she earned for domesticity. she wanted a home, a family, it was tough because desi was on the road with his orchestra a lot. she says in the teaser that you showed that she only did "i love lucy" so she could be with desi, the only condition she would do it is desi was cast as her husband and everybody was agast at that there would be an enter rational couple on tv. desi grew up in a culture that has a very narrow definition of manhood and where manhood is incredibly important. as much as he loved, respected and admired lucy, it was tough for him to be second banana to his wife and he just needed an outlet for that and it would doom their marriage. >> wow. "being the ricardos" is available on prime video. thank you very much for sharing that with us. >> thanks a lot. that does it for us this morning. stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now. hi, there, i'm stephanie ruhle live here in new york city. it is tuesday, december 21st, and there is a ton of news out there. so let's get smarted. we start this morning with the omicron variant and brand-new details about what the biden administration is going to do to help get this country through a very difficult next few weeks. when the president speaks to the nation later today, he's expected to announce shipments of 500 million free at home covid tests to anyone who wants one. that's starting next month. on top of that, he'll direct the military to help overwhelmed hospitals and expand the number of federal testing sites, but time is not on our side. we learned yesterday that omicron is now the dominant strain of