Chasing Omicron News Today

Yesterday pushing back on what some are describing as his administrations slow reaction to the new variant. take a listen. >> what would you say to some americans that would say it feels like were chasing omicron instead of being ahead of it, fully prepared for it. >> look, omicron really came on the scene just before thanksgiving. we werent talking about omicron six months ago. it is recent. so we are chasing omicron. >> ej, you have written about this. it is part of why i wanted to talk to you...

Welcome to the beat. im in for ari melber. we have a lot to get to, including a guilty verdict in the trial of former minnesota police officer kimberly potter. outpouring of reaction after shes convicted of manslaughter in the killing of donte wright. plus, i talk live to a nobel prize winning economist as biden and manchin try to reach a deal. we start with covid cases exploding on the single busiest travel day of 2021. kicks off the busiest travel week. an estimated 100 million drivers hitting...

Signals it might be. the reason it is hard to figure this out, delta happened at a different point in time, where more of the worlds population was not vaccinated yet, more of the worlds population didnt have immunity. it is hard to figure out what today omicron would do to a person without any prior infection and isnt vaccinated. thats why the severity question is hard. youve seen what the uk is seeing, shorter hospitalization times. thats something we saw as well. is that because the pop haiti...

D.c. recording a record number of cases. across the country, crushing lines for tests. it will be weeks before 500 million additional tests promised by president biden will be available. >> if you go to the pharmacy, we hear it over and over again, empty shelves, no test kits. is that a failure? >> no, i dont think it is a failure. >> were nearly two years into the pandemic, youre a year into the presidency, empty shelves, no test kits in some places three days before christmas when it is so imp...