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back for another hour. here are the big stories we're watching. another tidal wave of plight cancellations for southwest customers today, thousands left stranded and baggage grave yards across the airports and exhausted customers fighting for answers. >> i've spent about nine and a half hours trying to get through to southwest, just on hold with them. probably about 17 calls. and every time, i get about two and a half hours in, it just drops. the line just drops. in buffalo, snow is starting to melt as the death toll mounts. with mounting snow of this volume comes rapid flooding for search and rescue teams to deal with. the latest on their efforts and the blame game over the county's response to the historic blizzard in just a minute. new developments on capitol hill. the january 6th committee just dropped another batch of deposition transcripts, and there are some familiar trump world names on the list. speaking of donald trump, after almost four years of legal

battles, the former president's tax returns will be made public tomorrow. what we can expect to learn from these six years of filings and what if anything they can mean for his 2024 run. it's all coming up. we begin in buffalo, where the national guard has now joined the search and rescue efforts, the guard has begun going door to door and doing wellness checks, starting in areas still without power, and joining me from the ground in buffalo, new york, marissa para and meteorologist michelle grossman. marissa, you're out there on the ground. are people starting to venture out? what is going on there in buffalo? >> reporter: so there are signs of hope amid what has been a very, very grim past week. we know that death toll has just been climbing. last check, erie county give an update within the last couple of hours, we know at least 31 of those who died were in buffalo city alone. and we do know that as the snow continues to melt, it does

assist with search and rescue, and of course recovery efforts and there was a fear that as the snow would continue to melt, we would find more bodies, and fortunately, as the snow continues to melt, the chances of that grow less and less. you can see behind me, we're finally able to see the streets again, there are cars out and about. the highways are open. the airport is open. and the travel ban has been lifted. and so right now, as buffalo is inching towards going back to the way that it was, a week ago, of course, there's this effort to help the grieving families. just within the last couple of hours, erie county says their efforts are toward the recovery efforts making sure that people have the assistance that they need, as well as identifying the victims. quote, some of these families don't know their loved ones are dead yet. and in terms of, you know, signs of hope here, there are people who made it through the storm, who have their power back up and running, who are venturing out to get the supplies that they were running low on, whether it

is medicine, whether it's food, as they hunker down for the past week, and then there are the people who had to ditch their cars on the side of the road, and those cars got towed, and now they're going through the process of trying to reunite with their cars. >> we seem to have lost our vehicle. so we were on the way to the hospital, actually, to check on our daughter, and our car got stuck and three days later, we were unable to locate. it for three days, we've been calling, looking on websites for erie.gov, calling the police stations, but they were towing cars frantically and now no one can find any of the cars they towed so we have been on a consistent mission to find the car and get it back home. >> reporter: so ultimately the thing that he is now thankful for is that he and his family left with their lives intact. he may not have his car but they survived this deadly winter storm. and here is another sign of hope, yesterday when the national guard was helping people make dialysis runs, they

got 80 calls for that, that was yesterday and today only two calls so things are definitely improving on the ground here in buffalo. >> a lot of issues going on there marissa. buffalo is a place known for high levels of snow and this is much different, but there is this blame game going on. what are you learning from your reporting about how all of this happened, and how so many people died in this storm? >> reporter: right, so there's a lot of factors to consider here. and first, i want to talk about the weather alone. right? we were here one month ago, and you just said it yourself, buffalo is no stranger to snow. and in fact, during the last snowstorm, they got more snow totals in terms of inches alone and people standing on their front lawn with a beer in hand wearing shorts and a short sleeve shirt. snow is not a big deal. this last storm was different though, between the wind gusts up to 70 miles an hour and the wind chill of negative 20 degrees. that is unsurvivable. you can be as tough as nails, you can be used to snow, but if

you're outside for extended periods of time, especially with the power outages we were seeing, the wind gusts were knocking out power, even if you had a chance to go inside, if you don't have power, unfortunately, a large number of the people that we saw, when we talk about the death totals, the number one reason people died was exposure. there were people that were outside, and then there were the people that were inside of their homes without heat. so when we look at what exactly caused this, there are people that are posing questions to officials on whether there should have been a driving ban earlier, and certainly whenever there is a deadly event like this, this will be looked into in terms of what could have been done differently. >> certainly a lot of heart-breaking stories and families looking for answers. and as that is going on, there has been heavy rain and other weather going on, on the west. what is going on with the weather there, request what can we expect as the days go on? >> thi there, great to see you again. we're watching a series of really powerful storm systems. one the day before yesterday. and one moving through today. and we will see a few more

moving through over the next several of days through the weekend. and we are talking about an at spheric river, a plume of moisture in the sky that brings heavy rain and snow and winds gusting up to 70 miles an hour. let's look at the radar. that kind of telling the picture of where the snow is falling. where you see the blue, stretch forecast the northwest to the intermountain west. portions of the southwest. and into the central and northern plains. we're looking at snow falling. we're looking at heavy rain as well. that's where you see the green, the heaviest rain is where you see the brighter colors. the yellows and reds and oranges. and little rock, portions of the gulf coast. the lower mississippi valley, arkansas, texas, louisiana, we are expecting thunderstorms, we're seeing them right now, and we're also seeing heavy rain, that is producing a little bit of flooding in some spots. and we're going to watch out as we go through the afternoon hours, because we could see strong to severe storms, that could produce a tornado or two, and certainly could produce winds of 60 miles per hour? so as far as the snow goes, winter alerts stretching from the northwest to the

intermountain west? the central plains. we have millions impacted. where you see the white, that is the winter weather advisery. winter storm watch and warning and we are expecting feet of snow, upwards of five feet in some spots. a lot of rain, too. and we had a lot of rain the other day, so this is on top of saturated soils, on top of burn scars, that's why we're expecting or concerned about burn areas, and flooding in those areas. 16 million people at risk. these alerts extend through saturday this. rain extends through sunday. we are looking at excessive rainfall. that is a concerning. excessive snowfall, too. the next snow and rain will be there with winds at 70 miles per hour. >> marissa, michelle, thank you both for bean here. important reporting. and today more flight cancellations for southwest airlines as the company now saying they plan to be back up and running with minimal disruptions tomorrow. the operational and public relations crisis has left hundreds of thousands stranded. over the holidays.

nbc's niala charles has the latest from l.a.x. >> reporter: today, southwest canceling another 58% of its flights, so many people impacted, thousands of flights canceled, and we're now days into this. here at l.a.x., there is more baggage here than people. because although southwest has sent baggage to their destinations, and many case, the people themselves have not made it. i have spoken to many people who say because their baggage has been checked in with southwest, and they've been unable to claim it, they've been having to deal, without clothes, medications, lots of people regretting to specifically put their medications in checked-in bags. southwest has made another statement again last night, and now they have a form on their website saying that people can request refunds for their canceled flights and reasonable requests that they're defining as hotel accommodations, food, and transportation expenses, associated with the unexpected

extended travel due to the chaos they've been experiencing. but some people we spoke to say they don't even trust southwest to get their bags to them at this time. because they've been dealing with so many issues. some people we have spoken to have driven 20 to 30 hours to get to their destinations after their southwest flight was canceled. southwest saying that is important to keep receipts for all of your expenses, so that they can get money back to you. however, the airline has not specified when that money will get to customers. back to you. >> a tough situation. thank you for that report up next, a key house committee is set to release former president trump's tax documents as soon as tomorrow. what we could learn from those documents. also ahead, we've got a preview of what's expected as republicans take over the house, with the biden white house already pushing back on some of

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more conversations between the january 6th committee and its witnesses are being made public today. the panel releasing more than a dozen transcripts many of them from depositions with people deep inside the former president trump's inner circle. that coming as the committee is backing off one man they didn't get to talk to, the former president himself, withdrawing the subpoena they lodged against him back in october, as they prepare to disbabz in just a few days. i'm joined by nbc news capitol hill hill correspondent ryan nobles and chief white house correspondent for "the new york times" and msnbc political analyst peter baker. so ryan, you've been poring over these transcripts. talk a bit more about what

you're learning and the team is learning here at nbc news about these transcripts. >> a lot of interesting transcripts dropping today from donald trump jr., the president's son, who spent much of his deposition with the committee basically saying he didn't recall or couldn't answer many of the questions that were lodged in his direction, and also, in depth interviews with some of the people that were responsible for protecting the capitol on that day including the mayor of washington, d.c., muriel bowser, and the former police chief, steven sunday, and they both talked about kind of the fog of war that took place on that day, and the chaos that was existing not only inside the capitol and outside the capitol and why that made it so difficult for law enforcement to get in and try to disperse the crowd. let me read a bit of sund. any group that comes and marches to the capitol or has events up here on capitol, their reason for coming up here is protesting and to sway congress. their protest is to sway

congress and it doesn't send up red flags for me. this is responding to the intelligence reports that were pouring in at that time, warning that there was going to be trouble on capitol hill on january 6th. and then muriel bowser testified to just how difficult it was for them to get any information out of the capitol on that day. she said throughout that time, and around the time that i arrived, the chief was trying to make contact with chief sund, she is talking about the chief of the metropolitan police department, and the u.s. capitol police chief, being chief sund, and we couldn't make contact with them, so we had no situational awareness of what was going on in the building. so this just reveals part of the reason why things spired out of control in washington on that day. it was in part a lack of preparedness, not expect can this kind of rush, not expecting this kinds of rush into the building and once everything took place, a serious breakdown of communication between the different agencies that would have been responsible for breaking everything up. and these are things we've known

about, it has been outlined in senate committees, and in various reports that have done autopsies on what happened here, but to actually see it written out in a transcript, and see it and describe what they went through at that time is pretty revealing and why these transcripts are so important. >> it is revealing and striking, ryan. and it is also interesting, of course, with another story when we are thinking about this, which is the house committee, it is planning to reveal and to produce publicly former president trump's tax returns. what are lawmakers and your sources telling you about what we might learn in these tax returns, what information might be the most important? >> well, i think for the most part, the ways and means committee, the democratic arm of the ways and means committee, has really revealed all of the biggest information that could potentially come out of these tax returns. and they released an initial report, a week or so ago, that outlined their concerns with what they found in those tax returns, primarily the fact that the mandatory auditing program that the irs was not using to

keep track of the president's taxes, during that period of time. now, we're going to get a loot more detail when the tax returns come out tomorrow, but a lot of it is going to be very complicated, difficult to decipher, and maybe only tells us a little bit about the president's broader financial picture, and may lead to other questions down the road. but the big bombshells, if in were any, likely already came out, but we'll see once these tax returns come out, if there is anything else they could potentially reveal. >> and peter, the team at "the new york times" has been digging through and publicly revealing things about former president trump's tax returns now for a while. what outstanding questions do you think exist when you think about tomorrow and the release of these returns? >> that's a great question. obviously one of the things that we've discovered before the top line numbers of committee revealed in the last few days is that he had paid little or no taxes in many of the years leading up to the presidency and even once he took office, the he only paid $750, when he ran for

the presidency and zero net dollars in 2020, as president, and one of the things to understand better is how that happens, how the system works that way, and remember president trump as a candidate when he was talking about how he paid little in taxes says that makes me smart but he said that the system was rigged, so that rich people, like himself, could get out of paying taxes, and the rest of us have to pay far more, and we do something to fix that system. and of course, he did nothing while he was in office to fix that system and the system remains such, and in fact, it is arguably his tax bill in 2017, encouraged that same kind of disparity in which people of means, have the ability to avoid legally paying taxes. the question is are there anything there that is illegal. one thing that the irs is looking at for quite a while is one of the years prior to becoming president when he took i think it was $80 million, you know, claimed $80 million refund, they had been looking at that for quite a while and yet

to hear what kind of result come out of that. a lot of people look at the taxes and learning about russia and sources of the financing, my guess is without knowing, we're not going to learn a whole lot more about that, and we would by now if there was something in there about that, and i think if nothing else, it will finally put an exclamation point on years in which he has tried to avoid releasing, every other president, going back to president ford, voluntarily, released their tax returns, and in the interest of transparency, this is the only president in our mod tern times who refused to, and forced the congress to go all the way to the supreme court to get it. >> peter, what impact, if at all, could this have on president trump's next presidential run, the presidential campaign that he is running now? could opponents possibly use some of these tax return, the issues, the information that we learned from them, as talking points? >> well, they could, yes but i think a lot of this is baked in already, right? i think there is already a perception among many people that he hasn't really paid a lot in taxes and he has managed to game the system in a pretty

successful way, either lylely or perhaps not, color to his critics so either you admire him for his skill as he likes to brag, or you think that he is a, you know, somebody who has gotten away with a lot. you probably aren't going to change your mind as a result of this. it might be one more factor that people use against him but i think it is already they have a lot of perceptions among the supporters and among the detractors. >> ryan, peter, thank you so much for your reporting. and the white house now has a message for the incoming house majority. try it again in the new year. biden officials responded today for the first time to requests from future committee chairs, seeking documents and testimony from the administration. the white house arguing that requests like that are not valid, while republicans are still in the minority. and in a letter to the future heads of the judiciary, and oversight committee, the white house writes they will quote review and respond to the requests in good faith but only once they hold the gavels in the

118th congress. joining me now from the white house is nbc news correspondent, white house correspondent, josh lederman. are we going to see a white house that is going to be koomting here? and what do you make of the letters that the white house sent so far? >> reporter: well, look, i don't think anyone was expecting that the biden administration would start proactively handing over documents to house republicans now, just because they're going to be in control next year. so in one sense, the letter today was not surprising but i do think it is indicative of the fact that you're probably going to see the biden administration be selective, or at least thoughtful in how it responds to the congressional oversight that's coming. and that it is not necessarily going to be a blank check that house republicans get everything that they ask for. in this particular letter, the point that white house lawyers were making is look, as of right now, the end of december, we're still in the 117th congress, you, jim jordan, for example,

are only an individual member of congress. you don't get to ask the white house to hand over anything you want and expect a response to that, the way that you might next year, as the chairman of the committee with oversight. but i think that from what we are hearing from the white house officials, and those close to biden, is that the administration is likely to really put the investigations next year into two different buckets, and to treat them differently. the oversight investigations into things like the pullout from afghanistan, into the situation on the border, other policy matters, those white house officials consider to largely be fair game. they're not happy about the fact that there's going to be this, you know, magnifying glass on everything that has happened inside the white house. but they understand that that is part of their responsibility as to the response to that. the hunter biden stuff, the stuff that is in the bucket of family and personal stuff that

republicans have made clear, they also want to go after, but the white house officials are very much less inclined to be cooperative on that front. and i think you'll expect to see the white house put up more of a fight to some of those inquiries that they believe fall under the personal and political as opposed to the policy investigations. >> well, certainly, the white house, the house republicans in power, it is going to be something that we're going to continue to watch. josh lederman, thank you so much. and still ahead, the latest on retired pope benedict's condition, after the vatican wander his health was getting worse. plus, the new study that shows a link between covid and a debilitates heart condition. we have the details next. have t (bridget vo) with thyroid eye disease... i hid from the camera. and i wanted to hide from the world. for years, i thought my t.e.d was beyond help... ...but then i asked my doctor about tepezza.

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we're keeping a close eye on the vatican where there is a bit more optimism today on the health of retired pope benedict. the vatican saying in a new statement today that the 95-year-old is quote absolutely lucid and vigilant and the situation is stable at the moment. i want to bring in nbc's molly hunter live in rome. what more do we know about the pope's health? what more do we know about how

he is doing? >> reporter: yes, so yesterday, it was really big news when pope francis took that moment at the end of his address to say that the pope emeritus was very sick, that he invited the faithful around the world to join him in prayer, until the very end, for the retired pope benedict, that was a big deal and today we got the statement that he is stable and reading the tea leaves, stable sounds better than very sick. he was the first pope to retire in 600 years in 2013, because he could no longer do it. he was not of mind or body to continue that. we know he has had trouble speaking, he has looked quite frail, and the vatican has before said that his old age has aggravated his condition. we do not know exactly what the condition is. the other thing that we are really keeping an eye on right here in rome is what exactly

would a potential funeral look like. it will not be the same as a sitting pope. and the vatican has not released any information. the expectation that we are getting from those who watch it ve, very closely, is that he will likely be buried in saint peter's basilica like other popes behind me and the current pope, pope francis, will likely preside over that funeral. this is an extraordinary moment for the catholic church, to have two living popes, and then to have one preside over a possible funeral in the future of another pope. so really watching closely and we will keep you posted if we hear anything from the holy see press office. >> certainly a unique and extraordinary situation. molly hunter, thanks for joining us live from rome. and brand new research published this week shows a link between covid infections and a heart condition known as pots, a disorder that is known to cause a rapid heart rate, fainting and light-headedness, here is nbc news correspondent kristen

dahlgren. >> reporter: dizziness. light-headedness. rapid heartbeat. those are all symptoms that are probably pretty familiar to anyone who is now suffering from long covid. but researchers say that could be linked to something called pots. it is a condition that many doctors don't even know to look for. nearly 20 million people in the u.s. suffering from long covid. struggling to find answers. hannah davis is one of them. before getting sick in march, 2020, the 34-year-old was energetic and healthy. but long covid completely disrupted her life. >> i can no longer do, you know, 80 to 90% of the activities i used to love to do. >> reporter: her most debilitating symptoms due to a condition known as pots. >> when i am upright, my heart rate is much, much higher. you know, it can get up to 150, 160, 170, very easily. >> pots, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, is thought to disrupt the body's autonomic

nervous system, handling unconscious tasks. >> things like blood pressure and heart rate and breathing and digestion, these are functions that we shouldn't have to think about. >> a new study is finding that covid is linked to a five times greater risk of pots. and could be the cause of many long covid symptoms. doctor mitchell miglis, a pots expert at stanford university, says the condition can be crippling. >> the symptoms that are worse when you stand, light-headedness, shortness of breath and physically unable to do most basic activities. >> a standard memory test. >> his pots clinic packed with patients in the wake of covid. >> unfortunately, our wait list is currently between six and 12 months. >> getting diagnosed with pots is tricky. some patients need to undergo specialized testing. and many doctors are not familiar with the disorder. >> hannah considers herself one of the lucky ones.

getting a pots diagnosis three months after her covid infection. >> this whole experience has been very strange and surprising and i never imagined that i would be as public about some of this stuff as i have ended up being. >> reporter: the study did also find a link between pots and the covid vaccine, but researchers say the risk was much, much greater in people who actually got covid versus those who got the vaccine. the good news is that many people recover from pots, but it can take years. back to you. >> our thanks to kristen dahlgren for that important report. joining me now is msnbc medical contributor dr. natalie azar. so i want to start off where kristen was just talking about, which is long covid. what do we know about the difficulties and the realities of what we're dealing with here, in this country, when it comes to long covid. >> we're certainly gathering quite a large database right

now. as kristen's piece very accurately pointed out, this continue known as pots again which is sort of a dysfunctional autonomic nervous system, the way to think about that is that this is the nervous system that controls things that should be automatic like your heart rate, your blood pressure, digestion, and really, it is debilitating for folks. they have, you know, exercise intolerance. something as simple as going across the room to pick up your laundry basket for example can be really difficult. we are seeing a lot of patients with long covid who fulfill criteria mescf, we see a lot of patients with mecfs, and in addition to persistent shortness of breath, and full exhaustion, just really incapable living live the way they did before they got sick. and now i think it is just important for viewers to understand that, you know, something like long covid is not

necessarily new. we have a whole history of post-viral fatigue syndromes that are very well characterized. it is just that we've never been in a situation like this before, where so many millions of americans and people worldwide have been infected at the same time, which is why we're actually talking about these conditions and it is coming to the fore which is really, you know, in a way, a sort of lucky for the patients who are suffering because there's a lot more research efforts that are going into these conditions than in years past. >> and certainly crucial information. dr. azar, i want to also ask you about the biden administration, they're implementing new covid testing policies for travelers coming from china. how effective, if at all, do you think that these new policies might be? >> well, i think the answer to that is what are they hoping to achieve by doing this. are they really hoping to, you know, prevent new cases from entering the u.s.? well, we know that that is probably not going to happen as

our borders, you know, and the whole world is really so pour ous. but the goal here i think is to better identify new variants that will emerge because of this rapid transmission in china. and that hopefully, not only will those new variants be identified, but maybe some of the transmission of those new variants could very well be halted. you know, and this is really part of the cdc's efforts to expand the genomic surveillance from travelers. now we have seven airports that will be involved in this. and that includes 500 flights weekly from at least 30 different countries. and that's crucial. because being able to identify a new even more immune invasive variant early, and tracking it here in this country, to help prevent spread, you know, it is imperative. >> such important information, thank you so much, dr. natalie

azar. >> you bet. and next, the holidays can be hard for those dealing with loss and grief. i'll talk to someone who has experienced that herself, and is trying to help others find hope. but first, the surge in fentanyl overdoses among teens and the controversial approach some schools are taking to combat that crisis. [ sneezing ] are you okay? oh, it's just a cold. if you have high blood pressure, a cold is not just a cold. coricidin is the #1 doctor recommended cold and flu brand. specially designed for people with high blood pressure. be there for life's best moments. trust coricidin. shingles. some describe it as pulsing electric shocks or sharp, stabbing pains. ♪♪ this painful, blistering rash can disrupt your life for weeks. a pain so intense, you could miss out on family time. the virus that causes shingles is likely already inside of you. if you're 50 years or older,

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new data from the cdc shows teenagers are now the facilitiest-growing group of overdose deaths in the country. an increase that is largely atribbed to fentanyl. now schools across the country are confronting the problem with a new and controversial kind of solution. nbc's morgan ratford has the story. >> when tom leaderman lost her son aj, he was 19 years old. >> he ingested cocaine and he had enough fentanyl in his system to kill 30 grown adults. >> a tragic story that is becoming increasingly common. >> overdoses among teens ages 14

to 18 now reaches a record high, surging 133% in just two years. the vast majority costs by fentanyl, a drug found in fake pills made to look like prescription drugs like oxycodone, xanax orred aerall. and that is why at this high school in camden county, new jersey. >> break the glass and use the narcan. >> a new solution to the students. >> is it almost like a fire extinguisher, you just break glass if necessary. >> that's exactly what it is. >> the school district is installing 175 overdose kits just like this one. across high schools county wide. each one stocked with a drug that can reverse opioid overdoses. there are laws for stocking naloxone and training students

and staff to use it. >> we're going all hands on deck. >> the number of overdoses is going up but the drug use is going down. how do you square that? >> because of the strength of fentanyl. just a few grams of fentanyl can kill someone. and we think the fact that fentanyl is now being mixed in with the drugs that are being used is attributing to the higher rate of the deaths. >> those fatal mixes, the drug enforcement administration says often finding their way into students' hands through social media. >> setting up accounts specifically toward catering to people who are willing to buy drugs. >> online? >> yes, online. a chain of events parents like todi leaderman hope to prevent anyway possible. >> what do you think of patients who think it is going to far to put the kits in schools. >> i think it is everything. epipens in school for kids who

are allergic to peanuts and i truly think that you don't know what happened in the bathroom or what happened in the car in the parking lot and if this is a way to keep kids from dying, so be it. >> a new tool in the fight against overdosing is reaching a younger generation. >> nbc news, new york. >> thanks to morgan for that important and heart-breaking report. and the holidays are time for family and friends. and a time to take stock in all of the good things in life. and they can also be especially hard for people who are coping with loss with the new year just around the corner. we want to talk with someone who knows grief intimately. and is trying to help families find hope. a licensed marriage and family therapist, and founder of this grieving life.com. her daughter was killed in the sandy hook elementary school shooting. thank you so much for being here. i should just say that i check

your twitter account all the time because you're so open and so empathetic with people who are dealing with loss and i wonder as a mother and as a therapist, can you explain your decision to be so open with your challenges and your successes, especially as you think about this holiday season? >> for sure. thank you for having me. i think for me, it was a way that i knew i was going to survive. i knew i wasn't grieving because i had done something wrong. i was actually grieving because it was an appropriate response to the loss our family had. and once i realized that talking about my grief could free me, i also realized it could potentially free other people. so like you said, this is a time of celebration, a gathering, of routine, and ritual, and too many people feel like they can't bring the grief to the table and i want to encourage them and say yes, you can, and you should, and here's how we can do it, so that everyone can feel comfortable during the holidays. >> and you talk about the fact that you've asked your grief to teach you that you can't outrun

it, you can't ignore it. can you give advice to people who are really struggling in this moment to look at their grief and to face it, as they're dealing with this? >> for sure. one of the things that we know is that isolation is the enemy of grief. right? we really can't go through many of life's problems alone. and if we can build up a community, making an assess of our needs, assembling a team, think about the avengers, right, they assemble to support, they assemble to save the day, grievers actually need support systems, and very often, we have people in our lives who want to help. they really, really do. they just have no idea why. and it shouldn't fall on the griever to have to teach people. but you know what? what is most important is that we have people that are there and are willing and they can listen, so we often do, set boundaries around our grief, and moving our bodies as well, and getting out, and just not isolating, it is really important especially during the holidays. >> such an important message and

you also said, i hold the grief, just as much as i hold the hope, so for families and people who are dealing with grief, who are looking in the next year to try to set intentions and be hopeful, what is your advice to them? >> we just need to be able to do both. and we need to recognize we are going to have joy in our grief, we are going to have celebration in our grief, and that there is no time line. don't rush your process, right? we're going to carry this grief of the person we lost, whatever it is that we're being sorrowful for, but we will have moments of joy, and i do promise you that, just hold on griever. >> such an important message. and i'm so lucky that we could have you here because so many people will benefit from learning about you and going to your website, so thank you so much. >> thank you. and still ahead, how climate change made for wild weather swings in 2022. easy-to-use tooe dynamic charting and risk-reward analysis

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breaking news, nbc news has learned congressman-elect george santos is now under federal investigation. a law enforcement source confirms federal prosecuors from the eastern district of new york are looking into santos' finances. they're in the early stages and have not zeroed in on one allegation yet. the incoming republican has admitted to quote embellishing his resume. nbc news has reached out to santos for comment but he has not responded. meanwhile, 2022, a year of record breaking climate extremes. record heat in london, record flooding in the midwest, wildfires, snowstorms, and hurricanes. nbc news meteorologist dylan drier has a closer look. >> 2022, a violent year of climate and weather extremes. from heat waves and drought, to

catastrophic flooding and hurricanes. the impacts reverberating around the globe. so far this year, $15 billion weather disasters hit the u.s., according to noaah. the final count yet to be tallied. the first billion dollar disaster came in the spring when warmer temperatures fuelled three deadly tornado outbreaks in as many weeks. spawning more than 200 reported tornados across more than a dozen states. >> it's very devastating when you -- you know, it's all your hard work going up in the air. >> in the west, sections of yellow stone national park were devastated by destructive flash floods. roads were washed away and the park closed to the public for the first time in three decades. climate change causing the atmosphere to be warmer and wetter. making conditions ripe for these types of events. >> it was surprising how quickly it came.

>> this summer was a story of extremes. europe had the most intense heat wave in recorded history. london set a historic all time high of 104 degrees. back in the u.s., six 1,000 year floods occurred in the span of five weeks in july and august. places like st. louis, dallas, and eastern kentucky, deluged with 8 to 15 inches of rain in just 24 hours. death valley received its entire years worth of rain in just three hours. the footprint of climate change leaving its mark across nearly the entire u.s. parts of the west baked in the most severe heat ever recorded in the month of september. >> i've never dealt with something this hot before. >> nearly 300 weather stations hitting their hottest temperatures in places like salt lake city, reno and sacramento. already extreme drought conditions in the region worsened. lake mead's water level plunged to the lowest yet. the bureau of reclamation

reporting a tier two water shortage for the first time ever. after a slow start to the hurricane season, category 4 ian roared ashore florida with winds topping 150 miles per hour, tying for the fifth strongest hurricane ever to strike the united states. neighborhoods in fort myers and naples left in ruin. warmer waters are acting as jet fuel causing the storms to rapidly intensify. as the season was coming to a close, category 1 nicole became the first to make landfall in november in 40 years. this year oceans running up to 3 1/2 degrees warmer. >> ian came in and did all this damage. now nicole just putting us away. >> in upstate new york, winter arrived early when a massive november snowstorm rewrote the

history books, burying neighborhoods and even the buffalo bills stadium with other r over 80 inches of snow. and cool season tornados ripped through the south. more than 100 reported over two weeks across seven states between thanksgiving and christmas. >> this warehouse right here. my house is gone. >> reporter: the december twisters part of a massive week long cross country storm that dropped four feet of snow in the west, blinding blizzard conditions to the upper northwest and dozens of tornados to the south. then a historic and deadly bomb cyclone crippled half the country over the holidays brinksing with it plummeting temperatures, blizzard conditions lasting more than 40 hours. the storm pushed the city of buffalo into the record books, the snowiest start to the season ever, at least 100 inches and

counting. dylan dreyer, nbc news. and our thanks to dylan dreyer for that important report. that wraps up two very busy hours on msnbc. i'm yamiche alcindor, "deadline: white house" starts next after a quick break. after a quick break. well, it wasn't this morning. i hope i can get through this. is plaque psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis making you rethink your everyday choices? otezla is a pill, not a cream or injection that can help people with plaque psoriasis achieve clearer skin. otezla is proven to reduce joint swelling, tenderness and pain in psoriatic arthritis. and no routine blood tests required. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. otezla can cause serious allergic reactions. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight

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there are more of us together than apart. it is the power of love in its rawest form. (classical piano music) well, we fell in love through gaming. but now the internet lags and it throws the whole thing off. when did you first discover this lag? i signed us up for t-mobile home internet. ugh! but, we found other interests. i guess we have. [both] finch! let's go! oh yeah! it's not the same. what could you do to solve the problem? we could get xfinity? that's actually super adult of you to suggest. i can't wait to squad up. i love it when you talk nerdy to me. guy, guys, guys, we're still in session. and i don't know what the heck you're talking about.

hi there, everyone. it's 4:00 in the east. when donald trump lost the 2020 election, there was a brief hope, however naive, that