lester >> erin mclaughlin, thank you. >>> dr. richard besser is a former acting director of the cdc. i spoke to him a few minutes ago about the latest developments. dr. besser, good to have you here. let's start off with what we heard from the head of moderna today, suggesting the vaccines may not stand up, may not be as effective against this variant. is that something unexpected to you and what does the trajectory of this pandemic look like if that's the case? >> well, you know, lester, i think that's one of the big reasons why this is being taken so seriously there's a lot of unanswered questions a big one is how effective are the vaccines that are currently being used against this because of the number of mutations that are seen, the concern is vaccines won't work as well, but that's not known yet. so clearly right now being vaccinated is the best situation to be in until we have further information. >> i know restrictions and shutdowns and mandates can be unpopular at times, but are we using all the tools in the tool box her

nbc's erin mclaughlin explains how climate patterns are wreaking havoc on ski seasons everywhere. >>s across the west, it's a winter no-show. with little snow on the ground at ski resorts that usually open in time for the thanksgiving holiday are still closed. over the weekend just over one-third of the area's ski grounds were partially open. around lake tahoe where there are over a dozen resorts, just three have been able to operate their lifts. the patchy start to the season comes after october's early winter wallop. snowstorms then left ski season hopes high and now dry. >> it's been really warm since then. >> reporter: it's the same story in colorado. denver has now gone 228 consecutive days with any measurable snowfall. that's the longest snowless stretch since 1887. california ski regions are the site of a so-called weather inversion. it causes warmer air which typically sits at lower elevations to rise. making temperatures in the mountains warmer. it's kept lake tahoe's nighttime temps above freezing which means even manmade snow won't stick. >> i can't remember in the 16 year

erin mclaughlin, thank you so much. dr. peter hotez, monica alba, and dr. john torres, thank you for getting us through this breaking news. everybody, remember, health officials said they expected this variant to be here. what they were doing is trying to buy time with those travel bans. they are cautioning, do not panic, they are testing the variant right now to try and figure out how contagious it is, how serious it is. remember, the person who has it so far, that we know, here in the united states is fully vaxed, two vaccines, two shots, and has mild symptoms, is getting better every day. there is a news conference coming out of san francisco from the mayor there, mayor london breed. we will bring that to you once it begins. we do want to sneak in, though, a very short break. don't go anywhere. if you're on medicare, remember, the annual enrollment period is here. the time to choose your coverage... begins october 15th... and ends december 7th. so call unitedhealthcare... and take advantage of a wide choice of plans... including an aarp medicare advantag

joining us, erin mclaughlin. erin, there is a fascinating story.g too closely, but everyone knows who she is, this blood testing technology. she could test you for all kinds of diseases in the future, and it turned out to be a whole lot of nothing. >> reporter: that's right, katy, and the jury has been deliberating for eight hours. it's made up of four men and eight women with two alternates. one juror was dismissed during the trial for playing sodoku. for much of the trial the jury has seemed very interested in the case. last week one of the jurors asked for a new pen because they had been taking extensive notes. now, there has been a lot of testimony and evidence during the course of trial. 32 witnesses over the past three months, 11 charges total. a lot for the jury to consider because they have to come back with a jury on each charge. it is unlikely they will return a verdict today. the jury has to determine not only if elizabeth holmes conducted fraud or if she intended to cheat people out of hundreds of millions of dollars. katy? >> any indic

. >> nbc's erin mclaughlin is in los angeles. also with us, dr. torres, medical correspondent. i want to be transparent with both of you and our viewers. we're juggling a lot of live events. we expect to see president biden. we'll take that live. we expect to hear the sheriff's news conference from michigan. we will take that live if we can as well. erin, i want to start with you. as we wait for one of these events to happen now, we just heard from the california governor. no real news other than what we already knew, which is that this person had tested positive for this variant. they had returned to california from south africa just a couple weeks ago, right? >> reporter: that's right. they returned to san francisco from south africa in late november. upon their return, this individual, who has not been so far named by authorities, developed what was called mild symptoms. from there, got tested and, obviously, the fact that this individual traveled from south africa around this time would have raised red flags with officials. authorities there at the university of california,

>> erin mclaughlin in los angeles, lindsey reiser in new york, thank you so much. and you can watch lindsey weekend mornings on msnbc starting at 6:00 a.m. eastern, 3:00 a.m. pacific. thank you for being with me. joining me now is dr. eileen marty, a doctor of infectious diseases at florida international university. doctor, it's great to see you. let's talk about on thursday, 6,300 new cases since september. what's going on? >> this is the most contagious form of the sars cov-2 virus that we've seen yet and the numbers are absolutely skyrocketing. especially that we don't have any requirements that people do the things that are necessary to reduce that threat. and that's part of the problem. and i think people should be aware that, yes, our hospitalizations are going up, but what's really dramatic about that is that we have so many tools now to keep people from being hospitalized, that what you're really seeing is a surge in cases in urgent cares and emergency rooms that don't get admitted, that would have gotten admitted before we had these treatments. so when you

are delaying their openings because warm temperatures are keeping the slopes nearly snowless erin mclaughlin has more. >> reporter: on slopes across the west, it's a winter no show. with little snow on the ground, ski resorts that usually open in time for the thanksgiving holiday are still closed over the weekend, just over a third of the area ski grounds were partially resorts, three have been able to operate and it comes after october's early winter wallop. snow season high, now dry. >> it's been really warm since then we haven't seen the natural snow. >> reporter: it's the same story in colorado, denver has now gone 228 consecutive days without any measurable snowfall. that's the longest snow has stretched since 1887 california ski regions are the site of a so-called weather inversion. the phenomenon causes warmer air, which typically sits at lower elevations to rise, making temperatures in the mountains warmer it's kept it above freezing, meaning even man-made snow doesn't stick. >> i can't remember in the 16 years i have been forecasting here when we've had no snow on the ground and no

erin mclaughlin has that story >> reporter: a fiery crash killing four in april 2019 outside denver now calls for clemency for the man found responsible. >> no more injustice. >> reporter: last week truck driver rogel aguilera-mederos was sentenced to 110 years in prison. for the fatal collision that involved 28 vehicles >> oh, my god! >> reporter: colorado law requires minimum prison terms for certain crimes and mandates they be served back-to-back. rogel aguilera-mederos was convicted on 27 counts, including vehicular homicide >> i wish that god would have taken me. >> reporter: rogel aguilera-mederos says his brakes failed. prosecutors say he should have diverted to run-away truck ramps. and online petitions signed by nearly five million people is putting pressure on the governor jared polis to reduce the sentence immediately the prosecution, some victims' families, even the judge agrees it's too much. >> if i had the discretion, it would not be my sentence. >> reporter: the district attorney has now filed a motion to reduce the sentence and is facing controversy over this facebook p

pregnant wife laci peterson in 2002 it comes after his death sentence was overturned last year erin mclaughlin is at the courthouse >> reporter: after nearly 20 years on death row, scott peterson back in court, re-sentenced to life without parole for the murder of his wife laci and unborn son conner peterson shackled to a seat and wearing a mask showed little emotion in court the judge declining his request to speak lacy's mother sharon rocha addressing peterson directly. i've seen no sorrow and no remorse from you at all i still feel the grief. every day after 19 years. peterson was moved off death row following a california supreme court decision overturning his death sentence citing a series of clear and significant errors in jury selection in 2004, peterson was found guilty of murdering 27-year-old laci then eight months pregnant with their son connor on christmas eve. their remains washed ashore months later, just miles from where peterson said he had been fishing the day of her disappearance peterson's team pushing for a retrial. with that pending tonight, rocha's chilling words, no matt

erin mclaughlin has that story. >> reporter: tonight in california, faced with crime and chaos at the height of the holiday shopping season, calls to reestablish law and order. >> police need to arrest them. prosecutors need to prosecute them. >> reporter: on thursday, l.a. authorities announced 14 arrests with more than $330,000 worth of goods stolen in 11 smash and grab style incidents since november 18th. this latest crackdown falling flat for some after officials announced all suspects are no longer in police custody. >> you hear the astonishing amounts of property that's being stolen, hundreds of thousands of dollars, only 14 arrests. that's not going to discourage people from doing this type of crime. >> reporter: nevertheless, it is the largest roundup since the holiday crime wave crashed across california, striking fear everywhere from major retailers to small boutiques. >> there is just so many people out, and it does make me a little nervous. >> reporter: the latest smashing up a mom and pop to the north in san jose. $70,000 worth of jewels gone in 12 seconds. and last week

that was the sentence and it's sparking outrage rage and a erin mclaughlin has the latestus sentenced last week because of state laws that require sentences for certain crimes to be served consecutively or back to back. now there are mounting calls for clemency action for the colorado governor this morning, there are growing calls in colorado to reduce a controversial 110 year sentence. celebrity attention and an online petition signed by nearly 5 million people asking for help for a truck driver responsible for a fatal crash near denver two years ago. now a colorado district attorney asking for a hearing to see if it should stand. he was sentenced on december 13th, for the deadly chain reaction crash that captured the nation's attention in april 2019 >> oh, my god! we almost [ bleep ] died >> the crash reached 28 vehicles, four people were killed the 26-year-old says his brakes failed prosecutors say the driver should have taken steps to prevent the crash, including diverting to truck ramps aguilera-mederos testified last week that he never meant to hurt anyone >> i would have prefer

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erin mclaughlin is in los angeles and dr. michael osterholm joins us. he's the director for the center for disease control research and policy at the university of minnesota. lindsey, you are in my hood on the upper east side. that line looks insane. we have not seen anything like that since the way beginning of this pandemic. what are people telling you? are they sick? >> reporter: stephanie, it's been like this all week and people have been lined up since before 6:00 a.m. this place opened at 7:00 a.m. we'll pan so you can see. the line stretches completely down the block. and steph, i've talked to a bunch of people in this line, and some of them know people who have been exposed, a roommate, a coworker, other people say that they're traveling internationally or maybe they just want to be safe ahead of holiday gatherings. one person i talked to did say she was symptomatic, so she wanted to get tested just to be safe. so you're talking about things feeling a little reminiscent to the beginning of the pandemic. we've got somebroadway shows and restauran

nbc's erin mclaughlin joins us now with the latest on the case and how police found the missing womaner a massive manhunt. police say they have a suspect in custody, but this morning there are new questions about what she may have survived. >> reporter: this morning, harrowing new details in a case involving a 19-y involving a 19-year-old college student who went missing >> we are so excited to have our maddie home. >> reporter: on saturday, police found maddie alive the culmination of a five-day search operation >> he said i have her. and we dropped to our knees. >> reporter: last week, snow college shared this individual, showing allen walking out of the campus dorm. the last time she was seen before she went missing. police say allen was found nearly 90 miles away at a house occupied by a 39-year-old utah man. identified by police as brent brown, now in custody. brown is charged with obstruction of justice, kidnapping and rape. >> we did a fair amount of door knocking, as well, to help locate her >> reporter: according to court documents obtained by affiliate ksl and reviewed by nb

nbc's erin mclaughlin joins us from l.a good morning >> good morning, savannah.renzy and peloton's stock price plummeting but now the company is hitting back big time. and just like that, peloton striking back overnight, releasing this tongue in cheek video featuring mr. big. >> you look great. >> i feel great. >> the ad coming days after the bombshell twist in the new "sex in the city" revival spoiler alert, if you haven't seen it, stop watching right here mr. big suffers a heart attack after a vigorous workout on a peloton bike sarah jessica parker finds him collapsed on the floor >> just like that, big died. >> stunned fans lighting up social media, some lashing out against peloton. one tweeting i'm afraid to get back on my peloton >> hours after the episode aired, peloton's stock took a dive in a statement, peloton defended its product and blamed mr. big, saying he lived what many would call an extravagant lifestyle, including cocktail, cigars and big steaks these were the likely cause of his death, writing his peloton bike may have even helped delay his card

. >> erin mclaughlin has more on skiers everywhere praying for a cold snap. >> reporter: good morningthere's nothing but dirt and dry grass in an area that should be a winter wonderland the temperatures simply too warm for snow and this ski season has gotten off to a rocky start. this morning on slope across the west, it's a winter no show. ski resorts that usually open in time for the thanksgiving holiday are still closed over the weekend, just over a third of the area's ski grounds were partially opened. around lake tahoe where there are around a dozen resorts, just three have been able to operate their lifts. the patchy start to the season comes after october's early winter wallop. snow storms left ski season hopes high, now dry. >> it's been really warm since then >> it's the same story in colorado denver has now gone 228 consecutive days without any measurable snowfall. that's the longest snow was stretched since 1887 california's ski regions are the site of a so-called weather envision the phenomenon causes warmer air which typically sits at lower elevations to rise, making temp