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good afternoon, i'm chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york city. the blame game over southern border, president biden and house republicans are attacking each other as a record number of the u.s. continue to cross >> border patrol agents are doing everything they can to take care of this situation, but they are completely overwhelmed, completely just overwhelmed with the situation, and it's getting worse. plus, it's what the atlantic calls the english muffin problem. you might not have heard of it, but likely you're dealing with it. why so many americans hate the current economy even though the numbers show it's actually

trending in the right direction. and the cdc tracking a surge in covid cases as millions travel for the holidays, what you need to know about the new variant fueling the virus's spread. we begin with the humanitarian crisis growing by the hour on the southern border, a record number of migrant crossings are pushing processing facilities way past their limits and to the breaking point. as resources wear thin, washington is arguing over who's to blame and the white house firing back at house republicans after speaker mike johnson sent the president a scathing letter, blaming him and urging immediate executive actions. now after talking to the president of mexico about the growing crisis, the white house is sending some of its top officials south of the border to help -- to seek help curbing the flow of migrants. nbc's guad venegas is reporting for us from the border in eagle pass, texas. monica alba is reporting from the white house, also with us, david drucker, senior writer at

"the dispatch" and elise jordan, former white house aide under president george w. bush and an msnbc political analyst. so guad, customs and border protection literally moments ago announced the border saw a very slight dip in crossings yesterday. what are those numbers like? >> reporter: chris, so these new numbers say they saw 11,000 migrants cross the border on thursday, so that's about a thousand less than what we had seen monday, tuesday, and wednesday. it's a small dip, and it reflects what we've seen here. we still have large groups arriving near eagle pass but the crowds are a little smaller. customs and border protection has been working around the clock to try to process these migrants. we've seen a lot of buses and vans take them to the processing centers, which by the way, in this sector, the real sector that eagle pass is a part of, they say they're at three times capacity. so it could be that they're moving them faster, but if these

numbers that were shared, 11,000 say, it's a little less, then it reflects what we're seeing here. speaking to some of the migrants that have been released in the u.s. under this asylum seeking process, what we've gotten from them is that they know people, the migrants i spoke to, say they know people that are still in mexico. they communicate through cell phones. they use whatsapp to communicate, and they are saying they still have friends in mexico with large groups that are still making their way to the border. of course what we see here is completely different from what's happening in mexico, but for now we have seen smaller groups arrive. and also important to point out, chris, that we still have medical emergencies happening with migrants that are arriving, many of them walking for hours dehydrated, crossing in rivers and arriving in places like this field. yesterday we spoke with the assistant fire chief who told us they've seen days where they have to treat as many as 80 migrants in this field. plus some of those have to go to

the hospital. two days ago they had about ten of them go to the local emergency room, which is also an issue for the local community because this is an emergency room that serves the local border community and is now helping out with the migrants that require that medical attention, chris. >> yeah, just how overwhelmed are border patrol agents, not to mention the facilities that are out there like hospitals, like urgent care centers. >> reporter: chris, you were cut off. can you repeat your question about hospitals? >> yeah, i'm just wondering how overwhelmed all the people there in eagle pass and nearby who are helping with the migrant situation, how overwhelmed are they? >> reporter: so the hospitals, that's an example that was brought up by tony gonzalez, a congressman who came to visit a somebody has a medical emergency in the city of eagle pass, they dial 911 and they need an ambulance, then it could be an issue. i was told by the assistant fire chief that just yesterday they

had an ambulance arrive that had to wait 30 minutes to bring in one of the patients because the emergency room was full, and some of the patients they were treating were migrants. so this is where the local resources are then spread thin because, again, they require that help, those that have those medical needs at the local hospitals, and it could be something that is also seen in other communities because many of these migrants, again, are going through hours of walking. they're dehydrated. they have medical conditions. when they cross into the united states, they come to places like this field, and this is for many of them the fist time they're seeing a first response crew or some type of doctor to help them with that medical need, chris. >> without a doubt, monica, there are lots of folk who is say this situation is unsustainable. what is the white house hoping to get out of this trip to mexico? >> reporter: they see this, chris, as a notable step that really does speak to the urgency here. the fact that these top officials are expected to go to mexico in the coming days

signals just how seriously the white house is taking this. it really came out of a phone call that took place yesterday between president biden and mexican president manuel lopez obrador where they agreed and decided together that the situation at the border is unsustainable and, really, it is devolving and deteriorating in a manner that needs to be addressed. and so according to the readout that the white house put out teheir conversation, the two leaders did decide after talking about additional potential enforcement actions that this is something that they wanted these officials to talk to their mexican counterparts about when this takes place, as early as next week, according to the mexican president, it sounds like these official could be making their way there on december 27th. so again, it's the end of the year. we're in between some holidays, but the white house is saying this is something that just can't wait, and the backdrop to all of this politically, chris, is these continued negotiations that are taking place on capitol hill, that the white house is a

part of, which is directly linked to funding for ukraine, for israel, for taiwan, at the heart of the matter here is additional border policy changes that the president is the one to say have to happen that there needs to be compromise here and that he is willing to really make some significant changes here because in his words, the system is broken and needs to be addressed, and that's why he's dispatching these top aides to go down there and continue the conversation. the real question, then, chris is what can come out of that. without that congressional funding and with those talks a bit stalled, it's not clear that there's much that can be done in the immediate, but the context also to this is manuel lopez obrador is nearing the end of his term and his time in office. they're trying to get as much as they can interaction and engagement wise during this period. >> david, there's the reality of this and the politics of this. republican chip roy defended

speaker johnson's scathing letter and included his own message. here's what he said. >> republicans need to hold the line here against the white house, and i'm glad you said about mike johnson, he is correct. we need to hold the line. we should not have a single dollar going to ukraine at all until the southern border of the united states is secure, and importantly, why would we go fund the department of homeland security on february 2nd without demanding changes from this administration. >> so david, as republicans vow to hold the line, what might actually move the needle here, and congress has largely stalled negotiations. >> it's been interesting to watch because over the years, both parties have talked about immigration and a crisis at the southern border whether it's about security, whether it's about humanitarian issues, but very little compromise has come out of anything that has happened on capitol hill no matter how much they've talked about the need to do something because the perfect has always been the enemy of the possible.

so it will be interesting to see what comes out of these negotiations, bipartisan negotiations in the united states senate when lawmakers get back from the holiday break. these talks are going to continue in january. there is no way you're going to get border changes from a policy perspective, let alone money from the white house and from senate democrats unless republicans agree to fund israel and fund ukraine. ukraine in particular here because that's the real sticking point among many house republicans, and so we'll see how far the white house is willing to go and how far house republicans are willing to go when a deal from the senate, if it comes to fruition, is hoisted upon them. one other thing i'll say, chris s that for the president's own re-election, finding a way to deal with the crisis at the border and compromising with republicans on this issue, even if it makes his own democratic base angry with him is a really

good move because this is something that swing voters and independents which will be very crucial in the battleground states that decide the election don't like what they're seeing, ty want changes as well. this is not simply republicans. these are other voters as well. >> i think absolutely right about that, elise, and the white house responded to thatetter with a statement calling out house republicans in action on the border point by point. in an election year, is there real benefit to both sides to get something done? >> chris, no, david's exactly right. this is potentially a huge win for president biden if he can reach some kind of deal with republicans. he needs to be seen as doing something to address the security crisis on the border. half of his -- half of democrats even disprove of how he's handling the border crisis. he's going to have to thread the needle to not alienate progressives who are already

upset over his handling of israel. but to win re-election, this is going to be a decisive issue. it's number two behind inflation in terms of what the american voter right now be it democrat or republican, cares about. >> yeah, the buck stops there. so david, we reported yesterday that texas governor greg abbott just busing migrants hooechlts . he's now flying them. he sent a plane to chicago. does it actually add to the pressure on the biden administration? >> yeah, look, it may play to the base, but i think it's a smart political move because border states have been dealing with the immigration crisis for years. it's cost them all of the money. it's put pressure on all of their first responders. so by sending migrants or illegal immigrants, however you want to couch the people coming across the border, to other states, particularly those run by democrats that have been supportive of looser border

security policies, it puts pressure on the biden administration because democratic governors and democratic mayors now have to deal with the same financial and humanitarian pressures that some of these red border states have had to deal with. so it's made this more of a national issue from a policy perspective, rather than just a regional issue where it could be, you know, sort of waved off as -- complaining about immigrants. even though people might not like the fact that migrants are being put on planes and sent places they didn't intend to go and don't know how to navigate, what it's done is make this more of a bipartisan issue. a democratic white house is more likely to listen to other elected democrats because clearly they're allies and they're not just trying to score political point, they're now dealing with the same pressure. it could have the effect of creating solutions where before this was much more factionalized. >> in our last minute, elise, do you think that governor abbott

is out messaging the white house? >> i think he's -- this has been a success for him. it is indeed just as david says, it spread out the pain of dealing with an influx of new migrants, and it's not just keeping it contained on the border and just specifically with new york city, you look at some of the tough budget cuts that mayor eric adams has been forced to make, and you know, they're cuts that impact your day-to-day life, you know. the library's now not open on sundays because of budget cuts. it really is having an effect outside of just those border states. and so governor abbott at the beginning, it did seem like a stunt, but now that so many democratic mayors are brought into it and they're complaining too, the mayor of denver, the mayor of houston, los angeles, and new york, it really is making it become more of a national issue to address. >> guad venegas, monica alba,

david drucker, thank you, all. happy holidays, elise, you're going to stick around. and coming up, the united nations voting in favor of a resolution on getting more aid into gaza, but the u.s. on stains. we'll tell you why and what it means if the israel-hamas war next. means if the israel-hamas war next they'd take this mess? means if the israel-hamas war next. tell you why and what it means if the israel-hamas war next (wife) you really just should have done that. (caroler) ♪ this didn't land, she didn't like that. ♪ (husband) honey! i immediately get it! (avo) this holiday turn any samsung phone, in any condition, into a galaxy s23+ on us. and now add netflix and max to your plan for just $10 a month. save big this holiday. only on verizon. when you smell the amazing scent of gain flings... time stops. (♪♪) and you realize you're in love... steve? with a laundry detergent. (♪♪) gain flings. seriously good scent. whenever you're hungry, there's a deal on the subway app. buy one footlong, get one 50% off in the subway app today.

now that's a deal worth celebrating. man, what are you doing?! get it before it's gone on the subway app. ♪♪ after furious week-long negotiations, a resolution just passed the u.n. security council that would work to get more desperately needed aid into gaza. it does come at a critical time as the situation in gaza grows increasingly dire. the death toll is rising daily. now surpassing 20,000 people, according to the palestinian health ministry, and everyone still alive in gaza seems to be grieving. a representative of the leading u.n. agency on the ground describes the collective nightmare like this. >> there is personal catastrophe and there's a collective catastrophe here in gaza.

you have a population that they lost everything. >> nbc's josh lederman is in tel aviv for us. josh, walk us through this critical vote at the u.n. today and particularly what it might mean to the people in gaza. >> well, chris, it is a significant diplomatic development that the u.n. security council is now able to speak out in one voice about the gaza conflict because up until now, the u.s. has really been blocking these resolutions, in large part out of concerns about the call in previous drafts of these resolutions for a complete cessation of hostilities in the gaza strip. the u.s. said they didn't think that would help accomplish the goal of ensuring israel's security, and so this resolution was watered down so that there's no call for a cease fire, but it does say that nations should work toward building the conditions for an eventual cease fire, and also critically important to the arab nations that supported this resolution includes calls for expanded humanitarian aid into the gaza strip.

i want you to hear what u.s. ambassador to the u.n. linda thomas-greenfield had to say about why the u.s. did not stand in the way of this resolution. >> it is hard to overstate how urgent this is. just yesterday humanitarian groups released a report on the dire food security crisis in gaza, and the word famine has started to enter the vocabulary of humanitarian leaders i've met with. surgeries are being performed without anesthesia, people are huddled in overcrowded u.n. shelters, others are sleeping in the streets. this resolution speaks to the severity of this crisis. >> so this resolution passed with 13 votes, two abstention, including notably the u.s., but the fact that the u.s. didn't veto it was enough to allow this resolution to pass, and critically, chris, a big impetus

for the uae and other supporters of this resolution in the first place was to try to get that kerem shalom border crossing from israel into the gaza strip open for humanitarian aid. that actually happened anyway in large part due to u.s. diplomacy, and so that rendered parts of this resolution not quite as significant bt still a major development that the u.n. was able to speak out like this. >> josh lederman, thank you. right now for the third straight day, ukraine says russia is launching drone strikes in kyiv. they say they're targeting infrastructure and residential buildings. of course 2023 was a year that we saw a world at war. nbc's chief foreign correspondent, richard engel takes a look. >> reporter: ukraine's military this year faced a harsh reality check. russia fortified its grip on eastern ukraine and is refusing to let it go.

with some of the fiercest fighting taking place in the city of bakhmut. >> russian forces have now surrounded bakhmut on three sides. this is the only remaining route. >> civilians were driven into underground bunkers without power or heat. ukraine through everything it could at russia in a long-anticipated counteroffensive. the united states backing president zelenskyy with weapons and money. vladimir putin turning to mercenaries from the wagner group, led by his one-time caterer, the mercenaries fought or were shot, and the caterer turned commando yevgeny prigozhin turned so powerful that he turned against the kremlin and marched on moscow, before having second thoughts. he died when his plane exploded

in midair. u.s. officials believe putin had him killed. and the war continued with ukraine and russia firing so much artillery both sides nearly ran out. zelenskyy pleading to washington for more, putin turning to north korea's kim jong-un, but so far ukraine's counteroffensive has accomplished little more than a stalemate. political support in the united states now in question. >> several republican presidential candidates are expressing concerns about support for ukraine. r ukraine.

>> and then israel had its 9/11. on october 7th, hamas-led militants stormed israel from gaza killing more than 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking 240 hostages including many women and children. the militants rained fire into israel. >> stay down, stay down. >> reporter: israel responded with a ferocious military assault on the gaza strip to root out hamas for good, flattening entire neighborhoods. president biden has insisted that the u.s. can and must support two allies at once. >> we cannot and will not let terrorists like hamas and tyrants like putin win. >> reporter: the war in israel brought to the surface long-held pain and anger with massive pro-palestinian protests calling

for a cease fire and pro-israel demonstrators raising their voices against rising anti-semitism. a week-long cease fire between israel and hamas brought a brief moment of calm and saw more than 100 hostages freed in exchange for palestinian prisoners, but negotiations collapsed, each side blaming the other. more than 20,000 people had died in gaza so far, about 70% of them women and children according to the health ministry run by hamas. aid agencies say the 2.3 million people in gaza are suffering a humanitarian collapse as pressure is mounting on israel to bring the war to an end, but there's no agreement on who will run gaza if or when hamas is defeated. >> that was richard engel reporting, thank you. coming up, the price you

pay. what new numbers just out mean for the economy and potentially the 2024 elections. you're watching ""chris jansing reports" only on msnbc. ing reports" only on msnbc "chris j reports" only on msnbc. "chris reports" only on msnbc

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i'm a little anxious, i'm a little excited. i'm gonna be emotional, she's gonna be emotional, but it's gonna be so worth it. i love that i can give back to one of our customers. i hope you enjoy these amazing gifts. oh my goodness. oh, you guys. i know you like wrestling, so we got you some vip tickets. you have made an impact. so have you. for you guys to be out here doing something like this, it restores a lot of faith in humanity.

we have a new key economic indicator heading into the holidays. inflation continuing to cool down as consumer confidence is moving up. so why do americans consistently say in polls that they are not

happy with the economy. joining me now steve liesman, and elise jordan is back with us. so steve, what exactly does this new inflation data show, and what might it mean for the federal reserve? >> so it shows that inflation is back down at least for a month to the target the fed is aiming at, which is 2% year-over-year inflation, if you crunch it down and look at it on a three-month annualized basis, year-over-year it's still around 3%, but the expectation is this number continues, remains down at the 2% level, and that should enable the federal reserve to ease back on some of the rate hikes it had and bring down interest rates, which is, by the way, already happening in markets ten-year treasury bonds are down in yield, even some consumer lending rates are down as well. for example, on mortgages, and they should be coming down on credit cards. they're not going back to the zero days that we saw during the

pandem, but they should provide at least some relief in the coming year to the difficulty that people have had. >> gilad, i absolutely love the headline of your story in "the atlantic." it's called the english muffin problem. kind of a simple explanation for discontent with the economy. one huge theme jumped out. tell us about it. >> the theme that really jumped out unsurprisingly was inflation and prices but more specifically the price of groceries. when we asked people what they are thinking about when they tell us how they think the economy is doing or what they feel about their own personal finances, the runaway number one answer was the price of groceries, and when you think about how inflation works, the fact that the inflation rate has gone down so much is great news, but that doesn't mean that prices have gone down because, of course, inflation captures a rate of change over time, but

prices are just what they are, and so what we found is that even though inflation has been slowing down, people have not gotten used to how much more things cost when they go to the grocery store. >> yeah, and i don't know if we ever will, but you also write -- and this was fascinating, that the poll casts doubt on a couple of other popular hypotheses about this discontent. tell us about that. >> so one theory of economic discontent is that people really loved the expanded government welfare payments that they received during the pandemic, and i'm sure that's true, but we asked people to compare how they're doing -- how they were doing before the pandemic, during the pandemic, and now, and almost nobody said they were doing better during the pandemic. most people said they were doing better before and then the second highest answer was now. so that doesn't mean that people didn't suffer when things like the expanded child tax credit expired, but it does suggest that people are not pining to go back to that moment during the pandemic. they don't perceive that to have

been a good time in their lives economically. and then one other theory that we at least didn't get support for in this poll, i can't say it's disproven, it's really hard to prove or disprove. it's all about negative stories on social media. people who said they get their news on the economy from social media, actually had a little bit more positive things to say about theeconomy. so that didn't seem like the culprit based on how we asked the questions. >> that really is interesting. i'm thinking, steve, about that 60% number. it's hard to get 6 out of 10 americans these days to agree about anything, but i'll say anecdotally when i hear people making complaints about the economy, it often does go back to how much groceries cost. i wonder what you make of this survey. >> absolutely. our data also shows it. the other thing that our data also showed, our cnbc surveys show as well is that it's the cascaing problem, once you have problems with your groceries,

you have problems with your savings, your retirement, and you have to stretch for other things. housing has been an issue that keeps coming up. the math of this, i know, chris, i promised there would be no math. i'll just give you math, if something costs 100 bucks and it goes up by 10%, it's 110. and then the inflation rate goes down from 10% to 2%, the next month it's 112. you don't go back to that 100. you never really go back to that 100 because then you have a deflation problem. it's absolutely right that people have to get used to these higher levels. wages have gone up commensurate with that, but people still look at those lousy grocery numbers and say you know what, things are tough out there. >> which brings us, elise, to 2024, we know one of the huge problems for joe biden is the economy, so even though we see all these signs the economy is doing better, even consumer sentiment is better, it is not reflected in the numbers of how

he's handling the economy, which is very frustrating. do you think that the political mood will catch up with the economic numbers, elise? >> well, first of all, bidenomics was just so tone deaf and to tell people they aren't experiencing the reality that they're experiencing is nevada a good political strategy, and so they have kind of tried to move beyond that now. i think it's going to come down to mid-october, 50 million low information voters how they feel about the economy. so far wages are on pace to match inflation by the last quarter of 2024, but is that going to be a little bit too late? it's really going to matter how americans feel about their purchasing power and how they feel about their wages and livelihood and how that has kept pace with it. >> elise jordan, steve liesman, gilad edelman, thank you all, i hope you have a wonderful hom

holidays coming up, maybe a little time off. the crush of christmas travelers hitting the highways, and what you need to know, you're watching "chris jansing reports" only on msnbc. u're watg reports" only on msnbc hey, you should try new robitussin honey medi-soothers for long-lasting cough and sore throat relief. try new robitussin lozenges with real medicine and find your voice. you know? we really need to work on your people skills.

millions of travelers are headed home for the holidays. more than 460 flight delays, and just a few cancellations are being reported by the site flight aware. on the roads, aaa projects the

holiday rush may surpass pre-pandemic levels. joining me now, nbc news correspondent shaquille brewster at a rest stop in south holland, illinois, how are the roads looking there? not terrible traffic right behind you. >> reporter: you see the traffic behind me, you'll probably hear it as i give this report, but talking to drivers, they're saying so far so good. at least it's going as expected. illinois tollway officials say that today is going to give you the heaviest traffic on these roads across the state, at least through the end of the year, and that a little bit different, a preview of what you're expecting or what aaa says youd expect across the country. aaa is saying about 104 millio drivers will hit the road during this holiday travel period, the peak of that ising tomorrow. so if you're planning a holiday road trip, tomorrow they're saying you should hit the roads either in the morning or in the evening to avoid most of the congestion. i want you to listen to what

some drivers and passengers had to tell me about their trips today. >> keep your phones down, eyes up, right? the things that we all should be doing as we're driving down the road. >> what do you notice about gas prices right now? >> well, this week they're okay. the last month they were close to 5. >> how are you staying busy in the car? >> i mean, we got our switch. >> you have your nintendo switch? >> yeah. >> what else? >> and the ipad. >> reporter: those are some smart kids right there. speaking of those gas prices that you heard, one of the gentleman telling me they're about on par with what we saw last year. national average is about $3.12 a gallon, but you see on your screen right now how it varies depending on where you are in the country. in mississippi, that average is $2.66. you go out to california, it's $4.57. the tips that you always hear is as you're on the road, as you're in your car, preplan where

you're going to fill up because it can vary state to state, even station to station, chris. >> shaquille brewster, when you have your ipad, i guess you don't need the old license plate game, thank you, happy holiday to you, shaq, appreciate it. covid cases, however, are surging just in time for the holidays with a new variant fueling that spread. the cdc says as of december 9th, that new variant jn.1 accounts for 21% of covid cases in the u.s. joining me now, dr. vin gupta, pulmonologist and an msnbc medical contributor. always good to have you here. tell us about this new variant. >> well, chris, good afternoon. great to see you. this variant is a long line in a list of repeated variants have arisen since omicron way back almost two years ago. and what we're realizing is it's becoming ever more transmissible, more contagious

but not causing severity of symptoms that looks any different from are prior versions of this virus, which is great. that means if you're doing all the preventative things that we've been talking about, chris, for the last four years. i know it's almost like a broken record here, but if you're staying up to date with vaccinations. if you're protecting yourself from 30,000 feet with a high quality mask, those preventative measures here will keep you away from a pulmonologist like me. there's so much of a focus on gosh, is the symptom profile different or not with this new variant, doesn't matter. whether it's flu, where it's jn.1 or the prior versionsf omro they all cause the same relative distribution of symptoms here, congestion, sore throat, shortness of breath if it's severe. it's so hard to parse out what you have based on your symptom profile. so it's best to focus on prevention. >> the cdc says that 23 states had very high levels of covid. as we're preparing for the holidays, i was packing today and packed a bunch of the masks. is that the way to protect yourself? i mean, other than obviously

being up to date on your vaccines, what else should people be looking at? >> absolutely. this is where we move from prevention to reaction. so we talked about it's great for prevention, what about reaction. let's say you did your best and you still tested positive because these variants are becoming more transmissible, still possible you can test positive, covid, flu, maybe even rsv. here is the piece here, make sure, especially if you're higher risk that you're refilling your medications. 30% of americans don't refill their inhalers or vital medications month over month. make sure if you're high risk as we enter covid season, as you're traveling, get those refills. in let's make sure you've standing prescription, if you're an asthmatic, steroid prescriptions, if you have an exacerbations. those who are underinsured, there is not enough awareness of this vital service from the u.s. government. it's called test2treat.org.

free telehealth services and if indicated, if appropriate, free treatment for covid-19 and flu. it's vital that we talk more about this because there's so many people that are underinsured. lastly i'll say for those that are thinking about rsv, again, not enough awareness here. 16 and older, you can get these preventative vaccine shots now. there's just not a lot of those going into arms. if you're pregnant, you can get that vaccine. great for your baby. if you didn't get it when you were pregnant, talking about the moms out there, the recent mos, your baby can get a treatment to protect them from rsv, especially as we enter these cold and flu months here. really critical to take these preventative steps. >> let me make sure i understand you right. let's say you're traveling for the holidays. you test positive for covid. your doctor back wherever home is, nowhere to be found. you can call this test2treat and say to get paxlovid? >> so it's a website.

test2treat.org, funded by the nih. t-e-s-t-2-t-r-e-a-t, funded fully by government. free telehealth, the consultation is and free treatment delivered right to your doorstep. it's a fantastic service, not enough people know about it. i'll say, chris, just on the point of better at-home services for acute infectious diseases, pfizer launched an at home covid flu test. here's the problem, and even though that's well intended, these innovations are incredible, here's the problem, these medical innovations are not accessible to people because th'rtoo unaffordable. it's $40 a pop, and there's no guarantee that insurance will cover it. it's great that we have these tests now that can test for more things like covid and flu at the same time. but the problem is it's $40 out-of-pocket, and you have no guarantee your insurance will cover that. that is the problem. >> so much more we could talk about, but dr. vin gupta, happy

holidays to you and yours. it's great to see you, and thank you for all that great information. and still to come, a touching military reunion between an air force staff sergeant and his dog. nt and hisg blocks heartburn for a full 24 hours. for one and done heartburn relief, prilosec otc. one pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. (husband) ♪ hey there family! while you're shopping, ♪ for one and done heartburn relief, prilosec otc. ♪ get me a 5g phone, it's on my list. ♪ (wife) instead of doing all of this a better plan is to switch to verizon. (avo) this holiday turn any samsung phone, in any condition, into a galaxy s23+ on us. and now add netflix and max to your plan for just $10 a month. only on verizon.

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>> i trust him with everything i have. >> with your wife. >> -- life. >> with your life for sure. >> i instantly trusted john with his life. >> there's man's best friend and there's john. a 10-year-old german shepherd, who for air force staff sergeant mike ocala was the k-9 companion who had his back. >> your job is really about saving lives. >> if there's something around he's going to find it. no doubt about it. >> they worked side by side for years in hawaii, patrolling the base, local community and even traveling abroad with the white house, working to sniff out any explosives. >> when was this photo taken? >> that was taken shortly after we got assigned together. >> but two years ago staff sergeant alcala's skills were needed elsewhere. though he tried to have john move with him, it wasn't

possible, so john continued to serve on the island. >> leaving him was rough. it was definitely hard. >> harder than you anticipated? >> oh, yeah. much harder. think about, you know, your dog at home, if you have one, you just imagine just walking out the door and leaving him to someone else. it's very sad but, you know, they're going to be in good hands. >> and while john was in good hands, before staff sergeant alcala left, he made his partner a promise. >> i told them when i was leaving there, i said i am coming back for this dog. >> when he learned john was set to retire from active duty after eight years of service, he went straight to his wife brittney. >> any sort of negotiation that you kind of leaned into? >> got to fix the backyard. yep. >> as they got to work the four-legged hero honored with a retirement ceremony on his own hawaiian base, which included a special reading of the poem dedicated to the military working dog called "guardians of

the night." >> if we should meet again on another street, i will gladly take up your fight. whiskey 248 is relieved from active duty service. >> john humble as he can be, more focused on his toy than any attention. after the sendoff, john packed up and headed to the airport with a handler from the american humane organization. >> come on, buddy, let's go to texas. >> where he was celebrated once again, this time by the citizens he served. >> please join me in welcoming john on board. [ applause ]. >> but no kind of accolade could compete with what was to come. >> come here bubba, oh, look at

you. hi. oh, man. i missed you, bud. welcome home, buddy. >> how does it feel to have your best friend back? >> it's amazing. >> good old john wasting absolutely no time getting comfortable. >> oh, you want the scratches, yes, you do. >> he just wants some love. >> and as brittney came to say hello, she brought along john's new little sis, their 10-month-old daughter avery. >> who is this? >> is that your new best friend? >> a reunion well worth the wait for a loyal pup, ready to live out his golden years. >> his next mission, this is about what it looks like. >> yes. >> but on a couch or a bed. >> he definitely earned it. >> yeah, he did. >> now, that's the way to end a show. morgan chesky, thank you. that does it for us this hour. make sure to join us for "chris jansing reports" at our normal show time every weekday, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. eastern right here on

msnbc. our special holiday coverage continues with alex witt right now. he hits his mark —center stage—and is crushed by a baby grand piano. you're replacing me? customize and save with liberty bibberty. he doesn't even have a mustache. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ children are the greatest joy and our best hope for a better future.

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i'm gonna be emotional, she's gonna be emotional, but it's gonna be so worth it. i love that i can give back to one of our customers. i hope you enjoy these amazing gifts. oh my goodness. oh, you guys. i know you like wrestling, so we got you some vip tickets. you have made an impact. so have you. for you guys to be out here doing something like this, it restores a lot of faith in humanity.

you will love migrating... the sun... the sand... [ thunder clap ] we're not gonna make it. are we? uncle dan! we're trying to get to jamaica. stay close and... everything will be all right. [ gulps ] very good to be with you, i'm alex witt. we begin with the growing catastrophe at the southern border, disrupting commerce, and andcongress.or president b we know in the coming days the president will send a delegation of top u.s. officials to