classic brought to life in a whole new way by young performers inspiring america. this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. good evening. as we come on the air, late word from the cdc that omicron has become the most common coronavirus variant in the u.s. with cases doubling every two to three days, the highly contagious variant has overtaken the delta variant with breathtaking speed many americans approaching the christmas holiday with a sense of dread as the heavily mutated virus rapidly infects the unvaccinated and vaccinated alike though, as we ll show you, often with sharply different outcomes officials stress symptoms among the vaccinated and boosted trend toward the mild side still hospitalizations are on the rise and lines for tests are long many weighing the risk of going forward with holiday plans. we have a lot to tell you about tonight starting with gabe gutierrez. reporter: tonight a covid surge coast to coast. omicron now the most dominant variant, maki
vehicle ran down members of a marching band. we re not showing you the moment of impact here. it is unknown right now whether this has been considered an act of terrorism. but the white house and fbi are monitoring the situation, and the incident has drawn swift reactions from lawmakers on capitol hill. now, police say that an officer did fire his weapon at the vehicle in order to try to stop it as it was heading away. but no one was injured by that gunshot. our reporter is on the scene with the latest. reporter: the police chief, mayor and fire chief would not answer any questions at the very latest update of the evening. but earlier sunday night, they did confirm a few key points, including the fact that more than 20 people were injured, including children. they would not say how many people exactly had been killed. the police chief said they are still working on informing next of kin, and many people are still being treated in the area hospitals. the police chief d
nearly impossible to resolve or ignore. these fissures were on full display this week in the kyle rittenhouse verdict. an acquittal being cheered by the far right, even as it strikes fear in the hearts of communities of color who believe it will be used to justify further violence and oppression. but as troubling as that verdict was, we should not ignore the dangerous assault still being waged by wisconsin republicans on our democracy. this week, the state s democratic governor vetoed republican-drawn redistricting plans that doubled down on maps experts have already called the most severe partisan gerrymanders in the country. the move sets up another legal battle in a state where the republican strategy has long been to reverse or overturn the results of any election they don t like. when governor evers won his seat, the republican assembly moved to strip him of his power. when joe biden won the state, republicans demanded recounts and audits. when none of that panned out, a
anguish after a prop gun accident on a movie set that killed one person and sent another to the hospital. and we begin this hour with a big news from the cdc. overnight, cdc director rochelle walensky endorsed booster shots for both moderna and johnson & johnson. giving millions of americans more options in fighting the pandemic. at the top of the next hour, the white house covid-19 response team will brief the nation on this news and address the mix and match strategy, which would allow you to get a different vaccine dose for your booster than your initial shot. director walensky was on the today show this morning and here s part of what she had to say. what i would say, as i mentioned with, the vast majority of people will probably select the one that they loirnl received and did really well with. but there may be some people who would prefer a different vaccine, or if you go into a pharmacy and they don t have the vaccine that you originally got, it really is fine to
a good friday morning to you. craig melvin here getting ready for a busy hour. hollywood tragedy. officials say actor and producer alec baldwin fired a prop gun and killed one movie crew member and injured another. what authorities are learning this morning about how all of it went down. and any second now the white house covid-19 response people will be holding a briefing. the briefing comes at the start of a new chapter in our pandemic fight. we now have three booster vaccine options, and we also have new guidance to follow on those boosters. covid protocols are still a flash point in parts of the country. we re on the ground in texas where the governor and the dallas mavericks are facing off over covid requirements for fans. also this hour, president bide en s economic agenda is back in the spotlight. the president pulling back the curtain, giving an inside look at the negotiations over his party s spending bill. you can sense the urgency with the president holding a b