hi there, back here at msnbc headquarters here in new york. breaking news, nbc news has confirmed the obama administration will lift travel restrictions from south africa and seven other african countries beginning december 31st. while south africa reports they have passed their peak of omicron cases here in the u.s. the variant is still spreading faster than any variant we ve seen so far in the pandemic. more than 250,000 new cases just yesterday. some better news is that hospitalizations are remaining flat. but the major surge is creating difficult decisions for a lot of families who don t want to spend another holiday apart. that spike also grounding thousands of flights more than 1,900 cancelled around the globe yesterday. some airlines saying the omicron variant is leading to crew shortages. i want to bring in the happy christmas eve to all of you. josh, we learned just in the past hour the white house is going to ease the travel restrictions on eight south african nat
welcome to the lead. i m jim sciutto in for jake tapper. we begin with breaking news, former minnesota police officer kim potter found guilty of manslaughter after roughly 27 hours of jury deliberations. potter shot and killed 20-year-old daunte wright during a traffic stop last april. she mistook her firearm for a taser. it was all caught on body cam video. taser taser taser! i shot him! oh, my god! oh, my god! so chilling to see those images. potter s sentencing is scheduled for february. since she has no criminal history the state of minnesota s guidelines recommend a sentence between six to eight and a half years in prison and/or a $30,000 fine. she is unlikely to face a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. cnn s omar jimenez is following the case since earlier this year and joins us live from minneapolis. omar, i wonder how did kim potter respond to hearing this verdict? reporter: well, jim, kim potter, when this verdict was read, was very calm, did not show mu
ready to refer meadows for criminal contempt for refusing to sit for a deposition. congress grilling the head of instagram after a whistle blower leaked internal documents showing that the company knows the social media platform can harm the mental health of young people, especially teenage girls and emotional testimony as a manslaughter trial begins in minnesota for a former police officer who shot and killed daunte wright during a traffic stop saying she accidently mistook her gun for her taser. i want to bring in former gop congressman charlie dent and senior legal analyst ellie a former federal prosecutor. gentlemen, good evening to both of you. meadows is suing the committee. is he afraid of trump or is this another stalling tactic or both? it s a delay tactic. it s a distraction, tactic, don. this lawsuit has next to no chance of succeeding. what he s basically doing is taking a firecracker, lighting it, tossing it into the january 6 th committee room and saying deal
media giant isn t doing enough to protect america s children. california s climate crisis: we re walking on a lake bed right now. we should be under water. o donnell: the drastic measures in a county of 200,000 people to save water, and the app that could help. eye on america. what one police department is doing to reduce crime and build trust in the community it serves. purple heart recognition. following a cbs news investigation, the army honors 39 soldiers with brain injuries after last year s iranian missile strike. tiger woods returns. his big announcement, tonight. and, season of giving. the father-and-daughter duo on a mission to help people who lost their homes in california wildfires. this is the cbs evening news with norah o donnell, reporting tonight from los angeles. o donnell: good evening to our viewers here in the west and thank you for joining us. we re going to begin with a key vaccination milestone here in the u.s. with new covid cases and hospital
to protect america s children. california s climate crisis: we re walking on a lake bed right now. we should be under water. o donnell: the drastic measures in a county of 200,000 people to save water, and the app that could help. eye on america : what one police department is doing to reduce crime and build trust in the community it serves. purple heart recognition: following a cbs news investigation, the army honors 39 soldiers with brain injuries after last year s iranian missile strike. tiger woods returns: his big announcement tonight. and season of giving: the father-and-daughter duo on a mission to help people who lost their homes in california wildfires. this is the cbs evening news with norah o donnell, reporting tonight from los angeles o donnell: good evening, and thank you for joining us. we re going to begin with a key vaccination milestone here in the u.s., with new covid cases and hospitalizations spiking across the country again and a highly contagi