and a number you can text right on your phone to learn where boosters are available in your own community. we'll have that number for you tonight. also this evening, how effective will the vaccines be against this new variant? and why have we heard seemingly different messages from pfizer and mow der that? tonight, we're inside in moderna facility where they are working on a vaccine to take direct aim at that new variant if needed. martha raddatz is there live tonight. new reporting at this hour after the deadly high school shooting in michigan. the prosecutor revealing new details, how the 15-year-old suspect allegedly obtained the gun that had just been purchased by his father on black friday. four students killed and could either of those parents face charges? news tonight about the former deputy now charged in the killing of casey goodson jr. in ohio. authorities say the deputy shooting him six times, five times in the back, as he was returning home, the keys still in the door. the abc news exclusive tonight. george stephanopoulos one-on-one with alec baldwin, after the deadly shooting on that movie set. baldwin insisting he never pulled the trigger. tonight, news on that front. what the assistant director is now saying. breaking news from capitol hill at this hour on efforts to avoid a government shutdown. the vote that just happened, rachel scott live on the hill. and tonight, we remember a beloved actor from a classic tv sitcom. good evening and it's great to have you with us here on a very busy and active thursday night. we begin tonight with the breaking news as we come on the air. the new cases of the omicron variant here in the u.s. and of course, we knew this was coming, given what we're seeing all over the world. three more states here in the u.s. seeing this new variant. a short time ago, we learned of fave cases now discovered right here in new york state. minnesota and colorado also reporting new cases today. dr. fauci has said the vaccines and the boosters will help fight this. and so far, we are hearing of mild symptomsymptoms, that the s are working. patients recovering. tonight, president biden announcing new steps to battle the virus as we now head into the winter months. here's what we know. the minnesota man who tested positive had attended a convention in new york city, an anime convention, just before thanksgiving. more than 50,000 people were there. they're being urged to be tested now. he was fully vaccinated, had a booster shot and showed mild symptoms. he got back home, was tested, those symptoms have now subsided and again, as i mentioned, everyone who was there urged to be tested and vigilant about symptoms. the colorado case, a woman who was fully vaccinated and eligible for a booster but hadn't received one yet, after returning from a visit to southern africa. she experienced mild symptoms, tested positive, she's now isolating at home. today, president biden stepping up the fight, laying out new measures to stop the spread and keep this economy open. saying insurance companies will now reimburse americans for at-home rapid tests. extending the mask mandate on planes, buses, public transportation until at least march. and increasing access to boosters and vaccines, with a new number tonight that you can actually text on your phone to learn where in your community you can find one of those booster shots. and we'll have that number for you here in just a moment. abc's whit johnson leading us off tonight outside the javits center here in new york. >> reporter: tonight, at least four states now reporting cases of the new omicron variant. new york late today reporting five new infections. >> five cases today in the state of new york. >> reporter: in colorado, a fully vaccinated woman who was eligible for a booster but hadn't received one yet. >> it was somebody who just traveled to southern africa and returned. she is experiencing mild symptoms and is isolating at home. >> reporter: and in minnesota, authorities calling a new case there a wakeup call, detecting the variant in a resident who had returned from new york city where he attended an anime had returned from new york city, where he attended an anime conference the weekend before thanksgiving at the javits center. officials suspect the man was likely infected at the conference, seen here, where th shot and wear masks. >> everyone was vaccinated, so i'm not too worried, but variants obviously are complicated. >> reporter: new york's governor kathy hochul is now urging those people to get tested. >> we do anticipate they'll be more cases, but to the extent that they are mild, we'll address them. this is not cause for alarm. >> reporter: the minnesota man also reported mild symptoms, was fully vaccinated, and got a booster shot in early november. president biden telling the american people we must be united as we fight this, laying out his winter strategy. he said there will be free at-home rapid tests with reimbursement for americans with private insurance. and 50 million free test kits to be handed out to the uninsured or those on medicaid. >> the bottom line, this winter, you'll be able to test for free in the comfort of your home and have some peace of mind. >> reporter: the president also urged vaccinated americans to get the booster, encouraging people to text their zip code to this number, 438829, immediately on your phone and you'll get a list of the farm sips in your area where there are boosters. we tested it today and it worked. >> we moved forward in the face of covid-19 and the delta variant. and we'll move forward in the face of omicron variant as well. >> reporter: experts warning we could soon be fighting covid on two fronts -- the unknown omicron and the now-surging delta variant. >> i think it's going to take a lot to displace the delta variant. there's a good possibility that we'll have both variants around for awhile, particularly for the omicron variant. >> reporter: in new york state, 37 hospitals with less than 10% capacity and facing staffing shortages will start postponing elective surgeries again. and in michigan, there are more patients hospitalized now than at any other teem in the pandemic. >> our teams right now are caring for more patients than i have ever had on our icu teams, in the almost 20 years that i've been a physician here. >> a lot of moving parts on this tonight. whit johnson with us live. and whit, the president today echoing what we've heard so far from dr. anthony fauci and other expects, that people who are vaccinated and get a booster have a highest level of protection, in many cases, a higher level of antibodies in your system than even after your second vaccine shot. and so far, several of these cases with the new variant are among vaccinated people, seeing just mild symptoms. still early, but this would appear to be encouraging that the vaccines are working. >> reporter: david, that's right. at least four people were fully vaccinated and at least one person had recently received a booster shot. experts have been predicting all along that even as new variants emerge, the vaccines would provide some level of protection, especially against severe illness. now, we do know of the cases in the united states, so far those symptoms have been mild. and as you noted, most of those people were fully vaccinated. but officials urging people to go out and get their booster shots. here is that number one more time. you can text your zip code to 438829 to find out where you can get a booster shot in your immediate area. david? >> whit johnson leading us off tonight. whit, thank you. and one more key point on this. how effective will the vaccines be against the new variant, after seemingly different messages from pfizer and moderna. tonight, our martha raddatz with rare access inside moderna, where they are racing to tweak their vaccine if needed. so, we ask, how soon could it be ready? we also ask, does moderna agree with pfizer that the current vaccines will likely help knock this town? here's martha tonight from massachusetts. >> reporter: tonight, abc news getting an exclusive look at the moderna research team preparing to take on omicron. here at the moderna labs in norwood, massachusetts, they say production could begin on a new vaccine within the month. this facility produces 70% of moderna's vaccine in the u.s., and they're ready to make another shot specifically designed to fight the new variant. do you have the facilities to do both and do them rapidly? >> we do. we do have the capacity to do both and do them fast. >> reporter: it's still unclear whether that will be necessary, but moderna's president, dr. stephen hoge, is concerned. >> it is probably one of our worst-case scenarios in terms of the combination of mutations that exist in one variant. >> reporter: what did you think when you first saw this -- this variant? >> we looked at it and, you know, there was literally a list of eight or ten mutations that we never wanted to see show up in one variant of concern. >> reporter: but dr. hoge today sounding more optimistic about his company's mrna vaccine than moderna's ceo stephane bancel did just days ago, saying there was, quote, no world in which vaccine effectiveness doesn't drop against this new variant. >> i probably would have used different words. there is a scenario that the current vaccines wouldn't be by themselves sufficient to get the same high level of efficacy, but that doesn't mean that they wouldn't work at all. >> all right, so, let's get to martha raddatz with us tonight. we heard the moderna president call omicron probably one of our worst-case scenarios. but just to be clear tonight, you pressed moderna, both moderna and pfizer say their current vaccine will likely have a level of effectiveness here? >> reporter: yeah, both companies say they will work against the variant, but it is the level of effectiveness, the degree of effectiveness, david, so, if they get a new vaccine, that would add protect. >> add protection and of course it's only if needed, which is encouraging. both pfizer and as you've shown us tonight, moderna are working on a potential vaccine that could directly take on this new variant, but how long would it take, martha, to see shots for americans? >> reporter: moderna says best case would be about three months, but it would probably be longer than that, maybe rolling into spring or summer, because they would need fda authorization and pfizer, in recent days, said it would take about 100 days. david? >> all right, martha raddatz with an incredible access tonight. martha, thank you. we're going to turn now to the abc news exclusive tonight. george stephanopoulos, one-on-one with actor alec baldwin. we reported last night here, baldwin breaking his silence after that deadly shooting on his movie set, claiming he did not pull the trigger. tonight, a lawyer for the assistant director says the same thing, that baldwin did not pull the trigger. here's abc's kaylee hartung. >> reporter: tonight, a witness to the shooting on the "rust" movie set corroborating alec baldwin's claim that he did not pull the trigger of the gun that killed halyna hutchins. >> well, the trigger wasn't pulled. i didn't pull the trigger. >> so you never pulled the trigger? >> no, no, no, no. i would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them, never. >> reporter: assistant director dave halls' attorney telling me he was just a few feet from baldwin when the gun went off. >> until alec said that, it was just really hard to believe, but dave has told me since the very first day i met him that alec did not pull that trigger. >> reporter: baldwin recalling that tragic day in october during an exclusive interview with george stephanopolous. >> you said you're not a victim, but is this the worst thing that's ever happened to you? >> yes. yep. yep. yep. because i -- i think back and i think of what could i have done? >> reporter: baldwin also saying he had no reason to suspect the gun contained a live round. but tonight, new questions. how could a gun just go off? veteran armorer and prop master dutch merrick saying accidental discharges for the colt .45 revolver used are rare, but possible. >> if it's not functioning properly, perhaps the internal mechanism can be jarred to drop the hammer. it's a pretty rare circumstance. that gun is designed not to fire without the trigger being pulled. >> reporter: and as the investigation tries to determine how live rounds wound up on the movie set, authorities searching this prop arsenal. according to the search warrant, pdq arm and prop was one of the vendors supplying "rust" with blanks and dummy rounds. owner seth kenney did not want his face on camera. >> it's not a possibility that they came from pdq or from myself personally. there's something very unique about the live rounds that were found on "rust." but we've got to wait for the fbi to do its job. >> reporter: and david, tonight, the district attorney and the sheriff in santa fe tell me it's been established, the gun was in baldwin's hands when it discharged, killing halyna hutchins. now, they both say they have to wait for the fbi to examine that handgun and analyze the ammunition found on the set. david? >> all right, kaylee hartung, who has been covering this case from the start. kaylee, thank you. and of course, george's full interview tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern right here on abc and then streaming on hulu. we do have new reporting here tonight after that deadly high school shooting in michigan. tonight, the prosecutor now revealing new details on how the 15-year-old suspect allegedly obtained the gun that had just been purchased by his father on black friday. and tonight here, the faces of the four students who were killed. seven others injured. one student still in critical condition. and the growing focus on the gunman's own parents. could they now face potential charges? abc's trevor ault from michigan tonight. >> reporter: tonight, as the oxfoord community mourns, the oakland county prosecutor now revealing new details to us about how the suspect allegedly accessed the weapon his father bought on black friday and used it to gun down fellow students. >> i think the evidence you'll see in the near future suggests that it wasn't that he -- he didn't have to work that hard to get it. there are cases of -- throughout the state, in the country, where a weapon has been left out and a child gets a hold of it and uses it and uses it to injure or kill somebody. and those individuals have been charged with very serious crimes. >> reporter: the suspect's parents met with school officials the day of the shooting after two separate teachers reported concerns about his behavior. but he was allowed to return to class. in the wake of the shooting, schools in michigan now hyper vigilant. more than 60 cancelling classes today. at one school in nearby southfield, a 17-year-old who allegedly had a loaded gun in his coat pocket turned in wednesday by another student. >> that's a message of exactly what we're asking for. if another student turned him in. >> reporter: and overnight, a vigil remembering the four victims killed. tate myer, hana st. juliana, madisyn baldwin, and justin shilling. they played this video of myer speaking after a football game. >> this is where we live. everything about us is tough. >> reporter: tonight there's a movement to name oxford's football stadium after him. and david, the prosecutor is reviewing potential charges for the parents of the shooting suspect after he allegedly got access to that weapon inside their home. she hopes to make an announcement in the next 24 hours, david. >> trevor ault from michigan tonight. thank you, trevor. we're going to turn to breaking news from capitol hill at this hour on efforts to avoid a government shutdown. a vote that just happened. let's go live to rachel scott on the hill with late developments. rachel? >> reporter: david, the house just passed the bill to keep the government funded and i'm told tonight that the senate is closing in on a deal. but right now, it is being held up by two republican senators, mike lee of utah, roger marshall of kansas. if a shutdown does happen, it is not expected to last long, but it could have some impacts, costing the economy more than $257 million a day. national parks could close and 42% of employees at the department of health and human services would be furloughed in the middle of a pandemic. nearly every single senator wants to avoid this, including republican leader mitch mcconnell and tonight, senate majority leader chuck schumer calling this the republican anti-vaccine shutdown, david. >> following it all for us, as you always do. rachel scott, thank you. to the u.s. and russia tonight. secretary of state anthoony blinken in sweden russian, russia if they take action against ukraine. joe biden is expected to call view vi vladimir putin in the coming days. when we come back, news this eening about the killing of the wife of a beloved music exec sti ive. and we remember tonight an and we remember tonight an actor of a cherished tv sitcom. and you can help take control of your symptoms - and ask about vraylar. some medicines only treat the lows or highs, once-daily vraylar is proven to treat depressive, acute manic, and mixed episodes of bipolar i in adults. full-spectrum relief for all bipolar i symptoms. elderly patients with dementia-related psychosis have an increased risk of death or stroke. call your doctor about unusual changes in behavior or suicidal thoughts. antidepressants can increase these in children and young adults. report fever, stiff muscles or confusion which may mean a life-threatening reaction, or uncontrollable muscle movements which may be permanent. high cholesterol and weight gain, and high blood sugar, which can lead to coma or death, may occur. side 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