joining me now to talk about this cnn senior political analyst john avlon, cnn political commentate tomorrow margaret hoover. margaret, i want to start with you. what's your read on what governor newsom is doing here? >> their last names were not alito or thomas. look, it seems a little too cute. i understand what he's doing and he's trying to make a point. but that law in texas and mississippi, these are lawed that have passed through the legislature's lane by the governor. i don't know that governor gavin newsom can do this unilaterally. but he's trying to make a point.

joining us now, john avlon and brian stelter. just to remind people, these are the panicked text messages that were apparently happening in private. just reminder er of what was happening publicly and what the statements were on fox. take a look. >> the uniforms that you saw in some of these crowd shots, have you ever seen them wearing it as chris said those knee pads and the -- all the pads on their elbows? i just -- i've been to a lot of these rallies. you both have covered them. i have never seen that before. ever. >> everyone knew going in today this crowd was going to be massive. they knew there were hundreds of thousands of people that came to town. we also knew that there is always bad actors that will infiltrate large crowds. >> brian, look, i know you've been following this for a long time, you wrote about it in some respects in your book. but these messages, they reveal two things, not only what is happening in private, behind the scenes, but they also revealed just how chummy, right, these hosts were with the former pr

i'm kaitlan collins in with john avlon again. john. >> good morning. >> we are following three major stories, big stories that are of major concern. first, the u.s. shattering its record average of daily coronavirus cases. and the cdc slashing estimates of how much omicron is in the united states. plus, the political world and sports world are mourning the death of two giants, harry reid and john madden. first to the pandemic because the u.s. is hitting a record seven-day average of 265,000 new coronavirus cases on tuesday as two highly contagious variants are fueling surges across the country. we should note the number of hospitalizations are not yet rising at the same rate. meanwhile, the cdc is shortening its estimate of the pref lens of the omicron variant from 70 to 59%. the drop suggests while the new variant was certainly on the rise, it is not infecting people at the same rate the agency had projected. >>> and pediatric hospitalizations are also near their september peak. nationwide, hospitalizations of children with the

sanjay gupta and senior political analyst john avlon. sanjay, a positive covid test three days before the event, days before we were told the president did have covid. what questions does this raise for you and what should have happened inside the white house? . >> well, if this is true, i mean, this is incredibly reckless, obviously. keep in mind we're talking about someone who tested positive but also if it's true had symptoms. it wasn't an incidental test. he had symptoms, wasn't feeling well, and that was of concern. the way i read it this time, it sounds like, and reported extensively at the time, they were doing pcr tests at the white house. those are the gold standard tests. they did have these types at the white house. they come back in typically a half hour or so. it tested positive. that, in conjunction with him having symptoms, would have been to trigger isolation, contact tracing. three days later, putting other people at risk, including the potential president of the united states. this is a test done on has someone develope

back to you. >> john avlon, thank you. we'll be right back with your social media reaction to to tonight's program. he used to have gum problems. now, he uses therabreath healthy gums oral rinse with clinically-proven ingredients and his gum problems have vanished. (crowd applauding) therabreath, it's a better mouthwash. at walmart, target and other fine stores. and that's just basic wavy guy maintenance, right? next up, carvana. oh, boy. carvana just doesn't seem to understand how the test drive works. they give their customers seven days. and if they don't like it, they give 'em their money back. wait, they take the car back? that's crazy! what if it was driven by like a zookeeper? or a mud wrestler? or a guy who's on the outs with the missus and he just needs a place to sleep for seven days? yeah. (vo) buy your car online. love it or return it. with carvana. ♪ you pour your heart into everything you do, which is a lot. so take care of that heart with lipton. because sippin' on unsweetened lipton can help support a hea

here is john avlon for a reality check. john? >> thanks, michael. a hate crime hoax is a loathsome thing. and that's what tv actor jussie smollett did. he lied about being beaten on the street, doused with bleach, having a noose put around his neck. he said masked attackers yelled racist and homophobic slurs and quote this is maga country. it was all a lie. a jury convicted him of five of six charges. smollett seemed to believe being a victim would elevate his stature, which says a lot about what we honor in society today. almost as sick is he continued to insist that he was telling the truth as if repetition of the lie would somehow erase the overwhelming evidence and even the confessions of his accomplices. of course, hate crime hoaxes do real harm. they are used to discredit actual incidents that often get less attention than this celebrity's scam. after all, the fbi reports hate crimes have been on a rieds, hitting a 12 year high in 2020. so it's no surprise, many initially took smollett at his word. so friends and fellow celebrities and many de

i'm kaitlan collins with john avlon this morning. john and brianna are off. good morning, john. >> good morning. >> this morning, we have the u.s. shattering its record of daily new coronavirus cases as thely contagious omicron variant is spreading. daily new cases hit a seven day average of more than 300,000 cases. the last time the number of cases hit a peak close to that was in january. dr. fauci says it is time to rsvp no to the giant new year's eve bashes you had planned. >> if your plans are to go to a 40 to 50-perso

john avlon has the reality check. >> john lennon famously said life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans. when there is plenty to occupy your attention from covid, the economy and right-wing extremism and high-profile trials, overseas there are troubling signs that russia a massing troops on the border of ukraine. russia denies it has any nefarious plans but the biden administration is taking the event severely warning russia of severe kwconsequences. >> we qaa all on russia to not use military forces against ukraine once again. if they decide despite that to once again use some military force, invade ukraine, then there will be a high price to pay for russia. >> you hear that? once again. that's the key phrase for context. because back in 2014, russia did invade and annex the ukrainian peninsula of crimea after repeated strenuous denials that they were they are up to anything bad. it's a reminder of ronald reagan's plan for dealing with the soviet union, trust but verify. that's because the russians reflexively, repeatedly lied all the time. it's a tradition of a

i'm kaitlan collins in with john avlon. john berman and brianna keilar are having some much deserved time off today. >> they deserve it. >> glad to be with you. and we begin this morning with the cdc cutting the recommended isolation period for many infected americans in

i'm john avlon with the great kaitlan collins. wishing you a good morning. we are following three major stories this morning. the u.s. shattering its record average of daily coronavirus cases, and the cdc slashing estimates for how much omicron is actually in the u.s. plus, the political world and the sports world are mourning the death of two american giants, harry reid and john madden. but first let's get to the pandemic. the u.s. hitting a record of more than 265,000 new coronavirus cases tuesday alone as two highly contagious variants fuel surges across the country. but we need to note that the number of hospitalizations are not rising yet at the same rate. and the cdc is lowering the estimate of the prevalence of the omicron variant from 70% t

john avlon with a reality check. >> hours after a devastating december tornado going through kentucky, causing 200 miles of construction, rand paul was asking joe biden for aid from the federal government. this is standard stuff. the kentucky center who hails from the first family of americans has a long record of posing federal ate for disaster victims, except for when it impacts his constituents. all of the reflects of a task on socialist big government spending don't seem to apply. after superstorm sandy, it was a different story. rand paul opposed relief. getting in a spat with chris christie and accusing advocates of being greedy. rand paul opposed aid for victims of maria, pearl and harvey on the gulf coast. saying this on the senate floor -- >> people here will say they have great compassion and they will help the people of puerto rico, and the people of texas and the people of florida. notice they have great compassion with someone else's money. >> that's not all. he tried to block the extension of the 9/11 victims compensation fund, oppose efforts to bolster fema disaster rel

john avlon, margaret hoover, always great to have you on. hope you had a happy holidays and appreciate you being here. >>> it's not often the prosecution says that a sentence is too harsh. but that's exactly what's happening in colorado. why a district attorney's office plans to ask for a reduced sentence. you're live in the "cnn newsroom." but not everyone gets the best deal. like what if i give you a lollipop... but then i give you our best lollipop. that's not fair. at at&t we think it's only fair that all customers get our best deals, and you get a choice of plans. she said everyone? it's not complicated. only at&t gives both new & existing customers our same best deals, like up to $1,000 off our most popular smartphones. ♪ ♪ a must in your medicine cabinet! less sick days! cold coming on? zicam is the #1 cold shortening brand! highly recommend it! zifans love zicam's unique zinc formula. it shortens colds! zicam. zinc that cold! learning about our history with ancestrydna®, inspired us to learn more about our culture and where we c

john avlon with a reality check. >> a hate crime hoax say loathsome thing. and that's what tv actor jussie smollett did. he lied about being beaten on the street, doused with bleach, a noose put around his neb. he said masked attackers who he assumed were white yelled racist and homophobiic slurs and, quot, this is maga country. it was all an lie. a jury found five of the six charges on him. smollett seemed to believe being a victim would elevate his stature, which says a lot about what we honer in society today. he continued to insist he was telling the truth, as if repetition of the lie would erase the overwhelming evidence and even the confessions of his accomplices. of course, hate crime hoaxes do real harm. they're used to discredit actual incidents that often get less attention than this celebrity scam. after all, the fbi reports that hate crimes have been on the rise, 12 year high in 2020. so it is no surprise that many people took smollett at his word, and attempting a hate crime hoax, this brazen, seemed unthinkable. to friends and fellow celebritie

john avlon, good to have you on. >> you too. be well. >>> still ahead, after a series of bigoted remarks from some far right lawmakers as we were discussing, one congresswoman is calling the right wing as we noted the kkk caucus. we'll speak about that next. ♪ i'm a reporter for the new york times. if you just hold it like this. yeah. ♪ i love finding out things that other people don't want me to know. mm-hmm. [beep] i just wanted to say... ♪ find yourself in these situations and see who you are. and that's just part of the bargain. ♪ when it comes to autism, finding the right words can be tough. finding understanding doesn't have to be. together, we can create a kinder, more inclusive world for the millions of people on the autism spectrum. go to autismspeaks.org [coins clinking in jar] ♪ you can get it if you really want it, by jimmy cliff ♪ [suitcase closing] [gusts of wind] [ding] ♪ ♪ ♪ (sha bop sha bop) ♪ ♪ are the stars out tonight? (sha bop sha bop) ♪ ♪ ♪ alexa, play our favorite song again. ok

john avlon with a reality check. >> lemmings in suicide vests. that's what congressman devin nunes once called right wing house republicans for lining up to jump off the cliff of a 2013 government shutdown over obamacare. at the time, he decried if you're not with us, you're against us mob mentality. what a difference eight years and donald trump makes. because the same guy who warned against the craziness in his party ended up enabling it as a chief congressional defender. and so a man whose leadership of the house intelligence committee provided a portrait of hyperpartisan hackry, a man known for filing frivolous lawsuits against critics including the twitter account p purporting to be his cow is now going on to his great reward. not the chairmanship of the powerful house ways and means committee, which he would be next in line if republicans win the midterms, but abruptly designing to serve as ceo of trump's phantom media business. the absurd arc of devin nunes' career is instructive. it shows how trump's cult of personality has perverted the

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john avlon, margaret hoover, thanks so much, guys. >> thanks. bye. >>> and now here's christine romans with your before the bell report. >> you're paying more for just about everything. and that's putting pressure on the principal reserve to act. november consumer prices surged 6.8% from a year ago, the biggest jump since 1982. prices for gas, shelter, food, cars, trucks, those were some of the sharpest monthly gains. it is the fed's job to fight inflation. and this week that job could get tougher. the central bank has started reducing its emergency covid support, cutting bond purchases by $15 billion a month. this week fed chief jerome powell is widely expected to accelerate that pass. powell could also hint at more aggressive interest rate hikes next year. now stocks have bounced back strongly as fears about the omicron variant fade, but investors will be listening carefully to the fed's tone this week. in new york, i'm christine romans. >>> "before the bell" is brought to you by e-trade. trade commission-free today with no account minimums. a

john avlon has tonight's reality check. >> that's right, michael. look, there should now be no doubt that the united states suffered an attempted coup. but there's still a lot of doubt about what can be done to stop the next attempt. and without real legal accountability and legislative action january 6th will be just practice. now, we've been given laws by the civil war generation designed to hold insurrectionists accountable. from the anti-kkk act just invoked by the washington, d.c. a.g. to sue the oath keepers and proud boys to the 14th amendment section 3 which bars insurrectionists who had sworn an oath to the u.s. from ever serving in government again. to laws in the federal criminal code designed to prosecute seditious conspiracy or rebellion and insurrection. but there's been little sign that the doj intends to use these tools. in congress democrats have proposed much-needed voting rights and election law reforms but they've been d.o.a. thanks to republican filibuster threats in the senate. and all this has led to a sense of impotency. even

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john avlon is here with our reality check. >> lemmings in suicide vests. that's what devin nunes called fellow house republicans. the same guy who warned against the crazy in his party ended up enabling it. and so a man whose leadership of the house intelligence committee provided a portrait of hyperpartisan hackery, a man known for filing frivolous lawsuits against critics, including a parody twitter account purporting to be his cow, is now going on to his great reward. not the chairmanship of the powerful house ways and means committee for which he would be next in line if the republicans won the midterms, but instead resigning to serve as ceo of trump's phantom social media business. which is already under federal investigation by the securities and exchange commission. but the absurd art of devin nunes is showing how it has perverted inside the in his decision to bail on congress after nearly 20 years reflects his bet that the real power inside the gop is being in trump's orbit, not doing pesky little things like legislating. it also reveals the real e

i'm john avlon in with kaitlan collins as we hit mid-week. how are you doing? >> i feel like we're doing well so far. this wakeup call is a little early but i'm getting used to it, which is scary. >>> the u.s. shattering its record average number of daily covid cases and the cdc skhrarbing the omicron prevalence. >>> blew, the political world and sports world are mourning the death of two giants, harry reid and john avlon. >>> 265,000 ne

john avlon breaking it down in our reality >>> it is a date which remains in infamy as fdr said, but it followed a decade of depression which democracy seemed to be in retreat against authoritarian regimes. we have it easy by comparison. but democracies are against suffering from self-doubt as authoritarians seem on the march. america has endured sustained assaults on the truth, democracy and science. those breaches don't heal overnight. it taints a raising generation with a sense of pessimism. and the most stark snapshot from a new poll of young people age 18 to 29 conducted by the harvard institute of politics. it shows a majority believe our democracy is at risk. and who could blame them? after seeing a president lie about election results, incite an insurrection, and then see one party follow them him into la la land. there is a partisan divide. 44% of democrats say our democracy is healthy or somewhat functioning. only 23% of republicans feel that way. but there are other partisan divides that speak to the trust deficits facing both parties. for example, democrats have a problem

john avlon with a reality check. >> the biden administration's democracy summit is under way with 111 countries meeting virtually against the rising tide of autocracy. we'll see what concrete commitments emerge, or whether it is all a lot of dip low talk. but the need is real. after all, democracies have been in retreat for over a decade around the world according to freedom house. autocracies pitch the promise of wealth. china denounced the summit before it began. with putin calling liberalism obsolete. there are heartening signs of a pushback. the latest example is this week's decision to diplomatically boycott the beijing olympics, explained by the white house as a stand against china and ongoing genocide and crimes against human humanity. that's a long way from trump calling uyghur concentration camps exactly the right thing to do, according to his former national security adviser, john bolton. this week also included two hour virtual meeting with putin, which biden warned any russian invasion of ukraine would be met with military and unprecedented economic sanctions. but despite

john avlon with tonight's reality check. >> that's right, michael. >> sf mayor london breed broke that mold with a speech this week where she railed against rising crime in terms that even a republican could love. >> it's time that the reign of criminals who are destroying our city, it is time for it to come to an end. and it comes to an end when we take the steps to be more aggressive with law enforcement, more aggressive with the changes in our policies and less tolerant of all the bull shit that has destroyed our city. >> she's not alone. in the city across the bay, oakland mayor libby shaft distanced herself from defund the police rhetoric when faced with the reality of a major spike in gun crime saying there's nothing progressive about unbridled gun violence. you're damn right. she also told cnn this. >> let me be clear, oakland needs more police. we have been impacted by staffing reductions. covid interrupted our recruitment and training processes, and the defund rhetoric is challenging our ability to attract and retain recruits. >> and this echoed a recent call for sanity from f

john avlon has more in today's reality check/history lesson. >> that's right. look, it is coming down the pike, christmas. and i love it, right. the kids, the tree, the carols, it is a wonderful life marathon, all of it. the season's generosity of spirit always seems to run under the buzz saw of strange people trying to score political points by warning about a war on christmas. if you didn't know better, you might think they're talking about massey's gun-toting christmas card. the most enthusiastic field marshal in this pony war is ex-president donald trump who tried to take credit for defeating the ghosts of christmas past in a new interview with mike huck. >> when you came into office, america had gone through a long period where people quit saying merry christmas. all happy holidays. you deliberately changed that. >> this was in 20 15 when i started campaigning. i said you're going to say merry christmas again and now people are saying it. >> that's tempting to say this is just the old arsonist and firefighter machine with mistletoe over it, but it is worth

john avlon with tonight's reality check. >> that's right, michael. look, san francisco liberals basically have their own wing in the museum of conservative stereotypes. but sf mayor london breed broke that mold with a speech this week where she railed against rising crime in terms that even a republican could love. >> it's time that the reign of criminals who are destroying our city, it is time for it to come to an end, and it comes to an end when we take the steps to be more aggressive with law enforcement, more aggressive with the changes in our policies, and less tolerant of all the bullshit that has destroyed our city. >> she's not alone. in the city across the bay, oakland mayor libby schaap distanced herself from when faced with the reality of a major spike in gun crime saying there's nothing progressive about unbridled gun violence. you're damn right. she also told cnn this. >> let me be clear, oakland needs more police. we have bip impacted by staffing reductions. covid interrupted our recruitment and training processes, and the defund rhetor

and that's your reality check. >> appreciate it as always, john avlon. thank you. >>> a desperate rescue effort at the kentucky candle factory that took a direct hit from a tornado. we're joined by the factory's chaplin who helped pull survivors from the rubble next. >>> and should the definition of fully vaccinated go from two shots to three? what the cdc director just said about the evolving science. hello, for the last few years, i've been a little obsessed with chasing the big idaho potato truck. but it's not like that's my only interest. i also love cooking with heart-healthy, idaho potatoes. always look for the grown in idaho seal. ♪ you pour your heart into everything you do, which is a lot. so take care of that heart with lipton. because sippin' on unsweetened lipton can help support a healthy heart. lipton. stop chuggin'. start sippin'. you're a one-man stitchwork master. but your staffing plan needs to go up a size. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job des

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i'm kaitlan collins in with john avlon. john berman and brianna keilar are having some much deserved time off today. >> they deserve it. >> glad to be with you. and we begin this morning with the cdc cutting the recommended isolation period for many infected americans in half. the agency now reducing the number of days from ten to five if you're asymptomatic. the cdc also now recommending the same amount of time for vaccinated people to quarantine if they have been exposed to the virus, with no quarantine at all if you're boosted. dr. anthony fauci says the new changes are part of an effort to get people back to work faster, amid major concerns about staffing shortages at hospitals, airlines and businesses across the country, because of the omicron surge. >> and president biden is grappling with a failure that could have been foreseen. the omicron wave has exposed shortages in access to testing. many americans are wasting in long lines for tests, if they can get them at all. speaking to governors on monday, the president ac

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i'm kaitlan collins with john avlon this morning. john and brianna are off. good morning, john. >> good morning. >> this morning, we have the u.s. shattering its record of daily new coronavirus cases as thely contagious omicron variant is spreading. daily new cases hit a seven day average of more than 300,000 cases. the last time the number of cases hit a peak close to that was in january. dr. fauci says it is time to rsvp no to the giant new year's eve bashes you had planned. >> if your plans are to go to a 40 to 50-person new year's eve party, with all the bells and whistles and everybody hugging and kissing and wishing each other a happy new year, i would strongly recommend that this year we do not do that. >> yeah, so if that were your plans, sorry about that. there is also been growing pushback from frontline workers to new cdc guidelines cutting the amount of suggested days to isolate and quarantine in half. the american nurses association saying it is deeply concerned about the changes, citing insufficient evidence and concern for healthcare workers sa

i'm john avlon in with kaitlan collins all week. hope you had a great christmas. >> i hope you did, too. i wish we were in person this morning. i think this is the next best thing. i'm excited to anchor with you all week. >>> this morning, the extraordinarily contagious omicron coronavirus variant surging across the united states. dr. anthony fauci warning cases will climb much higher. testing continues to be a major challenge. around-the-clock lines. many facing the possibility of scrapping new year's plans altogether. the good news, dr. fauci expects things to improve beginning next month. >> we should be using testing much more extensively than we have. even in a situation where you have people who are vaccinated or boosted. we've obviously got to do better. i think things will improve greatly into january. but that doesn't help us today and tomorrow. >> as omicron cases are surging, health experts are waiting to see if hospitalizations will, too. right now, they're about 70% less than the last peak in september. those unvaccinat

i'm john avlon with kaitlan collins. berman and brianna are enjoying a well-deserved week off. >> i can't believe they left us in charge. >> we'll see how it works out. i'm feeling good about it. the contagious omicron is surging across the united states and dr. anthony fauci is warning those cases are likely to climb much higher. years into this pandemic, testing a major challenge. many americans are wondering if they need to scrap their new year's plans all together, as omicron cases are surging health experts are waiting to see if hospitalizations will as well. right now they're 70% less than during the last peak around september. millions of americans who are still unvaccinated though are at the greatest risk of severe illness and death from the omicron variant and it's those cases that could overwhelm the country's already stressed health care systems. >>> over the holiday weekend, millions of people around the world are dealing with mass airline cancellations as staff and crew are calling out sick amid the omicron

john avlon has tonight's reality check. >> there should be no doubt that the united states suffered an attempted coup but there's still a lot of doubt about what can be done to stop the next attempt. without real accountability and legis legislative action, january 6th will be just practice. we've been given laws designed to hold insurrectionists accountable. to laws in the federal criminal code designed to prosecute sed ishs but there's been little sign that the doj intends to use these tools. they have been doa thanks to the republican filibuster threats in the senate and all of this has led to a sense of impotence, even in the face of big lie believers taking over local election offices. during a recently democratic governor's association meeting he found folks fretting while democracy might hang in the balance, they weren't sure they could get enough people to care to make it a winning political issue. are you freaking kidding me? look, i know there's a lot of self-pr self-protective cynicism and pessimism out there but difficulty is an excuse history never accepts. bipartisan supp

i'm kaitlan collins in with john avlon this morning. >> good morning. >>> the extraordinarily contagious omicron variant is surging across the u.s. cases are likely to climb much higher. years into this pandemic, testing is still a major challenge. now with lines around the block at testing sites and shortages of at-home tests at drug stores. there is some promising news as dr. anthony fauci expects things will improve next month. >> testing much more extensively than we have. even in a situation where you have people who are vaccinated or boosted. we've obviously got to do better. i think things will improve greatly as we get into john. that doesn't help us today and tomorrow. >> dr. fauci will join us here on "new day" in just a few minutes. >>> as omicron cases are surging, health experts are waiting to see if hospitalizations will too. right now they are about 70% less than the last peak around september. millions of americans still unvaccinated are at the greatest risk of severe illness and death from the omicron variant. it's those cases that could overwhelm the country's already o

cnn's john avlon is here with a reality check. >> 80 years ago today, pearl harbor was attacked, dragging america into the second world war. it remains a date which lives in infamy, as fdr said, but it followed more than a decade of depression. in which democracy seems to be in retreat against authoritarian regimes. by comparison, we have it easy. but democracies are again suffering from self-doubt as authoritarians seem on the march. over the past six years, america has endured sustained assaults on truth, democracy, and science. leading to reduced trust in our institutions and each other. those breaches don't heal overnight. it has a downstream effect, tainting a rising generation with a sense of pessimism. and perhaps the most stark snapshot of that came from a new poll of young people age 18 to 29 conducted by the harvard institute of politics. it shows that a majority believe that our democracy is at risk. and who could blame them, after seeing a president lie about election results, incite an insurrection, and then see one party follow him into la la land. but the very nature of the

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i'm john avlon in with kaitlan collins. kaitlan, happy new year's eve. >> happy new year's eve. i can't wait to hear your resolution later in the show >> as we approach a new year, we are still dealing with the same pandemic. unprecedented spike in covid cases fueled by the omicron variant. enjoy new year's at home. doctors describing packed emergency rooms. dr. anthony fauci predicting omicron could peak by the end of january. meanwhile, the u.s. is hitting a seven-day average of more than 355,000 new cases. with record case counts in new jersey, new york, arkansas and chicago. pediatric hospital admissions soar to go a record high with on average 378 children being admitted daily to hospital with covid. >> when it comes to travel, the cdc is warning vaccinated people and unvaccinated people stay away from cruise ships. the agency elevated cruise ship travel risk to its highest level amid a growing number of outbreaks in recent weeks causing some ports to turn them away. >>> this morning, airline disruptions are surging with more than 3,000 flight delays and 2,300 cancellations

joining me now laura jarrett and john avlon. we can agree that one is too many. to see anyone marching on white supremacists to the lincoln memorial is a sight none of us ever wants to see. >> there's something almost too on the nose about having a bunch of guys dressed up like they're ready to go to war, dressed up with battle armor and shields because in their minds the civil war never ended. >> right. >> what they're chanting is always so telling. "reclaim america." when was america taken and who was it taken from and by whom? >> they feel like it's been taken from white folks. >> when are brown and black people -- >> we're applying logic to anx anxiety. >> there is something so remarkable about having self-avowed white nationalists, white supremacists walking, marching on a memorial for somebody who signed the emancipation proclamation. it sort of exemplifies the country's ongoing struggle with race i feel. >> the fact we're seeing an acceleration in the wake of shore l charlottesville. these are young folks with masks and shields, a sign of weak, anxious peo

i'm kaitlan collins in with john avlon. happy new year's eve. >> happy new year's eve to you. let's make it a great one. >> it is going to be a great one. new zealand already ringings in the new year, leading the world in welcoming 2022 with a light show. you notice there are no fireworks this year. we are approaching a new year b but still dealing with the same pandemic. a spike in coronavirus cases fueled bit omicron variant. doctors describing pabgtd emergency rooms, john. dr. fauci is predicting it could peak by the end of january. the u.s. is hitting a seven-day average of 355,000 new cases with record cases in new york, arkansas, chicago. pediatric hospital admissions are soaring to a record high with on average 378 children being admitted daily with covid-19. >> when it comes to ralph, the cdc is warning vaccinated and unvaccinated travelers alike to stay away from cruise ships. the agency has elevated cruise ship travel risk to its highest level. this amid a growing number of outbreaks in recent weeks causing some ports to even turn them away. and this morning airline

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i'm john avlon with the great kaitlan collins. wishing you a good morning. we are following three major stories this morning. the u.s. shattering its record average of daily coronavirus cases, and the cdc slashing estimates for how much omicron is actually in the u.s. plus, the political world and the sports world are mourning the death of two american giants, harry reid and john madden. but first let's get to the pandemic. the u.s. hitting a record of more than 265,000 new coronavirus cases tuesday alone as two highly contagious variants fuel surges across the country. but we need to note that the number of hospitalizations are not rising yet at the same rate. and the cdc is lowering the estimate of the prevalence of the omicron variant from 70% to 59%, suggesting that while the new variant was on the rise, it is not infecting people at the rate that the cdc just projected. >> pediatric hospitalizations are also near their september peak though. nationwide hospitalizations of children with the virus have jumped on average nearly 50% in just one week. parent

. >> and with us cnn's senior political analyst john avlon. and a senior fellow at the american prize institute. we're talking about hateful comments from lauren boebert. why aren't we seeing more republicans condemn this? >> so, in a narrowly divided congress, kevin mccarthy is deeply afraid of his own members. he is measuring the drapes for the speakers office. he knows it's within reach. the republicans are projected to gain the house next year pretty easily. but he also has these renegades inside his own conference that are holding him over the pit. they are saying if you do anything we don't like we'll vote against you. so he's scared of them and he's not going to do anything that might be perceived as being caving to the libs. >> and speaking of that, let's talk about this tweet that really just went crazy over the weekend, this tweet from republican congressman thomas massie of kentucky. he posted a picture of himself and his family holding a bunch of guns in front of a christmas tree with the caption "merry christmas, p.s., santa, brin

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in with john avlon for one more time this morning. thank you for joining us this whole week as we have been in here. john, back home in 2021, it is coming to a close with an unprecedented spike in covid cases. fueled by the omicron variant. health officials are urging new year's eve revelers in the united states to keep their parties small, maybe outdoors, just have one glass of champagne, bourbon or beer or however many you want maybe at home though is what they're saying. the surge is crushing hospitals and doctors are describing packed emergency rooms already. dr. anthony fauci predicts the omicron wave could peak in the united states by the end of january. the u.s. is hitting a seven-day average of more than 355,000 new cases with record case counts in new jersey, new york, arkansas, and chicago. pediatric hospital admissions a big concern for parents everywhere are soaring to a record high with on average 378 children being admitted to the hospital with covid-19. >> when it comes to travel, the cdc is warning vaccinated and unvac

john avlon is here with our reality check. >> letmmings in suicide vests. that's what devin nunes called fellow house republicans. the same guy who warned against the crazy in his party ended up enabling it. and so a man whose leadership of the house intelligence committee provided a portrait of hyperpartisan hackery, a man known for filing frivolous lawsuits against critics, including a parody twitter account purporting to be his cow, is now going on to his great reward. not the chairmanship of the powerful house ways and means committee for which he would be next in line if the republicans won the the chairmanship of th powerful house ways and means committee, but instead resigning to serve as the ceo of trump's phantom social media business, which is already under federal investigation by the securities and exchange commission. but the absurd arc of devin nunes' career is instructive, it shows how trump's cult of personality has perverted the spirit of public service inside the gop replacing governing with grand standing and grift. in his decision to bai

now we have cnn political commentator john avlon and margaret hoover. there are a lot of popular things in this bill. that was always consistently reflected in the polling on this, things that people felt the wealthiest in the country in the world should have right now things like paid family leave, things like universal pre-k, access to expanded healthcare, that the richest in this country should pay more taxes and so on. and, in fact, a recent monmouth university poll found 61% had some level of support for this bill. why couldn't they get senator joe manchin to a yes? he saw those numbers too, i suppose. >> yeah. traditionally one of the things centrists tend to do is they look at what's actually popular as opposed to ideological wishlist items that maybe have a minority of support in america, and they try to bring folks together. and i think the white house has been negotiating in good faith with manchin. and i think manchin you want to take at his word that he had been working with the president. but pulled the plug the week before christmas when s

john avlon is here with today's reality check. >> paul gosar is at it again. no, not threatening aoc or calling members of the fbi and doj traitors or boycotting speeches by the pope, no, this is a different sin of blatant hypocrisy. you see, gosar is doing a victory lap for delivering federal cash to his constituency, specifically covid-19 relief funds that will be used to clean and provide relief for the can kingman, arizona, airport. in a press release, he called it critical funding, essential to maintaining safe and reliable air service to the community. what he failed to mention is that he voted against the legislation that made it possible, the american rescue plan act. in fact, he slammed it saying this bill is not about covid relief, it is about funding democrats' pet projects, the american people should be furious. and calling it a democratic spending bonanza. well, which is it, congressman? a socialist spending scheme for more critical funding? but gosar understands that he can vote no and still score the dough. he's far from the only congressman to