including the president himself, are giving this gut check. don't freak out yet. >> this variant is a cause for concern, not a cause for panic. >> president biden also saying new lockdowns do not seem to be on the table just now as the w.h.o. says travel restrictions might not be the way to go since it might disincentivize other countries to come forward with any variants themselves. ahead, we're separating fact from fear about what you need to know from omicron. and we have who else might be getting flagged with a contempt of congress clause. for now i'm hallie jackson in washington starting us off with our news team. kelly o'donnell at the white house, and we're also joined by dr. is he celina gander.

you probably have questions about omicron. we, do, too, and we don't have all the answers. let's lay out what we know and do not know about this thing. let's start with what we know. the w.h.o. says it is a very high global risk and consequences may be severe. but the south african doctor say symptoms so far have been extremely mild. here's what we don't know about this variant. how infectious is it? how quickly can it be translated? how serious is it? meaning, are people getting sicker? if you're fully vaxxed up, how protected are you? kelly, it is against this backdrop, the question marks of what we don't know and what little we do know that the president really tried to strike this reassuring tone in his

remarks today that his administration is on top of this. >> reporter: very much so. looking the american people in the eye saying what resources he will bring to bear, those that are available now like vaccines and booster shots, and those that could be available down the line, saying he'll use the fda, the cdc and imploring those at pfizer and moderna and j&j to do any tweaking that might be necessary to vaccines if that were to be necessary at some point to adjust vaccines, again, if science determines that would be needed for this omicron variant. that's still a question mark. so the president talking about some of the steps that can be taken. among those steps the president was asked about some of the pushback on his travel restrictions that he enacted on friday going in effect today involving eight countries in africa. he was also asked about the likelihood of any other countries, for example, the variant is now appearing in europe. we know it's in canada. would there be other

restrictions? so far the president says no, and he's basing that on the prevalence of that variant, and it is more dominant in africa where he is trying to slow the transmission of the variant. that's what his sort of thinking behind that is. he says it's clearly not the answer to stopping the variant but it's about giving the u.s. more time to implement additional vaccines and so forth. here's how the president responded to questions about his decision on travel restrictions. >> you understand the point of the restrictions, to give us time to get people to get protection, to be vaccinated and get the booster. that's the reason for it. >> reporter: and one of the big questions is how quickly will scientific officials here in our country learn about the presence of omicron in the u.s.? they say they expect it could be here now or will be at some point. in talking with white house officials, i'm told that the u.s. currently does sequencing

of about 80,000 samples per week, and that's more than any other country. so they believe that kind of level of scientific surveillance of available data about samples that are being tested gives the u.s. a good chance to know what's out there, and the u.s. is looking at ways to communicate from the federal government to the health departments in different communities around the country, obviously working with governors and states, and all of that to try to make sure they have good information. the president will also be getting briefed daily on covid, the delta as well as this new variant, to make sure he's got more information coming in to make any adjustments as we go along. hallie? >> that's a good point. kelly o'donnell, thank you. matt, let me go to you. we know these travel bans are in place in south africa, the u.s. and other points. other countries are putting in travel bans as well. but south african officials, even the w.h.o., was saying,

putting these travel bans in place gives the government a chance to do the right thing and be transparent about the variants. >> reporter: there's more to it because south african and southern african areas are saying, we are being candid and now we're being punished for it economically and we're vulnerable countries. that's what we're hearing from the president of south africa. really in a chorus of objection from much of the global south. remember that up until only a couple months ago when the virus ravaged through south asia and india, this was very much a rich country disease. it was unusual in that regard that it seemed to be tearing through europe, italy, the united states, here in the united kingdom. so what we're hearing now is instead of punishing us with travel bans, instead of denying our economies travelers and foreign opportunities, why not give us the vaccine? that's what we've been hearing from the world health

organization. you know, they actually had a meeting today, the world health organization health ministers, trying to come up with a unified response to future pandemics. this was a long-planned meeting and it just happened to happen right today when the omicron variant was such a topic of global concern. and the head of the world health organization reminded everybody, yeah, this new variant just goes to show we need a coordinated global response, and when it comes to this variant, the rich world is reaping what they sow. health issues in south africa where vaccination rates are so low, you can guarantee there will be mutations because the virus will be running ragged through those parts of the world. so when you look at south africa where 70% of the world is

vaccinated compared to a global average of about 2%, they are chickens coming home to roost. for every six boosters -- remember, hallie, the booster is your third shot -- for every six boosters there is one vaccine development. that's what we're hearing from the u.k. today, and the global south is saying, give us the vaccine, give us our first doses and that is the vaccine inequality that a lot of people are saying has contributed to this latest crisis. >> matt bradley from us overseas and kelly o'donnell from the north lawn, thank you to both of you. dr. gander, let me bring you into the conversation here. let's start with the graphic at the top of the program about what we know and don't know. those question marks about what we don't know, those are huge questions. how fast is it transmitted?

how serious is it? how protected are we if we're vaccinated? when might we see that data come in? >> hallie, i think you'll start to see answers about whether omicron is immune evading, so whether our vaccines work against omicron and how well they work against omicron. i think we'll see those answers peter in in about two weeks. other things have to be done by laboratory testing rather than seeing how omicron plays out in patients in the field. scientists are very hard at work in the lab trying to get us those answers. i think with respect to how easily omicron transmits from person to person, how severe of disease it causes, i think those are questions that will take a bit longer to answer. >> you heard the president trying to strike this balance between saying, as we played, this is a variant of concern, it's not a reason to panic, at least not yet. is that the right balance, in your view? >> i think that is the number

one take-home message here is do not panic. we do believe vaccines will still provide a good measure of protection, particularly against severe disease, hospitalization and death for most people. if you are somebody who is more vulnerable or just want to be extra sure, i would strong the suggest, at least right now, that you get an extra dose, a booster dose of vaccine, to put your mind at ease but continue to also -- i've called them winter layers. make use of all of your winter layers when you're out in public, in indoor settings, wear a mask. try to stick to well-ventilated spaces as much as possible. use rapid testing as we were advocating over the holidays. we still have holidays ahead. they're expensive but they're also a way, if you're able to get your hands on them, to keep your loved ones and yourself safe. this is not back to square one. we still have a lot of potent

tools to protect ourselves. >> i think it's an important note to note. i know dr. ashish jha who we talked to before, this is not 2020 before we were before. when you look at what new york city is doing, putting in place -- or i should say strongly recommending people wear their masks indoors again, you have the state with a state of emergency making sure they have enough hospital beds for covid patients. are they getting ahead of their skis, or do you think those are prudent steps to take at this moment? >> i think those are reasonable steps. new york city, where i am, doing the right thing would be to tighten up some of its vaccine requirements, for example, for indoor dining, bars, gyms. right now you're required to show proof of at least one dose of vaccine. i think it might be time to tighten up and say you should be fully vaccinated to be in those indoor spaces. again, do not panic. we're not looking at lockdowns

again, and i can say that with great confidence. we know much more than we did in 2020 and we know those winter layers will protect you. >> wear those winter layers. dr. celine gander, thank you. we appreciate your expertise at this hour. president biden is about to give an update on the supply chain issues we're talking about. we'll take you to the white house when it starts. brand new details of a phone call between congresswoman omar and -- we've got it all after the break. d -- we've got it all the break. ♪♪ this...

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capitol hill now where we just learned about a phone call between congresswoman omar and congresswoman boebert. a republican from colorado, boebert apologized for saying omar was mistaken for a terrorist who was rioting at the united states capitol. we now know that boebert said she was reaching out to omar's office to see if a phone call between the two could be arranged. here's the readout from congresswoman omar. she said, today i graciously accepted a call from

representative lauren boebert in the hope of receiving a direct apology. instead of apologizing for her islamophobic comments and fabricated lies, representative boebert refused to apologize and i promptly ended the call. leigh ann, this is her speaking to a group of supporters making comments about congresswoman omar. boebert the next day said she is apologizing to people who may have been offended and wanted to reach omar. so this phone call, that by omar's account, seemed to not have gone well at all that it led to omar -- she didn't say she hung up on her, but stopping this nonproductive call. i assume they haven't talked

about their readout of the phone call? >> reporter: in fact, lauren boebert posted on instagram her interpretation of the phone call and said omar told boebert that she should apologize for her anti-islamic rhetoric. omar's office has put out instances of what boebert has said in the past, saying omar is a hamas sympathizer, has made comments about terrorists. the reason this phone call was supposed to take place today is because leader mccarthy, the republican leader, put out a statement over the weekend saying he talked to boebert

about what she had said about omar and suggested that boebert should reach out to omar and that the two of them should talk. so that's why this has happened. but, you know, this is one instance, hallie. the big picture is the tension on capitol hill, especially between these far right members and the progressives, the squad is horrible. and the fact that this continues and does not get better is a symptom of everything that has happened on january 6 and since then as the relationships on capitol hill especially in the house continue to disintegrate. he has a stake in this game, too. he is hoping to win the speaker and telling the moderates he's trying to make everybody happy,

but what is happening here is that he is really starting to frustrate definitely the democrats. there's been repercussions before, but starting to frustrate even some of his moderate republican members who are now tied to things that boebert says. hallie? >> to be clear, she is the one that initiated this verbal grenade when this came out last week. leigh ann caldwell, thank you so much for bringing us this. let us know if you get any more on this. the committee for january 6 may come up with more contempt charges. mark meadows and clark have been stonewalling the committee for months now. two of the representatives for that committee had a preview on

what to expect. we don't have that sound. we have pete williams and john breznahan. there seems to be a question mark on why not mark meadows also. the two of them did different things. meadows never showed up for his deposition in the first place. clark did, but was not always forthcoming on information. why clark and not meadows. do you have any reporting on this? >> yeah, i've talked to sources on this. there are a couple reasons. one, meadows, there is an executive privilege here that is being litigated. if any of the potential witnesses beyond president trump is covered by this, it would be mark meadows. s he was the white house chief of staff. there is an issue there. like you said, he didn't show up

for his subpoena, but he has engaged with the committee. there's been some engagement with the committee, he and his lawyers have engaged somewhat with the committee. now, clark is a completely different level as far as the committee is concerned. as you noted, he showed up for his deposition and didn't give them anything. he's claimed a lot of blanket, you know, just immunity from having to testify. so i think the way the committee looks at it, they're not on the same level, so they're going to move forward with clark. we expect that vote will happen wednesday night in the select committee, the contempt referral vote. it could be on the floor of the house by the end of the week. >> and any question of whether or not that passes, bres? >> it will pass. it will pass. they voted contempt on steve bannon, and you can expect liz cheney and adam kinzinger to

vote for contempt. >> pete williams, is it your sense that, as bres points out, one of them might have more of a claim to executive privilege than the other? >> i don't think there's much claim about that. it is a theory created by the courts, and it basically says presidents ought to have candid advice, and if people around the president is afraid their advice, what they say, will eventually become public, they will hold back and not give the president the unvarnished truth. it's the strongest level for the immediate people at the white house, and that includes the chief of staff. he would have the strongest claim for executive privilege. remember, of course, we're talking about a former president, and a former president's executive privilege claim is a residual one. it's diminished how much still clings to mark meadows is for

the courts to work out. it's a very different picture for jeff clark who was, at the time, the acting assistant attorney general for the civil division, so he's not a close advisor to the president. he's claimed that he also has attorney/client privilege, but that seems questionable because the president was not his client. so he's got some other problems that i think make any potential claim on his part less forceful. but john is right, this whole question of the president's former executive privilege claim is all to be worked out by the courts, and tomorrow the u.s. court of appeals here, a three-judge panel, will be delving into this when it hears the argument on whether these documents that the committee wants should be turned over that are now held by archives. >> any timeline of when we would get a decision after those arguments, pete? >> i think quickly, because you remember they moved very quickly on this. they did a hurry up and put it on a fast track, so i would think it would be a matter of weeks, not the normal months

that it takes the court of appeals. >> john bresnahan and pete williams, thank you for that. there is news of the ceo of twitter will step down. in his resignation letter he talked, among other reasons, for a need for the company to stand on its own. cara, a friend of the show, is with us. hey, cara, how are you? >> i'm good, thank you for having me. >> could this actually change the platform? >> this company could be for sale given a lot of the changes

as jack dorsey completely out. he's on the board and he's also a chairman. they changed the board so it's not a staggered board anymore. it's got a lot of easier takeover targets. it could be a matter of who owns twitter someday, or maybe not. it could be a matter of where the company is going, if it's going to lean in the direction that jack has set. it could impact whether donald trump gets back on the platform. there's all kinds of things that could matter to you. yeah, i think it does. >> you're hitting on a point that i also wanted to ask you about which was the criticism that you know dorsey faced for misinformation and disinformation on the platform. is this changing of the guard, if you will, signal to you any kind much meaningful change in the way they handle things on that front? >> no, all the same executives who made those decisions. jack has been more absent, he's interested in cryptocurrency, he has another job running square, which is a financial company,

necessarily. he's done other things, especially in the financial crypto area which he's talked a lot about. so the same executives are in place, and the new ceo who has been the cto has been there since 2011, has been cto since 2017. it's the same cast of characters running the company, the question is what happens next. and brett taylor is a long-time silicon valley figure. >> can you tell us more about dorsey's successor here? >> not much. not many people know about him. a very nice guy, sort of in the background. other executives have had more visibility such as vincent gaudy, which is the chief counsel there and has done a lot of chief decision making on that front, which is where the focus has been. they went a tech direction versus a media direction. they had a former president or ceo that was more of a media

director. they made a lot of advances in technology in the past year, improvements of products. that's been a complaint about twitter. one thing that's critical is many people think this company is deeply undervalued. the price has gone nowhere since 2014 while other tech companies have soared. people feel this is an undervalued asset given the impact. you'll see some action here around this company. especially with the founder gone, it makes it a little easier. the different kind of board, it also continues to be underpriced compared to other companies. and then there's all kinds of indications with the election coming up. i'll be watching this company very carefully now post jack dorsey. >> and i hope you'll come on the show and tell us what you're seeing. >> i would love to. thank you. waiting for president biden to talk about the economy and those supply chain issues as we are now officially and formally and fully into the holiday

shopping season. we'll get an update on the stock market right before closing and what it all means for you as we head closer to christmas. plus, a member of the house democratic leadership joining us with what appears to be a jam-packed congressional calendar for december. that's next. december. that's next. ♪ there are beautiful ideas that remain in the dark. but with our new multi-cloud experience, you have the flexibility you need to unveil them to the world. ♪ people everywhere living with type 2 diabetes are waking up to what's possible... to unveil them to the world. ...with rybelsus®. (♪ ♪) rybelsus® works differently than any other diabetes pill to lower blood sugar...

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(♪ ♪) you may pay as little as $10 per prescription. ask your healthcare provider about rybelsus® today. emergency planning for kids. we can't predict when an emergency will happen. so that's why it's important to make a plan with your parents. here are a few tips to stay safe. know how to get in touch with your family. write down phone numbers for your parents, siblings and neighbors. pick a place to meet your family

if you are not together and can't go home. remind your parents to pack an emergency supply kit. making a plan might feel like homework, but it will help you and your family stay safe during an emergency. we thought we came on the air with 15 minutes to go before president biden appeared to talk

about the white house. that apparently is not happening. i want to bring in shannon pettypiece. shannon, no remarks from the president? what's up? >> reporter: as you know, this is very unusual for the white house to cancel remarks by the president literally 15 minutes before they were about to occur. so this was very unexpected. a white house official told my colleague kelly o'donnell that this is not because of any crisis or any issue, it was simply because the president wanted to spend more time with the ceos talking with them. he had a pool spray with reporters that cut into the time. also there could be a little bit of media strategy here at play. the white house wants to emphasize the work they've been doing on the supply chain. a lot of positive things that are going on because of some action the biden administration has taken, like extending hours at the port and trying to bring the supply chain together.

obviously the news is this new covid variant out there that is causing a lot of concern that we heard about from the president earlier. it could be an attempt to shift the message about the supply chain to next week when they said the remarks will be rescheduled to try to get some more attention then about where things are at with the supply chain. certainly unusual here, and certainly two things that are highly connected, the supply chain and this new variant, because as we have seen throughout almost two years now, what happens with covid affects the economy, and that cycle is something we can probably anticipate continuing here, so possible the white house wants try to get a little more clarity what's going to be going on with this new variant first as well. >> shannon, anything expected to come out of this meeting with top business leaders the president has been speaking to? >> we didn't really get any indication on that. i asked them anything you would

like to see from the administration? they said they would like to see him bring all the pieces of the supply chain together to get them to work. it's probably something of what the president will hear from retailers today. >> shannon pettypiece at the white house, rocking and rolling as we all are. i guess we'll see you next wednesday. i want to bring in representative dan kildee, member of the budget ways and means committee as well. representative, thank you for being back on the show. >> thank you, good to be here. >> we have a list of all the things that congress, specifically on the senate side, too, has on their plate over the next month. there is a lot. you have to prevent a government shutdown. there is this debt ceiling discussion you have to have. the senate needs to get done, people hope, the build back

better bill that he's already taken action on. and we were wondering when we might see a funding bill. it could be a short extension, according to democratic aides. could you confirm that for me, is that what you understand, that we'll see some sort of short extension through the end of january? >> yeah, i don't want to get ahead of the speaker on this, but the expectation is we would vote this week because we have to vote this week. friday we're out of money. midweek this week to perhaps get into january to give us a chance to come up with that full year spending bill. it's difficult with these really thin margins and no republican partners to work with, so we're trying to deal in that environment where we have to operate without a legitimate opposition party on the other side willing to work with us and try to get this done. i think they would rather see failure than to participate in success because they don't want that success to accrue to the benefit of president biden or the democrats. i think that's a really cynical

use of their power. >> so given what you just said, congressman kildee, and some pretty strong words there, how does getting a short-term deal done now boost your chances of working with those same republicans come january? >> it gives us the time we need. we can't let the government close. we haven't yet been able to come to a resolution particularly with republicans in the senate as to what they're willing to do. we can get things done in the house. the senate, because of their arcane rules, they make it a lot more difficult. during that period of time, the hope is we can deal with build back better, perhaps get that off the table, deal with the issue of the debt ceiling, get that off the table, then have a real serious discussion about the funding priorities for the next year. i hope that we can get that done. >> you also have, as this is all happening as we look ahead to the beginning of january, the year anniversary, i don't have to tell you, of january 6 and the riot at the capitol, the insurrection there. you and i have talked a lot about that, congressman.

there is now some news from the select committee investigating what happened about a contempt of congress charge, potentially, against jeff clark who we just reported on. there may be some action in the very near future of former chief of staff mark meadows. would you support, if it came to the floor, a contempt of congress charge against clark and maybe against meadows, first of all? >> i would. i think we have to use every tool we can to get to the truth, and the idea that we would sort of sit back and normalize this idea that people from a previous administration who may have information important to this investigation can simply thumb their nose at the congressional inquiry and let it go, this is not how democracies function. we can't just stand by and let these folks completely run roughshod over what has been a tradition of the rule of law. they're just ignoring a

legitimate subpoena for information and testimony in a monumental question about the strength of our democracy. this was not a small moment. this is not some fishing expedition. i was there. we've talked about this. this was an attack on the united states capitol, the first since the beginning of the 19th century and the idea they would not want to provide, that they would not endeavor to provide every scrap of information that they have to make sure congress has the information it needs to act is beyond my comprehension. >> do you think, as sort of a corollary to that, that it has, at least this contempt of congress charge issued against steve bannon and an attempt for the other two, is that pressure on the others to cooperate? it seems like what we've seen with steve bannon, it didn't move the needle, at least as it came through these other high-profile folks. >> i guess we'll see how effective it is once steve

bannon's case is fully propagated and there has to be a consequence if you don't follow the law. that's a fundamental in the way society operates. my opinion is it will only become effective when it becomes clear for their willingness to avoid the law. >> i want to ask you on a different topic what we've been talking about a lot here today and we led our show with, chgs -- which is the latest covid variant, omicron. the question marks around what it means. there is not a lot of data yet. president biden, as you know, have put in place these travel restrictions. yet the world health organization says, on the other hand, wait a second, those travel bans disincentivize people and nations to be transparent if there are new variants to come out. do you support president biden's

approach here? >> i do, because the effect will be not to stop the problem entirely, but to give us the time we need in order to respond properly. honestly, to allow science to inform our policymaking choices. these are tough choices. the easy calls are made long before they get to the president's desk. he's always going to face criticism. if he's going to be criticized for taking action to protect americans and to try to give us the time we need to respond effectively to this new variant, he'll be on the right side of history in the way that this president views his responsibility is less about the moment, more about the effect that it has on the life and health of americans, and i think that's what we want in a president and it's, frankly, pretty refreshing. >> detroit news, as you know, is reporting that your home state, michigan, today is reaching a new record for covid hospitalizations more than any

other point in the pandemic. what key is going to unlock covid restrictions in your state? there are also other states struggling with the spike. >> it's getting vaccinated. this is the only way we're going to stop this, the only way we'll effectively deal with this is for people to follow the science. they get vaccinations for their kids when they are young. if they end up in the hospital, they'll take any drug they can find to put in them. why not take the vaccine to prevent the spread of the disease and the severity of the disease if you happen to get it. that's the only thing i can say to my fellow michiganers and anybody. get over it. do it for yourself and the people around you. get vaccinated and we will be able to get around this corner and get through this terrible pandemic, but we won't if people continue to insist on having it

their own way to their own detriment. >> congressman dan kildee, thank you for being here. we have word from inside the courthouse where it is officially day one of jeff epstein's long-time confidant. we're learning about the strategy of ghislaine maxwell in their opening statements, next. their opening statements, next

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once upon a time, at the magical everly estate, landscaper larry and his trusty crew... were delayed when the new kid totaled his truck. timber... fortunately, they were covered by progressive, so it was a happy ending... for almost everyone. opening statements are happening as we speak in the first day of the ghislaine maxwell trial. she faces six charges, including traveling with a minor to engage in illegal sex acts. remember, she claims she is innocent. she was traveling with jeff epstein. i want to go to tom who is outside the courthouse in washington. from what i have read and what i have heard from you and our team

out there, it seems as though the defense strategy in these opening statements has been to seek to preemptively take away any thoughts by the jury. >> that's right, ghislaine maxwell's attorney says she wants the jury to focus on three key words, and that's money, manipulation and the conduct. a lot of this goes back to the mid-1990s, and she wants to concentrate on the fact that three women who came forward are all represented by civil attorneys, that they made payments to these allegations of sexual abuse, and the memories were manipulated over time by these attorneys or by information that came out years

after this alleged abuse occurred. but prosecutors started out with a very clear, at times dispassionate, explanation of the events, talking about a victim named jane who was 14 years old at the time. they say that she met both maxwell and jeffrey epstein at summer can when she was only 14 years old. prosecutor laura pomerantz, the u.s. assistant attorney, said what jane did not know was at that summer camp would be the beginning of a nightmare, calling both maxwell and epstein predators. an opening statement lasting approximately 30 minutes. when i left the courthouse a while ago, the defense, prosecution and judge were in a sidebar, but i believe the defense opening statement is either continuing as we speak or will be wrapping up shortly and we should be getting to our first witness or witnesses of the day, hallie. >> we don't know who that first witness will be yet?

>> reporter: the first witness has not been publicly identified, that's correct. >> tom winter staying on top of that. tom, i'm sure this is not the last time we will talk from your vantage point outside that courtroom. next up, why you may be seeing more and more trump loyalists in charge of overseeing state elections soon with watchdog groups sounding the alarm. joining us after the break. joining us after the break wayfair's cyber monday sale is on now! score unbelievable savings with our biggest sale ever! like ge appliances up to 40% off rugs up to 80% off and lighting up to 65% off. plus get bonus savings with a wayfair credit card and free shipping on thousands of products.

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have you seen this new "washington post" reporting out today that former president biden loyalists seem to be i will filtrating local election officers replacing poll watchers and other local election officials. watchdog groups say if this is successful former president trump and his allies could do damage to the guardrails that prevented him from overriding president biden's legitimate victory earlier this year. quote, the attacks are chipping away at the elections and they will be closer to their goals. joining me now, amy gardner, one of the authors with a buy line on the piece. >> thank you for having me. >> i think this was impactful here. this is not about 2020.

this is about 2022 and 2024, this is about future elections down the road. explain your reporting and how this might affect the elections down the line. >> sure thing. there are certainly different areas where we saw evidence where president trump and his allies and the grassroots base that is so passionately supportive of him are you go to having and in turn taking orders to try to get jobs or volunteer positions at the most local level, as election poll watchers, as actual employees of local and state election offices. we have reported an instance, several instances in pennsylvania where protrump individuals who have posted on social media their belief that the election in 2020 was stolen from president trump have won local election judge or election inspector positions. there are some instances in michigan where members of county

boards of canvassers who are responsible for certifying county results who refused president trump's treaties not to certify president biden a year ago were not replaced when terms came up this year. local parties nominate people for these position asks the republican party elected not to row nominate several republicans who certified the votes from a year ago. we know several secretary of state of the attorneys general who endorsed the lie that the election was stolen and president trump has supported these people. the ag in michigan, the secretary of state in michigan, she testified a year ago that without evidence she had seen fraud in the accounting process in detroit. he led a mission to overturn results based on a counting

error. these are popping up all around the country is what our reporting found. >> thank you for talking through what your sources are telling you. appreciate your time. thanks to all of you for watching this hour of hallie jackson reports. find us on twitter. and you can also find me just an hour from now over on our freedoming platform nbc news now tonight and every week night at 5:00 eastern. in the meantime we will leave you in the very capable hands of our dear friend nicolle wallace with deadline white house kicking off just after this break. restore healthy skin, with no sticky feeling. gold bond. champion your skin. some people have joint pain, plus have high blood pressure. they may not be able to take just anything for pain. that's why doctors recommend tylenol®. it won't raise blood pressure the way that advil® aleve® or motrin® sometimes can. for trusted relief, trust tylenol®.

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♪♪ think there, everyone. it's 4:00 in new york. cause for concern, but not a cause for panic. that was the message from president biden today on the new covid variant known as omicron. it sparked worries of a new global search. it promised travel ban trs the southern african countries where it was first discovered and it is raising questions about the state of our pandemic recovery at what had been considered a turning point with boosters just made widely available and families gathering together again for the holiday season. the things we don't know about omicron in many ways outnumber what we do know, when it comes to what actions should be taken, whether this variant is more infectious than the dominant strains out there, whether it ca