they even put out a video to celebrate the arrival of the pure-bred german shepherd they are calling commander. we are told kmantder was a gift to the commander from his family and cnn also learned that a cat will be joining the bidens at the white house in january. to our viewers, thanks very much for watching. i am wolf blitzer in the situation room. erin burnett outfront starts right now. outfront next. breaking news. the omicron variant now the dominant strain in the u.s. accounting for 73% of cases. it was said to be just 3%. the u.s. surgeon general is my guest. plus, on again, off again and cnn slaerning of the president s speaking to senator joe manchin after the west virginia senator torpedoed the centerpiece of his doomt agenda. where do discussions tand stand tonight? and closing arguments in the case of the former officer who shot and killed daunte wright.
they even put out a video to celebrate the arrival of the pure-bred german shepherd they are calling commander. we are told kmantder was a gift to the commander from his family and cnn also learned that a cat will be joining the bidens at the white house in january. to our viewers, thanks very much for watching. i am wolf blitzer in the situation room. erin burnett outfront starts right now. outfront next. breaking news. the omicron variant now the dominant strain in the u.s. accounting for 73% of cases. it was said to be just 3%. the u.s. surgeon general is my guest. plus, on again, off again and cnn slaerning of the president s speaking to senator joe manchin after the west virginia senator torpedoed the centerpiece of his doomt agenda. where do discussions tand stand tonight? and closing arguments in the case of the former officer who shot and killed daunte wright. her fate knew nou in the hands
tonight, we re learning that joe biden and senator joe manchin have spoken to one another after manchin threw fellow democrats a curveball by declaring he s a no, a no on the biden spending bill. our chief national affairs correspondent jeff zeleny is joining us from the white house with more on this critical setback and what it means. reporter: the white house, pledging to salvage its economic agenda tonight, after west virginia senator joe manchin infuriated democrats by potentially seinking this legislation. we are going to continue to take steps, work like hell to get it done. reporter: cnn learned biden and manchin spoke by phone sunday night. but joe manchin s bombshell decision still sparking an extraordinary war of words. on west virginia radio today, the senator blamed aides to the president for a breakdown in negotiations. this is not the president, it s the staff. they put some things out that
we re not giving up, but i have to be clear that we are also going to, at the same time we work on legislation, call on the president to take executive action, so that we truly can build back better and deliver on the agenda he laid out and progressives have been fighting for this entire time. so when you told him you can t trust him any more, that he backed out of his word, effectively lying to you, what was his response? i m going to let him speak for himself. i can just tell you what i said and i can tell you that it s not different than from what i m saying here. i haven t said anything to you that i didn t say to him. so it has been frustrating, because what we re talking about are people s lives. we re talking about the whom is still at home, pushed out of the workplace because of no child care. we re talking about families that have been depending on the
here would be my guidance to folks right now. get vaccinated if you haven t. get a booster if you haven t. but also, now is the time to put that mask back on in public indoor locations. because even those mild cases will ruin your christmas or your new year s eve celebration. it will take you out of work for ten days. e members of your community or your family sick. so this is the time to step back up those nonpharmaceutical inspections. things like mask and rapid testing that many have abandoned over the last few months. very worrisome in the news right now. doctors, thank you so, so much. if i don t see you, have a merry christmas and happy holidays. we ll all try as much as we can. just ahead, the fate of joe biden s agenda in limbo after a surprise play by senator joe manchin. we re going to hear from the prerogative caucus chair