governor roy cooper called on everyone to stay home today, calling it a menace and bringing in help. >> our forecasters expect significant impacts across our state. i've also activated 200 national guard soldiers to assist in storm response. the national guard will work in western and central counties to help with transportation. they're equipped with emergency response vehicles that can move through the snow, such as hum-vees and four-wheel-drive ambulances. >> helping us cover the first big winter storm of 2022, nbc's kathy park in charlotte, north carolina, you look cold, my friend, and meteorologist michelle grossman who is tracking the storm from indoors. kathy, we'll get this over with because it looks chilly, talk about what it's like there. >> reporter: yes, thanks for coming to me first, because it's freezing. snow has now switched to this wintry mix of sleet and freezing rain. a lot of that is now coating the sidewalks and roadways. and the roads are probably not a good place to be right now because travel is pretty treacherous. we're also keeping a close watch on ice in the region, because even a quarter inch of ice on tree limbs and power lines, factor in the wind gusts which is starting to pick up right now, could lead to widespread power outages. officials say roughly 750,000 people could be without power for several days. this weekend's winter storm showing no signs of slowing down. with millions in the southeast on high alert for crippling ice storms and heavy snow. >> thistorm is a menace. >> reporter: georgia, virginia, south and north carolina, declaring states of emergency, as officials urge people to stay home. >> stay off the roads. the roads really need to be for essential personnel. >> reporter: power companies warning residents of widespread outages. the biggest threat, ice accumulation plus strong winds that could knock down power lines and tree limbs. the impending storm also heightening the demand for groceries as stores struggle with supply chain challenges. >> buy what you need but don't panic buy. >> reporter: the massive system marched across the midwest, dumping up to a foot of snow in portions of the dakotas and minnesota. des moines, iowa, reporting close to 14 inches. roads taking a treacherous return in missouri as the storm intensified on saturday. more dangerous weather threats are headed to the northeast with snow, sleet, and freezing rain in the forecast. a wintry blow that is far from over. and alex, just being out and about today, residents here in charlotte, really they're not used to this kind of weather. at last check the most significant ice storm in the area was december of 2002 when they saw in some spots more than a half inch of ice and more than a million people lost power at that time. but as far as today, the day is still young. the power outages are starting to creature up in this area. >> i feel for you. when i got in my car this morning, the temperature read 6 appendix, i was like, woof. michelle grossman, i had no idea we needed to expect tornadoes in the south. >> no, this is a powerful system. we have those storms to the south, which is the warm part of the system. then we have the cold part with the heavy snow. we have the freezing rain. we have heavy rain in some spots. we'll have fierce winds and also some coastal flooding. this is a really complex storm. we're going to start on the warm side. i want to show you the whole picture to start off. the radar looks like a piece of art where you just threw the colors on the map. there are so many colors. the blue is the snow. pink and purple is the freezing part. then we have the severe part, the trailing end of the cold front. our local nbc news stations are busy, busy today, because they're looking at severe weather. the cold front is sweeping through, bringing the threat for severe weather. a tornado warning is active in parts of central palm beach county. we had reports of an overturned tractor-trailer in collier county. it will take a while to go through all the damage, they have to do a survey. we're seeing picture after picture. as we go back to our graphics here, we have a tornado watch until 3:00 today because the ingredients are there. so 7 million are under risk for severe threat. let's go to the cold part of the storm. 82 million are under some sort of winter weather alert, whether an advisory, a watch, a warning, or an ice storm warning. that's from the new england coast down to the southeast. a ton of colors here, once again. and so besides that severe weather, we're most concerned with the ice. we're seeing dangerous icing. it makes for impossible travel. it's bringing down trees and branches. we're going to power outages in these spots. the purple is the bullseye for the thickest ice. greenwood, chesterfield. this is something we'll be watching pretty closely. we'll see the storm continuing to move north and east. that threat for snow and ice continues in the carolinas. then we'll see the storm overtake the northeast into the morning hours. then it's really going to intensify. we're not going to see big snow amounts along the i-95 corridor. those bigger snow amounts will be in interior parts of pennsylvania, also new york and new england. we'll see, especially along long island, the coast of new jersey, where we'll see power outages. luckily it won't be quite as cold tomorrow morning but we'll see winds over 60 miles per hour, pushing water inland. we could see severe coastal flooding in parts of new england, new jersey, long island. we'll continue to watch it for you. >> like you were doing all day yesterday as it was gearing up. thank you so much, michelle. breaking news from texas where we're learning a bit more about the suspect who was killed in a hostage standoff in a synagogue last night. that ten-hour standoff ended when an fbi team breached the synagogue and freed the hostages. nbc's sam brock is joining me from colleyville, texas near that synagogue. sam, talk about what we know about the suspect and how this all played out, particularly at the end. >> reporter: alex, good afternoon, good to be with you. first, it's a much calmer scene today. over my shoulder you may be able to make out some law enforcement personnel dotting the street behind me. the evidence response team from the fbi is on scene. that is the congregation with the arced top to the building, that's congregation beth israel. the hostage taker, uk officials confirm a british man did die in texas and they are in contact right now with those officials. we also learned right now from the fbi special agent in charge that they have a global reach to their investigation from texas to london and tel aviv. but alex, in terms of who this hostage-taker was, what kind of weaponry or explosive he might have had on his person, specifically what was motivating him, federal officials right now are not delving into that. but senior law enforcement official do tell nbc news this all had to do with a federal prisoner, aafia siddiqui, who is in prison 20 or 25 miles away from where i'm standing right now, that he had been demanding her release. that's the back story here. jake sullivan, national security adviser to president biden, was asked if he believes that could be potentially what could be behind the events of the last 24 hours. he said it's way too early to draw those kind of conclusions. >> it's too soon to tell what the full parameters this act of terrorism, this act of anti-semitism, were. we have the department of homeland security, the fbi, law enforcement and intelligence agencies are working intenively to get a full picture of what this person's motives were and whether there were any further connections. >> reporter: it was nearly an 11-hour standoff. as you said, the fbi described how there were about 200 law enforcement personnel on scene here. it started with just colleyville police, then a regional s.w.a.t. team, then an fbi s.w.a.t. team, and ultimately an elite team of hostage negotiators from quantico. if they had not engaged the hostage-taker for hours on end consistently, we could have been looking at a different outcome. the rabbi who was one of the four hostages posted overnight how he's filled with appreciation and gratitude. he thanks specifically the cbi community, the jewish community, the human committee, he said, alex. this is somebody known throughout this north tarrant county area as a person that brought folks together from all different faiths, whether it's the muslim community, christians, catholics, all of them, he's seen attending religious events outside of his congregation. he's a father with two daughters. there was certainly a lot of concern for him and the three other people inside and amazingly and miraculously they're okay today. >> that is not always the case in these hostage situations, so prayers were answered. thank you so much. right now novak djokovic, the world's top tennis star, is flying home after losing his fight to play in the australian open. what a tumultuous ten days for novak as well as australians who have invested in this story the entire time, molly. >> reporter: it is over, he is on a plane to dubai. fans, players, are pretty keen to get back to focusing on the tournament which kicks off in a few hours. the world's number one men's tennis player has been deported from australia. in the final immigration ruling in front of a three-judge panel, novak djokovic lost his appeal to overturn his canceled visa. >> the orders of the court are, one, the amended applications be dismissed with costs. >> reporter: the federal court was unanimous, adding that djokovic would be responsible for the government's legal fees and is subject to a possible three-career ban which would dash his hopes of defending his australian open title anytime soon. in a statement, djokovic said he was extremely disappointed, adding, i'm uncomfortable that the focus of the past few weeks has been on me and i hope that we can now all focus on the game and tournament i love. he wished the players good luck and thanked his family and fans for their support. this closes a messy two-week saga which started when djokovic entered the country on an exemption because he was unvaccinated. his visa was canceled because officials thought his presence could inflaman -- inflame anti-vaccination protesters. djokovic is going to try to play tennis at other tournaments in other countries. so we'll be watching this closely. >> we sure will. thank you so much for that report, molly. joining me is mike lupica, long time sports writer and analyst and co-author with james patterson of "the horsewoman" just out this week, congrats on that, mike. first, assess the final outcome for novak. what's your take for how this all unfolded? >> alex, first of all, he has done damage to his legacy, to his brand, to his place in the history of the sport. he's tied right now with nadal and federer at 20 majors. he wanted to break the record at australian open and get to 21. but before he ever got near the court, alex, he already broke a record by getting his visa revoked twice before the tournament even started. and he brought this on himself. alex, i don't know what he thought was going to happen, but when i saw today that he was uncomfortable that he had taken attention away from the tournament, i thought, really, what did you think was going to happen? from the time he was granted what everybody knew was a bogus medical exemption to play, the way this rolled out was as inevitable as the tide. i don't think he got one judge to vote for reinstating his via. i'm sorry for this guy because he wants to be loved and i'm wondering who is advising him that this is the way to do that. >> yeah, i hear what you're saying. let me ask you a point that molly brought up there. depending on the state of covid, is this kind of fight going to extend to paris and the french open, to london and wimbledon, new york and the u.s. open? is that what's going to happen? is he going to have to be in that battle all this year? >> you know what, alex, that's a very good question. i don't know how this is going to play out. in my opinion, if he wants to continue to go around the world and continue to add to his incredible historical record, he's going to have to get jabbed. i don't know what the rules -- they've said he can play in paris but who knows what the situation there is going to be in may? wimbledon is another law unto itself. we've got a situation in new york where an unvaccinated basketball player for the nets, kyrie irving, can't play home games with his team because of current laws of new york city. he may be dug in on this, and i'll tell you something, i said this to a friend of mine the other day, i'm not sure if he stays on this path, if he's ever going to get to 21. i think he's doing incredible damage to the rest of his career. and again, he shouldn't have showed up there in the first place. he had to know what kind of blowback there was going to be, alex, and especially what was happening in that country. and if he had had any grace at the start of this, he would have withdrawn from the tournament and made the flight to dubai about a week ago. >> so look, the thing is, though, he headed to australia thinking that he had a legit visa. i mean, they had said, sure, come on in, they gave it to him. >> well, yeah, but i don't think they knew at the time that there were errors on the visa as well, because it said he hadn't gone anywhere else and it turned out he had made a trip to spain. alex, imagine if you were going somewhere in the world at this time, in the world of covid, if you had these kind of mistakes -- then he tried to blame it on his agent, oh, i'm sorry, the agent ate my visa. the australian tennis people are complicit in this, alex, that's the other part of this story that i'm glad we can get to. greg tylee who runs tennis australia thought he would get by with this bogus medical exemption. when this is all over, i think mr. tylee is going to made to walk the plank in his country. >> they may have hoped they would blow over because they want the world's number one tennis player, that's a big draw for tennis fans. who is having to do more damage control? is it the sport of tennis? is it australian tennis? or is it novak djokovic? if it's novak, is it fair that he carries this mantle? >> no, listen, for a year he was coy about whether he was vaxed or not. he's the one that started playing this game. and what happened with the immigration minister, he finally stood up and said no to this guy. and novak should know -- alex, novak should know better than anybody that rules sometimes are rules. he got bounced out of the u.s. open a couple of years ago when he hit that lineswoman in the throat with a ball. you could see, he obviously was horrified at what he had done, but he knew what kind of trouble he was in in the moment. you could see him start to plead his case on the court, and it didn't save him, because the minute the ball hit that woman, he was going to be out of the u.s. open. my old friend william baldwin, "princess bride," "butch cassidy," said that in hollywood, nobody ever says no to them. novak thought he would get by and he was wrong. >> can i just say, i have that book by william goldman, it's awesome. we know fans, he's always been a divisive character. you mentioned he wants to be loved. and he has struggled with that prospect with the fans. but he's respected for sure. is this going to do anything to damage that from the players' community? his body is his temple, right? >> yeah, no, and he's very -- i mean, we used to hear those stories about him sleeping in hyperbaric chambers. the players have been drawn into this unfairly. stefanos lost the french final to djokovic, he started his press conference yesterday by saying, i'll talk about anything you want except novak djokovic. andy murray who has been playing against djokovic since he was 12 years old got dragged into it. you know who has been a giant in this process, rafael nadal. he knew what the rules are. it was like he was talking the way we talk to our kids, okay? actions have consequences. novak djokovic's actions from the time he was ignoring protocols in the first months of covid, alex, it finally caught up with him. >> okay. let me quickly ask you about that book, speaking of books. talk about this, i'm reliably told, mike, this book is selling like crazy. it's out this week, called "the horsewoman." you wrote it with renowned author james patterson. tell me what the book was about and what it was like working with james patterson. >> if you're going to work with somebody, alex, work with the guy who has sold more books than anyone on the planet. two champion riders, mother and daughter, who have always said they wouldn't compete against each other. but through circumstances and injury, they end up competing against each other to go to the paris olympics. it's a great look at the world of show jumping. i've got a daughter who has been doing this since she was 10 years old. but more than that, this is a mother/daughter story. and what we found out, jim and i, since people are reading it, we hear now that there are mother/daughter book clubs springing up because of this book, whether they were rooting for maggie, the mother, or becky, the daughter. it's such a good story. and we had a blast writing it. and we're having a blast selling it. >> that's great. that sounds like a great book club talker. listen, much success with that. mike, thank you very much as well for talking with us about novak and his situation. it's something a lot of people are thinking about and talking about today. appreciate you chiming in on the conversation. meantime, everybody, this is the one issue americans care most about. a new poll asks how president biden is handling it. but why is the issue so critically important to the president and democrats? we'll talk about it next. d demo? were delayed when the new kid totaled his truck. timber... fortunately, they were covered by progressive, so it was a happy ending... for almost everyone. there's so much new in the new chicken & bacon ranch, but the clock is ticking, so we gotta hurry. there's new rotisserie-style chicken, new peppercorn ranch, new hickory-smoked bacon, new... (whistle blowing) did you just spike the footlong? sorry, i didn't want the delay of game. save big. order through the app. this is elodia. she's a recording artist. save big. 1 of 10 million people that comcast has connected to affordable internet in the last 10 years. and this is emmanuel, a future recording artist, and one of the millions of students we're connecting throughout the next 10. through projectup, comcast is committing $1 billion so millions more students, past... and present, can continue to get the tools they need to build a future of unlimited possibilities. 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 breaking news, everyone. just moments ago the president commented on that hostage-taking at the texas synagogue yesterday. he spoke at a hunger relief organization in philadelphia. this is at a martin luther king day service event. >> i spoke this morning with the attorney general, and he did a rundown on -- he said there was overwhelming cooperation with the local authorities and the fbi. and they did one hell of a job. this was an act of terror. this was an act of terror. not only was it related to someone who had been arrested, i might add, 15 years ago and been in jail for ten years, the idea was there was something new, they did just a great job. i told them i wanted to make sure we got the word out to synagogues and places of worship that we're not going to tolerate this, that we have this capacity to deal with an assault on particularly the anti-semitism that has grown up. and i'll be talking with -- i put a call into the rabbi, we missed one another on the way up here, but they should revved assured that we are focused, the attorney general is focused on making sure we deal with these kinds of acts. and thank god, thank god we have such professional fbi as well as the local cooperation, i was told, was incredible, it was seamless. i just wanted to let you know that. >> reporter: president biden, how could this man have gotten weapons? there's a report that says he's only been in the country for a couple of weeks. >> allegedly, i don't have all the facts, nor does the attorney general, but allegedly the assertion was he got the weapons on the street. he purchased them when he landed. and it turns out there apparently were no bombs that we know of. he said there were bombs he had as well. but apparently he spent the first night in a homeless shelter. i don't have all the details yet so i'm reluctant to go into much more detail. allegedly he purchased it on the street. what that means, i don't know. whether he purchased it from an individual in the homeless shelter or the homeless community, because that's where he said it was, it's hard to tell, i just don't know. >> okay. there it is. the president making statements on that hostage situation yesterday. other top headlines we're following for you today, at the white house the president will be marking one year in the oval office on wednesday. it comes as new polling shows voters think the president is not paying enough attention to the issues that matter, with a majority of voters saying democrats are focusing on issues they care little about or don't care about at all. the one issue voters do overwhelmingly care about, inflation. 65% of voters say biden hasn't put enough focus on the rise in prices. it all comes as the president's voting rights reform legislation is at a dead end in the senate. that bill is set to be brought to a vote this week. but it is not expected to surpass that 60-vote needed threshold. congressman james clyburn telling nbc's chuck todd why it's important to hold that vote anyway. >> people tell me they are for this legislation, but against the processes we need to get the legislation. then i don't think you're on the right side of history. we need to know who is with us and who is not. so we'll know how to conduct ourselves going forward. we operate now in the blind. let's have these votes. let people have this debate. and let's see where we stand. >> and a rare endorsement of the january 6th committee from a republican member of congress. senator mitt romney this morning praising the house committee's work. >> there's no question but that they are finding things that we didn't know. and i think that's appropriate. look, there was an attack on the united states capitol. there was an effort to try and prevent the peaceful transfer of power. that's unacceptable. and we need to understand why there was not a rescue effort launched well before what finally came. and they're delving into that. i think it's an important and legitimate effort. >> and i suspect my next guest agrees, that being arizona congressman ruben gallego. welcome back, it's good to see you, congressman. >> good to see you too. >> first let's get to your reaction to mitt romney. are you surprised, a, a republican is speaking out so so vociferously in support of the 1/6 committee, and are you surprised it's mitt romney? >> the fact that we have to highlight one republican tells you what's wrong with the current republican elected senators. they're turning a blind eye, so they can ensure they keep getting the trump votes. that endangers our elections even more in the future. again, i'm glad that mitt romney is talking about, you know, what we need to do to get to the bottom of january 6th. but there is an ongoing january 6th that's happening right now. by him not supporting the voting rights act, we're going to have a quiet coup happening in all of our secretaries of state offices, and potentially, you know, there won't be a bunch of people trying to knock congress over when essentially they'll be able to do that by making sure some votes aren't certified, some people aren't allowed to vote. kudos to mitt for getting one-half right. but the other half is just as dangerous and probably even more so. >> you want him to step up a little further. let's talk about those polling numbers that we talked about with nearly one year into his presidency. 39% of americans feel that president biden and democrats are focusing on issues they don't care about. and then there's a majority of americans that feel the biden administration is not focusing enough on the economy or inflation. the white house would argue at least on the economy overall, that that remains strong. what's the issue here? is it a messaging issue? >> look, i think we've had a very, very strong year when it comes to economic growth. unemployment down at 3.9% is unheard of. inflation is a problem, we have to figure out a way to bring that down. part of it is the fact that we're coming out of covid, we have people that still can't go back to work. inflation is higher because people are out spending more money because they're making more money. the build back better agenda was supposed to tackle a lot of this. you want more workers, we should be able to subsidize childcare so our families can go back to work. the child tax credit would help a lot, helping people buy food, pay rent and a lot of other things going on. having a working senate also matters. the house has passed great bills to revive the economy, and in the end of think this will turn around, but to say that we shouldn't focus on voting rights i think is also something that we just cannot pass. we shouldn't allow polling tell us what to do to defend our democracy because right now it's an existential threat. >> the senate prepares to move forward next week on a vote with no republican support and not enough democrats supporting a change to the filibuster. any hope of passing legislation right now is pretty dim. is there a way you think this does not fail, tuesday's vote? >> look, i hope so. i hope that the better angels come to senator sinema and senator manchin. and whoever else is hiding behind them, which there are possibly other senators. but at the end of the day, you know, we have to go forward with this vote. we need to lay a marker down so we know in the future where people stand. and i agree with congressman clyburn, this is the time to do it. >> so you mentioned kyrsten sinema and the future. let me put this at you, because she has not budged in her opposition to eliminating the 60-vote threshold, and she does it on the fact that she argues congress would then lose a critical tool potentially needed to safeguard democracy from threats in the future. so how much of this is long term ideology, how much is it about her keeping her job? what do you think sinema's arizona constituents want to happen? because you've got the same constituents. >> look, i was marching yesterday with the family of martin luther king and other civil rights leaders here in arizona. and also i do the things called town halls. sinema has not done that in 3 1/2 years. and when you do those, you understand that people are worried about, you know, our american democracy. they're worried that their votes may be disenfranchised or entirely thrown out. while i was here marching with the mlk family, donald trump was down in florence, arizona, and essentially, again, talking about the big lie. and he had members of the republican party that are running for governor, one who said they should arrest everybody that was involved in the 2020 election, the counting of the 2020 election. you have a secretary of state candidate who essentially started the big lie and helped push it. so the fact that, you know, senator sinema doesn't understand that this isn't just any voting rights bill, it is probably the only voting rights bill we can have right now that saves our country. so there is nothing for her to be worried about later because there is no later if we don't pass this. there is a good chance that there is no going back unless we protect our democracy right now with the voting rights act. >> let me just ask you a question, kind of a deep tease into the future here, because there has been speculation, some buzz growing around a primary challenger for senator sinema for 2024 and your name has been floated, after the midterms. would you consider running for senate against her? >> look, as i've said before, i never say no to the future. i want senator sinema to support the voting rights act and i hope she will do that. at the end of the day, i will listen to the voters of arizona. and more importantly, i'll do what i've always done in my life and that's protect this country. and if that requires me to do something like running for senate, i'll consider that possibility. but right now i'm focusing on making sure the democrats win in 2022. >> we're always happy to have you, arizona congressman ruben gallego, good to see you out marching yesterday, we had you live on the show with an interview with my friend vaughn, so thanks for joining us then too. meantime, in just a moment, why donald trump's rally last night serves as a warning about the upcoming midterms. and there may be no way to prevent what could unfold. y be o prevent what could unfold. at intra-cellular therapies, we're inspired by our circle. a circle that includes our researchers, driven by our award-winning science, who uncover new medicines to treat mental illness. it includes the compassionate healthcare professionals, the dedicated social workers, and the supportive peer counselors we work with to help improve - and even change - people's lives. moving from mental illness to mental wellness starts in our circle. this is intra-cellular therapies. no more unmanned and unsecured dropboxes and no more ballot harvesting which is illegal. and they did it at levels that nobody can believe. we must return to the historical norm of voting in-person on election day unless you have a valid reason to vote absentee like you're in the military or you're very sick. >> have you missed him? anyway, he did hold his first rally of 2022 last night in arizona and as you might expect, that speech to supporters was filled with falsehoods. joining me now, susan del percio, republican strategist and msnbc political analyst. david jolly, former congressman from florida, and msnbc political contributor. valencia johnson, former campaign consultant for the biden campaign and national director of public engagement for the warren campaign. welcome, all. it's great to have 'em back. the big lie, once again, david, unfolded last night in arizona. here is a question. is this just hurting republicans more than it's helping? how damaging is it to have trump's voice be the loudest voice going into the midterms? >> well, first, a reminder on that sound clip. donald trump himself voted by mail, and he is not in the military and he was not ill. >> right. >> in terms of hypocrisy check, check the lies but also the hypocrisy. alex, what we learned last night was the nation, the country, remains in a very perilous and dangerous position. the republican party is as strong as ever. they are probably favored to win in 2022. even though donald trump lost the popular vote twice, he very well or one of his surrogates might very well win the electoral college in 2024. i think last night rang the alarm bell to recognize the republican party under donald trump is going in a more and more dangerous direction and if he cannot be stopped from within electorally it makes it that much more difficult for democrats to position themselves to win in '22 and '24. >> susan, republicans know what we heard from donald trump, to david's point, hypocrital and lies as well. we know this would hurt them in a general election. but how many of them would stand up to trump? last week you had lindsey graham saying he would not support mitch mcconnell for gop leader if they take back the senate unless he has a, quote, working relationship with trump. and then take a listen to what senator mitt romney said in response to that. >> people are always trying to placate donald trump. i don't follow that camp, of course. but i wouldn't attribute that as a comment about mitch mcconnell as much as a comment about donald trump. >> so at what point will the party not feel like it has to placate donald trump? do you see anything about that on the horizon? >> no. not in the immediate horizon, and probably not until about 2026. right now, donald trump is the most important influencer of republican primaries there is. so people are bending over backwards to try and out-trump each other to gain his support. of course mitch mcconnell and kevin mccarthy are not too thrilled about this because in any swing seat or even tight within two or three points, district or state, this works against republicans. let's not forget, the state that donald trump spoke in last night, arizona, more people voted below the top of the ticket, meaning not for donald trump, than they voted for donald trump. the republicans do not want to have donald trump as their president. they saw him as dangerous and divisive, not all republicans, but there's a sliver out there and that sliver really does matter when it comes to general election. but as far as being the influencer on republican politics, he's still there. look at lindsey graham, if lindsey graham didn't think donald trump was still an influencer, he wouldn't be on that bandwagon. he has no sense of morals whatsoever. >> what about the democrats, valencia? how can they turn the twisted words of donald trump and his lies to their advantage in the midterms? >> you know, it's going to be hard, i'll be honest, it's an uphill battle. because he has a significant base that shows up in droves even as republican leadership, they don't want to deal with donald trump. publicly they have to figure out a way to work around him in order to gain his base. for democrats, the hard part is twofold. one, we have to keep uplifting this rhetoric that is gaslighting and gassing the flames for us to have potentially another insurrection if the election does not go their way, while at the same time giving democrats something to show up and vote for. i say this all the time. democrats are extremely tired of being told you have to show up to beat donald trump. yes, that is one thing, but we also have to show up for key pieces of legislation that are making our lives work, that are improving our day to day lives. and so for democrats it's twofold. pushing against this rhetoric but also getting these things done that we've been talking about on this show often, voting rights and all of that. >> i want to pick up on that exactly, because on wednesday, valencia, the president holds his news conference, that will mark a year in office. this comes, it's been a bit of a rough time for the president, let's face it, his approval rating, the quinnipiac poll has it at 33% and two of his central initiatives, voting rights reform, build back better act, are both stalled in the senate. what do you want and need to hear from the president this week? >> i need for him to be as forceful as he was the other week when he was speaking on the anniversary of the insurrection. i need for him to be forceful, to be honest, with the democratic party to fall in line. i'm looking at you, sinema and joe manchin. we literally have people protesting in arizona this weekend because we are supposed to be in the same party and yet you are pushing against the president's agenda that got him the victory in 2020. and so i want for him to talk about, one, the achievements that have been made. listen, unemployment was at 6% when he got into office, now it's at 3%. there are things he has done to mitigate the covid pandemic. but there are also things we haven't done. he needs to be forceful and give confidence to the american people that he's going to deliver on these promises. and that is voting rights as well as build back better. >> david and susan, i want to put the same question to you guys. the best thing joe biden could say this week. david? >> address the economy and address the pandemic and what mandates look like. democrat policies poll well. universal pre-k, community college, other bbb initiatives. but those are not the issues that informed voters in virginia and they're not the issues informing them today going into november. the most important issues that people vote on right now are inflation, the economy, and the pandemic. if democrats are not seen as leading on specifically those matters right now, the urgency of right now, you'll continue to see his approval numbers where they are. >> susan, quickly, final word to you. >> on covid, the most important thing that biden can hope for is that that website won't crash the same day he's giving a press conference on wednesday when people go to get their at-home covid tests. let's face it, government does not do this well, when they do a big announcement on a website. the other thing and the most critical thing that biden can do, and it's not my favorite way of governing, it's one of my least favorite, get out the pen and start putting out executive orders that show what he believes in. there's talk about him doing it on police reform. pick out a few other issues and put out those executive orders. >> okay. susan, david, valencia, thank you guys all so much, good to see you. scientists are not sounding an alarm but are worried about what covid variant could come next. while omicron has been milder than delta, there is concern that what comes next could be more severe. i'll discuss that with a leading pandemic researcher, next. p p pandemic researcher, next. i absolutely have to be sharp. let me tell ya, i was struggling with my memory. it was going downhill. my friend recommended that i try prevagen and over time, it made a very 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but that we have year but we have more work to do to make sure the increase in demand and the surge in demand we saw with omicron can be met. >> joining me now, rick bright, a former biden/harris transition board member and ceo at the rockefeller foundation. welcome back. let me share headlines and get your rye reaction to them. expect more worrisome variants after omicron scientists say. why is that? >> well, good morning. thanks for having me on. we know that this virus has proven itself in its ability to change and change rapidly and to mutate and as it mutates evaded our immune system and invaded prior immunity from prior infections. this virus is not stopping any time soon. we need to make sure that we have all things in place, surveillance, deep sequencing, international collaborations around the world, to make sure that we're watching this virus as it changes. as soon as we detect a change, like omicron, instead of waiting for it to hit our borders we these to take action and make sure we have our vaccines and our drugs and diagnostics ready and in supply so we can fight it before it becomes another omicron. >> yeah. in terms of diagnostics, those free at home testing kits, they are set to become available this coming week, but is that enough? is it too little too late? by the way, four tests for some families won't be near enough. >> it's not enough. i encourage people to get what they can and use them responsibly and wisely. we need to use these tests. they tell you if you get a positive test you are contagious and should not go to work or school or wherever. you should stay home until you get a negative test. i wish there were more of these tests. more are on the way. make sure we are ramping up production of these tests. there's going to be a shortage in some of the reagents needed to make those tests and need to ramp up that supply chain so we have these in our arsenal ready to end omicron but also ready to fight that next variant. >> let me get to the next headline, biden officials divided on message over n-95 masks for all, the cdc stopping short of recommending people should choose some masks over others. some may choose to wear an n 9 and kn-95 masks because they offer the best protection. is this the right move? why not swap the word should for may if the cdc believes those masks offer better protection? >> you know, i'm disappointed in the messaging still coming out of the cdc on testing and on n-95 and appropriate mask wearing. the answer should be that we should all wear an n-95 mask or kn-95 mask. the cdc has acknowledged they give you best protection. all of your public health leaders and your public health and political officials on television are wearing those masks n-95 masks in every meeting. no one can get near those people without an n-95 mask on. that should tell everyone in america you should wear an n-95 mask. it would go a long way to protecting people and slowing the spread of the virus if our cdc director would just say we should all wear an n-95 mask or kn-95 mask. full stop. >> okay. several former biden advisors have gone public with a critique being they want him to adopt an entirely new domestic pandemic strategy. have it geared to the new normal of living with the virus indefinitely rather than wiping it out. you're a former adviser. do you agree with that? is this necessary? should we expect covid to become an endemic? >> i think we should. i'm one of the authors on those papers. we put a lot of thought into that. we watched this virus for two years. it's very clear that this virus is not going away any time soon. but we now have the tools such as masks and vaccines and drugs and tests that we can control this virus. we are not powerless against this virus any longer. we have these tools and if we use them, put a strategic plan in place across the united states, and we use these tools effectively, we can control this virus so it's no longer a panic, it's no longer a devastating surge. it is something like influenza and does cause some deaths everywhere and a lot of infection every year, but it is controllable and not a panic cycle. that is what these papers are calling for. a plan of action to help us use the tools we have effectively to control the virus so it doesn't control us. >> okay. rick bright, always great advice and perspective. thank you so much. good to see you. above all the bitter political and cultural division in this country, rise examples of heroism and duty in the face of danger and it's all caught on sids video. we're going to be showing that to you live on "msnbc with alex witt." witt." ♪ oh, oh, oh ♪ ozempic® is proven to lower a1c. most people who took ozempic® reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. and you may lose weight. adults lost on average up to 12 pounds. in adults also with known heart disease, ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke, or death. ozempic® helped me get back in my type 2 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