good morning to those of you in the united states and around the world. brianna and john are off today. good morning, john. >> two days to 2022. >> two days left. >> this morning we have big headlines with the u.s. shattering its record of daily new coronavirus cases as the highly contagious omicron variant spreads rapidly. daily new cases hitting a record seven-day average of 300,000 cases this week. the last time we hit a peak close to that was january. dr. fauci is strongly discouraging going to large parties. don't be hugging, kissing, any of that celebrating that normally comes with new year's. >> if your plans are to go to a 40 to 50-person new year's eve party with all the bells and whistles and everybody hugging and kissing and wishing each other a happy new year, i would strongly recommend that this year we do not do that. >> not the year for hugging and kissing at midnight. all right. there's also been growing pushback from frontline workers to the new cdc guidelines, cutting the amount of suggested days to isolate and quarantine in half. now, the american nurses association say it is deeply concerned about the changes, righting in sufficient evidence and concern for health workers safety. the flight attendant union raising a red flag. michigan is hitting pandemic peak hospitalizations this month. the state's department of health now says it will not be adopting the shorter isolation and quarantine guidelines until it reviews this evidence. while it wants more information from the cdc, specifically for populations in high-risk settings. michigan health officials say this is not the time to relax. let's get to cnn's polo sandoval. what are you seeing this morning? >> we heard yesterday from the chief of disaster medicine at george washington saying the spread of omicron is unlike anything he has ever seen before. we are now averaging well over 300,000 new covid cases a day. that's a new pandemic high. a wave of new covid cases hitting the u.s. >> it's unlike anything we have ever seen. >> reporter: as the cdc predicts 44,000 more people could die of covid in the next four weeks. hospitalizations are predicted to increase for the sixth straight week as the pandemic rages on. . >> what we are experiencing is an absolute overwhelming of the emergency departments. >> reporter: data shows the omicron variant may cause less severe illness in delta, but hospitals are being inundated with new patients and many vaccinated. >> inside the hospital we are seeing an admission that is startling. to hear that omicron is different and is not causing immense illness is people is not what we are seeing on the ground. >> reporter: as the number of new cases skyrocket into a record high, some scramble to cut the isolation and quarantine times in half for asymptomatic people. >> the judgment that the cdc made was all things considered, what people would be able to implement. there is risk in everything when it comes to sars-cov-2. that's just the reality. >> reporter: the cdc tied the timeline to trance miss beability. >> the vast majority of your transmissible time is in those first five days. >> reporter: but they had no data for that claim. >> if we had a massive amount of tests in our communities now, would you have included testing in your algorithm? and i'd be shocked if she said no. >> reporter: the cdc says it's not clear at-home tests can tell whether a person is likely to transmit the virus to others. >> there is no evidence of any predictive value. >> reporter: most can see the guidance is not perfect but an acceptable compromise to allow the country to function. >> repor >> it was to play to the very safety of our everyday lives. . >> reporter: and the situation is only expected to get more critical with new year's eve only a day away. >> here in new york city, they still continue this morning, kaitlan, with 30% of ems workers out. 17% of firefighters according to an fdny spokesperson. when you look at the numbers compared to last week, that is double from where we were then. they are pleading, unless it's an emergency, dial 311 versus 911. >> it is surprising to see we are back the advising what number you should be calling given the influx of new cases. polo, thank you. >> reporter: thanks, kaitlan. now for something different, or potentially positive news. a new study out of south africa showing people who have recovered from the omicron variant may be more resistant to infection from the delta variant. the researcher who said maybe pushing delta out is a good thing and maybe we can live with something more easily and that will disrupt us less than the previous variants. alex sigal, researcher from africa health institute. tell us what you mean exactly by omicron potentially pushing the delta variant out? . >> well, what we're seeing is people who are infected with omicron, and of course in south africa whe're a few weeks ahead of the u.s. in these people, we are checking their immunity to both omicron and delta. what we are seeing is, yes, they're picking up immunity to omicron, as you would expect. but their immunity to the delta variant is enhanced. now, our experience in south africa was that this -- the omicron is extremely transmissible. so a lot of people got infected and therefore hospitals were full. but per person it did cause milder disease. so having enhanced immunity to delta may be a good thing. >> professor, the argument essentially here, based on what we're looking at from this study, which still has to be peer reviewed and published in a scientific journal of course is that in the short-term, omicron is causing all of these ebbs. that is clear. we don't even need to go into that. but longer term it would be of benefit. >> i'm sorry. i lost you -- i lost the question. >> i think the argument is essentially that what you're seeing here and finding is in the short-term omicron is causing all of these issues, it is hurting people and driving up the case numbers, but in the long term it could be more beneficial, as you phrased it, pushing delta out? >> yeah. i don't think you can call any variant beneficial, but you are getting maybe the best of the worst. it is like when you are fighting a bushfire. you have something called a backburn where you basically eliminate the fuel for the fire by burning it. that is more or less what omicron may be doing to delta. >> vivid and useful metaphor. i want to ask you, the sample size in this is very small. this is an initial study. it's around 13 people. do you have any concerns about drawing too many concerns about that sample size. in addition, what surprise you most about the variant and how it is different from delta? >> well, it is a small study. we have done these kind of small studies before. they tend to reflect what happens. maybe not the exact quantitative level of what happens, but the general atttrends tend to be reflective because people are not that different from each other. yes, it was a surprise but we thought this might happen at some point with this virus. some viruses do this kind of thing. and now there's don'ts. so it was good news to us to see a virus, you know, becoming somewhat milder. >> so given this was only 13 people in this study, do you plan to try to do it on a bigger scale, or what have you talked about with other scientists about similar studies to this? >> so certainly, you know, one study is not enough. and i can guarantee that there will be a lot of other studies in the same area, which will go over the same kind of approach or slightly different approaches. and see if our results are correct. >> we will await those results and hope that the trajectory and the experience you're having in south africa reflects what we can expect here in the united states. alex sigal, thank you very much. . >> thank you. up neck, a jury convicted jill lane maxwell on five counts for her role in the sex trafficking trial. how many years will she now face behind bars. >> an hour from now president biden will speak with president putin on the phone, what they will discuss and what it could lead to. inner voice (kombucha brewer): i'm dramatically holding this bottle, so the light hits it just right, and people think... wow... ...he knows what he's doing... ...when i'm actually pretty lost with my payroll taxes. intuit quickbooks helps you manage your payroll taxes. cheers. 100% accurate payroll tax calculations guaranteed. my family's been devastated by covid-19. and we're not alone. we've all had to find new ways to keep going. and cue has made that easier. with cue, you get lab-quality covid-19 test results in just 20 minutes. speed and accuracy. it's just for the nba; it's for you too. cue health. the official covid-19 home test of the nba. go cue. go you. when it comes to autism, finding the right words can be tough. finding understanding doesn't have to be. together, we can create a kinder, more inclusive world for the millions of people on the autism spectrum. go to autismspeaks.org among my patients, i often see them have teeth sensitivity as well as gum issues. does it worry me? absolutely. sensodyne sensitivity & gum gives us the dual action effect that really takes care of both our teeth sensitivity as well as our gum issues. there's no question it's something that i would recommend. this morning, the former companion of jeffrey epstein is vowing to appeal her sex trafficking conviction. the federal jury in manhattan wednesday found ghislaine maxwell guilty of conspireing with epstein to recruit, froome, and sexually abuse minors for at least a decade. cnn's sonia joins us now to explain this and more. sonia. >> yeah. ghislaine maxwell could face 65 years in prison for these crimes, which the federal prosecutor's office called some of the worst crimes imaginable. yesterday when that verdict came down, so many survivors of this abuse by epstein and ghislaine maxwell spoke out saying they were relieved, they were thankful to this jury for convicting her of five of the six counts. sup, jeffrey epstein died by suicide just weeks after he had been arrested in 2019 for sex trafficking charges himself. so these survivors were dealt such a devastating blow. joe, it is such a difficult thing for survivors to go into court, testify about these crimes in front of someone who they say abuse them. . >> it takes enormous courage. justice needs to be followed by accountability. so now we head towards sentencing. how much time in prison is she looking at? . >> for sex trafficking of minors alone, 40 years in prison. 65 total. remember, ghislaine maxwell just turned 60 on christmas day, spending that birthday in the federal detention facility where she is now going to be held until she gets to sentencing. four women have spoken out and testified against her at this trial. many more, though, have spoken out publicly, have filed lawsuits, have spoken to investigators. so we will certainly hear more. ghislaine faces two more counts of perjury in a separate case for a separate civil deposition that prosecutors say she lied in. >> we'll be watching closely. sonia, thank you very much for joining us >> thank you. >> for more, let's bring in senior legal analyst and criminal defense attorney joey to deliberate over this. we know throughout the course of the trial, the defense had been critical of the survivors' memories, their motivation for coming forward. so how significant is this verdict for the survivors here? >> yeah, kaitlan. good morning to you. good morning, john. i think it is overwhelmingly significant. you are talking about several days of deliberations. i believe five, in addition to 40 hours. remember during the course of the time, you hear testimony during the trial but when you deliberate you have the right for readback. you can request certain information, which they did as it related to the four then young girls, now women and what they said as it related to at least two of those young women, then girls, boyfriends, the pilots, the housekeeper, fbi agents, et cetera. why do i say that? i say that because while no system is infallible, you expect the jury in a court, remember it takes all 12, to delve in and dig team and determine what is factually accurate. the process provides for the judge really to be the person who really administers the law, gives legal instructions, makes legal rulingi. when it comes down to a factual determination, the jury assesses the facts. you want jurors to be locked in with regard to what were the inconsistencies, the timeline, what really happened here. they spoke with their verdict. that verdict indicated of five or six counts, miss maxwell was indeed guilty of not only conspireing, engaging with another but enabling and otherwise providing the necessary means for the girls to be abused by mr. epstein. the verdict very significant. >> joey, i want to dig deeper into the jury's process. while we were waiting, they requested a lot of notes. it seemed to be a pro tracted conversation they were having. what can you tell us about what you think was going on in the jury room and how they got to the verdict. >>st i think the process involved, really making an assessment as to what was true. remember, in any courtroom, you have a battle of narratives. this case was no different than that. what were the narratives battling about here. remember that the defense planted seeds about. this is about these young girls, now women, having faulty memories. the defense even bringing in an expert to make that, that you could have false recollection, things imbedded in your memory that change over the time. the defense was a tagging the motivation. this was about money they got. so i think that jury was making an assessment as to whether they could believe, they could credit and the testimony of these young women, right. and in looking at that, what did they say to their boyfriends. let's look at this expert. remember they also, john, wanted read back of that defense expert on faulty memories. what did the pilot say? what were they doing? so i think they really dug deep. they did that. and just as a very brief point, remember what the counts were. the counts related to the issues with respect to conspiracy. did she conspire with mr. maxwell to get the young with 'em to go, to get the girls to go and otherwise be abused by him? did she facility that. did she provide the conditions for bringing them to florida, bringing them to new york, to santa fe. so i think it's a process. and, look, nothing is perfect of course, but i think they did their job, got to the bottom of it and spoke a volume of what they had sos to say. >> yeah. some of them described the relationships she tried to build with them, taking them shopping, to the movies, building this relationship of trust while grooming them. do you think count six is one of the most important ones, because it does carry a max of 40 years. >> yeah. it's very significant, and here's why. remember what this jury was doing. what they were doing in listening to these four girls, right, jane, kate, and annie farmer, carolyn. what they were doing is determining whether or not this was really a coordinated effort between miss maxwell and mr. epstein really to bring him these women to gain, as you noted there, kaitlan, trust through this grooming process, by taking them shopping, by normalizing this, as the prosecution said, this relationship which is far from normal. even as it relates to count six when you are talking about transportation of minors, et cetera, or if it relates to other counts involving conspireing or the transportation or sex trafficking of phaoeurps, this is all part of the narrative the prosecution that miss maxwell was really in accordance with him in taking the young girls and abusing them in a way that is egregious, most horrific and absolutely unfortunate. but you know what, it was met with justice the other day what was the jury did. >> joey jackson, thank you very much, counselor. >> always. coming up, president putin wanted a phone call to discuss complicated issues. president biden accepted. so what this means amid rising tensions over ukraine. plus, chaos erupting in jordan's parliament. lawmakers throwing punches at one another. what in the world set these lawmakers off. throughout history i've observed markets shaped by the intentional and unforeseeable. for investors who can navigate this landscape, leveraging gold, a strategic and sustainable asset... the path is gilded with the potential for rich returns. ♪ it wasn't me by shaggy ♪ you're never responsible for unauthorized purchases on your discover card. switching wireless carriers is easy with xfinity. just lean on our helpful switch squad to help you save with xfinity mobile. they can help break up with your current carrier for you and transfer your info to your new phone. giving you a fast and easy experience that can save you hundreds a year on your wireless bill. visit your nearest xfinity store and see how the switch squad can help you switch and save. get $200 off a new eligible 5g phone when you switch to xfinity mobile. talk with our helpful switch squad at your local xfinity store today. happening today, president biden set to speak with russian president vladimir putin for the second time this month. that's according to an admission fish. putin requested the call. all this as the u.s. continues to pressure russia to draw down its large military presence near ukraine's border. nic robertson is live in moscow. natasha, do we know what this is about? >> no. the administration would not tell us exactly why putin requested this call a day before new year's eve when it could have happened next week, is there are going to be talks january 10th in jeangeneva to discuss the ukrainian border. they want to go through a road map of what they might look like, expectations on both sides. but the urgency here is very interesting. it is the second time in less than a month that president putin and president biden will be speak, which is pretty unusual. again, it is a crisis growing on the ukrainian border as russian troops build up their military posture there. the talks on january 10th are not contingent on russia drawing down. they believe it is the most responsible way to handle the situation. the fact that he asked for a phone call at this delicate moment is definitely notable. >> the white house says when putin asks for a call, we usually grant it. when biden asks for a call, he is similarly granted it. the u.s. did fly a supply plane over eastern ukraine this week. what was the mission of that besides gathering intel. >> reporter: the russians said they had gone back to their permanent bases. absent good and precise surveillance, it's hard to tell if the troops have done what the russian authorities say they have done. it is hard to know if they have taken back their military hardware. i think that flight gives you a better assessment of what's going on, russia is doing nothing to reduce the tensions. what we have heard from the kremlin is that president putin requested this phone conversation because what he describes or what the kremlin describes as the issues ahead of both countries for these talks in january, january the 10th, are extremely complicated. that's the kremlin's language. the sequencing as the kremlin sees the situation. they said, look, the two had a conversation back in early december and russia said they would go and put their proposals forward. they did that. they put out tough and strong and really, from nato's perspective, unacceptable demands that nato does not offer membership to ukraine, they do not position troops inside ukraine. russia, from its position, had that conversation where president biden then put forward its list of demands if you will. its position, as it says. from the kremlin's perspective, this is a follow-up phone call ahead of that january 10th meeting. also from a russian perspective, new year is a big celebration here. most people, government officials sort of clear out of the city, go to the country houses, dashes if they have them. orthodox christmas, which is celebrated here in russia, the 7th of january. you have a big chunk of time out of the government calendar. perhaps having this from president putin's perspective now so far ahead of january 10th talks has a lot to do with, you know, the kremlin essentially being on vacation until january 10th. >> an attempt to set the table, so to speak. natasha, with all of this happening, we do understand the u.s. has been in touch with ukrainian president zelensky. ukraine hangs in the balance in all of these conversations. >> reporter: yeah. the white house has been very insistent that ukraine will not be left out of any of these information cans. though they won't be at the able at these talks in early january, they will be consulted every step of the way. that was demonstrated yesterday when secretary of state antony blinken spoke with vladimir zelensky to preview what they would say today on the phone call. ukraine is caught in the middle here and they don't necessarily like being left out of these conversations between the u.s. and russia because they feel their fate is being decided without them, essentially. so the u.s. has really tried to convey to the ukraines that they are going to be involved in these discussions, that no decision will be made without them. and throughout these talks in january, they will be talking to the sidelines and consulting with the ukrainians about what nato says, what russia says, and what comes out of these discussions. ukrainians are still hoping that the administration is going to provide them with that military equipment that they have been asking for for weeks and months now, they have yet to receive in order to defend their country. they don't have everything necessary to protect themselves in a russian invasion. they feel the u.s. has fallen a bit short in that regard. the u.s. said of course we have sent hundreds of millions of military aid to ukraine. they are saying that is not enough. it remains to be seen what exactly comes out of the talks and whether the ukrainians are satisfied by what the two sides decide. >> natasha, nic, we will you will be keeping a close eye on this. thank you very much. up next, one year since the attack on our capitol. whitney wild is live with more details why former president trump wants the supreme court to read interview in his bid to block hundreds of documents. cold coming on? 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>> reporter: we are still waiting for the exact details. what house speaker nancy pelosi says is this will be a day of reflection. here's what she told her colleagues in a dear colleagues letter. our nation will soon mark one year since the deadly aing ta on the united states capitol. preparations are under way for a full program of events, including a discussion among historians, a narrative of that day and for members to share their experiences and reflections from that day, and a prayerful vigil in the evening. the tone will be one of reflection, it will be somber. but also a chance to mark the heroism of police who defended the capitol. >> this comes as the former president's lawyers are now telling the supreme court that a "washington post" interview with the chairman of the house select committee that of course is investigating the attack shows the committee is trying to establish a criminal complaint against him? >> >> reporter: well, that's right. take a look at this "washington post" interview in which bennie thompson says there's a likelihood if they find criminal activity it will result in a criminal referral to the department of justice. the trump team is making the argument here that this is not an effort for a legislative purpose but it is in fact, an effort toward a law enforcement purpose, something that congress doesn't really have any jurisdiction over. however, what the committee has made clear is that this does have a legislative purpose and that any opportunity for criminal referral would be incidental and just arise throughout normal work, again, tkpaoerd towards this legislative purpose. the point here is the trump team made multiple times this argument that this is an illegitimate investigation with no real legislative purpose. and twice courts have knocked down that argument. >> and we will see what they do this time. whitney wild, thank you. >> all right. let's bring in cnn national security analyst juliette kayyem. you tweeted this article, after the january 6th attacks, almost a year ago, saying this. as we gear up for 1/6 anniversary coverage, reposting my take then, many criticized this for calling trump leader of a terror movement who uses violence or threat of it as an extension of politics. after a year, i think i was too kind. if you think you were too kind to call him extremist leader then, what do you call him now? >> reporter: he uses violence or the threat of violence to disrupt democratic processes. that is terrorism. we tend to focus on different pieces of the post-january 6th world. we have election systems and the fights over states and voting rights. we then have the investigation, the january 6th, and then all the cases going on against people who were in the capitol. but i think we sometimes forget that what sort of connects everything is violence and the threat of violence that now animates so much of our political discourse coming from republican leadership, from right-wing media. it's not just, you know, sort of random violence. it is targeted against secretaries of state, against various congresspeople. we see it percolate into the covid space, the a, ta or language against leaders. and so it's that acceptance of violence and the threat of violence as part of a political agenda that i think i underestimated on january 6th. >> and, juliette, we were talking with whitney about what the committee is doing, what they think january 6th will look and their work overall. i'm wondering if now that we are approaching the one-year anniversary, if you have been impressed with the work they have done so far? >> reporter: i have. i think people are impatient. i understand that. a year seems like a long time. there are 600 or 700 criminal cases against people in the capitol. why does that matter? it matters because they did something wrong. a lot of them are getting jail time. it matters from the counterterrorism perspective, the world that i grew up in. which is if you view trump as leading a terror movement, these cases are undermining his ability to recruit, to raise money. and you're seeing that. you're seeing organizations like the proud boys, very difficult for them to reform. trump has been deplatformed by twitter. he cannot fill a room. let's remember that. he is having rallies. they are not filled up to the rafters. that's a good thing. you want to minimize his capacity to both engage and incite. and the committee is taking its time. and i think rightfully so. i think it is interesting that nancy pelosi said something about historians. i think if we can get out of the headlines of what's going to happen to trump and really take a step pack, i think nancy pelosi has the longview that this is this is has to be a legacy investigation lest we go down this path every two years. i don't like the violence that surrounds so much of our political discourse coming from gop leadership and gop members. but there are pieces of good news in terms of counteracting that radicalization. . >> juliette, i've got to ask, what accountability do you think needs to be put in place to break up this movement, as you describe it? >> reporter: you know, it's very hard to know whether the republican party is redeemable in the sense -- you see hints of it. you see mcconnell now talking about january 6th being -- the january 6th committee being of interest to him. you are seeing other congress members from the party sort of begin to accept the election. we don't know what's going to happen this election season. but i think in terms of accountability people need to view it into two lanes. one is the criminal accountability of trump and members who were -- and people who planned a violent overthrow of our democracy. that's what it was. we shouldn't be shy about what they were trying to do. it's clear that's what they were trying to do. and their criminal culpability. the other of course is trying to minimize the radicalization. that's really key for the long term. and i think there are hints that is happening. these cases are breaking up terror organizations. donald trump's ability to gather a crowd that is willing to be violent is now much less than it was a year ago. that's good. that's good news. it's not great news given the context. that is the kind of thing that we need to be looking for in terms of trying to bring the temperature down. >> juliette kacyem, thank you very much. >> reporter: thank you. many europeans are scaling back their new year's celebrations as cases are on the rise once again. plus, in china, four people accused of breaching covid safety laws being publicly shamed by the police. with our unique tub over tub installation in just a day, bath fitter doesn't just fit your bath, it fits your busy schedule. why have over two million people welcomed bath fitter into their homes? it just fits. bath fitter. call now or visit bathfitter.com to book your free consultation. i've lost count of how many asthma attacks i've had. but my nunormal with nucala? fewer asthma attacks. nucala is a once-monthly add-on injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. 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. moving is a handful. no kidding! fortunately, xfinity makes moving easy. easy? -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. major european cities scaling back new year's eve celebrations the second year in a row. new covid cases spread at a record-setting rate. cnn has it covered around the globe. >> reporter: i'm melissa bell in paris. the omicron variant continues its relentless spread across europe with several european country seeing records broken in terms of the numbers of new cases the last few days. with that a much bleaker new year's eve for many europeans in paris, for instance, the traditional fireworks display and the celebration on champ de elysee has been canceled. in countries like greece, austria and italy, for instance, closing down the hospitality sector in order to ensure people don't stay out too late and aren't exposed. this as the world health organization warns as it spreads, the health systems are once again under threat. >> reporter: in abu dhabi, the new year's eve of wonders is still set to take place in dubai at the tallest building in the world. you have to prove your negative status or that you have been vaccinated. 99% of the population in dubai received one dose, which of course is encouraging. you have seen a doubling of covid-19 cases over the past seven days, which is of concern. but millions of tourists flock to dubai over the season. it's one of the famous hot spots for the laser shows and fireworks. this is despite the fact that you are seeing so many countries canceling new year's eve plans. >> reporter: i'm steven jiang in beijing. videos emerged in southern china with people in hazmat suits with photos of those helping people from neighboring vietnam. because of the border closure and increasingly tightened covid rules. local officials defended public shaming say it's needed to act as a deterrent. others saying it exposes the zero covid policy. beijing olympics are a month away. they are acknowledging it could fuel more cases. they are facing diplomatic boycotts from the united states, australia, britain, canada and in large part, japan. our next guest says china, meanwhile, is trying to establish dominance and bully the united states but advises the powers that be not to back down. joining us now to discuss is cnn political analyst josh rogin. so, josh, first on the diplomatic boycotts, they are largely symbolic but a sore point for china, too. >> reporter: well, that's right, kaitlan. autocratic regimes use international sporting events to legitimize their policies. in this case the united states and some of its partners have decided to pursue a diplomatic boycott, which means the athletes can go but diplomats can't. in a country where genocide is coming. they don't like that. they're not supposed to like that. so they are calling the american hypocrites. human rights is not really about politics. it's about humans. i think what the biden administration would say is they are humanizing the games, not politicizing it. >> we are seeing china further crackdown in hong kong against free speech, against any form of dissent. in your new op-ed in the "washington post", you say china is trying to establish their dominance in asia and trying to bully the u.s. and refraining from taking action, specifically against military provocations. tell us more about that. >> reporter: right. all of these things happen in a context. tensions are i radioing, okay. that's happening in all sorts of arenas. especially in terms of taiwan. what we have seen is the chinese military has been menacing taiwan sends dozens, if not hundreds of planes over the island. it's a direct threat to the freedom and democracy that existed on the island. that is a conundrum. what do we do? if we stand up to it, it will make china more angry. if we don't, maybe china will be more emboldened. what they have decided to do is not back down as to express support and increase support for taiwan. that makes beijing only more and more angry. we can pretend we have this month of olympics where everything is hunky-dory. but the truth is tensions are rising high. >> yeah. it is something the white house will not deny. josh, you also write basically china and the west are talking to each other with ships and warplanes, leaving both sides unsure of how their messages are coming through. so this level of communication, what does that entail going forward for what this is going to look like once the olympics are over? >> reporter: right. that's the key question. what happens when the olympics are done, when the cameras turn around? right now beijing is on its best behavior, and it's best behavior isn't that good, actually. after the olympics they will care even less about what we think and there will be less cameras pointed at them. that's when you see the communist party ramping up aggression and thumbing all of the rules and laws that underpinned the international system all this time. what do we do about that? especially if we can't talk to them about it, especially if they won't talk to us about it. that will be the key challenge in u.s. foreign policy in 2022. the key problem not just for the united states but the whole world. china is rich, powerful, aggressive, repressive and doesn't care at all what we say or do. that's the biden's question. they are worried about that. >> especially after china gets on the other side of the olympics, when they are allegedly on best behavior. >> exactly. >> josh rogin, thank you very much for joining us. >> any time. >> coming up, lawmakers in jordan, watch this, pushing, shoving and throwing punches at each other. almost makes you feel good about the american capitol discussion in congress. heated discussions that set off this ugly brawl. that's next. ♪ ♪ ♪ "how bizarre" by omc ♪ no annual fee on any discover card. ♪ ♪ welcome to silversneakers. are you ready to get moving? (throws punch) our new virtual classes were designed for you and millions of seniors like you. you can now choose from thousands of live virtual classes every week. get moving wherever you have an internet connection. and when you're ready, enjoy access to thousands of locations nationwide. with silversneakers, you're free to move. enroll today at no additional cost by visiting getsilversneakers dot com. buckle up and hunker down. expect some severe weather possibly getting in the way of your plans heading into new year's eve. from the southeast to the south plains and onto the west coast. meteorologist jennifer gray joins us to tell us all about it. jennifer. >> reporter: yeah, john. this new year's is coming in with a bang because we are talking about storms from coast to coast, and several rounds of it as well. you can see showers and storms already through the southeast. they roared through the area during the overnight hours. they will linger into the southeast as we get into the day today. another system developing in the west bringing very heavy rainfall to the southwest is also going to criss-cross the country bringing rain and even snow to the mountain areas and also bring more severe weather to not only the south and mississippi river valley but, again, the southeast as we get into new year's eve and new year's day. this is friday into saturday morning. new year's eve night, isolated tornados, large hail through dallas, little rock, memphis, nashville. that moves to the east by the time we get into saturday and sunday morning. so we are talking about a lot of rain and even a lot of snow through the ohio valley and midwest. john. >> man, that's a rough entry into the new year for those folks. jennifer gray, thank you very much. meanwhile, the college football playoff is one day away. if you have not seen my dozens of tweets about it, alabama is kicking off 3:30 eastern tomorrow. we are seeing great bowl action, including the return of a hall of fame coach to the sidelines. coy wire has more with this morning's bleacher report. and, coy, bob stoops and oklahoma reunited and oklahoma fans thought it felt pretty good. >> already oh, yeah. love seeing that big old crimson tide smile on your face. people getting hyped up for the college football playoff which starts tomorrow. legendary coach bob stoops filling in at the alamo bowl. it allowed for this awesome moment, kaitlan. coaches's son drake stoops catch the second touchdown pass of the season. sooners pull away from number 14 ducks. oklahoma blasting the ducks, 47-32 for stoops' first win since the 2017 sugar bowl. he gets that gatorade bath and father/son moment as he soaks it in before the head coach venuable takes over. and one of the wildest touchdowns ever in the cheezit bowl. brock's pass turns into a game of hot potato. goodrich takes 18 yards to the house. purdy's pass is tipped at the line. clemson wins 20-13. at the end of this one, coach dabo sweeney gets doused with a bucket of cheezits, not gatorade. number 13 pittsburgh taking on number 11 michigan state in the peach bowl at the mercedes-benz stadium. and college football playoffs, number one alabama facing number four cincinnati in the cotton bowl, followed by michigan and georgia in the orange bowl. facing a nonpower five team in the number four bearcats. how are you feeling about it? >> i feel pretty good. i don't like to make predictions. i made that mistake a long time ago. i have to work tomorrow, though, during the kickoff at the beginning of it. so i'll be starting watching around halftime. and i'll be mildly stressed out. >> this is a good time for me to tell you i'm rooting for cincinnati. my grandfather went there on a scholarship. let the lines be drawn. >> come on! >> reporter: this is going to be a good one. >> the oklahoma story made me tear up. that father/son line. >> you have to score a touchdown if your dad is back on the sidelines. >> beautiful. >> coy, wire, thanks very much. >> thanks, man. all right. chaos erupting in jordan's parliament on a debate on gender equality. an outright fistfight on a constitutional amendment that would afford greater rights to women. cnn's arwa damon has more. >> reporter: it was quite a chaotic scene inside georgia's parliament during what should have been a debate about a proposed constitutional amendment. this constitutional amendment would have seen not just referring to the masculine but in the testimony lynn as well. it is aimed at modernizing jordan, backed by the jordanian king. but instead of talking about the issue, parliamentarians instead traded insults and exchanges blows. so what is the key issue? it boils down to women's rights. there are concerns, fears among some parliamentarians that this change could end up leading to changes in jordan's citizenship law and inheritance law. right now as it stands jordanian women are not allowed to pass on citizenship to their children. when it comes to inheritance, that is based on law and it gives more to a man than a woman. they fear any sort of movement towards full equal