this is how she responded. >> i'm vice president of the united states. anything that i handle is because it's a tough issue. and it couldn't be handled at some other level. and there are a lot of big, tough issues that need to be addressed. and it has actually been part of my life-long career to deal with tough issues. >> the vice president was also asked to respond to the speculation already beginning over 2024. >> i think that there are so many issues that are present issues in 2021 that i just don't have the luxury of engaging in that, you know, the pundits can sit back and do whatever they do. >> meanwhile, as we near the one-year anniversary of the january 6th attack on the capitol, the select committee investigating is ramping up its fact-finding mission. the panel is waiting to hear back from republican congressman jim jordan after it asked him for a voluntary interview last week and it's also looking what to refer donald trump to the doj for criminal prosecution. earlier today, democratic congressman gave msnbc his thoughts on the probe as the anniversary approaches. >> as we approach this one-year anniversary, of the january 6th insurrection, i just think we really need to focus on the fact it's not history. it's current events. we are ongoing in combating a threat against the very integrity of our democracy and we need to treat this one-year anniversary on january 6th as a day of action. not just a day of reflection. >> and calls are growing to change senate rules as voting rights legislation appears to be stalled as president biden now voices support for a filibuster carve out. democratic senator ben cardin today shared his vision for how the rules could change if he feels both parties can embrace. >> we recognize the senate is broken as far as the way it operates. and we have to fix that. and, yes, voting rights is a good example. there's no reason why we shouldn't be debating this issue on the floor of the united states senate. it's a timely issue. and it needs the debate in the united states senate. we should be voting on amendments and we should allow the majority to rule on these votes on amendments. let's have a real debate and let the senate carry out historic role. >> our team is tracking a lot of things for you, including nbc's liz mclaughlin joining us from north carolina with the latest on travel and covid as well. also we have monica alba at the white house. we'll go to you first, liz and talk about the charlotte douglas international airport. thousands of flights were grounded over this weekend. looks like cancellations are ticking back upward again today. how is the omicron surge impacting the holiday travelers. >> well, alex, some travelers just aren't getting where they need to go. this is the busiest travel weekend of the year, of the past two years for the airline industry. they're being hit hard with this omicron variant. flight crews and other staff sidelined by either falling ill or being potentially exposed to the virus and needing to isolate. and so they're simply unable to make some of those routes. tens of thousands of cancellations and delays over the past 48 hours. let's take a look at some of those numbers. here's the damage so far. over christmas eve and christmas day, more than 5,000 cancellations worldwide. within into or out of the u.s. and today just looked at the latest numbers here. already seeing more than 2,300 cancellations globally and more than 760 u.s. flights. according to flight aware providing this data, it's a tracking website, more than 8,300 delays so far today. and tomorrow, already seeing about 700 cancellations worldwide. so there is still the domino effect here that we'll see throughout the week. suspected to be the busiest travel day on tuesday, december 28th, for the rest of the year. so there may be some logjamming there. we spoke to a lot of travelers who may see them rolling suitcases up. we've been piling to this airport since before sunrise. we spoke to some of those including one woman who is on a return flight today and after facing hours of delays to get here in the first place, let's listen. >> i am literally only traveling because i have a father who is sick and i just don't know how much longer he has left so i wanted to make sure i could see him for christmas. other than that, i would definitely stay home. you always worry flying on the holidays but bring enough work to do and just hope for the best and i know i'll get home eventually. >> most of the travelers said they are really concerned about the omicron variant that now accounts for the majority of new covid-19 cases here in the u.s. more than 70%. dr. anthony fauci said today that he is signaling support for a vaccine mandate for domestic flights. and that comes as airlines for america, a lobbying group for u.s. airlines, they are pushing for a shortened isolation period for these workers. five days if they can test negative. alex? >> groundswell of support for trying to figure out how to keep the skies safe. thank you so much, liz mclaughlin for that. the white house certainly working around the clock to address the omicron variant. one of many topics taken on by the vice president today in a wide-ranging interview reflecting on her first year in office as well as the road ahead. nbc's monica alba joining us from the white house with this. so give me the bullet points. what are the top things we learned from the vice president today in this interview? >> she was asked about so many different issues, but, of course, the one that's dominated this entire year and taken probably the most energy from this administration is the covid-19 pandemic. so she specifically was asked about these projections that there could be as many as 1 million cases due to the omicron spike. we're going to see a dramatic increase in the coming days and weeks and the vice president really wanted to remind everybody she feels we have the tools necessary to fight the most important parts of this. severe hospitalization, illness and death. but she was also then asked about where the personal responsibility is and whether truly the unvaccinated have more to answer for or more to be blamed. and take a listen to how she responded to that particular question. >> is it the fault of the unvaccinated? >> i don't think this is a moment to talk about fault. it is no one the fault that this virus hit our shores or hit the world. i would not blame it on anyone in that way. but it is more about individual power and responsibility, and it's about the decisions that everyone has, the choice to make, no doubt, but it is clear that everyone has the ability to make a choice to save their lives. and to prevent hospitalization. if they get vaccinated and get the booster. and so i urge people to do that. >> it comes against the backdrop of just about a week ago the vice president was asked in a newspaper interview to talk about these new variants. and she said we didn't see delta coming, we didn't see omicron coming, and then later had to clean up those remarks by saying she was referring to that specific mutation and arguing again that she feels the administration is prepared to tackle everything. though, of course, we know covid is going to stretch way into 2022 and that's something the president and vice president will both be working on in tandem with some of these other major priorities like voting rights, like trying to get build back better and some new form across the finish line and plenty else that she has on her plate. >> she's got a very full plate, but you're right. covid is priority number one and the undercurrent to everything. okay, monica alba, thank you, from the white house for that. joining me is illinois congresswoman sherry bustos, a democratic member of the house appropriations and agriculture committees. also former chair of the democratic congressional campaign committee. welcome back to the broadcast. hope you've had a good holiday weekend. i want to get your reaction first off to what we heard today from the vice president and your assessment of that administration's first year in office. >> well, you know, i think as james carville said, and i'm a big fan of his, one of the greatest untold stories of 2021 is really how well things have gone overall. obviously, there have been some things that haven't been so great. the omicron variant. not president biden's fault but he's taking his arms around us and trying to get control of it. but the fact that unemployment is as low as it's been for more than a generation now, the fact that wages are going up, the fact that if you are an hourly worker, you have some control over your -- what you are making right now. i live in moline, illinois, where john deere, the uaw workers had gone on strike and they came up with a remarkable deal, a tremendous raise in the first year. it's a six-year deal. but, you know, there's a lot to be said about the economy that is good. there's a lot to be said about the legislation that we did pass that is good. now is there more work to do? of course there is but we'll get a lot done in 2022. >> among those things, let's turn to voting rights because the president, as you know, is giving his most direct support yet for a filibuster carve out as the legislation appears at this point stalled in the senate. take a listen to this. >> whatever it takes, change the senate rules, too comdate major pieces of legislation without requiring 60 votes. >> so you support a carve out of the filibuster for voting rights? >> the only thing standing between getting voting rights legislation passed and not getting passed, i support making an exception of voting rights for the filibuster. >> how does this get done? and the political stakes of not making good on the promise of restoring voting rights legislation? what's your response to that? >> well, i think we're going to have to do, at minimum, a carve out of the filibuster. i remember when reporters, whether it be at home or in washington, d.c., would interview different members of congress and i'd put myself on that same level where we kind of tiptoe around what we wanted to do with the filibuster. look, i think that the way i look at it now, i have a change of heart around this. if we're going to get something done, we're either going to have to do away with the filibuster, which i don't think is a political reality, or do as president biden said, do this carve out for critical pieces of legislation. i see it as the only way of getting major voting rights changes made coming up in 2022. >> yeah. >> let me get your thoughts on a few other items. the prisom of 2022. the biden administration announced it will enhance the pause from february to may 1st on student loans. the white house announced some blowback, including criticism it's going to hurt the party politically since the president said he would be canceling student debt. but if payments start up may 1st without any forgiveness, don't democrats risk facing even bigger blowback because it's going to be that much closer to the election in november. >> you know, i think back to when i first ran for congress and i announced it would have been july of 2011, and i was very, very careful about the campaign promises that i made. and i wanted to make sure that when i was going to be running for re-election two years later that i would point to that i lived up to those promises. i don't think we as democrats or anybody running for office in political office can make promises and then not live up to those promises. obviously, president biden has a bit of a challenge when he can lose zero senators on votes and literally only a handful of house members. so i think president biden did the right thing by suspending student loan payments and giving the people out there who, by the way, alex, the average student loan debt is $40,000. and when you add it all up, a 40 plus million americans have student loan debt, that's almost double what credit card debt is. and so this is something that is major. it is preventing people from buying homes, from starting businesses, from really getting on with their lives. so this is a -- this is a challenge that we have, and we as democrats need to rise to the occasion. and we need to be there for president biden and help him solve this. >> so this week, three house democrats announced they'll not seek re-election in 2022 which brings the total to 23 and sadly, that includes you. so other than for retirement, why are so many of your colleagues leaving? why are you leaving and with an already slim majority, is this democratic exit going to hand over the majority to the gop? >> no, if you look at that list, alex, the vast majority of them are in pretty safe democratic districts. i happen to be in a trump district. i'm one of the handful of democrats that are in the trump district. however, with redistricting, this district where i'm sitting right now gets about 10 points better. so i feel good. i'm going to work my rear end off to make sure that we elect a good person in the seat that i've represented for the last decade. that said it's a normal part of the election process. if you look at every two years, there are always retirements, always people that are looking to move on to another chapter of their lives. people who have been in some cases, if you look at those members, whose pictures were just up there. we have some members serving for decades. and i think they are just ready to -- i think they are ready to do something else. as far as me, i'm young enough to have another career, and i am certainly energetic enough and passionate enough and i will just navigate whatever that next career is. but look, it's been a -- really, i know this almost sounds cliche, but really just one of the most -- the honors of my life to be able to serve the 711,000 people in this congressional district. it really has been life changing. i hope that when it's all said and done we can point to some differences that i've helped bring about for this region, and it really has been an honor. but i am, in my case, i'm ready for my next chapter. >> whatever you, do i know you'll be a success, but in the next year i'll have plenty of opportunity to speak with you before you officially retire. cheri bustos, thank you. cheers to 2021. the new pill billed as a game changer. how it stacks up against the vaccine and booster shots. oster. and forgot where she was. you can always spot a first time gain flings user. ♪ it's the most joyous time of year. especially at t-mobile! let's go to dianne. i got the awesome new iphone 13 pro and airpods, and t-mobile is paying for them both! and this is for new and existing customers. upgrade to the iphone 13 pro and airpods both on us. only at t-mobile. is now a good time for a flare-up? 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how much more do you think health care workers can take after two years of fighting covid and vaccine resistance that's helping to perpetuate covid? >> alex, it depends where those health care workers are in this country. as we've said numerous times, this country really is a patchwork in terms of vaccination status and the hospitals that are seeing surges now because of omicron with overriding on delta as well as individuals with decompensated health conditions because of putting off health care for the last two years, i worry significantly about burnout. every time an unvaccinated person gets admitted to the hospital, that person is putting a health care worker at potential risk for exposure. so all of these things. the physical and the emotional toll that it's taken on our health care system and our health care workers is -- cannot be overestimated. >> yeah, for sure. what about the sense of what we've learned. what more do we know about omicron's effect in children now? we're seeing more kids in hospitals. 170,000 put in the hospital over the last week. >> right. well, one of the things that's, of course, concerning is that only about 20% of eligible kids aged 5 to 11 have received their first shot, which is well, well below where we want that to be. we've said for a long time, alex, that children are -- kids cases will mirror that in adults and with just the sheer number of people getting infected with omicron that's going to trickle down to that population. of course, experts are watching that very closely. every variant could theoretically bring with it some unique differences but, thus far, every parent out there should recognize that while the likelihood that their child will have a mild illness that could resemble a cold or flu, kids unvaccinated and with underlying medical conditions are still very vulnerable to serious illness. >> what about the long lines we've seen already for covid testing? how swamped can we expect those lines to get as americans are heading home from the holidays. what's your advice to people traveling right now? first of all, how soon should they test before leaving, getting on a flight or train or any public transportation and should they test when they get home again and when should that happen? >> i don't necessarily -- we always say that you want to test before you're going to gather with family and friends. so i don't think it's necessary for people to use -- because they're in such short supply. let's say they have a rapid test at home. to use it before you travel may not even make the most sense right now even though in an ideal world before you stepped on an airplane everyone would. let's say you've driving home. i wouldn't necessarily test before doing that drive but test again about 3 to 5 days later after arriving. remember, there's always that incubation period, the time from exposure to time of symptom onset. it's around three days. and so you have to imagine that any potential exposures you had with your gathering, you may not become symptomatic for a couple of days so i'd test 3 to 5 days after returning from home, from travel. >> the fda authorized the use of the merck pill as a second at-home covid treatment. so that one reduced the risk of hospitalization and death in high-risk patients by 30%. right now, it is recommended for high-risk adults. do you see this as being a game-changer despite having a lower efficacy rate when compared to the pfizer pill? maybe merck get used as a booster? how do you see it? >> you know, first of all, i don't think any of us would say that we aren't happy that we have another option. remember the availability of these pills is going to be the biggest rate limiter in the next couple of months. and as i understand it, there's probably a larger quantity of the merck pill available. you know, it's a modest benefit, but if you are a high-risk individual and it lowers the risk of hospitalization and severe disease by 30%, you take it. we know now, of course, the monoclonal antibodies, two out of the three that we had authorized are no longer effective against omicron. my hospital stopped infusing two of them last week and we are getting emails on a fairly regular basis about the incredibly limited supply of the last monocolonial antibody that does work against omicron. so again, all of us are very happy about the option of an antiviral but i think we have to set very realistic expectations. mostly because of the need for testing in order to qualify for treatment and just the quantity that is available for americans. it's not nearly enough for the number of cases we're going to have. >> okay, dr. natalie azar, many thanks and happy new year to you. vice president kamala harris given a new wide-ranging interview. she responds to criticism that she's faced in her first year in office. we'll discuss her answers and more. re ♪ superpowers from a spider bite? 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(vo) subaru and our retailers believe in giving back. that's why, in difficult times, we provided one hundred and fifty million meals to feeding america. and now through the subaru share the love event, we're helping even more. by the end of this year, subaru will have donated over two hundred and twenty five million dollars to charity. this is what it means to be more than a car company. this is what it means to be subaru. when it comes to autism, this is what it means to be more than a car company. 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 vice president kamala harris on the record about her first year in office. in a new wide-ranging interview with cbs, the vice president shared her thoughts on the pandemic, the state of the president's agenda and the fierce criticism that comes with the job, especially from those within her own party. >> do you think any of this is fair? do you think you're being set up to fail? >> no, i don't believe i'm being set up to fail, but -- >> democrats are saying this. >> but more important, i'm vice president of the united states. anything that i handle is because it's a tough issue and it couldn't be handled at some other level. s. the fact that you're a woman and the fact you're a minority in this office part of why there is such scrutiny? >> i'll leave that for others to deal with. you know, i have a job to do. and i'm going to get that job done. >> reuters white house correspondent is joining me now. glad to have you here to talk about this. i'm curious your reaction to what we heard regarding the intense scrutiny that the vice president faces. how do you see it? >> well, i think, number one, and good to see you, alex. i think that putting it out there and having her doing interviews is one piece of what appears to be increasing white house strategy of trying to rehabilitate an image that definitely took a hit in the first year of the biden/harris administration. having her do that interview and some of the other interviews she's done is putting her out there and having her address that question very specifically and her answer saying, hey, i'm going to let that be decided or be analyzed by other people is an on-message answer. she's saying i have a job to do and it's my job to focus on it. >> yeah, okay. i'm going to ask you something about that. it's percolating in my mind in a second. but right now, it does seem at times that there's a disconnect between the vice president and president biden. take a listen at how both responded to questions about reforming the filibuster. >> the only thing standing between getting voting rights legislation passed and not getting passed in the filibuster, i support making an exception of voting rights for the filibuster. >> how do you overcome that reality of not having the votes and not having a clear path forward. >> we will do and look at whatever is necessary to push for congress to take this issue on. and we have to. we have to. >> carve out to the filibuster? >> i'm not saying that. >> so right there, does this kind of inconsistent hurt vice president harris with the public? hurt her relationship with the president at all? >> well, i mean, the white house has been very supportive of vice president harris. she has regular meetings with president biden. i don't think if you dug deep into that relationship that you would have president biden saying he doesn't think that she's on his side. is there some daylight between them on a few positions? possibly. you know, they came during the campaign in 2020, they obviously had some different positions before she came on to the ticket. but the main answer to your question is president biden is in charge. so if there is any big line, he wins and they'll be following his policies going forward on whether the voting rights bill or anything else. >> okay. so back to the issue that i was thinking about. there was that "new york times" article three days ago that suggested that the vice president thinks -- and just summarizing here, that she is being more scrutinized for who she is, not for what she's doing. isn't that kind of a fair assessment on her part because tell me what vice president pence did? no one heard him being criticized and you were reporting then, jeff. >> i was, yeah. you know, i think the first part of my answer to that is, it's a tricky job being vice president. you are always the number two, the person that gets the most attention and the person who, rightly, gets to make the decisions i was referring to is the number one and that's the president. the vice president now in this case with kamala harris is facing additional scrutiny because she is the first woman and a person of color. if "the new york times" reporting is that's something on her radar, that doesn't seem like a stretch to me. of course that's on her radar. that's on the radar of democrats, of people who are supporters of vice president harris who feel that she has been unfairly criticized during this first year. all of that said, both president biden and vice president harris have a record. some of the things that have happened this year with vice president harris in terms of what she has said has gotten scrutiny and scrutiny and criticism because the answers haven't gone well. and so no doubt there's a little bit of both. the fact it's something that she feels, doesn't surprise me at all. >> okay. jeff mason, i love your christmas tree behind you. it's beautiful. stockings, all of it. if covid is passed by next december, i may crash that party there. >> you would be most welcome. >> wouldn't that be fun? might do that, jeff. thank you. let's go to an msnbc exclusive. a first look inside the administration's new investments to help families struggling with alzheimer's and dementia. my colleague msnbc's richard lui sat down with hhs secretary javier becerra on this very issue. it's very personal to both of them. hi, richard. >> good afternoon to you. out tomorrow, the government's plan to battle alzheimer's. it's a big one. 115 pages. and in our exclusive we got a sneak peek of the biden administration's first update to this plan. the secretary is sitting down with us to discuss new details while also revealing why alzheimer's and caregiving is so personal to him. javier becerra runs the agency overseeing the fda, cdc, nih and more. this holiday season an important reminder for families take center stage. >> probably the best way to discuss this issue dementia, alzheimer's today is to talk about the family members who are right now alone. because of covid. >> reporter: alzheimer's costs america more than $355 billion annually. 70% of that cost is paid for by families. >> everyone should be able to care for their loved one. if they're willing to. my mother-in-law who suffered from dementia for many years never was a day without a family member at her side. my father who passed on new year's day 2020, and we, the family, became his caregivers, his hospice caregivers for much of his life mean lived with me his last four years of life. >> reporter: becerra moved his parents next door to help. he became one of 53 million americans taking care of a loved one live with the disability. >> when he started to decline, we would sleep in his bedroom with him. those are tough days. you don't get a lot of sleep. you do things for your aged parent that your parent did for you when you were an infants. >> i go through that battle. i'm fight with my siblings about how to pay to keep my father under the care he needs my mom at home. how does the plan address that? >> well, the plan, which is updated every year. >> reporter: the government plan on alzheimer's and dementia tracks five goals. and this year, a sixth new goal was added. funding new research on what behaviors might cause alzheimer's or dementia. >> can i make sure that the diet that my parents have is healthier so that they are eating less risky foods? >> absolutely. can that help us when it comes to something like dementia? well, that could help reduce the risk. >> and that risk is higher for certain groups. in black and latino communities, the rate of alzheimer's can be twice of others. >> you and i grew up in poverty. essentially. when you think about health equity and this plan, bring those two together for me briefly. >> in racial and ethnic minority communities, dementia hits hard and more often in some cases. >> most ambitious of the plan to prevent and treat alzheimer's disease within three years. what is inspiring one thing that your father said to you in your years growing up? >> if you can get up and go to work, it's a good day. there was a man who really impacted my life who makes it possible for me to jump high to get up in the morning and have a good day. and so i am -- i won't forget my dad. >> alex, one side note. each new year marks the anniversary of becerra's father's passing. he takes solace that he can care for his mother and be there for her as they share the occasional bittersweetness during the holidays. the new updated plan which addresses mental health of those live with alzheimer's, that plan officially releases tomorrow. >> a poignant story you're sharing. thank you, richard. it's a new twist in trump's effort to stop the january 6th committee from getting his white house records, but now he's referring to himself on the court petition and the way he's doing it is raise something legal questions. my name is austin james. as a musician living with diabetes, fingersticks can be a real challenge. that's why i use the freestyle libre 2 system. with a painless, one-second scan i know my glucose numbers without fingersticks. now i'm managing my diabetes better and i've lowered my a1c from 8.2 to 6.7. take the mystery out of managing your diabetes and lower your a1c. now you know. try it for free at freestylelibre.us if you're washing with the bargain brand, now you know. 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. the former president taking his case to the supreme court. donald trump seeking to block the january 6th committee from getting its hands on his presidential records. and take a look at the exact language at the top of his petition to the court filing, quote, in his capacity as the 45th president of the united states. pretty hefty wording there, but does it hold weight? let's ask. msnbc legal contributor melace murray, a former law clerk to then-judge sotomayor and good friend to us. good to see you. look, donald trump has been out of office for almost a year. is he allowed to do anything in his capacity as a former president? does more time away from his office dilute the argument for using executive privilege? >> well, that's the question that he has put before the high court, alex. he has styled himself as donald trump in his capacity as the 45th president to underscore that this question of whether or not the select committee can seek his presidential papers is a question not just about the scope of executive privilege for sitting presidents but whether that privilege runs to include the actions of those who have left office. and that is a question the court has never taken up at this point. >> do you have any sense of how the court would lean on this? >> well, this case has already gone through the district court, and the d.c. court of appeals. and so the emergency appeal has now been given to chief justice john roberts who is the circuit justice for the district of columbia circuit. and it's likely that he will refer this to the entire court. it may be the case that this is something that the court has an appetite to take up. they don't have to take up everything, but this may be something that piques their interest in part because the question of the scope of executive privilege is a novel one, whether it runs to a former president, even in circumstances where the current president disagrees about whether the privilege should run to this person. and then, of course, the whole question implicates an earlier decision of the court, trump versus mazars decided in june 2020. that case concerned the scope of congress' authority to seek documents from a sitting president. and so the question here that the president -- former president trump has raised is that the current select committee has actually abused the latitude the court prescribed to it in that case by going further than that case would have allowed. >> wow. it's just absolutely fascinating to contemplate all of this. there's also some new reporting in the hill which suggests that president biden could find himself under pressure to expand the supreme court. more so, if the court rolls back abortion rights when it decides to mississippi's abortion ban. constitutionally speaking, how does this work? given the country's separation of powers, i assume the executive branch cannot go it alone here in any way. >> that's exactly right, alex. the constitution specifically commits in article 3 that the power to create a high court is vested in the congress. and again, that question means that in order for president biden to do anything regarding court expansion he'd have to have both chambers of congress on his side and that, of course, means that the whole question of filibuster reform would come up again because the democrats cannot get this through the congress as constituted unless it can count on getting rid of the filibuster and, of course, assuring that all 50 democrats in the senate will vote for this. >> okay. here's the irony. this is interesting. it's a constitutional question. and that is, can it then be challenged in front of the supreme court? in other words, you're looking at potentially having the supreme court look at itself in analysis and what it's able to do, right? >> so alex, this is a constitutional law professor's dream come true on the day after christmas morning. i think it's very unlikely that the court would be able to weigh in. this question is specifically committed to congress in article 3. the power of congress includes the power to not only create a supreme court but also determine the number of justices. so it could be the case that if this were challenged, if court expansion happened and it were challenged, the court would have to defer, this is a nondecisionable question that's already been committed for resolution by one of the other coordinate branches. >> this is way beyond law school 101. we'll continue having it. melissa murray, thank you. so what was it like in a private i.c.e. detention center in the first weeks of the pandemic? a new film is giving us a shocking new look. i'm going to talk to the director next. going to talk to e director next. when you switch to t-mobile and bring your own device, we'll pay off your phone up to $1000. you can keep your phone. keep your number. and get your employees connected on the largest and fastest 5g network. plus, we give you $200 in facebook ads on us! so you can reach more customers, create more opportunities, and finish this year strong. visit your local t-mobile store today. 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. ♪♪ ever notice how stiff clothes can feel rough on your skin? it's because they rub against you creating friction. and your clothes rub against you all day. for softer clothes that are gentle on your skin, try downy free & gentle. just pour into the rinse dispenser and downy will soften your clothes without dyes or perfumes. the towel washed with downy is softer, fluffier, and gentler on your skin. try downy free & gentle. recognized by the national psoriasis foundation and national eczema association. the best things america makes are the things america makes out here. the history she writes in her clear blue skies. the legends she births on hometown fields. and the future she promises. when we made grand wagoneer, proudly assembled in america, we knew no object would ever rank with the best things in this country. but we believed we could make something worthy of their spirit. a new film documents the experiences of immigrants held in a private ice detention center in georgia. during the first weeks of the pandemic. >> how's everybody doing? how you thinking about what's happening out here? this coronavirus thing. >> everybody is here under a lot of stress. we see what's happening outside. and how fast it's moving. once it gets in here we're all at risk. >> the facility airs in a few minutes. at 2:00 p.m. eastern. part of the holiday marathon. the director of the film is joining me now. congratulations. you have accolades coming at you. the film the facility exposes from the inside the experiences and treatments of immigrants in this ice facility. first of all, how you began this investigation exfloodplain to us and how you were able to get this footage? >> at the beginning of the pandemic, i began trying to report on what was happening inside of ice detention centers around the country. as the pandemic was spreading. these are places where people can't social distance and i was finding that people in detention centers weren't provided any personal protective equipment. i began reporting a series of stories. by sort of poring into the facilities using video apps installed. you pay 25 cents a minute to contact people. and those tablets on the other side the cameras attached to tablets inside of the cell blocks, they became for me the sort of portal into this ice dengs center. for the early months of the pandemic. i would spend hours a day on the other side of the screen talking to people. and really being in a way almost present as life happened inside. and as people tried to figure out ways to protect themselves from the spreading virus. >> these immigrants they took major risk to speak with you. why did they tell you they wanted to get their story out? >> i have been reporting about ice immigration enforcement and ice detention for more than a decade. at this point. and i have never seen a level of fear that was so overwhelming. so extreme. and at this moment. people inside had no information about what was happening on the outside. wanted to know what was happening on the outside. and wanted to make sure they didn't simply disappear. the overwhelming fear that many people had was that they would be ignored. the rest of the world was figuring out to survive in this pandemic. the fear was, nobody will pay attention to us. so talking to me as a reporter on the outside, that was really what people were hoping for. they could maintain some contact. get their voices out. >> i know that some of them faced retribution. like what? what happened when they were caught talking to you? >> a number of women who were detained in georgia actually with the help of a relative of one of theirs released a video online. using this app. this video visitation app. and for releasing that video, which went out on you tube and spread through news channels, that group of women were placed into solitary confinement. for two weeks. they were placed in isolation cells as punishment. it was dramatic. and a decision made by the private company that was holding them. to send them into isolation. >> look, seth, congratulations. i understand that the facility is has been short listed for the 2020 oscars. so congratulations on that. everybody stay where you are. it's on right after this. that's a wrap for me everyone. on this abbreviated edition. i'll see you next weekend. happy new year. ♪♪ ♪♪ experience the power of sanctuary at the lincoln wish list event. superpowers from a spider bite? 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