david leonhardt, thank you so much. the essay is terrific and i hope people read it.this has just come in. where am i headed this time? oh, wow, very cool. i like that. i'm old now. i never thought i'd live to see an american that loses its democracy. i'm so glad my dad, a world war ii veteran, is not alive to see this. i'm 59. never in my life -- i've been paying attention since i was 18. never in my life, never until the very recent last couple of years that i worry about -- the sort of concerns on my mind are heretofore third-world concerns. never did i worry in the united states about protecting democracy. so i share your consternation and your worry for what the old man would have thought. mine, too. >>> we're following two big stories, the vote on mark meadows criminal contempt referral, but also president biden's fight to save his build back better agenda. the top progressive in the house is here. does this happen before christmas? and what happens if senator manchin refuses to budge? representative pramila jayapal joins me next. hi, my name is cherrie. i'm 76

david leonhardt is here, senior writer with "the new york times." he writes the morning newsletter and his cover covid extensively. he's also been ahead of the curve in explaining what's going on with these new variants. also with me katherine woou of the atlantic, staff writer at the atlantic, and lately that means covering covid. david and katherine, thank you both for coming on the program. >> thanks, brian. >> thank you for having us. >> how are you thinking about this weekend and these surges? you and i know what's happened the past few days. major metropolitan areas where a lot of journalists, there's been an incredible spike in covid cases, a lot of attention on it now and i think there's debates about how to be covering the story and how to be assessing cases differently. is the nfl the right pathway forward? is the nfl's changing protocol -- is that the right pathway forward now? >> i'm not sure it's the right pathway for everyone. i do think directionally it tends to treat this differently the way the nfl is doing it. here's basically how