[0:02][Music]
[0:14]don't worry you didn't sleep through it this is just a drill there are still two more days left in 2021 in new york's times square people practiced ringing in the new year and the annual confetti
[0:24]test there were several run-throughs atop the hard rock cafe until the pieces of colored paper filled the sky just right just a fraction of the more than 1.5 tons of confetti come midnight
[0:35]january first the crossroads of the world set to host a smaller vaccinated and massed up crowd heading into the new year a relentless kobit 19 surge the omicron
[0:46]and delta variants crippling states from coast to coast as the cdc reports record-breaking case numbers for a single day three americans now testing positive every second georgia and
[0:57]washington now tripling their case averages as hospitalizations are on the rise the demand for testing soars long lines and hours of waiting impacting millions across the country but growing
[1:08]concerns on the effectiveness of rapid antigen tests detecting the ultra contagious omicron variant dr fauci is standing by to give us the very latest major airlines cancel hundreds more
[1:19]flights today as covert wreaks havoc on essential staff the tsa expecting to screen over 14 million passengers with some of the busiest air travel days still ahead and danger on the roadways
[1:31]at least 15 states on a winter weather alert heavy snow and freezing rain barreling down on the west causing hundreds of accidents and road closures with over 15 million in the path of severe storms from louisiana to north
[1:43]carolina our rob marciano tracking it all for us breaking news a verdict reach in the federal trial of glenn maxwell in new york maxwell found guilty on five of six
[1:53]counts including sex trafficking of minors for longtime associate jeffrey epstein our team is on the ground to break it down for us celebrating the life and legacy of two legends tonight former senate majority
[2:05]leader harry reid's remarkable rise from poverty to the halls of power and legendary football coach john madden he makes that plot right there the face and voice of the nfl for more than four
[2:16]decades the tributes pouring in for both men tonight and literally putting zimbabwe on the map how one man's dream to get his hometown a google street view brought
[2:26]the african nations map into the 21st century one road one highway at a time the map is never final people are constantly adding more context more
[2:36]perspectives more adding more voices towards the representation of these places [Music] good evening i'm rachel scott in for
[2:46]lindsey davis thanks for streaming with us we'll get right to that verdict in the trial against gillane maxwell a close friend of deceased financer jeffrey epstein shortly but we begin
[2:56]with the tsunami of covet cases that's what the wh warned today over concerns about the delta and omicron variants surging at the exact same time around
[3:06]the globe the u.k france greece and italy all reporting new records for daily coveted cases today and omicron is running rampant here across this country
[3:16]data showing the u.s now averaging more cases a day than at any other point during the pandemic all of this during a holiday week of high travel and more americans gathering and americans are
[3:27]once again spending hours in long lines for testing amid high demand and nationwide shortages as the biden administration defends the cdc's new guidance on quarantine and testing it's
[3:37]become a perfect storm as we head toward the new year and while omicron may ultimately prove to be less dangerous there's still great concern over the impact on health systems and a potentially very bleak january of
[3:48]infections and hospitalizations dr fauci is standing by on the latest developments and we begin with abc's trevor alt tonight a tidal wave of infections as
[3:59]covet cases shatter record highs set at the peak of last winter's surge the u.s now averaging 277 000 cases a day about three americans testing positive every
[4:10]second what i expect is the next couple of weeks we're going to see increasing numbers of infections our pandemic high was 250 000 infections in a day no doubt we'll at least hit a half uh
[4:21]half a million we might hit a million a day but even with cases exploding past their prior peak the number of americans fighting coveted in hospitals is much lower than we saw in the darkest days of
[4:31]january while it's good news that omicron appears to be less severe than the delta variant you know with a sheer number of infections we are going to see unfortunately pressure on the hospital
[4:42]systems and so many hospitals across the country are already buckling under the weight of these infections luminous health doctors community hospital telling our affiliate wjla 52 of their
[4:53]employees are out sick with covent you can have physical beds but having staff to be able to provide that care is one of the challenges that we're having currently we're full we're full that
[5:04]staff shortage combined with a surge in patients is making it far harder to care for coveted patients like edgar when they breathe tonight federal health officials insist
[5:16]the growing testing shortages are not the reason the cdc updated its guidelines to shorten the isolation time to five days without recommending americans test negative at the end of it
[5:28]today c-d-c director dr rachelle wallensky defending the move saying a positive test result doesn't necessarily mean a person is still transmissible we do know that the vast majority of viral
[5:39]transmission happens in those first five days somewhere in the 85 10 90 percent range so we're really talking if you can isolate for those first five days that would be great across the country those
[5:50]long lines are still snaking through testing sites from maryland to massachusetts to florida where this site had to shut down as they hit capacity i've been waiting here for about two
[6:00]hours now and today new york city popping up several new sites to meet demand but that spike in demand leading to long waits it shouldn't be that people who are concerned about testing
[6:11]positive have to wait out here in the colds especially the elderly and the fda now says early data suggests rapid antigen tests still work to detect omicron including many at-home cova
[6:21]tests but they may have reduced sensitivity we still are encouraging their use they may not work as well as they had for the delta variant and tonight children's hospitals are sounding the alarm about the
[6:32]accelerating covet impact with pediatric hospitalizations doubling in the last month our most precious commodity in this united states of america is our children
[6:43]and right now we're on fire a strong message for the unvaccinated trevor joins us now trevor want to get back to the cdc director also pointing to practical reasons behind those new
[6:55]isolation recommendations saying many people don't even follow the guidance to begin with yeah that's right rachel so the cdc director says they've seen a number of studies that show when people are asked
[7:05]to isolate only as much as a third of them are actually doing it and dr wolenski says these guidelines are based in science don't get me wrong but she also says they wanted to give some guidance that people seem likely to
[7:17]actually follow rachel all right trevor all tracking it all for us trevor thank you thanks joining us now to dive a little deeper
[7:27]is dr anthony fauci dr fauci thank you so much for being here i want to get right to it with an average of three americans testing positive every second was this really the time to shorten the
[7:39]cdc guidelines for some americans well you don't want to confuse what the rationale for that was the shortening of the period of
[7:50]isolation for an infected asymptomatic person was in order to be able to get people back to the workplace particularly
[8:01]when you're talking about the critical jobs that are necessary for the functioning of society when you have an overwhelming number of infections that we're seeing
[8:12]right now and that we likely will see accelerate in the next couple of months there's a risk of really being able to not function well
[8:22]in society for critical positions and critical jobs the alternative would be something that nobody wants and that's to shut down the country
[8:33]completely some healthcare professionals are taking a social media saying that these guidelines are based on idealistic expectations i mean we know mass compliance is low in some parts of the
[8:44]country so is it a mistake to not require people to get tested before they go back out into public if they do test positive well it depends on what you want the
[8:55]test to mean the actual antigen tests that we're talking about do not have any real predictive value as
[9:04]to the transmissibility when you're six seven eight nine ten days into an infection these tests are good for surveillance to
[9:15]determine who is infected and who is not but they were never meant to determine that the level to which someone is transmissible to someone else and i
[9:26]think that's one of the misunderstandings that the director of the cdc try to explain today at the press conference
[9:37]the cdc was pushed by the private sector to make some of these changes we heard from the ceo of delta writing a letter calling for a shorter isolation period warning that 10 days would significantly
[9:47]impact operations so bottom line here are these new guidelines motivated by science or by business well as i just mentioned the scientific basis
[9:58]is what we just mentioned you can get people safely back out in a five-day period so long as they wear a mask if they are without symptoms
[10:09]that is the science the impact of that is to try and not be in a situation where we essentially have to shut down the entire country
[10:20]this was not done because of any statement by any ceo of any company i want to turn to testing the administration we know is preparing to ship out 500 million rapid tests to
[10:31]americans at home despite these new fda warnings about their sensitivity so should antigen tests be avoided when possible should americans trust these
[10:41]tests there is always a very important place for antigen tests they are never have been
[10:51]100 percent sensitive if you want to definitively find out if someone is infected for example if someone has symptoms and has reason to
[11:01]believe they're infected the test to use is a pcr test which has a high degree of sensitivity and specificity
[11:12]if you want to do surveillance in which you're going to be repeating a test more than once the antigen test is a good way to do that
[11:22]against omicron the sensitivity is somewhat diminished but not enough to make the tests not useful they are still useful
[11:33]under the circumstances of broad surveillance to see if a person or a group is infected last question here do you think it's too early for some to be breathing a sigh of
[11:45]relief about omicron being potentially less severe yes i think it would be too premature we are heartened by the fact
[11:55]that from the south african data the data from the uk and the accumulating data in the united states that it looks like it is less severe
[12:05]it's much more transmissible which is something you need to take seriously because even though you may have less degree of severity the sheer volume
[12:16]of new infections might obviate that advantage of it being less severe so even though we're heartened by that i don't think we should be declaring
[12:26]any kind of a victory that while now we have a less severe virus we've got to make sure we take it very seriously as we do with any variant and your message to americans out there
[12:37]getting ready to celebrate new year's well as i've said many times if you're vaccinated and you're boosted and you want a family gathering in your
[12:48]home with other vaccinated and boosted people although the risk is not zero the risk is very low
[12:57]what i would suggest people do not do is to go to very large 50 to 60 person parties where people are blowing whistles and all that sort of thing
[13:09]and celebrating and you don't know the vaccination status of the people in that environment that would be a risky situation
[13:18]that i would recommend against dr fauci we appreciate your time thank you thank you thank you for having me and next to the breaking news a federal
[13:30]jury has found glenn maxwell the ex-girlfriend and long-time associate of jeffrey epstein guilty on five of six counts related to sexual abuse and trafficking of underage girls abc's area
[13:41]reshef brings us this report tonight that bombshell verdict galen maxwell guilty on five of six counts in her high profile sex trafficking trial the british socialite who once ran in
[13:53]the circles of presidents and princes let out the back of the courtroom by two u.s marshals now facing up to 65 years behind bars a jury of six men and six women
[14:04]deliberating nearly 40 hours finding maxwell guilty on the most serious sex trafficking charges a unanimous jury has found glenn maxwell guilty of one of the
[14:15]worst crimes imaginable facilitating and participating in the sexual abuse of children crimes that she committed with her longtime partner and co-conspirator
[14:26]jeffrey epstein maxwell the former girlfriend of disgraced financier and convicted sex offender jeffrey epstein has been in jail since her dramatic arrest at a new hampshire estate in the
[14:37]summer of 2020. prosecutors calling her a serial predator who helped epstein sexually abuse underage girls between
[14:44]1994 and 2004 epstein and maxwell known for their lavish lifestyle the government claiming there was a dark side to the globetrotting pair and that
[14:54]maxwell was epstein's partnering crime inviting young girls to give him explicit massages managing the details right down to the lotions and the oils prosecutors said maxwell did it to keep
[15:06]epstein satisfied and to maintain her status the case against maxwell hinging on the accounts of three women who in emotional and at times graphic testimony said maxwell played a central role in
[15:17]their sexual abuse beginning when they were just teenagers and lasting for years but throughout her defense team claiming maxwell is innocent saying she became a scapegoat after epstein died by
[15:28]suicide in his jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial and let's get right to ariel reshef who has been covering this story from the very beginning and arielle no sentencing
[15:40]date was set for maxwell in court today but she is facing decades behind bars that's right rachel the defense saying they didn't want to move forward with sentencing until maxwell receives her
[15:50]booster shot in light of the rapidly spreading omicron variant maxwell spent her 60th birthday on christmas waiting for this verdict she now faces the prospect of spending the rest of her
[16:01]life in prison rachel and it was a bombshell verdict as you said arielle thank you we turn now to the dangerous winter weather conditions gripping parts of the
[16:11]country 15 states under storm alerts everything from snow to the threat of tornadoes on the table depending on where you live abc's morgan norwood has the latest
[16:21]extreme cold heavy snow in avalanche danger winter storms are bearing down on the west in northern california poor road conditions snarling traffic for miles near lake tahoe the record
[16:33]snowfall blanketing this backyard in a matter of hours a close call in oregon this massive tree collapsing onto the highway just narrowly missing this transportation worker who happened to be
[16:44]driving through the snow and ice making for treacherous conditions in washington state drivers struggling to navigate slick and slippery streets i got some ice here in
[16:55]the wheelbarrow that i'm trying to kind of dig out blizzard conditions also raging through the midwest from illinois to wisconsin where a fleet of snow plows race to clear roads and highways
[17:06]definitely stay back give them the room to do the work because they're out there just trying to make the roads safer everybody while the snow and ice wreak havoc across the country it's a welcome sight for ski resorts and skiers i've been over the
[17:17]snow in years i'm like oh my gosh it would be nice get some nice cool weather and yeah just have a good time our thanks to morgan and our weather team is tracking the current severe
[17:28]weather threat for millions in the south as another round of heavy snow and torrential rain slams parts of the west abc's rob marciano has our forecast hey rob hi rachel very active pattern across
[17:39]much of the country and then this record warmth across the southeast again today is feeding these thunderstorms that are rolling through dixie alley right now tornado watches extending now into georgia take a look until at least 10
[17:50]o'clock they may extend it farther to the east that line that moved through tupelo and nashville had some damaging winds just a couple of spin-up tornadoes reported and we'll look for this to continue to
[18:02]push through atlanta overnight tonight and then weakening somewhat during the morning hours tomorrow the next system dropping down into california this one may be the strongest one yet and it gets all the way down into southern
[18:12]california kind of stays there and gathers its strength and that's bad news for orange county san diego even southern parts of los angeles you see that plume of moisture there we could see some flash flooding and debris flows
[18:23]flood watches are posted and winter storm warnings for some of the mountains near los angeles as well so more in the way of mountain snow avalanche warnings difficult driving through some of those mountain passes for sure stay on the
[18:34]main roads officials are warning people not to use their phone apps which will take them to smaller roads that are getting people into some trouble that piece of energy gets into the planes for yet another severe weather threat across
[18:46]the south come new year's eve into new year's day rachel oh well the west bracing for that winter storm right rob thanks you bet
[18:56]and the tributes continue to pour in for long time senator harry reid president biden called him one of the all-time great majority leaders his path to the halls of the capitol was anything but
[19:07]traditional though abc's mary alice parks has a look back on his life the late senate majority leader harry reid a proud son of nevada grew up in a small mining town in the shadow of the
[19:18]great depression his family had no indoor toilet or running water he was a fighter in every sense an amateur boxer turned lawyer who went on to serve in the u.s senate for 30 years one of the
[19:30]nation's longest serving senate majority leaders i didn't make it in life because my athletic prowess i didn't make it because of my good looks
[19:40]i didn't make it because i'm a genius i made it because i worked hard reid was so soft-spoken he could be hard to hear but he was known for his shrewd deal-making and tenacity it's been a
[19:52]long hard road for all of us in the senate he was instrumental in passing the historic affordable care act to give health insurance to millions for the first time we stand on the doorstep of history
[20:02]we recognize that but much more important we stand so close to making so many individual lives better president obama sharing a personal letter he wrote to read
[20:13]recently saying i wouldn't have been president had it not been for your encouragement and support we both saw something of ourselves in each other a couple of outsiders who defied the odds
[20:24]knew how to take a punch and cared about the little guy senate minority leader mitch mcconnell saying reed was a pivotal figure writing fondly of his old sparring partner i never doubted that
[20:34]harry was always doing what he earnestly deeply felt was right for nevada and our country but one of reed's proudest accomplishments was his family a father of five and grandfather to 19 his wife
[20:45]of 62 years saying she's heartbroken our thanks to mary alice parks and when we come back the video investigators are looking at for their inquiry into a
[20:55]deadly shooting spree earlier this week did alexa encourage a kid to try a potentially fatal tick-tock challenge what one mom is claiming but up next could the key to a clean future lie in
[21:07]this desert stay with us with so much at stake so much on the line more americans turn here than any place else abc news world news tonight
[21:19]with david muir america's number one most watched newscast now streaming on abc news live it was a scary time in the 70s you had multiple bodies showing up in los
[21:31]angeles there were so many murders happening you had to have a name for it serial killer there was a human head in there this was pre-meditated evil
[21:41]we have this clock this person is going to do this again it's me against the killer who's going to win we'll see who laughs last what came next was unlike anything they
[21:54]had ever seen admit it these days what you need to know seems to change just about every day what is it that you really want to know need to know to help you not just get
[22:06]through your day but to make the most of it feel smarter feel better feel happier well how about a third hour of good morning america gma 3 what you need to
[22:17]know now streaming on abc news live it's all about you i risked my life i put my family in
[22:30]danger if i was caught they would have put a bullet in my head but it was the right thing to do it was the only thing to do
[22:40]terror plot foiled in garden city kansas that would have been one of the most deadly acts of domestic terrorism ever in the united states it would have been oklahoma city
[22:49]he put his family himself in jeopardy for us [Music] 24 hours assault on the capital the abc
[23:07]news original exclusively on hulu now streaming this is what being live is all about this is abc news live all right we're gonna move on let's move on we're
[23:19]surrounded by people not afraid to go there so my question mr president what are you so afraid of breaking news live events this is the
[23:30]moment streaming straight to you anytime anywhere you just met one friend right here you're watching abc news live thanks for streaming with us
[23:41]national parks are incredibly safe places a prime will happen my wife at that time i thought it was just
[23:53]tragic accident there's still a lot of questions we need to ask there were small things that didn't totally add up this is two lives for harold that have
[24:03]died now i was shocked something's not right [Music] and welcome back some scientists are
[24:15]growing quite alarmed about the weather conditions this month in parts of alaska it was 67 degrees on kodiak island which at one point one climatologist said he didn't even think was possible until it
[24:26]happened parts of the state continue to experience record amounts of rain government officials say alaska has been warming twice as quickly as the global average since the mid 20th century next
[24:37]we travel deep into the mojave desert to the only place in the u.s where lithium is being commercially mined lithium is a key component in batteries in places like these could be vital in our fight against climate change chief
[24:48]meteorologist ginger zee has this report [Music] the critical element that powers our
[24:59]fast and loud world comes from some of the quietest most desolate land on earth listen we need lithium to fight climate
[25:12]change it can power electric vehicles laptops and the lithium that helps to power our phones looks like this you can see why it's sometimes called white gold
[25:22]but the only state that is commercially producing lithium right now nevada but las vegas is not where it's at we got to get into the mojave desert we drive four hours northwest of vegas
[25:37]right through the mojave desert and into esmeralda county now this is a county that does not even have a gas station or a traffic light but they do have lithium i was really thinking that it would look
[25:48]like no man's land and it does let's do this let's find some lithium check this out between 2008 and 2018
[25:59]annual global production of lithium more than tripled now by 2030 it's expected to go up more than a thousand percent lithium production in the u.s it's just
[26:08]tiny compared to australia south america and china more than half the world's lithium is produced in chile in australia they're mining for it in solid form here at silver peak they're not mining
[26:22]rock they're farming lithium these brilliant blue pools come from wells that tapped underground salt aquifers each of them nearly 500 football fields
[26:33]long are rich in lithium it's the lightest metal known to man it's very energy dense that reactivity in nature makes it hard to come by so what's happening here in this closed
[26:44]basin over tens of thousands of years is mother nature gradually bringing it into this valley like any other mineral that's extracted in a liquid form you're going down anywhere from a couple
[26:56]hundred to a couple thousand feet now once the original well is drilled it goes through a series of ponds they look beautiful the sun and the arid nature of
[27:05]nevada here takes care of the processing 18 months later lithium carbonate how much do you all mine around the world it's about 85 000 metric tons of
[27:17]lithium carbonate here it's 5 000 of that 85 so a small amount which is why we're looking to double it does it have an agricultural or impact to the land surrounding so that
[27:28]water untouched would remain underground and it wouldn't have a benefit effectively we're not using water that would otherwise be used for an agricultural purpose evaporation is not the only way
[27:40]though to get lithium out when you mine it out of the rock it can be harder on the earth toxic waste emissions and pollution but the government says we can regulate that here's the other deal
[27:50]though lithium is finite we have to find a way to recycle it the promise of a renewable industry we believe is important is the recycling of lithium so the idea would be we get to a
[28:00]point where you recycle the resource but that is something that we need to work on big time in this country and the globe during president trump's administration there was a big call to up the ante and
[28:10]produce more minerals like lithium right here in the u.s and we've got it california for example could produce up to 40 percent of the global lithium demand so far we have not been a big player in
[28:22]the lithium market but that could change we just got to get the technology to extract what is estimated to be an immense amount of lithium in the western u.s so it's not just nevada or
[28:32]california but it's arizona too some of that's going to come from the thousands of acres at two giant lithium projects already planned in nevada one
[28:42]of them is just over rhyolite ridge they could create nine billion dollars in revenue for this part of nevada but they're also endangering a very rare wildflower
[28:53]you can see here this is team spuckweet we're just getting the smallest new little leaves for the spring growth you said as we walk in here please be careful of where we're walking there are
[29:03]only 15 000 of these plants more or less this varietal is not known to grow anywhere else in the world the buckwheat adapted to that lithium-rich soil there is a focus on lithium right now we're
[29:14]calling it the white gold rush here in nevada and it's attracting a lot of attention but i wouldn't say it's worse than any other type of mining lithium is extremely important to tackling the climate crisis if they could build this
[29:26]mine without destroying this little wildflower we would probably walk away from this mine and go find a gold mine to fight instead so that's patrick donnelly he's the nevada state director for the center for biological diversity
[29:37]he says this is not gonna be the same mine that we saw at silver peak this is an open pit mine so this is gonna be much more reminiscent of a gold mine
[29:46]or a copper mine once the mine goes in how long do they have the mining company's own estimates are less than 10 years it will be for them to strip mine this whole area we're left
[29:57]with a big hole in the ground full of toxic pit lake water we are going to put enormous effort to support this plant and we're using the state-of-the-art methods to make sure
[30:08]that there's no leaching of any kind into the soils james callaway the chairman of ionia the company that's overseeing that mine at rhylite ridge he says we got to do it if we're going to
[30:19]catch up with our climate goals we will have enabled the production of 400 000 electric cars every year for the next 50 years it's a symbol of the debate between our
[30:31]energy future and our environment in the present we're facing dual crises there's the climate crisis which poses a threat to all lives on earth but then there's the extinction crisis
[30:42]this is a species of flower that grows nowhere else on earth but right here at rye light ridge if this mine which ostensibly is to prevent climate change from destroying the earth
[30:54]you know perpetuates the extinction crisis then are we really saving the environment and this is why i'm here i got an electric vehicle because i wanted to be a part of a solution then
[31:06]i realized wait a minute i'm sitting on a giant battery that i don't know where it came from or where it's going to go i got to go find out where lithium is and what it is and and to know that we
[31:17]only have one commercial mine in the united states right now we are such a small player but this will make a difference it could it could
[31:27]is it better for us to do it right here than to be getting our phones from lithium in australia or china or south america where we don't know that
[31:37]it's done right for our planet we absolutely need to do it right and right now those impacts are being offshored to distant countries do we need to do it here in america we need to be asking those hard questions about
[31:49]what sacrifices are we going to make our advocacy to protect this little wildflower here does not mean that we're trying to avoid those hard questions and lithium is part of our future and so
[32:00]we need to have a reckoning about how we're going to do it without destroying biodiversity the very important report our thanks to ginger still ahead here on prime the
[32:11]deadly hit and run and the suspect struggling with a deputy during a court appearance today how rescuers pulled one puppy out of a drain and who exactly are the remaining unvaccinated americans we
[32:23]take a look by the numbers but first our host of the day amanda gorman is out with a new poem and guess what it's just in time for the new year it was an extraordinary story a computer
[32:39]salesman was supposed to report to prison to begin a 17-year sentence they let him turn himself into jail with no escort no one thought he would run
[32:49]how do you evade cashier for 25 years how do you do that now join the search following the u.s marshals as they uncover new leads in a global manhunt can you help catch this fugitive have
[32:59]you seen this man have you seen this man have you seen this man listen and join the all-new hunt wherever you get your podcast it was a scary time in the 70s you had multiple bodies showing up in los
[33:11]angeles there were so many murders happening he had to have a name for it serial killer there was a human head in there this was pre-meditated evil
[33:21]you have this clock this person is going to do this again it's me against the killer who's going to win we'll see who laughs last what came next was unlike anything they
[33:34]had ever seen world news now and america this morning the best new video breaking news overnight your money and
[33:43]concerns about inflation the pandemic is not over the stories people are talking about you don't want to shave your legs don't
[33:52][Music] abc world news now and america this morning weekday morning starting at 2
[34:03]a.m eastern up all night to keep you up to date right now with so much at stake sunday mornings this is the place taking on all the tough questions
[34:13]straightforward reporting no spin no hype no bull see why sunday mornings more and more americans are now turning first to abc's this week with george
[34:24]stephanopoulos welcome to this week [Applause]
[34:33][Music] i'll be there [Music]
[34:46][Applause] i'll be there
[34:52][Music]
[35:04]good morning america [Applause] this is what being live is all about this is abc news live all right you're going to move on let's do that we're
[35:14]surrounded so my question mr president what are you so afraid of breaking news live events this is the
[35:25]moment streaming straight to you anytime anywhere you just met one friend right here you're watching abc news live thanks for
[35:35]streaming with us as the omicron and delta variants rage across the country there are still so many americans who remain unvaccinated so who are they and why are they not
[35:47]getting the shot let's take a look by the numbers 15 that's the portion of adults here in the u.s who haven't taken at least one dose of the coba 19 vaccine according to the
[35:58]cdc so what's driving those holdouts well about 50 percent of unvaccinated respondents in a new survey say they were concerned about possible side effects now that's according to the household poll survey from the u.s
[36:09]census bureau taken in early december respondents could choose more than one reason and distrust was a key factor as well 42 percent say they quote don't
[36:19]trust the coven 19 vaccine while 35 percent said they don't trust the government 22 percent said they didn't think covid was that big of a threat low on the list of reasons for not taking
[36:30]the vaccine only about 2 percent said they have not gotten their shot because of difficulty obtaining one unvaccinated adults also differ from the vaccinated
[36:39]in some key measures about 75 percent of the unvaccinated surveyed were under the age of 50. the unvaccinated also had lower levels of education on average those who had taken at least one dose or
[36:51]two times as likely as the unvaccinated to have a college degree or higher but there's one data point that is very key here that health officials underscore nearly all of those who have been
[37:02]hospitalized or died from covid 19 in the recent months have been unvaccinated and still ahead here on prime we're tracking the travel headaches being
[37:11]experienced by so many one airline with 20 hour call wait times the new high stakes talk set between president biden and president putin what we know
[37:21]and the fancy toys prosecutors say one man bought with cobit relief funds but first a look at our top trending stories on abcnews.com
[37:30][Music] [Applause]
[37:40][Music] the most powerful stories of our time anytime nightline
[37:51]it was an extraordinary story a computer salesman was supposed to report to prison to begin a 17-year sentence they let him turn himself into jail with no
[38:01]escort no one thought he would run how do you evade catcher for 25 years how do you do that now join the search following the u.s marshals as they uncover new leads in a global manhunt
[38:12]can you help catch this fugitive have you seen this man have you seen this man have you seen this man listen and join the all-new hunt wherever you get your podcast now streaming on abc news live
[38:23]2020 true crime cinematic real life trauma stunning the unthinkable follow the clues the hunt true crime 2020 now
[38:34]streaming on abc news live national parks are incredibly safe places a prime will happen my wife has fallen she's been
[38:46]at that time i thought it was just tragic accident there's still a lot of questions we need to ask there were small things that didn't totally add up
[38:56]this is two lives for harold that have died now i was shocked something's not right [Music]
[39:06]admit it these days what you need to know seems to change just about every day what is it that you really want to know need to know to help you not just get through your day but to make the most of
[39:18]it feel smarter feel better feel happier well how about a third hour of good morning america gma 3 what you need to
[39:28]know now streaming on abc news live it's all about you [Music] i know what happened and i'm not guilty
[39:39]why the fascination with criminal trials and figure out what's really out there she revealed she had murdered his family
[39:48]i know in my heart they did this it's the time of suspicion the ending's really tough you don't know whether truth is going to be difficult to find
[40:00]unless you try to find it this is what being live is all about
[40:10]this is abc news live all right we're going to move on let's do that we're surrounded by people squeezing into this bomb shelter we're on an urgent delivery run not afraid to go there so my question mr president what are you so
[40:22]afraid of breaking news live events this is the moment streaming straight to you anytime anywhere you just met one friend right here
[40:33]you're watching abc news live thanks for streaming with us [Music] covet cases in the u.s now topping
[40:46]277 thousand a day and rising due to omicron more daily infections than any point in the pandemic the cdc now defending its new guidelines for those
[40:57]who are asymptomatic or have been exposed to covet 19. cdc director dr rochelle wallensky saying they're not recommending asymptomatic people first test negative before coming out of a
[41:07]five-day isolation period we do know that the vast majority of viral transmission happens in those first five days the alternative would be something that nobody wants
[41:18]and that's to shut down the country completely lines at testing sites are stretching for blocks from ohio to texas and new york extreme violence unfolding across seven
[41:30]different crime scenes today investigators are analyzing this newly released security cam snapshot of a shadowy figure spotted at one of those scenes the terror ending in this
[41:41]shopping center after a gun battle with police the gunman killed by officers memorials are growing outside of the tattoo shop in denver where three people were shot monday i'm still having
[41:52]trouble you know absorbing it it's just a shock to everybody alfredo cardenas daughter alysia cardenas was shot to death police say cardenas was an
[42:02]acquaintance of the suspected gunman 47-year-old lyndon james macleod police saying mcleod had been investigated in 2020 and 2021 and was known to harbor
[42:13]extremist views based on what we know it does appear that the offender was targeting specific people six people died in the shooting including the gunman
[42:24]police in prince george's county say professional heavyweight boxer danny kelly jr was killed in front of his girlfriend and their three young children on christmas eve every time i
[42:33]close my eyes to repair my head i don't want to close my eyes because i don't want to think about it glenniscanard says they had been out shopping kelly was behind the wheel of their suv on a
[42:44]busy road when she says they spotted an erratic driver crossing lanes the whole turn canard says it happened fast a quick exchange of words before someone in the
[42:55]other vehicle pulled a gun police now offering a 25 thousand dollar reward president biden and russian president vladimir putin scheduled to speak tomorrow over the tensions involving
[43:06]ukraine the white house confirms putin requested the call to discuss several issues the biden administration concerned about the tens of thousands of russian troops on the border russia has
[43:16]not de-escalated its military presence there since the two leaders last spoke earlier this month a florida man has been charged with fraud allegedly using covet 19 relief
[43:28]funds to pay for a lavish lifestyle police say 27 year old velisky barossa of fort lauderdale obtained more than 2.1 million dollars in ppp loans using
[43:39]the funds to buy a lamborghini luxury cars and designer clothes from louis vuitton gucci and chanel the government program for forgivable loans is intended
[43:50]to help small businesses in the pandemic of the host of charges including wire fraud if convicted rosi faces up to 132 years in prison
[44:01]i was so freaked out i'm like no alexa no a warning for parents to listen up to their alexa devices according to kristen live doll her 10 year old asked their
[44:11]amazon echo for a challenge hoping to get a fun physical activity but what she heard instead was shocking liv dahl says alexa came up with a potentially dangerous challenge popularized on tick
[44:23]tock plug a phone charger part way in and then touch the exposed proms with a penny mcdoll says her daughter was too smart to actually follow alexa's
[44:35]alarming instructions but she contacted amazon the company telling abc news quote we took swift action to fix it the omicron surge continues to impact
[44:47]holiday travel as more than 700 flights were canceled this morning alone abc's maria viral is following it all for us tonight extreme weather on the move and
[44:57]millions of travelers are two in the south severe thunderstorms taking aim this possible tornado in southwest georgia
[45:07]in the west crews preparing for another round of heavy mountain snow and torrential rain this is i-80 in placer county california traffic backups hindering first
[45:19]responders authorities urging people to stay off the roads the menacing weather combined with covet related staffing issues crippling air
[45:29]travel all week nearly 7 000 flights canceled since christmas eve more than 900 today at the u.s airlines uh 90 percent or more of employees
[45:40]at the largest carriers are vaccinated but omicron has shown it's elusive and it's random seattle's airport had the most canceled
[45:50]flights in the world for the second day in a row that's the main hub for alaska airlines tonight they're warning customers of 20 hour wait times on the phone
[46:01]urging flyers with nonessential travel schedule before january 2nd 2022 to consider changing their travel to a later date
[46:11]a travel nightmare maria joins us now maria with so many cancellations today do we know what travelers should expect tomorrow
[46:20]rachel if you can believe it already 500 flights more than 500 actually have already been canceled for tomorrow here in the u.s definitely not good news seeing as we have about 12 and a half
[46:32]million people that are expected to travel from now through january third which gets us right through the holiday that travel nightmare far from over maria thank you
[46:43]we turn now to the bizarre scene in court after a suspect accused of plowing into children a deadly hit and run gets into a struggle with a florida deputy here's abc's victor okendo
[46:53]tonight the man allegedly behind the wheel of a deadly hit-and-run erupting in court the outburst as charges were read
[47:03]against 27-year-old sean charles greer the broward sheriff's office says greer was driving a 2009 honda accord hitting and killing two children sending four
[47:14]others to the hospital and driving off leaving them for dead on a sidewalk on monday she pinned underneath the car help help evidence left behind at the
[47:23]scene like the car's bumper and witness statements eventually helped authorities track down the car and take greer into custody the children who died five-year-old kylie jones and
[47:34]six-year-old andrea fleming the children who were injured ranged from 2 to 10 years old in arrest documents a woman telling police that grier said i bleeped
[47:44]up and my bumper came off and caused a crash the woman said he asked if the cops come by don't tell them whose car that is adding that grier's mom picked
[47:52]him up and he left his car behind and our thanks to victor we're tracking several headlines around the world china further cracking down on descent in hong kong police officers there raided the
[48:04]office of stan news a pro-democracy news outlet after arresting six staff members for conspiracy to publish seditious material stan news said it would shut down immediately and mcdonald's in japan
[48:16]is calling for some backup y'all after being hit by a national potato shortage three 747s will head to japan to help with the spud shortage that is causing mcdonald's to ration out its french
[48:27]fries yes only small sizes are offered thankfully this will be short-lived medium and large surprise that the fast food chain will resume on december 31st
[48:38]right in time for the new year and this is perhaps every dog owner's worst nightmare a dog stuck inside a pipe in a wall luckily spanish police were able to rescue the german shepherd by cutting
[48:49]through the wall on the pipe the dog was not harmed and was handed back to its very relieved owner it's unclear how the puppy even got there people across the country are celebrating the life of john madden one
[49:00]of the country's beloved sports figures here's abc's kaylie hartung tonight the world of sports honoring the life of a giant among them john madden
[49:10]epitomizes coaching greatness from the super bowl [Music] to the broadcasting booth never at a
[49:21]loss for words we want to throw those short little things where he can come back set up boom right there boom you go boom you get them using that telestrator to draw viewers in even when it didn't
[49:33]have anything to do with the game if this guy here is pointing to this and if he takes this and dumps it on that he'll be the player of the game our michael strahan tweeting when you played and
[49:43]john madden was on the call it was time to shine troy aikman calling him a treasure and an incredible friend on thanksgiving he was an institution
[49:52]you cut it like right down here and he was just as good as a pitch man from beer why could i go for a nice cold white
[50:02]beer for miller to foot powder boom tough acting tinactin he transcended generations with the help of his iconic madden nfl video game series
[50:12]hello and welcome to madden nfl 09 richard sherman tweeting it was one of my greatest honors to grace the cover of your video game thank you for the years of joy and motivation
[50:23]i have never worked a day in my life i went from player to coach to a broadcaster and i am the luckiest guy in the world this
[50:34]has been the sweetest ride of them all thank you the life of a giant indeed our thanks to
[50:45]kaylee for that and coming up on prime what one man did to finally get his community on the map [Music]
[50:54]more americans choose abc news america's number one news source this is what being live is all about this is abc news live all right we're
[51:06]gonna move out let's see that we're surrounded by people squeezing into this bomb shelter we're on an urgent delivery run not afraid to go there so my question mr president what are you so afraid of
[51:15]breaking news live events this is the moment streaming straight to you anytime anywhere you just met one friend right here
[51:26]you're watching abc news live thanks for streaming with us admit it these days what you need to know seems to change just about every day what is it that you really want to know
[51:37]need to know to help you not just get through your day but to make the most of it feel smarter feel better feel happier well how about a third hour of good
[51:47]morning america gma 3 what you need to know now streaming on abc news live it's all about you
[51:57][Music] the ladies you love the hottest topics happening now there's only one place to find it all you guys are having the hard conversations i love the view the most
[52:09]watched number one daytime talk show is the view now streaming on abc news live it was a scary time in the 70s you had multiple bodies showing up in los angeles
[52:20]there were so many murders happening he had to have a name for it serial killer there was a human head in there this was pre-meditated evil you have this clock this person is going
[52:31]to do this again it's me against the killer who's going to win we'll see who laughs last [Music] what came next was unlike anything they
[52:42]had ever seen [Music] [Applause] [Music]
[52:54]when you wake up in the morning i'll be by [Music]
[53:04][Applause] i'll be there
[53:10][Music]
[53:22]good morning america abc news honors winner of nine edward r murrow awards more than any other network including winning for the third
[53:32]straight year the award for overall excellence in television abc news is america's number one news source with so much at stake more americans
[53:42]turn here than any other newscast abc news world news tonight with david muir america's number one newscast and the number one program on television
[53:53][Music] welcome back all right so what would you do if you looked up your town on google street view and couldn't find it well tonight our lindsey davis brings us one
[54:04]man's mission to get his hometown on the map with just one click google street view can transport you to just about any location all from the comfort of your couch and yet there are
[54:16]still some places that remain largely inaccessible to the virtual travelers it's generally accepted that coverage usually begins from the united states and western europe of some of
[54:27]these products and then it gradually spreads across the rest of the world and the pace at which that happens can be really slow we are becoming increasingly dependent on location
[54:38]and navigation tools from everyday service delivery to public health and safety more so over the last couple of years entered to wanda kanhima when the
[54:49]native of zimbabwe tried to find his hometown harare on google street view the on-the-ground imagery wasn't there i was having dinner with friends and my
[54:58]friend's dad asked me to show him my mom's house on the map and you know we all have the habit of looking up our home the first thing we pick up a map
[55:10]and so for me that's something i had done before and i knew that i could not find my hometown on the map this was something that probably many people experience
[55:22]and i wanted to know what i could i could do about it kanhima took action he reached out to google they loaned him a 360 camera and
[55:32]off he went to zimbabwe [Music] i spoke to the team told them about zimbabwe and you know 14 of the countries in the southern africa region
[55:42]that i thought would make an interesting place to represent on this platform and so i borrowed a camera and went back home to zimbabwe for the first time to
[55:53]do a pilot shoot where i just held the camera out of the window my brother's car and we drove around the city and i came back we had collected about 24 to
[56:02]30 miles of footage but he didn't stop there a documentary crew teamed up with him and captured his journey of literally putting the street scenes across zimbabwe on the map i was able to
[56:14]go back to zimbabwe and do a larger scale project that took two weeks and covered about 2000 miles of highways and attractions when i went back to zimbabwe to do this
[56:24]mapping project i was doing this alone and a week after i got to zimbabwe google center film team that was documenting the behind the scenes of this mapping project they snapped
[56:35]panoramic views of zimbabwe's cities and attractions via car speed boat bicycle helicopter and on foot they were able to capture you know some of the solutions that i come up with to
[56:47]mapping different locations whether it was at victoria falls flying over the waterfall in a helicopter and capturing 360 footage using a speed on the zambeza
[56:58]river which forms the victoria falls or just cycling across the victoria force bridge so some of those were ways to demonstrate how we could
[57:08]leverage this technology in unconventional places to really try and capture this imagery and improve the representation of those places
[57:18]for kanhima it was about the opportunity to showcase all of the world a map is never final people are constantly adding more context more perspectives more
[57:29]adding more voices towards the representation of these places and so for me it feels like just a gentle gradual improvement in the
[57:40]digital coverage of places in africa making sure communities like his hometown in zimbabwe are represented in the digital space it felt empowering to be able to make
[57:52]that difference to be able to make that connection and really make a difference in terms of the digital representation of my hometown and my country it used to be
[58:02]that you look at a map and it is what it is but as more people pick up these technologies more people picking up these tools maps become a confluence of perspectives
[58:14]the most compelling thing for me is hearing from people who are using these images to help share a memory from you know their lives i
[58:24]hear from people who say i was able to show my daughter the home in which i grew up i was able to show my kids the hospital in which i was born and um just being able to hear that that you you
[58:35]know people are using maps not just for navigation and finding places they're using maps to make a connection they're using maps to tell stories
[58:45]and that story is just a bit more complete thanks to kanhima now that is some real hometown love our thanks to our very own lindsay davis
[58:56]before we go tonight the image of the day take a look at the shamans in peru performing a ritual where they predict political and social issues that could pop up in the new year biden and putin
[59:06]at the top of mind obviously but so was covet which they hope would come to an end so that world leaders could focus on other matters so many others hoping for that too well that is our show for this
[59:17]hour stay tuned for abc news live for more context and analysis of the top day's top day's top stories thanks for streaming with us [Music]
[59:37]this is an abc news live