america's telecom giants prepare to roll out their 5g service in the next 24 hours. just days after a horrifying hours-long standoff, the texas rabbi held hostage by a british gunman leads a healing service at his synagogue. and blanketed by volcanic debris and cut off from the rest of the world. we'll show you the scale of the devastation in tonga. >> announcer: live from london, this is "cnn newsroom" with isa soares. welcome to the show, everyone. it is tuesday, january 18th. we begin with a stark warning from top u.s. airlines about 5g service. now, they say at&t and verizon's planned rollout that's happening on wednesday could lead to a, quote, catastrophic aviation crisis in less than 36 hours. now, a letter to the biden administration asks for a delay in the rollout. the federal aviation administration warns potential interference could affect airline instruments, restrictions could ground flights stranding passengers as well as of course cargo. the letter goes on to say to be blunt, the nation's commerce will grind to a halt. late on monday, united airlines underscored the warning, saying the rollout could negatively affect more than a million united passengers. thousands of flights and goods and cargo traveling through 40 major airports every year. now, united also warned 5g signals near runways could interfere with safety equipment pilots use for takeoffs and landings really in bad weather. it said, we won't compromise on safety, full stop, as you can see there. at&t, cnn's parent company, and verizon declined to comment. let's get more on the story. ryan patel is a senior fellow at the druck ard school of management in california, a well known face on the show. he joins us from los angeles. ryan, great to see you. let's start with this pretty stark warning and pretty stark language from the airline industry. break it down so our viewers understand right around the world. how real is this fear here? >> well, the fear really -- and i want to say this first. there's safety, and the fear they're talking about is really the disruption. so should the faa, you know, they move forward with 5g with verizon and at&t, there's going to be some planes that these airlines are not going to be able to use. the faa has only gone through 45% of the airplanes that they've approved. so what does that mean? that means airlines are going to have to find more airplanes. guess what? they don't have that. that means less routes, less money, huge disruption, and cancellations and obviously bottom line for the airlines, will cause a longer road to recovery. >> so really what we're talking about here is operational disruption, so passengers, shipping, even i suspect supply chain. what do they want to see? a delay in this rollout because we've been here before. >> we have. they would like to have a delay. at&t and verizon's ceos last month made it very clear this was the last delay that they were going to do with their own stark statement last time that they weren't going to -- they're going to do whatever necessary to move forward. so that's why we're at this impasse right now. >> what do these telecommunications companies say in response, of course, to this? >> well, i mean part of this is -- you know, they've got many reasons. let me rephrase it. they've got 60-plus billion reasons of dollars that at&t and verizon has to make sure that works. they've given the deadlines last december to push forward. they say really the safety reasons is what they're trying to attack, and look at europe and france and say, 5g, it works. it's about negotiating a two-mile radius around major airports. i think that's what's being discussed at this very moment. that is what both those companies, telecom companies, are putting their hat on is really about moving forward. >> but us here on the other side of the atlantic, c band, 5g has been deployed really in some 40 countries, and correct me if i'm wrong, but we haven't seen any aviation interference issues in these countries. is there any evidence, ryan, to suggest this has been a problem here, that we just simply haven't heard of? >> no. i think obviously the telecom companies have been using the european as a case study that there hasn't been a problem. the think the language over the last delay was really about what size of frequency. i think there was some concessions made about moving a little bit lower around -- ability around that. but i think what you're seeing with this letter and memo going out right now from the airlines is the realization that this deadline's here and it's not going to get delayed. this is why we're seeing this right now. part of that is then if they are going to move forward, and this is the realization now, is that there is going to be disruption. there is going to be money lost. the airlines just got through the recovery of holiday season, and they weren't happy with all the cancellation flights that happened there. >> very quickly yes or no? do you think the telecommunications companies will budge here, ryan? >> i think they're going to have to make a concession somewhere to push this delay or some kind of acceleration down the road. i don't see them giving in for no reason. >> i appreciate you taking the time to speak to us and for staying up for us. it's 1:00 in the morning in los angeles. great to see you, ryan. thanks very much. now, in the coming hours, the u.s. senate is set to vote on really an important voting rights bill, which appears to be doomed. vice president kamala harris urged senators to pass the new legislation saying americans freedoms to vote are under attack and lawmakers must fight back. have a listen. >> it is time for the united states senate to do its job. we must not be complacent or complicit. we must not give up, and we must not give in. >> well, on the anniversary of civil rights leader martin luther king jr.'s birthday, his granddaughter and family appeared in washington demanding the senate pass new laws to protect voting rights. and if they really wanted to honor king's work, they must stand on the right side of history. >> history will be watching what happens tomorrow. black and brown americans will be watching what happens tomorrow. in 50 years, students will read about what happens tomorrow and know whether our leaders had the integrity to do the right thing. if you can deliver an infrastructure bill for bridges, you can deliver voting rights for americans. if you do not, there's no bridge in this nation that can hold the weight of that failure. >> 19 states currently as you can see there have laws restricting voting rights, which means democrats have some major obstacles really to overcome. cnn's phil mattingly has the details now from the white house for you. >> reporter: for president biden, vice president harris, the effort to keep pressure on senate democrats as they move towards a vote on a sweeping voting reform bill has continued. they used the martin luther king commemoration, that day of service to some degree, to try and keep the focus on voting rights, to try to keep the focus on at least two democrats in the u.s. senate who are very clearly not willing to change senate rules in order to move a sweeping voting bill forward. this was how the president framed the choice. >> where do we stand? whose side are we on? will we stand against voter suppression? yes or no? will we stand against election subversion? yes or no? will we stand up for an america where everyone is guaranteed the full protections and the full promise of this nation? yes or no? i know where i stand. it's time for every elected official in america to make it clear where they stand. >> reporter: while senate democratic leader chuck schumer has made clear the vote will be happening on that bill this week, likely a vote to change senate rules will as well. the reality is this. neither will move forward. every single republican in the senate is opposed. the democrats won't have the 60 votes to move the bill forward through traditional senate procedure, and at least two democrats are opposed to changing senate rules, senators joe manchin and kyrsten sinema. so the question will eventually become what's next? there is no question about it. advocates are extraordinarily frustrated, not just with those two senate democrats but also with the white house. they feel like the white house took too long to go all in on this effort. they haven't put enough behind this effort. but white house officials have been abundantly clear now for months. they knew where the senators stood on the filibuster. they knew despite all 50 democrats supporting these sweeping voting rights bills that they did not have the votes to actually advance them in the senate. what they may have is bipartisan votes in the senate to move smaller measures forward, particularly related to election subversion. the white house has not tried to move towards that pathway yet. they've made clear they don't believe those efforts are any substitute for the broader efforts democrats and advocates are pushing for. but they need something, and clearly with what the president -- former president has done with the big lie and trying to subvert the free and fair elections back in 2020, republicans also acknowledge, at least some of them, that something is likely necessary on several fronts, either protecting election officials or shifting or codifying clear rules of the road when it comes to the electoral count act, the law at the center of the january 6th attack on the capitol. those efforts are under way. house democrats have efforts as well as a bipartisan group in the united states senate. the white house has not endorsed any of those efforts at this point in time, making very clear their push is on the bill that will be coming to the senate floor this week. that push will fail. white house officials know that. they have to decide what's next. there are potential pathways forward on other options. they just need to decide whether to take those options. phil mattingly, cnn, the white house. >> thank you, phil. concern over attacks by houthi rebels on the united arab emirates has pushed all prices to a near seven-year high. supply shortages and fears about disruption to demand from the omicron variant have also forced prices high as you can see there. brent crude is up 1.5%. the wti crude hovering roughly around the same amount. we'll keep on top of those numbers for you. and those of you just waking up really may want to conserve that orange juice in your refrigerator because prices unfortunately are climbing. citrus production in florida has taken a hit. the u.s. agricultural department says there's been a 3% drop in the state's orange crop and that can mean the smallest harvest really in decades and more expensive orange juice on the shelves of course. now, the u.s. surgeon general says some areas that were first hit hard by the omicron variant are starting to see the situation improve. that's good news. but he warns much of the country still has really a ways to go, and the next few weeks will be tough. as you can see there on your screen, 20 states are still seeing cases decline compared to the week prior while others are seeing rising or holding steady. the cdc says people with covid-19 can end isolation after five days if they don't have symptoms and should wear a mask around others for at least five more days. the cdc advises avoiding being around people at high risk and links to a page with conditions that make people likely to become severely ill from covid. more than 80% of americans have at least one condition listed. that is according to analysis. health experts are weighing in on the guidance. have a listen. >> the cdc is in a challenging position because there's so many people infected right now, and the vast majority of them are not isolating at all. so cdc is trying to find guidance that people will do, that will reduce transmission. i think five days is when people are most contagious, so that's critical. beyond that, i think it's essential that people wear high-quality masks and avoid high-risk situations. we're trying to walk a fine line here. >> they're not talking about passing someone on the street or being in the supermarket next to someone. they're talking about going over to someone's house. they're talking about socializing with someone at length, someone who you may have a prolonged period of sharing enclosed air with. and this is an example of cdc needing to communicate better. my view is that their isolation and quarantine guidance was generally right, but failing to explain it clearly, explain the choices that were made, why they were made, what the judgments were, what the science is -- that has led to a vacuum when people are making kind of pot shot criticisms at the cdc. >> well, that's in the united states. in israel, early data now suggests the fourth covid vaccine dose can boost antibodies to even higher levels, but it may not be enough to protect against possible breakthrough infections caused by the omicron variant. now, meantime, moderna says it should have data available on its omicron-specific vaccine soon and looks to share the information by march. in the state of virginia, newly inaugurated republican governor glenn youngkin is moving fast to set new covid priorities for the state, and that includes signing an executive action that in public schools and puts the decision in parent's hands instead. but he's already running into opposition with several school districts in democratic-leaning areas saying they will defy his new order. now a u.s. federal appeals court is sending a lawsuit challenging texas controversial abortion law to the state's supreme court in the latest setback for abortion clinics. the texas law essentially bans abortion after the first six weeks, before most women have any fact that they are pregnant. it's been in effect since september of last year, setting off, as you remember, those widespread protests. now to colleyville, texas, where a rabbi who escaped a hostage situation at is synagogue held a special healing service on monday in the wake of the horrifying ordeal. listen to what he told his congregation. >> thank god, thank god. it could have been so much worse. and i am overflowing, truly overflowing with gratitude. >> now his message comes, of course, as the fbi and u.s. homeland security faith based communities will remain. someone who escaped hostage standoff creates an active shooter survival course for helping them get out safely. >> training that we had really i should say a course. it wasn't really training, that in an active shooter, that's what saved our lives because it taught me to be aware of my surroundings, to know where the exits are, and then the rest of that is run, hide, fight. >> meanwhile, the brother of the hostage taker told "the new york times" he was a deeply troubled man and had grown distant from his family in the recent years. we'll have much more ahead, of course, on the investigation and how the hostages pulled off their escape. we'll have more on that later this hour. in the meantime, the uk says it's planning to send anti-tank weapons to ukraine to help it defend against a possible russian invasion. meanwhile, a bipartisan group of u.s. senators arrive in kiev on monday, discussing tougher sanctions on russia and more military aid for ukraine, but diplomatic efforts to avert a crisis haven't ended yet. fred pleitgen reports to us from moscow. >> certainly looks like the russians are continuing to pile the pressure on the u.s. and on its nato allies as well. the russian foreign minister, he said that russia wants answers soon in written form from the united states as to russia's security demands that the russians, of course, made in those security talks with the u.s. that happened in geneva last week. now, at the core of what the russians want, there is, of course, the fact that they want written guarantees there will be no further nato expansion. they also said they want some troops withdrawn from eastern european nato countries. probably the most important demand is that the russians want written guarantees that ukraine will never become a nato member. now, the u.s. and other nato allies said that that demand is, of course, a non-starter. they've also said there would be a high price to pay if there was a further invasion of ukraine by russian forces. of course, the u.s. said that tens of thousands of russian troops are amassing close to the borders with ukraine. the russians now also saying that they're going to hold military drills together with the belarusian military in february, large scale drills. one of the things they also said yesterday is that they're already holding sniper drills. those are going on in what's called the southern military district. that's also an area that is very close to ukraine. now, all this comes as the german foreign minister has arrived here in moscow for talks with russian foreign minister sergei lavrov. the germans also saying there would be a big price to pay if russia did further invade ukraine and the german foreign minister saying she is looking for de-escalation, isa. >> thank you, fred pleitgen in moscow. we're less than three weeks into 2022 and north korea has already launched four missile tests this year. japan says two ballistic missiles were fired three minutes apart on monday. pyongyang claims they were tactical-guided missiles that hit their precise targets. there were two tests last week and one the week before that. in response, the u.s. announced more sanctions on north korea, but it's also sanctioning select russians accused of backing north korea's missile program. you are watching cnn "newsroom." tennis star novak djokovic facing uncertain future days after barred from the australian open because of his vaccination status, another grand slam event could be set to do the same. 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being deported from australia over the weekend. the new rules in france come as the country is facing an alarming rise in severe covid cases. on monday, officials reported the largest one-day jump in covid-related hospital admissions in more than a year. let's get more on the story, cnn's melissa bell joins me live from paris. melissa, i suspect the government will be hoping that the vaccine legislation will help reduce the current level of hospitalizations. are the french on board with this new legislation? >> well, you'll remember that at the turn of the year speaking to newspaper emmanuel macron controversially said his hope was now to piss off the unvaccinated. he appears to have succeeded in doing. we have seen angry protests now two saturdays in a row and angry debate in france's parliament meant that legislation that was due to come in on saturday, that would have turned france's health pass allows you to get into so many public venues and talking about restaurants, bars, cafes, some long distance train journeys, cinemas, theaters until now you could pcr test your way out of it. so you provided a health pass that allowed you into these places. either you were vaccinated it showed or shown to be pcr negative. that will no longer be the case from january 21st. although it's now past its laborious parliamentary journey, this piece of legislation now goes to france's highest court. which will deem whether or not it is constitutional. and that is because more than 60 french lawmakers in the assembly, the lower house and more than 60 in the upper house, the senate, have opposed themselves to it, referred it to that constitutional court. if it passes that step, that health pass becomes a vaccine pass. that means that you have to have been vaccinated to get into any of those areas. and, yes, you're quite right nat. that extends to novak djokovic. he will not be able to pcr test his way out of it when -- if he tries to come france to the french open. it will be easier to get to madrid open since spain still allows a pcr test in lieu of vaccination. france from january 21st, in theory, isa-l not. >> we'll see what he does. thanks very much, melissa bell in paris. much more on the omicron variant in about 20 minutes time or so and take you to china where authorities are scrapping olympic ticket sales after detecting a single case of the omicron variant. still to come right here on the show, new video captures the final moments of the texas synagogue standoff. plus the rabbi held captive details his harrowing experience. and many streets in the u.s. look like this on monday. and more snow could be coming. we'll have details on which areas will be hit by more winter weather. e to severe plaque psoriasis. now, there's skyrizi. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months, after just 2 doses. skyrizi i may increase your rik of infections and lowewer your ability to fight them. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and 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bring you up to date with our top stories this hour. executives from ten u.s. airlines are warning the rollout of 5g services on warn could lead, this is their word, catastrophic disruptions across major airports, impacting thousands of flights and millions of passengers. verizon and cnn's parent company at&t have not commented. and in the coming hours, the u.s. senate is set to vote on an important voting rights bill. president biden had been pushing the legislation after 19 states passed restrictive voting laws. but, it is expected to fail. we'll have much more on those two stories at the top of the hour. now, a rabbi and another man held hostage inside that texas synagogue are describing their horrifying and terrifying ordeal and how they were able to escape. we'll also have new video showing the final moments of the standoff. ed lavandera has the story for you. >> reporter: the final moments capturing three hostages escaping from the beth israel synagogue was captured by a photo journalist with cnn affiliate wfaa. the hostages race out a side door. the hostage taker briefly appears pointing his firearm in their direction. the fbi hostage rescue team surrounding the synagogue moves in. an explosive device detonates and gunfire rips through the air. the man in the blue shirt escaping from the synagogue is jeffrey cohen, nearly 11 hours earlier, cohen and rabbi charlie cytron-walker welcomed the stranger who held them hostage to the sabbath service. >> right before the service began, and i got in, rabbi charlie pointed this guy out to me and i went over to say hello, to welcome him. >> reporter: rabbi cytron-walker said the hostage ordeal started shortly after the service started and was being live streamed to congregants. >> it was during prayer, while we were praying, and my back was turned. we faced towards jerusalem when we pray. right before he revealed himself. but this was plenty of time in. i heard a click. and it could have been anything. it turned out that it was his gun. >> reporter: after the suspect pulled out a gun, cohen says he was allowed to call his family. >> at one point the terrorist let us call our families. so i remember making calls to my wife and my son. and basically told them, there's a gunman here. he claims he has a bomb. things don't look good right now. i love you. and remember me. >> reporter: cohen says that after the first hour the suspect, 44-year-old malik faisal akram became much more calm. and that's when the hostages started thinking strategically about where they should sit and to keep their eyes open for an opportunity to escape. >> his demeanor changed not too long after that. he became much calmer, maybe because he thought he was going to get what he wanted. and it changed from more attack to i'm going to die. i'm going to let these guys go, but i'm going to die here. >> reporter: but in the last hour, the suspect became agitated and threatening. the men deliberately moved themselves to an area with a direct line to a side exit of the synagogue. >> up until that point we were very willing to wait for law enforcement to do their thing. at that point, we knew we had to get out. at one point he even said that i'm going to put a bullet in each of you. get down on your knees. at which point i glared at him. i raised up in my seat kind of like i'm doing now. i may have shaked my head like that but i glared at him and i mouthed no. >> reporter: cohen says the suspect then turned to pour himself a soda and that's the opening the rabbi needed. >> when i saw an opportunity, where he wasn't in a good position, i asked -- made sure that the two gentlemen who were still with me, that they were ready to go. the exit wasn't too far away. i told them to go. i threw a chair at the gunman and i headed for the door. and all three of us were able to get out without even a shot being fired. >> i want to make it clear two things, we were not released. we were not rescued. okay. we escaped. and we escaped because we kept presence of mind because we made plans, because we strategically moved people. >> reporter: two days after the hostage crisis, the congregation of beth israel came together for a special service. this is actually one of the first times this congregation has met in such large numbers during the covid pandemic. they were brought together by this horrific ordeal. ed lavandera, cnn, south lake, texas. now british prime minister boris johnson is reportedly hoping to save his premiership with a list of new policy announcements. they include a freeze on bbc licensing fees and ditching the controversial covid passports. the prime minister backing calls for his resignations after a string of parties at 10 downing street while the country was under strict lockdown. it seems he can't shake off the party gate scandal. now we're hearing his former top adviser turned i think it's fair to say nemesis claims he, the prime minister, knew in advance about the downing street party here. >> yes, this is important. yes, it is a former employee and there is some bad blood there but dominic cummings, the prime minister's top aide, alleging that the prime minister not only knew there was a party on may 20th of 2020, he was actually warned about it. he was told to cancel the event. he was told it broke the rules. and the prime minister brushed that aside and went ahead any ways. that's important because this is the one and only event that prime minister boris johnson has admitted to attending. bring your own booze that event the prime minister says he implicitly believed was a work function. you know that was the bud of many jokes last week in this country. and that's top aide saying i'm willing to go under oath and testify. the prime minister has lied to parliament and lied to the country. it continues to build this image, isa, of essentially 10 downing street, partying it up during a pandemic. allegations of parties now spanning from may of 2020 into the spring of last year. i'm talking garden parties, bring your own booze parties, suitcases full of booze parties. i mean, the list goes on and on. this is simply not how you expect a government to behave, isa. this is not the respect and dignity that the highest office should hold itself to, should conduct itself with, especially when there's a deadly virus killing people everyday in this country. and the prime minister's troubles are not over. you have an investigation now under way, being led by a senior civil servant. there's a lot there that could come back to bite the prime minister. what's his strategy, it's a bit of a distraction. planning to clear house, find some scapegoats and try here, really try, to be the man who can be responsible for cleaning this mess up, but i think to most people in the country, he's the man responsible for this mess, isa. >> we shall see whether these policies are able to destruct -- distract the public from what is happening, what happened at 10 downing street. i know you'll stay on top of it. thank you very much. coming up right here on the show, power knocked out, flights cancelled and schools closed as parts of the u.s. prepare for more winter weather. we'll have a live forecast for you coming up. >> by the end of the day i'm hoping to have this big snowplow cleared up and be able to move on the street. tony here, from creditrepair.com. let's talk credit. what are you doing to improve your credit? do i need to improve my credit? well, that depends. do you like saving money? if you had a score of 630, a $300,000 home would cost about this much after a 30-year mortgage. that same loan would instead look like this if your score was just 30 points higher at 660. that's over $60,000 just because of your credit. wow, that's incredible. so don't wait, start working to improve your credit with creditrepair.com. now millions of people across the u.s. spent part of their martin luther king jr. holiday really digging themselves out of the heavy snow, as you can see there. a massive winter storm swept through the country, knocking out power for tens of thousands of customers. and unfortunately it's not over yet. meteorologist tyler molden is with us. good morning, tyler. so it's not over yet. any sense as to when the situation may improve? >> well, i mean, there are a couple of systems, isa, we're watching for later on this week. so once this mess that we're dealing with right now improves, there's yet another system that will be coming in. this is how much snow they were dealing with up until northeast. and this is how much they were digging out of. you definitely need a shovel if you lived in buffalo, new york, because we saw 21 inches of snowfall in buffalo because of this system. going into the mid atlantic, we also were dealing with feet of snowfall from flat rock, north carolina, 15.5 inches to harpersville, ohio, 22.5 inches of snow. that's the kind of snowfall totals we were dealing with. right now you can see it's tranquil tr today. conditions will improve over the next 24 hours across the east. however, notice what's lurking across the northern plains going on into the great lakes a clipper system. that clipper system is going to bring some winter mischief and then eventually there's more of that to come later on this week and heading for the east coast. notice what has pushed into the northeast in the wake of that winter storm. we got some really cold temperatures out there right now. not only right now here in the morning but come this afternoon, too. some arctic air trying to creep many. not confined to the south. to the north, it's also to the south where we have freeze warnings and frost advisories in effect for portions of florida and georgia. it is a really cold start to the southeast this morning on this tuesday. some of us waking up to temperatures in the teens and 20s and you got a little bit of wind out there and it's just really adding a little bite. notice that the temperatures are going to rebound in some areas. case in point, isa, texas where temperatures are going to be about 20 degrees above average for this time of the year. but as i mentioned, isa, we are looking at more in the way of winter storms to impact the u.s. later on this week. >> they are beautiful pictures, but please stay safe, everyone. tyler mauldin, appreciate it. thank you, tyler. >> yeah. now, we are starting to get a better sense of the destruction from the volcanic disaster that we saw in tonga. new images show the coastline nearly wiped out, at least two people have been killed following saturday's enormous eruption and the tsunami that followed. the agency save the children say the tsunami destroyed 50 homes and damaged more than 100 others. relief groups says the top priority is getting clean water and food to the island fears that volcanic ash likely contaminated supplies. blake, as we look at these images out of tonga, first time we're seeing images out of tonga, shows the utter devastation, which of course, could hamper relief efforts here. >> reporter: yeah, absolutely, isa. at this point what we know is that falling ash remains a huge problem for those living in tonga. it's because of that ash that outside aid hasn't been able to arrive. according to australia's minister of defense, planes carrying aid can't land because ash has rendered runways unusable. to illustrate that point, check out these before and after images looking down on tonga's main island. everything is seemingly covered in ash. and as a result, new zealand sent two royal navy ships to assist with the recovery, but will likely take them about three days before they arrive. now, for those not familiar with tonga, tonga is made up of more than 170 islands and home to about 100,000 people. this remote island chain is located in the south pacific, about 500 miles east of fiji and nearly 1,500 miles away from new s zee land. with communication capabilities damaged as a result of saturday's disruption the island nation is essentially cut off from the rest of the world. and the exact extent of the devastation remains unknown. all we have, as you said, those pictures from afar. but according to save the children, as you mentioned, we know at least 100 homes have been damaged and 50 completely destroyed. so far, only surveillance flights have been carried out by australia and new zealand and according to new zealand's government, significant damage can be seen along the western coast of tonga's main island. now while help is still a few days away, aid workers in tonga do have relief items available to help provide initial support to those in need with the primary focus right now on the potential water and food emergency caused by ash contamination. isa? >> blake for us in tokyo. thanks very much, blake. still to come on the show, china changes course on selling tickets to the olympics. why it's limiting access to the events. we'll explain. look, this isn't my first rodeo and let me tell 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kristie lu stout is monitoring this from hong kong. if they're not sold to the public, who will they be given to or does that mean no one will be able to attend the games? >> people will be able to attend the games but you have to be connected apparently. citing what they're calling severe and complex covid situation, the announcement was made that tickets to the upcoming beijing winter olympic games will not be sold to the general public but instead will be handed out and distributed by authorities. but, olympic organizers did not specify exactly how that would be carried out. but this announcement comes just days after beijing, the chinese capital of the olympic host city, confirmed detected its very first locally transmitted case of the highly infectious omicron variant. and of course, the zero covid policy kicked in. an entire office building with people inside, sealed off and in lockdown because of this one case. locally transmitted of omicron. and since that day, that happened on saturday, there have been two additional cases of locally transmitted omicron there in beijing. as for the number of cases across the country, that's unclear. but if we have the map available, we'll show you the map, of omicron cases across china. it is geographically spread out across the country. look, the number of cases in china still pail in comparison to what you see everyday coming out of the western europe and the united states, but locally transmitted cases of the variant haven't detected in the northeast. in the center of the country, even across the border from hong kong in the south. now, the winter olympic games due to take place in beijing very shortly will all take place in this closed loop system. and that means all the participants, including the volunteers and athletes must stay inside, not allowed to go out even if taking place the lunar new year holiday and undergo a daily covid-19 test. fully vaccinated participants and athletes welcome to come in. those who are not vaccinated must undergo 21 days of quarantine. ias. >> kristie lu stout, thank you very much. we are learning new details about an encounter between two chinese sports stars last month. on monday, former nba player yo ming discussed a visit he had with tennis star pung sh wie. take a listen. >> she was in pretty good condition that day. we were all chatting happily and asking a lot of questions about the sport since we weren't familiar with it. >> now, her well with being became a global concern in november when she accused a senior chinese official of sexual assault. then disappeared from public view. the accusations were quickly scrubbed chinese media and social media, too. yao didn't address allegations on monday as they remain a tabu subject in china. >> now, investigators say they have uncovered a prime suspect in the revealing of ann frank's hiding place to the nazis. the key piece of evidence came in the note to frank's father alleging disclosed the hideout possibly in an effort to save his own family. the frank family lived in secret in amsterdam for nearly two years before the nazi's found them in 1944. frank's diary was published after her death in a concentration camp at the age of 15. and be sure to tune in later today to cnn speaks with the author of the book that outlines the new details of this investigation. she'll join "new day" at 8:00 a.m. in new york, 1:00 p.m. if you're watching here in london. and the picture you see here was shared by the late actress assistant to commemorate the special day. it's believed to be one of the last pictures ever taken of white, as you can see there. her assistant remarked on facebook how even white's final days she was beautiful and as happy as ever. she was indeed. and that does it for me here on cnn "newsroom." i'm isa soares in london. 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