americans trying to get home from their destinations. thousands of flights were canceled over the weekend. it is due in part to the virus. near nearly 800 flights have been canceled. we have crews across the country. let's begin first with our national correspondent who joins us live outside of hartsfield-jackson. nadya, is this due to covid? the cancellations? >> reporter: that what's we hear, poppy. 800 domestic flights have been canceled. every time we check, that number is growing and growing. airlines say it is because they don't have the flight crews for all of the travelers to keep with the flight schedules because of the omicron variant. we are learning about technical issues for flights and weather delays as well. weather delays, those flights are canceled over 250 in the last week. over the last three days, 3,000 flights canceled from this past weekend and those canceled this morning. you can imagine the headache for travelers. we spoke with one couple who live in taiwan. they were coming back to atlanta to visit one of their families and the first time his girlfriend was going to meet his f family. they wanted to travel internationally despite the omicron variant. despite the fact there were cancellations and delays. they toughed it out. their flight was canceled, but put on an earlier flight from atlanta to tampa. they doing the round the world tour during the variant and season where you have the normal inconvenience. so many people told us they wanted to travel because they haven't seen family and friends since before the pandemic, since 2019, poppy. one woman said she was going to meet her grandson for the first time this weekend. it was worth all of the headache just to be able to hold him for the first time. poppy. >> i think clearly americans are making the calculations and a lot deciding to travel. n nadia, thank you. the surge of cases come pined with the holiday season led to a shortage of covid tests. in some lplaces, long lines. we have leyla san antontiago. >> reporter: the testing is taking place behind me right now. this is a 24-hour testing site. we when arrived this morning, it was wrapped around a large recreational park in south florida. this is the busy site in south florida. when i spoke to the operator, he told me in all of their sites across florida, they have seen about a 50% increase in the demand for testing compared to what they saw at the peak of that delta wave. that gives you an idea of the unprecedented demand they are dealing with here in south florida when it comes to testing after the holidays. i should namention the county i distributing free home test kits. they are quick to say while supplies last. >> it is amazing to be so far into the pandemic and have an issue like that. while supplies last. leyla, thank you. president biden will discuss the surge in covid cases on the call today with the covid response team and the nation's governors. this is as the white house is struggling to deal with what leyla was reporting on. shortages across the country. we have elizabeth cohen with us now. we have a busy holiday travel season. people are making the decision to go and a lot of people need to test. multiple times before around family members. can you underscore how much the u.s. struggled with testing? >> reporter: poppy, you know, it was almost two years ago the cdc had that testing fiasco where they were supposed to get tests out at the beginning and it got messed up for lack of a better term. that describes what happened. things got better. what happens is over the summer and fall as delta surged, you didn't hear about testing. it got put on the back burner. now we are seeing situations like leyla showed us and dr. anthony fauci talked to our colleague earlier this morning. he did not mince words. it shouldn't be like this. >> we had a conflation of high demands because of the omicron which is justifiable. the hightriggered by the hot holiday season. hopefully that will get better. >> reporter: poppy this testing shortage is happening against the back drop. let's look at the dramatic rise in cases in just the past month. if you look at the left, that was 75,000 cases a day. now more than 200,000 cases a day. hospitalizations are not rising as dramatically. you see from that line. poppy, here is the number that really just makes me sad and puzzled. vaccinations going down. looking at people getting the first shot. 425,000 a day about a month ago. now it has gone down to 171,000. even though it is abundantly clear. if you are not vaccinated, you are more vulnerable to get very sick from omicron versus if you are vaccinated. poppy. >> putting out there like little ones who cannot get the vaccine. elizabeth, thank you. john, talk about the president joining the call with the governors. this is a call that happens fr frequently with the white house. >> reporter: poppy, great to see you. it has been a while. it is very significant that the president is on the call for a couple of reasons. it is vital to the country to not have normal life further disrupted than it has been by the omicron variant surge. it is vital to every american and vital to the president of the united states. politically and economically and all of the other goals with public health to not be overtaken by this. it is also important for him to show the american people that he is trying to stay on top of it. that's the rationale behind getting on the call with governors. clearly the testing crisis has snuck up on the administration. when you are the president, the buck stops with you. the biden administration has been emphasizing for months the centrality of vaccines and getting past the pandemic. they have gotten more than 200 million americans fully vaccinated. many with the booster shot as well. you still have a reluctance to vaccines. those are the people at risk at the omicron variant. that is the dry kindling if you will for the fire to continue to blaze. president biden is talking to governors to slow down the fire if not put it out. that's what the call is about today. >> wow. it is just so many lessons to learn here, john. let's hope we get ahead of the curve for the next wave of covid on testing. thank you for the reporting. john and elizabeth. still to come, a hearing for the truck driver sentenced to 110 years in prison for a crash that killed four people. the district attorney is now asking the court to consider reducing that sentence. this is the same d.a. who brought the charges. we will have the latest next. and president trump slammed by his base for his position on booster shots. why is the former president endorsing the vaccine now? 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(vo) ask your doctor if it's right for you. learn how we could help you save on imbruvica. ray loves vacations. but his diabetes never seemed to take one. everything felt like a 'no'. everything. but then ray went from no to know. with freestyle libre 2, now he knows his glucose levels when he needs to. and... when he wants to. so ray... can be ray. take the mystery out of your glucose levels, and lower your a1c. now you know. try it for free. visit freestylelibre.us this is elodia. she's a recording artist. 1 of 10 million people that comcast has connected to affordable internet in the last 10 years. and this is emmanuel, a future recording artist, and one of the millions of students we're connecting throughout the next 10. through projectup, comcast is committing $1 billion so millions more students, past... and present, can continue to get the tools they need to build a future of unlimited possibilities. welcome back. dr. anthony fauci says the administration is seriously considering shortening the isolation are period for other essential workers who test positive for covid. it follows the cdc shortening the isolation for health care workers after having a negative test after contracting the virus. >> we are considering it going beyond just health care workers. there are a lot of people in society that are essential for the smooth running of the infrastructure of our society. the idea about cutting down the period of quarantine for people who have been exposed and perhaps the peoriod of isolatio of people infected is under serious consideration. >> let's bring in dr. jonathan reiner. when i hear that, doctor, it indicates they will give the green light to public workers and sanitation and the subway system and airlines. we know delta wrote the letter asking for the same thing last week. is that the right call if they do that? >> it seems seems when it comes to the cdc, the wheels grind slowly here. it looks like omicron moves fast and we have the widespread ability now to assess when somebody is no longer infectious with a rapid test. moving the isolation period up seven days is appropriate. we might be able to move it up to five days. asymptomatic and two negative tests and you can go back to work. it doesn't just make sense for health care workers. going forward, i think anyone who is asymptomatic and tests negative with a rapid test two days in a row can go back to work. i think the cdc will eventually come out with that recommendation for the public at large. >> a startling number released overnight that i want you to help our viewers understand. every parent that saw the number cringed. this is from new york city where the city found a four-fold increase of pediatric hospitalizations between december 5th and 19th. to be clear, a few hundred per week. that is a sliver of overall hospitalizations. it is not a huge number, but if it is your child, it is everything. i wonder if you can help explain that to us and how we should understand that. a four-fold increase in a matter of two weeks. >> omicron is extraordinarily infe infectious. the biggest swath of unvaccinated people in the country are children. particularly children under 5, all of whom, are unprotected. you would expect this virus would infect children and if it infects children in large numbers, a small number will be hospitalized. if the denominator is quite large, we will see an increase in pediatric hospitalizations. thankfully, covid has largely spared our children. not entirely spared our children. you know, about 1,000 kids in the country have died as a consequence of this virus. many many more have been hospitalized. if this virus infects millions of children, we will see significant numbers of kids hospitalized. we need to do everything that we know works to bprotect kids including masking and distancing. and using tests around the house and schools to isolate kids who have been infected and protect the other kids. >> should we be thinking about our friends and family members as fully vaccinated if they don't have three shots or if they don't have the booster? >> no. obviously not fully vaccinated. again, i don't understand why the cdc refuses to acknowledge this. if you only had two shots and you are now months out from the second mrna shot, you only have somewhere between a 20% and 30% level of protection from symptomatic infection with omicron. why would we consider you to be fully vaccinated? you are fully vaccinated if you received the maximum amount of protection you can from a course of immunization. now we know that is three shots for mrna vaccine. only 19% of the country -- 19% of people who live in this country are boosted. so, the vast majority of people in the country are not fully vaccinated and at risk of infl infli infe infection. until we realize that, we won't get to where we need to be. boost everybody who needs bo boo boosting. >> it is like the language needs to change. you think of an extra bit or cherry on top. you don't have full protection. >> are you protected? right. the question is are you protected fully against this virus? protected as well as we can protect people? if you are not boosted, you're not. we need to get that word out. >> we do. thank you for always helping get it out. dr. reiner. see you soon. ahead for us, a trump spokesperson is suing the january 6th committee over access to his finance at records. what he does not want to hand over to lawmakers. that's next. some of my best memories growing up, were cooking with mom. she always said, “food is love.” so when she moved in with us, a new kitchen became part of our financial plan. ♪ i want to make the most of every meal we have together. ♪ at northwestern mutual, our version of financial planning helps you live your dreams today. find a northwestern mutual advisor at nm.com when you really need to sleep you reach for the really good stuff. new zzzquil ultra helps you sleep better and longer when you need it most. it's non habit forming and powered by the makers of nyquil. new zzzquil ultra. when you really really need to sleep. i just wish more people knew how easy it was to get health coverage. i'm only paying $52 a month for there are quality plans for even less. my job doesn't offer health insurance, but with the new law, i found an affordable plan and only pay $47 a month. actually, a friend of mine recommended healthcare.gov and now we're paying less than $60 a month for coverage. i was skeptical at first, but it is real. i'm covered with no monthly payment. new law. lower prices. more people qualify. at healthcare.gov age is just a number. and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health. versus 16 grams in ensure high protein. boost® high protein also has key nutrients for immune support. boost® high protein. in another sign that the january 6th committee is ramping up efforts to follow the money and uncover funding behind the capitol insurrection, former president trump's spokesperson is suing the committee over access to the financial records. revealing that the panel demanded information from his bank. our senior legal affairs correspondent paula reid is joining us now. he said i gave the committee 1,700 pages of documents and provided 4 hours of testimony. what more do they want? >> reporter: one of the things that is incredible about the lawsuit is it reveals a subpoena issued by the committee for information directly by a bank. it is shows the subpoena power to follow the money leading up the lawmakers are looking for pro promotion and planning. in the lawsuit, he complied. he produced 2,000 pages of documents which he claims are sufficient to identify all account transactions between december and january of 2021. poppy, he revealed he has sworn testimony. a lot of bluster from the president's former allies, railing against the investigation, here is his spokesperson cooperating. and he argues that the committee is seeking information he doesn't have the power to obtain. other witnesses are challenging the committee and arguing it does not have the authority to pursue the records. house speaker nancy pelosi appointed to the panel without the agreement without house minority leader kevin mccarthy. it is not known if the documents have been touurned over. he missed the deadline given by his bank to block the requests. poppy. >> we remember what happened when they went to deutche bank. let's begin with joe and john. you were nervous about the potential for more violence on the one-year mark of the capitol insurrection. the same day the president will hold the news conference and talking about discussing once again pushing the big lie and false claims of voter fraud in the last election. you said you think it is important for democrats to quote broadcast everything donald trump says. why? >> poppy, good to be with you. look, here we are a year removed from a violent attempt to overthrow the american election all incited by trump. it is important, poppy, for the american people to be reminded at every opportunity possible that donald trump is an enemy of demo democracy. he is an enemy of the country because he incited that attack. trump will run again, poppy. trump is the leader of the republican party. it is not even close. he is still a live threat to the democracy. so every time he speaks and every time he lies and every time he incites violence or amps up the big lie, it is important for america to hear it. >> john, former president trump is under fire from some in his party big time. super far right republicans and i don't want to say this is all republicans. it is not at all. there are some that are very mad at him and booing him in public and calling him out at events because he is vocally supporting the vaccine and boosters. listen to this from candace owens after her interview with trump where he reiterated vaccines work. >> you often times forget how old trump is. he comes from the generation and i've seen other people older with the perspective. they came from a time before tv and before internet and before able to conduct the independent research and everything they write in the newspaper that was pitched to them that they believe that was reality. i believe also that he only reads the mainstream media news. believe it or not. i do not believe trump reads or partakes in other news sources. i don't believe trump is on the internet. >> what does all of this tell you about the anti-vaccine movement from some within the president's own party? >> that little rant sounded suspiciously like a cult member having a crisis of faith because the leader of the organization, so to speak, has all of a sudden, committed the sin of finally belatedly telling the truth about vaccines. granted, only in the context of him trying to take credit for them. telling the truth is better than the alternative which is what he has been doing the last year in a half. candace owens and others are freaking out. there is daylight between donald trump's base and himself. there hasn't been for a long time. he is cunning about being led by the base about the leader of the movement. i think this is going to go places that are interesting. >> yeah. yeah. dangerous for public health. >> and then there's that. this is just the far right-wing f feudalism going on. the hunt for politics. when she is talking about young people somehow anti-science. all that is bs. we know the disinformation can be deadly. we are seeing it every day. >> joe, what is the political calculation here from the former president? is there one? >> what we know about trump, poppy, everything he does and says is to advance trump. i think he is running again in 2024. john said he is the cult leader. he knows he can step out and promote the vaccines and bulk of the base, because i hear from the base every day, the bulk of the base will support him. he is running in 2024. i think this is to help him with the constituents like suburban women he needs. >> john, i was so struck by this really important interview yesterday on "state of the union" here on cnn that debbie did. debbie dingell was on and they were talking about the tumultuous year in washington and their friendship and you can work with people on the other side. they were talking about bader ginsburg and scalia. listen to what congress member dingell said and when she played one of the number of threatening voicemails she received. here it is. >> you god [ bleep ]. you are as old and ugly and biden. you should get the bl[ bleep ] f the planet. they should try you for treason. you and every one of you scum [ bleep ]. i pray to god if you have children, they die in your face. >> and she has talked about getting these every year since trump attacked her late husband. john dingell. is there a return to civility when you see things like that, john avalon? >> yes. yes. i believe so. simply because things like that are so stark and so ugly. no matter -- you know, if that person thinks of himself as a patriot for leaving voicemails of leaving bile on an elected official, that strikes people. it has come to this. you said what is significant about the message that she played on "state of the union" with dana, it is one of many. this is part of the cost of doing business. instead, the thing that democracy depends upon and assumption of good will, friendships among people who believe differently. that is the endangered species. this fever has to break. it will break when people realize the angels. realize the people talking this way which is common on social media and it is the aber sdls ration. those people are unwell. they need to be called out. >> joe, it is part of the institution that you were a member of and do you agree with john? >> no, actually, poppy, respectfully to my good friend john, look, i come from the base. i hear from these folks every day, poppy. the fever ain't breaking any day soon. i think the rest of america needs to realize this. the entire base of one of the two major political parties has been fully radicalized, poppy. this will not change any time soon. this is not a reach across the aisle moment in american history. this is the rest of the us who are not in the base. we have to lock arms to defend democracy. that fever is not breaking any time soon. >> poppy, if i may. i don't think joe and i are disag disagreeing. we know what is happening with the republican party. it relies on those to realize that is the issue. the only issue that matters. from that, the fever will eventually break. no, kumbaya is not breaking out soon. >> thank you, john and joe. hospitals in massachusetts are under so much strain that the national guard is being sent in to help. what do those hospitals need most right now? 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>> reporter: good morning, poppy. thanks for having me. the troops are helping in nonclinical roles. we have four that will be deployed to the emergency room helping with patient movement, patient transport, and two that will actually be helping our public safety department managing the patients coming in for vaccines and testing and various other needs. >> what does it tell you that you need the national guard in your hospital two years into this pandemic? >> you know, we have said that every time we think we have our arms around what we need to do, the situation changes. i think what we're seeing now is a coming together of the holidays with people getting together, an extremely contagious variant, and this is the time of year that our hospitals tend to be very busy anyway. on top of that, we have layered a lot of patients who have deferred care and then have acute needs that have nothing to do with covid but they're all coming together at the same time. >> yeah. we mentioned at the top that the governor in massachusetts has basically asked all the hospitals to cut back on or stop elective surgeries. i think when we hear the word "elective," we think of a tummy tuck or something like that. that includes cancer surgeries. that includes hernia repair. that includes hip replacement. is that what you're having to do at your hospital? >> yeah, so we had actually started postponing many of those procedures even well in advance of the governor's order. it is a very acute patient need that is troubling us now. so we are not postponing procedures that are truly urgent and lifesaving and needed right now. and that's what we are seeing. so we're not seeing as many of the routine procedures. we have deferred all of those. but we are really seeing acute needs. we're also very concerned with postponing some things that are not necessarily essential but have been postponed quite a bit during the pandemic, which means that patients are not getting that preventive care. and then when the illness does present and the patient does come to the hospital, they are much sicker and very troubling from a health care perspective as well but very needed to free up the beds at the moment. >> one of your colleagues talked abstaff shortages that your hospital was already dealing with. now that the cdc has said covid-infected health care workers, if they have two negative tests, can come back to work after seven days of isolation and in some circumstances five, and if it's really necessary after no isolation if they test negative. is that something that your hospital is applying, and what kind of difference will it make if you are? >> yes. we have, as of this morning, 115 staff members out ill with covid, who have tested positive. but some of them are not as acutely ill. in fact, some of them are asymptomatic completely. we have a very vaccinated population. so it will help us to bring those individuals back into the workforce. it is still trying having them out for even the five or seven days depending on the circumstance. >> right. >> but we made that change as soon as our state allowed it on friday. >> okay. diana richardson, thank you for the time. we wish you luck. i'm sure the national guard members will help, but i know you need all the help you can get. good luck. >> we do. thank you. at noon in cape town, south africa today, this is what people heard. [ bells ringing ] those are the bells of st. george's cathedral ringing in honor of the remarkable archbishop desmond tutu who died yesterday. how leaders around the world are remembering him, next. if you wanna look fresh, fresh. you gotta eat fresh. eat fresh. that's why subway bought time in my shampoo ad. to talk about the new baja chicken & bacon. body, bounce, and baja. bounce. eat fresh. my nunormal? fewer asthma attacks with nucala. a once-monthly add-on injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. nucala reduces eosinophils, a key cause of severe asthma. nucala is not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occurred. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask your doctor about nucala. find your nunormal with nucala. when you're born and raised in san francisco, you grow up wanting to make a difference. that's why, at recology, we're proud to be 100% employee owned with local workers as diverse as san francisco. we built the city's recycling system from the ground up, helping to make san francisco the greenest big city in america but we couldn't do it without you. thank you, san francisco. gracias, san francisco. -thank you. -[ speaks native language ] let's keep making a difference together. south africa begins a week of mourning as tributes pour in for the former archbishop desmond tutu. his work for civil rights and human rights led to prominent honors for him around the well. this is video from former president obama in 2009 when he was awarding archbishop desmond tutu the presidential medal of freedom. after his death, he called him a mentor, a friend, and a moral compass. larry, what a man, what a legacy, what a life, and a week to honor him. >> just a week of remembrance all across south africa. they are planning memorials in every part of the country and across southern africa to honor a man who fought against apartheid and used his voice to talk about this injustice he considered immoral and, unjust, and un-christian, evil, even. that's why he won the nobel prize in 1984. but he continued to talk about injustices whenever he saw them. he tackled global issues like statehood, like the chinese policy in tibet, like the iraq war that he marched against. he was a prominent activist for lgbtq rights in south africa, a controversial topic in that country. you've seen tributes all over the world from the dalai lama to the pope, to president biden, leaders, queens, kings around the world honoring this man who is a south african nation that will treasury, a hero and a global icon. truly, they are marking this remarkable life, and he will be interred on 1st of january, new year's day, in cape town, the people's cathedral during the struggle against ar par tide. >> as i was going to bed last night, larry, this book of mine in my office had a quote from him on the back, and it said, "we grow in kindness when our kindness is tested." he taught us all that, i think. >> absolutely. he did. one quick note, poppy. he said, "if you eat shoes, you chew on the fat of your oppressor." >> thank you for that reporting. it is the top of the hour. thank you so much for being with me, everyone. good morning. i'm poppy harlow. jim sciutto has a well-deserved week off. this morning demand for covid testing is at an all-time high as the spread of the omicron variant and holiday travel create what has become sadly a perfect storm. look at the lines from all over the place this weekend, people waiting for hours to get a covid test. many are looking for at-home tests,