russia as he tries to tighten his grip on power in the wake of deadly protests. we'll have a live report from the region. >> announcer: live from cnn center this is "cnn newsroom" with lynda kinkade. >> and we begin with the covid pandemic. it's a picture ever more complicated. in europe the u.k. has joined only a handful of countries reporting 150,000 total deaths from the pandemic. in italy a mandate for everyone over the age of 50 to be vaccinated appears to have yielded some good results. since announcing the requirement italy has seen a three fold increase in vaxines administered to people in that age group. meanwhile across the atlantic hospitals are scrambling to deal with waves of people infected with the highly contagious omicron variant. and it's disrupting the delivery of routine health care in places like new york. cnn's paolo sandoval reports. >> reporter: this weekend the state of newark health department issuing a temporary order putting a stop to all unessential elective procedures. the goal here according to health officials to help alleviate what they're describing as limited bed capacity amid this ongoing omicron surge throughout the country here as new york just the latest to -- in a race to try to help their health care facilities with staff and supply shortages including at the university of kansas health care system where the chief medical officer told cnn over the weekend they are nearing a breaking point. >> go from normal operations to c contingency. and it means i have to put patients in unusual situations, i have to cancel surgeries. at some point you say we're too overwhelmed to meet our daily work. we can't even meet our patient's demands, and at that point we've got to turn on a switch that says we've got to triage people we can help the most. >> we should mention those patients clinically high risk if their procedures are not carried out they're not actually exempt, and this is just temporary right now and expected to last two weeks. cnn, new york. >> even as the virus rages across the continent, europeans marched on saturday against covid restrictions. french president emmanuel macron has said he wants to, quote, piss off the unvaccinated. and if that's his plan, it's working. angry protesters took to the streets. demonstrators gathered in italy furious after the vaccine mandate went into effect. for more on those protests i'm joined now by our cnn contributor live in rome. and let's start with those protests. give us a sense how many people are protesting that vaccine pass in france and over the over 15 vaccine mandate in italy. what sort of numbers are you seeing opposed to these measures? >> in france they saw more than 100,000 people taking to streets all over the country. there were a number of arrests. every single time these people go out to gather, the anti-vax people without their masks on, they end up spreading the virus even more. there's a number of people protesting the vaccine mandate for people over the age of 50s is in the hundreds. those people are angry, too, if you don't have a vaccine if you're over 50 when this comes into effect you'll be find, they'll come after you. the government has been very clear they're going to punish anyone who defies this new mandate, lynda. >> but it's interesting looking at some of the numbers because we have seen a surge in vaccinations for people over the age of 50 in italy. so clearly this mandate is proving effective. >> oh, yes, absolutely. there's a three fold increase in the number of people who have reserved a vaccine, which a very easy process, very organized and you can get a vaccine if you wanted to get a booster, if you wanted at this point. i think it just goes to the fact so many people are compliant. the people who are over 50 who didn't get the vaccine yet have to do it now, and they're doing it. the resistance is sort of being met or, you know, the mandate is being met with pockets of resistance, not resistance widespread across the country, certainly, lynda. >> we'll leave it there for now. our thanks. good to have you with us. with new cases of covid-19 hitting australia hard despite the harshest lock downs over the past two years. new south whales reported 16 deaths. against that backdrop the most famous unvaccinated tennis player in the world is hoping to defend his title at the australian open. right now novack djokovic is confined to an immigration detention center in melbourne after his visa was evoked for allegedly not meeting the vaccination requirements. on monday his court will hear his appeal to stay in the country if the tournament. and more and more details are emerging each day about this case. and we've learned during the court documents novack djokovic is unvaccinated and he got covid-19 back in december allegedly, but he say seen at events that day e got the positive result. >> reporter: that's right. we see here on social media posts, pictures posted to social media novack djokovic at three separate events, one organized by his own foundation on the 16th of december. that's the day he registered a positive covid-19 pcr test. the next day two more events cropped up with pictures of novack djokovic with children at a tennis event handing out awards, no social distancing, no masks. we know now he wasn't vaccinated. another event, too, organized by the serbian postal service. there'll be questions now, lynda, as to whether novack djokovic knew he had covid-19 when he went to those events. we don't know for sure. he and his team haven't said anything about that at all. they might be under pressure to do so. this case is taking a lot of different twists and turns before it appears again in court on monday. novack djokovic's quest to win his tenth australian open title may no longer lie in his hands or even in the power of his racket. instead the number one men's tennis player waits in australian court to decide whether he can participate. he's trying to enter the country to contest the title without having had a covid-19 vaccination. he thought he had an excuse when federal officers stopped him at melbourne airport late wednesday night. hours later they ordered him deported. in court monday his lawyers will try to stop that. but no one, australia says, can come in without a vaccination or a watertight exemption. >> the minister of health was absolutely black and white clear to mr. djokovic about his responsibilities and the expectations were. >> reporter: djokovic has never felt a responsibility to be vaccinated. instead he's long kept his status a secret and pushed back on the idea of vaccine mandates. now court filings reveal djokovic has never had the shot, but his lawyers will argue he received a worthy medical exemption on two separate panels on grounds he tested positive for covid-19 as recently as december 16th. the australian government says such a loophole doesn't exist. he waits it out in the immigration detention facility, also home to refugees caught up in the australian immigration system for years. outside his supporters and anti-vax protesters demand his release. the australian government says djokovic can leave the country at any time. by arriving unvaccinated djokovic always knew he was wading into australia's own pandemic politics. few in vaustralia hold much sympathy for him with hospitals overflowing. >> there's a lot of fingerpointing going on and a lot of blaming going on but i can assure you our team has done an unbelievable job and everything they possibly could according to all instructions. >> reporter: djokovic has repeatedly requested to be moved from the hotel detention facility to somewhere at the court where he can practice in case he does beat the deportation and can go for a record 21st grand slam. but his sporting legacy is now at the mercy of his public reputation. photos posted to social media show him maskless and surrounded by people at three events in december on the same day and one day after his vaccination exemption request says he tested positive for covid-19. it's unclear if djokovic was aware of his test results before appearing at any of these events. cnn has reached out to his team for comment. what we do now know looking back at these photos of djokovic with young tennis players is that he was unvaccinated. he's really in the minority of tennis players who hasn't had two vaccinations. over 95% of the top 100 men's tennis players are vaccinated and over -- >> he's not the only athlete whose visa was revoked. it seems to be a blunder for tennis australia. surely they would have understood the requirements to enter the country at the border. >> reporter: it's all very complicated that's now developing between tennis australia and the federal government. the federal government has several layers of legislation which it uses in order to enforce its strict border policies. it says that nobody that hasn't had two vaccinations can come into australia. it has biased security laws, very broad biased security laws in order to back up that mandate. so tennis australia has done all it could to get its champion ip. jovack djokovic won the 2020 australian open. they want him here to back up that crown. it'll be extremely interesting to see how it plays out when it hits court on monday. that's the federal circuit court on monday not the tennis court, lynda. >> exactly. not where he wants to be at this point in time so close to the start of the australian open. angus watson in sydney, thanks very much. joining me now is sam fillip. sam is a sports reporter for the sydney morning herald. good to have you with us. >> thanks for having me. >> this is such an intriguing story because it's unprecedented. the world's number one tennis player stuck in a detention center having to go to court to avoid deportation. we have seen support from serbian fans and several players. i'm wondering how much support he has from people in australia who have lived through some of the toughest longest covid restrictions in the world. >> yeah, i think initially there was 99% of the reaction to novack company but it seems to have changed and softened a touch. several other players have taken that same stance. that may have contributed. i think there is a bit of a softening from some portions of of the australian public on novack being allowed into the country. that also may be because there is a point where it's become a bit strange with those 50,000 cases in victoria yesterday. what is novack's presence going to do in terms of the infection rates in the community. it really can't move the needle that much. so i think the outrage has softened a touch in australia in the last 48 hours. >> right. we do know from court documents that he is unvaccinated. and according to his legal claim he got an exemption through tennis australia's independent panel because of a previous co covid infection. but is that an exemption for entry into australia under the covid rules? >> yeah, so that's the -- that's kind of what we're going to be speaking about tomorrow in court. novack's filled out basically a form that gave him what he thought access into the country where he stated he wasn't vaccinated and didn't need to be because he had a covid infection in the last six months. now, when he arrived in australia that -- to be able to provide proof of that infection and being able to provide documentation saying that is actually a valid reason to enter the country is why australian border force stopped him at the border for. now, that's going to be challenged in court tomorrow, but the rule remains murky whether he should be have been allowed into the country at all after another tennis player, a female player who played in one of the lead upturnments in melbourne, she's already left the country and entered on the same basis. and now it's a matter whether novack will have to do the same on monday. >> sam, just briefly can you tell us what sort of case his lawyers will make in court given we've seen some of the courts documents now? >> yes. his lawyers will essentially be arguing that he did everything that the australian government required of him to enter the country and not having been vaccinated, having a covid infection in the last six months is a valid reason to not have a vaccination and enter the country. and the australian border force were not within their rights to stop him at the border and bar him from entering melbourne. that is the core case tomorrow, and we've seen in the last half-hour or so scott morrison's government have had the -- they were hoping to hear the case on wednesday instead and have an extra two days to prepare their case and that's been rejected by the judge. he'll be hearing this case tomorrow. that's making me leaning toward probably novack's going. >> clearly the government has been working overtime trying to make their case. in cases like these do typically drag on for some time. if there's no decision tomorrow by 4:00 p.m. and no way for him to practice while in a detention facility, what does that ultimately mean for him, for the australian open? and is there any real winner here with regards to this grand slam? >> i suppose the only winner will be the other top ten players who are in the hunt to win if novack doesn't play. they're the only possible winners. tennis australia probably comes out the worst out of all the organizations here involved. the federal government doesn't look good. yeah, whether this drags on in court that's a question that hasn't really been answered at this point. you would think it would be almost impossible for him to play in an australian open in a major grand slam had he not been able to pick up a racket and train for the last -- if he's able to stay in a hotel but not able to get onto a court it'd be hard for to imagine him going out there and playing on wednesday. for that reason i think there will be a decision pushed along in court tomorrow and it won't come to that if he's in the country in a hotel and not able to play. it would be bizarre. >> yeah, we'll be watching this case closely as well. i think many people around the world. we'll leave it there for now. sam philips, thanks so much for joining us from the sydney morning herald. >> thanks a lot. the power struggles play out in kazakhstan after a violent crack down on protesters. next the president moves against other powerful figures as anti-government protests appear to griped to a halt. plus the u.s. is laying out some ground rules ahead of high level talks with russia. what the white house says it will and will not discuss. coming up. cold coming on? zicam is the #1 cold shortening brand! highly recommend it! zifans love zicam's unique zinc formula. it shortens colds! zicam. zinc that cold! welcome back. kazakhstan's president is moving to tighten his grip on power in the wake of his violent crack down on anti-government protesters. on saturday officials said the nation's former intelligence chief was detained on suspicion of treason. it move came days after he was fired from his post. the intelligence chief was an ally of the former president who was also removed as head of the security council this past week. he retained that post after leaving the presidency and still wielded significant political power. his press secretary denied rumors that the former president had left kazakhstan. information from inside kazakhstan is hard to get partly because the government is keeping most foreign nationals out. our fred pleitgen is monitoring situation just across the border. fred, as i mentioned it's almost impossible to get inside the country to get -- to really see what's going on, but you've been speaking to sources on the ground. what are they telling you? >> reporter: yeah, you're absolutely right, lynda. we can see that all play out here on the border. several foreign nationals have tried to get across the border into kazakhstan and been rejected. even foreigners from the region so far it's impossible for them as well. very difficult to get verified information from on the ground inside kazakhstan. however, the sources we do have on the ground they tell us that the situation there has become somewhat more calm than it has been over the past couple of days. of course you not only saw protesters there in kazakhstan but street battles going on. that of course due to fact there was that crack down on protesters being out there in full force and that president also giving a shoot to kill order saying he'd be very tough on what he called people -- what he called essentially terrorists who are trying to destabilize the country. the president of kazakhstan was saying these are people in part at least were steered from abroad. there's absolutely no evidence at this point in time to support any of that. and essentially what the government is now saying is that with the situation having somewhat calmed down there apparently were still some smaller protests. there was some gunfire being heard as well, but it has been a lot calmer, that all this is moving into a new phase where the government is now saying it's going to go after those people who they believe were behind the up@ising that happened here. the information we have more than 4,000 people have been already arrested or detained in those protests that happened and in the crack down that happened against those protesters. dozens of people were killed and apparently 16 security forces were killed as well. now the government really moving onto try and clamp down on the situation. and one of the things the president has done in that bid to also consolidate that power is yesterday the telephone call with the russian president vladimir putin and thanked vladimir putin for moving not only the russian forces into kazakhstan but also doing that very, very quickly. it was really interesting to see how fast the russians moved to get their troops, 3,000 troops mostly paratroopers into that country really fast using some 70 aircraft to move not only the personnel in but also heavy gear like for instance armored vehicles on the ground in kazakhstan to prop up the kazakh forces as well. we can see the president strengthening his grip on power. and is also urging the people of kazakhstan to rally around as well. >> it really was a swift operation as you say when russian troops moved in. good to have you with us. thanks so much. well, russia is lashing out at america's top diplomat over comments he made about moskow's role in kazakhstan. when asked about the russian led security forces sent to quell the unrest secretary of state antony blinken said history shows once russians are, quote, in your house it's hard to get them to leave. the russian foreign ministry issued this response. if antony blinken is so into history lessons here's one that comes to mind. when americans are in your house it can be difficult to stay alive not being robbed or raped. this latest spat comes just ahead of crucial talks between the u.s. and russia over moskow's military buildup near ukraine. in just a short time ago moskow is disappointed with the signals its reaved from the u.s. ahead of those talks in geneva on monday. still to come on "cnn newsroom," schools across the u.s. struggle as the pandemic enters its third year. i'll speak to an expert who says in-person learning i is safe fo students and their teachers.s. neuriva. think bigger. do you strtruggle to fall asleep and stay asleep? qunol sleep formulula combines 5 key nutrients that can help you fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, and wake up refreshed. the brand i trust is qunol. finally getting there...is the best! but with febreze freshness in your car... ...driving there is pretty darn good too. enjoy 30 days of freshness with febreze car. ♪ la, la, la, la, la ♪ before treating your chronic migraine, 15 or more headache days a month each lasting 4 hours or more, you're not the only one with questions about botox®. botox® prevents headaches in adults with chronic migraine before they even start, with about 10 minutes of treatment once every 3 months. so, ask your doctor if botox® is right for you, and if a sample is available. effects of botox® may spread hours to weeks after injection causing serious symptoms. alert your doctor right away, as difficulty swallowing, speaking, breathing, eye problems, or muscle weakness can be signs of a life-threatening condition. side effects may include allergic reactions, neck and injection site pain, fatigue, and headache. don't receive botox® if there's a skin infection. tell your doctor your medical history, muscle or nerve conditions and medications, including botulinum toxins, as these may increase the risk of serious side effects. in a survey, 92% of current users said they wish they'd talked to their doctor and started botox® sooner. plus, right now, you may pay zero dollars for botox®. ask your doctor about botox® today. welcome back to "cnn newsroom." i'm lynda kinkade. here in the u.s. the surge in covid-19 cases has left school officials facing staffing shortages and dealing with concerns whether in-person learning is safe. how cities and states are reacting from coast to coast. >> reporter: well, here in the state of georgia the governor releasing new guidelines slashing restrictions for teachers who test positive for covid-19 even if they're infected with the virus as long as they're asymptomatic they can go back to the classroom to teach as long as they wear a mask. now, the governor, though, is leaving those guidelines up to each school district to decide what they think is best. so i'm outside of midtown high school here in the atlanta public school district, and they have decided to go back to mandatory testing at least twice a week for teachers and voluntary testing for students as long as they have their parents consent. but in states -- in other states like new york and new york city, for instance, there are some 30 lawmakers and teachers unions that are urging the city to allow for a remote learning option. they say it will give them time to have more testing and vaccinations so they can try to curve the spread of covid-19 after seeing cases going out of control and spiraling, rising in new york city. but the mayor is adamant he only wants in-person learning. here's why. >> strain after strain, we can't continue to stop our children from developing socially and academically in the support that they need. so we have to learn how to live with covid and live with covid in a safe way, and that's what i'm going to do. i'm not going to allow the hysteria to prevent the future of my children receiving a quality education and the development that all sociologists have stated they need. >> reporter: from new york city on the east coast all the way to the west coast in the bay area, san francisco, oakland, we saw teachers there scheduling a sick out. now they wanted to do the sick out as a protest to their school districts saying they wanted more testing, more masks, and they want the districts to try to figure out a way to deal with the critical staffing shortages they've been dealing with since the beginning of the pandemic. nadia ramiro, cnn, atlanta. joining me from san francisco is dr. monica gandi. good to have you with us. >> thank you. >> so as a parent it's pretty hard to believe we're entering this third year of a pandemic when major school districts have returned to remote learning. here in atlanta most public schools are remote currently. there are plans for more of them to go back to person or in instruction next week, but the governor has already said teachers who test positive can come to school even if their asymptomatic. it feels like there's a lot of policy on the run. what are your concerns, what is best for children right now, and are schools safe? >> so school is really safe, actually. and school has been safe in a way even prior to vaccines, teacher vaccinations, there were ways to keep everyone safe with masking and ventilation it testing. after vaccines schools became very safe because teachers were given priority for vaccines, and now we have to vaccine for children down to the age of 5. so putting it all together in january of 2022 we shouldn't be closing schools. no matter how many cases there are because we have so much opportunity to get vaccines, and we still have the mitigation procedures in place. so i'm sad to see this happening in various regions of this country. >> and i'm sure a lot of parents would be relieved to hear that as well. in the u.s. children under the age of 5, the only group not eligible for a vaccine. and it's in that group that we're seeing hospitalization rates soar in recent weeks to the highest levels since the pandemic began. what's your advice -- what should parents look out for if their child does have a fever and a cough? at what point would you say to parents take your child for a pcr test? >> so you're right that this is the only group, unfortunately, that we're still waiting for one more part of the trial to see if we can give children another dose and get them vaccinated. at this point what we're seeing in the country is places of high adult vaccination -- and we saw this during delta as well -- are keeping more children safe. so everyone around them being vaccinated is very helpful to keep them safe. and then because children have small airways really this is more omicron is more of an upper airway disease, watch out for shortness of breath, and watch out for cough and like you said a continual fever. and then please take them in. and again, get everyone vaccinated in the household. >> and so at this stage of the pandemic, doctor, what metric should we be focusing on? because we know infection rates are soaring, but of course that's only part of the picture. hospitalization rates are not following that same trajectory, right? so what does that tell you about the vargeniant and the vaccinat rates? >> right. essentially what used to happen is cases and hospitalizations would go on a parallel track. cases would be much higher but hospitalizations would follow the same curve. in the delta in highly vaccinate places the cases would go up and hospitalizations would stay manageable. why? because we had immunity. and now with omicron two things are happening. one is that we have higher immunity even still than we did with the delta wave in this country, some from natural, some from hopefully more from vaccinations. and then also omicron itself was likely to cause less severe disease even among the unvaccinated it doesn't infect lung cells very well according to six studies now, four animal studies, two human studies. and so all of that put together is cases are going up very high, but hospitalizations in highly immune places are staying much lower. so we need to monitor hospitalizations as our metric of success, specifically covid-19 hospitalizations and those that are there admitted for covid-19 because we also swab everyone for isolation purposes. we swab everyone's nose, so we ant to distinguish between covid in the nose and actually covid sick. and that's our metric of success at this phase of the pandemic. >> yeah, you raise some very good points there. and just talk to us about the treatments currently available for those who are seriously ill with covid. >> before very recently we only had monoclonal antibodies. there's a difficulty with them. they're expensive, hard to give. most of them are iv. some are subcutaneous, and you need monitoring. and we didn't have the supply we needed. what we now have are two anti-viral therapies. these are medications, oral, five-day course that can severely reduce the risk o f hospitalization. so we needed more now before the omicron surge, and we just need to get our production up and out because we need to treat our unvaccinated can compassion. >> doctor, really good to have you on the program tonight. thanks so much for your time. >> thank you. well, a scenic day at the lake in brazil turned into a nightmare. an enormous rock wall collapsed onto several tour boats. next the latest on the search and rescue efforts. plus emergency teams scscramble to save dozens of people on n a drifting and meltg sheet of ice. that incredible rescue next. (man 1 vo) i'm liliving with cll and thanks to imbruvica (man 2 vo) i'm living longer. (vo) imbruvica is a prescription medicine for adults with cll or chroni lymphocytic leukemia. bruvica is not chemotherapy- it's the #1 prescribed ol therapy for cll, proven to help people live longer bruvica can cause serious side effects, which may lead to death. bleeding problems are common and may increase with blood thinners. serious infections with symptoms like fevers, chills, weakness or confusion and severe decrease in blood counts can happen. heart rhythm problems and heart failure may occur especially in people with increased risk of heart disease, infection, or past heart rhythm problems. new or worsening high blood pressure, new cancers, and tumor lysis that can result in kidney failure, irregular heartbeat, and seizure can occur. diarrhea commonly occurs. drink plenty of fluids. tell your doctor if you experience signs of bleeding, infection, heart problems, persistent diarrhea or any other side effects. (man 2 vo) i am living longer with imbruvica. (vo) ask your doctor if it's right for you. learn how we could help you save on imbruvica. after my car accident, i wondered what my case was worth. so i called the barnes firm. when that car hit my motorcycle, insurance wasn't fair. so i called the barnes firm. it was the best call i could've made. atat t bararnefirmrm, our r inry a attneysys wk hahard i could've made. atat t bararnefirmrm, to get you the best result possible. call us now and find out what your case could be worth. you u mit bebe sprisised ♪ the barnes firm injury attorneys ♪ ♪ call one eight hundred, eight million ♪ welcome back. search and rescue efforts set to resume in the coming hours in brazil where an enormous cliff wall broke off and collapsed. it smashed onto several tour boats on saturday killing at least seven people. cnn's raphael romo reports. >> reporter: divers in charge of the search and rescue operations stopped the search at dusk due to security reasons. that's according to the colonel from the fire department who confirmed at least seven people have died after a canyon wall fell onto boats below injuring about 30 others. earlier local media reported there were as many as 20 missing, but he said the number of unaccounted for now stands at three. it happened at the canyon, a tourist attraction located in furnace lake, a hydroelectric dam in the brazilian central state. as people watch the canyon walls from tourist boats a short distance away, a massive rock formation collapsed falling on top of at least four boats carrying tourists, according to authorities. before we show you the video we must warn you that it may be disturbing for some people. the video posted on social media showed tourists on other boats in furnace lake shouting get out of there. that was right before the canyon wall fell onto the lake. the governor blamed torential rains that have hit the reason for the collapse. the governor said he added search and rescue teams with the civil defense and fire department had been at the site since the first moments of the collapse to help victims of those affected. the brazilian president who also retweeted the video of the collapse said the navy deployed a relief team to join the search and rescue efforts. authorities are now urging the public to avoid places in the area with high risk of land and rock slides as well as flooding due to the recent rains. raphael romo, cnn, atlanta. at least 21 people are dead, some freezing to death after a thousand cars got stuck on a road during a blizzard saturday in northern pakistan. pakistan's minister described the snowfall as unprecedented and said many people failed to check the weather before traveling. this family stuck in heavy snow in pakistan is one of the lucky ones. rescuers were able to push their vehicle to safety. but pakistani officials said on saturday there were more than 1,000 other cars stranded in blizzard conditions. in a town about 67 kilometers from islamabad. rescue operations were mounted to help people trapped on the impassable roads. pakistan's in tear yr minister said in addition to the heavy no sfaul a huge influx of tourists created the crisis. many visiting the area for a scenic drive through the mountain town to see the winter sites which quickly became a nightmare as traffic began to back up and more bad weather rolled in. downed trees blocked passageways. police say people trapped in vehicles froze to death or succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning. children were among the dead. an islamabad police spokesman says all the roads where the traffic jam occurred are now clear and that they've evacuated thousands of people who were stuck in the area. shelters are being setup around the town to provide food and blankets for the rescued and the people who left their cars on foot. the pakistani prime minister says he's ordered an inquiry into the incident. well, dozens of people are back on solid ground in wisconsin after being stuck offshore in a drifting sheet of ice. the brown county sheriff's office says a large chunk of floating ice broke off near green bay mid-morning on saturday leaving multiple people stranded. local media say they were ice fishing. rescue teams had to move quickly as the open water further moved and cracked the ice during the operation. within two hours they had drifted about a mile from shore before authorities were able to rescue all 34 people. incredibly with no injuries. wow. well, tens of millions across the midwest and north eastern u.s. are now under frigid winter weather alerts. cnn's derek van dam joins me now. and after all that warm weather last month winter really is here. >> it is. and, you know, i'm so thankful it's a sunday morning. we're working bright and early for people this morning, lynda. and people should just stay home if you're across the northeast because we don't have to go to work today most of us except for you and i, except this is the worst weather we could see on a sunday morning because the freezing rain that has overtaken much of new england. and that has prompted 40 million people with winter weather alerts through up state new york, massachusetts, connecticut, rhode island, through pennsylvania and even towards the nation's capitol. but notice d.c., philadelphia, new york and boston actually not included within this winter weather alert. as this storm system continues to move across the region this will bring the potential of a quarter to half an inch of ice on the roads, creating a very slick, slick morning. but that's why it's best to just stay home. our radar very, very active at the moment. you can see that shade of purple is actually the icing taking place across central wisconsin into southern new york. the pink is actually a mixture of rain and snow, and of course the snowfall indicated with white with our rainfall just to the west near pittsburgh all the way to cleveland and cincinnati. notice this precipitation not really reaching the ground near new york. we're going to keep the mention of ice out of the major metropolitans there, but just to the west, the suburbs we'll start to see that sheen of ice on the roadways. being fed by warm waters from the gulf of mexico. what happens here is temperatures across the northeast at the surface of the ground right near where we live are just below freezing, so when we get this warm air over riding top of that the precipitation falls in liquid form and freezes on contact with the roadways and surfaces and bridges and makes traveling treacherous. by monday morning the commute to work not a problem. here's the chance of precipitation through sunday afternoon and evening. at least the forecast accumulation you can see some of the heaviest totals through central and eastern pennsylvania, again, up state new york a a a into vermont and new hampshire. that is an area where we could experience anywhere from a quarter to a half an inch of ice. check out what can happen. quarter inch of ice accumulation creates dangerous travel conditions, obviously. but when you start talking about a quarter to a half an inch, tree limbs with can break and of course that can take down power quite easily and make things very difficult for people. that's the latest weather. >> my guys are hoping we might see some snow in atlanta this month. we'll wait and see. >> fingers crossed. residents are finally returning home on spain's lapalma island. cnn's michael holmes has more on what will be a long and costly cleanup operation. >> reporter: blue skies once again over spain's la palma island. officials say the rain of fire from the island's volcano that rumbled to life in mid-september and erupted for the next three months is finally extinguished. about 1,000 people were allowed to return to their homes this week. ash is everywhere. about 3,000 properties and more than 1,000 homes and banana farms have been destroyed. some houses still standing but encased in hardened lava. others coated in dusty debris. this man says he feels lucky his neighborhood was spared the worst of it. he says we have been fortunate enough to return, but others have lost their homes. i really feel for them. in another part of town it's a tougher cleanup. emergency workers use bulldozers to try to dig through the solidified lava clogging the streets. experts say the damage could exceed a billion dollars, and it could take several years to remove all of it. also they warn it's still not safe. one volcanoologist says the exclusion area is still pretty dangerous. he says the flows of lava may have gotten colder on the surface, but when you take a sample or watch them up close the flows are still holding so much heat, and there are also gaseous emissions. many home owners face months of back breaking work before their homes are functional again. many are without water because of damaged pipes. trips around the island to get basic supplies will, of course, take much longer because of blocked roads. this woman says her property looked like a graveyard when she first saw it. everything was black. but she says she is hopeful with each load of ash she removes that one day she'll have her house back. and the once thundering giant in the distance will stay silent. michael holmes, cnn. well, former democratic senate majority leader harry reid was honored in nevada saturday. reid died in late december at the age of 82 following a four-year battle with pancreatic cancer. at his memorial former president barack obama gave him credit for his own political rise and for the passage of the affordable care act. current president joe biden kwululk eulogized reid as one of the greatest senate majority leadeds in history. he was 82 years old. we'll be right back. hours. for your most brilliant smile, crest has you covered. [girls laugh] -nice smile, brad. -nice! thanks? crest 3d white. 100% stain removal. crest. the #1 toothpaste brand in america. blendjet's holiday sale is on now for the #1 gift this holiday season, the blendjet 2 portable blender. it packs the power of a big blender on the go, and it crushes right through ice. just drop in your favorite ingredients, even frozen fruit, and make a smoothie any time, anywhere. blendjet cleans itself. just add a drop of soap, water, and blend. recharge quickly with any usb port. order now on blendjet.com and get our best deal ever! well, twins separated at birth by different years. twin girls born in california were born 15 minutes apart on new year's eve and new year's day. he was born at 11:45 p.m. in 2021. she made her debut at exactly midnight on january 1, 2022. and it turns out the chance of this happening is quite rare. according to the hospital where they were born there's about a 1 in 2 million chance for twins to be born in different years. and a big shout out to my twin brother. stuart, happy birthday. today he'll be celebrating his birthday about 16 hours before me in sydney thanks to our different time zones. i hope y you have a great day. i that wraps up this hour on "cnn newsroom." i'm lynda kinkade. christy lustout will have more after a quick break. plaque psoriasis, the burning, itching. the pain. emerge tremfyant®. with tremfya®, adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... ...can uncover clearer skin and improve symptoms at 16 weeks. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. emerge tremfyant® with tremfya®... ask you doctor about tremfya® today. introducing the all-new gillettelabs with exfoliating bar. it combines shaving and gentle exfoliation into one efficient stroke, for a shave as quick and easy as washing your face. it's time for our lowest prices of the season on the sleep number 360 smart bed. what if i sleep hot? ...or cold? no problem, the sleep number 360 smart bed is temperature balancing so you both sleep just right. and it senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both effortlessly comfortable. so, you can really promise better sleep? yes! you'll know exactly how well you slept, night after night. we take care of the science. all you have to do is sleep. don't miss our weekend special. save up to $1,000 on sleep number 360 smart beds. plus, 0% interest for 24 months on all smart beds. ends monday. when you have xfinity xfi, you have peace of mind built in at no extra cost. advanced security helps keep your family protected online. pause wifi whenever for ultimate control with the xfinity app. and family-safe browsing gives parents one less thing to worry about. security, control and peace of mind. with xfinity xfi, it's all built in at no extra cost. woman: i have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. now, there's skyrizi. with skyrizi, 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months after just two doses. skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, such as fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches, or coughs or if you plan to or recently received a vaccine. ♪ nothing is everything. ♪ woman: talk to your dermatologist about skyrizi. learn how abbvie could help you save. hello and welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. i'm kristie lou stout in hong kong. and ahead on "cnn newsroom." anger in europe, as governments impose new restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus. we are live in rome with