in this hemisphere, their economic footprint. and that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports". follow us online and on facebook and twitter. kristen welker is in for chuck todd right now. if it's friday, new roadblocks for the congressional committee investigating the january 6th lt insurrection. there will be no new testimony today and no new documents delivered as audio shows president trump defending the actions of the rioters once again. plus it's deadline deal at the u.n. summit after weeks after negotiations, the sweeping agreement that scientists say is needed to control the climate crisis may be out of reach. and rising covid cases across the country including in california. one of the most vaccinated states. we'll talk to the head of los angeles county's department of

public health about the fresh fears of another winter surge. welcome to "meet the press daily". i'm kristen welker. we begin this hour with the legal and political challenges facing the january 6th select committee. earlier today former white house chief of staff mark meadows failed to appear before the committee for a deposition. his attorney issued a statement yesterday claiming meadows is immune from congressional testimony based on previous justice department opinions. bernie thompson is threatening to seek criminal contempt charges against meadows if he fails to cooperate. and while the committee and full house of representatives has already made good on a similar threat against steve bannon, it's still not clear if the justice department will pursue criminal charges against the trump confidant.

at the same time, the committee's attempts to obtain white house records regarding what was happening on the other side of pennsylvania avenue as the attack unfolded at the capitol are on hold for now. an appeals court granted former president trump's request to temporarily block the national archives from handing over the records. arguments in that case are set for november 30th. regardless of what the documents or any witnesses tell the committee, the former president has already made clear his opinion on january 6th, releasing statements that claim the real insurrection happened on election day. and a newly released audio from an interview with jonathan karl in march, former president trump defends the protesters who were calling that day for vice president mike pence to be hanged. take a listen. >> were you worried about him during that siege? >> no. i thought it was well-protected. and i had heard he was in good shape. no, because i had heard he was in very good shape. but no, i think --

>> because that was terrible. you heard the chants. >> he could have -- the people were very angry. >> hang mike pence. >> because it's common sense, that you're supposed to protect -- how can you. if you know a voter is fraudulent. how can you pass on a fraudulent vote to congress? >> and, of course, court after court all across the country has determined that there was no fraud in the election. and so here we are more than ten months after the attack on the capitol, and more than four months after the creation of the committee to investigate that attack. where does this investigation go next? i'm joined by leigh ann caldwell. and chuck rosenberg, former u.s. attorney, former senior fbi official, and now an nbc news contributor. leigh ann, i want to start with you and start right there. here we are, all of this back and forth. meadows officially refusing to

cooperate today. so where does this go next? >> yeah. the committee in a letter to mark meadows' attorney yesterday threatened that they would move forward on a referral to criminal contempt, sending that to the justice department, if mark meadows did not comply with the subpoena. we now know that meadows has not complied with that subpoena. he was scheduled to appear this morning at 1:20 a.m. something that he did not do, our sources tell us, so now it is up to the committee. we have not heard officially yet from the committee, but we do know that they have threatened this referral for referral for criminal contempt. we don't know the timeline when they're going to do it, if they are going to follow through. but we -- this is becoming a pattern for people who are very close and very loyal still to the former president as you mentioned. steve bannon's criminal contempt charges were referred to the

department of justice. jeffrey clark, a former justice department official under the trump administration did not comply last week with the committee and the committee has also threatened the same referral with him as well. they haven't acted yet. we're hoping to learn more as the day progresses, but it's becoming clear that these top former trump administration officials are refusing to cooperate with the january 6th select committee. >> and chuck, pick up on that great point that leigh ann makes. this is really a pattern for former trump officials. so legally, what are you expecting to happen next? and what resource does the committee have to bring these people in? >> well, leigh ann is right. it is a pattern. the committee actually has relatively little recourse. let's be clear. congress cannot prosecute anyone for anything ever. what it can do is make a referral to the department of justice. only the justice department has that executive branch authority

to bring prosecutions. and everybody who has so far refused to comply with the subpoena, so as leigh ann mentioned, jeffrey clark, steve bannon and apparently now mark meadows, is going to have the same legal defense that they were relying on advice of counsel. now, that may in the end prove not to be a viable legal defense, but nevertheless, it's something the justice department has to look at carefully. because if they did in good faith rely on the advice of a lawyer saying while this matter is pending in federal court and judges are looking at whether or not president trump still retains any privilege, if they're relying on a lawyer who tells them you don't have to testify while it's being determined, it would be hard to hold them criminally responsible for contempt. >> any idea how long it might take to make a final determination about whether or not they would need to come in and testify before the

committee? >> well, so there's two determinations. one is whether the justice department would prosecute them for criminal contempt. i'm not surprised doj is taking its time. the other issue, the one i think you're getting at, is when might we hear finally from a court that president trump indeed has no residual executive prif ledge? we now know the d.c. court of appeals is setting argument on that issue for november 30th. i presume they would be able to issue a ruling before the end of the year. at least i hope so. i imagine the losing party might appeal to the supreme court. long story short, we still have several months to go. >> quickly, before we get to scott, can i just have you, chuck, weigh in on the comments that we heard from former president trump in that conversation with jonathan karl in which he, again, appears to defend the protesters on that day? >> yeah. i can do this briefly. it must be odd to go through life without a conscious or a

soul. >> very brief and succinct, indeed. let me turn to scott. you have been following reporting on the prosecution of the insurrectionists. and nearly 700 at this point have been charged. if you could, what are the key take aways from those legal proceedings so far? >> we're moving to a new level in the prosecutions. we're getting to higher level defendants, and it's giving us a lot of indications of what's to come. about an hour ago, a man named lonnie coughman leaded guilty to bringing 11 molotov cocktails with him on january 6th and of carrying two firearms near the capitol that day. he'll face at least three years federal prison as a sentencing guideline. when he goes to sentencing next year. another case caught my eye. a man by the name of scott mare fairlamb, a former mma fighter. he was the first to plead guilty to assaulting police to go to sentencing. the judge gave a sentence that

was almost exactly what prosecutors sought, a little more than three years. it was the warning the judge gave that was striking. the judge congratulated him for taking the plea deal, saying there isn't a jury in america who would have acquitted you, and warned the nearly 200 others accused of assaulting police, they'll likely face far more than 41 month when their day in court comes, and their day in court is coming. we won't see trials this year, but increasingly, we're seeing high level defendants face a judge. >> and scott, because of all of the in depth great work that reporters like yourself are doing, some people are watching this and asking the question, what more is there for the committee to find out? what is the argument there for getting to the bottom of what started this and what happened on that day? >> the open-ended question that is just sitting there and has been sitting there is whose idea was it to go in the capitol and breech the capitol? and did anybody fund this or come up with a grand game plan?

we know the top line defendants so far, the accused conspirators with the alleged oath keepers group, several have agreed to flip. who are they flipping if they're the top line defendants? that question is out there, and somewhat parallels with the january 6th committee, trying to find what gave rise to the horrors that day. >> and speaking of that, chuck, let me go back to you, if i could. and, of course, as you and i were talking act, there has been a back and forth over those documents of former president trump. and the question i think becomes what type of information could investigators, congressional investigators learn if they were to obtain the documents? >> well, there are two sources of information. one is documentary. what the emails say, what the visiting logs say, that type of thing. the other which is really important, is what would the witnesses say? the last round of subpoenas went

to men and women who are around and near president trump as these events unfolded. documents often tell an important story, but they're only part of that important story. getting the testimony of people who were with president trump in the days before and during the january 6th riot, that's really what i imagine the committee would want. because as a former prosecutor, that's exactly what i would want. >> uh-huh. and just explain for people the argument, the executive privilege discussion, the former president claiming executive privilege and so far you have a number of judges saying you can't do that because you're not currently in office. >> sure. in the 1977 supreme court case, the supreme court said that a former president has some residual executive privilege. but the privilege is really for the country, for the republican, not for the individual. and the way we determine whether a former president's invocation of that privilege would hold

water would be sustained, is to look to the view of the current president. we only have one president at a time. right now it's joe biden, of course. and so it's his view on trump's claim of a residual executive privilege that matters. and mr. biden has said i waive it. i want the documents to go to the congress. this is too important a matter to keep them cloaked in privilege. >> and leigh ann, while that fight plays out, just look ahead for us a little bit, if you will. what are you expecting to see there from the committee? will there be more hearings coming up? >> well, we asked the chair of the committee that just last week. and we had thought that there would be a hearing before thanksgiving, but he said very unlikely. so what it seems the committee, the stage the committee is in right now is in this deep investigative stage, where they're trying to go through all the information they have.

remember, they received thousands and thousands of pages of documents from social media companies, technology companies, and telecommunications companies as well. in addition, there's other people who are complying. we're talking about the people who have been subpoenaed. these are the people who don't want to cooperate or who the committee thinks won't cooperate, and so they are moving very quickly to the subpoenas. but they're still as the chair of the committee said, 150 people who they have already spoken to around the country regarding their investigation. and so there's still a lot of work being done behind the scenes, despite the fact that some of these high profile individuals are not willing to cooperate. >> yeah. it's a really good point. we are so focussed on the fight over who is and who is not appearing while there is a lot of work happening on capitol hill around this. all right. leigh ann caldwell, scott mcfarland and chuck rosenberg, thank you all for starting us you have. appreciate it.

still ahead, democratic divisions have already scaled down the build back better build. could moderates' concerns about the inflation make it smaller. we'll talk to a key congressional person about what he's willing to compromise onto get the next one done. growing covid concerns ahead of the winter holidays. you're watching "meet the press daily" on msnbc. on msnbc. this... is the planning effect. this is how it feels to have a dedicated fidelity advisor looking at your full financial picture. this is what it's like to have a comprehensive wealth plan with tax-smart investing strategies designed to help you keep more of what you earn. and set aside more for things like healthcare, or whatever comes down the road. this is "the planning effect" from fidelity. people everywhere living with type 2 diabetes or whare waking up dto what's possible

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white house is planning a signing ceremony monday for the bipartisan infrastructure bill that passed last week with the help of 13 republicans and without a handful of progressive democrats. now, those progressives wanted both of the spending bills to be voted on at the same time. speaker pelosi says next week is when the house will move on president biden's build back better agenda. but some moderates may not be ready to take a vote next week. unlike last week, there won't be any republican yes votes to get

this bill over the finish line. joining me now to discuss this, one of the house democrats who voted against the bipartisan infrastructure bill, new york congressman jamaal bauman. thank you for joining me. really appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. >> let's talk about the bipartisan -- build back better plan. you need every single democratic vote to have this pass. do you have the votes right now? >> i hope so is the answer to that question. you know, we thought we had all to have votes a week ago on friday. we were ready to vote on both bills and have them pass the house, but as you mentioned, some of my colleagues, six to be exact, decided they wanted a cbo score and they would only vote for the bill if they got a cbo score -- that proves -- >> congressman, i hope so -- sorry to interrupt you, but i hope so doesn't sound that confident. are you confident you can get

the votes to pass this bill? >> like i said, i hope so. right? because, again, we were on track to get it done on friday. they wanted a cbo score. the cbo score may not be ready this coming week. they said they were fully supportive in any way in the statement they made. the bottom line is this needs to get done. the president had three parts of his agenda. the american rescue plan, the american jobs plan which is the infrastructure bill, and the american families plan which is the build back better act. we got two down, and one to go. and we still have millions of women who haven't been able to return to work because they don't have child care. we still need to invest in violence reduction as violence continues to plague our communities, and we still need the much-needed investments in public housing and reducing prescription drug costs as well as many other areas. >> congressman, react, if you would, to their demand for a cbo

score. what's the problem with that? why not know what the ultimate impact may be on the economy before you sign off on something? do you see this as a delay tactic? >> the white house and the house already supply the offsets which proves that it is paid for. the cbo -- >> not the same as a cbo score, though. you concede? >> are we trusting the white house? i trust the white house to be accurate in its assessment. in addition, cbo score funded infrastructure bill actually adds to our overall deficit. it doesn't take away from it the way the build back better act does. and we've passed hundreds of bills. hundreds out of the house without the cbo score, and finally, there are lobbyists who are trying to gut and kill the build back better act. so to your point of delayed tactic, we will see if it stays

where it is right now, 1.75, or if it continues to be gutted. remember, it came to us at $3.5 trillion. we worked it in the house at $3.5 trillion, and then it started to be cut because fossil fuel companies and pharmaceutical companies don't want to be held accountable. the build back better act makes sure all the things get done as we move toward a more equitable democracy. >> congressman, i'm sure you saw earlier this week senator manchin expressed some real concerns about inflation, the new inflation numbers. the highest in some 30 years. essentially signaling he is skeptical about passing another sweeping spending bill in this environment. do you run the risk of hurting the economy in the long-term? what do you say to him about his concerns? >> well, what we need to do is investigate giving people back to work so we can deal with the

supply issues that are causing inflation. the inflation numbers are not numbers that are going to be here for the long-term. they are here now in response to covid. sickness, death, and supply issues. that's why we have inflation at this moment. the quicker we can get people back to work, the quicker we can get the supply and handle the supply issues and it can align with the demand issues, and we can get our economy back into balance. so all things have to work together. >> there are some real concerns about that timeline, right? that even if you pass the build back better plan, how quickly would that jump start those issues that you are saying need to be tackled right now? it's not an immediate cause and effect. right? >> well, that's why we're pushing for the child care provisions, for example. that's why we're pushing to have that implemented right away. because rolling it back and starting it so that it's at the maximum impact two, three, four

years from now is unacceptable. we need to have maximum impact right now for the child care piece, for the pre-k piece, for the work force development piece especially, and some of the other provisions. especially the environmental piece. you have $550 billion invested in green infrastructure in the build back better act. we need to implement that right away which will also create jobs. so you know, both bills need to move at the same time. they didn't. so now my hope is the build back better act comes right after. >> let me ask you about your strategy, because, of course, we saw last week democrats suffered some big defeats all across the country on election day. so let me ask you, do you regret holding up the passage of the infrastructure bill? do you bear any responsibility for those losses? >> well, i don't connect the losses on tuesday to our strategy or the way we've been negotiating over the last several months. we have to do a better job as a

party of putting boots on the ground and communicating with voters who are normally disengaged and make sure they're a part of the party and part of the progress. we need to be stronger and clearer in our communications. we need to listen more. you get a better understanding of what the american people are asking of us. we need to engage in communities that we historically do not engage in. and that will help us to win elections in all parts of the country. and the candidate always matters. how well is the candidate doing their job and responding to voters as opposed to a talking point here or there where several are dysfunctioning in washington as some may describe it. >> congressman, i hear you on the messaging. i have to tell you, i spoke to voters out on the campaign trail in swing areas in virginia who said they are fed up with the inaction in washington. is it also your responsibility to show results and democrats

failed to do that before the elections last week? >> well, we passed the american rescue plan which submitted $130 billion to public schools and provided rent relief, increased the child tax credit to the end of the year, lifting 50% of children in poverty out of poverty, and we've dramatically increased vaccines both here and abroad and saved probably millions of lives as a result. so we delivered with the american rescue plan. and the bipartisan bill was ready to move. it was just supposed to move with the build back better act. and governing is hard. it takes time. i think that's part of the process as well. engaging people in understanding how governing is hard. it takes time, but also communicating what we've done. we've done a lot with the american rescue plan. and other bills that have passed the house including the voting rights act which we are pushing the senate to pass which absolutely has to pass.

>> and congressman, i'm getting -- >> i'm getting a hard wrap, but yes or no. any regrets about holding up the infrastructure bill or voting no on it? >> no regrets. we didn't hold it up. we just did what we said we were going to do which is support both bills at the same time. >> all right. congressman bowman, thank you for your time. you're facing a busy couple weeks ahead. appreciate you joining us. the deadline is looming to seal the agreement to combat climate change. you're watching "meet the press daily". daily" ntly, so you can focus on what matters most. whether it's ensuring food arrives as fresh as when it departs... being first on the scene when every second counts... or teaching biology without a lab. we are the leader in 5g and a partner who delivers exceptional customer support and 5g included in every plan. so, you get it all, without trade-offs.

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wooo vaporize sore throat pain with vicks vapocool drops. welcome back. global climate negotiations are still ongoing as we enter the final hours of the u.n.'s cop 26 climate summit. the u.n. secretary general didn't menace words in his speech yesterday saying he felt countries were not willing to go far enough in their efforts to slow climate change in asking them to step up in the summit's final day. he said we cannot settle for the lowest common denominator. we know what needs to be done. there's dangerous loopholes for countries to exploit. it's a weaker stance than negotiators put forward earlier this week. i'm joined now my a former white house chief of staff. now the founder and chair of the board of directors for the center for american progress. thank you for joining me.

appreciate it. so just weigh in right there, if you would, on the fact that we are seeing really the resolution of this cop 26 summit seems to be leaning toward a weaker final resolution that won't require scaling back fossil fuels and coal. >> well, it's good to see you again. and i would say that from the moment that text hit the table on wednesday, fossil fuel interests have been trying to weaken it. it's important that we push back. one big difference at this cop is the united states came prepared to work, starting with president biden we saw former president obama there, secretary terri has been all year. we saw momentum from a lot of sectors on deforestation and finance. when you get down to the negotiating text with the governments, countries like saudi arabia, russia, are trying to weaken the tax.

and quite frankly, even if they get everything they want in the text, we still have to go further, and we still have to go faster. the pledges coming forward with get us in reach with what the paris climate might have called for, but we've got to do better. we've got to go to the so-called net zero world that president biden pledged. and to do that, we need some critical legislation passed in the upcoming weeks in congress. >> well, and john, to that point, the other big issue that we're watching at cop 26 is funding for smaller countries on climate initiatives. larger countries including the u.s. so far have failed to reach the level of support they initially promised to give, and as you say, the president touting the fact that u.s. is back as a leader in combatting climate change, but how can that be true when the u.s. hasn't met those obligations yet?

>> well, they -- at the earlier this year at the u.n. general assembly, president biden announced that the united states would be doubling its commitment to climate finance. that was in line with getting that $100 billion number. but the world has got to do better and the united states has to do better. we need to appropriate the money. that's a important role for congress there. and i think the level of ambition has to move up. it's -- this public support, public financing support is also key to unlocking private sector investment in clean energy, in more resilient economies. this is going to be ultimately this is going to be the place i think the world is moving to, like i said, the question is what's the pace? and in that regard, we all have to do better including the united states. >> well, and as this summit comes to a close, we are learning that president biden is going to be meeting virtually

with chinese president xi on monday. so what tangibles are you looking for, john, from this meeting given that these countries are dealing with so many tensions, whether it be taiwan or trade or any other range of issues? what can the two leaders achieve on monday? >> yeah. look, one of the positive surprises earlier in the week was the u.s./china joint statement that secretary keri and special enjoy shia put forward which, in which the united states with china decided to lay down their swords, at least in this climate space in order to at least make technical progress. china came forward with an additional pledge on methane in that statement. but the real action is with the leaders. i think there's a range of issues in human rights, democratic rights, security relationships in southeast asia. but right at the top has to be the issue of climate change that

affects both countries. it affects the ability of our people to thrive, our economies to grow. and so i suspect that president biden will be pressing president xi to go faster to reduce china's reliance on coal in this decade. and get in line with the rest of the world in terms of trying to peek earlier and then start reducing emissions as rapidly as possible. so i think this will be a serious topic of conversation, but at least at this moment, they've decided to make this a lane of cooperation against all the other places where there's either competition or outright hostility. >> yeah. we'll be watching that meeting quite closely. i want you to put your white house chief of staff hat on now, if you would. and let's just rewind and talk about last week's elections. you talked about the legislation that you want to see passed. do you think it was a mistake to

not push hard tore get the infrastructure bill passed before last week's elections? >> no, i think look, i think that if that bill had passed, that the progressive community had not stood up in august and said look, we've got to do these together. we've got to try to get them both done, i think the chances of the bill that provides substantial support for families to reduce their costs, the big ticket items to reduce emissions and deal with the climate crisis, we wouldn't even be talking about it right now. so it looks like it's poised to pass next week in the house. and then the question is, of course, can it get through the senate, and can it get through intact? i think if you look at the inflation problems, the country is facing and the administration is facing right now, this bill will actually as 17 nobel

economists noted, reduce pressures on inflation, and most importantly, reduce family expenditures in places like child care, prescription drugs, lower the cost of energy. so i think it's important that the country move onto this bill, and get it done. i think as i said, i think had they be delinked earlier in the summer, i don't think we'd talk about whether this bill is passed because it would be long dead. i actually think that you know, it has its political consequences, but the biggest political consequence is delivering for the american people, keeping your pledges, and that's what i think the white house and the leadership in congress is trying to do. >> all right. john podesta, thank you so much. great conversation. always great to have your perspective. really appreciate it. wonderful to see you. coming up next, the great resignation unprecedented challenges for the american work force are changing the landscape of u.s. labor. secretary marty walsh joins us

live from the white house. that's right after this. stay with us.

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welcome back. we learned today that the month of september saw a record number of americans quit their jobs. according to the labor department, 4.4 million americans quit their jobs in september as the delta variant of the coronavirus surged in many parts of the country. that's about 3% of the work force. all told, there were more than 10 million job openings in september with more than 7 million americans unemployed. joining me now to discuss this from the white house is the secretary of labor, marty walsh. thank you for joining me this afternoon. let's dive in. according to your department, 4.4 million people quit their jobs in september. the question is why, and is that really a sign of a recovery? >> well, i think number one, the delta variant, as you said in the opening here, was a main reason for it. and two, quite honestly,

coronavirus. i think still the fact that we are still living in a coronavirus time, we're going to see a lot of ups and downs when it comes to jobs. we're seeing certainly last month we had a very good job report here in the white house, with the administration. about 5.6 million jobs added. but since i've been labor secretary since march, if you go back to president biden since he tack office, we added $6.5 million. but people leaving their jobs or good job reports, it runs parallel for the most part with the virus. >> how would you characterize the strength of the recovery give than you have 4.4 million people who quit their jobs? >> i think i feel personally we are living really in unprecedented times. and certainly, all of us would love to see more people back to work and more of the jobs filled, but i think the president laid down plans here. one is the american rescue plan that really begins to deal with

the pandemic in the beginning and getting shots into people's arms and getting money to ppe, the cities and towns across america. we saw the unemployment benefits expire in september. we're seeing more and more people start to look for jobs and get jobs. we might not be where we need to be, but we're seeing more people involved in the job market. and as we continue to move forward here, i think the outcome -- i feel we're going to have a strong few months here moving forward. >> and speaking of the president's plans, obviously he's now focussed on getting his build back better spending and climate plan passed. it comes against the backdrop of inflation, new numbers which show it is soaring to the highest level in over 30 years. as you well know, some moderates, joe manchin says they are concerned that another sweeping plan will only make the economic climate worse. so what is your response? why is more spending the answer to this increased inflation? >> well, certainly the president acknowledges the fact that inflation and he's taking a lot of action in the short-term on

supply chain work, on supply chain. and certainly on long-term in the build back better bill. there's money in there for child care. there's money in there for transportation. there's money in there for prescription drugs. those are the challenges that americans face every single day with rising costs. a lot of that will help us fight inflation. i want to say another thing about inflation. as a former mayor of boston, there are too many american families in the country that couldn't afford goods and services because they weren't making the money to bring it in. biden's plan is about people having the ability to access and get better paying job, and they'll be able to afford and raise their families. all of this at the end of the day will be positive for our country. >> secretary walsh, critics within the democratic party would argue americans are looking for relief now, and passing another sweeping plan might have an impact over years, but wouldn't necessarily bring americans the relief they need now. how do you answer that charge? >> my recommendation is let's

get build back better passed. and let's make those investments now into people whether it's job training, child care, universal prekindergarten or all the programs in the bill. pads the bill. the longer we let it go, the less time on the other side we have to make the investments. >> you're heading into a cabinet meeting in just a short time from now. what are the tangibles you're looking for to come out of that? is this going to be anything more than a sales pitch meeting? >> no, it's going to be more. our cabinet meetings have been more than sales pitches. i'm sure there's going to be a wide range of topics on the table. the president is very -- makes sure we all feel part of the different cabinets. i'm going to talk about what i'm experiening moving forward and we'll have a great meeting today about moving forward and the issues we're talking about right now, inflation, and job creation and job growth and job gain and openings. all the conversations are generally spoken about at that meeting? >> all right. secretary walsh, you obviously

oversee owe sha as well. a a court temporarily halted the new federal vaccine or test rule for big employers. what happens now and how are you going to respond? >> well, certainly i think the most important thing about the temporary standard is that we get americans vaccinated. everything that you and i spoke about right up to this point is about the pandemic. if we didn't have a pandemic, we might not be talking about job openings, we might not be talking about inflation, and what the pandemic has done to the american public, and the american people and the american work force is honestly dangerous. and we want to make sure that we get people that go to work in a safe environment, where they know their colleagues are vax knitted or being tested on a weekly basis. this is not about to be burden some to businesses. this is about protecting and having a safe work space for employees. >> you'll appeal this decision. do you anticipate you'll be successful ultimately? >> if i knew that, i'd be in a different job. we'll take it a step at a time.

>> all right. secretary, appreciate your time this afternoon. thank you. and coming up next, an unusual political development in this day and age. a republican who is willing to go up against a trump-backed challenger. you're watching "meet the press daily". about customization. that's why i love liberty mutual. they customize my car insurance, so i only pay for what i need. how about a throwback? ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ ray loves vacations. but his diabetes never seemed to take one. everything felt like a 'no'. everything. but then ray went from no to know. with freestyle libre 2, now he knows his glucose levels when he needs to. and... when he wants to. so ray... can be ray. take the mystery out of your glucose levels, and lower your a1c. now you know. try it for free. visit freestylelibre.us

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morning, announcing she is running for another term in office. murkowski has been targeted by pro-trump forces over her vote to convict in the impeachment trial earlier this year. the former president has already endorsed one of her primary challengers but in her announcement video, murkowski says she will not be cowed by out of state forces. take a listen. >> in this election, lower 48 outsiders are going to try to grab alaska's senate seat for their partisan agendas. my commitment to alaska is the same one i made during my first campaign. i will work with anyone from either party to advance alaska's priorities. >> now, it's worth noting that murkowski's independent streak has saved her at the ballot box before. in 2010, she lost the republican primary to a tea party candidate but won in a write-in campaign. she is the only republican senator who voted to convict the former president, who is running for reelection next year.

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welcome back. it's been one week since children age 5 through 11 became eligible for pfizer's pediatric covid vaccine. and according to the white house, nearly 1 million kids have already received their first shots. with boosters available to millions of adults, the number of shots being administered every day has now reached its highest point since mid-june. the latest vaccine push comes as cases here and abroad have taken a turn. following a month of steep decline, the daily u.s. case average has plateaued and is up 5% in just two weeks. states seeing the biggest increases are up north, from michigan to minnesota, to the upper new england states of new hampshire and vermont where the weather is already cooler. joining me to talk about what's ahead for the pandemic and a potential winter surge is the

director of los angeles county's department of public health, dr. barbara ferrer. dr. ferrer, thanks so much for joining me. let's dive into what's happening in california. of course the governor warned residents this week that covid would not be taking a break for winter. so how concerned are you about another potential wave in los angeles? >> thanks so much, kristen, for having me. i share the same concern as, i think, everybody in the country. we had a devastating winter last year, there's no getting around that. and with cases rising both in europe, other parts of the world, and now in different parts of the united states, we all need to take a pause and remember how important it's going to be to get through the winter months by doing every single thing we can to protect ourselves and everybody that we love. the good news, i think, for all of us is that we do have vaccines. they're superpowerful. here in l.a. county, people who are unvaccinated are seven times more likely to become infected.

about 44 times more likely to end up in the hospital. and sadly, 60 times more likely than vaccinated people to die. so the power of the vaccine is clear, well-established. with the ability now to vaccinate, as you noted, children ages 5 and older, we've added here in l.a. county 900,000 children who can now get that protection that helps keep them safe. but also everybody around them. so i think we need to be cautious. i think we need to be vigilant. but i think we have tools at hand that should make a very big difference, as long as we take advantage of the tools that we have and we're using them. >> doctor, where are we seeing these spikes, given where we are in this battle, given that kids are now getting vaccinated? i think a lot of people are concerned by that. >> as long as you have a reservoir of unvaccinated people, it's pretty easy for the virus to take hold. here in l.a. county, we have

about 81% of residents with at least one dose. and i think 73% fully vaccinated. but that leaves almost 2.5 million people not yet vaccinated. so you know the delta variant, that's the most dominant strain that's circulating, that actually is pretty easily transmitted, particularly amongst unvaccinated, but also then can affect those of us who may be fully vaccinated as well. we start seeing people coming indoors. we have a lot more intermingling. we have the thanksgiving holiday coming up, the winter holiday is ahead of us. those are all conditions where this virus thrives. >> dr. ferrer, california, interestingly, has actually just opened up booster eligibility to all vaccinated adults. and that's actually a step further than the cdc's own guidance. is that the right move? and frankly, should other states be following suit? >> i think, you know, it may be

semantics, what we're doing in california. if you look at how the cdc described -- and this really applies to those people who are six months out from their second dose and received either the moderna or the pfizer vaccine -- if you look at how cdc described that eligibility, they cast a very wide net. and just about everybody who got vaccinated at least six months ago is going to meet that criteria. you're older, you have underlying health conditions, you know, you're 18 and older and you have exposures either at work or an institutional setting. and remember, we were still operating with some scarcity so we were prioritizing who was getting vaccine six months ago, still. and we're talking about our teachers, our health care workers, people who live in congregate living. so i think we're really -- we're really i think aligned, just we're making it easy for people to understand that if you're six months out from pfizer and moderna, please come and get

your booster, two months out from johnson & johnson, 18 and older, come in and get your booster. >> dr. ferrer, such important information on this friday. we really appreciate your joining us, thank you. and thank you for being with us this hour. we'll be back monday with more "meet the press daily." and if it's sunday, it's "meet the press" on nbc. msnbc coverage continues right now with my friend and colleague chris jansing. good to be with you, i am chris jansing. and today, the house committee that's investigating the attack on the u.s. capitol is a step closer to finding out if and when they'll get all those documents they want from the trump white house. documents they hope will answer key questions about january 6. who was behind the plot to overthrow our government? who wanted to overturn the will of the people? who wanted to ignore the constitution and stop the election from being certified? while the committee is not getting that evidence today, as was scheduled, the court of appeals did set