Stunning new numbers in the COVID pandemic as the U.S. shatters the world record reporting more than a million new cases yesterday.

With the Omicron variant spreading like wildfire, the question is, what more can President Biden do after he meets with his COVID response team later today?

Plus, the number of threats against the U.S. Capitol on the rise ahead of the

one-year anniversary of the January 6th attack. With fewer police officers on the Capitol

Police Force compared to a year ago, the question, is the department ready for any challenges

that may lie ahead? And Donald Trump's two eldest children, Ivanka and Don Jr., now subpoenaed in the New York State civil investigation against the Trump organization.

The question is, what happens next?

It's way too early for this.

Good morning and welcome to way too early, the show that frankly is unimpressed with 2022 so far.

I'm Jonathan Lemire on this Tuesday, January 4th.

We'll start with the news.

The U.S. has set a new global record for COVID-19 cases in a single day.

More than one million new infections were reported on Monday alone,

according to data from Johns Hopkins University. That is nearly double the previous record that was

set just last week. To put things in perspective, the highest single day total for another country

is 414,000. That came from India during its Delta variant surge last spring. Now, it should be noted,

though, that yesterday's total includes a backlog of cases from the holiday weekend, but still,

a million. That is staggering. And with so many Americans struggling to get access to tests,

others using take-home tests whose results aren't sent to the government,

yesterday's total case number is likely much higher than the one million reported.

Meanwhile, states are offering mixed responses as students across the country return to the classroom this week after their winter break.

NBC News correspondent Stephanie Gosk has the very latest.

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