the electoral votes. and taking place in four days, the georgia election. reportedly house republicans will objects to accepting results in several swing states won by joe biden. republican senator josh hawley says he plans to object and that one objection would force a vote in both chambers. democratic senator ben cardin expects the effort to go nowhere. >> we expect that we will accept the election results that are certified and what the president is doing, supporting a legislative coup of the presidency. that's about what it is. it's against our constitution and those legislators who support it are basically supporting a legislative coup. meanwhile, as it's president rails against the november election results he's also making unfounded allegations on twitter that georgia's two senate runoffs are illegal and invalid. those races will determine when party controls the senate tuesday. as a $600 stimulus is hitting

bank accounts the ballots is raging for those $2,000 stimulus checks and democrats define president trump blocking the house stimulus bill a fourth day in a row. hopes for a stimulus increase likely in the hands of the next congress that gets sworn in tomorrow. we have reporters and analysts ready to take a deeper look into the potential fallout from all that for you. first to washington, d.c. and nbc's shannon pettypiece. first up what do we know about the president's plans to interrupt the election certification process on wednesday? >> reporter: of course, alex, often it's actually almost always been, a traditional ceremonial event where we don't even really pay much attention to this, but because of the president's persistent tweets and allies continuing to raise this, he is trying to turn this january 6th certification of the electoral electoral vote to a

last stand. republicans in the house plan to raise objections from this. there is at least one senator, republican senator, who also plans to object in order for there to be a change in the outcome you need majority of both the house and senate. democrats control the house, and moderate republicans in the senate have already indicated they will vote to certify the election results. so what this is, is dramatics and theatrics and the president tweeted out again recently calling on supporters to come to washington january 6th for what he's calling "a rally protest." it is not clear how many people will show up for that, but as we have seen in some of these past demonstrations following the election, there have been clashes between pro-trump and anti-trump supporters. so the potential, we could see violence there once again, and then even once we do get past this january 6th date, you know, allies of the president told us

for weeks don't expect even then for the president to concede or admit that biden is the president-elect. they say his denial may go on for years and may never submit that joe biden is president. >> extraordinary to hear you report that, shannon. thank you. joining me, director of sirius and from peacock and a form 0er aide to the george w. bush white house and an political analyst. elise to you first. the federal judge dismissed the lawsuit aimed to pressure vice president pence to overturn results of the election, that judge was appointed by president trump. how big a blow is this and how much further can trump and his allies take this, nots with standing what we just heard shannon say, the president plans to potentially never acknowledge this. really, practically speaking,

how much further can they take this? >> alex, it really wasn't that much of a blow just because this has all been about theater. this is political theater. trump's allies they really, that's illusional they thought suing mike pence would get them somewhere. this has been all about placating to a leader who is intent on not being a loser, or being publicly shamed as a loser, and he wants to keep his political support so he can keep beating this drum into 2024. so republicans can either enable that and remain scared and fearful of donald trump and his power or defend democracy and stand for something other than sheer craven political power. >> hmm. you know, the numbers here, two republican lawmakers reportedly telling cnn at least 140 house

gop members will vote against counting electoral votes on wednesday. then incoming, utah republican owens tells the "salt lake tribune" no question in his mind he thinks trump won. you know, in ways feels like this is kind of gaining steam. how do you explain it? >> well, i think what we're seeing, alex, 120, 140 republicans in congress who do not understand the oath of office that they've taken. do not understand democracy, don't care about it, and this ridiculous struggle that we're about to see the republican party try to navigate through extends far beyond what happens on january 6th or what happens on january 20th. and i think, yeah, we've seen a lot of conversations recently about mitch mcconnell trying to assert himself the way he did in 2009, the last time he had an opposition president come into office. in a lot of ways what's going on in the republican party reminds me much more of what former

speaker john boehner and eric cantor dealt with when the tea party came in. didn't know how to deal with the base, didn't know how to deal with independent actors doing whatever they wanted and ended up losing their seats or walking "way from the game altogether. i see what's going on in the senate particularly, people like josh hawley or tom cotton. we have rand paul and ted cruz, marco rubio. i don't see a path for mitch mcconnell to keep control of his caucus going forward. he'll have the same challenges with all of these people jockeying to become the heir apparent to become nominee in 2024. everyone looking out for their own political interests and this is such a different time than we had in 2009. there is no chris dodd or ted kennedy, john mccain, john kerry. those who cared about the senate. those people are gone. left behind, began with the tea party. now morphed into a trumpism we're in right now. there's no controlling it.

it's a runaway train, and they're only going to be happy if they burn the entire place down. >> i remember during boehner's days the analogy was, like trying to herd cats, trying get the tea party and gop altogether on one page. zerlina, certainly this next battle is set to take placeness the capitol next week. the president calling for supporters to hold wild protest outside. certainly sparking fear among u.s. officials. if a certified victory for biden is certain, how do you think these trump supporters will jaect do you think it's inevitable we'll see a lot of chaos? >> well, i hope not, alex, and i hope there's it no violence. it's particularly interesting we're fearing violence when trump supporters, when trump's whole campaign leading into 2020 was about how black lives matter was violent and protesting in the streets. i find the juxtaposition interesting in context. something that was said prior, you problem in the republican party even the josh hawleys and

folks who want to take up the trump mantle in the future, there are folks in thesubstance. not providing anything. sticking with the president hoping voters will go along with them in addition to going along with the president, and we've lost all of the policy substance we could ever had. at this point i don't often say this, but it feels just like a coltish behavior on the part of trump supporters and those kowtowing to a losing outgoing president who is a sore loser, i guess. >> curious about predictions from all of you guys. how long will this congressional opposition to joe biden last? how do you think it's going to end? will it end with a whimper or a bang? elise, you first. >> i think it will be just more antics, as long as it's deemed politically add vvantageous and

appetite in right-wing media to cover this. an imp finance for-show movement without any teeth as e see, because joe biden is the legitimately democratically elected president of the united states. and donald trump is being forced out of office. so at the end of the day, more antics but not going to be any teeth to it. >> what do you think. >> i think just keeps getting worse and worse, honestly. >> ooh. >> having all of these republicans put themselves in position they cannot walk back from. once you've decided, said and voted he's not the legitimate elected president of the united states, there's nowhere to go after that. not like you can work with the guy. can't compromise with the guy. can't do bipartisan guys because he's illegitimate. you said so. on the record voting that way. it will continue to deteriorate. the thing we saw, remember, when mitch mcconnell said his first priority make sure barack obama was a one-term president and the

good old days, before josh hawleys, cottons, marjorie taylor greenes and kqanon members. toxic, divisive and uglier before-of-it get better. >> last word quickly to you, zerlina. >> could get worse before it gets better but only if voters in georgia don't show up and vote for the two democrats in the runoff tuesday. if they put a stop to mitch mcconnell's power effectively they are demonstrating they can help biden get something done. even just help the senate pass a bill. we're in the middle of a pandemic, alex. the senate can't do anything and the american people are holding the bag. pathetic the congress can't get their act together even in the worst crisis america's seen in 100 years. >> you mentioned georgia. all of you state right there and go to georgia now, everyone, bring in nbc's julia jester at an event for senator kelly loeffler in jefferson, georgia.

welcome. how's the senate responding to trump's tweet calling these runoffs illegal and invalid? >> reporter: alex, senator loeffler and senator david perdue are put in a pickle with that, because while votesvotes both said make sure legal ballots are counted, illegal ones not, they haven't pushed back on the idea runoff is a frauch loe fraudulent election because they need voters to turn out. i asked do these claims make you want to vote? she said no. i voted early and my friends and family have as well. for now, they are towing that line between toeing that line. and senator loeffler indoors, less than 50% wearing masks and

this is as her fellow senator david perdue is quarantining after being exposed to covid. he's off the trail and has to resort to virtual campaigning. so not only is the election and the integrity of the election front of mind, covid is literally and in washington as they are pushing for those $2,000 stimulus checks, but haven't quite gotten the funnel to pull a vote on that. alex? >> julia, thank you for that. back with me, zerlina, curt and elise, teasing coverage of the georgia runoffs. rachel maddow and steve kornacki at the big board, tuesday night on msnbc. back to the panel. guys, i want all of you to respond. axios is calling trump the gop arsonist. saying that the president is torching his own party and its leaders on his way out of power. elise, you've got the president

calling georgia the senate race as illegal and invalid, railing against republicans for not approving the $2,000 stimulus checks. how do you believe he's impacting the georgia races? >> certainly doesn't help when your biggest, the big evidence person in the party is a power broker says that it's a fraud and don't bother coming out to vote. it's not great what donald trump is doing, but are the early voting numbers going to skew more republican or democrat? we'll see on tuesday. >> okay. curt? >> well, i think that trump is right now at this point doing no help to the republican party and if republicans do lose in this special election, it's going to be in part because donald trump depressed his own base, his own voters, continuing this ridiculous charade talking about the undermining of our democracy and our voting process. >> last word to you, zerlina. >> i don't want to only credit

donald trump if the democrats come out successful on tuesday. because there are black organizers organizing since november and turnout, 80,000 people voted that didn't vote in november. i think what year seeing it the power of organizing in georgia, and i think the voters in georgia understand that if they vote for the democrats they're taking away the power for, of mitch mcconnell to block any progress or any agenda the biden-harris team would want to enact. >> quick before you go. show awe video of donald trump jr. it went live on facebook during a new year's eve party at mar-a-lago. hundreds of guests partying maskless despite the coronavirus. what message does this send at this point? i guess you're unified and zerlina, you answer this one. >> oh, this shows that they don't care about anybody else's lives. i've lost many cousins, alex. when i see a video like this, it demonstrates to me that my

fellow americans don't care about their neighbors. >> okay. >> worth noting -- one of their own, one of their own is having their funeral today. louisiana congressman-elect who died of covid. funeral today. two kids, a wife left behind, partying with no mask. they're pro-life? completely full of it. >> wasn't that congress-elect like 41 years old? so young. no underlying health conditions. i mean, it's -- it's tragic. we'll see if that is duly noted with behavioral changes. anyway, zerlina, curt, elise, thank you so much. reminder, catch zerlina maxwell's show weeknights at 6:00 eastern on the peacock streaming channel the choice. a question a lot of people are asking. where are the vaccines and why are so few americans gettinging them? the latest on playing catch-up, next. and talking about vaccine distribution in maryland, plus what's behind josh hawley's january 6th objection? u cook,

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here are the latest fact on the coronavirus pandemic. the u.s. surpassed 20 million cases. happened on the first day of this new year. once again took less than a week to add an additional 1 million cases to the total. december's officially the deadliest and most infectious month of the pandemic. more than 77,000 americans died of coronavirus last month. 6.4 million people contracted the virus in december. california recording the most covid deaths friday adding 585 deaths, 47,000 new cases that day. hospitals in southern california and san joaquin valley have no, as in zero, beds in the icu bay area. florida the third state to identify the new covid strain. the man in his 20s, no recent travel history. the new strain in colorado,

california and 33 countries total. as many americans are ang sh anxiously awaiting the coronavirus vaccine. lagging doses for health care workers a concern. from new york city, cori, welcome. the latest on the logistical issues at the hospital? what going on there? >> reporter: yeah. it's really a microcosm what we're seeing in the city and state and across the country. more and more reports of a difficulty with the distribution getting the vaccine into people's arms. there's a lot of factors that have to happen here. we spoke with a doctor here at lenox he'll about theflictions that go into it. crowe dr. eric arbeler with lenox hill. thank you for being in today. you told me that so many little things have to all come together at once to get that vaccine into somebody's body. explain exactly what has to happen. >> sure. so the vaccine first has to be

defrosted and at a proper temperature to safely administer and patients have to be aware they'll need another vaccine within either 21 or 28 days. it's the logistics that go behind the distribution that is so important right now. >> reporter: it's really the timing. when you get the vaccine, you have to make sure you know exactly who's getting it, who's on that list. the people who do come out for that day, you know, the defrosting has to happen at a certain time. those amount of people have to be up for shows vaccines and the follow-up. even after the follow-up, second dose, then the second round of people who are essential workers. try to wrap your mind around trying to inoculate all the essential workers in new york city? >> yeah. fortunately being a part of a health skim we're able to make sure our workers in the icus, nurse, doctors, residents, able

to be vaccinated. the others outside of large health systems voluntary feeks who are dentists and others, receptionists in these offices, a large group of people who need vaccines. >> reporter: what do you see as a doctor for what we're going to need to do to get those vaccines here in new york? >> there is a team at our health system who's working through the logistics for distribution. what goes into it, making sure we have enough supply for that round two when it happens. for those folk whose do get round one. there is a lot going on and fortunately we're working on figuring out what other logistics need to go into this. >> reporter: yeah. that's the big question, alex. thank you, dr. asher. appreciate it. all of these issues that you see starting to compound in california and puerto rico, where they have them coming up but don't know if there's another people to be administer the vaccines. we'll dive into this a little more with you what's happening in the different states including the state of florida

coming up. we know so far the national picture here. 14 million vaccines distributed. only 2.8 million actually given to people. so that's going to need to ramp up much higher in the next three weeks, alex. >> okay. thank you, cori, look forward to that. joining me now, dr. saline gounder, an infectious disease specialist and member of the biden-harris transition advisory board. welcome back. good to see you. you've got the vaccinations given in the u.s. and at some point 3.1 million. cori off a little by that. getting the numbers together every day to be super specific is hard to know exactly, but we know this from nbc news and their calculations. at this pace it's going to take about ten years to adequately vaccinate americans. what's your take on the rate of vaccinations? how far behind are we? >> alex, we definitely have gotten off to a very slow and rocky start. a million vaccinations a week,

about what we're currently averaging is nowhere near at fast as you said, it would take us over a decade to vaccinate all americans at that pace. the president-elect has aimed to vaccinate 100 million people, with 100 million doses i should say in the first 100 days of his administration nap would be a massive increase in the rate at which we're vaccinating. 100 million doses in 100 days means 1 million doses a day. that said, to be able to achieve has it's not just about developing the vaccine, manufacturing the vaccine and in ways that's the easy part. the hard part, the really hard part, getting the vaccine into people's arms. unfortunately we have local and state health departments that suffered budget cuts since the recession in 2008-2009. lost 50,000 public health workers across the country in that time. that is on top of chronic underfunding of these health departments. unless congress really steps up

to fund these health departmentance fund the hiring and training of people, we are going to kwocontinue to find ourselves flat-footed. >> a lot has to do with money. i know president-elect biden criticized the slow process and says his target of 100 million doses in his first 100 days, indeed needs to echo your point. extra funding from congress. how will this all change when biden takes office? can the new administration catch up to where we should be? >> we're going to do everything that we can, but, again, a lot of this also does lie in the hands of congress. unfortunately the congress has been very stingy in funding local and state health departments, even during this pandemic. this is not something where the president can issue an executive order to increase funding. we really are going to need the collaboration of congress to do that. in a sense, this is sort of the testing debacle all over again. we had testing, tests developed. they were purchased and then sent to the states, but then

they sat in warehouses because there wasn't a plan and funding for that plan to make use of those tests. so we're going to find ourselves in a similar situation now. we may have a plan we need fund for the plan to get vaccines into people's arms so they're not sitting in freezers unused. >> uh-huh. "time" magazine says that the oxford astrazeneca vaccine may be the most globally important yet. is already approved we know in the uk. also requires two doses. however tshs has a 70% efficacy level. what is it, dr. gounder, about this vaccine so significant? especially with a lower efficacy level than pfizer and moderna? >> does no got if you have a vo vaccine that doesn't get into people's arms. if you have a vxene without refrigeration needs it becomes easier to deliver a vaccine to

people. some is cost. some is logistics of delivering. if you have vaccines that are easier to deliver, you might actually have at a population level a higher level of immunity as a result. >> another vaccine you're aware of on its way. from johnson & johnson. "operation warp speed" speed dr. slaoui says the u.s. could see j & j doses by february. unlike the others, only requires one dose. do we, doctor, have any idea how effective it will be and how that could speed up vaccinating people since it's just one injection? >> johnson & johnson is studying its vaccine in two different clinical trials. one looking at one dose, the results sooner in february, and actually a second clinical trial looking at two doses. again, even if you are reaching, say, 70% instead of 90% or 95% with one dose of the johnson & johnson vaccine that still is a

huge advantage in that it's only one dose. logistics getting that to people are simpler and johnson & johnson promised to manufacture 1 billion doses of its vaccine. not necessarily all for the u.s. but 1 billion doses would make a significant dent in the vaccine supply needs. i think all of these different tools are very promising and will certainly help us in the big picture. >> that's a positive note to end this on. doctor gounder, good to see you. meantime, governor of colorado joins me to talk about the new strain of covid found there, and that's next. it's time for the lowest prices of the season on

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plans to take over running the country in just two and a half weeks, keeping very busy. >> that is correct, alex. the democratic pair starting off a new year by really trying to finalize and tie the knot on one last campaign. of course, that is the senate georgia runoffs you mentioned. harris going to savanna tomorrow while biden is going back to atlanta monday. you remember his pitch was very direct when he was there last month telling georgians that they need to keep the faith, as he says, need to keep hope up, and really turn out, because they really were able to make sure that, for the first time in decades, a democrat was able to win that state. biden saying they could do that again if they begin to turn out in those same numbers for ossoff and warnock. of course thas, a similar messa harris will bring as well, simply because if those two democratic candidates win, there will be a split senate, but it

will make it easier for the administration to pass a number of legislative priorities. the first one, of course, being another stimulus package to address the coronavirus pandemic as well as revitalizing the economy. even though there is still so much to do, biden expressed a message of optimism pu, continu to do so and keeping that faith. what he told a very empty times square on new year's eve. >> i'm more optimistic about america's chances than i've ever been and i've been around this for a while. we have the most productive workers in the world. we now found vaccines that are available and they're going to work. people, we just have to get a better way of getting more out there quicker. i find we're in a situation where we, we once again have to step up and lead the world and lead the nation. >> reporter: of course, there are a number of priorities biden announced for day one, even

before he gets into office, a couple things to sheck o s ts t filling three cabinet seats left open. al alex. >> a couple things? a few more indeed. and testing shows the new more contagious covid strain is making its way across the country, colorado, california, florida, all identified the strain in their state and some say the mutation could alter the course of the pandemic here in the u.s. joining me now, colorado's democratic governor, welcome back to the broadcast. good to see you, despite the topic. get to what the medical professionals in colorado are saying about this new strain. your state first in the country to detect it. how concerned are you, and what's being done to find out just how widespread this might be? >> well, happy new year, alex. >> thank you. >> yes. this is the new year's gift we didn't want across our country. it's a new potentially more contagious strain of covid.

colorado scientists first to identify doesn't mean it's first in colorado. it's likely in most states by now, identified by scientists and ai plod the woapplaud the c for identifying this early. i believe it's the case in other parts of the country as well. good news. we saw in the united kingdom it quickly became the dominant strain in southwest england and why scientists believe it could be more contagious. >> with the rapid uptick in california, to your point, may have been elsewhere. kudos to the colorado researchers that found is very quickly. ask you about the vaccine. more than 74,000 people who have gotten the first doses of pfizer or moderna there in colorado, but almost a quarter million have been distributed to the state of colorado. so how is that process going? do you have frustration with the rollout? >> so i think the data showing there might about few days old.

we're over 100,000 doses administered now. >> okay. >> one of the things put in place here in colorado anyone partnered to doic no inoculatio have to use the doeft within 72 hours or reassign it to a partner who will put it in the arm of another within tree days. we are just finishing what we call phase 1a. hospital workers around the covid patients and in most areas of the state now moosh moved on vaccinated those 70 and up and as long as supplies hold, a big asterisk you know, alex. several weeks less supplies than anticipated. >> glad the number is better than we reported at this point. colorado, would it welcome more guidance from the federal government? could officials have bun anythinbun -- done nianything, governor? >> would have been nice to know ahead of time that the pfizer

vaccine is six doses instead of five. moderna modeling 10.7 instead of 10. in notice cases finding 11. we want every dose out and holding all partners responsible for six doses of the pfizer vaccine's 10.7 for every unit of 10 in moderna. finding out these things in realtime from experience in the field. as well as often getting less than we're anticipating for the week. nice to have more predictability, more reliability to make sure every dose gets into the arm of 70 and up and then moven to 69 and beyond. >> makes sense. you're planning to ease restrictions on level red counties monday then the "denvers post" reports that that decision caught local health agencies off guard and raises concerns. how do you, sir, respond? what led to this decision? how does that change things for residents? >> certainly every county and every local health agency has ability to stay in a more restrictive environment if they

wanted. we're not forcing anybody to do everything. what we had, a number of counties in our metro areas were moving into orange based on their criteria. we think it's generally better could keep cohesion. people driving 15 minutes to a restaurant, infecting those in a lower preserve lance area. a baseline of reasonable thoughtful science-based safety guidelines across colorado. >> again, counties can choose whatever they want to, if they want? >> correct. absolutely. >> let me ask you ak president trump finally signed the kov id relief bill last week. is the funding too late? what does that address? >> most critical needs funding for the vaccine distribution and ongoing testing program. proud to test 30,000, 40,000 people a day here in colorado. anybody wa taunts wants it, fre, and a gap of a few weeks shipped

emergency funds around to cover it until the federal funds started arriving. signed a week earlier, would have received those funds already. trying to shift money behind the scenes here to cover it until those federal funds start flowing. the most critical part. really glad the bill contained that. $600 for individuals, i hope they find a way to get $2,000. a huge help. we are appreciative of any help from the federal government. >> and i'm appreciative of this conversation. democratic governor, thank you, sir. good to see you. happy new year. >> always a pleasure. key factors that may determine the key rahnoff runofe georgia senate. by the way, we know some of those factors already. ors alre. exactly jen! calm + restore oat gel was designed for sensitive skin. uh! it's incredible! we formulated it with a super nurturing ingredient. prebiotic oat. it soothes skin and strengthens its moisture barrier, too. uh! i love it! i love it!

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this breaking news. we have 11 republican senators that are signing a statement here saying they will object to congress' certification of the electoral college votes. though senators, ted cruz, ron johnson john kennedy, joining josh hawley and notably before this, the first and only one to definitively say he would be opposing the certification and election results there. so keeping a close eye on that. another 11. talking to chris van hollen in just a moment about that. let's go now to the final days of the georgia senate runoff. we have a new fox 5 insider advantage poll showing those races neck in neck as they long have been.

the candidates heading into a dramatic finish. joined by the "atlanta journal-constituti journal-constitution" reporter, there are so few polls for this race. is it because it's hard to poll this particular race? or pollsters are leery of getting it wrong potentially? what's behind that? >> great question. pollsters in georgia relatively were on the noese on the electin in november. most polls show deadlocked. a 12,000 or so gap between biden and trump that's a deadlock. this part of the runoff, the hard to get an accurate poll over two holidays. over december vacations for many voters and over an electorate hard to predict. already seeing 3 million-plus people vote in georgia, by far sets records for runoff state-wide votes here. very hard to determine the size of the electorate and hard to get an accurate poll what will

happen. >> yeah. and asked the director to pull that poll back up what we do see. what do you know about these numbers? so close. at this point, you've got just an incremental lead by both ossoff and warnock but it hasn't always been that way certainly. what do you expect ahead of tuesday? >> this poll suggests what most analyst operatives in the campaign suggest, it's deadlocked, within the margin of error. campaigns are pretty much tied right now. we know from an analysis of early voting number, democrats have an edge on early voiting. not sure how big. could be 200,000 so votes, and important on the republican side depending almost entirely on election day turnout tuesday. they're expecting a soaring rush of votes to help erase that gap. >> okay. looking at these numbers again. 3 million turnout before the runoff to echo your point there

compared to the general election number there's. lower. there are some unknown factors certainly. including election day turnout. i know the expectations. never know with weather or other things. but if it is high, what does that mean for you? >> well, first of all, it means georgians get -- they understand the high stakes of this race. they understand that senate control is on the line and by extension, the first few years of joe biden's incoming administration. we understand that it's a big, huge mow meant out consequential decision for georgians. whether or not high turnout helps republicans or democrats depends, remains to be seen. that's why both biden and trump are coming here for election-eve rails to stoke their bases. lower participation in the deeply conservative areas in north and northwest georgia where republicans need to have a giant gain, giant gains to erase the gap democrats have in early voting right now.

>> extraordinary. all of these stats putting out there and showing the difference between the general election which typically garners way more attendance with voting than you would have in a runoff election. what about the republicans, greg, who filled -- rather file add suit to purge 4,000 people from the rolls? stacey abrams sister, struck that down. how broad is the gop effort to try to prevent georgians of color from voting? >> you're seeing right now legal complaints that focus not just on president trump's election defeat in november in georgia. those have all been tossed out of the courts. now about extension seeking to invalidate newly registered voters and other seeking to vote january 5th, on tuesday. those roundly rejected by the court. seeing a full-scale legal battle and could be a taste what's to come in georgia after tuesday.

because if the results are anywhere as close as in november, expect a full a full-scale battle in the courts. >> yeah. as i say, buckle up. greg blustein, perhaps speak with you again. appreciate it. on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the u.s. killing of a u.s. general, iran is ready to retaliate. rhetoric or genuine threat? i'm not hungry! you're having one more bite! no! one more bite! ♪

kraft. for the win win.

let's go now to the latest on the tensions between the u.s. and iran after a week of military posturing in the pe persian gulf. ordering the "uss nimitz" to return home marking the one year killinging of qassem soleimani. ali, welcome. iran is yet to retaliate in any sort of significant way to soleimani's killing. how about that anniversary tomorrow? are you expecting anything? >> reporter: hi, alex and happy

new year to you. that's exactly right. there's been a lot of threats and a lot of promises of retribution, but nothing that could have given the trump administration an excuse to attack iran, and i think that's been a deliberate strategy, because, despite all of the bluster here in tehran, the last thing they want is an all-out conflict with the u.s. as worrying as all the military postures in the persian gulf is now both by washington and tehran, the real concern is what may happen tomorrow on the anniversary of soleimani's assassination. tomorrowing biggest escalation that could possibly get out of hand. alongside him a senior iraqi militia commander revered by followers. leaders of iraqi militias called on supporters to join anti-american demonstrations in

baghdad tomorrow. that may go off without incident, but thousands of pro-iranian factions on the edge of the green zone certainly has potential toll flare up, even if tehran doesn't want it to. don't fergs, alex, the attack launched by iraqi militias under patronage of iran in the u.s. embassy new year's day last year that culminated in the assassination of soleimani and the subsequent attack by iranians on an iraqi base holding u.s. troops. so tomorrow there's a lot of tension. we're going to be looking out to see how many people come out to that call against the u.s. if it gets violent if they try and breach the u.s. embassy, if tomorrow passes without incident, possibly we could see things simmer down, but all eyes are on tomorrow, and how big a crowd gathers there. also, interestingly, alex, for the last two days iran's foreign minister has been saying that

the u.s. is trying to trap iran into some sort of a conflict, even today he tweeted out that the israelis are trying to pull off a false flag operation to kill u.s. troops in order to blame iran to start a war. so iran is sitting here saying, listen, we're not trying-t inin anything. americans are trying to goad us into a conflict and same time u.s. saying they've seen a lot of movement by iranian troops in this region building up to the anniversary of soleimani's april sassonation. >> thanks. despite getting people vaccinatvax vaccinat vaccinated, sometimes progress. still the question raised what could happen when the majority of the country will be vaccinated? next hour, senator chris von hollin talks about the vaccination distribution and what's really behind josh hawley's january 6th objection.

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