turning over documents as both seeds wait to see if the supreme court will weigh in on whether the former president can keep his records from seeing the light of day. and tributes continuing to pour in for betty white, the national treasure passing away just short of her 100th birthday. a look at her life and career ahead. we do, though, want to begin with the coronavirus pandemic, testing facilities nationwide swamped by crowds waiting for covid tests as omicron continues its rapid sweep across the united states with more than 360,000 cases reported on the final day of 2021. the situation has become particularly desperate in raleigh, north carolina, where facilities are struggling to keep up with the demand for tests. with me are liz mclaughlin in raleigh and dr. kavita patel. happy new year's day, everybody. thanks for joining us on this holiday weekend. we appreciate it. liz, let me start with you on this one and just kind of walk me through what's happening in north carolina, seeing some of the highest numbers throughout this pandemic so far. folks scrambling to get tested as we're returning from holiday break. what are you seeing? >> reporter: well, that really goes hand-in-hand, this testing demand is at an all-time high and more and more of those tests are coming back positive in north carolina alone, more than 1.5 million cases now since the start of the pandemic, nearly 20,000 deaths here, and across the country, states breaking pandemic records. take a look here behind me at this line. it just stretches all the way down the street, and earlier this week, we saw traffic that needed the police to be able to control the flow of traffic because it was going all the way out into the main roads. now it's appointment only. it used to be able, you could drive up and at least wait hours for that line, but because of the chaos we've seen at this testing site and many across the country, they've switched to appointment only so at least this line is moving pretty quickly to get people through. but those at-home tests are still pretty sold out. a lot of people we spoke with in line say they're here because they're worried about their holiday gatherings because more people in their immediate circles are testing positive so they're afraid of an exposure. and other things like that. so, let's take a listen to one man we spoke with in line here. what's your reasoning for wanting to see if you got a test? >> going back to work and just hanging with friends. just to be safe. so, i'll probably stay isolated until i get a negative result and then go back to normal. >> reporter: and he was already isolating, had to cancel those new year's eve plans last night because it was so hard to get a test. days long until people can even get appointments here. yasmin? >> thank you, liz. we appreciate that. dr. patel, let's talk through some of this because this started even before christmas. i had gotten tested on december 17th, i believe. i didn't get my results until december 27th and at that point it didn't really matter whether i was negative or positive. i was, by the way, negative. but this is going to continue. >> okay, great, thank you. >> we haven't caught up on testing, dr. patel. what are we to do now, returning from, of course, these holiday breaks, gathering with family, getting back to work, kids going back to school? what can we expect with this omicron variant? >> yasmin, i expect numbers are going to get even worse, and i think you're right to point out that testing or the shortage of testing and the short kind of ability to get a rapid at-home test and now even limited sensitivity to those rapid at-home tests to omicron, kind of all that put together means we're going to see more and more cases. we're hoping these cases will peak over the next four to six weeks, but do the math. if we're at 500,000 a day, we know that's an undercount, then we're looking at a million-plus cases a day. i think just to put a little bit of a finer point on it, though, what do you do if you're a family? i think schools across the country are doing different things but i could -- i can't stress this enough. i know some parents are still in places where there is no mask requirement. i strongly encourage everyone to get their children into a high-quality mask, especially the unvaccinated one. >> okay, so, let's talk through a couple things here because you bring up this idea of the rapid at-home tests not being as sensitive to the omicron variant. do we know why? essentially what you're saying, the tests that so many of us have been depending on to continue to stay safe, even if they're telling us we're negative, we may very well still be positive if it's the omicron variant. >> right. and i think just to be clear, those tests, even before omicron, were not perfect. so, we knew that they performed really well. this test was really useful if it was positive and you were symptomatic, but if you had no symptoms, a negative, you could be in that window, yasmin, where you're kind of asymptomatic but still infected. and what we're seeing with omicron, it's just such a different time period from when you get infected to turning positive and the properties of the virus are just very different that it doesn't get picked up as well by the rapid test. so, what do we default to? the pcr. and as you point out, it's really hard to get one and the turn around time isn't useful. in the real world with my own patients, i'm telling them f you're sick, stay home. let's assume, until we can get you tested, let's assume you have covid because there's so much of it in our community, and then we do want to get you tested and i'm checking patients for things like flu and strep, because we're seeing a lot of that too. >> okay, final question here because i know you're going to be coming back with us as well. there was a piece in "the new york times" yesterday morning, south africa saying, listen, we have survived the omicron variant. the latest surge lasted about six weeks in south africa. they had high numbers as we're seeing here. not necessarily high hospitalizations and/or deaths, which is the good news. should we expect a similar trajectory if we're looking at the timing of this thing, a six-week peak? >> yeah, that's -- and by the way, that's kind of why we're watching the uk. we're kind of following closely the countries that we tend to trail by about two to three weeks and yes, that's what we're hoping is that as the uk is peaking in the next week or so, that means that we're about one to, you know, three weeks behind them, so we're still looking at a tough january, and then remember, peaks mean that we still have a decline but there are still a lot of cases, so we're in for a rocky couple of months, but as you point out, the proportion of hospitalizations and deaths are lower, but let me also just point out, if you've got a million cases a day, you're going to have a lot of hospitalizations and unfortunately deaths no matter what. >> yeah. dr. patel, you're going to be sticking with us coming up later in the show. we're going to get some questions answered, of course, because a lot of folks out there have questions amidst this latest surge as they're returning to school and work. and then at 3:00 p.m., the real cost of covid as well, why one family blames the unvaccinated for the death of their father. i want to shift now to another developing story out west, colorado. wildfires destroying up to a thousand homes in boulder county. the president declaring a state of emergency there early this morning in the aftermath to open up federal resources. steve patterson is on the ground for us in boulder county. steve, we covered this story yesterday when this thing first got started. it's devastating some of the images, but what a juxtaposition to see the wildfires, the destruction that was left in the aftermath of those and the snow on the ground behind you now, the freezing temperatures. talk us through what you have been seeing so far. >> reporter: well, i think the best thing you could say about the devastation is that it's very difficult to see because of all this snow. we often talk about how weather or officials hope that weather cooperates in a fire situation. this time, it seems like it was -- it was working for firefighters here yesterday. those heavy winds, 100-mile-an-hour, were pushing that fire into the heart of suburbia here in boulder county and all of a sudden the winds stopped, the snow came in, it's about 10 degrees right now. so, by all intents and purposes, all the major fire fighting operation is over, although this still is a fire zone, despite that, though, what people are going to come back to today, the next day, the day after that, what's underneath this snow is devastating and heartbreaking, unlike anything this community has ever seen. we were talking about more than 500 homes destroyed at least, but it may be upwards of a thousand. you're talking about 6,200 acres. seems small for a fire when you consider the largest fires in colorado are somewhere around 200,000 acres. this fire is known to be or at least thought to be at this point the most destructive wildfire in colorado history and the immense loss that people are experiencing now and over the next few hours will be incredible. the governor toured it above and the devastation was just so widespread. meanwhile, the fire is under investigation. there was some thinking that it was caused by downed power lines due to the wind gusts. officials have said that is not the case. they continue to look into that. and meanwhile, our affiliate, kusa, now reporting two people are missing. officials are hoping to confirm, find them at a local shelter and have good news here. that's the latest here, yasmin. >> let's hope and pray for their rescue. nbc's steve patterson, thank you. we appreciate it. coming up, by the way, in our next hour, we're going to hear from the mayor of boulder, colorado, aaron brockett. and then if 2021 was not cruel enough, america is mourning a national treasure and hollywood icon this weekend. tributes continue to pour in for legendary actress betty white, who has died just weeks ahead of her 100th birthday. no word on whether there will be a public memorial service but a short time ago, her former costar telling "people" magazine, quote, i used to stare at her in the mornings in the make-up trailer when she wasn't looking, trying to breathe in her magic. i hope every animal in heaven is there waiting for her. gadi schwartz has more on her remarkable life and her career. ♪ thank you for being a friend ♪ >> for america's last golden girl. >> someone was actually able to deceive me once. >> do tell, rose. >> st. olaf's most famous obmag. >> what's that? >> obstetrician magician. >> tributes pouring in from around the world. >> she's led a incredible life, was a wonderful person. >> betty white, just shy of her 100th birthday, today remembered for her perfect comedic timing. >> facebook is a great way to connect with old friends. well, at my age, if i want to connect with old friends, i need a ouija board. >> ladies and gentlemen, betty white! >> at a youthful age of 88, she became the oldest person ever to host "snl" after a million people petitioned to get her on the show. >> when i first heard about the campaign to get me to host "saturday night live," i didn't know what facebook was. and now that i do know what it is, i have to say, it sounds like a huge waste of time. >> and in her later years, betty white's unstoppable nature took on a life of its own. >> what do you like to do in your free time? >> i like to do most anything, play with animals, mostly and vodka's kind of a hobby. >> celebrated in super bowl commercials. guest starring in modern rom coms. >> to the universe. >> the universe. >> white recently told "people" magazine her secret to longevity, i try to avoid anything green. in 1953, she coproduced her own comedy show, "life with elizabeth." >> what's so terrible about spiders? >> tell him, honey. >> they go doing. >> and the betty white show in 1958, she showcased some of her other talents. ♪ someone to watch over me ♪ >> and on the mary tyler moore show, betty's show-stealing performance as sue ann nivens turned what was supposed to be a small role into america's happiest homemaker. >> i have done that show every day since july 1963. do you know what that means, mary? it means i've been smiling for 11 years. >> who can forget the beloved rose nylund on then "golden girls." and in a land of romantic comedies, betty lived a love story for the ages, meeting allen ludden. >> the password tonight is. >> home. will you take me home, please, mr. ludden? >> i certain will, mrs. ludden. >> she never remarried. during her spare time, betty white was a fierce friend of animals, raising money and always advocating for their protection. her hollywood star celebrated by those who took her as inspiration. her passing marking an end to a golden era. >> what an incredible loss. so sad to see her go, but what a true talent. nbc's gadi schwartz, thank you. coming up, by the way, in our next hour, comedian lizz winstead is going to join me to talk more about betty white. still ahead, everybody, the document dump, another key figure picking and choosing what he is willing to give to the january 6th committee and what he won't. former u.s. attorney and msnbc legal analyst joyce vance joins us next. msnbc legal analyst joyce vae ncjoins us next. ordinary tissues burn when theo blows. so puffs plus lotion rescued his nose. with up to 50% more lotion, puffs bring soothing relief. a nose in need deserves puffs indeed. america's #1 lotion tissue. welcome back, everybody. so, the latest developments now on the house committee investigating the january 6th attack, bernard kerik, former new york city police commissioner, has turned over a slew of documents to the panel that describe efforts to unearth evidence of election fraud. kerik also provided a, quote, privilege log, describing materials that he declined to provide to the committee, one such withheld document is titled "draft letter from potus" to seize evidence in the interest of national security for the 2020 elections. this is coming as the panel is asking the supreme court to reject former president trump's request to block white house records from being turned over to investigators. trump claiming executive privilege had objected to the committee's efforts to obtain the documents that included communication between the white house and the doj just days before the attack on the capitol. let's get into this. with me, joyce vance, former u.s. attorney, professor at the university of alabama school of law, and an msnbc legal analyst. joyce, it's great to see you on this new year's day. happy new year, my friend. i hope you enjoyed your evening. i'm looking ahead to 2022. i hope you are as well. go ahead. >> i was just going to say, happy new year. it's good to see you. >> you too. let's talk through kerik's handovers or lack thereof, withholding as well. what do you make of it? >> it's an interesting situation. here's a little bit of background, of course, bernard kerik was the police commissioner for new york city. he was up for nomination to be the secretary of homeland security, but he lied to folks in the white house. he had tax problems, and he was ultimately prosecuted for those tax problems. president trump pardoned him in february of 2020, and so his relationship, kerik's relationship with rudy giuliani, he'd often been on his security detail, apparently blossomed into that pardon. one might assume that there's some loyalty there. kerik has turned over some documents through his attorneys. they did it in that traditional news dump -- the best news dump of the year, right, new year's eve, when everything gets lost, but what's interesting here is that he withheld some documents, claiming privilege, even though he wasn't part of the executive branch and may be in a similar situation to steve bannon, whose claims were rejected out of hand by the committee. but kerik has provided a detailed -- what's called a privilege log. it lists the documents that are being withheld and what sort of privilege they fall under. and some of these documents indicate that there may be details about efforts to get a recount and start the perpetuation of the big lie following the 2020 election. >> so, here's what i find that is interesting, and it's talking about the possible testimony that we could get from bernard kerik and i want to read a portion of what politico has to say about that. so, timothy, who is kerik's attorney, told the committee, the former police commissioner would accept a voluntary interview with the panel on january 13th, 2022, so in just 12 days or so from now. according to parlatore, the attorney, the panel retracted its agreement for a voluntary interview and demanded a deposition instead after he sent his letter to the committee. can you deduce for us, joyce, as to why this shift may have happened? >> one big difference here is that a voluntary interview isn't necessarily conducted under penalty of perjury, and something has given the committee the strong feeling here that they need to get kerik's interview done under oath. that may be the fact that there's been some animosity. he talked about not trusting the committee and insisted on releasing documents publicly so that they couldn't be mischaracterized. but it's very likely that there's more to it here, and the committee believes that they need to get a statement from kerik under oath. he was around trump following the election. he has said before in some of his public appearances that he was with trump when trump spoke with then attorney bill barr about the need to secure votes in the election. so, lots of good reasons to get him under oath. i think it's a little bit amusing that kerik, a former law enforcement official, thinks he gets to set the terms here. that's not the case. if the committee subpoenas him, he's obligated to comply with the subpoena or face the consequences of that. >> but before i let you go, joyce, i just want to touch on one more thing, a piece that you wrote for msnbc, talking about the biden administration's accomplishments when it comes to the appointment of federal judges and saying how they're not touting their own successes enough, that in fact, republicans, they do have a tendency to tout successes when it comes to appointments. of course, to the federal bench and the supreme court. why do you think the biden administration is not leaning into this more? >> well, i think the administration has tried to tell the story. in my piece, i, in fact, quote biden's chief of staff, ron klain, who makes the point that republicans at one point said that you could justify trump's administration by nothing other than his success in appointing judges and klain then pointed out that biden is on track to appoint something like twice as many judges in his first year in office. so, the important challenge that the democrats face will be convincing not just their voters but really the entire country that the stability of the federal judiciary depends on making these strong qualified appointments and that they've done an extraordinary judge of diversifying the bench, appointing women and blacks and asians in really unparalleled numbers as well as bringing in judges with civil rights backgrounds and backgrounds as public defenders to really diversify the type of experience that's on the federal bench. >> all right, joyce vance for us, it's great to see you, joyce, on this new year's day. thank you for joining us. one media watchdog group names its biggest misinformer of the year and we're going to give you a hint. it is not donald trump. and travel troubles. flight cancellations, rough weather leave passengers starting the new year stranded. we're going to get an update on the forecast and those frustrated families. update on the forecast and those frustrated families. i don't care if i have to get out on the runway and hitchhike. if i costs me everything i own, if i have to sell my soul to the devil himself, i am going to get home to my son. me to my son sh'. i grow all my own vegetables shingles doesn't care. we've still got the best moves you've ever seen good for you, but shingles doesn't care. because 1 in 3 people will get shingles, you need protection. but, no matter how healthy you feel, your immune system declines as you age increasing your risk for getting shingles. so, what can protect you? shingrix protects. you can protect yourself from shingles with a vaccine proven to be over 90% effective. shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older. shingrix does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients or to 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(gasps) ♪ did it work? only pay for what you need ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ spider-man no way home in theaters december 17th some people have joint pain, plus have high blood pressure. they may not be able to take just anything for pain. that's why doctors recommend tylenol®. it won't raise blood pressure the way that advil® aleve® or motrin® sometimes can. for trusted relief, trust tylenol®. most bladder leak pads were similar. until always discreet invented a pad that protects differently. or motrin® sometimes can. with two rapiddry layers. for strong protection, that's always discreet. question your protection. try always discreet. welcome back, everybody. we have some breaking news to tell you about from that massive storm system moving across the country. this is what is happening in kentucky right now, this fast-flowing river. it's actually a flooded field near the town of versailles, which is in the middle of the state. you'll remember, of course, just a couple of weeks ago, parts of kentucky devastated by record breaking tornados and this is not what the state needs right now to recover. nbc meteorologist michelle grossman is joining us now. not a good situation kentucky is in right now. across the country, you've seen devastating weather from that, images of that to the wildfires in colorado. walk us through, michelle, the latest here, what you're seeing. >> yeah, hi there, yasmin. we are looking at so much. i mean, pretty much every state has an alert. we're looking at spring-like weather, we're looking at severe weather, winter weather, and we're looking at bitterly cold temperatures, so let's start with the radar because the immediate threat is for that flash flooding that we're seeing and you mentioned it. we were together on december 10th talking about the aftermath of that historic tornado outbreak, and you have to imagine those sirens going off because we have had tornado warnings already today, that sparks that fear. we have that flash flooding, training rains over this area. i'm sure some drains are still clogged from that day so we are looking at potentially life-threatening flash flooding and we're looking at potentially life-threatening severe storms as we go throughout the afternoon, evening, and overnight hours so now is the time to make the plan. this is what it looks like on satellite radar. you can see yellows and oranges, it's moving slowly over these areas just dumping this rain. the blue to the north is our winter weather so we have blinding snow in some spots and bitterly cold air and then sandwiched in the middle we have some sleet and freezing rain so, so many of us will have travel troubles today. it's a holiday and many people are trying to get home and this is going to extend into sunday. so as we zoom in a little closer here, you can see all that rain through kentucky into the ohio valley, also the tennessee valley, and we're looking at a flood threat for so, so many of us, where you see the green, but that red, that's your flash flood warning. that means it's imminent or it's happening. 13 million impacted by this flood threat. we're in a la nina pattern and that storm track, very active. you can see it going right through the area where we're seeing those storms and we're going to continue to watch these storms as we go throughout the evening and overnight hours. again, significant weather today and then significant weather tomorrow as well. we do have a tornado watch. that is in the pink until 8:00 tonight. it could be extended. we're going to continue to watch that. a few strong tornados are likely. we're looking at damaging winds. we could bring power lines down, we've seen hail as large as golf balls in some spots. this is from the storm prediction center. the experts on these storms, where you see the orange, that's an enhanced risk, that's where we have a 3 out of 5 on the scale, nashville, huntsville, memphis, we're looking at the potential for some pretty strong storms. yasmin? >> let's hope it's not worst case scenario in situations like this. michelle grossman, thank you for now. we appreciate it. moving back to covid, impacting air travel as we were just talking about. and all other aspects of life as well. i want to bring back msnbc medical contributor dr. kavita patel to answer some of your covid questions that you have tweeted at me. so, let's get to it, dr. patel, because we got a lot of them. let me ask the first question here, which is, what percentage of covid vaccines actually prevent infection? eight family members, one tested positive, three others negative, the rest have no symptoms, no test. all adults, vaccinated and boosted. 2 and 6-year-old not vaccinated but no symptoms. >> yeah, yasmin, we're seeing a lot of this. unfortunately, with omicron, we don't have precise percentages because a lot of people are testing at home and might not report it in. what we know from other countries is that it's about -- you've got the booster, you're getting anywhere from 70% to 80% effectiveness to reduce all the things we worry about, and we know it also protects against symptomatic infection, but much lower than that. so, bottom line, it's holding, but it's decreased compared to what it was before. >> all right, this is a good one. how long do boosters last, and if you are vaccinated, can you still spread omicron more easily than someone who is not vaccinated? >> yeah, so, with omicron, we're trying to understand exactly how infectious it is, and it still looks like vaccinated people, yes, can infect others. unvaccinated individuals do seem to have higher loads of viruses in their upper airways, so yes, unvaccinated people can infect others more quickly and more efficiently, but vaccinated individuals and that's why i think we're seeing so many of these vaccinated people who are coming through with breakthrough infections, but again, those people are protected by and large from hospitalizations and the first part of that -- how long does the booster immunity last? great question. we're hoping that it lasts a lot longer than the first two vaccines where we knew we needed boosters five to six months later. but there are some preprint studies that show that immunity from a booster might decrease after about ten weeks, which is why you're seeing countries like israel going to a fourth shot but i will tell you, none of these studies can pick up on memory cells, which are great and have really kicked in to help protect us against infections so i think more data will come forward to show boosters last a lot longer than we think. >> this is a good one. if you were in close contact with a friend for more than 15 minutes and they test positive, when should you test? >> yeah. omicron is decreasing kind of that time period from kind of exposure to possible infection. if you follow cdc guidance, you should test -- you should quarantine and test around day five. if you've got some access to testing, i would love to see people testing as early as day three because we think that coulding be the magic time window when you might not have symptoms but you might be positive. whoever you are though, try to quarantine, wear a mask around others until you can get that test. >> if you just had covid over the holidays, when should you get your booster, or should you wait? >> you don't need to wait. we want -- we recommend doing your booster as soon as you finish isolation so it's not like with the first shots. you don't need to wait. get that booster. it can be very important. infection alone will likely not be protective enough. we're already seeing cases of reinfection. >> is super protection -- by the way, this is my question. is super protection a real thing, i.e., you're boosted, you're vaxxed and you had covid? >> well, it's a real thing in that we're seeing people who have had all those scenarios and have really high levels of antibodies. what we don't know is, is that super protection enough against omicron? here's some good news, though. people who are vaccinated and get omicron, it does seem to protect them against delta, and i want to remind people that we still have some delta circulating and it's causing a lot of complications, patients in the hospitals and places like minnesota and the midwest and parts of the northeast. so, it's all of the more reason to boost and get as many people around you boosted as possible. >> dr. kavita patel, as always, thank you for all that really good information. we appreciate it. still ahead, everybody, criticism by one of my next guests over the president's phone call with putin as biden prepares to make another international connection. we'll be right back. another international connection we'll be right back. welcome back, everybody. president biden set to speak by phone with ukraine president zelensky tomorrow, reaffirming america's support for the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity amid growing tensions along its border. the announcement is coming on the heels of thursday's phone call between biden and russian president vladimir putin. during the almost hour-long discussion, biden warned of potential sanctions against russia, if it takes military action against ukraine. russia has amassed roughly 100,000 troops along the ukraine border, sparking fears of an invasion as soon as this month. joining me now to talk more about this, gary kasparov, founder and chair of renew democracy initiative and evelyn, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for russia, ukraine, and eurasia. thanks for joining us on this holiday weekend. evelyn, let me start with this one as we look ahead before we look back to the phone call president biden will be having with ukrainian president zelensky. what can we expect to come out of this phone call? how does the president, you think, plan to approach this thing? >> yeah, yasmin, well, first of all, happy new year to you as well. look, president biden obviously is in a situation where he has to transmit to president zelensky everything that he learned in the conversation with president putin and obviously to reassure him that the united states will be there to support ukraine militarily, economically, and politically, and that's the bottom line. he has to have these conversations so that the ukrainians know, and all of our allies and the world over knows, that we're not going to negotiate over the heads of other countries, over the heads of other foreign leaders with the russian president. >> i want to dive in, evelyn, a little bit to the coauthored piece that you released on the atlantic council, more of a coauthored statement with regards to the discussion the president had with putin and what steps to take next. but gary, let start first with the criticisms that you leveled on twitter when it came to that phone call between the russian president and president biden, and on twitter, you wrote this. "free world leaders giving dictators the status and attention they crave doesn't de-escalate or avoid conflict, but the opposite. apparently biden also craves a status boost, but this is also the opposite." you also wrote this. "for those who still don't understand, putin stays in power by keeping the cash flowing and his oligarchs happy. to do this, he needs to be irreplaceable, the big boss, no better way than one-on-one talks with the u.s. president." so gary, i'm assuming you don't agree with the notion of the president taking this phone call with putin. >> yeah, first of all, happy new year. i'm not sure it's a happy new year for our friends in ukraine and of course not for millions of my com patriots in russia. it's president biden and the white house, they owe us an explanation about the summit in june and another phone call. so we heard it in june, biden made demands. in phone call, the first phone call, he made an ultimatum. now, why was the third call needed at all? why he keeps coming back? because for putin, it's very simple. putin's main goal was the call itself. what they talked about wasn't relevant because it showed to putin's gang that putin was in charge. he's a big boss negotiating with the biggest boss, the president of the united states. and then you have to look at the way russian state media presented the call, putin negotiating the fate of ukraine, a sovereign nation putin is currently invading, and again, let's is to be talking about if putin invades ukraine. putin has been invading ukraine. i don't understand how you can talk to putin at all without nato allies and ukrainians in the room. >> so, garry, what should biden have done? >> oh, it's -- americans keep talking about sanctions. so, why the sanctions not in place? so, sanctions, putin's oligarch buttons, the ones who help him build his police state while living in luxury in europe and the united states. seize their assets, kick their families back to russia. and of course you have to cut out putin's russia from every organization they have used and corrupt, interpol, debt markets, financial markets. let's agree that putin russia is a criminal state making war in europe and treat them like it. >> evelyn, so, garry just said, issue the sanctions no matter what, whether there's an invasion or not. you know, putin is poised on the ukraine border right now. empty threats will not do anything when it comes to vladimir putin. talking about that joint statement that you released on the atlantic council, you say ukraine needs supplies from the united states. united states needs to supply whatever ukraine needs right now, but you also talk about having to keep the lines of diplomacy open, react to what garry just said. >> right. i mean, so, first of all, i agree with garry that putin did achieve one objective in having this phone call, which is having the phone call, showing his relevance, showing, you know, russia's a power, coequal power with the united states, hinting at the possibility of having spheres of influence in deciding ukraine's fate without ukraine there, so that is a victory for putin. but in addition to that, i think putin was looking for some intelligence. he was probably looking to test president biden's resolve, and it sounds like what he got back as an answer was that president biden is very resolved and working closely with our european allies to make sure that, number one, we protect -- we help ukraine protect itself and in that piece that we -- that i coauthored with a large group spearheaded by the atlantic council, we were beautiful arguing that right now, we should not wait, that the administration should continue its arming of ukraine right now, that the administration should continue working out sanctions packages and we don't have to wait. in that sense, garry is right. but on the other hand, if the russians say they're going to talk, we need to take that opportunity to see if there's any leeway there. but on the fundamentals, there's going to be no compromise with russia. >> yeah, it's -- >> go ahead, garry, final word. >> sorry, i can respond very quickly because evelyn talked about arming ukraine. why these weapons are not there yet? i tweeted long time ago that if america would give ukraine 10% of what was left for taliban, then putin would be listening. so, it's still a big talk. it's more like a lip service, but ukraine needed these weapons yesterday. >> yeah, i mean, i -- >> why don't you think they're there yet, evelyn? >> well, that is a good question and i don't have full insight into what's there or what's being shipped there that's obviously not always public but the ukrainians need more air defense. they need more maritime support. it's not just land. in addition to that, i've argued in a "new york times" interview with elaine cooper that we should be providing realtime intelligence to the ukrainian military because that would make a huge amount of difference. >> yeah. i couldn't agree more. also, i think remember -- we should remember that if ukraine -- >> we actually -- guys, i need to -- garry, i need -- i need to wrap this conversation. i actually wish we could continue it because i think it's fascinating but of course this is going to be developing in the days to come, the next meeting between russia and the united states. not including putin and biden happening on january 10th, so we're going to continue to follow this developing story. garry, evelyn, thank you both for now and happy new year once again. coming up, everybody, a not-so-distinguished honor. why steve bannon beat out his political buddies to become misinformer of the year. . buddies to become misinformer of the year. mission control, we are go for launch. um, she's eating the rocket. ♪♪ lunchables! built to be eaten. there is no place like home y'all! and these people know that there is no place like wayfair. i never thought i'd buy a pink velvet sofa, but when i saw it, i was like 'ah'. and then i sat on it, and i was like 'ooh'. ooh! stylish and napable. okay now. i can relate to this one. i'm a working mom with three boys. [ yelling ] wayfair is my therapy. amen, kim! yup! i'm hiding from my kids, as we speak. wondering what actually goes into your multivitamin? at new chapter, its' innovation, organic ingredients, and fermentation. fermentation? yes. formulated to help you body really truly absorb the natural goodness. new chapter. wellness, well done. all right, the nonprofit media watchdog group media matters has selected its choice as the biggest misinformer of 2021, and this year's honor goes to former president trump's chief strategist, steve bannon. media matters points to his daily podcast as the main reason he was selected. it is full of nonstop misinformation and conspiracy theories. here's an example from earlier this week. >> they got -- they got to get hr-1 because -- unless they federalize these elections they're going to win 100 seats. internally, they got it. they understand. they can't show economic -- they can't show economics, the country's being invaded on the southern border. it's a complete catastrophe, about to shut down the whole country because they weren't prepared for omicron and lied about it. the only thing they got is they got to grab the apparatus at a federal level and steal the elections. i understand what they're doing. if i was those guys, 100%, that's how i'd be working on it. if you've got no other shot, all your other policies destroyed the nation. >> okay. media matters president angelo joining us now. i think we know why he got the top spot as misinformer of the year, but let's walk through it and with that, i want to name the last five misinformers of the year. steve bannon this year, fox news, 2020, john solomon, 2019, murdoch, 2018, mark zuckerberg, 2017, but you say steve bannon is unlike any other because his message, his misinformation, it's more dangerous. >> it's much more dangerous. one of the things that we've seen with bannon that's unique is that he's operationalizing extremism in a way that previous misinformers had not. and he's doing it deliberately, and it's calculated. and that's really the biggest thing, the distinction here. there's real-world impact and a whole infrastructure being built right underneath all of us as a result of the misinformation that he's pumping out there 17 hours a week. >> he's been banned from media platforms, twitter, spotify, kicked him off in 2021 after he called dr. fauci and cia director wray to be beheaded. youtube banned him. even right-wing platforms have banned him. that being said, it seems, bannon still has this massive reach, angelo. >> yeah, and i think that's a really important point that you draw there, which is that there has been instances where his platform has been eroded. things would actually be, i think, significantly worse if he still had access to places like youtube in particular, which was his biggest audience driver right before the 2020 election. i mean, you know, you've seen examples where there have been 8,500 new extremists from his campaign joining local gop precincts across the country, all in the guise of saving the next election. some of which have actually said they're bringing baseball bats, they're ready for violence. but to your point, it does demonstrate the fact that there's a lot of durability and high demand for what he has been able to construct. so, i think it's good that there has been a little bit of a ceiling there, but i think part of the reason we wanted to give this designation isn't just a consequence of how much damage he's caused but to remind everybody that just because he doesn't have access to these big platforms, he actually still has enormous reach and influence that may be under the radar. >> yeah. and it doesn't mean he's not being heard. angelo, thank you. we appreciate it. happy new year to you. the human cost of the unvaccinated. hospitals overwhelmed with covid cases, unable to give life-saving treatment to other patients. we're going to talk to a family who experienced that tragedy firsthand when their father waited more than two weeks for a hospital bed that could have saved his life. their plea to those still resisting getting the vaccine. g. we hit the bike trails every weekend shinges doesn't care. i grow all my own vegetables shingles doesn't care. we've still got the best moves you've ever seen good for you, but shingles doesn't care. because 1 in 3 people will get shingles, you need protection. but, no matter how healthy you feel, your immune system declines as you age increasing your risk for getting shingles. so, what can protect you? shingrix protects. you can protect yourself from shingles with a vaccine proven to be over 90% effective. shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older. shingrix does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients or to a previous dose. an increased risk of guillain-barré syndrome was observed after getting shingrix. fainting can also happen. the most common side effects are pain, redness, and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. ask your pharmacist or doctor about shingrix. shingles doesn't care. but you should. some people say if you want to see america, see it on the 4th of july. but america is just as beautiful on the 4th of january or february. stripped of its leaves but not drained of its color. no one experiences a true american winter the same way. but those with the confidence and capability in the all new 2022 grand wagoneer will remember the adventure as long as they live. when you have xfinity xfi, you have peace of mind and capability in the all new 2022 grand wagoneer built in at no extra cost. advanced security helps keep your family protected online. pause wifi whenever for ultimate control with the xfinity app. and family-safe browsing gives parents one less thing to worry about. security, control and peace of mind. with xfinity xfi, it's all built in at no extra cost. ♪♪ welcome back, everybody. i'm yasmin vossoughian. as we begin 2022, it is still the most important issue the president needs to handle. the covid crisis and its impact on the health, the safety, and the prosperity of this country. the president kicking off the new year with an optimistic message. >> we've learned again this year what we've always known. there's no quit in america. no matter how tough the challenge, how high the obstacles, we always overcome. this virus has been tough, but we've been tougher. >> also this hour, we are looking ahead to the politics of 2022 with control of capitol hill up for