pig to human heart transplant. and dramatic body cam. officers pulling a pilot out of a crashed plane seconds before it s hit by a train. this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. good evening the numbers remain staggering tonight, stretching our patience and our capacity to fix all that covid has broken. from the millions forced to isolate at home to the emergency rooms and icus desperately short on staff but filled with the sick, including the very young we ve learned that over the last week more than 580,000 child covid cases were reported, tripling the number of cases two weeks prior. the weekly average number of new covid cases overall is close to 700,000 the good news is the number of deaths has been stable, but the strain and stress on our hospital remains critical as more breakthrough infections happen with timely testing remaining a problem. also tonight an update on an omicron-fighting vaccine that s in the works. first miguel almaguer with late details.
More than half a million in just the first week of january. and news on pfizer s omicron-specific vaccine. and when insurance will start covering at home tests. also tonight the u.s. and russia holding high stakes talks as russian troops amass on ukraine s border our richard engel inside ukraine with soldiers bracing for war. and my interview with president biden s national security adviser. what will the u.s. do if russia invades ukraine? the investigation into new york s deadliest fire in decades. the death toll now 17, including 8 children what started it and how an open door added to the tragedy the autopsy of comedian bob saget after his sudden death and the tributes from his full house family. convicted murderer robert durst dying in a prison hospital. the arctic blast of cold and up to two feet of snow al roker is here. the amazing medical breakthroughs. the first successful
Embassies. perhaps that s one step the two countries could take. the u.s. is going to want north korea to do something, anything, to move towards getting rid of those nukes, brian. will ripley, thank you very much. joining me now, two people who have been to north korea and worked under president clinton, senior fellow at the atlantic council jayme mettle and guy smith who spent significant time in north korea holding high stakes meetings with some of the nation s senior diplomats. we re so fortunate to have both of you here to talk about this high-stakes summit. jimmy, how concerning is it for you to hear about how the president does not view north korea as a threat anymore and this morning, his secretary of state saying something completely different? there s no doubt that north korea is a nuclear threat. it has nuclear weapons. and the north koreans really have no intentions and have shown no intentions of giving up their nuclear weapons.