hi there, back here at msnbc headquarters here in new york. breaking news, nbc news has confirmed the obama administration will lift travel restrictions from south africa and seven other african countries beginning december 31st. while south africa reports they have passed their peak of omicron cases here in the u.s. the variant is still spreading faster than any variant we've seen so far in the pandemic. more than 250,000 new cases just yesterday. some better news is that hospitalizations are remaining flat. but the major surge is creating difficult decisions for a lot of families who don't want to spend another holiday apart. that spike also grounding thousands of flights more than 1,900 cancelled around the globe yesterday. some airlines saying the omicron