the first time. the president is expected to promote the next phase of his massive u.s. infrastructure plan, as well as other achievements and priorities he has highlighted over the past three months. we must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue. shots in arms and money in pockets, that s important. it s not a plan that tinkers around the edges, it s a once in a generation investment in america. i ve concluded that it s time to end america s longest war. it s time for american troops to come home. we have to step up. scientists tell us that this is the decisive decade. cnn s joe johns is in wilmington, delaware, where president biden is spending the weekend. all right. joe, so how does president biden compare at his point of this presidency to his predecessors? reporter: right. well, did you the top lines there, fred, 52% according to abc news. if you add the last five poles and average them, he comes out at about 54%, which puts him at the low end of
ukraine s president today, to reassure him of u.s. support. we are live in moscow with the latest . and we begin in the united states, where the latest covid surge is shattering records again. the u.s. is now averaging more than 394,000 new cases a day, the fifth day in a row a new high was set. and remember, that s the seven-day average. most states, you see it there, the ones in dark red, have seen daily case counts rise by 50% or more in the last week. now, so far, thankfully, hospitalizations and deaths are lower than the peaks that we saw in 2021, but that doesn t mean the danger is over here. the cdc estimates more than 44,000 people could die from covid-19 in the next four weeks. meantime, millions of children are headed back to the classroom monday. others have been postponed, and it comes as a record number of children are hospitalized with covid-19. and some school districts now are announcing at least a partial transition to online learning. that s the approach s
get your booster shots. top u.s. officials say all four vaccines are losing their steam against omicron variant and there will be breakthrough covid cases. and a policing expert and sergeant testified in kim potter trial. one thing he said he never had a police officer, accidentally drawing a gun. announcer: live from london, this is cnn newsroom with isa soares. welcome, everyone. it is thursday, december 16th, and we begin this hour with breaking news in the united states. now powerful storm system terror in parts of the midwest and great plains 80 million people under wind alert. right now more than 400,000 customers across eight states as you can see on your map, are without power. there were more than 55 reports of hurricane-force winds across the central u.s. on wednesday, breaking the national record for the most in one day. some of the gusts top 100 miles per hour, 160 kilometers per hour. now, this system is also caused nearly 20 tornadoes. minnesota report
rules that are now taking effect? and an expansion of new york city s vaccine mandate. and the trump-fueled split in the republican party is worsening in georgia. an ousted u.s. senator and ally of the former president is now running against the top trump target. the state s gop governor. we want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. let s go straight to the white house and our chief national affairs correspondent jeff zeleny who is joining us right now. president biden is facing very significant new tests with both russia and china. and there are now new developments unfolding on both fronts. update our viewers. the white house is announcing a boycott of the 2022 winter olympic games in beijing. not for athletes but for u.s. diplomats. they are simply not sending a delegation to beijing next year, calling out human rights abuses. this is coming on the eve of a critical phone call between p
a month ago, we announced requirements that foreign travelers must be vaccinated if entering the united states. this week i announced an additional action to strengthen international travel rules to give us more time to stop the spread and study the new variant. it used to be that international travel, flying to the a traveler flying to the united states had to test negatively three days before their departure from that country. well, i m announcing today that all inbound international travelers must test within one day of departure regardless of their vaccination status or nationality. this testing timetable provides an added degree of protection as scientists continue to study the omicron variant. and we are extending the requirement, both internationally and domestically, to wear masks for travel on aircraft, trains, public transportation, through the winter months. i ll close with this. again, the actions i m announcing are ones that all americans can rally behind and s