professional sports leagues are cancelling games, major colleges are moving to remote learning and keep in mind we're still in the throes of the delta wave, the delta variant still accounts for 97% of reporting infections here in the u.s. right now, but we know omicron is more transmissible and it is spreading fast. >> this virus is extraordinary. it has a doubling time of anywhere from two to three days. right now in certain regions. country 50% of the ice lets are omicron which means it's going to take over. >> even if it has a lower risky is veracast we could be having a million cases a day if we're not really attentive to all of those mitigation strategies and, you know, a small fraction of a big number is still a real big number. >> here's the silver lining. the vaccines are working. cdc data shows if you run vaccinated, you are 20 times more likely to die of covid than someone who is vaccinated and boosted. that's not surprising. it's what we've been hearing from doctors all across the country. unvaccinated people are predominantly being the ones hospitalized and dying from covid. let's go to cnn chief national affairs correspondent jeff zeleny live at the white house. the president is set to address the nation tomorrow on the pandemic and omicron and when he foresees but first he'll meet with his covid team today within the hour. what do we expect? >> reporter: ana, we do expect president biden in half an hour or so to be meeting with his coste experts in the oval office talking about many of the things that we heard over the weekend. dr. fauci spoke about it. omicron is coming and soon will be the dominant variant here. that's likely to happen even before christmas. look, this is not where the white house wanted to be, but the president, we're told, is going to try to issue another plea tomorrow as he addresses the nation to get vaccinated and get boosters. that's going to be part of the requirement, if you will, to get the country out of this pandemic, now, they know -- the white house knows, the administration niece there are likely to be some dark days ahead. in fact, president biden sound the alarm last week. he gave a very stark warning. he said for the unvaccinated, it will be a severe winter, so really some less than optimistic language before the holidays, but one challenge, of course, is testing. we've seen the long lines. that's something that we're told that president biden is going to address tomorrow. this has been a big challenge for the administration, getting enough tests available, both at the supermarket or your pharmacy or just other testing spots, so that's one of the challenges that they have really struggled with all year long and look for the president tomorrow to try to issue a severance calm, if you will, but also acknowledge there are tough weeks likely ahead. >> it's not over yet. that's for sure. still in the throes of it and another round. coming up, we learned some new information about former trump's vaccination status. what did he say? >> for the first time former president was speaking in dallas over the weekend and he did acknowledge for the first time that he has received a booster. this is something initially he said he wasn't going to get. he did receive a booster but listen to the reaction from the crowd at a speech of his after he said that. >> both the president and i are vaktsd. did you get the booster? >> yes. >> i got it, too. >> don't, don't, don't, no, no, no. that's a very tiny group over there. >> so you heard some members of the crowd booing there. this was at a pro-trump event where bill o'reilly has been on tour with the former president and we've seen at rallies before where trump rallies where they boo and this speaks to a fact to which americans are largely resistant to getting the boosters or vaccines in the first place. >> hopefully they go get the first vaccine now that they know -- didn't sound like to there. they like to resist. jeff zeleny, upiate the update there. let's go to new york now because you'll recall that new york was the the epicenter and now it's home to up out of eight covid infections here in the u.s. meaning here we go again. cnn's jason carroll is in new york city. we saw huge lines for testing across the city today. jason, what's the scene like today? >> same thing today and same thing this morning and likely to be the same thing again tomorrow, ana. the long lines and people waiting to get their vaccine shots. just some of the problems being looked at here in new york city as city officials and health officials continue to look at rising numbers here as well. if you look at latest numbers that we're getting here in new york city, covid cases more than doubled compared to last week. most of the cases that we're seeing in terms of the data that we're looking at all coming from for the most part unvaccinated people. despite the rises in some. cases, we should also point out for perspective that officials have not seep a substantial rise in the number of hospitalizations so that's something to consider here as well. meanwhile, as i was saying, a number of people here trying to get their covid test and waiting sometimes hours in line in order to do that. those going to grocery stores or out to drug stores to get some of the rapid tests or finding that they have been sold out. earlier today new york city's mayor bill de blasio waed in on this issue to talk about what the city is doing to try to meet that need. >> we're now testing more people than ever, 130,000 plus daley in the city sites, double the number of tests just three weeks ago. that's how fast things are wamping up. this intense effort will keep growing as long as we need it to grow to address demand and what we're trying do as much as possible is get the in-home test kits in play, particularly where we're seeing the long lines, wherever possible, especially at the city-run sites. we offer people the alternative of giving them in-home tests that they can take home with them. >> one more detail there, ana, the mayor also said that in addition to help meet this need the city is going to be opening 23 additional testing sites in addition to the 89 that are already open here in the city but his critics say no, no, no. that more sites need to be own, more tests need to be made available and more staff and labs in order to produce the results of those tests as well. in addition to that, a lot of eyes on times square, what will happen sneer will the ball drop still open? for now it's still a go. new york city's mayor says he'll give it until christmas to make a final decision on this, meantime, organizers of the event saying anyone coming out here will have to prove they are fully,nated and are not requiring that people rare masks but are certainly encouraging it. >> other big cities are cancelling their plans for new year's day. jason carroll, live in times square. right now delta remains the most prominent variant in the u.s. but omicron is popping up. ecohen is they're break down what moderna is saying about its data regarding omicron. >> moderna is saying indeed their booster does increase antibodies. what's unclear is is it enough to give you the kind of protection against omicron that their booster gave against say delta or previous variants, so let's take a look at what moderna announced today. they said that their current booster, the one can you go out and get right now which is 50 micrograms boosted antibodies and 100 antibodies, double the dose, boosted it even further and the effectiveness against omicron sun clear. this is lab data, and it's unclear what this means in the real world. how effective that will be and how long the effectiveness will last. you might see this and say why don't they do the 100 meuc grams. it's signature on the shelves and the president of moderna said that's up to public health authorities if they want to switch from us a 50 microgroom a 100 microgram booster he said that would be up to them. ansnarks. >> moderna is also working on a booster specifically developed for omicron, right? tell us about that. >> that's right. they say they will have clinical trials in the early part of next year to get a booster, specifically aimed at omicron. before that i want to say the bottom line here is get vaccinated and get boosted. even if the moderna booster doesn't work as well against omicron it is a did against previous variant, it's still boosting antibodies beyond what two shots will get you, the first two shots the most important but also that booster is increasing anti-bodies and hopefully early next year they will have another one that's even better against omicron. ana? >> elizabeth cohen, thank you. obviously there could be other variants that happen between now and then. >> right. >> let's bring in internal medicine specialist dr. jorge rodriguez to talk about where we are right now. it is christmas week. i want to talk about holiday travel and gatherings. people think what should i do? should people reconsider their plans? >> i think they should. it doesn't mean they shouldn't stop going where they are going but the first thing is they need to be vaccinated and are you don't want to keep using the word booster and they need to be completely vaccinated which means three shots or few you have the j & jha. if you have someone in your family not vaccinated you may want to reconsider your plans, but if you haven't gotten vaccinated i would urge you not to travel because you will eventually come down with covid. there is no ifs, ands or buts. >> and we know there's still a small percent and of people eligible for the booster who have actually gotten is. the tsa has screened over 2 million a day, close to pre-pandemic levels, so a couple of months from now will we be getting to the worst days but we'll be close. this surge is moving west and it's in the north now. i don't see any two which is around it. a cruise ship had an outbreak it of 48 cases on board. 95% of the people on board of were fully vaccinated, so what's the lesson here, do you think? >> the lesson is that 5% were not, and those people may have been the ones that brought it in. those people may have been the ones that caught it and perhaps an a-minus is not good enough anymore unreally have to be fully vaccinated. we need to be a lot more strict with vaccination requirements in all forms transportation where people are in the same place for a prolonged period of time including airplanes, definitely includes cruise thimpts you have to prove that you're nepgtive 24 hours within embarking. >> new york state broke case record three kays in a row, and i want to show you, look, it's going up, and the last time we were in this realm was last january, almost a full year ago. that really at the beginning of vaccines. the good news here is that each though hospitalizations are ticking up, deaths are low. they are steady. what does that tell you? >> well, that tells me that people are going to get covid. it's probably going to be the omicron variant, and i -- i don't want people to get a sense of relief about the fact that oh, you know. what it's not as bad. south africa says it's not as bad. south africa is a completely different country than the united states. their population skews a lot younger than ours. they are a lot more homogenous as opposed to the united states where we have different pockets throughout this country of people that are vaccinated and not vaccinated. different ter raines, different climates, so, therefore, we don't know if omicron in this country is going to be less severe than in south africa. if you're becoming infectled, it may not be omicron but it might be the big o, so this could lead to a prolonging of the pandemic. >> thanks for joining us and thanks for all you do. senator joe manchin today explaining why he is a no on president biden's build back better plan. we'll tell you who he's blaming. plus, the u.s. now seeing covidizations as a level not seen since late 2020 and one doctor saying there's no medical school class that can prepare you for this level death. she joins us life, and a strange new twist in the case of chinese tennis star peng shuai who now says she never even accused of anyone of sexual assault. stay with us. you're live in the cnn newsroom. i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. what are the three ps? the three ps of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 54, what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65 and take medications. what's my price? also $9.95 a month. i just turned 80, what's my price? $9.95 a month for you too. if you're age 50 to 85, call now about the #1 most popular whole life insurance plan available through the colonial penn program. it has an affordable rate starting at $9.95 a month. no medical exam, no health questions. your acceptance is guaranteed. and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate lock so your rate can never go up for any reason. so call now for free information and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner. and it's yours free just for calling. so call now for free information. the white house is scrambling to regroup after a devastating blow to president biden's agenda. after months of negotiations democratic senator joe manchin says he can't support the president's build back better plan. west virginia moderate has been the key holdout against the massive social policy bill but his abrupt announcement that he's officially a no seemed to catch the white house off guard. cnn's jessica deep joined from us capitol hill. sfleeder chuck schumer still plans to build this vote to the floor for a vote next year. why and where do things go from here? >> reporter: a couple of things to keep in-mile-per-hour, ana. he is go going to bring this to the floor because he wants to put senator joe manchin out of west virginia and it kind of illuminated some of the behind-the-scenes not heard previously that he really placed the blame on white house staff. they said white house staff had done some things that were inexcusable and he said they believed they could badger him and wear him down an put enough pressure on him that they would ultimately get him to come to their side and vote for build back better but ultimately he could not get there, and ago and he doesn't seem to be open at all, not much wiggle room for revamping build back better. talked about taking it back through the committee process, pushing aside the momentum that would move it forward with just democrat votes so could they parcel out different issues included in build back better? maybe they can, but what's most likely based on what we heard from, is that he has no intension of changing his mind. he's very much set on a no vote here. schumer is going to push this to make it more public on him, ana but it doesn't make it seem like that that will most needle. democratic leadership, the white house will have to go back and group to see that it's going to be an election year which will be even more difficult. >> even more complicated. thanks. let's bring in democratic congresswoman madeline dean, a member of the house financial services commit and also the progressive caucus. this bill addressed everything from the climate crisis to plans to lower prescription drugs and all of that is essentially wiped out at this point. what's your biggest concern right now? >> all of that and so much more. how about hearing aids for seniors, affordable housing, addressing the climate cries and so much more. mr. manchin is at a low moment in his career. he misled the president. he misled the senate colleagues. he misled us in the house when he promised to work and move forward on the framework that was agreed to a few weeks or a couple of months ago now. we worked in earnest based on that promise, but he has gone back on his word, and, ana i was thinking about it, the only thing that we have as legislators are our words, and the only thing of value that we have is our word. mr. manchin has gone back on his word throwing away his own credibility. where we go from here is we keep fighting for build back better because we know it is in america's interest. it is for the greater good. it is for our children and our planet and our seniors. we're going to keep fighting. i'm pleased with senator schumer who will bring this bill to the floor to expose all of the senators in terms of where they stand for this very popular investment in our future. >> words are one thing and actions are another and it's the votes that can really make a difference for the american people and i wonder after all of these months of negotiating what it was that changed for him to now say definitively no. listen to what he's saying about his thinking today. >> you know me, always willing to work and listen and try. i just got to the wit's end and they know the real reason what happened. they won't tell you, and i'm not going to. >> wait, wait, wait, wait. >> no. >> wait, wait. you said they know the real reason. they are not going to tell us. you're not going to tell us. >> the bottom line is there's basically, and it's staff driven. i understand staff. it's not the.. it's the staff and they drove some things and put some things through the were absolutely inexcusable. they know what it is and that's it. >> what's your message to manchin right now? >> strange that this leader in the senate who has been working with skofrs hours for the president on this incredibly important legislation at the last minute would blame it on white house staff, and you notice the way that he made his announcement. he had a staffer go over to the white house before he was to go on the news yesterday and tell the white house and then when the white house called him prior to his going on the news to say he was going back on his word, he wouldn't take the camp i think that tells you much more about mr. manchin than it does about any staffer. this is not a staffer's issue. this is between mr. manchin, this administration and the senate and house colleagues. the big loser here, the american people. >> you and other progressive democrats made this dell to support the infrastructure plan and then pass the build back better plan. initially you wanted them to go together. do you feel betrayed? >> certainly we feel betrayed, but we knew that that was a possibility. we've seen mr. manchin waffle before so what i would like to do now is to look past mr. manchin. of course, call him to be a man of his word but let's look for republican senators. they know that the measures in this bill will lift families out of poverty in their district, will provide housing for seniors in their district, would provide universal pre-k, would continue the expansion of the affordable care act so i call upon other senators to go around mr. manchin since he has waffled and flip-flopped so many times that he simply can't be trusted to be a man of his word, and let's get this thing done. thank you, mr. schumer, for bringing it up. we're not giving it up. >> is this just a manchin problem because your colleague alexandria ocasio-cortez put less blame on manchin and more on democratic leaders and the president? she tweeted this. where we need answers from the leaders who promised a path on bb if bif passed, this being the infrastructure bill. biden and them leaders, they chose to move bif alone instead of with bbb, not manchin, so they need to fix t.dore you agree? >> well, i never comment on the comments of a colleague. what i do think -- >> let me ask you this differently then because president biden ran on being a deal-maker, right, among lawmakers, even as decades in the senate and vice president, and he did get the bipartisan infrastructure bill passed, but considering that this was a member of his own party that effectively killed his key agenda item, an item that he promised to deliver, manchin's vote with, did the president just bite off more than he could chew here? >> i don't think so at all. i think what we go back to is mr. manchin went back on his word and you're going see an extraordinary backlash for that, not just from progressives but from the business community. you saw what goldman sachs said. this is going to be an economic engine when we pass it, and i believe we will still pass it, and if we don't, manchin will own that economic failure. so this isn't just about progressives. i'm also a member of the new dem caucus and the american citizenry who call on mr. manchin to make guesses as to how poor people might spend any resources that are returned to them for their hard work and instead pass this legislation that is amazing popular but incredibly generationally important. >> congresswoman, thank you so much for joining us. let stay in touch and see where this goes from here, especially returning from the holidays. appreciate your time. >> thank you. happy holidays to you, ana. >> right back at you. the omicron threat is the prompting some countries to impose new restriction, even lockdowns. the latest headlines from around the globe just ahead. . but when it comes to my insurance i don't. i use liberty mutual, they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. wooo, yeaa, woooooo and, by switching you could even save 665 dollars. hey tex, can someone else get a turn? 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>> you know, it's sad. it's the saddest, most up expected turn in medicine from what we started with and explain this morning what you're going through and what you're seeing in your emergency room. >> it's been, you know, we've had a lot of ups and downs throughout the past 19, 20 months. we've had really, really bad days and not so bad days and what we've seen the last couple of weeks is a lot of patients who have been delaying medical care who are coming in incredibly ill, and we were dealing with that before the surge and then on top of that now the huge surge of covid patients and we don't have the space, and -- and we are all so, so tired of telling loved ones that they are losing their loved one. >> these patients that you're seeing because of covid, are they almost all exclusively unvaccinated? >> so my experience -- i can only speak to my experience in my hospital which is the main campus and, yes, every patient that i admitted to my service in the icu and have seen through the e.d. who is critically ill sun vaccinated. >> and we know delta is still the biggest problem here in the u.s. which explains this late f-surge, but we have the omicron variant, too, spreading rapidly around the world in places like the uk right now, the british medical association warning that tens of thousand of medical staff could soon be out kick with covid by christmas day, they say, and as omicron cases are continuing to rise here in the u.s. i wonder if that's a big concern of yours given the staffing issues that we know hospitals are facing right now. >> i -- again, i can really only speak to my experience. i have not seen anymore colleagues go out with covid recently than in the past, but, yeah, i mean, staffing shortages are concerning for a number of reasons. i think that the people who are left are hacking on to hope that this will get better and so every -- every wave hits us a little bit harder. >> what do you need right now? >> i've been thinking about this a lot. i've been asked that a lot and i know that i'm not -- i'm not going to be able to convince everybody to get vaccinated. i can't change people's minds. i wish i could, and i wish could i show them what we're seeing and maybe that would change their mind, but we have had to tell more people in the last 20 months that they are losing somebody they love than anybody has ever thought they would have to tell in a lifetime of medicine, and so we need -- we need kindness. we need support and we need a unvaccinated people to talk steps to protect themselves so they don't end up at our doorstep. >> thanks for all do, doctor. appreciate you taking the time to share what you're experiencing and sending the best to all of our colleagues and giving you strength to get through the next wave. >> thank you, ana. i want to give you a better sense of how other countries are coping with covid right now. the omicron variant is spreading quickly. especially in europe force new restriction, something we haven't seen since the worst days of this pandemic. cnn reporters are following developments from across the globe. >> reporter: in jerusalem israel is adding ten more countries, including the u.s. and canada, to its red no-fly list as it braces for the full force of a fifth covid wave. from 5:00 p.m. eastern time on tuesday the countries will be off-limits for israelis unless they get special permission. travelers arriving from them will have to self-isolate for seven days, first in a designated quarantine hotel and then once they get a negative pcr test result at home so long as they agree have their movements tracked. israel has been steadily adding countries to its red list to reduce the spread of the omicron vafrmt most israel's 175 confirm cases and 380 suspected ones recently returned from overseas. on sunday evening prime minister nestle bennett held a televised news conference imploring israelis to make the new wave seriously and encouraging those employed in the private sector to work from home. public sector workers are expected to follow next week. we also sought to reinvigorate israel's stalling vaccination campaign especially among children where takeup has been especially waefnlg the time we bought is running out, said bennett. with god's help we'll safely overcome this wave. i'm scott mclean. denmark is already seeing a spike in new covid infections twice as high as the previous peak, but now thanks to the omicron variant, danish scientists predict that in the weario daily infections could be ten times as high as the previous record. dans are quickly finding out that two shots of vaccine, well, that's not very effective against omicron. more than three-quarters of the population have had two dose of the vaccine but only a third have had their boosters. the one point severity is howie is veer an illness omicron causes. denmark has shut down cinemas, theaters and museums and put restrictions on night life to try to get the virus under control. >> our thanks to you both for your reporting. close arguments in the trial of former police officer kim potter. the key points for the jury to consider next. [sfx: radio being tuned] welcome to allstate. ♪ [band plays] ♪ a place where everyone lives life well-protected. ♪ and even when things go a bit wrong, we've got your back. here, things work the way you wish they would. and better protection costs a whole lot less. you're in good hands with allstate. click or call for a lower auto rate today. meet chef clem, owner of doughn't be sour, a sourdough doughnut company. she was flying back from a conference, when she got a text: she needed a bigger fridge asap if she was going to fulfill her orders. so she used her american express business platinum card® to earn more points on the big-ticket purchase. she got the new fridge, fulfilled the orders, and with her extra points, she got new equipment that allowed her to expand her business by rolling out a new product. get the card built for business. by american express. welcome back. close arguments are under way in the trifle former minnesota police officer kim potter. the 26-year veteran says she mistook her gush for her toyser when she shot and killed daunte wright during a traffic stop. she faces first and second-degree murder charges. what have jurors heard now during closing arguments? >> reporter: ana, they have heard from both sides, the prosecution and defense. at this moment the judge is on the bench giving final instructions to the jury. let's start with the prosecution because it is their job to carry the burden of proof. daunte wright was shot to death by a gun in the hand afternoon highly trained officer. the prosecution calls that wreckless. listen in. >> this was a colossal screwup. >> a blunder of epic proportions. actions can still be crimes if they result as a result of recklessness or culpable negligence. you're not going to find the word accident or mistake anywhere in your jury instructions. >> reporter: the defense attorney argue it was a mistake asking this question to members of the jury. how could potter act recklessly if she didn't know she had a gun in her hand? listen in? >> she shot him tragically, but she didn't know she had a gun either, and then he said you shot me, and being alone what does he do? does he stay there and say hey, help me out. he takes off then and then you see the video. he goes like a jet? and when the jury deliberates they will have the gun used to kill wright and the taser that broaddus thought she had. >> covid outbreaks are forcing cabslations and changes to protocols in major sports leagues. more on all of this just ahead. . now we've created a brand-new way for you to sell your car. whether it's a year old or a few years old. we wanna buy your car. so go to carvana and enter your license plate answer a few questions. and our techno wizardry calculates your car's value and gives you a real offer in seconds. when you're ready, we'll come to you, pay you on the spot and pick up your car, that's it. so ditch the old way of selling your car, and say hello to the new way at carvana. i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. what are the three ps? the three ps of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 54, what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65 and take medications. what's my price? also $9.95 a month. i just turned 80, what's my price? $9.95 a month for you too. if you're age 50 to 85, call now about the #1 most popular whole life insurance plan available through the colonial penn program. it has an affordable rate starting at $9.95 a month. no medical exam, no health questions. your acceptance is guaranteed. and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate lock so your rate can never go up for any reason. so call now for free information and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner. and it's yours free just for calling. so call now for free information. earn about covid-19, the more questions we have. the biggest question now, what's next? what will covid bring in six months, a year? if you're feeling anxious about the future, you're not alone. calhope offers free covid-19 emotional support. call 833-317-4673, or live chat at calhope.org today. there is a strange new twist in the case of chinese tennis star peng shuai. she's not only denied she was ever sexually assaulted by a former high ranking politician, but she's also saying she never even made the accusations in the first place. here is what she said over the weekend. >> translator: i want to emphasize one thing that is very important. that i have never spoken or written about any sexually assaulted me. in terms of the post, first of all it is my personal privacy. there has been a lot of misunderstanding. >> peng made the accusation in a social media post which was quickly taken down. she then disappeared from public view for more than two weeks while the chinese government insisted she was okay. the women's tennis association all raised concerns about her safety and freedom and there is questions about whether she is speaking of her own free will. christine brennan joins us now. she's now denying she made the allegations. what do you make of this. >> it is very troubling and it is a continuing pattern that we've seen over the last, what, six weeks or so. she made the allegation. it was on her account on chinese twitter. and on social media, and it was there and then it was gone as you alluded to. so the fact that she's saying these words and looking into the camera, for whose who haven't watched it, try to watch both parts of it. it is troubling. she looks in and out of the camera, she looks like she's a little nervous and concerned as she answering a couple of questions, goes on only for a couple of minutes. you never see anyone else in the picture. so why is that? it's troubling. it is concerning and the wta giving a master class once again in wonderful sports humanitarian leadership that the international olympic committee and nba could learn from saying that is not good enough, we need to speak to her. the wta knows peng shuai and she knows the wta. why in the world is she not talking to the one group of people that desperately want to hear from her. >> there are still so many questions and concerns about that as it pertains to the winter olympics coming up, being held in beijing. covid is another threat to that. not just to the olympics, but to the world of sports in general. five nba games postponed now. three nfl games also postponed. nhl canceling all cross border games until the 23rd of this month. where do you think this is headed? >> i certainly hope it is not a repeat of 2020. none of us do. but it does have that feeling of march 11th, 2020, when the nba shut down and the sports world told the world that this was serious. we know that now. we also have vaccines so we're in a different place. but these leagues are dealing with what the rest of the world is dealing with, they are a mirror of society, ana, and we're seeing it. they also are, i think, are struggling to figure out, the nfl wants to do less testing to get players back on the field, to make sure the product is good enough for tv and for the fans. that is i think a terrible message of less testing for those communities in which the teams are pillars. and the role models for so many others. so it is a mess. it is frankly a mess and it is not surprising. we're dealing with a new variant and the world is going to watch and see the same thing. what goes on in sports as we learned back in 2020 goes on in the rest of the world as well. >> i just wonder if they're going to end up going back to the bubble situation in order to keep the seasons alive. we have to leave it there today. christine, thank you for being with us. i appreciate it. christine brennan. >> thank you. and thank you all for joining us. that does it for us today, we'll see you back here tomorrow at 1:00 eastern. in the meantime join me on twitter at ana cabrera. the news continues next with victor blackwell after a quick break. age before beauty? 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(gasps) ♪ did it work? only pay for what you need ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ spider-man no way home in theaters december 17th ♪ fresh flavors... classic dishes... ♪ and a new seat at the table. ♪ small businesses like yours make gift-giving possible. now, comcast business has an exclusive gift for you. introducing the gift of savings sale. for a limited time, ask how to get a great deal for your business. and get up to a $500 prepaid card with select bundles when you switch to the network that can deliver gig speeds to the most businesses. or get started with internet and voice for $64.99 per month with a 2-year price guarantee. give your business the gift of savings today. comcast business. powering possibilities. what does a foster kid need from you? to be brave. to show up. for staying connected. the questions they weren't able to ask. show up for the first day of school, the last day at their current address. for the mornings when everything's wrong. for the manicure that makes everything right, for right now. show up, however you can, for the foster kids who need it most— at helpfosterchildren.com hello and thank you for joining me. i'm victor blackwell. allison is off. we're two years in the pandemic and facing another holiday season weighed down by cancellations and restrictions and for a lot of people confusion. right now the delta variant makes up 97% of the cases in the u.s. but dr. fauci said the very contagious omicron variant will become the dominant variant or strain in the country in the coming weeks. here is good news from moderna. encouraging preliminary data suggesting that the covid boost ser effective against the omicron variant. cnn's athena jones has more on the latest covid developments. >> it is going to be a tough few weeks to months as we get deeper into the winter.