let's bring in our political analyst, larry gerston. larry, when he took office, president biden said vice president harris would be a full partner and immigration would be one of her key issues. immigration is a tough one. is this a no-win situation for her? >> it's a tough one and she got off on the wrong foot. at one point when she toured that central america area, she said if you're thinking about coming to america, don't. that's just probably the worst way someone could say it's tough if you come. we've got a long wait, be careful. this kind of thing. so that really got kamala harris off on the wrong foot. still, she is viewed as the president's full partner. that's what he calls her. and as she's gone through this first year with him, they have both had some tough times. in her case, some people think she's done a fabulous job, she's on task, she's getting things done, and others say sometimes she seems almost dysfunctional and just a little bit out of it. so that's the stuff that's going on with her. but really to no one's surpris

larry gerston, thanks for your time. >> a grim reality for many families. the death toll has risen to nearly 90 people after those tornadoes ripped through six states last friday. dozens of people remain missing as the national guard sifts through the rubble. neighbors and volunteers from across the country have now flocked to mayfield, kentucky, and other communities leveled by the twisters. we do have stories of heroism that are emerging like that of 13-year-old gage evans. he led his brothers to safety in a storm cellar. >> nothing was stopping me. i said i'm going to get them, nothing is going to stop me. >> everyone must stay focused and stick together. don't get lost in the negativity. we have to stick together right now. >> so far, the youngest storm victim was just 2 months old. the oldest was 98. >> as we close in on two years since the first official case of covid was identified in the u.s., today is the one-year anniversary when we first had that chance to fight back against the virus. a year ago today, the first covid vaccine doses were given in

nbc bay area political analysts, larry gerston joins us this morning. good to see you.for texas? >> good morning, kira. texas, and maybe the whole country, actually. we have to go back to roe v. wade for a second, and in that decision the supreme court said the woman has a right to privacy, and that is implied in the constitution, and she has a right to choose when she wants to have an abortion, should she decide to do that. 23 weeks was the limit the court set, approximately. this court is saying we don't know that the constitution says that, we don't see that. we see it plainly speaking. if there is no right to privacy in the constitution, then it's up to the states to decide. if the texas decision goes as many of us think, that in fact, it will be upheld, 26 states are ready to move forward with similar legislation, and ten of them saying conception begins immediately, which means no abortion whatsoever. >> if states are left to write their own abortion laws state by state, where does california fit in to all of that? >> you had a nice graph a second ago, kira, and y

nbc bay area analyst, gary -- larry gerston. what makes this so important for the country?rs. first, impact. one out of every four women under the age of 45 will have an abortion, and that's a large number of women directly impacted by the decision. and the second is public opinion. the survey suggests there's strong majority vote when it comes to roe v. wade. a more recent survey shows a 2 to 1 majority for roe v. wade, so that's important. finally, the third thing we want to think about is science versus religion. the science says at 23 weeks, that's when a fetus leaving the womb can survive as a baby. religion says and those who are favoring it this way, is life begins at consepltion. it's hard to find middle ground between those two values. >> so nearly 50 years after what so many justices agreed on, roe v. wade as settled law, why this issue now? >> why now? yeah, why now? 48 years later. why now? well, there has been a seismic shift in the composition of the supreme court, and every one of the three justices nominated by trump, every one of them in their judicial live

let's bring in larry gerston. what's going to happen tomorrow? any indication? what does putin want? and what will president biden actually say? >> putin wants ukraine back, that simple. ukraine and russia have a long history together, the language is similar. they had a revolution that overthrew a very russian president. he won't go so far as to take the whole country back but he's certainly threatening to do so. he's most worried about ukraine and nato and the u.s. cozying up any more than they already are. so he's going to push very hard to see that the u.s. does not do anything more to foster that relationship, raj. >> let's go over to china now, the olympics upcoming in february, also an issue here. a diplomatic boycott. we just mentioned that, about china's record on human rights. the diplomatic boycott would mean no u.s. government official would attend the games, limiting a boycott to government officials is a way to send a message of protest without preventing the athletes from going. the athletes are going, officials are not. china has cracked down on

larry gerston, thank you very much for everything in 2021. look forward to talking to you in 2022. happy holidays. >> thank you. same to you, terry. >>> let's go outside now. a live look at sfo affected by the wave of flight cancellations and delays we mentioned at the top of this newscast. sfo reported 214 flight delays and 72 canceled flights today. major carriers including delta and united blame it on flight or ground crews getting sick from covid or getting exposed to the virus. and the travel shortage is not expected to end immediately. >> i think you have to fasten your seat belts for new year's. i think we are in for more days and more cancellations. >> reporter: the trouble in the skies have been compounded by extreme weather in parts of the northwest. if you're taking a flight the next couple weeks, keep checking daily there are any changes to your flight. >>> here we are just days away from ringing in the new year in the midst of a pandemic. but the big new year's eve in new york city is still scheduled to take place. they are sprucing up the ball for times square and cov

nbc bay area political analysts, larry gerston joins us now. >> the fact is, the reason why we don'te have created strong earthquake designs from buildings to keep us from suffering too much, and that gets to the whole issue of what is going on across the midwest and the south with the terrible tornadoes. why is it that some places fair better than others? the answer is government actions. governments do lots of things, kira. they collect taxes and spend money, of course, we know that much, and they also create rules, how fast you can go on the roads, rules for real estate licenses, how late bars can serve alcohol -- all kinds of rules. another set of those rules has to do with building codes. yes, in california it turns out we have the toughest building codes in the nation. that's why we don't worry so much about things like earthquakes. check out the rankings, you will see california ranked in an independent study. look at the states that suffered so deeply in the past few days. kentucky, 13, and arkansas, 40. well, these states suffered a lot and one of the reasons they suffered i