updated ids guidance on how long health care workers should isolate if they get covid-19. shortening the time from ten days to seven days if they are no longer positive and if they are asymptomatic. let's go to our national correspondent athena jones more on the omicron surge as the holiday travel rush is underway. >> reporter: with holiday air travel surpassing pre-pandemic levels, according to the tsa, tonight long lines at airports and at testing sites. >> this whole thing is frustrating. >> reporter: as people scramble to do what they can to keep themselves and their families safe through the holidays. doctors are applauding the fda decision today granting emergency use authorization to a second anti-viral pill. this one from merck that people could take at home. adding another covid fighting weapon to the nation's armory. but they stress even these game-changing medications must be given within five dies of onset making timely access to tests all the more important. >> we can't give the medications to everybody. we want to give them to people who test positive. but there is a real testing bottleneck so we need to solve that problem first. >> reporter: omicron is confirmed in all 50 states but there is good news. three early studies now adding to the evidence it may be less likely to cause severe disease. still, experts warn it is too early to say for sure. >> it is dangerous business to be able to rely on what you perceive as a lower degree of severity. >> reporter: doctors fear even if omicron is milder than delta, the huge spike in case numbers, particularly among the unvaccinated, could still strain hospitals in some places. like cleveland, ohio. >> we are overwhelmed. our icus, our hospital are overwhelmed. >> reporter: but the hospital picture nagtswide appears more promising. so far while new daily cases reach 135,000, as high as the mid-september peak of the delta surge, hospitalizations and deaths are below the peak of delta. new york city setting new single day records but the new york governor said the hospitalization rate is only two-thirds what it was this time last year. >> we're not panicking. we have the resources we need. >> reporter: the state's high vaccination rate may be helping to keep the numbers down. as experts continue to stress getting vaccinated and boosted is the best way to fight the latest covid threat. meanwhile new york city announcing a scaled down new year's eve celebration in times square. fewer people, about 15,000 instead of nearly 60,000, with revelers required to show proof of vaccination and wear masks. and this update we've just gotten from the center for disease control is a big deal and it addresses concerns we're hearing from doctors given the spread of omicron, it is highly contagious and spreading very quickly all over the place. now health care workers won't have to isolate for ten days, instead they could return to work after seven days provided they are asymptomatic and they test negative for covid. this only applies to health care workers. and of course the south dakota saying that the isolation time could be cut down even further depending on staffing shortages. this is all to address concerns that with omicron spreading so much, you're going to have a lot of health care workers forced to stay home for too long which would add to stresses on hospitals. so very important announcement by the cdc. >> this is a bullig deal. thank you very much. led's bring in our pandemic skpirt experts. dr. ashish jha and from the university of minnesota and cnn medical analyst dr. leana wen author. dr. wen, what do you think about this breaking news? is this the right move by the cdc changing the isolation guidelines for health care workers from ten days to just severn days? >> it is. because it was made out of necessity. the most important thing right now is to preserve the integrity of our health care system. we cannot have our hospitals be at such overcapacity simply because we don't have enough doctors and nurses and other workers so this is the right move for that reason. but i also hope that the cdc will quickly look at shortening the isolation period for everyone. because i'm really concerned at this point about compliance. i think if they're able to shorten the window to seven days or even five days with a negative test, basically test to return to work, then even if you end up missing some individuals who may still be infectious, if you're able to get many more people to comply with a shorter period instead of disincentivize. >> dr. jha, what is your action. >> i agree, i think it is a step in the right direction. i think it is long coming. there is no reason that people are fully vaccinated need a ten-day isolation. by the way, there should be high quality studies happening. we should figure out the exact time period. but the key in my mind is five to seven days, a rapid test and require up to two rapid tests if you want to be more careful. but getting people back out of isolation is really critical to keeping things going and also just creating an incentive tor people to get tested so they don't have to be isolated for ten days. >> what do you think professor jha, i mean proffer osterholm. >> this is a start. and i think an important start. but we have to remember in the next two to eight weeks we're going to see this viral blizzard across the country and if it is like what we're seeing in europe, where today in london over 5,000 national health system employees were off because of covid infection themselves, we're going to get in many places to the point of where we will be considering i think having health care workers if they are mildly ill or asymptomatic but infected because having someone there is likely to be a much safer situation than having no one there. >> dr. jha, as we see cases of omicron exploding in this country, are you optimistic this variant will prove to be less severe resulting in fewer hospitalizations and god willing fewer deaths? >> i'm hopeful that that will help. we now have several studies that suggest it may be somewhat milder. but here is the key issue, wolf. if we have a massive number of infections, it is still going to cause real strains to our health care system. and it will almost surely be pretty mild for those vaccinated and boosted. but for unvaccinated people, i'm not sure that the somewhat milder version is going to help out that much. i still think for unvaccinated people, it is a rough period of time. >> the fda has now authorized a second pill to treat covid-19. this one from merck. what are you learning about this drug and the role it will play when it is ready to be distributed in huge numbers against -- in the fight against this pandemic? >> well, we need all of the tools that we could get. and i'm optimistic overall about these oral anti-viral medications. because this is what we're going to need. we will have people who will remain unvaccinated. we need to keep them out of the hospital. also some people who are vaccinated but medically vulnerable, they still may get severely ill and so having pills could help to reduce the likelihood of them progressing to severe illness. very good, although i will say that on peer review, the merck medication is inferior, it appears on the studies to the pfizer pill. paxlovid, the reason we need both is the pfizer pill is in really limb itsed supply to i think the merck pill will be important in this time period that it takes to scale up production of that pfizer oral anti-viral medication. >> and if the pills are takin very quickly after symptoms emerge, could potentially save hospitalizations and lives down the road. proffer osterholm, i spoke with moderna chief medical officer in the last hour here in "the situation room." he told me they will begin clinical trials of an omicron specific booster shot early next year. are variant specific boosters going to be the key to combatting this pandemic, because presumably this is not going to be the last variant, last mutation that emerges? >> well, first of all, to remind everyone the next three to eight weeks are critical. that is where we need to keep focused on right now, to get through that period, whether it be testing, how could we get more people vaccinated with a third dose, who were willing to get the first two doses. as far as the long-term, wolf, i don't think that variant specific vaccines will be -- i think we'll talk about what we call pan coronavirus vaccines, ones that could handle many different potential variants with protection. the same thing we're trying to do right now with influenza vaccines. >> dr. jha, as we approach the christmas holiday, omicron cases are surging as we keep reporting. what preventative measures do families need to have in place right now in order to gather safely. >> i think gathering safely ore the holidays, hugely important for most americans. obviously the biggest you could do is make sure that everybody could be vaccinated is vaccinated and everybody that could be boosted, it boosted. having the rapid tests, but getting your hands on some of them, using this just before people gather, that makes a difference. i do think people could gather safely, but the question here really is can you use both vaccinations and testing as part of your strategy for doing it in a way that keeps everybody, you know, from getting infected and getting sick. >> good advice. dr. wen, if you had one bit of advice to give families as they gather for the holidays, what would that be? >> i would say use the two out of three rule. that you need two out of three things in order to gather safely at this point. when there is so much virus around us. vaccination, testing or masking. so if there are people that are unvgd, you have testing and masking. but if you are vaccinated and boosted and you want to get together indoors with others that have dinner together, use those rapid tests as dr. jha was just talking about. everybody should get tested before the gathering. test the individual who is the highest exposure, as in don't test grandma, she's unlikely to be spreading covid to everybody else, test the college student who just came home who may have been in bars and restaurants last week. so use those tests in a judicious way and think about vaccines, masking or testing, you need to have two out of three to gather safely. >> appreciate everything you guys are doing. thank you very much. and i hope all of you have a merry christmas and a happy knew year. there is more breaking news we're following here. the former police officer kim potter now convicted on two counts of manslaughter in the shooting death of daunte wright. tonight his family is speaking out. hi. so you're the scientist here. does my aveeno® daily moisturizer really make my dry skin healthier in one day? 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>> well, you know, given the earlier in the week question about the idea, what would happen if we can't reach consensus, i think we're all thinking that potentially there was the opportunity for a hung jury. but again, when she took the stand, she really confirmed the elements that needed to be proven, by the prosecution to carry their burden of proof. remember, this case did not involve a requirement to prove intent. so two things could be true here, wolf. you could be sympathetic toward her and think that she did not intend to kill daunte wright, and that she did mistake her firearm for a taser. and you could also prove that she did something that requires criminal culpability under two theories, recklessness and of course culpable negligence. so when she took the stand and joey and i talked about this in the past, when she took the stand and confirmed what the prosecution was required to show, it is not shocking that jury nullification did not occur here. >> joey, as laura pointed out, the jury had asked the judge what they should do if they could not come to a unanimous decision. it seems like this is a rather tough decision for the 12 men and women, six men and six women who were members of the jury. what does that tell you? >> it tells me, wolf, that look, we're in a new era of accountability that continues. this is what equal protection under the law looks like and this is what our system should be. i think there was a lot of concern around the jury composition, as you mentioned wolf, six men and six women nine of which happen to be white and one asian and two african-american women and that shows that after 27 hours they got it right. to laura's point, jury nullification was big here. would the jury excuse many and say that we don't want to convict a police officer, we believe she was contrite, we believe she made a mistake and they followed the law. and i'll leave it here, the law is clear as to not needing intent or deliberation, not needing premeditation in order to take someone's life. in the event that you're reckless as it relates to your conduct because you have 26 years of experience and know that the distinction between a firearm and a taser, in the event you were careless and make a mistake and take someone's life, that is tragic and also criminal and that is what the jury said. so i think today is a big moment because notwithstanding what this jury looks like and what daunte wright looked like, this jury fought and tuggled and went after each other but they reached a conclusion that was consistent with the law based on the facts in this case and that is a really big deal. >> unanimous decision. i at one point thought maybe there could be a hung jury. but it didn't turn out to be that way. potter took the stand in her own defense and became very emotional as she recounted on that routine traffic stop. what impact do you think her testimony had on the jury? >> i think it was very impactful in the sense of eliciting an emotional response from the jury, to look at somebody who had remorse. and a demonstration of re. i mean the idea here is even after she shot and killed 20-year-old daunte wright, you heard her through her own police camera saying, oh, my god, and she was talking about the reaction to it. it was very clear that she believed that she had made a tragic mistake and was going to cost her her own freedom and end up in jail. so there was already this notion of this person believing understanding what had gone wrong but i think the jurors look at this case, again, two things could be true. that they could be sympathetic towards here and the idea that being a tragic mistake, but we prosecute mistakes all of the time. because we have the ability to prosecute things that are negligent, that you created an unreasonable risk and didn't take precautions against it. in our law we give officers a benefit of the doubt, wolf, and in that we say because of your expertise and your training and your ability to deal with stressful situations, we're going to give you what no one else is supposed to have, the ability to stop, arrest people, to be able to fire your weapon, to be able to have a form of a license to kill in the event it is necessary to do so. so when you do that, you give those benefits along with it comes responsibility that you must do so in a responsible, not reckless, none negligent manner. the jury here found that both were true. >> omar, i think it is important not to lose sight of the victim in all of this, daunte wright. tell us about that. >> reporter: well, at the end of the day, and this is just something that keith ellison tried to emphasize and you got a sense from at the end of the day, one family is going to get to speak to their person, the other family isn't going to. and with christmas eve and christmas, one of the things that made the mother katie bryant break out in tears earlier in the trial was during closing arguments when the prosecution emphasized that there is going to be an empty seat at their christmas dinner table this weekend. and it is going to be empty where it should have been daunte wright, a father and son and family member. and when you move forward and talk about the factors playing into sentencing, we are expecting to hear victim paktd statements where members of family will detail how this has devastated their family dynamic and it is likely to going to be something that will play in the sentencing when we get there in mid-february. but something that the father said, he said i don't usually speak much, this is after the verdict. but he said one thing that he wanted to make clear, there was a lot of nights they didn't know how they would get through. but that they looked to the messages they were received and saw support and that is part of what held them or kept them together throughout this whole time because with all of the fanfare and all attention and legal back and forth at the center of it all is a family going through a tragedy and trying to find a way to grief through it all and of course this family was the embodiment of that. >> well said, indeed. to all of you, merry, merry christmas and happy new year. coming up, tips on how to stay safe if you're flying during the holidays, right in the midst of the omicron surge. sing] [fire truck siren] [first responder] onstar, we see them. 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>> reporter: roaring back. it is getting busier by the moment here at reagan national airport. the traffic is building and the numbers yesterday were higher than 019. they screamed 2.08 million compared that to 1.48 a year ago. that same wednesday two years ago was christmas day when passenger loads are lower, even still we have seen at or near 2 million aday numbers for about seven days in a row now. and the tsa said today is going to be one of the busiest, january 3rd when everybody comes home all at once also one of the busiest. about 20 million people in total will fly according to the tsa between now and then. we have seen long lines of people at airports across the country trying to get covid testing either because of international travel restrictions or ahead of holiday gatherings. airlines continue to insist that flying is safe. so safe, that they are asking the cdc to reduce the isolation period for somebody who gets a break through infection and is vaccinated. right now it is ten days and arms want that reduced to five days. they say that will allow them to keep more airline workers on the job and aoperate operational issues like we saw back in the fall. and united airlines is telling pilots that there is a bit of an issue with breakthrough coronavirus infections and united tells me they are canceling some flights. flight aworks has a pilot shortage. united is canceling flights, not trying to leave people stranded at the airport, but there is a bit of an issue with breakthrough infections. united airlines required all of the their employees to be vaccinated. >> pete, thank you very much. i want to look now at some of the ways you could fly as safely as possible right into the midst of this surge in omicron cases. our brian todd has been talking to experts on this really important issue. what are you learning, brian. >> this information is crucial because as pete just told us there are so many people taking to the skies right now. experts tell us this is all about being vaxed and distancing and not taking the masks off. from l.a.x. to hartsfield, american's airports are jam packed. some passengers worried about taking to the skies during the omicron variant surge. >> i don't like the fact that the planes are all full. we're squashed in when i came out here from california, squashed in and i anticipate the same thing going home. >> reporter: with some 20 million people estimated to be flying this holiday season in the u.s., health experts are urging passengers to take new precautions to avoid contracting the omicron variant. >> it is all about staying away from people you don't know. strangers, you don't know whether they have the virus or not. >> reporter: are surgical masks still the best ones to wear on planes? >> the entire flying experience requires know protection and using k-95s is the golden standrd that people should be investing. >> reporter: experts advise us to use layers of protections, not just masks but face shields too, especially on longer flights. given the higher transmissibility of the omicron variant, should passengers avoid taking masks off completely? even to eat or drink during a flight? >> don't take it off. except for eating or taking it off to have a drink. not worth doing that. >> reporter: but if you have a drink, try to sip through a straw with your mask still on. we caught up with analyst gavin mcgregor as he just got off a series of flights lasting 30 hours and asked him a key question. what before seating s. a window seat the best position. >> if you could not move for whatever duration of flight it is, you have less likelihood and less risk of being in contact with those people that are moving up and down the aisle and that is where it is safer. >> reporter: health experts say we can't expect airlines to put fewer people on flights so there could be more spacing. but if they can, passengers should still sit at least six feet away from others inside of the cabin. still, one analyst said being inside of the cabin in flight isn't as dangerous as many might think because of the air filtration systems in passenger planes. the riskiest place, he said, the termainle. >> when you're waiting to board the plane on checking in and you're getting off the plane, where people are congregating, people are tired and fatigued wearing the mask and it easily comes off their face. they want to get something to drink or eat. very vulnerable times. >> reporter: one health expert told us passengers should interact with airline personnel about covid safety. ask them questions as you board a plane or beforehand, questions like when was last time they fully cleaned the plane and whether it has safety features like help ow filters. >> really useful information. brian todd, thank you very much. there is more breaking news coming up next. the house january 6 select committee asking the u.s. supreme court to expedite an appeal from former president trump as he tries to keep his white house records secret. feel stuck with student loan debt? 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yes! you'll know exactly how well you slept, night after night. we take care of the science. all you have to do is sleep. and now, save up to $500 on select sleep number 360 smart beds. plus, 0% interest for 48 months. only for a limited time. to learn more, go to sleepnumber.com there is more breaking news we're following. the house select committee investigating the january 6 insurrection has just asked the u.s. supreme court to expedite a review of former president trump's request to block the release of white house documents. let's discuss with a key member of the select committee, congressman pete aguilar of the california. congressman, thanks so much for joining us. former president trump's legal team argument he could suffer irreparable harm if they are not turned over without judicial review. what do you say to that. >> i say that we're going to let this process play out but they have to detail what harm they're talking about. abtds the district court and the court of appeals sided with us that the documents that the president has turned over to the archives, though that those documents far exceed the value of a general executive privilege that the president has put forward. so, the courts have already ruled in our favor. our anticipation that is the supreme court will uphold that ruling in an expedited manner. >> your committee is asking the u.s. supreme court to expedite the review of the case. are you concerned that the former president will be successful of running out the clock here if you will. >> well the district court and the court of appeals both had expedited reviews for us and we appreciate the manner in which they -- that they accepted these. and so if the supreme court does the same thing, these will be argued and we could have a resolution quickly. but just, again, we've already been ruled in our favor by the court afof appeals that these a documents of a national interest and we anticipate that the court will uphold that. >> we'll see what the nine justices on the u.s. supreme court decide to do. six appointed by republican presidents, three by democratic presidents. your committee is also seeking to interview republican congressman jim jordan. let's listen to what he had to say in response to your request. >> we just got the letter today, brian. we're going to review the letter but i have to be honest, i have concerned about any committee that will take a document and alter it and present it to the american people completely mislead the american people like they did last week and it turns out it wasn't just one document they did this with, it was other text messages as well. so i have real concerns with that. >> what is your response to that, congressman? >> well, he's talking about our -- a few text messages where we left a period out of the message itself. my colleague is free to put out those text messages in full if he'd like them. but what we're doing here is we're calling congressman jordan to follow up with what he said. that he has nothing to hide. in fact, he testified in the rules committee that he's been straightforward all along. so if that is the case, he will come forward, he will share his thoughts, but he clearly has firsthand knowledge of the strategy meeting that was held in the white house with the former president talking about overturning the election just days after the election itself. as well as the events leading up to and we know from his own interview that he had conversations with the president potentially multiple conversations with the president on january 6. all of those are of interest to the work that we're doing, that meet the legislative intent that we're trying to accomplish here to follow the facts and to tell the truth and we hope that he comes and testifies and gives testimony and comments to the committee. >> before i let you go. are there any other members of congress you'll be asking to speak to? >> well, previously to mr. jordan, obviously congressman perry also played a hand in some of the efforts. there were other members of congress who were having conversations with the white house and with those close to the president. but for now, what we've made public is congressman perry and congressman jordan. both should fulfill their obligations to come speak before the committee. >> merry christmas to you, con congressman, thank you for joining us and happy new year. >> have a good new year, wolf. >> thank you. coming up a member of congress is opening up about being the victim of a terrifying carjacking at gunpoint. we're going to here what she went through. that is next. if you smell gas, you're too close. leave the structure, call 911, keep people away, and call pg&e right after so we can both respond out and keep the public safe. one of the most important things you can do is to make sure you call 811 before you dig. calling 811 to get your lines marked: it's free, it's easy, we come out and mark your lines, we provide you the information so you will dig safely. . we're getting a truly harrowing new account from a member of congress who was carjacked at gunpoint in broad daylight. jessica dean is joining us now. this sounds like a terrifying ordeal. what happened. >> it sure does. and we've got some news within the last hour that a 19-year-old delaware man has been charged in this case. the congresswoman mary gay scanlon in her home district including philadelphia and some suburbs outside of philadelphia and was at a popular park when she was approached by men with a gun and asked her to turn over her keys. i'll let you take a listen. this is the first time she talked about it. >> two people got out of the car and approached us with guns and one of them said give me the keys. so i did. as i said, they were young people and they had guns and, you know, i was scared that someone would do something even more stupid than trying to steal a car. so, that was scary. that was probably the scariest part. walking away before they left the area. >> reporter: truly harrowing experience for her. and she said that president biden did call and check on her after that happened, it was moeflly a personal conversation but she did express frustration that congress has not been able to mover gun control legislation. a couple of bills have come out of the house but they stall in the senate where they don't have the 60 and something else to note, wolf, police in philadelphia saying the carjackings there have tripled in the last two years. >> all right. jessica dean, thank you very much. glad the congresswoman is okay. let's discuss with the former police commissioner in philadelphia, cnn's senior law enforcement analyst charles ramsey. chief ramsey, you're the former police commissioner there. what goes through your mind when you hear the details of this crime? >> that she's very lucky she didn't get hurt. she did the right thing. she turned over her property immediately. you know, a lot of people don't realize it but armed robberies can turn bad very, very quickly. the last thing you want to do is try to hold on to your property. whatever that property might be. when you're confronted with an armed gunman. >> and as you heard jessica report, carjackings in philadelphia where you were the police commissioner have more than tripled in the last two years. what does this tell you about crime and safety in your city right now? >> well, there's a crisis in crime here in philadelphia. homicides are at an all-time high. i think there are 545 as of today. i mean, we've just never had this much crime in the city of philadelphia. we have a district attorney here, though, who recently said there was no crisis in crime. but he's wrong. i mean, it's not just -- it's robberies, it's carjackings. it's homicides. it's shootings. it is a terrible problem right now that needs to be confronted and the only way to be able to deal with it in my opinion, at least one critical way of dealing with it, is some of these guys have got to go to jail. they've got to be locked up. they don't care. they'll do it it in broad daylight. they'll do it at night. they just don't care. and they need to be in jail. >> and it's not just philadelphia. we've seen an uptick in the violent crime in cities across the united states, whether new york or l.a., here in washington, d.c. you were the police chief here in the nation's capital. do you expect things to improve or god forbid continue to get worse in 2022? >> well, it's difficult to say, but when you start to see trends like this they tend not to suddenly stop. and it's unfortunate, but i fear that it could continue to show some increase over the next year or so. i hope i'm wrong. but my experience tells me that, you know, trends like this tend to continue. again, you've got emboldened criminals that are out there right now committing crimes. and unless they're dealt with and dealt with swiftly it's not going to change. they're not going to suddenly wake up one day and decides you're going to go straight. i mean, this kid that robbed the representative, 19 years old, long criminal history. you know, he had a court case already pending against him. and so you know, characters like that just need to be off the street and put in jail. period. >> we need strong police forces all across the country to deal with this rise in crime. chief ramsey -- >> that's right. >> -- thanks so much for joining us. merry christmas to you. >> thank you. >> and happy new year as well. just ahead, the russian president vladimir putin uses an address to his nation to pour yet more fuel on the tensions, which are real, over ukraine. damaged phone. enr here, the phone everyone wants, on america's most reliable network. better? 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"outfront" next, guilty. kim potter, the officer who shot and killed daunte wright, found guilty of manslaughter. tonight, wright's mother is our guest. plus breaking news. the house pushing the supreme court to move quickly on trump's effort to keep white house efforts tied to january 6th secret. and the rapid spread of omicron shattering records. and now the cdc is announcing a big change on how long a certain group of people need to isolate after testing positive. let's go