fashion in new york. the ball drop took place with a smaller crowd of 15,000 people who were asked to wear masks and show proof of vaccination. meanwhile, covid is still surging, the u.s. topping 275 million covid cases in one week. plus n colorado, tens of thousands of people have been evacuated. nearly 1,000 homes have been destroyed by wildfires devastating the state. officials say snow helped fire crews in exi think theishing the last of the flames. the governor says no deaths have been reported and issued a state of emergency. reporting on the latest developments, liz mclaughlin is in raleigh, north carolina. and mike memoli is with the president in delaware. liz, what's happening where you are? >> joe, good afternoon. you can see behind me a steady stream of cars rolling into this testing site. it's a scene that we have seen all week. in fact, sometimes dozens of cars in line this. testing site actually switching to appointments only after just a few days ago there was a line that went all the way in the street. almost 100 cars that was blocking traffic and had to get the police involved to manage it. now they have moved to appointment only. so it is move pretty quickly here because of that structure. but it is still days until folks can get an appointment. if you signed on today, sometimes, two, three, four-day waits to get there. i spoke with a man in line who said that was tough for him. he had a potential exposure, tried to get tested as early as wednesday and had to wait day asks days to be able to do that. he planned to go to a new year's eve party last night but he had to sit at home, you know, with his girlfriend, instead of going to see friends. that's the reality for a lot of folks across the states when this testing demand really turned into a testing crisis and it is just so hard to fine those tests. people wanted to get them before holiday gatherings. some folks just did it instead. some maybe were lucky enough to get one of those at-home tests that are so hard to get your hands on. still a lot of empty store shelves with those. but the u.s. is trying to get more access to those. the government purchasing about 500 million tests, but they haven't quite arrived yet. that website is expected to be up later this month where any american can go in, request the test to be shipped to them at no cost. in just a few weeks private insurance will be able to reimburse folks for the at-home rapid tests if they are able to find one. fda authorized this week tests from two siemen's. most of those things should be available in a couple of weeks. it might be a little too late, epidemiologist asks scientists are saying the peak of this omicron wave could be mid january. >> the tests are popular items. now to mike memoli in delaware with the president. how is the biden administration responding to some of the backlash and questions over the cdc's new quarantine guidelines for those who have covid? >> joe, well, new year, new variant, but the same challenge for the biden administration as they deal with what is actually now the biggest surge in coronavirus cases in the entirety of this pandemic now. and as we've seen the administration putting forward an agenda that they say is always about keeping the science first, following the science, we have seen something of a shift in how they are dealing with it, especially as it relates to trying to avoid major disruption s in critical functions. we see it in the strain on our health care system n the airline industry right now. that's what is what was behind the new cdc guidelines. the cdc's director as trying to clear up some of the confusion. >> the most transmission happens in the one to two days you have systems and three to five days after you have symptoms. those account for 85 to 90% of all transmission that occurs. they may not be able to or willing to comply with ten days of isolation. this was really a way to tell people make sure you isolate in those first five days. we want to be able to get people back out if they are feeling well, but to also have them be masked. >> reporter: you hear in the last clip especially the balancing act the administration is facing wanting people to follow the quarantine and isolating periods for safeties but not making them so long that people ignore them sbird. dealing with the pandemic is now at the top of the long to-do list. that's waiting for him when he returns to washington in a few days. dealing with the build back better legislation he still wants to get approved in the next few weeks. also voting rights, chuck schumer said that will be on the floor later this month. and all of this president's success in dealing with that long to-do list will have a big say on what happens to democrats in the midterm elections. the president with an approval rating in the low 40s. that's usually a bad sign for the party in power. president biden's administration hoping to defy history and not see the major losses we saw in the mid terms for donald trump or for he president obama. >> the last item on that list, mitt term elections, looms large over everything else. joining me now, dr. peter hotez of texas children's hospitals and dean of the national school of tropical medicine. happy new year to you. thank you for joining us. >> thanks for having me. happy new year. >> i want to ask you about this "new york times" headline. it reads, scientists predict, omicron will peak in the u.s. in mid january but still may overwhelm hospitals. what's your read on when you think omicron might wind down? what are the next few weeks going to look like here in the u.s.? >> the way i see it, joe, i don't see this as a single peak across the country. what we'll likely see is this is going to be a rolling wave. what we are seeing, it is peaking now in new york city and washington, d.c. at an extraordinary level of transmission. it is picking up in the south, georgia and louisiana and mississippi. it is clear the eastern half of the country is going to be first out of the gate. then it will pick up in the western states and here in texas. it's not all going to peak at the same time. similarly, it's also going to start going down probably sooner in new york and washington. so the hope is that if it is a very spiky peak that goes up quickly, down quickly, then washington, d.c. and new york will benefit from that, so towards the last half of january it will start to go down. but it still may be climbing in other parts of the country. >> one of the biggest factors that could be dictating these waves is what happens in schools. the fda is reportedly planning to allow 12 to 15-year-olds to receive pfizer boosters. that decision could come in the coming weeks here. that comes as schools are trying to reopen after the holiday break over the next week. how do you see the next few weeks playing out for kids in school? in your mind should kids be in the classroom right now? >> for instance, as we have been talking things are peaking now in new york and washington, d.c., especially in new york city. it is going to be tough, you know, when you have got something that's this screaming level of transmission, something on the order of measles. it is not going to be easy to open schools in new york city and washington, d.c. on monday and for the next couple of weeks. easier in other parts of the country. so the idea, i think things will be easier to manage a couple of weeks from now as the peak sub sides. again, there are things parents could do to mitigate against this. one is we are underperforming in terms of vaccination. we talk about the boosters. we are still not doing great in terms of the adolescents who have gotten their first two doses of the mrna vaccine. about half have gotten that in the south. there is a lot of room to vaccinate. and the little kids we are not doing well, 5 to 11-year-olds, 15% nationally. parents are wringing their hands, what can they do for their kids to ensure they get through this time safely? get your kids vaccinated when they are eligible in addition to the masks and other mid gags measures. >> one of the issues looking ahead is what is going to happen in hospitals. your state ran out of monoclonal antibodies. other states are experiencing serious shortages. how big of a concern is this? how important are those monoclonal antibodies when it comes to handling covid right now? >> we were hoping if there were breakthrough infections that monoclonals would be a great book stop. two of our three do not seem to work against omicron. and the other, we don't have in much abundance. the fact that paxlovid is not going to be available in time for this big wave in sufficient numbers -- so we do have the remdesivir, which is administered preemtorically. i think we also have to look at things like convalescent plasma. colleagues at johns hopkins just published data on the outpatient efficacy of that. i think that could be promising as well. we have kind of forgotten about that because of the monoclonals. we might need to reopen looking a that the to get us through this period. >> i want to talk about boosters, for adults n. israel, they approved their fourth booster shot. the "new york times" reports weighing the potential benefits of another booster shot against the risks, some scientists have voiced concern that too many vaccinations might cause a sort of immune system fatigue compromising the body's ability to fight the coronavirus, especially among older people. if your mine, if a fourth booster becomes available in the u.s. is there a possibility of becoming overup municipalized? >> i think that's a potential concern but it has to be weighed by the fact that we are keeping the health care work force at work. with a boost, if you are three or four months out from the first boost, the effectiveness declines from 70 or 75% down to 30 or 40%. i have advocate asked written a piece in the l.a. times recommending that for health care workers as a temporary means to bump up their neutralizing antibodies to keep them in the work force. then the he is rally government extended it not only the health care workers and also to those over 60 and 70. they are going back and forth. the longer we deliberate, the further this wave goes on and the less likely that's going to happen. i am not seeing a lot of appetite coming out of atlanta and washington to make that happen. i think if we had done it a month ago when we knew omicron was coming it could have been effective but i think it might be moot by the time people get around to it. >> doctor, thanks for your expertise. we appreciate it. up next, fire and ice, from one extreme to another from people who lost everything on new year's eve. t everything on new year's eve ♪honey lemon♪ try vicks vapocool drops. in honey lemon chill. for fast-acting sore throat relief. wooo vaporize sore throat pain with vicks vapocool drops. 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(carolers) ♪better♪ (kate) this year, holiday better, with verizon. because everyone deserves better. how not to be a hero: because that's the last thing they need you to be. you don't have to save the day. you just have to navigate the world so that a foster child isn't doing it solo. you just have to stand up for a kid who isn't fluent in bureaucracy, or maybe not in their own emotions. so show up, however you can, for the foster kids who need it most— at helpfosterchildren.com breaking news this hour on the travel front. united airlines announcing a short time ago it will cancel another 155 flights today. severe weather and safing shortages due to the omicron surge. they have caused major disruptions one of the busiest travel weekends of the year. last hour, the president of the associate of flight attendants cwa international spoke with me about whether these travel delays could continue. >> these flight cancellations are not just because of omicron. we have seen holiday travel disrupted before because of weather. let's not lose what is happening here. this is the airline industry. we are only going to take off if it's flight. >> according to flight aware, more than 2400 flights to, from, or within the u.s. have been canceled today. and the numbers keep climbing. breaking news out of kentucky where flash flooding is prompting water rescues across the state. new video shows flood waters surrounding the home of a bomb's trailer home. she had to wade through the water with her four children to escape the rising waters. michelle grossman is tracking the storm. haroing scenes from kentucky. you were warning us about those the last hour. how are other parts of the country fairing? >> these are videos we are going the see over the next hours into the evening and see, this is a six hour loop. notice it is training over the same area. think of a stationery boundary. that's what's parked right there. it is like a train track. you are going to get the wheels over and over again. that's what we are seeing right now. you are seeing dark colors. we are seeing heavy rain as well. that's why we are seeing flash flooding. the flash flooding is in red. in the state of kentucky 13 million people are affected. we could see two to four inches, obviously more where we are seeing the thunderstorms and the training rain. life threatening flash flooding is a concern over the next several hours. we are also concerned about the threat of tornadoes, gusty winds, dangerous winds, and large hail as well. this is from the storm prediction center today, tonight, into the morning hours into the early part of sunday. it is not just the next couple of hours. we are going to be talking about this for a while. the orange is the possibility for the sprangest storms. nashville and huntsville. really strong weather. here we have a tornado watch in effect. we are looking at some tornado warnings over parts of kentucky. i will be looking at this for you over the next several hours. back to you in we know you will keep an eye on it. we are getting our first look at some of the colorado neighborhoods leflds by the so-called marshal fire which charred 6200 acres, damaged hundreds of homes and forced thousands of people to evacuate. you spoke with some people about their escape. how did they get out and get to safety? >> desperation, tenacity, force of will, and pure parental instinct. imagine being trapped in a chuck e. cheese with your kids. hurricane force winds suddenly outside driving flames towards you. this family had to take a major risk to escape. take a look. >> out the window, the smoke was thickening. as jason fletcher in colorado for the holidays shot this video, he was at a chuck e. cheese with his five and family. >> i saw flames. and that's when i yelled flames, i see fire. >> reporter: with the fire approaching dangerously close to the restaurant parents gathered chirp and scrambled to the exit. winds so strong. >> i can't get this door open. >> i think we are locked in. >> reporter: for a moment, they struggled to get out. >> we finally get outside and it is all hitting you and the wind was moving so fast. >> i felt the wind hitting. that's when danger set in. fire and wind of that magnitude is very dangerous. >> go, go, go, come on. >> after a rush to the parking lot, gridlock as hundreds tried to flee the crowded shopping center. >> i looked back at my son. he was trying to hold back tears. i told him we are going to be okay. we tad a little prayer. >> reporter: though shaken by the experience. >> that was the scariest part for me because i said those words we were going to be okay but i was just saying it until i could believe it. >> reporter: the fletcher family glad to be arrive. thankfully that family is okay, along with thousands of others. officials have called ate miracle that no deaths have been reported. but our affiliate, kusa, here, is reporting now two missing in the fire. first responders hoping to locate the family members. as family members are let back to see their homes, what's left of them much of the evacuation orders lifted here thanks to the snow which has been persistent ever since last night. >> amazing so many people were able to stap. steve, thank for the story. appreciate it. coming up next, from the inauguration to a new space race a look back at the many stories that made headlines in 2021. new vicks convenience pack. dayquil severe for you... and daily vicks super c for me. vicks super c is a daily supplement with vitamin c and b vitamins to help energize and replenish. dayquil severe is a max strength daytime, coughing, power through your day, medicine. new from vicks. 2022 is officially upon us. but as 2021 came to a close my producers and i went back lieu the archives looking back at almost everything that happened last year. some things we will want to remember. many, many others we would probably like to forget. we couldn't fit everything in, but as you are about to see, 2021 was a history-making year. ♪♪ >> five, four, three, two, one. >> in the closing moments of 2020, as the ball dropped above a sparsely populated times square, a weary nation casually hoped for better times, dreams that were quickly dampened. 2021 was just six days old when a mob of trump supporters stormed the u.s. capitol hoping to overturn the presidential election. the images from that day captured in the capitol rotunda, in speaker pelosi's office, in the senate chamberings, they are indelible portraits of a deadly uprising that stunned the world yet failed to stop lawmakers from certifying the election results. >> joseph r. biden jr. of the state of delaware has received 306 votes. >> reporter: in the days that followed the streets of washington looked more like a war zone as the nation's focus shifted from insurrection to inauguration. at the scaled-down ceremony president biden was sworn in as america's 46th president. >> i do solemnly swear. >> kamala harris became the country's first foe mail vice president. in the audience senator bernie sanders made a meme-worthy fashion statement. the outgoing president refused to stick around for the festivities but could not escape another impeachment used of inciting the riots he became the first president to be impeached twice. >> donald trump former president of the united states is not guilty. >> reporter: it was a dramatic start to a year still dominated by covid. >> we learned this morning that the pandemic has now taken 400,000 lives in the u.s. >> reporter: as the country emerged from a deadly winter, vaccines became more available, first to the most vulnerable. then to all adults. and eventually to most kids. despite the welcome shot in the arm, more americans died from covid this year than last as the more contagious delta variant surged and hospitals filled again treating mostly unvaccinated patients. >> now we are treating patients in the hallways. >> reporter: mask mandates sparked rage. at school board meetings. >> let the parents make the decisions. let the kids breathe. >> reporter: as classrooms cautiously returned to in-person learning. >> i would rather wear it because i don't want to get covid. >> reporter: our vocabularies expanded to include new terms -- break-through case, boosters, and by year's end, omicron. >> reporter: as the pandemic raged, so did nature's furry. >> we are huddled under all the blanket that we have. >> reporter: in february, a deadly ice storm paralyzed texas leaving millions without power. wildfires continued to ravage the west. and hurricane ida carved a path of destruction that stretched from louisiana to new york. and this month, more than 100 were killed by a series of rare december tornados in kentucky and surrounding states. one twister cutting a path pour than 200 miles long. it was a year of fatal tragedies. the atroe world concert in houston, the christmas parade in wisconsin, and a condo building in surfside, florida. >> it felt like an earthquake. who ever thinks a building is going to collapse on you? >> reporter: the 12-story tower partially collapsed killinger inially 100 people while many slept. tragedy also reached a movee set in new mexico where actor alec baldwin was handed a gun that fired a real round, killing the film's cinematographier. some of last i don't remember's biggest stories let led to this year's biggest triumphs. >> unintentional second-degree murder while committing a felony find the defendant guilty. >> reporter: a jury found former minneapolis police officer derek chauvin guilty of killing george floyd, a verdict celebrated outside the courthouse and underi don't understand. in georgia three white men were convicted of killing ahmaud arbery. and wisconsin teenager kyle rittenhouse was found not guilty on all charges after shooting three men during protests last year. exacerbating the growing political chasm in america in a year filled with debates over controversial issues including abortion and transgender rights. political harmony was not totally elisive. >> bravo. >> reporter: capitol hill law mackers passed a bipartisan infrastructure bill and overwhelmingly voted to make juneteenth a federal holiday. if you thought our politics would settle down after the last election, think again. democrats flipped two seats in georgia and ended with republicans flipping the governor's seat in virginia. overseas, america ended the 20-year war in afghanistan, pulling the last remaining u.s. troops out of the country. world watched as the taliban rapidly reclaimed control and desperate afghans tried to flee. >> kabul is falling now. >> reporter: the chaotic final days, a suicide bomber killed 13 service members, all of it sparking international criticism for how the withdrawal was handled. and president biden stood by his decision. >> after 20 years of war in afghanistan, i refuse to send another generation of america's sons and daughters to fight a war that should have ended long ago. >> reporter: in october, world leaders gathered once again in person in rome for the g20 conference. then in glasgow for the u.n. climate conference. notably missing, queen elizabeth, forced to bow out over health concerns. it was a challenging year for the royal family starting in march when prince harry and meghan markle sat down for a headline making interview with oprah winfrey. >> there is a conversation with you -- >> with harry. >> -- about how dark your baby is going to be? >> potentially, and what that would mean, or look like. >> that conversation, i'm never going the -- to share. >> the royals also said good-bye to the queen's husband of more than 70 years, prince philip, who died at the age of 99, his one of many notable deaths this year. colin powell, bob dole, sicily tyson, steven sound him, christopher plummer. ♪♪ >> reporter: and so many more. >> announcer: this is jeopardy. >> reporter: it was the year that jeopardy struggled to find a permanent host? welcome to the second of our three semifinal matches. >> reporter: that britney was finally freed from our conservatorship. and our friends reunited. and that movie block busters made their long awaited return, along with broadway, and adele. ♪♪ >> reporter: the olympic flame belatedly burned one year later than planned as tokyo hosted the 2020 games in 2021. super star gymnastics simone biles traded high scores for high praise when she withdrew from several events to focus on her mental health. >> that's what i did. >> reporter: tiger woods started swinging again, following a serious car crash in california. and billionaires raced to space, even captain kirk took a trip to the final frontier. >> i am so filled with emotion about what just happened. i just -- it's extraordinary. >> reporter: an inspiring reminder of what the future holds. >> i did it, america! >> reporter: as we reflect on a year dominated by vaccines, and hope 2022 offers a shot as something even better. ♪♪ make sure to join nbc's savanna sellers and me for good-bye 2021, a year to remember, and forget. that special is airing tonight at 8:00 eastern right here on msnbc. as we celebrate the arrival of 2022, for what it's worth, the number 22 in new mexico rolling is the mightiest of numbers, i'm told, representing big dreams and big accomplishments. let's hope. up next, whether the inflation that's been making it harder to stretch a dollar will ease up any time in 2022. but first, a look at what else is ahead on msnbc. covid concerns again. as the country faces a record number of cases, we are answering your questions about testing, vaccines, boosters, and more. that and more ahead on yasmin vossoughian reports, right here on msnbc. oughian reports, right on msnbc ice and long-lasting gain scent beads. try spring daydream, now part of our irresistible scent collection. age is just a number. and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health. versus 16 grams in ensure high protein. boost® high protein also has key nutrients for immune support. boost® high protein. ready for subway's eat fresh refresh™? that's the new and improved italian b.m.t.®, with new artisan italian bread, new black forest ham, and new mv- you gotta refresh to be fresh! hold up, false start on the spokesperson. save big. order through the app. ♪ americans have high hopes for the economy, but also plenty of anxiety as the new year gets underway. beyond the wild cards of omicron and the build back better plan, economists predict that job growth will slow down but remain strong in 2022 as the great resignation rolls on. joining me now to break it all down is "washington post" economics correspondent heather long. heather, good to have you with us. happy new year. >> same to you. >> looking back at 2021, we had the supply chain breakdown, a tight labor market, then a flood of consumer spending when covid lockdowns were lifted. obviously holiday spendsway was very high. all of that contributed to prigss rising at the fastest pace in nearly 40 years. help us understand, how high could inflation go this year? how long might it last? >> these are key questions on everyone's mind. the good news is, we have seen a little bit of relief at the gas pump with those prices coming down a bit. and we are finally starting to see some relief in the supply chain. and it's certainly not back to normal but we are seeing a little bit of prices come down to move freight across the ocean from asia to california. those are encouraging signs. the bad news is that we still have a long way to go to get back to anything that feels like normal pricing. inflation -- if the story of 2021 was surging used car prices and high price force washing machines and lumber, unfortunately, the story for 2022, at least for the first few months is really going to be inflation across the board. we are seeing high prices for food, for utilities. and the one that worries me is rising rent prices. 35% of americans rent their homes. they tend to be lower income americans. what's different this time around is normally when we talk about high rents, we think about new york city, los angeles, san francisco. but this time around the biggest rent increases, 20% rent increases are happening in places like fienis, reno, nevada, jacksonville, florida, places that used to be seen as affordable. i think the takeaway is we are in for a rough few months and there is hope that the second half of the year will be better but i don't think a lot of people will be willing to bet on that. >> some of the rent hikes are jaw dropping. fed chair powell could raise interest rates this year. if that happens, what would that mean for the average person? >> yes, we are expecting that to happen. it is the best tool to fight inflation, to raise those interest rates. we expect -- or the signal has been from j. powell at the federal reserve it could happen three times this year. interest rates at the moment are at historic low lows, basically zero%. if they do three rate hikes we are talking about .75%, still historically low but it is going the feel different. obviously mortgage rates will go up, to take out a loan to buy a car or for a small business, those will become more expensive and we expect the housing market to slow down a little bit. the other takeaway is when those interest rates go up, you want to pay down debt, particularly things like credit card debt that tend to have a floating interest rate. so as rates rise that debt gets more and more expensive. definitely the message is to pay off that credit card deb if you can. let's talk about the job market right now. there are nearly 11 million job openings in the u.s. this year jobless claims were at a new low. it is strange times we are living in with the job market. what does it mean for the job market in 2022? >> this is quite a historic time for the job market. the good news is, it is definitely still a job seeker's market. we have 11 million job openings for 6.9 million unemployed. so companies are really still desperate for workers. we are seeing big pay increases, especially for folks in the $15 and under category, which is very positive to see. and i think going forward some things to keep watch here are that we expect that what is interesting right now, we normally see seasonal employees laid off. folks who were hired to work in warehouses or retail stores. we are not seeing that right now. those why those jobless daims claims are very low. companies want to hold onto the workers they have. the one thing that does worry me a little bit is we are really struggling to get back and rebound in hiring in schools particularly for things like bus drivers, and also for day cares. day care is still down 10% employment in this country. obviously, if we don't have enough places for child care and for schooling, that impacts many parents' ability to go back to work. indeed, we have 1.5 million women who have been unable to get back into the labor market still. so i am hoping that we can get that situation in a better place in the coming months if we can get covid under control. >> important issues impacting so many. quickly on this last one, we are seeing college football games, bowl games, broadway shows, all called off. some colleges are going to start the year remote because of omicron. quickly, how is this going to impact the economic recovery? >> there is no doubt about it, economists have been slashing their forecasts, certainly for january, february, because of what we are seeing right now. but i think for overall 2022 i and many others are actually fret optimistic. we are starting to learn to live with this virus and figure out how to go about day-to-day. each successive wave, the impact on the economy has been smaller and smaller with each successive wave of the virus. i think there is hope if we can get through this tough january and february it could be a really big surge for travel, for sports, for entertainment, for restaurants in the second half of the year. maybe kind of the in like a lion, out like a lamb situation. >> let's hope that's what happened. heather long thank you so much. coming up, the january 6th committee just received new documents from an ally to former president trump. why they might matter. next. xt we've been married 53 years. we love to walk on the beach. i have two daughters and then two granddaughters. i noticed that memories were not there like they were when i was much younger. since taking prevagen, my memory has gotten better and it's like the puzzle pieces have all been [click] put together. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. are you ready to meet the new class of subway's eat fresh refresh™? the new baja steak & jack, new all-american club™, the new italian b.m.t.®, new turkey cali fresh... and new...trevor lawrence? man, you're not a sandwich! order in the app now to save big. hi susan! honey? man, you'reyeah?a sandwich! i respect 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[collision beeping warning] [silence] how bout tacos? tacos. automatic emergency braking — one of six advanced safety features standard on every 2022 chevy equinox. find new technology. find new roads. chevrolet. now to the latest on the january 6th investigation and the house committee's ongoing legal battle. that house panel is trying to get its hands on a trove documents that could provide insight into what exactly happened leading up to the insurrection. congressional investigators are asking the supreme court to reject donald trump's request to block the release of his white house records, pushing back on the former president's claim of executive privilege. joining me now, hugo lowell, congressional reporter for "the guardian," so, hugo, good to have you with us. how do you expect this to play out here in the new year? >> so, i think the committee will be making strides in the new year because they have a lot of evidence of potential trump white house culpability in the january 6th attack and they are moving forward with depositions and public hearings. i think it's going to be quite a productive next few weeks for the committee. quite recently, they got the documents from an assistant to giuliani and that will shed more light on the political operations at the willlet hotel and they've also got the supreme court case coming up, as you said, with the national archives holding on to those documents but experts in the committee believe at least that the supreme court will not grant cert and that the committee will be able to see the documents that trump is trying to hide so desperately. >> i want to ask you about some of your new reporting this week that the committee is planning to open an inquiry into donald trump's phone call to the willard hotel, seeking to stop joe biden's certification. walk us through the reporting and does that meek these white house documents all the more relevant to their investigation? >> yeah, so, we reported monday that the select committee is now investigating or intends to investigate trump's phone calls from the white house to the willard hotel where his political operatives were working out of. this included people like giuliani, john eastman, the author of the memo that was presented to trump that outlined ways to stop the certification, but at the nexus of all the efforts, it sounds like on january 6th was the willard hotel and so the chairman of the select committee, bennie thompson, told me a couple weeks ago they intended to scrutinize trump's phone calls, especially on the night of january 5 when he called up the lawyers at the willard hotel and pressed them on ways to stop biden's certification from taking place on january 6th, and this is really key and they're going to go through the white house records, if they can obtain them from the national archives, and see if they can learn anything new about those phone calls. >> so, hugo, as we enter the new year and the one-year mark since the insurrection now just a few days away, "the washington post" is reporting that the committee is preparing to enter a more public phase of its investigation. the public phase, what might that look like? >> it's basically going to involve open hearings for the public to see. so the select committee is unlikely, i think, to issue an interim report in the next few weeks and months, but what they are going to do is hold a series of televised public hearings where they want to show the american public what the committee has learned in its closed door evidence gathering process to date. the evidence gathering has been really fruitful. they've spoken to about 300 witnesses and they have about 30,000 documents now on file from witnesses and trump administration officials and political operatives, including, of course, trump's former white house chief of staff, mark meadows, who turned over a series of really damning messages that seemed to incriminate the white house and trump and trump's sons and fox news hosts and republican members of congress, so this is a really big deal, i think, and this is going to feature large in how the committee moves forward. they're still going to be doing investigations and evidence gathering on the side, but i think they're going to really ramp up the pace and try and share with the american people what they've learned to date. >> hugo lowell with "the guardian," happy new year, thank you so much for joining us on this holiday. we appreciate it. that will do it for me on this edition of alex witt reports. up next, yasmin vossoughian will continue our coverage. happy new year. vossoughian will continue our coverage. pphay new year inner voice (kombucha brewer): i'm dramatically holding this bottle, so the light hits it just right, and people think... wow... ...he knows what he's doing... ...when i'm actually pretty lost with my payroll taxes. intuit quickbooks helps you manage your payroll taxes. cheers. 100% accurate payroll tax calculations guaranteed. mission control, we are go for launch. cheers. um, she's eating the rocket. ♪♪ lunchables! built to be eaten. what does a foster kid need from you? 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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. ♪♪ good afternoon, everybody, and happy new year's day. i'm yasmin vossoughian. coming to you a little bit early today. we are covering a lot of news on this holiday weekend. the new year starting with a continuing surge in covid cases that makes it feel like we haven't moved an inch on this crisis in the past year. we're answering your questions this hour, so you don't want to miss that. plus, the latest on devastating wildfires in colorado that have wiped out whole blocks. a live report coming up next. and new information today in the january 6th investigat

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