the fourth time in just a month. >> announcer: live from cnn center, this is "cnn newsroom" with rosemary church. good to have you with us. well, we begin with a brutal winter storm that's been hammering much of the southeastern u.s. with freezing rain and snow. and the northeast is next. as many as 80 million americans were under winter weather alerts on sunday, stretching from georgia to maine. and the effects of this system could cause problems for days to come. states in the appalachian region are seeing heavy snowfall and high winds. parts of north carolina got as much as a foot of snow, or about 30 centimeters. and at least 25 counties declared a state of emergency. down in florida this system spawned tornadoes on the west coast, which destroyed at least 28 homes and damaged dozens more. downed trees and power lines knocked out power to nearly 300,000 customers across the southeast on sunday. more than 150,000 along the east coast are still in the dark. and more than 3,000 flights were canceled sunday, according to flight aware, largely due to the weather. 1,100 more are already canceled for monday. well, authorities in north carolina say they have responded to more than 400 vehicle crashes caused by the winter weather. two people were killed when their car went off the road and struck several trees. more now from cnn's diane gallagher. >> reporter: the flurries continuing to fall here in charlotte, north carolina. but underneath this snow is ice and that is the main concern for authorities in the carolinas. this ice, the freezing rain, the sleet that was falling throughout the day on sunday potentially refreezing overnight, creating difficult conditions for drivers and anybody really trying to travel in the greater carolinas area. more than 90% of the flights out of charlotte were canceled on su sunday. and airlines have said people need to be patient. it could continue in through the beginning of the week. now, when it comes to driving there is a staffing shortage. the state said it may take longer to get to certain streets to clear them off. but they activated the national guard. they brought in assistance to help with those streets to clear them off. again, the concern being an overnight freeze making it difficult conditions for people in the morning as well. that ice also causing power out jds across the state of north carolina, more than 90,000 reported. and the state expects that number to go up as ice and the heaviness of that ice brings down trees, potentially bringing down power lines. they are continuing to encourage people to stay inside and just let the system pass. diane gallagher, cnn, charlotte, north carolina. and meteorologist tyler mauldin joins me now with the latest on the winter weather conditions. tyler, after freezing rain and now in the -- and snow in the southeast, i should say, what's going on right now and what are you seeing in the forecast? >> well, now we're seeing the temperatures plummet, rosemary, here across north georgia and other areas of the southeast. and that means when those temperatures drop below zero whatever moisture's left out there on the road will glaze over and ice. so that is going to lead to some very hazardous driving conditions come monday morning across the southeast. then you can see winter weather alerts stretching from the carolinas all the way up into maine as this system ejects to the north. notice that we are already seeing some heavy snowfall across portions of the region. and also we had some severe weather push through the maryland area as well. they had snow come over. and then severe weather. just in about four or five hours time span. notice that the snowfall is moving into portions of new york and going all the way up into massachusetts right now. we're also seeing some strong winds with this as well. in total i would say a widespread six to eight inches of snowfall in this reeng. but notice the pinks here. that is more than a foot of snowfall as you get up into the mountains. could we see some ice? yeah, we could certainly see a little bit of ice in areas. that's certainly something we have to be mindful of as well, rosemary. wind advisories are up in this area as well. as the system moves up to the north, we're going to see the winds pick up. so some areas especially along the spine of the appalachians, we could see the winds pick up to about 50 to 60 miles per hour. those are wind gusts. so mind you, the saturated ground and any ice that sticks to the trees with a 50-mile-per-hour wind that could cause the tree to come down and cause more in the way of power outages. it then ejects up to the north as i mentioned and it's eventually out of here come late tuesday on into early wednesday. yet another clipper system is going to be on its heels, though, pushing over the ohio river valley going on into the northeast, rosemary. so we will see more in the way of winter weather woes up here across the northeast as we get into the mid to late week. rosemary? >> all right. tyler mauldin, thanks so much for keeping a close eye on all of that. just an incredible mess, isn't it? so saturday's hostage crisis at a texas synagogue is being investigated in the u.s. and the uk after news the attacker was british. malik faisal akram was killed by an fbi rescue team sent to save the hostages in colleyville, texas. now counterterrorism police in greater manchester, england say two teens have been detained in that case. the synagogue was live-streaming its worship service when the hostage taking began. audio from that livestream caught part of the terrifying ordeal. take a listen. international security editor nick paton-walsh has more on what we're learning from london. >> reporter: malik faisal akram from blackburn in the north of england. according to greater manchester police in a statement echoing what we'd heard from u.s. officials earlier. he is a uk national. and a lot of focus of course since the beginning according to u.s. authorities about what information uk officials can supply to them. now, we've also heard from his family posting on a facebook page for the blackburn muslim community in the town where he hails from. they've spoken in a statement of their absolute devastation at the loss of their brother, also talking about how they wholeheartedly apologize toward the victims of this hostage crisis. they also say how they believe he had mental health issues and say how they as a family were in touch with police during these hostage negotiations. the uk government's foreign secretary, liz truss, has condemned what she called an act of terror and an act of anti-semitism, and the work of course now begins, or probably began at the beginning of this crisis between u.s. and uk officials to look at things like communications, travel history, to work out whether or not this was a lone figure acting on their own or part of some wider plot. and were there any elements that plot may still be a threat around? i have to say listening to the coherence of akram in that recording of him in the synagogue and other suggestions about how sophisticated or unsophisticated frankly this plot was, that may point investigators toward what his family is suggesting, there could be mental health issues here. but certainly all efforts now being put in by uk and u.s. officials to work together to get to the bottom of this. and i understand from our colleague josh campbell that u.s. and uk officials at this stage aren't seeing many traces of akram in their data bases in terms of somebody they already had on their radar. but even president joe biden unclear certainly it was on sunday afternoon about what the motivation may have been here. that is going to be key to working out precisely how those horrifying scenes in texas occurred. nick paton-walsh, cnn, london. and coming up, djokovic reported. the tennis star forced to leave australia just hours before the first major tournament of the year begins. where things go from here. that's just ahead. plus, how the djokovic saga underscores a bigger issue among some top athletes and their attitudes about the pandemic. we're back with that and more in just a moment. ersticks can be a real challenge. that's why i use the freestyle libre 2 system. with a painless, one-second scan i know my glucose numbers without fingersticks. now i'm managing my diabetes better and i've lowered my a1c from 8.2 to 6.7. take the mystery out of managing your diabetes and lower your a1c. now you know. try it for free at freestylelibre.us ♪ smooth like butter, like a criminal undercover ♪ ♪ gon' pop like trouble ♪ ♪ breaking into your heart like that ♪ ♪ do the boogie, like ♪ ♪ side step, right-left, to my beat ♪ ♪ high like the moon, rock with me, baby ♪ ♪ know that i got that heat ♪ ♪ let me show you 'cause talk is cheap ♪ ♪ side step, right ♪ ♪ get it, let it roll ♪ feel stuck with student loan debt? move to sofi and feel what it's like to get your money right. ♪ ♪ ♪ move your student loan debt to sofi- you could save with low rates and no fees. earn a $1,000 bonus when you refi- and get your money right. new vicks vapostick. strong soothing vapors... help comfort your loved ones. for chest, neck, and back. it goes on clear. no mess just soothing comfort. try new vicks vapostick. welcome back, everyone. well, the australian open tennis tournament is now under way without world number one novak djokovic. the tennis star arrived in dubai early monday after losing his bid to stay in australia despite being unvaccinated. and it appears unlikely he'll be welcomed back anytime soon, according to the australian minister of home affairs. take a listen. >> that cancellation was upheld by the federal court. so as a result of that he will be banned from entry for three years into the country. now, there are some compelling reasons that that might be able to be looked at. but that's all hypothetical. at had point any application will be reviewed on its merits. >> djokovic was deported sunday, hours after an australian federal court upheld a decision to revoke his visa for a second time. the judges saying australia's immigration minister acted lawfully when he canceled djokovic's visa, citing concerns the unvaccinated star could stir up anti-vaccine sentiment. but djokovic is getting plenty of support back home. belgrade lit up its tallest building in his honor, calling him the pride of serbia. the country's prime minister has called the australian court's decision scandalous. and for more cnn's phil black joins us now live from melbourne. good to see you, phil. after days of messy and embarrassing moments on all sides, djokovic is now out of the australian open, out of the country. what is the latest on all of this? and of course the fallout. >> i think the key thing to say is the tennis has started. it's a beautiful sunny day here in melbourne and huge crowds have come to melbourne park to enjoy the atmosphere, the opening around matches of the australian open. big names already on court including nadal and osaka, who won in straight sets. novak djokovic was due to play in this arena tonight, as we know. but as you touched on, he will not because he has left the country. he has got at least as far as dubai. and that's because for all his efforts the legal battles, the time in immigration detention, the raw determination, some would say stubbornness to play here unvaccinated, his lawyers ultimately failed to convince the full bench of the federal court that his visa cancellation should be overturned. so wherever djokovic is now, he gets to choose where he sleeps, what he gets to eat. he's also going to have to think about at some stage how and if and when p he returns here to australia to compete in future tournaments because as you touched on, as you heard from the minister there, the visa cancellation comes with a three-year ban on entering the country. it can be overturned. but he's got to prove at some stage that there are compelling circumstances in australia's interest. that i guess is a discussion for another day. for the moment and for the next two weeks here will hopefully just be about the tennis. but the reaction to djokovic here, while among australia's serbian community certainly disappointment. he is a hero to them no doubt. but more broadly many australians i think are satisfied with the end result of this saga. even if the process, what they would say, the mishandling of it by the australian government, took so long and became so messy. so the end result, as i say, the tennis is under way without the defending men's champion novak djokovic. rosemary. >> all right. moving forward. phil black joining us live from melbourne. many thanks. joining me now is espn senior writer howard bryant. he's also with meadowlark media. good to have you with us. >> it's good to be here. >> in a powerful article you wrote just a few days ago that djokovic has, and i'm quoting here, "cemented his membership within the pandemic's most infamous group, the anti-vaxx multimillionaire athlete who behaves as if his fame, wealth, and enormous platform to disseminate misinformation place him above the rest of us." now, since then australia has thrown him out of the country for doing exactly that. what is your reaction? and what message does it send other anti-vaccine athletes and of course the entire sports community? >> well, it's a devastating blow for him. tennis is an ving sport, and novak djokovic is the greatest tennis player, male tennis player in the world right now. and so he's chasing greatness. and for him to not only be thrown out of the country and unable to compete in this australian open, but he faces a three-year ban from the country. so his greatest -- the place of his greatest successes he's not able to attend for the next three years. unless there's some change. i think that the biggest message that it sends to me is -- it's not just to novak. i don't think the goal is to force him to be vaccinated. i think the goal here, the message to me goes closer to tennis australia and to the other sports leagues and to the french open and the u.s. open and wimbledon, to have some uniform standards and that you can't create these loopholes that players are allowed to travel the world and not be vaccinated. >> yeah. it's a very important point. and you also wrote in that same article that, and quoting again, "athletes lauded for using their voices to benefit the conditions of others have been replaced by the pandemic-era player, beholden completely unto himself, unburdened by community or responsibility to others, using vaunted platforms to disseminate pseudoscience to elevate and separate themselves." why do you think some of these sports heroes have turned out to be so self-serving during this pandemic? some even lying about their vaccination status at a time when their voices needed to spread the advice of public health professionals to keep everyone around them safe. >> well-i think the biggest reason is because they don't believe they're part of this anymore. i think one of the biggest things that's happened over the past few years is that the -- this decade, whether we're talking about trayvon martin or whether we're talking about george floyd or colin kaepernick, this decade is going to be remembered for the revival of the athletes' political voice, that they became involved in social movements. and they have completely undermined all of that goodwill during the pandemic. they have been one of the more obstructionist voices and perhaps the most vocal obstructionist voices. and i think part of the reason is because they don't believe that these rules should apply to them, that they aren't part of this, that sports had always been part of being -- part of the solution. and they no longer seem to see it that way. i think that they really do view themselves, because their platforms are so enormous and also because their leagues didn't create any vaccine mandates, that they were allowed to essentially make everything a personal choice, and it goes in line as well with really what's happening in this country as well, that there is no community and the players have really begun to reflect that. >> yeah. and your words are so powerful. and i do want to quote you again in that same art siicle, you sa that "while australian citizens around the world sacrifice to resume their lifestyles by suffering through the difficult steps of vaccine mandates o'ostensibly for the long-term greater good several high-profile athletes have decided the only name that matters is the one on the back of their jerseys." powerful words again. sob what ellen ables these behaviors and why do? top athletes put themselves first while most others step up and do the right thing? because we're really only talking about a few selfish players. >> well, i think the reason is because we've enabled them as well. if you tell them they're gods and treat them like gods then believe they're gods. and i think that's the biggest thing you've seen so far on this issue. and i think when it comes to a player like novak djokovic, he's actually done a lot of great things in terms of encouraging vaccinations for others. he's a very curious anti-vaxxer. he's not the aaron rodgers anti-vaxxer who tells you that you should -- that there are other different forms of treatment that you can take and that he's going to sort of play hocus-pocus with the words telling you that he's not vaccinated but immunized, the way aaron rodgers did. i think for novak this has been very much a personal choice that he's he's not going to get vaccinated. but at the same time the end result becomes the same because instead of doing what kyrie irving did, which was to say okay, these are the rules, i choose not to play by them, which is completely his right, he instead went looking for loopholes and was incredibly reckless. novak djokovic is a player who wants to be known as a great -- as a great person. he's not one of these people that isn't aware of criticism. he wants to be loved and he is beloved in his country, and a lot of people really do look up to him. so that's why some of this is so bizarre in terms of his cageyness about his vaccination status and the recklessness in which he's traveled. let's not forget, 2020 he was the one in the middle of the pandemic before there were vaccines who had -- who organized a maskless tournament that turned out to be a superspreader event. so it's just very, very reckless and poor decision-making on his part. >> yeah. some worrying history there. howard bryant, a pleasure to talk with you. thank you so much for joining us. >> my pleasure. thank you. for the fourth time in a month north korea appears to have tested more missiles. we will have the latest in a live report from tokyo straight ahead. staying up half the night searching for savings on your prescriptions? just ask your cvs pharmacist. we search for savings for you. from coupons to lower costs options. plus, earn up to $50 extra bucks rewards each year just for filling at cvs pharmacy. what happens when you block heartburn with one prilosec otc in the morning? heartburn doesn't stand a chance - 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. we're getting destroyed out there. we need a plan! i have a plan... right now at t-mobile, customers on magenta max can get the new iphone 13 ...and t-mobile will pay for it! i'm talking new customers! i'm talking existing customers like ronald! the new iphone on t-mobile... let's do it! new and existing t-mobile and sprint customers, can upgrade to the iphone 13 on us. on our most popular max plan. do we have a plan for the second half? nah, we're gonna get creamed... but we'll be on t-mobile! my hygienist cleans with a round head. so does my oral-b my hygienist personalizes my cleaning. so does my oral-b oral-b delivers the wow of a professional clean feel every day. does sinus congestion and pressure make breathing feel impossible especially at night? try vicks sinex. unlike most sinus treatments, it provides instant relief that lasts up to 12 hours. its powerful decongestant targets congestion at the source, with a dual action formula that relieves nasal congestion and soothes sinus pressure by reducing swelling in the sinuses. for instant relief that lasts up to 12 hours, try vicks sinex. from vicks - trusted relief for over 125 years. [sfx: voice relief] 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. welcome back, everyone. well, the south korean government has held an emergency security meeting after north korea launched two suspected ballistic missiles a short time ago. south korea's joint chiefs of staff say the projectiles were launched from somewhere near pyongyang's international airport early monday local time into the sea to the east. cnn's blake esick is following developments and joins mep live from tokyo. good to see you, blake. so the fourth time in a month that north korea has apparently tested ballistic missiles? what is going on here? >> reporter: you know, rosemary, it's been a busy start to 2022 for north korea's missile program. as you said, four missile tests in january alone. that's compared to two tests in all of 2021. but this recent flurry of tests shouldn't exactly come as a surprise. that's because north korea historically isn't known to make empty threats and these recent tests all come just a few weeks after north korea urbane leader kim jong un promised to further strengthen his country's military capability during a speech closing out its five-day party meeting. and in a recent statement carried by state media kcna the minister of foreign affairs spokesperson defended the country's right to bolster its arms saying its recent development of weapons was just part of its efforts for modernizing its defense capability. but before today's test the last missile launch was carried out less than a week ago and took place a few hours after north korea's foreign minister released -- ministry released a statement expressing frustration over new sanctions imposed by the united states. the statement said that if the u.s. adopts such a confrontational stance north korea will be forced to take stronger and certain reactions to it, essentially suggesting that the missile tests were carried out as a protest to the sanctions. now, to this point the biden administration has taken a more muted approach in dealing with north korea compared to the previous administration. and according to analysts, north korea's pretty low on the biden administration's list of priorities at the moment. that's not a secret to north korea. they may be trying to draw attention to themselves with the recent missile launches. while it's not exactly known at this point if these frequent missile tests will be a pattern this year, the two countries, the u.s. and north korea, seem to be at a deadlock. the biden administration has made it known that they are all for dialogue and engagement but will not drop sanctions as a price to sit down with the north. while north korea also wants the dialogue to take place but is adamant that the biden administration must first display its goodwill by dropping sanctions. rosemary? >> all right. blake es ig joining us live there. appreciate it. one of tonga's more recognizable citizens is raising money to help out his home country after tsunami waves crashed into the islands. that story straight ahead. and china's economic numbers for 2021 are in. the reasons why growth is slowing. back with that in just a moment. 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 lipoic acid to relieve occasional nerve aches, weaknesand discomfort. try nervivenerve relief. moving is a handful. no kidding! fortunately, xfinity makes moving easy. easy? -easy? switch your xfinity services to your new address online in about a minute. that was easy. i know, right? and even save with special offers just for movers. really? yep! so while you handle that, you can keep your internet and all those shows you love, and save money while you're at it with special offers just for movers at xfinity.com/moving. the australian government says it hopes to have a better assessment soon of the damage done in tonga by this volcanic eruption. it triggered tsunami waves that flooded parts of tonga. there's very limited if any information coming from some of its islands. new zealand sent a reconnaissance flight early monday. clouds of ash have blanketed the region for miles, hindering some recovery efforts and even reaching australia. there's now this gofundme page to help victims of the disaster. tonga's own olympic flag bearer launched this fund-raiser just a short time ago. we turn now to cnn meteorologist tyler mauldin, who's monitoring developments for us and joins us now live. good to see you again, tyler. of course those satellite images just shocking. and this event put the region edge. now new volcanic activity. what is the latest? >> yeah, so the satellite image you see behind me here is of the eruption from saturday. such a massive eruption. the largest eruption that we've seen in hundreds of years. and with such an eruption as that you're going to get little bitty tiny smaller issues going on as well. and that's what we're seeing. so we're seeing smaller activity continue. and that's going to continue for the foreseeable future. you also notice how massive this ash cloud is. well, that ash cloud as you mentioned, rosemary, is now moving over australia. it moved over queensland on monday, and it was found about 42,000, 63,000 feet up in the atmosphere at this time. no threat to aviation. you can see all of that pushing over as i go through the graphic here and pushing on. the reason why that we see so much activity is that this is part of the ring of fire. so you expect a lot of activity in this part. if you're part of the ring of fire you're going to see some really heightened seismic and volcanic activity. and right there is the trench. so yeah, that's the reason why we're seeing the issues. and what we saw just the other day is the tsunami wave. some of the tsunami waves actually made it all the way to california. and the reason why we had the tsunami, rosemary, is because this tsunami was generated by going deep down under the water. we had landslides under the water after that volcano erupted and the caldera collapsed as well. and that created that tsunami that as we've seen has made all kinds of damage. >> yeah, and of course terrified so many people. tyler mauldin, thank you so much for bringing us up to date on that situation. well, china's economy grew 4% in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to a year earlier. that's faster than expected but it's still the weakest growth in a year and a half. gross domestic product expanded 8.1% for the entire year about what experts predicted. kristi lu stout is in hong tongue with more on the numbers. great to see you. why is growth slowing like this and how will china's leadership help support the nation's economy? >> one major factor is china's zero covid policy. the zero tolerance approach to pandemic control. china has just reported its slowest economic growth in a year and a half, reporting fourth quarter gdp of just 4%. that was a little bit higher than what analysts were expecting. but it pales in comparison to the first half of last year when china experienced that sharp rebound from its initial pandemic slump. china right now is counting the cost of two things. number one, its ongoing deepening property crisis and number two its zero covid prols. in many ways zero covid has been a good fling. has saved lives in china. it's stemmed massive and major outbreaks from taking over the entire country. but it's also come at a very steep cost. about 20 million people in china right now are under strict lockdown, and many economists say that zero covid has led to factory closures, supply chain disruptions, and the biggest hit of all, domestic consumption. earlier today i spoke to a senior economist at oxford economics. his name is tommy wu. we have his statement up. and this is what he told me with his analysis of today's gdp numbers. he said, "in regards to zero covid, the zero covid approach affects consumption, especially demand for services." he goes on to say "from an economic perspective it's better to have some sort of an easing in restrictions but we know the reality is that zero tolerance will very likely stay until the end of this year, the earliest." now, the eurasia group placed china's zero covid policy at the very top of its list of global risks for this year. rosemary, you asked the question what do chinese leaders plan to do about this? the fact that china's economy is slowing. economists and analysts we've been talking to say they expect beijing, the leadership to step in, with a number of ways to shore up china's slowing economy through tax cuts, through increases in infrastructure spending, through fiscal measures like speeding up the issuances of local bonds. and timing is of course the essence right now. this is a very sensitive year, politically critical year, because later this year chinese president xi jinping is set to secure that unprecedented third term as not just the head of the chinese communist party but the military and the chinese government. back to you, rosemary. >> all right. kristi lu stout joining us live from hong kong. many thanks. >> you're welcome. england is taking another step in easing some of its covid rules. starting monday, people can end their self-isolation after five full days if they test negative on days 5 and 6 and have no fever. meanwhile, after weeks of debate and amendments the french parliament has approved a controversial vaccine pass bill. the new law requires proof of full vaccination for many everyday activities like visiting bars and restaurants as well as long-distance public transport. a negative pcr test is no longer enough. the law still needs to go to the constitutional court next week for final approval. another attempt to dodge vaccine mandates was foiled by italian police after they arrested a nurse in palermo for faking covid injections. captured on video here, the nurse is seen spilling the vaccine dose into gauze before sticking the needle in the patient's arm. police say the people she pretended to inoculate were compliant. she was allegedly working with another nurse, who was arrested in december for the same crime. we've seen other attempts in italy to fake vaccinations. just last month an italian dentist tried to use a fake arm made of silicone to receive a vaccine card. his plot quickly fell apart when the nurse saw that the arm was not real. for our international viewers "world sport" with patrick snell is coming up next. and for those watching here in the united states i'll be right back with more "cnn newsroom." do stick around. staying up half the night searching for savings on your prescriptions? just ask your cvs pharmacist. we search for savings for yoyo. fromom coupons to lower costs options. plus, earn up toto $50 extra bucks rewards each year just foror filling at cvs pharmacy. wondering what actually goes ininto your multi-vitamin? at new chapter its innovation organic ingredients and fermentation. fermentation? yes, formulated to help your body really truly absorb the natural goodness. w chapter. wellness well done we'rcarvana, the company o invented car vending machines and buying a car 100online. now we've created a brand-new way for you to sell your car. whether it's a year old or a few years old. we wanna buy your car. so go to carvana and enter your license plate answer a few questions. and our techno wizardry calculates your car's value and gives you a real offer in seconds. when you're ready, we'll come to you, pay you on the spot and pick up your car, that's it. so ditch the old way of selling your car, and say hello to the new way at carvana. does sinus congestion and pressure make breathing feel impossible especially at night? try vicks sinex. unlike most sinus treatments, it provides instant relief that lasts up to 12 hours. its powerful decongestant targets congestion at the source, with a dual action formula that relieves nasal congestion and soothes sinus pressure by reducing swelling in the sinuses. for instant relief that lasts up to 12 hours, try vicks sinex. from vicks - trusted relief for over 125 years. [sfx: voice relief] ♪ smooth like butter, like a criminal undercover ♪ ♪ gon' pop like trouble ♪ ♪ breaking into your heart like that ♪ ♪ do the boogie, like ♪ ♪ side step, right-left, to my beat ♪ ♪ high like the moon, rock with me, baby ♪ ♪ know that i got that heat ♪ ♪ let me show you 'cause talk is cheap ♪ ♪ side step, right ♪ ♪ get it, let it roll ♪ the new ww personal points program. it's particular to you. what's your favorite food? avocado. you can fill a bathtub. i love it. with guacamole. all over. helps the skin, helps the body. join now, pay later. get three months free at ww.com hurry! offer ends january 17th. what happens when you block heartburn with one prilosec otc in the morning? heartburn doesn't stand a chance - 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. your plain aspirin could be hurting your stomach. vazalore... is the first liquid-filled aspirin capsule clinically shown to cause fewer ulcers than plain aspirin. try new vazalore. aspirin made amazing! the u.s. surgeon general is warning a national peak in the omicron covid surge likely won't happen in the coming days and says the next few weeks will be tough. he spoke to cnn's jake tapper on sunday and said testing is still a top priority. >> as the president said, we certainly have more we need to do on testing. and that's a message that's very clear from him to the public, to his team, that we need to pull every lever possible. it's why you've seen so many additional spigots opened, if you will, when it comes to testing, and why that supply will continue to increase in the months ahead. >> joining me now from newton, massachusetts is dr. ashish jha. he is the dean of brown university's school of public health. thank you, doctor, for all that you do. >> thank you for having me on, rosemary. >> so doctor, i did want to ask you why the u.s. surgeon general is issuing this warning to americans not to expect omicron infections to peak anytime soon and if not in the coming days then when will they likely peak? >> yeah, so first of all, i think the surgeon general is right that we don't know exactly when it's going to peak. and more importantly possibly that it will peak in different parts of the united states at different times. we already see a peak in new york and new jersey and florida. probably certainly here in massachusetts, i'm pretty confident that the omicron wave has peaked. but there are many parts of the country where it is still just beginning to accelerate. so as a nation it may be several weeks away before we really see a substantial downturn. >> and doctor, the surgeon general also says that the biden administration needs to focus more on testing. so why hasn't that happened? considering president biden did promise from the start. and why has testing proved to be such a challenge and a burden? >> yeah. this is one area where i think the administration clearly could have and should have done more. i think basically they relied on a vaccine strategy that was very effective at getting a large proportion of americans vaccinated but didn't pay enough attention. i think in the last couple of months we've seen a substantial uturn from the biden administration on this. a real emphasis on testing. it's welcome. i think it's going to make an enormous difference. obviously, i wish they had gotten started earlier. but i'm glad they're doing it now. >> and doctor, we've also received new guidance from the cdc on which masks will better protect us from infection, with renewed emphasis on the n95 and kn95 masks. but for many families struggling to make ends meet, access to these masks could prove problematic even though the administration does say there will be enough to go around. do you worry about unvaccinated kids particularly and other vulnerable groups not getting sufficient access to these improved masks? >> yeah, it is confusing still, where to get them, how much they're going to cost. so i think this is a place where more guidance would be useful. and then for people who are of more limited financial means, more assistance would be useful. there are states now starting to send out high-quality masks. i think that's a good idea. i think the federal government can play a role in that as well. but no doubt about it, higher quality masks work and they're better and the government should be making it easier for people to get them. >> right. and doctor, in some countries vaccination rates are very high. in canberra, australia it's at more than 98%. and yet america struggles to get enough shots in arms. and while that happens, of course, hospitals in this country are overburdened. so what more needs to be done to add incentive to those still not vaccinated? how do you convince them that this is the best way to go? >> yeah. this has been the challenge of the last i would say six or so months here in the united states. there is so much vaccine misinformation, so much of a sort of poisoning of the national discourse on vaccines that a lot of people remain confused and remain unconvinced. we know the one thing that works is vaccine mandates. when businesses put in mandates, when towns and states put in mandates, we know that that really moves the needle. and so i'm encouraging more businesses to require vaccines of their employees. it will be good for their employees, good for their customers, and really good for all of the community and society. >> and of course the supreme court decided that that wasn't going to happen, that those mandates for certainly those businesses of 100 or more employees would not be required or mandated to get vaccinated. we know in other countries there are fines being put in place as incentives, there's various across europe. so are any of those viable for the united states, do you think? >> yeah, i think certainly at the federal level probably not. you're not going to see a national effort in that way. but i think certainly cities, new york city has put in vaccine mandates, or i would say passports, for almost every public event. i think that clearly makes a difference. a lot of companies, andrew mccabe -- a lot of companies, apple, universities like mine, that's fine when private businesses mandate it. i'm hoping a combination of that plus cities and states acting aggressively on this issue will get us where we need to be. >> dr. jha, always a pleasure to talk to you. thank you for joining us. >> thanks, rose mary. the u.s. senate is set to take up voting rights legislation tuesday. but republicans oppose it. so democrats will need to change filibuster rules so the bill can pass with a simple majority. however, democratic senators joe manchin and kyrsten sinema are both against changing the rules. even so, the house majority whip says his party must keep pushing. >> if we do not protect the vote with everything that we've got, we will not have a country to protect going forward. i don't know where we got the notion from that this democracy is here to stay no matter how we conduct ourselves. our job, we took the oath of office to protect this country from all enemies, foreign and domestic. there are some domestic enemies. they showed up on january 6th and they didn't stop there. they're still going on. >> while opposing the broader measures, some republicans, including senator mitt romney support reforming the electoral count act which allows lawmakers to dispute election results. friends and family members of slain civil rights leader martin luther king jr. marched in arizona on sad to call attention to the importance of the right to vote. they also sat down with our suz suzanne malvo. >> reporter: january 15, 2022, the day martin luther king jr. would have turned 93 years old. his eldest son, martin luther king iii, reflects on his how his father would feel today. >> do you think he would have been surprised, discouraged, that we are now, more than 60 years out from his fight for voting rights, that there is still a fight to be had? >> he never gave in and gave out, the disappointment, yes, he'd be greatly disappointed and say that america must, and will do, better. he never would have accepted that we're going through at this point. >> reporter: king had hoped bringing president biden to georgia, the epicenter of the voting rights battle would have put enough pressure on the few democratic senators holding up voting rights legislation to relent. >> pass the freedom to vote act. >> reporter: following biden's fiery address, i sat down on the front porch of the home where martin luther king jr. was born with his son, martin iii, hand his wife. king shared the private conversation he had with the president earlier that day. >> what did you tell him? >> we talked about literally, the full faith of the white house. we saw you do that with infrastructure. we want to see you do that for the right to vote. >> i've been having these quiet conversations with the members of congress for the last two months. i'm tired of being quiet. >> were any of you -- share that sentiment, tired of the president being quiet? he said he was tired of being quiet? >> yes. we're tired of him being quiet as he's tired of being quiet. it's time to elevate this battle, this fight to what it is, and that is a fight for the future of the nation. >> reverend jesse jackson who marched with king more than a half century ago also attended biden's speech. he believes the ongoing battle for the battle is worth it. >> we have an obligation to fight back, to save the country, the right to vote. >> why are you so optimistic? >> my back is against the wall. there's no future in hopelessness. gotta keep hope alive. >> reporter: king was encouraged by biden's call to lower the senate's 60 vote threshold to get national voting rights legislation passed but at the same time realistic about the chances of getting the necessary approval. >> i can't say today my own self i'm confident that it will pass. but the fact of the matter is, if you continue down the pathway that it feels like we've gone down, you're definitely doomed. >> reporter: two days later, back in washington, king's fears were realized. the voting rights bill effectively died after democratic senator kyrsten sinema of arizona announced she would not support changing the senate filibuster rules. king said history would remember her unkindly and her home state could pay. >> you may remember that arizona was one of the last states to pass the king holiday bill. and one of the things that happened was the super bowl was removed. >> reporter: saturday the king family will mark king's birthday in arizona to keep up the pressure on voting rights and on monday, the mlk day holiday, their fight is in the nation's capitol where they're asking americans across the country to honor king by promoting voting rights and registration. >> they're all heirs to what he stood and fought and died for. and i think that what we are simply saying is that this is a time, this is a day of action. >> reporter: suzanne malvo, cnn. >> thank you for joining us. i'm rosemary church. i'll be right back with more news from around the world after this short break. you're watching cnn. please stick around. let's get ready for jalapeñoooo popperrrs! turns out, michael buffer speaks like that all the time. and it turns out the general is a quality insurance company that's been saving people money for nearly 60 years. for a great low rate, and nearly 60 yearss of quality c coverage, go with the general. i had no idea how much i wamy case was worth. c call the barnes firm to find out what your case could be worth. we will help get you the best result possible. ♪ call one eight hundred, eight million ♪ when a truck hit my car, ♪the insurance companyed, wasn't fair. eight million ♪ i didid't t kn whahatmy c caswa, so i called the barnes firm. i'm rich barnes. it's hard for people to k how much their accident case is worth.h barnes. t ouour juryry aorneneys hehelpou ♪ hello. welcome to viewers joining us in the united states and around the world. you're watching cnn newsroom. i'm rosemary church. just ahead, treacherous road conditions are a major concern for millions of americans as a vicious winter storm pummels much of the east coast. djokovic deported. the australian open is now under way without the world's top tennis player.