350,000, and the line is going straight up. deaths are also climbing, jumping 18% this week. although children are far less likely than adults to become severely ill or die of covid, the avalanche of all of the new cases is pushing the number of kids being hospitalizes to new records. all this just as schools across the country get ready to welcome students back from the holidays. we'll be joined momentarily by education secretary eric cardona, and then by eric adams who will oversee the nation's biggest public school system. first, here's tom foreman. >> with the pandemic clocking unprecedented numbers of infections, the fda is expected to okay booster shots of the pfizer vaccine soon for 12 to 15-year-olds. the cdc has intensified its warning against cruise ship travel amid dozens of outbreaks. and health officials are advising caution onshore, too. >> i would not eat in a restaurant now without a mask. i would absolutely not going into a bar. if you go into a bar now, you are likely to get covid, whether you're vaccinated or not. if you're unvaccinated and you go into a bar, you will come out of it infected. >> as predicted, the surge is not hitting everyone equally. >> if you are unvaccinated, you are ten times more likely to be a case and 20 times more likely to be a fatality. >> we're still getting the data, but what we're hearing from hospitals really across the nation and this is very consistent, is that the vast majority of the children who are being admitted are unvaccinated. >> so many people are being affected, many states are reporting nee record highs. maryland hospital officials are calling for a limited emergency declaration. in new york city, the fire department has so many out sick, they are reminding people to call 911 only in true emergencies. and everywhere, the drum beat for more testing is growing louder. especially with schools reopening next week. >> testing, testing, testing, testing all the time. so this is what i think we have to do, and you're seeing this in new york, in d.c. you're seeing this in as many places as we can. >> in the meantime, two new reports indicate a booster shot of the johnson & johnson vaccine significantly lowers the risk of severe illness from the omicron variant. and health officials are pleading no matter which vaccine you choose, make sure you follow through with all of the recommended doses and then get a booster too. >> that's where so many of us are echoing go ahead and make sure you get vaccinated if you haven't gotten your first or dekd dose, and getting your booster dose. >> many health experts say had majority of american whose have received their vaccinations are the very reason that the ratio of hospitalizations has remained relatively low compared to this massive surge of the virus itself. but that said, there's still plenty of people showing up in hospitals where the staffs are already very tired and wrung out after fighting this pandemic for a long time. jim. >> a very long time. tom foreman, thanks very much. more now on the dilemma facing schools and parents. mainly how to avoid the drawbacks of returning to in-person learning. here to talk about it is miguel car dones. we appreciate it. there are a lot of concerned families out there tonight. i'm sure you're aware of that. you say parents and teachers have to make sure to get students into class safely and stay in the classroom, but given what we currently know about the omicron variant and its high transmissibility rate, specifically how can parents and teachers best do that right now? >> thank you, jim, for having me, first of all. yes, we recognize the numbers are climbing across the country. we also know that we have tools now that we didn't have before. we know what works to keep our schools safely reopened. and we have more resources aimed at keeping our schools open than ever before. it's critical we do what we can to make sure that our schools stay open full time, five days a week. i recognize there are going to be some bumps along the way, but the goal for all of us, i know educators across the country know, we don't want to go back to how it was fully remote. we dough want to go back to hy hybrid. our schools thrive when students are in person. >> dr. peter hotez, who is apa pedia pediatrician, professor, and vaccine experts, he says schools in areas where they, quote, screaming level of transmission, like new york city and washington, d.c. right now, should push back the return to in-person learning. so after this holiday break or after this holiday break resumes, and in fact, new jersey -- jersey city public schools announced they will be virtual next week and return to in-person learning on january 10th. should more districts be considering these temporary measures? not going full-blown virtual and so on, but maybe pushing things back a little bit? >> you know, oftentimes though decisions are made when there's a concern about staffing shortages. again, the goal is to make sure our students are safe and our staff are safe, but i believe with surveillance testing, with mitigation strategies, we should, our default should be to have our students come back in. we recognize that there, as i said earlier, are going to be challenges with that in some places, a short term closure may be necessary in order to safely return students back and have adequate staffing, but we really need to learn how to thrive during this pandemic. we opened schools when delta was rampant. we have the tools, we have the resources, states and districts have access to resources. and i know they're working hard. i know they're doing everything they can. i know staffing shortages are an issue. we recently sent a letter to states reminding them that the american rescue plan funds could be used to address some of the staffing shortages. so we're working with them. we recognize this is a challenge. i think everybody across the country want to see our children in schools full time, and i think that's our goal. we're going to continue to support our states to get that done. >> dr. anthony fauci said today he thinks the omicron surge could peak by the end of january. what do you think? should schools that are able to offer a hybrid model until the surge is over, should they think about that? what do you think? >> you know, as an educator and as a father y can tell you that hybrid model is probably the most disruptive. and we don't know that we're keeping our children any safer when they're not in our schools. schools provide structure. masks are required. students get meals. they have connections with peers and with their teachers. so in my opinion, our default model should be full-time five days a week in person, recognizing that there may be times due to increase in cases, in spread, inadequate staffing that short-term closures may be needed, but our mentality should be our students suffered enough. they should be in the classroom. >> when it comes to testing, in washington, d.c., public schools are providing at-home tests and requiring a negative test result before students can return to the classroom on wednesday. while this may work for next wednesday, what about the following days and the weeks to come? is testing going to become sort of a permanent feature in our schools in terms of keeping students safe, and should schools be preparing for that, to not just have tests available when kids are coming back to the classroom, but maybe on a weekly basis? maybe on a regular basis? >> i'm glad you brought that up, jim. in march of this year, in the american rescue plan, there was $10 billion allocated for surveillance testing in schools. and we have seen districts across the country set up really robust systems of surveillance testing to make sure we keep covid out of our schools. and those districts that have those systems are employing those systems now. we have recently sent information to states about the rockefeller foundation and what they're doing to set up contracts to assist districts in setting up surveillance systems. so again, we believe surveillance, good surveillance, testing system, vaccination efforts, and mitigation strategies are critical to successfully keeping our schools open. >> and you were just saying a moent ago that schools are requiring masks across the country. that's just not the case, though. there are a lot of places where they're not really requiring that sort of thing. >> unfortunately, we have seen where districts are not requiring that cases go up. we're seeing hospitalizations go up in those places. i think with this increase in omicron and higher cases, i hope those districts really take a look at their policies. i think parents have had enough of school closures due to poor policies, so let's protect our students, let's protect our staff. let's keep our communities thriving. it's unfortunate that the numbers are going up, but we know how to continue during the pandemic. we shouldn't have shutdowns, we shouldn't have our schools closed for a long period of time. if we know what works, we should employ it. we have the resources there. we need to come together for our students. they deserve that. >> but just to press you on that quickly, you're saying under no circumstances will the administration advise shutting down schools? no matter how bad it gets? >> you know, we're monitoring the omicron, very pleased with the cdc's recent guidance that shortens the length of quarantine. that's going to help keep our schools open and have our staff in the classrooms. at this point, i don't believe that we should be thinking about closing schools long term. things can change, but at this point, we have the tools. we have the resources, jim. and we have to have the will to make sure we do everything in our power to keep our children in the classroom learning with their peers, with their teachers. let's not forget the emotional impact last year had on our students and our educators and our families and parents. we can do better. we have the resources. we have the science. we need to make sure we're doing everything in our power to keep orclassrooms open for our students where they learn best and where they get the support from adults, not only academic support, but also the emotional support we know our students need after experiencing the trauma of the pandemic. >> secretary cardona, thank you for your time. want to drill down on more of this with someone who is on the forefront of research into kids, covid, and schools. dr. danny benjamin, cochair of the abc science collaborative and distinguished professor of pediatrics at duke university. i want to ask you about the research you're conducting, but first, what do you make of what the secretary of education was just telling us a few moments ago? do you think the federal government should be doing more, and are they perhaps relying on too much of an optimistic scenario where they can keep classes open across the country without any kind of hybrid learning? >> jim, thank you. i think the secretary was spot on in his emphasis on keeping schools open. and jim, this is an important concept that i would just like to extend, perhaps, on the secretary's comments. paradoxically, kids are safer in school, even if the only outcome you're looking at is covid. this is in the masked environment in school. let me explain that to you, jim. first of all, that's based on data that we and others have published, with a chance of infection is only 1% or 2%, if i'm exposing you, that data has been replicated repeatedly by a number of investigators across the country. that's a much lower transmission than in restaurants or other places that children hang out if they're not in school. the second important thing is families that want to protect children can protect them unilaterally by vaccinating them. but jim, this part is very important. when children are not in school, they're not in a magic bubble learning haiku. they are doing all sorts of things in the community. and engaging in the community in all sorts of ways. as evidenced by the widespread transmission that's going on right now when schools are closed right now. so when we come up to january 3rd, those five days of monday through friday, schools will have a choice. do we want for the 80 waking hours of monday through friday to be 40 hours where children are in a very regulated environment with universal masking where we have shown compliance that meets 90% if people adhere to that, or do they spend 80 hours a week in an unregulated environment, in an unmonitored environment where there's not as much masking, and where there's widespread transmission? >> let me ask you something. >> if our only outcome is covid, they're safer in school. >> i hear what you're saying, but should school districts consider perhaps delaying that return to in-person learning next week? especially in these areas where you have really high transmission? washington, d.c., new york city, for example. >> if they delay opening, the best data we have is that that will contribute, jim, to spread. >> because they're not at school and they're at home is what you're saying. >> well, oftentimes when children are not in school, they don't just stay in their household 16 or 24 hours a day. they do other things outside of home, when they do that, they're oftentimes less masked when they are in schools that have a universal masking policy. so paradoxically, their risk out of school even if covid is the only outcome, is likely to be higher if they're out of school. exposure in a restaurant or in a movie theater or in a walmart or a grocery store, that's going to be higher typically on average for schools if their district for children if their school districts are masking. >> it sounds like what you're saying is testing is going to be critical in all this, but we don't have the testing infrastructure in place at this point. >> testing as far as screening testing is concerned can be a little difficult to manage. tests to stay, however, can be a very effective way to manage the pandemic in schools. and the cdc and we and others have shown that in recent research. >> all right, dr. danny benjamin, we know your research has been critical in all of this. thanks very much for your time. we appreciate it. >> jim, thank you so much for having me. >> all right, good to talk to you. >> up next, new york's mayor elect on the new year's celebration that's still going to happen. the u.s.'s largest school system still resuming next week and what it will take to keep the city running in the face of the latest covid surge. >> also tonight, 100-mile-per-hour witness and wildfires in colorado, what the combination is doing right now to that state as tens of thousands of people there get the word to get out now. we'll have a live report on that next. putting you in control of your financing. at carvana, get personalized terms, browse for cars that fit your budget, then customize your down payment and monthly payment. and these aren't made-up numbers. it's what you'll really pay, right down to the penny. whether you're shopping or just looking. it only takes a few seconds, and it won't affect your credit score. finally! a totally different way to finance your ride. only from carvana. the new way to buy a car. nicorette knows, quitting smoking is freaking hard. you get advice like: just stop. go for a run. go for 10 runs! run a marathon. instead, start small. with nicorette. which can lead to something big. start stopping with nicorette. my name is douglas. i'm a writer/director and i'm still working. in the kind of work that i do, you are surrounded by people who are all younger than you. i had to get help somewhere along the line to stay competitive. i discovered prevagen. i started taking it and after a period of time, my memory improved. it was a game-changer for me. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. as we look at live pictures of new york's times square courtesy of earth cam, breaking news. the governor's office reported more than 74,000 new cases of covid state-wide in new york. that's up 82% from just three days ago. as you might expect, densery populated new york city and long island are far outpacing more rural areas in new cases. tomorrow night in times square, a scaled back 15,000 gathering is being scheduled for the ball drop. plus one, of course. new york city's incoming mayor, eric adams is that plus one. he's decided to take the oath of office tomorrow night shortly after the clock strikes 12:00. i guess we can call you mayor elect for one more night. thanks for joining us. >> thank you very much. >> let's get right to it. the new year's eve celebration is still going forward even as other cities across the world are canceling their festivities. last week, when mayor de blasio announced the move to move forward, you said he was making the right move. do you still feel confident this is a good idea given everything that's happening right now? >> yes, yes y do. and i want to commend the mayor and when you speak with the business leaders in the city, particularly in the central business district of tourism, what happens on new year's, broadway, it's a major economic driver. and he's being responsible by stating everyone there must be vaccinated and they must wear a mask. he cut down the crowd and insured we could do it in a safe way because we're sending a signal across the entire globe that new york will be safe, we will be responsible, and we will continue to open in a safe way. we have to do that to insure our financial ecosystem continues to thrive. >> new york city had to shut down, though, an entire subway line today because of short staffing due to the covid surge. the nypd has 21% of their staff out sick. the fire department of new york says 30% of emergency medical services are out because of covid. and everything that's going along with it. you know, can you really pull this off safely with that kind of a staffing crunch? >> yes, i believe we can. this is an amazing city with professionals. remember, i was one of those police officers, and i know during the times of crisis and tragedies, we respond. remember what happened when our center of trade collapsed, our two world trade center buildings collapsed. 9/11, we got up on 9/12 and responded and we'll do it over and over again because this city is made up of professionals and we're going to send the right signal to this entire country. we're going to get through covid. let's be clear. we spent $11 trillion on covid. we can't continue to think that we can spend trillions of dollars, we must learn to live with covid, adjust, and pivot at the right times, and we're doing that in new york, and i'm extremely optimistic on how the city is going to respond. >> what about the schools? mr. mayor elect, i think it's fair to say every parent would like their child to be in the classroom, but given these cases that are just skyrocketing in the ski right now, and how contagious this variant is, do you think it's maybe a good idea to delay some of this until you get a handle on it? >> well, think about this for a moment. i think your two other guests really touched on this, educational professionals that understand the imperativeness of having our children in the classroom. we lost almost two years of education. each variant, do we decide to delay again and have our children out? we're dealing with a crisis, not only what happened in reading and writing, but even math, which is a real indicator of the success of a child. my schools are going to be open. my children are going to be inside their schools. they're going to wear their masks. we're going to take precautions. we're going to extend and have additional testing that's going to take place. the safest place for our children is inside a school building, and it's going to take a lot for me to close my schools. we must deal with covid in real time and we have to educate our children, and also protect them. you heard, it was clear. having our children not in school is not the protection they need. it's a safe place for them. >> right, but mayor, you know, as we were just talking about at the beginning of the segment, this is on you after midnight tomorrow night. you're the mayor. and if we see cases explode after the times square festivities, after the opening of schools, when you had a chance to be more cautious about it, are you willing to take that responsibility? are you going to say that's on me, as the new mayor of this city? >> i want it to be on me. i say this over and over again. winners want the ball when the game is on the line. i want the ball in my hands, just as i had the ball in the mid-'80s when crime was high, i want to be there to protect my city and where want to be here to protect and serb my school. yes, i'm the leader of the city starting january 1st and i'm going to lead our city in the right direction, and i know the resiliency of new yorkers because it lies in the spirit of the resiliency of americans. americans are going to show the globe how we responds to crises. we know it's going to be difficult and hard, but it has been hard before, and we have always stood up to the occasion. so yes, i'm responsible for what happens to the people of the city as the mayor of the city of new york, and i'm going to lead us in the right direction. >> all right, mr. mayor elect, almost mayor of new york city. eric adams, thanks so much for your time, and congratulations on taking office here in about, what, 16 hours from now. thanks for your time. >> yes, thank you. have a happy, safe new year's. >> i should say more than 24 hours from now. i had my math off. thank you. >> for more on what it's like on the receiving end of any policy change, we're joined by dr. craig spencer, director of global public health and emergency medicine at columbia medical center. thanks so much. you heard from the incoming mayor a few moments ago. you're in the emergency room. what do you make of the decisions that new york city officials are making right now with regards to times square, with regards to opening up the classrooms? you're going to have a lot of people, you know, coming into contact with one another with a very highly transmissible variant that is just showing no signs of letting up at the moment. >> that's a good question. i first want to start by thanking the incoming mayor for laying out today really the policy that he's going to pursue, the six points, including keeping the vaccine mandates for private businesses, for increasing mask distribution, and laying out next steps for how they're going to respond over the incoming administration in the next few months. i look forward to working with him. i will say that, you know, we are in triage mode, as an emergency medicine doctor, i look at everything as an emergency. right now, it's not about flattening the curve. it's flattening the call-outs. we have a hospital system where health care workers are getting sick, testing positive themselves. we have nypd, fdny, the mta, with record high number of people calling out sick. i do think that right now, we need to double down on our essential activities and services, which is making sure people are safe and keeping people and kids in school. that is why i think that having a party tomorrow night in times square, although we all want it and all need it, is probably not the best thing right now. it's not essential. millions of people watch this around the world. and having 15,000 people together unfortunately means that some will be sick, some will sicken others, and every infection averted at this point is perhaps another essential worker that's allowed to stay on the job. >> do you think city officials are being irresponsible? >> no, look, at this point, it's two years in. there's a lot of people who are tired and want to have fun. last year, we promised them if you get vaccinated and wear a mask and if you're outdoors you can do all of these things. omicron has thrown all of us, including me and the emergency department, for a loop. this has been a big surprise. we saw 44,000 cases here in new york city today. this is incredible and a record-setting amount. we know that the majority of those, thankfully, are going to not end up in the hospital or not end up dying from this. we have learned a lot about treatments. how we're able to manage this disease, but what we need to focus on right now is keeping the things open that matter. making sure that my 3-year-old can go to school on monday where i intend on sending her because i do think it is a safe space for her, and it's an important space for her because i'm working five shifts in the emergency department next week and i can't do that if she's not in school during that time, so it's critical that we try to do everything we can to keep people out of the emergency room and keep our kids in classrooms, and i want to make sure that we make the right decisions right now to do that. >> and you heard what mayor elect adams said about his plan for schools and i know you think we should be doing everything to keep kids in schools. you were just saying a few moments ago. do you thing the plan in new york is enough? for example, here in washington, they're requiring students to have negative tests before they show up for school next week. >> i think a negative test is fine. you know, if someone tests two days beforehand with an antigen test and it's negative and get exposed the next day, i'm not sure it does that much to keep covid out of the classroom by itself. i would like to see more tests to stay, so for kids who may have been exposed, having them test and if they test negative, allowing them to stay in the classroom. we have seen that works. the cdc and other schools have proven that works. we need to do everything we can to focus on the most vulnerable in our communities, those older, those needing booster shots, those who have a higher likelihood of getting sick and dying from the disease, and the youngest in our community, including our kids. get vaccinated. it protects you, the older people, the younger people. get your kids vaccinated. we still have a huge proportion of the 5 to 11 and older age group that hasn't yet been vaccinated. that is the safest way we keep them out of the hospital and them in the classroom. >> dr. craig spencer, thank you for your time. we appreciate it. >> up next, there details from what that call this afternoon between president biden and russia's vladimir putin, and what this means for the military building along the border in ukraine. >> plus, a terrifying scene in colorado where wildfires, here is vid eo that has just come in. these wildfires have destroyed hundreds of homes and forced a whole town to evacuate. stunning images we need to show you and disturbing details of what's happening there. we'll have the details next. ice. 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[cheering] that was awesome. and, the hits won't quit, with peacock premium included at no additional cost. all that entertainment built in. xfinity. a way better way to watch. more breaking news tonight, as tension rises over russia's military build-up on the border with ukraine, we have the first details of a 50-empty call between president biden and vladimir putin this morning. biden urged russia to desescalate tensions with ukraine. he made clear the united states and their allies will respond decisively if russia further invade ukraine. they also said during the call, putin told biden new sanctions against russia would be a, quote, colossal mistake, and joining us now, strategic analyst and author and u.s. army lieutenant colonel ralph peters. great to talk to you. from the details we have learned about so far from the call, what do you make of what transpired? it sounds like president biden put putin on notice here. >> it was a stand-off, and the perceptions on both sides are a bit different. now, it does look like biden stood his ground. putin apparently really did hit hard and repeatedly about, you know, how he would huff and puff and blow the house down if we imposed more sanctions on him, but the sanctions would be in response to a russian attack. what was interesting to me was the russian media is now reporting that one of putin's press spokespersons has said that and stressed that putin got biden to agree not to put strike weapons in ukraine or weapons used for an attack. we have no intention and had no intention of putting attack weapons in ukraine. the few weapons we have given them are purely defensive. it sounds as though putin was trying to take home an imaginary deliverable for his own people, and he seemed just based upon reading the russian press and what they're leaking out, he seemed very, very frustrated. and that's not necessarily good. >> right. and as we mentioned, putin told biden today that any new sanctions against russia would be a, quote, colossal mistake. how much weight does a statement like that from putin carry? i mean, as you were just saying a few moments ago, if he invades ukraine, of course, we're going to respond with sanctions. he must know that. >> well, yes, he does. and he's really at a loss for how he could respond effectively to really massive sanctions that took russia out of the trading system, et cetera. and yet, that may well not be enough to deter him, because we refuse to understand much about putin. we're real snobs when it comes to putin, and putin, one of the first things we have to understand is he doesn't care about russians. he cares about russia. we may mock him, but putin believes he is a man of destiny and a long line of russian heroes from alexander down to ivan the terrible to peter the great, and yes, stalin. men who have protected and restored russia's greatness. and putin sees his mission on this earth as restoring russia, its greatness and some of its territory, at least. and we make light of that at our peril because it does not matter, jim, what we believe. what matters is what putin believes. and for him, ukraine, that's the line. he has, again, i'll use a word we usually don't use in connection with putin. putin has a mystical or near mystical attachment to ukraine. in his view, ukraine and russia are twins. they're truly inseparable. the roots of russian culture are kiev and what's new ukraine, and putin wants belarus. putin wants ukraine. he doesn't know how to get it. he probably has not made up his mind about whether or not to invade. he'll wait and see how the january 10th talks go. but my message to american decision makers, do not -- just because putin didn't go to the right schools, just because he doesn't have great table manners. don't take him lightly. here's a man who has punked three u.s. presidents in a row, working on a fourth. he was dealt a pair of 8s, we have a royal frlush, and we folded again and again. he's extremely talented. a brilliant man, sometimes a crude man, but never underestimate the genius of the outsider. we're establishment people. putin is the outsider, and it's the outsiders that change the world. >> he wants to build a new establishment for russia. there's no question about that. ralph peters, thank you so much for your time. those insights are terrific, as always. >> happy new year. >> and a member of the january 6th committee will join us next to discuss taking the fight for the white house records from the trump administration to the supreme court. and about this very busy year ahead for the committee. that's next. ♪ ♪ ♪ experience the power of sanctuary at the lincoln wish list event. 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. january 6th committee began its existence six months ago today and will begin the new yermuch as it's ending this one, with a date with the supreme court. today, the house and the biden administration presented it's arguments for why it needs more than 700 pages of the former president's white house records. they're hoping for an expedited decision two weeks from tomorrow, and committee members have a full year ahead with plans for an interim report in the summer and a final report before next year's midterms plus the possibility of more public testimony. the one public hearing they held this year was chilling. you might remember it, a clip of that now. we will warn you in the testimony you hear one officer mentioning a racial epithet that was heard on that day. >> i was grabbed, beaten, tased, all while being called a traitor to my country. as i heard chants of, kill him with his own gun. >> that prompted a torrent of racial epithets. one woman in a pink maga shirt yelled, you hear that, guys? this nigger voted for joe biden. no one had ever, ever called me a nigger while wearing the uniform of a capitol police officer. >> it's important we never forget what happened that day. and joining us now, a member of the january 6th committee, california democrat pete aguilar. thank you so much for joining us. i want to start with the news i mentioned earlier of the case that maybe in front of the supreme court soon. the house has been arguing that the january 6th investigation outweighs the former president's request for confidentiality and executive privilege and so on. what can you tell us about where that stands and what's the argument that your team is making? >> well, the main argument that we're make sg the argument that was successful in the appellate court. we have asked for an expedited hearing before the supreme court. we have submitted our briefs. and those briefs are very clear. what we want are documents that are related to our investigation. documents related to the president's -- the former president's activities leading up to january 5th and january 6th rallies. we want to know the facts and circumstances to make sure that this violent attack on democracy never happens again. that's our legislative intent and our focus. we have asked for a series of documents from the national archives that will help shed light on those details. they have submitted those. and the current president holds the privilege and has said that compelling need of these documents outweighs anything else. and so they have agreed to give them over to us. but obviously, the former president has challenged those, so we will argue that now and the briefs have been submitted and are lengthy, and we look forward to an expedited hearing. >> we heard some of the testimony in the only public hearing the committee has had. in the new year, you plan to have more public hearings. can you explain what was behind that decision? what can the public expect to see in these hearings? >> i think you're going to see us lay out the case. we're still in the investigative phase right now. we will continue and we will notice those public hearings, but i think what you'll continue to hear are themes about how we protect democracy, how fragile our democracy is, and the steps along the way that led up to january 5th and january 6th. the rallies and also the pressure campaign that the former president put on through his own department of justice to other states during the counting process, and how those states' efforts held up. so i think that's one of the themes that you'll continue to hear, is just how fragile our democracy is, how close we came, and to, again, make sure this never happens again. we want to report the facts and circumstances. this is a nonpartisan investigation and we're going to carry forward in that manner. >> in an interview wednesday, the chairman of the select committee said an invitation is on the table, bennie thompson said an invitation is on the table for kevin mccarthy. do you know if he's been formally asked, and what do you expect? >> i'm not going to get into the individuals that we have had interviews with or have asked to come before us. what i can tell you is anyone, especially a lawmaker who has taken an oath to protect and defend our constitution and our democracy, should come forward with any facts or any conversations that could be helpful to aid in our investigation. >> but kevin mccarthy is not cooperating with the investigation, has he? he hasn't spoken with your committee, has he? >> he has not. and but what i'm saying is, it's going to be important for anyone with details of the facts and circumstances of january 5th and january 6th, to share them with the committee. people, especially lawmakers, should be willing to do this voluntarily, but as we have seen -- >> do you think it would behoove kevin mccarthy to do it voluntarily? do you think it would behoove him to do it voluntarily? >> i think anyone committed to upholding our constitution should come ford wr voluntarily, yes. >> thank you for your time. we appreciate it. >> thanks, jim. have a good new year. >> you as well. >> we want to turn to the wildfires outside of denver that have destroyed hundreds of homes and forces thousands to evacuate. the details of what's called a life-threatening situation. you're looking at pictures from boulder, colorado. we'll have much more on this very dangerous, fast-moving situation in just a few moments. that's next. ur great-grandmother to the world. your family story is waiting to be discovered, and now you can search for those fascinating details for free—at ancestry. i've always been running. to meetings. errands. now i'm running for me. i've always dreamed of seeing the world. but i'm not chasing my dream anymore. i made a financial plan to live it every day. ♪ at northwestern mutual, our version of financial planning helps you live your dreams today. find a northwestern mutual advisor at nm.com 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. we've been talking about this, this terrifying scene unfolding outside of denver, colorado, at this moments. if you haven't seen this, take a look at what's happening in colorado. nearly 600 homes in a heavily populated area destroyed by a wildfire fueled by high winds. the fires have forced thousands of evacuations. the national weather service calls these fires life-threatening. no lives reported lost as of yet, but colorado's governor has declared a state of emergency for boulder county. i'm joined by our meteorologist, karen mcguiness. this is very scary, what's happening in colorado right now. truly historic wind storm, according to the national weather service. that fueled these fires. what's the latest from this region, and how weird is it to see something like this, this time of year? >> jim, it's been a tragedy, in a week that has already been tragic across colorado, with the mass shooting. what we're looking at here is not really a radar. there's no rain there. it's all downsloping winds and they're gusting at times to 100 miles per hour. and there you can see some of the images now. hundreds of homes destroyed. entire subdivisions wiped out. two cities, the city of superior and the city of lewisville, were told to evacuate. this is about eight hours ago. we started to see the winds really kick up rather fiercely. to the equivalent of hurricane force winds and above. category 3. here's some of the wind gusts we have seen. 115-mile-per-hour winds and the sheriff of boulder county said you can't fight these fires. they started out as grass fires and swept across the region. you cannot send firefighters or firefighting measures out to get this under control because it's moving so rapidly. now, there's one hotel that is in the superior, colorado, area, that's about 20, 25 miles to the northwest of denver. it has been leveled to the ground. and we're not finished yet. there's going to be a swift turnaround as far as the weather is concerned. i will mention, we don't have any reports of fatalities yet, but they are anticipating that. we had six injuries reported earlier in the day. there are reports that there were some fire or burns associated with those injuries, but beyond that, we don't have any other reports. jim. >> and any relief tomorrow, do you think? >> that is the ridiculous part of the story, is there's a winter storm that is brewing across this region. now, the winds are going to back off. they'll remain breezy, but now this fire has taken on a life of its own. so now, even with the breezy conditions, this is going to continue to fuel the flames across this region. we'll see the winds start to die down, and then for denver, in particular, those temperatures are going to drop to single digits. windchill factor and it looks like in the next 24 to 48 hours, we could see between 4, 8, possibly 10 or 12 inches of snowfall. >> wow. all right, thank you very much, karen. hope the folks there stay safe. appreciate that information. just ahead, the director and producer of a new cnn film about carole king and james taylor talks about the reunion concert and friendship between these two icons he captured on tape more than ten years ago. that is airing this sunday night. on things like commercials so we can pass more savings to customers. and when i saw what they're charging for holiday-themed stock videos these days, well, you can see what i decided to do. and that means we can afford to offer three months of free service on any plan, including unlimited. so let's all just use our imaginations, 'kay? just imagine me someplace festive no, no, don't make it weird. people everywhere living with type 2 diabetes are waking up to what's possible... with rybelsus®. the majority of people taking rybelsus® lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than 7. rybelsus® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't take rybelsus® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop rybelsus® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. tell your provider about vision problems or changes. taking rybelsus® with a sulfonylurea or insulin increases low blood sugar risk. side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. wake up to the possibility of lower a1c with rybelsus®. you may pay as little as $10 for up to a 3-month prescription. ask your healthcare provider about rybelsus® today. this sunday, cnn is airing a new film on the friendship of james taylor and carole king. the new film, carole king and james taylor, just call out my name, shows what happens when these two musical giants join forces. the producer sat down with anderson to discuss the project. >> thanks for joining us. carole king and james taylor, their are friends. they have been writing and performing music together for half a century. what was it about this project that really attracted you? >> for me, it was kind of a dream come true because i was an amateur folk singer back in the '60s, and of course, all the songs that i did were james and carole's songs. lucky for the world i ended up behind a camera rather than a microphone. >> i won't ask you to sing a few bars. >> yeah, please don't. >> but what about their relationship did you find that was sort of the focus? >> well, i think what was really interesting is they are genuine friends. and they never toured before 2010, which is when the troubadour reunion tour happened, but they were great musical collaborators. i think james says in the piece they kind of had the same dna. i thinkia see that when they're playing together. they just weave in and out. they know what each other is thinking. and for me, trying to explore how that comes about was fascinating. >> i mean, capturing that -- capturing chemistry, capturing that kind of a relationship is a difficult thing, i would think, in a film. >> yes, and this is really more of a concert film, anderson. they shot 28 of their 50 shows. and so we have all this footage. and so it's put together in a way that you see the full songs. it's a concert film with little bits of documentary in between every once in a while. so you sort of get the setup of how they met, when they first played together, which was at the troubadour in 1970. then there was this reunion concert in 2007, and they had so much fun at that with the same band from 1970 that they said, hey, let's go on the road. and do a tour. which they did in 2010. >> what do you think their biggest impact has been? i mean, they have influenced so many different artists over the years. >> no, i think it's their songwriting. it's the stories they tell. they tell stories in their songs. and i think people connect to that, their feelings. it's a really soulful kind of writing. and then the performance becomes kind of the sound track of everybody's lives. so no matter what age you are, you know, your parents are playing it in the car on the way during carpool to school, but also, there's those of us who have lived with them for all 50 years. >> yeah. well, the new film is carole king and james taylor, just call out my name. frank marshall, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us. >> my pleasure. thanks for having me. >> again, cnn will premier carole king and james taylor call out my name, sunday. don't miss the recap of all the best, all the worst of 2021, starting right now. >> it's been a long time. a lot of waiting, uncertainty, anxiety. but we are back. it's time to look at the whole year of wild news, unhinged politics, music, movies, sports, and more, more, more. with our guest

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