cases. nationwide, hospitalizations of children are also near their september peak. right now, an average of just over 300 children are fighting covid-19 in a hospital on any given day and that's a stunning jump of nearly 50% in just one week. and as health officials warn of a long winter ahead, cautioning that cases will skyrocket during the first few months of the year, president biden now says vaccine requirements for domestic travel could be imposed if his medical team recommends it. we have a lot to get to this morning. we have reporters covering all the angles, let's begin with cnn's senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen on the news that the fda says at-home covid-19 antigen tests, the rapid tests, may have a reduced sensitivity in detecting the omicron variant. wow. >> wow. so let me tell you what that means, poppoppy. pregnancy tests are a little bit like antigen tests. if a pregnancy test says you're pregnant, you're pregnant. right. you're pregnant. >> yes. >> you probably shouldn't question that. you're pregnant. but do you remember if you read the instructions, if it says you're not pregnant, mm, maybe, maybe not. you might not be producing enough hormone to kick it off, but if you wait a few days, maybe you will be and it will be positive. a negative test is not always right that is the case with these antigen tests. so let's take a listen to dr. anthony fauci on this topic. >> what the fda is saying today is that when you look at omicron, and its ability to detect omicron, some of the tests have a diminution further of the sensitivity. but they still say the tests are useful and should be used. >> now, this antigen test is by abbott. let's look at what they had to say in the statement. in a statement abbott said we conducted lab analyses and tests on the omicron variant from live virus including from the first u.s. omicron case and binaxnow detected the virus in all tests that we we are formed at equivalent sensitivity as other variants. what does that mean? how well does this test work in any of these variants? so we went to the cdc website this is what the cdc has to say. again, remember, if this test says you're positive, there is an excellent chance that it is right. positive tests are usually right. but, if you have covid-19, and you have symptoms, the test will be wrong 36% of the time. in other words, 36% of the time it will give you a false negative it will tell you negative even though you're positive. if you have covid-19 and you're asymptomatic, that test will be wrong 64% of the time. 64% of the time it is going to tell you don't have covid, when you really do have covid. and that's why dr. rochelle walensky, this is part of the reason why she just said, look, we didn't require these tests to end isolation because we don't know how good the tests are at the end of an illness to predict whether or not you're still contagious. poppy? >> that's more wrong than right, if you're asymptomatic. where does it leave us as a country -- what do you do? >> what you do is you take it because if it says that you're -- i almost said pregnant -- if it says you have covid, believe it. at least it gives you that. if it says you have covid, believe it. if it is negative, you might want to try testing later to see if you're still negative. >> right. especially if you're testing to be around family or anyone vulnerable or unvaccinated. elizabeth, thank you for that important update. access to covid-19 testing continues to be a major problem in many parts of this country as the nationwide shortage of at home tests drag on. we see images like this out of florida, some waiting several hours in line, again, today, to get tested. let's go to leyla santiago from miami. good morning, leyla. the cdc is investigating 89 cruise ships for covid outbreaks and now a u.s. senator richard blumenthal is calling for cruise lines to pause and dock their ships, callingdishes of covid infection. >> we talked about carnival freedom ship that docked on sunday. they had some cases. people expressing frustration over feeling like they didn't know what was going on at the time. but, yeah, the cdc now looking into at least 86 of those cruise ships that have reported covid cases right now. and, again, that -- if you take that example, carnival freedom, where we talked earlier this week, the spokesperson said to us that that was a vaccinated ship and they required testing before passengers got on. when it comes to the issue of testing, where we are right now, one of the busiest sites in south florida, we are still seeing very long lines. we asked someone who went through that line, they waited three hours this morning, three hours even though miami-dade county yesterday opened two new sites. and extended hours. you're seeing quite the demand for testing right now and the workers we talked to say they see this going into the new year. listen. >> it is almost like covid started all over again. so with the influx of patients that are coming through. a lot of people aren't feeling well. that's why they're coming to us. and then we also understand we have a lot of patients that are concerned, you know, just oh, i was exposed or next to somebody who was exposed. i just want to make sure i'm okay. >> reporter: that's the on-site testing. let's talk about the rapid tests you were talking about with elizabeth. miami-dade county distributed 152,000 over a two-day period. they're now out. they don't have any more. they requested more from the department of health, but no word on when more could come. poppy? >> leyla santiago for us from miami. thank you very much. now to john harwood at the white house, president biden saying if his medical team advises it, he'll issue a domestic travel vaccine requirement. this comes a couple of days after dr. fauci said it should be considered. does it sound like that's going to happen, john? >> reporter: doesn't sound like it is going to happen soon to me. the rational from the white house has been so far if you implement a vaccination requirement for domestic air travel, there is a potential for snarling the airports, if you snarl american airports, snarl domestic travel, you then create big economic problems, you disrupt people's lives, that threatens to have a lot more consequence than is worth it, given the limited amount of virus transmission that they believe occurs on airplanes. airplanes have good filtration systems. airports may be a different story. so i think the administration has been reluctant to take that step. fauci walked it back a little bit after he raised a possibility, the president saying, of course, if i get the medical advice i will go ahead and do it. but obviously these decisions, poppy, as you know, are not entirely medical or entirely scientific. they weigh other factors as well as dr. walensky conceded when talking to kaitlan collins on "new day" and said, well, we were impacted on changing the quarantine time by what we thought people would tolerate. that same applies to domestic are atravel. we will get a grieving from the administration's covid team at 11:00. see if they have an update. i would be surprised if that domestic air travel requirement gets implemented soon. but the omicron variant, of course, has been very difficult to predict and the surge of infections could potentially change the equation. >> for sure. okay, john harwood, thanks very much for reporting at the white house. let me bring in to talk about all these significant headlines, dr. jonathan reiner, professor of medicine and surgery at george washington university. good morning, doctor. let's begin with what the cdc director rochelle walensky said about rapid tests, they can't be used relireliably. listen to what she told kaitlan collins. >> -- not to have the rapid test for isolation because we actually don't know how our rapid tests perform and how well they predict whether you're transmissible during the end of disease. >> how do people make sense of this now? if they can't even reliably know at home if the tests really work. >> good morning, poppy. i find it very curious that a week after the white house orders half a billion tests, amidst criticism that tests are not readily available, that now suddenly the cdc is calling into question the utility of these tests. let me just remind people how tests work. we have two kinds of tests. we have pcr tests, which can detect very minute amounts of virus. sometimes before a person is even infectious. and later on in the disease, can still detect the virus when a person is no longer infectious. and then we have anti-gegen tes which are less good at detecting small amounts of virus, at either end of the illness, but are very good at identifying when somebody is thought to be infectious. which is why these tests are very useful tools for helping people understand when they need to isolate, and also helping people to understand when they no longer need to isolate. >> right. >> so what i don't understand is why a test, which has a very, very low false positivity rate, so as elizabeth was saying, when you are positive, you are positive, why this would not be a very useful tool for telling people at day five when they can go back to work. wouldn't you want to know if your doctor or nurse that you were seeing who is just coming out of isolation had a positive test yesterday? obviously you would want to know that. to me, it seems like this has this horrible resonance, back tootto the time we were told we don't need masks by the cdc at a time when the issue was we didn't have masks. of course we would be using rapid tests in every person isolating now if they were readily available. and i wish the cdc would come out and say, we would have incorporated these into our guidelines, same way the united kingdom incorporated them into their guidelines if they were available. but we don't have enough. >> can i ask you about something else that dr. walensky said this morning to kaitlan. she said the decision to change the guidance, quote, had a lot to do with what we thought people would be able to tolerate. end quote. what do you make of that? >> well, who are the -- who are the people she's talking about? is it industry? we heard about industry reaching directly, particularly the airline industry, reaching directly out to the cdc to try and get them to shorten isolation because we're running out of employees. i get that. that's important. and this, again, is why testing can be so important. if you want to get your employees back in five days, you should know whether they are infected. and, sure, antigen tests are not perfect. but they will identify a lot of people who should not be going back to work. particularly because the new cdc guidelines don't even require people to be fully asymptomatic. they say improving symptoms. what does that mean? your throat is still sore, but not as sore? you're coughing but a little bit less? they don't require people to be completely asymptomatic. and they don't require a negative test. and what they tell people to do is to wear a mask for the next five days, just in case they're infectious? this seems to be just a jumble. >> leaves so many remaining questions, you're right, dr. reiner. thank you for joining us this morning on this. >> my pleasure. also this morning, tributes pouring in honoring the life and the legacy of former senate majority leader harry reid. he passed away yesterday after a four-year battle with pancreatic cancer. he was 82 years old. today flags are being flown at half-staff at the capitol in his honor. lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have been sharing stories of their friendship with reid, including former president barack obama. he shared a letter that he wrote to senator reid ahead of his death, writing, i got the news that health situation has taken a rough turn and it is hard to talk on the phone, which let's face it is not that big of a change, he never liked to talk on the phone anyway. you are a great leader in the senate, and early on you were more generous to me than i had any right to expect. i wouldn't have been president had it not been for your encouragement and support, and i wouldn't have got most of what i got done without your skill and determination. most of all, you have been a good friend. he goes on to write, as different as we are, i think both of us saw something of ourselves in each other, a couple of outsiders who had defied the odds and knew how to take a punch and cared about the little guy. and you know what, we made a pretty good team. let me bring in melanie zanona. what a legacy harry reid leaves behind. >> reporter: yeah, the political world has truly lost a giant. harry reid rose from the most humble beginnings in nevada where he grew up in extreme poverty and went on to become one of most powerful senate leaders in history. overseeing a number of historic legislative achievements, including the passage of obamacare and delivering healthcare to millions of americans. harry reid was known around here as the fighter, he was tough, he was tenacious, and undoubtedly he drew on his experience as an amateur boxer when he had to do battle in the legislative arena. he was also a really hard worker. some people don't know this, he actually put himself through law school by working as a capitol police officer at night. and he never let his humble background drag him down. he always talked about it. and used it as his guiding light and principle around here. the condolences are pouring in. i want to read what president joe biden said about harry reid. they served together for two decades in the senate. here is what biden tweeted. he said, a son of search light, nevada, he never forgot his humble roots, a boxer, he never gave up a fight. great american, he looked at challenges and believed it was within our capacity to do good, to do right, may god bless harry reid, a dear friend and a giant of our history. and even mitch mcconnell, whom reid often sparred with in the senate, said he appreciated the sincere relationship that they had when the passions did cool down. the flags as you mentioned are being lowered to half-staff at the capitol. we're waiting to hear what the memorial services are going to look like here, but undoubtedly harry reid's legacy will be honored and remembered in a big way. poppy? >> absolutely. thank you very much, melanie, for the reporting. next, the january 6th committee stands down. why the biden white house pushed back on releasing them. the judge in the ghislaine maxwell trial is worried the omicron variant could cause perhaps a mistrial. what we're learning about jury deliberations behind the scenes. update on the afghan children who were evacuated to the united states without their parents, many have yet to be reunited with their families. many have. the biden administration says about 250 children are still in limbo. 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 i've lost count of how many asthma attacks i've had. but my nunormal with nucala? 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(announcer) call now and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner. with a little over a week until the first anniversary of the capitol hill insurrection, the house committee investigating the attack is facing a new type of pushback, this time from the biden administration itself. some of the former president trump's inner circle who have snubbed the january 6th committee are turning up in mar-a-lago as a show of solidarity and to stay in his good graces ahead of a possible run again in 2024. paula reed and sara murray join me now. good morning. what does the january 6th committee want and why is the biden white house resisting? >> so the records at issue are hundreds of pages of national security council documents the committee believes are related to january 6th. but the biden white house wants to keep them secret to preserve the confidentiality of discussions and advice around the presidency. now, as it turns out, the documents may not have actually been that helpful to investigators, the biden white house said this month the records, quote, appear to have no content that might be material to the select committee's investigation. but, this pushback is significant. because the biden white house has the authority to protect trump white house and trump administration records but so far president biden repeatedly rejected former president trump's blanket efforts to just cite executive privilege and try to block the release of some of his records related to january 6th. trump has appealed this larger issue of his power to protect his records to the supreme court. but twice now federal judges ruled against him and unclear if the supreme court will take up that case. another big question looming over this investigation, poppy, is when we'll get to learn more about all this evidence the committee gathered. where is this all going? cnn learned that the committee is aiming to produce an interim report with initial findings by summer with a full report to follow in the fall. >> okay, and, sara, while some trump allies are cooperating with the january 6th committee, others have chosen to make public displays of their loyalties to the former president. who are they and do you have any indication of how the former president is reacting to their gestures? >> yeah, there are a lot of folks who are not just going along with what the committee wants. dan scavino is one of the first quiz witnesses subpoenaed. he's not given a deposition. and in the meantime, he's basically everywhere trump is. at all the public events trump doing, showing up at mar-a-lago. roger stone is another one. he decided to plead the fifth rather than answering questions. he showed up at mar-a-lago, posted on social media, a recent chat with trump and donald trump was his first, second and third pick for 2024. and mark meadows, former chief of staff, another good example. he's someone who has been a fixture in the trump orbit, he showed up at mar-a-lago, he started cooperating with the committee, he released that book and his relationship with donald trump began to grow strained. now mark meadows is no longer cooperating, been referred for potential criminal contempt charges and he's going on right wing media doing everything he can to rebuild his standing in trump's good graces. by all accounts this is thrilling to trump. he's happy to have people slow walking, snubbing, stone walling the committee. he's been out there publicly trashing the committee's work. i think in many ways this is what the former president wants to see. >> sara murray, paula reid, thank you very much. ahead, omicron variant threatening the trial for ghislaine maxwell. could there be a mistrial if a decision is not reached before the holiday? 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more than ten questions have been submitted by the jury that has been deliberating for more than six days now. >> that's an astounding number of jury questions. i can't remember another case through the years where a jury has sent so many questions back to the court. usually they've given up by that time, by five or six questions, can't reach a verdict and they're begging the jury to -- the judge to declare a hung jury. this is a hard working jury. they're obviously working hard to reach a consensus. and my sense, poppy, is that you probably have an intrenched minority of the 12 jurors, maybe three, somewhere in that range, got to be two or three to be able to hold out against the others, who are saying, this should be an acquittal, where as the majority is saying this should be a conviction. quite possibly conviction only on limited counts, not all counts. but i think that's how it is playing out at this point, entrenched minority holding out against the majority. >> how likely is a mistrial when you have a jury deliberating for this long, sending in this many questions, leading up to the holiday, i think they weren't even supposed to convene tomorrow and friday, but now maybe they will. >> it is very unusual. normally i would say you're almost definitely going to have a hung jury and a mistrial. but i've never seen a jury so intent on reaching consensus. they're asking for notebooks, they're asking for highlighters, they're obviously each side of the dispute is trying to convince the other side and doing it in a very rational way, by presenting testimony, contradictory testimony, to get the other people to come around to their point of view. so it sounds like maybe this is a respectful discussion of the issues, among jurors who are struggling to reach consensus. so i think it is too early >> the judge heard arguments from attorneys about a defense request to send the jury clarifying language about counts two and four. this is in response to a note the jury sent on monday of this week asking about count four related to accuser jane's activities in new mexico, the judge denied the request. what does it tell you about sort of perhaps some of the biggest hang-ups for this jury? because there have been other requests in these questions that the judge has granted. >> well,very strange to me that the court refused to reinstruct the jury on those questions. now, normally when a jury sends a note to a judge saying, we need reinstruction on something as basic as two of the counts in the indictment, some judges will just bring them back in, and reread the original instruction that was given, and then send them back out. now, because you have to understand the judges have books of approved instructions that have been upheld by the appellate courts and they're very careful about the instructions they give to the jury. so the fact that this judge refused to reinstruct them on two counts is very surprising to me and, by the way, it might be a point on appeal if there is a conviction. >> what about how covid and the omicron variant, especially here in new york, plays in to all of this? clearly this judge is worried that if any of the jurors get sick, what happens. >> it plays into every trial going on across the united states and the courts have been struggling with this to try to get the court system up and running again. and, yes, if one of those jurors becomes infected with covid, you could have a disastrous situation. and you could have a lengthy trial ending in a mistrial. this judge is trying to get the jury to work hard, reach consensus to avoid that. >> they wouldn't deliberate from home? >> no. i don't think -- i've never seen a case where that has been permitted. it is interesting you ask that question, in a lot of court proceedings now, we're doing them by zoom conferences. >> right. >> or cisco conferences or, you know, we're using all kinds of video software to do it. and the appellate courts said that's okay. i have never seen an appellate court say, okay, we can let the jury deliberate from home via video. the problem with that would be that jurors would be too susceptible to interference by family members and others trying to influence their decision. when you have -- in a room being guarded by court officers, it is different. you can make sure no improper influences are being brought to bear. >> yeah. of course. paul callan, thank you. good to see you. >> good to see you, poppy. ahead, nursing homes left to fend for themselves as health officials scramble to get senior citizens boosted against the omicron variant. what is being done to protect some of our most vulnerable? 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>> sure. so obviously at the beginning of the pandemic, we were trying to figure out what it meant, who was susceptible and what actions did we have to take? and there were a lot of early mistakes. since that time, we have a new dynamic, the omicron variant, we don't know how deadly it is, but we know it is incredibly transmissible. at the same time, particularly in -- actually every state in the nation is struggling with an incredible loss of staffing. in fact we have never seen absentees in the staffing like we have seen now. and so nursing homes have invests millions and millions of dollars in protective equipment, they have done new strategies in terms of limiting infection and transmission of disease. now, trying to get boosters in people's arms, questions have been raised by residents saying why do i need a booster? the information is back and forth as to when that is very effective. and we still have this issue of lack of staffing. >> why you to think there is such hesitation? it sounds like many of the residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities, to the booster, given how effective it is shown to be. >> i think it is not a universal reluctance. it hits certain pockets. there are some places in new york city where there is a cultural perception that this is not the thing for people to do. they have already been vaccinated. i also think there is -- a tremendous fatigue associated with dealing with this issue. and we're really looking forward to the type of direction, specific direction. the cdc unfortunately has been all over the place in terms of other issues like visitation, we have a surge now and yet the cms put out guidance last week that said you must allow visitation and we know at the beginning of the pandemic visitation was in fact the problem. there is a little bit of back and forth. that may have translated into some of the reluctance of certain populations. >> you bring up visitation. i believe your view is you don't want any visitation, right? >> just for the short period of time. the -- right now some of the -- there is some hospital networks in new york that have suspended visitation. and i'm getting calls from my administrator saying we know it is coming in through the visitors. why must we provide this type of access at this point in time? >> what i saw is that new york's governor kathy hochul released a statement last week encouraging visitors to be fully vaccinated and boosted and wear a mask. but to my knowledge there is no mandate, right, for visitors to even be vaccinated. >> that's correct. well, so what you have is someone cannot come into a facility if you're symptomatic, right? that is always the case. but the screening has been shown to be somewhat ineffective, we haven't caught that many people. it says, the industry is saying to cms in particular, let's wait for this surge to die down. let's wait for this to go away and then bring visitors back. everybody understands that visitation is incredibly important to long-term care. >> yeah. of course it is. i know you're also very concerned about the lack of available staff. and being able to bring on new hires, given how many have left the sector. >> yeah. this has been something actually occurred before the pandemic. you had, you know, in new york, the increase in minimum wage made the wage difference between what the certified nurse assistants were being paid and nursing home versus what they would get in retail, not that large. and so there has been a kind of a reluck reluctance to go into long-term congregate care settings. and then frankly the federal program of giving people money to try to help them through the pandemic said to people, you can stay home now, why go to a congregate care facility at this point in time? all these things have combined to have probably the most dramatic decrease in the number of people willing to work in this industry. >> michael, the challenges facing all of you are immense. thank you for joining us and good luck to everyone. >> thank you, poppy. well, next, hundreds of children who fled afghanistan are now stuck in limbo here in the united states. their parents simply unable to be located. we have a live update on that ahead. new projects means new project managers. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. when you sponsor a job, you immediately get your shortlist of quality candidates, whose resumes on indeed match your job criteria. visit indeed.com/hire and get started today. 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. last august as the taliban took over control of afghanistan, we saw scenes like this that are incredibly hard to watch. people gathering en masse at the gates of the airport in kabul, running, trying to desperately get on u.s. air force planes to escape. families who were attempting to flee together divided by violence in the chaotic withdrawal. now about 250 children are in the united states and their families are unable to be located. many of them have nowhere to go here in the united states to be with family. let me bring in my colleague priscilla alvarez on this story. there are a number of members of congress who are really calling on the biden administration to do more on this front. what do we know about these kids right now? >> we know they're waiting, poppy, waiting to be reunited with their parents or family members who in many cases are still stuck in afghanistan and that for them alone is very difficult for them. in some cases children just won't eat because they think of their families who are still fleeing violence and fear in afghanistan. now, as you mentioned, members of congress have said the administration should make this a priority. take a listen to what congressman peter >> what does the biden administration need to do right now to kick-start these reunifications? >> show an ounce of political will. have president biden make this a priority. it all flows down from the fact that at the top in the oval office with the president, there is no sense of urgency, there is no sense of compassion or concern for those that were left behind. until that changes, we're going to continue to see the delayed, drawn-out and frankly, deadly process we've seen so far. >> we know more than 1,400 children did arrive to the u.s. without their parents in the last few months and many have been reunited with family members in the united states. my colleague spoke to two teens who arrived alone, have since been reunited with an uncle, and they say it still weighs on them. the health and human services department charged with the car of these children says it's doing everything they can to reunite with caregivers. advocates say this should remain a priority for the administration and making sure the parents still stuck in afghanistan can get to the u.s. and reunite the children in u.s. custody. >> children are not the only ones stuck in limbo right now. you have roughly 3,000 evacuees stuck abroad and waiting for military bases and resettlement. why is the process so delayed? >> reporter: for many, they left afghanistan with little to no belong innings. that includes crucial paperwork. one afghan we spoke with is in the united arab emirates and one of the transit countries waiting to come to the united states. he's been there for three months with his family. the state department says they're trying to facilitate those without documentation. that combined with other setbacks, like a measles outbreak that paused flights to the u.s. a few months ago all contributed to these delays. it weighs on these families waiting to start their new life. that also includes tens of thousands of afghans still on domestic military bases. the administration is targeting for mid february to clear out those bases and get all those families resettled. so far they've resettled around 48,000 afghans in the united states, but it is still a long road ahead. >> priscilla alvarez, thank you. one of the most influential people in nfl history has passed away. we reflect on the life and the legacy of hall of famer john madden. 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yeah, actually i'm taking one last look at my dashboard before we board. excellent. and you have thinkorswim mobile- -so i can finish analyzing the risk on this position. you two are all set. have a great flight. thanks. we'll see ya. ah, they're getting so smart. choose the app that fits your investing style. ♪♪ a huge loss for football fans everywhere. john madden, the legendary hall of fame coach and iconic broadcaster passing away unexpectedly yesterday at the age of 85. his enthusiasm and passion for the game was felt by so many over his six decades in it. our coy wire joins me now. coy, what a career he had. what a life. >> yeah, poppy. he was at least a three-fold legend. one of the most successful coaches in nfl history, enthusiastic storyteller as an iconic broadcaster. madden was a hall of fame coach leading the raiders to a super bowl title in 1977, never had a losing season in his ten-year career. his pinning percentage of .759 is the highest of any coach in history. he truly soared when he stepped into the tv booth in 1979, called 11 super bowls, earned 16 sports emmys during his 30 years of broadcasting. al michaels spent 11 years working alongside him in primetime. he said it was like winning the lottery. he said the term renaissance man is tossed around loosely, but john was as close as you can come. a dear friend, a wonderful partner in the broadcast booth. i miss him enormously, unquote. madden had a special relationship with bret favre. he tweeted, we lost a larger than life legend in john madden. one of the best in the game. i'll always remember our pregame meetings when we laughed and talked about anything but football. i'll miss my dear friend, unquote. of course, his legacy is going to live on through that madden football game. it has sold more than 130 million copies worldwide. e.a. schwartz called madden a hero, a humble champion, a willing teacher and a forever coach. poppy, he was so detailed and disciplined with his work, he was an expert with the xs and os. he captured the football aficionados, but also the everyday casual fan. he would use his telestrator on thanksgiving day to draw and circle which parts of the turkey you eat, poppy and how to cut it just right. one-of-a-kind, no doubt. >> of course he did. there was a guy named coy wire in one of those madden games. congrats for making the cut. >> it was a dream come true. thanks, poppy. >> thanks, coy. good to see you. top of the hour. good morning everyone, i'm poppy harlow. so glad you're with me this morning. cdc director richelle wallen i can defending her agency's decision to shorten covid-19 isolation and quarantine times on the heels of the united states just seeing its worst day of new infections, shattering its record average of daily new cases on tuesday. dr. walensky now saying the new guidance was based on what they thought people could tolerate and had nothing to do, she says, with the nationwide shortage of tests. she also says changing isolation guidance from ten days to five days for those with asymptomatic infection was driven by evidence that most transmission occurs in the first five days. meantime, as hospitalizations of children with covid-19 are rising at an alarming rate, surging nearly 50% in just a week, dr. walensky says she hopes for approval for boosters for 1 to 15-year-olds in the days and weeks ahead. vaccines for kids under age 5 will take longer. as airlines canceled thousands of flights over the holiday weekend, president biden says vaccine requirements for domestic travel could be imposed if his medical team recommends it. let's le ginn with our senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen for more on the news that rapid at-home covid-19 tests may be less effective when it comes to detecting omicron. what do we know? >> poppy, what we know bottom line is thes