an agreement to address the climate crisis. we've got a look at climate coming up. first, let's get a check of your news headlines. ♪ good morning, to you, and merry christmas. i'm jessica dean. the omicron surge means getting home for christmas is a challenge for many travelers today. both delta and united flight cancellations are in the triple digits for the second straight day. delta canceling 268 flights while united had 196 cancellations. jetblue has canceled 120 flights. the airlines blame staffing shortages stemming from the omicron variant. cnn aviation correspondent meet mo pete muntean has details. >> reporter: as the cases went up, it caused their staffing levels go down, leading them to cancel some flights. most of the flight cancellations on friday were at united airlines and delta air lines but also alegent and jetblue. we obtained a memo to its staff in which it said the omicron cases are primarily impacting its flight crews and operations folks, those behind the scenes. the airline industry says there is a fix for all of this. they want the isolation period required for somebody who gets a breakthrough coronavirus case slashed in half. right now it is set at ten days. the industry is pleading with the cdc to set that at five days, even though some airline worker unions oppose that. the number of travelers is high. 2.19 million people screened at airports across the country on thursday. that was expected to be one of the busiest days for travel. although, still many more busy days ahead. the tsa anticipates another 20 million people will travel between now and january 3rd. that's when they expect everybody to come home all at once. jessica? >> thanks so much. pope francis is calling for dialogue as the world copes with the covid pandemic. in his christmas message, the pope warned against the tendency to withdraw during a crisis. he says in social relationships and on the international level, dialogue is essential. cnn's senior vatican analyst is joining us now. great to be with you this morning. this is the second christmas under the covid pandemic for pope francis. what is his message for people who are losing hope? >> hi, there, jessica. a very merry christmas to you from the eternal city. yeah, this was very much a covid-scarred pope francis i think we heard from this morning. the pope celebrating his big public mass for christmas the night before on christmas eve. at noon today, he delivered his annual message to the city and the world. in it, he very much stressed his repeated calls for justice and global access to the vaccines, but beyond that, expressed deep alarm over the social impact of everything that's going on. so women trapped at home who are suffering additional abuse, children who are being bullied, elderly people who are isolated, alone, and afraid, and in response to all of that, he called for a culture of dialogue and encounter that is reaching out to meet people and then engaging them in dialogue, finding out what's on their hearts and minds and trying to be present to them. so all in all, a very pastoral but also a very topical message from the pope during this unfortunately covid-encumbered christmas. >> right. it certainly seems like for everyone covid, of course, is playing such a pivotal role in all of your christmas celebrations. john alan for us at the vatican, thanks so much and have a merry christmas. nasa will attempt to launch what's being called the world's most advanced telescope this hour. weather could force yet another delay. the james webb telescope will take one month to complete its orbit under the sun. it's just under 1 million miles away. because it's so far away, it will not be able to be serviced or repaired if anything goes wrong. the $10 billion telescope will be able to observe the atmosphere of planets outside of our solar system as never before, finding ones that might sustain life. newly released video providing an in-depth look at the january 6th insurrection at the capitol from a different vantage point. jessica schneider walks us through the pictures. >> reporter: this is a three-hour-long video that cnn actually had to sue to obtain from the justice department. and it is the most in-depth look so far that we've seen from this location on the lower west terrace at the capital. taking a look at this, you can see the battle began to unfold between the rioters and capitol police. this first clip, it shows the crowd making their way forward the tunnel and police beginning to block the tunnel. capitol police actually succeeded in holding that line until the building was cleared hours later. no rioters made it instead the capitol from this entry point. we heard from some officers in the past year, they said they didn't know that the capitol had been breached in other spots they were so busy trying to keep this -- these rioters from getting in. but soon in another clip, you can see the crowd turn on police. one man at this point hangs from the top of the tunnel, kicking his legs out at police. it turns even more confrontational and violent. rioters start spraying cops who stood guard with pepper spray. started pointing strobe flashlights at them, even striking them with batons, flagpoles, and more than an hour in, police push back again. there's video of cracked glass and a lot of fighting. this is a three-hour-long video. it's all company from capital police surveillance video. this is video that has just been presented by prosecutors in court, media outlets had to sue to make it public, and they've been using this video from more than the 700 people who have been charged, dozens of them appearing in court at one time. jess, back to you. >> thanks so much. still ahead this morning, millions do not have enough to eat this holiday season. it's a problem made worse by the pandemic. and coming up, we're going to talk to the ceo of feeding america about what they're doing to help those in need and how you can help. not again. oh no. for the gifts you won't forget. the mercedes-benz winter event. get a credit toward your first month's payment on select models. this is your home. this is your family room slash gym. the guest bedroom slash music studio. the daybed slash dog bed. the living room slash yoga shanti slash regional office slash classroom. and this is the basement slash panic room. maybe what your family needs is a vacation home slash vacation home. find yours on the vrbo app. ♪ if you've been doing some holiday shopping at the grocery store lately, you've noticed the rising costs of food. those rising costs and the ongoing supply chain disruptions are taking a toll not only on families, but also on the organizations that feed those experiencing food insecurity. >> joining us now is katie fitzgerald. she is the president and coo of feeding america, a network of more than 200 food banks across the country. katie, a pleasure to have you on on this christmas day. if we could just start, first of all, speaking about what feeding america does, especially for those who are not familiar. >> sure. well, first of all, let me wish you both a very merry christmas and to all the viewers out there, it's so wonderful to be with you today. the feeding america network of food banks especially serves every county and parish throughout the united states to make sure that people who may be facing food insecurity or hunger can access nutritious food right there in their communities. we work with about 200 food banks who work with 60,000 partner agencies, including your local churches, community organizations and the like. >> and we're in the middle of a global pandemic and there's tremendous inflation, the cost of food is rising, walk us through how difficult it's been for food banks across the country to meet demand. >> yeah, so since the beginning of the pandemic, we have talked frequently about the impact on food insecurity as a perfect storm. we've seen tremendous increases in demand, though, they are down from when businesses were closed early in the pandemic. we're still at elevated levels over prepandemic levels. as you mentioned, we've seen tremendous pressures in the supply chain and then right now, the major challenge that food banks are facing is the increased cost of food. so as you and i see those prices go up in the grocery store, food banks were able to get through, to serve almost 6.6 billion meals last year. in part by purchasing food. so they're experiencing those pressures as well on their budgets and their ability to meet the need right now. >> so for those who are watching, who want to help but say, look, i don't have that much extra to spare, what can they do? >> well, the great news to share this morning is that hunger in america is a solvable problem. again, we showed through our network and the incredible generosity of americans that when our neighbors are in need, we can stand in and help. folks can donate if they have the ability to do so to their local food bank. and they can go to feedingamerica.org to learn more. they can also volunteer. food banks all across this nation are open for business and are actively serving the needs of their community and need volunteers to help sort and distribute food and there's really safe opportunities out there to do so and then finally, advocate. there are really important actions congress can still take to increase investments in the emergency food assistance program right now. and that's vital because we do anticipate about a 30% decline right now in the availability of commodity food through the usda. an increase is a vital action congress can take and all of us can call our elected officials and let them know that that's important for us and our neighbors. >> when it comes to specifics, what would you say is the most urgent need? what would be most helpful? >> well, food. food is the most urgent need. so, again, if anyone out there has the ability to donate food, if folks work in the food industry and you want to explore how your company can help donate to feeding america's network of food banks and, of course, giving financial donations, this is a time not only are we facing, you know, as everyone knows some ongoing challenges with the pandemic and supply chain, the increased price of food is really making it hard for food banks. anything folks can do would be greatly appreciated. >> thank you so much for all that you do, katie fitzgerald. we wish you the best and a very merry christmas. >> thank you, thank you so much. in a year that has been difficult in many ways, there are still reasons to celebrate. even in the midst of difficult circumstances. here's cnn's al goodman. >> reporter: at the end of another hard year, the festive lights in new york city are a soothing sight, the gift many of us wanted, a return to our normal lives and the vanquishing of covid-19 is still illusive. even though it may be a struggle for some to see, there is something to celebrate this year, our resilience. traditions may be altered, but in many places go on, like taking the children to see santa claus. in this winter wonderland in finland, there's no sitting on santa's lap and no whispering in his ear. santa has a wish too. >> i've been hearing about well-being and coping of children and young people. now it's time to turn these worries into plenty of good will. >> reporter: people around the world are finding ways to make the season a little brighter, like this santa in peru, visiting children infected with covid-19, wearing a mask, santa didn't come down the chimney, but delivered presents through open windows with the help of a fire truck. my grant children strike a pinata at a shelter in tijuana as families gather together for a religious festival to commemorate mary and joseph's search for shelter before the birth of jesus. many people have been stuck in this border town more months. thousands of people were forced to evacuate as rivers of lava incinerated churches and farms. >> to the church closest to the volcano, we wanted to make them have a smile. >> reporter: people in kentucky are still trying to come to terms with the devastation caused by tornados that obliterated entire neighborhoods and killed dozens. one woman says she may have lost her house, but will keep a promise made to her daughter. >> i tell her we're going to have santa claus wherever we're at. he's coming to visit and we'll do the best we can. >> reporter: doing the best we can when things seem to be at their worst. maybe that's the true spirit of the season. al goodman, cnn. >> thanks for that report. still ahead, a president kicked off social media and major bombshells from the now former royals. we're counting down the top ten media stories after a quick break. stay with us. that's why, in difficult times, we provided one hundred and fifty million meals to feeding america. and now through the subaru share the love event, we're helping even more. by the end of this year, subaru will have donated over two hundred and twenty five million dollars to charity. this is what it means to be more than a car company. this is what it means to be subaru. ♪ thousands of women with metastatic breast cancer are living in the moment and taking ibrance. ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor is for postmenopausal women or for men with hr+, her2- metastatic breast cancer as the first hormonal based therapy. ibrance plus letrozole significantly delayed disease progression versus letrozole. ibrance may cause low white blood cell counts that may lead to serious infections. ibrance may cause severe inflammation of the lungs. both of these can lead to death. tell your doctor if you have new or worsening chest pain, cough, or trouble breathing. before taking ibrance, tell your doctor if you have fever, chills, or other signs of infection, liver or kidney problems, are or plan to become pregnant, or are breastfeeding. for more information about side effects talk 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yet and some things have changed forever. so here are our top ten media stories of the year. number ten, deplatforming donald trump. twitter permanently banning the president just days after the capitol insurrection, while facebook gave him a time-out. >> our breaking news this hour, facebook says former president donald trump will not be allowed back on its platforms until at least january 7th, 2023. >> reporter: social media ceos are just trying to figure out where to draw the line. number nine, tv news turnover. chris cuomo out at cnn after text messages showed how he helped his governor brother fight sexual harassment allegations. now both cuomos are out of jobs. soon the 9:00 p.m. time slot at nbc is changing too, with rachel madow prayepares to leave. >> my biggest worry is for my country. >> reporter: lou dobbs ousted without explanation. chris wallace announced he was leaving fox on his own terms. he's joining cnn and its forthcoming streaming service. and oprah's interview with prince harry and meghan markle. she said she felt so alone she contemplated suicide. >> i just didn't want to be alive anymore. >> reporter: fall out from the interview rippled across the media and piers morgan stornled off the set of his show. >> you continue to trash her. >> i'm done with this. sorry. >> no, no -- >> no, no -- >> see you later. sorry, can't do this. >> reporter: he then left the network. as for harry and meghan, they're making podcasts and tv shows which leads me to number seven. the streaming wars. holiday giants are trying to get even bigger, investing more and more in streaming series to keep you subscribed. streaming is the focus of at&t's deal to spin off warner media, including cnn, and combine it with discovery. the new stand-alone company will take shape in mid-2022, going head to head with netflix and disney. in 2021 shows like "squid game" and "ted lasso" won awards and movies were put on streaming and in theaters at the same time. scarlett johansson sued for breach of contract showing that the rules are being rewritten every day. number six, daring reporting from afghanistan. as the taliban encroached on kabul and the withdraw turned chaotic, reporters became the eyes and ears of the world. >> they just told me to stand to the side because i'm a woman. >> reporter: clarissa ward documented the takeover and earned praise from fellow journalists. behind the scenes, hundreds of others worked to evacuate endangered reporters, assistants, drivers and other afghans who worked with western media. the local reporters who remain there face a hostile climate which brings me to number five, the continuing crackdown on global press freedom. in hong kong, police raided a prodemocracy newspaper in june, artisting top editors. a month before that, this incident shock it had world. a journalist arrested after his commercial flight was forced down in a state-sponsored hijacking. >> have we seen anything like this before? >> no, is the short answer. >> reporter: countries around the world are rolling back the rights of reporters in sometimes brazen ways. the committee to protect journalists says a record high number of reporters are behind bars now with china being the worst jailer. number four, the woke wars. it's an awakening over racial and social injustice to some, but an overreaction to others. is it cancel culture or consequence culture? >> it will get to straight white men are not allowed to talk. >> this is called a purge. it's a mentality that belongs in stalin's russia. >> canceling dr. seuss isn't stupid, it's intentional. >> dr. seuss wasn't canceled, his company decided to stop publishing a few titles that had racist imagery. but free speech is real. writers are flocking are launching newsletters, a new model that brings fresh debates over free speech. >> number three, january 6th denialism. the big lie about trump winning the election led to the big deny. attempts to erase the violent reality of the riot. >> you see people walking around, taking pictures. they look like tourists. >> reporter: that's fox's highest rated star trying to rewrite history. right-wing media barely covers the real news about the insurrection's aftermath or the new efforts to subvert democracy at the state level. what we're losing in america is a sense of shared reality. but the big lie may cost its crusaders. >> breaking just a short time ago, fox facing a $1.6 billion lawsuit accused of spreading election lies. >> reporter: two voting tech companies have filed multiple suits against fox news and other networks. and a series of blockbuster books continue to reveal what really happened during trump's final days in the white house. number two, the facebook reckoning. a whistle-blower was heard around the world, first through the facebook files. a series of "wall street journal" stories based on leaks from inside facebook. then the source, francis haugen, stepped forward. >> i believe facebook's products harm children and weaken our democracy. the company's leadership knows how to make facebook and instagram safer, but won't make the necessary changes because they have put their profits before people. >> reporter: she alleged that the company's research showed that its platforms can be toxic for children and society at large. but the company failed to take action. the ceo mark zuckerberger push back. antisocial media was a through line for the entire year. bringing us to the number one media story of 2021. the vaccine disinformation divide. reliable info about covid-19 vaccines helped people get vaccinated and protected. but anti-vax lies and distortions went viral, from facebook to fox, in ways that worsened the pandemic's terrible toll. they took conspiracy theories from the fringes and moved them to the mainstream. >> left-wing fanatics who are bent on forcing every american to get themselves injected with an experimental drug. >> he doesn't represent science to them. >> reporter: and the antiscience rhetoric cost lives. tv stars who claimed to respect their audience actually put them at risk. big tech platforms said they tried to clean up the garbage, but it's a sad reflection of your choose your own news culture. it's incumbent on everyone to choose carefully. brian stelter, cnn, new york. >> we have a check of our top stories just ahead. plus, 2021 saw historic agreement among nations in an effort to combat the climate crisis. we have a look at the stop climate stories of the year coming up. ♪ red roses too ♪ ♪ i see them bloom ♪ ♪ for me and you ♪ ♪ and i think to myself ♪ ♪ what a wonderful world ♪ a rich life is about more than just money. that's why at vanguard, you're more than just an investor, you're an owner so you can build a future for those you love. vanguard. become an owner. there's a different way to treat hiv. it's once-monthly injectable cabenuva. cabenuva is the only once-a-month, complete hiv treatment for adults who are undetectable. cabenuva 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coming up this half-hour, nearly 200 countries came together in an effort to fight the climate crisis. an important step in years that brought drought, dire news about the state of the planet. we are counting down the top ten climate stories of the year. and we'll introduce you to the man being hailed as a hero, after saving seven jail inmates before losing his own life when an ef-4 tornado swept through the town of mayfield, kentucky. let's get a check of your top stories this morning. ♪ >> thanks so much, boris and amara. good morning and merry christmas. i'm jessica dean in washington. and we begin this morning with a major moment for nasa. >> we have engine start. and liftoff. liftoff from a tropical rainforest to the edge of time itself, james webb begins a voyage back to the birth of the university. >> the $10 billion telescope launched moments ago. the telescope which is being called the most powerful ever will take one month to complete its orbit around the sun which is just under a million miles away. because it will be so far away, the telescope won't be able to be serviced or repaired if anything goes wrong. the $10 billion telescope will be able to observe the atmosphere of planets outside of our solar system finding which planets might sustain life. the omicron covid surge is making the holiday travel a headache today. delta canceling 268 flights while united canceled 196 flights. jetblue canceled 120 of its flights. the airlines blame staffing shortages stemming from the omicron variant. they want the cdc to cut the isolation period in half for employees who develop breakthrough cases from ten days down to five. and countries across europe are tightening restrictions in response to that covid surge. the uk has set a new daily case record for a third day in a row. give us an update on the covid surge and how governments are responding. >> good morning, jessica. that's right, the situation does seem to be deteriorating now in the uk. more than 120,000 cases recorded on friday and now 1 in 20 households in the london expected to have coronavirus. there are serious concerns. while boris johnson hasn't implemented any new restrictions at this stage, we could be seeing tougher measures coming into force ahead of the new year. >> people can go ahead with their christmas plans, but the situation remain finely balanced and i would urge everyone to exercise caution. >> reporter: boyris johnson giving the public rare positive news, this year, christmas isn't canceled. the uk reached all-time highs in the number of new daily cases of coronavirus, putting pressure on the government to curb the spread of omicron. >> to say to the british public and everybody, we will not exclude going further if we have to, to do things to protect the public. >> reporter: but as johnson urges the public to get boosted as quickly as possible, his reputation has been mired in recent scandals. >> all guidance was followed completely during number ten -- >> reporter: with allegations he violated his own lockdown rules last year. johnson insists no rules were broken, but the public's willingness to observe strict measures is waning. neighboring scotland, wales and some european countries have already announced measures to try to curb the spread of the virus during the festive period. last week, france tightened its travel restrictions, banning british tourists from entering the country. greece and italy have introduced outdoor mask mandates as the virus continues to spread. portugal is ordering schools, bars and nightclubs to close for more than two weeks after christmas to deal with the surge in infections sweeping the country. on tuesday, german chancellor stopped short of a lockdown, banning large gatherings of more than ten people. putting a stop to many new year's eve parties. >> translator: i can understand everyone and each of you who doesn't want to hear anymore about corona, about mutations. but we cannot close our eyes to this next wave that is beginning to loom over us. >> reporter: and while this street is usually bursting with christmas shoppers, since sunday, it's been empty. the shops left deserted and no cheer in sight. as the omicron surge forced the dutch prime minister to put the country under lockdown, casting an early chill on the christmas spirit. for now, england may have spared christmas gatherings, but as omicron continues to surge at an alarming rate, plans for the new year are as illusive as santa himself. and while early evidence suggests that these rising cases might not necessarily translate to rising hospitalizations, the omicron variant is expected to become the dominant variant across the continue tent in just a matter of weeks. >> thanks so much to you. let's get a check of the christmas morning forecast now with metrologist tyler maldin. good morning, tyler. >> good morning. it's not going to feel very much like christmas across the southern tier of the country today. temperatures should be in the 50s. but today, we'll get up to the 70s and the 80s. roughly 20 to 30 degrees above average. from the southern plains to the mid-atlantic, records are possible not only today but sunday, monday and tuesday as well. a little bit of a different story, though, across the northeast where we have a winter weather advisory in effect. this is because of an approaching system that's going to bring a cold rain and then a wintry mix. it's possible over this weekend that we could see up to a quarter inch of ice in that region. now, up here across northern plains, a clipper system is pushing over. that could leave behind about a foot of snow in that area. and we'll be measuring the snow in feet and will continue to measure the snow in feet across the mountains out west where we could see more than four feet of snow across the sierra nevada, lower elevations, a lot in the way of rainfall. and you add in wind here, it's going to cause very treacherous driving conditions. that's why about 30 million people, jessica, are under winter weather alerts at this time. >> thanks so much. and i'll see you back here at the top of the hour. for now, let's send it back to boris and amara. this month's devastating tornados took at least 77 lives in kentucky alone. one of them was robert daniel, pictured here. he was a deputy jailer who was supervising inmates on a work release program on a candle factory when the tornado hit the town of mayfield. >> the entire building collapsed and daniel died inside but not before leading all seven of the inmates he was responsible for to safety. and for that, he is being hailed as a selfless hero. i had the opportunity to speak with daniel's family. here's our conversation. >> how would you like everyone to remember your brother? >> just as a hero. he did exactly what he was supposed to do at that time. myself, his children and the rest of my family, we just want him to be remembered for what he'd done, for who he was as a person. that's all we can ask for at this time. >> can you tell us a little bit more about, you know, what happened when the tornado hit and how your brother reacted? >> from what we was told by the inmates, when they heard the siren or the alarm, he was trying to get everybody to a wall. i guess a safety wall that they was all supposed to be to and he was making sure that all seven of the inmates got in there. and i think when he got the last inmate in, he wasn't able to make it in. and then it led to his death. >> george, if you will, tell us more, that really is selfless. you got everyone to safety except for himself. >> yes, ma'am, he did. he did exactly how he was trained. and he did the one thing that as i've said many times before, that all of us in law enforcement think about, you know, if we had to pay that ultimate price, there's only been one person that i know of that's ever given their life for me, and that was jesus christ. here we have this selfless individual who was a stand-up individual, all the way around. he went and done it for seven people that he barely even knew. >> i have to go back to that picture of robert daniel, your brother, that smile waving at the camera. he just seemed like such a happy, good-hearted soul. could you tell us a little bit more about him as a person? i know he had seven children, is that correct? >> yes, ma'am. he was a father of seven, a grandfather of seven. he just enjoyed life in general. he loved to be around his family. he loved doing family events. that's who he was. he was always, you know -- we probably just didn't appreciate it how giving of a person he was when he was here with us. we're going to make sure that, you know, from here on out, that is known how giving of a person he was. >> and, george, i understand that you had moved him to supervise these seven inmates and he was quite excited about it. how many days had he been at this candle factory working, supervising inmates in this work release program. and i understand he was quite excited about this new position. >> he was very excited about it. he had only been there -- this was his fourth night. the picture that you have of him smiling was because he was on his way for orientation out at the candle factory and the deputy that took the picture was kidding with him and said something along the lines of, you're on your way to your first day in school. and he kind of -- he always had this thing where he would smile and wave at you like, get out of here. and that's kind of what he was doing there. he was very excited about it. >> you know, we covered the story the moment that it happened and, you know, we saw the images in realtime and was learning in realtime what all that huge pile of debris was, that indeed it was a candle factory. we learned in realtime that there had been 110 people or so, according to the governor, had been trapped in there. sadly, your brother was one of them. when you look at the devastation this tornado has caused and looking forward to the future, what would you like for all of us at home to understand and what can we do to support your community and your family? >> well, just as a community and all, this is a very strong community. we will build back up. there's no doubt about that. as you said, this is going to devastate us for a while. but, you know, we may be down, but we're going to get back up. we're going to keep fighting and we're going to keep doing what is needed to get this community back where it needs to be, probably even better than ever. and i'm going to ensure, you know, that robert's legacy is involved in that. he wouldn't want it any other way. i'm going to make sure that happens. >> and cnn has compiled a list of ways you can help the victims of those devastating tornados. just go to cnn.com/impact. retirement income is complicated. as your broker, i've solved it. that's great, carl. but we need something better. that's easily adjustable has no penalties or advisory fee. and 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address the climate crisis and according to experts, the need for action is right now. cnn's bill weir has a look at the top ten climate stories of the year. >> reporter: the signs were everywhere in '21, starting at the top of the world where greenland's highest peak was so warm that it rained for several hours. >> oh, my goodness. will you look at this? behold the biggest glacier on the biggest island in the world. you can't really see the glacier from here anymore. it used to end right about here, 8,000 years ago. but the face has retreated dozens of miles up this cliff. arctic will see more rain than snow as soon as 2060 and the ice sheet so vital to a planet imbalanced is melting at a staggering rate. number nine, that icy surprise in texas which illustrated how the climate crisis can run hot and cold with windchills below zero on the rio grande, nearly 10 million lost power. the february blast became america's costliest winter storm event ever. at number eight, flash floods on three continents. in germany and belgium, modern-day warning systems failed as a month of rain fell in one day. in china, commuters clung to the ceiling of a subway as a flood hit this providence. and the deadliest flood in tennessee history came like a tidal wave. number seven, the u.s. rejoins the paris climate accord hours after joe biden became president. but pledging to slash it in half. at number six, a code red for humanity as scientists around the world issue their most dire warning to date, the u.n.'s panel on climate change says it's unequivocal that human activity has cranked up the thermostat by 2 degrees and we're close to a point of no return. >> we meet with the eyes of history upon us. >> reporter: and those warnings made number five all the more urgent. cop-26 in gscotland. >> as the four main themes laid out by boris johnson, coal, car, cash, trees, cash is going to provide the biggest challenge. they agreed that fossil fuels are driving the climate crisis. but not a single country committed to stopping oil or coal production any time soon. >> a monster named ida. the hurricane is intensifying qui quickly. >> reporter: hurricane ida comes in at number four. as 150-mile-per-hour winds screamed ashore in louisiana in early september. but that was just the beginning. ida's aftermath dropped a rain bomb on new york sudden enough to to drown families in their apartments and the storm cost over $60 billion. >> we're following breaking news this morning. a powerful line of storms unleashing 24 tornados across five states. >> reporter: at number three, tornados in winter. december usually brings the fewest twisters of any month. but record warmth in the heartland spun up funnel clouds from arkansas to ohio and weeks later, the damage is still being tallied. at number two, the pacific northwest heat dome which pushed the mercury in portland well over 100 degrees for days. over a billion shellfish baked to death on the shores of british columbia and a town broke the heat record three times in a week before most of it burned to the ground. at number one, america's mega drought. water can come from rivers, reservoirs or wells. all of which have been impacted by a 20-year mega drought fueled by the climate crisis. with 90% of the west starving for rain, the feds declared the first ever shortage of the colorado river which is a source of life for over 40 million americans. spoke from wildfires reached the east coast this year. it's all connected. without dramatic changes on a global scale, scientists warn us, the worst is yet to come. bill weir, cnn, new york. ♪ >> thanks to bill weir for that sobering report. still ahead, fears over the omicron variant prompting a new wave of restrictions around the world and there are concerns about what that could mean for the already battered global economy. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ experience the power of sanctuary at the lincoln wish list event. as a professional bull-rider i'm used to taking 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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 merry christmas and welcome to this special holiday edition of new day. i'm boris sanchez. >> merry christmas to all of you as well. it is a magical morning. i'm amara walker in for christi paul. coming up this half-hour, just as it seemed like the country was opening up again and businesses were starting to recover, concerns over emerging variants could spell troubling news for the economy heading into next year. >> a veteran still making a difference after her time in the military gets the surprise of a lifetime just in time for christmas morning. she'll join us later this hour.