give your business the gift of savings today. comcast business. powering possibilities. good thursday morning. i'm in more craig melvin live from msnbc head quarters in new york city. you just saw the moving tribute to a life-long statesman bob dole. we'll have more on his life and legacy ahead. right now we're tracking the alarming rise of covid cases in two dozen states across the country. the daily average is back over 120,000 cases and on average we're losing 1100 lives every day. so much of the attention is on the omicron variant. but delta is driving this surge. and even though "the new york times" is reporting 200 million americans are now fully

vaccinated, doctors, they're struggling still to keep up. >> our whole team is exhausted. >> us nurses, other co-workers, respiratory therapists, we are tired. >> it's so frustrating when you have this continuing to occur when it's really self-inflicted. >> meanwhile president biden is set to hold another high stakes call. this time with the ukrainian president, days after his call with russian president vladimir putin. and this morning we are learning of the unprecedented sanctions, the biden administration is weighing against russia. plus new fireworks between former president trump's chief of staff, mark meadows, and the house committee investigating january 6th. meadows is now suing the committee. but the committee making it clear they're not going to back down. want to get right to the latest in the covid fight as cases and hospitalizations are once again on the rise. nbc's antonia hilton is at a vaccination site in stanford,

connecticut where cases are up 60% up statewide. ohio, indiana, pennsylvania, new york, illinois, michigan cases rising, accounting for half of hospitalizations of the country right now. you're in connecticut as i mentioned. also seeing a major spike of cases, hundreds of hospitalizations. but mostly people that are not fully vaccinated. what are you hearing from folks on the ground? >> that's all right. and they have 575 people who are currently hospitalized. that represents more than three times what the state was seeing a couple weeks ago. to put this in context. and officials here are saying they believe this is connected to time people spent traveling, or indoors with relatives and friends around thanksgiving. and they know that they're only going to see more of this as we get closer to christmas and to new year's. right now they're making a major push on vaccination at sites like this one. the community health department and the officials here earlier i

spoke with the mayor. their message is focussed on two groups. unvaccinated folks. not just adults hesitant to get the vaccine. it means children ages 5 and up eligible and who they want to get immunity and protection ahead of the holidays. and then it also means adults who have waning immunity, who may have gotten their shots many months ago and could be at risk as we're fighting these two variants at once. and we had the pfizer news just yesterday that it's really the three shots and that extra booster that confer the same level of protection that we had with those two shot with the original variant. i want you to listen to a conversation i had with a very sweet family here in line with the kids getting their final two shots. take a listen. >> why is it important for your family to get vaccinated? >> so we cannot catch any covid. >> and we can go places. >> yeah. we're just excited to be able to take them to do normal things. it's been a long, long time that we've been at home, and not

taking them out to any indoor places. so we're excited to go back to restaurants and vacations and seeing family. >> in addition to trying to reach more families like theirs, the state is working right now on a vaccine passport similar to the one in new york city. the idea is hopefully to give employers and businesses a tool that allows then to start really understanding who is and is not vaccinated among their employees and among their guests and start taking steps to better protect everyone as we head into these critical months. >> i got to say i love that family, an tone ya. they reminded me of my kids. my oldest, five-year-old son the other day after he got his second vaccine shot said now i can actually dine indoors. i said no, buddy, your three-year-old brother isn't vaccinated yet. he looked at him and said, come on. it was great. i want to bring in the founder and ceo of advancing health equity and an msnbc medical

contributor. doctor, thank you for joining us on this. i mentioned the president and vice president meeting with the coronavirus task force. the response team with the surge racing across the country. we've been talking a lot about the omicron variant the last week, trying to decipher -- the kind of immune response we have. however, what is driving this latest surge is not omicron. it's delta. what's the take away? >> i know. the take away is that we have to take care of the current business first. and we haven't gotten delta under control. so delta variant is highly, highly contagious and transmissible. we still have widespread transition over the entire country, especially in states with colder weather. and we still haven't gotten it under control. that's why we're seeing this increase in cases, hospitalizations, and even over

the last few days, we've seen an increase in deaths. we're back to hospitals in certain areas being at capacity. so we have to revisit some of those other measures. other than vaccines, that can help us get the surge under control. >> so we had the news yesterday, right, from pfizer, saying essentially listen, if you get the booster shot, you are highly protected against omicron. my colleague lester holt spoke with dr. fauci about this. the definition of being fully vaccinated. it's still defined as having two shots. however, they're encouraging folks to get the booster because of the latest variant. let's listen to dr. fauci's response. and then i'll have you respond on the other side. >> this is something that's on the table that's being discussed. i don't see it happening immediately. but i think as time goes by and we learn more about the importance of this with regard to the new variant, i think you'll be seeing at least a consideration of this. >> let's talk timing on this. right? at what point do you think or do

you think that the definition of being fully vaccinate second down going to change including three shots and also, when it comes to the boosters, you had immune compromised folks being vaccinated in august. we'll be coming up on february quickly as the holidays pass and that six-month timeline will surpass. will they need another booster shot to stay protected? >> right. i think we're going to see a change in definition to what fully vaccinated means very soon. it's essentially going to mean three doses of an mrna vaccine. and i think that there are a number of immunologists who early on said that they think this vaccine is going to be a redose primary course. and i think that's what we're seeing. i think also what we're going to see is that we're probably going to have to get boosted. it could be every six months. but the issue is that science is evolving in front of us. we're having new studies out

every day, giving more and more supporting evidence to the fact that the boosters are incredibly important. and now we have omicron here. and omicron has a property of immunity evasion. that emphasizes the importance of boosters even more. >> and will each of the boosters include protection against the latest variants? >> so the vaccine manufacturers are currently working on that. we may eventually need variant specific boosters. but the fact is right now the general booster, a general third dose, it increases the antibody response to the point where it is protected. as we saw in the pfizer study. it's protective against even some of these new variants. and so that's why we encourage everyone if you're eligible to get the third dose. >> selfishly as a mom of a young one, when are we going to get clearance on the kids under five to get vaccinated? >> i totally understand. what we are hearing is it probably will be early to mid 2022.

and so obviously they're still doing the studies on the youngest, youngest of the clinical trial participants. we should have that data hopefully imminently. >> doctor, thank you. antonia, thank you as well. i want to turn now to capitol hill, everybody, where the standoff is intensifying between former trump chief of staff mark meadows and the house select committee investigating the january 6th insurrection. meadows is now suing the committee and asking a federal court to invalidate two subpoenas. this after the committee made it clear it plans to hold meadows in contempt for not cooperating. pete williams is with us. also sahil kapour at his post on the hill. pete, let me start with you on this one. talk first about the claims that meadows is making in this lawsuit. >> well, some of what he says in the lawsuit is similar to what former president trump has claimed in his separate suit that was trying to block the committee from getting documents. namely, that the committee doesn't have the authority to

issue subpoenas, because it lacks a legitimate legislative purpose. but the meadows suit goes further. it also says the democrats didn't follow house rules in organizing the committee, so it lacks legitimate authority for that separate reason. then he says as trump as said, that he can't be compelled to testify or produce documents because of executive privilege, though he notes he has voluntarily turned over nearly 7,000 pages of documents that he believes are not privileged. and he argues as a former top white house official he's slul immune from being compelled to appear before congress. that may sound extreme, but it's a view the justice department has expressed repeatedly over the past five decades under both parties about the immunity of top executive branch officials. and then meadows also says subpoenas from the committee are overbroad and seek information in 27 separate categories over many months. so it's a general attack on the committee's authority and a specific attack on some of the

subpoenas. >> so does he at all have a case here? >> well, you know, one judge has already ruled on this question of whether the committee has the authority to seek this information and that is in the trump lawsuit. that's a district court judge. it doesn't mind to anyone else. there's one judicial opinion there. you know, he has a point about immunity and the general inability to get documents out of white house officials who claim executive privilege, but what he is asserting is the long-standing view of the justice department. that is not anything that the courts have ruled on. so -- and any privilege can yield if there's an urgent nand for information. one of the legal questions here is how strong is trump executive privilege, given that he's a former president and the current president has said it doesn't count. and the committee has a need for this information. so you know, there's some cullable claims here. >> with that, we know committee chairs are not taking this thing

sitting down. they've already said we're not backing down from this. we're driving forward. what is that going to look like? >> that's right. the committee chair and vice chair called it a flawed lawsuit they insist will not stop the committee or slow it down from the investigation and getting to the truth. and they further say that the house will meet next week. the committee, rather, to vote to hold mark meadows in contempt. that, of course, would follow the same process as they used on steve bannon. it would go to the full house of representatives. once it's approved by the full house, it would be certified to a u.s. attorney in washington who would have the decision about when to indict. the bannon issue was all resolved in 24 day between the time the committee met and the time that indictment, that criminal indictment was issued. now, aids on the committee, they're scratching their heads about the fact that meadows provided thousands of pages of documents of information that they consider valuable and say they he clearly didn't believe was privileged because he

provided it to him. they see him issuing a blanket claim of privilege and saying i can't talk to you about these documents because of that. and meadows is saying the courts should resolve this. the committee does that accept that. they say they're willing to consider claims of privilege on a case-by-case basis, not a broad stroke way, but it looks like maryland does is going to be facing contempt charges in the house as early as next week. >> we'll follow that to see how it develops. thank you both. weighing new options. next hour the president set to speak with ukraine's leader about russian troops at the country's border. we are going to get a preview of their conversation. and what the president is saying this morning about the struggle to defend democracy across the world. also we told you about the navy engineer accused of passing intention about nuclear submarines inside of a peanut butter sandwich. today there's a new twist in the spy thriller that even the best

author couldn't make up. and remembering bob dole. ahead i'll speak to someone who had a front row seat to one of his presidential runs. how he's remembering him this morning. we'll be right back. rembering morning. we'll be right back. (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.

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here in the united states we know as well as anyone that renewing our democracy and strengthening our democratic institution requires constant effort. >> so that was the president, of course, speaking virtually to leaders of dozens of countries this morning at the first ever white house summit for democracy. and that was the start of a very busy day for this president. in just about an hour he's set to hold a call with the ukrainian president as the biden administration weighs unprecedented sanctions as they put it against vladimir putin and russia. if it moves forward, of course,

with an invasion of ukraine. the white house saying the sweeping sanctions could cripple russia's access to bond markets and target powerful oligarchs. we have the latest from the white house. shannon, it's good to see you this morning. thanks for joining us on this. the president, of course, receiving bipartisan support in efforts to take action against russia. what would that look like? what are they considering here? >> well, we've heard a lot in the past about the u.s. putting sanctions on russia. at various different levels. for the most part, those sanctions have been targeted to a select group of individuals or designed to create a little bit additional discomfort for russia and it economy. the sanctions that are being talked about now would go well beyond anything we have seen put on russia before. and would be intended to really put extreme pressure on the whole broad russian economy. and here's an example of one of those. they're talking about kicking russia out of the communications

network called swift that would make it essentially impossible for russia and russians to do international banking at a high level. they're also talking about things regarding restricting russia's access to the bond market. so it would make it very difficult for the government or big state-run financial entities to borrow money. so the president says those sanctions that are being discussed are intended to extract a lot of economic pressure and pain. of course, the question is whether that will be enough of a deterrent, because even though we've never seen anything to this level being implemented against russia before, putin has used these type of sanctions and actions by the west to bolster his support by making it more of an us versus them mentality. but the big question here would be whether these sanctions would do enough damage to put pressure domestically on putin. >> let's pick up there for a moment. i actually pose that question to rick on tuesday asking listen, is putin even going to care if

they level kind of these unprecedented sanctions against moscow for their potential actions against ukraine? and i'm not the only one asking that. how is the white house responding to this? >> well, they have said that they don't know yet whether or not putin is going to carry through on what appears to be a planned invasion of ukraine. when you look at the troop movements over the recent weeks. but there's also the military option. we have seen the u.s. continue to send military equipment to ukraine. and the administration has indicated they would step that up as well as step up efforts to support the other countries bordering russia and ukraine by sending them additional military support and materials. and, of course, we do have u.s. troops in those countries. now, the president has taken off the table the potential as of now of sending u.s. troops in a military capacity, not in a training capacity as they are now. he has taken that off the table for now. but, of course, that is all was

an option that remains out there as well as what the other european allies can do. so the economic activity playing out in that front as well as the military activity playing out behind the scenes as well. >> all right. shannon, thank you. let's take a look militarily at what's happening on the ukrainian border. the biden administration threatens sanctions meant to discourage russia from taking military action against ukraine. right now there are more than 100,000 russian combat troops during the ukrainian border. richard engel is on the other side of the border caulking to ukrainian troops about what they're doing and how they're preparing for a potential of invasion. >> reporter: we are in eastern ukraine not far from the russian border. this is a closed military zone. controlled by the ukrainian military. and this is where the whole world is watching right now to see if russian troops, the hundred plus thousand troops that are massed along the border will cross over the border and invade this country. >> the frontlines along

ukraine's border with russia harken back to world war ii, or even earlier. miles of narrow paths flanked by land mines and trenches. muddy today, often frozen solid. >> so we'd better -- >> translator: these positions are designed to stop or at least show down a russian advance. >> reporter: and they're on high alert now. russian troops, around 100,000, and tanks and artillery are masked along three sides of the ukrainian border. in addition to the regular russian army, there are pro-russian militias already operating inside ukraine. this is the most dangerous flash point. ukrainian troops occupy these trenches 24/7 and pro-russian forces are about 50 yards away. according to the ukrainian soldiers here, those russian-backed troops fire on them almost every day. and it wouldn't take much for an escalation here to trigger a much wider war.

>> we have trench with guys. they have trench with guys. below this locate mine fields, so basically when some site start that attacking, it's have scheduled this. no matter what they do. >> reporter: a 30-year-old lieutenant has been serving on the front for eight years. >> i think not stop in the ukraine. >> reporter: do you think russia is going to do it? >> in our language, we have some words like hope for the best and get ready for the worst. >> reporter: so this is one of the forward lookout positions. nearby a squad commander showed me where the enemy is. those pro-russian militias on ukrainian military, backed and armed by moscow. an all-out ground war could expand beyond ukraine.

it's warned neighboring belarus could be drawn in. president biden has ruled out he would send u.s. combat troops to ukraine. it's highly unlikely that american soldiers or marines would be deployed to places like this one and potentially going toe to toe with russian troops. but the u.s. and other governments already send military advisers to offer specialized training. and the ukrainian government wants the u.s. to send more of those advisers and more weapons. >> thank you to richard for that reporting. an honor fit for an american statesman. right now former senator and presidential candidate bob dole is lying in state in the capitol rotunda. we'll remember his life and lasting impact next. like pulsing, electric shocks, sharp, stabbing pains, or an intense burning sensation. what is this nightmare?

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this stuff is super creamy. the boomstick glimmer, it just feels special. it is a nice shimmer. i look like me, but i've got a glow. today leaders in washington paid respect to a political giant. the late bob dole. dole is lying in state in the u.s. capitol until his funeral service tomorrow. the kansas republican was a world war ii vet, long-time senate leader and presidential

nominee. this morning the president joined dole's family and congressional leaders to pay tribute to his life and his legacy. >> bob belongs here. we, too, was a giant of our history. and that's not hyperbole. it's real. a prince among persistence of courage and conviction. >> joining me now nbc's presidential historian and the senior legal affairs writer for politico. michael, give us a sense of your reaction during this morning's ceremony. the things that were said about bob dole, and why he looms so large in washington even today. >> well, this is someone who gave seven decades plus of his life to the service of his country, and almost lost his life in 1945, april, he was one

of the last heros of world war ii. almost lost his life in italy. all his life he could not button his shirt because of the injuries he suffered. it was with him every day. but you know, when i was watching the memorial service this morning, it was almost a memorial service for bob dole's kind of politics. this was a right of center republican. he believed in what he believed. but at the same time, he worked with ted kennedy and george mcgovern, and joe biden to do things that helped people, for instance, in mcgovern's case get food stamps to people who otherwise would have starved. and in 1996, even when he was about to run against bill clinton for president, he worked with a clinton administration to get balanced budget and welfare reform. that kind of amity between republicans and democrat leaders is dead as a door nail, i'm

sorry to say. that's what it reminded me of. >> you have a feeling that with the death of bob dole so is the death of bipartisanship in washington, despite the fact that it was mentioned today. >> they mentioned it and lauded it, and i wish they practiced it, and they don't. many of the people even there will this afternoon go back to practicing the kind of politics we see much more often in congress today. the founders, as you know, they wanted members of congress to fight with each other, but at the end of the day, they wanted them to cut deals. they wanted them to negotiate and compromise. that's what james madison wanted. it's what bob dole wanted. i'm not sure it's what a lot of americans want right now. >> josh, i loved reading your piece in politico about bob dole. it took me back to 1996, kind of getting the inside track as to what was going on, and i especially loved anecdotely the fact that he used to mess with you a little bit and actually tried to get you arrested to a certain extent, because of your terrible driving.

>> yeah. that was funny. that was one of my first experiences with him up in new hampshire, chasing around his campaign. and we had to sort of hopscotch to events. we were trying to race out of one and get to the next one before he got there. and eventually he started teasing me about being a dangerously fast driver, and he tried to have one of the governor state troopers up there throw me in jail. but i agree with michael about the bipartisanship. there's just no question that dole is from another era. he used to get deals and what was that politicians did at that time. at the same time, i do think that there are elements of trumpism that were visible, that were creeping out during his campaign. for one thing, he was a big insult politician. part of his sense of humor, he was joking around with me, but he would display some pretty dark comments about other people in the political realm. he talked at one point about a

bus still with supply siders went off the side of a mountain and everybody was killed. the bad news is there were three empty seats. i mean, those are pretty dark comments. he'd insult people in the debate stage much in the same way that donald trump did. so there were elements of that there, and he also went on a big tirade at the end of his campaign against the news media which seemed to me a little bit insincere given how tight he was with various members of the media including a producer for nbc who really pretty much worked out of the foyer of his office on capitol hill. >> it's interesting because in your piece, josh, you describe him as a you see what you get. what you see is what you get, pretty similar to the former president, and the former president is someone that was supported by bob dole twice. but, in fact, dole came out and said he lost the election, biden certifiably won this election. so there certainly was a

difference and a respect for this country. the rules, the regulations, the law, the governance of this country. >> oh, yeah. there's no question. they're very different people. i mean, dole as michael was saying, was a died in the world republican. the notion that he was going to step off the bus even if trump was driving is very unlikely. though the bush family members, several of them announced they weren't voting for trump. dole said he was. and a number of dole's top staffers went on to be very senior representatives on trump's campaign, on even in trump's white house as u.s. trade representative came directly basically out of dole's office. somebody that came up in that time. there were connections there. obviously it was a different era. you know, you wouldn't see trump doing the kinds of deals that dole was not only did but was so proud of on issues like social security or the americans with disabilities act. so he's a complicated figure.

i don't think it's fair to cast him as entirely one way or entirely the other. >> michael, allow me or help me leave folks with a sentiment that the president said in his quote about dole. i will never forget what he said to our colleagues, quote, no first class democracy can treat people like second class citizens. expand on that for me in relation to the late senator. >> well, this was a very conservative republican, especially in the earlier part of his career. yet, in 1964 when there were a lot of conservatives beginning with barry goldwater who opposed the civil rights act, and all that said is public places must be open to everyone, race, creed, or color, barry coldwater said it was unconstitutional. bob dole was for it. it required some courage. and so i think in the end, a lot of bob dole's friends just as josh is suggesting, were disappointed with him at the end of his life, because they wish

he had been harder on trump and stronger in trying to preserve what they saw as a threat to democracy. but in the end, this is the country that is going to depend on the good will of people of common sense like bob dole. and if god forbid a crisis of democracy comes as well it might during the next few years, i sure would want bob dole at my side. >> michael, josh, thank you both. appreciate it. be sure to tune in everybody to msnbc tomorrow beginning at 10:45 a.m. eastern. andrea mitchell will have special coverage of the funeral. we are keeping our eyes on two trials. in minneapolis, kim potter is on trial in the shooting death of a 20-year-old. and an update in new york city with jeffrey epstein's con if i daunt ghislaine max well. the latest in both cases coming up next. but first, we are following breaking news from the fda.

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in medicare from blue cross blue shield. she won't go a day without the right card. because she can't go a day without running. the medicare coverage trusted by more doctors. this is the benefit of blue. find your local blue cross and blue shield plan at benefitofblue.com welcome back. we are following breaking news in the deadly shooting at oxford high school in michigan. two $100 million lawsuits have filed against school district, the summit and other top school officials. the lawsuits were filed on behalf of a student shot in the neck and wounded as well as her sister who was next to her when it happened. four students were killed in the shooting last tuesday. a few minutes ago we heard from the attorney behind the lawsuit. >> we could talk about turning our schools into armed fortresses. we could talk about the need for

legislation. we've been talking for over 20 years. for god sake, some of us are tired of talking. >> the 15-year-old shooter faces murder and terrorist charges. his parents also face charges. the kim potter trial, the former minnesota police officer charged in the death of 20-year-old daunte wright. shaq brewster is outside the courthouse for us today. earlier today we heard from the girlfriend who was in the car during the shooting. walk us through some of what we heard and what else is going on in court this morning. >> reporter: well, right now the court is in a 20-minute recess. you mentioned we heard from the girlfriend of daunte wright, someone who they've only been dating for a couple of weeks at

that point when the shooting happened. she was the passenger in the vehicle as that vehicle was being stopped. she mentioned how daunte wright was someone who was normally a positive person, inspirational, but he became nervous and got flustered as he was being asked for the registration and license he didn't have. then he mentioned how the situation escalated quickly. he was shot. the car continued to go down the road and crash into another vehicle. that's when she noticed how serious the situation was. listen to her testimony. >> i was the only one who had anybody there he was trying to help him. i was trying to push on his chest and call his name. and he wasn't answering me, and he was just gasping, like, just -- just taking breaths of

air. >> reporter: a little bit later in her testimony, she then said she apologized to daunte wright's mother for picking up the phone and showing her who was then daunte's lifeless body. she was incredibly emotional on the stand. during cross examination the defense got her to admit the two smoked marijuana earlier in the day and they were just driving after hanging out the night before. and the reason why that is something that we're focusing on is because this is the pattern. it's part of the strategy you're hearing from the defense as they focus on the behavior and condition of daunte wright, saying his behavior contributed to what is considered an accident by kim potter when she reached for her gun instead of taser. as a veteran officer, they believed she should have known the different between those two devices and that's what led to

daunte wright's death. >> i can't imagine what that young woman has to deal with. thank you, shaq. they are wrapping up their case in the ghislaine maxwell trial faster than fasted. court ending earlier today. prosecutors are expecting to wrap up soon. when could that happen and what have we heard so far? >> well, today there was a prosecutor who was sick. there's no covid involved, but it's a sickness. they adjourned. prosecution predicted they might wrap up today, they originally predicted it would take four weeks. they've kind of blazed but their course, remaining is this fourth accuser, annie, who we expected the take the stand today. likely to take the stand tomorrow. and look agent the timeline here, it sort of seems like this jury could get the case before

christmas. the defense not likely to put many people on the stand, ghislaine maxwell herself, also very unlikely to testify in her defense. >> stephanie gosk for us, thank you. great to see you. we're also following breaking news. a source has told nbc the attorney general is looking to depose donald trump next month. that deposition would be part of the ongoing civil investigation into whether the trump organization committed fraud in reporting the values of its properties to banks and tax authorities. james is looking into whether to file a civil suit against the organization. a lawyer for trump declining to comment so far. so you remember this story. a navy engineer accused of passing intelligence about nuclear submarines inside of a peanut butter sandwich. it sounds like a movie plot, and now there is a new twist. lawyers for his jailed wife also facing espionage charges, are making a request for bail. they argue her plans to flee the

country were not out of fear of arrest but because of, wait for it, her disgust for former president donald trump. that's next. t. there is no place like home y'all! and these people know that there is no place like wayfair. i never thought i'd buy a pink velvet sofa, but when i saw it, i was like 'ah'. and then i sat on it, and i was like 'ooh'. ooh! stylish and napable. okay now. i can relate to this one. i'm a working mom with three boys. [ yelling ] wayfair is my therapy. amen, kim! yup! i'm hiding from my kids, as we speak.

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welcome back. there are wild new developments in the case of the maryland couple looking to sell top secret submarine information. he and his wife have plead not guilty, but a text exchange between the couple about them potentially fleeing the country. ken, i find this case fascinating as i read through the text messmessages, i could put it down. she want today flea the u.s. because she hates donald trump so much. how did we get to that? >> that is one of the most bizarre and complexing spy

cases. why would this middle class couple with two young children have risked life in prison. a new filing in the case sheds light on possible motives. it makes clear that they hated donald trump so much that they were talking about leaving the country. it also shows they have money problems. remember that she was a high school teacher and he was working as a civilian engineer for the navy. so they filed three pages of text messages between her and her husband from back in 2019 talking about the mueller investigation and how disgusted she is with donald trump. he said that biden/warren will curb stop trump. she says they need to get out of the country. it shows she was not trying to

flee over a possible arrest, also that her husband told prosecutors that she was not involved in his effort to sell highly classified submarine secrets to a third country. but they say she was a lookout, that he believed would be picked up by foreign spies. it was actually an fbi sting. prosecutors say that tobey hoped to make as much as $5 million for selling american nuclear secrets and the text messages showed they really needed the money. at one point he says they're way over budget and they have just $500 in the account with school tuition due. >> he said i don't want to go back to making $50,000 a year, talking about what he was possibly involved in, but why would this serve as a defense on her behalf? why would they buy that she was not necessarily involved considering the fact that they

spoke about fleeing. they had the money, they had the way, the means. >> i agree, this is not necessarily exculpatory. but her lawyers are saying this happened a year before he made contact with the fbi agent. but there is also cryptic references to plan a and plan b. so there is interesting stuff we don't know the meaning of. >> thank you, we'll continue to follow it, thank you, ken. before we go a big update on one of the largest wildfires in california history. a father and son has been accused of reckless arson. the fire raged from august to october and forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes and reduce hundreds of buildings to ash. it burned 200,000 acres and it was the 15th largest fire in california history.

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awe. good day, this is andrea mitchell reports, andrea is on assignment, i'm kris jansing we'll have more for you for the most memorable moments from the tribute to bob dole. we begin with the coronavirus and the delta variant that is raging across the united states. the numbers continue to move in a dangerous direction with more than 100,000 new cases per day and more than 1,000 covid related deaths per day. both of those averages could get worse as temperatures drop and tens of millions of americans remain unvaccinated just in time for the holidays. we're joined by two guests now, thank you both for beingtonia