they warned the omicron variant could be a threat. add to that a looming deadline as the u.s. federal government is on the brink of a shutdown. lawmakers are struggling to pass a stopgap measure before funding runs out friday at midnight. and between the potential shutdowns and the variant concerns, u.s. stocks lost steam on wednesday with the dow falling more than 400 points as you can see there on your screen. but futures are looking in the green. we have a look. green arrows right across the board. well, the calendar says december, but in parts of the u.s. l weather didn't get the message. pedram javaheri has the records this time of year. >> we have a lot of weather to tell you about across the united states. the central u.s. 30 degrees above average. any time you put 30 degrees above average in the gold season, you're tapping into record warmth. that is precisely what is happening here for a large area