powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com hi. welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. thanks for joining me. i'm robyn curnow. you're watching cnn. coming up -- >> president-elect joe biden will be announcing member of his cabinet nominees this week. he's looking forward to that, introducing members of his team to the american public. >> we look at some of the names topping joe biden's cabinet list and the reactions they're getting. plus president trump's legal losses keep on piling up and he's also losing support from republicans with more now saying it is time for the president to accept a defeat. it looks like a covid

vaccine could be coming sooner rather than later for many americans. >> announcer: live from cnn center, this is "cnn newsroom." with robyn curnow. weeks after the u.s. president lost the election to joe biden, the white house still seems determined to block the transition of power for as long as possible. donald trump is refusing to accept the loss, and there are no signs of him conceding any time soon. however, a growing number of high-profile republicans have had it with his campaign's legal absurdities and long-shot court challenges. >> what's happened here is quite frankly the concept the president's legal team has been a national embarrassment. i've been a supporter of the president. i voted for him twice, but elections have consequences. and we cannot continue to act as if something happened here that

didn't happen. the country is what has to matter the most. vchs i'm a strong republican and i love my party, it's the country that has to come first. >> now, among those speaking out against the president's actions are republican congressman from michigan where the president had been pressuring state officials to dispute the vote count that shows he was defeated. that long-time republican congressman says the fight, for now, is over. >> the voters spoke. and here, again, in michigan it's not a razor thin margin. it's 154,000 votes. you've got to let those numbers stand. 154,000 votes, you can't overcome. it's over. the longer this lasts, languishes, the time then escapes from us from actually seeing a peaceful transition to the next administration. >> michigan will be in the spotlight again on monday when

its board meets to certify the state's election results. but we are hearing one republican member will try to block that certification. in another battleground state that went to biden, pennsylvania. in pennsylvania, most counties are expected to certify results in the coming day, but the trump campaign is filing an appeal after a judge shot down their attempt to throw out millions of ballots. if pennsylvania and michigan certify ballots, that will be the ultimate death blow to the president's efforts. instead of following the time-honored efforts of transition of power, the president spent the weekend golfing. american lives are literally at stake. the pandemic is reaching unprecedented numbers with incredible speed. sunday marked the 20th straight day with more than 100,000 new infections. and more than 256,000 people in the u.s. have died. joe biden, meanwhile, is

moving forward with his cabinet selections with several names set to be announced tuesday. we're told one of them will be tony blinken, a long time policy adviser in the obama administration, who will be nominated to serve as secretary of state. the details now from arlette signs. >> reporter: president-elect joe biden is set to roll out his first cabinet picks on tuesday, and the announcements are shaping up to be foreign plicy focused. cnn has learned that secretary of state is expected to be among the first jobs that biden announces for his cabinet. and the leading contender for that position is tony blinken, someone who served as deputy secretary of state and has long-time ties to joe biden, having served as his national security adviser while he was vice president. now, biden also is expected to announce his picks for national security adviser and ambassador to the un. the top contender for the national security adviser role is jake sullivan, someone who served as a national security adviser for biden when he was

vice president. and the top contender, the leading contender for ambassador to the un, is linda thomas greenfield. she is a long-time diplomat who worked in the state department. and she is also a woman of color, which would fulfill part of biden's promise to have a diverse cabinet. listen to what one of biden's senior advisers had to say about how biden's cabinet will be diverse. >> the cabinet and the team will look like america. so, that means diversity of ideology, diversity of background. and he wants to have a range of views of people at the table. >> now, all of those leading contenders for those foreign policy and national security positions all have decades of experience in the sector. biden, throughout his campaign, had said part of his goal would be restoring america's standing in the world and repairing relationships with allies. so, in the coming days, as he is rolling out these foreign policy-focused cabinet positions, biden is trying to make it clear how his administration would look and operate in the early days of the

white house. arlette saenz, cnn, wilmington, delaware. meanwhile, president trump's legal team is trying to cut ties with lawyer sidney powell after she started spreading wild conspiracy theories about the election. here's jeremy diamond with that. >> reporter: just over a week after president trump named attorney sidney powell to his legal team in his effort to overturn the results in the 2020 election, the president now says sidney powell is not part of his legal team. rudy giuliani and jenna ellis, two attorneys for the president's effort saying in a statement, sidney powell is practicing law on her own. she is not a member of the trump legal team. she is also not a lawyer for the president in his personal capacity. now, this notion that sidney powell never was a member of the legal team is absurd. not only did the president name sidney powell in a tweet as he was announcing the members of his legal team, but just a few days ago, sidney powell appeared right alongside rudy giuliani and jenna ellis at republican

national committee headquarters to talk about their legal effort. giuliani saying he was in charge of this investigation, alongside sidney, referring to the attorney sidney powell. now, sidney powell has been trafficking in conspiracy theories about the 2020 election over the last week during which she's been a member of that legal team. she has alleged the cia was somehow involved in rigging the election. she's alleged that the late leader of venezuela, hugo chavez was also involved. and she's also accused the republican governor of georgia, brian kemp, for rigging the campaign for joe biden. she's been trafficking these claims as a member of the legal team, and they're not all that far from what the president and his lawyers have been saying. the president has alleged this conspiracy theory about the dominion voting software, saying it somehow deleted votes in his favor. no basis in reality. it's something that's been

repeatedly debunked by state and federal officials across the country over these last several days. as this is happening though, the president is losing in the courts one case after the next. more than two dozen cases have been dismissed or withdrawn by the trump legal team. and republicans are beginning to increase the pressure on the president, saying that it is time for him to either show the evidence that he has in court or to move on and allow this transition process to happen, pressure coming in on sunday from republican senator lisa murkowski saying that the transition needs to happen right now. others beginning to raise the alarm as well, saying that the delay in the transition could cost american lives amid this pandemic. jeremy diamond, cnn, the white house. natasha lynn said, professor of government at university of essex joins me from england. good to see you. i want to talk first about the biden team. we know that they're plowing ahead with their plans. what is clear by some of their

appointments is that mr. biden is sticking with those he trusts, those who have a long service in the state department in the national security arena. and the ones we know so far, they are alumni of the obama administration. no surprises then. was the team trying to actively avoid surprises? >> i think that's what biden is trying to do, trying to bring the u.s. back to what he says normal and trying to restore tru trust, in particular with american allies. and that's what we see with these appointments with lincoln and sullivan. these are national security and secretary of state positions that are very similar in term of their world view. it's about multilateralism. it is about trying to work with others. it's about soft power. it's about trying to be a leader. and they understand that the u.s. is going to need to lead on a number of issues, whether it be the environment or the

pandemic, global cooperation on trade. and the u.s. has been accused of not having any sort of global leadership on some of these major issues because the trump administration and its american first foreign policy has been very disorienting, very chaotic, unpredictable. and i think that's what biden's trying to do with these recent possible nominations is restore trust in american leadership. >> what's also interesting is that as he's pushing ahead, making announcements, often capturing the news cycle, particularly on sunday morning here in the states, i mean, this is all happening while his win is being challenged without any proof of fraud. it certainly seems like he's trying to send a message that there's a new sheriff in town and mr. trump is now just a secondary story. >> right. and i think he's trying to ignore what trump is doing even as trump continues to file lawsuits, all

lawsuits. all of these lawsuits thus far have been dismissed because there's really nothing there. and he knows that these are just sort of made up cases. and in employeeing ahead and moving forward he knows he needs to because this is a crisis situation for the u.s. there's not really time for biden to wait around until trump decides to concede because we know trump is never going to concede. so, he needs to move ahead with whatever planning that he can do in the meantime because the u.s. is at a very critical point with the pandemic. >> yeah, it certainly is. we also know that mr. trump has all but disappeared, certainly at the g20 over the past few days. he has been golfing. it appears the president, at least according to our president from nic robertson in saudi arabia, has barely made an effort to engage in the g20. but many worry his team is actively setting fires for the biden administration to put out or trying to box him in on foreign policy matters.

how justified is that concern? >> it is a real concern. trump appears to be pushing some sort of scorched earth policy here. he's not focusing on any of the tasks at hand, whether it be foreign policy, as you mentioned with the g20 summit, or with the pandemic. he's mostly focusing on himself. what we have is reports of him golfing or report of him filing new lawsuits or asking for another recount. just look at the georgia recount, which is within his rights to ask for another recount. this could be really costly for the georgia taxpayer. that's going to cost, possibly, 8 or $9 million for them. we know how expensive the wisconsin one was. these are efforts that aren't really helping the u.s. right now. to to be focusing on all these different type of lawsuits. but this is very character iks of him. you know, he tends to get into a hole, try to just focus on his own interest whenever he feels that he's been slighted or wronged instead of really

putting the nation first. >> how concerned are you that these lawsuits and even a lot of the political pressure on electors in a place like michigan, how concerned are you that this in some way could delay the transition? >> well, it is delaying the transition. even though as biden tries to move ahead, he doesn't have access to the documents that he needs to have access to that are really critical for him to resolve some of the great problems the u.s. is facing. we talk about the pandemic and national security measures, but there's all kinds of other issues as well i am not concerned that trump is going to stay in the white house and never leave. i think the writing is on the wall. republican lawmakers know he lost. they know none of these lawsuits are going to come to any kind of fruition here. it's just a matter of time before he leaves.

i'm sure he's not going to concede, and he'll quickly announce he's going to run in 2024. but by delaying this transition, first of all he's just shattering one of our important norms, and it's a critical norm of any democracy that you have a peaceful transfer of power. but he's trying to make it more difficult for anything biden does to be successful. and it seems to be completely out of spite. >> okay. thank you very much for that perspective and analysis. appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. you're watching cnn. still to come, the u.s. could be weeks away from a coronavirus vaccine. but how long before life actually gets back to normal? a medical expert weighs in on that. also more restrictions in california as officials report record infection numbers, how the new measures will impact restaurants in america's second largest city. water?

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our plan is to be able to ship vaccines to the immunization sites within 24 hours from the approval, so i would expect maybe on day two after approval, on the 11th or on the 12th of december, hopefully the first people will be immunized across the united states, across all states.

>> so, that was the head of operation warp speed here in the u.s. predicting that life for americans could return to normal as early as may if enough people are vaccinated. he says the process could begin within the next few weeks if the fda approves the emergency use of the pfizer vaccine. new data shows how urgently that vaccine is needed. according to johns hopkins university, more than a quarter of all the cases in the u.s. have been reported in the month of november alone. and health experts say infections continue to rise as families gather for the upcoming thanksgiving holiday. dr. anthony fauci says people should really seriously consider those plans. take a listen. >> one of the spots if you want to call them where you have a risk is seemingly innocent family-friends get together indoors. i mean, seems like the most natural thing. so, that's the reason why when you tell people consider the

people that you want to get into your own family unit. do you want to bring a large number of people with a big dinner party or social event? and when you're eating or drinking, obviously you have to take your mask off. we know now that those are the kinds of situations that are leading to outbreaks. >> well, california has reported its second highest infection spike since the pandemic began. more than 14,000 cases were registered just on saturday alone. and the outbreak is one of the worse in the u.s. and it's about to force a very big change of life in los angeles as paul vercammen now reports. paul. >> reporter: the number of new covid-19 cases in california just skyrocketing. it has tripled since the beginning of november. and that means more restrictions throughout california. among the most severe, here in los angeles county, you will not see scenes like the one behind me anymore where people are dining outdoors or even indoors in los angeles county. they are closing down restaurants for indoor and

outdoor dining. that starts wednesday at 10:00. you can only pick up and deliver. we talked to the gm at this oyster bar. she is absolutely just shattered. >> it's really truly devastating. >> it's really upsetting. i just think about all our staff, all of my friends and colleagues in this business. everybody's really hard hit. we're all struggling to get by as is with our patio set up. so, this is a real, real blow for us. >> reporter: the economic ripple effect tremendous. not only will employees' hours in these restaurants have to be trimmed or people will be laid off, but then all the vendors and everybody else linked to the restaurant business is also going to see yet another downturn as the pandemic just rages on here in california. reporting from los angeles, i'm paul vercammen. now back to you. dr. amy compton-phillips is the chief clinical officer at

providence health center. she joins me now from seattle, washington. doctor, good to see you. as thanksgiving week begins here here in the u.s. -- you just heard paul reporting about it -- i understand you said thanksgiving should be delayed, postponed. how serious are you about that? >> well, i know we can't really honestly move the date of thanksgiving, but the concept is that exactly like dr. fauci said, if we get friends and family together right now, we're only going to contribute to what's happening. and that's this crazy shooting up of the number of cases. and so if we could somehow have a zoom thanksgiving right now, we'll avoid an icu christmas. that said, people need to get together. we need to see our loved ones and our family. so, when my kids were little, they used to do this half birthday thing. six months after their birthday, they would call it their half birthday. i think we need a half thanksgiving, a thanks-living on the fourth thursday in may so we can actually celebrate together

safely and right now kind of hold back. >> as people move and meet across the country, i think there have been millions of people have already taken flights. how prepared are you for the infections that will inevitably follow? you talk about an icu christmas. >> as prepared as we can be. right now health care systems across the country are drowning in patients, which is scary because we take everybody as they come in. and what happens when we run out of places to put patients? and what happens when we run out of doctors and nurses to be able to care for those patients when they come in? that's when we know the death rate can actually start going back up again. in the past few months, we've done a much better job of helping people figure out how to survive covid. but if hospitals get overwhelmed, it's going to go the other direction. >> so, as rampant and virulent as this virus is right now, particularly here in the states where it's, as you say, totally

off the charts, what are you watching for that the biden team is trying to do, although not with a lot of help from the trump administration? does their game plan make sense to you, and does it give you some optimism? >> well, it does give me optimism. the thing that gives me the shivers is that it's still not for several other weeks away. and we have to get between now and then. and we really could get out of control in the country unless people do the right thing and stay home and avoid going out, which absolutely is so hard on businesses in the country. but we have to have people alive to be able to actually work with those businesses and keep them in business. so, for right now, we have to get control of the virus. and that cannot wait until joe biden is inaugurated. >> you also heard some positive news coming out -- we've heard a lot about it -- about the vaccination and the vaccination

process. do you think america will be the last country to really get a handle on this virus just by the sheer number of people who have it, even if this vaccine is rolled out? >> we have a long way to go until we have mass herd immunity here in the u.s., enough people vaccinated that we can stop transmission of the virus from the vaccine itself. and that's why we have to do these other things to get control of the virus first, including keeping people from congregating together like in restaurants and bars and making sure we're wearing a mask out in public because if we wait until march or april by the time we have sufficient numbers of people vaccinated, the death rate is going to go way up. so, it's a both/and. >> okay. dr. amy compton-phillips there, really appreciate you taking the time. i know you and all the people who work for you must be very exhausted. i wish you all the best of luck for the next week and the next few weeks. >> thank you. coming up at cnn, the road

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welcome back to "cnn newsroom," i'm robyn curnow.

so, the g20 summit wrapped up on sunday. and what's likely to be his last event on the global stage, president trump railed against the paris climate accord in a pre-recorded speech. take a listen. >> i withdrew the united states from the unfair and one-sided paris climate accord, a very unfair act for the united states. the paris accord was not designed to save the environment. it was designed to kill the american economy. >> well, the president also praised his efforts to expand u.s. fossil fuels, despite their effects on climate change, and he boasted that the u.s. is the world's number one producer of oil and natural gas. let's go to our emerges markets editor, john defterios from abu dhabi. you've been monitoring the comments and the reaction. certainly mr. trump wanting to play to his base back home as he attacked the paris climate agreement again.

how did that go down with the g20 members? >> let's say it was an unusual situation, robyn, because everyone was singing from the same shade except donald trump. even saudi arabia had two priorities going into the summit. one was the covid-19 response and equitable distribution of the vaccines going forward. and number two is climate change. they made it extremely clear. so, donald trump coming in and kind of breaking all the dishes and deciding to focus instead on leaving the climate accord was a shock to put it no other way. we know that joe biden, the president-elect, has said he will rejoin the accord itself. and on many occasions over the weekend, the g20 leaders started to talk about multilateral agreements, having global collaboration going forward. even ursula von lieden, the former german politician in angela merkel's party came back and said on many occasions

without mentioning donald trump, we look forward to more collaboration in the future, and particularly when it comes to climate change. it did seem like donald trump popped into the wrong venue at the wrong time because it was a session talking about safeguarding the environment. and he was giving the reasoning why to pull out for the u.s. worker. >> and we also know that mr. trump made a point at the g20 to tout america as the number one oil and gas producer in the world. you talk about all the other leaders singing from the same hymn sheet. was this another example of him perhaps being off message and also at the wrong venue for this particular declaration? >> well, there's a time and a place for everything, robyn, but it just didn't seem like the right venue, again, to be talking about the rise of supremacy of u.s. oil and gas producers, particularly again because the host is saudi arabia which has the largest proven reserves in the world. yes, the u.s. is the number one producer, but it's because saudi

arabia and the counterpart have pulled back production for the last three years. we've had three major downturns in the last five years, and as a result the major producers are saying we have to pull oil off the market to stabilize the prizes. then the covid-19 pandemic hit and we had prizes go negative back in april. donald trump still sticking to his narrative, yes we're number one in oil and gas. but at the same time u.s. production has dropped 3 million barrels a day because they overproduced and was not making a profit in some of the major shale basins because of covid-19 and the overreliance of the oil and gas in those overreliant states. it almost sounded like a campaign, basically pitch by donald trump, right, and instead he was doing it to the g20 and saying let's recognize climate change and make it to a transition to renewables at the

same time. >> okay. thanks for that update there. live from abu dhabi. israel's prime minister has a message from the incoming u.s. president. he's warning about iran's nuclear program ahead. advantag, you can take advantage of free eye exams and free designer eyewear. ♪ wow ♪ uh-huh free annual eye exams, designer frames and prescription lenses. it's time to take advantage. ♪ wow for over 25 years, home instead has helped seniors stay at home. recently, that's taken on a new meaning. staying home has become essential. but some can't do it alone. if you care for others, you already have what it takes. seniors need help to stay home and stay safe. they need us and we need you. home instead. apply today.

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hong kong democracy activist joshua wong has been remanded to custody after last year's antigovernment protests for inciting an unorganized assembly. he faces a maximum of five years in jail. israel's prime minister has a warning for u.s. president-elect joe biden. on sunday benjamin netanyahu said, quote, there can be no going back to the previous nuclear agreement with iran. we must stick to an uncompromising policy of ensuring that iran will not

develop nuclear weapons. the obama administration supported the nuclear deal and biden was part of that administration. i want to go to oren liebermann who joins us live from jerusalem. hi oren, what more can you tell us? >> reporter: robin, so many of prime minister benjamin netanyahu offi netanyahu's speeches were pointed at donald trump. supporter of trump's maximum pressure campaign against iran and sanctions. now it seems his audience of one has shifted to president-elect joe biden and he's putting forward his priority list. or perhaps better called his wish list from u.s. foreign policy under president-elect joe biden. priority number one there is the iran nuclear deal. especially given how hard he worked against it and how much he pushed, pressured and frauded trump to leave the deal and impose and keep imposing sanctions against iran. what's interesting here is the assessment on this end is coming

regardless of who won the election. trump and biden made it clear they want the nuclear deal with iran. iran was awaiting the result of the election to see who they would be negotiating against. there is a debate within israel's intelligence community about whether leaving the u.s. was the right move. and that's underscored for example by the iaea report last week that said iran moved centrifuge in the tons. if iran has gotten beyond those limits then perhaps the intelligence community is debating leaving the deal wasn't the best idea. netanyahu has made his position clear, leaving the deal was a mistake and returning to it is not what he wants to see. that's a big win for prime minister benjamin netanyahu, another gift handed to him by the trump administration.

the right wing government here and many others are celebrating pollard's return. it's an open question as to when he will be back because his wife is receiving medical treatment in the u.s. robyn robyn, he will have to quarantine for two weeks. >> thanks for that, oren. thank you for watching "cnn newsroom." i'm robyn curnow. if you're an international viewer, world sport is next. if you're joining us from the united states, i'll be right back after the break with more. stick around. water? why?! ahhhh!

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♪ welcome back to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world.

it's 44 minutes past the hour. i'm robyn curnow, and you are watching cnn. european leaders are putting new pandemic plans into place. the french president is getting ready to address the nation on tuesday. france is seeing some signs of progress, a lower positivity rate and fewer people in icus. and in the coming hours, the british prime minister is expected to announce an extensive community testing program for hard hit regions. boris johnson will outline how england exit its second national lockdown come december. for more on some of the progress being made in europe, we have jim bittermann reporting from france. but first ann stuart is in london with more from the uk. >> reporter: the uk government will present their winter plan to parliament. it includes an end to england's national lockdown although it certainly won't be a return to

normal. the country will reenter the three tier system and system of the measures within the tiers are expected to be strengthened. discussions are underway at number 10 drowning street regarding christmas, whether there's a way they can allow families to see each other over the festive period. there is better news for 2021. the government says it's confident it will be able to ease restrictions across the nation as it looks forward to having some sort of vaccine rollout program in place as well as mass testing. anna stewart, cnn london. here in france and some other european countries where lockdowns have been in place, the efforts are beginning to bear fruit. the covid numbers, the rate of increase in hospitalizations, the number of hospital beds needed for covid patients are beginning to go down. the french prime minister said friday we're on a good path, and sent a further signal by saying

president macron will address the nation on tuesday. speculation is running high that some of the country's tough restrictions will be eased at least somewhat. the government is quick to point out that any relaxing will come only gradually. in germany, a spokesperson for the chancellor says the situation is stabilizing, though health authorities are worried antithetical systems, especially icu beds remain stretched. none the less, across europe authorities are starting to look more hopefully at coming vaccines and figuring ways to distribute them. turkey is reporting a new high in daily coronavirus cases there. the country registered more than 6,000 new infections on sunday. this comes as turkey implements new measures in an effort to stem the spread. restaurants are closed, shopping ours implemented and partial curfew during the weekends.

>> reporter: hi robyn. what we're seeing here in turkey is what you're seeing in other parts of the world. over the past few weeks, the number of infections have started to rise at an alarming rate. in the past few days, turkey shattered its own records announcing on friday more than 190 covid-19 deaths. that is the single deadliest day since the start of the pandemic. and on sunday, as you mentioned, the health ministry here announcing 6,000, as they call them, patients. turkey's figures are not really comparable to the rest of the world because they only announced the number of people who have tested positive and show symptoms. so, it's not all the positives. but that figure, that is the highest number also since the start of the pandemic. and, you know, turkey has been criticized by not revealing these numbers, that it's not really showing the true extent of the outbreak and the

situation in the country. but what we do know from officials, robyn, is that istanbul, the country's largest city, the commercial capital of turkey accounts for about 40% to 50% of all infections. and, you know, after weeks of causing the government to enact some tougher restrictions, you could feel the government's reluctance, especially when you consider the fragility of turkey's economy but faced with this rising number of icu bed occupancy now at the highest rate since the start of the pandemic, about 70%, 50% occupancy of beds at hospitals. officials are saying, look, the situation is still under control. it's still fine at the hospitals. but to protect the health care workers, to try and relieve the pressure that they are under right now, they have had to put these measures in place, announced by president erdogan last week. as you mentioned, coming into this weekend, that includes a partial weekend curfew.

you've got also a curfew that is age-based, people under the age of 20 and over the age of 65 are only allowed out of their homes for about three hours different times of the day on a daily basis. restaurants shut. only takeout and delivery service. restricted times for shopping and other things like the barbers and hairdressers also very limited hours in which they can work. and, you know, some opposition lawmakers, some medical groups here in the country have criticized the government saying, look, this is not going to be enough. there should be some sort of a strict two- to three-week lockdown to try to bring this under control. but we heard from president erdogan yesterday saying they believe that these restrictions are enough right now to bring down this surge over the next few weeks but saying that requires the compliance of the population, that people need to be committed to these restrictions. otherwise, there are going to be

stricter measures that they could enforce, robyn. >> thanks for that. live in istanbul. thank you. canada's largest city, toronto, is now under a partial lockdown as it battles a surge of covid infections. over the next four weeks, businesses will only be allowed to provide pick up services. the city is seeing one of the worst outbreaks in the country. despite a record number of cases here in the u.s., many americans are still planning to travel this holiday week. on friday and on saturday, transportation officials counted more than 2 million travellers at u.s. airports, making it one of the businessest travel periods since the pandemic began. evan moro santoro shows us how new yorkers are preparing for the holiday season. >> reporter: i'm outside an urgent care facility standing in a five and a half hour line for a covid test. there are lines like this all

over the city as new yorkers scramble to get tested ahead of the holiday season. america is dealing with a unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases. 83,000 americans are currently in the hospital with complications from covid. that's a record number. it's the 20th straight day of more than 100,000 new cases. as that holiday travel season comes, people like the ones here in line are hoping a test will make it safe to visit family. medical experts say that's not the case. there's no safe gathering size and no safe way to travel for these holidays. they're begging americans to make the hard choice to stay home this time around. evan mcmoro santoro, cnn, new york. firefighters in kanz kanz city, missouri are mourning the loss of two long time member of their department from coronavirus. captain bobby rocker died saturday at 60 years old. paramedic scott davidson died the next day.

he was 45. another firefighter died from coronavirus back in april. the fire chief says she's devastated and morale is at an all-time low. >> we've known those two individuals have been hospitalized for a while, and you know, this was always a -- you know, this was worst case scenario that they would never come out of the hospital alive. and, you know, it's devastating. it's devastating to all of us. >> four years ago, you remember the story. we reported it every thanksgiving. a grandmother and a high school student were introduced over that mistaken invite, that text message to thanksgiving dinner. their story went viral and since then they've celebrated the holiday together every year with their families. and they kept the tradition going this year despite the pandemic and the empty seat it's created. >> dear heavenly father, thank you for bringing everybody here together safely. >> reporter: their tradition lives in the hearts of so many

around the world. thanksgiving just wouldn't be the same without wanda and jamal. >> i didn't want to miss thanksgiving with jamal. >> reporter: grandma wanda thought she was texting her real son, but accidentally texted teenager jamal instead. out of courtesy she invited jamal for thanksgiving dinner. the two have now celebrated with their families together ever since. >> this year is definitely different than all the years in the past. >> reporter: the pandemic that is taken so much, and took the one whose smile, hugs and warmth made jamal and his girlfriend feel right at home. wanda's husband passed away from covid-19, wanda there with him in his final moments. >> five minutes later he passed away. sorry. >> reporter: she knew her first thanksgiving without him would be hard, but jamal would make

sure she wouldn't be lonely this holiday. they decided to have an early minithanksgiving together with wanda, her daughter and the real grandson. a seat and candle left at the head of the table knowing that even though lonnie isn't here, his spirit is. jamal knows he would hear this. >> i would just like to say hi, say thank you for helping me -- welcoming me into your home with open arms from day one. >> reporter: lonnie would always stay grace before the thanksgiving meal. he was wanda's biggest cheerleader. so, in his honor, surrounded with family by blood and family by choice, wanda led the prayer knowing lonnie would be proud. >> thank you for all the blessings and thank you so much for having lonnie in my life. i miss him, but i know he's in a good place. so, to everybody here, i love you and have a wonderful

thanksgiving. amen. >> amen. >> beautiful piece. finally a sign though of holiday cheer in paris. i want you to take a look at paris, the champs but officials say there is reason to be optimistic. over the past week hospitalizations have fallen and the health agency says the current wave of cases may have peaked. thanks so much for joining me. i'm robyn curnow. rosemary church picks up right after this. (harold) twelve hundred strings of lights. (betsy) quarter mile of tinsel.

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hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the united states and all around the world. you are watching "cnn newsroom" and i'm rosemary church. just ahead, refusing to accept two realities. u.s. president donald trump fighting his election defeat, ignoring the surging coronavirus pandemic, while the biden team works for a smoother transition. plus this -- >> i withdrew the united states from the unfair and one-sided paris climate accord. >> sound familiar? mr. trump gives a