own country and to find a better way. that's going to wrap up this hour for me. up next hour, education secretary miguel cardona will give us an update on how the biden administration plans to keep schools open. craig melvin picks up with more news right now. ♪♪ a good tuesday morning to you. craig melvin here. lots to get to. the pressure is on the white house to try and stem the fast-moving spread of the omicron variant. in just a few hours, president biden is going to lay out his plan to do just that. it comes as the need just got more urgent. omicron has overtaken delta as the most dominant strain in the united states. we've just learned of the first omicron related death in this country. this is what dr. fauci told me a short time ago.

>> you're dealing with a virus that has an unprecedented capability of spreading extremely rapidly. we've really not seen anything like this before. >> so many aspects of american life are being affected right now. that includes schools. in just a few minutes i'll go one on one with education secretary miguel cardona. plus, their push to let unvaccinated students stay in school as long as they test negative. also, the scram to believe try and salvage the president's build back better agenda. what we are learning about that phone call between joe manchin and the president just hours after manchin's announcement that he was a no. we're also on verdict watch. jurors are deliberating the fate of kim potter, the ex-minnesota

cop charged with shooting and killing daunte wright. jurors also have the case in ghislaine maxwell's trial. we'll have the latest coming up. we start with the latest on the omicron variant overtaking delta as the dominant variant in this country now. monica alva is at the white house. ellison barber is at atlanta international airport as millions of americans are set to travel for the holidays. also with me is dr. celine gounder, an epidemiologist. she the host of the american diagnosis and epidemic podcast. what can we expect to hear from president biden this afternoon? >> reporter: there's going to be an overarching message from the president and a stark warning to the unvaccinated. he's going to predict one of the

darkest winters ever for the unvaccinated population. i'm told he's not really going to mince words when it comes to that. some of the sharpest language we've heard from him so far. then he's going to unveil new measures, things like ramping up and expanding the more than 20,000 federal testing sites that already exist in this country as we see those very long lines continually growing. and he's going to make an announcement about how the federal government is purchasing half a billion at home rapid tests which americans will be able to have access to starting next month. people will be able to go to a website, sign up for them and receive them in the mail. it's unclear how many you will be able to get per household and how long that will take, but it does speak to the urgency and the pressure this administration is feeling after just weeks ago dismissing the idea in a press briefing that americans should be getting free tests. now they're actually going to

announce exactly how some people will be able to access that. in addition, we're going to hear the president talking about military personnel who will be deployed to some hospitals that are already overflowing, as well as surge strike teams to different states that are seeing this big spike. so the president is going to come out and essentially say, you heard my winter plan earlier this month, we're going to build on that. what you won't expect to hear is that this is not a lockdown speech. there aren't going to be new shutdowns, restrictions or mandates announced as part of the president's formal remarks, but he is going to acknowledge that he wants to be straight with the american people and transparent and when it comes to omicron, this is changing so quickly that he wants to be sure the american people know he will continue to update them as this progresses. >> dr. gounder, you were a

member of then president-elect biden's covid advisory team. one of the criticisms of this administration has been that it hasn't acted quickly enough when it comes to increasing access to testing. we've seen long lines of folks almost two years into this pandemic trying to do the right thing, just waiting in line to get a test. what's your response to that? >> i think the administration's approach to covid has been overly vaccine centric. i think vaccines remain our number one, number two, number three most important tools in the toolbox. they are working very effectively in reducing and preventing severe disease, hospitalization and death. but we have to use every tool. that includes masking, that includes optimizing indoor ventilation and making rapid testing to isolate people who

are potentially infectious. this is finally a step in the right direction on increasing access to rapid testing. >> omicron now makes up nearly three quarters of the new infections right now. for perspective, last week it was just 13%. this week it's almost 75%. i asked dr. fauci earlier on the "today" show about this new variant and the speed with which it seems to be spreading. here's what he said. >> we know that the omicron variant is more transmissible, but it's also less severe. is this an overreaction perhaps, or is this prudent? >> oh, it's by no means not an overreaction. you're dealing with a virus that has an unprecedented capability of spreading extremely rapidly. we've really not seen anything like this before. it may very well be less severe.

we're hoping that's the case and we're hoping that will be our experience. but even if it is, the quantity of infections, given the extraordinary efficiency of spread, might actually obviate that diminution in severity where you still get a lot of significant disease. so we cannot take this lightly at all. >> i was asked dr. fauci about these new restrictions that are being put in place in certain parts of the country and whether it was an overreaction. what do you make of that? >> omicron is a highly infectious variant. far more infectious than any other we have seen to date. the incubation period is two to three days. this is what's leading to the

exponential growth. it grows like a straight line that is what we're seeing right now. when you talk about a big number multiplied by a small number, let's say you have twice as many cases but it's half as deadly, that's the same number of deaths. so we have to understand this is spreading so wildly, so quickly, that this could still result in massive hospital surges and deaths across the country. >> all of this happening as the tsa says it expects to screen at least 30 million americans this holiday week. what are you hearing from travelers on the ground there in atlanta about all of this? >> reporter: you know, some travelers we've spoken to say that as they've been watching the news, seeing how this virus is spreading and spreading so quickly, that it has made them stressed, more nervous about traveling this holiday season. obviously here at the airport we weren't running into anyone who

dramatically changed their travel plans, but we did talk to people who told us, one, they were nervous and at some point they pondered the idea of possibly adjusting travel plans, but they booked all of their flights and everything far in advance and at this point they felt like it was too late to readjust. so they were going, they were testing and they were vaccinated and they were proceeding with their holiday travel plans. we spoke with other people who said they felt they have taken the steps necessary to protect themselves as much as they can. and given all the events families missed out out, that they just really wanted to see their families. did you have any apprehensions about flying with the new omicron variant? >> yes, a lot. only that we need a negative test the day before we come back. >> no real concerns. i've been vaccinated.

happy to wear a mask. so i was willing to do it for family. >> reporter: obviously no plan is foolproof, but there are some steps health officials say you can take to protect yourself if you're traveling this holiday season. one of those, the cdc says, is to not travel unless you're fully vaccinated. another is they say if you have any sort of known covid expose exposure, stay home, do not fly. third is to get tested after your trip. aaa says that airlines will see an increase of 184% compared to this time last year. in general, travel is up by about 34% compared to this time last year. it is not quite pre-pandemic levels but it is very close. aaa says they expect 109 million people to travel within 50 miles

this holiday season. that is 92% of what travel was this time back in 2019. >> dr. gounder, let me get your take on something. we've been showing these graphics on the side of the screen. almost 62% of the country is vaccinated. you've had folks wearing a mask, washing hands, keeping our distance. we got shots, we got boosters. we still have about 60 million people in this country who are still not vaccinated. at what point do we just say, you know what, they're not going to do it? i mean, there's no public pressure campaign, nothing is going to convince this large group of people to get the shot. at what point do we do that? >> i do think there are some developments that will bump up

those vaccination rates. the osha rule for workplaces with 100 or more employees has been upheld by the federal courts. some workplaces had already started requiring their employees to get vaccinated or opt out with weekly testing. and now you have a number of other employers that had been dragging their feet, waiting to see how this played out in court who are now going to have to implement these requirements. i think in the next month or two you're going to see that have a big impact. there are similar requirements for federal contractors and staff who work at facilities who have medicare and medicaid funding. i don't give up on people as a health care worker. some of these things take a long time. i can tell you caring, for example, for patients with hiv, it can take years to convince somebody to get tested, to start

treatment, to be compliant with treatment. that requires patience. but we really need to keep fighting this fight. it is worth fighting. >> meanwhile, president biden apparently came into contact with a white house staffer last week who tested positive for covid on monday. we know the president has since tested negative. any concern from the white house about the president's health? >> right now they're obviously monitoring everything very closely craig. but they say, yes, they have tested him twice since he was in contact with that staffer. both tests came back negative, a rapid and a pcr. he'll be tested again tomorrow, because that would be the fifth day after exposure. so once he gets a pcr, they will give us those results. they're saying for now he's going to continue with his normal schedule, given the guidance from his medical

experts. the president of the united states is tested regularly. we don't know necessarily that is every single day. but i did ask the press secretary yesterday if they were going to change any protocols on campus given the omicron spike. she said not at this moment, but they will evaluate that. they are bracing for more cases to go up as we've seen this uptick in breakthrough infections as well. >> that raises than interesting point. dr. gounder, herd immunity, at some point i would think that we would be rapidly approaching that with the number of cases that we've already had and the number of folks who are vaccinated and boosted. >> the challenge here is that natural immunity, the immunity you have after an infection is

not very protective against the omicron variant. this is actually what led us to realize that this might be a variant, as we were seeing people in south africa who had previously been infected with delta and other variants, who were now again being infected with omicron. i think we really need to double down on getting everyone vaccinated if we want to get to anything resembling herd immunity. >> thank you. we will hear more from dr. fauci as well about the spread of omicron and the president's speech. lots more to get to on this tuesday morning, including covid and the classroom. what does the rising spread of this omicron variant mean for keeping our children safe and in school? our last secretary of education miguel cardona.

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when president biden delivers his address to the nation in a few hours, part of his plan is going to include steps to keep schools open.

right now the list of schools that have closed early for holiday break or announced returns to virtual learning next year is growing. bloomberg reported school closures have surged 82% as omicron surges across the country. joining me is the secretary of education, mr. miguel cardona. thanks for your time this morning. >> glad to be with you, craig. >> let's start with the president's remarks this afternoon. we know he is going to announce some 500 million free at home tests for anybody who wants them. we know he's going to announce new steps to expand vaccinations as well. we haven't seen or heard a lot of specifics about schools just yet. what specific steps can we expect to hear from the president on keeping schools open safely? >> thank you. we know students are invested in the classroom. it's my expectation given the accessibility of vaccines and

tests, that our schools stay hope, in-person learning five days a week. that's what our students deserve. what you will hear is how we're moving forward with that, making tests more accessible, working with our schools to partner with their health expert partners in their states, to do more testing in the schools. you're going to hear about test to stay, which means that students don't have to quarantine for so long if they're not showing symptoms or if they test negative. the goal is to keep our children in school where they learn best. >> any plans to send any of these half a billion tests directly to schools? >> with the american rescue plan funds, funds are available for districts to purchase tests and set up systems of testing. regular surveillance testing is critical for us to make sure we keep omicron out of our schools and keep our schools open for in-person learning. those efforts are underway in many districts across the

country. we continue to work with our states and district leaders to find ways to set up systems use ing resources in the community which i think worked best to keep our children in the classroom. >> you mentioned the new test to stay policy that the administration announced recently. basically instead of forcing unvaccinated students to quarantine, they could stay in class if they test negative at least twice during the week if i remember correctly. given how fast we've seen this new variant spread, how feasible is that plan, mr. secretary? >> one of the strategies as critically important to making sure that our students are safe, number one, and that our schools are open. but i think coupled with increased vaccination rates for our students as young as 5 years old, ensuring we're utilizing masks where possible so our students are not spreading

covid-19. i think all those things together will lead to our schools staying open. we're pleased the president is taking additional steps to ensure access to testing in our community. community spread typically ends up in our schools. if you have high community spread, it's typically going to make its way into our classrooms. let's all do our part. increase testing, get vaccinated if you're not, get boosted if you haven't gotten your booster shot so we can keep our kids in the classroom where they belong. >> let's talk about teachers for a moment here. there have been a number of reports about staffing shortages in schools all over this country right now. when it comes to these staffing shortages, what's being done to address those? >> yeah, that is an issue that

we're working closely with states to address as well. last week i sent a letter to school chiefs across the country and superintendents reminding them that the american rescue plan funds can be used to incentivize teachers coming on board. i'm also asking for them to think about creative alternatives, such as making sure that our retired teachers can come back into the classroom even if it's temporary without worrying about losing their retirement pension. looking for flexibilities there. there's a lot of work we can do. there are funds there to help incentivize that work. we're going to continue to work in partnership with our states to lift up best practices on how they're doing it. we need to think about how we're paying our educators, making

sure they have a livable wage . we can do better. >> you mentioned the funds that have available that haven't been tapped into by school districts. why is that? the money's been in this pot for a while now. why haven't school districts accessed the funds? >> i wouldn't say they have not accessed the funds. i would say they're probably using cares funds from before the american rescue plan funds. there was a huge investment over the summer on summer learning opportunities. what we're encouraging our education leaders across the country to do is think creatively now as we talk about teacher shortages or additional programming after hours. unfortunately, how we keep our schools open during this wave of omicron. we did it during delta.

delta came in two weeks before schools opened. question can do it with omicron if we're utilizing the funds to address the challenges that come up. >> we know how valuable it is to have our children in person versus virtual. they found, quote, significant learning loss due to the pandemic. back in march the cdc published findings of a 2020 survey of parents, they found that half had emotional distress, trouble sleeping or even some reporting they were increasingly using drugs or alcohol. with those in mind, how would you advise administrators who are struggling mightily with this rapidly spreading omicron variant? >> i appreciate you bringing

that to the forefront. i'm a father of two teenagers. their emotional health matters too. i've heard from parents across the country that they need our schools to stay open. to those administrators and principals and superintendents and chiefs, i commend them for doing what they need to do to keep our schools open. i realize how challenging it is. my mental is let's continue to use arp funds, let's continue to learn from one another, let's continue to listen to parents about what they're seeing with their own children. let's make sure we're doing what we need to do to keep our doors open five days a week. i know they're working really hard on that and we're going to continue to be partners with them. it's most important for us that our schools stay open. our kids need to be in school. that's not only where they get their academic learning, but for many students that's where they get warm meals and adult

interaction or access to mental health support. you know, students are six times more likely to access mental health support in their schools than anywhere else. our students have gone through a lot. we need to keep our schools open. it's critically important to our country. >> well done, sir. >> thank you. still ahead this hour, what's happening behind the scenes to save president biden's build back better agenda? we'll take a look at that. first, though, we are on verdict watch in the trial of former officer kim potter. the juror is deliberating this morning. we're at the courthouse in minneapolis, next. we're at the courthouse in minneapolis, next. the oregon c. my husband, sam, we've been married 53 years. we love to walk on the beach. i have two daughters and then two granddaughters. i noticed that memories were not there

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jurors are in their second day of deliberations in the trial of former police officer kim potter. potter faces first and second degree manslaughter charges for fatally shooting 20-year-old daunte wright during a traffic stop last april. she testified she meant to draw her taser, not her gun, when she

shot wright. charles coleman is with us, a former brooklyn prosecutor, now a civil rights attorney and msnbc legal analyst. shaq, i'll start with you on the ground. what have we heard from the jury so far? how long have they been at it so far? >> reporter: the jury has been tucked away for about 6 1/2 hours at this point. we did get a question from them yesterday afternoon regarding the timing of an interview kim potter did with one of the psychologists we heard from on the stand, a defense witness. they were asking about this interview that was never admitted into evidence, but was referenced during the cross examination during the prosecution as they tried to highlight potter's inconsistency in testimony. the jury asked when that interview was done. the judge said that's not part of the evidence. you have to rely on your own recollection. then they went back to continue

their deliberations. yesterday we heard those closing arguments. again, the prosecution is trying to argue this was a 26-year veteran of the police force who should have known the difference between a firearm and a taser and acted with haste and recklessly when she drew her firearm and shot daunte wright. the defense saying it was a mistake. listen to a little sample of the back and forth. >> a mistake is not a crime. it just isn't. it just isn't in our freedom loving country that we're going to put you in jail for a mistake you made. >> the defense may refer to this as an unfortunate mistake or a tragic accident. accidents can still be crimes if they occur as the result of recklessness or culpable negligence. >> reporter: you heard the defense also come back and say

that daunte wright was responsible for his own death because of his attempt to flee. the prosecution pushed back aggressively on that. this is in the hands of the jury at this point, craig. >> any idea what happens if they haven't reached a verdict by christmas? >> reporter: the judge said early on that the plan was to take a break by christmas eve. so they'll work-up until christmas eve and they'll be on a break for the 24th and 25th and pick back up on monday. that was several weeks ago before the start of the deliberations. the jury is sequestered throughout these deliberations. so we haven't gotten any guidance whether they would be allowed to go back to their family and have deliberations ru resume or whether or not they will power through. it's up in the air at this point. >> based on the evidence presented during this trial, could kim potter be convicted of

a crime? >> craig, it's very difficult to answer a question like that. what i can tell you is as a former prosecutor, you've done everything you could. i think the prosecution in this case did everything they could to at least meet the standard necessary for the reckless conviction. i think that's important for viewers to understand. as shaq already said, what the prosecution did during their summation was essentially say we're not challenging whether this was an accident, we're not challenging whether kim potter meant to kill daunte wright on that day. we're saying this is an accident someone has to be criminally responsible for because of the fact it was caused by her extreme recklessness in the situation. i do think they've met the standard in that regard. this is a very high standard. it's beyond a reasonable doubt. the prosecution did have some difficult things against them, one of which being the ethnic composition of the jury.

because that jury is so ethnic and racially diverse, in many respects the experiences people have had with law enforcement are going to vary. so what people will find reason able or reckless are going to differ. >>thank you. progressives not happy with senator manchin after he tanked president biden's build back better agenda. >> you can't enter into negotiations if you are not going to be an honest negotiator. >> we have people like mr. manchin turning their backs on the working families of this country. up next, there could be some new hope after a conversation between senator manchin and president biden. what we are learning about

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er quote, nothing is done until it's done. that's the word from vermont senator bernie sanders as democrats scramble to salvage president biden's badly bruised build back better plan. that comes as nbc news learns west virginia senator joe manchin talked to president biden sunday night just hours after the senator announced he was a no on the president's signature piece of legislation. garrett haake is here and so is eugene daniels, politico white house reporter. the white house ready to keep moving forward despite the

setback. there's plenty of lingering tension and uncertainty. what are you hearing about how democrats are mapping out the days and weeks ahead? >> reporter: democrats believe their agenda is too big to let die because joe manchin said on television that he's not ready to vote for it. i think there's enough agreement that they can ultimately get something across the finish line. but it won't be in january and it certainly won't look like the build back better bill. every democrat knows both joes, manchin and biden are kind of emotional politicians. we saw anger in that white house statement. we heard anger in joe manchin's radio interview yesterday. hopefully they will restart negotiations sometime in january. >> politico was the first to report that the call happened. what can you tell us about what

they talked about, the tone of the call, what it could mean about a potential path forward for build back better? >> i mean, it started with the idea that we know that joe manchin let president biden know that he was upset. he was upset about the statement that came out, that kind of zeroed in on him, talking about him as the lone democrat who's stopping this, though he is the lone democrat who has been publicly stopping this for months. so that part of it is true. a lot of this is about emotions. joe biden let him know that we want to get back to this. what's interesting is for democrats who are really stressed out over the last few days, joe manchin has, according to many reports, given the white house numbers that they can work with, $1.5 trillion i think is

what it ended up being. a lot of folks were concerned that joe manchin was walking away from the table completely after this. that is clearly not the case. it sounds like they're going to continue these negotiations. but you have progressives now saying what we negotiated in the house the last time was where the more interesting aspect of this is going to happen. if joe manchin and other senators can agree on this pared back version of bbb where they pay for a few programs within ten years, i think the president and the white house would want this. they want that child tax credit to be in there. how they get joe manchin back on board with that to get a win

here and also get some legislation through, that's to be seen in january and february. and maybe forever. i know we've stopped and started this over and over again. >> one of the things, garrett, i believe you reported on this morning for the "today" show, this objection to the child tax credit reportedly having something to do with the fact that senator manchin thinks parents might use the money to buy drugs, is that right? >> reporter: that's right. that's one of the issues manchin raised privately with other lawmakers according to sources our capitol hill team had talked to. manchin has been very clear that he doesn't like the idea of just sending out money with no strings attached. he wants work requirements and means testing. he raised that issue of drugs in private conversations. officially his office says he supports the idea of the child tax credit, again, if it's targeted.

>> there's some news on the january 6th committee. the committee wants to interview republican scott perry of pennsylvania. what's happening there? >> reporter: they sent out a letter yesterday to perry to set down for a voluntary interview. perry says today he's not going to do it. he makes an argument that the committee isn't somehow constitutionally constituted, if you will, so he's not going to participate. the ball is now in the committee's court to decide if they want to subpoena him. this would be uncharted territory to go aggressively after a sitting member, but i think that's what we're looking at in the new year. >> big thanks to both of you gentlemen. right now, jury deliberations are back underway in the trial of jeffrey epstein's associate ghislaine maxwell. we are on verdict watch there as well, next. n verdict watch thers well, next ♪♪ it's the easiest because it's the cheesiest.

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she plead not guilty. dasha burns has been following this quite quickly. what do we know about the deliberations to far. >> the juries today have asked for the full transcripts from three of the accusers, and these users from the four women at the center of the prosecution's indication this is what it will hing on. do they believe what these women had to say. so they will be looking at the full transcripts. we know that yesterday they listened to the closing arguments from the prosecution and the defense. they also listened to a rebuttal, and they started deliberations around 4:50 p.m. last night.

deliberating -- they are doing debilitating work. >> what do we know about the make up? >> we know it is six men and six women. what they are deliberating today is whether or not the prosecution made their case. and the case really rests on four women that say they were abused at the hands of jeffrey epstein, and that she recruited and courtroomed them for this abuse. and some of them say that she, herself, participated in some of the sex acts. she was not an innocent bystander here. they called her a sophisticated predator saying they were

partners in crime in exploiting young girls. the defense painted a different picture. they tried to distance maxwell from epstein that she is be used as a scapegoat. they focused on money, manipulation, and memory. trying to poke holes for these accusers saying their stories shifted and saying that the ms. maxwell is a proxi. at the end of the day i have been talking to legal experts, the flashy parts, the private jets, the money, the private island, at the end of the day it is a case about sexual abuse and this will hinge on whether or

not this jury believes these accusers whether or not they find them credible. and that's what we're seeing is the focus today as they look through the transscrips and they hash over the deliberations. >> keep us posted. when we come back here on a tuesday morning, the pawsome new addition to the first family. i can't believe i said that either. i can't believe i said that either instantly clear everyday congestion with vicks sinex saline. for fast drug free relief vicks sinex. instantly clear everyday congestion. and try vicks sinex children's saline.

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downy unstopables there is a new commander living in the white house. that's the name of the biden's new three-month old german shepherd puppy. he got quite the warm welcome. >> hey, pal. how are you doing? how are you? ♪♪ >> the white house added that music, we did not. the happy pup the only first pet living in the white house. champ sadly passed away back in june. you may also recall that dc

apparently not the right fit for major. there was reportedly a few biting incidents if as a result major now lives with family friends in delaware. we have not been able to independently confirm his where abouts, but we don't forget but commander not going to be alone for long. the administration announcing a new cat is going to be joining the fold in january. that will do it for me for a very busy hour. i won't see you again here on msnbc until next year. we're going to talk to dr. fauci in the next hour about