plus, buckle up. gas prices hitting a hideous high, but it s the prediction for the next ten days that may be even scarier. and a jury finds both johnny depp and amber heard liable for defamation, though let s be honest. depp won this trial. the significance of it all, beyond the gossip, spectacle, and social media snark. welcome to the lead. i m jake tapper. we start with our national lead and no clear answer in uvalde, texas, as to whether the chief who told cops to not storm the classroom where the shooter was during the massacre is actually cooperating with investigators. cnn s shimon prokupecz caught up with the police chief pete arredondo this morning. he insisted he s been in contact with the texas department of public safety every day, he says, but just last night, dps officials said arredondo had not responded to the request for a follow-up interview about his actions or lack thereof during last tuesday s massacre. today, uvalde is saying its final good-byes
to end. jake, tonight, there are more concerns about the plight of the civilian population, particularly in areas where there is ferocious fighting still taking place between the ukrainian and russian forces. much of that now concentrated in the northeast of the country, in and around the city of se severodonetsk where we now know from the ukrainian side that 80% of the city has fallen into russian hands. and there are social media images of bodies in the center of the city, apparently of civilians. so again, more concerns about what s happening in that corner of ukraine tonight. jake. matthew chance in kyiv, thank you so much. soaring gas prices up 5 cents in just one day. that s modest compared to the spike experts say we could see in fewer than two weeks. stay with us.
unprecedented spike experts say the most serious threat may be over by next month we would like it to get down to that level where it doesn t disrupt us in the sense of getting back to a degree of normality. that s the best-case scenario. reporter: while omicron s wave may crest by mid-february, its wake is still rippling across the country. every day more than 2,200 americans are still dying. 16 states, hit later by omicron, have cases spiking by over 100% we have all reached the point where we re just so burnt out. reporter: many on the front lines are struggling to see the end to the spike things are sort of at unprecedented levels, and the numbers of patients that we re seeing that require emergency acute care services is overwhelming our ability to really supply those services. reporter: as the first free n95 masks arrive at select grocery stores and pharmacies in the midwest, americans are also starting to receive their free home covid test kits with millions more