djokovic as the tennis star waits to see if he'll be allowed to defend his grand slam title. a live report from sydney with the latest. and we're live at the cnn weather center where millions across the u.s. are under another winter weather advisory. we begin in the u.s. where the rampant spread of the omicron variant is hurting health care and education. a record number of young children are in hospitals, infected with the coronavirus. and the numbers you see there represent the number of kids under the age of 5 per 100,000 who are hospitalized. and with medical workers scrambling to deal with new admissions of all ages, the omicron variant is disrupting the delivery of routine health care. meanwhile, while the surge in u.s. covid cases has left school officials facing staffing shortages and dealing with concerns about whether in-person learning is safe. cnn's nadia romero looks at how cities and states are reacting from coast to coast. >> 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. the governor is leaving those guidelines up to each district to decide what they think is best. i'm outside of midtown high school here in the atlantic 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 parent's consent. but in states like -- in other states like new york and new york city, for instance, there are some 30 lawmakers and teacher's 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 curb the spread of covid after seeing cases there just going out of control, spiraling and rising there in new york city. but the mayor is adamant, he only wants in-person learning. here's why. >> strand after strand, we can't continue to stop our children from developing socially and academically, and the support that they need. we have to learn how to live with covid and learn with covid the 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 the quality education and the development that all sociologists are stating that they are needing. >> reporter: now from new york city on the east coast all the way to the west coast in the barrier, san francisco, oakland, we saw teachers there scheduling a sickout. now, they wanted to do this sickout as a protest to their school districts, saying that 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 that they've been dealing with since the beginning of the pandemic. nadia romero, cnn, atlanta. in chicago, it is still unclear if classes will resume on monday for more than 300,000 public school students. classes were canceled after the teacher's union voted against in-person learning, citing concerns over a surge in covid cases. now, public school officials and the mayor are pushing to resume classes as soon as possible. in the meantime, families are in limbo, with their kids stuck at home. here's one parent's viewpoint. >> it's been very stressful. i'm not just a parent, but i have been always an education advocate and activist, so for me being that now i'm literally in the position where my daughter's future is at stake, it makes it a little different. i think it's completely reckless to close an entire school district. we have over 600 schools and that's too many schools to be just closed all at one time. it's reckless to noeignore the t that this pandemic is not just about physical health, it's about mental health, as well. we know that in the last remote portion of our learning, which lasted for almost two years, that children suffered, children felt isolated. we had a higher rate of suicide. we also had in chicago, an increase in school-aged children who participated in criminal behavior that we've never seen before. so when we talk about the risks and the rewards of going back to in-person learning, we have to really acknowledge the mental health aspect of keeping children isolated and at home on a laptop daall day long. >> chicago public schools is the third largest school district in the united states. meanwhile, officials are struggling to contain covid-19 in europe. the uk has joined only a handful of countries reporting more than 150,000 total deaths from the pandemic. and across the channel, the french president, maccarron has said that he wants to, quote, piss off the unvaccinated. if that's his plan, it's workers. protesters vented their anger in protest. in italy, a mandate for everyone over 50 to be vaccinated appears to be a success. in fact, since announcing the requirement, italy has seen a three-fold increase in vaccines administered to people in that age range, but the mandates triggered protests as well. we'll go live to rome for more on that a little bit later in the program. in less than 24 hours, novak djokovic can find out if he'll be allowed to defend his title at the australian open or be sent home. an australian court will consider whether to reinstate his visa, which was canceled on his arrival in melbourne for allegedly not meeting the vaccination requirements for entry. the court documents submitted by djokovic's attorneys confirm the men's number one world player is unvac unvaccinated. at issue is whether a medical exemption was allowed. angus watson joins us live from sydney with more. lawyers of djokovic, they say that he was granted vaccine exemption after testing positive for covid back in december. what does all of this mean for his appeal? >> we've just heard from craig tiley which organize ices the grand slam each year. he's speaking for the first time since djokovic was stopped at the australian border on wednesday night, local time. and has since been holed up in an immigration detention facility while he waits for his case to be heard. his lawyers filing for an injunction against his deportation in hopes that he might be able to play in the australian open. now, now cvak djokovic caught covid-19 on the 19th of december. craig tiley says that that precluded him from having to have a double vaccination to get into australia. that's what novak djokovic's lawyers will argue tomorrow. but you see, chrkristie, there' been this real breakdown in communication between tennis australia, the federal government of australia. it's the federal government that makes the final decision as to whether let people into the country or not and on what grounds. tennis australia says for its purposes, allowing him to play into the tournament, he's medically exempt from having to get a vaccination. the victorian at a time government says he's medically exempt from having to quarantine for 14 days. the federal government has said, that's not good enough to get into the country, christie. >> and how is all of this playing out among australians? melbourne, this is a city that's seen a lot. it's been through hundreds of days of lockdowns and has a very high vaccination rate. how does the ordinary australian citizen feel about djokovic and his appeal? >> kristie, right now is a time of extreme anxiety about covid-19 here in the community. here where i am in sydney, as well as in melbourne. tens of thousands of cases a day. the omicron variant fueling a new wave of covid-19. hospitalizations are at record highs. icu admission are at record highs. the relief is that we have that high vaccination rate. we're not seeing the same level of damage on a personal level for people that have been infected as was done by the delta variant last year and earlier this year. but people here are still very concerned about the possibility that an unvaccinated person is coming into the country and getting some sort of special treatment. that's really upset them at a very anxious time, kristie. >> angus watson reporting live in sydney for us, thank you so much. the former u.s. tennis player patrick mcenroe, of course the brother of john mcenroe, he calls djokovic's predicament, quote, a world-class debacle that will likely follow djokovic for the rest of the year. earlier, he spoke to cnn's phil matt mattingly. >> check, check, check, and check. check all the boxes. you've got to get the green ticked box to get into australia through your visa application. let's start with djokovic. novak djokovic made a decision. it's his right to make the decision not to be vaccinated. when you do that, you're going to run into these types of difficulties, and i predict that this will continue throughout the rest of this year, as it relates to his tennis career, and of course, trying to break the record that he currently holds with federer and with nadal at 20 majors. then you say tennis australia who runs the tournament acts as a go-between between the players and the government. they're known as a player-frienplayer-friend player-friendly tournament over the years. i believe they took that a little too far. then you can say, how come the state government of victoria and the federal government weren't working more closely? because if as the federal government says, you can't get into the country unvaccinated, even with a positive test, and not have to deal with the quarantine, don't you think they should have known that? and they should have communicated that with each other before novak djokovic and others got on the plane? how about renata not as well known from the czech republic. she got into the country with a similar exemption. she played a tournament already in australia, and when the djokovic issue came up, they re-analyzed her visa, terminated it, she's stuck in the same hotel -- call it detention center -- as novak djokovic. i cannot wait to hear this appeal and see how this plays out. but at the end of the day, phil, there's plenty of blame to go around. >> john mcenroe also said that he doubted that djokovic would be successful in his court challenge. in the last hour, i spoke with david law, co-host of the tennis podcast, and he said details that have emerged so far suggest that djokovic may have been trying to bypass australia's strict vaccine requirements. take a listen. >> the fact is, that appears to be how he's tried to get around the rules. and get an exemption in order to play the australian open and not be vaccinated. but there are big question marks over whether a previous infection of that sort of date should apply. there was an initially a deadline of december the 10th discussed. and put to the players and so, if he's tested positive on the 16th, he wouldn't have made that deadline. that's also been disputed. and in addition, all of the pictures that you've been talking about there that have appeared straight afterwards in the following days, it just complicates matters. and it doesn't play well in australia right now. >> and that was david law, co-host of the tennis podcast, speaking to us last hour. now, a power struggle behind the scenes in kazakhstan after a violent crackdown on protesters. up next, the president moves against others in the regime, as russian-led forces flood into the country. plus, the kremlin's troop buildup in the border of another neighbor, ukraine, looms over high-level talks between the u.s. and russia. what the white house says it will and will not discuss, coming up. try vicks vapocool drops. in honey lemon chill. for fast-acting sore throat relief. wooo vaporize sore throat pain with vicks vapocool drops. do you struggle with occasional nerve aches in your hands or feet? try nervivenerve relief from the world's #1 selling nerve care company. nervive contains alpha 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like this with hydration that beats the $100 cream in every jar of regenerist retinol24 collagen peptide new vitamin c and the iconic red jar can't top this skin shop now at olay.com 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. a state tv channel in kazakhstan says more than 5,000 people were detained for allegedly participating in the recent anti-government protests. the report comes as the nation's president is moving to tighten his grip on power. on saturday, officials said that the nation's former intelligence chief was detained on suspicion of treason. the move came days after he was fired from the post. the intelligence chief was an ally of the former president who was also removed as the head of the security council this past w 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. the government is keeping most fo foreign nationals out of kazakhstan for now, but our fred pleitgen is monitoring the situation from just across the border in kyrgyzstan. he joins us live at the border. and the former intelligence chief of kazakhstan has been detained. what's the latest on his reaction and the reaction inside kazakhstan? >> reporter: well, apparently, he's been detained on the grounds that he's suspected of possible treason, so you can certainly see, as you put it very correctly, kristie, that power struggle playing out there in kazakhstan. of course, all of that in the wake of these protests and in the wake of the violence that ensued, as well. but it seems from our vantage point from the sources we're speaking to inside kazakhstan that that has been decided, with nursultan nazarbaev saying through a spokesperson that he backs president toe kayev. it seems that tokayev is consolidating that grip on power and making that grip on power stronger and moving kazakhstan further into moscow's orbit. big phone call that the president tokayev had yesterday was with vladimir putin, the russian president, where he thanked vladimir putin not only for moving russian forces into kazakhstan, making them available, and doing it very, very quickly. and one of the other things, kazakhstan not letting most foreign nationals in. we can see that from our vantage point here. that's the border crossing right here behind us. we've not only seen people from various places around the world, and from european countries trying to get through that border crossing, not being allowed to do that, being rejected, but also people from kyrgyzstan, and normally for them, it's pretty easy to enter kaza kazakhstan, but right now it really seems as if the border is very much sealed, kristie. >> the border is sealed except for russian troops. and after tokayev invited those russian troops into his country to help quell the unrest, what's the situation on the ground? >> reporter: i think that it certainly plays a major role. and it certainly does not only consolidate mr. tokayev's dprip grip on power, but moves kazakhstan not only closer into russia's orbit, but further into the csto. it's an alliance that has been there for a long time, but hasn't been utilized very much over the past couple of years, decades. and now we can really see for the first time, foreign troops have been called in under that security treaty and moved in very quickly. and i think it did make a big difference there on the ground, as well, and continues to do so. and from what we can see, from our vantage point here, from the information that we're getting, it appears as though that crackdown that was ordered by president tokayev, that that really is moving into the next phase now. there's very few protests, that apparently are still going on. it's also a lot quieter in the street, as a result of that. but it certainly seems as though a lot of people are being detained, as the president has said, he is now going to go after those, he says are behind those protests, which of course the government in kazakhstan they believe have been feudal from outside of the country. so far, though, no evidence has been provided that that has actually been the case, kristie. >> fred pleitgen reporting live from the border. thank you so much. the violent unrest in kazakhstan is happening as we're just a day away from high. stakes talks between u.s. and russian officials. the two powers are at odds over a russian military buildup near ukraine. the biden administration reportedly is open to discussing european missile deployments and military exercises. however, officials say nothing concrete is expected to be reached in these talks. now, cnn's nina desantos joins us now live in london. nina, we have veteran u.s. officials, veteran russian officials that will soon meet for these talks on ukraine. kazakhstan, of course, casting a shadow to these talks. nothing concrete expected. so what will these talks achieve? >> well, usually these kind of talks, kristie, which you pointed out, are being led by really experienced negotiators. to give you an indication of that, on the u.s. side, they'll be led by wendy sherman, who is responsible for negotiating the iran nuclear deal. these are very experienced players, usually going into these types of talks, you hear diplomats be extremely vague or tight-lipped about what they might actually put on the table, for fear of giving the game away, if you like. remember, this is diplomacy happening essentially under the barrel of a gun from the west's point of view, with russia having amassed these hundred thousand troops on their side of the border, seemingly poised to invade ukraine, if nato doesn't repeal some of its recent, what they view, as encrouachment on previous post-soviet space of sphere and security. as you pointed out in your introduction, it could be missile deployment. potentially, maybe not in places like eastern europe, where it's extremely sensitive, because, of course, we've had allied presences in places like the baltics. that is crucial to maintaining their independence. because they are only a couple hundred clokilometers away frome russian border. but perhaps in places like the black sea. there could also be discussions about conventional arms control. there are three sets of meetings that are set to take place over the course of the week. the big one being in brussels with that russia/nato counsel meeting that will take place mid-week. before that, we've got a geneva summit with diplomats on both sides. and later on the week, the ose where ukraine will be alongside the table there. kristie? >> and when president bidens and putin talked on december the 30th, president biden, he had that tough tone with putin. he warned of harsh economic retribution. will we hear more of that tough talk in this latest round of talks? >> we've already seen some indications in the press, the international press and the u.s. press this morning of what type of tough talk we could be expecting here. and largely, the focus has been put on economic sanctions yet again, which could -- and technological sanctions, which could curtail the kremlin's access and consumer's access to western consumer goods, vital technology, and crucially, the international banking system. but you've got to remember that the europeans will be around the table here. and they rely on russia for a large amount of their gas. gas shipments throughout the course of winter have been curtailed, somewhat, from russia, and stockpiles are being depleted, right across europe, as it gets colder. and so there's real concerns that europe could face some sort of retaliatory measures, diplomatic energy security measures in the meantime, should those type of draconian sanctions be put on the table by the united states. but essentially, the problem here is that both sides have to keep talking. otherwise, what they can't afford, at least from the west's perspective, is for these talks to end up being a failure, and if that being a pretext to vladimir putin to take action in a place like ukraine. as you said, the backdrop to all of this that has been unexpected in the last couple of weeks is the strife in kazakhstan, and there is the specter of russian military intervention there. and some of the question marks that will be around the table in the back of diplomats' minds will be can vladimir putin afford to have armies on both sides of eurasia involved in conflicts at this time. kristie? >> they have to keep that channel of communication open, even with that question mark over kazakhstan. nina desantos reporting live from london. thank you. alexander baunow is editor in chief of carnegie.eu, and earlier i asked him what kind of demands will russia bring to the table with the upcoming talks with the u.s. take a listen. >> some demands, of course, looks exaggerated, but from the local perspective, what vladimir putin wants is to change the state of quo that he's not satisfied with. he recently said that enlargement of nato was the worst thing for the russian security. but when it happened, it happened, especially the second wave of the enlargement, during his presidency. so his legacy would be the president under which the former soviet are republic's baltic state and the question about ukraine joining nato and georgia joining nato is open. so basically, he wants to, as much as he can to try to close these questions and to try to shape his legacy in a different way. >> that was senior fellow at the carnegie moscow center. across europe, covid rules and legislation are fueling more protests. we look at france and italy, coming up. plus, an inside look. the so-called hotel where novak djokovic has been confined since wednesday. he will likely leave it soon, but dozens of other people are stuck there indefinitely. try pepto bismol with a powerful coating action. for fast and soothing relief. pepto bismol for fast relief when you need it most. meet ron. that man is always on. and he's on it with jardiance for type 2 diabetes. his underhand sky serve? 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[cheering] that was awesome. and, the hits won't quit, with peacock premium included at no additional cost. all that entertainment built in. xfinity. a way better way to watch. and even as covid rages across europe, people marched on saturday against pandemic restrictions. angry protesters took to the streets in paris, as lawmakers mull a vaccine pass to get into bars and cafes. marchers are also mad at president emmanuel macron and his comments about wanting to, quote, piss off, the unvaccinated. demonstrators also gathered in italy. they are furious over a vaccine mandate for people older than 50 and other restrictions. under the new rules, the unvaccinated won't be able to use public transportation and sit at restaurants. for more, i'm joined by cnn contributor barbie nadeau in rome. barbie, italy now mandating vaccination for anyone over the age of 50 there, tell us more about the reaction and how it's being rolled out? >> that's supposed to come into effect around february 1st. that gives people a lot of time to reserve their vaccines. and authorities say there's been a three-fold increase in that age group, people over the age of 50 in reserving vaccines. so those new restrictions do work. it will be not only impossible took to go to a restaurant or go to work, you'll get fined if you're over 50 and don't have a vaccine. it's that strict when it comes into place, kristie. >> elsewhere in europe, covid cases and sadly covid deses are spiking. can you tell us more about the m picture across the continent? >> we're seeing a lot of increases in deaths, nothing like we had in those first waves of the pandemic. the people who are diagnosed tend to be people who have compromised community and things like that. here, we're approaching 140,000 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. in the you can, they've topped more than 150,000 deaths. that's a tragedy you can side effect to all of this. deaths over 100 a day here in italy on average and elsewhere in europe. but every country counts their deaths differently. so a lot of authorities think that the death toll is probably actually a lot higher than the numbers suggest, christie. >> and with omicron cases and deaths spiking across europe, are more european countries looking at tighter covid control measures now? >> well, so much of these restrictions are focused on people who do not have -- have not been vaccinated and focus on people who haven't gotten their booster yet. the real restrictions are against those people. the rest have chosen not to have to do any sort of lockdown. people are implementing social distancing, people are implementing restrictions in terms of events and capacity and things like that, but i don't think we're going to see the harsh restrictions we saw the first few waves of the pandemic. but they will be focused against those who haven't got the vaccine yet, kristie. >> got it. barbie nadeau reporting live in rome for us. thank you. and an australian court on monday will hear the case of tennis superstar novak djokovic, who arrived for the australian open only to have his visa revoked and since then has been confined to a building used as a detention center for about 30 refugees. unlike djokovic, some have been there for years and they have no idea if or when they'll ever be allowed to leave. anna coren has more. >> reporter: behind tinted window in this four-story hotel in the heart of melbourne is where the men's number one tennis star is staying. it's a world away from what novak djokovic is accustomed to from his privacy down under. as the defending australian open champion arrived to claim his tenth title and break the all-time record for 21 grand slam wins. >> thank you so much. >> reporter: instead, the 34-year-old unvaccinated serbian, who has been very outspoken about his anti-vaccine views, was given a serious dose of reality by the australian border force, when he attempted to enter the country on wednesday night. they canceled his visa, despite djokovic receiving an exemption from two panels of medical experts and ordered for the tennis star to be deported. >> rules are rules. and there are no special cases. >> reporter: but rather than getting on a plane home to belgrade, djokovic's lawyers are fighting for him to stay in the country and compete. and while they wait for monday's hearing, this is where djokovic must stay. an immigration detention facility. >> so i don't see why it's fair and i don't see why he should be stuck, in a detention center. and everyone has their own freedom of choice, vaccinated or not. >> the serbian government is demanding that he be moved to a nicer hotel, while his parents say that his son is being treated like a prisoner and held captive for his beliefs. >> mr. djokovic is not being held captive in australia. he is free to leave, at any time that he chooses to do so. and border force will actually facilitate that. >> reporter: but novak djokovic is not the only resident of the park hotel. previously used as a quarantine hotel for returning australians, for the past year, it's been a detention facility for more than 30 refugees and asylum seekers. languishing inside, waiting for their cases to be heard. >> this is where i live. >> reporter: after spending years in offshore detention centers for attempting to enter australia by boat. like mehdi, who believes to a persecuted religious minority from iran, turning 24 years old today. >> suffering from exhaustion and we are tired. we've been in detention more than eight years. >> good morning, everyone. i'm craig foster. >> reporter: famous australian footballer turned activist craig foster says the country's treatment of refugees is a national embarrassment and hopes djokovic will use this ordeal to become a voice for the voiceless. >> those refugees are trying to reach out to novak and, you know, as an athlete with incredible privilege and status and fame, perhaps he can bring some visibility. he can grow or develop some understanding about the way that australia is treating these people and bring that story to the world. >> whether djokovic decides to fight for those forgotten refugees and restore his public image remains to be seen. but for the majority of australians, there is little sympathy for him. >> djokovic is a millionaire scumbag who has rightly incurred really the anger of a lot of people in australia. >> reporter: this is a country that has endured some of the toughest quarantine and border restrictions in the world. the city of melbourne hoesting the australian open, locked down for a total of 256 days in its battle against covid. as a result, 92% of australians over the age of 16 are now fully vaccinated. and they have little tolerance for a privileged sports star, expecting special treatment. anna coren, cnn. now, there's stormy weather in parts of the u.s., and we'll head to the cnn weather center for the latest across the country, ahead. but first, the funeral of former senate majority leader harry reid brought a host of political heavyweights to nevada, including the u.s. president. that's ahead. vicks super c is a daily supplement with vitamin c and b vitamins to help energize and replenish. dayquil severe is a max strength daytime, coughing, power through your day, medicine. new from vicks. feeling sluggish or weighed down? it could be a sign that your digestive system isn't working at it's best taking metamucil everyday can help. metamucil psyllium fiber, gels to trap and remove the waste that weighs you down. it also helps lower cholesterol and slows sugar absorption to promote healthy blood sugar levels. so you can feel lighter and more energetic metamucil. support your daily digestive health. and try metamucil fiber thins. a great tasting and easy way to start your day. 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 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remember reid's pragmatic approach. jeff zeleny has hr. >> president biden and scores of democrats gathered here in las vegas on saturday to pay tribute to former senator harry reid for his lifetime of service in washington and here in his home state of nevada. for more than three decades, he worked in the halls of congress, passing some of the key legislative efforts of the era. certainly the affordable care act in the obama administration, saving social security during the bush administration, and so many more examples. the president hailed him as one of the greatest senate leaders of all time, and he also invoked his name in a fight for democracy. >> we have to restore the soul of america. no one knew it better than harry. protecting democracy requires vigilance and stewardship. harry's life shows it for all of our darkest days. we can find light and find hope. >> but it was former president barack obama who flew here to las vegas from hawaii, where he's been spending the holidays, talking specifically about his very deep personal relationship with harry reid. back in 2006, it was harry reid, senator reid, who called a young senator obama into his office and urged him to consider running for president. the rest, of course, is history. but mr. obama talked about that history repeatedly, giving key anecdotes about their time together, about how he simply would not have been a successful president without the partnership of harry reid. but he also had a message for today's democrats. >> i never heard harry speak of politics as if it was some unbending battle between good and evil. because he knew what was true for himself was true for everybody. that we're all a bundle of contradictions. we all have our flaws. we all have our blind spots. but despite all of that, it was possible for us to affirm our collective humanity, because that's what had made america great. >> several moments of levity as well when former president obama took issue with something that speaker nancy pelosi had said. she said she never heard senator reid utter an unkind word about any of his senate colleagues. president obama said, that wasn't exactly the case. he heard senator reid do that often. it brought laughter inside the halls of the smith performing arts center here. senator reid will be going to washington. his body will lie in state in the u.s. capitol building next week. certainly paying tribute and honor to this american hero from nevada. jeff zeleny, cnn, las vegas. >> reid died in late december at the age of 82 after a four-year battle with pancreatic cancer. day... or night. excess stomach acid can cause heartburn. prilosec otc works differently by preventing excess acid production. so don't fight heartburn, block it. prilosec otc. one pill in the morning blocks heartburn, all day and all night. 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(vo) ask your doctor if it's right for you. learn how we could help you save on imbruvica. welcome back. you're looking at miles of flooded roads in washington. the u.s. state has been dealing with weeks of record-breaking rain and snow. but officials say that they are finally getting a break from the storms and the high water is expected to recede. the state's department of transportation also started clearing roadways just outside of seattle after 38 avalanches came down on to a major highway. and washington isn't the only area seeing dangerous weather. tens of millions of americans are under winter weather advisories across the midwest and northeastern u.s. meteorologist derek van dam is keeping a close eye on it all. he joins us now from the world weather center. in fact, over 30 million people will experience rain or ice across the u.s. walk us through this advisory. >> it's messy. that's the best way to summarize it, if you're across the northeast, it's best you stay in this morning, if you can, avoid the roadways, especially outside of the major metropolitan areas. that's where the bulk of the precipitation is actually going fuel today. we could potentially see a quarter to maybe some localized areas of up to half an inch. and that obviously has ramifications on trees snapping, limbs coming down and taking down power lines, not to mention the treacherous travel on the roadways. lighting up like a christmas tree on our radar. plenty to dissect for you. but the pink, that's a rain/snow mix. we'll call that snain, a n non-meteorological term. so central pennsylvania, southern new york, that's the area that's getting hit hardest at the moment. we have winter weather advisories, as kristie discussed, 30 million americans. but none of that includes washington, philadelphia, or washington, d.c. in fact, we believe that the bulk of the freezing rain potential will be just outside of that i-95 corridor. you can see it highlighted here, right along the coastline. of course, that's a very beside area. thankfully, it's sunday morning, so most people staying home, hopefully. this is part of a larger storm system that's tapping into this very warm, moist air from the gulf of mexico. and a it's going is it's taking that warm air and overriding very cold temperatures at the surface of the earth. temperatures below freezing, warm air above it. precipitation falls as liquid, and it re-freezes the second it enters into that colder air. and you'll see how the potential here for ice accumulation through the afternoon could be up to a quarter of an inch for portions of the northeast. chrikris kristie. >> there could be some perilous conditions out there. derek van dam, thank you. at least 21 people are dead and some freezing to death after more than a thousand cars got stuck on a road during a blizzard on saturday in northern pakistan. pakistan's prime minister described the snowfall as unprecedented and says many people failed to check the weather before traveling. lynda kinkade has more. >> 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 that there were more than a thousand other cars stranded in blizzard conditions. in a town about 67 kilometers from islamabad. rescue operations were mounted to evacuate people trapped on the impassable roads. pakistani's interior minister says in addition to the unusually heavy snowfall, 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. cars were buried in the snow, downed trees blocked passageways. police said people trapped in vehicles froze to death or succumbed to carbon dioxide poisoning. children were among the dead. pakistani prime minister imran khan tweeted that he was shocked and upset at the deaths of the tourists. and 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 have been set up 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. lynda kinkade, cnn. >> displaced residents are finally returning home on spain's la palma island, this after massive volcanic eruptions wreaked havoc and disruption for months. cnn's michael holmes has more on what will be a long and costly cleanup. >> reporter: blue skies once again over spain's la palma island. officials say the reign 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 a thousand people were allowed to return to their homes this week. ash is everywhere. about 3,000 properties and more than a thousand homes and banana farms have been destroyed. some houses still standing, but encases 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 used bulldozers to try to dig through the solidified lava clogging the streets. experts say the damage could exceed $1 billion and it could take several years to remove all of it. also, they warn, it's still not safe. one volcanologist 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 homeowners face months of become-breaking work before their houses are functional again. many are without water because of damaged pipes. trips around the island to get basic supplies, 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 plaque. but he says she is hopeful with each loud 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. now, the high-tech james webb space telescope is one step closer to sending us pictures from the universe from billions of light years in the past. >> you see people clapping, yes. >> just two weeks after launching with nasa scientists cheered after the telescope reached its final form in orbit by deploying its golden mirror. the largest mirror that nasa has ever built. it is so big, it had to be folded oragami style to fit inside the rocket. but it will take five months of alignment and calibration before the telescope can start transmitting images. i'm kristie lou stout in hong 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alignprobiotics.com also try align dualbiotics gummies to help support digestive health. good morning to you. welcome to your "new day" on this sunday. i'm christi paul. >> good morning. i'm boris sanchez. the omicron variant reigniting debates over testing and masking in schools as the u.s. hits a new record for covid hospitalizations among kids and many hospitals are, once again, pushed to the brink. high stakes talks begin tomorrow between the u.s. and russia as the biden administration is warning it will impose severe penalties if russia invades ukraine. what russia is saying now. we could learn