you quoted the far side, the far side said she keeps on passing me by. i'm not passing you by but i better get to the "reidout." thank you so much, everybody. for joining us. good evening, i'm tiffany cross in for joy reid and we begin with that breaking news in the war against covid. the cdc releasing late today hot off the press this guideline shortening the recommended isolation and quarantine period for asymptomatic people with covid-19 saying they should isolate for five days. this is down from the previous recommendation of ten days. the agency attributed the change to growing evidence that the virus is most infectious in two or three days after symptoms arise. now, the cdc said for people who are asymptomatic after five days of isolation an additional five days of wearing a mask when around others is recommended. all right. there is a lot to unpack just on that front alone and we're going to get into that in a minute but the new guidelines shortening isolation are coming as covid returns to crisis levels in the united states. up ending holiday travel for millions of americans, the national seven-day average climbed to almost 200,000 cases. now, this is the highest average since almost a year ago. which is why we are again facing a crisis in testing. look at those long lines on your screen. this is a haunting visual of what evaded us. that's the access to accurate reliable and high quality tests. today president joe biden directly address that shortage and what may change in the month ahead. >> but it not enough. it's clearly not enough if we'd known we would have gone harder, quicker if we could have. we'll continue to use the defense production act to produce as many tests as possible. >> and unfortunately, the lack of testing is one layer of a complicated problem. let's peel back the layers and questions over whether tests can detect omicron. here is what we know now. hospitals are at maximum capacity again and that includes pediatric icus. so headlines that are opposed to twitter diagnosis that omicron is mild is clearly wrong. question. how can something be mild if it can damage your organs for life? it's a lot of changing information coming at us at once and a lot of heated debate over what it means. after two years people are sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. we're all desperate for some semblance of normalcy during the holidays as we march into the third year of a pandemic that simply refuses to quit partially because we won't let it quit. what we're left with is a lot of questions and confusion over how dangerous omicron is and what can be done about it at this point. joining me is the nation's top infectious disease expert and chief medical officer to president biden, dr. anthony fauci. dr. fauci, i'm so grateful to you for joining us. folks have a lot of questions about the updated cdc guidelines and i want to get into it. the updated guidance says you only have to quarantine after five days. the confusing thing is this applies to the vaccinated and unvaccinated and this gidance is based on research that came out prior to the omicron variant. can you talk us through what led to this change? >> yes, first of all, you're right. it's anyone who is infected whether you're an unvaccinated person or whether or not you have a breakthrough infection following your vaccination, and what it means is keeping people out of action, out of work, out of society for ten days, if you're infected you have five days of isolation and you can go back out into society with a mask warn consistently and the reason for that is that the sheer volume and number of cases with omicron which is very much transmissible, we don't want a situation so many people are out from their jobs, many of which are essential jobs to keep things running smoothly so the decision on the part of the cdc is a prudent and good decision and based on science because the chances of virus being shed in the first five days is much greater than in the second five days following infection. so if you keep people isolated for five days, the level of infection in the sense of being transmitted to others, the risk diminishes. wear a mask and you can go back to your job to keep society flowing smoothly. >> this is where i'm confused. let's say today i feel a little crappy. i get tested tomorrow. and it comes back positive. i mean, am i on the tail end of being able to pass the virus? do asymptomatic people not transmit the virus to others? >> no, it's from the time you test positive. so if you test positive today, you have five days of isolation and then after that five days, if you are asymptomatic, you can again go out and go into society with a mask on. >> but i just want to be clear, are you saying asymptomatic people do not transmit the virus? >> no. no, no, no, you're in isolation and you're asymptomatic, it is possible that you could transmit the virus. that's why you're in isolation. the chances of transmitting it after five days is less in the second five days. therefore you can go out but you must wear a mask and the reason for wearing a mask is that it is possible that if you didn't wear a mask, you could transmit it. that's the reason for wearing a mask. >> i think it makes some people nervous to be around people who could be carriers, even in a mask especially given the chance -- transmissibility of omicron. many are depending on the antigen tests. you can get a lot of false positives or false negatives from those. what is your advice when it comes to testing? >> well, if you are exposed and feel that you really want to make sure that you are tested in the sense of knowing definitively whether you're infected, a pcr is the most sensitive and accurate test. if you want to screen and have a test that you do more than once, you do it occasionally and frequently, if you want to find out i feel good, there is no reason to believe that i'm infected but i want to make doubly sure then an antigen test is appropriate and works because even though it is not as sensitive as a pcr test, it gives you valuable information because if you're negative with your apt antigen test, the likef transmitting it because the virus is so low in your nasal cavity you're not likely to transmit it. there is a praise for screening saying i want to have dinner with family. i'm vaccinated. i'm boosted. i want to make doubly sure that i'm safe. that's when you get an antigen test. >> i hope americans are listening because i think the antigen tests are giving people a false sense of security. you're saying the pcr test is the most impactful and effective and accurate, correct? >> it is correct, but there is a place, a good place, a reasonable place and appropriate place for the antigen testing and i just described what that was. >> right. okay. so i have a lot of people who in my life who have recently been infected who tested positive for covid-19. how do they know if they have the delta variant, the omicron because all they know they tested positive. they aren't hospitalized. they're quarantining. is there something to determine such a thing? >> well, that's only for the stand point of knowing what the relative percentage of a particular variant is. for an individual in many respects it makes no difference. if they're infected, it's not really important for them. they wouldn't be doing anything different whether it was delta or omicron. if you have covid-19 you have covid-19. and that's it. understanding what is spreading throughout the community is much more of a surveillance approach to what it means to an individual patient. if i got infected with delta or omicron as far as i'm concerned, i'm infected. that's it. it doesn't really matter which one it is. >> right. and so i take your point to that. it becoming so prevalent. it used to be i know someone who knows someone who got it and then it was in your immediate circle, your family member, sometimes your same household. are we all eventually going to get infected by this virus? the chance. >> if you are not vaccinated, you have a much higher risk of getting infected and a much, much higher risk if you do get infected of getting a serious outcome requiring hospitalization. if you are vaccinated, you are less likely to get infected andless likely to have a serious outcome. if you are vaccinated and boosted, you have even less of a chance of getting a serious outcome if you're infected. so there will be breakthrough inspections among vaccinated people but the important thing is the likelihood of you getting into serious trouble if you're infected as a breakthrough infection from vaccine is much, much less than if you are completely unvaccinated, which is the reason why we continue to stress to people the importance of why it is that they should get vaccinated and if vaccinated, why it's important to get boosted. >> and so even if you're saying if you're vaccinated and boosted, you have less likely chance of getting these serious infections. but there are also things that don't require hospitalization, you know, "the new york times" columnist mara gay documented her long covid. is there evidence to suggestion you may be impacted now and a asymptomatic. who is to say six months from now you might get out of breath climbing stairs. is there research that shows you're absolved from long haul covid now? >> it's muchless likely if you have no symptoms at all you'll get long covid. long covid is seen in people with minimum symptoms, moderate symptoms and severe and it can be seen rarely in people with no symptoms at all but it's seen in a very considerable proportion of people from 10 to 30 or more percent of people who have symptomatic covid-19 disease. and the variability and symptoms associated is anything from severe fatigue, muscle aches, temperature disregulation, sleep disorders and even a difficulty in concentration. long covid is something that we should be taking seriously. >> i want to ask you about, doctor, leanna nguyen said you're free to go out if you're vaccinated and boosted. you don't have to isolate. you should be free to go out. you don't have to cancel holiday plans. with new year's eve coming up, i wonder your thoughts on something like that because the netherlands as you know just recently on lockdown, the first european country to be on lockdown again. europe is a hot spot. they always provided preview on where the united states can be. are we headed for another lockdown? should we be headed for another lockdown? >> you asked multiple questions. let take her article first. what she was saying if you're vaccinated and boosted and you're in a family setting, you do not need to cancel a gathering of family who are vaccinated and boosted and maybe close friends who are vaccinated and boosted. she was saying you don't need to cancel your christmas or your new year's plans in the intimate setting of your home with your family. but what she doesn't recommend is going out into a 30 or 40 or 50-person party where you do not know the vaccine status of the people around you. that was the point that she was making in that article. >> okay. and i want to ask your opinion about mandates. you said you support mandates on domestic flights. how do you feel in again real about mandates -- >> no, uh-uh -- >> sorry, go right ahead. >> i did not say i support mandates on domestic flights. i said that is something that is on the table for consideration. i didn't say i supported or didn't support it. i was asked is this something that is being considered? we consider any option that could keep the american public safe. i don't think people should expect all of a sudden tomorrow or next week we'll be saying that you need to have a requirement for vaccination to get on a domestic flight. when i say something is on the table, we keep an open mind and consider anything and everything that might be appropriatemerica? >> well, how do you feel? i believe i read you quoting vaccine mandates encourage more people to get vaccinated. do you support vaccine mandates on domestic flights? >> no, i said that's under consideration by the group and if the circumstance arises, we monitor that on a daily and a weekly basis. right now that is open for discussion. and right now no decision has been made and i don't think people should expect they'll hear there is a requirement for domestic flights because there is not. >> okay. we've run out of time but i had 1,000 questions for you, dr. fauci. so many people texted me and tweeted me with questions for you. thank you for giving us all your time. i'm so saddened people have been so harassing to you because you've done so much for this country so i appreciate your insight. thank you so much. so coming up next on "the reidout" prominent voices have a dire reading for america. whoopi goldberg said it best, america, you in danger girl. can it be saved? fighting for democracy and justice from the late desmond tutu. the right wing lies and misinformation about critical race theory is the republican playbook for midterms next year and solving the mysteries of the universe. the amazing web telescope will surely solve some of them. why scientists and a lot of other people are very excited about this mission. "the reidout" continues after this. mission "the reidout" continues after this ♪ limu emu... & doug ♪ ♪ superpowers from a spider bite? i could use some help showing the world how liberty mutual customizes their car insurance so they only pay for what they need. (gasps) ♪ did it work? only pay for what you need ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ spider-man no way home in theaters december 17th when you have xfinity xfi, you have peace of mind ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ built in at no extra cost. advanced security helps keep your family protected online. pause wifi whenever for ultimate control with the xfinity app. and family-safe browsing gives parents one less thing to worry about. security, control and peace of mind. with xfinity xfi, it's all built in at no extra cost. all right. as we approach the one-year anniversary of january 6th. it's becoming increasingly clear the insurrection was more than just a failed coup because the big lie that inspire that fateful attack still chips away at the very foundation of this country. it's not the only thing that chipped away from the foundation of this country. it's been happening a long time. to date, we've seen countless warnings democracy is in danger from think tanks, scholars and former military officials including both of us shouting about this from the rooftops for at least a century. it was put bluntly to the "new york times" saying there is no guarantee we make it out of this period as a democracy, let alone a big one. constitutional law professor lawrence tribe and others vently urged the justice department to take action saying to decline to investigate would be appeasement and appeaing bullies and wrongdoers only encourages the same. they're practically shouting from the rooftop. the question is whether anyone is listening. with me now, stewart stevens, a senior advice sore to the lincoln project and democratic strategists and michael eric dyson professor at vanderbilt university and author of "entertaining race performing blackness in america." juanita, i want to start with you. look what is happening in our democracy, there is a lot of focus on that but we have to realize what comes after you narrowed the path to the ballot box like women's rights, abortion rights, the way we draw political violence, mass shootings, et cetera. all of these contribute the downfall of the american experiment. if this were happening in another country, i can't help but wonder how the media might cover it. yet, it seems like a lot of people are not paying attention. why do you think so many people are going about their day not as panicked as those of us as engaged are? >> i think because first and foremost, it's a luxury to be as engaged as we are but the reality is as the headlines read as they would have about failed coup attempt or failed government or having the need to have for example election observers sent to credibly say this was a fair and safe i election, of course people will be running around scared and understanding the active threats to their basic rights voted and collective basic right to have our votes counted and mattered so an insurrection can't happen or a sitting president cannot organize a coup attempt. i think that the reality is that lacking those headlines, lacking that very in your face narrative is what prompts and allows people to move along freely and take for granted what can happen in the next few elections because i agree with eiffel. there is no guarantee our democracy can survive this moment. without the accountability you described, another insurrection could have happened. would basic protections like the freedom to vote act, we know that there is no guarantee our elections will be fair and safe in the future and so without ringing that four-alarm fire like we should be, like we have been doing, people aren't seeing it tangibly impact them but i assure you the first time they're turned away from the ballot box, the first time an election in their state don't go the way they voted for, they absolutely will feel it. we don't need to get to the point of feeling our rights rejected or undermined to take action so now all eyes need to go on senate democrats to protect rights and all eyes need to be on the select committee to ensure accountability for any and every person that participates in a faciitated january 6th attack. >> stewart, i'm curious your thoughts here. all of this didn't really start with trump. the republican party i think has engaged in these tactics for a long time. we've talked about this a little bit before. i think what we have to acknowledge at the root after this is race. there is a racial component to people feeling like their power is being stripped away as demographics of this country change. i'm curious of your thoughts because you talked about this and wrote about this. why do you think racist and white supremacists found a home in the republican party? because this is a big part of what helped erode democracy. these two factions. >> if you really look at the post world war ii history of the republican party, i think it tells the story. eisenhower in 1956 got 44%, i think, check my number but something close to that of the african american vote. in 1964 that fell off a cliff to 7%. it never came back. so since 1964 the republican party has been predominantly a white party. and it is the great failure of the republican party and was a failure of mine when i worked in the party and others not to be able to attract more african american votes. now, we used to think it was a failure. ken who was chairman of the national committee in 2005, before then apologized for the sudden strategy. i think that matters. now we just throw that aside and the party is almost officially a white grievance party and i think it's only accelerated because of the fact that the country is changing so much. the new americans in the latest census is white. majority of americans 15 years and under are non-white. so i think this panic is what has sponsored a lot of this anti democratic autocrat movement. they fail to appeal to african americans so they've gone another way. if you can't change people who are voting, you can try to change who you allow to vote. i think that's what is happening. >> yeah, i think you're right. michael stewart makes a good point. the demographics are changing. people of color are the rising majority of the country, however, white americans still disproportionately hold a lot of the power in this country. when you look at things like the filibuster, we have fail saves in plan to protect the democracy but they fail. old institutions value things because a lot of folks in the power regardless of party have never been on the receiving end of the brutality so perhaps they don't take these to confront them in an unapologetic way. what's your take? >> you're absolutely right. this is a prelude to the kiss off of an american democracy to a certain degree, the apocalypse before us, we speak in these terms people call us exaggeration, stop over responding but the bottom line is as you said, people not used to being assaulted, who are not used to being attacked then fail themselves for the first time under the briefest and the most cursory form of assault feel what we've been talking about all along. many who have not been in the ditch with us and in the trenches with us don't understand the necessity of the warning and degree to which we say to america we've been the bellwether and benchmark. we've been the measure and magnitude of american democracy. what black people have done with this country, what we've done with resources has not only made our culture better but our country better and so now people who are not used to seeing black people be the index, the measure of who we are as a nation feel a schizophrenia on the one hand, they think we lost our minds and on the other hand, they know they lost theirs. the truth about american democracy is it's only as good as we're willing to fight for. it is only ever been what we've made it to be. this may be an exaggerated point, a kind of serious inflection point but the truth is martin luther king junior when fighting conner was fighting for the future of democracy and when we understand the degree, it reminds us democracy is in our grasp if we continue to fight for it in the most fundamental fashion. >> look, i think a lot of people are on the front lines. there are so many people trying to survive the day. juanita, something that concerns me are midterms are next year. do we think these right wing extremists will accept an election outcome next year that they don't like? >> there is not a guarantee that they will and i think you're going to see it a lot more at the state level in the midterms versus 2024 where it would be the federal level again and i'm keeping an eye on states like georgia and arizona that have absolved the secretaries of state of power to make sure the elections are run safely and fully and empower county level election officials we know there have been surgical movements within the republican party especially among trump's base of supporters to start to occupy the positions. keep an eye on what is happening at the state and local levels because there is a chance these elections could be impacted or tampered with in someway. i do think there is still plenty of time for democrats in congress to act to make sure that doesn't happen. again, passing the freedom to vote act. by passing the john lewis voting rights advancement act because that is what will protect and preserve democracy in the immediate term. >> i could not agree more. we're coming up against a hard break. i want to continue this conversation. they are sticking around because up next, how conservatives are leveraging fake outrage over critical race theory to win elections by painting it as a threat to american patriotism. we'll be right back. ican patrio. we'll be right back. - [narrator] this is steve. he used to have gum problems. now, he uses therabreath healthy gums oral rinse with clinically-proven ingredients and his gum problems have vanished. (crowd applauding) therabreath, it's a better mouthwash. at walmart, target and other fine stores. when it comes to autism, finding the right words can be tough. finding understanding doesn't have to be. we can create a kinder, more inclusive world for the millions of people on the autism spectrum. go to autismspeaks.org. i would say the governor's race in virginia was decided based on the success of a right wing propaganda campaign but that was a propaganda campaign. >> the amazing nicole hanna jones creator of the 1619 project called out glenn youngkin's campaign for what it was. after youngkin was elected by embracing the bogeyman not taught in any virginia public schools by the way. republicans have loudly telegraphed they see youngkin's crt message as the winning playbook in 2022. 13 states have already restricted race conscious education through laws or other measures this year. back with me, stewart steve ps, juania tolliver. critical race theory isn't being taught by part of creating a bogeyman and if you change the narrative, i'll say this revision is history. stewart, kick us off here. what do you say to people who see things like this happening and say yeah, i didn't like trump. i didn't like the tweets but they still continue to vote down ballot for the republican ticket. there are accolades that allow for these kind of things to happen at the state, federal and local level. what is your advice? >> look, i think it's very dangerous. if you look how democracies die, this is how it happens. there is usually someone at the top that's extreme and people normalize this. that's what is happening with glenn youngkin, another time glenn youngkin might have been a perfectly moderate sort of business oriented guy that wanted to get stuff done but the kind of campaign he ran clearly shows that he has a willingness first in the primary he would not say that trump lost the election legally and then the fact that he played the race card, which is what critical race theory is. there say long history of this and it's about increasing white vote and it's a really all most a complete failure to even try to attract african american votes and it's what is happening now and going to be part of i think this process that we go through where we try to restrict who can vote in increasing numbers. >> yeah, precisely it. juanita, when they point out black republican candidates, they don't represent any constituency. there aren't black droves of republicans going to the polls. listen to chuck todd. >> there is this, you know, parents are saying hey, don't make my kid feel guilty. and, you know, i know a parent of color is going what are you talking about? i got to teach reality. when do you do it and how do you do it? >> well, i think you should think about your framing. you said parents and then parents of color. >> right, white parents and parents of color. fair point. >> not representing -- as a matter of fact, white parents are representing fewer than half of all school parents. >> she makes a great point. i don't think it was my colleague's intention to do that but i think it's a natural state for people that are not persons of color to be white is the go-to. that's the assumed presumed position and they don't represent half of the people with students in schools right now. you know, this effort to erase these levels of conversation it seems like they're saying no, we don't want to just learn black history but this is american history. they are saying we don't want our kids to be as smart as your kids and everyone else's kids. how do you make that make sense? >> i don't make it make sense but i appreciate nicole for naming what she named. it that baseline simple eraser because it's in the minds of individuals that don't understand that reality in polling conversations all the time so naming that, i assure when people talk about how education goes to the top as a top three election issue, they failed to point out the fact that when black and latin x parents were naming education. they're not talking about omitting basic history but quality schools and quality education for their children and we know that this parents rights campaign that youngkin ran played well with white voters especially white women voters as the gop saw a 13-point jump. what we're naming here and discussing here is yes, that racism because while they didn't like the explicit frame and tone in which trump used, they loved this kind of ease into it racism coming from someone like youngkin that appeals to sinema and makes them feel comfortable after leaving in 2018. i think that it's important we understand here that what we're seeing in virginia is absolutely going to be replicated across the country because the gop said we don't have a legislative agenda. mcconnell isn't rolling out priority. racism is their go to. expect to see it in georgia and ohio and arizona. expect to see it across the country because the gop is leaning on this to win votes in 2022. >> yeah, i mean, it's playing out right before us. michael, something that i think is an important conversation to have. a lot of individuals feel attacked. when you hear the push back against crt that's not taught anywhere, it's we don't want white children to feel guilty about who they are. and, you know, it's not an individual that's under attack. it the system. which many white people, not all white people but many white people benefit from. there are many disenfranchised that don't vote for it. what are someways you think some of our brothers and sisters can accept that perspective and ally, you know, be part of the change without feeling personally attacked if some people choose to prioritize their feelings because what they're saying is our discomfort is more important than reality and facts. >> well, yeah, we can bring in tiffany cross go out there to make that point, i mean, because look, the truth is they're more down with opp than crt. they don't know what it is. they can't define it or speak about it. so what is interesting is that we're theorizing about the potential impact on white students when we know the real impact on black students. getting kicked out of school at 4 and 5 and 6 and 7 years old and being over policed by over zealous gardens of our safety. we know that the part of an educational system is attack the intelligence of black kids. when we look at the actually existing condition for black kids and education versus what might potentially happen to white kids, we're leveraging the potential future of black kids of actually existing reality. first of all, we ain't trying to make anyone felt guilty. we're trying to get to the heart of matter. when we look at what white kids do, i teach mostly white kids i teach at a historically white college. the truth is those kids are hungry for it. let them speak up. let them show their hunger. let them show we want to know this. we want to know what is going on. we want to know the history of this. ain't nobody teaching critical race theory in kindergarten or fifth grade or sixth grade. critical race theory is a law school theory generated by kimberly crenshaw and a bunch of people and they're not teaching it in school. what they are teaching in school is to be suspicious of the narratives of triumph and overcoming that whiteness put forth. what we are teaching is to be skeptical about the default to sights of whiteness in america education. those are some of the things we can begin to speak to. we're not trying to hurt your kids' emotions or intelligence. we're trying to challenge them to become the best we can be. discomfort is the basis of my educational. you have to go in there and make people uncomfortable with their ignoance and received traditions and inherited believes they have gone on and taken into and as a result of that, we got to challenge it. that's what i'm about all day, every day. >> absolutely. we're way over time, i was wondering what opp you were referencing there. glad you clarified. thank you, my friends. >> all the opp. all right. thank you-all. thank you-all for joining us. still coming up ahead, nascar's new $10 billion spaceship deploys after the christmas launch. you can beam images from really deep space back to earth. noted astro face joins me. we'll talk about that next. o fa. we'll talk about that next a place where everyone lives life well-protected. we'll talk about that next. joine we'll talk about that next ♪♪ and even when things go a bit wrong, we've got your back. here, things work the way you wish they would. and better protection costs a whole lot less. you're in good hands with allstate. click or call for a lower auto rate today. what happens when you block heartburn with one prilosec otc in the morning? heartburn doesn't stand a chance - day... or night. excess stomach acid can cause heartburn. prilosec otc works differently by preventing excess acid production. so don't fight heartburn, block it. prilosec 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(soft music) hey dad, i'm about to leave. don't forget your hat . good morning. how can i help? i need help connecting with my students. behind every last minute save, ok, that works. and holiday surprise, thank you! a customer service rep is working unseen, making it happen. and at genesys, we're proud to help them help you everyday. all right. we've come pretty far in technology advances since man first walked on the moon but we still only know what merely 5% of the universe looks like. well, that's about to change. on christmas day nasa successfully launched the web telescope the largest and most expensive instrument ever sent into space from south america. here is that tv moment from nasa tv. >> liftoff. >> liftoff from a tropical rain forest to the edge of time itself. james webb back to the earth of the universe. >> nasa has high hopes for the telescope which is designed to see all the way back in time to the beginning of our universe. that might sound like science fiction but is well within reach. the $10 billion telescope is specially equipped with powerful infrared vision meaning it is able to see ancient stars and galaxies by mapping the way the light traveled through time. it sounds complicated but is something we actually witness frequently with the human eye. we're actually looking back in time when we see the light from the stars in our night sky. that is just the beginning of what we'll hopefully learn from the telescope which will be able to observe planets far beyond our solar system. instead of just wondering if there is life on mars there could be many other planets out there with the ability to sustain life. as nasa put it this is an apollo moment. webb will fundamentally alter our understanding of the universe. it will be six months before we see any images from the telescope. while the launch was successful there is a lot that could go wrong between now and then. the telescope took 30 years to develop and involves what nasa calls giant high tech origami. it was a sun shield that will eventually reach the size of a tennis court. the telescope was folded up to fit into the rocket and throughout the next few weeks will start to unfurl. it is an exciting but harrowing time during which thousands of parts and sequences all have to work correctly together almost a million miles from earth. so far everything has gone according to plan. the past few days with the successful deployment of the antenna and telescope making its first planned adjustment to its trajectory. just moments ago nasa announced more good news that it successfully completed its second planned course correction. astrophysicist joins me next to talk about the very exciting and unprecedented scientific feat. stay with us. with us as a professional 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? yeah, hang on, i'm about to break my own record. yeah. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ experience the power of sanctuary at the lincoln wish list event. when you have xfinity, you have entertainment built in. experience the power which is kind of nice. ah, what is happening. binge-watching is in the bag, when you find all your apps, all in one place. find live sports faster just by using your voice... sports on now. touchdown irish! [cheering] that was awesome. and, the hits won't quit, with peacock premium included at no additional cost. all that entertainment built in. xfinity. a way better way to watch. all right. we are a few days away into the historic launch of the james webb telescope which if all goes as planned could answer questions about the beginning of the universe and whether there are any other planets able to sustain life. joining me now is dr. hakeem oluseyi astrophysicist professor at george mason university and president-elect of the national society of black physicists. i'm so excited to have you here. i bet when you woke up this morning you envisioned we'd be having this conversation. anytime something happens in space we got to talk about it. >> that's right. >> i am so confused. how does this telescope see into time? how will this explain to us what happened so long ago? i mean, we're talking about the infancy of earth. >> i know, right? it sounds crazy but it is real. it's 100% real. the thing about it is a lot of this fancy stuff we talk about in physics that has to do with the cosmos is happening in your life on a smaller scale but you just don't notice it. if you're sitting across the room talking to someone, the light takes time to leave them and pass to your eye. you're seeing them as they were some fraction of a second. so the farther you go the longer it takes. the light from the sun is eight and a half minutes. you start talking about the nearest stars you're talk bth a few years. james webb is designed to look back at the first stars so we are talking like 13 billion years. think about it this way. our universe is made up of galaxies. so we are in a room and in this room there are all these air molecules flying around. galaxies in the universe are just like that. and the difference, though, is that the room is expanding. the universe is getting bigger. that changes everything. one thing it changes is it stretches the wave length of light. so that is why the james webb space telescope has the fancy, gold plated mirrors so it can look at infrared light. those mirrors will reflect infrared light with high efficiency because the light from those first stars by the time it reaches us the expansion of the universe has stretched out the wave into those photons. >> this is exciting. this telescope is going to produce pictures. will these photographs be discern ibl when we look at them or is it like an x-ray only a doctor will be able to understand? >> you know, you make a really good point there. astronomers are good at using what we call false color to make light invisible to human eyes look like something we would expect. we have x-ray telescopes, gamma ray telescopes, infrared, radio, all of these invisible to our eye but we make these beautiful images. here is the other thing that webb is going to do. we have a satellite up right now called test. it is finding planets around all the nearest stars. but it can't tell you whether there is life on those stars. that requires webb's instrument sweep. it is going to get what we call a spectra. if you think of a nose sniffing out the chemicals in the atmosphere and if you find a sufficient number of biomarker molecules that you may be able to say, there is life on that planet. >> do you think there is life on other planets? this has been your life's work. >> absolutely. >> do you think there is life? you do. >> i do. listen, i observed that life exists on planets right? here on earth. i observe intelligent life exists. so it works. but what is the chance of there being multi cellular life? that depend on the interaction of the planet and the planet's star. here on earth we're lucky because we have a transparent atmosphere so our planet is bathed in light. if you live on venus you don't even know stars exist because the atmosphere is too thick. now if you get abundant, multi cellular life do you get intelligent life? possibly. probably i would think. do you get technologically advanced life? i think that is super rare. so don't look for aliens falling out of cadillac space ships. it is unlikely to occur. micro organisms are probably within our own solar system. >> well i continue to look for intelligent life right here on earth. >> you and me both. >> we will see what webb telescope produces. you'll have to come back so we can talk about it. thank you so much, hakeem oluseyi. i will see you soon. "all in" with chris hayes starts right now. tonight on "all in" don't panic but brace for impact. family gatherings, record holiday travel, even movie attendance booms as covid cases spike across the country. what to expect for the final week of 2021. plus trump goes all in on the vaccine for now but is it too little too late for the antivax monster he