erica. >> in jason carroll with the latest for us. we'll continue to watch developments this week. >>> there is also breaking news. moderna announcing moments ago preliminary data about its covid-19 booster. elizabeth cohen joining us now. what does this preliminary data show, elizabeth? >> reporter: erica, moderna's press release they put out about an hour ago is a little bit cryptic. the booster that moderna puts out now is 50 micrograms. when they took it to the laboratory and tested it, it raised antibody levels, boosted antibody levels but 100 micrograms actually did even better. and they said they are continuing to work on an omicron-specific booster. the omicron booster right now that you could go and get, will it help you? the answer is, look, it is clearly better than not having the booster, but it is unclear exactly what effect it has on omi omicron. does it work, say, against delta or previous versions of the coronavirus? that is unwhicher. but, that is unclear. but the bottom line, it is better to be boosted than not to be

>> reporter: i was there too, erica. what's so interesting about this is that these executives testified maskless for about three hours to the senate oversight committee on airlines and the $50 billion they received from the federal government. we just learned about southwest ceo gary kelly's positive test. we have also learned that unit ceo scott kirby has tested negative. american's ceo is getting tested later on, and an executive vice president from delta airlines has also tested negative, but this is really, really interesting that this has happened after southwest ceo gary kelly made some comments about how masks, he believed weren't all that effective when you consider the clean air on board an airplane. although we've been talking to scientists about this at the start of the pandemic. they think it's part of a layered approach and this is also a federal mandate that will last until march 18, 2022. >> there was a lot of push bag on those comments and a little bit of a correction that went out too. can't help tieing

erica caturay joining us now to talk a little bit about snow. erica. >> evening out very dangerous driving conditions this weekend. we also have an avalanche warning that has been extended right now. still seeing some snow falling out in the sierra. we've already seen a couple feet to accumulate in some areas there. diamond peak 36 inches just today, a north star over a couple feet as well. sugar since this morning and home wood to saw some snow accumulate so that avalanche warning extended through monday because of the heavy snowfall in the windy conditions out there near highway 49, we also have a winter storm warning that has been extended through tuesday elevations at 7,000 feet and above could expect to 3 to 7 feet to just threw a sunday and then sierra rich gusts up to a 100 miles per hour. lower elevations, 40 miles per hour gusts. so a windy conditions

back to you. >> thank you, erica. the road made a dangerous conditions on the roads all day across the bay area today. the north bay a tow truck had to rescue vehicle in valley forge. this is tween petaluma and they could in sonoma county, a bmw got caught right in the middle of that flooded road and uber driver. it just pic to proceed in noonan was trying to take them to the airport so he could visit family for the holidays. but it was dark. and the driver couldn't see just how deep the water was in that road. >> by the time we got into my driver here it was like it was just too late. so definitely the windows down thinking about bailing out. and then the fire department showed up and here we are. >> the noon says he ordered another right and had to book a different flight to get to where he wanted to go. >> in the east bay. heavy rain caused a rock slide in orinda that happened on highway 24 near the fish ranch road exit crews blocked off one of the lines in order to clear the debris but not in time to prevent blown

good morning, erica. we are live outside a testing site here in times square which has been seeing a large number of people show up. a lot going on across the city today as at-home test kits are the focus of several officials. across the city they will hand out the test kits. it will be a cold day. we will see how the cold and weather plays into the lines that we have been seeing for the last several days across the city. the thing is what we are seeing in the city is truly staggering numbers. the governors's releasing the latest data showing 29,000 people have tested positive for covid. more than half of those here in new york city in the five boroughs of new york city. certainly there is a lot of concern here as the demand for testing ramps up and continues to go up, more people showing up at lines. so the city is trying to get the at home test kits into people's arms so they can do the tests in their homes. as you said, hospitalization, erica, that is the key thing. and the man who runs city hospitals

jim and erica? >> speaking of the united kingdom, reporting its highest number of daily cases since the start of the pandemic. salma abdelaziz is in london. that is prompting a concern and some action there. >> reporter: jim and erica, it feels like everyone, i mean, everyone right now is reconsidering their christmas plans. people are canceling social gatherings left, right, and center. even the queen has canceled a pre-christmas lunch with her family out of abundance of caution. we're not under lockdown, but it feels like a self-imposed one. yesterday the uk has you mentioned recording the highest number of covid cases in a single day since the very start of this pandemic. more than 78,000 new positive cases. health officials are warning that the "r" number for omicron in this country is between 3 and 5. that means for i every person infected they can infect up to five other people. it has the health system here concerned, worried. there's always a finite number of hospital beds. officials are say

>> they aren't, erica. you mentioned we -- what we need to tighten up at the borders and the airports. but well beyond that, we have relaxed all of our mitigation measures such as masks and even using higher quality medical grade masks. we haven't been advocating third shots like we should. this is really a three-dose vaccine. and unless someone had j&j or prior covid. we also, of course, are -- have hit a wall in many respects with getting people -- more people vaccinated. with this delta variant, which is the main problem, so hypercontagious, we have to get 90% of people with immunity wall with the delta, by vaccination or recent confirmed prior covid. we're so far away from that. we're 30% point of the american population. so we had problems in getting the mandates through, even for healthcare workers, because of efforts in the courts. and this is just extraordinary because who would have thought mandates would be necessary to protect people from a serious illness no less spreading it to others. so many

thank you, thanks a lot, erica. well, as the bay area, they areas preparing for some rainfall this weekend. the sierras preparing for all of that. >> snow that we've been talking about. no one could be more happy about all that. of course, then the skiers and snowboarders and joining us to describe the conditions. they can expect. let's bring in our good friend kevin coop cooper is live in south lake tahoe. it coop. how are you? you know, we're talking about what's coming. but you're you've got plenty of snow already, don't you. >> yeah. we've got a lot of snow. i mean, that's right. now just as the snow today that 12 are told. also a 2012 15 inches in elevation it's snowiest december on record since 1970. we have 4 more days of snow in the forecast. looks like we may be drive to get to the highest snowfall accumulation in the month of december is the good news is guys we're at a 123% of the snow pack just a week ago. we're at 19%. so really good just 2 weeks ago. 0. and now we are and the holidays are here. >> a co

so good morning, erica. if you're getting together with friends and family, testing is really about getting the rapid tests and doing it immediately before getting together. the day before doesn't really work with the rate at which this virus goes from nondetectable to detectable and infectious. so testing immediately before if you can get your hands on rapid tests the day before. if you can only do pcr and turning them around in 24 hours. >> what if you're getting together with people who are not vaccinated? let's talk about kids, children under 5 who aren't etchell skwreubl for a vaccine? should you change the way you interact even if you are vaccinated and boosted? >> even has had the choice to decide what they are going to do. are you going to get vaccinated, not vaccinated, boosted or not get boosted. those people who have gone out and gotten vaccinated and boosted have tilted the odds way in their favor that they may end up getting infected from this. but one of the key things is not sickness. so keepi

erica caturay with us. so that's a nice rainbow or was that 1000 san francisco today and actually saw the end of the rainbow and hit a toyota prius. i was waiting for the gold to come out of the but yeah. beautiful rainbow there. double rainbow actually that when sunlight and droplets combined. so. >> yeah. there you go. but that next round of showers that we're going to see will hit around 02:03am, in the morning here moderate rainfall moving through the bay area tomorrow morning for the peninsula and the east bay roads will be wet. but you notice the north bay starts to dry up. this is just before 8 o'clock in the morning and then the rest of the bay area dries up around lunchtime and the afternoon we will get a little bit of a break and then christmas day. it is going to beat wet out there. hopefully you have your umbrellas in hand in your rain coats that day. as for temperatures this weekend. it's actually going dip by monday. we're going to be down to the 40's for some parts of the bay area. in the mea

. >> i'm erica hill. just one hour from now, president biden set to hold a secure video call with russian president vladimir putin. this is a call, of course, that comes as the u.s. intel community warns russia is preparing to invade ukraine as soon as next month. recent satellite imagery reveals a massive buildup of approximately 100,000 russian forces along the border. and the kremlin has signaled today's call could be a lengthy discussion, but warns not to expect any breakthroughs. >>> u.s. concern is genuine. this marks the third time biden and putin have spoken since the summer. the two last took part in a summit in geneva last june. the last publicly known call was in july. today's meeting, however, comes with amplified tensions. in recent days u.s. officials weighed whether to issue wide ranging sanctions on russia to deter it from launching a full scale invasion of ukraine. let's begin with cnn chief national affairs correspondent jeff zeleny. he's outside the white house this morning. jeff, i won

erica caturay joining us now with what we can expect. erica. >> hey, you well, that heavier downpours on its way. the north bay will get hit first with that after midnight. so let's take a look at our future rain totals. so napa close to an inch of rain just from now through tomorrow morning. this is around 11:00am santa rosa will have seen about a quarter of an inch of precipitation accumulate notice the south bay, though, these numbers go up in the afternoon. there. a heavier rain also shifting southward to that region. san jose getting over half an inch of rain as well as conquered livermore close to 3 quarters of an inch of rain just tomorrow. the rest of the weekend. also can expect some showers. that's for those temperatures. looking at upper 40's to low 50's across san francisco tomorrow. 54 for al gran on half moon bay mid-fifties in burlingame down to redwood city 53 for mountain view temperatures a little cooler in some places. 54 in campbell 50 for morgan hill tomorrow versus what we saw the last couple of days, union city loo

good morning. >> reporter: good morning, erica. president biden yesterday addressing an answer and exhausted nation in the face of this omicron variant. president biden making very clear that those americans who are vaccinated do not need to be concerned, they are well protected from serious illness and death. but the president making an urgent plea to get vaccinated arguing it is your patriotic duty to do so. but he also spoke to those frustrations that i was just mentioning. listen in. >> i know you're tired. i really mean this. and i know you're frustrated. we all want this to be over, but we're still in it. and this is a critical moment. and also we have more tools than we ever had before. we're ready. we'll get through this. as we head into the holidays, i want us all to keep the faith. >> reporter: and that was ultimately the president's central message, making clear that while cases are rising we are not at the same time we were last year and this surge is not going to be the same, there will not be lockdowns and shutdowns t

. >> okay, berman, erica. see you. >>> "new day" continues right now. >>> good morning to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. it is tuesday, december 21st. i'm john berman. brianna is off today. erica hill with me this morning. good morning to you. >> good morning, my friend. >> just hours from now, president biden addresses the nation on the fight against the omicron variant. now the most dominant covid strain in the united states, accounting for 73% of all cases. the president will announce a series of steps as the country faces a surge of infections this winter. >> the steps include 500 million free at home rapid tests for households that ask for them. here is dr. anthony fauci moments ago, right here on "new day." >> part of the president's program which he will be speaking about this afternoon is to dramatically increase the availability of testing, putting up about 20,000 testing sites, we're getting half a billion tests very quickly, literally within the next few days. and then ha

erica and jim? >> alex, appreciate it, thank you. >>> new details this morning as well about a crucial call between president biden and his ukrainian counterpart, president vla volodymyr zelensky. >> he suppressed his frustration to biden yesterday saying the threat of economic sanctions is not enough to deter a possible russian invasion of ukraine. cnn's matthew chance joins us now from kiev. i wonder how widespread that disappointment is among ukrainian officials and what do they want to see to properly deter russia? >> reporter: yeah, well, exactly. very publicly the ukrainian government is saying that they're very grateful to the united states for the continued support, the president biden is offering the ukrainian e ian sovereignty and territorial integrity. but behind closed doors, one official who is aware of that conversation told me that when president biden set out what he discussed with president putin on the video call a few days ago in terms of imposing tough sanctions against russia, p

i'm erica hill. >> i'm jim sciutto. the department of justice now must decide whether it will prosecute mark meadows for criminal contempt of congress. the house voted overnight to recommend that the doj pursue criminal charges against trump's former chief of staff. this after meadows stopped cooperating with the january 6th committee. meadows did hand over thousands of documents, including communications before suddenly defying the panel's subpoena to testify. >> president biden was just asked about meadows in the last hour as he was leaving the white house on his way to kentucky to survey the storm damage there. take a listen. >> i don't know enough -- just what i've seen. i've not spoken to anyone. it seems to me he's worthy of being held in contempt. >> the documents handed over by meadows are shining a light on these text messages, right? a number of them sent by currently unidentified sitting lawmakers which reveal a plan to overturn the election, joe biden's win.

erica. thanks a lot. will. no one could be more happy about all this snowfall than, of course, the skiers and snowboarders out there on the slopes maybe not of the drivers in that direction them. here with more on what people should expect. let's bring in our good are really good friend kevin coop cooper his live in south lake tahoe. >> so cook, tell us again, what does that look like tonight and bottom line don't go yet right. >> absolutely. you have to be driving in this area right now. and a lot of driving throughout town get all on 3rd down. get ready to go. the start to pick up by now and laid low here 2030, miles an hour. ridge top just looking up towards corporate not resort that you're sick. like 7080, miles an hour. and we are looking at another big round of storms. we had a little break about an hour ago land a low cross country look to with wolf pack right now. the storm is starting to settle back and i can see stars a little bit ago. it's now really settled. and so we're looking

i'm erica hill. >> i'm jim sciutto. we're following several major stories this morning, new weekly jobless claims are out, there is some encouraging news, despite an 18,000 increase compared to the previous week, the numbers still extremely low, nearing a 52-year low. comes as the federal reserve is picking up the pace to fight inflation. new projections show multiple interest rate hikes next year while the central bank says it will wrap up its stimulus program, a bond buying, faster than originally announced. >> we are also closely monitoring the significant rise in covid-19 cases, it is sparking concerns over the fast spreading omicron variant. and we're learning four major -- that all four major vaccines are providing protection but less protection against the new strain. meantime, at least four more colleges and universities being added to the list now of schools that are shifting the final days of the fall semester to online learning, including final exams because of a rise in cases. >> and just more crazy weather,

erica? >> jeremy diamond, appreciate it, thank you. >>> joining us cnn medical analyst and professor of med sip and surgery at georgia washington university, dr. jonathan reiner. dr. reiner, we are seeing this huge rise in cases. what do you think it means, and what do you think it means we need to be doing? >> well, it means our hospitals are going to fill in parts of this country rapidly, but it means different things to different people. for the 30% of the country that is fully vaccinated and boosted, it probably doesn't mean a lot. it means that you either won't get infected or if you get infected, you'll have either mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. if you're fully vaccinated or what we used to call fully vaccinated but not boosted, you are more susceptible to infection. probably still protected against severe illness. if you are relying on prior infection as your superpower, you are mistaken. you are not protected against this variant, and if you are unvaccinated, you will absolutel

i'm erica hill. >> i'm jim sciutto. we're following two developing stories this hour including the first real evidence that existing vaccines may protect against the new omicron variant. this morning, the ceo of pfizer says preliminary lab studies show that three doses of its vaccine, two shots plus the booster, are able to neutralize the new strain. that's good news. we'll have much more on that in a moment. >>> a crucial day for the investigation into the capitol insurrection. cnn has exclusive new details on more than 100 subpoenas targeting trump officials and associates. in the next hour, the january 6th committee is proceeding as planned with a scheduled deposition of former white house chief of staff mark meadows. meadows is expected to be a no show. if that happens, the committee chair says they will hold meadows in contempt. >>> let's begin with that breaking news on vaccines. cnn's chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta with us now. you just spoke this morning with pfizer's chief scientific officer. this

and erica, if you want to. take the mask off when you speak. [ speaking foreign language ] [ speaking foreign language ] [ speaking foreign language ] >> and you are listening to the father of the 14-year-old girl who was killed by a stray bullet as los angeles police went into a store out there. she was trying on a dress. that is her father, juan pablo. we are going to wait on the translation to english there, and we'll, of course, bring that to you once we get that. in the meantime, i want to bring back in our cnn legal analysts, jennifer rogers and joey jackson, who are standing by, who have walked through this case a little bit with us as well. we know, joey, that this video was released today from the los angeles police department. our colleague, josh campbell, saying they wanted to get it out there quickly for transparency. but we are listening and looking at this father with utter anguish on his face. it is inconceivable to take your daughter to try on a dress and for her to end up dead at the end of tha

i'm erica hill. >> i'm jim sciutto. minutes from now the house rules committee will begin debate ahead of a full house vote on former white house chief of staff mark meadows contempt of congress charge. this, the final step before sending a criminal referral to the justice department. this follows meadows abrupt decision to no longer cooperate with the january 6th committee. the panel released explosive new details in a public meeting last night, including frantic text messages sent to meadows from members of former president trump's inner circle as violence unfolded at the capitol. >> and it is important to know these texts paint a starkly different picture from the public message trump allies have pushed since january 6th in which they have downplayed, glossed over the riots. the tests show unnamed lawmakers, fox news personalities and even donald trump jr. panicked, desperate, pleading with meadows to get trump to tell his supporters to stand down. here's committee vice chairwoman liz cheney. take a listen. >> multip

i'm going to send it back to you guys. >> all right, erica. and now we're looking live at sfo where the rain really wasn't the issue today was the crowds kron four's. rob nesbitt is live at the airport tonight where holiday travel continues trending up despite a surge. >> in covid cases. rob, i guess with people largely not traveling last year. they're they're going this year regardless of omicron. jagr and they're not changing their plans. there were no can't major cancellations or delays throughout the day here at sfo. so that was helpful for travelers. a spokesperson for the airport tells me that they were able to pass a major threshold. this holiday season for the first time since the pandemic started. >> rolling your luggage into sfo. you're met with a different kind of stress because of covid leslie wellborn flew in from london to be with family for christmas. but was not sure if you make it because of omicron and i was right the way through into actually. >> need to secure. as you know, my caucus coming, she made sure to get covid teste

>> reporter: yeah, erica and jim. president biden is hosting this summit featuring about 110 countries as he looks to promote the defense of democracy against authoritarian regime. and also call out abuses when it comes to human rights issues. as the president opened this summit, he also acknowledged the threat to democracy that has been posed here at home in the united states and acknowledged there is still more work to be done. take a listen. >> i wanted to host this summit because here is the -- here in the united states we know as well as anyone that renewing our democracy, and strengthening our democratic institution requires constant effort. american democracy is an ongoing struggle, to live up to our highest ideals and heal our division. >> reporter: now, this summit that the president is hosting over the course of the next two days comes in the same week that the president is confronting china over human rights abuses, issuing that diplomatic boycott of the beijing olympics and then also that phone call with r

thank you, erica. still ahead from petaluma the san francisco. we're going to hear from the people behind. >> the new christmas movie that's a number one hit now on christmas movies. you do have a lot of choices from. >> classics to the latest romantic comedies. but here in the bay area, there's a film night maker that's out of the sequel to a big hit from last year called a california christmas kron four's. ken wayne has the story. >> we have tried everything to get this piece of land we have 3 weeks. it was a number one netflix movie in the world last season. a california christmas. the film was shot in petaluma and told the story of a rich san francisco playboy who found love and a new life in sonoma county. premiers were held in hollywood and petaluma for the sequel in a california christmas city lights. we follow the former playboy as returns to san francisco to save his family business, putting his rule life and relationship with his country. girl fiance in jeopardy. the script was written by co-star and real-life wife lauren swickard we ha

erica, thank you. many roads were dangerous all over the bay area today in the north bay a tow truck had to rescue a vehicle in valley forward. >> now between the data bay and petaluma in sonoma county. a bmw got stuck right in the middle of a flooded part of the road. >> an uber driver had just picked up where she'd none was driving into the airport so he could visit family for the holidays. but at that time of morning it was very dark and apparently the driver couldn't see just how deep that water was. >> by the time we got into my driver here it was like it was just too late. so definitely the windows down thinking about bailing out and then the fire department showed up and here we are. >> he seemed to be taking all that in stride to noon says he ordered another right and had to book a different flight to get to where he wanted to go. heavy rain caused rock slide. this is an orinda. it happened on highway 24 near the fish ranch road exit. >> workers blocked off one of the lanes in order to clear de

erica hill is with me this morning. great to have you here. >> good morning. >> we have a wave of new covid cases in the united states this morning, particularly here in the northeast. mountain-like spikes, but new questions about what that mean

thank you, erica. thanks, erica. >> and that's it for kron. 4 news at 10 o'clock. >> have a great christmas eve tomorrow we'll see you monday. we'll see tomorrow night. >> i'll be back tomorrow >> can you hear me? >> babes in the woods. >> deborah: the story being called a holiday miracle. >> the moment the starving kids are found alive. then, what you need to know to return unwanted christmas gifts this year. >> return policies are all over the map. >> a naked woman found treading water for 12 hours. >> you're gonna be okay. >> then, she gave birth to her own daughter's baby. >> this means everything to me. she gave us the biggest blessing we could ever ask for. >> and a crocodile charlie.

erica hill with me this morning. good morning to you. >> good morning, my friend. >> just hours from now, president biden addresses the nation on the fight against the omicron variant. now the most dominant covid strain in the united states, accounting for 73% of all cases. the president will announce a series of steps as the country faces a surge of infections this winter. >> the steps include 500 million free at home rapid tests for households that ask for them. here is dr. anthon

erica caturay has one more. look at your bay area forecast. >> all right. time for another look at the forecast as we're looking live over the bay bridge toll plaza traffic moving along pretty well it's it's damp out there, but no rain at the moment. kron 4 forecaster, a erica caturay here with a look at what's coming up because we've got some more wet weather is coming america yeah, you're right about that. so for the rest of this evening. i wouldn't be surprised if you see some light showers popping up really quickly. moderate rainfall doesn't enter our region again until about 2 or 3 in the morning. and with that, we could see some thunderstorm but then later in the morning it will start to dry up. but. >> just wanted to share this photo with you taken in san francisco today of double rainbow that i saw and doing the news cast with that beautiful image there. but here's futurecast c the moderate showers to the north of us will bring about an inch of rain to the north bay overnight roads will be wet in the early morning hours for the south bay and parts o

i'm erica hill with jim sciutto. john and brianna are off this morning. well, time running out for holiday shoppers. i'm looking at you, jim. there is a bigger can concern for many this morning. and the reality is it is this omicron surge. it has now grounded hundreds of flights. carriers struggling with a shortage of flight crews and operation staff, airlines asking the cdc to shorten the isolation period for workers who have been exposed to covid. just part of what they think could help deal with that staffing shortage. if this sounds familiar, it should. the cdc just made a similar concession for healthcare workers, saying those who test positive but are asymptomatic can now return to work after seven days with a negative test instead of ten. >> that's some of the good news out there on omicron. omicron has now pushed covid numbers, new infections higher than the peak of the delta variant last summer. the average daily average of new cases topping 1 82,000. in washington, d.c., covid cases have broken the previous record, they have seen a 400% increase

>> good morning, erica. no, i don't think we have enough information, but the information is emerging. i think also what's becoming pretty clear is maybe full immunization with these vaccines like the pfizer or moderna ma scene is not two doses, but three doses. rather than calling it a booster, it may be that being fully protected requires three doses. many doses we give at point zero, one month and six months. maybe somewhere between three and six months is the right time to take the third dose. irn readingly the data is pretty clear that the third dose is required to protect against strains like delta and now with omicron. >> the information we have right now is from pfizer, not from moderna or j&j. myself and a colleague have three doses of pfizer. which booster do you get. there's questions about whether it makes sense to mix vaccines in terms of protection. what's the answer? >> the answer is a little confusing. i think what we're learning over and over is at some point in time you need to get mrna vac

jim and erica? >> sal lma abdulaziz, thank you. >>> the 15-year-old accused of shooting and killing four classmates in michigan, more on the case against him and his parents, just ahead. because you're forever connected by love... two touching center diamonds, representing the connection you share. forever connected. the perfect gift to give this holiday. exclusively at kay. ♪ i see trees of green ♪ ♪ red roses too ♪ ♪ i see them bloom for me and you ♪ (music) ♪ so i think to myself ♪ ♪ oh what a wonderful world ♪ >>> the 15-year-old accused of killing four classmates at his oxford, michigan high school, wounding seven others, is expected to make a virtual court appearance today. >> ethan crumbley is charged as an adult with one count of terrorism causing death, four counts of first-degree murder, seven counts of assault with intent to murder, and 12 counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. shimon prokupecz is joining us with more. so what happens toda

caturay joining us now with a look at what to expect a erica. hey, good evening. while heavier rain is on the way right now. not too much action east bay. we do see a couple of wet just near livermore looking wet over there. >> and then also in real this time. but if you look in the san jose area looking pretty quiet right now. that won't be the case tomorrow morning peninsula. also looking dry seeing some light showers out here though. the green san francisco also looking quiet as well as the north bay. now the north bay is going to get hit first with the system that will be approaching. so let's take a look at future cast here. this is around 6.30 tomorrow morning. you can see it starts to enter this front. heavy downpour here. this is around 9 o'clock still in the north bay marine county getting those showers and this system will continue to shift southwards. you could see some thunderstorms with this as well. and here just after 1230 tomorrow. seeing a moderate even heavy showers popping up in the east bay as well as the peninsula and the so

erica hill with me. great to have you here all week. >> nice to be with you, my friend. >> president biden says if you are vaccinated, and boosted, go ahead, spend the holidays with family and friends. the president says the rapidly spreading omicron variant is cause for concern, but not panic. the country is much better prepared now to tackle a covid resurgence than in the early prevaccine days. for the millions who remain unvaccinated, there was this stark warning. >> almost everyone who has died from covid-19 in the past many months has been unvaccinated. i honest to god believe it is your patriotic duty, the choice can be the difference between life or death. please get vaccinated. >> the biden administration's response to skyrocketing omicron cases includes expanding test sites across the country, distributing at-home tests to those who request them, deploying a thousand service military members to help overburdened hospitals and adding new vaccination sites. elizabeth cohen joining us now. elizabet

erica caturay is tracking the storm system that is headed to the bay area overnight erica, what can we expect? we're going to see the moderate rain and to the north bay first. that's after midnight in the meantime, we're just seeing some spotty light showers. >> popping up on satellite and and that system that brought us flooding this morning. it's actually out in southern california where they're getting some moderate showers at the moment. seeing some fresh powder out there in the sierra as well. so we did see over an inch and a half of rain up in mill valley san jose got over a quarter of an inch of rain in livermore over 3 quarters of an inch of rain. i do have an update on our trout monitor map. as you can see, we're still at the extreme and exceptional drought levels for a lot of the bay area. but we did see some improvement up there in the northern tip of sonoma county. notice the orange there. so our level went from extreme to severe levels because of the rain that we've seen this last week. as for future cast here, you see the moderate rain cells popping up the north bay aroun

you don't look like the other najarians, erica i can see buy your photograph? >> no, i look a little bit different from the other najarians. true. >> you can never have too many naj najarians. never. >> never. >> we are glad with you are with us banks would benefit not only from higher inflation but from rising interest rates, right, which would improve their net interest margin and other things, they can borrow kmeep and lend higher. >> absolutely. i think what you just emphasized right now is even more exacerbated in this coming cycle. at the end of the day what makes a bank positively sensitive to rising rates is how good is their deposit rates? right now, bank have 50 cents of loans for never dollar of deposits that was sensitive to the dollar in 2017 when we last saw a tightening cycle going forward i think we are going to see more sensitivity and positivity to net interest margin this time around. >> you mentioned the cost of deposits that's a fancy way of saying what i earn on my savings at a bank it's zero, or negative. >> yep absolutely when we last sa

. >> i'm erica hill. right now the stage is set for the most important case involving abortion rights in this country in 30 years. you see the live pictures there outside the supreme court, a number of people gathered. that's baugs this morning the supreme court will consider a mississippi case that could ultimately overturn roe v. wade. the state wants the conservative-leaning high court to uphold a law that bans abortions after 15 weeks with very few exceptions. if that landmark opinion is overruled, it would almost immediately eviscerate abortion rights in large parts of the country specifically in the south and the midwest. >> this case has consequence, big ones. the fact that the conservative-led court agreed to consider the case suggests that it's poised to, at least at a minimum, scale backcourt precedent. there's also the possibility they reverse it outright. in a separate dispute the court is considering a texas law that bars the procedure after six weeks. the justices have allowed that law to re

erica hill joins me this morning. great to see you. >> good morning. >> no one saw it coming, that's president biden defending his administration's response to the rapid onslaught of the omicron variant. it is now in all 50 states and accounts for 90% of the country's new cases. the president in a new interview says the nationwide shortage of covid test kits is not a failure by the white house. >> how did you get

. >> i'm erica hill. we are watching at this hour the supreme court justices could issue a key opinion on the controversial texas abortion case, the law in that state that was passed effectively banning abortions in texas. the case could have major implications for roe v. wade for abortion rights in the country as a whole. if that opinion comes in, we'll bring it to you. >>> we are staying on top of this other story this morning. the consumer price index for november showing another jump in inflation. as you can see there, inflation spiked to 6.8% last month. that is the highest it's been in nearly four decades, obviously concerning for so many americans. the white house, though, urging folks not to panic. we do want to bring in now jeffrey toobin. i'm learning we have an opinion from the supreme court. what more do we know about what this opinion is for? >> reporter: okay. this is the big texas abortion case. this is the case about the law in texas that essentially allowed individuals anywhere in the cou

good morning, erica. so if you're getting together with friends and family, testing is really about getting those rapid tests and doing it immediately before actually getting together. the day before doesn't really work with the rate at which this virus goes from nondetectable to detectable and infectious. so testing immediately before if you can get your hands on rapid tests, the day before if you can only do pcr, and turning them around in 24 hours. >> what if you're getting together with people who are not vaccinated? let's talk about children under 5 who aren't eligible for a vaccine. should you change the way you interact even if you are boosted and vaccinated? >> people have had the chance to decide what you're going to do, are you getting vaccinated, not getting vaccinated, boosted or not boosted. those people who have gotten vaccinated and boosted have tilted the odds in their favor. they may end up getting infected from this, but one of the key things is not sickness. keeping out of hospital, kee

>> well, that's a great question, erica. before we get to omicron and what we know and don't know, delta is still the most significant player by far we have in the u.s. and we're not in a terribly good place right now. following thanksgiving, we're seeing cases going up again, now over 100,000 new cases every day, and we didn't want to be there. and hospitalizations also going up, and sadly, deaths now in excess of 1,000 every day, the vast majority of those being unvaccinated people. so i'm hoping that -- i've been hoping this for a few months, that people looking at this situation with both delta and maybe the threat of omicron would say, if you're not vaccinated, boy, is this the time to roll up your sleeve. if you are vaccinated and eligible for a booster, get that booster now. we have cold weather. we have holidays. we have all the kinds of things that the virus loves, and our best ability to fight that off is to take full advantage of the vaccines and also don't forget to wear your mask when you're indoors with other p

kristen: erica and nona. nona. n congratulations to both of you. do not go away. we will chat on facebook live. hey, i just got a text from my sister. you remember rick, her neighbor? sure, he's the 76-year-old guy who still runs marathons, right? sadly, not anymore. -what, you mean-- -mhm. -just like that. -wow. so sudden. um, we're not about to have the "we need life insurance" conversation again, are we? no, we're having the "we're getting coverage so we don't have to worry about it" conversation. so you're calling about the $9.95 a month plan -from colonial penn? -i am. we put it off long enough. we are getting that $9.95 plan, today. (jonathan) is it time for you to call about the $9.95 plan? i'm jonathan from colonial penn life insurance company. sometimes we just need a reminder not to take today for granted. it could be the death of someone you know or a health scare. that's why today could be a great day to call for free information about colonial penn's $9.95 plan. if you're age 50 to 85, you can get guaranteed acceptance whole life insurance starting at

. >> reporter: good morning, erica. president biden will have clear messages for the american public today. one for the unvaccinated, making very clear there is a high risk of serious illness and death as covid surges are surging across the country. but he will also have the message for those who are vaccinated, telling them they can go ahead with holiday plans, and that they are well protected, particularly if they are boosted from those worst outcomes of the coronavirus, and they'll likely just experience mild symptoms if, indeed, they are infected. he will also make clear that he is not looking to lock down or shut down the country. then, he will be announcing a series of new steps. you mentioned one of them. 500,000 rapid test that is the white house is going to be purchasing and beginning to send around the country beginning next month. americans can go to a website the white house is setting up to request those tests. it is not clear exactly how long, though, it'll take for the tests to be delivered. in the meanti

>> i don't think so, erica. i think overall that went quite poorly. on one hand she did manage to humanize herself to portray herself as not just a police officer but a mother and a wife and a real human being, and they managed to get through this idea that she does not have some sort of bad record. she's not a loose cannon, she had no complaints about her, and she never discharged her weapon. on cross examination, a couple of big problems, the prosecution really slowed down the case, the actual incident, and i think showed the jury that kim potter made a series of mistakes, one on top of the other. really, when you add them all up, i think the argument are from the prosecution is inexcusable, negligent and reckless, and that's what they need to show here. also, the other thing that was really important on cross examination, the prosecutor exposed a big discrepancy in kim potter's statement. she showed kim potter, you testified to this jury that the reason you tried to tase daunte wright is because you saw this scared look in your partner, officer's e

more brought on erica to erica. it's probably beyond that. you can't talk about getting for the laser is not feasible you, you can produce enough of it to be able to, i know a city of farming and of raising the country. i've never seen it being done anywhere, but this fights all the challenge is agricultural practices and kenya are already being transformed more and more farms, especially smaller ones that go in organic, helps with training from experienced experts that was trained by organic farmers than 3 months. and i, i am finding that business not to be very bad because i can produce from my home. i live in for a market like this one where yes, study. keep cool you organic farmers market in nairobi may still be small and it only takes place once a week, but word is already getting around about is chemical free vegetables, that seller for more and more customers. they grew up quite a lot of sofya. and they're doing very well. i usually even refer someone my forensic, i mean i've introduced some of my friends to be coming here every sunday

mom brought one erica to erica. it's probably beyond that. you can talk about getting for the laser is not feasible. you, you do, you can produce enough of it to be able to donna, a city of farming and uprising the country. i've never seen it being done anywhere, but this fights all the challenge is agricultural practices and kenya are already being transformed more and more farms, especially smaller ones ago in organic, helps with training from experienced experts that was trained by over on it from mazda on 3 months under i'm finding that business not to be very bored to because icon for beautiful my home. i live in for a market like this one where you're study. keep cool you. organic farmers market in nairobi may still be small, and it only takes place once a week, but word is already getting around about is chemical free vegetables, that seller for more and more customers. they grew up quite a lot of software and they are due for i, i usually even refer some of my friends garcia. i've introduced some of my friends to be coming here every

mom brought one erica to erica. it's probably beyond that. you can talk about getting for the laser is not feasible. you, you do, you can produce enough of it to be able to, i know a city as funding and of raising the country. i've never seen it being done anywhere, but this finds all the challenge is agricultural practices and kenya are already being transformed. more and more farms, especially smaller ones, go in organic, helps with training from experienced experts. i was trained by a runner from mazda and train us. i'm finding that business not to be very bored to because icon for beautiful my home. i live in for a markets like this one where you're study cool, you organic farmers. market in nairobi may still be small, and it only takes place once a week, but word is already getting around about its chemical, free vegetables, that seller for more and more customers. they grew up quite a lot of software and they are do very, i usually even refer some of my friends garcia. i've introduced some of my friends to be coming here every saturday

i'm erica hill. brianna keilar and john berman are off. christmas travel hitting prepandemic levels as hundreds of flights on are grounded thanks to omicron. >>> and cdc reducing isolation time for health care workers have tested positive, as some of the airline industry push for the same. >>> a guilty verdict for minnesota police officer kim potter after four days of deliberations. we will speak to daunte wright's mother ahead. >>> hail the hero. tsa agent jumping over the conveyor belt to save a choking baby. all of that caught on camera. you're going to want to see it. ♪ >>> good morning to our viewers in the u.s. and all around the world. it is friday, december 24th. very merry christmas eve. it is last call now for shopping, gift wrapping. santa likely already starting his deliveries. he's out there making the rounds. so is covid. for the second year in a row, the pandemic bringing a lot of folks the equivalent of a lump of coal. airlines struggle with a shortage of flight crews and operations staff. overnight, the cdc announcing a

erica spent countless hours on the cast of characters. all made of very it yes. >> everything this is about 98% edible. okay. but what really want to eat is any number of mouth watering seasonal deserves. this is a chocolate cream pie. >> you want to check out gender bread house. it's up until the new year going to do our best to people's spirits up there. you know, hopefully end this year on a positive in san francisco. vicki liviakis kron 4 news. what a unique restaurant. well, kron four's teaming up with the souper bowl of caring to help support local food charities. >> if you like to donate, you can use your phone scan that qr code on your screen or you can text in y e donate to 2, 6, 9, 8, 9, you can also visit tackle hunger dot org and pick a local charity. >> to help right back after the break. >> welcome back. for 55 on this christmas eve morning. hopefully that you are starting the stay on the calmer side. if you are up this early, though. i have a feeling you have a few things that you probably need to get done. here's some good