gusts making it nearly impossible for fire crews to fight the flames. as the fire moved so quickly, the length of a football field gone in seconds. at least six people are injured and officials saying the fire likely started after the raging wind gusts brought down power lines. i want to go right to emily ekada standing by for us in lewisville, colorado. emily, talk us through what you've been seeing as you've been there. >> reporter: yasmin, i will say it's hard to put into words the degree of devastation we're seeing in these neighborhoods. as you mentioned we just came from one in louisville, the homes reduced to rubble, we're seeing charged out vehicles, trees, and then small hot spots scattered about. it really is quite apocalyptic looking and the sun is still not even up yet. you will expect we will get to understand the gravity of the damage even more so once the sunrises here. because of the hazardous material and continued recovery missions that is why we are on the move. police had us move out of that particularly damaged louisville neighborhood, that's why i'm joining us on the phone. at 1600 acres the marshall fire is actually a relatively small fire, but it is absolutely devastating. we are not in a sparsely-populated region, remember, we are less than an hour outside of denver. we are in suburbia. so when flames come through here, specifically wind-powered flames, they are wiping out entire subdivisions, shopping complexes, obliterated, as you mentioned, roughly nearly 600 homes incinerated in boulder county here. the state's most destructive fire in terms of homes damaged ever recorded. and why we're seeing such an incredible pace that you talked about moving, burning through the length of a football field within seconds, it's the result of a dangerous combination between those whipping winds, gusts topping 100 miles per hour, and then parched ground. this area is in an extreme drought, just 1.6 inches of rain since august. this community dealing with a lot right now, yasmin. >> so, emilie, talk me through a couple things, a lot of folks are worried about the people who have had to evacuate their homes. are they safe and sound? where why they evacuated to, and did they get enough time to get out? >> you know, i think we're still waiting to answer that last question. if you listen to the dispatch and the chaos yesterday, you will hear them talking about people running on foot away from the fires, or the flames coming up to people's doorsteps. the flames coming near a hotel with residents speeding out. we saw snarled lines of traffic, people trying to evacuate, entire communities trying to evacuate, but just because of how quickly the winds pushed the fire into some of these communities, people are taking different approaches, maybe they're going to stay with , they're staying at evacuation centers. it's still a tense situation, but i will say it appears relief is on the way, the winds have died down, we are not seeing those 85 mile per hour wind gusts or above 100 mile per hour wind gusts. and then also something i should mention, snow is expected to move in, so it's really this weather whiplash we're seeing here. yesterday fire, today snow. so hopefully relief, but regardless the path of destruction is done, hundreds of people will be moving -- returning to their homes to find them completely charred and reduced to rubble, yasmin. >> wow. just devastating images there. emilie, seek safety for now, thank you for joining us, we will talk to you again at the top of the hour and please stay safe amidst all of the weather there. thank you. so i want to go a few miles away from where emilie is to the mayor of superior, colorado, clint fulsome who is standing by having to deal with this over the last 24 hours or so mayor, how are you doing? >> good morning. i'm doing okay. family is safe. i'm actually in golden, colorado, right now just down the road from superior. we had to evacuate like everyone else and it's -- i did spend several hours yesterday in town with the sheriff's sergeant and our town manager driving around and assessing the situation, and it was a very scary and active scene and just tragic results. we are a small town, we're a four-square-mile town at the southeast corner of boulder county between boulder and denver, and, you knew, in a four-square-mile town you get to know your neighbors and you get to know a lot of people and it was just heartbreaking driving around and seeing how many people that i knew's homes were gone. i'm still kind of in shock about the whole thing. >> i can only imagine, mayor, so i appreciate you joining us this morning with so much devastation around you right now. how quickly did this fire move into your community? did you have any warning? >> very little warning. as your reporter on the ground said, it was a very fast-moving event. we had very dry conditions and very high winds in those two combined with some flame just -- it pushed it incredibly fast. our family lost -- two family members that lost homes in this and they literally had minutes to get out. it was some true heroic efforts to get that many people evacuated and the fact that we didn't have any injuries from that is remarkable. i'm hopeful that we won't find people that didn't make it out, but with the speed with which this moved i'm fearful that we will have some fatalities that are discovered just from people that just could not get out as quickly as was required. >> yeah, i've got to say as we were watching this thing unfold yesterday, i don't think much of -- many of us could imagine how quickly it was advancing on folks and their homes. so far we're getting reports of six reported injuries so far from these fires. have you heard of any -- of any more folks being injured or found? >> not at this time, but, you know, today's efforts are going to be on the ground, assessing the situation, and making the town safe. we are still under a mandatory evacuation order and ask that people please stay away, let the first responders and professionals do their -- do their jobs to make the town safe. i know people want to get back in and -- but we just need to give them the space to make it safe before we return. >> is there an area, mayor, where folks have evacuated to, an area where they can seek supplies, things that they need, food, water, that sort of thing? >> yes. in fact, the boulder office of emergency management, so boulder oem.com is the best resource for updated information on the situation. there is a list of evacuation centers on there, also a link to donate if people would like to, you know, start helping contribute to this recovery effort. so boulderoem.com is the best -- the best source that i can offer there. we're going to need tremendous support and assistance over -- over the weeks, months and even years ahead. >> mayor, we were just watching some video as you were speaking of folks literally fleeing on foot, just showing how quickly this fire was moving. mothers, staers, sisters, brothers, children fleeing, not knowing this fire was advancing on their homes and want to go seek safety. i want to tell folks we will be speaking with michael smith in the next hour, the boulder county incident management team commander to get more information on how folks are seeking safety right now and where they are going to have to stay. >> yes. >> mayor, we appreciate your time this morning, i know you are dealing with a lot. i am so sorry for what you have had to deal with over the last 24 hours. we are wishing you best, all thinking of you, of course, as we approach the new year. thanks, mayor, for now. appreciate it. >> thank you so much. all right. i want to go now, of course, to the coronavirus pandemic as well which is developing. another straight day of record-breaking cases, the united states now surpassing more than 54 million covid cases since this pandemic began. more than 584,000 cases reported on thursday alone. breaking the record for the most new cases for the second day in a row. to put into perspective how rapidly this virus is now spreading, the nation added a million more cases in just two days. on the vaccine front nbc news has learned the fda planning to broaden the eligibility for pfizer covid boosters for kids ages 12 to 15, possibly, by the way, as early as next week as folks are getting back to school, children wanting to get back into the classrooms. that is according to a person with knowledge of that plan. the move is coming as israel approves a fourth vaccine dose for people most vulnerable to covid-19, becoming the first country to do so. covid also impacting the high seas. the cdc now investigating or closely monitoring nearly 90 cruise ships following coronavirus outbreaks on board there. the situation is so bad the agency now telling the public to avoid cruise travel, regardless, by the way, of your vaccine status. we have got an incredible team standing by with all of the information that you need to know. vaughn hillyard is at new york's laguardia airport, priscilla thompson times square, dr. irwin is founding director at the national center for disaster preparedness joining you see as well. doctor, let's talk first and address this piece coming out of the "new york times" with south africa declaring that it is now on the other side of their omicron outbreak, it's been about six weeks for them that they have had to deal with this. of course, they had the jump in cases that we have been experiencing over the last couple of weeks, but they did not have kind of the good news out of all of this, the number of deaths in parallel with that jump of cases saying it was a more mild outbreak when it came to hospitalizations and deaths. is that some good news as we are looking at the trajectory of the omicron outbreak here in the united states? >> hi, yasmin. so it is a measure of good news, i guess, but the problem with this entire pandemic is that there is constant unpredictability and uncertainty. i still don't think we have enough confidence in what we're seeing in south africa to necessarily extrapolate that to what we're going to see in the u.s. this remains and will be for the foreseeable future a very critical waiting game as we see what happens after the holidays, after new year's, kids going back to school and so on. a lot -- a lot to absorb here, but, yasmin, if you will just indulge me, i'm just still reeling from watching those images of the fires in colorado. the reason i want to mention that is that i don't think the 21st century we have any more the luxury of dealing with a single catastrophic event or major disaster. we're having horrible wildfires over the last few years, related to drought, related to climate change, and at the same time we're experiencing a historic level of pandemic infection. so we are in the middle of it and it's going to take a lot of really forward-thinking and understanding of how we're going to cope with all of this at once. i think we have the capability where we're going to have to keep our heads straight on as we look at what's coming down the pike. i do think, yes, a fourth shot is coming, like israel is planning to do and i think we will be boosting our young teenagers. all of that is coming but it's in the maelstrom of other issues, yasmin. >> we're going to get into that booster conversation, doctor, in just a moment. i have to also commiserate with you in that i feel like we're always talking about split-screen moments, it's always a conversation of this is happening and there's wildfires and a pandemic that we are in the midst of. there is a disastrous tornado and a pandemic. how are they going to deal with that. >> exactly. >> you think about the evacuation, where these folks now have to go, thousands of people gathering into one place, how is omicron going to spread throughout that gymnasium, for instance, if they are all there. these are all things that emergency responders and health care workers need to think about in keeping folks as safe as possible. with that, vaughan, i want to go to you, thank you for standing by, i know you are at laguardia airport talking about the travel difficulties we have been dealing with over this holiday season. so you've got omicron and you've got these weather situations across the country as well. we have been seeing cancellations across the board, thousands of people stranded. talk me through what you're seeing today. >> reporter: exactly, yasmin. as you and the doctor were just saying, this has a trickle down effect of jamming up commerce, the economy and travel. i think that the numbers here at 9:00 a.m. out east, it's only 6:00 a.m. out west, there's already more than 1,200 canceled flights today alone. look out in denver, already today 245 flights in denver international airport that have already been canceled. you are seeing this over the course of the last more than a week. just look at these numbers. yesterday more than 1,400 canceled flights, seattle was so hard hit by the winter storms over this last week, today 300 canceled flights. you are seeing a backlog of americans who are trying to travel across this country, who frankly cannot. here in the greater new york city area, the airports here more than 300 canceled flights just yesterday. and this is really two-pronged, one, the weather, you are seeing winter storm frida hitting colorado, new mexico, arizona also in the midwest, iowa, nebraska. it will be making its way -- we're talking about winter wind chills, we're talking about snow and sleet. that is going to be hitting michigan and iowa today. it will be making its way to ohio and new york tomorrow, but also we're talking about omicron here. we're talking about these airliners who have been very direct in saying they frankly do not have the staffing because of shortages in order to maintain their airlines, noting that they canceled it. tsa has already tripled the number of its tsa agents over the last week that are out and in just the last hour the faa stating they are expecting further delays and cancellations because of their own staffing issues. yasmin? >> so we're talking about staff shortages on the airlines of course affecting travel across the board. tsa as well. priscilla, with that i want to go to you. you're looking at new york city obviously the center it seems for celebrations when it comes to new year's eve, right, paramedics, fire, police have all been affected by omicron, the subway shutting down as well on this new year's eve. how are they preparing to keep folks safe? >> reporter: well, yasmin, the ball is up in times square, but officials here are hoping to keep the crowd count down tonight. they're only going to be allowing around 15,000 people into the viewing area to watch that ball drop, and this is an area that would normally hold four times that. so that is one of the measures that has been put in place to help keep people safe. also when those viewers show up, they're going to be required to show their id and proof of vaccination and they're also going to have to wear those masks all night long as they ring in the new year. of course, these festivities come, as you mentioned, those record breaking case counts that we're seeing across the country, and new york city is not immune to that. the city had an all time high daily case count just yesterday with more than 70,000 positive cases reported. the mayor has said he does not plan to cancel the festivities, but that he wants to show new york city is back and that we can do this in a way that is safe. so he's hoping to keep everyone safe tonight as they celebrate and ring in 2022. yasmin? >> speaking of keeping people safe, doctor, get into this conversation about booster shots for 12 to 15 year olds. i had one tweet at me saying their child who is at 16 years old is at the six-month park when are those boosters going to be the expectation that a fourth booster could be available for immunocompromised folks. >> you and i have talked about this many times, but the reality remains the same, the absolute ultimate weapon against this pandemic is getting appropriate vaccinations. it used to mean maybe two doses. that's old news. we are now talking about three doses at least and across all age groups and all risk categories. it is really important that people understand that as more data is coming in, guidelines are changing, but it's absolutely critical if we're going to stop this situation of this rapidly spreading crazy variant with omicron and who knows what's coming down the road, that the entire central core of the strategy is for people to get appropriately vaccinated. now meaning three shots, yasmin. >> all right. vaughn hillyard, priscilla thompson and doctor, thank you as always. great to see you guys. still ahead, everybody, what the committee investigating the january 6th insurrection is now asking of the supreme court. plus, the warning russia says vladimir putin delivered on his latest phone call with the president. details coming up next. l with te president. details coming up next johnson & johnson is the world's largest healthcare company. building a future where cancers can be cured. 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. (vo) subaru and our retailers believe in giving back. that's why, in difficult times, we provided one hundred and fifty million meals to feeding america. and now through the subaru share the love event, we're helping even more. by the end of this year, subaru will have donated over two hundred and twenty five million dollars to charity. this is what it means to be more than a car company. this is what it means to be subaru. welcome back, everybody. so in russian media this morning reports are circulating of a stark threat from president vladimir putin. that threat coming from the russian leader to president biden. the kremlin saying putin told the president on a call last night that any economic sanctions against russia could result in a, quote, complete rupture of relations between the two nations. the two leaders talking for nearly an hour overnight at putin's request. it happened as russian troops continue to build up along the ukraine border and ahead of more formal talks between d.c. and moscow next month. joining me now nbc's mike memoli with the president in delaware and ambassador bill taylor former u.s. ambassador to ukraine and vice president at the u.s. institute of peace. mike, let me just start with your reporting on this. the read out of this call from the white house never explicitly mentioning sanctions but talk us through what we know exactly what was said. >> reporter: well, yasmin, as you just laid out, it was president putin who asked for this phone call and it did seem like the russians were more eager than the americans to offer details about what these two leaders discussed yesterday. in addition to talking about the possibility of a complete rupture of u.s./russian relations, a russian official went on to say that if the u.s. were to go along with the kind of sanctions that president biden had put on the table already their descendents would be regret that go decision for generations to come. pretty stark language unsurprising coming from the russians. when jen psaki the white house press secretary issued a readout she did talk about president biden reiterating that there would be a decisive response should russia invade ukraine. we did his or her more from a senior administration who also briefed reporters after saying that president biden laid out two clear but different paths to president putin dealing with the situation as we move forward, the first would be a path of diplomacy, which would preferably lead to a mutual agreement to deescalate the crisis, but the other path would include significant economic sanctions. they did reiterate that threat, but also the possibility of additional troop deployments within the context of nato in some of those nato states near russia and ukraine. now, what makes this situation so difficult, of course, is that that precise consequence, especially as it relates to nato deployments, is what president putin is responding to and say is the cause of this crisis. so it's unclear what the path really does look like moving forward, but we will have these talks in ten days' time and the u.s. and the russians agreed as part of those conversations yesterday to what those talks would further dive into. >> all right. thank you, mike, for that. ambassador, let's talk about the motive here of putin requesting this phone call. was this a preemptive call to set things up ahead of the meeting between the u.s. and russia on january 10th? >> yasmin, this call may have been an attempt by president putin to try to push president biden, maybe try to intimidate president biden into making some concessions going into these discussions of next week on the 10th of january and later on that week. we know that president putin does this. you may recall, yasmin, that at one point when president putin was sitting down with chancellor merkel back in 2007 when she was not long in office and president putin knowing that chancellor merkel was uncomfortable around dogs for reasons that he knew, in this press conference president putin had his big dog, his big black labrador dog, lab, come into the room, making her very uncomfortable. well, this is the same kind of thing, yasmin, that president putin is doing, and the dog this time are all of these troops on the border of ukraine. he's hoping to intimidate president biden. i think he will not. chancellor merkel was not intimidated, president biden is a not afraid of dogs. i don't think he has been intimidated by the -- by the -- by the threats that president putin is providing. >> yeah, certainly the work of a former russian spy, though, to say the least. ambassador, talk me through the threats, though, made by the russian president. i guess first and foremost, is russia in a place to level these threats? and what would a rupture between the united states and russia mean in a broader sense? >> so a rupture would mean that the commerce, the interaction, the discussions, the trade between these two countries, our two countries, united states the russia, would go down to very low levels. indeed, what president biden has told president putin is that if you, president putin, invade your neighbor, if you invade your neighbor, ukraine, again, as you did in 2014, if you do that again, with all these troops that you've assembled on the border of ukraine, then we will take very severe sanctions. some of these sanctions could well do exactly what president putin is concerned about, that is, cutting off russia from the world's financial system. that would be a strong blow against president putin's question, the russian economy, it's not doing well anyway, it's fragile, and that kind of sanction would have a major effect. and that's what he has to choose, mr. putin has to choose of the two options president biden pointed out, that is, we can sit down and talk about your concerns, some of your concerns may be legitimate, some are clearly not legitimate, but we will have that conversation, or, mr. putin, you can invade and if you invade then these sanctions will come and if you want to cut off relations, you know, that's up to you. >> yeah, this will be a pivotal moment for u.s./russian relations in the coming weeks. mike memoli, thank you, ambassador bill taylor, thank you as well. i want to turn now to another key story out of washington. the january 6th select committee now requesting that the supreme court reject a request from former president donald trump, that request from the former president wanting the court to shield some of his white house records from the committee. nbc's ali vitali is following this from washington. ali, walk us through this. >> yeah, yasmin, the committee's response here really is twofold, reject the former president's appeal request here and do it quickly if you are going to do it. figure it out fast because we know the committee has always felt that speed is the most important thing here because they're up against the clock and after today we are firmly in calendar year 2022, which makes it a midterm year and it means that if history is the precedent democrats could lose control of the house and then this committee's work would effectively be over. i do think that as we're considering this we knew the response was coming, now we have to just wait and see at what point the supreme court considers this. the committee is hoping that they consider it during a january 14th closed-door meeting, that's when they're hoping this expedited timeline would put this discussion for the courts, but if it's not put through an expedited timeline the normal process here would make it so that the earliest that the court would discuss this is sometime in mid-february. you and i talk about a lot how once these things get into the courts the process gets really gummed up and moves even more slowly. so that's what the committee is definitely trying to avoid here. i would point out to you, though, that as i was reading the committee's response, one thing really stood out to me, i will pull it up for you on the screen. we talk a lot about unprecedented moments here. certainly this is the literal interpretation of that because what the january 6th committee wrote to the supreme court was although the facts here are unprecedented, this case is not a difficult one. they go on then in the letter to say to the extent any novel questions linger in the background here, they argue this case would be a poor vehicle to address them in. again, we toss around the word unprecedented a lot, but there are very few precedence for this kind of a thing in a legal sense, the way that we talk about precedence. this case on january 6th and the role of the former president in it when it comes to executive privilege. >> yeah. absolutely fascinating. ali vitali, thank you for now. child health officials are declaring a national emergency over kids' mental health during the pandemic. i'm going to talk to a child psychiatrist about how kids are faring. that's coming up next. s are faring that's coming up next. clerk: he sore throat pain? 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>> thanks. and thanks for having me, yasmin. so i think the pandemic has been associated with multiple, multiple losses on the levels that have been not seen previously. first of all, loss of life, loss of caregivers, loss of secondary caregivers, loss of school, loss of peer relationships, loss of social services and access to social services, loss of connections with peers, and most importantly, a disproportionate effect on children and youth and more disadvantaged children who haven't had access to the internet, who live in rural areas or have had struggles that preceded the pandemic. i think it's important to realize that there were escalating mental health problems that came in the decade that preceded covid and now with covid these are just being escalated and it's really come to a tipping point in which providers like myself have been completely overwhelmed trying to address the problems of the children that are referred to us. emergency rooms overwhelmed, the inpatient units are overwhelmed, our intensive outpatient units overwhelmed as well. >> so you laid out a solution in your "new york times" op-ed saying more clinicians in schools, more child psychiatrists, better screening, more crisis services and 72-hour emergency evaluation units, more inpatient beds and intensive outpatient programs. how would that help? what could that do, especially when we look at the long-term effects of this pandemic on kids? >> so the mental health infrastructure can't manage the increased demands that have been caused by the pandemic, children with mental health problems, anxiety and depression. so there need to be more services in between simply outpatient providers and inpatient units and emergency rooms and that has to take place by better screening in schools, better school-based mental health, better integration between pediatricians and mental health providers in their offices and better services that treat outpatients, excuse me, that are more seriously mental ill that allow them to have more frequent visits with providers like myself. >> all right. dr. jonathan slater, i sure hope many of these things are instituted in our school systems across the country because the kids need it. thank you for your voice on this. we appreciate it. still ahead, omicron and the economy, will this new surge of cases threaten the already slow recovery? we will be right back. aten the recovery we will be right back. hey hun hey, get your own vapors relax with vicks vapobath or with vicks vaposhower. take a soothing vicks vapo moment wherever you chose. it only takes a second for an everyday item to become dangerous. tide pods child-guard pack helps keep your laundry pacs in a safe place and your child safer. to close, twist until it clicks. tide pods child-guard packaging. welcome back, everybody. it is the last day of the year, if you didn't know it, thank god, and it was a big one for our economic recovery. but it has been a bumpy ride and the road ahead to be pretty bumpy as well. the good news is supply chain issues are getting a lot better than what we saw back in the fall, but inflation it is still red hot, price jumping at the fastest rate in lee decades, hitting your wallet which i'm sure you know big time. a big part of that is the great resignation, millions of workers quitting their jobs and we are still feeling the ripple effects today, right now there are about 11 million jobs heading into the new year, but with covid cases soaring from the omicron variant, experts saying it could put a dent in the global economy next year as well. so let's talk about this. joining me now "washington post" economics correspondent heather long, also douglas eeken. douglas, i'm talking about economists predicting the growth of the economy, they lowered that growth when we saw omicron hit the situates along with build back better being stalled. is this a burst to our economic bubble as we look ahead to 2022. >> i think that's too strong. the economy is in very good shape as we approached the arrival of the new variant we had growth that was probably the range of 6% or 7% in the fourth quarter of 2021. that's extremely fast. we saw it in red hot labor markets with we had double digit rises in employees payroll, wage increases, number of people hired. things are in very good shape. the lesson of the past nearly two years has been that with each wave the impact on the economy appears to be diminished. i'm fairly confident that the economy will continue to expand in the first quarter, something that looks like 4%, 5%, that was the growth expectation for the year for most people. we are probably still looking at the bottom end of that range. no reason to panic over this, i mean, this is the reality that we have learned to operate the economy in the face of the virus and that was a necessary thing to do and we've made great progress on it. we will lose some activity in the highly exposed sectors, obviously airlines, you know, the hospitality and leisure, that's where you will see diminished activity. >> good no reason to panic on this, we appreciate that because there are a lot of other things that many of us are panicking on. >> yes, there's a long list. >> yes, very long list, that's why we are all wiping our brows heading into the next year. let's talk about quitting, job losses, leaving your job and then the 11 million jobs that are outstanding as we head into the new year. a lot of folks quitting over the last year, quitting our jobs amidst this pandemic, you have 11 million open jobs heading into the new year. do we see a shift in that? >> i don't think we're going to see a shift in it right away, certainly it continues to be strong levels of quitting, record levels of quitting in 2021 and there's no sign that will stop in early 2022. overall i'm kind of like doug, i think this is a pretty optimistic sign for the economy, it means we do have 11 million job openings still. we haven't seen a rise in -- in jobless claims and people going back on unemployment aid. normally we see that at the end of the holiday season as people leave seasonal jobs and warehouses and retail stores. so far we are not seeing that tick up yet. so when you look across the board it's still a job-seeker's market, especially for folks who are in some of the lowest paying jobs are seeing the fastest wage increases. now, they need those wage increases given that inflation is at the highest level in 40 years. >> of course. so here is the thing, both of you have optimism, which is great, which we appreciate obviously, but if you look at polling, right, if you talk to folks, they are not necessarily convinced. that's because they're going to the grocery stores, right, they're going shopping, and they're still finding their meat, their milk, their cheese costs a heck of a lot more than it did last year. what is the relief in sight for inflation, douglas? >> i think there are a couple of things. number one, one of the wild cards in the next year will be how many people will return to seeking work. we lost about 2.5 million women, for example, who have simply not come back into the labor force. if that expands rapidly in 2022 that takes some pressure off the supply chains, takes pressure off prices. some of this is genuinely one time bounce back from extremely depressed levels, that's the story in oil markets where we literally saw futures prices go negative early in the pandemic and got a bounce back. we are not going to see that again in 2022. there is some optimism on the sort of overall level of inflation, and then there's what can the federal reserve do. they will be on the spot in 2022, they have a very tough job, they'd like to bring inflation down as quickly as possible and of course they could do that, they could raise rates to 5% overnight, the trouble is in doing so they control inflation but cost us a lot of jobs and perhaps push the economy into negative territory. they don't want to do that. it's going to be a balancing act and the relief will depend on how well they can manage that balancing act. >> we are going to ride this, heather/doug optimism train for just a moment because we certainly need it as we close out this year. thank you both and happy new year's. 2021, what a year it has been. we are going to talk to a photographer who captured life across a divided america. the year in pictures is coming up next. you don't want to miss this conversation. his conversation psoriatic arthritis, made my joints stiff,... ...swollen, painful. 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. ♪ limu emu... & doug ♪ ♪ superpowers from a spider bite? 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(crowd cheering) therabreath, it's a better mouthwash. at walmart, target and other fine stores. 2021 is coming to a close and tonight, we'll be ringing in the new year. but this morning, we want to highlight someone with a unique perspective of this year. john noltner is an award-winning photographer. he just completed a 45,000 road trip to get a look at life across this country, talking to and taking photos of people from all backgrounds, trying to understand the key issues that challenge our country today. and it's all part of his recent book, "portraits of peace," searching for hope in a divided america. john noltner joining me now. i have to say, john, as a journalist who loves human interest stories, i was so incredibly jealous of your travels through this. it's such a beautiful project and we're so thankful that you're sharing it through with us. as i take a look at these photographs and understand where you went and when you went, the commonality i saw, you often times talked to people after their worst moments, after disaster struck, after they had just crossed the border uncertain of their future, in times of racial injustice, after the killing of george floyd. >> we have engaged with people in some really difficult moments and one of the things that i find inspiring and encouraging is people who have chosen love, when hate could have come easily. when people have forgiven in unforgivable circumstances, and really in the midst of all of these challenging times, a piece of my mind, this project that we're working on really strives to rediscover the common humanity that connects us. and as we begin these conversations with people, the ability to say to somebody, i hear you, i see you, and you matter is a really powerful part of the process. >> what was it about these individuals that didn't make them choose love. >> that's interesting, you use the word "choose," and that's an important part of the process. we can't always control the things that happen to us in the world, but we absolutely can choose the way we respond to it. and so in this process, even as we talk with people, sometimes as they struggle themselves, the act of articulating it and actually being in conversation with one another can help us sort of uncover our better angels. >> why do you think it's important right now for americans to see this book, to see these pictures, to see these interviews with the people that you documented, considering we are so divided and all of the difficulties we have been through as a nation? >> you know, i think as we looked for ways to move forward together, if we are going to look for ways to heal, we're going to again have to choose that. and that's an active process and it's also a process that takes some practice, that takes some exercise, and so what we encourage people to do, as they read the book, as they hear these stories, is one, to listen deeply. two, to challenge their own expectations, and three to commit to staying at the table, to stay in dialogue with the people around us, because that's how we're going to build stronger communities. >> yeah, your efforts to change folks and how they think, but i imagine it likely changed you as well and your experience in this 45,000-mile road trip and the documenting of these individuals across the country. john noltnor, thank you for sharing. congratulations on your book. i think everybody needs to take a look. thank you. we appreciate it. still ahead, everybody. tens of thousands of people evacuated as a wildfire rages through colorado. we are live on the ground at the top of the hour. we'll be right back. he ground ae top tofhe hour. we'll be right back. tums vs. mozzarella stick when heartburn hits, fight back fast with tums chewy bites. fast heartburn relief in every bite. crunchy outside, chewy inside. ♪ tums, tums, tums, tums ♪ tums chewy bites mission control, we are go for launch. um, she's eating the rocket. ♪♪ lunchables! built to be eaten. 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