member is sick, or because they don't have childcare. just look around, no doubt you are noticing the workforce shortage. many of the stores you shop at, from big box to mom and pop, are closed. or if they're open, they're running on limited hours or limited supply. same goes for restaurants as servers and cooks fall ill. and from boston to new york to kansas, hospitals already overwhelmed with patients are now dealing with staff shortages as well. same thing goes for childcare. those centers and schools were kids go. in chicago, in -- person learning is suspended for a fourth day as the teachers union pushes for regular testing before anyone comes back to the classroom. mayor lori lightfoot says the time to return is now. >> we know that the safest place appears to be learning in schools. we've spent hundreds of millions of dollars to make our schools safe. i won't allow the teachers union to politicize the surge or pandemic in general. people are nervous, they're scared, i get that. the thing to do is to lean into the facts and the science and not abandon them in a panic. >> joining me now is nbc news correspondent meghan fitzgerald in chicago, nbc news senior business correspondent stephanie ruhle, and dr. natalie azar from the nyu langone school. we've seen restaurants, stores, manufacturing companies that are dealing with massive amounts of cases, reinstating mask policies at some of these places to tamp down on it. then there's the police shortages, the fire shortages, the hospital shortages. this is a -- i don't want to even say involuntary shutdown for a lot of the industry in this country but that's essentially what it is when you have so many workers calling out sick. >> yes, but most likely a very short term one. you can look at lots of examples right now from macy's to starbucks to local restaurants who are saying they've had to cut their hours. they're dealing with this great big sickout. but from small businesses who are completely exasperated and business leaders who say this feels like a weather event, a snowstorm, a blizzard, and we're all dealing with this problem, this crisis. but most likely there won't be lingering effect. you're not hearing from employers saying they'll be laying people off. it's more, we're in this burst, this thrust, and we've just got to get through it. >> meghan, a part of the issue is what's happening at schools. there are a lot of schools around the country that just have too many teachers out because they're falling ill, that they can't open the classrooms. in chicago, though, you're having a teachers union saying we're not going to go back until we have more testing, both for the teachers and for the students. the mayor of chicago is not in agreement with that. what are parents saying right now? >> you know, parents are very frustrated. we've been speaking with parents on both sides of this issue here, some frustrated because they want their kids to go back in the classroom. keep in mind they're learning late at night, 8:00, 9:00, 10:00 at night, that school is going to be closed the next day, leaving them to scramble to figure out what to do with their children for the course of the school day. then there's the other side of this, those parents that are legitimately concerned as well, that there is a spike in coronavirus here in chicago, as we're seeing across the country. and some students aren't vaccinated. we know about 25% of students between the ages of 5 and 11 have received one shot. so there is some concern for the safety of students, which is why we are seeing both sides, the teachers union along with the chicago public schools, going back and forth about how to return safely to school. this rages on, and it's important to note we're not talking about the fourth day of not being inside class, doing online learning. classes across the board have been canceled for a fourth day in a row here in the country's third largest school district, katy. >> stephanie, this also impacts a lot of parents out there who aren't able to go to their own jobs because they're now being forced to stay home with their kids to do virtual learning or in some cases there are childcare centers, day-care centers that are frankly not open because there are too many sickouts there. how is it affecting the workforce when you have so many parents forced to stay home as well? >> when you think about the labor force not going back to work, a third of that are working parents, mostly working mothers who are dealing with the unpredictability of covid. when school systems say, oh, we'll just go virtual today, that means that parent go to work either. and many, many parents, especially hourly workers, don't have vacation days or sick days. when they don't go to work, they don't get paid. so this idea that, oh, we're just going to play it safe and go virtual, many are saying we need to do more of a risk adjustment here because that impacts all of these families. it's not like when schools go virtual you just pop a computer on and you have the same school day. it has a massive impact. then you turn and look at other things, the state of california is now saying their hospital workers, if they test positive and are asymptomatic, they can still go to work. many other people are saying, i don't understand this guidance highway come it's certain guidance for one industry and not another? it's as though the government or those making these guidelines aren't paying attention to the full picture and they're picking and choosing guidelines depending on where they need people at work. that causes more distrust in the system. >> let's talk to dr. azar about what we're seeing in hospitals as well. i know we talk a lot about how covid cases are overwhelming icus or ers around the country. with as many nurses and doctors that are falling ill, staffers that are falling ill, we've heard of entire wards, not related to covid, that have had to close. one in fort lauderdale the other week, the labor and delivery ward had to close because of staff shortages. emphasize what's happening at hospitals that affects people beyond just those falling ill with covid. >> sure. to sort of tag on to what steph was talking about, we can only hope in the health care world, in the health care industry, that this is going to be a reasonably short-lived surge, because certainly our hospital systems cannot sustain for very much longer what's happening right now. what's happening in my hospital, which i think is being mirrored around the country, is, again, the majority of people who are being admitted with covid-19 are largely unvaccinated, and if they've been vaccinated, they are somehow immunocompromised. but what we're seeing, again, in our hospital system and around the country, are what we're referring to as incidentally noted positive covid-19 cases. that is in some cases greater than 50% of cases are incidental, meaning that someone's coming in because of complications of their diabetes or heart disease, and they are tested on admission and noted to be positive. and this is an issue, number one, because those individuals may not be put into isolation swiftly enough, and the concern of course too is that covid-19 illness can exacerbate any hospitalization. if you're coming in with pneumonia or as i mentioned, sort of a diabetic keto acidosis and you have covid on top of that, it can be a real issue. i see it as a tidal wave that will probably crash sometime soon and we can only hope there are calmer waters after it. >> i hope so. thank you very much. let's talk about one of the ways to help limit the spread. as omicron is taking over most of this country, no doubt you've been told to upgrade your mask. here with us is msnbc medical contributor and critical car -- critical care pulmonologist dr. vin gupta. doctor, i want to get down to what works and what doesn't. "the wall street journal" had a helpful grid that talked about masks. if you're out and you're going to go buy a mask, which one should you buy? >> katy, good afternoon, great to see you. i have demos here to help folks understand what we're now talking about. we're talking about a better mask. cloth masks we were talking about for the first two years of this pandemic. as we turn the corner towards the end, now we're talking about different types of masks. kn95 masks and n95 masks or a kf94 mask. these are considered to be better masks. i'll keep repeating them. but what's the difference here? these are considered to be medical grade type masks such as these green ones here. very tight-fitting, the n95, the difference between the n95 and the kn95, the kn95 has loops and the n95 has straps that are very tight-fitting and they both filter out droplets of covid. that's why these better masks are so key. that's why that figure you first presented from "the wall street journal" is so relevant right now, these tiny droplets is how this virus is propagated. >> so if you're wearing a cloth mask right now, can you feel comfortable in any scenario or should you only be wearing a kn95 or an n95? >> everybody should upgrade. if the goal here -- i don't think anybody really wants to feel ill whatsoever, although that's where we're headed. if you can, and we have some websites, i believe your team has websites that we can show. projectn95 or behealthyusa. yes, i would recommend that everybody wear it, especially if you're watching this right now and you have a high risk medical condition, if you're over 65. >> i was reading some research about when we get back to normal and whether or not one-way masking is going to be effective. when we get past this wave that we're in right now and there is a significant amount of immunity either because of infection or because of vaccine and boosts in this country, if you are still concerned, if, though, you still have a preexisting condition that you have to watch out for, is one-way masking going to be significant? if i'm worried and i put on an n95 mask, can i still feel comfortable going into a restaurant or a gym or a theater when i am the only one masked? >> yes, you can. and that's the whole purpose. i'm so glad you brought that up, katy, because that's the purpose of upgrading, to take more ownership of your own health. if you feel like you're in the higher risk category, as we now are entering hopefully this glide path towards normal, one-way masking with a better mask is the way that you can take greater ownership of your own health and protect yourself against a positive test. again, if you're at high risk, that's even more vital. i hear it all the time from immunocompromised individuals who are worried about their response to the vaccine. this messaging is specifically for you. we're going to talk about kids in a moment, i would love to get there as well. because the big question is, what about kiddoes? there is no n95-grade-type mask for children. federal authorities don't actually regulate masks that are n95 quality for kids. so it's left to us to say, what is good for a child? the best masks are the ones they will wear. and i have no financial conflicts of interests, for anybody wondering. we use happy masks, these have ear loops for the tight fit, they're multilayered, or a kf94. if you go to behealthyusa, you can google it. i'll put this on, even though this is not meant for me. you can see there's room between the nose and the mouth, it juts out, so it's more comfortable for kids. it's the same quality as a kn95. if you want to find a kn95 or an n95 mask, go to one of those websites. if you want to get a kf94, go to behealthyusa and google it. you can find them for kiddoes and yourself. >> i'm so happy you brought up kids also. i have this kn95 masks i got on amazon, a box of 100 of them, zeke emanuel told me they were basically garbage. they don't say niosh on them. if i didn't get them from projectn95 or the other website that you mentioned, can i trust that this is doing any good? even if it's not the best quality mask, is it still offering me some protection? >> it's offering you some. as dr. emanuel mentioned earlier on your show, that's where there have been problems with counterfeit masking, these kn95 masks which are produced in china. some are legitimate, some are not. some have been certified by our federal authorities back in '20 and '21, that list is no longer relevant. but pprojectn95 still has the list of kn95 masks that have gone through some vetting. once that box finishes up, katy, i recommend to go to that website to get that new supply. >> you spoke to somebody on how to identify which masks are legitimate and which ones are not. >> every n95 respirator is going to have a head strap. if you're buying an n95 and it says it has ear loops, it's not an n95. if you buy an n95 for kids, you are 100% guaranteed that is not legitimate. >> that is very good to know. at some point, as we get further along, one-way masking, if you don't feel comfortable being without a mask, you can wear one but not everybody is going to have to. >> that's exactly right. and that's -- we have to message to individuals here. at some point, people are going to take their own risk assessment. they're going to determine what's comfortable for them. we should be able to message on that. this is why this conversation is particularly relevant for you. and katy, if i can do a quick plug, i am getting messaged all the time from folks that have a.m. immunocompromise -- an immunocompromised condition. quickly plugging preexposure prophylaxis, that's important to this concept of upgraded masks for individuals who feel like they're at higher risk. >> good to know, thank you for reminding me again i need to get a stock of better masks. projectn95 is a good place to go. dr. vin gupta, thank you so much for joining us. ahead, can russia and the u.s. come to an agreement on ukraine? richard engel takes us inside the literal trenches, yes, trenches along ukraine's border. later, ohio congressman jim jordan wrote a long, winding letter to the january 6th committee but did he rule out cooperating? first up, it is being called new york city's worst apartment fire in 30 years. 17 people are dead. what exactly went wrong? e are dd what exactly went wrong? ♪ hey i'm joe montana. when you get to be our age, you have little patience for nonsense and inefficiency. after years of practice you become a pro at pretty much everything. so when i qualified for medicare, i got wellcare. they're pros at making things streamlined, efficient and convenient. i don't even need to leave the house anymore, because wellcare offers great benefits like free grocery, meal, and prescription delivery. 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now, according to that fire code, every single apartment unit should have a door that automatically closes. now, we had heard from the company that owns this building, they said that back in july, just, you know, several months ago, they checked the doors in this building and confirmed that they did automatically close. however, one key detail we learned this afternoon from investigators and officials, they said that two of the doors in this building were not functioning properly yesterday, including the door to that unit where the fire started. again, this made a huge difference in this unthinkable tragedy that occurred here yesterday. another question residents have had here today, many of them telling me they were hoping to get back inside, wondering whether they would be able to. officials said that many of them will be able to reoccupy their apartments. however, many will not be able to return safely. the city and the red cross now trying to house them as quickly as possible, katy. >> just to clarify for me, the deaths in this building, were they due to smoke inhalation or was it the fire itself consuming different apartments? >> reporter: officials have said that this was largely due to smoke inhalation. again, this was a thick, black, deadly amount of smoke. the fire itself, they say, only really went across the hallways where this two-story apartment was, right? the second and third floor. it was that smoke that went all the way up the building and in fact that second malfunctioning door was all the way up to the 15th floor. they said the fire spread in the hallway on the third floor and then that smoke went all the way up the stairwell and into those higher floors, katy. >> ilsa gutierrez, thank you so much for that report. our heart goes out to everybody affected by this. coming up next, congressman jim jordan's letter to the january th committee. what exactly does it mean? it's a bit long and winding. first, though, the president will make a fresh push for voting rights tomorrow in georgia. will it help convince the holdouts in his own party? conv conv holdouts in his own party? ♪taking a break from all your worries ♪ ♪sure would help a lot ♪ ♪wouldn't you like to get away? 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>> georgia has been sort of the ground zero for the movement to protect voting rights because of restrictions put in place there by the state legislature, the republican-led state legislature earlier this year. we know of course that the margin in georgia in 2020 was very slim. biden won narrowly and so did two democratic senators, giving them control of the senate. the republicans moved to enact some rather restrictive measures. now after protests and corporate boycotts and major league baseball moving their all-star game, they eased some of them. but there was still a tightening there. georgia is seen as a hotbed for 2022 and 2024. democrats are putting a lot of energy there. it's time, white house aides have told me, to make this push. we've had the january 6th anniversary, mlk day is a few days away. civil rights groups have made it clear they want to see real progress on this issue, they're disappointed this hasn't been a priority to this point. but you're right, there are significant obstacles. the president is going further than he has before in supporting a carve-out to the filibuster but that won't matter if he doesn't have the support of senators manchin and sinema. at this point they won't back it without gop senators coming along and that hasn't happened yet. >> so no gop senators, sahil. changing the filibuster rules, who is likely to not support that? >> katy, we know the two prominent holdouts on the democratic side are joe manchin and kyrsten sinema. they support the filibuster. they have not called for making significant changes to the filibuster rules to enable voting rights legislation to pass. we're talking about two bills, the freedom to vote act to give all 50 states things like universal access to mail-in voting, automatic and same-day registration and making election day a federal holiday. that has the support of 50 senators. but it doesn't have a way past the filibuster at this time. then there's the john lewis act. it also has the support of the majority of the senate but no way around the filibuster. manchin and sinema are smart people, they know these rules won't pass if things stay as they are. they'll have to make a decision to protect the rules of the senate as they exist today or make a change to pass this bill. we expect from the white house that president biden will make a passionate case for those two bills and also call for what they say is restoring the senate to functionality, that's code for changing filibuster rules. the president campaigned on protecting the filibuster but he's been inching in this direction for months now. last month he was asked about carving out the filibuster. he came out for it but he's never given this full-throated speech in favor of it and that's what activists want to see, the same level of commitment as president biden put into getting his bipartisan infrastructure law passed. >> there are some republicans that haven't bought into the big lie that the election was stolen. is there negotiation possible with even just a couple of republican senators? >> katy, on the john lewis voting rights advancement act, there is one republican who is on board, that's lisa murkowski. but there is room based on republicans i've talked to, to do minor changes to the electoral count act, the 1887 law that sets the removals the electoral counting process. a lot of republicans are interested in clarifying the vice president's role, that he or she does not have carte blanche to accept or not to accept ballots. mitch mcconnell, the senate republican leader, would be open to that. but voting rights activists are concerned that some centrist democrats like manchin, like sinema, might take a modest change like that and call it a victory and go home. the white house has made clear that changes to the electoral count act would not be a substitute for the freedom to vote act and the john lewis bill. >> is the white house sure that the speech tomorrow is a good idea? i ask that because a coalition of voting rights groups in georgia say the president and vice president shouldn't bother coming unless they have a concrete plan to pass voting laws immediately. they write, georgia voters made history and made their voices heard. in return, a visit has been forced on them requiring them to accept political platitudes and repetitious, bland promises. such an empty gesture without concrete action, without signs of real tangible work, is unacceptable. they seem to be arguing, jon, that maybe it could backfire, show that those voters who showed up for them, that they really don't have any muscle behind their language. >> that's the criticism this white house has faced for this entire year, since president biden took office. let's recall back in july he delivered a fiery speech defending voting rights at the constitution center in philadelphia but it wasn't followed up with any real action. that's the fear here as well, that with the filibuster in place, with the senate seemingly immovable, this will be all talk and not a lot of movement. the president has done what he can by executive order. that's limited, to be sure. civil rights groups including reverend al sharpton, the national action network, of course a familiar presence on this network, have said if they don't see tangible results soon, maybe by mlk day, there's a chance that african american voters, a key part of the democratic electorate, they may stay home during the midterms, there seems to be real frustration from that key voting group, saying, look, this is the gravest threat to not just democrats' ability to stay in power but to our democracy itself. they're worried that there won't be meaningful action following the speech tomorrow. >> jonathan lemire, sahil kapur, thank you so much. congressman jim jordan denounced the january 6th committee's probe as a partisan witch hunt, that's what he called it, in a letter to chairman bennie thompson, and he insisted he had little relevant information to share. but in the past the ohio republican has acknowledged speaking with former president donald trump on the day of the insurrection. jordan is the second house member who has been asked to testify. pennsylvania republican scott perry also declined to turn over documents or be interviewed. that leaves the committee with a choice to make about how far to push its inquiry into two fellow members of congress. joining me now is "washington post" contributor carol leonnig and the author of "i alone can fix it." carol, our nbc news reporting said it was a long and winding letter that didn't explicitly rule out cooperating. where does the congressman stand? >> this letter, which i read earlier today, feels as though it's a political treatise. it's essentially saying you democrats are not objecting, this is a witch hunt to get at republicans, i probably don't have any information you need. he says a lot of things. but it seems like it's mostly a communique to other partisans, basically criticizing democrats and upholding republicans as upstanding citizens who would do the right and fair thing. he does say i don't want to cooperate, but there is some legalese dancing here, katy, which is, if he said affirmatively, absolutely not, under no conditions would i do this, you might be able to trigger the democrats and the leadership of the committee's ability to start to go to court over this. now, let's be clear, going to court on this unprecedented issue of seeking the testimony of a fellow member is uncharted water. and it will also require a lot of time and potentially delay the committee in a way that they cannot sort of countenance. so they were hoping for his involvement and we'll see if they go to the mat to get it. >> so the committee itself, how far will they -- i mean, i've asked this of committee members, adam kinzinger was on the other day, i asked how far are you willing to take it to get sitting lawmakers to cooperate, to be interviewed. and he said, as far as they need to. i wonder at what point the committee is going to start pulling that trigger, they're going to start subpoenaing, and then contempt votes if those subpoenas are defied. >> i think what's most critical is your word and schiff and kinzinger's word, about "need." because the ultimate cooperation of more than 300 witnesses now will include people who were at jim jordan's side during some of these meets, in meetings with president trump, before january 6th. remember, the committee is trying to talk to republicans about the plans and plotting to block the peaceful transfer of power, to try to block the certification of biden's victory. and so that's a key piece. there will be people who have already spoken to the committee who say here is what jim jordan said to the president. and so need is really important. if you don't need jim jordan, then it would be a waste of your time to keep fighting in court perhaps all the way to the supreme court in this case to get his testimony. and remember, there are plenty of people on the other end who were copied on jim jordan's texts and emails, and already the committee has those. >> and we should point out there are a lot of high level people who are making a high level stink about not cooperating with the committee, but as congressman kinzinger told us, plenty of others have cooperated, plenty within donald trump's white house have been cooperating without a subpoena. so they say that they have a lot of information already. carol leonnig, good to see you, thank you so much. >> you bet. tennis star novstar. novak emstar ♪ got my brains ♪ ♪ got my ears ♪ ♪ got my heart ♪ ♪ got my soul ♪ ♪ got my mouth ♪ ♪ i got life ♪ (vo) america's most reliable network is going ultra! with verizon 5g ultra wideband now in many more cities so more businesses can do more. mike's bike shop! downloading up to 10 times faster. whoa! is that already... 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[music: “you can get it if you really want” by jimmy cliff] american and russian diplomats are engaged in high stakes talks in geneva where they're attempting to avoid making a volatile situation along ukraine's border worse. so expectations for this session and two other meetings planned later this week in brussels and vienna are low. notably the two nations are working towards decisions about ukraine without the ukrainians who will be largely absent from this week's talks. for months, thousands of russian troops have been massing along the border, poised for an invasion that would require major intervention from the west to stop. nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel is on the ground there. >> reporter: katy, in ukraine they are, for obvious reasons, very worried about these talks failing. and they are worried even more so that the talks don't mean anything, that russia isn't serious, that russia isn't going into them with good faith. in fact, that russia is making such unrealistic demands that it is building a pretext for invading, that vladimir putin has sent his team of negotiators with such unrealistic demands to meet with the u.s., to meet with nato, to meet with europe, that the talks can only lead to one result which is failure, and then the some 100,000 troops poised on three sides of the ukrainian border would move in and take either more ukrainian territory or all of this country. it's important to remember russia has invaded ukraine more than once. in 2014 it took crimea and shortly afterwards, a separatist war began in eastern ukraine and russian-backed separatists hold two pockets in one region which is not very far from here. russian troops are also positioned in those separatist-held areas. many ukrainians are now strategizing, wondering what putin's move would be. would it be to annex those separatist areas, make them part of russia the same way he annexed crimea? or potentially to connect the separatist areas to crimea and create a land bridge between the two, effectively cutting off most of eastern ukraine and joining it to russia? or potentially taking this entire country and making it part of russia or at least making it ungovernorable. they are looking at very, very grim scenarios here, which is one of the reasons today they were expanding the trenches along the border, right along the border with those separatist areas. they were digging into the frozen earth, widening the trenches. this is hard work, especially in the winter when you have to dig into the frozen ground. they're not doing this for fun, they're doing this because they're worried that the trenches aren't going to stop a full russian onslaught but it could potentially slow them down, give the troops defensive fighting positions. these are ancient kind of battle tactics. trenches have been used across europe, most prominently in world war i. once again, we're seeing the trenches getting deeper, wider, and longer as these diplomatic negotiations continue. but as ukrainians are wondering are these diplomatic negotiations real or just a means to allow a potential russian invasion, katy. >> i still think it's amazing to see actual trenches being dug in europe in 2021. with me now is ellen farkas, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for russia, ukraine, and asia. evelyn, your qualifications for this conversation far outshine mine but i do want to get your thoughts on what richard was just saying, that these conversations are just a pretext for vladimir putin to invade, that it is an inevitability. that's what the ukrainians are worried about. >> i think, katy, first, thanks for having me on, i think that unfortunately the ukrainians are right to be worried. there's still a more than 50% chance of a russian invasion. as ambassador wendy sherman said, these are discussions. both sides put their, you know, positions on the table. and unfortunately, there wasn't any progress made. and so putin still has a decision to make. >> vladimir putin knows that we are two years out from an election, an election we're all very concerned about in this country, whether or not it will be fair. what's to stop him from just waiting it out? >> i think, katy, he senses -- he thinks we're weak right now. first of all, because of all th have. it's been really obvious through all the coverage msnbc has had about january 6. also with the withdrawal, he doesn't think we have the guts to stand up to our partners internationally. that may be wrong, but i think that helps his decision in ukraine and the world right now. >> thank you so much. we'll have to have you on to have a further conversation when we are not short on time. coming up, novak djokovic wins his fight about playing in australia, but will he actually be able to play in the open? abn ♪ ♪ with a bit more thought we can all do our part to keep plastic out of the ocean. ever wonder what everyone's doing on their phones? they're banking, with bank of america. his girlfriend just caught the bouquet, so he's checking in on that ring fund. that photographer? he's looking for something a little more zen, so he's thinking, “i'll open a yoga studio.” and as for the father of the bride? 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>> not vaccinated. sara james, thank you very much. that's going to do it for me today. hallie jackson picks up our coverage, next. picks up our 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 coverage, next 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. ♪ ♪making your way in the world today♪ ♪takes everything you've got♪ ♪ ♪taking a break from all your worries ♪ ♪sure would help a lot ♪ ♪wouldn't you like to get away? 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(gentle music) we're coming on the air with those big deal discussions. lots of talk, eight hours worth of talk. but the question? what kind of action will come out of that diplomatic back and forth between the u.s. and russia? so far not much, but that's not surprising. here's what else is not so surprising. russia insisting again today it has no plans to invade ukraine, even though they've sent about 100,000 troops to the border. richard engel is here, too. later we go one on one with a spokesperson about where these talks go from here. we're