Winter is coming with another COVID wave. The lead starts right now. A first in the nation

as COVID cases surge again, the new vaccine requirement for just about anyone who works

in the Big Apple. The parents of the accused Michigan school shooter now on suicide watch

act as they face rare charges related to the massacre. The Michigan Attorney General will

join us live to discuss. Plus, with the US fearing Russia is getting ready to run over Ukraine,

a critical phone call is about to happen between President Biden and Vladimir Putin. Can the US

President get Putin to stand down? Welcome to the lead. I'm Dana Bash in for Jake Tapper and we

begin with the health lead and the sweeping new vaccine requirement for nearly everyone who works

in New York City. Today, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced all private sector employers will be

required to implement a vaccine mandate by the end of this month. Just as COVID cases,

hospitalizations and deaths are at their highest levels nationwide in six weeks. So far,

17 states have identified cases of the Omicron variant and while more cases are expected,

Delta remains the dominant strain by far in the US. As Jason Carroll reports, Dr. Anthony

Fauci says there are encouraging signs that Omicron may not be as severe as first feared.

New York City's mayor has made it official. Anyone working in the city will be subject to a

vaccine mandate. The mayor announcing all private sector employees must be vaccinated by December

27th. Public City employees have been under a vaccine mandate since October. We got to up the

ante here. We've got to encourage people even more. Get that second dose because that's what gives

you so much more protection. And while some business organizations say they were caught off

guard by the announcement, some medical experts support the new mandate.

It is a smart public health move. I think we should have we should set the right expectations

about what the purpose of these vaccine mandates are. In addition, beginning December 14th,

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