is are democrats ready to get back to work. and a scientific wonder as researchers discover a embryo egg inside. the question is is this a plot for "jurassic park" people? it's "way too early" for this. good morning. welcome to "way too early," the show that has a lot of questions from white house press secretary jen psaki which she joins us later in the hour. i'm jonathan lemire on this wednesday, december 22nd. we'll start with the news. thanks to a steep surge in coronavirus cases across the country. president biden is outlining new steps his administration will take to combat the new omicron variant. according to the president, new vaccination and testing sites will be set up nationwide. the government will buy 500 million rapid tests and distribute them to americans free of charge. and 1,000 medical professionals will be sent to help hospitals overwhelmed with patients. speaking from the white house yesterday, the president try to reassure americans that the rise in cases won't return to the early days of the pandemic. >> we should all be concerned about omicron, but not panic. if you're fully vaccinated especially if you got your booster shot, you are highly protected. if you're unvaccinated, you're at a higher risk than severely ill from covid-19, getting hospitalized or even dying. the best thing to do is get fully vaccinated and get your booster shots. booster shots provide protection. unfortunately we have tens of millions of people who are eligible for the booster shot but haven't gotten it. i got my booster shot, as soon as they're available. and just the other day, former president trump announced head had gotten his booster shot. maybe one of the few things he and i agree on. more than 200 million americans are fully vaccinated. in march, 2020, no one is fully vaccinated. what that means is today, case of covid-19 for fully vaccinated and boosted person will most likely mean no symptoms or mild ones similar to the common respiratory viruses. this is not march of 2020. 200 million people are fully vaccinated. we're prepared. we know more. we just have to stay focused. >> meanwhile, cities across the country are tightening restrictions amid these rising infections. new york city is offering $100 to anyone who receives a booster shot at a city-run site before the end of the year. it comes as major hospitals in the new york region are running low on the only monoclonal antibody treatment proven effective against the omicron variant. according to an nbc news report limited supplies are leaving some doctors without any tools to treat many severely ill covid-19 patients. other cities are putting new measures in place to stop the spread of the virus. atlanta mayor, and anything mayor lori lightfoot starting january 3rd, all will need to show proof of vaccination at restaurants, gyms and bars. and boston is implemented a similar requirement for anyone age 12 and up. turning now to capitol hill, senator joe manchin joined senate democrats for a virtual meeting on how to move forward on the president's build back better act. a source said the west virginia senator spoke in the beginning of the meeting, reiterating his concerns for the bill and mostly listened. president biden vowed yesterday he would still get something done. >> some people think maybe i'm not irish because i don't hold a grudge. look, i want to get things done. i still think there's a possibility of getting build back better done. imagine being a parent, looking at a child, that you can't afford, you have no house to bore borrow against, they have no savings. it's wrong. but all of the things in that bill are going to reduce prices and cost for middle class and working class people. senator manchin and i are going to get something done. >> a large piece for democrats is climate change. according to politico, quote, progressives are holding out hope that manchin might agree to a sweeping series of tax credits aimed at clean energy. "the washington post" says manchin's counteroffer to the president includes hundreds of billions of action for climate change. sarah, thank you for being here. we just heard the president he said it sees in a way somewhat optimistic that he and senator manchin can get things done. i'm a person who does hold a grudge but he apparently doesn't. is there a way to get something finished? >> sure. well, biden at this point couldn't afford to hold a grudge. he's got one senator that he needs to get on board to pass this bill. of course, he's going to say he can is going to do whatever it takes. some of that is bold sistered by the fact that he was able to pass a giant covid-19 relief build, that infrastructure plan and a bipartisan plan with the same margin. the fact that senator manchin did call into that meeting, of course, gives democrats an optimistic view. and senator schumer, the majority leader, said yesterday, he's hoping to have a vote on the build back better plan in january. there's going to need to be some trimming down, parsing down of the bill, in order to get senator manchin on board. and that's what democrats are going to have to focus on as they head into the new year. they have some time, still, to be able to pass this bill. the clock is running out. >> no question, and some of manchin's concerns are about inflation. has he signaled that there's any economic change here? prices still seem high for the most part, that could lead him to alter his vote? >> right, so it's not -- economists will say it's not necessarily the most accurate portrayal. of course, you saw the penn morton study, and goldman sachs saying it doesn't even help with inflation costs because it's a different type of spending. it's not the same type of infusion of government money into the economy that this bill has provided but for senator manchin would need assurance on the child tax credit. and as you mentioned he's willing to make some negotiations on those climate provision which is is giving democrats a lot of hope. >> sarah mucha of axios, happy holidays. still ahead, we're going to dig in deeper with the president's covid-19 response and where things stand with build black better. i'm joined by white house press secretary jen psaki. also ahead, the nato buildup amid the russian forces at ukraine's border. we'll be back with a lot more. nyquil severe gives you powerful relief for your worst cold and flu symptoms, on sunday night and every night. nyquil severe. the nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, best sleep with a cold, medicine. to be a thriver with metastatic breast cancer means asking for what we want, and need... and we need more time. so, we want kisqali. living longer is possible and proven with kisqali when taken with a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor in premenopausal women with hr+, her2- metastatic breast cancer. kisqali is a pill that's significantly more effective at delaying disease progression versus a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor alone. kisqali can cause lung problems or an abnormal heartbeat, which can lead to death. it can cause serious skin reactions, liver problems, and low white blood cell counts that may result in severe infections. tell your doctor right away if you have new or worsening symptoms, including breathing problems, cough, chest pain, a change in your heartbeat, dizziness, yellowing of the skin or eyes, dark urine, tiredness, loss of appetite, abdomen pain, bleeding, bruising, fever, chills, or other symptoms of an infection, a severe or worsening rash, are or plan to become pregnant, or breastfeeding. avoid grapefruit during treatment. kisqali is not approved for use with tamoxifen. ask your doctor about living longer with kisqali. are you tired of clean clothes that just don't smell clean? kisqali is not approved downy unstopables in-wash scent boosters keep your laundry smelling fresh way longer than detergent alone. if you want laundry to smell fresh for weeks, make sure you have downy unstopables in-wash scent boosters. xfinity rewards are our way of thanking you just for being with us. enjoy rewards like sing family fun nights! rent sing for $1 then belt out all your favorite tunes from the movie with sing karaoke. plus, see sing 2 in theaters with buy-one-get-one free fandango tickets. join over a million members by signing up for free on the xfinity app. our thanks. your rewards. former president donald trump plans to peddle false claims in a rigged 2020 election in a news conference on the anniversary of the capitol riot. we should note trump uses the term news conference when he actually doesn't take questions from reporters next month. he's trying to counter what house speaker nancy pelosi said will be a full slate of events at the capitol that day. remember, can't tweet. he wrote this, why isn't the unselect committee of highly partisan political hacks investigating the caution of the january 6th protest which was the rigged presidential election of 2020? i'll be having a news conference january 6th at mar-a-lago to discuss all of these points and more. as a remind, election officials have repeatedly called last year's contest the most secure in history. joe biden beat donald trump by more than 7 million votes. former national security adviser michael flynn is suing to block the january 6th select committee from obtaining his phone records. the army officer turned trump loyalist turned conspiracy theorist filed a lawsuit against the house committee and house speaker nancy pelosi yesterday. the committee said it wants information from flynn regarding an oval office december 18th. at that meeting, reportedly discussing ways of joe biden's win such as declaring a national emergency and seizing voting machines. flynn's lawyer is now accusing the committee of abusing its subpoena power. and contends his client had nothing to do with the events of january 6th. elsewhere, russian president vladimir putin is warning of a military response if the west continued what he called aggressive lines over ukraine. he also reiterated his demand that the former soviet countries and ukraine should not join nato. nbc news chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell has the details. >> reporter: new threats from vladimir putin surrounded by his general demanding that nato withdraw its troops from eastern europe. he says in case western colleagues continue their clearly aggressive line, we will take adequate military and technical measures in response. he's got the military muscle to back it up. more than 100,000 troops plus tanks and heavy equipment at the ukraine border. a buildup that has only increased in the two peeks since putin and president biden met virtually. >> since the president talked to president putin, it seems as though the buildup is continuing, the threats are continuing from vladimir putin. >> if russia continues to engage in aggressive actions we will respond and respond appropriately. >> reporter: the u.s. with a javelin near russia. on the threat to counter. a russian cyber attack turning off the lights in ukraine as it did in 2015 and 2016. >> allows them to attack without doing a full-scale military intervention in ukraine. it sounds like he's preparing for some kind of attack. cyber gives him the option of starting an alec without going to a scaled war and that's a place where russia has great advantages. >> putin has been known to make provocative statements right before christmas. u.s. intelligence officials told me they're watching careful. scientists say a perfectly preserved 700 million-year-old egg, and researchers discovered the perfectly preserved egg in china more than 20 years ago but didn't start studying in until a decade back. it includes the embryonic skeleton of a dinosaur that roamed the earth 66 million years ago. scientists say the tough posture resembles a bird embryo. the embryo inside measuring 11 inches. researchers stitt if the dinosaur had lived it would have lived to be about six feet in length. all i say to this, be careful, folks. still ahead, coronavirus continues to disrupt professional sports. and now team usa's chances on the ice will be affected at the upcoming winter games in beijing. we'll explain in sports, coming right up. smelling fresh way longer than detergent alone. if you want laundry to smell fresh for weeks, make sure you have downy unstopables in-wash scent boosters. there's a different way to treat hiv. it's once-monthly injectable cabenuva. cabenuva is the only once-a-month, complete hiv treatment for adults who are undetectable. cabenuva helps keep me undetectable. it's two injections, given by a healthcare provider once a month. hiv pills aren't on my mind. i love being able to pick up and go. don't receive cabenuva if you're allergic to its ingredients or taking certain medicines, which may interact with cabenuva. serious side effects include allergic reactions post-injection reactions, liver problems,...and depression. if you have a rash and other allergic reaction symptoms, stop cabenuva and get medical help right away. tell your doctor if you have liver problems or mental health concerns, and if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or considering pregnancy. some of the most common side effects include injection site reactions, fever, and tiredness. if you switch to cabenuva, attend all treatment appointments. with once-a-month cabenuva, i'm good to go. ask your doctor about once-monthly cabenuva. new vicks vapostick. strong soothing vapors... help comfort your loved ones. with once-a-month cabenuva, i'm good to go. for chest, neck, and back. it goes on clear. no mess just soothing comfort. try new vicks vapostick. (burke) this is why you want farmers claim forgiveness... [echoing] claim forgiveness-ness, your home premium won't go up just because of this. (woman) wow, that's something. (burke) you get a whole lot of something with farmers policy perks. [echoing] get a quote today. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ new vicks vapostick. strong soothing vapors... help comfort your loved ones. for chest, neck, and back. it goes on clear. no mess just soothing comfort. try new vicks vapostick. the nhl extended holiday break began even earlier than expects for the washington capitals and the philadelphia flyers. last night's matchup was supposed to be one of the last two before the league hits pause, but it also was postponed over covid issues with the capitals. it was the 50th game postponed in the season. 45 of them in the past two weeks. and this, with more than 15% of the nhl's 700-plus players now in virus protocol, the ap reports the league will not send players to the upcoming olympics in beijing. citing delays and concerns over the ability to complete the full season. this is disappointing. the decision would indeed be an abrupt turnaround from december when the deal was struck to put the best players back on the stage after skipping the 2018 games. the official announcement is expected today. that is ashame. my boys and i were looking forward to watching that. another 21 nhl players added to the covid-19 list. that brings that to 13 ahead of that showdown with the pittsburgh steelers. and the buffalo bills in the afc matchup against the patriots after receiver cole beasley went on the covid list. beasley, as you recall, made a big deal this year about being unvaccinated. that means, assuming it's not changed he's now going to isolate ten days. and meanwhile, the league has finally wrapped up its covid-delayed week 15. there were two games last night pushed back from the weekend. in los angeles, the rams hosting the seattle seahawks after a week of covid chaos with no full practices. but l.a. held on to the strong connection between cooper cupp, he's so good. and matthew stafford. they hooked up with a wear of touchdowns. kupp sent the resurgent rams into a tie with the cardinals. and the eagles entered last night's game with 13 players on the covid list and another 15 on injured reserve. who showed up, jalen hurts playing his first game since an ankle injury. and ran for a pair of touchdowns and threw another. philadelphia wins 27-17. the update i know "way too early" viewers have been waiting for, my football team lost. season over. you won't be inflicted with any more updates from me. turning now to college hoops with the women's top-ranked teams. number 2 stafford had north carolina on the ropes for the first half. for the gamecocks, none of the largest comeback from program history to beat the cardinals 65 to 61. impressive win. college football season, it's time of year, it's begun. after last night's big win in the famous idaho potato bowl, the wyoming cowboys celebrated accordingly, a french fry bath for the head coach. former get the gatorade, let's talk french fries. do we think the five second rule applies for the blue turf there. can they pick those up and start eating. time for the weather, meteorologist janessa webb is here. >> i'm with you with the fi-second rule. you know, jonathan, me being from alaska, it doesn't feel like christmas without snow. and much of the country dealing with that lack of snowfall. but we are watching the storm system that is across the coast that is impacting the carolinas right now, dealing with a little bit of rain. but as it transitions to the north, we are going to be dealing with snow across maine to connecticut. that's why winter storm warnings and advisories, that are currently in place, maine going to get a dose of snow, if you're a ski fan, get out there and enjoy it because we're going to see at least 10 inches in that area. the rest of the north stays pretty quiet, but that rainfall in place. you can see snow totals 6 to 8 inches isolated areas, up to 10 inches of snow. the west coast, a completely different weather pattern. we do see a jet stream that continues to dip to the south. we're talking another eight feet of snow for the sierra nevada to the cascades through today into sunday afternoon. now, this will cause some major travel delays for people traveling for christmas. we'll watch that for the next 24 to 36 hours as the entire system starts to make its way into the rockies. so, a pretty kind of up and down weather pattern from coast to coast. we have one coast dealing with rain. the other coast dealing with snow. but in the center of the country, we do have a heat wave that will continue to build. look at some of these numbers today, san antonio, 73 degrees, feeling more springlike, instead of the start of winter. in the lower 50s for kansas city, most of these spots are 10 to 20 degrees above average. some of this heat will continue to spill into the mid-mississippi valley, ohio valley, as we go into tomorrow, you can see middling, texas, 81, austin, 77. memphis today in the lower 60s. so it just really depends, jonathan, where you are, or what kind of weather pattern you're getting. >> hard to believe we're a couple days away from christmas. janessa webb, thank you so much. for still ahead, with some democrats still fuming over joe manchin's opposition to the build back better act, top republicans are encouraging him to jump ship and join the gop. white house press secretary jen psaki will join me to weigh in on where things stand within the democratic party and much more coming up. but before we go to break, we want to though why are you awake? email to waytooearly@msnbc or tweet me @jon lemire. use the #waytooearly. feel free to offer condolences about my team. we'll read the answers later on in the show. how. [laughing and giggling] (woman) hey dad. miss us? (vo) reflect on the past, celebrate the future. season's greetings from audi. if you're washing with the bargain brand, even when your clothes look clean, there's extra dirt you can't see. watch this. that was in these clothes... ugh. but the clothes washed in tide- so much cleaner. if it's got to be clean it's got to be tide hygienic clean. no surprises in these clothes! couple more surprises. 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 ♪♪ welcome back to "way too early." it's just before 5:30 on the east coast. 2:30 out west. i'm jonathan lemire. while democrats on capitol hill are publicly calling out senator joe manchin for refusing to support the build back better act, republicans are trying to use the discord to add him to their ranks. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell is offering an open invitation saying the west virginia senator is welcome to switch parties anytime. >> i don't know if joe will ever become a republican, but i can tell you this for sure, it's a completely uncomfortable fit for joe. i think he's probably, for example, the only pro-life democrat of the 50. he doesn't fit well over there. but that's a decision he ultimately has to make. we certainly welcome him to join us if he was so inclined. >> mcconnell isn't the only republican reaching out. senator john cornyn of texas said he texted manchin about switching parties but hasn't heard back. cornyn tells a tv station, quote, i don't know what he will decide to do but i do know that west virginia has gotten increasingly red. that would change the majority. no kidding, senator cornyn. 9 evenly split senate would run to republican control. joining us co-founder of punchbowl news anna palmer. he's an msnbc contribute per. what do you think, anna, is there any hope of switching the party? >> i think it's hopefully for republicans and mischief making before christmas. certainly with democrats divided on how to move forward in the bbc. mcconnell is right, when it comes to politics, he certainly is more in line with republicans when it comes to abortion and when it comes to gun rights, for example, but on a lot of other issues, he's solidly in the democratic camp. i think as far as playing that negotiator role, he enjoys that. i expect it to turn the table in terms of negotiations for bbb, and that is a role that keeps him strongly in the democratic party. if anything, maybe independent. but there's no reporting by the campus that his is imminent. >> yeah, certainly, he would lose a lot of his individual clout if he becomes one of 51 senators in the democratic party so we know manchin had who i feel we speak about every 35 seconds or so was part of the democratic meeting last night. give us a sense of what happened there? and was there any encouraging signs for democrats that build back better? >> there was no word that manchin decided to join the call. there was consideration he might not do that. he listened to his colleagues. he spoke on the call. it was a call where senator chuck schumer laid out the next few weeks. he said they're going to vote on bbb and voting rights. and if those two things don't move forward, there's a chance for the filibuster on the margin, of course, not only does joe manchin oppose that, kyrsten sinema and other democrats would be opposed to that. but trying to find a way, maybe they do a vote on bbb, that fails and then they try to find a smaller package. something they could all rally behind. but no real developments or actual negotiations passing on that call. more of an airing visit, if you will. >> one last quick one for you, you know, is there such disrepair right now, broken trust in the democratic party. we've heard progressives all week saying how angry they are at joe manchin, feeling like they can't take him at his word yet. how possible is it for progressive is repair? >> i think for the democratic party, the progressiveprogressie so frustrated. at the end of the day, i think you'll see schumer and the white house try to find a way forward with joe manchin. this is the only way to get it passed and president biden's signature first term issue. as much as there's frustration, they'll have to get back to the table. >> the crack research team here at "way too early" points out that festivus, the signing of the holiday of airing of grievances is december 23rd. that's tomorrow. i guess democrats were celebrating a little early. anna palmer, thank you for being here. still ahead, wall street jumps amid of the fear of omicron variant. we'll go live to what's driving markets this morning. "way too early" will be right back. t back 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. [daughter] slurping don't pay for water. pay for clean. it's got to be tide. your heart is at the heart of everything you do. and if you have heart failure, entrust your heart to entresto. it's the number one heart failure brand prescribed by cardiologists. entresto was proven superior at helping people stay alive and out of the hospital. heart failure can change the structure of your heart, so it may not work as well. entresto helps improve your heart's ability to pump blood to the body. and with a healthier heart, there's no telling where life may take you. 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 for heart failure. entrust your heart to entresto. nyquil severe gives you powerful relief for your worst cold and flu symptoms, on sunday night and every night. nyquil severe. the nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, best sleep with a cold, medicine. when you really need to sleep you reach for the really good stuff. new zzzquil ultra helps you sleep better and longer when you need it most. it's non habit forming and powered by the makers of nyquil. new zzzquil ultra. when you really really need to sleep. time now for business, and for that, let's bring in cnbc's julianna tatelbaum. juliana, welcome back, good to see you, markets rebounded following monday's selloff. is that a sign of calming fears over this new variant? >> well, jonathan, yesterday, it seemed as though investors were a little bit less nervous around the omicron variant and its spread the year before. we saw u.s. stock market rebound very sharply following three days of steep losses. and in terms of what investors were buying reopening plays. stocks like the cruise liners, entertainment stocks, they all saw some relief buying. now, this morning, here in europe, trade is a little bit more mixed. we are seeing some stocks trade publicly, some negatively. u.s. futures also pointing to a modestly weaker start to the trading session today. so jitders are made, but yesterday, it was really a story of relief among market participants. so visits to retail stores reportedly dropped about 26% from prepandemic levels the saturday before christmas which is typically the busiest shopping day of the holiday season. what more are you tell us about that? >> so, as you say, the saturday before christmas is super saturday. and this is where retailers expect people to come out and get all of the last minute things that they need before the holidays. and this year, compared to 2019, prepandemic, showed visit foss retail stores were down about 26%. but compared to last year, they were up to 19%. so we're not back to where we were, but better than last year. those people coming out to shop were buying last-minute decorations, food ingredients for holiday bake and cooking. that's primarily what people were doing. i think also, you know, better than i, jonathan, people were out queueing for covid tests or lining up for covid tests perhaps when they would have been doing retail shopping so it seems that the spread of omicron is affecting holiday shopping already. >> lions in new york city, for instance, for covid tests stretched hours yesterday. julianna, you, of course, in london. uk prime minister boris johnson has ruled out restrictions but there are crackdowns post christmas. what's the latest where you are. >> the big question, jonathan, here in the uk, has been will the government impose last-minute restrictions in the days leading up to christmas. very much like what we saw last time around. finally yesterday, boris johnson, the prime minister, ruled out that we would be getting new rules before december 25th. but he didn't rule out more restrictions coming into place afterwards. and that's what we're seeing from other european countries like germany and portugal and others have already announced that after christmas, there will be new restrictions coming in. one other big change that came through this morning, in england, they have cut the isolation period for people who are infected with covid-19 from ten days to seven, provided you test negative on a rapid test on day six and seven. so, trying to free up some people, as more and more people are becoming infected here in the uk. just to put the numbers out for you, another 90,000 new covid cases were reported across the united kingdom yesterday. so incredibly high case numbers continue to come through, jonathan. >> yeah, in business leaders here in the united states advocating for perhaps a shorter isolation period. c cnbc's julianna tatelbaum, we appreciate you being here. still ahead, white house press secretary jen psaki joins me. as we go to break, we look at this date in history, 20 years ago, richard reed on a flight from paris to miami tried to ignite explosives in his shoes but was subdued by fellow passengers. >> his shoes had powerful explosives hidden in the soles but apparented not to detonate because the shoes got wet. he's serving a supermax prison sentence in colorado. shoes look looking good start with bounce wrinkleguard, the megasheet designed to prevent wrinkles in the dryer. hi, i'm debra. i'm from colorado. i've been married to my high school sweetheart for 35 years. i'm a mother of four-- always busy. i was starting to feel a little foggy. just didn't feel like things were as sharp as i knew they once were. i heard about prevagen and then i started taking it about two years now. started noticing things a little sharper, a little clearer. i feel like it's kept me on my game. i'm able to remember things. i'd say give it a try. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. new vicks vapostick. strong soothing vapors... help comfort your loved ones. for chest, neck, and back. it goes on clear. no mess just soothing comfort. try new vicks vapostick. mr. president, what's your message to americans who are trying to get tested now and were not able to get tested and who are wondering what took so long to ramp up testing. >> come on, what took so long? >> i'm hearing that from people trying to get tested before the holidays. >> well, what took so long didn't take long at all. what happened was, the omicron virus spread even more rapidly than anybody thought. i told you four weeks ago that this would spread by a day-to-dae basis, 50%, 100%, 500%, i think you would have looked at me and said biden what are you drinking? but that's what it does. >> the president with amid the spike in cases, the administration is planning to deliver 500 million tests to americans but they won't start until next month. joining us now, white house press secretary jen psaki. jen, thank you for being here. >> good morning. >> how much coffee -- >> not enough. >> that's an evergreen answer for all of us. americans are about to travel in what could be record numbers for the holidays. so why isn't a vaccination requirement for domestic travel part of the president's plan during this covid surge? >> it's a good question, jonathan, i think it's one we get asked pretty frequently it's because we know that masking can be very effective on airplanes. that's a restriction that we've also increased the fines on so we know that people are wearing masks, more people are wearing masks. we also know putting in place additional restrictions might delay flights and additional implications, and we would do it, though, if the health impact is overwhelming. so, we rely on the advice of health and medical experts but isn't a step at this point that they have determined we need to take. >> so, over the summer when the delta variant was brewing overseas, here, the federal government, the president had an event on july 4th, declaring sort of independence from the virus. critics have said, the administration wasn't quite prepared for that variant. that's a criticism we're starting to hear again now. with omicron a few weeks ago starting it to emerge in south africa. but the new testing program wasn't announced until yesterday. why the delay? why weren't tests done a few weeks ago? we know questions were asked about it in the briefing room. >> well, jonathan, what we've been doing is building our capacity. actually even before the president's announcement yesterday we quadrupled the supply available to the country. the announcement the president made yesterday. very significant. 500 million tests, testing kits, that will start to be available in january. we also just announced a couple weeks ago, 50 million tests that we're making available this month at rural health centers, at community centers. we announced 20,000 free testing sites even before yesterday. so this has all been a building process. and part of it has been when are tests approved by the fda. when are they available. how do we get the necessary capacity needed to be able to purchase more tests and supplies. i also want to make clear, the president said yesterday, we're not where we need to be. that's why he made the significant announcement to build rapidly to get to hopefully where we need to be. >> senator joe manchin fox news interview where he said he would not support the build back better took people by surprise. your statement also took people by surprise, how blunted it was and obviously how critical you were of his decision. with that, we know the senator and president have spoken on the phone since. but how does the administration work with the senator. and more than that what is the president's message to progressives who say we trust the president to bring joe manchin along. and so far, he hasn't been able to do that? >> well, let me start with the last part, because it's progressives and it's also the american people, jonathan. i mean, this bill, the reason the president is so passionate about it because it's going to cut the cost of child care. health care, elder care. it's going to have historic impact on addressing the climate crisis. the choice, the option of not getting this done is just not an option to him. i think that's why you've heard all of us speak so passionately about it. progressives most important, the american people, he's going to get this done. as it relates to my statement on sunday, of course, i speak on behalf of the president and white house. we saw senator manchin put out a strong statement. we also put out a strong statement because it was very detailed in purpose because it outlined the events leading up to sunday. we felt it was important for the american people to know that. but here's the thing, we have to work with everybody in congress. the president considers senator manchin a friend. he's somebody he's worked with a long time evenful they disagree, and they certainly disagree on some things. they did talk on sunday. we're going to continue to be engaged and our plan is to absolutely get this done in january. >> so, there's a number of civil rights leaders including reverend al sharpton who is an ali of the president who has t progress on voting rights by then. he has spoken to groups and said, if not, he fears that there will be some african-american voters, the same voters who may have delivered the white house to the president last year, who may not want to engage politically going forward for democrats into the midterms and beyond. what will you be able to show them? what can be done on voting rights by martin luther king day? >> well, first, we agree with reverend sharpton. we want to get this done. this is existential. getting voting rights done is something people across the country should be able to rely congress to do, protect their basic ability to go to the polls and vote for whoever they want to vote for. it is really crazy this isn't something that is already protected. the change here, which reverend sharpton is certainly familiar with, to get legislation passed, you need 60 votes. if you don't get 60 votes, you have to change the rules in the senate. there is not support for that in this point in time. getting voting rights done is essential. if the republicans continue to obstruct, we're going to have to look at what is necessary to get that done. we'd love to do that as quickly as possible. the president would love to sign a voting rights bill into law. >> jen, lastly, we know the president had a close contact with somebody in recent days who had tested positive for the coronavirus. is there any sense there that the protocols around the white house could change with this surging new variant? >> we're always evaluating that, just as the cdc is. we really rely on their guidance, jonathan. i know we haven't changed any technical protocols, and we have pretty strict ones. every time you meet the president, you get tested. i have had a lot of tests in my nose over the last several months. that's an important -- has long been an important part of testing protocols. including when you travel with the president. we always wear masks when we're in meetings and when we're with the president. if the cdc changes their guidance, we could certainly consider changing ours, as well. but at this point, it hasn't changed. >> it has been a long year, and i know a long week. white house press secretary jen psaki, we really appreciate you being here today as we wind down 2021, and we hope to speak to you again soon. happy holidays. >> absolutely. look forward to it. you too, jonathan. coming up on "morning joe," with a little over a week left in his tenure, bill de blasio is taking new york city's fight with the pandemic straight through his final days in office. he'll join the conversation. "morning joe" is a few minutes away. are gentle on your skin, try downy free & gentle downy will soften your clothes without dyes or perfumes. the towel washed with downy is softer, and gentler on your skin. try downy free & gentle. a must in your medicine cabinet! less sick days! cold coming on? zicam is the #1 cold shortening brand! highly recommend it! zifans love zicam's unique zinc formula. it shortens colds! zicam. zinc that cold! new vicks vapostick. strong soothing vapors... help comfort your loved ones. for chest, neck, and back. it goes on clear. no mess just soothing comfort. try new vicks vapostick. there's a different way to treat hiv. it's once-monthly injectable cabenuva. cabenuva is the only once-a-month, complete hiv treatment for adults who are undetectable. cabenuva helps keep me undetectable. it's two injections, given by a healthcare provider once a month. hiv pills aren't on my mind. i love being able to pick up and go. don't receive cabenuva if you're allergic to its ingredients or taking certain medicines, which may interact with cabenuva. serious side effects include allergic reactions post-injection reactions, liver problems,...and depression. if you have a rash and other allergic reaction symptoms, stop cabenuva and get medical help right away. tell your doctor if you have liver problems or mental health concerns, and if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or considering pregnancy. some of the most common side effects include injection site reactions, fever, and tiredness. if you switch to cabenuva, attend all treatment appointments. with once-a-month cabenuva, i'm good to go. ask your doctor about once-monthly cabenuva. instantly clear everyday congestion with once-a-month cabenuva, i'm good to go. with vicks sinex saline. for fast drug free relief vicks sinex. instantly clear everyday congestion. and try vicks sinex children's saline. safe and gentle relief for children's noses. earlier in the show, we asked, why are you awake? barbara is up sorting her son's old cars to give to grandkids for christmas. adorable. i used to have sesame street cars, which my kids occasionally still play us. >> andrew is wondering, which came first, the dinosaur or the egg. must have been watching our earlier story about the 70 million-year-old fossil. >> again, let's be careful what we're messing with, folks. we've all seen those movies. patricia is up watching for jon's unruly hair to return. i miss it. i think she's referring to my previous hair style. mika wasn't a fan. if my hair looks too good now, blame the wonderful crew at msnbc. thank you to everyone who works on this show. we couldn't do it without them. it is deeply appreciated. joining us now, oh boy, sam stein. a man who occasionally says he thinks he can tell me what to do. sam, nice to see you. let's get your reaction. we obviously are seeing covid cases surge throughout the country right now. we heard the president's new plan yesterday. we just had white house press secretary jen psaki defending their approach right now, particularly getting tests out across the country. you can't find a rapid test at a drugstore. testing lines are hours long. what is your reaction to what you heard from the white house about covid and these tests? >> first thing, i need to know, has anyone actually said your hair looks too good now? >> you can be the first. >> all right. i'll be the first. looks too good, jonathan. >> thank you. >> i will say, the psaki interview, you know, obviously, if you go back a week or two when she was asked about, you know, the idea of sending people tests at home, and she answered quite defensively that that was an absurd plan or absurd idea, i mean, they've gone a complete 180 now. i think they'd like to say they're not caught off guard by omicron, but we know that vice president harris did say they were caught off guard by omicron. it is obvious they were. everyone was. the exponential growth of the cases is truly alarming. you're right, you can't get your hands on an in-home test right now in you're in d.c. or new york. that being said, you know, they clearly are in sort of a sprint mode right here. they're trying to not just portray that they are on top of this but, you know, actively move the levers of government around it using the defense production act to get more tests to people, sending those tests to people's homes after they dismiss the idea. and they're trying to do it within the confines of not shutting down schools and the economy. part of it is that this is, in fact, a different time than march 2020. people are -- that are protected from the virus because of vaccines and therapies, but we also know better public health practices. i think part of it is also -- and you know this too -- it's political. they cannot shut down schools again. there would be a huge backlash. >> no. >> the biggest sort of talking point biden has gone from right now is that while inflation is up, the economy is pretty good. if the variant shuts that down, then they're in a really big heap of trouble. they're walking a bit of a tight rope here, and they're doing their best. they're hoping they can get through the holiday season with, you know, something in tact. >> we heard from jen a moment ago about voting rights, and certainly stressed again how important they are to the president. but, sam, what can they really do if the filibuster doesn't change? doesn't the president himself need to get out there and forcefully demand that something be altered in order to get something through? >> yeah. i mean, that seems to be the same sort of breaking point as we've always had. the justice department has obviously filed suit in some cases. democratic groups have challenged the state laws that are going into effect. but absent federal intervention that is written by congress, the sort of comprehensive response is just not going to be forthcoming. and so we're wrapping our heads around what is possibly going to happen in the new year that's any different than what's happened this past year. which is, you have maybe between 46 to 48 votes to change the rules, which is not 50. to get you to a place you can pass the legislation. absent that, it is hard to see how they do anything that is comprehensive in response to the state laws going into effect. >> yeah. there's certainly an extraordinary amount on the white house's plate going into the next year, including the build back better act. "politico's" sam stein, i suppose it was good to see you. thank you for being here. >> always good to see you. always. >> appreciate that. thanks to all of my great guests, even sam. thanks to all of you for getting up "way too early" on this wednesday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. i know you're tired. i really mean this. i know you're frustrated. we all want this to be over. but we're still