a very good day to all of you from msnbc world headquarters here in new york. welcome, everyone, to alex witt reports. here's what's happening at 2:00 p.m. eastern, 11:00 a.m. pacific time. we're beginning with the breaking news, dozens of devastating tornados carving a path of destruction across at least six states in the south and midwest, and the threat is not over yet. with millions more americans at risk for severe weather across the southeast.

at least 36 tornados are believed to have touched down in arkansas, illinois, kentucky, missouri, mississippi, and tennessee, one of the strongest tornados potentially traveled over 200 miles. here's some new video of the destruction left in mayfield, kentucky, which is believed to be one of the hardest hit areas. at least 70 people are believed to be dead in just kentucky alone but officials say the final figure could end up being closer to 100 fatalities. earlier today, governor andy beshear gave an update from that devastated city. >> this has been the most devastating tornado event in our state's history. and for those that have seen it, what it's done here in grace county and elsewhere, it is indescribal. the level of devastation is unlike anything i have ever seen. >> here's a look at the damage in bowling green, kentucky. the national weather service is now reporting a survey team

found a tornado hit there with estimated wind speeds of 150 miles an hour. then in illinois, here's some footage that was captured of a tornado that hit an amazon facility. the roof of that building was ripped off and a 100-foot portion of a wall collapsed. and here's what it looks like today as a search and rescue operation is under way. at least two people have died there. multiple others injured in edwardsville right near st. louis. one amazon worker described being there as it happened. >> the front part -- the front corner of the building was still intact but the back corner of the building off to the right side was caved in. so, i waited in my van around like 30 minutes and then they told us to come inside to the tornado shelter area, and from the tornado shelter area, you could kind of see into the warehouse, so from the position i was in, the back corner where i usually check in and grab my bag and stuff like that, keys for the van, all that was caved in. it was a bathroom over there, so that bathroom was gone.

>> in arkansas, at least one person is dead. five seriously injured in a nursing home. that facility saying they took a direct hit from a tornado. governor asa hutchinson has been touring the damage in that state today. here's a look at some of the damage as tornados rip through parts of missouri. at least one person was killed there in st. charles county. and more damage today. this from kingston springs, tennessee. it's near nashville. at least three people have been confirmed dead in that state. joining me now, storm chaser mike gordon, who's been assessing the damage in missouri and kentucky after working all night. mike, welcome back. we talked to you earlier in the broadcast. give me the latest from where you are and what you're seeing. is it still just utter devastation as far as the eye can see? >> i'll step out of my truck here. i'm now more in the center part of town. i'll flip the camera around here. and as you can see, it's still

real -- a lot more of the commercial buildings are usually built, you know, a little stronger, but as you look at some of the commercial buildings back there, they're completely destroyed. and it's not much different than what i have been seeing since the beginning of mayfield. near the candle factory. >> yeah. mike, let me ask you about one building that we were seeing, if you can go back to that one that at least is partially standing. that one. it's coming into view, if you keep -- right there. is that a building made of brick? i mean, it looks like it suffered tremendous damage but a lot of it is still standing. >> yes. that is brick. and i think -- i haven't looked up, you know, but i believe it's some type of theater. >> what about this storm

compared to others that you have chased, mike? i mean, how do you compare them? >> the devastation here has been way, way greater than other storms that i have chased. i mean, putting it into -- just this tops all those storms. >> it would, huh? you know, we're hearing the wind, mike. it seems like it's pretty strong there. of course, nothing compared to potentially 200-mile-an-hour winds if indeed this clocks in as an ef-5, which you've said is possible. hasn't been confirmed yet. but when you were at that candle factory where the roof collapsed this morning, and you were there during the search and rescue, what did you see there? >> i'm sorry. excuse me. what was that?

>> yeah. listen, talk about the candle factory. when you were there during the search and rescue, what did you see? >> completely -- it was just a pile of rubble. it was like just a -- it looked more like -- i mean, it kind of looked -- i don't know if you've ever been to a -- oh geez -- like a garbage disposal place where they just pile all the debris up and put it in the ground, that's kind of what it looks like. it's just a bunch of debris and rubble. there's no structure intact. nothing is standing. not a single piece of framework. everything is flattened and in a pile. >> so, you're giving a good visual there, and that is the entity into which they're doing search and rescue? i mean, that's what it looks like, what they're having to comb through? >> yes.

i mean, they're -- i haven't been back there since i would say about 8:00 this morning, but they were piecing -- pulling up, piece by piece, by hand, out of the pile to retrieve the people. they're using special, like, wooden boards to -- i don't know -- to, like, wedge in between certain pieces of metal. i was talking to some lumber guys there that were cutting some wood that they -- it's cut at an angle so that it -- they can wedge it in between stuff that is already wedged to help pry things apart. >> so it's kind of like creating a pocket, maybe, right? a pocket so they could get in. >> yeah. >> yeah. we've seen that as they try to pile through devastation of any kind like that, when there's a

collapse. i believe there are six, maybe seven people that are missing still from that candle factory. i mean, how large of a -- of an area are we talking about that they've got to comb through? >> it's -- it's at least football field long by half a football field wide, i believe. so what's that, 300 by 150? that's probably sounds about right. it might be a little larger than that, actually. >> believe me, that's big enough, particularly the kind of devastation you're describing. for anyone who may be just joining us and didn't see you when you were on a couple hours ago, you brought some extraordinary video that was taken in the dead of night, which when my director rob is able to access that, i'd love to throw that up, because you talked about being maybe a couple of football fields away, maybe 300 yards away from the storm yourself. and now we're looking at it. thanks, rob.

a huge tornado, it is back lit by lightning. what is that like in the middle of the night to hear that, to feel that? >> like i say every time, it's indescribable. it's something that people -- a lot of people don't take for granted, but mother nature is the most powerful thing on earth. and this storm was something that the roar -- i mean, it was so loud on top of -- i had very little rain when that storm went by. before it got to me, it was rain wrapped, and then the rain dissipated as it crossed the highway in front of me. but the wind right before the

tornado came across the highway, it was almost calm, so all that pressure and then when i rolled by window down, it started to want to -- i mean, it started to suck a piece of paper out from inside of my truck. >> yeah, it's extraordinary. >> these are just a few things that i'm remembering. >> yeah. you know, mike gordon, you made the point that you -- you are a father of three, and you said you take every precaution you can when you're out there but i'm just going to say, i bet you get home as soon as you can and hug all three of those kids. they're going to be awfully glad to see you. i hope they've been able to see you okay on tv on msnbc. thank you so much for your first person recording of all this and letting us know what happened out there. meantime, we're going to bring in nbc meteorologist michelle grossman with millions of people that could still be affected by another round of storms today. is that how you're seeing it, michelle? >> yeah, hi there, alex. we have this cold front moving through.

we have really warm temperatures, record-breaking temperatures in some spots so we do have an atmospheric set-up for more severe weather although we're not expecting what we saw yesterday. we had such dynamics yesterday that we're not going to see again and hopefully won't see again for quite a while. this is what it looks like on radar right now. i wanted to get you up to date on where that cold front is, clear to see on this map here, down to the east, i'm happy to say there are no watches, no warnings. that doesn't mean we're not going to have any, but we don't have any active ones right now. you can see some yellow, some red, darker colors. that's the heavy rain. so we're going to see, that's the biggest threat, some really gusty winds and also ferocious rains that could bring some flooding but there terms of the outbreak overnight, the dynamics in place, really warm air, temperatures that felt more like summer. some spots into the upper 80s, the humidity in place, we had that strong cold front that moved through. and then we started to see the winds really pick up and invoke that spin and that's where we got this tornado outbreak. so unusual for this time of

year. typically we see this in spring with the change of seasons. mike sort of talked about mother nature. mother nature wants everything in unity, wants it in balance. so, when we have two air masses, that's the goal there, just to create that unity, so when you have cold front moving through this warm air mass, you have these outbreaks and that's what we saw last night, so 35 tornado reports. doesn't mean 35 tornados but it means 35 tornado reports, and we're going to have a survey, damage survey team go through and they're going to tell us exactly how many tornados went through. so we first saw the first thunderstorm. there's a parent thunderstorm which really spawned and spurred these tornados. that was at 5:40 yesterday and that was pretty early. that was when the sun was setting and we saw this track for 230 miles and alex, that last warning went out around 1:30 in the morning so this was over four to five hours and a really long event so alex, we're going to keep you up to date, give you the latest information, but really just an unusual situation for this time of year. >> yeah. it certainly is. thank you so much for keeping us

updated. we appreciate you, michelle. so this devastating video that you're going to see right now, that is of that candle factory in mayfield, kentucky. the roof collapsing overnight when the deadly tornados hit, trapping workers inside and that includes kiana parsons perez who posted this frantic plea for help on facebook. >> y'all, please send us some help. somebody please send us some help. we are trapped. the wall is stuck on me. >> oh, that is chilling. fortunately, she's joining me right now. hearing that, what goes through your mind again when you listen to the terror that you felt? >> well, it definitely brings it all back. >> yeah. >> it brings it all back because it was extremely scary, the most terrifying thing i've ever been through, and i don't watch my lives. i just leave them alone but my

reason for going live is because i called 911 and they said we're trying to get to you. i think they had some, you know, the whole town was hit so hard, so i said, i need to go live because in this day and age, social media is one of the best tools there is, so i said if i can go live, then we can get people here from the surrounding towns, more people, because they don't know we're stuck. they don't know that the building collapsed on us or anything, and the wall had fallen. i mean, everything just -- it just came down on us and it was -- it was extremely scary. >> i can not even imagine in the dark as well. are you doing okay right now? are you injured at all? >> i'm actually at the e.r. i'm at the e.r., so we'll see. i'm at the e.r. right now. i'm getting checked out because i do have some things going on i just want to, you know, i have to do what i need to do. so i'm at the e.r. right now. >> okay. well, that's a good place to be, then, and we appreciate you taking time to talk to us while you're waiting there. let me ask you how this all

unfolded. what did you hear? were you aware that bad weather was coming your way? were you aware of the severity of what could be hitting you? >> well, on my way to work, my friend called me and told me, you don't need to go to work because you've seen what's coming towards us and i don't really watch the news a lot. i barely watch television. and so, i'm like, i'm going to work, and i was actually -- my birthday is today. today's my birthday. my 40th birthday. and so, i wasn't going to go in last night because i was -- i had today off and i wasn't going to go in last night, but i said, let me go ahead because i got two checks until christmas and i have four kids. and i wanted to, you know, try to make as much money as i could. and so, i went ahead and went in and so i wasn't going to stay the whole night because my shift is from 6:00 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. and i didn't want to be sleepy at work, and so i didn't -- i

was going to leave early, and so they had us in the shelter area, the evacuation area, and then they took attendance, you know, but then all of a sudden, you could hear the noises and people, like, oh. and me, i'm a very playful person. i'm like, y'all act like we've never been in storms, we're all grown, we've been in storms. well, little did i know what was coming next, and so the next thing i know, the people that were kind of on the outskirts of the area, they started walking in, because you could hear a low rumble and then there was this gust of wind, and then my ears started popping. and i'm like, why are my ears popping up in here? so then i got scared. so i moved from where i was and i kind of stepped over into a place that i thought was safer, and i'm going to say this. i say that it wasn't, but

actually, i think that it was, because i got caught underneath -- my legs were caught underneath the water fountain, and behind the water fountain was an air-conditioning unit, and so it was just incredibly scary. and then when i tried to get help, they told me that the air-conditioning unit, they couldn't move it and then when the rescue people finally came, they said -- i said, can you please just move this? i just need to move my leg. if you can move this, i can stand here. i need to move my leg. i couldn't feel my leg. it was numb. i couldn't feel -- i just needed them to move and the man said, ma'am, i'm sorry, it's going to take us some time. there is five feet of debris on top of you. >> you know, we've seen reports of how someone described it, one of the storm chasers who saw it, described it as looking now like a landfill. like there's so much stuff and

debris. >> it doesn't even -- it doesn't even look like it was ever a factory. it just looks like a mess. cars everywhere. flipped every kind of way. i told somebody, they said, well, where's your car at? i said, have you ever had your child had a bunch of hot wheel cars and you just take them and dump them out? that's how the cars look out there. i mean, they're upside down, flipped all over. it's just a mess. and one of my friends, he was driving a van, and if you look and see a white van, he was in there, but he said, i landed on top of the building. he said -- i told him, i had to climb up to get out. he said, i had to climb down because he was actually outside in the van. >> oh my gosh. >> he said he was thrown from a loop and just -- it just went crazy. and we were inside and i was just trapped and when they told me that i was under five feet of debris, with that air-conditioning unit on me, i didn't think i was going to make it.

>> you know what, kyanna, though, you did, and it's your birthday and i think sometimes when things like this happen, you have to say there was a little bit of good luck sprinkled on you because reports are that at least one if not two of your colleagues may not have made it. they're still looking for some. so, i wish you nothing but the best. you're awfully brave to talk to us, and i hope whatever they're doing for you there at the e.r. you come out of there walking straight and tall and are healthy. best of luck. >> yes, ma'am. >> kyanna, happy birthday. >> thank you so much. thank you. >> you're welcome. coming up ahead, the escalating legal troubles for former president donald trump. the reason why new york's attorney general wants to talk to him. ew york's attorney general wants to talk to him are you ready to meet the new class of subway's eat fresh refresh™?

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time. dozens of tornados have torn through those six states, including right here in kentucky. that's what you're looking at, some new video of the devastation in mayfield, kentucky, one of the hardest hit areas, at least 70 people in the state of kentucky are believed to be dead. officials, though, believe that final figure could end up being closer to a hundred. we are monitoring the situation as the severe weather continues to threaten millions of americans today and bring you updates as we get them. let's take a look at the other top stories we're following today, some new reaction from president biden to the growing inflation concerns after a government report shows prices have risen nearly 7% in the past year. it is the biggest one-year surge since the early 1980s. the president seemingly confident the worst will be over soon. >> i think you'll see it change sooner -- quicker than -- more rapidly than it will take than most people think. every other aspect of the economy is racing ahead. it's doing incredibly well. we've never had this kind of

growth in 60 years. but inflation is affecting people's lives. >> and as the threat of a russian invasion in ukraine is growing, new reaction just in the last hour from the chairman of the house armed services committee, congressman adam smith, telling the u.s. military involvement is not on the table. >> we are not in a position to stop russia militarily. head-to-head. and i would not support u.s. military intervention in ukraine. i do not support going to war with putin in eastern europe with u.s. troops. i support working diplomatically and with our allies to try to discourage putin from doing that, and i believe that we can. >> and on capitol hill, the january 6th committee issuing a new batch of subpoenas, and it includes two former white house aides who the panel says met with donald trump two days before the capitol attack. let's go right to nbc's julie tsirkin on capitol hill for us. julie, welcome to you on a saturday. there have been a lot of new developments in this investigation, so walk us through the highlights.

>> reporter: yeah, alex, let's start with what you just mentioned, that meeting, because it's perhaps the biggest news and the biggest takeaway in the last couple days of action for the january 6th select committee. in a new batch of subpoenas, they issued yesterday, they outline a direct link for the first time publicly between former trump aides and those who planned the rallies that took place on january 5th and of course before the insurrection on january 6th and this new batch of subpoenas include names you probably never heard about but one of them is max miller, a former trump aide who was in that meeting on january 4th with the president, with another trump aide. he's also a current congressional candidate in ohio, and apparently, according to the committee, they were briefing the president on these rallies on the plans for the rallies who was speaking at them, all of the things that previously the white house tried to keep at arm's length and say that the president was distanced from the rally planners. well now we learned in this new batch of subpoenas, that might have not been the case according to the committee. how did they learn this?

they've interviewed over 300 witnesses according to liz cheney, the vice chair of the committee and they've received hundreds if not thousands of pages of documents from those that they have interviewed, those they've subpoenaed and of course those who have testified voluntarily. now, another document they received is of course from former chief of staff mark meadows who turned over a 38-page powerpoint presentation on options for january 6th that included the former president, president trump, declaring a national emergency, basically ways that vice president pence could stop the certification of election results on january 6th. there's a 36-page version of that floating around online. of course, meadows' lawyer says that was something he just received in his email but let's take a listen to adam schiff. he's a member of the january 6th select committee. let's take a listen to what he said yesterday on msnbc. >> we're citing this and other information that we got from mr. meadows, documents, emails, text messages, to show that he has already recognized these are

not privileged materials. his lawyer has affirmed, these are not privileged. so how do you then turn about and say, well, i can't talk about these things? >> reporter: what the congressman there is talking about is the fact that mark meadows did an about face. he's now not cooperating with the committee again after beginning to. and the committee is set to vote -- to hold him in contempt of congress on monday. their third vote that they have taken in the last couple of months for trump aides who have not complied with their subpoenas. alex? >> okay, julie tsirkin or on capitol hill. we go to mayfield, kentucky, the breaking news specifically about the candle factory which has been usually flattened and devastated. kathy park has made her way to the location. we've heard extraordinary descriptions about this. most recently, from a survivor of that collapse. she happens to be right now inside the e.r., getting some treatment for some aches and

pains, but tell me what you're seeing. >> reporter: alex, so, we are just getting into the town of mayfield, and i think the best way to describe the damage is just catastrophic. the moment we drove in, we saw the damage. you saw the power poles just strewn over, the power lines just scattered everywhere, and you mentioned that candle factory. well, it's over my shoulder right now. this is the closest that we can get because this is the staging area. we have several law enforcement agencies on the ground. you might actually notice some activity behind me. you see the cranes just going through the rubble. this is still a rescue operation, but alex, i think the most heartbreaking thing to share at this moment, we spoke with some family members who are still looking for their loved ones. we spoke with darryl johnson just a few moments ago and he was telling me that he is still looking for his younger sister.

janeane johnson. he's been trying to call her several times when he knew the storm was headed this way. he has not been able to get ahold of her. it is heartbreaking. this is the headline on the ground right now. several other family members coming to this location, trying to locate loved ones. meanwhile, over to my left, it's a little hard to see here because like i told you alex, this is the closest that we can get to the damage at this point. you will see extensive damage. you have homes just leveled. you see a lot of different law enforcement agencies, officers on the ground. we tried to get some answers as to what exactly is happening right now. they're trying to figure out exactly how to move forward. right now, this is a staging area, so everyone seems to be coming here to get guidance. we're also trying to get some answers as to what they plan to do moving forward, alex. >> i'm actually heartbroken to hear this story.

you're talking about darryl johnson and his younger sister. did he talk to you about the last time he spoke to her? have they communicated at all about the weather that was heading their way? because people began to get heads-up late yesterday afternoon in certain parts of the country. >> reporter: yeah, he said he spoke to her a couple of days ago, in fact, and had a nice conversation with her and spent the holidays, thanksgiving, together. but he tried to give her a heads-up. he knew that she was going into work around 4:30 but still was not able to get ahold of her and as we were wrapping up our interview, her husband showed up to the scene as well, and they have been driving all over the area, trying to get some answers from area hospitals, trying to see if anyone has seen her. that really seems to be the headline here. a lot of the families still trying to locate their loved ones. over 110 employees were inside the candle factory at the time

when the tornados tore through. the governor, just moment ago, said that dozens are feared dead, unfortunately. and witnesses are telling me that bodies have been pulled out of the rubble behind me here at the candle factory, you know, it really is just heartbreaking to hear this and sadly, the death toll will likely climb. >> you know, kathy, as you take a look over your shoulder, if you don't mind doing that, do you see anything of that structure that really still stands? i mean, again, it has been described to us as looking like something a landfill would represent. i mean, just rubble and trash upon trash. is there anything? are there walls? are there anything that stands? >> reporter: from where we are standing, alex, i don't see any of that. it looks like the whole building has been leveled, and this whole community -- it looks like it's been flipped upside down. on the ground here, you have insulation from nearby

buildings. we're here in front of a john deere dealership. you have heavy machinery just tossed all over the area. but i think the fact that you have just all this debris on the ground and it's extremely blustery right now, so you have all sorts of things just flying around. you can even smell this strong perfume in the air and you can only imagine it's perhaps coming from the candle factory behind me. >> oh, that is very interesting. right. scented candles. i hadn't even thought about something like that. so, this janeane johnson who you have said there are family members, her brother, her husband, looking for her. they're looking at hospitals. do you know if there's been any sort of a command center set up so people can call in and say, look, here's where i am or let loved ones know that they're okay? >> reporter: i think that's the biggest frustration for the johnsons and other families right now, because they

obviously came to the workplace, her workplace, and hoping to talk to someone, to get any sort of answer as to where she might be, if they have a list of names of victims still unaccounted for, and that's what they're missing right now. and that's why they're driving aimlessly around some of the area hospitals, hoping they might be able to find her. >> you know, kathy, i appreciate you getting in front of a camera after literally having just arrived there on the scene and speaking with the johnson family. so, as soon as you get some more information, because we're super focused on this candle factory, given the rescue and recovery operations there right now. come back and let us know what you're finding out. thank you so much, kathy park, for getting on camera for us. meantime, everyone, we have some new questions about the omicron variant, how the upcoming holidays could impact its spread. upcoming hidolays could impact its spread firefighter maggie gronewald knows how to handle dry weather... ...and dry, cracked skin. new gold bond advanced healing ointment. restore healthy skin,

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let's go now to the

escalatesing legal troubles for former president donald trump. new york attorney general letitia james wants to question the former president under oath next month in a long-running fraud investigation into the trump family real estate business. the civil investigation is focusing on whether the trump organization routinely lied about the value of its properties, trying to lower its taxes or access loans. trump's attorney said he's still awaiting the subpoena but called the deposition scheduled for january 7th a witch hunt and purely political. the decision comes as the former president loses an appeal to block white house records from being handed over to the january 6th house committee. while his allies and former aides face their own legal challenges for stonewalling that panel. we're going to get to all of that now with msnbc legal analyst and former u.s. attorney barbara mcquade. always good to have you here so let's begin with this new york civil investigation into the trump organization. explain to us what information the attorney general wants to get from donald trump, and is there any way trump can get out of testifying? >> well, ordinarily, in a civil

case, alex, it's really quite common to take the deposition of people who were involved in the investigation. in a case about fraud, about inflating or deflating property values, a really important part of the case is determining whether the person knew they were making false statements and whether they had an intent to defraud, and so taking their deposition is the best way to get that information. the reason the stakes are so high is because it's donald trump. he's given tons of depositions in his past as a businessman, and now, his deposition is being sought again in his capacity as a businessman and so these theatrics about it being a witch hunt -- in case there is some concern that the statements that he makes at his deposition would later be used against him in the criminal case but of course donald trump has famously said, innocent people don't take the fifth. >> absolutely right. but there's no way we're going to hear executive privilege,

right? that would not even close to apply in this case. >> so, you're right that it would not be close to applying in the case but i don't guarantee we won't hear it because the law doesn't often stop president trump from asserting various privileges but it is in his personal capacity and so executive privilege has nothing to do with this case. >> point well taken, though, considering the source. so, the previous civil actions have shut down the trump foundation. they did it after it was charged with using charitable donation money for political purposes. shut down trump university which was convicted of swindling funds from students so these latest charges, how do they measure up? >> well, we don't know yet, but the allegations appear that donald trump has suggested property values of $500,000 for a particularly property when, in fact, it was valued at $16 million. so, those two numbers are so wildly different that i think letitia james wants to understand what was motivating

this $500 million estimate of property values. and so, if there is no good explanation for that, this seems to be fraud. and so, in that case, he could owe some enormous back taxes if he was -- if this was an effort to reduce property values to reduce the tax bill. >> let's get to the 1/6 committee efforts and this in a letter to mark meadows' attorney on wednesday, chairman bennie thompson revealed that meadows has previously provided text messages and emails to the committee before claiming executive privilege, right? and that includes 36 powerpoint slides, actually, i think, 38 to the committee. they were dated just a day before the capitol riot, which in part recommended a scheme that included informing lawmakers of apparent foreign interference in the election and then declaring a national emergency. you know, given all this information that meadows has publicly provided in his book, also going on television and talking about it on another network, privately to the

committee as well, does his lawsuit against the committee and nancy pelosi and everybody else that he possibly can sue, does it even have a chance? >> i don't think so. i think it's ultimately going to fail. and it may very well be that this was filed more politically than it was legally. and so, if and when it fails, it will give him some political cover to say to the president, look, i did everything i could to avoid testifying or producing these documents, and now i'm forced to do it. i think it also probably stalls any consideration of criminal charges against mark meadows for contempt of congress by filing this lawsuit. we will get a decision from this judge in the civil case about whether there is executive privilege here, and of course we know joe biden has waived executive privilege when it comes to the january 6th investigation. so, i think ultimately, the committee's going to get this information. i think it's a big stall tactic and a political tactic, but ultimately, i think an unsuccessful legal tactic. >> sage advice as always, barbara mcquade, thank you so much.

you mentioned president biden. we're going to go right now to my colleague, nbc's lauren egan in wilmington, delaware, for some breaking news on the president's response to the deadly tornados we've been covering all day for you. lauren, welcome. what's the latest? >> reporter: that's right, we're just learning that the president is going to deliver remarks here in wilmington on these deadly storms at 4:30 p.m. this afternoon, alex. the president earlier today spoke with kentucky governor andy beshear. the two leaders said they were going to stay in touch throughout the day as we've been learning more and more about just how severe this damage is. the president this morning was also briefed by his fema administrator and the white house has said they're surging resources to the areas that were most impacted by these storms. they're sending fema personnel as well as essential goods such as water. i want to share with you a little bit of what the president tweeted earlier this morning. it gives us a little bit of a fore shadow of what we might expect to hear from him later this afternoon. he said in a tweet that to lose a loved one in a storm like this

is an unimaginable tragedy. he went on to say that he was working with governors to ensure that they have what they need as the search for survivors and damage assessments continue. the white house also informed us that the president was going to be receiving fema briefings throughout the day as we continue to learn more and more about the situation, alex. >> okay, lauren, thank you so much. and again, we will wait for the president to make his remarks later on today. thank you for the heads-up on that. meantime, congressman matt gaetz and his plan for who he'd like to see as the next house speaker. d like to see as the next house speaker. at fidelity, your dedicated advisor will help you create a comprehensive wealth plan for your full financial picture. with the right balance of risk and reward. so you can enjoy more of...this.

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would you want ex-president trump to be the speaker? >> i would. >> have you talked to him about it? >> i have. >> what did he say? >> i keep my conversations with the former president between the two of us. >> okay, well, joining me now is msnbc contributor steve, a producer for the rachel maddow show. welcome to you, steve. it's my understanding this started as a fund-raising strategy but it's now becoming a bizarre reality that the house could potentially have to face. has donald trump said anything indicating that he would even want to be speaker? is this more about enjoying a presumed power play? >> he has been asked about this on the record, and he has said publicly that he considers this idea quite interesting. it's a word that he's used more than once. interesting, he says, over and over again. he hasn't committed to the idea that he's prepared to do it but he also hasn't said he's not prepared to do it. i don't think he'd enjoy the job. it involves all kinds of efforts that he doesn't like to engage in but he could shut the door on

this and he hasn't. >> that's interesting. speaking of interesting, let's play something else that matt gaetz said this weekend about the possibility of republicans taking back the house. >> we are going to take power after this next election, and when we do, it's not going to be the days of paul ryan and trey gowdy and no real oversight and no real subpoenas. it's going to be the days of jim jordan and marjorie taylor greene and dr. gosar and myself doing everything to get the answers to these questions. >> well, that's quite a quadrangle right there. but would a speaker trump pave the way for lawmakers like marjorie taylor greene, paul gosar, matt gaetz to end up in leadership positions and the thought of that, how dangerous a prospect is it? >> it's very serious indeed. i mean, i think that for most gop leaders, they want to be perceived as being a mature and responsible governing party but if donald trump were in such a position where he's literally in

charge of the house and overseeing the committees and overseeing leadership positions and he starts rewarding his allies, extremists like matt gaetz and marjorie taylor greene and paul gosar and others, you're looking at a situation in which the house republicans would be even more radicalized than they are right now so i think for democrats looking at this and weighing their campaign plans for 2022, i think this is an important element. i think that not only does it light a fire under the democratic base but it tells independent voters and swing voters, look, republicans are going to be pretty extreme in 2023 if they're in a position of majority and so 2022 midterms will be determined whether or not that happens. >> you know, we haven't heard the name kevin mccarthy, right? i mean, is this something that he would say, you know, i've wanted to be speaker of the house my entire career, and i'm just going to step aside and let this happen? >> well, no, of course, i mean, i think that this would be a drama worthy of shakespeare, kevin mccarthy spends his entire career wanting to be speaker of the house, a sycophantic support

of donald trump and when he's ready to grab the gravel, donald trump saying, i think i want that gavel for myself. that would be an extraordinary rebuke and just a painful tragedy for the current minority leader and possible futurer speaker but nevertheless, i think what we've seen in recent years is that what donald trump wants from house republicans, he gets from house republicans so i think that kevin mccarthy has reason to be concerned about this. >> but again, what donald trump wants is not clear. so far, he's just saying it's interesting so he can play this out. here's a question. the idea of trump as speaker, does that backfire on republicans, potentially, and in fact end up helping democrats in the midterms? >> i think that's a very real prospect. i think that for -- think about it this way. we were thinking, when we look ahead to 2022, we were under the impression that for the first time since 2014, we were going to have an election cycle in which donald trump was electorally irrelevant. he wasn't even on the ballot, wasn't in the white house, it

wouldn't have mattered about donald trump at all but the moment we start taking this seriously, the moment there's a serious conversation in republican politics that donald trump could potentially be a candidate for speaker of the house, the moment that happens, all of a sudden, 2022 becomes a referendum on possibility of donald trump in a leadership position and that's the sort of thing that boosts turnout, the kind of thing that boosts fund raidsing, it would have an immediate and direct impact on the entire election cycle and it would make it easy for democrats to say a vote for republicans is a vote for donald trump as speaker of the house. that would be a credible argument from democrats as soon as it starts to become more serious in gop policy. >> i can't believe i'm going to say something that donald trump has said, but you know, this is interesting. got to say, steve benen, thank you so much for bringing us the conversation and the chat. appreciate it. so, my next guest is staging a hunger strike over something that's dividing the country and really crucial to american democracy. and he's going to tell us why he is risking his life. to tell use is risking his life. ♪ limu emu♪ ♪ superpowers from a spider bite?

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news as we monitor the situation. dozens are feared dead after a series of tornados tore through at least six states and you're looking at drone video right now that's taking of the devastation in mayfield, kentucky, certainly one of the hardest hit areas. president biden is scheduled to speak about the storms at 4:30 eastern time in just a little bit under two hours. we're going to bring you his commence live when he gets to his presidential podium there. meantime, joe madison is 34 days into a hunger strike for voting rights. he started on november 8, which means he missed thanksgiving, and risks missing other holiday meals if congress does not get legislation passed before next friday when its members are scheduled to go on holiday break. joe madison is joining me now, activist and sirius xm radio host of the joe madison show. joe, my friend, we've known each other a long time and i'm just going to say, you don't look great. you have lost a lot of weight. how are you doing?

>> there are good days, there are bad days. you know, it comes with the territory. and the reality is that it's not so much about, alex, how i'm doing. it's what would happen to this country if we don't pass what is a simple and nonpartisan bill. you know, who was it? senator from virginia, mark warner, said that this is -- this is not about public policy. it's simply about democracy. and small "d." and so, i have -- and i'm just telling the senate and the president of the united states, there's no turning back. this is more important than just

me. as a matter of fact, alex, today, there are 20 students from arizona who took it upon themselves to start their own hunger strike, and they have flown here to washington to confront and lobby the senate and the president of the united states. >> yeah, you know, that's got to feel good. i'm looking at the information about those 20. they began their hunger strike on november 5. they've come to the capital, as you say. but just look, couple of questions, first of all, how long can you continue this, joe? i do want to make it about you, you're my friend and you've taken a position here that's pretty darn important and do you have any indication that voting rights legislation will be passed in this next week before congress goes on break? >> that last question, yes, i do have indication. i've heard from senator kane and senator booker. i've heard from several

senators, and every last one of them that i have heard from -- now, this is interesting -- have said, continue what you're doing. join with other organizations in solidarity and i believe, quite candidly, and this is -- i'm stepping out on faith, but what i believe is that this may be the christmas present that this country needs and that is to protect our vote and to make sure that this big lie that's being told, that the 15th amendment to the constitution doesn't count when it comes to state rights, and voting. that is the biggest lie that could be told. and so, you know, i -- look. i'm -- you know, if we don't -- if somebody says, it's not going to happen, then i'll cross that bridge when i get there.

but at this point in time, there's no turning back for me on this. there are people -- you know, people who have sacrificed more. let me tell the president and the senate something. there was the moore family out of florida who on christmas day, after he had spent time a day or so before registering people to vote, they -- the ku klux klan and others went and burned his house down on christmas day, and he and his wife were killed on christmas day. and i think that this bill ought to be passed before christmas in honor of the moores and others who have sacrificed their lives, and alex, as much as we care for each other and we're friends all this time, people have sacrificed a lot more than -- for the right to vote. and can i say also, my heart and

prayers go out for the people who are caught in this tornado. i sit on the board of the red cross, and they clearly are busy, god, you know, it's -- what they're going through is terrible. but i was thinking about them also. but you know, we have to make -- you know, a movement requires sacrifice. it never -- this is not a moment. this is not a moment. this is a movement. and all movements require sacrifice, and my god, what -- you know, the russians and chinese hope that these bills don't pass. it's really a national security issue. >> yeah. >> and it's not about republican or democrat. this is nonpartisan, and 2006, 2007, my god, 98 senators came together and voted to re-establish and extend the '65 voting rights act. >> you say 2006, 2007. seems like a whole lifetime ago,

really, when you compare politics now with politics then. but joe madison, we're going to keep checking up on you and you farewell, my friend, okay? i'm glad to talk with you. good luck. that's going to do it for me, everyone. msnbc's yasmin vossoughian continues our coverage in just a moment with the latest on the deadly outbreak of tornados devastating the southeast. k of devastating the southeast. aughtr kids moved in with us... our bargain detergent couldn't keep up. turns out it's mostly water. so, we switched back to tide. one wash, stains are gone. [daughter] slurping don't pay for water. pay for clean. it's got to be tide. (vo) for fourteen years, subaru and our retailers have been sharing the love with those who need it most. now subaru is the largest automotive donor

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♪♪ good afternoon, everybody, i'm yasmin vossoughian. we're going to begin this hour with breaking news. at least 70 people are feared dead after a catastrophic series of tornados ripped through six states in the south and midwest late last night and into the morning hours. more than 35 tornados were reported to have touched down in kentucky, illinois, tennessee, arkansas, missouri, and mississippi. the strongest of those twisters potentially traveling over