>> more countries are closing their borders to foreigners, but health experts warn travel restrictions will not stop the omicron variant of the coronavirus from spreading. hear what they're saying about how you can protect yourself. trump lawyers will make their case on keeping thousands of documents private from lawmakers investigating the january 6th capitol riots. and chaotic smash-and-grab robberies are becoming a trend, forcing law enforcement agencies to scramble. ♪ ♪ >> announcer: live from cnn center, this is "cnn newsroom" with rosemary church. it is tuesday, november 30th, and we begin with a growing uncertainty about the new omicron variant of the coronavirus. the topp infectious disease expert here in the u.s., anthony fauci, says it could be weeks before we know more about the severity of this mutation, and the world health organization says it may take up to a month to tell if the current vaccines are effective against omicron. meantime, the advice from health experts and the president is very familiar. if you haven't gotten a vaccine, get one. if you have, get a booster. wear a face mask. wash your hands. and practice social distancing. >> sooner or later we're going to see cases of this new variant here in the united states. we'll have to face this new threat just as we faced those that have come before it. this variant is a cause for concern, not a cause for panic. we have the best vaccine in the world, the best medicines, the best scientists, and we're learning more every single day. and we'll fight this variant with scientific and, and knowledgeable actions and speed, not chaos and confusion. we have more tools today to fight the variant than we've ever had before. from vaccines to boosters, to vaccines for children 5 years and older, and much more. dozens of countries and territories have imposed travel bans and new restrictions in response to omicron's spread. but president biden and his advisers say lockdowns in the u.s. are not on the table right now. >> we have every reason to believe, even though this is an extraordinary unusual variant because of the number of mutations. there's no reason to believe that it will not happen, that if you get the level of antibody high with the regular booster to the regular vaccine, that you're going to have at least some effect and hopefully a good effect on ability to protect against this variant. >> moderna, pfizer biontech and johnson & johnson are already working on possible modifications to their vaccines to fight the omicron variant. and sources say pfizer is seeking authorization for boosters for americans aged 16 and 17. the company c.e.o. says he's not panicked about the omicron variant. >> i doubt that the result will be that we can find ourselves where we are not protecting at all. we can find ourselves that we are perfectly fine and we are protecting as high as with the delta, or that we are having a less protection with -- compared to the delta, but that would be the variant. in both cases boosters should reduce dramatically the gap. >> moderna's chief medical officer calls omicron a variant of concern, but the company says it could have a specific booster ready within two to three months. >> this virus probably emerged around early october in south africa or botswana. lays relatively low, then suddenly in early november explodes to become the dominant strain, displacing the delta variant in south africa. and as you mentioned as well, it's now in maybe 20 countries around the world. i think all the evidence points to the fact this is a very transmissible virus and one we need to take very seriously. >> and cnn has correspondents covering the omicron variant around the globe from washington, d.c. to paris, hong kong to johannesburg. and as countries around the world scramble to react to the new variant, experts are also ringing the alarm. they say omicron should be a warning for the world until everyone is vaccinated, we're all at risk. >> omicron is like a wake up call as though we needed another wake up call to vaccinate the world. this issue of vaccine equity, with rates like 60 to 70% vaccination in the u.s., 7% -- 7% on the african continent, you have to wonder whether we really love our neighbor. but the point i want to make here is it's the smart thing to do because it's self-defeating not to do it because this is the way to make variants, is to let the virus rage. >> and that's hardly a new message. in fact, it's something experts have been saying for months now. here's the director of the world health organization back in september. >> more than 5.7 billion doses have been administered globally, but only 2% of those have been administered in africa. this does not only hurt the people of africa. it hurts all of us. the longer vaccine in equity persists, the more the virus will keep circulating and changing, the longer the social and economic disruption will continue, and the higher the chances that more variants will emerge that render vaccines less effective. >> and this map shows just how stark those vaccine disparities are. you can see africa almost stands alone. in south africa, just under a quarter of the population is fully vaccinated. that makes it one of the best performers in all of subsaharan africa. and now several of those african nations are being targeted by a new round of travel bans sparked by fears of the omicron variant. it's led to swift backlash from officials and health experts in southern africa. they call the restrictions an overreaction and say they are unlikely to have much of an impact. >> firstly, it's outrageous that, you know, south africa, southern africa is being punished for having good surveillance and ensuring that we wanted to be completely transparent. so this kind of early knee jerk reaction to block travel is just going to slow the seeding slightly at best but have little, if any, impact. all right. let's bring in cnn's eleni. south africa sounded the alarm and is paying dearly for doing that. talk to us about reaction there and, of course, the low vaccination rate and the spread of this new variant. >> reporter: rosemary, i have to say that the mood in south africa is one of anger and that the country is being targeted. and from the scientific community we've been hearing one thing. that south africa has advanced genomic sequencing because of skills that it acquired by dealing with the hiv virus, and we are sitting with a situation where the country was able to alert the world to the omicron virus variant, and now sequencing can occur all over the world. and as we know, omicron has already infiltrated so many different countries, almost 20. but it's southern africa that is being targeted specifically on travel bans. south africa and regional countries as well are dealing with these very strict bands which means that it's going to have an enormous impact on the economy. and just hearing from some of the experts and global voices echoing that this is going to mean catastrophe for the region. from the red cross we heard that more countries are going to be plunged into poverty. from the u.n. secretary-general he's concerned about the isolated southern african countries because of travel restrictions. they hold no benefits. the malawi president said it is afro phobic and not based on scientific evidence. as we heard from other experts, omicron is already found in so many parts of the world, so what is this travel ban going to then mean in terms of spreading it further? look, at the end of the day, we understand that many countries are just trying to ensure that they protect their populations, but africa has for a very long time, rosemary, been talking about vaccine in equities, the whole african continent just has 7% vaccination rates. here in south africa, we're talking about just under 40%. so there is a long way to go here in terms of getting everyone protected. right now we know that the scientific community, the experts, the researchers are looking at clinical data to ascertain what omicron means in terms of vaccine efficacy, in terms of transmissibility, in terms of illness. it is encouraging some anecdotal evidence vaccinated people specifical specifically under 40 seem to have been affected by omicron but only mild symptoms. that is one encouraging piece. as we have ascertained, the pharmaceutical company said they need two to three -- exactly what omicron is going to mean for vaccine efficacy down the line. >> eleni joining us from south africa. many thanks. france has detected its first case of the omicron variant on reunion island and germ hey has identified its first case. the first person has not traveled abroad. cnn's cyril vanier joins us live from paris. so, cyril, let's start with that first confirmed french case of the omicron variant. what more are you learning? >> reporter: absolutely. first confirmed french case is not here in mainland france, but it's thousands and thousands of miles away in the indian ocean island. this is a 53-year-old traveler who recently came back from mozambique. he was traveling from mozambique via south africa. this is not a case of community spread. this is a case of the omicron variant being imported from one of these southern african states that many european countries have closed their doors to. we understand that he came back on november 19th. it is unknown whether he isolated immediately or whether there was time during which perhaps he may have infected others. regardless, he is now in isolation. he is symptomatic, but only mildly symptomatic. it is important to note it is not a severe case, and five people who were traveling with that particular passenger also under isolation, rosemary. >> our many thanks to cyril vanier joining us live from paris. appreciate that. and still to come, as governments race to get ahead of the omicron variant, time may be running out. the country that just confirmed its first case one day after announcing strict new travel rules. plus, a court expected to hear argument over donald trump's efforts to block key white house records from reaching the january 6 committee. we'll have the details just ahead. sore throat lozenges.cinex inste show your sore throat who's boss. new mucinex instasoothe. works in seconds, lasts for hours. re-entering data that employees could enter themselves? that's why i get up in the morning! i have a secret method for remembering all my hr passwords. my boss doesn't remember approving my time off. let's just... find that email. the old way of doing business slows everyone down. with paycom, employees enter and manage their own hr data in one easy-to-use software. visit paycom.com for a free demo. 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this comes as a former justice department official could become the second person to face contempt charges for defying the committee. cnn's ryan nobles has the details. >> reporter: the january 6th select committee making good on a threat. the committee moving ahead with a criminal contempt of congress referral against former department of justice official jeffrey clark. >> good morning, i'm jeff clark. >> reporter: clark is a trump loyalist who worked inside the d.o.j. to peddle lies about the 2020 election results and attempted to convince his superiors to use the power of the agency to investigate the false claims. clark will join steve bannon as the second trump ally referred to prosecutors to decide whether to pursue charges. unlike bannon who ignored the committee's request for an interview, clark showed up, but refused to answer questions, citing executive and attorney/client privilege. >> all hell is going to break loose tomorrow. >> reporter: the case against bannon is making its way through the courts. the podcast host has vowed not to stay quiet. >> we're going on the offense. we're tired of playing defense. >> reporter: prosecutors in the case asked the judge to limit what he can say. allowing the defendant to publicly disseminate will be witness tampering because it will expose commentary on their potential testimony before trial. meanwhile questions remain about former white house chief of staff mark meadows. the committee has threatened to seek criminal contempt charges against him as well but have yet to take that step. >> i think we will make a decision this week on our course of conduct with that particular witness. >> reporter: what that decision is remains an open question. but the committee has not ruled out any option. >> this was an assault on a peaceful transfer of power, and we do need to hear from these individuals and we're going to use every means necessary to compel them to speak to the committee. >> reporter: all this comes against the backdrop of a major court hearing on tuesday. the former president donald trump's legal team arguing at the appellate level to have a decision by a lower court reversed that would allow the committee to access thousands of documents from the trump administration during his time in the white house. the former president believes that that information should be protected under executive privilege. the committee arguing it is in the public interest for them to have access to that material in order to get to the bottom of what happened on january 6th. it is a position that is also held by the biden white house. ryan nobles, cnn, on capitol hill. federal prosecutors have indicted three alleged u.s. capitol rioters including one who is accused of assaulting a police officer. they are accused of planning violence on january 6th, communicating under the name patriots 45 maga gang. meantime, the justice department has released new video from the day of the insurrection. it shows several police officers running down a flight of stairs in the capitol as chairs are being hurled at them by rioters. a feud between congresswoman ilhan omar and laurenne boebert is getting uglier. on monday the two lawmakers had a tense phone call that ended after omar hung up on boebert. remember, their feud escalated after a recent video surfaced online with boebert making bigoted antimuslim remarks suggesting omar had been mistaken for a terrorist. take a look. >> and i see a capitol police officer running hurriedly to the elevator. i see threats all over his face and he is reaching -- the door is shutting. i can't open it. what's happening? i looked to my left. and there she is. ilhan omar. i said, well, she doesn't have a backpack. we should be fine. >> boebert was condemned by democrats and republicans for those remarks and apologized on friday to the muslim community via twitter. but in another video recapping their phone conversation, boebert said, quote, rejecting an apology and hanging up on someone is part of cancel culture 101. and she said this. >> make no mistake, i will continue to fearlessly put america first, never sympathizing with terrorists. unfortunately, ilhan can't say the same thing. >> omar issued this statement saying boebert refused to publicly acknowledge her hurtful and dangerous comments. she instead doubled down on her rhetoric, and i decided to end the unproductive call. and omar tweeted, there is only so much grace we can extend to others as humans before we must learn to cut our losses or hang up on someone in this case. in chicago, actor jussie smollett's trial is underway. it comes nearly three years after he claimed he was the victim of a violent hate crime outside his apartment. authorities accused the former empire actor of paying two acquaintances to stage the attack and have charged him with making false reports to the police. smollett has pleaded not guilty. in another u.s. trial, prosecutors in the state of pennsylvania are asking the u.s. supreme court to review bill cosby's overturned sexual assault conviction. the actor and comedian was found guilty of aggravated assault in 2018. he was released from prison in june after the state supreme court overturned his conviction. the judges had ruled his rights were violated during the trial based on statements from a previous district attorney. cosby's spokesman called the appeal a pathetic last-ditch effort. the sex trafficking trial of jeffrey epstein's long-time companion resumes hour from now in new york. prosecutors are portraying ghislaine maxwell as a predator who created a network of under age victims for epstein to sexually exploit. maxwell's lawyers argue she is being used as a scapegoat for epstein's abuse. more now from cnn's brynn gingras. >> reporter: later this morning the government's first witness will again take the stand. that is a former pilot of jeffrey epstein. this was after a full day of jury selection and opening statements from both the government and the defense. and in those opening statements, of course, both sides were laying out their cases to the jurors in this federal court room. and essentially the government alleging that ghislaine maxwell recruited these women and groomed them to exploit them to jeffrey epstein, essentially saying anything that happened behind closed doors on jeffrey epstein's properties ghislaine maxwell knew it. she was the lady of the house and she played a part in the manipulation of these women and, in part, was very much aware of what was going on with jeffrey epstein. now, the defense says that she herself is a victim, and that she is being vilified for the crimes that jeffrey epstein committed. so we're getting really a sneak peek of what both lawyers are going to layout in this what's supposed to be a six-week trial for the six federal charges that ghislaine maxwell now faces. and, again, testimony will pick back up later this morning with a former pilot of jeffrey epstein and we are expected to hear from the government, four witnesses's alleged accusers say they believe the part ghislaine maxwell played in their victimization. back to you. >> thanks for that report. critics of the new u.s. travel ban call it an ill ustian of protection and as u.s. travel picks up for the holidays, will it make a difference? not even the u.s. president believes they're enough to keep the latest variant at bay. >> i mean, it was almost inevitable there would be at some point that strain here in the united states. with mucinex nightshift you've got powerful relief from your worst nighttime cold and flu symptoms. so grab nightshift to fight your symptoms, get your zzz's... and get back to your rhythm. ♪ the relief you need. the cash you want. xfinity rewards are our way of thanking you just for being with us. enjoy rewards like movie night specials, xfinity mobile benefits, and the chance to win tickets to see watch what happens live. hey, it's me. plus, get holiday gifts for everyone on your list with great deals on fan favorites from today. join over a million members by signing up for free on the xfinity app. our thanks. your rewards. welcome back to "cnn newsroom." i'm rosemary church. if you're just joining us, let me bring you up to date with our top stories this hour. america's toppin infectious disease expert dr. anthony fauci says it could be weeks before we know more about the severity of the omicron variant. he is telling americans to get vaccinated and for those who already are, get a booster shot for extra protection. meanwhile, vaccine makers are testing the effectiveness of current vaccines against the variant. moderna's c.e.o. says it could be two to three months before an omicron-specific vaccine is tested and produced. u.s. president joe biden says additional travel bans are not on the table right now. but if the omicron variant starts to spread in america, it could be a possibility. but dr. anthony fauci says one of the best ways to prevent the variant from spreading is to keep wearing a face mask, especially when traveling. >> the idea about mandates, again, it depends on where you are and what the circumstances you're in. one thing for sure, that if you are in indoor congregant setting where you don't know the vaccination status of the people around you, you should wear a mask. we're going to be traveling soon. people will be traveling for the upcoming holidays. you're going to be in airports that are general crowded. keep that mask on. >> cnn's pete muntean is in washington with more on how the travel industry is reacting to new restrictions. >> reporter: well, the good news for the travel industry is president biden says he does not anticipate new travel restrictions, at least for now. but we have seen statement after statement from the travel industry calling these new restrictions a bit of a knee-jerk reaction. they restrict travel from south africa and seven other countries, those coming into the u.s., and one of the biggest statements we've seen from the u.s. travel association which represents the travel and tour industry at large says that the administration should respectfully reconsider these restrictions. in fact, it points to rules that went into place only three weeks ago that allow foreign nationals to come into the united states so long as they prove that they are fully vaccinated, so long as they show proof of a negative coronavirus test. the u.s. travel association says that is already the best way to ensure safe travel. all of this is coming at a time when the travel industry is seeing big signs of life, 2.4, 5 million people screened across the country according to the tsa on sunday. that number is the highest we've seen since the start of the pandemic. 89% of the way to where we were back on the same sunday before thanksgiving back in 2019, and travel experts believe that number is actually being pushed up because of that resumption of international travel. pete muntean, cnn, regan national airport. health experts also agree travel restrictions may not be the best way to slow the spread of the omicron variant. with strict guidelines for international travelers already in the u.s., one doctor said the new restrictions don't mean much. >> i think this is really an illusion of protection. the metaphor i use is locking a screen door. you feel you've done something to protect yourself but you haven't. the virus is almost certainly already in the united states. we'll hear over the next day or two that cases have been identified in the united states. and it's also important to understand that since october, the united states has had a requirement for all foreign travelers coming to this country to be fully vaccinated and tested, and that's still in place. so i'm not sure what this ban will achieve, other than to add some disincentive to other countries that might be looking to do intense sequencing and identify variants. this might incentivize those countries to maybe back off on that a little bit because no good deed goes unpunished. that is what we've shown the south africans. so i'm not a fan of this ban. >> in this situation, a short period of restriction so that we can learn more about whether our vaccines work, we can learn more about the severity. we can learn more about whether this is more transmissible. we should know that information within one to two weeks. after that period of time, it makes no sense to maintain restrictions. and it becomes just punitive, especially punitive to a country that has done a lot to ensure that the world is more prepared for this variant than the world was for the delta variant. a solid recovery by u.s. financial markets hasn't lasted long. the dow gained 236 points on monday, but the futures markets are pointing to a lower open. stocks fell in europe and asia after the head of drug maker moderna told the financial times that existing covid vaccines are unlikely to be as effective against the omicron variant. well, the surge in oil prices isn't over according to jpmorgan chase. a new report warns clients that brent crude will hit $125 a barrel next year, and $150 in 2023. that would translate to gas prices topping $5 a gallon. the report was in the works long before the omicron variant led to the collapse of oil prices friday. jpmorgan stands by the forecast, believing demand will remain high, and opec will defend the oil prices. well, a spike in brazen smash-and-grab robberies is happening in cities across the u.s. we will have the latest on how law enforcement is responding. 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she's not here. oh. -what the. oh my goodness! i don't suppose you can sing, can you? ♪ the snow's comin' down ♪ -mommy? ♪ i'm watching it fall ♪ watch the full story at www.xfinity.com/sing2 we are just learning there are now a total of 14 confirmed cases of the omicron variant in the united kingdom. meanwhile, we are seeing signs that it may be too late for some countries to avoid the variant. in the last few hours, japan confirmed its first case. it comes just one day after the government announced a ban on all foreign visitors to try to keep the virus at bay. other governments are pushing forward with similar measures. hong kong just announced plans to ramp up its travel restrictions even further in response to the omicron variant. and cnn's will ripley joins us now live from hong kong this hour. will, let's start with the first case in japan. what more are you learning about that? >> reporter: well, this is obviously concerning for japanese officials who were hoping and they were getting a lot of public pressure to keep omicron out of the country and now they have detected this variant. a man this his 30s traveling from namibia in southern africa was the first confirmed case of omicron inside japan. one of the reasons why they have taken this, what many perceive as kind of a drastic step to ban all new arrivals of foreign nationals from entering the country is because japan does not have a strict quarantine system in place. people, when they arrive, are instructed to go to their home or go to their hotel and not use public transportation, but yet still there's nobody really monitoring them. it's not a situation like i'm in now in hong kong where all incoming travelers are required to quarantine. you are essentially locked in your room. you cannot open the door. if you leave, you could go to jail, you could get a huge fine. the minimum is 14 days if you're fully vaccinated coming from a low-risk country. that's what i'm doing because i kwam from taiwan. there is a growing list of high risk countries residents are required even if they're fully vaccinated they have to quarantine 21 days in a hotel at their own expense. what hong kong has done now is they are actually banning non-resident arrivals from 13 more countries, and not just in southern africa, but also places like australia, canada, israel. basically anywhere where the omicron variant has been detected. if you're not a hong kong resident you're banned from entering. if you are a hong kong resident and vaccinated, you have a 21-day quarantine. from africa they have to be tested for covid every single day. it is similar to the strict quarantine in mainland china. so japan shutting down their borders like israel, hong kong and china, they remain confident that their very strict quarantine protocols will keep omicron out of the jgeneral population. there was a third case detexted at the international airport. the first case was detected two floors down from me in the hotel. we get tested quite a lot for covid. i've been tested three times since i arrived in hong kong a week ago, three negative test results so far. >> well done. well, will ripley joining us live from hong kong. many thanks. i, sandra prunel, do swear i will well and truly serve barbados in the office of president, so help me god. >> and that is 73-year-old sandra mason. now, the first-ever president of barbados, just hours ago the island nation declared itself a republic 400 years after it became a british colony. that means britain's queenie liz b -- queen elizabeth is no longer the head. a changing of the flag and gun salute. one of the famous citizens, rihanna, was honored as a national hero. >> on behalf of the grateful nation, but an even prouder people, we, therefore, present to you the designee for national hero of barbados, ambassador robin rihanna fenti. may you continue to shine like a diamond. >> britain's prince charles also attended the ceremony. he was given the country's highest ranking honor, the order of freedom, a move meant to highlight the close relationship that still exists between barbados and the united kingdom. honduras is nearing a major political milestone. castro is on track to become the country's first female president. her husband was ousted in a coup 12 years ago. castro ran in a field of more than a dozen candidates. she has vowed to battle corruption and address the conditions that have led to migration from honduras to the united states. well, it is deja vu in sweden. social democrat magdalena anderson has been elected prime minister again just days after she had already won the job and quickly resigned. anderson quit hours after she was elected last week when her proposed budget was defeated and her coalition government broke down. now sweden's first female prime minister plans to form a minority government. her social democrats only hold 100 of the 349 seats empowerment. meaning she will need the support of other parties to pass legislation. twitter c.e.o. has called it quits, stepping down from the company he cofounded more than 15 years ago. jack dorsey has led twitter through some challenging times like banning a 1isitting u.s. president, banning hate speech and misinformation. dorsey says it's time for a change in leadership. cnn's brian fung reports. >> reporter: this is a pivotal moment for twitter. on monday c.e.o. jack dorsey announced he is stepping down from the job immediately. dorsey has been c.e.o. of twitter since 2015, and co-founder of the company who sent the platform's very first tweet in 2006. rumors of his departure monday morning briefly sent twitter stocks surging by more than 10%. in his announcement dorsey said twitter is ready to, quote, move on from its founders. following dorsey as c.e.o. is twitter's chief technology officer parag. he joined twitter in 2011 as a software engineer. before that he spent time at yahoo! and microsoft. he takes over at a critical time for twitter, facing tough investor expectations, the company is experimenting with new ways to grow its revenue and user base. for example, this year twitter launched a way for some users to pay for additional premium features, like the ability to undo a tweet. twitter also continues to face questions and possible new laws and regulation on its handling of misinformation and hate speech. but dorsey insists this is the right moment for him to leave. in a memo to employees he wrote that he was choosing his company's future over, quote, his own ego. this was my decision, and i own it, dorsey wrote. brian fung, cnn, washington. a legal fight over leggings. lululemon is suing peloton over its new clothing line. the canadian athletic a pairing maker claims five of peloton's new products in fringe on its patents. they also accuse peloton's new leggings of being a copy cat of one of lululemon's best sellers. meanwhile, peloton filed its own lawsuit a few days ago. they are seeking a declaration that lululemon's claims hold no merit. we'll be watching that. well, the fbi says it's closely monitoring the sharp spike in smash-and-grab retail robberies. a spokesperson told cnn the bureau is in close contact with local law enforcement and ready to take a more active role if it's determined a federal crime has occurred. the brazen thefts are happening in a number of cities as cnn's brian todd reports. >> reporter: police in chicago warning thieves they're ramping up efforts to stop so-called smash-and-grab robberies, often involving large gangs of perpetrators who swarm into stores, terrifying employees and customers. >> we are particularly focused on this type of crime here in chicago, both prevention and enforcement. over the weekend we arrested two 16-year-old juvenile female offenders. >> reporter: suspects who the chicago police superintendent said took part in the burglary of an ulta beauty store in chicago and stole about $8500 worth of merchandise. at two best buy stores in suburban, minnesota, the pattern continued in recent days. at one of those locations, police say at least 30 perpetrators stormed into the store and stole electronics. local shoppers are uneasy. >> i wouldn't feel good if i were here and that were happening as i'm there seeing people run out with stuff. >> reporter: from thieves violently smashing the glass case at a jewelry counter near san francisco to the mass ransacking of a louis vuitton store outside chicago, law enforcement agencies are scrambling to respond to smash and grabs involving multiple suspects at a time. >> they're definitely looking at the targets. they're doing reconnaissance. they know when they're going to hit. this is organized at this point and police have a serious pattern here that they have to deal with. >> reporter: the targets have ranged from high-end stores from nordstrom to louis vuitton to an apple store in california, hits where tens of thousands of merchandise was taken. to a home depot near los angeles where the sheriff's department says up to ten people stole tools that thieves might use in robberies like these. hammers, sledge hammers, crow bars. four men were arrested in connection to that case. >> this is a trend that we have been seeing gradually increase. i would say over the last year, year and a half it, i would say, started mainly in the pharmaceutical and drugstore area, and has spread to department stores and luxury goods. >> reporter: now a top concern among law enforcement analysts that the thieves could become even more emboldened and violent. >> what if someone has a gun. it is totally possible that this could become even more violent, even more dangerous for those that work in these stores, the customers. >> reporter: so far at least one security guard has been pepper sprayed by robbers. and in oakland, california, a security guard was killed while trying to protect a tv crew that was covering a smash-and-grab robbery. that incident did not seem to be directly tied to a mob burglary, rather, one individual trying to steal the crew's camera. brian todd, cnn, washington. and still to come, what does tiger woods's future in golf look like? he discusses that for the first time since he was badly injured in a car crash early this year. back with that in just a moment. hi jen! hi. so you're the scientist here. i just have to ask. does my aveeno® daily moisturizer really make my dry skin healthier in one day? it's true jen. really?! this nourishing prebiotic oat formula moisturizes to help prevent dry skin. one day? for real! wow! aveeno® healthy. it's our nature.™ i gotta say i'm still impressed. very impressed. new daily moisture for face. everything you love for your body now for your face. firefighter maggie gronewald knows how to handle dry weather... ...and dry, cracked skin. new gold bond advanced healing ointment. restore healthy skin, with no sticky feeling. gold bond. champion your skin. are you a christian author with a book that you're ready to share with the world? get published now, call for your free publisher kit today! well, the pacific northwest in november is no stranger to heavy rain, but what's happening right now in washington state and canada's british columbia is extreme even by their standards. meteorologist pedram javaheri looks at the atmospheric river drenching the region. pedram. >> good morning, rosemary. here's what's happening across the u.s. general quiet weather, there is one area of interest across the pacific northwest. we have a flooding action across the region. in recent weeks we've seen multiple atmospheric river patterns produce an incredible amount of rainfall in this meteorological autumn which runs from the first of september to today, november 30th. seattle has picked up an historic 18.8 inches of rainfall. the single wettest autumn on record besting the 18.6 inches that fell back in the autumn of 2006. you'll notice flood alerts, widespread across the western half of washington state, heavy rainfall especially around the northwestern corner of the state, but towards vancouver island, portions of british columbia into the higher elevations, it is all going to be heavy snow here. so, yes, the concern remains in place for some of these areas to see additional rounds of flooding. now, seattle will climb up to 56 degrees. that is well above average, but notice by this weekend we go back down to well below average and moderate back out early next week into a very cool and somewhat unsettled trend here over the next week or so. across portions of the great lakes we have winter weather alerts. detroit, saginaw, toledo could see showers in the early morning hours of tuesday, but really for this time of year, not an impressive -- pretty impressive set up. not a bad set up for the minimum amount of snow. above average temperatures widespread across the u.s. we'll take you to almost 60 degrees in st. louis. about 61 in denver. and temperatures in las vegas lucky 77. rosemary? >> thanks for that, pedram. tiger woods says his days as a full-time golfer are over. he spoke with golf digest about his future for the first time since his car crash back in february. woods suffered serious leg injuries and says he will now pick and choose a few golf events to play each year. >> this time around i don't think i will have the body, and that's okay. i can participate in the game of golf. i can still maybe, if my leg gets good enough, kickoff a tournament here or there. but as far as climbing the mountain and get all the way to the top, i don't think that's a realistic expectation of me. >> woods says he's not even at the halfway point of his rehabilitation, and he's also dealing with issues from his five back surgeries. for the second time in his career, argentina's lionel messi is the finest. he won monday for his role in argentina's win of the cupa america title. the women's award went to alexia butteas. she helped lead barcelona to victories in the champions league, the spanish league and the spanish cup. well, it's the word on the tip of everyone's tongues this year. what do you think it is? you've probably heard it a few dozen times this hour. the 2021 word of the year according to merriam webster, drug roll, is vaccine. the dictionary said searches for vaccine is up 600% from last year. noting it's become as much of a political or cultural term as it is a medical one. now just go out and get your vaccine, right? that's what we want to send that message. thanks for joining us. i'm rosemary church. have yours selves a wonderful day. early start with christine romans and laura jarrett is up next. you're watching cnn. for people who could new neutrogena® rapid firming. a triple-lift serum with pure collagen. 92% saw visibly firmer skin inin just 4 weeks. neutrogena® for people with skin. start your day with crest 3d white and from mocochaccinos to merlo your smile will always be brilliant. crest 3d white brilliance. 100% stain removal, 24 hour stain resistance to lock in your whitest smile. crest. the #1 toothpaste brand in america. when you really need to sleep you reach for the really good stuff. new zzzquil ultra helps you sleep better and longer when you need it most. it's non habit forming and powered by the makers of nyquil. new zzzquil ultra. when you really really need to sleep. i don't just play someone brainy on tv - i'm an actual neuroscientist. and i love the science behind neuriva plus. unlike ordinary memory supplements, neuriva plus fuels six key indicators of brain performance. more brain performance? yes, please! neuriva. think bigger. serena: it's my 3:10 no-exit-in-sight migraine medicine. it's ubrelvy. for anytime, anywhere migraine strikes, without worrying if it's too late, or where i am. one dose can quickly stop my migraine in its tracks within two hours. unlike older medicines, ubrelvy is a pill that directly blocks cgrp protein, believed to be a cause of migraine. do not take with strong cyp3a4 inhibitors. most common side effects were nausea and tiredness. serena: ask about ubrelvy. the anytime, anywhere migraine medicine. where's mom? she said she would be home in time for the show. serena: ask about ubrelvy. don't worry sweetie, she promised she'd be here for it. oh! nice shot! thanks! glad we have xfinity. with wifi speeds faster than a gig. me too. [claps] woah! look! [chuckles] mom is on tv! she's amazing! [screams and laughter] yeah! xfinity brought us together after all. get started with xfinity internet and ask about wifi speed fast than a gig. click, call or visit a store today. it is tuesday, november 30th, 5:00 a.m. in new york. thanks for getting an early start with us. a terrific tuesday as our floor manager calls it. i'm christine romans. >> i'm laura jarrett. welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. this morning we begin still with more questions than answers about this new coronavirus variant omicron. japan has now announced its first confirmed case. it joins at least 18 other countries and territories around the world that have identified cases of the variant, includin

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