morning. we'll see you right back here. for now chris jansing picks up the coverage. >> hi there, i'm in for stephanie ruhle. it is wednesday, december 29th. we have a lot to get to. yet another record to tell you about as the u.s. is at an all-time high for new coronavirus infections. the seven-day case average is now at more than 262,000 daily u.s. cases as of tuesday. that breaks a nearly year-old record. and the overall numbers are equally concerning. the u.s. has now surpassed 53 million cases more than 823,000 deaths since the pandemic began. and the one-two punch of omicron and delta continue to wreak havoc, everything from flights, to college bowl games to broadway shows cancelled. a walmart in new york shut down