good morning it's monday, january 3rd and mother nature is delivering snowstorms and winter weather headaches for many, including at snarled airports, which have had thousands more delays and cancellations, just in the past 24 hours the u.s. raced past 55 million coronavirus cases on sunday, as omicron puts the cdc on notice for new guidance and the secretary of defense tests positive over the weekend. joe biden works the phones, speaking to ukraine's leader in a strategy session on what to do

if russia invades. bucs and brown out antonio brown calls it quits in the middle of a game as he walks off the field waving to fans our kate snow on veterans helping veterans, as we kick off the first week of 2022 "early today" starts right now good morning thanks for joining us. i'm steven romo in for phillip and frances today. the travel chaos at airports is following americans right into 2022 more than 2500 flights were canceled on sunday alone and hundreds more have already been called off today. a combination of extreme weather and omicron ground planes nationwide >> reporter: the post holiday travel rush from coast to coast. long lines from los angeles, ft. lauderdale, cleveland, and denver, where weary passengers grabbed a nap wherever they could. >> had a couple of flights canceled yesterday

so i got moved to today. >> reporter: nationwide, more than 4,000 other flights delayed. airlines tripled by covid cases among their crew and severe weather. some families facing worst case scenarios. >> i don't think we'rementally prepared to make a 24-hour drive back to iowa >> reporter: but that's reality, who told us their flight from orlando was delayed and then canceled even finding a rental car took hours. >> i felt helpless as a parent, i have three children down here, my husband you want to be able to get everyone home safely, and there just is no answers >> reporter: in chicago, snowy conditions prompted southwest airlines to cancel all flights in or out on saturday. aaa calling this sunday the end of a holiday travel season, but stresses check and recheck travel plans that could change at a moment's notice >> i think the wild card we've been warning all along has been covid. we always want to remind folk it is you're booking, don't skip

that box for flight insurance any more get flight insurance >> reporter: even more people will be driving home those on the roads facing their own issue. in arkansas, an icy buildup led to this backup demand kentucky, a state of emergency after heavy rain, thunderstorms and more tornadoes pummelled the state. and some areas, flood waters swallowed entire streets, leading to high water rescues to the west, a close call in new mexico rescuers saved 21 people trapped in a train car after the cables froze over 39 million people under winter alerts from coast to coast with rain from the mid-atlantic expected to turn to snow monday morning could make for one treacherous commute. and with winter conditions, some airlines are taking measures monday, there have been 800 cancellations and 300 delays back to you.

now to the latest coronavirus headlines. the head of the pentagon has revealed he's tested positive for covid-19 on sunday, defense secretary lloyd austin, who is vaccinated and boosted, said in a tweet he was experiencing mild symptoms while quarantining at home he said he plans to attend key meetings and discussions virtually in the coming weeks. the cdc could soon amend its protocol yet again for covid this, according to dr. anthony fauci, who said on abc's "this week" the agency is considering adding a negative test to its new isolation guidelines it comes after the cdc got pushback for reducing isolation days in half, and not requiring a negative test from asymptomatic people before the five days were up. meanwhile, recent waste water analysis from a variety of sources across the country suggest there is an unprecedented surge in infections for example, houston's health department's waste water dash

board found the city's viral load was at 546% and the positivity rate was at 14% as of december 20th. that's in comparison to july 6, 2020 here's nbc's gaudi schwartz. >> reporter: cautious optimism from experts studying covid-19, say thing is a strong chance vaccinated or not, the majority of americans will come into contact omicron, which is pushing us close to herd immunity >> you have a virus that replaces another virus, and that has less of a degree of severity, that would be a positive outcome >> reporter: omicron made up the majority of cases in the u.s. just weeks after first being detected >> pretty much everybody will have some immunity to this virus come spring. >> reporter: early research found patients infected omicron

may have increased protection against other variants, like delta. >> we'll have more variants, but each will impact us less and less >> reporter: in london, hard-hit by the variant, the peak may have passed. in south africa, where omicron spread wildly in november, the government said the worst was over with no spike in deaths could we be seeing an end to the most dangerous part of this virus? >> not now, the next six, eight weeks are going to be terrible but a lot of signs that say february might be okay and maybe even better than okay. >> reporter: still, doctors urging people not to let their guards down just yet >> the more we allow the omicron variant to spread across the country, the more it will mutate and you could give rise to new, potentially more darng ngerous variants the key is that we are turning this disease into something benign sboshgs the common cold,

not something that will land you in the hospital or kill you. >> reporter: health officials hope thing is a turning point for the pandemic, and some researchers think that the u.s. will hit its peak by mid january. >> our thanks to gadi schwartz for that report. joe biden steps in to ease escalating tensions on the ukrainian border yesterday, mr. biden spoke to the president of ukraine, reaffirming support for ukraine and promising sanctions against russia for the past few weeks, the russian military has been beefing up their presence with more than a thousand troops along that border. for more on that, let's turn to our correspondent live in moscow what have you learned from this call >> reporter: steven, good morning. happy new year we got two statements overnight. one from president zalenski on twitter, celebrating his first international call of the year was with joe biden and thanking the west for the support it's giving to ukraine.

now, taking a look at that white house statement, it said that president biden told the president of ukraine that the united states and allies will "act decisively in the event of a new russian military incursion into ukraine." joe biden also underscored that the united states and allies are committed to the principle of nothing about you without you. this is a reference to russia's -- i describe it as a de facto policy, not to talk directly to ukraine, and to try to make this a conversation lot of discussion between those partiet about ukraine, not involving ukraine just last week on thursday, joe biden spoke with president putin about this crisis. and next week we are looking forward to a meeting between u.s. and russian officials in geneva to attempt to move past this military crisis but it doesn't seem to be of any great expectations for that meeting.

it's just procedural there were no indications of a breakthrough following that thursday phone call with putin and biden. i think we're in a holding pattern now. back to you, steven. >> tensions continuing there matt, thanks for that report a weekend snowstorm left smoldering debris after those devastating colorado wildfires the blanket of snow is complicating search and rescue efforts. two people are still unaccounted for after the fire tore through ten square miles nearly a thousand homes and businesses buildings bumped, making this the most destructive fire in that state's history investigators thought downed powers were to blame, but they say that theory seems less likely antonio brown's sideline meltdown was the top of the nfl league on a busy sunday. >> he tossed his shoulder pads, stripped off his thirty and gloves and threw those into the

crowd. then ran across the field while the teams were still on the field. >> quite the show on the sidelines. brown did not return to the field in the bucs win over the jets after the game, the team's coach said brown was no longer a buccaneer. brown took to instagram with a photo from the game writing big mad making a difference. thanks for the opportunity and from controversy in new jersey to an incident in landover, maryland, with fans falling out of the stands. at least five of the fans there at the fedex field were waiting for jalen hurts to walk by after his win over washington, when a railing collapsed. the fans went falling, nearly hitting hurts in the process none of them, though, appeared to be injured and werible to get up and walk away in a statement, the washington football team said they're glad no one was seriously hurt and they are investigating now to the action on the field as the playoff picture

began to get clearer aaron rod gers turned up the feet against the vikings the packers got out to a 20-0 lead and they did not look back. green bay won 37-10, and clinched the nfc's top seed in the process. but it was another team in the midwest turning heads on offense. >> there's a 2nd and 7 chase at the 40. look at that move. look at chase go oh, my goodness. chase for the touchdown! wow! >> chase is on the case. >> wow, tore right through that. he clawed his way through the chiefs defense in cincinnati, catching 11 passes for 266 yards and three scores the bengals outscored kansas city by 14 in the second half, kicking a field goal as time expired to win 34-31, and clinch

the afc north. the joe burrow to jamar chase combo lands the bengals on the top performers list. burrow has thrown for 971 yards and eight touchdowns in the last two weeks. around the nfl, the cardinals got out to a big lead in dallas, trying to end a three-game losing streak. the cowboys came back to bring the game within a field goal, but they never quite got that chance arizona runs up the clock and runs out of dallas with the win, 25-22. and the chargers offense had themselves a party in l.a. herbert broke the franchise record for touchdowns in a season as the chargers eliminated the broncos from playoff contention with a 34-13 win. they'll play the raiders in las vegas for a sqpot in the playoff next sunday night on nbc turning now the weather.

meteorologist janessa webb is tracking the year's first big winter storms. it's been so busy out there. good morning, janessa. >> good morning. happy new year, everyone and this is not how we want to start off the new year with this robust storm system that's already causing heavy snowfall across alabama i haven't seen a band like this in quite a while, making its way across tennessee right now what's going to happen, it stays in tact as it makes its way into the mid-atlantic to the northeast. severe weather on the other side with tornado watches currently in place in sections of the southeast. now, this will be a quick mover, but it's going to be throughout your morning and early afternoon. you're going to watch the northern side of that snow band really impacting virginia, west virginia, d.c., to new york city even the boston area before it starts to push offshore. right now, totals are calling for at least three to five inches across coastal areas,ica

mid-atlantic a ton of sunshine, though, across the deep south. enjoy. and this is going to be kind of a weather whiplash with temperatures falling we'll look at the temperature forecast coming up >> thanks for that update. new details on firsthand testimony that ivanka trump asked her dad to intervene in the january 6 riots. > and celebrating the incredible life of betty white back in one minute ght after din. definitely after meatloaf. like clockwork. do it! run your dishwasher with cascade platinum and save water. did you know an energy star certified dishwasher uses less than four gallons per cycle? while a running sink uses that, every two minutes. that means even small loads can save water.

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>> we know his daughter, we have firsthand testimony that his daughter, ivanka, went in at least twice to ask him to please stop this violence >> cheney added that mr. trump could have caulked to the press briefing room and appeared on tv to tell the rioters to stop. the country is still mourning the loss of betty white. she captured the hearts of many with a career that began in the 1940s and spanned decades, playing iconic characters like the spit fire suann on the mary tyler moore show, and the lovable, dopey rose on "the golden girls." white died just a few days shy of her 100th birthday. it's not confirmed whether services will be open to the public we know the film honoring her will debut nationwide on what would have been her 100th birthday betty white, 100 years young, a birthday celebration, will play

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cascade platinum. now to a story of veterans helping veterans while having some fun themselves our kate snow has those details. >> you've got it, you've got it. >> reporter: for these women, this is a rare chance to step into the spotlight >> perfect >> it's not every day that you get all dolled up. >> reporter: this isn't just any photo shoot. the women here share a unique bond each is a military veteran, representing the army, navy, air force, and marines on this day, it's all about the glam and all for a great cause. they've made a fund-raising

callendar with a nod to the 1940s. gina elise founded the group in 2006 to help veterans in need. >> there were a lot of stories coming out in the news about our troops coming back from iraq needing medical care and i felt so strongly that i wanted to do something to help out. >> reporter: the calendars are sold to support military causes like rehab equipment for v.a. hospitals. care packages for troops and visits with veterans elise says the idea came from her love of those world war ii planes with pictures of beautiful women painted on the aircraft, reminding troops of what they were fighting for back home >> they're going from, you know, their combat boots to being totally transformed, some of a time warp back to the 1940s. some of them have started to cry. it's very emotional for them >> reporter: rochelle served in the u.s. marine corps. >> there's so much strength in this room. every single one of these women signed up for their country, and

they served their country, and they're absolutely beautiful >> one, two, three >> reporter: amber sheer was in the air force for nine years, working on fighter jets. >> if it weren't for the people that served, then we would be jeopardizing our freedoms. >> reporter: carolyn martin was an aviation mechanic the marines. >> being able to dress up and show that we can be strong and feminine is so important >> reporter: like so many veterans, they have battled depression >> being in the military, we struggle mentally very deeply. and i nearly lost my life to depression and i was given that chance to be here today. and to see myself accomplishing so much, and i wouldn't have been able to do that if i didn't survive. >> reporter: this band of sisters helping others get through, too >> i'm all about serving our fellow veterans, because we are

still off forgot, and giving back is a true passion for me. >> reporter: the calendars are available now for sale, raising money for all sorts of things to help fellow veterans back to you. >> such a great way to give

this morning, a winter storm affecting millions of post holiday travelers on the ground, and at airports, where thousands of flights are delayed and canceled due to the weather along with a surge of covid cases. many schools around the nation are returning and reinforcing mask mandates as students head back to the classroom. but others are delaying and choosing remote learning a blanket of snow covers hundreds of homes decimated from wildfires in colorado, with two people still unaccounted for this morning