new year to the first part of the world to begin 2022. we begin with a glimmer of hope on the horizon when it comes to fighting covid in kids. right now more children have been admitted to the hospital than any other time in the entire pandemic, many of them unvaccinated or unable to get vaccinated right now. cnn has confirmed the fda is expected to broaden the eligibility of pfizer's shot to children in the coming days. >> i think some parents were holding off, waiting to see how things went. there was a recent report out today from the cdc talking about the experience so far with children who have had the vaccine, ages 5-11, reinforcing this has been a safe and effective vaccine. so if you're a parent on the fence, i would say talk to your pediatrician, look to reputable sources for information, because i think the time is now. we want to make sure your kids stay healthy and safe. >> it's always important to keep kids healthy and safe, but particularly as millions head back to school on monday. some areas are pushing return dates a bit more to allow for testing, but some officials are stressing the need for kids to be in physical classrooms. >> schools remain a place where you have the proper mitigations in place, schools can be open and safe. >> there is no evidence that at school settings that children are more at risk. in fact, the evidence is very clear that children are actually safer in schools. >> some colleges and universities, though, taking more precautions. princeton and washington university in st. louis, both delaying in-person return. auburn university announcing that face coverings will be required for everyone, regardless of your vaccination status. the board of governors for the state university system of florida, the nation's second largest public university system, now encouraging staff and faculty to wear masks and get fully vaccinated if they haven't already. also in florida, miami-dade public schools are defying governor desantis by making masks mandatory for all adults inside facilities and buses. students are strongly encouraged to mask up. >> as an educator, as a parent, i c i cannot ignore the advice of scientists and it's clear to us, as it is to any reasonable scientific oriented expert across the country and internationally that some of the recently adopted practices in the state of florida fall short of meeting that basic standard. >> meantime, small businesses are feeling the pain of all of this uncertainty around the omicron variant n. philadelphia several restaurants and bars are shutting down for what's usually a very lucrative new year's eve. >> i walked by and usually there's like a ton of people, kind of like today outside, so it was surprising to see it close down. >> the sense of making decisions as we go every day, like what is safe and what is not, what is too much. it is daunting to try to figure it out. >> the "washington post" reports amtrak is reducing its schedule between new year's eve and january 6th, given a recent spike in virus cases among its employees. meanwhile, the faa telling travelers that more flights may be delayed because of all these staffing shortages. american carriers have had to cut more than 9,000 flights already. 1,000 today alone. travel is expected to pick up this weekend. jetblue airways has canceled about 1,300 flights until mid-january. if you're thinking about taking a cruise any time soon, the cdc has a warning for you. don't. the risk level could be higher right now but not everyone is heeding this advice. cnn's alexandra field reports for us. >> reporter: we see cases hitting their highest levels ever and there is a new warning from the cdc telling people they should avoid travel by cruise. the cdc raising the risk level of cruising to a four from a three. that is the highest risk level. we are citing an increase in cases aboard ships. they're saying that happened since omicron was first detected. >> when i got off my ship last week, i dreaded it, because i felt safer on the cruise ship than i do at the grocery store, theme parks, airplanes and hotels. >> excited, nervous, wondering how it's all going to play out. >> reporter: if you decide you are going to ignore the recommendation and take a cruise anyway, they are saying that you should be vaccinated and boosted and that you should test both before and after you do that cruise. laura? >> thank you for that. the other big story this morning, a state of emergency has been declared in colorado, after a series of wildfires destroyed hundreds of homes there. thousands of residents have evacuated. the towns of superior and lewisville have been devastated. hurricane-force wind gusts fed these wildfires, scorching parts of the boulder area. that sound you hear, the sound of homes collapsing, leaving families searching for shelter to start this new year. >> it's just devastating to see this, and this time of year and just never imagine having this happen in december. as an insurance agent, you try to do the best you can and help the clients for things like this. never probably really thinking this is going to happen. >> we first found out from our daycare in lewisville, got a notification to come pick up the girls. after i picked up the girls, they had blocked the roads to get back to our home in downtown superior, so i called my wife and she started collecting valuables and clothes to evacuate. >> some families forced to dash inside this chuck e cheese as smoke and flames surrounded the area. all these cars heading out of town, look at that line. several hospitals were forced to evacuate patients from the icu, including labor and delivery. one congressman tells cnn he and his family were also evacuated. >> clearly it's just a devastating day for boulder county, for our communities, for lewisville and superior and for the people of our state. as you said, these are unprecedented wildfires that just created a level of devastation and destruction that our state has not experienced before. the forecast calls for heavy snow to commence and we're just hoping that that will commence soon to give our firefighters and our first responders some relief as they work to try to protect our communities. >> the choking smoke clogging the air as far as the eye can see. >> reporter: laura, the high winds northwest of denver really at the heart of these fast-moving fires, and hurricane-force winds, i want to show you what that looks like. take a look at this driver at the costco parking lot. he was trying to flee and part of it was already on fire. authorities in that area are calling the fires life-threatening. some structures already destroyed by those flames. and look and listen to residents evacuating the town of superior. wind gusts in and around boulder ranged from 78 to 115 miles per hour. hurricane force is 74 miles per hour. those winds downing power lines, according to the governor, and that started many of the fires, then spread them faster than the firefighters could keep up. in fact, all aircraft grounded because of the high winds, so crews were having to fight this on the ground. meanwhile, roads were jammed at one point and, look here as debris flies across the roadway. many just trying to escape. in broomfield, colorado, we know at least six people were injured and taken to the hospital, and another hospital evacuating all of its patients and staff. >> for those who are directly affected, know that you don't stand alone. the people of colorado stand with you. for those who don't know if they have a home to return to, our prayers are with you for a safe return. for those who lost everything that they've had, know that we will be there for you to help rebuild your lives in the state of colorado. >> we know that a number of shelters have been opened for those that need them and the governor has declared a state of emergency. but thankfully, the weather in colorado is changing from those winds and fires to now snow on the forecast. >> thank you. these wildfires spiralled out of control very quickly. cnn meteorologist gene norman joins me now. what causes this kind of catastrophe so quickly? >> those pictures are just amazing when you think about all that we've been seeing over the past couple of hours. and there were three main factors here. we had winds that were speeding up as they came out of the rockies and down into the foothills, something we call wind amplification. also the area where the fires developed was ab normally dry and those winds were basically pumping the fire and pushing it. i've seen so many videos of the fire moving. i thought it was a time lapse. it was actually in real time. you talk about these winds, 115 miles an hour, that's the same strength as a category 3 hurricane. hard to wrap your head around that, really. and as far as the dry conditions, all of the state of colorado is in drought. the areas in red, boulder, including denver, they're in the extreme level of drought. in the city of denver they just had their first measurable snowfall earlier this month and it wasn't that much, .3 inches. that's nothing. for the last six months the total of rain and snow has been a little over an inch. so bone dry allowed those conditions to develop. the snow is starting to develop, showing up on the radar to the west. a big storm system that's going to affect a lot of the country. when the snow moves into the denver area, probably around 7:00 or 8:00 their time, and it will continue right on into early saturday morning. it's also going to cause big severe weather problems in the eastern half of the country. we'll get to that a little bit later. as far as the snowfall amounts, anywhere from 4 to 10 inches in denver, really the worst way to end the new year. >> hopefully that snow starts to ease some of that pain. thank you. appreciate it. well, colorado governor has a lot on his plate and he's commuted the 110 year sentence of a truck driver. the sentence how officially reduced to ten years from 110 and he will be eligible for parole at the end of 2026. you'll remember he was driving a semi tractor-trailer at 85 miles per hour when he says his brakes failed, causing that fiery wreck that killed four people back in 2019. the governor called the sentence atypical and unjust, but the district attorney says she's disappointed with the governor's decision, claiming he acted prematurely. do you love a deal at ikea? 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>> reporter: well, both sides agree that these were constructive and positive talks, and that was a positive, if you will. but i don't think we're any closer to agreement and you'll understand that when you hear president putin to president biden saying, look, we're going to put on you economic financial military sanctions. that's the kremlin's read of what president biden said and the russian perspective, president putin told president biden you do that, that's going to cause a massive rupture in our bilateral relations, it will be a colossal mistake that will be felt for generations. as for de-escalation, putin's point was, okay, i'm going to continue with my troops where they are, just as you, the united states, would continue if russian troops were on your border, meaning he's not about to take down his number of troops on the border with ukraine. that's the implication. so, you know, we're going into those talks in january, both sides have set out their sides, the options are open and it's not clear which way putin is going on this yet. >> i'm sure you'll be tracking that. while i have you, this is such a complicated and interesting time on the world stage. as we head into this new year, what's the story we should be keeping an eye on? >> reporter: you know, that's such a hard question to answer, isn't it? because who has a crystal ball that can tell us what's around the corner. iran talks are going to be problematic, this issue with russian and tensions over ukraine is going to rumble on and on, there's the china issue out there as well. you could look at the uk and brexit issue, that's going to flair up for the uk and european union. i think the big disrupter this coming year, 2022, really is the pandemic. it hasn't run its course. there are still unexpected twists and turns. coronavirus hasn't finished delivering up its menu of possible virus options, and china, that big element in the supply chain, it has so far held off a massive impact across the country. but, you know, is it going to be able to continue to do that? could it be swept up and see spiraling and rocketing numbers the same way that we're seeing in the united states and across europe at the moment? that's going to put a bump, serious bump on the supply chain. so it's uncertainty, i think, around the pandemic is the underlying uneasy factor going through the whole year. >> great point. something to watch, for sure. nic robertson, thank you. now to a lesson in doing your research. the bbc is apologizing for its decision to interview alan dershowitz. what the audience did not hear was that dershowitz himself helped defend epstein and a survivor has accused dershowitz of sexually abusing her when he was epstein's lawyer. in his interview, dershowitz attacked her for her accusations against him and the prince. after the interview, the bbc acknowledged that the segment, quote, did not meet the network's editorial standards. a quick programming note for your weekend. friends, collaborators, legends, carole king and james taylor, just just call out my name" sunday at 9:00, only on cnn. kee. ignore us. i've lost, like, 28 pounds. you look great! wow. i love that my clothes fit better. but i just love ice cream a little bit more than that. the new ww personalpoints program is particular to you. so what kind of foods do you like? avocado. ice cream. sandwiches. no food is off limits. when can i start? start the new year with three months free. join today at ww.com. hurry, offer ends january 3rd. ♪ ♪ do your eyes bother you? because after all these emails, my eyes feel like a combo of stressed, dry and sandpaper. strypaper? why do we all put up with this? when there's biotrue hydration boost eye drops. biotrue uses naturally inspired ingredients like an electrolyte, antioxidant, even your tears' own moisturizer. and no preservatives. these ingredients are true to your eyes' biology. see? bio.true. this is elodia. she's a recording artist. 1 of 10 million people that comcast has connected to affordable internet in the last 10 years. and this is emmanuel, a future recording artist, and one of the millions of students we're connecting throughout the next 10. through projectup, comcast is committing $1 billion so millions more students, past... and present, can continue to get the tools they need to build a future of unlimited possibilities. welcome back. south africa is now easing its coronavirus restrictions, just a month after the omicron variant was first detected there. the latest indicators now say they may have passed the peak. cnn's david mckenzie is on the ground for us in cape town, south africa. what more are you learning? how was the virus able to get controlled there? >> reporter: well, laura, very little was done to control it because the restrictions were never tightened for omicron. if you look at this graph, this extraordinary rise in cases in south africa, dominated by omicron, and then the very quick and steep fall. as you say, officials here say that it may be the end of the wave, or it's quickly receding, the threat easing in this country. and you have this easing of restrictions, more people are allowed together. still have to wear masks, as you can see, and for many, many months, the curfew will be dropped just in time for new year's celebrations. so it's generally positive news. a major study from a fwgroup of private hospitals saying they're seeing people who are in hospital because of omicron for a shorter time, fewer people, much fewer people proportionally with respiratory issues. it's unclear if that is because of vaccination in the country or because of a large amount of people already having had covid. scientists also warn that it doesn't necessarily mean that the situation will be translated to the rest of the world like the u.s. and europe, who are seeing a great deal of case increases, but it does provide a positive sign that maybe this variant isn't as bad as we had feared. >> that is certainly the hope. so far the numbers in europe just haven't born that out. thank you for your reporting. now to this remarkable story of a chicago teacher who spent three hours in the bathroom after testing positive for covid, get this, mid-flight. she was on an iceland air flight earlier this month. she tells cnn, she took two pcrs and five rapid tests. they all came back negative. 90 minutes into the flight she developed a sore throat and took another test just to be sure. sure enough, it was positive, so she isolated otherself in the bathroom to keep the passengers safe. the flight attendant put an out of service sign on the door. of all the post-game celebrations you've ever seen, this is one to forget. what did you expect? 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it's a vulnerable population because so many young people have not been vaccinated at all. if you can get more further down the pipeline, that's a better sign for everyone. >> over 8 million kids have been vaccinated, with a very, very good safety record. the cdc just released more data on that. the biggest risk to kids today is if they're not vaccinated and they are exposed, they can go on to get very serious consequences for that. 99% of the kids who have been hospitalized, according to recent cdc data, had no vaccination before. >> what we're seeing right now in this giant surge, make no mistake about it, is exactly what health officials predicted. it is pounding away at people who are unvaccinated. by and large, the vaccinated population is doing better, people who are vaccinated are being credited with keeping down the surge into hospitals during this pandemic surge, basically people are getting sick, but not as sick, because we are vaccinated, and that's why they're pushing to say, look, we need more people out there getting vaccinated, getting the second shot, the booster if you can, because that can have such an overwhelming effect. as it is, very serious warnings out there. the holiday is looming, people are being told, look, be very careful about going to a restaurant, be very careful about going to a bar. if you are unvaccinated, just don't. it is simply not a safe thing for you to do. a lot of people won't believe that, a lot of people don't want to hear that, but with this pandemic surging the way it is right now with these phenomenal numbers, every day now, health officials say it just has to be that way or else we're going to have so many people in the hospital, so sick, and so many more fatalities. >> thank you. let's bring in dr. raja, executive vice chair of the department of emergency medicine at massachusetts general hospital. also a professor at harvard medical school. doctor, so nice to have you this morning. so lots of new year's eve parties happening tonight and a lot of kids going back to school on monday. what do you think the testing protocols should be in schools? should kids be tested the morning of, should they be tested all next week? what do you think we should do? >> it's a great question, laura. first of all, i think it's really important that kids actually go back. they need it, but just as importantly, we all need it. >> yes. >> so i think that the key is going to be that over the next few days we need to limit their exposure, we need to test them this weekend, before they go back, if at all possible, and then if that's just not possible and they do go back, it will be important to test them when they get there. because we don't want people coming back from this break and spreading covid throughout the schools. >> one of the things that seems so hard is everyone is doing it so differently and there's no uniform practice right now, which makes sense because different places are dealing with different issues. but it is hard for these schools and educators that are doing the best they can to keep our kids safe. also, speaking of keeping safe, gyms, restaurants, museums, so many places that people want to go indoors that have struggled to survive during this pandemic are now facing, you know, a lot of hesitancy around what to do with omicron and how to stay safe. the cdc now says, please don't go on a cruise, and so i wonder for you, doctor, how do you balance this in your own life? are you eating indoors, are you going to the gym? >> you know, right now i'm not. and i hear you on the economic problem. our local restaurant, we live in a small town, and the local restaurant down the street closed during the pandemic and we miss them. but right now i'm not actually personally going much of anywhere. we'll go to the grocery store, but not to the gym or anywhere else. we've got so many staff out who had exposure over the holidays, even with just family and friends, with how easily omicron spreads. i'm just not taking chances. >> christine and i have talked about it, just these constant risk calculations that we're all doing every day. meanwhile, the average case records that are being set every day are just -- they're astronomical. the numbers in new york are something like 74,000 cases in one day. hospitalizations are up just a bit. but apples to apples, the number of people in the hospital is still about half of what it was at the peak a year ago. obviously we don't want to see hospitalizations go up. so if the numbers stay like this, what does it say to you? >> you know, laura, you hit the nail on the head. apples to apples, we're actually doing a little better. as we've been discussing, the omicron variant is like the other variants, but the second thing we have to remember is this means the vaccines are working. yes, there are breakthrough cases, but they haven't been putting people into the er. i'm going into the er for a shift after this and the people in the hospital, the majority of them just won't have been vaccinated. >> yeah, it's interesting, some of the messaging this year, it seems to have gotten lost about, you know, this virus, you may still get infected, but you will not end up in the hospital. and that is really what the purpose of the vaccines were supposed to be. and somehow that messaging sort of got muddled, it seemed, along the way, and hopefully we can have a course correction next year on that. finally, doctor, if you were advising president biden and he said to you, dr. raja, what is the one thing i could do next year, if i could just do one single thing differently, what would you want to see come january? >> laura, the one thing that we need, that i need, that my patients need, we need tests. we need rapid tests that we can take, like that lady on the plane that you were talking about a few minutes ago, who realized that -- i can't imagine sitting in an airplane bathroom for a couple hours, but whenever we develop symptoms, we need to be able to do some tests at home and not expose testing personnel and others. we just need a lot of rapid tests in every house. >> a lot of rapid tests. what about domestic travel? do you think there should be a vaccine mandate? >> i think we're probably heading there. the fact is that airplanes are safe and they circulate a lot of air, but quite honestly, we've had plenty of people after airport exposures and all of the other stuff that goes with flying, that it makes sense to have a vaccine mandate. i think that's where we're headed. >> with all the delays at airports, you see people packed in like sardines in the waiting areas. doctor, thank you so much for coming on early. appreciate it. hope to see you in the new year. >> thanks, laura. now to our other top story, catastrophic wildfires in boulder county, colorado. take a look at this video. hundreds of homes and businesses have been destroyed and tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from the area. this driver fleeing a costco parking lot while part of it was already on fire. thick smoke, low visibility and flames slowing down with first responders trying to help in the superior and louisville areas. the national weather service has called the situation life-threatening and the governor has declared a state of emergency. >> very little time to get out, very little time to even get the most important parts of your life. and, yes, it will be a difficult process for colorado families who are affected to rebuild their lives. >> in fact, all aircraft have been grounded because of these hurricane-force winds, so crews have been fighting the flames solely from the ground. debris flying across roadways as hundreds of people evacuate the region. >> it's like raining down ash just a mile or so that way. >> it's scary, right? >> yeah. >> ever seen anything like this? >> not in my time. >> several hospitals were forced to evacuate patients quickly from the icu and from the labor and delivery units. shelters have been opened for those who need it, and forecasters say there is snow heading toward the area and it will help douse the flames and smoke. well, the new york city police department is finalizing security plans for tonight's new year's eve celebration in times square. the usual crowd of 60,000 is being scaled back to 15,000 because of covid, of course. everyone in attendance tonight is required to be vaccinated and masked. >> just upstream of where the counterterrorism bureau is going to be screening people, we will have vaccination checkers who will check i.d. and vaccination status and make sure people have masks on. if people don't have masks, we will be providing for them. >> well, the countdown to 2022 is on. here is the holiday weekend forecast with meteorologist gene norman. >> well, laura, 2021 goes out with a bang. we've got storms in the south, bitter cold coming in from the north, and a strong winter storm emerging out of the rockies. watch as it barrels through, indicating that we're going to see some heavy snow in sections of the rockies, especially near boulder, where, of course, they're still trying to recover from yesterday's fires. but look at all these storms blossoming from texas down into the southeast. there could be severe weather. and the pink from chicago toward kansas city, that could be ice. it's going to be a real mess, especially in the middle of the country. two areas to watch, friday we've got a severe storm threat and on saturday it expands, some of the same places that were dealing with tornadoes from earlier this month. in addition to the severe weather threat, there could be flooding indicated by the area you see in red. as far as the snow, out in the rockies, again, 4 to 10 inches in denver and to the north, further out into the mountains, up to a foot and even more than that. look where you are and see how the weather will be as the clock strikes 12:00. happy new year. >> thank you. a much-needed string of storms across the west, improving drought conditions in california. the combination of mountain snows across the sierras and heavy rainfall finally hitting southern california, nearly eliminating areas of exceptional drought in the state. less than 1% of california is currently designated as extreme drought, down from a quarter of the area just a week ago. we'll be right back. ♪ my name is austin james. as a musician living with diabetes, fingersticks can be a real challenge. that's why i use the freestyle libre 2 system. with a painless, one-second scan i know my glucose numbers without fingersticks. now i'm managing my diabetes better and i've lowered my a1c from 8.2 to 6.7. take the mystery out of managing your diabetes and lower your a1c. now you know. try it for free at freestylelibre.us 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. 43 past the hour here and congress is dark for the holiday. lawmakers return next week with a lengthy to-do list as the midterm elections loom. cnn's daniella diaz is live on capitol hill for us this morning. what can we expect on the other side of the holiday weekend? >> reporter: well, laura, i do want to refresh our viewers' memory because there was a lot of news that was made right before the congressional recess, in fact it was when senator joe manchin actually torpedoed the build back better act, he said he would not support it, considering it was a multi-trillion bill that would expand the nation's social safety net. it had provisions such as expanding the child tax credit, paid family and medical leave, a lot of funding to combat climate change. these were provisions that progressives and most democrats really wanted to pass, but they needed his support in the senate. and because he did not support this bill, it has been all but doomed. but that is not stopping senate majority leader chuck schumer, who is planning to put this legislation on the floor for a vote in the senate when they come back from congressional recess on january 3rd, daring senator joe manchin to vote against this legislation. it seems that democrats are going to start working on possibly trying to pass these provisions separately in the hopes of getting senator joe manchin to support these provisions, such as paid family medical leave, and that is where they'll turn their attention when they come back from recess. another thing is the senate needs to confirm jerome powell as the federal reserve chair. while he's expected to be confirmed, there could be some pushback from progressives, such as senator elizabeth warren, who feels that jerome powell has not been, you know, tough enough against banks. but it does seem that he is expected to be confirmed and that is another thing, considering the soaring inflation in this country that congress is going to work on to try to pass when they come back from recess. now, i haven't scene mentioned government funding. now, congress passed a short-term funding bill at the beginning of december and they need to address a longer-term funding bill when they come back from recess in january, because funding runs out in february. so a lot of things on congress's plate when they come back from recess. a lot more i didn't even mention, so they have a lot of priorities to deal with, laura. >> daniella, you're going to be very busy come january. rest up. thank you. well, a new york jury has found teva pharmaceuticals liable for fueling the opioid crisis. this landmark verdict comes after a six-month trial. lawyers argued that the manufacturer downplayed risks and failed to follow basic standards, safety safeguards which led to thousands of deaths. a subsequent trial will require how much teva will be required to pay up. the january 6th committee has asked the u.s. supreme court to reject the bid to block the records. the documents contain information that could shed light on what the former president was doing as his supporters staged a deadly coup at the u.s. capitol. cnn's jessica schneider is in washington with more. >> reporter: it's a waiting game to see how the supreme court will handle the request from former president trump to take up his case to keep the records secret and out of the hands of the january 6th house committee. lawyers for the committee and for the biden administration filed their replies on thursday, urging the supreme court to reject his case and to allow trump's records to be handed over. the house cited what they're calling its overwhelming need to get the more than 700 pages of white house records and they're saying that their interests should outweigh the former president's interests, especially because the current president, joe biden, also favors handing over the documents to the committee. of course, the two lower courts, they've already ruled against trump, but the documents are still blocked from the committee. that's pending the supreme court's decision on whether they'll even hear this case. now, of course, the documents would be significant to the investigation. they contain call logs and visitor logs from the white house on and around january 6th, plus drafts of speeches and handwritten notes that could provide some insight into how the former president was reacting to the capitol attack in real time. lawyers for the house committee, they're asking the supreme court to decide quickly, by mid-january, about whether they'll even hear this case or perhaps grant trump's request to keep blocking his documents. but so far, no word from the supreme court on how quickly they might make that decision. laura? >> jessica, thank you for that. ikea is raising its prices by an average of 9%, blaming ongoing supply chain disruptions. ikea says costs have been driven up by significant transport and raw material constraints. the company expects supply chain problems to continue into 2022. tesla is re-calling over 475,000 cars. two recalls are in place now. the first one involving the rearview camera in the tesla model 3. a cable may separate over time, blocking the camera feed. the second recall here, a little bit more serious, involves what's known as the frunk. the front trunk latch that could result in the hood opening unexpectedly. the recall nearly equals tesla's total global deliveries last year. and a massive accidental payout now has a bank in the uk scrambling. santanneder mistaken by paid out $175 million on christmas day. they blamed it on a scheduling issue, which they say is fixed. a few years ago you'll remember citibank lost nearly $500 of the $900 million it sent out by mistake and went to court to try to get it back. in february, a federal judge ruled the bank will not be allowed to recover that money. we are just hours away from seeing who will play for college football's national championship. coy wire has it all covered in this morning's bleacher report. >> we have a new blue blood and a cinderella looking to crash the party. it is cincinnati wearing the glass slipper, the first non power five conference team to make the playoff. they were the only team to go undefeated. they've only lost one game since 2019 and that was barely to georgia in a bowl game last season. they have a chip on their shoulders. they are aiming to take down the kings, the alabama crimson tide. >> this isn't a team that wants to, you know, ride the, hey, let's shock the world or do anything like that. it's a team that really believes in what it is they've done, loves challenges. i think for us that's kind of been the message, in order to beat the champs you're going to have to play at your best. >> bring them out. alabama, the defending national champs, seeking their seventh title under nick sabin and it seemed to take a while for the tide to get up to form this season, but they dominated in the s.e.c. championship. the coach was asked if his patience was tested earlier this season. >> i don't have any patience, so anything that happens is a test of my patience. including sitting in this chair right now. >> a smile! the orange bowl, meanwhile, it's going to be about redemption for this one and return to glory. georgia's title drought has lasted four decades. they have to bounce back after getting walloped from bama. they're returning for the first time in almost a quarter century after a huge win over ohio state and the big ten title. the wolverines haven't been in a spot to compete since they last won it back in 1998. >> every day matters and the games are the ones that count, so we're going into our 14th game that counts, our guys have done a tremendous job, you know, each day, making each day matter. >> as a coach, you've been here before, but it's the players that it's really about. it's about these guys enjoying it and going out and competing and making memories of a lifetime and just thankful for the opportunity that college football gives us. >> bama and cincinnati will pick off at 3:00 p.m. eastern and bama and eastern at 7:30. fans were wondering, what in the world are we watching in this music city bowl. four touchdowns scored in about a three-minute span, including 62 yards for a score. this game would go to overtime, tide at 45. then taking the lead on a fourth and goal. watch here, the officials say jaylen wright's forward progress had stopped. coach josh heupel was livid. purdue would eventually kick a field goal and win it. 48-45 was the final. boilermakers complete their best season since 2003. michigan state trailing pitt by 11 in the fourth in the peach bowl, but that changed real quick. they scored three touchdowns, including the nail in the coffin here. cal holiday intercepting this pass and taking it all the way for a touchdown. oh, it would feel so nice, helping seal the spartans 31-21 win, finishing 11-2 in mel tucker's second year at the helm. finally a warning, avert your eyes if you have an aversion to mayonnaise. the winning coach of the duke's mayo bowl getting lathered up in a bucket of the stuff, taking the bowl tradition like a champ. he said, it was everything i dreamed it would be, laura. nothing like starting your new year with crevices filled with mayonnaise, right? that's incredible. this is either really disgusting or hilarious, depending how you look at it. >> number one, you can see how they're struggling with it. i bet it's heavy when it's full. and also just the smell, i can't. >> he got a big bonk on the back of the head. definitely deserves the title for that. but i wish your family the best new year. i hope you have a great one. part of my year, the best parts, is being on and sharing stories with you every morning. >> i appreciate that a lot, corey. happy new year to you. thank you so much. and now, finally this morning, to an "early start" tradition of sorts, a thank you to all of the folks working so hard behind the camera that you do not see every day, but are doing so much. i've got a lot of names to read, so settle in here. ryan miller, tim curran, mark freedman, chloe stretching, bruce williams, joanne na preston, meredith richards, sam fernando, lizzy yang, andrew seger, dominic torres, flojerem hochman, claudia pedala, laura gattini, merle daly, betty salinas, dean baxter, jimmy marsek, mike stein, january rappa, michael chen, christine cast co, paul cutting, paul bernius, sean clark, jamie yost, and our fearless leader, executive producer, l.z., for which this show would not be possible without you. we appreciate all the work that everybody is doing trying to keep us on air in the middle of this global pandemic, and thank you to our viewers. we will see you back here monday. happy new year. 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