los angeles, california. welcome to the fourth hour of "morning joe" on this tuesday, december 27th. it is 9:00 a.m. on the east coast, 6:00 a.m. out west. i'm jonathan lemire alongside elise jordan and eddie glaude jr joe, mika, and willie all have the morning off. we've got a lot to get to this hour, including how democrats

plan to go on the offensive when it comes to voting rights. tim walsh, minnesota's governor, will join us to tell us how he's asked his fellow democrats to, quote, think big and the lateston the war i ukraine as daring new drone strikes are attempting to hit deep inside russia and a captivating look at photos from a year of war in ukraine. we begin with the holiday travel chaos that continues to plague countless travelers as more than 17,000 flights have been canceled in nearly a week, and thousands more have been delayed. southwest airlines unsurprisingly by far the most disrupted carrier. in the last five days it's canceled about 8,000 flights according to flightaware southwest operating one-third of its schedule in the next two days in an effort to recover but warned that the reduced schedule could be extended further. it also stems from that major

winter storm that impacted much of the nation over the holiday parts of the united states are still under multiple feet of snow this morning as the death toll continues to climb. in western new york, rescue crews are going car by car, searching for any stranded survivors. joining us now is nbc news correspondent jesse kirsch jesse, you've been on the scene of this storm, people still very much digging out, looking for survivors. what's the very latest >> reporter: jonathan, at this point the snowfall is reduced to a flurry, but you can see the amp math, all this snow pushed aside, piled up. this business pretty much covered halfway -- more than halfway up the door, so obviously still a lot of cleanup ahead here in a community that has been hit hard by a devastating and truly historic storm. amid frantic, buffalo not out of

the woods. western new york could see more snow by tonight after more than 4 feet brought buffalo to a frigid halt. >> nothing can compare to this storm. >> reporter: the tisdale family almost didn't survive after their car got stuck. firefighters came to the rescue. >> they saved our lives. so many people didn't make it out of their cars or their homes. >> reporter: the severe weather blamed for nearly 60 deaths nation wild. one of the states hardest hit, new york, president biden declaring a state of emergency after officials reported more than two dozen weather-related deaths >> it is painful to find members of your community that are deceased who were trying to walk out during the storm conditions, got disoriented, and passed away out in the street. >> reporter: navigating streets turned to parking lots, authorities also facing reported looting. >> i don't know how these people can even live with themselves, how they can look at themselves

in the mirror. they are the lowest of the low >> reporter: this as first responders continue to help buffalo residents, and new york state police troopers assisting road-clearing crews, checking for stranded motorists and assisting in search-and-rescue efforts. >> it's all flames now >> reporter: while firefighters struggle to control a multiple-home fire in the deep snow yesterday and the buffalo airport will remain closed until wednesday morning as the area braces for a touch of more snow today that viral christmas party that stranded south korean you were toists giving joseph and his wife a honeymoon they'll never forget >> i've got a new family member in buffalo too yash in words. it's like -- they're angels. >> reporter: incredibly inspiring story in what has been a very tough time for western new york but, jonathan, another reminder of the sobering situation here, we just got another judgment date from officials here in

buffalo. at least seven more people reportedly dead because of this storm. jonathan >> nbc's jesse kirsch. terrible news there. jesse outside of buffalo thank you for joining us joining us by phone is the mayor of buffalo byron brown. thanks for being with us let's start right there. heard a report that official fatalities in your city -- give us the latest how things are in your town. >> sad report this morning, an additional seven people that passed away, bringing the death toll in buffalo now to 27. that is very sad and very sobering news. we are making progress today with our plowing we have been able to reach all the stranded motorists and rescue them from vehicles at this point

we continue to work with our power company national grid in getting them to locations that they need to get to restore power in our city. at one point, we had over 20,000 homes without power. that number is down to under 4,000 now. and to not have power in their home in these kinds of conditions, very uncomfortable i was one of those people without power. my family and i. and the temperature in our home got to about 40 degrees. there have been some homes without power for about four days, so we are working as hard and as fast as we can to support national grid in getting power restored throughout the entire city >> power so vital during temperatures like this good news you feel like you've reached all the potentially stranded motorists can you give us an update on --

we reported earlier in the show a lot of emergency workers, emergency vehicles also stranded in roads or ditches that have become impassable. give us the latest about the efforts to dig them out and what help are they now providing to citizens >> the height of the blizzard conditions were friday and saturday we have no more emergency workers, emergency first responders that are stranded in the city of buffalo. today we will have over 233 pieces of equipment working to clear streets, tow stranded vehicles, and open up the city those vehicles will come from city, county, state, national guard, and new york state police so it is a concerted effort to open up the city of buffalo.

we're used to snowy conditions in this city i don't think anybody does snow removal better than buffalo in the country. but this is a historic storm, probably worse than anything that this city has seen in over 50 years and some people are saying worse than anything that this city has seen in history. >> mayor brown, this is eddie glaude our prayers are with you and with the folks of buffalo. i know there's an emergency ban on travel, folks getting out on the roads as you engage in cleanup, but folks are worried about foot how do they replenish in the midst of all this? what do you say to the citizens of buffalo as they face this storm and worry about, you know, food and the like for their families >> that's a great question we're asking people still not to drive today in the city of buffalo so that supermarkets can open, so that restaurants can open people that were driving the

last couple of days were driving in conditions where supermarkets were closed, where restaurants were closed, so their ability to replenish food, replenish medications because of pharmacies were closed, were severely limited anyway. there wasn't access to those things we need to get the city opened up, and to do that effectively, we need people off the roads if cars get stuck on the road, it makes it more difficult to reach people who have emergency situations makes it more difficult to plow residential areas of the city. so we need people to continue to stay patient, stay off the roads today, and as soon as we can, we will lift the driving ban in the city of buffalo. >> extraordinary footage we're seeing now from the height of the storm. mr. mayor, we know you have to get back to work thanks for spending a few minutes with us this morning, and good luck to your city

buffalo mayor byron brown joining us just now. we turn overseas to the war in ukraine where there were reports this morning that ukraine is striking more boldly at targets deep in russian territory. the latest attack happened yesterday in southern russia where three servicemen were killed after air defenses shot down a ukrainian drone the long-range attacks have reportedly hit airfields in the heart of russia, potentially complicating moscow's campaign of aiming cruise missile strikes at ukraine's energy grid meanwhile, ukraine now says it wants to hold a peace summit by the end of february with the goal of ending the war but a summit without the participation of russia. according to the associated press, ukraine's foreign minister hopes the summit will take place at the united nations with the secretary-general as a possible mediator. he emphasized the only way russia would be invited to the summit is if moscow is first prosecuted for war crimes in an international court. he also says ukraine will do

whatever it takes to win the war in this upcoming year. let's bring in nbc news foreign correspondent bmatt bradley in kyiv what's the latest there? >> reporter: as you just mentioned, jonathan, we're seeing ukraine projecting its power beyond its borders into russia that's not exactly the paradigm shift it sounds like that's the second time they've been able to do that this month. they've been doing that since the beginning of the year. the ukrainians have never actually acknowledged ever being able to strike inside russia, but it's the worst kept secret in this war that they've been able to do this even with some of their targeted assassination attempts at russian problem gan diss, and this is something humiliating for moscow if past events like this one are any indicator, this means we could see a major retaliation in the coming days. but the fact is we've seen plenty of opportunities, plenty of occasions for vladimir putin

to launch massive attacks, including that historic visit of president volodymyr zelenskiy to washington where he addressed the joint houses of congress and we didn't hear much at all, especially here in kyiv, where we were expecting a sweeping bom bombardment. instead, it's been quiet now, a lot of russian military's focus is on the front lines in places like bakhmut, we heard president zelenskyy talk about in washington. but it could also be because the russians are quite simply running out of missiles and aren't able to launch the same kinds of attacks they were in the past the fact that the ukrainians were able to attack that air base, that's the location that they used as a staging ground for a lot of the attacks inside ukraine that have been targeting electrical infrastructure and keeping this city and a lot of this country blacked out but i want to bring up another thing. in the past couple days we've seen here a different kind of christmas. in the u.s., the right wing has often talked about the supposed

war on christmas but here in ukraine, there is very much a fresh front in a very literal war that's killed tens of thousands of people, and christmas is that front. a lot of ukrainians are deciding they no longer want to celebrate christmas on january 7th they wanted to celebrate it two days ago on december 25th. that's when most of the western world celebrates it. january 7th is the date when a lot of orthodox christians, not just russian orthodox, but also egyptian orthodox christians, others throughout the eastern christianity christiandome celebrate that it's about ukrainian people trying to find a new identity amidst the ruins of this war here's our report. this orthodox christmas mass might look and sound like it's a thousand years old, but one thing about it is very new this is the first time st. michael's monastery in kyiv is celebrating christmas mass on

december 25th, the day it's celebrated in the west, as well as january 7th, when most russians celebrate it. >> translator: this year we have a special christmas. we are challenged by the russian federation's war against us. this is the first time in 100 years that christmas prayer will take place on this day >> reporter: the switch is a work in progress the december 25th mass at st. michael's was held at its more modest older chapel rather than the sumptuous main cathedral where christmas mass will still be on january 7th isn't going to church on december 25th, isn't that an act of defiance? isn't that saying i am ukrainian? >> i think for many people it will be a chance to demonstrate their will to be a part of european civilization, that we are european we choose this civilization.

>> reporter: it's more than a war over christmas it's a fight between two churches with almost identical names and theologies for the first time, the breakaway orthodox church of ukraine formerly recognized the date after years of tensions with russians the giving ukrainians the option to celebrate december 25th. the more established ukrainian orthodox church has retained its formal links to moscow but since russian's invasion, it's tried to distance itself from the kremlin fathers insist they're ukrainian pate rolts even if they still keep christmas on january 7th. >> translator: it means changing the calendar according to political slogans. we support all the patriotic moves but at the same time reserve our right to have our own world view on the issues of celebrating, ckacalendar, and so forth. >> reporter: it goes beyond daltds

the leader has defended russia's invasion the schism came to blows at an orthodox funeral this summer when the ukrainian priest urged mourners to abandon the moscow church ukrainians have raided several parishes suspecting them of taking orders from moscow. some ukrainians call ukrainian orthodox clergy russian spies in robes. accusations this father denies there are members of your church -- >> translator: we defend territorial integrity and the ukrainian orthodox church supports the defense of the motherland >> reporter: but this year soldiers on the front lines have been celebrating on december 25th on the home front where russian attacks have left many families without electricity, this week's celebrations were a way to reclaim their power. for the first time this year, this woman and her family are

celebrating an early christmas, cooking over a gas camper stove and eating by candlelight. >> one of two reasons because it's cultural ly different to celebrate. and also that we feel closer culturally to the western world than the orthodox. >> reporter: is this a rejection of russia and an embrace of the west >> it's partly we want to move on >> reporter: declaring a spiritual independence and keeping faith under fire so, this is all part and parcel with the ukrainian effort to try to distance themselves from moscow and choose a new identity with the west. it's about christmas, but it's also about music, about outlook, and it really is just another casualty of this brutal war. >> nbc's matt bradley bringing us that fascinating reporting

live if kyiv thank you, matt. stay safe there. "the washington post" has a new interactive project online now titled "loss and resilience: photos from a year of war in ukraine. joining us now is pulitzer prize winning journalist for "the washington post," salwan you and your colleagues have done a remarkable work with some of these images. let's put them up now. this is one you took it shows the family members of a ukrainian soldier grieving at his casket you can see the faces there. tell us about this picture and how it came about. >> thanks for having me. yes, my colleagues and i since the first day of the war we were all across ukraine, even before the war, and just showing the toll it takes on people and the cities and this picture i took it in odesa, southern city of ukraine, on the black sea, where after a

strike, a russian strike on an army base in mykolaiv where it took more than 40 people life and this was a grieving family of one of the members. >> just hard, you know, to look at salwan, the second image is a heartbreaking scene of a ukrainian saying good-bye to his wife and children. you took this one too. tell us more about it. >> this was early in the war this was on march 5th where many of the people were fleeing eastern ukraine and a lot of these refugees are at the train station in odesa as well where many people came from like mariupol, mick live, all of the front line villages seeing horrific stuff, and these people were fleeing and saying good-bye to their loved one georgie was saying good-bye to his wife, mina, and his children, hoping they get to

germany, poland, the neighboring countries. and he couldn't leave with them because of course he has to stay and fight. this scene we saw all across ukraine by me, by my colleagues, where a lot of the family separation and the last go good-byes if you want to say >> yeah. a scene all too common but certainly still so powerful. we're going to show a few more images now these were taken by your colleague. tell us any particulars you might know about them but also moreover just generally what it was like being in ukraine during the early weeks of war and seeing such powerful scenes of humanity and loss. >> yeah. i mean, i got a chance to see the country right before the war. i got there on february 14th, and my colleagues and i were all across ukraine and i got to see cities like donetsk, some cities before they

were destroyed or before people fleed. and the life was pretty normal for example, different areas like in the donbas region where i visited, the war never stops since 2014 many of the people were stim getting shelled even before the war started. and that's our job was to always go to all these areas and be in different areas before the war starts and levine worked a lot in the northern part of the city. i was in the southern part of the city and we had people all across >> and we can go to "the washington post's" website to take a look at all these images entitled "loss and resilience: photos from a year of war in ukraine. t"the washington post's" salwan georges, thanks for bringing them to us this morning. these images are so powerful, hard to look at, and show the emotional toll of this war >> the mother with her newborn

baby who -- she only spent two days with because the russians bombed the maternity hospital just really shows you how brutal and just horrific this war has been in destroying lives of countless innocents who don't deserve this, they don't deserve to have to deal with putin's aggression >> war is never simply about examples of courage and heroism. war is brutal, ugly. it's devastating i mean, the loss of loved ones, displacement, the human toll we have numerous lessons of the human toll of war. >> even as the fighting at the front has slowed down here in winter, people are still suffering. they're still dying each and every day. military members but also civilians who are victims of this reign of terror from afar,

drone strikes being launched from moscow. powerful images indeed coming up on "morning joe," we'll turn back to olypolitics minnesota democrats are ready to roll up their sleeves as the party takes control of that chamber's legislature. tim walz joins us next there's a different way to treat hiv. for adults who are undetectable, cabenuva is the only complete, long-acting hiv treatment you can get every other month. cabenuva helps keep me undetectable. it's two injections, given by my healthcare provider, every other month. it's one less thing to think about while traveling. hiv pills aren't on my mind. a quick change in my plans is no big deal. don't receive cabenuva if you're allergic to its ingredients or taking certain medicines, which may interact with cabenuva. serious side effects include allergic reactions post-injection reactions,

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there's the white house at 9:26 a.m president joe biden and first lady jill biden taking a well-deserved vacation, bringing in the new year in st. croix this week as the pair landed on the big island this morning and according to the white house will be vacationing with family there. they'll return to washington on january 2nd. biden has visited the virgin

islands in the past, but this will be his first trip there as a sitting president. elise? >> in minnesota, the democratic party controls both chambers of the state legislature, so governor tim walz is asking democrats to, quote, think big when it comes to voting issues and other reforms the party is hoping to put into action. joining us now, democratic governor of minnesota, tim walz. governor, it's an exciting time for democrats in minnesota first time in eight years you've controlled both chambers how do you plan to use this new power? >> well, good morning, everyone, and thank you for having us. i think we're going to use it to improve the lives of minnesotans. they spoke clearly in this election, one of the things we're proud of in minnesota is we rank at or near the top in voter turnout in every election, and protecting that access to the ballot with, you know, automatic voter registration, preregistration for our 16- and 17-year-olds, restoration of

voting rights and using some of the money. we've been stopped by republicans from using it. and moving on to people see under threat, reproductive rights, abortion access for women, and we'll make historic investments in education to make this the best state many the country to raise your family and have a child those are things i think folks spoke clearly about. it's not about democrats having power and doing whatever we want it's moving things forward that people ask for that have been installed. so it is an exciting time. >> the governor, the headline of "the new york times" article says that democrats are going on the offensive with voting rights in wisconsin how specifically do you plan to go on the offensive? >> yeah. i think you see this as i said, minnesota has a long tradition, bipartisan tradition, by the way we don't fear the voters however voters vote we respect that we've seen this attack on our elections. an incredible secretary of state

that keeps minnesota with safe, fair elections we need to make sure rolling back of this, you know, states around us making it difficult for people to get water while they're voting it's ridiculous to people here pim think again we have same-day registration but we need to preregister and make sure everybody's there. we need more access using some of those federal dollars in our state surplus to make sure we have plenty of voting places for people to vote we know vote by mail is secure and safe, and when you're in a state like minnesota, the weather is unpredictable as we've seen across the country, just things to expand access to the ballot, letting people vote, and however they choose to vote, that is their right to do. but this idea of we're seeing in other state where is there's this attempt to make it more difficult to vote, in minnesota we want to make it as easy as possible we know our elections are safe, secure, and fair we'll lean into that, cold fi that, and put up a fire wall because this attack on voting rights is an attack on the basic

core of democracy and needs to end. >> i agree with you, governor. you say you want folks to go big. what is the lessone stalled in the house of representatives, the voting rights act hasn't been able to do much with that, so what are you saying to the national party leaders as you go big in minnesota around the voting rights issue >> i say that i had the privilege of serving for a dozen years in congress with john lewis, had many conversations about this, went with john to selma and listened to some of those things and understanding this is a critical time in our nation's history we watch people erode that basic right. i think now if we can't get it federally, states need to take the lead we saw that with the decision on roe. i don't think the supreme court is done. i think now while we have an opportunity with folk who is care about the democracy, care about access to abortion, care about public schools, careorgane

that if anything republicans have taught me, we have a slim majority in the senate, but republicans always told me a one-vote majority is a majority. that's what i'm saying now democrats who care about this. we're going to make this state more hospitable for people to cool here and teach if they want to teach, to start businesses. we have a strong business climate. this isn't about some strange ideology that we have. these are basic american ten elts of access to the vote, access to public education, access to making your own health care decisions and i just think for us to -- you know, i come from a rural district that i served in congress i'm willing to compromise. i'm not going to compromise on the ballot i'm not going to compromise on women's rights i'm not going to compromise on public schools and i think we need to understand that the states are going to be at the forefront of that i'm really excited that my good friend gretchen whitmer is in the same situation we are because we've seen this in state where is we have incredible governors like tony evers in wisconsin, they have to fight against some of the most basic

things my message nationally is that the vast majority of people agree with this. we scratch our heads, people know that we need to do something around safe gun legislation. it pulls out the roof, yet nothing happens. i think states, when they're in an opportunity to make a change, need to go bold. >> mr. governor, i was going to go on that very topic. democrats wanted to go big on the idea of gun safety your state touched by this just a few days ago the mall of america, the famous mall in minnesota. >> yes >> five people wrp arrested in a fatal shooting there that sent the mall, the nation's largest, into lockdown for hours on the eve of a holiday >> yes >> members of the new york giants were there and had to shelter in place for a few hours. what more can be done on the state and federal level? >> i was in the very store yesterday with my two children, 21 and 16, and they're talking about it, how outrageous it is i served 24 years in the military i have fired these weapons i know when there's a place for them it's the battlefield

i'm also a lifelong hunter i'm a pheasant hunter. it's my thing. i grew up doing, it's cultural, all that but the commonsense things we're talking about whether it's making sure we're doing good background checks, making sure we have red-flag laws, those things don't impede your lawful rights to own firearms, but there are too many guns on the street when we we have 17- and 18-year-olds with guns on the street, these types of things don't happen in the same number theys do elsewhere, and people have the freedoms to do things in other countries we need to get this fixed. i come from a rural area, from a culture of hunting and serving in the military. there is absolutely no argument to be made that you need these weapons of war and there shouldn't be restrictions against them again, we make it difficult for an 18-year-old to register to vote, but they can buy an ar with no background check, it's ridiculous we're not immune to this it shakes us

we are traditionally a very safe state, but we've seen a rise in violence, especially gun violence, and we'll put money into the things that stop this from happening but i get -- you know, it's irritating to me when i hear republicans say well, you know, it's a mental health issue or something like that. we have a lot of issues dealing with mental health, and many of these people are not violent it's gun problem and we need to figure that out. >> tim walz, thank you so much for joining us this morning. still ahead here on "morning joe," it could be your last chance to hit it big before the new year we'll have what you need to know about tonight's historic mega millions lottery drawing plus, elon musk is again making headlines for all the wrong reasons. we'll show you what the tesla ceo is saying about his company's tanking stock. that's next on "morning joe. medicine cabinet! less sick days! cold coming on? zicam is the number one cold shortening brand! highly recommend it! zifans love zicam's unique zinc formula. it shortens colds!

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tesla is finishing off 2022 as one of the s&p 500's worst performing stocks. i wonder why insider reports that most of the company's meteoric pandemic gains have all been but wiped out including over $600 billion from its market capitalization, this from a stock that had

previously finished years with massive climbs tesla's owner, elon musk, has blamed the fed for his company's declines and now says the low stock price offers a buying opportunity. eddie, elon musk makes headlines almost every day, not so much for the cars anymore but his stewardship of twitter dim dmitry medvedev, putin's right hand, went on a long tweet thread saying basically the decline of western civilization and a civil war in the united states and he suggests that elon musk would perhaps become president after all of this. and elon musk's response to this threat of decline of civilization is -- >> at the moment, he calls for california, texas separating from the union i mean, it's a massive ego, a massive ego that's doing damage

to all of his -- much of his portfolio. let's just -- i will say personally, i think teslas are just bad cars. >> there it is elise, elon musk has decided insulting his buyers every day what he's doing on twitter and tesla is paying the twice. >> his hubris has no bounds and he doesn't seem to worry about how it affects his own bottom line and his companies' fortunes maybe elon musk needs to get a lottery ticket you might want to pick up your mega millions ticket today tonight's jackpot is, get this, $565 million nbc news senior national correspondent kerry sanders has the latest >> reporter: with just days to go until the new year, someone could have quite a reason to celebrate. >> do you have a pick. >> reporter: tonight's jackpot

has reached $565 million, the biggest ever seen in the last week of the year >> i would like mega millions. >> yeah. >> reporter: if someone matches all six numbers, it would be the sixth largest prize in the game's 20-year history >> good luck >> thank you >> reporter: mega millions has served up only 11 winning jackpots of $500 million or more the last big prize won in october when winners in california and florida shared a $502 million prize this year, nation wild excitement for lotto games hit a fever pitch, and for good reason -- a single mega millions ticket purchased in a chicago suburb won a record $1.337 billion. the two winners remaining anonymous and opting for a lump-sum payment of more than $780 million >> this is powerball >> reporter: and just last month, after 40 straight winless

drawings a winning powerball ticket was sold outside los angeles, worth a historic $2.04 billion. the winner of that megajackpot has yet to come forward to claim the winnings >> it is the billion-dollar question, the $2 billion question we don't know who won. >> reporter: california law requires their name to eventually be made public, though the winner has one calendar year from the draw to come forward if it feels like powerball and megamillion pots have gotten bigger lately, it's because they have the organizers behind both lotteries have added more number combinations, making it harder to hit, and rising interest rates also mean higher total payouts. tonight, a few bucks will get you a shot at life-changing winnings that could mean bringing in 2023 a lot sweeter coming up on "morning joe," new signs of a post-pandemic comeback for one of the nation's

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we teased it before the break, restaurant workers have returned to prepandemic levels it experienced some of the biggest reduction in jobs and workers after the covid-19 struck the u.s. has erased most of those losses. according to "the journal," this past month restaurants and bars had nearly doubled the number of employees working from the pandemic low in april 2020 according to the labor department the past month alone restaurants and bars added 62,000 jobs restaurant owners and workers attribute the return to a combination of factors including pay increases, improving working conditions, and fewer opportunities elsewhere as the economy weakens. meanwhile, the front page of "the new york times" this morning has a new report on,

quote, a trend that is quietly reworking the fabric of the american labor force according to the paper, a wave of baby boomers has recently aged past 65, unlike older american who is, in the decade after the great recession, delayed their retirements to earn a little bit of extra money and patch up tenuous finances, many today are leaving the job market and staying out that has big implications for economy because it is contributing to a labor shortage that policymakers worry is keeping wages and inflation stubbornly elevated. that could force the federal reserve to raise rates more than it otherwise would, risking a recession. but it's what comes after people have decided to retire that's interested our next guest. in his new book "the third act: reinventing your next chapter," author josh suppan saturday down with dozens who reached or past retirement age, speaking with them about why they have decided to hit the gas pedal during the

years when most slow down. josh joins us now. also with us is one of the many people profiled in the book, co-founder of the bronx children museum, hope harley. i'm told it's your birthday, so happy birthday >> happy birthday, hope. >> thank you, thank you. >> josh, we'll start with you and get to the birth da gday gi a second you left your career at amcnet work so you're in the next act. is that what fuelled this book >> it is exactly what fueled it. beginning four years ago i thought what will i do and i began to to observe frien and colleagues who were doing sort of wonderful thing when others were retiring in more classical ways if they had the means. i i found its a toupding i'm sitting next to someone who is a representing of that we didn't know one another, although we later discovered

that we were born within a few weeks of each other and within several blocks of each other brooklyn but she's a perfect example of how to hit the gas pedal >> tell us about your experiences. >> i retired in 2007 actually. it was an rl retirement. i'm not that old but at the time, i was involved with an organization that a group of people who wanted to fill the void of children's museum in the bronx. bronx was the only borough without a children's museum at the time so we banded together and didn't really know what we were doing, but we made it through and got a 50 501-c3 and hired someone and it turned out to be the thing to do because she really hit the gas pedal for us and got us on the map. so we just opened our building

here 12 years later. but during those 12 years, we were programming all the time. we were in schools, we were in day care centers, we were with community-based organizations. and we grew this museum from the outside in we didn't wait to have a building and then do outreach. our programming came from the outside. >> that's a beautiful third act and something all of us can enjoy when we need to take our children somewhere when we need to burn off energy and get education too. what big lessons did you learn when you were writing this book? what made people happiest when they contemplated their third act and when they chose a new mission? >> far be it for me to be an authority, but there did seem to be a few things that were setmatic and embodied here to my left which is to either accidentally

or with great intention find an interest and a passion and become consumed by it and then see it realized and really i'll just mention that hope, if i have it straight, a bus that would travel around. i think it was purple. and that began what it was so her story is just a perfect story of someone who worked at verizon for28 years and found t activity that she found consuming and satisfying but right in the flesh is someone who is doing it, as we speak, this very moment. as she said, just opened the three dimensional doors of this wonderful institution. >> we were operating at a museum without walls. >> it's so fascinating.

bay but boomers have been so central to how the try has evolved over these so many decades. what does it mean, the importance of the book and what you have done, for this generation, this cohort that has been so transformative to be transitioning to this next phase of their lives so the book is speaking to something broader. it you could talk about what does it mean for this generation that's been at the heart of change in the country and how to be transitioning to this third act. what are you seeing at that level? >> it does seem there are so many people in the population that will be so many people in the population in that age that it almost by definition has to be important it maybe self-defining and i think there's a huge opportunity, which is to say not to say there's ageism and people would say that person, but there's this uj who can do

wonderful things when they might be kicking back. not that there's anything wrong with it. they can be fantastic contributors. >> i do think in my parents generation, my parents a the my age were considered old and i don't feel old i feel that i still have something to contribute. i'm sure that's the case for all of the people in the book because they did so i don't think that -- i didn't look at retirement as the end of something, but the opportunity to do something. >> we should note this reinvention so central to what mika is doipg. 50 over 50 so we appreciate you both being here happy birthday the new book is titled "the third act.

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good morning, i'm chris jansing. happening right now, chaos, frustration and confusion at u.s. airports as a deadly winter storm continues to reeve havoc for travelers for another day leaving thousands of residents trying to dig their way out. we'll take you live to buffalo where the mayor just confirmed more deaths. we'll ask him about that and how emergency crews are grappling with this very storm also morning, the fate of thousands of people taking asylum in the u.s. now in the hands of the supreme court where we could see a decision as soon as today on that controversial pandemic era health policy we have more on that coming up and any moment now, the convicted ring leader behind a plot to assassinate gretchen whitme