ben collins explains.ow i'm launching on our streaming channel nbcnews now. every week night starting at 5:00 p.m. eastern. >> these days the news never stops, the morning's headlines changed by afternoon and by the end of the day, it's all totally different. so let's get into it. what's happening right now, what it all means for you for an hour every day. i get it, i know that it can be hard to keep up, so let's get started together and go from there. >> i'm hallie jackson and we have a ton going on tonight. ♪ ♪ there are beautiful ideas that remain in the dark. but with our new multi-cloud experience, you have the flexibility you need to unveil them to the world. ♪ (chloe) wireless family plans save you money, but then you have to deal with family. (aunt 1) chloe... (aunt 2) still single, dear? (chloe) so i got visible. team up with friends and get unlimited data for as low as $25 a month. no family needed. (dad vo) is the turkey done yet?! (mom vo) here's your turkey! (chloe) turkey's done. [fire alarm

joining us now is ben collins, a senior reporter for nbc news. he covers disinformation and extremism on the internet. ben, thanks for being here, i really appreciate you making time. >> thank you. >> it is easy to sort of point and drop your jaw and be agog at this. but i feel like one of the reasons i wanted to talk to you about it is i feel like you've been smart about how these are our fellow americans and these are people who are politically engaged in their own way. and these folks are looking for something and believing they're finding it within these strains. did you feel surprised that there were so many people who actually turned up there, given how obscure and far out there these theories are that would have motivated them to have to be there? >> yeah, rachel. i was shocked about this, frankly. look. in the qanon universe, this is like a denomination of it, this jfk junior thing. let's back up to what qanon is, right? it's this idea that there's this guy named "q" embedded in the government. he was saying there was a big secret plan fro

our ben collins is going to join us live after the break. >>> and facebook's latest legal threat coming from one attorney in texas. why she's trying to take her case against the platform all the way to the supreme court. p the way to the supreme court ♪ ♪ there are beautiful ideas that remain in the dark. but with our new multi-cloud experience, you have the flexibility you need to unveil them to the world. ♪ ray loves vacations. but his diabetes never seemed to take one. everything felt like a 'no'. everything. but then ray went from no to know. with freestyle libre 2, now he knows his glucose levels when he needs to. and... when he wants to. so ray... can be ray. take the mystery out of your glucose levels, and lower your a1c. now you know. try it for free. visit freestylelibre.us itchy? now you know. scratchy? family not getting clean? get charmin ultra strong. it just cleans better, so your family can use less. hello clean bottom! enjoy the go with charmin. >>> okay, so do you remember those qanon people who got together in dallas a few weeks ago thinking jfk, jr. was going to come

joining me now is ben collins, senior reporter for nbc news who covers disinformation, extremism and egin that, by the way, trump is related to the kennedys and the late jfk jr. would come back to life to become trump's republican running mate? >> i think it's important to realize that this started with q, from qanon. q is that fictional character basically that posts anonymously on the white supremacist website. q many years ago posted very vaguely president trump and jfk jr. and then he said just like think about it. when you tell conspiracy people to think about it, they don't think what connections do these people have. they think very simply. they think jfk jr. is still alive and they're going to run together. the horse was out of the barn by the time q was able to reel this in. q tried to stop this, q this anonymous poster said he's not still alive. he's like don't think of it that way. it doesn't really work that way, but you know, like i said the horse is out of the barn here. people on telegram who became q influencers over the last year and a half ran with this. they decided

ben collins, thank you so much for your reporting. thanks for being on this morning. >>> still ahead on "morning joe," the man accused of driving his suv into a crowd at a wisconsin christmas parade makes his first court appearance. this as we learn that a sixth victim, an 8-year-old boy, has died in the aftermath of the crash. >>> plus, three of america's biggest pharmacy chains have been found liable for helping fuel america's opioid crisis. what that decision means for thousands of similar lawsuits across the country. >>> also ahead, with coronavirus cases on the rise, the biden administration seeks an emergency order to reinstate its workplace vaccine mandate. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. as someone who resembles someone else, i appreciate that liberty mutual knows everyone's unique. that's why they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. oh, yeah. that's the spot. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ [gaming sounds] [gaming sounds] [gaming sounds] just

experts say it's just not possible to detox your body from a covid shot here's ben collins razors andare what they're talking about. >> reporter: yes, people are using cupping methods to try to get the vaccine out. doctors are saying, once it's in your body, it's in your body, you're vaccinated. but people are filling baths up with borax, the cleaning agent, the detergent, and trying to find ways to get the vaccine out of your body in that way so this is kind of going viral on tiktok right now. that's what that is about. >> tiktok is not an american company. what kind of response should we expect >> reporter: tiktok has tried to take down some of the videos but people can duet them on tiktok, it's a way for other users to add ingredients, to tell people various different ways that they've been personally trying to detox from this so the moderation there is not very good. it's spread over to other places like facebook and mewe as well. >> and these discussions and methods have been around before covid, this has just thrust them into the spotlight, right? >> reporter: yes previously, th

. >> mike florio, ben collins, thank you both for walking us through this news. >>> there's also news as we wait for house speaker pelosi to speak any minute from now. also, we have an nbc news exclusive, you will only see here on a new controversy involving michigan republicans. the secret influence campaign. that's coming up. e secret influ. that's coming up ♪♪ this... is the planning effect. this is how it feels to know you have a wealth plan that covers everything that's important to you. this is what it's like to have a dedicated fidelity advisor looking at your full financial picture. making sure you have the right balance of risk and reward. and helping you plan for future generations. this is "the planning effect" from fidelity. riders, the lone wolves of the great highway. and helping you plan for future generations. all they need is a bike and a full tank of gas. their only friend? the open road. i have friends. [ chuckles ] well, he may have friends, but he rides alone. that's jeremy, right there! we're literally riding together. he gets touchy when you talk about his lack

according to ben collins, he addressed their nation of followers and made three revelations.in fact, dead. two, the earth is not flat. three, elections are safe. just one month after that, trump supporters stormed the capitol motivated by the big lie that the election was stolen from donald trump. seems like q doesn't even control believers anymore. this past week, voters elected at least ten republicans to office who attended the rally on january 6th, which turned into a deadly insurrection. i know this sounds absolutely bonkers. at the end of the day, these people, no matter how far on the fringe they fall, are fellow americans who have been manipulated by the system. they are motivated. they are turning out to vote. there will almost certainly be more qanon supporters on the ballot in 2022. if you think this is scary, you have no idea. the journey is why they ride. when the road is all you need, there is no destination. uh, i-i'm actually just going to get an iced coffee. well, she may have a destination this one time, but usually -- no, i-i usually have a destination. yea