his sweeping social spending bill. many in the party are blaming joe manchin for the holdup, but he isn t budging, so why do they think this will pass in the new year? i want to get straight, though, to cnn s nick watt for the very latest on the surge of covid cases and hospitalizations. reporter: covid-19 cases and hospitalizations climbed around 40% this past month. deaths, says the cdc, forecast to rise in the month ahead. the delta variant still rampant, omicron on the rise. it s here now, and it s spreading, and it s going to increase. for unvaccinated, we are looking at a winter of severe illness and death for unvaccinated. for themselves, their families, and the hospitals, they ll soon overwhelm. very soon, it s going to be the dominant variant. we ve seen that in south africa. we re seeing it in the uk, and i m absolutely certain that s what we re going to be seeing here relatively soon. reporter: for the vaccines, this variant is now the most complete escapee
stars on strike, and hollywood at a standstill, and 160,000 stars are joining the writers to picket and something that we have not seen since 1960. and the effects will ripple into your home. and now, capitol hill, the voting is under way. the fight over the money and the military is now reaching a fever pitch. we have the very latest developments on the stall of what has been the stalled defense bill in the house of representatives. i m kate bolduan with sara sidner, and this is cnn news central. all right. the breaking news, the house has just voted and the final passage of the big defense policy bill, and the bill has passed with the changes and the controversial changes of hard right and far right republican members of the house. let s get over to manu r raju f the breaking news. and what is the final count here? yes, this bill passed after days of wrangling behind the scenes of house republican leaders trying to get their conference in line, but barely getting th
f the debt limit isn t raised or suspended. that s a new really serious warning from the treasury secretary janet yellen. we did learn house speaker kevin mccarthy agreed to go to the white house and meet with the president next week. hollywood writers now on strike. it s the first time they have done so in 15 years. production will be delayed on some of your favorite television shows. for more you on that. also, at least six people are dead after a huge pileup on i-55 on central illinois. more than 70 vehicles crashed due to low visibility from a dust storm. also new this morning, the surgeon general has a plan to tackle america s epidemic of loneliness and isolation. his six-pillar approach to build our social connections. that s ahead. and serena williams, great news, pregnant with baby number two. the tennis superstar made the reveal during last night s met gala. cnn this morning starts right now. so i m so excited about the serena williams news. i know.
welcome to the programme. a smaller workforce represents a serious economic challenge. it makes it harder for employers to filljobs. it adds to wage pressures that drive inflation. it holds back growth. it reduces the tax revenues available to fund public services. there is an imperative in helping people back to work. the trouble is many parents in this country can t afford to because many would see their take home pay wiped out by the £15,000 average annual cost of full time childcare for a two year old. right now, uk childcare costs are double the 0ecd average. the only two countries where parents spend a higher percentage on childcare are switzerland and new zealand. when i had my daughter, who s five, i had to quit myjob because we couldn t afford childcare. i look forward to going back to nursing. my plan is to go back to nursing. if there d been more options and if childcare had been either cheaper or there was more flexibility, that would ve definitely been something
Stars on strike, and hollywood at a standstill, and 160,000 stars are joining the writers to picket and something that we have not seen since 1960. and the effects will ripple into your home. and now, capitol hill, the voting is under way. the fight over the money and the military is now reaching a fever pitch. we have the very latest developments on the stall of what has been the stalled defense bill in the house of representatives. i m kate bolduan with sara sidner, and this is cnn news central. all right. the breaking news, the house has just voted and the final passage of the big defense policy bill, and the bill has passed with the changes and the controversial changes of hard right and far right republican members of the