we should note the number of hospitalizations are not rising at the same rate to date. the cdc lowering its estimate of the variant from 70 to 59%. that drop suggests while the new variant is on the rise, it was not infecting people at the same rate the agency had initially projected. >> pediatric hospitalizations are near their september peak. nationwide, hospitalizations of children with the virus have jumped on average nearly 50% in just one week. parents are understandable concerned as vaccination rates, particularly among the pediatric population, continue to lag, leaving many children vulnerable to infection. president biden now says the vaccine requirements for domestic travel could be imposed if his medical team recommend it. but dr. fauci said don't expect one for now. health officials are advising we should be bracing for case numbers to skyrocket in the new year. now to laeyla santiago in miami. we know sometimes the waits have been hours long. leyla. >> reporter: yeah, kaitlan. we are still seeing very long long lines here. miami-dade opened two new sites yesterday. they had to wait anywhere from three to four workers. they expect that level of demand to continue into the new year. there is an explosion of new covid cases in the united states. >> there's no doubt about it. we have more infections in america than at any point in the pandemic. >> reporter: shattering a pandemic record, a seven-day average of 265,000 new cases, blowing past the old high set this past january. . >> no doubt we will hit half a million, maybe a million a day. >> reporter: health experts worry the covid rates will test the system at a critical time, especially for young children not eligible. the number of pediatric hospitalizations is rising sharply with the daily average up nearly 50% since last week, according to the cdc and hhs. >> what's been striking about this omicron related surge is that the amount of kids coming in everyday has almost doubled. it's not because the virus is more severe, it is because the overall infectivity has shot up. >> reporter: the cdc's data shows omicron accounted only for 60% of new covid cases last week and revised estimates significantly lower for the previous week. this as a new fda study showed the a lot home antigen test may be less effective. >> the tests are still worth while. don't let anybody think the fda said the tests are no longer good. they are less sensitive now. they were never 100% sensitive. >> reporter: they are nearly impossible to get. >> we sat in the car two and a half hours. and then finally the policeman came and said no more. >> reporter: they are facing horrible lines and are running out of tests. >> center we will see shortages of other things before january is done. we have quadrupled the number of tests in the last couple of months, but we still need hundreds and hundreds millions more given the demand. >> reporter: especially in the wake of the holiday travel surge, which is renewing debate on vaccination requirements on flights in the united states. it's a decision president joe biden said he would leave up to his medical team. but unless something changes -- >> we're not going to be mandating or requiring there's going to be vaccination necessary before you can get on a domestic flight. >> reporter: and still no word on what miami-dade county may be districting more of those at-home testing kits. they ran out monday after distributing 152,000. in the meantime, the mayor here echoing what we've heard from health experts, urging everyone to get vaccinated and boosted. john? leyla santiago live in miami. thank you so much, as always. now to discuss is dr. chris t. purnell. thank you so much for being with us this morning and talking about this. can we first start with what you're seeing with these record number of cases? >> definitely, kaitlan. thanks for having me. so we are seeing here even in new jersey, four -fold increase in pediatric hospitalizations. i can tell you there is demand on the ground for rapid at-home tests as well as pcr testing across our health care settings. we are looking to do partnerships at the city, county and state level to make sure we can meet the demand collectively because of had surge of the omicron variant and the concern it's causing throughout the public. >> dr. purnell, great to see you again. we are seeing a dramatic increase in the number of case, but much smaller increase in hospitalizations. so what does that tell you about the nature of these variants, combined with the inability that the cdc just slashed it in the united states. >> i think it is fascinating with the cdc revised percentage of cases due to omicron, are we seeing lower vaccination rates or lower hospitalization rates because we do have a considerable amount of the population that is vaccinated? whether it's one dose, whether it's full two-series dose, or even boosted. i do want the public to understand not to fall asleep at the wheel and say omicron is not something i should be concerned about. >> well, what does it tell you about the cdc slashing those numbers, though? of course they're not sequencing around the country all the time, which is likely why they change so much. there is a margin of error had they announced this. this is a big decrease in what they said was the amount of omicron circulating in the u.s. does that tell us it's not actually increasing and transmitting as quickly and as much as we thought it was initially? >> now, i do think it is increasing exponentially. with he need to do a better job around public health surveillance, whether that is sequencing of infected cases or our ability to understand where hospitalizations are going to trend next. this is all where our agencies need to improve and the messaging around public health and making sure tools are available to control the pandemic. regardless of that number being reformed, everyone should know this variant is more contagious. so you need to do the things you need to do to ensure you're protected. >> dr. pernell, let's cut to the heart of what has a lot of parents really concerned. while hospitalizations are much lower, we are seeing a real spike in pediatric hospitalizations. i'm wondering what you are seeing in your hospital. how much are due to unvaccinated kids even though many over age 5 are eligible now? how concerned are you about the severity of the infections? >> we know pediatric vaccinations lag even in the state of new jersey, they lag. in new jersey, as of monday, we had 59 children hospitalized. comparable times in november, we were averaging two a day. it has gone up to 11 a day in this past week. so there is definitely a surge there. sit not more severe disease. it is because they are unvaccinated. and also focus on the fact that 16 and 17-year-olds can get boosted. and we need to encourage that. my niece got boosted this week. we need to do everything we can to keep them safe. >> the rapid tests that everyone is trying to get their hands on now and are in short supply may be less effective in detecting the omicron variant. i'm wondering can you still rely on the rapid tests on a day-to-day basis? >> kaitlan, we have to understand how we are using the rapid tests. we already knew at baseline that the sensitivity was approximately around 85%. what they are good for, if they're used in a serial fashion. you want to know if you have enough viral load on a given day, at a given time to be infectious or you're more likely to spread. if you have had ebg poerber, wait post five days of exposure. if you are trying to figure out if they're due to cold or covid, take the rapid test. and take them in repeated fashion if you're going to travel, a setting where people have sroeublts. . >> some testing is good if you can get your hands on them. you make the point it may be due to a lower vaccination rate among children. again, get your kids vaccinated. are you seeing more severity in the kids in addition to increased numbers or is this a contagious issue without the increased impact on kids's direct health? >> john, i would say right now it is mainly a contagion issue. we are seeing an explosion in the cases, not necessarily the severity of the cases that are coming in. and that is not so different than what we are seeing with adults. again, the risk of covid in anyone is a dangerous risk. whether that's an asymptomatic infection, mild infection or moderate to severe infection. because it also poses a risk of long covid. we know our children are at risk to develop long covid as well. . >> such an important point. dr. pernell, thank you very much as always. >> thank you. >> and dr. rochelle walensky will join "new day" next hour with all your questions about the cdc guidelines. the senate lost an icon overnight. harry reid, one of the longest serving senate majority members in the united states, has died at 82. he died peacefully after a four-year battle with pancreatic cancer. he rose from poverty in nevada to power in washington. spearheading two epic legislative battles, the affordable care act and the economic stimulus package. both were landmark victories for democrats. a quiet leader with a quick temper. he represented nevada in the senate for 30 years and kept the senate controlled by his party through two presidents, feuding with top republican lawmakers, and earning a reputation as a fierce partisan fighter during the years president obama was in office. he retired in 2016. this morning, the tributes are pouring in, led by former president barack obama. lawmakers from both sides of the aisle also recalled their friendships with reid from chuck schumer to minority leader mitch mcconnell. president biden writing, if harry said he would do something, he did it. if he gave you his word, you could bank on it. that's how he got things done for the good of the country for decades. that is a bygone era but eternal principle. let's get to suzanne malveaux in washington live for more. >> or good morning, john and kaitlan. many are waking up to shocking news. he was larger than life here in washington. he dominated, impacted the political landscape like very few and put his home state on the map in his influence over who would lead at the highest level. his lovely wife and high school sweetheart said he died previouslily following his four-year battle with pancreatic cancer. he was a force to be reckoned with. the fierce liberal democrat pushed through epic legislation, $800 million stimulus plan during the height of the great recession. he rose from humble beginnings. he was born in searchlight, inform, modest home with no running water. his father worked as a miner before taking his life at 58 years old. his mother did laundry for local brothels. he did a extent as a u.s. capitol police officer before entering politics. early on he took on the mob. he always spoke softly but he played hardball once calling george w. bush a loser and a liar. he encouraged then senator barack obama to run for president. he thanked him in a letter saying, as different as we are, i think we both saw something of ourselves in each other. a couple of outsiders who had defied the odds and knew how to take a punch and care about the little guy. and you know what, we made for a pretty good team. reid also earned the respect of his republican colleagues as well. current republican senate minority leader mitch mcconnell saying the runway that brought harry to the upper chamber was nothing short of amazing. you could hardly invent a more quintessentially american story, and it took harry's legendary toughness, bluntness, and tenacity to make it happen. a we disagreed on many things sometimes famously. but we were always honest with each other. in the years after we left public service, that honesty became a bond. he said he didn't make it because of his athletic prowess, good looks or genius but because he worked hard. and his fellow nevadans who brought him from searchlight to congress. . >> we always talk about politicians, the childhoods and how they sometimes overcome the really tough ones. his is amazing to look back at how he grew up and what he came to be. suzanne malveaux, thank you for looking back on this for us. cnn's isaac dovere. i know you were going through a lot of the moments that happened with harry reid and what he meant to so many people in washington, no the just democrats but republicans too who would concede he was a wiley tactician. what were some of the highlights of your interactions with harry reid? >> or you nailed it there. he is a guy who if you have a conversation with harry reid, you would always remember what it was. you could barely hear what he was saying most of the time. he was always quiet in how he spoke. he had this very sharp way of talking about just about everything. whether it was what he thought should be done with the filibuster, to get rid of it now. or republicans if he didn't have a high opinion of. most of all donald trump, who he really despised. he would say it in this calm, frank way. when he was done saying it, it was almost a moment of, did he actually just say that? is that really how it came out? and it was. >> so tell me about the contradictions of harry reid and the man's character? here's somebody who is being honored by both sides of the basically. he did not pull punches as a form or boxer. how did he balance the two aspects of his personality? >> reporter: well, he got the deals done because he was tough. one thing that struck me was the word tough showing up. i saw it among other places in what former attorney general holder tweeted against him and jimmy van standt from the e street band. that was the defining thing about reid. he didn't really care about what people thought of him, whether people thought he was mean. he was pushing forward toward the goal he wanted and the goal he thought would be the right thing for democrats in the senate and for the democratic party overall. when people would complain about it famously in 2012 when he went on the senate floor and accused mitt romney of not paying taxes he said i think it's right. i think it's the right thing to do. i'm going to do it. after donald trump won he went on the senate floor when other democrats were trying to be conciliatory, he's inspiring people like the k, we shouldn't stand for it. it would be hard to challenge the voracity of what i was saying. time has proven me correct. . >> that exchange with mitt romney said, well, he didn't win, did he? that was his point. did you talk about his relationship with president obama. it became almost this protective relationship between the two of them. saw obama releasing the letter he had written to reid how he played such a big role in his presidency. >> reporter: look, it was a love relationship. and i think that's a strange way to think of it with two men who met at as adults in senior positions of politics. it was an older brother relationship from reid to obama. he encouraged obama to run. he took surprise in thinking that when he thought should i really do it as a new senator. and then was one of the true reasons for it getting through. between harry reid and nancy pelosi, there's no obama legislative record without them. >> such an important point. it takes partners in congress to make a president successful. thank you for your thoughts and in sights. up next, one of the most influential people in the nfl has passed away. we will reflect on the life and legacy and quotes and memorable enthusiasm of hall-of-famer john madden and all that he has left behind. works on that too, and lasts 12 hours. 12 hours?! who studies that long? 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"bleacher report"'s coy wire. coy, so much about this man. he was an evangelist for football. he made it so accessible. the fact that he retired at 42 with 130 wins and 30 losses. legend. what are some of your favorite madden moments? >> reporter: well, the game, of course. as a former nfl player, when i first made it, one of the first things i wanted to see is did i make the game? we're talking about a titan here and reaction to his loss has been profound and widespread. nfl commissioner roger goodell had this to say in a statement. nobody loved football more than coach. he was an incredible sounding board to me and so many others. there will never be another john madden. and we will forever be in debted to him for all he did to make football and the nfl what it is today. he was on the cover of madden. r.i.p. to john madden. it was one of my greatest honors to grace the cover of your video game. and rest in paradise to the g.o.a.t. you mentioned his record. his winning percentage the highest to have coached at least 100 games. it's incredible to think that is one of his least memoriable accomplishments. >> and doing it before the age of 42. >> yeah. everything he did he accomplished so much at young ages. it is so funny hearing him later talk about how he never imagined madden being that and turning into the franchise he did. and it's fascinating how he turned being a player, coach, into this amazing broadcasting prior. he never stopped. he always kept going. he was so good because he had this ability -- his phrases were so good, the bams, the booms. it drew people and appealed to people who may not have been football fanatics like i am. it was able to reach so many people. . >> he was a teacher. and then the love in football made magic when you brought those together, kate. you mentioned the booms. if you got to play in one of his games or a video game, you made john madden go boom, you have arrived. and his ability to speak to different generations, football aficionados. he was so detailed to the coaches to the casual fan where on thanksgiving day he would pull out the telestrator and have a turkey on set. and he would circle the legs of the turkey. you want to go here. here's how you want to cut this thing. he was just so likable, so unique. there will never be another john madden. >> i'm glad you mentioned that. he had a special love for turducken. >> that's right. >> you made the game. don't sell yourself short. what was that like? how much did you and the other players look up to madden even in his later years as an announcer. . >> i remember tearing it open and saying find buffalo bills, and there you were. my rating was not a 99. i was a dumb rookie. you had your friends calling, and it was such a cool moment. nfl players and stars today, they wear the big chains with the 99 if they made it. this is a huge deal for anyone who has ever played the game. and for those who played the game around the world we're talking, young and old, some people will never see an nfl game in their life, they will see this video game and fall in love with the sport because of john madden. >> boom. >> it is a legacy that will last. he had the cooler segment was played last night and i was laughing out loud. such a cool legacy. coy, thank you for helping us out this morning. a man who knew him all too well. his long-time producer will join us here in the next hour. it is something you're not going to want to miss. yeah. up next, the house committee investigating january 6th agrees to the biden white house request to stand down on getting hundreds of trump's documents. why the biden administration is now raising concerns. that's next. trelegy for copd. 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-easy? switch your xfinity services to your new address online in about a minute. that was easy. i know, right? and even save with special offers just for movers. really? yep! so while you handle that, you can keep your internet and all those shows you love, and save money while you're at it with special offers just for movers at xfinity.com/moving. the january 6th committee has agreed to delay or even drop some of the requests for hundreds of painless of national security council documents from the trump white house after pushback from the biden administration. cnn's paula reid joins us now to break down this development. paula, what does this mean for the panel? >> reporter: such a great question, kaitlan. at issue, hundreds of trump era documents and the white house wants to keep them secret after discussion around the presidency. the documents may not have been helpful at all to the committee. the biden white house said they appear to have no content material to the select committee's investigation. but this is so significant. because president biden has the authority to, if he wants to protect trump white house records. but so far he has repeatedly rejected the blanket effort to cite executive privilege to try to block the release related to january 6th. here you see the biden white house is pushing back and asked the panel to scale back in this case. biden's previous decision to release other trump white house records is currently being litigated. trump appealed to the supreme court to try to block the committee from obtaining some of his records. federal judges have twice ruled against him. it's not clear if the supreme court will take up the case. >> we know there is this timeline, paula, to release the findings to the public. obviously, that's been a big concern with the midterms not so far away. so what is that looking like? >> reporter: that's right. the big question, what are we going to learn that all the evidence the committee has gathered? where is this all going? well, cnn has learned the committee is aiming to produce an interim report with initial findings by summer. that is significant because almost all the committee's work has been done behind closed doors, including hundreds of private depositions with witnesses who have included former trump aides, stop the steal rally organizers and those pressured to overturn the results. now, there is a caveat. this timeline could change. there is deadline pressure for lawmakers to finish their work before the midterms as the committee is expected to be disbanded if republicans take the house. the committee has said it hopes to prevent more of its work in i a public setting next year, which could include public hearings to tell the story of what happened january 6th. as of now, no public hearings have been scheduled. >> i think people will be watching closely to see when they are scheduled. paula reid, thank you. the cdc facing questions over its guidance over coronavirus and infections and when you're out of his isolation. hopefully our next guest will help to clear up some of that confusion. starts with a healthy immune system. with vitamins c and d, and zinc. getting out there has never tasted so good. try centrum multigummies. the u.s. just hit an all-time high for the daily average of new covid cases since the pandemic began. with more than 265,000 cases, sur passing the previous record set last january. adding to this record-breaking number of cases, the cdc announcing new guidelines that those who test positive for covid-19 can shorten their isolation days from 10 to 5 if they are asymptomatic. this is causing some concern and confusion. pwaolg professor at the university of massachusetts dartmouth, erin. your exact words are you are baffled by the cdc decision. a tweet showing this picture of your research. tell us what we're looking at here. what is the source of your concern based on your scientific research and data? >> so, good morning, john. when we look at this, there is absolutely no data that i am aware about with the omicron variant. it's people coming out of isolation five days after they were first diagnosed with the virus. my own work shows that when we look at people five, seven, eight days after they were first tested positive or first symptoms, they still have enough virus in their nose, in the back of their throat to be able to come up positive on these antigen tests. and antigen tests are a very good proxy for live virus and the ability to be able to infect others. so it seems they have made a decision without the data to actually support this change. . >> we have spoken to other doctors and researchers who said, look, the omicron in particular seems to be people are infectious before they show symptoms by 36 hours and for at least two days after. but you're disagreeing with that fundamentally. you are seeing it could increase the spread, even though there is an incentive to get more people to comply. >> yes. it is clear that the two days leading up to the symptoms and the three days after are the big picture in response to viral shedding. but to say somebody on day five or day six is no longer a risk to other people, the data that we have on viral shedding just does not support that. so what you're really looking at is you're going to have a lot of people who have tested positive, going to follow the rules of the cdc but are going to come out and start interacting in general public. this saves themselves five days but they could potentially infect three or four other people, who then go into isolation by themselvesment. saving five days of one person, 20 other people are then out. the math doesn't add up in regards to what we know about this virus. >> dr. fauci said the cdc made the decision to lessen the impact of keeping society running, like you said. with so many people out if they didn't necessarily need to be and recommending proper masking. you're saying also that masking, if you get out after five days, isn't remotely sufficient, according to your research. >> yeah. i mean, wearing a mask from day 6 through day 10 will lower the risk of transmission. but if you are being asked -- and a big part of changing this policy was so we had a workforce to keep society running, if you're going to go back to work and you're going to take your mask off to have lunch, if you're going to, you know, carpool, use public transportation to get to work on day six, seven, eight, the mask will help reduce the risk to others, but it doesn't -- i know it will never eliminate the risk but it presents a risk we are not doing. if we look at what they did in the nfl, the nba, united kingdom, it is five, six, seven days but a negative test at the end of that time. >> that's the final point i want to hit with you. there is this controversy testing at the end of isolation. the cdc saying it's not needed. that doesn't pass a common sense test other than it is damn hard to get your hands on tests. what do you make of that? >> right. that's where i think it is born from. it is hard to get your hands on tests. i can tell you with people that work in close proximity to each other where they are not wearing masks because of the job, the people that are working around them want to know that they're not going to get infected by that person. buff the simplest ways to do that is time and negative test that shows, look, i am not carrying enough virus to be on this test. therefore, i am not carrying enough to affect you. this just seems to be adding risk and anxiety that we don't really need. >> you're 100% right about that. if you've been isolated, get your hands on a test, take the test. thank you so much for joining us. be sure to stay tuned for an interview coming up with cdc director rochelle walensky. we will join "new day" next hour about all your questions about these new cdc guidelines. the world just lost a political giant. that's how long-time senator harry reid is being remembered across the aisle and across the country. we will speak with his former senior adviser next. as a dj, i know all about customization. that's why i love liberty mutual. they customize my car insurance, so i only pay for what i need. how about a throwback? 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>> reporter: good morning. what do they mean by long distances, kaitlan? it is 45 miles at this stage. so if you are a woman, as one protester pointed out, who is, for example, pregnant, whose husband is not in the house and needs to get to the hospital, what are you supposed to be doing? this rule is reminiscent of the taliban of 20 years ago. of course it comes to the heels of significant changes being enforced on women and young girls to include lack of access to an education for the vast majority of them. many being prevented from returning to their jobs. all of this being done under the guise of the taliban saying this is specifically for the safety of women. and they keep insisting these are all just temporary measures at this stage. when it comes particularly to this new solo travel ban, there are other rules that the taliban announced as well. that is that drivers are not allowed to play music. they should not pick up any woman who is not properly dressed and that cars should stop and pull over during prior times. it is also worth noting that over the course of the few months since the taliban took power, they also effectively eradicated afghanistan's ministry of women's affairs, replacing it with the ministry of vice and srvirtue. it was feared two decades ago. as it comes to women and young girls, many will tell you their happiness continues to be stolen from them. >> yeah. and you can't blame them. so many were so skeptical when they claimed back in august they were e changed and not as they were e before. arwa damon, thank you so much for updating us on that. meanwhile, the u.s. is smashing covid case numbers. hospitalizations, though, are not rising at the same rate right now. we have an update on the state of the pandemic, next. a must in your medicine cabinet! less sick days! cold coming on? zicam is the #1 cold shortening brand! highly recommend it! zifans love zicam's unique zinc formula. it shortens colds! zicam. zinc that cold! your record label is taking off. but so is your sound engineer. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire ♪ ♪ ♪ "how bizarre" by omc ♪ no annual fee on any discover card. ♪ ♪ you know what time it is. resolution season is fast approaching with the clock ticking down in 2022. getting a handle on your money. with big changes on the horizon and the pandemic, chief business correspondent christine romans is here with the financial checklist for the new year. >> kaitlan and john, your health, job, retirement, time to tick through your checklist. first, your house. likely your biggest investment. interest rates could rise in the coming year likely three quarter point rate heights. from stimulating the economy to fighting inflation. that means your borrowing costs could rise. the window is closing to refinance at super low interest rates. if you're in the market to buy a home, it will likely cost more in 2022 than 2021. home prices still on fire. it has been a seller's market. higher interest rates would make it more expensive to buy a home but could help to cool down red-hot prices. and workers have an upper hand in the labor market. employers offering flexible work schedules to keep workers happy and attract new talent. workers, you have leverage in the new year. for investors, time to check in on your risk tolerance and asset allocations. it's been a banner two years. the s&p 500 rose more than 20% in 2021. stock markets recording record highs dozens of times, leading to record high retirement account balances, creating so-called 401(k) millionaires. if the strategists are right, the economy and the stock market have favorable prospects in the new year. our view is that 2022 will be the year of a full global recovery, end of the global pandemic, and return to normal conditions we had prior to the covid-19 outbreak. jpmorgan predicting more stock market gains for the s&p 500. for those receiving social security, expect 5.9% more on your checks thanks to the annual cost of living adjustments. inflation is the wild card. higher prices eat into wage gains especially for low-income earners. john, kaitlan. >> we'll get started on that financial checklist. and "new day" continues right now. ♪ good morning to our viewers in the united states and around the world. it is wednesday, december 29th. i'm kaitlan collins in with john avlon again. john. >> good morning. >> we are following three major stories, big stories that are of major concern. first, the u.s. shattering its record average of daily coronavirus cases. and the cdc slashing estimates of how much omicron is in the united states. plus, the political world and sports world are mourning the death of two giants, harry reid and john madden. first to the pandemic because the u.s. is hitting a record seven-day average of 265,000 new coronavirus cases on tuesday as two highly contagious variants are fueling surges across the country. we should note the number of hospitalizations are not yet rising at the same rate. meanwhile, the cdc is shortening its estimate of the pref lens of the omicron variant from 70 to 59%. the drop suggests while the new variant was certainly on the rise, it is not infecting people at the same rate the agency had projected. and pediatric hospitalizations are also near their september peak. nationwide, hospitalizations of children with the vie are us have jumped on average. nearly 50% in one week. parents ar