These are the headlines you Need2Know:
* **Seattle Plane Thief Presumed Dead:**
An airline employee stole a 76-seat passenger plane from the Seattle-Tacoma Airport and took it on a wild ride Friday before crashing it onto a nearby island. Richard Russell, who's presumed dead after officials found human remains in the wreckage, worked as a baggage handler and did not have his pilot’s license. For more on the investigation, check out the [Seattle Times](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/live-updates-airplane-taken-from-seattle-tacoma-international-airport-crashes/).
* **Wildfires Continue to Spread:**
The fires have scorched more than 1.6 million acres in states from Washington to New Mexico, with California among the hardest hit. There are more than 100 active, large wildfires in the U.S. In some cases, smoke from the wildfires in California has traveled nearly 3,000 miles to New York. See the map [here](https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/10/us/smoke-california-wildfire-reaches-nyc-wxc-trnd/index.html).
* **Tiger Woods Finishes 2nd to Some Other Guy at the PGA:**
Brooks Koepka became the fifth person to win the U.S. Open and PGA Championship in the same season. But most golf fans were focused on Tiger Woods: his second-place finish led most of the weekend's coverage. For more on Woods's comeback, [click here](https://amp.slate.com/culture/2018/08/tiger-woods-2018-pga-he-finishes-runner-up-to-brooks-koepka-in-thrilling-final-round.html).
* **Omarosa Manigault Newman Slams President Trump:**
The former "Apprentice" contestant and ex-White House aide released a recording of Chief of Staff John Kelly from inside the Situation Room. Newman, who has called Trump "racist" and "misogynist," said on "Meet the Press" she was complicit in the administration's efforts to fool the country. Hear the recordings [here](https://twitter.com/MeetThePress/status/1028655650392485890/video/1).
Cheddar's Jill Wagner gets into the latest.
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Health officials are warning of a grim winter as the Omicron variant of COVID-19 spreads rapidly across the country. New York City is the latest hotspot, with cases rising in a way the city hasn't previously seen in the pandemic. Dr. Bob Lahita, director of the Institute for Autoimmune and Rheumatic Diseases at St. Joseph Health and author of the book "Immunity Strong," joined Cheddar to discuss whether the rest of the country will follow in New York's footsteps.
Covid cases and deaths are on the rise in many parts of the country even before the Omicron variant takes hold. More than 30 states had higher seven-day averages for new cases last week than they did before Thanksgiving, according to Johns Hopkins University data, with some of the biggest increases in the Northeast. Dr. Anthony Santella, professor of Health Administration and University COVID Coordinator at the University of New Haven, joined Cheddar to discuss where we stand in the pandemic and how we can keep ourselves safe during the holidays.
Carlo's joined by a quarantining Baker to discuss the headlines from the weekend as Omicron spreads like wildfire, Manchin kills Biden's signature bill and Spider-Man throws a lifeline to the box office.
Authorities say at least five people died when a powerful storm system swept across the Great Plains and Midwest, spawning hurricane-force winds and likely tornadoes in Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota.
A gem company in Sri Lanka has unveiled a rare and massive gemstone weighing 683 pounds (310 kilograms) that has been certified as one of the biggest corundums ever found in the country.