their own forces to justify an invasion of ukraine. one senior official saying the drum beat of roar is sounding louder. i'm halle jackson in washington with you on the friday afternoon with pa lot going on. i want to start with morgan chesky who is outside the courthouse in texas. we have pete williams, our justice correspondent and paul butler. so morgan, talk to us about what we're expecting when stuart rhodes faces the judge in a half hour. if you are outside the courthouse, our extremely talented tv producer will be inside the courtroom to give us updates on what's going on. >> reporter: yeah, that's exactly right. this meeting before the young is set to take place at 2:30 local time. we cannot tell you definitively is he is in the building. we seen security increase somewhat in an hour or so. this is the first time he will face a judge that could bring potential prison time up to 20 years. this after he was taken into custody yesterday in little elm, texas. that is a suburb outside dallas, we are in plano, where the eastern court is for the eastern district of texas. this is a highly anticipated moment, the 56-year-old man, the leader of the far right militia group the oath keepers that is facing significant charges, rare charges and right now we have heard from his attorneys that say that the evidence is not enough to warrant these charges. however, we have seen some of the communication that federal investigators have said leaves them to believe this is the right charge. i will show you some of what rhodes is quoted to have written over the last months leading up to that january 6th attack on the capitol, telling his fellow oath keepers they should stay on the outside and be prepared to go in armed if necessary. he went on to say, we're going to defend the president, because if you don't, goes, you're going to be in a bloody civil war or an insurrection or a war or a fight. we do anticipate this meeting to happen in about a half an hour. we have no reason to believe it will not at this point in time. we are keeping a close eye on the situation here. halle. >> we are getting information in, in the last hour or so more and more about who stuart rose, is his life what he has been accused of. one of our colleagues, mogen, pete, paul, tom winter talked to his ex-wife. morgan is make an important point of the seriousness of the charges that rhodes face, the conspiracy charge, one of the things he said was, quote, we aren't getting 32 you this without a civil war. we need to make those senators very uncomfortable with all of us being a few hundred feet away and quote after this, if nothing happens, it's war, civil war 2.0. talk through how a defense attorney, pete, might be defending stuart rhodes here. >> reporter: well, i think you heard some of it from hus lawyer. some of this is free speech. he was not anticipating that people would do these things. he is a lawyer. he knows how to walk the lean very carefully and be provocative without violating the law. the last line that he wrote about war 2.0 he sent actually on the day of the inauguration. but the government's claim here is that he set in motion these violent acts by other oath keepers, nine of woman have already been charged with conspiracy. he makes it ten in this new case and the 11th person charged is a phoenix man edward bellaio. he is 63-years-old. that court hearing a few minutes ago. that one was in arizona. he was given formally read the karnlgsz and given a detention hearing of next thursday. so that's the way it normally works in federal court. these initial protects tend to be very per funktory, very shore set a date for a detention hearing and ultimately, of course, halle, they will probably be brought to washington where all these other cases are to face trial. >> just to note on the time line here i'm not going to get ahead of our speech here, it's likely possible we will know what the deal is in that court by the time this show is over. we're obviously going to bring updates live paul, is it possible, do you get the sense based on this charge, right, the most serious one here, that stuart rhodes will have to stay behind bars for the duration here? >> i would suspect so given the level of violence that the indictment suggests. this is a historic case that dramatically raises the stakes for the justice department so seditious conspiracy might sound like it was radical people texting back and forth. according to indictment, what they came close to is straight up violence. so stuart rhodes, the proud boy leader, those people would need to fight in a war that would be a bloody operation. he meant that literally. the indictment alleges that once the oath keepers reached the capitol, they made a coordinated pure military-like move towards the senate chambers. they had stockpiled guns in virginia and a quick reaction force could deploy on the capitol and the white house. >> what do you think this indictment might mean, paul, for the hundreds of others charged with their roles in the riots? what comes between them and whether this might lead to more cooperation in. >> halle, there has been concerns so far the justice at the present time focused on people the low level, the so call maga tourists who illegally entered the capitol but didn't do much more. now we know, this looks like prosecutors start with the low-level people on the bottom but they work their way up to the top so we don't know where the top is now. but with these new indictments, they seem to be focusing on people who either planned or financed or organized the insurrection and to the extent that some people thought it was just a spontaneous outburst of people who were upset over trump losing the election, the indictment makes it very clear that this was a illegal violent conspiracy that started on election night and even went past january 6th when this proud boy leader a week later bought $17,000 worth of guns and ammunition. >> can you fill in the planks on who stuart rhodes is, his background, his history. >> reporter: she a former member of the armed force, a former paratrooper. he's a lawyer. he graduated from yale law school. he moved to montana and was the head of the oath keepers there. that's when he first ban the to build this movement. the oath keepers feel the federal government has been taken over by people trying to deprive us of our rights. it appeals a lot to people who have military service or who have served in armed, in law enforcement. that's the ranks that it try is to build. he, himself, has been in the news a lot. but he has always said that he never entered the capitol and, therefore, can't be held responsible for what happened inside. now, the government concedes that he didn't enter the capitol. but the point is what the indictment is built on is all of his conduct leading up to january 6th and to some extent as mr. butler said thereafter, it's important to note, halle, what's new in this indictment a. lot of what the government has alleged about the oath keepers. about how they came to washington. they brought weapons. they had a quick reaction force that they were going to have prepared to come here from boston, if they were needed, from the hotel where they were staying. that's already been out there in a previous indictment of a conspiracy charge against nine of these oath keepers. what's new about yesterday's indictment is all of the material that they attribute to stuart rhodes, himself, from encrypted messages, so that's what is sort of the break through about this indictment. the government being able to see what they say is things that he wrote in encrypted chats to his followers. >> pete williams, morgan chess ski live for us there outside that courtroom. we do anticipate more breaking news on that front a little later on this hour. but we want to get oother breaking news, the white house in the past half hour has finally shared details how exactly they plan to get those free covid tests out to americans all across the country. let's where i in peter alexander. this is like nuts and belmonts news, explain the website. explain the timing. >> reporter: you are exactly right. it's a big deal for a lot of families dealing with the omicron surge. let's walk you through this process. the white house in the last hour making this announcement. that means the website to get those free covid tests is going online now next wednesday, january 19th, they're going to have a phone line as well that they will be launching soon. the website i'll held you this. you will hear it will be covid tests pleural.gov. covidtests.gov. they announced they have contracted for 220 million. they are working to try to purchase the other 80 million. these will be shipped through the postal service. they say that you will receive those tests between seven and 12 days after you order them. so this is one of the challenges here for a lot of folks who ned that help now that have been weight in line to get tests, going to stores and often finding they don't have them yet. the official start will be the launch will be wednesday seven-to-12 days, means it's not until the end of this month or the beginning of next month you will get those tests. this is a big deal for a lot of families looking for help. certainly the costs are sophisticate as relates to these tests. >> you got to peeve that site will be swamped next thursday, covidtests.gov, pleural. what is the white house doing behind the scenes to make the sure that doesn't fail a week from now? >> reporter: i asked this question a number of days ago. they say they have been putting it through different testing thes. there are differences between the healthcare.gov that was a more complex process than this to order those tests and have them go to your home. they're emphasizing equity on this issue. they say they prioritize households in communities that have been most vulnerable to covid-19. they did not detail specifically how that's going to happen. also significantly for people who are tuning in for this conversation, remember tomorrow is the day that insurance companies and healthcare plans must begin to reimburse you, to reimburses for those covid tests that you purchased up to eight free at-home covid tests per individual. i'm in a family of four. that would be 32 for our family. the white house is now working to make that process smoother. from this call that wrapped up a short time ago, halle, for now they are encouraging americans to keep their receipts if they are purchasing those at the times, they want to have reimbursed. >> all of that useful information, thank you very much, appreciate it. coming up here, the new u.s. intel out today that shows russia is in eastern ukraine. plus, former president trump's first rally of 2022. why it matters who he is sharing the stage with coming up. plus, later, one governor if about-face, why she is targeting certain students as her 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the groundwork of fabricated a pre invasion. we saw this before leading up to 2014 to note. include:ing their sabotage activities and information by preparing an imminent attack against russian forgs forces in eastern ukraine. >> they said thursday 70 websites were taken down in a cyber attack. the president making another attempt to get u.s. officials and russian officials back to the negotiation table proposing a trilateral summit between the two countries. richard engel is live for us in london. we take some of the out of context, it might seem these are flar-ups between two companies that have problems. this is signicant. whenou look the current tension, how do you see russia's moves? >> reporter: so, i think are you right. take a step back and understand the whole contest of this for the last several weeks, we have been talking about the 100 plus thousand russian troops that are built up and commissioned along ukraine's border, three sides of the borders him and there is this impression that one day russia could decide to push the go button and those 100,000 troops and tanks and artillery pieces are going to suddenly storm over the border and take over the country. that's possible. but it's more complex than that. there is a pocket in eastern ukraine that since the takeover of crimea in 2014 has been held by russian-backed separatists. it's actually two pockets near each other and they're held by pro-russian separatists. there are russian troops in these areas. and if you listen to the russian justification for this crisis. you listen to the statements has the have been coming out of the kremlin or watch russian state television, they're always talking about these pro-russian enclafbs. they say they're under threat, that it's the ukrainian government that is besiegeing them, putin described the situation there as something almost near again thenogenocid carry out an attack presumably looking like ukrainian troops against these pro-russia separatists to russia would have the excuse to say, we are going in, we have no choice. we're going into to defend pro-russian people, russian speakers. people that want to be a part of the russian sphere of influence and we have to do our duty to protect them and that is what the pentagon is alleging today, but it didn't reveal any sources and so far russia hasn't commented him on it. but that kind of, this is a specific false flag operation, because you'd have russian special forces, if the pentagon is correct, potentially attacking their own side in order to blame the ukrainians to create a pre text for war. then on the other side, have you this very mysterious hacking attack. >> right. >> so 70 websites, government websites suddenly went down including the foreign ministry, security agencies, also the government agency that tracks the covid testing and when they went down as they were going down, there was a warning published and it said, be afraid, expect the worst. so, there has been no -- ukraine blamed russia, but other countries haven't gone so far as to blame russia specifically but nato and u.s. officials have strongly suggested that this came out of russia. but they haven't sort of determined it as far as i can tell if this was kremlin sanction, that this was the russian government or these were more or less pro-russian cyberpy rather, the way cyber attackers and hackers who, in russia, they are semi autonomous. they work under the government's umbrella and protection, but they can sometimes act in their own patriotic interest when that interest aligns with the kremlin and the kremlin is happy to do them. so you have two significant developments in one day while you still have these 100,000 troops positioned around the border. so it is an extraordinarily volatile situation. >> i was going to say, richard, all of this is teeing up, the attention is far from abating as you would think the u.s. would hope it would. it's going in the opposite direction. >> reporter: there have been round after round of negotiations that have been jumping from european cities. we have also seen several conversations between president biden and vladimir putin, the russian president. but those don't seem to be getting anywhere. the negotiation have been described by the chief u.s. negotiator or at least aspects of them as fawn starters. so that is also something that is concerning in this larger context. not only is there a diplomatic process and not only is it not progressing, but the request, the demand that russia has been making according to nato and the u.s. side are unreasonable and they're not just unreasonable because they don't want to reach a deem or they're close. they're unreachable because they're way off. what russia has been demanding is that nato shrink, that nato give up much of eastern europe, much of the baltics and go back to a position from decades ago and nato is saying, what are you talking about? what kind of negotiation is that, if you are asking nato to in effect dismantle itself. that has u.s. and ukrainian officials very worried the russian positions going into these talks is one almost seem designed to make the talks fail. russia, fortunately, is very differently. they say they have no intention of invading. it's not talking about the cyber attacks. it says all along it is ukraine and that to that are threatening russia, nato because of decades of expansion activities towards russia and ukraine because of these alleged provocations carried out by the ukrainian military against pro russian attacks. >> as you and i were having this conversation, we mentioned in the introduction there, the ukrainian president suggested the colleagues of the white house just received a statement, response, essentially from a white house official rather non-committal, we are determining next steps with the do you know indications with the russians. we will see comes next. we believe diplomacy is the best path forward. i want to make a note, this is obviously on everyone's minds. coming up, including what former president trump is trying to flex his political muscle ahead of the mid-terms with more than 90-plus endorsements so far. guess how many support the stop the steal conspiracy theory. what the president is saying about a possible 2024 run. plus the pandemic despair setting in for parent of really little kids. we'll talk about why that seems to be getting worse. while the rest of the world starts to try to move on. e on e on >> they bought time in this press conference to talk about it. we gotta tell people that liberty mutual customizes car insurance so you only pay for what you need, and we gotta do it fast. 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how is this going to get done? >> reporter: that is such an excellent question. so here's what we know. we know the senate will be in session as you mentioned. they were supposed to be in session next week. they will stay in. we know this vote will take place on the actual legislation because that's clear. democrats want to show that republicans are united in their opposition to the text of that legislation while democrats are united in their support for it. but what happens next is the big question. now, leader schumer has been threatening for the last several weeks that once that vote fails, because republicans block it, that he's going to try to change the senate rules to pass the voting rights legislation with a simple majority vote. now, the problem as we all know, senators joe manchin and kirsten cinema have replicated yesterday as the president was speaking to them, they're not going to budge. they will not support it. so that vote will not pass if it happens. schumer has a choice to make. does he move forward with that vote and show that his party is divided on this rules change for this very critical issue for the democratic party or does he back down so that it's not such an apparent expression of division among democrats and not hold this vote. he says he's going to do it. that seems to be the plan the as of now. we'll see what strategy actually takes. it could be another difficult week for the democrats. >> i know you and i will be talking monday, tuesday. thank you very much. coming up this week, you got former president donald trump set to take the stage in arizona tomorrow night. his first rally of 2022. he's sharing the spotlight with controversial fellow supporters of that stop the steal conspiracy theory, including karen lake, running for governor and mark fincham, both of them back mr. trump's lie that the 2020 election was stolen. both to earn mr. trump's endorsement as have 57 other candidates that have questioned the results of the 2020 election. the former president flexing his political muscle keeping his grip, making these endorsements, including, by the way, some 15 people who are senate candidates, ten who were at that rally in washington january 6th. one source close to the former president telling nbc news owl signs point to him running in 2024 as he tries to set the stage suggest rallies and appearances will pick up in a mid-term year. i will to bring in a former anchor in phoenix, arizona, it's great to have you on. lissen the quote/unquote guest list, right, it is a slew of people who pack this stop the steal lie. i think it gives a good indication of the folks that donald trump is trying to reach here. >> absolutely. this is at a country music venue now outside phoenix outdoor ven if you, so hopefully, it will be safe for the folks. you look at the speaker list, it's an all star ban, carrie lake. she has fully embraced donald trump. she is running for governor. mark finchham. the top election officer. he is running on a platform that the election was stolen. every single person on that list are free members of congress who voted to throw out the election results. mike lindell and the qanon guy ron watkins another election denier might be involved somehow. that itself it. it is all election deerns at deniers at this big rally. >> i got to be honest every time we talk about former president trump or something like this, there is always people that say why give that oxygen? first of all, we're calling lies, lies, we think it's important. he is the former president to come running again in 2024. arizona will be a state important in that effort. >> i'll tell you personally it's a differently decision. how do you cover this when you have about seven people on the stage who are just likely to repeat lies about the election. where is the news value in this? on the other hand, you are right, this is a former president holding a big event. it demands coverage. so journalistically, it is a real challenge having covered 15 trump rallies or so by this point, i know how that goes. they're difficult. because of that on the one hand it has become easier because there is so much in there, you either can't or won't repeat because it's just not true. >> right. >> you got to the fact check, do the whole thing. it takes more thiem to do that. i'd be shocked if folks take it live. it seems a bridge too far. you also got this interesting dynamic specifically in arizona, the former president that's endorsed the insurrection here more than 90 people loyalists, close to 60 of them are election deniers. and there is more and more suggestion that governor ducey on the gop side could enter the primary. talk to me about that and how you see that unfolding potentially. >> i think that's a story that looks a lot different here in phoenix than it does say in washington, d.c. >> tell me about that. >> it's hard to believe the governor will jump into this race at this late date. he is a chair of the republican association. he takes that seriously. his job is to get governors elected. since he's taken off it's clear he had his sights higher than the senate. he does not have senate temperament. his sights are set into the white house. the rga are putting governors in the office to support you in that kind of effort, national effort can be a springboard to that. so we see no evidence he is interest in the senate race. there is a very real question especially given donald trump's involvement whether doug ducey could win a republican senate primary and there is a vigorous senate primary going on right now with several candidates competing for donald trump's attention. so a lot of things mit date against this. i would say it is not that likely. i am certainly not alone in saying that. it's not that likely doug ducey gets in the senate race. i look for him to go after pursuit of national aspirations. we've heard about since day one. >> it's great to have your perspective and your analysis from listen on the ground there in arizona. we really appreciate it. >> thank you so much. let's turn to the big headlines, omicron cases, that seem to show maybe, maybe the surge is starting to en. at least in some places. thankfully. it looks like not as many people are getting quite as sick as they were from other variants. here's the deem, there are some groups of people still who are immunocompromised. people who have not been able to have reactions to a vaccine they would need to. people with kids under the age of five who know that life looks a whole lot similar at the very start of this pandemic in some ways. the recent "new york times" says i see signs of despair from parents of kids undertive that shows how thinly stretched parents are. some of the word, devastating, disgusting and at a breaking point. and it's more than just the rising case kouns. right? parents of young, young kids, under 5, not eligible to be vaccinated. they're dealing with that the fact their kids can't fet the shots. they're trying to get back to in-person work and you have pre-schools and day cares closing all across the country because of omicron, exposures, staff shortages, et cetera. here with us, jessica, i was glad you were able to come on the show because you know viewers of this show will know, i am also a parent of a child under five as are many of my colleagues here at msnbc and msnbc news. it can be a little alienating because there are so many people in this country. i have friends who don't have kids, have older kids, starting to get somewhat back to normal. there are an entire class of people not having that experience because of who is inside their house. >> absolutely. i think the biggest problem that i was hearing from parents is not just fear of their children catching the veers, because i think we all know that the majority of very nothing children have what mild cases. the biggest problem is quarantine teens and day cares and schools across the country. kid will have between 10 and 14 days on average at home so if you are working parents who fed to be some place in person, especially if you are a single parent, are you in an impossible situation. you can not leave a child home ae loan, but have you to be at work. even if are you able to work remotely, you try working with a 3-year-old next to you. i've tried it. it's not fun. >> it's not easy that gets to the point here, first of all the impact on this falls more on women than men, let's be real. it does. i know somebody parks girlfriend of mine, six babies in the day care all tested positive for covid. that is everybody, the day care shuts down, serve home. you also have offices that are listen while some of them are being flexible and continue to work from home, there is increasingly expectation folks will come back to the office. >> that's absolutely true. i think the stress of all of the things pulling you in different directions and the stress of worrying about severe illness, although it is very rare, you don't know before your child gets sick whether or not they will be one of the unlucky ones. so it's just waking up every day and not knowing if any part of your day is going to be secure, fought know figure you can photo work. not know figure your kid can go to care or pre school. i this the stress of that is very real especially for parents of children under 5. my children are 5 and 9. it is much less stressful than a year ago. because they are both in school every day. well, there has been quarantines now. but i don't worry about it on a day-to-day basis. >> right. >> they're both vaccinated. so i don't worry about them ending up in the hospital. of course, it could hawaii it is not a top of mind >> far less worse. dr. gupta, i'm glad to have you having this conversation, listeners will know you leak our medical professional who gives us the effect. are you also a dad, a parent who has experience having a child under the age of five and so i kind of want to hear from you, personally and professionally on this, how you are doing during this. >> well, thank you for having me, halle and for being a part of this k. it's really important. i would say i am married to a pediatrician. we have this conversation a lot about context. so for your viewers out there who are both, who have children under five, one thing that gets missed sometimes from context is that covid is not the only respiratory virus that's potentially dangerous to this specific age group. this is something called respiratory interstitial virus depending on the age group 2 potentially more dangerous than covid-19 to that age group. certainly we see that in any given cold and flu season. there is no vaccine for it either. some companies are developing it. cocontext is important o. i would argue how we are approaching day care safety, masks for everybody. vaccines for all adult staff, correspondence policies, that's a rigorous policy that doesn't exist any typical cold and flu season when kids under five are facing a threat. that context is important as we think what success looks like. we will not arrive at cases. kids live in some degree of risk in any cold and flu season. that's how we think about this as we send our son to day care when it's opened. the risks are baseline and risks will always be there? >> so then given that profession, do you believe some of these as jessica notes a huge game point for so many parents working outside the home or in this case inside the home is the issue of child care, right? do you believe that there are some child care priors e providers that might be over, i don't want to say overreacting but perhaps over cautious given where the risk and the context is here? in other words, do you think it's appropriate daily rapid testing? which i heard about in my area or pcr tests the day before you go back, et cetera, 14-day closures, things of that nature in. >> i think we have to have a different standard for kiddos under five. if the adults are doing triple vaccines, masks, improvements to ventilation and resources exist from the american rescue plan. if those things are taken into account, we need to think how we approach a similar threat to the under five group in the rsc, how we use that as a paradigm to think about returning kids back to that in-person environment that shea have been exposed to covid-19, no, i don't think we should be regularly testing the kids exposed as a requirement to get them pack if. if they are asymptomatic, best judgment. if they are asymptomatic, get them pack into the classroom. mask them up. na should be the extent of it. that's what we should do. we cannot keep kids at home exposed to rsp. maximum paradigm makes sense in this place. >> i really appreciate you both being on, having a conversation, co coming up, the latest in the back and forth over the dramatic australian thesis. djokovic may have been detained from what would have been his first match. we are live with more. ned from what would have been his first match. we are live with more. hey lily, i need a new wireless plan for my business, but all my employees need something different. oh, we can help with that. okay, imagine this. your mover, rob, he's on the scene and needs a plan with a mobile hotspot. we cut to downtown, your sales rep lisa has to send some files, like asap! so basically i can pick the right plan for each employee. yeah i should've just led with that. with at&t business. you can pick the best plan for each employee and get the best deals on every smart phone. people with moderate to severe psoriasis, are rethinking the choices they make like the splash they create the entrance they make, the surprises they initiate. otezla. it's a choice you can make. otezla is not a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines, and if you're pregnant or planning to be. otezla. show more of you. i recommend nature made vitamins, because i trust their quality. they were the first to be verified by usp, an independent organization that sets strict quality and purity standards. nature made. the #1 pharmacist recommended vitamin and supplement brand. . so i know you probably have been following this drama, this joker drama with no jack djokovic the world's best tennis player. within the hour, we think he is set to have a hearing with immigration officials after they are moving to kick him out ahead of the australian open. there is big potential that might happen. because let's remind ourselves djokovic misrepresented himself to thunderstorms. it was later reported once he was allowed to stay, he was seen quarantining. we have the tennis analyst for nbc sports. mary, i am so thrilled to see you. this is amazing. this is like a hounl story. when on msnbc are we covering tennis? >> well, this is this is the intersection of covid and sports and politics in kind of a big way? >> it sure is. i am sorry it has come to this. i still don't know if the dude is going to show up and play at the stlalian open. he is the number one player in the world, he won this thing nine times. he could be the greatest of all time. i am already giving him that title. this could change everything. if he gets deported he won't be allowed into australia for maybe three years. other countries are knuckling down on their visa, their immigration protocols. so this could change this guy's career. in the meantime, serbia loves him. he's godlike over there. the serbian president called the veilian prime minister to talk about this. i mean, tennis only gets this kind of attention when something rotten has happen. >> you talked about the stakes. they are incredible here, high for djokovic, high for people looking a the way covid politics plays out. we haven't heard a ton from other tennis players, although in conversations with others i think there is a frustration that this is overtaking so much of the story line around the australian open. what are you hearing? >> more and more, especially in the last several days when it turns out he was in two countries and he wasn't -- he said he was only in one country. in fact, he was unmasked when he was in serbia after he knew that he had tested positive for covid. in serbia, in his own country, he was supposed to quarantine for 14 days. he didn't do that. then it turns out he says his agent made a mistake with the paperwork. and oh -- he lost a lot for him. he also lost fans in australia. there was a poll taken, 60,000 people responded to the poll, 83% of them want this guy to get kicked out of the country. 97% of the men's top 100 are vaccinated. a lot of them reluctantly so. a lot of guys don't want to get vaccinated. novak feels it is a personal choice, one he has resisted for a couple of years now. >> yeah. >> he stands by his decision. now he might have to stand by the decision of the immigration minister and i am thinking that guy wants him out. >> you point out, listen, he could have history on the line if he were not able to play. there is impacts on his career. we haven't heard much from the men's tennis association. do you anticipate -- at some point we have to hear more formally, right? >> tennis australia have twisted themselves into a pretzel over the last months trying to get this guy in, squeezed him through a loophole that hasn't worked. i mean, what they were trying to do was sort of a per version, i think, of this exemption status, that if you have gotten covid within a certain amount of time, you were exempt from needing the vaccine. that's not what story is with novak. he elected not to get the vaccine these last several years. he has already gotten covid twice according to him. to me, that's a per version of this loophole. anyway, i think that's one of the reasons why so many people are just so tired and exhausted by this. the other part of it, too, is that djokovic the last couple years has been very koi about his vaccination status. >> yeah. >> that's been exhausting. and to someone like me, kind of annoying. i mean, i love watching him play. he is the most flexible player i have ever seen. in some manners he is so inflexible. this calls attention to it. >> mary, i could talk to you for 17 hours about this. glad you made the time to be on the show. thank you. >> pleasure. turning now to news not from australia but out of south dakota where the governor is going into battle not against the coronavirus. instead the governor there is targeting transgender fleets, younger ones. the first-term republican is up for re-election this year. this new move by her shows me might be thinking beyond this year, perhaps to 2024. here's why? she released this ad on national primetime television banning transgender -- >> in south dakota only girls play girls sports. why? because of governor chrisny gnome's leadership? she has a bill that would give south dakota the strongest bill in the nation protecting female sports. >> there are a number of states introducing similar bills, seven in the last two weeks, since 2022 started. i am joined by a reporter. it is great to have you on. just in the last year we have covered it here a lot at least 20 states put in place or are considering similar bills but the polling, we looked at the pbs polling, showing more americans oppose laws like these. two thirds of them don't want to see these kinds of laws. >> right. the majority of americans oppose laws that limb the rates of transgender people. that includes the majority of conservatives and majorities across all different age groups. instead, some are arguing what governor gnome, what she's doing here is feeding into wider culture war we are seeing playing out in american politics and dangling a piece of red meat to the far right members of the republican party. >> by the way, the ad is national. she's the governor of south dakota. this is a national ad that aired on primetime twreflgs which seems like a very big signal about her political ambitions. >> right. so, based on my reporting i have seen ads from smaller far right groups aired in states, and in local stations, but never on the national scale that we are seeing today from such a high-profile politician who may be having her eyes on 2024. the presidency. >> we talked about the dichotomy between the american populous at large based on some of the polling and some of these politicians implementing these are trying to implement the transbans. there is also a dichotomy between the national sports organizations, right, and politicians. talk the me about that. >> in 2011 the ncaa instituted a policy that would force female transgender athletes to undergo hormonal suppression treatment at least one year in order to compete. the international olympic committee had a similar policy but scrapped it this last november deeming it, quote, medley unnecessary. >> matt la vita as, thanks for being on with us. a note, we reached out to governor gnome's office for a comment, we have not heard from her office yesterday. thank you for watching hallie jackson reports. 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[copy machine printing] ♪ ♪ who would've thought printing... could lead to growing trees. ♪ hi there, everyone. happy friday. it's 4:00 in new york at the ends of what has been a momentous week in the investigation into the january 6th insurrection n. just the last hour, stewart rhodes, the head of the right wing militia group, the oath keepers was set to appear in court one day beforing a charged with counts that include set ishsz conspiracy, the most serious charge levied amongst the 700 capitol attack defendants. moran that later in the broadcast. we begin with the january 6th select committee entering uncharted waters as it grapples with what to do with the group of house republicans allied with the disgraced expresident trying to stonewall the probe. including kevin mccarthy. the "new york times" reports for weeks membersn