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good to be with you again. i'm katy tur. as our second year of living with the pandemic draws to a close, there's a new worrisome variant causing a record number of new cases but there's the question of whether we should be using different metrics to determine how bad this is. the u.s. seven-day case average right now is at an all-time high with a daily caseload nearly twice that of the worst days of last winter. 300,000 a day and surely a whole lot more that have not been officially reported or confirmed. what's worse, the peak, according to dr. fauci, could be several weeks away. yes, cases are spiking at a dizzying race, but the caseload is not matching an equally dizzying hospitalization spike. new cases up 60% in the past week, new hospitalizations up 14%. covid related deaths are actually down.

that's right, down by 7%. still, cities like cincinnati and baltimore are declaring states of emergency while new york's incoming mayor suggests it's time to pivot into a new normal. >> so the day has come when we must learn to be smarter, live with covid and ensure that we protect every-day new yorkers. >> so what does that look like? anxiety over the rise in cases has already created a crunch on businesses, health care and travel. but many americans don't know what to think. is this variant worse? should i just stay home? what about my vaccine? wasn't that supposed to mean i could keep living my life? there's a lot of confusion out there. so we have a doctor here to answer all the questions. as my producer's grandmother always says, the enemy of panic is preparation. doctor, thank you very much for being here with us. all right. so should we be panicking right

now? >> no, we shouldn't be panicking. i think we have to take into consideration that we have a more contagious variant, that cases are going up and in certain regions of the country hospitals may have some difficult weeks ahead, but it's not a time for panic. this is not the beginning of 2020 this is 2021. we have tools, rapid tests, antivirals, monoclonal antibodies and vaccines. science has given us so many tools to cope with this virus. >> so many places around the country including new york city are shutting down. some are forced to because they have too many covid cases to open. others are saying out of an abundance of caution we won't be open for the next few weeks. is that appropriate given the case number and the hospitalization rate, the death rate? i hate to talk about the case numbers which are crazy, without coupling them with what we were all supposed to be eyeing from the beginning of this, which is hospitalizations and deaths.

>> it is something that we're seeing increasingly become a topic of discussion. we see cases going up but hospitalizations and deaths are flat or staying the same. we have to get to the point where we understand that the severity of infection matters. if you have people getting mild illness but not needing hospitalization or having to call their doctor because they're fully vaccinated, that's a different caliber or problem than what we had early on. so we have to develop a way to risk calculate or navigate our way through a world in which covid-19 is ever-present, just like other respiratory viruses. if we are fully vaccinated and use the tools like the antibodies and antivirals, it becomes much more of a manageable problem. of course some places will have to close because they don't have personnel for a couple of days, but we shouldn't have that same type of panic or looming fear

that -- >> i think we've just run into an issue with the doctor. we'll try to get him back up. i have quite a few more questions. for instance, is it okay to go eat inside without a mask, dine inside? i think we do have him back. doctor, are you there? >> i'm here. >> what about that question i just had, would you feel comfortable right now going and eating at a restaurant? >> i would. i am somebody that is fully vaccinated. i know if i get my inevitable breakthrough omicron case it will be mild, it won't set me back. i think this is something you can do safely. it depends on each person's risk/tolerance. some people may not feel comfortable. if you're fully vaccinated, there's never a time when a restaurant has a zero covid risk. you have to learn how to navigate that. for me, i've been going to restaurants and eating indoors for some time, especially after i was fully vaccinated. that fear of having severe

disease basically dissipated. >> when we talk about mild cases, can we get a definition of mild? i have friends who have covid now, they're a bit sick. i have other friends who are fully vaccinated and boosted and who are really sick, not going to the hospital, but they have a bad headache, they don't feel well, and they wish they weren't sick right now. so i guess when we talk about mild, should we be giving people the impression that it's no big deal? >> to me, mild means you don't have to call your doctor. this is something you dealt with before with other respiratory viruses. maybe you can't do stuff because you feel crummy and you're taking ibuprofen, that falls into the mild spectrum. there are people who don't really have any symptoms, that's extremely mild. but in general, yes, sometimes people will be down and out for a couple of days. it's mild, maybe it's something they want to avoid, but it's hard to avoid a virus that's not

going anywhere, that established itself in the human population and you're going to get it at one time or another. you might want to time it better when it's not a busy week for you or going on vacation, but it's something we'll all eventually get. i've been saying this from the beginning, this virus is going to be something that all of us eventually get infected with. the key is to be infected with it after you're vaccinated so it's not something that has you calling your doctor or needing to go to the emergency department. >> so i'm not crazy for coming into work right now. let me ask you a question about people who have -- this also applies to me and other people as well, people who have kids who can't get vaccinated. i know everybody should be talking to their own pediatrician to get a sense of where their kids are at. that being said, when we talk about child hospitalizations, severe illnesses with children, are we talking about otherwise healthy children who are getting very sick from this disease? >> not generally, no. when you see children be hospitalized or have some problem with covid-19, they usually have some underlying

medical condition. maybe -- >> we'll try to reconnect because i do want to hear this answer. do we have him back? >> immunocompromised individuals. >> i'm sorry to do this, but could you repeat that answer? your camera froze one more time. >> when you're talking about children in general, they're not going to be those that are -- that are at risk for severe disease. there are some with as ma, immunocompromised conditions, those are the individuals we see getting hospitalized. those are the few children that have actually died on a population basis. in general, with children, it all comes down to risk tolerance but they are spared from severe consequences of disease. if you have an immunocompromised or high-risk child, you want to take that seriously and protect that child. the best way to protect that child is to have more people around that child that are vaccinated. it's not something that we see in general that is hitting

children like people feared. >> what about people who say we're in a crazy moment right now, i'll try to stay as homebound as i can for the next few weeks because i'm hoping the wave will pass. >> we probably are going to see more omicron cases in the next couple of weeks. we see from south africa and other countries that it tends to follow a two-week cycle. dr. fauci predicts this will peak in january. if you're trying to avoid getting infected at this point in time, staying home for two weeks will allow you to avoid it. but you're inevitably kicking it down the road because omicron will still be around after that two-week period and covid-19 will be around for the rest of our species existence. >> let me ask you this question. people on social media will say i'm immunocompromised or i have a specific problem. one person is asking what about solid organ transplant recipients. should they just assume, even if they had the vaccine and booster that they'll get this, too?

>> yes, they're going to be at high-risk. these are the individuals we want to protect with that new astrazeneca monoclonal antibody. yes. solid organ transplant patients need to be careful. that's not unique to covid-19. solid organ transplant patients, they have to be worried about every type of respiratory virus because they are so immunocompromised from their anti-rejection medications that any of those could be a serious illness for them. that's why -- that's why that group needs to be dealt with separately because of their risk factors. that's nothing unique to covid-19. that's something that is a way of life once you get an organ transplant. >> doctor, thank you very much for sorting through this for us and for me. i've had a ton of questions. you certainly put my mind at ease. anybody out there, if you have specific questions for your specific body, your specific health, go to your doctor, ask your doctor what your risk tolerance should be. thank you very much for joining us.

happy new year to you. >> you too, thank you. the last two years have been punishing on the hospitality industry. restaurants have navigated covid closures, staffing shortages and fundamental changes on how to keep their employees and patrons safe. and they were on their way to a rebound until omicron stepped up on the scene. now with new year's eve, the biggest night on the hospitality calendar a day away, many restaurants find themselves hobbling over the 2021 finish line. joining me now is jake ward from san francisco. jake, i know a lot of restaurant owners right now who are pulling their hair out because they were on their way back and they just feel like they've been knocked down all over again. >> it is extraordinary to see the blow after blow that these restaurant owners have taken. when we're talking here, as we have already this hour about the incredibly high stakes and everyone trying to sort out what is my risk tolerance, the fate

of the hospitality industry might seem like no big deal, but the truth is in this country, this is the public gathering space of america. this is how we get to know one another. meeting up in restaurants and bars and sort of seeing an industry that has taken such a hard hit over the quours of the course of the past year and a half. losing at least 1 million people in terms of jobs compared to pre-pandemic. this week, the week between christmas and new year's is supposed to be the big week where you make all of your money. then new year's eve caps it off both psychologically and financially. we went inside the water bar, you're seeing footage there of the restaurant over my shoulder, making its preparations for its big night of the year. we spoke also to the chief of staff of the company that owns angler, one of the best known seafood restaurants up and down the embarcadero and she talked

about the weight that's on the hospitality staff and as you go out on new year's eve, for those who are choosing to, how they should think about the people waiting on them. >> the number one thing i would say is to be understanding. when you're going out to eat, you know, there's people who are literally putting their lives on the line because they love what they do. they love to serve people. and again, we are amidst an industry wide staffing shortage. so when you do go out to eat, please be understanding of everyone who is there to serve you. they want to do their best to make your experience memorable and i would say that, you know, if people going out can be very understanding of restaurant operators and the teams that work there. >> what we're seeing here is the question of whether this is the new normal. these public spaces that we have gotten used to, will they be changed forever? when there was the delta variant, about 20% of people

reported to the national restaurant association that they would no longer go out to eat. the question that these operators are wondering is whether these changes we're seeing could be permanent. >> be nice, go to your local restaurants. when this is all behind us, you'll want to have local restaurants. you're not going to want to go to the same handful of chain restaurants even if those survive. jake ward, thank you very much. there's one word to describe holiday travel this year, it's chaotic. hundreds of flights are being canceled every single day partially due to severe winter weather and partially due to omicron. let's go to steve patterson at l.a.x. airport as he's been all week with the latest. >> the misery continues. we saw more than 1,000 cancellations yesterday. we are already over 1,000 today. and that number is expected to rise, certainly better than the thousands we saw day by day earlier this week. but again, there is no relief in

sight. obviously the weather is not helping. with he have more snow overnight, specifically in washington state. already in a state of emergency there. sea-tac already thought to be the worst airport in the world right now for air travel. just that little bit worse. bags are strewn across the airport looking for their owners. there are customer service issues, alaska airlines is based there. they're reporting customer service delays of up to 20,000s. they're thinning out flights by about 20% just so they can de-ice some of the planes and because of the surging variant hitting all of these airlines, united and delta announcing more cancellations and flight vouchers. and jetblue announcing the cancellation of 1,280 flights from now until mid-january because of how many staff members they say have tested

positive and how many more they expect as this thing goes on. we spoke to a travel expert about what the carriers are dealing with. >> airlines already came in to this period very thin on their employee numbers. they were already stretched thin, so there weren't many folks awaiting in the wing, these substitutes, if you will, to pick up the slack for folks who called up sick. that's why you're seeing this perfect storm. >> reporter: along with the surging variant, more bad weather on the way. i know you know los angeles, it's been a complete downpour here for several hours. that is something no angelina likes. the thing is it's a ticking timebomb because this will move from this region out east where we are expected to see some of the biggest snowfalls from denver to detroit, further complicating the effort in the air. >> a drizzle is enough to shut down businesses and keep you home from school in los angeles.

drizzle. a lot of rain is a big deal out there. still ahead a look back at the moments that defined 2021. and later this hour, president biden will meet with vladimir putin. they'll speak on the phone for the second time this month. first up, a white house against the clock and a democratic party awash with pending retirements. what is to come for congress in 2022? most bladder leak pads were similar. until always discreet invented a pad that protects differently. with two rapiddry layers. for strong protection, that's always discreet. question your protection. try always discreet.

holding on to the majority in congress after your party wins the presidency is tough, just ask donald trump, barack obama, george w. bush and bill clinton. next year it's a bigger challenge for democrats to hold on to their razor thin majority in the house because of a wave of retirements, nearly two dozen at last count. joining me now is jake sherman msnbc political contributor. you have five things that you are watching for 2022. let's start with the impact of

redistricting. how does that look for the democrats and republicans? >> i took notes today because we're really digging in deep here. i'll refer tony notes for part of this. don't think i'm not paying attention to you. redistricting was supposed to be a complete wipeout for democrats. it's been way better for them than we've previously thought. just look at california. looking here, democrats have 41 strong democratic seats. every democrat incumbent, every single one has a strong democratic seat to run in plus three, i believe, republicans will have tough races. all of them, republicans will have races. so democrats could have 44 of 52 seats in california. pretty high number. in states like new york, republicans didn't do as well. new jersey got stronger for democrats. so redistricting was supposed to net republicans between 5 and 10 seats. it's going to mostly, i would say, be a bit of a wash.

republicans have a bit of an advantage but not the huge advantage that we thought going into this redistricting cycle. what about member versus member races? >> these are always difficult. so when these lines are redrawn around the country, they oftentimes put two members against each other. running against each other. two members of the same party oftentimes in primaries. michigan has been remade unlike many other states in the country. the map in michigan is getting different. we see fred upton is going to be -- could be in a member versus member primary against bill hyznga. these races oftentimes get messy. in west virginia, you have david mckiply and alex mooney, two republicans. david mckinley voted for the infrastructure bill, alex mooney has donald trump's endorsement.

so these member versus member primaries will get messy in the capitol and back home. >> we have three more. republicans primed to win back the house if history is any precedent here. what could happen to stop them from doing so? >> donald john trump is the number one wildcard obviously. the economy getting much, much better, much, much stronger and covid receding and democrats getting credit for that could help democrats and could trip up republicans. you mentioned at the top, most election analysts, most people look at this dispassionately would agree republicans have a huge advantage based on history, the mood of the country. even if joe biden's at his high watermark on approval ratings, it's still under water. >> i will skip question four. what about joe biden? how much of a factor is he? >> do you -- if you're a

democrat anywhere across the country, do you want the president with 40-something percent approval ratings campaigning for your re-election? do people see the governing climate and want a check on an all-democratic washington? and do they want to take out their anger at biden and covid mostly at the ballot box for house and senate races? that's the big question going into 2022. >> any of those who retired at risk of flipping? any democrats who are retiring, will they turn republican seats? >> yes. there's too many to mention, but just g.k. butterfield has a tougher district. peter defazio has gotten better for democrats. stephanie murphy is one that republicans will target in florida. a state that's trending red. a state that has trended red. so, yes. but many of these people are in

safe democratic seats. sherry bustos, in a trump district that republicans are near-certain to win. >> jake sherman, wish you so much. wish we were going to fish tonight. sad we're not. let's do it in april. coming up, a human rights hero, how mourners are paying tribute to the late archbishop desmond tutu. first, a critical call between president biden and vladimir putin is about to begin. details on what the white house hopes to accomplish. very bite. crunchy outside, chewy inside. ♪ tums, tums, tums, tums ♪ tums chewy bites

president biden and russian president vladimir putin are scheduled to speak in a few minutes. the phone call announced only yesterday. it was, according to u.s. officials, vladimir putin's idea. it comes a week before officials from the two countries are scheduled to meet for security talks. the two presidents are not expected to attend those talks. the plan for today is to make headway as russia continues to have a massive military presence along its border with ukraine. i'm joined by former deputy assistant secretary of defense for russia and ukraine, evelyn farcas and michael crowley. evelyn, you were saying that you are worried that this is going

to be a fishing phone call for vladimir putin. >> yeah. katy, i think what i'm worried about is everything we've seen so far indicates that vladimir putin wants to take some military action. the forces, the rhetoric out of the kremlin, the media drumbeat that they're drumming up in moscow and across russia. that seems to indicate he wants to take action. he sees an opportunity. the administration was able to kind of stave him off it seems with these talks. which is a great thing. but i'm concerned that he's trying to have this conversation with president biden to try to take a measure of our resolve. take a measure of our president's resolve and how allies are also lockstep with us or not. and if putin finds somehow any crack, even if he thinks that our president has a lot of resolve, he may still decide to

take some ground and use that as the starting point for discussions in january. i'm concerned about this. >> obviously the u.s. wants a diplomatic answer to this, michael. i asked a high-level state department official the other day that same question that evelyn had, which is is -- does putin believe that the west, that nato, the u.s. are going to be willing to go to war with russia, to take up arms against russia to fight for ukraine? from the conversation -- i didn't get much of an answer. from the conversations you're having with your sources and the reporting you've been doing, what is the appetite? >> there is no appetite for war with russia. president biden has, in fact, essentially ruled out the possibility that u.s. troops would be directly involved and several european nations actually want to deescalate with russia in general. i think -- are not totally

enthusiastic about the kinds of sachk shuns that the united states is prepared to apply to russia. in germany, you have gotten a sense of reluctance on the part of the new german government to commit to suspending this new gas pipeline from russia to germany even if russia invades ukraine. i think vladimir putin correctly understands that there's not rock-solid unity on the part of the west. and so i think he has a lot of leverage here. i would add to what evelyn said quite preceptively is putin upping the ante ahead of these talks? if he wants to invade, he could make a demand that he knows president biden and the west can't meet. that would be another concern

with this call. >> what would that demand be? >> well, you know, he has already, for instance, insisted that ukraine can never become a member of natnato. he wants nato expansion to stop. he could say he wants u.s. troops that are already along russia's eastern border and nato troops to move back and to never come back again. he could want other assurance r and talk to me on terms that make sense to me. i'm done talking. that would be the concern. >> evelyn, if we don't have an appetite to take up arms against russia, i guess what would happen? >> i want to elaborate because i do agree with michael that our government, the american people have no interest in taking up arms against russia. but president biden has made it clear and nato made it clear

that we will be continuing to support ukraine and the ukrainian military and increasing support to them. that is significant. >> but that support, is that weaponry that we're going to be giving them? >> yes. actually more importantly, though i have not heard this, there was some reporting, michael and his colleagues at the "new york times" reported on intelligence sharing. that is something that if we were to provide the ukrainian military intelligence realtime that they could use to protect themselves, to defend themselves against the russians, that would be significant. there's things like that that would cost russian lives and putin has to think about that. i do agree, this is a dangerous game. president biden has to take this call. i agree 100%, but putin can spin it a lot of different ways. >> you have to wonder the capacity of the ukrainians. we had richard engel walk

through literal trenches, world war ii-tile trenches on the ukrainian border and they were telling engle if russia decides to invade, they would be wiped out almost instantly. what a crazy story. talk to you soon about it. coming up, thousands pay respect to a powerful force in the anti-apartheid movement. archbishop desmond tutu is now lying in state.

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mourners are gathering in capetown today to honor the life of archbishop desmond tutu. the south african icon led his country's struggle to abolish apartheid died last week at the age of 90. his body is lying in state for two days before his official state funeral on saturday. covering this for us is ali

arouzi. this is a big deal. >> this is a big deal. the church here has been ringing its bells every day at noon for ten minutes since the day he died. they extended the period of time people could come and pay their respects by a day. mourners have been filing by his coffin to pay their respects to a man that so many south africans call tata or father. his official state funeral will be on saturday, the 1st of january. massive crowds are expected between now and then. katy, he was a modest man up until the very end. he had given very clear instructions that he wanted no ostentatious or lavish displays for his funeral. he wanted his coffin to be the

cheapest one available. a very modest man that fought very hard in south africa for the rights of people and to battle apartheid and ultimately he will be remembered for his extremely impeccably strong moral conviction. he was never afraid to tell the truth no matter how unpopular it made him in south africa. so he's going to leave a big hole in that country for many people. he's going to be seen as the last person in a generation that fought so hard against injustices of apartheid. >> thank you very much. a new president and an attack on our nation's capitol. a court ruling that impacted our country and a raging pandemic. a few of the headlining moments that defined 2021. and so i came to clearchoice. your mouth is the gateway to your body.

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what can i say? 2021 was a crazy year. mostly not a great one, but there were some great moments. joe fryer takes a look back.

>> in the closing moments of 2020 as the ball dropped on a sparsely populated times square, a weary nation hoped for better times. dreams that were quickly dampened. 2021 was just six days old when a mob of trump supporters stormed the u.s. capitol hoping to overturn the presidential election. the images from that day captured in the capitol rotunda, speaker pelosi's office, in the senate chamber, they're indelible portraits of a deadly uprising that stunned the world yet failed to stop lawmakers from certifying the election results. >> joseph r. biden jr. of the state of delaware has received 306 votes. >> reporter: in the days that followed, the streets of washington looked more like a war zone as the nation's focus shifted from insurrection to

inauguration. at the scaled-down ceremony, president biden was sworn in as america's 46th president. >> i, joseph robin biden jr., do solemnly swear. >> reporter: kamala harris became the first female vp. in the audience, senator bernie sanders made a meme worthy fashion statement. the outgoing president refused to tick around for the festivities but could not escape another impeachment. >> the president incited this riot. >> reporter: accused of inciting the riots donald trump became the first american president to be impeached twice, he was later acquitted by the senate. >> donald john trump former president of the united states is not guilty. >> reporter: it was a dramatic start to a year still dominated by covid. >> we learned this morning that the pandemic has now taken 400,000 lives in the u.s. >> reporter: as the country emerged from a deadly winter, vaccines became more available, first to the most vulnerable,

then to all adults, and eventually to most kids. >> how bad was it? >> not bad at all. >> reporter: despite the welcomed shot in the arm, more americans died from covid this year than last when the more contagious delta variant surged and hospitals filled again treating mostly unvaccinated patients. >> now we are treating patients in the hallways. >> reporter: mask mandates sparked rage. at school board meetings. >> let the parents make the decisions. let the kids breathe. >> reporter: as classrooms cautiously returned to in-person learning. >> i'd rather wear it because i don't want to get covid. >> reporter: in a way, all of us were students this year as our vocabularies expanded to include new terms, breakthrough cases, boosters, and by year's end, omicron. as the pandemic raged, so did nature's fury. >> we're huddled under all the

blankets that we have. >> reporter: in february, a deadly ice storm paralyzed techs leaving millions without power. wildfires continued to ravage the west, while hurricane ida carved a path of destruction that stretched from louisiana t that stretched from louisiana to new york. and this month, more than 100 were killed by a series of rare december tornados in kentucky and surrounding states. one twister cutting a path more than 200 miles long. it was a year of fatal tragedies. the astroh world concert in houston, the condo building in surfside, from. >> it felt like an earthquake. who ever thinks a building is going to collapse on you. >> reporter: the 12-story tower partially collapsed killing nearly 100 people while many

slept. tragedy also reached a movie set in new mexico where alec baldwin fired a live round killing the film's cinematography. some of last year's biggest stories led to this year's biggest triumphs. >> we the jury in the above entitled matter as to count one, unintentional second-degree murder while committing a felony find the defendant guilty. >> reporter: a jury found former minneapolis police officer derrick chauvin guilty of murdering george floyd, a verdict celebrated outside the courthouses and beyond. in georgia, three white men were convicted of murdering ahmaud arbery. >> rittenhouse not guilty. >> reporter: the wisconsin teenager was found not guilty on charges after shooting three men during protests last year. exasser baiting the growing political chasm in america in a year already filled with pointed

contention and debates over issues including abortion and transgender rights. political harmony was not totally elusive. >> bravo. >> reporter: capitol hill lawmakers passed a bipartisan infrastructure bill and overwhelmingly voted to make juneteenth a federal holiday. if you thought our politics would settle down after the last election think again. the year started with democrats flipping two senate seats in georgia and ended with republicans flipping the governor's seat in virginia. overseas, america ended a 20-year war in afghanistan pulling the last remaining u.s. troops out country. the world watched as the taliban rapidly regained control. >> kabul is falling now. >> reporter: the chaotic final days, a suicide bomber killed 13

service medicals, all of it sparking international criticism for how the withdrawal was handled. president biden stood by his decision. >> after 20 years of war in afghanistan, i refuse to send another generation of america's sons and daughters to fight a war that should have ended long ago. >> reporter: in october, world leaders gathered once again in person in rome for the g20 conference. then in glasgow for the u.n. climate conference. notably missing, queen elizabeth, forced to bow out over health concerns. it was a challenging year for the royal family, starting in march when prince harry and meghan markle salt down for a headline making interview with oprah winfrey. >> there is a conversation with you -- >> with harry. >> about how dark your baby is going to be. >> potentially, and what it would mean or lock like. >> that conversation i'm never

going to share. >> reporter: the royals also said good-bye to the queen's husband of more than 70 years, for instance philip, who died at the age of 99. his, one of many notable deaths this year. senator colin powell, senator rob dole, actress cicely tyson, bradway's sound him, the sounds of music's christopher plummer. ♪♪ >> reporter: and so many more. >> this is jeopardy! >> reporter: it was the year that jeopardy struggled to find a permanent host. >> welcome to the second of our three semifinal matches. >> reporter: britney was finally freed from her conservatorship. and our friends reunited. that movie block busters made their long awaited return, along with broadway, and adele ♪♪

>> reporter: the olympic flame belatedly burned russian one year later than planned as tokyo hosted the 2020 games in 2021. simone biles withdrew from several events to focus on her mental health. >> i have to focus on my mental well-being. that's what i did. >> reporter: tiger woods started swinging again following a serious car crash in california. and billionaires raced to space. even cab tap kirk took a trip to the final frontier. >> i'm so filled with emotion about what just happened. i just -- it is extraordinary. >> reporter: an inspiring reminder of what the future holds. >> i did it, america. >> reporter: we reflect on a year dominated by vaccines, and hope 2022 offers a shot at something even better.

>> the only way 2022 is going to be better is if you get vaccinated and you get your family vaccinated and you do your part. so, please, if you have not done so already, talk to your doctor about getting vaccinated. that's going to do it for me today. thank you for watching. "deadline: white house" starts right after this quick break. his right after this quick break yro. intuit quickbooks helps you manage your payroll taxes. cheers. 100% accurate payroll tax calculations guaranteed.

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hi there, everyone. it's 4:00 in new york, as we come on the air hours now before the last day of the year. the schools in a race against the omicron virus, set to reopen imminently. we have three headlines set to reassure parents vaccines for kids are both safe and necessary. the cdc released the results of two studies today. serious problems because of the vaccine are exceedingly rare in the age group of 5 to 11-year-olds. and the second study shows that all children who became seriously ill over the summer were children who were not vaccinated. the study looked at 700 children under 18 admitted to hospitals with covid-19. the study