and slowly coming back. much-needed aid trickling into tonga a week after that volcanic eruption and tsunami. big challenges lie ahead for the pacific island nation. and dangerous conditions. a plane skids off a runway as an arctic blast brings snow and ice to tends of millions of americans. what s next as the huge storm moves up the eastern seaboard. the u.s. and russia have agreed to keep talking for now amid growing fears moscow might be preparing to invade ukraine. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken and russian foreign minister sergei lavrov met for 90 minutes in geneva on friday to discuss the crisis. they left open the possibility of president biden and putin speaking again about the situation, but nothing definitive. meanwhile, the u.s. embassy in kiev says 200,000 pounds, that s 100 tons of, quote, lethal aid, has arrived in the country including ammunition for ukraine s frontline defenders. we have more on friday s high-stakes meeting in geneva. reporter: w
shots. and south africa shows why covid wards remain likely open throughout this latest wave. announcer: live from cnn center, this is cnn newsroom with lynda kincade. well, the u.s. and russia have agreed to keep talking for now, amid growing fears moscow may be preparing to invade ukraine. but america s top diplomat again warns that any hostile actions by russia towards the ukraine would trigger an immediate reaction from the west. the u.s. secretary of state remarks followed his 90-minute meeting in geneva with russia s foreign minister sergey lavrov. blinken said the u.s. will respond inviting next week to the security concerns but also says the u.s. will spell out why the rest views with alarm the dramatic buildup of forces in ukraine. meanwhile about 200,000 pounds of lethal aid has arrived from the u.s. including ammunition. cnn s kylie atwood has more on the high-stakes meeting. reporter: the united states and russia giving diplomacy a new life. i believe
ukraine. and you re grounded. how one woman s anti-mask moves changed the travel plans for more than 100 others. hello and welcome to the lead. we begin with our health lead and the strongest case yet for getting a covid booster shot or should i say strongest cases yet. three new cdc reports show that adults who had gotten their booster shot had the best protection against hospitalization because of covid and against emergency room and urgent care visits. the new data suggesting getting a booster in the age of the omicron variant is now less of a nice to have and more of a must have. this as we are learning that unvaccinated adults over the age of 65 are nearly 50 times more likely to be hospitalized for covid than their fully boosted peers. across the u.s. today, more than 160,000 people are hospitalized with covid right now. that s a record high. but as cnn s omar jimenez reports, the number of daily cases are actually trending down, even as some hospitals are growing
the challengers argue they do not and that only congress does. on the other hand this chart is why the biden administration is pushing so hard to get more people vaccinated even if it means those mandates. omicron is driving up cases and now hospitalizations are picking up as well. the cdc director warned today that we have not reached the peak quite yet. hospitalizations and deaths, although we re now starting to see the number of hospitalizations rise as well. the way it has peaked in other countries, in south africa it has come down rapidly as well, but i don t believe we ve seen a peak yet here in the united states. omicron s rapid spread has now prompted a critique from doctors who advised the president during the transition. they re calling for an entirely new domestic strategy to address what they are calling our new normal, a virus that will never truly go away. a sentiment that was dismissed by the president today when he took questions at the white house. no,
another exactly case count record, nearly everyone seems to know at least one person with this virus. right now more kids are in hospitals being treated for covid than ever before at a time when they should be enjoying the holidays. schools once again are grappling with how to balance education with health and safety. massachusetts denied a teacher s union request to close schools monday for covid testing. but in washington, d.c., students must produce a negative test result to return to school. meanwhile, holiday travel, headaches persist. the faa warns it may be forced to delay flights as crew members call in sick. that s on top of more than 11,000 flight cancellations since christmas eve. adding to travel implications, the cdc has increased its risk for cruise ship travel to the highest level. the federal agency says you should avoid cruises regardless of your vaccination status. cnn s polo sandoval joins me now from new york city. polo, times square looked pretty full wit