Morning News NOW Full Broadcast - Jan. 18

[Music] good morning i'm joe fryer and i'm savannah sellers right now on morning news now progress and setbacks in the fight against covid and the situation all depends on where you live in much of the u.s new cases and hospitalizations are still on the rise with experts warning a peak won't come for weeks but for the states hit first by the winter wave some signs of relief as infection rates begin to drop we have team coverage mapping out the latest and what it could mean for the weeks ahead plus we'll check in with a doctor ready to answer your questions battle on the hill the future of american democracy taking center stage at the capitol today senate lawmakers set to debate two bills aimed at protecting voter rights the legislation backed by president biden but doomed without the support of two members of his own party this one day after an impassioned call to action by the family of martin luther king jr if you can deliver an infrastructure bill for bridges you can deliver voting rights for americans if you do not there's no bridge in this nation that can hold the weight of that failure more on their message ahead of today's historic debate in the dark parts of the northeast digging out from that massive winter storm this morning thousands of people without power with temperatures still below freezing in some parts of the country will take you to the area's hardest hit and rescue mission an urgent attempt to save the ocean's gentle giant from climate change why manatees are struggling to survive in warmer waters and the efforts now to nurse them back to health that of course as we continue to focus on climate change and bring you these different types of stories showing all different types of impacts yeah kerry sanders will bring us that one a little later well all right we begin though with the latest on the pandemic this morning nbc news has confirmed there have now been more than 66 million covet cases in the u.s right now a hundred thirty thousand americans are hospitalized with covet and cases are still rising in nearly every state despite that there are some signs of progress in regions first hit hard by omicron in states like new jersey rhode island and connecticut cases appear to have peaked and here in new york city they've dropped off nearly 47 percent from earlier this month but other parts of the country are still getting slammed according to an nbc news tally california has now surpassed 7 million cobia 19 cases since the start of the pandemic becoming the first state to hit that mark we have team coverage to help us break down and understand the latest on the pandemic joining us now is nbc news medical reporter erica edwards dr bob lajita will join us in a moment erica we'll start with you and we're going to start with schools we've been talking about how fast the omicron variant has spread that's made it hard for some schools to keep their classrooms staffed what's the impact you're seeing and how are school districts handling this surge yeah hey joe good morning you know the impact coast to coast has been enormous schools in washington state kansas missouri even new york have had to cancel classes either because of high community transmission of pope in 19 or because so many teachers and other staff have called out sick now for those schools districts that have been able to remain open districts are calling on you know national guardsmen school board members even parent volunteers to step in as either substitute teachers bus drivers even custodial and cafeteria staff the north kansas city school district had 300 teachers out sick last friday we talked with the school district superintendent about how they also got creative here's what he had to say we're having a pretty difficult time and covering all of our classes he had to really lean on on our staff like our paraprofessionals our librarians our reading teachers our central office staff to go fill those additional vacancies so that we continue to have school some school districts have actually extended the mlk holiday weekend into this week to help shore up some of those absences so erica as we mentioned we're seeing a plateau in some of those states that were first to report omicron cases it strikes me these areas are in the northeast where vaccination rates are high so do health experts think we're going to see this in other parts of the country and if so what what's the timeline looking like this for omicron sure so other countries who have gone through an omicron surge have generally seen a really steep rise in cases and then a really steep fall in cases now here in the u.s as you mentioned cases uh it appears that cases in parts of the northeast even in florida have begun to plateau but because cases are rising in so many other parts of the country experts say it's still going to be a few weeks before we could possibly see any kind of national plateau and looking forward some health uh experts are suggesting omicron's rapid spread will help us reach the endemic stage so remind us what is that the endemic stage and what are you hearing from health experts about it yeah yeah that's a hope that uh coven 19 is somehow evolving into something that even though it's around us all the time it's not causing widespread disruption as it has over the past few years um dr anthony fauci addressed the issue yesterday during a world economic forum event here's what he had to say when you talk about whether or not omicron because it's a highly transmissible but apparently not as pathogenic for example as delta i would hope that that's the case but that would only be the case if we don't get another variant that eludes the immune response to the prior variant it is an open question as to whether or not omicron is going to be the live virus vaccination that everyone is hoping for joe right now more than 98 of uh copen 19 cases here in the u.s for the omicron variant back to you erica edwards kicking us off this hour erica thank you now let's bring in dr bob lahita he's a professor at the hackensack meridian medical school and the director of autoimmune and rheumatic diseases at st joseph help also the author of his new book immunity strong dr lahita great to have you with us so let's start with your response right there to what we just heard from dr fauci about whether omacron will bring an end to the pandemic is this an endemic what's your take it's interesting that he used the term savannah live vaccine that's the way we think of this omicron variant because it has infected so many people eight hundred and two thousand cases a day right now so yes perhaps this is the end i'm hoping but we always have the possibility that there are going to be new variants developing and so he's hedging his bets and saying right now it's too early to tell all right dr lahita now i want to ask you about some vaccine news so modernist ceo says they're working on a single shot booster that would be a combo actually of a coveted 19 booster shot and a flu shot so if that's approved what do you think about that is that safe i know some people are hesitant to combine those two some people are hesitant to get the coveted vaccine at all what do you think about this do you think people would take to it and what kind of an impact could it have if it were to roll out it would really be an amazing development simply because the messenger rna technology will be used now for influenza and in addition modern is talking about putting in inch messenger rna for other respiratory viruses like respiratory syncytial virus which nobody knows about but is a major cause of disability and cold going forward particularly in the winter time so this combo vaccine is extremely safe we i tell all my patients please get your flu shots most of them do not many do and they get them either at the same time as as the booster or the second uh shot or they don't get that they don't get it at all which is not good in the winter months so this is a major advance and it's extremely safe savannah now we've got a question for a viewer from you dr bob we've been doing this we've been asking our viewers to send in questions since we get to talk to experts like you every day so we have troy who's saying i had shot number one and number two how long should i wait before i get the booster shot i have not tested positive for cobia 19 is there a need to wait six months so i think here maybe especially with omicron spreading having not had the virus yet what do you think about that six months period no need to wait for the six months he can get it at five months but the cdc is recommending no sooner than five months with regard to other vaccines like the jnj uh the booster could be given like two to three months after that injection but five months after the moderna or pfizer vaccine the last shot all right dr bob lajita thank you for that i'm sure troy is thankful as well it's good to see you now if you have a question for one of our doctors let us know our doctors are ready to answer them for you you can email us there it is on your screen morning news now at nbcuni.com with your questions and you can let us know if you want to stay anonymous ask us anything on capitol hill the senate is preparing to debate two key voting rights bills it's legislation that's critical to president biden's legislative agenda this year with the midterms approaching right now the future is unclear for the freedom to vote act and the john lewis voting rights advancement act both bills were passed by the house yesterday but in the senate democrats joe manchin and kirsten cinema have already said they will not support changing the filibuster rules so democrats can pass the bills with a simple majority without that change the bills just don't have enough votes to get through the senate this debate comes just one day after the country honored the memory of martin luther king jr his children led a march through washington demanding that congress pass the two bills among the speakers his son martin luther king iii mr president senator senators mansion senator cinema members of the senate pass the freedom of the vote john r lewis act now if you can deliver an infrastructure bill for bridges you can deliver voting rights for americans if you do not there's no bridge in this nation that can hold the weight of that failure let's bring in nbc news capitol hill correspondent leon caldwell and nbc news white house correspondent mike memoly to help us preview this debate and what's at stake so leanne we'll start with you and the standoff in the democratic party first of all any indication senator's mansion and cinema and it'd have to be both have changed their minds at the last minute and if not then why are democrats forcing this showdown hey joe well there's no indication senators manchin and senator cinema have been extremely clear not only in their most recent statements last week but in the previous weeks and previous months as well that they will not get rid of this 60-vote threshold to pass legislation in the senate in order to pass this voting rights legislation despite attempts by their colleagues to try to convince them despite attempts by martin luther king the third who i have seen in the hallways of capitol hill multiple times over the past few weeks talking to senators trying to convince them to do it so ultimately this is moving forward with this party divided it's rare that a senate majority leader will show a divisions among their party but this is the choice senator schumer has to make he's getting a lot of progress uh pressure from progressive groups from civil rights groups and he's promised that he would do this and so it looks like my sources say that he's going to move forward even if that shows a party divided and that draws the attention on a divided party and not that republicans are opposed to this joe so mike no one has more influence than the president is president biden doing anything now behind the scenes to try and rally his party ahead of this well joe if the question is about what he's doing behind the scenes the answer is frankly not that much we saw the president return to washington last night after the long weekend in wilmington delaware he spent a part of the weekend with his chief of staff planning ahead looking ahead to his state of the union address coming up in march we haven't really seen any indication from the white house of further conversations between the president senator manchin center cinema since those three spoke at the white house on thursday night the readout from the white house then was that the conversation was respectful and cordial which is really diplomatic speak for difficult and no one was really moved by the conversation so what we saw yesterday publicly was both the president and the vice president using the martin luther king holiday to really keep up the urgency on this vice president harris telling reporters that she was not going to absolve any of the 100 senators trying to broaden the focus to include the republicans who oppose these voting reform changes and the president really calling this a moment of choosing this is now about public pressure campaign that democrats want to keep up through the midterm elections to try to rally their base so leanne despite what the vice president thinks republicans are going to see this as a win what are you expecting to see and hear from the gop during this debate today yeah we might see some republican senators come to the floor and debate this but also we might not they know that they are united in their opposition against this legislation we know that this is going to be another difficult week for democrats because uh the attention will be on them and their inability to pass this legislation and so while republicans have especially senate minority leader mitch mcconnell has done has put a lot of effort in making this very difficult for democrats by continuing to pressure senators mansion and cinema to stay on the side of the filibuster he and republicans know that this is going to be much more difficult for democrats while republicans are very confident that uh their base and their supporters are supporting their effort to completely oppose this joe so mike we're just days away from the start of president biden's second year in office these two bills are at the top of his agenda just a moment ago we saw the map that shows all the states that have passed their voting changes so if he does not pass federal voting rights legislation during his term what does that mean for the president moving forward well we can expect to hear the president and other white house officials try to keep the pressure up on the states where some of these voting laws are being passed specifically but we're also going to see the white house really try to turn the page they're going to move on to executive orders that we expect the president to be issuing on criminal justice reform another stalled priority and we have some new reporting today as well my colleagues carolee kristen welker and myself about the attempt by the white house to now turn in year two towards more towards the american people and less towards lawmakers in congress the white house really feels that the president has spent and been bogged down too much with the sausage making here in washington and as we head into a campaign year they want to spend more time talking directly to the american people it's sort of a typical pivot that we hear at this point especially when a president has his agenda stalled but it's something that the white house is really beginning to sketch out behind the scenes joe mike mentally leanne caldwell thank you so much for both your reporting appreciate it now americans across the northeast are digging out this morning after that massive winter storm pummeled the region with snow ice and heavy winds tens of thousands remain without power and roads are dangerous in many areas as the effects of the storm are still being felt up and down the east coast nbc news correspondent emily aquetta joins us now from pittsburgh hi emily good morning good morning to you well schools in buffalo and here in pittsburgh have been closed for the for the day and you can see why some roads still slick with ice and snow cities up and down the east coast this morning are recovering from the year's first major winter wallop and experts say it won't be the last this morning more fallout after a massive winter storm pummeled the majority of the country [Applause] shovels and snow plows put to work as many head back to work but the roadways proving difficult for even emergency crews to handle this is a major recovery when you've got trucks hanging over the highway driving conditions up and down the coast treacherous crashes and spinouts piling up on roadways in north carolina the storm taking a deadly turn two killed after a car veered off the interstate and injuries in virginia where state patrol responded to one thousand crashes and disabled cars on sunday alone more mayhem anticipated today after temperatures plummeted overnight officials are again warning of icy roads the holiday weekend a travel headache at the airport in buffalo a breaking 16 inches almost doubling the previous record across the country monday more than 5 thousand flights were canceled or delayed so it has been crazy really bad as millions are still digging out after snow freezing rain and high-powered winds caused chaos from florida to new england dangerous wind gusts ripping off the roof of a nursing home in maine fueling monstrous waves in massachusetts and causing coastal flooding in connecticut while 13 states logged double-digit snowfall totals the winter weather beat down dumping at least 20 inches in parts of ohio new york pennsylvania and north carolina where heavy snow is being blamed for collapsing a college storm's roof the cold weather wallop hanging on what is looking to be a long winter and this morning we're thankfully seeing some relief from the wind and snowfall but for some areas that won't be for too long forecasters warn a deep freeze could be returning to the east coast later this week guys talk about a one-two punch yeah really oh and emily thank you for being out there for us stay warm and let's get a check on your morning news now weather with nbc news meteorologist michelle grossman she joins us now with the latest on that better cold hitting the northeast hey michelle good morning hey there guys yeah it is cold this morning we also have winds in place so it's feeling colder than it is but much quieter compared to yesterday before we see another storm system move in but right now we're looking at northeast radar buffalo saw 17 inches of snow in one day that broke a record for the month of january and they're seeing some lake effect snow this morning but it's going to be on the lighter side not expecting huge accumulations there we're going to see some snow in the upper great lakes we could see over a foot in some spots otherwise we are relatively quiet in terms of any precipitation today in the northeast it's all about the cold air in place and it's windy so we're seeing winds gusting over 25 miles per hour at times montauk 32 mile per hour and then you combine that with the cold air and it's making it feel really frigid out there we're also looking at the potential for some icy spots this morning so as you head out please be careful 18 degrees right now in burlington it feels like five above freezing in baltimore but it feels like 28 degrees feels like 23 in richmond and it feels like just 11 degrees in beckley so as we go throughout the afternoon we're not going to go very far you want to wear the layers as you head out this morning temperatures mainly in the teens around the great lakes 10 degrees in watertown it's going to feel like 0 and 14 in burlington so this is the main story today that northeast chill but if we go to the middle of the country we are 10 to 25 degrees above normal for this time of year so 60 degrees today in grand isle 53 in denver and 64 in tall so that's 15 degrees above normal unfortunately it's not going to last very long you see that jet stream dipping to the south that's sort of like a door just opening allowing this cold air from canada to come in so here comes the cold once again tomorrow it's only going to be one degree in bismarck it's going to feel like 23. uh it's gonna be 23 degrees below what is typical for this time of year five degrees tomorrow in minneapolis and 12 degrees in madison now that's all gonna shift to the east so once again we're back into the deep freeze in rochester thursday friday saturday we're into the teens and then finally 24 degrees on saturday but you know what this cold air is going to set the stage for the potential for another nor'easter on saturday but let's talk temperatures 35 thursday in new york 23 on friday now this is what we're looking at here today we're looking at some snow along the upper great lakes so that's going to be the major precipitation maker as we head throughout the day so the clipper system moves through that's going to reinforce some cold air snow from north dakota to michigan this is going to slide off to the north and east but look what happens tomorrow you have some snow in the new england but along that trailing cold front you see some pink there that's more freezing rain you see some blue that's some snow as well in parts of kentucky also tennessee but you also see a lot of rain and some heavy rain in places that already got a lot of rain the past month or two so places in tennessee mississippi alabama you see those reds and yellows along the trailing the last edge of this cold front and we could possibly see some severe weather in those places parts of texas into the gulf coast states and that's what we're going to be watching on wednesday but for today that chill does return to the northeast the clipper system in the northern plains mild in the middle of the country and then we're watching a few showers in the southwest as we head towards tomorrow we're going to see those strong storms i told you about that cold front and again could see the possibility for some really strong winds maybe even a tornado isolated but we'll talk more about that tomorrow arctic chill in the northern plains lake effect snow once again so more snow for buffalo syracuse places like that and then guys i hate to show you this but we are watching the potential for another storm come this weekend it seems like every weekend we are seeing some sort of storm but we have two solutions here that we look at it's the american model the gfs showing that yeah we're probably not going to get a lot of snow along in new york city philadelphia dc it looks like most that snow stays off the coast and to the south but i will end with this because the european model which we look at often for snow it looks like we could see a major snowstorm along the i-95 corridor with winds and yeah blustery conditions once again so we're going to track this for you guys big difference looked quite a bit different i know right we'll see who's right all right thanks michelle coming up emergency in the pacific following a massive volcanic eruption up next on morning news now the latest from tonga as we get our first look at the devastating aftermath plus new fears that the death toll there could rise after the break welcome back first responders are rushing to the island nation of tonga following a massive volcanic eruption in the pacific ocean over the weekend police told the new zealand high commission in tonga that two people have died but with communication severely disrupted there are fears that number could rise nbc news correspondent matt bradley has the latest jaw-dropping images of an extraordinarily powerful and now deadly volcano erupting in the pacific ocean this video captured a day before an even larger eruption of the same underwater volcano rocked the island nation of tonga triggering tsunami alerts across the globe the scope of that eruption best scene from space satellite images showing a massive cloud of smoke spewing in all directions and as high as 12 miles in the air the most powerful volcanic activity in at least three in decades it's stunning power felt across five continents the entire west coast of the united states and alaska under a tsunami alert for most of the weekend in peru two people drowning after abnormally high waves slammed ashore ports from japan to new zealand littered with sunken fishing boats the powerful waves tossing them like toys and they popped their heads out of the out of their boat to see a red catamaran going over the top of my boat so that is the force of nature there shockwaves in central europe more than 10 000 miles away the before and after images are staggering the force of the blast nearly wiping this uninhabited island off the map new zealand now sending flights to survey the damage the extent of the devastation still largely unknown the eruption crippling tonga's communication system so the challenge is nobody is in contact with anybody on the island and therefore we are all a bit in the dark about exactly the scale of damage or what people are experiencing the first victim in tonga identified as 50 year old angela glover from the uk her brother says she tragically lost her life while trying to rescue her dogs oh gosh she's beautiful she was absolutely a ray of sunshine she loved her life there and we were so proud of her achievements in such such a short time in tonga tonga's olympic flag bear who garnered international attention for marching in traditional tongan attire says his father is among the missing i want people to understand that there's a lot of tongans around the world that were in the same situation and who are struggling you know something catastrophic has happened and that you know we're going to be needing assistance officials fear a massive disaster on the ground in tonga and warning there could be aftershocks for days to come matt bradley nbc news let's take a look at what else is making news around the world this morning alyaruzzi joins us today from tehran good morning ali good morning savannah joe well at least 22 people have been killed after back to back earthquakes struck the west of afghanistan according to data from the u.s geological society the 4.9 and 5.3 magnitude quakes shook the northwest province of baghdis one of the country's poorest regions causing houses and buildings to collapse with significant damage because many of the dwellings weren't stable or well built britain's defense secretary says that the uk will supply ukraine with short-range anti-tank missiles and send a small team of british troops to provide training for self-defense against increasingly threatening behavior from russia the first batch of light anti-armor weapons was sent on monday although the defense secretary didn't specify the type and sotheby's auction house has unveiled a diamond literally out of this world the extremely rare 555 carat black diamond is believed to have come from outer space it's currently on tour in dubai and la before it goes under the hammer in sotheby's in london they expect it to be sold for at least 6.8 million dollars i guess nothing quite says i love you like a 555 carat black diamond from outer space yeah and it may sound like a good investment until the aliens come back for it and then you're gonna wish you didn't have it outer space what that's pretty cool thanks ali and coming up midterm elections now less than 10 months away and the outcome could shift the balance of power in congress we'll have the latest on a high-stakes race shaping up in one battleground state plus cargo catastrophe the cleanup and investigation now underway after a train derailment and there's much more to the story you're watching morning news now [Music] welcome back on betty white's 100th birthday yesterday her assistant shared a heartfelt moment with the beloved star in her final days kirsten nicholas posted this photo of white it was taken back on december 20th that's just 11 days before white passed away the caption says she looked quote radiant and beautiful and as happy as ever she certainly does look that there it's one of the last known photos taken of the beloved actress since her death on new year's eve white has received an outpouring of affection from friends family and fans across the world of course yesterday we saw the betty white challenge i don't even know if we'll ever get an idea of how much money was donated to all the various shelters yeah around the country and honorably because of her love for animals yes so sweet and that picture how amazing it's beautiful and she just she does look so happy which i think is so good for people to see everything we've heard is she was happy to the end yes oh so amazing thanks jim now to a high stakes midterm race that could potentially decide which party controls the senate in battleground pennsylvania a state president biden narrowly won in 2020 several candidates are looking to grab the open senate seat the major contenders include a current congressman the state's lieutenant governor and a celebrity doctor nbc news now correspondent dasha burns joins us with a preview of this race from wilkes bar pennsylvania dasha good morning so let's start with the republican candidates and with the name a lot of our viewers may recognize dr oz is his celebrity helping him out how's he doing so far and where does this crowded race for the primary stand right now on the republican side hey savannah good morning we are doing it again we are talking elections i'm in a battleground state i'm having a little deja vu um got a snowy morning here today in pennsylvania and look it's still early but the candidates are shaking hands they're spending money they are flooding the airwaves here in pennsylvania with campaign ads there haven't been a lot of big tests yet but over the weekend we got an early indicator of where things stand when it comes to the gop candidates with the republican central caucus straw poll now this is a group of local republican leaders of activists these are the folks that are going out and getting voters to the polls they're organizing and the straw poll results were really interesting you had jeff bartos a real estate developer coming in first that was actually expected because he made a lot of these relationships when he was running for lieutenant governor second you had kathy barnett she's a conservative political commentator a bit of an outsider but she has been here on the ground really working it third you have dave mccormick who is the newest candidate to enter the race he was only about two days into his campaign so the fact that he put up double digits already uh is showing that he has some inherent appeal at least for uh the the folks within the republican party uh sort of machinery here in pennsylvania dr oz though got only one vote which was really interesting to see because he is the big name his ads are everywhere here in pennsylvania but in terms of the party itself in the state seems like he's not yet being taken seriously even though his name certainly is familiar to all the folks around here savannah now dasha these candidates are looking to replace republican senator pat toomey who's retiring but this seat could very well be a major get for democrats it would be if they were in fact to win it so as we just mentioned biden did win the state so tell us about the democrats in this race and what are they doing to try to win this seat yeah look savannah it really is a toss-up it is a wide open field and democrats are claiming that they can get this done and that they will get this done you've got lieutenant governor john fetterman who's putting up some of the biggest fundraising dollars right now and he does have a lot of name recognition in the state because of his position he styles himself as a populist the other big name you hear from a lot of folks and you see on tv a lot here is conor lamb he is a congressman from the western part of pennsylvania styles himself as a moderate he has beaten a republican before so he says that's evidence of the fact that he can get this done he's the only candidate who has won in a heavily republican district but then again fetterman did win a democratic primary and a general election in pennsylvania so those are the two uh that are the sort of the biggest contenders the biggest names in the race you also have a valar cushion representative malcolm kenyatta from philadelphia it's going to be really interesting to see it's still early on and it's anyone's game right now savannah it is still early still 10-ish months which means you've got a lot of time to spend there my dear but we are happy to have reporting from you thank you so much tasha good to see you a train derailment in los angeles is under investigation this morning it's also shining a light on a major problem you see the train cars derailed near the same spot where thieves have been raiding cargo trains stealing packages enroute to customers officials say the situation is unprecedented nbc news correspondent gotti schwartz explains a derailment of 17 train cars in los angeles saturday leaving crews to clean up the mess the cause under investigation the accident happened near the same section of tracks where thousands of empty boxes were left behind by cargo thieves the ground still strewn with pilfered empty ups fedex and amazon boxes a spokeswoman for union pacific telling nbc news that crews cleaning up the debris from the thefts will work to return anything that can be identified to shippers thieves have been raiding the cargo containers aboard trains in los angeles for months just days before the train's derailment cameras caught several people sorting through packages and stealing their contents we have really faced an unprecedented situation here in los angeles county in particular where we have had about 160 percent increase in railroad theft that we have never encountered before a statement from union pacific on sunday said the company has quote increased the number of special agents drones specialized fencing and trespass detection systems union pacific's agents have made hundreds of arrests but less than half are booked and of those most are released in less than 24 hours the company now asking the l.a county district attorney's office for help in prosecuting thieves saying the lack of consequences prevent union pacific from safely moving goods in november our nbc los angeles crews filmed people on the tracks one hopped on a slow-moving train carrying what appeared to be bolt cutters cargo thieves and organized cargo theft groups is that they will target commodities they know that they can sell so they're going to hone in on those commodities that are either high in demand or shortage and harder for people to get that way they can get a better return on the sale of it when after they steal it union pacific now considering changing rail operations like avoiding l.a county in the future if the level of cargo thefts continues to rise thanks to gotti schwartz for that report and coming up and feeling blue well it's not just you turns out yesterday was considered the saddest day of the year it's sometimes called blue monday we'll explain why for many it lasts much longer than just one day that's next in our weekly check-in welcome back now both pfizer and modern are currently working on an omicron specific vaccine but as cases soar what do we expect for this next generation of vaccines nbc news medical reporter erica edwards spoke in depth in depth with america's top scientist dr anthony fauci about boosters and developing a one-size-fits-all coronavirus vaccine for any future threat a vaccine that effectively tackles all forms of covet a pan coronavirus vaccine is being researched at hospitals around the country you don't have to worry that well now it's delta now it's alpha now it's beta now it's omicron that no matter how this particular virus mutates you know that you have a vaccine that covers the common denominator that's common throughout all of those currently we have to boost to raise our protection against new variants then all of a sudden omicron came along and if you look at the efficacy against the delta versus omicron it went down to around 30 from around 75.80 so that when you give a boost to your vaccine it brings it back up against omicron and that's the reason why you hear me and others saying why it's so important to get a booster a universal shot would eliminate the need for boosters or playing a game of whack-a-mole with future variants by having to develop variant specific vaccines the ultimate goal is to develop a vaccine that will protect against all coronaviruses what's the timeline for this kind of ultimate pancarona virus vaccine can we get one next year it's unlikely that we will get one next year for the entire family tree if you want to call it that but we can do pretty well within a year or so of getting one against all the different variants what dr fauci means by family tree is the phylogenetic tree which usually looks like this or family of all the coronaviruses the goal is to react quickly against future pandemics but that could take some time let's go back two years ago we warp speeded our night we didn't you did dwarves feeded our way to an effective vaccine within what eight nine months yeah you know we can't can we do the same thing to get to a pan corona virus operation warp speed was not a scientific accomplishment it was a production and clinical trial accomplishment this science for the vaccine was already in development for operation warp speed scientists will have to research what parts of the virus won't mutate and what specific parts of the virus will trigger an immune response for the new pan coronavirus vaccine for now this is what we can expect in the next few months there are two parallel pathways get boosters that work for what we're currently going through and develop a pan coronavirus vaccine for any future threat of an unknown outbreak of a coronavirus all right our thanks to erica edwards for that report and that great interview and now it's time for our cnbc money minute the biggest financial headlines of the day and why they matter to you savannah now joins us this morning good morning savannah hey guys good morning well the ceos of u.s commercial and cargo airlines are warning of a potentially catastrophic crisis they've sent a letter to the white house faa fcc and department of transportation they say a new 5g wireless service set to be launched by at t and verizon could make a significant number of wide-body jets unusable causing chaos for flights the faa has warned potential interference could affect sensitive instruments at t and verizon have said they've launched the new service and several other countries with no issues apple's digital car key feature may be expanding to more vehicles bloomberg reports hyundai and its upscale genesis brand will support apple car key by this summer some hyundai cars already include technology to support a digital key with car key you just bring your iphone or apple watch to the door handle to unlock it and place your phone in a given area to start the car currently the option is only available on a handful of bmw models and walmart may be getting into the metaverse the retail giant has made at least three filings with a u.s patent office suggesting plans to expand into cryptocurrencies and other virtual experiences that includes a walmart branded currency and a virtual reality game or online retail service with a marketplace of products authenticated by nfts such as home appliances beauty products and sporting goods guys back to you we are going to have more on that later in the show so that we can start to respond with more knowledge when you bring us stories like that crypto 101 please do that thanks so much you got it guys all right and now it's time for our weekly mental health check in we're going to take a look at some of the biggest mental health headlines and studies how they impact you and use this as a moment to check in with ourselves let's bring in dr sue varma to break this all down first dr varma is a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry good to have you with us as always so yesterday as we teased was the third monday of the year it's also known as blue monday which is considered the saddest day of the year many health experts say that that it's because of seasonal affective disorder which can extend well beyond blue monday of course that's important to remember remind us what is seasonal affective disorder and how do we know if we have it and what's the best way to treat it absolutely so thank you for having me and having this discussion so seasonal affective disorder is a type of winter depression that maybe five percent of people have but more people have the more common version which is the winter blues 15 to 20 and it's having low energy not having interest in the things that we once used to have changes in appetite changes in sleep social withdrawal we find that people are eating too much particularly carb craving chocolate sleeping too much feeling like their body is heavy and wanting to isolate now i want to ask you about supermodel bella hadid so she opened up about her mental health struggles in this new interview in this article in the wall street journal so she references pain and anxiety and she also opens up about posting this series of intimate instagram posts of her crying back in november i want to ask you what do you think the impact of someone like her i mean someone who people might look at and think you know she has it all or it seems like things would be going for her it's going well for her coming out and opening up in this way what can that impact me and what can we learn from her candidness on social media absolutely so you know i want to say that when it comes to depression and anxiety it doesn't discriminate right so it doesn't matter how wealthy you are how much of a celebrity you are how much you have and i think it really drives home the point how much mental health issues are medical disorders and they really don't have a lot to do with your circumstances now don't get me wrong of course there can be losses um and it could be a death or there could be a trauma that you've experienced in your life um or situational things that may predispose you or might trigger a depression or anxiety but you could be someone who quote seems to have at all and depression and anxiety a real medical condition so i think that this is sort of like normalizing it it streamlines it it mainstreams it and it says that all of us can get affected by this and so it reduces the stigma and i love that she and other celebrities are really open about this so that it normalizes and says well you know what i look up to her and if she can talk about it and if she can get help i want to do the same thing here's an interesting one a new study suggests skateboarding could be beneficial for the mental health of middle-aged adults help us understand this we're tight on time here but explain this one for us yeah so first of all this was a very small study it was only 30 people but what we need to keep in mind is that there were key things social connection through skateboarding and really it could be any form of exercise a sense of mastery i talk about the forums meaningful connection a sense of mastery mindfulness because you really have to be in the moment when you're doing this um and movement right the exercise the endorphin so while this is about skateboarding really there's just that get out get active in your community connect with other people and learn something new watch out for all those middle-aged skate parks popping up yeah it also requires though you to be able to get on without injuring yourself which i can do that's for sure all right dr sue varman thank you so much wonderful to have you with us we love this segment now if you or anyone you know is struggling please call the national suicide prevention lifeline there it is on your screen 800-273-8255 or text talk to 741 741 coming up honoring a hero one of the last surviving tuskegee airmen has passed away a look back at his life and how he was able to inspire others plus emergency in the ocean climate change being blamed for the deaths of hundreds of manatees the race now to rescue the majestic marine mammal that's next on morning news now welcome back tributes are being paid to charles mcgee one of the last surviving tuskegee airmen he died sunday at the age of 102. mcgee was a pioneer in the air force recording one of the highest numbers of combat missions in service history along the way he inspired the next generation of aviators with his determination and courage here's nightly news anchor lester holt with more on mcgee's life and legacy he served in three wars an american hero who soared past barriers leading the way for generations to come charles mcgee was a fighter pilot with the legendary tuskegee airmen the all-black unit that broke racial barriers in the military fighting for their country and for their country's respect he amassed more than 400 career combat missions in world war ii and later in korea and vietnam after my first flight i was hooked i loved flying magee died on sunday at 102 years old vice president kamala harris calling him an american hero secretary of defense lloyd j austin iii writing i'm also incredibly grateful for his sacrifice his legacy and his character i spoke with mcgee in 2020 soon after he was awarded the rank of brigadier general by president trump general mcgee our nation salutes you thank you sir has life changed a lot now that you are general a lot to be thankful for because of that what are your most vivid memories of being a tuskegee airman at war although we didn't change segregation we provided a background that gave our air force the opportunity when the air and ground portions separated to bring about equal access and equal opportunity for all his message to young americans and the knowledge to know that they can't achieve if they believe in it themselves and don't let others tell them that they can't do something charles mcgee his family called him a living legend who saw positivity at every turn all right lester holt thank you so much for that report now in florida this morning the race is on to rescue the manatee the gentle marine mammals are struggling to survive as cold temperatures drive them to warmer waters where there's no food for them to eat nbc news correspondent kerry sanders went inside a hospital caring for manatees been left on the brink of starvation he joins us now kerry good morning well good morning you know it's an exciting morning i'm at blue springs state park this is fresh water behind me and just a few moments ago one of those rescued manatees that had been plumped back up fed properly 845 pounds was released now the problem is the food is really void off the coast of florida the manatee can swim in freshwater like they do here but also in salt water and in the salt water for about 80 miles off the coast there's a lack of food and the manatees are in crisis this morning manatees the gentle giants with no predators not even sharks or alligators in an unprecedented fight to survive in the last 12 months a record 1100 plus manatees have died most from starvation these animals aren't down 100 pounds they're not down 200 pounds we're talking being down eight 900 pounds half to three quarters of your body weight gone they're skeletons orlando sea world with the largest manatee hospital in the world had 36 patients and was at capacity but over the weekend with the help of shipping giant dhl teams flew four manatee calves from orlando to the columbus zoo and aquarium the delicate weekend journey needed to make room at sea world's hospital because increasingly in the wild more and more of these gentle giants are in a life and death struggle but for all the heartbreaking losses those that are rescued are likely to survive like the newest arrivals in ohio nicknamed cardi t lizzo mary kate and ashley the columbus zoo and aquarium was more than happy to help out the unprecedented manatee death rate off the atlantic coast a result of fertilizer runoff from farms and lawns as well as leaky septic tanks combined the nutrient-rich water becomes supercharged causing algae blooms the thick gunk preventing the sun rays from reaching the ocean seabed where sea grasses grow a big manatee eats up to 300 pounds of sea grass a day there's no seagrass for a 70 80 mile stretch so is it like a desert down there there's a desert underwater there's no food there's nothing there in the manatee hospital lettuce is the number one choice to build their weight back up but in the wild the feedings like this have failed we continue to adapt we are confident at some point we'll find a trigger that works and one of the things that the state is looking at doing is seeing if they can actually plant sea grasses but of course that's not easy it doesn't happen quickly right now the manatee is an endangered species it's down to about 6 000 left and so they're very concerned about what's going on right now but again some good news today at least one manatee released here there's a herd up around the corner here and so that herd now if it hadn't 400 now has 401 so that's some good news guys very good and maybe a lizzo or mary kater ashley thank you so much for that important report we do appreciate thank you that does it for this hour of morning news now the news continues right now [Music] thanks for watching our youtube channel follow today's top stories and breaking news by downloading the nbc news app you

Channel: NBC News

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Length: 50min 55sec (3055 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 18 2022