you re in the situation room. we begin this hour with the omicron surge taking a toll on school, hospitals and businesses. we re following it all. so many organizations and institutions are over burdened and in some places like chicago t situation is clearly boiling over. reporter: that s right. stress delays, frustration, cancellation it s all part of the omicron surge and all parts of the country. in chicago they are locked in debate. in so many places we re seeing a will we haven t seen before to keep moving forward through covid. parents are outraged and making their outrage known to the teachers union in is a very different dynamic than ever before. reporter: tensions mounting in chicago. more than 340,000 students missing school for a fourth day. teachers refusing to return to the classroom. we re very frustrated that there are no public health leaders standing up and saying we should be moving to remote learning environment especially for a district of this
russia, as well as more military assets moving into eastern europe and ukraine. while both sides emerged without any real victory, discussions did move forward on other issues. including the positioning of missiles that point at each other and how the two countries could carry out military exercises with more transparency. but it remains to be seen whether russia is taking this diplomacy seriously. or intends to invade ukraine regardless. we have to be prepared that russia was using this week of diplomacy and the meeting with the united states as a pretext for conflict. that they very well may walk away from these discussions and declare that diplomacy has failed. reporter: jake, we have just learned from numerous sources speaking to our colleagues that in the lead up to these talks just a few weeks ago in late december, the biden administration released another $200 million in military aid for ukraine. of course, that could go way up if russia decides to invade ukraine.
Omicron crisis. chicago scancelling ling class more than 300,000 students for a fourth day. investigation is under way in one of the deadliest home fires in decades. faulty space heater sparked if inferno in a new york city apartment building that killed 17 people, including eight children. now they want to know if the alarm or door systems malfunctioned as well. the tennis star novak is planning to compete after a judge ruled he can stay in the country. the drama over his visa and vaccine status may not be over. we want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer.