abc's christine sloan explains. >> reporter: this morning, a legal battle in the world of higher educationfive former students are suing more than a dozen universities claiming the schools colluded on tuition and participated in a price fixing cartel. >> the lawsuit essentially alleges that these universities got together and artificially limited the amount of financial aid that would be supplied to students that applied to their schools and therefore are officially raised the overall cost of their education. >> reporter: the lawsuit targets some of the most elite universities including brown, georgetown, columbia and yale and claims several of the schools also considered the financial status of wait listed applicants as a factor in whether to grant them admission. >> it's going to be up to the courts to decide whether at least some of these schools gave a disproportionate leg up to the children of wealthy donors as the lawsuit puts it and then if that indeed represented a violation of federal law. >> reporter: under federal law universities are allowed to consult one another on their admi

christine sloan has the details. illions of americans are dealing with the aftermath of a powerful nor'easter that brought blizzard conditions to several states. new england feeling the brunt of the storm. heavy snow blanketing maine into the night. humbling parts of rhode island. two feet of snow in parts of massachusetts and along the coast, the storm send massive waves crashing into neighborhoods. more than 100,000 customers in the state left without power. >> we have a number of issues that made it problematic including flooded roads and down power lines. christine: dear travel hit hard as well. -- air travel hit hard as well. more than 850 delayed. on the roads, cars stuck in the snow. >> we expect it will take until midmorning tomorrow for the roads to be in better condition. christine: these two tractor-trailers overturned in new york. on long island, some areas hit with more than a foot and a half of snow. temperatures are forecast to remain below freezing. the cold temperatures extend as far south as florida,

christine sloan has the details. hristine: as the cases and hostile as asians to record highs, the cdc is out with new guidance on masks, warning that cloth masks provide the least protection and that n95 and kand 95 might be a better option, especially for people at high risk of infection or severe disease. but health officials stopped short of urging all americans to update their face coverings. >> if those masks are not available, a lower quality masks like a surgical mask or double-masking is better than no mask at all. christine: the government is rolling out a program for at home covid tests. americans can get eight tests per month. what insurance companies say it will take time to put the new system in place -- but insurance companies say it will take time to put the new system in place. >> you will be reimbursed for that purchase. it will be bumpy in the next several weeks. christine: as for the free rapid tests the president promised to americans, the white house says those will be available to order next wee

christine sloan has the details.ions of americans dealing with the aftermath of a powerful nor'easter that brought blizzard conditions to several states. new england feeling the brunt of the storm. heavy snow blanketing maine into the night. hurricane force gusts pummeling rhode island. two feet of snow in massachusetts. the storm sent massive waves crashing into neighborhoods, more than 100,000 customers in the state without power. >> a number of issues related to the storm have been especially problematic including flooding, downed power lines and snowfall. reporter: 3500 flights canceled saturday, 850 delayed. on the roads, cars stuck in the snow. >> we expect at least until midmorning tomorrow for roads to be in better condition. reporter: these tractor overturned on 95 in new york. on long island, so mary is hit with a foot of snow -- some areas hit with 1.5 feet of snow. the cold temperatures extend as far south as florida, prompting wind chill alerts and freeze warnings around the sunshine state. abc news, new

abc news reporter christine sloan explains how the situation in texas ended just hours ago. a dramatic scene coming to an end in north, texas a hostage situation at the congregation beth israel synagogue in a suburb outside of fort worth coming to an end sometime around 9 pm today this evening the hrt the hostage rescue team breached the synagogue. they rescued the three hostages and the subject is deceased a massive response from the fbi swat teams and several local police departments the absolute key in hostage. negotiation is gathering information. how much information can you gather? either through the hostage taker or through other means how many people are in there? is there anybody that's hurt and what is his state of mind sources familiar with the investigation? tell abc news an armed man took four people hostage including a rabbi the suspect demanding the release of a known hakistani terrorist off y'all sadiki who is serving 86 years at carswell air force base near fort worth. she had alleged ties to al qaeda and was convicted in 2010 of attempted murder of us soldi

christine sloan, abc news. >> christine, thank you. >>> if you're due money from the irs this year, expect that cash to be delayed. the agency says pandemic-related staffing issues and a backlog of paperwork will slow down the process. right now the agency still has 2 million unprocessed tax returns from last year. tax season begins january 24th. >> it's coming. >>> coming up next, what we are learning about the death of bob saget, plus the emotional tribute from jimmy kimmel overnight. >>> also ahead, hear from the >>> also ahead, hear from the officers who saved a pilot who n is built just for th thr like wine... cheese. you can add points for eating vegetables or being active. i lost 26 pounds and i feel incredible. the all new ww personalpoints program. don't pay until spring! join today at ww.com hurry! offer ends january 17th! age before beauty? why not both? visibly diminish wrinkled skin in... crepe corrector lotion... only from gold bond. [upbeat acoustic music throughout] [upbeat acoustic music throughout] look at these mighty quaker oats... small in size, epic in taste. heart-he

the fbi says the investigation is ongoing christine, sloan abc news, new york. all right now to the pandemic all apple employees are reportedly required to get a covid booster shot the verge first reported the mandate that requires employees who work in stores and in corporate offices to get boosted those who do not get the shot will be tested frequently starting february 15th in october. apple started requiring unvaccinated workers to be tested daily before going into an office vaccinated workers have been tested weekly. and today there will be a mobile covid-19 vaccin. clinic in san jose this runs from 10 am to 3 pm at history, san jose on center road, it's free and you're not you do not need to register or be insured to get vaccinated or boost it. nationwide covid cases continue to go up fueled by the omicron variant the us is reporting an average of 782,000 new cases a day more than $150,000 covid patients are in the hospital a pandemic high and the cdc is updated its guidance on mass saying any mask is better than none, but mass that fit. well like n95s off

if christine sloan has the details. it >> a dramatic scene over in north texas. a hostage situation at the congregation israel synagogue outside fort worth coming to an end late saturday. >> around 9:00 p.m., the hostage rescue and agog. they rescued the hostages. the subject is deceased. >> a massive response from the fbi, swat teams, several police departments. >> today's result which was for safe hostages was really the result of a long day of hard work by nearly 200fr across the region. investigation telus an armed man took for people hostage, including a rabbi. >> the rabbi is a friend of mine. he is a close friend of mine. it's very personal. it's been put out in the med that he was one of the hostages. >> sources tell abc news the suspect demanded the release of a pakistani terrorist, who is serving 86 years near fort worth. she was convicted in 2010 of attempted murder of u.s. soldiers and fbi agents. the white house and department of homeland security were briefed on the situation throughout the day. the fbi says the investigation is ongoing. liz: report

abc 7 news reporter christine sloan has more. s falling across the country, the u.s. is seemingly approaching a transition. the world health organization says we are nearing the end of the emergency phase in the pandemic. health experts say the virus will remain but we have what we need to live with it. >> the virus isn't going away. we may see future surges. but mandates, a lot of those are going to start easing. and what that means is when we see future surges, we are going to have to deploy the tools we have, vaccines, tests, etc. to get through them. christine: for now, those are the first line of defense as we push back against the omicron search. more than 40 u.s. states and territories are reporting decreasing averages, but 9% of u.s. counties are reporting high transmission. utah senator met romney is one of the latest people to get sick. his office says he is asymptomatic and will isolate and work remotely. meantime, many hospitals around the country continue to face overwhelming numbers of patients. >> a shortage of staf

christine sloan has more. christine: with cases falling across the country, the u.s.seemingly approaching a transition, the world health organization saying we are ending of the emergency phase in the pandemic. the virus will remain but we have what we need to live with that health experts say. >> we may see future surges but the restrictions and mandates, a lot of those will really start easing and what that means is when we see future searches, we will have to deploy vaccines, tests, arc to get through them. christine: those tools are the first line of defense as the u.s. continues to push back against the omicron surge. 40 u.s. states and territories report decreasing or, plateauing new case averages but 99% of u.s. counties report high transmission. utah senator mitt romney is one of the latest to get sick. his office says he is asymptomatic and will isolate and work remotely. many hospitals around the country continue to face overwhelming numbers of patients. >> a shortage in staff, trying to get everything. we don't have beds. we're porting an er, trying to make

christine sloan has the details of the incident. >> a dramatic scene now over in north texas. a hostage situation at the congregation beth israel synagogue in a suburb outside of fort worth coming to an end late saturday. >> this evening, the hostage rescue team breached the synagogue. they rescue the three hostages and the subject is deceased. >> after 10 hours, a massive response from the fbi swat teams and several local police departments. >> today's results, which was four safe hostages in the situation resolved, was really a result of a long day of hard work by nearly 200 law enforcement officers from across this region, the fbi, atf, and texas dps. >> sources familiar tell abc an armed man took four people hostage including a rabbi. >> the rabbi is a personal friend of mind. he is a close friend of mine and so obviously it is very personal , as it has been put out in the media that he was one of the hostages. >> sources also tell abc news the suspect demanded the release of a known pakistani terrorist who is serving 86 years at carswell air force base near fort worth. sh