president biden calls on democrats to get tough and drop the filibuster in favor of passing voting rights legislation, but republicans are building for a fight with each passing day another covid record as cases soar from coast to coast and almost two full years into the pandemic new mask guidance could be on the way. our tom costello breaks it down. a medical helicopter crash lands at the foot of a church in broad daylight no one on the ground is hurt, and all passengers survived. our stephanie ruhle on the new warning from the irs and why

your 2021 tax refund could be delayed big time plus is major league baseball able to avoid a looming lock out "early today" starts right now good wednesday morning i'm philip mena. >> glad you're with us i'm frances rivera more and more vaccinated people are getting infected in an axios ipsos survey 31% of americans who thought they were vaccinated got the virus 96% of the staff are inoculated. now to jay gray for more on the current surge. >> reporter: the hearing opens with a warning, omicron is spreading out of control >> in massive unprecedented surge in the united states >> driving case counts to unprecedented heights here in the united states. >> reporter: the seven-day

average more than 750,000 new infections every 24 hours, a 53% increase over the previous week and a pandemic record. hospitals across the country again running short on beds and staff. >> every time you start to feel a little bit hopeful and really tried to build on your resilience as a nurse, as a health care worker, as a parent, as somebody, anybody in the community right now then here comes another surge. and that -- that's hard. >> reporter: difficult in the classroom as well where the surge is hitting students and teachers >> teachers want to be in the classroom with students and are doing everything they can to keep them in-person that operationally we're going to have see some closures, unfortunately. >> reporter: while lawmakers are criticizing the administration and centers for disease control for recent public messaging on the pandemic, specifically new

quarantine guidance with the agency failing to recommend testing for patients before leaving isolation. >> you created skepticism and mass confusion >> reporter: the white house is promising to deliver 500 million at-home testing kits, but most won't be available until the end of the month jay gray, nbc news with the massive increase in the spread of the virus you may be wondering how you can better protect yourself in addition to the vaccine. well, many experts are now recommending n95s or kn95s as opposed to cloth or surgical masks. nbc's tom costello has what you need to know >> reporter: from the best masks to those at home test kits it can all be confusing some answer. the n95 hospital grade mask remains the top choice for filtering out airborne particles, certified by the national institute for occupational safety and health, it should carry the stamp. the more comfortable kn95 is

made in china and also offers very good protection so does the kf94 mask made in korea. the difference -- >> n95s have two straps that go around the head as opposed to a kn95 usually will have ear loops. >> reporter: the typical medical procedure mask provides decent protection but doesn't seal tightly around the nose and mouth. so you're concerned about this gap here, right? you want to completely tight lee seal >> that's right. and you will know if it's not sealed if your glasses fog up. >> reporter: in short supply two years ago the cdc recommended against using n95s for the general public now with plenty available they're the best option. but beware there are many fake masks online look for that niosh certification stamp on n95s. this website, projectn95.org is

a website with links experts say cloth masks provide very little protection against the omicron and delta variants >> those two variants are more transmissible, and that is why we're recommending that people wear higher quality masks. >> reporter: meanwhile insurance companies will now pay for everyone to receive eight at-home test kits per month. most experts say the antigen tests are very accurate, though you could get a false negative in the first 48 hours of infection. >> if you have symptoms and you have a negative test in that first day or two you could still have covid so you should still isolate. you should wear a mask around others >> reporter: evolving guidelines in an ever changing pandemic tom costello, nbc news, washington the mid-term elections are coming this year, and voting rights are now in the spotlight. senate majority leader chuck schumer has vowed to hold a vote on new election laws by the end of the week. and president biden has thrown his support behind changing senate rules to get the bill

passed here's nbc's peter alexander >> reporter: president biden casting this new voting rights push as a critical turning point for america. >> what will we choose democracy over autocracy, light over shadows, justice over injustice? i know where i stand >> reporter: framing this effort through the lens of the civil rights movement the president in atlanta first visiting martin luther king jr's grave as well as the church where he preached. asked if he has the votes to pass the bills -- >> i ask every official in america how do you want to be remembered do you want to be on the side of dr. king or george wallace >> reporter: despite threats of republican retaliation, president biden endorsed a major change to long-standing senate rules that would end the 60-vote requirement to avoid a filibuster specifically on voting rights so that democrats can approve that legislation alone with just 50 votes >> i support changing the senate

rules whichever way they need to be changed to prevent a minority of senators from blocking action on voting rights >> reporter: it's a reversal for the president who as a senator spent decades defending the filibuster >> at its core the filibuster is not about stopping a nominee or a bill it's about comprumising moderation >> reporter: notably absent today top democrat stacey abrams citing a scheduling conflict the democratic legislation requires all states allowing mail in voting, making election day a national holiday and loosening state voter i.d. requirements republicans accuse democrats of orchestrating fake hysteria. >> there is no widespread effort to suppress minority voting rights in america.

it's nonexistent this has nothing to do with this this has to do with power. >> reporter: the president gambling on a new campaign for voting rights legislation without the votes right now to make it happen peter alexander, nbc news, the white house. well, you won't be able to use your super fast 5g cellphone service at 50 of the world's airports that includes airports in new york city, los angeles, chicago, vegas, detroit, dallas, miami and more the faa says the new signal can interfere with flights during a 2 1/2 hour confirmation hearing on capitol hill fed chairman jerome powell says the federal reserve is prepared to raise interest rates to keep inflation in check it's currentlyd have been anoth disaster in a year that's already seen tragedy but when a medical helicopter crash landed west of philadelphia no one on the ground was hurt, and all onboard

survived among them a 2-month old baby. gabe gutierrez is at the scene >> reporter: good morning. this medical helicopter was on its way to a children's hospital in philadelphia when it ran into trouble in the air and had to make an emergency landing. now authorities are crediting the pilot with some quick thinking that apparently saved lives. >> that's a helicopter >> reporter: it may be hard to believe but everyone including an infant who was inthis mangled medical helicopter is alive, and incredibly no one on the ground was hurt. >> i literally see the chopper in the sky like right there, and so i'm -- i'm stopped but then there's a moment when i realize this is going to hit the ground. so that's when i put it in reverse. >> reporter: this man was driving his family in the neighborhood just west of philadelphia and pabarely dodge the catastrophe. a miraculous landing witnesses

say right next to a church >> no debris, no wires down, no tree >> reporter: the chopper had been flying to a children's hospital in philly carrying two crew members, a nurse and the infant all four were able to escape the wreckage even before emergency crews arrived. >> everyone's out of the helicopter >> reporter: no word yet on what caused the crash the ntsb will investigate. >> it was absolutely insane. i've never seen anything like this >> reporter: but authorities here are crediting the pilot >> this is a miraculous landing. >> reporter: and perhaps a higher power for a remarkable landing against all odds authorities say the pilot who ran into trouble about a mile from here in the air and then had to maneuver this chopper and successfully landing it next to this church, what really strikes you here on the ground is just how close that chopper came to that church, and again, remarkably no one was killed back to you. >> that is a miracle gabe, thank you. let's turn now to nbc

meteorologist janessa webb who joins us with a look at the weather and if we'll get any relief from these frigid temperatures good morning >> good morning. that's the thought of everyone we want a warmup, and it's happening for the central u.s. just not for the east coast right now. this afternoon you're going to start to notice a change in about 10 degrees warmer in some spots. so that's going to be really helpful. you can see wind chills still in d.c. 15 degrees. we're in the subzero range across northern new england, but as we go into the rest of your wednesday even thursday afternoon you're going to notice the difference it's for the weekend another plunge in our temperatures things finally clearing up across florida partly sunny skies, tampa 75

we do have a winter storm we're watching for your weekend. we'll take a look at that coming up >> janessa, thank you. talk to you in a bit >> police say it was raining glitter at a crime scene in florida. two women are accused of throwing several containers of glitter at a guy and thou they're facing felony assault charges. arrest records say the two broke into an apartment. the police tracked down their car and say they found glitter inside that's a new one >> they don't seem too upset, smiling in their mug shots there. a new study touts the health benefits of olive oil against alzheimer's disease. and our stephanie ruhle goes inside the irs delays to your 2021 tax returns we're back in 60 seconds in ho. for fast-acting sore throat relief. wooo vaporize sore throat pain with vicks vapocool drops. six days of the week,

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over 28 years. it found those who consumed more than half a tablespoon a day had a 29% lower risk of a neuro degenerative disease compared to those who had little or no oil an openly trans black woman has been elected minneapolis council president in a historic move the minneapolis democrat who previously served as the council's vice president first made headlines in 2017 after becoming the first out black trans person elected to public office in the u.s. according to the lgbtq victory fund there are currently 1,000 lgbtq plus elected officials nationwide major league baseball will finally meet with the players association tomorrow to try to end the lock out it is the first talk since troubles started on december 2nd and it just five weeks away from spring training.e fig salaries and changes to improve competition among clubs. this is the league's first work stoppage since 1995.

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apparently there was another one for the most high explosions in a shot. the record was for 65 kilograms of high explosives in one shot we had 140 in that one >> the daniel craig era of james bond ended with a record setting bang guinness has confirmed that "no time to die" massive final explosion was the biggest ever captured in one shot as the movie's special effects coordinator just told us the previous record was for 65 kilograms of high explosives this one used 140 kilograms. >> even more reason for me to get on it and watch that

finally. all right, you might want to file your taxes early this year because the irs says the covid pandemic continues to create challenges which might delay your refund. nbc's stephanie ruhle has more >> reporter: assistant schoolteacher lauren tracy filed her taxes online for the first time last year >> we got all -- everything squared away it wasn't that complicated >> reporter: but then she realized because she'd been furloughed from a previous job she was due a bigger refund. >> i filed $1,050 through my amended tax return and on paper and i've heard nothing about it. >> reporter: nine months later lauren is still waiting for that refund >> there are over 6 million refunds that have still not been processed. >> reporter: and that's from last year. >> correct >> reporter: due tew the pandemic the irs is entering the tax season with a significant backlog and the department is facing staffing shortages. last year fewer than 15,000

workers had to handle 240 million calls. the irs' work force is the same size as it was in 1970 with a budget nearly 20% less than ten years ago. and covid has only increased challenges in the agency especially for paper returns >> irs employees have to be in the building to process those paper returns. covid with the social distancing, restricting the employees in the building, it limits how many employees can work at one time >> reporter: to avoid delays in getting your refund experts advise file online, triple check for errors and choose direct depaused and if you have to have to file a paper return -- >> the irs will work first in, first out. so the sooner you can get your return in, the sooner your in the beginning of the process >> reporter: if you do end up waiting for a refund, at least you'll collect some interest stephanie ruhle, nbc news. there you go janessa is looking ahead at our weekend forestca next. >> and the relete new team set to take on domestic terrorism in

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extreme weather events did over $145 billion in damage across the united states last year, according to a new report from noaa there were 20 defer disasters with a price tag over a billion dollars. hurricane ida alone cost 75 billion. there were also the wildfires, the deep freeze in texas and several tornado outbreaks. >> let's bring back meteorologist janessa webb for a look at the weekend ahead. >> hi. it's never too soon to look at the weekend especially i'm tracking a storm system that will impact some folks as we go into it. the upper midwest for your friday afternoon, and this storm system really starts to expand into ohio, tennessee valley for your saturday. not going to talk snow accumulation just yet, but this will cause widespread travel impacts going into your sunday and monday guys >> we appreciate the heads up. janessa, thanks. your top stories and the

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my name is travis. i am the founder and ceo of uber and contrary to what you might have read, i am not a monster. >> show time is driving an uber amount of drama to your streaming screens. super pump the battle for uber follows the meteoric rise as the founder and former ceo of the ride share app it premieres february 27th in today's top stories investigators are searching for answers after a fire broke out

in a new york high rise killing 17 people. two tenants have filed a $3 billion class action lawsuit against the building's current and former owners, the city of new york and the housing department last night a vigil was held for the victims who died due to spoke inhalation 8 of the 17 were children. new york attorney general letitia james vowed to investigate the fire fully u.k. prime minister boris johnson is facing criticism this morning after itv news reported he hoste own booze party in downing street report private secretary had invited over 100 people via e-mail johnson's office declined to comment on the report and nbc news has not independently confirmed thea the authenticityf the e-mail the new announcement comes days after the first anniversary of the january 6th capitol riots

where hundreds of former president donald trump's supporters stormed the building. the unit will combat natdomestic terrorism. >> israel introduces the next generation of tank drivers scientists have taught goldfish there to drive the team mounted a camera to their vehicle to mimic their movements in the tank. and using food as a reward get them to steer, hook, line and sinker a word of warning as you can imagine they constantly forget directions, and they are always fishtailing. all right. athens, georgia, is going to the dogs this weekend. that's because the city is elcelebrating their national champs on saturday they're going to have a massive parade at the stadium. the georgia build dogs returning after they turned the tide on the crimson tide, alabama on

monday night they won their first title in over 40 years, and it just seems like alabama was in it and wins it almost year so it is nice to see someone else get a trophy. >> what a turn around. i'm sure they're celebrating right now as we speak. >> and they know how

right now at 4:30, approved -- a new booster mandate set to go into effect in the south bay's biggest city, and it's not just for people who work there. we'll show you why you may feel the impact the next time you go to a concert or sporting event. and it's not just covid test that is are hard to find. empty store shelves across the bay area are leaving many families unable to buy certain groceries. the reason behind the lack of stock in stores and what experts say things will improve. plus, a new health order is in place for some north bay residents. the stricter rules and how they could force you to change your plans. this is today