cases has topped 262,000, surpassing the record that was set last january. short time ago, cdc director walensky defended her agency s decision to cut in half the recommended isolation time for people who test positive but are asymptomatic. she said the move was driven by the science not pressure from the business community. and dr. fauci acknowledged that more children are being infected with covid and that it s still not known how severe the virus, omicron in particular, is in children. unanswered questions as schools nationwide map out their plans for students to return after winter break next week. joining me now is nbc news white house correspondent mike memoli, dr. william shaffner. mike, let s start with you. the white house task force briefed a little more than an hour ago. how did they defend the cdc s new quarantine and isolation guidelines? reporter: yeah, joe, this was an important opportunity for the country to hear from the president s top advisers on dealing
would want. garrett: denver shooting rampage. still no motive in the shooting deaths of five people, including the gunman. this is the holiday season. to have this kind of spree take place is not normal for our community. garrett: california plane crash: four people killed when a small plane goes down on approach near san diego. american innovation: a new hydrogen passenger ferry that could carry america to a greener future. feeding america s military families. how your generosity leads to the one millionth meal served. and a lesson in giving from one generation to another. this is the cbs evening news with norah o donnell reporting from the nation s capital. garrett: good evening, everybody. thank you for joining us. i m major garrett in for norah. we begin tonight with the latest wave of covid infections making it feel yes like december of 2020. as an example: new york city is once again the epicenter of this stage of the pandemic. but it s not alone. new jers
ilung police investigating seven different crime scenes from denver to lakewood. authorities today identifying the suspect, saying he was nobody to law enforcement and harbored extremist views. news tonight about the 14-year-old girl accidentally shot and killed by police in los angeles. her mother in tears, describing her daughter dying in her arms. authorities releasing body camera video. officers opening fire on a suspect inside a store, not knowing the girl and her mother were in the dressing room nearby. america s travel nightmare continues. roughly 1,100 flights canceled today. pilots, flight attendants and other essential staff testing positive for covid, forcing airlines to keep their planes on the ground. two people killed in an avalanche in montana. heavy mountain snow slamming the west. why authorities are now urging drivers to avoid using navigation apps in some areas. and the winter blast from the great lakes into the northeast. rob marciano timing it all o
holiday surge although the less severe omicron may mean fewer hospital visits. people looking to get tested are still finding long lines and delays getting results. this comes as thousands of travelers nationwide additional flight delays. and president biden criticism for saying there is no federal solution for is popping the sto. rehoboth beach traveling with the president who kept to himself. mike tobin at airport where flight cancellation and delays travelers trying to return home from the holidays. we start with steve harrigan in atlanta home of the cdc. good evening, steve. bret, good evening. the cdc made it official saying omicron is the most dominant strain of covid right now in the u.s. 58.6% cases in the u.s. are now the omicron variant. more than double the percentage of just one week ago. omicron has been more contagious but less lethal than delta. some medical warn the worst is still ahead. most of us are concerned there will be, over most of the country, a s
is having on our kids and what comes after the holiday break and focus on the disruption at airports and talk about one idea that sounds like common sense to many but others say it a step too far. i took that up earlier with dr. anthony fauci. you ve been saying vaccine mandates for domestic flights should be seriously considered. is that something president biden is seriously considering? is it something the administration is considering? no. what i said, jim, was that everything when that comes up as a possibility, we put it on the table and we consider it. that does not mean that it is going to be likely to happen. right now, i don t think people should expect that we re going to have a requirement in domestic flights for people to be vaccinated. when i was asked that question, i gave an honest answer. it s it s on the table. and we ll ask our medical experts about that, shortly. but first, the breaking news on how all the other pieces fit together from cnn s tom f