frustration all over this country. case in point, the situation in chicago where a fight over what constitutes a safe working environment led to a walk out and four days without in-person school. the city and union came to an agreement overnight and chicago kids will be back in class tomorrow, and that is where we begin. i want to welcome nbc's meagan fitzgerald, she has been moving the situation in chicago since it began. ellison barber joins us from new york state and dr. a dal gentleman a senior scholar at johns hopkins center. doctor, let's talk about this hearing today. do these doctors and this white house need to reset the messaging and clear things up in order to regain credibility with the public? i mean, we're confused. >> i definitely think they need to reset the communication and really lay out the goals of where we're going in this pandemic. what metrics we're going to be using and how the country transitions from a state of emergency to one of endimicity. that needs to be articulated clearly so people can understand what to do, how to keep themselves safe. which risks are tolerable and not tolerable. that's something that needed to be done a long time ago, probably one administration ago. it's good that they are getting to that point now, those papers that came out in jama a couple days ago from multiple biden advisers, from the campaign, is really kind of setting the tone for how we have to move forward in this pandemic. >> ellison, we are now at this point where hospitalizations nationwide are at record levels. that headline scares people. but what does it actually mean for patients? >> reporter: hey, stephanie. yeah, so i am standing in front of one of 40 hospitals in new york state that has been ordered by the governor based on this threshold that she established in an executive order about a month ago to halt elective surgeries for at least two weeks because at least 90% of their beds are entirely full. when we are talking about stopping nonessential elective surgeries, a lot of people, i think, tend to think of something like lasik eye surgery or maybe something cosmetic like a nose job, but for many people essential or, quote, unquote, nonessential surgeries are essential. it's people who need knee replacements or hip replacements and waiting for that can cause a big burden, a big disruption, not only for them physically and how they feel, but also to their schedules and plans they have based around planned surgeries. listen to morph what one doctor told us. >> many hip and knee replacement-type surgeries, orthopedic procedures, have been postponed and many of those patients, you know, are suffering pain when they use that point. some of the cancer screening procedures are considered elective and so they get postponed, things like colonoscopes, and that can also put patients at risk. >> reporter: and one thing to keep in mind when we are talking about capacity and available beds, what we are talking about are staffed available beds. it doesn't matter how many open beds or how many rooms a hospital has if they don't have the staff to adequately take care of patients. as we talk to doctors and nurses dealing with issues right now in terms of capacity, they say the biggest issue has to do with staffing shortages. they are seeing an increase in patients in their hospitals testing positive because of covid-19, but what's different this time around compared to past surges is you have people who are here solely because of covid-19 and very sick and need a lot of care. the majority of those patients they are unvaccinated, but then you also have patients who are coming in for other things and then testing positive for covid-19. that still causes issues when it comes to how they use resources and staff because those patients also have to be isolated to protect the other vulnerable patients at the hospital. so all of this is factoring in and causing problems that really from what we understand talking to doctors there's not an immediate end to when it can be resolved because these staffing issues this is not something that's entirely new. prior to the pandemic we had a nationwide nursing shortage. add in the pandemic, a lot of people have retired early or decided to leave because they were simply burnt out. one thing in some circles people have brought up and tried to argue as maybe causing some of the issues in hospitals right now are vaccine mandates, that people have left because of that, but, stephanie, i have to tell you every hospital we have spoken to that is dealing with the capacity issue right now, none of them have given us that as a reason for these staffing issues. they say it is complex, there are a lot of things at play, but that is not one of the things they mention. stephanie? >> doctor, the previous surges happened when we were dealing with more dangerous variants or we didn't have the vaccine or available treatments. omicron is really bad right now like a blizzard but it is supposed to pass relatively quickly. how concerned are you? >> what i think is going to happen is that omicron is going to come, it's going to hit us over a period of weeks and then hopefully cases will collapse the way they did in south africa. but what will happen in the interim is that certain hospitals, especially those that were already kind of getting crushed by delta patients that have a lot of people in the community, that are high risk, that haven't been vaccinated, they are going to take a major hit. and the goal will be trying to bridge into the other side of this once omicron starts to subside, and that's going to be very difficult in certain regions of the country because they just don't have capacity, they don't have staffing, and we are going to have to be really, really judicious about this because, as you just heard, you cannot put off, quote, unquote, elective procedures forever without paying a price for that. it is true that many people think that means cosmetic surgery, it doesn't, it means lots of essential medical services that you can't indefinitely postpone because you don't have that flexibility or you are going to start to see increasing mortality and morbidity from those conditions. the next couple of weeks as we get through this month, i think we can do it because, yes, we have so many more people vaccinated, we have antivirals and monoclonal antibodies and rapid tests if you can find them. it is definitely not the beginning of the pandemic. it is true that many people are getting admitted for other reasons and are tested positive, just a testament to how contagious omicron is. i rounded this weekend at the hospital, it's very different than what it felt a year ago, even though the total numbers might be the same, it's still a different caliber and i think that's something to be hopeful for. >> then what do we need to do now to prepare for the pending next variant? we keep hearing, yes, we may get a vaccine specifically for omicron in the next couple of months. that may be too late. how do we prepare for what comes next? >> we have to do the basics. we have to make sure rapid tests are ubiquitous, cheap, easy to find, you don't have to fill out forms to get your insurance company to reimburse you. we have to get people that are vaccine hesitant, we have to find a way to reach them, probably with their primary care physicians. we have to have moenl antibodies that have resilient against antibodies. we have to get paxlovid. all of those things need to be pre-positioned so that when there is another variant, another coronavirus, any other infectious disease emergency we have a proactive not a reactive stance. if we continue to be in a reactive stance we're always going to get beaten by this virus, it's going to continue to evolve and we can't just kind of sit back and hope things are going to pass. we have to continually be pushing forward the science, the medicine and all of the hospital preparedness. that has to be a priority. that's why we got into this mess two years ago, because we've been so reactive when it comes to infectious disease emergencies. we have to have a paradigm shift. >> meagan, chicago kids are back in school tomorrow. great news for all of those families. how did they work it out? because at the end of the day we've been really hard on teachers over the last week but we forget, those teachers are taking a risk that most of us aren't. missouri people watching are working from their home. i came to work today and i got a rapid test. >> reporter: steph, that has been the crux of their argument, the teachers union's argument, is safety. you know, we know omicron is surging here in chicago and the state of illinois and as you reported all across the country here, and so they wanted to make sure that going back into the classroom was as safe as possible. so what we know is that over the last several days here, almost a week, they have been at the negotiation table with chicago public schools, with the mayor, trying to get to an agreement and so last night we learned that they did. while we are still waiting on some 25,000 members of the teachers union to vote on this plan, details are still coming in. here is what we know, they wanted to make sure that they could quantify how much virus was in a school at any given point. they wanted the metrics to be at a certain level so that that would then trigger online learning. we know that they got that. they came to an agreement on that. they wanted rapid testing to your point so that when they go to school there's readily available testing as well as rapid tests. we know that that's something that will be implemented. they wanted higher quality masks like kn95 masks, the city has agreed to provide those for any staff member, any student, any teacher that wants one. those will be available as well. so these are just some of the details that we know that were sticking points for the teachers union before they agreed to go back into the classroom. so the mayor's side of this, she wanted students and teachers to get back into the classroom right away, so both sides able to come to the table here to reach a tentative agreement, like i mentioned, we are waiting on the teachers union to vote on this, but at this point it looks like teachers will be going back into the classroom today. tomorrow, which will be day six, students will be able to get back into the classroom and school will be able to proceed, steph. >> all right. thank you all. you have definitely made us smarter and hopefully a little bit safer today. now let's turn to the president's big push for voting rights, highlighted by a speech in atlanta this afternoon where he will call for the passages of two bills democrats say are the only path to ensuring free and fair elections. in an excerpt released this morning president biden will say, quote, the next few days when these bills come to a vote will mark a turning point in this nation. i will defend your right to vote and our democracy against all enemies foreign and domestic. and so the question is whether the constitution of the united states senate where it will stand. but here is the thing, we know where the senate stands. at this point there are zero republicans on board with either of these bills and there are not enough democrats willing to scrap the 60-vote threshold to pass these bills, which is a simple majority vote, making this just a big speech. let's dig deeper and bring in nbc's blayne alexander back from maternity leave, latosha brown joins us co-founder of black voters matter and john bresnahan, co-founder of punchbowl news. john, i want to play for you what joe manchin said yesterday about dropping the 60-vote threshold known as the nuclear option. watch this. >> will you insist on keeping the 60-vote threshold on anything, senator? is that important? >> well, that's, you know -- it is what we have. that's what we've always had for years. that's what makes us a little bit different than anyplace else in the world. >> and the nuclear option is off the table for you? >> i don't see a way around it. >> okay. so here is the thing, that is not even entirely true, there has been all sorts of exceptions to the filibuster over the last 200 years and more importantly he very clearly voted against changing the rules in 2013, in 2017, in 2019. so as much as the biden administration wants to drum up this speech, talk about all the influential people who are going to be there, it doesn't matter if joe biden brings steve jobs, jesus and marilyn monroe, if you cannot get joe manchin and kyrsten sinema on board, things aren't going to move. >> yeah, it's not going to change. as you noted in your lead, first of all, there's 50 republicans against it, there is not one republican vote, so they start there. so you can't lose with 50 senate democrats you can't lose one democrat. they don't have manchin, they don't have sinema. they may not have -- there may be other senators, we don't know, because they've never pushed a vote, but this is the point, i think, that the president and senate majority leader chuck schumer are going to make. they have to figure out where democrats are, their own democrats are, and at that -- at some point you have to call a vote in order to nail down senators. yes, manchin and sinema are not there, but where are the rest and they have to figure out where they are. also, you know, democrats have been talk about this since the election, since the election and you saw these republican legislatures in red states changing voting rights requirements, you know, they're going to do something, the time to do it is now. they've been talking about this for a while. they need to take some action. >> then if manchin and sinema both claim that they support doing something on voting rights but they won't change the filibuster, what are they doing right now to get republicans on board for something? john? >> that's a huge question. manchin has talked to other republicans, he's talked to republicans in the senate, and manchin is a former secretary of state in west virginia, he feels very strongly on this issue. he didn't initially support the john lewis voting rights act, he forced democrats in order to get 50 supporters he forced schumer and the democrats to draft another bill, the freedom to vote act, which he supports. he's behind this bill. it's a pretty straightforward piece of legislation. he has talked to republicans, there are, you know -- there are republicans he's had conversations with that, you know, they are not going to go anywhere. republicans, even the moderate republicans, feel this is an attempt by democrats to nationalize elections and enshrine an advantage for them. there's a huge partisan gap here and manchin by himself is not going to be able to overcome that. >> blaine, let's go to georgia. voting rights groups say they are done with words, they want an actual plan from the president. what does that mean? break it down. >> reporter: stephanie, they want a concrete plan. they want some sort of a strategy on how they're going to move this from legislation from the president's desk. i spoke yesterday with the coo of new georgia project, a group that spent countless hours organizing people, getting people to the polls, registering people to vote and essentially played a large role for flipping the state blue for president biden in 2020. she says now essentially they want a return on that investment. her concern as she's laid it out is twofold, one, she says that this is absolutely a race against the clock. you have the midterms coming up in 2022, in november, and also certainly some very high profile races not to mention stacey abrams challenging governor brian kemp for governor again, but she says, one, they are not able to outorganize what she calls bad policy and bad laws. this is going to be the first statewide election that we've seen since georgia's new law has gone into effect. republicans passed it after 2020 saying that it made elections more secure but of course democrats say that it amounts to nothing short of voter suppression. she says they're not going to be able to outorganize that and that could make a big impact when it comes to the midterms. the other thing is that she says they need to see a return on their investment in order to encourage people to come out and vote again. she says they will have a difficult time making that case for people coming out of their homes, perhaps going against inconveniences to turn out to the polls in the numbers that they did two years ago, unless there is something to show for it, stephanie. >> latosha, republicans over the last few months are issuing primary challenges to governors, running for election boards, fighting on the local level and they are winning. do democrats need to change their strategy, instead of fighting this specific fight that at this point seems doomed to fail, take a page from republicans' book, fight where you can and win where you can. >> you know, i think that it can be an either/or. we have to recognize what we're talking about here. right now in the state of georgia yesterday, this week, the session started. we are looking at a session where republicans are actually trying to eliminate drop off boxes and absentee ballot voting process. we look at lincoln county, we are doing work in lincoln county where they're attempting to close all of the polls sites with the exception of just having one polling site in the entire county. i'm raising those things because i think we've been saying this, we've been very consistent from day one over the last year that it's going to take local support, it's going to take a legal strategy and it's going to take federal legislation, there is no way around this. that some of what we're seeing happening right now, the only thing that can actually stop is is we're going to have federal legislation, right, and so there's some oversight because there's three ways that they can attack it, one is creating the culture of fear, two is weaponizing the administrative process and three it's about restricting access of who can freely and fairly participate in an election. >> latosha, sinema argues that the answer is to find a way to do something with republicans on voting rights because tearing up the filibuster will give republicans far more dangerous power down the line. is there a way to get something more modest done with republicans on board and keeping the filibuster intact, and if there is could that actually end up to be a long-term bigger win or am i just being naive? >> let me tell you this, the truth of the matter is we have to be honest about the history of the filibuster. the filibuster has been the single barrier that has been weaponized in the senate to stop civil rights legislation. this isn't new. we're back at this moment again and let's not -- let's also remember that the filibuster has been -- there have been exceptions of how to put the filibuster aside including how the republicans used it to make sure that they got trump judges in. so it is not unconscionable for us to expect that there would be some carveout of the filibuster so that we can get voting rights in this country. this issue around voting access, this is serious. we're dealing with that right now as we speak and we need action now. it's been over a year and nothing has moved on it. we need concrete action. >> latosha brown, giving us a much needed lesson in civics and history. latosha, john, blaine, welcome back. good to have you all join us this morning. coming up next, national security officials are about to testify on the domestic terror threat one year after january 6th with mounting concerns about extremism now going local. plus, a federal judge suggests former president trump's silence as rioters stormed the capitol could be seen as agreeing with them. what that could mean for his efforts to get lawsuits dismissed. later we have a live report from inside ukraine as ukraine's military prepares for a potential invasion by russia. military prepares for superpowers from a spider bite? i could use some help showing the world how liberty mutual customizes their car insurance so they only pay for what they need. potential invasion by russia ♪ did it work? only pay for what you need ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ spider-man no way home in theaters december 17th don't like surprises? [ watch vibrates ] proactive notifications from fidelity keep you tuned in all day long. so when something happens that could affect your portfolio, you can act quickly. that's decision tech, only from fidelity. people everywhere living with you can act quickly. type 2 diabetes are waking up to what's possible... with rybelsus®. the majority of people taking rybelsus® lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than 7. rybelsus® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't take rybelsus® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop rybelsus® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. tell your provider about vision problems or changes. taking rybelsus® with a sulfonylurea or insulin increases low blood sugar risk. side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. wake up to the possibility of lower a1c with rybelsus®. you may pay as little as $10 for up to a 3-month prescription. ask your healthcare provider about rybelsus® today. how not to be a hero: because that's the last thing they need you to be. you don't have to save the day. you just have to navigate the world so that a foster child isn't doing it solo. you just have to stand up for a kid who isn't fluent in bureaucracy, or maybe not in their own emotions. so show up, however you can, for the foster kids who need it most— at helpfosterchildren.com court battles over the january 6th capitol riot are ramping up this morning after former president donald trump asked a federal judge to toss lawsuits against him by claiming absolute immunity. this as "politico" reports that the house committee is narrowing in on specific states and the effort to overturn the election results in those states. just moments from now a senate committee will hold a hearing on the domestic terrorism threat just one year after the capitol riot. ben collins covers extremism and disinformation for nbc news. kyle cheney joins us, "politico's" senior legal affairs reporter and jonathan greenblatt, ceo and national director of the anti-defamation league. ben, you've been reporting on now extremists have started to go local since last year's riot. walk us through what they're doing and how widespread it is. >> yeah, there's been a lot of talk about fractures in the gop in the last year around specific factions in the republican party, you know, and how much -- they are to donald trump. the one place there is no fracturing is now extremists have gone town by town and tried to take over school boards, health boards, really any kind of local government. they're doing it both by trying to vote people out, getting their own guys in there, but also by intimidation. groups like the proud boys have been in the back of school board meetings trying to intimidate people into getting rid of mask mandates or vaccine mandates, but also people have been trying to vote people out of school boards to try to enforce those things through legal ways. so that's really where this is all headed. they are trying to build a base on a town by town level. at that point once they're in the government or intimidated the government they can get the policies they prefer. >> and they're doing it in the wide open legally. these people are not hiding in the shadows, jonathan, they're running for office, fundraising off of these extreme views and they're getting elected. this is preventable by not electing them. and some of them are winning. how dangerous is this? what does it tell you? >> well, i think ben's reporting is right, you know, it's deeply dangerous. the idea that you would have people who are against government and who are extremists running for government so that they can manipulate the levers of power is really very scary. this is how authoritarianism creeps into our system and takes over. you know, at the adl we did some analysis last december because we've seen this not just the normalization of extremism which you and i have discussed before, but the localization of it. right? and ben is right to point out health boards, school boards, education -- election-related roles, trying to change curricula, trying to change masking mandates. and this is legally how they do it, but it can be stopped and it should be stopped by people from the left and the right. i think we need to keep in mind that this is -- how they are using the levers of democracy, this is the same anti-democratic trend we have seen in hungary, we've seen in turkey, we've seen in other authoritarian regimes around the world in recent years. >> what does it say about all of these communities that they are voting them in? >> well, i think the reality is that the leadership at the gop gave license to these kinds of extremists when donald trump not only acknowledged them, he embraced them. from asking the proud boys to stand back and stand by, to seeing very fine people, to telling the rioters who committed that domestic terror attack that, you know, that he, quote, unquote, loved them, and now telling us that ashli babbitt was a martyr. so at some point we need to recognize that the emperor isn't wearing any clothes, but he can still do a great deal of damage. and so the toxic mix of ignorance and intolerance is seeping into our political system and infecting it, if you will, sickening all of us. >> ignorance and intolerance, a toxic cocktail. kyle, trump is trying to claim absolute immunity because he wants these lawsuits against him dismissed. anything tying him to january 6. does his argument have any leg to stand on? >> i mean, it's an extremely broad interpretation of the laws about his culpability for things he did while he was president. that's really what this is about. he says as president i could have said essentially anything i wanted in any context and i can't be sued for that, i can't be held financially liable for it, and that's the argument his lawyers put forth yesterday in court when they were trying to toss three lawsuits, two by members of congress who fled the mob that was inspired by his words and one by capitol police officers who were injured in the riot. so this was the first chance for him to really preview his arguments about it, the first substantive hearing on t and the judge seemed a little bit taken aback by just how broad they said this immunity extended. it seems like he is not getting a receptive audience with the judge but it's extreme and pretty intensely broad argument. >> help us understand this journal who is now debating whether trump's silence on january 6 could amount to agreeing with the rioters. what's the latest there? >> sure. so in the context of a civil lawsuit against him, he's being charged essentially with conspiracy, civil conspiracy in essentially creating the conditions that led to the riot and that's what the people who are suing him say he's responsible for, and so what the judge was talking about was he said, you know, as trump is trying to say, well, there's no conspiracy here, how could you say that? i even suggested they should go to the capitol peacefully and the judge said, well, hold on, you said the word peacefully but you also said a lot of other things that were far more prevalent in your remarks and after it got violent any reasonable person would have gone out and said, hey, if you thought my words recall telling you to be violent, i didn't mean that, back off. he didn't do that for hours. so the judge said, you know, in the context of a civil case here where you may have been essentially in league with what was happening, you know, that silence means a lot and it may be substantively -- it may substantively amount to a conspiracy charge in the civil court case. >> jonathan, sometimes i hate bringing up these examples and giving them air, but what they're doing is poisoning the air. the last time you were here we were talking about people conflating covid vaccine mandates with the holocaust. since your last visit there was a utah tech executive who had to resign after he said the vaccine is a plot by jewish people to exterminate our population. plus, an indiana state senator said teachers need to be -- ready for this -- impartial when they are talking about nazis. anti-semitism is on the rise. how do we address this? >> yeah, it's really quite stun, it's almost like you feel like the wheels are coming off of america. in the last five years we have seen a steady increase in anti-semitic incidents, they are pretty much double today than they were in 2016 when donald trump ran for president. a rise of hate crimes across the board and these lunatic conspiracy theories circulating that either the jewish people or the jewish state are responsible for covid, singularly spreading it or somehow trying to profit off of it. it's all bananas. this kind of bigotry is very dangerous. how do we stop it? number one, call out hate when it happens. literally when you see something you have to say something. the water cooler at the locker room, even the kitchen table. number two, we have to cancel the cancel culture and give people who make an error the chance to redeem themselves. what this tech executive said is nuts and it's a good thing that the board fired him when he didn't apologize, when he doubled down on his crazy anti-semitism. if people can amend and apologize we should give them the space to do so. but finally i think it's really why i wrote my new book, i mean, people can engage at the local level and reclaim civil society. volunteer, vote, run for office, get engaged. get engaged. >> civility, decency, caring about others, putting others first. jonathan, kyle, ben, thank you all so much. we're going to leave it there. next, what the mean stop rebellion, the big economy all have in common as we look at how much has changed since gamestop investors, those little guys on their home computers took on wall street, took down a hedge fund and maybe stunned the markets forever. took down a he. versus 16 grams in ensure high protein. boost® high protein also has key nutrients for immune support. boost® high protein. fund and maybe stunned the markets forever. riders, the lons of the great highway. all they need is a bike and a full tank of gas. their only friend? the open road. i have friends. [ chuckles ] well, he may have friends, but he rides alone. that's jeremy, right there! we're literally riding together. he gets touchy when you talk about his lack of friends. can you help me out here? no matter why you ride, progressive has you covered with protection starting at $79 a year. well, we're new friends. to be fair. eh, still. ♪ when you have nausea, ♪ ♪ heartburn, ingestion, upset stomach... ♪ ♪ diarrheaaaa.♪ try pepto bismol with a powerful coating action. for fast and soothing relief. pepto bismol for fast relief when you need it most. ♪ ♪ ♪ 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?♪ ♪ ♪sometimes you want to go♪ ♪where everybody knows your name♪ ♪and they're always glad you came♪ ♪ ♪you want to be where you can see♪ ♪our troubles are all the same♪ ♪you want to be where everybody knows your name♪ ♪ ♪ you want to go where people know♪ ♪people are all the same♪ ♪you want to go where everybody knows your name♪ ♪ - oh...oh. - what's going on? - oh, darn! - let me help. ♪you want to go where everybody knows your name♪ lift and push and push! there... it's up there. hey joshie... wrinkles send the wrong message. help prevent them with downy wrinkleguard. feel the difference with downy. my name is douglas. i'm a writer/director and i'm still working. in the kind of work that i do, you are surrounded by people who are all younger than you. i had to get help somewhere along the line to stay competitive. i discovered prevagen. i started taking it and after a period of time, my memory improved. it was a game-changer for me. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. this week the game all changed and the name of the game became gamestop. >> it's a much bigger reaction to what is happening in our society as a whole. think populism comes to wall street. the first time we saw an army of day traders, individuals, that saw a few of these big hedge fund managers were betting game stop would go down so they banded together in force and bought it and bought it and bought it. time now for money, power, politics. as markets open up this morning we're taking a look back at the moment that changed everything possibly. today marks one year since meme stocks made their wall street debut, gamestop soaring for no apparent reason. there were hedge funds trying to short gamestop by betting its stock would go down so they could make money, but for the first time a group of very small individual investors banded together on reddit to drive up the price and a whole lot of pros plus a whole lot of money and it could have fundamentally changed the game for good. let's find out. cnbc's frank holland has been all over this story, also with us, josh brown. frank, it has been a year since small traders tried to flip the script. what kind of lasting impact has it had? >> number one, happy new year, stephanie. i haven't seen you in a while. the billing impact is a combination of empowerment and increased interest in the stock market. a lot of people think the increased interest, the little guy on their personal computer, that's pushed the s&p to 16 record closes in 2021 compared to about 35 back in 2019 and also just people see the stock market more as an investment strategy, whether it's saving for your son's college fund or more sophisticated investors, hummy yang, he gives out financial advice. he got 50% of his gains from gamestop last year. >> josh, big-time investors have been legally gaming the system, manipulating the markets for years and when this all started happening people said it's a flash in the pan, regulation is coming, this shouldn't be allowed. what's happened in a year? >> so i have good news and i have bad news for you, stephanie. >> hold on. good news? how about that holiday scape behind you? that's good news right there. >> i told you, i wasn't playing games in '22. >> you went to michael's crafts. >> i did not. this is professionally done, i swear. the good news is two companies were rescued by small investors as a result of message board activity. they both would have been gone. amc is still up 1,000% from where it was a year ago and that was almost certainly a bankruptcy. it was rescued by retail investor enthusiasm. gamestop, too, that stock is up 640% from where it was a year ago today. it's not at the high, it's at peak, it had gone up almost 2,000%, but that is now a $10 billion market cap company with the ability to do things like pivoting to nfts and coming up with new strategies for the 21st century. so on balance it's been very good for certain stocks, but the truth is nobody took down any hedge funds, melvin capital had a horrible january last year, they were shorting gamestop, but then ever since they went up 33% from that moment, they got $2.5 billion worth of capital from other funds and they are doing just fine. it's an $11 billion hedge fund. you should see the way these people are living. you look at citadel, which supposedly was getting beat up by, quote, the little guy. citadel's flagship hedge fund called welington was up 26% last year, roughly in line with the s&p. so big money is doing just fine, nobody took down anybody, but it was an important moment because it did announce the entry to frank's point of this next generation of investors and they played this game very differently. >> let's talk about this next generation because it's really about feeling empowered and this whole idea of sticking it to the man. and you're seeing it spill over in the great resignation and now, josh, there is this anti-work movement booming on reddit as millions of people are quitting their jobs. is this more about embracing the gig economy, working in a different way, or have we changed the way we think about work and what success looks like? >> you know, from one perspective it's surprising because it seems so sudden, but then when you think historically, 100 years ago 90% of all the working men in this country were on a farm. we have had these massive shifts in the way people think about employment before, it's just that we haven't had one in the last 50 years so it's very strange to all of us. but i do agree with you, i think there is this movement of people who are now very sure of themselves in terms of being able to earn a living, but not showing up on an assembly line and not being part of amazon's machinery and not reporting to a job 9:00 to 5:00. we wish them luck, we will see if that works out. i don't know that it will for everyone, but without a doubt there is going to be a generational shift in the expectation of how much time you're expected to be sitting at a desk versus how much work you can get done in a day without somebody looking over your shoulder. and i think software is going to enable a lot of that. >> all right. quickly before you go, josh, because we are talking -- the little guys are making money, the big guys are making money but we do have to talk about the bubble because headline crossed yesterday congressional candidates are now breaking into the world of crypto by selling nfts to fund their midterm campaigns. what do you make of this? because when i read it i said am i going to look bake bank on this headline a year and a half from now and say this was a red flag? takes me back to watching the big short when an exotic dancer is talking about flipping homes in orlando using sub prime mortgages. when we hear congressional candidates using nfts is this the future or is this crazy? >> don't think of nfts as somebody is selling someone else's security. basically these are like -- these are like fan club memberships, right? so when you see a famous rapper or pop star or athlete selling an nft, their fans just want to own something digitally that represents membership in that fan club. . all of this stuff will be worth zero at some point, there is no value to you other than for the person purchasing t it's emotional. this he want to be involved. from a politician's standpoint job number one is get reelected. how do you do that? raise money. where is the money? it's in crypto. the crypto people are naming stadiums for their companies. that is where billions and billions of dollars of wealth have been created and they happen to be spending that crypto wealth like drunken sailors right now because they want t they didn't earn it. so you're going to see this kind of money in the political system, you're going to see smart politicians say, hey, i know where i can raise a lot of money really quickly and really easily. so don't be shocked, you will see more of that, not less. >> the take away, vegas goes to washington. frank, josh, thank you both. frank, next time we have to fix your mic. coming up next, hospital workers under extreme pressure as omicron rages, a nurse joins me with what it's like right now inside a hospital that's at a breaking point. we had her on in 2020 as covid began. let's talk to her now. what does she need? what does her family need? what does america need? s her fa? s her fa? what does america need so, we want kisqali. women are living longer than ever before with kisqali when taken with an aromatase inhibitor or fulvestrant in postmenopausal women with hr+, her2- metastatic breast cancer. kisqali is a pill that's significantly more effective at delaying disease progression versus an aromatase inhibitor or fulvestrant alone. kisqali can cause lung problems, or an abnormal heartbeat, which can lead to death. it can cause serious skin reactions, liver problems, and low white blood cell counts that may result in severe infections. tell your doctor right away if you have new or worsening symptoms, including breathing problems, cough, chest pain, a change in your heartbeat, dizziness, yellowing of the skin or eyes, dark urine, tiredness, loss of appetite, abdomen pain, bleeding, bruising, fever, chills or other symptoms of an infection, a severe or worsening rash, are or plan to become pregnant, or breastfeeding. avoid grapefruit during treatment. ask your doctor about living longer with kisqali. we hit the bike trails every weekend ask your doctor about living longer 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. 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. ♪ ♪ ♪ this morning a dire warning from beaumont health in michigan. health care is at a breaking point. beaumont is currently caving for more than 750 covid patients across eight hospitals, a 40% jump in just the last week. the majority of those patients are unvaccinated. at the same time more than 430 beaumont employees are out sick with their own covid symptoms. the situation is so concerning that beaumont health is now restricting visitors entirely. it is almost like a repeat of the overwhelming wave at the very start of the pandemic in early 2020. here is how one beaumont nurse described what it was like back then. >> i'm just in this place today where i just really -- i felt really kind of beat down this weekend by work and by just the situation and the heaviness, the impact of all of it. >> i think my biggest fear, of course, is another surge. >> the further we progressed in this whole situation, the more, you know, we all kind of muddle through and find what is starting to look like our new normal. >> back with us now a national treasure and trend of our show, that nurse you saw from may of 2020, maureen grisios. nurse maureen, i wish i was seeing you in a better situation, but in your hospital right now the situation is dire. you are a mom, you are a nurse. what needs to be done right now? do schools have to close? do we need another lockdown or do we need more people to just get vaccinated? >> hi, stephanie. i think if there was one definitive answer right now then we would already be doing it. you know, a year ago, two years ago, the answer seemed more clear and, you know, we did shut down and we did close schools and we did do all of those things, but covid hasn't gone anywhere. it's still here and it's and it seems to be here to stay, at least for the near future. i don't know that shutting down is the answer, but i do know that we, we do have other solutions that are out there. we know that vaccines work. and we know that the boosters are effective. you know, it's about people. and the people that we are seeing getting severely ill and dying, the majority of those people are not vaccinated. >> how does the current situation you're facing compare to what it was like for you to go to work two years ago? >> you know, two years ago, it was something we had never seen before. and so walking through that and trying to figure it out as you went, that's something that i will never forget in my entire life. i think the difference today is just that there's this perpetual fatigue. every time you start to feel a little bit hopeful, and really try to build on your resilience, as a nurse, as a health care worker, as a parent, as somebody, anybody in the community right now, then here comes another surge. and that's hard. there's some things that we are getting better at and we're figuring out and we're doing better all the time. and the rest of it just the continuous struggle for resources, for people, for staff, and for an answer that we can get everybody onboard with, it's hard. it remains so heartbreaking. and it's very -- it's still very challenging. >> well, maureen, you are certainly resilient. you are brave, and most importantly, you are kind. and i will speak for my team at msnbc. we appreciate you. >> thank you so much, stephanie. >> i hope to see you again soon with better news. coming up next, inside ukraine as tensions rise with russia, and fears of a potential invasion mount. rise with russia, and fears of a potential russia, and fears of a potential invasion mount ...and heart risk. we're working up a sweat before coffee. and saying, “no thanks...” ...to a boston cream. jardiance is a once-daily pill that reduce the risk of cardiovascular death for adults who also have known heart disease. so, it could help save your life from a heart attack or stroke. and jardiance lowers a1c. jardiance can cause serious side effects including... ...dehydration, genital yeast or urinary tract infections, and sudden kidney problems. ketoacidosis is a serious side effect that may be fatal. a rare, but life-threatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. stop taking jardiance and call your doctor right away... ...if you have symptoms of this bacterial infection, ...ketoacidosis, or an allergic reaction, ...and don't take it if you're on dialysis. taking jardiance with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. lower a1c and lower risk of a fatal heart attack? we're on it. we're on it. with jardiance. ask your doctor about jardiance. as a professional bull-rider i'm used to taking chances. but when it comes to my insurance i don't. 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? yeah, hang on, i'm about to break my own record. yeah. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. ♪ developing this morning, russian officials say there is no reason to fear an escalation of tensions with ukraine, despite the presence of tens of thousands of troops along the border. the comment coming after a day of intense negotiations between the u.s. and russian officials in geneva with u.s. delegation trying to de-escalate those soaring tensions, and both sides noting that they are far, far from an agreement. richard engel is standing by. richard, tell us, what's going on -- oh, we do not have richard yet. we've lost his signal. so we're going to try to get richard in just a moment. we'll take a quick break. plp blp when you have xfinity xfi, you have peace of mind 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. it's been nearly two years since the pandemic started. our students and teachers tried their best, but as a parent, i can tell you that nearly 18 months of remote learning was really hard. i'm so angry that instead of helping our kids get back in the classroom, the school board focused on renaming schools schools that weren't even open . please recall all three school board members now. for the sake of our kids, we can't wait one more day, never mind a whole year for a fresh start. good morning to you. it's coming up on 10:00 a.m. eastern/7:00 a.m. pacific. i'm jose diaz-balart on a big and busy morning on capitol hill. right now, some of the nation's top health officials are appearing before a senate committee to answer questions about the biden administration's response to the omicron variant. this as cases surge, hospitals are overwhelmed, and confusion grows over cdc guidelines for isolation and testing, masking. also this hour, president biden is set to leave for a trip to georgia, where he will be giving a speech pressuring the senate to act on voting rights, even if lawmakers have to change the rules to accomplish that goal. but some voting rights groups say they want less talk and more action. and at any moment now, we'll take you to that hearing where top health officials will testify in front of the senate committee. they are expected to face tough questions about the federal response to the surge of the omicron variant. this as the united states surpasses 61 million covid cases, with another record-shattering 1.3 million cases reported just yesterday alone. joining me now with more on this is nbc news capitol hill correspondent, leigh ann caldwell. nbc news digital senior white house reporter, shannon pettypiece. dr. nahid bhadelia is an infectious disease specialist at boston university. and in a moment, nbc news correspondent ellison barber will be with us from new york. leigh ann, let me start with you. this will be the first time doctors fauci and walensky will be in front of this committee since omicron swept the country. what are lawmakers looking to hear today. >> it sure will be, jose. and this is a regularly scheduled hearing. they do appear before the committee, periodically. but this is, as you mentioned, the first time since omicron. so the committee is going to have a lot of questions. we expect dr. fauci to talk about the state of omicron, about the state of vaccines and their protection or lack thereof, in some cases, against it. and we also expect, especially questions to dr. walensky, as there's been a lot of confusion about cdc guidelines, about isolation and testing and they are also going to get questions