Our head, the White House Covid Response Team to set to give an update on how theyre supporting overwhelmed hospitals as the Surging Omicron Variant marches across the country. A disturbing up tick in children hospitalized with the virus. Well take you to the Covid Briefing when it starts. Were on verdict watch in Elizabeth Holmes trial, and the closely watched Sex Trafficking Trial of Ghislaine Maxwell. Well bring you the latest as we wait for any signs of a verdict from both juries. Plus the political world saying farewell to a giant of the senate. Harry reid of nevada died. How people are paying their respects including the touching letter from former president obama who worked closely with reid in sheparding the Affordable Care act through congress. We will start this hour with the latest on the omicron variant. Nbc White House Correspondent mike memoli, shaquille brewster, dr. Ebony hilton are with us. Mike, were going to hear from the White House Covid Response Team any second. Run us through what youre expecting. Yeah. Well, before President Biden left washington to head here to delaware for the holiday week, he met with some of the nations governors and drilled down on how important it was for the federal government and State Governments to cooperate. Obviously those governors local leaders on the frontlines of dealing with this pandemic in their state, and so the president s message was if you need something, say something. What we expect to hear from the Covid Response team, the head of the task force, really offering a by the numbers look about what the federal cooperation has looked like in the past few weeks. Specifically in light of what the president announced last week. Hell talk about the fact that 13,000 National Guard members are deployed. And the federal government picking up the tab to help on the frontlines. Some 350,000 face coverings have been provided. A million gloves. Thousands of ventilators to the states to help them. The federal government also setting up nine new Testing Sites in new york alone. Three more expected to come online this week also in new jersey, philadelphia, washington d. C. Some of those cities experiencing major surges in covid cases. Thats what were going to hear at the start. Then the difficult questions come as we hear from the cdc director, and dr. Anthony fauci about issues like testing. We know thats something the administration has been dealing with. 500,000 new take home tests available starting in january. The fda announcing yesterday that the omicron variant might not be showing up might not be getting positive results in some of the most common take home tests. Real questions not just about the availability of testing which we know has been an issue but the accuracy. Also still j a lot of questions about the new announcement from the cdc, the guidance about isolation and quarantine periods. Walensky has been on all the morning shows defending the new policy thats been criticized by some allies of the administration. We just heard from the Flight Attendants Union in the last hour talking about their concern that the fiveday window of isolation and quarantine might not be long enough. Certainly, an important moment for this Covid Response team, even in a holiday week to be taking questions and speaking directly to the American People when we hear from them in the next few minutes. Doctor hilton, as we wait for the briefing, as mike told us the whouts will likely highlight how the administration is trying to help hospitals during the home omicron wave. What do you wish the federal government was doing to help . I wish if were trying to help the hospitals, it would help to help people not get infected in the first place. Rolling back a statement in july that masks were not necessary for those who are vaccinated. If were starting to scale back on how long persons need to be quarantined, once they test positive, then if youre saying they can only do five days instetd of the ten, but in those five days they need to wear a mask, that shows you need the importance of masks to mitigate the spread. Make that universal. State that clearly. That every american should be wearing a mask and not only just a mask, but an n95 mask. Make those available to people. But also, make it very clear to americans that at this point, yesterday 2600 persons died from covid19. Thats one american every 32 seconds. We are not Out Of The Woods in this pandemic, and loosening the guidelines when the fire is raging is a bad move, in my opinion. Shaq, i want to go to you. There have been more than 53 million covid cases in the United States since the start of the pandemic. This is according to our nbc news tally. This is unbelievable numbers. In illinois where you are, they just set new case records. Hospitalizations have nearly doubled since the start of december. And there are new concerns about children being hospitalized. What can you tell us about that, particularly the kids . Yeah. The majority of the increase in child hospitalizations, those pediatric hospitalizations coming from five key states. Illinois joining new york, new jersey, ohio, also florida in that increase. And look, these are all states dealing with that up tick in covid cases which then you would expect some hospitalizations to come along with that. The problem is those pediatric hospitalizations are outpacing what youre seeing in adult populations. You have local leaders emphasizing testing. Everyone from the Chicago Public schools district which is sending out more than 150,000 test kits to families to local leaders opening and emphasizing these pop up Testing Sites. But you hear that running a little bit counter to that cdc guidance and that updated guidance which emphasized masking a little more than testing. Doctor walensky was on the air earlier this morning, and she explained that slight discrepancy youre hearing. In those recommendations we do not recommend a test for several reasons. First, we know the pcr test can stay positive for 12 weeks. So months your pcr test can be positive. If youre waiting for a negative pcr, youd be isolating for months. In terms of the antigen, we dont know how the tests perform, whether they can predict whether you can transmit virus or not. Reporter mike memoli also mentioned the concerns that youre seeing with whether or not the rapid Antigen Tests detect the omicron variant. Doctor walensky saying the pcr tests are the gold standard, but we know those usually take a bit long tore get backs to folks and that adds to the testing crunch not just in illinois but across the country. I want to bring in nbcs Heidi Przybyla in washington d. C. Where the twoweek case spike is higher than all 50 states. School starts up next week. In addition to the testingdriven policies to try to get kids in school and keep them in school, what are you hearing . Reporter thats what theyre trying to do. If you look at the big urban districts, theyre all trying to send children back in person. Some of them with additional measures and some of them with no additional measures on top of the hygiene measures theyve already taken. Before the break, the cdc outlined an approach they say is the gold standard. Weve seen it work in other states like massachusetts. Its called test to stay. But its very labor intensive. It requires testing all students twice a week as long as they are negative, even if theyve been exposed. They can come back into the classroom. New york, even with all the resources the state is pouring in there, is not doing a. They are doing random sampling. If a child tests positive, then theyll administer the test. Thats because there are a lot of obstacles to following this new guidance from the cdc. Take a listen to a principals organization, ceo, who i interviewed earlier. It is a tall order. This is this is a lot of testing. And other places that have done this kind of testing everywhere, youve seen across the country where businesses and others have done this. It has been a massive effort. Principals and teachers and school staff should be focussed on teaching kids and making sure theyre well. Reporter so weve heard from new york yesterday. Were about to hear from washington d. C. , actually, within the hour, but the reality is we havent heard from a lot of districts about how theyre changing things due to the new variant. Right before the holiday, there was a survey that found that of those 100 largest districts, just 13 are going to be implementing test to stay. They have been given billions of dollars by the federal government, but, of course, the government did not say specifically how that money is supposed to be spent, and a lot of them say the testing and the staff to administer the test is just going to have to come from local Health Departments or State Governments. Doctor hilton, theyre talking about a test to stay. Weve got millions of kids about to head back to school at the same time that we are seeing a troubling up tick in pediatric hospitalizations. What do you think districts need to consider most when they are making their plans this january . Right. Well, we have to consider most that even when were talking about the testing, one in every five schools within the United States of america, thats why we have a school nurse. So who is going to administer the tests and the vaccines as our children are going to be able to get vaccinated and or boosted. And the question is also, if were look agent the schools, which schools dont even have proper ventilation . Had we put money and invested in the Ventilation System the also is no. We have to start pushing back and saying is this a time when we have literally increase of 400 in new york city, of children being hospitalized within the last couple weeks . Is this the time to bring those children back into a school that is not prepared for that . Do we need to go back to being virtual at this point . I know americans will probably be mad at me, but i would rather you be mad at me than bury your child within a couple weeks. Have we strained from the game the Rules Of Engagement that covid has put into place that we were stating in march of 2020, which is to mitigate the spread and socially distance, avoid large crowds. Or are we saying were tired and as our cases are rising, as you children are being involved, we are rolling back measures of protection. It is simply not the time to do that. And like i said, at this point, we are looking at a variant that is more infectious. It is more infectious than delta. Yes but if more persons are getting infected, what is a smaller percentage of a bigger number . Its a big number. And america, we have a serious problem unless we get ahead of this and try to mitigate the spread as much as we possibly can. Dr. Hilton, people may not like what youre saying, but youre not the first to say it on our air. We have heard other doctors saying going virtual might be longer but might be better in the long run. I want to ask you about the nature of the omicron strain. The cdc is saying its not as dominant across the u. S. As they originally thought. At first they thought it was about 73 of new cases. Now theyre saying it accounts for roughly 59 of cases. What do you make of that adjustment . What does that tell you about this variant . What it tells me is that delta is still reigning king. And if that is the case, and we know delta is more deadly. Again, when were talking about scaling back our measures of prevention of infection, when were talking that in a setting of when we know we have waning efficacy with the two doses and even if you have a booster, studies are showing by ten weeks out. I got any booster shot in september. By 10 weeks out, 30 to 50 efficacy with that vaccine. And we may have bcells and tcells involved, but the question is do we want to risk that . Do we want to risk infection of a virus when we dont know the longterm consequences and particularly, when our children are being involved, we as adults have to make Adult Decisions to say although i do not like it, i will risk, and i will sacrifice certain pleasures in order to protect the ones that cannot protect themselves. And that means wearing the masks. If i were talking to those who are in charge, i would say mandate n95s. Send them to every home, particularly to those people who may not be able to afford or get their hands on it. And make testing. Provide those for those who are most vulnerable. For those persons who again along the social vulnerability index, who you know cannot afford this, when 60 of americans make less than 40 ,000 a year, those are the persons we need to focus our attention on and stop centering the privilege. I literally stating our policies, rooted in equity and targeting the most first. Dr. Hilton, thank you so much. Shaq, heidi, thank you all for being with us. And we just want to note, that white house Covid Briefing we mentioned at the beginning of the hour, it started but as you can see, it is an audio only briefing. We are listening to it. Well bring you briefings as we get them. So far the white house Covid Response coordinator said the message the white house is sending is clear. If you need something, say something, and the federal government will mobilize to get it to you. Tributes pouring in for Longtime Senate democratic leader harry reid who died tuesday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. The 82yearold nevada lawmaker became a washington power broker. He beat back an attempt to partially privatize social security. Barack obama saying in part, quote, i wouldnt have been president had it not been for your encouragement and support, and i wouldnt have got most of what i got done without your skill and determination. Our capitol hill correspondent allie joining me now. A whole lot of love and tributes pouring in for harry reid today. Thats for sure. Exactly right. And from both sides of the political aisle. Hearing from President Joe Biden who said for harry it wasnt about power for powers sake. It was about the power to do right for the people. And on the other side of the aisle, someone who reid sparred with repeatedly during his tenure as Senate Majority leader. His counterpart on the republican side saying i never doubted that harry was always doing what he earnestly, deeply felt was right for nevada and our country. You also mentioned the letter that former president barack obama said that he shared with reid in the waning days of his life. Joking at another point in that letter about reids often brusk style of ending phone calls. Obama said for reid it might be hard for him to talk on the phone, but he never really liked to talk on the phone that much anyway. Its important to note as many have, the Humble Beginnings rising from rural nevada, growing up in abject poverty, reid rising to the highest echelons of political power here in washington d. C. And this is how he said he did it. I didnt make it because of my good looks. I didnt make it because im a genius. I made it because i worked hard. That hard work leaving him as someone who is remembered as the most powerful elected politician in nevada history. Someone who is remembered now as much for his commitment to the senate as an institution as he was to his commitment to getting things done and his political shrewdness. You talked about the way that he heralded through so many top obama legislative items. Chief among them the Affordable Care act which changed health care in this country. One of My Favorite Things you referenced, the phone calls. People saying sometimes he wouldnt even say goodbye before the call ended. It was just over. Amazing tributes today. Thank you for sharing them. Thanks. Coming up, jurors in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial say they are make progress as they consider the conspiracy and Sex Trafficking charges against her. First, demands for justice and answers from the family of the 14yearold girl shot and killed by l. A. Police while she was hidden in a Dressing Room. What we heard from her heart broken parents, next. Emerge tremfyant®. Tremfya® is approved to help reduce joint symptoms in adults with active psoriatic arthritis. Some patients even felt less fatigued. Serious allergic reactions may occur. Tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. Emerge tremfyant® with tremfya®. Ask you doctor about tremfya® today. The best things america makes are the things america makes out here. The history she writes in her clear blue skies. The legends she births on hometown fields. And the future she promises. When we made grand wagoneer, proudly assembled in america, we knew no object would ever rank with the best things in this country. But we believed we could make Something Worthy of their spirit. Welcome to silversneakers. 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She was later accidentally shot and killed by a stray Police Bullet when she was in a Dressing Room behind and unmarked wall. Police were responding to a report of assault with a Deadly Weapon and a possible shooting at the store. Her mother speaking at a press conference yesterday, said seeing a child die in your arms is, quote, one of the greatest and most profound pain that any human being can imagine. Nbc has more from los angeles. Reporter the victim was just 14 and taking cover in a fitting room as officers closed in on the suspect. Today her family is calling for justice as new video reveals the terrifying moments that led to the deadly shooting. We should warn you some of the images are graphic. Victim down. Victim down. This morning newly released Video Shows Police making their way through a busy Department Store two days before christmas, guns drawn. Officers respond to a Vid Radio Call for a deadly assault finding their suspect in front of a fitting room before opening fire. At least one round killing the man police say attacked other customers. But another ricochetting off the ground and piercing a wall on the other side, 14yearold valentina orellanaperalta is inadvertently but fatally hit. Her mother speaking through tears thursday. She says her teenage daughter died in her arms while trying on a dress for an upcoming christmas party. Never should this 14yearold little girl ended up as Collateral Damage at a shopping plaza. Evacuate the building. I have a hostile customer in my store attacking customers. The moments leading up to the Tense Exchange captured on security and Body Camera Footage released by lapd. Maam hes breaking things. Authorities say the 24yearold attacked multiple women in the North Hollywood Department Store. Hes seen brutally beating one person with a bike lock. People trying to warn shoppers inside. Not everyone could. The young woman and her mother caught in the cross fire. Her family now asking for justice amid increased scrutiny of police tactics. The police chief calling the incident chaotic saying hes committed to a thorough and complete transparent investigation. Reporter the officer who fired the deadly rounds has been placed on administrative leave. The investigation could take up to a year. The parents say theyll keep pushing for answers until they get clarity on how things could have gone so wrong insisting something should have been done differently. Up next, deliberations in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial are moving along according to the jurors. The judge could have them working overtime if they dont reach a verdict soon. What weve heard from the courtroom, next. Heard from the courtroom, next. Throughout history ive observed markets shaped by the intentional and unforeseeable. 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Crowd Cheering therabreath, its a better mouthwash. At walmart, target and other fine stores. This morning in new york jurors are weighing charges against Ghislaine Maxwell, accused of Recruiting Girls as young as 14 to be Saul We Assaulted by jeffrey epstein. The judge says shell instruct the jury to deliberate every day from here on out because of the recent spike in covid cases. Joining me now ron allen. What can we expect today, ron . Reporter well, were not quite sure. Yesterday the jury asked no questions. Today theyve asked for Witness Testimony from about five different witnesses. And theres also a lot of concern about the schedule Going Forward. Theyre supposed to have tomorrow off and off into the new year holidays. But the judge is concerned about covid. And she has indicated that she apparently wants the jury to deliberate every day Going Forward to avoid any one juror, court official, anyone, a defense attorney, prosecutor, becoming infected by covid because the problem is so prevalent in new york. Its everywhere. And the judge is very concerned about a possible mistrial if a juror should become infected or anyone in the court environment, and theres a need for quarantine. So thats looming over the trial. Things have been proceeding. Were over 30 hours now. How long will this take . No one knows, and its been complicated by the fact that the jury had a break in the deliberations around the christmas holiday. So bottom line is were taking this one day at a time. Half a day at a time to see where all this lands. Of course, theres no way of knowing what the jury is thinking other than these questions theyve asked. But basically theyve been asking for more and more testimony as they try to piece together what happened over the twoweek trial. All right. Ron allen outside the courthouse in new york. Thank you so much. Joining me now, former federal prosecutor cynthia oxny, an msnbc legal analyst. Were in day five of deliberations in the maxwell trial. Its a complicated one for jurors to piece their way through. They say things are moving along. If youre in the prosecutors chair, what are you thinking as you watch the deliberations stretch on day five potentially a day six . Well, the concern is that you always want to encourage them to continue to meet, and theres a delicate balance between pushing them to move forward to a verdict which would be improper but encouraging them to get to a verdict. And thats a balance that everybody is worried about in the courtroom. The judge is worried about it because the judge never wants to be overturned. The prosecutor is worried about it and the defense attorney doesnt want to push to a verdict, but would be happy to push to a hung jury. So everybody has these Different Things theyre thinking about. This jury seems like theyre working through it. They say theyre working through it. Theyre asking for sticky notes and asking for they have interesting questions theyre asking specifically about. The testimony very specific things like tell me about exactly what this witness said, particularly to this movement from new mexico to new york. So thats a jury thats being super careful. And they have to be in this case. The Jury Instructions are complicated. Theres six different counts. Three of them about the Sexual Assault and three about the conspiracy regarding the sexual accounts of the first three. Its very confusing. Its very difficult, and they need to go slowly. Cynthia, we just heard jurors sent another note. Theyve been working with sticky notes. They asked for Trial Testimony Transcripts from four people. I know its so difficult to ask you this, but what does it tell you about where they are . It doesnt tell you anything. Because you never know with a jury. They could be jumping around and looking at different counts. Or they could be going sequentially through counts. And as much as you try to read the tea leaves, my experience, theyre just tea leaves, and you just dont know. But what you do know is they havent rejected this out of hand. Right . They are looking at it very carefully. And they are looking about the relationship between epstein and maxwell and what is her role . And well just have to wait and see. And hope that we can get through this case without covid interrupting. Fortunately, the judge has five alternate jurors in case someone gets sick. So our viewers know, if one juror has to go out because of covid, they have to start totally over so every juror is involved in the entire discussion. And that would slow the process down and make it difficult. So the best thing that can happen is the judge can give it more and more time for the jury so that they can come to a conclusion before covid gets involved. Yeah. Lets hope that is not another issue they need to contend with. Cynthia, thank you so much for being with us. Right. Day six of deliberations in the Elizabeth Holmes trial starting right now in california. She claimed her Blood Testing Startup could do dozens of tests with just a finger trick. She has pleaded not guilty to all the counts. She could face up to 20 years in prison if shes convicted. Ben popkin covering this trial for us. Ben, where is this jury with the deliberations this morning . Could we potentially get a verdict before the new year . The jury is about to resume the holmes trial. Theyve been at it for 36 1 2 hours. After three months of listening to testimony varying from the extremely technical to emotional bomb shells from holmes herself, eight men and four women all want to go home. Unlike in the maxwell case, theres no status report from the jury. Theyve only asked two questions so far, and we havent heard a peep from them since the 23rd. A verdict could happen any day. We dont know until the end of each day when the court announces if theyll continue the next. Everyone is on stand by. Sure sounds like it. Ben, we know holmes is charged with si counts for allegedly Lying Tillerson Ves or thes and patients this. She took the stand in her own defense. How did that go . Was it effective in getting her story across to this jury . Well, experts say that holmes is risking moves. She may have been her own best witness. She put a human face to the prosecutions story of fraud and ambition and gripped the courtroom with the emotional Testimony Aboutol that she suff from the hands of her partner. Experts say this could also backfire. They noted the contrast between her vivid recollections on these matters and then the contrast between that and her avoidance of questions, big memories, refrains of i dont know when it came to items that work against her. Even when it came to emails shown to the court that she sent herself or was copied on. Juries notice this inconsistency, her own words could save her or seal her own fate. So lets talk about how the complicated nature of this case, the charges against holmes, made this such a challenging task for the jury. You talked about just the health of information and testimony that theyre going through right now. Well, this is actually a pretty straightforward fraud case. Even if the details about the machines and Blood Testing is technical. There was never any question about what Elizabeth Holmes said, wrote or did. Much of it pretty publicly. She made misleading statements to the media, public and investors. At one point the company was burning through 2 million a week and investors were told it was on track to bring in 1 billion a year when it had no revenue at the time. The only real question the jury has to decide in the holmes case is did she have enough criminal intent to convict . The Defense Arguing that when she made the misleading statements j she believed them. The prosecution arguing she chose fraud over business failure. All right. Ben, thank you so very much. A fifth victim has died after the Shooting Spree monday night across the denver metro area. A 28yearold, a clerk at a denver hotel was shot several times. She died in the hospital tuesday. The officer who shot and killed the suspect and was shot as well is still in the hospital. Police still dont know who was behind the rampage, but they say Law Enforcement knew of the shooting suspect. Our local nbc affiliate reporting he selfpublished a trilogy of violence laden books two years ago and this attack resembles the plots in one of the books. The build back better bill, can Senate Democrats get it back on track in the new year . Well talk about the plan next. R well talk about the plan next i. Quit cold turkey. Kidding me . instead, start small. With nicorette. Which can lead to something big. Start stopping with nicorette some people have joint pain, plus have high Blood Pressure. They may not be able to take just anything for pain. Thats why doctors recommend tylenol®. It wont raise Blood Pressure the way that advil® aleve® or motrin® sometimes can. For trusted relief, trust tylenol®. People everywhere living with that advil® aleve® or motrin® sometimes can. Type 2 diabetes are waking up to whats possible. With rybelsus®. The majority of people taking rybelsus® lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than 7. Rybelsus® isnt for people with type 1 diabetes. 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If youre coming in hungry, theres no way you can listen to me teach, do this activity, work with this group. So starting their day with breakfast and ending their day with this big, Beautiful Snack is pretty incredible. [narrator] whether kids are learning at school or at home, your support will ensure they get the healthy meals they need to thrive because when you help feed kids, you feed their hopes, dreams, and futures. Kids in your community and across america need you now more than ever. Call or go online to helpnokidhungry. Org right away and help Feed Hungry Kids today. Senate democrats hoping to vote on the president s build back better bill early next year, but what will the Spending Bill look like and will democrats have joe manchin and the progressives on board . Joining me now, the Maryland Democratic senator. Senator, thank you for being with us. Especially given that its the holidays. And given that, the president says he hasnt spoken to joe manchin. Whats the status of build back better . Any talks recently . What can you tell isnt it true. Its what can you tell us . We had a Senate Democratic caucus meeting last week. And the mood was very upbeat in the sense that i think we are going to get something important done. Look, the American People are feeling the financial squeeze in their Family Budgets, and so this initiative will help lower the cost of prescription drugs, lower the cost of child care. It will expand opportunities for every american through early education, and more apprenticeships and Job Training Opportunities and help fight the climate crisis. I do think major pieces of this will ultimately get over the finish line. So you mentioned the squeeze on families and the climate crisis. How worried are you about losing or reducing the Child Tax Credit or the Climate Portions of this bill . Well, i think well be able to keep the Climate Portions and were going to fight very hard to keep the Child Tax Credit. Because thats just a little extra money in peoples Family Budgets that help them meet ends meet, and the results of that was cutting Child Poverty almost in half in the United States, and thats a good thing, but its not a good thing if it ends at the end of this year which its currently scheduled to do. Were going to be fighting very hard to try to keep that important provision in place. As you know, that means up to 300 per child per family. Thats helping relieve the squeeze on Family Budgets. Its hard to believe, but in just a couple days, we in a midterm year. The democratic majority on the hill both in the house and senate razor thin. If the president of your party cant point a major win in your party and the pandemic keeps dragging on, what will it mean for the midterms . Lets not forget the huge accomplishments in the first year. Beginning with the American Rescue plan. It helped deploy vaccines more quickly and more equitably throughout the country and helped stabilize the economy, and the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Either of those alone would be considered and are major accomplishments. But we know that theres still work to be done. Thats why we want to pass this Important Initiative to help families, you know, in the ways weve just talked about. Also were pushing ahead with the freedom to vote act. Were about to come up on the awful anniversary of january 6th where there was an effort to prevent the vote count with the violent mob attacking the capitol. When that didnt work, we saw State Legislatures around the country or republicancontrolled legislatures passing laws making it harder for people to vote. We want to address that as an urgent matter of business in january as well. You mentioned Voting Rights there. How optimistic are you . Whats your take on whether you can get something done on Voting Rights as we head into the new year . I think a lot of americans are feeling like okay, a year has ended. There were perhaps accomplishments in 2021, but show me what youve got in 2022. Well, this is an existential threat to our democracy. Whats happening in these State Legislatures. I think theres agreement among every member of the Democratic Caucus that its important to do something about it. Unfortunately, we dont have a single republican senator willing to stand up to protect our democracy. And so we are working as a caucus to try to make sure we get all 50 of our members to find a path to getting this done. And january will be the make or break month for doing that. Yeah. Senator, before you go, i just wanted to ask you today about harry reid, the former Senate Majority leader passing away yesterday. Is there something in particular youll remember most about him, or would just like to share in his memory . Sure. I love harry reid. I was in the house when he was the Majority Leader in the senate, but i was a member of the house leadership. So every couple weeks five of us from the house led by Speaker Pelosi would meet with harry reid and some of the democratic senators, and harry was a fighter. That word is overused in american politics. But not when it comes to harry reid. As you know, he came from a very humble background. Was a scrappy boxer. And then rose to the most powerful position in the senate, and used that power to help the underdog, and to try to push for dignity and fairness for every american. A man of very few words. He didnt stand on ceremony. He wasnt big on small talk, but he was focussed on getting the job done, and he did. Senator, thank you so much for sharing that tribute to him. We really appreciate it. Happy new year to you. Happy new year. And were also remembering a true force in football. How the nfl players and fans are mourning john madden, next. , xt it took awhile, but at least we got a great deal on our hotel with kayak. I was afraid we wouldnt go. With our divorce and. Great divorce guys. Yeah. Search 100s of travel sites at once. Kayak. Search one and done. Get your personal points plan im james corden and im here to tell people that ww is getting even more personal. Keep on shopping, ignore us. Ive lost like 28 pounds. You look great i love that my clothes fit better, but i just love ice cream a little bit more than that. The new Ww Personalpoints Program is particular to you. So what kind of foods do you like . Avocado. Ice cream. Sandwiches. No food is off limits. When can i start . start the new year with three months free join today at ww. Com hurry offer ends january 3rd 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 im secretly terrified inside. Inner voice sneaker shop owner im using Hand Gestures and pointing. So no one can tell im unsure about my business finances. Inner voice Furniture Maker im constantly nodding. Because i know everything about furniture. But with the business side. Im 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. On tuesday nfl hall of fame coach and broadcaster john madden died at 85 years old. We look at what he meant to an entire generation of football fans. John maddens impact on the game of football, pop culture, and video games was as big as his personality. One of the most identifiable figures in sports. On the sidelines as an nfl head coach, come on defense and for decades as a broadcaster, its just super football. I love these kinds of games, he left a larger than Life Footprint on the nfl. He makes a little Basketball Twist and pivot and boom the ball is there. With the winningest record in history, a super bowl ring, with the raiders, and his enjoyable maddenisms. He teamed up with pat somerall and they became one of the most beloved broadcast teams. Al michaels said it was his connection to people that transcended the support. I think it had to do with him traveling all of those years on a bus. He saw parts of the country that the rest of the country never sees. Something clicked whether or not it was Beer Commercials my beer tastes great. Snl hosting gigs in the 80s. Are you kidding me . Movie cam owes in the 2000s, or for many younger people. Bam, the blitz starts now. It was the video game with his name and likeness that kept generations of gamers glued to their screens. The nfl today remembers a once in a lifetime figure with players like tom brady paying tribute. Few individuals meant as much to the growth and popularity of football as coach madden. Whose impact on the game was immeasurable. No one has ever loved him as much in this as the game of football. He was always a team first kind of guy. I ride on the shoulders of hundreds of friends. Coaches, players, friends, colleagues. I say this, i thank you all very much. And this has been the sweetest ride of them all. A little more on that bus, the madden cruiser. People would follow that thing for miles as it went through their town and john would get off and sign autographs and go to coffee shops and candy stores. Nbc news, back to you. That was sam brock. Im alison morrison. In the next hour, more on the omicron surge. Next. E omicron surge. Next new vicks convenience pack. Dayquil severe for you. And daily vicks super c for me. Vicks super c is a daily supplement with vitamin c and b vitamins to help energize and replenish. Dayquil severe is a max strength daytime, coughing, power through your day, medicine. New from vicks. Plaque psoriasis, the burning, itching. The pain. 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The Biden Administration putting a hold on some Trump Administration material that the House Committee requested. Plus saying goodbye to a senate titan. How the political world is