bigger, willie, than even the news that went around the world when the hindenberg crashed. it's going to be that big. >> wow, wow, that's embarrassing. good luck. >> much more right here tomorrow. >> this is why she never lets me in. >> that's it for us this morning, stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now. ♪♪ hey there, i'm stephanie ruhle live at msnbc headquarters here in new york city. it is wednesday, december 15th, and we've got all the facts you need to know at this hour. so join me. let's get smarter. any minute now the president will depart for the state of kentucky where he is set to witness firsthand the widespread devastation caused by the tornados over the weekend. this morning there are are still dozens who are unaccounted for as communities pick up the pieces. also happening today, unless congress acts, the last of those child tax credit payments are set to hit family's bank

accounts today. nearly 10 million children are at risk of slipping back below the poverty line if payments are not extended. senator michael bennet will join us this hour. we've got to start with the historic vote in the house to recommend criminal contempt charges against one of their own, former congressman and white house chief of staff mark meadows. just two, only two republicans, liz cheney and adam kinzinger joined 220 democrats in voting to hold meadows in contempt for defying a congressional subpoena. it's the first time a former member of the house has been held in criminal contempt since 1832. i want to bring in nbc's ali vitali on capitol hill, scott mcfarlane, investigative reporter nor nbc 4 in washington. luke broadwater, and joyce vance, former u.s. attorney and professor at the university of alabama school of law. ali you have to start on this vote because two, only two

republicans voted for it. we all heard those text messages. those are republican members of congress pleading with meadows for help. they were inside the capitol as it was being attacked, yet they didn't vote for it. what am i missing? >> and steph, congresswoman liz cheney last night during this vote read out more text messages, she said, from republican lawmakers who are still in this house body. these are some of the messages, and you mentioned it, they sound desperate. listen to what they said. >> mark, one member said. he needs to stop this now. in all caps, tell them to go home. potus has to come out firmly and tell the protesters to dissipate. someone is going to get killed. >> steph, we've heard the trickle of these text messages that meadows turned over to the committee over the course of the last two days. they included up until -- they included the first batch of

them, fox news hosts like laura ingraham and sean hannity, they responded last night by attacking the committee, not necessarily surprising given the way that we know the conservative media has dealt with the january 6th commission, but something struck me last night when it came to who actually voted for this contempt referral, and it shows you the ways in which the meadows contempt referral is different from the bannon referral. nine republicans joined with democrats to vote for the contempt of steve bannon. some because they believe he should be held accountable. the other thing that strikes me here is that in this case, you know that meadows has a different claim to executive privilege than steve bannon does because meadows was actually in the white house. joyce can get into the legalese of that, but that's something that seemed to be weighing on republicans here. the other piece is you only have two of them now voting with

democrats on contempt, adam kinzinger and liz cheney, the lone republicans who seem to be standing on this january 6th issue every time. >> this is stunning. what happened on january 6th shouldn't be looked at through a political lens. it was an attack on our democracy, and now this is turning to the justice department top decide whether to seek criminal charges against meadows. why wouldn't they? >> well, you know, that's always the question in this situation, steph, and i think you're absolutely right. we've lived with this for so long that our outrage seems to have gone away, that we no longer are able to view what happened on january 6th with the clarity that everyone including republican members of congress seem to have on that day. so now it falls to the justice department to search for accountability, and although the traditional thinking is that it would be more difficult to indict and to prosecute meadows than it would be, say, someone

like bannon because of the privilege issues, meadows after all was working in the executive branch and has asserted executive privilege. the committee has made a really smart argument to the justice department. they've said you don't have to consider the privilege issue. we're going to set that aside. we're asking you to hold meadows in contempt because he turned over a number of documents saying that they weren't privileged and it's those non-privileged issues that he's refused to appear and testify about. that's a very compelling case for the justice department to prosecute. >> all right, luke, you wrote that the documents meadows handed over have given the investigation its first substantial burst of momentum. can you explain how that is? because one would think that these text messages were so big everyone would stop in their tracks, but fox news, as ali said last night, they keep on trucking. they're going after the committee. it's stunning. you've got to remember that millions of people are watching

those media outlets. >> yeah, absolutely. the reason i believe that is because up until now the committee has not released any what i would say bomb shell findings until liz cheney read those texts aloud. we know they've been through some information that's come out from the committee. we know they've been learning new things, new details, getting lots of documents, witness testimony but until now it all seemed kind of vague what they were actually getting. this is the first real, i would say evidence that sort of broke through and grabbed the public's attention that has come out over their subpoenas. you're right, in terms of the conservative media and republicans, what will it take for them to embrace what this committee is doing. and that's the role i think liz cheney is trying to play on the committee against long odds. she is trying to communicate to republicans. that's why when she talks, she often talks about what

republicans said that day, what fox news hosts said that day, and she's trying to remind them that this should not be a partisan investigation. it should not be a partisan issue, that you all once agreed with me about how serious january 6th was and the need to investigate it. >> is she having any success doing that? because right now she appears to be a champion, a hero for those on the left. and besides adam kikinzinger, i don't see any republicans listening to her, though she should. >> you're right. it's a tall task, and when there was the bannon vote, she did have seven republicans join her for the bannon vote. that was, as you pointed out, a bit of a different situation. steve bannon didn't come in at all to talk to the committee. he didn't produce any documents, and also, he doesn't have the kind of connections on capitol hill that mark meadows does. mark meadows was a congressman for more than seven years. he led the freedom caucus, a lot

of people on the hill, especially those in the republican party consider him a friend, and so i do think this was a tougher vote for some of those more moderate republicans given their history with mark meadows and the fact that he did participate somewhat, even if he stopped participating when it came time to come in for an interview. >> it may have been tough when they were thinking about it, but not when it came time to cast that vote. scott, all the focus right now is on the highest levels of government, what they were doing, what they knew on january 6th, but you've been watching the hearings for people who are actually on the ground. what do we know about the connection between the two groups on that day and the days leading up to it? >> it's foggy right now, stephanie. we're at nearly 700 criminal defendants in the u.s. capitol insurrection, but the real epicenter of this sweeping case comes from the far right groups,

the oath keepers, the proud boys and the 3%ers. those who were conspiring among their own respective groups to bring gear, tactical equipment, encrypted communications and to come with a fighting mentality january 6th. but reading through the thousands of pages of court filings, we don't see a cryptic or even a subtle reference to administration officials or lawmakers in the criminal charges. it's obviously important for many reasons, stephanie, but also judges have indicated they don't want to hear any indirect defenses from defendants that trump authorized me to go, trump said we could go to the capitol making it okay. the judges have said you are grown adults, responsible for your own actions and your own crimes. they don't want to hear pass ve arguments that donald trump said this was okay. >> you're not going to find text messages or emails between anyone and donald trump. he never used either one. it's one of the reasons his own son don jr. had to go to mark

meadows. trump specializes in never having his fingerprints on anything, but lawmakers do, so luke, is there any sense that lawmakers who have defended trump or texted meadows on january 6th, any sense that any of them are nervous about where this investigation goes? they could be the next to get a subpoena. >> yes, absolutely. none of them have expressed what i would say nerves publicly but there was a back and forth on the house floor last night where steny hoyer, the number two democrat in the house brought up what he said was the fact that republicans didn't want information to come out about these texts messages, about these emails, and that's why they were fighting the subpoena that produced a lot of outrage on the republican side, said that hoyer was attacking their character. but he is getting at a central point. we know that members of congress were deeply involved with planning the effort to undermine the 2020 election on behalf of

president trump, and every day we're learning more and more about that involvement. i thought one very -- there were a couple of very revealing text messages that came out, one where just two days after -- or just one day after the election of congressman email or text message to mark meadows suggesting aggressive measures to try and start putting together sort of fake slates of electors for trump, even before all the votes were counted. then there was another text message after the january 6th attack where a congressman apologized to meadows, not for the violence but for the fact that they failed in keeping trump in office. so you can see that there are some unnamed congressmen in these text messages who played a very key role in communicating with mark meadows as trump and his allies tried to overturn the election. >> of course it's not the

responsibility of those members of congress to keep trump in office. it's the american voter and the american voter voted for biden. that's where i want to take you, thank you all. we cannot forget that all of this from the january 6th insurrection on down is based on the very big lie about voter fraud in the 2020 election. that's where we have to give you the facts. "associated press" is out with an investigation that once again proves it did not happen. they reviewed every potential case of voter fraud in all six battleground states, a process that exhaustively took months. they found a grand total of 475 cases out of all six states. as the ap puts it, the cases could not change the outcome even if all of those votes were for biden, and even if all of those votes were counted which in most cases they were not. there was no collusion, no grand conspiracy, virtually every case was about an individual trying to cast an extra ballot. that is exactly what officials

are charging in florida where three people were arrested for casting multiple votes in 2020. and here's the kicker. all three of those people were reportedly trump supporters. now i want to turn from trump votes or lack thereof to trump taxes because late tuesday a federal judge rejected former president's latest attempt to stop members of the house ways and means committee from getting their hands on his tax returns. here's the bad news for them, it doesn't mean they're ever going to get them. nbc's justice correspondent pete williams joins me now. you know i've given up on these taxes but i don't want to. can you sprain the judge's ruling? >> don't give up yet, and this is certainly one step closer. this involves a request from richard neal who's asking for copies of mr. trump's tax returns for all four years he was in the white house and the year before and after. the committee says it wants to see how the irs is carrying out

a policy that requires automatic audits of a president's tax returns. it requires the irs to turn over any person's tax returns when demanded by con fwregsal tax committees. mr. trump's lawyers fought this in court. they said the real reason congress wanted his returns was just to look for something embarrassing that this was strictly political and the committee had no legitimate legislative purpose. this ruling was by judge trevor mcfadden who was appointed to the federal bench by president trump and the judge said it's undoubtedly true that for many in congress the desire to see the returns was simply bare knuckle politics, but he said a long line of supreme court cases says that as long as congress has a legitimate reason it doesn't matter what other motives there are. and he said those rules require great deference to facially valid congressional inquiries. the judge did put the ruling on hold for 14 days to give the trump legal team time to appeal.

they've filed notice they will appeal. their next stop is the federal appeals court in washington. if they lose there, they can try with the supreme court. so the final chapter won't come for many months from now, stephanie. >> and of course it makes very little sense, if the concern is that they're just doing this to embarrass trump, look at history, nothing embarrasses him. pete williams, thank you so much. we will be keeping an eye on this. thanks to you i'm not giving up on those taxes. coming up next, we're going to take you live to the state of kentucky where the latest on where rescue and recovery operations stand at this hour as more than 100 people are still unaccounted for. plus, we'll be speaking to kentucky's lieutenant governor, what she wants to hear from president biden as he visits the state today. biden as he visits e state today. mm. [ clicks tongue ] i don't know. i think they look good, man. mm, smooth. uh, they are a little tight. like, too tight? might just need to break 'em in a little bit.

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right now, president biden about to depart from joint base an trues for hard hit kentucky after the deadly tornado outbreak that tore through the region. this morning rescue and recovery efforts are still ongoing. at this hour, more than 100 people unaccounted for. in total 88 people have been confirmed dead across five states, and of the 74 people killed in kentucky, at least a dozen of them are kids. i want to go straight to gabe gutierrez in kentucky. what will the president be seeing when he arrives? >> reporter: hi there, stephanie. as you can see behind me, he will be seeing a lot of destruction. this is one of the businesses here in mayfield that has just been ripped apart.

the president will be coming here to mayfield and also to dawson springs. the death toll in kentucky remains at 74. a dozen of them are children. we spoke to another one of those survivors, stephanie, from that candle factory, a woman named michaela emery, and she told me a harrowing story where she was trapped underneath a concrete slap for six hours with a pregnant co-worker. they were able to get out alive, but another one of her co-workers who she had spoken to right before the tornado hit did not make it out. here's some of our conversation in her hospital room. >> the only thing i remember after that is i heard all kinds of noises, and the next thing i know i opened my eyes and i'm stuck. i can't move my legs. >> so all this concrete had just fallen on top of you. >> literally a wall, like a concrete wall was on top of me. >> did you think you would make it out alive? >> i honestly did not think they

were going to find me. >> so again, stephanie, president biden arriving here in mayfield in just a short time. he will be seeing this destruction. there are more than 500 national guard members mobilized here in kentucky. several dozen of them are still looking for the missing, and as you mentioned stephanie, right now the governor says more than 100 people in this state are still unaccounted for. stephanie, that could mean that someone reported them missing and they just haven't been able to get in touch with them, the hope is in the coming days that number could drop, but the governor says that his expectation is that the death toll will climb. stephanie. >> gabe, thank you. i want to turn to president biden about to depart for kentucky, he's speaking now. let's listen in. >> 800,000 coronavirus deaths, do you have a statement on your

responsibility and why haven't you asked china to do more to be transparent on the origins? >> i hope so. it's going to be close. >> what's your reaction to holding mark meadows in contempt? >> i don't know enough, just what i've seen, i've not spoken to anyone. it seems to me he's worthy of being held in contempt. >> what do you think about the text messages? >> i haven't seen them all. [ inaudible question ] >> joining us now kentucky lieutenant governor jacqueline coleman. lieutenant governor, the president is on his way to your state. what's your message to him? >> well, first i would say thank

you. he was able to be in contact with governor beshear immediately. governor beshear declared a state of emergency in kentucky and we saw the president turn around a national state of emergency quicker than we can remember. and so i know that this is top of mind for the president. we appreciate that he's taking the time to come and see the damage in kentucky today, and most importantly that he's leading with the same compassion our governor has led with to make sure that all of our folks in western kentucky can get access to the resources they need to rebuild and recover. >> there are still 100 people unaccounted for. you have spent the last few days visiting people in hospitals, looking at the extent of the damage. what do you think we're going to hear about those 100 people? >> you know, what i can say is that here in kentucky we just won't give up hope. we're going to keep looking. we're going to keep trying.

we're going to keep working until we can make sure that every family is united with their lost ones, their loved ones, and that we can make sure that we are able to wrap our arms around those grieving families because they need that now more than they need anything else, and so we're committed to making sure that we do that. >> all right then, lieutenant governor, thank you so much for joining us this morning. we appreciate it. our hearts go out to you and your community. and even though kentucky did get the worse of last weekend's tornados, don't forget, multiple states saw extensive damage, five in total. remember, the path of those storms went for more than 200 miles. you can see on your screen, it started in the northeastern corner of arkansas. that is where this video was taken, in a tiny town of monette. one man died when the roof of his nursing home collapsed. roughly an hour and a half away from there, this is what's left

of the town of sandburg, tennessee. they lost their town hall, their police station, post office, and many homes. almost four hours north of sanburg this on your screen is the wreckage left after an ef-3 tornado, that's major hit the town of edwardsville, illinois, that is the same town where the amazon facility caved in, and this is the video of the aftermath in defiance, missouri, two people died in that state, one of them a 9-year-old girl. think about those people. think about those states, and pray for those who are still left behind. left behind. o man, that's a whole lot of wrinkly at least my shoes look good! looking good start with bounce wrinkleguard, the megasheet designed to prevent wrinkles in the dryer.

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the markets will open any minute now after we learned retail sales jumped 0.3% in november, which is less than expected. however, people are spending, despite prices rising 6.8% last month, the biggest jump we've seen since 1982. hours from now, fed chair jay powell will address how he plans to tackle inflation after making a serious pivot in recent days. cnbc's steve liesman all over this story also with us, former

democratic congressman max rose running again for his old seat in staten island, and we should note we invited his opponent to join us and haven't heard back. let's take a look at these retail numbers, inflation numbers. how is our economy doing? put it in perspective. >> you know, i think it's a challenge to the economy, stephanie. i'm not running against max rose, i'm not the opponent. so just to be clear, you have this high inflation on the one hand, but pretty good growth and low unemployment and good job on the other hand. there's really two things happening. one is the economy is still adjusting with these supply shocks we've had with people not having returned to the work force. you don't have oil production up where it was. you have the ships that are backed up having trouble getting goods. you have car production down. all that's happening. meanwhile, your november number was down, but october was really strong. i'm putting the two numbers

together and saying we're still having a decent holiday spending season. people started shopping early, which makes sense if prices are higher. you know, october was good, november not so good. december will be the rubber match to see how well we're doing on the holiday season. >> job growth, gdp booming, but at the same time 57% of americans say they don't like the way biden is handling the economy. here's the democratic quagmire. you've got the facts on your side, but the feeling isn't. how do you solve for that? people vote based on what they feel. >> if steve threw his hat in the ring, i'd withdraw immediately. first of all, when it comes to the democrats, because the policies are on their side but their messaging is not. >> why? >> they have to stop, in my humble opinion, and i say this as someone who's won a race and lost a race, take it as you want, they can't look down on people's pain, they can't

dismiss inflation as transitory. life, after all is in theory transitory as well. what we have to do is we have to tackle these things head on, but we also cannot let the republican party off the hook. you know this. i know this. any student of politics knows that the republican party behind closed doors is applauding inflation. they want it to stay here because they know that they can use that in future elections. that's why they have never ever come out with a solution for how to address it. so what the democratic party should do is focus on a few things. one, clearly highlight the ways in which build back better will be deflationary, not the opposite. the facts are on our side there. let's start talking about how we can deploy the national guard to the ports as quickly as possible, get merchandise off these ships and into people's homes before christmas. let's also talk about the fact that build back better will stem inflation, let's look at how we can continue to reduce fuel prices with things like pressuring opec, tapping into the strategic petroleum reserve.

there are so many policies that are available to us here. why right now are companies hiking up prices, taking advantage of inflation each and every day we should be talking about the fact that big business is ripping off working people. so long as that's what our message is -- >> labor costs are higher, supply chain issues and nobody's calling them out. why is it we're not seeing democrats walk and chew gum at the same time. i'm by no means trying to discount the importance of january 6th, hugely important, but here's the problem, you've got voters across this country who don't even know or care who mark meadows is. they're saying inflation is a problem and they're saying it every night at their dinner table. do democrats need to find a way to shift and stop just focusing on our institutions which are hugely important, but also talk about kitchen table issues? they could end up losing real votes. >> first of all, we have to stop with the infighting. we have to stop with the circular firing squad. i think it's possible, and i'm

an optimistic person. secondly, though, we cannot let the american people forget that when it comes to the republican party, they will do anything to rip this country apart in order to win the next election. all they care about is donors, polls and what a former president wants them to do. that's why they're applauding inflation. that's why they don't want covid to go away. that's why they're rooting against america. the democratic party is the party of solutions. the democratic party is the party of results. that's why in less than a year, we've rescued the economy, we've deployed an unprecedented vaccination program, the likes of which the world has never seen, and we are on the brink of doing something that will put money in working people's pockets and actually make robust investments that we have not seen since the new deal that will be on the side of those who can't afford a lobbyist, can't afford a corporate pac. that's what matters. let's take that message to the american people.

>> let me ask, everything you're saying makes absolute common sense, and truthfully, most people in this country, they just subscribe to common sense. they want to be financially secure, socially free, physically safe. they want to take care of their families. why didn't you win your last election? >> that's for the pundits to decide. >> what's your assessment? >> my opinion is the following. look, a series of lies were thrown at me as it pertained to defunding the police. i'm a believer in safety for all and justice for all, and i do not think that the two are mutually exclusive. i do know that the republican party will not have trump's coat tails to rely on this time around and we will not stand down when lies are thrown at us. what i'm also not going to do is meet visit yol and divisiveness, we're going to run a campaign that my 2-year-old son is going to be proud of one day when he looks back on this campaign. a campaign that's about uniting

america. >> defund police did hurt you in your last race, and it wasn't something you backed. >> nope. >> here we are across the country with these smash and grab organized robberies happening in different cities. do democrats need to take this on in a more aggressive way? look at new york. we just elected eric adams, a democratic mayor who put crime, law and order as his number one issue. >> first of all, i'm not going to take any lectures from those across the aisle who have spent the last year supporting and defending january 6th cop killers. all they care about is polls. all they care about is elections: they don't care about our safety. they don't actually care about giving men and women in law enforcement the tools they need or the resources they need. what they care about is tax cuts if the wealthiest amongst us and big corporations who you described earlier are already ripping us off. what we have to reject, though, is this idea that somehow we can't be on the side of the person who wants to go outside and play with their kids or walk to the supermarket in safety and

comfort while at the same time believing that there should be justice for all. the two are not mutually exclusive. let's reject that false choice. but what i do know as well to close this out is that will require investments. that's going to require leadership. you know, when i was at the pentagon earlier this year, i saw us mobilize to conduct a vaccination program nationwide. this is the greatest country in the history of the world. there's nothing we can't accomplish. i'm rooting for america, not against america like the republican party is. >> and it worked. it was a year ago yesterday the first vaccine, the first shot was distributed here in new york, and look where we are a year later. getting stronger every day. >> 100%. >> steve liesman, thank you so much. i just listened to max for a few minutes, he could kick your butt in an election, i'm so sorry to tell you. i'm sorry. >> we're going to leave it there. >> coming up, what you need to know even if you are fully vaccinated about that new warning from the world health organization that this new variant is spreading across the

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>> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ the world health organization issuing an urgent warning about the fast moving spread of the omicron variant across the globe as the cases rise here in the u.s. in new york cornell university shutting down its ithaca campus after a rapid spread of covid among students. the school says many of the cases are the variant found in students who have been fully vaccinated including some who received the booster as well. and the nfl setting a single day record for covid cases across the league this past week with 36 players and one staff member testing positive on monday. the l.a. rams forced to close their team facility on tuesday and the cleveland browns now implementing the league's enhanced protocols. antonia hylton is live in

minneola new york, also joining the conversation, dr. vin gupta, pulmonologist. cases are up in the northeast. how much of a jump are we talking about? give me the numbers. >> reporter: well, steph, in new york, covid cases overall are up by about 58% seasons thanksgiving. in new jersey, they're seeing hospitalizations up by about 25%, and in both states, officials are detecting omicron at rates much higher than they are nationally, and so that suggests there is serious transmission happening in this region, and all of this is also happening at an inconvenient moment in which there is extreme fatigue and frustration with the pandemic and with protocols around new york really. i'm in nassau county, the incoming county executive here says that he is not planning to enforce the governor's new mask or vax mandate and several executives have joined him in that. their public health departments are stretched thin focused on

vaccination, and they feel the messaging right now as we head into another winter surge is starting to get confusing for their residents on the ground. take a listen to my conversation with ed day, he's concerned about trying to focus on vaccinations but also what it would mean to enforce a new mask mandate right now. >> we run six clinics right now on a regular basis. we are stretched thin. we actually have people from other departments and county government coming down to help out in some of the clinics being held in the county offices. >> reporter: ed day and other county executives around the state are arguing that the governor could have worked with them to more closely work on, you know, more tailored versions of a mandate for their communities, and his community, about 85% of people over 18 are vaccinated, and he says he wants to keep the messaging on vaccination shots in arms for the remaining residents who haven't gotten them and does not want to send people out to potentially levy fines against

businesses who aren't cooperating. >> dr. gupta, even if cases are rising, which they are, how sick are people getting? if it's not that serious, if it's like the flu, we can live with that. >> i'm glad you brought that up. this is going to be the new normal. what we're seeing in the nfl, for example, is a microcosm for all your viewers of what to expect in the months ahead for a contagious virus that's of course getting more transmissible, if you're unvaccinated and you're watching right now, this variant is the most lethal variant you'll have been exposed to in the last month. yet for the fully vaccinated, two or triple vaccinated this is becoming an endemic respiratory virus. yes, you might test positive, yes, you might have mild symptoms. turns out there are over 20 other respiratory viruses in circulation in the cold and flu season. it doesn't even register in our minds, maybe it will cause a

sore throughout, some nuisance symptoms, but it's not going to cause somebody to end up in the hospital. that's where we're headed. >> okay then. >> what's the more important number for us to be looking at? cases or hospitalizations? >> it's absolutely hospitalizations, but then even if we want to go a step further, it's amongst those that are double or tripped vaccinated, how many of those individuals are ending up in the hospital, severe breakthrough illness is what we need to focus in on when we think about vaccine effectiveness, very much to the point of what antonia was reporting on that we need to be thinking about how do we drive vaccination efforts here. how do we keep that message as strong as possible, and how do we build that same confidence? the vaccines are not intended to prevent a positive test. they're intended to keep you out of the hospital, just like the flu shot. >> why should we have to put more restrictive measures in place at this point? it is a pandemic by choice. you can choose to get vaccinated and those who don't are putting their own lives at risk, and those of us who are vaccinated and have gotten the booster, why

can't we go back to our lives? we're prepared. >> well, you should be able to. you're fully vaccinated, there are vaccine bubbles like the nfl, some workplaces are creating vaccine bubbles, restaurants in new york city. there is becoming two realities here. i'll say, stephanie, to the population level controls like you're seeing in new york state, that is driven by anxiety, by what the next four months looks like for the health system writ large where you're vaccinated, yes, you might still be able to transmit. if you're unvaccinated, you're at a lot of risk. 1,500 daily deaths a day. that's why you're seeing these mandates come into place across the country. 10,000 weekly deaths. that's still a ton of deaths, a lot of burden on the health care system, which is why you're seeing some states impose these measures that seem inconsistent with the approach on -- that is otherwise should be focussed on vaccination and still worry about health care system stress. >> get vaccinated or get sick, and care about our health care system. dr. vin gupta, antonia hylton,

thank you both so much. coming up next, what millions of families should expect as their monthly child tax credit payments end today. will lawmakers extend those payments before the end of the year. we'll be asking senator michael bennet who has been at the center of this fight since the beginning. ...demands a lotion this pure. new gold bond pure moisture lotion. 24-hour hydration. no parabens, dyes, or fragrances. gold bond. champion your skin. introducing the biggest advancement in the history of small business bookkeeping. having someone else do your books for you. i'm linda, your quickbooks live bookkeeper. let's do this linda! sounds good! a live expert bookkeeper who understands your business. felipe, i've categorized last month's hair gel expenses. steve, i just closed your books. great, how are we looking? profits are up! on to next month. on to next month, linda! get your books done for you by trusted experts. intuit quickbooks live bookkeeping.

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injuries are unknown. [first responder] thank you, onstar. [driver] my son, is he okay? [first responder] your son's fine. [driver] thank you. there was something in the road... [first responder] it's okay. you're safe now. if you are one of the millions of families that have been getting the expanded child tax credit, pay attention to this. the final monthly payments are set to hit bank accounts today. and because congress has not passed president biden's build back better act, nearly 10 million kids are at risk of falling deeper into poverty. since payments began in july, $77 billion has been sent to help more than 61 million children, with janet yellen saying it dropped food insecurity by nearly a quarter for children. a man who has been pushing this credit since the beginning,

senator michael bennet. thank you for joining me on this really important day. you know very well that rising prices are a huge issue in this country. and families have been receiving, on average, 430 bucks a month from this tax credit. when it goes away, how are they going to handle it? inflation is an issue. >> it's going to be really hard for families, stephanie, because we've lived in an economy for 50 years that's worked really well for the top 10%. hasn't worked for anybody else. people are using this tax credit to pay for rent, to pay for groceries, to buy school clothes for their kids, to pay for extracurricular activities for their children, as well. and if this goes away in january, they're not going to be able to do any of that. and on top of it, inflation is cutting away at families' purchasing power. >> well, right now, it's not an "if" it goes away in january, it's going to. build back better stuck in limbo. your colleague, joe manchin, wants to narrow how many people are getting it before expanding the child tax credit.

would you be open to that? he wants to revisit saying that some people don't need the money. >> i think that it would be a huge mistake to stop the child tax credit. 61 million kids are benefiting from it. we've cut childhood poverty in this country almost in half, as a result, and as you've just said, we've cut hunger in the yates by 25%. somehow, this place, where i work here, doesn't have any problem extending tax cuts for rich people all the time, but all of a sudden we finally have done something for working people and for lower-income people and it's much harder to do. so i, obviously, have to in part convince joe manchin, who hates the child tax credit. he's said, let's just do it for a year, joe, so we can have the opportunity to convince you that this is actually a pro-work strategy, not an anti-work strategy, which it is! i talked to mom after mom after mom in colorado who's told me that they're using the money to pay for day care, so they can actually work.

and that's what most of the people -- the people aren't lazy in this country. they just need a little bit of help. >> then is the next move to make this an urgent stand-alone bill? as i said, build back better is kind of in limbo here. and we both know, for whatever reason, joe biden's poll numbers are dropping. and one of those reasons is because of inflation. do you need to take this bill on, on its own, to not just help the country, but also to help biden? >> look, i would much rather pass build back better. that's what we should be doing. we've had months and months and months to negotiate that bill in the senate and the time has come for us to do it. there are important things in there, like capping drug prescription costs for seniors at $2,000, capping preschool costs for parents an 7%. but if we are going to delay it beyond when the next tax credit is supposed to come out, which is in january, we're going to have to consider other options. >> so what's the likelihood build back better gets passed?

i keep hearing you say "should," i keep hearing you say "want," but let's get real. >> well, look, we should pass it, and there's no reason to delay, stephanie. i'm not going to stand here and say it's not going to happen. i think we should get it done by christmas, and i think we could give families the certainty that we're willing to give the folks around this place that we've given tax cut after tax cut after tax cut. stephanie, you know these numbers better than anybody else. but since 2001, we have cut taxes in this camera by $8 trillion. almost all of that has gone to the wealthiest people in the united states. and here we have an instance where finally we're doing something for working people. we've got to give them the uncertainty of making this tax credit, extending it into the next year. and i believe make it permanent. >> i do know those numbers, and i am forever confounded by the fact that we kept carried interest in our tax code. you can write off 100% of the value of a private corporate jet, yet we can't seem to extend the child tax credit.

i don't get it, senator, but thank you for joining me this morning. i sincerely appreciate it. we've got to leave it there. i want to turn now to some very good news. a new nba record. stephen curry becoming the greatest three-point shooter in the league's history. look at this record-breaking shot against the new york knicks. the golden state warrior's star hitting the 2,974th three-pointer of his career, passing hall of famer ray allen in 511 fewer games. curry celebrated the milestone with his teammates, as well as ray allen and reggie miller, who were both in attendance, before handing the ball to his dad, dell curry, and getting a big, big hug. i would like to say, i did a shoot-out with him a few years ago, i actually won. but, come on. steph curry, greatest shooter of all time. congratulations! all time congratulations! ♪ superpowers from a spider bite? i could use some help showing the world how

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theranos trial. i want to bring in rachael luhrmann. elizabeth holmes took the stand for seven days of testimony. you were in the courtroom, closing arguments start tomorrow. what are you watching for? >> it's really interesting. this whole trial has been a chance to see inside a secretive silicon valley start-up. we're watching to see how much the defense relies on this good faith argument. that's what they've been saying is their strategy. that elizabeth holmes acted in good faith. that what she told investors is what she truly believed, that she was passing along information from her employees. so we'll see if that is what they decide to lean on in these closing arguments. >> wow, what does is the environment like in the courtroom. she's a known liar. >> it's really interesting, ever since she took the stand, we've had just crowds of spectators trying to get in, tons of media, it's a very kind of crowded and curious courtroom. she was on stand for seven days

and she's very composed. she's very measured. she's kind of telling her story in a sort of, trying to be in like a relatable and engaging way. it's going to be really interesting to see what the jury thinks. >> if anyone had any opportunity to meet elizabeth holmes over the last eight years or so, relatable would not be a word they would use, but we are certainly have our eyes on that courtroom and these others tomorrow. rachael, thank you for joining us. thank you at home for watching. i'm stephanie ruhle. my friend and colleague, jose diaz-balart picks up breaking news coverage now. >> thank you, stephanie. i'm jose diaz-balart. president biden is heading to kentucky as the search continues for more than 100 people still unaccounted for after the catastrophic tornado outbreak in the mid-mississippi valley. we'll talk about what the people in the region immediate and how we can all help. this as a powerful storm dumps