we are coming on the air with a hot mess yet again at airports all across the country with southwest canceling thousands more flights even today after all the winter weather that smoked the u.s. over the weekend. we'll talk about what these grounded flights means for those travelers who want to get home and getter that luggage home. officials are trying to get buffalo back up and running after it was hit with more than three feet of snow. overseas the vatican announcing a turn for the worse for former pope benedict. we're live from home with the latest on the liter's condition. uncertainty at the southern border after the supreme court decision leaving title 42 in place. what it means for the thousands of migrants hoping to cross into

the u.s. to seek asylum. we have a lot to get to. i'm hallie jackson in washington. i want to bring in nya charles at los angeles international airport, marissa para in buffalo, new york, and meteorologist michelle grossman joining us, too. people trying to get home knew it was going to be a bit of a sloppy week. it's way worse than folks expected. with so many flights canceled, southwest continuing to apologize. now growing federal pressure for this airline to get its act together. >> reporter: right. it's not any better today, hallie. 62% of southwest flights canceled today, 58% tomorrow. causing thousands of cancellations across the country. in the meantime people are stranded without their bags. i wanted to show you the sea of bags behind me. although southwest has flown out baggage to the destinations they haven't flown out the customers. we spoke to someone who made a

30-hour drive from nashville, tennessee to los angeles to make it to herve case and also pick up her bags. that means for the days she's been traveling, which she said was a strenuous process, she has been without clothes, without medication that was in the bags and also left to pay out-of-pocket for unexpected costs that she didn't intend. that could be rental cars, hotels, meals that she didn't plan. all of that affecting people. unfortunately that story isn't unique. southwest in a statement says they will do right by customers and is apologizing while the department of transportation says it will hold the airline accountable, evaluate what has gone on here, but although the ceo of southwest says they will refund flights that have been canceled and also provide meal vouchers and money for hotel accommodations, in the meantime, customers have been unable to reach the airline by phone or by

email. that's why here at l.a.x. we've seen lots of customers coming in just so they can speak to a customer service representative in person because they've been unable to reach them on the phone. so it's been really difficult for people who didn't expect their holiday plans to turn out like this, hallie. >> what is the southwest plan to get it together and get people back where they need to go and all of that luggage behind you back to where it needs to go, too? >> reporter: southwest is saying for the next several days it's only operating a third of its flights while it tries to run through this. although the winter storm has affected all the airlines and there have been cancellations and delays, southwest has been disproportionately affected. more than half of the canceled flights have been southwest flights which is why it has caught the attention of the department of transportation. the reason southwest is so much more affected is because they operate on a point by point flight system which means a flight will take consecutive

trips picking up different crews along the way. usually when everything is operating well, that means they're able to operate a lot more flielts than other airlines. however, in a situation like this when things are really bad, that system creates a cancellation domino effect which is why people are unable to get on flights. hallie. >> nye allah charles live at l.a.x. one of many airports affected by this. i'm thinking of the woman who drove 30 hours from nashville to get to l.a. marissa, as niala explained, the winter weather is largely over, the warmup is beginning. buffalo is just now starting to dig out after this deadly and dangerous holiday storm. the big concern now -- i think this is the first day in five or six days that weather alerts have been lifted. however, as the sun comes out, as things start to warm up, there's a real concern about flooding.

>> right. and to your point, the weather is warming up. you can probably see the sheen on the roads. it almost looks like rain. that's because we've seen the temperatures are warming up, the snow is melting. that's a big concern ahead of the weekend. we'll get to that in just a moment. first, i want to make a comparison between the two snowstorms here. we were just here a month ago for the snowstorm. it did not have the same death toll. i want to talk about the major differences. this one was so much colder. the windchill was negative 20 at its peak, and the wind gusts got upwards of 70 miles per hour. i want to take you to someone in the middle of shoveling out and trying to clear his space and his driveway when we asked him what he felt like the differences were. >> this just dumped. you couldn't keep up with it when it was 79-mile-per-hour winds and 2 degrees outside. before it was warmer, less winds. we could come out and shovel

constantly. this one -- this is our first chance really to shovel. it's a lot heavier and a lot more of it. >> reporter: so keep in mind that with lake-effect snow, the snow distribution is going to vary, even sometimes depending on the street, especially the neighborhood and the region. overall, when we look at the snow totals, the snow totals were less for that winter storm. however, as we mentioned, more deadly. hallie, the cleanup is beginning. the railways back up and running. the airport opened up this morning at 11:00 a.m. in some ways buffalo is inching towards normal, at least the way it was before the snowstorm. we say inching because the driving ban is still in effect. there are other places in the city, including route 33, we're told by an erie county executive they have 30-foot snowdrifts. a couple of things, as of right now, at least 28 found dead in buffalo city. we know that number is slightly

higher when you look at the county overall. 450 pieces of snow equipment at work on the roads to try to get them all cleared. we know 95% of main roads have been cleared. 100 military police on patrol. hallie, we know the national guard and other people are on the ground trying to check up on all of the homes, people who did not have power for those several days. we know exposure seems to be the main reason people died and lost their lives, whether they were caught outside, stuck in their car or stuck in homes that did not have heat. unfortunately, the death toll is expected to rise. now looking forward to what comes next beyond the cleanup is going to be keeping an eye on the roads as they are trying to clear the snow from here ahead of those warming temperatures we're expecting in the 50s, trying to make sure the snow doesn't melt too fast ahead of a raining weekend, so we don't see flooding on top of everything else buffalo has been through. >> melissa, thank you very much. michelle, let me go to you.

lay out what people in western new york and around the country can expect? >> hi there, hallie. we'll expect the rain and the snowmelt. it's a lot of water that is already packed high. that's going to melt very quickly with the warming temperatures into the 50s by friday, into the weekend. on top of that, rain in the forecast for friday, saturday, sunday. that could cause the creeks to rise, will put water in people's basements. that's the immediate concern there. otherwise we're dry today, dry tomorrow before the rain arrives on friday. looking at the rest of the country, the west is where we have really active weather, a powerful storm system. it's bringing heavy, heavy snow, we'll be measuring the snow in feet. it's great for the snowpack and the drought. but it's a lot of snow in a short amount of time. also you can see heavy rain falling in portions of the southwest where you see the yellows popping in.

that's the story tomorrow, friday, saturday and sunday. this is a parade of storms moving through. it's going to cause a lot of travel troubles in the air and on the roadways. the mountain snow, heavy rain out west. we're warming up in the middle of the country. that sounds nice, sounds good, but comes at a price. usually when we have the warming conditions, we have the chance for rain for many of us. hallie, by tomorrow afternoon, tomorrow evening, that warmup is going to cause a chance for strong to severe weather. we'll certainly watch that for you. >> michelle grossman, thank you very much. let's get to the vatican where officials are warning that the former pope's health has suddenly gotten a lot worse. 95-year-old pope emeritus, as he is titled, is getting constant medical care. pope benedict made history in 2013 becoming the first pope in 26 years to resign from the position. we know pope francis was later elected and led the church ever since.

i want to bring in our vatican reporter and papal analyst, christopher wise. this alert came out from the vatican. we've heard from pope francis. walk us through the latest. >> hallie, about 11 hours ago, this is a chance where the pope gathers. he made a surprise announcement at the end. he said pope benedict is very ill and i want to ask all of you to pray for him. after that audience the pope went and visited with benedict. also the vatican issued a statement saying his condition was a bit stable, that it had worsened in recent hours because of age, but there was no immediate cause for alarm. in a sense, it's almost like we saw back in august with the royal family. the fact the vatican said something at all signals that

something serious is afoot. >> that's my question to you. the fact there was the statement issued in the first place at all seems to be an indication of where the former pope's health is at this moment. >> that's right. what we've known from folks that have visited with him recently is this 95-year-old has been described as lucid but very frail. he's known for going out for daily walks with the assistance of a walker within the vatican gardens. beyond that, we haven't learned much about his condition. the italian press has reported that what's been plaguing him within recent hours is breathing conditions. the vatican has not commented on the specifics of his condition. >> do you anticipate people coming to the vatican, people visiting the vatican, because pope benedict obviously had an impact on the lives of a lot of catholics around the world here. is that the anticipation at this point? is that something the vatican is preparing for? >> it's all a bit of a mystery.

when pope benedict resigned in 2013, he became the first to do so in about 600 years. so there really is no precedent for this moment. we're in a sense left to scratch our heads about what the protocol will be. he has not left any written instruction that's been published ahead of his death. so we're waiting to find out, when that day comes, whether it's tomorrow or three months or three years from now, what that protocol will be. right now the vatican had remained tight lipped about that. when a pope dies, there are big state funerals followed by a conclave that elects the new pope. that won't happen because we have a crept pope that is sitting. >> put into context pope benedict's legacy for the catholic church. >> i think one of the things that jumps out about his legacy

is he resigned, becoming the first pope to do so in 600 years, having that humility to recognize that it is an office and one can step down from that office. he was a huge churchman who for the last 50 years has loomed large over church life, briefly serving as the archbishop of munich in germany. he's known as a real theologian. he came as the chief advisor for pope john paul ii. his legacy is one of real enter length and scholarly focus who was elected after john paul ii reigned for almost 30 years. he's known for his ideas, the fact he's comfortable most with textbooks and lectures, not with being among the people and with a pace storl bit. that's what made pope francis so popular. of course, during his time as pope he had to reckon a lot with

abuse and the financial correction within the vatican. >> christopher white, thank you for that analysis as someone who knows this and understands this and has reported on it for a long time. coming up on the show, what exactly can lawmakers get done in the last divided congress which gets sworn in six days from today? one house democrat joins us about his top priorities. the new covid restrictions the biden administration is considering for travelers coming from china. we'll take you to the border as the supreme court keeps a current policy in place for the next five or six months. r the next five or six months. we don't even need an eight-time all-star to tell you about it. wait what? get it before it's gone on the subway app! (bridget vo) with thyroid eye disease... i hid from the camera. wait what? and i wanted to hide from the world. for years, i thought my t.e.d was beyond help...

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down at the southern border you have migrants facing the potential of month of uncertainty because of the supreme court's move to keep a controversial policy called title 42 in place for now. the justices are set to hear oral arguments in february.

we think there will be a decision before the end of june. sam brock is talking with people on the southern border about that news. >> sad, very sad. they told us we were going to get an opportunity. we feel be troid. his friend, an electrician, jumps in. >> i don't think this is fair. at the end of the day we're all human beings, he says. >> here is more from sam from el paso. >> reporter: after a tight 5-4 supreme court decision, people here trying to process theality that it will be another six month before we have any resolution as the high court is looking at whether or not 19 states including texas can intervene on this policy. you see folks here. el paso is one of the cities so deeply impacted by the

immigration crisis. many of these people are from venezuela, one of the countries blocked under title 42 from seeking asylum. even if they wanted to stay inside a city shelter, you need documentation to do so and they don't have it. one woman moments ago asked me do you know what's going to happen with title 42. when i said it's going to be another six months, her jaw dropped. they have fear of being september back to mexico, where they were prey for cartels, where they were being cut, extorted, having their kids in danger. people rather sleeping on the streets in freezing temperatures rather than going back to their home country. the biden administration is

making advance preparations for when title 42 will ultimately be lifted, to secure the border in a humane and orderly way. the root problem, the administration says, is the fact you have a broken immigration system and a congress that hasn't acted on the enforcement side or the immigration side and to ultimately resolve this crisis so that cities like el paso are not dealing with so much suffering and pain on their back door. that's the latest in el paso, sam brock, nbc news. let me bring in lee counsel. thanks for being on the show. >> we've known for 21 hours about the supreme court decision. tell me in that time period what you're hearing from people on the ground, about this move, about the uncertainty and what's

next. >> i think your setup told it well. there's real human suffering. i think it's the danger we're really concerned about. we have seen families being pushed back across the bridge, parents holding their little children's hands, being pushed across the bridge directly into the hands of cartels, what the federal court of appeals calls basically making them walk the plank. our partners have documented thousands and thousands of cases of rape, torture, persecution, even death. there's a lot of feeling that this is some sort of technical policy, but i think the name obscures what really is going on. there's a lot of misconceptions about it. one as i hear from the states trying to intervene, well, just tell people to apply for asylum lawfully. title 42 blocks you from applying from asylum, even if you come to the port legally, present yourself legally, you still can't apply for asylum.

we need to get rid of this. this is a public health law, clearly outlived any public health justification. the way you know that is clearly the states that have tried to intervene don't even make an argument that this is about covid anymore. we can talk about what needs to be revised in our asylum system. but let's not misuse mugt laws. if you think something needs to be done at the border, then do it. don't call it a covid crisis. call it an asylum issue. >> you bring up justice gorsuch who sided with three lib balances on the bench. i know you can't talk much about legal strategy. how does this shape how you're preparing for oral arguments a couple months from now and presumably the need to get more conservatives on your side? >> we're going to move quickly because the court has expedited the case. we're happy the court has

expedited it. from our standpoint we can't move quickly enough to try to get rid of title 42. the one thing people should understand is the supreme court is only going to hear one issue, and that's the technical procedural issue whether the states can be involved. it's not going to look at the reality of title 42. that will be first done by the court of appeals after this. so we want to move through this technical procedural issue as quickly as possible in the supreme court so we can get to the merits of title 42. we do not believe that a majority of any court will ultimately say title 42 should remain in place, notwithstanding the fact that the entire country is open, notwithstanding the cdc saying there's no longer public health justification. the one thing i really want to stress is the administration can get rid of title 42 -- >> i was just about to ask you that. there's this quote that some people are looking at where the

justices said in this decision, this does not revent the federal government from taking any action with respect to that policy. please tell me how you interpret that. what the you want to' happen? >> i'm glad you brought that up. what i think the justices are saying is, look, you tried to get rid of it voluntarily. the court in louisiana says you can't until what's called notice of comment. then you can get rid of it. you need to follow that procedural step. the administration went months and month without following that procedural step. i think that tells you a little about where the administration is. i think what the court is saying, is, look, we're going to hear this case. in the meantime, if you want to get rid of it, do the notice of comment. we would urge the administration to quickly do the notice of comment and get rid of it. nothing about the order yesterday precludes you from doing it.

i think the administration needs to put itself out there and say we think -- we're going to put our money where our mouth is and get rid of it. the one thing we want to stress is the administration should not turn around and substitute in another anti-asylum trump administration policy which is what the rumors are. we need to surge resources to process people. we can do this. the federal government has more than enough resources. when the ukrainians came, we were thrilled they got help. it also showed that when the administration wants to surge resources to process lots of people quickly, it can do it. i think people need to ask why did we help the ukrainians but not helping all these people from latin america. title 42 needs no asylum hearing whatsoever. we need to give at least a hearing. we're not saying everyone is entitled to asylum. they are entitled to a hearing. >> thank you for being on the show.

i'm sure we'll talk again. we'll take you live to the building behind me with d.c. gearing up for divided government with republicans set to take over the house and democrats holds the senate, what can they really get done? we'll ask one democratic congressman coming up right after the break. what will you do? ♪ what will you change? ♪ will you make something better? ♪ will you create something entirely new? ♪ our dell technologies advisors provide you with the tools and expertise you need to do incredible things. because we believe there's an innovator in all of us.

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you've done the hard part. you quit smoking. now do the easy part and get scanned for lung cancer. if you smoked, you may still be at risk, but early detection could save your life. talk to your doctor and learn more at savedbythescan.org we're just six days away from the new congress, 118th congress, kicking off a new chapter of divided government in d.c. and around the country with the senate in democrats's hands barely. republican leaders have already said they plan to launch investigations into everything from the biden family to the afghanistan withdrawal to the covid response and more. there's also some stuff left unresolved by the last congress, like something everybody has been talking about, new regulations for big tech, for the crypto industry. there's also the growing

humanitarian crisis at the southern border. nbc news capitol hill correspondent allie raffa joining us. what should we be expecting come 2023 on the hill? >> reporter: it's entirely possible the progress we saw on capitol hill the last week or two is more than we'll see over the next two years given this new divided government. lawmakers here know how important bipartisanship is going to be over the next two years to get anything done. there is room for some agreement on some key issues, key issues like, for example, more funding for ukraine. that's something we saw both parties come to an agreement on, to get the omnibus funding bill passed last week, issues from banning tiktok from government-issued devices. possibly more agreements on border policies. we know democrats have been pushing for years now for a path to citizenship to be codified by congress into law for daca recipients. there could possibly be a deal

made with republicans who are pushing for more funding for the border, more staffing for border patrol agents, more funding to be able to prevent more fentanyl from crossing over the border. another issue with room for agreement is the regulation of big tech and the crypto industry. that's something that's come under more of a spotlight over the last month with the downfall of ftx and the widespread fraud that that exposed. democrats pushing for more regulation of industry as a whole while republicans say they're more focused on investigating democrats relationship with big tech. the question over the next two years is how exactly these lawmakers come to some sort of agreement. democratic congressman brendan boyle from my home state of pennsylvania, son soob top democratic on the house budget

committee. thank you for being with us. appreciate your time. >> happy to. >> you heard my colleague lay it out. the question mark of, is there any room for common ground next congress. democrats are in the minority next congress. is there any room for bipartisanship in your view, or is this going to be mostly about playing defense on things like we expect to see, republican investigations into various democratic priorities? >> hallie, i think it's going to be a combination of the two. first, we did just have the most productive session of congress since 1965 and 1966. we democrats are quite proud of that. we're going to be strong when it comes to defending those accomplishments. at the same time, however, i would be careful about making the easy prediction that nothing will happen and we'll have two years of gridlock. i would point out that the last two major times you had divided government, you saw real accomplishments. for example, back in 2007 and 2008 when you had republican

president george w. bush and democrats took control of congress, that's the last time we had any minimum wage increase. if you go back a decade before that, mid to late 1990s, when republicans took control of congress and you had a democratic in the white house in bill clinton, you had major bipartisan achievements during that time. there is the possibility and i think there might be areas where interests align. the previous reporter discussed some of them. i think there will be more. it will be a combination of the two, pushing back against republican craziness in the house, but at the same time reaching landmark bipartisan compromises on those areas where we can. >> that is probably a tall order i think for any congress. i know you've named several instances where there was bipartisan achievement. do you still see that happening in a house led by, perhaps, a house speaker kevin mccarthy which by the way is not a fait accompli as you know.

democrats saw the torch passed from speaker pelosi to a new generation of leaders. there's still a big question mark what's going to happen on the republican side. does that make it harder in the chamber where you serve? >> first, i'm bringing popcorn with me to the house floor on january 3rd to see if republicans, with the same exact numeric majority we've had for the last two years will be able to get their act together and even elect their own speaker. right now, frankly, i would not bet any money on kevin mccarthy becoming the next house speaker, but we shall see. regardless of that, though, regardless of whoever is the speaker, the one difference i suppose between the instances of the last 20 years that i pointed out, where you did have major bipartisan achievements under divided government is this house republican conference has people like marjorie taylor greene, lauren boebert, andy biggs. there might have been extremists in previous republican

congresses, but nothing like the ultra maga extremists we see today. if republicans are smart, they will actually distance themselves from those members. i think they were punished this past november by going down that path, but we shall see. with such a narrow house republican majority, especially mccarthy, frankly, he will be so beholding to the ultra maga extremists, that will make it more difficult. >> let me ask you about the tax returns for former president donald trump, as nbc news is reporting over the last 4 hours, we expect we'll get a chance to see them on friday. i know there's not much you can say about them. help us understand what we should anticipate here? is there any expectations that some of what may be revealed is accountability for these conflict of interest questions? >> as a member of the house, ways and means committee. i voted to make both the report on the returns as well as the

returns themselves public. once they're transmitted to the house, the next time we're in pro forma session, which is friday at 9:00 a.m., they will automatically become public at that time. i would direct people to take a look at the report, one of which written by the joint committee on taxation. that is a bipartisan, non-partisan committee. it's basically roadmap to what those six years of returns show. perhaps most disturbingly -- well, there are two things. the first is the irs did not follow their own rules on the mandatory audit for two years. that's very disturbing. the second thing is how many red flags there were on these returns. hundreds of millions of dollars of deductions that were unsubstantiated, never questioned by the irs. yet, if you're one of my constituents here in philadelphia and you're working class and you claim for the eitc, there's a 33% chance you'll be audited on that. yet, here is donald trump, someone who is in the top 1% of the 1% claiming hundreds of

millions of dollars and the irs didn't even bat an eye. >> we will see, of course, when those returns are released publicly. congressman, before i let you go, should jalen hurts be starting on sunday? you want to see him in the game? >> no. rest him. i think we can win with min chew. of course, the eagles with win the super bowl in 2023. >> i hope you have your tickets. i've rented my airbnb for the weekend. congressman, thank you for being on with us. next up, why health officials are getting even more concerned about medical misinformation. a different kind of disinformation than you might normally hear about and what they're trying to do to fight it in a new report. first, more reporting on why the biden administration is thinking about new covid rules for travelers coming in from china. we'll take you live to the white house after the break. the break. for the first time after the shooting, it was crippling, but it had to be preserved.

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restrictions may be on the way specifically from people coming in from china. the biden administration looking at new rules considering cases are speaking in that country. two u.s. officials say they're concerned bay jent is not transparently reporting covid data. i want to bring in nbc's mike memoli traveling with the president in st. croix. clearly draws the short straw on holiday assignment. our hearts break for you. >> sorry, hallie, i can't hear you over the ocean waves crashing. >> i'm so sorry. i'll speak up. talk about the potential travel restrictions here. it would not be a surprise to the u.s. that china would not be maybe as transparent as they'd like to see. where do things stand? >> reporter: so hallie, what's at the root of this, of course, we've been covering those massive unprecedented protests in china over the course of the

past month over the zero covid policies. china scaling back significantly on those policies. but what has been the result? we've seen a major uptick in cases in china that has particularly raised concern among china's neighbors about those cases, dominos falling and spreading to their countries as well. we've seen, for instance, japan reimposing a requirement that all travelers from china have a negative covid test. malaysia, which has one of the major airport hubs in asia to the south of china, ramping up surveillance and tracing of covid tests. those are precisely the steps we understand the biden administration is considering imposing on the u.s. they're clear this is not going to result in a travel ban of travel from china and any new restrictions will be applied to all travelers coming from china regards of nationality. as they put it, we're following the science,.

this is a step backwards. we were talking about these travel bans in the earliest days of covid. we heard repeatedly from the administration that covid is in a much different place. there's particular concern about that transparency issue. the biden administration put a premium on funding for tracing potentially new variants. that's the real concern here, there might be variants that we aren't fully clear on from china that might find its way here and result in a new wave of a new variant. >> something we'll be watching, mike. thank you for your reporting from your hardship assignment? why are you in a suit? you can take off the tie. >> thanks, hallie. >> bye. here in the u.s., let's talk about what else is going on. you've got officials worried more and more about medical misinformation, what they say started as pushback to mask mandates and covid vaccines, causing parents to resist

childhood vaccines that kids get regularly, even flu shots. kristen dahlgren teamed up with keiser health news for a closer look. >> davie baker wasn't sure she'd get the covid vaccine. >> they said it was going to change your dna. they came up with the vaccine too quickly. >> reporter: dividing communities across the country. while the spread of covid may have slowed since the height of covid, the spread of information is not. one-third of parents oppose children getting measles and other vaccines. in oklahoma city, vaccination rates among school age children have dropped 4.5% over the last three years. >> we worry about measles, mumps, rubella, other diseases that have been controlled. >> thanks to misinformation. >> thanks to misinformation.

>> reporter: dr. dale braxler says flu shots are down, too, even as the nation deals with one of the worst flu seasons in years. >> we're only at about half of the typical number of flu injections that we would typically see by this time of the year. it worries me to a great extent. >> reporter: used to battling disease, the oklahoma city health department finds itself fighting lies. >> how dangerous is misinformation? >> it's cost lives. i don't know how else to say it. >> reporter: the department has had to move resources to monitor public sentiment using new technology to comb through social media when vaccine messaging was drawing fire, the health department removed the word vaccine and added "choose" to their public service announcements. it worked. >> our negativity on our media platforms dropped immediately. it started going down, we

offered the choice as opposed to the message of getting vaccinated. >> reporter: at a time when funding cuts are stretching hlt departments to the limit, having to put resources towards fighting misinformation is adding to the strain. >> public health funding had been cut by almost 20% in the decade leading up to covid. they didn't have enough people or money and that made the response really difficult. >> reporter: davie says she finally learned the truth from a pharmacist and got the shot. >> i'm glad i changed my mind. >> reporter: one small victory in the growing battle against medical higts. kristen dahlgren, nbc news, oklahoma city. next up, the man charged with attempted murder for attacking nancy pelosi's husband appearing in court this afternoon. we have the latest from what happened and what we can expect at trial next. enough was enough.

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the man charged in the

attack of paul pelosi, the house husband of house speaker nancy pelosi in court, the judge ruling there is enough evidence for david depape to stand trial. he'll be back in court in february to set the date. he's facing attempted murder, burglary, assault with a deadly weapon. he could spend up to 50 years in prison. i want to bring in former federal prosecutor and msnbc legal analyst, charles coleman. seemed like there were no real surprises today. did today's arraignment give you any idea where the trial is headed? >> not really. some people were concerned about the fact that he waived his right to a speedy trial. it's an agreement defense attorneys often make to ultimately put themselves in position to get better plea options. if you force the speedy trial

issue, a lot of times prosecutors will not make a plea negotiation at some point. i think between the state and federal charges, it is possible that we may see a plea arrangement worked out at some point. this gentleman is facing a number of different charges on a number of different levels, again, as you indicated today, what is arraignment in state court. he has a number of different federal charges he has to deal with. it could be that he doesn't go to trial, but it's worked out via a plea agreement. more likely than not, this is going to involve jail time. >> if it does go to trial, charles, which is somewhat of a question mark at this point, what might that look like for the pelosi family, for paul pelosi, the soon-to-be former house speaker? >> it will be difficult to keep this from being anything but high profile. i think some of it will depend on how the judge conducts the trial. i.e., are they going to allow cameras in the courtroom, media

in the courtroom? for any defendant in a case like this, they have to be concerned with the amount of attention this is going to garner from the public. of course, from the victim's family, from their standpoint, it's a matter of he has to we live this as a witness. that's a factor that you consider as a prosecutor, your witness getting on the stand and having to relive the very traumatic experience of what it was to have endured an attack of this nature. >> charles coleman, thank you for the analysis and perspective. we have a lot to get to including the latest on the tripledemic with covid, flu and rsv cases showing not many signs of slowing down. we'll also have first the latest on the holiday travel nightmare with airlines, specifically with southwest scrambling to get pretty ticked off people home. we'll take you live to one of the southwest hubs not too far from where i'm sitting up in

baltimore. that's next. ♪ what will you do?

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♪ ♪ we are coming on the air this hour on msnbc with confusion and frustration and anger at airports all across the country, with travelers, some of whom have long abandoned vacation plans just trying to get their stuff back. we're live as we're sorting through a sea of suitcases with what southwest is trying to do, and the new pressure growing now from the federal government to get its act together. it's not just at the airport where some folks are still feeling the effects of the winter storm. federal regulators are going the step in and investigate power outages, too, and failures in the national power grid. we'll have a report from buffalo where western new york is still trying to dig out and begin to recover. more confusion at the southern border after the supreme court left in place a controversial border policy for now. we'll get into what that means for the thousands of people who have gathered along the