area in georgia to make that move. a vast majority of the country, in fact, seen in dark red here, is struggling with covid surges in some place. 50% or more. we're following the rapidly changing plans of school districts all across the country but particularly here in the atlanta area. what are you learning? >> yeah, this is exactly what school districts and students and teachers, a lot of them were hoping would not happen. but when you see the spike in cases all across the country and here in georgia, this is the reaction. so we know that at least five metro atlanta school districts, including three atlanta school districts are all going to be going back to remote learning when they go back to school this week. not back to the classroom, but back to their kitchen tables and their bedrooms and their basements to do remote learning again. just like many schools had to do at the beginning of the school year because of the spike in cases that we saw during the month of august. now, for atlanta teachers, this is interesting, those teachers will have to go back to their school buildings and they will be required to undergo covid-19 testing. the school district says they will use that testing for their data and future planning. most of the school districts that say they're going back to remote learning starting in the beginning of the year are hoping by the week of january 10th that they can be in person again. of course, all of that really depends on what the numbers look like in the state, in the city, and in those school districts. but here we are again, fred. it's deja vu. you think it's a new year, we're going to do something new, but we're back to the same old, same old. >> we sure are. okay. thank you so much. keep us posted. so for the biden administration, the deepening covid crisis may be the single most pressing and most formidable challenge. we're in wilmington, delaware, where the president is spending the holiday weekend. what's being done publicly and behind closed doors? >> reporter: well, frederica, the focus is on getting resources to states where hospitals are feeling the strain and also easing those shortfalls of testing that are causing these lines and delays in results around the country. it was ten days ago that president biden said that the federal government would purchase 500 million at-home rapid tests. they would send them to any american who wants them. but there's still a lot of questions about that plan ten days later. most namely when the tests will be available. we do expect to get more information in this upcoming week. the federal government is going to finalize the contracts with the companies that will actually produce those tests. we expect to learn more about that late this week. in the meantime, the white house and the federal government are trying to ramp up testing resources in other ways. there was a federal testing site that opened in new jersey today. federal testing sites in the district of columbia and philadelphia expected to open in the next coming days. the white house has also sent fema medical resources to states like arizona and new york. some military medical personnel are going to states around the country. president biden really hoped to enter 2022 in much more normal circumstances and you heard him say that -- repeat that over the past year. remember, it was only in july that the president wanted independence from the virus. then came the delta surge. right now, this is really a political problem, a public health problem for the president and you're starting to see that shift somewhat with public health officials trying to focus more on the severity of cases through hospitalizations instead of overall case counts and that's really trying to shift the country into this situation where we'll have to live with this virus for however long is to come. president biden did post a little video, he shared it with one of the new year's eve broadcasts. he says the virus has been tough this year, but we've been tougher, frederica? >> thank you so much. at least four times this week, the nation broke records for its seven-day average of new covid-19 cases. it has soared to an average of 386,000 new infections each of those days. that's the highest of any time during the pandemic. and many experts warn it will only get worse. the crisis has forced the biden administration to abandon its hopeful messaging from the summer. >> so today while the virus hasn't been advavanquished, we this, it no longer controls our lives, it no longer paralyzing our nation. >> look, there's no federal solution. this gets solved at the state level and that's where the patient is in need of help or preventing the need for help. >> let's talk about all of this. dr. abdul el saeed and an infectious disease expert and senior adviser at the pandemic prevention institute. good to see both of you. well, doctor, i don't know, is this covid still controlling so much of us? i mean the white house wants to be optimistic, but what do you believe the message needs to be from the white house right now about what we really are up against? >> it is a really challenging circumstance to be in. but here's the reality of trying to message in this moment in the first place. you're trying to message to basically two different populations. you have the unbothered unvaccinated and you have the vigilant vaccinated. when you talk about the severity of where we are right now, it increases the understandable anxiety among the vigilant vaccinated but it doesn't do anything for the unbothered unvaccinated who you need to start paying attention and need to get vaccinated. it's a difficult situation to be in. that being said, in this situation, it's also impossible to understand why it is that we don't have the necessary testing that we should have had in the first place. and that really has upped the anxiety about the fact that we have omicron cases skyrocketing and people find themselves without the things that they thought they needed, it makes it feel like we're back in march of 2020. this really is a challenging circumstance for the administration. in part because they believed their own press in the early parts of this summer when they thought that the pandemic was really behind us. and it wasn't. we never really should have stopped pushing the gas on making sure that all of the things that we needed to deal with this pandemic and cases shot up again, and they have. >> you're saying they believed their own optimism. is there any way in which this administration can play catch-up with getting more tests available to meet the growing need, doctor? >> the unfortunate situation here is that it's really difficult to play catch-up because we're seeing cases surge well beyond what we've ever seen in the midst of this pandemic. and so once you're already behind, it is really, really difficult to catch up and the demand just far outstrips the capacity to bring supply online. we never really should have seen the kind of decreases in manufacturing of tests, manufacturing of n-95 masks and unfortunately it's left us in a situation where it's almost impossible to catch up. >> there was great hope that a booster shot, that third shot was going to help people prepare for what could have been an expected surge, especially because of that omicron variant. but there are tremendous number of breakthrough cases regardless of whether you have a booster or not. so what is the message to be sent to people, to incentivize, especially the unvaccinated? how did you describe them, doctor? the unbothered, unvaccinated. that's great alliteration. what can be the message to them when they're seeing there are breakthrough cases of people who have their booster shots, why even bother? >> right. given the high transmissibility of omicron, breakthrough infections are inevitable. the more vaccinated people we see, the more breakthrough infections people get because of the sheer volume of virus that is circulating in our community. what needs to be the focus, though, is the fact that vaccines from the beginning of vaccination research, the primary goal is to keep people out of hospitals and to keep people alive. it's not to prevent infection. that's one of the bonuses that can happen. given how easy it is to accurate the disease, the vaccines are really going to prevent you from getting severe sick. the numbers have not been great. the last day of 2021, we were only 62% fully vaccinated in the country and only 33% of the population has been boosted. that's not enough to have that balance of low transmission and high vaccination so we can stop seeing high trends in the data. >> and fully vaccinated is still considered the two shots. >> as of right now, that definition has not changed. one of the ways we can incentivize the booster is knowing when you look at the data, data for those who have been boosted, it's pretty compelling when it shows they're less likely to be infected or severely sick with omicron and other variants because it has increase a person's protection against the virus. >> and then, doctor, i mean, there are lots of images out there that we're all trying to understand, of course, and messages too. people were hoping that this holiday season meant that they could get together with their family members and then we heard about the omicron variant and then a lot of people backed off that. but then you still have -- america loves its football. but you have these college bowls taking place. you've got crowded stands, et cetera. i mean, how do you handle conveying a message of need versus, you know, conveying a message that universally is being directed by desire? >> yeah, this has been the frustrating reality, frankly, from the jump when it comes to this pandemic. there has been some wishful thinking about where we are and where we wanted to be. nobody wanted to be in a situation yet again on the holidays where you have yet another variant. this one far more transmissible than anything that we've seen just yet. potentially precluding us from doing the things we love with your family, but also being able to celebrate the things that happen once a year, bowl season, my michigan wolverines just lost yesterday. maybe this is a moment where we can look at this and ask how much is enough? how many people are we willing to let get sick and possibly die of this preventable illness? and not do the things that we need to do to curtail it. here we are. again, for folks who have said, i'm done with covid, even if covid is not done for me -- >> it's not a state of mund. >> exactly. >> doctors, thank you so much. let's still pray for a hopeful new year. got to be something good around the corner for all of us. thank you so much. good to see you. >> coming up next, never without a quick and witty comeback. betty white says she was born a cockeyed optimist. her ability to make us all laugh next. betty white, a beloved actress and comedian passed away friday. just days before her 100th birthday. with a hollywood career that spanned over eight decades, she became one of the most enduring and iconic faces of television we look back at the incredible and extraordinary career of america's sweetheart. >> reporter: in 1949, betty white played a side kick on a live afternoon show in los angeles. it ran about five hours a day, at least five days a week. >> at that point, television was just starting and nobody had any idea it was going to change the world. >> reporter: she appeared in sitcoms and game shows, winning hearts with her sweet smile and sharp wit. she was one of the earliest female producers in hollywood. she played seven seasons as the lovable but naive rose on "the go golden girls". >> and they attack chickens. >> i don't care about chickens. >> reporter: the actress and comedian amassed a collection of emmys, awards and a grammy. in 2010 she was presented a lifetime achievement award by the screen actors guild. >> when they called me, i couldn't believe it. >> reporter: white was a longtime advocate for animal rights. >> television is my hobby. animals are my work. >> reporter: she never dropped from the scene, her career got a second wind in 2010 after she starred in a snicker's super bowl commercial. the popularity of the spot spark add campaign on facebook advocating for white to host "saturday night live." she brought the show its highest ratings in nearly two years. >> you know what's an accomplishment? staying awake on the toilet. >> reporter: after that success, white seemed to be everywhere. in movies and tv shows. including a starring role in the sitcom "hot in cleveland." she published books and even a calendar. white was voted america's favorite and most trusted celebrity in a 2011 reuters poll. she had a sense of humor about her newfound ubiquity. >> if you thought you couldn't get rid of me before, now you're really stuck with me. >> reporter: her celebrity transcended generations. >> indeed. what a remarkable legacy. with me now is stan zimmerman. a writer and producer who wrote for the first season of "the go golden girls". thanks for being with us. you were a great friend of betty white's and i know this loss is tremendous. tell me -- what's that? >> i think we all were. we all felt a part of her family and that she was a part of our family. >> i wonder, you know, tell me, you wrote for, you know, a lot of iconic shows, "rose ann," "gilmore girls," what would be your approach in writing when you knew it was betty white delivering the lines? >> fear. we were baby writers at the time and we had so much to live up to. susan harris created such beautiful characters and i had grown up watching bea arthur, betty white and here i was, somehow landed on that set in the first season and they were all saying my lines. but if you wanted anybody to read your lines, you would want those four. they were the best of the best. >> wow. i mean, it really seems like it. how fortunate for you to be able to be in the room, you know, and be able to collaborate, to write, to be creative with them in mind. so as it pertains to betty white, you know, you mentioned you would be terrified, it was nerve-racking writing it, but then when she would read it or deliver it, what would that make you feel like? >> my heart would pound. i couldn't believe that she was reading them and she just, you know, knocked every joke out of the ballpark as all four of them did. that's what made the show so special. they came at it from different perspectives, backgrounds and training but they were all so brilliant and so perfectly cast in those roles. and it was great to see betty play something different than sue ann, and she was so wonderful at it, which is why she won one of her emmy awards for it. >> i love the way she described her character. she would say she wasn't unsmart. she was actually very smart. it's just that she was very compassionate and had a rosy view of everybody else and seemed like she paralleled her character. did she? >> she did. and we got to use bits from her real life. my writing partner had read an article that she had been interviewed for the "new york times" and she had talked about her husband who had passed. and how she said said that not a day goes by that she doesn't think of him. and we put that in a scene and i wish i got to tell her that we had done that, but every time i see that scene, i kind of get goosebumps knowing that those were her actual words and she actually said them about the character, charlie, on "golden girls." >> what longevity, in the industry, and just as a human being, period. she died 17, 18 days before her 100th birthday. >> on new year's eve. which i think is so fitting. she would choose that day knowing that we would all be talking about her and toasting her and i know i toasted her last night. not as much as andy cohen did, but i did a little bit. >> how do you want people to remember her? those of us who didn't get to know her personally, but got to know her because of her characters and watch her on tv for this many decades, we have our own ideas about how to remember her. how do you want people to remember your dear friend, betty white? >> i think now would be a good time to go back and look at all the shows, mary tyler moore, "golden girls" or talk to your pet the way betty white loved her pets. and those that we love, like "the golden girls" created for themselves. >> what a pleasure to talk to you. thanks for sharing your memories and great encounters with the late now great betty white. 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 - [female narrator] they line up by the thousands. each one with a story that breaks your heart. like ravette... every step, brought her pain. their only hope: mercy ships. the largest floating civilian hospital in the world. bringing free surgeries to people who have no other hope. $19 a month will help provide urgently needed surgery for so many still suffering. so don't wait, call the number on your screen. or donate at mercyships.org. and there you have it. woah. wireless on the most reliable network nationwide. wow. big deal. we get unlimited for just 30 bucks. sweet, but mine has 5g included. relax people. my wireless is crushing it. that's because you all have xfinity mobile with your internet. it's wireless so good, it keeps one-upping itself. take the savings challenge at xfinitymobile.com/mysavings or visit an xfinity store to learn how our switch squad makes it easy to switch and save hundreds. 22 years after she was murdered, the family of then 13 year old finally received some good news with the use of new dna technology and decades old case notes the nypd was able to find the young girl's killer. here's an exclusive look at the incredible investigation and i should warn you that some elements in this story may be disturbing. >> i joined the police department because i think that there was some adventure and excitement and also to do something that really matters. i want to catch bad guys. i'm from bronx homicide. i got an old case from 1999. god forbid you're on your deathbed tomorrow and you're looking back at your life and if you did something that mattered, i think that's the most important thing. >> reporter: in february 2018, cnn gained rare access into the nypd's bronx homicide unit to follow detectives as they work a decades-old cold case. >> she was 13 years old. she was still several years away from her prom. she never got to go. >> reporter: a seventh grader from the bronx was brutally killed february 24th, 1999. >> my name is kimberly ortiz and went to middle school 135 with her. she was so bubbly, kind. she always had a book with her where she wrote about poetry. >> what do you remember about february 24th, 1999? >> gosh, that day, i remember that date like yesterday. i was the last person who probably saw her alive other than her killer. >> reporter: she left school and vanished. her body was found four days later in a dumpster, two miles from her home. she had been strangled. >> it was like, she's dead and they don't know who it was. this killer is still out there. and this person is probably preying on kids our age, we were all on edge. the hardest case that is we deal with as medical examiners are those involving children, what was done with her is something that's been haunting me for the nearly 20 years since that date. there was no really good leads as to who did it. >> reporter: when we met up with malcolm, he was rounding the corner on 31 years of service. >> i could have retired 11 and a half years ago, i was eligible to retire, and i stayed. i feel this is important work. >> reporter: during his career, he created a niche for himself, solving some of the hardest cases in the nypd's history. serial killers, rapists and even homicides. the department hoped fresh eyes would find the killer. it seemed all leads had been exhausted and the case continued to loom over the community. >> we want to know what happened to her. >> it's important. we want to look at her and remember who we're working for. it's better to have a mountain of material than to start with nothing. as daunting as it is, it's also pure gold in here. it actually displays just how difficult this case is going to be to solve. this is interesting. this is some of the stuff that went to the fbi lab. some of her poetry that he wrote. >> reporter: her diaries were filled with a mix of schoolwork, love notes, even a list of astronomy websites she likes to visit. >> it stays with you, and this was one of them. >> reporter: over the years, dozens of detectives worked this case and rimen reached out to many of them and retraced the steps they took 20 years before. >> barney, it's malcolm from bronx homicide. >> it was a sunday morning. i was at church. i got a beep. we still had beepers then. they found a dead body in a dumpster. there was a guy who was kind of a scrounger, he found a heavy back and ripped it open and he saw her. we have her leaving school, getting on the bus, getting off the bus, looking like she was entering her building. next thing we know, she's found in this dumpster. >> i've seen rape homicides before. they're usually messy. but this was all wrapped up in a bundle like somebody cared that she was dead. >> we're going to go to the location where her body was recovered. and we're going to take a look at these areas and we're just going to get a feel for the area, see what's around, get a feel for what it looks like. this would have been all that dark lot. if it's really late at night, there's not a whole lot going on back then here. >> none of those lights would have been there. >> it's daytime when she's found. assuming maybe that the crime occurs at her residence, the way the highways are set up, this is a really no-brainer in terms of finding a remote location where you could come. >> when the detectives found her body, she was fully clothed. a clue was discovered on her sweatshirt, traces of seman. the victim used to do door to door candy sales. maybe somebody took an interest in her. >> reporter: rimen learned that after reviewing hundreds of hold detective notes. investigators chased hundreds of leads, spoke to witnesses, even took samples. nothing pointed to who did it. they re-examined an original theory, that she may not have been a stranger to her killer. >> it seems as if she would have had an unusually high exposure to other residents in that building. >> so detectives revisited her apartment building. >> we knock on every door of the building. we also have a good idea of who was in the building back then, what men were able to be in a sexually active mode in 1999 that were of age to have sex who could be a possible suspect and getting an idea of who they are, where they are. >> reporter: rimen made a list of former tenants who he didn't get to speak to that day. and his focus shifted to a newly available dna technology. rimen and his lieutenant who also worked on the case in 1999 wanted to request familial dna testing. >> this was a case we did a lot of work. we heard about the familial dna at one of the training sessions. >> reporter: new york approved the use of familial dna testing in 2017. it allows police to identify suspects in a case by their connection with male relatives who were convicted of a crime and in the state's dna database. the state has only okayed its use for 35 cases. it would take time, possibly years and a lot of work for the state to even consider using it in her case. for rimen, time was the issue. after 31 years, the decorated detective was ready to retire. >> i'm going to have to let it go and pass it on and pass the torch. tough to do. tough to do. >> reporter: in november 2021, three years after rimen handed in his badge, nearly 23 years since the killing, the city announced it made an arrest. >> she was not just a grim statistic or a case number. she was a vibrant child who should be with us today enjoying life. >> reporter: a grand jury indicted 49-year-old joseph martinez on two counts of second degree murder. martinez was identified with the help of this team in the nypd's forensic unit. after the bureau requested familial dna in 2018, the chief took on the laborious duty of ensuring that the case met the strict criteria that the state requires for an application. it took two years for new york state's crime lab to come back with a familial dna hit. >> that was the moment that made the difference. the case is going to be solved. >> reporter: the familial dna hit gave detectives the name of a convicted offender found in the state's dna database. this means the team would be looking for someone related to that person as possibly being the killer. to help narrow down the possibilities, detectives formed a family tree and identified five male relatives of that offender. >> we look at their ages, we look at the locations, where they're residing. we look at the criminal history of the individuals. >> that helped eliminate two of the men who were too young at the time of the crime. investigators were then left with three who they determined to be sons of the convicted offender. taking a closer look at the evidence, detectives realized one of them, martinez, lived in her building when the murder happened. they collected a discarded dna sample from him and police say results came back with a direct match. >> there's only one individual that the positive, his dna, on her front shirt. that is unequivocal. >> reporter: the city says this is the first cold case solved by using familial dna. >> what happens with this new type of technology is, you go from a list of 43 people to one. >> that big crater that you saw in the middle of the moon, that that's crater right there. >> reporter: martinez also goes by jupiter joe. he gave sidewalk astronomy classes. videos of him encouraging kids and adults to see the stars through his telescope are online. >> astronomy, the stars and everything she was interested in is something that our suspect is interested in. he's going around, talking about it. there's a connection there. >> reporter: and detectives discovered another connection, old case notes from 1999 showed martinez told police he had seen her around their apartment complex getting mail and selling candy. when martinez was questioned in late november and denied any physical contact with her, detectives say, that's when they knew he was lying. ultimately sealing the case against him. >> he was fifth on the list of individuals that i wanted to look at and talk to. >> what does that say to you? >> it says we were heading in the right direction. these cases are so difficult to do. and there are so many setbacks and dead ends. see this guy is going to courtroom and face justice, it's an incredible gratification. >> just to see the person brought in prison is good enough for me. >> a bubbly girl from the bronx, she daydreamed about love, rainbows and the stars. there's no way she could have known traces of her life would one day be in boxes on a detective's desk. her smiling school picture, a reminder of who they were working for. >> i hope that she sees all the people that cared, all the people that put in so much effort over so many years, eating meals off the dashboard of a car and that she -- that she knows she wasn't forgotten. >> reporter: she was just 13. deserving of the life he imagined. >> i hope she's smiling at us. >> that was brynn gingras reporting. desmond tutu was an antiapartheid hero and archbishop. next, the touching tribute his daughter delivered today at his funeral. >> because we shared him with the world, you shared part of the love you held for him with us. und better in the shower. and it turns out the general is a quality insurance company that's been saving people money for nearly 60 years. for a great low rate, and nearly 60 years of quality coverage, go with the general. new projects means new project managers. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. when you sponsor a job, you immediately get your shortlist of quality candidates, whose resumes on indeed match your job criteria. visit indeed.com/hire and get started today. south africa's president hailed desmond tutu as the country's national conscious. the nobel peace prize winner is best remembered as an activist helping to end apartheid. david mckenzie reports on the ceremony. >> reporter: capetown was home to desmond tutu but he was an icon to millions across the world. and they will mourn his passing. ♪ >> reporter: in a simple pine casket of his choosing, a final good-bye to a man who helped define this country, its miracle of democracy. a man who cherished this cathedral and songs of praise. >> many of the messages we received have said thank you for sharing him with the world. well, it actually is a two-way street. because we shared him with the world, you shared part of the love you held for him with us. and so we are thankful for the many ways you showed us love, for the many times you challenged us, for the many times you comforted us. >> reporter: his parents christianed him and he had so much life and love to give. desmond tutu, a man of faith who took on apartheid's racism with the bravery of a lion. he was never afraid to speak out, speak up against the injustices of the world. a global celebrity with a common touch. many people i've spoken to and even myself included had a personal moment with the arch. what was it about him that allowed him to reach out and touch people like that? >> you see, desmond tutu could contact with anyone, with anyone. and it could be a king or president or with children. someone on the street that just bumps into him. and that happens again and again and again. he got energy from it and he gave energy. the ability to connect with other human beings was probably one of the most profound great things with him and because of that, i think the entire world feels that its my archbishop, it's my desmond tutu. >> he embraced all who had ever felt the cold wind of exclusion and they also embraced him. if archbishop desmond tutu were here, he would have said, hey, hey, why are you looking so glum, so unhappy? he would have wanted to elicit a smile, laugher from amongst all of us. ♪ >> reporter: his hearty laugher is silent, but tutu would have prayed that his lessons of forgiveness and hope will grow louder still. i spoke to several of his closest confidants and i asked who will carry on the legacy of desmond tutu. they said it's up to the next generation to speak truth like he did. frederica? >> thank you so much, david mckenzie. severe weather putting a hamper on holiday travel and it could get worse before the weekend's over. we'll have an update next. stay with us. ing machines. and now, 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. liz, you nerd, cough if you're in here! shh! i took mucinex dm for my phlegmy cough. what about rob's dry cough? works on that too, and lasts 12 hours. 12 hours?! who studies that long? mucinex dm relieves wet and dry coughs. we're kicking off the new year with some very active weather. 40 million people are under winter weather alerts and another 30 million could see severe weather. joining us now, jean norman, boy, you are busy this weekend. there's a lot going on out there. >> absolutely, fred. in fact, you can see behind me, it's showing in chicago. windy city living up to its name. 21 mile an hour winds with the flakes falling and it's going to get worse. all the folks under the winter weather alerts from new mexico to maine, you can see anywhere from 6 to 8 inches of snow. chicago back through sections of iowa and sbo sections of nebraska and kansas. the southern part of this storm system, that's where record high temperatures are tapping into a cold front and giving the potential for tornados. nine states under tornado watches and these will likely be expanded as the line of storms continues to march to the east. let's show you the timing for that. storms now, then by 8:00 or 9:00, they could be popping in sections of mississippi and louisiana along with hail with that. there's never a good time to have severe weather, but after midnight is probably the worst. people not paying attention, that's when these storms will fire up in alabama and georgia and continue on moving to the east. look at the backside of this. there could even be snow? extreme northeast texas. in addition to the severe weather threat with tornados and hail, there's a big flood threat. look at all these areas under green. they're under flash flood watches. we could see anywhere from 4 to 6 inches of rain. that could cause flooding so if you're heading out tonight to celebrate, be careful. make sure you have your weather radios charged up, your phone apps and those batteries for cell phones. >> man. like all four seasons compacted into one giant geographic area. >> one day. >> that, too. thank you so much. it's bad news. the nhl is putting on its winter classic tonight and it's certainly going to be very wintry out there. they're expecting sub zero temperatures in minneapolis for the annual outdoor hockey game and it could get under 20 degrees below zero with windchill. that is brutal. so cold the stadium actually has to heat the ice to even play the game. so the minnesota wild and st. louis blues might want to layer up. on the pads tonight. the new year often brings with it resolutions to lose weight. to eat better and to get a handle on your money. with big changes coming in the pandemic economy this year, christine romans is here with her financial checklist for 2022. >> your house, your job, your retirement. time to tick through your personal finance checklist for the new year. first, your home. likely your biggest investment. the fed has signalled interest rates could rise in the coming year, likely three quarter point rate hikes. the fed moving from stimulating the economy to fighting inflation. that means your borrowing costs could rise. the window is closing to refinance your mortgage. if you're in the market to buy a home, it will likely cost more in 2022 than in 2021. home prices on fire. it has been a seller's market in real estate. higher interest rates would make it more expensive to finance a home, but could help cool down red hot prices. it promises to be an exciting year for workers who have the upper hand in the labor market. wage growth is higher than has been in years. employers offering perks and bonuses and flexible work schedules to keep their workers happy and attract new talent. workers, you have leverage. and for investors, time to check in on your risk tolerant and asset allocations. it's been a banner two years. the s&p 500, the standard & poor's 500 index, rose more than 20% in 2021. stock markets recording record highs dozens of times leading to record high retirement account balances. creating so-called 401(k) millionaires. if the strategists at jpmorgan are right, the economy and stock market have favorable prospects in the new year. quote, our view is that 2022 will be the year of a full global recovery and end of the global pandemic and a return to normal conditions we had prior to the covid-19 outbreak. seeing more stock market gains for the s&p 500. and for those receiving social security, expect 5.9% more in your checks thanks to the government's annual cost of living adjustment. inflation, of course, the wild card in the new year. higher prices eat into wage gains and strain household budgets, especially for low income earnings. in new york, i'm christine romans. >> pretty rosy outlook. thank you so much for joining me today. up next, join cnn's tom foreman for a cnn special. all the best, all the worst. 2021 after a short break. but first, carol king and james taylor and an unforgettable concert film. just call out my name tomorrow at 9:00 p.m. here on cnn. here's a preview. >> friends, collaborators, legends. their music shaped a generation. they came together for the tour of a lifetime. ♪ james taylor. >> his songs were amazing. his demeanor. >> and carol king. ♪ >> carol king, one of the greatest song writers of all time. asked her to be a part of my band. >> four years have passed since the first time we played. >> i loved every experience we had together. ♪ >> just call out my name. tomorrow at 9:00 on cnn. some of my best memories growing up were cooking with mom. so when she moved in with us, a new kitchen became part of our financial plan. ♪ ♪ find a northwestern mutual advisor at nm.com i don't just play someone brainy on tv - i'm an actual neuroscientist. and i love the science behind neuriva plus. unlike ordinary memory supplements, neuriva plus fuels six key indicators of brain performance. more brain performance? yes, please! neuriva. think bigger. it's your home. and there's no place like wayfair to make the morning chaos, organized chaos. however you make it, make your home a place like no other. one role of a lifetime...one sore throat. but she had enough. she took new mucinex instasoothe sore throat lozenges. show your sore throat who's boss. new mucinex instasoothe. works in seconds, lasts for hours. 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. 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, comedian -- monroe, john berman and donny sullivan. s.e. cupp and comedian helen hall. >> come on in. we put chlorine in the pool. >> it's a grand reopening for all the best, all the worst 2021. >>