right now on "america this morning," the holiday travel rush as omicron cases surge. this morning, what we're learning about testing and the new pill to treat covid. plus, the good news this morning from the country that first discovered omicron just one month ago. what's happening now in south africa that could be a preview of what's to come here. congresswoman carjacked as big city crime skyrockets. a lawmaker and her staffer are held up at gunpoint. the arrests overnight. and where the congresswoman's suv has been found. happening now, the reward increasing. urgent search for a missing 3-year-old last seen on a texas playground. the woman seen here punching an airline flight attendant pleads guilty.

the prison time she could now face. also this morning, the "home alone" actor who starred alongside macaulay culkin now under arrest. and wheel of controversy. >> word. [ buzzer ] >> was this contestant robbed in the bonus round? the technicality that cost her a car and the outcry from "wheel" fans. good thursday morning, everyone. i'm andrew dymburt. >> and i'm rhiannon ally in for mona. we want to begin this morning with some encouraging news in the fight against the omicron variant. >> the first country to discover the omicron variant is now seeing a surprise drop in cases but here at home many hospitals are on the brink right now with people waiting hours for a bed. president biden during our exclusive interview insisted no one saw omicron coming, even though scientists have warned for months about new variants emerging. >> the first at home pill to treat covid is offering some new hope, but it will not be widely available right away. the white house expects to get

265,000 doses next month. >> so more on the pill and our exclusive interview with the president in a moment, but firs latest wave of coronavirus cases in the u.s. could dramatically fall once it peaks. new data shows infections in south africa where the omicron variant was first discovered just one month ago are now rapidly dropping. the current drop is clearly steeper on this graph when compared to the previous waves in south africa. >> this is really great news to hear that the cases have peaked in south africa, which means that there are less number of deaths and hospitalization. >> reporter: here in the u.s. the number of infections is still surging including among the vaccinated. doctors are reassuring americans that the vaccine and booster shot protect against serious illness and death, and in a game

changing move wednesday, the fda authorized the first ever covid treatment pill. although initial supplies of the pfizer pill will be limited, it could be available in some hospitals as soon as next week. >> my expectation is that once the cdc gives its blessing, that the drug could ship within a matter of a day or two. >> reporter: meanwhile, with the holiday travel rush in full swing today, a new study shows omicron may double your chances of getting covid on a plane. the biden administration has required foreign visitors flying to the u.s. be vaccinated, but there's no vaccine mandate for domestic air travel. the president told abc's david muir that idea is being considered. >> the recommendation i've gotten, it's not necessary. >> even with omicron? >> even with omicron. >> reporter: president biden says his administration is working on making 500 million at home covid tests available for free beginning next month while acknowledging there is a shortage of tests right now. >> empty shelves and no test kits in some places three days before christmas when it's so important, is that good enough? >> no, nothing has been good

enough. i don't think it's a failure. i think you could argue that we should have known a year ago, six months ago, two months ago. a month ago. >> the vice president said in recent days that you didn't see delta coming. you didn't see omicron coming. how did you get it wrong? >> how did we get it wrong? nobody saw it coming. nobody in the whole world. who saw it coming? you plan for what you think is available. that is the most likely threat that exists at the time, and you respond to it, and i think that that's exactly what we've done. >> reporter: in the meantime, dr. anthony fauci is advising against holiday gatherings with unvaccinated family members and guests. >> if there's an unvaccinated person, i would say i'm very sorry. but not this time. maybe another time when this is all over. >> and omicron continues impacting the world of sports. texas a&m has now pulled out of the gator bowl due to covid concerns. the supreme court has agreed to hear challenges to the biden

administration's covid vaccine mandates for hospitals and large businesses. a special court session is now scheduled for january 7th. that's to decide if the government has the authority to issue the mandates. vice president kamala harris has tested negative for covid after close contact with an aide who tested positive. harris and the staffer are both fully vaccinated and got their booster shots. meanwhile, congressman jim clyburn, the number three democrat in the house, has tested positive for covid. the 81-year-old reportedly has no symptoms but is now in quarantine. five people are now under arrest in connection with the armed carjacking of a congresswoman in philadelphia. mary gay scanlon's car was recovered last night in delaware hours after she and a staffer were attacked near a south philadelphia park. they were not hurt, and a local councilman says, this proves no one is immune from the rising crime rates. >> we're elected officials, but also we're citizens as well and so nothing excludes us from being shot. nothing excludes us from being murdered. >> philadelphia police say

carjackings are up 80% this year. we have new details this morning about the truck driver sentenced to 110 years in prison for a fatal crash. the effort involving millions of people to get his punishment reduced is now getting some results. this morning, the calls for justice growing louder for a truck driver sentenced to more than a century in prison for his role in a deadly highway pileup. >> today's rally is not an attempt to overshadow the heartbreak loss of life. >> reporter: a judge sentenced rogel aguilera-mederos to 110 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of causing this fiery wreck. newly released video shows the moments after the crash in 2019 where four people died. aguilera-mederos claimed his brakes failed while going 85 miles per hour. >> your honor, i don't know why i'm alive. >> reporter: his sentence prompting immediate backlash

with 5 million people signing a petition online supporting him. even the judge suggested the punishment was too harsh, but he said his hands were tied because of the state's minimum sentencing laws. >> when you hear a judge say, this is not the sentence i would give, we have a problem. >> reporter: on wednesday supporters gathered in denver calling on the governor to reduce the sentence. >> it is harsh and does not represent due process. >> reporter: aguilera-mederos' mother asking for the governor to show mercy saying she hasn't been able to speak to her son. and as we first reported yesterday, the district attorney has filed a motion to reconsider the sentence, and now a hearing has been scheduled for monday. jury deliberations resume this morning in the manslaughter trial of former minnesota police officer kim potter who killed daunte wright saying she mistook her gun for her taser.

jurors deliberated more than 24 hours. they had no questions yesterday one day after asking for guidance about a potential deadlock. the jurors have been sequestered but if there's no verdict today, they'll go home for christmas weekend. the jury in the sex trafficking trial of ghislaine maxwell will resume its work on monday. she is charged with grooming young girls for sex offender jeffrey epstein. the holiday break means maxwell will be in jail on christmas, which is her 60th birthday. a woman caught on video attacking a flight attendant has pleaded guilty. vyvianna quinonez was seen punching a southwest airline staffer chipping the the woman's teeth and leaving her with a bruised eye. what's being called a major industrial accident at the exxonmobil plant in baytown. some kind of explosion. the fire visible for miles. early reports say four people may be injured. no word on the extent of the injuries. it is time now for a look at your thursday weather.

good morning. some busy travel days coming up as we head toward christmas weekend. if you're in the west, we'll have to drive very carefully. there could be some airport delays as well with rain, snow and wind from san francisco all the way to denver. and that's the big story here. the travel trouble spots in the west and in the north and northeast as we head into thursday and friday. but looking ahead to the christmas weekend, we'll see that big storm in the west and early this weekend there will be a swath of rain and snow from the midwest to the northeast. i'm accuweather meteorologist kevin coskren. coming up, the time capsule everyone was waiting to open and what they found inside. also ahead, undercover with the kkk. what a man working for the fbi posing as a hit man exposed inside the ku klux klan. and later, the boy hero who helped save two people's lives in two separate incidents on the same day.

there's new questions this morning after a time capsule that was tucked away benooeeath robert e. lee statue was finally opened. experts were surprised to find a handful of random items, including an almanac, a book and a coin. they expected to find several more interesting items because of a newspaper article back in 1887. it says that the box contained civil war memorabilia and a rare photo of abraham lincoln in his coffin. now, some are suggesting that there might be a second time capsule. an fbi informant that went undercover inside the kkk is speaking about what he found.

he uncovered a murder plot. here's abc's christine sloan. >> reporter: this morning, an intriguing tale of an fbi informa informant's secret double life, spying on the ku klux klan in orth florida. >> my former name is joseph moore. i was a confidential informant for the fbi's joint terrorism task force from 2007 to 2017. >> reporter: joe moore tells the associated press, not only did he don a white robe and hood as a hitman for the kkk, but he wore a wire for the fbi, to expose the white supremacist group. >> if the kkk had a bounty, it would be me. >> reporter: he attended cross burnings and helped foil a murder plot, where a black inmate was targeting three klansmen. >> we want to make sure this

is -- y'all are happy with this. >> reporter: moore alerted the fbi, then captured secret video recordings that led to the klansmen being convicted. he claims they were recruiting new klan members at that prison. but florida's department of corrections tells the a.p., that's not true. adding the department found no evidence of wider membership or a systemic problem. and saying the more than 18,000 corrections officers should not be defamed by the isolated actions of three individuals. moore insists the hate group has strong ties to law enforcement. in florida and georgia. >> i uncovered people that were former military, current military, former law enforcement, current law enforcement. >> reporter: we were unable to get comment from georgia law enforcement officials. moore says he is coming forward because he believes publicly discussing his story is the best way to protect himself and his

family. >> thank you, christine. coming up, the "home alone" star who is now under arrest. also ahead, the urgent also ahead, the urgent search for a missing 3 ♪ thousands of women with metastatic breast cancer are living in the moment and taking ibrance. ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor is for postmenopausal women or for men with hr+, her2- metastatic breast cancer as the first hormonal based therapy. ibrance plus letrozole significantly delayed disease progression versus letrozole. ibrance may cause low white blood cell counts that may lead to serious infections. ibrance may cause severe inflammation of the lungs. both of these can lead to death. tell your doctor if you have new or worsening chest pain, cough, or trouble breathing. before taking ibrance, tell your doctor if you have fever, chills, or other signs of infection, liver or kidney problems, are or plan to become pregnant, or are breastfeeding.

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now the actor who played buzz, devin ratray, has been arrested on domestic violence charges. according to a police report in oklahoma stay ratray allegedly tried to strangle his girlfriend. he's now been released on bond. in texas, one person is dead after this fiery crash near fort worth. take a look. a fuel tanker and a truck collided on interstate 820. the driver of one of the vehicles was killed. a second person suffered severe burns. traffic was stopped there for two hours. also in texas a new reward is being offered for the little girl missing since monday. police have few clues to go on. this morning, the search is intensifying for this missing 3-year-old in san antonio. >> we are not treating it as an abduction right now. we are treating it as a missing person. >> reporter: investigators say lina khil whose family recently resettled from afghanistan was last seen monday evening. the community stepping up its efforts with the local islamic center offering a $75,000 reward in the case.

lina's mother had been watching her before getting up to leave for a short time. police say when she got back, lina was gone. >> we will continue to search the areas surrounding where we've already searched and continue making as much contact with the community as we can trying to find someone who knows anything about lina. >> reporter: the fbi and search parties have been combing the area where lina was last seen as authorities plead for anyone with any information to reach out because timing is critical. >> early on it's very important. unfortunately, the longer the time lapses, the less hopeful we become. >> reporter: the toddler was last seen wearing a black jacket, red dress and black shoes. although investigators say there's no evidence lina was abducted, san antonio police asked the fbi to deploy its child rapid response team. the teacher who shocked everyone at recess. also ahead, a new announcement from britney spears. ♪

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it is time to check "the pulse." we start with a sixth grader with hero moves. >> he is getting well-deserved praise. the 11-year-old was named an honorary police officer for saving a classmate from choking and rescuing a woman from a house fire all in the same day. >> first, he performed the heimlich maneuver in school, dislodging a cap from a student's throughoat. and then hours later, he saved a woman from her burning home. >> i saw a man across the street and helped her to a truck. >> he wants to be an emt when he grows up. he is getting a jump on that.

you know where he learned the heimlich? youtube. the internet has some good. we have details on a controversy involving "wheel of fortu fortune." >> the category was, what are you doing? >> choosing the right card. >> no. >> choosing the right -- word.-. >> you know, this one is tough because you said all of the right words, including the word word, but it has to be continuous. >> more like wheel of misfortune. she got the right word. but there's a rule saying a contestant can't pause for too long before completing the phrase. >> the fans are demanding the show to give her the car that she would have won. but the show doesn't have to. the car company is giving her a car. britney spears is offering

fans plenty to talk about. >> she is giving a christmas present from right in front of her bathroom mirror. ♪ ♪ i want you to know just what i mean ♪ >> along with that, spears writing on instagram that she has a new song in the works. so, we're all eagerly waiting. >> britney's back. >> britney's back. teachers are big heroes in the classroom. what about on the basketball court? >> look at miss fitts from washington, d.c. she gets the shot and lets it fly. and the third graders went crazy because miss fitts promised them all hot chocolate if she made that shot. that is a lot of hot chocolate she has to make. >> she is a baller. >> looking like chef curry out there, too. look at the kids. top headlines next.

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>> building a better bay area. moving forward, finding solutions. this is abc 7 news. >> now at 5:00, more rain coming

down across the bay area. here is a look at four of our tower camera's and this is a level two on our exclusive storm impact scale. >> encouraging news in the fight against covid. the trend we are seeing, plus that pressure on tests as many of you are getting ready to get together with friends and family. >> even with the covid surge, it is getaway day for millions of people traveling for christmas. we are live at sfo, checking out the rush. you are watching abc seven mornings, live wherever you stream. hi, we are separated again because omicron is pulling us apart.