christmas eve and that's with testing shortages. and none of the data includes results from those at-home covid tests. the nation overall is averaging 200,000 new cases each day right now. also concerns are growing around the risks for children. there's still a lot we don't know about the severity of omicron and people without immunity like kids who haven't been vaccinated. what we do know is the number of child hospitalizations for covid have quadrupled in new york city in recent weeks. nbc's mike memoli is traveling with the president in delaware. also with us is an epidemiologist from fielding school of public health. mike, we'll start with you in delaware. what did president biden say about what he's doing to shore up testing supplies and hospital resources? >> reporter: the president touched down here in delaware in the last hour. he's expected to remain here for the holiday week. his last order of business in the white house for 2021 was the same order of business that has dominated his first year in office, which is trying to deal with the covid-19 pandemic. he participated in a virtual meeting with about half of the nation's governors, the white house saying it wanted to hear firsthand from those state leaders on the front lines dealing with this latest surge, to hear what specifically they need from the federal government. we heard from the governor of arkansas, republican asa hutchinson, thanks the president, saying cooperation has been good from the federal government for the most part, especially when he was requesting, for instance, additional monoclonal antibodies in his state. but so much of what this white house is confronting right now is the overwhelming demand for testing. what the president's message was, in part, that we're a long way from where we were at the beginning of the year. let's take a listen to what the president said earlier. >> we went from no over the counter tests in january t 46 million in october, almost 200 million in december. it's not enough, it's clearly not enough. if we had known, we would have gone harder, quicker, if we could have. we are going to continue to use the defense production act to produce as many tests as possible. starting in two weeks, private insurance wreimburse you for the cost of at-home tests. >> reporter: the bottom line for the president as we've heard from him throughout the month is we're in a much stronger position to deal with the omicron variant than we were at the start of the year when we were just getting vaccines online. of course the president is encouraging americans who haven't been vaccinated to do so, who haven't been boosted to do so as well, noting that most of the hospitalizations we're seeing are among the unvaccinated. getting those half a billion tests out that they said they would make available to american citizens, we haven't even seen the website yet for americans to go to request them. there are questions about dealing with things like the quarantine time after exposure, perhaps shortening that as we see so many people out of the workforce. also the white house suggesting that the president is open to potential advice from his medical team about requiring vaccinations to get on airplanes. as we head into 2022, obviously the pandemic will be something this white house is addressing and the president is making it clear on his last day at least of this holiday weekend that he's going to try to do everything possible. >> those are some of the proposed solutions. let's go over to gary for why we need this. you've been at a testing site all day, i've been watching as cars have been pulling up behind you. new jersey hit an all time record for positive cases all over the weekend. here we are two days after christmas and those testing lines are pretty long. >> reporter: they are really long here. take a look at this. all the way back to the end of this parking lot in deptford, new jersey. and then around the corner. we've seen hundreds of cars in and out of this parking lot throughout the day. we're going to see hundreds more before this site closes this evening. and what we're really seeing here is a lot of frustration from people. people are getting tested for a variety of reasons. they're getting tested, one, as a precaution, they feel better being tested. two, they may be traveling and they need that negative pcr test in order to travel. i talked to a family who said they all got positive tests on their rapid tests earlier last week. they couldn't find a pcr test to take until today at this location. so a lot of frustration from folks about why this wasn't ready sooner and why this wasn't put at a level where everybody could get a test if they wanted to. >> it's really scary, because a lot of places are requiring them but you can't get them. so it's actually kind of sad. >> i was looking for the home test and i couldn't find it anywhere. >> i've come here a couple of times and every time i come here, it's a long line. not that they're not doing good, but there are so many people coming for tests that they need more testing sites. >> reporter: governor murphy said they'll be opening up more pcr testing locations across the state. and he also participated in the white house covid response briefing earlier today with the president. he did so from costa rica where he's on vacation with his family, lindsey. >> those are things we're hearing too, we need a test for so many things and it's hard to get one. doctor, dr. fauci spoke this morning about what needs to happen after people test positive. let's listen. >> there are so many people that are getting infected, including breakthrough infections, that we're looking at the possibility of diminishing the time when you have isolation, but particularly when you're talking about quarantining people who have been exposed. if they have an essential job, we want to get them back on that job before the ten-day period. and that's what's just being discussed very seriously now by the cdc. >> so he's talking about just essential workers there. we know that isolation quarantine rule for health care workers was reduced from ten to seven days, as long as people are vaccinated, test negative and are asymptomatic. but doctor, is there any reason to think that this should be a little broader, as we see airline industries getting hit, and of course health care? >> i think we're going to have to be very practical here and not let great be the enemy of good. we are facing, with the tsunami of cases, a complete breakdown in several sectors. it's not just the health care sector. it will be ems, firefighters, grocery workers, airlines. so we're going to have to really move forward as quickly as we can and be able to do things like reduce the number of days of isolation. but if we're going to reduce the number of days of isolation, we know that some people may still be infectious. so we'll have to double down on things like high quality masks, kn95s, n95s. we should not see a health care worker in a health care setting wearing anything but the highest quality of masks to prevent transmission and spread to other health workers. so very, very important that we get really practical and we use all the tools in our toolbox. >> a breakdown in so many sectors. when you put it like that, it's so start. dr. rimoin, you've heard the stick about rising covid hospitalizations among kids in new york city. should parents be doing anything differently, going above and beyond what they've been doing in past surges? >> again, i think it's time to get very practical here. if your child is not yet vaccinated or not yet fully vaccinated, then you need to surround them with people who are vaccinated. get boosted if you have not yet been boosted. have them wear high quality masks outside. i know that's hard for the really little ones. anything we can do to improve our risk profiles, the better off we are. just keep pulling down that risk. i would avoid crowded places. i would avoid going indoors to places that you don't have to go to. i recognize this is all not possible for everyone all the time. so the right thing to do is, everything that you can reasonably to reduce your risk, because that is going to pay off. >> but doctor, we're not seeing adult hospitalizations rising as fast. we know it's a lagging indicator. we also know the health care system is being hit hard with sick calls too. what's your biggest concern there as we head into the next few weeks? you can have as many icu beds as you want in a department, but if you don't have enough employees, that doesn't matter, right? >> absolutely. i think it isn't just about the cases at this point. it's about what's going to happen to our hospitals. i think we have this history of saying, oh, it's not that bad right now, so it's not going to get bad. we have to be ready to prepare for this. and we need to be protecting our hospital system because it's not just about the number of people that end up in an icu with covid. if you have hospital systems overwhelmed, you have health care workers out because of covid, it means that if you have a heart attack, if you have an accident, if you have an appendicitis, you need urgent care, you won't be able to get it because hospitals are overwhelmed. our hospitals are a precious resource that we need to protect. that means we have to reduce the number of cases as quickly and as best we can, by having people boosted, wearing masks, and getting tested. >> a lot of people are seeing long lines, they're seeing it's very hard to get rapid tests. they may be feeling symptomatic, but it's very hard for them to come by a test. they may think, i won't test as long as i feel better, i'll go ahead into work and not do the ten-day quarantine. what's your advice to people who are symptomatic and can't get on a test? >> if you're symptomatic, it's best to assume that you have covid at this point, unless you have a test to tell you otherwise. and, you know, i think that it's really important that people observe the quarantine and -- well, excuse me, the isolation, as best as they possibly can. i think it's very important that everyone do what they can to reduce the spread of this virus, because even though we're seeing that it is milder in healthy individuals, in individuals who are vaccinated, the unvaccinated are definitely very much at risk. and so are older people, people who are immunocompromised, people who might not have the immune system to fight this off with the boosters. it's time to be as cautious as you possibly can, not only for you but for everyone else around you, for hospital systems and our health care system in general. >> dr. rimoin, thanks so much. our thanks also to mike and gary, i appreciate all of you. ahead, americans return to movie theaters once shuttered by coronavirus. and an nbc exclusive. health and human services secretary xavier becerra on his own family's struggle with alzheimer's. and the vital role his department will play in fighting the disease. but first, donald trump's phone records come into focus as the january 6th committee says it wants to know more about a call he placed just hours before the insurrection. napoleon was born and raised to conquer. but he was just kind of over it, you know. watching prime video he realized he should follow his dreams. so he ordered a microphone with prime next day delivery. now the only thing he cared about conquering was his audience. prime changes everything. [microwave beeps] [ahh] ♪ ♪ ♪ i'm so defensive, i got bongos thumping in my chest ♪ ♪ and something tells me they don't beat for me ♪ ♪ i love romance, but i got eggshells around me ♪ ♪ don't step on 'em, don't step on 'em ♪ ♪ don't step on 'em, don't step on me ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ he'd better not take the ring from me ♪ if you wanna look fresh, fresh. you gotta eat fresh. eat fresh. that's why subway bought time in my shampoo ad. to talk about the new baja chicken & bacon. body, bounce, and baja. bounce. eat fresh. turning now to the latest developments out of the house committee investigating the january 6th insurrection. former president trump's spokesperson, taylor budewicz, is suing the select committee to block access to his records. budowich says the group lacks of local authority to seek those records. i'm joined by nbc news capitol hill correspondent ali vitali and political congressional reporter nicholas wu. hello to both of you and thanks for joining us. ali, budowich has played ball with the committee, he's turned over thousands of documents and sat for hours of deposition. why are these financial records a red line for him? >> we've seen this happen with people who have been cooperating with the committee before. they've drawn these red lines after the fact. we saw it with mark meadows and we're seeing it with budoc c budowich on christmas eve. what the committee is trying to get into here is how these rallies on the ellipse and at the capitol on january 6th were financed and paid for. what budowich is saying is, i was with them investigating but now they're investigating too much. that's effectively the red line that he's drawing here. but what's illuminating for those of us watching the work of the january 6th committee, so much of it is happening behind closed doors but what this makes clear is they're going down the financial road, trying to follow the money trail here as they dig into all these different parts of january 6th. >> nicholas, the supreme court hasn't yet decided whether they'll take up former president trump's appeal to block the release of records from the national archives. so how confident is the committee that they will get their hands on these documents when all is said and done? >> the committee is very confident they'll get their hands on this. from the beginning, they've said that they do not recognize the former president's claims of executive privilege over all these documents because he's not president anymore. and for that matter, the current president, joe biden, has said he doesn't want to assert privilege over many of these documents. so we're going to start seeing this play out in the next few weeks as the final phase of this legal battle starts to play out. >> ali, there are reports emerging in "the guardian" that the committee is interested in calls the president made around january 6th, particularly one trump reportedly made to his team at the willard hotel in dc. what do we know about that and what else the committee is really honing in on? >> yeah, that's not confirmed by nbc news. but what it does show you is that the committee itself is looking into what the former president himself was doing in those critical hours on january 6th while the capitol was under siege and while no help was being sent to try to help that situation. chairman bennie thompson has also said as much recently, saying that they are trying to really look at those critical hours there. what is important, though, as they're trying to get that information, is what you guys were just talking about with the national archives lawsuit. they need that information as soon as possible. we know they're up against the clock of the 2022 midterms. but when things get into the court system, they get really mired and slowed down. that's what's happening with these national archives suits. the trump legal team trying to put this all the way to the supreme court, having them answer questions of executive privilege. what that really does mean, though, is that it just takes all that more time for the committee to get that information. if they were to get that information from the national archives, that could speak to phone calls that the president at the time was making, potentially even to the willard hotel as they're reporting in "the guardian." all that have would be included if they were able to get that information from the national archives. right now we know that lower courts have ruled in the committee's favor in the past. but this just keeps getting ratcheted up and it's kind of landing where we all thought it was going to, with the supreme court figuring out where the former president's claim to executive privilege actually lies. >> and the committee obviously wants them to expedite their decision. we're not supposed to hear from them potentially until february and we wouldn't know a ruling until the summer. nicholas, one of the alleged participants of that willard hotel call that "the guardian" is reporting is president trump's lawyer rudy giuliani. he's undeniably a central figure in a lot of these efforts following the 2020 election. he's currently not a subpoena target for the committee. why is that? and do you expect that will change? >> the committee has said over and over that pretty much anyone is on the table as far as who they want to talk to. and just because they haven't subpoenaed guiliani yet doesn't mean they won't in the future. we've seen other folks that were in these willard hotel war room situations subpoenaed by the committee. we've seen them go after other people in the former president's orbit that were involved in these efforts to overturn the election. it's very likely that at some point the spotlight will turn to giuliani himself if he hasn't already come forward to talk with them voluntary. >> nicholas wu, ali vitali, thank you both. still to come, more than 6 million americans live with alzheimer's. and msnbc's richard lui spoke exclusively with hhs secretary xavier becerra about his new national plan to combat the disease. and we are on verdict watch. the latest out of new york where a jury has resumed deliberations in the trial of ghislaine maxwell. nal bull-rider i'm used to taking chances. but when it comes to 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? 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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. after a long holiday weekend, jurors are back deliberating the fate of ghislaine maxwell. the former associate of jeffrey epstein is accused of recruiting four girls in the '90s to be abused by the sex offender, who died by suicide while awaiting his trial last year. maxwell has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking of a minor, enticing a minor to travel to engage in sex acts, transporting a minor with the intent to engage in sexual activity, and three related counts of conspiracy. if convicted, she could face up to 70 years in prison. kathy park is live in new york city and with me is civil rights attorney kristen gibbons-fedden. kathy, what more can you tell us? >> we're on verdict watch, but earlier this morning we had a couple of updates from the jury. first off, they wanted office supplies, post-it notes, a what it a whiteboard, and they requested testimony from one of the accusers and from a former palm beach police officer who executed a search warrant at epstein's florida home in 2005. a couple of developments there. and if you can glean anything from that, they are being very thorough with all of this evidence that they now have to comb through. but keep in mind, as you mentioned, there was a holiday break, several days that they were off. and before they took this break, they also requested additional testimony from two accusers and the testimony from a government witness, one who is a former epstein house manager. and keep in mind, this is happening in the backdrop of covid rising here in new york city. and the judge over the holiday break told the jurors to stay safe and clearly not get covid. and at this point, it doesn't seem like covid is derailing the deliberations. and they are moving forward. but right now it seems like they are being very thorough with the mountain of evidence that they are combing through right now. but as you mentioned, lindsey, ghislaine maxwell turned 60 on christmas day, and if she is found guilty on all those six counts, she could potentially spend her entire life behind bars, lindsey. >> kristen, let's talk about some of those questions the jury has asked. we're talking about different colored post-it notes, a white paper board, testimony transcripts. what do these questions signal to you? >> they signal that the jury is being conscientious, and they are looking through each and every count. and they're trying to put together what was a very long and complex trial and trying to piece it with the evidence, to see whether or not the prosecution has made out their charge. i think one other thing that was important to me, a significant question, is when the jury asked about the definition of "enticement." that to me signaled a couple of things, specifically that they are looking into whether or not maxwell in fact groomed these young women, specifically jane, because the enticement goes to several charges. it really affects the victim named jane. and i think that's important. now, interestingly, the judge did not give the definition to enticement, and that is completely normal. the judge told the jury to rely what's in the jury instructions, and the jury instructions just basically says rely on your ordinary definitions. and that is completely normal. but again, what it seems to suggest is that they have accepted jane's testimony as credible and they want to see whether or not maxwell, who, again, was the groomer and not the direct actor per se, because epstein is, whether or not the prosecution has sustained charges against them. >> kristen, what is the prosecution's burden in this case? and from what we've heard so far in the courtroom, have they met that burden? >> you know, it's difficult to tell. the prosecution's burden in this case is to prove beyond a reasonable doubt each and every charge. did maxwell engage in the grooming, enticement, so list at this time soliciting, recruiting, that course of conduct which then enabled jeffrey epstein to sexually abuse them. the prosecution are not going after them as the direct sexual abuser although some women did testify to engaging in sexual contact with maxwell, but going after her to say she enticed and recruited them. >> i have to be quick, kristen, but maxwell did not testify on her own behalf, telling the judge, quote, your honor, the government has not proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt so i don't have to testify. what do you make of that comment? >> it's something every defendant says when they don't take the stand. they want to change the public narrative, i'm not guilty so i don't need to testify. the prosecution didn't make their case. i wouldn't look into it as anything more than that. >> okay. kristen gibbons-feden, thank you, kathy park, thank you as well. turning to news about the government's national plan to address alzheimer's disease. for families carrying for a loved one, suffering from alzheimer's or dementia, it's a constant struggle and a major part of care, including the majority of the cost. typically it falls on families. in an exclusive with nbc news, health and human services secretary xavier becerra detailed the administration's new plan to combat the disease and shares his own family's story for the first time. joining us right now with more on this exclusive interview is msnbc anchor richard lui whose own father suffers from alzheimer's. richard, i know this is personal to you, but also personal to the secretary. >> yeah, lindsey, a very good day to you. in our exclusive, we got a first look at the biden administration's updated strategy to battle the disease. that was out today. the secretary of health and human services, as you were just mentioning, sitting down with us to discuss not only the details but also how it's very personal to him. >> reporter: xavier becerra runs the agency overseeing the fda, cdc, and nih, and more. and this holiday season, an important reminder for families takes 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 newly. 70% of that cost is paid for by families. >> my mother, who did suffer 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. he 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 living with a disability. >> when he started to decline, we would sleep in his bedroom with him, you know, 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 infant. >> i go through that battle now. i'm fighting with my siblings about how to pay to keep my father under the care he needs and my mom at home. how does the plan address that? >> the plan, which is updated every year. >> reporter: the government plan 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 my parents have is healthier so that they're eating less risky foods? absolutely. can that help us when it comes to something like dementia? well, that could help reduce the risk. >> reporter: 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 in this plan, bring those two together for me briefly. >> in racial and ethnic minority communities, dementia hits hard and more often in some cases. >> reporter: 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 get up and go to work, it's a good day. he was a man who impacted my life, who makes it possible to jump high, to get up in the morning and have a good day. so i am -- i won't forget my dad. >> and lindsey, when we look at the very issue of what the secretary was telling us, it's very personal for him. he was relating to us in our conversation that the new year marks the passing of his father, how grateful he really is that he can now care for his mom at home. that plan comes out today, lindsey, and very important to the national institutes across the country that do look into the issue of alzheimer's. >> richard, one thing i want to ask you, paid family leave, that was a part of build back better, which of course we know is now stalled. how would that help families like yours and others that are currently giving unpaid care to their loved ones? >> the amount of unpaid care is gargantuan. not only the alzheimer's and dementia community, but also writ large. we're talking about half a trillion dollars in value when we talk about family caregivers. and so family leave, as it's built into the new plan, if and when that does happen, is huge for folks like myself who are caring for others, even for folks like secretary becerra, because you get no training here, and you know this, lindsey, and you get zero pay. that's a lot of things happening. every little bit, whether it happens on a governmental level or it happens on a corporate level or a community level, any bit does help, because there's not a lot of stuff out there. >> richard, you're obviously living this, and you're in touch with advocacy groups. how significant is this national plan and what else needs to be done? >> when it comes to this plan, i was talking to the alzheimer's association, in fact, today. they were part of the advisory group that said, hey, this is the stuff you need to do. it's important because when we think of this sixth new goal, it really is about preventing the likelihood of getting alzheimer's. especially when we look at things we don't often associate with it, the comorbidities, the stuff associated with contracting or being diagnosed with alzheimer's. and it's happening earlier. folks in their 50s now are being diagnosed with it, lindsey. those comorbidities we have to look out for that are associated with alzheimer's, things like high blood pressure, arthritis, depression. some of these things, as you can probably tell, lindsey, are associated with what we've been living through in covid during the last two years. we just don't know some of the outcomes that will happen given the difficulty we've all faced recently. >> richard lui, thanks for shining a light on this. still to come, everyone loves a comeback. inside moviegoers' big return to the theaters once shuttered by the pandemic. and a champion for human rights remembered. the life and legacy of archbishop desmond tutu. we gotta take off. you downloaded the td ameritrade mobile app so you can quickly check the markets? 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no problem. yeah. success starts with intuit quickbooks. today we remember archbishop desmond tutu, the anglican leader and activist known as south africa's moral conscience. he died in cape town yesterday at the age of 90. he was one of the most respected figures at the helm of the struggle against apartheid in his country. in 1984, tutu won the nobel peace prize for his courage and commitment to that struggle. nbc news foreign correspondent molly hunter joins me now from london. molly, what a life and legacy. >> reporter: what a life and legacy. and i promise you, the next two minutes are not going to be able to do it justice. he was a towering figure, a cleric, a nobel peace prize winner, a key figure in fighting and bringing down the apartheid regime in south africa. while nelson mandela was in prison, he was the face of the struggle. take a look at his legacy. this morning bells ringing out for ten minutes in cape town, honoring archbishop desmond tutu, as powerful tributes come in from around the world for one of the fiercest opponents of apartheid. >> black and white together! >> reporter: from his daughter, my dad is at rest. president biden called him a true servant of god and of the people, adding his legacy transcends borders and will echo throughout the ages. president obama, who awarded tutu the presidential medal of freedom in 2009, tweeted, he was grounded in a struggle for liberation and justice in his own country but also concerned with injustice everywhere. the queen adding, he was held in such high affection and esteem across the commonwealth. and harry and megan, who brought their son archie to south africa two years ago, writing, he will be remembered for his optimistic, his moral clarity and his joyful spirit. tutu was born into poverty in a small mining town in 1931. by 1975, he was the first black anglican dean in south africa. >> he communicated with black south africans and also he got under the skin of white south africans. >> reporter: resistance to south africa's apartheid regime was met with brutal violence. hundreds of activists including nelson mandela spent decades in prison. >> the system in this country is evil. >> reporter: in 1984 he won the nobody the peace prize. in 1986, he became south africa's first black bishop. finally, the early 1990s saw the end of apartheid. >> nothing will ever take away the glow of that first experience of walking tall. >> reporter: tutu was diagnosed with prostate cancer in the late 1990s and at 80 years old, retired from public life to spend more time with his family. he died over the weekend in cape town, south africa. he was 90 years old. lindsey, one of the other things in every obituary, and almost every tribute from global leaders, they mentioned his smile. this was a man who could make you laugh even in some of the harshest circumstances and really had a keen sensitive mischief, i loved reading about that from people who knew him and impacted with him. >> and he wrote "the book of joy" with the dalai lama, a great read for anybody. what's the plan for funeral services, memorial service? >> reporter: right, so in south africa there's basically a whole week scheduled leading up to saturday. so on wednesday there will be a memorial service. on thursday, what they're calling an intimate night with friends of the tutus. then on friday, lindsey, his body will lie in state for two days before the funeral service on saturday. and they are expecting, unsurprisingly, absolutely huge crowds. lindsey? >> molly hunter, thank you. up next, a box office comeback. americans break records this holiday weekend at the movies. my name is douglas. i'm a writer/director and i'm still working. in the kind of work that i do, you are surrounded by people who are all younger than you. i had to get help somewhere along the line to stay competitive. i discovered prevagen. i started taking it and after a period of time, my memory improved. it was a game-changer for me. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. trelegy for copd. 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the new "spiderman: no way home" is making a billion dollars worldwide. of course, we all know theaters were hit hard by the covid outbreak, and they're surely welcoming this bounce-back. for more on the movies is nbc correspondent joe ffryer. >> reporter: even with the omicron variant, theaters are thriving, and they are hoping for a big return. this morning signs the big screen is mounting, a blockbuster comeback. >> i love coming back to the theater. >> i'm keeping my mask on the whole time, but i'm not really concerned. >> reporter: holiday weekend enjoyed a powerhouse showing of "spider-man: way back home." >> i wanted to see it but i have to see it again. >> reporter: the parent company universal has brought in 40 million since its debut last week, making 2.5 million. theaters thought they would have many people by next month. with sequels to hit franchises like "dr. strange," "thor," "black panther" and its slated release. also coming back is batman. the return of tom cruise in "maverick." streaming is increasing movie watching at home. next year will have "h"hocos-pos 2." hbo streaming giant will no longer have its singular release plan, a move that will bring more people back to the theater. >> in 2022 we'll see fewer movies released in theaters and being streamed. >> i think we'll head back to the old way. it makes movies more coveted. >> people are sometimes forced to see virtual showings or rent out entire auditoriums. the largest movie chain posted $36 billion in 2020. now the company is looking for new ways to retain customers. payment options like bitcoin and even selling popcorn outside the theater as the industry looks to rebound in the year ahead. >> the movie theater experience has withstood every challenge that's come its way. it's a resilient business. people love going out to the movies. >> they're starting to come through and i can't stop them. >> according to one projection, global box office numbers for next year could increase 60% from 2021, but we still might have to wait until 2023 to return to pre-pandemic numbers. lindsay? >> joe fryer, thank you. a reminder, you can hear the latest news and updates from all of your favorite msnbc hosts any time, anywhere on any device with tune in. just go to tunein.com/msnbc/2021 to listen now. on the other side of this break, learn how covid resurge is hampering travel. and the verdict for ghislaine maxwell is hanging in the balance. ng in the balance. ow! i'm ok! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ only in theaters december 17th. we've been talking about climate change as a future problem instead of a present one. >> the reality is the humanitarian crisis is going to spill over. >> marches and protests can spark change, but so can money. racism is not good for business and that's been proven time and time again. good afternoon. i'm lindsay reiser. right now on "msnbc reports," covid surges. they are creating major holiday backlogs from covid testing results and flights already impacted by bad weather. as of this afternoon, more than 5,000 flights have been delayed or canceled just today. that follows the major weekend disruptions of tens of thousands of flights canceled all over the world, and it comes as 200,000 covid cases are being reported. for those unvaccinated earlier today, the government provides medical support to some areas. >> with the rise in cases, we still have thousands of unvaccinated people and we're seeing hospitalizations rise. these hospitals in some places are going to get overrun. >> reporter: nbc's ron allen is at la guardia's international airport, and a study on a fourth vaccine dose in tel aviv has started, and also with us is epidemiologist celine gander. doctor, we'll start with you. what are you learning about these flight disruptions and when things can improve? >> the numbers have been ticking up all day. it's a relatively quiet day here, i'm happy to say, for anyone who wants to travel. of course, all this information is going to depend on where you are and when you're trying to travel, and the best advice is to always check with the airlines to see what's happening with your flight. delta released a statement not long ago saying that they have canceled 374 out of 4100 scheduled flights. that's about 100 fewer than they canceled on sunday. and united airlines issued a statement with similar numbers as well. delta also saying that they're particularly having problems in their hubs because of weather in minneapolis, salt lake city and seattle. and