you re in the situation room. we begin this hour with the omicron surge taking a toll on school, hospitals and businesses. we re following it all. so many organizations and institutions are over burdened and in some places like chicago t situation is clearly boiling over. reporter: that s right. stress delays, frustration, cancellation it s all part of the omicron surge and all parts of the country. in chicago they are locked in debate. in so many places we re seeing a will we haven t seen before to keep moving forward through covid. parents are outraged and making their outrage known to the teachers union in is a very different dynamic than ever before. reporter: tensions mounting in chicago. more than 340,000 students missing school for a fourth day. teachers refusing to return to the classroom. we re very frustrated that there are no public health leaders standing up and saying we should be moving to remote learning environment especially for a district of this
imposed around the dpglobe. the rocketts calling off the christmas spectacular. in ireland, a curfew begins at 8:00 p.m. rio and paris deciding to cancel planned new year s fireworks shows. the world s health organization warning today that cases of the omicron variant double in under three days for countries already seeing infections. in the u.s., covid hospitalizations are at levels not seen since september. now, an admission from vice president kamala harris. she says we didn t see delta coming. i think most scientists did not. she goes onto say we didn t see omicron coming and that s the nature of what this awful virus has been which as it turns out has mutations and variants. harris adviser tells cnn the vice president was referring to the exact kind of mutation and not the prevalence of the variant themselves. we have more on growing signs that a winter surge is on the way. reporter: covid-19 infections and hospitalizations are rising in the u.s. promptin ing disrupti
63 were hurt by the maze of blinding smoke, preventing some from finding their way out early sunday. this man is praying for his brother and sister-in-law. they lived on the 18th floor. he still has not heard from them. i m worried and devastate d. everybody worried. we don t know what s happening. reporter: daisy survived by running down a darknded stairwell after first opening the door and smelling smoke. i went to the stairs and opened the door. i panic and told my husband let me in the house. i can t see. i m blind. i can t see. if i stayed out there another three seconds, i would have been gone too. reporter: an out pouring of messages of support now coming from across the dpglobe. many of the residents have ties to the dominican republic.
Imposed around the dpglobe. the rocketts calling off the christmas spectacular. in ireland, a curfew begins at 8:00 p.m. rio and paris deciding to cancel planned new year s fireworks shows. the world s health organization warning today that cases of the omicron variant double in under three days for countries already seeing infections. in the u.s., covid hospitalizations are at levels not seen since september. now, an admission from vice president kamala harris. she says we didn t see delta coming. i think most scientists did not. she goes onto say we didn t see omicron coming and that s the nature of what this awful virus has been which as it turns out