it's not too bad having to stand outside lga but that's where the luck stops. people inside are having quite a lot of troubles today. >> reporter: a lot rougher day than i am, katy. we're talking about thousands of people in new york, 300 canceled flights across the new york city area. when you look at across the country, now more than 1,400 flights have been canceled today alone. this follows the trend that we have seen for more than a week now for the past week. each day there have been more than 1,000 canceled flights here in the united states. seattle, more than 300 flights. denver, more than 300 flights. and yet this is now creating a backlog. i want to let you listen to a little conversation i had with janice who drove down from albany to fly out of new york because she thought her chances of getting a flight were better. her flight last night was canceled. another was delayed. he was trying to transfer to a flight this afternoon. in her instance, it's chaos. >> i'm grateful we can even be here and give it a shot. i know everybody is trying to work really hard. it's just very frustrating. we all wish the pandemic was over and that we didn't have to deal with this anymore. that's my hope for the new year. >> reporter: katy, she said she understands everybody's working really hard, because the reality is, is with this uptick incovid cases, it's hitting flight crews, it's hitting the airline industry, it's hitting tsa agents. more than 1,700 tsa agents now have covid. the faa put out a statement this morning telling folks to expect further delays and complications with their travels. everybody we're talking to says expect your flight to be canceled not only this weekend here, but also in the weeks ahead, katy. >> it's hitting the tv industry as well. people are dropping like flies around here also. let's talk about the cruise industry and what's going on with them. there are a lot of folks out there who had scheduled cruises and the cruise industry feels blindsided by the cdc saying, i don't care if you're vaccinated or not, getting on a ship is a bad idea. >> reporter: the statement the cdc put out was, quote, avoid cruise travel. i don't think the government could have any more of a frank statement than that. but, you know, you're dealing with the reality that the cdc says they are now investigating and monitoring more than 80% of the current cruise liners that are out in either the u.s. waters or expected to enter u.s. waters. that is 91 cruise ships that they say have seen a positive covid rate in which it warrants monitoring here. this was a long year and a half here for the cruise industry. yet now the cdc with this dramatic increase in covid due to the omicron variant, they're seeing this play out on 91 cruise ships the cdc is now monitoring. >> 91 cruise ships, that is a whole lot of people. vaughn hillyard, vaughn, good luck out there. i hope that travelers are going to, i don't know, not take out their frustration on you if they see you. joining me now, former health policy director for the obama administration dr. kavita patel. dr. patel, thank you for joining us. i want to reiterate for everybody out there, we're seeing this giant spike in cases, you probably know a handful of people at least who are sick right now. employers are having a very hard time keeping staffs in place. that being said, i don't want to lose sight of the hospitalization rate and the death rate, which actually dropped yesterday. >> yes, katy, i think you're bringing up an important point. we could reach very easily, and i think in reality we probably have a million cases per day in the united states alone because we're undercounting. we're not testing everyone and people are getting at-home tests. having said that, you're pointing out that we are not at the same hospitalization rates we were a year ago or even six months ago. and that's because of vaccination. we have less degree of hospitalizations, meaning we may have a lot more numbers of hospitalizations and hospitals right now feel like we're being held together by duct tape. that's because of the staffing issues. the combination of increased hospitalizations is significant. but to your point, it's not as high as it would have been if we did not have vaccines. and i think that's critical. but it's all the more reason, katy, for people -- my plea is, whatever your plans were tonight, if it were with a large group, you don't know whether people are vaccinated or if they've been able to check what their vaccine status is, then put a pause on it. it's not worth it, because we have so many of us that are getting sick. and it seems haphazard, katy. i can't even trace how some of my colleagues are getting sick and i'm not, for example. >> listen, hospitalizations are not as high as they could be but what you're bringing up is a really good point, the staffing issues at hospitals is a real problem. the pentagon has had to step in at a number of hospitals. even if you're not getting covid and you're not hospitalized with covid, god forbid you have an accident that puts you in the hospital, god forbid you or a family member requires hospitalization. you don't want the hospital staff to be so stressed out that they can't give you the normal care that you would get under the normal circumstances. we're talking about a million a day getting this disease coming up soon. does that mean, between that and the vaccines and all of the infections out there, that we're going to reach herd immunity on this? >> yeah, i hope so. i don't want people to think that that means, oh, sure, let's go out and get sick, because we just do not understand enough about omicron to say it's mild, put it aside, it's okay. but you're right, katy, this gets to the point now where hopefully, this means that we have so much immunity. the reason i have a silver lining on this is because we have data that shows getting an omicron infection protects you against delta. we're still dealing with delta in much of our country. it's a very important point that scientists have found, omicron infections can protect you, we think, against delta, which means this could be the beginning of the end of this phase of the pandemic. and i say "this phase" because we now know historically, we go through several phases, the next one is kind of a recovery phase, not totally back to normal but much closer. >> let's talk about mild infection. we keep hearing that from people, dr. fauci says it. i talk to a lot of doctors on this show who say, listen, we're all going to get this, we're all going to get this, it is that infectious. other doctors say, avoid it at all costs because we don't know exactly how bad it could be. it's very confusing. >> it is. so here is -- i'm going to try to make it simpler, because i have to do this in 15 minutes with patients all the time. i don't want people to get this for three reasons. number one, i have too many people, including people that look like me, that have chronic conditions, and we're at high risk for hospitalization. and katy, i lack the treatment. we'll get more. oral pills, antivirals, monoclonal antibodies, we're in short supply and rationing these treatments. if i'm overweight or high blood pressure, i'm more likely to be hospitalized. you don't want to be the chain in transmission to someone who is vulnerable. people aren't wearing a scarlet letter saying "i'm immunocompromised." a third of our country, children under the age of 18, we have too many children still not vaccinated. they're all susceptible. when you have something so infectious, even if it's less likely to hospitalize you or cause you to die, it still means some people will, and that's why i want you to pause. in four months i'll have more to help patients but right now i need a little breathing room for patients and for myself. >> those antivirals, although approved by the fda, they're not out there in enough numbers yet. >> right. >> so what you're saying is, you might get it no matter what, but try to delay getting it for as long as you possibly can. i think that's something people can understand. >> exactly. >> let's talk about cruise ships. the industry feels unfairly singled out, and frankly, i mean, there are a lot of industries where people are gathering in large numbers. is it fair to single out cruise ships the way the cdc is doing? >> i think that it's -- when i first saw what cruise ships had to kind of go through and the levels of vaccination and the infection controls they had, i thought, this is a good thing. but let me tell you, if we start to see a pattern like we did with the original holiday cruise, any of the cruise lines that were in the 2020s causing people to be sealocked until they were quarantined, so i don't think this is overstepping by the cdc, this is exactly what we want the cdc to do. their job is to quarantine and isolate. you're just watching them do this in a much broader sense. a distinction between a cruise ship and an airplane, for example, is the ability to control, isolate, and also deal with circulation. believe it or not, air circulation on airplanes is incredible, that's why you don't see people benching the entire airline industry. when i had to work in the white house, we worked on cruise ship outbreaks of other types. so this is something the cdc has done before, it just hasn't gotten as much publicity. i do think the industries can turn this around. it's a reflection of what we're seeing across the country. kids are going back to school next week. i'm not a fan of shutting schools down, but i think we're going to see schools in quarantine, in some phases of shutdown because we'll see so many cases, so it's similar. but i want to be positive about saying that we can then recover from this just as quickly because we know what we need to do so that people don't get infected. >> listen, i have no plans to ever get on a cruise if i can help it. my husband is desperate to go on one at some point, but i do feel bad for the industry, it is a tough situation for them. >> yeah. >> let's talk about quarantine and isolation. there are a lot of memes out there making fun of the cdc for the five-day isolation, then five days with a mask. there's one that keeps making me laugh, the cdc says just wear a cute pair of jeans and a top. there's a lot of jokes, yes, but tell me, there's data behind the idea of only a five-day isolation and then a five-day masking period. >> yeah, there's data, i put an asterisk on it because i was not a huge fan of broad change for the entire population. i thought it made sense for essential workers, firefighters, ems, doctors, nurses, but not everybody. but there is data to support that the most infectious time, katy, on average, let me highlight, underscore, bold "on average," is the first five days after a positive contact. you may not be symptomatic at all, but those are the most infectious time on average. but we deal in a world of reality, not averages. if you don't feel good, stay home. if you have a job like mine where your colleagues depend on you, think about whether you can end your quarantine or isolation early and make sure you're not symptomatic, that's critical. if people are not feeling good, don't try to decide on your own if you're okay to go back. seek professional help virtually, don't go to an er, they're too full. seek professional help or just stay home. >> i'm so sorry, that was my phone, my bad. dr. kavita patel -- that was a betty white clip -- dr. kavita patel, thank you very much for joining and you say trying to sort out the cdc stuff, because i know there are a lot of jokes out there, but there is data behind these decisions. it's not all just business decisions. >> that's right. >> and remember, it's not march 2020, we have vaccines, we have boosters, we have antivirals, not in enough supply. we have masks. we have a way to work with this. dr. kavita patel, thank you so much for working with us. president biden warned vladimir putin yesterday again that the u.s. would respond if russia takes action against ukraine. plus the january 6th committee wants the supreme court to be involved in the fight over white house documents. why the timing is telling. and the orange bowl is tonight. how is it being kept safe? thinkorswim® by td ameritrade is more than a trading platform. it's an entire trading experience. with innovation that lets you customize interfaces, charts and orders to your style of trading. personalized education to expand your perspective. and a dedicated trade desk of expert-level support. that will push you to be even better. and just might change how you trade—forever. because once you experience thinkorswim® by td ameritrade ♪♪♪ there's no going back. when you have xfinity, you have entertainment built in. ♪♪♪ which is kind of nice. ah, what is happening. binge-watching is in the bag, when you find all your apps, all in one place. find 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[cheering] that was awesome. and, the hits won't quit, with peacock premium included at no additional cost. all that entertainment built in. xfinity. a way better way to watch. the white house just announced that president biden plans to speak with ukraine's president on sunday to reaffirm the u.s.'s support for ukraine's sovereignty, one day after he spoke to russian president vladimir putin for an hour. the white house says the president was clear that the u.s. and its allies will respond decisively if russia invades ukraine. putin told biden any new sanctions on russia could result in a complete rupture in relations, this words. joining us is peter baker, "new york times" chief white house correspondent and an msnbc political analyst is the co-author of "kremlin rising: vladimir putin's russia and the end of the resolution. and richard haass, president of the council on foreign relations. peter, let's talk about the white house. the readout says they were very clear with putin, if you invade ukraine again, we're not going to sit aside and watch this happen, we'll take action. what exactly does that mean? >> that's the big question, isn't it, katy? vladimir putin didn't get into this situation without calculating in advance what he thinks the west would do in response to whatever action he plans to take. he has seen this up close now for two decades. he understands the limits and the capacities that the west has in terms of geopolitical politics and the back and forth gamesmanship we've seen under his tenure. he's already decided he can either take whatever punishment he thinks we're going to inflict anyway or he's going to use this moment to try to negotiate some better deal as he sees it without the use of military force. the problem is we don't know which it is. listen to what he says yesterday, what the kremlin says he said yesterday. the rupture would be if the united states and the west apply sanctions in response to an invasion. that would be the rupture of the relationship. no, it's the invasion that would be the rupture of the relationship. the invasion of a sovereign, neighboring country which by the way is already under active russian combat for the last seven years anyway, they seized crimea and are sponsoring the separatist uprising in the east. the idea that the sanctions would be the rupture is rather remarkable, that's classic putin-speak. the real question is the saber-rattling on the road to getting to a negotiated outcome. because there are going to be talks on january 10th in geneva by state department and foreign ministry officials. is putin trying to extract the best deal or is there genuinely real risk of a military incursion here that would upend europe security across the board. >> it's not just the united states but western europe. ali, what is the appetite on the continent to getting involved if russia does invade ukraine? >> there is no appetite in getting involved in a conflict with russia. that's the last thing anybody here wants. nato has said that ukraine should make its own choices, whether it joins nato, that's a decision between nato and ukraine, and moscow shouldn't be calling the shots. but that doesn't mean they want to get into some kinetic fight with moscow. in fact a lot of countries here in europe are trying to better relations with russia rather than bring them apart. some of russia's rhetoric is worrying. they do issue a lot of threats. they're saying putin submitted a list of eight demands in this sort of draft treaty, and in them was that nato has to stop expanding eastward, ukraine mustn't be allowed to join nato, all these sort of demands. nato said they don't accept those demands. but it's very unlikely they're willing to go to war with russia if they don't see eye to eye on putin's demands. >> decisive action, then, i wonder if, richard haass, that ends up ringing a little hollow if you're vladimir putin. >> i don't think so. the economic sanctions would be quite significant, even if necessarily not all the europeans would join them. we're arming ukraine. that would significantly increase the military and human cost to the russians. it's one thing to come into ukraine and assert control. it's another thing to hold ukraine. as the united states learned the hard way in the middle east, russia learned the hard way, the soviet union learned the hard way in afghanistan, the long term costs of a serious invasion of ukraine would be really high to russia and to putin. plus nato would take all these steps to strengthen itself and pose some of the risk that mr. putin is complaining about now but which doesn't yet exist. i actually think the biden administration is handling this well. they've offered mr. putin a diplomatic path out. if he chooses to take it. and starting january 10th, we'll begin to learn. >> so if he doesn't choose to take it and there are all these long term consequences, what sort of guardrails are there for him not to take it further and further and further? >> well, in terms of ukraine, he could essentially try to take the entire country. as i said, i think he probably could. but with every passing day, the costs of holding it would go up. if he decides to go beyond ukraine into a nato country, that's the end of modern security and stability as we know it. that would be a massive, massive risk, the greatest threat to peace in the world since world war ii or the cuban missile crisis, whichever point you want to take it. that to me would be reckless in the extreme. so i don't think mr. putin would go that far. i think the real question is what he does vis-à-vis ukraine, just how far, as peter said, he's prepared to go, is what we're seeing leverage to get a better negotiated outcome? does he decide to go in? if he goes in, is it for a slice of the loaf or does he try to get the entire loaf? >> peter, it's not as if the united states has the strongest, most stable position in the world. we're a couple of years away from an election that might not be free and fair. i think that's a pretty extreme statement, but it's not far off from what we're seeing with all of the changes happening around this country. i wonder how our current state of affairs, our current instability here in the united states, plays into this situation. >> katy, you mentioned that i lived in moscow for four years as a correspondent for "the washington post." one of the things you always heard from the russians was essentially what we today use the term what-about-ism. any time there was criticism of anything russia had done there was always, well, you in the west do this, you in the united states do that. sometimes they had a point. and sometimes they didn't. and of course they distorted things to suit their own needs. but right now, obviously, we are in a harder position to, you know, hold the moral high ground in terms of promoting democracy around the world, when we are, at home, as you say, confronting our own questions about how to run our own government, our own country. and i think that it does give putin an opening. he does watch what's happening here very carefully. he saw what happened with us in afghanistan. he saw therefore a country that was so eager to get out after 20 years, it's not eager to get into other foreign entanglements. he's put that into his calculation of what we're willing to do in his mind. all these things factor in, i think. richard is right, there's a lot of reason to think it would be a bad idea for russia to invade ukraine, because if they couldn't handle chechnya, which was a tiny republic of a million or so people, how would they handle a relatively modern european state of 40 million? they may be able to take kiev, as richard said, but that doesn't mean they'll be able to hold the country without a lot of cost. the question is what is he trying to get out of it right now. we haven't quite figured that out. it's kind of a manufactured crisis. ukraine wasn't about to join nato. nato wasn't about to expand any further. these demands that he's put on the table aren't things that are at issue anyway, even if the west won't accept them because they don't want to tie their hands on a point of principle. that's the big question, what is putin trying to get out of this. >> i guess the following question would come up, in regards to europe, if we're talking about the united states still, how reliable does europe see our decisionmaking right now, ali? >> that's a very good question. i mean, after everything that's happened in the united states, after the pullout in afghanistan, europeans don't see the united states as a reliable partner. afghans feel betrayed after the u.s. pullout there. if america was to let them down, if they want full into this, and america was to let them down, it would be a catastrophe in europe. so they're going to be very careful before going into any sort of conflict with russia on america's words. so it's a very, very tense situation. it's a very different playing field these days. as peter pointed out, you know, it's always a mystery what any russian leader is going to do, and putin is no exception, their next move is always wrapped in a mystery. that makes trying to figure out your next move very difficult when you're playing this sensitive game with the russians. >> ali arouzi, peter baker, richard haass, thank you very much. this isn't the end of this conversation. but happy new year to you guys. the january 6th committee told the supreme court it needs donald trump's white house documents, and it needs them fast. why? and a covid surge, and a crowd in the tens of thousands of the orange bowl is tonight. 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>> speed is the name of the game here. they want these documents as quickly as they can get them. and we've seen them go through several levels of courts already. the appellate court and the court here in dc ruling in the committee's favor. at each level trump and his lawyers have appealed to the higher courts, ultimately putting this where many of us thought it would ultimately be litigated, which is in the supreme court. the committee did something yesterday we expected them to do, which is to say they hope the supreme court rejects hearing the case but they hope the supreme court will decide that as soon as possible. two weeks from now the supreme court could decide behind closed doors to take up the case. if it goes through the regular process, that's much slower. that puts the conversation on whether they'll take it up in mid-february and we know the committee is up against the clock here because what these documents could do is illuminate the conversations that were happening in the white house, the talking points, other key things that were happening, especially in those critical hours on the afternoon of january 6th when we don't necessarily know what the president was doing or who he was talking to and while the capitol was under attack. >> this is a hot potato, joyce. what is the likelihood that the supreme court's going to want to get involved quickly? >> so congress has really given the supreme court an opportunity here, katy, because this is a former president who has all too often traded in the delay game as a way of sort of bending the legal system to his purposes. really he's been able to operate above and outside of the law because he's been willing to use legal process in a way that few people are. the supreme court has a moment here where they can say, enough, you too fall within the precepts of the law. and they would do that simply by hearing this petition at the earliest moment possible and deciding they will permit the lower court's opinion to stay in place. there is really good reason for them to do that. and i suspect that they will. it is just simply a matter of common sense. sometimes we have to back up a little bit and quit being so far inside of the forest that all that we're seeing is the forest floor. we're a country that elects a president for four years. he or she doesn't retain any residual power, we're not a monarchy. if trump were permitted to gainsay that, there would be an incredible erosion of the power of the presidency. that's the opportunity that the congress has offered to the supreme court, for them to go ahead and act quickly. >> let's play devil's advocate, joyce. what argument could the supreme court use to grant donald trump's request not to release those records? >> i think it's less likely that they would outright grant that request and block release than that they might decide that they would hear the case. you know, the real options here are procedural. either saying, no, this case is done, the lower courts' ruling stands and national archives can release the records to congress. that i think is the "a" option. the bad option here would be if the court said, well, wait a second, not so quick, we'll take full briefing on this case, we'll put it on our calendar, we're hear it and we'll release an opinion sometime later this year, early june or thereabouts. and that process of permitting trump yet again to win through delay, would be very damaging to democracy and to the presidency. >> ali vitali, the committee has a lot of work to do and they've got to do it quickly, as you were just saying, especially with the midterms as a deadline. what are we going to be seeing in 2022? how quickly can we be seeing some findings from this panel? >> the midterms as a deadline, katy, that's the political deadline here. but there's also an actual deadline. the committee referenced this in their response to the report. they wrote yesterday, the select committee's authorization about expire on january 3, 2023. each passing day handicaps the committee's investigation, forcing it to proceed without the benefit of documents to which it is entitled. these documents are important for all the reasons that joyce and i have laid out, it gives much more insight into what was going on inside the white house during that time. in the meantime, though, we have seen the committee be able to introduce new information. january 6th is a day that there are indelible images out there. everyone knows what that day looked like. what we saw in things like the text messages from mark meadows is that there's still more to be learned. what the committee is going to start doing in 2022 is taking much of the things they've been doing behind closed doors into public view. that means more hearings but it also means interim reports coming. the committee doing all it can to set the narrative of january 6th but also try to make sure there's new things coming out that we haven't necessarily learned before. >> i know there are two republicans on this committee, liz cheney and adam kinzinger. what about the rest of the republican party? i know outwardly they either ignore it or they claim it's a bunch of bunk, a witch hunt, et cetera. what are you hearing from them in private about this committee and the findings that they might have when they do finish? >> the same thing. this has been so hyperpoliticized throughout congress, throughout washington. we talk a lot about how there's a lack of trust and a lack of bipartisanship. so much of that stems from january 6th. democrats looking over at their republican counterparts, aghast at the way they have white washed the day of january 6th and the way they have in some ways stood in the way of this committee's work. we're also about to get into a time, though, katy, where the committee at this point has just requested cooperation and documents from two sitting republican lawmakers, perry and jim jordan. both of them are not likely to cooperate here. the committee is now going to have to be in the position in 2022 of figuring out how far they're willing to go and frankly how far they can go in compelling sitting lawmakers to potentially cooperate and work with the committee to the end that they need the information from them. does that mean subpoenas for sitting lawmakers? potentially. and that's frankly one of the questions that the committee and other legal experts are going to have to answer. so if we thought that we were at the bottom in terms of a lack of bipartisanship and a lack of trust between both sides, unfortunately i think the answer is we're only going to see how much lower it can go. >> there is no bottom, ali vitali. >> despite the fact these people all experienced the same day. >> it is a chasm, a black hole with no bottom. ali vitali, thank you so much. it's not funny, i don't know why i'm laughing. joyce vance, thank you as well. coming up, covid cases are up in florida over 900% in the last two weeks and tens of thousands of fans will be packed in for the orange bowl tonight. we'll be live from florida in just a moment. don't go anywhere. their car insurance. ow! i'm ok! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ only in theaters december 17th. i'm so glad we're finally on vacation. yeah, and kayak made it so easy - searching hundreds of travel sites to find us a great flight. my ears still won't pop after the flight but i don't even care.... what? kayak. search one and done. 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. this afternoon, college football fans will gather in stadiums for two major games that will determine who goes to the national championship. in florida, the georgia bulldogs will take on michigan. and in texas it is alabama versus cincinnati. both games are in states with skyrocketing covid cases and no vaccine or mask mandates for attendees. the georgia coach, kirby smart, says his team already dealt with an outbreak. >> we had a little bout last couple of weeks that we lost some guys and got most of those guys back. and really that's -- the biggest thing is being at full strength when you have to be. that's what we're aiming towards. >> joining me now -- i'm sorry, joining us now with more is nbc news correspondent kerry sanders outside of hard rock stadium in miami. >> reporter: we're getting a lot closer to game time here for the orange bowl at hard rock stadium in miami gardens. it will be the university of georgia up against michigan. while they're going to be battling on the gridiron, really a lot of attention and focus is going to be on the stands. more than 60,000 fans gathering here, coming to what is a sold-out stadium at a time in florida where we're seeing a record number of coronavirus cases. and the spread happening so much quicker, health officials say, because of the omicron variant which really does not require much time for people to be near each other for it to spread. but the orange bowl committee says that they will not require people to wear masks here. it is an open air stadium. they say that people are recommended, encouraged to wear masks but at the end of the day, it is their choice. the impact of all of this probably won't be known for a couple of days, whether it becomes a super spreader event or not. kerry sanders, nbc news in miami gardens. >> kerry, thank you. from derek chauvin's conviction to a backlash over so-called critical race theory, msnbc's trymaine lee has a look at the fight for social justice, next. fight for social justice, next it's a thirteen-hour flight, that's not a weekend trip. fifteen minutes until we board. oh yeah, we gotta take off. you downloaded the td ameritrade mobile app so you can quickly check the markets? 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>> it means they're finally listens to us. >> today we are able to breathe again. >> i would not call today's verdict justice, however, because justice implies true restoration. but it is accountability. >> we the jury find the defendant travis mcmichael guilty. >> reporter: in georgia, more guilty verdicts in the killing of a black man named ahmaud arbery. >> rejecting claims of citizen's arrest and self-defense. >> travis and gregory mcmichael and their name were found guilty of murder for tracking arberry. >> it's been a long fight, hard fight, but god is good. >> let the world go forth all over the world, in a a jury of 11 whites and one black in the deep south stood up in the courtroom and said that black lives do matter. >> kyle rittenhouse breaking down as he's cleared of all charges, a verdict that sent shot waves. using an assault rifle, purchased by a friend, to shoot four protesters, killing two of them. >> a jury finding former police officers kimberly potter guilty of first and second-degree manslaughter. >> rejecting her defense that she mistakenly fired her gun, instead of a taser, during a struggle. >> he debate is playing out all over the country. dr. james whitfield,ed first black principal, officially removed from his position during an emotional school board meeting, all of it over a false accusation. >> reporter: critical race theory became a right-wing bogeyman. >> it's a decades-old study on systemic racism, almost exclusively taught in law school. >> this is not about anything called critical race theory is k 12. it's a backlash effort to reverse the racial req nick. >> reporter: it gave us purpose, but also some pain. >> in the early 1900s the district of greenwood was successful and self-sufficient until the even of may 31st, 1921. >> in tulsa, oklahoma, we remembered and mourned and unearthed a centuries-old massacre that wiped away hundreds of black lives. hundreds marched to mark the centennial. a thousand miles away another massacre was remembered, this one tess mother emanuel church in charleston, south carolina, where the reverend and acongress gant lost their lives to a young white supremacist a half dozen years ago. but in 12021, shards of the his shattered were smoothed just a little with the department of justice reaching a multimill consettlement with the families of the victims. not closure, but perhaps something closer. >> we cannot bring back those nine victims, cannot erase the scars that those survivors have, but what we do here today as lawyers and they families say we stand on justice. >> sb-2122, ilnot becoming the first state to ban police from lying to minors during interrogation. a sweeping justice reform, bans lying to minors in police interrogations, a practice that's led to wrongful convictions of countless young people, most of them black boys. and the city of evans ton became the first in the nation to pay reparations to black residents whose families had been stripped of opportunity, wealth and the promises that come with citizenship in this country. >> $400,000 will go to qualified applicants for housing assistance. >> reporter: but the plan was not without controversy and pushback, some of it coming from the african-american community. >> the evans ton fan discusses very little with respect to redlining. >> this is not rep pays. california returned a $70 million parcel in prime beachfront land known as bruce's beach, to the bruce family, a black family whose land was stripped from them by the state a century away. while america remains a land of deep inequity, and black people have yet to enjoy the fullness of american freedom, 2021 reminds us we certainly have come a very long way. we'll have much more in the next hour on how the omicron surge is changing new year's eve plans across the country mand it would mean for the millions heading back to school after the holiday. stay with us. g back to school ae holiday. stay with us ♪♪ i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. what are the three ps? 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