meacham talked about his legacy earlier today. >> he understand that politics was a rough contact sport, but he understood that politics has a purpose. it's not just about getting power and holding power. it's about using it. >> a remarkable life dedicated to service. so far no official memorial plans have been announced. that's going to do it for me this hour. "andrea mitchell reports" starts next. ♪♪ good day, everyone, this is "andrea mitchell reports" in washington. republic health officials are now on alert for two disturbing coronavirus trends, the continuing spread of omicron now confirmed in 17 states, while scientists still work intensively to figure out just how dangerous that new variant is, and the more immediate threat from the delta variant ripping through the country with the seven-day average of daily

cases topping 100,000 for the first time in two months and the death toll rising in nearly 20 states. president biden will hold a critical video call with vladimir putin tomorrow, where they'll address the massive russian troop buildup along the border. u.s. tensions are china are escalating, the white house expected to announce a diplomatic boycott of the winter olympics barring u.s. officials from attending. u.s. athletes will be allowed to compete. china today reacting furiously to the move. more on that coming up. and the tributes for bob dole continue to pour in one day after his death. i'll be speaking this hour with some of his former senate colleagues about the impact that the war hero and long-time republican leader here in washington had on his party, on former presidents and on the nation. but we begin with the

coronavirus, and nbc's antonia hylton, yamiche alcindor, the moderator of with the washington week" and dr. vin gupta, pulmonologist. antonia, the new covid testing rules for international travel went into effect today. what are you seeing at one of the country's busiest airports? >> reporter: that's right. as of 12:01 a.m. this morning, these new restrictions and test requirements got in place. if you're a traveler who's already abroad or you are planning to travel out of the country anytime soon, in order to come back and enter the united states, you're going to have a one-day window to get a negative covid test back. and that applies to basically everyone, if you're over 2 years old, if you are vaccinated or unvaccinated and it doesn't matter what country you are coming back from. and that one-day window is key. people have been operating with a 72-hour window up until now, and so travelers really need to

plan ahead. not only logistically, but also potentially with their budgets because not every country has the same testing infrastructure that we have here, so depending on where you are, your test may not be free. sometimes these pcr tests can cost north of $100. travelers starting today need to plan ahead. we've already met some folks here on the ground who scrambled, got multiple tests in case one wasn't accepted, and we expect to see that same kind of preparation and in some cases confusion, frankly, in the coming days, andrea. >> thanks so much. and yamiche alcindor, dr. fauci said yesterday so far they're not seeing a great degree of severity in these omicron cases, but it's too early to tell. they don't have all the data, none of the scientists do. they're working closely with south are africa and others. but he's also hinting there could be an effort -- a decision to lift this ban, travel ban against eight south african countries, countries south africa and neighboring countries

which has become intensely difficult in terms of the south african reaction because here they were transparent, and now they are complaining that they're being banned. so what -- any indication from the white house that they may change that ruling? >> reporter: well, the biden administration has said from day one that they were going to follow the science, and in this case as you hear from dr. fauci, they were saying that they put this travel ban, this controversial travel ban, against south africa and a number of neighboring nations in place because they needed time to study and really figure out the omicron variant. that being said, white house officials have been hinting at the idea that once they sort of get a handle on what's going on that that travel ban will be lifted. it's still an open question, unclear to me as i talked to white house officials, when that travel ban will be lifted. it is also clear, though, that not only is south africa sort of saying that this travel ban is wrong in some ways punishing south africa for finding the variant, you also have heard from the u.n. secretary general as well as the director of the world health organization saying that this is really not the way to deal with it, that travel

bans on south africa are not going to do anything to stop the variant from coming here. there are a number of states in the united states that have omicron and the variant and multiple people have become sick. it's true as you said that in the cases so far that people have had mild symptoms. there is this real question about what can the biden administration do to keep americans safe. the president said over and over again, his number one priority is to protect americans. his number one priority is to try to get us through this pandemic. it's going to be very interesting to see what the next decisions are. we already see today that there were all these new restrictions in place because the white house really wants to make sure that they're doing all they can to make the message clear that people need to be safe. >> dr. gupta, what are health experts saying? have they learned anything yet to analyze both the surge in delta cases as well as, of course, the variant? >> well, good afternoon, andrea. i will say for the delta variant, for coronavirus in general, for all your viewers that we're still expecting

10,000 weekly deaths, andrea, week over week, well into the beginning of march. that's because to your point earlier, the delta variant is still quite lethal, still quite transmissible as we get a hold on what's happening with omicron: i'm worried about all these other respiratory viruses rearing their head. this is a tricky winter ahead. now, for everybody out there in one and a half to two weeks, we need to prepare ourselves for the inevitable announcement that the pfizer and moderna vaccines will have produced vaccine effectiveness against the omicron variant, and that number that they're going to cite is going to be the reduced effectiveness against testing positive, andrea. just getting a positive test, mild symptoms, you name it. not does it keep you out of the hospital staying away from someone like me. that's where we have to start moving as a country, as a world. we have to shift our paradigm how we think about vaccine effectiveness away from pr

releases talking about the chance they'll test positive, which is the number normally cited for the last 20 months and what is the likelihood you'll end up in the hospital, the reduction and risk of severe illness. that's the metric that truly matters when we're talking about protecting against a contagious respiratory virus. >> and are these early indications that it may not be as lethal as some had initially feared, obviously very transmissible but perhaps not as lethal. is it too early to really tell, they're being very cautious on what they're saying. >> i think the early signs are good. it's the most that we can say that of the cases here in the united states, all of them largely have just been mild or asymptomatic. that's a great sign, especially because everybody to be vaccinated, some cases boosted, that success when we're talking activated against a respiratory, contagious respiratory virus. there is no other metric here that's otherwise rationally

achievable at scale. >> dr. gupta, thank you, and yamiche, of course, and antonia hylton. thanks to all. and mourning a hero, tributes pouring in for the late senator and world war ii veteran bob dole. his extraordinary life of service and sacrifice, that's coming up next on "andrea mitchell reports." this is msnbc. (vo) t-mobile for business helps small business owners prosper during their most important time of year. when you switch to t-mobile and bring your own device, we'll pay off your phone up to $1000. you can keep your phone. keep your number. and get your employees connected on the largest and fastest 5g network. plus, we give you $200 in facebook ads on us! so you can reach more customers, create more opportunities, and finish this year strong. visit your local t-mobile store today.

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to an american hero, bob dole, today, and his extraordinary life of public service, more than seven decades. first elected to congress in 1960, then to the senate in 1968 where he spent nearly three decades carrying with him the resolve of a world war ii veteran critically wounded in the line of duty during a 1945 german offensive, losing a kidney and the use of his right arm after seven separate operations. finally recovering well enough to pick up his life again and change directions from his original dream of being a surgeon, going into law and politics. as the nation looks back at this long list of accomplishments during senator dole's decades of public service both on the battlefield and the senate, we wanted to bring in two of his former senate colleagues and friends from opposite sides of the aisle who work closely with a long-time republican leader in different roles giving them unique perspectives on this washington icon. joining me now are two great men of the senate, alan simpson,

former senator from wyoming who spent nearly two decades in the senate republican caucus, and leadership with bob dole, and former senate majority leader tom dash el who served as minority leader as well. it's so great to see both of you. looking back on bob dole's life, i was struck by how much washington has changed. how back when i was covering congress, the dole and george mitchell, you know, briefings every morning, they would come on the floor with the senate correspondents and tell us exactly what we could expect because they had worked out together what was going to happen that day, and they'd come together every week to relay the senate schedules, you know, to reporters together. every morning, actually. how much has changed? >> those are days long past, and dashell looks younger than i do in this camera, but he worked --

he believed that we were partisan democrats and partisan republicans, but first we were americans and that's what he believed. he wasn't going to let things stall out because they didn't like dashell or mitchell. i was the same. i worked with wendell thorpe, my job was to keep the thing going and say, look, we're not into suspicion and ugliness and revenge, who to diddle who or how to get to the dems. he was a hell of a partisan, tom should know that, but the joy of having ten years of my life as his assistant was one of the great pleasures of my existence,

and i had a lot of issues which had a checkered past, but bob dole is -- i was in the infantry and an officer in germany, and i said, you know, you're the captain. i'll go over the cliff for you. i'll go to the head of the line for you. anything you want, and you don't have to worry about me looking with footprints after you, i don't want your job. he was a joy, great humor, great guy, loved him, and he will be deeply missed. >> and i think the two of you also, you could be partisan, you know, i've seen you do that, but boy, the sense of humor with which you elevated all of your conversations, the wit is just extraordinary, both of you.

tom daschle, i want to play part of a conversation i had with senator dole in 2015 when he was supporting donald trump and he was the only former republican nominee who went to the convention, the trump convention in 2016, so he voted for him twice, but this is part of the conversation about getting along with people on the other side. >> how do you explain the anger at washington these days, which -- >> i don't know, trump says all politicians are stupid. i've known a lot of politicians in the 36 years i was in congress, and there may have been a few stupid ones around, but i met hundreds and hundreds of democrats and republicans who were there because the people had trust in them. i was in the senate 28 plus years working with george mitchell and robert byrd and tom

daschle, and we never had an unkind word, never surprised each other by trying to sneak something through the senate. we were d's and r's, but we were also friends, and that counts a lot. you've got to put your arm around the senate and bring in people from both sides. compromise, not a bad word. >> and senator, you wrote in "the washington post" today, bob liked to share a story from when he was first elected to congress, and a reporter asked what his agenda would be, and he said i'm going to sit and watch for a couple of days, and then i'll stand up for what's right, and that's what he did. >> exactly what he did, alan simpson and bob dole are cut from the same cloth. i only wish i had their sense of humor, but they really are institutionalists. bob dole was a partisan, but it

was he and pat moynihan that saved the social security system. bob dole was a partisan, but it was he and tom harkin who created the disabilities act that is historic. bob dole was a partisan, but he and george mcgovern created one of the best nutrition programs in the world today. bob dole understood the importance of compromise. compromise is the oxygen of democracy, and bob dole provided a lot of oxygen over those years he was in senate leadership. >> and i think of one moment when he got the medal of freedom from former president bill clinton. bill clinton had just defeated him a few months before in a hard-fought 1996 campaign. this is a bit of bob dole when he just had been awarded that medal. >> i robert j. dole --

[ laughter ] do solemnly swear -- sorry, wrong speech. [ laughter ] but i had a dream that i would be here this historic week receiving something from the president, but i thought it would be the front door key. >> so alan simpson, that was a moment, you were probably in the audience that day. >> well, the best line was he said, you know, i'm not worried about what happened to me. he said i sleep like a baby. i wake up every two hours and

cry. he had hundreds of those things, and he loved his country and gave so much. but humor is the universal solvent against the abrasive elements of life. my mother taught me that, and when he ran for president, people who worked with him, the higher ups of the great exam pain said don't use humor, don't use humor. you're running for president. hell, that was like chopping off his leg. his humor was who he was, and his campaign, he just said it was tough to be limited by, you know, a whole lifetime of humor. often times just like that, just like the man he is or was. >> tom daschle, what would it take to get the senate back to

where it was when you-all were there? >> that's a good question, andrea. times have changed, you know. one of the things that i lament is what social media has done. social media has created an environment where truth is just an option, and people can take advantage of that and distorting the truth, and those distortions have a corrosive effect. that's one thing. the other thing i worry about is just how much of a money chase goes on today. most senators now leave on thursday. they come back on tuesday, and we try to run the country on wednesday, in part because they've got to raise so much money, and i just think that's crazy. i also think we got to figure out, you know, just how we degerrymander this country. only 10% of all the house races today are competitive. if you won a primary, you won the election. that just gives the bases so much power and so much authority. all of those things i think need to be addressed if we're going to fix the problem someday.

>> tom daschle, alan simpson, as we mourn bob dole it's just so wonderful to have the two of you and your recollections. thank you so much for being with us today. >> you're welcome. >> my pleasure. great to see tom. and coming up next, in custody, the parents of the suspected oxford high school shooter now in the same county jail as their son after a weekend manhunt. investigators now looking at possible charges for school officials as well. that's next. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. on msnbc. ...and dry, cracked skin. new gold bond advanced healing ointment. restore healthy skin, with no sticky feeling. gold bond. champion your skin. with no sticky feeling. i don't just play someone brainy on tv - i'm an actual neuroscientist. and i love the science behind neuriva plus. unlike ordinary memory supplements, neuriva plus fuels six key indicators of brain performance. more brain performance? yes, please! neuriva. think bigger.

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james and jennifer crumbley, the parents of the accused high school shooter in oxford, michigan, are now in custody after an intense manhunt. the two were arrested saturday morning and charged with four counts each of involuntary manslaughter. prosecutors saying they supplied the gun used in the attack, ignored warning signs of their son's troubled behavior, and failed to alert school officials that he was contemplaing hurting fellow students. >> how are you pleading to count one? >> not guilty. >> how are you pleading to count four? >> not guilty. >> the oakland county prosecutor also saying officials at oxford

high school could face charges. this afternoon in lake, visitation will be held for one of the four victims, 16-year-old tate myre ahead of his funeral tomorrow. joining us now, nbc news correspondent, ellison barber and former prosecutor. a michigan attorney general has offered to conduct an independent investigation of the school officials? >> reporter: yeah, that's right. the superintendent of oakland community schools said they're going to bring in a third party to investigate. the attorney general has offered to do that for this school district. obviously parents throughout this entire community have a lot of questions about the moments the events that led up to this day and whether or not the school officials missed opportunities to prevent this shooting from taking place. we know that school officials at least a day prior to the

shooting were concerned about the alleged shooter's behavior. a teacher spotted him googling ammunition. she took that to other officials. the parents of the alleged shooter were contacted by the school. once the school, according to their version of events, once they contacted the parents and also spoke with the alleged shooter, they were told that shooting sports were a family hobby, and then they seemed to consider that credible, kind of moved on from that, then the following day, tuesday when the massacre occurred in the morning, school officials got a report from a teacher saying that she had found a drawing in the alleged shooter's desk, and that it was incredibly concerning to that teacher. they took it to the guidance counselor. according to prosecutors, that photo that was found in the alleged shooter's desk had a drawing of a gun pointing to the

words "the thoughts won't stop, help me." they also say he had drawn a bullet and wrote "blood everywhere." the guidance counselor told them they needed to get him counseling within 48 hours. according to prosecutors they made the decision not to take the child out of school. the school is saying that they did essentially in that moment everything that they could according to the superintendent. they say that the alleged shooter was calm, drawing, working on homework as they waited for the parents to come. he told the guidance counselor he had done those drawings because he was designing a video game, which he said that's what he wanted to do as a career down the road. the school says because the parents resisted their request that they take the alleged shooter home, that they kept him in school, sent him back to class because they say it was better than sending him to an empty home. and it was what they felt they had to do. andrea. >> so david, let's break that down a little bit. first of all, the father of the

suspect was with him when the gun was purchased, you know, the father bought the gun that was supposed to be a christmas present. both parents pleading not guilty, of course, but what could they now be facing? what does the law say about their responsibility, and how rare would it be for the school officials to be brought into this in terms of criminal charges? >> andrea, two things. first in terms of what the parents are facing, they're facing what we refer to as lawful act manslaughter. typically you think of manslaughter as an unintentional killing that's connected with criminal activity. say for example, someone drives while intoxicated and kills someone. they didn't intend to cause the death, but they could be caused with manslaughter in most states. even if you're engaged in lawful conduct like letting your child use a firearm, purchasing a firearm for the use of your child taking them to the firing range and letting them have access to it. these are not unlawful acts but they show gross negligence, a reckless disregard for human

life. that's how the parents have been charged. now, the difficulty here is the school officials essentially had access to all the same information that the parents did. i think it's unlikely you'll see charges against the school officials because all of these cases are very difficult to make. that's especially going to be true for people who worked at the school. >> thanks to both of you, david henderson and ellison barber, such a troubling case indeed, and the tragedy of course of the four victims and their families. an inside scoop, another delay in the january 6th investigation with the committee also now leading the charge to change a key election statute. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. reports" only on msnbc i got the awesome new iphone 13 pro and airpods, and t-mobile is paying for them both! and this is for new and existing customers. upgrade to the iphone 13 pro and airpods both on us. only at t-mobile.

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they were forced to delay another deposition this weekend by former trump doj official jeffrey clark for medical reasons. clark says he will plead the fifth as will john eastman, a former trump attorney who was central to efforts to overturn the election. joining us now nbc news senior capitol hill correspondent garrett haake, charlie psychs editor at large at the bulwark, and "politico" national correspondent betsy woodruff spawn. garrett, several depositions postponed by the house select committee, delaying tactic? i mean, what does engaging mean? at least talking rather than saying i'm not going to show up? >> engaging can mean a variety of things here. it can mean saying my lawyer is not ready to go or the documents you've asked for are still being collected or it can be a stalling tactic. i think a lot of these witnesses are aware that the january 6th committee is working against a clock. the committee has said they want to be done with their investigation in the spring. that seems unlikely. if they can finish it before the

midterms that'd be a success for them, but the longer this goes on, essentially the weaker their hand gets. we did have congresswoman cheney saying last week that she's expecting at some point up to weeks of public hearings in this matter, so the committee is urging patience, but they've got a lot of work to do. >> and betsy, nbc news has just confirmed what you and "politico" were first to report that a former national guard official is accusing senior army leaders of lying to congress about january 6th, what did you learn? >> that's right. the official who wrote this 36-page memo was the top lawyer in the d.c. national guard on january 6th. his name is colonel earl matthews and he had a front row seat to just about everything involving what did and didn't happen with the d.c. national guard that day. matthews says that two generals, two very senior army generals, were on this phone call at 2:30

p.m. on the afternoon of january 6th. the capitol police chief begged for the d.c. national guard to immediately be deployed. now, it took a green light from senior army officials for that to happen. instead of the top two officials who spoke on that call saying they agree with it, instead according to matthews' memo, and matthew was on this call, those two officials say they were worried about the optics and that they didn't want to deploy the d.c. national guard immediately. both of those officials have testified to congress to the contrary. they've presented testimony to congress that makes their commentary on that call appear in a much more favorable light. in this memo, matthews accuses both of those men of lying to congress, of engaging in deception that he describes in very strong terms and saying that there are efforts within the u.s. army to try to whitewash history regarding the fact that it took the army hours and hours to get the d.c.

national guard, including its quick response force to the u.s. capitol building. it's a stunning memo. it's dense. it's long, but it's really worth reading to get an insider's view, an insider's version of what happened. >> do you know who those generals were? >> yes, general charles flynn and general piatt, both of them are still senior generals. >> i thought it might be charles flynn from previous reporting who of course is mike flynn's brother. >> that's correct. the memo does not mention mike flynn, but yes, they are brother. >> and charlie sooiks, the "new york times" writing about efforts in congress to make changes to the electoral count law of 1887. this is the law trump and his allies through the john eastman memo were trying to use to overturn the election. republicans have blocked past efforts to change this law. what possibility is there in this 50-50 senate that this law

could be changed? >> well, of course it's going to be difficult without breaking the filibuster, but i think it's important to underline how important this is for congress to address this particular issue. of all of the issues that we have talked about -- and i've mentioned this before -- of vote suppression, the attacks on democracy, this particular piece of legislation is absolutely central to any attempt to overturn the election, and what you're seeing around the country, of course, is that donald trump and republicans are more than willing to change the rules to have legislatures become empowered to be able to overturn the popular vote. and as we know, it was this particular law that they were relying on, that they were hoping that mike pence would use to overturn the election. i mean, the good news, of course, is that he did not do it. the bad news, this is a badly written law and that desperately needs to be updated and reformed. >> and to garrett, let's talk about georgia politics for

second because governor kemp is now facing another challenger, who was a republican primary challenger from david perdue. >> david perdue is back, the former senator who lost to jon ossoff, he targets kemp about as much as he does in stacey abrams in his announcement video saying that it's kemp's fault that republicans lost those senate seats in georgia, never mind the former president's involvement depressing turnout talking about a stolen election. perdue makes this part of his argument against kemp that he's going to defend georgia's elections. but we've already seen kemp's allies firing back saying perdue has no real argument except to say he's somehow closer to trump than is kemp. this is going to be a nasty, nasty race. >> any primary race could weaken the incumbent, it could help stacey abrams. >> it absolutely could. the georgia race is going to be

race with raphael warnock having to run for re-election. georgia is going to be really busy. i suspect we'll be spending time there. >> thank you so much, charlie sykes, and nancy woodruff. the red lines, a pivotal virtual meeting tomorrow presidents biden and putin. the russian troops amass on the border. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc tchell reports" on msnb 't you say so?♪ ♪didn't even notice,♪ ♪no punches left to roll with♪ ♪you got to keep me focused♪

president vladimir putin are going to hold that video call tomorrow morning after u.s. intelligence received more than 90,000 russian troops on the border with ukraine prompting renewed fears of an invasion as early as january. still, secretary of state blinken tells us there is no way to know whether vladimir putin has actually decided to invade. the white house hopes to have a clearer picture of putin's intentions after tomorrow's call. joining me now former dechks secretary for the clinton administration and former senator from maine. thank you for being with us today. how do you ascertain the intentions of vladimir putin,

presumably if you had a great source inside the kremlin, but what they've seen is, you know, heavy artillery. they see combat troops in the numbers they haven't seen since 2014. and by the way, we should point out that blinken is going to speak with ukrainian officials before this call like today and the president will be calling, president zelensky afterwards. what do you think is happening? >> first, i think we ought to disregard the notion that we can determine what president putin's intentions are. what we do is measure capability, measure opportunity, and measure history. what capability do they have on the border? it's amassing a significant amount of troops there and equipment. what opportunity do they have to strike? they could take advantage of that at any moment they choose to do so, and what has been the history of president putin in

georgia, when he attacked portions of georgia. still has remnants of power there. what is his history in attacking crimea and annexing crimea? and so i think in what he is now doing in ukraine, we should not trust his intentions or what his declared intentions are. president reagan used to say with president gorbachev, trust but verify. i would invert that. i would say verify and not trust. verify what equipment, manpower, et cetera, he is amassing on that border, looking at the opportunity to, and then validate what those people and equipment are there. and then i think what we have to do is to anticipate now, not wait until january, anticipate now that he may move. so what do we do? we put in plans or accelerate our own plans to make sure that

ukraine has the best defense capable, that we share with them intelligence, that we share with them cyber capabilities, that we do everything we can to help send the signal to president putin if you do this, there's going to be diplomatic costs, which i'm not sure he's really concerned about, economic costs which he should be more concerned about, but also military costs, namely if you put your troops in there and you attack, you can expect to have a bloody war. now, this is not the same as the united states declaring that we are going to come to the defense of ukraine because the united states should not be acting alone. this is russia, not against the united states. this is russia against the west, and unless we have all of the western countries and the nato countries in particular on board, then i think we will be at a great disadvantage. so what we have to do now is beef up what we have in the way of security for our own troops, our own presence in the nato region, provide more equipment,

defense equipment to ukraine, send a very clear message to president putin that we are going to respond at a very vigorous way in a united fashion with western countries and nato in particular, and send that signal without chest beating, provocations. simply point out that we know what you've done in the past. we don't know what you're planning. it could be a plan. it could be a ploy. we can't afford to wait to find out what it's going to be. so i think taking the necessary precautions, updating military plans that we have in the region, would be a very significant signal to send to president putin at this point. >> and the fact that foreign minister lavrov is laughing this off and saying we've heard the threats of sanctions before, you know, when secretary blinken was in europe, and i was covering him last week, one of the questions he was asked was what about afghanistan after the, quote, messy way you got out of afghanistan? what small countries should

really rely on you in the united states? >> well, i think that's a problem for us. i think the fact is that we have been sending signals for the past four years that we are retreating from obligations that we have assumed in the past, and when you retreat, another force will move in. the russians have moved in certainly to the middle east. they are expanding their power base as such. they want to reconstitute the soviet union, flying under the russian flag. that has always been the intention of president putin. so i assume that mr. lavrov can laugh off sanctions, but i think there has to be more than sanctions. there has to be real penalties paid by the russians economically. on the battlefield, should they decide to go to battle, and that way they will know they're not going to simply move in without any recourse by the west. and the notion that well, the west is weak. we are divided at home. they have invaded our country

digitally by altering the election in 2016. they were invited in. so i think that we have to do something to send the signal, you're no longer invited to partake in our politics and you're no longer going to take action inconsistent with world stability and regional stability without paying a heavy price. we can do it without chest pounding and saying we're number one. we're saying we, the west, are determined that you not continue to expand your influence and your power in a way that's inconsistent. >> let me ask you about china. what we've learned what nbc news is reporting is the administration will announce a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 winter games. that's not a boycott of athletes but a diplomatic boycott, and china has reacted furiously. we need china on a lot of this mornings. iran, the jcpoa negotiations which are falling apart.

we need china on climate. is this the right move to be making about china? you know that country so well. >> well, i think we have to be careful on how we raise our human rights issues. i think this is a standard that we always have to fly, that what america stands for is basic human rights. even though some of those rights are denied here at home as they will be quick to point out. nonetheless, we have an obligation to stand up for universal human rights which they don't recognize. they do not recognize the universality of the rights that we see as fundamental to our freedoms. so we may have to send the signal that we still believe. we believe you are curtailing the human rights in hong kong as you've done. we believe that you have curtailed the rights of the uyghurs in china, and we believe we have to stand up for values we believe in. and walk carefully in how we do

this to make sure we don't turn china into an enemy, but treat them as a competitor on the world stage. >> william, thank you so very much. isht point out that nbc is an official sponsor of the eijing olympics. and president biden re-instated something that lapsed under his presidency. we'll show you what. stay with us. what. stay with us we'll pay off your phone up to $1000. you can keep your phone. keep your number. and get your employees connected on the largest and fastest 5g network. plus, we give you $200 in facebook ads on us! so you can reach more customers, create more opportunities, and finish this year strong. visit your local t-mobile store today. ♪♪ thousands of women with metastatic breast cancer are living in the moment

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the kennedy center honors return to tradition in an in-person gala. with the president in attendance for the first time since 20 16. president trump famously did not attend the honors during his four years in office. the lifetime achievement honorees for this 44th annual ceremony included saturday night live creator, actress and singer bet meddler. and folk music legend joni mitchell. earlier in the day when the medals were awarded, president biden hosted the honorees and poked a lot of fun at lauren michaels who has been poking fun at him. >> lauren michaels, mr. wise guy over here. he's trying out seven guys to play me.

like we say in our family, bless me father, for i have sinned. and finally, it's my turn to say something about him. he prufed the satire about our leaders and society is the quintessential thing to do and a hallmark of any democratic society. >> at one point, actually, steve martin stood up in the audience and said do you want me to play you? that's not a bad idea. the ceremony would be broadcast on december 22nd on cbs. that does it for "andrea mitchell reports". follow us on facebook and twitter. garrett haake is in for chuck todd up next with "mtp daily". new vaccine mandates for millions of american workers and new questions about what it means for the president's agenda

as the white house tries to move past the pandemic. plus as president biden gears up for that high stakes call with vladimir putin tomorrow, white house officials redouble warnings that russia is planning for significant military action against ukraine. later, new steps in the investigation into that deadly school shooting in michigan as authorities and community members try to make sense of how so many potential warning signs were missed. welcome to "meet the press daily". i'm garrett haake in for chuck todd. the white house would love nothing more than to move past all the omicron uncertainty. this afternoon the president is planning a to the lay out his plan to cut the cost of prescription drugs as he tries to steer focus back to the build back better agenda in congress. the headlines keep