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 reported its first ever december tornado. and this is a scene as you can see there in kansas where massive dust storm has formed. a major highway was forced to close as the skies practically went dark. wind gusts were so strong in colorado, meanwhile, they blew semi trucks as you can see there off the roads. and this was the frightening scene in boulder as a dust storm blanketed the city. meanwhile, on the other side of the world, a powerful super typhoon battering the philippines with heavy rain and strong winds. it made landfall in a few hours ago hitting with a strength of a category 5 hurricane. so a very busy morning. we'll get more on the super typhoon in a moment. first the severe weather we are seeing in the united states from meteorologist pedram javaheri. good morning to you, pedram. these as we just pointed out, incredibly intense winds. how long do we expect these storms to last for, pedram? >> you know, the gusty winds are going to continue. that's essentially the longest-living element of the storm. through thursday afternoon, we see the strong winds in place. other elements of it beginning to quiet down into the early morning hours. what an incredible day of weather when it comes to essentially wrapping together a spring, summer and winter event all into one. kind of letting it play out across an area of the united states that spans 2,000 miles. you notice the tornado counts, the preliminary numbers bring this up to 20. the severe wind gusts upwards of almost 400 of them being reported as you noted. a national record, about 50 plus coming in at hurricane force. essentially 50 towns, communities, locations around the u.s. feeling hurricane force winds, a land based system that has nothing to do with tropical systems. total count, if you think we talked a lot about tornadoes so far this december, the u.s. now has 116 reports of tornadoes in the month of december. now, climate logically, 23 is what we average. that is 5-x what we average in december in the span of just the first 16 days. in fact, eight of these first 16 days of december we've now had reports of tornadoes, an incredible run of weather. signalling what we've seen in recent years as far as the elevated number of these weather events. going to show you some of the wind gusts that are populating at this hour. the areas observing winds that are incredible. around minneapolis 50, around areas of green bay, almost 60 mile per hour winds. remarkably, when you notice areas east of this region, around, say, chicago where the 50, 60 mile an hour winds are expected, the temperatures there are in the middle 60s into the early morning hours of mid december. warmer in chicago than portions of the gulf coast down around, say, new orleans into the south. so really speaks to the energy available in the atmosphere to produce these storms. again, we are finally beginning to see some of this weaken and break down as a significant weather event is taking place really across an expansive area of the u.s. there it is, of almost upwards of half a million customers. that is, customers, not people that are without power across parts of nine states. and you notice these wind speeds, certainly want to support power outages up to 100 miles per hour in parts of texas -- kansas, i should say. want to show you something. speaking of these strong winds, that's not even the strongest storm on our planet. strongest storm on our planet is taking place across the philippines at this hour. made landfall as a category 5 equivalent, 260 kilometer per hour or 160 mile per hour storm. that system becoming now only the third storm in over 100 years of record keeping to make landfall across this region of the philippines as a category 5 equivalent. remarkable and the most recent one, you'd have to go back to 2013 when super typhoon hayen made land fall. if you follow world weather, that storm left behind thousands of fatalities. it will be a rough go across the philippines the next several days. isa? >> indeed. i know you'll keep us posted on the weather in the united states as well as rai. i appreciate pedram javaheri for us. let's get more on the typhoon pedram was talking about. selina wang joins us. it packs quite a punch. do we know at this hour whether the majority of people have been able to evacuate? >> reporter: well, isa, we noah round 198,000 people have evacuated their homes, and this is absolutely devastating for residents. this is the 15th typhoon to hit the philippines this year. you already have millions of people still trying to rebuild their homes and their lives after the devastation from earlier this year. and parts of the philippines had been gearing up for this. they had been getting heavy rainfall in parts of the country for the past several days. we've got footage in a southern city where they've been having streets and homes flooded with this muddy brown water. at the same time, you've got airlines cancelling flights, thousands stranded at ports as authorities have canceled land and sea travel in the central and southern part of the country. and this super typhoon made landfall on the eastern coast in the island called shaga, which is a popular tourist destination, also known as the country's capital. it is expected to travel through central and southern parts of the country. there are thousands of villages in the storm that are at high risk of both flooding and potentially landslides because of the rainfall over the past few days has already weakened the land. now, the philippines as we've been discussing is no stranger to these devastating storms. the philippines gets around 20 typhoons per year. the deadliest one in 2013 killed more than 6,000 people. i want to read this statement from the chairman of the red cross. he said, quote, filipinos are tough, but this super typhoon is a bitter blow for millions of people who are still recovering from devastating storms, floods, and covid-19 in the past year. and, isa, humanitarian organizations are on the ground helping to provide shelter, helping to evacuate, food, water, aid. we spoke to the head of an aid organization who said that one of the big concerns is that some of the people in these areas where they may not be hearing these government evacuation announcements, that they may not be able to evacuate their homes, isa. >> i can imagine the fear that authorities may be feeling right now. selina wang in tokyo, do keep us posted. we'll keep our eyes on both those stories. the storms in the united states as well as the typhoon, typhoon rai. very busy on the weather front. thank you very much, selina. now, we know the identity of the u.s. congressman who tested former white house chief of staff mark meadows back in january outlining a theory to stop the certification of joe biden's election. now, a spokesman confirms it was ohio republican jim jordan who you see there on the screen. part of the text was revealed earlier this week as the house voted to recommend contempt charges for meadows. it says on january 6, 2021, vice president mike pence as president of the senate, should call out all electoral votes that he believes are unconstitutional, as no electoral votes at all. now, the u.s. federal reserve is projecting several interest rate hikes next year to ease inflation. fed chairman jerome powell says any increases will be gradual, but analysts expect three of them next year, the first one likely perhaps in may. consumer price inflation u.s. is as high as it's been in four decades as americans are paying more for everything from food to furniture and power, so things may not get better unfortunately any time soon. have a listen. >> these problems have been larger and longer lasting than anticipated, exacerbated by waves of the virus. as a result, overall inflation is running well above our 2% longer run goal and will likely ton do so into next year. >> the fed's announcement was welcome news on wall street. green arrows across the board. dow gained more than 1%. the tech-heavy nasdaq earned more than 2% and the s&p 5001.6%. if we have a quick look at u.s. futures, heading on a day of green arrows obviously winding down to the end of the year. so, clearly taking them in their stride, those news from the u.s. federal reserve. we'll keep an eye on those numbers for you. now, president biden is pushing his build back better domestic agenda as a crucial tool in fighting inflation, but the bill's passage may have to wait until next year as at least one democrat is still not on board. cnn's jessica dean reports now for you from capitol hill. >> reporter: it appears that senate democrats are now poised to punt a cornerstone of president joe biden's agenda into 2022. senate majority leader chuck schumer had hoped that the senate would vote on the build back better plan. that is the economic climate change bill that has already passed through the house before christmas. but right now, one key democratic holdout, because remember they need the support of all 50, that key democratic holdout, senator joe manchin, is said to be quite far apart from president biden on priorities and what he is willing to accept within this $1.75 trillion bill. one key provision that he wants to see on another track is the child tax credit. that has been a key priorities for biden and other democrats. they very much want to see that renewed and put into this bill. senator manchin wants to see that on a separate track, peel it off and make it its own legislation. he often wants to get bipartisan support on a lot of these issues. that is something, again, he's hoping to get bipartisan support on as well. as it stands now, that key issue of build back better looking more and more likely that that will now go into 2022 instead of getting voted on before the senate goes home for the holidays. instead, we are seeing senate democrats pivot to voting rights legislation, and you'll remember that the senate republicans have filibustered them on multiple attempts to move that legislation through the senate. they are now trying again, but again, senator joe manchin and senator kyrsten sinema opposing any changes to the filibuster as it stands right now. so it looks like they will likely be in the same spot where they began. jessica dean, cnn, capitol hill. now, u.s. health officials say they are ready for an onslaught of the u.s. omicron variant as long as people get vaccinated and get their boosters. research shows omicron may be resistant to vaccines. those from pfizer, moderna and astrazeneca. and dr. anthony fauci says you should expect breakthrough infections. have a listen. >> yes, there will be breakthrough infections. no doubt about that. i mean, we know that from the emerging experience we're getting from people in south africa and particularly in the uk. and we will be seeing that in this country. >> well, cdc data shows delta is still the main covid variant in the united states, but omicron has been found in most states as the country surpasses 800,000 covid deaths. cnn's alexandra field has this on where things stand going into the holidays. >> reporter: the grim milestone as delta's destructive toll continues across the country and omicron cases spread quickly, the new variant now detected in at least 36 states. >> we expect to see the proportion of omicron cases here in the united states continue to grow in the coming weeks. early data suggest that omicron is more transmissible than delta with a doubling time of about two days. >> reporter: one in six hospitals in the u.s. is already reporting critical staffing shortages with patient numbers still climbing. >> i think this is an opportunity to remind people the importance of testing before they visit with family, testing before travel to make sure they're not bringing the omicron variant back to their home states or home communities. >> reporter: new data from the national institutes of health finds a third dose of moderna's vaccine offers coverage from omicron versus the two-dose regimen. a strengthening case for boosters while new restrictions are set to take effect. california implementing a month-long indoor mask mandate. >> the last thing we want is to have a loved one need timely and high-quality hospital services and not be able to get that because of something we could have prevented. >> reporter: new york city moving forward with the vaccine mandate for the private sector later this month. >> in -- this new variant moves fast. we have to move faster. >> reporter: professional sports are yet again suffering covid setbacks. games pulled as they spike in highly vaccinated and regularly tested leagues. the nfl reporting dozens of positive tests among players since monday alone. the rams hit hard along with the browns, whose head coach is among the latest to test positive. >> the omicron variant is incredibly transmissible. it's hitting every state. players are traveling to go to different states to play, and so they're being edge exposed. the delta variant is ravage being through communities and hospitals as well. >> reporter: this comes as so many people are planning on holidays that are a bit more like they used to be before, planning to gather with family members. however, in philadelphia, the health commissioner is saying that people should not gather with anyone outside of their household, citing a surge in cases after thanksgiving. she goes on to suggest that if you are going to gather with people outside the household, you can keep celebrations small, outside, at a bare minimum, get a rapid test beforehand. in new york, alexandra field, cnn. new covid cases mean the show can't go on for more broadway plays. hamilton has joined a list of shows cancelling performance this week due to the virus. its official twitter account said it was due to breakthrough infections. that is coming less than an hour before the show was set to begin on wednesday. hamilton was one of the first broadway shows to reopen, if you remember, in september. after being forced to close for 18 months. now, at least four more colleges and universities in the united states are moving to final days of the fall semester online amid concerns of the omicron variant. princeton university is shifting all undergraduate final exams to a remote format so students can leave campus as soon as they are able. cornell, new york university, college in vermont are imposing similar safety rules. now, so now with both the delta and omicron variants spreading in the u.s., how should you handle the holidays? dr. anthony fauci explains. >> one of the things you can do is try to restrict your activities to situations where you know the vaccination status of people, and that's easy to do. and people ask you, well, what about the family setting? if you're vaccinated, your family members are vaccinated, you should feel comfortable in the setting of the holiday season to have dinners and social events at home. people should not feel that that's not safe. i mean, nothing is 100%, but when you talk about the relative risk, when you're dealing with vaccinated and particularly boosted people, you can feel comfortable enjoying the holiday. >> dr. fauci also says breakthrough covid infections due to omicron are to be expected. but as of now, there is no need for a booster specifically designed for the variant. still to come, covid cases here in the uk reaching new heights, prompting dire warnings and long lines you can see. the latest on the spread of the omicron variant. and in the united states, the prosecution set to wrap up its case against the former minneapolis police officer charged in a fatal shooting. we have the latest from the courtroom just ahead. you are watching "cnn newsroom." for people who could use a lift new neutrogena® rapid firming. a triple-lift serum with pure collagen. 92% saw visibly firmer skin in just 4 weeks. neutrogena® for people with skin. with directv stream i can get live 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>> it is about protecting the national health service, making sure that the number -- they are able to control the numbers. do we know, salma, the number of hospitalizations, how many people in hospital actually have the omicron variant, how many are not vaccinated? do we have that data yet? >> we have some of that data. some of it we still need updated. the latest figures i saw for the number of people in hospital with the omicron variant was ten. we know the death toll so far is one. i know those numbers sound very low, but that's what you just heard there again from the top doctor. he said there is that window, that gap between when you see the case numbers rising and when you actually see that translate into people in hospital trying to get help from doctors and nurses. usually that's a two-week period, at least during the pandemic that's what we've seen. but that's going to be shortened significantly. and a number of days now i expect we'd start to see the case numbers. over 78,000 positive cases in a 24-hour period yesterday. you're going to start to see those case numbers translate into patients in hospital. >> that is a startling number we're seeing, lines of people queueing up to get their boosters. thank you very much, salma abdelaziz there. italy is among the latest eu nations to roll out vaccinations for children 5 to 11. the campaign is one of many measures throughout europe to stop the spread of the virus that salma abdelaziz was talking about. ben wedeman joins me now. we've started to vaccinate children. give me a sense of the mood in italy. how much hesitancy are you hearing from parents there? >> reporter: well, what we're seeing is that, for instance, here in the region where rome is located, is that so far 35 bookings -- 35,000 bookings have been made for vaccinations for children age between 5 and 11. medical personnel say they are hoping that the numbers will pick up as time goes on. now, we're at the museo de bambini. the doors are open and they will start providing these doses to children. there were -- the first doses began yesterday, but today is when the nationwide vaccination campaign for the 5 to 11 age group begins. now, they won't be getting the full dose. it will be a third of the dose normally given to adults, but there has been some hesitancy. a reecent opinion poll found parents of children between the ages of 5 and 12 had concerns about the vaccine, but the doctors we've spoken to insisted that getting this particular age group vaccinated is critical to try to slow the spread, not just of the omicron variant which at this point is relatively insignificant in statistical terms in italy, but rather, the delta variant which is the predominant variant. 85% of the adult population has been fully vaccinated, so it's the remaining 15% of holdouts, plus the children that really need to get vaccinated to bring the pandemic here in italy under some sort of control. isa? >> ben wedeman for us this hour. good to see you. coming up after the break, president biden gets a close-up look at the destruction caused by last week's tornadoes and says the administration will do everything it can to help communities rebuild. have a listen. >> you can see in people's faces what they're really looking for, and look around, i say to the press, what they're looking for is just to be able to put their head down on a pillow, be able to close their eyes, take a deep breath, go to sleep and make sure their kids are okay. get your zzz's... and get back to your rhythm. ♪ the relief you need. the cash you want. air wick air wick scented oils are infused with natural essential oils to create authentic seasonal scents that fill your home with holiday spirit all season long. connect to nature this season. welcome back to "cnn newsroom." i'm isa soares. if you're just joining us, let me bring you up to date with our top stories this hour. super typhoon rai has made landfall in the philippines. hundreds of thousands of people have been told to evacuate. rai is one of the strongest storms ever recorded in the region. and severe weather is slamming parts of the central united states. more than 80 million people are under strong wind alerts, and more than 400,000 are without power. well, u.s. president joe biden visited parts of western kentucky after massive tornadoes ripped everything in their paths. he announced the federal government would pay for all the emergency work done over the next 30 days. the extreme weather event left at least 85 dead in five states and caused widespread power outages. cnn's brian todd has more on the president's firsthand look at the destruction. >> reporter: on the ground, president biden gets a jarring firsthand look at the damage in dawson springs, kentucky, meeting with victims in the aftermath. >> the scope and scale of this destruction is almost beyond belief. when you look around here, it's just almost beyond belief. these tornadoes devourd everything in their path. >> reporter: promising help for a hard hit state. >> i in continued to do whatever it takes as long as it takes, as long as it takes to support your state, your local leaders and you recover and rebuild. >> reporter: the state's governor grateful for the help. >> we've gone from looking for our dead to starting ho haul away the death and destruction around us. and the steps to start rebuilding have already begun. i hope the people of kentucky know that i care deeply about them, and the president does, too. >> reporter: in mayfield, biden sees the destruction of a town the state emergency director says, quote, doesn't exist. downtown, residents of a ruined apartment building pick through the remains and worry for friends and neighbors who lost everything. >> i don't know where we're going. i'm sorry, but i've known these people all my life. and they're helpless. i don't know what to do for them. >> every time i look around here -- i grew up here, and it's horrible. >> reporter: volunteers offering assistance for victims in places like the mayfield fairgrounds. barbara anderson's sister lost her house. >> i have seven people staying in my house. no power, no water. we're living in two rooms. >> reporter: mike goude has run an excavation building in mayfield 40 years. his teams are scrambling to clear fallen trees from red duck creek, a key drainage ditch. officials fear if the creek is not cleared soon, towns will flood from rain storms coming. >> there's buildings not stable, of course, i'm sure you've seen. >> reporter: survivors still returning to their neighborhoods, vowing to rebuild. >> this right here is just a lesson for us that, you know, we're not here to live forever. >> reporter: on this street in bowling green, 11 people died, including five members of one family from bosnia. >> they had a lot of kids. they would go outside, playing and all that. just seeing this right now, man, this is devastating. >> reporter: and we have new information on the horrific scale of the tornado that ripped through mayfield and dawson springs, kentucky. the national weather service says that tornado had a maximum width of a mile or more, had peak winds of 190 miles an hour, and was on the ground for at least 128 miles. brian todd, cnn, mayfield, kentucky. >> thank you, brian. now, the prosecution in the trial of former minneapolis cop kim potter charged in the shooting death of daunte wright is expected to rest its case today. now, on wednesday, a police expert testified potter was not justified in using deadly force against wright during a traffic stop in april. video shows potter pulling out her firearm and shooting wright, saying later she meant to use her taser. >> the fact they identified him and had his address is a relevant consideration in balancing the threat of escape or evasion. >> if he attempted to escape, what should the officers have done? >> use reasonable force to prevent the escape. >> and did they do that when they were trying to stop him from escaping? >> are you asking me in this case? >> yes. >> no, but the point is using deadly force, no. as i testified, that was excessive and unreasonable, inappropriate and inconsistent with general accepted police practices. >> now, wright's father was the last witness on the stand on wednesday. he fought back tears when prosecutors showed photos of his son. >> he loved his son >> and did you love your son daunte a lot as well? >> a lot. i loved daunte. he was loved. >> do you miss him? >> i miss him a lot, every day. >> thank you, your honor. nothing further. >> now, potter is charged with first and second degree manslaughter. she pleaded not guilty and is expected to testify in her own defense. now, another former minneapolis cop was also back in court. derek chauvin convicted of murder in the death of george floyd appeared before a judge to face federal civil rights charges. cnn's josh campbell has all the details for you. >> i can't breathe, man. >> reporter: for the first time since the murder of george floyd last year, former minneapolis police officer derek chauvin is admitting responsibility. pleading guilty wednesday to federal civil rights charges that he violated floyd's constitutional rights. it's all part of a plea deal for the man convicted of killing floyd last year by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes. in addition to the more than two decades chauvin was sentenced to by the state, prosecutors have asked for a concurrent sentence of 25 years on federal charges. adding fewer than three years to his overall prison time. far less than the life sentence he could have received. in court, prosecutors asked chauvin, as mr. floyd lay on the ground handcuffed and unresisting, you kept your knees on mr. floyd's neck and body even after mr. floyd became unresponsive, correct? correct, chauvin said. when asked if he agreed the offense resulted in floyd's death, he gave the same one-word response. afterwards, floyd's brothers had mixed reactions. >> i wish it would have happened on the first day we had the state trial. i wanted to hear that from the beginning. right now it don't mean nothing. it don't hold weight. >> to me this is big because a blue wall fell and it never falls. cops usually are silent, but they're opening up and they all say that that was wrong. >> reporter: josh campbell, cnn, minneapolis. >> on top of that story today. a florida school district paid $26 million to those killed in the parkland school shooting as well as those injured. the money covers two legal settlements approved on tuesday. a former student killed 17 people and wounded 28 others in the shooting which was among the deadliest in modern u.s. history. nikolas cruz pleaded guilty and could receive the death penalty. now, nine people are dead after a plane crashed in the dominican republic. among them a musician as well as his wife and child. the jet was headed to miami when it tried to land 15 minutes after take-off. the cause of the crash is still unknown. now we'll take you to australia where five children were killed, four others critically injured in a tragic accident. they were celebrating the end of the school year when wind lifted an inflatable castle into the air. the children fell about 10 meters to the ground. the school closed early for the day and parents were called to get their children. prime minister scott morrison called it heartbreaking. have a listen. >> the events that occurred in davenport in tasmania are just shattering. they are just unthinkably heartbreaking. and young children on a fun day out together with their families, and it turns to such horrific tragedy. at this time of year, it just breaks your heart. >> really heartbreaking story. authorities in tasmania are offering counseling to the affected families. still to come right here on the show, south korea's ramping up its covid-19 safety measures as the nation reports a new high of critically ill patients. we'll have more from the region with david culver next. nurse mariyam sabo knows a moment this pure... ...demands a lotion this pure. new gold bond pure moisture lotion. 24-hour hydration. no parabens, dyes, or fragrances. gold bond. champion your skin. hey hun hey, get your own vapors relax with vicks vapobath or with vicks vaposhower. take a soothing vicks vapo moment wherever you chose. blendjet's holiday sale is on now for the #1 gift this holiday season, 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! switching wireless carriers is easy with xfinity. just lean on our helpful switch squad to help you save with xfinity mobile. they can help break up with your current carrier for you and transfer your info to your new phone. giving you a fast and easy experience that can save you hundreds a year on your wireless bill. visit your nearest xfinity store and see how the switch squad can help you switch and save. get $200 off a new eligible 5g phone when you switch to xfinity mobile. talk with our helpful switch squad at your local xfinity store today. now, a rise in covid-19 cases right across the globe is forcing many nations to toughen up their safety measures and prepare for an uptick in omicron infections. the state of new south wales is reporting its highest number of daily covid-19 cases since the pandemic began. data shows 90% of the people ages 60 and older in new south wales have been vaccinated. in south korea, they are tightening social distancing rules as officials warn the medical system could reach its limit soon. it comes afternoon the country reported a number of critically ill covid patients on wednesday, and dozens of locally transmitted cases are being reported across five chinese provinces as beijing gets ready, of course, to host the winter olympics in february of 2022. let's bring in cnn's david culver in shanghai following the story for us. david, this surge we just painted out, painted right now, in cases is worrying given the spread of omicron, and news that china's sinovac doesn't provide protection against omicron. what more do we know here? >> reporter: i think that's most concernin concerning not only in the mainland but where it is exported to. what we are hearing from hong kong researchers is this vaccine, sinovac, which is chinese made, is not nearly as efficient at protecting against this omicron variant. and they're saying that as they have run this research, that it really doesn't have any antibodies to essentially neutralize the new variant. chinese officials haven't spoken specifically on that. they oftentimes like to say they want to see more research come out and they stand by, of course, their vaccines. not to mention you have more than 80% of this population of 1.4 billion people who have been fully vaccinated. of course, they're hopeful that they will see some sort of protection. nonetheless, you have the strict measures still in place here. you've got borders that are heavily restricted still, and you've got essentially many of us living here in the midst of a bubble. and those bubbles are continuing as we are seeing double digits reported. folks say that's not a lot, 64 cases reported yesterday, but it's significant given that they're trying to move forward with this zero-covid policy. and you mentioned the olympics. that's the main reason. they're trying to keep zero covid in place well into february of next year when beijing will host the olympics. but it is causing a lot of outbreaks, nonetheless, to be targeted with these lockdowns, with mass testing, with contact tracing, all of which is still heavily in place. you mentioned australia as well. that is, of course, an area that in new south wales, that state in particular, that has seen a daily record in cases. that's concerning. but folks there, isa, really more focused on the number of hospitalizations and they say as of now those numbers are manageable. >> david culver for us in shanghai. a rare appearance. please come on the show more often at this time, david. great to see you. >> reporter: good to be with you. now, the u.s. is also seeing covid cases surge, but air travel still expected to roar back to life this season. meanwhile airlines are on the hot seat in capitol hill testifying about how they spent the covid relief money they received from the government. cnn's pete muntean reports. >> reporter: the central question here was whether or not the federal government got its money's worth for the $50 billion it gave airlines in pandemic aid to prevent major layoffs, but there were still staffing shortages that caused massive flight cancellations and schedule meltdowns at spirit, american and southwest in the last few months. testifying here to the senate committee were executives from american, united, southwest and delta. american c.e.o. doug parker says it was schedule issues were really the exception and not the rule. united c.e.o. scott kirby says the federal government did get a return on investment, seeing as though airlines survived the pandemic. >> the industry would not only exist, anything like it does today, had this not happened. it's not just about the industry. it's about all the millions of jobs that we support that are dependent on connectivity and aviation and getting people from point a to b. and so this was not only about saving the aviation industry. it was about saving an industry that is a critical cog in the u.s. in the global economy. >> reporter: american airline c.e.o. doug parker says another reason why these problems will not happen again at its airline is that it is aggressively hiring, adding 16,000 jobs in 2021, 18,000 planned for 2022. we will see if this all works going into the massive holiday rush. the tsa anticipates huge numbers. we just saw 2 million people pass through security at america's airports this past sunday. united airlines says its passenger loads are 20% greater, it says, for the holiday season compared to thanksgiving when we saw a record set for the pandemic. the most passengers since march of 2020, 2.45 million people at airports across the country on the sunday after thanksgiving. pete muntean, cnn, the capitol. >> thanks, pete. now, if a cheesecake is on your holiday menu, tphiladelphi cream cheese is offering up to 18,000 shoppers a $20 reimbursement for buying desserts that do not involve cream cheese. the product is the latest grocery item to be hit by supply chain shortage. we've been telling you about that. shoppers can sign up to get reimbursed on a special website set up by kraft. now, still to come, new details have been released on the assassinations of john f. kennedy nearly 60 years ago. our report is just ahead. ♪ ♪ ♪ aloha! isn't this a cozy little room? 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qunol sleep formula combines 5 key nutrients that can help you fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, and wake up refreshed. the brand i trust is qunol. well, historians and conspiracy theorists are combing through hundreds of u.s. government documents just released on the assassination of u.s. president john kennedy. they were supposed to be made public four years ago. but despite some new information, cnn's tom foreman explains, there is no great revelation. >> ask not what your country can do for you -- >> reporter: the nearly 1500 documents are filled with intriguing details. a polish driver in australia saying he listened in on russian passengers talking about five soviet submarines carrying 400 to 500 soviet soldiers on their way to cuba. there was a plot to pay $100,000 to kill president kennedy. a nicaraguan claiming he saw the president's killer lee harvey oz wald being paid $6500 by russians. oz wald meeting with the kgb agent just months before the killing, and endless reports like this. oz wald entered mexico claiming he was a photographer phoning the embassy to ask for a visa so he could go to odessa, ussr. little information is entirely new to the public. little leads long ago dispensed with or disproven. >> to the white house in washington comes the final verdict on the fateful tragedy which engulfed the nation ten months ago. >> reporter: but ever since the warren report, every tiny bit of information pulled from the shroud of government secrecy has fed conspiracy theorists who believe oswald did not act alone and may have been backed by cuba, russia, the mafia -- >> and karma. i saw a flash of light in the bushes. and then shots rang out. >> reporter: and these latest papers are fascinating serious historians, too. even when they aren't all about oswald. >> i learned some things today, more details about how the mafia were used in an attempt to kill castro. now i sort of understand much better the technique that would have been involved and why it was a serious effort, which did not actually succeed as we know. >> reporter: that sort of information is precisely what intelligence agents are cagey about. they don't want their methods or their contacts known, even decades later after this far-ranging investigation. and that's why about 10,000 documents remain either heavily redacted or entirely off limits. tom foreman, cnn, washington. no reductions there. now, rise, sir hamilton. the sensation hamilton was knighted on wednesday by prince charles. you can see the distinction, the bitter second place loss at the abu dhabi grand prix on sunday. he is the fourth f-1 driver to be knighted. the first to receive it while racing. he was there with his mother. and that does it for me here on "cnn newsroom." i'm isa soares. our coverage of the severe weather right across the central united states continues on "early start" with christine romans and laura jarrett. have a wonderful day and i shall see you tomorrow. bye-bye. we gave new zzzquil pure zzzs restorative herbal sleep to people who were tired of being tired. i've never slept like this before. i've never woken up like this before. crafted with clinically studied plant-based ingredients that work naturally with your body. for restorative sleep like never before. woman: i have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. now, there's skyrizi. ♪ things are getting clearer ♪ ♪ yeah i feel free ♪ ♪ to bare my skin, yeah that's all me. ♪ ♪ nothing and me go hand in hand ♪ ♪ nothing on my skin that's my new plan. ♪ ♪ nothing is everything. ♪ woman: keep your skin clearer with skyrizi. most who achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months had lasting clearance through 1 year. in another study, most people had 90% clearer skin at 3 years. and skyrizi is 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. ♪ it's my moment so i just gotta say ♪ ♪ nothing is everything. ♪ skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, such as fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches, or coughs or if you plan to or recently received a vaccine. ♪ nothing is everything. ♪ woman: talk to your dermatologist about skyrizi. learn how abbvie could help you save. where's mom? 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(cheers) xfinity brought us together, after all! power your whole home this holiday with wifi speeds faster than a gig. click, call, or visit a store today. sing 2 a record number of hurricane-force winds, parts of the u.s. blasted by another round of damaging storms. omicron, delta and the flu. the trio that has doctors facing a long winter. he's out, urban myers rocky tenure of the jacksonville jaguars ends after less than a year. it is thursday, december 16th. it's 5:00 a.m. in new york. thanks for getting an early start with us. i'm christine romans. >> i'm laura jarrett. welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. we begin this morning with this wild weather, really historic weather blasting a broad swath of the u.s. heartland for the second time in a week