very good day to all of you from msnbc world headquarters here in new york. wshg welcome, everyone to alex witt reports. we begin with breaking news and the surging number of omicron cases across this country. u.s. reporting almost 120,000 new cases yesterday. just in the past few minutes, the white house saying the president will deliver a speech about this. we have nbc s josh letterman with the president in wilmington, delaware and scott cohen at a testing site in san jose, california, and dr. azure joining us to answer critical questions. josh, start with you. when did the president decide to address the nation and any specific moment relating to omicron prompt that in what we might hear new about it? reporter: without officials very closely tracking the rise in cases of omicron as dr. fauci and others just in the last 48 hours have been saying it is