many hits. and she's in a league of her own and making baseball history again. this is nbc "nightly news" with lester holt. good evening, everyone prices are up. grocery inventories are low, and all roads lead to the bumpy covid landscape. we got news today confirming what many of us have already seen for ourselves officially consumer prices rose by 7% in december compared to the year before. for perspective, inflation hasn't climbed this quickly since the early '80s lately we have been paying more for almost everything from a gallon of gas to a pound of chicken supply chain issues reaching their choke point at the check-out aisle. and at the same time, store shelves are once again thinning out grocery stores are running low on every day items. we're covering it all this evening, starting with the inflation impact and peter alexander. >> reporter: tonight, the alarming spike in inflation soaring to its highest level in nearly 40 years, casting a shadow over america's entire economy. the stunning surge in december, 7% over a year ago the pace of inflation slowing slightly over last month still marking three straight months with inflation over 6%. >> it is bringing a lot of unnecessary stress, and it's already a struggle, especially living paycheck to paycheck. >> reporter: lisa is an elementary school office manager and a single mom of three in colorado prices for gas and groceries are so high, like many americans, she's had to start relying on a food bank. >> i'm fine. i can go with no meal a day, but i want to make sure that my kids at least have, you know, food in their bellies. >> reporter: inflation sending already sky high prices soaring even higher across the board. gas prices up 50% from last year. used cars and trucks rising 37% meat, chicken, fish and eggs 13% higher. rent and mortgages going up 4%. tonight nearly half of all small businesses say they're having to raise their prices when the bills come in, what do you say? >> i mean, i'm almost floored. >> reporter: at their dry cleaning businesses in maryland, ishmail and roshell wilson feel like they're the one being taken to the cleaners plastic bags, repeat paper, all costing way more. >> this time last year we paid $24.50 for a box of hangers. >> reporter: now >> now we pay $52.95. >> reporter: more than double >> more than double. >> and it is cutting into everything we need to grow and to sustain, quite frankly. >> reporter: on top of it they had already been struggling in the pandemic this friday the wilsons are shutting down one of their stores the president today tweeting, we are making progress and slowing the rate of price increases, but there is still more work to do but republicans are blasting the president with rising wages unable to keep up with record inflation >> families are struggling people that are hurt most of course, seniors, people on a fixed income, young couples trying to get by, and it is the biden policies. >> peter, what is the white house saying tonight about how long this high inflation might last >> yeah, lester. remember six months ago president biden insisted rising inflation was temporary. tonight the white house says these higher prices could last until the end of this year. lester >> peter alexander, thank you. beyond higher prices, there is another issue you may have noticed at your grocery store. shelves running low or missing every day items like meat and produce. so what's driving the shortages now? with more, here's tom costello. >> reporter: it's happening at grocery stores across the country. >> not much lettuce. >> reporter: store shelves nearly empty of fruits, vegetable, beef and chicken even some cereals, bakery and juice items hard to find >> the only milk i could get is two tiny bottles of fat free, so my kids will not be happy about that >> reporter: in a typical year, 5 to 10% of grocery items may be unavailable today nationwide, roughly 15% are out of stock. the national grocers association tells nbc news while there is plenty of food in the supply chain, we anticipate consumers will continue to experience sporadic disruptions in certain product categories. >> without major transformation of everything to do with food, farms, retailers, food companies, we're going to see shortages and price increases for the next 12 to 18 months. >> reporter: the reasons are many soaring demand for groceries with americans choosing to eat at home during the omicron surge. large numbers of food manufacturers and grocery employees out sick with covid. as many as 50% in some stores winter storms paralyzing major interstates. and a backed up supply chain with a shortage of 80,000 truck drivers nationwide nbc's jo ling kent with transportation secretary pete buttigieg in l.a. >> right now we have something like 300,000 truckdrivers leaving that job every single year, and that creates backups into the warehouses that are reflected all the way here at the ports. >> reporter: experts say store shelves may not improve until the pandemic recedes, staffing levels return to normal and the global food distribution network is restored. lester >> all right, tom. let's turn our focus to covid now and some notion omicron variant causes less severe disease and shorter hospital stays. now, while the number of new cases remains high for the first time in almost a month, the seven-day average declined slightly deaths still mostly from the delta variant rising by 36% in the past week, and 82% of hospital icu beds are occupied that's a pandemic record kate snow got exclusive access to the country's largest medical icu at the cleveland clinic >> reporter: how does the situation right now compare to last year >> we have more patients our patients are sicker our teams are tired and exhausted, too. >> reporter: in a covid icu unit at the cleveland clin im's main practice, 25 patients struggle to hang on. as soon as one recovers or dies, another moves in. >> we're seeing patients in their 20s and their 30s and their 40s. >> good morning! >> reporter: nurse tim washington came on at 7:00 a.m. >> first thing i did is kind of look in the room to see if my patients were still there. >> reporter: still alive? >> still alive, right. >> reporter: and they are today. >> they are today. >> reporter: most patients here are on ventilators. 90% are unvaccinated do you personally feel anger? what do you feel >> if i say i didn't feel anger, i would be lying because this can be prevented with vaccinations. >> reporter: there was some good news today, a new study from southern california finding the omicron variant is less likely to lead to hospitalization, icu admission or death than the delta variant. >> those infected with omicron who are hospitalized had a shorter duration of hospital stay. >> reporter: but the sheer volume of omicron cases is straining the system at the cleveland clinic, 5% of the staff is also out sick national guard were called to come in to run testing centers clean and deliver meals. this respiratory therapist used to be assigned to 8 patients now he'll sometimes cover 17. >> when that alarm clock goes off in the morning, it's -- i'm a little bit, you know, here we go again. >> reporter: people come to the cleveland clinic from all over the country for specialty services or surgeries. but right now because of the covid situation, no elective surgeries until at least january 30th. >> that's actually the rationing of care. >> reporter: nationwide icus are 82% full, a pandemic high dr. cooley, who heads clinical care at the cleveland clinic says as their icus grow more crowded, it could be devastating i guess this is a morbid thought, but does that mean that somebody who comes in with a heart attack might end up dying because they can't get into your icu? >> that is possible or they might wait in the emergency room or wait for a bed in the intensive care unit or they may be actually crashing on the floor. >> reporter: in the covid unit, 73-year-old ron peralta is vaccinated but not boosted. he has an underlying medical condition. >> i'll say i was the last one to think that i would get it. >> reporter: what would you say to people who think that omicron is mild and it's no big deal >> i'm going to walk out the door, and they can come and sit in here and see what it's like >> reporter: he was one of the only icu patients even able to speak. kate snow, nbc news, cleveland. from hospitals now to schools coast to coast struggling to stay open through this latest covid explosion. and as more districts face staffing shortages, schools are doing whatever they can to keep kids in classrooms with more on that, here's stephanie gosk. >> reporter: test lines outside schools, the key to staying open safely say health officials. in l.a. students, teachers and staff had to test negative after the holiday. nearly 80,000 cases were discovered. filtering out covid to keep school doors open >> my daughter is going to double her mask. >> reporter: in connecticut, teachers protested for more safety measures, including tests. >> it's very frustrating. very challenging >> reporter: the biden administration pledges to ship ten million tests a month to schools. but some districts are still shuttered. detroit schools may stay remote until the end of the month similar disruptions in over 3,000 schools this week. a small fraction of the more than 100,000 k through 12 schools in the country the majority fighting staffing shortages to stay open like in san diego. >> reporter: they talked about doing online for kids who are sick but not about teachers missing i am worried about. >> reporter: in austin, the substitute teacher requests are up more than 50% staffers from the superintendent office have spanned out to teaching classrooms across the district. do you worry the numbers are going up fast that you are going to reach a point where it is just impossible to keep your schools open? >> well, i worry about that every single morning. i look at the phone at 5:30 a.m. when our busses are going to roll out, and that's the first thing i look at, is, a, do i have enough drivers are we going to be able to pick up our children >> reporter: the other challenge, some students aren't showing up in new york city, attendance is just over 70% pre-pandemic it was over 90. >> if we don't do anything, individual students will pay the price. >> reporter: nearly two years into the pandemic is a generation of students being left behind. >> every kid's experience differed, so we would have to look at, you know, what -- how much school closures did they have? how much remote learning how much was their family life disrupted. >> reporter: one covid legacy that could last much longer than any symptom. stephanie gosk, nbc news while the midwest and northeast are getting a break tonight after that brutal cold snap, there is more severe weather on the way as we move through the week and into the weekend. al roker is tracking it all for us. what are you looking at >> lester, here's what we know so far we're watching this system come out of canada snow from the plains to the midwest friday. it's going to drop anywhere from 4 to 8 inches of snow strong winds, blowing snow then it dives into the gulf, bringing more moisture wintery mix to the north, heavy storms to the south. here's what we're -- here's where we get a little confusion going on we do see icing, but then we're watching this system make its way up the coast the location of the rain snow line is going to determine where the heavy snow falls. right now we're calling it from interior new england, new york down to the span of the appalachians, but if it goes further east, lester, we could be looking at significant snow along the i-95 corridor >> we know you will be staying on it. al, thank you. in just 60 seconds, new allegations tonight about that deadly shooting on a movie set. how did live bullets wind up in alec baldwin's prop gun and our exclusive interview with vice president kamala harris her message to democrats holding out on supporting the president's voting rights bills now to an nbc news exclusive. one-on-one with vice president kamala harris as the biden administration revs up its push for new voting protections while facing roadblocks from democrats as well as republicans. garrett haake now with a preview. >> reporter: tonight speaking to nbc's craig melvin, vice president harris vowing to push ahead on two democratic voting rights bills opposed by all republicans. >> i will not absolve the 50 republicans in the united states senate from responsibility for upholding one of the most basic and important tenants of our democracy, which is free and fair elections and access to the ballot for all eligible voters. >> reporter: what about senator manchin? what about senator sinema >> i don't think anyone should be absolved from the responsibility of preserving and protecting our democracy, especially when they took an oath to protect and defend our constitution. >> reporter: but manchin and kyrsten sinema remain opposed to changing historic senate rules to pass the bills with just 50 votes instead of 60. what did you make of the president's speech last night >> it was a good speech. he did a good speech >> reporter: does it change your opinion at all on the senate rules changes? >> we're still talking. >> reporter: but if democrats weren't united by the president's speech, republicans were, slamming biden for attempting what they call an unconstitutional federal takeover of elections. >> and, so, president biden goes down the same tragic road taken by president trump, casting doubt on the reliability of american elections >> reporter: president biden will make a personal appeal to senators here tomorrow democrats have promised votes on all of this monday lester >> thank you >> you can watch more of craig melvin's interview with vice president harris tomorrow morning on "today". a new lawsuit has been filed over that deadly shooting during the filming of the alec baldwin shooting "rust. an attorney for the movie's armorer making new allegations about how live bullets got on to the set. here's miguel almaguer. >> reporter: tonight the attorneys for hannah gutierrez-reed, the armorer on the set of "rust," say they know the answer to the question investigators desperately want: how did the bullet that killed cinematographer halyna hutchins end up in alec baldwin's gun? in new court documents, pdq arm and prop, owned by seth kenny accused of supplying the set with real bullets the ammunition boxes failed to state a material fact. the contents contain both dummy and live ammunition which were deceptively sold >> the facts are a live round or multiple live rounds ended up in a box labeled as dummies. >> reporter: in their lengthy court filing, attorneys shifted the blame away from gutierrez-reed saying others also handed and loaded the revolver court documents indicate officers found a suspected seven live rounds distributed inside an ammo box with the lawsuit filed hours ago, nbc news has reached out to seth kenny who provided the ammo. his attorney says for now no comment. >> no one wants the truth more than i do >> reporter: baldwin continues to post on social media but has not yet turned over his cell phone to authorities despite a search warrant. >> any suggestion i am not complying with requests or orders or demands or search warrants, about my phone, that's [ bleep ]. that's a lie. >> reporter: tonight the investigation ongoing as lawyers race to assign blame miguel almaguer, nbc news and up next for us, we'll remember a 1960s pop icon, the one and only ronnie spector of the ronettes tonight, the music world is remembering a legend, ronnie spector. lead singer of the 1960s girl group the ronettes passed away today after a brief battle with cancer at the age of 78. gabe gutierrez on the legacy and the hits she leaves behind. ♪ be my little baby. >> reporter: her voice unforgettable. ♪ be my darling. >> reporter: ronnie spector, lead singer of the ronettes was beloved by generations of fans around the world. >> i loved getting up there. i love going ♪ be my little baby. >> reporter: toured england with the rolling stones, befriended the beatles, racked up hit after hit after hit. spector was born veronica bennett she and her band mates grew up near spanish harlem they began singing and dancing in clubs where their sound, their presence and their mascara made an impression ♪ baby, i love you. ♪ come on, baby >> reporter: we weren't afraid to be hot. that was our gimmick they signed a record deal in 1963 to back up other acts until they hit it big. ♪ be my baby now. >> reporter: five tracks from their debut album made it to the billboard charts but her influence was felt for decades and the music icon as an outspoken abuse survivor at the hands of her ex-husband, she became a symbol of female empowerment today her family saying ronnie lived her life with a twinkle in her eye, a spunky attitude, a wicked sense of humor and a smile on her face she was filled with love and gratitude ♪ >> reporter: and remarkably, just days ago, the ronettes returned to the billboard top ten for the first time in 58 years with "sleigh ride," proving great music really is timeless ronnie spector was 78. gabe gutierrez, nbc news >> we'll take a short break here and then up next, she's making baseball history again and inspiring america. finally tonight, she broke ground when they made her a coach. now she has reached a new milestone that's inspiring america. here's catie beck. >> reporter: tonight the yankees naming the first female manager in the minors to their affiliate minor league baseball team, the tampa tarpins. rachel balkovec making baseball history a second time. >> my goal is to develop them as young men and young people who have an immense amount of pressure on them. >> reporter: we spoke to her back in 2020 after becoming the first female hitting coach in the league also with the tarpins. >> get in this position before you contact the ball. >> reporter: in our interview she describes her uphill battle to break into the male dominated industry, earning two masters degrees, working in the minors with the cardinals and later the astros even teaching herself spanish to better communicate in the field. >> any struggle that we go through is meaning. you know, my life has so much deep meaning and like just i'm just so grateful for all of the struggles. >> reporter: today at a virtual press conference, we connected again. when you were first interviewing for jobs as a strength coach, people would love your resume and then they would hear a female voice on the line and they would say no thanks just curious, do you think today that same scenario would happen? >> some stereotypes are going to be around forever, you know. so i do think we have made a ton of progress there will be 11 women in uniform next year. >> reporter: she hopes to be a general manager one day. and with her winning streak, odds are she'll get there. catie beck, nbc news that's nbc "nightly news" for this wednesday thank you for watching, everyone i'm lester holt. please take care of yourself and each other. good night ♪♪ thousands of women with metastatic breast cancer are living in the moment and taking ibrance. ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor is for postmenopausal women or for men with hr+, her2- metastatic breast cancer as the first hormonal based therapy. ibrance plus letrozole significantly delayed disease progression versus letrozole. ibrance may cause low white blood cell counts that may lead to serious infections. ibrance may cause severe inflammation of the lungs. both of these can lead to death. tell your doctor if you have new or worsening chest pain, cough, or trouble breathing. before taking ibrance, tell your doctor if you have fever, chills, or other signs of infection, liver or kidney problems, are or plan to become pregnant, or are breastfeeding. for more information about side effects talk to your doctor. ♪♪ be in your moment. ask your doctor about ibrance. i'm raj mathai. next on nbc bay area news tonight. be warned. is your covid testing site legit? we'll explain why some are under investigation now. how to spot a site that you can trust. also covid hospitalizations are on the rise. we go behind the numbers with a doctor from cal. what his research shows about omicron in california. there is a silver lining. and have you noticed empty shelves at grocery stores? are people hoarding again? or is it something else? good evening. this is nbc bay area news tonight. i'm raj mathai. we didn't want to be in this

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