currently hospitalized with covid, about half the record high from january. all of this isn't stopping people from wanting to travel, it is now preventing them from actually being able to. several major u.s. airlines have canceled more than 1,000 flights this weekend over staffing shortages of course caused by the omicron variant. and yesterday christmas eve air travel saw more than 800,000 fewer passengers compared to pre-pandemic levels. i want to get right to cnn's nadia romero and alison kosik who are keeping a close eye on all the covid developments for us. nadia, let's begin with you. you are in atlanta one of the busiest airports in the world. what is happening there? >> reporter: it is definitely picking up now, but we're in the afternoon hours, compared to this morning where we had a lot of flight cancellations and people unaware potentially of their cancellations. but now we're seeing more people arriving going in, there was a flight heading to, no, i spoke to some of those passengers who were excited to get back out there. but worried about new york where there is this covid hot spot, that they are fearing about going there and being surrounded by people who have this new omicron variant and the impact of what it will mean for them and their family. but it is all about pent up demand, people wanting to get back out and enjoy the holiday season. unfort unfortunately, some people didn't have a choice. delta air lines canceling almost 300 flights, the same with united, more than 100 with jetblue. people who cannot get out and see family or friends. but we did talk to folks who were lucky enough to catch their flights and doing it cautiously. >> we've been vaccinated and i've been boosted. he's been fully vaccinated. and so has my entire family. and the only person in our family that is not vaccinated has decided to stay home because we've got some immunocompromised people at home. >> we didn't come last christmas because covid was so bad. so once everyone got vaccinated, we thought that if we took the proper precautions, we're just trusting the best with that. >> reporter: so you talked about seeing fewer people travel this year compared to pre-pandemic levels. but we're up about 800,000 compared to last year. christmas of 2020. and a big reason what i'm seeing just from reporting that christmas 2020 to now is all the kids who are out. people were so fearful of flying with their kids and now that you have the vaccine available to children and adults and the booster, most of the people that we spoke to who are hopping on these planes tell us that they are fully vaccinated, fwhaechb bo they have been boosted. and kids are eager to tell me that they have had their shot because they wanted to get out there and not put everyone at risk. still people traveling even though more than 1,000 flights canceled this weekend alone. >> i don't feel festive enough, i'm not wearing my christmas sweater like that dog in your first interview, the little chihuahua. everyone noticed it here. thank you so much, nadia. and so in new york new cases are shattering records. and we're back at this again. what are you learning about the rise in outbreaks just across the country? >> reporter: we're not out of the pandemic, so it does suck, but it is important to remember that researchers have found that the omicron variant is a more mild variant. but the concern is the possibility of overwhelm himming hospitals. more than 69,000 americans were in the hospital with covid-19 on christmas eve according to data from the u.s. department of health and human services. it is an increase of around 2% just from last week. but the figure remains below peak hospitalizations during the delta surge and it is half of the record high that we had during january. now, the data shows that 12 states have seen at least a 10% uptick in covid-19 hospitalizations over the past week compared to the previous week. and that is happening against the backdrop of a 48% increase in covid-19 cases from last week. i know watching all of these case numbers surpassing the summer surge, it really is a stunning indication of just how quickly omicron is spreading and has quickly become the most prevalent variant in the u.s. this week. now, as these covid-19 testing shortages lead to long lines in many metro areas before christmas, some pockets of the country are reporting surges. take los angeles county, cases have nearly tripled in the last week there. hospitalizations though have remained steady. new york state broke its own daily record of covid-19 cases friday when it reported more than 44,000 new cases. that is a 14% increase from thursday. and also in new york, we are seeing hospitalizations rise, but it is at a lower rate. so i guess to put sort of a pin on this, this year christmas, you know, it really isn't like last year when everything was shut down. we've got vaccines, vaccines have a lot to do with the difference. and although it is still not enough, 61% of americans are fully vaccinated amid hospitalization rates that are lower than last christmas. so that is something to keep in mind, you know, because we have the vaccines. >> that is the majority of americans although we do need to get much higher than that. alison kosik, thank you for your reporting. nadia romero, good to see you as well. joining me now is dr. peter hotez, professor at baylor college of medicine. merry christmas, thanks for joining us. you heard our reporters, at least nadia there at the atlanta international airport. when you look at the shear number of people traveling, at time this is week as many as in 2019 before the pandemic, are you worried about what the next two weeks might look like here in the u.s.? >> yeah, actually, i'm worried more than the next two week, i'm worried about the next two months. and here is why. first of all, the hospitalizations are going up. and the worst affected cities, new york city, washington, d.c., the hospitalizations are going up more than 50%. and even though there is some evidence that the omicron variant produces less severe illness than previous lineages, that will be offset by the fact that so many hospital workers, health care providers, are calling out sick because they have breakthrough covid. and even though they are not getting very sick, they are at home and unable to take care of the sickest. so that will be the weak link, that one-two punch, hospitalizations are rising, there are a lot of unvaccinated people getting very sick in the hospital and not enough people to take care of them. and we've seen over the last two years that once that situation happens, where patients -- surge overwhelms the ability of icu staff or hospital staff to take care of them, then mortality really sky rockets. so that is the part that i'm most concerned about. two other things. one is two of our three monoclonal anti-bbodies don't wk against this variant. so we've lost our tools to fight this. and paxlovid won't be here in time for this pandemic and of course testing is a debacle. so you kaayyou com pbine all the a serious situation. >> and another reason to get vaccinated if you haven't gotten that first shot. i'm curious to know your thoughts about flying. we know that lot of flights have been canceled, some people are stranded at various arirports, maybe some people are reconsidering. what is your advice to people who are still pondering should i fly? >> it really depends what kind of personal situation you're in and your risk of getting severe breakthrough covid. so for instance, if you are -- first of all, if you've only gotten two doses of the pfizer or moderna vaccine, even though that officially counts as fully vaccinated, we know that its impact on breakthrough symptomatic illness is not much better. better for serious illness, but you still need to get boosted if you want to travel safely. and even if you are boosted, you have to face the possibility that you could get symptomatic breakthrough illness going through airports and going on ubers. so if you are immunocompromised, i would think twice about traveling at this point, with the hope that this peak may not last as long as previous ones. because they are going down now in the uk and south africa. so potentially if you can hold off for a few weeks, that might be the more prudent thing to do. >> all right. fair enough. i want to read you an excerpt from the l.a. times describing hospital conditions there. nine patients awaited their fate in an intensive care unit at the arrowhead regional medical center, the youngest was 26, the oldest 66. four of them had already been intubated. a last ditch effort to save their lives. the number of hospitalizations was undeniably not as bleak as they were last winter but there was a simmering frustration, all the icu covid patients, every single one, was unvaccinated. so my question to you is when it comes to vaccine efficacy against omicron, how do you explain that? >> well, what is going on is this, once you do get with those two doses of vaccine as i say, you are getting a lot of of symptomatic illness and breakthrough hospitalizations. f. if you get a third dose, you get a big boost of antibodies and at that point it is about 75% protection against omicron and everyn higher against sever illness. durability of protection after that booster is not as great as we would like. so it is going down in terms of breakthrough symptomatic illness. and that is what is happening to our health care providers and why they are being knocked out of the workforce. so how to manage this will be precarious and we again have too many unvaccinated individuals. you could say, great, 61% of the population is vaccinated. i look at it the other way around, 39% of the population is not. that is way too many unvaccinated individuals. we are going to have a really difficult time with them over the next few weeks in terms of taking care of them. >> so does this mean that the virus will continue to mutate and we'll see more and more variants and possibly getting stronger or able to continually evade vaccines? >> well, that is not a fait accompli. if we don't have to live this way if we do one thing, and that is vaccinate the southern hemisphere. right now the african continent is entirely unvaccinated, not much better in southeast asia and latin america. and mother nature has told us what they has in store for us. she gave us delta out of an unvaccinated population in india earlier this year and omicron out of an unvaccinated population in southern africa. and this is what will continue to happen. and this is where we really need the biden administration to step up and take a greater leadership role in vaccinating the world because right now there is no plan. there is no plan to varksccinat the southern hemisphere or nothing that i've seen that is very meaningful. and we have to fix that. of course it is not only the united states. it is the other g7 countries. but it is important for the u.s. to lead because if we want to do important things globally, that is always the case. the u.s. has to lead. >> we're in a pandemic, which means that it is impacting the entire world. so a fair point. dr. hotez, appreciate you joining us. >> thank you. merry christmas. >> merry christmas. as covid cases surge and some are forced to wait in hours long lines to get tested, a new report alleges the biden administration was presented with the proposal for free rapid tests for the holidays. but why didn't that happen? the journalist behind the story will join us live, next. ♪ you are my fire ♪ ♪ the one desire ♪ ♪ you are, you are, ♪ ♪ don't wanna hear you say... ♪ ♪ ♪ i want it that way ♪ ♪ i see trees of green ♪ ♪ 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. 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. ♪ [school bus passing by] [kids laughing] [bikes passing] [fire truck siren] [first responder] onstar, we see them. 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[first responder] it's okay. you're safe now. it is not the lines many americans thought that they would be stuck in this christmas, but across the u.s. people have been waiting hours to take covid tests this week. that wait time is in-feweror ra infuriating but also inexcusable when covid has been our reality for nearly two years. this week president biden defended his administration's response but also admitted that he wishes he had ordered more tests sooner. >> no, i don't think that it is a failure, i think that you could argue that we should have known a year ago, six months ago, two months ago, a month ago. i've ordered half a billion of the pills. 500 million pills. excuse me, 500 million test kits that are going to be available to be sent to every home in america if anybody wants them. but the answer is, yeah, i wish i had thought about ordering a half a billion pills two months ago before covid hit here. >> well, according to "vanity fair," two months ago president biden was presented with a proposal do just that. it was an idea for, quote, free rapid tests for the holidays. and to prevent a holiday covid surge. what is happening right now. joining me is the journalist behind this "vanity fair" reporting. catherine, merry christmas, thank you for joining us. can you explain to us this meeting and what transpired after? >> first of all, thank you for having me and happy holidays to you and all the viewers. the meeting that i reported on took place on october 22 and a group of covid-19 testing experts who had been strongly advocating for a surge in rapid tests, which are the over the counter tests that some americans have been lucky enough to become familiar with, and basically had a proposal for a big bold action which was to ensure that all americans were sent free tests, the point being to protect against a holiday covid surge so that christmas and new year's, all americans would be given free tests. that is exactly what many americans are spending their holidays doing, looking for free -- looking for rapid tests that they can get over the counter at pharmacies so they can go into a holiday event, a christmas family party, with some assurance that they won't spread covid to their relatives. but at the time, the biden administration assessed the plan, decided that they did not have the manufacturing capacity do it. and passed on it instead of doubling down on ramping up the testing. so i interviewed seven people who had been at that meeting and as one of them put to me, the biden administration in baseball terms was playing small ball. just bunting the players along. >> i do want to point out that cnn has not independently confirmed the biden administration's outright rejected the proposal for increased home testing. i do want to play white house press sebcretary jen psaki addressing the manufacturing capacity. >> the president wouldn't have taken the steps in september and october he had taken if we weren't aware that we needed to have increased supply. but also there wasn't a demand back in june for it, right? and delta changed the mentality in the public for understandable reasons. and the fact that there were only a couple of approved tests just before october, there were only about three on the market, right, that we could have tapped into. the president using the defense production act and investing $3 billion allowed for there to be an increase in production so we could order the huge number of supply that we're ordering now. >> so you report that the plan presented to the biden administration called for i think 700 million tests to be made available a month. and you are saying that the administration pushed back and said we don't have the capacity to manufacture on this scale. so could these long lines or the surge from your reporting, do you believe that could have been avoidable especially when you talk to health experts? >> well, a number of people who were at the meeting and people who had been advocating for a massive surge in rapid testing do feel that these long lines could have been avoided and that also if you surge rapid testing, you can go further and actually break these chains of transmission because what rapid tests do, they give you a snapshot in time. am i contagious right now as i am about to walk into my grandmother's home and am i going to turn this family party into a superspreader event. so people could use those tests to make critical decisions for their families was the argument. you know, experts and advocates have felt that the biden administration has not prioritized rapid testing. they have prioritized vaccines and vaccinations for americans. but they did not choose to do something like an "operation warp speed" for testing which was the kind of dramatic program that was done for vaccines. >> you also report about the strong pushback from the medical community even having people, you know, testing themselves. why? >> that's right. i mean, these rapid tests interestingly enough have been controversial that doctors who are sort of guarding their faith dom feel that, you know, they are in charge of telling patients if they have a diagnosis. so that if you make rapid tests available to all, what are patients going to do with that positive diagnosis. are they going to take the appropriate steps. so that was a concern in the beginning. most doctors that i know at this point though say, you know what, it is a critical piece of the just in our pandemic toolbox to help people make important decisions. you want to get 30,000 people safely in a stadium, let's find out what their status is. so while vaccinations are still critical, obviously they are not enough and omicron has shown us that. the rise in breakthrough cases for fully vaccinated people has shown us vaccines are not sufficient unto themselves. >> yeah, testing a critical tool that we need quickly. r50 appreciate your reporting. thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. it is the longest insurrection footage released by the government yet. what the brand new three hour long video reveals, next. and , you'll find many challenges. ♪ your dell technologies advisor can help you find the right tech solutions. so you can stop at nothing for your customers. ♪ 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 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setting both their bodies and their belongings on fire. pictures from the scene show burned out cars and rubble. save the children says two of their staff members who were traveling home for the holidays are now missing and they have received confirmation their car was among the burning remains. we'll continue to track this story and bring you any developments as it is wasrrants. meanwhile, we're following new developments in the january 6 probe. the justice department just released some of the most disturbing footage yet of the insurrection. three hours of graphic video showing the pitched battle at a capitol entrance tunnel, site of some of the most violent confrontations with rioters, as police try to hold the line. jessica schneider has more details now on that footage and a trump ally who is cooperating with the january 6 committee. >> reporter: the three hour video just released after cnn and other outlets sued for access shows one of the most prolonged battles between capitol police and the pro trump mob, the video taken from a capitol security camera on the lower west terrace does not have sound, but it shows how dozens of rioters moved in on capitol police spraying the cops who stood guard with pepper spray, pointing strobing flashlights at them, and striking them with batons. more than an hour in when police pushed back, you can see a helmet knocked off of one officer's head. this as the house committee prepares to ramp up its probe in the new year. bennie thompson tells the "washington post" he is focusing on then president trump's actions zeroing in on this video he released 187 minutes after the riot began. >> you have to go home now. >> reporter: thompson telling the "post" it appears that he tried do a taping several times but he wouldn't say the right thing. now saying that the delayed response could be a factor in deciding whether to make a criminal referral possibly for obstructing the electoral college proceedings and that other trump officials could also face referrals for pressuring local and state election officials to overturn the results. >> the men and women of the new york city police department -- >> reporter: bernie kerik is saying any cooperation he provides must be made public. ckerrik says that he wants to testify at a public hearing. he worked alongside trump's former attorney rudy giuliani after the election to discredit the results and attempted a meeting at the willard hotel with other trump allies on january 5 to discuss how to keep trump in office. meanwhile committee member pete aguilar says they hope the supreme court acts fast to really on releasing documents from trump's white house. >> the courts have already ruled in our favor, our anticipation is that the supreme court will uphold that ruling in an expedited manner. >> reporter: no word on how quickly the supreme court will decide. jessica schneider, cnn, washington. >> for more on this, let's bring in former assistant special watergate prosecutor, nick, merry christmas and thank you for your time today. >> merry christmas to you. as you know, we're learning about who is cooperating and public hearings were such a crew that will part of watergate. why do you think this committee has only held that one hearing? >> i think they held the one hearing to make a strong statement in the beginning that this was a serious matter, that the capitol police were abused and disabused and some of them died as a result of it, and that this investigation is important. if they had brought in hearings as they went along, it would have been extremely boring. investigation takes time. you are putting together pieces to a bigger, bigger jig saw puzzle. and what they are planning do i'm sure is put out in the public riveting testimony that will go over on the television and people will be able to see what they actually found in the end. what you have to look for now is who is going to be the cooperating witness like john dean was in the senate watergate committee who laid out what it was that trump knew and when he knew it. and you are also going to see whether or not the committee actually grants immunity to certain people like roger stone who has already taken the fifth amendment, refused to testify. he will be put in a box, he could be, to either have to testify, not testify and then be held in contempt, or testify and then later be prosecuted for perjury. i think that you are also going to see testimony by former investigators or fbi investigators who will be kind of summary witnesses of all of the bank records and phone records that have been subpoenaed by the committee. what i would expect is a very coherent riveting compexpositio what they have found and that will be the most effective thing this committee can do. >> there has been several lawsuits against the committee as i'm sure you are aware, the latest one is from a trump ally which confirms that the panel is now going after bank records. how important is to you that the committee follows the money? >> i think that it is extremely important. this is the classic example of finding out who financed this and why they financed it, who asked them to finance it, what they were told at the time, who they spoke to, did donald trump have anything to do with this, did the white house have anything to do with this. it is just a matter of following that money and finding out what these people say. so that is the whole point of subpoenaing those bank records. >> i want to ask you about, you know, the committee focusing on those 187 minutes of trump inaction as the capitol was under attack. what do they need to show in order to make a criminal referral there? >> well, the 180 minutes of inaction by trump by itself doesn't really tell us anything. but in context of all of the evidence, it could be extremely damning. the real issue here is did donald trump act with corrupt intent. that is the whole issue in this criminal obstruction case. right now there is lots of smoke out there, there is lots of circumstantial evidence. we know that there is a conspiracy to basically obstruct congress through perpetrating violence at the capitol on january 6th with the goal of giving more time for the states to come back with competing electors to try to undermine joe biden's win. we know that trump told people to go to the capitol hill and fight. we know that he sent an email during the insurrection with respect to vice president pence, that if he had done the right thing, there would be more time for the states to respond and correct the so-called error. we know that trump was behind the big lie. the problem is that all of the same defenses he raised in his impeachment, that is, he was exercising his first amendment right, that this was supposed to be a peaceful protest, not a violent insurrection, all of those things would be undermined if you could have proof, if you came up with proof showing that trump knew before the whole event violence would be used, if he knew during the event that violence was being used, and he encouraged it. all of those things relate to a corrupt intent on the part of donald trump. and i think that is what the committee is looking to prove. if they can prove that, donald trump is in for a 20 year felony. that is what we're all waiting to see what happens. what does the committee have, what will that evidence be. >> yeah, and i wonder if there is any evidence in those some 700 pages of documents that the former president has been trying to keep from the committee and now appealing hoping that the supreme court will take up the case. we'll have to leave it there, nick ackerman, really interesting conversation. thank you so much. >> thank you. still to come, nasa's most powerful telescope finally in space. and starting a fantastic voyage that could answer one of humanity's greatest questions. are we alone? much more on the latest nasa mission. plus, it is an unprecedented move, an accused school shooter's parents being charged alongside him. new court documents reveal news can turndisturbing allegations why it had to be done including animal abuse and clear cries for help. 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. ♪ my name is austin james. as a musician living with diabetes, fingersticks can be a real challenge. that's why i use the freestyle libre 2 system. with a painless, one-second scan i know my glucose numbers without fingersticks. now i'm managing my diabetes better and i've lowered my a1c from 8.2 to 6.7. take the mystery out of managing your diabetes and lower your a1c. now you know. try it for free at 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[echoing] get a quote today. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ the james webb telescope 100 times more powerful than the hubble space telescope successfully launched this morning on a mission that we're told will change our understanding of space. cnn space and defense correspondent kristin fisher has more details on a technical marvel that has been decades in the making. >> reporter: after decades of work, $10 billion, it all boiled down to one moment on christmas morning and the webb space telescope did successfully la launch, from a european space port. a reminder that this is not just a nasa mission, this is a global international partnership with europe and the canadian space agency as well. but despite this tremendously successful launch, this is really only the beginning of the webb space telescope's journey to go into an orbit with the sun about a million miles away from the earth. the next 29 days, that is what nasa calls the 29 days on edge. you've heard about the 7 minutes of terror with the mars rover. webb gets 29 days on edge as this telescope unfolds origami. and during that time, there are more than 300 single points of failure. there are so many places where little things can go wrong. but nasa very confident that they are going to be able to pull this off, that this telescope is going to work and this christmas morning launch, what an excellent start. >> spectacular. kristin fisher, thank you so much. meanwhile, newly released court documents revealing never before heard and seen information in the deadly school shooting in michigan last month. 15-year-old ethan crumbley has been charged as an adult in the crime. and in an unprecedented move, his parents have been charged alongside him. brynn gingras is covering these developments for us. and these are incredibly disturbing new details, right? >> reporter: yeah, disturbing images, disturbing details in these court documents which essentially is the state's response to the defendant's request to lower their bond which currently is at $500,000. and we do see those drawings that we did know about, again those drawings are ones that the teacher spotted the morning of the shooting on ethan crumbley's death. this is the first time that we're getting a look at them though. and if you see what the prosecutors show in this court document is the first drawing which shows very disturbing images like a gun and a bullet and the words blood everywhere, my life is useless, and then they say that drawing was altered to not appear to look so bad. you can see it there, it says i love my life so much, we're all friends here, and those disturbing images are all scribbled out. again this is just part of the evidence that the prosecutors are laying out in this case. other parts of it include details about how the parents they allege knew about the troubles their son was going through and yet ignored all those signs. prosecutors saying up to like since months before the shooting happened in late november, let me read you an excerpt of this court document, it said defendants had information long before november 30th within the six months prior to the shooting that their son's only friend moved at the end of october 2021, that the family dog died, that their son was sadder than usual, and that he was sending his other disturbing texts about his state of mind. meanwhile, during that same period, defendants spent their time at the barn carrying for their horses throughee or four nights a week and seeking other relationships including defendant mother's extramarital affairs instead of paying attention to their son and getting him help, they bought him a gun. prosecutors saying that these parents were the ones who knew and could have recognized those signs and possibly even prevented this shooting that happened in that michigan high school killing four and injuring many others. now, the prosecutors also making an argument in this document as to why that bond should not be lowered stating that the parents were $11,000 or more behind in their house payments, that they actually tried to work and list their home the day of the attack, and that they are a flight risk. of course we remember those parents were not to be seen for several days until authorities found them in a warehouse in detroit and prosecutors say in this document that they had several phones on them, two of them burner phones after they even withdrew a lot of cash. so again, all of these details are becoming new as we're learning more evidence about prosecutors' case against not everyone just the parents of ethan crumbley, but ethan crumbley himself, and of course it will be up to a judge to decide if their bond should be lowered. i'm brynn gingras, cnn, new york. >> thank you. and coming up, a look back at the top ten preliminary stories of the year from our own jim acosta. if you watch this show, you likely have an idea of what story is number one. of germs zapped in seconds. the face of clean. the face of whoa! some are of intensity, others joy. all are of... various: ahhh... listerine. feel the whoa! the living room slash yoga shanti slash regional office slash... 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. ♪ ♪ you are my fire ♪ ♪ the one desire ♪ ♪ you are, you are, ♪ ♪ don't wanna hear you say... ♪ ♪ ♪ i want it that way ♪ liz, you nerd, cough if you're in here! shh! i took mucinex dm for my phlegmy cough. what about rob's dry cough? 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(vo) subaru and our retailers believe in giving back. 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. 2021 has been a political roller coaster. just days into the year then president donald trump's big lie sparked a deadly insurrection on capitol hill. shortly after, joe biden was sworn in as the 46th president. here is our very own jim acosta with a look back now at the top political stories of the year. top ten political stories make this past year feel more like a decade. starting at number 10. the pandemic paralysis as medical experts stress vaccines and boosters as the best way of preventing covid-19, disinformation and lies about the life-saving shots continue to spread as well, misleading millions of americans. >> i'm sure you've seen the pictures over the internet of people who had these shots and now they are magnetized. >> of course that is utter nonsense. so get vaccinated. at number nine, republican party at war with itself over its leader, disgraced ex-president donald trump and his big lie that he won the 2020 election. >> most corrupt election. >> the truth, the president cost us. the president is unfit and the president is unwell. >> if donald trump were the 2024 nominee, would you support him? >> i would not. >> you can send liz cheney home. back home to washington, d.c. >> at number eight, democrats have issues of their own. >> given the circumstances, the best way i can help now is if i step aside. >> facing multiple allegations of sexual assault which he denied, governor cuomo of new york resigns. >> virginia, we won this thing! >> glenn youngkin wins the governor's race in virginia. >> very big night for republicans and a major >> and gavin newsom, the democratic governor of california successfully fights off a recall there. >> thank you to 40 million americans, 40 million californians and thank you for rejecting this recall. >> number seven. messy withdrawal from afghanistan. the biden administration scrambles to evacuate american citizens and tens of thousands of afghans from the country ahead of an august 31st deadline. 13 u.s. service members and more than 170 afghans are killed in terrorist attacks outside kabul's airport and the chaotic end to america's longest war. >> it's time to end the forever war. thank you all for listening. may god protect our troops. >> at number six, the big lie gives audit to the amateurish audit of the 2020 results in arizona which ends up confirming what americans already knew. joe biden won arizona. >> the ballots that were provided for us to count in the coliseum very accurately correlate with the official campus numbers. >> as new gop-driven restrictive voting laws crop up in statehouses across the country. >> i'm actually going to sign it right here. it's going to take effect. >> florida, your vote counts. >> number five, president biden and his team try to show democrats can deliver with big legislative victories first on covid relief and then infrastructure, but the question remains, his build back better social spending plan passed through the senate. >> at number four, double trouble for the gop and georgia as republicans lose two senate runoff races in january. >> jon ossoff, the democratic candidate is defeated david perdue. >> gop insiders blame trump grumbling that his election lies backfired. >> he is hereby acquit of the charge. >> trump becomes the first president to be impeached for a second time. once again, republicans stand in the way of a conviction. >> democrats falling short of the 67 votes needed to convict trump. this is the second time donald trump has been acquitted in an impeachment trial in the u.s. senate. >> at number two, an event that would normally land at the top of any list of the political stories. the inauguration of a new president. >> preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the united states. >> the constitution of the united states. >> but it was far from a typical transfer of power as trump tried to scheme his way into staying in office, pressuring state officials like georgia's secretary of state. >> so, look, all i want to do is this. i just want to find 11,780 votes which is one more than we have because we want the state. >> number one story of 2021 -- american democracy under attack. january 6th, the insurrection. we fight like hell and if you don't fight like hell you're not going to have a country anymore. >> in one last-ditch attempt to halt a violent presidency, trump supporters and members of far-right groups storm the capital. some chanting they want to kill the vice president. >> kill mike pence! >> rioters clash with police. eventually they smash their way inside sending lawmakers running for cover. >> stay down! >> a trump supporter is shot dead by a police officer as she other ands attempt to breach the speaker's lobby inside the capitol. first responders are beaten with the american flag and sprayed with chemicals. as night falls on a shameful scene, a symbol of democracy is battered. he suffered strokes and died the next day. haunted by january 6th, a handful of other officers later die by suicide and the trials of the insurrectionists begin. true to form trump went on to lie about what happened at the capitol. he never showed remorsed and never apologized for what he did. trump has so far escaped accountability and he's been emboldened by republicans who adopted his lies as their own. his lap dolls and sdiems in congress, it is now the subject of an investigation by the january 6th house select committee. that probe and its finding may well alter the political landscape for 2022 and beyond. jim acosta, cnn, washington. what a year. as we approach the new year, don't forget the boys are back. join anderson cooper and andy cohen for a cnn new year's eve live. the party starts at 8:00 right here on cnn. >> and finally, this holiday weekend, pope francis delivered his annual christmas message at vatican city today. here's cnn senior vatican analyst merry christmas, john. >> it was a subdued and yet still hopeful pope francis when celebrated christmas today in the vatican under a gray, rainy, roman sky. the pope delivered his annual message that's to the city and the world and clearly against the backdrop of a new surge in the coronavirus pandemic. the pope not only repeated his frequent calls for global jus justice and access to vaccines and expressed concern for the social cost of the pandemic, women who are more exposed to violence and abuse because they're trapped at home, children, elderly people who feel isolated, abandoned and afraid. the pope called for a culture of dialogue and encounter that is reaching out to people liss edge to what's on their hearts and minds and trying to be present to them and the pope's bottom line message was if you do that, even in the era of omicron, there is still hope. that was christmas today in the vatican, amara. >> thank you. that does it for me, i'm amara walker in atlanta. if you're celebrating christmas, i hope you have a very merry christmas and a healthy day and a safe one with those you love and thanks for spending some of your holiday with me. take care.chnolo gies advisor can help you find the right tech solutions. so you can stop at nothing for your customers. ♪ ♪ grandma, how wide are two reindeer? twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine... ♪ ♪ we've been waiting all year to come together... it worked! have a happy and safe holiday season from lexus. at vanguard, you're more than just an investor, you're an owner with access to financial advice, tools and a personalized plan that helps you build a future for those you love. vanguard. become an owner. with mucinex all-in-one you've got powerful relief from your worst cold and flu symptoms. so when you need to show your cold who's boss, grab mucinex all-in-one... and get back to your rhythm. ♪ the relief you need. the cash you want. xfinity rewards are our way of thanking you just for being with us. enjoy rewards like sing family fun nights! rent sing for $1 then belt out all your favorite tunes from the movie with sing karaoke. plus, see sing 2 in theaters with buy-one-get-one free fandango tickets. join over a million members by signing up for free on the xfinity app. our thanks. your rewards. welcome to this ac 360 special, barack obama on fatherhood, leadership and legacy. after leaving the white house prdz mostly stayed out of politics though he did campaign for president biden. the former president and former first lady have signed production deals with netflix. they both started podcasts and mr. obama has continued his work with the program he launched while he was in the white house called my brother's keeper. it is now part of the obama foundation. its mission is to provide support for what it calls pathways of opportunity to young men of color. it's a deeply personal mission for president biden who grew up