This is nbc nightly news with lester holt. Good evening no image tells us more about the state we are in with covid right now more clearly than the latest map of places with community transmissions. Places where the virus is spreading locally theyre highlighted in red. Yes, it is the entire country. While it appears there is no outrunning this virus, this evening, there are new efforts to keep pace the fda Okaying Boosters for kids age 12 to 15 also shortening the booster wait time for many others. As we return from holiday breaks, it feels like the world is on rewind schools wrestling once more with how to safely teach our children, while travelers struggle to get home in the face of covidrelated flight delays. Their burden made worse by a major eastern snowstorm. We have it all covered tonight starting with stephanie gosk. Reporter with covid cases soaring to record levels, an uneasy return to schools, even though more Vaccine Protection could soon be available today the fda authorized a pfizer booster for children aged 12 to 15, at least five months after completing their initial vaccination. Children ages 5 to 11 with compromised Immune Systems could be eligible for third doses. The cdc is expected to sign off on the changes wednesday. While schools facing the highly contagious but apparently less severe Omicron Variant are instituting a patchwork of policies to get kids back into classrooms safely. Cleveland and atlanta schools are remote for the week other places delayed a return to class so children could be tested in new york city, school doors swung open this morning. Officials urging families to get the children tested. Were not in a good place. Im going to be honest with you this is the winter surge we predicted. Reporter the new york governor placing an emphasis on Keeping Schools open. The question is how do parents get these these very rare test kits that you always see the lines for . Were going to put them in your hands. Were going to put them in the kids backpacks. Reporter but they arent there yet she waited two hours to get her 11yearold tested. There should be a more efficient and streamlined process. Reporter it is a similar story nationwide rapid tests are hard to find in stores. People are sitting for hours in their cars for pcr tests. The results sometimes taking days. As concerns grow over record numbers of children being admitted to the hospital with covid. But at least some of those cases are children being treated for other conditions, who happened to test positive for the virus. It is unclear if the number of severe covid cases in children is on the rise. What were going to need to do is make sure that those children who can be vaccinated are vaccinated, that Children Wear masks while theyre in school to protect themselves and to protect each other. Reporter the cdc is also taking another look at its controversial guidance to decrease quarantine from 10 to 5 days without a negative test. Testing could be a part of that i think we will be hearing more about that in the next day or two from the cdc. Reporter potentially adding demand for tests that are already tough to get your hands on. And, stephanie, for kids who have returned to the classroom, what is being done to prevent outbreaks . Reporter well, lester, here in new york when one or more students in the same Class Test Positive for covid, instead of quarantining the whole class, they will test them home with rapid tests. And anyone that tests negative can come in the next day, lester stephanie, thank you. Just a short time ago, i spoke with dr. Ashish jha dean of the Brown University school of Public Health. I asked him if he thinks were ultimately all going to be infected with this Omicron Variant. I dont think were all going to be infected Many Americans are, but there is a lot we can do to protect ourselves. And my hope is that a vast majority of americans dont end up infected with this variant. Is omicron going to Push Delta Out of the picture . And would that be a good thing we dont know we did see it Push Delta Out in south africa in the u. K. , the data is not totally clear yet. It looks like its suppressing data if it ends up pushing delta out, it would be terrific because all the data so far suggests that omicron is a milder version. And, obviously, if were going to have a virus circulating around, id rather have a milder version circulating around. And is there anything here that suggests that omicron might be the beginning of the end well, i sure hope so i mean, i do think a lot of americans will end up getting infected now, obviously, we have a good chunk of americans also vaccinated that means if there are future variants that they will impact us less because we have so much immunity in our population. Thats how the pandemic comes to an end. And thats what im hoping were looking forward to its a mixed bag of how well we have learned lessons in all this the Testing Crisis that were witnessing, do you think that we will learn that lesson in case of the next variant . I sure hope so. I remember back in March Of 2020 saying we need a lot more testing than we have here we are January Of 2022 and im still saying we need a lot more tests i think the administration has seen the Testing Crisis and hopefully will get its Act Together On Making Testing widely available for americans. Thats going to be a key part of managing this pandemic for months and really years to come. Our thanks to dr. Jha. As we have seen, this Covid Explosion has hit the airlines hard and today so did that big winter storm that caused more mass cancellations and frustration for travelers, many still trying to get home heres tom costello. Reporter adding more misery to weary and stranded travelers coming back from the holidays, a massive storm stretching from the deep south, florida and alabama to the Nations Capital in the bulls eye today, hit with up to a foot of snow Air Force One returning to Joint Base Andrews in virtual whiteout conditions the president emerging from the plane in a Blinding Snowstorm in the i95 Corridor Thousands of cars stranded and struck. Accidents and power outages. Amtrak also affected at the center of the bulls eye, Reagan National airport, topping the list of most affected airports today, 84 of departures canceled. Ive been here since 7 00 i have been delayed three times and then canceled. Reporter todays storm the latest blow to airlines and hundreds of thousands of holiday passengers. Since christmas eve, more than 18,000 Flights Canceled Hit Hard By Airline and tsa staffers calling out sick with covid. Then a series of winter storms. Today alone, 3,000 Flights Canceled here at reagan airport, the snow coming down so heavily, they had to close the main runway for plowing at 8 00 a. M. Thousands of passengers stuck im trying to fly back home. I have been out since 3 00 in the morning this morning, and my flight got changed twice. Reporter the cancellations rippling across the country from chicago ohare to Fort Lauderdale where andrea and her kids have been trying to get to detroit since friday. We had to stay an extra couple days and hotels are outrageous on new years eve, so we were kind of the Airline Industry has been understaffed for months, even before this later surge with covid going back to the summer. So, tom, how are thing looking for tomorrow air travelwise . Reporter so far reporter while it truly has been a perfect series of storms for the airlines, consumer advocates say the airlines also bear some blame. The Airline Industry has been understaffed for months, even before this latest surge with covid going back to the summer. There is some breaking news in the trial of theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes the verdict comes in moments ago. After the jury told the judge it was deadlocked on multiple counts we get more now from erin mclaughlin. Reporter Elizabeth Holmes once celebrated as an Entrepreneur Set to revolutionize medical testing leaves tonight a medical felon. A jury found the 37yearold guilty o four counts of federal fraud, acquitting her of three others, while deadlocking on the three remaining charges. After the prosecution alleged she conned investors and patients into believing her blood testing startup could perform hundreds of diagnostic tests with just the pick of a finger it is a big deal for Silicone Valley because you fake it until you make it. I dont think theyre going to be living by that anymore. Reporter fooling some of the worlds most powerful to invest millions of dollars. As well as patients that testified they received faulty test results. It was witness after witness telling us, corroborating the same statements, the misrepresentations that she made. Reporter the closely watched trial the subject of podcasts, books and an upcoming series, lasted for more than three months the prosecution repeatedly alleging out of time and out of money, Elizabeth Holmes decided to lie. She chose fraud over Business Failure she chose to be dishonest. The prosecutor told the jury, that choice was not only callus, it was criminal. During the trial, holmes took the stand. She acknowledged there was some things she wished she had done differently, while arguing her investments focussed on the future. They werent interested in today or tomorrow or next month, she said. They were interested in what kind of change we could make. Tonight the woman was hailed as the next steve jobs faces jail time holmes was stoic as the verdict was read out. She hugged her parents before leaving the courtroom. She faces up to 20 years in prison for each guilty count. Lester erin, thank you. In just 60 seconds, a desperate search in colorado days after that devastating fire. 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Prolia® can cause serious side effects, like low blood calcium, serious infections, which could need hospitalization, Skin Problems and severe bone, joint, or muscle pain. Dont wait for a break. Call your doctor now and ask how prolia® can help you. Get people on their way, lester. That will be great. In colorado a desperate search goes on tonight for people who might be caught in that devastating fire that swept through neighborhoods near boulder. Emilie ikeda has the latest reporter tonight an urgent search for two people missing since the marshal fire swallowed entire neighborhoods in colorado but officials fear a grim outcome their homes now ash. We are actively working at two scenes. It is very, very difficult Work Reporter the Monstrous Marshall Fire burned into the memories of residents. Flames en gls gulfed the length of Football Fields within seconds. Some barely escaped the hellscape and now face a painful recovery ahead. Its killing me that we cant be there for him. Reporter her father in the hospital after family saw him driving a neighbor out of the burn zone to put himself at risk to help someone else, does this Sound Characteristic of your dad . Very much so. If he sees somebody who needs help, hes going to help. Reporter the aftermath apocalyptic. Nearly 1,000 homes reduced to rubble. Another 100 damaged. There isnt going to be a kid that doesnt know someone thats lost everything reporter the sheriff has pointed to the area near Marshall Road and highway 93 as a possible origin of the devastating fire that consumed more than 6,000 acres numerous witnesses first spotting flames at a shed near there, quickly picked up by Hurricane Force winds. In the video the smoke was very light and then it just progressed so fast. Reporter investigators say it is too early to tell whether the shed was the exact ignition point. Sheriffs deputies executing a Search Warrant over the weekend, but wont say where. We havent eliminated or honed in on any one specific thing. Its an open investigation. Reporter while snow helped nearly extinguish the marshall fire, it is now a challenge for investigators who are trying to uncover evidence around the cause of the blaze and, lester, there is more snow on the way. Also tonight, new subpoenas have been issued for ivanka trump and Donald Trump Jr new York Attorney general Letitia James wants their testimony and documents as part of her civil tax Fraud Investigation into the Trump Organization james also wants to depose former president trump. Trump has blasted the investigation by the democratic Attorney General as politically motivated. And this week marks one year since a mob of Trump Supporters stormed the u. S. Capital in the time since the january 6th riot, domestic extremists have shifted strategies brandy explains how in our series state of extremism. Stop the steal stop the steal stop the steal reporter january 6th, 2021, crowds marched to the u. S. Capital building throngs of people grew into thousands Denise Aguilar posted to social media that day saying she was there. The revolution is here, guys we stormed the capital, and patriots broke open the doors reporter aguilar later said she never breached the building, nor participated in violence and since then shes taken her fight back home. Its all about local legislation, your local school districts, your city council, board of supervisors, so it kicked off this National Movement that it is now parents are realizing we need to start coming to the local government. Reporter her shift is part of a broader trend, according to jared holt, who studies domestic extremism at the nonpartisan think tank the Atlantic Council domestic extremism is really a fluid that matches the container that its in at any given moment reporter in a new report, holt says that following backlash and hundreds of arrest connected to the attack on the capital, far right activists have shifted their focus from National Politics to local. A lot of the adaptations that we have seen came in the form of kind of decentralizing these National Movements. Reporter what are these extremists all talking about at the local level . What is the content . A lot of them are taking it upon themselves to reengage in the broader conservative culture war. We are here to protect the children of our community. Reporter for aguilar, who we met outside a local School Board Meeting in california, its opposition to mandates. We figured out that going to the capital and working that particular piece doesnt do anything because these legislators have already made up their mind. Reporter she is a founder of a group Called Mamalitia and says her activism is peaceful. Do we look violent to you do we look like were trying to storm any place . Have i ever done anything violent in the capital . Absolutely not. Reporter like many who share her goals, aguilar uses alternative social media platforms like telegram to organize and strategize those go local tactics also being embraced by prominent white nationalists. This is the right approach going to the School Board Meetings, going out to protests. Reporter groups like the proud boys responding taking to the streets of towns in long island and North Carolina to protest Public Health measures. Extremist groups have always seen the culture wars as a place that has enough anger and division already that it can be fruitful for them. Reporter are we in a better place now than we were on january 5th of last year i do think there have been some reassuring signs, but the undercurrents and the conditions that, you know, led to january 6th, this popularization of conspiracy theories, of extreme sentiments and ideologies is maybe more pernicious than it was last year. Reporter and with the focus off the Nations Capital for now, the impact of that extremism can be felt anywhere. Brandy zadrozny, nbc news, washington. Up next, that battle over 5g the new warning that it could cause more air travel delays days from now oh theres my little nephew. He looks more like dad every time i see him. Dad is old. Right. So, your message said you wanted to talk about insurance . I said, i want you to talk about insurance. Well, most people know that bundling home and auto saves you money. Keep saying your words. But did you know that new customers who bundle and save with progressive can save an average of 800 . Shh. Sleeping baby. 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Airline and transportation officials are warning of possible widespread disruptions after verizon and at t rejected requests to delay this weeks start of 5g cellular service. Airlines say the signals could interfere with the planes electronics. Heres Kerry Sanders reporter tonight its an unknown when at t and verizons 5g Phone Towers go live on wednesday will those signals interfere with the critical instrument in a planes cockpit called a radio altimeter, which tells pilots the distance the plane is from the ground, crucial during landings, especially in bad weather the secretary of transportation warning if 5g goes live wednesday, it will result in widespread and unacceptable disruptions as airplanes divert to other cities where flights are canceled both at t and verizon say they plan to throw the switch wednesday writing to the faa 5g and aviation already coexist in nearly 40 other countries. Though for the next six months they would agree to fade or decrease 5g signals around some airports to give the faa a plane manufacturers time to determine if interference is simply theoretical or indeed real. Theyre testing the airplanes about as rapidly as they can. All we need to do is give them time to find out which devices are susceptible. Reporter if you have 5g on your phone, that is not the signal thats in question plus, engineers say it is not the phone that causes the potential problem. Its the towers. Lester a lot of folks holding their breath on this. Kerry, thank you. Up next, the lifesaving move by an observant hockey fan their emotional reunion. Thanks. Up next, the lifesaving move by an observant hockey fan. Their emotional reunion. It comes to payroll. Intuit quickbooks helps you easily run payroll in less than 5 minutes. So you can stay. One step ahead. Agerelated Macular Degeneration may lead to severe vision loss. 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Watching the nhl Seattle Kraken play the vancouver canucks, 22yearold Nadia Papavich spotted something suspicious. On canucks equipment manager greg hamiltons neck. I was so lucky to be sitting so close that i could see in detail his mole. And i noticed that it was discolored it was raised. Reporter nadia, a future med student, had to warn him to see a doctor so she crafted a message on her phone. I knocked really hard, and i pointed and i kind of smiled to make it seem like i was friendly and and then he stood up and looked at it, read it for a second and then walked away i glanced at it i acknowledged that i saw it, but i just kept going i did not know there was a mole on my neck. Reporter red may have been skeptical, but he took her advice, and it was cancerous melanoma did the doctors say what would have happened had you never noticed it he said if you had left that in your body for five years, you probably wouldnt be here. Reporter then the search to say thank you began. And nadia and red had a reunion. Nadia, the kraken and the canucks cannot thank you enough. Reporter she was giving a standing o the next time the canucks and kraken met. The two teams even came together creating a 10,000 scholarship to help with nadias studies. We know youre going to make a phenomenal doctor. Shes going to look at you and say heres a guy whose life i saved. 100 . And im going to look at her and say, theres the woman who saved my life. Reporter Kevin Tibbles, nbc news. Now thats what you call a super fan thats nightly news for this monday. Thank you for watching, everyone im lester holt. Please take care of yourself and each other. Good night good evening. This is nbc bay area news tonight. Im raj mathai. Its the first monday of the new year. Its supposed to be filled with optimism. Nowadays thats challenging to come by. But we remain optimistic. Thanks for joining us tonight. A lot of big headlines at this hour. We finally have a verdict in san jose. Elizabeth holmes guilty on 4 of the 11 counts against her. It comes after months of testimony and seven days of deliberations stretched over the holidays from that jury. Take a look. Elizabeth holmes leaving the federal courthouse. This was just about 90 minutes ago. She walked out hand in hand, like she usually does with her mother and her partner. But she said nothing to the dozens of reporters and onlookers