hello, and welcome to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. you are watching "cnn newsroom" and i'm rosemary church. just ahead, three weeks out to the u.s. presidential election, the transition of power has finally begun. this hour, how the news affects the incoming biden administration, and what president trump has to say about his legal battles. plus, president-elect joe biden's cabinet is taking shape with a history making nominee for trashy secretary. what does it mean for the business world? and the chances are that you will see a surge superimposed

upon a surge s. >> sounding the alarm, a new model predicts millions of cases across the u.s. medical experts urge americans, stay home. good to have you with us, and we begin with major developments in the u.s. presidential transfer of power. we have learned that late monday white house chief of staff mark meadows notified west wing staff that the transition promise is formally underway. that word came after the general services administration finally acknowledged joe biden's win in a letter earlier month. the move gives the president-elect much needed resources and money as he prepares to lead the country in

january. president trump down played the significant step. he tweeted we moving full speed ahead. we will never concede to fake ballots. this as mr. trump suffered two major legal blows monday. the michigan board of state canvass certified that state's election results, handing biden its 16 electoral votes, while pennsylvania's supreme court rejected yet another one of the trump campaign's efforts to block certain absentee ballots. and counties there are also quickly certifying their election results. president trump has taken to twitter more than once since news broke of that letter to biden. cnn's jim acosta has more now from washington, d.c. >> we're starting to see the peaceful transfer of power in washington as the general head of services administration has released a letter stating that the biden team can begin the

process. instructing the head of gsa for initial protocols for the transition process. in the meantime, talked to a couple of trump campaign advisers who said that is the closest we may hear from president trump that he lost the race to former vice president joe biden. the president is sounding as if he wants to continue fighting out the legal challenges to the court in the 2020 election results. a trump campaign adviser said the president is out of options. as this adviser put it, it's the end of the road for president trump. jim acosta, cnn, the white house. >> joe biden's team welcomed the move from the general services administration. the executive director of joe biden's transition saying it is quote the needed step to begin tackling the challenges facing our nation, including getting the pandemic under control and our economy back on track. david gergen and david axlerod are no strangers to the comings

and going at the white house. between them, they have advised five different presidents. they spoke earlier about their reaction to the biden team formally getting the go ahead. >> the president has done the right thing by allowing this to go forward. he has a vital step to take before democrats can feel sorry for him and pleased with him. and that is it's vital that this president tell his base, and tell the whole country that he believes joe biden is the legitimate president, that he has not been put there by fraud. until he does that, democrats have every reason to resent what he has done, stirred up the base, and pushing politics still, and they will never forgive nor forget these last couple of weeks, unless he makes it clear that the joe biden is the legitimate president of the united states. >> i can't speak for all democrats because they are a nervous species, so there may still be some hand wringing

until january 20th at noon. it's a line of demarcation, and it's the most important. it doesn't matter what donald trump says. it matters what can be done in terps terms of a transition that allowed joe biden to coordinate and his team to coordinate with people across the frovlederal government. this is the real danger, he's going to hand the country more divided than it needs to be by trying to delegitimate an election clearly won by joe biden. >> and joe biden hasn't wasted any time waiting for a formal announcement from the white house to put together his team. cnn's jeff zeleny reports. >> president-elect joe biden is taking shape, announcing senior advisers from the obama administration into new history making roles. janet yellen will be tapped next week as the treasury secretary

nominee, cnn has learned, and would become the first woman to serve in the post. >> why did you go with national security first? >> because it's national security. >> before a virtual meeting with the u.s. conference of mayors, biden unveiling key members of his national security team, including alejandro mayorkas, avril haines, a former deputy director. would be the first as director of national intelligence, and john kerry, former secretary of state to serve as international climate czar, a new post underscoring biden's commitment to fighting climate change. the president-elect is wasting no time filling his team, expediting his snouannouncement biden making clear again today he is surrounding himself with experienced hands, many of whom he's worked with for years in

the senate and white house. >> and now on a personal note, it gives me particular pleasure to introduce a man who has been my mentor, my partner, my friend, and the greatest public servant i know. the vice president of the united states, joe biden. >> that's tony blinken, a long time adviser now to be nominated as secretary of state. jake sullivan, another long time aide to be named as national security adviser, and linda thomas-greenfield, a veteran foreign services officer who has served in posts around the world to be u.s. ambassador to the united nations. republicans were nearly silent about biden's nomination, nearly all of which face senate confirmation. when he was asked about the gop putting up roadblocks to his team, he said this, are you kidding me. former president barack obama praising biden's pick, saying they send a signal to allies of strength and stability. >> they are going to be greatly relieved and pleased to see people like tony. there is going to be a lingering

sense that america's still divided, some of the shenanigans that are going on right now around the election. that is making the world question how reliable and steady the u.s. may be. >> and the biden transition moving forward even faster now that they have that ascertainment from the general services administration. that means the trump administration finally signing off on transition funding and more importantly, opening the doors to information. so finally, three weeks after election day, the biden transition in full force. he's of course well underway already naming his cabinet picks. jeff zeleny, cnn, wilmington, delaware. one of president donald trump's former national security advisers tells cnn it's time for the nation to come together and foster a smooth transition to a joe biden presidency. hr mcmaster is also calling on the president-elect and his team

to resist the temptation of changing all of the trump administration's policies. >> these are long serving professionals who i think are going to come in and obviously do their best for the country. we might have differences of opinion on policy, but i think this is a team that i hope will resist kind of the twin temptations of either trying to turn the clock back to 2016 or do what i think several administrations have done in recent years which is to define their foreign policy mainly as an opposition to the previous administration's policies because i think there are going to be elements of change certainly, and i think there are critical elements of continuity. >> and as jeff zeleny mentioned in his report, u.s. president-elect joe biden will make history when he nominates janet yellen as trashy secretary this week. yellen will be the first woman to hold the post as she was when she chaired the federal reserve

during obama administration. a selection should appeal to progressives and business leaders, but yellen will face a massive task, leading the economic response to the coronavirus pandemic. cnn's john defterios joins us to take a look at this. good to see you. what can we expect from janet yellen's leadership as treasury secretary confronting the economic challenges pose bid this pandemic, and how are markets reacting to all of this? >> well, rosemary, i would say experience matters normally, right, but especially during a pandemic of this level, so i think the announcement of janet yellen would be extremely well received within the global business community. but particular on wall street and beyond, even to main street and the united states. as you suggested there, rosemary, the first order of business is dealing with the state of the pandemic and perhaps a second dip into a recession. so she wants to get a stimulus package done quickly that will test in terms of negotiating the

likes of mitch mcconnell, the senate majority leader who's a republican of course. longer term, she would like to get an infrastructure package done to support joe biden, talking about the energy transition to renewable energies. i think it's important to look at the track record, fed chair, vice chair during the global financial crisis between 2010 and beyond before she became the chair, and the council of economic advisers under the bill clinton administration, so she has the best credentials that joe biden could have found at this stage of the cycle and that is what wall street is telling us, the futures markets are up here by about a quarter to 8/10 of 1%, and also that announcement you have been talking about with the gsa finally opening the gates to funding here for the transition. it's a similar response from the european markets as well. the daylight is now there in the transition to a biden administration. >> right. john, what more can you reveal about the major shift by the u.s. business community to break with donald trump?

>> you know, i was thinking about the best analogy. i was thinking the dike broke on donald trump. this was significant, he kept on saying i'm the president for wall street and main street business. they love what i'm doing, and there's some significant names that decided to break with the president. steve schwarzman, the ceo of black stone, which is one of the largest investment groups in the united states, and very close to donald trump. this week suggested it's time to move on. jamie diamond, the ceo of j.p. morgan chase says we have to let the system play out, allow the transition to go forward. it's important for the credibility of the united states. once those two did, you notice, rosemary, 160 business leaders in new york put out an open letter suggesting the same. even, you know, titans like the ceo of walmart coming from the southern half of the united states. doug mckinnon saying he embraces a biden administration. we have to trust the system and move forward, so after you saw those messages, you could see why the gsa kind of finally

tilted in favor of proceeding with the transition at this stage. >> yeah, it speaks volumes, doesn't it. john defterios, joining us live from abou dhabi. the latest coronavirus update in just a moment. never run dry of killer attitude. good moves. or hydration. neutrogena® hydro boost. the number 1 hyaluronic acid moisturizer instantly delivers 2 times the hydration. and keeps hydrating all day long. running dry of supple, bouncy skin. never! hydro boost. pair with new serum for 4 times the hydrating power. neutrogena®

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we're just days ahead of the thanksgiving holiday, the coronavirus pandemic continues to spiral out of control in the united states. at least 169,000 new cases were recorded on monday bringing the total to more than 12.4 million. and a new model from washington university in st. louis predicts these numbers could almost double by the time joe biden is inaugurated on january 20th. cnn's athena jones has more. >> reporter: with thanksgiving just days away, clear signs americans are not heeding the cdc's warning to stay home, instead, setting new records of pandemic air travel, with more

than a million people flying on sunday alone. >> when you get a crowded plane, you're in a crowded airport. you're lining up. not everybody is wearing masks, that puts yourself at risk. what you don't want to see is another spike in cases as we get colder and colder into the december, and then you start dealing with the christmas holiday. we can really be in a very difficult situation. >> already november is shaping up to be the worst month of the pandemic so far. monday marking the 21st day in a row with more than 100,000 new covid-19 infections reported. 1.2 million new cases reported in the last week, the highest seven-day total in the u.s. ever. hospitalizations nationwide breaking records for 13 straight days. >> i want the american people to know that we are at a dire point in our fight with this virus by any measure. cases, positivity, hospitalization staffs, i'm asking americans, i'm begging you, hold on just a little bit longer. keep thanksgiving and the celebrations small and smart this year. >> while the governor of texas

which has the most covid cases in the country is vowing his state won't shut down again, arguing most transmission is occurring in people's homes, other hard hit places are announcing new restrictions. in washington, d.c., all smithsonian museums will close temporarily for a second time, and new restrictions including a ten-person limit on most indoor gatherings start wednesday. also starting wednesday, outdoor dining will be shut down in los angeles county. california governor gavin newsom and his family are quarantining after three children were exposed to a highway patrol officer with the virus. there's more good vaccine news. astrazeneca reporting its candidate is 70% effective on average, making it the third vaccine in recent weeks to show real promise. a cdc committee is working to determine who should receive the vaccine first. it will be months before most people are able to get it. experts fear what could happen in the meantime.

>> it's the best of times because three vaccines are better than one. it's the worst of times as we go into the thanksgiving season. i'm very worried about the next few months . it's going to be a very difficult time. >> reporter: among those expected to receive vaccines first, health care workers, individuals living in nursing homes, those with high risk expert witness and those over 65. dr. larry brilliant joins me now, a cnn medical analyst and ep deem yo epidemiologist and honored to have you with us. >> it's my privilege to be with you. very nice to talk to you, rosemary. >> you, too and now of course the gsa has officially approved the formal transition to power of president-elect joe biden. he and his team will now receive all the necessary data, to fight this pandemic, and ensure a smooth distribution of approved covid vaccines, once that happens. how important is all of this in

battling the pandemic? >> as far as the transition goes, we have lost 16 days. it is hard enough to envision in the united states vaccinated 2/3 of the population, maybe 250 million people twice and organized that in an equitable and fair method as well as logistically correct and not having the ability to coordinate for as long as you can. i'm sorry that we have lost that time. but the task force that is advising president-elect biden is terrific. they will be able to start off really quickly. ron klain who was the ebola czar is the chief of staff. i'm really confident that we'll be able to get going very soon. >> and of course in the midst of this, there is this great news in addition to pfizer and moderna's vaccine candidates. astrazeneca's vaccine offers

less efficacy, but a cheaper option that doesn't require freezing temperatures. how important is this option when it comes to supplying the world with vaccines. >> it's critical. if you think that you have to vaccinate everybody twice and store the vaccine at minus 100 degrees, that's not a vaccine that is formulated in a way that makes it possible to what we all want to do is throw covid into the dust bin of history. we can only do that if we can vaccinate maybe 6 billion people around the world. the astrazeneca vaccine solves one of those two problems, which is the coal chain issue. it's not clear what it final efficacy will be. i'm optimistic it will be closer to the 90 than the 70%. but it still requires two doses, so it's not the perfect solution yet, but it's a step along the

way. >> yeah. that is such encouraging news, and the white house coronavirus task force says by may 2021, about 70% of the u.s. population could be vaccinated, maybe enough to achieve herd immunity, if a sufficient number of people take it. that's according to them. do you agree with that, and how do you make people trust in these vaccines? >> you're exactly right. the math is right. we have a formula for determining what herd immunity needs to be in order to use a vaccine to stop transmission, but we don't have a formula for determining how we restore trust in a system that has categorical categorically broken trust, not just about the vaccine, but if so many people have been told since the beginning that the vir virus itself was a hoax, that we're rounding the corner that it's almost over, why would they

want to believe that they need to be vaccinated then. >> and doctor, just finally, against warnings from the cdc, we have already seen more than a million americans travel for the thanksgiving holiday in the midst of certain cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, how concerned are you about that? >> i'm very concerned. there was a time when a recommendation and advisory from cdc would have been followed more carefully. you have to understand, i think, how much pent up fatigue there is with covid, but so much of that is because we have not been honest and transparent about how bad the disease is. and cdc has had some damage to its reputation to the extent it was complicit in that message but the truth is there's some great scientists at cdc. it's got wonderful dna, and it will get back, but right now, we need cdc, and all of our institutions of government to make people understand that while we may have a vaccine in

adequate doses in three or four or five or six months, right now we don't. what we have now is a disease that might be killing 2,500 people a day in the united states, by the end of the year. 200,000 people getting sick per day, and 80% of our hospital beds taken up by somebody with covid. this is not a joke. we are at a very dangerous inflection point, thanksgiving and christmas may be our holiday season, but my god, if we could only postpone them until next year, they'd be a lot happier holidays. >> as always. very wise advice. dr. larry brilliant, thank you very much for talking with us. i appreciate it. the australian airline qantas says when a covid vaccine becomes available, international travelers will have to prove they have been vaccinated before they can fly. we are looking at changing our terms and conditions to say

for international travelers that we will ask people to have a vaccination before they can get on the aircraft. whether you need that domestically, we'll have to see what happens with covid-19 and the market, but certainly for international visitors coming out and people leaving the country, we think that's a necessity. >> and the ceo of australia's national carrier says he expected other airlines to follow suit. the airline requires travelers returning from abroad to spend two weeks in quarantine. and still to come, the formal transition for joe biden finally begins. donald trump's efforts to overturn the election are all but done, even though he's still not willing to fully admit it, and the cdc is discussing the best way to ethically distribute the covid-19 vaccine once it's ready. we'll have details on the groups most likely to get the vaccine first. that's next. want to brain better? unlike ordinary memory supplements- neuriva has clinically proven ingredients that fuel 5 indicators of brain performance.

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welcome back to cnn newsroom, i'm rosemary church. well, now for a recap of our top story. it's all systems go for president-elect joe biden's transition. his team finally got permission from a key government agency to move ahead. the first step, the trump administration has taken to acknowledge the president's defeat. the president himself is still saying he will never concede the election, and that his legal cases are moving full speed ahead. the biden team is getting down to business with the incoming administration's national security team set to be formally unveiled later today. denise turner roth is a former general services administration

official under president obama and she spoke to cnn about what the biden team will gain from this decision and the time they have already lost. >> we had an apparent winner. there has within time that's gone by, and because of that, that does impact the trump presidential transition team. of course the biden team has been working to get up to speed and obviously it's made a number of appointments and announcements, but at the end of the day, there's a hundred federal agencies, close to 4 million federal employees and a lot of policy and determination to understand and to take hold of before january 20th. and we want the presidential team to be prepared on day one. we don't want them playing catch up, and unfortunately they have lost about 20 days at this point. >> now that the transition is underway, one of the most urgent issues for the president-elect will be how he handles the pandemic. his team is hoping to get access to covid data and vaccine

distribution plans by today. meanwhile, a key cdc team met monday to discuss how to roll out the vaccine, and importantly, who gets priority access. there's little disagreement that front line health care workers should be included but there's a debate over whether nursing home residents should be. some worry that the group's high mortality rates will damage confidence in the vaccine. the advisory committee also said it will take into account fair and equitable access to everyone, especially groups that are disproportionately affected by the pandemic. so let's bring in luco neil, an immunologist at trinity college in dublin. good to have you with us. >> hi, rosemary, good to be here. >> so once these vaccines are approved, how do you distribute them, and make sure that's done equitably so the most vulnerable

get access, and particularly lower income nations? >> it's really important. these countries are the worst affected by this pandemic, first of all. if we don't vaccinate those countries, they might come back in the future from those countries. astrazeneca is the cheapest vaccine, about $4 a shot, pfizer and moderna is a bit more expensive. astrazeneca is committing to a billion doses for these countries already. there's a tremendous effort going on. and covax and gabi. >> you mentioned astrazeneca. it does seem to make sense for that to be the vaccine distributed to some of these lower income nations and across the globe because it doesn't need to be in these very very low temperatures, does it, and it's very cheap and can be produced in these high numbers? >> no doubt that astrazeneca is the most convenient. remember, there's five more vaccines coming down the track. it's going to be -- we're going

to have loads of vaccines we hope early in the new year. we're optimistic that the rollout and logistics shouldn't be that much of a challenge, difficult, though, it will be. >> who should get these vaccines and how do you make that determination when you look at a society. we have learned our front line health care workers and the elderly. then it gets difficult, doesn't it, how do you work out which groups should receive these vaccines without causing all sorts of mayhem? >> it does. it will take a lot of organizing. the u.n. is involved, w.h.o., they are all looking at this figuring out who should get this next. the health care workers, absolutely, the vulnerable, and remember, people in the low income countries are vulnerable. you might see those countries next after we have done the health care workers and the other groups in the more wealthy country. it's a big debate at the moment. we've got to get the millions of doses out in the next sort of

nine months or so really to all of these different countries and of course the other countries as well. it will be a huge logistical operation. >> it certainly will be, and we'll continue to watch how people do this. luke o'neill, thank you so much for sharing your expertise. appreciate it. >> thank you. russia says the price of its coronavirus vaccine will be cheaper than the vaccines being developed by the united states. and we are expecting to learn more about that vaccine in the coming hours. cnn's matthew chance joins us now live from moscow. good to see you, matthew. what can we expect to learn about this today? >> right. within the next half hour or so, an embargoed report is going to be released, which is the latest data from the third phase testing on sputnik v, which is russia's sort of home made vaccine that they were the first to register in the world for use of front line medical workers and things like that. when they last released results on that vaccine, it indicated

somewhere in the region of i think it was 92% efficacy, with no adverse effects. the expectation this time is that we're going to see something as good or even better than that, they're also going to be releasing the sort of pricing system for sputnik v because, you know, we have been talking a bit about the price of these various vaccines and the fact that, you know, the various other vaccines that have been tested and trialed, and coming out with amazing results recently. they're going to be expensive with the exception of the astrazenecas. the russian strategy is to try and sort of undercut all of them, and so their vaccine, sputnik v will be the most affordable to countries around the world, there are tens of millions of people in russia that are expected to be vaccinated with sputnik v. you can multiply that many many times when you look at the deals

russia is doing in countries across africa, across the middle east, south america, asia as well, and so you know, even though the results from the sputnik v trials are, you know, there's some caveats around them, you know, this concern that the trials have not been conducted across a wide enough group. the fact is when this is approv approved and when the w.h.o. gives its stamp of approval, tens of millions of people will be receiving the sputnik v russian vaccine, and you know, the indication so far is the efficacy is good, really effective it seems at the moment according to the samples that have been taken and the interim results and there are no serious add ver adverse effects that have been reported just like with the other vaccines that have been so much conversation over the past

week. >> and as long as it proves to be safe and effect i have, that's the main thing. matth matthew chance appreciate it. a month after imposing a nationwide lock down, france is seeing glimmers of hope today. french president emmanuel macron will address the nation later today. he's expected to announce a slow easing of lock down wigs restrictions in three stages. the second lock down seeps to have had some effect at slowing the virus. the country has seen a significant decline in its coronavirus infection rate. meantime in the u kurkk prime minister boris johnson says the lock down will be lifted next week, but regional restrictions will be in place. he told parliament, he plans to bring back the three-tiered containment system starting december 2nd. and this is cnn newsroom, still to come, an historic meeting between two leaders that may or may not have happened over the weekend.

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an historic meeting may have taken place other the weekend, depending on who you believe. an israeli minister says prime minister benjamin netanyahu met with ben salman, let's bring in oren liebermann, who joins us from the saudi capital. good to see you both. let's start with you, what are you learning about this? >> so the lrevelations about ths potential meeting begin when flight trackers picked up the flight of the israeli private business jet, direct from israel to the city of saudi arabia. more importantly it was reportedly a business jet that has been used by prime minister benjamin netanyahu in the past,

and leaned up with the exact timing that secretary of state mike pompeo was in the same city at the same time with official meeting mohammed bin salman. it was in fact netanyahu on the flight, it is the head of the mosad that has led the normalization efforts on behalf with the arab states. netanyahu didn't say anything, not even quite a few hours later when he said he wouldn't comment on it. he neither confirmed nor denied the report, and simply is trying to widen what he calls the circle of peace. earlier in the day, the israeli minister of education, a minister from the party, said the meeting itself was an incredible achievement. the fact that it was public, even if only half official is something for which netanyahu deserves congratulations. that appears to be the confirmation that the meeting itself happened. it's also worth noting after the normalization agreement between israel and baja rain, the

foreign ministry said it was years of efforts and decades of efforts behind the scenes in the secret meetings that led to that coming forward. even if the saudis are denying the meeting, and perhaps they are denying it because maybe from their perspective, the meeting itself didn't happen, it's worth noting this appears to be one of the meetings that is acknowledged if they normalize the relations, which everyone expects to happen, and pompeo has been pushing with the trump administration for quite some time. >> that's the view from jerusalem, nick let's go to you in riyadh, why all the mystery surrounding this meeting, and why the denial? >> you know, there's a lot of pressure that the trump administration has put on saudi arabia to normalize relations with israel. saudi diplomats have told me that. it's a lot of pressure that they have felt. a lot of heat. it's something that's very clear that the trump administration wanted and netanyahu wanted. my understanding from saudi

diplomatic sources has been that there isn't a level of belief or understanding or trust that bb netanyahu can do what saudi arabia says is a prerequisite, and has said for a long time that is a prerequisite for normalizing relations with israel, and that is guaranteeing that there's a two-state solutionme solution. the view from here is that netanyahu won't be around in power, and president trump isn't. why would you strike a deal with two people that can't follow through with any of the guarantees they give in the deal. it's clear the saudi position on this alleged meeting between the crown prince and benjamin netanyahu, it didn't happen. the foreign minister tweeted to that effect. we understand from him that he was there at the airport, met pompeo off his flight. drove with pompeo, back with

pompeo, back to the airport, and he said in a tweet that the meeting between the netanyahu, and nbs didn't happen. there was perhaps some ambiguity in the language. that was tidied up in a second tweet in arabic. that is absolutely the clear position from here, that the meeting did not take place. pressure, absolutely has been coming on saudi arabia to do exactly this sort of thing, take steps towards and normalize relatives with israel. my understanding has been that that pressure has continued, despite the fact that it's continued after trump has already been voted out of office, that he's still trying to push that forward. and this is the picture of the situation as we have it right now, really. >> all right. nic robertson in riyadh, oren liebermann in jerusalem, many thanks to you both. this is cnn newsroom. still to come.

it's challenging for us, but it's our, you know, societal obligation to do it. >> we take you to canada where the country's largest city is going into a full week lock down. these folks don't have time to go to the post office

they use stamps.com all the services of the post office only cheaper get a 4-week trial plus postage and a digital scale go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again.

canada's largest city has gone into a partial lock down. over the next four weeks, toronto will limit indoor gatherings and enforce new rules for nonessential businesses. some fear the latest measures will further damage the economy and create more hardships in the weeks ahead. paula newton has more. >> its nickname is toronto the good, and canada's largest city comes by it honestly. toronto was so compliant, nearly everyone wearing masks, following doctors ordered, it crushed the covid-19 curve in spring, a curve that public health officials say is spiking out of control now. daily cases have doubled in a number of weeks. icus are near capacity and with 1,500 coronavirus death asks

counting in the city, officials say a second lock down as strict as the first save for keeping schools open must be enforced to avoid a worst-case scenario. >> we're in a lot of trouble, and so our public health officials and our elected leaders decided there really was no other choice but to take, you know, a big step back. >> that step back means a return to lining up for groceries, shutting down all in-person dining, even outdoors. all nonessential, in-door shopping, salons, gyms, now shut down for four weeks. >> it's challenging for us. it's our societal obligation to do it. >> that obligation extends to staying home, and seeing no one other than those kwlyou live wi >> hopefully by christmas, we get it where families can get together for christmas. like i said, it sucks for most of these people that are running these small businesses.

>> and it's not just business, the raptors, toronto's beloved team had to find a temporary home in florida because of the health crisis. we caught up with mayor john torre not at city hall but at home, hunkering down for a second wave he says many cities underestimated. >> we now are very focused on the marginalized neighborhoods where the fire spread and the positivity and test rates has been much higher than in other parts of the population, and we're really focused on all of that now. the lock down will help us get a greater grip. >> protests against the lock down and masks have been small, but persistent. a reminder that the city's goodwill has its limits. there's no question a second lock down will be tough here in toronto. what's been tougher to think about are the consequences if it doesn't work. >> the worry fewer restrictions

in other areas bordering the city means people will move freely to shop, dine and get together. only toronto and one of the sprawling suburbs, peel, is in lock down. hot house restaurant managers adam joe, deployed a hundred people, able to keep half on payroll thanks to their large patio. under lock down, they will have to scale back even further. >> i would say a little crest fallen, we have a lot of energy recently. i wouldn't say i was shocked. >> reporter: are you afraid of what will happen if it doesn't work? >> absolutely. you don't know how it's going to pan out on the other end. so it is, you know, scary. >> reporter: and so toronto, one of the largest cities in north america, masks up, locks down, and hopes this painful sacrifice will be enough to reopen in time for christmas. paula newton, cnn, toronto. >> well, scientists have discovered evidence of

catastrophic flooding on mars that took place nearly 4 billion years ago. nasa's curiosity rover captured images from a crater on the planet. they show channels and ripple patterns carved by water. scientists think the heat from a meteor vaporized frozen reservoirs, all of those billions of years ago. that in turn produced floods and brought about a warm and rainy season. well, in washington, d.c., the smithsonian national zoo's giant panda cub finally has a name. the public voted online to name the furry fellow mandarin for little miracle. it symbolizes the hope he brought during the pandemic, and the 3-year-old excels at napping, nursing and cuddling with his mother. every year at thanksgiving, the president performs a very

special duty. he pardons a lucky turkey. in the coming hours, president trump will do just that for corn or cob. both will live to tell about the experience but only one will go down in history as the national turkey. i think this event is great today because lord knows 2020 has been a little challenge, whether it's covid, whether it's fires, whether it's economic turmoil, i think it's great to celebrate something that's happy, something that's for everybody, something that's for all of america. >> the pardoning will happen in the rose garden at the white house. it will be president trump's first public appearance since the official transition of power to president-elect biden got underway. and thank you so much for your company, i'm rosemary church, "early start" is coming up next. you're watching cnn. have yourselves a great day. want to brain better? unlike ordinary memory supplements-

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welcome to our viewers until the united states and around the world, this is "early start." i'm laura jarrett. >> and i'm boris sanchez in for christine romans. good to see you as always. it's tuesday november 24th, 5:00 a.m. in new york. it's been 18 days since joe biden won the election. it finally appears that president trump through his implied actions is ready to move on. >> at long last, the trump administration finally relentinn