covid spread and test requirements and staff shortages as well. and some parents just opting to keep their kids home. thousands of travelers still trying to get back home after a week of staff shortages from new covid cases leaves airlines, tsa, and support personnel shorthanded. planes grounded complicated by a new winter storm already hitting the mid-atlantic and moving up the coast towards the northeast. one flight not grounded today, air force one, president biden arriving at joint base andrews. it is hard to see him. mid-morning that was about an hour and a half ago amid swirling winds, accumulating snow from a holiday break that he had in delaware. the president's holiday was interrupted by a call to reassure ukraine's president zelensky after an hour-long call with vladimir putin who still has 100,000 troops along ukraine's border. washington is preparing for the first anniversary of the january 6th insurrection. the commemoration at the capitol will include a speech from the president, no legislative business of the day, but ceremonies planned by house speaker pelosi. let's begin this hour with the coronavirus. joining me now nbc's stephanie gosk in new york, nbc's megan fitzgerald in chicago, and dr. michael osterholm at the university of minnesota. welcome all. happy new year. stephanie, two big concerns across the country. the safety of children head back to school, the demand for testing. you highlighted both this morning. those massive testing lines in massachusetts, for instance. >> reporter: yeah, unbelievable picture if you saw that, just hundreds of cars in that town in massachusetts of people waiting to get tested and now you have schools opening in a lot of places, testing has really become the focus. testing and vaccines, to get kids back into classrooms safely. you see that here in new york city. this city got absolutely slammed by covid over the holidays with skyrocketing case numbers. there was one day on new year's eve day, 85,000 cases recorded in just a single day, but the new mayor in this town wants to get kids back in classrooms. he's asked for negative tests from teachers, staff, and students before they come back into classrooms. that's just making the lines in this city longer and longer. there are some places that have decided to stay remote, big cities like cleveland and atlanta. other places pausing that return so kids can go and get tested before they go back into classrooms. you see this real shift in focus, unlike the beginning of this pandemic to keep those classroom doors open, andrea. >> first megan fitzgerald, let's go to chicago first, there are now new strict vaccine requirements in effect for all residents 5 years of age and older, so what can you tell us there? >> yeah, andrea, so you know, we're seeing chicago and philadelphia following the lead of other cities like new york, los angeles, san francisco, as well as new orleans who have had these vaccine mandates in place for several weeks now. but it looks like here in chicago as you mentioned, anyone age 5 and older must show proof of fully vaccination, and if you're 16 and older you have to provide i.d. to enter establishments like bars and restaurants as well as gyms and other indoor entertainment facilities like bowling alleys. the city says, look, this is a way to try and stop these surges of infection that we're seeing. keep in mind, and to give you some perspective, we're talking about 23% of all kids here in the city ages 5 to 11 that are fully vaccinated, so certainly this is going to put some restrictions on a lot of families in the city here. we had a chance to talk to some business owners who have mixed reactions. i want you to listen to what one restaurant owner had to say about this. >> we had to pivot. we had to scramble, we had to incur a little bit of extra costs, but we recognize this is something that needs to be done. >> do you worry about losing customers over this? >> we are hoping that people are going to understand that this is something that needs to be done, so i know that the city and the news have done a really good job of getting the word out that people have to be vaccinated and hopefully people will recognize that it's for everyone's safety. it's not meant to be a punishment. >> reporter: now, the city of chicago says they will be making sure that this is implemented and that all restaurants and businesses are following this new mandate. anyone who violates it could get a fine, andrea, or even be forced to close for a day. >> thanks very much to you, megan, thanks to you, stephanie. both of you, thank you, and get warm. get inside. and we'll talk to dr. michael osterholm. we want to play what we heard from former acting cdc director "today" show and get your reaction on the other side. >> i think these next six weeks are going to be really rough in terms of numbers of cases, but this could be the path out of this pandemic. you know, as this variant spreads around and infects more and more people, hopefully the protection you get from having an omicron infection will provide some protection from other variants. the key, though, i think, to controlling this is focusing on global protection. we have done a terrible job at providing vaccines around the globe, and as we've seen with omicron, new variants can arise anywhere. >> so dr. osterholm, first of all, do you agree with that that we have done a terrible job? we hear the administration talking up the fact that they have sent, you know, so many doses around the world, but that doesn't really mean doses in arms. >> well, i do agree to the extent, though, that a global response requires the entire globe to participate, and the united states has led the way with a number of doses it has provided to the rest of the world, but we need to do much more. i think the real challenge we have is will, in fact, another variant show up that may have even additional capability of evading the immune protection we have from our current vaccines or even from having been infected and recovered. that's a question that none of us can answer right now, but it's one that we can't forget. >> and what about your concerns also about the hospitals? we're going to talk to a hospital director shortly later in the show. hospitals being overwhelmed, perhaps it's delta, perhaps it's omicron, a combination, and the fatigue of the front line hospital workers. >> well, we have an intersection here of two things happening. one is the fact that with omicron we're going to see many, many more people infected. now, the good news is that a large proportion of those will not develop serious illness, but when you have a much, much larger number, even a smaller percentage of severely ill people could match what we saw with delta. we have to be mindful of that. we're in a viral blizzard right now. those on the east coast are understanding what a snow blizzard is. when a blizzard happens everything begins to shut down. what we're concerned about in the health care setting is the inability to deliver good care. 10 or 20% or more of the health care workers themselves are home infected. and the medical supplies we need are not coming forth as we need them. we're hearing now of pharmacies that are actually saying, you know, we postpone you're getting your drugs for three to five days because we don't have enough people to fill the prescriptions. that's the kind of thing that's going to continue to challenge us throughout the country as this viral blizzard is going to shut down a lot of services that we normally would count on every day to be there. >> and let's talk about those rapid -- those home rapid tests. it's so difficult to get anything other than a rapid test right now. are they not as definitive as some had hoped they would be? >> well, in fact, i think this is a really important point, andrea, and i'm really glad you raised it. there are two issues here. what does a single test tell you? if you're infected right now meaning that you have the virus. you're ill, these particular tests we're talking about, the over the counter ones may be relatively insensitive in picking that up. if i'm trying to make a potentially life-threatening decision in terms of me exposing grandpa and grandma at the dinner tonight to the virus because of a test i took today that said i was negative, but in fact i was positive, i think we've got real challenges. we need a lot more science on these tests, but the second thing that i'm really concerned about, i'm seeing school districts basically come back with what i call a comfortable administrative position of let's get everybody tested before we go back to school. that's like saying i'm going to buy a new house if the smoke alarm only works on the first day and after that it's done. unless you're testing routinely, testing every student before they come back one time will have little impact on the spread inside of schools. and yet everybody is celebrating these tests as if somehow it's going to make a big difference, and frankly, they just are not going to. >> let's talk about the children as we have before, your grandchildren before the holiday and whether or not you were going to see them, and what about sending children back into class? what we're hearing from dr. fauci and others is that the lag in their education during the long year of home schooling with so many children disadvantaged and the digital divide and all the other problems we know about, really set kids back, the socialization, and they should be in school. for many children it's safer to be in school than doing what some adolescents and others might be doing out of school. >> we all agree that having kids in school is the best situation. nobody i think can dispute that. the question is can you? what i mean by this, we're seeing school districts across the united states that are seeing hundreds and hundreds of teachers out sick, bus drivers, support staff. how can you have a school run when you have this viral blizzard shutting down many of those in your educational seasonal. so we're going to have to be flexible for the next three to five weeks as we work through this omicron crisis. and realize that we may not be able to open schools, not because we don't want to. we want to, but you can't do it when you don't have people. as far as safety goes, we're going to see lots of transmission in kids. we're seeing it now. look at the pediatric hospitals right where you're at right now and the number of kids that are being admitted because of omicron. i think that this next few weeks, not next few months, but the next few weeks are going to be critical but we're going to have to pivot. you've got to basically realize what's happening in your community and make the decisions accordingly. >> thanks very much to you dr. osterholm. again, a happy new year. >> happy new year to you. >> you're used to real blizzards out there in minnesota. we're just having a little bit of snow but it feels like a blizzard, not just a viral blizzard here in d.c. new details about the pressure ivanka trump put on her father to call off the capitol attack, according to eyewitness reports to the january 6th committee as we wait decisions on access to the official white house records. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. or night. excess stomach acid can cause heartburn. prilosec otc works differently by preventing excess acid production. so don't fight heartburn, block it. prilosec otc. one pill in the morning blocks heartburn, all day and all night. 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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[ finger snaps ] hmm. ♪ ♪ the kohler walk-in bath features an extra-wide opening and a low step-in at three inches, which is 25 to 60% lower than some leading competitors. the bath fills and drains quickly, while the heated seat soothes your back, neck and shoulders. kohler is an expert in bathing, so you can count on a deep soaking experience. are you seeing this? the kohler walk-in bath comes with fully adjustable hydrotherapy jets and our exclusive bubblemassage. everything is installed in as little as a day by a kohler-certified installer. and it's made by kohler- america's leading plumbing brand. we need this bath. yes. yes you do. a kohler walk-in bath provides independence with peace of mind. call... for fifteen hundred dollars off your kohler walk-in bath. visit kohlerwalkinbath.com for more info. and we have breaking news from new york, new york attorney general letitia james has subpoenaed ivanka trump and donald trump jr. as part of an ongoing civil investigation. the filing was made public today. it is part of a stipulation allowing the trumps to file a motion to quash the subpoena which a judge may ultimately do. it is a civil case, although experts say possible information from this case could eventually be used elsewhere if there were a criminal prosecution against the company is or individuals. nearly a year after the deadly attack on the capitol, the january 6th committee is zeroing in on former president trump's actions that day, specifically how he ignored repeated requests from the hill and even his daughter ivanka to do something for 187 minutes while watching the mob on television that according to liz cheney. >> the committee has firsthand testimony now that he was sitting in the dining room next to the oval office watching the attack on television. as the assault on the capitol occurred, we have firsthand testimony that his daughter ivanka went in at least twice to ask him to please stop this violence. >> congresswoman cheney added that several criminal statutes are at play as they look at donald trump's conduct that day. the committee is also probing any communication between the rioters and sitting members of congress. they want to question republican congressman jim jordan and scott perry who both have signaled that they may not cooperate. chairman bennie thompson was asked about that on "meet the press". >> do you think you're going to have to subpoena a sitting member of congress? >> well, i think there's some questions of whether we have the authority to do it. we're looking at it. if the authorities are there, there will be no reluctance on our. >> joining us now, pete williams, and barbara mcquade. let's first talk about this fight over trump white house records that are now being held by the national archives. so the supreme court is expected to rule on this or have arguments on this? talk to me about their schedule. >> reporter: the question is will the supreme court take the case. that's what the president is asking the court to do because he lost in the two lower courts, the district court and the court of appeals both said that, yes, the president does have some residual executive privilege, but it has to yield to the greater need from these -- for these documents from the january 6th committee investigating after all the worst attack on the congress since 1812, so for that reason he's asking the supreme court to take an appeal of those cases. now normally, andrea, we would have to wait several weeks for this. the house committee is saying that those lower court decisions were right, but if the supreme court's going to take the case, they say please do it quickly so the court can hear an argument in february, which would be an accelerated schedule because it says it needs this information to help guide the investigation. so basically we're waiting for the court to say whether they'll hear the appeal or not. i think under normal times, the the first chance we would have to find out would be this coming monday when we normally get the list of cases that the court will take or not take. whether we'll find out monday or not, i just don't know yet. >> when we're talking about the court, what else is coming up before the court in the coming days? >> well, the extraordinary friday session, the special session to consider the attacks on the president's two osha requirements or two covid requirements, one covering large employers, people who have more than 100 employees, and the other covering health care workers. they're in various states of enforcement or non-enforcement based on lower court decisions. the court will hear the argument on those two cases on friday, andrea. >> and barbara mcquade, congresswoman cheney was saying that there are several criminal statutes in play as to whether or not there could be some enhanced penalties or some issue regarding the former president actions that day. what laws do you think could be used against the former president if it's approved that he was criminally negligent by not calling off the rioters or do you think new laws would have to be enacted? >> no, i think there are current laws on the books that could be applied there. i don't know that negligence alone is going to be enough, but as congresswoman cheney has cited on occasion, there is a crime making it illegal to corruptly impede or obstruct an official proceeding, which includes proceedings before congress. if he had the power to stop that riot from happening and to permit the vote to go forward, his failure to do that could be that effort to corruptly obstruct the official proceeding. and it may be, you know, we've got this 187 minutes when he sat and did nothing despite the fact that he knew that this violence and description was occurring. is it because it was all part of a larger plan, so i think in addition to that obstruction statute that congresswoman cheney has mentioned, i think we could also look at conspiracy to defraud the united states, that just means trying to impede the normal functioning of government all the way up to seditious conspiracy. i think all of those potential crimes are in play. >> pete, is it unlikely that doj is looking into any of this until they see what the committee does? or is it too difficult to tell what the justice department may or may not be considering? >> well, we don't know, andrea, for a fact. the general impression i get is that it depends on a couple of factors. what more will the government learn from all the people that has been charged with the january 6th attacks. there have been several cases where people have pled guilty including members of the proud boys, of the oath keepers. there's a continuing effort to try to get what the in the encrypted communication that some of these people were having, that remains a big question. whose idea was it to storm the capitol? so it will depend partly on that partly on what's learned from the january 6th committee. in terms of whether there's an active investigation from the president now. i don't know for a fact, but it doesn't appear there is. >> and barbara, what about the whole issue of subpoenaing a sitting member of congress? do you think there's any legal basis to do that or to protect them from such subpoenas? >> i think that there is nothing that would prevent congress from issuing subpoenas to members of congress and courts from enforcing them. you know, i could imagine them arguing some of the same arguments we've heard before about invoking executive privilege, but as members of the legislative branch that really doesn't fly. i think they could try to invoke the speech or debate clause, which allows them to say things freely on the floor of congress, but it has an exception for felonies or breach of the peace, which would seem to be dead on here. so it seems like the only thing they could use to prevent their own testimony might be invoking their fifth amendment rights against self-incrimination. i think that the committee is trying to get voluntary cooperation as a courtesy, but it sounds like chairman thompson is absolutely willing to issue subpoenas if they refuse. >> barbara mcquade and pete williams, thanks to both of you. and coming up next, vowing to respond, the white house threat if russia invades ukraine. the latest after president biden's calls with both leaders, putin and the president of ukraine, zelensky. that's next. that's next. i'm still drawn to what's next. even with higher stroke risk due to afib not caused by a heart valve problem. so if there's a better treatment than warfarin that's a trail i want to take. eliquis. eliquis reduces stroke risk better than warfarin. and has less major bleeding than warfarin. eliquis has both. don't stop taking eliquis without talking to your doctor as this may increase your risk of stroke. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. while taking, you may bruise more easily or take longer for bleeding to stop. get help right away for unexpected bleeding, or unusual bruising. it may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. the number one cardiologist-prescribed blood thinner. ask your doctor about eliquis. [bacon sizzles] [bacon sizzles] ♪ [electronic music plays] ♪ [bacon sizzles] ♪ [electronic music plays] ♪ woo! president biden is vowing to respond decisively if russia invades ukraine. speaking by phone to ukraine's president zelensky, biden reaffirmed his support. russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops and heavy equipment along its border with ukraine. during a 15-minute phone call thursday between president biden and russia's vladimir putin, biden warned that the u.s. would impose drastic new sanctions. joining me now, ben rhodes, deputy national security adviser in the obama administration. kelly o., happy new year. you're out there on a very snowy white house lawn. talk to me about yesterday's phone call with president zelensky and president biden trying to reassure. allies of the commitment that they are not going -- that the u.s. will not do anything on its own against vladimir putin. >> reporter: reassurance is really the keyword here andrea, speaking with president zelensky, president biden wants to give that message that the u.s. and its allies -- and i think very notably that phrase that you used, that there would be very swift action from the u.s. and allies if russia were to invade again. of course, referring to the 2014 invasion of ukraine taking the crimea region. if russia were to take that action again, there would be a decisive response from the u.s. and its allies, so how that would look, what the shape of it would be not directly spelled out, but that is certainly words of reassurance, also talking to zelensky about the emphasis on their sovereignty on ways that they want to try to also resolve some of the disputes in the donbass region, trying to get at dialing down the tensions here. the conversations between the two presidents and then previously president biden and president putin are really a laying of the groundwork before another series of meetings will begin this month in geneva. the u.s. and russia and then other groups of counterparts trying to get at these issues. as you know so well, russia has complained about the u.s. and western powers wanting to have more of the nato presence closer to the russian border. they view that as threatening. of course russia's behavior with thousands of troops amassed and a posture they've taken is viewed as very aggressive, and that that is a threat, and so how to try to deescalate that, and can they negotiate a way out of this at a time when it feels like this is really add a tinter box level. so president biden using some personal diplomacy with these phone calls. the first one requested by vladimir putin, we don't know exactly the circumstances of how the zelensky call came about but trying to make certain that he was in on this. as you also noted, the nothing about you without you, this notion of not making any decisions on behalf of the people of ukraine without including them in the conversation. andrea. >> thanks to you, kelly. and get back inside where hopefully it's very tough reado by the russians, by the deputy foreign minister after the call. and one of the things that putin was claiming in the call apparently is that there has been nato deployment of nuclear weapons surrounding russia, which the u.s. tells us is not true, that there are not nuclear weapons. so -- or new u.s. nuclear weapons, so could that be the basis for some negotiation, bilateral negotiation between the u.s. and russia since we have already said that there are not going to be nuclear weapons there? >> reporter: yeah, andrea, what's complicated here is the russians haven't been quite specific about what their aiming for in diplomacy. they basically give a long list of grievances, some of which are just the reality of geopolitics today. the fact of nato being in former soviet republics like the baltic states, the fact of there being a nato troop presence on the ground. russia knows these are not things that the u.s. can negotiate without changing the fundamental nature of nato. at the same time, when he puts out things like not wanting nuclear weapons on his borders, you know, you have the opening to have a negotiation around something that you're not doing as something of an off-ramp for putin to say that he secured assurances around russian security. i think what's so difficult is the russian actions have been consistently problematic, amaszing of troops on the border. the making of demands that you know won't be met which could be a pretext for a potential invasion. that's why you have the biden team skipping ahead to the consequences. they're basically saying these won't just be sanctions. we can put on the table expor. you say that you don't want nato on your borders. if you go further in ukraine, you're going to guaranteed nato presence along those borders. this is the kind of difficult game of diplomacy, as you know, andrea, on the one hand you want to make clear there will be firm consequences if russia goes back into ukraine or goes beyond where they are in ukraine. at the same time, you don't want to that outcome so you need to have an opening for some diplomacy, and we'll learn a lot in a week or so when the russian officials sit down with the american delegation. >> there are going to be talks now we understand, two days of bilateral talks in geneva. then they're going to be followed up by talks in vienna, talks in brussels, so it's going to be a moving issue where there are going to be russia nato talks as well -- all of this, though, is to try to find that off-ramp that you talk about, and it's still not clear what vladimir putin's intentions are. do you have a better read than others as to why he would amass so many troops, heavy artillery, and do it, you know, so publicly? we're looking at open, you know, open satellite photography. it's very clear what he's got there. why would he do that? >> reporter: yeah, i'm sure what's troubling president biden and a lot of my former colleagues in the white house is putin's had a clear trajectory for two decades. when it comes to ukraine and fwa georgia that they not be admitted into nato, and occupy chunks of those countries to prevent that outcome. also his domestic politics at home, as the russian economy sputters, as covid has been a tough blow to them, he reaches for international crises, international aggression to shore up support for him at home. it's hard to see him -- and saber rattling like this without doing something. to do that would mean to lose face, and so when you look at this troubling scenario, the reason you've seen so much noise from the white house on this is because the trajectory is putin seems to be, you know, taking the next step. he invaded georgia in '08, he invaded ukraine in '14. this could be the next step of him further encroaching into a neighboring state. i think that the outcome that forestalls that in their view, in the white house's view is both laying down that this could have really crippling consequences for not just the economy but the ability to have the technology that supports the military for basic things like semiconductors, but also they're going to have to give him some off-ramp to save face and say, hey, look, because of this diplomacy, i've assured the right to russian speakers in eastern ukraine or i've gotten assurances about nato activities along our borders. at the end of the day, while you don't want to make concessions to reward behavior, you want to have the appearance that there was some agreement that forestalls a military intervention that we don't want, that the ukrainians don't want, and that frankly would be bad for russia's interests. not just because of those sanctions. look, as they've already learned in eastern ukraine, this is not a military invention that would be cost free and that you have ukrainians preparing to fight and resist russian occupation. you want that cost and that diplomacy to be enough to get putin to climb down from the ledge. >> and arguably a lot better prepared in ukraine than they were in 2014 because of our buildup and because of their own governmental reforms and actions as well. that's why we need diplomats or somebody. >> desperately. you don't want the war. if you don't want the war, you need the diplomat. >> thanks so much, ben rhodes. appreciate all that. >> and the omicron tsunami, hospitals overwhelmed by staffing shortages from breakthrough cases to burnout. how one major hospital system is confronting the latest covid crisis. that's next on "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. mitchell reports" on msnbc. i use liberty mutual, they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. wooo, yeaa, woooooo and, by switching you could even save 665 dollars. hey tex, can someone else get a turn? 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>> andrea, we do have a role in managing the regional response as well, northern new jersey worked closely with the health commissioner and the government, and unfortunately all of hospitals in our region are experiencing the same trends. there's a race to the bottom in terms of finding staff through agencies and otherwise. there's a rapid increase in hospitalizations. we have a system here where we're trading off diversion, which is a system that allows for bypass of patients to other hospitals if the hospital is full. if we all go on divergent at once, patients will have nowhere to go. we're coordinating that closely, and we're seeing similar trends unfortunately everywhere here. we really do hope to weather this, and the way to weather it is to make sure folks are boosted and acting responsibly. >> and now 12 to 15-year-olds can get boosted as well according to the decision by the fda, which of course could do something if more kids would get vaccinated, but the vaccination level for children has been really low across the country. what about staffing shortages? is that covid-related as well as maybe some people just have to stay home because their kids are now not going back to school as planned? >> so we came into this latest surge with an already strained staffing situation because of the work force dynamics all over the country. the great resignation has hit health care as much as it's hit other industries. on top of that, we've had an exponential increase in employees unable to work for the last four weers. this is the first week we're starting to see a plateau in our employees out of work, and we hope that plateau continues or hopefully at least starts to decrease. that is a major health care risk that's not being talked enough. a number of employees that are healthy and able to come back to work, and the cdc's move last week to allow folks to come back after only five days is extremely important because we're already starting to see that benefit in the number of employees out due to work because a lot of our employees are asymptomatic and have just been sitting at home, and many of them actually have been calling us saying i want to come back to work. what that rule did is it allowed for them to come back safely, and we have a situation now where everybody in clinical units is wearing an n95 mask to reduce the risk of spread, and on top of that we have a vaccine mandate in the hospital. so i do think the benefits of bringing employees back to work earlier outweigh the risks. that was a critical move the cdc made. >> that was great context. thank you so much. good luck to you with all the challenges you're facing there in newark. and new year, new priorities. congress putting the build back better on the back burner. the big priority now for senate dems heading into the midterms according to chuck schumer voting rights. we'll talk about that next. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. on msnbc. quit cold turkey. kidding me?! instead, start small. with nicorette. which can lead to something big. start stopping with nicorette zero-commission trades for online u.s. stocks and etfs. and a commitment to get you the best price on every trade, which saved investors over $1.5 billion last year. that's decision tech. only from fidelity. with voltaren arthritis pain gel. my husband's got his moves back. an alternative to pills, voltaren is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory gel for powerful arthritis pain relief. voltaren, the joy of movement. aleve-x. it's fast, powerful long-lasting relief with a revolutionary, rollerball design. because with the right pain reliever... life opens up. aleve it... and see what's possible. see blood when you brush or floss can be a sign of early gum damage. parodontax active gum repair kills plaque bacteria at the gum line to help keep the gum sealed tight. parodontax active gum repair toothpaste senate majority leader chuck schumer is outlining what he calls urgently needed voting rights legislation, tieing the push to the january 6th anniversary and the push to end the filibuster. schumer now writing we must ask ourselves if the right to vote is the corner stone democracy, then how can we in good conscience allow for a situation in which the republican party can debate and push voter suppression laws at the state level with only a majority senate vote and not allow the federal government to do the same. garrett, first to you. answer the question nart schumer says senate is going to put this on the floor. if the republicans block it, what happens? >> that's question. democrats spent a good portion of last year trying to make sure they had 50 votes in favor of a voting rights and election reform package. they now do so with joe manchin support. they don't have 50 votes for how to get there. any process reforms, rules changes that would be necessary to pass such a bill over united republican opposition. that's the situation they found themselves in late last year. and it's where they remain early this year. up until now, chuck schumer has been reluctant to vote on things where he knew he would split his caucus, where he would see perhaps joe manchin or kyrsten sinema fall off. this is one of potentially two big votes we could see where manchin and sinema or at least manchin in both cases with build back better vote against an otherwise entirely unified democratic priority. that will be where the rubber meets the road in the next two weeks and we'll see if schumer goes through with his threats to hold the votes and what manchin and sinema do in the face of their colleagues. >> so kimberly, what do you see as the legal implications for this? first, the president has been widely criticized by civil rights leaders for not moving on voting rights earlier in the year, last year, i should say, and now we're facing a situation where it's not just voter suppression. where they are talking about changing rules of the electoral college or state secretaries of state. should there be legislation prioritized to do something about the electoral college count? >> yeah. i mean, as you said, this is -- this goes far beyond voter suppression. there are active state and local efforts to try to put the election administration in the hands of partisan actors. that is something that we normally do not see, and that is an effort to do precisely what we saw on january 6th was to prevent votes from being counted in a way that is anti-democratic. so yes, we have not seen either from leader schumer or from president biden, a strong declaration that this is a priority on the democratic side, and i think that has given people like joe manchin the ability to sort of take all the air out of any aspect of voting rights legislation. i don't know if we will see anything on the electoral college because it's been so much just to get joe mamplg manchin on board with the voting rights package they have. now he sees the writing on the wall, and we see schumer saying the time to talk is over. we need to push forward with this. it is an urgent and crucial matter, and we have to get it done certainly before the midterms. >> sam, do you see any way to get 50 votes by the democrats to change the rule? >> not now. no. there's been no evident movement from not just joe manchin but kyrsten sinema put out a statement prior to the break saying look, i don't want to change the rules for voting legislation, because what goes around comes around. republicans could in theory when they retake senate and have a presence in the house could pass a national voter i.d. that was her argument. it's not just those two. our reporting shows there's skepticism among other democrats in the senate, institutionalists who have been there for a while. unless there is something we have not picked up, no, the votes are not there to change the rules by a simple majority vote. >> and did the democrats drop the ball by focusing so much on build back better instead of doing voting rights when maybe they could have gotten support? >> it's tough to say, because at what point would they have gotten the support for the rules change? right? it's not as if they pushed this in august that somehow joe manchin and sinema and others would have been like yeah, let's do it. arguably the time to have done this would have been in the immediate aftermath of january 6th, but joe biden wasn't president for a couple weeks and of course you needed to formulate the bills investigation. you hadn't seen the state republican houses doing their own reform. so no, there was never a really good time to do this. if anything, history of this, in the history here is harry reid. we gradually adopting the filibuster. the history says you have to build up momentum in a painstaking, slow process over many years. many years it took for fareed to get to that point. he's now remembered fondly, but it took them a while. so this is a long process. unfortunately for democrats, they have to get this done before the midterms. >> and kim, do you -- do you think that thursday is the day when the president there on january 6th has an opportunity to talk about voting rights and overturning elections? >> oh, i think he has to. i mean, this is direct through line between what we saw on january 6th and this issue of voting rights. i'm surprised that it took a year after this attempted coupe with the a capitol for the president to really focus in on this. but these two things are -- go hand in hand. >> well, we're going to have to leave it there for now. garrett, you're going to have a busy week, and emotional for a lot of members. kimberly and sam, thank you. it's good to be back. for those of you like me who stayed up saturday night lafg out loud as snl replayed betty white's iconic performance as host in 2010, i want to recommend take a look at it. beyond the monologue which is good enough, but every segment was a gem. it was just a poignant reminder of her extraordinary range as a comic actor. no we will miss betty white, but it's all on film. an incredible body of work. that's it for this hour. remember, follow the show online, on facebook, and on twitter. kristen welker is in for chuck todd next when "mtp daily" starts after this. starts after this. saved the world from tyranny. in an office we know as "oval," a new-generation president faced down an imminent threat of nuclear war. on a bridge in selma, alabama, the preacher of his time marched us straight to passing voting rights for every american. at a gate in west berlin, a late-generation american president demanded an enemy superpower tear down a wall and liberate a continent. american generations answering the call of their time with american ideals. freedom. liberty. justice. for today's generation of leaders, the call has come again to protect our freedom to vote, to fortify our democracy by passing the freedom to vote act and the john lewis voting rights act because america - john lewis: we are not going back, we are going forward. 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