pandemic of the unvaccinated, the chosen unvaccinated. the cdc saying an alarming spike in cases and deaths could be on the way very soon because tens of millions of americans who could be vaccinated refuse to do so. here is a headline you may have seen earlier this week. the air force discharging 27 people for refusing to get the vaccine. the first service members to be removed for disobeying the mandate to get the shot. but i want you to know the real headline you probably missed. 27 people left. well, guess what, as of december 10, the pentagon says that more than 96% of all active duty personnel have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine. that is great news. so let's get the latest from miguel almaguer in los angeles. miguel? >> reporter: stephanie, good morning. we're looking at a convergence of several issues. delta is hammering hospitals across the nation. omicron cases are now beginning to circulate here in the u.s., and now we have this grim prediction from the cdc. as medical centers already face a crushing wave of delta patients, new predictions for omicron are ominous. by the end of christmas week, the cdc now predicts the variants will fuel a massive spike in new infections, up to a 55% increase. 1.3 million cases in just seven days, but the grimmest prediction, the death toll could shoot up 71%. the cdc says well over 15,000 lives could be lost in a single week. in philadelphia the health commissioner making this holiday plea. >> please do not get together with other households for christmas, or, if you do, keep those gatherings small. >> reporter: this morning our future looking more like our past as lines for covid testing grow and mass vaccination sites, like this one at fenway park, are set to reopen. closures are once again rippling across the nation. more schools are turning to remote learning. apple stores in three cities now shuttered because of a rise in infections. with more employers considering booster mandates, experts say omicron cases could double every two days here in the u.s. even though existing vaccines may offer less protection than against earlier strains, they still appear to fend off serious illness. >> if we didn't have these tools, i would be telling you to really, really be worried. but we have tools, so get vaccinated, get boosted. >> reporter: but with tens of millions still unvaccinated and many past due for boosters, the most dangerous surge is still likely weeks away. this morning a somber reality as our country faces the prospect of another dark winter ahead. and as families gather for christmas and new year's experts expect the most dangerous weeks will likely be in january when cases spike to their highest point. stephanie, back to you. >> thank you, miguel. the co-director of the center for vaccine development at texas children's hospital, doctor, yes, all these headlines are scary. this thing is spreading rapidly. but you heard dr. fauci. we've got the tools to fight it. for those who are vaccinated who have the booster, the symptoms are mild. why should we have to change our behavior? >> well, i think there's a few pieces to this. this wave, the omicron wave is coming faster in the u.s. than we predicted because we've had a four to six week lag between the big spike in the uk before it came to the u.s. it goes to show you how transmissible this is. here is the data that i've seen. once you get a booster, you get a huge boost in antibodies that will help protect with severe illness. once you get that third immunization over delta it was over 90% protective against symptomatic illness. it's gone down to 70% to 75% even with the third immunization. no question it will keep you out of the hospital most likely, but you can still have a lot of breakthrough symptomatic illness. and the problem is going to be this, with that big surge on our hospitals especially among the unvaccinated or inadequately vaccinated going into the hospital there's going to be a lot of health care professionals, health care personnel who will get sick with breakthrough symptomatic illness even if they're boosted. they will be calling in sick not because they're going to the hospital, because they're home with symptomatic covid. we have a very strained and stressed out hospital health system. what's going to happen now if many are calling out sick? that's the weak point that i'm most worried about, that combination of a surge and so many health care professionals calling in sick. >> so many of the unvaccinated people can choose not to go to the hospital if they're choosing not to get the vaccine. put aside what you hope people do. do you actually think this new variant is going to incentivize those who are vaccine hesitant to go for it and get the shot? because thus far it doesn't seem like much is motivating them. >> yeah, i mean, i think what we're seeing is this very large percentage of the country, maybe a quarter of the country deeply dug in saying that they're not going to get vaccinated no matter what and exactly what is the tipping point to get vaccinated, i can't tell you. it's the most bizarre thing i've ever seen where people actually tie their allegiance to political extremism on the right by showing that they're not going to get vaccinated. i can't imagine anything more self-defeating. and look what the numbers show. since june 1 of this year, stephanie, just this summer, 150,000 unvaccinated americans have needlessly lost their lives despite the widespread availability of vaccines. i don't even know what you call that anymore. and the problem is we're not out of this by any means. >> hold on -- >> 150 -- >> say that to us one more time. since this summer, what happened? >> since june 1, stephanie, 150,000 unvaccinated americans have lost their lives because they got sick and died from covid. 150,000 lives thrown away completely for no reason at all other than political ideology. and that number is about -- and that number isn't done yet. we're not done, stephanie. that number is about to double to 300,000 because the health metrics says we're going to get to around 1 million americans who have lost their lives from covid by the end of q1, 2022. we still have that number of 150,000 likely to double and it's a massive loss of life over political ideology. we never had to get there. we still don't have to get there. >> political ideology when many of their political heroes, many of the tv host that is they know and love, are fully vaccinated and the companies they work at mandate those vaccines. so give me personal advice, for those of us who are planning to spend the holidays with friends and family who are vaccinated, who have gotten boosters, should we cancel those plans? >> well, it really depends on whether you have vulnerable individuals that you are concerned about. if they got breakthrough symptomatic covid. a tangible example. we were playing and having my mother-in-law and sister in law fly down from new jersey to spend a few days with us over the holidays here in houston, go to museums or restaurants. i had to essentially disinvite them because i was worried about my mother if law who is older and we didn't want to risk the breakthrough covid though she had that third immunization. we are scaling back plans, being less ambitious over the holidays. i had hoped the wave was going to come late january/february, but it just surprised us all how quickly it got here. >> dr. peter hotez, i had no idea, it's another reason to like you with jersey girls in your life. we have to talk kids. the new numbers are out this morning, and them show nearly 20% of kids ages 5 to 11 have gotten their first dose of the vaccine since they were approved back in early november. i want you to look at this map. the dark green areas represent higher vaccination rates among kids and several new england states are leading the way. you mentioned it. i just mentioned it. including my home state of jersey. this week i got to speak to a group of kids at hoboken's public library about the vaccine and the impact this pandemic is having on their lives and i want you to take a look at this. did you get vaccinated? >> yes, two shots. >> two shots? how about you? >> i got two vaccinations except i think i got my second one last week or two weeks ago. >> i got my second vaccination yesterday. >> how did it feel? >> it hurted more than the first one. >> i haven't got mine yet but i'm planning on getting it. >> how come you haven't gotten it yet? >> because, like, my mom and dad want to go over it with my pediatrician. >> do you want to get vaccinated? >> yeah. >> how come? >> because my grandpas, they, like, are high risk. >> were you scared about getting vaccinated? >> no, because i had covid before and it was really bad. and i like getting the vaccine because i would be safer. >> did the vaccine make you sick? >> no, i was just a little bit tired. >> did you want to get vaccinated? >> yes, i did. >> yeah? what was it like? >> i liked it because then the same thing that she said, i could feel safer. >> do you have friends who aren't getting vaccinated? >> well, my friends, their parents haven't got vaccinated and they feel like the vaccine is unsafe. they feel it was made too quickly. >> are there things you want to do. >> i don't want to get my family sick because i would like to be sure of how they are. >> are you scared of getting the vaccine? >> no. >> how come? >> it's just because my parents have it and the rest of my family has it. >> well, now more and more people are getting vaccinated and you are back in school but you have to wear masks. do you mind wearing a mask? >> yeah, i don't really care. >> how do you feel about wearing a mask? >> i don't like it because i can't really breathe. >> i don't mind it at all because i wear it sometimes in the house and i don't even realize it's on me, and then i also wear it outside, too, sometimes. >> well, that's great. you wear a mask, you're extra safe. how do you feel about wearing a mask? >> fine, but kind of annoyed because when i'm speaking and i have something to say to the whole class, i can't really talk that good. it's like blocking the voice, so i have to talk way louder, but you never know how loud you're speaking so it might interrupt more people when they have their door open because we mostly never close our door in the classroom. >> hmm. what do you miss from before covid? chloe? >> i miss that we could go out more and would have to worry about what's happening or our surroundings. >> what do you miss? >> i miss going on cruises. >> i miss going to the trampoline place. >> i miss, like, going to my grandma and grandpa's house because i don't really get to see them. >> now that you're vaccinated, has anything in your life changed? >> yes, because before i didn't visit any of my cousins in india for two years because of the pandemic but now since i'm vaccinated i can go there in the summer. >> and also me, too, because i really love them. >> you really love them? and so now that you're vaccinated, what does that mean? >> it means i can go to india. >> what's the best part about being vaccinated for you. >> that i can go outside and feel safer, that even if i did get covid, i wouldn't -- there's a lower chance that i would get severely sick. >> my gosh, i love these kids. i want to go to india with that little boy this summer. peter, what do you say to parents who are still on the fence about vaccinating their children? >> well, you just have to get those six kids and appoint them as vaccine ambassadors to the president. i can't imagine doing a better job than those six kids. here is the problem, stephanie, we're seeing nationally, too many kids are not getting vaccinated especially in the southern states in texas. we knew this was going to be a problem because we saw what the 12 to 17-year-olds, which had half the rate compared to the northeast, and those same parents who have teenagers and little kids are also not vaccinating them. we're finally underachieving, but one of the things we've seen now with the omicron variant is a lot of kids are being hospitalized in south africa, a lot of covid-positive kids with the variant, we're starting to see it in the uk. so my concern is not only for the adult hospitals getting overwhelmed but the children's hospitals as well, and i think that's going to be another concerning participate of this pandemic. and i'm speaking a lot with my pediatrics colleagues to be on the lookout for this as well. >> nobody wants kids being hospitalized. i hope the white house is watching. those kids could certainly be covid ambassadors -- covid vaccine ambassadors. dr. peter hotez, good to see you. thank you for making us smarter this morning. >> thank you. coming up, a temporary setback for democrats on the buildback better bill with them putting the focus on voting rights. ohio congressman tim ryan will be here to react. plus, speaker pelosi turning heads with her comments about why lawmakers should be able to trade stocks. believe me, you're going to want to hear what she had to say. ♪ ♪ ♪ downy's been taking you back, since way back. with freshness and softness you never forget. feel the difference with downy. mm. 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(vo) what's better than giving a better phone this holiday season? it's the hardworking people of the it's giving a better phone on a better network. ranked #1 in network reliability 16 times in a row better. holiday better with 5g from america's most reliable network. age before beauty? why not both? visibly diminish wrinkled skin in... crepe corrector lotion... only from gold bond. now to capitol hill where there are growing signs senate democrats may be temporarily giving up hope of passing the infrastructure bill. senate majority leader chuck schumer wants to focus on a totally different issue -- a massively important one -- voting rights. let walk us through what's happening here. build back better is temporarily on hold and voting rights is in focus. why the switch? >> reporter: stephanie, what's happening is congress appears likely to blow through yet another self-imposed deadline on the build back better act. the christmas deadline is coming and going without democrats properly prepared to get this done in time. they still have policy differences to negotiate. there are still provisions in the bill they need to get all 50 democrats onboard and senator manchin has raised concerns with the structure of certain expiring provisions in the bill, like the child tax credit, which expire in a year, and he assumes will be extended and wants them to be funded over the long haul over ten years. there's no real easy fix to that and president biden and chuck schumer have not been able to impress upon him their goal of getting the bill done soon. as a result they're not going to be able to get this to parliamentarian and get through all the hoops that they need to jump through by christmas. thus, the focus has shifted to voting rights. i would be skeptical if they can get that done in time by the end of the year either because the problem remains the same as it ever was. there was a path to getting 48 democrats around the filibuster and to a final vote. they have 50 votes on major voting rights legislation, the freedom to vote act but two holdouts on the filibuster. one of them is manchin. he has met with senators, a leader on the caucus on the issue, and tried to impress upon him the need to make changes to do this. he is open to hearing, he says, but he wants to do rules changes on a bipartisan vote, and you're never going to get bipartisan support to get the voting rights bill through. the other is senator sinema. she is concerned about wild swings and federal policy the filibuster has done. republicans could do it to their benefit. those two remain the immovable object to voting rights at this moment, stephanie, democrats are scrambling to salvage anything big they can before the end of the year. >> voting rights is big. voting rights is important, and it shouldn't be political. it's about preserving our democracy. i want to turn now to a story that probably hasn't gotten the attention it deserves until now. on wednesday house speaker nancy pelosi shot down the idea that lawmakers should be banned or limited from trading individual stocks. that is despite an investigation by business insider that found nearly 50 lawmakers, both republicans and democrats, and nearly 200 of their staffers have repeatedly violated the stock act with almost no consequences. this law exists to keep members of congress from profiting off inside information or passing law that is put their financial interests ahead of public good. but even if the law is followed, it barely has any teeth. we're talking about big, big money. according to business insider democratic congresswoman susie lee skipped reporting on 200 trades worth over $3 million. republican diana harsh barger failed to report 700 trades worth over $10 million. and what's the penalty for failing to report these purchases? it's a joke. it's as low as $200. for all of these reasons some democrats like elizabeth warren want to ban it altogether. but speaker pelosi is not onboard. >> should members of congress and their spouses be banned from trading individual stocks while in congress? >> no to the second one this is a free market and people -- we are a free mark economy. they should be able to participate in that. >> i have to talk about this and bring in andrew ross sorkin. andrew, you have to walk me through this. when you're the ceo of a publicly traded company, there are all sorts of restrictions on what you can do. when you work in an investment bank, when you work as an investor, so many restriction s when it comes to personal investments. these people, lawmakers, policymakers -- policies that directly influence the way business is done all over the country -- how is this even remotely legal? >> this was one of the most disappointing and maybe to put it even less politely disgraceful comments in views i have heard espoused on this issue and surprising given pelosi's views on many other issues. we have insider trading laws for a reason. ceos, executives cannot trade. members of the federal reserve now cannot trade. and yet we are allowing our politicians, who do have access to inside information, they are often briefed regularly about all sorts of things that are about to happen and they have a meaningful influence on what is about to happen and they are trading. to the extent that politicians should want the public to trust them, this undermines every bit of trust. it goes to every worst expectation of corruption, and it's not even expectation. it's real. >> this isn't about free markets this is about having privileged information and using it to your own personal advantage. even if you agree that the current laws make sense, that you should be able to buy and sell stock, the penalties are a joke. you can make tens of millions of dollars with privileged information. and what's going to happen? you're going to get fined $200. >> nothing. >> nothing. >> i've written about this extensively for years now, and i think the real opportunity, frankly, given that congress does not want to regulate themselves, that actually the only one that can do this is that the s.e.c. should step in. now gary gensler's budget is, unfortunately, run by congress. he doesn't want to bite the hand that feeds him. he could stand up and say we are putting rules in place, the same way we have put rules in place for executives, we are putting rules in place for what might be described as politically exposed people, and we are going to create rules about what they can trade and how they can trade. he could do that if he so chose. >> do you have any reason to believe he's going to? these same lawmakers love to drag in executives for these hearings, yell at them for their behavior, yet they're not looking in a mirror and what they, themselves, do. any thought that maybe gensler will do anything? has he said anything? >> he has not. unfortunately, the incentive system as i just explained, his budget is at the whim, if you will, of congress. for him to effectively try to cut congress off and pelosi who clearly is publicly say that go she is not in favor of this, makes it very complicated. and i'm sure if you're gary gensler you're saying what are my priorities? do i need a bigger budget to do x over here or is this more important? that's where we are. >> all right, quickly before we go, we have to talk about inflation, the fed trying to thread a needle between tamping down inflation and still supporting the economy. how did they do yesterday? >> well, it looks -- look, the marketplace, the investor community, thinks that jay powell has done a great job -- >> hold on, hold on, hold on. andrew, andrew, yes, of course the investor community thinks jay powell has done a great job. he's been feeding them from a bottle. come on! of course they think he's great. >> but that's my point. my point is the market oddly enough went up on this news that he's going to, quote, unquote, taper. and as a result, what i think the market is saying, guess what, the party is actually going to continue longer than we even thought. so the question is, is he really going to be tempering, if you will, inflation? inflation is a stealth tax on the public to some degree, and trying to get that balance right is a very tricky situation, but i think we're not going to know whether this is going to work, if you will, i think for at least another 6 to 12 months. >> all right, then, andrew ross sorkin, thank you. i want to bring in congressman tim ryan. he is also running for senate. congressman, i want to start with the economic picture. inflation a top concern for people in this country. do you think the government, this white house, is doing everything possible? >> well, no. we have to pass build back better. we're in december and you're going to have a lot of families who are going to lose the tax cut for families in january. we have to get that done. we have an opportunity to help cushion the blow for inflation, and people are suffering out there at the gas pump , at the grocery store, trying to buy holiday gifts and christmas gifts. and so not extending the tax cut is a huge blow, not tapping child care expenses at 7%, that's a huge blow. not helping seniors pay for their glasses or hearing aids, that's more money out of their pockets that they're going to have to pay for those things with. i think we have to get this thing done. and the white house needs to continue to push. there's no excuse. this is president biden's signature initiative. it needs to get done, and the white house needs to push and the senate needs to get online here. >> if the whole thing can't get done, do you support carving any portion of it out like maybe that expanded child tax credit? >> i think it's at the top of the list because it's lifting kids out of poverty, hitting families, a direct shot in the arm for them. the tax cut is very, very important. these other things are important, too. i'm not in those negotiations in the senate, not yet. it's hurting everybody. the american people need to know what we're doing. they need to feel what we're doing and if they lose a tax cut in january that they got for six months of this year, they're going to blame us for that, and we need to, you know, be very candid about the consequences of not getting this done. >> well, you have to do multiple things because while the average american is not thinking about the preservation of our democracy, that is what voting rights are all about. and that is now the president's top priority. republicans, they would love for people to just stay focused on inflation so they don't pay attention to republicans putting more and more restrictive voting laws in place across the country. how do you convince people that something that seems abstract, voting rights, needs to be a crucial priority when they're just talking about kitchen table issues? if we don't have a functioning democracy, nothing else even matters. >> you need to convince the leaders of the country, convince the people in the senate. look, i represent a working class district. i'm from a working class state in ohio. people, unfortunately, don't have the luxury to sit around and have a conversation about voting rights. they're too busy getting up, going to work, trying to pay the bills. you have inflation. more of a squeeze there. and they're scrapping. they're fighting. they're grinding. they're just trying to make ends meet, trying to find a few extra bucks to pay for christmas gifts. they don't have the luxury. these decisions are up to the leaders of the country, which is why i support getting rid of the filibuster and getting these things done. you are not going to be able to count on a dysfunctional republican party including preserving democracy because i saw republicans having a press conference the other day sticking up for the very insurrectionists. they're not getting treated well in jail. that's who we're dealing with. so democrats need to step up and lead this country, and that means getting rid of the filibuster, passing voting rights and let the american people see which political party is ready to lead this country in this big competition with china and preserving our democracy and rebuilding the middle class. >> well, nothing confusing about congressman tim ryan's message. always good to see you. have a really good holiday. >> thanks, stephanie. you, too. coming up, what fox news anchors said on air january 6th versus what they said in private text messages to mark meadows, then cheech of staff to former president trump. the truth matters and we're going to dig into it next. ig in. . i'm at a moss for words. when a cough tries to steal dad's punchlines, he takes robitussin naturals powered by 100% drug-free ingredients. are you gonna leaf me hanging? 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it's time to ask your doctor about kesimpta. before nexium 24hr, anna could only imagine a comfortable night's sleep without frequent heartburn waking her up. now, that dream... . ...is her reality. nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts, for all-day, all-night protection. can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn? i didn't have health insurance, not because i didn't want it. i worried it was too expensive and i was having a hard time paying our other bills. but now, for the first time in our lives, i can do both. covered california makes health insurance easier in every way. with financial help for millions of us and free assistance to compare your options. covered california. this way to health insurance. enroll by december 31st at coveredca.com the truth matters, but only if you hear it. and for months this is what fox news viewers have been watching. >> a political spep telling people to peacefully patriotcally let your voices be heard is not incitement, not even close, and it's not insurrection. >> the capitol was under siege by people who can only described as antithetical to the maga movement. they are not all trump supporters and atifa sympathizers may have been in the crowd. >> you condition just snap your finger and hope that goes away. >> no reasonable person thinks that what happened on january 6th was, as biden said, the worst attack on the capitol since the civil war. there was certainly a lot of violence that day but it was not a terrorist attack. it wasn't 9/11. it wasn't the worst thing that happened to america. it wasn't an insurrection. >> everything that you just watched right there, a big pack of lies. this week we got concrete proof that those very fox news hosts knew the truth but they still lied to their loyal viewers. that proof came in the form of text messages, texts that then white house chief of staff mark meadows got from those same fox news anchors on january 6th. congresswoman liz cheney read the messages out loud as the committee debated whether to hold meadows in contempt. take laura ingraham, for example, she personally texted meadows this. mark, the president needs to tell people in the capitol to go home. this is hurting all of us. he's destroying his legacy. later that very night on january 6th, she told her viewers antifa was to blame. sean hannity, he also texted meadows saying this, quote, can he, meaning former president trump, make a statement? ask people to leave the capitol. and yet later that night he pushed the big election lie again. both did condemn the violence at some point which is good in theory, but that was muddled with lie after lie about the election and what really went on that day and who was responsible for it. after cheney read the messages on monday night it took fox 24 hours to respond. and instead of owning it, addressing the substance, they went after the messenger. >> liz, release yours. let us look at yours. >> i don't care to read any of their text messages because they're all so aggressively boring. they're the most boring people. they're so predictable. hang a piece of meat and they just grab it. >> you might be wondering why it matters what a fox news anchor says especially when there's so much video of the riot to watch, but here's the thing. a recent poll shows how effective their gas lighting night after night has been. according to the public religion research institute, only a sliver of republicans who trust and tune in to fox news and far-right sources say trump holds a lot to blame for that riot. the january 6th lies are so effective that politi fact crowned it the lie of the year. that doesn't change the truth, the facts. the truth is trump's own officials called the 2020 election the most secure election in american history. the truth is that this scene may have been avoided if fox news didn't amplify the great big lie that the election was stolen. and the truth is those who knew better should have spoken up sooner especially when they were doing it in private messages. coming up, thousands waking up this morning without power after more severe weather slammed the midwest. residents in kentucky still picking up the pieces and figuring out where to go next. i recognize this street, but anything else in town, i don't even know where i'm going. >> how long have you lived here? 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[daughter] slurping don't pay for water. pay for clean. it's got to be tide. this morning hundreds of thousands in the midwest are waking up with no power after an unusual december storm produced hurricane-force winds and destructive storms. this is video from western kansas where drivers were caught in a dust storm that reduced visibility to pretty much nothing. in kansas city, missouri, high winds took roofs off buildings, flipped cars and at one point knocked out power to 160,000 people. and in minnesota they saw their first december tornadoes ever including a possible twister in the town of heartland. in all at least 19 tornadoes were propertied across multiple states. now i want to turn to the town of mayfield, kentucky, where the initial shock of the devastation is wearing off and the reality of a massive rebuilding effort is ahead of them and starting to sink in. i thought you and i were going to talk about the rebuild today, but the weather is getting worse where you are. what's going on? >> reporter: stephanie, that's right. we're dealing with some high winds here this morning and these gusts are especially dangerous with debris flying around. in fact, we're doing everything we can to keep our crew safe right now, and this is just the worst timing as folks are starting to try to clean up and pick up the pieces. there's a group of volunteers back there who just had a prayer circle. they're starting to do some work, but we're supposed to get rain here this afternoon and for the next couple of days, and that is going to make all of this all the more difficult. i'll tell you, stephanie, we were here early this morning and watched the sun come up, and every time it does and reveals all of this once again, the pain just hits this community yet again. the pain of everything they lost and everything that they have to now work to rebuild. right now i'm in what was once a beauty parlor owned by corey, a mom of two. you can just see it's haunting when you step into the businesses or homes to see the remnants, the chairs, the hair washing station that did survive. everything else around it decimated. you have some hair spray and nail polish on the floor where the nail station was. and, stephanie, this was her dream. she was a hairdresser for ten years. she always dreamed of owning her own salon and, get this, her husband actually built this for her just about a year ago. and now it's destroyed. i talked to both corey and her husband. >> i always dreamed of having my own salon, but for my husband to build it for me was -- it's completely different when your husband takes the time to do something like that for you. and now that it's gone, it's just sickening. >> a lot of different emotions, anger. >> reporter: anger? >> yeah. yeah. it's hard to put into words. >> reporter: and, stephanie, they do have a go fund me page raising money to try to rebuild. i asked brian if he's willing to roll up his sleeves and do it again, and he said he is. and i just want to show you one last thing i noticed before we went on the air here, a bible right here outside of the rubble in tatters but still intact. the resilience here, these small signs of hope and strength is what's getting people through right now. >> that salon should be buzzing today with women getting ready for christmas parties and other holiday events and, alas, there is nothing there but a couple of hair washing stations. dasha burns, thank you for being there and doing this important reporting. coming up next, the uk now reporting its highest number of daily covid cases since the pandemic began as it becomes an omicron hot spot. is this a preview of what could happen here next? ♪ ♪are you ready for me♪ ♪are you ready♪ ♪are you ready♪ fine, no one leaves the table until your finished. fine, we'll sleep here. ♪♪ it's the easiest because it's the cheesiest. kraft. for the win win. is struggling to manage your type 2 diabetes knocking you out of your zone? 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[daughter] slurping don't pay for water. pay for clean. it's got to be tide. asth omicron variant begins to spread in this country it's already begun to ravage europe. it's expected to be the dominant strain there by next month. right now in the uk, they're experiencing their worst outbreak of the pandemic, with new cases hitting at all-time high yesterday surpassing the previous record by more than 10,000. things are so bad, the queen canceled her prechristmas lunch with her family. nbc's matt bradley is in london. how bad is it? >> stephanie, it depends on what you're looking at. if you are looking at pure numbers it looks really, really bad. like you said, the highest number ever, ever since this pandemic started in britain and really high even though we have this massive vaccine program here. if you look at deaths it's the same. the death rate is lower, far lower than it was at the same peak last year and it looks like it's going to maintain the same rate. it's been basically flat lined but the number of optizations is starting to increase and that's why we're hearing from politicians that things could get overwhelming for hospitals in january in the coming months but still stephanie, there's no word on further lockdowns. the government has essentially ruled out returning real restrictions like lockdowns to public life. stephanie? >> matt bradley, keeping an eye on europe as we are watching the strain spread across the u.s. when we come back, for months, we've been hearing about shipping issues. we've been dealing with shortages, empty shelves, not being able to get your christmas gifts on time. that was the fear, but let's get real. what is the reality on the ground? guess what? santa will make it here by the 25th, and those ports are getting in much better shape. we'll give you the facts next. the holiday season is in full swing. a few months ago we showed you logjams at ports warning you, you might not get your gifts in time to put them under the christmas tree. millions of americans finished their holiday shopping, not me, i wish i had and looks like things are getting better with the port of los angeles set to have record imports this year despite those supply chain issues. i want to dig deeper and bring in gene seropa, executive director of the port of l.a. we were doom and gloom about the holidays a few months ago. tell us what the real state of affairs is. >> good morning, steph. i was one of those back in the summertime, but these savvy american importers started to advance inventories. we as consumers began shopping in september. overall in the united states in-store is a percentage lower than last year and overall inventories throughout the warehouses in this country are up 2%. we're in decent shape but there's much more work to do. >> let's talk about that work. for years and years, our government has underinvested in infrastructure, especially as it relates to transportation. do you think we'll get big changes in the supply chain in our ports because of it? >> we're hopeful but a number of issues we have to address. one, the port of los angeles being so financially strong continues to advance projects even through cycling covid but what the infrastructure bill allows us to accelerate the shovel ready prongs of which we have about half a billion dollars. we have to work on digital infrastructure, information sharing across ports and nodes in the supply chain we're decades behind compared to other trading nations. >> demand is a key part of this supply chain issue. there is so much demand this holiday season. people are out spending. we're doing an enormous amount of online shopping. is the real issue that we've changed the way commerce works? people aren't going to shopping malls and out to restaurants like they were even a few years ago. >> steph it's not just one issue. we came out of covid-19 thinking we were moving and then the delta variant and now omicron. online buying has doubled over the last 15 months what it took a decade to build in the united states. we're still seeing some of our discretionary income go heavily into the retail and finished goods market as we start to go back into service sector. we have to watch all of these metrics very closely but the key to the supply chain is cargo velocity. the cargo has got to move through and what we've seen is trying to take ten lanes of freeway traffic, push them into five and if the guy next to you is not courteous and doesn't let you in, it starts gumming up the works and you back up. that's what we've seen over the past year. >> gene, that's why you have to have a girl next to you instead of a guy, far more courteous and nobody talks cargo velocity quite like you do. supply chain issues are always going to plague us but at what point can we throw our hands up and say this is no longer a supply chain crisis. are we there? >> i think we've got a line of sight on what's going to happen next and down the line. we're starting to see the peak before an early lunar new year the first week of february. that means landings in the back half of the month will be strong. then major retailers in home improvement stores are telling me they'll focus q2 on inventory replenishment, so get that inventory sales ratio back in a more normalized setting that it hasn't been in for the last decade. then hopefully we'll be able to pivot into maybe an earlier but more predictable peak season next summertime. >> gene, nobody makes ports as exciting as you do. if you get tired of this job, you could definitely take mine. thank you so much for joining me. i know you're going to have a very, very busy next few weeks. the holiday shopping and shipping season isn't over. that wraps this very busy hour up. i'm stephanie ruehl. my friend and colleague jose diaz-balart picks up breaking news coverage right now. and good morning. it's 10:00 a.m. eastern, 7:00 a.m. pacific. i'm joe biden on indeed a busy thursday morning. the cdc says we could see a massive spike in covid infections as americans say they're getting worn out by the pandemic. an cop toll hill the senate will try again to pass a voting rights bill which means biden's build back better bill will have to wait, talk about with new mexico democratic senator ben ray lujan. a new round of powerful storms spawned tornadoes in the midwest. more weather could hit places after last week's catastrophic tornado outbreak.