thank you so much for joining us. lessons that we find herself in. here's a look at the top stories we're following right now. thank you very much, i appreciate covid cases on the rise nationwide. it. we'll talk to a doctor about why kids are particularly at risk during this new wave of that is all in on this thursday infections. appreciate it. that is all inin" on this on th thursday night. msnbc prime starts with mehdi hasan. good evening. >> i'mi for one am amused that vladimir putin has done more for nato expansion more than donald trump and joe biden put together. >> truly amazing how that works. >> thank ziyou, chris. have a great rest of your night. >> thank you. >> thank you for joining us at home at this hour, it is not a secret that president richard nixon had a big ego but he made a big bold whopping promise. >> president nixon told the white house conference today that america cannot live with is conscience if people are hungry,

he asked for support on behalf of food bills has sent to congress and he said should virtually eliminate poverty as a source of malnutrition. >> 2,000 delegates to the conference streamed into a washington hotel. they included corporation executives, welfare mothers, labor leaders, doctors, young social activists and mexican americans and bureaucrats. some lobbied for ideas to end hunger. the conversation was opened by president nixon. he said now is the time to do something for the estimated 15 million americans too poor to buyan enough food. >> until this moment, in our history, as a nation, the central question has been whether we as a nation would accept the problem of mall nourishment as a national responsibility. that moment has passed. on may 6th, i asserted to the congress that the moment is at and hand to put an end to hunger

for itself for all time. and speaking for this administration, i not only accept the responsibility, i claim the responsibility. >> i, richard nixon, will end hunger in america. i claimng the responsibility. richard nixon obviously did not defeat food insecurity in the united states. prior to being forced to resign the presidency in disgrace, but something did come out of that white house conference, on food, nutrition and health, that really did help make a dent. more than 3,000 experts attended that conference, representing a wide range of expertise and interest groups to try to game out what the united states could do to end hunger as a result of poverty. and the end of the conversation, the group wrote up a big report. here is the lead doctor in charge of the conference handing it over toe nixon, a big heavy report. the report made more than 1800 recommendations to improve federal policy around food and nutrition, more than 1600 of those proposals were enacted by the federal government, within two years.

including one with kind of a funny name. it's called wic. sounds like a candle wic. one of the problems identified at that big conference was a young poor mothers were struggling to come up with the money to feed not just themselves but their babies and wican was supposed to fix that,n 1964 thein first clinic opened kentucky and today it uses federal money to buy vouchers to buy fruit and vegetables and whole grain bread and baby formula for their little kids who can't eat solid food. for weeks now, not just wic moms but all moms have been scouring shelves for baby formula, due to a kind of a perfect storm of corporate and bureaucratic and logistical failures.lu this nationwide shortage has turned into a full blown crisis. and it b is hitting those wic moms, the moms below the poverty line, especially hard. a huge part of the wic program

is about supplying baby formula to mothers. of all of the baby formula sold in the united states more than half purchased by mothers on wic assistance and because thisth ia federal seprogram, there are restrictions on the exact kinds of formula you can get. ifla you're lucky enough to fin formula on the shelves, but that is not a wic approved brand or size, you are out of luck. and so today, congress tried to fix that. the democratic controlled house ofat representatives has voted a bill appropriately named the access to baby formula act. which would knock down some of that red tape. to expand access to baby formula under the wic program. and it sounds like a no-brainer, right? in the middle of a nationwide formulaof shortage, let's make just a little easier for the poorest mothers to access baby formula. it's almost impossible to come upit with a reason to be agains it. and yet, nine republicans, nine of them,ic voted no on that bil. representatives like margely

taylor green and boeberts and it makes it harder to access food for babies and if you think that is unusual, mark it by 20. the other will give the food and drug administration, the fda, more money to help increase formula supply and to prevent this kind of shortage from ever happening again. and it passed as well, but barely. because 192 republicans, 192 republicans, voted against that bill, which again would make it easierai for parents to feed thr babies. it is astounding that house republicans, almost in unison have just telegraphed to the country that they do not care about using every single legislative lever at their disposal so that their fellow americans can stop worrying how they will stop feeding their infant children. i got to behe honest. this is a whole other level.

coming from the political party in this country that claims to be obsessed with the well-being of babies. the republican obsession with beingre pro-life, apparently en when the baby is born. if you are having trouble keeping your baby alive because you cannot find it food, you're on your own, thanks to the democratic majority, both of those bills for access to baby formula passed the house and one passed the senate and while we await them arriving on president biden's desk, it is a good moment to check in on exactly how we got here. last september, the fda conducted an inspection of a baby formula plant in michigan. on that same pday, a baby was hospitalized with a severe bacterial infection after consuming formula produced at that plant, three other babies would go on to get sick after drinking g formula from that factory. two of them died tragically. the fda says they found no trace that was deadly bacteria in the plant. when they inspected it in september, when they went back a few months w later, they found

traces of it all over the place, on the wall, on the floor, on doors. and so the plant was shut down. this particular factory supplies a about fifth of the nation's formula supply and the fda struck a deal with the factory to get production up andth runng in the next two weeks. but it could still mean months beforeea new formula from that factory hits shelves nationwide. because the fda failed to addressca those issues earlier, even though it had been tipped off by a whistle-blower, because the biden administration did not come up with a work-around until the shelves started turning bare, because the formula companye failed to keep the factory clean in the first ke place, because of all of that, we are in thect midst of a cris that has parents terrified they will not be able to have food for their babies. now the biden administration is playing catchup. the first line of attack has a catchy name. operation fly formula. to air lift baby formula into the united states, like you would first aid to a war zone. the defense department will contract commercial planes, load

them up with baby formula produced in other countries and zip them right over to the u.s., bypassing existing freight groups that move much slower. just tonight a biden administration officialht tells nbc news that the first operation fly formula flight will take off as soon as this weekend. the first flight is expected to be from zurich in switzerland loaded up with 1.5 million bottles of formula, and land in plainfield indiana and from there the formula will be distributed all over the country. president biden announced we be triggering the defense production act to ramp up the formula supply,se the same tool used to increase the supply of masks and gowns and vaccines during the heightsk of the pandemic. the white house said it will now be used, the defense production act, to increase access to the ingredients that manufacturers need to makeed more formula. but the administration says it could stillni take weeks for th ability to return to normal, and thatet is if these hail mary's work. joining us now is the democratic

congressman from connecticut, and chair of the house appropriations committee and introduced legislation to give emergency funding to the fda to address the formula shortage and attended a hearing to discuss this area earlier today. thanks for joining us. >> earlier today, the senate approved ath bill by unanimous consent that would improve access to baby formula for low income americans using the ciw program. itng seems like noncontroversia legislation. are yousi surprised that nine o your own colleagues did not vote on passing the bill? >> i think it really is, this is not a political issue. this is not a democratic issue or a republican issue, it's not politics, this is about saving our babies. you made the comment about we lost two babies. and several more that had been hospitalized. parents are frantic to be able to access infant formula, the shelves are bare, and at the

same time, they're concerned and worried that the product that they may buy is not right for their child and it is shocking. it isd shocking. it is shocking that anyone could vote against this legislation. and a number of people, the republicans who voted in the housere last night, against the bill that i introduced, is equally as shocking. but we did have 12 republicans, members who supported the effort, because they understand our job is to address this very serious crisis and we need to do itcr now. >> yes, 190 republicans voted against that last night. bizarre, outrageous. and you mentionedza the importae ofnt access to formula which is very important. but also there has to be access to safe formula and the problem of coursea was that there was this issue with the factory and the recall. that all happened several months ago.

there are some who say the fda completely dropped the ball in september. that in february when the factory was closed the biden administration dropped the ball because they didn't anticipate what was coming. isn't this a fair criticism that this could have been resolved much earlier than it has been. >> let me put this in perspective. this is an issue of supply and an issue of food safety. so you're right in this context. the abbott nutrition in sturgis, michigan, knowingly sold a contaminated product. contaminated infant formula. they violated all kinds of rules. they falsifiedof records. they gave inaccurate information to the fda. they didn't do the proper testing. the plant was not clean. and again, knowing, knowingly introduced a product into the market that was contaminated.

now, in your earlier commentary here, thereyo are only four maj producers of infant formula in the united states. that in and of itself is a problem. sole source contracting, we should do away with and because when -- and abbott has 43% of the market. which 4 mainly goes to wic recipients. and thank god for richard nixon and, you know, making sure that under that summit, there is the wicre program. and we need to address the underlying issue. let me justun talk about the fd. because in fact, in september, they looked at the plant with suspicion. in october, the whistle-blowers report. they didn't do anything about interviewing the whistle-blower inrv december. january, they went back into the plant, found the contamination, and then we have the recall in

february. now, the fda is culpable, on dragging their feet. and not holding abbott to an fda standard. both of those pieces are being investigated. right now. and i'm engaged in that investigation. calling for an inspector general investigation. butor your point is, we need ito move, and to move quickly. which is what wean are doing. andt i might add -- >> i'm glad the congress is holding the fda to can. i'm sure many of you are warning how this all happened. one last question, the president took measures yesterday invoking the defense production act among others to help with the shortage.he how much of an impact do you think the defense production act will have on actually solving this problem as quickly as possible. >> i think the defense production act can have a serious effect on the production of this product, in addition to which, and ihi was delighted to hear that the first air lift is

goingfi to be from zurich. what we need to do, not only should we be importing product, but we ought to be importing that product from fda-approved facilities. we should not open the door to facilities who haven't passed the standards and the statutory requirements that the fda has. the fda does have a standard. the current fda did not move to address abbott, to keep them in touch with those standards and in fact, they didn't do anything at all about that, but we have a standard, and bring the product back and get it on the shelf, and get families some sense of understanding that they can trust the product that is safe that is on the market. and they will be able to feed their babies and not cause them any harm. >> >> congresswoman, we will have to leave it, there democratic from connecticut, leading voice on this issue, thank you for your evening. >> thank you foryo highlighting

the issue. up t next, the house januar 6th investigators now want to question a fellow j member aboua tour he gave the day before january 6th. what do you think he is hiding? stay with us. stay with us

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i have an office in the capitol which is in the so-called lincoln room named after abraham lincoln. that office has my name on my door and has majority whip above the door and it is just off

statutory hall. anybody in the hall can see that office. and that's not where i do most of my work. on the third floor is where i do most of my work. and there are many member was united states congress right now who could not tell you where that office is and could not find that office if they needed to. nobody touched the door where my name is. but they were on the floor and my staff is inside my inner office, with people pounding at the door, with people trying to get in. they did not let them in. my question is, how did they know where that office was? >> that was congressman jim clyburn two days after the assault on our capitol on january 6th expressing a view held by many of the fellow members of congress that some of the rioters that day seemed suspiciously good at navigating the labyrinth that is the inside

of the u.s. capitol. soon after, democratic congresswoman and navy veteran said she saw unnamed republicans giving what she called reconnaissance tours of the capitol the day before the riot. she and 33 house democrats sent a letter requesting the capitol police and the sergeant at arms investigate the extremely high number of outside groups inside the capitol on the day preceding the riot. visitors who appeared to be associated with the rally at the white house the following day. they noted that the visitors were particularly suspicious because of the time, tours were not allowed, due to covid protocols. the only way visitors could get in the building, be in the building is if they were brought ny by a member of congress. gary laudermill, one who voted against biden's win on january 6th, asked the democratic candidates who sent the letter and accused spearing republicans

without evidence and there is security footage captured by the cal top police. that's where the story stood for a year. suspicions and accusations that they were giving tours the day before and a denial by republican congressman who had not been accused. the whole thing had a big true energy. but we didn't have any idea what was going on. until today. when the january 6th investigation sent this letter to congressman louder, asking him to come in and chat with them. kwoes quote, based on on our review of the evidence in the select commit's possession, we believe you have information regard agriculture you led through parts of the capitol complex on january 5th, 12021. republicans on the commit of the house administration of which you are a member claimed to have reviewed security footage from the days preceding january 6th and determined there were no

tours, no large groups, no one with maga hats on. however, the select committee's review of evidence directly contradicts that denial. now, we have not seen what evidence the january 6th committee is referring to. we have no independent confirmation that these tours took place. but it is bage advance in the story that the, it is a big advance in the story that the january 6th committee is coming out now a few weeks before the first public hearing and saying they did. lots to unpack. joining us is nicholas wu, congressional reporter at "politico." thanks for joining us tonight. the representative puts out the joint statement with another republican congressman tonight calling on the capitol police to release any tapes of him giving tours or not and essentially admitting he led a group he claims to be a family of constituents around the house office buildings. what do you make of today's developments and this response from the congressman? >> there is a whole lot that we still don't know this evening

about what exactly happened on january 5th and with all of the tours. you know, congressman loudermilk here has admitted to bringing in constituent families inside but also in the statement, the fact that they, you know, they were not part of the federal january 6th investigation. and so this raises some questions, so to speak, about, you know, what exactly this family was doing there, who they were, and for that matter, what made the january 6th committee so concerned about congressman loudermilk's tour. because surely if this he had whatever evidence they had produced here, perhaps security camera footage, if this really was just a family, this might not have risen to the level of asking yet another sitting member of congress to come and talk to them. >> nicholas, it's a very explosive allegation and the timing is very interesting. are you surprised to see it, this whole story being reinvited by the 1/6 committee just weeks

before the start of the public hearing? >> this is a story that you need to dive down a bit over the last few months. and as you mentioned earlier, in the program, this was something that indeed the initial chaotic and confusing weeks after the attack on the capitol have been something that really ignited a lot of fury among democrats who saw a lot of the republican colleagues as being complicit in the attack. you have the letter of over 30-something house democrats who raised concerns about these tours. and i remember talking to congresswoman elaine luria a signatory of the letter and a member of the january 6th committee who talked about how in hindsight, you know, at the time, there appeared to be concerns about those groups. and at least in the intervening year, there wasn't a lot more attention paid to that. supposedly, the evidence was handed off to the justice department, and not much more was heard from it. and there hadn't been that much

evidence that came out, even, to back up these democrats and the allegations, and here we are again seeing this thrust back into the spotlight. >> you got the scoop today that the january 6th committee had obtained a batch of official white house photographs including images from january 6th which could give the committee realtime visual evidence of moments of action of key players like president trump throughout the day. and these photos are the first thing that i would ask if i were investigating the president. why are we just hearing about them now? >> this is all about the committee's trying to recreate the time line and what happened. and the committee wants to show exactly where the president was, when he was, you know, for example, sending this tweet on the afternoon of january 6th attacking vice president pence. and for that matter, who else was in the room. where were they standing? and we can expect a lot of this information to play a role as they move towards their hearings

in the next few weeks where they will need to tell a visual story that will be compelling and interesting and present new evidence to the american public. >> nick, very quickly, we're out of time and i have to ask, a lot of outlets reporting that bill barr is in talks to give sworn testimony to the committee. how big of a deal is that since i believe they have spoken to them informally. >> it is not surprising he is talking to the committee. for months, the committee has been talking about these sorts of informal discussions and for him now before the public hearings to come in and talk about it really speaks to the level the committee is trying to talk to everyone and tell the story of not just january 6th but all of trump administration's attempts to overturn the election leading up to it. >> we'll have to leave it there. nicholas wu, congressional reporter at "politico." thank you for your time tonight. appreciate it. >> thank you. much more to come here tonight. but first, a quick story to tell

you about the great state of colorado. one of the leading candidates for the republican nomination for governor in that state is former colorado mayor greg lopez, like so many other republican candidates, for statewide office, lopez is an election denier but when it comes to undermining democracy, he wants to do more than question the results of past elections. denver 9 news was the first to report that greg lopez has a new plan to stop counting all votes equally, and do away with the popular vote in colorado. under lopez's plan, colorado would develop its own state level electoral college, giving more power to rural conservative voters and less power to urban and suburban coloradans, under the guise of counting votes based on turnout. i wonder why he would want to do that. denver 9 news kyle clark. democratic governor ten percentage point win in 2018, it would turn into a blowout

republican victory. under lopez's plan. a 28-point shift toward republicans. so long as you don't count each vote equally. >> so as long as you don't count each vote equally. u.s. states are supposed to be laboratories of democracy. with election-denying republicans, if they win power this november, they may quickly become laboratories of autocracy. we'll be right back. be right ba.

it took a week, but today, the senate finally voted to approve a $40 billion military and humanitarian aid package for ukraine, the vote was 86-11, with all of the no votes coming from republicans. it brings the total amount of american investment in this conflict about $54 billion in the past few months. the senate had planned to fast track the vote last week but stymied by kentucky senator rand paul who blocked it because he wanted additional oversight fort money. the money goes to president joe biden who is expected to move quickly and sign. it and lawmakers voting on that bill, president biden was meeting with the leaders of finland and swedened a the white house, one day after both countries submitted applications for admission to nato and biden says they have the complete backing of the united states. finland and sweden of course decided to break their long-held neutrality stances in response to russian invasion of ukraine. and an invasion that vladimir putin says he launched in order to push nato away from russian

borders. how is that working out for you? >> ukraine is doing an unusual thing for a country still at war, holding the first trial for war crime. ukrainian authorities have accused this 21-year-old russian tank commander of fatally shooting a 62-year-old ukrainian man in northeastern ukraine in february. he faces life in prison, if convicted. today, he pled guilty and told the court that he shot the civilian on orders from two officers who said the man could inform ukrainian soldiers about their location. he also asked the man's widow to forgive him. when prosecutors asked her what a fitting punishment would be, life in prison and she would support swapping the russian soldier as part of a prisoner of war with ukrainian fighters over the mariupol steel plant. and three judges must vote unanimously to convict the russian soldier. despite the guilty plea. one of the precedents for trial

during an ongoing war is the bosnia serb soldier who confessed to murder and rape during the bosnia war and later accused of genocide. and they are working for further war crimes but it is heculesen task. only 40 suspects so far. joining us now is professor david crane, the founding chief prosecutor of the u.n. special court of sierra leone from april 2002 to july 2005, during that time he indicted liberian president charles taylor for war crimes committed during sierra leone civil war and now professor, thank you for making time for us. ukraine holding the trial during the war means the victim's family won't have to wait for justice. is there a bigger more political advantage of holding this trial

now? >> i think it is very, very important. and good evening. it's great to be talking to you. i think it's important, it's a marker, to it lets russian federation forces know if they're not going to follow the law, the laws of armed conflict, they will be held accountable for their actions so this is the beginning of a beginning, but a very important and politically savvy move to so he that individuals who violate the laws of armed conflict and shoot civilians for no reerngs civilians are to be protected, especially protected. you can't just target civilians. then they will be held accountable. >> and you have the ukrainian prosecutors with their work cut out for them, thousands of cases, i mean dozens of suspects, they are getting some help from international investigators, and forensic experts, and what else might they need to prosecute these cases successfully, and fairly? >> they just have to continue to look at forensics, look at social media, look at videos, talk to victims, et cetera. you know, we have really been

doing this now for a couple of decades. we have the experience. we have the jurisprudence. we have the proper rules of procedure and evidence. which a lot of us to prosecute not only heads of states or commanders but anyone else who commits international crimes like in ukraine which is aggression, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and even inciting to genocide. >> joe biden says he wants vladimir putin prosecuted as a war criminal. is that possible? realistic? you have experience of putting away a warlord. how about the president of russia? >> it's very possible. in fact, right now, the international criminal court is investigating vladimir putin and his commanders and others. the united nations is also gathering evidence. there are a number of other very professional organizations that are doing the same. you know, the jurisprudence related to heads of state is if they commit international crimes while heads of states they cannot use head of state

immunity to hide behind their action, so they are individually criminally liable for the actions of their armed forces in the conflict zone. >> talking with head of state immunity, one last quick question for you, just yesterday, former president george w. bush misspoke and said iraq when he was talking about ukraine and an audience in dallas laughed and we showed a clip last night is, there any accountability for iraq. is it harder for people abroad to be held accountable for war crimes when we've never done the same here in the u.s.? >> well, the united states has been a leader in the creation of international tribunals and courts, although we're going back to nuremberg and all the way to the modern airasm the united states is the perfect country, is not a perfect country and it makes mistakes as well but we shouldn't use that as a veil to hide the brutal actions of vladimir putin and the commanders. we're talking about warfare, we're talking rape, pillage, plunder, not seen since, you

know, the 15th century. this is 2022. nation, the united nations members, don't commit these kind of crimes. and so this is what we have to focus on. to ensure that for the people of ukraine, that they get justice, and we are. this will move forward. >> former u.n. special prosecutor professor david crane, thank you for your time tonight, i appreciate it. >> my pleasure. still ahead, here tonight, one state tried and apparently succeeded in making sure it takes away more of a woman's rights than any other state in the nation. details on that next. than any n the nation details on that next

it was a little over two weeks ago when the republican governor of oklahoma signed into law a ban of all abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, a point in which many people do not know they are pregnant and the law includes no exceptions for rape or incest and when he signed the bill into law, the oklahoma governor says he wants his state to be the most anti-abortion state in the country. we have seen these kind of bills pop up in republican-controlled states across the country, where conservative lawmakers have been emboldened by the leaked supreme court decision overturning roe v. wade. these near abortion bans are a problem for anyone who can get pregnant in america. and you cannot be the most anti-abortion state in the country if other states are enacting near similar total bans on abortion which means today, after oklahoma signed that near

total abortion law into law, the oklahoma legislature has approved another abortion ban that somehow manages to go even further. the new bill bans all abortions starting from the moment of fertilization. even if you're lucky enough to learn you're pregnant in the first six weeks you still won't be able to get an abortion in the state of oklahoma and does include exceptions for rape and incest and only those reported to law enforcement. kamala harris met with abortion providers fon the front lines of the fight and called out the oklahoma law specifically. >> just half an hour ago, in oklahoma, the state legislature passed one of the most extreme abortion bans in the country. it's outrageous. and it's just the latest in a series of extreme laws across the country. >> abortion providers across the country are providing for a dark future, and the likes of which america has not experienced in half a century.

someone with unique insight is dr. susan dawn, who grew up in gatlinburg, who says her babysitter was dolly parton and the year before roe v. wade was decided, she became pregnant and she was 16 years old and her sister drove her to knoxville. dr. susan dawd, retired ob-gyn, thanks for joining us tonight, and talk bur experience of seeking an abortion before roe and how it led to you becoming an ob-gyn. >> it was a frightening experience to have your first doctor visit as an ob-gyn, asking a stranger for an abortion which was illegal at the time, so i gathered my

courage, my sister helped me a lot, and in that area also, and i asked the doctor to perform an abortion on me. >> and once you became an abortion provider, you provided abortions, in knoxville, i believe, where people were upset with you, turned on you, i read that your husband had to buy you a bullet-proof vest to wear to work. >> yes, that's what the fbi recommended, and so that's what we did. >> wow. >> there would be protesters at the clinic, that would take my license plate, that would send me letters, threatening letters, sometimes threatening my safety, and mostly threatening that my religious future would be in jeopardy. >> did you ever think back when you were a teenager, getting that abortion, going and paying

all that money at that time, it was very expensive, and dealing with all of that pressure, that you would see a day in your life when we would return to a world where people may be forced to seek illegal abortions? >> one of the most frightening things about illegal abortions to me was experiencing it through the eyes of my older partners. i was right on the cusp of roe v. wade. and i had great hope that our future would have abortion care as a part of women's care. but my older partners would describe horrific hysterectomies they had to do, you know, just dismal situations, women who would lose their lives from seeking abortions through back alley providers. >> dr. dodd, i wanted to ask you, the oklahoma legislature as i mentioned a moment ago has

passed three abortion bans in two months and your home state, how do you think doctors like yourself will respond, do you think they will risk arrest to keep providing necessary care? >> i think most will not. i think if i was still providing abortions, i'm retired now, i would have to think very carefully about doing it. the biggest concern for me is what are we going to do for women who have ec topic pregnancies or women who have life-threatening consequences to their health, because they are pregnant. who gets to decide whose life we save? or whether we will let both the mother and the fetus die? it's a very frightening future for ob-gyns and their patients.

>> how worryed are you if the supreme court overturns roe v. wade will embolden those who want to use violence against abortion clinics and abortion providers? >> i think it will come to more of a law situation where patients, where other people will say, oh, well that doctor provided an abortion and there was a heartbeat, so they go to court, and i think it will be more, instead of physical violence, it will be more legal action, which they'll have a right to do at that point. >> one last quick question before we're out of time, if the supreme court justice, or republican lawmaker were to ask you why roe shouldn't be overturned, what would you say? what one thing would you say to them? >> i would say it's my body, my choice, if you choose not to have an abortion, don't have

one. >> and if you were talking about masking, they would agree with you. dr. susan dodd, long time tennessee abortion provider, thank you for your time, and thank you for sharing your story with us tonight. appreciate it. >> thank you. up next, some much-needed good news for parents and kids, stay with us. (woman) oh. oh! hi there. you're jonathan, right? the 995 plan! yes, from colonial penn. your 995 plan fits my budget just right. excuse me? aren't you jonathan from tv, that 995 plan?

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some good news to report today, in our nation's fight against the coronavirus. especially for parents of young children. tonight, cdc director dr. rochelle wa lenski announced that the cdc is now recommending booster shots for children between the ages of 5 and 11 years old, the shots are now expected to be available for that age range as soon as tomorrow. in a statement, she wrote, quote, children five through 11 should receive a booster dose at least five months after their primary series. vaccination with a primary series among this age group has lagged behind other age groups, leaving them vulnerable to serious illness. with cases increasing, it is important that all people have the protection they need. that statement was her official endorsement of a cdc advisory committee vote earlier today approving the booster for that age group. the vote was 11-1, with one abstention. and a pretty resounding display of support for the third shot

for kids in that age group. and a fourth shot for the immuno-compromised kids in that age group. that came two days after a similar fda panel also voted to recommend a booster dose for that age group. in terms of what to expect, the booster shot is the same dosage of the previous two shots kids got in their primary series. kids can get them at the pediatrician's office, local pharmacies, and health care clinics. based on data provided last month, the experts on both the cdc and the fda committee believe the booster dose will offer these kids better protection against the omicron variant that is currently surging across the country, causing an average of more than 100,000 new cases per day. that's the graph you see there on the left of your screen. hospitalizations are starting to rise now, too, and that is on the right. this is a little alarming for all of us, it should be, and particularly notable for this age group, during the winter, the omicron surge, there was an uptick in the number of children hospitalized with the virus,

according to cdc data, hospitalization rates were even higher among kids in that age group unvaccinated. apparently, less than one-third of children, aged five to 11 are vaccinated against covid at all. shockingly low number. doctors on the cdc panel met today noted that getting the remaining two thirds of the kids vaccinated must be the priority. people are also anxious to get vaccines for children younger than five. moderna is seeking fda authorization for its version of a vaccine for young kids. the fda is waiting on pfizer to submit more data from its recent trial, but there are already dates reserved in june for the fda's advisory panel to meet to discuss those vaccines for the youngest children. this week, one of fda panel experts was asked about when parents can expect to be able to vaccinate their kids who are under the age of five. he said that if all goes well, that vaccine could come by early to midsummer. not fast enough for many parents. for now, today, the approval of

the booster shot offers a bit of hope for parents like me who have kids aged between five and 11. a little bit more progress as we continue to fight this virus which has not gone away. the pandemic is not over. that does it for us tonight. we'll see you again tomorrow. "way too early" with jonathan lemire is coming up next. we're following developing news. president biden arrived in south korea, just moments ago, for the first stop of a six-day trip in asia. he is experienced to tour a samsung factory with the south korean president just a short time ago. we will follow along with that event and set the stage for the rest of the visit, plus, the latest on the baby formula crisis. the biden administration says the first batch of formula from overseas is expected to arrive within days. we'll tell you where the first shipments will land. and the latest headlines from the midterm