president biden today. you delivered on roads and bridges, now deliver on voting rights. later this hour, i'll talk to grant lewis, the mother of late georgia congressman john lewis, the name sake of one of the bills. i'll ask him what this battle means for his family and what john lewis would tell us today if he were still with us. then major developments in the 11-hour texas sin nothing standoff now being called an act of terror. two teenagers have been arrested in the united kingdom in connection to the standoff. what the fbi is now revealing about what the hostage takers said repeatedly during the negotiations. in a fight against omicron, the numbers keep climbing and climbing fast. there are nearly 1 million new cases in this country every single day. we're going to talk about australia's controversial new tactic to deal with the pandemic. let it rip. we are going to start with the voting rights fight as we honor the life and legacy of dr. martin luther king junior. nbc's blaine alexander is at ebenezer baptist church in atlanta. gary is at a voting rights march led by activists in washington d.c. and sahil is on capitol hill for us. blaine, i'll start with you there. vice president harris set to deliver a speech any moment now to the church where you are. what can we expect to hear from vice president harris? >> well, good morning to you. we're expecting to hear that speech virtually. as you said, any moment she's going to be speaking from washington. but of course, it will be telecast at the ebenezer baptist church in atlanta. i don't know if you can hear and see over my shoulder. we're listening to senator warnock, the senator from georgia. he's also the pastor here at ebenezer baptist church. he's been pastor here for more than a dozen years or so. and what he's talking about right now is just as you mentioned, voting rights. we know that reverend warnock, other top democrats from the state of georgia, stacey abrams and the king family both here in georgia and there in d.c., are really using this day essentially to be a rallying cry. we've seen the pressure mounting from those who were saying this is a time to pass democrats voting legislation on washington, but there really are sticking today, saying that essentially, call it hypocritical for people to quote dr. king, but in their words, fight against the very things he spent his life fighting for. we're listening to reverend warnock. he's using his pulpit to put pressure on his colleagues in the senate. we're expecting to hear more from vice president harris later on today. but this really is kind of a sticking point. i want to mention as well, we also heard from the doctor of king. she used her time to push for voting rights says this is the time to get it passed and urging people to stick together until it's done. >> all right. senator warnock not just speaking at any church. senator -- of course, research warnock before he was in the upper chamber, speaking at his church there. and gary, let's come to you now. you were literally, it looks like you're on the move there. that march started across the frederick douglas memorial bridge in d.c. what are folks saying to you and what are they demanding? >> yeah. well, they're demanding, chanting saying what do we want? voting rights, and when do we want it? now. hundreds of people are marching for voting rights here. this is martin luther king junior boulevard in southeast washington d.c. and this is thought of as a day off for many people. schools are closed. banks are closed. even the federal government is closed. the house and senate are out today, and that's why they're here. they're fighting for voting rights. they want the john lewis voting rights act passed. they say there's no celebration in the name of martin luther king junior without this legislation. here's what some folks i talked to had to say. >> there are only two sides. you side with mlk and john lewis and voting rights and the people who got you elected or with jim crow. right now manchin and sinema are letting us go back to crow. >> and you're frustrated? >> i'm extremely frustrated. >> and the frustration is because of kyrsten sinema and senators joe manchin. they are the big roadblocks when it comes to whether or not the filibuster happens so this voting rights act can pass the senate. as we know, it passed the house last week. we have hundreds of people. they say they've been fighting for decades for voting rights and they will continue whether or not this happens in the house and the senate. >> all right. gary on the move there in washington d.c. sahil, two voting bills stalled in the senate. the freedom to vote act, the john lewis voting rights act, freedom to vote act includes things like expanding voter registration, creating universal mail-in voting, adding rules for election officials. and then the john lewis voting rights act. less sweeping, but still would require certain cities and states to get preclearance from the justice department before changing voting laws. the senate majority leader says he's going to bring the two voting bills to the floor tomorrow for debate. right now unless something has changed in the last few minutes, the leader does not have the full support of his party on those bills. so sahil, what's next? >> craig, it is looking like a do or die week here in the united states senate for the freedom to vote act and the john lewis voting rights advancement act. the two bills have a majority support to pass. they have the support of all 50 democrats. and the john lewis bill has the support of one republican. but they have no path around the 60 vote threshold which is guaranteed on the back end to end debate. republicans will block it, and for all the pressure, for all the pressure that activists have put on senators, joe manchin and kyrsten sinema have been rock solid in support of the filibuster. they're refusing to bung budge on it. chuck schumer still plans to call a vote on some form of a rules change, i'm told, but that is not likely to succeed, because he has 48 democratic votes. at l pat to 48 wo are open to it or strongly in favor of it. why are democrats put this out there? they see this as a historic moment. they don't see it as an ordinary bill, and one senior democratic aide i spoke to said this is what the caucus wants. they want everyone to go on the record. they're not willing to give up now. and one activist i spoke to deeply involved said it would be highly demoralizing for the civil rights community after a year of pressure trying to get this done that they simply pull the plug now and this activist argued any cost to doing this is already sunk. they further said that they don't want senators to be able to sink key portions of the democratic party's agenda simply with words. they want to put everyone on the record, and that's what we're likely to see in the coming days. >> i'm going to talk about that with the congressman in a moment. i want to go back to gary for just a moment. gary, on this mlk holiday, you have hundreds, if not thousands of folks walking on the streets of washington. have you gotten any indication from them what they may do if and when the bills don't pass later this week? >> reporter: you see, that's the point. they've been fighting. we talked to the chief of staff, former chief of staff for representative john lewis earlier today. he said he's been fighting for this for decades. he's going to continue to fight this fight, because one woman took her hat off and showed me her gray hair and said she's been fighting this fight since her hair wasn't gray. if this doesn't pass, they're going to continue to fight for voting rights. people say this is democracy. this is what really matters in this country. they say more than build back better, more than some of the other biden agenda priorities, this is what is most important. >> all right. gary there in washington. blaine alexander as we await the vice president's speech in atlanta, and sahil on the hill. a big thanks to all of you. i want to bring in congressman jim clyburn of south carolina. someone else who has been fighting the fight, if you will, long before he had a few gray hairs. congressman, always good to have you, my friend. thanks for your time. when it comes to democrats who support the freedom to vote act and the john lewis voting rights act, congressman, clyburn, but don't support changing senate rules just to get them passed, you said something that caught my attention over the weekend. you said, quote, i don't think you're on the wrong side of history. is there any reason to believe at this point anyone can sway the one or two senators who have made up their minds and are not going to change the senate rules? >> well, thank you very much for having me, craig. i don't know who will change their minds at all. i don't know that we ever change the minds of the segregationists in the south who held fast to their beliefs. the blacks did not an unfettered vote. but i do know this. they were on the wrong side of history. and just because you are on the prevailing side doesn't mean you're on the right side. and so i will say to all of my friends in the senate, that nobody is asking you to give up the filibuster. i wish they would stop saying that. we asked for voting rights and constitution rights, the same thing you've done for the budget. and you do not allow one person or any group of people to filibuster the budget when you are trying to preserve the full strength and credit of the united states of america. that's how we raised the debt limit several weeks ago. and that's how we got the budget several months ago. simply because we do not allow the filibuster to hold up the budget. so why should the filibuster hold up people's constitutional rights like voting? so we have asked respectfully that you allow the same kind of reconciliation of constitutional rights that you allow on budgetary issues. that's all. if you want to have the fill bser in order to bring policy issues forward and have a debate on the policy issues, then that's fine. but not my constitutional rights. and then there another thing. i asked people to look at the history of the 15th amendment and see how that was passed. it was passed on the party line vote. and for mr. manchin to tell me that a vote is not credible unless it has bipartisan vote, he's it willing me it's not credible for my -- to get the right to vote from the 15th amendment passed. that was a party line vote. they are all on the wrong side of history, and they are misquoting and misusing the history of this country. >> congressman, what do you think is behind it? i mean, to be -- to your point, i mean, the filibuster -- there have been carveouts. there are routinely carveouts. what is it about this particular issue that you think, and we can use their names. senator manchin, senator sinema. what do you think it is that's holding them back from changing the rules to vote for these two bills specifically? >> senator manchin seemed to feel that he has -- preserving the minority voting rights. he seems to say that every time he talks. my republican colleagues, i've got -- i don't want to disrespect my republican colleagues, but if disrespecting his republican colleagues or respecting them will run the risk of disrespecting the minority in his caucus. warnock is from georgia. georgia is the ground zero when it comes to these kinds of laws. georgia just passed a law that allows for nullification for the folk. i'm going to see to people on my side, stop talking about all we need to do and rally and get our people to the polls. that's not the problem. no matter how many people you get to the polls, if you set up a process by which you can nullify the result and that's what they've done in georgia, that's what we're trying to get rid of. that's the advancement act that's all about having free clearance measures in place that say if you pass a law, it must go to a court or to the justice department and also to determine whether or not the law will have any kind of discriminatory impact, and if so, you cannot implement it. i want to say to my republican friends, senator romney over the weekend saying the '65 voting rights is still the law. that's not true. the civil rights act is still in place, but the preclearance section formula in sector 4 has been gotten rid of by the supreme court. we have not had that for nine years. and senator romney ought to be ashamed of himself for saying that. >> it sounds like you've run out of patience, congressman clyburn. >> yes, i have, absolutely. yes, i have. >> i wonder if from a strategic standpoint, legislative strategy, do you think we would be here if the administration hat perhaps started with voting rights instead of starting with infrastructure or build back better? do you think from a strategic standpoint, this is something that they should have started with earlier in the administration? >> no. i don't think so at all. i think that what you had we've had this argument earlier. you had the result that we expect for tomorrow and the next day earlier. and you would not have had this bipartisan infrastructure bill, and you would not have had the so-called rescue act. now, we passed the rescue act. it did great things. and it's still doing great things. that has inspired us, the portion of it. that's why we need build back better. and the same people who are stopping this, they're stopping build back better. and the child tax credit that we need in place now is in build back better. affordable housing that we need for people who lost their houses and lost their wealth is now -- now has less than half the wealth that white people have. we need affordable housing. that's in a build back better. and so people who are stopping build back better, stopping voting, they are trying to go to the heart of what's needed in the african american community in order for us to maintain this pursuit of perspective we have been on for a long, long time. these people are supporting prophesy over democracy. it would have come earlier if the president had put this out there earlier. >> last question before i let you go on this mlk day. you knew dr. king. you marched with dr. king. what do you think the late dr. martin luther king junior would say about where we are right now in our country at this time? >> he'll remind us of what he wrote from the birmingham when he got the letter from eight white clergymen, telling him that he was a disruptive force in birmingham, that he should go back to atlanta. dr. king sat down and wrote to them. injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. and i want everybody in america to understand that today. injustice in the south, injustice in georgia, texas, florida, is injustice everywhere. those states that have passed 19 states that have passed the laws, 34 different laws, all of these states are not in the south. new hampshire, vermont, rhode island. these states are passing laws that are repressive. some suppressive. georgia, nullification. let's remember what they also told us. that people of ill will in our society seem to be making better use of their time than the people of good will, and they've got a good example of that on january 6th. we saw how effective people of ill will was using their time. today we have got attend for the people of good will to make better use of their time, because we are going to repent. as dr. king said, not just for the deeds of bad people, but for the good people. for the good people in this country. they need to break their silence and sing to manchin and sinema and romney and all these people that are carrying the false arguments, let's break our silence and speak to them. >> congressman jim clyburn, always a pleasure, sir. thank you for your time. thank you very much. >> thank you for having me. still ahead on this martin luther king junior day, i will talk to former congressman john lewis's brother, grant lewis. what he thinks his brother would say about the fights for voting rights all the years after his brother nearly lost his life in that bloody sunday in selma. and also ahead this morning, terror in dallas. the fbi has identified the gunman who held four people hostage at a synagogue over the weekend. two teenagers have been arrested in england. what we are learning about this case next. e learning about this e learning about this case next. when the road is all you need, there is no destination. uh, i-i'm actually just going to get an iced coffee. well, she may have a destination this one time, but usually -- no, i-i usually have a destination. yeah, but most of the time, her destination is freedom. nope, just the coffee shop. announcer: no matter why you ride, progressive has you covered with protection starting at $79 a year. voiceover: 'cause she's a biker... please don't follow me in. , quote, act of terror. this morning we're learning more about the nearly 11-hour hostage standoff at a texas synagogue this weekend. earlier on cbs, the rabbi at the congregation talked about the final moments of that terrifying experience. >> we were terrified. i threw a chair at the gunman. and i headed for the door. and all three of us were able to get out without even a shot being fired. >> nbc's morgan chesky is outside that synagogue, just outside dallas. morgan, what do authorities know at this point about the hostage taker's motive, or do they? >> reporter: yeah. that is a very good question that they are actively looking into. you can see the synagogue is still closed identify. the perimeter has been reduced since the situation took place for the better part of the day saturday. and this is an investigation, craig, that has become international in nature. the suspect here has been identified as a 44-year-old british citizen. he also we know his two sons were taken into custody by manchester police over the weekend according to a senior law enforcement official for questioning. we've been told that they are not considered suspects. the fbi has said they do believe the man acted alone, but they're trying to gather as much evidence as they can about this individual. we've also learned that he arrived at jfk airport on december 29th. his listed destination was a hotel in queens. we don't even know if he arrived there before making his journey here to this quiet suburb outside of dallas where saturday morning he interrupted those sabbath services and started making demands when he took the four hostages. one of them being the rabbi we heard from earlier today who really credited active shooter training and security training for helping him maintain his calm composure and trying to know the right time to encourage those two remaining hostages to get out of the building whenever he threw that chair and ran out himself. and we do have a statement from the fbi regarding this ongoing investigation as far as where they stand right now that i'd like to share. and it says in part, during the negotiations with law enforcement, the hostage taker spoke repeatedly about a convicted terrorist serving an 86-year prison sentence in the united states on terrorism charges. this is being investigated by the joint terrorism task force. the federal prisoner is being held just about 20 miles from where i'm standing. and initially they thought this was the suspect's singular motive here in order to get her freed. it appears now, though, however, that they are considering this terrorism as part of the investigation. >> morgan chesty for us there outside dallas, texas. thank you. empty shelves. a health care system under pressure. sound familiar? 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[bacon sizzles] [bacon sizzles] ♪ [electronic music plays] ♪ [bacon sizzles] ♪ [electronic music plays] ♪ woo! this morning we're now seeing nearly a million new cases in this country every day because of the omicron variant. in australia cases are just over 100,000 a day. a much smaller country, but that country's approach to omicron's surge, t raising eyebrows. as this headline notes, quote, australia has decided to let covid rip. is that a good idea? i want to in dr. bernard ashby, a miami cardiologist and florida state lead for the committee to protect health care. so doctor, let's start there. the story notes while cases are surging in australia, officials are holding the line. they're allowing the various to circulate in communities. australia's prime minister declared it's possible to live with the various. their approach different from our approach. is that an approach we should consider? >> well, good morning. and happy mlk day, craig. so australia's circumstances are different from the u.s. in a number of ways, but under any circumstance, letting a virus rip through a population is never a good idea. i'll tell you why. because one, you're going to overwhelm health care systems. and that's what we're seeing here in the u.s. but in addition to that, you're also dealing with an underserved or a short-staffed health care system around the globe, particularly in the u.s. what you're dealing with is a huge number of patients coming in at the same time, dealing with multiple medical illnesses that are exacerbated by the omicron variant, so simply letting it rip does nothing for the population except increase excess death which is a much more accurate indicator of what omicron is doing rather than looking at directly contributed to omicron. >> meanwhile, as you know, doctor, 82% of icu hospital beds as we understand it, those are the numbers there in florida. 82% of icu beds are in use there where you are. how are hospitals there handling this limited bed capacity? what are some of the difficult choices that are being made there? >> in short, not well, first of all. you know, i'm working in a hospital as well as treating patients in an outpatient setting. we're seeing there's a huge backlog of patients waiting in the er. as a result, they're simply, one, being exposed to omicron given the high rate coming in. in addition to that, once you have omicron, you have to be under isolation which puts a huge crunch on not only our beds but our staff. and so yes, you may not have the same amount of patients coming in as delta, but you're dealing with staff being allocated to patients in isolation in addition to the fact that that staff shortage compounded with omicron causes cancellation and drawdown on elected procedures which ultimately impact people's health long-term. >> doctor bernard ashby, we'll have to leave it there. i'm sure we'll be unfortunately talking to you again soon about the same topic. dr. ashby, be well, and to your point, a good mlk day to you as well. still ahead -- actually, i've been told vice president harris is making remarks right now. is that right? no. that is not correct. okay. winter weather, we're going to talk about that. tornadoes, thousands of cancelled flights. hundreds of thousands of folks without power. the winter storm causing new headaches this morning. and we'll spend some more time talking about the fight for voting rights. coming up, i'll talk to the brother of congressman john lewis. his message to lawmakers about passing the voting rights bill named in honor of his brother. first, though, the debate over voting rights. it's reached a fever pitch, but here's the thing. not too long ago, there wasn't a democratic or republican issue. this was not an issue. 2006, then president george w. bush signed an extension to the voting rights act flanked by republicans like bill frist and democrats like nancy pelosi and joe biden. that law passed the senate 98-0. not a single no vote. as he signed it, president bush, the standard bearer for the republican party at the same time made this critical point. >> the right of ordinary and men and women to determine their own political future lies at the heart of the american experiment. and it is a right that has been won by the sacrifice of patriots. in four decades since the voting rights act was first passed, we made progress. toward equality, yet the work for a more perfect union is never ending. union is union is never ending ♪taking a break from all your worries ♪ ♪sure would help a lot ♪ ♪wouldn't you like to get away? 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[music: “you can get it if you really want” by jimmy cliff] a powerful winter storm with heavy snow, high winds and ice is wreaking havoc through most of the east coast right now. multiple tornadoes in florida destroyed dozens of homes and buildings. farther north, heavy snow and ice in tennessee, georgia and the carolinas caused some deadly road conditions. left thousands without power. that northeast hit with the wintry mix, some areas seeing as much as 4 inches fall an hour. emily eketta is in pittsburgh, pennsylvania. when we checked in a few hours ago, it was still snowing. is that still the case there? >> again, often and on. it's been areas throughout the day. it seems the steep snowfall totals we've been watching closely will continue to rise throughout the day. it's very evident that the brunt of the massive storm system is now here in the northeast, but it will depend, depending on where you live, that will dictate with the storm looks like. there's severe, significant wind gusts, up to 65 miles per hour between new york and new jersey. here in pittsburgh the story is snow. six inches in parts of the area. if you go to northern portions of the state, it's going to be a foot of snow. and then heading up into western new york we're looking at 18 inches. so just a significant impact in terms of the snow here and falling at a fast clip. 4 to 5 inches an hour in some places. i mentioned those winds earlier. that's really been a cause for concern for so many state leaders saying it could lead to a possible crisis situation leading to possible power outages. amid these frigid temperatures. roughly 200,000 americans are in the dark again in this really cold weather. crews quickly working to remedy that. and remember, we've been talking about this storm system for days. it started in the northern plains. it went down into the southeast. now in the northeast. it unleashed a different kind of fury in southern florida, craig, as you mentioned. several tornadoes destroying dozens of homes. it appears relief is on the way, but i can tell you it's not done yet. >> emily in pittsburgh. emily, thank you. coming up next, the fight for voting rights nearly claimed john lewis's life in selma, alabama back in the 60s. right now a bill that would enshrine those rights in his name. he's stuck in congress with little hope of passing. so what would the late civil rights icon think of this moment? i'll talk to two people who saw his life-long fight for justice up close. his brother grant lewis, and a staffer who worked with the late congressman for nearly 20 years. first, a final fair well to an american hero. charles mcgee. one of the country's last surviving tuskegee airmen, died on sunday. he was 102 years old. mcgee flew more than 400 missions over three wars from world war ii to vietnam as part of heroic group of pilots and staffers. many believe they helped lead a ground for civil rights breakthroughs we saw in the 50s and 60s. according to general mcgee's youngest daughter, he was smiling when he died and had, quote, his right hand over his heart. meanwhile in the last few moments, vice president kamala karps has started speaking at the white house. addressing folks at ebenezer baptist church on this mlk day. let's listen in. >> state and local leaders, activists and organizers for coming together on this very special day in this most special place. as some of you know, last week i was honored to once again visit your historic sanctuary together with members of the king family. and it is an honor to be with you today as our nation remembers the reverend dr. martin luther king junior. as has been said, as is known throughout the world, dr. king was a prophet. he was a prophet in that he saw the present exactly as it was, and the future as it could be. and he pushed our nation toward that future. dr. king pushed even as his character was maligned. he pushed even as his family's life was threatened. he pushed even as his own life was in jeopardy. he pushed for racial justice. for economic justice. and for the freedom that unlocks all others, the freedom to vote. today our freedom to vote is under assault. in georgia and across our nation, anti-voter laws are being passed that could make it more difficult for as many as 55 million americans to vote. 55 million americans. that is one out of six people in our country. and the proponents of these law are not only putting in place obstacles to the ballot box. they are also working to interfere with our elections. to get the outcomes they want and to discredit those they do not. that is not now democracies work. we know the threat we face. we know this assault on our freedom to vote will be felt by every american in every community, in every political party. we know that if we stand idly by, our entire nation will pay the price for generations to come. you know, i'm reminded of the words of dr. king's partner, a great american leader, and his partner in the struggle, yes, correta scott king, who said freedom is never really won. you earn it and win it in every generation. so many in this state have worked tirelessly to protect our democracy. you have registered voters. you have organized on college campuses and in senior living communities. at coffee shops and cookouts. you have worn out the soles of your shoes going door to door. and last week the president and i visited atlanta to deliver a message. it is time for the united states senate to do its job. a landmark bill as we all know, sits before the united states senate. the freedom to vote john r. lewis act. this bill represents the first real opportunity to secure the freedom to vote since the united states supreme court gutted the voting rights act nearly a decade ago. and the senate must pass this bill now. you know, it was more than 55 years ago that men, women, and children marched from selma to montgomery to demand the -- when they arrived at the state capitol in alabama, dr. king decried what he called normalcy. the normalcy, the complacency that was denying people the freedom to vote. as dr. king said, the only normalcy he would accept is the normalcy that recognizes the dignity and worth of all god's children. today we must not be complacent or complicit. we must not give up, and we must not give in. to truly honor the legacy of the man we celebrate today, we must continue to fight for the freedom to vote, for freedom for all. thank you all. may god bless you and make god bless america. have a good morning. >> vice president kamala harris there at the white house on this dr. martin luther king junior spending a fair amount of time talking about what we've been talking about here this hour and what has been the topic of conversation in this country over the past few weeks especially, voting rights. when it comes to the ongoing fight of voting rights reform in this nation, one of the most crucial figures has been a man who stood side by side with dr. martin luther king jr. in the original fight nearly 60 years ago. we are of course talking about the late congressman john lewis, congressman lewis famously reminded his colleagues in his final years in congress, quote, the right to vote is precious, almost sacred. it is the most powerful non-violent tool we have in a democratic society. i want to bring in two people who knew john lewis better than most. his younger brother grant lewis and ray shell o'neil, former director of external affairs for the late congressman as well. a big thanks to you. grant, i'll start with you, if your older brother were still with us, what do you think his message would be today, especially as the senate is set to start the process to vote on the bill that bears his name? >> thank you for having me. and if my late brother was here today, his message to the senate would be we've got to pass this bill. if we don't pass this bill, our democracy as we know it will go backwards. if this bill is not passed, our country will be weakened. you can't go forward in this country by keeping certain groups back. everybody has to go forward. my brother used to say we live in one house, the world house, and if we can't get along in this house together, we're going to perish as fools. so voting is numbers. if you figure out a way to attack the numbers if voting, then you're going to weaken our democracy. years ago when the late congressman was attempting to cross the pettus bridge along with others, they were attacked physically, almost died, and some did. now it's a different attack. they're attacking the system. the results are the same. he used to tell me that voting is something we're going to have to fight for the rest of our lives because every generation someone's going to come along and try to tear out our right to vote. take out a piece there, a piece out there. they will try to tear it down. this is a struggle we're going to have to be in for life, and right now he would be pleaded on capitol hill to make this happen. he would be going across the aisle. he had this unique way of touching people, getting them to see things the way he saw it. with him it was all about his conscience. he used to always say speak your conscience, vote your conscience. and that's what my message would be today to those senators, vote your conscience. you have a moral obligation to do so, not because of what party you represent but because it is the right thing to do. >> raychelle, just a reminder for our viewers and ers listene this is an overview of what's in the act. it updates the landmark voting rights act of 19 5u6. it requires certain cities and states to get pre-clearance from the justice department before changing voting laws. it is not a bill expected to pass. you have two democratic senators who remain opposed to changing the rules. 50 republican senators who are opposed to changing the rules. how do you think the late congressman would have approached his colleagues in the senate? how do you think he would have tried to change minds? >> craig, thanks again for having me, and uncle grant, it's so great to see you today. the way mr. lewis would approach this is the way he would approach any situation that was difficult whether it was individuals who were being difficult with him, he would do it quietly. he would do it with grace, and he would probably go and have quiet one on ones with them, and he would have them to walk in his shoes. he also said that things have changed, and if anyone doesn't think that things have changed to come walk in his shoes. he would invite these senators to walk in his shoes to see there is a force as he would say, that's trying to take pus backwards from when he started walking, not to where he ended up when he passed away at 80 still fighting for voting rights. so he would say to senators in particular, sinema as well as manchin, he would say get in a silo. blackout the white noise. he would say have an executive session with yourself. he would sit and have a session with himself, and he would say if not now then when? you have an obligation not to minorities, not to women, but to the poor people, which is the least of these and that represents all demographics, so are you there to do your job as the supreme court said in shelby v. holder that section four of the voting rights act was unconstitutional because it was outdated, the formula. they said congress do your job. correct it. make it right. so i would say to senators sinema and manchin, which is the aspect of doing ob, and then we would jump over across the aisle and tell those traditional republicans who are trying to save their parties from the infringes who think the insurrection was just people visiting capitol hill, he would say to them, come and work with me. work across the aisle, do what we used to do when government used to work. we would duke it out on the floor and we would go have dinner afterwards. that's the message that the congressman would deliver to his colleagues in the democratic party in the senate as well as those on the other side. thank you. >> grant, i've got 30 seconds left. i do want you to tell me just really quickly about the john robert lewis legacy institute that's being started. >> well, it's all about keeping his legacy alive. his legacy started so many years ago, and my brother once told me that a legacy is not so much about what he's doing now. it's about what people are going to think of him later when he passes on, so it's important to me for the john lewis legacy to continue because he definitely left a legacy, and i can see it more and more each day. >> i want you to come back at some point here in the near future and tell me a little bit more about the foundation. grant lewis, thank you, rachele o'neil thank you on this mlk day. thank you as well for joining me on this busy dr. martin luther king jr. day. let us not forget what he said, change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but it comes through continuous struggle. "andrea mitchell reports" starts next. reports" starts next ever wonder what everyone's doing on their phones? they're baing, with bank of arica. his girlfriend just caught the bouquet, so he's checking in on that ring fund. that photographer? he's looking for something a little more zen, so he's thinking, “i'll open a yoga studio.” and as for the father of the bride? he's checking to see if he's on track to do this all over again... and again. bank of america's digital tools are so impressive, you just can't stop banking. . good day, this is "andrea mitchell reports" in washington, on this martin luther king jr. holiday honoring the martyred civil rights icon even as his lifelong fight for voting rights is facing another big setback. two major democratic bills have no support among senate republicans and democrats joe manchin and kyrsten sinema are still refusing to change the filibuster rule to pass them with a bear majority. this as the president is about to mark his first anniversary in office this week facing rising inflation, the coronavirus surge and a stalled build back better bill. there are also foreign follows challenges, meeting with president zelensky and his top officials as russia keeps adding forces to their shared border, and u.s. intelligence says russia has sent saboteurs to eastern ukraine to attack russian-backed forces and blame ukraine for it. a false flag operation, try to create a pretext for a russian invasion. the kremlin denies this. we begin with voting rights and nbc's senior capitol

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