tell you is if they do, they will lose elections after that. i don't see a situation that republicans gain control and hold control on an impeachment strategy. >> sochi mendoza and kurt, that is "the last word." good evening once again. i'm chris jansing, day 432 of the biden administration. tonight as the omicron variant drives a hospital surge in cases, the cdc now shortening the recommended time for isolation from ten days to five

days followed by five days of wearing a mask. this comes as the latest data shows new cases in this country are now averaging more than 200,000 a day. and the "new york times" says reports from 14 states indicate this current covid surge is now worse than last winter's. earlier this evening, white house medical advisor anthony fauci described the thinking behind the new cdc regulations. >> you have so many people simultaneously testing positive, and you want to make sure that particularly among essential workers that you get people out there much sooner. and by much, i mean cutting it in half, saying that five days of isolation, then come out and wear a mask the rest of the time so you can keep people safe from getting infected from you if you still are infected, but at the same time getting you back to what might be an essential function in society. on balance, if you look at the safety of the public and the need to have society not disrupted, this was a good

choice. >> this is just what many businesses said they needed to keep operating. case in point, the airlines, where staffing shortages due to omicron have had a huge impact. today more than a thousand more u.s. flights were canceled. this morning dr. fauci was asked about the potential for vaccine mandates for domestic air travel. tonight he clarified his earlier comments that suggested that was under consideration. >> it is unlikely that you're going to see that happen in the foreseeable future. when i say it's under consideration, people take the leap and say, well, it's going to happen tomorrow or the next week. we consider all options when we talk about what we need to do for the public health. >> meanwhile college football fans are taking a huge hit from covid. so far at least three bowl games have been scrapped. this is the second straight year some games are being called off because of the virus. one veteran sports reporter says teams in a lot of sports are now facing questions about upcoming

events. >> they're already worried about the final four. we're kind of planning if we're going to have the final four, but we honestly don't know. i plan to go to the super bowl, but i'm thinking three and four times about this. >> most anyone planning to travel these days is more likely to get tested for covid first, but good luck. supplies continue to lag way behind demand, and those tests requiring lab work with now all too familiar long lines continuing after christmas. today president biden met with the nation's governors about the omicron surge. he offered more federal support but says states will have to take the lead on controlling the outbreak. >> there is no federal solution. this gets solved at the state level. seeing how tough it was for some folks to get a test this weekend shows we have more work to do. it's clearly not enough. if we would have known, we would

have gone harder, quicker if we could have. because steps we have to take in the numbers of increased authorized tests, we're now able to purchase 5 million rapid tests to be sent to americans for free for testing. we're going to produce as many tests as possible. also tonight we're keeping an eye on the very latest in the january 6 investigation. jp morgan and butowich are suing for the demand for their records. eugene daniels, white house corned for "politico." dr. andrea moyn, the school of public health, and currently a

professor at georgetown law, good to see all of you. on the one hand, it's clear that with the number of infected americans, ten days can be extraordinarily disruptive to lives, to the economy. but then you have the largest nurses' union meaning more transmission, more deaths. given where we are with omicron, are you comfortable with this recommendation? >> chris, i think these guidelines are incomplete and they are once again just pandering to businesses and to the economy which is very important but really leaving behind the public's health. what we know here is this virus is very contagious. we know that the best thing to do is to take people who are taken out of commission and sideline them so they're not able to continue to transmit it. now, the u.k., for example, used

rapid tests regularly, they shortened their time of isolation, and then they used rapid tests. they required people to rapid test out. these guidelines are based on scarcity of rapid tests and leaving them out deliberately. these guidelines would be just fine if we had five days plus rapid testing out. but at this point we're leaving it up to everybody's judgment and it could potentially be a big problem and give us a lot more opportunity for spread of this virus. >> i think all of us probably know somebody who thinks they have it or have had it, and they couldn't get a test. you know, do they stay home, do they not stay home? it's a tough decision to make. so, eugene, we heard the president say that there is no federal solution to this outbreak. i want to read what the "wall street journal" editorial page is saying tonight about that, quote, if mr. biden is beginning to make a rhetorical turn toward coping with covid since the virus is probably here to stay, this would be a welcome shift.

he was wrong last year when he suggested that any politician had the power to control the pandemic. if this is the way mr. biden is going, then he should also notify the supreme court that he is planning to have osha withdraw its overbroad vaccine mandate. some saying trump was slammed for similar remarks. is, eugene, this white house saying anything about biden's comment about the >> i don't think so. they haven't said that. that doesn't mean it can't change. this is something we started to hear a little bit, not from president biden but with aides and folks in the administration talking about how we have to live with this pandemic. weeks and weeks ago he was talking about every year we're probably going to have to get some type of shot like when you think about how we get a flu vaccine. the same thing with covid.

part of of what they're attempting to do with the new cdc guidelines is look at the science but also figure out a way to make sure that people don't spread the virus and make sure the economy continues, and i think the doctor is right. the idea of having rapid tests is much more important than i think we're talking about. the administration talked about having 500 billion, but that is not enough when you're talking doctors and health experts, when you think about the people who want to rapid test out, who want to be able to see their families. before i came to see my families looking for a rapid test, you couldn't really find one and i had to go get a pcr test because, one, it's safer, and you know more information, but also because you couldn't find them. so the administration does have tom work to do when it comes to that, but they want people to realize and they have come to realize that the changes we want to do over the last year just

haven't been realistic. you have especially the right wing of american society not wanting to do both, so they have to figure out more of a middle ground. >> you have to be able to separate the political part of this from the medical part of this. there has been a lot of what i think most people think is legitimate criticism, that we're behind on having testing available. i want to play something that claire mccaskill said on this network. >> the failure of america to have free available rapid tests is really being shown right now. what happened? who dropped the ball on rapid, cheap tests for americans? i need the biden administration to step up and fix that today. >> well, obviously, and the problem is you can't fix it today. the time to fix it for this christmas was months ago, so, look, the administration said they finalized the deal for 500

million tests. they're going to get them out to people next month, but where does that leave us? how significant is that given what we know about where omicron is now? >> chris, those 500 million tests are going to be a drop in the bucket when we have a tsunami of cases that are going to be washing over us. we need to be literally swimming in rapid tests at this point. everybody should be able to have a rapid test whenever they need one, just like they do in many other countries. europe has done a very good job at this. if you're going out to dinner with friends, you should be able to rapid test. if you are going to have a gathering with people, you should be able to rapid test. if you are going to work, you should be able to rapid test. if your child is going to school, you should be able to rapid test. we need to be able to have information for action available not only for public health but for the general public to be able to make decisions about their risk and about their

safety. until we have this available to us, we are still going to be operating without enough information. >> i want to go back to the politics of all of this, but let me ask you, paul, about the january 6 investigation, speaking of politics. there are a couple things that are notable, i think, about this new lawsuit from trump spokesman taylor budiwich. it's the latest to slow down the trump attitude, but it's easy to see where the committee is going with this. >> the committee is looking into whether budiwich is going with this. apparently that raised even more questions, including whether this guy funneled $200,000 of up-front, undisclosed sources,

and now the committee is trying to uncover those sources. they subpoenaed his bank records and he's suing to have the records kept secret or most certainly lose that litigation. at this point it's probably a moot point because the committee likely already has the records. his bank says that unless he produced a court order on christmas eve telling him not to turn over the records that they would. usually trump cronies go by his playbook of trying to run out the clock, but this time that strategy probably did not work. >> okay, eugene. there is new reporting out that the republican governors of arkansas, florida, iowa, kansas, tennessee have extended unemployment benefits to people who have lost their jobs over these vaccine mandates. other republicans could soon follow, and the white house is about to defend the vaccine mandate to the supreme court. is there any kind of white house plan b for the mandate given the deep political divisions?

what are you hearing from inside the administration? >> i mean, i think this is an administration that feels very confident in this mandate. they also, when you talk to aides who hate the word mandate, they like to call it a requirement. for them it is a vaccine requirement and with testing added to it. what they're trying to do and attempting to have done for weeks and weeks is making sure that they are fighting against republican talking points, as they put it, about it being a mandate, about forcing people to get the vaccine when there is that test. but as we've been talking about, getting a test is not as easy as i think the administration wants it to be, so they have a lot of work to do there. plan b, i don't think there is one, not one that's been shared with any of us reportingwise. i think one of the things this administration has done and proven to do -- and even when

they were a campaign, they make a decision and they kind of go full steam ahead and that has continued this entire administration. that's something we'll continue to see. they feel that this requirement, this mandate, is sound and that they're going to be -- they feel confident in that. whether that ends up being true, we'll have to see, but they do feel this is their plan and they're kind of sticking to it at this point. >> you know, paul, let's talk about the legality of this and the fight that is going to ensue. i think there is also another part of this, which is that with omicron, i certainly heard it over the holiday break. i know a lot of people have heard it from folks who are not vaccinated. see, what's the point of getting vaccinated, because all of these breakthrough cases are happening, anyway. you can get vaccinated and you're still not protected. that doesn't play into it legally, but it does push the right, frankly, in their cause and what they believe is their righteous cause.

>> yeah, that's right. so what biden has done is to force federal government employees and contractors to either take the vaccine and probably soon the booster or force them to submit to a formal regular covid test. the supreme court has never formally ruled on whether biden could go even farther and ask -- require, that is, every person in this country who is medically able to get the vaccine and to get the booster. i think that there is old case law that suggests that biden probably does have that authority, but so far they seem to be going with the method of trying to cajole people who are reluctant rather than to force them beyond people who work for the federal government in the contract with the federal government. >> are the folks within the medical and scientific community

who have been looking from the very beginning of this for answers and trying to push, frankly, governments whether it's on the state level or federal level to do what's scientifically sound? is maybe even still the only thing that can get us where we need to go -- it was interesting listening to anthony fauci who seemed to success that it was a good idea to have mandates for getting on a domestic flight and then saying, look, it's just one thing we talked about. we talked about a whole range of things, essentially. where is the thinking right now of mandates and how it realistically fits in to fixing this problem? >> chris, realistically, mandates are going to get people to do things they don't necessarily want to do or are maybe putting off. so i think that the mandates are still going to make a very big difference. i don't want to get on an

airplane, especially if we don't have mandates for good, high quality masks, we don't have mandates for vaccines, we don't have strong quarantine and isolation protocols at this point. i think the only thing we can count on at this point is to have mandates put in place to make sure we have at least some public health safety in place. i think it's going to be very important for people to remember that these mandates are not going to be enough. everybody is going to have to think about now these new guidelines. we're all going to be a little bit less safe. we're going to have people who are going to be infectious, essentially, be able to leave quarantine or leave isolation and have basically dunaway with -- done away with quarantine at this point. what we can do is be cautious with a high-quality mask, get boosted, and do what you can to lower your own risk. >> delta has sent out a

notification to anyone going to italy that to get on a plane now, you have to have a specific mask, a kn-95 or an fp-32, which i'm not even sure what that is, but i'm sure it's more high quality -- is that what you're holding up? i've upgraded my mask, too. dr. anne rinoin, paul butler, eugene daniels, thank you for being here. we've got a new york doc standing by. after nearly one year after the riot at the capitol, we have an idea of where the investigation is going and the politics at stake. "the 11th hour" just getting underway on a monday night. st gg underway on a monday night

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mr. president, do you support the minimizing of the quarantine period from ten days to five as the airline groups have recommended? >> i look to my medical team. when i get a recommendation, i follow it. >> just days after the cdc shortened quarantine guidance for health care workers over the objections of many of those workers, the agency today expanded that guidance to the general public. the new rules cut isolation time in half to five days for asymptomatic people. it comes as hospitals are reaching their breaking point across the country, facing surging cases of the more contagious omicron variant. in indiana, hospitals put out a full-page ad in "the indy star" begging people to get

vaccinated, boosted, tested and mask. it warns, we can't do this alone. we have more patients in our hospitals than we have beds. back with us tonight is dr. steven sample, an er physician at memorial hospital and health care in jasper, indiana. he's also a volunteer faculty member at the indiana school of medicine. this is where we are. we're back to having health care professionals beg people to do the right thing. what were you seeing in your hospital right now? >> good evening, chris, thank you for having me back. we're seeing about the same thing right now. just a ton of cases. we're super busy. every day is busy. there are no good days anymore at work. there are no days where you leave the hospital and say, well, that wasn't so bad. we would be busy without covid right now just because of the everyday winter illnesses and all the sick people out there, but when you add covid to this, every day feels like a draining nightmare. >> on christmas day you tweeted

this. if there was ever a question in the age of modern, broken medicine, health care workers are expendable cogs in a very giant wheel as evidenced by the recent covid guidance from the cdc. back to work, y'all. screw team safety. would you say that now that the cdc is shortening quarantine? >> i am less mad today than i was yesterday. >> you were ticked off. tell us what the motivation was. we feel frustrated for you, without a doubt, when i see more headlines in newspapers of, you know, doctors saying, just do the right thing, nurses saying, do the right thing, but what at that moment puts you to that point? >> you know, within a couple of days we got some guidance from the cdc that basically said, hey, if your hospitals are really bad, you guys can go back

to work. just suck it up and do it. health care workers from across the board from respiratory workers to hospital staff, weaver been used and abused and we've been begging people. my message hasn't changed. i've been saying the same thing for two years. a portion of the population heard it and a portion didn't. but then in succession, they said you can go back to work if your symptoms aren't bad, and then new guidelines came out that said, don't uphold cpr and get your mask. start it, anyway. there are lots of fluids and lots of aerosols and to suggest that on top of all the stuff we have to deal with, the medical community -- our collective head just about exploded, you know? it felt like another kick in the

ribs. now that they have shortened the quarantine and isolation measures for everybody, i'm a little less mad, though i do have some fundamental problems with what's going on right now, i think. >> look, i certainly don't want to pile on, but i think i'm going to pile on a little bit right now, because i saw the attorney general in your state who opposes vaccine mandates said when he was asked why he opposed mandates. he told a reporter he doesn't believe the numbers anymore. your thoughts, and we don't want you to stop coming on television because i like to think there are still people out there who are listening, but, you know, does that describe a lot of what you hear and what fuels that frustration? >> it does. r.a.g., this guy has never met a scientific consensus that he wouldn't question. he's wrong on climate change, he's wrong on environment, he's wrong on everything, so it's no surprise he would be wrong on this. but for this guy to get on tv in

the middle of a pandemic and say, well -- you know, he endorsed basically some public health conspiracy in his own state. well, it turns out, todd, you're the attorney general. if you think there is a conspiracy, it seems like you have the power to look into it, right? or do you really believe that, todd? i don't think you do, right? he's fanning the flames and feeding the fuel of people. he's talking to his base, he's talking to people who will vote for him the next time he goes out. he's actively making it political. he's in court right now trying to stop vaccine mandates. when this is all looked back on by history, people like todd ropita and his ilk, they will be directly responsible for the deaths of human beings and his fellow hoosiers. it's just ridiculous that he would go on tv and say that. i'm over it. >> yeah, over it. i would love to end on a more positive note, though.

they're already saying in south africa they're past the peak, they're on the downside of the omicron surge. i think there is a sense this is what's going to follow in europe and the united states. and i wonder if there's anything out there right now that gives you hope. >> well, i hope so. i hope we follow south africa's trend. myself and others out there kind of putting our ear to the ground. i don't know if i really trust south africa's data right now. they're in the southern hemisphere. it is their summer right now, right, and it's wintertime here, and they have a really different population in terms of vaccinated and previously infected. even some different variants that went through south africa. i don't know that we can directly extrapolate that. i think this may be a longer, slower burn here. my only hope is, really, that so many of us are going to get infected, so many of us are going to get infected that at the end of this many more of us have some sort of underlying

immunity. what that means for me and my colleagues in the emergency departments and icus of the country means it's going to suck in january. i will tell you that right now. >> okay, well, that wasn't exactly necessarily the thread of hope that i was wanting, but i do agree. i think we all need to hear it because we're tired of hearing it and we have to be reminded of it, sometimes we need to be reminded of it to do the right thing, even if people have been doing the right thing all along. i do appreciate that, dr. steven sample. we do appreciate you taking the time. thank you so much. coming up, in just ten days will mark the one-year anniversary of the attack on capitol hill. a closer look at the new clues of where the january 6 investigation is heading when "the 11th hour" continues. h hou. n that sets strict quality and purity standards. nature made. the #1 pharmacist recommended vitamin and supplement brand.

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as we approach the anniversary of the attack on the capitol, the january 6 committee is expanding its investigation. members are now honing in on conversations trump was having with allies at the willard hotel in washington in the hours before the riot. quote, congressman bennie thompson has said the panel will open an inquiry into trump's phone call seeking so top joe biden's certification on january 6. the january 6 committee had

already started to investigate trump's demand that biden not serve as president on 6 january. senior advisor to the president, and mike murphy, veteran republican strategist and co-director of the center of the political future at the university of southern california. he's also co-host of "hacks on tap." good to see you, guys. what did the latest moves by the january 6 committee tell you about the direction they're headed? do you see a political referral coming, even maybe against trump? >> i'm not a lawyer, thank god, but i do believe a criminal referral is more likely than not, just because the evidence is piling up, and to their credit, the committee has been quite aggressive. they should follow the money and they should try to get that narrow band of phone calls. so, you know, whether or not it has a huge earthquake effect on the election, because we're so tribal and dug in, i wish i was

more hopeful about, but to get justice, if there is criminal things that deserve referring, and my gut guess is there are on the pattern of behavior we've seen from some of these characters in the lunatic fringe of my own beloved republican party, i hope they do it and i hope we learn everything, and i wouldn't be surprised if trump is more connected to it than has been proven so far. >> of course, the nervous question, david, a lot of folks are asking, are we going to learn this in a timely manner? whatever that means to different people. the "washington post" reports that there is a plan to begin holding public hearings in the new year by the committee. a rough timeline includes those hearings stretching into spring, an interim report in the summer, a final report sometime ahead of november's election, but there is also that fear that means the committee's work will drag on too long to be effective. are they moving quickly enough, in your estimation? >> well, chris, i mean, this is about whether our democracy survives or not, so i think we

would all like to know it as quickly as possible. but the real deadline here is to have the report itself, the findings, recommendations, any criminal referrals, and i agree with mike it seems more likely that it happen in time to prevent the next coup attempt, which will be the 2024 presidential election. there are critical elections but the timing here is really before the next election. it could happen again and it would probably be successful. i hope these hearings are prime time. i hope they pick times of the day when the entire country can view them. i understand most of that will be through social media. these will be some pretty high-profile events, i think. i agree with mike, we're very tribal. at the end of the day, this is

not about any party taking advantage. i think that's very much in kbe today. >> are you sensing, mike, any movement in your beloved party? nbc has this new reporting today in interviews with more than a dozen presidential hopefuls, a notable shift from some of the most forceful trump defenders during his second impeachment and most of those out of office. how do republicans distance themselves from trump? are they? do you see more candidates following in virginia governor-electricity youngkin. what are you seeing? >> the perception is reality. the perception has been that trump is an invincible dictator of the republican party.

well, his rein has been based on fear that officeholders feared trouble in their primary. if trump was abducted by martians tomorrow, nobody would shed a tear. when we look at the republican primary voters, who are not all republicans but the ones you care about in the primary, trump has been elected for a long time, but you can see that charity is dropping. if you asked those voters in a scientific poll now, trump will get 45% to 50% of the vote. others will get half the vote, some of whom aren't even well known. trump is declining. the question is what is his half life and what will happen to him between now and the primary season next year? but a majority of republican officeholders would love to be liberated from donald trump but they, most of them, are cowardly about it and dare not say it because they're focused on their own primaries.

it's not really an encouraged gop. but a lot of them, quote, want to move on but they're afraid to take on trump. it's up in the air now. we'll see what the slope of the decline is. he can still be the nominee again, no question. >> we're going to cut into the time for our next segment, but it begs the question for me, david, if trump is on the decline, tell us if you agree with that or not, is it just part of the natural way that things go? people are looking for the new shiny thing? are people just exhausted by him or is it a real shift of people saying, you know, this business about continuing to fight 2020 is nonsense, it's destructive to democracy and that's why he's in decline. >> sadly, i don't think it's destructive to democracy. some of them have been there all along. i think for the most part they don't think it's more politics.

i will point out, 45% to 55% is nowhere near a hundred. when we had hillary clinton in 1918, she was -- 1998, i thought she was one of the strongest in the political party. i believe that trump is not going to run again. imagine this guy with his ego running for the republican nomination and not get it. i still think he would be the frontrunner, but he could go down to 45. i think people think trump is damaged. there will be a lot more republican candidates, and i think he's going to be interesting to watch. because with these poll numbers, you say, how does he not run? the thing we know about it is he's so brittle, he's really a baby, that losing the nomination is probably the thing he could

stomach least in his entire life. >> many future discussions on who the shiny new thing might be, but david and mike are staying with us to talk about 'tis the season when people start setting their priorities for the new year. a potential wish list for the president when "the 11th hour" continues. "the 11th hour" continues. i grow all my own vegs shingles doesn't care. we've still got the best moves you've ever seen good for you, but shingles doesn't care. because 1 in 3 people will get shingles, you need protection. but, no matter how healthy you feel, your immune system declines as you age increasing your risk for getting shingles. so, what can protect you? shingrix protects. you can protect yourself from shingles with a vaccine proven to be over 90% effective. shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older. shingrix does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients or to a previous dose. an increased risk of guillain-barré syndrome was observed after getting shingrix. fainting can also happen. the most common side effects are pain,

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[ chantell ] clearchoice dental implants changed everything. my digestive health is much better now. i feel more energetic. the person that i've always been has shown up to the party again. voting rights reform, one of the issues at the very top of the biden administration's a general darks but the real momentum has been in the states, at least 19 of them passing 34 laws restricting access to voting just this year. still with us, david plouffe, mike murphy. david, among the states where voting rights face some of the most significant challenges in 2021 have been the places critical to elections, georgia, texas. is there anywhere that you think this has a better chance of

passage? >> i think it has a better chance than 90 days ago because manchin, sinema and a few other representatives want to protect democracy. chris, i think it's important. yes, part of that will be to make sure we remove these restrictions making it harder to vote, largely targeting minorities. but also to secure our democracy. because the most insidious thing is the republican drive here to allow their own state legislators to decide who won elections, no matter what the voters say. that's the structure that i think manchin or sinema, some of the other senators, said, i do not want to do this. but they have forced me to do this to protect our democracy. i still think it's a long, challenging climb, but it's the most important thing in front of us right now. even with covid, even with our economic needs, because i think we are this close to sliding into an autocratic future in the

united states. >> mike, is there something you see for joe biden who frankly owes black voters for his election to salvage this? is there anything that can stop republicans from rolling back voting rights? >> when in doubt, win more seats. that's my advice to democrats. it is an election year, so sometimes the issue is more at grasp than the legislative issue is. there would have to be a partial filibuster pullback. would manchin do that? i bet he doesn't, he's a traditionalist, but boy, oh, boy, the pressure will be on him. there is also a more limited bill. manchin has kind of floated a framework. maybe there is some way to get there. but i think now that we're in an election year, the democrats with the reality of a 50-50 senate, which is not a liberal senate because of manchin and sinema, they start looking for issues to fight over to give

them election outcome rather than have a huge appetite to pass things they're not going to have the votes to pass because they have to break the narrative of biden looking week and ineffective, which i think is killing him politically. this is kind of a new playbook for them. i don't usually give advice, but we're in an insane time right now. >> what does that playbook look like, because as you have just stated, we are in a situation where there is really a down and dirty fight for salvaging democracy, it's a watered-down version, as some people would view it. is that better than nothing? >> you're not going to get what the house of representatives have. barack obama praised it, so it's going to be something like that. which will do two things. you have to protect democracy so people will get the most votes,

win elections. then, of course, you want to remove some of these limitations. so it's under technodemocracy and it will also make it easier for people to vote. same thing with build back better. i still think you could substantially pass that because manchin supports or doesn't support, but it's going to be scaled back. the republicans could take control at the end of 2022, i hope they don't. that's the other thing. if you don't pass these things now, you could be looking at misery for a long time. coming up, covid and weather teaming up this weekend to foul up flights across the country. an update on those travel troubles when "the 11th hour" continues. hour" continues.

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one stranded traveler put it

simply but vividly. it was a gut punch. after a 2020 christmas sets thousands of family gatherings canceled, 2021 meant airlines were forced to ground flights by the thousands. but today's decision by the cdc could get more of us flying once again. a report tonight from nbc news correspondent kerry sanders. >> reporter: tonight beyond the snowstorms and wicked winds that caused delays and cancellations, those airline employees who were forced to call in sick and quarantine due to coronavirus now may be back on the job sooner. the decision by the cdc to reduce quarantines to five days down from ten means airline employees just like health care workers who tested positive can now return to work sooner if they feel better. >> i do think airlines are in a position to begin to catch up in the next few days. >> reporter: in part because of the omicron variant, airlines were facing staff shortages this

weekend. that led to cancellations and set off a domino effect. a family from california couldn't leave. >> we got on the plane, everything was fine, then one of the pilots didn't show up. >> it's been two and a half hours, but we finally got here. >> they had one of the ten-day quarantine to remain. >> what we're doing is saying profits are more important than people, and that's just the bottom line, and we can't abide by that. >> reporter: this comes as flight attendants who are physically close to passengers were forced yet again sunday to break up a fight, one unmatched passenger confronting another who had pulled his mask down to eat. airlines again encouraging those who might be anxious to take a deep breath and do not do what we just saw on that video.

kerry sanders, nbc news, ft. lauderdale. coming up, our friends at the "washington post" reminisce about the year about to end when "the 11th hour" continues. hour". for the gifts you won't forget. the mercedes-benz winter event. get a credit toward your first month's payment on select models. ♪ it wasn't me by shaggy ♪ you're never responsible for unauthorized purchases on your discover card.

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life opens up. aleve it... and see what's possible. the last thing before we go tonight, as the "washington post" puts it, this year got weird. here's a look back at a few of the wildest political moments of 2021. >> my predecessor. oh, god, i miss him. ♪♪ >> i think about 40% of the people still don't think we won. >> i understand that. >> do you understand that, mr. president? >> there are people in the republican party who think we're sucking the blood out of kids. >> i don't know if there is anything anybody can do to change the course of the moon's orbit. the last thing we need is

neandarthal thinking. >> freedom! >> i have the freedom to kill you with my covid. >> explain to me how the key sticks to me. >> you do not know what you're talking about. >> dr. fauci! >> perhaps you remember your first edible. >> nicki minaj's friends testicles. >> how difficult is this to understand? >> take the vaccine! you got it, it's okay, that's right. >> i love olive garden. >> unlimited salad, garlic, breadsticks. >> just for the record, i like the olive garden. >> i'm tired of your shenanigans. >> you have disrespected the blueberry bill. >> i'm going inside right after this and make a schtick. >> fake news just doesn't get it, do you?

>> you're not a part of this if you were the last president. >> anthony, you're too smart for that. but you work for trump, so i don't know. >> it was an episode of a show, laura. >> what's it called? >> you! >> he was canceled. >> it's beginning to look a lot like arson. finally, infrastructure week. >> we're going to rebuild it and build it back better. >> i love upstate, i love downstate, i love the whole state. >> i have a great respect for women. my mom was a woman. >> oh, wow, sick burn. >> q tells the stuff in all of its lies. >> thank you, facebook. >> boy, that went sideways. thank you, all. >> on that high note, thank you

all very much. >> thanks to the "washington post" for collecting the memories. my mother was also a woman. that is our broadcast this monday night with our thanks for being with us. on behalf of all of my colleagues at the networks of nbc news, rachel has the night off but we have a lot to get to tonight. tonight there is new guidance from the cdc shortening the recommended isolation time if you test positive for covid-19. now, before tonight you may recall the recommendation had been to isolate for ten days, but now the cdc is saying you only need to isolate for five days as long as you are asymptomatic at that five-day point followed by five days of wearing a mask when around other people. now, this new guidance comes as the omicron variant sends daily case loads to record levels in parts of the united states. today president biden joined a