today as covid cases skyrocket. we have the latest for you. a u.s. judge is not buying donald trump's immunity claims, why the former president's reaction or lack thereof during the riots may work against him. and the georgia bulldogs end their drought, stunning alabama and winning their first title in 41 years. >> announcer: live from london, this is cnn "newsroom" with isa soares. welcome to the show, everyone. it is tuesday, january 11th. and we have a lot of developments to report on the coronavirus pandemic today and starting this hour in chicago where the teachers union has voted to return to in-person learning tomorrow after four days of schools being closed. more on that in a moment. meanwhile, the cdc could be changing its recommendations what kind of masks people should wear. "the washington post" is reporting advisers are expected to endorse n 95 or kn 95 masks. that comes as the number of americans hospitalized with covid continues to rise as you can see there on your screen. according to the department of health and human services the 14 day moving average is 111,000, just shy of the record from january of last year. the number of cases, as you can see on your screen, is exploding as well. data compiled by johns hopkins university shows more than 1.5 million new infections on monday, mondays are usually skewed since states don't report over the weekend. pfizer said it's working on a redesigned vaccine specifically targeting the omicron variant. >> if what we want from this vaccine is protection against serious illness, the vaccines all provide that and appear to provide at least a year after getting the vaccine, it's true for all four variants including omicron variant. if you see an erosion of protection against serious illness then i think we're talking about a specific vaccine but i don't think we're there yet. >> u.s. health insurance companies will have to start covering the cost of at-home covid trop covid tests. and new rules call for eight tests a month without a prescription. >> we're working closely with manufacturers to understand what they can ship and when. we expect that the contract is structured in if a way that significant amounts are delivered on a time line, we expect to have all contracts awarded the next two weeks and americans will begin being able to order the tests online later this month and we expect to have details on the website, as well as a hot line later this week. more than 340,000 students in chicago will return to school on wednesday now that a dispute between the city and teachers union over covid-19 safety protocols is over. >> i will always be on the side of our children and our families. i was you when i was a kid growing up in my public school. i needed my school. my school made a difference in my life. i'm not standing here today without the support that i received from so many teachers along the way. i want to make sure we're providing the same kind of opportunities for learning and nurturing and growth for every student in our system regardless of their circumstances, regardless of zip code. we owe them that. >> a week ago, record high new cases led to the teachers union voting to start teaching virtually. the school district responded by canceling classes all together. >> reporter: the standoff between chicago public schools and the chicago teachers union is over. teachers will be back in class tuesday and students wednesday. the core was the teachers union didn't feel the school district provided adequate resources to come back in person safely. some of the major sticking points, one was the timing for returning in person given the research surge in covid we've seen in the community but also metrics on when to take the district virtual, versus what the city wanted to do was make the decisions on a school by school basis. listen to chicago mayor lori li lightfoot on what she saw got them across the finish line. >> we reached an agreement on the metrics for at a school-based level for when we needed to convert a classroom or school. not surprisingly the component parts of that depend upon staff and/or student absences. we test in every school every week now. but we've added some layers to enhance the testing. >> reporter: on those school based metrics the chief of staff said during the periods of high transmission it would take 40% of the student population to have an absent to move virtual. testing was also another major point of contention between the two sides specifically trying to increase the capacity for it. saturday governor pritzker said his office helped secure 350,000 additional tests. and his office confirmed all 350,000 of those were delivered, which may have made a difference in this. but the exact details of the final agreement are kept under wrap as mayor lightfoot said she doesn't want to release the final document until the rank and file members get a chance to look at it. but because of the vote that got us to this point we plan to see teachers in the classroom tuesday and students the day after, wednesday. some parents and teachers, over the safety protocols. teachers pushed for testing and adequate staffing while parents felt they did all they could and wanted their children back in the classroom. >> i am a teacher who's vak and had a breakthrough case of covid and my husband ended up hospitalized. while he survived, it was traumatic to my family and having lived that and asking me to subject my students and their families who are more vulnerable, it feels -- it feels wrong, especially when there are very basic, basic steps we are asking the district for. >> i don't know what to tell my son. every day he says, am i going to be in school tomorrow, i don't have an answer for him. and then i have to give him an answer why. right. so i have to explain to him the reasons that he's not in school. and i personally don't have a good answer, because we have done everything right. you know, really echoing what co martinez said, my son is fully vaccinated, he wears a mask every day. i got him tested when he went back from the holidays. his school has over 75% vaccination rate, i believe, for students and 100% for the teachers. so we have done everything right. >> as of friday, chicago was averaging more than 5,000 new cases a day. we'll stay on top of the story as it develops right here on cnn. in the coming hours the president will ramp up efforts to pass voting rights bill. he'll make a visit to atlanta, but many activists said they won't attend the president's event because they don't want another speech, another finalized voting plan. jeff zeleny has the story for you. >> reporter: president biden and vice president harris will be headed to atlanta tuesday to make another push for voting rights on capitol hill. there's been resistance in the ranks of the democratic party namely senator joe manchin and kyrsten sinema, they've been reluctant to do a carve out for the filibuster rule. but democrats believe that the white house has not been pushing strong enough to enact voting rights. of course, this is in the wake of the 2020 election and that big election lie that former president trump has been pushing that he defeated president biden, which, of course, has been discredited. but president biden traveling to the former district of john lewis, this legislation is named after him. it's a symbolic push in many ways but some georgia democratic groups are wondering why the president and vice president are coming there, rather than staying in washington to persuade senators in their own party to pass the legislation. certainly this is a big push of this year, trying to rally democrats behind the voting rights legislation. it's a big task and a tall order for the president on tuesday. tennis star novack djokovic is back training for the australian open as the immigration minister decides whether to remove him from the country. the australian border force is investigating whether he submitted a false travel declaration. on monday a judge overturned his visa cancellation. authorities revoked his visa when he arrived last week. the atp said the events leading up to djokovic's court hearing were damaging for his tournament preparation. here's how the premier of victoria views the situation. >> this tournament is much bigger than any one person. it's a grand slam, the biggest thing in tennis in the first quarter of the year, every year. it's a massive event for us and bigger than any one person, whether that be, you know, in the court, or on the court. >> cnn is covering the developments as we've been from day one. patrick snell is joining us from atlanta. phil let me start with you. the last few minutes we received information that the australian border force is investigating whether djokovic lied on his form. what can you tell us? >> reporter: the travel declaration form is a form that all passengers arriving online have to fill in here. it's used to assess an individual's covid risk. we now know that the border force is looking into the possibility that novack djokovic provided false information on his. the morning he was interviewed, it was established he provided the information. it could possibly be the issue of where he's been in the 14 days prior to arriving in australia. because we've seen his travel declaration form. we know in answering that question, he said he had not travelled anywhere prior to arriving in australia in the previous 14 days. however social media shows he's been in spain and serbia during that period. so how significant is this? we can't be sure just yet. what it does do is give an insight into the sort of investigations that are clearly continuing while the immigration minister continues to consider whether or not to use his individual powers to once again cancel novack djokovic's visa. he's been considering it for 24 hours. it suggests they're taking their time, being thorough. having lost the case in court because of procedural mistakes they do not want to make the mistakes again. if any further action is taken they want it to be airtight and beyond any criticism. >> the legal battle is far from over as you said, phil. patrick, it's so messy this whole situation right now. if he does get to stay and play, what impact do you think it will have, not just on the australian open, but i'm thinking here, also on other tournaments that require vaccinations? >> it's going to be fascinating isn't it and still so many plot twists ahead with the story, the saga. it's interesting to see what the reaction is from the crowd. melbourne, australia, one of the most toughest lockdown cities in the entire world over the course of this pandemic. we know public sentiment is very much front and center there with a lot of people absolutely displeased, in no uncertain terms, when it comes to the whole djokovic situation, but as of right now he is going to get to play in the season's first grand slam. as of right now, i do want to stress those words. we've been uncertain terms. paraphrasing here, but words to the effect of, look, he brought this on himself. he knew that this whole situation could have been avoided had he just been fully vaccinated. now, moving forward, which is the next grand slam? the french open in paris where we already know that as of right now, players will not be fully -- will not be required to be fully vaccinated ahead of roland garros this year. that gives options in terms of players and their viewpoint when it comes to vaccinations, isa. >> right now he's playing. we'll await the decision from the immigration minister. patrick snell for us there and phil black in melbourne. appreciate it. now, kazakhstan's president says russian troops will leave the country over a ten-day period. he had asked for the russian-led military alliance's help during the nationwide protests that began last week. the country's interior ministry said security forces have detained nearly 10,000 people in connection with the protests. and the parliament confirmed the president's nomination for a new prime minister after the former prime minister resigned during the unrest. let's put all this into perspective for us. fred pleitgen joins us from the kazakhstan kurdistan border. fred, really there is so much happening. it's been moving so quickly. let's start with the kazakhstan president. he described the violence as an attempted coup, but he hasn't provided any evidence. what are you hearing regarding the crackdown that has been so intense and ongoing throughout the country? >> reporter: well, that crackdown is clearly still going on. clearly, the authorities there in kazakhstan are still searching for people who were part of those protests, and certainly, you know, over the past couple of days that we've been monitoring the situation, isa, we could really see the amount of people who have been detained exponentially rise. it went from 3,000 in the weekend to 10,000. that's the latest number we're hearing today. it's quite interesting as far as the foreign troops that were called in by the kazakh government is a concern. he asked why the kazakhs felt they had to do that, dire for their own security forces, he said they were in danger of losing control of the city of almati and perhaps the town as well. they said what those foreign troops, of course, led by russia did was they deployed in certain areas, secured those areas and that freed up, as he put it, special forces from the kazakh military that then went in, and, of course, dispersed those protests. all of that, of course, leading to a lot of international criticism in the way that that was handled. he's saying it was a heavy handed approach to all of this, especially in the city of almati where 300 people died, were killed in that city alone. that is also where a lot of that video came from in the early stages of those protests with government buildings being take not, rioters in the street, security forces moving through the streets and apparently opening fire on people as well. but you're absolutely right. the kazakh government at this point in time says they are getting the situation under control. what we're sort of seeing is that there is more internet availability in the country. it certainly seems to show that the situation is at least getting a little more manageable for the government, and at the same time they are saying that the foreign troops are going to have a phased withdrawal is i think what he said. he believes their operation is complete, it will be officially complete in two days and it will take another ten days for all those foreign forces leave if things go according to plan, isa. >> that's a story you'll stay on top of us. appreciate it, fred. russia is taking its case to europe, trying to keep ukraine out of nato. we'll have the latest on moscow's diplomatic push. plus a judge considers whether donald trump and others are liable for the attack on the capitol. later in a medical first, doctors transplant a pig heart into a man with a terminal had heart disease. we have the details next. tony here from creditrepair.com taking to the streets to talk about credit. can you repair your credit yourself? yes. -great. how? uhhh... how long does credit repair take? i don't know, like 10 years. what? are you insane? what's a good credit score? go. 600. maybe if you're trying to pay thousands extra in interest rates. cut the confusion, get started with a free credit evaluation at creditrepair.com. i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. what are the three ps? the three ps of life 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pressure created by what's in your air makes the bottle spray. which means freshness everyone will love. febreze. now, a key congressional ally of donald trump's won't say if he's closed the door on cooperating with the committee investigating the u.s. capitol siege. republican jim jordan wrote a defiant letter to the panel's chairman over the weekend saying he had no relevant information and did not plan on cooperating. but listen to what he told cnn's ryan nobles on monday. >> for instance, if they offered you the opportunity to speak in a public setting, would you be willing to do something like that? >> the letter -- read my letter. >> it doesn't say that specifically. >> that's our response, the letter. >> you said before that you didn't have anything to hide, so -- >> i've got nothing to hide. >> speaking to cnn's ryan nobles. jordan has been identified as one of the lawmakers who messaged trump's chief of staff mark meadows before the attack. a u.s. federal judge is asking why donald trump didn't do more to stop last year's attack on the capitol. the comments were in the hearing on three lawsuits seeking to hold trump, his son, rudy giuliani and republican senator mo brooks liable for fighting the insurrection. cnn's jessica schneider has the story for you. >> reporter: the first of these three lawsuits was filed 11 months ago. they are now being considered for the first time from a federal judge who will answer the crucial question, should the lawsuits be dismissed or can they move forward. if the judge allows them to proceed, it would open up all of the defendants to sworn depositions and all kinds of discovery. that includes former president trump, his son donald trump, jr., trump's former attorney rudy giuliani, plus congressman mo brooks and oath keepers and proud boys. capitol officers contend they were threatened by trump and others in a conspiracy to stop the certification of the election on january 6. they say trump should be responsible for directing the assaults. trump's legal team, on the other hand, are arguing trump can't be sued because presidential immunity extends to what trump said on the elipse that day right before his supporters stormed the capitol. but the judge in this case pushing back considerably on the idea that trump is shielded from these lawsuits. the judge repeatedly pointed out that while trump asked the crowd to march to the capitol, he didn't bother speaking out as the violence was unfolding. the judge noting that there was actually a two-hour window where trump did nothing and did not tell his supporters to stop attacking the capitol. if this judge ultimately decides that trump shouldn't be shielded from this lawsuit because he was acting outside the scope of his presidential duties, that would be significant. that means trump would likely be deposed and would finally be forced to answer crucial questions about what he was doing on and before january 6th. now, this judge says that it won't be an easy decision, but he likely will make that decision in the coming days. and then, of course, it could be appealed, possibly all the way to the supreme court. so it could take awhile for this issue to be fully resolved. jessica schneider, cnn, washington. and, of course, mo brooks is a congressman and not a senator. now to a critical week of diplomacy across europe aimed at averting new conflict between russia and ukraine, u.s. and russian diplomats met in geneva, if you remember, on monday. the u.s. wanted assurance russia will pull its troops back from the ukraine border amid fears of a possible invasion. while russia demanded guarantees ukraine will never join nato. neither got what they wanted, but russia's deputy foreign minister insists his country has no plans to attack ukraine. more talks are set between russia and nato in brussels, and that is happening on wednesday. monitoring all this for us, our international diplomatic editor nic robertson who joins us live from gentlemen nevada a. nic, this was seven hours of talks that apparently were frank and forthright. as we just laid out, no breakthrough as they try to understand each side of the argument as you told us yesterday. what kind of tension, nic, does this create as we look ahead to the upcoming meeting between russia and nato here? >> reporter: yeah, we just heard a read out of how the talks went here in geneva from the kremlin spokesman dmitry peskov. he said so far in the talks they see no reason for optimism, but that they're going to get what they want at these round of talks. however, he said they will continue -- they were open, substantive and direct. that's how he describes the talks. he said there are another two rounds of talks. the ones with nato and the ones with the osc organization for security and cooperation in europe. so those will be had on wednesday. and on thursday, russia's committed to those, but he said it's impossible, peskov said it's impossible to draw any conclusions ahead of that. so really russia sort of holding, you know, holding its decision about what happens next until the end of the week, until these talks are over. peskov also said that the issue of the united states saying that they would be heavy economic sanctions if russia invaded ukraine. despite the fact russia has said it has no intention to invade ukraine, the u.s. side said, well, if russia has no intention to invade ukraine, why not pull the troops back to their barracks and don't like the military actions near ukraine. they are concerned about that threat. the russian per specuperspectiv they don't intend to invade ukraine. peskov said the u.s. threats of sanctions, potential sanctions is not constructive, not constructive around the dialogue that's going on, isa. >> nic robertson for us this morning in geneva, thanks very much, nic. now, new details on what's thought to be north korea's second weapons test of the year. the south korean military says the north fired presumed ballistic missile more than 700 kilometers to the east, and that this missile appears more advanced than the one north korea fired some six days ago or so. the north said last week's launch was a hypersonic missile, although experts doubt that claim. they expressed regret over the launch, but the u.s. military said it doesn't pose an immediate threat. now, parts of the united states could see the coldest air of the season this week, cold enough to freeze, in fact, your eyelashes. meanwhile, the northwest is anticipating flooding over the next few days. meteorologist pedram javaheri joins us with more. that was quite an introduction. freeze your eyelashes. good morning, pedram. >> good morning, isa. we don't hear that very often. it is the coldest of the season and coldest in many years. with these wind chills, isa, 30, 35 below zero, certainly going to be cold enough to freeze your eyelashes, also very dangerous if you're exposed, outside exposed skin in a matter of minutes could receive frostbite and permanent damage. widespread coverage, a lot of this across the interior portion of new england and the northeast. 15, 25 below, in some cases 35 below zero. that's what it's going to feel like in the next few hours as the winds howl and the air temperature sits by the zero degree mark. 10 minutes exposure will cause frostbite and permanent damage to your skin. it is a dangerous situation across the region. look at the time stamp, high noon around lunchtime. even boston, massachusetts, will have wind chills down to minus 5. as dangerous as it gets, a lot of people if they're out and about around these hours, we see the coldest temperatures happen when you're asleep. this go around comes in the middle of the day where the coldest temperatures are in place and the winds are really going to be howling. new york down to around 6. chicago will feel close to 4 degrees at this time. the trend continues for a 24-hour period. it will be a short lived set up. temperatures at 20 in new york city, 40 where it should be this time of year. boston goes from 14 to 28 degrees. what's interesting, isa, this wave of cold air moves out of here. look at the time stamp, going into friday and saturday. another round of arctic air drops in and potentially brings us right back down again, maybe even colder. look at new york city. high temperatures on saturday could be 19 degrees, slightly colder than where we are later on this afternoon. so an incredible run of temperatures here. >> get your thermals on. pedram, thank you very much. now, america's college football championship has gone to the dogs. the university of georgia stunned rival alabama winning 33-18 in indianapolis. and bulldog fans are loving as you can see. it's a revenge for georgia after major loss to the crimson tide. we'll have much more, of course, ahead from indianapolis on cnn's andy scholes. meanwhile, still ahead right here on the show, we'll have the story of the british prime minister and the bring your own booze party while the rest of the country was under lockdown. plus investigators in new york will focus on a couple clues actually as they look into one of the deadliest u.s. home fires in decades. those stories after a very short break. unlike ordinary memory supplements, neuriva plus fuels six key indicators of brain performance. more brain performance? yes, please! neuriva. think bigger. 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! wet dishes? residue? spots? it's not your dishwasher's fault. simply add finish jetdry 3in1 to rinse, dry and shine your dishes. solve 3 problems at once with finish jetdry 3in1. welcome back to "cnn newsroom." i'm isa soares. if you're just joining us, let me bring you up to date with our top stories this hour. in the coming hours, president joe biden will head to atlanta to make a case for two knew voting rights bills. several democratic groups are planning to boycott the event saying they want concrete action and not speeches. schools in chicago will reopen today with students returning for in-person learning on wednesday. this comes after an agreement between the chicago teachers union, local officials including new covid safety measures. in the last 20 minutes, a source tells cnn the australian border force is investigating whether tennis star novak djokovic submitted a false travel declaration document ahead of his arrival in australia. now, pictures on social media taken about 14 days before his arrival show him in serbia and in spain. of course, we'll continue to follow this story for you. now, there's new trouble for british prime minister boris johnson over another party at downing street during the country's first covid lockdown. a leaked email from one of his top officials invited staff to a bring your own booze party in may 2020. the prime minister refuse toes say if he attended. an investigation is underway into claims downing street held several events in 2020 despite, of course, local restrictions against them. let's bring in cnn's salma abdelaziz in london. rule makers being rule breakers. do we know whether the prime minister was involved here? and where critically are we on the investigation front? >> reporter: very important questions, isa. i think it's hard for the british public to even keep up with the amount of accusations, the amount of social gatherings that are now in question. so this is yet another one as you mentioned. this is a leaked email, first seen by i-tv, but cnn's has independently confirmed the contents of it, inviting 100 staff members, nearly 100 staff members to socially gather at the downing street garden in may of last year. it was written in a very jovial way, exclamation point, bring your own booze. here's the issue. the country was under lockdown at the time, isa. mixing outdoors for household, that was limited to only two people at a time. the official guidance for workplaces at the time was very clear. no meeting face to face until it is absolutely necessary. so this appears to be yet another violation of covid restrictions, of covid rules. you mentioned that investigation. well, that investigation itself, isa, it is also meyired in scandal. the cabinet secretary was responsible for investigating other social gatherings, parties that took place during the holiday season last year when the country was, again, under strict lockdown. the cabinet secretary had to be removed from that investigation, replaced by a senior aide because the cabinet secretary himself was accused of having knowledge of these parties, of being involved in some way. so far prime minister boris johnson with the latest accusation, bring your own booze party, he has refused to comment. has said that the matter is under investigation. but, again, isa, this is just snowballing. it is spiraling. it is growing because prime minister boris johnson's very credibility, his very reputation is in question and it keeps taking hits, isa. >> let's see where the investigation goes from here. salma abdelaziz for us in london, thanks very much, salma. good to see you. now, china has moved more than 4,000 students into quarantine after roughly a dozen cases were found. the images posted on social media are stunning. students of all ages wearing full hazmat suits while being loaded onto buses. it comes as more cities are put on strict lockdown. cnn's anna corinne joins me from hong kong. it's not just the cases are up and restrictions added in mainland china, but also in hong kong where you are. >> reporter: yeah, that's right, isa. it basically is a situation where authorities are anticipating a fifth wave to hit hong kong. hence today, the city's chief executive carrie lam decided that schools will be closed as of friday for kindergarten and primary school students. this comes on top of flight bans to eight countries where there are significant omicron outbreaks as well as other sort of social distancing restrictions. hong kong adhering to the zero covid policy. but on the mainland in china, you saw those images of those schoolchildren being taken into quarantine. thousands of them in anyan city. this is hunan province where the largest outbreak is in central china. that city along with yujo, another city in hunan province, complete lockdown. for chinese authorities, isa, their focus really is in tianjin which is 130 kilometers, 18 miles from the chinese capital beijing which, as we know, is hosting the winter olympics in just over three weeks. that's going to take off on the 4th of february. the authorities will do everything in their power to make there is not an outbreak of the omicron variant in the chinese city. we know since sunday there have been 45 cases already reported in tianjin. people have been told not to leave the city, they need permission if they want to do so. but this is of grave concern obviously for authorities. they don't want any mishaps before the winter olympic games, isa. >> exactly. and you have the lunar new year just around the corner as well. so that's important, too. anna corinne for us in hong kong. good to see you, anna. coming up, the desperate search for how a faulty space heater ignited a new york city apartment building killing 17 people including eight children. that's next. stay asleep longer, and wake up refreshed. the brand i trust is qunol. i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. what are the three ps? the three ps of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 54, what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65 and take medications. what's my price? also $9.95 a month. i just turned 80, what's my price? $9.95 a month for you too. if you're age 50 to 85, call now about the #1 most popular whole life insurance plan available through the colonial penn program. it has an affordable rate starting at $9.95 a month. no medical exam, no health questions. your acceptance is guaranteed. and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate lock so your rate can never go up for any reason. so call now for free information and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner. and it's yours free just for calling. so call now for free information. now, authorities now say 17 people were killed, including eight children when flames broke out in a new york city apartment building on sunday. the national fire protection association says this is the second deadliest home fire in nearly 40 years. cnn's jason carroll has the latest on the investigation. >> reporter: a community in mourning as the investigation into one of the deadliest fires in the city's recent history focuses on a key safety measure. why two self-closing doors required by law were not working properly, and if they could have saved lives. >> this painful moment can turn into a purposeful moment as we send the right message of something simple as closing the door. >> reporter: investigators say the fire was sparked by a faulty space heater in an apartment duplex located on the building's second and third floor. the city's fire commissioner says the building did have self-closing doors installed, but the front door to the apartment in question malfunctioned, not closing when it should have. the question is why. >> as they left, they opened the door and the door stayed opened. >> it is our obligation to reinforce the concept of close the door, close the door. but what we don't want to do is just to add more trauma on the family that was simply trying to escape. >> reporter: the fire commissioner says a self-closing door on the building's 15th floor leading to a stairwell did not function either. 17 people, including eight children, the youngest just 3, were killed. 63 were hurt. some critically by the maze of blinding smoke that quickly spread throughout the 19-story building, preventing some from finding their way out early sunday. this man is praying for his brother and sister-in-law. they lived on the 18th floor. he still has not heard from them. >> i'm devastated. let me alone, but the whole community and the family at large. everybody, you don't know what's happening. >> reporter: daisy mitchell survived by running down a darkened stairwell after first opening her door and smelling smoke. >> i went to the stairs to open the door, it blew me back in the house. i panicked. i told my husband, let me in the house, i'm blind, i can't see, i can't see. if i stayed out there another three seconds, i would have been gone, too. >> reporter: an outpouring of messages and support coming from across the globe. many residents have ties to gambia and the dominican republic. the white house reaching out, offering support, while members of the clergy gathered asking everyone to keep victims in their prayers. >> god, we know that you are the god that can rebuild, and you can restore. >> reporter: when it comes to so many fires like this, you hear so much about alarms not working. in this particular situation, the alarms throughout the building were working. again, the focus of the investigation on those self-closing doors and why they malfunctioned. jason carroll, cnn, new york. we are learning more about the circumstances surrounding the death of actor and comedian bob saget. they were unable to reach him. this set into motion the discovery of the actor who was found dead by security inside his hotel room on sunday. meantime, the cause of saget's death is under investigation. that report may take up to 12 weeks to complete, according to the orange county medical examiner. we also now have more information on the actress betty white's death. according to a los angeles county death certificate, she suffered a stroke six days before she passed away on new year's eve. the beloved actress would have turned 100 next week. she was best known for her tv roles on the golden girls, and the mary tyler moore show, and was a fan favorite, of course, a doadoreed across generations. cnn returns after a short break. firm and radiant. with olay body, i feel fearless in my skin. what makes febreze air effects different? while cheaper aerosols rely on artificial propellants... febreze uses a 100% natural propellant. check it out! pressure created by what's in your air makes the bottle spray. which means freshness everyone will love. febreze. blendjet's holiday sale is on now for the #1 gift this holiday 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championship game between alabama and georgia getting hot late, and in the end, georgia finally able to get over the hump, beating alabama for the first time since 2007. and breaking the seven-game losing streak to the tied coming at a great time as it delivered the school their first national title since 1980. for much of the game it looked like it was going to be a typical brutal loss for georgia at the hands of bama. the team coming through in the fourth quarter. stetson bennett who walked onto georgia as a freshman left to play at a junior college, then came back to the school as a scholarship player, making a huge touchdown pass to give georgia the lead in the fourth quarter. bennett two t passes in the final nine minutes. he's now forever going to be a bulldogs hero. this is a huge win for georgia head coach kirby smart. he beats his old boss nick saban for the first time, and in the process now owns a national championship. >> ultimately it's those guys in the room, the blood, sweat and tears, you know, 200 something workout, and 160-something practices. i appreciate them so much. >> resiliency, toughness, composure, connection. i knew that those guys beside me had my back and i had their back, too. >> and thousands of bulldogs fans taking to the streets here in indianapolis celebrating their title tonight. they've been loud and proud all weekend long. they wanted this title so badly. and now for the first time in 42 years they can call themselves champs. in indianapolis, andy shoelds, cnn. -- andy scholes, cnn. >> congrats to the bulldogs. a man is doing well several days after receiving a pig heart in a first of its kind transplant. according to university of maryland school of medicine, the patient, who is 57, had terminal heart disease and the genetically modified pig heart was the only available option before the transplant. the genes that cause the human body were removed from the heart and genes that help the system were added. the u.s. food and drug administration authorized the surgery 11 days ago. doctors will need to monitor the patient for weeks to see whether the transplant works. we'll stay on top of that story for you, of course. that does it here for me on "cnn newsroom." i'm isa soares. the chicago school reopening continues. 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