when 90 employees tested positive. even city md where you've seen long lines of people waiting to be tested has had to shut the doors of 31 of its urgent care centers. the cdc put out a new estimate that shows a significant decrease in omicron versus delta cases. last week the agency said omicron accounted for 73% of cases for the week of december 18th. they've adjusted that number down from 73% to just 23% of cases. that's important and concerning because delta has proven to be far more likely to land you in the hospital. and there's growing confusion this morning over the cdc's enough guidance, cutting isolation from ten to five days for people who test positive for covid but show no symptoms. the cdc is weighing in this morning when asked about the decision being made not just on science but staffing shortages on airlines and elsewhere. >> we follow numerous areas of science in making this important decision. one of course is how the virus basis, how much of the virus could you transmit after five days and we generally nope most of your transmission potential happens in those one to two days before you have symptoms and those two to three days after. by the time five days of isolation has occurred, you probably have 85 to 90% of your transmission potential behind you if you've been in isolation. >> then this headline, a new fda study finds the antigen tests may be less sense pif shaquille brewster, you're at a testing site at chicago. what's the latest there? >> reporter: well, you have that emphasis on testing, especially among children. illinois was one of the top five states to see an increase in childhood hospitalizations, one of about a dozen that have seen the pediatric hospitalizations more than double in the past month. that's especially conditioning considering schools are going to be picking back up in just about a week or so here. what we're seeing in illinois, especially in chicago, you have chicago public schools sending about 150,000 rapid antigen test kits being sent home, asking parents to test their kids and return them by tomorrow to ensure there are no positive cases coming back into school tomorrow. we saw new data overnight showing those rapid tests are struggling, are not picking up the omicron variant as much as originally we hear from the cdc director on the "today" show this morning, she confirmed that this morning saying it's not as effective picking up omicron as it was the delta or alpha variant but saying that the pcr test should be the reliable test for folks to take. that's why we're here at the site where you're seeing lines -- not yet but seeing lines across the city as that testing front continues, not just here in illinois but across the country. >> doctor, lines, lines everywhere but there's also questions about the antigen test and what people are taking and the delays in getting pcr results back. how concerning is all of that? should we be worried, for example, if we've been relying on antigen tests? >> i've been concerned about this for some time and think that, you know, a test that may only be 50/50 right is a test that still is a challenge in terms of understanding what to do with the information. i think this is a huge issue. i think we need much more claire clarification about how accurate these tests are. so far the guidance as been lacking. many people are making very important decisions about getting together with loved ones and people at risk for severe illness, they took a test that unfortunately the err most often is called a false negative, meaning you are really infected and you're not showing that on the test. i think this is a serious situation. it's also what can qualify you for getting on an international flight and maybe all those folks who tested negative on those flights aren't so negative. >> i think the other thing, chris -- >> go ahead. >> i just wanted to add one other point. the other thing we're seeing right now are people taking the pcr test, they take them four, five days before an event like getting on a flight and we're seeing a lot of people getting infected in the meantime so even having that test four, five days ago doesn't give you ongoing protection against being infected now. so i think these tests really need much more clarification for people. what are you actually getting when you actually get an over-the-counter test or a pcr test? >> so adding to the confusion is the cdc's new isolation guidance. what do you make of it? >> first of all, we are in an imperfect place in this world right now. you don't get to go to war with what you want, you get to go to war with what you have. right now it's very clear we're going to see a major overrun of omicron. i think this recent controversy, which is not a controversy, whether it's mostly delta or omicron cases, within the next two to three weeks, virtually everything will be omicron and more and more people will be affected and we literally won't be age to sustain our infrastructure. we're seeing it in the airlines, on the commercial side, the grocery stores where we need to get food to people. i think what they did was the right thing. they have to acknowledge we don't have good data on testing, so therefore they didn't include it. i understand that. i do have a real concern about masking. don't tell people just to mask. quality mask. n-95 respirators. a face cloth covering is largely nothing more than decoration. it doesn't do much for you. it's time we've got to say that. masking is critical but you have to wear the right kind of mask. tell people to use high quality masks and i think that's the right thing to do. >> since you brought up the airlines, let me go to steve because he is at l.a.x and we are continuing to see flight cancellations, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds a day, what's going on where you are, steve? >> reporter: chris, it could be another headache inducing day for travelers, 69 flights delayed here at l.a.x., 75 cancelled. we had 1,100 flights across the country cancelled yesterday alone. we could be getting a little break today here in california because we've finally gotten a break in that bad weather. but, again, the trend seemed to be over 100 once again. and of course the virus doing nothing but helping the delays, the cancellations, the disruptions in flight because cases are surging in california. now up 200% as far as daily case counts, up 25% as far as hospitalizations. it's part of the reasons why we're outside. the airline is doing really well. and testing as well, that crush of testing. the airport officials help to mitigate that by offering, as you see behind me, testing here as well. the lines have been filling up day by day but the craziest case of testing was on board a flight, a woman was flying to iceland, found out that she tested positive on board the flight and then had to quarantine inside, get this, inside a bathroom on board the flight. here's what she said about her experience. just listen to this. >> it was a crazy experience. i started having a severe sore throat. so i just took my rapid test and brought it into the bathroom and within what felt like two seconds there were two lines. there was like 150 people on this flight. and my biggest fear was giving it to them. >> reporter: thankfully she said the flight attendants on board were great, they sent her a gift package when she had to quarantine in iceland. we're already seeing more than 300 flights cancelled this morning as far as domestic travel here in the u.s. it could be another headache-inducing day and this is expected to continue on into the new year. chris? >> that woman's story is kind of insane. i guess the question is going into the third year of this, are we here? i don't want to do anything but praise the work by scientists, medical professionals, people on the front line of this pandemic, people at airlines, all of that but should we be in this place where there is just what often seems to people to be complete confusion, conflicting information and chaos? >> chris, for the past two years we've continually underestimated what this virus can and would do. last spring we had the sense that case numbers were coming down from that surge we saw in the early-to-late winter and then we saw vaccines arrives and everyone thought we were done, we had independence day from covid. some of us said, no, we're aren't done, the variants will continue to be game changers and make it much more complicated. the vaccines don't offer us lifelong protection or for that matter complete protection. we're seeing testing isn't adequate. not just here in the united states. europe, which has been heralded with having some of the best testing in the world are struggling with testing themselves. so science and the general public have continued to underestimate this virus. what we're seeing could be some of the darkest days of the pandemic, numbers that are going to literally make it very difficult to run our every day lives. we've just got to get through it. we will get through it, but the bottom line is do not underestimate this virus. >> we're out of time but i just want to ask you really quickly your thoughts about the economic disparity here. as you're talking about masks, as you're talking about tests, it's expensive now. i went on to get better masks and i noticed that the prices had gone up pretty significantly, right, supply and demand. if you're somebody who can't afford that new mask, if you're someone who can't afford to go online and try to find and pay the prices for tests now, the administration is going to be sending out a lot of tests but what about the continuing economic disparity of people who are just trying to stay safe? >> and this is an important issue, and i know that the current administration is looking at how to distribute large volumes of n95s quickly in the population. remember a year and a half ago we said don't use these masks, not because i didn't believe that they were really important, it's because we didn't have enough and we needed to keep our health care workers stocked with these masks. >> that's right. >> now we have plenty. we have plenty now. we need to get them out and instruct people how to use them. right now we're seeing up to a quarter of the people that wear their mask on their chin under their nose. that's nothing more than a chin diaper. it doesn't help. we have not done a good job educating the public about the importance of quality masking and what we can do to reduce the risk of transmission. not only do we have to distribute the product, like you said and i think that's going to happen in a better way but we got to instruct people on how to use these so they can protect themselves and their loved ones. many thanks to all of you. also this morning, flags are flying at half staff on capitol hill in honor of harry reid, a titan of the senate and its former democratic leader, he died yesterday at 82 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. his american story is really extraordinary, rising from poverty in rural nevada, growing up in a home with no indoor plumbing and helping his mother make ends meet by doing laundry at nearby brothels. president obama was a the first to push president obama to run for office. "early on you were more generous to me than i had any right to expect. i wouldn't have been president had it not been for your encouragement and support." reid did live to see the airport renamed in his honor. thanks to both of you for being with us. john, you've known harry reid for a very long time. i know you were in touch with him during his final days. tell me about those conversations and how he wants to be remembered. >> you know, i'm not sure harry reid thought that much about how he wanted to be remembered. that was the kind of guy that he was. as you know. i think in the dozens of conversations i had with him over the last few months for the book, he was more reflective and introspective for the first time in his entire life and he was not that kind of guy. i think he wants to be remembered mostly as a guy, as he said to me many times, chris, who would do things others would not do. whether it was getting jim jeffers to switch parties or twisting arms and offering his colleagues trinkets to vote for the affordable care act, his proudest achievement. he was a monday who didn't look back, who always kept moving forward with very few regrets. i asked him that question many times, it was his vote in the iraq war. everything else he said he may have made mistakes but no regrets. >> i want to play part of reid's farewell speech from the senate which was just a few years ago. watch this. >> people in nevada have never had to worry how i stand on an issue. i tell them how i feel. that's why i've never had any big bang elections, but people at least know how i stand. people who don't necessarily like how i vote and what i talk about, at least they know how i feel. >> well, he certainly was honest about that. you worked with him day in and day out, obviously living in modern times, he was one of the most covered politicians as leader. what don't we know about him? >> well, among staff and among the people in the caucus, remember in the democratic caucus, your colleagues are voting for you to become the leader of them. he inspired a unique trust and loyalty that is very uncommon. people around him always felt they were attached to him and that he reciprocated in turn. he was very kind and generous in a lot of quiet ways that he didn't go around talking about openly, but people just knew and trusted. and when that trust he gains the power to be their leader. and he had these traditional father-figure-like qualities of looking out for the whole having a vision and here's what we're doing today, here's what we're trying to accomplish. and then getting biden, including the president of the united states to just trust the vision. he had to take many difficult terrains. one of them was a government shutdown in 2013. he said we're going to call the bluff of these republicans. they want to shut down the government over obamacare repeal, we're not going to allow that to happen. 16 days of the government shutdown that harry reid said let's do it and people trusted his vision and approach and in the end he was right and he won. >> what do you think, faiz, he would have thought about the democratic party now? what were his concerns, if there were any about the democratic party? >> you know, john knows this well. harry reid comes from abject poverty. class was very much in his consciousness. he had a consciousness of class. you know, nowadays you think of all these candidates who jump into races with millions of dollars, harry reid comes from nothing. and i don't think he ever forgot it. it was in his genes and it was in his blood and in his observations. he understood class in america. when you think of his fight for social security, his fight for clean energy, jobs in nevada, the fight against trade deals that was unpopular, even during some of his votes and during his time, he was thinking about the people he grew up with. and i think, you know, i would say his caution to a democratic party is to remember that, that you're a working class party, that you come from people who need government support, governor assistance. we don't have anyone else to fight for them, you're supposed to fight for them. >> so, john, president obama said himself his achievements wouldn't have happened without harry reid. big picture, and i'm sure you've thought a lot about this as you've been working on the book, what's his impact? how much of an impact did he have on our country? >> i think bigger than people realize and not just for the reason that you said, chris. i had said many times and i said it on the air already that obamacare should probably be called reid care. i'm not sure the former president would disagree with that. with reid's legislative maneuverings and toughness and grit and everything else you heard about him, obamacare would never have passed. but he changed history in other ways, too. he got jim jeffords to switch and change the balance of power in the senate. he did have a commitment to renewable energy. he was prescient about that, that affected nevada and the country. his environmental record, which he was very proud of as well is something that will live for a long time and the most prominent aspect of that is the proposed nuclear waste dump in nevada, which people may forget was proposed in the mid 80s and passed by congress and nuclear waste was supposed to be shipped to nevada by 1998. it's a long ways past 1998, chris, and that project is dead and it would not be dead if not for harry reid coming from that hard scrabble growing up in a speck of desert in nevada and sending to the majority leader in the senate. no way could a small state have ever been as significant as nevada has been, if not for harry reid. >> jon ralston, you're going to be back with us in the next hour. faiz, thanks to you as well. the jury deciding ghislaine maxwell's fate back for a fifth day of deliberations. what's taking so long? and we'll talk to a man who spent a month in the icu and survived covid. his message to those still debating the vaccine. those stil debating the vaccine strokes can be reversed. joints can be 3-d printed. and there isn't one definition of what well feels like. there are millions. we're using our world to make your world a world of well. it's a thirteen-hour flight, that's not a weekend trip. fifteen minutes until we board. oh yeah, we gotta take off. you downloaded the td ameritrade mobile app so you can quickly check the markets? yeah, actually i'm taking one last look at my dashboard before we board. excellent. and you have thinkorswim mobile- -so i can finish analyzing the risk on this position. you two are all set. have a great flight. thanks. we'll see ya. ah, they're getting so smart. choose the app that fits your investing style. ♪♪ how not to be a hero: because that's the last thing they need you to be. you don't have to save the day. you just have to navigate the world so that a foster child isn't doing it solo. you just have to stand up for a kid who isn't fluent in bureaucracy, or maybe not in their own emotions. so show up, however you can, for the foster kids who need it most— at helpfosterchildren.com this morning the jury in the ghislaine maxwell sex trafficking case is still deliberating. the judge saying they should be prepared for a shift in scheduling due to the upcoming weekend. maxwell as pleaded not guilty to all charges. joining me now, ron allen outside the courthouse and danny savalos, a criminal defense attorney and msnbc analyst. good morning, guys. the judge said deliberations could go through the weekend. does that mean they don't expect a verdict today? are there signals that they have a ways to go? >> reporter: what it means is the judge is very concerned about the covid surge in new york city and she is concerned about the possibility of a mistrial in one of the jurors becomes affected by that. they're not sequestered, so they leave here every day and they go home and they come back. remember, there was a four-day interruption in the deliberation process when, again, the jurors could have become exposed to covid. that's the judge's main concern. she wants the trial to happen, she wants the deliberations to happen, and she doesn't want there to be a mistrial because of this. so she's trying to keep the process moving. the scheduling change was a possibility she put out there to the attorneys when the jury was not present. she said essentially if they haven't reached a verdict by the end of today, this new scheduling process may happen as we approach the weekend. remember, just wednesday, tomorrow's thursday, we still have a couple of days before the holiday. but, again, it's all very dependent on what's happening with covid, which is what's happening around the city. as for the deliberations, we're about 30 hours, some 33 hours, again with that gap of several days in the middle of it. it's a very complicated case. there are six counts, there are four accusers, there are allegations that span over a period that starts back some 25 years ago. so there's a lot for the jury to go over. and they have requested a lot of information. they've requested transcripts of the four accusers' testimony, requested other witness testimony. so they're going through this meticulously and that's why it's taking some time. how long it will take, we just obviously don't know. chris? >> so, danny, let's start with covid. would you have sequestered the jury by now? are you surprised the judge hasn't? >> no, i'm not surprised. i think judges are really reluctant to sequester juries. frankly, judges are reluctant to even have trials to begin with. and i say this as someone who is sitting and waiting and wondering whether or not a january trial date is going to go forward. so the idea of sequestering juries during covid is way down the line. first we have to decide are we even going to keep this jury here going forward. >> all right. so much to the question of what's taking so long, you know, as was just laid out so well by ron, this is a complicated case, there's a lot of different counts, there's a lot for the jury to go over. but is that what's happening here? could it be something else? do you think that it could be some disagreement? give us an idea of what about this case could be impacting the length of deliberations inside that jury room right now, danny. >> there was a public perception about this case early on. the thinking went, well, jeffrey epstein was the devil incarnate. there, anyone associated with him must have some culpability. that may be a correct moral statement but it doesn't necessarily mean someone associated with epstein violated federal law as alleged in the indictment. keep in mind the government is proceeding with allegations that date back to the early 90s. even someone my age was in high school in the early 90s and i'm not young. imagine trying to piece together what happened back then without the advent of cell phones and emails or at least the proliferation of emails and digital evidence. so it's not that much of a surprise that the jury is struggling with allegations that depend chiefly on accuser witnesses who have testified, at least one of the accusers, testified that she didn't mention maxwell in earlier statements and documents. >> danny and ron allen, who will remain on jury watch for us. thank you. coming up travis campbell waited too long to get the covid vaccine and ended up in the icu. now he has a powerful message to those not getting shot. is it getting through? 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>> yeah, yeah. daily we get messages from facebook community and friends and family that they're getting vaccinated and as well our local pharmacy that we use, cvs, gives us updates that they stay busy. i tell you, those videos are definitely difficult to watch. i documented my journey for my friend and family to make sure that they didn't go through exactly what i was experiencing and put their family into by being unvaccinated. so this is a true testament of what we can do to make sure that nobody goes through it. you know, you can look on my facebook and follow the journey as well and it continues, and it will continue. but those that are looking for studies, studies are out. 88% of the people that have the covid that are vaccinated are not hospitalized and 90% of the hospitalized are unvaxxed. it's not political. trump got vaccinated, biden got vaccinated. it breaks down are you ready to get vaccinated and protect you and your family from financial ruin and future damage to your organs and your body. it's so important. don't put your family through what i did, and i made that mistake. and i'm trying to correct it now. >> let's talk a little bit about what not just you went through but as you say, your family. my understanding is at the point that you were so sick, you actually called your friends to say good-bye, you asked your 14-year-old son to give your daughter away at her wedding. >> yeah. >> i mean, when you look back on that and when you consider what your life would have meant to the people you were leaving behind, and i know that this can't be easy to talk about, what do you say to people who often believe, well, even if i get sick, it's not going to be that bad or now look at these breakthrough cases with omicron, what's the point? >> you know, that's a great question, and we can't -- we can't forecast the future. we doesn't know how your body is going to accept the disease. it's not a virus, it's a disease. therefore you got to be pro active and protect your family and yourself as well from future damage to your body. it's been a tough journey. i -- it's very tough to watch. i haven't watched any of my videos, so any time i'm on tv and they show the videos, it's really upsetting. yeah, i asked my 14-year-old son to give my daughter away and i told him what i needed him to say and what song i wanted him to play and that was real tough for him, myself and my daughter at her wedding. and, you know, it's just -- it just been a huge journey that i wouldn't want anybody, anybody in their right mind to take a chance on damaging their body, putting their family in financial ruins or their family to be sick. i mean, i don't know how -- i don't know how you can accept losing a family member at your hands because you didn't get vaccinated. and that was what i was trying to prevent. >> travis campbell, your bravery in telling your story and continuing to and making yourself relive it is going to save lives so thank you so much and we appreciate you being on the program. >> thank you. one more thing. >> yeah. >> we also need to make awareness towards organ donoring because this disease has damaged a lot of the population that are unvaccinated. please pay attention to organ donors and we can hopefully save more lives in the future. i love you, good luck. >> good message in or out of a pandemic. >> coming up, redistricting, and a number of states that could have impacts in a huge way. what does it mean for your vote? that's next. mean for your vote? that's next. inner voice (kombucha brewer): as a new small business owner, i find it useful to dramatically stare out of the window... ...so that no one knows i'm secretly terrified inside. inner voice (sneaker shop owner): i'm using hand gestures and pointing... ...so no one can tell i'm unsure about my business finances. inner voice (furniture maker): i'm constantly nodding... ...because i know everything about furniture... ...but with the business side... ...i'm feeling a little lost. quickbooks can help. an easy way to get paid, pay your staff and know where your business stands. new business? no problem. yeah. success starts with intuit quickbooks. nicorette knows, quitting smoking is freaking hard. yeah. you get advice like: just stop. go for a run. go for 10 runs! run a marathon. instead, start small. with nicorette. which can lead to something big. start stopping with nicorette. finally. our honeymoon. it took awhile, but at least we got a great deal on our hotel with kayak. i was afraid we wouldn't go.. with our divorce and.... great divorce guys. yeah... search 100s of travel sites at once. kayak. search one and done. new congressional district maps are about to have a major impact on next year's mid-term elections, and that's not good news for democrats with republicans in control in so many states. it's all happening now. on tuesday michigan's redistricting commission released this map for the state's 13 congressional districts. virginia's supreme court approved this map put together by two court-appointed special masters after a bipartisan commission failed to reach an agreement. those maps came out the same day the ohio supreme court heard arguments on a map approved by the republican-controlled state assembly there. democrats and voting rights groups say it was unconstitutionally ger -- gerrymandering. and joining us author of "the long red thread" how democratic dominance gave way to republican advantage in u.s. house elections." good to see both of you. kyle, i want to start with the national picture. republicans can take control of the house through redistricting alone. what do these new maps tell us about the road ahead for democrats? >> well, look, i think the ohio situation is giving as you preview of what we might be seeing in some other states in that you really could see legal action happen this year and next that unwinds some of these maps. the ohio situation is different in that most maps are put into the place to be in existence for ten years. this one because of ohio's new rules are only in place for 2022 and 2024. i do think it fair to categorize it as republican gerrymandering. these oral arguments seem they might be willing to winding back what i think is republican gerrymandering. >> you covered yesterday's argument for the ohio supreme court. did the justices seem to hint one way or another what they thought of the state's new congressional district and whether they needed to be redrawn? >> it hard to really supreme court tea leaves. the question becomes how are we going to define what undue favor is. and the voting rights group said the constitution says shall attempt compact districts and they really focused on hamilton county, which is cincinnati, southwest ohio. hamilton county could have been two districts but they made it three. and when they looked at that map, they said, well, why did they make this less compact? and voting rights groups said it was to make three republican-leaning districts instead of two democratic districts. and i think the republicans on the flip side said that it was about competitiveness. the districts are more competitive. so is it about compactness, is it about competitiveness and how does that weigh in the court's mind. >> so, kyle, i guess there's been, you know, and i've seen it on a grass roots level there have been a lot of folks in the democratic party who over the course of several cycles have worried about exactly what we've seen and now there's a lot of criticism within the democratic party that leadership was late to the game, they failed to see the importance to put money into legislative races. is it too late for the democrats to influence how this is all going to end up or is it just at the mercy of the courts and republican-controlled legislatures? >> legal action could happen and unwind disabilities later in the decade. we've seen that in north carolina and pennsylvania last decade where republican gerrymandering were thrown out by democratic-controlled state courts. but i also think the recent redistricting news hasn't been all positive for republicans, it's been positive for places, too. california, there's an independent commission there, republicans think that commission leads towards democrats and democrats got what i think is a favorable match there. virginia and michigan maps came out, virginia probably a little better for republicans and in michigan they came up with a map that has a lot of competitive seats, which means instead of it being republican gerrymandered, it will probably change throughout the decades. i think the republicans are up a little bit, democrats are down a little bit but it's not some sort of horrible blowout for democrats i don't think. >> all right, kyle and anna, stories we'll continue to follow very closely. thank you. coming up, remembering a legend, the incredible life and legacy of john madden, who changed football and pop culture forever. nicorette knows, quitting smoking is freaking hard. you get advice like: try hypnosis... or... quit cold turkey. kidding me?! instead, start small. with nicorette. which can lead to something big. start stopping with nicorette i'm so glad we're finally on vacation. yeah, and kayak made it so easy - searching hundreds of travel sites to find us a great flight. my ears still won't pop after the flight but i don't even care.... what? kayak. search one and done. unleash the freshness... ♪♪ still fresh what? ♪♪ in wash-scent booster ♪♪ downy unstopables this morning, tributes are pouring in for legendary nfl broadcaster and super bowl winning coach, john madden, who died yesterday at the age of 85. although he never played a season of pro football himself madden was synonymous with the nfl and a legend in pop culture. inspiring a generation who learned the sport from his popular video games and of course, his classic calls. >> they bring from the outside and boom, two up the middle. did you see that club that he put on the guy. kendal simmons came out and just clubbed him right there, whom, with his left arm. if you want to be a nose tackle in life, that's the way to play it. if you give him a lane in there, he'll take it. see that hole right there? he sees it and knows that he can get all the way to the goal line with it. see how heat comes out of the top of his head. just caught off his head. you could have a barbecue on that head. >> was there anybody ever more excited about football? nbc's sam brock joins us with more on how he's being remembered. hey, there, sam. >> reporter: chris, good morning. look, it just feels like there is nothing that this man did not touch. when you talk about john madden, his impact not just on football but as you said, pop culture and video games is as big as his personality. he did not play a single snap in the nfl, because of a bad knee injury, which ended up giving the world an incredible gift. on the sidelines, as an nfl head coach -- >> okay, come on, defense! >> let's start off and stay after them the whole game. >> reporter: and for decades as a broadcaster. >> it's just super football. i mean, i love these kinds of games. >> reporter: john madden left a larger than life footprint on the nfl. >> he makes a little basketball twist there and pivot and boom, the ball's there. >> reporter: with the winningest record in league history for any coach with a hundred or more games, a super bowl ring with the then oakland raiders, and his remarkably enjoyable maddenisms. >> boom! stay on your feet. that's it. boom, we cross him. >> reporter: madden teamed up with pat somerall for more than two decades, becoming one of the most beloved sports broadcast teams in history. he later shared the both with al michaels, who said it was former coach's connection to people that transcended the sport. >> and a lot of that, i think, had to do with john traveling for all of those years this a bus. couldn't get on a bus. he would see parts of this country that other people never sees. >> reporter: something with madden just clicked for americans, whether it was beer commercial -- >> lite beer tastes great. >> reporter: "snl" hosting gigs in the '80s. >> but the fight was fair. >> the falcons will hit him right in the back. >> it was a video game with his name and likeness that kept generations of gamers glued to their screens. the nfl today mourning a once in a lifetime figure, including tom brady paying tribute to a legend of the game. the raiders writing, few individuals meant as much to the growth and popularity of professional football as coach madden, whose impact on the game, both on and off the field, was immeasurable. and he loved the game likely he never loved the game of football. and he knew it. as far as i'm concerned, at least in my lifetime. >> it was clear, he was always a team-first kind of guy. >> i ride on the shoulders of friends. and i just say this, i thank you all very much. and this has been the sweetest ride of them all. >> and more on that bus. the madden cruiser, al michaels telling us that people would follow the bus for miles until finally john would stop in his town, sign their autographs, go to coffee shops, candy stores, he was a man of the people and he was authentic until the very end. chris? >> a superstar and may he rest in peace. sam brock, thank you so much. and coming up, the white house covid response team is set to brief in just a little over an hour, as covid cases hit a level that we have never seen before. we've got another busy hour, so don't go anywhere. o don't go anywhere. hun hey, get your own vapors relax with vicks vapobath or with vicks vaposhower. take a soothing vicks vapo moment wherever you chose. mission control, we are go for launch. um, she's eating the rocket. ♪♪ lunchables! built to be eaten.