mid january. also, nbc news reports was expected to authorize pfizer's booster shots for kids ages 12 to 15 in a matter of days. and a new study shows that johnson & johnson booster shots offer strong protection against the omicron variant. yet, the relentless spread of omicron is fueling concerns about safety. ahead of tomorrow's new years eve's celebrations. >> omicron and delta are coming ahead. you need to think twice about how many people will be gathered together. >> some communities are dialing back. they are going ahead with their scaled back celebration in times square tomorrow night. and that is despite the highest number of covid cases that the city is ever seen. >> it is going to be outdoors, vaccinations only, masks required, social distance. but we want to show that moving forward is fighting our way through. meanwhile the cdc has an urgent new warning for anyone considering a cruise. saying that they should be avoided. regardless of vaccination status. the omicron variant could also be blamed in part for another destruction in the airline industry. and in the news line, steep addison had what millions of travelers are facing. >> tonight, the great cancellation of air travel is known collision with the new year. after four days in a row of more than 1000 cancellation, or lines are trimmed down even more. delta, already cutting back flights through the new years weekend. alaska airlines didn't by 20%, strongly urging travelers with nonessential trips before january 2nd to re-book. and jetblue, canceling 1280 flights from now until mid january. i this is impacting airline stuff. it's lashing the country from coast to coast. >> also tonight, rare and sudden winter even wildfires in colorado are forcing thousands of people to evacuate from two towns near boulder. colorado's governor has declared a state of emergency. several people have been injured with hundreds of buildings that have been destroyed. they are also following the latest developments in the house committee's january six investigation. in exactly one week, it's going to be a full year since pro rioters attacked the united states capital. today, the panel asked to reject the former presidents request to keep his white house records a secret. >> they also asked the high court to take the case. this is also a critical day for biden. he just spent under an hour speaking on the phone with russian president, vladimir putin. took the call from the delaware home and bloomington and the crisis on russians border with ukraine. officials say biden also warned vladimir putin of the consequences of a russian invasion. with all of that, let's bring in our lead off guest on this thursday night peter baker, chief white house correspondent for the new york times. we maya wiley, a civil rights attorney and former assistant u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york. also with us is doctor ebony jade hilton. doctor ebony jade hilton, i want to start with. you as with so many days in the past three years, covid is the new story that we are all thinking about right now. where are we right now in the search and what do you see ahead? do we have what we need to handle it? [inaudible] >> i don't hear dr. hilton so we may be having trouble with their connection. i'm going to go to maya. just on where we stand with the pandemic looming ahead of the new year. be worried that you see things with all of the stories, the politics of the covid mandates and the supreme court considering whether or not to uphold the white house's vaccine requirements. >> yes, zerlina maxwell, one thing that you said at the top is that we have a very serious issue with the omicron variant. we still have the delta variant. and we are seeing infections soar. fortunately, we have not seen such high hospitalization rates but the fact remains that when people are vaccinated, they are much less likely to be hospitalized. and that is important because what we know so far is that one of the things that we need is for people to be vaccinated in order for our health care system to be able to take care of those who need to be hospitalized whether it is because of omicron or because they have cancer or some other very serious life threatening illness that requires hospitalization. we what the department of justice said today to the supreme court is that there is no way that those trying to fight the vaccine mandate that president biden put up for employers who have 100 employees or more or have a sensible strategy that protects the public health workers. and says that they are clearly not following the mandate. what it says is that you are either require vaccination or you can choose to be tested every week and to wear a mask at work. and if that is not the power that has on congress then as we know of what we are caring about omicron hospitalization, we are already hearing about exhaustion through hospitalize workers. we are talking about celebrations being canceled. we are hearing that people aren't able to be showing up at work. who are being told to show up at work despite the fact that they're ill. which is only going to spread infection. so i suspect that we are going to have an argument on january 7th which is highly unusual with a case like this. but it is very worrying if those vaccine mandates aren't allowed to stand. >> doctor hilton, i do believe that we have you back, and as maya just laid out there, the fight in the courts to uphold these vaccine mandates, that is all happening as we are currently experience for this omicron surge. where do you see us right now in the search? and what lies ahead? >> hi, i apologize. i'm actually in a store then -- when we know is at this point that every day the average of three americans are testing positive press second. this is the state we are at. we don't have time to wait until january 7th to figure it out. at this stage, we literally have had tripling of our cases since the beginning of december which is 1.9 million new cases last week alone. and we are looking at who is actually getting infected. we know more and more, not only our hospitals trying to fill up, we finally have 89,000 hospitalized which is the highest in september, about 40,000 in the last seven. week what is really filling up is literally the pediatric hospital. at this point, we had one in every ten children. and so the question, is when are we going to have agencies like the cdc made by the surgeon general and the white house itself. this is not something that can wait. because at this point, we are literally burning through our population even infected with the virus that we don't know the long consequences terms of. it is not just about the death, which at this when we have 825,000 americans who are dead. but it is also about the long term consequences including long term covid which leads to permanent disability for millions of americans up to 50% of who have been infected. >> i'm peter, with both the things maya said about the fight over the vaccine mandates and all of the health consequences that doctor ebony jade hilton alluded to the white house, it seems surprised that omicron spread so rapidly all over the country. with all this in mind, is there a plan to do more in the year ahead? >> yes, this is not where president biden wanted to be at the end of the year. but at this point, we need administration. they need to have their handle on the pandemic. even as far back as july they were declaring independence from covid on independence day of july 4th. and it's affecting so many lives in so many ways, we just talked about, it it's not just the people who are sick, it's the airlines that are canceled, it's the businesses that don't have enough staff to stay open. it is exactly what the biden administration did not want at this point. there are those who say, look, the biden administration to could sound the ball. why are we having shortages of tests on this point? we are only two years into the pandemic. why should this be something that we aren't able to take care of? you can't go into drugstores to get. one there are a lot of people wondering what the biden administration plans to do from now. on they proposed to talk about getting 500 million testings to americans by january. but people need them. now they need them today. they need them to travel. they need them to get to the holidays and get back to work. it's a marvel and remarkable moment that we're dealing as basic as a testing shortage again nearly two days into. this >> yes, it's really concerning in terms of the long lines through the holiday inn people to get tested. and dr. hilton, one of the other factors that people have been focused on in the last few weeks is the strain on our hospital systems. we have heard this earlier from the president of the american nurses association. >> nurses, and other members of the health care team are experiencing extreme mental fatigue. we hear from nurses that they are supposed to be working at 12 hours shift but my 12 hour turns into 14 or 16 hours. i am only getting one day a week off because my employer is calling and asking if i can work overtime. or there is mandatory overtime. >> dr. hilton, what are you seeing in hospitals right now? >> i feel for our nurses. our nurses are critical piece of our team. we also help the respiratory therapists who have been helping our team. and the persons within the cafeteria who have now turned into frontline health care workers on a daily day basis because they are coming into contact with patients who are coming into the hospital. and when we talk about these off, as a physician side, we literally don't have any loss that says how many hours we work per week. i have never -- we are looking at 80 hours, 100 hours of week being the standard now for many physicians day in and day out. and that is one thing. but the fatigue of going home and wondering if your affecting your family members, that is a whole another thing. and especially when we talk about the cdc mandate. now it's changing from five days to ten days. we know that many people are still even if they're not necessarily symptomatic. we are afraid, as health care workers, who work prematurely who are affecting other members and patience of who we have in our hospitals that are not covid-19 positive. it is not that we have only patients to take care of, it's everyone in the hospital. we cannot draw these conclusions. there is the mandate for the mask that is not been reinstated. if they're looking at the guidelines, you can test positive and quarantine for five days and wear a mask for another five days. that tells us that the cdc validates the importance of mask in reducing transmission. so why is it that we are having over 500,000 cases positive today. why hasn't the cdc said that masks need to be mandated for every single american so we can get ahead of the outbreak that we have nationwide? >> it is such a good point about masking because, my, it feels like a lot of the decisions about the public health are being driven in part by the politics. how much do democratic goals for 2022 in term of handling this pandemic have to do with getting it under control? getting the surge under control in the next few weeks? >> unfortunately, we have politicized the pandemic. we literally saw republicans and over 130 republican members of the house fighting to stop defend see vaccine mandate. a lot of them were interrupting the use of mask. they are going to school board meetings deciding to wear a mask. it has become literally a battle line about politics versus what protects public health and all the people that we have been talking about. this is how i don't defend the biden administration or the things that we should be doing. i think that we also have to recognize that i am dealing with an administration that has been refusing to do anything other than trying to lie. all of these major public health and professions that are so necessary, and if it weren't for the biden administration, we'd have that conversation about [inaudible] >> and unfortunately this is still conversations that we're having about how to stop the pandemic. and whether or not we're going to listen to the science. and another thing that we have raised, and i want to make sure that we're all clear on, when we're discussing this off line we have a vulnerable population. people have disabilities, health care issues, in communities who are colored have been hit with death rates and infection rates. they need n95 mask. where and how are we seeing the prevention of the federal government of states and cities where they are needed the most in the highest rates of infections? we do need all of that to have been. but it really does need to take us to come it is all together important,. about making sure that the people have the supplies and resources and support they need in the disability community. peter i want to turn to another topic, and that's the phone call that happened today between president biden and vladimir putin. the russian leader reportedly warned that a total break in relations, should the united states sanction -- over ukraine. what was behind putin's request for the call, and could biden find himself having to respond to a russian invasion, of ukraine? >> will that certainly the worst-case scenario at this point, absolutely. this is the second phone call the two of them and had this month. this one was requested by president putin. we're still at 100 percent sure why he requested it, whether it's a congress as we have heard about -- but would have been read out by the white house says a tense conversation. it would you say president putin warned of a complete rupture relations with the united states if the united states replies sanctions. -- but to respond to ukraine with economic sanctions if possibly another measures. but that doesn't seem to be de-escalating at all really voter tool situation right now. is leading up to talks that are scheduled and take place in geneva between american russian negotiator in january 10th, we'll see whether that has the poll some -- key out of this particular moment. but it's kind of manufactured crisis. will putin is saying, basically is -- a nato to be -- wires acting now. to make this a member. there are new no new weapons -- but so i now? what is he trying to accomplish right now and is he serious about musings military force this point beyond ukraine. but he's already in fact military. force that's a big question for american biden the american administration. >> here bakery, and thank you for next year's analysis -- thank you so much, please stay safe. coming up, january 6th exactly one week away. what we have learned about the inner divide of this country over the past year. and later, they struck a look at the political events of 2021. spoiler alert, we are entering the new year in uncharted territory. the 11th hour is just getting underway on this last thursday, of 2021. of 2021. do you struggle to fall asleep and stay asleep? qunol sleep formula combines 5 key nutrients that can help you fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, and wake up refreshed. the brand i trust is qunol. every day in business brings something new. so get the flexibility of the new mobile service designed for your small business. introducing comcast business mobile. you get the most reliable network with nationwide 5g included. and you can get unlimited data for just $30 per line per month when you get four lines or mix and match data options. available now for comcast business internet customers with no line-activation fees or term contract required. see if you can save by switching today. comcast business. today, marks exactly one week powering possibilities. until january six. in many americans, nearly a year after the insurrection remains split over the attack. as you my, guest democrats of intimate dependence -- view of january six much more seriously than republicans. back with us tonight, democratic strategy don calloway, decked out in hbcu gear is always, into miller a contributor of the bulwark. tim miller all-star with you. what is the short term solution here? how do we hold those people accountable if they were at all participants, or affiliated with would happen on january 6th? >> zoe, i think is the big question -- particular the people who are big members of congress and the ringleaders of this effort. i'm happy that the justice department, and desist seems to be doing gives job -- but it doesn't really feel satisfactory just to have the guy with the horns. go to jail. the january 6th insurrection was something they came out of the mind of the actions, of the president united states, and several members of congress. other very prominent leaders in this country. the january six commission, i feel nothing but positively about what we've seen come out of there already. on the scene is gonna be legal court hearings coming forth up in july, and i think that's the path forward. the one thing that we know is not the path forward, is republican electoral system is gonna take care. this nor is being punished politically within the publican party. no one's gonna lose a primary over this. frankly the exact opposite, the more sympathetic you are the one six, the better position you are in primaries. this select committee and they just department are gonna have to do their job. >> and on given with him just dead, which in the democratic message be into 2022. not just about the midterms, about the policies like build back better, but about american democracy? >> i think the first democratic message has to be to pass the right to vote act. we can talk a lot about infrastructure bills but bipartisan -- world we knew see some semblance of build back better. but the bottom line is the first quarter of next year, you gotta have voting rights next. year or you will not have a free and fair midterm election in 2022. i don't want to be doing in gloom guy and i'm not a communications guy -- but republicans we neither chamber of united states congress doesn't way to, you will never again see a free affair presidential election in which republican led congress certifies democratic president. it simply won't. happen they try to take aides peaceful transition of power on january 6th, and there have been no a criminal accountability for members of congress who -- when you start making the distinction between insurrectionists like the suwannee who tent refers to -- or the shaman that he calls himself. let's talk in distinguishing between those insurrectionists in the members of congress, because they were in congress. they were scuttling the proper channels to power. there were no different than the insurrectionists that were outside of their, the chargers. and that has to be out of the the message out of there. because that's the, line that's one of the. same if you did people get a hold, you never see democrat certified president again if one of them as a power to obstruct via the kit chamber of congress. >> jim do you agree with that, given what you said about the fact that those folks have got along with the big lie, they haven't been marginalized, they've been essentially boosted. by the fact that they are components of that lie. how do you go forward with limiting the influence of those republicans's participate in allied that really as don put, it puts america's democracy are whisk in future elections? >> yes, it's news to me that the communications guy, because pretty news he's pretty good to me for someone who's not a communications. i basically agree with. in this little bit of doing gloom, associated with the never again will there be election -- i at least speaking for myself have to have more humility my permissions could've been sober in the past was to my predictions. i think in the near term, we can look at is 2024, i think john is exactly. right there is no reason to believe that kevin mccarthy or senate majority leader mitch mcconnell whatever is going to certify a close election that is lost -- williams who will like donald trump. they are symptomatic me going through and eliminating people -- and others who didn't think back policing the insurrectionist. i think looking ahead to 2024 there's a definite problem. and that is why my advice to democrats is to focus on their changes on voter suppression. they need to make sure that they can get something passed that can -- the weekend that we count the elections the way that we're counting 2024. because we cannot be in the situation again were random secretaries of state and the speaker of the house of michigan or something in the turning who won the election in michigan. i think there are ways to reform that when we count the ballots, that is maybe more urgent right now than some of the voters present. stuff which obviously it should do as well. but if they don't need to vote, fort basing in the county should be priority number one. >> all of that keeping in mind, is the theme of protecting american democracy. which is bipartisan. we just did that. -- you are sticking around coming up, what does it take to narrow the divide in this country in 2022. in the 11th hour continues. continues it's time for our lowest prices of the season on the sleep number 360 smart bed. it senses your movements and automatically adjusts to relieve pressure points. and its temperature balancing so you both sleep just right. save up to $1,000 on sleep number 360 smart beds. plus, no interest until january 2025. ends january 3rd. (swords clashing) -had enough? -no... arthritis. here. aspercreme arthritis. full prescription-strength? reduces inflammation? thank the gods. don't thank them too soon. democrats have a lot on the kick pain in the aspercreme. line heading into the new year. there is voting rights, there's whatever can be salvaged from the presidents build back better agenda and the very identity of the parties. still with us is don calloway and tim miller. don, will democrats get build back better passed and on biden's desk despite joseph manchin? >> i don't know. hopefully, possibly, maybe, yes, all of the above. the president has got to figure out what he can pass and that is a fair version of the bill. but the president and the vice president have to be aggressive about what they can do from executive orders. because those executive orders can put some things into place that can make not only the progressive but the moderate bates not only -- without going to the united states congress, people are thinking about things that have been important to do. so i think it's really time to examine what they can do through executive power. he has to figure out what he can do to deliver for the american people, particularly the energy that he needs to come out to vote in november without necessarily having to worry about joe manchin. it's time to step aside from the clown show which is joe manchin and his assistant kyrsten sinema. and move on to the serious conversations about what adults can do to make a lot of effort on important topics. >> speaking of clown show. tim, on the right you have the folks like marjorie taylor greene, paul gosar, and others who seem to be growing in power on the conservative side right now. do you think that they are going to be the controlling influence across the republican caucus going forward? or do you think they can be more moderate folks who may become the speaker? >> i think that kevin mccarthy is actually so weak as a leader. so i don't see an overthrow of the house caucus for lauren boebert who is going to be running for speaker of the house. i think that would you have seen over the past year is that kevin mccarthy winds when he needs to. he will step aside. let them advance their conspiracy. and he demonstrates that he's not going to try to fight with them, fight with, them control them in the way that john baer did. that is what's ended up being the death of them. they were seen as too hostile in the surge and tea party part of the caucus which is now a maga tea party conspiratorial monstrous that has grown even wilder since back then. but he has no interest to fight with them. so i think that he will be able to stay as the leader of the party. and the republicans will take over, and next year for sure. >> so quickly, what is the future of any agenda that the president would want to put forward? >> the only agenda that really matters is voting rights and preservation of democracy. and that is in serious peril with republicans. you won't see a democrat certified after winning in 24. but it will have serious ramification towards cleaning up the pass work of voter legislation that we've seen through the past three years. and within any democracy that is in shambles, if the president is not able to put forward substantial democracy and election -- >> definitely do not want democracy in shambles in 2022. but our thanks to don calloway, and tim miller for your incredible and helpful analysis for the your head. coming up, searching for a circle of any kind to help us maneuver through the politics of 2022. when the 11th hour continues. 11th hour continues wondering what actually goes into your multi-vitamin? at new chapter its innovation organic ingredients and fermentation. fermentation? yes, formulated to help your body really truly absorb the natural goodness. new chapter. wellness well done if we allow a president to be above the law, we surely due to the peril of our republic. >> i think that could be the end of our democracy, not to be too pointed about it but i want people to understand that this is a make or break point. >> our constitution, the structure of our institutions and the rule of law which are at the heart of what make america great are at stake. >> democrats have taken gains to sound the alarm. our democracy is in jeopardy. back with us tonight is celebrated author and presidential historian, michael beschloss. and michael, this is the first time in american history that we can actually say this is the year we had an insurrection. we actually did not have a peaceful transfer of power. has that fact really sunken? >> i think it hasn't. and i think that is partly because there has been so much happening that people are a little bit numb. look at the last four years that we went through. we went through a lot of things that we weren't prepared for. this pandemic is continuing and it is getting worse. the economy is being more unpredictable than many out hope for. even the threat from russia and china, that is not something that many people thought was necessarily in the cards for the year 2021. but the thing that certainly is out of history is a couple of things. number one, you go back in american history and the constitution of 1787, this is a country which has been remarkably unified. we have all sorts of differences but that moments of crisis, for instance, after pearl harbor franklin roosevelt would say let's fight hitler and the jump in these. most americans did. in 1962, when there were missiles in cuba, jon kennedy said, let's stand up to the russians. tell them to get them out. most americans supported him. and it happened. that would not happen today. because we are living in a time of lies and conspiracy theories. barack obama was supposed to be born in kenya. or said hussein was behind 9/11. or joe biden stole the election from donald trump. how many republicans believe that according to one poll? 66%. that is not something we've seen before. but what i love about your whole discussion this whole hour and all of our friends is that i agree with all of them. which is that, if we don't stand up for voting rights in 2022, it's game over. the centerpiece of this democracy is a system of voting that allows us to elect people to office and take them out when they lose. if you have people refusing to certify someone who has loved in a fair election -- miscellany by 1934, the fascist in italy, have established a one party system. 1934, we elections won by 91.84%. is that what we want? would i would say, and i apologize for such a long answer, but it's absolutely important. would i would say is that a lot of italians in 1934 said that if this was important what were we doing in 1933 and 1932? we could've done so much to try to stop or slow down mussolini. let's just say to all of our fellow americans, don't be someone like that. someone who gets to 2024 and our democracy is going out the window and you can stop that. >> so what is the list of priorities going forward look like? what is on the road map that you think we can and should follow? because you've laid out the fact that we don't have a roadmap. but if we did, what would it look like? >> i think that what it suggests is that we should look for the best in our country. we are going to have to find some way of picking through this bodyguard of lies such as joe biden's not winning the 2020 election. a pearl harbor perhaps up and right now, i would say many americans more geordie would say, fdr did it to get us involved in world war ii. or roosevelt was operating on behalf of some foreign power. there would be a lot of doubt. and in 1962, people might have said about john kennedy and the missiles in cuba, this is your fault. therefore we should turn away from your leadership. we've got to get back to that. but at the same time, will makes democracy work is when we want civil rights, it didn't happen because jon kennedy orlando johnson was a nice guy and said, let's get people the rights that they deserve. it happened because people pushed on them and said we demand this. voters had to do this. americans had to do this. and all i'm telling you is that if we see a silent generation in 2022 when we americans demand our leaders lead preserved, we will ruin the rest of our lives and our children's lives. voting rights have to be the paramount issue, the issue of survival in america in 2022. and that is just two days away. it is so important, michael thankfully you have agreed to stay just a little bit longer because we are going to try to leave everybody with a little bit of hope. up next, why michael sees at least some reason to hope for in the new year. and that's ahead. and that's ahead [♪♪] powerful skincare ingredients come dermatologist-recommended, and there's a brand that offers them at an affordable price. try olay skincare. olay regenerist, with 99% pure niacinamide provides 5 times the hydrating power of a prestige cream; while olay collagen peptide visibly firms and reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles; and olay retinol 24 brightens and smooths the skin while you sleep. for dermatologist-recommended ingredients at an affordable price, try olay skincare. nearly a year since an attempted coup on our capital in the midst of a global pandemic and facing gonna continue assault on our democracy at the ballot box. one could be forgiven for a sense of hopelessness. but still with us is michael beschloss we. and he says that we should have some hope. michael, you mentioned before the break that it is up to voters, ordinary americans, to step forward and tried to help american democracy survive. so let's go there. how do we do that? >> well that is what is wonderful about our country. and i think there's a lot of hope, zerlina maxwell. well i don't want to do is in 2023, after our democracy is going out the window, people say jeez i was distracted doing other things. i sure wish i lifted a finger to save democracy and election for our children's. that is the way our system works. and if you look at american history, if you study, it if you look at the way i do and i know that you do, go back to 1787 and all the years before. this is not in any way a perfect country. but it's a country that in general tends to improve because we americans demanded. we get over economic crisis, we get out of a war, we get unfairness. sometimes it's one step forward and another step back. and we've gotten over pandemics. the pandemic of 1918 influenza set 675,000 people dead with no help from a president in office who basically try to [inaudible] . so all i would say is we are looking to a congressional election, a fall of next year. let's make it autocracy versus freedom. i think most americans can make a pretty clear choice if that is what is presented to them. and let's just be absolutely honest about this. there is a chance that 2022 has the capability of being the less free election of our lifetime. i don't think we want that for our children in this country. >> well it is a lot to keep in mind as we end this year and head into the next one. but i love talking to historians because it is so helpful to have all of it put into the right perspective. michael, thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you, happy new year. >> happy new year. we think. coming up, a memorable image of yet another eventful year. when the last 11th hour of 2021 continues. 202 continues. do you struggle to fall asleep and stay asleep? qunol sleep formula combines 5 key nutrients that can help you fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, and wake up refreshed. the brand i trust is qunol. last thing before we go tonight, 2021 was a bit of a rollercoaster if i do say so myself. deep division, change, hope. all in the middle of an unrelenting pandemic. let's take a look back at the gear in photos chosen by our nbc news photo editors. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ that is our broadcast for this thursday night. with our thanks for being with us. on behalf of all of my colleagues at the networks of nbc news, goodnight and have a very happy and healthy new year. lthy new year tonight on all in. the screaming headline from the associated press slow motion erect certain. a gop sees its election power. tonight, the mainstream institution of american life doing enough to respond to the threat of democracy. what do you do about a congresswoman openly running for a quote, national divorce, then as the u.s. hits case records, randi weingarten on whether american schools are ready to handle omicron. and what we've learned about climate change in 2021. the year that is now ending with winter wildfires in colorado and near 70 degrees weather in alaska. when all in starts right now right now good evening from new york, i'm chris hayes. this morning the associated press published an extensive and very well reported story on the attack on our democracy. this is the headline, quote, slow motion insurrection. how the gop sees's election power. now reporting from the ap was across the country.