* CDC Director On Omicron Vaccine Mandates And Tornadoes Impact On Covid- 19 Spread

* UAE Suspects Multi- Billion Dollar Weapons Deal In Sign Of Growing Frustration With US- China Showdown

* Trump Media & Technology Group Announces Partnership With Rumble Inc

* Boris Johnson Faces His Biggest Tory Rebellion Over Covid Curbs

* U.S. Warns Hundreds Of Millions Of Devices At Risk From Newly Revealed Software Vulnerability 

* Top US Cybersecurity Firm Warns New Software Exploit Will Lead To Millions Of Computer Hacks

* 800, 000 Americans Have Died Of Covid Now The US Braces For An Omicron- Fueled Spike

* It Begins 'Global Breakdown' 10 Countries Readying ...

* Senate Passes $2.5 Trillion Debt Limit Increase, Sending It To The House

* State To Probe Kentucky Candle Factory Where Workers Say They Were Threatened With Firing

* Major Storm Systems Hits West GMA

* Omicron Is Spreading Faster Than Any Other Covid Variant WHO Warns

* 'So Much Destruction': Over 100 Still Unaccounted For In Kentucky Tornadoes

* Update On Conference And Checking In On The Bride From Tornadoes 

CDC Director On Omicron, Vaccine Mandates And Tornadoes' Impact On COVID-19 Spread

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky joins “CBS Mornings” to discuss the impact of the weekend's deadly tornadoes on the spread of COVID-19 in hard-hit areas. Plus, the latest on the Omicron variant, and what she thinks is the next phase of the pandemic.

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UAE Suspends Multi-Billion Dollar Weapons Deal In Sign Of Growing Frustration With US-China Showdown

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Trump Media & Technology Group Announces Partnership with Rumble Inc.

PALM BEACH, FL – December 14, 2021 –  Trump Media & Technology Group (‘TMTG’), today announced that it has entered into a wide-ranging technology and cloud services agreement with Rumble Inc. (‘Rumble’).  As part of the partnership, Rumble will deliver video and streaming for TRUTH Social.  TMTG and Rumble are also in exclusive negotiations for Rumble to provide infrastructure and video delivery services for TMTG’s Subscription Video On-Demand product, TMTG+.

President Donald J. Trump, Chairman of TMTG, commented, “As part of our mission, TMTG continues to align with service providers who do not discriminate against political ideology. Therefore, I have selected the Rumble Cloud to serve as a critical backbone for TMTG infrastructure.  TMTG has already launched Truth Social on the Rumble Cloud for invited guests only, and the initial Beta launch has been excellent.  America is ready for TRUTH Social, and the end to cancel culture.”

Chris Pavlovski, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Rumble, said, "Rumble is excited to provide technology and cloud services to TMTG. We continue to build the infrastructure to deliver a free, open, and neutral internet.  Rumble was designed to be immune to cancel culture, and we are at the forefront of a movement that believes everyone benefits from access to a neutral platform that hosts diverse ideas and opinions.”

Rumble is a high-growth neutral video distribution platform. Rumble has created rails and independent infrastructure that are designed to be immune to cancel culture. Rumble's mission is to restore the internet to its roots by protecting a free and open internet. Rumble recently announced the execution of a definitive business combination agreement with CFVI (CF Acquisition Corp. VI). See the announcement here: https://corp.rumble.com Read More 

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Boris Johnson Faces His Biggest Tory Rebellion Over Covid Curbs

Boris Johnson is facing the biggest rebellion of his two-year premiership, as members of Parliament prepare to vote on his strategy to tackle the new omicron Covid-19 strain spreading rapidly in the U.K. Rebel Conservative MP Steve Baker has said he expects about 60 colleagues to vote against the government, while the Spectator magazine has tallied more than 80. Either would be a humiliation for Johnson, especially if it emerges that he relied on opposition Labour Party support to pass the measures.

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US Warns Hundreds Of Millions Of Devices At Risk From Newly Revealed Software Vulnerability

Washington (CNN)Hundreds of millions of devices around the world could be exposed to a newly revealed software vulnerability, as a senior Biden administration cyber official warned executives from major US industries Monday that they need to take action to address "one of the most serious" flaws she has seen in her career.

800,000 Americans Have Died Of COVID. Now The U.S. Braces For An Omicron-Fueled Spike

The coronavirus has now killed more than 800,000 people in the U.S., just two years after the first COVID-19 cluster was reported in Wuhan, China, and a year after vaccines were first rolled out.

"It's tragic on so many levels," said Dr. Helen Chu, an immunologist and epidemiologist at the University of Washington.

It was Chu's team in Seattle that identified the first case of community spread of COVID-19 in the U.S., as she and her colleagues pivoted from testing nasal swabs for influenza to test for the coronavirus — and raised the alarm about its presence, despite political and bureaucratic obstacles.

With surges fueled by more transmissible variants of the coronavirus, the U.S. hit the tragic new record Tuesday, shortly after surpassing 50 million COVID-19 cases — by far the most in the world.

Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, has accurately predicted some of the most harrowing effects of the pandemic. But even he's been surprised by the impact of coronavirus variants. Read More 

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It Begins| "Global Breakdown" 10 Countries Readying..

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Senate Passes $2.5 Trillion Debt Limit Increase, Sending It To The House

WASHINGTON — A divided Senate on Tuesday approved legislation that would raise the debt ceiling by $2.5 trillion, a move to stave off the threat of a first-ever federal default until at least early 2023.

All Democrats supported the measure, which passed the Senate 50 to 49 along party lines, sending it to the House for final passage and then to President Biden for his signature. One Republican, Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, was absent, and the rest of the Republican conference opposed the measure.

The swift action came a week after party leaders announced a deal to establish a one-time fast-track process to increase the debt ceiling with a simple majority vote, instead of the 60 votes needed to move most legislation through the Senate. The House was expected to take up the legislation raising the debt ceiling on Tuesday evening.

The Senate vote occurred with little time to spare before a potential default, which would be catastrophic for the national economy and jeopardize the full faith and credit of the United States. The Treasury Department had warned that it would be unable to pay the nation’s bills soon after Wednesday, and the agency is currently using so-called “extraordinary measures,” a series of fiscal tools to delay the threat of a default. Read More 

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State To Probe Kentucky Candle Factory Where Workers Say They Were Threatened With Firing

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Tuesday that state investigators will probe the Mayfield candle factory where eight people died in a catastrophic tornado and workers said they were threatened with termination if they left their shifts early.

In a news conference, Beshear told reporters that the inquiry “shouldn’t suggest there was any wrongdoing. But what it should give people confidence in is that we’ll get to the bottom of what happened.”

A timeframe for the review by the state Occupational Safety and Health Program wasn’t immediately clear. Beshear said they don't happen "one day or a couple of days after" an incident.

"Everyone is expected to live up to certain standards of both the law, of safety and of being decent human beings," he added. "I hope everybody lived up to those standards."

In interviews with NBC News, five workers from the Mayfield Consumer Products factory recalled managers telling employees they would likely lose their jobs if they went home.

In an interview from her hospital bed, McKayla Emery, 21, said that workers first asked to leave around 5:30, after tornado sirens blared outside the plant. Read More 

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Major Storm System Hits West l GMA

Chief meteorologist Ginger Zee tracks the major storm system moving through the West, bringing more than 9 inches of rain to parts of the California coast and snow to the mountains.

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Omicron Is Spreading Faster Than Any Other Covid Variant, WHO Warns

The World Health Organization on Tuesday warned the new Covid-19 omicron variant is spreading faster than any previous strain, and it is probably present in most countries of the world.

“Omicron is spreading at a rate we have not seen with any previous variant,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a Covid update in Geneva. “Seventy-seven countries have now reported cases of omicron. And the reality is that omicron is probably in most countries, even if it hasn’t been detected yet.”

Tedros said the WHO is worried that countries are dismissing omicron as a mild variant. Though omicron is more contagious, it is not yet clear whether the strain causes more mild or severe disease than past variants of the virus.  Read More 

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'So Much Destruction': Over 100 Still Unaccounted For In Kentucky After Deadly Tornadoes

Flags in Kentucky were lowered to half-staff at sunrise Tuesday to honor the dozens of people who were killed when tornadoes ripped through several states, picking up homes and leveling entire towns.

More than 100 people were unaccounted for in Kentucky, and 74 were confirmed dead, Gov. Andy Beshear said in an afternoon update before he surveyed storm damage in Muhlenberg County, where he himself lost relatives.

Twelve of the people who were killed were children.

"The age range has gotten even harder," Beshear said, "some not even getting an opportunity to experience this life."

The youngest victim was 2 months old and the oldest was 98, Beshear said.

He said eight of the dead in the county remain unidentified, adding, “I still expect that we will find more bodies — there is just so much destruction."

Beshear recalled spending time as a boy at his grandfather's home in Dawson Springs, where 17 people died.

"It’s not big enough to have 17 people dead," he said.

Part of a growing state fund will be used to pay for funerals. Donations have reached almost $10 million. Read More 

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Update On Conference And Checking In On The Bride From Tornadoes - Time With Mama June