these rules will keep workers safe and that will help keep businesses open. people are vaccinated or tested, they are less likely to get sick and less likely to spread it to others. customers are more likely to come in and shop because they know it is a safe environment. i know vaccination requirements are unpopular. they are not popular for those who get them. my administration is not putting them in place to control your life, but save your lives and lives of otothers. we had 400,000 americans died this calendar year. almost all were unvaccinated. all preventible. the rule is legal and effective and it will save thousands of american lives. must also keep our k-12 schools open. the science is clear. and overwhelming. we know how to keep our kids safe from covid-19 in school. k through 12 schools should be open. and safety is increased if schools require all adults who work in the schools to get vaccinated and take the safety measures that the cdc is recommending, including masking. i got congress to pass billions of dollars in school improvements. ventilation and social distancing. school should be safer than ever from covid-19. just friday, the cdc issued a test-to-stay guidelines. schools can stay open and kids can stay in class even if the classmate tests positive. covid-19 is scary, but the science is clear. children are as safe schools assuming the precautions have been taken. let me close with this. i know you're tired and frustrated. we all want this to be over. we're still in it. this is a critical moment. also we have more tools than we ever had before. we're ready. we'll get through this is as we head into the holidays, i want us all to keep the faith. i want to sincerely thank you for your perseverance and courage and countless acts of kindness, love and sacrifice through the last two years. throughout our history, we've been tested as a people and as a nation. through war and turmoil. i ask whether we be safe and be okay and we get back to who we are. we always endured because remember, there is no challenge too big more america. i mean this from the bottom of my heart. no challenge. we've come through better and stronger because we stay together as the united states of america. that's what we have to keep doing today. we can do this together. i guarantee you. may god bless you all and may god protect our troops and happy holidays. god love you all. thank you. >> mr. president. >> mr. president. >> mr. president. >> on testing, sir. you said we have to did better. public health officials have said for months you need to surge rapid tests for this moment. is it a failure you don't have adequate tests for everyone? >> no, it's not. covid is spreading so rapidly. if you notice, just happened almost overnight. just in the last month. >> mr. president. >> no. it's not a failure. the alarm bell went off. i don't think anybody anticipated this was going to be as rapidly as it did. the question is we had a lot of people who had access to order tests and have insurance pay for them, et cetera. all of a sudden, it was like everybody rushed to the counter. it was a big, big rush. i knew that was coming. what i tried to do is meet with the companies and use the defense production act to get 500 million more tests and figure out how to get them to their homes and get them on the shelves and stores. that's what it is all about. >> what is your message to americans trying to get tested now and not able to get tested and wonder what took so long to ramp up testing in. >> come on. what took so long? >> i'm hearing about that. >> what took so long didn't take long at all. what happened was omicron virus spread more rapidly than anybody thought. if i told you four weeks ago that this would spread on a day-to-day basis spread by 50% to 100%, you would have looked at me and said biden, what are you drinking. that's what it did. we don't know what will happen from here. look, there is some evidence that in south africa where a lot of this started, that is dropping off quickly, too. we don't know. i know that we're not going to be in a position like i said when we were having problems with masks and gowns and the like. i said i got questions from some of you. why are you paying for the masks and gowns. why are you stockpiling this? because we don't know. turns out we will need them. in the back. >> sir, will you reverse the travel ban now that omicron is so prevalent here in the u.s.? >> i'm considering it. i'll talk with my team in the next couple days. look, remember why i said we put the travel ban on. to see how much time we had before it hit here so we can begin to decide what we needed by looking at what was happening in other countries. we're past that now. so, it's something that is being raised with me by the doctors. i'll have an answer for that soon. >> mr. president. >> in accord with keeping your trust. how do you rebuild trust? >> you know, i told you before you heard me say this before. some people think maybe i'm not irish because i don't hold a grudge. i want to get things done. think there is a possibility of getting build back better done. joe went on tv today and -- i'm told he was speaking to the liberal caucus in the house and say joe biden did not mislead you. i mislead you. let me say something. you saw what happened yesterday. all the talk about how my build back better plan was going to increase inflation and cause debts and all the like. what happened? goldman sachs said if we don't pass build back better, we're in trouble because it will grow the economy. without it, we're not going to grow. what happened? stock prices went way down. it took a real dip. if you take a look -- everybody thinks because i quoted 17 nobel laureates saying this will help inflation. think about it in terms of you're a hard working person and you are making $60,000 if you are alone or a mom or dad making $90,000 like a lot of people do and you are worried about inflation. you should be worried about it. it is devastating for working class and middle class folks. it really hurts. where is most of the cost now? in gasoline, although i brought it down 12 cents a gallon. it will come down more, i believe. we talked about the cost of food prices. et cetera. look at what is in build back better? child care. reduce up to 75%. that is the difference between 20 million women being able to go back to work. we're talking about health care. insulin. we have 200,000 kids with type i diabetes. it costs between 10 cents and $10 to come up with the formula. a while ago. you know what it costs on average? $560 -- $640 a month. up to $1,000 a month. what do you do if you're a mom and dad working with minimum wage busting your neck? you look at your kid and you know if you don't get that vaccine -- excuse me. if you don't get that drug for them -- get that -- that -- take that. what happened? he could go in a coma or die. not only do you put the kid's life at stake, you strip away the dignity of the parent. i'm not joking. imagine being a parent. looking at the child and you can't afford and you have no house to borrow against. you have no savings. it's wrong. all the things in that bill are going to reduce prices and cost for middle class and working class people. it will reduce their cost. what's inflation? paying more than the money you have because things have gone up? will it bring down those costs across the board from child care to child care tax credits? i'm not supposed to have this press conference right now. >> mr. president. >> mr. president. >> mr. president, did senator manchin break his commitment to you when you announced the framework when all 50 senators were believed to be behind it? did senator manchin break his commitment to you? >> senator manchin and i will get something done. thank you. >> sir, do you still have -- >> you have been watching president biden speaking from the white house delivers what you could call his omicron address to the nation. just before the holidays. you heard him taking a couple questions on the end about the build back better plan. the president is trying to reassure americans, if you are vaccinated and boosted, you are safe to celebrate the holidays with loved ones if they are vaccinated and boosted. you heard him layout what happens if you choose not to get vaccinated. the obligation to your country. the message seemed directed at people living in red states described to he and former president trump have gotten the booster shot. one of the few things they agree on. you heard the president blast dangerous misinformation about the vaccine. calling it wrong and immoral. laid out the steps which we have talked about here on msnbc. the example of the deployment of rapid tests for free or reimbursed through a web site. those will be available next month. you heard the president say it is not a failure in his view. there are so few at-home tests right now. citing the shockingly fast spread of the omicron variant. i want to bring from monica alba and sam brock and dr. natalie azar and dr. roy. monica, let me start with you. the president emphasized. schools and businesses should stay open. he was not, he was clear, we are not where we were in march 2020. anecdo anecdotally, you and i feel we are returning to that. we have boosters and treatments. we are not in a lockdown phase. he alluded to a change for travel restrictions. he will talk to the medical team and potentially have news on that in the next few days. monica. >> reporter: hallie, the first words were to many americans feeling tired, worried, frustrated at this point nearly two years into the pandemic, i hear you and knowledge that. here is why we're not at the point we were in march 2020. that is the overall theme. the president trying to remind and tout the tools that exist to prevent severe illness and hospitalization and death. this was the stark warning for the unvaccinated. i picked up on the fact he went so far to say he was going to get criticized for this. he feels is a person's patriotic duty to get vaccinated. something that was in the speech was the mention of former president trump applauding that he got a booster. speaking to the division in the country because people were booing him when he announced that. as for the news that did come in the q&a, it is notable there say travel ban not just from south africa, but other south africa nations. the president would meet with his team to potentially reverse that in the coming days. that would be significant and many calling for that omicron is here and spreading at rapid pace and not able to be contained anymore. >> mon, stand by. did the president do what he needed to do four or five days before folks are traveling for the holidays? >> you know, i think his stance is he wants to be reassreassuri. i agree we have cause to be concerned, but we need not panic. i take issue with the carte blanche if you are vaccinated and boosted, you should have no reservations for getting together with friends and family. my stance is this, we have seen breakthrough infection after boosted and vaccinated. one of my colleagues tested positive as did her husband. the one thing people need to keep in mind is you need to behave as you would for the vulnerable person in your circle. if that means you are all okay with getting infected, by all means, go ahead and get together. i think the openness and per permissiveness is counter. the blaming the testing shortage on omicron. every expert we spoken we talked to in the last two years has talked about variants. we should have seen this coming. we should have had the dpa involved in testing from day one. i argue the testing sites are crashing is everyone is trying to get tested now. how many of us would have been tested more regularly? but it is not? i have issue with that. rest i'm okay with. i'm happy that all of the things he is talking about are going to happen. little bit too little too late. >> dr. azar, stand by. important for the president and white house moving forward. sam, 500 million free home tests. new testing site. he talked about federal vaccinat vaccinators, if you will, i think we have a graph we can show you. fema ambulances in place. pop-up hospitals in place. sam, big headline. it is the testing as dr. azar said. it is tough to find. in d.c., it is a hell of a time to find a test. you have to play the timing just right. you are seeing something very similar. >> reporter: the rapid acceleration, hallie. that is not the case for everything three weeks ago. everybody wanted to get tested to have seen this coming. people i talked to have to get tested for woke. some are showing up and don't feel well. we have seen a 300% increase of infection in the last week. state of florida logged 18,000 cases of covid the last couple days. it is absolutely spiking in this case. i talked to a number of families who said they have grandchildren in their houses who are not eligible for the vaccine. only 6 million who have been vaccinated. they don't want to put everybody together. here is one couple i spoke with a few minutes ago. >> we will have 12 people. we have a little baby grandson. we have to take care of him. >> the virus is still out there. i don't want to get sick. i don't want anyone in my family to catch it. >> that's why you canceled christmas? >> yes. >> reporter: hallie, florida does get a bad wrap. everybody i talked with today has received their booster shot and here's the bottom line. 63% of eligible floridians are vaccinated. that's 80% in miami dade. what percentage received boosters? less than 20%. that's the key figure right now. not just in this state, but southeast and large chunks of the country that president biden is speaking to ahead of the holidays. >> sam brock live in miami. dr. roy, i want to play that piece of sound that monica and i and dr. azar touched on. the idea of boosters. in the real world on the ground in florida, let me play what the president had to say. >> i got my booster shot as soon as they were available. just the other day, president trump and i announced he got his booster shot. >> someone who talks about boosters. how important is that to invoke the former president's name at the time of divisions and how to fight it? >> hallie, the president's empathy did resonate with me when he said i know you're tred and i know you're frustrated. he talked about getting through this is critical through vaccination and boosters. we know that of the 30% of eligible adults in the united states who remain unvaccinated, we know the strongest affiliation is political. what we need as frontline doctors like me and health care workers who are absolutely burning out emotionally and physically, we are exhausted. we need these unvaccinated men and women to get vaccinated. we need the gop leadership to really step up and be firm with that messaging to their supporters. as doctors and other health care workers, we don't ask about political affiliation. we don't care. i'll tell you something right now. the sars virus doesn't care. the virus will do what it does which will replicate and mutate and infect. the best tool to protect ourselves is vaccination and boosters. hallie. >> dr. azar, the president alluded to something others said the last couple days. i would love a fact check. it appears the number of cases in south africa went up quickly, but also seemed to as he did not state it as fact, but it came down fairly quickly as well. this is something i heard from other government officials as well. is there truth to this? is that something the data shows and is that something we can anticipate in this country? >> i do think that's what we are seeing there. most experts are interpret tating case rates and hospitalizations that way. it is like apples and oranges. we know vaccination status differs with the two countries and continents. that said, given we know the doubling time is two days with omicron as opposed to two weeks with delta and we went from 13% in the northeast to regionally is up to 90% and predominant strain in the country making up three quarters of cases. if it burns through enough of us, will burn out or denovo. it is possible what is happening and it is spreading so quickly that it doesn't find a host anymore and goes down. we can only hope this surge will last a short period of time and not drawn out like the first wave. >> dr. roy, do you believe the steps of the president announcing today in the last 45 minutes are enough at this point? >> yeah. i think what he pointed out was public health 101. vaccination and testing and contact tracing. if you have an overwhelming number of cases, contact tracing is difficult. the federal government is backing up the strategies with with the defense production act and insurance will cover online ordering of covid tests. federal testing sites sets up. he is recognizing the strain on the hospitals by stockpiling ppe and gowns and gloves and ventilators. this is the right step to protect the public and health care workers who be exposed to people with covid. he is sending in military troops and medics and doctors to help out as well as increased testing. i agree with dr. azar. i wish this was happening for months. to health experts, the variant is not a surprise. we knew this would happen. he is going in the right direction. >> and being clear about the idea this is not march of 2020. we are in a different place where we were two years ago and the country went in lockdown. monica, can you pull back the curtain from what you hear from sources at the white house? are they frustrated with the criticism? you can't help but notice the first question was if it was a failure only now they are deploying the free at-home testing? >> reporter: there is acknowledgment of that, hallie. and in the briefing earlier today, it was noted a government web site. we know how those have gone in the past. americans have to log on and request x number of tests. we don't know how many allocated and we don't know how it will be distributed. four to six weeks on or so far into the omicron variant that it is no longer necessary. the president referenced breakthrough cases. he had an exposure to someone who later tested positive. he has since tested negative twice. he will be tested again tomorrow. that is another angle to all of this obviously hitting home in terms of the white building behind me for the president as he made the speech today. >> dr. azar, to you on the final thought. on the president's message on misinformation. we heard him come out on that before. he said the purveyors of the lies. do you think that will have the intended effect on people who may already be, if they are consuming some of the sources that are outlets of misinformation predisposed to be skeptical what president biden might say? >> absolutely. as he said all that, i was thinking who is listening right now of the thousands of people who are watching the press conference, who was that? just the echo chamber of people already on board and want to be reassured that they are doing everything right? i'm always worried about that. the messages -- i'm not saying he shouldn't communicate that. it is fine he is communicaing that. another study that shows most folks will listen to their not surprising health care provider. and people who they trust. unfortunately, hallie, there is a limit to the impact that has. you can certainly feel the frustration coming through the camera. >> dr. azar and dr. roy and monica alba, thank you all. we will have more on covid and omicron variant when we go one-on-one live with the mayor of new york city. we'll talk about what he is doing about the long testing lines and schools and about the new year's eve times square celebration which is still on for now. and on capitol hill, spelling out a path forward for the biden agenda and we will talk about it with congress member suzan delbene joins us after the break. delbene joins after the break. subway's eat fresh refresh™ has so many new footlongs. refresh! here's how they line up. we got the new chicken & bacon ranch, new baja steak & jack, and the new baja chicken & bacon, aka “the smokeshow”" save big. order through the app. nicorette knows, quitting smoking is freaking hard. you get advice like: save big. 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. when our daughter and her kids moved in with us... our bargain detergent couldn't keep up. turns out it's mostly water. so, we switched back to tide. one wash, stains are gone. 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>> i think that we need to find that common ground. it is possible that the challenges our country faces are too big. the cost of inaction is too high to throw in the towel. we're going to work the new coalition to find a path forward. folks want to see government work. part of governing is getting bills across the finish line. we don't help anybody until we get the bill passed. >> let me ask you about that. you talk about how important it is for people. policies in the build back better act. one is the child tax credit acts. we spoke with a woman from west virginia and senator manchin's state on this show 24 hours ago who laid out in stark terms how personal this is to her. i want to play that for you. >> i've depended on this child tax credit to continue to feed my kids. this child tax credit was helping me put food on the table for my kids. without that, the reality is i'll go without eating. >> that money helped her put food on the table. would you consider if this were to get broken up, put the build back better act, would you consider a standalone bill to deal with the child tax credit that could pass? i know you said failure is not an option. is that failure or a success? >> her story is indextive of so many stories we heard from the child tax credit. we have seen families put food on the table. 3 million families put food on the table to pay for housing and to pay bills. frankly, it helped parents go back to work. it has been critically important to families to help them get by, especially throughout the pandemic, but also as we see inflation. this is incredibly important tax cut to middle class families. it is important why it continues. the data has been strong and we have to talk to senator machin about the data. the woman's story is the example of what we're seeing. we actually save money over the long run by making these investments because kids do better. >> so given how important as you laid out this is, would you consider passing it as a stand alone bill instead of the build back better act if it came to that? >> i think as we look at build back better, i think we have an opportunity to make sure we look at policies that are long-term policies and durable policies. i think from the beginning i said we should look at doing a few things well for longer. that really provides the certainty that families and businesses are looking for. that's what we need to do with build back better. child tax credit is an example. on climate and making sure we have long-term policy on health care and subsidy, that is important for american families and we can do together. >> let me ask you on the pandemic, we heard president biden in the speech layout the plan to get free at-home tests to millions across the country. 10,000 people in your state have been killed alone. washington has not seen the intense spikes here in the northeast so far. how hopeful these tests will reach your state before the spikes happen? is the president doing enough? >> testing is important. the first cases of covid-19 were here in washington state. we know how important it is to have testing. most important how critical that folks are fully vaccinated. that's the number one thing that folks can do. the president mentioned that. testing availability is important so folks know if early on if they have contracted covid-19, that's why we need to get those out and available and testing availability through public health is very important. that is part of the coordinated effort. i'm glad to see the white house talk about how critically important it is to get resources out to communities. >> congress member delbene, thank you. next up, the january 6th committee response within the last hour to the house republican saying he is not going to cooperate with the request. and mayor de blasio joining us live after the break. we will get his reaction on what president biden said not too long ago. n what president biden said not too long ago noooo... noooo... noooo... quick, the quicker picker upper! bounty picks up messes quicker and each sheet is 2x more absorbent, so you can use less. i'll hold onto that. bounty, the quicker picker upper. ray loves vacations. but his diabetes never seemed to take one. everything felt like a 'no'. everything. but then ray went from no to know. with freestyle libre 2, now he knows his glucose levels when he needs to. and... when he wants to. so ray... can be ray. take the mystery out of your glucose levels, and lower your a1c. now you know. try it for free. visit freestylelibre.us when it comes to autism, finding the right words can be tough. finding understanding doesn't have to be. together, we can create a kinder, more inclusive world for the millions of people on the autism spectrum. go to autismspeaks.org this is your home. this is your family room slash gym. the guest bedroom slash music studio. the daybed slash dog bed. the living room slash yoga shanti slash regional office slash classroom. and this is the basement slash panic room. maybe what your family needs is a vacation home slash vacation home. find yours on the vrbo app. ♪♪ it is basically a thanks, but hell no from scott perry. announcing he will not play ball with the january 6 committee saying in tweets he will ignore contact from the committee and requests for interview or dock documents. the committee said the request was voluvoluntary, but will conr other tools to get the congress member to talk. why do they want to talk to him? he is a supporter of former president trump and those attempts to overturn the election. here he is on january 6th objecting to the votes. i want to bring in capitol hill correspondent garrett haake. this is the first congress v. congress clash. the letter they sent was voluntary. now the illusion in the last hour. it seems to me other tools would mean subpoenas. go from voluntary to compelled unless you defy the subpoena. what is your sense? >> reporter: we knew this would happen eventually. perry is one of several house republicans that members expressed interest in talking to because their name showed up in texts or speaking with former president trump. perry is someone involved in the senate report with the doj effort to get involved. he has material information. as for the tools available to compel testimony, it is not clear what steps the committee can take. whether subpoena is the way to go. it will be hard to hold another member in contempt or threaten him with the other punishments like losing committee assignments. i don't think that is the kind of things they would buy into. we are wandering into unchartered territory. the committee will have to move expeditiously. perry understands not testifying. he doesn't have to win arguments. he wouldn't with the legality of testifying. he has to run out the clock. >> garrett, i only bring this up briefly. we know what will happen from president trump's perspective. he will try to hold a news conference at mar-a-lago. >> reporter: we hear from the former president. i say news conference in air quotes. it is not clear he will take questions. he hasn't taken questions from other than friendly journalists in some time. this goes to the recasting of january 6th we have seen from the former president and allowing from him to do so. we have seen from so many others from his party. including strangely mitch mcconnell who expresses what appears to be genuine interest in what the committee uncovers. >> garrett haake, thank you. back to the white house and president biden outlining the next phase of the response to fighting covid and the omicron variant. steps to include 500 million at-home test kits. he fired back. >> these companies are making money by peddling lies and allowing misinformation to kill supporters. it's wrong. it's immoral. i call on the purveyors of the misinformation to stop it. stop it now. >> i'm joined by new york city mayor bill de blasio. mr. mayor, thank you for making time for us. good afternoon. >> good afternoon, hallie. the president spoke with passion. i agree with him. >> okay. what about the idea of distribuing 500 million at-home test kits. how much of a difference will that make? >> it will help a lot. we welcome it. test kits are a key part of the strategy, hallie. the key is the foundation of vaccination. we are offering an incentive. on man, vaccine mandate for the private sector. the only way to get through omicron is get more people vaccinated and boosted. >> you talked about the $100 inn sendtive. you go get a booster in the next week. what is the expectation of people should or could take advantage of that? >> i would be happy if it was hundreds of thousands. it is timing. we had doctors on this morning in the press conference talking about the huge impacts the booster makes in repelling omicron and minimizing the impact of omicron. we have a tool right now. 1.7 million new yorkers have gotten the booster. more people could. we wanted to say not only will we reward you, but do it right now. it could make a difference. >> and we talk about the deadline being new year's eve. something else on new year's eve. the times square celebration. that is still set to happen. when you look around the world. l.a., seattle, paris, london. they are all cancelling the new year's eve celebrations. should you follow suit with times square? >> hallie, i do not believe in shutdowns as a broad rule. at this point, we need to get that out of our system and focus on vaccination. the next few weeks and we think the worst of omicron is the matter of weeks. we have to hold on and fight through it as americans and new yorkers. the key is vaccination. we are talking to the folks who sponsor the event and talking to our doctors and certainly talking about potential more measures. in general, i'm opposed to shutting things down. wehave to keep our lives going and economy going. >> i hear you on not wanting shutdowns on a large sense, but what happens on new year's eve is not an every day thing. to that end, when looking at your options, you alluded to additional measures. will you require vaccinations for example for people who are going to celebrate? is that something you'd like to see? >> oh, 100%. we actually announced that when we said times square would go forward, pre-omicron, we knew vaccinations would be necessary. of course it's outdoors and doctors will tell you that's a big deal. and it is vaccination only right now. but there are additional measures. >> like what? >> i can tell you this much, there's more we can do to add to the health and safety approach and i think it is, look, the eyes of the world are on new york that day. it's true. and if we are able to get it right, of course we want to keep going forward with this. because it is important when you're doing things the right way with all those health and safety measures from place and focused on vaccination, i think it's important to send a message we can continue as a city, as a society, my concern is when we don't require vaccination or we to things indoors especially without vaccination. that's where the real danger occurs. >> let's talk about if you want to continue with their lives, kids. everybody wants to keep kids in school. do you see a situation in your city where all the public school kids are going to have to go back to virtual learning after the new year? >> not from my point of view. i want to be respectful. we have a new mayor, he and i are close, we're talking multiple times a day. but my attitude is school is crucial. school is crucial. they were deprived of it for a year and a half for too many kids. in fact, right now in new york city, our schools are much, much safer than the general population. general city reality because there's so many health and safety measures in place and all adults in our schools are required to be vaccinated. so in fact, if kids stay home, they'll actually be in a situation where they are have more exposure than they would potentially than if they were in school. they get so much support in school. nutrition. they get to stay on track with their education. we should not take that away from our kids. >> you alluded to your conversations with the mayor. can you share more about those discussions? have you talked about for example, the test to stay approach for schools that the cdc endorsed which says if a student has a close contact, they can stay in school as long as they have a negative test. is that something you've had a conversation with the mayor about? that would be his purview. >> it is, but that's on the table. certainly our healthcare leaders, education leaders are on with that approach. that's something we're talking through for sure. one thing i can say, we're very unified on because we have a seamless transition going on here, i'm happy to say. we want to city to keep moving forward. you shut down the schools, you're not only depriving schools, you are fundamentally altering lives in the city and hindering the lives of parents who need their kids in school. we can keep school safe. we've seen it. they're safer than the city as a whole and we can keep kids safe while also helping them move forward. i was a public school parent. i just think sometimes you get that rush, everyone says shut down, shut down, without thinking about the unintend kwenss. i think we'll see omicron peak in january then decline. my argument, hold on, don't shut down. double down on vaccination including for our youngest kids and come out the other side then continue our recovery. >> president biden suggesting something similar today. mr. mayor, before i let you go, when do you think you'll have a decision about these additional measures for times square for new year's eve? >> we're going to have a decision by friday on how we're proceeding. and listen, every decision's being made with our healthcare leaders. i believe that's fundamental. but again, we know got to keep healthy, but we've got to keep this city moving forward. and what is so important to show the world is the strength of new york city. we've led the country on vaccination. we have the strongest private sector vaccine mandate anywhere in the country starting monday. we've got to show the world this city is going to keep fighting through. >> bill deblasio joining us here on msnbc this afternoon. mr. mayor, thank you very much for being on with us. appreciate it. the new year obviously is right around the corner so you know what that means when we hit 2022, it's a midterm year with those congressional and senatorial races, potentially a deciding factor for what party controls congress for the second half of president biden's term. a lot of key races in the senate are toss ups in places like georgia, wisconsin, pennsylvania. here with us, nbc national political reporter, steve kornacki at the big board. steve, i love bringing you into the big board days before we bring in 2022. talk about what races you're looking at. it's early days yet, but not really. we're hitting primary season soon for some of these key races. >> these campaigns in a lot of cases already well underway here. obviously the backdrop here, joe biden, this is where he's pretty much closing out the year in terms of his average approval rating. compare that to his recent predecessors. he's between where trump was ad obama was at the end of their first years. the problem for president biden, both trump and obama saw pretty significant losses at least in the house in their midterm elections. so for democrats with that tiny house majority they're clinging to now, you say the senate. if the democrats can't hold the house, they would love to hang on to the senate. it's 50/50 now. they have the tiebreaker. here's what it would take for democrats. take a look. here are five democratic-held seats they may struggle. we'll see how the landscape shapes up, but these are five in particular. democrats need to try to hang on to all of these potentially. georgia, you've got warnock running there. mark kelly up in arizona. new hampshire, you've got gene shaheen, excuse me, the republicans in new hampshire, chris sununu, the republican governor had been seen as an extremely strong candidate for this seat, but is not going to run. so democrats getting a potentially big break there in new hampshire, but they're trying to hang on to these seats because in a 50/50 environment in a midterm where the environment may be favoring republicans, the chances are democrats are going to struggle to pick off republican seats. here are five potentially vulnerable seats. democrats would love to pick off any of these. i think most realistically, pennsylvania, the state that put joe biden over the top in the presidential election, it's going to be an open seat. that's probably the top democratic target in terms of flipping a republican seat, but you know, if they flip pennsylvania, they could maybe afford to lose one of these blue seats, but you lose more than one of those, you start getting in trouble. so i think the house will be very difficult for the democrats to hold on to. the senate battleground does present possibilities for them so i think democrats maybe if they don't keep the house, boy, a nice silver lining for them. if you're asking them, they'd probably say hang on to the senate. >> steve kornacki live at the big board. i think it's a new big board. >> this is the alternate. >> thank you, appreciate you being on and thanks for watching this hour. our last show, my last show with you of 2021 and what a year it's been. by the time i see you next, it will be 2022. i'll see you on nbc news now for that show that i do part two. 5:00 every weekday. but here for us at 3:00, that's it. thank you so much. deadline white house starts right after the break. so much. deadline white house starts right after the break. my insurance i don't. i use liberty mutual, they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. wooo, yeaa, woooooo and, by switching you could even save 665 dollars. hey tex, can someone else get a turn? yeah, hang on, i'm about to break my own record. yeah. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. ♪ earn about covid-19,you need. the more questions we have. the biggest question now, what's next? what will covid bring in six months, a year? if you're feeling anxious about the future, you're not alone. calhope offers free covid-19 emotional support. call 833-317-4673, or live chat at calhope.org today. it is 4:00 in new york city. i'm john heilemann in for nicolle wallace. i apologize. before we get into the what of the biden administration's new covid response announced by the president at the white house, course of action that's urgent and immensely dift to pull off. let's first address the question why. odds are, it being december 21st, you have probably, hopefully, i hope, i hope you thought or thought about or