vaccination status. and the tributes pouring in for a legendary oscar-winning trailblazer. this is nbc "nightly news" with lester holt. good evening many of us have taken some comfort in the belief that illness from the omicron covid variant is generally mild while that's true for many, some eye opening numbers tonight from the cdc offer important perspective. children under the age of five are being hospitalized at the highest rate since the start of the pandemic. the group of course not yet eligible for vaccinations, but the unvaccinated in general are driving overall hospitalizations to the highest level in a year over 126,000 this evening president biden seeking to assure us that covid as we're dealing with it now is not here to stay we're going to begin tonight in a place where all the numbers we talk about every night here translate to people, patients and medical workers whose lives are being upended by this virus. i want to warn you some of this may not be easy to watch gabe gutierrez reports from inside a covid icu in maryland. >> reporter: when a patient's heart stops, seconds matter this is a code blue. an older covid patient unvaccinated >> this is as urgent as it gets this is the acute time frame. we're here trying to save someone's life. >> reporter: the frantic scene as heart-breaking as it is familiar. >> we are going to intubate. >> reporter: she never imagined she would be so busy. >> it's very tough you go to the bathroom and you cry and you come back and you do it all over again. >> reporter: this was supposed to be her day off. she came in anyway why? >> because i'm a nurse. i'm a nurse. and i signed up to be a nurse. the patients did not sign up for covid. >> reporter: just outside d.c., doctor's community health center in maryland has seen a 925% jump in covid cases since thanksgiving about 70% of those patients are unvaccinated right now this icu is over capacity. most of the covid patients here are intubated. what's different this time is that these health care workers are having to do more with less. nationwide hospitalizations are also skyrocketing for kids too young for covid shots. the cdc director says the troubling trend in children under five underscores the need for adults to get vaccinated to help those around them. >> pediatric hospitalizations are at the highest rates. compared to any prior point in the pandemic. >> reporter: around the country nearly one in four hospitals are reporting a critical staffing shortage. >> for us, that's what hurts the most, because the erosion of these care teams is invariably going to lead to an erosion of health care quality, and that's the sum of all fears for us. >> reporter: would you say that your resources are stretched thinner now than they have been during this entire pandemic >> yes, i would. >> reporter: many people ending up in hospitals for other reasons, not just covid. in new york state, for example, 42% of hospitalized covid patients weren't admitted because they were positive but instead for other illnesses and were tested as part of the routine admissions process. here in maryland, we met 63-year-old ned epperson with pre-existing medical conditions who says he didn't get the shot because of what he now believes was misinformation from someone he trusted if you had to do it over again, would you get vaccinated >> yes if i had to do it all over again, i wouldn't think twice. take the shot. >> reporter: back in the icu, another stark reminder that almost two years into this pandemic tonight many families are being given terrible news. >> i'm so sorry to be calling you like this. i'm sorry. i'm sorry for what you're going through. >> reporter: the patient who coded later died >> three patients already coded this morning, so it is very exhausting. >> reporter: all right, gabe. a sad and hard reality playing out in so many hospitals. let me ask you right now about the white house's promise to get at home test kits to all americans. where does that stand? >> reporter: yes, lester the biden administration just awarded two contracts related to the tests they will be sent through the postal service. details are still being finalized, but the white house is expected to provide more details next week. lester >> gabe gutierrez, thank you. beyond testing, the supreme court today considering the fate of another biden administration effort against covid. a federal mandate requiring tens of millions of workers to get vaccinated or take weekly tests as pete williams reports, the justices seem skeptical >> reporter: the court tonight seems prepared to block what the biden administration calls a powerful tool for fighting covid a mandate that companies with more than 100 employees require their workers to get covid vaccines or wear a mask and take a weekly test it applies to 80 million people businesses in red states sued. the ceo of this minnesota trucking company says drivers who refuse to get vaccinated will quit and work for smaller firms and that a testing requirement doesn't make sense for truckers. >> where where are we going to get tested you know, there isn't -- there isn't semi parking at clinics or walgreens or cvs. >> reporter: the rule was imposed by osha, the occupational safety and health administration the white house says it has authority over workplace hazards. >> the bottom line, we're going to protect vaccinated workers from unvaccinated coworkers. >> reporter: today the supreme court's liberals said the need is urgent. >> it is by far the greatest public health danger that this country has faced in the last century more and more people are dying every day. >> we are now having deaths at an unprecedented amount catching covid keeps people out of the workplace for extraordinary periods of time. >> reporter: but the court's conservative majority was skeptical that osha has the legal authority to issue such a sweeping nationwide ruling. >> if you're vaccinated while you're on the job, you're vaccinated when you're not on the job. isn't this different from anything osha has done before in that respect? >> why isn't congress have a say in this, and why doesn't this be the primary responsibility of the states >> reporter: but in a separate case, the court seems prepared to rule that the government can require vaccinations for 20 million health care workers. decisions could come within a few days. lester pete williams at the supreme court, thank you. the president speaking about covid today insisting the new normal is not going to be what it is now but better though he got some disappointing news today with weak job numbers that were impacted by the pandemic kristin welker at the white house. and, kristin, the president said a bright spot in unemployment. >> reporter: lester, that's right the president went straight to that positive headline, touting the unemployment rate fell to 3.9% from 4.2% last month, saying the drop in the last year is the biggest in history. but the disappointing headline today, the economy only added 199,000 jobs, just half of what economists were expecting. it is a low figure for the second month in a row now and it comes amid soaring inflation at a nearly 40-year high republicans are blaming mr. biden's spending policies for the higher inflation today the president firing back, calling those claims, quote, malarky. economists warn today disappointing jobs figures came prior to much of the omicron surge, so there could be more volatility ahead. lester >> kristin welker, thank you. late today, the three men convicted of murdering ahmaud arbery were sentenced to life in prison. the judge saying arbery left his home to go for a run and ended up running for his life catie beck reports tonight. >> reporter: the father and son guilty of the 2020 murder of ahmaud arbery will spend the rest of their days behind the bars. >> a young man with dreams was gunned down in this community. >> reporter: judge timothy wamsley calling it accountability for greg and son travis mcmichael, a sentence of life without parole and for neighbor william bryant, a life sentence with the possibility of parole. the decision after hours of testimony ahmaud arbery's parents describing broken hearts that will never heal. >> son, i love you as much today as i did the day that you were born. >> reporter: attorneys for the defendants calling life without parole a punishment too severe. >> nothing in travis mcmichael's life suggests that he's a danger to society now or will be a danger to society 30 years from now. >> reporter: in the end, judge wamsley pointed to the mcmichaels' lack of remorse, even pausing to reflect on ahmad's final moments. the 25-year-old was out for a jog when he was chased, shot and killed the judge noted bryan who expressed remorse earned a parole possibility because of it as for arbery's family, relief to see justice. what will you go home with in your heart tonight? >> the day i laid ahmad to rest, i told him that we would get justice. i have finally fulfilled that promise to ahmad we have justice for you. we got justice today >> reporter: will you sleep soundly? >> i will. >> reporter: in brunswick, georgia, casey beck, nbc news. much of the eastern half of the country is recovering tonight from the second big winter storm this week and bracing now for a deep freeze kathy park with late details. >> reporter: tonight millions are digging out. >> i always look forward to the first snow. >> reporter: after wintery weather slammed more than a dozen states from tennessee to maine the northeast blasted with heavy snow, ice and freezing temperatures early this morning new jersey declaring a state of emergency the treacherous travel spanning several states including massachusetts where slick conditions and cars sliding during the morning commute with more than an inch of snow falling an hour the fast moving system started in the south, dumping more than half a foot of snow in parts of kentucky and tennessee. nashville reporting its snowiest day in six years. in west virginia, more than a foot in some areas. the d.c. metro region still reeling from monday's for more than a day got even more snow. >> i hope it's not shut down for like 24 hours or 30 hours. >> reporter: school canceled in several cities, including nashville and boston what have you been doing in the snow? >> making snow angels and having snowball fights. >> reporter: bone chilling temperatures are settling in right behind the storm from the northeast to the midwest, millions are bracing for dangerous lows over the weekend. highs in the 20s and 30s. morning windchills in the single digits. some spots will feel like 30 below zero and those frigid temperatures will stick around until early next week. tuesday's high here in boston will reach only 14 degrees lester >> all right kathy park, thank you. in 60 seconds, covid cases soar in long-term care facilities among residents and staff. the new and shocking update from a facility we have been investigating since before the pandemic began. and we will remember the incomparable sidney poitier. back now with a deadly crackdown after an-gertinment protests erupted in violence in kazakhstan richard engel on what's driving the anger in the streets. >> reporter: facing mass protests sweeping the country, tonight kazakhstan's government escalated a deadly crackdown against protesters giving security forces orders to shoot to kill clashes began this weekend after the government lifted fuel subsidies and gas prices nearly doubled. the protests quickly spread with government buildings occupied and some burned. the interior ministry reports at least 26 what it calls armed terrorists and 18 security officers have been killed. 3,000 arrested it is the biggest challenge to the president kassym-jomart tokayev's autocratic rule in a televised address, the president called those protesting his rule terrorists those who don't surrender will be eliminated, he said. he is not working alone. russia sent in several thousand troops to back up the government with many more possibly on their way. they come at the request of the kazakhstan government which says russia's presence is only temporary. russia's expanded presence in kazakhstan comes as the u.s. in talks on monday will try to pressure russia to pull back nearly 100,000 troops from the border in nearby ukraine. tonight violence has died down some in almaty, kazakhstan's biggest city government forces have retaken the air force and restored some internet service lester >> richard engel, thank you. back home covid is surging again inside nursing homes, including a new jersey facility we reported on extensively where a shocking discovery was made in 2020. our anne thompson has more >> reporter: covid hitting new jersey's nursing homes hard once again the state reporting active outbreaks in more than 500 long-term care facilities including the woodland behavior nursing center which nbc news has been covering since the spring of 2020. back when it was called andover sub acute. >> they're mismanaged. >> reporter: for an nbc news investigation, what he found at the facility just weeks into the pandemic shocked the nation. >> easter sunday of 2020, there was 17, 18 people in the morgue stacked up. >> reporter: a tiny makeshift morgue overflowing with bodies followed by lawsuits from families. $220,000 in federal fines, a name change, but still the same owners who remain under investigation by the state attorney general. they told nbc news at the time they faced unprecedented challenges as best they could as of today, 213 residents and 114 staffers tested positive, the highest number of any long-term care facility in the state. the center did not respond to nbc's repeated requests for comment today. the national guard will arrive monday to help, getting residents from beds to chairs with daily hygiene and dressing and with testing and screening of staff, residents and visitors. >> you're going to see, i think over the next couple of weeks a lot more of that. >> reporter: nationwide the cdc says there are nearly 15,000 covid cases among nursing home residents, but staff cases outpace them, topping 34,000, a number more than doubling in just a week harvard's david grabowski studies covid in nursing homes. >> we're seeing spiking in staff cases right now. in the next two to three weeks, we're also going to see spikings in residence cases. >> reporter: it is said omicron is less severe do you expect that to be true in nursing homes as well? >> i think it will be slightly less severe, but every wave has hit nursing home residents the hardest. there is no reason not to expect this current wave won't hit harder than it is hitting the rest of us. >> some of our most vulnerable bearing the brunt of the pandemic again. anne thompson, nbc news up next for us tonight, the off-the-court tennis drama. a second star now denied entry down under. there is new drama in australia where the world's top tennis player has been joined in quarantine by another star after their visas were canceled over their vaccination status here's miguel almaguer >> reporter: tonight the world's number one tennis player novak djokovic has a new partner as the embattled superstar sits center court in the middle of controversy. czech officials now confirm renata voracova was also detained by the always train y'all border force for failing to comply with the country's strict vaccination requirements and is being housed in the same detention center, this hotel as djokovic as protesters demand djokovic's release so he can play in the australian open, authorities say renata voracova plans to get home while djokovic will go to court monday in hopes of getting on the court next week. >> mr. djokovic is not being held captive in australia. he is free to leave at any time that he chooses to do so. >> reporter: after arriving in the country with a medical exemption from the victoria state government, australian officials said djokovic's evidence, foreign exemption, didn't meet federal government regulations. seeking his 21st grand slam win, a men's record, djokovic has been critical of vaccines, facing backlash from long-time rivals like rafael nadal >> and if you don't want to get the vaccine, then you can have some -- some trouble. >> reporter: tonight the controversy on the court perhaps reflective of the division around the world. miguel almaguer, nbc news and up next, we'll remember a trailblazing hollywood icon >> sidney poitier died at age 94. tonight tributes are pouring in for a hollywood giant. here's joe fryer. >> they call me mr. fibbs. >> reporter: sidney poitier played characters who jumped off the screen opposite rod steiger in "the heat of the night". >> i'm a police officer. ♪ amen. >> reporter: and in the field as handyman homer smith. >> i ain't building no shop. >> yeah, you. >> reporter: the role that won him the first ever lead actor oscar for a black performer. >> it is a long journey to this moment. >> reporter: raised in the bahamas, he moved to harlem as a teenager and endured the usual hard scrabble climb to an actor's life then came "no way out," the ground breaking joseph mankiewicz film about racism. >> you watch yourself, black boy. >> reporter: in '67 he reached hollywood mountain top its top earning leading man, righteous enough to slap and return the white politician who had slapped him. and in "guess who's coming to dinner," an interracial couple telling his disapproving father time to change. >> you think of yourself as a colored man. i think of myself as a man. >> reporter: in 2009, he received the presidential medal of freedom from president obama, who today wrote that poitier epitomized dignity and grace. revealing the power of movies to bring us closer together. from viola davis, no words can describe how your work radically shifted my life. that work helped tear down racial barriers as poitier noted after receiving a lifetime achievement offer. >> not because i brought so much, but because the time was right. circumstances were right. ♪ that time has come. >> reporter: the right man for his time joe fryer, nbc news. ♪ to say with love. what a career. what a life. that's "nightly news." thank you for watching, everyone i'm lester holt. please take care of yourself and each other. good night up next it is coming for you. we are in the middle of a covid surge but how much longer will it last and can you actually dodge it? the peak could come in a matter of weeks. we'll talk about how that prediction is made and how realistic is it, and if we can ever reach herd immunity? and it's the final test before the winter olympics and alissa liu forced to pull out, yes, because of covid. how is this going to impact her chances of making team usa? >> they're introducing me to different sports and activities i never experienced growing up, so that will be kind of a cool dynamic. >> steph curry tal