>> silence is not an option. >> nobody is asking you to give up the filibuster. >> i know where i stand. it's time for every elected official in america to make it clear where they stand. >> we're also following new developments in what is now a global investigation. british police making arrests in connection with that synagogue standoff in texas. what the fbi is saying now about a motive and how the now former hostages are doing. we're live on the ground. plus new details about the beijing olympics starting in just a couple weeks. the decision being made today that's affecting both the games and the athletes. more on that later in the show. i'm hallie jackson with you this afternoon in washington along with our nbc news team kippur on the hill, evan perez. we have seen a drumbeat from people all across the country. chuck schumer hears that drumbeat. he wants to get a vote planned. it's not going to happen tomorrow, although there may be a new move. talk to us about the strategy. >> the strategy is they exhausted all options to get these two voting rights legislation acts passed. democrats knew last spring, maybe at the latest by the summer, that this would be extremely difficult to do. but they stuck around and got all the democratic members on board these two bills, the majority to pass the senate. now they've dragged it for months and months. now the cycle is well underway, and if they don't do something soon, there is no hope to do anything at all. the reality is they face two immovable objects named joe manchin and krysten sinema in the senate to pass these on the merits. they are facing a lot of pressure from their colleagues in the senate and the house. let's listen to what nancy pelosi and james clyburn had to say. >> if you really, truly want to honor dr. king, don't dishonor him by using a congressional custom as an excuse for protecting our democracy. >> nobody is asking you to give up the filibuster. i wish they would stop saying that. we are asking you to do, for voting rights and constitution rights, the same thing you've done for the budget. >> reporter: now, they've been hearing that pressure all year and they haven't budged. it's highly unlikely between now and the vote which is supposed to happen this week that they will budge. chuck schumer, the majority leader, is going to press all 100 to pass the vote in the senate. democrats feel like they're too far down this road to turn around and go back home now. it's likely to fail, and democrats will have a decision to make on whether they accept half a loaf on changes to the electoral count act, things that mitch mcconnell last week opened the door last week when i asked him that he said clearly needs changes. obviously they will try to go back to build back better and try to salvage that. first they want to close the chapter on voting rights. hallie? >> sahil said something accurate. he said there are two immovable objects in the senate inside the democratic party, but there are 50 immovable people, right, on the republican side, and that is what you heard be the focus today in many ways from president biden and vice president harris, really focusing on the fact that, no, it's not just two, it's actually 52 right now who oppose this. >> that's right, hallie. the president will mark his first year in office. maybe they don't want to mark an anniversary when the battle seems like one they're going to lose. but the frustration in the white house is this larger battle they're in about voting rights and why i hear from administration officials when they feel like democrats months ago picked the wrong fight. by making this all about the rules change, you're focused on the democratic divisions, which is what the president and vice president have tried to do which is do what needs to be done to protect the democracy. we know the president earlier this week had that one on two meeting with the two immovable objects, senator sinema and senator manchin. let's listen to what the vice president said today. >> there are hundreds of members of the united states senate. i want every member of the united states senate to act on the oath they took to defend the constitution of the united states. >> hallie, it's clear the issues around voting have become a real issue for trump voters, for republican base voters. the challenge for you for the white house as we move to an election year is to use it to motivate the senate to be energized about what they could potentially do if they had 51, 52 or 53 senators rather than the 50 they have now. the question is can their spirit be moved by the end of the year? >> sahil said half a loaf if this doesn't work out, right, the possibility that maybe there is some change that can be made. talk to us about your reporing on that. >> it's interesting because you have these senators and democrats like senator collins moving in a behind-the-scenes fashion looking at if they can find a compromise. this is a much, match narrower focus on what they're doing. i think the real question on this is not only this bipartisan group to come together, but will chuck schumer and the president give their blessing despite the fact they were unable to move this much larger piece of legislation. this is going to play out in the next couple days. i think you'll start to see again the effort on some republican and democratic senators to say, hey, we can find a movement together here. why don't we try and work together on some of these issues that are maybe more narrow in scope than being completely entrenched and not able to do anything. >> i heard senator clyburn say, the filibuster has been changed before. the senator rules have been changed in very narrow instances. we know more than 150 times in the past there are some caveats with some of those. that has not been an effective strategy or message point to this point for senators manchin or sinema. do you see any way that could end up changing? >> i think it's really difficult. both have been for weeks and months in that same exact place, and they're very tired of answering reporters questions on this on a daily, hourly basis. last week senator sinema went to the floor and really kind of threw cold water on anything where she might be -- you're seeing a lot of senators behind the scenes also concerned about changing the filibuster in general. they have a 50-plus one majority right now, and the midterms are going to be very difficult for them to get the majority. the minority is when you want to have the filibuster. >> thank you all, i appreciate it. i want to bring in derek johnson, president and ceo of the naacp. i'm so glad to have you here today. good afternoon. >> good afternoon. >> i want to talk to martha washington. she traveled from dallas because she believes so much about this issue and she wants senators to pass this. >> i'm from the south and got the opportunity to know my great-grandmother who died a few years ago. she was 94. for half her life she wasn't able to vote when she fought hard for the right to vote. it's our duty to make sure we get out here and we fight for people like her. >> that is the backdrop, right, from a very real and personal basis for this conversation. how do you view tomorrow's debate on election reforms that's going to happen in the senate? >> i think it's an important debate, but i don't want to conflate what we're talking about here. we're talking about voting rights protections. it's not a partisan issue, it's about ensuring that that young lady and many people across the country, when they go to cast their ballot, their ballot will be an effective ballot. there are barriers put in place that we understand that early voting is something that works, we have the most secure election in 2020, that that is afforded to all 50 states. states like georgia under the current law cannot change something to disagree with the voters. this is about protecting the rights of voters. >> you say it's not about partisanship, although there are 50 senators in the senate who are not going to get behind this bill. is that not partisan to you? >> 16 of them voted to reactivize the voting rights act in 2006. what's the justification now for not doing the same? what we're looking at here is a level concerning the rights of many american citizens, and it's particularly concerning to african-americans because we know what this means. it will take another 50 years if we don't reverse this trend of subverting, suppressing the vote. we should not be here. we send young people abroad to fight for democracy. we must protect democracy here domestically as well. >> do you believe president biden is doing enough on this? do you believe the president should be doing more? >> to be very clear, the senate must do their job. for the administration, this must be the priority, not a priority. for african-americans, we have a level of expectation that our rights will be protected for a decade -- i'm sorry, for a century we have the right to vote from the end of reconstruction all the way up to when we cast our ballot. what we're looking at here is something unfortunate because it could create the space for a 1950s reality for far too many individuals, particularly in the african-american community. >> you talked about how the senate, in your view, they need to step up and do their jobs. there's obviously pressure on the democratic side, manchin and sinema, as we talk on this network and others here. you met with sinema before that one day to meet the senate rules. do you believe she heard your message in good faith? >> whether she heard it is one thing. what we're going to do about it is another. we met with others and said the same thing over and over. this is about protecting our constitution and our democracy, and we have been placed in a container of partisanship that should not be. the question of procedures rule stopping, the question of constitutional rights shouldn't even be on the table. they just make the adjustment at the end of the year to increase the debt ceiling by 51 votes. why are we here now? how are you going to celebrate martin luther king's holiday yet you use it as a trojan horse not to support the rights of all voters? don't join the team if you're not willing to do the work of the team by protecting the citizens of this country. >> we're so grateful for your time today and your perspective. appreciate you joining us. coming up, the international situation of a hostage situation in a texas synagogue. what we're learning about the link of two teenagers arrested in. -- in the u.k. plus a story about news breaking just before we came on the air. it might bring some air travel to a screeching halt. what the heads of big airlines say has to be done before wednesday to try to stop it. our tom costello is jumping in front of a camera with more on that in just a sec. era with morn that in just a sec i've been telling everyone... the secret to great teeth is having healthy gums. crest advanced gum restore. detoxifies below the gumline... and restores by helping heal gums in as little as 7 days. crest. the #1 toothpaste brand in america. i want my daughter riley to know about her ancestors and how important it is to know who you are and to know where you came from. we're discovering together... it's been an amazing gift. it's been nearly two years since the pandemic started. our students and teachers tried their best, but as a parent, i can tell you that nearly 18 months of remote learning was really hard. i'm so angry that instead of helping our kids get back in the classroom, the school board focused on renaming schools schools that weren't even open . please recall all three school board members now. for the sake of our kids, we can't wait one more day, never mind a whole year for a fresh start. and there you have it. woah. never mind a whole year wireless on the most reliable network nationwide. wow. big deal. we get unlimited for just 30 bucks. sweet, but mine has 5g included. relax people. my wireless is crushing it. that's because you all have xfinity mobile with your internet. it's wireless so good, it keeps one-upping itself. take the savings challenge at xfinitymobile.com/mysavings or visit an xfinity store to learn how our switch squad makes it easy to switch and save hundreds. we have a serious warning about the rollout of 5g, a wireless service about to go on line this wednesday. airlines are reporting major consequences with 5g airwaves interfering with airline equipment. those airline ceos say, quote, unless our major hubs are clear to fly, the vast majority of traveling and shipping public will essentially be grounded. nbc's tom costello covers all things transportation for us. tom, you've been reporting for weeks now on this whole 5g airlines thing. this sounds very serious, right, the majority of the traveling public could be grounded? is this hyperbole? are the ceos looking to get people's attention? is this real? >> yes, yes and yes, if you had to really boil it down. the airline ceos have been saying for months that they're worried about the possibility that the new 5g cell service will interfere with critical radio altimeters or radar altimeters that are on board planes. that technology is used when a pilot is coming into an airport that is socked in. you have bad weather, you use the altimeter to determine your exact or precise altitude. the concern is that 5g ground stations, so not your phone, not the phone, the ground station itself may interfere with that technology in the cockpit. this has been an ongoing back and forth between the faa, where the sheriff is concerned, and the fcc which is all about regulating the industry, as well as verizon and at&t. the system is set to go live on wednesday. they delayed it twice already to try to address these issues with the faa and the airlines, but the airlines are still worried. they say, listen, if you are going to be delaying or possibly impacting our activity going into major airports, then that means thousands of flights, hundreds of thousands of passengers, could be affected. we reached out to the cell phone industry to see if they have any response. are they also going along with the idea that the airlines would like to see the 5g sites near airports turned off? in other words, don't activate the ones near airports. it's okay if it's another area more than two miles away, not near an airport, and the cell phone industry right now is not responding. this has been really a back and forth, an unusual fight between the fcc and the faa, each of which is looking after their own constituencies, if you will. the fcc is looking after the regulating side of the cell phone industry, and the faa worried about the concerns that the airlines have about safety. >> tom, we're less than 72 hours away from the start of this new system going online. at what point, if that happens, and if there are ramifications that the airlines are predicting, at what point do people like you and me, regular folks looking to buy airplane tickets, see some kind of impact? >> if you believe the airlines, we could see an impact as soon as we try to fly on a day the weather isn't good, and we want to fly into chicago or we want to fly into jfk, la guardia, you name it, dallas, seattle, whatever. visibility is low and therefore they can't use their altimeters. they are suggesting they should pause indefinitely within a two-mile stretch of the airports any 5g cell station rollout. how much of this is the airline industry? of course, they can't afford to take any risks. the cell phone industry insists -- this has been rolled out overseas, it's proven to be safe. it's been rolled out near airports, and in fact, there is a butler, if you will, on the radio frequency, on the spectrum that should keep the altimeters from being impacted by the 5g radio signals. if this is all too out of reach for you, that's a problem. >> it's fascinating, right? but how many of these base stations are located within two miles of an airport? are we talking half of them or are we talking 6% of them? you know what i mean? >> that's a good question and i don't have an answer to that. but if you're talking about airport ops being affected and you're doing this in bad weather, that's what they're concerned about. >> tom, thank you for coming on with that developing news. we really appreciate it. we also have new developments this afternoon after four people, including a rabbi, were held hostage in that synagogue in north texas for 11 hours. today the sibling of that hostage taker is apologizing, saying nothing could be said and done to stop him. accomplish police detained the man's two sons, even though they haven't been charged with anything. and the rabbi said it was training, not luck, that helped him and the others get out safely. sam brock is in colleyville, texas. sam, people hear that and say what is the security training that the rabbi, that this congregation went through, that the fact they felt they needed to get ready. it feels like the statement of anti-semitism and the real threats in this country. >> reporter: what a commentary, hallie, that this is necessary. there were 200-plus law enforcement officers right here over the weekend and the lead hostage investigation team coming in from quantico, and it may have been the actions of the rabbi that prevented any loss of life. they work with not just temples, but churches and mosque says, hundreds of them all around the country, to prepare for active shooter situations. hallie, they were here on august 22nd. what kinds of things did they go over? things like situational awareness during prayer, when things all of a sudden turn on a dime, to be ready. or if someone trying to do something horrible cannot get inside, run and hide and fight if necessary, when to take action. in this case the rabbi did take action, literally, in the 11th hour. the rabbi here, rabbi cytron-walker, said he recognized in that 11th hour, there was clearly an escalating tension with the suspect who was not getting what he wanted, which was the release of a federal prisoner. so what did he do? he waited for the suspect at some point to get a little off guard, a little out of position. he ushered the other congregants to the door and then picked up a chair, threw it at the suspect and they all went out. miraculously, hallie, they were able to get out safely. we spoke to a senior administration member. so important this training. here's what he told me. >> now we treat this security type training as we treat fire drills as we all grew up learning how to do a fire drill. unfortunately, that is where we are in a lot of communities, not just the jewish community. we have seen an increase in attacks over the last few years in houses of worship. >> reporter: hallie, the adl last year recorded some 2,100 plus incidents of anti-semitism. the group says it is the highest figure they've seen since they started tracking in 1979. hallie? >> tough thing to hear. sam brock, thank you for your reporting coming out of colleyville. back to politics. with president biden's first year, the public rally cries and the lies heading to the midterm. lots of conspiracies. spoiler alert. lots of conspiracies mm, smooth. uh, they are a little tight. like, too tight? spoiler alert. a little bit. you don't want 'em too loose. for those who were born to ride there's progressive. with 24/7 roadside assistance. -okay. think i'm gonna wear these home. -excellent choice. get your personal points plan! i'm james corden and i'm here to tell people that ww is getting even more personal. keep on shopping, ignore us. i've lost like 28 pounds. you look great! i love that my clothes fit better, but i just love ice cream a little bit more than that. the new ww personalpoints program is particular to you. so what kind of foods do you like? avocado. ice cream. sandwiches. no food is off limits. when can i start?! don't pay until spring! join today at ww.com hurry! offer ends january 17th! [♪♪] join today if you have diabetes, it's important to have confidence in the nutritional drink you choose. try boost glucose control®. it's clinically shown to help manage blood sugar levels and contains high quality protein to help manage hunger and support muscle health. try boost® today. are you one of the millions of americans who experience occasional bloating, gas or abdominal discomfort? taking align can help. align contains a quality probiotic to naturally help soothe digestive upsets 24/7. try align, the pros in digestive health. and join the align healthy gut team up and learn what millions of align users already know. how great a healthy gut can feel. sign up at alignprobiotics.com also try align dualbiotics gummies to help support digestive health. your record label is taking off. but so is your sound engineer. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire filly. our honeymoon. it took awhile, but at least we got a great deal on our hotel with kayak. i was afraid we wouldn't go.. with our divorce and.... great divorce guys. yeah... search 100s of travel sites at once. kayak. search one and done. find your rhythm. your happy place. search 100s of travel sites at once. find your breaking point. then break it. every emergen-c gives you a potent blend of nutrients so you can emerge your best with emergen-c. former president donald trump was back on the campaign trail this weekend. you probably heard about it. even though it was ostensibly to support efforts for the midterms coming up, it looked and felt like a rally for the 2020 presidential candidate. this one in arizona, of course, which featured a host of lies and liars and conspiracy theories and conspiracy theorists and covid misinformation from people like the mypillow guy, mike rendell. nbc news coming out today with former president trump has softened and shifted his tone even about the vaccine. watch. >> i recommend take the vaccines. i did it, it's good, take the vaccines. that's okay, that's all right. you got your freedoms. but i happened to take the vaccine. >> a lot of people have died under covid this year, by the way, under joe biden than under you, and more people took the vaccine this year, so people are questioning how -- >> the vaccine worked but some people -- the ones that get very sick and go to the hospital are the ones that don't take the vaccine. >> did you get the booster? >> yes. >> i got it, too. >> don't, don't, don't. >> so what's up with that? there's always a political calculation, right? one former official of nbc news took an effort to get trump to change his tune if he told people to get vaxxed. we have reporter john allen and political activist. he has turned his tune about vaxx knowledge. >> he's finding a position that's in between the anti-vaxx on one extreme and what republicans see is a very extreme order of vaccine mandates. i think what you have from trump here is an opportunity of positioning ahead of that period to try to get to a place that looks sort of mainstream by comparison of the two. >> and reportedly, as you report, our two colleagues think there will not be backlash from the gop base on this despite the fact there are anti-vaxxers in that base. >> and i've been in arizona the last couple days at the trump rally, and i talked to voters. one of them said to me, look, president trump can recommend that people take the vaccine. he can push that people take the vaccine. but only if he said that he was going to mandate as president the future of vaccinations would that really turn this voter off and walk away. i talked to similar voters who said, look, they are not for president trump on the vaccines, but that doesn't mean they won't vote for him as long as they don't feel he's shoving it down their throat. >> talk about what you heard, ally. you were there. you know, you talked to people and a lot of people on stage as we pointed out here also give covid misinformation, covid lies, covid conspiracy theories, too. >> i think what was noted after trump's speech saturday night, as he's been talking up the booster as his colleagues reported, during the rally he didn't talk about the boosters. he didn't brag about the vaccines or operation warp speed as he has in recent interviews, and that's because trump knows how to read the room and he knows this crowd could potentially boo him as he was at that bill o'reilly appearance as he was booed talking up the vaccines. instead he tried to play up the vaccine mandates that we've seen, and he talked about how that's bad for the country, and he used that as his focal point, and that, of course, has been one of the dividing lines between him and a potential 2024 challenger, florida governor ron desantis, as he's tried to, you know, show how they're different in that way. but i do think it's notable that he talked about vaccine mandates but not taking the vaccine itself. >> and the instances when he has, of course, he's been in interactions and conversations with others, bill o'reilly, et cetera. he said the insurrection happened on election day in 2020. obviously that's not true. what are you hearing from sources in your reporting about how that might shape a potential 2024 run? >> his base feels like they've been made out to be terrorists. i talked to one woman who traveled to hear the president speak, and she was at the capitol on january 6. she said she didn't go inside but she was at that rally. she felt that day that trump supporters were made out to be terrorists, and they faced all this backlash from the media. so it plays into a lot of what trump has talked about over and over again, making democrats and the media out to be enemies. how they talk about january 6, he says it's just one more way that they're trying to paint trump and his supporters as, you know, deplorables, as clinton said in the past. so it's just one more way that they've been made out to look like the bad guys. >> john, let me give you final thoughts here. is there anything that stood out to you or surprised you about your experience in that state over the weekend? >> i think the biggest thing, hallie, was the president reaching further into the tin foil hat conspiracy theory, breaking into tucker carlson, as he suspected strongly that fbi agents -- this is false, let me clarify as i'm saying this -- that fbi agents were the ones to instigate the attack on the capitol, the one we all are appalled that former president trump instigated. we're going from lies and moving into this territory of, again, tin foil hacking conspiracy theories cooked up by fox news hosts. it was really sort of jarring to hear that out of anyone's mouth, much less the former president. >> based on your reporting, is there anybody in his orbit who is trying to pull him back from that tin foil hat ledge, as you say? >> there are always people trying to get him to calm down. it never works. it's very difficult to rein him in and there are a very small group of people around him right now. >> john allen, we lost your visuals, we have your audio. thank you. meredith mcgraw, thank you for sharing your reporting as well. as we speak, as we've been on the air, you have this bipartisan group of reporters in ukraine with a russian invasion hitting a tipping point. what we learned about the ukranian president in the last couple minutes. that's coming up. n the last n the last couple because the way we care is anything but ordinary. ♪♪ if you have advanced non-small cell lung cancer, is anything but ordinary. your first treatment could be a chemo-free combination that's coming up it could mean a chance to live longer. opdivo plus yervoy is for adults newly diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer that has spread, tests positive for pd-l1, and does not have an abnormal egfr or alk gene. together, opdivo plus yervoy helps your immune system launch a response that fights cancer in two different ways. opdivo plus yervoy equals a chance for more time together. more family time. more time to remember. opdivo and yervoy can cause your immune system to harm healthy parts of your body during and after treatment. these problems can be severe and lead to death. see your doctor right away if you have a cough; chest pain; shortness of breath; irregular heartbeat; diarrhea; constipation; severe stomach pain, nausea or vomiting; dizziness; fainting; eye problems; extreme tiredness; changes in appetite, thirst or urine; rash; itching; confusion; memory problems; muscle pain or weakness; joint pain; flushing; or fever. these are not all the possible side effects. problems can occur together and more often when opdivo is used with yervoy. tell your doctor about all medical conditions including immune or nervous system problems, if you've had or plan to have an organ or stem cell transplant, or received chest radiation. here's to a chance to live longer. ask your doctor about the combination of two immunotherapies, opdivo plus yervoy. thank you to all those in our clinical trials. when you really need to sleep you reach for the really good stuff. new zzzquil ultra helps you sleep better and longer when you need it most. it's non habit forming and powered by the makers of nyquil. new zzzquil ultra. when you really really need to sleep. ♪ limu emu ♪ and doug. we gotta tell people that liberty mutual customizes car insurance so you only pay for what you need, and we gotta do it fast. [limu emu squawks] woo! thirty-four miles per hour! new personal record, limu! [limu emu squawks] he'll be back. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. ♪ amazing. jerry, you gotta to see this. seen it. trust me, after 15 walks... gets a little old. ugh (vo) this year, t-mobile for business is here to help you hit the ground running. when you switch to t-mobile and bring your own device, we'll pay off your phone up to $800. you can keep your phone. keep your number. and get your employees connected on the largest and fastest 5g network. plus, we give you $200 in facebook ads on us! so you can reach more customers, create more opportunities, and make this the best year for your business yet. visit your local t-mobile store today. psoriasis really messes with you. try. hope. fail. i felt defeated. the pain, the stares. no one should suffer like that. i said, enough. i started cosentyx®. five years clear. four years clear. five years and counting. cosentyx works fast. for clear skin that can last. real people with psoriasis look and feel better with cosentyx. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections some serious, and a lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms, or if you've had a vaccine or plan to. tell your doctor if your crohn's disease symptoms develop or worsen. serious allergic reactions may occur. best move i ever made. i feel so much better. see me. ask your dermatologist about cosentyx. right now you've got this bipartisan group of senators in ukraine hoping to help do something overseas. meeting with ukranian president zalensky to talk about doing something. >> this is a moment we have to stand with the ukranian people, make sure they have what they need, to protect their territory, their sovereignty. ukraine should decide for themselves their future. >> they propped up provocations over the weekend with cyberattacks and preparation for some kind of attack basically to justify an invasion. according to american officials, they say president putin of russia remains undecided, they think, on whether to actually order troops in. joining me now correspondent garrett haake. garrett, this is an interesting move by these senators. they brought together a who's who of world diplomats. what's being done? >> covid and other factors have gotten in the way, and they're hoping that just by their very presence in ukraine, they can show vladimir putin this is not a democratic or republican issue in the united states, that this is an issue on which both parties are united. chris murphy just put out a statement after meeting with the ukranian president, making this exact point, that he wanted to communicate to the ukranian people and any russians who might be interested that any action taken by russia will be met with a strong bipartisan response in the united states. providing a little bit of backup from the biden administration when not much backup has been had by republicans, by democrats, by the u.s. congress on this issue, hallie. >> garrett, thank you. next up, novak djokovic being met in serbia with news that he could be blocked from the french open. his attorney saying that's not going to cut it after he was deployed australia. dep saved the world from tyranny. in an office we know as "oval," a new-generation president faced down an imminent threat of nuclear war. deployed australia on a bridge in selma, alabama, the preacher of his time marched us straight to passing voting rights for every american. at a gate in west berlin, a late-generation american president demanded an enemy superpower tear down a wall and liberate a continent. american generations answering the call of their time with american ideals. freedom. liberty. justice. for today's generation of leaders, the call has come again to protect our freedom to vote, to fortify our democracy by passing the freedom to vote act and the john lewis voting rights act because america - john lewis: we are not going back, we are going forward. everyone remembers the moment they heard... “you have cancer.” how their world stopped and when they found a way to face it. for some, this is where their keytruda story begins. keytruda - a breakthrough immunotherapy that may treat certain cancers. one of those cancers is advanced nonsquamous, non-small cell lung cancer where keytruda is approved to be used with certain chemotherapies as your first treatment if you do not have an abnormal “egfr” or “alk” gene. keytruda helps your immune system fight cancer but can also cause your immune system to attack healthy parts of your body. this can happen during or after treatment and may be severe and lead to death. see your doctor right away if you have cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, diarrhea, severe stomach pain or tenderness, severe nausea or vomiting, headache, light sensitivity, eye problems, irregular heartbeat, extreme tiredness, constipation, dizziness or fainting, changes in appetite, thirst, or urine, confusion or memory problems, muscle pain or weakness, fever, rash, itching, or flushing. these are not all the possible side effects. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions, including immune system problems, or if you've had an organ transplant, had or plan to have a stem cell tranlant, h have had radiation to your chest area or a nervous system condition. today, keytruda is fda-approved to treat 16 types of advanced cancer. and is being studied in hundreds of clinical trials exploring ways to treat even more types of cancer. it's tru. keytruda from merck. see the different types of cancer keytruda is approved to treat at keytruda.com, and ask your doctor if keytruda can be part of your story. [music: sung by craig robinson] and ask your doctor if keytruda ♪ i'm a ganiac, ganiac, check my drawers ♪ [sfx: sniffs / long exhale] ♪ and my clothes smell so much fresher than before ♪ ♪ yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ i'm a ganiac, ganiac, check my drawers ♪ ♪ it's a freshness like i've never smelled before ♪ one sniff of gain flings and you'll be a gainiac too! the only detergent with oxiboost and febreze. big news today out of the olympics. with the beijing organizing olympic committee announcing a few hours ago what the games will look like. tickets to next month's games will not be sold to members of the public. they will be given out to the chinese government, only a very select group of people. they have to be citizens of mainland china, they have to follow strict covid protocols. in beijing they confirmed their first case of the omicron variant over the weekend. i want to bring in correspondent matt bradley. matt, china already had a rule that in order to get a ticket, you have to be a resident of mainland china. is this just the beginning of more shoes that drop? >> reporter: for sure there will be other shoes that drop because this is their first taste of the omicron variant, a variant that has ravaged the entire world. this instruction they released is so unclear. they said that tickets should not be sold anymore but be part of an adapted program that will invite groups of spectators to be present on-site during the games. now, what does that mean exactly? i don't really know. we've heard from other news organizations who have used the word "targeted," the "targeted" groups would be receiving these tickets. it really isn't clear. what's also not clear are the very strict covid measures that anybody who attends the olympics are going to have to go through. you know, a lot of this stuff is an expression, but it's unstated, and i think -- i'm just guessing off the top of my head here, hallie, but i'm assuming this is leaving it open for the chinese government and the olympic organizers to make changes to those rules, to the covid regulations and to who can buy tickets as the reality on the ground changes. as we know from the u.s., here in britain, the omicron variant was a real wild card and it's really made policymakers nervous and it's really changed the way we think about the virus. as this whole thing goes from a pandemic to an endemic, china is still trying to defend what it calls their zero covid policy. and when it comes to inviting all these people, and there's really no longer an international event for spectators, they may have to come on board with many countries in the rest of the world like the united states or like britain where they're really just going to be waiting for this to go from a pandemic to endemic. where they're going to start adapting and living with the virus. so far china has been one of the strictest countries dealing with the pandemic, and they may have to change their status. hallie? >> the olympics are only 13 days in order to change their mints, in order to change the poll see. because the policy is going to have to change as the disease situation there evolves. >> right. matt bradley live with that news today. another sports story that's happening right now. australian open. have you talked this much about tennis in your life any haven't. it starts today, day one of play, it is starting without the defending men's champ, novak djokovic. he's the reason why there has been so much discussion about this. you are looking at him as he landed back home in serbia this morning. he got applause. djokovic's vax status could mean more headaches for him. you had the french sports ministry just ruling there is going to be no exemptions for france' new vaccine law. that means djokovic will not be able to play in the french open in may unless he gets the shot. joining us, shorts writer and coauthor of loring sports when they don't love you back. thanks for being on this afternoon. >> thanks for having me hallie. >> there has been a lot of reaction to this. this djokovic drama situation. here's what john mcenroe former tennis star said today on espn about the whole thing. watch. >> if he decides not to have a vaccine and the australian authorities say to him, you cannot go down there unless you are vaccinated, end of story, it's black or white. he decides whether or not he wants to do it. he's got very strong beliefs. he's entitled to those beliefs. >> so you have this situation, it seems, you have got what mcenroe describes as djokovic's belief status, he doesn't want to get vaxed but a huge incentive for him to do so, to be able to compete this the sport he is a star in. how does he navigate that. >> that's one of the most difficult parts of the conversation. i don't think anyone is arguing that he has to get the shot or should be forced to. but there are consequences of that, and one of them means not being able to play in some grand slam tournaments. australia is out, france looks like it is out. u.s. open -- new york's rules are very strict. kyrie irving hasn't been able to play for the brooklyn nets. there seems to be an easy answer. get the shot, you are the number one player in the world, everyone wants to watch you excite compete but it has become a bigger issue than it needed to be. >> how do you see this possibility from the australian health minister regarding the potential for sparking anti-vaxx movement or showing support for the anti-vaxx, quote, unquote, advocates? >> i think this is an interesting part of the conversation. novak has been particularly anti-vaxx for himself. he has been very careful to skirt that line between he's not anti-vaxx eens in general, but he's anti-vaccine mandate. but there is a concern there is a saul smam small but vocal minority of anti-vaxxers that can use him as a face of their movement. the other side of that is there are some people who really do believe by not allowing him to compete in the australian open he has become martyred in some sense. he has become the face of that movement whether he wanted to be or not. the fact of the matter is, you know, he has been fairly outspoken about his own position on this. and he's also just been fairly blatant about skirting some of the protocols. he lied on his visa application. >> right. >> whether he had traveled outside of the country or things like that. there has been some irresponsibility here i think he should bear. >> do you think some of those irresponsibilities played into why we saw the reversal from france? the sports minister said if there is an exemption and he meets the qualifications, fine. now they are saying, no, basically. >> i think it is an interesting reversal to see happen because the sbrishl statement there would be exemptions came out and australia granted him an exemption. i think there is a let's see how the political tenor is after this happens. it was clear in australia that the australian public was strongly against any kinds of exemption here. now, the argument that was then used to revoke his visa and eventually deport him was not about the validity of the exemption. but it was about his being potentially a public risk by being the face of the anti-vaxx movement. i think they are seeing a political calculus from france over what seems to be unfair treatment and they don't want to be seen to be give that same unfair treatment especially when australia reversed its own decision. >> i want to remind people why we talk about this on a new york like msnbc. djokovic has in many ways become the face of the tension between vaccine mandates and what people describe their personal freedoms despite what we know about the science between the vaccines this. transcends sports. >> it does, absolutely. and i am very pro vaccine. i am very anti- anti-vaccine movement. but there is an interesting part of this conversation where i consider the politics of how it went down in australia, but i think you can say it was the right move. i looked like he was getting special treatment, no athlete, no matter how great, should be getting that special treatment, especially in country like australia that has been so careful and so locked down for 18 months. also you can say what precedent does this set? if you are talking about an athlete that seemed to have been granted an exemption and a couple of legal rulings of reversing that, what does this say going forward? but i think you are right, this isn't going away and there is a reason there is bigger than just tests. >> thank you for watching this hour of hallie jackson reports. find us on twitter highlights from the show and our reporting there. and find me on our streaming platform, nbc news now tonight and every week night 5:00 eastern. i am heading to that set next. i will see you there. "deadline: white house" with nicolle wallace starts right after the break. " with nicolle wallace starts right after the break. i'm greg, i'm 68 years old. i do motivational speaking in addition to the substitute teaching. i honestly fat that's my calling-- to give back to younger people. i think most adults will start realizing that they don't recall things as quickly as they used to or they don't remember things as vividly as they once did. i've been taking prevagen for about three years now. people say to me periodically, "man, you've got a memory like an elephant." it's really, really helped me tremendously. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. hey hun hey, get your own vapors relax with vicks vapobath or with vicks vaposhower. take a soothing vicks vapo moment wherever you chose. the pandemic made teaching and learning really hard. but instead of working to help students safely return to the classroom, the san francisco school board focused on renaming schools and playing politics. and they've even saddled our district with a $125 million deficit. our children can't wait for new leadership. here's our chance for a fresh start. on february 15th, please recall school board members collins, lópez and moliga before our kids fall even further behind. this is elodia. she's a recording artist. 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. allergies don't have to be scary. spraying flonase daily stops your body from overreacting to allergens all season long. psst! psst! flonase all good. amazing. jerry, you gotta to see this. seen it. trust me, after 15 walks... gets a little old. ugh ♪♪ hi there, everyone. happy monday. it's health care in new york on martin luther king jr. day with observances all across this country intended to honor mlk's legacy and to take stock of the effort to create a democracy inclusive of people of all races and all creeds, an effort that is more important than ever perhaps this year in light of a rising tide of