the fort worth star-telegram reporting authorities are negotiating with a man who has taken people hostage. we re learning the service was being livestreamed on facebook. the recording is continuing to capture muffled audio of what sounds like talks between police and the suspect. we re hearing from the colleyville police sergeant, darren nelson, that negotiators have, in fact, made contact with somebody inside of the synagogue who they believe is a suspect. we have heard reports of this hostage taker being armed, although those reports have not yet been confirmed. the man could be heard having a one-sided conversation in what appeared to be a phone call during a livestream of the reform jewish synagogue s shabbat service. the live stream cut off around 3:00 p.m. eastern standard time. by the way, this is a congregation that was established in 1999, the beth israel congregation, and again, in colleyville, texas, just a suburb of dallas-fort worth. i spoke to a local reporte
also, a winter storm hits a major portion of our country, and it is just getting started. we re going to have the latest on both of those. and then in arizona, a voting rights march on martin luther king s birthday ahead of a donald trump rally tonight in the same state with a host of big lie supporters. plus, new information on the indictment of members of the oath keepers for seditious conspiracy. and we are just a couple of hours away from a make or break hearing for unvaxxed tennis superstar novak djokovic. we want to begin, though, with that breaking news from tonga where an underwater volcano triggered a tsunami and its effects are rippling across this country, specifically on the west coast. massive explosions, thunder, lightning were reported near the volcano as early as friday but an eruption did not occur until today, turning the sky black and raining ash upon the island nation. it could even be seen from space as you see in these images here. tsunami adviso
spreading covid misinformation. days before the anniversary of january 6 new polling shows just so divided we are as a nation. that is coming up. and then happening right now a crucial call for president biden today with the ukrainian president offering help. but we want to begin with that breaking news on covid. the nbc news tally shows the u.s. surpassed 55 million cases over covid. an illustration of how quickly this omicron variant is spreading. this is just two days after hitting 54 million cases. and four days after hitting 53. a noted acceleration of cases. and at the nation s airports, more than 3,700 flights canceled as millions of americans head home. this is coming after at least 2,700 canceled yesterday leaving thousands sleeping on benches and unsure how to get home. we have two reporters standing by for us. steve, on this one, passengers not only dealing with an unbelievable number of cancelations from the weather and omicron variant impacting travel. talk us th
steph ruhle. tuesday, december 28th. big news from the cdc. new guidelines shortening the recommended isolation and quarantine times for those who test positive or exposed to the coronavirus. here s how it breaks down people who test positive but have no symptoms should, in fact, isolate five days instead of ten. and then wear a mask for those five days following. the if you guidelines apply to everybody, by the way, including the unvaccinated. we ll dig into that. all of this announced after the president met virtually with some of the nation s governors monday conceding that not enough has been done to expand covid testing capacity saying, there s a lot more work to be done, but making a pledge. just have to stay focused and continue to work together. my message to the governors is simple. if you need something, say something. and we, we re going to have your back, in any way we can. and then omicron forcing more closures across the board. apple temporarily shutting d
hi, everybody. it is 10:00 a.m. eastern, 7:00 pacific. i m yasmin vassoughian in for jose diaz-balart. we have a lot to get to this morning, including the big news from the cdc. new guidelines for those two test positive for covid are exposed to the virus. here is what you need to know. those who test positive but have no symptoms should isolate for five days instead of ten and wear a mask for five days. the new guidelines apply to everybody, including the unvaccinated. the quarantine time for someone exposed to someone with covid has also been cut. those boosted or vaccinated within six months can skip quarantine, test on day five, and wear a mask for ten days. those who are not boosted or unvaccinated or were vaccinated more than six months ago should quarantine for five days instead of ten, and then wear a mask for fen days. dr. anthony fauci telling nbc news the new guidelines are partly driven by worker shortages. we want to make sure, particularly among essential work