all of a sudden, it was like wham, you handled it, the conversation. we'll pick up on that. it's pretty extraordinary. the effect, the reverberations of this. anyway, have a great holiday week. and i will look forward to seeing you next sunday when we hand off again. have a good one, my friend. >> thanks. alex. >> and a very good day to all of you from msnbc world headquarters here in new york. it is high noon here in the east, 9:00 a.m. out west. welcome to alex witt reports. of course, we're beginning with that breaking news. a key part of president biden's agenda is in grave danger as senator joe manchin just this morning publicly confirmed he will not support the nearly $2 trillion build back better act. >> i have always said this, brett. if i can't go home and explain it to the people of west virginia, i can't vote for it. and i cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation.

i just can't. i have tried everything humanly possible. i can't get there. >> you're done. this is a no. >> this is a no. on this legislation. i have tried everything i know to do. >> well, senator bernie sanders, of course, one of the leading progressive advocating for the bill with a very sharp response. >> i hope that we will bring a strong bill to the floor of the senate as soon as we can. and let mr. manchin explain to the people of west virginia why he doesn't have the guts to stand up to powerful special interests. >> you want to vote on it no matter what, even if -- >> absolutely. absolutely. the american people have got to understand what's at stake. if he doesn't have the courage to do the right thing for the working families of west virginia and america, let him vote no in front of the whole world. >> joining us now, josh lederman in wilmington, delaware,

covering the president. julie tsirkin on capitol hill, and also reaction from the chair of the house financial services committee, california congresswoman maxine waters. we're going to start with you josh in wilmington. to some degree, the manchin news felt like a foregone conclusion. however, the definitive nature of his remarks sent a ripple through much of the capitol. you're there with the president. did they know this was coming? and how big a loss is this for the biden agenda and in fact it democrats as a whole? >> well, this is a devastating blow to democrats' agenda. no other way to put it, alex. not only for some of the specific provisions that we have been talking about, the child tax credit, the climate change provisions, but this really was the vehicle for all of the campaign promises that president biden made that were not contained in the much smaller infrastructure bill or the covid relief funding. so without this bill, if it's

really dead, it's really hard to see how president biden is able to deliver on really the bulk of his agenda in the last three years of his presidency. as far as the white house, they were fairly caught off guard by this, only learning about a half hour before from a staffer as julie tsirkin is reporting. if you want to know whether the white house saw this coming, you need look no further than what jen psaki, the white house press secretary, said just two days ago when she said that they had a broad agreement with manchin on the contours of this legislation, and that really all they were working on now was the final details to get it across the finish line. in fact, the white house officials had told us they planned to continue working with manchin this coming week on trying to get an agreement that they could then vote on in the new year. but manchin obviously had a different view in mind. here's what he had to say about his objections to the legislation. >> when this all came about and

i went and spoke to the leader schumer at that time and explained to him where i was and the concerns i had, and at $1.5 trillion was the most we could do if we did it and basically took care of the things we thought were the highest priorities. if you're going to do it, pick the prized priorities, like most people do in their families or businesses, and you fund them for ten years and make sure they deliver the services for ten years. it's hard to deliver service for one year or three years or five years and how are we going to continue them? unless it's going to put a burden, unless you have to go back and make adjustments. but we should be up front and pick our priorities. >> and alex, just in the last few seconds, as we have been on air, we have a new statement from white house spokeswoman jen psaki responding fairly critical to this latest move from senator joe manchin. psaki saying manchin's comments this morning on fox are at odds with his discussions this week with the president, with the

white house, and with staff. she says that manchin had committed to president biden at his home in wilmington, where manchin visited biden for breakfast some weeks ago, that he would support the build back better framework that biden then announced. psaki go ogin this statement to say that manchin pledged repeatedly to negotiate on finalizing the framework in good faith. we're still going through this, a six or seven-paragraph statement where the white house is continuing to pledge to work on this isush, but if you want any sense of how much frustration at the white house about this latest about face by joe manchin, you need look no further than the white house now publicly criticizing him for essentially changing his position at the last minute. >> again, last minute, that's the part i think is really outstanding here because we know he had some concerns. he was voicing them constantly, but it does seem like this has come to a shock -- as a shock, rather, to everyone, capitol

hill respondents as well as the white house. maybe they get a 30-minute heads-up, as you suggest, but we'll get to all of the reaction. josh, thank you so much. keep us informed on what else you hear from the white house. we'll get back to you. as we're saying, it is pouring in in terms of reaction about senator manchin. we're going to go to julie tsirkin on capitol hill. what are you hearing? >> well, alex, it's interesting because as josh was reading the statement from white house press secretary jen psaki, i couldn't help but remember what we heard from our sources this week on capitol hill, that the negotiations between president biden and snow joe manchin have not been going well, they were very far apart. that's something we learned on wednesday. it's interesting in her statement as she's accusing manchin of this real about face from how their negotiations have been going, supposedly, so well this week, but let's talk about what else we're hearing on capitol hill. right now, there senate and house are both not in session. i imagine if they were here, there would be storming of the halls, especially by democrats and progressive democrats.

but we're also hearing from moderates. i'm getting texts on my phone from moderate lawmakers and from sources who are just as unhappy with manchin coming out today on fox news and saying that he is not going to support build back better. you also have reaction from republicans pouring in. lindsey graham, the ranking member on the budget committee, of course, he sits on with chairman bernie sanders. you can imagine their interactions on that committee. he put out a statement praising manchin for listening to the cbo report that graham himself ordered from the congressional budget office to show what the deficit would be of the build back better act if all provisions in there were made permanent. of course, hitting at the number one concern that manchin had all along. you have ben sasse, another republican senator, calling it a nail in the coffin, saying progressives need a reality check. that this is not the direction of the mainstream in the country, saying, of course, you have senators like manchin and sinema and others who are perhaps not as warm and open to the democratic legislative priorities like build back

better, like voting rights, but i want you to listen to all of this reaction we have gathered from progressive lawmakers who took to our air and others all morning, reacting to manchin. take a listen. >> i mean, we all knew that senator manchin couldn't be trusted. you know, the excuses that he just made, i think, are complete [ bleep ]. it is really disheartening to hear him say that he has been trying to get there for the people of west virginia. because that's a complete lie. >> i hope that we will bring a strong bill to the floor of the senate as soon as we can and let mr. manchin explain to the people of west virginia why he doesn't have the guts to stand up to powerful special interests. we have been dealing with mr. manchin for month after month after month. if he doesn't have the courage to do the right thing for the working families of west virginia and america, let him vote note in front of the whole

world. >> my lack and deficit of trust was about senator manchin. he has continued to move the goalposts, he has never negotiated in good faith, and he's obstructing the president's agenda, 85% of which is still left on the table. and in ubstruktding the president's agenda, he's obstructing the people's agenda. all i want for christmas is a senator who has compassion for the american people and not contempt. >> well, you heard it there, alex. that doesn't need much explanation from me. there's a group of progressives in the house who have been saying all along if the democratic caucus unlinked these two bills, the build back better and the bipartisan infrastructure bill, they were afraid the build back better bill would never make it to president biden's desk, and now they feel like those concerns were validated. >> yeah, i would say so. okay, julie tsirkin, thank you for that. joining this conversation, california congresswoman maxine

waters, chair of the house financial services committee. i'll bet you have a thing or two you would like to say about this in terms of your reaction to joe manchin confirming he's not going to align with fellow democrats and effectively block the president's build back better bill. >> well, you know, while manchin is exercising unusual power because of the numbers and is willing to be one man, one person that will hold up assistance to the american people, is absolutely disgusting and amazing to me. in that bill, we have the child tax credit, where we're having to eliminate poverty for children in this country. i have in that bill money for housing, the cost of housing is exploding. we need to build affordable housing. we need to do something about homelessness. we need to make sure that our public housing is safe and secure. in that bill is the most

comprehensive package for housing that we have had since, you know, we had housing assistance in america. in that bill, we have climate change legislation. in that bill, we have parental leave, we have many mothers and families who are trying to get back to work, but we need child care. we need parental leave to deal with families that are overrun with relatives with covid. i don't know how he thinks he's going to get away with this. as a matter of fact, i agreed with bernie sanders. put the bill up. and let him stand before the american people and tell them that he does not support child care and climate change and housing assistance for people who are desperately in need of rental assistance and the ability to have safe and secure housing. if he wants to be that person that will stand up before the american people and deny assistance to the people of this country, put the bill up on the floor and let him vote it up or

down. >> all right. he has a lot of questions to answer. however, you heard the senator talk about one of his biggest sticking points, saying how the top line number kept shrinking but all the priorities remained in. he said that democrats need to pick their priorities and fund them for ten years versus delivering on all of them for one year, maybe up to three years. as you hear that, what do you make of that criticism, and would the progressive caucus be open to picking fewer priorities, fund them longer, if it gets some things through? >> that's what we have been doing all along. we have reduced the amount of that bill. we have set our priorities. what he has not done is he has not assigned any numbers to all that that he wishes to eliminate or to cut. as a matter of fact, i would hope that the major networks in this country, msnbc, would get a

pow powerpoint, put manchin up on the screen, let him point to each of these areas and tell what he wants to cut and how much he wants to cut and why he does not support child care and why he does not support family leave and why he does not understand that we are in danger, climate change legislation will help us to save this country and this planet. put it up there, and let him go one-on-one with each of these issues. tell what he wants to cut out, what he wants to eliminate, because we have set our priorities, and we have been reducing all along. >> i have to tell you, maybe that's a great place for the financial services committee on which you are, you know, the chair of, you could get him to come in front of you and do that. that's an idea. and msnbc will cover it, i'm sure we will if you do that, ma'am. let me ask you about -- >> well, i would hope -- i would hope that he would want to come before me to talk about housing, which i have as a priority.

i would love for him to come before my committee. >> okay. well, the invitation is there. let me ask you about the state. it's west virginia we're talking about. it's a state that donald trump won in 2020, and you heard bernie sanders unequivocally say that senator manchin is doing a disservice to his constituents, the west virginians. but there is a recent nbe research poll, can it shows, guess what, senator manchin has a 60% approval rating in west virginia, so the question is how much of this is political? >> well, let me tell you what i'm surprised about, as i talk with people in this country. they don't know what's in the bill. and many of them might be supporting him based on personality, based on past relationships. but if he goes point by point and asks the mothers of his district whether or not they support the child tax credit, do a poll on that.

do a poll on housing. do a poll on climate change. each one of those issues so that the american people can see exactly what he's saying. right now, he talks in generalities, and people don't know what's in the bill, and they don't know what he's cutting. let's force that issue and get him to be able to identify exactly what he does not want, what he's cutting, while he gets his half million dollars in profits from his investment in coal mines. >> there's been a while that you have been able to think about this as a congressional body. is there any other way to still get build back better priorities passed without senator manchin's vote? could congress explore breaking them up in some way that potentially garners republican support. say on paid family leave. also, how does this whole thing impact your constituents? what hurts them the most by not

passing build back better? >> well, i want to tell you when you talk about family leave, we're talking about sometimes here in this country because of covid-19, we have members, daughters who are taking care of mothers and fathers, who are both ill. we have people who are trying to take care both members of their family, mother and fathers, who have dementia. we need family leave. we have mothers who are having difficult times with births, as they try to deliver their babies. they need their husbands, their mates at home. we have people who are ill, the elderly who could absolutely use some support from their daughters, from their sons, from their relatives. we need family leave. it is the most needed issue that we have in families today. how do we help take care of family members at a time when

they are in desperate need of help? >> amen to that. look, this is something we're going to be talking about quite intently for some time to come, the joe manchin factor. i do want to ask you also about a key piece of legislation also put on pause by the senate. that being voting rights. the senate is working to pass legislation, and by the way, senators manchin and sinema theoretically, they're onboard, however, they don't appear willing to make changes to the filibuster to get this through. is there any viable path forward for voting rights legislation with no republican support and no filibuster carve-out? >> well, it's very interesting that we have no republican support. this bill would absolutely restore to the voting rights act the ability to make sure that local jurisdictions do not come up with all of these different kind of laws that would prevent people from participating in

voting. that's about section 5 of the voting rights act. and so why is it that republicans are so set on denying participation in our voting system by not wanting to protect the right to vote and not allowing these jurisdictions to come up with all of these weird laws in order to deny people participation? i want to tell you, yes, we need to take a look at what we can do to get that bill across, but if it means that we have to do some modifications, if it means we have to do something that's unusual to get that done, we must get that done. and why is it republicans hate participation by every american in voting rights? what is this all about? >> that's a rhetorical question, though i think there are many people who actually have a pretty good idea of the answer in their minds.

meantime, representative maxine waters, always a pleasure to have you. thank you for joining me. and i'm coming home to los angeles for next weekend so i'll give a wave to you as i fly over your district. >> please do. please come home. thank you. >> i will. thank you. a sobering warning of an enormous omicron wave. that is next. that is next age before beauty? why not both? visibly diminish wrinkled skin in... crepe corrector lotion... only from gold bond. o man, that's a whole lot of wrinkly at least my shoes look good! looking good start with bounce wrinkleguard,

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more breaking news this hour. and a grim warning of an enormous omicron wave. outgoing nih director francis collins says the u.s. could see one million daily infections if americans don't take covid seriously. other scientifics predict the u.s. could reach half a million average daily infections by the end of january, more than doubling last winter's peak. the threat of omicron has forced shutdowns of professional sports, of theaters, restaurants, and schools. now some people are rethikting their holiday travel plans and this morning, dr. fauci told chuck todd travel is okay for

some. >> well, i think people just need to be prudent. clearly, when you travel, there is always a risk of increased infection. that just goes with respiratory illnesses. but if people need to travel and want to travel for the obvious family reasons during this holiday season, if you're vaccinated and you're boosted and you take care when you go into congregant settings like airports, to make sure you continually wear your mask, you should be okay. >> just a moment i'll be speaking with renowned vaccine scientist, that guy right there, dr. peter hotez. thank you for standing by. let's start with nbc's kathy park here in the new york studio with me. talk about what's happening now. i know you have been out there in new york. where do things stand? >> just when we thought we had turned a corner, we're seeing troubling signs this fight against covid is far from over, especially right here in new york. last night, snl still put on a show, but due to growing covid

concerns, there was no live audience, similar to what we saw at the beginning of the pandemic. >> rising covid cases being blamed for major disruptions all across the country, even "saturday night live." >> whoa. where is everybody? >> keenan, haven't you heard? >> heard what? the thing that's going around. >> covid. >> is that real? >> the show deciding there would be no live audience and a limited cast and crew due to the spike in the omicron variant. they cut out the musical guest, charli xcx. >> it's spreading into the sports world, too. nine brooklyn nets players have entered the nba's health and safety protocols. the nfl postponed three games. the league and players association releasing a joint statement regarding new measures which will include a more targeted testing plan, more opportunities for players to attend meetings remotely.

case counts fueled by omicron are rising at an alarmingeralty. the variant now detected in nearly all 50 states, leading to long lines for tests. >> nearly three hours now. >> in new york city, the pandemic is diming the holiday spirit. shutting down the radio city rockettes and some broadway shows. late saturday, cnn announcing its offices are closing to nonessential employees. it's getting so bad in europe the mayor of london declared a major incident again. >> over the last 24 hours, we all the largest number of new cases since the pandemic began. >> back in the u.s., doctors pleading with the public to get vaccinated, as they brace for a dark winter. >> we never got back to our pre-pandemic levels so everyone i know is busy. we're busy. we're worried that it continues to be even busier into a very difficult time of year. >> the surge in covid cases is also upending student live.

some schools in maryland and missouri are shifting to virtual learning. harvard also announcing this weekend they're going remote for the first three weeks of january. alex. >> extraordinary. kathy park, thank you so much. let's bring in dr. peter cotez, co-director of the center for vaccine development and dean of the national school of tropical medicine. dr. hotez, welcome. as we see this rapid rise in cases in this country, hospitalizations have increased by about 3%, deaths rising by about 7%. that's just in this past week. you have some reasons, though, seeing a much steeper rise. can you compare and contrast today with march 2020? >> yeah, i mean, there are some similarities, but there are some marked differences, of course, and that relates to the fact that we have got a significant number of americans, not enough, who have been vaccinated. so i think the best way to think

of this is to break it down into the individual components. otherwise, it just becomes as overwhelming momorass, and it's hard to think you way through it. there's three things going on at the same time. first of all, you're seeing what we already predicted, a delta wave in the winter, just like we saw in the summer in the southern united states. now you're seeing a delta wave, and that's going to take over the rest of the country, just like covid-19 wave last winter. wasn't delta at that time. it was alpha, but now it's delta. that's still pretty transmissible and that's what you're seeing among the unvaccinated going into hospitals. that's point one. superimposed on that is now this omicron wave, which is showing up earlier than we expected. usually, there's a four to six-week lag between seeing a new variant pop up in the uk like alpha or delta before it gets to the u.s., and unfortunately, it's happening right as it's coinciding with the holidays. it's going to be a pretty

depressing christmas eve and christmas in many parts of the country. the reason is because that omicron variant is so highly tras miscible. that's what you're seeing in the nfl and nba and college sports. it's highly disruptive because so many people are getting infected. and we still don't know about that question of whether it's really mild illness or not. i would park that for now. i think the third part, alex, that we're not talking about enough is with that high transmissibility, you're going to see lots and lots of health care workers getting breakthrough omicron infection. especially if they only got two doses, even some who are a few months out of their third dose. in the case of those who health care workers who have gotten boosted, they're not going to be very sick in the hospital, but sick enough to be staying home. and that's going to deplete an already stressed out depleted health care work force. and that's the danger point. that's the danger part of all of this, there rise in delta, delta

hospitalizations, omicron hospitalizations among the unvaccinated and not enough health care workers to take care of everybody. that's what you're going to hear from the biden administration on tuesday, hopefully some plan. i have provided some recommendations. other of my colleagues have, and we'll see what comes out on tuesday. >> what kind of recommendations have you provided for the biden administration? >> well, i think we have to consider a lot of the -- some out of the box things. first of all, we're not going to have that omicron specific vaccine here in time. it doesn't look like we're going to have enough of the new pfizer drug which looks very promising here on time. so what are some of the levers we can pull and push? one is the possibility that if health care workers are a few months out of their third immunization and we have seen at that point that it only protects about 30% from symptomatic illness based on new data coming out of imperial college london, they're still holding up the

serious illness, but to keep them in the work force, is there merit to giving them a fourth immunization, a second booster? i think that's something that's on the table. other of my colleagues, i don't know inthey want their name mentioned or not so i'll refrain from doing that, have made the suggestion, look, maybe those health care workers with asymptomatic infection, we can keep them in the work force if we cohort them exclusively with covid patients. i think we're going to -- we have to see how things go. maybe it won't be so dire, but if it starts to go in the wrong direction, as it's looking right now, i think we're going to have to think about some unusual measures. again, to keep the health system intact. that's where things really start to fall apart. we have seen the last two years, once health care systems get overwhelmed, that's when mortality rates really skyrocketed. that's what happened here on the border here in texas and some parts of the panhandle when hospitals got overwhelmed. that's happened all over the

country. that's what happened in the initial wave in new york city when health care workers get overwhelmed, mortality really mounts. that's from my opinion of view, that's the weak link. all hands on deck to keep the health care work force safe. >> first, the fact that the biden administration and officials there are very likely considering everything you're saying and we're going to hear more from the president on tuesday, as he addresses the nation on covid. so i suspect some of what you're saying may actually be transmitted from the president in that speech. but when it comes to the difference of 2020 at that peak or when things got going, all pre-vaccination, how much does the vaccination make a difference now? and the more people that get vaccinated, the less severe and dire the situation would be. i mean, does it all come down to that, yes, it comes down to social distancing, yes, it comes down to wearing your mask as much as you can as well. but vaccination, how much is that the epicenter of the issue?

>> yeah, vaccinations are the game changer, alex. and here's why. so against the omicron -- first of all, against the delta variant, that third immunization works really well, both against symptomatic infection and serious illness. if you get your third immunization, especially if you're not far out from that third immunization, it still does a pretty good job protecting against symptomatic illness and does a very good job of serious illness. so when you're hearing from friends who are texting you or contacting you saying, hey, i got triple vaccinated and now i'm positive, and i'm feeling a little crummy, you're saying what does that mean? it means against symptomatic illness, it's not as strong as it was, but it's keeping you out of the hospital. the problem is for individuals who have gotten two vaccinations but have not gotten boosted, there's essentially no protection against symptomatic illness. some very modest protection against serious illness. we have to get those people

boosted. only about a third of those who got two doses have also gotten three doses even though they're eligible. we have to reach those populations. we have to reach the individuals who are infected and recovered and chosen not to get vaccinated. we're seeing lots of omicron reinfections, both in south africa and the uk. we have to getthosis infected and recovered individuals to also get vaccinated on top of it. the third component we're not talking about a lot, both in south africa and maybe in the uk, a lot of sick kids as well. so this is your time, if you haven't gotten your 5 and ups vaccinated yet, now is the time to do that. >> dr. peter hotez, a sobering but very necessary conversation. thank you so much. stay well. >> some new takes on that interview with vice president kamala harris and talk show host charlamagne tha god, and the question that got her more than a little tick aufd. a little tick aufd downy unstopables in-wash scent boosters

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breaking news, everyone. a bit more now on the bombshell

delivered by senator joe manchin on the sunday talk shows. plus, the new alarm on the coronavirus front as the president gets set to address the nation this week. it comes in a week when vice president harris made headlines for tangling with popular talk show host charlamagne tha god, and in a week when roger stone, who never seems to go away, refused to talk to the 1/6 committee but he did talk to reporters, and also a week when 1/6 tests from fox news hosts became public to much debate and alarm, which makes for a menu of debate items for choose your topic, join me now, david jolly and ashley pratt oates. welcome to all of you. alens yeah, i'm going to let you choose your topic. you have covid, vice president harris, joe manchin, roger stone, or the 1/6 texts. >> so many to choose from, but i will start with vice president harris, and this conversation on friday night. i will say, charlamagne tends to go with the provocative kwexzs

and i wouldn't have asked that question the way he did, because we have a majority of republicans who continue to believe that joe biden is not president and that's why we have the insurrection. but what he was getting at is also what she answered, there's a frustration, and we're going to talk about this today. the frustration with joe manchin for literally holding up progress for 75% of americans. and while that is happening in congress, people aren't listening to what this administration is doing. vice president kamala harris talked about how they are using this administration to push and advance the issues of maternal mortality among black women, which we have never heard from a white house before. she championed that in the senate and now they're doing it in the white house, the child tax credit. so many things this administration is doing, and we can have both of these things at the same time. these achievements and this frustration with joe manchin, who gave us a morning surprise that he is not going to vote for the build back better plan that will help so many americans, including 250,000 americans who

voted for him in west virginia. >> yeah, i have to agree with you the way charlamagne tha god asked the question. i was like, come on, buddy. don't ask who is president, but the tenor of what he was saying, spot on with your comments. david, you're next. pick whatever you want, the same thing or something else. >> i'll take the january 6th commission because this was a remarkable week to ten days and i think there's more coming. i think they're clearly laying a narrative that a conspiracy existed between the oval office and members of congress, sitting members of congress, as well as the political arm of donald trump's political machine, if you will. i think that conspiracy was intended to undo or cancel the election results from last november. and i think if you play this narrative out, the 1/6 committee is going to be able to issue a report that refers to the department of justice sufficient information and evidence to poshably indict a sitting member of congress. i do think that's the direction

we might be headed. >> that is extraordinary. next to you, ashley. what's your choice? >> i'll take the manchin decision. i know it was already a little bit touched on, but it was just truly shocking this morning in the fact that, you know, this is really going to be a huge blow to the biden agenda moving forward. this was supposed to be the hallmark legislation of this administration. and having, you know, a democratic senator come out and do this, especially when the biden administration really centered itself around being a centrist administration and one for all americans, it's really going to, i think, detract from some of his credibility that he's had over the years to be a bipartisan leader. and progressives really trusted him on this, that he would be able to get this done in the senate and that's why the house, for instance, wasn't able to compile these together, even though they wanted to, thinking this was going to be able to move forward. so really, now, the question for this administration is going to

be are they going to focus on continuing to be more of a centrist administration or are they going to move to really just trying to get more of their agenda on the progressive side pushed forward because this is really going to hurt democrats in the midterms. and that's why senator manchin, for instance, he doesn't feel the pressure on this, because he's not up until 2025, i believe. that's his end date. so right now, the democrats who are really going to face some pressure are really going to be upset with the biden administration for not being able to get this done, and it does show, again, somewhat of a lack of credibility on his promise to be a president for all americans, which is entirely frustrating, and we saw that sentiment from vice president harris. >> yeah. it is interesting about joe manchin, almost as if we saw this all coming, but the definitive nature of the comments, he's a no, it all us all reeling because it's as if he shut the door on negotiations. let's hope that's not the case and things can happen.

back to you, do you want to tackle another one on the list? >> well, you know, i think i want to actually elaborate more on the manchin point here, because this foreshadowing even more of biden's agenda, he has been talking about in the past few months about voting rights. we know that in order to pass voting rights, not only do we need all 50 senators but we also might need to kill the filibuster. joe manchin is going back on his word that he gave to the president. the white house came out with a statement that he gave his promise to the president that he would vote yes on this piece of legislation. he gave his promise to the progressive caucus when people were blaming us progressives for saying, you know, we should probably withhold this vote until we can actually confirm we'll get build back better and here he's giving us this surprise. how can we know what he's going to do next year to protect democracy, voting rights? how can we know what he's going do with criminal justice reform and so many of these issues that are part of president biden's promises come to the senate

floor. i'm concerned and up in arms this morning about joe manchin finally showing his true colors when so many people behind the scenes have been chastised for saying this is what he is and what he's going to do. >> he better used to having a gaggle of reporters following his every move. david, another topic or more on this, what do you want? >> let me just add a little context, as the former republican on this manchin thing. and i understand we're in the heat of the moment among the democratic conversation going around across the country right now. your opponent are rns, though, and there are 50 senate republicans that stand in the way, so while joe manchin was that lone vote that might have been able to make it happen, it now makes 51 opponents of bbb in the senate. i think the opportunity is not about '24 in west virginia with joe manchin. it's about senate seats in '22 that democrats might take and be able to continue the agenda then. and i get the heat of the

moment, but don't kick joe manchin out of your caucus right now or mitch mcconnell becomes majority leader. >> you make a really good point. let's not put the cart in front of the horse. final word to you, ashley. >> let's talk about the fox hosts for a second. i think this is a story that really the conservative media is trying to downplay after years of saying that the democrats have been in cahoots with the main stream media, but look at what's going on. fox news hosts knew the dangers and the violence that were occurring on january 6th, and they continued to peddle the big lie to be just what, in cahoots with trump? i really just don't understand this idea of appeasing him to continue this narrative forward. and we're seeing the same thing with vaccines, to tie it to the covid topic. they're continuously lying to their audience for ratings. and that's a huge, huge problem. and we saw this, because they in the moment were willing to text mark meadows to say you have to put an end to this, but they have been the ones to continue this narrative on and on again,

which is even more, i would say arguably dangerous than what was occurring in the moment. >> absolutely mind numbing when you try to put cause and effect to all of it. anyway, you guys are great. what an incredible discussion. let me tell you. thank you so much for rounding out the topics here on sunday. and you guys is a great week. good to see you. >> meantime, three football games postponed. more than 100 players testing positive. the nfl's new game plan to combat covid, next. y? scratchy? family not getting clean? get charmin ultra strong. go get 'em. it just cleans better. with a diamond weave texture, your family can use less while still getting clean. goodbye itchy squirm. hello clean bottom! we all go. why not enjoy the go with charmin. ray loves vacations.

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alarming numbers in the coronavirus pandemic. on saturday, the country recorded a daily average of 127,000 new covid cases, daily hospitalizations average just over 69,000, and the country averaged more than 1200 new covid deaths. here's president biden's chief medical adviser, dr. anthony fauci on "meet the press" this morning. >> our hospitals, if things look like they're looking now, in the next week or two, are going to be very stressed with people. because again, we have so many people in this country who are eligible to be vaccinated who have not yet been vaccinated. and that's going to be a real problem for a stress on the hospital system. >> today, more than 100 nfl players are sidelined after testing positive for covid. as a result, many disappointed fans because the league had to push several games to later this week. and now, the nfl is out with new

covid protocols. let's go to gary grumbach joining us from maryland, home of the washington football team, which by the way, has been hit especially hard, gary. what are you seeing there? >> hey there, alex. it seems like everyone's plans have gone like everybody's best-laid plans have gone awry over the past few days here, alex. this happening in new york with the rockettes, it's happening with holiday parties all over the country and the nfl is not spared from that. they had to cancel three games today for the first time this season after you mentioned it, a hundred players across the nfl were -- got covid-positive tests. and this is really affecting the washington football team really hard. they have 22 players that tested positive, including their star quarterback, taylor heinicke. and so the nfl had put in a number of precautions, a number of protocols to deal with this. first, they are requiring masks in all team facilities now. they're also making cafeteria to-go options more widely available, so you don't have a

whole bunch of people in a cafeteria eating. and they're also like many of us, doing all-virtual meetings now, so you don't have a whole bunch of guys together in a locker room. this is not a matter of were they vaccinated or not vaccinated? the nfl has 95% vaccination rate among players. 100% among personnel. so we talked to the chief medical adviser of the nfl for how they're dealing with this outbreak. here's what he had to say. >> we don't want to put teams on the field together, unless we feel good about the overall environment and the safety for everyone involved. we'll just continue to look at the data as it comes out and make the best decisions we can, and we'll let healthy and safety drive those decisions, which is what we did last season and what we're doing this season, as well. >> reporter: now, the nfl and the nfl player's association have come out with a statement yesterday saying that they are going to adjust their protocols, starting next week. so expect more protocols on top of what they already have. alex? >> we will look for more from you, gary, on that. thank you so much. so where there's a will, there's a way. but apparently not on capitol hill for that voting rights

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feel the difference with downy. after a blow today to build back better, what will come of voting rights legislation? well, president biden has reiterated yet again that the issue is a top priority for his administration. >> this new sinister combination of voter suppression and election subversion is un-american. it's undemocratic and sadly, it is unprecedented since reconstruction. but this battles is not over, we must pass the freedom to vote act in the john lewis voting rights pact. we must. >> joining me now is natasha brown, the cofounder of black voters matter. welcome back to the program. you have the president saying it's a priority, but here's what senator manchin said this morning. here it is. >> voting is the bedrock of democracy.

we should all be concerned about that, brett. there's never been a change with the filibuster, the rights of the minority. and i made no more commitments or promises on that. i am working on trying to make the senate work better. >> what does this tell you about voting rights on the hill? >> it tells me that we have a long fight, but i am hoping, you know, that senator manchin will stick with his word on some level. is it truly a nonpartisan issue, as he claims it is. then he should be leaving the charge of making sure that he gets this bill passed. and he would say that at one point he was open to some kind of rule change around making sure this bill passed. so i think that we'll have to put pressure on senator manchin to do the right thing. i think we'll have to put pressure on the senate to deliver on voting rights. we started 2021, where the

momentum was behind the democratic party. and now what we're seeing is a lot of people are moving that we've got to have voting rights going into 2022. >> look, natasha, i'm curious what kind of rule change that manchin said that he is going to back, because he has said not interested in a filibuster carveout, and let's add senator kyrsten sinema's name to that, as well. you have two democrats who are saying, we are supporting this theoretically, but we don't want to do a filibuster carveout and you know the republicans in the senate are not backing this. so how does it move forward. >> i think there's three things. the first thing is, he should think about even his own state, that the majority of people in his own state, if he says that he's accountable to west virginianess, than be so. he needs to literally go back to the table and figure out -- if there's a will, there's a way. i believe that, yes, he has had this attachment to the filibuster, but when things need to get done, i think we have to put pressure on him to make sure that we have voting rights

legislation, whatever you call it. whether it's a rule change, a carveout, whether that's the suspension of the filibuster, but that we immediate to make sure that we're putting pressure to say, this has to happen. the second thing is, you know, it's very disheartening to even see really what i think is abandoning the people of this state, to not support the build back better plan, when this state is the second poorest in the country, in the nation. that if anybody needed an infusion of resources to be considered about the debt of the country and not necessarily considering the debt of his own people, that says a lot about him. but i am hoping that he and others, and others around him will put pressure and the people of west virginia will put pressure on him to do the right thing. >> okay. i am hoping you will come back and see us again soon. i love the passion you always bring to the conversations. latasha, thank you so much. meanwhile, trump family values. what to make of new texts this week on january 6th. mary trump has a lot to say

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and a very good day to all of you from msnbc world headquarters in new york. welcome, everyone, to alex witt reports. it's a very busy day as we start this hour with the breaking news in the coronavirus pandemic. cases are rapidly rising and wait times for tests are growing in parts of this country as concerns over the omicron variant over new infections, as well as the upcoming hol