in the past few days. maine, michigan, new hampshire, and vermont saw more people hospitalized from covid than ever before. still, new cdc guidance aims to shorten the isolation period for people who test positive but have no symptoms from ten days to just five. cnn's tom foreman joins me now with all the details. tom, it is hard for people to keep up with all the new guidance and protocols, so take us through the latest. >> so many people are just exhausted by this, alisyn. we've been through two years of this now and much of the goal right now seems to be to meet this new wave sweeping through the country and yet somehow keep the country working. the new cdc recommendation is simple enough. if you test positive for covid but show no symptoms, you can isolate for five days instead of the previous ten. then go about your business wearing a mask for five more. but the reason for the change is complicated, and health experts say, not purely medical. >> we want to get people back to the jobs, particularly those with essential jobs, to keep our society running smoothly. >> if you are an hourly wage worker and you feel reasonably fine, maybe you have mild symptoms, you're much less likely to get tested if you know that a positive result will mean ten days of not being able to work, of being isolated. >> reporter: one sector already struggling, vaccinated healthcare workers suffering breakthrough infections of the highly transmissible omicron variant. and being sent home. >> that's still an impossible strain on an already strained healthcare system. so, i understand the pressure to get workers back earlier. >> reporter: omicron is spreading so fast, the impact is now going far beyond the widely reported holiday travel problems. in new york city, apple has closed all its stores to browsing shoppers. in maryland, courts are cutting back their winter schedules. all over college and professional sports are dealing with canceled or postponed games. and hospitals are seeing a surge in cases among children. not because omicron is uniquely targeting them but because -- >> we see children who are hospitalized because of covid or in the icu because of covid. they're all unvaccinated. they're unvaccinated, the parents are unvaccinated, the siblings are unvaccinated. >> reporter: that's why some medical professionals believe the reopening of schools, especially those with thorough covid safety measures, could reduce the spread among kids. although others are not convinced. >> i think that what we're going to see is once children go back to school within a week or two of schools opening is when we're going to see our highest numbers. >> reporter: that said, in new york city, where the cases are skyrocketing right now, officials say the bells will ring, the doors will open, and students will be expected back in class next week, and i imagine many school districts across the country will follow suit. alisyn? >> okay, tom foreman, thank you very much. let's bring in dr. abdul al sayed, detroit's health commissioner and is the host of the "america dissected" podcast. doctor, great to see you. do you like these new shortened cdc guidelines for isolation from ten days down to five? >> well, look, i think it's important to draw the inferences out. i don't know if it's something i like or i dislike. i just want folks to understand exactly what's happening here. the first is recognition that omicron is going to infect a lot of people and the kinds of disruptions that we have seen, whether it's in air travel or hospital systems, that that's going to continue. and that's in recognition of the responsibility that i think the cdc felt to make sure that the workforces are capable of withstanding the surge. the second piece here is the recognition that vaccinated people really are protected in a pretty profound way. if you think about it, what the cdc guidelines do is they set a basically equitable or equal requirement for people who are unvaccinated and exposed as people who are vaccinated and test positive. and then the third thing i want folks to understand and pull out from this is the recognition that omicron just moves so fast, both in terms of how fast it causes symptoms and how fast those symptoms resolve, that the cdc needed to change their requirements. the important thing i want folks to weigh this against, though, is the need to make sure that people are feeling better after they get sick. it's not just about requirements for isolation. it's also -- >> dr. el-sayed, we lost your audio. we're going to try to get that back. so give us a moment on that. and we will circle back with him. meanwhile, the january 6th committee is rolling out a new timeline for the new year, so when will we see their findings? and one senator calls january a make or break month for the democrats' agenda, so what's more important to them, build back better or voting rights? points program, i answer questions about my goals and the foods i love. i like that the ww personalpoints plan is built just for me. start the new year with three months free. join today at ww.com. hurry, offer ends january 3rd. hi, my name is cherrie. i'm 76 and i live on the oregon coast. my husband, sam, we've been married 53 years. we love to walk on the beach. i have two daughters and then two granddaughters. i noticed that memories were not there like they were when i was much younger. since taking prevagen, my memory has gotten better and it's like the puzzle pieces have all been [click] put together. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. welcome back. so, we're trying to understand the ramifications of the new cdc guidelines for covid isolation, and back with us now is dr. abdul el-sayed. great to have you back. so, you were explaining how the new guidelines of isolation from ten days down to five days is designed, we think, because the biden administration and the cdc wants to keep businesses open and the workforce going. but some in the workforce, the frontline workers, some hospital workers and people on airplanes don't love these new guidelines, so let me play you their thoughts. >> cdc should also be -- >> this is not the time, during a surge of a new mutant variant. this is not the time to be lessening. our staffing concerns have not been addressed, and measures like this will make it worse instead of better. >> okay, so, that was the president of the national nurses association in tom foreman's piece. we also heard from the head of the flight attendants association. they just think, i mean, is this for people to police themselves on planes? because people are not doing a great job of policing themselves on airplanes right now. >> there are a couple points here that are really worth considering. there's a large variation in how long people can continue to transmit this variant, and we still don't know that much about it. we've only been dealing with this for about a month, and so there's a risk that, you know, folks aren't wearing their masks after that first five days of isolation and can pass it on. the second is there's a subjective experience of getting sick and it's important that people feel better to get back to work and so it is a recognition that just because you have to isolate or don't have to isolate, does not speak to the experience people may be having and that's really important for businesses and certainly unions to be considering and workers themselves, let alone. >> speaking of airplanes, dr. fauci has suggested yesterday that maybe it was time for people -- for domestic flights to be fully vaccinated, and then he had said today, i think, or maybe yesterday afternoon, but i don't think that that's any time in the near future. do you think that it's time for passengers to be fully vaccinated as a, you know, mandatory requirement to fly? >> well, what we know is that omicron is substantially more transmissible, which means that even if, with previous variants, that air travel was relatively safe, that may not be the case with omicron. the second point here is that there is a space between, you know, requiring vaccines to go on an airplane domestically versus nothing, which is, upgrading the kind of masks that are required. we know that n 95 masks are substantially more -- prevent far more illness and infection, and so you could imagine a world where you're required to have an n95 and be wearing it in a particular way to get on an airplane. that being said, it may be a circumstance. we're moving forward, given how infectious omicron is, that what dr. fauci is suggesting may be required to prevent illness and spread on air travel. >> the surgical mask that i have been wearing around is not good enough anymore or just not good enough for air travel? >> well, it's not -- it's that it's not as good as an n95. it's not that it's not good. and it's critical that people wear a mask of any kind, which is better than no mask at all, and we know that a surgical mask is better than a cloth mask but we also know an n95 is substantially better and though we know that while an airplane is in the air, the risk of transmission is relatively low, that time taxiing -- i took a flight a week ago and we sat on the tarmac for about an hour and we know the amount of air that is recycled through the airplane's fuselage is high so that could be a high-risk situation. so you want to equip people with the best way to protect themselves from transmission is an n95 is the best so you can imagine an upgrade in the requirement there. >> okay, dr. abdul el-sayed, thank you. >> thank you. so, house lawmakers investigating the capitol riots say they could release an interim report of their findings by the summer. a source tells cnn a final report on what happened on january 6th could be released in the fall. cnn's whitney wild joins me from washington. whitney, clearly they want to get it out before the midterms. >> reporter: well, exactly. now we have this specific timeline and what this represents is that we're getting into this more public phase of not only the investigative process but also the findings. what we know now is that the house select committee plans to have public hearings sometime next year, sometime first quarter and then a few months after that, they will release this interim report with the final report by the fall. it's difficult to extract the political timeline from the house select committee's timeline, incidental, planned, you know, it's -- people will glean what they want but the reality is the committee now saying that they want to have this -- they want to bring their work more into the public sphere so people can make their own decisions, alisyn. >> a federal judge just issued a ruling allowing a major conspiracy case to move forward against four members of the proud boys. so, how significant is this? >> reporter: well, it's very significant, alisyn, for a number of reasons. this is one first big conspiracy cases we're going to see move through the criminal justice system in february. we'll start to see these trials. and i think this is significant not only for the actual, you know -- the actual impact on the justice system but also, alisyn, for what the judge said and 43-page ruling allowing this to go forward and what he said was that this idea that these actions were part of protected first amendment speech is just meritless. he said that this is not a mere sit-in. this is not just protesting out in the public sphere, that once you got to the riot, that was not first amendment protected speech, alisyn. >> okay, whitney wild, thank you for that important update. okay, now to testing. i'm sure many of you have struggled to find a rapid covid test. well, coming up, you're going to hear one woman's story of her five-day scavenger hunt to find one. plus, four people are dead after a gunman went on a shooting spree across denver. we have the details ahead. get . only tylenol rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. they release medicine fast for fast pain relief. and now get relief without a pill with tylenol dissolve packs. relief without the water. you could fret about that email you just sent. ...with a typo. aaaand most of the info is totally outdated. orrrr... you could use slack. and edit your message after it's sent. 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(vo) ask your doctor if it's right for you. learn how we could help you save on imbruvica. small businesses like yours make gift-giving possible. now, comcast business has an exclusive gift for you. introducing the gift of savings sale. for a limited time, ask how to get a great deal for your business. and get up to a $500 prepaid card with select bundles when you switch to the network that can deliver gig speeds to the most businesses. or get started with internet and voice for $64.99 per month with a 2-year price guarantee. give your business the gift of savings today. comcast business. powering possibilities. president biden just lifted the travel restrictions on eight southern african countries last month. he says that they are no longer necessary to protect public health. they were put in place last month, i should say. as you know, the omicron variant is, though, spreading like wildfire and now the president is also conceding that his administration should have done more when it comes to testing. he told governors he needs help on state and local levels. >> it's not enough. it's clearly not enough. if we'd known we would have gone harder, quicker if we could have. we have to do more. we have to do better. and we will. >> cnn's jeremy diamond is in delaware where the president is spending part of the holiday, so jeremy, there's a sense now that we will be more prepared going forward? >> well, that's certainly the intention of the president and of his administration. listen, what we heard yesterday from the president was two things. on the one hand, he was acknowledging in no uncertain terms that his administration has fallen short when it comes to meeting the demand for testing. you saw the president referencing those long lines that we had over the christmas weekend. clearly, those were seared and etched into the minds of this administration as they look forward now to try to improve that response. at the same time, we heard the president also talking, trying to thread the needle there and also talking about the progress that his administration has made in terms of testing, noting the fact that there are now nine at-home rapid tests that are on the market, whereas there were none that were approved when he came into office. none of that will be of any comfort to americans who weren't able to get a test before christmas, for example, or who are struggling to get a test now. that's why the next test for this administration certainly comes with the launch of that website that we're expecting sometime early next month, and the delivery of those 500 million rapid at-home tests that americans can request via that website to get delivered to their homes. the administration certainly does hope that that will help alleviate some of the pressure that you were seeing with this testing shortage around the country, but that will be a major test. we know that the last administration that president biden was a part of when he was vice president struggled with the healthcare-related website, obamacare, of course, and this will be another key test for this president and his administration's coronavirus response. we know that certainly this has -- it's dented president biden's response to the coronavirus, the fact that we saw those long lines and that shortage of testing over these last couple of days and weeks, so again, a major test for the president and we'll see if those 500 million tests do indpeed make the difference next month. >> okay, jeremy diamond, thank you for that. so, my next guest had half a dozen reasons to need a rapid covid test this month. she'd had a significant exposure, she developed a cough, she was trying to protect her husband and trying to make holiday plans, and she is on an immunosuppressive drug, which makes her more vulnerable to the virus but when she tried to find a test, she says it turned into a, quote, infuriating five-day scavenger hunt. elizabeth rosenthal just wrote about her ordeal in the "washington post." she is also the editor-in-chief of kaiser health news and she joins us now. i read your story with great interest. what happened when you tried to get a test? >> well, i discovered that it was really, really hard. you know, it was the same kind of frantic search we had had at the beginning of the pandemic for masks or hand sanitizer, but now we're nearly two years in, and i'm a physician and a public health journalist, and it's just not acceptable. >> i mean, you, of all people, you arguably have more resources than the average bear to try to get a test, but let's just go through it. did you try your local pharmacy? >> i did. i mean, basically, i did what most americans would do. i went online and said, where can i get a test and and i found that here in d.c., there were free tests but there were long lines, and the results wouldn't be back for maybe three to five days, and i needed a rather rapid answer to know if i should go on monoclonal antibodies because of my health condition, and we had upcoming plans, and then what was even more infuriating, though, is the nonpublic sites, the hospitals, the cvs's, the walgreens, even some of the private clinics, they had no slots available or even worse, this was the weekend before christmas, and they said, oh, we don't do testing on weekends, as if, you know, omicron goes to sleep on weekends. or other clinics, they said, oh, sure, if you want a rapid test, i mean, a rapid pcr test, which is what i needed, you can pay $300 for a one-hour turn around, you know, $275 for two hours and so on and so forth. so, the whole thing was just infuriating, and you know, at one point, one of the centers said to me, well, if you're having surgery tomorrow or you need a flight tonight, we can speed it up, but i'm like, no, this is a public health emergency. i have a medical problem. but that didn't give me priority. >> and i mean, i know you joked you considered scheduling a colonoscopy so that you could get a covid test but on a serious note, you tried your local pharmacy, your local cvs. you tried your city's walk-in clinic, and it was an hours-long line and you weren't going to get the results for three to five days. did you try your primary care physician? >> i did, but you know, my primary care physician happens to be in new york, and my doctors down here were connected with hospitals that also had very long waits. and couldn't guarantee a quick turn around for a -- what was a public health reason. and that's part of the problem. we have trusted, throughout this pandemic, for the private market to deliver public health, and it's not set up for that. it really isn't. their priority is keeping those surgeries going, making sure people who want to pay $275 for a test for a flight can get one. my problem was not their problem, and that's why we really need -- what i'm glad to see president biden doing is saying, we're going to invoke the defense production act to get these tests going out and free, and unfortunately for him, omicron came before his program was up to speed, but you know, in other countries, in the uk, for example, you can say to the nhs, i need a rapid test tomorrow, and you will get seven in the mail tomorrow. and just not there. and it's just -- it's just tragic. >> and so, the upshot of your story is that you finally got tested, and you were positive. and so, how are you? how's your husband? >> we're both fine. but the really infuriating thing for america is, you know, we are people who have a car and disposable income, so i found, first, a test site in virginia. we live in d.c. that promised a 48-hour test. they actually couldn't deliver that in practice, so i then, the next day, went and found another one that we drove 30 miles to that promised i would be called back within 24 hours if i had a positive test. at 24 hours, i hadn't heard anything so i called them back and said, what gives? can i assume i'm negative? and they were like, no, you can't assume you're negative. we're really behind. so, from my first symptoms to my test result ended up being five days, which meant, you know, even if my doctor had wanted to give me monocloenal antibodies, it would have been too late. >> five days is too long for anybody to have to wait in this current climate. well, elizabeth rosenthal, thanks for sharing your story. i hope that you're feeling better and everybody should read your -- >> we're both fine. i hope others have a better experience and we improve upon this in the future. >> everybody should read your piece in the "washington post." thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you. okay, so, depending upon who you ask, the core of president biden's agenda is either stalled or dead, so what's the path forward on build back better? 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>> absolutely not. what i would say as it relates to build back better is that we are working tirelessly and diligently to make sure that we can find common ground so we can get it across the finish line. there are so many things that benefit the people in this country in build back better, more than anything, the expansion of the child tax credit, which has helped so many people, specifically 70,000 families in the ohio 11th congressional district and more than 35 million families across the country. so, when you think about those type of improvements to our economy and being able to put people in a position to be able to get back to work, those things are critically important, so we have to do everything that we can to make sure that build back better isn't dead. >> well, i mean, my impression is that president biden has been doing everything that he can in terms of negotiating with senator joe manchin, who has not been on board fully yet, and so, one suggestion by senator ben cardin this week was to -- that it should be broken up into smaller standalone pieces. do you like that option? >> listen, i'm -- every option is on the table. because people are hurting across the country and they need these resources to be able to get our economy back on track, we have to use every tool in the tool kit, and so if that means breaking it down into smaller pieces, then i'm fully in support of that. what we have to do is focus on the things that we all agree on and when we look at the build back better package, so many people in the agree, whether they are democrat or republican, with the impacts and improvements that are available to us, and again, i harken back to the child tax credit because we have that in place for the last six months. it's been helping families and helping people put food on the table and it's helped a lot of kids have a really good christmas this past december 25th, so because of those things, it means we have to break it down into smaller packages, then of course i'm all for that, but we cannot leave any stone unturned. >> well, one thing that we're starting to hear many people say is that build back better should not be president biden's first priority after the new year. in fact, it should be voting rights. just yesterday, or just, i should say, last week, 800 faith leaders sent a letter to the white house saying, quote, we cannot be clearer. you must act now to protect every american's freedom to vote without interference and with confidence that their ballot will be counted and honored. passin passing comprehensive voting rights legislation must be the number one priority of the administration and congress. should that be the top priority? in the new year? >> well, i'm of the mindset that we can walk and chew gum at the same time, alisyn, so yes, we can work on both those things at the same time. voting rights is critically important and if we don't get voting rights passed, then this country will be in very big trouble. when you have over more than 40 states and 400 bills that are being moved throughout legislative bodies in the state to suppress the vote, that is critically important and i can say the folks in ohio's 11th congressional district, we're a part of that 800, leadership and clergy, that are fighting tirelessly and diligently to make sure we are making voting rights a high priority, so we can do both. >> well, maybe. i mean, there is only one top priority, and there are only 24 hours in a day, and you know, while some of the attention and resources are going to build back better, is every hour that president biden isn't working on voting rights and in your state, as you know, the supreme court in ohio is hearing arguments about this newly redrawn gerrymandered ohio map, and the argument is that it's unconstitutional. that's one argument. and if they stick with this new map that seems to favor, in many districts, republicans, what are their repercussions of that? >> so, there are so many lawsuits that are flying around as it relates to the -- how the maps are being drawn, but i'm a person that is cautiously optimistic, right? and so, what i have begun to focus on as it relates to my seat and the people of ohio's 11th congressional district is just making sure that we are delivering. again, that is the key thing. so, things that are beyond my control, i have to leave to the powers that be, but where i have influence is in the congress, and with 217 other folks that would agree with me, that's the issue i'm focusing on. congress passed the voting rights act so now it's time to make sure we're focusing on getting some agreement on the senate side, and that's where we need to be focusing our energy. but let's be clear. these are things that we can get done. again, i'm of the mindset that we can walk and chew gum at the same time, so both of them are critically important to the progress and improvement of the country, so i don't think we should leave anything off the table or just toss our hands or wash our hands away of anything that is going to improve the quality of lives -- people that are trusting me to make decisions on their behalf. >> well, congresswoman shontel brown, thanks for your time and we'll be watching what happens in january. okay, so, we'll take you to the not so friendly skies next. there was this ugly incident aboard a domestic flight captured on video. wait until you see what the flight attendants had to do. i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. what are the three ps? 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(swords clashing) -had enough? -no... arthritis. here. aspercreme arthritis. full prescription-strength? reduces inflammation? thank the gods. don't thank them too soon. kick pain in the aspercreme. the u.s. and russia have agreed to sit down for security talks next month amid rising tensions over ukraine. ukraine says russia has thousands of troops at the border preparing for an invasion, but the russian defense ministry said more than 10,000 of those have left and gone back to their permanent bases. cnn's nic robertson is live in moscow for us. do we know what the truth is? >> reporter: we don't know if these russian troops have gone back to their base with their military equipment, because we know that some military equipment have been left stationed there from earlier in the year, so that's an open question. we haven't seen verifiable proof that the troops have gone back. russia says this was their preplanned training, motorized combat units, special forces units. they've done what was allocated to them, and have now returned to their bases. it's not clear how many tens of thousands remain, tens of thousands of troops still going through that training and it's not clear if the kremlin plans to put more troops back in their stead to do their planned winter training so there are a lot of questions and ambiguities about exactly what's happening close to the border with ukraine. what seems to be set right now are these talks between the u.s. and russia to begin on january 10th. putin's been very clear in what he wants, legal guarantees that nato won't expand east wards toward russia. that's a security concern, he says, for russia and the united states has said very clearly, okay, you can put your concerns on the table, we'll put our concerns on the table, but we're not going to be negotiating at your allies and partners without our allies and partners being there at the table, meaning nato and ukraine. putin's looking for clarity on ukraine. u.s. officials are saying, look, we might agree on some things, not on others. all of this -- all of this, the ambiguities of what's happening on the border and what could happen in the talks, it's all still in play, alisyn. >> nic robertson, thank you for explaining all of that to us. back here, the parents of a 14-year-old girl who was shot and killed by l.a. police are speaking publicly. newly released body cam and surveillance footage show officers responding to a suspect who had already assaulted several customers, and when they tried to shoot him, a bullet pierced the dressing room where valentina was trying on clothes with her mother. her grieving parents spoke through a translator last hour. >> translator: we heard some screams. we sat down and hugged and started praying. when something impacted my daughter, valentina, it threw us on the floor, and she died in my arms, and there was nothing i could do. to see a son or daughter die in your arms is one of the pains -- the greatest pains and most profound pains that any human being can imagine. >> now to denver where at least four people are dead and several others are injured after a gunman went on a shooting spree last night. police say the gunman wounded an officer before he was shot and killed. cnn's lucy is in denver for us. do we know anything more about the motive here, the gunman? >> reporter: that's right, alisyn. denver police don't expect to update us today. this is an ongoing investigation, so many different locations covered in the shooting and at this point, more questions than answers. police say the first shots were fired just after 5:00 p.m. local time in central denver where two women were killed and a man was injured near a local tattoo shop. the suspect then killed another man several blocks away and at a third location, a gun was fired but no injuries were reported at the time. denver police then spotted what they believed to be the suspect's vehicle. they tried to pull him over. a gunfight ensued in which the police vehicle was disabled. the suspect then fled to the nearby city of lakewood. police spokespeople there said they got reports of shots fired about an hour later at a local business just before 6:00 p.m. local time. a gunshot victim was found and pronounced dead at the scene there. when police found the car and the suspect, they say he opened fire. the officers shot back. he then fled on foot to a hyatt hotel, where he is believed to have shot a clerk and also shot and wounded a lakewood police officer. we don't know any updates about his condition but we know that he was undergoing surgery late yesterday evening. more gunfire was exchanged and the suspect was killed at the scene. the denver police chief says they're just starting to piece together what happened. witnesses, however, describing what they saw. take a look. >> we were just inside the store and heard, like, one gunshot and then like a whole rain, it sounded like they hit the side of the building, and then obviously a bunch of cop cars and they came back and swooped us out into the back. >> this is the holiday season. to have this type of spree take place is not normal for our community. we cannot lose sight of the victims in this, the people that are still fighting for their lives. the authorities were seeking a motive as the denver police chief told reporters last night. this is the holiday season, and to have this kind of shooting spree take place is not normal. >> just horrible. thank you. well, a los angeles woman is facing federal assault charges after she allegedly hit and spat on another passenger last week during a delta flight. ryan young joins me now. giant, these poor flight attendants who have to subdue passengers like this. >> it's getting kind of strange. when you think of all the things that go on at airports these days, people are dealing with tension, pre-check, and then all of these viral videos in terms of fights. this woman faces a federal assault charge. in that charge, it talks about a video that surfaced and has gone viral on the internet. in that video it talks about one passenger taking video of a woman and a man getting into a fight. it was posted into an instagram site. the flight was from tampa to atlanta. watch this. we had to bleep out some of the audio because it was so vulgar what was going on on that flight. >> sit down, karen! [ bleep ] >> as soon as we get into atlanta, you're going to jail. [ bleep ] >> karen. [ bleep ] [ bleep ] [ bleep ] >> scratched my face, i want her [ bleep ]. >> put a mask on! put your [ bleep ] mask on! >> put yours on [ bleep ]. >> i'm sure flight attendants are thinking we don't get paid enough to deal with some of this stuff in the air. >> patricia cornwall is the woman seen in the video. according to this complaint, she came out of the bathroom, the beverage cart was in the middle of the aisle, the flight attendants asked her to sit down until they could get past. she then said who am i, rosa parks? then he said you're not rosa parks. but look at all the incidents in terms of the airwaairways. you think of the stories of flight attendants having to deal with some of this. the mask debate created some of these issues. now emotions are frayed with this pandemic and now spilling into what used to be the friendly skies. i guess you can call them the unfriendly skies. this woman faces one federal assault charge for what happened on that plane. >> it's just horrible. we're asking flight attendants to turn into bouncers, you know, at the worst bar ever. at a flying bar. ryan, thank you. covid cases are climbing and more children are now in hospitals. ahead, what parents need to ahead, what parents need to know. ahead, what parents need to know. of your financing. at carvana, get personalized terms, browse for cars that fit your budget, then customize your down payment and monthly payment. and these aren't made-up numbers. it's what you'll really pay, right down to the penny. whether you're shopping or just looking. it only takes a few seconds, and it won't affect your credit score. finally! a totally different way to finance your ride. only from carvana. the new way to buy a car. this holiday is all about t-mobile. let's go to diane. new and existing customers can trade up to the new iphone 13 pro and t-mobile will pay for it. t-mobile is bringing it all together for the holidays. upgrade to the iphone 13 pro on us. plus get a free year of apple tv plus. only at t-mobile. want to save on your home internet? xfinity is proud to support the emergency broadband benefit program. for a limited time, you may be eligible to qualify for a credit of up to $50 a month toward your internet service through this program. that's right! you could qualify for a credit of up to $50 a month toward your internet service and equipment. for even more value, switch to xfinity mobile, and you could pay as little as $15 a month for wireless. click, call, or visit a store to learn more. . the omicron surge has people getting creative as they try to include covid-positive loved ones in their holiday celebrations. jeanne moos shows us how going home for the holidays ain't what it used to be. >> reporter: santa isn't the only one who got decked out for the holidays. ♪ all by myself ♪ nothing shameful about the covid christmas hut of shame, unless you're a brother teasing your sister while making it possible for her to join in the festivities. best brothers ever someone posted. y'all still going to get it commented someone else. but the griswolds weren't the only ones not letting a positive covid test turn things negative. >> let me in! no, don't let her in. >> reporter: even the dad got into the teasing as maddie hanes donned the under the weather shield that her mom bought from amazon at the beginning of the pandemic. the texas family had christmas dinner outdoors. >> it was my sister's idea. she wanted to be in the shield. guys, look what i found. why don't i put this on and we just stay outside. >> reporter: and this guy -- ♪ anthony herda just stayed outside the window at his michigan family's home. cake and presents were left outside for him like cookies for santa. in ireland, thomas rike posted this photo of his brother peter in a van outfitted with lights. he had a covid close contact and just pulled the van up alongside the window and dined with the others gathered inside. it's a weird holiday being handed presents with a grab-it in hope that covid can't reach the rest of the family. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> that is all awesome and slightly creepy. our thanks to ss to jeanne moo that. how about ringing in the new year safely in the comfort of your own home with anderson cooper and anthony cohen. they're hosting "cnn's new year's eve live" friday. why aren't don lemon and i mentioned? we're also hosting from new orleans with dulce sloan. i'll get that graphic fixed soon. it's the top of the hour. hi, everyone. i'm alisyn camerota. happy holidays. another day and another jump in covid cases driven by the omicron variant. the u.s. now averaging more than 237,000 new infections per day. that is 66% higher than