destroying dozens of homes. also tonight escaping the texas synagogue standoff the rabbi describing throwing a chair at a gunman so he and two other hostages could run away and the terror investigation. new reporting on how the gunman was finally taken down. new hope in the covid crisis is omicron peaking in the early hot spots? what they re seeing. but hospitals still in crisis mode, and the biden administration preparing to roll out free tests. the urgent warning just days before major carriers throw the switch on 5g wireless. why airlines ceos are warning 5g will cause catastrophic flight disruptions. on this martin luther king jr. day, his family leading a march on washington. their call to action on voting rights the race to save the manatees our broadcast exclusive as four young manatees from seaworld get a new home. and the betty white challenge. how fans are honoring
with us to discuss. doctor of colombians disaster for preparedness. director of pediatrics at the einstein college of medicine. let s start with the good news is omicron peaking, and if so, what is next? yeah well i hope so. stephanie, so many times the moderates and predictors of where this is going, have not actually been all of that accurate. yeah we are looking at the uk. there are good signs that it may be going away. if we are worrywarts here we are thinking about, is there some other variant that is going to follow me on, that could have entirely different behaviors. let s for now think that we are going to have good luck and omicron will go away. if there is a fourth shot, specifically for omicron, but the wave is over, is it worth taking? let me break this down a little bit. because this is a really important question. it starts with, when we first noticed, that we had omicron appearing out of south africa.
vaccinated. a 20 times greater chance of dying. meanwhile the u.s. recorded the highest daily rate of new covid infections in the world. covid hospitalizations also up 83% last two weeks. but scientists also seeing good signs. signs that the omicron wave may have peaked in the uk and may be about to happen here. with us to tonight, dr. erwin redlener, director of the center are disaster preparedness and director of pediatrics. is omicron peaking? if so, what s next? i hope so, stephanie. although so many times the modelers and predictors have not been that accurate. we re looking at uk, good signs it may be going away.
deaths. right now more people have died from omicron, supposedly the mild version of the virus, than died from delta. and it s not over yet. let me jump in here because i hear it all the time and i m sure you do as well. people say i ve got all this and why do i have to wear a mask, whatever, i ve got all these shots in me. they think that okay, i ve got three shots now and on top of that i was infected with omicron, now i m totally protected against covid. you say people had a similar feeling after a few wavers of the spanish flu. we got tired. they got tired of it then just as we re tired of it now. we can t allow both weariness and optimism i m optimistic over the near-term future too. but you can t let that overpower your good judgment. the reality is it remains a threat.
the quote you read was actually directed toward china. and that i think is the other irony here. the administration is prepping for policy in china and yet vladimir putin has essentially made an entrance and is now keeping the world at the edge on the edge of their seats. yeah, we should promote policies consistent with our values. but it s a cruel and unforgiving world and we re going to have to deal with a lot of non-democratic entities as well if we want to deal with the world s problems. aaron david miller, always a pleasure. thank you, sir. i appreciate it. thank you, don, take care. with omicron peaking in the u.s. health experts are warning we still need to be vigilant. my next guest says we need to look to the 1918 pandemic to make sure we don t repeat the same mistakes. why burn a candle when you can switch to air wick essential mist? it s the modern way to transform fragrance infused with natural essential oils into a mist. air wick essential mist. connect to nature.