giant step closer to getting the documents former president trump is fighting to keep a secret. plus, actor jussie smollett found guilty after claiming an attack on him was the result of a hate crime. and another group of americans are eligible to get a booster shot. ahead, who is rolling up their sleeves. >> announcer: live from london, this is "cnn newsroom" with isa soares. hello. it is friday, december 10th. and we begin this hour in washington, d.c. where a u.s. federal appeals court on thursday rejected former president donald trump's request to shield records from the house select committee on the january the 6th attack. but it is not the final word. the u.s. supreme court is likely to get involved. here's cnn's senior legal affairs correspondent paula reid with the story for you. >> reporter: a big victory for the house select committee investigating january 6 as a federal appeals court ruled former president trump cannot stop lawmakers from obtaining his white house records. committee members welcomed the decision. >> all judicial rulings were leading up to this point have substantiated these documents are necessary and that president trump is the formerment. he doesn't have the right to executive privilege over the documents. >> reporter: the event capped off a big day for the committee. earlier a parade of key witnesses arrived on capitol hill to answer questions about the insurrection. >> will you cooperate today? >> reporter: including kash patel, a former donald trump department of defense official and one of the first witnesses subpoenaed by the committee. and stop the steal organizer ali alexander. >> we have tons of evidence for them. like i said, thousands of records, hundreds of pages. >> reporter: chris krebs, a former top cyber security official in the trump administration, and johnny smith who helped former president trump contest the 2020 election. >> we know there was fraud. >> reporter: all four men were expected to answer questions from lawmakers, though eastman said he intends to assert his fifth amendment right against self-incrimination. as witnesses a rifled on the hill, committee vice chairwoman liz cheney said the committee is firing on all cylinders and has spoken with 300 people. this show of force comes as the committee is hitting roadblocks with other key witnesses. some trump loyalists plan to plead the 5th and former trump chief of staff mark meadows sued the committee wednesday to block enforcement of his subpoena and one for his phone records. >> they are doing a fishing expedition. >> reporter: the suit filed after the committee signalled they would pursue a criminal contempt referral against meadows because of his refusal to sit for a deposition. >> it's a very superficial filing meant to try to obstruct and stall. but it won't be successful. we intend to move forward and hold him in criminal attempt. >> reporter: an abrupt reversal from meadows who had been cooperating, turning over thousands of documents. cnn has learned those included personal text messages and emails with a wide range of individuals while the attack was underway. a source with knowledge of the communications tells cnn, the messages related to what donald trump was doing and not doing during the riot, offering a window into what people were texting to meadows on january 6th, and what he was saying about trump in real-time. and the committee noting meadows handed them over without any claim of privilege. >> i think he's really in a compromised legal position because he's provided information to the committee which he acknowledges is not privileged, and yet he's refused to appear to answer questions about those very documents. >> reporter: the full house will vote tuesday on holding meadows in criminal contempt. and former president trump's spokeswoman has signalled he will appeal this decision about his presidential records to the supreme court. he has two weeks to make that appeal. paula reid, cnn, washington. >> thank you, paula. while federal prosecutor sean wu discussed it with cnn earlier, he explained what it means for trump's executive privilege claims. have a listen. >> i think that they are setting out as evan pointed out kind of like a road map for other courts to look at obviously, including the supreme court. i mean, they're really saying to donald trump here, it's not that you didn't get a chance to be heard on executive privilege. you just had nothing of value to say to us. it is rather ironic because trump likes to fashion himself as almost like a fourth branch of government. the court clearly points out here the executive branch and the legislative branch are allied against his position and now the third branch, the only three real branches we have, judiciary, has weighed in against him, too. former federal prosecutor shaun wu speaking with cnn earlier. jurors found jussie smollett guilty of lying to police about being the victim of a hate crime. smollett told authorities in january of 2019 he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack near his chicago apartment. he said he hired two brothers he knew from "empire" to stage the incident for publicity. they spoke out after the verdict. >> that verdict was a resounding message by the jury that, in fact, mr. smollett did exactly what we said he did. >> we obviously respectfully disagree with the jury's verdict. president verdict is inconsistent. you cannot say jussie is lying and jussie is not lying for the same exact incidents. so we feel 100% confident that this case will be won on appeal. >> well, let's put this all into context for you. cnn's omar jimenez has more from chicago. >> reporter: the jury deliberated for a little more than nine hours and convicted jussie smollett on five counts of disorderly conduct for making false police reports that he was the victim of a hate crime and the victim of a battery. now, the prosecution wanted jurors to believe the osundaiaro brothers who testified that jussie smollett recruited them to stage a fake hate crime. and special prosecutor dan webb said this verdict sent a resounding message that he did what we said he did. they also said he lied under oath when he testified and that that's something they are going to consider at sentencing. the defense for jussie smollett said or they wanted jurors, i should say, to believe jussie smollett who said the osundaiaro brothers were lying, and that he had nothing to do with what he says was a real hate crime attack. he's maintained his innocence for nearly three years now since january 2019, and he still maintains his innocence even after this particular verdict, but the jury in this case disagreed. next steps, there will be a hearing in january to begin the process or begin the road towards sentencing. i should say, jussie smollett's defense team says they were 100% appeal this ruling. and on the civil side, the city of chicago says they will continue to pursue their lawsuit against jussie smollett to recoup the damages or the costs, i should say, incurred from the investigation of the chicago police department did. back to you. >> thank you very much, omar. well, cnn legal analyst paul canon has been following the jussie smollett case since the beginning. he said the city of chicago wasted resources on this hate crime and the judge will likely sentence smollett to jail time. have a listen. >> you have an actor here who took the stand and testified, and the jury expected him to tell a compelling believable story. in fact, the story he told was totally unbelievable, that he was attacked by two people that he knew, his exercise instructor and nutritionist and another -- one of them actually somebody he's been sexually intimate with. but that he could not identify at the time of the initial attack. and the story was just totally implausible from the beginning, and the jury saw right through it. on the issue of, you know, where it's going to wind up sentence wise, i think this perjury question that you raised a couple minutes ago is going to be very, very important. i think the judge is going to look at this and say, number one, what a waste of resources for the city of chicago, a city that is haunted by violent crime. to have resources wasted on a case like this is a waste of public resources. to stage a hate crime is one of the worst things you can do because, in fact, you're destroying the credibility of other people who may suffer from true hate crimes. and then to perjure yourself on the witness stand sttops it off. it will be hard not to give him jail time, and a case that would have wound up with probation had he just pled guilty at the beginning. >> cnn legal analyst paul cullun there. in the coming hours when kicking off the meeting, protecting democracy is a defining challenge of our time, warning of authoritarianism. it comes as president biden is trying to diffuse the situation between ukraine and russia. he spoke with the ukrainian president on thursday over the grim threat of possible invasion as russia continues to build up forces along ukraine's eastern border. cnn's phil mattingly has more. >> what we know is that the aggression here is on the russian side. >> reporter: president biden moved to reassure u.s. allies as the threat of a russian invasion of ukraine still looms. >> our objective is to make clear the significant and severe economic consequence if russia were to invade ukraine, not just from us, but from the global community. >> reporter: biden seen here in the oval office in the middle of his hour and 16-minute call with ukrainian president zelensky as more than 100,000 russian troops threaten zelensky's border on three sides. >> the president's intention going into this call was to provide an update for president zelensky on his call with president putin and underscore our support for ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. >> reporter: then a call with the leaders of nine eastern flanked nato allies, direct recognition of the reality that even though ukraine isn't a nato ally, those in the region that are have grown increasingly unsettled by russia's actions. >> we have a moral obligation and a legal obligation to our nato allies if they were to attack under article 5, it's a sacred obligation. >> reporter: the calls part of a series of efforts this week around biden's virtual call with russian president vladimir putin, an attempt to rally allies around potential consequence for russian action, and reassure those who would bear the brunt of it. >> democracy doesn't happen by accident. >> reporter: a tenuous geopolitical moment coming at the same time biden was making the direct case for global democracy. >> i wanted to host this summit because here, here in the united states, we know as well as anyone that renewing our democracy and strengthening our democratic institutions requires constant every. >> reporter: biden convening world leaders for a two-day democracy summit, all at a moment he noted the ideal itself is back sliding across the globe. >> this is an urgent matter on all our parts, in my view, because the data we're seeing is largely pointing in the wrong direction. >> reporter: including at home, where an attack on the u.s. capitol and attempt to overturn an election by former president donald trump have underscored clear challenges. a reality seized on those countries not invited, including china, russia, turkey, egypt and hungary. even as biden remained undeterred. >> in the face of sustained and alarming challenges to democracy, universal human rights, and all around the world, democracy needs champions. >> reporter: while president biden's week has been focussed on tensions with russia and china due to the u.s. diplomatic boycott of the winter games, months of attempts to bring iran back into compliance with the iran nuclear deal have failed and the white house is starting to lose its patience. the president according to white house secretary jen psaki, directing his team to start to prepare for the failure of diplomacy. that will certainly mean new sanctions on the country. concerns with iran as it advances with its nuclear program. it is clear the u.s. does not have much of an idea that something will come together any time soon. the president now telling his team to be prepared. phil mattingly, cnn, the white house. now, we are getting strong reaction from china condemning the democracy summit. cnn's kristie lu stout joins me with more. china wasn't invited to the summit. how has beijing taken the snub here? >> reporter: china continues to dismiss and denounce biden's democracy forum. we heard from china's taiwan affairs office. it called it, quote, a political maneuver. state-run global times, the tabloid in china, called it, quote, a joke. we know the united states invited representatives from over a hundred countries to take part in this virtual two-day conference on democracy was not invited. taiwan was invited. in fact, its digital minister was one of the featured speakers. she is scheduled to be on a panel to discuss ways to confront digital authoritarianism. and within the last hour or so, taiwan's ministry of foreign affairs has released an advance clip of what she is expected to say. let's run this clip for you. >> it stands on the front lines of the global struggle with authoritarianism. it also plays a leading role in advancing freedom, democracy and rights worldwide. >> reporter: in addition to audrey audrey tung, nathan law, of course, is the exiled hong kong pro-democracy activist in the run up to this event, china has condemned it, and china has also been casting itself as a democracy that is better than the united states. in fact, last weekend, it hosted its own virtual democracy forum. it invited representatives from over 120 governments from around the world. at the same time, its state counsel released a lengthy 13,000-word white paper about how china is a better democracy. back to you. >> like you said, taiwan was invited to the summit. and taiwan has in the last 24 hours or so, lost nicaragua as a diplomatic ally. i saw daniel ortega saying there is only one-china in the world. a major boost for china, no doubt, kristie. what does this mean here for taiwan? >> reporter: yeah, it means for taiwan it has one less formal diplomatic ally. it was on thursday when nicaragua made this announcement it will no longer formally recognize taiwan. it has switched allegiance to china. that means right now taiwan has only 14 formal diplomatic allies including 13 countries and the vatican. the united states has responded, especially during this time when it's hosting a forum on democracy. i should add the united states does not formally recognize taiwan, but through the state department it issued the following statement. let's bring it up. quote, we encourage all countries to value democratic institutions, transparency, the rule of law, and promoting economic prosperity for their citizens to expand engagement with taiwan, unquote. i have been talking to chinese observers. they say this move by nicaragua is a manifestation of china's economic clout and china's power. back to you. >> and it's growing indeed in latin america. kristie lu stout in hong kong, kristie, thank you very much. good to see you. >> you got it. >> the late senator bob dole is being honored at the capitol where he lies in state. president biden recalled the many years he and dole were senate colleagues. a relationship the president said was collegial, even when they disagreed. mr. biden eulogized dole, once republican presidential nominee, as a war hero and statesman who put the country ahead of his party. >> i like many of us here, we disagreed on a number of things. but not on any of the fundamental things. we still found a way to work together. we genuinely -- we genuinely respected one another as colleagues. and i quote bob dole. i cannot pretend that i have not been a loyal champion of my party, but i've always served my country best when i did it so first and foremost as an american. where we prioritized principles over party, humanity over personal legacy. when we do that, we accomplish far more as a nation. >> well, as you just saw there, mr. biden was joined by political leaders of both parties as they paid their final respects. the conservative twice served as senate majority leader. dole's wife elizabeth tenderly touched his casket in farewell. she served as senator and helped numerous cabinet and government positions in multiple administration. bob dole's funeral will be held today at washington national cathedral. cnn's special coverage begins at 11:00 a.m. eastern time right here, of course, on cnn. and just ahead on "cnn newsroom," access to covid boosters expands to more age groups in the united states. the latest on who can now get another dose. plus, the latest on the escalating covid cases right across europe. 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correspondent dr. sanjay gupta has more for you. >> both the fda and the cdc have now weighed in on the issue of boosters for 16 to 17-year-olds and have both said, look, we recommend it and it is now under emergency use authorization. 16 and 17-year-olds now qualify for the boosters. it's not a significant percentage of the population. only 2.5%, but at a time when the weather is getting cooler and dryer, the virus is transmitting more quickly, and there is the threat of omicron which seems more transmissible as well, becoming a bigger throat. there are many people asking about these boosters. now, the evidence around boosters mostly in adults, but i do want to show you some of the evidence out of israel. you can take a look there. it's worth pointing out that israel was doing a good job in terms of controlling cases and hospitalizations and deaths, but they were going up. you can see there they implemented boosters around the end of august, and cases started to come down. same thing with deaths, a little bit of a lagging indicator, but it started to come down as well. now, there is not a lot of enthusiasm for boosters among kids yet. we're still going to see what those numbers are. but for adults it's slowly increasing. overall you have about a quarter of the people eligible for boosters, having beenow already received it. 19% probably will. there's 10 to 20%, around 18% who say probably not or definitely not. those numbers are kind of the same as we've seen throughout the pandemic in terms of reluctance even for vaccines initially. we'll see what this means for 16 to 17-year-old, but now it has been authorized by the fda, recommended by the cdc, and we'll keep you posted on what this means for boosters for younger children in the days and weeks to come. >> dr. sanjay gupta there. countries around the world are seeing cases tick up. this coming just before the holiday season for many. in response to escalating infections, austria is mandating vaccines for everyone over the age of 14. however, it won't be enforced until february of next year. on thursday, france reported more than 56,000 new cases. currently the country's intensive care units are 50% full of covid patients. and the world health organization says the african continent accounts for 46% of the nearly 1,000 omicron cases reported, although cases are increasing, they still appear to be mild. good news there. i'm joined now by devin mackenzie in johannesburg and david bittermann. we are seeing soaring cases of omicron in africa. what are doctors saying about the scale of the surge and the symptoms here? >> well, when you look at the numbers, isa, certainly cases are soaring here in south africa, particularly in this province, and positivity rates increasing. as you'd expect, as you move through a peak of a wave, it has happened quickly, quicker than in other waves. and certainly that speaks to the possible transmissibility of this variant, which is assumed to be dominating now in south africa. but there are some positive signs. clinicians, ambulance workers, hospital administrators i've been talking to over the last few days say there isn't a sense yet that there is a big rush onto the hospitals for severe cases. it's still early days, but that is an important indicator, a real world indicator of how worried to be about this variant. they do say that a lot of the cases right now in hospitals with covid are incidental. they have other reasons. the head of the world health organization says that this variant could have a major impact on the pandemic and says even milder cases need to be worried about. >> any complacency now will cost lives. many of those who don't die could be left battling covid or post-covid condition. this is with debilitating lingering symptoms that we are only beginning to understand. >> reporter: of course, the whole world is watching here to see and assess the impact of the variant. we may expect news later today about the specifics about its transmissibility. at this stage, though, there is some optimism at this stage about the level of its severity. isa? >> do keep us posted, david, as soon as you hear from them. do stay with us. want to go to jim in paris. jim, as we were reporting, infections on the rise in france. i.c.u. beds are 50% full. what measures are put in place to try and control these numbers here? >> reporter: well, in fact, the i.c.u. beds, that's probably the most worrisome for health authorities there who have installed, inaugurated the plan block, it's called, white plan that basically allows hospitals to put off surgeries and that kind of thing to relieve some of the pressure on the i.c.u. beds. the french are also relying, as sanjay was just saying, on this strategy of booster shots. basically they hope to get by christmas 20 million booster shots administered here. and already 90% over 65 who are eligible for boosters have, in fact, gotten them. the health minister was out and about this morning at a pharmacy basically saying another thing he's going to do, he's authorized pharmacies to stay open 24/7 and all the way through on sundays. in fact, to help people get their shots when they can. isa? >> trying to increase the number of people getting that booster as, of course, we hit the winter months. jim bittermann for us in paris. david mackenzie, my thanks to you both. later in the show we head to 10 downing street where we'll get the latest on the scandals knocking on prime minister boris johnson's door. stay with us for that. there's no slow down in job creation in the u.s. a key indicator drops to the lowest level in more than half a century. we'll explain. plus tearful testimony in a former officer killing a black man. in court his girlfriend described the horrific scene after the shooting. >> i was delirious. i was screaming, they shot him, they shot him. with holiday spirit all season long. connect to nature this season. when they're sick, they get comfortable anywhere and 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face time behind bars or get probation. we'll have more on those two stories in about 25 minutes or so. now, emotions were high during a trial in minnesota that involved the killing of a black man by police. 20-year-old daunte wright was shot by former officer kim potter near minneapolis in april. she claimed she killed daunte wright by mistake using her gun when she meant to use a taser. she is now facing manslaughter charges. on thursday wright's girlfriend who was with him during the entire incident took the stand. our josh campbell reports. >> reporter: emotional testimony thursday from daunte wright' girlfriend in the manslaughter trial of former police officer kim potter. potter said she mistook her gun for her taser when she shot and killed wright during a routine traffic stop. wright's girlfriend was in the car at the time. >> he was really scared. i've never seen him like that before. i just remember, like, him, like, the bang of the gun and i remember just looking up. >> reporter: wright's girlfriend telling the court what happened after the shooting. >> i grabbed whatever was in the car. i don't remember, it was a sweater, a towel or blanket or something, and -- i put my hands over his -- i tried to hold it. >> reporter: after wright was shot, he sped away from the scene, bleeding from a gunshot wound to the chest. moments later police dashcam video shows wright's car striking another in a violent crash. his girlfriend called out to police on the scene. >> the driver is not breathing. >> i tried to push on his chest and call his name. and he wasn't answering me. he was just, um, gasping. like just taking breaths of air. >> reporter: she tells the prosecutor about a facetime call with wright's mother while she was still in the car. >> you said you pointed the camera at him. >> yes. so mom could see -- >> reporter: the officer who witnessed the crash testifying that he didn't know wright had been shot, and ordered him to exit the vehicle. >> put your hands up. get out of the car. yes, you. >> reporter: the police getting wright's girlfriend out of the car, then cuffing her and leading her away. >> you're not under arrest. put your hands behind your back. >> reporter: after securing the scene officers say they began rendering medical aid to wright. they tried to revive him. >> trying to figure out how to treat his injuries and save him. >> reporter: police body camera shows numerous other officers soon arriving to a scene of utter confusion. >> no shots fired. >> what? >> he did? >> there were shots fired down there? >> i don't know. i didn't hear that. it was a traffic stop. they had one with a warrant. as i'm pulling up this way, the car takes off, hits the subaru and crashes here. he's got a gunshot wound. i didn't fire it, i don't know about that. obviously he got shots between there and here. >> reporter: while on the stand wright's girlfriend detailed the injuries from the crash. >> my jaw, i was walking and blood was spewing from my bowels. >> reporter: now kimberly potted has pleaded not guilty to first and second degree manslaughter. at the end of court on thursday, her attorney asking the judge for a mistrial, taking issue with some of the evidence provided by the prosecution. the judge denying that request. this trial will continue. another compelling day of testimony. one thing is clear. by calling these witnesses, daunte wright's girlfriend as well as another motorist who was in a vehicle that was struck, as daunte wright was driving away injured by a wound, it showed multiple people were impacted by this former officer's fateful decision to pull her service weapon instead of her taser. josh campbell, cnn. now, the labor department says new weekly unemployment claims have dropped to 184,000. that's a fraction of what they were a year ago. if you look at that, and the lowest number in 52 years. the nation still has about 11 million job openings which employers are struggling to fill. in another piece of good economic news, we'll take that. average u.s. gas prices are $3.34 a gallon, the lowest price in three weeks. some experts say spending less money at the pump could ease inflationary pressure, of course, on the economy. well, many people worry that economic recovery in the u.s. could take a hit from the omicron variant of covid-19. cnn globalist says not necessarily. have a listen. >> you never want to say never when it comes to covid. but i think if we don't hear anything more worrisome about the new variant, then, yeah, i would agree with that. the fact that you're seeing pfizer come out and say, you know, if you've got three shots, you've got pretty good protection, that's great news. that's exactly what the market wanted to hear. it has always been about the virus. now, you know, we have this staying at home thing down. we're going to have to be doing a little bit more of it probably. certainly overseas. we know how to do it now. unless we hear something else that blows the story out of the water, i think it is going to be a good year. >> at least a better year. also u.s. companies are getting a grip on supply chain problems which should, of course, help the economic recovery. now for the first time ever, the union will represent some starbucks employees in the united states. they are thrilled, pure elation at the buffalo store in new york, they won the right to union with a 19-8 vote. another store nearby rejected the union. a third store remains undecided. starbucks urged employees to vote against unionization, touting health care for part-time workers. pro union workers hope it leads to better pay and more of a voice in how the stores are run. coming up right here on the show, ghosts of christmas past are haunting prime minister boris johnson. he's trying to focus on christmas future and the omicron outbreak. i'm jonathan lawson here to tell youou about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life 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54 people were killed thursday when a tractor-trailer crammed with people collided with a truck and overturned. most of the victims believed to be migrants, more than 100 more were injured. officials told local media the dead include men, women, as well as children. it happened in chappa state which borders guatemala. now, here in the uk, prime minister boris johnson is facing mounting pressure amid a series, really, of allegations. government investigations are underway into staff christmas parties held during the country-wide lockdown last year. though london metropolitan police say they aren't investigating due to a lack of evidence. as johnson coincidentally announced lockdown measures to stem the spread of the omicron variant, meanwhile the conservative party was just slapped with a fine for failing to accurately report a donation used for johnson's downing street apartment. let's go to cnn's salma abdelaziz outside 10 downing street in london. good morning. this is known as teflon torres. can the prime minister withstand the latest scandals, and critically, salma, can he face a rebellion within his own party here >> reporter: that's really the question, isa. like him or dislike him, the prime minister has the reputation of having nine lives. the question is has he used them all up. what's going to take place now is an internal investigation led by his cabinet secretary, two of the events in question took place right behind me here, 10 downing street. one at the end of november, where prime minister boris johnson allegedly gave an impromptu speech during a christmas party. the second on december 18. that's the notorious incident that has sent shock waves across this country after a leaked video showed members of downing street staff laughing, joking sarcastically talking about attending allegedly this christmas party on december 18th. and a few days later, dealing with a mock press conference around it. as you mentioned, police saying for now they are not investigating anything, but they are in touch with the cabinet secretary. and if any information comes to light, he would pass it on to the met police for further inquiry. but beyond this investigation, isa, it's very difficult to imagine that prime minister boris johnson is winning in the court of public opinion. and that's because it's very difficult for any member of the public to believe that parties, plural, could have been taking place at the prime minister's residence in his home and office during lockdown by his staff, and he would somehow have no knowledge. so, what we're going to see next is the prime minister really fight for his survival. crucially, he'll be doing this within his party, the conservative party. can they continue to back him through yet another scandal? what his worst fear is, isa, is a vote of no confidence. that wouldn't happen overnight. it would require mutiny in his party. real questions being asked now about his moral authority, about his ability to lead through a pandemic, isa. >> on that point, salma, i mean, what are you hearing from those within his own party, within the back benches here? are they starting to voice their disapproval for his behavior here? >> reporter: absolutely, isa, they absolutely are. you have a few things at play here. you have the fines that the conservative party is facing for allegedly not disclosing donations, fines that are being issued for refurbishment of the downing street flat. you have that playing out. you have mps angry about covid restrictions in place to deal with the omicron variant. you're already dealing with rebellion there. and anger from mps who i'm sure right now who are hearing from their own constituents, their own group's complaints. how can a prime minister being alleged of not following the rules set the rules for the country? very difficult pill for people to swallow. it's hard for me to emphasize how angry and frustrated people are across this country. it is going to be up to those mps to either absorb that anger or figure out how to address it. isa? >> war-torn constituents no doubt, spitting feathers, the different rules for those at 10 downing street to those up and down the country. salma abdelaziz for us at 10 downing street, thanks very much, salma. good to see you. but there was some good news for the prime minister on thursday. a bundle of good news, you can say. he and his wife a austrian noed the birth of a healthy baby girl. this is the couple's second child. the son wilfred was born last year. earlier this year mrs. johnson said she had a miscarriage before announcing she was pregnant again. congratulations to them. coming up in the next hour, judges in london's court of appeal are expected to rule whether wikileaks founder julian assange can be extradited to the united states. the u.s. government said assange committed espionage when he published secret documents a decade ago. and the decision not to send him to the u.s. to stand trial, the judge said there was a high risk assange would take his life if sent to the united states. hayes been incarcerated in london's belmont prison since march of 2018 and is not expected to attend the ruling. re regardless of how the judges rule, we shall find out roughly in about half an hour to 45 minutes. coming up right here on "cnn newsroom," snow in december has been tough to come by. but it's finally arriving. but the same system bringing the white stuff can also bring dangerous storms to the south. the blendjet 2 portable blender. it packs the power of a big blender on the go, and it crushes right through ice. just drop in your favorite ingredients, even frozen fruit, and make a smoothie any time, anywhere. blendjet cleans itself. just add a drop of soap, water, and blend. recharge quickly with any usb port. order now on blendjet.com and get our best deal ever! do you have a life insurance policy you no longer need? now you can sell your policy - even a term policy - for an 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[♪] looking to repair dry, damaged hair without weighing it down? try pantene daily moisture renewal conditioner. its color-safe formula uses smart conditioners to micro-target damage helping to repair hair without weighing it down. try pantene. some sad news in the world of the nfl. former star wide receiver demaryius thomas was found dead in his home outside atlanta on thursday. nicknamed bei bei, he played ten seasons in the nfl. mostly the denver broncos where he was a super bowl champion, he retired from the league earlier this year. the broncos issued this statement, saying, we are devastated and completely heartbroken. demaryius' humility, warmth and kindness will always be remembered. authorities believe he had a medical issue. demaryius thomas was just 33 years old. now, a large winter storm is bringing welcome snow to the rockies, but it also threatens to spawn tornadoes in the south. derek van dam has the details and the timing for you. good morning, derek. >> yeah, that's right, isa. this is a very dynamic and multifaceted storm system for early to mid december. we have the potential for severe weather on the warm side of this storm. that would be the southerly portion of the storm. but on the northerly half of the storm system, enough cold air behind it to change over our precipitation to snowfall with a large swath of snow anticipated across the inner mountain west through the central plains and the upper midwest as well. in fact, we have over 10 million americans under some sort of winter weather alerts, with winter storm warnings for much of southern minnesota into wisconsin as well as the southern portions of the upper peninsula of michigan. so we have the potential here for 6 inches or more of snow locally, higher amounts especially where the low pressure center actually pivots. you can see that with the evolution of our forecast future radar. there it is across northern iowa into wisconsin as well as minnesota. that is the area where we're anticipating the heaviest amounts of snowfall. so that interstate 90 could see some significant travel delays today through the early parts of the weekend. the other facet to this storm system is the potential for severe weather as our warm air ma mass collides. it has an enhanced risk of severe storms later today into the overnight period. you can see that shading of orange. anywhere from southern indiana, illinois into portions of kentucky as well as tennessee. some of these larger metropolitans include memphis, nashville as well as st. louis. this is the area where they have indicated the greatest risk of tornadoes. some of them could be nocturnal tornadoes. actually occurring overnight when many people are sleeping so that could be very dangerous. this is not typically the most active period for tornadoes. we only have on average 20 tornadoes for the storm prediction center for the month of december. we will likely see several of those tornadoes occur within the next 24 hours. isa, back to you. >> thanks very much, derek. and before we go, you bagel and cheesecake lovers, better list tone this. there appears to be a shortage of cream cheese in the united states. port congestion and labor shortages have smeared havoc on the supply chain, and kraft heinz says demand is up. they had to pause production of facility because of a key ingredient at juniors in the united states. that does it for me, isa soares. "early start" is next with christine romans and laura jarrett. i shall see you on monday. bye-bye. ♪ when you have nausea, ♪ ♪ heartburn, ingestion, upset stomach... ♪ ♪ diarrheaaaa.♪ try pepto bismol with a powerful coating action. for fast and soothing relief. pepto bismol for fast relief when you need it most. introducing the all-new gillettelabs with exfoliating bar. it combines shaving and gentle exfoliation into one efficient stroke, for a shave as quick and easy as washing your face. 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. don't settle for products that give you a sort-of white smile. try crest whitening emulsions... ...for 100% whiter teeth. its highly active peroxide droplets... ...swipe on in seconds. better. faster. 100% whiter teeth. shop crestwhitesmile.com. hey, angie! you forgot your phone! hey lou! angie forget her phone again? yep. lou! mom said she could save up to $400 on her wireless bill by switching to xfinity internet and mobile. with nationwide 5g at no extra cost. and lou! on the most reliable network, lou! smart kid, bill. oh oh so true. and now, the moon christmas special. gotta go! take the savings challenge at xfinitymobile.com/mysavings or visit an xfinity store to learn how our switch squad makes switching fast and easy this holiday season. it is friday, december 10th. happy friday, everybody. 5:00 a.m. in new york. thanks for getting an early start with us in new york. i'm christine romans. >> i'm laura jarrett. welcome to everyone in the united states and around the world. former president trump losing a major legal battle from keeping the january 6 committee from obtaining key white house records. trump wanted notes, memos and other documents kept secret. but a federal appeals court rejected that plea, writing in part, quote, the events of january 6 exposed the fragility of those democrati